Sabella spends a few minutes savoring the feel of time, flowing past her, pulsing from the Eye, thrumming throughout the Academy. There's so much moment in these moments. She soaks it up, lets out a satisfied breath, and then looks around her at her classmates — soon-to-be coworkers. Ah, this one over here seems to be brimming with thoughts about what's to come.

"I'm sure they could've picked a louder gathering spot, but I can't think of many in the Academy."

She's tall and stout and brown, her academy robes showing off the firmness of her build and the deep brown of her hair. A mess of metal with reluctantly tucked away wires burbles gently at on her arm. 

"I like to think that it's a sign of respect - can't give us too much peace and quiet or else we'll start ~plotting~, perhaps?" 

She giggles. "Plotting? Us? Perish the thought. What could we even be plotting about? It's not like all of time and space is soon to be at our fingertips or anything like that, right?"

"You'd think." 

She shakes her head in place a little. 

"I think they just like feeling like they have the better of us, for as long as we're still students. Even if all it amounts to us just giving us a few pauses and a dampening field on the door." 

She clicks her tongue, and turns her hand over in place, a wry sigh on her lips. 

Sabella tilts her head. "Don't they know you can listen past a dampening field almost easier than without if you do it right?"

She shakes her head. "Of course they do. It's a test."

"Who even knows at this point... You're probably right, though. Would be just like them."  

She lets out a little beleaguered sigh. 

"Looking forward to being done with this nonsense almost more then the ride, to be honest." 

"Definitely looking forward to getting to see the world beyond. There's so much to do and see. But I wouldn't say this has been all that bad... Who'm I kidding, it totally was. Learned a lot but don't think I'll miss this place."

"Hah. I think I'll miss the labs, at least. You can fit a whole lot of tech into a TARDIS, and fab a whole lot more, but well." 

She brushes back her hair a little. 

"I'm looking forward to it too. It's so different to see these places without a chaperone hovering over your shoulder, or viewscreen in the way." 

"You're right about the labs, yeah. I think we'll make do, though. Any idea where they're gonna assign you?"

"I've always been the most comfortable doing tech work, if that's what you mean. Hole me up somewhere I can make cool little gadgets and the chance to use them and they'll make me a happy customer, that's for sure. I think the usual routine is to get our vortex legs steadied up at first, though, and well..." 

She glances down at her hip for a moment. 

"There is the war." 

She nods, looks off into the distance. "Ideal place to put me would be disappearing enemy assets, but I'm decent in a fight, and we have an awful lot of fights to win. I'll probably be doing a little of the one and more than I'd like of the other."

"Decent chance you'll be in the awkward middle most of the time, honestly - getting intel for a mission, waiting for the moment to strike... It sucks in the exercises, even with a time machine on hand." 

A grimace slips across her face for a moment. 

"Even time ladies have to hurry up and wait."

And then something catches her eye. "Is that a sonic bracer? Are you filtering the chatter out or something?"

"True, true, true..." 

She grins slyly. 

"Something like that~"

She digresses for a moment, that smile still on her face. "I can beam you in if you want, even if it works best precalibrated and with the right nanoinfection in your ear. Thrown in a few more tools of the trade as well - no reason to keep these things single mechanism when they're like this." 

She claps her hand self-satisfiedly atop the sizable stock of metal. 

Her eyes widen and she grins, eyeing the bracer closely. "Ooooh. Very fun. I'd love a look at your specs after, if you don't mind sharing. I don't mind the noise, though. Helps me keep track of thi—"

Her head tilts for a moment, just as the sound of the chatter shifts slightly.

"Lawreto of Brightshore's about to show off some toy he bought with his House's money, and it's not going to go well."

She does a little performative "Ooo." at that, complete with an exaggerated wince. 

"It's an eavesdropper's tool too, you know. Got a mode rigged up to filter the sound itself for my delicate little ears and just pipe the words in through the telepathic circuit into my short and/or long term memory, or Rassilon forbid save them in a digital file like a caveman. It's a bit much to keep on, though." 

Sure enough, one of the other trainees says something mocking to another, and then the one who was mocked pulls out a gilded implement that he points at the first's tools, seemingly intending to disable them.

Nothing happens.

And then mocking laughter spreads.

"And that's one thing I definitely won't miss about this place."

She shakes her head. "Definitely impressed with your eavesdropper assist mode, though. Trade you my notes-in-progress on single-sonic breaches of deadlocks for a look at your specs later?"

"Deal."

This might sound like a bad deal for Sabella, at first glance. Consider however that the insight that led to her initial deadlock seal breakthrough was based on the results of a similar trade, and further that while she's been waiting for the class outing to begin she's been brainstorming more progress that isn't in her notes yet. She only agreed to trade what's already written down.

Both sides are definitely gaining here.

She mentally pokes her screwdriver, tossing a rather dense notes file at her classmate.

There's a silenced little hum from her device, and there's a bundle of her own notes sent back. 

"Pleasure doing business with you~"

The next moment, the room is silent, sound for dry 'Ahem' of an old man's voice, crystal clear through the silencing field that's just sprung to life. He's stands tall and dignified, muscle still lingering in his firm arms despite his pure white hair, with the headdress of a timelord nestled atop his deep red robes.

