Enter the World through the Lambda Server

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Hacorie
Ikkitousen
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:30 pm
Location: Here and there.
Contact:

Post by Hacorie » Tue Apr 17, 2007 3:58 am

Guess I should go find what trouble they have gotten into. Most likely they will still need my help, I hope....I do not want to be alone anymore...

Three bright golden rings descended and appeared from thin air with the normal sound following the vertical movements. As the three florescent circles disappeared the way they showed up, a single player appeared from the void. His blond hair seemed to radiate the air around him as the sun beat down on it. His eyes were as blue as the ocean with a simple glowing tint illuminating from the crevices. His skin was night light or dark, but instead a simple tan from the amount of sun which he received while being in The World. A long cloak flowed from his neck to feet, covering every inch of the character’s body. Underneath, the character was laced with thick armor of blue, representing his element of choice, water. His hands were covered with fingerless gloves with two rings, one on each finger. A brown sash was tied to his side with a small, bottomless pack hanging from the thin strip of cloth. Two hilts of swords could also be seen from the front of the character. The heavier and wider blade upon his back was his Dryad’s Sword. A humongous, slim sword was also connected to the blue belt. The thin sword at his side was his trusty katana, the Oceanic Aura.

This bright glowing sword was the same color of the Heavy Blade’s eyes, a deep navy blue. The sheathe of the blade contained all of the blade’s glow. However, once the sword was released from the hold the sheathe had on it, a bright radiation erupted from the cold steel leaving a blue trail as the sword moved. This one sword was not like any other rare item a player could see. No, this one was purely one of a kind, a blade forged in the depths of an ice cavern where one of the Elite Hackers seemed to reside. The blade was once that of the fire element, but as it sank into the depths, it began to change elements into a new and great katana. This one sword one could say was hacked, but it is still unknown of its true abilities. Though, a water based Heavy Blade skill and a level two Rue spell have been founded by its Heavy Blade wielder.

Stretching his arms, the Heavy Blade, looked up into the wide blue sky to see many a balloon tethered to the high scaling mountains. With a brisk yawn, the character grasped his hands around the invisible air trying to grab nothing, yet something at the same time. With nothing to be found in the thin, transparent gasses, the hands dropped down the Heavy Blade’s sides as he continued to stare into the air. Clouds looking like white puffy marshmallows tracked across the finite sky until they disappeared only to be recreated on the opposite end of sight. Taking a short breath, the character decided it was time to move from the point of Gate In and find his former team, the Freedom Fighters.

It had seemed like just a few days ago that the Heavy Blade first met the entire team trapped in the game. Most he had met for the first time, but some were actually friends or acquaintances the Heavy Blade player met in the past as his position as clan leader of Fatal Exception. Once on his first quest with the new group, the player was promised some rare items in turn for just a bit of standard help. However, the item came at a price, and it was the player’s complete and utter existence which was on the line. This player was unaware of the circumstances which surrounded his agreement and in turn, he paid the consequences for his greedy actions. This Heavy Blade player was infected by a virus which was of origins unknown. As a result, the actual real life player named Nathan was sent into a comatose at his computer desk. His character, named Hacorie, and Nathan’s conscious mind were trapped in the confines of the game. Now able to feel pain, emotions, and the actual scenery, Hac became part of the game. It was his new reality.

Shaking his hair wildly, Hacorie looked from the sky to the path in front of him. Looking around from his current location, the player realized he was directly in front of the blue swirling vortex known as the Chaos Gate. This one object was used to transport all characters of The World to their designated locations for leveling and meeting purposes. A few feet from where Hac was facing, was a small wooden path supported by diagonal beams underneath which traversed through the great city in the sky, Dun Loireag. Using this opportunity, the player decided he would stop by and see if anyone was occupying the meeting place/hideout of the Freedom Fighters. With each step he took, the Heavy Blade had a slight feeling he was being watched, but after looking in all directions he decided the coast was clear.

Ducking in an alleyway behind one of the stores, the Heavy Blade found himself in the Theta Server hideout. A great feeling of anguish and confusion filled his emotional look. Everything was empty. There was no character from Hac’s past left. Every item that linked the Freedom Fighters to the location was gone: old weapons, armor, and accessories. It also seemed as if the location had not been used in several weeks since dust had gathered on the normal resting spots of characters. Filling a slight bit of fear, the Heavy Blade quickly exited the facility as not to be surrounded in an ambush if one were to come. Nighthand had once said that the Hackers would not try and take control of the hideouts in broad daylights. When this was told, a barrier erected by the administrators was blocking the entrance.

