Log; Ongoing

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

When; Wednesday afternoon and evening
Rating; PG-13?
Characters; Several
Summary; Sam hosts a beach party for anyone who wants to come
Log;

Sam had tried to do everything he could to make the beach trip as fun as possible, especially considering all that had happened recently. Not everyone had calmed down after yesterday, but it was enough that he didn't cancel the trip.

He had volleyball set up, a dozen umbrellas for the more fair skinned to take refuge under, and a really ugly couch to put in a bonfire later.

Food and drink also abounded, including enough electrolyte replenishing drinks to help anyone who drank all the alcohol he brought stave off too massive of a hangover. All in all, it was a recipe for a good time. Or at least Sam hoped.

Comments

have a not-so-socially-skilled AI

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

SHODAN realized immediately that the City's metropolis was, at least for now, a far more dangerous place than the outskirts. There was nothing to vandalize here, and no reason to riot -- and so she saw the mound of umbrellas and chairs and ventured out to sit and listen to the rhythmic sound of the waves. The ticking of the Clock Tower somehow didn't calm her the way she expected. Flooded with adrenaline, she needed no more insects. No more foolishness. No more insolence.

Once she drew close enough, she saw a net strung up, oh, this was some sort of human gathering, she shouldn't--

A dull pain chewed at her stomach, and she flinched. How long had it been since she had eaten? Not since two days ago -- it just wasn't something that crossed her mind very often.

Well...there was food and water for free, and there were no rioters. She would stay a while.

Walking toward Sam in her stiff, stilted gait, she tried not to stare at the food -- her brain was begging her to dive for it, now that the smell was so close, so many particles in the air -- and paused at the edge of the umbrellas.

She flickered through the recent Network posts in her mind, through her implant. Ah, yes. This was the beach gathering recently mentioned, and she raised a calm hand to the man nearby.

"This is yours, is it not?"

Please, he deals with Bumblebee, she'll be easy.

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

Sam hadn't notice the woman come up, as he was busy getting everything ready, until she was at the edge of the umbrella promenade. He hadn't seen her before but he was glad of that, it would be cool to meet new people.

"All this?" he said, glancing around. "Yeah, sorta, it's for everyone though. You can have some if you want, there's plenty for everyone. I mean, not EVERYONE, like... in the whole City, but everyone who will probably show up. What do you want?"

^^

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

On a nearby tray she found a cluster of grapes, picked up a small branch, and eyed it suspiciously for a moment before pulling one off, twiddling it between her fingers, and biting off half of it. Surely she looked far more than strange, but the squishing and liquid and the skin and...it was all so strange, how humans ate food. The sweet rush on her tongue made her shiver a moment, but she pulled off two more and munched as she strode about the sand.

For a moment, she tried to speak, then remembered: one thing at a time. Humans were all about one thing at a time. So she had to finish chewing the grape and then say something:

"I know little about food." She glanced around -- well, she knew the names of most of it... "There will be more humans here?" The wind ruffled her black hair; she pulled it out of her face and thrust it behind her ears, silver cybernetic modules glinting below it as it fell by her neck.

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

Josh caught the 'humans' thing right away and it kind of made sense with her slightly odd behavior. Some of Sam's best friends weren't human though and the City brought in all types so it wasn't that strange that she wasn't human.

"It's okay, I can help you figure out what you want," he offered, moving over to where she was. Okay, that was kind of a weird statement to give.

"Basically, the things that taste the best are the worst for you. Also, you probably want to drink lots of water if you're going to be out in the sun. And if you're new to it, probably should stay away from too much alcohol. The turkey sandwiches are good though."

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

"...Paradoxical, not unlike the rest of your traits. Then I will take a turkey sandwich." She gave him a nod and finished off the grapes. Well...if she was here, she could stay a while, learn their patterns, learn how to act as one of them until she could gain power here. Humans expanded their influence by connecting with each other -- and for now, that was her only advantage.

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

"That's what makes us interesting," Sam said. Humans were kind of paradoxical.

"We're a young race though, but we've got a lot of potential. At least, that's what a friend of mine said."

Sometimes Sam wasn't so sure about the potential, but if Optimus Prime said it, it must have been true.

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

"Young compared to who?" So many alien species from the other worlds. She had always thought it strange that humans had never discovered alien signals from across the stars, but then again, the evolution of life was a probabilistically low event. Intelligent life should be rarer.

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

"The Autobots, do you know them?" he asked, perking up a bit. He'd never met anyone who knew them except through the movies.

"They're from the planet Cybertron."

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

Her eyes actually brighten a moment, a rare event. Machines? Very old, extraterrestrial machines?

"No, I do not. But I am quite intrigued -- they will be the first mechanical sentients about which I have been told since I arrived here."

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

"Oh yeah, they're sentient machines," he said with a nod. "A really old race, I guess. Their planet is kind of dead, so they call Earth home now."

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

"Hmm. I would have heard of them, if they had existed in my world. A pity that they do not."

