"Huh? Oh, yeah," Ryoko replies, straightening just enough so as to pluck another one of those sample cups of wine off the tray she continues to hold somewhat precariously with her other hand. "I woke up not too long ago in one of those pods. Can't say it's what I was expecting, but..."

Well, none of it was. The Darkess, the cold -- it's sobering thoughts she washes down with another one, two, three cups of samples and something like a refreshed sigh. Maybe a pinch. Him, not her. His arm. It's closer than his face to her hand, after all.

"It sure feels real," she muses.

Pinch. Just to be sure... damn.