Translator Trouble
by Lengna
Das'ani huffed and kicked her feet as they dangled from the chair she was sitting in. She tried to distract herself by seeing if she could stretch enough to touch the ground. It didn't really help, though; they needed her to translate. Normally she liked helping her mom and teacher understand each other, but today they were arguing, and it was about her.
"Can you say that again, Cror'Ruae? I'm not sure I fully understand." Her mom was trying desperately to get her teacher to repeat what he'd said so the translation device she had would pick it up. It wasn't really configured for the Vie languages, it had been made to talk to Ershans... like Happy. She wished Happy was there then... She'd dance on the table again and everyone would forget about how Das'ani had made a mess by climbing on the bookshelf.
Das'ani's teacher let out an exasperated sigh and looked at Das'ani expectantly. Her mom could understand a tiny bit of his language, and she had the translation device to help a bit, but it was still hard. Her teacher refused to learn any languages that weren't his own so he wasn't very helpful. And yet he was annoyed by people not using his language 'the right way': his way.
"wwwa.. MOMMYuAIL AILjawa, VIEia ZOAja." She gave a rough translation.
He waited a moment, as if expecting something, then sighed again.
"RHIO, ZOA MILUwa VIEah AILar DINDINNA VIEar AIL MILUal WEHah ZOAia." "ZOA BWIal" She admitted abashedly. She was there to translate and she had a feeling she was going to get chastised about how terrible a job she was doing, sooner rather than later.
"Cror'Ruae ZOARHIO." "VIEaru AILu CLARROY." Came his automatic response. She held in a giggle, she bet he didn't even realize he said it anymore. "OJOu REEu ZOREal VIEahu MILUja VIEarujaia OJ BWIal." He rubbed his temple and sagged slightly, as if dealing with this was all too much. She crossed her arms and pouted; he didn't have to be a meany about it. "LIRu ZORE MILUja AILar- VIEahu BWIja." He gave her a flat look. "aruHAVja arJIA MILU ahuWEHalAIL." She snapped back, then winced. Oops... she hadn't meant to talk back like that... Really it was his fault for teaching her how! She waited for a scolding, or.. more dreaded, another hour-long rant about manners. Instead of that though, he waved a hand around like he was pushing the comment out of the air and said,
"LOA LOA, VIEaru LOAuja LIRu ZIN LIRu ZIN LIRu LIR. VIEaru ZOAja, VIEaru RHIOia." Was he making a joke? She grinned, feeling a little less mortified. "OJO, BOIah AILar DINDINNA 'VIEar BOIja- VIEahu RADar, MILUal VIEahu ZOU VONah VIEu VIEar MILUja WEHu-.'" "ZOA ahuBOIja VIEar?" She pouted at him. Das'ani knew if he didn't like you he just told you, but it still hurt he didn't want her around. Though... she did make a big mess... so maybe he had a point. Still, it wasn't a nice feeling. "ZOA OJOu VIEARU JOW." Cror'Ruae corrected her evenly.
"OJO HAVahu VIEar VONjahu RADar VIE, ZOA ZOA- LOAu VIEaru DEJar." "MILUwa?" She could see her mom was getting confused at all she was receiving on the translator. She wasn't getting the repeat she had asked for and was mostly left out of the conversation. Oops... Das'ani was a very bad interpreter today.
"Sorry, Mommy..." "Cror'Ruae is always very chatty..." Her mom was used to him going off on tangents by now, she supposed. How did they even talk before she was around? She tried to picture them playing hand shadows and tiptoe dancing. Though she bet Cror'Ruae just talked and talked and talked and nothing got done. Mom was right, he was very chatty. "VIEaru VNOI AILaru JIBI, LOAia, VIEal OJOah VONjaal. VIEahu HAVja REEu MILUja ZOAwa VIEar ZOA RHIO VONjahu RADar VIE?" Cror'Ruae gestured to himself as if she might get lost on the knowing who he was part, and rolled his eyes so hard she thought they might pop out.
"LOAuja CIJAu VIE LOAia BOIja jaaijaar NELar alja WEHalAIL ahja-. ZOA VIEar OJOja ahja WEHalAIL ahja- ahja- ahja-, DAZANI. VIEaru ZOAja, VIEaru RHIOia." Yeah, she totally didn't get her talking back habit from him or anything... "ZOA VIEaruMARHU AILarVIEia." She crossed her other set of arms.
"MILUal aruZOAah DEJah JIAh ahuDEJaruJIA OJOar." "LOA. LOA OJOu VIEaru MILUja." He clapped his fist into his hand as if she'd just had the best idea.
