"Alright Yumizuka-san, I hope your leg recovers soon."
"Thank you, Kurokawa-san, the doctors say it should be better in a couple weeks. Mirei, thank you for coming today."
"Kori-chan…get better soon ok?! You still owe me that race!"
The young brown haired girl smiled. "And I'll win too."
"You wish!"
Mayumi giggled at their antics, gently tugging Mirei's arm. "Come on now; let's leave her to her rest."
"Bye Kori-chan!"
"Good-bye Mirei!"
The two, mother and daughter, walked along the hospital wards, quietly chatting about the now twelve year old girl's injured friend. It was at that time that Mirei noticed something her mother was about to miss.
"Mommy look! The name on that plate…doesn't that say…"
A nurse passing by overheard.
"Oh? Do you know him?"
Mayumi pondered. "Maybe, if it's the same one…"
"I can let you in if you want, he doesn't get many visitors, though one girl in particular keeps coming, one Chika Kuramoto. She doesn't say much, just holds his hand and watches quietly. She seems close to him, so we let her stay a little past visiting hours sometimes."
"Ne! Mommy it is him! It's Zero-kun!"
Mayumi was confused. "But…why is he here? What happened to him?"
"He's in a coma."
Immediately Mayumi's body went rigid. "A…coma?"
"Yes, he was brought here about a week ago. Someone tripped the fire alarm in his apartment building and the paramedics found him unconscious in front of his computer. There was no fire, so people have been wondering how the alarm went off…and why only he was effected by whatever happened. Well, anyway, his heart rate will randomly skyrocket out of nowhere occasionally. Some of our more…floaty interns have mentioned cases such as this from seven years ago…"
Mirei was stroking the young man's hand gently; listening to the nurse's every word.
"I…see…" It can't be. I thought we took care of all that years ago! But…if Zero-kun is in a coma…and the symptoms are the same… Her hand absently grasped her cell phone. She was about to pull it out when she remembered that wasn't allowed in hospitals.
"Mirei-chan…do you think you can stay here for a few minutes? Mommy needs to make a call."
"Hai! I'll stay with Zero-kun."
"I'll be right back."
She quickly strode out of the room, leaving the hospital temporarily. Selecting a name from the list on her phone, she prayed to whatever deity existed that her plan would work.
Please let this number still be hers…
Click… "Ahh? Moshi-moshi?"
"Akira-chan? Is that you?"
"Ahh? Mayumi-san? Wow, I'm amazed you still have the number!"
"I'm amazed it worked. Listen…Akira…I've got a bit of a problem."
"Really? How can I help?"
"Remember what happened…seven years ago?"
"How could I forget?"
"I think it's happening again."
Silence.
"A-Akira?"
"So that's why…"
"Akira?"
"Our old leader…Kite…he e-mailed me yesterday…he said Aura had mailed him and asked for the original group to rejoin The World. He said she pulled some strings so we'd get in free. He's going to log in again…said: 'If Aura herself is calling, something must be up.' I wasn't sure what to do…but…why do you think so Mayumi-san?"
"An old tutor of Mirei's is in the hospital…with the same symptoms as the coma victims of back then."
"You know him? Wow, I saw it on the news but I didn't think anyone really knew him…"
"Listen…Akira…is he still using the same address?"
"Yep. He even kept all our old e-mails backed up apparently. 'So I may never forget the friends I made.' He says. Cute huh?"
"Yeah. You mind mailing it to me sometime?"
"Sure thing, I'll do it as soon as we hang up."
"Thanks Akira-chan. Mirei got really attached to him while he was around, so I'm sure it just devastates her to see him in such a state. But now, we might be able to find out why…"
"Yeah, I felt the same with Kazu…alright, well I've got dinner cooking so I've gotta get going. I'll talk to you more later Mayumi-san!"
"Yes, thanks Akira-chan."
The two hung up and Mayumi went back to Zero's room. Mirei was gabbing away to a short haired girl.
"Mommy! You're back! This is Chika-san! She went to school with Zero-kun!"
The short haired girl gave a small bow. "It's nice to meet another who knows Zero-kun."
"That it is. Ahh…It might be prying but…do you play The World at all?"
"Yes actually. I play Alkaid, a level 120 Twin Blade. Do you play?"
"No…but we used to."
"Ahh…R:1'ers."
"Excuse me?"
"R:1, it's what The World from seven years ago is called. There was a big fire at CC Corp's main building and a lot of the server data was lost. After a while they made R:2, it's…different. A lot of things have happened."
Originally Mayumi had wanted to leave…but there was information to be had and her old self from her gaming days was resurfacing.
"Like what?"
"Well…it's not exactly public, but about a year ago there was a massive outbreak of corruptive programming called AIDA. They showed up as big black bubbling spots floating in the air and caused a LOT of problems. There was a group formed called GU that analyzed and combated the AIDA from within The World. Apparently, it was created when something happened in R:1, but was dormant until now."
