5218/Welcome to Alfheim

Welcome to Alfheim
Date of Scene:	23 April 2017
Location:	Alfheim Online <ALO>
Synopsis:	Upon learning that video games are real and the VRMMO and RL worlds have merged, Kirito and others go to Alfheim to investigate.
Cast of Characters:	Kirito, 774, Tomoe, Staren, 631, 1094, August Kohler

---

Kirito has posed:
Kirito has been marvelously unhelpful on the radio for a very good reason. He's an incredibly overwhelmed teenager with a million things running through his head. Being responsible and thoughtful about explaining things is rather hard to do.

    Instead of talk, he sends his friends a message.

<<I'll be in Sylvain.>>

    Presumably, he doesn't mean the one in the game either.

    As it turns out, there's an artificial Warp Gate in Sylvain, though its owner registration is unknown, along with all other information apart from connecting routes.

    The warp gate opens into a flower garden park surrounded by trees. Sylvain is a very, very green city - a true emerald city, like from a certain old story. Smooth, rounded-top buildings reach for the heavens everywhere, with five towers reaching what might be over a kilometer up. Pleasant breezes fill the city of the Wind Fairies. It's night time, and so the city is lit by a pleasant glow from the buildings and hundreds of open windows.

    KIRITO, THE BLACK SWORDSMAN steps through the warp gate and into the park. The youth cranes his neck and breathes deeply of the wind, which tickles and moves with a little more variety and richer smell than the virtual version.

    His face is incredibly troubled... but, at the same time mystified.

    "I... really don't know whether to be awed... or terrified." He half-hisses through his teeth, consternated in a way that he rarely voices to anyone.

    Especially the little Pixie kneeling on his shoulder right now.

    "I'm processing a lot of conflicting emotional data right now too, papa. What does it all mean?"

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Of course Dorian's going to check this out. He's come to at least have SOMETHING like a stock in their world now. Besides, that wasn't just one world that went haywire. People felt it all over the Multiverse. He doesn't even bother changing into that modern attire he usually wears to places like this; he just heads there in his usual light leather armor and white cloak over it, staff slung by a strap on his back.

    And when he gets there? Well, he's not going to be very articulate for a few moments. Not unless talking in Tevene counts, and it probably doesn't. "...Fasta vass, this... this is..." Yup. So very articulate, innee? Finally, though, he recovers. And clears his throat. This time he's a little more articulate. "Well. THIS is definitely something. I'm not sure what, but it's definitely... something."

    He makes his way over to Kirito, though. "I take it this wasn't expected?" he asks. That much is clear from the look on Kirito's face. A look back to the city. "Do you have any clue what's going on?" he asks.

Tomoe has posed:
Kirito isn't hte only one who is overwhelemd. Tomeo was in a bit odder of a situation, she'd mumbeld in her sleep and had triggered the transofrmation which she work up after. There was another soul just after him. Tomoe hte Iron Lily was looking damn right terrifed herself and a good deal over whelemed. The fauir taller normally composed Salamander Knight most of the Multiverse knew her as looked just freaked out.

She was looking about for amoment at the pix for a moment.

"What does it mean? We just ... something changed usand our world?! There's something out there with the power to do that!"

She's flailing her arms at this point.

"Kirito what the hell is going on I woke up like this!"

She doesn't know how to feel right now her mind is racing with the same level of panic she felt the day she couldn't log off of SAO.

Staren has posed:
    Staren beams down when he detects Kirito and Tomoe's signals below -- the red beam of light coalesces into the power-armored young man.

    "...Huh." He puts his hands on his waist. "That sure does look like Sylvain." After a few seconds, he tries to bring up his inventory. Then tries with the other hand. "Huh. I got nothing, it's not like when we go to a VRMMO physically..."

    He looks at the others. "So, where's the sylph questgiver? Maybe they have something to tell us. Wait, you WOKE UP as a salamander?"

Reker (631) has posed:
You know something they've probably never seen this close to the emerald city?

Reker.

The warp gate opens up, again directing someone through it, but what steps through is not anything that the world of Alfhiem has ever seen.

