Haddy made sure to leave a bit early that morning. So she could swing by the Life labs, give Riley a hand with her phone. Probably the other hunter could have figured it out, given time and annoyance, but it was a nice excuse to pay the reclusive researcher a visit. It had been a while since Haddy had seen her last.
She'd knock on the lab door as he reached it, pausing for just a second before she'd let herself in. "Riley, are you in here?" As if there was any doubt of that. "Do you still need help with your phone?"
nio love
Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 10:21 pm
Riley was in the lab, all right. She'd gone back to work eventually, and gotten some done, except.. at some point the buzzing noise had become background noise, and it was only when it stopped that she became most distracted. It was strange, how that had worked. When Haddy finally came to find her, she was not in any visible area of the lab, but she was there.
It would take a few minutes to find her, and the easiest way to do so was by the flicker of light coming from an extremely dark corner of the lab. The flickers were coming from something just under one of the desks, where Riley had curled up into a ball with her back against the desk. There, she'd begun to just - read.
She read as others conversed with one another. She saw interactions happen as easily as the kind that others managed when they were together. Yelling, smiling, joking, insulting; all the different ways in which these Hunters, most of whom were barely acquaintances with one another, expressed how they felt without any regard for their privacy.
And she had nothing to say.
She told herself she didn't really want to talk to them, that interactions would cause relationships, and people would attempt to become friendly if she reached out in any manner. So instead, she people watched, and ignored the gnawing feeling in her heart.
There was a point, perhaps her weakest point, where she pushed a button. Then she pushed it again, and again, and again, several times. Immediately she tried to delete it, but instead she accidentally hit enter, and froze in horror.
"Oh hi, Riley."
It came immediately, like a nightmare unleashed, and yet she bit her lip to keep from smiling. Someone had said hi to her.
She did not say hi back.
She'd made up some excuse about a minipet, and went back to her silence. Haddy would find her there, just watching the phone, and disregarding her duties for the first time in her entire life.
She popped her head out, and waved a hand. "I'm here."
beejoux
Character's name: Riley Character's clan: Life Hunter, Specialization: Golem Research Character's journal link: Here Character's Arcana: Judgement (Wild Arcana Bonus, +2 Arcana to others bonus) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY CHARACTER: She's 6 foot even, thin, and a little on the nerdy side. Glasses, dark skin, thick purple-black dreds held up in a ponytail, and very introverted. She's always in the Life Labs, and has trouble talking to others. About anything. Ever.
This particular corner of the labs was never especially well lot, but the gloom Haddy encountered as she let herself in was almost alarming. For a moment she actually wondered if Riley was even there, or if she actually left her work space for a change.
Then she was waving Haddy over, abd the Moon let out a little cycle of amusement. Of course Riley was still here. How silly.
However...
"Riley, why are you sitting under that desk?" For a moment intrigue warred with concern, then she was sinking down to crouch beside the Life, peering into the oddly lit shadows of the desk cave. "Are you okay?"
nio love
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 4:44 pm
When Haddy sunk down to be beside her, Riley curled back up into her little ball, and patted the spot in front of her. An inch away, but close enough. "I'm all right. I've been analyzing the conversations that occur on this device on a daily basis. Did you know that if you wrote nonsensical letters, without any language of any kind, someone will still inevitably greet you as if you'd just said something readable?"
Her eyes looked a little tired. She might have been looking at the phone a little too long.
"You want me to- Oh." Well alright than. With a curious hum, Haddy crept a little closer so she could take a seat where Riley had indicated. Legs folded, she rested her hands in her lap, bright eyes taking in everything. "You look tired, Riley. When was the last time you slept?" She kept her tone light, conversational and curious. She knew better than to dive directly into chastening tones with the Life hunter, she responded better to subtle persuasion first. Then threats.
