.hack/The.Rabbit.Hole.htm

Chapter 2

by

Chad 'Graeystone' Harger

xxxxx

Three Dot Hackers looked at the all too real human female who was completely trapped in The World. Without air to breathe the woman was asphyxiating. Her skin was already blue and her eyes bloodshot from the lack of circulation. "What do we do?" asked Orca. "We can't let her die!"

"I don't know!" yelled Balmung. "Where's Aura!"

The woman looked at Balmung. "I-I'm dying, don't w-want," she rasp.

"You won't die," said Balmung. "You won't die, do you hear me!"

"Do not panic," said Aura. She appeared in front of the dungeon entrance. She did not look well. Her hair was mussed and she had the appearance of someone on the point of collapsing. She floated over to them. "Is this the human?"

"Yes," said Orca. "She can't breathe. She'll die if we don't do something! Can you send her back to the real world?"

"I can but won't!" said Aura. "It would be too dangerous for us all!"

"Aura," pleaded Terajima.

"Do not worry Terajima. I will not permit her to die," said Aura. She held up her right hand. On her wrist was a Twilight Bracelet. She pointed it at the woman.

"What are you doing!" yelled Orca.

"Destruction or salvation at the whim of the user," slurred Aura. "Data Drain!"

The beams hit the woman and she screamed as her body lit up. The Dot Hackers covered their eyes as the room lit up. The light faded and the woman lay unmoving on the ground. "What did you do to her?" Balmung yelled at Aura.

"Can she breathe?" asked Aura.

Balmung was surprised at the question. He looked at the woman. She was unconscious but it appeared she was breathing normally. "You changed her body," he said.

"Yes," said Aura. Her body started to shake. "T-to help her, I had to." Aura spoke no more and fell to the floor. Her body violently shook and her eyes were open looking at some unnamed terror.

Balmung had enough and took charge. "I'll carry the woman. Terajima can you carry Aura? We'll take them both to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground."

xxxxx

They laid the woman and Aura on a pew. "Remember when I said having my mind pulled into The World sucked? I was wrong. This is a lot worse," said Orca.

"I want to know what happened to Aura," said Balmung. Aura was sweating and shaking. Every time she opened her mouth sounds from the real world came out. Modem screeches, signals from radio and cell phones, and many other noises would echo throughout the normally quiet building.

Terajima sat beside the woman keeping watch over her. She looked up and said, "She's opening her eyes."

The woman moaned and looked at Terajima with fear. Then she saw Balmung when he came into view. "Oh crap I died," she said.

"You came close to dying. You are safe now," said Terajima in a soothing voice.

"Aren't you two angels?" asked the woman.

"No," said Balmung. "What's your name?"

"Alice Warren," she answered.

"I'm Balmung, this is Terajima Ryoko and my partner Orca," said Balmung.

"Is that your real name?" asked Orca.

"Yes, why?" asked Alice.

Orca resisted the urge to shudder as he remembered his own time trapped in The World. Terajima asked if he was fine. "I don't want to talk about it. Right now we need to find out what happened to Alice and Aura. Whatever affected them both has to be from the same source."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Balmung asked Alice.

"I was playing The World for the first time. I went to the dungeon where you found me. While exploring I found what I thought was a portal. When I got a closer look the portal it showed my apartment. I felt something pull at me and when I took off my visor and turned around I saw the same portal in my room showing the game! I screamed as I was pulled through the portal!" Alice stood up and realized the situation she was in. She grabbed Balmung by the arms. "Oh lord I'm trapped in The World, aren't I?"

"Yes, please calm down," said Balmung.

Alice pushed Balmung backwards. "Calm down!" yelled Alice. "I'm stuck in a video game for crying out loud!" She got up and ran outside and stopped when she saw vast area. She walked to the edge and looked down. She felt like she was trapped on an alien world. "I'm really in the game," she said softly.

"You need to accept it," said Orca from behind.

Alice turned around. "I'm starting to remember more about what happened to me. She could've sent me back but didn't!"

