1663/The Platonic Ideal of Burger

The Platonic Ideal of Burger
Date of Scene:	26 June 2016
Location:	Mitakihara - Kikoku Street - North
Synopsis:	Mikoto checks in on Fate, and introduces her to a little hole-in-the-wall burger restaurant.
Cast of Characters:	Mikoto Nakajima, Fate T. Waldia

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Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
It's been a while since Mikoto had the time and attention to check up on certain people. Some have left town, others are buried in their own schoolwork, and still others have other problems of their own. Still, she tells herself, she's been insanely busy, between her research, schoolwork, WPS, and the issues with Easter Corp. It was an internet forum article, mentioning a battle the Waldians had been involved in, that reminded her she really should check up on one person in particular.

On a fine Saturday morning, she got to work on it, placing a call to the Waldian house and inviting Fate to a chat over lunch. After some discussion (she was quite willing to take the girl anywhere she wanted, even the fanciest places in town), they settled on burgers. So Mikoto pointed out a small hole-in-the-wall shop she knew of in Mitakihara, where the owner caters to a small but satisfied crowd of burger connoisseurs. Trust Mikoto to find the gourmet even for something as pedestrian as a burger.

She arrives a few minutes before the agreed-upon meeting time, dressed casually in jeans and a tank-top and light windbreaker hanging open over it. A moment of paranoia strikes her, and she sends a series of Area Search spells around the neighborhood, just to check for any possible interruptions. She'd hate to have a monster attack happen right in the middle of lunch with a friend (she hopes) she hasn't seen in far too long.

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Fate shows up in a black shirt and white shorts. Thin black ribbons tie her hair into twintails. Her hands are in her pockets, and she's walking ahead. Arf isn't with her today, having gone off to handle some task or other. Fate should probably handle more chores herself, she thinks, but Arf just has so much of an easier time. Probably because the familiar looks a bit older than she does.

    Fate doesn't have much of a concept of schoolwork, not having been enrolled in school yet. She's still laying low, and doesn't feel comfortable handling school stuff when she's still not sure if her mother will suddenly show up and pull her back into her crazy world. Fortunately, as Mikoto's Wide Area Search might suggest, there's no one showing up to take Fate away today.

    When she spots Mikoto, Fate smiles and waves at the relatively older girl. The closer she gets to Mikoto, the more she has to start looking up in order to maintain eye contact. "Hi! It's been a while." She struggles to find words to say, but she looks friendly enough. "How have you been?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto almost visibly relaxes when her scan turns up no immediate threats. With all the strange things going on the past few weeks, she's been getting a little paranoid. Or maybe it's the continued absence of certain persons in her life. In either case, she's glad not to have to worry about a fight.

Spotting the blonde approaching, she waves back to Fate, smiling pleasantly and hoping she doesn't look too frazzled. She's had a lot of long nights lately. "It's been too long, indeed. I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to check up with you before this... Life's just sort of jumped on me with both feet, as it were. I've been incredibly busy."

It is perhaps fortunate that she, too, has a familiar to handle some of the mundane chores. And enough money to be able to just throw that at problems. Still, there are some problems money finds it difficult to solve. Like losing touch with people.

"I'm glad to see you're doing well." She holds the door open for the younger girl, the aroma of grilled meat, onions, fresh-baked bread, and many other things emerging from the doorway.

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    If Mikoto looks frazzled, Fate doesn't seem to mind or notice. At the apology, Fate tilts her head questioningly. "Hm? Oh! That's okay. I guess I've been hiding a lot. I didn't really want to be found by people who know me. I haven't even spoken to Riventon-kun yet, since that day."

    "But... Rune-chan and her friends have been really nice to me! It's a little strange, not having anyone expect me to work so hard, but it's nice. I guess I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do."

    As Mikoto opens the door, Fate bows politely and says, "Thank you!" before stepping through. She sniffs the air and disovers the delicious aroma of fancy burgers being made. Even though Fate wasn't expecting a whole lot, this is apparently a really nice place. "Wow!" she says out loud.

