X marks the spot

[zen_navigator]

Who: Dirk and OPEN
What: Productivity is the enemy of something or other. Map making.
Where: Out and about
When: Day 95

In an effort to get a better idea of the lay of the land, Dirk has made a rough map of the town, complete with all buildings, pathways, and obtrusive foliage. Like most of his projects, however, Dirk's map has quickly transformed into something obtuse and oddly managed. His current project is cameras. If he can mark down where every camera is, he hopes it will reveal where there aren't any cameras.

He's assuming for the moment that all of the buildings are wired, so he's starting outside.

Starting in the early afternoon, Dirk works his way across the town starting near the lighthouse and eventually working his way back through the town. He's trying to be systematic about his recording, but it's hard to be systematic when some of the cameras are so easy to miss. He climbs a few trees with his red pen tucked behind his ear, he peers up into the eaves of buildings, he checks under benches and around shrubbery, and he's filling up his map with small red triangles.

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[zen_navigator]

He found one. He's up a tree in the middle of the park and he's most definitely found a camera. He'd straddling a branch with a pen behind his ear and a map between his teeth when he caught a glimpse up something metallic higher up in the branches.

He quickly takes the map out of his mouth and squints upwards, trying to see which direction the lens of the camera is facing. When he pushes himself up a little to get a better look, the pen falls from behind his ear, bounces off of the tree branch he's been sitting on, then falls to the ground.

He groans in frustration. "Oh, come on!"

[purplishgreen]

Shiala herself is down by the lighthouse, enjoying the view, the smell of salty sea -- never quite the same from planet to planet, but nevertheless recognizable as intrinsically ocean -- and there's a peace to be found there, if nothing else.

Dirk, though, catches her attention, and she draws near to watch him.

"What are you doing?"

[zen_navigator]

Dirk is on his hands and knees with the improvised map spread out in front of him. He's taking an eraser to where he'd placed the lighthouse. Now that he's here, he realizes that it's a little further out than he'd originally drawn.

He hears the voice from behind him, but he doesn't answer until he puts the lighthouse in the correct place. When he does, he pushes himself to his feet. "I'm documenting the number of-" His voice cuts off the moment he turns to match voice to face. He's not sure whether to feel bad for being startled by her face, or to just go on feeling startled. He subconsciously holds his map in front of himself as a shield, and finishes his sentence with his tone of voice flat. "-cameras. And their locations."

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Meyer likes to wander, especially in a small town with very little else to do. Of course, it had been wandering that had gotten him attacked by a tiger, but he's learned his lesson from that, and doesn't wander anywhere near the woods anymore. It's on one of these meandering walks that he notices Dirk, who appears to be checking shrubbery for... something, and studies him curiously.

Normally, he wouldn't interrupt, but he feels a little stir-crazy, and conversation sometimes helps. "Looking for something?" he asks in Dirk's general direction, hoping not to startle him too much.

[purplishgreen]

Oh, that look. She's becoming accustomed to that look, but she grimaces a little anyway.

"A good idea. If we are to engage this enemy," though how such a thing would be possible, she can hardly judge yet, "then we should know their defences to begin with."

She refuses to go around justifying her appearance without being asked. She has some pride, after all.

"My name is Shiala. Perhaps I can help you."

[hung_garian]

Like many other inhabitants of the Cape, Gabriel is bored. Unlike them, his favourite way of livening things up tends to involve random dickery rather than anything potentially constructive. This is particularly unfortunate for anyone who happens to be wandering around, as Dirk is - they're almost inevitably going to fall victim to one of his latest attempts to... well, to get on their nerves, frankly.

Of course, Dirk stands out more than most do. Gabriel's been watching him for a while, silent and invisible (which is, incidentally, how most people prefer him), and he's seen him do all manner of unusual things. He comes to the conclusion that Dirk is looking for something, though he doesn't know (or particularly care) what: Gabriel's concern isn't with what he's doing, only with how much entertainment he might be able to provide. That in mind, he strolls up to him, visible now and - for all intents and purposes - just another guy.

"Wrong time of year for an Easter egg hunt, isn't it?"

[zen_navigator]

"Engaging?" Whoa there, he never said anything about engaging. He is really not the run-into-battle type, thanks. Though that assumption does give him some information about Shiala, and it isn't making her any less intimidating.