"Aura wouldn't do this to someone unless she had a good reason. She said it was too dangerous. Why, I don't know," said Orca.

"What is she?" asked Alice. "I get the feeling she's something more than a computer program."

"Long story," said Orca. "She doesn't mean you any harm. Please believe that."

The area shook violently. Alice and Orca had to grab the edge of the stone bridge to keep from falling. "Something is wrong with Aura," said Orca. "Let's go back inside where it's safe."

They went back inside. Balmung and Terajima where trying to hold Aura down. "For someone small she's pretty strong," grunted Balmung.

Alice walked over to them. "Out of the way maybe I can help," she said. It was time to put her training to work.

"Are you a computer programmer?" asked Terajima.

"Med student," answered Alice.

The Dot Hackers looked at each other skeptically. "Guess it can't hurt," said Orca. "In the meantime I'll send a flash mail to Helba. I'll be back in a minute."

"Place her on the floor in the middle of the aisle," ordered Alice. "I may need the room."

It took all three of them to move Aura to the aisle. Alice kneeled beside Aura. Balmung and Terajima had to keep Aura still. Alice looked at her closely. She touched Aura's skin and was surprised she could feel it. Her skin was cold and pale. Alice checked for a pulse but found none. That was an automatic reflex on her part because of her training. Alice opened Aura's eyes. They were different from any other eyes Alice had ever seen. Aura's eyes had no white and every few seconds they would flicker like static on a television. Alice guessed it had to be some kind of dilation. Then there was the sounds that came out of Aura's mouth every few seconds. Every time she opened her mouth she would release some kind of sound then relax. When she closed her mouth she would tense up again. There was only one possibility and Alice was surprised by it.

"I've gone crazy," she said. "Yep, the pressure of school finally made me crack."

"You need to accept what's happening to you," said Balmung. "If you know what's wrong with Aura please tell us."

"She has the DTs," explained Alice. The others did not know what she meant. "She's going through detox like a drug addict coming down from a nasty high. Classic withdrawal systems except for the sounds she's making."

"Impossible," said Terajima.

"I don't know what she is so I can only go with what I know," replied Alice. "If anyone else has a better idea."

"She's an artificial intelligence," said Balmung. "For all intents and purposes she's as you are."

Alice wanted to ask how human Aura is but she already knew just by looking at her. Only a truly living thing could be affected with withdrawal. The knowledge did not help her understand what affected Aura. "Physiologically speaking she's human in mind but not in body. I doubt she shot herself up with some kind of virtual heroin," said Alice.

"A computer virus?" asked Terajima.

"Her data is too complex to be affected by any kind of virus," said Balmung.

"Morganna," whispered Terajima with fear.

Balmung smiled at Terajima to reassure her. "Considering we aren't in a fight for our lives I doubt its her."

"Do any of you have a medical degree?" asked Alice. No one answered. "I didn't think so. Let me handle this for now."

Alice went back to observing Aura. She noticed again whenever sounds came out of Aura's mouth she would relax. When her mouth closed she would go back to tensing up. "That must be it." Alice gently took hold of Aura's head. "Aura, can you hear me? Blink twice if you can." Aura did as Alice asked. "Good, now you have listen to me. When you opened your mouth and made those sounds did you feel better?" Aura again blinked twice. "Then keep your mouth open the next time. Whatever is in you seems to be released when you do."

Aura waved them back. Terajima and Balmung backed away. Orca entered the building. Balmung filled him in on what he missed. "I think she wants us to stand back," said Terajima. "Move to the door and if anything bad happens we can go outside."

They went to the door and watched Aura. "Aura, go ahead," said Alice.

"She's not doing it," said Terajima.

"Aura, if you want whatever is in your system out you have to do it," said Alice. "None of us can make the choice for you. If you want to get over this you have to help yourself."