Clad in his standard combat gear, rifle slung over his back and utility belt bristling with equipment and explosives, Reker looks about as anachronistic as you can get. He takes a moment to survey the surroundings, before he strolls up to Kirito and Tomoe, "So, kids. Anyone wanna let me know what in the blue hell is going on? 'cause don't get me wrong, this is kinda sweet, but at the same time, seriously, what the hell?" It's really odd to see him standing there in his GGO avatar in the middle of an ALO town, even for him.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Mr. Parsons' car screeches through the warpgate. The big government-looking window-tinted black van actually dents when it tries to parallel park with several MMO market stalls. "FUCK!" He declares, as he slams the door open and practically tumbles out. THe expletive seems as much a reaction to the world as a reaction to almost tripping over himself.. He knows one person here. "Staren!" He calls out. "/It woke up!/" This declaration is made almost as if it were some kind of self-evident fact.

    "It's awake now!! What was it like before? What's changed now?" He looks about ready to shake someone. Anyone, really. He might shake Staren. Or he might just shake whoever Staren's talking to, whoever looks the most well-informed. "What's it done now that it woke up?! What's different about the world right now? What isn't supposed to look like it does?!" Very articulate questions.

Staren has posed:
    Staren is shaken. "What's awake? ...Can you detect AI minds? Is CARDINAL awake?" It's an educated guess. He looks at the sky. "...I'm not sure if that'd be good or bad..."

    Then he realizes what Flamel just asked. "Are you SERIOUS?! ...Oh, right. This. This whole place isn't supposed to be here. It's a place from a videogame, and we're off the coast of japan right now. You can sense what... did this?"

August Kohler has posed:
August arrives a few minutes late, in a parka with a gun holstered to the side and a shard of mirror next to it. Staren will recognize this gun as his high-tech gun he left at the Shack. "Okay, so what the hell is this? From what I just overheard, I assume this place isn't usually a fantasyland. This is one of those VRMMOs, right? So why is it /here/?"

The redhead takes a glance around, moving to talk to an NPC and ascertain how aware they are of what's going on, before moving back. "I assume this isn't a new patch?"

Kirito has posed:
Kirito turns sloooowly to face Dorian, who he's having trouble recognizing in the flesh like this, given circumstances. The boy in black blinks a few times, mouth gaping open slightly in shock. Because, of COURSE he has no idea what on Earth is going on here, who the hell would? That's what his look of surprise seems to say here... and he's not very good at hiding it.

    "Not a bit?" He offers rather helplessly.

    A look of sympathy's aimed at Tomoe, though for some reason the barest hint of embarassment strikes his youthful face too. For only a brief moment. Because things got very hectic in the Kirigaya house recently...

    He then regards Reker's presence, and is a bit disjointed indeed at seeing a GGO character over in Fairyland. That's kind of odd. "Well... I'll tell you my story, sure... what happened on your end? You found the Augma too?"

Staren, Dorian, and Flamel all end up with a prompt following their vision soon after arrival.
[Please Enter a Username:]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

There's an English-language touchscreen keyboard provided...

    This isn't the only odd thing that happens. Here in the park, coming around one of the big trees... is a young woman in white-and-green flowing robes, with emerald hair and the pointy ears typical of a Sylph walks up. She actually has a name over her head.

Karina [NPC] [?]
    With both hands folded, she tentatively asks... "Um... pardon me for intruding, did all of you just come through the Teleport Gate?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren pulls from his bag... a blank CD in a jewel case, and a knife with what appears to be a soft, rolled-up blade. He holds them out to August. "Press the toggle button and the blade returns to normal shape and hardens. Press it again and you can roll it back up. And that's a good question, we're working on it. Oh, hey."

S T A R E N _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    And here's an NPC now! "No. I beamed down from space. What's going on?"

August Kohler has posed:
Well, the NPC seems as confused as he is, so probably not some patch to make it more lifelike. August is about to say something, and then he gets a prompt. "Ah, damn it, hardest part of video games." He takes a minute as the keyboard appears, before tapping on it, clearly.

