RE: [IC][Story] There's Nothing Better!
10-20-2016, 04:38 AM (This post was last modified: 06-18-2018, 06:54 PM by robkelk. Edit Reason: re-write to put the snippet into third-person, not first-person )
10-20-2016, 04:38 AM (This post was last modified: 06-18-2018, 06:54 PM by robkelk. Edit Reason: re-write to put the snippet into third-person, not first-person )
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
September 14th, 2016
10:10am
Rob kept telling himself that he wasn't shirking his duties, really.
There are some lovely food shops in the Byward Market, alongside the farmers' stalls. The household needed groceries. Even though Rob could get similar groceries elsewhere in the city at a lower cost, they wouldn't be as good.
More importantly, Rob felt a need to find that electrokinetic before Mikoto did, and he couldn't do that if he wasn't in the right part of town.
But was this still the right part of town? The electrokinetic might have gone somewhere else after that incident.
Assuming there was an incident.
And that there is an electrokinetic.
Every bit of common sense indicated that this was impossible - an incident like that would have been mentioned in the news.
Every bit of common sense also indicated that people from A Certain Scientific Railgun couldn't live in Ottawa.
Rob kept looking for signs of an electrokinetic.
Two bunches of carrots, a basket of tomatoes, and a half-pound of Cheddar later, he noticed the girl that he'd seen at the bookstore a day ago. She was talking with somebody just outside of his field of view - another girl, from the sound of the voice. While he couldn't quite make out what they were saying, Rob could tell whoever the other person was, she was probably English. Received Pronunciation is a rather obvious accent, especially in Canada.
His curiosity got the better of him. Besides, there was a tea shop just past the two girls, and the apartment's supply of tea was approaching "none" fast.
The girls split up before he could get close enough to hear what they were saying. The pretty Asian girl headed toward that same bookstore, passing Rob along the way.
He rounded the corner that they were at, and saw another girl walking toward the busker stage near the tea shop.
She was Asian, and just as pretty as the other girl. She also had blonde hair. Down to her waist. Tied with a red ribbon.
Rob thought, 'It couldn't be.'
Then he thought of the girls that he was looking after, and where they came from.
'It could be. It probably was.
'In the name of my own obliviousness, I will punish myself.
'Later.'
Business before self-recrimination. Right now, he needed Mii's help - and she was back at the apartment.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
September 14th, 2016
11:45am
"... and that's what I'm expecting to discover, Konori-san," finished Rob.
"I don't like doing that, Rob-san." Mii frowned. "It's an invasion of people's privacy, and I don't have a warrant."
"I know. But as long as we're keeping your existence here secret, we can't just walk up to someone and ask if he's from another universe. Besides, if they are who I think they are, they aren't going to take kindly to meeting others with Skills."
Mii nodded. "You're right on that count. I remember reading that manga when I was a little girl. Everyone else with a Skill was their enemy."
"Here's hoping they're from the anime, not the manga. In the anime, only almost everyone else with a Skill was their enemy."
"That means we need a reason to visit the bookstore."
I grinned. "That's easy enough. If you're going to be majoring in criminology, you need textbooks. Or at least a copy of the Criminal Code."
"I already found that online."
"They don't know that."
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
September 14th, 2016
1:20pm
Once again, just like every time he visited, Rob thought that it was a lovely bookstore. Two stories (in height, there were more than two stories on the shelves), a large selection of less-common books, a separate section just for children, and plenty of comfortable seats.
He and Mii were paying more attention to the seats than to the books.
Finally they found her. Giving her a closer look, rob thought that she had been wearing the same clothes for a few days - which supported his theory. He pointed her out to Mii.
The girl was reading through a copy of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine... and a store clerk was walking toward her. By the time Rob reached the corner she was in, the clerk was asking her to either make a purchase or leave the store.
Rob glanced at Mii. She nodded, pointing to her own skirt pocket. She's seen with her x-ray vision what he expected her to see in the girl's skirt pocket.
"Excuse me," interrupted Rob. "Would you have any reference works on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics?"
The clerk looked puzzled. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're asking about."
The girl smiled. "I saw some in the physics section, two aisles from the far wall, on the bottom shelf."
The clerk looked relieved. "Forget what I just said, miss. But please don't still be here in an hour."
As the clerk left, Rob turned to the girl. "As a token of my thanks, may I buy that book for you?"
She looked worried. "I couldn't put you to that trouble. It's an expensive book, mister ..."
"Donaldson. Rob Donaldson."
"Ami Mizuno."
And that clinched it. He waved Mii over. "And this is Mii Konori, who is living with me while she applies for admission to university here. Konori-san, this is Ami Mizuno, who was kind enough to tell me where to find the book I wanted."
Mii smiled. "I'm pleased to meet you, Mizuno-san."
