Ask Me When I'm Sober

Ian

[Jae-shin's Dex+Brawl]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 6, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 1

Ian

[Ian's Dex+Brawl]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 10) ( success x 4 )

Ian

Washington Park was full of visitors today - the lush, green landscape dotted with joggers and frisbee players, college kids playing basketball, boisterous children playing hide and seek in the trees and elderly couples walking hand in hand by the lake. The weather was lovely, a welcome change of pace from the cold snap that had hit earlier in the week. The evening sun was a warm golden glow shining through the trees. Ian and Jae-shin were sparring in the grass near one of the flower gardens. Maybe it was the weather (that infectious thrill of spring,) but the today the practice had an air of playfulness about it. Ian grinned as they danced around each other, breathing hard. His pulse beat out a rough rhythm in his ears, and sweat shone on his exposed skin. He had on a pair of tapered silver athletic pants, but was otherwise shirtless and barefoot. His toes dug into the soft earth before he lifted off in a tight, predatory spring.

The attack was swift and elegant, but Jae-shin was just fast enough to block it. After a series of swift blows, Jae-shin finally managed to land a hard kick to Ian's side. Ian exhaled roughly at the impact only to dance away, shaking his head with a laugh.

"Careful, I might start fighting for real."

Jae-shin's expression was quietly challenging.

Serafíne

Awareness.

Dice: 7 d10 TN5 (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 7 ) Re-rolls: 2

Jo Hamilton

[Jo Hamilton uses SPLASH!]

Serafíne

Among the visitors: someone, you know? Who knows, who has some hint of, every strange tracery of magick in the air tonight. Who is: enthralled by it and entombed by it and entangled by it. Follows that thread from god knows how far away to the place where it makes a new, strange knot.

Ian and his partner have an audience. Probably they are too intent on each other to take note of anything more than the impression of blond hair left loose, streaming into a wild tangled mass when the wind kicks up. The sensation of her resonance: gut-wrenching, enthralling, threshold-hovering right there. Right there. Right there.

Sera is wearing something close to preppy drag: a highwaisted skirt, pleated and short, with silver buttons precise at the waist. A longsleeved, rather high-necked little jacket, also black, with more silver buttons in marching military-themed rows, the cut of which would be conservation were it not, you know, so very short: the undercurve of her breasts, the spare cut of her torso. The dark scrawl of her tattoos against golden skin. Someone's been worshipping the sun: somewhere. Somehow.

Serafíne

(Fair warning guys: I go to bed in an hour and a half, so I am probably going to ignore osting order or I will not get to make another post with these many people in the room. :) )

Jo Hamilton

[I'm fine with that :D]

Grace

"So, yeah. The park!" Grace says, sniffing in the warm air and tree smell. "Places like this are good for distraction-free thinking-time. And you need that."

She walked down a park path with Jo, all decked out in a bright blue shirt with a massive comma on it. Just below the comma, in small text is "or 1=1 --". If we're going to teach, do it right, right? Be the exploit.

"So, first off -- you say you want to learn about electricity and stuff like that? First, I want to know -- what do you think of the physical things? The elements, atoms, that kind of thing? Because it's all related. Well, okay, it is all all related, but forces and matter more so than most."

Lavinia

[Per+aware, oooh?]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 8) ( success x 4 )

Jo Hamilton

[Do I sense decepticons?! per+aware]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7) ( success x 3 )

Serafíne

Resonance: Emanating from the slight blonde watching the guys spar, so many layers of resonance.

visceral, enthralling, liminal, sundrenched, soaring

The first three: intrinsic to her being. The latter: extrinsic, less tied to her blood and body and bone and presence, but still close, immediate. In/on/around her, maybe anchored somehow. Maybe lingering like a perfume.

Jo Hamilton

She needs distraction free thinking.

This is what Grace says to Jo, who has her cellphone out in her hand and is plugging away at something. Because Jo... Jo doesn't know the meaning of 'distraction-free' unless what Grace really means is boredom. Jo moves too much to ever be distraction free; always thinking, always searching.

The day has been warm, though the temperature has dropped dramatically from her time on campus, and she's dressed accordingly. Her black tank is lit up with yellow letters spelling out 'IN TRAINING TO BE BATMAN' with the bat symbol displayed at the top. And capri light pants (do men call their long shorts capris or shorts?). Of course, her wrists are touched with all manner of things to decorate them (probably gutted someone's computer somewhere, hopefully they don't know about it).

"Huh? Oh right yeah like.. Ok well I mean like, it's just coding right? Like a background program.. like ya know.. like your desktop wallpaper. Or maybe it's like, like an if-then statement. Like if THIS coding happens, do this! Ya know like.. dude how did the Matrix explain it? Where's trinity when you need her?" Jo hummed. She hummed like the powerlines. Always moving, but never radically. Predictable. Necessary. Pulling humanity along, whether it liked it or not.

Jo Hamilton

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_-OTZHBIuE for illustration of what I mean by Humming]

Lavinia

It's actually a beautiful day. More than a beautiful day, it's fan-fucking-tastic. She had been spending time with friends, some people she had concluded were decent company, regardless of whether or not they had a roof over their head. There but before the grace of God go she, and all that jazz. She remembers being out here, she remembers being hot and being cold, she remmebers thinking that she had better be brilliant or better be talented because otherwise she wouldn't be able to put a roof over her head.

Anyway, it wasn't important. She'd eaten part of a bucket of chicken with the guys, bid them adios and headed on to enjoy the rest of the park. It was a beautiful place, full of frisbee and basketball and trees and- oooh, were those people sparring?

Something felt interesting, and her dark eyes lit up like torches (like she ever had to really wonder about that) and a grin blossomed across her face. THe blonde, with her golden halo of hair and rather remarkable height and capris (nope, those were regular pants, they were just capris because Lavinia Cervantes was over six feet tall) She followed sensation, marched forward in combat boots and a cut up tee shirt (something to hide naturally occuring holes from God-knew-what)

And she headed forward, looking from the men sparring to a blonde sitting and watching and instead her attention went there. Had no qualms with plopping down next to her. Left ear to the lady's side.

"They just start?"

Ian

[Life 3, Better Body diff 6]

Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (5, 6, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Ian

[+1 Dex for 24 hours, woot]

Lavinia

She sits and there is light. Not the typical light, but something radiant and warm, something that burns, ever so slightly, egging close to the edge, a reminder of some ember burning eternal. Something without boundaries, something without eges, constantly pressing outward, something that went out to the corners of the universe and birthed new and birthed more and there was light, there was warmth, there was something that lingered there.

Something that is. That was. That will always be even when the mortal shell of the being who held the universe in her very finite form. She touched against something larger than herself, larger than the heavens. Truly, she must be of the divine. Truly, she must be greater than a being bound only to this plane. All haloed and sonorous voice and eyes like torches, like lighting across the dark. And once that light set aside, her eyes were the space between the stars. Bright but so very, very dark.

