.Hack: Penance
A .Hack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun
Disclaimer: Project .Hack and attached characters/concepts are property of Bandai and Cyber Connect. They are used without permission, but with the utmost respect.
Notes: Happens following the end of Quarantine. (Thoughts,) [text,] {email domains}. Nothing in particular to note this time, although I would like to point out that the boardroom fight scene in "The Crow" is one of the best fight scenes in movie history. Having said that, you can rightly assume that said movie is the reason this update is technically in on Saturday, and not Friday like it was supposed to. (blush)
This chapter written under the influence of: Crystal Method – Trip Like I Do
Chapter 7 – 72881D
------------------------
"Did you find out anything?"
A field of white surrounded the teal-haired Twin Blade on all sides, stretching as far as the eye could see; a private sector, dedicated for administrators only, including the one who stood before him.
Lios was his typical sour-looking self, the green-clad, heavyset NPC shopkeeper his avatar of choice, a seemingly permanent grimace on his weathered face. His powerful arms were folded across his chest, and a hint of frustration tinged his voice.
"Very little," he said with a sigh. "I personally scanned every inch of that field, but found no trace of viral infection, or anything else out of place." He shook his head, then added, "I even went in and checked every room in my character, but there wasn't anything except monsters and treasure chests."
"Oh," murmured Kite, letting his head droop an inch or two. "But... you did find something, didn't you?" he asked hopefully.
Lios nodded. "As I've said, yours isn't the first email we've gotten in regards to this strange character, yet we still haven't had a visual confirmation. That is, no one can tell us exactly what it looks like."
"It looked like a man, from what I saw." Kite paused to pick his words. "He was dressed like someone would in the real world; he was wearing sneakers, and black clothes."
"Well, that's a little more than we've been getting so far," said the administrator. "Most of the other reports were even more vague. And then another one shows up..."
Kite blinked. "Another one?"
"Just a few hours ago. It was reported on the boards that someone saw a strange character at Delta: Hidden Corrupted Paradise." He frowned. "Whatever these things are, the players are finding them faster than we can even confirm they exist."
"Are they the same?"
"I do not believe so. What little we've heard describes this character as dressed in orange."
"I don't understand," said Kite. "Why can't you find these things, if so many players have spotted them?"
"Hmph," grunted the administrator. "That's a very good question," he admitted, somewhat uneasily. "These don't seem to respond to network scans, and administration doesn't want to waste manpower checking in on something that might not even be a problem, especially since so many of us are busy still documenting and repairing from the Wave."
"But if they're confined to the same fields..."
Lios cut him off. "Yes, I know. It doesn't make any sense, and none of us have been able to go and check on this latest rumor."
"Then I'll go check it out," Kite said confidently, "and let you know what I find."
"I would appreciate that." Before Kite could leave, he added, "There was one other thing I found out."
The boy eyed Lios curiously. "What's that?"
His brow unfurrowed. "I didn't find anything to explain the static, but I did a systems check on our email service to ensure there weren't any glitches, and there was something unusual imbedded in your address."
Kite narrowed his eyes. "Something unusual?" he repeated.
"Some kind of data miner program," answered Lios. "Like spyware, but far more aggressive; it seemed to be erasing email as it arrived in your inbox."
The Twin Blade looked puzzled. "It was erasing my mail? Then how did yours get through?"
To his surprise, Lios shared his look of confusion. "I don't know. The only explanation is either that someone is selectively screening your mail, or it didn't work before you read mine."
"There were others, though... from Ryoko, and Stolls..."
The administrator seemed to bristle at the latter name. "Hrm... then it sounds more like the former." He took a deep breath, and spoke carefully. "I don't mean to worry you, but it would appear that someone is monitoring your email."
Kite swallowed hard, fidgeting nervously. "So... whose email did get deleted?"
"I'll show you the logs."
The stocky man passed an arm to his right, and a large window appeared, running perpendicular to where they stood. On it, text was displayed, a highly visible sky blue against a translucent gray background.
[2/6/11 – electronic mail traffic: "Kite" {theworld}
From: ---- {anonymous} (12:13)
-root:3092194; kernel047 – message erased 17:45
From: BlackRose {theworld} (14:40)
-root:7182305; kernel047 – message erased 17:45
From: Stolls {theworld} (16:05)
From: Terajima Ryoko {theworld} (18:00)
From: BlackRose {theworld} (21:09)
-root:1388051; kernel047 – message erased 21:09
From: Lios {systemadmin} (22:01)]
Kite gaped as he read the glowing window, gasping quietly as his eyes fell upon 'message erased'. "From BlackRose," he whispered. "And... what's that first one?"
"I'm unsure," said Lios, "but it's encrypted. Or rather, it was."
He turned sharply to face the administrator, his footfalls echoing in the empty expanse of the private room. "Can you recover them? Do you know what they said?"
"No, once mail has been deleted it can't be recovered unless it's been archived, and that isn't possible if it was never opened."
Kite groaned, hanging his head. "Damn... she must have been looking for me."
"If it's a bug in the server, I can remove it," Lios continued. "It will take time. However, if it's something on your computer, specifically, then I recommend you erase and reinstall the software, or run a scan on your hard drive."
"I understand," said Kite, "but right now I think I should check out that field. Maybe something is still there."
"I'm about to log out for the night. If you find anything..." he trailed off. "Wait... no, don't mail it to me. Make a note of it offline and report it directly to me, tomorrow. In person. Send a PM to our technical support queue with your name on it, and ask for me. I will find you."
"Right. I'll see what I can find!"
-
The land around them lived up to its field name; grassy earth, toned in a rusty red, dead and dying trees lying here and there, some graced with the bones and skeletons of long-dead animals. Above, the clouds churned and swirled, choking out the sun behind an angry grayness.
BlackRose and Terajima Ryoko exchanged looks, less concerned with their surroundings than the fact that there was nothing else in them.
"Someone else must have read the post before the boards went down," said BlackRose.
"The field has been cleared," said Ryoko, nodding her head in agreement. "All that's left is the dungeon."
The Heavy Blade looked over at the entrance to the – the upper portion of an enormous humanoid head, buried in the dirt with its mouth agape, 'fingers' clenching and unclenching as if beckoning the adventurers to enter. She flinched, a quiet chill snaking through her at the macabre creature.
"Let's check it out," she replied, steeling herself and dashing towards the mouth. Behind her, she heard Ryoko's footsteps as the Axewoman followed.
The two passed through the open maw and descended down the slick, fleshy passageway, into the throat of the beast that, for all intents and purposes, was still functionally equivalent to a conventional dungeon. Before long, they came to a T-junction, passages branching east and west.
"It sure is quiet here," muttered BlackRose, eyeing their surroundings carefully.
To her left, the angelic warrior was scanning the area with a similarly cautious eye. "They must be far ahead of us... I wonder if they've found that character yet?"
"Guess we'll have to check the place out, top to bottom." She turned towards her newfound party member. "The monsters here are pretty weak. We should be okay if we split up, and we can cover more ground that way."
(Oh! I hope she didn't take that the wrong way,) thought BlackRose, briefly recalling the last time the two of them split up. (It's not that I don't want to search with her...)
Thankfully, Ryoko didn't. "I agree," she answered, bowing her head politely. "I will take the right path."
(Phew!) "All right. PM me if you find anything!"
They broke away and headed in opposite directions, keeping their party intact as they entered different rooms. The two girls systematically searched each and every portion of the dungeon, with only large blue nerves and unbroken eggs or bodies to impede their progress.
The floor below was more of the same, although Ryoko did find a single unopened portal – which proceeded to spawn a single trapped chest, which in turn protected a single Cooked Bile.
[From: Terajima Ryoko
It looks like they weren't as thorough on this floor. There is still no sign of them, or of anyone else.]
[From: BlackRose
I think... hey, I've found them! I just saw them pass through an opening before it closed! Next floor down, come on!]
Purpose in her step, the dainty Axewoman charged through the empty chambers, her boots making slight squishing sounds in the damp, porous ground. The green-and-purple corridors passed her by, exposed nerves and veins hanging like vines; in the distance, a long tunnel ended in a narrow arch sloping down.
