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[looselips]

Characters: Shinji Matou & OPEN
Setting: Dormitory Floor 2; Cafeteria; Library
Format: Action preferred, but I'll try to match.
Summary: Shinji tries to puzzle out his situation.
Warnings: Man idk, I'll update this as things come up.

dormitory
[There is a small, (probably) unfamiliar child in the dormitory today. He doesn't seem as frightened or upset as a child perhaps should be after waking up in a strange place and being informed that his world has been destroyed. Instead, he's seated in front of one of the network terminals, his heels resting on the stool's legs.]

[It's hard to say what he's doing. He isn't touching the device at all, only staring at it really, really intently. Then, abruptly, he makes a noise of frustration and kicks it.]

—Ouch!

[Oops. He must have kicked it too hard, or hit his leg on it as he did so, as he immediately reaches down to cradle his knee.]

[This isn't the first terminal he has tried to do...whatever it is he's trying to, and it probably won't be the last. He might even venture to the first and third floor dormitories to see if he has better luck there.]

cafeteria
[So, after completely failing at what he wanted to do, Shinji has gone to the cafeteria. Maybe things will go better if he has a little food in his stomach? Maybe. Being in a less irritable mood should definitely help, at least.]

[Except the only thing he's given to eat is plain oatmeal. Obviously, this offends his eight-year-old culinary sensibilities. He hasn't touched it yet, and is instead just glaring at it like it's the source of all his problems where he sits at one of the tables.]

library
[...Yep, he's right back to his fruitless efforts with the terminals. This kid is tenacious, even if only in the way a small, loud terrier might be.]

Comments

[tohko_amano]

Well..I'm not sure if you always have to use useful knowledge..but books can save lives. I would know.

[And Tohko is still smiling..but for people who are good at reading smiles, it looks a bit sad.]

No..I think you're still part of it. You're just a bit more skilled than the others.

[looselips]

I told you, it's more than a bit! [Yeah sorry Tohko, he doesn't care about whatever points you were getting at. None of them.] Sheesh, can't you recognize talent when you see it? I'll cut you some slack this time, but eff-why-eye, I'm the number-one hacker in all of Japan.

[If this is an exaggeration, it's honestly only a small one.]

[tohko_amano]

You may be the number one hacker in Japan..but that title will be pretty useless unless you can be the number one hacker here.

[looselips]

[...Huff.]

Well, what do you know. Even you can say something insightful from time to time, I guess. [Because she is right.] Don't worry, though. I intend to be.

[tohko_amano]

I manage to say a lot of insightful things. However, if you intend to be, you might want to start finding out who does have the most experience with the network here and learn from them.

[looselips]

Screw that. [He rolls his eyes.] I can figure it out on my own.

[tohko_amano]

Probably. However, it would save you quite a bit of time if you managed to figure out a lot from someone else. And, if you could break through a problem they've been having, wouldn't that help you earn your title back here?

[looselips]

Eh. [He shrugs and waves her off.] You're right about it being a shortcut, but if I figure things out myself and work out a problem some plebe is having, that's twice the cred. I'm not going to ride someone's coattails.

[And the truth is, he wouldn't feel quite as satisfied himself.]

[tohko_amano]

[Huh..]

..While the hackers here probably aren't 'plebes', you're a good person, in a way. Not many hackers would take the high road and do the work themselves.

[looselips]

Please. What's the point of having innate superiority if I don't show it off?

[It's not that he enjoys hard work, it's just... He wants people to respect him for his own abilities.]

[tohko_amano]

[At that, Tohko sighed and scratched his head.]

..Maybe I spoke too soon. Having power isn't bad, but if you lord it over people, it just makes them want to hit you.

[looselips]

[Wow, rude.]

[The head-scratching part, not the comment about people wanting to hit him. He flails a little.]

Get your grubby mitts off of me! And haven't you already hit me enough?

And that should have been her head. Whoops. Oh well. More negative CR!

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko blinks and stops scratching him, embarrassed.]

Oh, I'm sorry! Didn't mean to do that..I was thinking about something else. However..I did mean what I said before.

ooops. it's okay shinji was made to flail ineffectually while people pat his head.

[looselips]

[He huffs as she stops, still glaring at her.]

It's natural for the strong to rule over the weak, so it's not like I'm doing anything wrong.

He's much like Waver in that regard.

[tohko_amano]

Why do you think it's natural for the strong to rule over the weak? In the wild, most of the time, the predator misses it's prey. It takes a long time for it to make a catch. Carnivores don't rule all.

[looselips]

It's not about predators or prey. Strength doesn't have to be physical power. [Obviously.] Think about it. What kind of people are in charge? People who are smart and talented. Those are the strong, while the rest of the masses are the weak ones that can't do anything but follow them.

[tohko_amano]

That's not true. Sometimes, people can be really stupid and cruel, and people in their countries can go against them, either outright or secretly.

[looselips]

So they didn't have the power to maintain power. That just means they weren't really strong.

[tohko_amano]

Do you want cruel people to be able to maintain their power over others?

[looselips]

[shrugs] It's not my problem if they're cruel or not.

[tohko_amano]

You don't care if other people suffer because some others are cruel?

[If you didn't, you were getting smacked again.]

[looselips]

Didn't you hear what I just said? It's not my problem if they're too weak to fight back.

[tohko_amano]

It will eventually become your problem though.

[looselips]

And what makes you say that?

[tohko_amano]

If a large group of people are suffering, and you are part of that group and ignoring it, then, eventually, their suffering and despair will fall on you when they tyrants come to get you. It sounds strange, but it's true.