Ian

[Ian's Dex+Brawl]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 6 )

Ian

[Jae-shin's Dex+Brawl]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 4 ) Re-rolls: 1

Serafíne

"Fuck if I know," the lovely creature shrugs and the movement threatens to upend whatever modesty the cut of the jacket affords her. She is wearing sunglasses. Yesterday they were framed with skulls. Today, they are black, cat-eyed, the frames studded with silver nailheads. Match to the leather wrapped-round her throat.

This sideglance then, her eyes hidden behind the glasses so large they dominate her angular features, without occluding them. "I just started watching them."

The sun slides across the reflective surface of the dark glass. Moving, luminous.

Grace

"Well, yes. Except that there is no real if-then. If you look deep enough into the code, you might say forces are a type of matter, or matter is a type of force. They are composite objects made of the same general parts. Like, take electrons. Electrons are what carry electricity, which is a force, but they're also the things that help make up atoms. They're the same type of object, just with slightly different variables. So if you already have some theory of matter, it's relatively easy to translate that into a theory of forces."

Stroll, stroll, stroll. Lecture, lecture, lecture.

Ian and Jae-shin.

Cloud.

Wait, what?

"Oh hey! They're doing a thing!"

She turns on a heel and heads over. So, now -- a bright-eyed embodiment of shifting, winged focus starts beelining for the assembly, pseudo-apprentice in tow.

Ian

It was the first time any of the people in the park (apart from Ian's current sparring partner) had seen him since he'd gone Seeking up that mountain peak. The first time Sera would notice the addition of a deeper, more primordial note within his resonance. The primal energy of it coiled fittingly with the rest of his feline characteristics. And as Ian moved, the press of his Will blossomed out, his working evident to anyone paying particular attention. He focused with his pulse, his movement, dancing across the grass with an effortless grace that hinted at his ballet training. And then suddenly he lunged, ducking beneath Jae-shin's arms to knock him in the back of his knee. Ian followed it up with a sweeping kick that took the Akashic's feet out from under him.

Then he pounced, pinning Jae-shin to the grass with a sharp, triumphant grin.

Jae-shin looked up at him quietly, catching his breath. After a moment, he laughed - pleased and surprised. "You cheated."

"You're just mad I finally pinned you." Ian reluctantly released his prize, getting to his feet as he cast a glance toward Sera and Lavinia. When he focused on the latter, there was a light tilt of his head. "Hey."

Jo Hamilton

"Buuuuuuuuuuut matter is just code. So like if it's jsut matter and stuff, then it's just code. Cause like, how could it like be anything else? So is it like a program running? Or like.. it has like a schedule? But like if it's not an if-then, then like why is the weather and stuff all chaotic? Like for realsies?"

Now Jo HAD sensed a new individual, she has just been engaged in her phone and Grace, but now was being aimed in their direction. "A thing!" Jo exclaimed, as if this said everything. "We must like see this thing! Because things, things are cool. Not like those thingie-ma-jigs.."

Jo is right on her heels, shoving her phone in her back pocket.

Lavinia

"Good enough for me," she replied with a shrug. She wasn't wearing a skirt today, like Lavinia ever really paid attention to what she was doing in a skirt, dared egg someone closer to getting an eye full of whatever she was wearing underneath, but we digress. It wasn't important what she wasn't wearing right now. "I'm Lavinia."

Sera got another glance, having the worst time not looking and being taken in by the fact that Sera was striking. Maybe she had painting or chalk drawings on her mind after her last escapade with the awakened populace of Denver. She opened her mouth, but then noticed people approaching and turned her attentions again.

When Ian spoke she nonchelantly watches his lips, not longing but decyphering. Then, her eyes went to his face. "Hey, you two are great," she replied.

That was the voice of a herald. Something that spoke with confidence, that bid fear not, something that brought tidings of joy or the message of something wrathful beyond measure. She is a messenger, or at least that's what her voice seems intent on conveying about her.

Ian

[I suppose we should do this awareness thing]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 7, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )

Serafíne

Then it's over. Ian - cheating - has pinned his partner and Sera, who seems to be both watchful and somehow removed or contained or maybe merely high, notices. Her sharp little chin rises in a way that makes the sun's reflection glint off the nailheads in her sunglasses: or maybe just the darkdark glass.

And she: claps.

You know: for the show.

Around the paper cup, fingers finding her palm. Mouth crawling, curved at one corner that is essentially inhabited.

"Serafíne. You can call me Sera."

This to Lavinia. Nothing to Ian except the fixed attention of her hidden eyes on him, as he rises: from the hold, from the ground. Glances up at Sera, Lavinia, greets the latter. Something arrested in that awareness. She knows everything: feels everything. Every piece of it, which threatens to peel her apart even as she is cinching herself back together.

Grace

"The weather and stuff is all chaotic because it isn't an if-then. There are very few things in this universe that are a true either-or. Mostly, we exist in the grayish in-betweens. If things were deterministic, like an if-then, we would be able to predict the chaos precisely. But as it's all built on probabilities, even so far as the electrons and protons? The world isn't a firmly defined thing. At all. Which is nice, because hey -- that would be way boring."

That spiel having been said, Grace golf-claps to Ian, and plops down next to Lavinia. "I'm Grace. Hi."

Jo Hamilton

"Well yeah but you're like totally simplifying it. Like, it's an if-then statement but it's not like, if Jo sneezes, Butterflies are born. It's like.. like If this person does this, under this, when this, but only while, then this happens, which does this, but only this while this, and so on and so on. Like it's a lot more complicated and stuff. You can totes predict stuff, if you got the code. Like if I knew the whole code, I could totally tell you when stuff is gunna happen. I mean it's be like super easy. But like we're missing the pieces and stuff so it only seems chaotic.

Jo..gives Ian a thumbs up. That is her congrats to..whatever that was. Because Jo isn't into the physical exercises, save one..or two.

"Yo Sera!" Jo gives her a wave and then finally..oh FINALLY focuses on the new one. She twitches her nose, lifts her brows and seems to look as if someone gave her to the key to the gaming store. Grace sits next to lavinia, who is sitting next to Sera. This... no.. this can't be.

So Jo, sits in Grace's lap and leans in towards Lavinia. "So, will you marry me?"

Lavinia

[You're on my deaf side, did I actually catch any of this?]

Dice: 5 d10 TN8 (1, 3, 6, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )

Lavinia

"Sera," she repeats, grins a little at Serafíne, lights up for a second because there is something vaguely hopeful for the woman at her side. She wasn't entirely human, this one. On first glance, certainly, but there's far too much energy there. More than a mortal body can handle (she's fragile, though she doesn't let on. She's stronger than she looks, but she's not as strong as she thinks) "Glad to meet you."

This is Grace. And there she is, surrounded by strangers who feel like- well, now, this one is certainly different, but happens to have the misfortune of being on Lavinia's right side instead of her left. She scoots back enough so that she can kind of see Grace's face. A little. Just enough so that she doesn't have to turn her head to see the woman next to her. Her brows furrow for a second, like she was thinking, like she was straining.

But, once she puts two and two together, the woman laughs, something that is intent and warm and that stuck to the senses. She wasn't terribly loud, but she certainly cut through the ambient sound.