As she descended to the next level, she saw BlackRose up ahead, hands on her hips, tapping her toe impatiently as she stared at the lump of flesh that served as a door into the next room. "Rrrgh... come ON! What the hell is taking so long?!"
"Is there a monster in there?" Ryoko asked, rejoining the Heavy Blade.
As if on cue, the 'door' shrunk away and vanished, leaving the path open. BlackRose threw a look back at Ryoko, and the two dashed through the opening together.
"Phew! That was a close one! Good job, guys!"
In the center of the large, square chamber, a team of two Twin Blades and a Wavemaster stood around a fast-decaying monster corpse, congratulating each other as they recovered from their battle. The creature turned to a dull shade of gray and disintegrated before either girl could get a good look at it.
"Not bad for a first party," commented one of the Twin Blades, a young, blonde man garbed in dark green cloth and black leather armor.
The Wavemaster – tall and slender, in blue-and-red robes, with a large cap that settled just over his eyes – chanted to himself as he cast a few healing spells. "It sure put up a fight, though. Worse than that other thing."
"Yeah, I'll say. What was that thing, anyway?"
The second Twin Blade noticed BlackRose and Ryoko standing nearby, and turned to address them. He smiled and bowed politely, ruffling his yellow outfit. "Hi!" he called out. "I'm Reed; these are my friends Pyne and Starseeker. Are you exploring here, too?"
BlackRose stepped forward. "Yeah, we were looking for the event character. Did you guys happen to see him?"
"Event character... oh, you must mean that guy in the orange clothes!" Reed exclaimed. "Yeah, we ran into him a few minutes ago."
"Really??" asked BlackRose. "Where was he?"
Pyne, the other Twin Blade, joined the conversation. "It was the floor above us; we didn't even know there were monsters like that in here!"
"Yeah, it caught us by surprise," said Reed. "We barely won."
"You won?" Ryoko started. "Then... it's dead?"
Starseeker leaned on his staff, addressing no one in particular. "I swear, it looked crazy... like a real person, but covered in blood."
BlackRose reeled her head back. "Blood?!"
"We heard noises," said Reed, "and, there was this guy in the corner of one of the rooms. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit, and he had a knife." Gesturing with his hand, he added, "At first, I wasn't sure what was going on, but then he started towards us. Starseeker hit it with a fire spell, and then it attacked."
"I just kinda panicked," confessed the Wavemaster. "I targeted it like any other monster, but this one didn't have a name."
Ryoko sighed. "So, it's gone."
"What about that thing it dropped?" Pyne mentioned.
"Oh yeah!" Reed reached back, rifling through his inventory. When his arm came around again, it was holding a scrap of paper. "When he disappeared, he dropped this note. I'm not sure what it means, though."
"Can I see it?" asked BlackRose, indicating the note with her hand.
"Sure, go ahead."
Reed offered the note to the Heavy Blade, who accepted it and began to read. The paper was old and crinkled, a white 8x11 sheet with letters that could only have come from a printer. Parts of the top were obscured by dried blood and ink stains, but most was clearly legible.
[...involved in an altercation with two other inmates during morning exercise – 31892D (Croker, Felix) and 76600 (DeGarmo, William). One had fastened a makeshift knife from a bedpost, while the other had pilfered a length of chain from storage. Subject mortally wounded his attackers, but was himself seriously injured. All participants were given proper medical treatment, then sentenced to 72 hours solitary confinement (excepting the subject, who was sentenced only to 24 hours.)
It is the opinion of myself, and officers Wilson and Fairfax, that inmate 72881D acted in self-defense and should be cleared of any charges of misconduct in this incident.
Sincerely,
Philip A. Alvarez
Corrections Officer, San Quentin State Prison
California Department of Corrections]
"Huh?" grunted BlackRose. "From a prison? What is this doing here?"
"There's more on the back," Starseeker said, pointing to the letter. "Someone drew a circle on the back and wrote 'He's here'."
