Dinner at Ryokan

Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

In a way, it's kind of remarkable, how fast some Adventurers have adjusted to life within the world of Elder Tale Online. Having had dinner here after valentine's day, Cyrus had been particularly impressed with the service and food here - and has invited Mikage for another go at dinner there. Sassy unfortunately was nowhere to be found, or he would have invited her as well. Though he's sure she's having fun gathering plants somewhere, or preparing cooking for another trip.

Looking about, the youth relinquishes his shoes, and passes them on to the staff there, before hitting the tatami mats. "So you were thinking of getting some rooms here while we're out in this neck of the woods? I suppose it's certainly a lot more comfortable than going out there and having to occassionally keep watch, in case of monsters and the like." The youth admits as they get led to a table to sit at. "I wonder what their views are on animals in the dining area. There isn't exactly a health organization taking care of things anymore." The fluffy tailed Cait Sith notes.
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

As they step into the restaurant, Mikage has to take a bit longer to remove her shoes, likely because of the extra lacing. "We could probably just share one." She suggests, wiggling her toes once they are free, then following Cyrus into the restaurant. "I haven't actually seen the rooms, but if they are just mats on the floor for sleeping, there shouldn't be a problem." They already sleep in close confines when out in the wilderness, so it wouldn't be much of a change. If they were were more western-style beds, that is another issue...

"It's more the cold is starting to get to me." Miki follows towards the table, settling herself opposite him. "I'm traveling with a Snow Leopard and a Wolf. I would argue that you're a little bit more resistant to the cold than I am." Perhaps that is another hint to what her species of Were Fang might be, but it likely only narrows it slightly. Clearly, not something that is cold-weather adapted, though. "I'm sure Cait Sith are fine." Rama isn't with them at the moment. She had been loaning his nose out to Shaskur as of late, for help in some sort of tracking task. "Just so long as we can have Rama in the sleeping room."
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

Cyrus, having gotten settled, nods his head. "I suppose we could probably all share a room. As long as they've got good blankets here. I don't know about you - but I haven't been enjoying the cold that much." He admits. "And sure, I'm a little more resistant to the cold, but it's not by much. Heck, it was super uncomfortable when going through the second floor back in the days. Desert weather does not pair well with this much fluff." Cyrus expresses while his hands rise up and move his hair out a bit. He's still wearing that hat of hers, ears poking through.

"But yeah, the cold is getting to me to." He confirms once again. "I suppose you can't rely on your Were Fang form to ward off the cold huh?" He then adds, smiling softly at her before pausing - a server coming over. He makes a simple and cheap order - having a taste for simple food, and then looks back to Miki. "I hear they're looking at unlocking the third floor soon. Bigger team as well. Looks like they learned some lessons from the first floor boss."
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"If they don't, I'll just put my travel blanket underneath for an extra layer of warmth." Since they have been camping out in the cold for much of the last couple of weeks, they had to have at least some decent gear to ward off the worst of it. "I don't remember it feeling this cold in the game when it first launched. Probably another of the haptic upgrades showing itself." When Cyrus compares it to the desert-like second floor of the tower, she nods. "I can't even imagine how bad it must feel there, now. Then again, I'd almost take the warmth over the cold."

"No, my Were Fang form is not exactly made to ward off the cold." She confirms, giving him a playful twitch of her nose, "And that's the only hint you'll get out of me today." Any time he picked up on some hint or another, she would say something like that.

When the server arrives, Miki orders a soup, likely because the warmth would stay with her for a while after the meal. "Huh." She answers, knowing that the Scale Emblem Alliance had reached the second floor, but not that they had found the boss yet. "I haven't really checked in with Xander since after the Wave, but I probably should. He probably knows more than anyone else I know about the tower. Well... the /current/ tower, that is." She is very well aware that Cyrus has experience with the tower, but his experiences are a bit out of date for the current game.
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

"Probably. Though I do remember it being cold from time to time - I never really stayed in this world that long in the past. I certainly never actually slept anywhere. I just, you know, logged off..." He motions his hand and in order to visualize this, he opens his menu and stares pensively at the lack of that logout button. He taps the position it used to be at - but nothing happens of course. He looks back up to her then. "When it's cold, you can at least layer. But there's only so much you can take off when it comes to heat." He points out. "That is one thing I did enjoy in Tokyo - the airconditioning units. They were life savers."

