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 Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:20 am
...Collection...Perri Indiya Perri strode into the lab, small and full of purpose. She'd learned long ago that they key to getting in anywhere was to appear that you were meant to be there, whether or not this was entirely true. The fact that she for once actually had a valid excuse for entry didn't mean she shouldn't practice her bluffing skills. And since she'd obtained this high tech, personalized computer legally and all by her lonesome, the swagger wasn't fabricated in the least. Setting her sights on a person with an official-looking ID badge, the business-suited woman walked over and introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Perri Indiya and I'm one of your clients. I just recieved a notice from Doctor Brune that my unit is ready for pick up. May I speak with him?" Doc Albert Doc, who was somewhat surprised by the slightly agressive manner in which the woman had approached him, looked down. "That would be me," he informed her with a smile. "I believe you're here about Zeta? Or Blue, as you may be familiar with her as?"
He produced a folder from inside his labcoat and flipped through the information sheets. Yes, everything checked out. He looked at the chip taped to the inside and was somewhat taken aback, though. Where had this design come from? He knew Sophie had done the building, but this was odd! Oh well, it seemed to be a pretty standard base with modifications. He'd have to ask about it later.
Might as well hand it over, he figured, plucking the chip out of the adhesive grip and holding it out for Perri.
"Now, you are aware of what the project entails, correct?" Perri Indiya They call it Zeta. The woman repeated silently to herself, memorizing as quickly as she could. She'd never been very good with that part of the con, so she smiled in a sweet-but-flustered manner to stall while she commited things to memory. "I believe so. It's an advanced unit that needs care and education, correct?" Be nice, Perri. People liked nice. Nice was a little bumbling and almost always mistaken for honest. Doc Albert Doc had never heard it described as such, but it seemed about accurate. "Yes. And it takes the form of a child." He studied Perri momentarily, though trying to be subtle. Something was fishy here... Perri Indiya "Of course. What better interface is there to ensure care?" she said with a smile, carefully looking over the card. When she had sent in her specifications this was not what she had expected. She wanted a slick laptop or an overpowered desktop - who said she signed up for a kid? "I know how to see to a child, but how does one care for this chip? Keep it away from dust and static and all that?" Perri asked prettily, exuding genuine concern. Doc Albert "Not quite what you expected, eh?" Doc asked, noticing her disappointment. "But you're exactly right. No dust, no water, and absolutely no playing ping-pong with it." Perri Indiya " Ping pong?!?!" she snarled, clutching the chip protectively. "What sort of fool do you hand these out to?" Doc Albert Doc winced. "It was the very beginning of the project. And the child turned out just fine. It's just as a precaution. So, I'll see you in a week or so?" Perri Indiya "As long as you can promise no similarly deranged indiviuals will bring harm to my charge, yes." She said with a huff, making use of her high ground. Kid or no, this was delicate tech, and ought not to be in the hands of those who couldn't or wouldn't handle it properly. "Come Blue, we're going home. Good day, Doctor."
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:38 am
...Contemplating Reality...
The first thing Perri did when she returned home was to see to the well-being of the chip. She took it straight to her computer lab and put into a homemade clean room, a.k.a. a jury-rigged closet that she usually used for building one of her hardware 'toys'. She'd mod another space if she needed to do that sort of work before the week was up, but it was doubtful that such a space would be needed. No one wanted hardware these days. It was too easy to track. All they wanted were masterpieces of code now, which was all fine and dandy of course, but she had always been a sucker for a well-composed hunk of metal.
Which was why she was in this mess.
It had been such a tempting offer at first, Perri had been sure it was another attempt by law enforcement to entrap her. But there had been none of the usual requests for illicit tech, and even the company had been more solidly legit than the feds had ever managed before. And the offer, gawds the sweet, sweet offer. The highest-grade tech barely rumored to be in existance, all built to her own personal specs and handed to her for no fee but the care of it. The education of it. A.I.! Glorious, shining, her-very-own-to-meld A.I. Could life get any better? Of course not! The shifts and scams and pulls she could swing with tech like that. The pieces she could cannibalize off it. Just the comps she could learn! All worth it, every bit. But the tech was supposed to be just that: tech. Thinking, learning, swifty as hell tech, but a machine. Not a person. Certainly not a kid. She was techie gone bad who'd learn to throw her own con, not a bloody little babysitter.
Not a, dare she think it? mother-type.
She shook her head at herself, the chip, and life's turn of events in general. Then she ran upstairs, stripped, pulled on something suitably shlumpy and college-age-nerd looking, and grabbed her pack. She'd already tossed in the laptop she'd need for today's job before picking up her tricky prize, and so swung it into the passenger seat of her rebuilt '67 T-bird with a measure of care. Of she went, sudden bread-winner for a two person family.
Bloody tech.
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:57 am
...Damn It Jim!...
Glancing back at the clean-roomed chip as her main drive hummed through its compiling, Perri wondered again whether or not she should actually keep the beastie inside. On the one hand, advanced tech was advanced tech, and even one in kid form could be molded into a formidable system of great use. On the other hand, if it acted anything like her nephew Brady she'd be hard pressed not to lock it in a closet until it came off of its sugar high. It was highly unlikely it would be able to physically manage a sugar high, but the point was she was not a patient, raiser-of-children by any stretch of the imagination. As long as it was more tech than flesh, she could probably handle it. Otherwise...
She sighed, repeating her new mantra "Tech is tech" in attempt to calm her snarling nerves. The system was being built to her specifications, kidness or no. It would be fine. It would be more than fine. It would be great. She was sure of it. This was the chance of a life time, and yet here she was, seriously thinking about throwing it away-
Perri paused for a moment in her musings to see to the machine that has just finished its work. Perfect. Another useful program ready for its new home. A few snips to the code here and there to remove her 'fingerprints', and it was herded onto a new disk that was sealed in a bag and put aside for delivery later the next day. That done she picked up the machine that had done the work and took it to the blanking closet, the huge magnets plastered inside the main walls of the small room wiping the drives perfectly clean. Once it no longer had a shred of recoverable data on it, the computer got put in her 'to be torn apart and rebuilt' stack along with six other machines that wouldn't be used for anything by anyone again until all the parts had been shuffled and mixed. She may not have been the best con when it came to interpersonal relations (which is why she was down here doing what she did do well), but she was nothing if not paranoid about being caught and so terribly thorough. She made a mental note to warn the kid about the BC - any magnets that could rip the data off a hard drive could scramble a tech-based life form's brains to kingdom come.
