[FFML][Nukunuku] Bottle neck part two <teaser>]

This is a teaser not even a draft really...but is kind of long. 

C&c welcome.

apologies to Rich Lawson and Yuzo Takada.




part 2

"So when Poe's repetitive usage of a specific meter coincides with the
rhyme on several occasions, it is considered creative?" NukuNuku's brow
furrowed as she looked at the literature on the page. She didn't need
to, she had memorised it already.

"Yes, and skilful. If they can tell a story..."

"But It is not difficult to produce words that arrange that way." Kyu
groaned. This was the third time he came back to this point. She was
improving on this point of creativity, watching various media and
listening to music trying to develop the taste for such things, but the
depth of high school comprehensive foreign literature proved to be her
greatest hurdle yet.

"Maybe I should approach this differently..." He began to scratch his
head, thankful that he had gotten sleep the night before. He doubted he
would have had the stamina for this otherwise. He stretched his arms
upward, sitting upright slowly.

They had been sitting on the floor in front of the computer loft area of
his apartment, somewhat in front of the hallway. They'd have use the
table, but there was sensitive equipment on it at the time.

"I'm sorry, Papa-San...," she said weakly, her eyes shrinking in
disappointment.

"What for?"

"That I'm so slow...," she mumbled.

"Slow!?" He stood up. "SLOW!?" his thin frame began to quake with anger.
NukuNuku shrank back from him, pulling her knees to her face. Kyu
deflated quickly, seeing his tone of voice had gotten out of hand. "Look
at me," he said more calmly. "You are a beginner, NukuNuku. Not slow.
There is a difference." He wrapped his arms around her and her knees.

NukuNuku was embarrassed. She was so slow she couldn't figure out simple
literature concepts and now she had made Papa-San angry. She felt
miserable and if she could have cried she would have. Everybody kept
telling her that not being exactly human yet wasn't worth worrying
about. They were so wrong, so very very wrong. Everything was so
important to her being totally alive again. Every new nerve net in her
skin, like the first one in her lips, able to feel every cool air pass
over it; every sound she made, to be carefully tailored to come back to
human. Every idea, every concept, every sight, everything was so
precious to her.

Every Experience...

"You are very very fast, NukuNuku. I should know, I designed your
systems myself." She sniffled, trying to feign crying effects. "Oh hush,
girl. Its just that your new to these Ideas. Almost nobody can take off
with something new without natural talent." She looked past her knees at
Kyu's face, shrouded by his oh-so-badly-needed-trimmed bangs, curios. No
matter what, Papa-San would always say things to NukuNuku, when she
wanted to listen most. "Do you think I was a great cyberneticist?"

She sniffled again as her posture began to straighten, her face asking
the question for her.

"No of course not, NukuNuku. I was never any kind of certified
cyberneticist. I was a, well... am a roboticist. And no I wasn't good to
start with." He relinquished his embrace on her and stood up again,
making his way to the kitchen area. "I had to learn a lot and I had to
learn how everything I knew was important." He reached into the fridge,
fulling out a sake bottle. He grunted as he noticed it was empty, but
then noticed a fresh unopened one next to it's place.  "I also had to
learn how to mix up what I learned. To get new ideas, you know." (She
must have bought this.) He pulled a can of sardines out as well before
shutting the door. "And that took time, NukuNuku. Lots of time, and
help..." He looked at the photo album in his computer loft before
sitting down. "...from those around me. They taught me much."

"You've taught me much, Papa-San!"

He laughed softly as he took his seat. "And you've taught me so much. I
had to relearn ho to do things for you."

"Relearn?" she said genuinely intrigued with his dialogue.

"Yep. I had to think about one thing while thinking about another, and
then I had to remember why the two separate things related." He popped
the cork with the key from the sardine can. "I had some practise with
Ryu, but..." he handed her the can. "You were entirely new. I was a
beginner..." She began to idly munch on the contents of the can.
"hmm...That gives me an idea..."

"Hmm?" she sighed softly. Kyu continued his silence for a moment

"Okay. Try this. " He re-seated himself near the study materials.
"poetry was like... a program for people of the past."

"Program?" She blinked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah. To write something they had to use parameters and couldn't step
out of them." He began to point to 'The Bells' by Poe, and its haiku
counterpart by Edogawa Ranpo{ed note 1}. "Their language was one
parameter."

"Uh-huh."

"Their topic was another. And whatever device they used was another. And
the more parameters they tried to use, the more difficult it became to
get the other parameters. Kind of like a puzzle, it gets more complex
with more pieces."

"Why is it skilful?" 

"Because for people it is hard to remember everything we remember. I
know much Japanese, but you know all Japanese. Down to every last Kanji.
When writing poetry, people usually studied their own languages for
great lengths of time, and in great depth before they tried to write."