"I'm looking for cameras, not...gun turrets." Or whatever else might actually be called a defense in Dirk's mind. He folds the map and tucks it under his arm, then offers a hand for her to shake. Hey, formalities are formalities, and he's English. He's not going to let being slightly scared of her stop him. "Dirk. Dirk Gently. Nice to meet you."

[zen_navigator]

Dirk does startle, but just a little and only because he hadn't heard anyone come up behind him. Without turning around to take in the new face, he lifts the hand containing his map-making effort, handing it back. The paper is covered in instances of small red triangles over a penciled-in map of the town.

"Cameras. They're everywhere around here. I thought it might be useful to have a record of exactly where"

[zen_navigator]

Dirk is looking up into a tree outside of the bar. He'd thought he'd caught a glimpse of something that might be a camera, but it's hard to be sure. The tree, though, isn't offering much in the way of help. There aren't any particularly low branches that might make it easy.

When this new guy comes strolling up, it's exactly what Dirk needs. He disregards the guys clever opener in favor of waving him closer. "Ah, perfect! Come here and give me a boost."

[hung_garian]

"A boost?"

He glances from Dirk to the tree, and then back to Dirk. A few questions cross his mind, and a few sarcastic little quips too, but he forgoes them in favour of a simple:

"Why?"

[recognize_an_opportunity]

"Good idea," he says, immediately looking at the paper curiously. That he hadn't thought to do something similar is surprising, almost, but then, nothing is quite normal in this little town, and that includes various reactions to it. There are quite a few cameras already marked on the map, but he imagines there are more simply waiting to be discovered.

"Are most of them well hidden, or do you find that they're mainly in plain sight?"

[purplishgreen]

"Their knowledge of us is certainly a form of defense, if a less obvious one."

Shiala looks at his outstretched hand for a moment, hesitating, but she's at least familiar with this custom, and the clasping of hands is at least something that most species have no problem interpreting as friendly. She takes his hand and shakes it, warmly.

"A pleasure, Dirk." She does, however, give him a slightly exasperated look, and sighs. "You are obviously one more human who has never seen an asari. You may as well speak your mind now and get it over with."

[zen_navigator]

Dirk has a knack for confusing people into compliance. Just go with it, Gabriel.

He tucks his map under his arm and links his hands together, demonstrating a foothold. "To get into the tree. Come on."

[hung_garian]

"Doesn't really answer the question."

Still, Dirk's knack seems to work - despite Gabriel's tendency to troll people (and enjoy the hell out of it) he's bored enough to actually be helpful. Especially when the victim beneficiary of his aid is someone as interesting as Dirk. He rather appreciates people a little out of the ordinary. He steps into place under the tree and obligingly forms a foothold with his hands, as demonstrated. He doesn't look as if he's braced himself at all, but if Dirk ignores that he'll find that Gabriel is deceptively (inhumanly) strong. Unfortunately, Dirk's not completely in luck here: Gabriel doesn't stop talking.

"So what's up there that you're after, huh? This a Faraway Tree kind of deal? Or are you just one of those treehugger types?"

[zen_navigator]

"What is there to say? You're green." He shrugs. He's not all that sure what one is supposed to say in these situations. She looks nearly human. After the initial shock, he's more or less alright with her appearance. It's more her military-sounding background that he's interested in (and a bit scared of).

Belatedly, a question occurs to him. "Are you not from Earth? Everyone I've met here so far I believe to be from alternate versions of the same planet."

[zen_navigator]

"A little of both." Dirk extricates himself from the bush, having not found a camera in that particular spot, and straightens to his full height to greet whomever it is that he's been talking with. "The ones in the eaves of buildings and inside are much easier to spot. The ones buried in the foliage, less so."

Dirk offers his hand in greeting, along with a slightly harried smile. "Dirk. Dirk Gently."

[zen_navigator]

"Faraway Tree?" Yeah, sorry, Dirk has no idea what that is, but he's not going to let that stop him from taking advantage of the boost Gabriel is offering.

With the step up, it's not difficult at all to scramble up into the branches. He doesn't take any particular notice of his step's apparent strength, only that it held well enough to get him onto his perch.