    She looks up at Mikoto. "I didn't know a place like this existed here. Is it as good as it smells?"

    Fate runs further inside, being the energetic child she is, before turning around to smile at Mikoto.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto steps in behind Fate, letting the door close with a soft jingle of little bells, the sound alerting the chef to the arrival of customers. It isn't really needed, since the grill is visible from the entry and vice-versa, but it's there. "I think I'll let my opinion of Riventon-'kun' go unspoken for now... it isn't fit for polite company."

She walks along behind Fate, casting a glance over at the counter. At this time of day the place is fairly crowded, with a number of people waiting on takeout orders. "As for good, it's better," she promises, with a grin. "I'd eat here every day if I didn't feel the need for variety in my diet."

Fortunately, there isn't that much of a line to put in orders. The chef is getting them out quickly, long used to the lunch rush. "How hungry are you? Shiro-san likes to make them big." Indeed, the patties on the grill are much larger than the little ones seen at McDonalds and the like.

"I'm glad Runealy and her friends are being good hosts for you... I like them, even if I don't work with them too often. Think of it this way, now you have room to figure out what you want to do, to be, rather than what someone else wants you to be."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Fate frowns at Mikoto's implied opinion of Riventon. She knows that other people don't see him the way she does, but what is she going to say in his defense? That he isn't a bad guy? His own familiar called him a villain. She decides not to pursue that line of conversation.

    Eating at one place everyday sounds like a good plan, though Fate imagines she'd want to get something else to eat once in a while. She giggles at Mikoto's response. "Well if you eat burgers every day then when are you going to have pizza or ice cream?"

    How hungry is she? Fate taps her chin to decide. "Well I haven't had much to eat yet today. I'm kinda hungry. Maybe a 7 out of 10 on the hungry scale?" Is there a hungry scale? There is now. Fate just made it up.

    What Fate wants to be. She still hasn't quite figured that out yet... but there are things she'd like to be. Strong, for one. She'd like to help people, too. "I think as long as I'm doing good things instead of bad, I'll be happy."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Exactly!" Mikoto grins widely as she advances a step in line. "Pizza, ice cream, sushi, all sorts of good food out there. This is just..." She waves a hand. "I hate to call something this good 'just' anything, but well, the Platonic Ideal of Burger is the phrase that comes to mind."

As if that made any sense at all.

She has no qualms at all about accepting the existence of a 'hungry scale'. And 7 out of 10 seems to be quite hungry. So she looks over at the grill, then back to Fate, and nods. "Right then. I'm on about a two-mega myself, but I'm bigger, so we'll get one for you and see how that goes. You like onions, cheese, lettuce, tomato, anything like that?" The grilled onions seem to be popular, but there are quite a variety of things available to add to the meat and rolls.

"Well, that's a good way to put it," she agrees with the last. "Can't argue with wanting to do good things. I've been throwing myself into research, lately. Trying to learn all about you-know-what." She fiddles briefly with a pendant in the shape of a sword, which Fate would probably easily recognize as the Storage mode of an Armed Device.

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Platonic Ideal of Burger? Fate stares blankly up at Mikoto, having no idea what that means. Fortunately, Bardiche is ever helpful, even in standby mode, and knows how to google things. When she telepathically receives the explanation, she says out loud, "Oh! Hehehehehe." She covers her mouth to giggle. Some kind of perfect ideal of burger. "Sounds almost like magic when you put it that way."

    Fate considers when Mikoto asks about toppings. "Weeeell, I should eat some veggies probably. I like onions! Maybe lettuce and cheese, too." She decides not to add much else, wanting the burger to remain small enough for her to eat it!

    At the motion of reasearch and the Armed Device, Fate looks up a bit sheepishly. "Watch out for that kind of thing. You saw what that same Jewel Seed did to me." She doesn't remember much of that day except what was recorded on Bardiche and what others told her, but she remembers that Mikoto took that particular lost logia.