The youth then grins at her playful twitch of her nose - having spotted that little motion before as well paired when she says things like this.

"Yeah, I still have some raider friends in Silver - and I hear they found the boss in the same spot as before. It just took a lot more doing to get there. I imagine it must be interesting - arranging the various things, like supply lines. Things we never had to consider before." Cyrus points out.
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"There wasn't any benefit to sleeping in-game before now." The Were Fang agrees, "I mean, I always had camping gear, but that was because our guild tended to stay away from civilization a lot. So we always had the that so we could recover HP when we logged out for the night." Camping gear has a whole other use, now.

Her blue eyes flick over to watch him as he motions through his menu. Though she can't exactly see what he's doing, she has a fair idea by the expression on his face. "No matter how many times you look, it's never there." She tucks her arms in a bit, leaning forward against them.

"The joys of living in the city. Climate control. I always hated the cold, though." Miki admits, with a pensive expression on her features. "It always seemed to blow right through me, no matter how many layers." She shivers, just at the thought.

"Sounds like you might be interested in dabbling in that sort of thing, yourself?" She asks. "Since you don't want to do raiding anymore. I still haven't figured out what my place is going to be in this new world, but so long as there are things to see, places to explore, and monsters to hunt, I'll be fine."
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

"Yeah... it never is. But it's good to look now and again, you know?" He answers her. "Not so much false hope. Just... being vigilant." He explains, as his and Mikage's food arrive, and he digs in to some simple fish based things.

At her remark on the joys of living in the city, he nod his head. "Ah - yeah. The cold has a way of doing that. It's luckily not too bad so close to the ocean." He remarks. "I hear it's far worse in the various planes in the world. Like Siberia." He makes a little 'burrrr' sound at the mere thought of it - seemingly having a very similarly powerful mental image of such things.

"Hmm, maybe. The resource thing that is. I am not sure if I want to organize any supply lines. But being part of supply lines could be a good time. Especially when you look at all the interesting market strategies across Yamato. The way everything is divided up the way it is, is also rather interesting, don't you think? I wonder what got these regions into such a position." A pause. "I mean, other than the world probably being designed to force them into their own economic niches, I suppose." He admits. "I've been thinking of maybe trying to explore one of the lower level monster nests. Get an idea about how to clear them, you know?
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"Yeah..." Mikage sighs to herself, resisting the urge to look at her own menu. The fact is, no matter how many times she goes in there to do inventory management, her eyes always stray to that empty place. "Just promise me that if it ever does show up again, you'll at least ping us before logging out." There is a brief beat of hesitation, "At least then we'll know what happened to you if there is a fluke and you do manage to get out and the rest of us are still stuck here. Better than us thinking you got axed by Tri-Edge or worse..."

Maybe, just maybe, Miki is starting to get a little attached to some of her new in-game friends.

"You know... Snow leopards are /from/ Siberia, right?" She looks at him, her head tilted quizically. Amusement plays on her features as she gets her soup, slowly lifting a spoon and blowing on the hot liquid before slurping some.

Of course, that's when Cyrus has to start talking about economics. Oh, she really does try to listen, but the glazed expression likely tells that she is not the usual sort to get into market PVP. It isn't until he starts to talk about monster nests that her brain seems to re-engage. "Monster nests? What sort of thing do you have in mind to look into?"
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

"If I spot it - I will wait." He answers her. "As I'd first shout it down the various alliance channels, and give some time for my friends to log off with me." He promises Mikage while raising his hand a little. "If I suddenly go missing, it's not going to be due to me deciding to abandon people without a word." He declares, pausing for a moment so he can look her in the eyes. "I promise." He reiterates.

