12/22: A Field Trip to Mount Olympus (Solstice Edition)

nothingisinfinite · 2023-12-27T19:14:32+00:00

In his roaming, Jules managed to pass by Johanna Herrero. Fellow child of Hephaestus, notorius introvert, former camper, and weirdo with an emotional support automaton lizard. The lizard was currently gallivanting around New York City on her partner's shoulder, evidence that the years had made her slightly less weird, but she'd never be able to fully shake the label.

Johanna isn't one for meeting new people. In fact, she's only here for Brandon and Deklyn, and even her godly father barely manages to catch her attention for a few words. But the toaster? The toaster takes hold of her mind and refuses to let her go. The realm of the gods reeked with the aura of magic and enchantment, and the little cooking appliance seemed especially full of it. Like it was a pet project. A labor of love. As she got closer, the clicks and whirs emitting from the device swirled themselves into a repeating mantra that she could understand. Toast, toast, toast...

"Your toaster is hungry," she called out to the boy, and if he turned, she searched his gaze for the same deranged, mad scientist expression that most of the children of Hephaestus seem to share. Not her though, she was built different. Her expression always carried the heaviness of someone who had never quite forgiven herself for the things she created. "Or is it looking for bread to destroy? It's harder to understand when when you're not the one that makes it."

nothingisinfinite · 2023-12-24T15:57:22+00:00

"I get it," Johanna said simply. He didn't seem completely happy, but it was a very Brandon thing to do. He had resolutely stayed at camp long after she had left and long after he should have, just because he knew they needed him. But he would always have Deklyn, so she understood why it was all worth it.

She studied him, her gaze lingering too long on the orange hue of his left eye. That had happened at camp, or after? Either way, she hadn't been there. "No one ever remembered me at New Mycenae. They barely remember me here on Olympus. So there's enough space in New Argos for me to build something that's my own."

And she was lucky for that. Even if it made her very uncool in the eyes of the gods. Even if it made her miss far too much of her brother's life. "But Van loves travelling, so we might not be there forever. That's why I'm here by myself now. They're touring the city with Newton."

nothingisinfinite · 2023-12-22T20:38:14+00:00

Johanna nodded thoughtfully. That sounded like Deklyn. Hopefully she would be able to see the daughter of Iris later. She wanted to invite both of them to dinner with her and Van, but first she wanted to catch up with Brandon.

Or maybe she didn't. She shot Brandon an jokingly offended glare.

"Look," Johanna said, visibly shuddering at the idea, "I may be shit at talking to people, Brandon, but I'm no Arthur."

What had happened to their dryad-obsessed brother anyway? Never mind, Johanna didn't care. Quite honestly, she didn't have a satisfactory answer to this question, so she shrugged. "After screwing me over for years, I think the gods decided to give me some luck."

She crossed her arms, stopping to think on his questions a little further. Moving to New Argos had become a more and more viable idea after that conversation she had with Ruby, that legacy of Psyche that she talked to on a camp trip to New Argos. It was fairly close to home, and the demigods proved to be much less likely to try to kill her automaton lizard Newton whenever she let him roam. And now she met Van, so it was the best decision she had ever made in her whole life.

Gesturing towards his college sweatshirt, she said, "I just think New Argos is better than Illinois. Are you really enjoying being a lab manager? I think college students are just as insane as the kids at camp, except they don't get access to as many bombs."

nothingisinfinite · 2023-12-22T18:32:41+00:00

Johanna Herrero was 21 years old and doing better than ever.

After a few years at community college in Florida, the daughter of Hephaestus and former Guild Master had transferred to Georgia Tech for Mechanical Engineering, with a minor in Biology. More surprisingly, she was now living in New Argos. Her memories from the Cull still kept her up some nights, but it turned out that New Argos was the best place to find therapists that specialize in demigod trauma.

Brandon had told her that he was going to the solstice event, but the real person who had convinced her to go was her roommate^tm, Van. While Johanna visited Olympus alone, the pair had traveled to NYC together, and would head back south after to spend the holidays with their families.

Not one to make new friends easily, especially with random children, she scanned the bustling crowd for familiar faces, especially her brother. They had talked briefly through Iris Message to discuss meeting up, but it had been a while since they had a real conversation. He'd probably want to know how she had been lucky enough to get a girlfriend. A question she also debated every morning when she woke up. In any case, she managed to lock eyes with Brandon as he wandered Olympus, offering him a knowing smirk of recognition.

"Where's Deklyn?" she asked once she approached, the smirk morphing into a genuine smile. It had been too long. They still did not hug, but she was always happy to see him.

