Fandom Library, Wednesday, January 14th

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

The library wasn't as weirdly quiet as it had been last week, for which Arden was grateful for. She didn't know if whatever it had been had run its course, or been thwarted, or something else had happened, but it hadn't happened on her shift, and for that, she was grateful.

As for this week, the castle made of books she passed on her way to the circulation desk? Didn't even rate a mention on the weirdness scale.

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[sairis]

"Oh." Yeah, that made sense. "I hadn't realized there were so few new people. Hello."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I mean, we're all new to you," Arden said, nodding. "How could you possibly know who was new to you and who was new to the island? But yeah, welcome, can I help you find anything? Or answer any questions?"

[sairis]

"I'm trying to learn how to use a phone," Sairis said. He took his out of a pocket and showed it to her. "I'm not sure what most of this even is."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh! Yeah, I can help," Arden said immediately. "Do you mind if I poke at it for a second and familiarize myself with it? Everybody's phone is set up a little differently."

[sairis]

"Is that all right?" Sairis asked. "I really just thought I would find a book."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"It'll be a lot easier with me than with a book," Arden said. "But if you'd rather, I can direct you over to the technology section? Though, real talk, I can't promise you'll find exactly what you're looking for. There are a bunch of different types of phone and more are released each year, so even if you found a book about it, there's no guarantee that it would necessarily match your phone."

[sairis]

Sairis thought about it. "If you don't mind, then, I'd appreciate your help." He held out his phone to her.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh, good!" she said as it was handed over to her. "It's charged, so you already got that covered!" She started poking at it, looking at various apps and the like. "So, when you say you're not sure what most of this stuff is, do you mean there are a few basics you already know? Or are you handing me a weird light-up rectangle that you've been told does stuff?"

She looked up and gave him a small smile. "Either answer is fine, I just don't wanna assume too much or too little knowledge."

[sairis]

"I'm still learning electricity, but I looked at the things in the main room and figured it out," Sairis said. "Other than that..." He sighed. "Mostly a weird light-up rectangle. I'm told it can pass messages to people, but not how. Or why, for that matter." Fandom might be larger than he was used to, but it still wasn't exactly huge; he could just go talk to them.

"I can see there's a picture that says 'music', and I was curious about it, but there's nothing there. Apart from the music and the messages, I have no idea what the other pictures do."

What even was "Google Chrome"?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Looked at things in the main room...?" she asked, unsure what he meant.

[sairis]

"The room in the dorms with the food equipment," Sairis clarified. "I saw how they connected to the wall to charge, so I did the same thing with this one."

It was all "charging", right?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

That was for another lesson.

"Oh! A common room! Okay, I get what you mean. Okay, so first thing, lets look at the physical component of the phone, okay?" She went over the volume controls and how to turn the phone on, off, and force restart, pointed out the cameras with a brief explanation, and suggested getting a screen protector and a phone case.

"You with me so far?"

[sairis]

"I think so. So it can be on or off, which is whether it's powered or not." That part seemed simple. "It makes noise, and these control how loud that noise is. And it will hold an image it sees, using this thing as a sort of eye. And it's fragile."

He frowned. "Do you think I could use magic to protect it, or would that interfere with its power? Oh, that reminds me - I'd also like a book explaining electricity."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I have no idea," Arden said, cheerfully. "There's a bunch of different magics out there, so even if I knew how one type interacted with electricity, I couldn't tell you about any of the others. But I'm pretty sure I can find you some books about electricity."

She paused in her explanation of his phone to do a quick search for 'books explaining electricity,' and printed the list out, including the reference numbers. "Do you want to continue your phone tour, or would you rather go get your books?"

[sairis]

"The phone tour, please," Sairis said. Though now she was so cheerful she was making him a little nervous. "I can get the books before I leave."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Ah yes, that dangerous behavior: cheer. It was a good thing he was meeting her in the library, otherwise she might have moved up to the terrifying aspect of chipper.

"Okay, so all these little pictures here are icons, and they all represent a different application on you phone, and do different things. This one is what you press to make a phone call, which means you speak to another person in real time, no matter how distant the two of you are now. Whether on the other side of the ocean or the world, you can have a conversation much like we are now. Normally, with a phone call, you just get their voice, but you can also choose to make video calls, where you can see and hear them."

She went over phone numbers and how they were needed to reach other people's phones, and then swiped away from the phone app and pulled up the one for texting. "Instead of a conversation, this is like leaving quick, informal notes to one another, but again, they're sent and received from anywhere." Then to his camera apps, his calendar app, and hey! Google Chrome. "This brings you to the internet," she said. "The sum of pretty much all human human knowledge and, unfortunately, a whole bunch of its stupidity as well. Have you learned about the internet?"

[sairis]

Look, it was weird when people were nice! Sairis hadn't ever seen it and didn't know what to do with it!

"So far, I have learned it's the sum of pretty much all human knowledge and, unfortunately, a whole bunch of its stupidity as well," Sairis quoted wryly back at her.

So, no.

This was all pretty amazing already, though.

"So the texting is like sending mail back and forth, and the phone is like mirror-spying, only two-way, and the internet is like...a really large library and archive?"