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Another Day at the Lab; Azure Quarter - Hawthorn's Lab
Topic Started: Oct 28 2014, 12:14 PM (348 Views)
Curon Hifor

As large as the Azure Quarter was, amongst the different piers, docks, warehouses, and processing stations, it was difficult to get away from the lingering smell of fish and lake-water. Sometimes, the winds made the smell a little unpleasant, but today, the smell was relatively decent. Most of the docks were more-or-less littered with just workers and maintenance crews, though the closer to the Western district--the Golden Quarter--the more shops you tended to see selling all kinds of fresh fish, cooked fish, or fish-related products. The buttered Goldeens were particularly delicious this time of year.

Closer towards the center of Natura City, a short distance by walk from the Umber and Golden Quarters, the laboratory and research center sat comfortably and splendidly. Owned by the Pokemon Professor, Hawthorn, the lab conducted various experiments and recorded data on various aspects of Pokemon and the environment. Since the Cataclysm, researching, nurturing, and observing the environment around them had been critically important--especially in regards to mankind's companions, Pokemon. Here, various trainers--both beginners and veterans--stopped by for information, starting gear, beginner Pokemon, advice, concerns, and a whole plethora of conversation and tidbits regarding the world around them. Of course, a scientific station was no substitute for true experience and adventure--but Hawthorn's lab was the first step on such a grand adventure.

The lab was quite large and significant compared to the other buildings around it--with the exception, of course, of the Royal Palace, which was just within sight of the Lab. The lab was divided into several fields of science and experimentation, though the main section of the building was where most of those visiting ever really bothered to see. The Atrium was an incredibly open room filled with computers, windows, television monitors (each connected to a different news channel or program), and even a few Pokemon Medical Modules--most of which weren't quite as advanced as those at the actual Pokemon Center, but for travelers needing to freshen up, it sufficed. To the side of the Atrium was a daycare center for trainers to temporarily deposit their beloved companions, but additionally, the daycare helped raised the numerous number of 'beginner' Pokemon for brand new trainers. Sometimes, such Pokemon were delivered from the nurseries in the Verdent Quarter, but some were raised right here at the Lab.

As a post-intern worker, Malcom helped out at the Lab in any way he could with the general activities and tasks the staff were tasked with. Hawthorn herself was rarely at her own Lab--the Professor typically ventured from place to place conducting research and studies--so it was up to the aides to make sure the whole place did not fall apart in the Professor's absence. And it was here that Malcom did what he could, furthering the research of Bird Pokemon and their mannerisms, habits, breeding, migration, and diet--when he was not helping out with new trainers, that is.

His eyes poured over the latest printing of research data, adjusting his glasses to read more clearly the contents upon the paper. The place was abuzz of activity as usual within the atrium. "Hrm," he thought aloud, looking down at the paper. "This is interesting. It looks like their migration patterns are changing," he said, more to himself as one of his Pokemon, a Spearow, landed upon his shoulder, its talons gripping tightly to him, causing the young researching to wince from the pain.

"What is it now?" Malcom inquired irritably, looking at the equally irritated bird.
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Curon Hifor

The bird flew off in the direction of the door to the courtyard, just off the western side of the building, hovering above the door for a moment before landing upon the door handle, the bird squawking and pecking at the door with a rather passionate fervor. Malcom rolled his eyes and went towards the door, looking out of it for a moment to see what all the fuss is about, before looking up towards the sky. Adjusting his glasses, the young aide could see a flock of Spearow in the sky, moving in their typical 'V' formation that was customary for migration patterns.

"Hear the call of nature, huh?" Malcom said, smirking to himself for a moment before he cocked his head to the side. Oddly enough, the birds should be flying towards the south during the cooler months, but this particular flock was moving more westward. How odd--what could be spurning the birds to be flying in that direction instead of their normal migration patterns? He was seeing it with Pidgey breeds earlier upon his computer... what was going on?

"Hey, Charlotte?" Malcom said aloud, looking over towards one of the other Aides. "Could you look up the weather patterns for today and the month in general? I'm curious why these migration patterns are changing amongst some of the bird Pokemon," he said, looking back out for a moment before going back to his desk, his Spearow furiously pecking at the door for a few moments before flying up to the loft, perching on a railing and looking out a closer window.

