He lies on his bed. The small bedroom of the apartment is tinged softly with moonlight from behind the dormant computer monitor. Nothing stirs but the sound of his whispering voice.

"Your area."

That was the subject line of the email. Already his disordered thoughts were collected into a central focus.

"'Who', you should know already."

Skeith was all that came to mind. Ever since re-entering The World, there was no one more suddenly important than he was.

"'What' is not important."

Perhaps not, he answered in silence.

"'When' is not important."

Naturally, he responded once again.

"'Why' is not important."

That's not good enough, he contested. But then again, this is supposed to be a game, right?

"It's your choice... What is my choice," he wondered aloud. "What do you expect me to do?"

What should I do, was what he really wanted to ask, though. Thoughts flooded in surrounding Kiku's fate, and he asked himself the meaning of what he saw. He couldn't think of anything as he stared up at his ceiling, and then out the window past his feet. Again, he asked, Why did she scream? But nothing answered him besides dismissive disbelief. Instead, he decided to ask himself why he should even bother to ask. A game is a game, and it's nothing more than that. An MMORPG like The World is bound by the same rules of what a game is versus real life... but none of them could explain what he felt an hour ago.

The blue LED light of his desk-clock read "1:02 AM".

"I don't know what's going on," he said to himself, "but I don't intend to be led on like some dumb sheep. I'm not going to let this game play me for a fool... and neither will I let you, Maera."

His eyelids shut, and with it his world into the black forest of sleep.

It has been a day since Maera's strike, and the realized potential of the twin's epitaph. Still, there are no indications of anything large and out of the ordinary within 'The World', on either the boards or the official site, so it would seem Twin Lightning knows enough of Gorre's power not to use it whimsically, and as for Maera... who knew? And yet, perhaps the most troubling thing is the persistent indication throughout the day, in the email program where it lists member addresses, that Kiku, as far as one could tell, has not logged out.

Suddenly there is an alert of a new email message (for both Kusardo and Kimono)

Author: Twin Lightning (Rei)
Subject: There is something you should see

Kiku has recovered, or at least, her data is now stable and functioning as it should.

However... well, it's better for you to see and hear for yourselves, and then you can decide whether you believe it or not.

If you are online and have time, please meet me by the Chaos Gate in Lia Fail, which is where you probably will log in.

It isn't something to discuss openly, so I'll invite you to my small guild @home. That is where Kiku is right now.

To simplify things, I've attached the key to this email; consider the @home a place to talk when you need someplace to.
Where the avatar is displayed next to the message is the blue-eyed version of Twin Lightning, and once you reach the bottom of the message, a small alert pops up that states: 'You now have the 'Secret Key' guild key!'

Logging into 'The World' (provided you do), you arrive at a very serene sight. It looks incredibly archaic, especially compared to Mac Anu and Lumina Cloth. In this city, Lia Fail, the Chaos Gate is centred upon a hill, with wooden steps leading up to it, giving it almost a shrine-like feel. There are houses situated around the city, but not very many of them, giving the place the feeling of being more remote and less connected to civilization. Throughout the paths between the houses are blossoming cherry trees, and the house designs are all of ancient eastern origin. From the vantage point by the Chaos Gate, you can see a simple marketplace located to the side, comprised mostly of NPC's and PC's with their own little carts and stalls arranged around a little shrine. The NPC's of this city are dressed in apparel that matches this archaic setting. Sitting on a wooden bench underneath a cherry tree that's by the Chaos Gate is Twin Lightning. The background music of this Root Town is a serene and melodic theme of some sort of stringed instrument playing in harmony with what sounds to be an archaic, eastern style flute.

Twin Lightning's eyes are closed, so it's hard to say which of the two is behind the controller, although the email was just sent by Rei, so chances are good it is the sister. Twin Lightning's body position does not indicate tiredness or sleeping, but rather thoughtfulness and contemplation, like someone presented with a problem that is nearly impossible to solve.

((Let's see... approx. time abouts is halfway between noon and dusk, and it's Saturday))

[Now Playing: Yuki Kajiura - Interlude]

It was halfway between noon and dusk. The day was orange outside as the eyelids of night crept slowly across the sky, approaching the twilight. It was a serene beauty that preluded the peace of a night's slumber, only amplified by the height at which it is observed.

At a table that adjoined the window of a library sat a young man staring into a laptop monitor, a large notebook opened at its side. The light from mid-evening illuminated the desk well enough without the ceiling lights, and the rest of the 7th floor remained quieter than the oncoming night.

