A/N: I'm back, readers. Thanks for recent review from the previous chapter, especially from AzureZephyr, Sightbent, Nightrose1, Carl-Azure Moon, Frodo Heartnet, and EverKaru.

Firstly, I'd like to explain about the sleeping AI. Actually, AIs never slept like human. Sleeping for AI means refreshing memories and updating data in its artificial mind. So Zefie wasn't dreaming about Kite, it was just her mind trying to process what she learnt on that day, especially about Kite's profile and her idea of finding her father.

Secondly, it's about Balmung's and Kite's player. I don't know their real names, so I put Tsubasa as Balmung's real name (Tsubasa means wing) and Kaito as Kite's real name (Kite was spelled into Kaito in Japanese anyway). From Wikipedia, I knew that Balmung's player was 18 years old in his first appearance, four years older than Kite's and Orca's players. So he should be 22 (a college student) after 4 years of .hack/Quarantine while Kite's and Orca's players should be 18 and they are students in their third and final year of high school.

Well, please enjoy this chapter.

THE MEETING

Tsubasa/Balmung's POV

Back from campus at the evening, I checked my email at my apartment, using my laptop. Actually, emails I received today weren't too important and urgent. They were from my friends, sending emails about jokes and news in campus. Anyway, only one email that made me frowned, and it was from Zefie. Well, this was the first time I received her email.

Aura's daughter, huh? What does she want?

I opened and read it.

To: Balmung

From: Zefie

Dear Winged Guy,

What? Winged guy? I felt annoyed with that nickname. Then I read the next part.

I see you still play around the World until now, helping CC admin. So I want you to ask your friends from the previous heroic battle to come again to the World. For your information, I'm learning the history of the World and I need much primary data about it.

By the way, I don't care whoever you ask to come to the World, but make sure you ask the legendary hero to come here. And don't you dare to tell Helba and my mom about this email. I would know if you did.

You can meet me tomorrow in Mac Anu at 7 pm together with the Bearer of the Bracelet. Don't forget about my orders, or else. I'll change your white wings and hair style into pink afros (I love pink anyway).

Zefie

The ultimate-AI-to-be

Actually, I didn't know whether I should decide this email as orders or threats. But one last thing you should know: I shuddered a bit. I didn't want Balmung's appearance changed into what she said. It was too disgraceful for one of the Descendants of Fianna looking like that. If it happened, I would never enter the World again for the rest of my life before I had another idea to change my avatar.

I ran my hand through my messy hair, stressed. This was very critical. I should force and drag Kaito to the World tomorrow. So I reached my cell-phone, calling Yasuhiko.

"Yeah?" I heard his voice.

"Yasu, you're in the same class with Kaito, right?"

"Yes. So?"

"Can you persuade him to come to the World again?"

"What? Are you serious? For what? You know he didn't want to log in anymore, don't you? And why do you ask me about this?" He was surprised, pushing me with many questions.

"One: I repeat, can you persuade him to come to the World again?. Two: Yes, I'm. Three: This is about an AI's curiosity. Four: Yes, I do. Five: actually, I want to do it by myself to contact him. But you know, compared to me, you're his close friend."

"But-"

"Listen! Just say to him that this is urgent! I'm positive he'll consider it. Make sure he and you will log in and come to Mac Anu at 7 pm tomorrow."

"But what do you mean about AI's curiosity?"

"You'll know if he and you log in."

Yasuhiko/Orca's POV

The bell at my school rang, giving the students a sign to be allowed to go home. Hurriedly, I chased my classmate as he left me after I told him about Tsubasa's request.

"Kaito!" I yelled, calling him.

"Don't follow me!" He yelled back, without turning his head to look at me. Even he started running, wanting to leave me badly. Unfortunately for him, I succeed to grab the collar of his dark blue school uniform from behind. He looked upset, "If you want to go, you can go with him!"

"But he said I should go with you!" I released him from my grab.

"This is the third and final year of high school. I can't do anything except studying!" He stated, giving me a serious expression.

"Aw, come on! Our mid-test was over yesterday. We need entertainment! Besides, you shouldn't worry about your test score. Everybody knows that you're one of the smartest students in this school." I grinned mischievously.

"It doesn't make any sense for me. I would never log in. Not anymore!" He started running away, but I grabbed his collar again.

"Look, buddy! I didn't mean to force you. I know you don't want to log in for some reasons, mainly because of a special girl," I stopped intentionally, seeing his slightly burnt face.

"You-" He was aggravated, trying to defend himself as he knew I did it on purpose.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make fun of you! Just listen to me, honestly I don't know why Tsubasa asked me to log in with you. But I felt like it's a serious problem."

"What problem? The World was saved anyway!"

"He didn't tell me clearly. He just said it's urgent and it's about AI's curiosity."

"Aura?"

Hearing the name from him, I stared at him. His cheeks suddenly flushed, realizing his reaction could make me to catch something from him. Then he looked away, pretending nothing happened.

I was tempted to tease him again, but dropping it was a good idea for now. He would be upset again and I would fail to meet Tsubasa's request.

"You'll do anything for your friends, won't you?" I asked. "… because that's the real you that I always know."

He didn't answer, just looking at me without any expression.

Balmung's POV

At the next day, I logged in, waiting for the little AI in Mac Anu before I met Orca and Kite. But it was unfortunate that I felt stomachache. It seemed that this happened because I ate sashimi (A/N: raw fish) too much for lunch.

"I'll be back later!" I said before logging out, seeing Zefie approaching me.

Orca's POV

It was 6.45 pm when Kite and I logged in, appearing in Mac Anu. Now I stood near the main building, while Kite stood beside me, leaning his back against the wall, his hands in his pants pockets, waiting for Balmung.