"I don't think anything out of the ordinary was reported," the young woman said, her own glasses reflecting the light of her computer. "I will get you a printout all the same," she said with a smile, her teeth lined with braces designed to help straighten her normally crooked teeth. Glossed nails tapped away at the keys in front of her before the sound of a nearby printer started to go to work, screeching as it printed out the latest weather report for the month.

Even as he waited for the printer to finish, he looked at the report as it was being produced, furrowing his brow in thought and confusion. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary from what he could see. Just a few storm systems moving in and out like normal for this time of year. So what would be so catastrophic as to force migration change? Was there something in the environment that was changing? Curious.
Edited by Curon Hifor, Nov 2 2014, 01:35 PM.
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Lonile
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A person trailing a cloud of smoke half walked, half stumbled through the doors of the lab. They were covered from head to toe in what appeared to be a spacesuit made out of blindingly orange kevlar that looked partially shredded and a battered ceramic helmet with a reflective faceplate. The miniature thrusters on the person's chest and back gave off the occasional puff of whispy white vapor accompanied by the acrid stench of ozone. The miniature computer on their left wrist was shattered and flashed on an off in a rainbow of nonsensical colors when it wasn't spitting sparks like the blown lamps on the sides of the helmet. The only thing that the stranger carried was a damaged electric grinder that was the source of the smoke and the wonderful aroma of burning and melted plastic. Staggering up the front desk, the stranger leaned roughly on it as they dropped their smoking tool on the floor. After pausing for a few seconds, likely for breath, an attempt was made to remove the helmet only to find that the connecting ring was partially fused. Banging on the helmet with one hand was followed by smashing the faceplate into the desk itself before the ring clicked and the helmet clattered to the floor. The head that emerged a midst a cloud of yet more smoke was surprisingly alien. The features were generally human if one ignored the eyes. The nose was delicate and the mouth a little undersized for human norm, the skin was pale and had a somewhat sandy texture while the hair was what appeared to be brown feathers that sprang up and back from the stranger's scalp. The eyes were simply a black rectangle adrift in a rainbow tinted area of flesh where the eye socked would be. There was no eyeball or lids, the shiny patch of skin simply reorienting itself to focus on different things.

The stranger coughed a few times before finally speaking. "Hi, I'm Aelra. I... Um... I'm lost, my computer's crap and my rig is an absolute wreck. You wouldn't happen to know where I can get a new one of these-" She lifted her arm haphazardly, "and a lift offworld would you? I just woke up in a fountain two blocks north of here after getting in an accident and I am so confused."
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Curon Hifor

The first thing Malcom noticed--the man lost in his thoughts--was the sound of crashing glass. The aide looked up from the paper he was reading, looking over towards the front desk where a person was removing a helmet. The smell in the air that creeped in after the person smelled like something out of a construction area, mixed with an unhealthy dose of working in the atmosphere. Was the person a cosmonaut worker? It certainly seemed that way. The appearance looked like a regular person from afar, prompting Malcom to approach the desk briskly--yet comfortably--until he got within a few feet of the... the creature. Thing.

"W--what?" Malcom asked, not having heard the person's request upon looking at the very alien-looking individual at the desk. Malcom froze in his tracks, paralyzed for a moment in confusion and near fear. "I--I'm afraid I haven't seen someone like you before. Are you alright?" He asked, finally noticing the smoke and sparks coming from the person's suit. He pulled up his left arm, which had a PokeBrace upon it, and dialed the number for medical assistance. Would human assistance even help this person?

"Wait, you have a PokeBrace?" Malcom asked, looking down at the... the thing's arm. Was he supposed to be staring? He felt so bewildered, he didn't know what else to do. What did he look at while talking to it? That eye thing? The mouth? What gender was it? Should he be taking notes? Taking notes made him feel better, so he pulled out a small notepad and started taking notes with his PokeBrace, logging in his immediate observations.

"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain...?"
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Lonile
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"What? Yeah, yeah I'm fine. It's just been a while since I had to deal with anything besides localized gravy." Aelra looked down as the gloves slowly came off to reveal three fingered hands, plus a thumb, with the same textured skin as her face. "Kinda disconcerting to have everything be the same down, ya know? It's like I keep expecting to be dragged off somewhere without the jets to compensate." Frowning slightly at the odd man's question she shrugged before continuing. "I'd say I'm at about a two right now, my ears have this kind of low ringing in them since the reactor blew." She tapped one of her ears with her finger. "And as for a pokebrace, or whatever the hell you call it, I don't have one anymore. Damn thing took a hit from a piece of debris right after the EM pulse fried the electronics on the suit. If I hadn't had a hole in the suit when I woke up I would have died from asphyxiation." She put her finger through a hole in the suit's abdominal region and cocked her head when it came out bloody. "Oh, well that's new."

