World Tree MUSH

    It's early in the morning when the sound of the window being opened might go heard. Then comes the tiny patter of something moving. A shuffle, the sound of something being slid across the kitchen counter, and then...
    The smell of coffee.
    Alty has been stopping by more and more often of late, but the former fighter dog has still been skittish enough to leave little trace of her presence save for a slightly tidier space, or the occasional bit of touch up cleaning work. But today, it looks like when Hyouka bothers to check, she's going to be greeted to the coffee maker in full action, brewing up a fresh pot.

    In truth, Alty is probably the biggest source of cleanliness in Hyouka's life right now. It's not a pigsty, really; she at least properly throws away her trash and washes her dishes. But living on her own (more or less, anyway - DARGN doesn't quite count) in a very spacious condo, Hyouka has no real need to worry about leaving clothes strewn about, or magazines in a pile on the coffee table, or books wherever she finished reading them, or... well. Suffice it to say, the little shinki has probably helped a bit with making the place look less messy.

    "Mmmnrgf..." This is probably the most coherent a former OL is going to be this early in the morning. Her body at least means she gets out of bed relatively "awake", but there's still a distinct refusal to engage braincells until she's had some coffee. Which... Sniff. Sniff sniff. "...ara?" Sniff sniff sniff. Blink. "...Alty? You here?"

    There's a shuffle of movement once again, and it goes very still at the sound of Hyouka's voice. At least for a moment before a mop of lavender pigtailed hair and scarlet eyes peek out from behind the coffee maker.
    "Y-Yes." Comes the shinki's reply as she steps out a little more fully, looking faintly pouty at being caught.
    Chances are high she was going to make the coffee and then squirrel herself away wherever she hid her charging cradle in the apartment and not be seen, but that's not happening now that Hyouka got up faster than she could make herself unseen.
    "I just thought I'd. You know." Make Hyouka's morning cup for her so she wouldn't have to wait for it.

    "Thank you, dear," Hyouka replies, breaking out into a warm smile. "Coffee is an office worker's lifeblood, you know?" She tugs her T-shirt into slightly less disarray, and heads in towards the cupboard to grab a cup, followed by the fridge for some creamer. "There's a couple more jelly cans in the grocery bag on the table, if you want." Normally she'd be talking a little more about the flavors she bought, or whatever her thought process was, or just where in the heck she got the jelly cans, but she really does seem to be less chatty before she's had her coffee.

    "Mm." It's an awkward response. The tiny shuffle of feet and brief stiffening tension when she hears those words. 'Thank you'. It's like she's never heard them in her life before. But with a little hop, she's making her way from the kitchen counter, over to the table in the direction of the indicated jelly. It takes her a few seconds to scramble up the nearest chair and then hop her way up onto the table itself to start rummaging through the bag.
    Plopping herself at the edge of the table after selecting a flavor, peach, she unscrews the cap and takes a slow sip.
    The silence is a little strained. It's like she's trying to find something to talk about but can only grasp for straws. Hyouka being less talkative before she's fully awake at least eases that. But shinki are helpful little things by nature. And that's probably why a hologram screen pops up over Alty's head, displaying the daily news.
    Coffee and the newspaper. Helpful indeed.

    At first, Hyouka is just kind of... savoring her coffee. Or at least the experience of drinking it. She leans against the counter, not even bothering to sit, and just drinks for several seconds; it's not quite 'chugging', but she definitely downs it in one long go, before setting it on the counter. There's a quick glance towards the table-

    Blink. Blink blink.

    "Hoh? I didn't know a shinki could do that! That's really impressive." The cyborg turns and leans away from the counter, heading over to the table to plop down where she can read the news a little more easily. "Hmm...? Shooting Star Industries just announced a line of MagiPets. They're really raking it in, recently."

    Capping her jelly to fold her hands together on her lap, Alty generally remains pretty still and holds the screen in place as she peers upwards. "Ah. Shinki can do anything a computer or cellphone these days can do." She explains softly, after watching Hyouka drain her mug.
    Tiny fingers lace together as she kicks her feet a little off the edge of the table. There's a brief moment in which her eyes seem to gloss over as she runs a quick search of her own. Pause. Beat.
    "We're probably better than MagiPets. --I mean if you were thinking about it, I'd suggest a shinki over one of those-- j-just saying."