"And they studied devices too?"

"That's right. And then they had to decide what to write about. Love,
hate, good, bad, right and wrong...," where upon he poured into his
small bowl. "And then some wrote about time, and memories. Or progress,
or animals..." he cleared his throat.

"
Tyger, Taiguru, burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

And what shoulderm & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?"


NukuNuku sat there in rapt attention of Kyusaku. "Wow, that's pretty."

"That was just a piece of the whole poem. And that was another
parameter. They had to make money from publishing their works so other
people had to like it in most cases. Some older ones were purely
religious to glorify the spirits of the earth.""

"Another parameter?"

"Uh-huh. Then," he pointed at the book, "they had to use all the
parameters at once. That might not be too hard for just a few
parameters. Like a simple rhyme. But once you get going, it gets harder
for most people. Like Poe.

lessee...He had rhyme, but he had four different types of rhyme, and
three different rhythms. He used rather obscure words for his language
and they made sense grammatically when strung together in this fashion."

"But, its just a program with parameters, right?"

"Yep, but people couldn't think like a computer when they wrote these.
They thought with their hearts most of the time. When you learn to do
that..."

"You mean I shouldn't run programs?"

Kyu shook his head. "No no, run programs, but like people you need to
decide when to think rationally, like a program, and when to think with
your heart."

NukuNuku stared down at the textbook, letting his speech sink in. Kyu
sat back, enjoying a long drink from the bowl. His thoughts drifted
briefly to the meal he promised Ryunnosuke earlier. Akiko had called
ahead to let them know she wouldn't make it until Sunday.

"Papa-san?"

At least she let us know ahead of time. "Yes?"

"Do I have -natural talent-?"

"Ahuhh," he exhaled. "Well, um..." He scratched the back of his head.
"Ahehheh... *AHEM*. well NukuNuku, its hard to say..."

"Hard to say?"

"Well, its difficult because almost everybody has different talents."

"Do I have one?"

"Of course you do. Everyone does. That's what natural means."

"What is it?" 

"Well sometimes you just have to find it."

"How?"

"ehhh," kyu scratched his head some more. "Well, some people find ti by
accident. Others have their friends help them."

"Will you help me find mine?" she said hopefully, eyes beaming.

"Sure, I can try..."

"Will Ryunnosuke help?"

"He might if you ask...," he said his smile widening.

"Will Mama-san?"

His expression staled slightly. "Well, she might, but she's very busy."

"And will Eimi-chan?"

Sweatdrop forms on Kyusaku's head.

=====

(Uh-oh.) Great. No school records, no school.)

"Miss Yoshikawa, is something wrong?"

(Think of something, you stupid machine!!) Eimi began to fiddle
slightly, as part of her undue stress subroutine.

The principal sat back in his chair. "You don't have them with you...am
I correct?" He meshed his fingers and relaxed his shoulders.

"Iie, Kouchou-sama," she said dejectedly, lowering her head.

"It's Yamadera, Miss yoshikawa." He sat forward. "Well no need to look
depressed. You have computer records of it somewhere, right?" Eimi
looked up, her program working furiously. "Does professor Natsume have
them at home?"

"Yes!" she shouted, standing and striking a pose and startling the
principal. "Uh-heh, I mean, Hai, Yamadera-kouchou." she took her seat as
her AI tried to shame her for such impulsive actions. 

"Is he home now?"

"How should I know?...uh I mean. He did not mention any plans,
Sensei..." she sighed deeply.

"Well, lets contact him, shall we?"

"Oh," she stood up suddenly again. "Sensei, maybe I should call him, he
may be in an experiment."

He turned the phone on his desk to face her. "He mentioned something
about his other occupation before teaching at the last faculty meeting.
I had no idea he still pursued it."

"Well, you know," she smiled heartily as she reached for the offered
phone. "Old habits die hard!"

===

ring(or, beep I can't remember)

"I'll get it, papa-san!" She laughed lightly as she crawled to the
phone. Kyusaku lit up.

"Hai? Moshi-moshi?"

(oh great.) "Nukunuku- put Natsume on, quickly."

"Eimi-chan? Hi! How are you?"

"Would you put that blockhead on now, you dolt!"

"I thought you were regestering to go to school today."

"I'm here right now, but I need to talk to Natsume!"

"Won't it be so much fun going to school together, Eimi-chan?"

A metallic and robotic growl resounded on the other end of Nukunuku's
line. "Perhaps..," she said in a dangerously happy tone. "...but we may
never find out if I don't get registered BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T PUT HIM ON
THE DAMN PHONE!!!!"


c&c and flames welcome
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