Across from him sat a young woman in casual business attire reading a novel. Her hair shone a golden auburn in the red-orange and yellow shades of diminishing sunlight, and on her plain-sized nose sat a pair of onyx-rimmed glasses. Occasionally she looked up at the young man whose face was obscured by the monitor, only allowing his messy brown hair to poke above it. Given her appearance, one might assume she was either a girlfriend, a young mother, or perhaps a tutor; in fact, however, she was the young man's older sister.

"You know," she spoke lowly to him, lowering the book from her face, "you look a little more tired than usual. Want to take a break?"

The young man looked up at her and said, "Uh, no, I'm not that tired. I'll finish this up before the day's over."

"Mmm, all right," she acknowledged, lifting the book back to her face. "Sure you don't have something too heavy on that mind of yours?"

"Heh... no. Not yet, anyways."

The young woman smiled. "It's been a long day for the both of us. Let's have a coffee later once you're finished, k?"

"K," he replied, "that sounds good."

The time showed 6:30 PM at the lower edge of the screen. There were two windows opened in the center, one on top of the other. The first was too obscured to determine what it was, but the second was an email browser. The latest message showed to be from Twin Lightning.

"Hey, sis," he asked, "when was the last time you had a break these two weeks?"

The sister looked up, furrowing her brows and mouth in recollection. "Umm... actually, Sunday was my only free day, thank goodness. We hung out, remember?"

The young man recalled. "Oh, that's right. We went to the game room for a bit, and then the coffee shop." He paused for a moment, his eyes scanning back and forth across the computer screen. He asked again, "Um... what'd you do after that?"

"Oh, I played The World for the night. I'm loving my Twin Blade character right now. Why do you ask, by the way?"

He replied with a shrug, "Oh... no reason. Just wondering what I'll do for the night."

He closed the laptop with a sigh of relief. "Done."

It was now 7:48 PM, and the apartment was no longer empty. The young man entered and locked the door behind him before strolling into the small kitchen area. He let down his things, books and backpack and all, and opened the refrigerator just beside the stove. Fishing around in the side door, he removed a large rectangle-shaped object wrapped in foil and candy wrap. It was a large bar of chocolate he had left to chill; very dark chocolate. Removing the wrapper, he snapped off a piece and stuck it in his mouth, savoring the cold hard sweetness of the treat with each popping munch. Placing the bar back, he closed it and made his way upstairs.

He entered the bedroom, still bathed in a dark orange and golden yellow where the window allowed; the rest were faint corners of shadows. Sighing, he sat down in front of his computer and pressed the power button on the tower, meanwhile emptying his pocket of cell phone and a paper pad with pencil. The screen displayed visual flashes of data and processes in the deep BIOS before showing his Altimit OS desktop. From there, he hovered his mouse tentatively to activate The World with a click.

It wasn't until about 8:20 that he logged in as his newly born avatar, the Edge Punisher Kusardo, at the Chaos Gate of Reborn City Lia Fail. He chose to ignore what he felt the last time he logged in, for the time being. He didn't think Kiku suffered as ill a fate as would have seemed, assuming that she is alive and well despite what Rei said. Looking to his side, he found the pensive form of Twin Lightning sitting on a bench near the Gate.

"Hey," he said simply, "why do you look so somber? You look out of place in a game like this."

Kimono logged back into the world after a day off as it were. She hadn’t touched her computer at all since the incident with Kiku, she really didn’t know if she’d ever pick up her controller again. Then she read her email, and amidst the spam and gossip talk from her girlfriends, and a particularly cute guy she’d been crushing on since 4th grade, there was TL’s, speaking of recovery and secrecy. Kimono’s mouse ran over the ‘delete’ button more than once, but she could not simply let herself click the button that would rid her of this connection.

Instead, she found herself logging into the World once more, heading for Lia Fall, to TL, and to answers. As the world formed around her, the archaic surroundings once more took her breath away; the attention to detail exquisite. Finding TL under the cherry blossoms, she approached to find Kursado similarly nearby. As he spoke, she remained silent, she really didn’t know where to begin. She was angry and uncertain, concerned for Kiku and her player, but mostly confused, she had hoped Twin Lightning, whomever was beyond the character had real answers.

"Hey," he said simply, "why do you look so somber? You look out of place in a game like this."
Looking up, a little bit startled, Twin Lightning (the sister) replies, "Oh! You're here. Sorry, I have a game of go going with my brother on a window overlaying this one, so didn't quite notice. I have no idea which one of us is winning at this point, although I suspect he is, since he is much better at go than I am."

