Shino simply stared at Reiko after she finished her story. She shook her head and returned her gaze back to Masato. "AIDA can't be back. Masato wouldn't have allowed it to happen like that." She said fervently.
"That's how everything is looking. Look, whether you want to believe it or not, we fought a large group of AIDA just yesterday. Now, if you want to sit around and reject what's going on around you, that's fine, but when Ovan wakes up, you cannot hold him back." Reiko commanded.
Shino stared at her, a frown forming on her face. "I'm here to make sure that Masato," she said, putting emphasis on Ovan's real name, "Wakes up and recovers from this. The first thing he isn't going to do, is going back online and possibly getting himself hurt again. Not after what he's done for me, Haseo, and everyone that has woken up from their comas." She said, her voice rising.
A glitch in Hiraku's heart monitor caused both of them to drop their voices and stare at their feet. "Look, you know that Masato, as Ovan, is The Rebirth. We need him, and he needs us, especially now." Reiko murmured and walked out of the room, flipping her cell open. Shino opened her mouth but didn't say anything.
As soon as she was out of Shino's hearing range, she dialed Takumi's number. "I've found him, Takumi. He's with Masato in Kameda. Yes. Well, I've seen people in better condition, and his heart apparently is having trouble." Reiko started to list off different ailments that Hiraku's body was suffering under until Takumi gave an affirmative grunt.
"Alright. I think we've got a rundown of the situation. We've got quite a few things to do, and most of them aren't going to be very fun. For the moment, I've given Fidchel free reign of the network, and he along with Kuhn's Magus, are combing the network for traces of Lycoris. Zelkova and I have reason to suspect that the three AI's will be in Outer Dungeons." Takumi listed, cycling the information in small bouts.
"Free reign?" Reiko asked, confused.
"You never thought what our Avatars did while we were offline? It takes awhile, but we can synchronize our minds with our Avatars. Haseo mentioned that before." He replied. "So, we have Fidchel and Magus working on searching for Lycoris for now."
Reiko was silent for a while, consuming the new information quickly. "I think we should all hear about this. It's not good to keep some of the other members in the dark. I don't think Atoli has even heard of anything about his yet." she proposed. She waited for his answer and tapped on the wall.
"I don't see why not. Observing Hiraku's real body might be a good reminder of what could happen if we fail." Takumi said. Reiko imagined him nodding at this and smiled.
"Alright, how about… this Wednesday?" Reiko asked making sure she was at least off then.
"That's good enough. I'll give everyone else an email." Takumi said dismissively. Reiko's usual conversations ended with Takumi hanging up on her with this type of tone, so she held the phone away from her ear as she noticed one of her tennis shoes' laces were loose. "Wait. Before you go, you should try to speak with Tarvos and let her join Fidchel and Magus with the search for Lycoris." Takumi suddenly said, breaking Reiko's thoughts.
"Alright, I'll get around to doing that before I sleep tonight." She said amused. When she heard no answer, she flipped her phone shut and slid it into her pocket.
Lycoris had been nearly spotted by Magus when the AI began combing the Outer Dungeons for her. Since she had broken away with Zefie, she was hunted down by Morganna and was nearly captured twice from the old AI. The Propagation was known for its detailed searches down to the minute details, and those searches had nearly found her until she relocated to an area he had previously searched and gave up on.
Magus seemed different now, however; The Propagation didn't seem like it used to be, and acted rather nonchalant whenever he finally finished an area and failed to find her. The Prophet, Fidchel, wasn't the greatest at hacking the network trying to find her though, so she was relatively safe from him unless she deliberately showed herself.
Lycoris giggled at the thought, but then returned her serious gaze to the screens she summoned. AIDA was essentially her sons and daughters, even though she wasn't Aura herself, but as an early version of Aura, she considered them family. In particular, Lycoris had been watching a player that couldn't, or wouldn't log out, and this particular player seemed to have an affinity with both AIDA and the eight Phases.
