I, Yo-Yo Kirby, obviously do not own neither Bandai or the .hack//SIGN franchise. However I wish I did…. and I thank Bandai for bringing such a great series to the PS2.
Last Chance
A .hack//infection fan fiction written by Yo-Yo Kirby
Part One- When Worlds CollidePrologue
"Stupid computer." Bryan looked closely at the error window that had popped up.
'Program has preformed an illegal operation and will be shut down.' He clicked on the 'OK' button. 'Installation will not be complete if you close now. Exit Setup?' Bryan grunted and clicked 'OK.' The installation window disappeared and the screen was, yet again, at the desktop. Bryan sighed and leaned back in his computer chair. He's a good-looking kid, with unruly brown hair that covers his forehead and sharp facial features. He wears stylish wire-frame glasses, and his face conveys a certain gentleness about him. His large green eyes scanned the top of the ceiling as he leaned back in thought. His room is somewhat of a unique blend of both tidy and messy. Dirty clothes line the walls and yet, his computer desk is dusted and carefully organized. Posters of video games are plastered over the bedroom wall and a shelf carrying all his Playstation 4 games is slightly messy, as it has been used quite often.
Bryan opened the DVD drive and took out the disk. He scrutinized the shiny DVD for any defects or scratches, and slipped it back inside. "I really need to get rid of Windows." He murmured to himself as he waited for the D: drive to auto-setup. His computer runs on Windows '07, a bit outdated in the year 2010. He has been intending to upgrade, or even get the new Altimit. It would have to be burned, of course. Bryan would never spend money on any program he could easily get on the net. Finally, the setup window appeared, with 'The World' covering half of the screen. Bryan selected 'Auto-setup' and patiently watched as the little bar went back and forth. The bar slowly finished it's digital journey across the screen, and the title screen of 'The World' popped onto his screen. "The World, huh?" Bryan pondered as he moved his cursor across the screen.
It was an unusual name for a video game, but then again, this was no ordinary game. This was 'The World,' a MMORPG, or for people who can't speak computer nerd: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. There had been games like this in the past, such as Sony's enormously popular series, 'Everquest' in the late 1990's and early 2000's. But that game was nothing compared to this giant. This game had extremely high levels of realism, and goggles that you wore to make it seem as though you were actually there. You could get sucked into this game, and never come out, save for bathroom breaks and the occasional thing to eat. Bryan had felt doubtful that a RPG could be this good, but 20 million people, (10 million in Japan alone) can't lie, can they? Not that Bryan would actually buy the game, of course. He downloaded a pirated version off of some Canadian site. Bryan carefully entered the DVD-key which he had gotten off of the web as well.
Bryan smiled as the game verified and registered his version of The World.
"Now, to start." He clicked on the Log in button. A window came up entitled "Character Creation." A large chart of bars and statistics was below it. Bryan frowned. He wasn't especially fond of online RPG's. In fact, he had only tried the damn thing because his friend Justin insisted on it. In a rush to rid himself of the screens, he clicked random things.
"Wavemaster? Sounds cool." Click.
"Low HP parameters? Whatever." Click.
"Character Skin? Whatever." Click.
"Name? Hmm…" Bryan leaned forward in his seat as he struggled to think of a name. A sudden inspiration came over his face. He typed in: Reid. "It sounds cool, at least." He assured himself. At last, Bryan finished the tedious process, and pressed 'Log in' again. A smaller window popped up.
User Name:
Password:
Bryan frowned in frustration. This was why he disliked these games. There was simply too much stuff to remember. He typed in his name and password.
User Name: Reid
Password: ********
Click.
The Plug and Play Altimit goggles and/or Altimit gamepad is/are not plugged in.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about those." Bryan lifted from the floor a set of goggles which he plugged into the back of the computer. "There." He slipped on the goggles. A LCD screen inside the goggles showed him his computer screen. He re-clicked the 'Log-in' button. His computer screen went blank. And in the Delta Server Root Town, a Wavemaster by the name of Reid logged on.
Chapter OneWorld's Crash
"What do ya mean I can't hold more than 40 different items? That totally sucks!" Rain leaned back against the city wall and glared at the large framed man in front of her. Orca smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. You won't be needing that much space for a while." He turned to look at the Chaos Gate, a few feet away. He was very brawny, and green war-paint covered most of his body and face. He firmly held a large sword that almost shone as though it was on fire. "Are you waiting for someone?" Rain demanded. She was a pretty brown-haired girl about half of Orca's size. On her back she held a giant sword almost bigger than herself. She wore a typical female Heavy Sword outfit, which was a bit immodest for most people.
Orca shifted his eyes to her. "Yeah. A buddy of mine just started today. I'm gonna show him the ropes." He shifted his attention back to the Chaos Gate. She stomped impatiently. "Hey, but I just started today too. Aren't ya going to help me?"
"Not if you keep whining."
"Hmph."
Suddenly, a person logged in. A Wavemaster with a light green cloak stumbled onto the new ground, unfamiliar to him. He had silver-colored hair, most of which was covered under his hat. His large green eyes surveyed the town. Rain nudged Orca.
"Hey, is that the guy you're waiting for?"
Orca scanned the newcomer with his eyes. "Nope. He's a newbie alright, but not the one I'm looking for."
* * * *
The newbie took a couple steps and looked around in amazement. He had never seen anything like this before. A small Venice-esqe city, completely filled with other people online. He looked at himself. He was wearing some sort of stylish cloak and hat. And carrying a large wooden rod, he noticed. He glanced again across the town. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large man and a girl. The girl was looking at him and talking to man. Then the man looked at him, and talked to the girl. Curiously, he walked over to where they where standing. Carefully, he approached them.
"Um….hi… I-I'm kinda new here." He stuttered. The girl smirked. "So we noticed." She said smugly. The large man glanced at her for a second, and turned to him.
"Hello. The name's Orca." He nodded towards the girl. "This is Rain, she just started today too." He said kindly.
"Hey! Don't tell him that!" She pouted.
"So… what's your name?" Orca asked.
"Um…. it's B-…. Reid." Reid stammered. Orca smiled understandingly.
"It takes some getting used to, but try not to use your real name."
Reid shifted back and forth a little. "Okay, I'll try."
Orca took a few steps towards the Chaos Gate. "Well, I've got to get going pretty soon. My friend's going to be here any second."
"But what about me?" Rain pouted again.
Orca paused for a second, lost in thought. He looked at Rain, then at Reid and then back to Rain.
"Well, why don't the both of you go on a quest?"
Both Rain and Reid looked at each other at the same time. Rain started, "Well…uh…"
"Great!" Orca grinned. "Well then, get up to the Chaos Gate."
Rain and Reid both walked up to the large spinning mirror-like portal gate.
"Now, have you been any fields before?" Orca asked them.
Rain blushed a little. "Yeah, but I, uh… died."
"Well, I'll send you guys to an newbie field. Just make sure you don't enter the dungeon, okay?" Orca faced the portal, pausing for second.
Reid felt like asking something, but didn't have enough time to say it.
"Um… Orc-"
"I'll see you guys later!" Orca smiled as both Reid and Rain warped into the air.