The male then blinks at her mention of Siberia. "I mean, sure, real snow leopards. I've still got skin, you know? Fur is the thing that is supposed to keep me warm if I was more... fuzzy." He points out, giving her one of those bemused looks of hers.

When she re-engages after the economics talk, he notes; "Well, I hear there is a nest of Dire Wolves nearby that is pretty low level. I figured we could go in there. It's supposedly in this old ruined city half inside of a cave." The youth explains. "Might find some neat things there. Probably won't be able to clear it in one go. Heck, I don't know what it takes to clear a Monster Nest yet. But some exploration could be good for us."
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

The simple reassurance seems to be enough for Mikage, who nods her head, focusing on her meal rather than on such worries. If the 'log out' button hadn't magically appeared by now, she had her doubts that it would anytime soon. Then again, the longer this went on, the more likely it is that world governments would be trying to find a solution. That is, of course, assuming that this isn't some sci-fi copy of their brains or something like some people think.

She gives her head a shake at that thought, "Yeah, me too." She agrees, "I promise." The Were Fang sort of pokes around at her food, "It's probably stupid to worry about that sort of thing, but I worry about going back to a world where none of you exist." Hesitating, she clarifies, "I mean, a world where we don't even know each other anymore." There could be hundreds of miles between players, and chances are trying to reconnect in the real world would be just as hard as finding people in ETO.

Latching on to the change of subject, she shoves some noodles into her mouth and nods at the comment about Dire Wolves. "We explored a few back before the Apocalypse." She comments after swallowing, making sure not to talk with her mouth full like a savage. "Though, I'm betting that has changed, too." She slurps some more noodles, one of them coming up to boop her on the nose in the aftermath. The girl rubs at her nose and scowls at the soup. "Though, do you think Sassaral will have an issue hunting wolves?"
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

Cyrus leans back a little and motions his hand. "Aside from the servers possibly being down for a bit due to others doing the same thing... Looking for Mikage Yurei - Were Fang player in Yamato server. Used to go by the name Cyrus. DM me." He pretends to type this, and press 'enter'. "I'm in the Tokyo area. Sassy is too. And I believe you are close enough as well, based on what you've said about Angelic Layer." If she said something about Tokyo otherwise, the player has forgotten.

Going back to the topic of those Dire Wolves; "I bet it has." He agrees with Mikage as she mentions the Monster Nests having altered now. "Hmm? Sassaral? I don't think we'll see that much trouble. Unless you know something I don't. But we can just ask her." He proposes. "I know her Cait Sith species is wolf. But I don't think she's that Chuunibyou." The youth motions his hand as he explains this, before letting out a tittering giggle at one of the noodles having swatted Mikage's nose.

"Seems even the food is our enemy in this world hmm?" He asks teasingly before digging into his own food at quieting himself for a bit.
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"Okay, fine." Mikage admits, giving a little grunt in his direction. "Maybe not that hard." She looks down into her soup, at her reflection which floats in the broth. "Guess I'm worried they might be like... hey we need to separate these people to better integrate them back into society or some bullshit." It is some comfort that most of their party did happen to live in and around Tokyo. "I'm in the suburbs, but close enough to commute to work."

She toys more with her food rather than eating it, which may be a habit picked up from the real world. "It's not about being Chuunibyou, and more the fact that she seems to like animals." At the very least, he does suggest asking the little wolf. "Probably best to ask her. She'll probably be fine with it but better safe than sorry."

The laugh he throws her way is met with a slight narrowing of her eyes. Then, like any good adult would do, she picks up a piece of vegetable in her spoon, and neatly flicks it in his direction. Very mature. "Oh shush you. At least I'm not an overgrown cat who sleeps with his tail in his mouth."
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

The youth smiles at her. "Don't worry. I'll make sure I reach out if we get out of here." He promises. "I take friends seriously. Or - if you rather - travel partners and heavily appreciated acquaintances." Cyrus tells her. "Or when. I dunno." He motions his hand. "But until then, I'm sticking with you until you get sick of me. And the friend system should keep us connected."