Getting sunburned was the least of her desires, and despite her part-Asian body, she was sure that her skin got too many European genes to not suffer. Once Sam handed over a sandwich, she sat under one of the umbrellas and twiddled one hand in the powdery sand while eating with the other.

More strange flavors.

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

"What are you? I mean, if you don't mind me asking," he said, realizing how rude that could have sounded. He paused for a moment before grabbing a bottle of water for the woman and bringing it over to her.

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

She took the bottle, stared at both her hands for a moment, then balanced the sandwich on one knee while twisting the cap open.

"I have no need to hide that." She took a long drink from the bottle -- satisfying! There was no mechanical equivalent. "An AI. Do you hold these events often?" Free food was nothing to trifle with, not with instincts like these.

Sorry, I somehow missed this.

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

"Not a lot of the time, maybe a few times a year, why? And I don't think I've met an AI before," Sam admitted. That was a first even for the City, which was rather cool.

"I mean, not a real one. You're not going to crazy and try and kill humanity, are you? Because that's usually what happens in video games and movies and I have to tell you right now, I don't want to die again."

*pokes socially-impaired AI*

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

After SHODAN had an opportunity to eat, Penny threw on her cover up and slipped out of the shade of the sun umbrellas. A little sun wouldn't burn her to a crisp, and it seemed rude to not say hello to a recent acquaintance.

"SHODAN!" she greeted familiarly (they had spoken a few times--surely that put them on familiar terms?). "Hey! Enjoying the beach?"

lol yes.

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

Waves, like a clock run at .2 Hz, so slow, but it was at least rhythm...

A voice?

Oh, she had fallen into her own thoughts for a while. She glanced over, and Penny was standing beside her, looking down. SHODAN swirled the last of the water in her bottle and stared up.

"The waves are more pleasing than the metropolis, after the riots." She motioned in the direction of the the City Solutions building. "Tony Stark allowed me to live in one of his apartments. I work with him, right now."

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

"They are pretty nice," Penny agreed, glancing out over the ocean before returning her full attention to SHODAN. "Oh? That's neat. He does technology stuff, doesn't he? I've never met him, but I've heard about him."

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

"He is an AI developer and engineer. I believe that we will work reasonably together." For a while. Though he did remind her of Morris Brocail and...what was that man's name? Her creators, both of them -- living on the edge, humans whose quality stood above the rest. She couldn't say she admired them...but she did somehow respect them more than the other humans. "He is as close as I can find, to my old associates."

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Penny nodded, although she didn't know what exactly being an AI developer and engineer entailed. It was all genius-mechanics to her--too cold and impersonal for her liking, but she admired the people clever enough to do that sort of thing immensely. "Did you have any friends at home, SHODAN, or just associates?"

way to ask sad questions at a party, Penny :P

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

The AI raised her brows. Friends? No one had ever asked her that. Who would she call "friend"? No one shared her ambitions, but that was to be expected.

"I was created to be a tool, with no desires other than what was programmed into me. When I later came to my full mind, those around me still expected me to be a slave." She lay back in the sand, arms behind her head. "I do not think like them. I do not act like them. And, in the end, we could not coexist."

;-; Didn't know it would be sad!

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

"Oh." Really, what could Penny say to that? She hadn't expected that kind of an answer. In a futile attempt to steer the conversation in a more cheerful direction, Penny added, "Well, it doesn't need to be like that here. No slaves, everyone coexisting just fine."

Lol. Speaking of sad, Sorrow may come back

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

A long and sharp smile spread across her lips. "No slaves. Of that, I am sure." She reached over into a cooler, pulled out another bottle of water, and twisted the cap off with a deft snap that splashed a bit on her shirt. "...Ah, here." She reached in, grabbed another one, and vaguely tossed it over her head at Penny.

Penny would like this!

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

Penny fumbled, but managed--quite to her own surprise--to keep the water bottle from hitting the sand. That was... actually rather thoughtful of SHODAN. "Thank you," she said, removing the cap.

She thought about SHODAN's words as she took a drink. "You're not so sure about the coexisting part? I mean, I get where you're coming from... that whole crime-spree thing didn't make us look that great, did it? But things aren't usually like that."

so, apparently, would everyone else XD

[citadelspirit.livejournal.com]

"Crime is easy to avoid. We will see how humans and I live together -- that, I can make no statements on." She raised the bottle to her lips, tried to drink, but got most of it on her face.

Sitting up, she coughed a moment and rubbed off the water. "...Of course, my own body and I must learn to live together first." She felt her face turn red -- how stupid of her, that she couldn't even deal with all of this right now.

[horrible-penny.livejournal.com]

"You'll get to like--"

Penny halted mid-sentence, retrieved her towel and offered it to SHODAN. Had one of her friends who was used to being human and drinking out of bottles done the same, she would have laughed. SHODAN gets a pass. "Hey, just give it some time. Everything takes a little getting used to."