[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]

Their-

[He chokes on whatever sentence might've followed, immediately uncomfortable with the thought. Not only is he physically incompatible with such objectives, but the idea that he'd be suitable for any member of the human race is just...just...

No.

That pedestal is far too high for him to presume to climb up on. This is notionally wrong for so many reasons. He wipes his consternation away, dragging his hand down his face]

I can't believe they're involving an android like me in something like that.

[shadowsthedawn]

[Yeah...so the android does not seem to be taking this well. Which, Riu can't exactly blame him. He would rather not be in this situation either. But 9S seems to be in actual distress.]

Hey. They can't make us do anything more then sit here and stare at each other, okay? There's nothing you need to worry about.

[As for the android bit...well it's clear the Palai are all kind of just assuming all the coven members have the right anatomy for this sort of thing. Or maybe they're more interested in the development of romantic interest and not necessarily physical interest.

...It's hard to say.]

I don't think they got the memo about your android-ness. And I don't think they care.

[deem]

I've explained it to them so many times...

[And yet it seems that Riku is right. All of that information appears to have fallen on willfully deaf ears. There's something distinctly frustrating about that, and he huffs out a breath as he folds his arms across his chest.

He's more than happy to explain, but being ignored like this is ridiculous. The Palai didn't even have a conception of what androids were until he came along, and he'd answered so many, many questions...]

Androids aren't appropriate partners for humans.

[Rather, they're unworthy. So says his core programming]

[shadowsthedawn]

[Riku feels for him. He doesn't like the Palai willfully ignoring every complaint they're receiving simply so they can force their speed dating agenda.]


They don't seem to care that you're an android or that none of us want to be here. It seems like the best we can do is just wait this out. Maybe if we make this the most boring event ever, they'll get bored and let us go.

[He raises a brow at that.]

I don't think you need to worry about that. As far as I can tell, no one is taking this seriously.

[deem]

I hope not... [Because really, this seems like a poorly devised endeavor. Of course he's just a little bit biased] I'd rather get back to work on the shielding system instead of...this.

[He uncrosses his arms to make a sweeping gesture at their surroundings. The safety of the locals strikes him as far more important than participating in some weird matchmaking ritual.

While he's sure the Palai mean well, this isn't the best use of his time]

[shadowsthedawn]

[His expression lights up in interest at the mention of the shielding system. That's a far better topic of conversation then whatever fluffy getting-to-know-you questions the Palai wanted them to indulge in.]

What progress have you made with that?

[deem]

So far we've managed shield modules that can cover the entrances to residences and commercial facilities, but...

[He trails off, frowning]

I don't think they've got a power source that can sustain a shield to cover the entire city. Testing on these smaller ones is promising so far, so at least lives can be saved, but it doesn't do much for their property.