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Hello, everyone!

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been doing a bit of reading on your archives (which I apologize if are intended to be private in any way) and it seems to me that we're all in the same predicament.

I've also taken the liberty of filling myself in on the Paul Ben incident. I can understand that tension must be high at the moment in the wake of that. This has raised a few questions for me personally.

First and foremost, how secure do we believe this network to be? There have been no direct consequences so far that I can tell, but it's possible that this is a false sense of security we are being led into. At the same time, I do not feel that being too paranoid will serve us well in the long run.

Furthermore, I have seen a great deal of note-trading between members of this forum, but I didn't notice any attempt thus far at a centralized database. I do strongly believe that it will be beneficial for all of us to have a cohesive compilation of everything we individually know so that we might cross-reference it and begin to search for patterns and clues.

Unfortunately this draws me back to my previous concern. Because we do not know how secure this network is or who we can even trust, consolidating our knowledge poses a considerable risk. That said, I believe the risks are well worth what we could learn, provided we entrust this project in the right hands.

This must be very confusing for everyone involved, but it's more important now than ever that we help one another.

If you have any questions to ask of me at all, please do not hesitate. Thank you all for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you!

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[Oh. Oh hey.]

Are you in an ethics class at the college here, by any chance?

So it is you! You should be more careful, Hajime. Your name isn't quite as common as the rest of ours. But I suppose that's too little too late now...

Do you want to meet after our next class, perhaps?

I have a class after ethics, but there's a three hour break in between, so that should work fine.

It's a date!

[With everything that's been happening lately, it's not the easiest thing in the world to stay focused...but Hajime manages it, somehow.

Maybe he's a little better than he'd like to think he is at throwing himself into whatever else he can so that he can pretend that feelings aren't happening. (He'd rather say he knows how to multitask and won't neglect what needs to be done, of course.)

And after class ends, he stops by the door, waiting for Elizabeth. They'll want to take it somewhere else, for sure, but since they never agreed on where somewhere else is, they're just going to have to play it by ear.]

Hajime!

[ Elizabeth waves enthusiastically as she catches up to Hajime. She, too, has been considering the issue of where they should go to talk and she's decided the soundproofing in the little private study rooms in the library should be more than adequate. That way they can talk and won't run the risk of making Hajime late for his next class. ]

Thank you so much for agreeing to study with me! I'm afraid I'm just completely lost with this week's material...

Does the library work for you?

[She's good at making this sound completely natural. Not that he's going to complain about that.]

It's no trouble, and the library is fine.

I'll make it up to you, I swear.

[ She laughs quietly at that, leading the way down the path to the library. ]

So, how has this semester been for you so far...?

[ They have an awful lot to discuss once they reach the library, after all, so... Maybe the small talk is a little bit lame, but Elizabeth feels like they could use a little bit of normal in-between then and now. ]

It's been busy.

[More like the last week or so, really. This semester hasn't been much worse than his first, but...

...augh, he's just. Bad at small talk.]

But manageable.

I know that feeling. There's just so much to take in with college! And everything is up to you, with no one to tell you when to eat or what to where or what your evening plans are going to be... It's exciting, but it's also a considerable amount of responsibility!

[ Elizabeth's life experiences are possibly not quite in line with everyone else's. But she's eager and earnest about her feelings, going a little flushed as she speaks of this wonderful, hectic thing that's been college life for her so far.

They're through the main doors of the library by now, headed to the private booths, and Elizabeth drops her voice now that they're inside. ]

Are you taking any interesting classes?

[College, for Hajime, has less been about more choices and responsibility for himself, and more about more responsibility for making sure Souji doesn't do anything unforgivably stupid. Which is okay; he doesn't mind doing that for his best friend, exactly, just...

...that train of thought was surely going somewhere, but he's not sure where anymore.]

Cell biology has been interesting. I've got organic chemistry, differential calculus...and I have Professor Nanzan's calligraphy class.

[Which has been all kinds of awkward for the last couple of months, but oh well.]

You have Professor Nanzan?

[ That revelation is met with wide-eyed delight as Elizabeth manages to stop in her tracks just outside of the room she was headed for. She gets a hold of herself a moment later and motions Hajime in so she can shut the door, figuring they can finish the discussion about the mysterious and elusive art professor before getting started proper on the strange events as of late. ]

Isn't he wonderful? I think it's rare to meet someone so truly inspired, especially one who is still so dedicated to his students. I don't have him myself, but he's been kind enough to let me sit in a few of his lectures. I positively love his landscape work. It has this entirely... otherworldly feel to it, like the painting itself is going to draw you in.

