"SILABUS!" was the only warning the Blade Brandier got before a mass of pink flung itself at him. Looking down, he realized it was Gaspard. Smiling, Silabus patted his head, half-expecting to be able to feel fur. But all he could fell was... nothing. It was as though he was feeling an inanimate object; it wasn't soft, but it wasn't rough either. It was just there. Gaspard's fur only looked soft, just like the walls of the buildings looked to have texture.
"Hey, Gaspard!" Silabus said warmly, giving his young friend a quick hug.
"I didn't know you were hanging out with Kuhn! You should have told me! I would have skipped going to the arcade then!" Gaspard complained, running to give Kuhn a quick hug. Silabus watched as Kuhn returned the hug, asking Gaspard how he had been lately, before he noticed Haseo was there as well. And Haseo did not look pleased. Not that he ever did, though. But this time, his displeasure seemed more apparent; less easy to ignore.
"Haseo? What's up?" Silabus asked uneasily, bringing the attention to Haseo.
"Yata," Haseo said, spitting out the name like it was poison, "wants to see you." He stared at Kuhn.
Frowning, Kuhn stood up. "Is everything okay?"
"H-has he found out anything?" Silabus asked, standing as well.
"Not here," Kuhn said, grabbing hold of Silabus hand and tugging him to the warp portal with a quick "bye!" to Gaspard.
"Silabus?" Gaspard asked, voice trembling. "What's going on?"
"I'll explain everything later," Silabus promised, before stumbling. He would have fallen, were it not for Haseo steadying him.
"He can't warp, Kuhn," Haseo huffed as his bike appeared. "You warp - I'll take Silabus to Raven's Home." He got onto the bike, waiting for Silabus to get on as well. Looking hesitantly at Kuhn, Silabus slowly got on the bike, yelping as Haseo shot off. Within moments, they had arrived. Wasting no time, Haseo grabbed Silabus' wrist and tugged him alone.
"What's going on?" Kuhn demanded, already inside. Silabus shut his eyes at the sudden darkness, slowly opening and letting them adjust. Already, he was back in this place. Couldn't Yata have picked a brighter building to have his guild be located in?
"He wants to data drain Silabus," Haseo scowled, folding his arms in front of his chest. Silabus frowned, furrowing his brow. Data drain? That sounded... unpleasant, to say the least. If just warping had been so disconcerting, how would having the data drained from him feel?
"What?!" Kuhn exclaimed. "He isn't like us, Yata! He feels everything now! We can't just-"
"Calm down, Kuhn," Pi snapped. "Losing your cool isn't going to help the situation any."
Glowering at her, Kuhn kept his mouth shut. Standing next to Haseo, Silabus looked down at the ground. If Kuhn was this worried about him being data drained, then it certainly couldn't be good. He wrapped his arms around himself, feeling his heart beat faster. He didn't want that feeling of being pulled apart, of not being there and yet being everywhere. But if it could help him...
"W-what is a 'data drain'?" Silabus asked quietly, looking up uncertainly at Yata. Yata stared back at him before explaining.
"We believe that when AIDA attacked you, it put part of itself in you, keeping your mind chained to this game. When we data you, it will get rid of the link that is keeping you here," he said calmly, face emotionless as always.
"Will it hurt?" Silabus softly murmured. He didn't want to be stuck here anymore, and yet...
"I don't know," Yata said honestly. "There's a possibility data draining might not even work, either."
"Then he can't do it!" Kuhn and Haseo exclaimed.
"We have to try!" Pi exclaimed. "Silabus is extremely vulnerable now. It's only a matter of time before some PKer tries to off him."
"Then I'll stay with him!" Kuhn yelled. "We can't make Silabus go through with this! There's too many risks, and-"
"I'll do it," Silabus said, wrapping his arms around himself. "Like Miss Pi said, it's worth a shot."
"We'll do it tomorrow," Yata said. "I'll do the data draining myself, just to be on the safe side."
Nodding, Silabus looked over at Haseo and Kuhn worriedly. Haseo scowled at him but said nothing; he actually looked kind of worried now, instead of pissed off. And Kuhn...
"Are you sure, Silabus?" Kuhn asked. "We can do it some other time, when we're one hundred percent sure it'll work."
Silabus shook his head. "I want to go back to the real world. Where I can feel things again, and go to different places, and talk face-to-face with people. This world isn't fun anymore, Kuhn."
Kuhn frowned, putting a gloved hand on Silabus' head and sliding it down to rest on Silabus' thin shoulder.
"If you're sure..." Kuhn murmured. "I'm going to go back to Sendai then. I'll be there when you wake up."
Opening his mouth to protest, Silabus realized how serious Kuhn sounded. Smiling sadly, Silabus nodded.
"Tomorrow, then."