2013.07.27 - ...Though I walk through the valley of access denied...

It's late in the day, and the Academy of Tommorow's bustling with the activity of students and Academy staff. The sound of foots and chatter is, while subdued to a controlled volume within the halls, so prevalent that it's difficult to ignore. Yet, most of those who've been around a while seem to have become adapt at it... some of them walking around or sitting and focusing on personal affairs whilst paying absolutely no mind to the ambient noise.

Molly Hayes was not one of those students. Head turning every which way but up, the fourteen year old brunette wearing standard Academy uniform seems almost too distracted to move. She'd been here a whole day thus far, and yet, this place... was still sensory overload to her. "...So many people... more than I'd have imagined..."

With a book tucked beneath her arm, the girl stands quietly by a locker nearest the hallway on the east side. Her emerald green eyes peering at passersby, seeming to focus a lot more intently on one guy in particular as he passes... before eventually looking away again...

Some are stunned by the activity and design of the place, and others seem focused. Incredibly focused. Focused on one particular object, to the exclusion, it would appear, of every single other thing. Case in point, a young, rather thin boy wearing the school uniform, with the addition of a gray fedora, his lengthy hair worn in a ponytail. The boy came walking down the hall a few moments ago, and spotted Molly. And now, he's staring at her. Not in any kind of shocked or interested way...just kind of this extended, dull stare, not unlike a security camera in a store. Just focused in that direction. As part of this, he happens to have stopped dead in the middle of the moving crowd of people, forcing folks to move around him awkwardly, which is earning him some very unfriendly looks.

Molly's eyes track around the lobby, quietly, once more and then back again slowly. Her eyelashes bat somewhat rapidly, a mix of excitement and typically female blink rate. It's quite a contrast to the unblinking gaze of the boy who has just stopped to stare at her, a boy she is unaware of until her eyes pass back the way they came...

...And green meets blue.

It's Molly's turn to stare quietly now, leaning forward just a bit with curiosity, lips pressing together slightly as she ponders over /why/ exactly he's staring. ... And then, finally, she just comes right out and asks, "...Do I... have something on my face?"

"Query: Do I have something on my face?" the boy parrots, his speech slow, even, and nearly monotone. "Answer: Affirmative. Substance on face, close proximity to mouth. High probability that substance is condiment designated 'mustard'." All this without the slightest change of expression. "Information required: Subject focused on passing entity in recent moments. Identify entity and explain importance."

Molly blinks, twice, very slowly this time as she observes the younger boy's peculiar behavior. There's a long pause before she replies, eyes narrowing momentarily ... and then widening again. "...You sound like a robot. Are you a robot...?" And then, she realizes she left her manners behind again and answers his 'imperative'. But not before wiping the mustard from her face and sucking it off her thumb, ...

"...Uh... entity? ..." She turns her head to glance at the guy she looked at a while ago, who was now standing near a water fountain, and then back at the peculiar younger one before her. "...he's a boy?" Her face flushes slightly. "...Not really important though." That was almost certainly a lie.

"Unless you meant me? I'm Molly Hayes, and I am a new student. Who are you...?"

Fortunately, the youth questioning her doesn't appear all that adept at detecting lies--or maybe he just lacks the capacity to care about her embarassment. "Understood." A pause, and he looks up as yet another student is forced to dodge around him and gives him a dirty look, and...he stays right there. He turns his attention back to Molly. "Query: Are you a robot? Answer: Negative. This one is biological. Term 'robot' does not ordinarily apply in this case. Query: Who are you? Answer: Unit identification Yeweseisisel. Current language usage: English. English translation: One-Hundred and Fifty-Seven. This one will also respond to variants. Examples: One-Hundred Fifty Seven. One-Five-Seven. Hundred-Fifty-Seven. This unit will also respond to identifications 'kid', 'kiddo', 'young man', 'sweetie', and 'hun'."

Molly's eyebrows raise at the protracted, mechanical, monologue. Robot or no, it's pretty obvious even to the usually dense Molly this one isn't human. "...Oh... okay. Hello One-Five-Seven..." She waves, slowly, with one hand in a dull manner marked by remnants of mild confusion. "...How are you...?"

Sometime midst conversation, Molly finally snaps out of her focus long enough to notice people are giving the 'kid' dirty stares. She furrows her brows a bit at them, eyeing a few of them, before leaning over a touch and motioning toward the mostly empty hallway she's standing in. "Why don't you come over here?"

Whether he responds to that or not, Molly straightens... fishing in a brown satchel slung over her shoulder for something. "...Where did I put it...?"

