When Tech Support Calls You

Posted on Tue Feb 7th, 2023 @ 5:59pm by Rebecca McMillen & Sakura Tanikawa

2,331 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: 1. Year One
Location: Ridgehaven Manor - Foyer and Parlor
Timeline: Friday August 28, 1992

Rebecca had set up a folding table in the foyer to house her folder pile and paperwork. While the Doc was busy setting up the fundamentals and the back office, she took it upon herself to meet and greet the new additions to the facility. Eventually she'd probably be there to meet and greet the students and parents, but at the moment, meeting the new additions meant the other teachers and faculty.

Between the two of them, Rebecca felt that she was less imposing than someone in a lab coat. She didn't mind, honestly. She took a look at the stack of folders waiting for her, and checked her watch. The folder she had next to consider had the name Sakura on it, and that folder had nothing else in it aside from a piece of paper with their name and a picture of what to expect.

"Sakura? What a pretty name."

It was Sakura Tanikawa's first day in Louisiana. Not her first day in the United States, mind you; that had been almost two years earlier, when she had that professional internship. The one which, despite best efforts, had not resulted in a job offer at the end for obvious though unspoken reasons.

Her visa required her to have a job, and the time limit had almost expired if not for the opportunity that had arisen at Ridgehaven Manor. Her employment secure, she crossed the country and arrived now by taxi, bag with her few meager possessions in hand.

"Your fan belt is about to break," she told the taxi driver as she handed him what little money she had on hand. The driver scowled and dismissively waved her off before turning around and leaving the Manor grounds.

Entering through the main door, she gasped as she walked in, briefly overwhelmed at the ornate décor in the foyer. She didn't even notice the woman holding a file folder.

The meek blonde with the folder waved as Sakura's glance landed near, "H. Hi. Welcome to Ridgehaven Manor. My name's Rebecca, just here to meet and greet." she came out from behind the folding table and offered a hand. "I hope you didn't have too much trouble finding the place? I know there's not exactly an exit on the freeway pointing to the place." she said with a smile.

The shorter purple-haired woman's first instinct was to bow, but she stopped herself after just a few degrees and accepted the offered hand. "It wasn't a problem. A long drive from the train station but the driver knew the way. Even if he didn't like coming here."

"It is a bit out of the way. Probably why." she offered. "So while the Doctor gets things ready on the back end, I'm just here to meet and greet the new faculty. From my notes you're going to be heading up the technology and computer science department, which is good cause I know next to nothing about that." she offered with a giggle. "I don't suppose you want some coffee?" a pause, "Or tea? We don't have good tea, but we have tea." she covered.

"Note to self, buy good tea next time I'm in the city," Sakura said, grinning. "Coffee would be nice, arigato, um, thank you."

Rebecca smiled, and started to lead Sakura to the coffee and tea stations in the other room. "Oh, umm, you're welcome." note to self, learn common Japanese phrases.

As Rebecca lead Sakura, her entire posture was just so relaxed, so calm and welcoming, that the belt around her waist started to move, started to twitch, and eventually slid free. It wasn't a belt... it was a tail.

Thin and fuzzy, tapered to a point, it looked like a mouse tail. Not a cat-girl like what was common in Japanimation these days, but still odd to see out in the open wild.

As open as this secluded manor could be. "I'm probably going to be in charge of sundries and logistics, so if you have anything in particular you want just let me know." She offered, a cheerful smile.

The release of Rebecca's tail prompted a gleeful squeal from Sakura. "Nezumi! You have a mouse tail! Is that your power?!" The excited young woman took a deep breath. "My apologies. I've not met too many others like me."

The squee startled Rebecca, so much so that for a moment, she vanished. Just poof and gone. No smoke, no mirrors, just a decided lack of Rebecca.

Or rather, a diminishment of Rebecca. Where she was previously standing at the generous height of five eight, she was now all the way down on the floor, at the adorable height of zero foot two. Five centimeters to the metric countries out there, but Rebecca had become no taller than a mouse herself.

"Damnit, note to self, pin the tail better." and then Rebecca turned and looked up, and up, and up at Sakura. "J... geez.. just gimme a minute, I'll be right back up." she paused, catching her breath and trying to calm down. "So yes, this is my talent. I ... I can talk to mice and rats, and yeah, this." she motioned to both inches of herself with a gesture of her arms.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Sakura crouched down to look at the tiny Rebecca. "I think we might be very good friends, Miss Rebecca."

She sat on her knees and bowed her head humbly before her new mouse-sized friend. "I didn't introduce myself properly before. It seemed I was expected, and so I rudely forgot. Apologies. I am Sakura Tanikawa. Though my one mutant friend before today called me Tekku. I would be honored if you did the same."

Rebecca gave a bit of a wince at the squee. Looming, titanic purple haired applicants overjoyed at the sight. It's like she never saw a... Oh right, she probably never did. "Heh..." she scratched at the back of her neck a bit, especially when Sakura knelt down, then knelt LOWER down. "Oh, no need for that. But, I appreciate the eye-level." Rebecca smiled, feeling a lot calmer. Calm enough to not immediately work on returning to normal. Sakura seemed to open up a bit at this, so maybe this was the key to getting to know her. Also, good friends right off the bat? This was a first. First time this 'gift' had been useful.

So, Rebecca imitated Sakura's bow from earlier. "I'm Rebecca McMillen. I've.... I've had a few nicknames in my life, but the one I think I like best is..."

"Critter." she giggled saying it out loud. "WAY better than vermin, or rodent..."

Or Pet.

"Critter!" Sakura exclaimed. "If you like, I think I can help you with your tail pinning issue." She gave a half-smile. "I'm good with machine. I'm sure I can make something that will help."