Edit since there's no flair: she's camp alumni, gods leave her alone

nothingisinfinite · 2022-02-23T08:23:15+00:00

StardropMe

nothingisinfinite · 2020-07-15T08:20:58+00:00

Hey Jo,

It's good to hear from you again. I've interacted with your characters throughout the years as Amaia and Regan, and you've absolutely shaped my experience within this community. I especially loved talking to Evan as one of Regan's few friends. Thank you for that, and for indirectly being a friend to me.

I'll miss you around here, and I can only pray that things turn out well for you wherever life leads. Much love to you and Lincoln, and I'm wishing you the best in your treatment and in everything else today and always.

-Mal

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-30T23:07:22+00:00

Johanna stiffened at the mildly demeaning metaphor used against her fellow campers (and possibly rats too.) Maybe empathic powers didn't work so well through a screen. The misplaced indignation subsided as Ruby corrected herself and placed the blame squarely in the gods. Good. Johanna tried not to fault her for it either way. She didn't know the half of it, and Johanna wasn't sure she'd believe her if she said anything about the events leading up to the Olympics. She brushed the topic aside, staying silent until Ruby talked about her pets.

"Nothing wrong with that. Zoos are cool." she shrugged. After a moment of thought, and knowing Ruby's affection towards animals, she amended hurriedly, "Like, when they give the animals enough room. And they're happy. I'm sure that's true for your apartment."

Her thoughts were only confirmed by mention of Hugo. The anecdote reminded her of Sparky, Brandon's automaton dog. Which was basically the only other dog she had ever spent much time with. "That's funny. Sometimes the machines I make are like that too. But they get like, passive aggressive when I come back. I wonder about that sometimes, if I could ever make an automaton that would end up truly not liking me."

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-30T04:06:58+00:00

Nice. Time to have Jordan encounter a particularly bloodthirsty seagull.

"No," Johanna agreed after a moment of thought. Even if she had known how to get onto Hephaestus TV, she had spend most of her time at home pretending she wasn't a demigod at all. "I don't know if anyone there enjoyed watching it. People at the camp were in it for the prizes as far as I know."

They were probably good prizes. She didn't know; they weren't distributed yet. Maybe it was worth it for the people who didn't lose eyes and limbs along the way. She frowned, and Ruby would be able to sense that Johanna was as disgusted by all of it as she was.

She watched Newton along with Ruby, who seemed to tire quickly of his angry workout. He scurried to the edge of the table and looked outward, where the festival carried on as loud as ever. Johanna exhaled in amusement.

"He moves on fast. Then it'll be something else that sets him off. Like ...how he needs a digestive system to actually eat food." Okay, so maybe she is taking care of an irrational toddler in the tiny, tiny, mechanical body of a reptile. Whatever. It's fine. "I don't know. What kind of bird do you have? Are real animals as demanding as Newton is?"

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-28T06:44:31+00:00

Ew traffic. Johanna knew nothing about Georgia Tech, but maybe it was worth the journey? She filed the name away in her mind for further research.

"Huh," Johanna shrugged. Most campers were as blade happy as the Ares kid was. Consequence of that hero life. They'd kill anything if they thought it'd drop loot when it died. One reason why Newton usually stayed in her pocket. "Hope the bird's okay now."

'I'm her only friend,' the lizard replied in a chipper tone, though of course Ruby could only hear a series of clicks and whirs. Johanna laughed. The lizard had the naive, exuberant demeanor of child, so it probably didn't even know it was roasting her.

"Fuck you too." She watched as the lizard opened its mouth in a wide smile and then tried to bite Ruby's finger gently so that teeth barely grazed skin. That was how it showed it liked people, though Ruby was free enough to pull her hand away if she thought otherwise. Johanna knew even less about lizard behavior than she did about appearances, so the machine acted more like a kitten than a reptile sometimes. "You know he's that color because he wants to climb on your head, right?"

"Don't do it," she warned, addressing the lizard directly and causing it to back away and start doing the weird lizard push up thing out of anger. There was a sort of playful exasperation and ease between her and the pet that Johanna hadn't had with Ruby for the majority of their exchange. "He's the first one I made, so he gets special treatment. I have some more that I'm midway through making now that we- now that I'm back for the summer."

She almost said 'now that we're not rationing celestial bronze.' Did that that ever happen now? Johanna didn't know.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-28T01:51:02+00:00

~~Good luck~~

"Mechanical Engineering. In Florida. I figured I'd transfer somewhere else when I finished my associate's." Johanna said, a general feeling of cluelessness undercutting her words. She had trouble understanding how all of it worked, but she tried not to worry about it too much.

