ArchivedLogs:Quite Unique

Quite Unique
Dramatis Personae Flicker, Mai	2016-12-27 "Don't have any exciting adventures like you do for sure."
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Spacious and open, this coffeeshop has a somewhat industrial feel to it, grey resin floors below and exposed-beam ceilings that have been painted up in a dancing swirl of abstract whorls and starbursts, a riot of colour splashed against a white background. The walls alternate between brick and cheerfully lime-green painted wood that extends to the paneling beneath the brushed-steel countertops. There's an abundance of light, though rather than windows (which are scarce) it comes from plentiful hanging steel lamps. The walls here are home to artwork available for sale; though the roster of prints and paintings and drawings and photographs changes on a regular basis it has one thing in common -- all the artists displayed are mutants. The seating spaced around the room is spread out enough to keep the room from feeling cluttered. Black chairs, square black tables that mostly seat two or four though they're frequently pushed around and rearranged to make space for larger parties. In the back corner of the room is more comfortable seating, a few large black-corduroy sofas and armchairs with wide tables between them. There's a shelf of card and board games back here available for customers to sit and play. The chalkboard menus hanging behind the counter change frequently, always home to a wide variety of drinks (with an impressive roster of fair-trade coffees and teas largely featured) though their sandwiches and wraps and soups and snacks of the day change often. An often-changing variety of baked goods sit behind the display case at the counter halfway back in the room, and the opposite side of the counter holds a small selection of homemade ice creams. A pair of single-user bathrooms flanks the stairway in back of the cafe; at night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits up the stairs above the coffeehouse. Unseasonably warm weather has brought many people out today. Biking, walking dogs, playing -- taking a stroll to get coffee. Evolve is crowded, this afternoon. Line long, plenty of chatter. There's an excitable game of cards happening near the front of the room between a tiny individual whose form is hard to really discern -- they look mostly like an amorphous mass of silver liquid metal -- a tall skinny purple-skinned boy and two dark-haired dark-eyed girls who look enough alike they are probably sisters. A noisy cluster of teenagers has pulled many of the tables together to seat their very large group. A silent and intense chess game in the back is underway, and though the elderly woman seated at it has no /visible/ opponent, after each of her turns the white pieces move seemingly of their own accord. There aren't many free seats -- which makes it all the more presumptuous that Flicker has taken up an entire large table all to himself nearby the chess game. His bag is dumped on the couch beside him, the table space occupied by laptop, notebooks, several large textbooks, a bowl of soup, a glass of lemonade. In this crowd he looks almost unassuming. Plain (albeit heavily scarred) features, plain clothes (green polo shirt and khakis). The short sleeve shirt leaves his very much not-human-looking arm very visible, though -- segmented, claw-tipped, snakelike-flexible resembling a tentacle more than a human arm. Unlike the non-standard parts found on some patrons here, though, it's very obvious his is mechanical rather than mutation -- crafted from polymer and metal, brightly painted in metallic blue with silver snowflakes, the outline of a body harness faintly visible beneath his shirt. Mai found this place a few days ago, or well, more like found out about it as she was going to come visit with a few friends, only to find out it was closed due to christmas, that was awkward! Anyway, she is back today and this time it is most obviously open, and not only that but jammed full. She probably looks terribly boringly ordinary among many of the more outlandish patrons, as she does not have any kind of obvious mutations or the like, but still does not seem to be at all taken back by those who do, even if some of the more unusual ones do get curious looks from her. Managing to eventually get through the line to get herself a sandwich and a big mug of tea, she starts the seemingly impossible task of finding a vacant seat. Lifting up to her full, less than impressive height, and looking around the cafe does not reveal a single unoccupied table, however, she does notice the one table that only has a single person sitting by it, which seems like the most logical place to start from, so she manuevers through the crowd to where Flicker is seated, offering the man a smile once she gets to within talking distance, which, with all this crowd, means prety much right front of the table. "Excuse me, but is this seat vacant?" Flicker glances up quickly, eyes opening swiftly wider. A sudden blush fills his cheeks, throwing the heavy scarring into sharp pale relief. "Oh! Oh I --" Apologetically, he gathers his things closer together. "Lo siento, yes, you can -- 'pologies. I'm being rude. I didn't notice when it got so crowded in here! Was -- near empty when I set up." Mai glances around a bit in the cafe at those words, pondering just how long has the man been sitting there if it was near empty, as she can't imagine all these people having just appeared, shrugging the thought off though she sets her mug and plate with the sandwich down on the table before taking a seat herself. "Thanks. And yeah, it seems like pretty busy night... guess everyone was having withdrawal from the place being closed for christmas, eh?" she notes with a giggle. Then having a chance to get a better look at the man while stirring her tea, she spots his rather unusual looking arm. "Holy... is that a metal arm?! Thats like the coolest thing I have ever seen. I thought things like that would only exist in movies!" she exclaims, quite excited about the unusual extremity. "Some of these folks were here on Christmas." Flicker casts a quick glance around the cafe before answering. "I think winter gets everyone a little stir crazy, you know? Really nice to have the chance to just -- get out. When you..." He breaks off at Mai's exclamation, though. The red in his cheeks deepens, spreads up to his ears. "Oh. Yeah, it's. A prosthetic." His smile curls a touch crooked. "Like in the movies, I guess." His eyes fix on Mai a moment longer. Drop quickly to his work after. The pencil he's been writing in his notebook with twirls, a rapid blur between his fingers. "Lots of people have bionic limbs, though this model /is/ a little