1st [video/action]

[reallyfeelingit]

Um...hello.

[Shulk looks a little...beat. He had just come from a workout and was currently in his lab, filming this exact post. Despite the exercise routine, he had his own knowledge to keep up with. Which meant experimenting and finding the answer to quite a few questions.]

As you know, we're in the summer period, which means lessons are on a hold. If any of you planned on signing up for Shop class when the school year starts with me, I'll be offering a bonus course this summer, which you can apply your earnings towards the actual year. Please feel free to ask about it or visit me in the lab at anytime to find out the details.

And, ah, for those of you with questions about your abilities and how to more effectively use them, I would be more than happy to address those questions. In my area of expertise, I'm more than capable of helping you become more effective at what you do. Again, just ask now or visit when you have the chance.

[And as promised, Shulk IS working in the lab. Mostly, at the moment, trying to line up a laser with a crystal of his design, hoping to see any type of effect. Experimentation was certainly a process. And yes, he was wearing something like a welding mask to protect his eyes. AND YES, he had a cup of coffee sitting on the table nearby. He should also be told to go to bed at appropriate times.]

Comments

[griot]

Viti raises his brow during the few minutes of mindless tapping. Unaware of Shulk's last name, he scratches his head at the response.

A hologram of a goat appears before him, and with a sigh and trepidation he speaks.

"Cambridge's youngest graduate of class 2017 was 16 years old."

(OOC. As I recall this thread takes place in 2019)

[reallyfeelingit]

"....are you focused more on me?"

He kind of had to break his concentration for a moment. "The last two things you've stated were about myself."

[griot]

"What? No!" Viti backed up, and shook his head. With his fist clenched he stated, "There's no way. My disability...it...it stops me from relating to people. They make my life miserable!"

Viti's muscles were tensed, his angry eyes focused on the floor, but his eyes started to shift, as the gears of his mind started to turn, and revelations began to form, but then...pride.

He picked his head up... "I don't relate to people. Show me another hologram. I will get it right this time!"

[reallyfeelingit]

He stopped for a moment before turning to Viti. Partially, maybe, that was the issue. Whether he couldn't get close to people or people couldn't get close to him. What did they call it, Hedgehog's Dilemma?

"Are you sure? What's so miserable about it? And what kind of disability are you talking about?"

[griot]

Viti sighed. "Well..." He crossed his arms and lowered his head as he thought about to explain the disorder. He had never done so successfully in his life.

"It's called Non-verbal learning disability. It hinders my ability to understand non-verbal communication, which is like 65% of all communication. Basically if information doesn't come to me as rational verbal, or numerical data, I don't understand it.

Humans tend to be very irrational, so I don't understand why they suddenly try to strangle me, shout insults at me, or turn into dragons and try to burn me alive."

Viti lowered his arms to his side, and looked up to Professor Shulk. "This why I can honestly say I wasn't focused on you..." Suddenly Viti's eyes became shifty, for what he had just said was the story of his life, but he also knew that his beliefs were being contradicted by data.

He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "...or at least, I wasn't doing so on purpose."

[reallyfeelingit]

"I believe you." Shulk did his best to appear friendly. And was trying to, really. He definitely felt as if this was something that was hindering him. But something that could be worked around.

"And that makes sense. What if I could help distill that information for you? If I worked on something like that, do you think that perhaps you would find it easier to pull the thoughts you need out of the void?"

[griot]

Viti's head shot up, and he gave a sharp nod. "There's no doubt it would. Just tell me what to do on my end. Not to sound arrogant, but it's becoming important for everyone given the virus in District X."

[reallyfeelingit]

"Alright! I think we'll consider class done for today. I'm going to work on something and get it to you. After you get used to using it, we can start again to see if there's any improvement." Ideas are already running here. How to quantify human emotions into rational aspects. It'd be rough and completely in a beta phase but there had to be a way to do it.

[griot]

"Thank you," replied with a respectful nod. "If you need me to do anything please let me know."

As Shulk turned away Viti took a deep breath reached out and said,

"Wait. Before you go. I was wrong. My power has been focused on you all along. Almost all the facts I uttered were about light, which is your specialty. The others were about your life."

Viti sighed, and looked away, but then found the strength to look up again.

"I know, it's a contradiction, but for some reason, even though my disability makes it hard to interact with people, my power was focused on you, and now that I think about it has been focused on other people too. I just realized this now."

Viti sighed again then ran up to try and hug professor Shulk.

"Thank you so much. Everything makes mores sense now."

[reallyfeelingit]

He was a little hesitant but he returned the hug. Thankfully, he didn't ruin things by dodging or trying to retreat.

"Ah...you're welcome. Feel free to let me know when you need anything."

Was this how it felt to be a teacher? Yes, definitely very satisfying.