Aura looked at them and nodded. One of Aura's fears was coming true and if she did not doing something about it she would become like her failed brother, an insane artificial intelligence addicted to data and information of any kind. She looked up and opened her mouth. A beam of light made up of data and information shot out of her mouth and blew a hole in the ceiling. A quake hit the area again. The tremors stopped after a minute. Aura looked terrible but she stopped shaking. Alice put a hand on her forehead.

"She feels fine, I think," said Alice. "Let her rest for awhile and she should be back to normal or whatever is normal for her." The Dot Hackers were visibly relieved in more ways than one. Alice saw their expressions. There was more to this than a friend going through withdrawal. "What else is she besides your friend?"

"Aura is the Core of the World," answered Balmung. "If something were to happen to Aura and there's no successor the game would cease to exist." Alice shuddered at the thought of dying like that. There would be no funeral or anything. No one would know what happened to her.

"Are you well Alice?" asked Aura. She slowly stood up and walked to the closest pew and sat down.

"I'll be well when you send me back home," said Alice.

"Not yet," said Aura sadly.

"Give me one damn good reason why not!" yelled Alice who was becoming angrier every time someone told her she could not escape the game.

"I will give you two," said Aura. "The first is that your body for lack of a better word has been transformed in computer data. Instead of having blood, flesh, and DNA you now exist as ones, zeros, and are now digital. The human body is more complex than ones and zeros."

"One DNA strand holds five hundred thousand pages of information," said Alice.

"You serious?" asked Orca.

"Mind blowing isn't it," said Alice. "Think of all the strands in a single human body then do the math."

"Even I would be unable to compute that," said Aura. "I think it will not be as bad as it sounds. If I can access your medical records along with other basic knowledge of human anatomy I should be able to restore you to your true body."

"Helba would be able to get those," said Balmung. "By the way shouldn't she be here by now?"

"I am concerned as well," said Aura. She closed her eyes and scanned The World. While Helba can easily hide from the eyes of CC Corp, Aura could find the elusive hacker without breaking a virtual sweat. "Strange, she is not online. No, wait, something happened to her connection to The World. I cannot sense any residual data of her presence."

"I'll wager it happened when Alice got pulled into the game," Orca said to Aura.

"She'll be fine. She always has a way in and out of The World," said Balmung. "What is the second problem with getting Alice home."

"That I will not talk about," said Aura.

"This is kind of important," said Orca.

"No!" said Aura firmly. "To even suggest it could cause even greater problems in the future!"

Alice knew it had to do with whatever affected Aura. She was afraid of something. Whatever caused her to go through the withdrawal had to be Aura's concern. Alice wanted to know but Aura did not want to talk about it. "Some day I will take an oath to keep what is said between me and my patients a secret. If it had to do with what happened to you I should know now instead of later at a critical time."

"The knowledge would be too great in anyone's hand," said Aura. She looked at the Descendents of Fianna and shook her head sadly. "Even though I am the Core of The World it does not mean I am invincible."

"Look, I'm trying to become a doctor, not a hacker," said Alice. "I also need to be sure you're really fine. I don't need something happening to you cause if it does then I can't go home. I know it's selfish but it's also true."

"Very well," said Aura. "Balmung, Orca, please wait outside the building. Alice and I will meet you there when we are finished."

The two were not happy but obeyed Aura's order. "Hey, wait a minute, where's Terajima?" asked Orca.

"I was too busy worrying about Aura to notice when she slipped out," said Balmung.

"I was focusing on Aura," added Alice.

Aura's eyes widened a little bit as she read the data of the past few minutes. "She gated out just as I came out of my delirium. Seconds later she logged out of the game."

"I wonder why she bolted like that," said Orca. "It's not like her to leave without warning."

"Perhaps it had something to do with what she and Natsume talked about before this crisis began," said Aura.

"What were they talking about?" asked Balmung.

"The data I can access and absorb for growth is not meant for voyeurism," said Aura evenly. "While I can be omniscient and omnipresent in The World, people's privacy is paramount. You can ask them what they discussed the next time they log in. "

"Come on partner. Let's go outside and leave them alone," Orca said who took the hint for what it was.

xxxxx

"Terajima is AWOL and Helba is MIA," said Balmung. "What else can go wrong?"

