DotHack: Rejoinder

A DotHack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun

Disclaimer: Project .Hack and attached concepts are property of Bandai and Cyber Connect. They are used without permission, but with the utmost respect.

Notes: Clarifications, cooperation, and a leetle drama to boot. Sorry about the delay, folks. Had some trouble writing this scene, it just didn't seem to flow right no matter how it went down. Here's hoping this works. Didn't help that my browser was being the biggest bitch on the planet over the weekend (though interestingly, not my actual internet connection). Oh well. Also, it's always fun to find out down the line that characters you weren't sure had a canon offline name did, in fact. And by fun I mean annoying. More on that when it comes up, which won't be long.

Deprive

"Well, now what?"

Kamui leaned back against a stone railing, facing Balmung. "I don't know what to think. I still don't trust Poet, but she's aware of that. Either this is a very elaborate trap, or she's telling the truth and this is more than just an outbreak."

As Kite gazed out over the ramparts of the root town, his player punched a short message to BlackRose about what had happened. She was offline, but it'd be the first thing she saw as soon as she got in. "So if it's not her, who could it be?" he asked.

"To be honest," said Crim, "I think that may be missing the point. Let's assume that she's right, that we're being watched. If these encounters are staged, then that suggests we're being tested."

"In what way?" asked Sanjuro.

"Probably seeing how we react," said BT. "If something, or someone, is directing this, then they may be looking for how well the system and its players can fight them off."

Looking thoughtful for a moment, Kamui nodded to BT. "You may be onto something. That tree survived a viral purge, but a hard reset of the field's data cleared it. I received a report earlier that it had returned, so the source of the virus is probably elsewhere."

"You're saying it's a decoy," said Orca.

"Exactly." She motioned to Kite. "Balmung told me about the bird creature you encountered earlier. Who or whatever it is, it may have been expecting you and your data drain."

"Where does that leave this one?" Sanjuro straightened his posture, moving clear of the walkway as a small party of players dashed by. "It may have known that other players were nearby, but it couldn't have known Kite was going to log in, and even then it couldn't be sure that Poet would call for help."

"The timing is suspicious," Balmung agreed, brow furrowed. "If it's her, she must have some means of controlling it to keep it from harming her. But if it's not her, then whoever it is knew that not only were other players around, but those other players that had a history with The World. Either possibility is worrying."

Crim saw BT flinch a bit, her lips flattening into a thin line. He got the impression her player had shuddered. "We need to take the initiative on this," he said. "This Poet woman knows more than she's letting on, but it all seems to revolve around this Albireo guy."

"I don't know," said Orca. "He's part of this, but someone may just be using his work to fashion these data bugs."

"Face it, all we have are guesses," BT cut him off. "Whatever this thing is, it's going to make the next move. All we can do for now is try to counter it."

"Not quite," Kamui objected. "There's one other option. There's a surge in I/O activity when a data bug appears or a field is corrupted, and an even bigger one when a bug is destroyed. Throughout the Twilight incident, there was residual data feedback that appeared for up to an hour before and after a monster's appearance. Lios, along with the hacker Helba, used this to track the Wave's movements."

"You think we can track it again?" asked Balmung.

"The knights didn't intercept the one we just fought," Crim pointed out. "I'll bet it's more complicated than that, isn't it?"

Kamui indicated Crim with a pass of the hand. "It's as he says, Balmung. As we saw with the tree, field modification by a virus can take many forms, but most common are corrupted fields and monsters. The form of infection determines how this residual will appear to us. In short, we need to monitor the data spikes. We need several to detect a pattern, and we also need a control."

"A control? What do you mean by that?" Kite asked.

The spearwoman paused for a second, her face twitching almost invisibly as she crooked her head towards Kite. "To ensure we're not tracking the wrong set of data, we... may need to observe a bug destroyed by someone other than us."

"I get it." Balmung strode over to the red-capped Twin Blade. "To make sure the Knights themselves aren't causing the feedback by destroying a monster, they need to record and analyze you using the bracelet."

"Interesting," BT nearly whispered. "With two sets of data, you can isolate this residual string. And with that, you'll have a better idea where the infection will surface."

Kamui's features grew stern for a moment. "Don't get ahead of me, though. I'm uneasy about relying on data from a hacked character, even from one our administrators have relied on in the past."

Balmung let out a quick breath, sounding enough like a scoff to draw the Long Arm's attention. She glared at him, and he stood his ground. "Still the skeptic. You remind me a lot of myself about two years ago."