"Lavinia," she offered to the pile of GraJoCe. "Are you tryin' to make an honest woman outta me." Brow quirked, grin widened, "or are you proposing to Sera? I haven't been married in a little while, so I feel the need to clarify."

Ian

Lavinia said they were great. Grace and Sera clapped, as though Ian and Jae-shin had been nominated the evening's designated entertainment. Jae-shin responded to the approval with a hesitant smile, perhaps unsure if he ought to be encouraging the notion that combat was a spectator sport (or perhaps he was just shy.) He got to his feet with a smooth motion, dusting dirt and grass from his legs. Unlike Ian, he had on a tank top, but was otherwise similarly outfitted in athletic clothes. They'd obviously come here with the express purpose of doing what they'd just been engaged in.

Ian, of course, took the applause in stride. The side of his mouth quirked lightly, and he bent down into a loose, graceful bow. Slightly theatrical.

"You guys are welcome to join us, if you like."

The challenge hung in the air, dry and coyly tempting, though Ian did not expect that any of those seated nearby were likely to take him up on it.

Serafíne

Yo Sera! shouts Jo and our Sera tips her coffee mug in the creature's direction. Her head turns; their collective reflection crawls across the gleaming surface of her glasses. Does not comment on if-thens and why-wheres and data because that all sounds like bullshit to her.

Except of course you can predict stuff. She's a seer. The future and the past crack themselves open between her teeth.

They speak different languages, though. On every level.

She is looking at them though: her golden head turned, her chin low over her narrow shoulder, the dark cut of that little black jacket clearly tailored for her: from the width to the length to the glove-like fit of the arms. Custom-made.

Somehow the lift and curve of that cup is both greeting and farewell. It's clear - body language, the way she holds herself - that this is only a temporary waystation.

"I don't believe in fucking monogamy," this to Lavinia, a sideline, a sidelong. "So marriage is pretty much off the table. I think she was proposing to you, though."

Then she's moving, turns around on her heel because she never sat down, just paused in her passage. Glance back at Ian over a dark shoulder. "Ask me when I'm sober. Watch me say yes."

--

That's really all the farewell they get. She's on her way down the path, into the shadows. Sunglasses still covering her eyes.

Multiplicities.

Danny

(Search for the all-spark)

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 4 )

Grace

[Awareness/Perceptions!]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 6, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )

Jo

There is no doubt that in the event of a lottery win, Jo would make any bakery quite happy. All the delicious frostings, glazes, and sweet treats would be had in droves; honestly if someone could simply beam them into her mouth at any given time, she would be happier than a cat on catnip. Oh... catnip cupcakes...

The eatery, branding itself as a provider of 'gourmet' sweets and coffee, was one of her favorites; it may contain a plethora of hipsters, but at least she wasn't surrounded by blondes. Ok that was unfair. -college- blondes. -Ditzy- blondes. Those people who drink tiny teas and spend their nights wondering which nail polish matches their arm hair... or.. something. Did she really know what they actually cared about?

She sent Grace a text, mostly for a 'HEY I'M TOTALLY OVER HERE' sake, and also because Grace was totally hot and clueless. How adorable is THAT? And cupcakes. Who doesn't want to share in the love of sugar and diabetes?

She sat at a table (where else would she sit) with her laptop busted out on the hard surface and her feet pulled up onto the chair. Her lids remained wide, fixating on the glorious shining screen of her robot overlords. The spongy bit of cake was shoved half into her mouth, frosting having been licked off some time ago to leave a smear of residue, and was now just resting between her lips as she attempted to do...click furiously through a series of forums.

Jo

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 10) ( success x 1 )

Danny

*It was just one of those days, day two of a steaming head cold and he was up before..... Ugh..... before 4pm, he checked his phone without really needing to then parked up and took another swig of the orange juice he had in the side pocket of his car.

Grace had invited him along and he was full of cold. The things we do for love, right? Sealing the bottle up he almost considered just closing his eyes and going back to sleep in the car there and then. Even with the music blaring out of his CD player. He didn't sniff, well he tried not to. One gimlet eye opened to a slit to look at Grace.* Okay... the coffee is on you, just keep it coming... and lots of cupcakes... Kay?

*His beautiful voice sounded full of hoarse ragged sounds.*

Grace

Grace walks into the place, Danny in tow (though not by the arm). He'd been sick, which was not the best of timing, Danny. But she needed, what? A friend to help her navigate this encounter? He didn't say no. And when she mentioned cupcakes, he didn't even seem too disappointed to be awake.

Now that they were there, however...

"Maybe you should have stayed home? You sound terrible," she said, as she shut the car down and stepped out into the slight chill of a warming Denver afternoon.

"She's here. I can feel her. That humming, do you notice?"

Grace, mind you, seems a bit different. There is still the shift underfoot, like the sliding of a faultline. She still lends her sharpness to the air. But when she steps out of the car, there's a bit of relaxation evident in her body language -- the stretch of an invisible, decidedly feathery wingspan.

Jo

Humming.

The dull vibration of a computer. The sound that, when one pays close attention, seems to emanate from the wires along telephone poles; ever present, consistent. It's a faint humming, the sort that comes from someone so new to the wire that they haven't quite pushed in yet.

Jo has her face so far into the realm of the computer that the sensation is almost normal. She feels them nearby, though it feels almost no different from any others she might come across, and it's not screaming out to her. Focused. Intent. Tapping on the keyboard. Her teen sink into the spongeycake, then the rest is pushed into her mouth, creating a magical chipmunk. A small twitch at her nose and Jo gives just a little movement of her head.

Then tapping. The clacking of her keys, softer on the laptop, yet somehow louder. She has a tendency to become a little overzealous in her...play. It's an instinctual response on her part that drives her to erach around the laptop for the next cupcake, only to come up with air. She meerkats, pulling the top of her computer down just enough to look at her plate, still chewing on the rest of the spongecake before giving a hard swallow. Her lips purse, eyes narrow, and somehow...discovers that the universe is conspiring to force her into procuring more cupcakes.

Danny

*He raises his eyebrow and reaches for Grace gently.*

Hey.... I said I'd be here... I am never going to turn you away. *He smiles and nods to her question, then lifted his head and his bright red nose - nice one mister rock star, you look like Rudolph - then smiled again.*

Yeah I can feel it. It's okay... I'll get the drinks. *He went in with her to gain the upper hand on this cold thing, the only thing to herald his entrance this time was that madly spinning flashy pulsar as he drew his scarf in tighter and hunched his shoulders.* Lead on Macduff.

Grace

Grace smiles over to Jo and her meerkat, cupcake devouring ways. She gets a wave.

"Hey!" Just like they're old friends, perhaps, and not just some random people who met in line at the DMV.

She walks over to the table, pulls out a chair, and hooks her coat and laptop bag upon the back. Most Denverites are going without coats right about now, the weather's so 'warm'. But Grace is an Arizonian by nature, and Kalen's gift is warm. And obviously modded. Strips of plastic run around the seams of what once was a fashionable, sharp, red coat. Underneath, she has on a black Linux penguin t-shirt and blue jeans.

"This place has kickass cupcakes. I'm sure you've figured that out by now."

