Out of Pod Experience

De-cloaks by bar to steal various bottles and quickly recloaks after flipping everyone off.

*Yiole looks at some pictures which Indah sent to her earlier*

Huh? Is this stuff real?

*Yiole inspects the image closely*

No, no way... she's wearing stockings and there are no stockings in New Eden. Must be from some alternate universe...

*Yiole Gionglao enters TGFB and wlks to the bar, n and there she met Indah. She's sitttng on a stool with a young infant in her arms and yiole says, bemused:

- Wow, did i miss something? Is that yours, sweetie?

Indah blushes and starts to talk, but then several women start talking too, interrumpting each other:

- Huh. no, is...
- Is not hers, she's Mae's.
- She's just holding her while Mae went...
- She's in the ladies room and the girl just offered to hold her baby...
- She's quite gentle.
- Yes, she is...
- Oh, don't they be a lovely scene?

Yiole looks around and gets a clearer picture; there are several young women on a quiet corner, sitting by several tables in a circle and surrounded by a small cloud of small children. Looking for patrons, Yiole notices Graygor partially drunk and seating stiffly, looking with a lost expression at a cup of tea-tea in front of him. Random is busily taking notes on his pad and nods at Yiole, then blows a kiss to her and Yiole sticks her tongue back.

- So, whats going on here?
- Well, you know it's been some quiet days lately and...

The infant begins to stir and bumps on Indah's shoulder with her little fist.

- Hush, hush, just wait, your mom will be back in a minute...
- Maybe she's hungry -grins Yiole.
- Haw haw, how funny.
- Now seriously, are you opening The Greater Fool Kindergarten?
- No, no, it's just...

A young woman comes back from the toilet rooms and takes the infant from Indah's arms.

- Thank you, Ms. Fazam.. Faze...
- Indah, just Indah...
- Thank you, Indah
- And so?
- Well, there's been some quiet days lately and I learned that the cafeteria on the next floor is closed for refurbishing... and so i figured it would be a good idea to have a "quiet hour" so the customers there can come here after picking their children at the kindergarten.

Upon hearing "quiet hour", Graygor moans and takes a sip of his tea-tea.

- So you mean we're gonna have some moms around? Really?
- Well, do you remember that truckload of Nutella we couldn't get rid of?

Yiole shakes her head and looks at Indah, but can't decide wether she's kidding or is serious as she stares at her with those beautiful green eyes. Then, Yiole walks to the tables where the women are sitting, avoiding a determined 3 years old who's speeding between the furnitures.

- So, how's the mom business going...?

From his corner, Random stops taking notes as he looks at the scene, two capsuleer women and their ordirnary counterparts, and all around them, the ordinary children of ordinary people... and then he notices he can't recall to ever have heard of a pregnant capsuleer.

*Kate shakes her head and mutters the words " I will never understand will never understand how the Gallente come up with all this nonsense"*

*Mizhir and Ms. Sunshine enter the bar while conversing about the next steps of Shine’s objectives in Blue Republic. Miz:
-The ships will most likely be moved within this week. However there might be some changes in your training.
- What changes?
- Well, I won 5000 drones from a drunk republican, but since I am using the t2 ones, I had no use for them myself. So I intend them to go to you instead and you will need the skills to …

Miz notices all the women with their kids swarming the bar:
- What the…?
And rushes towards Indah:
- ehmm, Did I something pass over my head or did I just enter the wrong bar?

Indah explains the situation while Miz goes from totally confused to slightly confused. She then orders 2 drinks and tells Shine to find a table. But instead Shine nears a woman sitting with her infant in her arms.
- awww, he is cute. How old is he?
- Only 3 months, but he grows really fast.
- Ohh wow, I thought he was 5 months. They really grow fast those small beasts.
- Yeah I wish they would stay small for longer. Soon he will be playing with toy ships and before I realize it, he will be flying his own ship.

