witchesreign | [BBS/ link to audio]

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[BBS/ link to audio]

[Sometime around stupid-thirty the morning after Espio made his post, a link to this audio clip shows up on the BBS.]

A'ight, so. Maybe it's a little late in the game t' be throwin' this out on the BBS, but. Espio wanted t' make it real so here I am, makin' it real. Got me thinkin' a bit, too.

See, people been usin' this word- represent. Been representin' since the day I was spawned. Got t' represent the District t' the rest a my people. Got t' represent my people t' the rest a the world. Represent my Division t' my crew, an' my family t' the sea.

Got lots a mixed feelin's 'bout Garden though. Wondered if it's even somethin' I want t' represent. An' I'm thinkin' right now the answer is yes.

See, whatever our history is, no matter where we're from, we're all mercenaries here. Soldiers, sheheheh. Fightin' the shitty wars nobody else wants t' touch. Every person here's trainin' hard every day cuz we're puttin' our lives on the line so other people don't have t'. Sometimes we watch our friends die, sometimes they watch us. An' sometimes the GFs ain't strong 'nuff t' keep it from bein' permanent. But y' pick yerself up, dive right in 'gain. An' I like that. Good fightin' spirit. Be proud t' represent that.

Garden's a place where y' get t' learn new shit, makes sure we all get some kind a education. For someone that grew up in the ghetto an' never went t' school cuz we couldn't afford it, that's big. [He laughs.] Hell, only reason I knew how t' read comin' in here's cuz Ma taught me out a her damn romance novels sheheheheh! But that didn't matter. Up in T-Garden they taught me jus' the same. Found out I was really good at some a it, too. Let me try my hand at teachin' for a year 'fore decidin' all Instructors got t' be full on SeeDs an' sendin' me here. I ain't the only one, either. Lot a folk come here an' find they got somethin' they're good at that they never expected. Be proud t' represent them folk, too.

Then there's the actual establishment itself. Maybe I don't like some things 'bout it. 'Kay, lots a shit I don't like 'bout it. But it seems like they're doin' their best t' have our backs. Shit, Zabala even declared independence so she could help us better. Can't imagine that was an easy decision t' make, or easy t' do once decided. Guess seein' that kind a stickin' yer neck out for people different from y' says somethin' t' me. Wouldn't mind representin' that aspect a things either.

So y' know what? Let's do this, Garden. Y' want someone t' represent y', pick the one that's goin' t' represent. An' that's me.

Shit, think I'm drunk.

[And the feed cuts off abruptly.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh yeah! [Maria jerks upright before she stops herself from running back to her room to grab her back issues of Weapons Monthly. Because that's something like twenty years of magazines.] I mean, of course not many people use gunblades. Right now I might be the only fully-accomplished Dragon-class gunblade user in the world, honestly.

[Namur switches out the CDs in his laptop, laughing inside. Damn she's so obvious when something catches her attention. He wants to find all the things that make her perk up like that.]

Sheheh! Yer the shit Sweetheart. Biggest gunblade badass in the world, computer genius... what else y' gonna add t' the list?

[True enough, she isn't a very subtle girl. Then again, swords with triggers that make them explode aren't very subtle weapons. So there's a certain parallel there.]

Hey, I didn't say I was the biggest gunblade badass in the world. Just the biggest Dragon-class-using badass in the world. And the computer's just simple programming. I only look better because I grew up with this technology, I didn't have to learn it all from scratch when I came here.

So if it ain't you, who is the biggest gunblade badass in the world? Oughta go beat 'em up, stake yer claim.

[He winks.]

Probably Seifer, or the Commander. [She means Squall, having never gotten out of the habit of calling him that even after Zabala took the reins.] And I'm not gonna beat down my heroes, man.

[Of course, Namur doesn't know she means Squall, or even who Squall is outside of vaguely remembering he might have heard the name in a history class or something. So he raises a brow curiously.]

Zabala uses a gunblade? Huh. Guess that fits.

Wha-no! Commander Leonhart! Did you sleep your way through your classes?!

[Maria hasn't stopped to think that maybe Trabia's classes aren't quite the same as Balamb's, of course.]

