Welcome to Gaia! ::

That was a 'never' then.

As the computer started to whir, Hayes turned around in his chair to face Nikki. It was polite but more importantly it let him keep an eye on Darkfeather and left him feeling marginally less like a sitting duck. The movement dislodged Binary, who retreated further under the desk and became an indistinct silver shape. "Vrr."

"Where the computer stores files from the internet," the blond explained. It was a well-practiced speech that sounded like it had seen a lot of use. "Whenever you visit a site you're downloading stuff temporarily so you can view it. Too much stuff on your computer slows it down, though, so you have to clear your cache once in a while." He nudged his glasses up and studied his partner's expression to make sure she understood. "I'll run some other cleanup utilities too; should take care of the problem."

Hayes couldn't help but grin a little.

"Well I could," the tech replied with a note of amusement, but not unkindly, "but then your 'net wouldn't work. When you visit a site you request the page and any embedded files from the server and- er." He paused and reigned himself in with a sheepish smile. "You are telling it to. You have to download stuff to see it on your computer."

"It's nothing bad," the blond reassured his partner with a wave of his hand. "It's normal. We've got good anti-virus so it filters harmful stuff out, but the files stay on your computer until you clear them out. It's like.. cleaning the lint trap on a dryer?"

This was more than 'just a sec.' Binary was very new to Hayes' team, but all of the programmer's Pokemon quickly learned the tone of voice that meant he was indulging in his field of interest (or more succinctly, geeking out.) The silver Eevee crept forward stealthily, watching the blonde girl and her big bird.. then made a break across the room and dashed under the most interesting cavelike place - the bed. She'd make her own amusement.

"It might." Hayes realized this wasn't the answer she was looking for and ran a hand through his hair absently as he continued. "Your computer can be slow for a lot of reasons - a virus, a corrupted program, not enough memory - but like I said we've got good anti-virus and you said you didn't fiddle with any programs. So I'm trying the simplest thing first. And yeah-" He half-turned back toward the screen and motioned Nikki over. "C'mere, I'll show you."

Under the bed it was dark and disorganized. Binary was used to finding things under beds - books, random computer parts, missing socks, Switch - but Hayes kept his odds and ends stacked in neat piles and the little spaces between them made an orderly system of caves and corridors. This was more like a cave after an earthquake.

The Eevee batted experimentally at a rumpled sheet of paper, then lost interest.

Hayes rolled his chair to the side a bit to make room for Nikki and focused on the screen again. "Okay, so when you're in your browser, click Tools to bring up a dropdown menu.." He went through the steps as he explained them, moving the mouse slowly enough that human eyes could follow its path and letting the cursor hover for a half-second over something before clicking.

Meanwhile, Binary found her explorations blocked by Keyboarding. The Eevee wriggled past with a little grunt of effort, cocked her head at the obstacle, and shifted gears. For a proper spelunking session, some excavation was needed first.

One by one, textbooks were kicked - or in the case of the weighty Earth Science, pushed - out from under the bed.

"Vee!" The book slid back out.

"Huh?" Hayes looked up from the computer, brows lifted, in time to see the bed spit out another text. "Ah geez, sorry," the Rocket grimaced apologetically and rolled his chair back, leaving off the tutorial to join Nikki by the bed. "Bines! Hey-" He crouched down on his knees to see under the bed. "-Bines, not cool. C'mere." He stuck a hand under the bed.

7th Grade Mathematics hit him in the foot, followed shortly by a ball of silver fluff. As the Rocket straightened up and plucked the Eevee off his shoulders to a "Vrr" of protest, he couldn't help wrinkling his brow at the book's title. Textbooks were familiar, but he hadn't seen that sort of title in years.

It didn't take long for Hayes to stand, and it didn't take long for Binary to fit herself into the crook of his arm and start chewing on the hem of his uniform jacket. He stayed off to the side while Nikki stomped to and fro, keeping his expression carefully neutral. It didn't seem wise to get in her way, especially when that Pidgeot of hers was so protective of her and hateful of.. well, everything else.

An awkward silence ensued.

Hayes waited a few moments after his partner shut the closet door, then made his way back to the computer. "Uh, yeah. So," he picked up where he had left off, a bit more quietly, "I'll run a defrag."