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Kirito     Kirito spends less time in the cottage now than he'd like, but such is a consequence of no longer being in a Death Game and having RL to deal with. But the cottage has been nicely furnished close to what it once looked like.

    Kirito's in the living room, seated at the edge of a lazy chair with his head in his hands and a pensive expression on his face...
Staren     A short time after Kirito's request, a hasted dire corgi runs out of the woods from the general direction of the central city. Staren's riding on its back. It runs up to the entrance and then Staren hops off, patting it a couple of times and then stepping back and then mimes holding out a pokeball with one hand while using the menu with the other. "Aemai, return!"

    After putting away his pet, Staren knocks on the door, "Kirito, it's me!", waiting for a response before entering. "So, what's all this about?" Staren looks at Kirito curiously as he approaches the opposite chair.
Kirito     Kirito gestures for the opposite chair, welcoming Staren to sit in it. "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. It's a weird topic to broach... but you're one of the most dedicated guys I know when it comes to technology that can save lives that can't be saved. That's what I wanted to talk about. Your medical technology. Someone I know might need it."
Staren     Staren nods slightly at the gesture and sits in the chair, slightly forward to leave room for his tail. He nods at the comment, "People... deserve life. Maybe that's not the best way to put it. Death is unfair. I mean... how do I put this..." He stares thoughtfully up at the ceiling for a moment. "People tell themselves it's fate when it comes to this /one thing/, but we fight /so hard/ to save lives all the time. Medical technology is constantly advancing, but in the Multiverse we can just skip to the end and get the best. And, maybe I'd believe that dying was /normal/... if we didn't, every day, talk to immortal gods and centuries-old beings. Some even older. Celestia's over a thousand years old and she's /used/ that time to rule a kingdom better than any monarch I've ever heard of, probably because she has more experience and wisdom than a king who's spent his /whole life/ doing it. Optimus Prime and the Black Mage are crazy old! And, y'know, not bedridden and breaking down, but as healthy as ever! And it's not like this is a super-rare thing and the standouts are obvious. There are entire /worlds/ full of machine people or elves or what-have-you."

    Staren blinks as he sort of snaps out of it. "Ah... sorry, I was ranting again, wasn't I? You invited me here, you already get it, who needs help?" he leans forward and listens expectantly (his ears even rotate forward, which might be odd for a Cait Sith player,) chin on hands, elbows on knees.
Kirito     Asking a simple question and getting a fairly sizable rant about fate, death, gods, and a dozen different species means that when Staren snaps out of it... he's treated to a sight of Kirito lookingg at him rather wide-eyed-like. A bit awed. A bit stupefied. He definitely wasn't expecting that.

    A lot of people would probably have entirely lost their groove right then and there. Good thing Kirito's the sort to take this kind of thing in stride.

    Just a bit crazy that way.

    "Not sure what I'm supposed to say about most of that. You've been around here longer than me. ... though I don't disagree. Well... I'm not vouching that everyone be immortal." He mutters a bit himself, then rapidly shakes his head.

    Time to get back on topic.

    He meets Staren's gaze, folding his arms. "First, I don't know for a certainty if this will lead to anything. But there's a good chance it will. You probably haven't heard about this, but FullDive technology's been all the rage for all kinds of fields... not just gaming and online collaboration. The concept of controlling neurological functions means it's better than any anesthetic for instance. It's great for medical purposes. There's one device that was in testing even before the NerveGear hit the shelves. Medicuboid."

    The word's said somewhat grimly, and he lowers the folded arms. "For the terminally ill and long-term bedridden. There's not a lot of things these days that can warrant them. Incurable cancers, genetic disorders, really nasty diseases... if someone was that bad off, what would your options be?"
Staren     Staren scratches his head and looks awkwardly sheepish at Kirito's response to the rant. He nods along as Kirito speaks, commenting at "Well, of course. I'm glad to see people didn't get spooked by what happened." at the revelation that FullDive has other uses.

    When Kirito mentions Medicuboid, Staren remembers something. "Medicuboid... That's what Sinon thought I was on when I was talking about Multiverse stuff. What is it?"