She rubbed her fingers together, staring at the red liquid, for a few seconds before wiping most of it off on the chest of the suit. "Anyway, I like the look of this place. I've always been a fan of the whole retro thing and it is wonderful having all this space!" She spun slowly around to look at the room, chuckling to herself. "So what do you call this place anyway? I mean home, obviously, but what else?" Her eyes caught sight of the medical machines in the corner and her mouth fell open. "You actually have one of these? Oh my god, this is awesome. I mean it's not a flesh printer, let alone an accelerated healing pod, but to have more than one of these?" She stumble/jogged over to the healers and pried one open, almost vibrating with excitement. "Oooh. Quick help me get the rest of the suit off. This is absolutely perfect!" She ripped off a stretch of casing with one hand and began digging through the nest of wires with a look of dazed satisfaction before running back and picking up her discarded helmet. "All I need to do is rig the helmet up like a dish and I can get this internal bleeding out of the way in no time!" Grasping a hold of the intern's shoulders, she spun around quickly before diving back in.
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Curon Hifor

Malcom looked at the alien person with a look of absolute confusion and incredulity. Gravy? Like, what you put on potatoes? Same down? What, did she mean gravity? Reactor blew? What reactor? Natura hadn't needed a full reactor in a very long time, not since they harvested more natural means of power. Debris? EM? Asphyxiation? What was going on? It was so much to try and take in, Malcom practically dropped his stylus, his eyes growing wide when he realized that the person was bleeding.

"Whoa, hey, you're injured!" He cried about, about to put another set of numbers into his PokeBrace when she started talking again. "Wait, retro? The lab is the most advanced piece of technology and architecture in the city--how could it be retro?" He asked, looking absolutely dumbfounded for a moment, pausing in mid-call with the emergency medical crews.

"One of what? Oh, those? Those are for the Pokemo--" he said, cutting himself off as the person stumbled towards Pokemon medical units, her strange-looking hands prying open one of the units, causing no shortage of alarm for the aide. "Hey wait, those are expensive! Surely we can find more suitable units for your medical needs..." He said, protesting her treatment of the equipment until she mentioned something about using her own helmet as a dish, her strange hands grasping his shoulders as she spoke before going back to work. There was really no arguing with her, it seemed like, especially with how strange of a lifeform she was.

"The suit--oh, right, yeah. Here, let me, uh, let me help," he said, trying to find the fasteners of her suit. Once one or two were loosened, his face immediately lit up like a stop light, causing the scientist to squeeze his eyes shut and look away. "P-P-Pardon me, miss! I wasn't sure if you were, ah, uh, female..." He said, the blush on his face practically burning his skin as his bashfulness erupted. He quickly took his hands away and maintained his distance. He shook his head, more distracted with the surprise of the whole situation than what she was doing with the medical unit in her hands. This was not going well at all.
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Lonile
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Having finished soldering quite a few bits of delicate electronics to her helmet via the lamp ports, she snorted at the man's question "Of course I'm female! These curves don't show up for everyone." She gestured at the suit which concealed any hints at what her body might look like. "Now, you got the hard ones so this next part should be simple." Loosening the other clips around her waist, the suit soon separated into two halves to reveal a tattered black jumpsuit beneath it with a sizable hole through the middle. "Yeah, that's why I'm not feeling it. Probably in shock at the moment." She hauled the top of the suit the rest of the way off and let it fall onto the floor as she stepped out of the bottom half. She then unzipped the jumpsuit from her neck to her hips and shrugged off the top portion before peeling the undershirt underneath enough that the wound was clearly visible. With a grimace, she flicked the medical machine on and flinched as her flesh began to knit itself back together. "Okay, next time I grab some painkillers first. You okay over there?" Her hips were the only feminine aspect about her, not even having a recognizable lump on her chest to suggest breasts. The skin of her torso was a hair darker than the rest of her body and the scales increased in scale until near her spine they were the size of fingernails. Strangely, despite her quasi-reptilian appearance, as the wound knitted itself close it revealed that she did have a navel.

