How do we always end up here (Sentinel)

The android nodded when Naomi asked for confirmation. He watched her get frustrated about it, and how she asked him to promise that he would always come back. "I promise to always come back. I have no intentions of being lost or harmed, Naomi. I don't intend to leave her behind, not now...not ever." The android said smiling at her a little bit, "I thank you for accepting this, I still will hold to my promise. Don't you worry about that." He said before looking toward the altar. He realized something kind of sad about this place, and it slightly bugged him a little bit too.

"You know, everytime we come here it is always about something sad and depressing." Sentinel said looking back toward Naomi, "Want to break that trend? And talk about something fun instead?" he asks her, hoping that she would say yes and agree with him. It was time for some fun instead of depressing stuff!

She looked in the same direction as Alphonse, laughing at his realization, “You’re right. It seems we always talk about something sad. So, now it’s time for something happier.” She stood up and stretched before moving over to another one of the pews and looking under the seats, “Now, where is it?” She would say as she seemed to look for something under the pews. She would smile as she found it. She grabbed a piece of paper from under the seat and walked back over to Alphonse, “Something fun, I can supply. I’ve lived here for a few years, so I know some secrets.” She handed him the paper, “That, and I know kids get bored sitting in church, so they make up games to pass the time. This paper says they found the last treasure that was hiding. I guess that means someone needs to hide a new one.” She pulled a pen out of her purse, “So, what is the prize, and where do we hide it?” She loved a good puzzle, and this time she had a feeling she’d have to make it a good one.

He felt happy that she agreed with him, that is what they needed, positive thinking. He watched her move around the room, before finding what she was looking for underneath a chair. She then returned with a piece of paper, stating how she knew the secrets of this place and that their fun would revolve around this secret. According to her they were to arrange a sort of scavenger's hunt where people had to hide the treasure for others to find it and keep it. He was fairly certain he knew what they were doing, he had read about people doing it before. It seemed really kinda cool to be perfectly honest, they were going to be hiding the new treasure. The android removed one of his metal chains that he wore as an accessory.

"Why not take something like this, and place it somewhere it will blend in and make since. It has a lion on it so it represents the evangelist St. Mark. Do they have any area dedicated to him around these parts? If so we can adorn this onto a statue of some sort then it will blend in and seem like part of the decoration. Do you believe that is of sufficent challenge and worth?" the android asked tilting his head to the side.

Her eyes would widen at Alphonse’s gesture, “That’s really sweet and pretty smart, but it’s mostly the kids that play this. I don’t think they’d understand the value of something like that. In fact, I think the last thing I hide was a bag of marbles. The girl that found them seemed pretty happy.” She had a strict set of rules to follow, “It has to be something boys and girls will both like and they have to be able to get to it without getting in trouble. Think of it this way: if it were Maria playing this, would you want her climbing on a statue?” She imagined the answer was no. She couldn’t see Alphonse being that cool with it, “Plus, the clues are not outright and obvious. We have to make it a series of clues that lead them somewhere special.” She rubbed her head in thought, “And it has to be inside the building so none of the children wander off.” She had a lot of rules she had to follow, “If we can hide it somewhere a little harder to reach, that’s okay too. I once hid the prize in the dirt, so the kids ended up inadvertently helping with the weeding.” That was a funny one. She didn’t think it would have that effect. She just wanted to see the boy that helped his parents maintain some of the ground smile. It ended up making more of them help. She loved knowing the children got some fun out of her game.

Ah right...it was kids who are playing this game. This sort of game needed to be simpler and perhaps less harmful to others. Not that he'd want to harm others, and no he would not want Maria climbing on statues. "I see...you have a lot of rules or this sort of game. I find that quite interesting." The android said raising a hand to his chin to ponder the prize and then the clues.The android continued to listen, it had to be something that would not expire. "I think what we need to do is decide on a prize first and then build the clues around it." The android said and an idea struck him he had a slight idea.

"What about some kind of necklace of either beads or maybe a shark tooth? Naturally a fake looking one, but I think I've seen boys and girls wearing it around the beaches of Lunapa" the android suggested to his friend, thinking that he might have found a possible solution. After it was jewelry which girls seem to be drawn to, but it had that cool factor that most boys would enjoy. At least that is what the android thought it would be, then again Naomi might have a differing opinion.