Jo

Warm enough for hoodies. Warm enough for hoodies with their sleeves pulled down a little and having holes cut in to slide their thumbs through; at least that is what Jo does. Dark grey, today, and pulled over a T-shirt that simply sported the power button for any computer these days. She moves her head to Grace, lips curling up into a wide grin. "Yo!" A hand shooting up into the air to give a rather exuberant wave, even though Grace has not only seen Jo, but is also right there. "TCHT. Yeah. Like the -best.- I mean seriously? Starbanks is totally just a brand and doesn't even like, bother to like, put in effort to make quality food. I mean really? Why do like people put crumbles on their stuff? Frosting is way cooler."

She moved her laptop closer to herself and her empty plate. "So like, who's the dude? Is he like, your boy or something?"

Danny

*He made his way to the bar and ordered one of everything on the cupcake menu... then glanced to look at whoever it was that Grace needed a wingman for... and smiled to himself when he saw her just jump right in socially. He asked for a repeat of whatever it was that Jo had ordered then went for whatever he figured Grace might enjoy the best.... and for himself? Man he must be suffering!! White hot chocolate with cream and cherry sauce on top and sprinkles of dark chocolate curls on top... He paid.

Then he made his way over with the girl promising she'd bring it all over. Warm or not, Danny was wrapped up in a red scarf and coat, and he was doing his best impression of a certain plague victim.

He sat himself down at the table and sank slightly under it as he leaned back. Just glad to not be trying to do anything special today. There... he was parked... and the handbrake was on... for a few minutes he just sat that way as he let things filter up to him from whatever level he was reaching today.*

Grace

"What, Danny? No. He's nobody's... Well, he's with Kalen. You haven't met Kalen yet? I probably would have heard about that."

She gives him a smile as he appears. "He's uh... a little sick."

"Thanks for getting the stuff, Danny. Sometimes they tend to forget I exist."

It's a blessing and a curse, whatever it is that keeps her from being noticed. It's a good thing that Jo recalled the events at the DMV, or remembered who this strange woman was, walking into the cupcake shop. A bit of priming is necessary. And lots of text messages. Waiters in random cafes and restaurants? They tend to be more oblivious.

Danny

*He felt like the opening bars of Complication by nine inch nails truth be told, a bit kind of distorted around the edges of the notes but the truth was there still regardless.

As he sneezed suddenly into the crook of his elbow his feet shot forwards under the table and he all but vanished into a cloud of hair then grimaced, found something to use for his nose and then pushed his hair back out of his face.* Sorry...

I'm Danny... I won't shake your hand, you don't want this, trust me. *He grinned a bit glassy eyed and cleared his throat carefully so's not to spread the lov... erm.. contamination.*

Oh it's fine.... *He waved it off.* So how do you girls know each other?

Jo

"Uh.. lessee..." Jo leaned back in her chair, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, ticking off something in the air. "Nope. Nope. Nope. No Kalen in my system. Never heard. Weird name. Like, what country is that from?" Her head still back, she rolled her head to look at Danny, pulling her arms in and shrinking away from him as he sneezed; she looked like she were afraid someone might have thrown a gun at her. "Holy jesus on a crackerjack stick. Man.. you're like... jesus.. what kinda malware you sportin? They got vaccines and stuff for that you know! You could like.. I dunno.." Jo squinted her eyes, easing back in a comfortable position (feet flat on the seat). "Oh!" She leaned over to rummage in her backpack, lifting it up and shoving her head inside. "Where is it?" Came her muffled voice, and then finally she held a hand up triumphantly. "Aha! AHAHA! I have found your ambrosia!" She held out her hand to Danny, unrolling her fingers to show the two pieces of wrapped ginger candy in her hands.

"Tcht! How? TCHT! Like you don't KNOW. I mean seriously? Did you like, miss the alien ship that flew over last month? Like ya know... took us all hostage. We totally saved the day. Musta wiped your memory. " Her lips broadened, showing her teeth. "Was totally cool. Grace went all Sigourney Weaver, and I was like, all Navii, and like, the whole place was like BAM BAM BAM with lasers. Cause Lasers dude. LASERS."

Grace

Grace just nods as Jo explains how they met. Yep, that's exactly what happened.

"It was pretty kickass."

Jo likes lasers. Grace files that away in her own mental databanks with a bit of glee. Jo will love laser-gun-o-rama.

"Oh hey! Ginger candy. You will be fixed up, dude."

Danny

*The look on his face was priceless.... PRICELESS I tell you!! Jo started talking and then went fishing and then offered him some whatever it was.

His jaw dropped and he looked at Grace, stunned temporarily into silence for the first time in ages... then he just smiled and shook his head before chuckling to himself.* Oh. My. God. Wow..... .Just..... Wow..... How much coffee have you had today and where the hell can I get some!!!?

*Then he spied the pile of cake making its way over and shrugged helplessly.* Pile in. *The candy was taken from the girl and one was popped into his mouth.* Can't get any worse, right?

Jo

"Oh yeah. It was like... I mean all star trek meets Star Wars. Totally cool. Minus the Force and all. But seriously, cool beans. Like, no casualties or nuthin. We're that cool. Bonny and Clyde without the whole death problem. I mean... you shoulda been there dude... I mean like.. mentally. Guess can't leave like, the whole public with that knowledge. Whole fabric of space be all WOOOSH and then well.. I mean have you -seen- alien invasion movies?"

"Coffee? Like.. a cup.. not much! I'm all sportin a high off whatever they like put in my cup. Dude you should try it. Close your eyes and just point at something. Seriously. Super cool. Ever notice how like, it's not really random? "

"I got more!" And there she was again, ostriching into her backpack and ruffling through. "Aha! See, problem is like, the whole bag opens and spills and then well, it's like you end up with like candy everywhere. Which is totally cool when you're all I NEED CANDY NOW. That's like..always." She tossed a piece of candy at Grace.

"Dude... your entire like..CPU could shut down. Seriously..." Jo looked to Grace, brows furrowed in confusion. "He's like, never had a computer has he? Or seen a doctor. Or takin a class on something about people? Kinda like he walked out of a vagina two seconds ago. I mean... you can always die. That's totally worse than havin a little malware."

And now..cake things. CAKE THINGS. She spares no time before latching her fingers on one and sliding her tongue along the frosting, much like ice cream.

Grace

Oh, Danny. It can get worse. It can get so much worse. The last time she was sick, Grace was bleeding out of every orifice and hallucinating her own death. Maybe that's why she wants to be a bit careful with him, just in case.

And then Jo makes that point for her. Yes. Like he walked out of a vagina two seconds ago. Grace snorts, looks to Danny like: 'oh, that was hilarious'. But then, the look of misery on his face subdues that reaction a little.

She offers him a cupcake. It's blue. Hard to tell what flavor, aside from blue. And with her other hand, she goes for her own -- a multicolored cupcake that obviously came here to party, what with all the sprinkles and things it has going on.

"We actually met at the DVM. I think she's trying to make up for the boringness of that by coming up with something fantastic. But whatever she says, it totally happened."

