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[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=dc143c][b]Location:[/b][/color] Laughing Worg Tavern -- City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
[hr]Once Artemis looked comfortable Graves took a heavy seat beside her. He glanced around at the faces 'round the table, his expression tight. Their conversation while he'd stepped away hadn't been lost on him. Both Seele and Alja thought his suggestion was heartless, the latter impugning him more explicitly than the former, but the idea was the same: they had a responsibility to Thorinn that they couldn't shirk, no matter the personal cost. It took a great deal of self-control not to lose his cool at such a foolish goddamn notion.

The denizens were different now, that was beyond question. But everyone was assuming that meant they [i]mattered[/i] more- that their lives were somehow equal to the players trapped in Pariah. That was idiotic. Infuriating, even. Graves wasn't about to sacrifice flesh and blood humans for a collection of code, no matter how advanced their AI seemed to be. What did they think had happened? That all the NPCs had suddenly developed sentience overnight? It was absurd. There was obviously a logical explanation for everything- the denizens, the fact they could feel pain and hunger now, and everything else- he just didn't know what it was yet.

[color=dc143c]"I'm not trying to be a dick, here."[/color] He spoke in a subdued, controlled tone, eyes kept low so the group's reactions couldn't upset him. [color=dc143c]"But I gotta be honest: I think you guys've lost your minds if you think real people should be dying for these denizens. I can't explain why they're so...lifelike...now, but at the end of the day they're [i]characters[/i] in a [i]video game[/i]. They were designed by a bunch of sweaty ass nerds at MGC. Nothin' that happens in here's gonna change that."[/color]

He paused just long enough to gulp down the entirety of his flagon. [color=dc143c]"My only responsibility is to all of you. I go where you go. I'll fight whatever you point me at. But that's it. Everybody else can go fuck themselves."[/color]
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