Scene #6907:

Owner	Pose
Kain	Kain enters Haven and falls into a chair nearest to the entrance, sighing. "I really gotta learn to conserve my energy..." He sighs... he just kinda... lays in the chair... The entrance hall of Haven is a very diverse building. It has many doors that lead to many rooms. The look of the place seems to betray the fact that it's home to many different cultures, many different races, many different viewpoints. It's very much a Haven, as its name suggests, to many of the Multiverse's diverse cultures!
Lory Thumper	"Conserve it for what?" comes a voice that Kain might recognize. The Haven has a visitor! Officer Lory Thumper has heard of the famous guild that helped free an entire population from a deathgame and wanted to see it for herself. She was thinking she might even meet some of the heroes! Even though it is supposed to be a safe haven, the bunny cop still has her kevlar armor on beneath her civilian clothing, which consists of just a normal set of blue jeans, a white undershirt, and a purple plaid long sleeve shirt that is unbuttoned which allows a glimpse of the utility belt that she is wearing, the twin holsters mostly hidden by the overshirt.
Tomoe	Tomoe had done a big old BBQ earlier and had not been able to invite everyone over due to the size of where she made the meal. It's not lost in Tomoe she has several bolt holes throughout the multiverse and given the life she lives, it's likely a good idea she does. For now, though she's dropped off some of the leftovers to the former SAO NPCs who run some of the shops here and now is looking for Kain to give him his share. The towering Salamander woman just happens to reach Kain at the same time Lory is. "Hey Kain!"
Kain	Kain looks a little surprised by the arrival of the- OMG, SO SMOL, SO ADORB- he stops himself there in his mind as he just sits up. "O-oh! Officer... Thumper, was it...?" He gives a small chuckle. "Well... I guess..." Then Tomoe shows up. "Oh, hey Tomoe!" He looks back to Lory and sighs. "I suppose I shouldn't be so shy... if you couldn't tell, this isn't actually what I look like..." His hand reaches up to his right ear as he says "Link Out." As he does, his form begins to de-pixellate. As it finishes, the elder 25-year old 'fairy' was now revealed to be... quite a bit younger... no older than 17. But that's not the most shocking part of it... as the pixellation finishes dispersing, there's something missing that there should be... his entire right leg is missing all the way up to the hip joint! But otherwise, there was now sitting a 17-year old 'kid' with short brown hair, wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of tan khaki-shorts.
Lory Thumper	Lory looks up at Tomoe as she joins them, then back at Kain. The bunny blinks in a bit of surprise at hearing this isn't what Kain looks like, and she watches with interest as he links out. The missing leg is also a surprise, but the bunny has pretty good manners and so doesn't draw attention to it. "I had heard about this, but I didn't realize how true it was. So, those of this world really can assume their avatar forms just about anywhere? I'm surprised the entire population of this Earth hasn't signed up for the game by now to get super powers or something." she says. Then, she smirks lightly and crosses her arms. "I guess that explains why you felt it was necessary to 'save the bunny'. I've found that younger humans are pretty obsessed with bunnies. And kittens. And puppies." She pauses. "Really most anything small and fuzzy and mammalian. Why is that?"
Tomoe	Tomoe smirks a bit "Good to see you." She finds it odd that someone is so willing to transform out of Avatar state then again given Tomoe's behaviour it's not shocking she seldom changes back to Sheena. She grins looking to Lory for a moment and then looks the rabbit woman over for a moment. "There's some factor to how it works most of the people who caught were caught int he death game or /very/ into the VR games and lived more or less a second life, so Kain the BBQ ribs as promised you'll want to heat them up first though." She will move to open her inventory and pass Kain the package of food. "I see you have been out having your own adventures Kain and I'm known as Tomoe the Iron Lily."
Kain	Kain nods and takes the package of food with a smile. "Sweet! There's no substitute to your own taste buds when eatin' barbecue ribs! Yum!" He sets the package down. He then turns to Lory. "Oh. Well, it's the same with older people, I think... my mom likes kittens. Puppies are apparently too much for her... I dunno. But I think it's because we think such smaller creatures are cute..." He seems to turn a bit of a shade of pink as he says that last part, turning his head in a bit of embarrasment...