After he found a copy of DeWitt and Graham's The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, he added that and the Oxford reference that Ami had been reading to the pile Mii was carrying, and they all went to the checkout. 'Good thing I could expense all of the books to the numbered company that owned the apartment building;' thought Rob. 'Most of them are expensive.'
As the three of them were leaving the store, rob said, "I don't know about you, Mii-san, but I wouldn't mind getting a drink."
She looked at me sternly. "You have to drive."
"I meant a coffee, or maybe some tea. It's too early in the day for alcohol." He turned to Ami. "Care to join us, Mizuno-san?"
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
September 14th, 2016
1:45pm
They sat at a table near the door of that tea shop that Rob hadn't visited earlier in the day. Mii ordered Oolong tea, while Rob ordered Earl Grey. Ami asked for a glass of water.
Rob engaged Ami in small talk while Mii looked through the stack of books. Rob was open; Ami was guarded - as she should be.
"Have you been in town long?"
"Only a few days."
"Have you let anyone know you're here?"
"Not yet; I don't know anyone in Ottawa."
"You really should tell somebody that you're here, even if it's only the local police. Oh, but somebody smart enough to make sense of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine already knows that, I'm sure."
She relaxed slightly after he suggested contacting the police. Mii put the last of her criminology books back in the bag, revealing a copy of The Incomplete Enchanter sitting on top of two other books. Ami smiled when she saw that book.
"Have you read that collection, Mizuno-san?"
She nodded. "Yes, I read it when I was in middle school. And now that I see it, the memories are giving me some comfort."
"I haven't read it yet, so please don't spoil it for me," replied Mii.
Ami nodded again. "I don't know whether that's a good example of the many-worlds interpretation, though," she said to Rob.
Mii and Rob quickly exchanged glances, and he winked. Mii sighed. "I have proof that it might not be correct in particulars, but the general idea is sound." She moved the copy of The Incomplete Enchanter to reveal the last two books in our purchase: the first two volumes of Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon.
Ami's eyes went wide.
"Would you like to take those with you?" asked Rob. She just nodded. "Then please do. And here's a cellular telephone, with my number and Konori-san's number already programmed into speed-dial. Call us when you want to talk." He slowly pulled one of the white cellphones out of my pocket, and placed it on the table beside the medical reference and the manga.
He looked up and noticed that the blonde he'd seen earlier (who he was certain was Minako Aino) was singing at the nearby busker stage. Mii pointed her out to Ami as we left.
Walking back to the public parking garage, Mii asked, "What do we do now?"
"Now we wait. And now I really wanted to find that electrokinetic. In all versions of the story, Makoto's a good cook... and I know almost nothing about Japanese cooking."
September 14th, 2016
10:10am
Rob kept telling himself that he wasn't shirking his duties, really.
There are some lovely food shops in the Byward Market, alongside the farmers' stalls. The household needed groceries. Even though Rob could get similar groceries elsewhere in the city at a lower cost, they wouldn't be as good.
More importantly, Rob felt a need to find that electrokinetic before Mikoto did, and he couldn't do that if he wasn't in the right part of town.
But was this still the right part of town? The electrokinetic might have gone somewhere else after that incident.
Assuming there was an incident.
And that there is an electrokinetic.
Every bit of common sense indicated that this was impossible - an incident like that would have been mentioned in the news.
Every bit of common sense also indicated that people from A Certain Scientific Railgun couldn't live in Ottawa.
Rob kept looking for signs of an electrokinetic.
Two bunches of carrots, a basket of tomatoes, and a half-pound of Cheddar later, he noticed the girl that he'd seen at the bookstore a day ago. She was talking with somebody just outside of his field of view - another girl, from the sound of the voice. While he couldn't quite make out what they were saying, Rob could tell whoever the other person was, she was probably English. Received Pronunciation is a rather obvious accent, especially in Canada.
His curiosity got the better of him. Besides, there was a tea shop just past the two girls, and the apartment's supply of tea was approaching "none" fast.
The girls split up before he could get close enough to hear what they were saying. The pretty Asian girl headed toward that same bookstore, passing Rob along the way.
He rounded the corner that they were at, and saw another girl walking toward the busker stage near the tea shop.
She was Asian, and just as pretty as the other girl. She also had blonde hair. Down to her waist. Tied with a red ribbon.
Rob thought, 'It couldn't be.'
Then he thought of the girls that he was looking after, and where they came from.
'It could be. It probably was.
'In the name of my own obliviousness, I will punish myself.
'Later.'
Business before self-recrimination. Right now, he needed Mii's help - and she was back at the apartment.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
September 14th, 2016
11:45am
"... and that's what I'm expecting to discover, Konori-san," finished Rob.
"I don't like doing that, Rob-san." Mii frowned. "It's an invasion of people's privacy, and I don't have a warrant."