    "I still have the other one I found. I just... couldn't give it to my mother. I thought she had a safe method for using them, but after having used it myself I don't think that's true."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto's smile warms and widens at Fate's little laugh, even her eyes lighten at the sound. "It almost is, really."

And a minute later they're at the counter, and she places the order, paying for it all with a wave of her hand over the register. (She has Carnwennan set to emulate her cellphone, and its link to her bank account. Convenient, that.)

"I know... I saw. I'm not going anywhere near those... just working on the basics, for now." No Jewel Seeds for Mikoto. Just working on how Devices work, and how to build and maintain them.

"That sounds like a wise plan. I trust you have ample security to keep it sealed."

She watches as the chef starts putting together three mounds of freshly-grilled beef, fresh-baked bread, beautifully caramelized onions, crisp fresh lettuce, and just-barely-melting cheddar cheese. Each is wrapped in waxed paper, placed in a basket, and served on a tray. A fourth basket of fries, and a pair of large soda cups, rounds out the meal.

"Ought to be a private-ish table in the corner we can use. Feel free to get whatever you want from the soda machine."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Fate nods. The basics. "Right. Well, that's okay. Devices are pretty complicated, but they're too nice to not want to mess with them." As for security... "It's safe. It will stay sealed, too. I'm not worried about that." No specific clues as to where it is, but suffice to say that it will be safe for as long as Fate is.

    Fate looks up at the tray, and at Mikoto's invitation she reaches up for one of the large cups. She walks over to the soda machine, which is a bit too high for her to reach, and looks behind her. Too many people around and watching, she notes. Too many for her to feel comfortable flying, in any case.

    Instead she simply puts one hand on the counter and pulls herself up, feet dangling underneath her as she operates the machine. A bit of ice, and a bit of Dr. Pepper. She's done this before, apparently, and when she hops back down she picks up a straw. No spills.

    She gets a few looks from the crowd, and someone comes by to offer a stool but she's already done. "No, but thank you!"

    Fate searches for the mentioned table and starts skipping in that direction, having taken a sip of her soda and gotten an infusion of caffeine and sugar.

    She looks back at Mikoto, saying, "Is it this way?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto nods. "So long as it's safe, I'll trust your word on that. Better that you not tell me anyways, what I don't know, I can't be forced to tell." Maybe she reads too many spy novels. Or has been in one too many Shadowrun games.

She hmms, apparently having miscalculated relative heights. Or maybe had other expectations. Still, she pours herself a soda, then sets it on the tray. "That's right," she says. "Just around the corner here. Gets us out of the noise so we can talk."

Indeed, there seems to be a little hallway with a line of small tables, leading back towards the restrooms. And the noise level is much lower than in the main part of the restaurant.

"It doesn't help that all the documentation I've been able to find is in MidChildan, and ... well. Mostly picked out of wreckage and broken computers, to be honest. I managed to get a nice big pile of it away from UMBRA a while back, and I've been doing a lot of work with that as a base."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    "That's the idea," says Fate. "Need to know basis, right?" Fate may have been reading those same spy novels. Either that, or she has very specific and focused knowledge. "Out of the noise is fine with me."

    When Fate finds the table, she takes a seat and sips from her soda cup. She looks up at Mikoto when she starts talking about Midchildian documents, wreckage, and broken computers. She frowns and just about rolls her eyes. "Sounds like you found one of the chunks of the Asura. The TSAB... their ship exploded. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but I think it had something to do with a Lost Logia going out of control."

    Wait... UMBRA... not just Eclipse but UMBRA, where Fate worked? She blinks. "I... think I remember something like that, actually. I was fighting Nanoha at the time. So that's what you've been basing your studies on?"

