.Hack//Heist
A .Hack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun
Disclaimer: I claim ownership of nothing related to Project .Hack.
Notes: Takes place between Infection and Mutation. Parentheses indicate thoughts. Thanks to all of you for your very encouraging comments; seriously, I'm flattered, and I just hope I can figure out what I'm doing right and keep doing it :)
Chapter XV - Accompaniment
------------
(So, now what?)
The classroom faded from sight as he nonchalantly plopped his head beneath his folded arms, coming to rest on the polished wooden surface of the desk. Before him, his teacher - a thin, bookish man in his late 40's - droned on in a thoroughly monotone voice, dryly instructing students in things the boy could care less about at the moment.
Returning to the field in which they encountered Skeith had ultimately proven fruitless, doing little more than giving him and BlackRose more to worry about; the corrupted dungeon lay deserted, neither hair nor hide of anything even remotely interesting, apart from its mere existence as a field in decay. When he woke the next morning, he still held a small spark of hope that things had changed for the better, one which was quickly dashed after a brief phone call to the hospital.
He sighed; deep down, he'd suspected that killing the creature would somehow help Yasuhiko recover, despite a marked lack of evidence in either direction. This only further confused and stressed the 14-year-old, rapidly coming to terms with just how little he knew of what was going on. And now that Skeith was gone, it seemed that neither he nor any of his newfound comrades had a lead to follow up on.
Silently, a part of him prayed, if only momentarily, that they would find none.
Wearily, he lifted his head back up and blinked twice, clearing his eyes; he managed a smile when he read the blackboard - no assignments for the weekend. (That takes care of one problem, at least.)
-
The flow of foot traffic quickly carried him through the glass doors which formed the school's entrance, a sea of uniformed students swirling about him, their voices mingling in a thick miasma of miscellaneous chatter.
A low rumble from above brought his attention skyward as he stepped out onto the sidewalk; he frowned, staring up into the murky gray storm clouds, already churning and brewing in anticipation of the storm to come. He doubled his pace, taking long strides away from the enclosed, crowded schoolyard, his backpack bouncing slightly as it jostled with every step.
He passed beneath a tree, its leaves offering shade from the hidden sun, and came to a halt; throwing a glance left, then right, he jogged across the empty street; seconds after he stepped onto the sidewalk, a black sedan crawled by, traveling well under the speed limit. He stopped and threw a glance in its direction, catching a glimpse of the license plate: LV-426.
The boy couldn't help but grin at the reference. Sheer luck his father was big into science fiction, one of the many traits he had inherited, along with a love for all manner of electronic entertainment. Offline, at least. To date, his experiences in online gaming had been somewhat less than palatable.
And he was quickly beginning to doubt that this was going to change anytime soon. His smile disappeared, a hesitant chill snaking through him despite the humidity. Further unnerving him was the uneasy sensation of eyes upon him, watching him.
(What if they know who I am?) he thought, quickly casting a hurried glance around the empty streets, searching blindly for anyone who looked out of place, or even anyone at all. With no one nearby, the feeling of isolation became all too palpable, melding with the dense, damp air to become a suffocating miasma of solitude; strangely, the boy felt almost relieved at the lack of nearby pedestrians, finding himself in a less than trusting mood at the moment.
As if on cue, another dull wave of thunder rolled through the sky, providing an unneeded incentive for the student to resume his journey. Shaking off the bout of paranoia, the student turned to leave; for a second, only a second, he swore he saw a man in a green windbreaker almost a full block behind him, a deliberate slowness and caution to his whisper-soft step.
-
"Mom, I'm home!"
The door clunked heavily behind him as it shut, masking the thud of his backpack as it slid to the floor. He kicked off his shoes and slowly padded along the tiled floor, following it through the foyer and into the dining room.
"Mom?" he called, eyes making a broad sweep of the room; aside from a large potted plant in the corner and the hum of fluorescent lights from the adjoining kitchen, there were no signs of life. His eyes fell to the oak table before him, where a white piece of paper lay, visually crying out for attention. Eyebrow raised, he walked up to the table and quickly skimmed the hastily-written characters which adorned the note.
'Hiroshi,
I'm working the night shift tonight. I switched hours with Shiro; dinner's in the fridge.