Healing mostly complete, she tied the sleeves of the bloodstained jumpsuit about her hips leaving her with an equally worn and grimy tank top that at one point might have been white. There were patches of cleaner material on the upper sleeves and breast of the jumpsuit that might have held patches at one point but they were only slightly less worn than the rest of the garment. When the machine finished its procedure, and gave an awkward squack that sounded like the regular buzzer if it had been compressed into half a second and played backwards, Aelra stretched and prodded at the new skin tenderly before smiling. "See? Good as new. Still wish I'd had a flesh printer though, then I wouldn't have had to deal with pain. Anyway, what's it like here? What do people do for- Oh, I forgot to ask your name." She grasped his right hand with both hands and shoot it vigorously. "It really is a pleasure to meet you, thanks for letting me use your healing unit. Maybe I can treat you to lunch sometime as thanks." She grinned and started dismantling her modifications to the medical unit. "Anyway, like I was saying. What is it like living dirtside? I've spent most of my life in freefall and this is not what I'd expected. I mean everything here just smells so good... Is that bread? I think I smell bread." She shoved the now dented cover of the machine back into place and started walking towards the back of the lab. "I mean I know it smells kinda yeasty, like a malfunctioning algae tank, but this is a good yeasty. And that other scent. Very organic, with a touch of salt and maybe... I dunno it smells kinda dirtlike but without the oily component I'm used to."

(She is talking, by the way, about fish)
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Curon Hifor

The young scientist was still rather flabbergasted, keeping his eyes squeezed shut as he half-listened to what she was saying. He did not mean to touch her there of all places when he had unclasped part of her uniform, and by the time he recovered from his embarrassment, she had already finished healing herself and tied the rest of her uniform at her waist, leaving her top covered with a tank top. Now that he actually, y'know, opened his eyes, he could see that she was, indeed, reptilian. He was not sure what clued him into her gender at first, but every alarm bell in his head suggested that she was female. But now that she wasn't wearing that bulky uniform, her curves were definitely there, even if she did not have the mammary glands of a human--he squeezed his eyes shut again and blushed more when he realized he had been staring at her relatively unassuming chest. It was hard not to think of her as human with her personality.

"M--My apologies, Miss! I didn't mean to touch you inappropriately!" He said, bowing his head towards her apologetically. When she grabbed his hand, he opened his eyes again, feeling her strange flesh against his own. It was almost leathery and stiff in nature. "Name--Name? Oh, yes, Uh, I have a name. It's, uh, oh, what was it--Malcom! Yes! My name is Malcom, a pleasure to meet you miss!" He said, apparently still in relative hysterics at not just meeting an alien species, but touching her in a way that could be seen as embarrassing, and she modified the healer unit, AND she was shaking his hand. He should be taking copious amounts of notes on this subject, but he was still flustered severely.

"What, food? Yes, we have plenty of food, pastries, bread, fish, you name it! Help yourself!" He said, his nervousness setting in and causing his hands to shake on their own. His heart felt like it was going to positively burst! "I don't know what would be different about living her rather than outer space--aside from the floating, I would imagine," he tried to explain, trying to calm himself down.
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Lonile
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He's stammering. He's... Oh that's new "You're staring at my chest. I've never had that happen before." She grabbed his hand and ran it over her upper body. "Relax, there is absolutely nothing here. I don't even have nipples for crying out loud." She smirked as she dropped his hand. "Think about it like touching a guy's chest. Is there anything wrong about putting your hands on a guy's-" She got a far off look for a second before shaking her head. "Not that it wouldn't be fun, but you're not my type." She ruffled his hair before lifting her arm up and staring at her bare forearm for a second. "Right. Broken."

"Well the biggest difference about living in space is the complete lack of orientation, which you touched upon. I mean sure we use local gravy to make sure we don't deal with muscular atrophy and the like, but when you're working it just gets in the way. I mean, I wouldn't be able to shove two tons of steel around in normal gravity no matter what I did while in space it's a lot simpler. Stopping it becomes the problem then." She shuddered before continuing. "Other than that there's the constant sound and smell of machinery, the fact that everything is recycled; and I do mean everything; the fact that most of our food is reconstituted algae which is also what gives us our oxygen." She had been ticking off things on her fingers and now moved onto the other hand. "The lack of a sky; vertigo drives some people mad within days; the confined space because you want to have as little area for atmospheric failure as possible, the fact that you have to suit up to do anything worthwhile outside, the lack of all the greenery you take for granted." She looked down at her bare feet and smirked before finishing off- "and the fact that most people go days between bathing to conserve water."