Danny

*Blue cupcake..... that was kewl, in it's own little way. With amusement he takes it, takes a breath and plunges in on the sugar head first. His arm resting across his front as he ate, trying to ignore the urge to sneeze again.. between bites and breaths he manages to even speak.* Uh... Right.. Okay... I think I get it...

*he took another bite watching the pair of them.* I'm not that bad, I have computers and things.... I'm not completely inept you know... *He did grin a blue grin though.*

Jo

"TCHT was totally not boring. Was like seein an angel all glowing in the darkest time of my life.." She even adds in the swoony voice. "Ok like seriously? Totally. I mean, it's like the place you get STDS and a bad hangover without like physical contact. Like super weird tho. So like, I went home and tried to like calculate the odds of running into ya know, Grace at like a place like that. Like super rare, but probable. Kinda like runnin into a super computer in your bathroom. Super.. SUPER... SUPER rare but like, ya know, it can happen."

"Babies aren't completely inept. I mean, they can eat and stuff. Clearly takes decent genetics to like, manage that or something. So like, yeah that's good. And I mean, you can feed yourself. You've totally moved beyond the toddler stage. So like yeah, ok totally not inept. Just ya know, not good with like sickness and stuff. Ya know, like, my mom would give me like some pumpkin soup when I wasn't feeling great. Seriously. totally worth it. Totally faked being sick sometimes."

Grace

"The odds of people like us running into each other seem to be skewed. I'm just saying. Like, you're right -- if it were totally random, we'd unintentionally run into each other on extremely rare occasions. But my statistics show that the universe has it out for us. Or, you know, at least it thinks it knows what it's doing. Something like that."

She chomps into her cupcake, icing smudges on her nose and she doesn't seem to care, just looks up from her cake with this grin on her face.

"I'm glad it does though. Makes sure, at least, we're not lonely."

Danny

Pumpkin soup...... *He frowns a bit and looks at Grace.* Do I want soup? I could kill for some noodles... I think.. *He frowned slightly and then took another bite of the cupcake... then looked back at Jo.* You....... *He shakes his head.* Like.... you're like the Energizer Bunny or something...

*Yeah, great observation there from the plague victim in the corner. Oh boy he wasn't great right now. Was he? All those LA terms and expressions he tried hard to hide were coming out, so was the accent.*

Jo

Jo blinks, lets her eyes slide to the spot on Grace's nose before reaching out to swipe it with her finger. "That assumes a consciousness exists in the universe itself which is unlikely. Instead, the universe is likely composed of a set of values and integers. It's not like.. out for us, it's more like the algorithms that balance the system are like..such that it means that it hoses what is like inefficient to create efficient. Like, learning. Like a code that learns. AI but without all the like, human concept of consciousness cause then you're like..imposing emotional states on a series of codes and like, there is a specific set of algorithms and checks needed to like.. make something that 'feels' cause like that computer needs to 'feel' in order to make effective like, code learning and like.. " Jo ate the icing and then tapped her own chin. "Well like, all systems need a manager. Cause like without a manager, damage to the system would be like..well it'd be like.. uncontrollable and the system would fall apart. So like, you need cleaners, code seers sort of like. I mean...Like..The Matrix right? Like the system doesn't -want- humans dead cause that's bizarre. If it did, it would just like eliminate the program. I mean like when a program becomes obsolete you just like, delete it. When parts become obsolete you just like take them out and replace them. Nah it's more like when two sets of program interlock, the one that needs the most resources to operate totally takes over. Humans are just like, a small program so we're kind of like insignificant in the end, compared to like, other programs. And sometimes, malware just gets into the system, and the system has to like scan and quarantine or delete."

Jo blinked and looked to Danny. "Whu? Oh man like.. WHY. Udon noodles are like the best and now I want some. " She pursed her lips at him. "And sushi.. could totally rock some fish." Her lips curled into another grin and she slowly sat her chin on her knees. "Once had a teacher that said like, it's like the consequence of being a quick thinker and stuff. Like always thinking means you can't just like, sit still. You gotta keep going cause yeah I mean there's always this end point right? And if you like sit still you're gunna miss it, and besides... I don't know how like people deal with lulls in their system. Boring! Seriously. Don't you get bored just like..sittin there?"

Grace

And there's Jo, in a cupcake shop, laying out her worldview for all. It's a similar thing to how Grace sees it, so the finger coming out to swipe icing off her nose barely registers as she takes all that in. Her eyes widen a touch. Could it be? Someone who Works like she does? Someone compatible?

"So you don't think you're conscious? You said you don't think one exists in the universe, so...."

Grace prods a little. Tries to, perhaps, ease a little room for other ideas into Jo's mindset, before it hardens up. But then...

"Want to go get some noodles? Something a little more substantial than cupcakes? Might do you some good. Let's do that."

Danny

*Jo was talking. She was, he knew she was talking but some thing wasn't quite right with his mental processes right now and he almost felt like he was watching her through a goldfish bowl.* Uh.....

*There was this slight frown on his face as she carried on filling in the empty space around him... and now it was like he was in a cartoon, and the words were in little speech-bubbles but there were too many and he couldn't keep up with the flow of words... far too much. He lifts one finger and points at her with his immaculate black nail.* No more coffee for you.

Uh.... *He frowned again in confusion, then lifted his hand and nodded.* Get this lot boxed up. We'll take it and force feed someone sugar for a giggle.

*But yeah... he stood slowly, moving too fast might be a bad idea. When he was on his feet and sure he wasn't about to sneeze he nodded.* Noodles.... I need noodles..... And I need coffee... I think. Or something....

*Then he frowned again and turned back to Jo.* There is a consciousness in the Universe... or else how would there be a universal song?

Jo

"See that's like where it becomes complicated. I mean what -IS- consciousness? I think that like, some people are become -aware- in the like the sense that you know you're a program and you like follow your code diligently. Sort of like that learning right? You become like code that can learn outside of like the usual learning. Evolving maybe? Maybe like it's a code that is incorporating new algorithms to enhance its function. But like most people? Nah I think like people are codes and programs. If you can figure out their programs then you can predict like what they'll do in the context of the system. Ever think it's weirdly coincidental that like, people seem to gravitate where you'd like expect them to? I mean that's their program. They never really thought of like -why- they wanted to do it, they just like 'felt' it was their calling. Seriously what is THAT? Totally not random. That's how the system remains functional right? It's like all the programs are working together without like, realizing it. Just a big network."

"Noodles!" She pushed her hand into the air and quickly packed up her goods. "Dude you're gunna give this to someone? No way!" Jo bounced from her seat, skipping to the register to procure a box and wrap it up tightly so the poor things would go sloshing around. "Dude like if you're gunna just hand it out, I will totally take it for midnight snacking. Games totally take all my energy." She zipped up her hoodie, pulled her backpack on and clasped it into place. "Is this guy for real?" She gestured at Danny with her thumb, already beginning to rock on her heels while she waited for them. "Seriously.. you do know that music and language is really just broken down into formulas. Seriously like, if you look at the musical patterns that are 'enjoyable' to people, it's really just a bunch of math. Seriously.. Like you should totally... dude no.. I'll tutor you in it ya know. Math I mean. It's simply and all but like once you see it..." She flattened her hands out, using them in the air as if seeing something amazing. "It's like the whole universe makes sense. Now come on." She grabbed him by the sleeve, but barely, 'fore you like start the zombie apocalypse in a bakery."

