[IC] *The Space-Bar ~ A Virtual Tavern ~ Always Open*

[Pumpkinbot]

Miri blinked rapidly as the man just added a hefty price to his tab, then stared at him blankly as he asked her to punch him. Things were definitely strange here. "What? I'm not going to punch you. I'm a healer, for Light's sake." A giggle escaped her lips at the last few words, then, "I still have no idea what you mean by 'virtual'. Or 'central nervous system'. By 'machine', though, you're talking about those...strange gnomish things with all the whirring lights and gizmos, right?" She twirls a blue finger in the air to simulate a whirring light. Or maybe that's supposed to simulate a gizmo? "Oh, wait, you guys may not have gnomes here. Mmm...short folk, four fingers, big heads, extremely clever?"

[Infinite Cosmos]

@Pumpkinbot

"A healer... We call that a doctor here. Though their titles differ, their purpose is the same. To heal others of their afflictions." Smiling, he found the fact that she did not know what the central nervous system is, despite the face that she is a proclaimed doctor, to be rather amusing.

"Well, the central nervous system is how we feel anything. It essentially control everything that we do. Motor skills, sensations, and all that. I'm no doctor myself, so that is quite literally the extent of my knowledge on the subject matter." Leaning back slightly, he continued "Well, I'm glad you're not insane and didn't just reach out and punched me. What I was trying to demonstrate is that even though our physical bodies are nowhere near each other, I think, so here, instead of a punch, simply feel the palm of my hand, and tell me what you feel."

If she was to reach out and touch him, she would feel a pleasant warmth, basically how a healthy human's hand would feel.

"Gnomes. Can't say I've seen one of those working on the machines. But yes, its something like that. Advanced technology, made by very smart people for the benefits of others."

[Pumpkinbot]

Miri blinked again. "Where I am from, doctors heal people with more...eh, physical means. Cutting the body open, moving bones into place, or stitching things closed. A bit barbaric, but...it works. Usually. I'm no doctor. I'm a priestess. I use the Holy Light to heal others. Magic." A brief pause fills the air between them, then, "Perhaps...you do not know the Light here? Ah, well..." She looks down at the offered hand and places hers on his. "Seems...normal enough to me. What do you mean, we're nowhere near one another? Unless you mean..." She glances around for a moment, almost suspiciously, then, "If we're plugged into some strange machine that messes with our...ah, how we feel things, do you mean this is some sort of...er, hallucination?" Clearly, the blue woman wasn't from a particularly advanced society...which just raised further questions as to how she got here.

[AllHollowsEve]

Maestro 01

Appearance

https://greattechnomancer.tumblr.com/image/165639404600

Maestro 01 stood still. Static even. It waited exactly one minute for either the bartender to respond or for the patron it had joked with to laugh. Neither of these things happened. It looked around, trying to assess why no one was paying it any attention. The bartender seemed busy fetching drinks for two individuals who had actually ordered them. He likely hadn't heard Maestro. Turning to the patron, Maesto realized that it had tried joking with someone who was passed out drunk. In a virtual bar. "Sooo... you're paying for a VR service to go to a bar... to not be aware of the bar that you're not in." Maestro commented to the sleeping patron. They didn't respond.

Not one to give up easily, Maestro 01 sidled up next to the couple that had accidentally stolen his one audience member and did his bit over again, line for line. Except this time, he cranked his volume up by one peg. Just one. "Hey, what's it take for a bot to get a drink around here?" It once again asked the bartender. Once again, it simulated a chuckle. "See, it's funny 'cause I normally can't process food or drink, not being built for it." It was sure to address the comment to the couple, this time. "But here, it's all information, so it all goes down the same." He was still in a good mode.

[Infinite Cosmos]

@Pumpkinbot@AllHollowsEve

"I mean, doctors do the same thing. Its...a sort of art, if you will. A barbaric art of precision..." He chuckles. His line of work could be categorized as a barbaric art hinged completely on precision as well. Does that make him a doctor by his own logic then?