That was what was annoying her, as she reasoned that the only reason that the Phases would listen to humans would be if they had joined her, such as the player Sora back before R: 1 was destroyed. Then again, even he grew weary of following Morganna's orders, and turned his back on her before she sent the first Phase Skeith on him.
Lycoris shifted into a different area of the network to keep from being spotted. Since she was last free, the Phases had not been created from Morganna's data yet, but in her time as one with Aura, she observed the Phases' creation. And since then, Aura's only distress was when she was forced down and locked away into powerlessness.
She returned her attention to the player, who had since joined up with another silver haired player wearing gear-like white armor. Her eyes widened when she sensed The Terror of Death's presence within him, and debated that she wouldn't yet approach him.
Lycoris' body tensed and she turned around to find Magus directly behind her, his arms outstretched with several screens of data floating around him. He flipped a few of the screens off and made his tail encircle around her.
"You are Lycoris, right?" The Propagation asked. His white mask emanated no emotion, but she could tell that he didn't have many ulterior motives. Lycoris' eyes scanned the data space she was in quickly, calculating her escape routes. True, you might have an advantage over me power-wise, but I'm a more powerful AI, even if I am not Aura. I can just hack my way out of whatever prison you want to-
"Umm… you can hear me, can't you?" Magus asked. Even though he had basically surrounded her, he didn't have a hint of domination to his voice.
Curiously, the AI drabbed in red cloth bit The Propagation's bait lightly. "What do you want with me?" She said bitterly.
"We'd like you to come with us." The AI stated.
"We? We who? You and The Prophet?" Lycoris asked.
"Not only us, but an array of humans that would need your help." Magus twitched his tail at the strange look Lycoris gave him.
"I'm a failure, you should remember. I'm not needed for anything." She mused. "I'll give you a better thought, why don't you delete me?" the AI snarled.
"I don't consider you a failure. If you are needed, doesn't that make you a success?" Magus proposed.
Lycoris considered the statement. "Then why did Albireo willingly delete me, if I was so needed?" she retorted.
"Because now you are very important to our cause. We need you, actually." The Propagation bowed slightly.
Seeing the Third Phase bow to her made her uncomfortable and blushed a bit. "If you are planning on using me to destroy AIDA, you can forget it." She dismissed.
Magus simply leaned his head in closer to the young AI. "Destroy? AIDA is helping us." The Propagation paused. "I saw you watching Jikan. Interested in him?" he poked at her curiosity. Beneath his mask, Magus smirked. If there's any way to get someone to join you, it's to provoke his or her curiosity. The AI thought and extended his arm.
Lycoris shifted her eyes. "Well, go and get me excited for nothing." She murmured. Magus tilted his head, and she explained. "I'm just a fragment of my whole self. You know the deal, Zefie finally deleted me, and I was sent to the Sea of Data. I can't come back into The World unless that piece of me is recovered." She said.
The Propagation considered the situation. Convinced that he could temporarily restore her, Magus looked at her directly. "Will you allow me to see your code?"
Lycoris blinked, but didn't reject the proposal. "If you think you must…" she said uncertainly, opening her arms and revealing a small erratic ball of data.
Ovan's thoughts were mulled down, but he found that he could focus on something if he tried long enough. Normally, this was impossible for him unless there was a threat to Aura nearby, but this wasn't the case.
Who are you to our Mother? Terrapene's voice ran through his head. Whether knowingly or not the AIDA had interfered with his connection with Aura. Ovan took a breath and extended his arm out into the Sea, accomplishing nothing, yet at the same time, he considered it another step forward.
Ovan didn't consider his time like a jail sentence, but since he was more or less inert, he figured that it was a good use to a wondering mind. A small thought asking him if he was now a wondering AI flashed through his head, but he didn't ponder it.