"Oh no no, no no no that's... that's okay. I've had it for a while, just kinda slips out when I'm comfy. I'm good with it like a belt, or down a pant leg. Just, well, here I'm safe. Here *WE'RE* safe, so why not relax?" she offered up to the gigantic woman. "I promised you tea. Though I think I'm not going to be having much coffee for a while. If you're gentle, you want to carry me to the other room?" the mouse-sized Rebecca motioned to the other room, just over there. "Flat hand, please. Don't... don't grab me."

Sakura set her palm down flat on the ground as instructed and waited for Rebecca to climb on and get comfortable before she very slowly stood up. "Point the way?"

The tiny Rebecca was practically weightless in Sakura's hand as she stepped up into her palm and then sat down criss-cross applesauce. At the sensation of upward motion, Rebecca stabilized herself by putting her hands on the larger woman's palm. God, never get used to that.

"That way." She motioned, pointing with the folder, turning on the woman's palm to face the right direction. "And, and yeah, I'm pretty sure we're friends." she admitted. Wouldn't be here if she thought otherwise.

"So, full truth, I can turn back to normal whenever, I've just been running around on my feet and all the whole day. Taking a bit of a break." she giggled.

Sakura's grin returned. "I would do the same if I could! If we ever find ourselves in a situation where I'm tiny and you're big, you return the favour. Deal?" she said as she reached what looked like a kitchen. She set her palm flat against the counter to let her new friend disembark.

"Oh one hundred percent. Pinky swear even." and Rebecca leaned forward to put her tiny little hand on just part of Sakura's pinky finger.

As the ride came to an end, she walked off and even gave a bit of a hop once on the counter. "And yeah no, hundred percent deal. I ... I know how scary it can be to be the little one. I have two sisters, and they used to be monsters to me, so yeah. If you ever wind up shorter, smaller, even tiny yeah, I'll keep you safe. And carry you to coffee." she giggled.

After a moment, she sat down on the edge of the counter, and over the course of a few moments her height returned to her. Once she was tall enough to stand without help from a tall friend, she hopped off the edge and landed on her feet. "There we go. proper coffee height."

“There’s never a wrong height for coffee,” Sakura replied. Though she didn’t know where the grounds were, the coffeemaker and kettle were both in plain sight.

"You know, I've often considered the notion of a coffee bath. Especially since there's already a tea bath." she giggled, moving about to prepare the coffee for brewing. "So, yeah. I have a mouse tail, and even mouse paws for feet." she motioned down to her shoes. Comfy and easy to remove from the looks of it. "And yeah, I can talk to mice and rats, and they talk back to me." she offered with a smile. "And you already saw, pocket sized. I'm just, nervous about being IN a pocket. Working on that."

“That seems fair,” Sakura said, nodding. “I can understand how machines work. I touch them and I can just…see how it all comes together. Sometimes I can make them do things too, by will, but that’s harder.” She took a deep breath in as the scent of coffee began filling the room. “Ahhh.” She gently touched the coffeemaker, feeling its warmth, but also seeing deep inside it. “Headmaster Drake invested well in keeping us caffeinated. This is a quality device. The point of failure will probably be the element, but not for a few years. Unless someone breaks a pot, I mean. It’s hard to account for people.” A concept she understood too well.

"Yeah, my folks and sisters weren't too nice to me." she offered. "... so I can support that sentiment." she shook her head briefly, banishing the darker memories. "So, talk to machines? That's actually really cool." she said, perking up. As Sakura told the coffeemaker's story, Rebecca just smiled wider and wider. "Okay, that is so cool. I mean, I'm kinda jealous of that talent."

"I had hoped it would help me do well," Sakura said a bit sadly. "I tried to get a job in the tech sector. It didn't work out. For people who are supposed to be open to new ideas, they sure are closed-minded about the people they want to hire."

Rebecca gave a nod as she handed over the first mug of coffee to her new bestie. "I think I'm the last person on the planet who's allowed to use the 'Rat Race' expression." she smiled, "Folks can be cruel and dumb. I'm sorry they couldn't see past their own short sightedness. I guess, and this is just a guess... they didn't want someone who could get the job done, they wanted someone they could control. Could manage. Could BOSS." she offered, now filling her own mug. How much coffee had she had today? Ehh, no big. She'd burn it off... or run laps around the manor.

"Besides, if they kept you, then I'd never get to make a friend." she smiled. "So, what was that word you said before? Neezami? Nesamee?" she tried, horribly, to repeat the Japanese word Sakura had used before.

"Nezumi," Sakura clarified in between deep sniffs of the offered coffee. As with the coffeemaker, the coffee itself was good quality. That fact she didn't understand with her powers though; this was just experience with the juice that made civilization work. "It just means mouse. It's the same word for rat." She let out a laugh. "We have a folk hero back in Japan, Nezumi Kozō. A thief who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, and his name can be used for someone who is good at sneaking."

Rebecca gave a smile, "Nezumi. Sounds a lot cooler than 'Critter', and you know, a bit more dignified." she smiled wider. "Might have to change my nickname. Wait, a thief who stole from the rich and...." she giggled, "Wow, that story gets around."

"Might have to get good at sneaking. Have to be careful not to get underfoot, though." she mentioned, another sip, and a happy little twitchy twitch of her tail tip. "Looking forward to working with you, Tekku."

"And with you, Critter. Or maybe Nezumi." She gently clinked her coffee cup against Rebecca's. "So, can you show me around a little bit before I meet the Headmaster?"

Clink went the mugs, "Certainly, usually a tour would cost a fee but for you, it's on the mouse." she giggled, and started to lead.

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