( open ) may catch-all!

[bruisehaver]

WHO: Lae'zel and you!
WHAT: Driving school, asking for hugs to get something to download, etc.
WHERE: Around base and the city!
WHEN: Early May
WARNINGS: None!



I. traffic school

[ It might be easy to assume that due to Lae'zel's hardass, soldier like mentality, that she might think sitting down to study might be a waste of her time... but that can't be farther from the truth. For a few days at the beginning of May, the only thing she seems to be doing in communal areas is read — a closer look would tell you that she's studying traffic laws. Very seriously.

Also of note is that she goes out of her way to print out materials, or find materials that are printed... because she hates using the implant. As a result, some of these traffic rules might be out of date, more akin to the 2020s than the 2300's. It's fine. She gathers up her flashcards and taps them in order on the table pointedly at you, bringing the index cards closer like they're about to peeked at. ]

Did you need something, or do you simply lack the common sense not to stare at others?

[ she's very busy learning that green means go right now!! ]

II. your uber is here

[ After getting sufficient lessons in traffic rules, Lae'zel can be found out in the city with her brand new motorbike at her side — glistening red and spotless. Has she given it a nice polish on her own? Why yes, yes she has.

Unluckily for you, you happen to be leaving the base just as she's about to go for another test drive. ]

You. [ Yes, you!! She tilts her chin at you, as if beckoning you along. ] You will aid me in testing controlling this vehicle with two people on it.

[ Yeah... she is no longer asking 🔫 There's a practical reason for this, because she thinks there'll be plenty of instances where she'll need to drive two people during missions. But you'll get something out of it: ]

In return, I'll take you where you need to go. You're leaving to go somewhere, yes?

[ Maybe you need a ride to work? To a restaurant? To a store? Lae'zel will get you there!! Maybe. ]

III. huggin time

[ sometimes you download the style upgrade, and it won't finish unless you hug someone.... but also, sometimes you don't really know what a """hug""" is even supposed to be. The implant explains it to her (it's an embrace of some kind??), but not in great detail.

Maybe you and Lae'zel were about to hit up the training room together, or maybe you're simply at the cafeteria enjoying a meal together — but she seems very distracted, her eyes lit up from numerous attempts to try to block the pop up from her implant. Hissed through her sharp teeth: ]

Tsk'va!

[ She curses in her native tongue, brow twitching. Unprompted, without ever explaining what she's going through: ]

Give me a hug. Quickly, just get it over with.

[ WHATEVER THAT MEANS ]

Comments

[frostfist]

[ Well, now that he's ensured safety of life and limb, let him just finish clambering onto her bike at the rear, settling his arms loosely around her waist. (They'll tighten once she gets going, but for now he doesn't want to overstep.) ]

True. I wouldn't have been able to hug you the other day if you'd lopped off my arms. [ Speaking of: ] What was that all about anyway?

[ She's probably turned back to get the bike going, but there's a quizzical lift to his brows as he looks ahead. Lae'zel had never struck him as a particularly affectionate person. If anything, he would have expected a punch to his shoulder strong enough to knock him off-balance. ]

[bruisehaver]

[ She makes an audible, irritated chk at the topic of the hugging getting brought back up again, turning them onto the road, but not yet revving the engine enough so that they cannot hear each other. ]

It's that damn implant.

[ Yeah, she's still mad... even though it ended up working out fine, she's still embarrassed it had to happen at all. And forever suspicious of the implant demanding things of them to function. ]

It wouldn't download something until I did it. Personally, I question the reliability of engineers which would compel their users to perform tasks in exchange for device operation — it's madness.

[ so what if it was only a hug... next day it could be something WAY WORSE!! ]

[frostfist]

[ Ah, the implants. It's always the implanta. He's really beginning to find them to be more trouble than they're worth the longer he's forced to endure them, but it's not as though he has any other choice unless he wants to risk giving himself brain damage.

He sighs, shaking his head. ]

You're not wrong. But it's not as though we have an alternative.

[ Unless....? He pitches his voice louder over the hum of the engine. ]

Unless you've finally found a way to safely remove them?

[ Doubtful, because surely she would have been boasting about it by now. ]

[bruisehaver]

Not yet.

[ but_maybe_someday_conch_from_spongebob.mp3

She, too, speaks over the engine, setting her jaw with sternness behind her helmet. ]

If LILITH controls the majority of resources, then they are likely to quash any attempt to develop a removal process.

[ Why else put these machines in their heads unless they really want them there, after all.... in her mind, they definitely want to prevent Outsiders tampering with it. ]

A way to remove it must be invented ourselves in secret, if we seek freedom from it.

[frostfist]

Sounds like it's time to start holding some secret meetings then.

[ He's mostly joking, because as things stand they lack the resources to do anything more than simply talk about their woes. But if something were to arise, spearheaded by someone else….well, he wouldn't be opposed to sitting in and contributing what little he can.

But that's a topic for another day. Right now, they have other matters to attend to. ]

Ready to go?

[ With his helmet securely fastened and his arms firm around her, he sure is. And she's never going to get the results of her experiments if they keep sitting around like this. ]