The youth lowers his chopsticks and places them down on the provided little stone. He wonders about her toying with her food like she is, but he doesn't bring it up for now. "Ah - I suppose she does, doesn't she? Yeah, I'll ask. If anything, Dires are technically monsters. No matter how much some of them may just look like really big wolves." A pause. "Which makes me wonder how enormous a Dire Elephant would be."

At her narrowing those eyes and getting vegetable flicked at him, he tries to quickly grab his chopsticks and fish it out of the air like some martial artist.

But martial artist he is not. It just /barely/ slips past his defenses though - right before flicking onto his nose. A piece of it cut between his chopsticks and hanging there.

He then laughs, before indignantly noting; "I do not sleep with my tail in my mouth!"

Pause.

Frown.

Conspiratorially, he adds; "Do I?"
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

A look of confusion passes over the Were Fang's features. There is almost some measure of hurt there. "You think I don't consider you guys friends?" The Snow Leopard really does have a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth when it comes to this girl. Seems like every time they get close to being on an even keel, that something upends matters. She goes quiet at that, looking back down at her soup, but she isn't really eating it, more just pushing it around the bowl.

When asks about if he actually sleeps with his tail in his mouth, she looks up. The normal humor she might have seems gone, but she still nods. "Sometimes. Usually when you toss and turn in the middle of the night, you'll hug your tail and then groom it before falling back asleep. I don't think you're really awake."
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

"No, it's not that. It's just that some people don't like the term." Cyrus answers Mikage. "I think you consider us friends. But some people are like - super conservative about that word." A motion of his hand follows as he adds; "I used to call people my friend rather readily. So I got it more often that it was annoying to do so."

The youth then leans forward a little at she nods. "Really? I hug my tail and groom it? That's weird." He expresses, not thinking he has any particular reason to do so. But he's not going to question Mikage on this matter.
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

Luckily, it seems that this misunderstanding is easy to relieve, and Mikage lets out a soft breath when he clarifies. Nodding, she explains, "I don't exactly have a lot of friends in the real world. Co-workers, yes, but..." Those relationships usually ended after work hours were over, with the exception of offices that had required 'social' time like those Cyrus is aware of. Even then, few of those people could realy be considered 'friends'. "Closest I had was my guildmates, but... I never really told any of them about my real life." Which likely means she is closer to her current party than she had been with them over many months.

Being shoved together into a video game world has a way of binding people together with stronger ties, it seems.

"We're friends." She confirms.

"It's kind of cute." Miki answers, giving him a sort of lopsided smile.
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

"Friends it is then." He declares, before motioning over a waitstaff as politely as he can, and looks to Mikage. "Want to have a drink to friendship?" He asks her. "Just a small glass of something nice. I hear the alcohol from the Ninetails Dominion is particularly fantastic. And I've got a bit of extra pocket money."

The youth then lets out a bemused sound. "Kind of cute huh? Well, I suppose that means I've got something going for me." He remarks.
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"I thought you didn't really like drinking?" Mikage asks, her head tilting again in that almost quizzical fashion. "I mean, I won't say no." A soft laugh follows, "I wouldn't really know good alcohol from bad, though. I didn't do much drinking in the real world. Like... at all."

The waiter asks if she wants them to clear her bowl, but Miki actually puts a protective arm around her soup. "I'm still eating, thanks." As if to prove the point, she scoops some more noodles up and slurps them, being careful not to bing her own nose with them, this time.

At Cyrus's comment about being cute, well, Miki sort of looks down and away again. It's an almost shy gesture. "Yeah, well... Sassaral is a ball of sweetness and light, so you both pretty much have me beat."
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

"I don't like drinking in the way companies drink. But it's not like I don't appreciate a simple small celebratory drink." He answers her. "I'm not old enough to get sick at the mere flavor of it." He notes, an ends up suddenly bursting into laughter as he sees her protectively guard her soup. "Don't worry. They won't steal it away from you." He promises.

