[Day: Friday, November 21st. Time: 11:00 a.m.] [Keiko's... uh, doing something.] [Start] (... actually, I just realized. Where do we wash clothes?) (There's no utility room of any sort.) ( Crap, uh... ) ( There's a secret laundry room somewhere in the base! ) (Snerk.) (I would recommend the second floor 'closet', or just add one somewhere. Nobody will ever know. Except anyone who reads this log. ANYWAY.) ( Yah, that works. ) * Keiko is just pulling on a long-sleeve blue shirt in her room. She's already wearing jeans. So no fanservice here. She's in her room when she's doing this! Amazing. Preparing for going to the garage, as usual. ( brb! ) (I'm holding only because I'm not sure if Zarina's around to have a minor bit of conversation with before I head down to the garage.) ( Back ) [Zarina enters the room. She's wearing her leotard and is all sweaty. "Hi." * Keiko blinks at her and idly graps to get her her duck, even as she reaches out and checks Zarina's mind. "Ah... hi." Beat. "Early training...?" [Zarina nods. "Gabriel keeps me on a pretty static schedule. Oh hey! Did you know I'm going to go in for more modification?"] * Keiko bites her lip as she pulls the duck to herself. After a moment she says, quietly, "You... no, I didn't." [Zarina grins. "I told him about yesterday's fight with you. He wants them to enhance my strength a bit more."] ["Next time I'll hit like an elephant!" ] * Keiko smiles a little and says, "I'm not sure you need to hit any harder to beat me. In fact, I know you don't." ["Well, it's not just about you."] ["If I get stronger, I'll be able to lift bots and things. I mean the big ones. I can already carry the little ones."] * Keiko nods a little. "Yeah. Lifting stuff... I'm sure that's real good. They hate that I can't lift anything in the garage." [Zarina blinks. "Oh? Maybe I should offer my services."] * Keiko rubs the back of her head. "Aah... no, you should get cleaned up. I have to get down there." ["Oh. Okay." Zarina walks towards the bathroom. When she gets to the door, she stops and turns around. "I was thinking..."] (You didn't tell me what she was thinking _before_! ^_~) ( You didn't ask! ) (I did so! I reached out and checked her mind!) (My first reaction post to her room entry.) ( Oh. right. Well, too late! ) (Ha.) * Keiko looks to her eyes as she waits for the response. Or hears it off the surface of her mind as she thinks it. Zarina's simple like that. [She so is. "As long as I have to go in anyway, I'm thinking of asking them to make my boobs bigger. I mean, I know they're already pretty big, but a few more inches wouldn't hurt, would it?" She fingers her chest, then looks at Keiko, her face the expression of innocence. "What do you think?"] * Keiko looks at her, and stammers, "I... why--who would you do that for?" She then blinks and quickly adds, "I--I mean, wouldn't that be uncomfortable?" [Zarina blinks? "Huh? Nah, they do it when you're asleep. I've had it done before. I mean I used to be..." She hesitates, but decides to go ahead and say it. "Uh... Well... I wasn't very good looking before I joined Blitzkrieg. I was fat and flat and had warts and horrible acne and my cheeks were bloated and my teeth were crooked and my nails were jagged..."] * Keiko blinks, then shakes her head and smiles weakly. "I can't imagine it." Beat, as one of her hands goes to her own chest, then she says, with a more normal smile, "You don't need to be any bigger, Zarina. You already look great." ["Do you think so?"] (What _is_ she thinking?) [Partially, she's wondering if Keiko's telling the truth or just saying that. Partially, she's wondering if she shouldn't just go ahead and ask the gene-techs for it anyway. And partially, she's trying very hard not to think of something from her past.] * Keiko nods slightly. "Yeah." She steps forward a little and adds, "I... I really do mean it." A slight, soft laugh. "You don't want them to be too heavy, do you? That'd... get in the way." ["Nah, the other enhancements help out with that. And maybe if they were bigger, my pheromones would work even better, you know?] * Keiko is closer to her, so now she has to look up farther to look at her eyes. "Zarina... you don't need to be bigger." A small pause, then she her eyes move down, looking at Zarina's chest just because it's there. "I don't know about your