The conversation gets interrupted as a small ice cube strikes in the back of Shine’s head.
- Ohh, I gotta go. Got some business to do. It was nice to speak with you.
Shine goes to the table where Miz is waiting. Shine:
- awww, those babies are so cute. I really want one too.
- You are a capsuleer, you are immortal and you don’t grow old like normal people do. You got plenty of time for babies once you have traveled the universe. But do you really think that the life of a capsuleer is something that mixes well with the life of being a parent?
- ehmm, I guess?
- You are still new to this. I think you will change your mind when you realize what it is all about. But let’s discuss what we are supposed to discuss. You will be in Blue soon and there are skills you need to learn the old fashioned way instead of injecting the skillbooks.

Miz starts explaining some basic piloting maneuvers and as they progress, Shine forgets about all the baby thoughts. Miz goes through all kinds of methods to use speed as an advantage, but after several minutes of explaining a slingshot maneuver Shine still doesn’t get it. Miz then gets her pen from her purse and grabs a napkin.
-Let me draw it for you then. You see. If this is you and this is the enemy pilot who is kiting you. If he is already burning away from you it is great, but otherwise burn towards him. Then suddenly turn away and burn in the straight opposite direction.
- How is that going to help?
-I will get to it soon. The sudden change in direction will often take the enemy pilot by surprise and it will usually take some time before he reacts. But in the mean time you will both be far away from each other and you will be out of his point range. Either you will be able to escape or you will attempt to catch him. With him burning towards you, you will suddenly turn around. Both of you will be nearing each other at high speed and unless he reacts fast, you will end close enough to scram him.
- Ahh smart.

As Miz goes into more details that drawing gets more and more complicated and ends up as a mess of arrows in all kind of directions. Graygor walks past the table and sees the drawing.
- That’s a beautiful drawing you got there little girl. If you ask nicely I am sure that the other kids will let you use some of their crayons to colour it.

Graygor has a wide grin plastered on his face and Miz throws him a look that would make the most hardened pirate **** his pants. Graygot’s grin gets wider as he slowly steps towards the bar. Shine is laughing out loud and tries to stop when Miz looks back at her.
- Sorry, but you should have seen your face when he said that. When I find a man I hope he got a great humour like Graygor got.
Miz sighs:
-Fine, we are done for today. You can go and play with the kids. I have realized that it is mean of me to prevent you from playing with someone of your own age.

*enters the bar, noticing some strangely new but also familiar scenes. As walking straight to the bar she greets Miz and her new company while noticing Graygor sitting head first on a chair but also safe and secure alcohol tanked.
Noticing some grayish clouds over Yioles head, she quickly ninjacuddles her while securing the safety lock of her TP unnoticed*

Time for BOOZE!! \(^.^)/

Random chuckles at Yiole sticking her tongue out at him. He's sure it was meant playfully but he stops to hold the image in his mind. More and more often, he finds himself doing that. He's not exactly sure what it is about her that keeps distracting him. He shakes his head, time to focus on work.

"You look funny."

He looks up from his datapad to see a cherubic little girl watching him. He was aware of the daycare remodelling up one level and was a bit surprised to see that the contingent had gathered in the bar. In the bar of all places. Ah, Gallente...

"And why do you think that?" Random responds, giving the little girl a smile.

"'Cause you have no hairs on your head.", she responds with the innocence of youth. A brief smirk crosses Random's face at the comment and he sets down the datapad to focus more intently on the child.

"Hunh, people that have no 'hairs' on their head are called 'bald'." Random says with mock seriousness. "I'm guessing your daddy has 'hairs'?"

"Both my mommy and daddy have hairs on their head and my mommy says that people that have no hairs on their head might be sick and need to go to the hospital where doctors put stuff into them to make their hairs grow back." responded the girl, handling a small stuffed doll. "I think you went to the hospital and the doctors put stuff into you but your hairs didn't grow and you must be sick."

Random erupts into a laugh, drawing the attention of a few of the patrons and a fair few of the gathered mothers in the bar. Speaking through the last of the laughter, he asks "Now, why do you say that?"

"'Cause you got that thing around your eye", she responds.