"I know. But as long as we're keeping your existence here secret, we can't just walk up to someone and ask if he's from another universe. Besides, if they are who I think they are, they aren't going to take kindly to meeting others with Skills."
Mii nodded. "You're right on that count. I remember reading that manga when I was a little girl. Everyone else with a Skill was their enemy."
"Here's hoping they're from the anime, not the manga. In the anime, only almost everyone else with a Skill was their enemy."
"That means we need a reason to visit the bookstore."
I grinned. "That's easy enough. If you're going to be majoring in criminology, you need textbooks. Or at least a copy of the Criminal Code."
"I already found that online."
"They don't know that."
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
September 14th, 2016
1:20pm
Once again, just like every time he visited, Rob thought that it was a lovely bookstore. Two stories (in height, there were more than two stories on the shelves), a large selection of less-common books, a separate section just for children, and plenty of comfortable seats.
He and Mii were paying more attention to the seats than to the books.
Finally they found her. Giving her a closer look, rob thought that she had been wearing the same clothes for a few days - which supported his theory. He pointed her out to Mii.
The girl was reading through a copy of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine... and a store clerk was walking toward her. By the time Rob reached the corner she was in, the clerk was asking her to either make a purchase or leave the store.
Rob glanced at Mii. She nodded, pointing to her own skirt pocket. She's seen with her x-ray vision what he expected her to see in the girl's skirt pocket.
"Excuse me," interrupted Rob. "Would you have any reference works on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics?"
The clerk looked puzzled. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're asking about."
The girl smiled. "I saw some in the physics section, two aisles from the far wall, on the bottom shelf."
The clerk looked relieved. "Forget what I just said, miss. But please don't still be here in an hour."
As the clerk left, Rob turned to the girl. "As a token of my thanks, may I buy that book for you?"
She looked worried. "I couldn't put you to that trouble. It's an expensive book, mister ..."
"Donaldson. Rob Donaldson."
"Ami Mizuno."
And that clinched it. He waved Mii over. "And this is Mii Konori, who is living with me while she applies for admission to university here. Konori-san, this is Ami Mizuno, who was kind enough to tell me where to find the book I wanted."
Mii smiled. "I'm pleased to meet you, Mizuno-san."
After he found a copy of DeWitt and Graham's The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, he added that and the Oxford reference that Ami had been reading to the pile Mii was carrying, and they all went to the checkout. 'Good thing I could expense all of the books to the numbered company that owned the apartment building;' thought Rob. 'Most of them are expensive.'
As the three of them were leaving the store, rob said, "I don't know about you, Mii-san, but I wouldn't mind getting a drink."
She looked at me sternly. "You have to drive."
"I meant a coffee, or maybe some tea. It's too early in the day for alcohol." He turned to Ami. "Care to join us, Mizuno-san?"
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
September 14th, 2016
1:45pm
They sat at a table near the door of that tea shop that Rob hadn't visited earlier in the day. Mii ordered Oolong tea, while Rob ordered Earl Grey. Ami asked for a glass of water.
Rob engaged Ami in small talk while Mii looked through the stack of books. Rob was open; Ami was guarded - as she should be.
"Have you been in town long?"
"Only a few days."
"Have you let anyone know you're here?"
"Not yet; I don't know anyone in Ottawa."
"You really should tell somebody that you're here, even if it's only the local police. Oh, but somebody smart enough to make sense of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine already knows that, I'm sure."
She relaxed slightly after he suggested contacting the police. Mii put the last of her criminology books back in the bag, revealing a copy of The Incomplete Enchanter sitting on top of two other books. Ami smiled when she saw that book.
"Have you read that collection, Mizuno-san?"
She nodded. "Yes, I read it when I was in middle school. And now that I see it, the memories are giving me some comfort."
"I haven't read it yet, so please don't spoil it for me," replied Mii.
Ami nodded again. "I don't know whether that's a good example of the many-worlds interpretation, though," she said to Rob.
Mii and Rob quickly exchanged glances, and he winked. Mii sighed. "I have proof that it might not be correct in particulars, but the general idea is sound." She moved the copy of The Incomplete Enchanter to reveal the last two books in our purchase: the first two volumes of Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon.
Ami's eyes went wide.
"Would you like to take those with you?" asked Rob. She just nodded. "Then please do. And here's a cellular telephone, with my number and Konori-san's number already programmed into speed-dial. Call us when you want to talk." He slowly pulled one of the white cellphones out of my pocket, and placed it on the table beside the medical reference and the manga.
He looked up and noticed that the blonde he'd seen earlier (who he was certain was Minako Aino) was singing at the nearby busker stage. Mii pointed her out to Ami as we left.
Walking back to the public parking garage, Mii asked, "What do we do now?"
"Now we wait. And now I really wanted to find that electrokinetic. In all versions of the story, Makoto's a good cook... and I know almost nothing about Japanese cooking."
--
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown