let's say sunshine for everyone

Sky

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Nov 30, 2015
54
"Outdoors" wasn't exactly Neil's favorite location, but he'd been finding himself around there more often as of late. Maybe it was something in the air, maybe it was something in the mystic and wonder of the new world he'd found himself in, but he was increasingly inclined to get off his butt and start looking around.

Armed with a book he'd checked out from the library, Neil found a spot near the lake under a tall tree. It was a sunny afternoon, but not too warm, which suited him just fine. Most of all, there was an expanse of space and it was nice and quiet. Nobody would suspect that he was out here and nobody would come and disturb his peace, at least for a few minutes. It wasn't as though his company was exactly a hot commodity, but he would prefer to keep it that way.

Neil crinkled his nose as he flipped through the pages of the book, reading the words but digesting little to no information. This book was denser than he thought it would be, and he wasn't exactly a literary person. Though you never knew whether something would go well unless you tried, and there was no way to get better at something except by doing it. He'd plough through this book whether he liked it or not.
 

Horus

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Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Sky"

Yesterday must have looked like a ghost by the lake, shaded from the sun by the plentiful trees that grew almost right up to the water's edge at some points. Earth nature was always so nice, especially compared to the artificial biomes that were made for study on his home ship. He could only assume his home planet had some pretty things to see from what information he'd been loaded with, but it didn't look a thing like earth.

What possibly made it worse was that he just liked to watch. He liked to watch the geese swimming in circles and the faint ripples on the surface of the water as fish peeped out to eat flies. He watched the humans that jogged by or hung around as the weather cooled down, and he watched the dogs that played fetch with their companions.

Yesterday remained as still as a statue, a pale ghost in the background.

But the day had wound down, becoming quieter as the afternoon dragged on and the sun heated up the air, and fewer people came to the park. He began to seek other things... Which soon came in the form of movement out of the corner of his eye.

A boy sat down under a tree, book in hand. It was a classic picture, he imagined. Human culture had deeply ingrained the image into the public psyche, he found, which was odd for an activity so mundane. He wasn't sitting too far off either, allowing Yesterday to get a good look at him as creepy as that sounded.

He looked to be the opposite of him in every way. How curious. Things that piqued his curiousity usually warranted a more in-depth probing, so he approached him.

"Hello there." His voice was monotone, flat, devoid of any emotion. Even his race remained static, expression not moving an inch. "What are you reading?"
 

Sky

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Nov 30, 2015
54
Neil was supposed to be gifted, though he had yet to find out just how. Though if he'd had a choice about his abilities, invisibility would have been nice-- it would mean that he'd get to do what he wanted, when he wanted it, with no fear of being discovered or bothered by anyone.

A soft voice startled him out of his train of thought, and he looked up to face the emotionless face of a stranger. White, almost translucent hair and skin, with eyes that seemed nearly flat, perhaps devoid of life. Maybe he was a spirit of some kind? No, that wasn't possible: this man seemed far too solid. Neil crossed his brow. It was probably rude to question it too much, or to stare too hard.

"It's called On the Beach." He closed the book: he'd barely gotten past the first page. The text itself was quite simple, it just had layers and layers of meaning underneath it that he didn't quite feel like dissecting. "By Nevil Shute."

What more was he supposed to say? Neil didn't know whether the stranger wanted to continue talking, or expected him to say more. His voice hardly sounded like he was particularly interested, anyway.

"It's supposed to be good."
 

Horus

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Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Sky"

Emotions didn't come naturally to him, though he was already fairly talented at reading the subtle changes in peoples faces. It was kind of like identifying a shape or pattern that signified something else; the same went with body language. All in all, it was rather easy if you had the same kind of camera gear and motion detection functions as Yesterday did.

Unfortunately, the lack of emotion and facial expressions often left him looking like a mannequin, something that he undoubtedly resembled right now. His voice was more like a drone than actual speech, which undoubtedly caused people to become cautious. The boy didn't look like he was very open to his approach. Was it odd to ask people what they were reading?

Another thing that seemed to immediately strike Yesterday was the boy's appearances. His makers had created him with human beauty in mind and yet he was the opposite of this boy. Did that mean the boy was an ugly human? Was that why he was alone and reading, instead of with other humans? Yesterday obviously hadn't been exposed to much to different races, just species.

He wanted to ask, of course, so he plopped down on the grass in front of him.

"On The Beach, by Nevil Shute." He repeated in his same drone of a voice. Considering he was a robot, he was always connected and he immediately looked it up. Post apocalyptic? Nuclear war? How interesting. Why did humans like reading about their own destruction so much?