- End of Chapter 7
A .Hack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun
Disclaimer: Project .Hack and attached characters/concepts are property of Bandai and Cyber Connect. They are used without permission, but with the utmost respect.
Notes: Happens following the end of Quarantine. (Thoughts,) [text,] {email domains}. Nothing in particular to note this time, although I would like to point out that the boardroom fight scene in "The Crow" is one of the best fight scenes in movie history. Having said that, you can rightly assume that said movie is the reason this update is technically in on Saturday, and not Friday like it was supposed to. (blush)
This chapter written under the influence of: Crystal Method – Trip Like I Do
Chapter 7 – 72881D
------------------------
"Did you find out anything?"
A field of white surrounded the teal-haired Twin Blade on all sides, stretching as far as the eye could see; a private sector, dedicated for administrators only, including the one who stood before him.
Lios was his typical sour-looking self, the green-clad, heavyset NPC shopkeeper his avatar of choice, a seemingly permanent grimace on his weathered face. His powerful arms were folded across his chest, and a hint of frustration tinged his voice.
"Very little," he said with a sigh. "I personally scanned every inch of that field, but found no trace of viral infection, or anything else out of place." He shook his head, then added, "I even went in and checked every room in my character, but there wasn't anything except monsters and treasure chests."
"Oh," murmured Kite, letting his head droop an inch or two. "But... you did find something, didn't you?" he asked hopefully.
Lios nodded. "As I've said, yours isn't the first email we've gotten in regards to this strange character, yet we still haven't had a visual confirmation. That is, no one can tell us exactly what it looks like."
"It looked like a man, from what I saw." Kite paused to pick his words. "He was dressed like someone would in the real world; he was wearing sneakers, and black clothes."
"Well, that's a little more than we've been getting so far," said the administrator. "Most of the other reports were even more vague. And then another one shows up..."
Kite blinked. "Another one?"
"Just a few hours ago. It was reported on the boards that someone saw a strange character at Delta: Hidden Corrupted Paradise." He frowned. "Whatever these things are, the players are finding them faster than we can even confirm they exist."
"Are they the same?"
"I do not believe so. What little we've heard describes this character as dressed in orange."
"I don't understand," said Kite. "Why can't you find these things, if so many players have spotted them?"
"Hmph," grunted the administrator. "That's a very good question," he admitted, somewhat uneasily. "These don't seem to respond to network scans, and administration doesn't want to waste manpower checking in on something that might not even be a problem, especially since so many of us are busy still documenting and repairing from the Wave."
"But if they're confined to the same fields..."
Lios cut him off. "Yes, I know. It doesn't make any sense, and none of us have been able to go and check on this latest rumor."
"Then I'll go check it out," Kite said confidently, "and let you know what I find."
"I would appreciate that." Before Kite could leave, he added, "There was one other thing I found out."
The boy eyed Lios curiously. "What's that?"
His brow unfurrowed. "I didn't find anything to explain the static, but I did a systems check on our email service to ensure there weren't any glitches, and there was something unusual imbedded in your address."
Kite narrowed his eyes. "Something unusual?" he repeated.
"Some kind of data miner program," answered Lios. "Like spyware, but far more aggressive; it seemed to be erasing email as it arrived in your inbox."
The Twin Blade looked puzzled. "It was erasing my mail? Then how did yours get through?"
To his surprise, Lios shared his look of confusion. "I don't know. The only explanation is either that someone is selectively screening your mail, or it didn't work before you read mine."
"There were others, though... from Ryoko, and Stolls..."
The administrator seemed to bristle at the latter name. "Hrm... then it sounds more like the former." He took a deep breath, and spoke carefully. "I don't mean to worry you, but it would appear that someone is monitoring your email."
Kite swallowed hard, fidgeting nervously. "So... whose email did get deleted?"
"I'll show you the logs."
The stocky man passed an arm to his right, and a large window appeared, running perpendicular to where they stood. On it, text was displayed, a highly visible sky blue against a translucent gray background.