pheremones. But you look good." She looks back to her face. "Really." [Zarina smiles. "Okay, I'll take your word for it."] (Is she really gonna take my word for it? What does telepathy say!) (And, since I'm close, emotions too, I suppose.) ( She won't ask about bust enhancements THIS time around. ) ( Emotions, uh... ) ( Happy, I guess. ) * Keiko smiles a little more. "Good. Thanks." She looks down to her chest, then takes a small step back. "I... garage. I'll see you later, okay? When is the... mod session?" ["Tomorrow night. It'll be an overnight thing, so you'll have the room to yourself."] * Keiko nods slightly and turns around, starting towards the door. "Not much to do with a room to myself, Zarina," she murmurs as she heads for the door. [Zarina calls from the bathroom, "You can play my video games if you want!" And yes, I'm aware that was a murmur :P] (Oh, I figured she could answer.) ( And she did! ) * Keiko heads out the door and runs her finger along her collar a moment, before murmuring again, "How can she be so..." and she trails off, not wanting to finish that thought out loud. Then she heads down to the ellelator. To the garage! With the duck! [Spinning MC4 symbol! Keiko arrives at the garage!] [It's garagy. Robert and the guys (they're almost ALL guys, and the one woman looks enough like a guy to avoid distinction.) are working on stuffs that mechanics work on. Y'know, mechanical stuff.] [Robert's working on a bot. Actually, just inspecting, it looks like.] * Keiko walks into the garage! The duck takes up its slight floating position besides her that we all saw yesterday. She walks towards him slowly, reading his mind to see how it's going. [~S'all good!~] [There's some American jazz music coming from a radio nearby him, just 'cause.] * Keiko speaks up to say, "Robots today?" [He looks over, ever so briefly. "'Sup girl? Yeah, we gotta make sure these bad boys are always runnin' hot."] * Keiko nods and adds, "But this one's good, huh?" [He nods. "'Course. My boys are the best."] * Keiko nods and says, "If they're part of the garage's work, shouldn't I learn about these too?" [Robert grins at Keiko. "Thought you wanted to learn about cars and sh...tuff. Schtuff."] * Keiko nods and says, "Well, yes... but it's part of the work, isn't it?" ["Maybe. You show me a note from your boss dude and maybe I'll let you in on the tech behind the bots. Until then, girl, you gonna stick to cars and sh....tuff."] * Keiko nods slightly and sighs as she says, "Of course." She looks around for a car. "What'm I seeing today?" ( Beats me. I don't know a damn thing about cars. ) (Snicke. Just vague it up! Say, like, 'This car over here." And do indistinct car talky things, interspersed with actual "s around non-car things!) [Robert seems satisfied with the bot, and thus moves away, towards a sleek looking white car. "Our Mazda Falcon. Inconspicuous, but fast. You guys need goin' on a job where you might need a quick getaway? This 's what-chu want."] * Keiko follows after him. Mazda Falcon. Right. She looks at it carefully. "Will it hold everyone?" ["Hell no! Unless you cram people in."] * Keiko smiles faintly and then says, "So maybe for a two person assignment." She walks around to the front and tries to open it to look inside. [It is a nice looking car. It's got leather seats o/~] [And air conditioning. That's cool too. Literally!] * Keiko sits down in it and rubs her hand over it. "... I'm guessing you don't want it blown up anytime soon." ["You guessed right. But hey, if this baby can get you guys in and out safe, that's all she needs."] * Keiko nods a little and learns all the positions. Is it a stick or automatic? Either way, after she feels around a bit, she slides out and stands up. "Anything that need fixing?" [All cars these days are automatics. Woo hoo!] (Awesome.) ["Yeah, actually. Something's wrong with the engine. Maybe you can take a look at it and find out what."] * Keiko nods and walks around to the hood, and pops it open. If she can! And if the hood weighs less than 30 KG, or it's autoassist, she can even lift it. [It opens!] [Inside is car stuff. Woo hoo. All that stuff that goes in the front of the car? Yeah, it's there.] [Gimme a mechanics (automobiles) roll] ( Well, the engine's not _missing_..) 