A place to call home OPEN

[girlcorrupted]

characters: Angel and you!
location: The Library
date/time: Jan 7th-11th
content: How to stay occupied in bad weather
warnings: none


[ It isn't as though Angel is unused to confined spaces, but now that she's had a taste of freedom the restlessness she feels at being contained to the four large walls of the library itches like thistles stuck under her skin.

Once she had acclimatized somewhat, Angel had made a small space for herself up in the library's rafters. If you're visiting to avoid the storm yourself, you may find yourself startled when you spot her. That, or you'll catch her browsing through the aisles, piling books into an arm that looks far to thin to hold the weight.

Either way she'll be happy for some company and a distraction as she waits out the bad weather. ]

Comments

[rhyses]

[See, the sad thing is? He was aiming for the Invincible. But it's storming so badly, and he's so cold, and the wind just lances through his jacket, and long story short, he ends up stumbling into the library. Does he realize it immediately? He does not, too busy shaking snow off his coat and hair. But sooner or later the Librarian's huffy grunts catch his attention, and he jerks.]

Oh. Uh, sorry.

[Well, shit. And maybe he should turn around and go, but the thought of going back out into that cold darkness is just a little too much to bear. Better to warm up here at first, right?

So he kicks off his boots (because they're soaked and he doesn't want to earn the Librarian's further ire), leaves them by the door, and carefully walks his way behind the first shelf he can. It's not that he doesn't want to stand near the Librarian, but also, god, they creep him out.

Maybe he's not the only one they creep out, because hey there's Angel, and, hey, god, this is not really how he'd planned on seeing her again.]

. . . hey. [And then, a little lamely:] You, uh, you need help with those?

[girlcorrupted]

[ For her part, Angel accustomed to the creatures that ran the library rather quickly. No uglier than a hungry skag, and far more friendly.

Humans, on the other hand...those she was still not used to being in such close proximity to, and her history has far worse associations for them.

So...don't take it too personally, Rhys, when she jumps a little as she runs into you-- well, almost into. She stops short before that happens, books shifting precariously in her arms as she attempts to regain balance. ]

Wha--

[ And one falls. Darn. ]

Well, I was doing fine.

[rhyses]

Sorry.

[Kind of. But he bends down to grab the book-- and then, encouraged, takes two more off the top, so they're more evenly balanced. That's polite, right? And maybe it'll stop her from looking so skittish]

Reading anything good?

[girlcorrupted]

[ She bites the inside of her cheek at that, she was handling the weight just fine! Totally! But... the relief of having even a pound and a half lifted off her is a relief, she has to admit. ]

Thank you, I appreciate the help.

[ She flicks her head to the side, an attempt to move her bangs away and see where she's going as she heads for one of the reading tables, talking as she goes. ]

I don't know if I would call it good per se. I'm attempting to catch up on the history of this place, but doing so analog is...taking much longer than I'm used to.

[rhyses]

Don't get me started on the lack of technology here.

[Is he still ass-blasted over this? He super is!]

You know what happens when I pull up my database? Nothing. Nothing happens. There's literally no network around here for me to connect to beyond their weird chat system.

[girlcorrupted]

[ Once she reaches the table she sets her books down, adjusting them so that they're stacked in a neat pile and turning back to him. ]

Your data-

[ She hasn't really gotten a good look at the guy, despite their earlier meeting. Eye contact was avoided, and she kept a wide distance between the two of them. Plus, the whole infinite darkness thing did not help. But it's been a couple of weeks now, and while she's not settled, there is a little more confidence to her.

She looks now, from his face to his arm, and back to hi eye. ]

Oh! You're more machine than I initially realized.

[ She seems pretty delighted by this, old comforts a subject that she's thoroughly educated in. She tilts her head, holding up the small glass orb and it's little flame that sits around her neck for a better look. ]

I don't recognize the branding though.

[rhyses]

That's because it's Atlas tech.

[He's terribly proud of that. Even offers his arm, rolling up his sleeve and widening his eyes so she can get a better look.]

Designed it myself. Way better than my old Hyperion brand one-- that was nice, but it's also nice not to have a million ads telling me to buy Hyperion crap. Plus? Comes in different colors.

[girlcorrupted]

[ Of course it was Atlas tech... ]

But for it to be this refined...

[ Mumbling to herself. She wonders how many years it's been since her final moments compared to Rhys's. That he had built up Atlas enough to be producing this level of quality meant at least a number of years.

She nods as she keeps looking. No outright touching but she does lean in a little. ]

Yes, I remember the Hyperion line of enhancements, as well as the non-negotiable adspace that came with them. Way worse, if you were on any sort of payment plan.

I remember having to convince Jack that creating code to set the small bombs in them off any time a person clicked away from a pop-up without looking at it for at least twenty seconds would result in a bigger net loss than any sort of gain.

[ She winces, the name spoken without much though but suddenly having so much more weight to it, leaning back a little from her observations. ]

Your design is certainly sleeker in its build!

[ Though paisley???? Yikes. ]

[rhyses]

[PAISLEY IS COOL, LET HIM LIVE.]

Yeah, good call, that . . . sounds horrifying. But on-brand.

[Ha ha, oh, Jack, with your sociopathic ways . . . fun times. Rhys makes an odd little face, a rueful sort of hey yeah he was the worst, let's maybe not linger on it, and then they're moving on.]

Right?

[He sounds so giddy . . . he really is proud of it.]

Lighter, too, so there's less strain over time on the body. Means it's a little more expensive, which isn't ideal, but still: quality over quantity. To a point, anyway.

[He's nice, but he's not naive to how business works.]

Pretty cool.

[girlcorrupted]

[ Angel replies to that with a strained smile, if she never had to hear a sales pitch for technology again it would be too soon. She turns back to her pile of books, despite her continued interest in Rhys's prosthetics. To investigate further would be invasive...and dangerous.

Instead she idly walks the conversation back a little. ]

You know, even if connecting to the echonet is out of the question, there's likely a way to synch up your arm and eye with the network present here.

[rhyses]

[He frowns faintly.]

Yeah. I mean, I've got that part down, kind of, though I wouldn't mind a second pair of eyes-- it's just so basic, you know? They don't even have a search engine.

[. . .]

What is it?

[girlcorrupted]

[ She hesitates, for a moment. Weighs risk against her curiosity, then again against her helpful nature.

It's been so long since she's spoken to any kind of truly complex code. There's much to be desired when it came to the technology in this place, and ever since arriving she had felt her connection to her one comfort, her one constant, wavering.

Once she's considered her options thoroughly she puts out her hand towards him. ]

Here, hand me your tablet.


Erm, please.

[rhyses]

. . . okay.

[He's wary-- of course he is-- but how much damage can she possibly do? Frankly, even if she's a top-tier hacker, it's not as if he's got Atlas secrets on here. It's not like it matters anymore.

So he offers her his tablet, and watches her carefully.]