The words seemed to strike a nerve; she briefly bristled, but closed her eyes and did her best to relax. "Be that as it may, we do still need a control, but I want to make it very clear that-"

"I'll do it," Kite answered before she could finish. "I'm not here to work against you. If I can put this bracelet to use and help people, then that's what I'll do."

Sanjuro joined the young hero and picked up where he left off. "We sure aren't going to do your job for you, if that's what you're worried about. We're all fighting the same thing, we may as well all be on the same page."

"We may not be on your payroll," said Crim, "but I'm not one to stand on the sidelines while others do the heavy lifting."

Orca regarded the male Long Arm with a tiny grin. "Well put. We're already in this, it's on all of us whether we like it or not."

Kamui was silent for a long time, her eyes jumping from one player to the next. She let out a held breath and turned her head, nodding in grudging agreement. "All right. All right, you're all in."

A quiet ping in Kite's ears called his attention to his contact list. A small smile crossed his lips. "And we're not alone, either," he said as he quickly fired off a message to the flashing name in front of him. "Dean's looking for Albireo, too. He just signed on."

Kamui let out a small, amused grunt. "That 'detective' that got involved in this a couple years ago? You trust him?"

BT shifted her weight, a strange, unreadable cast to the Wavemaster's face. "You don't?" she asked quietly.

"I'm no fool, I know he did us all a favor back then." Kamui paused, choosing her words with care. "It's enough to have to rely on hackers to fix our messes, but when it's some... renegade cowboy..."

The Wavemaster smiled faintly, a tiny, rumbling laugh rolling from her throat. Crim watched her, curious. "Who are you all talking about?"

BT glanced at Crim, her smile vanishing. "It's complicated." She turned back to Kamui. "I'll say this much, Kamui. Do not underestimate him."

"Is that so?"

BT fidgeted a bit, squeezed her mage's staff, her fingers drumming on the weapon. "Dean Stollis... is no cowboy. You can trust him."

The leader of the Cobalt Knights threw an odd look at the Wavemaster. Although BT hadn't said it especially loudly, there was a hint of severity behind her tone, and the firm cast to her face added yet more weight to her statement. Kamui was by no means too proud to take a hint. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Anyway, we've got a lot of work to do," said Balmung, pulling the topic back on track. "Kamui, let us all know when you spot another bug. We'll destroy it and help you track wherever this virus is coming from."

"We'll start searching right away." Kamui spun around and started away. "I have to log off soon, but I'll pass this along to the rest of the Knights."

"Good luck!" Kite called after her.

She said nothing in reply as she gated out.

"A real charmer, isn't she?" Crim remarked.

Balmung let his character drop for a second. "You should've seen her when she stopped smoking."

Orca laughed briefly, but his eyes darted off to one side. "Damn, it's getting late. I better get going, see you all later!"

"Yeah, I got an early start tomorrow, I should log off too," said Sanjuro.

Shimmering rings surrounded the two men as they faded from view, their players going offline. Balmung's player yawned, though the Blademaster himself made no movement. "Likewise. I'll see you later, Kite. Let us know if Dean turned up anything." He started to gate out, giving a brief wave to an incoming Wavemaster as he vanished.

"Hi Balmung, bye Balmung," said the silver-haired magician. He smiled to Kite and jogged over, doing a double-take in BT's direction as he neared. "Hey guys. Did I miss something fun?"

"Depends how you define 'fun,' I guess," said Kite. Throwing a smiling emote into his sentence, he added, "You might enjoy it, though."

"I might yet. You know me, man, I live for this stuff." With that, Stolls turned to BT, and his demeanor took a turn for the timid. He idly prodded the ground with his toe, focusing on a crack between the stones. "Heya, BT."

BT kept from meeting his eyes, looking off to her left. "Detective," she answered, a nearly inaudible stutter on the 'd'.

A pall of silence fell over the group as Stolls, BT, and Crim exchanged looks. Sensing the discomfort, Kite awkwardly spoke up. "We just had a meeting with Kamui, I'll send you the log. I have to go soon, but were you able to find out anything about Albireo?"

Stolls briefly turned away from his fellow mage. "A couple things, I'm working on it. I'll have more for you guys tomorrow."

"Okay. See you later, Dean!"

"You too, Hiro. Take it easy!"

The Twin Blade waved as he disappeared, leaving the two Wavemasters and the Long Arm to themselves. The distant bustle of late-night players was lost on the three, and to each mere seconds of silence dragged with the weight of minutes.

Crim was the first to break the ice. "I don't believe we've met," he said evenly.

