DenTech Visions

Rose was even more shocked when she entered, as Zeo exceeded expectations once again. The boy had come up behind them and then walked by in order to start the questioning.

"Wow, he's being way more assertive than I imagined he could be." She began following as he asked his question. She decided that she likely would have asked them to share information, not said they were looking for it, but all the same, he had done well enough.

"I wouldn't have expected him to say anything crazy, anyway, so this is pretty much expected." She thought, which was again upset by the next line out of his mouth.

Rose was surprised by the lie. It wasn't smooth, but he was a high school kid at a college, and she knew him to be quiet, so nervousness could likely be read as a reason instead of lying. Beyond not really seeing it as necessary, she hadn't seen it coming at all. "So never mind, he is doing crazier things than I expected. Zeo's going for a grand slam or something, with this one."

Regardless of how necessary the lying had been, keeping it true was now entirely necessary unless they immediately played it off as a joke, or they'd lose serious tact points. So, personally opting for the former, Rose pulled out her PeT and a stylus to take notes with as she approached the desk, awaiting her response.

"Sometimes it's the little things that work best," she mused.

And they were in. Nothing left to do but head up to the counter and...

...Watch Zeo march right up and ask them. Wow. He even whipped up a lie to help them out. Not the greatest ever, but Sabrina was still impressed. She didn't think he had it in him to do all that, especially without any prompting. Now to help him out.

"Yep, anything you can tell us would help!" ...Suddenly, with no warning, an idea popped up in the Netopian girl's head. One that would keep them from having to beat around the bush. "Oh, by the way, is there anywhere we could buy a mini-plaque with the vision statement on it? It'd be a great visual for the presentation!" Oh yeah. She was that good.

"The vision statement of the University?" the receptionist echoed. Her face had the slightest hint of surprise, probably because someone actually bothered to go and use the information center. "Um..." Hesitating for a moment, she turned to her male companion to her side, and whispered something to him. The male responded unenthusiastically with equal whispers, still glued to his screen. The woman then turned back to Zeo, and replied, "Well, the original plaque is in the middle of this building, you can follow one of the hallways to your right or left. We do sell mini-plaques at one of the nearby shops, though the statement printed on that is a simplified version." Pointing to where they came from, she continued, "If you'll follow that signboard in the middle of the square, you can find the bazaar, where the shop is."

"Ah, thank you," Zeo replied automatically as the receptionist supplied them with enough information to probably accomplish the task at hand. To Zeo's chagrin, it seemed the university did indeed sell copies of its vision statement plaque. Ignoring the fact that he was still opposed to the idea, he focused on the practical side of things instead. What does she mean by "simplified?" Will that even suffice for our client? Paying good money for a useless replica plaque was not high on Zeo's list of meaningful things to do today. But we have no way of knowing...

He turned to Rose and Sabrina. "Well, maybe we should go check out the actual vision statement first. That way we can see just how "simplified" it is." Zeo wasn't sure whether the client would accept even a slightly abbreviated version, but he couldn't think of a way to take the genuine article from the building. "Unless you guys have an idea on how to get the real thing," he added in a lower voice. "So, real vision statement or replica?" Zeo asked his companions, prepared to go whichever way majority ruled.

Rose, with a quick nod, bowed her thanks to receptionist, and then joined Zeo in his aside conversation. She figured it would work this way, and so it had. The receptionist, though, had been nice enough to tip them off as to wear to find both the real plaque and the model plaques.

She nodded at the suggestion of going to check the real plaque, and then blushed a bit at the next suggestion. "Wow, feeling like a rebel today?" she quietly remarked. She coughed, and then resumed speaking quickly.

"I don't see any harm in checking the real one, and then the replicas," she offered. It had sounded like a good idea when Zeo offered it.

She hoped Sabrina wouldn't side with stealing the university's plaque. That'd put her at odds with the group, and she'd probably have to put her foot down there.

"Maybe Zeo is more of a rebel than I thought," the girl mused, as she waited for Sabrina's answer. "I mean, he dropped out of school, seems to be rebelling against his parents, and now this. I guess there's more to him than I guessed." She smiled a bit at this.

Now she just knew she'd have to work on her powers of empathy and people reading, as well as observation. She was happy they'd gotten this mission, though. She was starting to feel like she understood these two more, despite whatever new mysteries and hurdles were springing up.

Huh. Well, looked like they had the info they needed. Though Sabrina couldn't help but notice the initial 'wow, someone just used the information center' reaction. So, now to decide what to do next. Zeo's first idea sounded good, though the fact he even mentioned stealing it made her smirk. Rose also seemed to second the suggestion. The legal suggestion, that is.