She smirked at her friend, “Of course I have rules. I don’t want the kids getting in trouble or hurt just because they’re playing a game, and I don’t want them to fight over it either. The rules go both ways.” It was the easiest way to make sure nothing went wrong. Her eyes lit up with Alphonse’s suggestion, “That’s a wonderful idea. A shark tooth necklace would be something all of the kid’s enjoy.” She didn’t know why it had to be fake though. Real ones were easy enough to buy. They were a tourist trap of an accessory, and shark teeth weren’t illegal to have. They lost them all the time, “The real question is where a good place to hide it would be. Sharks aren’t a land dwelling species, so probably somewhere near a source of water. I wouldn’t put it near the Holy Water though. The kids would get in trouble if they knocked it over by accident.” She really did put a lot of planning into this game. She didn’t want any of them getting in trouble, but she still wanted it to be fun for them. She usually was alone though. She had never had a partner in crime before. This was going to drive somebody mad. Not the kids though. They would love this.

The android smiled at Naomi, that was quite smart, "I see, this is just more evidence that you are maturing. Granted, something tells me that you've had time to develop these rules and observe the results. Since you seem to come here rather often." he said offering her a smile, she then seemed to light up when he suggested a sharktooth necklace. This was turning out to be fun, and he was rather surprised to see her go for the shark teeth so well. Then she posed the issue of where to hide, so near a source of water excluding the holy water. That made sense of course, it was better to keep the kids out of as much trouble as possible.

"Well places with water would be...hmm" The android brought a hand to his chin to ponder his thoughts, and then he got an idea or two. "Are there any fountains or bird fountains around the cathedral? If so, then those are places that have water and would make sense to find something like a shark tooth there. Granted, that might be too obvious." That was the android's idea, hopefully Naomi would agree with it.

She smiled like a giddy child, “Soon, I’ll be at the point where I’ll be complaining about paying taxes and having to sit in rush hour.” Not that she was looking forward to that. It was just a comparison, “But, yeah, I do come here all the time. It’s a place that doesn’t get a lot of tourist, and since people only come to church on the weekends, it’s usually empty. If I want to get out, this is the best place to do it.” She enjoyed the quiet, but sometimes a stray person would come in and it would get a little less lonely. She thought it was a nice place like that. She never realized just how nice it was here, especially growing up when she was forced to go to church. The only reason she stepped inside here in the first place. It’s actually why she created the game. She remembered how boring this place was during service, especially for kids.

She shrugged her shoulders, “This placed is based off Notre Dame. It probably has some source of water, but nothing grand, especially in the winter.” She wondered if he recalled there was still snow outside, “It’s worse than usual this year, so I want to avoid the outdoors. Don’t want them freezing. Stick to the hall so they don’t get sick.” She never realized how much of this she needed to think through in order to do this. Everything usually just came to her without issue. Only now that she was explaining it to someone else did she realize it herself. When had she started thinking about it so much?

The android smiled at Naomi as she explained the joy's of adulthood. The android laughed a little bit before deciding to make a recommendation, I recommend becoming self-employed Naomi. You get to work when you want and work for who you want. Mostly yourself, but if you are a freelance like I am then you have a lot of freedom. Of course, it is a bit harder standing out from the crowd, but I manage to do fairly well." The android said with a soft smile on his face. When he was informed that outdoors were off limits and that this place was based off Notre Dame, an idea came to mind.

Stained glass windows, sure it wasn't water, but the color blue was often intergrated into the many colors of the stained glass. "Why not the stained glass windows? At least one that they would be able to reach on, the second floor or somewhere around here? They often incorperate the color blue in them, so it might be the next best place. Since blue is the color of water in the ocean." That was the android's thought process, granted blue wasn't the exact color. It is....oh dear that far to technical to go into. Anyways, that was the android's next idea! "If not maybe a bathroom, but that seems pretty unfair because we would have to store it in one of the two bathrooms." Which he knew for Naomi that would undoubtedly be against the rules.

She tilted her head to the side, “I already am self-employed.” Granted, it was a little grey in if it was all legal and what wasn’t, but she did work on her own hours and there were certain jobs she turned down, “I already have a pretty good set of clients. There are some that just don’t know how to take care of their stuff, so they keep me in business. I don’t know what I would do without them.” Probably end up in the red. That reminded her. She had more work to do once she got home. Someone wanted to see if she could retrieve some important files they accidently deleted. That was going to be easy, “I make a pretty penny.” Off the legal stuff, of course. She was taking more of those jobs now that she was in a better place. Sure, they didn’t pay as much, but she got enough of them to get by.