I wonder…
"Anyway, these things seemed…intelligent. They could infect and twist the minds of players, not to mention knock them into comas if you were struck by an infected player. I was one of the coma victims at one point, but a player known as Haseo, a friend of mine who holds something called an Epitaph, and his group GU fought to bring us back. The source of the problem seemed to be another Epitaph holder called Ovan, but in reality he was just one of the first to be infected, and he fought it off for a very long time."
"Epitaph?"
"I think it has something to do with a really old poem…"
"Epitaph of Twilight…"
"Yeah that's it! There's Eight people with Epitaphs. Haseo actually used his against me when we first met, in the Arena, an area where PKing is allowed because it's a consented battle between two teams. I had him beat until he pulled it out, back then we thought it was a hacked skill, a cheat used by losers, but it turns out it was a 'legal' ability, born from The World itself."
"Does it have a name?"
"Yeah, Haseo's Epitaph is called Skeith."
Mayumi fell out of her chair.
"S-Skeith?!"
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes! No…I don't…I don't know…"
"Mommy? Isn't Skeith the name of that thing you told me you fought a long time ago?"
"The first of the Cursed Wave…and it's controlled…by a Player? How is that possible?"
"I don't know the details myself…you'd have to ask either Haseo, Ovan or Yata, they're the ones with the most information."
"And the others?"
"I don't know the names…sorry."
"Skeith…Innis, Magus, Fidchell, Gorre, Macha, Tarvos and Corbenik…"
"Wow…those sound…really familiar! I think you're right!"
"I…we…we beat them…but they're back…and controlled by humans? And these people…protected…The World?"
"Well…for a while Ovan was spreading AIDA…but I think that was to get Haseo strong enough to defeat him so his Epitaph's power could be released…he did it all to bring his sister back from her coma…and Endrance used to be affiliated with AIDA…he used his Epitaph all the time in the Arena…but then Haseo used his own and beat him…so yeah, now they all protect The World. Actually Haseo had asked me to meet with him and his group in a week or so. He said there was something going on."
Mayumi muttered to herself. "Damn right there is…" She shook her head and sighed. "This is what Aura wanted us to see…"
Chika and Mirei just blinked in confusion. That's when the monitor displaying Zero's heart rate suddenly started beeping rapidly.
Mirei was freaked. "What's happening?!"
Chika just sighed. "Don't worry…this happens a lot. I don't know what it means, but it happens for a bit, and then goes back to normal.
Mirei and Mayumi waited, tense and fearful…but then, like Chika stated, the beeping went back to normal levels…
"I wish I knew what it meant though…"
"He's fighting…somewhere."
"Huh?"
"Seven years ago, people like him were all over the place. We fought…to save those people. The Eight Phases of the Cursed Wave…they were part of a Program that was originally meant to give birth to the Ultimate AI. But something went wrong. The program corrupted, became self-aware, and grew fearful of Aura's birth, because it would mean that it would be deleted. So it made the Eight Phases…and hunted Aura. They would attack players with a skill called Data Drain…and when used on humans it would do something to their minds…forcing them into comas while their minds continued playing…"
"So…Zero-kun is…"
"He's somewhere in The World, fighting something. Or he was…"
Chika stood up. "Then I'm doing this wrong. I should be looking for him!" She bowed low. "Thank you Kurokawa-san! I know what to do now!"
She bowed again to both and bolted out of the room. After blinking in confusion for a bit, Mayumi turned to her daughter. "Ne, Mirei…how would you like to play The World again?"
"We're going to play again?"
"I've got a few friends that are going to be meeting soon…I think…it would help Zero-kun if we found out from them what's happening. Don't you think?"
"Haaaaai!"
The two smiled and squeezed Zero's hands.
Just wait Zero-kun! We'll wake you up soon!
Hang in there Zero-kun…I promise I'll find a way to help you…just like I did the others.
Alright, welcome, to the third fic in my trilogy. Blame Persona 3's music for this idea. I've been playing Persona 3 FES almost religiously lately, so this little fic is going to be something to get me back in the groove of writing.
We're going to do things…a little differently. This will be a full fic. However…It will be done in the way of The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. Meaning the chapters may not be in order. So yes, there is a FULL possibility the final chapter may be smack dab in the middle of the fic, and you wont know because I'm insane like that. As such, the chapters will not be numbered. I'll want you to be surprised if it's the final chapter you read first, and the first chapter you read in the middle.
This fic will involve at least one chapter for every character, meaning anyone I mention WILL show up and do SOMETHING at least once. Obviously Zero and Aura are the main characters…but this time…it's going to be focusing on Zero's choice…or lack of choice…and Aura's actions and their repercussions.
Just remember, the events of the last two fics were an alternate future. All the events in those fics actually happened, but in a different time. Aura has now changed that timeline, and this is a brand new one. So the AIDA is still around, Natsume still hasn't gotten with Kite (yet) and Cubia still sleeps.
Now, just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride…