Thread: .Hack RP "The World"

*New Player <Jechtael> Logging In*
Server: Delta
Root Town: Mac Anu
Level: 1

I move to the edge of the area around the Chaos Gate, and begin my plan of attack. First things first. Long view: Level up. Short term: Find some potions.. Holding potions. Find mana restore potions... Oh, yeah, it's SP here. I seem to have one, need yop get some more of the local currency to buy more. Finding new player zones... I hear the other day from that Ouka Sky dude (OOC: May be changed based on current .hack era) about a password for the gate... Bursting Passed over.. Something. I'll get back to that tomorrow, I've still got that email the Goblin NPC gave me.

*activates Chaos Gate, password Delta Detestable Golden Sunny Demon*
Gobin: "I'm Stehoney, the first Golden Goblin! Catch me before time runs out and win the prize! Go!" It starts running. I run directly after it, but it goes at an angle. I go after it again, and it runs the opposite way. I run at an angle to intercept... And he curves away at the last instant. With less than a minute left, I try running in arcs blocking his path... Getting closer... Closer. "Time's Up! Would you like to try again?" I say yes. Four tries later, I give up, check the forums... Other newbies have asked about the goblins, there's something about a speed charm. I guess I have to buy one of those, they're probably an equip item or a tarot card. I need money, so I may as well level up at the same time.

*Delta: Bursting Passed Over Sea of Sand*
Three goblins, eight rabbits, two health potions, and two of some sort of flying insect later, I level up. Return to town.

*Delta Root Mac Anu*
I buy some more potions, and find a speed charm in the spell shop. It's geting late, so I'll log out for the evening and see about that goblin, and tha bursting passed over field, tomorrow.

*log out*

*logs into Mac Anu server*

Subaru approaches the Chaos Gate slowly her eyes fill with sadness as she enters the field name Hidden Forbidden Holyground.

The sad music floats upon the air as the huge ornate cathedral comes into view. Cautiously she glances around and only sees the silvery water surrounding the small island the beautiful structure rests upon. Reluctantly she walks up the steps into the building and sighs. The expansive interior only houses six pews and the small statue of Aura wrapped in chains. The music loudens and Subaru thinks abouts gating out. She steps towards the statue, every footstep resounds through the hall.
As she reaches the statue, the tears begin to flow and Subaru collapses in front of it. "Oh Tsukasa.." she weeps, "I'm sorry." The statues sad eyes seem to glisten also, maybe with tears too. "Tsukasa, I failed." Her sobs and the melancholic music are the only sounds that can be heard out of the temple.

*logs onto computer*
No new messages.
*Logs onto forum*
Nothing really interesting that I can do at my level.

*New Character Entering The World!*
-Jechtael lvl 3, Delta Server, Root Town Mac Anu-
Activates Chaos Gate: Where do you want to go?
Delta-Bursting-Passed Over-Aqua Field
*Area Invalid*

Huh, I was sure... It's a multiple-choice, not like I'm typing it in... Re-enters code...
*Area Invalid*
Suddenly, the chaos gate bursts open. Something rushes through, surrounded by a hole in the graphics. I can't see what it is, because it disappears, but it wasn't one of the character classes from the basic game.

I ask another player if they saw that. "STFU n00b! Go gain some levels on another server!" He's not listening, and nobody else was still there. Either he hadn't noticed, or it was perfectly commonplace. I decide to try moving to the Beta server.
*Player Not Authorized, Choose A Different Root Town*
That's... odd.
*Player Jechtael Logs Out*

I type an email to Altimit's help line, and no sooner did I send it than I got another e-mail.
*New Message!*
Sent: He6b@
RE: Forget What You Saw
Message: The administrators gratefully accept your input. Please send no further messages, as our email servers are often busy and unnecessary messages can cause problems. If you observe further problems, reinstall the game with a new name and product code. Do not message us again.

That sounds suspicious.

*Welcome to the forum, Jechtael!*
I post a quick mesage on the board asking if anyone else met a non-class character using the chaos portals, or if they knew what skill cut a hole in the sky. I ased anyone who knew to meet me in the World at... delta bursting passed over sea of sand, tomorrow at 6:00PM Tokyo time. I hope the administratrors don't delete it, and that someone knows what I'm talking about, if that was who this He6@ person represented, if they weren't just a bot, and plan to run a viruscan after logging off.
*Logs off Altimit forum*

*Opens mail sender*

*Types*

If you want to know more meet me at the omega server root town.
Come alone.

