Wacky Deli (IC)

[Moira Morley]

Pete's Deli was a family owned business. Pete's father Pete owned it before him and his grandfather Pete before him. If Pete ever had a kid, he would name it Pete and pass on the the deli to him. But Pete was not as lucky as his father with the ladies. Pete lived and breathed the deli, with little time for anything else. Pete always opened a good time before the lunch rush and to those who came early he gave deals. No one beat Pete's deals.

Today Moira wanted something from the deli. It'd been a long time since she had been to a deli and she was in Riverside when the before the rush. Luckily she happened to be in the vicinity of Pete's deli! She was the first customer of the day and boy did Pete have his work cut out for him. Bacon, roast beef, salami, pastrami, pepperoni, ham, and all the dressings on a toasted roll. Certainly Pete had never made such a loaded sandwich before! In honor of such occasion, Moira got the sandwich for free. Moira thanked Pete for the free sandwich and went to a table to wait on it. It was kinda quiet in here, but she figured it'd fill up later.

[Fox]

There was a curious contrast between the motorcycle that pulled up outside and its rider: the machine was obviously well cared-for, sleek and grey with an engine that purred and a body almost perfectly scratchless. The girl on the other hand looked somewhat the worse for wear, like she hadn't slept in days...which was appropriate, since she hadn't. Her clothes were at least comfortable if not terribly fashionable: an old pair of jeans, a t-shirt with a logo faded to illegibility, an equally-worn jacket, and a satchel that could charitably be described as 'loyal', and less charitably be described as 'weather-beaten'.

Mara gave Pete a wave as she entered the deli, brushing a dirty blond lock out of her face as she gave him her order - "Wheat, turkey, this, that, that, none of that this time please. Maybe pickle, this time? Thank you." - before leaning back against a chair and rubbing an eye. too long in the workshop - so close - need parts need time need coffee - really need coffee - need to acquire more mannequins - think I've destroyed latest batch

[Moira Morley]

Moira heard a familiar voice. Dragonfly? Was that the girl from the auditions? The violin player? It was, wasn't it? Moira remembered how beautifully she played. It looked like she was out of costume. Maybe her hunch was wrong. Though there was only one way to find out. Though she wasn't going to be obvious. She went over to where the girl was sitting and had a seat in a chair next to her. "[divine]Hey, how's it goin,[/divine]" she said with a smile, "[divine]I'm new to this deli and I was wondering how the sandwiches were here.[/divine]"

[Fox]

Mara blinked a little tiredly and nodded to the woman, covering a yawn with the back of her hand. "Hello. It's...um." She snapped her fingers, trying to get her tired brain into gear. "...Divine? Yes. Divine. Sandwiches are very good...come by once a week. Twice a week. Simple food, good food. Large portions. Good prices."

Somewhere in the back of her mind, an itching little thought was growing. something wrong - a mistake? - missed something - what - something I did do should have done shouldn't have done?

[Moira Morley]

"[divine]Ah, I see you know my work,[/divine]" Moira laughed lightly. She pondered if it was the girl knowing her from the media or Dragonfly was actually giving her a subtle nod to their time at the auditions. Maybe she could play it out. No twenty questions style interview, but hey, it killed time until the sandwich came. Boy did that meat smell tasty. "[divine]You have my name, but I do not have yours.[/divine]" She winked, "[divine]Perhaps we could even the playing field a bit.[/divine]"

[Fox]

Something about this whole conversation was making that thought itch and itch, but she couldn't quite put her finger on the problem. "Mara," she replied off-handedly, and shook her head. The thought hadn't liked that much, somehow. "Don't know your work. Sorry. Don't watch much news, only sometimes read papers...remembered you from auditions." The thought didn't like that at all, for some reason; she tilted her head, trying to figure out what the problem was while she talked. "Had a good voice. You did, I mean. Don't think I could have been that...out....going?"

Very slowly she turned her head to meet Divine's gaze, eyes a little wide, if still very tired. was in costume - went by codename - what did I just say

She sighed, and put a hand over her face to hide the blush. very smooth - very very smooth

[Moira Morley]

Moira grinned and greeted Mara with a hug as she facepalmed, "[divine]Oh it's OK. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. It's like a superhero code or something. No one is supposed to know you if you don't want them too.[/divine]" She sighed happily and let go of her, "[divine]Well, is this not fortuitous? What are you up to today?[/divine]" Moira had nothing to do and spending time making a new friend wouldn't hurt at all. Well, if Mara didn't mind.