Ping! Her email server blinked at her, saying that she had a new job request. Swifty. Perri glanced at it for a moment before setting the machines to sleep and trotting up the stairs for some lunch. No one wanted to turn into one of those wormy techs how lived in perpetual darkness on cheetos, and since she had to use her face for business every so often it wouldn't do to let it go pasty. She made herself a salad and read the paper as she munched. Must keep tabs on reality. Business people didn't let it get away from them. She was a techie first and foremost, of course, which was why she'd practically bitten the doc's head off when he mentioned using her chip for a ping pong paddle. What time she'd spent in college before admitting to herself it was a waste of her time had been taken up by computer studies, and her conning work was really just an afterthought addition to her business practices tacked on to keep her a freelance worker as opposed to a 'recruited' tech for some gang. Techs lasted longer if they knew how to and took care of themselves. Then they could assure they wouldn't be sloppy.
Which was ultimately why she was twitchy about this A.I. being a person. If it really acted like one instead of a smart box, it could get her in trouble. Biiiiiig trouble. Perri worked alone because she could trust herself. A kid? Hell no.
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:59 am
...Always Call it "Research"...
Yesterday, Perri had been wondering if there would be any turning back from this unwanted turn of events. Now she was sure the answer was no. How did she know? She was reading up on childcare online while she waited to make a software drop. It was official. She was doomed.
Even if the kid acted like a machine instead of a person, its caretaker was warped of the mind. She'd never been interested in the well-being of anyone but herself since she escaped the foster home at seventeen, let alone had any aspirations about caring for a child. Who wanted another bag of meat to look after when their were such fabulous machines, anyway? Not that this one was a non-machine but... well the point was that she had no maternal instincts whatsoever and the universe was playing a cruel joke on her implying that she might. She'd started out looking up stuff on the rearing of kids because only a fool went into the fray blind and unstudied. Really. That was the only reason. Still was the only reason. God forbid she care about anything but herself and her computers.
Underneath all her fretting and admission of acceptance/defeat, Perri's memories of her own terrible and love-lacking childhood fought to rise to the surface. She didn't like kids because they reminded her of the dark times before she took care of herself, and because she was always somewhat afraid that she would fail them. Being passed from foster home to foster home until she finally escaped a seriously flawed state child care system had not made her the most trusting nor cheery of people, and what child deserved having her inflicted on them? If she had any sense, she'd march right back into that lab, explain there'd been a mistake, and give the kid back. She'd thought she was getting a computer, not a bloody child. Who gave out children? Wasn't this illegal? Anyway, to return to the worry at hand, she should just give it back and walk away. But of course she couldn't. Child or no she was already to attached to send the pretty chip away. T'was the opposite of how these things were supposed to go, but she was a damaged wackjob as far as most people were concerned so that wasn't too surprising. The chip was just so damn... cute for lack of a more sensical word. She wanted a shirt with the spaceship on it. She wanted the tech it promised. She wanted to not be so alone.
Not really. Well, sort of. She was okay with her lot now, but it seemed like there was nowhere really to go but down, and jail was not something she aspired to. If up was her location, and falling wasn't wanted, a change required sideways. This was so big a sideways she never even imagined it could happen. But you don't like change her brain hissed at her. Perri ignored it, snapping her throw-away laptop closed and rising as she caught sight of the person she was swapping a program for payment with. No, she wasn't particularly fond of change. But if the choice was atrophy-ing to death or a tweak of life there was no contest. She'd take the change.
Swap made her computer was packed in magnets and tossed into a compactor to be crushed into oblivion. It's former owner winced lightly at the sound of metal squealing for life, but continued on her way. A few more roundabout stops, an errand or two, and then home.
Just a few more days of freedom...
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:39 pm
...Twenty Questions... Perri Indiya Perri attempted the morning crossword, was thwarted, and turned to doodling while she finished her breakfast. Soon the margins of the newspaper will filled with fleets of spaceships that all looked suspiciously similar to the one adorning the chip downstairs. The young woman frowned at the paper and pushed it away. How dare it reveal what was on her mind! Silverah The phone rang - a very welcome distraction, probably. Though Silvy wouldn't have known, because she was on the other end, wondering why on earth Doc had asked her to call one of the new caretakers. Someone by the name of Perri?
Oh well. Might as well check it out. Perri Indiya Perri leapt out of her chair as her back pocket began to buzz. Swearing under her breath, she pulled out the cell phone and flipped it open. She would never get used to that sensation of a phantom hand tickling her bum. "Yeah?" Silverah It took Silvy a moment to actually comprehend that this Perri person had picked up the phone.
"Perri?" she asked uncertainly. "You don't know me, but my name is Silverah. I've got a child from the Kybernetika Institution. Doc told me to call you? That you've recieved guardianship of a chip?"
She laughed in consternation.
"Actually, I have no idea what this is about. I think he's trying to get info on you." Perri Indiya "So this is an interrogation?" she asked with a chuckle, leaning back in her chair. If she acted her part she would sound more like it, and even over the phone one had to be convicing. "Yeah, I think he's a little worried about me. I just about bit his head off when he let it slip that someone else had used their chip as a game paddle. I'm a bit of a technophile." Silverah Silverah winced. Poor Yvette. That ping-pong story had gotten so overblown, hadn't it? "Good, then," she replied, shrugging it off. "You'll fit right in. Doc will love you." She considered the other parents and continued, "It's a pretty mixed bag at the institute. There are technophiles like yourself, but there's people from almost every background. Part of the nature of the project, I think." Perri Indiya "Speaking of, what is the exact nature of the project? I was originally under the impression that I was getting a computer, not a child." Perri asked idly, spinning on her barstool. Think non-chalance. Silverah Silverah considered the question carefully. "In a way, it is a computer. I know one that is very analytical - no personality at all. But they've got personalities if they aren't malfunctioning. I think Doc programs that, so I don't know if you can change that."