Mia

*sends email to Jechtael*

*Welcome, User ___*
*Logs into e-mail*
*Two new messages!*
Nah, it's just a spam offer for Samurai and Lancer weapons... Mia, that's unusually... Normal. She... Knows about what was at the Chaos Gate!
*Search Engine: The World+Omega Server*
The omega server is... Huh, it's a large area in Delta. That's odd. But at least I can probably get there even with the root toiwn access blocked.
*Welcome to Mac Anu, player Jechtael!
Jechtael, Level 3, /\Server Mac Anu
*Activate Chaos Gate*
*Enter Password /\ Pulsating Worst Core*
Gyah! Never going to get used to travelling by chaos gatye, it just keeps getting weirder and weirder. um...
[yell]Is There a player that ges by the name of Mi-
"Yes, now stop shouting across the whole game."
A purple catgirl stood in front of Jechtael.
"You're Mia? What are- erm, who are you, and what is your character? And what do you know about the... thing at the chaos gate?"
She glared. "I am a hacker, I created this avatar myself. And as for what happened, well..."

[/RP entry]

Mia stood by the chaos gate, slowly getting impatient. She had sent the email an hour ago, surely he got it by now? Just then the chaos gate activated and Jechtael appeared suddenly yelling.

"Yes, now stop yelling across the whole game." She snapped at him. Despit her impatience she was slightly amused by this user. He turned around and stared at her. "You're Mia? What are- erm, who are you, and what is your character? And what do you know about the... thing at the chaos gate?"
She glared. "I am a hacker, I created this avatar myself. And as for what happened, well..." she turned around making sure no one was listening, "it depends on what it looks like. Was it a little girl, white hair, white clothes? If it was, then that was Aura."

"No," replied Jechtael. It was this big ugly thing, like an Evangelion, but all pale and spikes. I think it was bleeding, or it had something red across its back. It disappeared before I could see it clearly."
Mia waited a moment before talking. "No. It... I couldn't tell you what it is. But it sounds... almost... Like something I saw before."
*Ding! Request for Mia to join a group.*
*New Player in server:.....

OOC: I don't know how much Mia knows at this point, and don't want to godmod too much (which is difficult in long conversations). Leaving space for one of the two new players to join in, or an NPC, or even a messenger. Mia's response was phrased very carefully so that either Mia is lying, or she actually doesn't remember anything outright, by the way. Conversations without a DM-controlled NPC are always difficult.

ooc: too true

Mia stared at Jechtael for a minute as if studying him. She smirked a little. She leaned forward as if confiding something "You can't defeat it, not even with other people in your party. I suggest you go to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground at the mac anu server to learn more."

She walked away from the confused boy and said, "I decline to join your party.....for now."

*gates out*

The subtle breeze of Mac Anu washed over the young man as soon as he materialized before the Chaos Gate. Standing at nearly six feet tall, the twin blade walked, his onyx cloak snapping and waving with each firm step. The skies were as blue as always-- adorned with wispy clouds more beautiful than reality. Players of all shapes and sizes gathered along the brown shop huts, laughing and chatting with due enthusiasm. Cutting across the center of the city glimmered a beautiful river. Cannoes and gondolas carried various people across the gentle stream. Coming to an arched cobblestoned bridge, the seasoned cloaked player stopped to give a quick glance over his shoulder. There are no game masters or crimson knights around, he thought. still, I promised never to do anything stupid in a root town.

Count, as was the user's name, strolled to the peak of the bridge and leaned against the railing. He gazed out at that river and felt a smile form on his face. Playing for more than a year didn't take the magesty out of the reality that was The World. Here he didn't have to worry about deadlines, sickness or a phone call from his boss. If he had but a single wish, he would wish The World could be reality, where love and adventure proved abundant, where every player had some greater cause than himself. Be it helping other players, or even the vulgar act of slaying others. Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Count turned his back to the river to lean his back against the bride side, casting glances at both sides to see if he recognized anyone. No such luck. It may have been a boring afternoon, but it beat the alternative of studying.

What to do? he thought with the shrug of his shoulders. Perhaps he should continue his climb up the levels, or explore more of the vast jungle of servers he had yet to explore. Whatever the case, he decided it would be best to get started.

