Hard to kinda gauge this shit using IRL metrics when America had Stabby Mike instead of Trump as President in the Cariverse timeline and supposedly was so good to the economy that gas prices were and still is at an all time low even during the 2030s (as seen in the gas station back in 0.5 and confirmed legit by Cari himself).
Blindness is specifically addressed in the Collector's House, and you're right. Though apparently the body isn't exactly duplicated; hair grows faster in Eternum than IRL; you can work out and bulk up in Eternum and not have that carry over (except for MC, of course), etc.
Oh,I will need to replay that part. My thought was based on Nancy taking Gertrude's implant and I though Gertrude already used it once
Please, it was President Stabb.
Nah, Gerty hadn't. Her husband bought it for her but she was complaining about it, which prompted Nan to swoop in and basically say "if you're not gonna use it, mind if I have it?"Oh,I will need to replay that part. My thought was based on Nancy taking Gertrude's implant and I though Gertrude already used it
IIRC the change was to reflect the idea that it's supposed to be a "toy for the rich," as it was debated that $2500 was a bit low to be described as such.
So if the economy is doing great and gas prices are so low, do we really think there's been so much inflation that $3500 is "not that much?"
Interesting then that few of the people we encounter there are rich. I'm sure Alex got hers for free or otherwise on account of being a Bardot, and MC and Nancy lucked into theirs free or almost-free, but Penny, Dalia, Annie, and Luna all presumably bought theirs at the regular market price (as well as Gertrude's husband buying two, and he has to be pissed at Gertrude and/or Nancy). None of them appear to be "rich;" they're all squarely middle-class, or perhaps upper-middle-class.
I mean it's definitely not much for people earning cash from Eternum or have side jobs. Orion seems to think it's a big deal but I chalk that up to him not exactly earning money around the start of the game compared to the girls (i.e. Penny with her photoshoot stuff and allowance, Dalia likely from competition prize money, Annie and her grinding, etc).
I was under the impression that they're upper middle, actually (with exception to Alex who is currently in solo life survival mode).
The one who interests me the most is Nova. We know how Orion and Nancy got theirs, Penny has a good revenue stream, Alex has connections, Annie spent years saving for hers, Luna's was likely a gift from her family, and Dalia probably worked to get hers or maybe won it in a competition. Nova, however, strikes me as unlikely to have paid for it herself - her social anxiety would make it difficult for her to keep a stable job and save up that much - and her family doesn't seem super wealthy. Not to say that either of those is out of the picture, but they seem less likely to explain it for her than for others. She's not exactly the competition type, and seems like she's no stranger to hacking Ulysses servers; makes me wonder if she perhaps obtained hers through fraud.
Counterpoint: She was pretty competitive when she was gunning for the processor chip back at the college party in 0.5, which means the idea of her obtaining the implant through a similar fashion isn't in the realm of impossibility.
Fair, but she wasn't alone then and has gained a lot of confidence since meeting the gang. Prior to it I'm not sure she'd sign up for a similar competition - and she'd almost certainly drop out rather than keep participating in the lie detector test.
By similar I mean a competition where the prize is some sort of tech (i.e. the implant) that she's interested in, not that the mechanics are similar. I mean, this is the woman who managed to get Dione on her lonesome, so her getting the implant through effort just depends on how much she wanted it at the time.
If it's spicy she should call her OBGYN.Can't wait to eat that extra-spicy taco.
But none of them are "the rich." OK, Victor apparently is, so maybe he bought one for Luna as a gift. That still leaves Annie, Dalia, Penny, and Nova who have managed to come up with the money to buy one. Sure, MC sells it to Penny as an investment, to help her Insta and other social media earnings, but she still has to have the money to do it.
They still have to work for it, though. I mean, technically a lot of things perceived as for-the-rich (i.e. expensive cars, gadgets, jewelry) can be acquired if you grind hard enough. But yeah, that doesn't stop those things being perceived as such by the majority. /shrugs
