infinite1up | IC Inbox (Hadriel)

Sato? This is Pell -- I'm a friend of Chris, he said you might need help powering something. I can do my best.

You can reach me here or come by the clinic. I'm working there the next few days.

I was beginning to think he'd forgotten to ask.

I'll need to stop at the house first anyway, so why don't I just meet you at the clinic?

That works fine. May I ask what the device is?

A couple handheld game consoles. [Because he'll just nab Elmer's Game Boy while he's at it. It'll be a good test case before he risks his Vita on any funny business.] Hopefully you know what video games are?

I don't, but I'd never seen a cell phone before here either and that worked out just fine. I'll see you soon?

Most certainly.

[Definitely bringing the Game Boy.

After he hangs up, it takes a little while to swing by the house and pick up the consoles, but at least the clinic is closer to the residential areas so it's not quite as long to make the final leg of the trip. The clinic is really the last place he ever planned to visit -he'll never need it - so it takes a little poking around to find the exact place.

So eventually the door to the clinic swings open and Sato, with the usual smile on his face, walks in with a small bag over one shoulder.]

Hello? Pell?

Just a moment.

[ There's a rustling from a room farther down, then Pell comes out into the waiting area Sato walked into. He smiles when he realizes who it is. ]

You found it alright, then?

[ He holds out his hand for the bag, curious what's inside. ]

Oh, it didn't take too long. I'm starting to find my way around fairly well by now.

[Rather than hand over the whole bag, he fishes out a small device -- Elmer's Game Boy -- and passes it over.]

So how does this work exactly?

When I was still learning, my instructor put a lightbulb in my hand and told me to light it without breaking it. I learned to control the amount of energy I was putting in... the phone wasn't that different from the lightbulb, I just had to find the right amount of energy to pour in and then keep it steady until the device was powered.

[ He's looking over the game boy curiously. ] What does this do?

[Pity isn't a part of Sato's limited emotional range, but there's definitely something closer to mild disappointment every time someone in the city tells him they don't even know what video games are.]

It's an entertainment device, for playing games. If you've successfully charged a phone, it shouldn't be too different from that.

I can show you how it works afterwards, if you'd like.

I'd like that. Let's see.

[ Pell turns the device over in his hands, finding the battery cover and opening it... this will be a bit different from the phone but he should manage not to pop them since they're rechargeable. He turns the device to 'on' so he knows if it's working and presses his fingers to the batteries, gently feeding them energy.

It'll take a bit -- small talk time! He keeps his attention on the game boy but speaks again. ]

Have you been here very long?

Just arrived last month. Quite the interesting place, isn't it?

[Sato says, leaving the content of that 'interesting' open to interpretation. He's also quite interested in what Pell is doing, leaning forward a bit to watch, but there doesn't seem to be much to actually see happening.]

[ Yup. Nothing to see here, perhaps if he looks closely he'll notice a faint glow where Pell's fingers touch the batteries but it's subtle. ]

Interesting is one word to use. You're not afraid?

Should I be? As I understand it, that would be playing right into Fear's hands, wouldn't it.

That might work in your favor, though, if there's something you want. I trade him fear for cigarettes.

[ And that should do it for a start... Pell closes the battery lid and flicks the device on. Cheerful bootup music chimes. ]

There. It's not full, I just wanted to test it.

[Sato chuckles. He has made a small deal with Fear already but given it was someone else's fear, and really a pretty trifling return...]

An interesting proposition, but I think I'll have to pass. It doesn't sound like a very good time.

[Sato perks up at the boot and screen flickering to life, cueing up the start prompt for some dreadful (in Sato's opinion) JRPG.]

Well, that sounds like a rousing success.

[ He smiles at the cheery music coming from the device that means it turned on. ]

And nothing exploded. Here. [ Pell passes the gameboy back, looking victorious. ] I may have a future career as an electrical outlet.

[Sato also pulls out his precious PS Vita now that there is, indeed, confirmation that it won't get melted into a pile of plastic and metal.]

I know, it's a terribly trivial request. But you're making at least two people's days that much brighter by bringing back a little spark of entertainment.

That's not trivial, in a place like this.

[ He locates the charger port and begins the process again, feeding energy into the battery carefully. ]

What are the games like?

[He picks up the Game Boy and checks it over again to be extra sure all is well, while Pell charges the Vita.]

Well now... the ones Elmer has are boring, if you ask me. It's nothing but juggling a bunch of numbers. Fast-paced action ones that require a lot of skill are much better.

Once you're finished there, I'll show you Spelunker. It's a personal favorite puzzle platformer, very hard, with lots of obstacles and challenges to get around. It's an old game, but they recently released a high-definition remastered version for the Vita, and I was lucky enough to have an old associate buy a copy for me.

[Even if half of that is probably nonsense to Pell, his enthusiasm for the genre is clear.]

[ Half was gibberish but he's a smart cookie, he can extrapolate most of it. And a puzzle game sounds like fun. Definitely more fun than working with a bunch of numbers. ]

I'll have to watch you play first, fast paced doesn't sound like a beginners game. Or is it the kind of thing where you just have to jump in and fail a bit to be able to learn?

[Sato's usually smiling to some degree, but he seems unusually happy now that everything's going smoothly and they're talking games.]

I imagine you'd fail a lot before you made any progress. And unfortunately I don't have the manual here, in case you're the kind of person who'd read the instructions first. I'd be glad to demo it for you and you can see what you think.

[It's been a while since he played any of his games, ever since the battery gave out, and he's itching to run through a few levels.]

I don't think I'm a manual type. Alright, I'll watch you not fail, then.

[ He smiles back, and shifts the Vita in his hand to try turning it on. It works! Yay! ]

Here you go. Let's see what a "platformer" is.

[Sato turns it on and even in the HD remake it's.. still a very retro-looking game, with little pixelly sprites and cheery chiptune background music. But in no time he's puttering his way through, shooting monsters, avoiding jets of fire, jumping spike pits, collecting keys and jumping from rope to rope. It makes it look a lot easier than the game actually is, with so many instantaneous ways to die.]

The goal is to get to the treasure at the bottom. It's really too bad the tunnels here aren't like that.

There's nothing to be found in the tunnels here but grief.

[ Pell tries to keep track of what buttons Sato is pushing to make the little character survive, but he's quickly lost by the attempt and winds up just watching the game. Which is surprisingly entertaining. He's never watched anything on a screen before, not a movie or anything like this. The videos put up on the network were his first experience with them. ]

Are these games very common in your world? You seem so used to it.

[ Or maybe he's played this one a lot. ]

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infinite1up - 2016-10-27 00:35 (UTC) - Expand

IC Inbox (Hadriel)

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((Easing back from hiatusing, sorry about the delay!))

((welcome back!))

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