2019-02-03 - TIMELINE 2: Positive Feedback
| Title: TIMELINE 2: Positive Feedback | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Niramo's duties as a magical girl is starting to impact her grades and a science project almost falls through the cracks! She hurries to get the project done from scratch the day before it's due and recieves help from a tutor from Infinity, a Setsuna Meioh. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Juuban Public Schools - Science Lab | |
| OOC - IC Date: 2/3/2019 - 4/22/2014 | |
.***************** Shitamachi Low City - Juuban Public School *****************.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Science Lab +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
The science lab is a particularly large classroom, with elevated counters
topped with chemical-resistant material. Large cabinets filled with various
beakers, tubes, and equipment line the walls, some locked to protect more
hazardous material. An oddly jovial-looking skeletal model hangs near the
doorway, and next to him is an orange-fauceted emergency shower. The windows
fold open vertically, and during good weather they tend to remain so,
offering plenty of fresh air.
No classes are based out of this room; instead it is used on a rotating
basis for laboratory sessions. After school, it plays host to the Juuban
Science Club, an unusually ambitious club whose interests range from using
chemistry to make new candies and perfumes, to amateur robotics, to genuine
scientific research.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
The timing of the upcoming science project could have been better. With the hunt for the Jewel Seeds winding down to a close, the fiasco of the Inaugurational Ball that Niramo was involved in, and the new Dance Club activities she's trying to adjust to, there has been little time for Niramo to focus on her schoolwork.
It's lucky for the Juuban student when Takk, exhausted as both of them were after coming back from the Garden of Time, decided to look through her school bag and come across the barely-started lab notes on her plan. That was important, but what was also important was the fact it was due at school very soon. "Oh. Niramo, wasn't this supposed to be done on Thursday?"
The life of a magical girl is not an easy one. There's always mundane or supernatural deadlines that like to sneak up on you!
That's why, while most other students were already on their way home once school let out, Niramo is in a science lab at Juuban and working away on her project. Trying to compile several day's worth of work into a few hours is going to be stressful no matter what, hence why the ravenette looks harried. And since all of the equipment she needed was at school, there's no way for Takk to assist her in private.
(Besides, Takk would see this as a prime teaching moment for Niramo to stop putting homework off. "You're starting to become nearly as bad as Marinette!")
A boy in the ninth year is exiting the lab after putting the finishing touches on a rather magnificiant multi-layer volcano display, leaving Niramo to be the last one in the lab now. Bits of wires, LED lights, thread, and a squeeze bottle of paint surround the centerpiece of the project on the workstation, a cotton glove.
There is some wires already sticking out of it around the wrist section, and Niramo was currently doublechecking some notes she hurriedly jotted down this morning. "Wait...was the lights supposed to go upwards or downwards with the current...?"
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (#-1)] has posed.
When Infinity's university physics department offered a sign-up sheet for tutoring science labs at the Sister Schools, transfer student and astrophysics prodigy Setsuna Meioh signed up immediately. It wasn't like her to sign up for such activities; the elegant, reclusive student did not often spend her precious time on electives.
But she had a vested personal interest in checking out Juuban, just as she had a vested professional interest in surveilling Infinity. The center of Sailor Pluto's universe walks these well-worn halls every schoolday. Given this opportunity, she would see what the school Small Lady attends is like.
"You have put together quite the display, young man," she offers from the lab table the boy just left behind, her voice low and warm, where she'd been offering some last minute advice. "Remember, slow deep breaths before your presentation."
In her crisp white labcoat with dark dress beneath and her wire-frame eyeglasses she looks the model scientist -- in that she looks like a scientist who could also be a model. Dark high cheekbones, and red-violet eyes of unusual depth give her a striking and almost otherworldly appearance.
Yet here she is, in this world, the Tokyo of Here and Now (or is it Here and Then?), helping Juuban students with their science projects. She has her reasons, but Setsuna finds she also simply enjoys the interaction with young minds.
Now Setsuna turns to the last remaining projecteer with a small smile, and adjusts her coat sleeves as she walks over. She must at least 180cm tall! And her evergreen hair must be nearly that long, yet it somehow never brushes the ground nor suffers a tangle...
