James Porter and Hana Yun
“That’s good,” Hana replied. “I’d hate it if your hat was trampled.” Yeah,
there’s a good opener. At least she didn’t have to feign the awkwardness at the meeting. “I feel like maybe it’s too crowded in here, if I’m bumping into people like that.” She smiled disarmingly. “It’s nice to meet you, all the same. I’m Yu-” she caught herself, and corrected the order of her name. “Hana. Hana Yun.”
James smiled back, “It seems you’re still getting used to some of our western idiosyncrasies...” He held out his hand offering it up for a handshake, “... My name is James, James porter. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Yun.”
Hana took the offered hand, and gave it a firm shake. “The pleasure’s mine, Mr. Porter. You’re right about getting used to the idiosyncrasies. I do try to keep things appropriate, but some things are too habitual.” She paused to move aside and let some other students pass. “What do you think of this island so far?”
James replied, “Interesting so far. However, it’s all a bit overwhelming. There’s so many people, some of whom are quite noteworthy.” He then asked her the same question, “... And you? Are you enjoying this introduction to the island?”
“I’m pretty sure every single person here is noteworthy in their own way. As for me, I’m quite impressed with how Bermuda seems to reflect all the cultures of the world. I suppose the purpose of the academy is to be a place for every nation’s citizens to meet. And show off, of course. Still, it’s interesting to see the entire world in miniature.”
She wandered a bit toward some of the refreshment tables, motioning for James to follow her. “Hope you don’t mind if I look through the food on offer, speaking of. It might be better for us to find a table instead of standing around, anyway.” She took some time appearing to browse the food, while mostly keeping her attention on her conversation partner. Would it be rude to just ask about his field of study? She’d leave it off for now. “Anything you’d recommend? I could suggest a few things from the Orient, if you’re not sure what to trust.”
“I’d defer to your better judgement on things from the orient, as for what I’d recommend…” James paused and browsed through the tables, his eyes stopping over the pastries. He reached over and grabbed a blueberry muffin and said, “Blueberry muffins, you can never go wrong with those.”
He looked at Hana and wondered why this girl suddenly took an interest in him. He then asked, “I take it you haven’t had much luck in finding anyone interesting in this soup of people until you bumped into me?”
Hana nodded and added a muffin to the collection of things, mostly sweets, that she had on her plate. “There’s a lot of people here, and I’ve had a few conversations here and there. I’m not sure if it’s hard to find someone interesting, or more impossible to find someone who isn’t interesting. Isn’t this one of the largest gatherings of Polymaths the world has seen? Hard to say
anyone here isn’t going to be at least a little unusual. Though...I suppose by the same token, if everyone is exceptional, it’s just the new normal, isn’t it?”
“Exceptional and normal is all in the eye of the beholder in my experience…” James took a bite out of the muffin he had in hand, being deft and careful enough to not let the crumbs spoil his attire. “... That being the case, I’d like to ask, what’s your story if you don’t mind me asking? Surely you must be quite the polymath to be here."
Hana moved away from the table, to at least allow others easy access to the food while she continued the conversation. “I don’t mind. I’ll spare you the life story, as I’m guessing it’s more the talents and study that you’re curious about. I’m from a school of egoism that’s borrowing ideas from European technologism. In my case, I work on producing medicines and chemicals in my own body, instead of some of the more traditional pursuits of the idealized self. Maybe it’s that spirit of cooperation that caught the eyes of whoever put this academy together?” He paused. Who did put all this together? It’s probably an international collaboration, but still, worth looking into.
“If you don’t mind my own curiosity, what sort of work do you do, as a Polymath?”
James then brought a few vials out of his pockets, “What a coincidence…” he smiles at Hana, “I too work with chemicals. They’re quite complicated little beauties, these are a new brew that I’ve been working on. They’re meant to be turned into vapors… You could say I’m studying to be a…
Perfumist.” James wanted to kill himself, he hated this cover. Perfumes are a nuisance at best and nauseating at worst.
He took one of the vials in his hands that he had labeled. It was a dreaded concoction of ‘so-called’ beautiful scents. “Here, have a whiff-'' he removed the cork that kept the liquids in place and the moment fresh air mixed with the concoction it started to change color and vaporize. With a flick of his finger, the vapor then surrounded Hana and a sweet smell of mint and lavender filled the air.
“A perfumer,” Hana exclaimed, clearly not expecting the answer. “I never would have guessed, though it can’t be just your talent for mixing scents that brought you here. That’s quite a nice scent.”
“Well, I did say I’m quite a chemist. Though, I doubt I’m as good as you.” James took another careful bite of his muffin. James was about to tell his fake backstory, then the lights flashed bright white. James averted his gaze quickly, his eyes scanning all around him. Then one of the lightbulbs popped, his training overwhelmed his rational thought and he felt for the mask hidden in his coat. However, as suddenly as it happened, it all subsided. “Bloody hell! what was that?” His other hand had instinctively reached for one of the other vials - a more lethal concoction, but there was no point in a place like this.
His thoughts began to whir to life, almost forgetting that there was someone with him,
’could it have been electric dynamicism? It can’t be, that was banned by the Geneva Convention.’ He stared for a moment at the blown light bulb, then looked back at Hana, “Are you okay miss Yun?”
Hana was still busy blinking the stars out of her eyes. Much like James, she had flinched from the light show, conveniently enough causing her to miss his own unusual reaction. “Ah, I’m fine. Just dazzled is all. To pick the conversation back up, we’d be going about things in different ways. I can make anything I can dream up, abstraction permitting. Every creation is its own alteration of the self, so I can’t just make anything, either. I focus mostly on medicine. And speaking of, I should see if anyone needs first aid.”
Hana bowed politely in her own custom. “It was a pleasure speaking with you, Mr. Porter.” She takes her leave, looking around for anyone who she might be able to help with some swift action of her own.
Izurich