Lory Thumper	Lory nods lightly to Tomoe as she explains a bit about how the powers work. "So, not just anyone can do it." she says, mostly to herself. The inventory manipulation is kind of intriguing, and Lory watches that before...Kain says the word! The small bunny blinks, then rolls her eyes lightly and sighs softly. "Right...cute." Of course, it isn't like she -doesn't- think such things are cute, but that really shouldn't be a reason to save them over someone else. Which...she reminds herself, Kain did not do. He helped Rosa as well. She lets out a soft mmph, then smirks lightly. "I see..." She pauses a moment, then sighs and shrugs lightly with a little shake of her head. "I guess judgements based on appearance are a natural thing. Just...try not to make it seem like someone who happens to be cute is in need of help. I don't mind being cute. It's the part where people think that means I am weak and can't handle myself that gets to me."
Tomoe	Tomoe says "I don't notice the difference much anymore." Tomoe nods to her friend for a moment and then looks over to Lory for a moment. She tilts her head for a moment pauses. It hits her and she looks a bit embarrassed. "You can use being assumed to not be dangerous to your own advantage." She would then look to the pair and is about to say something as the gets a message and pauses. "Eugene? Oh, you are starting it now? Right." She looks to both Lory and Kain. "I'm afraid I need to get going I have something to do in the floating castle good meeting you and sorry if I unnerved you Lory and see you about Kain." Her wings flare out and she flies off with a wave.
Kain	Kain just blushes even harder! "R-right...! I never actually thought that... just... I could tell the train would explode soon...! And... well... I couldn't bear the thought of... any allies dying in such a thing...!" Kain looks at Tomoe as she gets that message. "Oh! Good luck on the raid, Tomoe!" He'd then turn back to Lory. "So... uhm... to a different topic, then...! I'm curious if you'd be interested in giving ALO a try at all... though we'd probably need to find an appropriately sized for you..." He seems to be in thought...
Lory Thumper	Lory raises an eyebrow in confusion at Tomoe. "Unnerved? Uh...don't worry about it." Lory says, not really sure what Tomoe means. She waves goodbye as Tomoe leaves, then looks to Kain again. She can't help a bit of a smile as he blushes and stammers his way through an explanation. She raises her hands in a placating way. "Okay okay. I forgive you." she says, giggling just a bit. "I probably would have done the same if it seemed like someone might not make it out in time." she says, then smirks. "But, I didn't hear you say 'must save jaguar'." she adds. She's just teasing him now, though. The bunny cop blinks at the invitation to try ALO. "Oh, uh..." Her ears flop back and forth a bit as she leans her head this way and that while thinking about it. "I guess? I don't really get a lot of free time between my shifts for the MPD and the Paladins, but maybe I can stop by on one of my days off from the MPD." she says, then hmms. "It doesn't seem like Paladins really get days off per se, but we do have a day every now and then when we haven't been called to respond to something." She hops up into a seat beside Kain, which involves a bit of cute scrambling thanks to her being basically the size of a human kid. She settles down and smiles. "What's the actual game like?"
Kain	Kain's face lights up as he describes ALO in as great a detail as he could muster! He doesn't stop! He hasn't exactly lost his embarrassment, but talking about a subject he enjoys seems to have helped to loosen him up a little more!
Kain	Kain continues talking about ALO for quite a while. The different races, the different roaming fields, the wonders... the dangers... but also the thrills! "And all the while it's happening, your real body is kept safe. Of course, if something happens to your body, the new headsets react quickly and bring you out of the game in the case of an emergency. It's a safeguard that was implemented when they swapped from the NerveGear to the AmuSphere. Though to be honest... I felt kinda out of place with the AmuSphere. I dunno... I guess I lived in that NerveGear for so long, it just... felt wrong not to use it..." He looks at Lory. "Does that sound weird at all...?" Well... even with how grown-up he seems to act at times, this kid's still just a kid...
Lory Thumper	Lory listens with a soft smile all the while, nodding at appropriate times and truly seeming interested. The bit about the NerveGear and the AmuSphere draws a bit more interest though. When Kain asks if that sounds weird, Lory giggles a bit. "Well...kind of? I mean, you are purposely using a defective system because it feels more familiar. That's the system that allowed the deathgame to happen, right? I'm..." She blinks. "Wait...you...lived in the NerveGear? Were you -in- the deathgame? When you were just a kid?!" The bunny's eyes are wide now, and her little nose wiggles just a bit as she leans closer, waiting to hear the answer.