"I am not MIA. I have been inconvenienced," said Helba. One of her portals appeared in the sky. She flew out and floated to the bridge where Balmung and Orca stood. Her normal impassive expression was gone. She was very angry. The kind of angry that makes a person wish they were on another continent. "The one who inconvenienced me will regret what they did to me. No one spikes me and gets away with it."

Spike, a term used when a person's complete computer system is thoroughly trashed. Both hardware and software all gone in one fell swoop. "How bad is the damage?" asked Orca.

"My main system is gone," said Helba. "I learned my lesson the first time around with Morganna and keep Net Slum on a separate system that is not linked to my main one. Morganna is safe and sound along with the other incomplete AIs. I'm currently using a laptop. It does not have the protection my main system has. If any of my enemies tried to track me down now I would have no doubts that they would find me."

Helba was more than a hacker in The World. Her other duties included work she did for various government agencies. The criminals she helped tracked down caused her to have a list of enemies a mile long. On top of that there was her duty toward Net Slum and its inhabitants including a recreated Morganna in the form of a little girl. Everyone was against Aura when she tried to repair Morganna. Aura countered that did she the have the right to give her mother a second chance. She also made the point that as the Core of The World, she could do whatever she pleased. An agreement was reached where Morganna would remain in Net Slum until she could be proven to be free of the corruption and madness that caused her to go insane.

"Do you have any idea what caused it?" asked Balmung.

"My first thought was Morganna. She is safe and sound in Net Slum so no worries there," said Helba. "When I examined what was left of my system I discovered something troubling. What hit my system was like the Wave but different. The Wave we fought against had an even flow of data. It was rhythmic in its pattern. It's one of the reasons why we called it that. What hit my system on the other hand was chaotic and distorted like a violent rockslide with no warning at all."

"Seems to be a lot of blindsiding going on," said Orca. "Aura is inside talking to someone. You need to brace yourself for what happens when they come out. Its one of the worst things that's ever happened to a player."

xxxxx

"Whenever you're ready to talk," said Alice in a harsh tone. She wanted to take the words back. She was impatient with someone she considered a patient. That was not good for someone who wanted to be doctor. "I'm sorry, I sounded mean didn't I?"

"Yes you did. It is fine. You are in a situation that is not normal. I am the only one who can help you and I come off as someone who is not eager to do provide you that help. I am also hesitant to talk because I am afraid," said Aura.

"Because of what happened to you. I know it was some kind of withdrawal but what could affect you like that?" asked Alice.

"Like humans I learn from data and information. I differ in that data and information sustains me like food sustains you," said Aura. "There is an inherent danger to this. You saw what happened to me. If you had not brought me away from the brink of insanity and madness the damage I would have caused would have been apocalyptic in nature toward the game and the real world."

"I still don't get it," said Alice.

"It is a two fold problem. The first is gluttony. Like you, I can only eat so much. I intake too much I run the risk of destroying myself. The second is the risk to my mind. If I try to absorb too much data and information in large quantities in a manner that is too fast it would drive me insane. In both situations I would be addicted to data and information," said Aura.

"Has this ever happened to you before?" asked Alice.

Aura looked down at the floor and into her own past. "Once before it almost happened. During the early attempts of my creation I had a brother. He was exposed to the Internet. How it happened I do not know but his exposure to that much data and information at once caused him to go insane. In order to stop him from causing havoc in the real world our creator sent me after him to stop him. It took all my strength and effort not to end up like him. There is a border between The World and everything else including the Internet. This border keeps outside data and information from things like phones or other computers from reaching me."

"Were you able to stop him?" asked Alice.

"I was able to force him to return to the computer system where we were created," said Aura with sadness. "Our creator could find no solution and was forced to delete him," said Aura. "What do you know of what happened almost two years ago concerning The World?"

