savetheearth | [open] so many quarters and tokens.

Entry tags:

[open] so many quarters and tokens.

Who: Audrey Burne and anyone else who shows up.
What: First meeting of an organization/collective number group masquerading as an as-yet unnamed gaming club. This is mostly a meet and greet, get to know one another and bring up pertinent issues to look into/discuss in future meetings sort of thing.
Where: At one of Locke's largest Arcades, straight across the street from a pizzeria. Yes, pizza might be involved.
When: Backdated to July 21st (Sunday), from 5pm to midnight.
Warnings: None so far.

[OOC: The top thread here will be for speeches/questions/general meeting matters. These proceedings will all be streamed on the network for those interested who couldn't/didn't wish to attend.

The rest of the log is for mingling. Feel free to make your own threads and get into whatever hijinks you wish.

And forgive the backdating please.]

At one point in time, arcades were a dime a dozen. For the most part it's been a dying trend, though this particular one in Locke is standing against the test of time. It's likely due to it's size - it's easily one of the biggest arcades around - and the inclusion of party rooms in the back. The pizzeria nearby has quite the happy partnership with the arcade thanks to those.

For most of the night the arcade is a loud, bustling place. Enjoy dodging children here and there, maybe having this machine or that eat your very last quarter. Some of them take quarters and some tokens so enjoy carrying pocketfuls of both.

Around 7:30 once most everyone has had a chance to arrive, Audrey will try to herd people into the party rooms in back for the actual 'game club' meeting itself. During this time, anyone is welcome to bring up issues, questions, concerns and the like they may wish to see addressed or would like help with.

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Given that this was a more productive immediate plan of action than rushing out into Locke with guns blazing against a force they knew precisely zero about, Banagher was alright with counting himself among the attendees. He'd always been of the mind that knowing who was who among them would benefit them in the end, rather than having an equal amount of no information on both sides. Luckily, his opinion happened to (in so many words) line up nicely with Audrey's, which is why he's currently feeding bills into the quarter machine and chewing on half of a breadstick.

At his feet, Haro waits patiently, tipping this way and that to get a look at those nearby. Occasionally, over the medley of arcade games, he'll belt out an enthusiastic Hello! to anyone within earshot.

Hey, with more extravagant looking prizes to be had at the ticket counter, Banagher didn't have the heart to leave him at home this time.

Vanessa kept one eye on the Road Puncher machine as she crossed the floor to the coin machine, just in case anybody tried to grab it while she was gone. A few potential hijackers had come along and tried to grab the second player spot but had been sent packing after a quick glare. She was not done with that stupid thing yet.

She stopped behind Banagher to wait her turn, silently fuming and vowing all sorts of terrible revenge when she got back.

"Hello!"

What?

Her head snapped from side to side looking for whoever had greeted her before she looked down, blinking at the little robot... ball... thing flapping its ears at her.

... What.

"Hi?" She attempted lamely, still staring at it.

He's gotten so used to Haro commenting on things like a little mechanical peanut gallery that he's all but tuned him out at this point — until he hears a distinctly human greeting right behind him.

"Huh?" he glances over his shoulder, wolfing down the rest of the breadstick as the machine finally spits out the last of his quarters with thick metallic plunks in the change well. Haro blinks twice, hydraulics whirring: "Waiting! Waiting!"

"Sorry about him, if he's bothering you," Banagher opts for instead of a second greeting. With a lopsided smile, he shuffles Haro to the side so he can grab his change and get out of the way. "He doesn't get out very much."

Vanessa looked up, realizing that the guy in front of her was probably the little robot ball's owner. Where did you even get something like that? Or did he build it?

Or was he here for the meeting too?

"No, it's fine." She glanced down at Haro again, blinking. "Um, what is it?"

Now was the time to test the waters, which would decide what his answer would be. Banagher takes a cursory glance around, idly shifting his change from hand to hand. Maybe the noise would make his question a little less conspicuous.

"Before I answer," he says, sort of ruining the whole ulterior motive thing, even when he's looking her in the eye, "Are you here for the gaming club meeting?"

That gets an arched eyebrow. Not... the most subtle way of asking if she was in the Club. Probably just make any outsiders curious about this secret game meeting that was apparently going on later. She decides to play things a little more subtle.

"I got the invitation and said I'd take a look." She doesn't break eye contact when she speaks. He's not the only one judging reactions in this conversation. "I'm not sure if this is the kind of group I'd want to play with yet."

Not like he isn't a terrible liar to begin with, with the way he doesn't break his gaze, but bluffing through how he'd come into possession of his robot company was something he was getting used to. Plus, he knew he couldn't prove the existence of the network regardless, all suspicion aside. Her answer strikes him as lukewarm, but it was fair enough, and he loses the sliver of an edge he'd had.

"He's a toy," Banagher answers, finally. "Though his AI's really good."