His hand goes to the scar around his eye. Before he became a capsuleer, before he could afford the medical nightmare that would make himself effectively immortal, he had served aboard Matari warships as an engineeer. There was battle. The Matari forces often warred with the Amarr, particularly when a slave system was discovered. More often than not, any Matari were so hopelessly addicted to Vitoc and with no cure, there was no rescue. However, the warships made the slaveowners pay. With their lives. It wasn't always easy, the particular battle where Random earned the scar was the battle when Random had saved enough for the conversion to capsuleer. Burning engine rooms, the smell of blood and cooking meat, the wash of heat and shrapnel still haunted his dreams, even when the psych evaluation required before conversion showed nothing abnormal. He looked down at the little girl and gave her a wan smile. Out of the mouth's of babes....

"Would you like to play a game?" he asked, smirking.

"Yes," she responded. "What kind of game?"

Random quickly cleared the screen on his datapad and set up what appeared to be more data transactions. "It's a different kind of game. I'll show you some things that you can buy and sell. You do know how to read, yes?" The little girl nodded as she jumped into the seat next to him. Random turned the datapad around to face her and showed her how to work the touch screen. He concluded with "...and this little bar on the left side will show you how much money you have made. Do you think you understand?"

The little girl nodded and began pushing buttons on the datapad, apparently at random. He took a moment to cast a look up to Yiole who was conversing at the bar when a "ding" sound emitted from the datapad. Random turned in disbelief. She looked innocently up at him and said "I winned." and smiled. Random looked at the datapad is disbelief. In the span of 30 seconds, she had taken an imaginary one million isk and increased it twentyfold.

Random cast a shrewd look at the little girl and asked "Are you willing to try it again?" The little girl nodded and up the stakes and the 'ante'. He smirked as he handed the datapad to the little girl and watched her face. Her fingered danced upon the touch screen as she screwed up her face in concentration. A minute later, the datapad gave a "ding" and she handed it back to Random saying "I winned again."

"Gwynna...." a call came from the gathered group of mothers. "Gwynna dear, leave that man alone, honey. Can't you see he is working?" replied a shapely but matronly woman. She sputtered apologies as she pulled the little girl away but all Random could do was wave an acknowledgement. He stared blankly at the datapad. This was a basic exercise taught for trading on the market. It was used in advanced capsuleer studies to help prepare them and teach them how to wield the fortunes of empires. Random gaped as he looked at the pad. In the span of one minute, the little girl Gwynna, had converted a ten million isk bankroll into well over 276 million.

He set the datapad down carefully on the table and walked up to the bar.

"I'll take a double of the strongest stuff you have." The look of shagrin plain on his face.

As the mothers leave the bar, Indah gets back to her daily work. Yiole asked her how to meet with Ish, but Indah couldn't help; she knows that Ish will just disappear each now and then, sending news when she feels like it but rarely giving a contact adress, and that trend just grew stronger since she became a capsuleer and died.

As Indah reads a memo on some troubles going on at the back rooms, she's startled when a young woman adresses her.

- Ms. Indah?

Indah notices that the young woman is Mae, the mother of the infant girl she was holding earlier.

- Oh hi, Mae. Is something wrong?
- No, it's all well, but, I think... I may... i would... well, could you talk? I mean, can I talk to you?

Indah looks closely at Mae. She's a Gallentean, taller than Indah -that's not unusual- and with a plain looking face, with big eyes, a long nose and a large mouth which shout "Gallentean". She may be like 23 or 24... barely older than Indahmawar.

- Why, of course. What's the matter?
- Well, you're the first capsuleer i meet and... well.. feels... err... like a person I could meet...
- You mean I don't look like on dramas?
- Well, yes... I would not dare to talk ot a capsuleer unless...
- I get it. But here at the Greater Fool Bar we are an odd gang. The average capsuleer surely it's like what dramas portray. Many are worst. What was the point?
- I... well. I want to ask something... About her -Mae vaguely points at the baby in the pram.
- Oh yes, she's cute. Very quiet compared to the others.
- Well, she's a very good girl.
- What's her name?
- Ah, we call her Chribbette
- Chibret?
- No, no... Chribbette, you know, like the famous capsuleer...
- You mean Chribba?
- Yes... we thought that.. well.. was like a nice name, better than Maevaline. Maevalines don't reach far in life.

The harsh tone in Mae's voice surprises Indah and she can't answer.