She paused, wondering what else to talk about.
"What does it look like?" Perri Indiya "Square and chip-like." She said with a yawn. "Yellow with a blue spaceship graphic etched into it. It's a great piece of work, but looks more like jewelry than hardware. Is the kid... in there?" Silverah Darsais thought back to when Darsais had been a chip and didn't believe she had looked like that. It had to be a custom job.
"The personality is there in the circuits," she assured Perri. "It can probably hear us, too." Perri Indiya "You don't think she'll mind being in a plastic bag will she?" the young woman asked with a touch of concern. "I wanted to keep her clean and safe." Silverah "I've heard of stranger things happening and them turning out fine," Silverah answered, shrugging though she was on the phone. "The one that got played ping-pong with always had these weird dress-things shoved on it." Perri Indiya "Oookay..." Perri rolled her eyes and sighed. "Where does he find these people?" Silverah "I'm not exactly sure. Sends out mass mailings and sees who responds?" She guessed. Silverah personally had been asked in as a test parent. Suddenly, another thought crossed her mind
"How'd he find you?" Perri Indiya "I, er... he contacted me about a job." She said, doing her best to recover from her surprise. "The computer was supposed to be my payment." Silverah Silverah sighed. "That sounds just like him. He's almost over-enthusiastic about them. He's always building new ones. He pushes them off on everyone."
"Well, I don't think you're anything to worry about. Not more than Yvette, anyway. She didn't feed hers for four months and somehow it maintained conciousness. I'll tell him you're good, 'kay?" Perri Indiya "I'm glad to have earned a good report from the secret agent - unknowingly of course." she said with a sigh of relief. She was handling her slips better and better these days, and apparently she'd managed to cover up that last one.
"Tell him I'll be in tomorrow like he asked." Silverah "Sure thing!" replied Silverah cheerfully. "Seeya around!"
-click-
Silverah set the phone down and sighed. No, nothing seemed off anymore. Perri Indiya Perri snapped the phone closed and stowed it in her pocket before slumping back in her chair with a sigh. Phew! She was not cut out for these interpersonal relation-thingies. But at least her lies were safely set once more.
She wondered if she could get the kid to believe her. She hoped so.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:42 pm
...It's a Girl!...Perri Indiya Perri stepped into the lab once more, once five days had passed and her unit's "body" was ready. Man, did that ever sound sketchy, but what could you do? She was in a different business outfit, but still dressed to convey her front of being a young tech tester for a decent corporate company. She'd even brought the chip in a padded briefcase.
"Hello? I'm looking for Doctor Brune?" Why was it so quiet? Doc Albert Doc stepped out of the back lab room and instantly smiled. "Thank you for coming! You have the chip? Good!"
He just assumed she did. Because not having it would be stupid.
"Come right this way."
He turned tail, and, assuming Perri was following, headed back into the lab. Perri Indiya Perri followed him quickly, case swinging and high heels clacking on the tiled floor.
"May I ask where we're going?" Doc Albert "Why into my lab, of course!" exclaimed Doc, practically dancing around a corner between CPU towers. Three more corners later, he and Perri had arrived at a clearing in the computer equipment where the form of a small child with bright blue hair lay prone on a gurney.
"Chip please," Doc said, extending a hand to Perri. Perri Indiya Perri raised an eyebrow when she saw the body, but she did as she was asked. Flipping the case onto an empty lab table, she snapped it open and carefully extracted the disk, handing it over.
"You do realize this is rather on the creepy side of normal, right?" Doc Albert Doc accepted the chip with a flourish and strode back over to the body.
"It's not normal at all," he replied. "It's rather extraordinary. Mechanical life!"
He propped the body into a sitting position and flipped an access hatch on the back of its head open to slide the chip in. Once it clicked into place, he closed the hatch and allowed the body to lay back on the table.
At first, the body was motionless, but as a few seconds passed, the lights behind its eyes began to give it a living expression. Its face twisted into an innocent grin.
And then it sat up, hopped off the table, and every last trace of innocence vanished when she - for it was female - giggled.
Nothing with a giggle that mischievious could be up to anything but no good. Perri Indiya Perri blinked, not used to a mechanical person, you know, waking up and laughing and stuff. The trained part of brained screamed at her for breaking character, but it was soon silenced by common sense. Who wouldn't be overly suprised by the scene before her?
A smile slowly stole across the young woman's features of its own accord. "I like your hair."Blue frowned and twisted, trying to get a look at said locks. "Is it sticking up funny?" Doc Albert Doc smiled and patted Blue's head. "No, it's fine," he assured her, turning his attention to Perri. "Now, she can eat foods that are primarily sugars - carbohydrates, fruits, candy. That sort of thing. I've devised a system that can derive electricity and energy from them. Proteins and fats aren't good for her, and too much will clog her system. Er... Sleep mode on a regular basis is definitely a good idea, and that's about all."
He waved them out of the lab.
"I'll see you both around!"
Was that a threat? Perri Indiya "Can I have Boo Berry cereal?" Blue asked Perri as the older woman took her hand and led her out of the lab."Sure. We'll even stock up so we have a bunch left when Halloween is over. How do you know about that?""You sang that song about it, remember?"Perri rolled her eyes and nodded. "Ah yes... hmm? Oh, thank you Doctor. Be well."The small girl watched everything as they passed it with a sponge-like interest, but she only really perked up when she saw Perri's car. "What is that?""That is my car. A 1967 Thunderbird, to be specific." the human told her, helping her into the passenger seat and belting her in. T-Birds didn't usually have seatbelts, but she'd installed some decently vintage looking ones so her insurance company wouldn't have a spasm."Does it go fast?" the child asked, running a reverent hand over the leather and paneling."Very fast."Blue beamed. "Go fast!"Perri chuckled. "When we get to the highway, where we can, okay?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:43 pm
...Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines...
