Mai masters channel surfing.

Mai sat with me on the couch, head on my shoulder, legs curled up, and her hand on my leg for balance. ...or so she said. I had my arm around her, a gesture she seemed to appreciate because she let out a longer sigh then usual. I think it was a good sort of sigh.

We were watching some comedy program or another. Mai remained silent for some time before finally speaking up. "...I hate this...play...thing," Mai muttered. "Eh, just call it a 'show'," I replied, realizing I never gave the pictures on the screen a title. "Fine. I hate this show."

In response, I placed the remote on her leg. Picking it up, Mai looked at it. "And this is for...?" she asked in her dull voice. "You don't like the show, change the channel. Just hit the up button...here," I explained, pointing to the channel changing buttons. Experimentally, Mai pressed the button, causing the TV to switch to the next channel...as expected.

Mai raised her head from my shoulder, quirking an eyebrow. Apparently this intrigued her. She gave whatever the next channel had on about...oh, twenty seconds before hitting the button again. Then again. And again.

"You're going to be an expert couch potato," I mused. "Couch what?" Mai asked, still changing channels with about twenty seconds between button presses. "Someone who sits on the couch and watches TV almost professionally." Mai made a sort of grunting sound as she continue to channel surf. A lady of few words, that Mai.

I was briefly alarmed when her surfing landed on a Nickeloden channel, currently showing "Avatar: The Last Airbender". Mai frowned, tilting her head as she watched herself and Azula on the television screen. "...what's wrong with this one? It's blank," she asked me. I realized that Mai couldn't see it. Probably some form of defense in her programming. Nothing, save myself, could inform her that she was a fictional character given a robotic semblance of life.

"Meh, sometimes a channel goes off the air for a bit. It'll recover," I replied. Mai made another sound of acknowledgement before hitting the button. Well, that was good to know.

...and still she surfed. Maybe I should tell her I had over five hundred channels...