.hack//EVA: Catharsis: Unforeseen Complications
Disclaimer: In this universe in the quantum foam, I do not own or in any way shape or form hold a claim to the .hack series or Neon Genesis Evangelion.
" " denotes speech
'italics' denotes thought
'bold' denotes location names
'bold italics' denotes skill use
Δ Hidden Forbidden Dead Wood – Dead World of Indieglut Leigh
Drip-drip-drip was the sound of water falling from the roof of the dark cavern into the vast underground lake that took up most of the interior. It was rather dank, with stale air and a sense of overwhelming age, which was, after all, about right for the entrance to the underworld where the God of Death was sealed. Shadows lived at the edges of the grotto, and one could almost think that this was a place that knew nothing but gloom—at least until one's eyes fell upon the Tree of Light at the very center.
A golden spiral of light shimmered into existence, vanishing a moment later to reveal the presence of a statuesque blond with severe features, eyes hidden behind a red visor trimmed with gold: Tsukinoki, Queen of the Dark, expert hacker, and a most powerful Harvest Cleric. Her flowing white dressed glowed eerily in the light of the great tree, and she turned her head about slowly, taking in the place that she found herself in.
"Light's great tree doth fall…" she murmured, quoting from the Epitaph of Twilight. In the Epitaph, this place had been destroyed by the coming of the Cursed Wave, and so, perhaps it was appropriate, or at the very least, ironic that she had come here to this place that reminded her of the past, when a new Wave, of sorts, was forming. Then, too, it reminded her vaguely of the depiction of the Tree of Life in a certain other cavernous chamber in the real world, though she had to suppress a laugh at the sight of orange sunglasses, as those reminded her of something that Piros might have once worn.
But that was a long time ago, and no matter how…amusing Piros might prove to be, she did not want to deal with him if possible. According to her sources, the man was still rather over the top, to put it extremely mildly. Still, those made for interesting memories of the past, though those brought to mind times of strife as well.
Needless to say, having fought against the Wave on the front lines of the Twilight Incident, Tsukinoki was wary of what was to come. And to make things worse, it seemed that her contacts were going to be late—had something intercepted them? They were some of the most powerful PCs in The World, and very little could detain them, as they could simply travel through the data grid if necessary.
A flick of her wrist, and a staff like none other materialized in her grip, just as a tone sounded. Upon hearing this (A in C Major, as expected), the Harvest Cleric visibly relaxed, her gaze moving expectantly to the far corners of the cave, as three spheres of smoky light emerged from the walls, smashing themselves to the ground to reveal what seemed like a set of triplets.
Out of one orb emerged Melchior, Steam Gunner, wearing the light chain mail and robes characteristic of that class (with choice of white in both), bayonet held at her side, dark brown hair pulled back into a bun. Out of another came Balthasar, a Macabre Dancer class, dressed in a blue and white formal kimono, hair uncased, flowing like water cascading over cliffs down her back. And the third…well, the third was Casper, an Edge Punisher with chestnut colored hair streaked with blond, held in a braid that fell to the small of her back. She wore scanty white leather armor that barely covered the essentials, and exuded a sort of sensual grace the others didn't have.
Together, they were the Obsidian Knights, created to serve the Queen of the Dark and assist her in monitoring The World.
"And Helba, Queen of the Dark has raised finally her army…" Tsukinoki said out loud, allowing herself a hint of amusement. Then all humor was driven from her voice as she noted the state of her servants.
While two were in nominal condition, one was extremely battered, with code fragments evaporating from her cybernetic shells as if something were slowly consuming them from without. Apparently, something had gone terribly wrong, either with her programming, or…she had been data drained.
If there was one thing that sorcerer queen had learned in her many years, it was not to jump to conclusions, so quickly, she intoned her next words. "Approach and report, then return to regeneration. You first, Melchior."
The three moved as one entity towards their Queen, each approaching with total silence, going down on one knee out of respect for their creator. The Steam Gunner rose to her feet and looked at her creator evenly, reciting the events that had preceded this meeting.