Before they got all the way home, Perri stopped at a toy store and led her charge inside. Blue's eyes widened and she craned her neck to try and see everything at once, tugging on Perri's hand as she pointed.
"What is all this?"
"This is a toy store. I thought you might want some."
"Toy stores?"
"Toys, Blue. They've got dolls and bears and-"
"Do they have planes and trucks?" the child interrupted impatiently, having no interest in anything pink or lacey.
Perri nodded, relieved. "Lots. Over here."
When Blue saw her myriad of toy choices, both Perri and her hand were instantly forgotten. The woman understood and let her go explore: she acted the exact same way when a new shiny computer was offered her. Which was why she was in a toy store with a mechanical kid. Damn. Hopefully her little one would learn to control her "Ooo, pretty!" impulses a little better than she did.
After a solid fifteen minutes of looking and another ten of some pretty serious comparison shopping, Blue returned with two toy planes, three cars, a truck, a train engine, a motorcycle, and a jet. "Can I get these?"
Perri nodded and led her to the cashier, where a nice young sales clerk took the toys from her and rung them up. "Getting these for your brother?"
"For me." Blue said excitedly, taking the full bag from him as Perri handed over some cash. "Can I play with them in the car?"
"As long as you're careful." the woman responded, leading her back to their vehicle and strapping her in once more.
The child quickly pulled out her planes and had them chasing each other as the T-Bird purred to life and pulled out of the parking lot. "I'm gonna fly some day."
Perri nodded. "Of course you will."
"Then I'll go really fast."
The brown haired woman nodded again, concentrating more on traffic patterns than her charge's predictions. As they got on the highway again, Blue put down her toys and watched the world speed by. Fast. Exactly what she wanted.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:45 pm
...Robots in Disguise...
Perri was a nice lady, even if she wore very different clothes depending on where she was going and played with boring old machines in the basement. She had a really nice car, which Blue wanted to drive some day. She hadn't asked Perri about it yet, since they were still new to each other. You needed to really know and trust someone before you let them drive your car. Also, Blue suspected she might need to be a little older.
It went fast. Real fast. Not like jet plane fast, but pavement fast, and that was great too. Besides, if she wanted jet plane fast all she had to do was turn on the television and pop in a DVD. Perri had all these great shows on disc from when she was a kid, and Blue's favorite was definitely Transformers.
First, it was a cartoon, which she had never seen before and liked instantly. Second, almost all the characters were different kinds of fast vehicles, except for a few human kids, but the main point was the vehicles, who could turn into robots, and so managed to be both her favorite things and kind of like her. And third, it had Starscream. He was a Decepticon, which meant he was suppose to be evil, but Blue loved him. He was a jet and could go real fast and talked neat. Someday, when she was bigger, she was going to find the real Transformers that the cartoons were based on (because damn it, they existed if she wanted them to), and go fly with Starscream, and it was going to be great. Really, really great. She couldn't wait!
When Blue had told Perri this, she had laughed and said she had good taste. Starscream had been her favorite too. She was not only nice, she was smart!
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:46 pm
...More Than Meets the Eye...
"Perri can we go driving again tomorrow?" Blue asked, voice muffled by the turqoise pajama top being pulled over her head.
"Maybe, it depends on how long my work takes." Perri responded, smoothing the little girl's hair back from her face before helping her into bed.
"Maybe yes?" the child tried again.
"Maybe maybe. I won't make any promises I'm not sure I can hold to."
Blue frowned for a moment, but she forgot her distress the moment she was handed one of her toy planes. "Peachie! Can I have Greenie too?"
The woman gave her a skeptical look. "Will having both planes distract you from sleeping?"
"No..."
"Because you need to sleep, not act out dogfights."
The little girl put on her most innocent and endearing expression. "I will!"
Perri chuckled, shaking her head and handing over the plane. "Liar."
"Why are airplane chases called dogfights?"
"I don't know." she said with a shrug, tucking her charge in before sitting on the edge of the small bed. "I'm not a history person."
"Won't the internet tell you?"
"Probably. It does know everything."
"You should ask it."
"I'll ask it tomorrow."
Blue frowned. "You'll forget."
Perri snorted. "And how do you know?"
"Cause you forget things!"
"Not important things."
"You forgot to get shampoo for a week."
The older female sighed and rubbed her nose. "I'll write it down as soon as I leave here, okay?"
"Write it on your hand so you see it in the morning."
"Yes, my lady." Perri smiled and ruffled the girl's pale blue hair. "Anything else I can do for you?"
"Can I have Starscream bedsheets?"
"As soon as I find them."
Blue grinned, settling down under the covers with her planes clutched to her chest. "Nope, that's all I need."
"Glad I can provide." her caretaker said, shaking her head as she stood and walked to the door. She had just opened and been about to step through, when a shy voice stopped her.
"Perri?"
"Hmm?"
"Could... could I have a kiss goodnight?"
The woman looked stunned for a moment, and then slowly smiled. Walking back to the bed, she leaned over the small girl and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "How's that?"
"Perfect."
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:47 pm
...Flying Purple People Eater... Perri Indiya Blue ran in, dressed all in purple with a purple party hat on her head, dragging Perri along behind her. The older woman wore a normal shirt and a pair of pants with small hard candies glued all over them. The child looked excited. Perri was not half as pleased.
"Come on Perri! I wanna meet some people." the little one cajoled."Why?" her caretaker muttered under her breath. YvetteEmilieDupont Peaseblossom smiled at Doc please she had half a brain to put two and two together, she turned around to see who was starting the comosion at the entrance of the lobby. She smiled seeign little blue finding her adorable. Peaseblossom was so happy to see anyone like her, plus it was a child. She grinned looking back at Doc, "Excuse me I'll let you all talk amongst yourselves."