Kain	Kain immediately tensed up! CRAP! I wasn't supposed to say anything about that! Crap...! He just hung his head and sighed... "... yeah... yeah, I was one of the ones stuck in Aincrad..." He rubbed the back of his head a bit... "Over 2 years... stuck in a world I'd chosen to escape the real world for in the first place... at first... it was awesome... I mean..." He gestures to his leg. Or rather... absence of one. "I had my leg! It's something I'll always be grateful to VRMMOs for... for giving me the freedom I never had growing up..." He sighed, closing his eyes. "Then... a month later... the reality was settling in... the friends I'd gained in SAO... they... they were all dying around me... every single friend I'd made... they... they just..." His body started shivering, tears streaming from his eyes lightly. He gave a sniffle, wiping his eyes. "2 months later, I decided I was done... I didn't want to fight anymore... so... I joined up with a Church on the first floor of Aincrad... and that's where I met Tomoe! And Gimi and Dari, and Sasha too! We were all just kids... except Tomoe and Sasha. They were older than us... so we all looked up to them..." "But... near the end of the second year, we had some thugs from the upper levels come down and harrass us... told us we were supposed to pay protection taxes...!" He looked at Lory with a smile. "That's when I saw her! A demon with angel wings and a sharp Rapier! She saved us from those thugs! And ever since I saw her take on those thugs, I decided I was gonna be just like her! Quick, graceful, yet powerful! So that I would NEVER lose another friend! Since then, I trained hard... then something happened. One day, just... everyone got a notice. SAO had been beaten. We... we were free!" He looked up with a smile, recalling a happy memory. "I don't know where Gimi, Dari or Sasha are at all... but I hope they're living awesome lives!"
Lory Thumper	Lory looks horrified and completely sympathetic for Kain as he recounts the story. When he starts shivering she scoots closer and just...gives him a big hug. "Sweet peas and carrots..." she says, apparently her version of cursing. She listens to the rest, letting go of the hug when Kain seems to reach a part of his story where it wasn't so traumatic. But, the recounting of a demon with angel wings is curious. Especially considering she saved them. "Have you tried to find out where they went?" Lory asks, meaning Gimi, Dari, and Sasha. "Or asked about who that demon was? She must have been another player, right?" She looks down at Kain's leg after that, then hesitates a moment. "I didn't want to seem rude earlier, but I did want to ask just what happened to your leg? Birth defect?"
Kain	Kain smiles. "Oh, the Demon's around. I know who she is. She's been really busy lately, though. So it's understandable she's not around as often. As for Gimi, Dari and Sasha, I did give it a try. But... they weren't around at all. Not that I could find. I know they survived, though. So I'm glad for that, at least." And there it was... the topic of his leg... he gave a bit of a dry chuckle... "Yeah... a birth defect... but not the one you'd think..." He sighed. "When I was born... the doctors found out that I had a rare disease... Necrotizing Fasciitis. The doctors had never seen it so early... they caught it when I was only 2 weeks old... it started down in my foot... By the end of my third week, my entire right foot had pretty much just rotted... the nerves, the tissue, everything... and it was spreading rapidly... the docs figured that if they didn't surgically remove most of my leg, I would die... the necrosis would have reached my heart, and... well... I wouldn't be sharing this story..." Kain gave a small cough, just clearing his throat a bit. "Of course, my mom... she was too scared of either outcome... I mean... not even a month old, and I was either gonna lose my leg or lose my life... she took too long to think, though... and the necrosis spread more... to the point that the only way to remove it... was to remove my leg all the way to my hip..." He pats the empty part where his leg would have met his hip. "So... I've lived with no leg my entire life. That, and... a constant, dull pain on that point. The nerve endings were in shock considering I was so young... and the docs say it'll likely never get better..." Kain turns to Lory with a smile, though. "But it's cool. Because now, I have a way to move again!" He stands up, hopping on his leg as he grabbed the AugMa device, setting it in his ear. "And while it was a deathgame, it's still thanks to Akihiko Kayaba. Link Start!" As he spoke those words, the pixellation began and his entire form was reconverted back to the adult-looking Salamander known as Kain! Red translucent wings popped out of his back as he began hovering a couple of inches off the ground. "It's because of him that I could be free in SAO, and I'm pretty sure it's because of that... that I can actually use the AugMa."
Lory Thumper	Lory's eyes are wide again as she listens to all of this. This kid before her has faced more hardship before reaching adulthood than most people face their entire lives. "I...I can't even imagine how difficult that must have been on you and on her." she says, shaking her head. When Kain returns to his ALO form though, she smiles. "At least some good came out of that terrible situation, huh?" she says, watching him hover. She is quiet a moment, then her smile grows. "You're pretty amazing, Kain. All of that happened to you, and you still have a fiery spirit and a good heart. I think a lot of people would have sunk into depression or something. I'm glad to have met you." she says, then smirks just a bit. "Even if you do think we bunnies need to be saved." she says, obviously just teasing him this time.