"TinSoldier"

Once the name's been inputted, he reaches to actually take the stuff Staren's holding out. August grasps for the knife, testing it out before softening it and putting it away, and stares at the CD in the jewel case. "The hell is this?" He pockets it too, though. And then, there's another NPC, as shown by the tag 'NPC' over her head, which causes August to blink. "You mean the warpgate? Yeah, why?"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is also looking a bit embrassed her self at this pint. She looks at Renker for a moment and honestly she's happy to see him. She pauses looking over his avatar for a moment. She looks back and forth.

"I just woke up like this so I don't even know."

She looks flustered but seems glad she has friens here.. She look to Kirito for a moment. She then looks to the NPC for a moemnt tilting her head.

"Yes, we just ... did who are you?"

also this NPC sonded abit /different/. She also sees August woes with names. "Try it in another lanuage."

she offers helpfully.

Staren has posed:
    "It's a mirror." Staren says, in the exact same deadpan he just talked to the NPC with.

Reker (631) has posed:
"Yeah after I got forcibly logged out of GGO, I found that Augma thing on my nightstand. Put it on, did my usual start up and BOOM." He points at himself, "Instant GGO avatar."

He looks over at the NPC nearby with the obvious quest marker over her head, hrming a bit, "I think, uh...Is that what I think it is?" He says, as he motions to Kirito and Tomoe, "Do we still have skills and stats?" He swipes his hand down and brings up his menu, "I'll be damned." He startrs swiping through menus, hmming a bit, "Wonder if I can summon my truck here."

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    "Hm. Didn't think so," Dorian replies, tilting his head. Though, that said, he hasn't offered a suggestion, either. Instead, with a dramatic eyeroll, he observes, "Always throwing these curveballs at you, this Multiverse. It can't just let you settle into a comfortable existence, can it?"

    He is, however, interrupted mid-rant by the prompt. "What's this?" Fortunately he can read English. He blinks. Turns to look at Kirito again. And then scowls at something that seems to be in front of him. "Bloody thing is following me. What do they call this, where the words show up overlayed on the scenery?" Yes, he's played a game like that. "Well, since it wants a name so badly..." And what's he going to use? His own name, of course.

D O R I A N _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    Once he enters his name, he hopes the thing disappears. That's when he notices the NPC. He did come through the warpgate, so he nods. "I did, yes. The warpgate?" He looks back at it, to indicate that's what he's talking about.

Staren has posed:
    "Augmented reality." Staren supplies at Dorian's request for a term.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
[Please Enter a Username:]
I l l u m i n a t i n e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    Parsons isn't even touching the interface. Whatever he's doing is pure psychic. What he has to say is less coherent. "AI minds, human minds, I have no idea, but something just /woke up/ and it definitely wasn't human! It was /big/! HUGE!" He finally stops shaking Staren's shoulders and goes on to look at the others. "You!" He calls out. "Questions! Give answers. Are there any slumbering ancient gods? Sealed beings spoken of only in rarely-believed obscure tales? Old glowing meteors that fell to earth thousands of years ago that suspiciously look similar to brains?"

    He's apparently throwing stuff at the wall at random to see what sticks. The NPC is mostly ignored, left for someone else to deal with them. He says what he knows, though. "Something woke up. Something world-scale! Something digital! A digital Gaia-mind breaking into cognition and self-awareness, do you understand? Does this make sense?" There's no clarification about the terms he's talking about. Gaia? Woke up? It's almost as likely that Mr. Parsons himself doesn't even know the full details about whatever it is he's rambling about.

Staren has posed:
    Staren swears. "Something digital? If it is what I think it is, it used to be an artist AI." He looks at the NPC to see her reaction. "But, that other stuff you listed is all good to check for too."

Kirito has posed:
All of the Usernames are fine. TinSoldier might be a little odd, but the system itself doesn't complain.

    "O-oh, I'm sorry! There was an Earthquake just now, and I left my post!" Karina suddenly realizes, bowing deeply and scurrying back over towards the Warp gate. She straightens her dress to be a little more presentable, then smiles. "My name is Karina. Welcome to Sylvain, travelers. Capital of we Wind Fairies. Sylphs. It's rare to see Spriggans or Salamanders here... and I cannot say just when any... Midgardians, was it...?" She looks towards Reker, August, and Dorian there, smiling uncertainly and a bit apologetically. Staren, though, just gets a slightly puzzled look from her.

