.HackRelapse
A .Hack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun
Disclaimer: Project .Hack and attached concepts and characters do not belong to me.
Notes: Takes place during Outbreak. Thoughts are (like this), writing is [like this]. And now, for something completely different; and by completely different, I mean "time to use my already-cliched gimmick of crossing storylines to keep new writing to a minimum. :)
But read on anyway! Warning: mild silliness ensues in this particular chapter, as well as some token Startling Revelations. See if you can guess which is which!
Chapter 8 - Business as Usual
-----------------------------
Boots clunking against wood followed a quiet, off-key whistling as the black-robed, gray-haired Wavemaster strolled casually from one island to the next, crossing one of the bridges that connected Dun Loireag. Staff in hand and resting over one shoulder, Stolls absentmindedly scrolled through his inventory with his free hand, scanning a list of foodstuffs that had been almost as animate as the creature he now sought to feed.
Coming to a stop in the grunty pen, he smiled down at the semi-mature cow beast he'd taken upon himself to raise. "Hey, big guy. Got somethin' for ya."
The animal's prior preference of piney apples in mind, Stolls produced one and knelt down, hand out and offering the food. The grunty wagged its tail happily as it snatched the apple from his hand and greedily gobbled it down.
(There, that should do it... that's what the FAQ said. I think that's what it said. Didn't it?)
A bright light and white mist gathered around the growing animal, obscuring its form to all eyes as it took a more defined, unique shape. It reared up on its hind legs and twisted its body left and right in a bizarre celebratory dance, or possibly some sort of seizure - Stolls could never decide which.
The mist dissipated, the light subsided. Stolls rubbed an eye with his free hand, and blinked twice to clear his vision. Upon identifying the shape the grunty had taken, he broke into a deep frown.
(God. DAMN it. ANOTHER one of these things, you've got to be kidding me!)
"Mon ami!"
The dust finally settled to reveal a Noble grunty standing where the immature one once was - hair blonde with curls, body garbed in some misshapen finery of clothing, twisted to odd contortions to fit the beast's ample girth.
The overemphasized French accent didn't help things either. "Although I am now a gentleman... there is no need for two Noble Grunties in this town."
"I didn't see a need for the first one either," muttered Stolls.
The grunty stuck to the script, paying him no heed as it scampered away, climbing up into the sky. "Adieu! Thank you, mon ami!" it belted out before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
The Wavemaster gently caressed his forehead with his gloved hand for a moment before running it through his hair, giving the gray strands a good ruffling. (Another freakin' waste of food. Last of my apples... those were a bitch to find.) With a frustrated sigh, he turned away from the ranch and stepped back onto the bridge, crossing to the next island.
Coming up to the chain of shopping islands, Stolls came to a stop as he recognized a familiar figure before the item vendor. "Hey, Kite!"
Hearing his name, the Twin Blade spun around and faced his addressor, a smile on his tattooed face. "Stolls!"
"Hey man," said Stolls as he smiled back. "How you doin'?"
"Pretty good," replied Kite. "And you?"
The Wavemaster strolled up to the counter. "Oh-ho-hooo, man... busy day. I'm actually glad I ran into you, I've been finding out more about this Tanaka guy you mentioned."
"Oh?"
"Crazy stuff," he continued. "A guy I know helped me to meet Tanaka face-to-face. Turns out there was this AI - or, something close to it, at least - called Morganna. It was intended to administrate Fragment; you know, the game that 'The World' is based on?" He folded his arms across his chest, tucking the staff against his shoulder. "They never actually used it, though; it was Seijiro that modified it to work with 'The World' when they incorporated Fragment, and they wanted to use it for basically the same thing, but they never did."
Kite looked at him strangely. "Did you say Morganna?"
Stolls threw the look right back at him. "Yeah... you know what it is?"
"Kind of... a while back I found a note in the game with her name on it, and Helba spoke about it, too. She said... that Morganna was 'The World'."
He sighed. "That sounds about right, least that's what I've been finding out. Tanaka said... well, it was technical, but the end result is a part of her code is almost everywhere in 'The World'."