Naw, lot a 'em had male instructors an' that jus' don't work for me. Hard t' make it worth a dude's time when all I wanna do is kill 'im when he starts gettin' int' it, y' know? Sheheheheh!

I have no idea how you graduated, Namur.

[She says this fondly, though then she turns back to the laptop, pointing at the program.]

Okay, we've got enough for me to show you all this... it's real basic to start with, because you have a list of what you want to play and the order it plays in, and the program will play it just like that.

[He snorts.]

Well yer the one signed me off, Sweetheart! If y' ain't got any idea, pretty sure ain't no one else got the foggiest either!

[She pauses in her explanation to give him a Look.] I mean I don't know you got to the point you even qualified to take the exam!

[Have a good natured laugh in return.]

I'm a man a mysteries or some shit like that.

[He'll rarely, if ever, admit how hard he worked for it. Namur starts fiddling with the interface, moving songs around where he likes them.]

'Kay so I think I like 'em like that. Jus' push play an' let 'er go? What if I wanna put the music out through my boombox, how d' y' do that?

Just gotta plug the two together. Like using headphones basically. It's easy.

[Maria really hadn't done all that much for this program -- she'd relied on what was already there and just making it play well together.]

Well, ain't busted the program yet so I guess it passes, huh? Sheheheh. Thanks, Maria.

If you do crash it I want you to copy down the error message and give it to me. [She fixes a glare on him, eyes flashing.] I can't fix it if I don't know why it's breaking, you hear me?

[Someone has a little experience with the old programmer's delight of, "It's broken, fix it!" "What's it doing?" "Nothing!"]

[There haven't been many women in his life who could make his heart nearly leap out of his chest with just a look. Damn the luck one of them had to be this one that doesn't want to do anything about it.]

Sheheh! Got it, got it. Ain't gotta gimme the third degree sweetheart, I'll write it down.

[Namur clicks through some of the dropdown menus.]

How d' y' crossfade? Jus' open up the program twice?

Just use that button. [She points to a little button showing two arrows crossing.] It'll go from the one you're playing to the next one on the list.

[:/]

Uhh, that's not- well. Mean. Sure it's a crossfade but that kinda takes the skill outta it. 'S a thing, y' know? Like. The way y' line up two songs t'gether an' sometimes seein' how long y' can make 'em match up an' not sound shitty. Sometimes y' fade the same two songs back an' forth an' they call it a mashup. Sheheh! Guess some things're always gonna be better done by hand.

Oh... you want stuff like that?

[He wants crossfade, she gives him crossfade! She had no idea it was so complicated!]

Huuuhmmm, I can do something like that... I mean playing two at once isn't too hard, and then you could just adjust the volume. Yeah, I'd just need to go back to the code....

Yeah, that's how it works doin' it by hand. Y' jus' gotta have two decks that can play independent an' a set a headphones so y' can match up the beat a the second song, then y' pull up the volume on the second deck real slow so no one notices 'til the songs're already mashin'. Then once y' get 'em both t' full volume y' start fadin' out the first song. Takes a lotta practice t' do it right. Like. Uhhhh, let's see...

[Namur rifles through his pile of CDs again, finally chooses one and puts it in the boombox. He picks another song on the laptop, mashing the two on the fly.]

Well, that wasn't the greatest but y' get the idea.

Well, how was I to know? You just said crossfade!

[Maria shakes her head, smiling. Namur has surprising little talents and knacks.]

I can do that, though. In the meantime you could probably fake it by running two instances of the program.

Ha!

[He pokes her arm for emphasis.]

So I was right! Sheheheh!

[Namur swivels his head rhythmically. Look at that ego inflate.]

Really though this thing looks pretty damn wicked.

[A little more sober.]

Thanks.

I didn't know you wanted to do THAT! [She swats at his hand, not harshly. No pokey! His compliments and thanks breeze right past her as she frowns at the computer.] I can have it better... I can get it to do what you want it to do.

[Namur snorts a laugh, and goes to poke her again.]

How the hell d' y' not go nuts bein' so damn focused all the time?

[She swats him away again, and speaking of focused, doesn't even really need to look to do so.]

I like what I do. There's not much difference between work and play for me. I'm doing what I want, that's all!

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