    She doesn't seem particularly upset about the wreckage getting away from her. Though she does frown at something. "Hey, so... how many records were on that thing? Like... maybe you don't know if you can't read them, but... is there a lot of stuff?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto sets down the tray on the table, and takes one of the burgers to unwrap. "I didn't even know that much, just that there was a problem with the ship getting through to Earth, and chunks were falling in every now and then. And yes, Nanoha was there... and Amu, the pink-haired girl, and of course Riventon."

A bite is nipped off the burger, and chewed thoughtfully. She knows there were mounds and mounds of stuff, but how much of it is relevant to what Fate's asking...

"Well," she eventually says, "There were a lot of computer bits, and a bunch of memory cores of some sort... I've managed to get them hooked up to my own equipment, but decoding the file formats and all, in addition to the language barrier..." She shrugs. "I did deliver a couple of crates of personal effects I found in the wreckage, gave it all to the Admiral lady."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    The Admiral lady... Admiral Lindy? That was the only Admiral that Fate saw associated with Virtue. She nods. "That's fair. It was their ship. They probably lost a lot of things when it went down." Fate frowns in thought, reaching out to pick up her burger and unwrap it. She takes a bite into it and wonders.

    After she swallows, she says, "I see." It still takes her a moment to think about what to say. "Yeah. Even if you could read Midchildian, you'd still have the problem of dealing with complex schematics. Learning how to build and maintaining devices is pretty difficult even for a Midchildian. I can't imagine it being much easier here."

    She frowns at one thing, though. "Wouldn't your device translate Midchildian? Or is it from somewhere else? I know some people have Belkan devices, though I'm not sure how those ended up there. Unless the TSAB's crash had something to do with it."

    Well, actually, that seems pretty likely, now that Fate thinks about it. Where else could they have come from?

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto nods and smiles a little, once again. "That was my thought, yes. I've no need to hold peoples' precious memories against them." The burger is as good as promised, practically exploding with flavor, and Mikoto eagerly digs in for another bite.

"And even beyond that," she adds, "There's the question of things like units of measurement and such, although I've got most of that down by this point. Still, there's a lot of work to it."

Another bite while Fate asks another question, and she shakes her head. "Midchilda wasn't even settled when my little beauty was made, as far as I can tell." That makes Carnwennan truly ancient, before Belka was more than a regional superpower. "Does yours understand old Belkan?"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Holding people's memories against them. Fate squirms about that. "I wouldn't know what that's like. My memories are so messed up. I don't know if you remember me saying it earlier, but I keep remembering the name 'Alicia'... and I have no idea who that is."

    She eats her burger, quietly. "I guess it would be a bit much to find something like that in those records. Alicia's such a common name."

    Units of measurement. Yeah, even if someone knew, it'd probably be a pain to convert every single thing. "I still haven't spent a lot of times learning the local units of measurements. I never thought I'd stay this long. Still, I grew up in Midchildia, so that stuff is second nature to me."

    Or at least, that's what her memories say.

    Fate tilts her head, while munching on a burger. Older than Midchildia. "That actually doesn't surprise me. There are a lot of ancient civilizations that have wiped themselves out. Bardiche doesn't know Belkan that well. I know a few people who used Belkan devices, but I never really looked into them."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto shrugs. "'Alicia' is a fairly common name here, too. Well, in a few other countries. Not in Japan. Still... maybe combined with your family name?" She hmmms softly. "It'd be worth looking... if I could read them."

As for units of measurement, at least there, things are fairly straightforward. "Shouldn't be too hard to convert. If we have a measurement of basic things in local units, then we can measure them with Midchildan units and that'll give us all the conversions we need."

A few bites of fries are put away, along with burger. There are plenty for both girls. "Mmm-hm. She's a very early Belkan design. They weren't quite as specialized in that era. Still, it means I don't have a lot of the up to date information that a modern Device would have."