Having gated out from the Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground of the Mac Anu server, Subaru immediately felt her spirits lift. Tsukasa... The guilt still stung her mind and she warned herself to not cry in a public place. A couple of seconds later, she got a strange email from an unknown user:

An illegal character is traipsing around the current root town you're in. Go and find him.

Hel6@

Thats odd thought Subaru. She descended the steps to the bridge and found him gazing happily into the river's pure, flowing waters. She quietly crept up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, I would like a word with you." She called to him in a loud tone of voice.

Count woke from a state of half-sleep by a firm tap and a command from a voice he thought he recognized. Spinning around he took in the woman's features. Short azure hair with a written symbol blazon on her forehead. If that hadn't been enough to jog his memory, her tiny angel wings, blue dress and stern eyes were. Not just a Crimson Knight, but the leader of them! Everyone who visited the less than reputable message boards were informed to avoid this one.

Leaping back with the prowess of a leopard, Count balanced on the side of the bridge. His thumbs itched to withdraw the blades from his gauntlets, knowing full well it would not do any good in town. Instead, like a hawk, he narrowed his blood colored eyes and watched down on her every subtle nuance.

"My," Count said, "to what do I owe the honor of being visited by Lady Subaru?" Before she could respond he continued. "As it turns out it's a bad time, so I apologize but you cannot have a 'word' with me."

Sprinting past her, Count sped away as fast as he could. With any luck, he could escape detection...

Since his meeting with Mia, Jechtael had levelled up several times, and increased his in-game wealth. He told himself it was because there might be a dungeon at the Hidden Forbidden area, but it was really because he was afraid... both of the creature from the gate, and of getting too involved in the game. He'd heard of people dying from a virus imbedded in the system, but it wasn't soemthing he'd thought about until now.
"Hey, Jet, are we going, or what?"
Brigit was a player he'd met on the Altimit forums. She was a Blademaster, the second character of a former One Sin attemptor. Jechtael had run across her trying to find more information on Delta Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, and she knew things about the game only a veteran player would, but used a low enough level character that she could party with people new to the game. She had heard legends about the cathedral at Holy Ground, but hadn't visited recently.
*Chaos Gate: New Password: /\ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground*
The two appeared before a cathedral amidst a sea of mist. Jechtael was surprised at the detail and quality of the area, but Brigit was nonplussed. They entered the sanctuary, and...
*BATTLE MODE ON!*
A goblin appeared, and was quickly dispatched by a Tiger Claw and Vak Don from jechtael, and a single swipe from Brigit. As the battle music faded, an eerie melody filled the air.
Birgit sighed. "This place always feels so sad, as though it was made as a tribute to a lost loved one. I always used to enjoy coming to this place."
"I... don't like it. I can see how it's peaceful, but the statue..." Jechtael didn't continue. He didn't have to. THe statue of the goddess had been cast in chains, and was now covered in the accumulated dust of ages. He walked to the pedestal and tried to read it. "Keith... Magus... This is ridiculous, the text shouldn't have been painted over with tarnish. That might just mean it's unimportant."
*BATTLE MODE ON!*
A great earth turtle came flying into the sanctuary at a surprising rate. Jechtael moved to attack it, but Brigit stopped him. "It's too high a level for our avatars! Run!" They tried, but the turtle was between them and the doors. It looked bleak, until a streak of white and blue came rushing from the hall.
"Hya!*Swipe* Didn't..*slash* I...*jab* Kill..*slice* You...*slash* Before!? *STAB*
"Run, this thing can't be killed, I've tried before!"
Brigit and Jechtael tried to move to the hallway, but the newcomer was bowled over by the creature and Jechtael was attacked. He suddenly found himself in an area similar to the hole in the sky at the chaos gate, and heard a voice.
"Use the book."
An item shaped like a book flew toward him.
*Jechtael used Book of Dusk*
A shudder ran through him. His virtual reality set was malfunctioning! He was going to die in the game! Strange glyphs pulsed through him, as waves of energy struck his body outside of the game. A ring of light, forming a crown of golden spikes, formed around his left gauntlet, and released a stream of data. It pored through the turtle, and they were returned to the sanctuary.