    Kirito explains.

    Staren's expression grows serious and he thinks for a moment. "With your world's technology... FullDive would alleviate their pain, and allow them an experience besides lying in bed. ...They might, if willing, serve as test subjects for more dangerous research, since they were going to die anyway. Like trying to replicate what Kayaba did..."
Kirito     "Sinon knows about it?" Kirito blinks, a bit startled. He barely knows of it himself, and only becaue he's the sort to fangasm and study things he obsesses over unlike many others. Why would Sinon know about it?

    That's a bit shocking.

    The boy nods though. "You sure have no problem saying difficult things." Something Kirito can appreciate, even if it leaves him a bit jarred. This kind of topic is all but taboo in casual conversation.

    Not really suited for a dinner table. Or with anyone else around.

    "Yeah, I don't think a Death Game is what they have in mind. But let's say someone was that sick. What kind of things can your technology handle that 21st century Earth can't? Aren't you using stuff from centuries in the future?"
Staren     Staren blinks at the... compliment. "Well, um... it's like... well, you asked." Then his eyes widen. "A death game? No, no, no! I mean when he uploaded himself into a computer! Who else would you use as test subjects for that, but people for whom it's their only chance at continued existance?"

    Staren takes a deep breath and sits up. "I have... Multiversal resources. My world's technology is decades ahead of yours, but Federation technology and the stuff they have in the Union medbay is even further... But the technology of Rory's world achieved what noone else could. Only a little over a century ahead of this world, and yet their general healing power is /almost/ as good as what the medbay has. And on top of that, they managed human uploading. There's immortality, right there." He shrugs. "You can have a society where this sort of death is unheard of. Of course, there's limits to all of this, and it doesn't always work on people from other worlds. But there's also magic out there, and Abstractum. I think, if we try hard, and we have enough time, we can find a solution to almost anything."

    Staren scratches his head. "On my world, we'd replace the failing parts of their body with cybernetics. Or artificially-grown organs, if you're /really/ rich. If the problem's in the brain, though, that won't help. Uploading is kind of a cure-all for everything short of psychological illness and memetic hazards, but... I don't actually know if it works on people from your world. Let me check."

    Staren reaches into his bag, which isn't there. He blinks, and then looks slightly awkward at realizing his mistake. "Ah... I'd need to meet someone in person to check. Arthur alchemized me a scanning device which can discreetly check someone for ego bridge compatibility, so that I'm saved some... awkward conversations. Although... It doesn't seem to mean it'll always be /easy/. I recently... Well, found an example of... did you ever meet Batou, or Kotone? The people on their world /all/ have cybernetics in their heads. The scanning device says it can work, but... It's not a simple thing, I'd have to make significant alterations to the programming, and maybe reprogram the cybernetics, to get it working. There might be some sort of issue here, as well. I don't know until I try it."

    "Although..." Staren strokes his chin. "Kayaba managed it, so we know it's possible /one/ way or another. And I'm sure there are people who deserve it more than /him/." Staren's expression darkens briefly, then goes back to neutral-serious. "Of course, there are also multiversal options too. Who knows what magic and Abstractum might achieve?"
Kirito     Kirito purses his lips thoughtfully. "Nothing like using nanites to rebuild someone's body or attack a disease? Straight to brain uploading?" His expression falters at that. THAAAAAT is going to be harder to sell than he knows how to explain.
Staren     Staren blinks. "Well I mean... I was saying, if there were a /brain/ problem, you'd have to. Although it'd kind of work for anything else too technically, wouldn't it? But since I had just given the example of cybernetics for say, failing organs... Yeah. I was giving escalating examples." Staren holds his palm out in front of him, horizontally, then moves it up a few inches and holds it there, then a few more and holds it there. "Nanites could work too, but obviously rebuilding a body with a /genetic/ illness won't do much good, for example. It depends on what, exactly, the person has."
Kirito     "I was afraid you'd say that." Kirito gives a somewhat sheepish look. And after a good ten seconds of awkward looking away... he meets Staren's gaze again. "... It's Zekken. I'm 99% positive she's a Medicuboid user. It's the only way to explain her ungodly reaction times. She's been using FullDive years more than even SAO survivors. When she vanished, I had a hunch where she might be... and it turned out to be right."

