They're coming to take me away, ha-ha...

[Bjorn]

Bjorn smiles briefly.  "You're not the first person to say that to me, but I guess you probably mean it a little differently."  He squats down in place, and looks at Megan, hesitantly.  "Do you want to talk about it?"

[Brian]

"It's just more of the same," she says dismissively.  "A little nastier than some, but they only do that test once a month, by my reckoning."  She walks over to the light-switch, and turns up the lighting.  After she does so, you hear the thudding footsteps of the brute approaching the light spilling through the doorway.

[Bjorn]

"What joy," Bjorn mutters.  "Apparently I got off really easy, then.  Do they test us every day, or can I hope for a little more calm before the storm?"

[Brian]

"Depends on what you can do," Megan says, eyes flickering to the duct over the door.  "Or how new you are.  If you're lucky, you got Dr. Richmond -- he's the nice one."

The glass-crafter and the brute appear in the doorway at the same time.  The glass-crafter seamlessly transfers herself to cling to Megan, looking up worriedly.  Megan absently ruffles the girl's hair, and looks up at the brute, somewhat surprised.  "How did you get here through the darkness, Mikey?"

[Bjorn]

Still staring absently at his bracelet, Bjorn offers, "Mikey was worried about you."  Bjorn shakes his head, and looks at the glasscrafter.  "I think I need to learn this sign language," he mutters, apropros of nothing.  "And my doctor was... Peterson?  Same guy as you, I think."

[Brian]

Megan smiles at Mikey warmly, and the brute acts like a huge, happy puppy, plopping himself down on the floor and leaning against a wal comfortably.  Megan slowly retrieves the lone chair, and sets it out for you before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Peterson is not exactly my favorite doctor."  She grimaces at that.

The glass-crafter climbs onto the bed and hugs Megan, peering at you curiously.  "This is Bridgett," Megan explains.  "And you've met Mikey, haven't you?"

[Bjorn]

"Yes, but not by name."  Bjorn grins, and then nods at Mikey, before sitting on the chair and crossing his legs.  "Hi, Mikey.  My name is Bjorn.  Please ta meetcha."

[Brian]

He grins at you even more widely.  "Mister Bey ... Be ... uh ... Mister B!" he finally concludes, nodding decisively.  "Mister B is real brave, 'cause he's not ascared of the dark at all," he informs Megan solemly.

Megan nods at that.  "I'll bet he is, Mikey."  Turning back to you, she adds, "What did they have you do?  You look like you came through relatively unscathed, at least."

[Bjorn]

"I'm not sure what they meant to do," Bjorn mutters darkly, "but what they did is have me pick up my bracelet.  That's the, uh, 'gift' I mentioned to you before.

"And now," he half-smiles, holding up his left hand, "it seems they can't take it away from me."

[Brian]

They all look at it curiously, though it seems to mean the least to Mikey, as he merely nods politely, then turns to study a poster on the wall.  It's a picture of some flowery meadow somewhere.  The glass-crafter stares at it like she's trying to weigh it by sight alone, and Megan actually starts to reach towards it.

The light coming off of it brightens when she does so, however, so he pulls her hand back, frowning.  "Some people need focuses," she offers.  "Something that can allow them to use an ability they may not otherwise understand.  Either that or...."

[Bjorn]

"Or it's the item itself," Bjorn finishes.  "Which I still think is most likely the case, because the bracelet doesn't mean anything to me.  It's not a lucky charm, or valuable, or anything -- it's just this thing that got mailed to me one day."

Then he grimaces.   "But then, what the he-- heck do I know about how this sort of thing works?"  He doesn't quite look guiltily at Bridgette.

[Brian]

"If it's the bracelet, then it means science aside, that magic exists," Megan poses, glancing at Brigett.  The little girl only raises an eyebrow at your near-utterance.  "At least, I think it does.  I kind of find that comforting."

Mikey looks between you attentively, though you get the feeling he's not really paying attention.  "Anyway, they turned out the sun, and I can't go to sleep yet."  Megan frowns.  "You wanted to learn the sigil hand-signs?"

[Bjorn]

"Yes," Bjorn says slowly.  "I think I'd also like to know why so many people here use them."

[Brian]

"Brigett learned it from her father," Megan says quietly.  "Ah, the sigil hand-signs aren't actually hand-signs for communication, that's just something else they happen to do well.  From what I know of the system, the hand-signs represent commands that they use with computers somewhere in the complex.  They use gloves, or something.  Apparently this language is pretty powerful, because they can use the motions to communicate.  I only know a little bit of it myself.  Brigett, say 'hello'."

Bridgett climbs off of the bed obediently, and holds out her hands in front of her.  "Now, to really enter the appropriate learning mode," Megan says, "you need to relax your mind, and allow the new information to enter."  Bridgett's fingers move, and she makes a gesture.

Code Select Expand

Roll for INT check:
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Bjorn ... : 3d6 --> {7}Looking at it closely, it seems that the gestures are made from the signer's point of view.  Taking what Megan says into account, it's like she's treating you as an object in an interface, and then the hand-signs indicate what the signer would be doing with an actual virtual object (or code).  You're not sure exactly what the gesture indicates in the programming sense, but it looks like from Bridgett's perception that she just picked you up with her first two fingers and her thumb, and moved you closer to her.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn mimes the gesture, and then, extrapolating and experimenting, tries to say "How are you?" by taking the virtual object in his grip and turning it over, as if to examine it.