Absolutely not...

"Healing through magic... That, we call a miracle. Something that is make-belief, if you will. Not that I'm doubting what you can do, priestess." She placed her hand on his. "Well, I mean, yes and no. Its a sort of hallucination. Hallucinations to me are imagined things. However, none of this is imagined. They were purposely put where they are..."

The question of how she got to where they are did not even pass his mind. He has seen too much to care about something so trivial. Perhaps it can make for a fun conversation later on down the road. Just as he was about to speak again, a robot approached them and cracked a rather crude joke. Sure, the logic is sound, but does jokes require logic..?

Instead, he just chuckled. "I mean, the bartender is usually quite attentive, " He said to the robot. "He is on his way back with our drinks. You're welcome to have a seat and order yours while he is here..."

[Pumpkinbot]

Miri pauses to stare at the newcomer, eyes taking in the strange shape of the man. "A...bot? As in, a robot? My, that's--You're certainly more sophisticated than the gnomish robots I've seen. Miri, Priestess of the Blessed Moment." She bows her head to the robot, then turns her attention to the non-metallic man. "I could show you, if you'd like. Oh, though, ah, there was that whole--What did you call it? Where our bodies are...actually elsewhere? I'm not so sure if I could heal, if this...isn't my body." The draenei looks down at herself (or rather, the bust obscuring her view) and briefly prods at her round stomach, as if confirming if she is, indeed, real.

[AllHollowsEve]

Maestro 01

Though he didn't laugh, the cloaked individual at least acknowledged Maestro 01's joke, so that was a win in it's log. It couldn't help being just a bit flattered at being called sophisticated. It's hair and eyes slowly bloomed from their usual green to a rosy pink. "O-oh, you don't mean that. I am just a prototype, afterall..." It muttered, looking down while it pressed it's index fingers together, it's knees bending inwards slightly. The goat lady introduced herself as a priestess. "Ah! Where are my manners? I am Maestro 01, prototype of the Maestro line of musical entertainment android." It stated proudly, it's hair and eyes returning to their default colors. "I didn't catch your name, though." It said to the cloaked individual, taking the seat that had been offered.

Maestro listened as the goat lady spoke. Apparently, this was her first trip to VR cyberspace. When the bartender returned and asked Maestro if it wanted anything, it responded confidently with "Yes, I would like one alcohol, please."

[Dark Light]

Image

---

"God damn! Just look at those tits." Anya exclaims having suddenly paused mid stride of her return from the bathroom. Her lips curl into a taunting smile. Eventually her eyes snap free and find the other new patrons.
Her hips sway as she walks to the bar taking one long step after another until she reaches a stool near everyone else. There's a faint brief grimace as she takes her seat.

"Fuck, has someone finally cracked the firewalls or is this just gonna be a weird night?" Anya asks bluntly in her sweet feminine voice, speaking aloud to no one in particular. With a casual shrug Anya taps the bar twice and an invisible screen comes across the counter. After ensuring the security and safety of her connection she punches in her drink orders.

[Pumpkinbot]

Miri snaps her head up at the exclaimation and quickly finds the source of the voice. A giggle escapes her lips, and her cheeks turn a slightly darker shade of blue. "Pardon? What do you mean, 'firewall'? I don't think you mean a wall made of actual fire..." She watches the blue haired woman tap on the counter for a moment, cants her head, then speaks up again. "Why don't you scoot closer, hm? I'm sure the others wouldn't mind." She lowers her voice a few notches and adds, "Just do try and be a little quieter when...voicing things like that, hm?"

The blue creature certainly didn't seem like she belonged. She had no traces of technology on her at all, and wore a silver, midriff-bearing robe akin to some kind of fantasy magic-user. That would explain her lack of understanding of what a firewall was, but not how she actually got here...

[Infinite Cosmos]

(This crew that we're making... lol.)