"And how is your project coming along?" Interest sparkles in her eyes as she leans down to inspect Niramo's handiwork, then straightens up to regard Niramo herself. "Ah, electronics. What are you making?" Her head tilts, and she offers the same introduction she did when she opened the lab after class hours: "My name is Setsuna Meioh, and I am a university science student at Infinity. How may I call you?" She has a formal way of speaking, but it feels natural, not stiff, coming from her.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
The ninth year student is putting that advice to good use right now, taking in a deep breath before bowing his head towards the tutor from Infinity. "Hai, Meioh-san. The formula for the mixture you suggested is a touch a genius. Everything should go smoothly tomorrow now, and thank you again!" With a slight blush, he hurries from the room, though he appears to have left a small slip of paper next to his project behind.
Why he had left behind a handwritten note of just his home phone number could be explained a number of different ways...
Niramo's Juuban school uniform is a little ruffled from her work-focused mind, needless to say. Her red cardigan was resting on the back of a steel chair, leaving her white blouse and black skirt on public display. The shoulder-length black hair tickles the back of Niramo's neck, and her forest green eyes flicker back and forth between the design she made and the work in progress. There was a little exhaustion in her eyes, but it's easily covered by the smile on her lips, stressed as she was.
Not for the first time this evening, Niramo's mentally kicking herself for not working on this project when she had the chance. Saburai-san may not be science teacher for the middle schoolers, but he was going to be on the panel of judges and would likely use any excuse to discredit her work. He's always seemed to have a grudge with her for some unexplained reason, even if she could never prove it...
Jumping with a start, Niramo turns around hurriedly when Setsuna walks up to her from behind, caught up in her work. Of course the tutor was still here, even if she didn't want to bother her. Some illogical part of her mind said that it would be a show of weakness if she asked for help in this stage, even if she so needed it. Turning around, Niramo responds, meaning to give some excuse that all is well. "O-oh, yes, tutor-san. I just..."
Oh. Oooooh. She hadn't noticed when she hurried walked by the Infinity tutor before, but...she was -tall-. There had to be at least a 40 cm difference between the two, and Niramo had to crane her neck back just to look into those red-violet eyes. They were quite focused on her as well-oh, right!
Bowing her head in apology, Niramo makes a motion towards her handiwork. "W-well...it's...getting there? I never really built something with electornics before, but a friend of mine suggested I tried to expand my horizans beyond cooking. I...might have bitten off more than I could chew."
Setsuna Meioh is the aid from Infinity's name, and Niramo's face brightens slightly with the somewhat reserved yet cheerful nature. So much like an elegant, more taller Wakatsuki!...much, much taller. "I'm Niramo Umokeshi, and i'm in the eight year at Juuban. As for my project..." Niramo reaches over with her hand and starts to wiggle the gloves' fingers.
"What i'm trying to do is instale LED lights into the glove's fingers, and have them turn on and off depending on how you move them. I think I even figured out a way to make them change color based on how much pull is on the wires, but..." Here, Niramo pulls on the waistband of the glove, showing the battery and the wires installed inside. "I...think I might have messed up on the current? And the lights need to be installed based on which way the current is going to go..."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (#-1)] has posed.
In a single smooth motion Setsuna slides the boy's note from the lab table and glances down at it. An evergreen eyebrow lifts; with a small and bemused shake of her head, she folds and palms the slip of paper. "Well, Umokeshi-san, have my appreciation for your patience while I helped the others. That patience will serve you well in the sciences, so you are off to an excellent start." The Guardian of Time has an appreciation the quality.
The university student gives Niramo's glove a second look as the girl explains its purpose. "I see, so that is your current challenge," she comments with a sphinx-like smile. As an Outer Senshi, she only indulges in the very most sophisticated type of humor, of course.
"Your glove will be quite a sight. Let us think: what do we need to do here?"
She pulls out a drawer beneath the lab table and withdraws two pairs of rubber safety gloves, passing one to Niramo. "There are ways to determine the direction of this kind of current, if you are not sure. In the cabinet by your knees, you will find a small red meter with two cables which end in metal prongs."
It's right where she says, an oblong plastic gadget fitted with a digital readout and a dial. One cable is red, the other black.
