trans_9 | [open] rebuilding what we can at the cost of what we can't do

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[open] rebuilding what we can at the cost of what we can't do

Sakura look a left turn between two disparate pieces of architecture, eyes sliding over them both without truly appreciating what they saw. An inventory of places that were problematic for being hiding spots, possible ambush zones, tactical advantages in territory ran though her mind, along with figures and numbers for things she kept track of to make sure her thoughts weren't allowed much time to wander.

As it was, they were still getting away from her, heavy with emotions and logical conclusions that played off loyalty and desire to protect all at once. It left her looking pensive as she walked through the city, making her way toward the Great Wall of a country she would never see.

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Sakura made a sound of amusement, one that didn't quite translate into laughter. "Ninjas are normal people, that's all. Normal for my world at least. Most of what we do is because we need to, and not because we can. If there's some bleed-over, if I think about it."

She smiled. "I'm proud to be who I am. People tend to have weird ideas about ninja around here, that's all."

"Oh... like what kind of ideas?" It was a relief to know that ninja weren't, say, aliens or something.

"Mostly that we run around doing ninja tricks all the time, wear a lot of black, and also are real big on assassinating people. In bloody ways, if films are anything to judge by."

"Well, I don't think you can run around doing ninja tricks all the time, but... where I came from, they did wear black. You know, to blend in at night. And they did try some assassinations. But that's not all they did."

"There are better choices for blending in, really. Think about how much someone in black stands out in a given group! Everyone working only at night is a strange Earth myth, too." She shrugged. "What else did your ninjas do??

"Mayybe," Atom said thoughtfully. "I mean, spies dress in regular clothes to blend in, but ninja aren't like movie spies." Yes, he was totally comparing ninja to James Bond.

"Well, it kind of depends. I mean, there was a lot of ninja stuff back home. Let's see... walking up walls, hiding in trees, carrying around swords..."

Sakura smiled. They weren't, were they? Sounds like some movie spies got part of what ninjas did right.

"Swords are more for samurai, if we're talking full-sized ones. Not that we aren't trained, but it doesn't mean the same thing to us. Few ninja believe some part of their soul is in the weaponry they use." She turned her hands over, showing her palms to the sky. "It's different for the samurai. Neither one of us walk around unarmed, but we tend to go for subtle most the time. Obvious is just so... obvious."

"Hey, obvious isn't so bad," said Atom. "Sometimes you need to be a distraction!" Or, you know. Serve as a damage sponge and make sure no one else got hurt.

"Yeah, I don't think the ninja in the movies made as big a deal about swords, either. Not like, um... knights." Although knights also liked horses. And armor! "Anyway, this place is pretty neat, huh?"

"Some people are living distractions." She might sound a little miffed, but her body language showed she was fond of whatever idea had just occurred to her. Or what person, in this case.

Knights? Ah, she figured it wasn't that important. "It is," she agreed. "Reminds me a bit of back home."

"Oh yeah?" Atom grinned. You couldn't fool him, Sakura! "Like who?"

He scuffed a little at the Great Wall with one boot. "Yeah. I flew over this place once or twice. It's a pretty big tourist attraction!"

She looked exasperated, not at Atom, but rather the person memory brought forth. "Naruto," she said. "My teammate."

His blithe mention of flying gave her pause. "You flew over it? What kind of flying?"

Atom had never really thought about the prospect of ninja having teammates... although come to think of it, it kinda made sense. After all, there were some jobs one person just couldn't do by themselves. Still, the way Sakura put it, it sounded like she'd been the one doing all the work. Maybe her teammate just kind of goofed off.

He blinked at Sakura. "Uh... the regular kind?" Was there more than one kind of flying? "My boots let me fly around."

Or Sakura took herself and everything else too seriously. Personality flaws, who has 'em?

There was no one regular kind in her mind -- ninjutsu based, technology based, magic base, or something else entirely (birds and dragons and faeries, oh my) -- but she supposed there could be in Atoms. Made sense, if she stopped to think about it. (She did. For a few seconds.) "That's pretty amazing," she said with a smile. "Can't say there's anything like that where I'm from. Do you like it? Flying?"

Strapped to Marco's dragonform back, Sakura adored it. Ninjas might be part adrenaline junkies at the core, but it was probably also what let them be successful at their work.

"Sure!" Atom said, smiling. "It's really fun, and you can get from place to place really fast. It makes it easy to get to buildings in the City you can't usually get to as easy, like Goliath's castle and up here. On Earth I could go up and hang out with the birds, but... I guess there aren't really any birds here. In Hydroponics, maybe."

The only birds who tended to be around here were either named Allen, or Animorph. Possibly Celena, or that other dragon.

"Have you flown around in there at all?"

"Yeah, I do it in the City all the time. I mean, it's the fastest way to get places. Unless you're on the train, but that's kinda only for places that are close to the tracks. And the most interesting places to explore are away from the tracks, you know?"

You did know, right, Sakura?

She did! If her nod, more of an incline of her head, was the most agreeance she outwardly gave. "The tracks cover next to no part of this City," she agreed. "Not to mention the rest of the ship, if flying isn't as practical in other sections."

"Nah," Atom said, waving his hand. "You can still fly in the hallways if you're in a hurry. You just have to look out and make sure you don't run into anyone! But yeah, do you know who built the tracks? They are pretty handy."

"I think that was..." she trailed off, searching her memory. "Rock Light. He was around a while back. He's responsible for the amusement park nearby, the one that's all run by robots?"

He brightened. "Wow, really? He must have been busy while he was here. I went to that Amusement Park and it was really fun! There was a roller coaster and a ferris wheel and a magician show and everything! I was wondering if he made all those robots. I mean, there are robots that are roboticists, but most of the famous ones are human..."

"I wonder why that is." Sakura did, honestly, wonder why that was the case. "Are humans more likely to try and create things in their own image? I mean, look at the Gundams. If humans weren't building so many robots, would we have a greater functional variety? Do other species create robots that look like or take after them?"

"Well... I guess people are more likely to make stuff they find familiar. But it's more like... on my world, the most advanced robots are built with the most advanced AIs. The most human AIs. Robots just aren't as good at making humanlike AIs as a human would be. Probably."

With one major exception, of course.

"I haven't met any alien roboticists before. Maybe they might not even make robots at all."

"Why would robots necessarily want to make humanlike AI's?" Mind, Sakura's world didn't have robots of any kind. To her, robots were any mechanical construct, usually with some kind of artificial intelligence to guide their actions. Presumably. She was guessing based on fairly limited contact around here.

Did "artificial people" fall into this category as well?

"What would they make, if not robots?" An alien roboticist that didn't make alien robots? Would that be an alien engineer?

"I don't know. Because humans do?" Sheesh, he wasn't a roboticist -- how would he know?

"Uh... maybe... spaceships? Or cool bio-domes?" Come to think of it, Atom might not have met any aliens at all, besides N'tho. "Well, maybe not that big guy on the ship. He looks like he's more into spears and swords."

For some reason, his answer made her smile. "What makes an alien alien, in your mind? Is someone not from Earth an alien?"

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