    People might remember that in the Alfheim mythos, Aincrad is sometimes referred to as Midgard, as the NPC population of Aincrad is predominantly human.

    Kirito replies airily and reassuringly, "I'm just a wandering swordsman out to see the world." As if to dissuade any worries about racial competition.

    Kirito is definitely aware of all the eyes on him, but his shoulders are just tensing up more and more. It's pretty clear he wants to run away with so many eyes on him, but is stifling the urge like usual to keep his cool.

    At the sudden BOMBARDMENT of questions, Karina's face turns rather exaggeratedly pressured and nervous. "Wh-what?! I-I'm just a guide here, sir! There... are many ancient spirits throughout the world, and unspeakable monsters. There are also tales of how Midgard was assembled and raised into the skies by twin Goddesses who wished to create a refuge for their besieged people... and they have not been seen since...?" She gulps, apparently rather freaked out by Flamel's Men In Black style of attire.

    This. Is not. How NPCs of Alfheim. Behave.

Staren has posed:
    Staren turns to the NPC, takes his helmet off and wiggles his ears. "I guess I'd better talk to Alicia Rue... wait, she's a PC. Who's in charge, here?"

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian looks in Staren's direction at the supplied term. "Ah, yes. Thank you," he offers, with surprising honesty.

    In truth, Dorian is actually rather worried. Worlds do not merely RESTRUCTURE themselves, not to this degree, without severe consequences. He's worried about what this will do to the natural order of this world. But he does comment, "It isn't anything of my world, that's for certain. Nothing in Thedas is digital. Besides, if this WERE one of Thedas's Old Gods awakening, it would be significantly less pleasant... given the legend goes were sealed for trying to usurp the Maker's power. I haven't seen anything here with a maw larger than two Qunari standing atop each other's shoulders." A pause, and then he adds, all but grumbling, "Yet. Though I'd wager it's not far behind."

    Dorian definitely notices the odd behavior from the NPC. But unlike Kirito, he doesn't at all dissuade the consideration of the existence of other races in this world. "I can assure you, I am completely human," he confirms. "Normal height, no pointed ears or freakish bug-eyes, no massive horns." Those are features of other races in his world, dwarf, elf, and Qunari, respectively. But he does seek to put the lady at ease. Or at least distract her from the massive weirdness. It's weird on both ends of things, but this NPC is the one with the information, so freaking her out is bad. Even if freaking her out shouldn't... actually be possible.

    So instead he takes a step towards her, and bows politely. "Do forgive us, my lady," he says, speaking softly and as soothingly as he can make his voice sound. "But we're evidently as baffled about this as you are. Do you remember what happened before all this?" he asks.

Reker (631) has posed:
"Hold on I gotta try something." Reker moves away from Kirito and Tomoe a bit, so he has a lot of clear space, and then hits something on his menu. Digital data colesces around and forms into a large armored truck, "Yes! Hell yes, I can bust this thing out in ALO now." He pops open the door and climbs in, "Hell yeah, alright." He starts the engine and then leans out of the door, "Guys this is so cool."

Unlike his compatriots, it seems that Reker is not extremely concerned with the strangeness, because he is too busy admiring the awesomeness. The whole world's a game now, right? That's awesome.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe says "Karina I'm Tomoe..."

She seems subdued a bit here for a moment she looks at the various people. Tomoe lookslike she's ready to full on space out as Karina gets verbally assaulted by Flammel and she moves to get closer to Flammel her eyes narrow a bit.

"Ease up."

There's a decent level of implication of her voice of or else.. 5R% She looks to the woman for a moment.

"There... shouldn't no this is happening again. No not again...damn you Heathcliff..."

Tomoe is not very emotionally stable right now, she looks like she's just going to pop if the pressure.

Kirito has posed:
Karina recovers quickly when asked about Alicia Rue and the Sylph leader. Her demeanor straightens very quickly. Whoever thought of putting such a skittish girl into the role of greeter is either moe'tastic or a terrible employer...

    "The beloved Lady Sakuya holds leadership of the Sylphs. If you look over at the Tower of the Wind -" She gestures with an open palm towards the biggest tower in the middle of the city... and then frowns. "... You'll know when she is available, because the Sylph flag will be flying." Which it currently isn't. She blinks a few times, thinking. "The Cait Sith leader, Alicia Rue, might be present. The two of them are good friends and allies."