Getting up, Twin Lightning stretches, "Well, I suppose it'd be better to head to the @home. Come on, I'll show you where it is."

Walking down the path from the Chaos Gate, Twin Lightning takes Kimono and Kusardo along somewhat of a back-alley among the houses, before stopping at the back of one which seems identical to the others.

"I prefer to use the back door myself, because I kind of consider it my own house and people won't really see us either this way." Rei says in explanation, before opening a rice-paper door and inviting Kimono and Kusardo inside.

The inside of the house is like that of the exterior in design, seemingly made as a traditional Asian home. Sitting on one of the rice mats in what could be the living room is Kiku. She appears the same as she did before, however, as she waves to Kimono and Kusardo, you can't help but notice that the motion seems slightly unusual. It isn't the same as the computer generated wave that characters usually have, for it is imperfect, and tentative in a way with the speed of her hand.

"There you are!" Kiku says, "I'm glad you two are OK; I really had no way of knowing, unless I saw you."

"I did tell you they were fine." Twin Lightning says.

"I know, but still, being told isn't enough; you still have to see, right?" Kiku asks, giving a small, sly smile.

(Ha ha, that's funny. A game of go)

"Kiku," he said, "so... you're all right."

The feeling returned as he looked at the rejuvenated Harvest Cleric, despite the comforting quaintness of the old-Asian-styled @home. It stifled his words and seemed to tug at his voice, like a younger sibling pulling in the opposite direction. The balk made him sound awkward, and as he looked at Kiku's character, who seemed more lively than an artificial game should convey, he felt the creeping sense that The World was much larger and more real than he had so conveniently conceived. The feeling led to apprehension, not only of what would happen, but whether or not he would be willing to see this mystery, this new 'adventure', to the very end.

What role would he be willing play, if any at all?

Looking at her face, Kusardo allowed to forget his troublesome thoughts and take comfort in her friendship. It would at least be a temporary relief from his cold musings.

Kusardo smiled faintly. "I'm glad you're all right..." he said, sounding as if he planned to say something else but decided to leave it alone.

"Argh!" Kimono suddenly growls, "Why now?" her voice can be heard as she talks to someone else at her end of the line, "Fine. Sorry guys... I've... been grounded."

Kiku gives a small chuckle, her frame shivering with a bit of restrained laughter, "Sorry," Kiku murmurs, "It just sounds a bit funny... well, to me anyway. I know it isn't, but I can't help it."

"Anyway, I'll see you all later, OK! Don't wait up for me; I don't know when I'll be back!" Kimono says quickly, before logging out, with blue rings forming about her character, before it fades to nothingness.

"That was... logging out right?" Kiku asks, slightly hesitantly.

"And you're still unable to?" Rei Lightning asks carefully.

Dully, Kiku nods, stands, and the blue rings form around her, but with the exception that after the rings fade, Kiku is still there.

"Looks like we were right..." Gho Lightning says, walking into the room from around a corner.

Both Gho and Rei then turn to Kusardo, their eyes seemingly looking past the character and viewing the soul of the player.

"You see, Kusardo, since Kiku was Data Drained, her character's data volume has increased substantially. It is now larger than even a typical field's data volume." Gho begins, "And you've probably noticed yourself, but many of Kiku's character movements and graphics are far more advanced than what CC Corp programmed into the characters."

"This, combined with the fact that she cannot log out, leads us to believe that Kiku now exists in 'The World'." Rei adds onto Gho's technical side, "That is to say, her consciousness now resides within her character."

Kiku sits down and looks away, her hands fidgeting nervously.

"Therefore, it is safe to conclude," Rei finishes, "That Kiku's body on the 'outside' is now in a coma, and that Kiku here can feel pain, and maybe even experience death."

Finished, Gho and Rei stand with their arms crossed, mirroring each other, watching Kusardo carefully for his reaction.

The news was unsettling, and now his preoccupied thoughts had been confirmed. Before him, sitting down in a virtual world spread out invisibly over the country from a number of computer servers, was an unfortunate girl who was recently estranged from her own body and trapped here. It seemed like an impossibility out of wild science fiction, but there was the proof, sitting there, looking like she awaited a grim fate of death or eternal limbo. Either that, or this was the greatest prank ever perpetrated in a game.

Kusardo had questions; there was no doubt about that. What does this mean, what should be done? But he had to be certain about one thing first. The player behind Kusardo walked over to Kiku and, pressing a few buttons on his game controller, attempted to interact with her.

"Kiku," he reached out to take her hand, "what do you feel?"