She scratched her head as she looked at the scientist before sitting down on the counter. "Really, if it weren't for the freedom and the feeling of flying I don't know why I put up with it." She tapped on her arm again and rolled her eyes. "You don't happen to have the works of David Gilmour on this world do you?"
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Curon Hifor

It was too much to bear.

Between her rubbing his hand over her chest--regardless of something was there or not!--and her hand ruffling his hair, and the talk about her life on space, which all went over his head at the moment, he could not help himself any longer. The blood in his head seemed to drain away, save for the blush in his cheeks, his glasses fell off his face, and he landed upon his face, falling down onto the ground with a noise akin to a mouse squeek and a sigh. He had, indeed, fainted--along with a small drip of blood coming out of his nose, though whether that was from his brain overloading or the smack on the face from the fall, no one would probably be all that certain. His nervousness was probably enough to explain it, however.

After a few long minutes, he took a deep breath and managed to wake up from his embarrassment-induced coma, his eyes blinking open to clear the fogginess from his vision. Why was he on the ground? He did not recall laying down. Why did his face hurt? Did he fall? What was he doing? He couldn't remember what was going on at that moment. Then, the events of the last ten minutes hit his brain and his blush resurfaced upon his face, the researching rubbing his face with his hands before replacing his glasses upon his face.

"Ah--s-sorry about that! I think the air here might be a little thin..." he said, trying to grasp for the first excuse for his faint he could come up with. His face felt hotter than normal. "Is it hot in here? Perhaps I should turn down the heat," he said, exiting through the nearest door to the foyer for some cool and fresh air to clear his head. Surely, this was some kind of dream--surely, everything that was happening couldn't be occurring in real life. He just had to wake up!
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Lonile
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Seeing the aide fall to the floor, Aelra shrugged before helping herself to the man's pokebrace and opening up the internet client. "Let's see what we've got here..." A few seconds of tapping led to music drifting out of the bracer. "There we go. That's better. Now, what do they call this world? And why is this thing so slow anyway?" Getting distracted once again, she popped the bracer off her wrist and opened it up along its hinged before cracking the casing. "Oh, limited flash memory and circuit boards. Still using copper wire though rather than gold or optical fluidics, that's new. On the other hand, fluidics are really sensitive and tend to crack."

Wandering over to the desk itself, she grabbed a potted plant and took a bite out of one of the leaves and chewed for a few moments before grimacing and spitting the remains on the floor. "Okay, that is absolutely horrible. Why would you leave that lying around anyway?" She unseated the motherboard using a ballpoint pen to get a closer look at the backside of the touch screen. "Electrostatic detection based on a body's electrical field. That's interesting. Limits the use if the person is wearing gloves, or if it's raining." She pushed the wires around a little bit before shrugging and moving over to the sink and taking a drink. "It is a bit hot, now that you mention it. There's all that weather stuff going on. Is there anything spicy nearby? Anything to get the taste of that- thing out of my mouth."
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Curon Hifor

After a few moments to clear his head and get some deep breaths going through his lungs, he finally sighed and went back into the room the... alien woman was in. He had completely missed it when she had stated her name earlier, and now he would feel like a jerk or idiot of he asked for her name again, so at this point, he was just going to default to 'miss.' That aside, when he walked into the room, he noticed his arm felt a little lighter than before. He looked down at his arm, noticing the lack of a PokeBrace and, sure enough, saw her poking and prodding it with a pen.

"A--Ah! Miss, you shouldn't mess with that. Its a very important piece of technology for us," he said, trying to get close enough to her to be within arm's reach of the Brace and not within arms reach of her chest. Because that would be incredibly inappropriate. "Wait, 'this place'? You mean the Laboratory, or the world we're in? Have you never heard of Natura...?" He asked, more confused than anything else.

He seemed absolutely flabbergasted when she tried to chew one of the leaves, leaving his mouth slightly agape. Was she just completely foreign to how people normally behaved? "M--miss, it's a plant. Its for decoration and recycling the air in here... I think," he said, not really sure what the true reason was for people putting plants in and our their places of living and business. She then mentioned something about wanting something spicy and he tilted his head a little.

"Spicy? I suppose they make some spicy fish here in this district due to all the piers and fishermen that work here, but... we don't have anything like that here in the lab," he said, trying to find a good enough vantage point to retrieve his PokeBrace from her--and failing miserably. He then remembered something with a bit more taste that was nearby--or at least, something that could pass for what was needed.