"Query: How are you? Answer: This one has sustained cosmetic damage on left forearm resulting from collision and fall. This one has received treatment for damage. This one is in acceptable condition. Query: Why don't you come over here? Answer: It was not necessary for this one to move to position of subject 'Molly Hayes'." Nevertheless, 157 seems to actually get the /idea/ there, which was that yes, he should move over where she's standing. He walks over to join her, slowly, in no greater hurry about walking than he is about talking. Another student or two nearly runs into him in the process, but fortunately everyone's paying decent attention to short kids today. "Query: Where did I put it? Answer unavailable. This one does not have knowledge of object or of previous movements of subject 'Molly Hayes'. Information required: Identify missing object and importance to subject 'Molly Hayes'."

Emerald green eyes dart toward the boy as he comes walking over, robotically responding to the question she'd asked herself. But she doesn't say anything for the time being, continuing to dig in her satchel for -something-. And after a few more students pass by them, and the volume of chatter begins to slowly decrease as people leave, she pulls something from the satchel. Two things, actually: a black hat with likeness matching that of a cat, and a bag of skittles.

Tugging the hat down onto her head firmly, Molly smiles... and does a cheerful little dance in place. "...Dress codes are so stuffy, don't you think?" This time, she's asking him. As though he'd answer likes she expects him to, which he probably won't!

Having done that, she turns, leaning low again as she tears the top off the bag of skittles and cocks her head slightly, "...Do you... want some candy?" She's offering, but it's obvious that she's beginning to figure out... 'this one' is a little different!

157 watches this display with the same blank expression he's worn the entire time. "Query: Dress codes are so stuffy, don't you think? Answer: It is not necessary for this one to form an opinion regarding dress codes." Though one would note that the fedora he's wearing probably isn't really part of the dress code. He slowly looks down at the bag of skittles, and then up at her again. "Query: Do you want some candy? Answer: It is not necessary for this one to want. Secondary answer: This one is to study planet designated 'Earth'. Energy sources of planet designated 'Earth' is an observation target. This one will take sample of energy source designated 'candy.'" He raises a hand and extends it straight out, palm up.

The girl blinks again. 'Energy Source'?, her expression seems to say as she eyes the bag of candy clutched in her hand. But it doesn't take too long for her to 'get it' either, the girl holding the package out and tapping it with a finger until a few of the candies fall out into his awaiting hand. She smiles, cheerily, adding, "Okay! If you want more, let me know.", and then taking a few herself...

...After thoroughly chewing and swallowing the candy, and visibly enjoying it, she finally says again, "...So, how did you... um ... get here?" She really means 'how did you arrive at this school', but the question is left rather vague and open-ended...

157 lets the candies fall into his hand, motionlessly, and then slowly picks one up with his other hand, inspecting it for several moments before he pops it into his mouth. Chew. Chew. Chew. Chew. Chew. This goes on for quite a while, before he finally swallows. "Query: How did you get here? Possible meaning: How did you travel to present location within Academy of Tomorrow? Answer: This one walked. Possible meaning: How did you travel to planet designated 'Earth?" Answer: This one utilized space-time manipulation to connect planet designated 'Earth' with access denied. Following connection, this one walked." And he puts another piece of candy in his mouth, chewing and swallowing as mechanically and slowly as before.

"...Access denied?" Confusion mars her features once more, one eye visibly closes and her brows furrow momentarily as finger tips scratch softly at the side of her face. "...Oookay. ... Well Yahweh, er, Yehwe... Yess... uh..." She visibly struggles, inside her head brain cells are probably misfiring. "...One-Five-Seven. I've had fun talking to you for a bit! I hope you enjoy the candy!" And she reaches out and drops a few more in his hand before she goes, giggling softly to herself.

Having done that, she stands to her full height again and tucks the bag away inside her satchel... right next to the book she had earlier. "It was nice to meet you, I hope we see each other again! I have to get home now before my gramma has a cow." And she gives him time to respond before leaving, but immediately afterward she offers a wave... and walks off toward the Academy doorway.

"Query: Access denied? Answer: Affirmative." Why no, he's not going to explain it, evidently. 157 simply waits while she struggles with his name, not offering any assitance. "Statement: I hope you enjoy the candy. Notification: It is not necessary for this one to 'enjoy'." As she packs up, he simply watches, eating another piece of candy in the meantime. At her farewell, he...does nothing at all, simply watching her go and eating another piece of candy. That done and swallowed, he finally speaks once more. "Statement: ...before my gramma has a cow. Statement not understood. Investigation necessary. Low priority." That said, he starts his own walk down the hall towards the dorms, moving as slowly as ever. At least the halls are mostly clear now, so he's not getting in the way. Much.