Who: Liu Ying & Adam Vasic What: Demonic Tech Support Where: WalMart When: This afternoon Warnings: nope Status: complete gdoc
Liu Ying, Daughter of King Bianchen, Princess of the Demon Realms, General of the Demon Army, was attempting to buy some figs.
Liu Ying quite enjoyed figs. Their texture, sweetness and quality far surpassed any foods that grew in the Demon Realm, and because the Flower Tribe rarely visited, she was only able to indulge in the treat whenever they sent an envoy, about once every few thousand years.
Here they were not abundant, but available. Liu Ying had scarcely believed it when she had first seen them, out on a shelf where anyone could have taken them, and now she was attempting to buy them.
Attempting.
Unidentified item in the bagging area. Please remove or call for assistance.
“But in the area there is nothing,” Liu Ying argued back at the creature that was glowing red. “You can see it for yourself.”
***
It didn’t matter what time of day or night you went to WalMart, there was no such thing as a quick trip in and out for a couple of necessities. In this case, Adam was picking up diapers for Paige because the twins seemed to be going through more of them lately and he was hoping that the potty training thing would happen sooner rather than later. They had to be almost old enough for that, right?
He had hoped that the self checkout would be faster than waiting in one of the two lines that actually had a cashier, but when he saw a woman arguing with one of the registers, he was pretty sure that wasn’t going to be the case.
“It’s not going to understand you,” Adam said, walking over to see if he could offer his assistance.
***
“That much is clear,” said Liu Ying, confused and disgruntled. Why would it talk at her if it was not prepared to listen?
There was some relief, however, in someone who was willing to help.
She pointed at the flashing screen. “How do I tell it I have not yet put anything in the area of bags?”
***
Adam looked over at the bagging area and moved a few things, finding a candy bar hidden underneath the stack of bags. As soon as he picked it up, the screen stopped flashing red. “There you go,” he said. “Should be okay now.” These things were often a pain in the ass and super sensitive. He figured some unlucky schmuck was going to be mad when they realized they left their Snickers behind.
“Guess you never used one of these,” he said. “Do you know how to scan your items?”
***
So there was an unidentified item in the area after all. Liu Ying could spot a spy from thousands of feet in the air, but she was not certain she would have found that little package. She wondered what SNICKERS held.
There was another puzzle to determine now. She looked at the young man quizzically. “Scan?”
She pointed at the shelf of the creature. “I have seen others put their products here and move them off. Is this scanning?”
***
“Yeah,” Adam said. “Hand me your package.”
He took whatever it was that she was trying to purchase and flipped it over, pointing out the bar code on the bottom. “See that? It’s called a bar code. It’s a computer thing and it tells the register what item you’re buying and how much money it costs. That red light can read it,” he explained, pointing to the laser embedded in the register.
“So you told the bar code over the red light,” he demonstrated as he spoke, making the machine emit a loud electronic ‘bleep’. “That sounds means that it scanned.” He pointed to the monitor above the machine. “See, it tells you there what the item is and how much it costs.”
***
“5.69 is too much for figs,” said Liu Ying, who had learned that mortals enjoyed bargaining from her observations at the market. She turned to the machine. “I wish for a better price.”
Please scan your next item, said the creature.
She turned to the man beside her. “It truly does not understand me? I have seen rock monsters smarter than this thing.”
***
It was difficult not to laugh, but Adam knew that would be mean. Clearly this woman was from a different time and place and had no idea how shopping worked in a town like Madison Valley. “No, it’s not sentient,” he explained. “It’s a machine that is programmed to perform certain functions.”
The idea of someone trying to bargain at WalMart was also hilarious. “And stores like this don’t bargain,” he added. “The price is the price.” He imagined that would be a pretty different experience from someone who was used to a marketplace where prices were flexible.
***
Machine. Liu Ying took a moment to piece together some clues to connect the word to one she knew. Perhaps such a thing was like a golem, which had been given orders and left to be. She could understand, then, why it would not bargain.
“Mortals here are different than what I remember,” she explained. “The ones in the markets enjoy bargaining.”
She took a closer look at the man. While he appeared human, there was something…
“You have demon blood,” she said with surprise.
***
Adam assumed she wasn’t a mortal and figured that was probably a good explanation for her confusion over the whole concept of shopping. He was not, however, expecting her to mention his demon blood.
“Uh, yeah, I do,” he said, keeping his voice down. There were still people in town who were nervous around the displaced, especially those with powers, and a lot of people had an instinctually negative response to the idea of a demon. “How’d you know?”
***
“At first I did not pay much attention,” Liu Ying said, puzzled he had to ask, “but it is clear to me now that I have.”
It was as clear as the colour of his eyes or the tone of his speech. Liu Ying was of the demon tribe, and she could identify a demon as naturally as she could identify a dragon. It had taken her a closer look to identify this man, however, because he did not appear to be fully demon.
“But you have other blood in you,” she noted. She took a moment to try to identify any other immortal blood in him, but found none. “Mortal?”
***
“Yeah, my mom’s human,” Adam said. It was a little creepy that she could determine that so easily and he assumed that she was some kind of supernatural being, possibly a demon herself. “Dad was a demon lord. He possessed a human to impregnate her. They got me.”
His poor mother hadn’t had the slightest clue how to handle it when her son started to randomly set things on fire. Lucky for both of them, she’d found Robert Vasic and his stepfather was more of a parent to him than his biological father ever could have been. “And you are…?” he trailed off, hoping she would either supply a name or supernatural race.
***
Insert card or cash, said the machine.
And Liu Ying, caught off guard by the machine’s demand, stared at the screen for a moment before taking out the card she had been given upon her arrival. This card she had used before, but she was uncertain where to slide it.
“I am Liu Ying, Demon Realm Princess” she said, turning back to the half-demon. “And I do not know how to compensate this golem for my purchase.”
***
A demon princess was new, but Adam could roll with it. “See that slot with the blinking light?” he said. “You want to put it in there. The little picture on the right shows you which way to face it.”
All of those machines were different, but he didn’t want to break her brain any further by trying to explain that.
***
Liu Ying slid the card into the slot and quickly released it before it ate her fingers. She had been in danger of that once.
Carefully, she entered the sequence of numbers that would indicate she had made the purchase, and smiled with relief when she saw the golem thanking her. Finally, she can have her figs.
“Your help I am very grateful for,” she said, turning back to the half-demon. “Do you have a name, Little Brother?”
***
Adam watched with bemusement as she completed her transaction. “Any time,” he said. “I’m Adam Vasic. Pleasure to meet you, Princess.” Was he supposed to bow or something? He had no idea. His dad never taught him proper etiquette for dealing with demon royalty.
“Enjoy your figs.”
***
Liu Ying had never been one to stand on ceremony, except when it came to reminding disrespectful upstarts their place. This was not one such situation.
“I thank you, Adam Vasic,” she said, and picked up her figs. They had been hard-won, and will taste the sweeter for it.