.hack/Polarized/Enter.the.Unknown
by
Chad 'Graeystone' Harger
XXXXX
We meet at Annrika's place to talk about our plans. Piotr squeezes my right arm. "You need to put muscle on," he says. "Level up will you."
"That's what I want to do," I say. "That little bombshell the other day shows I have to get stronger and better if I'm going to face Kite."
"Nyet, he's no more Kite than I'm Stalin," snarls Piotr.
"I don't want to believe it either," says Annrika. "Unless we can prove otherwise we have to assume it's him."
"Is Kite that powerful?" I ask.
"The rumors say he's more powerful than the Descendents of Fianna," says Annrika. "They're a Blademaster team who's been around since Fragment."
"It's the Bracelet," I say. "It's the source of his power. I'm sure of it."
"Ouka e-mailed me and told me about it," says Piotr. "Her friend Shugo has bracelet. The Bracelet has power to rewrite game data."
Annrika asks the obvious question. "Why did Aura ask Chase instead of Shugo to fight Kite?"
"Ouka thought of the same things. She mentioned comrade Shugo is on vacation and will be out of touch many days," answers Piotr.
"Its more than that," I say. "I think I'm the only one who can beat Kite."
Piotr laughs. "A young pup like you?" I ignore the insult.
"There is something different about me. The real me," I say. "Somehow Aura knows."
"So you're ready to talk about," says Annrika. "I was wondering if you were going to."
How do I explain the annoying part of my mind to anyone? "Its not easy to talk about. That's why I never mentioned it to anyone including my aunt. I want nobody to know about this," I say.
I see a chair and point at it. "What is that?" I ask.
"It's a chair," says Piotr.
"Is it?" I reply.
"We know it's not a real, real chair," says Piotr. "But it's a game so we can pretend. At end of day we know it wasn't real."
I sigh and say, "That's how I'm different. When I first saw the chair my mind said it was a chair."
"Uh, you're not one those who are so into The World you actually believe its real," interrupts Annrika.
I frown at the accusation. Gamers and players who get so wrapped up in The World and it effects them in the real world have what is called Columbine Syndrome. Tragedies such as the Columbine shootings were blamed on video games hence the term Columbine Syndrome. All video games are required to have warnings about Columbine Syndrome printed in the manuals.
"It's the opposite," I say. "For about ten seconds I can pretend it's a chair. Then what I refer to as the annoying part of my mind acts up and the illusion is gone. All I'm registering is a bunch of pixels made up to look like a chair. I can watch the most violent movies ever made and after a couple minutes of feeling sick, poof, it no longer bothers me because my mind will not accept the fake violence."
"You really are desensitized," says Piotr.
I shake my head no. "I'm not desensitized either. Last year I witnessed a bad traffic accident. I watched one of the victims being pulled out of the car. He had a compound fracture in the leg. I could see the bone sticking out. I almost puked. Paintings, TV, movies, books, and anything else that's fictional or made up doesn't affect me. I've watched the scariest horror movies you could think of hoping at least one them would give me a nightmare."
"Something made up did have an effect on you," says Annrika. "Kite's Bracelet. I did some research last night and I found out that people were passing out like you did a few years ago. It was about the same time Kite started to play."
"That's what bothers me," I say. "I can't be affected by a piece of fiction. I realized if it could happen to me it could happen to anyone."
"That's why you have to get stronger," says Piotr. "I know how we do it real quick like." He smiles that toothy smile of his at me. I know he's trying to get a reaction but he gets none.
"You not thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking," says Annrika. "Its not fair to play like that."
"It isn't against the rules," says Piotr. "We can't take our sweet time."
"What're you up to?" I ask with suspicion. I'm starting to understand why people refer to him as the Rabid Wolf.
The Rabid Wolf smiles and says, "Just follow me."
XXXXX
Annrika jumps in surprise. "Piotr, why did you drag us to this kind area?" The field is dark. Lightening flashes are our only source of light.
"To see how I'd react!" I yell. "Don't ever do it again!" Both of them are surprised by my reaction. "I don't want to be looked at as some kind of freak!"
Piotr lowers his head in shame. "Sorry Comrade Chase. I thought a sudden scare might help you."
Now I feel bad for yelling like that. "I tried everything I could think of. Even something like this doesn't work."
"Let's get busy," says Annrika. "Chase, you'll need to stay back while Piotr and I fight." She hands me a bunch of Mage Souls, Recovery Drinks, and Resurrects. "You'll be our healer for right now."
"Why can't I fight?" I ask.
"This is a level 20 area," answers Piotr.
"You are rabid and crazy," I say in disbelief. "I know I'm a newbie but even I know I won't last five seconds in a fight."
Piotr activates a Fairy Orb. A lot of yellow dots appear on the map. "That's why you'll be healing for a while." He chuckles and adds with a toothy smile, "Trust me." Great, I'm supposed to trust someone with the word 'rabid' in his nickname.
We go to a portal and three monsters appear. Two are floating rocks and the third is some odd stone statue that's bouncing all over the place. "Piotr, help me with the Menhir!" orders Annrika.