"Heh, Sassy is definitely sweet and bright, but you have your own cuteness to you. The white hair helps - I like it short like that." He explains to her. "And the tattoo is neat." He adds to that pleasantly. He then orders something from the waitress. It isn't long before she returns with a smaller bottle of sake from the Lush, which gets set down onto the table. It feels warm to the touch - it seems it's kept warm.

"Perfect." Cyrus remarks, and pours the drink for Mikage - a small glass - and then one for himself as well.

"Kanpaaai!" Lifting the glass.
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"It was... different for me." Mikage admits, looking a little bit shy to admit this. "It was less that I didn't want to, and more that I shouldn't." There she goes again, fiddling with her food once the waitress leaves, almost as if it were an anxious habit that she still clings to even in this world. "A lot of medications don't interact well with alcohol." Something he would likely be well aware of, with his background.

Then, of course, he has to go and compliment her just after she does start eating. The girl has her head tilted forward, bowl tipped to her mouth, when she coughs once. Luckily, the faint hint of color that rises on her cheeks is largely hidden by her bangs as she gives a little sound of denial. Unfortunately, her being quite so flustered at it, especially mid-eating, is both hilarious, and probably a little cute, despite herself.

Luckily, the arrival of the sake offers a distraction. Miki reaches out for the glass, lifting it and then rubbing it lightly between her hands. She seems to do that a lot, with soup, with tea, with anything warm that she can get her hands on. Then, at his toast, she lifts the glass in return. "Kanpai." Rather than downing it like some might, she just sips, her nose twitching at the flavor. It isn't a bad expression, just curious. It's clear she doesn't drink much and isn't used to it.
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

"Ah, yeah. I suppose that if you were taking medication, that would likely make alcohol a no-go." The young man remarks as Mikage admits as such. "I hadn't considered that - but I suppose we do not have to worry about that here." The fluffy haired Cait Sith leans back - realizing he's been leaning on the table. Something considered rather rude in Japanese culture.

The youth just smiles as she starts to cough and blushes at him complimenting her. He doesn't go pointing it out like a jerk. He just lets her know he's looking at her while holding up that drink glass. And when she brings her glass up, he toasts with her and clinks the small glasses. "Kanpai." He repeats.

Cyrus himself also does not down the glass. Taking his time to drink it. He isn't here on that kind of occassion, so he can return to simply trying to enjoy the moment. The warmth spreading through his body. "Hmmm." The youth lets out a pleased sound. "That tastes like quality sake. Surprisingly, better than what you'd find in our previous world." He points out.
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"The fact is, I probably wasn't as good about it as I should have been." Mikage admits, giving a half-shrug at this little tidbit of her life outside the game. "I just turned twenty-one, so I guess you can chalk it up to not having a fully formed pre-frontal cortex." There she goes, talking like a nerd, again. "So I did drink a little, but only when I had to for work social functions."

It's strange how easy it is to admit her age to Cyrus, where as she had kept it private around Xander. Perhaps it's because she feels that the Cait Sith is closer to her own age group, and that he likely wouldn't judge her for that. "I've pretty much been on one experimental treatment or another since I turned sixteen. Some helped, some dont'."

Lifting the glass again, she toasts wryly, "To being a guinea pig for medical science." This time, she does down the remainder left in the small glass, setting it down onto the table. It's followed up by some more of her soup, which she still seems to be eating achingly slowly.

Her blue eyes do lift though, looking across at Cyrus. "What about you? You said that you were in a business environment, right? What did you do for a living?" Since she had offered glimpses into her life, it seemed only fair that he should do the same.
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

Cyrus just takes her age at face value as she talks about it, nodding his head. "I got dragged into work functions when I just turned twenty-one myself. So I know what that is like. My buddies also insisted on drinking. I don't understand the pressure. But I guess that's just our generation, hmm?" He asks.

