ic inbox || ruby city

[whatitis]

Hey, you've reached the voicemail of Carlos [heavily distorted feedback punctuated by sharp clicking noises], leave a message after the collective screech of eight different kinds of buzzards.

Comments

[digiorno]

Thank you wait what

CARLOS SLEEP IS IMPORTANT

[whatitis]

"Science" has more letters, which makes it more important than "sleep".

[digiorno]

In Italian, it's "dormita".

[whatitis]

No Italian in this here lab, Giorno.

"Sueño" < "ciencia".

[digiorno]

( ͒˃̩̩⌂˂̩̩ ͒)

[whatitis]

what is that.

[digiorno]

It's a very sad face.

It's worried about you not sleeping.

[whatitis]

I have better things to be doing than sleeping, you know.

[digiorno]

I'm sure you do. But the face is still sad.

I'll bring you a red eye.

[whatitis]

Is that some kind of Italian slang?

[digiorno]

Coffee slang. Coffee with a shot of espresso.

[whatitis]

Neat. I'll have to remember that.

Gracias, man.

[digiorno]

Prego. Um. I don't know what the Spanish one is.

Anyway bye!!!

[AND SHORTLY HE WILL APPEAR, with coffees.]

Carlos?

[whatitis]

[Even if Giorno wasn't even moderately observant, he could notice that the door to lab number one has been completely removed off its hinges and set aside. Also, for whatever reason, there's a padlocked chain neatly wrapped around it. Weird.

The lab itself is in its usual colorful disarray, with The Man Himself carefully perched on top of one of the benches.]

--Oh, hi, Giorno! What's up?

[digiorno]

. . . You. You are up.

[He blinks up at Carlos, slightly nonplussed, then hands up his cup of coffee.]

What are you doing?

[whatitis]

Yes, that's correct! I am up, in several senses of the word.

[Gratefully, he accepts the coffee, his legs swinging absently over the side of the bench.]

Oh, I'm just waiting for some important tests to get finished. I'm taking a mini-break.

[digiorno]

Oh, a mini-break.

[He nods sagely, then sits down next to Carlos on the bench.]

What do you do on a mini-break?

[whatitis]

I usually just sit and wait and think, which I do a lot of the time. Three very integral parts of the scientific process, and all that.

[He takes a long, thoughtful sip of the coffee.]

You can taste that espresso.

[digiorno]

Sitting and waiting and thinking. I do a lot of that, too. Even though I'm not a scientist.

It's good, isn't it? I'm learning how to make all kinds of things.

[whatitis]

That's good, on both accounts. It's important to have some quiet time. Or a lot of quiet time! It's important to spend at least seventy percent of your life in dead silence.

Anyways, you made this? It's pretty good!

[digiorno]

I did. I like making things with my hands.

[Like coffee. And animals.]

Coffee isn't so difficult, all things considered.

[whatitis]

I'm guessing your...uh, friend? Mr. Experience. I'm guessing he helped?

[Suddenly, he starts to rifle through a stack of papers on the bench.]

I think I still have my notes on them, somewhere...around here...I'm sure of it...?

[digiorno]

With the coffee? No, I just did that myself.

[He peers over Carlos's shoulder.]

On Stands?

[whatitis]

Well, it's pretty good coffee, in my humble opinion as a consumer.

[Finally, he reaches a specific makeshift notebook, thumbing it open to a two-page spread labeled "strange ghosts S^TANDS". The largest region of the paper is dedicated to a crayon sketch of Gold Experience...and it's not a good one. He's trying. Keeping the weird ladybug guy company is another crayon doodle of something Purple and Yelling, and a subheader entitled "STONE MASK???...", with the ellipses indicating many more ???s.

Crammed into every free space is the scientist's cramped handwriting--nearly illegible in its rambling scrawl.]

Here we go! Here. We go. That's what I was looking for.

[digiorno]

[As soon as he sees the little drawing, Giorno takes a deep breath and starts chattering excitedly and pretty incoherently in Italian. The only intelligible words are Star Platinum, which he utters while pointing at the purple and yelling individual. He tugs on Carlos's sleeve and chatters some more, very insistently.]