"No. The exact opposite. The smartest dumb person I ever met." Hoxle replied. She then frowned. "I think. Wait, she might be...no...no...um..." Hoxle trailed off, and narrowed her eyes behind her shades, scratching her head in thought.
"I guess...she's book smart, just not street smart." Hoxle nodded with satisfaction at this statement, until she suddenly shook her head. "Wait, no. That's not right either."
—
Yale blinked blankly. "Are you quoting a scientist?"
Read my stories![Bar]
"Or maybe," said Vincent, grinning, "she's the dumbest smartest dumbest smart person you've ever met. Or the smartest dumbest smartest dumb person you've ever met." He chuckled a little and pulled himself together. "Or simply inexplicable. Could you tell me a little about her?"
[Bar]
"Well... yes and no," said Kat. "It's from a TV show, so you wouldn't've heard it before, what with all the security. But the main character is a bit of a scientist and an expert in time travel." He shrugged. "I just thought it fit the situation: time travel is seriously screwy."
"Her name is Liena. She likes dolls, dressing up between pre turn-of-the-century and post-elizabethan era clothing, but had a phase of dressing in greek clothing. Which means she wears corsets, and poofy sleeves. I know this because she likes to talk about it over and over again. She also likes giant machines, and she uses them to fight. I've only known her from a few months, and she's gone from being illiterate and unable to count past ten, to being able to read poetry and able to work through basic algebra problems. She still has yet to fully understand social ettiquette though. She tries but...I think she finds it kind of boring and restricting." Hoxle smirked at that last moment. "She also doesn't fully understand sex yet. Wait, well, she does, but not that people don't usually talk about it. She's gotten a lot better about that though."
Hoxle suddenly widened her eyes and slammed her hand over her mouth.
"SHIT! I should not have said that much!" She started to laugh, mortified at her own words. "Lye would KILL me! Literally, too."
—
Yale nodded. "You guys...know a lot of tv shows."
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Matthew looked at him and smiled, "Yeah, hectic...even that, though could be a bit of an understatement. Oh, my name's Matthew Streika, nice to meet you. So...if the food and drink are free, then doesn't this place like run out or something?"
The bar was getting a bit rambunctious, but that was to be expected.
[Bar]
"And again..." said Vincent, "and again... and again... and eventually, the threat would lose some of its potency. 'I'm going to kill you, Hoxle!' 'Can you do it at 3:00? I'll be able to get out of my meeting. Thanks!' At that point, it would be more threatening to say, 'I'm going to sternly lecture you forever!'
"But with Liena... it sounds like she might — might — have some form of autism. Probably high-functioning. I was never good with psychological issues, though, and I'd have to know a little more about her before I can say anything."
[Bar]
"Oh, you have no idea," said Kat. "There are loads more out there. And Vincent really likes video games, so if you factor those in, we're practically a pop culture potpourri."
Hoxle shrugged. "Yeah. I don't know, she doesn't really...act like she has autism. That sounds kind of stupid to say, but..." What was she even saying? She knew jack shit about autism! Well, at least she thought she did.
"Maybe."
—
Yale frowned. "That must get annoying, with you living so long and all. Where I work...we have a bunch of people who'll complain about the good ol' days of when THEY were alive and all that stuff. It's kinda funny when you get an old lady in [NAMEIHAVENOTTHOUGHTOFYET]'s meditation session, asking to kindly be put in a room separate from the...err...n-words that might rape her."
edited 21st Nov '11 7:07:07 PM by MrAHR
Read my stories!Bar
"Yes, I saw it in the menu," Qrlil replied. "I honestly cannot feel comfortable even with the idea of eating a crustacean. Not that I will object to you trying it if you should desire, of course."
She considered the possibilities he had suggested. "What is 'spaghetti', exactly? The name sounds pleasant."
edited 21st Nov '11 7:53:22 PM by nrjxll
[Bar]
"Sometimes, people with autism don't always seem like they have autism," said Vincent. "Especially if you don't know the symptoms. I've actually got a mild form of it, myself. And, in any case, she's pretty high-functioning, so it might be Asperger's Syndrome or something, I don't know." He glanced around the bar. "Too bad we don't have any psychiatrists here..."
[Bar]
"Eh, it's not so bad," said Kat, waving his hand. "I forget the unimportant stuff. A few decades from now, I probably won't remember half the shows I mentioned."
He shifted in his seat. "And, sometimes, I look back on the 'good old days' and realize they were kinda crap. Sure, you could buy beer for five cents, but you had to work for half an hour to get those five cents. And I was a little leery of technology at first, but now, I like being able to go from one side of the world to the other in less than a year."
[Bar]
Xavier paused. He didn't know how to explain spaghetti. "Well, um," he said, "it's a pasta — you know what pasta is, right? — lots of thin noodles." He wiggled his fingers a little. "And it's usually served with some kind of sauce. Most often tomato sauce with meatballs, but there are lots of different options. Um... that's all I can say about it, really. I'm no chef."
"Well, you don't actually know her. You don't diagnose people just by looking at a list of facts, you know." Hoxle's tone turned slightly crisp with this statement, with a slight edge of annoyance. "Lists don't mean anything when it comes to a person."
Maybe she should get drunk again. That would be fun. But then she would get the hangover. Or she could just nip off to respawn and take care of it then. But Vrell would be pissed if she kept abusing the system like that...
—
"You don't remember? Not even if you were to be shown the same show?" Yale asked, obviously curious.
Read my stories![Bar]
"Hey, hey, I know, I know," said Vincent, putting his hands up. "Don't get your tail in a knot. I could be completely wrong and she's got no problems whatsoever, just different."