    Okay, so the PC leaders are still recognized as leaders.

    Kirito's brow furrows as he considers this. Though the WHUNK of Reker's ride touching ground shakes him out of it... and has him staring. Yet more crazy things to be awed at!

    He perks up at the question Dorian levvies. And of course, Karina answers with a respectful bow... "It was a very quiet night.. then the stars went out and the Earth shook. I could not help but wonder if it might mean the end of the world..." She jitters again, and the bow deepens. "My deepest apologies for abandoning my post. My only duty is to be there to greet visitors!" She sounds on the verge of tears over this muddle...

    It's a frazzly night for EVERYONE here.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Parsons doesn't bother talking with the NPC. He's in that mood he gets in, the one where he doesn't seem interested in talking to anyone but sources of information. Weird. He lets the others talk to her. Dorian Pavus looks like he's taking a very polite approach, Reker looks like he knows what he's doing even if what he's doing is sort of irrelevant, and Tomoe... uh... Maybe he can get to Tomoe's psyche later or something. Right now, he focuses on other things. Specifically, on Karina's mind.

    His eyes flash open wide, and they glow brightly white under the sunglasses, for about five seconds. Inside Karina's mind, Parsons' immense psychic power sweeps through and checks its nooks and crannies. "Connections!" He calls out still in the real world. "Here! And here! And here! Holes filled with incoming data! Faint links! It's all artificial but it isn't /insubstantial/!" She looks stressed too. So while he's in here, he cleans out as much of the stress as he can with blasts of intense psychic energy all through the landscape. Weaker minds are easier to change, but easier to fix. And then, he slams back out of her mind and crashes back into his body.

    "It's connections! Back to the gaia-class mind! Everything here is linked back to it!" He says. He grabs someone else, at random, to explain it. It might be a passerby. It's probably not Staren again, but it might be. Maybe it's Kirito. Probably not Tomoe, she's visibly having a bad time right now. But Parsons needs to shake someone while he says this. It's probably August Kohler.

August Kohler has posed:
"I prefer the term 'human', thank you." August replies to Karina when called 'Midgardian'. He allows the others to continue talking to her, instead glancing around the various stalls. There's probably food - does it actually look edible? Plants, do they look, smell, feel real? Does water flow like real water? He's trying to figure out how close to 'life' this is, and after a quick investigation, walks back to the group to discuss going to check out something else. But he gets distracted.

Because Flamel Parsons grabs him, starts shaking him, and shouting stuff he doesn't understand. "Woah, calm down, Parsons! Layman terms, the hell is a gaia-class mind and how is this tied to it?"

Reker (631) has posed:
Now that he has somewhere to go, Reker revs the engine on the truck, "You guys can stand around trying to find information, and I do appreciate it if you send me a mail with anything you find, but I'm gonna go experiment my own way!"

He slams the door to the truck closed, throws it into gear and tears off, getting a bit of air off of one of the bridges as he drives out into the fields outside of the town.

It's late, there's probably tons of monsters about, and he's in an armored truck. Should be a fun night for him as he experiments with his equipment on low level creatures. Deep down, is he a bit concerned? To some extent, probably, but it doesn't pay to let people see that.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe looks at Flamel for a moment she just tries to bush it off for a moment.

"... Right I think I get what your doing. Just bail out anyone you see get into trouble and don't piss off the locals. Some people might be damn crazy right now."

Staren has posed:
    Staren gives Kirito a 'Huh, how about that' look at the reveal that the PC leaders are recognized. To August he explains, "In myth, Gaea is the spirit of Earth, a being made up of all the natural life on the planet, or connected to it anyway. On worlds where she's real, you probably don't want to mess up the ecosystem too much. So, a being that massive... Would be akin to your own world's collective unconscious."

    Beat.

    He gestures around. "/Something/ just made videogames real." Staren thinks a moment. "...I'm gonna check if any of the leaders are here yet." He teleports away.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian may not be strictly interested in women. But when there is a person in distress and that person could be a valuable ally later -- greeter might also mean she has the keys to, or information about, forbidden places. And if she's seen a lot, she has a lot of information. So when she seems on the verge of tears, Dorian steps closer and offers a pat on the shoulder, a commiserating gesture.