Danny

*He barely has time to mouth to Grace.* HELP ME!! *Before he's dragged off.*

Grace

"The lady talks like she knows everything about everything," Grace says, gives a little uptick of a smile to Danny.

She starts packing away cupcakes for the ride, but then Jo is there to whisk them all away. To where?

"Hey, where are we going? Somewhere close I hope?"

She grabs her coat and her laptop and... good fucking grief does Jo have a lot of energy.

"There there, Danny," she says, fake pats his purple hair (look, everyone, Grace is willfully touching someone!) and trundles off behind them.

Danny

*He's hauled off into noodle land, which is good, noodles are good. Noodles don't hurt anyone. There's the odd virus cough from time to time as he's dragged.* I have a car.... we can drive... Okay? Driving is better than walking. And you have to share the cake.

Jo

"Well I mean no, it's just like, math is the foundation of everything. I mean even physicists say that. Like without math you can't like..get it. I mean when you really break everyhting down it's numbers right? So like... if you're trying to find some kind of unversal song, then you're really just looking for the fundamental numbers that like bind people or notes or whatever. See that's the problem. I mean, like I get it. Like...like there is a code and like once you know the code you can like, alter it. But I mean what -IS- it? I figure, I figure like, if I keep looking I'll get the code and and I'll totally get the system right? Maybe like improve the algorithms or something, jump into the wire and just like... be with it. I think that maybe when you like overcome the limitations of the not-knowing, you can like, integrate completely in the system and discard the hardware."

She blinked, stepping outside and dragging him along. Jo paused near the bike rack, letting go of Danny to unhook her bicycle, reaching back to put the lock in her backpack. "Car? Seriously? Like...you know how like bad those things are? Sides I mean, I can't like take my ride with us right? I can totally ride along with you though. OH! Yeah let's do that!"

"I think there is like... an asian place nearby. I mean we are in like....Food Mecca. "

Grace

"Nah, Food Mecca is down Federal. They have this place with like, wonton tacos? It's amazement. You'd love it," Grace says, takes the other side of Danny so he can't escape.

Her hand goes to her pocket, and she slips out her phone. Okay, Google. Where's the nearest noodle store? Aha. Yes.

"Just down the strip of this mall, there's a Veitnachinese place. Bound to be noodles. Don't know how good they are."

But hey, it's close, and Danny is a bundle of cold virii loosely held together by human tissue. He might not last the night. Woe be unto Danny.

"You can get it without the math. The math just makes it easier for you. For someone like Danny, it just confuses. Everyone gets it in their own way, right? It's personal. Unique to you. Even those who try to codify it and lead others down the path in a rigorous way, they have subtle differences in the way they get it."

Danny

*It was fascinating in a terrifying way... and this bemused grin just started to appear on his face. Or was it one of those hallucination grins? Who knew... He just kept on waiting for the next load of words to come out.* If I say a random word, will you fill in the rest of the sentence? Can we try that?

*Yeah, she was cool in a totally nuts kind of way.. and kind of addictive too.* Yeah..... *he coughs again into his free hand.* What Grace said... maths is... like.... effort.... I don't get it. I mean, just cos I'm s'posed to it don't mean I do.

Jo

"Wonton tacos? Like for realsies? DUDE. We have totally got to go there sometime. Like woah."

"But like, how do you get it without getting it? I mean if it's all numbers how can you like, get it without knowing the numbers? I mean like... how can you get the program if you don't know the code or like the function of the code and like the function of programs. Like.." She scratched her head, rolling the bike along with her and them. "I mean it's the thing. I mean like.. ok like... ok so say it's like pumpkin soup right? I mean like someone like Danny? Danny right? Might like... I dunno... get that it's made of pumpkin and like cream and stuff. But what does that mean really? Like... you get the basic components but ike without knowing what makes up the components then how do you really know what pumpkin soup -is?- I mean like... I mean like I think a chemist would say that right? It's not -just- pumpkin soup right?It's composed of like chemicals that react in like a very particular way to create the particular texture and flavor, and like without that it wouldn't even -be- pumpkin. So like..you can go further and be like.. Ok so I get the chemicals, but what defines like the... the thing that makes the chemicals and the flavor. Like what defines what they taste like and how do we like define pumpkin? So like when you break it down into numbers, it's a very particular pattern of integers that leads to that particular chemical and then those two programs interact to create a very particular, prespecified flavor."

"I mean I guess the person who like...says pumpkin and creap is pumpkin soup isn't -wrong- cause like it is that, sure but like... it's surface information. Like saying a computer is a computer. But it's composed of parts and energy."

"And you can SO get math. Seriously.. it's really just practice. Like.. I was the chess and math champ in school. I can totally show you the tricks. Promise."

Grace

"I dunno, Danny. How do you do it? I suppose you taste the soup, no?"

She walks along, looks up at the sky.

"I've seen a guy read the patterns of fate in a wisp of glitter dust. I've felt veils of perception ripped away from my eyes when a woman lit some incense and started chanting. They don't need the math to do what they do, but it works all the same.

"People like us, we need to understand a thing down to its roots. We need to know the chemical formula for pumpkin soup. Others might hear the pumpkins whispering to them from October past, telling the history of pumpkinness. It's not up to us to tell them they're wrong."

They arrive at the Asian food place (Grace bets they have pho, korean spare ribs, fried rice, and sweet-and-sour something on the menu here) and she opens the door for Danny. Poor colded Danny.

Danny

Okay... maths. I'll put it into a version I can understand. Like Pulsars, right? *he frowns as he thinks, trying to gather the frayed ropes of his intelligence and bringing them forwards to map them out and plait them together.* Music is maths, pure and simple maths, the frequency of the beat the precise rates of which each tone is put into sequence is a code all of its own. Sound waves are a certain math, how it works is beyond me though. I just know I can do it. I don't need to understand it. It's just there.

Much like soup. *He nods to Grace.* It's there... it's that sense, that innate nature of what we are but on a more subliminal level. Raw energy. *He nearly walked into the door itself when he sneezed again and gathered himself enough with just about enough dignity to go with it to avoid the door as he tries again and slips his hand into his pocket to pull out a hair band to tie his hair up, which he does with a lazy twist of his fingers and hands.*

I want something with ginger in it, apparently it's good for colds. Ginger and vegetables with noodles... *He nods, then whatever else it was he was going to say is lost in a series of sneezes, which he does into the crook of his elbow again.* And I need alcohol. Lots of it.

Jo

Jo couldn't help but laugh, almost hysterically. "No way! People think soup talks to them? That's SO weird! Like..woah.. seriously? Man...that must be like the best high ever. Like way better than like acid or mushrooms. " She locked up her bike outside of the restaurant and followed Grace in. "Dude, if you can like grasp physics, you should totally be grasping math. I mean seriously? That's what physics is... math like everywhere."

