trans_9 | Finally out...

Zouichi might have just passed him by without comment, but the man looked a little lost, somehow. Maybe someone who had come out of the pods recently, like himself?

"Are you looking for something?" he asked.

"Oh, Hello. Is there a library of some sort around here?" Albert asked, realizing that he was being talked to.

"The library?" Zouichi thought for a moment, trying to remember if he'd come across anything of the like. "I believe that may be on Level 5."

"I'm Kanoe Zouichi, by the way. Nice to meet you."

"Thank you." Albert took a moment to memorize the location of the library. Hopefully not much more walking was required. Already he was a bit out of breath. He couldn't wait to sit down and do some research.

Albert shyly, but professionally reached out to shake Kanoe's hand. "My name is Albert, Albert Hillsborough. How would you like to be called? Kanoe? Zouichi? Mister..?"

Zouichi extended his hand to meet Albert's. "Most people just call me Zouichi. I have no real preference, but "Mister" sounds a bit formal.

If you don't mind me asking, are you a recent arrival here?"

"Zouichi, nice to meet you. I arrived a while ago but have been running the maze and doing other frivolous tasks. I have yet to have the chance to get fully acquainted with Stacy." Albert explained. "How long have you been on board?"

"Not long," he answered. "I was released with the latest batch of people from the pods. I understand I was abducted from Earth shortly before it was destroyed. My version of Earth, anyway; apparently many people here are from similar planets."

"Oh?" Albert inquired, "Has anyone else from your version of Earth been released from the pods?"

Zouichi shook his head. "I don't think so. Not other than my AI partner, and I think that's only because she got picked up with my bike. What about you, have you run into anyone?"

"Yes, I bumped into Howard, an..acquaintance of mine from The FAYZ."

Howard? The FAYZ?

"You're from Howard's world? I'm sure he was glad to see a familiar face. Are you part of the... council that Howard is on?"

Albert nodded, "We were, at least until we were brought aboard Stacy."

"I see. I believe Howard mentioned Orc, but he didn't say very much about his other friends. He told me that you'd escaped some rather harsh conditions on your Earth."

"Orc and Howard had a mutually beneficial relationship. But I think they became friends, of a sort. Howard would provide Orc with booze, and the rest of the community with a 'service.' Most people would call it dealing drugs. And Orc would protect Howard." He nodded, "As to the conditions on our Earth, well, we aren't entirely sure what happened outside of The FAYZ. But inside the dome, everyone under the age of 15 was left to fend for themselves." It was tough to explain without having flashbacks. He was glad to be out, living in Stacy meant much improved living conditions.

"Drugs?" Zouichi frowned. "He never mentioned anything about to me."

"I am glad you were able to escape, though, however uncertain our futures aboard this ship may be. Is there anything in particular you were searching for at the library?"

Albert guessed that Howard had failed to mention how he got by in The Fayz.
"I was looking to do some research, read up on some economics classics." Basically, Albert wanted to gain enough knowledge to be useful and be taken seriously.

"Economics classics? Will those be useful aboard the ship?"

Zouichi's been given an education, but he's never been in an actual, physical library before.

Albert wasn't quite sure what he would find that would help, but there had to be something of use, something that would help him to be taken seriously. "Probably, they are the basis of common economic theories and principles. Stacy may provide a lot, but there may be something that she cannot provide or can be improved." Libraries were a great resource.

Zouichi nodded. He didn't know much about Stacy, but it sounded plausible.

"If you don't mind me saying so, you seem rather different from Howard, despite having survived the same event."

Albert didn't mind, at all. Though him and Howard were of the same race, they didn't share the same level of morality.

"Different people can react to the same stimuli in varying ways," he added. Though he knew what Howard would say, that they both found a way to survive.

Aside from the decidedly uncomfortable crew quarters - something about sleeping in what appears to be a sinus is upsetting to Howard for what is clearly no apparent reason - Howard still hasn't seen much to worry about on Stacy. The tentacles keep him safe from the crazies, and so far the general crew involvement in the war seems to be pretty low-key. In fact, he's almost gotten accustomed to the idea of never seeing anyone from The FAYZ ever again. Until walking through the hallways, he sees a familiar, shy face. And familiar khakis.

"Alberto! Where've you been? Oh man, did Spacey Stacy pack you an ironing board, too?"

Albert turned around in surprise. "Howard!" Wait-an ironing board? Where would he get that idea? His clothes were naturally pressed. Unlike others he didn't crumple all his clothes into a pile. "No, Stacy didn't give me an ironing board."

Well, Howard was not the person he particularly wanted to run into if he did run into someone from The FAYZ. But maybe Howard knew if anyone else was around. "Has anyone else from The FAYZ podpopped? Anyone who poofed?" Embarrassed, he tried to not mention Mary specifically.

Howard raises an eyebrow. "What did Stacy give you?"

He shakes his head and shrugs. "Just you, far as I know. No School Bus Sam, no Astrid the Genius, thank god no crazy zombie Drake." It goes without saying that Orc's not here either, by the way Howard didn't mention him. "But hey, it's you and me, at least. We FAYZ kids need to stick together. I've already been shot at since I woke up."