He takes another small sip, then fills his glass back up from the bottle. "At least we're in a time where they have treatments to try. If it hadn't been for Pluto's Kiss, I bet things would have been even further advanced. Perhaps even cured." He adds. "I know businesses and the like still had access. But we still lost a big amount of information."

He raises his glass. "To being a guinea pig for medical science, and having it actually work." He then takes another sip. At her asking about him, he adds; "Me? I'm a medical profession of another sort. I make pills and work on inventing new ones. For all I know, I may have helped fill some of your prescriptions." He explains. "I haven't been working in the neuroscience side of that field yet, since I've only been active in the field for a few years. You know how the medical field is, unless you've succeeded at a thousand surgeries, you are not a surgeon. The same kind of thing goes for the study of medicine."
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"Whenever Ogata-san would get through a day at work without a punishment game, he would usually want to go out to celebrate. So I would come along." Mikage explains. "Piffle Princess isn't exactly your normal business. It's a weird mix of medical experimentation, scientific research, and selling dolls to teenage girls." The founder is an eccentric, so what would you expect?

"Mmm." It is a soft sound of agreement from the pale Were Fang, "Not just for the treatments, but also for places like this to exist. Where people who might not be whole have a chance to feel like themseles again." She reaches for the bottle a moment after he does, fingertips accidentally brushing briefly, which causes her to look away shyly before filling her glass. "To technology. The cause and solution to all of life's problems." At least, it felt that way, these days.

She can't quite get onboard with the idea of believing there might be a cure out there. It is a nice dream, certainly, but it is a dream she isn't sure that she's ready to believe in. Instead, she focuses on him, on his story. At the end of it, she chuckles, a soft sound without humor. "Well, maybe some day you'll be on a team that fixes things for people like me. Seems like a good way to be a hero. More than swords and steel and towers."

That is when she sighs, giving up on her bowl of food, pushing it away from her and leaning back in her chair. That expression, it's a far cry from her usual optimistic view of the world.
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

The Cait Sith laughs softly, "It certainly seems like an eccentric kind of place, based on everything you've told me about it. It certainly seems like there's a lot of geniuses out in the real world these days. VR Dive systems, enormous storage, all of that. It's quite amazing. That acceleration of science. It was hard to keep pace with it all back in the day. And it didn't seem like it was going to even out anytime soon."

He reaches for the bottle. Touching, and pausing as the two touch. This time, she's not the only one to look shy. The white haired Cait Sith blushing for just a moment, glancing aside, then back to her, letting her have the bottle. "To technology." He repeats after her acknowledgingly, clearly agreeing on it being the cause and solution to all of life's problems. It's ironic to toast it with alcohol.

"Maybe. It certain would be nice to be a hero like that one day. I used to think I'd be a hero by standing up for people in a more physical way. Protecting folk from bullies. It was good in some way. But... I think approaching it from the medicine side of things may be far better. I can protect far more people in ways that others can't." He clearly is fairly hopeful in that regards.

Glancing down as she gives up on her food, he nods his head. "I hope I didn't ruin your appetite with my conversational topics." He offers to her.
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"I'll take eccentric, any day." Mikage notes, her mouth twitching into a small smile. "Afterall, I got my job because he has a tendency to hire people who defy his expectations. Otherwise, I probably would have had to spend years in university to line up something like this." Which would have likely been quite hard for someone disabled. Despite advances since Flash of Death, many Japanese colleges still discriminate.

"I hope you get the chance." The way things are going, it's hard to tell if any of them will get a chance to see to those dreams outside of the world of Yamato. "Some people... they don't want to go back to the real world. They've seen what it can be like here. And I don't begrudge them that." She looks across the table at him, "But... I also know that the real world is where the real good can be done." She sighs, then, reaching up to rub her forehead.