Maybe the hackers made an assault while I was away and eradicated the Freedom Fighters. If I were around, I could have helped them out. It is all my fault they perished...wait...I do not know they died. They could have just been forced to move due to a war with the hackers. I wonder...I wonder if he will answer my Flashmail if I send one. I guess there is only way to find out...He always did have the answers to our situations and led us to complete victories when I was with the team...except when I was bitten in half by that evil, stupid, and ugly ass bird.

Flashmail
To: Nighthand
From: Hacorie

It has been quite a while. I seem to have lost myself in all the great anguishes which followed my entrapment to The World. I have since found myself and also found a need for help. Help to find a way out. I figured out that I am not the only one seeking this answer. Thus, I would like to know if I could come back and become a Freedom Fighter once again. I have reached the Theta hideout, but I seem to have a feeling I am being watched by someone. I just keep getting this cold feeling up and down my spine. Well, I await your reply.

–Hac
End Flashmail


Touching the transparent button in the air, Hac sent out the mail hoping to soon get a reply.

Walking away from the hideout, Hacorie kept looking behind him to make sure no one was following him. Against all his suspicions he was wrong. There was not one character in the alleyway that could be seen by the naked eye. Reaching the Chaos Gate location once again, the Heavy Blade went over to the ledge of the mountain. Dangling his legs off the side, he laid back and began the same way he started the day: by looking at the sky.

Wonder if he will answer, or if I will have search for the answers I need.

OOC: And I return to the plot....^_^
Hacorie
Level 36 Heavy Blade
Gold: 21237

Equips
Oceanic Aura/Sharktooth-Ice Helm-Winter Coat-
Shiva's Rings-Bondage Pants
---Water Magic, BL Yokohama

Wishlist:
Level Meh Up
Weapons: Sakabatou/Rock n Roll/Peace Blade
Body: Knight's Armor
Other: Earthlore/Feng Shui
--------Water/Earth Scrolls

User avatar
Lighteria
Well-Oiled Machine
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:59 am
Location: :noitacoL

Post by Lighteria » Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:53 am

The commotion in the barracks died down somewhat quickly from the time Lighteria started listening in. Not wanting to draw too much attention, he slips back to the couch in the commons room and resumes nursing his headache. His fingers gently rub his temples, stretching his skin lightly back and forth. A nervous shudder goes through his body when he realizes just how much of his head he's feeling right now. Everything felt like his normal body, even the headaches. To a point it was becoming normal, but part of him vehemently resisted getting used to the feelings. If one thing was sure, he was getting out of this one way or another.

...He should have flashmailed me by now... what is that idiot doing?! I can't stay here forever-... ... ...Ah, crap. NO. No sympathizing. Save that for when things aren't screwed up. ..ARRRGGGGG!! My head hurts worse now...

Before he can lash out again, another flash mail pops up on his screen. He groans and opens it with a little irritation.

Ugh. Too much happening here. ...What is this now? ...
...Hm. Worksheets? Gimme a break. What am I in class again? Screw that.

... ...Actually... what DO I have right now? ...Probably good to know so I don't act clueless. ..I'll just pop my inventory open and... ...GEEZ. Doesn't he throw ANYTHING out?! He must have two dozen spells from all this crap! I can't memorize this! I'd need some paper to write this do-


"..."

With Kit busy garnering attention from Canti and, really any one who's nearby, Lighteria scuffles darkly to the table, sitting on the seat business-like, staring down at the sheet. He flicks a nearby pencil into his hand and starts writing.

...Weapon Skills. Let's see. ...Twin Dragons, Dark Dance, Orchid Dance... ...Saber dance... ...Lightning Rage, Tiger Claws.... ...Splinter Slash, Staccatto.... Thunder Coil.... Twin Darkness... ...Thunder Dance, Orchid Dance... I think that's all of them. ...I mean literally all of them. Guy needs to clear things out.

Now for magic... Repth and La Repth... that's always good. Gan Zot... Juk Rom... Vak Kruz... Juk Kruz... ...Rue Rom, Vak Rom... ...Dek Ganz? Haven't seen that one in a while. ...Looks like that's it. ...That was more useful than I thought it'd be. Didn't help my head though. ...Ugh. This is going to drive me crazy. I need to hit something at this rate.


His ear perks up a moment as a green-eyed blademaster walks in. Looked like the one that was napping on the floor which Lighteria had decided to ignore. Things were crazy enough for that to be pretty normal. Guess it wasn't considering the earful he was suddenly giving the group. "but the rest of you, I’m disappointed. Before I do something stupid, I’m going to train for a bit. When I come back, I’ll continue to rant about this with everyone else." The twin blade blinks as the blademaster storms from the room with a flying... thingy behind him. Perhaps it wasn't the best time to pipe up, but deep in his gut there was an irrepressible urge to bite back.