The other person destroyed the turte with a final sweep of his blade, and then turned on the adventurers. "You're just like that. Another virus-ridden creature, with your monsters and your 'magic arm cannon.' You don't deserve the game, and I swear on my honor as Balmung, of the Azre Sky, Descendant of Fianna, that I will one day rid The World of hackers like you!" "But-" Jechtael and brigit both began to protest, but to no avail. Brigit seemed upset. "You just associated me with hackers in the eyes of Balmung! He's my hero, and the reason I attempted the One Sin event in the first place! If I hadn't seen that you got that attack from an item in the game, I wouldn't forgive you." "jechtael tried to apologise.
"I'm sorry, the book was just there, it was the only thing I could do to-"
Brigit laughed. "I didn't say I don't forgiuve you now. Lets go to a few more areas and check out this new skill. It must be amazing if even the legendary Balmung hasn't seen it before."
*Gate Out*

OOC: So, I've decided to add another character. It's open for now, if anyone really wants to use her as their character they can PM me about it, but I'll be making an RP bio for her and submitting it to the Join the .hack// RP thread as the second of my three possible characters.
Oh, and no, this isn't the Brigit that will later win a set of avatars, but it is related. There are a couple ways I could go with this, but I'm thinking I'll post a certain backstory in the RP character bio.
And no, I'm not taking the place of the .hackers. I'm either accidentally following in their footsteps, or the story will later diverge, depending on what we all do in the game. I intentionally made a loophole with Balmung's comments and the Dusk bracelet (nowhere near as powerful as the twilight bracelet in the context of this game, probably in several ways). This is so there may be a series of characters that recieve bracelets from Aura, and possibly even the Morganna. So other player characters may, in fact, finish the end game with their own data abilities.

*Logging In*
*Server: Delta - Loading Complete*
*Root Town - Loading Complete*

*Welcome to the world KoNeko.*

*You have no new messages.*

"What to do, what to do...I'm not really sure what I want to do." I thought to myself. "I haven't really figured out that gate thing...and last time I used it, I ended up in some weird place and was attacked by some high leveled monster. So it's probably best I stay away from that for now."

I walked around the town for awhile and looked through the shops to see what kind of items they had. Of course everything was too expensive as I had no cash on me, but I liked to see what some of the swords looked like.

I was too shy to ask anyone around me how to play to game. I had some little knowledge about "The World" and I lost my guide book on how to play it. I'd really just like to know how to use that gate thing and get some cash. I noticed a girl standing near an alley way holding a staff. She had on some white-ish silver clothes, almost like a dress you would see at a school dance or something. It was very pretty looking and attractive to the eye. She had long pink hair, and the orb in her staff matched the color of her hair.

I decided to get my courage up and ask her if she would be willing to help me. I guess she didn't see me come up to her because when I tried to get her attention, she squealed and jumped backwards a little.
"Don't scare me like that!" She said.
"Oh, I uh, I'm sorry...I was just trying to get your attention."
"W-what do you need?" She asked while putting her head down a little and clutching her wand closer.
"Well, I'm new to The World, and I was wondering if you could help me start out." I hope that I wasn't scaring her. I didn't think my character looked to scary when I made it, and I'm not trying to be scary.
"I-I can't help you. I'm also new to this game. I just started today...I was invited by a friend, but after I joined, she got into some accident and was hospitalized. Oh! I shouldn't have said that! I'm so sorry, you didn't need to know that!" She started waving her hands back and forth.
"Oh, sorry to hear that...Well, I'm sorry to bother you, I guess I'll be on my way then." As I started to walk off, she said...
"E-excuse me..."
"Hm?"
"C-can I add you to my friends? I just started this game today, and don't have any friends..." She seemed really shy to ask this, as she was staring down and twisting her foot on the ground.
"Sure! My name's KoNeko. What's yours?"
"M-my name is Lilium. You can call me Lily if you'd like..." She seemed sort of emmbarresed to say that. I wasn't sure why though, I thought it was a nice name.
"Lilium huh? That's a nice name. Well I'll catch you later then Lily. Nice meeting you!"
"It was nice meeting you too KoNeko!" She had a big smile on her face and proceeded to walk the other direction."

I headed back to the gate to log out. As I made it to the gate...

*You have one new message*
*Lilium would like to be your friend. Do you accept?*

*Accepted*

*Logs out*

OOC: How was that for my first time? Well not really my first time RPing, I've RPed a lot on games before...
I'm also going to make a new character now.

Jechtael
Level-grinding, with low to moderate success. Nothing of interest occurs. Gains item: Golden Axe x32, gains item: Silver Axe x32. Sells itms: Golden Axe x30 and Silver Axe x31.