"I have to say though, I appreciate the, ah, the, uh, the c--compliment, miss," he said, finally managing to find a good angle to retrieve his PokeBrace, but far too hesitant to try and, you know, grab it. What if he touched her chest again? That would be disastrous.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small piece of chewing gum, still in the wrapper, and offered it to her. "Here, this might get that taste out of your mouth," he offered her. "Perhaps I could take you out into the town to get something proper to eat? It--ah--it wouldn't be a date or anything like that!" He said defensively to his own comment, pausing midway through. "U--unless you wanted it to be."
Edited by Curon Hifor, Nov 16 2014, 03:57 PM.
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Lonile
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"Ugh... Can't do fish if I have anything resembling a choice." She stuck her tongue out at the thought. "They used to raise those in the on board water reserves on the old tankers as a protein additive. They cooked it with every meal and the old filters never could get the taste out of the water. Spend six months eating fish and drinking fishy water..." She shuddered at the thought before closing the casing on the brace and handing it over to its owner, exchanging it for the chewing gum. "You might want to invest in some 20 gauge gold wire, it'll increase your battery life by about 6% and your transfer speed by 8%, possibly more if you can swap out the pins on the motherboard and make a permanent connection." Peeling the wrapper off slowly, she folded it into a small rectangle and dropped it into her pocket before popping the gum into her mouth. She chewed a few times before smiling. "This is more like it, and what's a Natura?" Latin? Old Earth etymology? Meh, who cares. "Do you know where I can get one of those bracelet computer thingies? Possibly some money? Gun perhaps? Though if I get a gun I don't really need money do I..." The last part was said under her breath as she wandered back to the potted plant she'd taken a bite of.

There was so much strangeness here, though it could be that this was normal and her life was full of strangeness. Having a small plant for air production was somewhat logical but only if it was providing for a much smaller creature. Every bit of oxygen counted, usually, but there was an entire atmosphere of the stuff here free to breathe. People, or at least this guy, were also a lot more shy and self conscious than she was used to. Yet they had so much more space! They weren't confined to a five cubic foot locker, under 100 kilo please, for all of their belongings. Though come to think about it, I bet I could have kept him in my locker. I wonder what he'd be useful for though. "Sure, let's get a bite. Your treat!" She grinned as she wove her arm through his and started walking out of the lab. "So tell me Malcom, what do you do for a living? What kind of laboratory is this anyway?"
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Curon Hifor

Malcom cringed a little at her story about fish, not altogether sure he could stand the taste of fish for such a long duration of time. Then again, he particularly liked the grilled Luvdisc, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. The idea of using gold, on the other hand, for their electronics, was something that interested him as he looked down at the PokeBrace she gave back to him, the scientist checking the device over for any malfunctions. "Gold might be a bit... rare to use. We typically only use substances that are the most commonly available for these devices, in order to ensure their reliability, ease of maintenance, as well as the fact that we outfit practically all Pokemon trainers with them--it really is a staple in our culture at this point. Maybe someone a bit wealthier would find use for such drastic changes, though," he admitted.

"Natura is the world we live in--at least, that's the name for it. I don't know what else you would call our planet, though. Are you not from this planet?" He asked, realizing that, of course, she probably wouldn't be. "We've had quite the influx of people from other worlds lately, so I guess it wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility that you come from a vastly different world than Natura," he offered, going off on an explanation tangent, as any geek in his situation would. He seemed to like going into scientific specifics.

"Why yes, we can outfit you with a PokeBrace, as well as a Pokemon companion if you'd like. And you could probably earn money by doing a few odd jobs for the Laboratory if you're really desperate," he said, trying to accomodate her situation, as unique as it was. "We don't deal in guns here, though--Natura hasn't really needed weapons for quite a long, long time--not since the Cataclysm, not since the different peoples of the planet united for the betterment of our species. After all, when everyone is an ally, what use are weapons? Besides, if you're worried about protection, a Pokemon can help with that!"

His face lit up with a crimson glow when she wove her arm through his, almost pulling him along towards the lab's exit. Once again, he was quite embarrassed by this whole change of events, but he managed to keep his wits about him for the moment. "I--I--I am a scientist, miss. I work for Professor Hawthorne as an aide and researcher of Pokemon and the world around us. This is a Pokemon lab, where we conduct lots of tests and studies based off of the millions of data packets sent to us by the trainers that go out and explore. You seem to be something of an explorer... maybe you could help out."

