A fine day for horseback riding. ((For i_paladin))

[chiron_survivor]

Adia is full of nervous energy as she waits outside of the Nexus inn for Paladin. She is mostly excited, but it has been a long time since she has ridden a horse. Her riding boots and helmet are long gone, lost along with everything else when Leonis was destroyed. She is wearing her regular boots and jeans, along with a sweater and her heavy wool coat. She didn't bother with a scarf, worried the fluttering might startle or distract the horse. Paladin did say that he was sassy.

Shifting her weight from foot to foot, she pulls out her PINpoint for the hundredth time and checks for messages. The innkeeper was happy enough to play go-between, printing out Adia's electronic messages and transcribing anything that Paladin wanted to write back in return. It's how they were able to plan their get-together. But Adia checks anyway. Plans can change, after all.

Comments

[i_paladin]

"I feel that it is pretty simple, I don't think I have the hang of the clicking part yet. I suppose that will come in time." And being able to just move the mouse without looking at it and while following it's progress on the screen, other than that it is pretty easy.

In response Paladin will smile, flashing those teeth and giving a nod of thanks. "I would agree with that, well, almost everyone looks better when they smile. Have you ever see a Manticore open their mouth? I suppose they can smile, since they have a human face and all, but they really, really shouldn't."

[chiron_survivor]

"You get used to it," Adia reassures her. "Some computers have other ways of moving the arrow key. They might use a trackpad, or they might have a touchscreen. But the ones around the Nexus seem to favor the mouse."

"I have never seen a manticore at all." And with that description, she's pretty sure she never wants to. "Do you have any sphinxes on your world? They are a popular myth where I'm from, and they also have human faces."

[i_paladin]

Touch screen seems pretty intuitive on what it is, you touch a screen, but trackpad is a little tricker meaning she isn't entirely sure of how she should visualize it. At this moment she isn't going to worry about it. "Oh, well they are a delight," no they aren't the Tiefling is being a bit sarcastic.

"They have three jaws, top and bottom, three of them with rows of razor sharp teeth. It's terrifying, I've seen a lot of awful shit in my day but when you look at something and it's got three jaws and a face of a man? How are you supposed to respond to it?"

By fucking nuking it of course.

"Indeed we have sphinxes, both Andro and Gynosphinxes. They love riddles, and tend to be pretty neutral which is good because, they are a hundred times worse than a Manticore to deal with. It's roars actually kill people."

[chiron_survivor]

Adia smiles a bit in response to the sarcasm. "They are a bit clunky to use, I know..." She pauses thoughtfully, then rises partly out of her seat to look around the lobby, but no one is paying attention to them. Quickly, she sits back down and says in a conspiratorial tone, "Would you like me to take this one apart so you can see how it works?"

That description certainly does not endear the manticore to her. She's assuming that Paladin's question is rhetorical, because Adia's answer would be to get as far away as possible. The sphinxes sound only marginally better. "We have a famous story of a hero named Oedipus who met a sphinx at a crossroads. She asked him a riddle but he was able to answer it, and she killed herself in shame." She frowns a little. "I wouldn't want one to kill itself over me, but I wouldn't want it to eat me, either. I like riddles but I would probably get too flustered to answer."

[i_paladin]

It has been awhile since she hit conspiratorial tone level with someone, this is highly exciting. Paladin leans forward as well and her eyes dart one way and then the other. Who is their enemy? Who cares! This is exciting, Paladin is just utterly down. "The machine?" Wait, take apart the computer? A glance at the box and a quick mental reminder that it will probably not explode, is not booby trapped, and not filled with magic.

"A sphinx killed themselves?" Paladin, for maybe the second time today, is dubious. "If so then this sphinx was not from my world. I cannot imagine such a creature being so distraught over a mortal." Reaching out, Paladin pats Adia's hand with gentle reassurance. "I have heard that as long as you are polite they are fine and I cannot imagine you being rude."

[chiron_survivor]

"Oh... no, no. I meant the mouse." The enemy to Adia is anyone showing disapproval at her taking apart a computer mouse, and as she is always made nervous about that sort of thing, she takes another quick look around before grabbing the mouse and flipping it over to show its underside to Paladin.

"It's a mechanical mouse. See the rubber ball here?" With a practiced turn of her finger and thumb, she rotates the plastic ring at the base and pops it off, making the ball more visible. "Rolling the ball makes the arrow move because...." And then she pops out the rubber ball, revealing two small wheels within the hollow space. "The ball pushes against these wheels, and they send the signal to the computer."

"She was distraught over having her riddle solved," Adia explains, although she, too, seems dubious about that. "Well, it's just a story, anyway... a really messed-up story, now that I think about it. Oedipus had a lot of problems." Paladin's words are reassuring; Adia smiles modestly. "Well, I get a lot of practice meeting all sorts of people here. Maybe meeting one wouldn't be so bad. Have you ever met one?"

[i_paladin]

"Ahhhhh," that is good clarification because Paladin would have hesitated for just a moment before joining in Adia on her caper. The mouse? It's so small, no one will notice. Indeed, she leans forward, head titled slightly to the side as she watches the young woman carefully dissect the mouse.

"It looks so very simple," the Tiefling breathes despite having no clue what those parts are made out of. It's just a ball and some wheels and yet it does so much. "Are you sure there is no magic involved with this? Because it can do some great things but it looks so simple."

A glance up from the mouse Adia is holding and the Tiefling grins. "You are the best welcome Nexus has to offer," as for the sphinx Paladin gives a shake of the head. "No, I have not and I am not sure if I will ever have the occasion to meet one but I think I would like to. I can be very respectful, they like rules, sphinxes."

