Poutbunny

    Wisteria is in her human form, just a smallish albino woman with broad shoulders staring at the stars on her back among flowers. There is a general air of meloncholy and thoughtfulness raidiating from the were fang.

    Mizuki is not in her human form. Kitty for life. At least this life. Also it helps her feel a bit more... distant from some of this. Or it did, anyway.

    She's out grinding through mobs, watching her XP bar slowly fill, when she comes into sight of Wisteria. "Hey, Wist!" She smiles, waves, and runs over.

If we're honest, Jazz has been trailing after Mizuki, only barely paying attention to their grinding of the local monsterlife. Her help has hardly been needed in this time and perhaps she'll gain some ambient XP!

(She won't.)

She's got her nose buried in unfurled parchments that she's been given by the Cat-Girl. "... huh," she utters. A few more 'huhs' a little later. Then Mizuki is stopping to greet Wisteria and she walks rtight into her back because she's paying that ltitel attention.

    Wist lifts her hand and waves lightly. Then a heartfelt siiiiiigh. Then her hand drops back down. The girl seems to be sky watching, or she's staring at a flower over her head, or just off into space.

    Mizuki's run slows to a stop. "Ah. Did you finally run out of energy? You've been going at it pretty hard, fighting monsters and going through dungeons constantly... Oof!" Jazz bumps into her from behind. She turns around, "Hey..." but doesn't say more, seeing Jazz's nose buried in the star chart. That's understandable.

    When he was in junior high, Sam once walked into a telephone pole because his nose was in a book.

    The catgirl sits down next to Wis. "It's fine to take a break, I think. ...You know what we discovered?"

    She points up at the sky. "The stars are the same as Earth! There's the big dipper, and there's the north star, and there's Orion, see? The three stars in his belt area really distinctive."

    She lays down on the ground. "I can't remember the rest without looking at the chart, though..."

    Wisteria siiiighs "So... the dungeons just aren't really farmable. I've run them so many times, and they might have elements that repeat but the layout is different, and if you finish a run, then try again it's empty for way longer than it's worth sitting around, so you have to go to the next. The puzzles change enough that you have to resolve them and can't just have a cheat sheet." she deflates a bit more with a slow sigh.

    The albino girl just keeps staring at the sky "The stars really are the same? DO they move east to west? Like towards the pole? Like the sun does? And does the north star really point north if you compare it to the west pole with a compass?"

"Ack. Sorry. I wasn't paying any attention. Oh, hi," says Jazz to Wist, after apologizing to Mizuki. Then she sits down, right there, and just goes back to reading the charts. She looks up at the sky, then back at the charts.

"... I need an astrolabe. Problem is, I have no idea how to use one. or what one actually is. But I know they were used to help ascertain star stuff."

    Mizuki pats Wisteria on the shoulder. "Hey, you can still make a more general guide about the types of puzzles, right? So people know what they might be in for."

    "Well, the North Star is north..." Mizuki muses. "And I imagine the angle to it in the sky would tell us what lattitude we're at... Assuming we're indeed on a sphere and not something weirder..."

    She stretches out her arms. "I don't know what an astrolabe is either. I kind of know what a sextant is and could guess at its purpose -- the exact thing I just said, I assume -- and I know what an orrery is, but an astrolabe? No idea."

    She hmms. "I wonder if we could find the planets... I'm not sure how it'd help though..."

    The albino girl sighs again. "It's... just... meh. Now I'm not sure what to do, maybe I need to start hunting goblins and gnolls?" she wiggles tabi clad toes and sighs softly. Wisteria seems to be a bit on the maudlin side this evening.

"I mean, I know they used them to measure distances and what not for proper charting but I don't actually know enough to do it. But if the stars are earthly stars... eh..."

She wrinkles her nose up whicuh just makes her look exceptionally cute, of course, even if she's scrunched.

"I can't believe I didn't notice. Then again, how would I expect to notice that? I wonder if it's any different at all from before the black wave. At least now I can try to check..." She looks up at the sky with a sigh. Then Wisteria is turned towards.

"Procedural generation, huh? Should be expected, I guess..."

    Mizuki looks over at the... unusually-melancholy Wisteria. Then stares at the horizon. "...Today some players ganged up on and kidnapped a player dressed as a maid and were hoping to sell her to someone. They claimed they thought she was an NPC, but noone's that dumb, since players don't act like NPCs. We scared them off and took down their leader, but..."