"Right. I don't think the requester would care if it was slightly different, but it's definitely a good idea to check. All right, the real thing it is!" And thus did the group start walking down one the left hallway. Mainly because the Netopian girl was already bolting towards it via the designated path. No reason why she picked left. She just picked it.

The group went for their exit, stage left. Their walk was short, for they came across a rather large lobby, with three exits to their left, immediate front, and right. The lobby was magnificently decorated in a tasteful combination of various materials, such as marble, wood and earth. The circular space had four floors overlooking it, focusing on the middle; a magnificent fountain was the centerpiece for the place. A ring of pebbles and greenery lined its edge, while a small device stood on a pedestal at the front, where some keys and a screen marked its status as a standard terminal, with requisite jack-in points. The most striking feature about the fountain, however, was not its decor, nor its flowing water, but the large floating holograph of a grey slab in the middle.

On the slab was written:

Inspired by the global view of unification and the future of encompassing knowledge as well as the concept of holistic education, the DenTech University aims at becoming a leading international center of educational excellence, which is able to:

i. Revitalize the intellectual dynamism of its students and general society as a whole;

ii. Integrate important values and skills required to function optimally in society in all academic disciplines and educational activities;

iii. Seek to preserve a leading and progressive role of the Electopian nation in all branches of knowledge.

Thereby,

iv. Contributing to the continued improvement of the qualities of life and civilization.

"...wow," Zeo said immediately upon entering the grandiose lobby. "This is pretty impressive." He marveled at the decor of the area for a few seconds before realizing that the school's vision statement wasn't exactly on a plaque. Even if it were, it would have probably been a hologram of a plaque. Still, the thing looked just as amazing as the rest of the room. "It looks like our choice was just made for us," Zeo laughed. "The replica plaques are the only physical object we can bring back." Unless they were so inclined to jack in and steal the hologram data, but their client probably wasn't looking for that. At least, Zeo hoped he wasn't.

"The statement itself is pretty wordy... I wonder how simplified the replicas are." Wordy as it was, the university's goals seemed somewhat generic to Zeo. He figured that was just the way every vision statement was. Looking around, Zeo found that there wasn't really anything else they could accomplish in the lobby without unnecessarily trying to steal a hologram. He decided to wait for Rose and Sabrina to have a look at the vision statement... slab, before they left to find the bazaar. This item ended up being pretty easy to find, thankfully, Zeo thought to himself.

Rose was somewhat impressed by the decor. She'd seen it before, though, so it wasn't quite as "wow-inspiring" for her as it had been for Zeo. It was still very impressive, just not startlingly so.

"Yeah. DenTech is like, a world-class University after all." She commented. She then looked at the plaque and got a good read of it. Of course, that wasn't all. As she read it, she pulled out her PeT to snap a picture. "I mean, I'm not sure I would remember the whole thing word for word to compare it to the mini plaques." she figured, so the picture only made sense.

"Yep." Rose said, to Zeo's statement that their decision was made. "Well, we could bring back the projector, but that's pressing even further into grand theft, and I'm not really planning on suggesting that." she thought. "I mean, I'd like to get this whole thing done, but I'd rather fail the mission than break the law and get arrested for something stupid like this."

Rose started to wonder, too, how the simplified versions simplified it. "Revitalize Intellect, Integrate Values, Seek leading role, Contribute Improvement, Maybe? That could work, I guess. R.I.S.C. That's be shortest, though it wouldn't tell you much at all." She smiled at this.

Since Zeo seemed done and they didn't have much to do here, she prepared to head to the Bazaar with the others.

This...was quite a lobby. She hadn't seen it on her first trip, so she was pretty impressed. What really caught her eye, however, was that hologram. There was no way on earth they could steal that and not get busted in 5 minutes. Assuming it could even be stolen. Which it probably couldn't. Which Zeo quickly noted. Casually, Sabrina picked up a pebble, and gently tossed it at the mission statement, watching it go through the not-so-there stone and land with a light plunk into the fountain. "Unless anyone knows how to steal something that technically doesn't exist, I think I've gotta agree."

Which meant they were off to that bazaar. She couldn't help but wonder why they called it a bazaar. Oh well, they'd find out eventually.

And admittedly, she didn't even stop to read the mission statement. But thanks to Rose's well-equipped PET, she wouldn't have to. Ah, technology was great.

Shortly after examining the real specimen (as real as it was, anyway), the trio left the impressive lobby area for their next destination, going back the way they came. Following the simple instructions given to them by the receptionist, they quickly came across what they were looking for. The entrance to the place was a tall archway, which led to a circle of buildings surrounding another fountain, packed with people of all kinds. The buildings were seen clearly to be shops of all sorts; some were for sundry, some for food and drink, some for books. The thing that stood out even more than the shops, however, were the tents pitched every now and then around the paths that went around the area, exhibiting more goods that were unlikely to be found in the shops, such as clothing.

