megabytes | Inbox: Mask or Menace

[ He suuure did. And Hiro's making some moderately upset faces because of it. When Megaman relents, though, he forces himself to relax a little. ]

It's okay. I mean, you're right, just ...

... You miss him, don't you?

Well, yeah, but...

[He is just so uncomfortable right now. What is he even supposed to say after doing something like that? He's not even entirely sure why he did it.]

[ He's quiet for a moment more, thinking. And then he materializes in the comm again, so that he can talk to Megaman face to face. (And maybe shake a few more Lan associations if Megaman isn't in the comm while Hiro's outside.) ]

What's he like?

[Oh Hiro. If only it was that simple.

He glances up for a moment when Hiro plugs back in before looking away. This is so awkward. It doesn't help that he's honestly not entirely sure how to answer that question. He knows Lan inside and out, and he's pretty sure he could accurately predict what he'd think of certain things or how he'd react to certain situations, but actually putting that into words? He's never had to do that before, at least not to someone who hasn't actually met Lan. Where is he even supposed to start?]

He's...excitable? Energetic? ...he doesn't like having to sit still, always has to be doing something. I mean, it's not like he doesn't sit around and relax, or read or watch TV or anything, he just...he needs something to be engaged in or he gets bored, or goes a little stir-crazy. [He frowns.] It's part of what makes getting him through a school day so hard.

[ He's got to try, at least. Starting by summoning up a puffy bit of data to sit on as he listens to Megaman. He wishes Lan were here - not just for Megaman's sake, but also just to meet the kid. He sounds great. ]

I know how that feels. When everything's slow and boring, it's a pain to concentrate.

[Megaman doesn't sit down just yet; he's gotten himself a little too worked up for that. Instead, he starts walking around a bit as he talks.]

I don't think he even tries. [Aaaaand he's off. Strap in, Hiro, this is gonna take a while.] Oh, sure, if it's a lesson on programming or virus busting or something he likes then you can bet he'll be taking notes and asking questions and being the most diligent student you ever saw. Everything else? Doesn't care. He just sits there and daydreams, or sleeps, or whines about how bored he is, or...or anything but pay attention. And then he complains when he gets in trouble for it!

[He lets out a frustrated sigh - this time there is audio, but none of the body language he showed earlier - and reaches up to rub the bridge of his nose. Navi headaches might work differently from human ones, but stress is stress and he's had plenty of time to pick up some habitual mannerisms.]

He's supposed to be starting sixth grade and I swear, I don't know how he even got into middle school. He almost never does his homework, he fails more tests than he passes, his grades are abysmal...I don't know what to do with him anymore! I've tried everything! I remind him of his homework all the time, I try to help him study, I do my best to keep him on task, I just-- I try and try but he never listens!

[Can you tell this particular rant is a common one? You might want to cut him off quick, Megaman can bitch about this subject for a looooooong time.]

[ Yeah, he can sense that. It still kind of stings because some of those things? Could probably be describing Hiro. Minus the bad grade, anyway. Hiro had aced everything immediately if just because he'd learned that he got out of it faster if he showed he could do it. He suspects Lan could be the same way if he figured that out too. ]

What does he like?

[Sorry, Hiro, he kind of assumed you were more of a model student than Lan is. His only real experiance with kids who skipped grades are Shun, Enzan, and Yaito; Yaito prides herself on being a perfect student, and while he only knows the first two outside of school, Enzan is...intense.]

Huh? [The question pulls him up short. Successful derail is successful!] Oh. Programming, mostly, and netbattling and virus busting. Um, art class. Soccer, too. And skating, he has shoes with detachable inlines and he skates everywhere.

Can't he do any of that at school? Or use it to get through stuff he hates? That's what I did.

I've tried that already, remember? I told you about his last summer research assignment. He didn't even finish that. [Granted, there was a rather urgent interruption...] He just uses it as an excuse to focus on what he likes to do and ignores everything else.

Then maybe there's something else. I dunno. Maybe school isn't right for him. I hated school ...

I don't know what else there could be. Schooling up through ninth grade is mandatory, so he can't just stop going. Besides, he wants to be a scientist, like dad and gramps. He'll at least have to get into a college of technology to do that.

... You're worried about him, huh.

Of course I am. He's my brother.

[He finally sits down, slumping to the grid with his legs crossed.]

He's so smart, Hiro, I just...I don't know what to do.

[ Hiro thinks for a moment ... then summons up a puff of data beneath Megaman so he can be nice and comfy too. ]

You should talk to Tadashi. He got me on the right track somehow.

[He blinks in surprise when that data cushion pops up. It's not something he would've thought about.

It's...kind of nice, that Hiro did it for him.]

...okay. I will.

Um...anything else you want to know? [He'd like to know more about Tadashi, but he feels like he really doesn't have the right to ask right now.]

[ He's all about making a comfortable living space in here, okay. Plus he's really considering designing viruses that look like Baymax, so this is practice. ]

About Lan? About doing navi stuff?

[For the love of all that is good in this world do not tell Megaman you want to make viruses of any kind, it will not end well. ~~Or at least wait until after he meets his first Popup~~.]

All right then, which one do you want to do first? Unless you think you can handle talking and data processing at the same time?

I think I could handle a little of both. If it's simple.

Well...how about going through different data types? Then you'll be able to recognize them without having to mess with them first.

Okay, yeah. Lay it on me.

You got it!

[He's just gonna grab Hiro by the hand and start hauling him over to data storage. Time for some hands-on learning!]

[ Aww yes, his favorite. Hiro gladly tags along. ]

What's this one do?

This? [He stops them next to the data stack Hiro picked - a pale sherbert green, riddled with odd-shaped chunks of smoky grey.] These types don't really "do" anything. Most of them won't - they're storage types. This one's mostly image files.

[This time Megaman deliberately sends a ping with the context-communication data for this particular file type, and for image files in general. Hiro might recognize them from his foray into Megaman's core; they're some of the many, many types that "smelled" of love and contentment and a myriad of other pleasant emotions.]

These parts are some kind of text storage format. [He points to the grey patches, pinging yet another context data type as he does. This one's just the general text data reference, and smells of curiosity and purple.] You really need to defragment your storage, by the way.

[ The pings startle him, but - he kind of gets what Megaman's trying to say here. That ping = image types. And the other ping = text types. Okay. He never was very good at languages at school, but programming was different ... Maybe if he thinks of it like learning a programming language, he can figure it out. ]

Is that why they - uh - smell? Or do they always do that.

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Let's just pretend that I didn't say "middle school" back there

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