Brigit
Exp-grinding, with low success. Goes to Omega Server/Net Slum mirror. Looks at different modifications people made (lower quality than those who used to play, she thinks). An avatar of a small, pale child walks up to her.
“Hello,” she says. “What do you want?”
He stared up at her. “You smell familiar, and sound the same. But you look different.”
Brigit is disconcerted. “Um, I don’t live in Japan anymore, so I didn’t know there was a beta hardware test for scent-“
“You sound like the girl who almost saved Her.”
Who? Brigit wondered silently. “I don’t know what you mean, I never saved anyone, I wasn’t even a PK’er when it was legal.”
“No,” said the other avatar. “You died, and She was sad. Then the angel saved Her.”
“I-“ She didn’t understand. The boy smiled, and began to walk away. Before leaving the visible area, he calls back to her: “We hope to see you again.”
*Player //random Requests Addition to Friends List*
*Player //random Added to Friends List*
*Player Brigit logs out*

OOC: I think I might try writing this out as a story after the RPG is complete, if nobody minds. Actually, I tend to write rather dry fiction, so it would be nice to work with someone else on making a .hack//Dreamviews fanfic. I know people IRL who write, but if anyone wants to get in on this, that’s cool. (If anyone objects to the use of their story or character, or referencing them as contributors, please tell me in PM or on the dothack RP signup thread. I don’t plan to publish it, just write it for fun, maybe send it to whoever here wants a copy.)

occ: Well done Slayer! Not bad for your first try. JET pm me with ideas about the fan fic, maybe I could help you a little. Also, I've never done one before and it would be cool to write one about .Hack

Subaru gave chase to the strange looking twin blade through the crowds. This one's fast... she thought to herself, and he was. In an instant he was gone leaving Subaru lost amongst the crowd. "Damn it." She cursed under her breath. She walked back to the bridge, dragging her axe behind her letting it scrape the ground. Maybe he'll be there again...

*email received*

Subaru, come to the cathedral, we need to talk.

Balmung

Startled by the aptness of the email Subaru ran across the wooden bridege, up the stone steps and to the chaos gate and warped directly to Hidden Forbidden Holyground. The familiar sad music floated through the air, and sad thoughts pushed to the back of her mind threatened to fight their way back. She ran to the huge, golden doors and walked through into the expansive cathedral.
Pale golden light filtered through the windows and landed on a figure in the middle of the hall. "Balmung!" Subaru called to him. He turned, the light gave his white hair a form of irridesence. "You came." He replied. They hugged each other, or rather Subaru hugged him, he just froze up. "So what's going on?" She asked him worriedly. He told her about the battle that had happened previously, and about Jechtael's newly aquired ability. "It's starting again. You must find Jechtael before anything bad happens." He warned. She nodded.

*email received*

Subaru, I'm tracking Jechtael, meet me in the omega server pronto.

Mia.

With a quick hug and peck on the cheek Subaru ran out of the cathedral and then gated back to root town. Here she went to the Omega server and came face to face with the strange avatar of Mia, and the legendary hacker Helba.
Helba smiled, "We need to talk."

Jechtael
“Gyaaah!” What was thr problem with that thing? If I earned a skill, I should be able to use it!”
Jechtael had been trying for days to use his new skill. It wasn’t available in the skills list or the magic list, and the book had disappeared when he picked it up Perhaps it was a one-time use skill? Part of the event? That could have been why that Balmung player thought he was cheating. Oh, well. If it’s a one-time event, then why didn’t he get any recognition? He had gone back to the cathedral, only once in case he met another person who thought he was hacking the game, and the turtle was back. It wasn’t as green any more, and it didn’t move while Jechtael kept out of its battle mode range in the halls to the back of the cathedral, but it was there nonetheless. So maybe it was a new event? Nobody else seemed to be talking about it. He tried to call the people on his friends list, but they were all either gone or not answering. Eventually, back at the chaos gate in Mac Anu, he noticed there had been a new option since the event of the cathedral: Change Root Town. The only option was something called Dun Loireag, but it was an option, so he went.
“Hi! I’m Johnny, The Lone Grunty!” If not for the inability to do so, Jechtael would have fallen from the platforms of the city when encountering the great, ox-like muzzle. Several other players laughed, one of them said something about new players always getting scare by the grunties. While exploring the town, others of the creatures, which he found were, in fact, called Grunties, could be talked to as NPCs. There was a human NPC next to what appeared to be a baby of the species, who told him all about the creatures and even offered him the first one to raise himself. It began saying that it washungry, and after being fed a number of the formerly useless plants he had found across the server, it grew nearly a foot taller. Jechtael left, checking the chaos gate toi make sure the Mac Anu choice was still there, and logged out.