Love,
Mom'
"Guess it's another TV dinner for tonight," he mused aloud. Retreating to the foyer, he snatched up his backpack and turned to the stairs, slowly trudging up to his bedroom, his footsteps muted but nonetheless loud amongst the comparative silence of the house.
He entered his bedroom, sighing as he set the pack down on his bed. Instinctively, he grabbed the remote to his TV set and turned it on, quickly flipping to the nearest news station. The channel was mostly irrelevant; the boy needed noise, something to break the unsettling silence. It reminded him that he was alone, a fact he could almost forget once online.
For him, that had been both the saving grace of The World and a cruel reminder of reality. On the 'net, a life-and-death struggle took place almost daily, a battle as real as any offline, with him at the center; his best friend lay in a coma because of it. Though he could count on his friends in The World to fight by his side, at the end of the day, when he shut off his terminal, he knew they couldn't come with him.
He was alone. And nobody knew that Hiroshi, a shy 14-year-old boy and slightly above average student, was fighting for his friend's life.
The revelation closed around him like a vise, as it had in so many instances before. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, his chest tight and constricted from the sudden bout of stress. (Easy... easy... it's okay,) he thought, silently reassuring himself, or at least attempting to. (You're not alone. Not where it matters.)
With a groan, he collapsed into his chair and booted up the computer; from the TV, a female reporter's voice filled his ears, apparently discussing today's events in the stock exchange with the co-anchor. Through his closed eyes, he saw the glow of the monitor, perceived as a sudden burst of color against his eyelids. A brief examination of the desktop led to a slight frown. (No mail... so now what do I do?)
He idly itched the back of his left hand, considering his options, which were few. As he hung his head, his eye caught a glimpse of a white index card, the name 'TamonAdillo' printed neatly on it.
(TamonAdillo? Oh, right... that's right, he supposedly found an invincible monster. Sounds like a Data Bug... yeah, maybe I'll check it out.)
Clattering keys filled the room as he opened the email client and began typing.
-
From: Kite@theworld.com
To: TamonAdillo@theworld.com
Subj: Monster
I read your post on the boards. My name is Kite, and I think I can help you. What did this monster look like?
-
From: TamonAdillo@theworld.com
To: Kite@theworld.com
Subj: Re: Monster
Hello, Kite. It was a large, bird-like creature; the strange thing was the whole of its body was covered in what looked like computer code... numbers, letters, strange crystalline shapes. As far as my party and I could tell, it had infinite hit points; between the three of us we inflicted several thousand points of damage on the creature - way more than what the average level of the monsters in the field would indicate.
Incidentally, I have heard rumors that you are a hacker. If so, then I would gladly appreciate any help you could offer us. My companions and I have been investigating the strange incidences in The World for some time, of which I am sure you are aware of as well.
If you have the time, I would like for you to meet with us in The World tonight, on Delta server at 8pm. We can discuss this further there.
-Tamon-
-
A pair of eyes opened, staring vacantly down the broadway of Mac Anu as it formed before the player. All around him, stone and marble buildings rose from the watery canals and winding streets, sunlight bathing everything in its warm, comforting light. A faint breeze twisted through the canal, its presence detected without being felt. Adventurers of every size, shape and outfit combination raced to and fro, chatting, trading, flirting and recruiting as only net gamers can.
The boy stepped away from the spinning Chaos Gate, his transition from the world to The World complete; he gradually became conscious of the change in his outfit, his loose-fitting school uniform replaced by a garish red vest and matching slacks, the former covering a thick, long-sleeved white shirt, a series of crooked oranged lines criscrossing along the latter. A similarly-colored hat topped his short, cartoonishly spiky teal hair, calling attention to the blue eyes and facial tattoos, also features alien to the player. Leather gloves and boots adorned his hands and feet, and a pair of sharp, flawlessly-crafted short swords dangled from his belt.
He smiled as he drew both weapons with an overhand grip, and took a few practice swings with them. (Least that's one thing I can count on,) he thought.
"Hey Kite!"
(And here comes another.)
The Twin Blade did an about-face, smiling and waving to the Heavy Blade BlackRose, decked out in her traditional garb of purplish-red, thorn-patterend tights, breastplate, gauntlets and waist greaves, and little else in the way of protection or cover. Though her outfit was not modest by any stretch of imagination, the most eye-catching part was the trademark of her class strapped to her back, a gigantic two-handed sword that looked at least as heavy as she. Her figure, though tanned and marked with a series of thorny tattoos, was lithe and slender, bearing not a trace of the muscle which would be required to wield such a weapon.