She slid into a seat with them, placing her backpack on the ground and wasting no time pulling out her phone, sliding her thumb along it for a moment. "Your peeps sound totally trippy. I have a few friends who are so into that kind of experience. Like... they'd totally love it. "

Grace

"Not everybody does, when it happens to them. I know a guy who spent a while on antipsychotics because he heard things he shouldn't. He was always meant to hear though.

"Have you met any others who can... get it? Like you do?"

She takes a seat next to Jo, wondering about her. She certainly sounds newish. Doesn't yet know that other people can understand the universe without math...

Danny

Yeah... but maths with physics is easy.... *he moans slightly...* I mean, I can't explain how I know it!! I just like that kind of thing so I can pick it up. And I'll have you know that Lamp posts can talk to people, they have this odd little tinny sound though to their voices. Mostly they say "don't puke on me." *He shrugs helplessly and slides into a seat to lean against the wall slightly with a sigh of relief and pulls out his wallet again.*

I don't need to understand the universal song but I can dance to it and play with it. *He shrugs and sits up again then picks up a menu.* Something with ginger in.... and shots... we need shots... correction, I need shots.

Jo

The laugh keeps up. "No way! You guys have -got- to intro me to whatever you do on the weekends cause it's totally awesome."

She pulled a leg up, pressing her cheek to her knee and looking at Grace. It was a tight fit but she made it -work.- "Like me? Nah. I mean like no one is like me. I mean, was. Though I never did really..I mean... you have Clippy on your word don't you? I mean do people not like listen to his help? If they totally listened, they'd be much more ya know..like in the know."

"The math isn't like..different. I mean if you get numbers you get numbers. Seriously. I think like most people are just scared of it. It's fun really. It's like... data. It's objective right? Not all hyped in feelings and beliefs. It just like...is. "

"Noodles for me! Like with lots of sauce and meat and sesame seeds. Dude we could ya know like... get the sharey plates. Totally like...cultural and all."

Grace

"Dude. I do not. Clippy," Grace says, scowls, points at her Tux logo shirt, like 'do you even know what this means?!?'

"I don't even Word."

Menu, menu, oh, save us from technological ideology clash. Grace peers over the offerings, and orders ginger chicken for Danny (because he's too sick to think straight, apparently) and Ma Po To Fu for herself (though they're all going to share anyway, from the look of it)

"I was working on my robot arm with laser gun attachment this weekend, actually. Going to suspend it from the ceiling of my laser tag training arena."

And, unlike previous conversations involving lasers, Grace is totally serious about that last statement.

Danny

Oh boy no... *He laughs then coughs again into his hand.* You don't get to share a plate with me... hell, I wouldn't even share food with me right now!!

*He does ask for rice wine as soon as they get to order though. And the aforementioned noodles and vegetables. His head wasn't pounding, but that was probably the tylenol he'd taken before leaving this afternoon. Then here came that 'stuck' sneeze and the face to go with it.*

Aww come on already!! Someone sneeze for me? It's stu... *Ahh there it came. straight into the napkin he found before him on the table and no, he didn't blow then look, he just sneezed and groaned as he wiped.* Grace... I have to show you this cat I have. Made of metal.. and it's totally bitchin.... Joints and gears... real cool with it. And I got me one of those "alien" things folded over on it's knee's with glass on it's back.

*He nods with relief at the food and leans back in his seat to listen as the tech heads talk.*

Jo

"Tcht.. Dad was totally the same way. Gotta change with the times yo. Like, ya gotta progress. You gotta ya know, move with the tech. Incorporate new ideas. Ya know? New breakthroughs. New machinery. Can't be hanging out in the past and all. " She grinned slowly. "Clippy is super cool. Pushy, but man he can be a life saver."

She blinked, then slowly squinted, then furrowed ber brows as if she were digesting Grace's statement and trying to understand whether it was a joke or not. Then she softened, eyes widening slowly. "Really? You're totally doing stuff with lasers? MAN that is COOL."

Jo tilted her attention to Danny. "Well it's not like you share the same fork. I mean you get like a communal fork right, and then you like drop the bits on your plate and stuff. Totally normal culturally in asia and stuff."

Serafíne

Perception + Awareness

Dice: 7 d10 TN5 (3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 1

Danny

Danny's flashy pulsy bat signal is spinning faster. He's got a cold. Poor Danny...

Serafíne

Noodle place. Noodle place? At the absurd hour of the ordinary, work-a-day evening meal. An unfamiliar sensation to those open to the sense of the universe, perhaps. Gut-wrenching, enthralling, threshold-hovering see, just outside the door. Then in the door: long, bottle-blond hair with dark roots with a signature sidecut on the left otherwise falls in coils of curls around her shoulder, down her back. Still a bit damp from the morning shower she took forty-five minutes ago. Sera opens the door with her right shoulder and sort of spins around as if she always meant to complete a circle.

Leather jacket over a band t-shirt (white) over a bra (black - because), cut-off denim shorts over thigh-high fishnets held up by garters. Tattoos all over her hands and forearms, visible where the cuffs of the jacket are pushed up.

She doesn't bother with order. Doesn't care about food. Just takes a minute while the door is open to take a last drag off her clove cigarette and chuck it into the nearby ashtray, then ducks inside and heads right for Grace, Jo, Danny.

Grace

"Clippy is... new ideas? They got rid of him what, ten years ago?" Grace shakes her head. Poor little new kid.

"It'll be fine, Danny. Fine. We can use chopsticks to move stuff to our plates, and eat with our forks."

She closes her eyes, seems to breathe in the scent of the place, such as it is. "Sera's here." Her eyes open and she smiles at Jo. "You'll like her."

Danny

Yeah I know that... *he nods.* But I'd feel really bad if you guys caught this. *he waits for the drinks to arrive, then mercilessly begins to obliterate his senses with the rice wine.* I'ma get a cab home later.

*And there was Serafine... which was cool in her own way.. He turns with a smile for her and pours another shot.* Hey... *Is the greeting Serafine gets from the hoarse throated musician with what looks like a head cold judging from his nose.*

Huh? *His attention went back to the girls he was with where he stared at the pair of them blankly.*

Jo

"Clippy isn't no..well I mean -my- clippy is. I mean he's annoying sure but like.. he's actually useful. Seriously like the first time I calculated the probability of existing as a managerial program, he was totally there to help me locate the right search term."

Jo hums. The electrical current of her wires hum...that was the very sensation she gave. The subtle vibration of the computer fan, the move of electrical currents through wires...soft, still untapped, but present. Unlike the group, Jo is having a hard time focusing on the energies they give off. Maybe she's still thinking about the initial problem she faced earlier, still, or maybe it's just her off day. She hadn't been very good at noticing Grace or Danny either..But she does notice a shift; enough that when Grace mentions it, she's not completely oblivious.

Jo drops her leg and puts one hand on the back of the chair and the other on Grace's shoulder to lift up enough to look back. "Really? Like where? I mean like who am I - Oh you mean her? Dude! For Real? Is she the one that hears pumpkin soup talk to her cause I'd totally buy that."