- But don't think i'm going to rant. We're here at least, Chriby is such a good girl and this place is better than that godawful desert...
- Desert?
- Yes, we used to live in a desert... the place was so dry and hot that the insulation on the wiring cracked and then whenever it rained, there were short-circuits everywhere. A really awful operation, no place for a family no matter the wages.
- So you moved to a space station?
- Yes, it is better this way. And here Chriby can have friends. But then, what's the future for her?
- Huh...
- Well, I must say... capsuleers have a lot of oportunities that just don't exist to non-capsuleers. And it's right, well, not everyone can be famous or rich, we wouldn't appreciate it if everyone was rich. But then.. well, I see how we barely make ends meet... and Chriby is going to need so many things... and then there's the word...
- The word?
- The word, on how capsuleers are not just born like that... there's many nonsense, but there are ways... ways so... well, you know. So a seemingly ordinary girl becomes a capsuleer if she's raised the right way...

Indah quickly realizes. She reminds her own process to become a capsuleer, from the day Ish startded talking to her about it to the point where Ishtanchuk essentially ordered to the familty to have Indah tested. Indah tries to keep attentive as Mae explains the theory that picked her motherly heart as the right one, the one that could turn her love child into a capsuleer and rescue her from ordinary life. Indah can't tell wether it makes sense, but chances are it won't. As Mae notices that Indah is getting distracted, she says:

- But then i am not asking a favor for nothing. I can give... something. if you would like... please... would please to check wether the maizefication theory is the way how you and the others became capsuleers... well, I can give you something in exchange. That desert...
- No, there is no need... i can't tell you as i'm not a specialist, i'm just a combat pilot, and not a good one anyway. But I could ask some persons...

Indah repents of her words as she says them. Mae thanks her for her attention and insists about that desert, but gives no further details. As Mae goes away with her baby (Chribbette!), Indah considers ignorig the conversation... but she was raised as a lady, and she can't just break her compromise. She'll have to ask Ish... if Ish as much as deigns herself to provide a contact address.

Random looks up from his datapad as Sheimi sits down. "So, anything new happen today?" she asks.

"It has been a very interesting morning." he responds.

She looks down at the table and notices his datapad sitting untouched. Sitting by the datapad are three empty glasses. She picks up one of the glasses, sniffs the emptied contents and winces. "Its a little early, even for you, to be hitting this stuff." she says, setting the glass on the table and treating it as if it was radioactive. "Whats got you in the drinkin' mood?"

Random reaches over to the datapad and turns it to face her. "You missed the Greater Fool Daycare center we had earlier." He looks up to her and notices the look of total confusion on her face. He chuckles and says, "the Daycare center one flight up is being remodeled today. Indah took in the strays while the work is being done."

Sheimi settles into a less-than-dubious look and points to the emptied glasses on the table. "Ah, so not a big fan of kids then." she says, dialing in an order.

"On the contrary, I love kids. It wasn't the presence of the daycare that gave me pause."

Sheimi gave Random the 'gimlet stare' and says, "If I have to beat this story out of you, I will you know." She sits back into the chair with her arms folded and points her thumb over her shoulder generally in the vacinity of Yiole, "Your girlfriend will not be able to identify the leftover pieces."

A laugh bursts forth from Random as he holds his hands up in a placating gesture. "Easy, easy, ok, ok" he says, broad grin still on his face. "How long have you been a capsuleer?", he asks. Sheimi's brows knit as she shifts forward in her seat, "What does that have to...."

Random interrupts, "Hang on," he says "do you remember the basic trading courses we; well, at least 'I' did when you were converted?" She nods and Random proceeds. "On my datapad is a basic game that is supposed to 'keep you in practice'" he says, giving the universal air quote gesture. "One of the little girls in the daycare crew is a prodigy. Frightening, actually."

He points to the datapad and Sheimi glances down to look. "Two hundred seventy-six million. Yea, so what?" Sheimi says, with a non-plussed glance. Sheimi's breakfast arrives to the table and she pushes the datapad back to Random's 'side'.

"She was bankrolled ten million. It took her just under a minute." he responded. A good natured smile spread across his face as Sheimi's fork stopped midway between plate and mouth. She held that position, thinking through the situation and responded "Could be luck."