    She sighs. "The people who want to stay here are right about one thing: This is our chance to build a better world, even if I don't plan to stay here we could at least make the time we spend here nicer. But already, people are being horrible again..."

    Wisteria nods her head "That's just... why do people want to be bad to each other when we're already stuck, it's like ... hey my life and your life just got crappy... how can I make yours worse?" she shakes her head. "You'd think if anyone listened to their Grans about what life was like after the war they'd just... want to be better." she plucks a purple flower and smells it looking at it. "Glad you were able to save her and run those guys off."

Jazuhanzu looks at Mizuki a long moment. Slowly, she looks down at her overcoat and the maid's uniform beneath it. Stares at it for a long moment.

There is a sigh.

"We're never going to build a 'better' world. We'll just bring all our problems along with us."

    Mizuki nods to Wisteria, then looks to Jazz. "Oh, come on. Even outside of here, wasn't our generation going to build a better world, and our children an even better one? The thought that it stops with this is just too sad..."

    She follows the merfolk's gaze.

    "...Oh." She adds quietly. "I was worrying the same thing."

    Wisteria sighs "Don't worry... anyone comes after you... and I'll send them to respawn." she says "They diserve at least a day's wait to think about their crimes." she says and reaches over to pat Jazz if she can if not she pats in her general direction.

"... I mean, this is Japan so I have a bit more hope for people workiung together than I would in America, but it's not like Japan was without racism or all manner of warts. But not a *lot* of hope. I'll be fine, though," she tells Wisteria, dropping down on the ground finally.

    "That's what I said..." Mizuki responds to Wisteria. "But the others wanted to spare them." She hugs Wis. "Thanks, though."

    Jazz lightly disses America. "Ouch, man! I hope people don't start being racist here, that'd be so dumb. You can't even tell what race anybody was born as, anyway... What would they do, hate on certain /game/ races? Geeze."

    She lays back on the ground again, hands behind her head. "...This whole... being part animal thing, has been like an escape from... this being my life. I mean, from this being /my/ life. I mean, it's complicated."

    She shakes her head. "Human form's not as different, so it's like the differences there are are highlighted. Beast form is..." She raises a hand in front of her face, extending and retracting her claws. "Enhanced senses, enhanced physical abilities, fur, claws and all that, make it feel like a little difference in shape isn't such a big deal." She smiles. "Plus, it's nice to have such useful powers!"

    "You know I love bein' a freakin' cat ninja, super strong, and super fast, and I can get comfy anywhere even without decent furniture thanks to fur and flexibility."

    She lowers her hand again. "But... it also means my experience is different from everyone else's. Sometimes I forget night and caves are /dark/ for everyone else, and such a powerful nose is something non-were-fang players will never experience. Is that going to make it harder for me to understand others over time? For others to understand me? That was worrying enough, before the idea that some people might want to /capture/ a catgirl or be weirdly racist or something."

    She rubs the brand on the back of her neck. "Could being a were fang... become a bad thing?"

    Shrugging shoulders Wisteria smiles a little. "Hey, I don't know... I mean I spend time like this." she says wiggling her not furry fingers. "Cause sometimes it's hard to think with how much I hear when I'm a caerbannog... or that I can smell blood, or like any of that." she licks her lips "And I've bit my tongue a few times..." she snorts "The Ninetails Landers are kind of racist... I mean towards Caits and Weres." she says "Cause they made us and so some of them think they're better... even though weres and caits started off human just like them." she sighs. "Maybe the way our senses are stronger, I duno may be different races actually think different. Jazz? If you go in the water till your gills start working... like can you see better under water? Does moving around feel differnet? Can you like smell things with your skin like an eel?"

    Mizuki looks over at Jazz, and piles on to Wisteria's litany of questions, "How about electroreception? Wait, how would you even have noticed..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," says Jazz.

"I have been in the water exactly twice. Both times I found it distinclty uncomfortable and cold. I don't know what the *rest* of the Undines do, but I did not like it. My eyes don't appear any better than anyone elses." She gives Mizuki a look at some of the the things said before hand, but then her eyes are on Wisteria. "I mean, I'm just not equipped for deep sea diving and yikes."