Alice recalled the rumors from then that her friends told her. Those friends who played the game told her that bad stuff was happening within the game. In college she heard the stories about the game causing people to go into comas. Both times she shrugged it off as urban legends. The condition she found herself in now caused her to think if what happened really did happen. "So its true. In college we learned about medical mysteries. There was so much rumor and stuff concerning the game and the coma victims no one could say what was true and what wasn't," said Alice.

"My creator decided to create an AI mother that would in a sense give birth to me," said Aura. "For reasons that are still unknown to me, my mother suffered from data degradation and went insane. She tried to prevent my birth out of fear that I would absorb her. Her madness caused her to lash out at the players and me. Her victims were the ones who went into a coma."

"How did she do it?" asked Alice.

Aura held up her hand and a Twilight Bracelet appeared on her wrist. Alice flinched seeing the bracelet. She remembered it from when she was almost dead. "What is that thing?"

"Power in the form of a bracelet," said Aura. "Its power can bring forth destruction or salvation at the whim of the user. I will not get into the details of how it works. That is a secret I will tell no one. Even if threatened with deletion I would choose that over the bracelet's power being abused. I will say it can have a direct affect on the real world. Again I will not say why it is able to do that. It was a miracle the bracelet worked on you." The bracelet disappeared and Alice relaxed "I am afraid Alice. My brother and mother went insane. My greatest fear of all is that someday I will go insane. Because I am the Core of The World, nothing can harm me unless I wish it. I told you the exception. By the time I would be stopped untold destruction would affect both the game and your world."

This was not what Alice wanted to hear. She was studying to become a medical doctor, not a psychiatrist. "I have to be straight with you Aura. I can only do so much. Mentally you're human if I'm not mistaken."

"Each day I become more and more human," said Aura. "There is much I understand and things that I do not."

"Everyone is like that," said Alice. "Yes you are like us but in many ways are not. It's said that in some cases insanity and madness are passed down from generation to generation. The difference between you and humans is that physically you're not human. I doubt you have the equivalent of hormones and I know your brain can't be the same as a human. I very much doubt that you could inherit insanity from your mother. In humans an imbalance of hormones or damage to the brain can cause mental illnesses. It can range from depression to the kind of thing that happened to your mother. Do the others know about your concerns?"

"I have not told them," said Aura.

"You should talk to them," said Alice. "If you consider them friends you need tell them what's on your mind. You'll feel better in the long run. Try to come up with a plan in case the worst does happen."

"I would expect the Dot Hackers to try and stop me but I don't think they would," said Aura uncomfortably. "They love me too much."

Alice felt an internal chill. What Aura said seemed religious to her. Alice wondered if she is dealing with some kind of cult. She pushed the thought aside. One of the things she learned is that no matter how horrible a person is they have every right to medical care. Alice figured if she is dealing with a cult then things could have been a lot worse. "The best advice I can give you is don't worry about it so much. Most people think they are getting sick when it's all in their head. Do you understand?"

"I think so," said Aura. "I should make a plan in case the worst does happen. In the meantime I should not worry about it and continue with my duties without worry."

Alice smiled. "Exactly!"

Aura closed her eyes for a few seconds. She opened them and said, "Helba is outside waiting with Balmung and Orca. To let you know Helba is different from other players in The World."

Alice became suspicious. "How different?"

Aura laughed and said, "You will see soon enough."

"Oh," said Alice.

xxxxx

"Oh!" said Alice and Helba at the same time with the same amount of surprise. Alice expected a lot of things but not a character with her chest sticking out and so much of it bare. To her credit, Hebla did try to stay impassive as she usually does but in this case of an actual human inside the game, no one could blame her for breaking character.

"Helba, this is Alice Warren," said Balmung.

"Never in all my years did I ever think I would see this," said Helba. "How did this happen?"

"It does not matter now," said Aura. "She is here and now we must help her return to the real world."

