Language LOL: Translator Malfunction

[rumham]

You know what's cool? Chatting with your pals. Reading the Internet. Navigating the roads because you can understand the Gods-damned street signs. You know what's not cool? Not being able to do any of that. By that metric, one might describe today in the Nexus decidedly uncool.

It's utterly without warning that the multiversal hub goes from automatic to manual translation. Shop signs, radio and television broadcasts, conversations on the streets between vendors and friends and businesspeople are suddenly a jarring cacophony of dissonant languages. Then there's the silence. Then there's the shouting. Turns out people get pissed off when nobody understands them!

Momentary chaos dies down as the average people of the Nexus come to grips with their new situation. Shopkeepers wait outside their stores and stands with expectant expressions, impatiently waiting for the translator to pull itself together and start working again.

Except...

It sort of doesn't.

No, it super doesn't.

Citizens of the Nexus, it would appear you're going to have to adjust...

((The temporary LANGUAGE LOL is now underway! It's freeform fun until you're done and participation is completely optional. Don't feel like this event should stop you from making threads which are unaffected by the LOL in the mean time. If you want your Language LOL'd character to interact with a non-LOL thread, please ask the OP if they want to play that dynamic first. For the OOC and organization post, GO HERE. ))

Comments

[heirtothearcane]

"No..." Viatorus answers bemusedly. Thoughts on Harrowheart rolling his eyes at other people are soon forgotten in the face of their surprise.

Caspar's question gets a small frown of disapproval, but it's Adia's comment that surprises him the most. Surely she should understand trying to educate someone to get them to get along with people better.

"Have you met him?" He asks Adia a little more sharply than he means to. With his soft voice and anxious mannerisms it doesn't compare to his sister, thankfully, but he still looks self-conscious the moment he asks. Quietly he continues, "It's not right to condemn someone for a mistake like that. Not without trying to teach them, not without trying to make them understand and give them a chance to improve, to make amends. We all come from different places and understand the world in different ways. If we need to take the time to teach each other and learn from each other, shouldn't we be happy to? Isn't that part of being in the Nexus?"

[chiron_survivor]

"No," she admits, her gaze dropping at his sharp tone and continuing to hold there while he speaks, mouth turning into a guilty frown. It's true, she hasn't met Doctor Hill to judge his intentions for herself. And if it were nearly anyone else, she'd be giving the same exact lecture as her friend. "But..."

But it's not just the body swap, or the lack of obtaining consent, or the obvious ire that Isidor has for the doctor. It's Josh. Doctor Hill was his psychiatrist, and yet the one time they spoke of it, her friend looked so haunted, so scared, that she never mentioned it again. If Doctor Hill can put that kind of fear into her friend, then what sort of a person is he?

Is he even a person at all?

She doesn't get a chance to vocalize her concerns, because Caspar suddenly speaks up, his expression hard. "You ever hear the phrase 'Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me?' Swapping people's bodies isn't a mistake. Someone with that kind of power using it as a kind of trust exercise isn't someone I want my girl around. You got it? You go ahead and give out your second chance, don't drag her into it."

"He's not wrong," Adia says, giving Caspar a look. He crosses his arms, but doesn't back down, and she doesn't know whether to be grateful that he's looking out for her, or frustrated that he's generating conflict. "I think..." She looks back at Viatorus and sighs. "I think maybe we should get going. Send me a text when you can see me at your office, okay?"

[heirtothearcane]

She hesitates and he hangs on that unfinished sentence with baited breath. Is she going to explain her fears so that he can resolve them? Or maybe the pause is her realising, is her understanding...

Instead Caspar speaks and his expression, his tone, his harsh words hit Viatorus like a slap to the face. He ducks his gaze to avoid their eyes meeting, as if it might hide his reddening cheeks. A voice in his head wants to say that Dr. Hill is different, he might not be human but he's still a person, he can still learn if they only give him the chance... Words that remain unspoken as he bites the inside of his lip to stop himself from saying anything else. He simply waits until Caspar has finished chastising him.

Only when Adia speaks up again does he move. He nods and glances so quickly at her that it's hard to spot what passes for a smile flickering across his face. Then he gets to his feet, nods to them both and mumbles a quiet, "Very nice to meet you."

He hurries off and Lyall gives them both an exceptionally suspicious look before following the scholar.