Back on the islands

[schachmeister]

Who: Armin Arlert & ???
Where: Island four, Attack on Voltron house, Marine research centre
When: Backdated a bit to stretch from the last week of July to the end of August
Summary: After two months of Scavenger Hunting, Armin has returned home. Various open prompts inside, closed prompts in the comments.
Rating: Gen.
Log:

[a. the marine center]

[What is a trip to the Sevii islands without a dive down to the reef? Whether you want to go there to enjoy the sights, try and find a new water pokemon to add to your collection or you'd like to learn more about the pokemon living on the reef, the Marine Research Center is there for you. Not only can you rent diving gear and a friendly Wailmer there to take you down, any water pokemon related questions can surely be answered by the employees.

The center itself is pretty small and cosy looking, a large cheery sign inviting you in for equipment and Wailmer rentals. Inside, the walls are covered with bright posters of various Water pokemon and pictures of the reef. A pamphlet stand stands next to a small counter, as well as a rack of small souvenirs. Hey, who doesn't want a keychain to remember diving in the Sevii Islands? A blond is shuffling around the room --It's ya boy, Armin-- straightening and refilling various informational pamphlets. A badge on a lanyard identifies him as an employee of the center, and when he notices you, he stops with what he is doing.]

Welcome.


--


[b. the beach]

[Armin had plenty of fun the last two months travelling and seeing parts of both Johto and Kanto. He didn't manage to find everybody on the list, but that's all right. What he did miss though is, well, this. The island. The Beach.

Finding Armin on the beach is easier than finding a zubat in a cave. You might find him reading a book (or two, three). He might be there training a few of his pokemon or he might just be having fun, playing with them in the surf. Either way, if you want to run into Armin, or perhaps, challenge him for a battle, the beach is the place to go.]


--


[c. the house]

[If at any point you walk into the kitchen, you might be treated to an interesting sight. It's the sight of Armin, slightly hunched over, his brows furrowed, as he works really really hard on figuring something out. No, he isn't trying to get through a thick and complex book. Nor is he trying to figure out the logistics of breeding his Lapras pod without turning it into the Habsburgs part II, return of the chin.

No, Armin is frowning, glancing from a book --some sort of instruction manual with a large Porygon on the front-- to... a laptop.

Before he had left to travel, the people at the research center had told him that it was possible for him to start taking online classes if he wanted once he got back. All he would need was a laptop. So, when he had been gearing up to return home, Armin had made a last stop in Goldenrod City and bought himself a laptop with the money he had been saving up.

But it turns out just owning a laptop doesn't mean you actually know how to use it. Especially not for someone who, until two years ago, didn't even know what electricity was.

And if that isn't enough, there is a Meowth sitting on the kitchen table, 'helping'. Because parking her butt on Armin's instructional manual while his eyes are on the screen, or trying to walk across the keyboard when Armin shoos her off the book, or batting at his hand when he actually tries typing is definitely helping. Luna is the very best helper, yes she is.]

Luna, don’t.

[Come save him? Or maybe help him out?]


--


[d. the ditto]

[Picture this: it’s early in the morning. Or maybe afternoon. Or it could be night. It could happen to you at any time. It could happen to you in the kitchen, it could happen to you in the bathroom. It might even happen to you in the living room. Wherever you are, whatever time it may be, you might find that that object you just picked up —-be it your coffee cup, the remote control, the toilet paper roll— suddenly turns squishy and malleable in your hands. Also, it has a face. And is a Ditto.

Congrats. You’ve just met Armin’s newest team member.

Please don’t wipe your ass with him.]


--


[e. July 30th]

[On July 30th, Armin can be found on the beach. This is not particularly unusual, but he isn't there alone. He has shooed away all the rest of his pokemon --except his Poliwag who seemed very interested and in sitting on his lap-- and a little ways away from him, nestled on the warm sand, lays a pokemon egg. And not just any kind of egg. It's got a few large cracks running along its shell, and occasionally it twitches and vibrates. It's an egg ready to hatch, and knowing what it will hatch into, Armin took it outside. After all, nobody wants a Lapras hatching on their lap.

Armin's come prepared. He's got a backpack with some food and water --who knows how long it will take, after all-- and he's got a journal laying open and ready to record a few more things. This will be the first Lapras he'll add to the pod, the first one he's hatched himself, and he's trying very hard to do it exactly right. Feel free to come across him. Maybe he won't mind sharing this moment.]


--


[Anything else? Wildcard me.]

Comments

[schachmeister]

No, it's all right. I think she was just curious.

[Armin did put a whole new object on the table, one she had never seen before. Curiosity was just to be expected. She was a cat, after all.]

And it is not like she broke anything.

[shiro2hero]

Cats do have a weird fixation on computers...

[And climbing. Did we mention the climbing? Because now she's ascending to Shiro's shoulder like he's a walking cat tree. While he approaches Armin's workstation in his own brand of curiosity.]

When did you get that?

[schachmeister]

Do they?

[Nobody told Armin. They really should put a warning sticker on these things: 'beware, may attract cats'. Really, Armin should be glad it was Luna investigating the keyboard and not one of the muscle cats.]

I bought it in Goldenrod City right before heading back here. [He glances up at Shiro.] The people at the research center told me they could help me get into some online classes if I wanted.

[shiro2hero]

They do. I don't know why. Maybe it's the warmth.

[Or the mind-reading cats. Or even Torracat. Who's already a lot bigger than Luna. She kneads at Shiro's shoulder, looking content with her life.]