2d8 (Oh, blew it!) [Keiko looks around, but can't figure out what the problem is!] * Keiko frowns a bit at it, and finally says, slightly quietly, "I... don't see it." ["Y'sure? All the wires connected?"] ( Same roll! ) [Keiko doesn't see any wires that are disconnected. She thinks.] * Keiko looks about the battery and such for the wires and says, uncertainly, because he gave her a clue, "All the ones I see..." [Robert flips open a panel, underneath which wires run from the engine to... somewhere. He holds up a disconnected (but fully intact) wire. "But not the ones you don't see. See?"] * Keiko runs her hand back over her hair a moment, then nods. "Yeah." Her tone becomes slightly joking. "Damn those hidden wires." [Robert reconnects the wire. "Most automobile problems are pretty easy to fix. You just have to be able to spot what's wrong."] * Keiko smiles slightly, mostly to herself. "Everything's a bit like that." She looks at the car a bit more. "That it?" [He nods. "She should be good to go. Start her up, but don't close the hood. Keys are in the ignition."] * Keiko nods and shufles her feet along the ground to walk over and get in! If she were wearing a dress, she'd be doing that 'drifting' thing. It's just not as cool in jeans. She holds down the brake, once she's in, and tries to start it up! [Starts right up!] * Keiko says, loudly, "Sounds like it's working to me!" [Robert calls, "Yeah, come back out. I want you to see this thing in motion."] * Keiko steps out of the car and walks normally back to the front to see it. She's silent this time, at least until she looks into the running engine. [Robert explains stuff about the car. Woo.] * Keiko nods along, looking (but not touching!) at various parts of the running car. She asks a few questions. Not many, but a few. [Robert answers them!] [The whole process takes about an hour, after which Robert says, "Why don't we take a lunch break?"] * Keiko wipes her forehead and nods silently. She swallows and then says, "S-sure. Gotta eat, right?" She exhales noisily. ( I dunno what to do from here :P ) (That's fine. It's a start!) (I can ask him a couple questions about himself at lunch.) [You go to the cafeteria! Pausing at the bathroom on the way, assuming you wanna wash the grease off. Actually, a bunch of the mechanics go to lunch just then, but they don't eat with you.] [Robert goes up to the lunch guy. "Yo, Stein! Get me a ham sandwich a Mill Dew.] " [Stein complies.] [Nobody wants to ask Stein about his background, though, do they? Nooooo.] (Poor Stein. I'm sure he has a rich inner life. *beat* Which KEiko would be able to sense time and again.) * Keiko will at least wash it off her hands. Grease is not for eating. She just asks for a few basic things like a sandwich and some fruit juice, as the duck floats behind her. [He's got a wife and kid!] [Robert takes a seat and starts eating.] * Keiko sits down near him. Since nobody's else there, that's not a bad thing. She takes a sip, then, "So... um, Robert." She idly reaches out and touches his mind, to see if he's thinking anything interesting, and maintains it as she asks, "What... made you wanna work here? It's sorta... weird." ["Why? Because I'm black? Or because I'm an American?"] * Keiko blinks at the 'black' thing. Clearly puzzled at that. Then she shakes her head. "No, no... because this place is weird." A pause, then, "How do people get hired here? Aren't we a bit of a secret?" [Robert's the only black guy you've seen on the base. Surprise!] (Does he think he's the only one at all?) [He shrugs. "I got hired because some German guys came to my home and asked me to join."] ( He thinks he's both the only black guy and the only American :P ) (Huh.) * Keiko ahs slowly, takes a bite of her sandwich, then finally says, "So... why'd you take the job?" ["Didn't have much choice. Couple years back I finished high school. I never really was all that smart, but I had enough of a knack for machines that I was getting into MIT on scholarship."] [Well, the army thought I was good enough that I didn' even need no degree. They wanted me to work for them right away."] ["An' even with the scholarship, money was tight. My folkes would've had to sell their house to get me through college. Move into a dingy little apartment an all."] ["So, the offer sounded like a good one."] * Keiko nods a little, then smiles faintly. "Didn't tell you