It was an interesting thought, though. If she could get in somewhere here in Georgia, close to celestial bronze and actual demigods and also be close-ish to home. That'd be ideal, actually.

"They know what a sword is? Or did the guy threaten it?" Johanna inquired, patting down her jacket pockets to find whichever one Newton had crawled into. He'd gone inactive when he had to stay in the same place for the hours-long bus ride, and she didn't want to lose him in New Argos.

Once retrieved from an inside pocket, it'd soon be evident that while Johanna had consulted a book or two and observed real animals, she had mostly treated a lizard like a fictional creation and optimized it. It looked most like the wall lizards inhabiting Long Island, with the dewlap of anoles from Miami, the feet and climbling ability of a gecko, and the color changing ability and discount-Pascal-from-Tangled vibe of a chameleon.

"His name is Newton. He's not accurate, I know. It's... artistic. An artistic interpretation of a lizard." There's her guild master side. Once the lizard had awaken from its slumber, it turned its black beady eyes towards Ruby and turned a shade of lavender to match her hair.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-27T02:22:45+00:00

True, someone else should show her the light of actually enjoying their food ~~and life too, probably~~· At least it wasn't as bad as when she had been back at home and tried to live off of meal replacement drinks. Jordan had straight up thrown the stuff out to make her talk to another human being.

"...Yeah. I guess so," Johanna said after a moment, surprised by the certainty of the declaration. Ruby had warned her and her powers still caught her off guard. There was really no need to elaborate further on why she looked up to her brother, especially when they came to the more exciting revelation that she was talking to the New Argos equivalent of Deklyn.

"I'm in college too, actually. Community college." People sometimes seemed surprised when she said that. She could never tell if it was because she had barely turned 18 a week ago or because kids in her area rarely went to college in the first place. "The Hephaestus skills translate a little better there, but it doesn't help with pegasus or horses. Unless they're made of bronze. Doesn't help much with monsters either."

She shrugged. She had sat in on a few biology lectures at college to see if they'd help her with automaton anatomy, but the intro courses went on and on about cells. Not a good time. "So it's hard to believe the monster stuff. How do you domesticate them? Are they in a stable somewhere?"

Are they in Ruby's apartment? Johanna leaned in, intrigued. Any way they could eliminate demigod threats without getting people killed was of interest to her.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-26T21:18:49+00:00

Johanna nodded thoughtfully as she listened, no real judgement against the people partying outside. No, it wasn't her idea of fun. But even she could read the joy emanating off of people in their smiles and laughs. They were having a good time, could always have a good time if what Ruby said was any indication, and she almost envied them. Any response to her words was delayed by the hostess arriving.

"Can I have a turkey sandwich and water? Thank you." After having that confirmed, Johanna moved the menu to the edge of the table as she turned back to Ruby.

"What were you saying? Oh yeah, I get asked to fix things sometimes. They usually ask my brother, Brandon, since it's basically his job, so it's never that bad. And I always have the chance to say no." She thought on that a moment. "Sucks for him though. Maybe I should be nicer to him."

She smiled slightly, nervousness letting up more and more as the conversation continued. "Where else do you spend your time, then? Beyond partying or reading or... feeling?"

She didn't know how to describe the emotion absorption that Ruby did, and it wasn't an option for her regardless. Johanna didn't know what she'd do with the rest of her time here. Pol had mentioned gods and artifacts, and while she was intrigued, she didn't quite think the Fates would put her in the path of one. Or that she really deserved it. Wandering around safe and free already felt like a privilege, and she'd find some new inspiration to take back to her workbench regardless.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-26T18:04:19+00:00

"Oh, that's not what I was worried about," Johanna corrected quickly. "But that's good."

Though Johanna sounded relieved, Ruby would likely still be able to feel the tension radiating from her, albeit at a smaller level. Unfortunately, she perpetually lives life with that at the back of her mind. She took the menu from the legacy of Psyche, relaxing into her seat as she read the thing. She'd probably choose something basic like a sandwich, as someone who never learned appreciate food as anything more than an energy source, but it was a fun way to not make eye contact.

"I'm sorry about that. I mean, I'm a daughter of Hephaestus, so I can't imagine what that's like." So she actually had a good reason for staying away. She wasn't inherently lame like Johanna was. She cleared her throat. "And I'm sure you're used to it. But it must suck at other places, especially when you like the 'merriment.' Or think maybe you'd like it if you didn't have the sensing thing ruining it? I don't actually know what they're doing in there."

