Your Recent Adaptation

[Samantha McManus]

"So I guess Miss Allaire is for all the messy human things, aye?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"That..." She interrupts herself as she finds she has to clear her throat. "That sounds about right, yes. She's been filling in... erhm... for my shortcomings in terms of regular people. There's quite a lot I've been missing." she says and suddenly finds herself cursing the new awareness of her body. Increased bloodflow, temperature fluctuations, elevated heart-rate. Things she previously would have been blissfully unaware of but now only seem to exacerbate the issue.

[Samantha McManus]

"You don't have to be embarrassed, everybody's got blind spots they need help with."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Oh I know. And really, there's only so much I can handle myself at a time."

[Samantha McManus]

"And I know Will's good at office work but that's not everything you need."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"This is more PR work." she nods. "And... I expect the pushback to be underhanded and cut-throat."

[Samantha McManus]

"Oh, is Miss Allaire good at that too?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"At dealing with it out of necessity, at any rate."

[Samantha McManus]

"I mean, whether she sought it out or just had to learn to deal with it, that's a good person to have in your corner."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Yes. Especially when I can't always put as much attention as I'd like into things."

[Samantha McManus]

"Then again, it might not hurt if you got out a bit. Let people in Mutant Town see you're not afraid to mingle."

"I mean, maybe not get into bar fights or anything, but that messy human stuff comes with practice."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"I do, when I can. Granted it's usually not to just... mingle and more to work on one project or another, but one of them is the community gardens."

[Samantha McManus]

"Well I'm just saying, being all business is part of the problem, aye?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Are you seriously telling me I need to get out more?" she asks, quirking an amused eyebrow.

[Samantha McManus]

"You did just tell me there's quite a lot you've been missing."

[Ashlie Minamida]

She lets out a brief laugh. "True. I was thinking in terms of the reality of those living in Mutant Town versus the University, but that's because I see it as an obstacle, a problem to be solved."

[Samantha McManus]

"Hard to break out of that mindset sometimes, aye?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"I suppose you'd call it 'driven' but I've never really had to search for a purpose. Sure, I disagreed with what I was made for and my focus and priorities change but humans always seem to have a part of them that simply... meanders. Doing things for the sake of doing them and figuring out if it meant anything later. My mind doesn't work that way. I have to emulate it, a whole sub-routine to mimic creative thinking by introducing noise to a deterministic system."

"This body might have given me more of that but that doesn't make it any easier to process."

[Samantha McManus]

"An adaptive algorithm still needs more inputs to handle an emergent phenomenon," she says with a smug smile.

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Doesn't help if I lack the protocols to parse---Fucking hell!" she interrupts herself with exasperated amusement that turns into a genuine laugh. "Extra-dimensional quantum-fields should not have a sense of irony."

[Samantha McManus]

"Might have to get used to that if you're going to make a habit of hanging out with telepathic redheads," she chuckles.

"What's the school motto? Everything changes?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"With things changed that should be changed." she can't help but correct. "So essentially, yes. And it is apt, even if it currently undermines my personal integrity." she smirks ever so slightly.

[Samantha McManus]

"What you were already pales to what you're becoming."

"Want to go check on Miriam and the cauldron?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Just this once I will let you get away with sounding like you are twice my age." she says and nods to head towards the brewing-in-process.

[Samantha McManus]

"Ah, license for mythological fuckery. I'll savor it."

She grins and makes her way back over.