    He lets that sink in, hands migrating to his knees. "But I don't know what she's ill with yet. Asuna might, but this isn't so easy to ask about. Guess I'll just have to do it though if anything's going to change."

    And resolve to do things like that is one of his best qualities.

    He smiles a bit at Staren... but it turns serious fast. "I don't have to tell you to keep that a secret until we have more information, do I?"
Staren     Staren waits curiously. His expression saddens just slightly when Kirito puts a name to the hypothetical ill person. Although, Staren barely knows her. She's just a voice. "I see..." Staren nods. "Yeah. I think people will understand if you set aside politeness and deal with awkwardness in the name of /saving someone's life/.

    Staren folds his hands together in thought, elbows on knees again, leaning forward slightly. "I will try. But I am not a good liar. I can not mention it... but if anyone else suspects, and it comes up, my reaction is likely to give it away. Also, I don't know if I can pretend I don't know when talking to her--" Staren's eyes widen and he drops his forehead to his palm. "Oh /no/. When she said she won't be around long... And I just said I hope she has fun where she's going... Oh geeze."

    Staren sits up straight again after a moment. "But wait, she's /in the Gatecrashers/. She /knows/ who we are. Why hasn't she asked for help? And can we really not just... /ask/ her, in private?"
Kirito     Kirito winces, but his mood seems to be improving. "I don't think she was put off by it. Well, she's not telling the full truth... so people misunderstanding's hardly your fault. Either way..." He rubs his own chin, making a face.

    "To be honest, I'm uncomfortable just thinking about the subject. But if I had to guess? She doesn't know there's options available. She doesn't want to make other people uncomfortable... maybe doesn't want the attention or to be treated differently. First I'll ask Asuna... then Yuuki."
Staren     "Hmm." Staren leans forward with folded hands, something of a Gendo pose. "We should not be uncomfortable with /saving lives/. I guess it's a people thing, but I think it's really one that people should drop. Still, I'll... try to keep it in mind if I'm ever on a diplomatic mission. I hope, as a friend, you'll understand if I don't force myself to be that way around /you/, at least." Staren sits up straight. "If she confronts me about it, I won't be able to lie, either. I mean if she notices me acting differently and suspects..." Staren shrugs and holds his palms up in a helpless gesture. "I'm just not the kind of person who can manage that, you know?"

    His expression seriouses again. "Work swiftly. It sounds like she doesn't have a lot of time left. I... don't take this the wrong way, but every time you hesitate, or fear impoliteness and awkwardness, remember what's at stake, and how tragic it would be if you waited days, and then she passed days before we completed whatever work is necessary to save her. Don't..." he gets a somewhat pained expression, "Don't make me regret not confronting her /right now/ and getting started on the problem."

    Then his expression softens to a sort of awkward apologetic look. I'm sorry. You're a good man, Kirito, and... Noone can be expected to deal with all this /easily/. Even us. At least we spare others from what we go through, when we can."

    Staren steps forward and holds a hand out for Kirito to shake. "Good luck."
Kirito     Kirito shrugs kind of sheepishly, unsure what exactly to say judging by his sort of impish, reluctant returned smile. "It's a people thing." He affirms. "Anyone will talk about saving lives. Nobody wants to talk about terminal patients or real life sucking, especially online. And nah... I'm used to things being... more or less crazy by now. I get it. You put all your stat points in science and charisma's your dump stat. That's why we work in teams to cover up each other's faults."

    The accusations about hesitation and what's at stake get his eyes narrowing though. Oh duh, of course he knows that much. "Right. No need to tell me twice. I'll get right on this."

    He extends his own hand and firmly shakes Staren's.

    "Thanks."
Staren     Staren immediately bursts out laughing when Kirito describes him in game terms, but he's smiling for a moment after, seems he found it quite funny! "Indeed!"

    "Thank you for coming forward, even if it was hard. I guess I'll talk to you soon..." He's taken this point in the conversation as a cue to leave, it seems.