[2/6/11 – electronic mail traffic: "Kite" {theworld}
From: ---- {anonymous} (12:13)
-root:3092194; kernel047 – message erased 17:45
From: BlackRose {theworld} (14:40)
-root:7182305; kernel047 – message erased 17:45
From: Stolls {theworld} (16:05)
From: Terajima Ryoko {theworld} (18:00)
From: BlackRose {theworld} (21:09)
-root:1388051; kernel047 – message erased 21:09
From: Lios {systemadmin} (22:01)]
Kite gaped as he read the glowing window, gasping quietly as his eyes fell upon 'message erased'. "From BlackRose," he whispered. "And... what's that first one?"
"I'm unsure," said Lios, "but it's encrypted. Or rather, it was."
He turned sharply to face the administrator, his footfalls echoing in the empty expanse of the private room. "Can you recover them? Do you know what they said?"
"No, once mail has been deleted it can't be recovered unless it's been archived, and that isn't possible if it was never opened."
Kite groaned, hanging his head. "Damn... she must have been looking for me."
"If it's a bug in the server, I can remove it," Lios continued. "It will take time. However, if it's something on your computer, specifically, then I recommend you erase and reinstall the software, or run a scan on your hard drive."
"I understand," said Kite, "but right now I think I should check out that field. Maybe something is still there."
"I'm about to log out for the night. If you find anything..." he trailed off. "Wait... no, don't mail it to me. Make a note of it offline and report it directly to me, tomorrow. In person. Send a PM to our technical support queue with your name on it, and ask for me. I will find you."
"Right. I'll see what I can find!"
-
The land around them lived up to its field name; grassy earth, toned in a rusty red, dead and dying trees lying here and there, some graced with the bones and skeletons of long-dead animals. Above, the clouds churned and swirled, choking out the sun behind an angry grayness.
BlackRose and Terajima Ryoko exchanged looks, less concerned with their surroundings than the fact that there was nothing else in them.
"Someone else must have read the post before the boards went down," said BlackRose.
"The field has been cleared," said Ryoko, nodding her head in agreement. "All that's left is the dungeon."
The Heavy Blade looked over at the entrance to the – the upper portion of an enormous humanoid head, buried in the dirt with its mouth agape, 'fingers' clenching and unclenching as if beckoning the adventurers to enter. She flinched, a quiet chill snaking through her at the macabre creature.
"Let's check it out," she replied, steeling herself and dashing towards the mouth. Behind her, she heard Ryoko's footsteps as the Axewoman followed.
The two passed through the open maw and descended down the slick, fleshy passageway, into the throat of the beast that, for all intents and purposes, was still functionally equivalent to a conventional dungeon. Before long, they came to a T-junction, passages branching east and west.
"It sure is quiet here," muttered BlackRose, eyeing their surroundings carefully.
To her left, the angelic warrior was scanning the area with a similarly cautious eye. "They must be far ahead of us... I wonder if they've found that character yet?"
"Guess we'll have to check the place out, top to bottom." She turned towards her newfound party member. "The monsters here are pretty weak. We should be okay if we split up, and we can cover more ground that way."
(Oh! I hope she didn't take that the wrong way,) thought BlackRose, briefly recalling the last time the two of them split up. (It's not that I don't want to search with her...)
Thankfully, Ryoko didn't. "I agree," she answered, bowing her head politely. "I will take the right path."
(Phew!) "All right. PM me if you find anything!"
They broke away and headed in opposite directions, keeping their party intact as they entered different rooms. The two girls systematically searched each and every portion of the dungeon, with only large blue nerves and unbroken eggs or bodies to impede their progress.
The floor below was more of the same, although Ryoko did find a single unopened portal – which proceeded to spawn a single trapped chest, which in turn protected a single Cooked Bile.
[From: Terajima Ryoko
It looks like they weren't as thorough on this floor. There is still no sign of them, or of anyone else.]
[From: BlackRose
I think... hey, I've found them! I just saw them pass through an opening before it closed! Next floor down, come on!]
Purpose in her step, the dainty Axewoman charged through the empty chambers, her boots making slight squishing sounds in the damp, porous ground. The green-and-purple corridors passed her by, exposed nerves and veins hanging like vines; in the distance, a long tunnel ended in a narrow arch sloping down.
