video, un: j.k. [post-butterfly effect]

[aeturnus]

[ On the screen is one Cain, also known as Romulus, commonly known in the city as Jacob Kane. He looks normal. Normal as he's ever looked, really, but the confidence that he lacked during the recent event is back in full force and he's very nonchalant about it all. He's at a flimsy-ish table with a laptop off to the side where the camera is obviously his propped up phone instead. ]

Hey! Long-time no talk, Riverview Quarantine. Just a few things. If you met me over the last week and a half or so, that was... technically me but not. You know that thing that was going on? Yeah, that. Don't worry about it. Forget about all that.

Quick catch-up for those who have (or haven't!) met me, I go by Jacob Kane nowadays. [ Not Romulus. Nope. This total 180 is completely normal considering he hardly looks any older or different at all. ] My job while I'm here is designing phone apps. I've been here for about two months now and I think this is my first actual post on the network. Anything interesting happen while I wasn't looking?

to Doom; Still good for lessons?

to Shai; Thank you. For everything you did.

to Natsume; Seen anything like our colorful friend lately?

Comments

[aeturnus]

Yeah, I was only twenty back then.

[ Which sounds fairly benign to those listening. Not so much to those who know the truth of it. ]

I'm not too keen to linger on the past. How was your... experience?

[scholiast]

Oh. Aw.

(He did seem fairly young.)

It was positive. We had a nice chat.

[aeturnus]

Yeah, cute and tiny and all that.

[ Scared out of his mind, on the perpetual brink of a nervous breakdown. You know. Young. ]

Right, it went pretty well. And the rest of that whole—change?

video | @the.young

[leadintheyoung]

Designing phone apps?

[ Don't mind the brunette blinking as she repeats those word with a look on her face that says she's trying to figure out what sort of weird, alien language he's speaking. Designing? That's simple enough, but phone apps? She's kind of looking at her phone critically. This is a phone, right? And Eichi had mentioned something about apps at some point in trying to help her familiarize herself with technology. Friendr is an app, right? But how...? ]

I'm afraid I don't quite follow you. You do what now?

[aeturnus]

[ Cain sees that look. It's one usually seen on faces of the more elderly who haven't quite caught up with modern conveniences. It doesn't surprise him to see it here because this place takes from all manners of universes and time periods. What he's not sure of is which part trips her up right now. ]

Write up and design applications for use on phones. Making sure that not only do they run without issue, but they're intuitive to use and pleasing to look at.

[leadintheyoung]

[ Leaning back against the trunk of the tree she's claimed for phone perusal, Líadan listens very intently. 'Write up,' huh? That's... well, isn't it sort of like magick in a way? If he's writing it up, then the expression of the language... maybe becomes the application? She utilizes music and song to a similar effect. ]

I think I may follow you. You use some form of language in your writing and the expression is the application? The language you use... decides its form and function? Am I right?

[ Nevermind that she's imagining him etching some form of runes circular about a phone and something like Friendr just sort of... appearing on the screen? Maybe? ]

[aeturnus]

Something like that. The phone itself interprets the things I write in order to know what to do and where to put the pieces I give it. It's called coding, its own kind of language. There's a few different ways to do it.

[leadintheyoung]

[ She is definitely blinking at her phone a bit. To think that there might be so much to such a thing... but she refocuses her gaze on the man with whom she's speaking, this time with a smile. That curiosity of hers? Very much still active. ]

It sounds like quite the undertaking! Is it difficult to learn this 'coding'? To design these applications? And just how many are there?

[aeturnus]

[ Her curiosity is inspiring a smile in him. He doesn't mind explaining. ]

There's no hard number, really. Lots. Learning coding is about as difficult as any other task but it involves a computer as a go-between and a lot of people aren't comfortable with computers so it can be harder that way.

[leadintheyoung]

What is a computer? Another form of automaton, I presume?

[ She hasn't looked too terribly much into technology since arriving given how busy she's been exploring the city itself and beyond the fence. There's just so much to see, to experience, and -- ]

And what sort of things does one use apps for? I know Friendr is an application for making friends.

[aeturnus]

Oh. Yeah. Bigger than our phones, which means they're stronger and can do all the metaphorical heavy lifting until we figure out how to make things small enough to work well on a phone. Part of why the design is important, because overloading it and being too unwieldy can happen.

