[A: Elementary School (OPEN)]

[What is that sound floating out over the playground at lunch? It's piano music, just basic tunes being repeated over and over again from the open window of the music room. Cain has retired there to study the books that Charles gave him, tireless in his pursuit of being the very best at whatever task was set to him.

Every time he makes a mistake, he repeats that part of the piece over and over again until it's flawless. Anyone at all is free to hear his attempts or tell him to shut up.]

[B: Around Town (OPEN)]

[Tis the season, and all that... It's Cain's first Christmas where he'll actually get to celebrate, instead of watching all the colonists exchange presents while never being part of it himself. He's been saving all the pocket money that his drone not!mother had been giving him (until she got replaced yesterday), as well as the money he got for doing odd-jobs for his friends. So now he's out and about shopping for gifts.

Do you work in any of the stores? Then this blond haired boy might just be peering over the counter with a bright smile. Are you wandering down the street aimlessly? Feel free to bump into Cain as he carries a stack of boxes too high to see over... because clearly that's just asking for trouble.]

[C: Phone (OPEN)]

[Did you order a rousing pep talk by a ten year old today, Mayfield? No... shame, because it's coming anyway.]

Christmas is coming soon... Maybe you celebrate something else in your world, or maybe you don't celebrate anything at all, but here... I think they'll have Christmas. I don't know if anything will happen, but...

Even if it does, and even if it hurts us, we can't let it break us. We have to keep our eyes forward, and we have to stick together. As long as we look out for each other, then we can change the future to whatever we want.

[D: Home (Locked to Housemates)]

[It seemed like he was the first one home, which was a little odd after the drone!Esther housewife who had always been there to welcome him in and tell him to do his homework before dinner. Which, consequently, led to the thought that there was no dinner... Astha didn't seem the type to make a meal for the family based on what he had seen, Rachel had already shown she believed cooking beneath her, and he didn't want to die so Abel was out.

Therefore, whenever anyone else gets home, they might find the youngest non-drone member of the household stood on a chair by the stove. He's pouring over one of the recipes Esther had left behind, not being allowed to go and find any more of his own, and is carefully adding things to a big bubbling pot.]

[A: Phone; Private to Diana Ethelbert]

I think it's time we called to order the first meeting of the... hm. We still need a name! Then it's doubly important we have a meeting.

[B: Action, all around Mayfield; Open to All]

[Cain knows that his time here is precious, not just for seeing his brother happy finally, but because it may be the only taste he gets of freedom. Not that he will truly let himself believe that... even after being confronted with all the evidence of his future, there was a part of him that refused to believe it would happen. Especially now he knew about it, he was intelligent, he would find a way to stop it from coming to pass, because any other option just wasn't conceivable.

So in the interests of making the most of his time here, he's made himself a list of things to do, and he's spending this Sunday doing them. At various points in Mayfield, people might see a small boy trying (and mostly failing) to fly a kite, wandering into each shop and asking politely to sample each of the wares, and climbing trees. It's during one such endeavour that he's got a bit stuck, swinging his legs from a branch and looking down at people as they pass by.]

Um... excuse me? Could I have a hand, please?

[ooc: For anywhere around town, it can be anywhere! If you want your character to be in a shop or diner or anywhere, just say where in the subject line :3]

[A: Private to Abel]

[Enough was enough. His chest hurt with the last couple of weeks, knowing his brother was here and yet being alone all the same. It wasn't right, it was painful to endure, and he had come to the end of his patience with it. He thought Abel would seek him out; after all, he was apparently the elder now and with all the knowledge of what was to come, it had been his words that had hurt Cain in the first place, and... Cain had just really thought his brother would come through for him.

But apparently Abel was immature at ten or ten thousand, and so it was up to Cain to make things right between them. He had waited until everyone else in the house was engaged in their own tasks, and then gone to the lounge where the 'father' of the house was sitting. He had avoided the same room as his brother since their argument, and even now his heart was thudding hard in nerves that this would end in the same way. Poking his head through the door, he took a deep breath.]

Abel..?

[B: Phones / Open to all]

I know there are a lot of academics here; students at the schools, those assigned to teach them, and those with just an interest in knowledge. The subjects taught to the year groups are very fixed and don't allow for exploration, and I wondered if there were any systems in place for learning outside the schools.

With all the people represented here, it seems a shame that we can't learn from each other. I know I would love to learn other histories and skills, and I'm sure I can't be the only one.

If there are others who feel the same way, who think they want to learn or could have something to teach, why don't we try it?