Since I often logged in, my character still existed. However, I was surprised, realizing Kite's character was still saved in the system though he never logged in. But then again, he was the hero in the World. Of course the system couldn't get rid of him easily, especially when there were Aura, Helba, and other C.C. administrators.

I chuckled a bit, seeing Kite's calm attitude though he looked uncomfortable.

"What?" He glared at me.

"Well, the last time I saw your character was 4 years ago. Now I see there's no change in it, except for your height."

He remained silent.

The last time I saw Kite, he looked like a kid. But at this moment, he was taller, though he wasn't as tall as me; at least he couldn't be categorized as a kid anymore. Even his height was same like his height in the real world. Not only that, he was calmer than before, a sign that he developed his personality during 4 years, to be better in my eyes.

"Have you checked yourself if you can use data drain and gate-hacking?" I asked.

He stared at his right wrist. There was no shining bracelet there. Then he just gave me a casual look, saying, "I don't know, and I don't care about it anymore. Besides, I don't think those techniques are still useful in the peaceful world."

I sighed. Perhaps, he was right.

20 minutes passed, and Balmung hadn't appeared yet.

"This is weird. Usually he's on time," I scratched on my head, confused.

A few minutes later, Kite got more impatient and nervous since other players were looking at him as if he was freak or sort of. Even some of them whispered about the disappearing legendary hero, trying to compare between himself and the savior. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, saying, "Maybe he forgets about the meeting. Can I log out now?"

"No! Wait, Kite! I'm sure he won't forget. Just wait for him!"

"We just waste our time here."

"So why don't we walk around?"

He frowned.

"There are many new things that you haven't seen here."

"Since this can be my last to come here, I don't think it's important, Orca."

I sighed again, thinking another idea to make him stay here longer. "I want to trade with another player. Just accompany me!"

"Fine."

He followed me, looking so bored while I was approaching another female player.

"Do you have speed charm? We can trade!" I asked her.

"Sure, what do you have?"

Zefie's POV

I growled, walking through the wide road with teddy on my hand. Stupid winged knight! He left me suddenly, telling me he got stomachache so he couldn't log in.

I walked fast and then turned right. Suddenly my face bumped against someone's thigh (ugh, I hated to be so short so I was unnoticeable), falling on my rear.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" He yelled angrily. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING! GET OFF NOW!"

I tried to stand, ready to insult the giant Blade Master while putting my hands on my hips, "Shut up you blind pig! You're the one who should apologize."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

It seemed my sentence was too annoying for him since he swung his blade to fear me. But the way he moved it was too close so it could hit me if someone didn't hold his hand swiftly, trying to prevent him to accidentally hurt me.

I turned to my savior, hearing the polite yet firm tone from his voice.

"She's just a kid. Don't be so mean to her."

"You-" Now the giant player's attention charged him. However, after guessing what kind a player whom he was dealing to, he looked terrified a bit, especially when he saw the dead glare, confidence, and determination in his blue eyes. This player wasn't an amateur, indeed. It would be a big trouble for him if he kept persistent.

Without saying anything, he left him and me.

"Are you okay?" The green haired Twin Blade took my teddy on the road and gave it to me while I was gazing at him.

I couldn't believe what I saw in front of me. His red outfit. His green hair and blue eyes. His face. His smile. He looked like one of the profiles in the World's history. Even he was the main character that I admired since a few days ago. He was ….

"… Kite." Automatically I said that name.

He frowned, confused about how I knew his name. Then he bent his knee so we could be in the same vision level, putting his hand on it. He stared at me, smiling friendly and asking, "Have we ever met before?"

Kite's POV

Firstly in my thought, looking at this kid reminded me of someone, no an AI. She was definitely like little Aura in my eyes. But then again, she wasn't Aura. Or was she? I never logged in for 4 years. I didn't know how her current appearance was.

I was nervous, seeing her staring at me with full of admiration. It seemed she knew who I was. Heck, almost everybody in the World knew me, even the newbies. It was good that we were in a secluded alley in Mac Anu. If we weren't, I was sure people around us would look at me as if I was a rare creature. However, I also caught something strange in her stare. The way she looked at me was like someone who had just found the one she missed. In fact, I felt like we never saw each other before. So why did she miss me?

Because she didn't reply my previous question, I gave her another one, "What's your name?"

"My name is Zefie," she answered innocently.

"Are you lost or something? Can I help you?"

She opened her mouth, ready to respond but Orca interrupted us.

"Here you are! I thought you didn't want to explore the World anymore. But now you even try to leave me," he protested. Then he stopped when he saw Zefie. "Who is this kid?"

Zefie turned to my friend and spoke, "You're Orca."

Orca's and my eyes widened. She knew Orca too? So who was she?

"Wow! I don't know that I'm still famous!" Orca was laughing happily that he forgot to think about how Zefie knew about him. Then he glanced at me, "Oh yeah! I received Balmung's email. He's waiting near the pool. Let's go!"

"But she-" I didn't want to leave Zefie alone, not until she met someone whom she trusted. But unexpectedly, she ran away, leaving Orca and me confused.

"What's wrong with her?" I mumbled.

Orca saw a running Zefie and smirked, "Maybe she's shy. Anyway, do you agree that she looks like Aura?"

"Hm … yeah, except for her hair color," I answered thoughtfully.

Orca chuckled, "Well yeah. But oddly, her reddish blonde hair reminds me of someone's."

"Someone's?" I questioned though I knew the answer.

"Your hair color in the reality, Kite."

... to be continued ...