"But... why use something like that to control a game?"
Stolls' lips twisted into a bizarre amalgam of a smirk and a frown. "I'm not so sure about... Seijiro said they wanted something that would evolve with the game itself, handle quality control and be self-updating, or something like that. They put the kibosh on her when they figured out they were in over their heads; couldn't get it to work right, or it wasn't advanced enough or something, so they tried to delete it. Somehow, it survived, grew back."
"It sounds awfully advanced to me," Kite mused.
"I agree. Seijiro said the AI wasn't complete, but that doesn't add up when you consider all it's done here. And even he admitted he wasn't sure about Morganna's original purpose, or why this all is so closely following the Epitaph of the Twilight." He paused, cocking his head at the Twin Blade. "I still don't buy that this is the work of an incomplete AI that was never even put to use. At the very least, I'm positive Seijiro wasn't telling me everything about her."
"Me too." He frowned. "If she's following the Epitaph, then it's almost like someone meant for this to happen. But what for?"
"I have no idea." Stolls relaxed his arms, gesturing vaguely with his free hand. "But this whole thing stinks. Just tonight there was a pack of thugs trying to kidnap a few of the people I interviewed. Commando-types. No idea why, but it seems like they're working for Seijiro."
"Wow..."
"Yeah, I know. Like I said... busy night," said Stolls with a weak chuckle.
It was then that he took actual stock of Kite's countenance; though his face was the picture of youth, Dean could swear he saw what looked like exhaustion in the eyes of the Twin Blade. His posture was also slouched somewhat, evidence of long hours of play. "How 'bout you?" he asked. "You okay? You find out anything on your end?"
-
"Lieutenant?"
Masamoto looked up from his desk, blinking twice to compensate for the bags beneath his eyes, dragging his eyelids down with them. "Yes?"
The young officer stood before him, clipboard trembling in his nervous hands. "You may want to take a look at this, sir." As the lieutenant took the clipboard, he explained. "It's the IDs for those men from the Kurasawa and Sakuma incidents."
"I was waiting for these," Masamoto said, dismissing the officer with a tired wave of his hand. "Thank you, Koji, I... huh?" He stopped short as his eyes fell upon a few key phrases.
A long wait followed as Masamoto skimmed the information again, and then again. "Is this information accurate?"
"It's what we had in our database," he replied, "combined with personal identification from each of their effects. We also obtained information from their vehicles; it's definitely American."
(This can't be true,) thought Masamoto. (What on Earth are they doing going after a bunch of computer geeks?)
Realizing the officer hadn't left, he looked up and cleared his throat. "Koji, get me Seijiro Tanaka's file again. I want to cross-reference this with his and see if there's a match."
Koji blinked, confused. "Sir?"
"Call it a hunch," said Masamoto with an invisible smirk. "Get to it."
-
Stolls found his player gawking along with him as he listened to the Twin Blade finish his story. "So... that's why she's playing."
Kite nodded. "Yeah... because of her brother Kazu. I had thought it was something big, but I didn't know..."
"Me neither," said Stolls. "That explains it, though; it seemed to me like she took this whole thing kinda personally."
"I guess we all have our reasons for playing." Kite hung his head.
"Guess so." A sigh escaped the Wavemaster's lips, mirroring the actions of his puppeteer. "Some game, huh?"
The teal-haired Twin Blade made no reply, save for shaking his head slightly. Stolls heard a noise from his throat that could have been him swallowing hard.
(Poor guy... hell, poor both of 'em; both have people they care about whose lives are on the line here. She's in the same boat as him.) At this thought, an idea sprung to the tip of Stolls' tongue. "Although... if you think about it..."
Kite lifted his head, his eyes questioning, curious.
"If you think about it," Stolls repeated, "it means she trusts you."
Kite's eyes lightened somewhat at the idea, and the Wavemaster continued. "Well, she's stuck by you through all this, right? I told you before, she'd have to like you to stick by you for so long. Now we know she's got as much stock in figuring this out as anybody." He pointed to Kite. "And you have somebody who knows what you're up against, someone else for whom this isn't just a game."