Kiku closes her eyes, her smaller, paw-like hands feeling the hand Kusardo extends.

"Warm, yet rough, kind of like my brother's after a year of metal-working classes. You should use lotion. I told my brother too, but he didn't listen..."

Kiku's eyes snap open and she smiles sheepishly, "Sorry, I forgot... I don't think there is a lotion item in 'the World', is there?"

Gho and Rei, in the meantime, seem to be whispering among themselves.

"I wish I had made a human character... having a tail is very, very awkward." Kiku suddenly says, shifting her position slightly, "I'm having difficulty getting used to it."

Rei Lightning winces, "Yeah, I can imagine. I can't really help, but I suggest just relaxing. I presume you do have a cat, so, try to consider how they hold their tails."

Kiku frowns, "But they aren't bipedal."

Rei averts her eyes, "True. I didn't consider that."

"Hopefully I'll get used to it by tomorrow..." Kiku murmurs, her ears twitching in slight annoyance.

She feels... the texture of my character? I didn't know there was texture to a virtual character. Shouldn't she just feel nothing?
Baffled as he was, he could hardly deny his senses. Kiku was acting like a real person beyond the bounds or rules of how characters are supposed to act. She looked too natural.

Kusardo took a corner of the @home to himself and sat down in contemplation. This had never happened before, and it shocked him, but he hid the feeling under a mask of pensive composure. What would they do now? Is this really just an elaborate trick for a new player like himself? Even after what he's witnessed and experienced up until now, the player behind Kusardo still had the nerve to suggest that somehow, somewhere, these people are laughing at him and wasting his time. That was a possibility that seemed the most logical while at the same time the most infuriating of all: that he'd been made to concern himself with a fantasy that bore the illusion of meaning... but was really just a clever farce.

But why go through all of the trouble? Would these siblings, Gho and Rei, and perhaps even Kiku, really go through these lengths to cheat a new character like him? Maybe. Maybe they would ask him to embark on a quest to save her, at the end of which he would discover that it was nothing more than an excuse for attention or a plan to steal from him his time and anything he might build up his character with, like gold or special items. Perhaps they would get him "Data Drain" too, whatever that could really mean. The thought of such a convoluted conspiracy made his mind twist with cynical sentiment.

After about five minutes of contemplating while they spoke amongst themselves, he finally got up and addressed all three of them. "Okay. What do we do? If she really is a disembodied ghost in the machine, then how can we return her to her real body? Do you have any idea?"

"You seem a bit surprised that to Kiku, your hand has texture." Rei says carefully, "Well, it would be surprising, if one didn't know the original purpose of 'The World', but that's not something that should be talked about right now. It's a different topic."

"As for mending Kiku's situation..." Gho interjects, "Well, this isn't the first time in the history of 'The World' that this has happened. Most of the known incidents occurred in R:1, or so it says in Carminia Gadelica's archives, of where the player fell into a coma while playing the game. Unfortunately, the only other case similar to Kiku's particular situation, where the player's consciousness entered the game, had entirely different circumstances, and so we can't base much on it."

"However, if we look at the coma cases as a whole, one similarity is held between all of them." Rei adds, "In each case, in order to heal the victims, something has to be done regarding the entity that put them in a coma in the first place. In other words, the only one who knows exactly how to get Kiku back to reality is Maera, the one who effectively 'locked her in' in the first place."

"Of course, I doubt she'd tell us if we merely asked her." Gho adds bitterly.

"Aww, not again!" Kiku suddenly blurts.

"Another email or shortmail?" Rei asks quickly.

"Yeah, Maera sent the same email again." Kiku nods, and then, turning towards Kusardo, adds, "She's been emailing me every hour on the hour for the past day, asking me to meet her at an area."

"We all decided it was not a good idea for Kiku to go." Gho says firmly, "But Maera's persistence is incredible... every hour on the hour... unless she's using some sort of program to spam the message for her, that suggests that she is online 24 hours a day, which is exactly what the access records show."

"In other words, there is a good possibility that Maera either is in the same situation as Kiku herself, or might not even be human." Rei adds, "Which further complicates things; if Maera is an Artificially Intelligent Player Character, as things seem to indicate, there's no telling what she is capable of."

"Either way, we don't have enough information as it is." Gho concludes, "So the next step is going to be searching the archives. Rei and I are going to do some digging tomorrow, and how did you do that?!"

Rei smiles sheepishly, "Well, looks like I win the go game."

Shaking his head, Gho sighs, "I can't believe you're still better at go than I am. Anyway, that's what we intend to do. We called you here to give you an update of how Kiku is doing; you don't have to help us. Actually, it might be better if you don't, at least initially; the archives aren't the easiest place to be."