As she descended to the next level, she saw BlackRose up ahead, hands on her hips, tapping her toe impatiently as she stared at the lump of flesh that served as a door into the next room. "Rrrgh... come ON! What the hell is taking so long?!"
"Is there a monster in there?" Ryoko asked, rejoining the Heavy Blade.
As if on cue, the 'door' shrunk away and vanished, leaving the path open. BlackRose threw a look back at Ryoko, and the two dashed through the opening together.
"Phew! That was a close one! Good job, guys!"
In the center of the large, square chamber, a team of two Twin Blades and a Wavemaster stood around a fast-decaying monster corpse, congratulating each other as they recovered from their battle. The creature turned to a dull shade of gray and disintegrated before either girl could get a good look at it.
"Not bad for a first party," commented one of the Twin Blades, a young, blonde man garbed in dark green cloth and black leather armor.
The Wavemaster – tall and slender, in blue-and-red robes, with a large cap that settled just over his eyes – chanted to himself as he cast a few healing spells. "It sure put up a fight, though. Worse than that other thing."
"Yeah, I'll say. What was that thing, anyway?"
The second Twin Blade noticed BlackRose and Ryoko standing nearby, and turned to address them. He smiled and bowed politely, ruffling his yellow outfit. "Hi!" he called out. "I'm Reed; these are my friends Pyne and Starseeker. Are you exploring here, too?"
BlackRose stepped forward. "Yeah, we were looking for the event character. Did you guys happen to see him?"
"Event character... oh, you must mean that guy in the orange clothes!" Reed exclaimed. "Yeah, we ran into him a few minutes ago."
"Really??" asked BlackRose. "Where was he?"
Pyne, the other Twin Blade, joined the conversation. "It was the floor above us; we didn't even know there were monsters like that in here!"
"Yeah, it caught us by surprise," said Reed. "We barely won."
"You won?" Ryoko started. "Then... it's dead?"
Starseeker leaned on his staff, addressing no one in particular. "I swear, it looked crazy... like a real person, but covered in blood."
BlackRose reeled her head back. "Blood?!"
"We heard noises," said Reed, "and, there was this guy in the corner of one of the rooms. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit, and he had a knife." Gesturing with his hand, he added, "At first, I wasn't sure what was going on, but then he started towards us. Starseeker hit it with a fire spell, and then it attacked."
"I just kinda panicked," confessed the Wavemaster. "I targeted it like any other monster, but this one didn't have a name."
Ryoko sighed. "So, it's gone."
"What about that thing it dropped?" Pyne mentioned.
"Oh yeah!" Reed reached back, rifling through his inventory. When his arm came around again, it was holding a scrap of paper. "When he disappeared, he dropped this note. I'm not sure what it means, though."
"Can I see it?" asked BlackRose, indicating the note with her hand.
"Sure, go ahead."
Reed offered the note to the Heavy Blade, who accepted it and began to read. The paper was old and crinkled, a white 8x11 sheet with letters that could only have come from a printer. Parts of the top were obscured by dried blood and ink stains, but most was clearly legible.
[...involved in an altercation with two other inmates during morning exercise – 31892D (Croker, Felix) and 76600 (DeGarmo, William). One had fastened a makeshift knife from a bedpost, while the other had pilfered a length of chain from storage. Subject mortally wounded his attackers, but was himself seriously injured. All participants were given proper medical treatment, then sentenced to 72 hours solitary confinement (excepting the subject, who was sentenced only to 24 hours.)
It is the opinion of myself, and officers Wilson and Fairfax, that inmate 72881D acted in self-defense and should be cleared of any charges of misconduct in this incident.
Sincerely,
Philip A. Alvarez
Corrections Officer, San Quentin State Prison
California Department of Corrections]
"Huh?" grunted BlackRose. "From a prison? What is this doing here?"
"There's more on the back," Starseeker said, pointing to the letter. "Someone drew a circle on the back and wrote 'He's here'."
- End of Chapter 7