Kain	And being playful about it, Kain just blows a quiet raspberry towards the bunny! "You realize I'd have done the same thing for anyone else, right?" He knew she was just teasing him. He just felt like going along with it. Kain sighs. "The thing is... what good is being depressed gonna do? What purpose does it serve? All it does is make you feel miserable, makes other people worry about you... and when I'm already getting special treatment growing up because I'm missing a leg? I didn't feel like I needed that. So... again, why be depressed? Life tossed me out into the ocean with no life preserver. I kept my head held high above the waves until I could pull myself out and fly!" He accentuated this by flying around the room a bit. He came back down into a hover in front of Lory after a bit. "Yeah, seeing my friends die like that... it was stupidly sad. But I realized that... by continuing to live and enjoy life as full as I can, I feel like I'm honoring their memory! And that's why I fly!"
Lory Thumper	Lory giggles at that first thing. "How could I have known that at the time? We hadn't even really met!" she says with a smile. She listens again as Kain explains about his reasoning and she nods in support of it. "It makes sense, sure. But, there's plenty of people that just let the ocean take them, you know? So, you're still amazing. Just having the inner strength to do that, to pull yourself up and just keep going without losing your spark." She watches him fly around and giggles a bit. "Not to mention how admirable it is to live your life to its fullest in memory of your friends." she adds, then pauses a moment. "There's this thing called survivor's guilt. People feel bad for living when someone they knew died right beside them. Usually it happens with soldiers after combat or something similiar to that. A lot of those people think they don't deserve to live and that their buddies must be angry at them for living. It's a pretty silly thing when you think about it, but it happens all the time. But you, you are living your life with them in your heart. That's the way people -should- do it, but it is hard to do that sometimes. Not trying to give you a big head or anything, just saying..." She smiles warmly up at him. "So! How would a little bunny like me get in on this game of yours and show people in the game that just because someone is small doesn't mean they can't do some damage?" she adds after that, smirking.
Kain	Kain gives a hearty laugh! "There's some really talented guys here in the Gatecrashers! The AmuSphere is a little big, I think... but a couple of the guys around could DEFINITELY help you with that! I'm afraid I'm of no help in that regard, though. All I have is my NerveGear I brought with me here. Though I'm sure someone's got a spare they'd be willing to let you use! At least until you can buy your own! Everyone here's super nice! OH! And if you do join? Talk with Tomoe a bit about some training! She's tough, but you'll learn ALO in no time flat!" Kain then landed back in the chair again, saying the words "Link Out." as he pulled the AugMa off his ear, resuming his non-Avatar form. "Also, you wouldn't be the first non-human to join! I know this unicorn! She's STUPID scary in the game, and she's just a pony out here in the real world! But... I haven't seen her around in a while. I should give her library a visit again! See what she's been up to!" He stands up again and stretches. It looks a little awkward, but he seems to have his own balance to it. "But, that'll be another time." He looks at the clock. "It's getting kinda late. I may live on my own now, but I do still like to keep a schedule of 9 to 5 sleeping hours. You should come by tomorrow when the place is more jumpin'! Lots of people around! I'm SURE you'll find someone here that can help!"
Lory Thumper	Lory nods lightly and giggles a bit at Kain's enthusiasm about her trying out the AmuSphere. "Tomoe. That was the lady who gave you that food?" she asks. "She seems nice enough. And I've seen her fight before. Pretty fearsome." she says before watching as Kain returns to normal. She blinks at the mention of a unicorn. "Really? I come from a world of animal people, and even we think unicorns are just myths." she says, rubbing her chin a bit. She looks at the clock at the mention of time, then nods. "Yeah, I should probably do the same. Of course, my hours are anything but a regular 9 to 5, but you know...still good to try and keep a regular sleep schedule. I'll come back later though. See if anyone can hook me up. It would be good to know if I will like this game before I spend money on a VR rig." she says. She smiles, then heads for the door. "See you later Kain!" she says, then pauses. "Hey...is that your real name? I mean I don't mind calling you that if you prefer."
Kain	Kain smiled. "I don't mind whichever you call me. Kain is my Avatar's name. Both in ALO and in SAO. But... Takeo Shota. It's nice to meet you, Officer!" He extended a hand to the rabbit officer!
Lory Thumper	Lory shakes the offered hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you too, Takeo. I'll probably call you Kain more often than not, but it just felt weird not knowing your name." she says, then waves. "Alright! See you later!"