"It's not like that," said Kite dismissively. "I don't feel like I'm alone in here anymore, I know that my friends are willing to help me, especially her; in a way, I knew that back when we fought Delphi together." He stared off into the distance, an almost wistful sigh escaping his lips. "She risked her life to help me out."
In the background, Dean heard his phone ringing. (Not now, dammit,) he thought. (Let the machine get it.)
"You both risked your lives," corrected Stolls. "For me, for us. For your friend, for her brother." He smiled. "All this means is that now you know you're both after the same thing, instead of just thinking you are; she trusts you enough to want you to know why she's helping you, you obviously trust her with the same."
Hearing thoughts that he shared spoken aloud, Kite found himself smiling along with the Wavemaster. "Yeah... I do."
"Well, there you go!" Stolls stepped forward and clapped the Twin Blade on the shoulder. "Now you got a partner you like, you trust, and now you know she's feeling likewise for you, and you've even got the same goal. You couldn't ask for a better setup, if you ask me."
Stolls' semi-sudden exuberance swept Kite up along with it, and he couldn't help but grin in response, shyness tossed to the side as he replied with a smiling emote.
Seeing the floating smiley face attached to Kite's text box, Stolls laughed aloud. "And wouldn't you know it, boy meets girl while trying to save the world, even if it is a fake one. Hey, do both you guys a favor, you gotta make your move before the final climactic battle between good and evil."
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, turning away slightly as if to hide a blush.
"C'mon, man, you play RPGs, you know how it is," Stolls said, still grinning, a sense of grandeur and exaggeration to his words. "In all the best stories, either just before or just after the final battle, the guy and the girl have a private moment to themselves to confess their feelings for each other. That's the way these things work!"
Kite's imaginary blush turned quite real. "Um... well, uh, I guess so... I mean, I do like her and all..." he muttered, eyes widening in disbelief at his own confession.
"Just like the games, it's scary, I tell you," continued Stolls, a silliness seeping into his grin. "Everybody likes to see a little romance now and then. At least here you don't have to worry about some hack writer awkwardly pairing you guys off in fanfiction because he has too much time on his hands and is overly obsessed with the minutiae of videogames and their characters."
That got a chuckle out of Kite. "Well, THAT makes me feel better," he replied jokingly.
"Nah, y'know what?" Stolls began with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "You gotta do what you gotta do. Yours is a relationship I would highly encourage for you to continue, and that constitutes the extent of my meddling, my friend."
"Just forget about the 'what ifs', huh?" asked Kite, an unusually sly grin on his face.
"Hah!" belted out Stolls, hearing his own advice come from Kite's mouth. "It seems my work here is done," he added with an extravagant bow. "But that's how you gotta do it, Kite, that's how you gotta do it." His smile vanished, but not the softness of his eyes. "This isn't a game, no one's doubting that, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun along the way. Doesn't mean you have to be 100% serious all the time."
He turned away from Kite, arms raised to his sides. "Gotta have these things, my friend. This is my release, right here; and you, you and BlackRose," he said, glancing over his shoulder, "this is yours, too. Just 'cause you're here on business doesn't mean you can't have a little fun too."
Hiroshi met Dean's eyes through their avatars, sharing a moment of silent, yet jubilant honesty. He smiled once more. "You're right. Thanks, Dean."
"Anytime Hiro," shot back the detective. "And thank you earlier for your tip; you take care of things in here, I'll get to the bottom of this in the real world."
"You can count on me," Kite answered confidently, raising and clenching his fist.
"All right," said Stolls, "enough pep talk. I should probably get go- oh, wait, wait, there was one other thing I wanted to ask you."
"Yeah?"
The Wavemaster's face fell into a flat, no-nonsense expression, and his voice followed suit. "I don't suppose you have any Piney Apples I could borrow, do you?"
-
"Hi, you've reached Dean Stollis. I'm not in, Leave a message."
BEEP
"Dean, it's Masamoto. We've found out the identities of those men." A long pause. "This problem just went international. They're members of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency."
"Call the office tomorrow. I've got a job for you."
- End of Chapter 8
A .Hack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun
Disclaimer: Project .Hack and attached concepts and characters do not belong to me.
Notes: Takes place during Outbreak. Thoughts are (like this), writing is [like this]. And now, for something completely different; and by completely different, I mean "time to use my already-cliched gimmick of crossing storylines to keep new writing to a minimum. :)
But read on anyway! Warning: mild silliness ensues in this particular chapter, as well as some token Startling Revelations. See if you can guess which is which!
Chapter 8 - Business as Usual
-----------------------------
Boots clunking against wood followed a quiet, off-key whistling as the black-robed, gray-haired Wavemaster strolled casually from one island to the next, crossing one of the bridges that connected Dun Loireag. Staff in hand and resting over one shoulder, Stolls absentmindedly scrolled through his inventory with his free hand, scanning a list of foodstuffs that had been almost as animate as the creature he now sought to feed.
Coming to a stop in the grunty pen, he smiled down at the semi-mature cow beast he'd taken upon himself to raise. "Hey, big guy. Got somethin' for ya."
The animal's prior preference of piney apples in mind, Stolls produced one and knelt down, hand out and offering the food. The grunty wagged its tail happily as it snatched the apple from his hand and greedily gobbled it down.
(There, that should do it... that's what the FAQ said. I think that's what it said. Didn't it?)
A bright light and white mist gathered around the growing animal, obscuring its form to all eyes as it took a more defined, unique shape. It reared up on its hind legs and twisted its body left and right in a bizarre celebratory dance, or possibly some sort of seizure - Stolls could never decide which.
The mist dissipated, the light subsided. Stolls rubbed an eye with his free hand, and blinked twice to clear his vision. Upon identifying the shape the grunty had taken, he broke into a deep frown.
(God. DAMN it. ANOTHER one of these things, you've got to be kidding me!)
"Mon ami!"
The dust finally settled to reveal a Noble grunty standing where the immature one once was - hair blonde with curls, body garbed in some misshapen finery of clothing, twisted to odd contortions to fit the beast's ample girth.
The overemphasized French accent didn't help things either. "Although I am now a gentleman... there is no need for two Noble Grunties in this town."
"I didn't see a need for the first one either," muttered Stolls.
The grunty stuck to the script, paying him no heed as it scampered away, climbing up into the sky. "Adieu! Thank you, mon ami!" it belted out before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
The Wavemaster gently caressed his forehead with his gloved hand for a moment before running it through his hair, giving the gray strands a good ruffling. (Another freakin' waste of food. Last of my apples... those were a bitch to find.) With a frustrated sigh, he turned away from the ranch and stepped back onto the bridge, crossing to the next island.
Coming up to the chain of shopping islands, Stolls came to a stop as he recognized a familiar figure before the item vendor. "Hey, Kite!"
Hearing his name, the Twin Blade spun around and faced his addressor, a smile on his tattooed face. "Stolls!"
"Hey man," said Stolls as he smiled back. "How you doin'?"
"Pretty good," replied Kite. "And you?"
The Wavemaster strolled up to the counter. "Oh-ho-hooo, man... busy day. I'm actually glad I ran into you, I've been finding out more about this Tanaka guy you mentioned."
"Oh?"
"Crazy stuff," he continued. "A guy I know helped me to meet Tanaka face-to-face. Turns out there was this AI - or, something close to it, at least - called Morganna. It was intended to administrate Fragment; you know, the game that 'The World' is based on?" He folded his arms across his chest, tucking the staff against his shoulder. "They never actually used it, though; it was Seijiro that modified it to work with 'The World' when they incorporated Fragment, and they wanted to use it for basically the same thing, but they never did."
Kite looked at him strangely. "Did you say Morganna?"
Stolls threw the look right back at him. "Yeah... you know what it is?"
"Kind of... a while back I found a note in the game with her name on it, and Helba spoke about it, too. She said... that Morganna was 'The World'."
He sighed. "That sounds about right, least that's what I've been finding out. Tanaka said... well, it was technical, but the end result is a part of her code is almost everywhere in 'The World'."