[Sudden bursts of enthusiastic delight: things that always leave Hajime a little...confused, to be kind about it. You'd think hanging around Chizuru would have cured him of that, but it's something that's just a little too beyond him for him to ever quite get it.]

He's a good teacher. I don't...have much a sense for art, admittedly.

[ Don't worry, Hajime is most definitely not alone in this. Most people don't really know what to do with Elizabeth's energy or her idealistic chattering and that fact has never discouraged her in the least. ]

Oh...? What drew you to his calligraphy class, then? If you don't mind my asking.

I needed the general ed credit, mostly. It seemed like it'd at least be more suited for me than some of the other art classes.

[His work is probably a little too neat and sterile and lacking in character, but it's a lot better than if he'd tried to take painting or something.]

Ahh, I see! Well I hope you're enjoying the experience, at least! It's always good to broaden your horizons, even if what you do doesn't necessarily stick.

[ And then she pauses, because they probably ought to start talking... 'business' by now. She sighs quietly, then offers him a seat before settling down herself. ]

So, I suppose... Gosh, where to even begin? Has there been anything on your mind you've wanted to get off your chest?

[He drops into one of the chairs, setting his bag down beside him, and glances at the windows. Conveniently, they've picked one of the study rooms that has fogged glass, so that should make this safe enough -

- no, he's not going to drop his pants, jesus.]

Since we were discussing physical changes...

[He starts taking off his wrist brace - because god, it starts to feel stifling after a while.]

...I didn't break my wrist.

[ ~~Darn.~~

That revelation causes Elizabeth's eyes to go briefly wide before she breathes out a sigh of relief, placing a hand over her heart. ]

Oh, I'm so glad you're not actually hurt!

Does... Does the brace have something to do with all this network business then?

It's easier than explaining what actually happened. Since I got my number, I've...turned left-handed.

Left--

[ Although it's not exactly hard to believe considering she herself went from naturally blonde to naturally bubblegum pink, the news that Hajime's gone and swapped dominant hands does leave her rather stunned and bewildered as she glances between his hands and his face. ]

I've read that many of your responses with your dominant hand are subconscious, such as when you go to catch thrown objects or grasp a tool-- I can't even imagine what that must feel like...

Edited (WOW I FORGOT HALF A SENTENCE GO ME i need sleep) 2013-04-16 07:19 (UTC)

It's disorienting...but I'm starting to get used to it.

[Although he's had to flip some things in his apartment around, and he's discovering a newfound hatred for standard scissors.]

I'm not sure how I'll explain it when I run out of time with this excuse, though. I haven't gotten too many questions for being able to write so neatly with my left, but once I'm supposed to be using my right again, and I can't...

[ Elizabeth mulls over this very real issue for a moment or two, tapping a finger against her lips as she thinks. How to get away with switching dominate hands as a college student... ]

...make it part of your senior thesis? [ She perks up suddenly, clapping her hands together as inspiration strikes her. ]

You're premed, right? Just tell people that hurting your wrist opened your eyes to how dangerous everyday products can be to a left-handed person. So you decided that you want to spend more time experiencing those trials to better inspire and prepare you for the senior thesis you want to do on being left handed in a right handed world.

...or something like that? I'm sure we can figure something out.

[That sounds ridiculous...

...and yet she almost makes it sound good. It must be that charisma at work, a quality Hajime has always been a bit lacking in.]

I have a feeling that would not sound half so convincing coming from me.

I guess it wouldn't work out if you have difficulty making the pitch...

[ Back into thinking mode. Elizabeth pulls out some books and a few sheets of loose paper to at least look as though they're intending on studying in here. Frosted glass or not, their silhouettes would be visible enough from the other side. Getting out a pen, she doodles absently as she continues to ponder Hajime's dilemma. ]

...hmmm. Would you like to help me out then? My declared major is mechanical engineering, which can basically mean almost anything. I could work on a independent project trying to create something simple and universal to mitigate the dangers of using objects meant for right handed people? Then we could say you've always been ambidextrous with a right hand preference, but since you're helping me out you're practicing your left hand dominance.

Working together for a school project would also let us meet weekly or bimonthly to discuss network matters.

...not that I wouldn't be happy to meet with you just to chat as friends, of course!

I'd be grateful for your help, in that case.

[Is that...almost a smile? Must be your imagination.]

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-> action timeskip to later because who needs new posts

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