Of all the shops, however, there was only one that carried the university's signature logo in front of it-- probably the one they were looking for. The shop was pretty close to the entrance, so they got a glimpse of what was inside. From their point of view, they could see a rather bored-looking girl propping her head up with her hand and trying not to fall asleep at the counter.

"A bazaar in a prestigious university just seems... weird," Zeo spoke his thoughts aloud as the group walked through the throng of shops and shoppers. The shops themselves weren't that weird, but the numerous tents being used to sell random items seemed out of place. "Were you about to say it was bizarre?" ViralMan asked, making an appearance for the first time since they'd left Rose's car. Zeo smirked. "Who'd make a joke like that?" he retorted. ViralMan crossed his arms. "Just making sure," he laughed.

Upon locating the store with the university's logo on it, Zeo was fairly sure it was the place they were looking for. Otherwise, it was a good place to start. He said so to Rose and Sabrina before walking over and heading inside, holding the door long enough for his companions to reach it as well. The store appeared to have plenty of DenTech memorabilia, but Zeo didn't see any plaques. ...I hope the replicas aren't just holographic projectors or something like that. He could have asked the clerk, but she didn't look like she wanted to be bothered and Zeo had already hit his question asking quota for this item. He continued going over the shelf he was looking at. "Rose, Sabrina, do either of you see those plaques anywhere?" he asked without turning.

Rose got to the bazaar and had mixed feelings. She didn't quite find it as punnily bizarre as Zeo and his Navi, but she did agree it was odd. "Just think of it as a sort of on campus mall and courtyard, I guess. . ." she suggested, responding to Zeo's troubles.

With her reporter level observational skills, Rose had noticed the University Logo on the shop fairly early, but since they were headed there anyway, she casually followed Zeo's lead. She was still impressed that he was being so forward; taking lead, speaking, holding doors. "Who knows what he'll do next." Rose thought, more than half in jest.

Upon entering she just quickly glanced the store up and down to see if their target jumped out at them. "On the bright side, the chances of this being more frustrating than the process upgrade are slim," she mused with a smile.

Unlike Zeo or Rose, Sabrina just found the bazaar flat out weird. "I'm pretty sure they don't have this at Netopia University..." With that, she flipped her sunglasseses down in front of her eyes again, to help disguise her face. Plus it was kinda bright after being in that building.

Brightness aside, she couldn't help but be impressed that Zeo was suddenly taking charge. Admittedly, she'd been lying low on purpose since arriving at DenTech, but it was still nice to see that he was capable of stepping up if needed. Although the fact he wasn't even noticing that nice stack of plaques was a bit ridiculous. "Yep, right there!" Grabbing him by the shoulders, she turned her poor misguided friend towards the fairly obvious pile.

Sabrina was the first to race over and check things out out. Nothing really stood out from a personal standpoint, but she wasn't really there just to shop. All they needed to do was check what the plaques said against Rose's picture of the real thing, and, if it was reasonably close, proceed to ask how much it cost. ...It was nice that everything was actually going smoothly for a change.

As their journey through the university was drawing to a close, the trio entered the shop without hesitation, and looked around for their item. With their collective searching abilities, they managed to locate the item they were searching for with relative ease. In contrast to the large projected plaque they'd seen earlier, this miniature version was pretty small, and was only printed with a terribly shortened statement. It also seemed to serve as a kind of special pen case of some kind.

Vision:
- Revitalize Intellect
- Integrate Values
- Preserve Leading Role
- Improve Civilization

It also seemed that the need to ask for a price was not of concern, as the price '1000z' was clearly printed near where the items were placed.

And so their target was found. It was quick and easy, so that was good. It was a bit of a disappointment, though.

The statement was curtailed to a terrible extent. Rose didn't need to check her picture in order to see that this one was significantly shorter. It did hit the same basic points though, and it appeared to be their only option.

" Besides, the university itself is marketing it as their vision statement, so I guess the man can't really argue that this isn't good enough."

There was, unfortunately, a price. Fortunately, though, it wasn't too bad. "So a thousand zenny for this incredibly summarized plaquette. I guess that's the best we're going to do."

The girl decided to offer up her own cash.

Rose didn't think much of dropping that kind of cash, especially with her job and her safety nets to fall back on. And even if she had thought about it, Sabrina had expressed a desire to not spend money, and Zeo was a pushover who would have done it if he wanted to or not. With his whole "no future due to no school" thing happening, Rose likely wouldn't have wanted him wasting what little he had.