"No, no, I'm making a map." He drops his makeshift map from the tree so that Gabriel can see. It's a rough outline of the town, marked with several red triangles. "The triangles indicate surveillance cameras."

[recognize_an_opportunity]

He shakes Dirk's hand, offering a smile in return. "Meyer Lansky. As good of an idea as this is, I have to admit, it's a little disconcerting to see just how many cameras they have. Makes me wonder if there're any spots in this town where there aren't cameras."

The idea of being watched everywhere you go is an uncomfortable one, to him. As a deeply private person, and one who often feels watched anyway, the cameras simply validate the need to be paranoid, to him.

[purplishgreen]

"No," Shiala answers, more amused than anything, "I am not. The asari are from Thessia, originally. I have never been to Earth, though I've heard of it, of course."

Green. She is certainly green, and while she's mostly come to terms with her reflection in a mirror, it's a lie to say she isn't entirely unselfconscious about it, either.

"If you ever meet another asari, Dirk, it would probably be good to know that green is not a normal colour for us." Her smile is slightly wry, but it poorly masks her agitation. "It's a... condition I have. Most are some shade of blue. My own complexion tended towards purple, once."

[thezerothlaw]

In the midst of town, near the library, Daneel comes across Dirk,and he takes a moment to consider what he's doing, what it seems like he's trying to accomplish. His own plans were very small -- an attempt to go find novels from the library, for research purposes -- but these are easily abandoned.

"Might I offer some assistance?"

[hung_garian]

He catches the map easily enough and leans back against the tree trunk to take a look.

"Been a busy little bee, haven't you?"

He doesn't seem particularly interested in the map, but despite the bored look on his face, he's paying attention. Having an angelic mind instead of a human one helps with memorising it in a matter of moments: just how good his memory is hasn't always been a good thing for him, but it does come in handy. And while he's not overly concerned about his privacy, knowing where the surveillance cameras are could well be one of those handy little pieces of information. He looks back up into the tree, at Dirk.

"And you think there's one up there, do you? Not sure what it'd be catching, besides baby birdies and the occasional nutter looking for cameras."

[zen_navigator]

He takes in this information with interest. "Really. Well, it definitely suits you." He's not sure whether he's flirting or placating; he'll let her decide on that one.

"In my younger years I contracted the chicken pox. Red spots the entire length of my body." He raises his eyebrows at her and nods, as if this is somehow information that she might want. Is this helping? Yeah, he's not very good at this sort of thing.

[zen_navigator]

Dirk walks around to look over Meyer's shoulder at his map. "It seems that they've got it all well covered. Keeping watch." Dirk isn't really the best person to be talking to if Meyer is looking for reassurances. But he isn't finished with the map yet. There could be a spot not covered by the cameras? Yeah, probably not.

Meyer's accent has caught Dirk's attention- He'd met another man with a similar enough accent not too long ago that's he's willing to guess that they know each other. "Are you part of the poker group at the church?" He takes his map back from Meyer and takes another look at it before folding it in two and tucking it under his arm. "I'd like to take a look inside, but the man I talked to seemed rather...proprietary about it." By which he means Charlie threatened the hell out of him and he's not keen on poking around without an escort to foist the blame on should Charlie come back around asking questions.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

His accent, which had never struck him as particularly notable before he'd arrived here -- to his own ear, he sounds like every other Lower East Side, Jewish, immigrant kid he's ever met -- seems to attract attention here. Somehow, people manage to consistently link him to Charlie, just from their ways of speaking. He has to admit, nobody around here sounds much like them, and maybe their respective accents are dated to their place and time. It's an odd thought.

He nods. "Yeah, my partner Charlie and I run the poker game. I can give you a look around, if you want." He'd like to know where the cameras are, too, if for no other reason than to know how closely the poker game's being watched. At the same time, he's not at all surprised that Charlie had been uneasy about having this guy poking around. It's different if Meyer gives him the tour, though.

[purplishgreen]

An irrelevant story, but her mouth quirks with humour regardless. "It isn't that sort of condition," Shiala says. "I suspect that this is permanent, but who can say?"

Still, she imagines a small human child covered in red spots from disease -- a non-threatening one, surely -- and the image is at least diverting.