"As per instructions, I was performing routine surveillance upon restricted areas of The World, including the rooms left behind by the creator. Two unknown players had been detected along with the signature of Artificially Intelligent Data Anomalies, and I moved to observe, complying with orders not to intervene unless AIDA became aggressive. But then—ackkk!"
Melchior fell silent, speaking seeming to become a strain to her as her vessel decayed, virtual muscles in her body spasming in pain. But Tsukinoki needed to hear the rest of the report, so she brought her staff gently down upon the Steam Gunner's shoulder, with the sound of frantic typing heard in the background. A golden rippling spread out from where the Cleric 's wand had touched, and the rate of corrosion attenuated slightly, enough to allow her to continue.
"Tri-edge," she gasped out. "AIDA hostile. Infected Epitaph User. Ovan. Corbenik. Pked Aina. Lost One. Shadowless. Intervention failed. Attacked by Tri—"
Tsukinoki's intervention had not been enough, and the Steam Gunner's PC crumbled into fragments of digital data, cut off towards the end of her report. The gist had been clear enough…an AIDA had become aggressive towards human players and had infected a player, and not only that, but an Epitaph Wielder as well, who had then proceeded to turn another player into a…Lost One. She wasn't sure exactly what that was, but from what she knew of the Phases, it wasn't good.
Most likely a coma, she thought, watching as Melchior disappeared into the air. Her lips set in a thin line…the Twilight Incident was repeating itself, despite her precautions…and it now wielded the power of the greatest of phases.
Rumor was more right than he knew when he quoted from the Epitaph regarding Corbenik emerging from the Void, and the Wave being just the beginning.
She then turned to the two remaining Obsidian Knights, her face grim, voice still calm and collected, though tinged with some anger.
"Ensure that Melchior has entered the regeneration coffin. Then continue your observation of The World, adapting yourselves to deal with aggressive AIDA."
Balthasar and Casper rose to their feet, bowing low before their creator and disappearing, leaving Tsukinoki alone with her thoughts.
After they vanished, the Harvest Cleric stood perfectly still for a long while, looking upon the Tree of Light, as if that would provide her with some measure of inspiration for what to do next. Those fools of CC Corp…if only they had never revived the Phases and joined them with PC data…though something told her that it would take a power akin to them to defeat the new threat to both worlds.
Data drain would most undoubtedly work to destroy an isolated AIDA, and possibly to extract an AIDA from a player as well. As unwilling as I am to accept it, I may have to harness the power of the Phases myself in order to deal with these anomalies, especially as the Rebirth has been infected.
She paused for a moment, remembering the final battle of the Twilight, where Corbenik had been defeated, and The World reborn into a new age.
Corbenik's power…The Rebirth. Through its destruction, The World may be reborn into a new age…but it was only destroyed through the sacrifice of the Goddess of the Dawn. We do not have that now, thus the only recourse is to find the other Phases, and possibly any remnants of Data Drain remaining to us.
The battles to come would possible be even more difficult than ever before, as the AIDA seemed to work as a collective, and their apparent leader had assimilated the cybernetic distinctiveness of the greatest of Phases.
The Wave comes once again…
Again, the familiar tone sounded, and this time it was a sphere of crackling silver-gold that appeared, melting away to reveal the form of Rumor. With a bow to Tsukinoki, he quickly related the incident that had just occurred, so that a flicker of a smile made its way across the Queen of the Dark's lips.
"Rumors have been planted as a seed of purpose. The Winter has been informed of events in The World, and prophecy comes. Though there was another there…"
"Worry not of the Shadow. And thank you, Rumor," the Sorceror-Queen sighed. "Continue as you have in The World, and for now, be at peace, my friend. Assist my Knights if they need it, but otherwise, simply do as you will."
Rumor nodded, though he tilted his head in concern as he looked at Tsukinoki.
"Are you well, my Queen?"
Tsukinoki only shook her head.
"The shadows have been spreading into the secret rooms, and the Wave indeed returns. From the Void comes Corbenik along with shadow, and this time, the Goddess is gone. Wait, her daughter said that she—find the Goddess, and ask for her help."
She shook her head and logged out, a flurry of golden rings marking her disappearance, leaving Rumor alone at the foot of the Tree of Light. The young Harvest Cleric remained there for a time, contemplating the difficulty of his Queen's last command. To find the Goddess in The World's sea of data would be difficult, but rumor had it that it could be done, and who was he if not Rumor? Moments later he nodded, vanishing into the aether in preparation for his new task.
Tokyo-3, Maya's Apartment
Maya Ibuki pulled the Face Mount Display goggles from her head and set them down upon her desk with an audible clatter. Willing herself to remain reasonably calm, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. The afternoon had gone well enough, with some analyses of the 4th Angel's remnants being finished up (though as always, Error 601 had continued to pop up), and her 'sempai' finally going home, which left her with free rein over the MAGI for a few hours.
She had used that time to catch up on current events, keeping mostly to not-so-terribly classified documents, though a restricted area had caught her eye, mostly due to the clearances needed to get to it. That area on the MAGI could normally only be accessed with either the Commander's or Dr. Akagi's authorization…not even the Director of Operations had been given clearance. Of course, the fact that she had far too many scruples might be one of the reasons for that, but Maya liked to believe that perhaps there was another reason. She would have to take a look at those files herself sometime, but today had not been that time.
Instead, while sipping on a wonderfully hot mug of coffee, she had accessed some surveillance reports on the Children and the school, noting with interest three things: the appearance of the girl that Shinji had run into this morning, the unexpected change in instructors (she had cringed upon hearing a sample of the off-key celebratory singing of the old sensei), and the fact that the new textbook for class 2-A had been logged as the Epitaph of the Twilight.
Any one of those alone might have been an isolated occurrence, insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Any two, a coincidence, though verging into the realm of implausibly so. But all three at once implied that there was something deliberate at work here.
While it amused her to see Shinji's interactions with the girl he had run into (and had apparently groped, according to Section 2), what had caught her interest was that she bore a striking resemblance to Lycoris, the forerunner of Aura, with silver tresses, alabaster skin, and golden eyes to match. It was as if someone has aged the young girl she had known in Net Slum by a few years and brought her into this world, as unlikely as it seemed.
She had filed that bit of information away and moved onto the next, which involved the sudden retirement of the old one and the coming of a young woman who apparently held a degree in psychology. The picture on file…was one that looked much like Aura, except that this woman was older, with flowing black tresses and purple eyes…eyes that had somehow reminded her of Corbenik.
Nonsense, she had told herself. The stress must be getting to me…or I must need some stronger coffee. Maybe a quad-expresso would help next time.
Maya dismissed it at first, until her eyes fell upon a certain symbol on the flowing black and purple gown that "Yumi Aranami" (whose name meant "Sea" and "Broken Wave") had worn: the infinity symbol. Now, infinity was by no means a common design brooch, but she had seen it on several beings before, chief among them being Aura and Lycoris.
And while she had been taking in that piece of information skeptically, the filed lesson plans and textbook had almost literally jumped out at her. Yumi Aranami was going to be teaching psychology based on the "Epitaph of Twilight" (even going so far as to have complete copies made into hard copies…and Maya knew that the only full version of the Epitaph had resided inside The World in one of the secret areas), using The World as an interactive model.
The Queen of the Dark had shaken her head in disbelief and packed up for the day, preparing to go home. Makoto and Aoba, on the other hand, had plans to go to a karaoke bar that night, along with Dr. Akagi and unsurprisingly, Misato Katsuragi. They invited her along, as they thought it would be good for her to "get out more" and be more comfortable dealing with people. If only they knew who she really was…both of them, especially the one who had worked for her in the past, would have been quite surprised.
Instead, she had gone home and logged into The World, visiting Net Slum for a bit to talk with Tartarga, who informed her about the return of the Goddess' sister, a fact that she had confirmed for herself. Then she had sent Rumor to check up on Rei, though not before noting that one of the members of class 2-A that had been seen with her at lunch also played The World, one who might hold some promise. A few flashmails had gone out and then…
Well, everything had led up to now, with this new threat upon The World. If it were up to her, children would not have to fight, would not have to bear the weight of the world upon
Perhaps she would take the other Bridge Bunnies up on their offer of drinks and karaoke after all…