She shrugs. "It's ... moderately frustrating, at times. I hate working with incomplete information."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    "I don't know why it'd be combined with my family name, but it'd have to be someone that my mother knew." Fate considers. "Maybe Alicia combined with my mother's name." That's all just so weird.

    "I'm a little surprised that Admiral Lindy couldn't help with that," says Fate. "She'd probably know more. I can probably tell you about distances, like..." She rattles off her height in Midchildian units. "And this burger, I bet it weighs about..." She rattles off a guestimation its weight. It's not super precise.

    "Things like time and volume I can explain. Bardiche can even measure magical output, but I'm not sure I could tell you every single unit that a Midchildian scientist would know. I don't suppose you've found any educational programs in your research? Maybe you have but don't recognize them."

    Fate leans back, taking another sip of her soda. "You'd need someone from Midchildia who'd be willing to translate things for you, or you'd have to study a Midchildian dictionary and learn the language yourself."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto shrugs again. "First, we have to be able to read them." She hmms softly. "I wonder if your Bardiche would be able to interface with one. That might get us over the file-structure issues, at least."

She nods, making a mental note. The height, if it's accurate, gives her a general guideline, although it probably isn't precise enough to be of serious scientific use. "You're probably right, I just don't recognize them because of the language difference and everything else. I don't suppose you have a dictionary you could let me copy?"

Her first burger is done soon enough, and she starts to unwrap the second. "Still hungry?" She smiles again. "Enough about my troubles. We can worry about those later. How are you doing? Is there anything you need? Any troubles I can help with?"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Fate frowns. Would Bardiche be able to do something like that? She asks. Bardiche pings, and Fate blinks.

    "I-I'm not sure it'd be that simple. I'm sorry, but Bardiche doesn't want to transfer data with other technology. Especially if it's from TSAB or from an ancient lost culture. It... really does have a mind of its own."

    Even if it was more willing, Bardiche has data that mostly exists to help Fate, and probably isn't that useful scientifically.

    What does Fate need? "Not unless you can make my mother be a nice person again." she laughs, a little awkwardly. "I already have a lot of money from when I worked at Eclipse. I expected them to come after it or something, but they never did. Runealy gives me a lot of what else I need. I think she's still happy with me for helping to save her world."

    She shakes her head and holds up her hand. "No thanks, I'm not hungry anymore. It was good, though!"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto nods. "It's okay. If you need any Device parts or tools, maintenance for Bardiche, I can probably help out there... I have a few things, at least. Or anything else, really... I mean, what's the point of having all this money if I can'd do nice things for good people?"

She'd say 'friends', but she doesn't know if Fate wants that... and she's just spent the entire meal talking about what she wants, and her own troubles. It's something of a disappointing realization for her, especially after she took so long to get back in touch.

"I'm glad you liked it," she adds. "It's one of my favorites, like I said, and it's always fun watching new people's faces the first time they try it." She hmms softly, drumming fingers on the tabletop for a moment, then takes another fry. "I mean it, if you ever need anything... money, a ride, help in a fight, someone to keep the police off your back... whatever. You have my number. Call me any time."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
    Fate shakes her head. "Bardiche can repair itself. I don't really think it wants any upgrades right now after what the Jewel Seed did to it."

    What's the point of having money if you can't help people? Fate shrugs. "I notice there are a lot of rich people around. Money seems like it's pretty easy to come by, for people like us at least." It's not like she hasn't ever had to pay her own bills before, but she's never had trouble with it, either.

    "I don't really think I need to keep the police off of me, and if I did I think I could hide on my own." Or ask one of her old co-workers, but she doesn't want to mention that. "... but I do have your number. I'll call you then."

    Bardiche pings at her, and Fate blinks. She's silent for a moment. "U-umm. I have to go." She pulls out a wallet and throws down a few yen, enough to cover roughly her portion of the meal. "Sorry, but something came up."

    She's out the door pretty quickly, and in a hurry, while a panicked familiar begs her help regarding a situation with animal control. Geeze.