"It could be luck. It could be she's a prodigy." Random says dialing in his own breakfast. "Could you imagine the possibilites of having a market prodigy in your corporation?"

Sheimi levels the 'gimlet look' at Random for the second time and says, "I'm reasonably sure the my corp doesn't recruit landbound children, regardless of their luck."

"You're thinking too short termed, my dear." Random says, the broad smile returning to his face. "The isk values we play with daily are fortunes to these people. I should know, it took me years of knuckle dragging on war ships to save up for my conversion." His face turned more serious. "What I'm suggesting, is an investment."

He settles into his breakfast as he watches Sheimi ponder the possiblities.

Through the last of Sheimi's laughter, she says "Well, someone sure has it bad." looking at Random. "I'd swear that I just saw a hunting cat marking it's territory."

"Damn that woman has my number." Random mumbles, still watching the sensuously swaying form of Yiole.

"HEY!" Sheimi says, snapping her fingers in Random's line of sight. "Hey Loverboy, back to business, shall we?"

Random shakes his head as if waking from a dream and refocuses back on Sheimi. Her smirk carries all the way to her eyes. "Right." Random answers. "Business."

Sheimi sits back in her chair, confident in the fact that she has Random's attention. "So lets talk. You have something in mind, yes?" The laughter in her voice fading to a calloused businesslike tone. "Your right, of course. We deal in amounts of isk that the landbound have no concept of. With the amassed wealth we wield, " she said with a grand gesture, " we could buy worlds and peoples." She takes a look at Random and notices his color has arisen and his pale blue eyes stared hotly. "Not that we would buy people." Sheimi added, realizing that she has touched upon a sore subject.

She shifts forward on her chair, placing her hands on the table. "Look, the smallest amount of isk is a fortune to them. You seem to be fairly wealthy, if running a tab for the entire bar when the Swarm decided to raise hell in Jita is any indication." Her gaze intensifies as she stares at Random. "Why do you need me?" she said. "What do you expect me to contribute to this partnership?"

"I have three reasons, two of which I will tell you." he responds, a hint of ice in his voice. "First, I like to share." A dubious look crosses Sheimi's face and he continues. "I'll admit, my motives are not purely altruistic but you seem to be a decent sort of person. This is a long term venture for very little isk investment. If it fails, you have not lost much and it may not color your opinion of me overtly. However, if it succeeds, your corporation or even your own personal wallet should be pleasing to behold."

Her state of tension eased slightly as he continued. "Second, I was raised Matari. Differences among our bloodlines can be cause for quite a bit on contention. To be strong, we learn to fight. While it may work for us, I doubt it would work for a young Gallente girl. I'm not familiar enough with the other races and how they raise their children. I'm looking for the best possible way to nurture her abilities and I'm not sure that having a strong Matari presence would be beneficial."

Sheimi's impassive look turned to heated skepticism. "What, you want me to be her 'mommy'? I hate to tell you Random but I'm not the mommying sort of....." Random interrupted her before she finished her thought. "No, nothing like that. Information and opinion, that's all. Proposing this sort of thing to another Minmatar would be futile. I'm looking for a spectrum of opinions. If you buy into this and you have ideas as to how best to nurture this gift, you reap the benefits."

Sheimi nodded, the flush of anger passing. "And third?"

Random leveled a cool gaze into Sheimi's eyes. "...is my own. However, I will tell you that it in no way involves you or yours."
Sheimi's grin turned sly, she had hoped to trick Random into giving up the third reason. If he had secrets, so be it.

"So what kind of isk are we talking here?" she said, business like demeanor returning.

"A million isk, two perhaps." he said.

Sheimi looked at him for a long moment and then burst out laughing. "Are you serious? Two million isk?" her raised voice began to draw the attention of the patronage. She began wiping away the tears forming in her eyes as the laughter rolled from her. "Damn McNally, if you're practicing to be a scammer, you got a long ways to go." She eyed him as the laughter started to subside. "Yea, ok. Put me down for two million." She stood up and glanced down on her empty breakfast dishes, "oh, and breakfast is on you." She turned and walked back to her room.

Random chuckled and pulled out his credchip. He glanced up to notice that Yiole, deep in conversation with Indah at the bar, caught his eye and gave him a wicked little grin.