"Welcome, Dr. Latency. And to your companion. This is Old Adam, the dateless bar. Thank you for joining us this evening. These days, guests are few and far between. Which is why we're all the more delighted to have you here. ...Oh, I didn't see you there. For our younger guest, perhaps a glass of orange juice? It's freshly squeezed, so I'm afraid it'll cost you a pretty penny."

"My apologies once again. Whatever made me assume you were a little girl? How peculiar. Regardless, please accept my sincerest apologies. In the past, this bar was a gathering place for people who loved talking about peculiar things. Occultists, urban legend and ghost story enthusiasts, conspiracy theorists... But looking back, I do have to wonder. Did they all truly believe what they spoke of? Or were they ordinary people living ordinary lives once they left this bar? Were their tales a form of escapism? Or perhaps they were just conversation starters. As it happens, I choose to believe they were the real deal. At the very least, the pair who compiled Swallowstone Naturalis Historia were. Of that, I'm convinced."

"Those two were different. Dr. Latency was the official author of Swallowstone Naturalis Historia. But her companion also had an uncanny talent for separating truth from fiction in the stories people brought here. Suddenly, it all made sense. It was like all the years I'd spent running this bar were simply so that I could meet them. What was written in Swallowstone Naturalis Historia was true. There really was another world beyond the barrier. It's impossible to describe how monumental that revelation was. ...Ah, forgive me. I remember it as if it were yesterday. The memory alone brings a tear to my eye."

"I would steer clear of the old-style liquor. I only serve it to those who knowingly ask for it. I don't mean to be pretentious. But in an age where long lives are the norm, I can't in good conscience offer you a different path, much less recommend it. This old-style liquor isn't something anyone needs to live. But what is living? What ways of life deserve to be called "living" at all? If simply staying alive is enough, then there's no reason for people to do anything beyond the bare minimum. But suppose―just suppose―that there was something you wanted to do so badly that you'd accept a shorter life in exchange. If you chose to pursue it, to savor it, wouldn't you be truly living?"

"Are you familiar with the Principle of Human-Nature Separation? Or the Lifespan Regulation Program? Rumor has it, the government is planning a sweeping overhaul of the laws surrounding both in the near future. I suppose that means the population reduction initiative isn't progressing as quickly as they'd hoped. Once the population drops far enough, the Lifespan Regulation Program will finally fulfill its purpose, and the separation of humanity from nature will follow naturally. After that, the government will likely transfer governmental authority to the public. Every individual will become both citizen and state. They'll be the sole ruler of their own domain. The world will be divided according to population, and a true paradise will at last― ...Hm? How do I know we're in the final phase of population reduction? Isn't it obvious? Because the government approved tax cuts and subsidies for old-style liquor, of course."