Jo glanced to Danny. "Eh no sweat ya know? Like I hang with gamers, and they are some of like the filthiest people ever. I'm immune. I have the latest upgrade of virus protection. Cool beans yeah?"

Serafíne

Sera is smiling, not precisely blissed out yet and probably still mostly sober but - smiling as she curves around a booth and dodges another table and comes up to / by / behind the small group, all of whom have noticed her already. Grace she greets with a light touch of her tattooed left hand (the flash of ink on both the palm and the fingers) and this pressure of her mouth to the crown of Grace's head.

Danny next: a hand curving over his left shoulder as she slips by, smelling of patchouli and Chanel No. 5 and clove cigarettes, this pile of found-object necklaces 'round her neck (bicycle chain, pop can tabs strung together on wire) mixed in with south sea pearls, why the fuck not. She's carrying a little clutch with a brass-knuckles clasp through which she has threaded her fingers. Crystal-eyed skulls, there. Just about enough room for a credit card, four cigarettes, a joint, a condom and three tabs of acid.

Everything a girl could ever need.

"Hey." To all and sundry, Danny yeah, and Grace, and Jo to whom she has not been introduced. Her smile easy, simmering, engaging. A little waver of her hand through the clasp of that clutch for Jo, just because. "What the fuck are y'all up to?"

Grace

Grace lets Sera kiss her head, and even lets Jo use her as a prop to climb upon -- almost as if she were open to the concept of being touched today.

"Getting Danny something more nutritious than cupcakes to eat because he said he needs a bunch of ginger and alcohol.

Also, we're getting to meet The Collective here. She's new. Fairly new, at least."

TheCollective is the name Jo gave her, so that's what she's going to use.

Danny

Gaming huh? *He blinks a bit, then shifts in the seat to give Sera room to move herself into the seat. For once, no guitar was present.* Silent Hill.... All I'm sayin.. *He nods again and clears his throat slightly.*

My mission for today is to get hammered and eat noodles. How about you? *He smiles his approval of Sera's outfit.* Lookin good chica. *He turns back to stare at Grace, then Jo again.* Huh? Collective? *That first shot went down waaaaaaaaaaay too easy.*

Danny

(i'm sorry guys. I need to bail. it's really late here. Danny will stick around until there's a cab for him to fall out of later.)

Jo

Her lips curl into a broad grin as she regards Sera, certainly taking a moment to get a good glance at the whole package. "Yup, gamin. Silent hill is only like good up to four. Beyond that it's really a joke. The new PT totally came out though and it is Awesome! I looove watching people have like a total freak out. Super wicked."

"It is known. Collective I am. Well I mean it's my youtube handle. I'm Jo..." She winked at Sera, the same one she had given Grace when they first met. Sliding back down into her seat, she focused on the drinks at hand. "When I calculated the probability of being a managerial program, I discovered that the probability was small now. So small that it's like.. not even likely. But! That was like... I don't know, a month ago? See the thing is, it's unlikely that I am -now- but that if I were to discover the beginning of the universal code, it would increase exponentially. So like...I could become the Architect! And that's totally like the collective."

"Didn't the alcohol come like.. after? I think we came here for noodles cause he totally couldn't stomach all the sugar. I mean... when you have malware, it's totally not a good idea to put puttin bad stuff in."

Serafíne

If Jo wants some time to take in the whole package, well, Sera's perfectly content to let her gaze. No one dresses the way Sera does by accident, after all. It's a calculated sartorial choice.

The clutch she drops onto the table top, curling a bit to the side as Danny gets up to head to the little boy's room - maybe for a quick bump, maybe for a hit of Kleenex, maybe because he actually has to pee.

"Serafíne," so Sera introduces herself, holding out one of those tattooed hands. "You can call me Sera, though. Fuckin' everyone does."

Like Jo: there's no last name, just a first name that sounds like it is both long enough and significant enough to stand in for every possible naming iteration one might require in the modern world.

"And I have no idea what the fuck you just said," this to Jo, a lazy lift of her sharp little chin flinging the concept of conversation back across the table to Grace, "but it sounds like it is all right up her goddamned alley. You two must be getting along swimmingly."

Grace

"With the exception that she seems to like Clippy the animated paperclip abomination entirely too much, sure," Grace says, but she's smiling when she says it. Lucky Jo. "I think we'll get along."

"Last month, really? Is that when you woke up?"

Jo

"But like, is that what you go by? Sera? Or like Serafine?" She's quite content to take Sera's hand, though there's no grace to it. "That's cool beans. Lots of people don't. It's really just this. Everyone is software walking in hardware. With the like, proper understanding of the machine, and the system that contains it, we can become complete software, able to like, move around and stuff and eventually have more control over the system. Ya know, sort of like...like how your manager at like work makes sure all the ducks are in a row ya know? We're all just ducks but.. like you can be the bigger duck if you figure out the system."

"Huh? A month? Oh no like that's not it at all. I mean.. are you askin when I became aware that I wasn't like, a separate entity with full consciousness? Well I mean i sort of always knew a little.. here and there.. I just kind of put all the pieces together like last yearish. Nah I was just trying to calculate my odds. I mean you can't like, you can't just calculate your odds, you have to understand what you're calculating first and all that."

Serafíne

Jo asks whether she goes by Sera or like Serafine? and Sera just smiles and says "Yeah." to both. She goes by Sera or like Serafine. Gives Jo this quick flash of a peace sign - two fingers up, thumb and remaining fingers curved over her palm - that gives another hint of the ink on that left hand.

"You can call me either one, long as you don't call me a fucking machine or whatever the hell else you just said. I mean, I'm happy to deconstruct the illusion of separation as much as you like," this little hook of her right shoulder, a supple curve, not quite surrender, but something close to it, "but the rest of it doesn't really make my blood sing, you know? Doesn't resonate, in any way, shape or form, with how I see the world.

"Which is cool, actually. Multiplicity is what we're all about."

Then Sera's glancing out the picture windows at a small knot of folks dressed not-entirely-unlike her post-punk Siouxsie Sioux, one of whom - a tall girl with a red-painted mouth and a rockabilly style all her own - is tapping on the glass to get Sera's attention.

"Grace, you oughta give her my number. Gimme a call sometime, Jo. I throw the wickedest fucking parties."

Grace

"Wicked parties," Grace assents, waves goodbye to Sera. "At least, as I understand it."

Grace prods the poor Danny, who seems to have checked out. Oh well. She'll make sure the noodles and chicken make their way to him eventually. Take out is mightily resilient, and better the next day out of the microwave anyway.

"Listen. I don't go in for the whole managerial thing either. Machines, sure. Being an Arch of any kind? Architect? Inefficient. Backwards. You don't want to rule over people like you're the juggernaut and they're the ducks. It won't work. At least, not for long. You want to change the world, you want to make the ducks do what you want? Okay. You gotta play subtler than that. You gotta build things that the ducks want to use of their own free will. You have to give them the freedom and the ability to join you. You can't do that if you're going around making sure they stay under your thumb. I mean, you can, but it's..."

She shakes her head. "Considered harmful."