"But... why use something like that to control a game?"
Stolls' lips twisted into a bizarre amalgam of a smirk and a frown. "I'm not so sure about... Seijiro said they wanted something that would evolve with the game itself, handle quality control and be self-updating, or something like that. They put the kibosh on her when they figured out they were in over their heads; couldn't get it to work right, or it wasn't advanced enough or something, so they tried to delete it. Somehow, it survived, grew back."
"It sounds awfully advanced to me," Kite mused.
"I agree. Seijiro said the AI wasn't complete, but that doesn't add up when you consider all it's done here. And even he admitted he wasn't sure about Morganna's original purpose, or why this all is so closely following the Epitaph of the Twilight." He paused, cocking his head at the Twin Blade. "I still don't buy that this is the work of an incomplete AI that was never even put to use. At the very least, I'm positive Seijiro wasn't telling me everything about her."
"Me too." He frowned. "If she's following the Epitaph, then it's almost like someone meant for this to happen. But what for?"
"I have no idea." Stolls relaxed his arms, gesturing vaguely with his free hand. "But this whole thing stinks. Just tonight there was a pack of thugs trying to kidnap a few of the people I interviewed. Commando-types. No idea why, but it seems like they're working for Seijiro."
"Wow..."
"Yeah, I know. Like I said... busy night," said Stolls with a weak chuckle.
It was then that he took actual stock of Kite's countenance; though his face was the picture of youth, Dean could swear he saw what looked like exhaustion in the eyes of the Twin Blade. His posture was also slouched somewhat, evidence of long hours of play. "How 'bout you?" he asked. "You okay? You find out anything on your end?"
-
"Lieutenant?"
Masamoto looked up from his desk, blinking twice to compensate for the bags beneath his eyes, dragging his eyelids down with them. "Yes?"
The young officer stood before him, clipboard trembling in his nervous hands. "You may want to take a look at this, sir." As the lieutenant took the clipboard, he explained. "It's the IDs for those men from the Kurasawa and Sakuma incidents."
"I was waiting for these," Masamoto said, dismissing the officer with a tired wave of his hand. "Thank you, Koji, I... huh?" He stopped short as his eyes fell upon a few key phrases.
A long wait followed as Masamoto skimmed the information again, and then again. "Is this information accurate?"
"It's what we had in our database," he replied, "combined with personal identification from each of their effects. We also obtained information from their vehicles; it's definitely American."
(This can't be true,) thought Masamoto. (What on Earth are they doing going after a bunch of computer geeks?)
Realizing the officer hadn't left, he looked up and cleared his throat. "Koji, get me Seijiro Tanaka's file again. I want to cross-reference this with his and see if there's a match."
Koji blinked, confused. "Sir?"
"Call it a hunch," said Masamoto with an invisible smirk. "Get to it."
-
Stolls found his player gawking along with him as he listened to the Twin Blade finish his story. "So... that's why she's playing."
Kite nodded. "Yeah... because of her brother Kazu. I had thought it was something big, but I didn't know..."
"Me neither," said Stolls. "That explains it, though; it seemed to me like she took this whole thing kinda personally."
"I guess we all have our reasons for playing." Kite hung his head.
"Guess so." A sigh escaped the Wavemaster's lips, mirroring the actions of his puppeteer. "Some game, huh?"
The teal-haired Twin Blade made no reply, save for shaking his head slightly. Stolls heard a noise from his throat that could have been him swallowing hard.
(Poor guy... hell, poor both of 'em; both have people they care about whose lives are on the line here. She's in the same boat as him.) At this thought, an idea sprung to the tip of Stolls' tongue. "Although... if you think about it..."
Kite lifted his head, his eyes questioning, curious.
"If you think about it," Stolls repeated, "it means she trusts you."
Kite's eyes lightened somewhat at the idea, and the Wavemaster continued. "Well, she's stuck by you through all this, right? I told you before, she'd have to like you to stick by you for so long. Now we know she's got as much stock in figuring this out as anybody." He pointed to Kite. "And you have somebody who knows what you're up against, someone else for whom this isn't just a game."