Brigit
No Entry.

Edit: OOC: Ironically, I was having all sorts of errors up top my 403rd post. This, my 404th post, was the least difficult to do all day.

Edit: OOC: Ironically, I was having all sorts of errors up top my 403rd post. This, my 404th post, was the least difficult to do all day.

occ:That's happened to me a couple of times. I've no idea why you make loads of mistakes and then suddenly you don't...meh!!

The walked towards the middle of the the root town and began having an intense discussion, or rather Helba was doing the talking and Mia and Subaru just listened. "That boy, Jechtael, faced a corrupted monster in the cathedral and then was visited by the girl AI. He installed the item. You both know what I speak of." Helba said. Mia and Subaru nodded in unison, glancing at each other worriedly. Helba's calm smile hardened slightly as she continued, "I want you both to watch over him. The problems that arised before are starting again, and the administrators will think the boy was the cause of it, as he is now in a sense a corrupted character himself now he has installed that item. I will try and gather the others together and once more we will defeat this problem. In a couple of hours lets rondezvous (occ: not sure how to spell it ) back here." With that she gated out, leaving Mia and Subaru gazing worriedly at each other.
"Are you thinknig what I'm thinking?" Mia asked. Subaru nodded. She was told about Mia's predicament last time. Mia isn't actually a real life player, she is a program herself, one of the virus programs. During a confrontation with Kite and Elk, she transformed in Macha and was destroyed, but later reborn as Mia. Although the virus part of her was seemingly destroyed last time, so there shouldn't be any problems this time. "Don't worry." Subaru said as she gave her a hug. "Let's go." She whispered to her feline friend. They nodded and headed for the chaos gate and gated to Dun Loireag. There they found Jechtael at the Grunty Ranch, feeding a growing grunty.
"Excuse me." Called Mia to the boy. Who turned and pointed to himself. "You, yes you." She nodded. She stopped in front of the surprised boy and looked intensely at his right wrist. "That's a unique bracelet, can I see it?" She asked lifting up his arm. Subaru stopped behind her, a worried expression covering her normally calm features. She didn't see any bracelet.

“What bracelet?” Jechtael asked. “You mean the Dusk thing from the book?”
“Yes, that ‘dusk thing,’” replied Mia, with a sickly-sweet tone of voice.
“Well, I thought it was a one-time attack, it disappeared the first time I used the attack. The book’s gone, so…”
Mia was suddenly very serious, and and Jechtael stopped talking almost immediately. After a pause, she began to speak again. “Well, you must certainly be weak if you don’t even know it’s there. Well, now you know, you might even be able to understand the power it gives you. Hm, we’ll meet again. For now, just keep that bracelet safe.” She walked away.
“That was odd,” wondered Jechtael. “What a strange player.”
Subaru /whisper: “Mia? What bracelet?”

Brigit
Party defeats dungeon /\Raging Eternal Nothingness. Player Brigit receives Item: Rose Shield. Player Brigit gains a level.
“Thank you for inviting me on the dungeon raid, it was fun playing with one of my friends from back home.”
“No problem! You’re the best strategist for half the server, which more than made up for your character level.”
“Thanks, but I have to go right now. I hope to see you again soon, if only in the game.”
“Okay, we’ll see you, then.”
Player Brigit left the party.
/logout


OOC: Previous to this post, /\ was intended to be Delta. Lambda server was never referenced. From now on, /\ is Delta, and /\ is Lambda. Unless I get the file of symbols set up, in which case I'll just use whatever the actual letter is. Anyway, sorry for any confusion. If I could still edit that far back, I would.

occ: I don't mind.

As they walked away from Jechtael, Subaru kept glancing back at the confused player. No bracelet... She thought. She looked at Mia, who hadn't spoken a word for five minutes, which was unusual. Her face was calm. "Mia..?" Subaru asked the cat player. Mia seemed in a trance. "Mia!?" Subaru's voice heightened. Mia blinked, and looked blankly at the frightened girl. "Mia are you okay?" sounded the worried voice again. Mia began to speak but they were cut of by the hiss of electricity. Suddenly, a strange character shot by. The background graphics warped and there was a strange symbol, like a red cross. But as soon as it appeared, it vanished. "Oh no, not again!" Mia muttered.