She would glance at the phone though, head tilting a little. "And of course they do. They're acknowledging you're presence." That curious gaze flicked back up to Riley's face.
nio love
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 5:18 pm
"Actually, I slept in my office just yesterday." She told Haddy, without taking her eyes away from the screen. She wasn't typing anything. She was just watching. She failed to mention that her nap yesterday had only been for two hours, but that was more than usual and therefore she thought she was doing fine.
"If you walk into a room, filled with people, I find that often times no one will acknowledge your presence. At all. Why, then, is the digital world so different?"
It was a better answer than she'd been expecting, honestly, so Haddy didn't question the length of the nap. Later, perhaps, she'd try to insist Riley take another nap, but for now it was fine. There was only so much pushing she could do, and expect positive results.
"In real life, there are those that have a certain attention grabbing presence, and those that don't. The latter are the ones that will be noticed, while the former are more easily looked over." She rolled her shoulders in a small shrug. "In text, everyone is equal."
nio love
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 6:36 pm
Her eyes widened, just a little bit.
"In text, everyone is equal."
The digital world and the introduction of the internet and intranet into society's daily life had evened out the playing field. She'd never even considered how important that was. How delightful.
Riley wanted to live as a digital construction, now. Fully implemented into its mathematical world, without need for any human function or feature.
The verbal response was perfectly acceptable, but that look in Riley's widened eyes had Haddy grieving in concern, brows creating as she tried to work out just where the other hunter's hyper rainfall mind had led her.
"Yes," she said a bit hesitantly. "Yes it's very nice, though there a certain anonymity that also occurrs, and that gives some courage enough to say some truly awful things."
It was a little surreal, having this discussion with someone so ridiculously intelligent. "They're called trolls, and their only goal is to create drama."
nio love
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:24 am
"Trolls." Riley chuckled out in amusement. "Like the ones on the other side. A type of monster. Mischief makers. And yet, they can't touch you, in this digital word. Their only weapons are words, isn't that right?"
She thought herself so clever for realizing this. As if words, alone, couldn't harm her. (And yet, they often did, and could, easily.)
"Well, I think it's worth further time and study. Don't be surprised if you see me here more often. Or, I suppose you might not realize I'm there, would you? Unless I said something. Do you think that is an important part of the experiment? Making sure others are aware of my existence at all times? Or am I best kept as an observer, instead?"
"Yes," she said hesitantly, as if looking for fault in that logic. Riley was far too happy about all this to trust she was understanding it properly.
She was quiet again as Riley thought allowed, and despite her suspicion that this conversation had really gotten away from her, it was still amusing.
"I think that really depends on what you're hoping to get out of the experiment." Unless it was just data collection, then she supposed not. "What are you hoping to find out?"
nio love
Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2017 7:33 pm
"If there's a best case scenario for existence. We've already established that lack of interaction in any form is not optimal. Social connection is an important part of keeping a healthy mind. Isn't that true?"
"I believe that to be true, yes. I think people can survive without, but life isn't just about survival." The verbal plans seemed to be behind her, at least for the moment. Haddy visibly relaxed, smiling as she leaned back against the desk they were still sitting beneath.
Why were they still sitting beneath the desk..?
nio love
Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 7:42 pm
Riley's hand was slowly letting her phone slide, just a bit. It was an indicator of her current state.
"What else is there to life except to survive it?" She asked, her voice a little slow, a little slurred. Her head was resting back on the desk, and her eyes had closed.
Haddy chuckled softly at the question, though it was more out of endearment. There wasn't really anything funny about the question. In truth, that the other hunter's had asked in in sincerity was just a little heartbreaking.
As the phone began to slip from dark fingers Haddy reached out to catch it, and then moved forward so she was sitting beside Riley instead. "Lots of things." Age take hand caught one if Riley's, and she'd lace their fingers together, squeezing gentlely. "Happiness, and fulfilment. Love, and friendship. We have the emotional score that we have for a reason, were supposed to experience all of it.
"Aren't there things you want to do, places you want to see?" She knew this conversation was nearly over, the other woman's eyes were closing, and her over worked buddy was fighting a losing battle.
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