When he comments about ruining her appetite, Miki just blinks, looking up with some hint of confusion. "Oh, no. It's not that." She shakes her head, "My dad used to say that I tend to pick at my food rather than eat it." A hand motions at the half-eaten soup. "I just eat smaller meals, more often. Force of habit from the real world."
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

"Yeah, I don't begrudge them either. They're surrounded by like-minded people for the most part. People are more connected here. And the rules for life are... simpler." Cyrus offers up. "And we've been here for almost two months now, and we've not heard of people suddenly disappearing. So it almost seems like long term living here is an option."

He runs his hand along his hair for a moment, shifting it to the side and back behind his shoulders a bit. "I guess there will be plenty who will be fine with making this their new reality. I certainly would at least like to keep the Landers safe who are taking care of us and looking out for us." The young man then nods his head, looking back to her food.

He thinks for a moment. "Harder time keeping larger amounts of food in?" He asks. "I suppose it isn't a bad habit to snack instead of having full meals. I hear it's a typical dieting method some people chose." Pause. "Diet - as in, way people eat. Not diet as in weight-loss."
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

"It's an option, for now." Mikage looks across at him, but her expression isn't the usual light-hearted one that she tends to carry. "The Japanese government had only just started accepting disabled people as part of society, rather than people to be shunned or sent to institutions." She folds her arms in front of her, shaking her head, "Can you imagine what they would do to hundreds of thousands of people if they chose to just... stay here? Even the nicest government in the world isn't going to pay for a lifetime's worth of life support."

Perhaps she has a bit more of a dour view on matters, because she has lived through that sort of treatment in her lifetime. "Right now, we're safe. I just worry that as this drags on, the higher the chances will be of us starting to see deaths. How many countries had long-term care facilities able to keep our bodies alive? How long before the cost outweighs the benefits? How long before they start making the choices of who dies first."

It's hard to imagine that all of these dark thoughts lie beneath a girl who normally seemed so positive, facing each day as if it were an adventure. Or maybe, just maybe, she was facing it as if it could be her last. It would explain a lot of things.
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

"I honestly rather not think about it." Cyrus admits, raising his hand. "I just figured - I'd expected to see a lot more people drop out of existance by now, you know? Hospitals having to move. Sure, almost all of the internet is wireless now. But I wonder how things would have worked with ethernets connections and the sort..." He shows a wry little look. "Right now, all of us are in here. So I imagine we are not giving them an easy spot to start cutting if they wanted to." The youth does admit.

The youth lets out a long sigh and just slowly nods his head. "I don't really want to think about those other countries. America only barely just adopted more socialist policies after Flash of Death, and you remember how much resistance that had for a while. No clue how they'll tackle this one. Japan..." He motions his head side to side again. "I want to believe in them a bit more." He remarks.

"Sorry, I ruined dinner with that topic." He relents. "Reality sucks."
Mikage
Isekai Ryokan

Mikage falls quiet then, as if she were thinking. She did that sometimes, falling into long stretches of silence as she worked things out in her own mind. "I don't know how the logistics of it would work, but I imagine they must have figured something out."

Then, seeming to realize that she is the one that got them down this rabbit hole, the Were Fang shakes her head, "I'm sorry. This is my fault, not yours." She shakes her head, pushing herself up from the table. "I try to live every day to the fullest. Enjoy every moment I have here. I don't know how long it will last, or how it will end, but... no one does."

She offers him a small smile. "I'm just glad to have made a few friends I can count on." Despite their occassional miscomunications, she is fond of the snow leopard. "Come on, let's get a room here for the night. Spare ourselves the cold? You pay, and I'll tell Sassaral where we're at?" She suggests.
Cyrus
Isekai Ryokan

Cyrus rises up slowly, putting money on the table and then moves around to help Mikage up. Not because she needs it, but because he's being polite. The way he smiles at her ought to be telling enough on that front. "It's good to have friends in these kinds of situations." He tells her.

"Alright. I'll go get a room. I hear this place also has a garden. I'm sure you can sell Sassaral on this place with that." He notes, before getting ready to move to the counter so he can handle getting a room, and getting their boots transfered from storage to there. "See you in a bit, Miki." He then chimes.