She turns to face him, curious what's next. 

She tilts her head, and glances over obligingly. 

He has a podium, of course, for all that it wasn't there a few seconds ago. 

"We gather you here today, at the end of your stint at the Academy, to show you that there is still yet more to learn, even after all this time together. There are more things to discover, more things to see, more innovations to come. Behind this door, we've prepared a conference - a display of new ideas, new discoveries, and a number of chances for you to find things out on your own, with the exhibits within. We've taken the liberty to arrange for another class to come, as well, for collaboration, with people new and old, is vital for seeing things in a new light." 

He demures, for a moment. 

"And of course, it would hardly do for us to omit a chance for you to celebrate, as well. For all that it isn't your final frontier, you all know how much of a trial this was. There will be food, and drinks, and spaces to enjoy them, for those who wish to indulge." 

He flicks a control on the podium, A green light flickers on, and the door swings open, showing the cavernous space within, several levels of booths and displays and room to ill around done in the style of the halls, with exhibits in bright colors, a convention center bustling with light and lights even without them inside.

"I hope you enjoy your stay." 

In an instaneous flicker of a transmat beam, he's gone. 

Oooh! She turns to grin at her classmate, resists a brief urge to grab her hand and pull her along, and then scampers inside. Is there a map of exhibits and a schedule of panels? Can she find the other class?

There doesn't appear to be a map, though at a glance some of the exhibits have schedules for specific talks and interviews and the like. And no obvious other class, either - though the space is large enough that it'd probably take a while for them to meet up from the opposite end. 

She taps her hand against her forearm with a click of her tongue, sending off her own map of the exhibits. 

There's lots of little panels, a few restaurants tucked away in the wings covering a pretty broad swathe of cuisine, a bunch of different exhibits of sliced-apart technology - archaic and otherwise, time lord and otherwise - panels with experts on nearly every subject in the academy and a good number of little sim setups for more the more militarily inclined. They're mostly relatively small ones - meant for perhaps half a dozen people to cluster around and discuss rather then bigger affairs for bigger audiences. 

There's a few she's highlighted - one of temporal neuropsych, one on time rings and miniaturized time machines, some fun little exotic spatial phenomenon studies, that sort of thing. 

She highlights a few as well and sends it back: a panel on exotic outcomes of ripples in time, an exhibit of a particularly clever alien lockpick, a presentation on the most egregious time heists known to have been perpetrated (both solved and unsolved). And then she wanders off, looking for signs of the other class.

Thx~

There's a lot of little noises in the space - the hum of countless little devices emitting their own little fields, clicking buttons and the soft clicking of metal against metal and buzzing scanners and engineer's tools, even if the classmates haven't penetrated this deep yet. 

And... looks like across the room, there's a few people filtering in? 

By the scans she's got, looks like they're milling out just by one of the areas dedicated to timeship science - there's a cute little tardis console compare and contrast space with a part bay and some neat diagnostic excercises, a historical exhibit with some lovely stasis cube paintings, and a little bio lab for some of the interesting relationships between the biology of time lords and tardises and how they've developed together with a proper little panel for inquiries. 

(And there's a nice little pub a hundred meters to the west, if a meal strikes her fancy.) 

While Sabella admires the stasis cube paintings and listens to the feel of the people entering the conference space...

One such newcomer walks in and heads to the bio lab, eyes on all the time trainees milling about.

Hmm. The brunette by the paintings is cute, but no decisions just yet. 

Oh they're all so interesting, the paintings and the people both. She can see pieces of story in the backgrounds and around the edges of the paintings, hints of what threats they were guarding against, just fascinating.

But then there are the people. Something isn't quite normal. Now, no one is normal in the Academy, but something niggles at the back of her mind. Can't tell what it is, though. They're all so quiet about it. Tch, she'd figure it out later.

She meanders past the paintings to peruse the biology exhibit. The panel won't be for a little while, but she can peruse this for a bit and then grab something to drink at the pub across the way.

Interesting choice the brunette made. Maya strolls past various exhibits, especially paying attention to the various Time Lords and Ladies to be as she goes. She can learn a lot from which exhibits and panels they're focusing on. This one looks for technology. That one for weaponry. Another for advantage over the people he meets. Tourism, conquest, service, challenge, all pieces of what she wants to see but never quite the whole thing. Exploration, whimsy, battle, dominance, ease, adventure, mystery—

She finds herself passing by the brunette again.

Connection and story. 

This one is interesting.

There's so much amazing convergence between biology of timeships and and time lords! So much thought and care went into making them perfect for each other, but so many people treat their timeships as just appliances. How can they possibly miss this gorgeous harmony? Two different stories, twining together to sing a beautiful song; two complementary perspectives, dancing through history together. 

Even if nothing else interesting happens at this conference, it'll have been worth it just for this exhibit.

That's a lot. Is she ever going to find a timeship that wants to partner with her like that?

Nope. Not getting maudlin. This calls for fish and chips. To the pub.