Jechtael
By the time he caught up to Mia, she was already leaving, along with at least one other person. There was no sign of whatever had made the sound, or caused the rift just visible over the edge of the buildings.
*You have received new messages*
He was glad of the recent patch allowing people in-game to know when they got an e-mail. He logged out, and checked his mail.
*You have 2 new messages*
$*#g@^^a
I @^ 6&c(. *ou !i)) n&#37;t r3m4#% #e 7#is 7!m2, m7 #3dd!i9g d@*^t$r n?tw!&h+t4n%ing. 9 w!ll L!5#!!!1!
End of message
“That was… odd. IIt doesn’t seem to be carrying any data, so it can’t be a virus…. Some sort of spam possibly?” The unusual message was forgotten as soon as Jechtae opened the other message.
hkunisaki@altimitmail .us (Username Brigit)
Hey, I just got news from one of my friends who plays a Wavemaster. There’s a rumor going around that a new monster has been seen in /\ Hidden Forbidden Requiem. It’s supposed to be really hard to beat, nobody’s done it yet. I can be logged in and waiting if you reply within 45 minutes of receiving this message. Want to go? Y/N
End of Message

Brigit
*You have new mail!*
Haruna was already logged out, so she got the e-mail as soon as it arrived.
Jechtael@altimitmail .jp (Username Jechtael)
Yeah! That sounds awesome, and there might be another special event if we defeat this thing. Meet you at the Mac Anu chaos gate!
End of Message

Jechtael, Brigit
Jechtael was waiting at the chaos gate, when Brigit arrived with a wavemaster he hadn’t seen before. “This is Marcoh. He doesn’t play on this server often, so we won’t be seeing him much until later levels, but a rare monster would bring anyone back to the delta server.”
Jechtael introduced himself. Marcoh replied, “Pleased to meet you. Any friend of… Brigit, now, is a friend of mine. Now, what say we head to find this new creature?”
*/\ Hidden Forbidden Requiem*
The party got through the dungeon pretty easily, as it was rather straightforward and didn’t contain many dead ends. Reaching the lowest level, there was a new door in the side wall of the statue room. Quite unorthodox, the trio passed through and encountered…
*Battle Mode!*
*Enemy Morrigan- Level ????*
Jechtael was surprised. Was this black-winged, scarecrow-looking being another creature like the turtle? When he begfam to ask, Marcoh replied, “No, it’s level 78, but it shouldn’t be here! Less talk, more fight!” With that, he cast a speed spell and a series of talismans on the party. The creature, however, glowed with the effects of the same spells. Jechtael and Brigit tried attacking with skills, but every time a skill with a magic effect was used, it also hit the party. Brigit yelled, “Marcoh! We need to break this thing! You know that reflecting monster in the old Final Fantasy game, back when the PS2 was still around? Maybe we can reflect spells off of us to hurt this thing!” Alas, Marcoh had no such spell equipped. The two blade users were still attacking, but Jechtael thought… Maybe the bracelet will work now? He tried to remember how it felt when the bracelet was activated the first time… A sudden sound, and the dungeon disappeared, to be replaces by rushing lines of code. A burst of light went from his wrist through the monster, and the dungeon returned to normal.
*Party at full health! Party has zero SP! All spell effects removed!*
Brigit and Jechtael couldn’t see the level of the monster, but Marcoh started. “It just went to level 90!” The creature’s HP bar, however, had dropped to a sliver of red. In a scratchy, screeching voice, it yelled, “I’ll return, you will not stop me! You will die within my game!” It then flew through the ceiling of the room, and the three adventurers were suddenly in front of the chaos gate at Mac Anu. After some discussion, it was determined that Marcoh would look into the creature around the higher-level servers, and Jechtael and Brigit would stay on servers of their level or lower until they were strong enough to traverse the later servers, and see what else the bracelet does.
*Player Brigit logs out*
Player Jechtael logs out*
Brigit
*You have new mail!*
healthoffice@xxxxxhighschool .jp (no username)
Miss Kunisaki: A student of ours, Marcus Corvin, recently collapsed in our computer labs. He was wearing a virtual reality headset and gloves, and according to the computer’s log, you were the last person he contacted via e-mail and game. His condition is stable, but due to the controversy surrounding The World and recent other virtual reality systems, we thought it might be best if you could provide an account of what happened when you last saw each other. Please reply when next you can.
End Message
*End Entry*


OOC: Marcoh isn’t intended to be one of my characters. He was a one-shot thing, a plot device. I expect that’s allowed, like a guest NPC in .hack or, a better example, in FFIIIDS. If not, I can set him up as my 3rd character, but I’d still rather leave it open for now (for one thing, Marcoh is apparently comatose).