@Pumpkinbot@Dark Light@AllHollowsEve

"The name is Jason. Had a last name but I literally have forgotten how to pronounce it. So its just Jason." He said to the android that sat down next to them. He chuckled at how Maestro ordered his drink. "I mean, I don't think you want to drink pure alcohol... That can be quite bad, even for one such as you."

Taking a sip of his whiskey, he leaned back in his seat and hear what was exclaimed. Due to the statement, he naturally tilted his head ever so slightly and more or less stared at the body part in question. Furrowing his eyebrows and pursing his lips slightly, he nodded in approval of the statement as well. Not that he hadn't looked at them yet...

He shook his head to one side slightly once, to the question of someone cracking the firewall to this place. To his knowledge, there has not been such a disturbance. As the new woman was punching in something on the screen, and Miri whispered the fact that things such as the firewall of the place being breached should be said in a softer voice, he put his arm around Miri's shoulder and leaned both of them forward and towards the newcomer, saying "I don't think whispering is in this one's repertoire, am I right?"

[Dark Light]

Image

---

Anya,s blue locks bounced as she spun her head to face the man speaking to her.
"Whispering is for secrets and there ain't nothing secret here." Anya says while looking the woman over again. This time there was a puzzling question in her eye.

"Soo." Anya begins, dragging out the word as she turns her attention back to the woman and contemplates how to proceed. "If you're really real and this is you, where do you come from? I mean it's just I've never seen an alien quite like you and I can't pinpoint your race. No offence but to be honest you look more like some sort of video game character. I mean I've met humans who have had anthopotic alterations so I understand if that's your thing and nothing against that, new age movement and all. Maybe your somewhere between a Di'hjahan or a Cardalari? "

Anya bites her lip as she thinks it over, after a short moment she gives up and pulls out a cigaret. Lighting it up she lets it hang freely in her lips as she tucks her lighter back into her tight pocket.

[Pumpkinbot]

Miri lets out a dramatic sigh, slouching slightly. "It's just considered rude to call attention to someone else so publically. Especially their breasts." For a brief moment, a smirk crawls across her face, before she adds, "To answer your question, though...I am a draenei. I came from Stormwind. Azeroth. A portal took me here instead of Ironforge. And this seems...quite a bit far from home..." The word 'Azeroth' stuck out like a sore thumb. Many people could easily recognize it as the setting for a very popular MMO among less technologically advanced planets, though a few enthusiasts on more sophisticated planets have played, too.

[Dark Light]

"Oh darl." Anya says with a hint of compassion and concern. "I clearly didn't pay attention in school because I have no idea of the places you just said, but it's pretty obvious that you've never plugged in before. Is this your first time going virtual? Trust me, If ya hang around here people are gonna be saying things far worse than I did." Anya turned back to the bar. A quizzical look on her face. Something just wasn't adding up. And where was her drink?

[Pumpkinbot]

Miri frowned slightly and folded her arms atop her bust as she leaned back in the booth. "I keep hearing that word. 'Virtual'. All I know is, a mage opened a portal to here by accident, and I stepped through. Jason mentioned something about us not actually being near one another, like this is some sort of...hallucination, or...magical projection, but I can feel everything here like it is real. I wouldn't be able to touch any of you if you were some sort of magical projection, yes?" She glanced to Jason and Maestro for confirmation.

[Infinite Cosmos]

"I mean, the technology is so advanced that you can have true sensations here..." Taking a sip of his whiskey, Jhin leaned back. His wrist vibrated slight and he took a quick glance at it.

A job. He hasn't had one of those in quite a while. They used one of his former aliases as well. They called him Sicario. He himself retired that alias about a decade ago...

"To be sure. Nothing here is real. Real would be if we met up with our physical bodies and had a conversation about this meeting. Also, that portal of your. I would like to travel to Stormwind and meet the person that created it. It seems to be as if he was able to bypass the need to physically plug in. You said you just stepped through the portal and appeared here... I think, well, hell. Here, look at this and point out where about Azeroth is..."