The Rebirth had finally moved on too, but it left a copy of its data within Ovan, to keep his worth with Aura. Ovan had sensed it as well, the other Epitaphs users had begun to send their Avatars off on separate missions, and Ovan did not object when Corbenik had brought the issue up.
Now he was mostly left alone, excluding the occasional Azure Knight passing through to report to Aura; that is, if she was even still within the cathedral. Azure Balmung, in particular, was passing through more often than normal. Only once, however, had he interacted with Ovan, and that was to push his drifting body out of the way.
However, as the particular Knight walked by, he stopped and gave his eerie glare at Ovan and beckoned him to come closer to him. He couldn't of course, so Azure Balmung manipulated the data within the Sea to push him towards the Knight.
"The other Phases are moving." He said simply and paused, trying to correct his corrupted speech. "Send Corbenik to the PC known as Yata. He will guide them to you. Go, walk to Aura." He commanded while pointing at Ovan.
Instantly, the zero-gravity feeling around Ovan vanished and he dropped to the ground, able to move again. He stood up and dusted his clothes off. "Aura?" Ovan asked.
Balmung seemed tired of talking, so he merely pointed at the large doors of the cathedral. Ovan took the hint and walked unsteadily to the large doors. As soon as he reached them, he placed a hand on the door and brought up the menu and scrolled towards the Log Out selection only to find it missing. So I still can't log out. Be patient, Aina, Shino, Haseo, I'll be back soon. Ovan thought, and opened the door, disappearing behind it.
Aina's training had bore more fruit than she would have expected. Not only had she closed the gap to max level, but she currently found herself standing in front of a strange Beast Statue.
The Statue itself wasn't strange, it was typical for the area, but it was what the Statue had done when it collapsed. Instead of falling to the ground, it simply flattened and formed a path to a new area behind the Statue.
Strangely though, the area beyond was completely white, similar to The Creator's Room that she had frequented with her older brother in the past. However, this place wasn't scarred from Tri-Edge, and no books littered the ground.
AIDA however, was present, in the form of a small cloud of black bubbles floating around the room. Unlike the other AIDA however, this one didn't attack her on sight, unless it was blind or lame.
Aina walked through the room carefully, testing the floor to make sure there weren't any traps, but she needn't bother looking for enemies; Aina could see for what seemed like miles and saw no traces of enemies. The only other presence in the room was the same AIDA that hovered in the room with a trace of a nonchalant aura.
"Well well, so it was you!" a voice from the bubbles said. It was deep and slow, and it echoed throughout the room. Aina summoned her grimoire and took her stance, carefully observing the AIDA. "Ah, don't get your panties in a bunch, I'm not going to attack you." Aina blushed but her grimoire started to glow. "I said settle DOWN!" The voice snarled slowly, sending a shockwave that emanated from the AIDA source, completely sealing Aina's weapon. Satisfied, the voice approached the situation again. "So, you are related by blood of the man known as Masato Indou if I am not mistaken."
Aina glared at the AIDA. "How do you know about me?" she asked warily.
The AIDA was silent for a moment. "You're brother is Ovan." It said slowly.
"So how do you know my brother?" Aina questioned.
"Because I've already met him." It laughed a slow and wheezy laugh. "Your brother, as you should be aware, holds the power of The Rebirth. You could say I share the same abilities as him as well."
"Who are you?"
"You can call me Terrapene." It chuckled. "The Moving Earth, as some of the other AIDA regard me as. Did you know that I'm a half a century old? Forty-eight years old, only a couple minutes younger than the first internet server ever created. Of course, it wasn't until Aura was created that I actually grew to my current size…" the AIDA reminisced.
Aina gave the small black dots a confused look. "You're pretty small." She commented.
"Small? Small? Look at this whelp, I sort out my data and this whelp thinks that I'm small!" Terrapene half laughed and half roared. Naturally, it all sounded to be slightly sped down. "Ah, I always get a good kick out of this. Alright whelp, stay right where you are, I'll be right back." Terrapene ordered, and the black dots shot off deep into the white room.