what they did here until after?" ["But then I got there, and the Liutenant turned out to be a huge ass and racist. He hated me from the getgo, and it only got worse."] (Ah, misread. Strike my statement.) ( Yah, U.S. Army here :P ) ["He was harsh on my brothas, an' I didn't appreciate that. So one day, when he went too far, I went over his head and reported it to the general. Busted his ass good."] * Keiko frowns at the racism thing, and chews a bit harder. A slight smirk at the last part. ["But he had a lot of people who owed him favors, and he wasn't too happy about what I done to him."] * Keiko replies, "Yeah, but he deserved it." ["So he arranged an accident with one of the bots I was working on. Made it go haywire. Nobody died, but one guy got shot in the arm."] ["Didn't take them long to throw me on the street after that."] ["An' with that black mark on my rep, no way was I going to get into MIT or get any real, good-paying job."] ["So I started working at a crappy auto repair place."] ["Then one day this German guy shows up and tells me he's got a job especially for me. So, here I am."] * Keiko nods slowly, then manages a faint smile. "Nowhere else to go." [He nods. "Not a big surprise, really. A lotta people here are like that."] * Keiko nods and says, after a moment, "That's... odd. Funny. I'm not sure." She runs a finger around her silver collar. "I wonder if the guardians are like that. I bet not." [He shrugs. "It's cool though. I don't regret it. Although sometimes I miss the States. I can't figger out how people drink that crap they say passes for soda here."] * Keiko blinks and looks back to him. "Huh? Soda?" [He laughs. "Nah. They all got more interesting stories than me."] [He nods. "The soda sucks here. Sorry. It sucks."] [And the burgers ain't too good, either."] * Keiko smiles a little after the laugh, but then she waves a hand. "Hey, I don't know anything about that. (Does he seriously mean soda?) ( Yeah :P ) (Wow. Thought I was in a video game for a moment.) ( No >.> ) (HAve some 'Tea'.) ( He's saying the Germans can't make soda worth crap :P ) * Keiko takes a drink and then says, "I guess I never knew there was a difference." ["Nah. Never actually been out of the States before. Took German in high school, though."] ["Then I studied it a bit more when I came here. I think I got it down."] * Keiko half-smiles. "No worse than me." ["It ain't too bad."] ["Really, it's just changing words with other words. I can do that."] * Keiko licks her lips, then replies, "Well, if you were gonna get into MIT, you've gotta be smart. I think." * Keiko finishes up her sandwich. [He shrugs. "Ain't got much know-how for math and stuff. Just good with machines, is all."] * Keiko nods slowly, then finishes her drink as well. "How about Karin?" She isn't reading his mind anymore, that's for sure. [He stops mid-bite. "What about Karin?"] * Keiko waves a hand idly. And as she does, speaks into his mind, very quickly, ~The bot said she... looked nice at the picnic I was at.~ [He stares at Keiko. "What the... did you just...?"] * Keiko smiles a little and says, "Just... letting you know." She leans forward, on her elbows, as her duck floats overhead, and adds, quietly, "Well?" [He takes a bite of his sandwich. "Well... She's pretty. And she's smart. She's not much older than me. And she's the nicest person in this place."] * Keiko nods very slightly, then looks off to the side. "She is nice." Beat, then, "We almost got to eat sushi with her." She (Ack, kill that last She.) ["She's not like the rest of them. I think they resent that."] * Keiko is silent a moment, then says, "Maybe." She bites her lip a moment, then, "I should probably do other training, now." [Robert nods, finishing his sammich. "Yeah, about time to get back. Hey, listen."] * Keiko tilts her head a little, and the duck floats closer to her. She's listening! [He gets up. "Don't do that thing you did anymore, okay? Where I could hear you in my head."] * Keiko nods slowly as she replies, "I was just... thinking you might want that to be private. Karin did." ["Yeah, well... Just freaks me out, is all. I'll see you later." He heads off.] * Keiko nods a little as she watches him go, a frown slipping onto her face as she watches. She floats the duck in front of her face a moment, and then stalks off rigidly. [End]