    "There, there," he says quietly. "It's all right. One would think that, if the world violently flopped over on its back and had a temper tantrum, that would be a perfectly understandable reason to leave your post. Besides, it's night-time. I can't imagine many would be traveling at night. Particularly not tonight."

    He looks in Tomoe's direction then, frowning a bit. Most of the events of what happened in Sword Art Online, Dorian only knows by anecdote. He knows it was horrible, but he wasn't THERE. So it's probably understandable he doesn't quite see why she's so upset. He does, however, have the grace to keep quiet about it. He sends a sympathetic look her way, though. "It's all right. I'm sure someone will figure out what's happened."

Staren has posed:
    Eventually, Staren walks out of the warpgate. "Nobody's up yet, but interesting news: There's warpgates in all the capitals."

Staren has posed:
    Staren tries the menu-summoning gesture again. The name he input is the same as his ALO account...

Kirito has posed:
"You would be surprised, sir!" Karina replies hurriedly, still trying to de-stress - but a sudden blast from Flamel that leaves her blinking and a bit empty gazed for a few moments seems to accomplish quite a bit of that. She fidgets just once to straighten her dress and calms down as if nothing had happened, shoulders loosening and voice turning much calmer.

    As if she just forgot she was even upset to begin with. "The Imps and Spriggans are nocturnal fairies, and there are always night owls among the other races. The post of greeter is a sacred duty and has been for millenia."

    Awesomely enough, Staren finds that the menu does indeed come up. However, his version of it is far streamlined compared to the in-game version... and presumably slimmer than any of the native players. He has an options menu for some chat preferences, menu color and transparency, that sort of thing. There are options for party, guild, friends lists. He has a currency tracker, though not an actual inventory. He has a status window, though it only shows his name with no HP or MP bars. There's also Help, Maps, and other functions that have absolutely nothing to do with Staren As A Character.

Staren has posed:
    "Hm." Staren comments at the menu, then dismisses it for the moment. After someone asks if there's monsters around, he manifests what APPEAR to be cait sith wings and flies off towards the forest.

August Kohler has posed:
August glances at Staren, as he seems to be opening and looking at a menu like the others. He takes a second to think, and then realizes, glancing at Flamel. "Hey, let's try it too. We just gave usernames, didn't we?" With a gesture of his hand, he moves to check if his own window pops up.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    The abnormal speed at which the NPC calms down is noted by Dorian, but he doesn't call it out. It would only make her nervous again, and that's not what he's looking for. So instead he concentrates on her information. "Ah. Yes. I should have known that last bit. About the Imps, I mean." Though he doesn't elaborate on why.

    Instead, he asks, "Why not let me escort you back to your post? We can talk more there." It might put her more at ease. And with a smile, he moves to offer an arm. She ca of course, decline. But he's putting on the charm here. Could serve him well later.

Staren has posed:
    After a few minutes, Staren teleports in again with a frenzy boar. There's scorch marks on it like it's been zapped with electricity.

    "Monsters are real, guys."

    He stands up, leaving the unconscious monster lying on the ground.

    "So if we kill it, do you think we get a corpse, XP, or a meat item for crafting?"

Kirito has posed:
August's effort is not in vain. He sees the same sort of menu that Staren does! So will anyone else who just entered a username, if they try.

    Karina... actually starts to blush rather exagerratedly, in the same way that her previous nervousness was over-exaggerated. But she hides it with another bow. "Th-thank you but I'm already at my post. The Teleport Gate... is my post..." She seems rather confused at a FRENZY BOAR being dropped in from above on the group though. Still alive. And quivering. And goes quite pale. "H-k-... kyaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

    Lord, this Sylph girl's skittish. WHOOOOOSH, there she goes, running for the trees again.

    "Uhhhh..." Kirito, too, seems puzzled by this development. He glances up, spots Staren... oh, yeah. Now it makes sense.

    The Spriggan folds his arms.