She turned around going over to Blue and Perri, she quickly noticed that Perri didn't look like the happiest person on the earth. "Hello I'm Peaseblossom, what's your name?" She bent down a little to be at the same level as Blue, not wanting to intimidate him. "What are you being for Halloween?" Peaseblossom let go of Titania whom fluttered around a bit then just floating by Peaseblossom. Bluma was moving around the bag trying to find more taffy to naw on.
Yvette watched Peaseblossom run off she glanced supiously at Perri and Blue, but quickly hid it. She looked at Doc smiling," I didn't know we had to dress up... I didn't think you could be this creative. I mean normally the science geeks like you are like horrid in the creativity department, total creativity party poopers if you ask me. I thought it was going to be some long boring bleh bleh blhe thing-" Yvette spoke using her hands to speak with too making little talking action with her hands at the bleh bleh bleh part. She stopped in mid sentence a shiney pin on the astronaut suit catching her attention."ooo shiney." She automaticly started poking at it trying to pull it off. Nauticah
. : ° : .
As usual, Zwart and Gwyn were first on the scene.
"AII! PAARRR-TAAAYY GOIN' DOWN 'ERE OH YAAH!" Zwart exclaimed as he walked around in a circle momentarily before dashing across the room and unto the astronaut's head in one seemless bound. "Wee, Spaaace, the FINAL FRONTIER."
"My dear brother, I think you have ingested too much caffine and sugar for your own good... Zwart! Come down from there!" Gwyn paced himself across the room, eluding the typical cat savvy in his mannerisms.
Daichi then followed, dressed up as a football player (well, it figures he'd want something to do with sports...), helmet, padding, and all. White and blue, his helmet was solid blue with an image of Zwart and Gwyn 'charging'.
Nauticah was the last to enter, carrying with her a couple bags. "I brought the chips!" She announced, making her way over to the concessions table. "And some treats but I gotta go back and get those..." She was dressed up rather...oddly, having died her hair purple and pulled it up in curly pigtails, and she was wearing a very full white and black lolita dress, her hairpiece was white with black lace trim. She had a black skull pinned in her hair, and a black skull adorned the choker as well. Her boots were tall, black, lace-up knee boots with thick, chunky soles and hells. Her earrings were little dangling black skulls as well. She smiled at the others, still wearing her trademark black Romani's.
She sat the chips up on the table as Daichi stayed close to her. "Mommy...this place is weird."
Nauticah smiled down at Daichi, and then kneeled down to his level. "Hehe, hun, that's Halloween for you, it's weird...but trust me it's fun, okay?"
"Okkay... Um... Where's Wart and Gwyn?"
"Oh, Zwart, um... Oh dear... Zwart! Get down from there!"
Zwart was on top of Doc's head, swatting into the helmet. "Hahahahaha, Doc you're a silly man to put yourself in a fishbowl like that!" Gwyn simply stood by and watched in dismay.
. : ° : .
Perri Indiya "I'm a Purple People Eater!" Blue said cheerfully and pointed her caretaker. "She thought it up.""It's a thing from when I was a kid." Perri said with a small laugh as she scanned the room. Far too many people for her taste."My name's Blue and this is Perri. What're you?" the child asked while watching the fluttery things. Neat! YvetteEmilieDupont Peaseblossom smiled, "That's Titania, kind of like my doll. I like your costume, I think it's very nice. I didn't get to dress up." Peaseblossom took hold of Titania gently pulling her down to Blue, so he could hold her. "I have a funny looking blob, would you like to see that?"
Yvette smiled at Zwart, "It's not a fish bowl it's an astronaut outfit, you should be up there. You could get hurt and your mom would be very upset. She gently took Zwart down from on top of Docs head smiling sweetly as she set him back down on the ground. Yvette saw Nauticah kind of awe stricken, "You look very beautiful... I feel so out of place not dressed up." Yvette saw gwyn out of the corner of the eye, feeling bad for her dismay. (ooc: I don't even know what Dismay means. lmao) Perri Indiya "Neat! How fast can she fly?" the small girl asked, inspecting said Titania for a moment and then releasing her. She smiled politely at the mention of the blob and nodded, keeping up the appearance of nice like Perri had taught her. I mean, she was actually nice, but non-speedy things weren't really her cup of tea. YvetteEmilieDupont Peaseblossom smiled letting Titania fluttered around again, she slowly took Bluma out of the messanger bag. Bluma was all groaning in pain from all the taffy she managed to eat and naw on. "Jezz Bluma you are all sticky... I think she got into my taffy. I can clean her off if you want to hold her, you seem kind of bored. So what do you wanna do blue?" Perri Indiya "Do you have a car?" the child asked excitedly. "A fast car?" YvetteEmilieDupont Peaseblossom giggled shaking her head, "Noo I don't, but I can run around as fast as I can with you on my back if you like." She put Bluma back in her bag. Perri Indiya Blue giggled. "That's just silly! Wanna race?"Perri glanced at her charge, wondering if all her watching of Transformers was what had awakened this need for speed. If so, she'd accidentally created a monster. YvetteEmilieDupont Peaseblossom smiled taking her bag off from around her setting it by the wall along with Titania, "Sure I'll race you, but only if you can keep up! I'm soo going to win." Perri Indiya Blue didn't even wait to argue, immediately taking off as fast as she could around the room. It wasn't the speed you got in a vehicle, but it was fun nonetheless.Perri just shook her head. "God help us all if she ever gets into an airplane." YvetteEmilieDupont Peaseblossom giggled looking at Perri, "If she annoys you, I can amuse hre for a while," She said it quickly before she took off after Blue trying to catch up with her. "Hey Hey I'm older than you, you have to let me win! I'm your elder!" Perri Indiya Perri shook her head. "I'm not good with people. Speed demons are easy."The small girl ran as fast as her short legs would carry her, which meant she'd tire fairly soon and be outpaced. Until then, her particularly sturdy construction was holding her joints together as she overworked themas much as possible. "Cuteness before age!" digitalized "You sound rather worn out, Doctor," said Digi. She had left to grab some juice from the table for herself and Yvette, who was currently getting Perri to warm up.
