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II so long farewell II Vice Captain
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 Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 11:15 pm
The girl was thrumming with energy and excitement, and was quite literally leaping and bounding down the street. Tomorrow was her birthday, tomorrow was her birthday! Jaella turned a circle on the sidewalk, the bag around her arm flaring out as she did. Today was grocery day, so her and Aaron and Quinn were going to go shopping! And, since it was her birthday, she could get two treats from the candy bar rack! How awesome was that? The girl suddenly skidded to a stop, baby blue eyes peering at newish warehouse. She remembered it being under construction, and vaguely remembered when the yellow machines went away. But what was in it? Letting curiosity lead her by the hand, the girl darted off the sidewalk and towards the 'open' door. And smack dab into the sliding glass door, hard enough that she fell backwards and to the ground.
Aaron was jogging, trying his best to keep up with the overly-energetic teen. "Jaella, stop! Slow down before you trip again! Jaella!" But, his words fell on seemingly deaf ears; the girl was busy in her own little world. He shouldn't have told her about getting a second candy bar; he should have known better than to do that. The boy made a sharp turn as the girl darted towards the building and then....ouch. His little girl met the glass-pane door. He rushed over, kneeling by the fallen girl. "Are you alright? That looked like a pretty bad hit; anything bleeding?" he asked, looking her over.
The shortest of the three trailed behind them, teeth working on his sleeve in thought as he meandered down the sidewalk. The boy's gaze was locked on the ground, watching his feet as they moved in a slow, calculated tattoo of thuds. He didn't even look up as he followed after his older brother, didn't even bat an eyelash as the teen ran into the door. In his slow, precise gait, he walked past them, sliding the glass door open and stepping inside. His gaze slowly rose from the floor, moving to glance around the new area.
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 11:27 pm
Kiri looked up from his work as one of his androids came and told him someone was at the door. Ari was excited enough, he immediately used those little wings of his, and made a bee-line for the door. Kiri put his gloves up, and strolled leisurely along.
Pushing a button on the wall opened the door for the other two to enter, as well as retracting the door for a while. He didn't need it closed all the time, after all.
"Greetings." he said quietly. "My name is Kiri, and you've entered my workshop. What can I do for you today Ari, stop eating the young lady's ribbon please."
He walked over to one of the other walls, and pushed another button. Something closed in the back of the shop, but wasn't noticed from up front. A young male walked up as well, standing beside Kiri, curious but not invasive.
"Gerad? Take these people's coats and hats please."
"Yes, sir." the boy said, carefully taking their extra clothing, and going to put it away.
"Now." Kiri continued, walking forward to scoop up Ari. "What can I do for you this fine day?"
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Jaella Azoulai Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:02 am
Quinn looked up at the adult, his blank cyan eyes seeming to look past the man. Removing his sleeve from his mouth, he pointed to the girl sitting on the ground. "Ice." he said, his voice barely past a whisper. It was almost a suggestion, rather than a request. Saying what needed to be said, the boy wandered off, vaguely curious about this new place.
"My name is Aaron, sir. This is my brother, Quinn, and my daughter, Jaella. I am sorry to intrude; I was just following her." The teen motioned to the girl before helping her to her feet. "I apologize for what happened; I'll be sure to clean the door for you." He felt guilt for interrupting Kiri; he probably had better things to do than deal with them and - where was Quinn heading off to now?
Jaella rubbed her forehead; ow, that hurt! She hadn't even seen a door there! But, the pain was forgotten as soon as new people came into the picture, one of which tried to eat her shoe ribbon. "Hi there!" she chirped, offering her bestest smile. "It's nice to meet you, sir!" She paused, listening to her father apologize before following his example. "Sorry about that; your door was hiding from me. I wanted to come in and say hi! You're our new neighbors and all, so...hi!"
Aaron looked at the girl, vaguely wondering if he should bother telling her that five miles was just a bit out of the neighbor range.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:11 am
"My former assistant used to hit the door like that all the time." He looked down, watching after Quinn for a moment... then looking back at Aaron, expecting his boys to know what to do with the child.
"No need to clean the door. It's self cleaning. It's supposed to open automatically, but there are a few bugs in the system I have to work out..." He murmured lower under his breath 'perhaps literal ones'.
"Anyway. Hello. I'm assuming you don't know what I do here, so I suppose I should give you the grand tour."
He motioned with his hand, Ari looking over his shoulder, as he was currently clinging to the man's chest like any toddler to a favorite parent.
"Come along, then? I don't bite. Much."