"ZOA VIEahu DEJah JIAh VIEaru DEJaru JIA. It is a DEIZOu JIA, ZOA RADar VIEu.. ZOAal.. DEJah.. jaia. AILuwa? BOIalujaia, LOA." "Cror'Ruae ZOA aruJIA DEJah." "VIEaru AILu CLARROY." "ZOA aruMARHU, VIEah AILarVIEia." "ZOA VIEaru BOIja ZOAar-, DAZANI. VIEahu LOAal VIEar ZOA VIEiau LOAja." He crossed his arms and leaned slightly against his desk. She was sitting in his chair and he seemed to get tired if he stood too long. She bet it was 'cause he was old. "ZOAwa aruDEJah ahJIA? ZOA aruVIUBEN- OJOar. LOAlAIL. aruLOAja-." "VIEahu WEHar, ZOA ZOAjaaiar ahja-." "aruZOAJIAr! aruJOW-!" "VIEaru ZOREar VIEahu DEJahu ZO~" He started to say, but was cut off voice from the doorway into the lab. "VIEar WEHarwa DEJar?" The calm, methodical voice asked. Das'ani quickly got out of Cror'Ruae's chair and scurried to hide behind him. He may be fussy and mad with her right then, but he wasn't scary and mean like the owner of the voice. "ZOA MECDIR, VIEar- AILal LOAh OJOar." He said, stiffening at the cyborg's sudden presence.
"VIEaru RHIOarwa? VIEarujaia JIAjaar RHIOja, RHIOja-? LOAuwa? BAIRD jaiajaah DEJar- VIEarwa? (I'm more than ready to pick up where we lef-)" "ZOA." Mecdir interrupted, coming into the room fully and heading towards them. Her teacher fell silent as he waited for an answer and put a hand on her head. She hid her face in his side and clung to his waistcoat. "ZOA, ADAVN alVIEar (any use for you) CRIZDOV, (do keep silent.)" "VIEaru ZOAia.." Cror'Ruae absently petted Das'ani's hair as he spoke.
"(If Baird doesn't need me, can I, at the very least, have my equipm-)" "(If you cannot hold your tongue, I will be forced to subdue you.)" Mecdir replied firmly, clearly not in the mood to deal with the old man today.
"MILUar VIEahuRHIOia." "(Your teasing has become unsettling as of late.)" Cror'Ruae scoffed. Das'ani didn't think Mecdir was teasing at all, he was being mean and scary. She dared a peek to see what he was doing and quickly hid again when she saw he was staring down at her, getting closer all the while. She clung harder to Cror'Ruae, afraid he'd be taken away again. The last time he and Mecdir had a fight she didn't get to see him for half a month. "(Speak again and you will see how serious I am.)" Mecdir threatened calmly before addressing her mom.
"(Doctor DinDinna, The Harbinger is in need of your translator for an upcoming meeting with your people. You are not obligated to attend.)" Mom listened for a moment but didn't seem to get what he was saying. "Das'ani, I think my device is broken. Do you know what the Mecdir is saying?" "Uhh... he wants that." She peeked out from behind Cror'Ruae again to point at the translator her mom was moving over to show her, thankfully this put Mom's massive body between them and Mecdir so he couldn't look at her anymore. "It is telling me so many things, even when no one is talking." Das'ani stopped clinging to go look. She'd feel safer if her mom carried her instead. She didn't think Cror'Ruae would do more than fall down if Mecdir decided to be really mean again. She held her arms up and waited to be lifted, instead her mom handed her the translator. She sighed, not getting what she wanted, and looked at the screen.
It was going wild! Mom was right, it really was broken. Instead of showing what was being said, it was scrolling through strange comments like her tablet and Cror'Ruae's notepad had done a week ago. Hrm... She bet he'd like to see it, but he wouldn't know what it was doing just by looking. "ZOA, ZOA VIEahuRACOiɑ, VIEahu arVIE" Mecdir corrected when he saw them fiddling with the device.
"(We'll pick her up tomorrow, have her ready as early as possible.)" "No! I don't want to go with you!" Das'ani was so terrified by the idea of being the one taken away that she forgot to translate what she was saying for him. "What is it saying now?" Mom turned to look down at Mecdir. She was giving off a warning scent, but Das'ani knew the Vie people didn't use smell to talk so he didn't know he was in danger. Well poo on him for being mean! Maybe Mom would make him stop it. "He wants to take me away." She clung to her mom now, trying to get up into her arms again.