She decided to hang back for the moment. All the pets, running and moving about the room, made it too difficult for a clumsy person like her to maneuver around.
"Would you like some punch?" she asked Doctor Albert, offering the extra cup to the astronaut. Doc Albert "No, Thank you," Doc replied, pointing to the helmet. "I'm kind of stuck in this thing until I take the whole suit off." Silverah Silverah and Darsais pushed the door to the lab open and stepped inside. Both were costumed - Silverah as a loose interpretation of a turtle, and Darsais as a fairly frightening horror film villainess of the "demonic child" variety. Her long purple hair had been combed dead straight and covered part of her face, and she was dressed in a plain white shift.
It would have been hilarious or even angelic if it hadn't been so terrifying.
Of course, then Darsais smiled and ran to see what Peaseblossom and the small blue-haired girl were doing and the illusion that Samara had walked into the lab was immediately broken.
Silverah sighed and joined Perri, Yvette, and Nauticah.
"Oh well. It was cool while it lasted."
A while later, Nereida walked slowly in, looking for all the world like the bride of frankenstein.
"I can't believe I'm here," she murmured to Silverah.
"What?" Silverah asked. "Horror costumes are fun." Perri Indiya Blue laughed, looped around, and ran for Perri, wrapping her arms around the woman's waist and grinning. "I win!"Said 'home base' squeaked a bit when her charge threw her off balance, and then again when her pocket suddenly buzzed. Whipping out an electronic organizer, she read the email and responded, thumbs flying.
"Is it work?" the child asked apprehensively."Yeah, but we don't have to leave." digitalized She took a sip of punch. Vaguely fruity, she thought licking her lower lip.
"But doesn't that mean you can't eat anything at the party?" Digi asked him, looking over his costume. YvetteEmilieDupont Peaseblossom got to Perri shortly after Blue did grinning, "Okay okay you win. Now how about we leave your mom alone, so she can have some alone time."
Yvette smiled at digi, "Thanks so much for the punch. You are always so nice, you should be careful about now slipping or anything."
Peaseblossom saw Darsais her grin wideing even more she hugged her tightly, "You look sooo nice, you grew up! I can't believe it. How are your dancing legs working for you?"
Yvette looked at Silverah, " You even dressed up, clearly I'm not captian obvious. I didn't think we were all going to dress up. How have you been lately? OH, Doc is an astronaut! He even dressed up!" Nauticah Nauticah had fetched the rest of the treats as well; pumpkin fudge, pumpkin pie, a cake that was topped with a deliciously ghoulish graveyard scene, more chips, more candy, and also other snacks for those not so sweetly inclined.
Daichi had finally removed himself from his mother's leg and walked over to Darsais, smiling. "Hi Darsais!" He said brightly, and then he turned to the others, "Uhh.... Hi! I'm Daichi! Who are you?" He said to Blue and Peaseblossom.
Nauticah had set everything in place, sighing and then finally turned to the others. "I have a ton of stuff I brought, um, 'cause I didn't know what Doc would do. That and Darrion's been away, so, I went baking crazy... I at least restrained from muffins." She smiled ever-so lightly at the others, nodding lightly to Yvette, Digi, and Perri since she couldn't remember their names...as usual.
Zwart and Gwyn walked over to the younglings, both smiling devilishly.
"Hello, children." Silverah Darsais flexed her toes, showing off her new legs, and frowned at the cats.
"Daichi, did you feed them something strange?" digitalized Digi turned to Yvette, smiling as the second cup of juice was removed from her hand. "I will!" she said cheerfully. As she watched the girl interact with everyone else, Digi could not help chuckling. Yvette was always so enthusastic. Nauticah Daichi glanced over at Gwyn and Zwart, pausing momentarily. "No... They're just...weird." He then turned back to Darsais, and then finally noticed that he was shorter than her. Just a few weeks ago when they were playing soccer, he was taller...
"Hey! You grew!" He said rather loudly. Nauticah turned around, and cocked her head.
"Well... Darsais, you did grow didn't you? Wow." She had stopped dead, and stared down at the child. "So... What exactly... Nevermind, I rather not know."
Gwyn and Zwart acted...more catlike than usual. They slinked around, curling around each other and the children's legs, and rubbing up against their legs as well. Daichi knew there was something wrong with them, he just wasn't entirely sure what yet. YvetteEmilieDupont Yvette hugged Nauticah tightly, "How have you been doing with his absense? I completely understand the banking part, maybe you and can get together sometime. You can distract yourself for a while." She hugged her again after she finished speaking.
Peaseblossom smiled at Daichi, "Hi I'm Peaseblossom. What is your name." She looked at Zwart and Gwyn kind of shooting a quick glare at them. She knew they were up to something. Perri Indiya Perri spoke on the phone a little longer, snapping it closed and sighing. Even working for herself she rarely got a day off. "Blue-""Time to go." the girl said glumly, waving at everyone as they headed out. "Bye! It was great to meet you!"
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:49 pm
...Where No Child Has Gone Before...
"Did you ask the internet?" Blue asked Perri the morning after the halloween party at the lab, when they were both still in their pajamas and slippers with their hair sticking up in funny places.
The older woman shrugged, reading the technology section of the newspaper. "Ask it about what?"
The girl frowned over her fruit loops and comics. "I knew you'd forget!"
"Forget what?"
"You didn't write it on your hand, did you? I told you to, and you didn't!"
Perri's brow furrowed for a moment. "...you mean about dogfights?"
Blue paused mid-rant. "Yeah!"
"You know, if you don't give me anything to go on subject-wise, it's very hard to answer your questions." the woman scolded, leaning over and pulling a piece of paper out of a pile on the counter and tossing it across the table. "Here you go."
