Welcome to the Program

[airlockedmods]

Good Morning, Champions. In the interest of maintaining healthy sleep patterns, a day/night cycle is in effect. Your presence is expected in the cafeteria in exactly one hour.

[The voice comes through not a large speaker, but through the device that's attached to each Champion's arm. Further investigation of the features of the device will reveal a list of profiles, a mini-map, and a list of rules. The hallways are shiny white and silver, with running lights along the floor and lights on the ceiling, and at the junction of the hallways is a sign with a knife and fork icon and an arrow pointing down the hall.

Welcome to the Excellence Program, Champions. Time to get to know your teammates.]

Comments

kitchen

[andjerry]

[Thomas's first thought on seeing Miki: oh no she's cute

his second thought: why are there so many young girls and why is he on the same ward as them

his third thought, and the one he acts on: she knows what she's doing, as she's already both inventorying and smiling. He's more careful not to startle her than he was with the young people in the hallways, making a sound announcing himself before opening a cabinet next to hers.]

You're Miki, aren't you? It looks like we had the same priorities.

[stillstands]

[Gold star to Thomas for being, like, the first person not out to startle her today.]

Oh, taking inventory?

[She looks back down at the packets littering the counter.]

Yeah, I thought it was probably a good idea. At least we know we won't go hungry while we're here.

[... and know how much food they have and how much they need to ration before they do go hungry.]

[andjerry]

And you thought to worry about that?

[He was thinking "do we feed ourselves or not", but that is... actually impressive.

Is it all... this? [His hand goes to the inside of the cabinet, to food that's in nothing like a recognizable ingredient shape.]

[stillstands]

[... It's... fairly normal for her, but she's not about to talk about that out loud.]

Well, we need food... and it's something to do, at least.

[She stacks a small tower of beef... themed? packs in front of her, and only looks back up when Thomas speaks again.]

Mm. It looks like army style rations, fried dried and packaged food. Stuff that lasts.

[andjerry]

[and he just. slumps. a full kitchen stocked with preserved camping food? it's like catching up with a mirage in the desert.]

So we... we're going to be here for a while. [he has to keep it together, she's a child]

Are you going to be all right?

[stillstands]

[That was a pretty dramatic slump there, you doin' okay?]

They've prepared for that, yeah. And there are a quite a lot of us here, according to the profiles.

[Lots of people, and a long stay equals a lot of food in the cupboards. It doesn't seem to be infinite, but what food is?]

Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine for the moment. [This is peaceful, in comparison to home. Not perfect. It's just replacing one fear with another, but there's something nice about this brief lull in worrying about what could be lurking outside the school barriers.]

... What about you? Are you okay?

[andjerry]

I'm fine. I'm all right. Only- it's disappointing looking in here. You looked happy. Why?

[stillstands]

It's not gourmet, no. But it's food.

[She hasn't seen this much food in a long time. And it's... okay it's not the best quality, but it's varied and different and she isn't going to be eating it and wondering when and how she's going to replace it so the club's food stocks don't deplete too fast.]

There's something reassuring about knowing we won't starve while we're here.

[andjerry]

[And at that obvious bravery he starts to smile like they both have to keep it together.]

That's really comforting. One less reason to worry. It's not the taste that's the problem, I just... I make it. [The whole ritual helps him stay stable, even when the world's spinning around him and about to catch him up.]

[stillstands]

Oh, from scratch?

[... As happy as she is to have food in general, the idea of freshly prepared food sounds incredible. When was the last time she had something cooked from scratch with fresh ingredients...?]

Maybe we'll get some fresh ingredients the longer we're here? [Live the dream, Miki.] Or it might be possible to re-purpose some of the packaged food and make something new out of it, I suppose.

[andjerry]

I'm sure I can come up with something. [He's not, but the prospect of having a hiding place that looks like this is making him a little bit optimistic, even in the face of those rules.]. I saw you already started taking count, so maybe before this meeting...

[stillstands]

It's just a habit, I guess?

[There are a lot of packs here. She's probably only scratched the surface.]

Don't worry about my counting, if you want to open some of the boxes and look for ingredients. These are for everyone, after all.

[andjerry]

Do you have anything you really like? [the organizing seems like more than habit, when it's this much food and that scary a change, but he doesn't get into it. once she trusts him, then he'll ask

[So he eases the top open of an MRE pack, not knowing what to expect, and he shares in Miki's awe for a moment as bag after bag comes out as he shakes it onto the floor.] It's a lot to work with.

[stillstands]

Like I said, there's a lot. If you're creative you could probably make something almost as good as a fresh, home cooked meal.

[Oh. Her favourite food? ... She hasn't seen much in the way of Japanese themed MRE packs yet but she's still got some hope. But right now, there probably aren't the ingredients for it.]

I'll eat anything, don't worry about appealing to my tastes.

for "floor" read "counter" above, I think that was a mental auto fill...

[andjerry]

If we're here, I have to think about it. The most important part is if you - any "you" - likes it. [maybe he's coming on too strong about it]

What have you been doing that you made this a habit? Was this your after school job?

[stillstands]

There are probably a few people who'll just be happy there's someone here who can cook for them. [Maybe a little...??]

I... something like that? [It's not exactly a lie...] I did help keep stock of what was in storage.

[andjerry]

[he hears the evasion; he's already had to do plenty of that so far so let's it go]

I think it's going to be a relief for some people. One less part of their day to worry about. Even if people can be particular... like you probably aren't used to this in Japan.

[stillstands]

[Thank you kindly. She'd evade straight out of the room if she had to.]

I can do my own cooking, if I have to. But I haven't seen a lot typical Japanese food yet. Maybe there'll be some in other boxes.

[andjerry]

I'm not saying you have to let someone. [wow he feels like he's getting off on the wrong impression]

I'm sorry. I'm used to everyone already knowing me. Trusting me. When you don't have a lot of outsiders...

[stillstands]

Oh... so you're from a small town then?

[She's heard about close knit communities in smaller towns or cities, but Megurigaoka was too big to have that kind of dynamic...]

In a situation like this though, can you really expect everyone to just immediately trust each other?

[andjerry]

No. People go into old patterns, though, even in new situations. You with your sorting and inventory, and me with... [this. and he's said too much.]

I'll let you be.

[stillstands]

...

There's nothing wrong with the familiar. Maybe it's the only thing we can rely on, sometimes.

[andjerry]

...Thank you. Thank you a lot for saying that. I won't get in your way, but I do think you need to know that helps.

[stillstands]

... Good, I'm glad it does. If you need more space to cook, just let me know. I'm only poking around at things, I don't have any major plans.

[andjerry]

We can't really make any plans yet, can we?