Despite the obvious farcical extremes of her character - which were fairly commonplace in The World - he had to admit that her avatar was easy on the eyes, insofar as a collection of pixels could be. Her lively wine-colored eyes and slight, casual smile served to reinforce the 'rose' motif, standing in sharp contrast to the thorns which decorated her body, in skin and in armor.
"Thanks for coming," said Kite with a smile.
"Sorry I'm late," she said, throwing a momentary glance back at the Chaos Gate from which she had emerged. "I was curious about that post too; I thought we'd never find a lead. So these guys are investigating, too?"
Kite nodded. "That's what Tamon said. They found a data bug, and they asked for help."
BlackRose sighed, turning to face Kite directly. "I just don't get it, where are all these things coming from? What's causing this?"
"I wish I knew," replied the Twin Blade. "I thought it was all that thing with the red wand. But I guess it's not over..."
"Yeah..." Her head drooped slightly, staring through the brick walkway beneath her feet. "I guess not," she said, a slight tinge of sadness in her voice.
"Well, maybe they know more about what's going on; he said they'd be here by 8."
She glanced again at the Chaos Gate. "Did he say where the field was?"
Kite shook his head. "Just that it was on this server."
She nodded, her attention turning to the broadway leading into the heart of the city. "You sure meet the weirdest people, you know," she remarked far too loudly to be meant for her ears only.
Kite couldn't help but smile. "You can say that again," he replied quickly; his intentional haste and subtle emphasis did not escape notice, and to drive the point home he added a smiling emote to the end of the sentence.
"What was that?" challenged BlackRose as she threw a look at Kite, burying the urge to grin back upon realizing her inclusion in her own statement.
"Nothing," answered Kite with feigned innocence, as he turned to avoid her eyes, chuckling softly.
The Heavy Blade's eye twitched, though Kite couldn't tell if her player had intended to or not. Either way, it brought a grin to his face. "Come on," he said. "Let's go save and stock up before they get here."
- End of Chapter XV
A .Hack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun
Disclaimer: I claim ownership of nothing related to Project .Hack.
Notes: Takes place between Infection and Mutation. Parentheses indicate thoughts. Thanks to all of you for your very encouraging comments; seriously, I'm flattered, and I just hope I can figure out what I'm doing right and keep doing it :)
Chapter XV - Accompaniment
------------
(So, now what?)
The classroom faded from sight as he nonchalantly plopped his head beneath his folded arms, coming to rest on the polished wooden surface of the desk. Before him, his teacher - a thin, bookish man in his late 40's - droned on in a thoroughly monotone voice, dryly instructing students in things the boy could care less about at the moment.
Returning to the field in which they encountered Skeith had ultimately proven fruitless, doing little more than giving him and BlackRose more to worry about; the corrupted dungeon lay deserted, neither hair nor hide of anything even remotely interesting, apart from its mere existence as a field in decay. When he woke the next morning, he still held a small spark of hope that things had changed for the better, one which was quickly dashed after a brief phone call to the hospital.
He sighed; deep down, he'd suspected that killing the creature would somehow help Yasuhiko recover, despite a marked lack of evidence in either direction. This only further confused and stressed the 14-year-old, rapidly coming to terms with just how little he knew of what was going on. And now that Skeith was gone, it seemed that neither he nor any of his newfound comrades had a lead to follow up on.
Silently, a part of him prayed, if only momentarily, that they would find none.
Wearily, he lifted his head back up and blinked twice, clearing his eyes; he managed a smile when he read the blackboard - no assignments for the weekend. (That takes care of one problem, at least.)
-
The flow of foot traffic quickly carried him through the glass doors which formed the school's entrance, a sea of uniformed students swirling about him, their voices mingling in a thick miasma of miscellaneous chatter.
A low rumble from above brought his attention skyward as he stepped out onto the sidewalk; he frowned, staring up into the murky gray storm clouds, already churning and brewing in anticipation of the storm to come. He doubled his pace, taking long strides away from the enclosed, crowded schoolyard, his backpack bouncing slightly as it jostled with every step.
