As John began interrogating Clarissa, Oswin decided that he should not participate in whatever drama was going on, as he was liable to start feeling even worse for other people’s benefit if he did so. He started putting his t-shirt back on, unaware he was putting it on backwards.
Oswin turned to where he heard Bynari’s voice coming from, opening his mouth to say that he didn’t know what networking capabilities meant, but the conversation continued before he could interject.
Maybe I should get the t-shirt over my head so I can actually see what’s happening…
Oswin’s head finally popped out of the collar of his shirt, staring at Altier’s boots, trying to determine what the heck he was talking about before he eventually disappeared. There was a Rat? Are we sure it wasn’t a mouse? Nah, Altire probably knows the difference between the two, even if most of the guys at the college don’t.
…Is that how you pronounce his name? Oswin tried to remember how he had briefly seen it spelled out. A-L-T-I-R-E. So Altire. Got it.
Oswin watched Billie’s efforts with a level of pity, completely forgetting that he too had one of those devices in his ear and was likely far more susceptible to whatever nefarious shenanigans might occur with it. The odd cylinder didn’t seem to be any kind of complex device, just a simple tube with a hole at the top, but Billie’s failing to grasp its function properly was painful to watch. Like seeing the dean of the college getting frustrated after two seconds of trying to use a touch screen.
However, as Billie looked about, missed spotting Oswin, and began reaching for her ear to perform what was clearly a manual removal, Oswin looked down at the blood on the floor. His expression changed from one of miserable pity to abject horror, suddenly realizing what Billie was about to do.
“No!!” He blurted out, stretching one hand out and stepping forward, as if he would somehow intervene in this process physically, which he had no idea how to do. But that didn’t matter much to him. She was about to seriously hurt herself; he couldn’t allow that. Ever.
Oswin glanced at the desk, distracted by the sudden appearance of lights. His apprehension at not succumbing to the desire to forcibly stop Billie from hurting herself was now reflected in his body language, and he was quickly returning to the state of not knowing what in the world to do.