unique." Mai blinks at the first part of what is said. "Huh? I could swear the place was closed when I walked past on christmas eve... But yeah, I do agree there, winter sucks! Can't even go to jog in the park without freezing." she agrees with a nod. Pausing to take a sip from her tea and a bite of her sandwich while giving somewhat curious look to what the man is writing. "They do? Your the first one I have seen, that must have cost a fortune. Oh, I am Mai by the way, nice to meet you." she gives somewhat belated introduction, offering a hand in greeting. "It was closed. Not open for business, anyway. They have a big dinner here on the evening of the twenty-fifth, though." Flicker's notebook is full of -- well, notes. In small cramped handwriting, a lot about bacterial recombination with some sketchily-drawn diagrams. "I -- guess some people make more of an effort to hide them." The red in his cheeks is not fading. "Try and make them look more human. But artificial limbs aren't -- that rare. And between myoelectric sensors and muscle reinnervation functionality is getting -- more and more advanced. This was free, though, actually." There's a brief hesitation when Mai extends her hand -- his eyes drop for a moment to his clawed-metal right hand before he puts down the pencil in his left. Offers a somewhat awkward twisted-around handshake with it. "Flicker." Mai gives a warm smile to the man as the handshake is done, seeming quite fascinated about that strange prosthetic. "I can't imagine why, if I had a cool looking arm like that I definetily wouldn't... even though I can imagine it would suck to lose an arm to need one in the first place..." Most of the more technical terms that Flicker uses seem to go right over her head, but there is one word she can understand from all that. "Free? Damn, you must have some friends in high places for that." she notes with a giggle, before taking another bite of her sandwich, chewing it properly and swallowing down before speaking again. "Flicker? Now thats an unusual name! Seems like you are quite the unique person in many ways." she muses, before taking a careful sip from her tea again, its pretty hot still. "Well. When you have an amputation, a lot of people stare. And ask tons of questions." Flicker shrugs, a lopsided hitch of one shoulder. "A lot of people aren't really looking for that kind of thing, so a lot of prosthetics are designed to try and look as much like biological limbs as possible." His cheeks suck inward, just a little. Teeth worrying at their insides. "Losing it wasn't," he allows, "the /most/ fun ever." Flicker picks the pencil back up. Returns to its rapid twirl. "I don't know. I was just willing to be a guinea pig." He breathes out a laugh -- small, quick, sharp. Glances back up at Mai. "Not a person out there on earth who isn't unique. I'm sure there's plenty interesting about you?" Mai still watches that arm curiously. "So... do you like feel things with that too? I imagine it would be hard to use it if you don't, kind of like if my hand would be all numb or something... though I suppose if it would be like that all the time, one would get used to it." she ponders, then giggles at the guinea pig part. "Oh? So you were like working for a real genuine mad scientist, like doctor Frankenstein?" she inquires jokingly. Blinking then as the conversation is turned around to her, offering a slight shrug. "Well, I don't know if there is anything that special about me... don't have any exciting adventures like you do for sure, unless you count it as an adventure to try to figure out how to get by day to day on your own, which admittedly can be quite challenging at times. Well I know Kung-Fu, I guess some people could find that interesting, it has never been that big deal to me though since I was taught by my dad ever since I was a kid, back then I found it more like a chore than anything." she offers with a slight smile at the memory. "It doesn't -- /feel/ like my other hand does, no." Flicker scrunches up one eye, his head ducking. Cheeks still burning red. "... Yeah." The laugh that follows is small. Teeth digging harder into his cheeks. "Kind of like doctor Frankenstein." He looks back up, head tilting to one side. "... exciting adventures? What adventures did I..." But this just trails off. Quick sharp head-shake. It's a little delayed when his smile returns, smaller than before. "Since you were a kid? You must be pretty good, then." He's closing his notebook, laptop too. Tucking his books back into his bag. "Figuring out how to get by /can/ be an adventure. Hopefully one you're managing alright." Mai gives a slight shrug while chewing on another bite of her sandwich, having to wait until she washes it down with some more tea before she can reply. "Well, I just assumed that you didn't lose your arm in some boring way like accident with bansdsaw or something, but in some more exciting one!" She explains with another giggle, then her expression turning more serious when questions about her life are asked. "Well, I suppose, haven't really like been in any competitions or anything so wouldn't know, as there weren't like any specific colors or anything ever, it was more like a way of life thing, at the very least though, it has kept me in pretty decent shape. Haven't really got to actually use it much, though I suppose thats a good thing. Like my dad always said, never start a fight, but always finish it. But uh... I suppose I am doing okay, wouldn't mind a better paying job, but its not that easy to find any when you don't have any professional education or stuff. So have to live in pretty un-cool neighbourhood." she admits with a bit of a frown. "Exciting." Flicker's echo of this comes with a small inward breath. Small nod. "Right." He finishes packing his things away and stands. Slings his backpack onto his intact shoulder. "The job market /is/ rough." A small sympathetic half-smile offered with this. "Maybe the New Year will bring you some luck." He carefully balances his glass of lemonade (still half-full) on the edge of the plate that his bowl of soup (still mostly full) is resting on. Picks them up in his hand, the claw balancing the other side of the plate. "Enjoy your meal." It's offered quiet, with a small tip of his head; he's already turning away after this to hasten off and clear his dishes away. Mai blinks in surprise as the man gets up to leave despite his meal obviously not finished. "Uh... I hope I didn't offend you? I didn't mean to, at least!" she offers, "please no need to leave because of me, if anything, I should leave as you were sitting here first." There's no answer from Flicker. Already halfway across the cafe to set his dishes down and zip! Out the door and into the warm afternoon beyond.