"On it," growls Piotr. He changes into his wolf form and jumps at the Menhir. He scratches it hard doing damage.
The other two monsters cast spells. Green numbers appear above the Menhir. "It's regenerating hit points!" yells Piotr.
"Not for long," says Annrika.
She casts a spell and black skulls appear and fall onto the Menhir. The words 'Elemental Damage' appear. The Menhir is critically damaged. Piotr finishes of the Menhir.
They turn their attention to the floating rocks. Each of them fights individually. In about a minute the fight is over. Piotr howls in triumph. Annrika dusts herself off.
"Impressive," I say.
"I thought you said you were immune to such things," says Annrika.
"The fight was fake but I guess your fighting styles weren't. It was the real you who came up with the plan of attack and not the game," I say.
"Check your level," says Annrika.
I look my status screen. "Level two already. I thought it would take longer."
"We're in a high level area," explains Piotr. "A low level character in a high level area gets more experience points."
"Therefore more levels can be gained quicker," I say.
"Da," says Piotr. "Fair play states we would do this the long way. By starting you out at level one, maybe level three area."
"We don't have time for the long way so we do it the short way," I say with understanding.
We continue doing this until I'm at level ten. I see something unusual by a ruined tree. "Is that pumpkin smiling at us?"
"Ah, grunty food," says Piotr. He grabs the pumpkin and puts it in his inventory.
"What's a grunty?" I ask.
"We'll show you later. Its up to you if you want to raise one," says Annrika.
The lightening flashes but this time the light doesn't fade.
"Too bad you won't get the chance to raise one," says an all too familiar voice. Basilisk walks up to us with his sword drawn. Following him is Charus, a Heavy Axeman, and a Twin Blade.
"Don't tell me you two are together," says Annrika with disgust. "I shouldn't be surprised. Scum usually leaves a trail for other scum to follow."
"Charus," growls Piotr. "I'm going to introduce you to whole new levels of pain and humiliation."
"The Rabid Wolf," says Basilisk. "The dirtiest fighter in The World. We could use you."
"I don't fight dirty. I fight nasty," says Piotr. He extends his claws to the limit. "No one has seen the true rage of Piotr Volk the Rabid Wolf!"
Basilisk is the only one who doesn't take a step back. "I want to show you what's about to happen." He looks at the Twin Blade. "Come forward," instructs Basilisk. The Twin Blade comes forward and kneels. "Are you prepared?" asks Basilisk.
"I am," says the Twin Blade.
"Stand up," orders Basilisk. Basilisk's sword glows. He stabs the Twin Blade through the chest.
"People get stabbed all the time," says Annrika. "As usual you're all talk."
"Watch," says Basilisk with elation.
The wound glows and spreads. The Twin Blade's body starts to crack and energy like the kind Kite oozes flows out. Then the Twin Blade explodes. Piotr says something in Russian that can only be swearing.
"What did you do?" asks Annrika.
"Defeating a player and their character is one thing," says Charus. "But to take out a player's account in the process, now that's power!"
"Impossible, only an admin can do that!" yells Piotr.
"You're about to find out things have changed puppy dog," says the Heavy Axeman. "Don't bother trying to log out."
Annrika mutters a curse. "Its not a glitch. They put up an anti-logout field."
"I'd say run but that's a cliché. I really hate those," says Basilisk.
The enemy approaches us. "Wait a minute," I say. I raise my right arm and point it at them. "Hey Basilisk, remember the first time we met and you grabbed my arm thinking I had a Bracelet? Guess what."
For all their bravado they hesitate. "Is he bluffing?" asks the Axeman.
"No one knows about the Bracelets except for the Dot Hackers and us," says Basilisk. "Doesn't matter anyway. He won't do it. Kite told me Chase felt the Bracelet's power and what it did to him in the real world. Tell me hero, would you want that on your conscience?"
For the first time the since receiving it, the Bracelet glows. I see the command lit up ready to be used. "I'm no hero and I know that two worlds are danger because of you and Kite," I say. "To be honest I don't care about this game but I do care about the real world and I'm not about to let scum like you mess with it."
I step closer as Charus and the Axeman step back. Basilisk doesn't move. He's seeing if I'm bluffing or not. My finger touches the button to activate the Bracelet. I try to push down but I can't. The annoying part of my mind kicks in along with my conscience. Both are telling me the same thing. I would be harming a real life person if I press the button.
"I knew it," says Basilisk. His sword glows and readies it for an attack.
"I wasn't bluffing. Unlike you I have a conscience. Get out of here before I decide to throw out every sense of morality I have out the window," I say.
Annrika and Piotr stand beside me ready to fight. "We won't loose," says Annrika.
Our enemy's weapons glow and they charge. We are ready for them. Basilisk and his goons close the gap when a spear comes out of nowhere and lands between us. The enemy stops and is as surprised as we are.
"Who dares?" asks Basilisk with anger.
The Heavy Axeman points at the tree behind us. "Up there."