Blue snatched it out of the air and read it hungrily. "Dogs chasing each other's tails? Really?"
"Apparently." she said with a shrug, turning back to the paper. "Weird, huh?"
"Very weird. Can we go to the air force?"
"And do what, invite them to tea?"
"Can you do that?" the girl asked excitedly.
Perri laughed. "I'm sure you can. I don't think they'd say yes, and they'd be very confused and possibly grumpy, but that doesn't make it unpossible."
"Impossible." Blue corrected.
"Nope."
"Yes! Stop trying to trick me!"
Her caretaker shook her head. "First rule of language: it is a fluid, living thing. First rule of the internet: see first rule of language. Go wild."
The small child shook her head. "You're silly. Can we go to the air force?"
"Why do you want to go visit and air force base?" Perri asked, subtley correcting Blue's question.
"To see the jets!"
"To fly them, you mean."
"I'm biologically about six. No one's going to let me fly a plane."
The woman laughed, impressed by the level of deadpan her charge had managed to come up with. "Okay, I'll call the local base today and see if they allow visits and when we could come."
"Eee!" the girl squealed, enormously happy. "Do you think you'll let me sit in a cockpit?"
"Maybe if I were better at flirting." Perri said dryly.
"Okay, well, I don't know what that is but you should definately go practice." Blue responded seriously.
"Will do." her caretaker said, somehow managing not to choke on her own laughter.
"This is gonna be great!"
"I'm sure they'll be nice and we'll have fun." And anyway, she'd never messed with their network or anything. Business espionage was one thing. Real espionage was reserved for martini-drinking Brits in suits, not geeky tech chixxors.
"I'm gonna wear my Starscream t-shirt." Blue confided.
Perri hid a smile. "I'd be mightily suprised if we didn't manage to bump into someone who'd appreciate that."
The girl wiggled in happiness. She couldn't wait!
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:50 pm
...On the Telepone Line...
Perri took a deep, steadying breath, and reviewed her script one more time. This was what she was going to say to the air force, and she needed to get it right. These people not only had guns, they had bloody bombers and any one halfway decent with GoogleMaps could find her house real fast after they called the telephone company to figure out where the call was coming from. A cellphone that had an account attached to it was not an anonymous way to contact someone.
All right, she really doubted they would bomb a civilian for asking if she could bring her daughter to the base to see the planes and talk to a few pilots wrong. But she still hated calling people. It's why she mostly did tech, and left actually swindling to proper conmen.
She took another breath.
Another.
She was going to hyperventalate at this rate and never make the damn call.
Spurred by anger, Perri snatched up her phone, typed in the number she'd gotten from the base's webpage, and pressed send. She almost didn't put the phone to her ear, but the idea of sending the air force a silent call like a nervous freshman to a girl he liked was just ridiculous to get her over the hesitation. God she was a mess.
Stick to the script!
A man picked up on the other end of the line.
"Hello? Is this the air force?"
Damn it! She was already off-script.
"Sorry, that was a moronic question. Yeah. Hi. Uh, my name is Perri Indi-"
She'd just given a government agency her real name. Crap.
"-and I was wondering if your base did organized visits for school groups and the like?"
The air force man was really, really nice and put up with her being stupid. He even teased her about it in a good natured way. And she laughed at his joke at her expense. Geebus.
"You do? That's great! How many? Two, including myself. What? Small school? Oh, yeah, yes, well I homeschool my daughter -she's six- and she just loves planes to pieces. Knows the names of all the bits and pieces and everything."
Blue might not now, but the moment Perri told her they were going to see the air force, she'd hop on to the laptop her caretaker had built for her and obsorb every bit of information she could find.
"And she'd just adore meeting a pilot or two. Me? Oh no, I'm not a plane girl. No, no, the fastest I want to go is the top speed of my t-bird. Hmm? Oh, '67 cherry red. Mint, helped my dad rebuild it in high school. No, computers actually. I build and program them. Uh, sure I guess, but don't you guys have an IT department for that?"
Perri had a sneaky suspicion that the air force man was flirting with her. Actually flirting. With her. And he knew she had a kid, or at least that she claimed to have one! Well, that was only because he hadn't seen her in person yet. Worse comes to worst she'd make sure she have a believable photo in her wallet that she could claim to be her husband or something. And not the picture that came in the wallet, because those never worked. Not that this would be a problem. Once he saw her.
His name was James. He sounded vaguely Irish.
"So, two days from now? Yeah, yeah that would be great. One is fine. Visior parking, meet you in the main office? Sure. Okay. Thank you so much! She's going to love this. Hmm? Oh, her name is Blue. Yes. Well, see you then!"
Perri snapped her phone shut, nearly doing a touchdown dance. She'd done it! She'd done it!
Dear god, what was she going to wear?
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:52 pm
...Flights of Fancy...
She should have been asleep an hour ago, but she couldn't get her brain to shut up about the 'right' image she needed to project tomorrow for the air force. And James. Her brain was mostly concerned with James. She was concerned about not being arrested or shot.
Perri sighed, glaring at her woredrobe. It was good for projecting plenty of images, but young single mother who still manages to be cute and competent was a little overspecific. It was mostly shades of business and geek, the two never meeting and always glaring at each other suspiciously. If she hadn't said homeschooling the casual end of her suits probably would have worked, but now it was just silly. From what she'd said she clearly worked from home.
Somehow, somehow, she needed to cobble together something believeable. Where were her nice jeans? Moms wore jeans, right? Of course they did. And they washed things a lot, so the clean was good too. Blue wasn't at the age that she was throwing food so it could be maintained...
Perri took a moment to laugh at herself. Her 'kid' didn't even call her mom, and here she was trying to shoehorn herself into the part. Sheesh. Just think of it as a regular con, she told herself. You have a part to play, and costuming makes it believable. Yes.
She'd have to remind Blue to call her 'mommy' or something while they were at the base. And she'd have to remember to respond to it.