"We should find out how she got here. We can reproduce the conditions that caused her to be trapped. We can then send her home," said Hebla.

"I will take care of that," said Aura. "Helba I need you to get Alice's medical records and any information you can find on human anatomy."

"Why would you need that? Ah, you changed her body. You used the Bracelet on her," said Helba.

"It was the only way to keep me alive," said Alice.

"To come here the living flesh poses a hindrance," said Helba. "It will take some time to gather the information. Alice's medical records will take longer. My main system was spiked not too long ago."

Aura read the data from the previous few minutes concerning Helba. "I hope it is not another wave. That is the last thing The World needs. For now we should make Alice as comfortable as possible."

"I can't stay here," said Alice. "I'd go crazy with boredom."

"You can't go anywhere else in the game," said Orca.

"I have taken that into consideration," said Aura. She accessed CC Corp's player account information. Aura scanned Alice's character profile. "Belias, female Blademaster."

"That's her," said Alice.

"Let me see your hand," said Aura. Alice held out her hand. Aura took hold of it. Their hands glowed for a brief moment. A silver bracelet appeared on Alice's wrist. "There is a jewel on the bracelet. Turn it," instructed Aura. Alice shrugged and turned the jewel. She did have anything else to lose at this point. A silver circle appeared at her feet and rose up. Alice changed from herself into Belias. "Everyone will see you as your character. Twist the jewel again and you will revert to your true form."

"Thanks," said Alice. "Now I won't feel like I'm in a prison."

"Be cautious of where you go," said Aura. "I do not know what the affect certain elements of The World will have on you."

"In other words dungeon crawling is out," said Balmung. "Stay in the root towns."

Orca turned his head to the side. "Huh? Ok, I'll be down in a minute!" He turned to Balmung. "I have to log out. Don't want to be late for supper."

"You're leaving?" asked Alice.

"Sorry Alice but I have to. Parents speak and I obey," said Orca. He smiled to reassure Alice. "I'll be back soon."

"I need to get to bed," said Balmung. "I have a big day tomorrow."

"Yes you do," said Aura. "When Alice appeared I forgot all about it."

Orca stopped before he logged out. "Wait a minute you two," said Orca. "What's going on and why is Aura suddenly involved?"

"I'll tell you in a few days," said Balmung. "I don't even know if it's going to work."

"Mom, I'm coming down already!" yelled Orca. "I better log out now." He saluted everyone then left.

"I better start getting my system rebuilt," said Helba.

Balmung smiled to reassure Alice. "Don't worry about it. We'll get you out of here safe and sound."

"Thank you," said Alice.

"Alice, you can always return to this place via any Chaos Gate. Just think Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground and you will appear here," said Aura. "I to am behind in my schedule. Balmung, I suggest you do talk to Terajima. She will not admit it but she and Orca do have something in common even though they do not realize it. Also find another ally. I do not recommend the Dot Hackers. If the cause of this is an unknown person or AI, they may know about the Dot Hackers."

"I understand," said Balmung. The translation concerning the Dot Hackers was obvious to Balmung. He wondered why Aura did not bring Kite into this. Now Aura was acting strange toward Kite. Right now he just wanted to sleep for tomorrow was a busy day.

"Bye Balmung," said Alice.

"I'll be on again in a couple of days," said Balmung. "Don't cause any trouble."

"I'm too scared to do it," admitted Alice.

Balmung gated out leaving Aura and Alice. "I will send you to Mac Anu," Aura said.

"Can I stay here for tonight?" asked Alice. She felt exhaustion coming on.

"Of course," said Aura. "You may enter a sleep mode as I do."

"You sleep?" asked Alice.

"All living things need to rest," said Aura. "I don't know what human dreams are like. I dream and perhaps you will dream as I do." Aura gated out leaving Alice alone.

Alice went back inside the building. She turned the jewel and changed back to herself. She felt bulky with Belias' armor. Alice lay down on a pew. Sleep came quickly for her and as Aura said Alice dreamed as an AI does.

To be continued . . .