Stolls nodded, amicably extending his hand to the Long Arm. "Me neither. The handle's Stolls, but damn near everybody seems to know my real name these days. I'm Dean."

"Ah, so you're the guy," Crim grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. "I'm Crim. BT and the others were just talking about you."

Stolls crowbared a smile onto his face. "All lies, I assure you."

The lancer smiled back, releasing his hand. "So you're in this too, huh?"

"Unfortunately," Stolls said, then chuckled. "Long story. An exciting one, though. Got car chases and everything."

"Hmm." Crim cleared his throat, the start of an out from the conversation. "I should probably go, it's been a long day."

"Nah, I just wanted to stop and say hi," said Stolls, suddenly feeling like he'd butted into something. "I should get a move on, I got some notes to go over..."

"Actually, if you have a minute, I wanted to talk to you," said BT, breaking her usual unhurried pace.

Stolls uncomfortably looked back and forth between BT and Crim. "Well, I mean..."

Crim dismissed with his hand. "It's fine. I'll see you tomorrow, BT. Thanks for the help today." The words were sincere, but he still glanced questioningly at Stolls before moving to gate out.

"You too," said BT. "Take care, Crim."

Stolls watched as Crim left, staring at the space the Long Arm had been filling. "Nice guy. Friend of yours?"

"Yes... we played together sometimes, and I helped him and the others rescue Tsukasa." She forced herself to look at Stolls, and had a hard time seeing the adult detective inside the boyish Wavemaster. "He's been away on business for some time, and he left the game for a while. He came back only recently."

The second I say 'It's not that I'm jealous or anything,' it's game over. The gnawing unease in his stomach proved that he was, but he wasn't about to say so. "I don't mean to pry or anything, Miku, I was just curious."

She nodded to him in understanding. "I can see why you would be. Don't get the wrong idea, Crim and I are not... well..."

Guilt set in; out of habit, out of the pretense of expecting to be welcomed with open arms, out of not treating a close friend of hers with enough respect. He held up a hand, assuring her she didn't need to finish the sentence. "Don't worry, I get it. Is this one of those things you were talking about back at the restaurant?"

The apparently older woman nodded. "As I said, he was one of the many helping to save Aura and The World before the Twilight incident even began. He... is a good friend, and I haven't seen him in a long time." She gave a halting half-smile. "A little like you, detective."

The words 'good friend' and 'you' in the same ballpark were a solid kick to the stomach, but Dean shrugged it off. Harder to ignore was the use of 'detective,' instead of his name. You know she didn't mean it that way, Dean. Man up and just tell her about what's going on. "Look, I said I wasn't gonna pry, so I'll leave it at that. But, Miku... don't feel like you can't talk to me, all right? I'm never too busy to listen."

That low, rumbling laugh again. It struck a chord with him, playing a delightful rhythm in his ears and momentarily abating his doubts. "It's silly."

The male Wavemaster let out a small laugh of his own. "Miku, I'm 36 and I look like I'm twenty in this game. I'm a shitty detective who flew back into town on a whim. We're all playing a game that apparently threatens the whole goddamn world. Face it: this is all silly by default."

BT allowed herself to laugh a little harder, and to smile a bit too. "Please, detective. You look fifteen at most," she said teasingly.

Stolls opened his mouth to reply, but stopped and took a quick self-appraisal. Unable to see his own face, he simply shrugged. "I... sort of just breezed through character creation. Wasn't really expecting to... y'know, stay here."

Her smile changed, still on her face but different in some way; empty. "And what about now?"

He rapped his staff against the ground twice, a substitute for genuine thought. "That... depends on a lot of things, I guess."

"So it does."

The card flashed through his head, along with its false yet unwelcome statement. He gave his head a shake to clear his thoughts. "Listen, the reason I ask is... well, someone left a message for me at the apartment. A little card that said..." he hesitated. "That said you're cheating on me."

The thought struck BT dumb, confusing her in several ways. "Relax," he assured her, "number one, I don't believe it for a minute, and number two, you and I aren't exactly... well, okay, that conversation's for another time. Suffice it to say I'm not worried about what it said, but it does mean someone's watching me closely, and possibly you too. And that does worry me."

Still stunned by the content of the card, BT managed a calm reply. "Do you know who?"

"No, but it's probably tied into what's going on here. You want my opinion, the real statement on the card is 'We're watching you.' That they brought you up means someone's trying to get into my head, mess with me." He rolled his eyes, putting on an air of fake cockiness. "So far, I'm not impressed."

BT nodded unsteadily, drawing a different statement from the card. We're all in danger, aren't we? she thought.

Dean noticed her unease through the game, but said nothing. The hell can I say? 'Don't worry, I'll stop these guys'? 'I'll protect you'? Some other cliche hero crap? God damnit, I just wanted to... just... fuck. What the hell did I really come here for?

"Well... anyway, just be careful," Stolls finally said. Offline, Dean listed to one side, and an armrest pushed painfully against a bruise. "Ah! Damn it."

The sorceress started, concern coming through in her voice. "What's wrong?"

He grumbled. "Ah, it's nothing. Got into a spat at a bar tonight."

BT's brow wrinkled. "A fight? What happened?"

"Some jerk had a bone to pick with America in general. Maybe even me specifically, but who the hell knows. I'm okay, just got a little banged up."

She winced. "I'm sorry to hear it. Are you sure you're okay?"

Dean chuckled, making his avatar straighten himself. "Eh, I'll live. I should probably try and sleep it off anyway, I got a few more people to question tomorrow."

"All right then," she sighed. "Good night, detective, and... take care of yourself, all right?"

"Yeah, you too," he replied, starting towards the logoff menu. "But Miku..."

She stiffened. "Yes?"

He looked straight at her, and fought every instinct to avoid her eyes. "Y-you can call me Dean, you know."

The rings fell over his eyes, causing the root town and its battlements to fade away before he could hear her answer.

Blurry eyes blinked over and over, and she could focus no longer on the paper before her. Akira clumsily stuffed her notebook into the binding of a well used history book, and flipped the weighty tome closed. She stood up and away from her desk, and grimaced as a painful creak shot out from the chair. The noise cut through the silence of the house, easily heard over her ceiling fan and the whirring of her computer.

That's enough for tonight. Just this and the last math module and I should be ready. Or so she said in her thoughts. Deep doubts and concerns ran to the core, with only fatigue to distract her as she crumpled onto her bed.

Through one eye she squinted at the clock, and frowned into her pillow. Midnight already? Damn, that took forever. Wonder what everybody else was up to tonight.

She'd seen Kite and others pop onto her contact list, but refrained from sending any of them a message, fearing she'd too easily lose track of time. She had enough on her mind with the events of the day, with Hiroshi meeting her parents for the first time.

She rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. Realizing she could still see, she groaned and got up to turn the desk lamp off. As she leaned across the desk, she bumped her mouse, and her screen woke up.

The light from the screen was too bright at first, and she squinted as her eyes adjusted. About to turn the monitor off, she stopped short as she saw a flashing mail icon on her desktop. Curiosity won over fatigue, and she popped her client open.

From: Kite

To: BlackRose

Subj: Tonight

Hey, BlackRose! We ran across another data bug, and it seemed to be attacking that Poet character. We're not sure what to make of it, but one of Lios' administrators has come up with a plan to help track the outbreak. I've attached the log for you. I know you're probably busy, so we'll talk later when you have time.

By the way, thanks again for inviting me over today. I had fun, and your mom's a great cook! Hope your parents liked me, they seem like nice people :)

Good luck with your studying!

- Hiro

The email pulled her brain in several diretions, starting with worry over the data bug. Worry gave way to frustration as she realized she wasn't there to help, but she quickly scolded herself. Don't worry, they can handle themselves. I'll get my chance to fight.

She shut off her monitor but left her computer running, accustomed to the gentle whir of its fan. Heh. Didn't think I'd be that eager to jump back into it.

Akira blindly stumbled back over to her bed, and her legs gently bumped against the frame. Her thoughts drifted to Hiroshi, to Kite. She didn't dare even voice the thought in her head, but she missed fighting alongside him: he, the deft, scrappy, unlikely hero; and her, the strong, sturdy heroine on the front line.

The picture in her mind changed to something simpler. She saw them walking home from the tennis court, sitting together in Kazu's room, laughing at the dinner table. She smiled into the darkness. I'm glad my parents like him.

It changed again, her parents watching as she bid him farewell. She saw him walk away without so much as a hug or held hand. From a few buildings down she swore he looked back at her, though it was too far to be sure.

She'd wanted to say more, things she didn't want anybody else to hear, things she herself wasn't sure she was ready to say. She wanted to say she would stand as long as he wanted her to. As long as he needed her to.

A part of her thought that BlackRose would roll her eyes and gag at her acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. Another part poked back that she was a schoolgirl with a crush, and, in many ways, so was the warrior she pretended to be.

Akira gave her pillow an affectionate squeeze as she slipped under her bedsheets. We'll do better next time.