"Some 'bertos, my Mcdonalds employee hat and two AA batteries that ran out of juice." The only possibly useful thing was the 'bertos. Maybe he could trade them for something. As he touched them in his pocket, he wondered if Stacy had a form of currency. Did they need a form of currency? That was definitely something to look into.

"Shot at?" Albert looked shocked, he didn't expect Stacy to be dangerous. Next thing he knew their would be teleporting cats. He shuddered.

Howard grins a bit that Albert's kept the name, but secretly he's a bit disappointed that Albert didn't end up with anything more useful. Oh well, he can at least bank on the idea that Albert will help him accumulate goods in the City. "Just figures you got the hat. Don't tell me you actually plan on wearing it here."

Howard snickers. "Yeah, needle gun. The ship keeps you safe but I don't really want to test out whether it can stop a bullet, if you know what I mean. Turns out there are plenty of not-so-nice people around here. I've already met a handful."

"I'm not working at Mcdonalds anymore, so there is no reason to wear the hat here." Albert replied, though he did want an excuse to wear the hat again. Walking around with no purpose made him feel useless. Which reminded him of his purpose. "I was just on my way to the library, I was told it was on the fifth floor." Albert hoped he wouldn't get lost on his way up.

Needle gun, huh. Albert wondered what Howard did to irritate the people who shot him. Albert gave Howard a look that indicated he didn't entirely believe that Howard was blameless. However, if there were violent people on board, he did not want the pleasure of meeting them. He had better things to do with his time than get into fights and possibly die.

Howard rolls his eyes. "You're seriously going to go to the library? No one's going to take us seriously around here, Pennywise, no matter how many textbooks you crack. If you haven't noticed yet, you're fifteen and suddenly, we're not the big guys on campus anymore."

Howard returns Albert's skeptical look with a shrug that suggests that no, he has no idea what he did to get shot at, why would Albert suspect it was anything other than a random act of violence?

Albert had noticed. Unfortunately he was no longer among the oldest in the community, not on the council, no longer worked at Mcdonalds...This made it all the more important for him to read. Hopefully someone will take him seriously and give him some respect. "It doesn't hurt to open a book and read." He looked pointedly back at Howard,"No more dangerous than running into a bunch of violent people."

"No, but it wastes time. Stacy's covering all the resources here. You need to be networking with people, not hiding in the library. Or helping me salvage stuff from the unexplored areas."

He puts his hands up. "Hey, it wasn't a bunch of violent people, it was one Doctor von Wacko with a needle gun."

Albert doubted that 'Doctor von Wacko' was this guy's actual name. "So were you attempting to 'network' with someone holding a needle gun? Sounds like it went over well." He continued, "Stacy may be covering all the resources here, but I still may be able to find something useful in the library." Albert paused to think, "Besides, have you managed to salvage anything useful so far?"

"That was just plain curiosity. And at least I figured out how the anti-violence system here works," he says with a shrug. "And I've managed to dig up a formerly evil genius and a friend who kills zombies for a living, so try telling me that that might never come in handy."

"Are you scavenging for people or objects?"

"Well, I ought to continue on my way to the library. Would you like to join me? There might be people along the way for you to...'network' with." Albert suggested, partly just wanting to do some research unbothered in the library.

"There's a difference? I'm scavenging." Not like Albert doesn't already know about Howard's special brand of morality. "Eh, at least there's movies in the library if there's no one to get acquainted with."

He wasn't terribly surprised at Howard's response considering his...unique morals. "Really? Than the library has something for everyone." Albert wondered if there were any documentaries in the library.

"God, Albert, way to forget about blind people. Jeez." He rolls his eyes but tags along anyway.

"Stacy doesn't have braille?" Albert chose the direction that seemed it would be most likely to lead to the library. "Howard, you wouldn't happen to know where the library is?" He asked, doubtful that Howard had entered the library, let alone knew where it was. Well, it didn't hurt to ask.

"Heya. Looking for something?" Asked the teenager in the Starfighter Command uniform, bomber jacket unzipped.

"Hey, yes, as a matter of fact I was looking for the library." Albert explained. He didn't care to reenact a running of the maze.

"Back up that way a bit." Danny said, thumbing up the way he came. "2nd door on the left."

"You new? I'm Danny Fenton. Been here since the first podpop."

Ah, he just passed it. "Thank you, I popped a bit ago, but I'd been running mazes and doing some random errands" he said, recalling how annoying the activities were. to the glowing person with white hair who identified himself as Danny. "May I call you Danny? My name is Albert, Albert Hillsborough. It is a pleasure to meet you." Albert extended his hand for a handshake.

"Sure. Everyone on the ship does." Danny replied, grasping Albert's hand.

"What do you usually do for fun around here?" Albert asked, not used to the idea of relaxing. Though he knew that if he relaxed, it wouldn't be for a while. There were things to do first, like research.

Finally out...

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