    Mizuki looks at least a little guilty. "I'm sorry, I got carried away. And... I'm sorry to hear your undine specialty is so unpleasant. At least we can enjoy being were fangs, even if it turns out it also comes with problems."

    She looks back at Wis. "The Landers were programmed to be racist to follow the lore. Players have no such excuse."

    Wisteria nods "Yah sucks that you don't enjoy it.. I like being a Caerbannog.. I mean I can leap... I have big sharp pointy teeth..." she giggles "Look at the bones." she giggles again and just sort of dies. Her friend shared the movie clip when she managed to find a bunny form and told her what it was called.

Rasing a hand to touch the gill slits on the side of her neck, Jazz just kind of scrunches her face up.

"'Undine specialty'," she mutters. "I'm a fucking mer-person and it's weird. That's all there is to it." The spots and marks on her body pulse faintly with bioluminsence.

    Mizuki sweatdrops. "Ah... maybe we're the weird ones for getting so into our inhuman attributes? That doesn't make me feel good either..."

    The albino girl laughs "Don't worry about it...if we're weird we weird... it's weird to be the women's champion at the All Japan Highschool Kendo Championships." she says "But it still felt good to pull off, and makes me happy to think about that moment when years of hard work became real." she smiles "So what if I enjoy being a bunny?"

"Yeah, well, you both got what you wanted, didn't you? There's no shame in enjoying the perks of what you've got while you *have* to have it. I'm not shaming either of you for that," points out Jazz, "but we're still the same old human beings beneath it all." She rolls her eyes, a little, though with some amusement.

    Mizuki looks at Wisteria in awe. "You're a national kendo champion? Wow! I've never been a national anything champion... that's so cool!"

    You both got you wanted! "Umm," Mizuki taps her index fingers together at Jazz's comment, "Not exactly, but the silver linings are pretty sweet so I'll take 'em!"

    Beat.

    "So, Wis... Jazz... any thoughts on what might be a fun thing to do for a break when we get tired of our work?"

    Wisteria shrugs "I duno... find an osen... have a beach holiday? Fireworks?"

Jazuhanzu stares at Mizuki.

"What, all this isn't fun enough for you?" she asks, gesturing abroad.

    Mizuki stares back at Jazz. "Well... yeah, but Wis has been throwing herself into fights since we met her... and if I do the same once we get back to Aincrad I might need a break sometimes too. Nothing ruins an interest or hobby like having it become your job, after all..."

    More quietly, "although I might die a little inside if that happens to even videogames..."

    Then "...still, even if fighting and dungeoneering all day DOES stay rad when not done at this relaxed pace, it might be nice just to add some variety!"

    She looks back to Wis. "Hot springs and the beach, huh? Life with you really is an anime... but we don't have swimsuits yet. Fireworks... hmm. I think I saw some at the New Years Eve celebrations. I wonder which Landers make them?"

    Wist tips her head "I'm like an anime? Am I really that bad? I mean... I just like going to the water park, and we always went to osen on vacation. Cause it's what you do on vacation." she says and blows on the flower she's holding watching it ruffle.

"Mmn," is what Jazz says. Noncommital. She's gone quiet, as she's prone to do. Looking down at the grass.

She does this some times.

    Mizuki raises her hands in a 'stop' gesture. "Ah, no, it's not /bad/! It's just... kind of funny, you know? We get stuck in a videogame. I immediately ran into someone who, improbably, had seen it happen before. Then I meet you, and you give me a nickname with an unusual suffix, and now you're suggesting a beach or hot springs episode... It's just funny how life is like an anime, right?"

    Wisteria blinks "Wait what? If something like this happened then ... what happend?" she asks looking at Mizuki and rolling onto one arm to see her properly.

"What?" says Jazz, her attention shooting up at it 'having happened before'. "What'd you just say?"

    Mizuki blinks. "Did... did we never talk about that before?" She sits up and looks at the others. "Someone that Balmung and Kite knew got trapped in another game. I guess it would have to have been Fragment, right? They ended up in a coma, and CC Corp covered it up... at least, that's what Kite and Balmung said. That's why those two knew from the start that this was the real deal and not just some glitched event, although I didn't believe them at first..."

    Blinking the albino girl gasps "Really? Like... there was another game that stuck people inside but like... why would they make another game if that was the case? I mean like.. what.. why?" she kicks herfeet "Gah."

