peace of mind [open]

Shannon had a few suspicions about the place called school. It was not the cultural hive she had suspected it to be. Instead, one person had stood in front of her all day and spoke to her as if she didn’t understand basic mathematics and speech. If she didn’t understand those concepts she wouldn’t be able to take care of herself or talk to other people. Did all humans treat the younger of their species as if they were incapable of simple thought? It was a strange idea. Couldn’t their knowledge just be uploaded like hers had been? Not only that, they had given her something called homework. Was it to test her ability to function? She had done that before coming here, but it was never something so simple. Was a piece of paper really enough to grasp that?

She wasn’t planning on going back to the dorms, since people weren’t the easiest to observe there. Maybe she would ride the trains until she figured out how to use them properly. She could at least ride them until she got lost again. In the middle of her thoughts, she looked up and became confused. There was a woman standing, looking at the sky as snow fell down. Shannon couldn’t help but stare at the girl’s actions, and went over to her. At first, she didn’t speak up and only watched the girl stare into the sky. After watching for a while though, she couldn’t help but show some concern, “Excuse me. Are you broken, ma’am? I don’t think it’s normal for people to stand in the snow.”

“Admiring the beauty of snow?” Shannon looked up towards the sky above her and let the snow fall on her face. She could not feel the flakes, but she understood that they were supposed to be cold. It’s the reason she still had to wear a coat, even though it made no difference to her. The scene meant nothing to her, “I don’t understand. It’s just snow, and it will melt away into water. What’s to admire about it?” She had never stopped to just admire the world. In fact, even now, when she was had the chance to, she couldn’t understand the point, “Do you get something for admiring nature’s beauty?” She stopped looking at the sky and bent down to pick the snow off the ground. She crushed it in her fingers, “It doesn’t seem to do anything. Could you explain to me why you admire nature’s beauty? I seem to be confused.” While she spoke, her face never seemed to show any expression.

“You think it’s loud?” Shannon had never thought about the area that way. Then again, maybe loud meant something different to the girl, “I think it’s nice here. Yes, your trains are confusing, but I’ve also been watching the rest of this place for a while. I think it’s a nice place to be. I can understand why your sensei yells at you.” She meant to say that she understood why the girl looked out the window, but it didn’t come out that way, “I think I like it here, noise and all.” She tried to smile, but it was very faint and unnoticeable. Her eyes followed the snowball the girl had made. There wasn’t anything on it in her data. What was it and why was she tossing it in the air, “What are you doing, miss—I never got your name.” The thought had been somewhat random in retrospect.

“I’m still getting used to the trains. I got lost the other day and ended up trying something called ramen, so I suppose their confusing nature is sometimes for the best.” As the girl’s cheeks shifted in color, Shannon put the back of her hand against the girl’s forehead. She had forgotten that she couldn’t perceive temperatures, which made her unable to tell if the person was alright. The purple haired girl lowered her hand, “Sorry. You changed colors. I thought you had come down with something. It’s supposed to be common for one to catch cold at this time of year.” She would then step back to give the Mei more space, “I don’t know why you would throw snow though. It doesn’t make a good projectile. It would break upon impact.” She stared at the hand extended to her. After finding the information on how to respond, she took the hand and shook it. Since she was made to appear human, she doubted that Mei could tell that she was anything but, “I am Shannon. It’s good to meet you Fukuyama Mei. I hope your teacher goes much easier on you in the future.”

“I hope you do not get sick. It would be unfortunate. You would have to see a--” She paused trying to recall the word again, “Doctor. I think that would be an inconvenience.” Someday she wouldn’t need to search through her data to remember the human equivalent of worlds. That was not today though. It was still too early in her observations to be that quick on the draw. She looked at the girl blankly, “I wish I could tell you if I enjoyed the Raman, but I never tasted it. I put one noodle in my mouth and promptly had to remove it because it had nowhere to go. It was a bit of a disappointment. I would like to try again when I have been improved.” If that day ever came. If she didn’t work out her bug, would they even keep her running? She pushed the thought aside and looked at the red haired girl again, “You throw the snowball and try to avoid the others thrown? That sounds like fun. Does it hurt at all?”