Yesterday tilted his head slightly, though his expression remained the same. "I have heard of it. People seem to like reading a lot about the potential ruin of their world."
 

Sky

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Nov 30, 2015
54
Poor Yesterday probably didn't realize that it wasn't most humans that didn't like to be asked what they were reading. It was just quiet, introverted Neil who preferred to keep to himself, lose himself in his world of code and facts and knowledge. Much to his chagrin, the new person dropped down across from him, stating more facts about the book in the same monotone. Neil raised an eyebrow but said little more-- he didn't want to be rude.

"Yeah. It's pretty good, but kind of dense." Humans? Was he some sort of different species or something? This probably wasn't too much of a stretch of the imagination, from what he'd heard here and there, but Neil didn't want to pry or jump to conclusions. He handed the other man the book.

"Kind of. It's always fun to look at worst-case scenarios. Alternate timelines, man becoming the monsters, everyone causing their own destruction. Kind of makes us feel better about our current lot. At least this world isn't as bad as it could be."
 

Horus

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Inactive
Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Sky"

If Yesterday had a tail, he'd be wagging it as he was handed the book. The cover was just paper and it looked a little ragged around the edges, which probably meant it was from the library and had been read or neglected quite a few times to get into that state. It didn't matter to him, though.

"Huh, how interesting." He said, opening the book to the first page. That's when he began to scan it; he flipped through the pages, his eyes moving back and forth over the black ink. Page after page in the span of just a couple of seconds; he read inhumanly fast because the way he processed and stored information was much different than a human's.

Yesterday was a robot. All he needed to do was scan the pages.

He was about halfway through, about two or three minutes having passed, when he spoke again. "This is awfully bleak."
 

Sky

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Nov 30, 2015
54
Neil thought that he was a fairly fast reader, especially when it came to technical books. When it came to fiction his reading speed was awfully average, so watching this other person read was like... Actually, there were no words to describe it. Heck, was he reading, or was he just flying through the pages because he could? Neil's eyes widened as the pages zoomed past in a flurry. For a few minutes he just stared in fascination.

He wasn't the only awkward one here, he supposed. Well at least they could be awkward together and no-one could judge them.

"Yeah, that's what I've heard. It's quite a sad book, but people have told me it's well-written?" Neil smiled. "The way you're skimming through is almost like you're reading. Unless you actually are that fast. Like a superhuman! Or some sort of machine." Hey, that was an attempt at a joke! Not bad, Neil. Those were his social points for the day.

"Do you... Do you read a lot?"
 

Horus

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Sky"

Like some sort of machine...

If Yesterday's muscles actually worked the way a human's did, he would've smiled.

Instead, his face remained as emotionless and stoic as ever as he started to flip through the second half, spending about a second on each page. The book was quite sad, perhaps a bit forlorn at the fact that humanity would be its own destruction. He couldn't exactly say it sounded illogical, but...

"I do read this fast." A little white lie. It was sort of reading, but more logging the shapes into his memory than anything else to be recalled when convenient.

"I do." The answers to the boy's questions were simple, and he liked that. "I have read through much of the library already. A pity that few seem to spend time there anymore."
 

Sky

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Inactive
Nov 30, 2015
54
Was this guy kidding, or was he dead serious? He certainly didn't sound like this was a joke, but Neil never knew. It was so hard to decipher. He let out a somewhat strained laugh, smiling a little. "So is this your superpower?" It very well could have been-- there were all sorts of people here.

He really wished he knew how to express his feelings better. That would solve 99% of his problems, save for the part that involved him showing up on a random island with no idea how he got here.

"It sounds like a pretty useful power to have, if it is." Was this what he was supposed to say? Name, age, by the way these are all the ways where we aren't ordinary? He hadn't interacted with quite enough people here to know the right norms and manners.

"I'm Neil."
 

Horus

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Sky"

Yesterday looked up at Neil again and saw the strained little smile on his face. His facial recognition systems mapped it out and fed the information back to him; the boy was becoming wary or nervous, perhaps unsure of what to do with his own lack of expression. Humans did read a lot of body language while Yesterday lacked it almost entirely.

Oh, yes, powers. Hm... "I guess it could be considered a power." Cryptic and just as confusing as every single other answer he gave.

"Hello, Neil." At that point, Yesterday smiled a little. Of course it looked fake, like he just switched masks from neutral to vaguely amused. He had to put a conscious effort into changing his expression; he didn't have the same range as humans did or the innate ability to do it.

"My name is Yesterday."
 
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