Jeans, nice sweater -Turtleneck?-, light jacket... brown leather. Cream sweater. Yes. Shoes? Ankle boots that match the jacket. Low, wide heel of course because they have to look comfortable...
She frowned at the outfit in front of her, nodding her head. It would work. It was more of a professional than the more classic sporty mom, but she hated trackwear with a passion so the second wasn't happening. She'd explained she owned her own business, and had met with a client first...
Perri put the clothes aside, tidied up, and did her best to put the coming day out of her head. She got ready for bed and tucked herself in, the whole time trying not to think.
Tomorrow was going to be a disaster.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:54 pm
...Into the Blue...
"Perri! Drive faster!" Blue cajoled, ready to be there already.
"If I speed too much and get pulled over by a cop we're never going to make it." Perri hissed back, reaching a hand over to tug on the girl's shirt. "Sit still. We're almost there."
The child settled obediently into her seat, craning her neck to see out the window. "Can I get into a plane?"
"Probably not a working one, but they may have a dismantled one you try out."
Blue pouted. "Awww. If it's pulled apart I can't try driving it!"
"I think that's the idea." Perri said to herself, turning onto the road that would take them to the air base.
"I wasn't going to drive it with my hands." the girl said haughtily. "That would be silly since I'm not trained."
"You want to dive it with your feet?"
"With my mind."
Her caretaker frowned, parking her car and turning to stare at her. "Come again?"
"At least I think I can drive, uh, pilot, with my mind. I've got some wireless plugs back here..." Blue reached to the back of her head, feeling under her hair.
Perri grabbed her hand, shaking her head and unbuckling them both. "Don't. We'll talk to Doctor Brune about it later. Right now, we are a normal mother and daughter pair with nothing the government would want to study about us at all."
The child noted her caretaker's significate look and nodded. "I'm human. We dyed my hair blue for halloween and it hasn't washed out yet. I won't rub my face so the make up stays on and my circuits won't show. A crashed my bike last week if anyone asks about all the bandaids on my hands."
The woman nodded and put on a smile. "Perfect. You're very sneaky."
"I'm a transformer!" Blue exclaimed, grabbing her "mother's" hand and following her to the main building.
"Oh?"
"A robot in disguise."
She laughed, shaking her head. "Right."
They day went surprisingly well. James was both nice and Irish as Perri had suspected, and he and Blue took to each other immediately. She got to meet two jet pilots and a woman who flew relief helicopters, and dazzled them all by asking more technical questions than most of their first-year cadets could pronounce. One of the jet pilots complimented her on her Starscream shirt, which made her happy and even more sure she'd meet the real Transformers someday. Perri felt bad she'd be heart broken.
She didn't get to sit in a real plane, but they did have some dismantled cockpits that she climbed into and frowned when she was too small to reach things. The helicopter lady promised to get Blue a ride in a city news copter some time, and Perri found herself cajoled into giving real contact information out. She really hoped no one checked up on her.
James gave her his number and told her to call if her daughter had anymore questions. Also, there was an airshow next Saturday, and would they like to go? Blue wanted to go. Perri said yes. He smiled. She felt very lost.
They went home, and Perri made dinner, and Blue spent the rest of the afternoon doing techincal research on jets and helicopters on the internet. Maybe tomorrow, the girl suggested, they could go to a BMW store and learn about cars and motorcycles, cause BMW used to make German war planes back in WWII, did Perri know that? The woman said she didn't, and maybe after she came back from their meeting they could. Promise? Maybe. Perri kissed her on the forehead and said goodnight.
She didn't have a meeting. She was going to the lab. She needed to know what was in Blue's head.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:56 pm
...Failure to Communicate...Perri Indiya Perri stormed into the labs early in the morning, dressed in business casual that seemed to have been assembled in a hurry. She did not look happy, a strange mix of concern and anger playing across her features.
"Where is Doctor Brune?" she snapped at the first employee she saw. "I need to talk to him now." Doc Albert Doc strode out of the lab calmly, relieving the panicked intern of having to face the enraged Perri.
"Yes?" he asked, smiling pleasantly. "What is it?" Perri Indiya "Why the hell are there plugs in Blue's head?" she snarled, hands on her hips to keep herself from strangling him. "Are you tampering with her brain?" Doc Albert Doc frowned, trying to figure out what the small woman meant for a moment. Then he remembered.
"I have no access to the wireless routers on her body," he stated. "Only Blue can control them."
He paused a moment, smiling mischieviously.
"When the order came in, it was for a child that could learn to remotely control any vehicle it ever came in contact with. I was told to offer the child to you specifically out of my entire list of potential parents."
He chewed his lip.
"I wonder why." Perri Indiya Perri sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and doing her best to calm down. "Well, that certainly explains a few things. I should have never taken her to the air force base. Is she going to swipe my car?" Doc Albert Doc shook his head. "She seems well behaved enough," he stated, "And even if she were to get it in her head, it would take a long process of trial and error for her to get it to go anywhere. She knows the ability is there, maybe, but she has no idea how to use it." Perri Indiya "If she does..." the woman fumed to herself. It had been her dad's car! There would be no forgiving anyone who wrecked it. "Well, good. Do I want to know how she'll learn to use it? She'll try to even if she doesn't know how." Doc Albert "Like I said," shrugged Doc. "Trial and Error. She'll start small. Get her a remote controlled car or something to practice on. If she gets good at it before tackling big things, she's less likely to wreck anything irreplacable." Perri Indiya Perri groaned. "Why? Why this? It's just so... disruptive." Doc Albert "Think of it as an adventure!" exclaimed Doc, winking.
Nodding to her, he added, "Good day, Miss Indiya."
And with that, he strode back into the lab.
Clearly, the conversation was over. Perri Indiya "Well, aren't you helpful?" she hissed to the empty room, turning and heading back to her car. Damn. Oh well. Back home, change, take Blue to the BMW dealership in town...
She'd deal with this later. And she'd buy an RC car that was not to be used in the house. Hopefully the stopgap would work.
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