She picked up a plaque that looked like it was in good condition, brought it to the front counter, prepared her payment, and awaited service. She was fairly casual about the whole deal, since they didn't need to impress this store clerk to get what they wanted.

The cashier-girl had perked up somewhat at the sight of people walking in earlier, and tried to look as cheerful as possible. Unfortunately, it could plainly be seen that she was sleep-deprived for some reason; the expression on her face was vacant as she took the payment and said the usual "Thank you!". After that, the purchase was stashed in a quickly retrieved plastic bag, and given to the purchaser.

Three down, four to go.

"Alright, that's another one off the list. It was surprisingly easy, too," Zeo said, pleased.

...how did I miss those plaques?

Making a mental note to be more observant, Zeo turned from the counter, shot the pile of plaques a quick glare and started towards the door. "Thanks for paying, Rose. I can probably cover the next thing we need to get if we have to pay." He hadn't really put much thought into who would pay for the plaque, and Rose had bought it before Zeo could even consider doing so. Of course, that meant he'd have to dip into either the busting funds or the living funds, but he was fine on both for now anyway. "Speaking of the next thing, where are we headed next?" Zeo asked.

He paused to push open the door again and step outside. Once everyone was out he kept walking in the direction of Rose's car. "I... don't even remember all of the list. Just the NetCafe one, but I've never even been there." He also remembered the poker chip, but Zeo wasn't eager to go to NetVegas since it would undoubtedly result in some crazy plan to get the chip, their whole group being too young to enter a casino legally. "So uh, what next?" he finished.

Rose smiled and thanked the rather exhausted looking woman at the counter. As she made her way out of the shop, she held the bag towards Sabrina. "She does have that bottomless fanny-pack, after all. If it fits a spare outfit, I'm sure she can fit a mini-plaquette." Rose theorized.

"Yep," the girl smiled in response to Zeo's affirmation of how easy the object had been. "And no, it's no problem, really," she continued with a shrug. She just nodded to the proposition that Zeo would pay next. She didn't imagine the rest would cost much though.

"There's also the Thousand-Year-Old Spring-Boiled Egg, which Sabrina said her Mother may know something about; the two Tier-Three chips, which her Father may be able to help us with; and the Nil-value poker chip, which we'd probably have to go to NetVegas for," little Miss Exposition added for Zeo's sake. She'd seen the list recently, since she'd been in her pictures taking the Plaque one and reviewing it after the purchase.

"I don't really care where we head next, but it'd probably save us time," ("And gas money," she added internally, though she didn't mention this), "if we covered everything we could from Electopia while we're here."

Rose turned to the female member of their party. "Well, since half of the stuff remaining depends on you, what do you think?" She'd decided that it would be nice to offer choice on the matter to the member of their team most critical in the decision making process.

"But the egg may be the only one left in Electopia. I mean, assuming Sabrina's father lives in Netopia, which would only make sense. You never know, though. She's here, and her mother is in Yoka, so he very well could be staying here with them."

The girl considered inquiring about it, but figured she'd get an answer based off how Sabrina responded, anyway. They could chat more about her parents on the way to visit them.

And that was that. Sweet. Whipping out the list once more, she scratched the plaque off, happy that an item didn't require near injury, be it from a really big guy or a brain aneurysm. With that, she looked over the list once again as Rose talked about them all from memory...then asked for her input on what to get next. "Well, if we're getting everything in Electopia first, we don't have a choice. I haven't heard anything from Dad yet, so I guess we're off to Yoka." But before they did..."Oh, I should probably tell you guys ahead of time. My mom's a little...weird. She's really nice, but...well, don't expect her to always say the right things at the right time. Or even something about what you're talking about." Sabrina always figured that was because most of her Mom's brain was filled with recipes and other cooking-related knowledge, leaving little room for following conversations.

"Of course, she's also a super-talented cook, so chances are you won't care if you get to try some stuff she makes!" Come to think of it, it was probably past lunch time. Maybe they could get her to whip something up for them.

A sudden noise could suddenly be heard. It was difficult to make out at first, but it sounded like a growling stomach. "Ahh, sorry guys! I guess I shouldn't think about it too much..."

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Scavenger Hunt

1- Batch AA-00001 Process Upgrade ~SciLab (Suitachi's Navi Shop)
2- Nil-Zenny Poker Chip ~NetVegas
3- [Neuronomicon], author Maya Frasser ~Bookstore in ElecTown
4- Previous three NetCafe Secret Menu listings ~NetCafe
5- Two (2) Tier-3 Battlechips ~Dad?
6- Thousand Year-Old Spring-Boiled Egg ~Yoka (Mom?)
7- Dentech University 200X Vision Statement Plaque ~DenTech