NIGHT

NIGHT shook her head at Hirru's response. Multiple people at once? They'd just had the raid meeting; she wouldn't want to host another, smaller one. Neither did she feel herself fit for that position, nor did she want to pick a player as their target for the hour of war. A straightened back from being hunched over, and she folded her arms. "If I'd mentioned Hidden, it was because she made herself involved upon your situation, when you announced it. I might speak to her another time." What light from the torch and their surrounding lights pulsed for a moment, when the player murmured, eyes

She'd near balked at the thought of passing out yet again in Aincrad. No -- long gone were the days of having not-enough and rationing out her col. NIGHT hadn't figured her friend had fallen on hard times, either, but her surprise did stem from that similar concern. "He's not pulling his weight on money...?" The squint of her eyes and a little 'tch' were enough to have her follower companion cock her head to the side. NIGHT paused for a moment, teeth on the nail of her thumb, before starting down the path to the teleporter. "I'll just have to beat some sense into him, then. If

"Just a rice bowl with Unagi," NIGHT elaborated, idle, watching the fur on Okami's cheeks get ruffled. "Nothing much. Wait... musubi?" If she recalled correctly, that was simply just spam on some rice, right? That was all Koga was having for dinner? Her stern image seized up to one of concern, before the woman shook her head, looking to the store owner with her mind finally made up. "Give me the carrots, cabbages, radish and beetroot. Please." Her look back to Koga was more telling, once her transaction through menus had been completed. "Overruled. You're not having musubi for dinner, bec

Oh, Koga. To host a party catering to so many different players of Aincrad, simply with a poster announcement on a bulletin somewhere. With cooking skills and speed as they were? Yukiro may have been missing, sure, but a gaggle of strangers could've matched his appetite, even more. NIGHT shook her head as she closed in on his estate's location, hands tucked into her tracksuit's pockets. No -- no celebration suits and no extra company today. Knowing the state of Koga's abode, it would've been barely enough to fit the gathering that was growing outside his front door. And if any o

Mind you, it wasn't attention to her accompanying individual that drew NIGHT's attention away from the display cases. Rather, the voice it belonged to alerted her of some familiar presence, and the twitch of horror once her eyes settled upon Koga's figure only exacerbated her renewed focus on the present. Sorry -- did one of her closest companions, in all that was holy -- fail to recognize her, the actual friend, person, player before her companion was picked from the crowd? How'd that even happen? And said player had failed to erase the distinguished look of disgust from her face in time

Stone bowls? Check. Premium short-grain rice? Check. Unagi? Check. Salmon Roe? Check. The base ingredients were covered. So why was the last part -- choosing the complimentary vegetables -- the hardest out of the entire routine? It was with a low and long sigh that NIGHT found herself toying with her locks again, fingers running down a single, isolated strand out of her combed, straight hair. And half of the time, between staring at the stock provided by the stalls at the player markets, she would glance over to her android companion, as though the artificial intelligence ha

There was a hint of a flinch; a shiver, from that cool night air as Hirru contemplated, and NIGHT had imagined his comment directed her way. Nerves steeled themselves as the man set his eyes back on the player, and she glanced his way. She hadn't made herself that obvious... had she? "What would I do with..." She'd paused, just as her companion shook his head. But the lack of an answer given was more so due to a similar sentiment from herself. What was there to do with such information? If anything, the woman did contemplate if any brokers had wanted that intel, and then set that tho

Distracted? Gabrandr should've been. She knew not what words he was exchanging with Sir Goop in the distance, but she knew she wanted none of what was to follow. And so a single swing was all she was capable of delivering. Never mind it wouldn't leave a scratch on the boss' armor. The rumble between her hands and the steel plating was what mattered, and NIGHT scampered away just as his speech was completed. To talk during battle was an act of lost focus -- battles were meant to only last seconds, and only rarely minutes. For any of them to be speaking at a time like this... Her eyes

is this an anime character in disguise

Specific. They were each being specific, on their own merits, to each other, NIGHT had observed. She took a gulp, watching Hirru considering her question, trying to hide a falter behind her searching eyes. Some anxiety -- was it her, thinking so? It must've been. Her companion's story had seemed concrete enough to fail giving away loose tension, amount from an unknown origin. The only one keeping secrets here must've been her, NIGHT would think. She followed his finger as he gestured towards the markers above their heads. Clueless. The woman understood not what Hirru had meant,

If she were asked about it at a later date, NIGHT would proclaim it bravely that it was a feint. In truth, it was nothing more than sheer luck. She had half the mind to follow the cannon in suit, toppling over onto the floor in that pile of rubble just as the parts began to disintergrate, signature Cardinal style. And the wave of heat that burned stronger over them, blue flames dropping and coalescing* off Gabrandr's form-- only an enticing target would make themselves shine and sparkle in midst of combat. Something about family, and losing people he'd loved. Something about what he was d

"That's a conflicting question still." (So it seems that it would be, huh?) "In the moment, I wasn't quite thinking straight." (That was funny. She wouldn't be thinking straight herself, either.) "After I betrayed my friends, or as they said, 'betrayed my oath'; I got tackled by a player, and stabbed by another." By some manner, there was a faint recognition returning to her sights. In reality, she couldn't help but play the simulation at the back of her mind, too, as Hirru elaborated further about the attack. Motive be damned, to have another player's dagger sunk

It was simple game development AI; behaviour trees, them. Computer scientists had known about it for ages, and it was only recently being applied to the field when the game they were trapped in was made. "Simple. I tried using their relationships against them." Conditional check. One of them died, and the others' behaviour would be altered. Relationships be damned, for they were faux. "Isaxi, Rori, and Ratar seemed to be the ones that had kept everyone in the dark upon the 23rd floor. They corrupted officials and other elves to keep the 'queen' alive." Intricate lore, to e

one thing was for certain the moment she saw the parties move into action. and it wasn't from the players' movements, from her observation of their rush forward. rather, it was the sudden explosion that erupted from one of the cannons, that warm rush of air that managed to ruffle her locks backwards, made her wince and turn her head away, if only to look back once the light had faded from existence. no. night was certain she was nigh unimpressed with the warnings the singular man had for their approach towards his setup. whatever it was, and whatever it involved. she was liken to fol

She didn't know these people. She'd imagined them as people, too, because from Hirru's speech alone, the enemy didn't seem to be of a different race. At the very least, if they were beastial of some kind, surely the other player would've mentioned it. Each individual reminded her of a caricature of archetypes in RPGs. That must've been how they were, now, players trapped in the iron castle, and yet even the names felt foreign enough for NIGHT to understand their differences. She nodded, noting the fact that they could've benefitted from something like consumables, to organize themselves i