    The FRENZY BOAR, which has a completely grey Color Cursor to everyone here visible over its name, is significant only in the fact that it has an HP meter visible, unlike the NPC who just flew the coop. It grunts and snorts furiously, but doesn't seem capable of putting any strength in its legs.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Flamel does the same little gesture there, probably popping up his own window. His limited non-expert psychic abilities, though, make it possible to interact with menu systems such as that with his mind! He busies himself with acclimating to the idea. But, for now, he's done his duty: Motivating the Gatecrashers to use this situation as a power-grab to become a powerful world-wide conspiracy in service to their agenda for mankind!

    Which just so happens to mean 'heroically protect humanity in its time of need'. That part doesn't really matter to his strange MIB aesthetic, only to his moral sensibilities and Psychonaut ethics.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe pauses for a moment "Kirito? I'm going to hook up with Klien and Angil and see how many people we can rouse. I'll also hit up Sinon to see if she can shake lose Palerider and Dyne."

With that she turns for the gate and then pauses. "I'll be ... back soon." With tht she's gone.

Staren has posed:
    Staren stands next to it, looking down at the creature. "That's really pathetic. We should put it out of its misery." he calls up the menu, and invites Kirito to his party (to see if Kirito gets xp or yrd.) When Kirito accepts, he draws his beam saber and slices through the boar's neck.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Suddenly there is a boar being dropped on the ground from above. Dorian's not exactly skittish, but he knows to keep his wits about him. And usually things falling from the sky is a bad thing. So he jumps too, though it's to retrieve his staff rather than escape. Once he sees what's going on, he scowls. "Kaffas, Staren! A bit of warning next time, if you please!" he complains.

    Sure the thing is unconscious but Dorian's not about to take any chances. He keeps his weapon at the ready, just in case it gets its second wind before they decide to put the beast out of his misery.

Kirito has posed:
Kirito spots the party invite... and after a moment of consternation, reluctantly hits yes. Reluctant, because he's not even remotely sure HOW to behave in this situation and has been choosing to wallflower. But he focuses his attention...and draws his blade, to strike along with Staren with a dual slash.

    And BAM, the weapons deplete the Frenzy Boar's HP almost instantly. It's a pathetic low level creature. Much like a Poring. The moment its HP depletes fully, the bar de-rezzes and vanishes. The entire creature glows a brilliant blue-white... then SHATTERS into a burst of colorful blue-green voxel-flakes and motes of white light that drift outwards and disperse into nothing.

    Kirito glances down and spots a loot window. Half the creature's Yrd and and Weapon Skill points' worth, and 1x Frenzy Boar Bristles.

    Staren gets a window that just contains a Yrd aware - the other half.

    With a wet SQUISHPLOP, a fat hunk of prime cut meat cartoonishly hits the ground where the Frenzy Boar was. Its item name is 'Frenzy Boar Meat'.

Staren has posed:
    Staren deactivates his blade and clips the hilt back to his armor, then kneels by the meat, pulling one of his gauntlets off. His armband produces a scalpel, which he slices a bit of the meat with, sets it aside, and then sprays with a spraycan from his armor. The scalpel retracts, he replaces the gauntlet, then stands and, drawing his matter manipulator, sucks the Slab o' Meat into his inventory for later conversion into stew.

Staren has posed:
    After awhile, Staren confirms, "The meat is real. I'll come back here tomorrow and give out free stew to celebrate." He smiles at the others. "The science, I mean. Not the danger to your world."

Kirito has posed:
"Getting stabbed hurts." Kirito asides to Staren a few moments after hearing that, in a sort of dazed and still deep-in-thought tone. Because this is clearly the most intelligent statement ever made in this context.

Staren has posed:
    Staren stares at Kirito for a moment. Then winces. It takes a few seconds, but he quickly realizes what Kirito did. "Glad you're okay. Battle healing?"

Kirito has posed:
"Yeah." He answers just as distantly. "... So... I haven't tried to change back yet, but my menu has an option for it. Doesn't seem like there's a time limit on this form either. But taking damage hurts. That means, if someone reaches zero HP..." His increasingly grim words hang in the air, unfinished.

Staren has posed:
    Staren thinks that over, then shrugs. "That's not an experiment I care to try."

    Beat.

    He hangs his head. "Someone will probably find out, sooner or later."