[ Oh boy. That question gets a bit of a laugh because well. ]

Apps are "applications," so it's essentially... whatever you can think to make a phone do. There's simple ones and complex ones but it mainly depends on the task. Some out there can walk you through cooking dishes or you could find a game to pass the time.

[leadintheyoung]

Bigger automatons can generally do more, then? Assuming, of course, that phones and computers are of a different sort than, say, those in the kitchen.

[ She's pretty sure they are. Much as she appreciates its service, a toaster doesn't enable her to get in touch with people. A very particular word sees her pause, though. ]

You can play a game on the phone? What kind of game?

[aeturnus]

They're less automatons and more... internal? They don't do anything physical for you like a blender would. It can pretend to think and give you information, though, if someone teaches it properly — which is essentially what coding is. Giving it the right set of instructions.

[ She's rather insightful about it, so Cain's just gonna settle back. He pauses for a moment to look under the table and leans down to reach underneath. There's a noise that almost sounds like 'urs!' before he sits back up. ]

Oh, lots of games. It isn't just one. They don't tend to be complicated because, again, limited hardware in exchange for the portability but they're working on that, too.

[leadintheyoung]

Technology can be very complex, then. I thought as much given my experience when I first arrived here, but it seems there truly is a wealth of information to learn about it. More than I could learn in a day, I'd wager.

[ Considering coding and the like, especially, and her thoughts do run back to the great machines that allow the settlement light and such. She still doesn't wholly understand how that works. ]

Perhaps I'll look into them, then! Do you have a favorite game?

[aeturnus]

It's the sort of thing people dedicate their lives to. Understanding as much as they can and then finding out more to share with the rest of the world. Other people get by just knowing what's relevant to what they want to do.

Tetris is a classic. Don't know that I'd say I have a favorite phone game in general, though. They're all relatively new.

[leadintheyoung]

So, which are you? There must be some reason you were offered that sort of job and took it.

I'll try Tetris, then, and see how I like it, not that I intend to limit myself. A game is a game and it's good to know a variety of them in my experience.

[aeturnus]

More of the first than the second. It's an easy job for me, but I don't mind that.

There should be an entire section just dedicated to different kinds of games on there. Be careful about the ones that ask you to pay things for little boosts, they can add up real quick.

[leadintheyoung]

I can scarcely confess to being surprised. You have answered every question I've thrown your way better than I might well understand, I'm sure.

I'd ask you to explain that one, but that may be one of those things I have to see with my own eyes to understand. Paying for boosts --

[ And there's a sliver of a pause as she perks. ]

I am Líadan Ní Donnabháin, by the way. You can call me Lí if you'd like. You said your name was Jacob Kane?

[aeturnus]

That comes with practice, too. Nothing wrong with needing to learn something, or the whole human race would be in trouble.

That's right. Nice to meet you, Lí. Just promise me you won't try Candy Crush or whatever sounds like it here until you've gotten the hang of other games. That one's pretty addicting.

[scholiast]

(She taps her fingers thoughtfully on the desk, unsure of how much to divulge. She'd found aspects of his younger self quite sad, but- well, there's nothing that can be done about it now, of course, so.

She wrinkles her nose at him.)

Are you talking about me? I was... old. I don't know.

[aeturnus]

[ Yeah, his past is tragic. He's moved on. Hopefully everyone else does, too. He just doesn't feel like dealing with it anymore, nor does he feel like he should have to. ]

So you actually went... forward?

[mysophobic]

I was and a man I know named Dodger was too.

[ Shigeru almost tried to kill him does that count as being cruel?! ]

I'm just glad everyone is back to normal...

[aeturnus]

Me too. That could have lasted a lot longer, or gotten a lot worse.

[ Maybe just a little cruel... ]

Wonder if that sort of thing's happened before? Other magics getting mixed up with the portal.

ENCRYPTED video; un:stark.naked

[amelioraate]

[ do you see this face? it is the face of a man who knows what lying to yourself looks like. very well.]

So, Jacob, darling, I feel like you have a story to tell. I mean, beyond what you told me.

[ he isn't being pushy, if anything he sounds understanding.]

ENCRYPTED forever;

[aeturnus]

You're a smart guy, Tony. Don't tell me you didn't figure it out.

[ Romulus had basically spelled the whole situation in painstaking detail. Whether Tony believes the two extremes to be possible at once is up to him. ]