Kahn too was wandering back from Kendo club it wasn't a rough practice, but he worked rather hard. Laying down in the snow sounded really good right now, and he actually considered it for a moment. However, when he looked down the path he saw two girls. One of them was from Kendo club, but the other he did not recognize. The one from Kendo club seemed to hold a snowball in her hand while the other was asking her questions. He could have sworn the darker haired women had tried to take the the pink haired women's temperature. He wanted to approach them, but seeing the snowball in the pinkette girl's hand gave him a rather mischievous idea.

He bent down and gathered enough snow and quickly formed a snowball in his hands. He looked back at the pinkette with the snowball, and judged the distance around 10 feet. He pulled his hand back behind his red hair before shouting, "Heads up!" at the two women and launching a snowball at the pinkette. He waited for the sound of it hitting her...or perhaps the ground. Granted he expected the women from Kendo club to turn around and pelt him with a snowball regardless of the outcome.

Shannon heard someone shout a warning at her and Mei. He had thrown a snowball at her pink haired companion. The robot moved in front of her and took the snowball in her chest. It didn’t feel like anything and it was easy enough to wipe away the remainder of the flakes from her coat. So this was the game Mei had mentioned. Shannon reached down and picked up a handful of snow, “My name is Shannon. I will be your opponent today. Please to not hesitate to tell me when you would like to stop.” She turned it into a nice round, tightly packed ball and threw it at the man with a fraction of her real strength. She didn’t want to injure him, since games were supposed to be fun; if it would hit him or not was the question. Regardless, she would attempt to smile at her work, and fail. She had created a snowball and felt happiness, but she couldn’t form the visual model for the emotion. She picked up another handful of snow, turned it into a ball, and threw it again. This was exciting. She bent down and began turning entire mounds of snow into the round objects.

(ooc: Mei appears to be busy. I hope you don't mind me posting out of order instead.)

(Yes, I suppose that is fine, sorry for my absence.)

Kahn was a little surprised to see the individual who he now knew as Shannon step in front of Mei. Apparently his 'surprise' attack failed...well maybe not...after all he did hit one of them. He saw Shannon bend down and pick up snow and formed a snowball before launching it, unfortunately for the red haired second year, he was creating his next snowball when he felt something cold hit his hair. He shivered a bit a some snow fell onto his neck, and he quickly stood up and shook it off. He would look up, and smile at Shannon.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, and if you want a snowball fight, you got one!" He would say as he hastily created a snowball and chucked it at her before hiding behind a light pole. A poor choice of cover, but some cover was better than no cover. While he was hiding behind his 'cover' he would bend over and begin to form more snowballs for use in the upcoming fight. Hopefully the light post would offer some protection from the Shannon's counterattack.

He threw another snowball, this time missing the robot, as she stepped aside. The boy seemed to take shelter in the most unusual of places; behind a lighting fixture. It was not the most protective of places, and it seemed to be of little use considering how much of him was still visible. She picked up another ball from her pile and cranked back her arm to throw it, stopping before she did so. This man wasn’t her enemy, so why was she attacking him? Unless he was and she just didn’t know it. Or, maybe he was an ally and she was being a traitor in this instant. Her indecisive nature was taking over again as her brain wracked what to do.

She released the snowball in her hand, purposely aiming so that it would not hit the red head. She was so lost now that she couldn’t attack him if she wanted to. Her mind was too busy debating if he was on the “good” or “bad” guys side. That is to say, her side or someone else’s. There was only one way to settle it in her mind, “You haven’t told me your name yet. And…” She would appear to trail off, “why are we fighting?”


((ooc: I didn't even noticed you replied. Sorry))

Kahn watched her step aside, well she was either fast or he had rather bad aim. He would assume the former as she had to move, well her luck would have to run out soon. Little did he know that she was contemplating why she was fighting him in this simple game. He had just finished making a snowball when he noticed one land on the ground a few feet away from him....a clear miss. Well that was odd, he thought she had a rather good arm from the previous throw.

Then she asked him his name, and why they were fighting. The latter was an interesting question, but he would answer it anyways, "My name is Kahn Azame, but you can call me Kahn. As for your second question, we're fighting because this is a game. Normally you have to have two sides, and they compete to see who wins." He explained moving away from the light post trying to find better cover. He still had the snowball in his hand, perhaps he was waiting to use it once he had answered her question.