He passed beneath a tree, its leaves offering shade from the hidden sun, and came to a halt; throwing a glance left, then right, he jogged across the empty street; seconds after he stepped onto the sidewalk, a black sedan crawled by, traveling well under the speed limit. He stopped and threw a glance in its direction, catching a glimpse of the license plate: LV-426.
The boy couldn't help but grin at the reference. Sheer luck his father was big into science fiction, one of the many traits he had inherited, along with a love for all manner of electronic entertainment. Offline, at least. To date, his experiences in online gaming had been somewhat less than palatable.
And he was quickly beginning to doubt that this was going to change anytime soon. His smile disappeared, a hesitant chill snaking through him despite the humidity. Further unnerving him was the uneasy sensation of eyes upon him, watching him.
(What if they know who I am?) he thought, quickly casting a hurried glance around the empty streets, searching blindly for anyone who looked out of place, or even anyone at all. With no one nearby, the feeling of isolation became all too palpable, melding with the dense, damp air to become a suffocating miasma of solitude; strangely, the boy felt almost relieved at the lack of nearby pedestrians, finding himself in a less than trusting mood at the moment.
As if on cue, another dull wave of thunder rolled through the sky, providing an unneeded incentive for the student to resume his journey. Shaking off the bout of paranoia, the student turned to leave; for a second, only a second, he swore he saw a man in a green windbreaker almost a full block behind him, a deliberate slowness and caution to his whisper-soft step.
-
"Mom, I'm home!"
The door clunked heavily behind him as it shut, masking the thud of his backpack as it slid to the floor. He kicked off his shoes and slowly padded along the tiled floor, following it through the foyer and into the dining room.
"Mom?" he called, eyes making a broad sweep of the room; aside from a large potted plant in the corner and the hum of fluorescent lights from the adjoining kitchen, there were no signs of life. His eyes fell to the oak table before him, where a white piece of paper lay, visually crying out for attention. Eyebrow raised, he walked up to the table and quickly skimmed the hastily-written characters which adorned the note.
'Hiroshi,
I'm working the night shift tonight. I switched hours with Shiro; dinner's in the fridge.
Love,
Mom'
"Guess it's another TV dinner for tonight," he mused aloud. Retreating to the foyer, he snatched up his backpack and turned to the stairs, slowly trudging up to his bedroom, his footsteps muted but nonetheless loud amongst the comparative silence of the house.
He entered his bedroom, sighing as he set the pack down on his bed. Instinctively, he grabbed the remote to his TV set and turned it on, quickly flipping to the nearest news station. The channel was mostly irrelevant; the boy needed noise, something to break the unsettling silence. It reminded him that he was alone, a fact he could almost forget once online.
For him, that had been both the saving grace of The World and a cruel reminder of reality. On the 'net, a life-and-death struggle took place almost daily, a battle as real as any offline, with him at the center; his best friend lay in a coma because of it. Though he could count on his friends in The World to fight by his side, at the end of the day, when he shut off his terminal, he knew they couldn't come with him.
He was alone. And nobody knew that Hiroshi, a shy 14-year-old boy and slightly above average student, was fighting for his friend's life.
The revelation closed around him like a vise, as it had in so many instances before. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, his chest tight and constricted from the sudden bout of stress. (Easy... easy... it's okay,) he thought, silently reassuring himself, or at least attempting to. (You're not alone. Not where it matters.)
With a groan, he collapsed into his chair and booted up the computer; from the TV, a female reporter's voice filled his ears, apparently discussing today's events in the stock exchange with the co-anchor. Through his closed eyes, he saw the glow of the monitor, perceived as a sudden burst of color against his eyelids. A brief examination of the desktop led to a slight frown. (No mail... so now what do I do?)
He idly itched the back of his left hand, considering his options, which were few. As he hung his head, his eye caught a glimpse of a white index card, the name 'TamonAdillo' printed neatly on it.
(TamonAdillo? Oh, right... that's right, he supposedly found an invincible monster. Sounds like a Data Bug... yeah, maybe I'll check it out.)
Clattering keys filled the room as he opened the email client and began typing.
-
From: Kite@theworld.com
To: TamonAdillo@theworld.com
Subj: Monster
I read your post on the boards. My name is Kite, and I think I can help you. What did this monster look like?
