2020-09-12: Mind Lessons - The Third - Katie
| Mind Lessons, The Third (Katie) | |
|---|---|
| Vic and Katie meet up to discuss the Mind Sphere; Branton shows up after the lesson and talks to them as well | |
| IC Date | September 12th, 2020 |
| IC Time | Early Evening |
| Players | Branton, Katie and Vic Rasmussen |
| Location | the basement at Prospect Roasters |
| Spheres | Traditions |
Having received a call, Katie has headed over to the basement and already settled in. Her shoes are nudged aside while she curls up on the couch, a book is placed on the arm of the couch, and in her lap is a small kitten with stripy orange fur and cute blue eyes. The kitten is trying to steal the attention, standing high on its back paws it can nuzzle its nose against Katie's chin, though she's pretending not to notice even as she gives little amused giggles.
Vic comes downstairs into the basement at Roasters and glances around, seeing Katie the V-Dept grins and, after stepping off the stairs to the floor, walks over to the couch. Having unslung her bag as she walked across the room she takes a seat near her friend and says, "Thanks for being willing to meet me," and, after pulling her legs up beneath her, continues with, "You said last meeting that you knew Mind. I've recently unlocked it but I was hoping to get another's opinion on it and its use to help me expand my understanding of the Sphere," and then she asks, "You good with that still?"
The tiny kitten gets frustrated at Katie's playful ignorance and gives the cutest meow, which has Katie melt and give the kitten some gentle strokes along its back. Hearing the door, she looks up with a warm, friendly smile, "Hi Vic!", she replies, then gives a cheerful shrug of her shoulders, "That's okay, I was /so/ bored at home and like, frustrated too. I'm trying to create a whole world for my game but I'm like, where do I even start?!", she chuckles.
Noticing someone has joined them, the kitten looks over at Vic then starts to pad awkwardly across Katie's lap, down onto the seats, then across to rest it's tiny paws on Vic's leg, sniffing at her to see if she might be friendly. "I can do that, I used to be psychic, it's something I've been able to do before I became a mage. It was /so/ much easier then too, lots of things were easier..", a gentle nibble on her lower lip.
"Did you speak to Bobbi about it? Did she help with it?", she asks, the kitten awkwardly clambering up into Vic's lap, curling around once, twice, then laying down, claiming the lap itself. "How do you do magic? Everyone seems to do it different."
"Did I speak with her," Vic reiterates and answers with a nod, "Yeah, I did. Did she help however..." she smiles after restating the question and shakes her head as she says, "Only a little bit, I did walk away from the conversation somewhat understanding Hermetic teachings better but with not quite so much with the Mind. Most of my understanding of that came from Merek." She then thinks a moment on the other question and says, "So, I'm a programmer and my approach to magic is very much the same. The world is at its core information on a medium that none of us can directly see. Magic is just the way in which that information can be manipulated... changed, warped, etc."
With a little wriggle, Katie sits up a bit, turning more to face you. "Uhm..", pondering for a moment, ".. it's similar I guess. Like, the way I approach it is the same as when I was psychic, like..", more pondering, she's obviously never really had to explain it before, ".. working with what's already there and manipulating or controlling it.", she nods.
"When I was a psychic I would be able to lift an object with my mind, but I never thought about how I was doing it. Now I'm a mage, I've realized I'm exerting force on the object and pushing against the effect of gravity, not actually reaching out and grabbing it with an imaginary hand.", she chuckles, lowering her voice to whisper, "That's how I used to think it worked.", a sheepish little grin.
"So like, if I wanted to cause it to rain, I need to know how rain happens so I can simulate it. If that makes sense?", she smiles.
Vic grins and nods. "Last time you mentioned lightning rather than rain, but yeah, I grok that fully," she says. "Honestly I'm so glad that my paradigm is the way it is, because it means that much of your problems are dodged because I can call on the world's built in macros and subroutines and count on them to do their thing. Its when I need to make something new that it gets /really/ interesting, however."