    "Hmph. Of course you are~" Hyouka replies. "MagiPets can't think for themself, really. Says they're along the lines of animal intelligence at most." She settles back a little, glancing over the news story. "I mean, we have AI tech in this world, we've had it since I was a little kid. But it's heavily restricted. From a legal perspective, it's treated like creating new life. Even using an existing being's mind as a pattern, I was lucky to get DARGN." Pause. "For certain values of 'lucky', anyway."

    "Hyouka. I appear to have accidentally disabled autopay on all your bills."

    Grumble. "DARGN is wonderful and perfect and pure and too good for this sinful world."

    "Autopay re-enabled. My mistake."

    Whoops, autopay is pretty important. Alty tilts her head to a curious angle when Hyouka has to butter her AI companion up to get that reinstated. It certainly is an interesting dynamic between the two, and for a moment Alty is content to quietly sip her jelly, scrolling the news files along at a steady but readable rate.
    One does pop up, though. Something about a terraforming project and the recently completed space station inviting tourists to see its progress.
    "Mmmm. Shinki... It's kind of complex for us, from what I've read. We're all AI, but have our own individual personalities. Before activation we're sold and traded like products, but after that... There are supposed to be laws in place to protect shinki rights..." Alty clearly didn't have any of those enforced for her until very late.

    "'Supposed to'," Hyouka repeats. Her expression turns into a little bit of a scowl for a moment. "Well, sometimes the system fails. When that happens, individuals are supposed to take up the slack, but they failed you too." Grumble grumble. She's sure not afraid to show her displeasure. Ah, but there's something interesting in that article there. "...hm? Space station, terraforming... this looks interesting. I've got some spare cash, I might just go take a look at that. Going to other planets is pretty fun."

    "Mmmmmmm..." Alty murmurs, unscrewing her jelly can for another slow sip, savoring the taste as she stops kicking her legs, rather than linger on the failings of others. She pauses her scrolling on the article so Hyouka can read it better.
    'The Nijiura Heavy Industries Corporation has just completed their space station in orbit over the ocean planet of Novo-VII. Now that the station is complete, efforts to terraform the planet and render it habitable for new denizens will be beginning very soon! Come be among the first to see the wondrous process in action!' and other such excited writings dot the webpage.
    "A-ah, you're thinking of going?" She blinks. "I uh. I've never been to space before."

    Hyouka nods, smiling brightly. "It's really fun. I've only been once or twice, and that was kind of a weird place, but, it's really pretty and kinda cool." She slides her chair back, and stands up, stretching a little. "Hnnnh. I think I'm gonna fix myself breakfast and then start getting ready to go. Never can tell how long a trip along the Vines is gonna take." She heads straight for the cupboard, where she pulls out... a packet of instant miso soup. Does this woman do any of her own cooking?

    I-instant miso soup for breakfast? Alty looks briefly distraught for a moment at the sight of it. But it can't be helped at the moment, so she simply makes something of a strained little noise and shuts her trap. At least before returning to the topic at hand.
    "M... ... M-maybe..." Pause. "... Maybe I could go with you? --I mean if it's not a burden or anything."

    The strained noise passes notice entirely; thank the general noise of preparing a microwave meal for that. The request, on the other hand, does not. Go with her? For a second, Hyouka looks surprised, but then the expression shifts to a deeply pleased look. "Of course~! It'll be a fun trip for the both of us. Do you have any supplies we'll need to bring? Might make it an overnight trip, if the vines don't cooperate." You never know when a short trip out will get rearranged into a longer journey back. It's not often, but it does happen...

    She can go? ... She can go! There's a briefly hopeful look that crosses the shinki's features. Something somewhere between a timid smile and a meek turtling of her neck down into her shoulders for a brief moment before she picks herself up to stand.
    "I'll ... I'll start packing right away. It won't be much."
    Probably just a few jelly cans, a spare battery pack or two and maybe her charging cradle.

    Oh jeez, that's adorable. Hyouka has to bite back a little giggle at the sight of Alty looking happy like that. "I'll take a backpack. With my body, I don't need to eat or drink, so I can pack pretty light. Just a change of clothes, and maybe a book or two. You've got plenty of room for anything you need." And maybe even for herself, if she feels a need to hide at any point. Big crowds can be scary for someone who's been through what Alty's been through.