.HackVision

Chapter 2: Role-Play

Important events in the .hack Timeline: Crimson Knights make first attempt to Question Tsukasa about the Cat Player

Perspective: Stance

I woke up late in the day and getting out of bed was a chore all in itself. I dragged myself out of the bed and over to my terminal and logged on. I had no new mail and so I decided to log into The World. It's not like I had anything else to do at the moment. As I logged in I was greeted with the same breath taking view as always. I quickly made my way to the Bridge in central Mac Anu but I was interrupted. Silver Knight was standing in front of me. "I require your assistance Stance, please come with me" he said and I quickly nodded, "Yes of course "I said moving to him. I was surprised to see Salu there with him as well. He turned to us both and started speaking, "Many players have reported seeing a cat-like player in fields and dungeons but just recently we have received reports of this cat player being seen in root towns with a Wave Master" he explained. "Thanks to a recent report we now have the wave master's name: Tsukasa.

Tsukasa……

We have tracked down this player and will confront him at Θ Rejecting Oblivious Wave Master. "So we are dealing with a hacked character" I asked Silver Knight. "Yes, we have double checked with a system administrator, this type of character does not exist within the normal parameters of, The World. We made preparations and then made our way to Θ Server. We warped to the appropriate area, Silver Knight Pointed to a distant wind mill. Salu and I nodded and followed close behind. The Wave Master...Tsukasa, Heard us coming and he quickly sprang to his feet. "We're not here to fight" Silver Knight said. Salu and I jammed our swords into the ground as a sign of peace.

"Greetings we're the 13th Squadron of the Crimson Knights, I'm sure you've heard of us" Silver Knight said with a friendly Smile. My turn… "We Crimson Knights value Courage, Civility, and tolerance. We were formed to look after The World and ensure its smooth operation." I said, "We are constantly keeping watch for any illegal activities inside The World" Salu said. Tsukasa stalled for a moment before responding, "Then I'm of no interest to you" he retorted. Silver Knight interrupted me before I could respond, "You're wrong, we are interested in all who come to The World" Silver Knight said "Just a few days ago you were seen with a mock cat player am I correct?" Silver Knight asked Tsukasa paused for a moment, "cat...that is…?" Tsukasa said softly.

"Someone saw you in the presence of this player" I said. Does he really know anything? "That character was obviously edited illegally" Salu said. "We cannot ignore this fact, however we do not intend to cause you any trouble" Silver Knight said. Tsukasa stood there with a confused expression on his face. "Is this cat player male or female? we need more information, where can we find that player?" Silver Knight said, Tsukasa stood there unresponsive,"We wont inconvenience you any further I promise you that" Silver Knight repeated with a friendly smile. Tsukasa just stood there unresponsive until suddenly he threw his hand into the air and he gated out of the area it caught us of guard and we readied our weapons. "He ran" I said, Silver Knight stood at ease, "We may need to monitor him" He said. Why did he run away? Silver Knight muttered under his breath I snapped to attention "Your orders?" I asked Silver Knight.

He turned to me with an annoyed frown on his face. "Stand guard here while Salu and I round up a guard team" he said before they both warped out of the area. I looked at the area where Tsukasa had been sitting. Walking over to it I plopped down on the soft grass and looked off in the distance, why did he run…He is obviously hiding something. I sat there until the guard team arrived. They walked over to me and relieved me of my post. Standing up I glanced around the area once more before gating out; leaving the area behind. I returned to Dun Lorieg a city in the skies.

There were many walk ways made of wood that were scattered across the city. I turned back to the Chaos gate, ready to log out when I was confronted by a strange female player. Her name read Nio when I targeted her, her avatar was crying. She looked up at me and said "You! Are you a Crimson Knight?" sounding depressed. "Yes, may I assist you in anyway?" I said. Her character was small, reminiscent of a small child even. Whiping the tears away from her eyes she said, "I've been PKed Twice in the same area, please help me" I've seen this tactic before; who does she think she's fooling? "Alright, what area were you PKed in?" I asked.

She paused for a moment, "here I'll show you!" That seals it, a trap. I followed her to Θ Unmatched Destroyer's Fort Walls… The area was dark and gloomy, it seemed like it was ready to rain at any moment. I looked around at many of the numerous stone statues and passed them I could make out the dungeon entrance off in the distance. It was a large fort tattered with flags and such that suited it well. Nio finally warped into the area, "Come on, it's over here!" she yelled as she darted straight towards the dungeon, dodging every magic portal, she quickly ran inside. I don't know if I can beat her…but I've got to try. "It is not easy, to act in the name of justice…"

I sighed out loud as I entered the dungeon knowing exactly what I was getting into. The dungeon was reminiscent of an old dungeon, a long hallway stood before me, I quickly scanned the room for anyone, but it was empty. I kept on moving, going deeper into the dungeon. The second room was empty as well. There are no magic portals; she obviously cleared the area out. I moved into the next room, it held a jail cell and I could see the skeletal remains of three human beings inside of it but neither players, nor magic portals were visible.

I slowly made my way to the next room, it was large and was being held up by chains connecting it to the surrounding walls, it looked as if the platform could collapse at any moment. I walked to the center of the room cautiously, quickly looking around. I could feel eyes peering at me through the darkness. Its strange how a 'net game can invoke emotions like paranoia and fear. I quickly drew my sword. "Suvi Lei!" someone had cast a spell on me and I could no longer move my avatar. I was paralyzed! Damnit Nio Moved out of the shadows with a wicked grin and examined me. "That was almost too easy" she taunted. However, before I could speak another figure stepped out of the shadows,

"Well now, I didn't expect such a fine catch". The female came closer to me and put her finger between my eyes, laughing. "So now your lackeys are doing the fighting for you, 'eh Kaochin?" I asked. "Oh no, no, no, this is not a fight, it's an execution!" she declared. Quickly becoming bored with the current situation, Kaochin started to speak but I quickly interrupted her. "Yes, yes, can we please get this over with, you're about as stale as every other Subaru clone out there" I said hoping to strike a nerve. . . I succeeded. She became furious, her avatar showing the emotion surprisingly well, she brought her axe up over her head, bringing it crashing down.

Luckily both Nio and Kaochin hadn't noticed the paralyzing spell had worn off, and I quickly brought my sword up to counter her attack, halting her axe mid-swing. Both of us jumped back and faced off but she had the advantage due to Nio. I was outnumbered. But I wasn't about to run no matter what the odds and just as I prepared for the dreaded battle Kaochin laughed manically. Finally Nio took the initiative and ended the stand off. She quickly attempted to paralyze me again but this time the spell had no effect, I had resisted the spell entirely and I knew I had to strike first and fast if I could would even have a chance to reach Nio before she released another spell. I just may be able to take her down if I don't hesitate.

I dashed towards Nio but Kaochin swung her axe horizontally cutting my path off half-way. I was barely able to stop myself from walking head first into her attack. Nio had used this opportunity to retreat farther away from me and now with Kaochin blocking my way I had no choice but to focus on her. She started her attack. Her blows were powerful and all she needed was one hit to seriously injure me. Her attacks were powerful but she was slow. I was able to avoid all of her attacks successfully until Nio cast Dek Do on me, a spell that lowered my speed. Then she cast AP Do on Kaochin, Making her faster than me. It was over, there was no way I could dodge her now. Kaochin laughed as she walked over to me, although with her speed it seemed more like a sprint. She brought her axe up over my head but suddenly she froze.

Kaochin had been paralyzed; I slowly looked behind her at Nio. Pink hearts were dazzling around her head. She's charmed, but who or what could have done it!? Out of the shadows emerged another player. He held his halberd, the weapon of a Long Arm class up right and had a sly grin on his face. "I had a feeling that scroll would come in handy!" the player said enthusiastically. It was dark, I couldn't see the other player very well but I knew immediately who it was, "Always a pleasure dash" I said as the spell, Dek Do wore off.

Kaochin was still frozen in place while Nio kept casting weakening spells on her. I found it amusing because both of them were shouting at one another. I walked over to dash and we formed a party. "You can have the Wave Master. " I said to Dash. I then made my way over to the still frozen Kaochin, "But I want Kaochin..." I said. "Are you going to kill me like this? That's not very honorable!" Kaochin yelled. I fumbled through my inventory and found an Antidote, I used it on Kaochin; her abnormalities were removed. "There, now you will face me without the help of your friend." I said readying my sword. Kaochin was furious; she charged at me and swung her axe furiously. I dodged to the side and quickly counter attacked by cleaving at her side with a horizontal swipe.

My attack drained about a third of her health, it's not much, but if I can keep this up, I can defeat her. She quickly swung her Axe in a diagonal sweep. I couldn't get out of the way in time so I brought my sword up to parry the attack but her own attack was much too powerful and she was able to damage me; my own health falling by half. She stopped to taunt me, it was her mistake. I quickly dashed in and attacked her as before, and managed to land two blows. She was now at one third of her normal health. The next blow would finish it. We both charged forward, "Axel Pain! " Kaochin shouted. "Anid Spiral "I yelled. Both of us had used a skill but unfortunately for Kaochin, her skill made her spin horizontally and swing her axe. My skill made me jump into the air, and it brought my sword crashing down on her head. Her body spun out of control and fell over, draining the last of her hit points. She turned grey and faded out of the area. "That's that I suppose..."

I looked over at dash that stood next to Nio. She was paralyzed and was unable to move. "What are you doing!?" I asked him with true uncertainty. "Oh! These scrolls don't sell for a lot. I suppose I found a use for them after all" he said smiling. During our short conversation the effects of the scrolls wore off and Nio ran desperately toward the exit, escaping. "Damnit, you let her get away!" I yelled as I turned back to Dash. He turned towards me, "Hey, relax, its not like she ended up doing anything major here. The real villain here was Kaochin" Dash said "That's not the point, she knew the consequences of her actions and she did this for the soul reason of killing a Crimson Knight.

I cannot just let that go!" I said aloud, feeling the same pride arousing that I felt when I first joined the knights. Dash threw his halberd over his shoulders, "'Naw, you're just jumping to conclusions. She was obviously a weaker character than Kaochin and was most likely just a pawn". I sheathed my weapon, a long sword accustomed to all Crimson Knights. "Fine, but if I get any more reports of an incident like this involving that player I will hold you responsible" I said sternly. "Whatever you say" Dash said with a shrug. "What about Kaochin, She really wanted you dead, why did she want to kill you so badly?" He said looking to me curiously. "My first day in The World I was targeted by a player killer, that "PKer" was Kaochin.

However, her attempt was foiled when I was saved by Silver Knight. She normally only targets normal players but recently she has began luring Crimson Knights into her traps." Dash started to speak but my attention was centered on the chat log at the bottom of my screen. I had received a flash mail from Silver Knight.

Meet me at Θ Rejecting Oblivious Wave Master

Dash looked at me with an awkward expression that I didn't quite understand, "Duty Calling?" he asked, tapping his halberd against his shoulder. "That's fine; I have to log out anyway. See you tomorrow Stance and don't forget, there is more to this world than enforcing laws and regulations" he said with a smile as he waved to me casually. Then before I could even respond he warped out of the dungeon. I looked up at the stone walls in thought. I enforce these laws set by players so that other players can enjoy the game. I thought about what the world would be like without the knights, with out other players enforcing their own laws, Perhaps players would take it on themselves to stop PKing, and Hacking… The answer was unclear;

I didn't want to think about it. I looked back down at my chat log. I need to meet Silver Knight. I fumbled through my inventory until I found a Sprite Ocarina. I gated out of the area and found myself in Dun Lorieg again. I removed my HMD and wiped the sweat off of my face. The run-in with Kaochin had been intense. Duty calls... I thought as I put my HMD back over my face. I looked at my Keyword History and found Θ Rejecting Oblivious Wave Master I warped to the area and looked around. Where is he? Suddenly I heard a faint sound in the distance. Could it be fighting? "Where is….there, the dungeon?" As I made my way to the dungeon I heard a scream unlike any I had ever heard in The World. It sounded muffled and brought chills up my neck. So much so that I stopped in my tracks, what the hell was that? I ran as fast as I could to the dungeon and approached the entrance with caution. I peeked around the corner and there stood Tsukasa, with a grin on his face. In front of him lay Silver Knight. I quickly drew my sword and charged into the entrance but Tsukasa warped out of the area. I walked over to Sliver Knight's corpse

"Damnit!" I yelled. I thought about what I should do but something abnormal caught my eye. His corpse just stayed there. It didn't disappear as it should have. I tried using a resurrect item on him but it had no effect. He isn't disappearing... "The captain was defeated by him…" I said coldly. I quickly gated back to Dun Lorieg and waited for Silver Knight to come back but he didn't. It said he was logged in and I even tried flash mailing him but it did not warrant a response. I had to assume he was missing. It wasn't like Silver Knight to just up and leave at a time like this. I logged out and opened my mailbox:

Attention all Knights

This is Stance, 1st Lieutenant of squad 13. I've been unable to contact Silver Knight after he was defeated by the Wave Master Tsukasa. Due to his absence I will now take over his duties. This is an order to all squads in the Crimson Knights. We are officially on the lookout for a Wave Master named Tsukasa. We have reason to believe he is aiding hackers. He has proven himself uncooperative however, it is uncertain if he himself killed Silver Knight but I did find him standing over Silver Knight's Corpse. If you locate this Wave Master you will detain him for questioning. Make sure he does not endanger any other players and because his actions are erratic do not take any risks.

-Stance

I removed my HMD, It was late and the knights were alerted. I went over to my bed and lay down uneasily. Why did Silver Knight go in alone? If he would have just waited then I could have helped him." I said aloud before closing my eyes, "A stunt to prove he was better than crim most likely." It was only Saturday and I would have Sunday off. I would have to explain my self to Subaru no doubt. A part of me wished I didn't give out that order but I don't dwell on the past.

I slowly drifted to sleep...