"It's not like that," said Kite dismissively. "I don't feel like I'm alone in here anymore, I know that my friends are willing to help me, especially her; in a way, I knew that back when we fought Delphi together." He stared off into the distance, an almost wistful sigh escaping his lips. "She risked her life to help me out."
In the background, Dean heard his phone ringing. (Not now, dammit,) he thought. (Let the machine get it.)
"You both risked your lives," corrected Stolls. "For me, for us. For your friend, for her brother." He smiled. "All this means is that now you know you're both after the same thing, instead of just thinking you are; she trusts you enough to want you to know why she's helping you, you obviously trust her with the same."
Hearing thoughts that he shared spoken aloud, Kite found himself smiling along with the Wavemaster. "Yeah... I do."
"Well, there you go!" Stolls stepped forward and clapped the Twin Blade on the shoulder. "Now you got a partner you like, you trust, and now you know she's feeling likewise for you, and you've even got the same goal. You couldn't ask for a better setup, if you ask me."
Stolls' semi-sudden exuberance swept Kite up along with it, and he couldn't help but grin in response, shyness tossed to the side as he replied with a smiling emote.
Seeing the floating smiley face attached to Kite's text box, Stolls laughed aloud. "And wouldn't you know it, boy meets girl while trying to save the world, even if it is a fake one. Hey, do both you guys a favor, you gotta make your move before the final climactic battle between good and evil."
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, turning away slightly as if to hide a blush.
"C'mon, man, you play RPGs, you know how it is," Stolls said, still grinning, a sense of grandeur and exaggeration to his words. "In all the best stories, either just before or just after the final battle, the guy and the girl have a private moment to themselves to confess their feelings for each other. That's the way these things work!"
Kite's imaginary blush turned quite real. "Um... well, uh, I guess so... I mean, I do like her and all..." he muttered, eyes widening in disbelief at his own confession.
"Just like the games, it's scary, I tell you," continued Stolls, a silliness seeping into his grin. "Everybody likes to see a little romance now and then. At least here you don't have to worry about some hack writer awkwardly pairing you guys off in fanfiction because he has too much time on his hands and is overly obsessed with the minutiae of videogames and their characters."
That got a chuckle out of Kite. "Well, THAT makes me feel better," he replied jokingly.
"Nah, y'know what?" Stolls began with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "You gotta do what you gotta do. Yours is a relationship I would highly encourage for you to continue, and that constitutes the extent of my meddling, my friend."
"Just forget about the 'what ifs', huh?" asked Kite, an unusually sly grin on his face.
"Hah!" belted out Stolls, hearing his own advice come from Kite's mouth. "It seems my work here is done," he added with an extravagant bow. "But that's how you gotta do it, Kite, that's how you gotta do it." His smile vanished, but not the softness of his eyes. "This isn't a game, no one's doubting that, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun along the way. Doesn't mean you have to be 100% serious all the time."
He turned away from Kite, arms raised to his sides. "Gotta have these things, my friend. This is my release, right here; and you, you and BlackRose," he said, glancing over his shoulder, "this is yours, too. Just 'cause you're here on business doesn't mean you can't have a little fun too."
Hiroshi met Dean's eyes through their avatars, sharing a moment of silent, yet jubilant honesty. He smiled once more. "You're right. Thanks, Dean."
"Anytime Hiro," shot back the detective. "And thank you earlier for your tip; you take care of things in here, I'll get to the bottom of this in the real world."
"You can count on me," Kite answered confidently, raising and clenching his fist.
"All right," said Stolls, "enough pep talk. I should probably get go- oh, wait, wait, there was one other thing I wanted to ask you."
"Yeah?"
The Wavemaster's face fell into a flat, no-nonsense expression, and his voice followed suit. "I don't suppose you have any Piney Apples I could borrow, do you?"
-
"Hi, you've reached Dean Stollis. I'm not in, Leave a message."
BEEP
"Dean, it's Masamoto. We've found out the identities of those men." A long pause. "This problem just went international. They're members of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency."
"Call the office tomorrow. I've got a job for you."
- End of Chapter 8