She looked at the stained glass, “As long as they can reach it, it should be fine. It has to be a very specific window though. We can make the clue something to do with water and the image on the window.” Her brain was already turning. She needed to figure out the best way to hide it and get this going, “I think this could work really well. We just need to figure out where to put it.” She looked around for the best window to hide it on. It was a little hard, because there didn’t appear any water based images. They would need to get more creative.

The android blinked, oh right she was self-employed, and evidently she also had a pretty good set of clients. Wow then she was doing rather well being so young. "Right, sorry, but I'm glad you are doing so well with your business! I'm sure you will be a successful business owner considering how well you are doing." The android hoped she was talking about the legal job and not the illegal one. He still had some concerns about that, but he trusted her enough not to get in over her head.

Then they were back to the scavenger hunt, and the android thought of a very famous passage of the Bible. "We should look for an image of Jesus holding a chalice of water, representing him turning water into wine. That would be as close to water as one could get in regards to stained glass. Do you know if there is one, in this cathedral? If there is then it should be the perfect spot." The android said, hoping that he was on to something or that Naomi might agree with his logic. He figured it could be an obscure, but solid clue since it was a rather well know section of the Bible.

She rubbed the back of her head, “I don’t know if successful is the right word. I just sort of take what comes my way. I’m actually a little afraid that my jobs may not be constant enough. I have to learn most of this stuff on my own, so what if I get behind on the newest technology and end up not being my customer’s go-to?” It was why she was starting to get serious about going to a technical college or something. Well, she was at least thinking about it. If she could get a normal job, she would always be in demand, but it meant giving up her freedom. Stupid compromises.

She wasn’t sure what to say, “Well, I think the South Rose window may count, but it’s not exactly like that.” This was a replicated building, so it was limited to what the original had, “It’s supposed to be based on the New Testament, so I guess it counts. Not sure though. I don’t think it has that specific scene on it.” She didn’t remember a lot about the architecture of the building, but she remembered that. It had been a major pain to get lectured on it. At least the colors were pretty, “That may make the point moot though.” That was the problem with this game. Every little thing mattered.

The android nodded so Naomi had her concerns? Well...perhaps the android could help with that. "Perhaps, I can help you! I am a website designer, and I know quite a bit about computer coding so I might be able to keep you up to date until you get more time for another teacher or get a grasp of some of the more advanced mechanics. So if you ever want to learn a new trick or two then maybe I could be of assistance." The android said, he wanted to help her if he could and potientally pay her back for agreeing to help with Maria. He had some advanced skills that might be of interest to her, or another way of doing things. Hopefully he could help her out!

"Well if you think that window will work then let's go up and see it. We can ponder it there, and see if it works. To me it sounds like it might work, we could make a reference that it is in the same book that Jesus turned water into wine. That ought to get their attention or at least set them on the right path, right?" If it wasn't a perfect fit then they would have construct the clues to help them out. Considering how they were two creative people, he was sure they could come up with something that would work! Naomi was a child at heart so they had that going for them too.

An awkward smile crossed her face, “You would really help me?” She had never had someone teach her before. She had learned the whole of what she knew on her own and through experimentation. She hadn’t even known anyone else that could be of assistance to her before, “T-thank you.” Was all she could muster. It was rare that someone offered something like that, “I mean, it’s just… Umm, what word is stronger than thank you? I can’t even think of one.” She desperately needed a larger vocabulary. It was just too much for someone to be so nice. What was even happening and why did it make her smile like an idiot? She nodded, “I think that is the best place to leave the prize if we can think up a clue for it.” She thought about it some more, “I usually don’t do this, but we could make it a series of clues. Find one and it leads you to another.” It’s what she did when she couldn’t think of a perfect hint. It made them think more than they ever thought they could. It was a good thing for their brains. She was weird in how she got around her own rules.

The android smiled at her as she seemed to be surprised by his offer to help, what was so surprising about all this? Isn't this what friends were for? To help one another out? When she asked him for a stronger word than "thank you" the android only smiled back. "Sometimes bigger words aren't needed to express one's apperciation. No need to say anymore, what you mean is clearly understood." The android said he only wanted to help his friends out since it felt right. Not to mention Naomi would no doubt like to see Maria again and vice versa.

When Naomi suggested a string of clues the android brought a finger to his chin, "Well we need to lead them to this window, so we need to figure out the clue before this. Or we can keep with a single clue and leave it up to the children in the church to discover this window. If we do a series of clues we need to establish a clue that leads them to this window. Is there any other place with a chalice or a cup that we can leave a clue in here?"