On point, Haro chimes in with a helpful, "Really good! Really good!" Banagher's tone then drops, just a fraction.

"A pulse made him appear."

She would at least give him credit for not breaking eye contact while making his bluff, that's at least a good start. She does relax a little after confirming he's part of the group. It helped that the toy story was a believable one, whether that much was true or not.

"I can't wait until I get a talking robot ball." She said with a small grin. That dagger that had shown up was still a little troublesome. She still didn't quite know what to make of the idea that such an obvious murder weapon apparently belonged to her. "Does it have a name?"

Somehow, Audrey has managed to miss ever seeing Haro. And while she had been heading over to say hello to Banagher himself? It's Haro that manages to thoroughly distract the young woman so that in the end she leans down to peer at the little green thing tipping this way and that.

... What in the world is it?

Though Banagher is sure Haro would have zero problems following him everywhere, as he's done since he left his apartment earlier, taking him everywhere just wasn't realistic, as far as trying to keep things on the down-low went. This was something of a special case, though. Her approach makes him smile, even when he opts to skip the greeting in light of her focus on the little robot.

"Have you really never seen him before?" Banagher asks, picking up on the wonder in her gaze as she looks at him.

Audrey gives her head a small shake. "I don't recall seeing him at least. I may have missed sight of him with skimming the network though."

That said, she redirects her gaze up to the other teen. "What do you call him?"

"He hasn't formally introduced himself over the network, come to think of it." For the most part, he just seemed to enjoy randomly butting in wherever he was able to. So he's gotten used to it and it comes as no surprise when Haro steals his thunder a second time.

"Haro! Haro! Nice to meet you!"

Shrugging casually, he steps from the quarter machine.

"And he came with the name."

The announcement brings Audrey's attention back to the round little thing and she laughs faintly. Forgetting just what she's dealing with a moment, the teen automatically reaches out to pet the robot on atop as if it were a dog.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Audrey."

And then she realizes what she's doing, pulling her hand away with a sheepish look the next moment.

"... Sorry."

"Audrey!" He repeats, panels flapping in time with his blinking eyes. "Having fun?"

Banagher waves a little in response. "It's okay, I think he likes it. You can pick him up, if you want."

Audrey has no qualms in doing so then. She rests her hands out of the way of any pinching panel, lifting Haro up with her.

"Quite a bit. I never realized arcades were so entertaining."

"A lot of them don't get as much traffic anymore," he explains, Haro following up with a helpful "No traffic! No traffic!" Banagher spares a second to look at Audrey holding the toy robot and thinks it looks, well... right. A smile tips at the corners of his mouth.

"Thanks to console gaming, but in the end I think there'll always be people who stay faithful to places like this. Everyone should go at least once!"

"Mm, progress always does have drawbacks." The teen says such in a mulled, quietly thoughtful tone, even as she brings the helpful Haro closer to her chest.

Then she adds faintly, "I don't know much about consoles either though. A friend has been instructing me some however."

On some level, he can't help the amused noise he makes in response. She makes it sound so businesslike. "I don't have much time for them either, honestly. My Xbox collects a lot of dust nowadays. I used to come here sometimes after school though."

Thoughtfully, he drops his change between his hands, humming over the clink of the metal.

"Have any favorites so far?"

(no subject)

searchforpeace - 2013-08-06 23:33 (UTC) - Expand

Kairi had abandoned her game for the moment, moving to try and find someone she recognized. She recognizes Banagher, at least, and heads over to say hi before... whatever that thing is beats her to it. "Um. Hello..."

Seriously, what is that?

Luckily he hears her over the drone of the arcade, tentative as her voice sounds. Glancing over to the source, his smile lights up. Haro is the first to take the initiative and roll forward, however.

"Hey! Kairi, right?"

"Yea, that's me!" Still cheerful as she greets him, though... Haro is still kind of her focus. "Uh, sorry. What is that?"

Following her gaze down to the robot, Banagher shifts his handful of change to his pocket and kneels to scoop him up into his arms to better present him.

"This is Haro! Remember when I told you about pulses?"

"Yeah, I remember." Luckily that puts enough together for her to figure out the rest. "So this came from one of those?" That still doesn't mean she knows what it is, but... there's a chance Banagher didn't either.

"Yeah," Banagher says easily, holding the robot like a someone might hold a basketball. "He wound up hitting me in the face, but I think we're okay now. Right, Haro?"

Eyes blinking, Haro replies: "Forgiven! Forgiven!"

"Anyway," he goes on, "He's kind of like a toy, I think, even when he can pick up on things on his own."

Kairi laughs a little when Haro starts talking again, covering her mouth to stifle the noise-- she's not sure other people can see this thing (normal people, she means), but it's probably not worth drawing attention to it anyway. "It's pretty cute, once you get used to it!"

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