-
From: TamonAdillo@theworld.com
To: Kite@theworld.com
Subj: Re: Monster
Hello, Kite. It was a large, bird-like creature; the strange thing was the whole of its body was covered in what looked like computer code... numbers, letters, strange crystalline shapes. As far as my party and I could tell, it had infinite hit points; between the three of us we inflicted several thousand points of damage on the creature - way more than what the average level of the monsters in the field would indicate.
Incidentally, I have heard rumors that you are a hacker. If so, then I would gladly appreciate any help you could offer us. My companions and I have been investigating the strange incidences in The World for some time, of which I am sure you are aware of as well.
If you have the time, I would like for you to meet with us in The World tonight, on Delta server at 8pm. We can discuss this further there.
-Tamon-
-
A pair of eyes opened, staring vacantly down the broadway of Mac Anu as it formed before the player. All around him, stone and marble buildings rose from the watery canals and winding streets, sunlight bathing everything in its warm, comforting light. A faint breeze twisted through the canal, its presence detected without being felt. Adventurers of every size, shape and outfit combination raced to and fro, chatting, trading, flirting and recruiting as only net gamers can.
The boy stepped away from the spinning Chaos Gate, his transition from the world to The World complete; he gradually became conscious of the change in his outfit, his loose-fitting school uniform replaced by a garish red vest and matching slacks, the former covering a thick, long-sleeved white shirt, a series of crooked oranged lines criscrossing along the latter. A similarly-colored hat topped his short, cartoonishly spiky teal hair, calling attention to the blue eyes and facial tattoos, also features alien to the player. Leather gloves and boots adorned his hands and feet, and a pair of sharp, flawlessly-crafted short swords dangled from his belt.
He smiled as he drew both weapons with an overhand grip, and took a few practice swings with them. (Least that's one thing I can count on,) he thought.
"Hey Kite!"
(And here comes another.)
The Twin Blade did an about-face, smiling and waving to the Heavy Blade BlackRose, decked out in her traditional garb of purplish-red, thorn-patterend tights, breastplate, gauntlets and waist greaves, and little else in the way of protection or cover. Though her outfit was not modest by any stretch of imagination, the most eye-catching part was the trademark of her class strapped to her back, a gigantic two-handed sword that looked at least as heavy as she. Her figure, though tanned and marked with a series of thorny tattoos, was lithe and slender, bearing not a trace of the muscle which would be required to wield such a weapon.
Despite the obvious farcical extremes of her character - which were fairly commonplace in The World - he had to admit that her avatar was easy on the eyes, insofar as a collection of pixels could be. Her lively wine-colored eyes and slight, casual smile served to reinforce the 'rose' motif, standing in sharp contrast to the thorns which decorated her body, in skin and in armor.
"Thanks for coming," said Kite with a smile.
"Sorry I'm late," she said, throwing a momentary glance back at the Chaos Gate from which she had emerged. "I was curious about that post too; I thought we'd never find a lead. So these guys are investigating, too?"
Kite nodded. "That's what Tamon said. They found a data bug, and they asked for help."
BlackRose sighed, turning to face Kite directly. "I just don't get it, where are all these things coming from? What's causing this?"
"I wish I knew," replied the Twin Blade. "I thought it was all that thing with the red wand. But I guess it's not over..."
"Yeah..." Her head drooped slightly, staring through the brick walkway beneath her feet. "I guess not," she said, a slight tinge of sadness in her voice.
"Well, maybe they know more about what's going on; he said they'd be here by 8."
She glanced again at the Chaos Gate. "Did he say where the field was?"
Kite shook his head. "Just that it was on this server."
She nodded, her attention turning to the broadway leading into the heart of the city. "You sure meet the weirdest people, you know," she remarked far too loudly to be meant for her ears only.
Kite couldn't help but smile. "You can say that again," he replied quickly; his intentional haste and subtle emphasis did not escape notice, and to drive the point home he added a smiling emote to the end of the sentence.
"What was that?" challenged BlackRose as she threw a look at Kite, burying the urge to grin back upon realizing her inclusion in her own statement.
"Nothing," answered Kite with feigned innocence, as he turned to avoid her eyes, chuckling softly.
The Heavy Blade's eye twitched, though Kite couldn't tell if her player had intended to or not. Either way, it brought a grin to his face. "Come on," he said. "Let's go save and stock up before they get here."
- End of Chapter XV