16/10/2018 [Yuri & Gozai]

"October 16, 2018, 5:00-6:30AM

# of pedestrians entered Islabucks: 42
(Increase of 5 from previous median Tuesday morning 5:00-6:30AM no weather/special condition)"

Yuri closed his notebook. 'Wonderful. I do wish I could know why this increase has occured,' he thought to himself. 'I like today's sky.' Grey clouds covered the sky, blocking out unwanted sunlight, and moderate winds kept the temperature feeling cool. 'The lack of humidity is optimal. This is indeed the perfect atmosphere for me!' Standing on the sidewalk, he lifted his arms up, and looked towards the sky, with eyes closed. Yuri took time to appreciate the weather, feeling the wind blow through hair. 'I suppose I should decide what I will do today. There is a wide variety of options.' He looked down the street. 'Studying information at the library is always a great use of time, but I could also take time to rest this body. Overexertion is terribly unhealthy.'

Remembrance struck. 'I recall the most valuable thing I was to do this morning. How could I have forgotten?' Yuri reached into his pocket and pulled out two coins of equal value. Dropping one face down and the other face up half a meter apart from one another. He walked a small distance away, and stood against a wall, keeping his attention on the coins, and waited.

Islabucks...

Just seeing that sign made him groan audibly. They really just let any old chump slap the queen's name onto their logo for marketing? Or maybe this was a government-endorsed chain? Gozai didn't know, and was currently in the mental state to openly admit he did not give a shit. One busted coffee maker meant he was out here at this ungodly hour, bleary-eyed, dragging his feet, for one cup of over-priced coffee that did nothing to justify the ludicrous asking price. The albino must have looked even more like a ghost than usual as he shuffled in through the door. Maybe Cadets at least get a discount?

He would step back out maybe ten minutes later, a cup of coffee in hand, and seemingly a little more awake and aware of the world around him. His red eyes caught a glint of something shiny on the ground. The young man stopped, turning his head, just enough to get a batter look. A coin?

Oh no.

No no no no no. This can't be happening. It's only been a few minutes and somebody already stopped walking in front of the forbidden spot. Through visual inspection, Yuri confirmed it: the individual was looking in the coins' general direction. 'He hasn't touched either of them! This situation is horrible, but perhaps the worst outcome can still be avoided,' he thought. He pushed himself off the wall, and took a step forward.

"Hey," he called out to the fellow. Yuri crouched down, with his hands on his knees. "Tell me if I'm mistaken, but it looks like you've seen at least one of those two coins there." He looked the stranger in the eyes, his head half turned. How the next question is responded to could change everything. "What will you do? Are you gonna call or fold?"

Gozai found himself ready to step away, only to hear a voice calling out, eyes instinctively turning toward the source of the noise. He just hoped he was overhearing someone else. But no, he found his eyes upon a young man, roughly his age he'd guestimate. And judging from the look, this person was indeed addressing him. His attention was drawn to not just how pale the other was, but also to their meager build. Curious, but judging by other characteristics, not an albino. Whatever, those were just details.

But the other continued speaking, something about coins. Gozai's eyes drew away from him, and toward the glint, where indeed it turned out it wasn't just a single coin, but two. The fact he looked at the coins again should be enough to show that yes, he had seen at least on of the coins. But the other continued. something about... Calling or folding? He took a long sip out of the coffee cup in his hand before focusing his eyes on this strange young man. Best be civil about this, even if a stranger did walk up to him before he had finished his first cup of coffee. "Excuse me? I'm afraid I can't quite grasp what you're trying to say."

'He doesn't understand?' Yuri put his notebook on the ground and began flipping through pages, humming to himself. He then picked it up, and turned it to show a page to the stranger, bearing many numbers and percentages. "28% of people who appear to notice coins on the ground walk past them. Out of those who interact with the coins, 37% only pick up the heads coin, 53% pick up both, and 10% only pick up the tails coin. 64% percent of people who only picked up the heads coin didn't pick up the tails coin out of superstition. The other 36% claim to have not noticed the other coin. 11% of people who picked up neither state it was because they didn't want to take someone else's money, the other 89% say they just didn't care." He reached into his pocket and took out a pen. "Which statistics are you gonna add to?

Gozai looked at the othr as he quickly began giving out a list of numbers and... statistics? And now he wanted to know what he intended to do with the coins. Man, some people have strange hobbies. "Well, at least it's just something useless, and not something stupid, like asking for donations." Gozai thought to himself, if only so as to try to keep his mental state positive. Didn't want to go causing a scene on his first day.