Soon enough she's seated at a small table in a corner with a good view of the conference hall, sipping on one of her favorite drinks: a beverage whose flavor shifts around in one's memory, but always to flavors one likes — or at least finds interesting. After a few more minutes, a basket of crispy-battered fillets of mirellarephoram light-fish and fried strips of treskine-gabolee tubers arrives.

Mmmm. Fish and chips. Comfort food, for letting a realization of a story settle in.

This brunette... cares. And she cares differently than the others.

Maya finds herself wanting to know more.

She steps into the restaurant and sits down across from her.

"Hello," she says with a small smile.

Oh she's pretty.

"Hi there! What's your name? How're you liking the conference so far?"

"Call me Maya," she replies, leaning forward and resting her chin in her hand. "It's quite the event. There is such an enormous variety of exhibits and panels. There is truly something for everyone. And you? Name and favorite exhibit?"

"Sabella, and so far it's got to be the convergent biology one. The fact that we're so connected, so meant to connect, is amazing. Two people, one ship and one pilot, collaboratively telling a story across time! What could be more beautiful than two unique stories singing in harmony together?"

She gets progressively more excited with every word.

She gets it. Sabella sees what Maya's been looking for.

"That's exactly it, yes. That connection is such a gorgeous thing to picture."

"And to think," she adds with a scowl, "that some time lords treat their timeships as appliances, as mere conveyances that have no say in the story being told. How could they demean the experience like that?"

Maya leans a bit further into the table, blushing and nodding. She's never had her whole species defended like this before.

"What do you think it feels like? The connection? The bond?"

She shouldn't be this eager, already. She shouldn't be this excited about one person. She should be careful, keep exploring longer.

"What could be better, what could be truer, than to feel the mental presence of someone who chose to travel time and space with you? Who chose to help you tell a story, and to let you help them? I have no idea what it will feel like, but I can already tell I'm going to love it."

A small, nervous frown crosses her face.

"Well, if I find a timeship who actually wants to bond with me, anyway."

Quietly, almost tenderly, Maya replies, "Somehow, I do not think that will be your problem."

She thinks back to the advice she was given.

The Old General set his hands against the podium — armored fingers curled around the edges with a steady firmness as he stared down the crowd, firm features set in a neutral stare 'til the chatter quieted down. 

"I trust that you've overviewed the mission briefing. I'm sure that you understand the scope of your assignment, here, in practicalities, but that is not the purpose of this meeting. Because it's more than that, to you, to us." 

There's a slow, ponderous pause as he shifts, his hands loosening up a little before pressing back down in place. 

"Still. That doesn't excuse any lack of judgement — think of it as the most important requisition decision in your life, for the surest sidearm for you to wield, as the most important personnel decision, for creating an effective team to take on your challenges. Step outside yourself and look at what you are creating with thought and care. Your time lord will be your proxy, in many things — there are many places where even with your skills and features, it will simply not be possible for you to follow them, so they will be acting in your stead. They will be extending something of the same trust to you — for your capabilities in some areas will far exceed theirs, and you will be acting in their place, then." 

He pulls his hand back to his side, straightening, focusing. 

"Don't trust your first impressions. This is an intelligence mission, and you need to corroborate your sources. Find out what they've built, find how they feel, by your side and by other's sides. Find how they treat their tools, their weapons, their partners, for you will be the foremost of all of those, to your bondmate. Gather information, think, and remember that they have their own designs, and their own skills in the technical and mental spheres. Be mindful, and ready to treat it as a hostile environment, with all that it entails." 

He softens, slightly, running his hand gently along the podium. 

"And take your time. Make a report on your candidates. Take a night to consider your feelings and options. Deciding in the moment won't gain you anything, but can lose you much.

"Take care."

He pauses, closes his eyes, and exhales quietly.

"That will be all."

Maya exhales slowly as she recalls the advice the General gave.

She will not be hasty.

No matter how sweet and perfect this girl seems at first glance, she will check.

"You really think so?", Sabella says. "Awfully sweet of you to say."

"Can I get you something, by the way? Soup? Fish and chips? A drink?"

"I'd love a spiced tomato soup," she replies with a smile.

"Sure! I'll go place the order and be right back."

She gets up, grinning to herself, and steps lightly over to the bar.

Maya watches the exchange thoughtfully. Sabella seems to be warm to everyone she meets, so far.

A few more pages of notes appear on a desk in her internal space, describing what she's seen so far.

"Should be just a few minutes," Sabella says as she sits back down. She has a sip of her drink. "So, what panel are you most looking forward to?"

"Aside from the convergent biology panel?" She taps her lips a moment and hums. "I suppose the temporal neuropsychology panel."

"Ooh, I was thinking about meeting a friend at that one. Maybe all three of us could go?"

"That sounds lovely."

See how she treats friends, check. Now what about her tools? Can she treat her tools well, but not take herself too seriously?

"I think there's also a show-and-tell for custom personal tools in a bit. Would you like to go see it?"

"Goodness yes," she replies eagerly. "Sharing what I've learned with my designs, learning from others, finding new ways to care for my tools? Sounds like a great time."