Action Post, backdated to before leaving from space

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

[Echoing into the metal halls of the White Chalice, coming from a particular medical ward office, was piano music.]

[Loraine had managed to cram her stand up piano into her office, an endeavor that made it a good deal more cramped, but nevertheless she considered it an improvement.  If anything, the concessions to space she made (such as having a few stands of filing folders on top of the piano) bothered her more than the now narrow office.]

[As she played she went through other rag time songs, and between pieces wondered aloud little things, like...]

Hm, maybe I should just put the piano in front of the door~ How I'd like that.

[Or...]

... going to space. Does the ship have any kind of artificial gravity? I wonder if a piano will work in Zero G.

Comments

[saikyocivrobo]

[Werter passes down the corridor with Prometheus following. But the sound of music lures him in!]

The hammers fall on strings because of gravity, don't they? They won't work without it.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Makes me wish I had an electronic keyboard.

[saikyocivrobo]

Well, if White Chalice is capable of space travel then it probably has a gravity generator of some sort. Things floating around everywhere would make a huge mess on a ship this size.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Somehow that'd bother me less. Might be fun to catch things floating about.

For all of five minutes.

[saikyocivrobo]

I'll pass. My life is already full of trying to catch things. Or one thing, at least.

[A small white robot leaps out from its hideout and starts climbing the piano's side. And not doing a very good job at it.]

Speak of the devil.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Hey! Off! Don't scratch it! [Stops playing and makes abrupt 'shoo' motions]

1/2

[saikyocivrobo]

[The robot jumps off, startled! But instead of running away it keeps staring at her.]

2/2

[saikyocivrobo]

Gah, Prometheus! Must you cause havoc wherever you go? Don't answer that.

Sorry for this. He's curious about the music.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

... what is that thing?

[saikyocivrobo]

A robot I found on a trash heap. We made a contract - he can grow to a huge size and then I'm capable of piloting him. Beyond that, I don't know myself.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Never let it be said this place isn't full of wonder.

[saikyocivrobo]

[The robot points at the piano's keys and then stares at Loraine like a kid who's 10 cents short to buy a snocone from an ice cream truck.]

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

[She rolls her eyes and goes back to continuing the piece he interrupted in the first place]

[saikyocivrobo]

[The tiny robot jumps up and down in excitement.]

He's asking if you can let him play too. I'm not sure if that's a good idea.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Then the answer is no. [She says, voice sharp as a blade poised to defend her something precious]

[saikyocivrobo]

[The robot drops its shoulders and looks down in extreme sadness, like a young kid who just learned his beloved pet dog died. It turns around and starts to shuffle away slowly in defeat. If it could cry, it probably would.]

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

[Is totally fine with this. She will not give in to a guilt trip.]

[saikyocivrobo]

That was a pretty impressive show of willpower. Most people would let him.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Some things are wholly irreplaceable.

[saikyocivrobo]

No wonder. I'm not an expert on musical instruments, but even a layman can tell such pianos are rare and valuable. I'm kinda curious what sort of music would he produce, though.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Since he certainly doesn't know what he's doing?

Poor music.

[saikyocivrobo]

What about the romanticized in fiction and almost never true in real life notion of a complete newbie who tries something for the first time and is great at it because of his spirit?

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

You already said everything I might have had to.

[saikyocivrobo]

I experienced that personally, though. Though the "great" and "spirit" parts might be just in my head, in this one case.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Find another piano for him to gamble his spirits on.

[saikyocivrobo]

But can a robot even have a spirit? Assuming it's sentient.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

I'm a doctor, not a philosopher.

[saikyocivrobo]

Those two words meant the same thing a long time ago.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

I don't know about that, but I DO know they mean different things now, therefore.

[saikyocivrobo]

I know. That was just random useless trivia.

If Prometheus keeps demanding music, I guess I will construct something impromptu or buy him a cheap electronic keyboard. That's a much better thing to give him than a piano that's... How old is it anyway?

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

They're not exactly common, but if you're handy with electronic repairs you can probably take a couple broken keyboards and put together a working one.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Ah... it's about 30 years before the impact. Was my mother's.

[saikyocivrobo]

That's the problem, I'm not. I study chemistry, not engineering.

Well, well. I knew the piano is older than me, but didn't expect it to be one of the oldest things aboard. Except the captain.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

Chemistry, really? I work with it a fair deal myself.

Well, I'm sure that you could convince someone else to do you the service, one way or another.

[saikyocivrobo]

I'd imagine. Practicing medicine without chemistry would be pretty tricky.

Maybe Orlando could do that thing if asked... Assuming Prometheus stays interested. He'd like a kid and has almost nonexistant attention span.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

There was a day where it wasn't exactly strictly necessary, but now I have to pharmaceutical chemistry on demand.

In any case, I'm rather sure Orlando could do it for a price, and even if that thing lost interest I'm certain one more keyboard in the world would find some use somewhere.

[saikyocivrobo]

Oh yeah, that's right. For a price.

[Werter pats his pockets and pulls them out. They're empty.]

I think I'll have to ask the captain to start actually paying me.

[heliotropesmoke.livejournal.com]

You should do that.

[saikyocivrobo]

I should. Maybe I've been treating this vacation too much like a vacation.