Doug and Marie-Ange
Sep. 6th, 2005 08:56 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsDoug and Marie-Ange on the flight back from New Orleans to New York. Doug is already knee-deep in trying to figure out what needs to be done to help with Haroun's upgrade. Except he's a little -too- immersed to notice piddly little things like stewardess' announcements...
The laptop was still -on-. Marie-Ange had packed her book and notepad into her purse when the attendent made the announcement that they were due to land, and had gently nudged Doug to try to get his attention. Now, five minutes later, he was still typing, and the attendent was coming back down the aisle.
"Doug..." she said, and then again, more firmly. "You need to turn the laptop off."
The words went in to Doug's ears, but there was no reaction. It wasn't that Doug was trying to be difficult, just that all of his mental capacity was focused on the code on the screen in front of him. There wasn't any spare processing power to understand what Marie-Ange was trying to tell him.
No response, not even a glance to acknowledge that he'd heard her. Carefully, Marie-Ange reached out and prodded Doug in the shoulder, all the while watching the flight attendent make her way down the aisle.
Doug, already deep in a sort of fugue state, swatted absently at the hand. He was trying to read and understand the specs and parameters of the entire Jetstream MMI, something that had likely taken an entire team of programmers months if not years to create and refine. And then he needed to write the next generation of the software, with one or two other people helping, and preferably within the span of a week, two at most. And to do that, he needed whoever it was bothering him to _stop interrupting_.
"Doug!" Marie-Ange snapped out. Her hand darted out to hover over the power button for his laptop. "I will turn this off myself if you do not listen to me. You have to shut your laptop for a few minutes. The plane is landing." Despite the firm tones of her voice, she didn't sound angry. Just determined.
Doug swatted again at the hand. Didn't whoever it was understand that this was pretty much a matter of life and death? Maybe not quite so much as the medlab crew fighting to safe Mr. al-Rashid's life, but having the MMI ready for the replacement hardware was vital in its own way. And time was of the essence. Doug was so locked in, his world had narrowed down to his laptop and the code scrolling down the screen. He wasn't even aware of where he was, or who it was that was trying to turn his laptop off, and why.
Doug's laptop starting to power down was nearly silent, just the brief click of Marie-Ange's finger tapping the button, and then the whisper of the hard drives and fans slowing down. Being arrested or detained at the end of the flight wouldn't be good, and she really wasn't sure what a flight attendent could do if Doug didn't turn off the laptop.
His screen blanking was enough to snap Doug out of the fugue state, and he blinked owlishly, confused and slightly cranky. "...Angie?" he asked befuddledly. "What...where...?" He shook himself, trying to recenter his brain.
"We are about to land." The answer came as Marie-Ange carefully closed Doug's laptop, pulling his hands away from the keyboard. "The flight attendant was already getting cross with us, and you were not listening.."
Doug blinked some more, then looked up at a scowling stewardess, who confirmed Marie-Ange's story. "Er, sorry," Doug mumbled, quickly putting his tray table up and returning his seat to its upright and locked position. The scowl deepened for a moment, but Doug's bashful head-ducking seemed to take most of the crankiness out of her, and she nodded shortly before continuing toward the back of the plane. Doug merely began tapping his fingers rhythmically on the armrest, trying to will the plane to land faster so that he could get back to what he needed to be doing.
The laptop was still -on-. Marie-Ange had packed her book and notepad into her purse when the attendent made the announcement that they were due to land, and had gently nudged Doug to try to get his attention. Now, five minutes later, he was still typing, and the attendent was coming back down the aisle.
"Doug..." she said, and then again, more firmly. "You need to turn the laptop off."
The words went in to Doug's ears, but there was no reaction. It wasn't that Doug was trying to be difficult, just that all of his mental capacity was focused on the code on the screen in front of him. There wasn't any spare processing power to understand what Marie-Ange was trying to tell him.
No response, not even a glance to acknowledge that he'd heard her. Carefully, Marie-Ange reached out and prodded Doug in the shoulder, all the while watching the flight attendent make her way down the aisle.
Doug, already deep in a sort of fugue state, swatted absently at the hand. He was trying to read and understand the specs and parameters of the entire Jetstream MMI, something that had likely taken an entire team of programmers months if not years to create and refine. And then he needed to write the next generation of the software, with one or two other people helping, and preferably within the span of a week, two at most. And to do that, he needed whoever it was bothering him to _stop interrupting_.
"Doug!" Marie-Ange snapped out. Her hand darted out to hover over the power button for his laptop. "I will turn this off myself if you do not listen to me. You have to shut your laptop for a few minutes. The plane is landing." Despite the firm tones of her voice, she didn't sound angry. Just determined.
Doug swatted again at the hand. Didn't whoever it was understand that this was pretty much a matter of life and death? Maybe not quite so much as the medlab crew fighting to safe Mr. al-Rashid's life, but having the MMI ready for the replacement hardware was vital in its own way. And time was of the essence. Doug was so locked in, his world had narrowed down to his laptop and the code scrolling down the screen. He wasn't even aware of where he was, or who it was that was trying to turn his laptop off, and why.
Doug's laptop starting to power down was nearly silent, just the brief click of Marie-Ange's finger tapping the button, and then the whisper of the hard drives and fans slowing down. Being arrested or detained at the end of the flight wouldn't be good, and she really wasn't sure what a flight attendent could do if Doug didn't turn off the laptop.
His screen blanking was enough to snap Doug out of the fugue state, and he blinked owlishly, confused and slightly cranky. "...Angie?" he asked befuddledly. "What...where...?" He shook himself, trying to recenter his brain.
"We are about to land." The answer came as Marie-Ange carefully closed Doug's laptop, pulling his hands away from the keyboard. "The flight attendant was already getting cross with us, and you were not listening.."
Doug blinked some more, then looked up at a scowling stewardess, who confirmed Marie-Ange's story. "Er, sorry," Doug mumbled, quickly putting his tray table up and returning his seat to its upright and locked position. The scowl deepened for a moment, but Doug's bashful head-ducking seemed to take most of the crankiness out of her, and she nodded shortly before continuing toward the back of the plane. Doug merely began tapping his fingers rhythmically on the armrest, trying to will the plane to land faster so that he could get back to what he needed to be doing.
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