"And.., and he's being mean to Cror'Ruae too!" "VIEaru AILu CLARROY." She heard Cror'Ruae say as her mom lifted her up. Either he didn't realize he'd spoken, or he didn't care about the threats. From her vantage point above them now, Das'ani saw Mecdir staring at her for a brief moment before turning his focus on her teacher. She watched his tool hand turn into a claw as he headed for the yappy old man.
"(I don't know what about me makes you think I am not serious.)" "(I highly doubt having a child at an important meeting is a wise decision, Mecdir.)" Cror'Ruae kept talking, not realizing he was already in danger.
"BAIRD HAVjawa? (Even if you disregard the glaring downside of her changing the meanings of things, or refusing to translate phrases she isn't fond of, there's the fact that she's still 5. She has the attention span one might expect at that age and she needs to move around far more than you migh-)-" Mecdir stepped around her mother smoothly and stopped Cror'Ruae's talking - physically, this time. He grabbed the old man by his face with the claw tool and pulled him up off his feet, causing him to fall onto his backside with a muffled gasp of pain. He put his hands on Mecdir's claw, as if confused that something was on his face.
"(From now on, Crizdov, when I say to keep silent, I mean it.)" Mecdir's claw tightened around Cror'Ruae's head, and finally, he seemed to realize that he was in some sort of trouble. He struggled to free his face, likely to say something else, as he was dragged along the floor. Das'ani covered her eyes and hid her face in her mom's fluff, but she could hear them moving across the lab, so she covered her ears too. If she couldn't see it or hear it maybe it wasn't happening. She'd seen Mecdir get too rough with her teacher before, and it scared her. "Mommy..." Her mom, still not knowing was going on, moved away from the two Vie, concerned more for Das'ani's saftey. The last thing she'd heard was Das'ani saying they wanted to take her, and her mom wasn't going to let that happen. Not ever. Thinking about that made her feel safer and feeling safe made her feel brave too. She uncovered one eye and called out to Mecdir.
"(If you aren't nice to Cror'Ruae I'll say all the wrong things and you'll be in trouble!) Meany!" Mecdir turned slowly and focused his eye on her, making her hide her face again. "(And if I am, you will perform your duty properly tomorrow?)" "L~LOA. a~aruMEB- arualMommy alCror'Ruae ahJIA, MILU VIEah (scary) alZOA aruBOIja VIEah." Maybe she said too much... she didn't want him to grab her face like that. What if Mommy couldn't really stop him? Oh no... oh no... what if he and Mommy actually did fight? Oh, they'd be in so much trouble... "(I find these terms acceptable, though if he interrupts the proceedings with his ceaseless chatter I will remove him.)" Mecdir let go of her teacher, who curled up into a ball on the floor once he was free. She wanted to argue more, but she'd already used up her braveness, so, instead, she hid her face again until he was gone. She'd have to explain to her mom what was going on. But for now, she just wanted to hug her and feel safe.
"RHIO, ZOA MILUwa VIEah AILar DINDINNA VIEar AIL MILUal WEHah ZOAia." "ZOA BWIal" She admitted abashedly. She was there to translate and she had a feeling she was going to get chastised about how terrible a job she was doing, sooner rather than later.
"Cror'Ruae ZOARHIO." "VIEaru AILu CLARROY." Came his automatic response. She held in a giggle, she bet he didn't even realize he said it anymore. "OJOu REEu ZOREal VIEahu MILUja VIEarujaia OJ BWIal." He rubbed his temple and sagged slightly, as if dealing with this was all too much. She crossed her arms and pouted; he didn't have to be a meany about it. "LIRu ZORE MILUja AILar- VIEahu BWIja." He gave her a flat look. "aruHAVja arJIA MILU ahuWEHalAIL." She snapped back, then winced. Oops... she hadn't meant to talk back like that... Really it was his fault for teaching her how! She waited for a scolding, or.. more dreaded, another hour-long rant about manners. Instead of that though, he waved a hand around like he was pushing the comment out of the air and said,
"LOA LOA, VIEaru LOAuja LIRu ZIN LIRu ZIN LIRu LIR. VIEaru ZOAja, VIEaru RHIOia." Was he making a joke? She grinned, feeling a little less mortified. "OJO, BOIah AILar DINDINNA 'VIEar BOIja- VIEahu RADar, MILUal VIEahu ZOU VONah VIEu VIEar MILUja WEHu-.'" "ZOA ahuBOIja VIEar?" She pouted at him. Das'ani knew if he didn't like you he just told you, but it still hurt he didn't want her around. Though... she did make a big mess... so maybe he had a point. Still, it wasn't a nice feeling. "ZOA OJOu VIEARU JOW." Cror'Ruae corrected her evenly.