Jhin tapped on the table and a small transparent screen appeared. With his hand, he tapped on the screen, entering his personal information. With it, if one was to look, they can see a string of numbers preceded by the universal currency sign. He was accessing something that one has to pay for it seems.

Moments later, a holographic projection of a map appeared.

"The blue dot is where my physical body is. Ecetopia its called. That there is Frixion Prime, where many if not all of this technology is invented. That there is the central hub, Vasishka. If you can, point out where Azeroth is, and I'll come and find you somehow..."

Yes, he has a pending job offer, but that can wait...

[Pumpkinbot]

Miri recoiled slightly at the sudden hologram. Just like on the Exodar, strange. "I'm...not sure. I was very young when I was on the Genedar, and the trip on the Tempest Keep was, eh...short. But I'm sure we have pilots that may be able to help you, if...we could get back. Can anyone here open a portal, or otherwise teleport small groups?" She looked around the room. "Either this world is real, which it certainly feels like; or my world--no, my entire universe--is entirely fabricated. The one I've been living in for three hundred and sixty-four years."

[Dark Light]

From over beside Anya came a cold metallic 'click' as she produced and cocked a small gun. She was staring intently at her invisible screen. Having just run some silent searches. "Alright, I don't know what is going on here, maybe you're just messing with us or perhaps you have been stuck plugged into that game for so long you lost your marbles. Either way you're not supposed to be here so I'm gonna send you back now. Ok. Back to where ever the hell you are really from... Ready babe?"
Anya lifted the gun and blithely swung it around to point it towards Miri's head. A little smile curled in the corner of her lips.
"It's a portal stick, it will take you to another place."

[Pumpkinbot]

Miri gasps and quickly holds her hands up to shoulder level. After half a second of making her hands glow, her body's enveloped in a silvery, magic bubble of some kind. "Woah, woah, woah, put that thing away! I don't know what that gun does, how do I know I can take your word? All I know is, I took a portal directly from Stormwind, where I've lived for quite some time, to this strange tavern. No need to go pulling out weapons, alright?" After a pause, she adds, "It'd be a bad idea to shoot against this shield, anyway. Ricochet. It may simply bounce back and hit you." It was a bluff, the shield would just dissipate energy projectiles, and completely stop physical ones on their tracks. But a girl can try!

[Infinite Cosmos]

While he was sitting back and just letting the conversation go by, pondering about his next job and all, the blue-haired girl had to reach for a weapon.

She had to pull out a weapon...

In a flash, Jhin had reached into his cloak and pulled out an ornate pistol. The hammer was pushed down and ready to fire. The muzzle was pointed at the blue-hair woman. He noticed that Miri had put up some sort of protective barrier around herself. She had claimed that the shield will cause a projectile to ricochet. To have it ricochet go directly back to the shooter, either Miri is bullshitting or the shield is something special.

In any case, Jhin spoke to the blue-haired woman. "I'd advise you to put that away. You're not the only one here that know how to use a firearm, I guarantee you that. Also, I'm under the impression that if you die here, your real body dies. Now, today seems like a bad day to die. Lets just all step back, and walk away from this, yes?" Jhin's voice was calm, but stern. He was emitting a threatening aura, but has it contained enough that he doesn't seem insane...

[Dark Light]

"Aww, C'mon babe. Don't be like that, it's the quickest way to get you out of here. You wanna go back home don't ya?"
Ignoring the pistol pointed at her own head, Anya stubbed out her cigaret on the counter with her free hand. With a flick of her wrist the invisible screen she had been monitoring earlier became visible for all to see.
A 2D image was framed by a thin line, appearing as a part of the counter surface.
"I found where she came from, it's a god damn video game.
Sure enough there was a familiar map on the tabletop, named and labeled as described by Miri.
Her gun remained pointed at its target steadily throughout the conversation. Arm outstretched and unwavering. Anya was as calm and casual as could be. Her empty hand streaked through her hair as her fingers ran across her scalp and reset any wayward strands. A devilish smirk took her lips as her eyes fell to and taunted Jhin.
"On the count of three?"