"This is a voltmeter, quite useful. Safety first. Once you have your gloves on, touch the red probe to one end of your power wire and the black to another. If the meter reads positive, it flows from red to black." She gives the instructions, clear and simple, and walks around the lab table to watch from the other side of it.
On her way around she lets that palmed piece of paper flutter into the trash can on the other side, discreetly disposing of it. Setsuna Meioh was both amused and flattered, in a distant sort of way; Sailor Pluto has no intention of dating. She's here for a reason. Then the gloves go on, but she stays hands-off, letting Niramo give it a try.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Niramo's eyes widen slightly in surprise when she realizes when Setsuna mistook her reluctance to ask for help as patience and understanding. It's...not what she meant to do at all, but if the tall tutor doesn't actually mind helping... "I...thank you, Meioh-san. You were so kind an patient to help out others, and I didn't want to intrude while you were busy..."
It was close enough to the truth, so even her abysmal poker face can stand a chance here. Let here think the better of Niramo for it!
Thankfully, Niramo's time with two geniuses of technology, one human and one Kwami, has manage to let Niramo catch the humor almost instantly, and her smile looks a bit more relaxed for it. "Shocking revelation, I know, but at least i'm not trying to make a Volts-wagon."
Chat Noir and Serpentina might be enabling these puns.
It was only the screwdrivers and needles that Niramo thought she needed for this project, but Setsuna offers a crucial piece of safety gear, even if Niramo thinks it isn't needed. It was only a small watch battery, so the shock shouldn't be that bad!
The voltmeter is retrieved first, as this cabinet requires a bit of tugging to pull it open, and floppy bits of yellow rubber isn't the best way to get a grip. Slipping her hands into the gloves and trying to ignore the mental image of a child playing dress-up due to how oversized they were, Niramo takes the two colored wires out of their holders. Following the kind instructions, she holds the prongs onto two opposite ends of the battery, the answer to her dilemma is given easily enough and a heavy weight is loosen from her shoulders.
"Oh, that's good! According to the instructions, the result means it's going through the pinky finger portion of the glove first!" Disconnecting the battery first, Niramo is quick to start connecting the LEDs on the thumb section now that she knows the proper direction. The thread and needle is only needed to tie it down more securely, so not even her abysmal tailoring skills can mess this up!
Taking the time to write a quick note down in the notebook for something needed for the display, Niramo looks back up towards Setsuna. "Thanks again for your assistance, Meioh-san. You said you're an university student at Infinity Institute, right? If you know this much about electrical work, is that your degree...or is it engineering?" Neither seem to fit the green-haired beauty. With hair that long and her charming face, the tutor looks like she could be modeling her lab coat on a catwalk!
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (#-1)] has posed.
For better and for worse, Setsuna Meioh does tend to think the better of people; a woman of dark goals and a trusting heart. "I am here to help," she replies, with a calm surety. It is the truth in a great many ways, though here and now it can also simply apply to a science project. "It is no intrusion, and now I am not busy at all."
Perhaps she notices a bit of nervousness from Niramo, but she is too kind and mannered to mention it if so. She just allows those burgundy-painted lips of hers to twitch in appreciation for the return pun volley: a mild-seeming reaction, but she is not a demonstrative woman. Setsuna may as well have chuckled aloud.
"Safety is an important habit to be in, whenever you handle electronics," she intones. Setsuna Meioh is a careful person who takes responsibilities seriously, and Niramo is one of those, right now. "There we go... Yes, you have it. That is precisely the way. It takes very little pressure -- electricity is eager to make a connection." And they have an answer!
"Excellent work, Umokeshi-san. If you double over your stitch there, you can be more sure it will all hold together for a long day of use. It would be a shame for all this hard work of yours to go undone by a weak thread."
She points it out with a grey-lacquered fingernail. "Were you going to make a mate for it as well, for your other hand? Ah, not engineering," she responds. "I study in the physics department." There's a considering pause as Setsuna debates how specific to get, then goes for it. "Astrophysics, specifically. You could say that the more esoteric workings of the universe are my specialty."
A sphinx could not smile more subtly.
