Kurouna stared up at the night sky, her long hair flying in her face,"How could I have been so stupid? What the hell made me think we were different from any other player? That dragon was infected with a virus, no questions asked. UGH!" She spun around and punched out a boulder behind her,"I am such an idiot!!"

"Somebody's got a temper."

She spun around in suprise to see Bear standing behind her,"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to sneak up on an angry chick, especially one with FOUR legs to kick your butt with?"

Bear sat down on the rock next to her,"Actaully, no. It's not really any of my business, but what are you so mad about?"

"Why the heck should I tell you?"Kurouna drew one of her black katanas and began sharpening it with a rock,"For all I know, you could be an admin monster trying to get rid of me."

"But you don't believe that, do you?"Bear smirked,"I know a boy like you. He refuses to trust anyone and keeps to himself. He's also an outlaw, as I suspect from your appearance, you are too."

"What was your first clue? Any idiot with half a brain knows character designs like mine are illegal."

"You could care less about what people think, that's what sets you apart from your brother."

Kurouna was taken by suprise,"How did you...?"

"It's simple really, the name Kurouna means dark half in techno language, and is normally given to the darker of two siblings, usually twins. I've also heard that you have a partner named Kurama, which, in techno, means light half. He's your exact opposite, am I right." Kurouna just nodded. "Something happened to him, didn't it? The two of you are supposedly always together."

"You've done your homework."Kurouna couldn't help but crack a smile,"Yes, Kurama is my brother and I am never seen without him in The World, real life being a completely different story. We were fighting our way through a dungeon last week, and we were attacked by a virus infected monster. Kurama was hit and got deleted. Normally, I can go under the system and gate out if something like that were to happen, but the virus stopped me. The only way I could tear myself out was to just unplug my link, and when I did..."



A girl, about fourteen with waste-length white hair and equally long purple bangs, tore off her visor and turned to look next to her. A boy, the same age with spiked black hair and chin-length red bangs, was unconscious next to her. He was barely breathing and his connectiong to The World was still on.

"ALEX!!"the girl began to shake him furiously,"Alex, wake up! Damnit, wake up. Quit playing games!" But she knew he wasn't playing.



Kurouna shook the memory out of her head,"I've never been so scared in my life."

Bear listened intently,"Did the doctor say anything?"

"He couldn't figure out what was wrong. He also said my brother was the second case this year, and the other hasn't come out of acoma yet. I wasplanning on playing snoop when I go to the hospital later, to see if I can find out about this 'other case'. trying to do all this research on your own is murder."

"I've heard about cases like that. There are even rumors about people who are stuck here."

Kurouna gave an involutary shudder,"I'd probably like being stuck in The World, no homework, no teachers, no after school jobs to get money to pay for my insane stepmother's disgusting habits. That'd be heaven for me."

"Sounds like a hard life. Kurama must mean a lot to you."

"He's the only friend I've had since I was seven years old. Well, it's almost morning, I need to get over to the hospital to check on my brother. That's for listening to me, it took away a lot of the stress. You know alot about The World, don't you?"

Bear nodded,"I've been playing for awhile."

"Thought so. I'll have to email you if I ever need help. There's just something about you I know I can trust."

"Thanks, here, take this." Kurouna received Bear's member address. "If you ever need help, or just someone to take your anger out on, just drop me a note. Have you gotten the chance to go back to the dungeon where you were attacked?"

"No."

"When you get the chance, call me, and we can go check it out. I've got a friend who may be able to help you, too."

"Sounds good."Kurouna gave a rare smile,"I'll contact you when I get the chance." With that she vanished.



The white haired girl sat down on the edge of Alex's hospital bed,"Hey bro. How ya doin'? What am I saying? You're in acoma thanks to a stupid game, of corse you're doin' bad. Well, I'm starting on the my research, apparently you're not the only one this has happened to. There's a boy who was brought in a few months ago that's in the same condition as you. I'm gonna go check that out in a little while. I also talked to a player named Bear, he's going to help in any way he can. Hopefully we'll be able to help you."

"Alexandra?"

She looked up to see a young nurse standing behind her,"Yeah?"

"We have to do some more tests on your brother, can you wait outside."

"Of course."Alexandra got up and walked out of the room. Instead of heading for the waiting room, she went the other direction, off in search of the infamous 'other case'. She just wandered for a while, checking out room after room. Finally she came to the end of the hall. She peeked into the last room. It was dark, and eerie. At first the teen thought there was no one in there, then the steady beeps and hums of several machines entered her ears. "What the?" She slipped into the room and the form of a young boy, no older than her with short grey-silver hair, lying on the bed, came into view. She blinked, then blinked again,"Suka?"

She walked over and grabbed a chart off the end of the bed,'Tsukasa Nurimu, age fourteen, gender male, blood type O, notes: subject has been in acoma for nearly a year, father wishes to take off life support, no mother to be heard of. Father has tried to kill several times. Patient lapsed into acoma while playing The World. Friends and family, of any, never visit.' She nearly dropped the clip board,"Tsukasa..." With shaky hands, she returned the clip board to it's place and walked over next to the bed. The boy's face was pale and weak. An IV dripped into his arm and several machines beeped all around him.

Alexandra shook her head,"Why does this not suprise me? My stupidity not only putsmy brother into acoma, but it also causes me to find the cousin and best friend I haven't seen in seven years! Cute."

"What are you doing in here?!" She spun around to see a man with matted black hair and blood shot eyes standing behind her. "Get out!! Get out damnit!!"

Alexandra obeyed, but stuck around to make sure Tsukasa wasn't killed by his crazed father,"Suka..."