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Lonile
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"You haven't needed weapons. How's that going for you?" No guns. That means I could set myself up with a new toll territory without much effort. I just need to remember the formula for gun powder or possibly one of those high grade lasers, possibly a coil gun if I can get rig up some E-magnets... Wait a tick, that word keeps popping up. She cocked an eyebrow as she looked over the little man carefully. "What in the warp is a pokemon? Is that one of those weird machine bodyguard dealies like the tachikoma? I mean I would love to spend time with one of those guys again but you guys don't look like you have the industrial base to support them."

She put her index finger to her lips as they left the lab and thought for a moment. "I wouldn't exactly describe myself as an explorer. I mean, I never went anywhere new if I could help it I just carved out a little place to call home-" regardless of who actually owned it "and live there as best I could." Which usually involved raids, tolls, field stripping entire ships and selling captives back to their families one member at a time. She took a big gulp of air and sighed as she reminisced. "Good times..."

As they walked she continued to try and stay under awnings as much as possible reasoning that even if she wasn't going to fall up into the sky she was at least at a high risk of getting sun burnt. She did her best not to flinch as a flock of birds flew overhead, her free hand drifting to her belt unconsciously as she eyed the people surrounding them. "Is there anywhere I can buy a change of clothes once I get some money? I mean I don't even have any underwear anymore at this point." She tightened the arms of her jumpsuit around her waist nervously as she tried to figure out where they'd be eating.
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Curon Hifor

"W--wait," Malcom said, halting in his steps to look at the strange woman again. "You've never heard of Pokemon? Here," he said, pulling out a spherical object from his belt and pushing a small button upon the center. With a flash of light and energy, the ball opened, revealing a bird-like creature from within it's depths before the ball closed again. The Pidgey blinked for a moment before flying up to Malcom's shoulder.

"This is a Pokemon--one of many hundreds of types! Pokemon are our companions here--they work with us, play with us, and if needed, fight with us too! Much of my time goes towards researching the wildly different types and behaviors of the Pokemon we share this world with. Even the Pokemon Professor herself works tirelessly to uncover the secrets of the Pokemon that live on our planet! I find it rather odd you've never heard of them before but... I guess a lot wouldn't be useful in space, huh?" He said, tilting his head to the side after his school-room-esque explanation.

He finally continued walking towards one of the nearby restaraunts. His face went red at the mention of her not possessing certain garments, but he shook the thought from his head all the same. He needed to stay appropriate! "W--well, there are certainly a lot of places one could go to buy clothing. The city is divided into a few districts. The one we just left was the Azure district--where all the ports and fishing happen, as well as where our lab is stationed--and the one we are going to is the Verdant district, where all the agriculture and food production takes place. The Golden Quarter houses the shops and malls of the city, where you can find practically anything to buy. The Umber district is where most people live in this city," he explained as they continued to walk, apparently getting him to explain and talk about anything managed to keep him energetic rather than blushing all the time.

Finally, they arrived at a modest restaurant, more for the actual meat they cooked and served there as well as the mixed vegetables and various other wholesome foods--basically, anything that seemed a lot more appetizing than whatever she might have eaten up in space. "Once I've managed to outfit you with a PokeBrace, PokeDex, and a Pokemon Companion, I'm sure you'll be getting to earning your keep in no time, Miss," he said, retreating his Pidgey back into the PokeBall before stepping into the restaurant.
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Lonile
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Aelra stared wide eyed at the red and white ball in shock for a few seconds before her right hand twitched and she managed to drag her attention back to what Malcom was talking about. Dimensional storage of living animals as energy! I want it... battle? The thing is tiny what use would it be in a real fight? Her mouth fell open for a few seconds before she could really put her thoughts into words, trailing behind him in something of a haze. "The major problem I see for using things like that in space would be adapting existing life support to their drastically different biology as well as the fact that you can't really train most wild animals to handle zero gravity. Birds in particular have problems because they have major issues with orientation. Fish on the other hand have a lot of luck since they orient to the nearest surface without prompting. God I hate fish."

She sneezed when an unknown and extremely potent odor assaulted her nose. She blinked tears out of her eyes before continuing. "I'd see much more use with the contained dimensional storage modules you have there. I mean, the creature is safe in there and unharmed by what you do to the sphere?" The applications for cryogenics alone are huge. Simplification of drop pods for orbital insertion of troops, arraying troops behind enemy lines, prison transfer and incarceration, piracy and smuggling schemes through false cargo, illegal immigration... She flushed unconsciously with the thoughts of possible profit that sat in front of her.

