[WORLD ONE] SPEED DATING EXTRAVAGANZA

[spellbindmods]

Who: Participating coven members
Where: The Palai marketplace
When: Day 49
Open/Closed: OTA

[ Any and all who are in the marketplace will find that there is suddenly a mysterious barrier around the marketplace (that may be eerily familiar to some) -- specifically one large portion of the marketplace with a large number of tables and chairs, perhaps purposefully set out for nefarious reasons.

A few Palai are ushering coven members to chairs, and everything seems about normal. As normal as the Palai can be when they're putting on a show anyway. It's not until a sizable portion of the coven members are seated (and also supplied with breadsticks and small shrimp), that things get a bit more bizarre.

Thanks to the power of the Eltos, a small band of energy keeps coven members stuck to the chair (magic can interfere, of course), but that's not the end of it. On each table, next to those delicious smelling breadsticks and shrimp, is a bowl of scraps of papers. Every five minutes, a strip of paper will pop out from the bowl.

If you ask the Palai, they'll be inclined to explain speed dating to you. Asking questions, getting to know a person, then being shimmied off to the next potential mate -- this is made possible by Elto magic yet again, through flying chairs that transport their holder to a new table at standard intervals.

The Palai are extremely invested in this exercise? Will you let them down? ]

[ OOC: In the spirit of speed dating, each character will have a top level. All who want to respond to this top level can with questions from this post, but the threads have to end at 10 comments from each character. After this last tag, the characters can be assumed to have been whisked to a different potential match. You're free to have characters make up their own questions, interact with Palai serving food, etc. ]

Comments

[deem]

...Oh.

[9S isn't sure whether it's more flattering or unfortunate that the Palai would think an android such as himself could be a proper match for his human compatriots. In the end he knows it's wrong, and he's certainly no substitute for another human being, intrinsically aware as he is of his own unworthiness]

They must not grasp the concept of what I am very well, despite my explanations.

[It's the easiest conclusion for him to reach. If the locals had understood properly, they'd know why he shouldn't be a participant in something like this]

[talim]

[ he hangs his head. 9s needs behavioral therapy and like approximately 12 xanax. maybe some cymbalta. ]

That's not it. This has nothing to do with being an android or a human. It has to do with their... er... unique customs and culture, their concept of the importance of being involved in a romantic relationship. Said importance is beyond my understanding, but —

[ a pause. ]

— regardless of what the Palai think, don't worry about it. This conversation is strictly platonic.

[deem]

It's not necessary to tell me. [He folds his hands neatly on the table, having no particular interest in the food stationed between them] I know humans couldn't view androids that way.

[The statement as 9S voices it isn't simple opinion but rather concrete fact. It's only natural that mankind should view androids as something separate and apart. They serve their creators, and despite the kindness Jude doles out so generously, the fact remains that they are not equals.

Couplings, as he understands them, ought to be. And if one were to get technical, there are areas in which an android would doubtless fall short of a human partner, unable to provide for the same needs or wants.

In short, he has no reason to presume anything but a platonic conversation]

[talim]

I mean...

[ jude runs a hand through his hair and sighs, heavily. he already knows this will not be an easy conversation to have, and the fact that they're on a time limit is both a blessing and a curse. ]

I wouldn't necessarily agree with you there. Just because this isn't a date doesn't mean it's impossible for a human to view an android in another light.

[ his mind flashes to milla; not just his own experience having what he would look back on maybe a small crush on her, but everyone else's. they might as well have all had a crush on milla maxwell. ]

I suppose I could say I've had, er... well... not exactly, but... a sort of similar experience?

[ jude is clamming up, suddenly looking anywhere but 9s. ]

In that they weren't... human. And. I mean.

[ he takes a deep breath, shaking his head. get a grip, jude mathis. ]

What it all boils down to is that people are people, right?

[deem]

[9S takes a moment to turn this about in his thought routines. The notion of a race which androids regard as so high above them as to be unquestionably superior makes it difficult to process. Why would Jude take interest in a non-human to start with?

Although he supposes he's been exposed to races here that simply don't exist where he comes from, it's still a confounding notion when set against his programming]

...Whoever it was, their race wasn't created by yours though, right?

[He thinks perhaps this is the essential difference. So far as he knows, mankind only made androids, so far as sentient life is concerned. Such a hierarchy might not exist with magical entities like Mikleo]

[talim]

No, but...

Well, in a sense, our entire world was created by them. They're called spirits.

[deem]

[Okay so...

Did Jude have a crush on God? Is that what this is?

Nevermind the explicit use of the word spirit, even machines think God's a thing. Somebody over here is very deeply confused]

Isn't that a little bit uh...

[And yet how can he criticize humanity?

This is hard]

1/2

[talim]

A little bit... uh... ?

[ burning red cheeks aside, his expression is blank. ]

I think you might have the wrong idea. Just like you androids, some spirits are humanlike in almost all other aspects. Emotions, hopes, dreams... That's what I meant when I said people are people.

So this could be a date. That isn't impossible.

2/2

[talim]

[ jude corrects himself very quickly. ]

B-But it isn't! It isn't. It's just...

[ he makes a strangled, frustrated noise. ]

Do you get what I'm trying to say?

[deem]

[Could be one. Isn't impossible...

9S wonders if Jude has gotten so engrossed in encouraging him to see himself in human terms, once again, that he's lost sight of the implications that come with words like that.

Because it's almost like Jude's suggesting he could see him in such a way.

...Definitely tripped himself up trying to be too kind to him again, no question. Jude will have to forgive his response being nothing more eloquent than an amused little snort. Really, the guy's going to confuse someone one of these days]

[talim]

You don't get it, do you...

[ he hangs his head in defeat, but before jude can speak again, try to further clarify, they're both being whisked away to the next victim. later, nines. ]