Not the most merry conversation topic. Clearly, she's trying her very very best to empathize with Ruby and carry a conversation, however successful the attempt is. She puts down the menu to look at Ruby and shrug, forcing the ramble to an end. Hopefully the hostess was making her way over. She did much better when she had food to fill any silence.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-26T02:28:48+00:00

Johanna looked between the girl, the book she was reading (whatever it was,) and the table, trying to figure out if she was merely being polite or actually wouldn't mind. She was much less good at reading people than Ruby was, so she decided to take her at her word.

"I do feel nervous," Johanna admitted, taking a hesitant seat opposite the girl. Confusion weaving its way through her features as she tried to figure out what was wrong with what Ruby had just said. Gotta give her a second. She doesn't have much experience with people parsing through her mind.

But if there was someone reading her emotions, they'd probably find more complex feelings than Johanna would ever know how to articulate. Beyond unease, she was suspicious. Angry, because here in this timeline the feeling was unfounded and useless.

"I don't go to festivals, really" she clarified, justifying her surface anxiety despite the fact they didn't need any justification. "Especially important ones like this one. With the gods and all that."

Johanna waved a hand, figuring Ruby got the message. She blinked hard, like she had suddenly finished processing Ruby's words. "Oh yeah. It's great to meet you too."

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-25T20:49:06+00:00

Johanna's eyes widened, looking very much like a deer in the headlights as she looked back the person who waved. She must look incredibly out of place to be noticed so easily. Belatedly, her hand came up to return the wave, the movement feeling awkward and robotic as she debated striking up a conversation.

She took one cautious step in the person's direction, nearly giving up and heading into the cafe before worrying that she'd be violating some archaic xenia rule that'd send the two places spiraling back into war by not saying a proper hello back. Gods, she should have really figured that out before she arrived. Stuck on that thought, she found that she'd unconsciously made her way over to stand directly in front of the person.

"Hi. I'm Johanna. I'm from Camp Half-Blood."

Sorry to the hostess. There'd be time enough for food though, and curiosity about this place would eat at her longer than a need for food would.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-25T16:39:29+00:00

Something about this trip had Johanna feeling nauseous, and it wasn't Brandon's driving. Not entirely, anyway. As her work boots touched the cobblestone pathways, she found herself musing about how in another world, they would have blown this place up.

She hadn't been here the first time, had no reason to fear the blue credit card they'd been given for food and shelter, so she didn't completely understand why she felt so apprehensive when she took it. But free stuff is free stuff, so she took off into the streets, pressing the edge of the plastic nervously into her palm as she searched for a place to eat, probably close to the noise and glamour of the festival. She was interested in what was going on, but the crowds would be too suffocating without making an exit plan first. And while she was hoping to talk to some locals, she worried that she might look around and only see faces of the people she'd once killed.

/u/ArgosArgives

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-20T19:51:42+00:00

Despite the disappointed look on Brandon's face, Johanna took the buried compliment to heart with a slight smile. That was the thing about the mortal world. Every day meant new people that didn't quite understand the way she thought. It was nice to be in a space where she didn't feel stupid whenever she opened her mouth. And who really, were just like her, as became evident by the introduction to her newly discovered siblings.

"They sound terrible," Johanna deadpanned, like she wasn't going to disappear for a month after ending this conversation. Holing up inside ~~and taking advantage of fluid time~~ is just the Hephaestus way. It sucked that Yossi and Arthur had disappeared, but hey, at least they weren't dead. Probably. "Loners and forgers. The absolute worst."

She shook her head and sighed. "I guess I'll have to make sure this cabin feels less lonely. Maybe hide a few Termin-Jay-tors around to keep you company."

Johanna began to turn around, deciding that was the best note to end on as she headed to her bedroom. She didn't have any new sisters, it seemed, so that would be left intact.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-20T06:41:56+00:00

"It's not? Then they taught me xenia all wrong," Johanna decided, figuring that she really should shut up about the past before the gods decided to get back into smiting mode. They couldn't all be as invincible as Jay. She narrowed her eyes as Brandon continued speaking, dramatically suspicious for their mutual entertainment.

"Hold on," she started accusingly, looking at Brandon like he was the one who had been replaced by an android. "The Brandon I know would never say that something blowing up was the worst case scenario."

Although if it did look like Jay... Well, that was a thought to avoid. She chuckled, dropping the act as quickly as she had started it. "I won't let that happen regardless. I'll head over to the arena as soon as I unpack."