She paused to stare for a second again as the bird was drawn back into its containment sphere before following the young man into the restaurant. Ignoring the stares and drop in conversation as they were led to the table as a matter of course, her hand dropped unconsciously to her right hip and she cursed under her breath at the absence of her sidearm and torch. When they got to a booth in the back of the restaurant she settled into one side and stared at the menu for a few seconds before looking up at her host. "I've been meaning to ask this, but since when does your planet speak and write in Galactic Standard East?" She muttered to herself about the oddities of language and proceeded to order a coke when the server returned. "And why do you have to add the prefix 'Pokay' to everything. Is that a cultural tic or something?"
Edited by Lonile, Feb 9 2015, 05:19 PM.
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Curon Hifor

Malcom cringed a little about her comment about space--particularly with how much problems birds would have, as well as her comment about fish. She must have spent much of her life eating only fish... well, thankfully, that would be rectified in this restaurant, thankfully, which had various kinds of meat and food available. "Indeed, the Pokemon is rather safe in its PokeBall--though do take care not to go out of your way to damage it. There have been a few instances of injuries due to unsafe handling of PokeBalls before, though nothing truly extreme, yet," he informed her before looking down at the menu, not really noticing all the stares in the room. Of course, the woman across from him was rather exotic, but he was keeping his eyes on the menu to keep himself from staring across at her--which would have been immensely rude, for certain.

He raised in eyebrow as he finally looked over towards her for her latest inquiry. "Galactic Standard... east? Uhm... I... Don't know the question of that, honestly. I mean, there are a few different languages on our planet here, but most people can speak the common tongue well enough... I wasn't aware our language was present out in space..." He said, as if the question had taken him completely off-guard. Maybe there were millions of different languages out in space, and theirs were only just a handful. How interesting...

"Oh, you mean Pokemon? Its short for 'Pocket Monster', and we've just grown into linking the shortened 'Poke' with other words, particularly gear and gadgets directly linked with the Pokemon we share our world with. Pokemon are actually rather popular creatures--they help us in our day to day lives, they are our companions and our guardians as well. They're really quite fascinating!"
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Lonile
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The alien frowned slightly before speaking. "The galactic standard languages came as an offshoot of the SETI programs that most worlds developed before they achieved space flight. While the SETI codes could determine if an alien race could do math or recognize pi there was nothing involved that helped any of the other races see if the race being studied had any conversational skills at all. In fact, there were a few interstellar incidents that were narrowly averted due to a lack of understanding of the idioms of another culture. To ensure that there was a language that the differing cultures could speak in without any other race feeling slighted or otherwise misunderstood the decision was made to study transmissions between differing language groups on an as of yet monoplanetary species, with the decision of what species being determined by volume of interpersonal data. Gal Standard East was drawn from the major language of the cross-national intellectual forum of a little planet in one of the arms of our galaxy due to the ease with which diplomats and other groups could drop in and ask just about anything without it seeming odd. I actually got my first taste of GSE by reading old /b/ transcripts." She smiled faintly at the memory.

When the waitress approached she ordered a mushroom burger and soda water before turning back to her companion. "Anyway, there are three major languages each based on a cultural forum like that one. Anyway, I would think that pokemon would be extremely important to your world but don't you think having that prefix everywhere gets a bit overwhelming after a while?
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Curon Hifor

He tried to keep up with the conversation. Really, he really, really tried, but all of her statements and other-worldly knowledge seemed to go right over his head, his expression of nervousness and confusion really painting the picture of what was going on in his head. "W--well, that does sound rather fascinating..." He admitted, despite all the information she just dumped onto his lap still almost like a foreign concept to him. It really was hard to follow, but he tried to be supportive all the same. "And would certainly explain your ease in communicating with us. Strange, though, our planet really hasn't had much contact with outside planets, as far as I know..." He said, trying to think of something along those lines. Sure, there were other worlds and dimensions--with visitors from those places becoming more and more frequent lately--but the way she described it, it would have been more purposeful...

He shook his head. "Not really--it's just the way we associate certain things with our Pokemon companions. For example, a PokeBALL is used to capture and house our companions, a PokeBRACE is used to call one another and transmit information, a PokeDEX is used to store Pokemon information and collect vital statistics, a PokeFLUTE is used to put Pokemon to sleep--its all about the Suffix, rather than the prefix, you know?"
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