Kyo

Kyo glanced sharply at Vigilon when he mentioned Krysta, but kept silent. If she tried to poke for information now, it would probably just end with these three relative strangers telling her to keep her nose out of it. Being a level-one player, that wasn't exactly unreasonable... but the idea still chafed. If not for Sword Art Online, after all, Kyo would have claimed easy seniority over any of these guys when it came to facing dangerous situations. But she set that relatively useless thought aside and simply filed away the name Krysta. Someone to look up when she made her way to Floor Eleven,

Kyo turned to glance at Vigilon, raising her eyebrows at the mention of it having a flawed justice system. "Aincrad ain't got a justice system," she said blandly. "It has a crime-discouragement system 'cause that's all it was s'posedta need. 'Justice,' bannin' or suspendin' accounts, was s'posedta be the GM's job. Bein' able t' play a criminal role was s'posedta be a feature o' the game, just like if you were t' play a Dark Brotherhood or Thieves Guild run in the ol' Elder Scrolls games... but it'd suck if people camped floor one and just ganked newbies for fun, so, the penalties are hars

Kyo nodded simply at Vigilon's statement that there was only one way to know for sure; nothing more needed to be said on that point, but it was helpful to remind themselves of it occasionally, Kyo thought. Every drop of resolve that could possibly trickle into any given player's well of willpower was a drop that would be well-spent by the end of this, for sure. There wasn't really any question in Kyo's mind that the players would eventually make it out of this, only the question of which players would last until the end. For another player, one who valued their own specific survival more,

"Not a 'techie,' exactly. Just a dedicated journalism student who really dug deep inta the subject," Kyo said idly. Unlike some other players, she gave no sign that discussing her life outside the game was in any way uncomfortable for her. "I was gettin' set up t' do a story about Full-Dive tech and where it might go in the future. I actually bought the NerveGear before SAO was announced, just so I could get a firsthand look at how the thing worked... that first dive was a revelation, lemme tell ya." Kyo's expression turned thoughtful, and she fell silent, mulling over her memories of tho

Kyo internally sighed as Takao slowly expressed his skepticism about the concerns that Kyo had raised. She ran a hand through her green hair, looking around the room as if the café itself might present her with a ready-made sequence of words that would adequately express her concern. Takao's mention of an AI developing a sex drive prompted a most unladylike snort from the girl, and she glanced sidelong at Takao. "That's a thing that'd hafta be programmed in t' begin with, just like it is for us," Kyo said flatly. "What I'm more concerned about is what would happen if a really complex

Kyo realized that in her panic, she'd done something again. Something that she'd been doing all her life, and that only Kenshin had ever really understood her well enough not to be swept away by: she'd rushed on to the conclusion of her logic without adequately explaining the thought process that had brought her there. And really, Kyo had trouble following her own logic sometimes. It was as if her brain worked faster than her own ability to track it, when it really got going, forcing her to stop and breathe and close her eyes and actually ask herself what she was thinking before she could even

Kyo's gaze was intent on Takao as he expanded on what he'd said about Cardinal. As he got into just how involved Cardinal was in crafting and revising the content of SAO, though, her eyebrows steadily went up. Partway through she blindly reached for the dessert Takao had brought her at the start of their conversation, grabbed a spoon (also without looking) and began shoveling the food into her mouth rapidly... seemingly just to ground herself as she took it all in. When he finished talking, she froze in place right where she was, with a mouthful of that sweet treat already having been sho

Takao's mounting anxiety about the military brought a wan grin to Kyo's face. "...I wouldn't worry too much about government overreach in this case," Kyo said. "Too much publicity's involved, yeah, and also: the government'd probably've forced a recall on the NerveGear entirely. They'd also be really wary of messin' with the servers, unless they set off some defense Kayaba installed and kill us all by accident." Kyo looked up at the ceiling of the café, frowning to herself. The only real worry, which she felt it would be unwise to voice out loud at the moment, was that if they were too sl

At Morningstar's mention of there being some level of pain here, Kyo's eyebrows went up. She wondered if that were really true, or if it was a case of the human mind filling in blanks with what it expected to feel. In the early days of NerveGear software, before Sword Art Online had been anything more than the unprecedented publicity leading up to launch, she had kept her finger on the pulse of Full-Dive technology for her own reasons. She knew, for example, that the NerveGear could simulate pain. That was something mentioned in a think-piece about VR's potential for military and law-enforceme

Kyo's lips quirked upward as Takao took the idea of a training sim to a few logical conclusions, then chuckled a bit at the partially-ridiculous—but not-entirely-unreasonable—place he'd taken the logic. She was kind of impressed that he'd considered the effect that could be had on muscle memory, particularly with the Sword Arts. There was a conversation to be had about those, but since they couldn't log out and see how well their movements translated to reality, she decided to hold her peace on those speculations. And there were weapons for which Sword Art movements would be utterly usele

Kyo's eating pace slowed as Takeo spoke up about how amazing games could be with Full-Dive. It was about the response she'd expected, though he did at least show a bit of outside-the-box thinking with his comment about the military. When he offered to help her with tips and pointers, she gave him a grateful smile, but didn't directly answer. Her attention had visibly and obviously been caught by something else Takao had said, and it was taking up all of her mental bandwidth just at the moment. After swallowing her latest bite of chicken, Kyo set down her chopsticks. "Argus and Akihik

At Sorun's observation that her objective was "a risky but noble goal," Kyo actually looked away and let out a faint snort. Risky, for sure, but noble? Absolutely not. The only reason Kyo was doing it was because after so long, she had reached a point where the only way she would find any kind of closure was if she personally put an end to Kayaba... or was, at least, part of what did. If she died in the process of trying, it would still be a less-certain death than if she never tried at all. If the game ended before she found that son of a... well. She wasn't sure what she'd do with herse

"That's your inner ear goin' wibbly, not a concussion," Kyo stated matter-of-factly. "A concussion is a physical injury t' the brain. It might be possible for Full-Dive t' simulate the symptoms of a concussion, but I don't think SAO was made t' do that. It is true that if we go through too much stress in here too quickly, it'd probably have a backlash o' some kind on our real bodies, though..." The green-haired girl scratched her chin as she considered this, then shrugged her shoulders. She remained silent while the others talked about things that were obviously outside her sphere of expe

Kyo allowed herself a moment of pride at Takao's reaction to her physique—she had worked hard for it, after all, and Sword Art Online had managed to recreate her real-life body pretty accurately. Takao's enthusiastic acceptance of her half-joking idea that they could be gym buddies on the other side turned that hidden pride into a goofy grin. Who knew if the two of them would remember this conversation by the time they escaped, given the glacial pace of clearing? But she made a note to at least try. Allowing herself the fantasy of having a friend along for the rehabilitation ride let her prete

Takao's lament about how he had only just started putting on weight brought a humorless grin to Kyo's face. "I'm not exactly happy about it either," she said. She pushed her chair back, turning toward Takao so he could see her front fully... her open jacket, midriff-baring top, and the rather impressive abs they bared. "I put a lotta work inta this, ya know, and I'm gonna hafta do it all over again, on top o' rehab. Ha! Y'know, maybe we can be gym buddies when this is all over, cheer each other on." Kyo certainly seemed not to have the same reservations about their situation as Takao