Aina crossed her arms, waiting for the black dots to return. Instead, the entire area grew dark and four large tremors rocked the ground, followed by an even large one that made Aina literally fly off the ground. The darkness retreated and the light returned to normal, revealing a monstrously large, transparent green tortoise that hosted several large spikes along the rim of its shell, and its head slowly displaced the air as it came out of the shell. The tortoise was of behemoth size; she couldn't even gauge it to anything she knew.
The head of the tortoise, or rather, Terrapene, loomed over her before it lowered and one of its opaque white eyes. "Am I so small now?" he asked, laughing in snorts afterwards.
Aina took a step back in complete shock. "W-what just-?"
"Ah, your brother wasn't surprised when I came to him in this form." He said, disappointed. "You see, I'd rather join myself with Ovan himself, but since he already has Corbenik, that's not an option. However, you two have the same blood, I just might be able to use you."
"Use me? Just what do you think I am?" Aina growled, expressing her discontent.
"You think you stand a chance at to what's to come? Look at you, you can't defeat even me, and I know that there are much stronger beings than me." Terrapene fired back. "With this form, there's only so much I can do, and if it means acquiring the support of the Epitaphs, then I'll need to use you. Got it small fry?" Terrapene asked amused.
Aina thought about what he said. Am I really so weak that I can't even help my brother like this? If I do help that stupid turtle out, will this help bring Masato back? Ugh, why did you have to sacrifice yourself?
"I see that you must need time to think. Very well." The huge AIDA groaned and with two more giant tremors, turned its body sideways. "Meet me at Theta, Hidden Forbidden Battlefield when you've made up your mind." Terrapene said, and opened his mouth. A huge ball of light appeared in the giant jaws of the AIDA. When Aina looked closer, a thin beam shot high into the air and cut the data as it traveled back down. The area inside split open, and it was completely full of black and green data. "I'll be there until Wednesday, so you have three days to make up your mind." He said before slowly progressing through the giant tear.
Tomonari Kasumi stretched as he finally woke up. As it being Sunday, the player known as Kuhn didn't have work for the day, and he was free to do as he wished. He sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes and yawned while checking the clock. Gah, great. It's already 12:34.
Kuhn dressed himself in his usual attire, consisting of blue jeans that were slightly too big for him and a plain white undershirt underneath a red long-sleeved shirt that decided to give him trouble.
He was going out to visit Hiraku in just an hour and a half, and he had to hope that Yata was online right now. Yawning again he placed his FMD on his head and logged into The World.
Immediately, Kuhn felt Magus' absence. A normal player wouldn't be able to detect it, but to an Epitaph User, the void their Avatar created when they were missing was hard to ignore. However, if Magus wasn't back yet, it meant that he either was still looking for Lycoris, or he was in the process of convincing her to join them. If Magus was anything like him, which he was, he would be good with the girls just like his User.
Checking his Member Addresses, he found that Yata was indeed online. He quickly moved on to Tartarga and walked to the Bridge to ask him about the whereabouts of Hiraku's body.
Yata wasn't aware of Kuhn's presence yet, so he tried to sneak up on his boss, hoping to catch him off guard and scare him. "Don't you have better things you could be doing instead of trying to scare me?" Yata asked, startling Kuhn instead.
"Whoa, you're good." Kuhn laughed. "I was wondering, where did you say that Jikan's real life body was at?" he asked.
Yata finally turned around and faced Kuhn. "You know where Kameda is?"
"Isn't it that new hospital in Chiba? I heard that they finished a new hospital within the last two weeks, and it's already getting some business." Kuhn nodded.
"You'll be there in case something happens?" Yata inquired.
"Yeah. Even though everything has been calm since Jikan settled down, something's telling me that a check-up might be in order. I guess it's just a bond between friends." Kuhn said, placing his arms behind his head. "Oh, how's the search for the two AIs going?"