"Oh, one more thing, both of you: I suggest avoiding Saturday. It isn't that big of a deal right now, but doubtless, she'll notice the Kiku's irregularity in the access logs and begin to wonder. Saturday is a system administrator." Rei adds, "Well, do either of you have any questions before Gho and I call it a night?"

"Hmph..."

Kusardo seemed to be processing the situation as they spoke. Gho and Rei proposed that the only lead they had to mending Kiku's situation was Maera: the one who put her there. Throwing out any possible out-of-The-World intervention, that was the most logical course of action to take, but what about the risks? Maera has already demonstrated herself as a formidable Player Character, A.I. or not, so even if meeting her were provided, they were in no position to bargain. They are at her mercy.

"The next logical question we could ask is what Maera wants with Kiku, and with all of us," began the virtual sword master. "Taking into account what we've recently experienced, as well as the reality of the coma victims, whatever is going around behind the curtain potentially involves everyone, and the only way I see we can peek behind that curtain is through Maera. She has the knowledge we need to know, and that means we're liable. We are at her mercy until we obtain a formidable amount of leverage."

Kusardo passed his gaze over Kiku and fixed them between Gho and Rei before continuing, "I don't want any of you to misunderstand. I could care less about playing this game if I see I am nothing more than a puppet for someone's whims. Maybe there's something important going on her, and maybe's there's not. I don't know, but I'm not at all willing to waste my time. I want some proof that I can go on."

His last statement fell gradually over the cat-eared cleric, and he tempered his firm tone gently as he asked her, "Kiku, can you tell me where you live in the real world? I live in Tokyo, Japan."

Kiku goes to respond, however, Rei interrupts, "I don't suppose you saw today's newspaper, did you? There's a section in there regarding a blackout that occurred in shimokitazawa mall yesterday."

"That's where I was accessing from!" Kiku blurts out.

Rei nods, and continues, "It doesn't mention Kiku by name, however, it does say that a woman in her late teens was found unconscious at a computer-cafe after the incident. The store employees are said to mention that they saw her playing 'The World', and screamed just before the blackout. At the end of the article, CC Corp, of course, states that it is merely a coincidence that the coma occurred while playing the game, and was merely due to shock from the abrupt disconnection caused by the blackout. The electricity company still hasn't determined the cause of the blackout, but Gho and I suspect it was caused by collateral damage from Maera's Data Drain."

[.hack//SIGN: Fear]



The CyberConnect Corporation; he remembered the deleted messages from The Board when people would talk about Maera. Whether or not he was undoubtedly convinced about Kiku's situation in the real world seemed to be brushed aside when Rei mentioned CC Corp.

"That wouldn't be first time," he began. "CC Corp has been removing people's messages on the BBS concerning what areas Maera has been found in recently. It was one of your threads," said Kusardo addressing Gho and Rei, "that a System Admin shut down because of excessive messages with sensitive material; one of those messages was from Maera."

Despite his previous reluctance, Kusardo now began to show signs of eager and sincere interest in the present irregularities of The World. "Maera wants something from us... and when she saw that she was about to lose Kiku, she somehow reached past the barriers of this game and trapped her here to ensure she stayed. That might mean that she would do the same to us if we show such signs of hesitation."

Motionless he stood there, leaning on his broadsword in idle contemplation. He remembered their first encounter with the winged player, whose legendary strength would have meant nothing in the real world before this week. He felt again the creeping and surreal foreboding in the depths of his senses of something incubating in his mind; the seed that seemed to link him to The World more closely than his FMD alone could immerse him. The sensation, like a heart twice the size of his own, emanated strongest when he placed the visor on his head and interacted as his character Kusardo; a pulsating virtual symbiote whose otherworldly and foreign presence sickened him to his stomach with each intense recall.

He remained like that, stoney in composure, until he spoke up once again, "I can't think of any other option than to do as she says... but there are some more things I want to find out about first. Twin Lightning," he called to Gho and Rei, no longer distinguishing between them, "do you remember the thread title "Maera's Wings"? In it, one of the characters called Sakura said she was PK'ed in a specific area, but wasn't allowed to share the area keywords on the BBS. All she was able to say was that "The Enigmatic" was indicated on her screen when she was killed. We may want to ask her for the area names and anything else she can tell us; and while we're at it, see if we can get into contact with the user that has the irregular username who got her message deleted in your first or second thread. It was something along the lines of "O'Re-allna", if you were to try sounding it out."