"OJO HAVahu VIEar VONjahu RADar VIE, ZOA ZOA- LOAu VIEaru DEJar." "MILUwa?" She could see her mom was getting confused at all she was receiving on the translator. She wasn't getting the repeat she had asked for and was mostly left out of the conversation. Oops... Das'ani was a very bad interpreter today.
"Sorry, Mommy..." "Cror'Ruae is always very chatty..." Her mom was used to him going off on tangents by now, she supposed. How did they even talk before she was around? She tried to picture them playing hand shadows and tiptoe dancing. Though she bet Cror'Ruae just talked and talked and talked and nothing got done. Mom was right, he was very chatty. "VIEaru VNOI AILaru JIBI, LOAia, VIEal OJOah VONjaal. VIEahu HAVja REEu MILUja ZOAwa VIEar ZOA RHIO VONjahu RADar VIE?" Cror'Ruae gestured to himself as if she might get lost on the knowing who he was part, and rolled his eyes so hard she thought they might pop out.
"LOAuja CIJAu VIE LOAia BOIja jaaijaar NELar alja WEHalAIL ahja-. ZOA VIEar OJOja ahja WEHalAIL ahja- ahja- ahja-, DAZANI. VIEaru ZOAja, VIEaru RHIOia." Yeah, she totally didn't get her talking back habit from him or anything... "ZOA VIEaruMARHU AILarVIEia." She crossed her other set of arms.
"MILUal aruZOAah DEJah JIAh ahuDEJaruJIA OJOar." "LOA. LOA OJOu VIEaru MILUja." He clapped his fist into his hand as if she'd just had the best idea.
"ZOA VIEahu DEJah JIAh VIEaru DEJaru JIA. It is a DEIZOu JIA, ZOA RADar VIEu.. ZOAal.. DEJah.. jaia. AILuwa? BOIalujaia, LOA." "Cror'Ruae ZOA aruJIA DEJah." "VIEaru AILu CLARROY." "ZOA aruMARHU, VIEah AILarVIEia." "ZOA VIEaru BOIja ZOAar-, DAZANI. VIEahu LOAal VIEar ZOA VIEiau LOAja." He crossed his arms and leaned slightly against his desk. She was sitting in his chair and he seemed to get tired if he stood too long. She bet it was 'cause he was old. "ZOAwa aruDEJah ahJIA? ZOA aruVIUBEN- OJOar. LOAlAIL. aruLOAja-." "VIEahu WEHar, ZOA ZOAjaaiar ahja-." "aruZOAJIAr! aruJOW-!" "VIEaru ZOREar VIEahu DEJahu ZO~" He started to say, but was cut off voice from the doorway into the lab. "VIEar WEHarwa DEJar?" The calm, methodical voice asked. Das'ani quickly got out of Cror'Ruae's chair and scurried to hide behind him. He may be fussy and mad with her right then, but he wasn't scary and mean like the owner of the voice. "ZOA MECDIR, VIEar- AILal LOAh OJOar." He said, stiffening at the cyborg's sudden presence.
"VIEaru RHIOarwa? VIEarujaia JIAjaar RHIOja, RHIOja-? LOAuwa? BAIRD jaiajaah DEJar- VIEarwa? (I'm more than ready to pick up where we lef-)" "ZOA." Mecdir interrupted, coming into the room fully and heading towards them. Her teacher fell silent as he waited for an answer and put a hand on her head. She hid her face in his side and clung to his waistcoat. "ZOA, ADAVN alVIEar (any use for you) CRIZDOV, (do keep silent.)" "VIEaru ZOAia.." Cror'Ruae absently petted Das'ani's hair as he spoke.
"(If Baird doesn't need me, can I, at the very least, have my equipm-)" "(If you cannot hold your tongue, I will be forced to subdue you.)" Mecdir replied firmly, clearly not in the mood to deal with the old man today.
"MILUar VIEahuRHIOia." "(Your teasing has become unsettling as of late.)" Cror'Ruae scoffed. Das'ani didn't think Mecdir was teasing at all, he was being mean and scary. She dared a peek to see what he was doing and quickly hid again when she saw he was staring down at her, getting closer all the while. She clung harder to Cror'Ruae, afraid he'd be taken away again. The last time he and Mecdir had a fight she didn't get to see him for half a month. "(Speak again and you will see how serious I am.)" Mecdir threatened calmly before addressing her mom.
