"On camera" just meant "in writing in the story". You may have learned something in real life, but if your SI learns that same thing in the context of a story, it's called character development. This is usually considered good writing.
This is from a bit earlier, back in Venice, maybe a couple weeks before Halloween.
It was a few minutes to eleven when Tomo knocked on the manager's door. It didn't open right away, so she knocked again, louder this time.
The door opened to reveal a man in an aloha shirt printed with California landmarks. "Hi, can I help?" I looked down to notice my visitor, "Oh. It's you." The pest had come to visit me again.
"I'm having a problem with my computer, Brent."
"Uh huh."
"The interface is too complicated. Can I get a Chobit instead?"
"We don't have those. Not invented yet."
"Okay, how about a boomer?"
"It's 2016, not 2040."
"Well, what do you have?" Tomo pushed her way inside my apartment, and ducked into the office. She declared, "Aha, look at that, two monitors!" as if it was proof.
I sighed. "My setup is even older than yours, Tomo. You don't need to hack the Gibson, and neither do I."
"But what about this thing," she pointed to a keypad and a set of blinkenlights in the wall.
"That's the Good Neighbor System. It's the security system that Washuu installed last night. I guess it has some sort of space-grade security, so there are probably force fields or floating column things." I picked up the manual, "Actually, I was just trying to figure out how it all worked."
"So what does this red button do?"
"That's the panic button. If we're under attack or see something big, it calls for help."
"Oh, cool."
I looked back to the book.
"So uh, how do you turn the panic button off?"
I glanced over -- a red light started flashing on the device, and the panic button itself was glowing a nice warm red. "What did you do?"
"Well, the button looked so big and red, it was basically asking me to push it!"
"Tomo, you idiot!"
"Don't mind, don't mind. Just turn it off."
I flipped through the manual. I quoted, "Enter the DAC, then hold PANIC and RESET for three seconds. What the hell is a DAC?"
"Don't look at me!"
I started flipping through pages at random, trying to figure out what to do next.
Tomo declared, "I'm just gonna try the Panic and Reset button thing." Three seconds later, and a flashing blue light joined the urgent red lights. "I don't think that worked."
"What now?" I read the display, "What's 'Crisis Mode'?"
It turned out that the panic button really lived up to its name, in terms of the amount of panic we were feeling. "I don't know, but what are those things coming out of the ceiling?"
Rotating beacon lights, from the look of it. The room took on a rosy glow, which was not how I was feeling, "Tomo, I turn my back on you for ten seconds, and you cause this? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Hey, it's not my fault you don't know how to work your security system," she countered.
I yelled back, "Even an idiot knows not to push buttons randomly. What are you, three?"
I could see Tomo say something angry in reply, but I couldn't hear it over the klaxons going off.
"What's going on?" The door to my apartment slammed open as Akira came in, with Alicia following in her wake.
"Technical difficulties," I screamed over the klaxons.
In the corner of my bedroom sat a full-length mirror. I saw the glass of the mirror begin to shimmer, then distort, as a woman in elaborate robes flew through the mirror as if it were a portal to another world.
"Can I help?" Belldandy asked.
Not even realizing who it was, I yelled, "Yeah, you can help by shutting off the alarm that this idiot set off."
"If you had read that book better we wouldn't be in this situation," Tomo said, sticking out her tongue.
"You think this is all a big joke, don't you? You really are a fucking moron!"
"Maybe we need a better manager."
"Maybe it's time I throw you out on the streets."
"You wouldn—"
"You alway—"
Belldandy simply said, "Silence", and everything, everyone was quiet, including the alarm. She picked up the book, and quickly keyed in the code for a false alarm.
By this time we had attracted a crowd of residents trying to figure out what was going on. The first to get her voice back was Osaka, "Who's she?"
By now Tomo and I had actually looked at our new guest, and realized who exactly she was, but she introduced herself to the group anyway. "Good morning, I'm Belldandy, Goddess First Class, unlimited. I've been hoping to visit you, but I've been very busy lately with the… situation."
"Oh, that's okay." Osaka replied. "Ganbare ne."
Tomo began, "Belldandy-sama, I–"
"Tomo, it's okay to be funny, but doing things that inconvenience a lot of other people is isn't very polite. I'm disappointed in you."
"I'm— I'm really sorry!" Tomo bowed deeply to Belldandy, then turned towards the rest of us and bowed once again. "I'm really really sorry, okay?"
Yomi looked at everyone else in the room with a look of incredulity. "Wha? Are you seeing this?" she whispered.
Chiyo just shrugged in reply. Tomo's apologies were a rare event indeed.
"And Brent," Belldandy turned to face me. "It works best if you're calm in a crisis -- and there's never an excuse to berate your tenants. I expected more from our valued apartment managers."
It was phrased really politely, but it struck me like a shot to the heart. I could feel the clear timbre of every one of her words in my brain. And I could see the truth: I had screwed up badly, enough to annoy Her Holiness.