"I told you before?" Katie asks, seeming surprised, "I don't even remember. "Wait, I do remember..", she chuckles. "I repeated myself then.". The kitten on Vic's lap stretches and yawns, tiny teeth exposed before it curls up again with a happy shiver. "Well, it's like that, so maybe it's a bit like that for you. Like, with Mind, maybe you need to know the programming language..", she chuckles, ".. like, I know some psychology and that helps a lot when trying to use Mind, because I know how thoughts and feelings work, so know how to manipulate them.", she nods. "Maybe it's like that for you, you can manipulate the world, but people are different, every one is an individual with their own code. Maybe you just need to understand that code some more?", she shrugs, uncertain.
Vic continues to pet the kitten, she's not actually been ignoring the kitten of course as that would just be impossible... she just wasn't even aware of petting the kiten until now. She nods about the psychology and says, "I see the key primarily in language. Obviously I need to pick up some psychology too, more than the basic stuff I know from college but the key to the psychology is the language..." she just looks at Katie to see if that makes sense rather than diving into repetitive words.
Moving on the couch, Katie brings her thighs up to her chest, her heels almost touching her bottom, arms resting lazily around her legs. "So it's like, everything has a language, like a computer, that you can alter the programming of to do something else?", she asks, trying to understand how this might work. "Are you seeing it like the Matrix, with like green characters and numbers?", she chuckles. "I like that movie.", she adds softly.
"Great movie, yes," Vic says about the movie; "But no, its not really like that for me," she explains, "Its... its not that different from other traditions' approaches. The dressings are the major differences."
"I don't know much about the traditions.." Katie admits, ".. I'd like to, but they're all so private about everything.", she shrugs. "I know a little about the Order, but only because my boyfriend is one.", she chuckles. "Oh! Do you know Vivian?", she smiles. "I was talking to her and she said she knew a Vic from out of town.."
"I've met a Vivian, yeah," Vic says with a nod. "Honey blonde hair in a paigeboy cut, a bit taller than me twenty-something? Gorgeous eyes that I'm not sure are blue or gray. Is that the Vivian you met?" she asks.
"That's her!" Katie chirps happily, "She used to be in the army.", she adds. "Vivian is /so/ nice, I could spend all day talking to her.", she chuckles. Thinking it over for a moment she asks, "Is she like us? I don't know how to ask her."
Vic shrugs and shakes her head. "I honestly don't know, Katie," she says, "I mean, I could walk around with my prime senses active and examine everyone around me. Odds are I'd either go insane or cross paths with something that could make me wish I was insane... or dead." She leans closer and softly asks, "Do you have a reason behind that question, Katie?"
"Oh, I'm curious is all.." Katie chuckles, ".. she knows us and Bobbi. It's probably just coincidence.". Leaning closer, she reaches down to the kitten and gives it a playful scritching, causing it to roll over onto its back and bare its tummy. "I don't do anything anymore, not even senses. It makes me so nervous.", wrinkling her nose at the idea. "Are you having any luck finding a way back home?", she asks after a moment. "It's nice having you here though.. I wonder if there's another you in this world. That would be weird.", she grins.
Vic and Katie are sitting together on the couch conversing, her bag is sitting on the floor next to her and there is a kitten sprawled between them which both of the young women continue to provide attention to at various moments though the conversation.
"I've pretty much written off finding a way back home, Katie, because there's just so many worlds out there theoretically, what with these two and the backlash that sent me here would be extremely hard to reproduce," Vic replies; "I'm sorry to hear that you're still having issues with approaching your magic. Also," she adds, "coincidences are sometimes suspicious."
"That's what I thought!" Katie chirps happily in return, "It's weird, right? Like, it can't be all coincidence..", gazing down at the little kitten, giving its belly a soft tickling which has its legs kicking, ".. well, like, it could be, but it's more fun when it's not.", she grins. The kitten quickly bites into her finger but with barely any pressure, playfully kicks at her hand with its tiny pink paws.
"Have I told you about where I went from a backlash?", she asks, uncertain of what she's said to who. "I disappeared for over a month, Rick thought I was gone for good.", she nods.
Branton comes down the stairs humming to himself with a canvas tote bag in one hand that appears heavily laden. He seems in a good mood when he smiles and nods to the ladies and their kitten "Evening folks. How's it going?"
"Yeah, you mentioned your backlash issue before," Vic says, "I still think that sounds harrowing. I feel lucky in comparison." She looks up at Branton and says, "Hello, we're doing well."