"(Doctor DinDinna, The Harbinger is in need of your translator for an upcoming meeting with your people. You are not obligated to attend.)" Mom listened for a moment but didn't seem to get what he was saying. "Das'ani, I think my device is broken. Do you know what the Mecdir is saying?" "Uhh... he wants that." She peeked out from behind Cror'Ruae again to point at the translator her mom was moving over to show her, thankfully this put Mom's massive body between them and Mecdir so he couldn't look at her anymore. "It is telling me so many things, even when no one is talking." Das'ani stopped clinging to go look. She'd feel safer if her mom carried her instead. She didn't think Cror'Ruae would do more than fall down if Mecdir decided to be really mean again. She held her arms up and waited to be lifted, instead her mom handed her the translator. She sighed, not getting what she wanted, and looked at the screen.
It was going wild! Mom was right, it really was broken. Instead of showing what was being said, it was scrolling through strange comments like her tablet and Cror'Ruae's notepad had done a week ago. Hrm... She bet he'd like to see it, but he wouldn't know what it was doing just by looking. "ZOA, ZOA VIEahuRACOiɑ, VIEahu arVIE" Mecdir corrected when he saw them fiddling with the device.
"(We'll pick her up tomorrow, have her ready as early as possible.)" "No! I don't want to go with you!" Das'ani was so terrified by the idea of being the one taken away that she forgot to translate what she was saying for him. "What is it saying now?" Mom turned to look down at Mecdir. She was giving off a warning scent, but Das'ani knew the Vie people didn't use smell to talk so he didn't know he was in danger. Well poo on him for being mean! Maybe Mom would make him stop it. "He wants to take me away." She clung to her mom now, trying to get up into her arms again.
"And.., and he's being mean to Cror'Ruae too!" "VIEaru AILu CLARROY." She heard Cror'Ruae say as her mom lifted her up. Either he didn't realize he'd spoken, or he didn't care about the threats. From her vantage point above them now, Das'ani saw Mecdir staring at her for a brief moment before turning his focus on her teacher. She watched his tool hand turn into a claw as he headed for the yappy old man.
"(I don't know what about me makes you think I am not serious.)" "(I highly doubt having a child at an important meeting is a wise decision, Mecdir.)" Cror'Ruae kept talking, not realizing he was already in danger.
"BAIRD HAVjawa? (Even if you disregard the glaring downside of her changing the meanings of things, or refusing to translate phrases she isn't fond of, there's the fact that she's still 5. She has the attention span one might expect at that age and she needs to move around far more than you migh-)-" Mecdir stepped around her mother smoothly and stopped Cror'Ruae's talking - physically, this time. He grabbed the old man by his face with the claw tool and pulled him up off his feet, causing him to fall onto his backside with a muffled gasp of pain. He put his hands on Mecdir's claw, as if confused that something was on his face.
"(From now on, Crizdov, when I say to keep silent, I mean it.)" Mecdir's claw tightened around Cror'Ruae's head, and finally, he seemed to realize that he was in some sort of trouble. He struggled to free his face, likely to say something else, as he was dragged along the floor. Das'ani covered her eyes and hid her face in her mom's fluff, but she could hear them moving across the lab, so she covered her ears too. If she couldn't see it or hear it maybe it wasn't happening. She'd seen Mecdir get too rough with her teacher before, and it scared her. "Mommy..." Her mom, still not knowing was going on, moved away from the two Vie, concerned more for Das'ani's saftey. The last thing she'd heard was Das'ani saying they wanted to take her, and her mom wasn't going to let that happen. Not ever. Thinking about that made her feel safer and feeling safe made her feel brave too. She uncovered one eye and called out to Mecdir.
"(If you aren't nice to Cror'Ruae I'll say all the wrong things and you'll be in trouble!) Meany!" Mecdir turned slowly and focused his eye on her, making her hide her face again. "(And if I am, you will perform your duty properly tomorrow?)" "L~LOA. a~aruMEB- arualMommy alCror'Ruae ahJIA, MILU VIEah (scary) alZOA aruBOIja VIEah." Maybe she said too much... she didn't want him to grab her face like that. What if Mommy couldn't really stop him? Oh no... oh no... what if he and Mommy actually did fight? Oh, they'd be in so much trouble... "(I find these terms acceptable, though if he interrupts the proceedings with his ceaseless chatter I will remove him.)" Mecdir let go of her teacher, who curled up into a ball on the floor once he was free. She wanted to argue more, but she'd already used up her braveness, so, instead, she hid her face again until he was gone. She'd have to explain to her mom what was going on. But for now, she just wanted to hug her and feel safe.
Ooh! I want to know what happens after that!
<3 guess i'll have to write more then *nodnod*