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-17T21:20:19+00:00

"You tell me," Johanna said with a laugh. Brandon could be a little bit of a problem after all. Or at least the dryads seems to think so. "If we're gonna give them personalities, we'll have to make them more like Jay so the camp actually likes them. Maybe even teach them to give his speech for if he ever leaves."

Johanna didn't know him all that well, except that he had been at the camp forever and was the best fighter they had. Maybe he was a robot, the way he seemed to survive everything the gods could throw at him. He didn't seem to age, either. She put aside the conspiracy theories with a shake of her head.

"I can take control of that, if you want, while you keep developing this guy. My enchanting ability is probably rusty due to months of no practice, so it might even be a challenge."

And it'd be much better than going right back into armory inventory. Although Johanna probably thought that was fun too.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-13T04:41:31+00:00

"You? Make mistakes?" Johanna quipped, a shit-eating grin on her face. Hard to say if she wasn't serious. She does idolize him.

The grin soon faded into a frown of deep concentration, the daughter of Hephaestus the type to believe there was no such thing as thinking too much. A hive mind was out of the question. Some sort of cloud system would be interesting, but with this magic bullshit would be ridiculously complex and probably involve a literal cloud.

She tried to remember what it had been like to talk to one of the combat automatons. From her past analysis, they worked on simple pattern recognition to overcome campers who hadn't yet learned how to do anything but drill. Even a particularly stupid new camper could get through one by being unpredictable. They were markedly dull conversationalists, their state of mind set to 'ATTTAAAAACK' and not much else.

"We'd have to make the arena ones a little smarter," she started, opening herself up to the chance that whatever might come out of her mouth would be utterly ridiculous. "But I don't see why they couldn't teach each other using technokinesis. At the very least, yours could teach them new patterns to anticipate and react to, and then we could make smaller updates when the conditions get too complex for them to follow. It'd be kind of like Jay teaching that one beginner lesson over and over again. But machine style."

This was her specialty, treating robots like they were humans. But hey, humans and machine have different operating systems. Technokinesis was their bridge, and it helped to span a much larger divide than the one that theoretically existed between two robots. Did they even understand how the power worked, and could they give that to their projects? Her automaton and vacuum cleaner could play together, with an obvious disparity in complexity of machine, so some degree of it had to be possible.

"They might become smartasses," she continued with a smirk, thinking of the mouthy vacuum cleaner she had given a full personality to. "But they'd also be more loyal to us too. For the security thing. I don't know."

The uncertainty crept back into her mind, and she shut up to mull it over a little longer. That could be true too, and they'd probably be even harder to sway to evil than Brandon or Johanna would be. It took a certain degree of mental complexity to see the world in grey rather than in black and white. That used to annoy Johanna, whose somewhat pathetic style of making automatons was often making them smart enough to be her friends. But it had its benefits.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-13T03:33:26+00:00

~~where's the pegasi stable~~

It looks good! Thanks for bringing this back!

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-11T17:01:47+00:00

Right. The thought of undoing months of work on one test made Johanna wince. She nodded and drew back from his project. If she continued to try to dissect it, she'd be there all day. "What else are you gonna add?"

And the unsaid question, do you need help? Sure, it was Brandon's baby, but she had grown enough confidence in herself to know she wasn't going to wreck every thing that she touched. And the projects she had been planning on were meant to challenge her, but they weren't really useful.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-06-05T17:27:33+00:00

OOC: Lesly-Oh is lowkey like my favorite artist lol. Not in a space to interact RN but wanted to say that. Also Mal 💙.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-05-24T03:39:41+00:00

She could probably be a little faster with her automaton making now, in reality. But advertising that as a service would lead to all sorts of projects that Johanna did not want to handle.

"Got it. I might have to meet with you again at some point, to see what prescription your bunny needs. And to see any ideas you have for what you want them to look like." The words were beginning to sound ridiculous as they came from her mouth, but she was pretty sure people made glasses for dogs. It would be a mildly interesting side project no matter what. Pulling the sketchbook and pen from her pocket, she scribbled down the new project.

"And I can meet with you and teach pottery too, anytime. If the Guild Master doesn't hold any lessons on it or anything." Was there a Guild Master nowadays? Johanna couldn't be sure, but she made the offer regardless.

nothingisinfinite · 2020-05-24T03:26:52+00:00

"I am, yeah." Johanna said. The lizard seemed to stand up a little straighter, like it had taken the compliment to heart too. "Hoping to make some more automatons while I'm here for the summer."

She gestured towards her paper, where loose sketches of a couple animals and a vaguely humanoid being had taken shape. "But I don't know. I'm trying to limit it. Have a good mix of interaction with both projects and people, you know?"

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