A Pole Arm jumps down beside the spear and picks it up. The Pole Arm is dressed in white with a blue stripe going down the arms and legs. What is odd is that the outfit hides any indication of gender. The outfit has a hood that covers the Pole Arm's head. The Pole Arm turns its head. I gasp in surprise. Instead of a face there is an oval white mask with no features.
"Who is that?" I ask.
"Unknown," says Piotr with awe.
"You don't know," I say.
Annrika smiles and says, "Chase, that Pole Arm's name is Unknown. He, she, or whoever is the most secretive player in The World. No one knows anything about this person."
"I know one thing about Unknown," says Basilisk. "This player has the habit of sticking their nose in other people's business. Destroy this intruder."
Unknown picks up the spear and gets into a fighting stance. Basilisk and the Heavy Axeman charge Unknown. Unknown jumps over them and land behind them. Unknown doesn't hesitate and goes straight for Charus. Charus tries to cast a spell but is too late. Unknown spins the spear overhead. With a furry of strikes, Unknown takes out Charus. Charus' body flickers then fades away.
Unknown finds that he's trapped. I guess being a male I think of Unknown as another guy. He is between Basilik and the Heavy Axeman. They charge Unknown. Unknown kneels then jumps toward the Heavy Axeman and lands in a kneeling crouch. Before the Heavy Axeman can react, Unknown stabs the Heavy Axeman hard.
"Executor!" yells Basilisk. "Unknown, I'm going to great pleasure in erasing you!" He yells louder and runs faster which is his mistake.
Unknown crouches as low as he can get. He lifts up the stuck Heavy Axeman with the spear and slams him down on top of Basilisk. Both enemies lay in a heap. "Get off of me!" yells Basilisk.
"I can't," says Executor. "Too much damage."
Unknown waves us over to him. All four of us are looking down at Basilisk and Executor. "Tell us what Kite has planned," I say.
"Not going to happen punk," replies Basilisk with contempt.
Unknown shoves his spear further into Executor. "Just tell them already!" yells Executor.
"Are you stupid or what?" snaps Basilisk. "So what if they kill us. We'll be back!"
"He's right," I say. I don't need the annoying part of my mind to tell me the real threat isn't Basilisk and Executor but whoever the players are in real life.
"Humiliation is still humiliation," says Piotr. With incredible speed and strength he tears out a chunk of Executor's body. It's a fatal blow and he fades away.
"Your turn," says Annrika. She raises her staff and lightening slams into Basilisk. Now he fades away. With them gone the anti-teleport field vanishes and the area goes back to normal.
"Wasn't that overkill?" I ask.
"For me, nyet," says Piotr.
"They needed the lesson," says Annrika. "It will make them think twice about bothering us."
I look at Unknown and he's shaking his head no. I understand what he means. "Unknown is right. What you did will only tick them off."
"Ah, whatever, I just feel better," says Piotr.
"Chase is right. We have to be careful from now on," sighs Annrika. "If they can do what they said they could do then anyone who stands in their way is in danger."
"What about Unknown?" I ask.
He's still standing there. "Uh, do you want to join us?" asks Piotr. Unknown grips his spear hard. "Just a suggestion," Piotr adds quickly.
Unknown walks up to me and hands me something. He whispers something and I look at Unknown with surprise. Unknown logs out without warning.
"What is it?" asks Piotr.
"It's Unknown's member address," I say.
"He never gives that out," says Piotr with surprise. "Unknown is solo player. Unknown is one of few players who has pulled off solo playing. That's why he's a legend."
"That's the other thing," I say. "He is a she."
XXXXX
We do some more fighting. At level fifteen I'm ready to join. I get use to the camera control and various strategies. I'm also bored. That stupid annoying part of my mind won't let me enjoy even this.
"Ok, I'm done," I say after we clear the field.
"We still have the dungeon," says Piotr.
"You two go ahead," I reply. "I'm tired. I'm going to logout."
"Nice try, Chase," says Annrika. "Its that annoying part of yourself that acting up."
"I don't-
"Nyet!" interrupt Piotr. "You better get used it. You're part of The World now and that means there are things you have to do. Leveling up is one of them."
"I'll do it later," I say.
"You're no Unknown," says Annrika. She stands close to me. "I know Annrika isn't real but my words are. You said it yourself. The real world is depending on you so please get over yourself and help."
"Fine," I say. The three of us enter the dungeon.
XXXXX
The Gott Statue treasure is a Twin Blade weapon. Instead of knives, the weapon is worn on the forearms with three protruding knives.
We log out of the area and return to Mac Anu.
"It's getting late," says Piotr with a yawn. "I need sleep. I'll see everyone at the party tomorrow." He logs out leaving Annrika and I.
"Party?" I ask.
"Its an event held every few months. It's a large server party," says Annrika. "It was announced before you started playing."
"I don't have an invitation," I say.
Annrika steps closer to me. "I can invite you."
I don't know what to say. Even with that part of my mind I can't tell if it's the real life player or the part she's playing that's asking.
"Ok," I say.
She takes my hands and squeezes them. "Great! I'll e-mail you an outfit you can use. It's a formal party so mind your manners."
To be continued. . .