A soft chuckle as he continued walking. "Joking, joking. I don't bite at all. Unless you ask me to, and that's for the bedroom, not the business floor. So.... Would you like to see the merchandise or the workshop first?"
Ari was watching everything, and he noticed something that caught his eye. A nice, shiny pocketwatch.... Tasty pocketwatch... Oh, he'd bide his time for this one, and take it when the errm... keeper... wasn't looking. Tasty, tasty pocketwatch. To his credit, he told them exactly what he was going to do... ...In his own language.
"Riririri Aririri RI... ariarari... ririariri... ariari ri ri ariri."
Kiri glanced sideways at his child. ".. I have no idea what he just said."
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Jaella Azoulai Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:42 am
Aaron nodded; Kiri's assumption was correct. He had no idea what the man did here. At the mention of biting and the bedroom, the boy's cheeks slowly darkened, crimson tinting the brown of his skin. He wasn't used to, well, that being brought up so openly. "Well, erm, whichever would be more convenient for you, I suppose." he managed to say, trying to keep the awkwardness out of his tone. He blinked, looking at the little black winged...thing. He just nodded, trying to be polite despite the fact he had no idea what was just said.
Jaella followed after the two, listening attentively. "Why would you bite someone in a bedroom? Or anywhere? That isn't very nice." she commented, confusion writing itself on her face and embedding itself in her tones. Adults; they were really weird sometimes. "Oooh, what kind of things do you make here, Mr. Kiri?" she asked, curious.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:50 pm
Kiri chuckled a bit, not saying anything to the young girl's qualms, and waving his hand a bit. "Androids, young lady." he said quietly. "Androids unlike what Gaia has ever seen before. The workshop is right through those doors, but the sales floor is through here."
He pushed open a door, and they entered a fully carpeted, lush family room, filled with young men. There were all sorts, sitting or lounging or standing. From red hair to pink hair, to anything in-between.
"So... here's the models we have for sale... Many of them have been pre-programmed with certain skills and talents. Of course, if you don't see anything you like, I can custom-make you a model of your own."
Walking over to one of the couches, he gently shook the shoulders of a young man with white-striped pink hair. The young one didn't appear to be more than about ten years old.
"This is our newest model. He is a growing model, and can age and mature the same as any human, or other, child. If you're interested in any of the models here, I can easily wrap up the negotiations here, and send him off with you today."
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Jaella Azoulai Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:30 pm
Jaella's ears perked up a little. Androids? She'd seen some of those in town! A couple worked in some of the shops, and some owned them! "Awesometastic! You make them?" she asked, her eyes wide in curiosity. That was SO cool!
She followed behind Kiri, tail wagging lightly as she looked around. Wow...they all looked so realistic! She nodded, listening to him as he talked. Oooh, a growing robot? That was so amazing! "Hi there!" she greeted, smiling and waving to the little boy.
Aaron frowned slightly. These were robots? They looked more like actual people. That and, frankly, he felt uncomfortably seeing people being referred to as models for sale. Especially children. "Sir...I think we should go. We don't have the money to afford any of these, and we wouldn't want to waste any more of your time." he said, trying to get out of the situation as politely as possible.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:41 pm
Kiri sighed, and shook his head slightly at Aaron. "I'm not in the business of peddling flesh. I assure you they ARE androids." he said quietly.
To demonstrate this, he had an arm of one of them completely stripped of flesh. Apparently he got that complaint a lot.
"Avari... come over here a second." he called, and a tan-skinned android walked over, holding out his arm.
It was an amazing work of art, and a wonderful machine at the same time. The bones were metallic, covered in wires and tubing that mimicked the real thing very, very closely. Cross-layers of skin were displayed to show that he was, indeed, a techno-organic creation, and not a real person.
"You see? I understand what you're thinking, because you're not the only one who has thought that. But Avari here - as well as the rest - are all my creations. They are perfectly happy being sold. Thank you Avari."
Ari had wriggled out of Kiri's arms as he talked to Aaron, and meandered over to the child-android along with Jaella, sitting on the couch, and grinning - although no one could really see that grinning. He had, in his possession, something that belonged to Aaron, that he had removed just now in light of his shock and disbelief. Happily, he popped it right into his mouth, and made satisfying churring noises.
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Jaella Azoulai Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:18 pm
If Aaron had just been awkward before, that was nothing compared to how he felt now. He mumbled something that sounded like an apology, his eyes averting to the side. "I apologize...but, as I said. We don't have the funds to purchase one. We were just on our way to the grocery store, and we have to be back by..." the boy paused, reaching into his pocket. He paused a moment, hand fishing around. Where was it? A small frown formed, where was his watch? He'd just had it a second ago. He glanced towards the floor...maybe he'd dropped it?