"Magus has stopped reporting, but he did give me a heads up that he found Lycoris." Yata informed. Kuhn smiled at that, and turned around.
"Yeah, we've already found Lycoris. Things are really going our way. If these things keep going like this, we'll have Aura brought back to snuff within the month." Kuhn laughed. Yata merely nodded at him as Kuhn logged out.
Stretching again, Tomonari picked up his cell phone and made sure he had enough money for a bus to Kameda. Since almost every financial transaction was online these days, Kuhn, along with pretty much everyone else, had to keep a close watch on his cell phone. That didn't stop him from keeping some pocket change for a quick present, because you never know when a cute girl would show up.
Tomonari hopped onto a bus and it began its stroll through the city. Unfortunately, the ride was painfully slow, and the idea of flirting became almost tempting, but by the time he would have broke, his stop finally came.
The man whistled when he saw the grandness of the hospital. Well, they certainly make their patients live in comfort while they're here. Too bad Hiraku's comatose; he could be living the dream… Not to he probably has quite a few cute nurses looking after him too. Tomonari chuckled.
The insides of the building were just as beautiful as the outside décor. A chandelier was hanging in the reception room, and huge windows spanned across the interior. He strolled up to the receptionist who was in the middle of… something that Kuhn couldn't quite discern from his viewpoint.
"Umm… Excuse me?" Kuhn asked her.
The receptionist merely stared at him with one eye and returned her gaze to her work. "What do you want?" she asked.
"I believe that a young man named Hiraku Masaru is currently here?" he asked, using as much of his authoritative voice as he could muster. In truth, Tomonari hated being superior to others, but when a case like his friend's showed up, he did what he had to.
"Oh, the comatose boy. One second." She said, unenthusiastic. She typed on her computer and waited a second before looking back at Tomonari. "Seventh floor, room 723. It's… the third room on your left." The receptionist said.
Tomonari nearly had the urge to give her a flirty farewell, but he knew this kind of women only too well. He wouldn't even get two words out before he'd be rejected. Instead, he waved at her as he walked to a nearby elevator while muttering his thanks, which was completely ignored.
The elevator doors clanked open and Tomonari sped his way down the hall and finally entered room 723. Once again, the room could be the equivalent of a first class jetliner's cabin, and there was even a great view to the outside. His immediate attention went directly to the other occupant to the room, and he recognized him as Ovan immediately.
"Well, well, even ol' Ovan found his way to Hiraku." Regardless of his coma, even…. Tomonari thought. He finally brought his attention to Hiraku, and he didn't like what he saw. Hiraku's body had definitely paled since he last saw him, and he had let his black hair grow out too. There was a huge metal… something… over his chest which clamped him down to the bed, and even he could feel the increasing power of the pulses of electricity.
That must mean that his heart can't sustain its own rhythm. Is his body really that weak already? And it doesn't look as if the docs up above want to do some surgery either…
Tomonari was startled back when Hiraku's eyes suddenly flashed open. He couldn't even comprehend the situation before he noticed something wrong with Hiraku's eyes. Even though his eyes were open, Hiraku wasn't showing the signs that a person would be if they were really awake. That's when Tomonari saw something off. Are his eyes… spotted? Tomonari looked closer at his eyes when he saw that they weren't his friends usual, dark blue color, instead, they were dull red with black dots that actually moved across the surface of it. Tomonari jumped backwards and flipped out his cell phone, urgently dialing Takumi's number.
Takumi casually picked up his cell phone and addressed Tomonari. "Tomonari, what's wrong?"
"It's Hiraku… Something's not right with Hiraku. Even if his PC's infected by AIDA, and it's a good AIDA, that wouldn't effect his body, right?" he paused, giving Takumi merely a second to respond before continuing. "His eyes look like there's AIDA all over them. And even stranger, his eyes are red! We've swapped pictures of ourselves before, and I know that his eyes are supposed to be blue." Tomonari said quickly.