It was like a weight crushing my heart, making the words just tumble out my mouth, "I'm sorry Miss, uh, Lady Belldandy. I didn't realize -- not that it's an excuse -- I behaved poorly to both you and Tomo, and I, uh, apologize to both of you. I'm really sorry, Tomo."
It took all my willpower just to keep my eyes off the ground.
Belldandy had just said I was valued, so no matter how worthless I felt right then, I knew I couldn't trust that emotion. But I knew I could do better. I don't know if what I felt then was magical or just Belldandy being herself -- and her being a goddess, I'm not sure that there's a meaningful distinction.
She smiled at us, with that graceful mien, and it felt a lot better. "Ah! Now that that's settled, I suppose I have time to visit with everyone here. I think we could all use some time to relax, myself included."
... some time later, after other plot happens ...
Tomo walked up to me, "You know, I'm still really sorry about earlier."
"Me too. More sorry than you can imagine. Well, maybe you can imagine."
"Yeah..."
"Well, you don't deserve my temper. No one does."
"She told me off too, even worse. I'm like a hundred times more sorry than you."
"Is it a competition?"
"Yeah, for worst person in the world. You'll never catch up."
"It was just a lapse in judgement."
"I do that all the time, though. And the insults, I'm like…" Tomo shivered instead of finishing her thought.
"I think that trick of hers, the way she made us feel -- it wouldn't have worked if we weren't good people. Like, you compare yourself to the way you want to be. You're a good person, Tomo Takino."
"As are you, Brent Laabs." She jumped on me and gave me a hug. And though the day had brought a lot of happy moments, this was the first time I felt content.
We kept the embrace for far longer than I expected, over a couple of minutes, neither of us wanting to let go of the peace we found.
I finally broke the silence, "I think I know why people in the Bible always feared the angels at first."
Tomo agreed, "I know, right? If that's what self-reflection feels like, I'm gonna stick with consumerism and pop culture."
I tapped her on the head, "Idiot", snickering.
The next morning, there was a knock on my door. And there she was again.
Tomo said, "Hey, I need some help with my ceiling fan."
"Oh, okay. Not working?" Finally a real issue!
"Yeah, it's going too fast, and I want it to go really slow so you can see it, like in film noir."
I slapped my hand to my forehead. "Really?"
"This is L.A. right? What if I need to catch a dame for life insurance fraud?"
"Actually, how do fan speed regulators work anyway?"
Tomo offered, "Wanna find out together?"
This is from a bit earlier, back in Venice, maybe a couple weeks before Halloween.
It was a few minutes to eleven when Tomo knocked on the manager's door. It didn't open right away, so she knocked again, louder this time.
The door opened to reveal a man in an aloha shirt printed with California landmarks. "Hi, can I help?" I looked down to notice my visitor, "Oh. It's you." The pest had come to visit me again.
"I'm having a problem with my computer, Brent."
"Uh huh."
"The interface is too complicated. Can I get a Chobit instead?"
"We don't have those. Not invented yet."
"Okay, how about a boomer?"
"It's 2016, not 2040."
"Well, what do you have?" Tomo pushed her way inside my apartment, and ducked into the office. She declared, "Aha, look at that, two monitors!" as if it was proof.
I sighed. "My setup is even older than yours, Tomo. You don't need to hack the Gibson, and neither do I."
"But what about this thing," she pointed to a keypad and a set of blinkenlights in the wall.
"That's the Good Neighbor System. It's the security system that Washuu installed last night. I guess it has some sort of space-grade security, so there are probably force fields or floating column things." I picked up the manual, "Actually, I was just trying to figure out how it all worked."
"So what does this red button do?"
"That's the panic button. If we're under attack or see something big, it calls for help."
"Oh, cool."
I looked back to the book.
"So uh, how do you turn the panic button off?"
I glanced over -- a red light started flashing on the device, and the panic button itself was glowing a nice warm red. "What did you do?"
"Well, the button looked so big and red, it was basically asking me to push it!"
"Tomo, you idiot!"
"Don't mind, don't mind. Just turn it off."
I flipped through the manual. I quoted, "Enter the DAC, then hold PANIC and RESET for three seconds. What the hell is a DAC?"
"Don't look at me!"
I started flipping through pages at random, trying to figure out what to do next.
Tomo declared, "I'm just gonna try the Panic and Reset button thing." Three seconds later, and a flashing blue light joined the urgent red lights. "I don't think that worked."
"What now?" I read the display, "What's 'Crisis Mode'?"
It turned out that the panic button really lived up to its name, in terms of the amount of panic we were feeling. "I don't know, but what are those things coming out of the ceiling?"
Rotating beacon lights, from the look of it. The room took on a rosy glow, which was not how I was feeling, "Tomo, I turn my back on you for ten seconds, and you cause this? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Hey, it's not my fault you don't know how to work your security system," she countered.