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:30 pm
"Actually... I think I might know where your watch is...." He glanced over at the shadow-child, who immediately made himself scarce, sinking into the couch cushions, and vanishing.
"Ariiiii..." Kiri said warningly. He tapped his foot, arms crossed. "Young shadow. I am counting to five. If you aren't out of there by the time I've counted to five...."
Ari ducked further into the couch, so that just the very top of his head was showing. Then nothing at all.
"ARI. You get out here young shadow. 1..... 2..... 3......"
The shadow started to creep out of the couch, very, very slowly. Inching out.
"4........ 4 and a half.... 4 and three quarters...."
Quickly, Ari breezed by Kiri, dropping the watch into the man's hand as he went, then ducking into his favorite spot - in the closet.
"Thank you. We'll have a talk after this man leaves." Kiri said, dropping the watch into his hand. "I'm sorry about that, sir."
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Jaella Azoulai Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:56 pm
Aaron offered Kiri a small smile, glancing at his watch before pocketing it again. "Thank you. And don't worry about it; I'm quite used to having my things taken. Children and animals and all..." With how he was talking, you'd think he was far older than his actual age of fifteen. "Thank you for recovering it for me; I really appreciate it. As I was saying, we were on a schedule; we've got to get to the grocery store and back before the day grows to hot-"
Elsewhere, Quinn was busy wandering, looking at all the interesting people, still chewing on his sleeve. His gaze was only semi aware; yes, he was partially here, but for the most part, his mind was elsewhere. And then, something caught his eyes. Following the flash of red he saw, he approached a lad who looked to be similar in age to him. Silently, he waved, greeting the other boy.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:07 pm
The small android waved back happily, and clapped his hands excitedly. There was a very long golden chain attached to the boy's wrist, leading back among the boxes and such. But he didn't seem to mind it. The boy was utterly naked, from head to toe, but still beautiful.
Brown skin, pretty black eyes, and blood-red hair, accented by pink, bat-like ears, and a tiny pair of wings on his back. All with purple tips. His skin was flawless all the way down and around, and the smile he gave Quinn was genuine.
"You're my Master, right? You've got to be my Master... Master... Um... " He paused, and looked sort of lost. "I don't know your name, Master... I don't know MY name, Master...."
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Jaella Azoulai Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:31 pm
Quinn was silent a moment, his face still as blank as a new sheet of paper. "Quinn." he murmured in his usual whispery tone, motioning to himself. The other boy didn't know his name? That was sort of sad...perhaps he would remember with time? The boy barely paid any attention to his peers stated of clothedness, or lack there of. But, he did notice the chain around the boy's wrist, a small frown forming.
The boy stepped closer, his hand falling away from his face to take a hold of the chain. Cyan eyes narrowed a moment, focusing. A faint hint of magic flared up, just the smallest touch of it. Then, the boy's hands yanked at the chain, snapping it. Now that that was done,Quinn headed back towards where he'd seen the jackets taken, motioning for the other boy to follow.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:47 pm
The boy did follow, and slowly became invisible while he did so. Only the soft pit-pat of his feet gave any indication as to where he was. This also allowed him to slip his hand into Quinn's without anyone else knowing he was there. Quinn, and Quinn alone could see him / feel him enough to know where he was. The rest would only see Quinn talking to and touching air.
"As you can see, however..." Kiri was continuing. "The health regulation modules can be set on various settings, resulting in these couple of models being good for hospitals and the like."
Ari was still sulking in the closet while Kiri was giving his usual sales and interest pitch... but he was still there.
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Jaella Azoulai Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 1:03 pm
Quinn blinked, his arm jerking a bit in surprise as his hand was taken. He continued, paying the adults no heed as he headed towards the jackets by the door. Reaching up with his free hand, he managed to tug down his older brother's jacket. He looked at the garment a moment, before handing it over to the boy in a gesture that clearly said "Here, take it." Aaron wouldn't mind, of course. And, if he did...well, he could deal with it.
Aaron was listening attentively, partially out of politeness and partially out of the fact that robotics did intrigue him. Then again, who didn't find robots, androids, and the like fascinating?
The talk of modules and settings was going right over Jaella's head and, try as she might, she just couldn't seem to follow them. So, she decided to leave the grown ups to their conversation. Smiling, she headed over in the direction the little jellowy-looking winged thingy went. Maybe he'd want to play a game or something? She hoped so.
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