He took another sip of his coffee. "To answer your question, I did notice the coins, one of them anyways, and the reason I did not pick it up is simply because I don't care." The albino spoke, trying to keep his tone fairly neutral. "Now that I've hopefully sated your curiosity, maybe you can return the favor by sating mine: Why do you ask?"

That's a good question. "Because I want to know everything there is to know about people. How humans think." Yuri stood up and let out an exhale. "It's fascinating. Anyways, do you want to play a game? We alternate turns counting upwards by a minimum of one and a maximum of three at a time, so if you went first you could choose one, two, or three, and if you chose two, I could chose three, four, or five. Whoever counts to twenty-one or higher loses. You can chose who takes the first turn, or you could leave to wherever you were headed." All that was on his mind was where the next tally would go. What percentages would change?

Curious. "It seems we might have some interests in common, even if our means of approaching it... Differs." Gozai sayss in a fairly neutral tone, a small, sly smile. He would pause again, to sip his coffee. "I suppose I can set aside a moment to humor that request. If we could just maybe sit down somewhere for the moment." He says, a small chuckle following. "You can go first." He adds, before taking another short sip.

That's good. Sitting down in one of the chairs outside Islabucks, he let out a laugh himself. "Very good! In that case, I'll chose two." 'It seems he knows how to win this game... but it's not over yet.' So far this morning has been very interesting, and it's only getting better.

He followed this strange person, sitting opposite to them, taking another sip from his coffee. And they chose a number. "Four." Gozai then said, passing the turn to the other. "I hope you don't mind if I ask, but do you perhaps study psychology, or is this something you just do for fun?" Another small sip.

"Aha, not in a traditional school setting, but I am studying it by myself. Five." He forced a smile and pointed towards the stranger. "You asked me a question about myself, so I'll do the same." That's how normal people hold a conversation isn't it? "Do you like coffee? Why not make it at home? It's much cheaper."

"Is that so? It's not a subject I often see people tackle, even for a school subject. Eight." He then took another, longer sip of his coffee, tilting his head as to catch them with his eye as the stated the willingness to ask a question in turn. The many should thank the cup of joe Gozai held in his hand, as it was probably the only thing that got him to comply.

And a question about coffee. "I like good coffee." He'd reply, putting alot of emphasis on the "good". "And this sludge they label "coffee" that I'm currently in the process of pouring down my gullet falls deep into poor end of mediocre" He'd lament. Before tilting his head back and bringing the cup to his lips, letting the rest of the frankly repulsive fluid assault his taste buds.

That done, Gozai set the cup down beside himself. "And as for why I'm at... This palce. My cofee maker decided this morning that it had made one too many cups of coffee."

"The more you know about how people act, even down to the little things, the better you can predict and thus influence them. Nine." Hearing him complain about the coffee's quality was rather amusing. It's purpose is to provide caffeine, rather than taste good! Regardless, he held back any expression correlating with that thought.

"I take it you mean it has broken from overuse? Oh, unfortunate." Yuri pointed straight at the fellow across the table. "Make sure to replace it as soon as possible, or else you'll suffer this same terrible fate tomorrow morning!" Were coffee machines expensive? He had no idea, as he'd never bought one.

"True, you can usually predict people fairly well once you get some basic ideas of what's going around in their head. But at the same time it's kinda like building a puzzle, only you keep finding new pieces now and again, unpredictable. Twelve." Gozai found himself wondering if maybe his initial views of this person were... Tainted by his at-the-time lack of caffeine? Maybe he'd have to reassess them.

"All I really know is that when I went to turn it on about an hour, it made this uzzing sound, followed by a loud snap, and after that neither of the heating elements seemed to heat up." He then replied, followed with a sigh. "But I did buy it used, so I suppose that's what I get."

"You're right about that, it is impossible to know everything, but even with a half completed puzzle one could still guess the full picture with fair accuracy. Thirteen." Talking to this fellow was quite entertaining.

"That damned machine wouldn't boil your coffee in your time of need?" Yuri leaned forward, smirking. "That's rather cold of it, I'd say. Get it?" This was it. The peak form of social interaction. No other species is capable of the entertainment method of jokes. 'Yes... That was quite a good one. How charismatic I am!'