[Bar]
"Well, I'd remember if I saw it, yeah," said Kat, "but with no real reason to hold onto it, it'd just slip out of my memory. Do you remember everything that's ever happened to you since you first got your memory wiped? Of course not. The unimportant stuff gets discarded. It's kinda like that."
[Bar]
"Not anything specific, I don't think so," said Xavier.
He continued glancing over the menu. "Cordon bleu," he said to himself. "Chicken cordon bleu. I haven't had that in a while. That's what I'll get. And some water."
Bar
"Very well," Qrlil said. "I will have water as well, then. And no 'meatballs'." She glanced at Saliha. "If you are sure you want steak, then I believe we all are ready to order."
She looked back at Xavier. "This seems nice," she said absently.
We can just assume the order will be carried out, but I get the impression Saliha might decide to try something after all.
[Bar]
"Yeah," said Xavier as their meals arrived. "Good service, good food, it's free... what more could you ask for?" He promptly took a big bite of his cordon bleu.
Once he swallowed, he said, "Oh, wow, that's good. I think they put some kind of herbs or spices in the cheese, but I'm not sure. Whatever they did, it's good. Really good." He took another big bite.
Bar
Qrlil reached down for the spaghetti, then paused. "Er. This is a ridiculous question, but how exactly do you eat this? It would seem to be a bit... messy to do in the normal way."
She took a sip of water and looked over at Saliha, trying to draw her into the conversation. "Are you going to order that steak or not?"
Qrtxians normally do not use silverware, and it's one of those gaps in the standard diplomatic training.
[Bar]
"It's not always like that, though. The maid mentioned something about the owner of this place celebrating something. So you know, enjoy it while you still can."
After Edward emptied his own plate, then looked around, examining the rest of the clients. Some of the newcomers looked especially strange. Humanoids, not humans.
"This place sure attracts a lot of interesting people. I could imagine the owner being an extremely rich old man who celebrates all the time in order to see dragons
"Huh, celebrating all the time so he can see dragons...he must be really rich, then..."
He did notice now that a lot of the people in here seemed more like humanoid aliens or something than human beings. Well, most of them were definitely outside his experience.
There was a lot out there he still did not know...
Matthew ordered some more curry, and then continued, "So, what other kinds of places are there around here?"
[Bar]
"Can't say I've set foor anywhere else, actually. But the maid that greeted me did mention 'a variety of other activities' that we could engage on, and this place seems rather large, so... if I had to guess, I'd say there's pretty much everything you'd want."
The maid had also assured him that this resort was "completely safe" and "no fights are allowed". Now, what kind of bar would feel it was necesarry emphasise this during a celebration was anyone's guess.
"You have quite the appetite. Have you been starving lately? ...no offense."
[bar]
Matthew was already mid way through a curry bowl when the guy said that. Matthew cleaned himself off with a napkin and just smiled, "Its...complicated, but I have to eat more than a normal person in order to stay healthy."
He couldn't really say he had the Lance of Longinus inside him, that it removed any of his biological limiters, and that as a result he needed to eat a hell of a lot. Sorata had told him to never say anything about that to anyone. Or those people would show up in relatively short order.
edited 22nd Nov '11 4:19:29 PM by NickTheSwing
[Bar]
Xavier blinked. "You... you don't know? Well, um..." He picked up a fork and a knife. "You wrap the noodles around your fork." He wiggled it. "Although since they're pretty long, a lot of people usually cut them up into smaller pieces first with a knife." He wiggled the knife and felt like he was explaining the obvious; he was either being helpful to Qrlil or incredibly insulting.
Handing the fork and knife to her, Xavier asked, "Sorry if this is insulting, but do they not use silverware on your planet? Or any equivalent?"
Bar
Qrlil watched as Xavier gestured. She dipped her head. "No insult is taken. You have seen the kind of food I normally eat," she said reasonably. "Does it really seem like utensils are something I would need for that?"
She took the fork, wound it around some spaghetti, and slurped it off, leaving some of the sauce around her mouth. "...Interesting," she said.
[Bar]
"Yeah, it's pretty good," said Xavier, nodding. "Uh, hang on, you've got some sauce on your mouth..." He handed her a napkin.
After a few more moments of eating, he asked, "So you don't have any silverware? What kind of foods do you eat? Even if it wouldn't be messy, humans often use silverware to eat food, although that might just be a matter of preference."
[Bar]
"Oh." Edward stayed silent for a bit, waiting for Matthew to elaborate. Seeing that was not going to happen, he proceded to change the topic to one he'd be more comfortable with.
"So, where are you from, exactly? Me, I lived almost all my life in Britain. As in, in Earth. Because you never know in this place. I met some people here who might as well come from Mars."
[bar]
"You mean there might be aliens here? That's kinda cool...well, I come from Earth, anyway."
He supposed that knowledge of that could mean this guy was good, so he could divulge all the rest.
"But, I have been involved with some people who are involved in other worlds."
edited 23rd Nov '11 11:33:47 PM by NickTheSwing

[Bar]
"Is she the dumbest smart person you've ever met?" asked Vincent jokingly. "I can be like that at times. I'll be impressing people with knowledge and then just say something mind-bogglingly stupid."
[Bar]
"Makes sense to me," said Kat. "In a time travel sort of way. I mean, it's time travel. It's not supposed to make sense." He put on a British accent. "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... timey wimey... stuff." He chuckled softly to himself.
"Of course, I thought that it was because of the Novikov Self-Consistency Principle, but this place..." He frowned, looking around the room. "...this place sends that to hell."