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WHO: Hiro + Tadashi + Cass, anyone else who wants to stop by
WHERE: Lucky Cat Café, Heropa Edition
WHEN: Halloween evening-ish!!
WHAT: Quickie log for Hamada family hijinks & Halloween cuteness
WARNINGS: NOTHING BUT ADORABLE IN HERE

[ It's Halloween! The café is open this evening and the delicious smells of pumpkin spice everything waft out through the front door whenever someone walks in. Today, however, if you wander in you'll be greeted by at least one of the Hamadas. Probably the smallest one, who's wearing the world's laziest Halloween costume - a pair of black cat ears nearly invisible against his messy mop of hair. (He had a tail at some point, but it's somewhere behind the counter now.)

Hiro's got the basket with normal candy, though Cass has made adorable cookies that will surely find their way into the hands of any visitor before they can escape. ]

Y'know, it's kind of nice to be working on Halloween.

[ Mostly because Hiro has spent all afternoon grazing liberally from the candy bowl. He has the remains of a sucker in his mouth now, the stick bobbing up and down as he talks.

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[ It's all sown by hand, even! Hand and sewing machine, really. ]

I can't say I got into Halloween when my operator was a child. [ He had an awful lot of other festivals instead, but not Halloween. ] I don't think it was really a trend there. But it's cute.

This one? It's a replica of a bug, yes.

[ And then, completely straight faced, ] In its original form, it corrupted navi data in such a way that it would give them feline features.

[ Still cool. Hiro can't help but laugh a little as he reaches out to pet the cute adorable virus. Rush was cute, but this is more up his alley. ]

So, a literal cat meme?

More or less. Complete with 'nya' verbal tics. [ GUESS WHO GOT AFFECTED...

The cat virus uncurls and leisurely pounces onto the counter, avoiding Hiro's hand...only to just headbutt his arm instead. Just like a physical cat, apparently. It meows. ] It was actually quite a problem.

Yeah? What happened? Couldn't talk to each other over all the meows?

[ Well headbutting is okay too. He still loops his hand around to scritch at the kitty's neck. ]

Well, it was a particularly potent virus. It broke down and rearranged the structure of navis over time, increasing in severity. Some navis almost turned into cat shapes before the appropriate countermeasure was developed for it. [ Basically it was kind of horrifying if you think about it too much. But it was cute..? ] And communication was sort of an issue, yes.

[ Meow, meow, purr. The cat virus rolls over and gladly soaks up the attention. ]

... Oh. Uh. That's actually kind of horrifying?

[ Doesn't stop him from petting this one though. ]

Well, nobody was heavily affected and it was easy to get rid of, so it worked out fine. [ That virus is just soaking up the affection. It's not dangerous, at least... ] Virus outbreaks can be difficult to deal with, but that one was simple, which was nice.

[ Netnavis are in themselves walking antivirus countermeasures, which makes things easier to deal with, but when mass infection happens it's....well. ]

So what kind of duties does a 15 year old prodigy get to perform here? [ His voice is gently amused. ]

Yeesh ... Virus outbreaks sound kind of terrifying now.

[ After being in a bricked comm he's suddenly very, very aware of the risks inherent in being digital. ]

Well, today I'm passing out candy. Mostly I bus tables though.

Well, it's a bit unsettling. But you get used to it. [ As much as you can get used to virus outbreaks, anyway. It's second nature to deal with them and protect your territory. ] ...Well, it's sort of what we do. I admit it's probably scary for you. [ Magicman no not everyone has your attitude to viruses... ]

It's certainly different from what you're used to.

Do they happen that often?

Not really. Small accidents happen, but it's the same as an epidemic or natural disaster - they don't happen very often. And there's containment procedures, of course.

...Sometimes those procedures fail, but that's very rare. [ You know, like that whole SUPERBUG THING ] Normally everything runs smoothly.

[ He's taking a lollipop from the candy bowl as he talks, but he's not eating it; he's waggling it around. The cat virus pounces after it playfully. ]

... I guess I don't it around worrying about ebola epidemics either.

[ He's still a little perturbed. ]

I suppose if nothing else it's an appropriate Halloween topic... [ He lets the cat virus catch the lollipop. Its momentum sends it tumbling into his sleeve, where it sits to inspect its prize. ]

Hopefully Megaman's given you a rundown on basic navi care by now? [ Because if he hasn't then there are going to be Words. ] You'll find it useful - both as an operator and someone who can assume a data form.

[ Hiro nods at that. ]

Yeah, we went over the basics. I think we've got more stuff to cover but ... Maybe I'll be a little less stupid this time around.

Thanks for the other day.

It's not your fault. [ He pauses. ] Not entirely your fault. [ He's honest. ] You're both getting used to each other. It's not the same thing as being raised with the knowledge.

It's fine. I'll help you if you need it - you know that. You and Megaman both.

I know, but ... That's twice in a row, y'know? I wish it hadn't happened.

[ Not the least because he still has nightmares. ]

You're fine - well, relatively fine. It could be worse. Unfortunately, we can't turn back time and erase our mistakes when we want to, otherwise things would be...easier.

[ He pauses. ] How long were you stuck in the comm?

Edited 2015-11-04 10:51 (UTC)

Yeah ... yeah. For sure.

[ He rubs at the back of his neck. ]

Megaman says it was half an hour.

Hm. And how long did it feel for you? [ He can infer enough about the effects of a mind sitting in an environment it's not meant for to guess that he perceived things differently to a netnavi with their own accurate internal clock. ]

[ Hiro doesn't have that luxury, no. He depends on accessing the system clock instead ... which wasn't running at the time. He swallows, thickly. ]

Like hours. Days. I don't know - it went on forever.

I don't think I need to tell you about appropriate safety measures any more... Megaman will have that covered. [ Possibly with a lot of lecturing.

He watches with interest as the cat virus half-hidden in his sleeve finally works out how to tear through the plastic packaging to get to the candy inside, and starts chewing. There's a long pause. ] Being isolated like that is bad for humans. How are you doing?

Yeah, definitely. We're working on it.

[ And Megaman is as protective as always. Not a bad thing in situations like this. ]

I'm okay. I still get nightmares sometimes, I guess. But leaving the light on helps.

Good. [ Megaman is responsible, but then again, is he ever not? He takes all sorts of responsibilities onto himself.

Magicman worries about it, like most things. ]

If they get too bad, I can probably help you with that. [ Like offering advice.

Though he can always spore Hiro like last time...he's found that he doesn't tend to remember his dreams (or nightmares) like that. ] But you seem to be coping well, at least.

It's not the worst thing that's happened. I didn't actually get hurt.

[ If one good thing resulted from Crane's influence, it's a little perspective. Helps keep him from feeling like everything is the worst thing in the world. ]

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