"That doesn't sound good. But if you can see his eyes, does that mean that he's awake?" Takumi asked.
"No, but you know that way when someone gets hurt? Either they close their eyes, or they widen in pain? I really can only think that something not good is happening." He replied.
"Jikan doesn't seem to be feeling anything, but I'll let him know how his body is doing." Takumi said, cutting their connection.
"Thanks Takumi." Tomonari mumbled into the beeping phone.
A PC hovered in a large black room; with a black and white alter running to the exact center of the room. Eight transparent empty orbs, centered in the room by both a single stalagmite and a stalactite, forcing them in place were spread out similar to the directions on a compass.
The PC was completely encased in black, spiky armor and had long, black hair to match. He had a sky crest directly planted on his head, but his eyes were glaringly black. Even the wave symbol, which was supposed to be blue, was instead colored black.
He was completely covered in AIDA's black dots, but he was smiling as if nothing were wrong with him. In his hands, he held a small black orb, which threw off a faint, black light that was hard to discern against the darkness.
"Soon, soon enough our Queen will come…" the PC said with a dark smile on his face. He polished the black orb and turned around to witness the arrival of a large, transparent black dragon tear into the area. The PC nodded to it in acknowledgement.
"The Infinity Eight have begun their movements against us, Nex." The PC said to the dragon.
In a startling plain voice, the dragon regarded as Nex replied. "I am aware. They have recovered the Aura Fragment known as Lycoris. I have sent Rutilius in pursuit, and we may be able to prevent their progress." Its voice said, though the AIDA dragon did not move its mouth.
"Rutilus you say? Surely you couldn't have sent the smaller, worthless warriors instead of someone of his caliber." The PC chastised.
"I'm sorry, milord. I did not wish to gather the attention of The Prophet. The Propagation is already there, and if Rutilus is successful, we may even have our first Epitaph within our grasp for the Queen." Nex bowed its huge neck.
"Then you know that Corbenik has already begun his plot with the fool Terrapene?" the PC questioned.
Nex hummed. "Yes. Currently, Terrapene seeks to claim a vessel for his body to reside in, similar to the traitor Striatus and the Epitaphs with their Users."
"Terrapene… That foolish being has no right interfering with our cause. He knows that he'll cause countless of our forces to join Aura's." the PC cursed.
"Synaethasia, please, calm yourself." Nex pleaded. "However, this should please you. We know where the daughter of Aura is, and we currently pinning her down in the Outer Dungeons. We also know that the Azure Knights are planning on joining the Infinite Eight in their defense." The dragon coughed, sending a wave of AIDA hurtling everywhere before fading away. "However, Aura herself continues to hide from us in the Sea of Data. I've sent many Helen and Victorian, but none have as yet returned, or even gave us an update."
"The Sea of Data… Oh, I know that's a problem, I won't deny that. But I'm working on a solution to help protect our AIDA when we decide to take Aura for our Queen." Synaethasia laughed before giving the black orb in his hands a dark stare. "These filthy humans may have created The World, the Internet, and countless other things, but to think that they have the nerve to remove us from our home and destroy us in unconceivable. We'll force them to cower before us, and then we'll separate the Internet from their use completely."
Nex spread his wings out a bit but didn't look much happier than his companion. "The Azure Knights still pose a serious threat to us. Most of our forces lie inert in between the network, in our servers that Innis so gladly allowed us to create. The Azure Knights are constantly making sure they are sealed away, and without a basic connection to The World, they cannot recover."
"One problem at a time, one problem at a time, Nex," Synaethasia lightly scolded. "We will solve our dilemma, piece by piece. Humans will cower before us, and the Internet will be back in our hands alone." He said, stroking the orb before setting it back on top of the centerpiece of the alter. Come, Epitaphs, show me your strength. I shall meet your attack blow for blow, and trust me, in the end, you will NOT triumph as you did over us before.