Jazuhanzu looks.... markedly peeved by this news. Markedly. "WELL! At least now we know for sure what's happening to the real us. Comas. Did they say how long they were stuck for?" She plucks some grass oiut of the earth, looking like she might just have steam spewing out her ears shortly.

    Mizuki hmms. "It's just another thing I don't know... but it's not like the /purpose/ of Fragment was to trap whoever it was, right?" She hangs her head at Jazz's words. "...They didn't mention their friend recovering." She looks a bit embarassed. "I thought they were just improvizing a story off this glitched event at the time so I didn't pry, but in retrospect... They would have mentioned if their friend got better, right?"

    She taps the side of her head. "Still, we can ask Kite on the chimlink sometime to be sure."

    She looks back to Wis. "The holo sky man said something about his fellows loving power when all this started, right? I don't know what use the power to trap us all is, but if it's a power that someone covets it must have /some/ benefit we don't know about."

    The albino girl sighs. "Like..." she sighs again "I duno... I guess it's another reason to get out... to make them answer for it."

"I mean, who doesn't enjoy the thought of playing God with people's lives, Mizuki?!" Jazz stands up and begins to stomp back and forth. "It was covered up, and yeah, now I'm stuck here because of corporate malfeasance? How UTTERLY FUCKING PEDESTRIAN!" She's *angry*. But then, of course she is.

    "Assuming the holographic sky man was legit and not the people who did this feeding us a story to distract us, anyway..." Mizuki stands up and reaches towards Jazz's shoulders but doesn't actually touch her. "I'm sure some people get off on that but making this world so real and detailed is an awful lot of effort to go to; If they just wanted to put a bunch of people in comas they didn't have to do that."

    She scratches her chin. "Although... if Kite and Balmung are willing to talk about it, perhaps we should ask if the person who got trapped before us described the world seeming more detailed, as well... In case these things are linked."

Jazz makes an indecipherable sound of dismay and disgust, stomping back and forth.

    Wisteria lays there staring at the sky. Quiet and just thinking.

    Mizuki looks between them, helplessly. "...This doesn't change our plan. By understanding the workings of this world, and finding glitches, we'll find our way out! Then we'll make the people who did this pay, and see if we can let the Olympus Alliance enjoy their paradise too..."

    She freezes and speaks more softly, "You know, because as a bunch of random gamers whose bodies have atrophied and who may be on the hook for massive medical bills -- I don't know how it works in Japan -- we'll have SO much power in the real world."

    She sits on the ground and stares into space for a moment. She hadn't actually thought about how to seek redress once back in the real world before. "No... we can't give up hope... we don't know for certain what's really happened...!' but her words lack some conviction.

"Don't talk to me about /hope/," snaps Jazz, and then whirls around wiht her charts in hand and goes to leave. Seems she's going to take some cooling off time.

    Wistera lays there just trying to think. She's had the blow up, she's had the following crash and sobbing fit... er rainy day. She doesn't need to think more on the how or who. "Just keep working to get out..." she says quietly to herself. Someone might be about to start another grinding binge from the tone of voice.

    "Jazz..." Mizuki reaches out towards her. "Stay safe, okay?" She turns back to Wis. "This is just us learning more pieces of the puzzle..."

    She sits next to Wis. "I became a catgirl to cheer up myself and others with cuteness and spirit... even if it's fake cuteness and fake spirit... I really messed that up, huh..." She curls up like a cat on the ground next to the bunny.

    Wisteria moves a little and rests her head on kitty. "Nah, it isn't fake I think." she smiles "Or you wouldn't be Mizuki-chi." she says. "It's just, alot to think that they knew this kind of thing could happen, but there wasn't any kind of warning about it." she says "And that's pretty upsetting. Even Mizuki-chi can't make everyone smile through that news."

    If it weren't fake, would that be more worrying? No, Wis is just swayed by a realistically rendered cat girl. 'I'm not /really/ Mizuki-chi...' she thinks to herself, but nods slightly. "I've never exactly been good at putting things in words that don't upset people... It's a good thing I'm not a doctor, I'd have the worst bedside manner. Fortunately noone really expects it from the IT department..."

    Wisteria pats Mizuki-chi "It's okay, I'm mostly good at getting people pumped up before competition... you should see me trying to talk to a transfer student or someone I bump into at the mall."