"And you, Umokeshi-san? Is this project representative of your mind's passions, or is it a badly -needed grade?" No judgement -- she's a student too, after all. "And how well does Juuban meet your needs?" She has a keen interest in how well this school is educating a certain pink-haired princess; in this, she's more like an anxious guardian than a fellow student.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
If there's any sort of nervousness that Niramo feels from this conversation, it's from the fact she might be judged by the Infinity student and not the inpending deadline. The Ball at Ohtori is still fresh in her mind, but the fact that there doesn't seem to be any rumors from that fiasco is only increasing Niramo's paranoia. But as time goes on, it seems to be all for not. There's only kind eyes and gentle words of encouragement, and being from Infinity is only helping Setsuna's case. Especially if she laughs at some bad puns!
Mild admonishment is taken in stride, and Niramo nods her head in agreement. "I'll try to keep that in mind. Wakatsuki-chan, a friend of mine, makes electronics like this herself, and she's always worried about static electricity. I think i'm starting to see this is a lot more difficult than I imagined..." Safety gloves is removed and set aside on top of the voltmeter for now.
There's so many things that can go wrong here, so a guiding hand is greatly appreciated.
Electricial and tailoring knowledge? Niramo's eyebrows raises up in surprise even as she tries to double down on the stiches, and the LED light fits more securely for it. "You know quite a bit, Meioh-san! Uh, no offense, but you didn't seem to be the type to take up needle and thread." With hair that long, Niramo could see herself mistaking a hair as a colorful thread and weaving her head into a glove.
The mention of a matching glove has Niramo's free hand rub at the back of her neck even has her face colors in embarrassment. "Uh...well, it's not needed, thankfully. I just need to have something to demostrate and show off. I...may have started on this project at the last minute, but not that I was being lazy!" (Being lazy was part of it.) "I been helping some friends with projects of their own, and I let my own project get behind of it."
Not lying, but it seems odd to call collecting the Jewel Seeds a project.
The question marks can almost be seen popping above the ravenette's head as she puzzles this field of science. "Astrophysics? So...like a rocket scientist? No...oh, it's the study of the stars, like being on the search for new planets, right?" That sounds more like it, and Setsuna doesn't seem the type to write things out on massive blackboards.
It's a half-hearted shrug that answers that final question before Niramo speaks. "It's for a grade. I'm much better at cooking, and I been going beyond just making sweets and pastries, but...i'm not quite sure what I want to study yet. High school still seems so far away, and when I try to think on what I want to do for a living...well, I just draw a blank."
Marinette already knows exactly what she wants to do with her life. Niramo just needs to find a passion to carry her forward. If only it wasn't so hard to find...
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Meioh [Infinity Institute (#-1)] has posed.
"A stray bit of static can ruin much, to be sure. That is wise of her. It may be difficult, but if you take your time... well, patience pays off." It seems the university student is a great believer in patience as a virtue. She's warming to this tutoring task, too, though she'd hesitate to admit it.
Niramo comments that she knows a lot, that the sewing expertise is unexpected. At first Setsuna simply returns, "And you are a very quick learner, Umokeshi-san. Give it some time and effort, and all the world's knowledge awaits you. As for the rest..." She tilts her head, but does not seem offended, just thoughtful.
"If I have learned anything it is that a person is a collection of surprises and secrets. It is no secret, though, that I enjoy the high art of fashion." Don't ask how much that black dress beneath her lab coat costs; if you have to ask, so the saying goes... The fabric has an understated luxe look, and the cut anticipates next season's trends.
"You did some very creative work quickly, then." The older student assesses Niramo's stammering about her last minute work kindly. "Just remember to take care of your own work while you are being so generous with your time. Time is a precious commodity. Once spent, we cannot easily get it back."
There's something somber about the young woman, then, some ineffable aura as she looks into the middle distance beyond the lab's walls -- or perhaps the sadness was always there and simply surfaces for a moment. Then she blinks, and she is present again and listening.
"Indeed, astrophysics covers that and more. Ah, well, grades are important!" She is emphatic on this point. "When you do find what you are meant to do, you will have them to back you up. You are young. Time may be precious, but you have a great deal of it." If the world does not end, she does not say. That goes unspoken quite a bit, though she thinks it every time. "Why don't you turn it on, and we can see the results of your hard work?"
With a slight and expectant smile, Setsuna laces her fingers upon the lab table and waits to see.