*Subaru receives new mail*

Hi!!!!
Haven't seen you in a while, Helba says we need to get together and talk.
Hope it's nothing serious.
See ya!!

Mireille.

Subaru glanced at the mail and smiled. Mireille was a friend of hers and someone no one could forget. She was an avid treasure hunter and always cheery, just like her mother. Subaru logged into the game and warped to Net Slum where she found Helba chatting to Mireille. Helba seemed to be exhausted, probably due to Mireille jumping about, chatting and laughing. Helba caught sight of Subaru and gave a grateful smile.
"Thanks for coming. We really need to talk..." Helba was cut off as Mireille screamed with delight and dove upon Subaru giving her a hug. Helba cleared her throat, clearly irritated and said, "Morganna Mode Gone." Then she gated out, leaving two stunned and silent faces gazing into space.

*Email sent to Jechtael*

I am giving you access to net slum. Please come at once.

Hel6@

Brigit
“Mayu-chan!” Brigit had been wandering the net slums, when she found another familiar face from her earlier days in The World.
“What?” The wavemaster looked confused. “Oh, no, you knew my mom from when she played. I’m Mirei, Mireille in the game.”
Brigit was ecstatic. “Oh, that’s soooo cool! I didn’t even know she was expecting, how is your mother?”
“She’s fine.”
*Player Jechtael has arrived*
“Hey, Brigit, you’re here! Do you know where… Helb@... is? I’m supposed to meet him here.”
Mireille, not Brigit, replied. “Um, if you’re talking about Helba, she’s a girl. And she just left. I’m Mireille.”
“Jechtael. Nice to meet you.”

OOC: Do you know how many of the words for butterfly also mean either “bowel” or “flatulence”? All of them. Mayu (cocoon) was probably a better choice of nickname for Mayumi, Mistral’s original player.

OOC: Do you know how many of the words for butterfly also mean either “bowel” or “flatulence”? All of them. Mayu (cocoon) was probably a better choice of nickname for Mayumi, Mistral’s original player.

occ: Wow, you do learn something new everyday. Neat!

Mireille stared at the Jechtael grinning. "Hey are you the one with the bracelet?" She asked. Then she pouted, "No fair! Was there an event I missed?" She then glanced at his wrist, it began to glow an eery blue-green.
"Hey! Wow! What's going on?" She said jumping about. The entire field of Net Slum vanished and was replaced by a strange field full of floating rocks. Then the background graphics started warping and a strange monster appeared, with a red cross. Mireille screamed, as the "BATTLE" sign appeared and the monster began to attack.

Jechtael, Brigit, others
“Oh, no!” yelled Subaru. “It’s a phase AI!”
The others didn’t understand. “Is that bad?
“Very!”
Jechtael told the others to move away. “If this bracelet works like it should, I can bring it down to our level… Dusk Drain!”
The bracelet began to glow with visible yellow light, and a rushing sound began as it aimed itself toward the phase… And stopped. Jechtael dropped to the ground, his skin and clothing flashing bright red.
*Infection at 91%. ?Data Drain failed. Party SP at zero. Party HP is halved.*
Mirielle scrabbled for an SP restore and began to heal the others, and Brigit and Subaru began to attack the phase. Jechtael activated a speed potion, and joined the other two fighters.
“Why didn’t it work?” he asked. Nobody knew, or at least nobody could say during the fight. A sudden flash of green rose in a particulate ring about the creature, and a voice appeared:
*Protect Break active: Enemy Skeith*
Another rushing, staticky sound began, and a beam of red light shot from the peak of a nearby building. It pierced the AI, who then shattered, sending a small, lavender-glowing sphere up through the sky.
The four turned to see who had saved them, but all that could be seen was a shadowy figure silhouetted against the sky before it gated out.