[chiron_survivor]

"No magic," she assures Paladin. She pops the ball back into place and twists back on the ring that keeps it there. "Computers are actually very simple, at their core. It's the ability to make the parts inside of it smaller and smaller that has let them become more powerful." She wishes she could explain more, but she'd have to get into binary code and microprocessors. Paladin is very bright, but that's a little too much for one afternoon.

Adia smiles modestly at the compliment. Truth be told, this one means a lot more to her than being told she has a pretty smile. It's easier for her to accept graciously, at any rate. "Why do you think you won't meet one? Are they rare?"

[i_paladin]

"That seems very counter intuitive," Paladin remarks. "The smaller the thing the more powerful they are," she considers this quite deeply and decides that it is so. "Granted there are small magic items that are very powerful but that's magic. Generally the bigger something is the more powerful it is. But here you have, something that is small and not magical that can send and receive messages easily. That is very powerful." No one quite understands how powerful communications are until they don't have access to them.

True: anyone can have a pretty smile, it doesn't take much. What is harder is having a pretty insides. A narrow shrug and Paladin sits back in the chair, breaking out of their conspiratorial huddle. "They are extremely rare and I will not say that I am sure I will not meet one, it just seems very unlikely. Of course not that I've said something I will most certainly stumble upon one. Which is dangerous, I do poor with riddles. I wonder if I could send you a message if I do." The thought makes the Tiefling grin.

[chiron_survivor]

"It does," Adia agrees. "But that's how it usually works with electronics. Computers used to be the size of entire rooms, and they still weren't as powerful as one of these."

There's a mental image: Paladin telling a sphinx to "hold on a minute" while she types out a text to Adia. It'd be more amusing to Adia if Paladin's life weren't likely on the line while she was doing it. "I would look up the answer for you and reply right away," she says, more seriously than Paladin's light-hearted tone.

Speaking of looking stuff up, Adia takes a moment to glance at the time on the computer screen. She's reluctant to leave, having what has been a wonderful afternoon, extraordinary even considering her ride on Shadow, but she doesn't want anyone on her world questioning her whereabouts. "I should be getting back soon... do you want to take a quick walk to the vending machines so I can help you pick out a PINpoint?"

[i_paladin]

Aida's reaction is just what Paladin was looking for. "That is why I would contact you above all others," if you're going to phone a friend you phone a friend who knows what is on the line and has their shit together.

"Ah yes," she sighs and stands. "I know you are very busy and you have been very kind: taking your time to help me with everything today. I will not keep you much longer, Adia."

[chiron_survivor]

Adia smiles modestly. "You'll meet other people here who can help," she says confidently. Although it is true that few are as quick to reply to text messages as she is.

"I'm only busy because I don't want people asking where I've been. Otherwise I'd probably spend all day in the Nexus. Oh, um... one more thing, when you're done with a computer, you should sign out. Otherwise someone else could use your account." Leaning over, she clicks the sign-out button for chat and email. "There, that should do it."

[i_paladin]

"Oh," about the singing out. Good call. "I will sign out from here on out," though why anyone would use her account is beyond Paladin. There is nothing in there! But it makes sense if there was sensitive conversations within the account.

"And you have very important work to do back in your world, people need you." To keep her in the Nexus is very nice for Paladin but there are more important people that need her more in Adia's world. Once logged out, the Tiefling offers an arm to the young woman. "Let us make this quick then!"

[chiron_survivor]

It is more of a courtesy than anything, as any decent sort of person would simply log out the previous user, but Adia is as protective of her electronic accounts as she is over her PINpoint.

Adia isn't as sure on that point. She tries to be helpful, certainly. And she still does not know the purpose of the project that the Cylons have her collecting data far. But pushing those thoughts aside, she stands up and takes Paladin's arm with a smile. "Not too fast, I'm not built for speed," she jokes.

[i_paladin]

"We shall stroll then," Paladin tells Adia with a big grin. The horned creature is in no rush and as long as Adia is alright with it then they will take it slow. "In fact, you're in charge, I am not sure where a PINpoint station is around here."

The Tiefling has probably seen one but can't recall where off the top of her head. That being said, it's easy enough to get out of the little computer room and back into the lobby.

[chiron_survivor]

"We're only heading back to the Plaza," Adia says, although she's grateful that Paladin is letting her set the pace. Once they step out of the lobby and onto the street, she points down a ways, in the direction that Paladin and Adia first met. "Right past the fountain, there are a bunch of vending machines. You put coins or dollars into a slot, select what you want, and it pops out at the bottom. I wasn't sure if there was a vending machine still distributing PINpoints, but I've been told it's highly possible. If we can't find it, there might be a vendor who sells them instead."

It's not like she's the only person in the Nexus with a PINpoint. They must still be available.Otherwise, Paladin will have to get very familiar with her portal of origin.

[i_paladin]

"I have not ever encountered a vending machine, so perhaps it would be fine if we had to find a merchant." Either way, Paladin is easy. It will be nice to go for a slow walk after a big meal and her head is currently swimming with a lot of good information.

The air is still cold, the sky darkening slightly since it is quickly approaching winter: it is good that the both of them are wearing coats/cloaks.

[chiron_survivor]

Adia is grateful for her coat that has kept her warm both on New Caprica and in the Nexus. She only wishes that she had worn a scarf after all, her neck feeling a little bare.

Heading in the direction of the vending machines, Adia keeps her eyes peeled for any merchants selling PINpoints along the way. "I don't pay a lot of attention to who is selling what," she admits. "I don't want to tempt myself with something I can't afford. It'd be good for you to learn how to use a vending machine, though. They're very convenient. There's also a free coffee machine... it's where I hang out, mostly." Adia has been trying to expand her Nexus horizons and explore more, but nothing beats the comfort of free coffee, free wifi, and an intact anti-violence field.