I yelled back, "Even an idiot knows not to push buttons randomly. What are you, three?"
I could see Tomo say something angry in reply, but I couldn't hear it over the klaxons going off.
"What's going on?" The door to my apartment slammed open as Akira came in, with Alicia following in her wake.
"Technical difficulties," I screamed over the klaxons.
In the corner of my bedroom sat a full-length mirror. I saw the glass of the mirror begin to shimmer, then distort, as a woman in elaborate robes flew through the mirror as if it were a portal to another world.
"Can I help?" Belldandy asked.
Not even realizing who it was, I yelled, "Yeah, you can help by shutting off the alarm that this idiot set off."
"If you had read that book better we wouldn't be in this situation," Tomo said, sticking out her tongue.
"You think this is all a big joke, don't you? You really are a fucking moron!"
"Maybe we need a better manager."
"Maybe it's time I throw you out on the streets."
"You wouldn—"
"You alway—"
Belldandy simply said, "Silence", and everything, everyone was quiet, including the alarm. She picked up the book, and quickly keyed in the code for a false alarm.
By this time we had attracted a crowd of residents trying to figure out what was going on. The first to get her voice back was Osaka, "Who's she?"
By now Tomo and I had actually looked at our new guest, and realized who exactly she was, but she introduced herself to the group anyway. "Good morning, I'm Belldandy, Goddess First Class, unlimited. I've been hoping to visit you, but I've been very busy lately with the… situation."
"Oh, that's okay." Osaka replied. "Ganbare ne."
Tomo began, "Belldandy-sama, I–"
"Tomo, it's okay to be funny, but doing things that inconvenience a lot of other people is isn't very polite. I'm disappointed in you."
"I'm— I'm really sorry!" Tomo bowed deeply to Belldandy, then turned towards the rest of us and bowed once again. "I'm really really sorry, okay?"
Yomi looked at everyone else in the room with a look of incredulity. "Wha? Are you seeing this?" she whispered.
Chiyo just shrugged in reply. Tomo's apologies were a rare event indeed.
"And Brent," Belldandy turned to face me. "It works best if you're calm in a crisis -- and there's never an excuse to berate your tenants. I expected more from our valued apartment managers."
It was phrased really politely, but it struck me like a shot to the heart. I could feel the clear timbre of every one of her words in my brain. And I could see the truth: I had screwed up badly, enough to annoy Her Holiness.
It was like a weight crushing my heart, making the words just tumble out my mouth, "I'm sorry Miss, uh, Lady Belldandy. I didn't realize -- not that it's an excuse -- I behaved poorly to both you and Tomo, and I, uh, apologize to both of you. I'm really sorry, Tomo."
It took all my willpower just to keep my eyes off the ground.
Belldandy had just said I was valued, so no matter how worthless I felt right then, I knew I couldn't trust that emotion. But I knew I could do better. I don't know if what I felt then was magical or just Belldandy being herself -- and her being a goddess, I'm not sure that there's a meaningful distinction.
She smiled at us, with that graceful mien, and it felt a lot better. "Ah! Now that that's settled, I suppose I have time to visit with everyone here. I think we could all use some time to relax, myself included."
... some time later, after other plot happens ...
Tomo walked up to me, "You know, I'm still really sorry about earlier."
"Me too. More sorry than you can imagine. Well, maybe you can imagine."
"Yeah..."
"Well, you don't deserve my temper. No one does."
"She told me off too, even worse. I'm like a hundred times more sorry than you."
"Is it a competition?"
"Yeah, for worst person in the world. You'll never catch up."
"It was just a lapse in judgement."
"I do that all the time, though. And the insults, I'm like…" Tomo shivered instead of finishing her thought.
"I think that trick of hers, the way she made us feel -- it wouldn't have worked if we weren't good people. Like, you compare yourself to the way you want to be. You're a good person, Tomo Takino."
"As are you, Brent Laabs." She jumped on me and gave me a hug. And though the day had brought a lot of happy moments, this was the first time I felt content.
We kept the embrace for far longer than I expected, over a couple of minutes, neither of us wanting to let go of the peace we found.
I finally broke the silence, "I think I know why people in the Bible always feared the angels at first."
Tomo agreed, "I know, right? If that's what self-reflection feels like, I'm gonna stick with consumerism and pop culture."
I tapped her on the head, "Idiot", snickering.
The next morning, there was a knock on my door. And there she was again.
Tomo said, "Hey, I need some help with my ceiling fan."
"Oh, okay. Not working?" Finally a real issue!
"Yeah, it's going too fast, and I want it to go really slow so you can see it, like in film noir."
I slapped my hand to my forehead. "Really?"
"This is L.A. right? What if I need to catch a dame for life insurance fraud?"
"Actually, how do fan speed regulators work anyway?"
Tomo offered, "Wanna find out together?"
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto