001 █ radio

[arkproject]

[ Sometime after radio communications are restored to people at the mall, Catherine acquires one and clicks it on, broadcasting to all receivers. ]

Sooo... what's it like out there? Seriously. Anyone who's been out-- tell me what it's like?

I'm trying to make something that can help. Oh, my name's Catherine, by the way. Nice to meet you. [ She sounds calm, even-voiced, more sincere than sarcastic. Let's face it, this is not the worst next place she could've gone after PATHOS-II. Not the best, but there's other, living humans, so Catherine can make do. She just wants to make herself useful. The objectives seem completely obvious to her, and provide an immediate direction: help everyone survive. ]

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[kiseijuu]

[ It would be Shinichi Izumi who would manage to establish what may be considered a boring routine even in the mall from Hell -- but it's a comfort to him. Anything mundane is welcomed, even sought out. Doing regular rounds of the various shops has become part of that routine, and it has its purpose, too. Migi is constantly checking to see if anything has changed, to keep tabs on supplies and the whereabouts of the other mall residents.

Even now Shinichi is found with the familiar notepad in hand, letting his counterpart jot down at will, the quick scritches of pen against paper the only sound in the quiet area. He's taken to moving stealthily these days, adopting a much less clumsy walk than used on his first days here. No more running around panicking, either. Now he slips behind things and hesitates before moving forwards, and steps lightly -- which means he can accidentally sneak up on people even when he didn't mean to.

Indeed, when he hears the voice, it's definitely close enough to take him by surprise. He pauses, at first thinking it's directed at him, when he tilts his head around a corner and catches the woman who is speaking, into one of the radios. His own was left behind at his "campsite" this time, to free his hands for any potential supplies he may encounter.

Shinichi knows Catherine by association; he's made it a point to introduce himself to nearly everyone else in the mall by this point, not only because he's a painfully polite young man by nature, but also for the fact Migi wants to consistently take notes on everyone here, even just on people's surface behaviours. She's seemed quite pleasant to him, amiable, but there's something distinctly off about her. It could be dismissed as awkwardness -- and Awkwardness is his figurative middle name, so he gets that -- but after encountering a variety of oddities around this place, he supposes he is a little wary.

It doesn't stop him from still being polite. Even if the politeness comes after lingering long enough to eavesdrop on what she just said, process it a little, and then act. When did he start doing that? ]

Ms. Chun! [ His greeting is bright, left hand lifting in a wave. ]

I was just looking around and heard you over here. You're trying to make something that can help?

[arkproject]

[ Meanwhile, Catherine has given herself a goal and a project that will Contribute To the Group and has consequently spared little brainpower for silly things like socializing or remembering peoples' names. She has a hazy understanding of Shinichi as a polite Japanese teenage boy and that's about it.

(No surprise people think she's a little odd...)

Catherine looks blank but receptive on being greeted, lifting her hand too-quickly in return wave before lowering it. When he asks about her project, she relaxes, comfortable talking about that. ] Yeah, my real job is programming the A.I. for robots that assist with sustaining human life on the ocean floor, so making a robotic helper to scout for us isn't too far from that in principle. [ Her light tone fades into a grimace. ] The parts I have to work with, on the other hand... Not easy.

[kiseijuu]

[ While Shinichi may have some wariness, Migi on the other hand has found himself very drawn to Catherine. Human behaviour and all of its quirky nuances intrigue him greatly, but that isn't the only reason he finds himself keeping a closer eye on her than some of the others. She seems highly intelligent and efficient even from the sparse interactions Shinichi has had with her over the past weeks and simply from watching her from a distance.

The alien has recently decided that scouting some potential allies in this place is the next course of action. So when she replies, Migi perks up -- suddenly tense and alert, fingers twitching and very much startling Shinichi, who gasps... loudly.

...She isn't the only one who may come across as odd. But he can try to play that off as a reaction to her words, which admittedly are pretty surprising. ]

A robot? That's... that's... wow.

[ The spider that is his hand flinches almost aggressively, impatient. And Shinichi knows what that means. Migi wants more information -- because the knowledge that Catherine programs artificial intelligence in robots is no doubt starving his curiosity. The human can practically feel the alien snapping at him: 'That's... that's... wow' is hardly a useful statement, Shinichi. ]

Um-- what kind of robots did you program? I mean, what did they look like? Like androids?