"Ohmygod, my memory is /so/ bad.." Katie chuckles, shaking her head in amusement. "Maybe I should go lay down for a while. I haven't been sleeping much.", wrinkling her nose. Dropping her feet to the floor, she pulls over her shoes and starts pushing her feet into them, looking up as another face makes an entrance. "Hello!", she says cheerfully, "This is Vic, I'm Katie..", she adds, politely introducing them.
Branton nods and grins as he sets his tote bag on the table "I'm Branton. One of the local sorcerers. I know some stuff about backlash in a theoretical sense but I don't experience it, at least not anywhere near like ya'all do."
"Nice to meet you, Branton," Vic says, "As Katie said I'm called Vic. I'm a V-Dept and she's an Orphan... I think," she pauses and looks to Katie for a confirmation that she's not mis-remembering. In the mean time she lets the kitten nibble on her finger-tips with only slight winces due to the sharpness of the young cat's teeth.
"That's me!" Katie replies, "I don't fit into any of the traditions, none that I know about at least.", she shrugs. "I used to be a psychic and sorcerer. I wish I could go back..", she tells Branton, ".. I used to have so much fun with my powers, but now I'm too scared to use magic because of the backlash.", wrinkling her nose. "Oh well!", she chirpily adds.
Having finished putting her shoes back on, she reaches over to give the kitten a scritching, "Come on Lucky, time to go home. No eating Vic.", she grins.
Branton chuckles at the kitten's antics "As I've said before, I'm happy with my powers the way they are. I can get into more than enough trouble as it is. I've been told that the way I do my thing is somewhere between the Dreamspeakers and the Order of Hermes but that's mostly because I'm politer to the spirits I cut deals with."
Vic scritches the kitten under its jaw and says, "Good bye Lucky, it was a total pleasure meeting you," to it first and then, "I wouldn't know what being a sorcerer or psychic is like, I went straight from Sleeper-Hacker to full on V-Dept," to both of her companions before saying, "I hope you break your insomnia and get some sleep, Katie," and "Thanks for the talk, its going to help me I'm sure!" to the Orphan-mage also.
"Mine was a force of will.." Katie explains to Branton, ".. even the sorcery. And it's still the same now, it's just a little more complicated.", she chuckles. Lifting the kitten in her hands, she nuzzles it to her chest comfortably then stands up from the couch. "I'll try and take a nap..", she tells Vic, ".. maybe it'll turn into a real sleep.", she smiles. "Thanks Vic, it was nice to see you again. Take care!". And with a twirl, she starts to head for the door, telling Branton on the way, "It was nice meeting you too, maybe next time it won't be so short.", she grins.
Branton nods at Katie and shrugs "It works out the same in the end, everything else is a tool for focusing your will. If you decide you want to persue some sort of dose for sleep let me know and I'll hit my alchemy lab, see what I can brew up. I'm not a doctor though, just a businessman. I can give all sorts of options but I ain't gonna say if they are a specifically good idea or not." Then to Vic "That's got to have been a heck of a ride."
"Well, I had a mentor who guided me though it," Vic says; "And I think she'd say that I was never a total zero though, but that'd be hard to confirm as she's never been in this world... to my knowledge... and she's dead as well," the V-Dept adds.
"I'll be fine, I'm sure." Katie replies to Branton, "Thanks though!", flashing him her cutest little smile. "See you another time.", she calls behind her, then scurries up the steps.
Branton frowns and says to Vic "Sorry to hear that." then he pauses to consider "Never been in this world? Were they an AI then? Totally existing in the Digital Web?"
Vic scrunches her shoulders up and quietly laughs for a moment and says, "Oh. My. God," to herself and follow up with, "Its been less than a month and I don't even think about the fact that not everyone in this room knows my past." She pauses and says, "Let me start over for you, Branton." She holds a hand out as an offer to shake hands as she says, "Hi. I'm called Vic. I'm a extradimensional alien who was pushed out of my own world by backlash of paradox and, as far as I can tell, drawn into this world by extradimensional magical experiements by Dr. Arumi Hanada," and then waits for his response.
Branton nods and grins at Vic "That's fair. Not even the weirdest back story I've run into in this basement."