[Fox]

Mara froze up a little when hugged, but somehow managed to collect herself enough to take her hand away from her face. "Th...thank you. Appreciate it. Need to not attract attention...usually smarter than that. More tired than I thought?"

She dug around in her bag, coming up with a few old-looking parts - old-school vacuum tubes, newer-looking wire, some metal plating. "I was part-hunting. Good finds in the small shops...always need spare parts. New parts." last batch exploded - had to pick glass out of warehouse roof - don't mention that "Got hungry...was near the deli. You? Deli isn't...." She frowned, grasping for a word, and finally gestured at Moira. "....up-scale?"

[Moira Morley]

Moira chuckled, "[divine]Upscale? Honey, I was born and raised in the West End. I own a pub there that's been in my family for generations.[/divine]" She smiled warmly, "[divine]Sure, sometimes I have upscale tastes and it's not hard to get it either. But I am part of the common folk.[/divine]" She looked over to the counter, Pete was working diligently on the super sandwich. She then looked back to Mara, "[divine]I just happened to be having a craving for meat at the moment.[/divine]" She looked at all the parts strewn around, "[divine]So, what are you planning there?[/divine]"

[Fox]

Moira chuckled, "[divine]Upscale? Honey, I was born and raised in the West End. I own a pub there that's been in my family for generations.[/divine]" She smiled warmly, "[divine]Sure, sometimes I have upscale tastes and it's not hard to get it either. But I am part of the common folk.[/divine]" She looked over to the counter, Pete was working diligently on the super sandwich.

Mara grimaced. "S..sorry." bad assumptions? - glamorous thought - assumed - need to do that less - should look into pub - would get arrested - put on to-do list

She then looked back to Mara, "[divine]I just happened to be having a craving for meat at the moment.[/divine]" She looked at all the parts strewn around, "[divine]So, what are you planning there?[/divine]"

Glad for the distraction, the young woman brightened and dug out a couple more parts, holding them up and eyeing them. "Improvements. Warp engine's functional but hard on parts. Slowly bringing wear and tear down...finding that older pieces are sometimes better. Vacuum tubes surprisingly useful for processing and containment once altered - easier to buy old versions and alter than manufacture from scratch. Floor space limited, and proper glass-forging machinery is large. 'Don't make them like they used to,' fitting. Scrap metal, always useful...heavy plating to reduce warping. Easy to keep hands protected from fields, but metal, not so much; thin plating or layered twists after two, three weeks of use. Solids are best, high density. Eventually hope to calibrate the warp engines well enough to not worry about it anymore. For now, I have to do with what I have. The theory involved is fascinating, but I have to tread lightly." She was picking up speed, now, idly sketching what were probably parts of equations in the air with a part, as if she was using chalk on a chalkboard. "I have to be very careful to not punch holes in the fabric of space - unless I want to - or weaken the underlying gridwork - not really gridwork, you know, but the idea's a decent abstraction; that just invites bad things to visit. Security system is good, but not that good. Need to upgrade that, soon, too - lots to do, a big list. I'll get around to it all eventually. Don't sleep much, that helps. Hinders, too. Helps. Had a great inspiration the other day for boosting the power source on my warp engines - very proud of that. Little entropy drivers. Efficient, but don't scale up well. Expensive to build, could maybe power a building at best before the bubble - not a bubble, really, abstractions, bubbles are spheres and this is at least two extra dimensions - gets too big and pops. Collapses. Not violent, but destabilization kills the power. Working on that, too. Some ideas, nothing surviving testing...." She tapped the little tube against her chin, other arm crossed, thinking. "Need better parts for some ideas. Strong AI would simplify the process greatly, but loyal strong AI would take forever to write, even at my speed. Have a framework, but not the processing power...not free, anyway. Would help to have a working example, but very few people share their methods. Small joke. It's true, though, if understandable. They're complex things, easily abused. By fools, but still abused. A good machine - even an AI - deserves respect; attention. You can't just--"

She cut off, glancing back up as she, once again, realized where she was. The look on her face was somewhere between aghast and bashful. "....I...that is. S-sorry. Get carried away." sleep - or coffee - sleep and coffee.... "S...so. Meat?"