Oh yeah? Which classes are you taking? [Can he just. Lean on the table, to look it over?]

[schachmeister]

[Why do we have so many cats here.]

I haven't decided yet. I'm going to ask what is best when I go back to work. [He glances at the computer, a little forlorn.] If I can figure out how this machine works before then, that is.

[shiro2hero]

[This is a house of cat people, Armin, that's why.]

That's probably for the best. They'd know better there, after all. [His turn to look at the computer, then at Armin.] What exactly are you having a problem with?

[schachmeister]

[People compliment them on the nice carpet, but nope. It's just shed cat hair.

Armin eyes the laptop for a moment.]

... everything?

It's just that-- [His brows furrow. He doesn't like not understanding things!] I've been trying to read the book, but there are so many different new terms and I think they expect me to know more about the very basics than I do.

[shiro2hero]

[They really need a roomba for this place.]

Ah... right.

[As long as they've been here, it's sort of easy to forget where these kids came from. That things everyone he knows can do in their sleep aren't universal. So... he pulls a chair out, plunks himself down.]

You can turn it on, right? That's the most basic thing I can think of.

[Hopefully they won't end up needing a Holt for this...]

[schachmeister]

[They are maybe going to need a Holt for this. Or at the very least, they are going to need a Holt or two to design a Roomba that can actually handle the amount of cat hair in this place.]

Yes. It's this button here, right? [Armin points at the on button.] The man at the store explained that much to me. He also recommended this guide.

[But the store dude probably thought Armin was just an ordinary teen, and not someone from a place where they don't even have indoor plumbling,]

[shiro2hero]

[He'll get Pidge on it. Give her something to do so she doesn't rewire the entire house or make a robotic Rowlett.]

That one, yep. [Which puts Armin at a level above a lot of people, already.] Did you try starting it up and just -- clicking around? Seeing what you could do on your own?

[Besides, if Armin ended up making some grave processor mistake, he's fairly sure Pidge or Matt could fix it, easy.]

[schachmeister]

[But who will keep Pidge from making a Roomba that is also a death robot?

He shakes his head at that.]

I didn't. I was worried I might accidentally break something.

[Armin is so new to computers, it feels to him that just one wrong click will make it explode. He'll need some more experience to realise just how robust (and fixable) computers are.]

[shiro2hero]

[No one -- maybe Matt should work on the roomba.]

All right. Then that's step one. We turn it on, and let you tinker with it.

[He sets a hand on Armin's shoulder. Squeezing briefly.] Don't worry. We've got both Holt siblings here now. There's nothing you can do to this thing at least one of them can't fix.

[schachmeister]

[The squeeze is comforting, at least.]

They are really that good then?

[Shiro has been very clear that Matt and Pidge are both masters of technology and Armin absolutely believes him. He just hasn't had a lot of examples of it yet.]

All right. Here it goes.

[let's just push the on button and watch the laptop come to life with a soft chime.]

[shiro2hero]

They're incredible. They might not have a lot of chances here, but this is definitely something they can handle, easy.

[It's a laptop, not a Galra network. There's absolutely no way they can't fix anything Armin might accidentally do.]

First step, accomplished.

[One more shoulder squeeze.] Just let it start up and then... see what you can find.

[schachmeister]

[The screen brightens and goes into a set-up screen with a large welcome. This is only the first time Armin is using it, after all. It's gonna need some setting up.

Which has Armin glancing up at Shiro for some guidance. You are the expert here now.]

[shiro2hero]

Okay... that's good.

Now you type in your name. And it might ask you to password protect it.

[This is banking on Armin being a good typist by now, thanks to the 'gear.]

[schachmeister]

[Armin is a... decent typist. He's fairly good at typing without errors, he just... types like a grandpa. Hunt and peck, hunt and peck.

He fills in his name, then eyes the password prompt.]

Can I use anything for a password?

[shiro2hero]

[Okay well... that's not bad. Actually. There's definitely been worse.]

Yeah, you can. Long as you're going to remember it later.

[schachmeister]

[Armin's got a good memory, but this sounds very important.]

Should I write it down somewhere?

[He's got like twelve notebooks at this point, it's cool.]

[shiro2hero]

You can, yeah. There's usually password recovery options too if you forget.

But I don't think anyone's going to be going into your notebooks... so go ahead.

[Why would anyone want to break into Armin's computer anyways.]

[schachmeister]

[Armin thinks for a moment, before inputting his password: his grandfather's name. He doubts he'll forget that.

and you never know. They might be after his stash of Wailord pictures.

With username and password chosen, the computer moves onto the next option of possibly retrieving data from a back-up.]

What do they mean by back-up in this case?

[shiro2hero]

Mm... it means make a copy, basically. In case something happens to the way this computer stores its data.

I don't know if we have a back-up drive anywhere, though.

[schachmeister]

That makes sense.

[And is actually a pretty good idea. Armin will have to look into this when he... actually has some data worth storing.]

Well, I never had a laptop before, so I can skip this question, right?

[shiro2hero]

Yeah, you can. For now anyway. You can always back up your data later on.

[Heck, later on, Pidge might know exactly where to find a spare hard drive.]

[schachmeister]

[Pidge could probably put him together a server array like this world has never seen. Before breakfast.

Armin clicks past the back-up message, then a few other ones, and with another soft ding, the desk top loads.]

Is it... is it ready to be used now?