"Waaaaa!!" He suddenly says out loud, as the blademaster gets out of earshot. He starts rubbing his eyes and pouting mockingly, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Nobody CARES about me!!" He sniffles loudly, starting to sound babyish. "You guys -guys shoulda DONE something! Meanies! Imma go hit my teddy bear till I feel better!! WAAAAHH!!! WAAAHH!!" After the second 'wah' he stops, sticks his tongue out and rasps at the air, flicking his pencil back down onto the table and dropping the act. "Like we coulda helped anyway. Freaking whiner."

Wow, that was really cathartic. I need to mock people more often. Maybe I'll do that Reinier guy next time.

Taking a moment to partially memorize the list of spells, the twin blade gets up from his chair and walks over to the wavemaster who had passed them out. Looking suddenly hunched over and nervous, he begins to mime pushing a pair of invisible glasses back onto his face and snerking up a wad of mucus. "Scuze me Mister Wavemaster, sir. I finished my homework." He says in a horribly nasal tone of voice, letting the paper drop onto the wavemaster's lap. "S-since I'm the first one done, can I get extra credit?" He snerks again and breaks out in a smirk, laughing lightly at himself and dropping the act again. "Aaaanyway. Have fun with that Sparky." He says, suddenly sounding dismissive and turning away, heading back towards the couch. As he sits though, Kit, through great pain and force of will, tears herself away from the pampering, apologizing briefly to the pamper-ee, to walk over to the twin blade. She climbs onto the couch at his side with a glare and looks up to his lazy, uncaring face.

"You. Other room." She says, her tone of voice bristling with barely contained fury.

"Go bat a yarn ball." Lighteria quips, sinking into the couch. "I just got comfy."

Without another word, Kit swipes her claw past his bare arm, just grazing the skin. The twin blade yelps out briefly and grasps his arm where the claw hit. "Yeow!! Hey!!" He starts out. Before he can say much though, he suddenly finds his face about an inch from Kit's. ...Apparently she managed to jump on his shoulder.

Now from an outsider's perspective it looks as though the two of them are simply having a staring contest. However, Kit is actually speaking through bared fangs (the kitten version of gritted teeth) in barely audible tones. The two of them retain this position for a full two minutes until Lighteria relaxes back into the couch again, shutting his eyes.

"...Alright, I'll cool it." He mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest in a snit.

"Mew. (Good.)" Kit says, jumping off his shoulder and heading back to the floor. "Mew, meow mew. (Now, back to business.)" Scanning the room, Kit quickly settles on the silver-white haired archeress to be next. With her having been already sitting down and seemingly lost in thought, Kit takes the opportunity to leap onto the girl's lap and settle in, curling into a ball and purring expectantly.

occ: complaint department is my PM inbox :P
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

Lord Canti
Exalted Player
Posts: 300
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: In da' plains of hell, natch.

Post by Lord Canti » Wed Apr 18, 2007 8:37 pm

"...Oh... I'm Kit. And that's my pet, Lighteria. I come from-... Ah forget it, just scratch the lower neck already."

Canti: Huh. Kit Kat. Clever.

(You had to take this from Canti's perspective for a moment. Here he was, damned in the middle of The World without a prayer, and now he was confronting one of life's greatest charmers...on a video game. He couldn't help but snicker and smile, though, as this cat just tended to bring out the better in him. Well, why not? It was a little gray talking cat! A freakin' Tribble couldn't purr this loud. Canti obliged in petting the cat and it put him at ease.)

Canti: Gotta warn ya, though, Kit. Your pet's a bit of an asshole, wouldn't even lift a finger to help me in my time of need. I can think of doing a few things as punishment. Ya think he'd respond well to a rolled-up newspaper?

(If Lighteria thought he was being berated before, Canti's none-too-subtle comments would REALLY get his hackles up. Any chance of repairing the differences between him and Canti had just been lost to a cat, as the dark Twin Blade failed to hear Kit's life story. It was no great loss, though. So long as the cat wasn't some kind of implanted hacker-familiar, it was all cool. However, during all of this, Canti felt a certain kind of bother as he heard things... His perceptions were up, and he knew that there was more than just Light here. There more people around. He heard Zan, and Dien, talking to them. Then there was the sounds of yelling and fighting. A voice declaring the hatred of hackers especially hit home. Dien was in trouble because he was a hacker... Go figure. Poor guy never gets a break.)

Canti: Oh well... There IS at least one thing... I have nothing to worry about, for the most part, except for myself. Everyone has attachments, and I have only a scant few. It makes my 'stay' here that much easier...

(The cat did not count, but he didn't voice any of this, so it was okay. It was about this time that several things caught Canti's attention at once. They were flashmails, all of them. Alright, sure. He wasn't all that busy, so...buh? The first one was from Silverblade, apparently the guy filling in - literally - for Nighthand. Canti definitely wanted to see what this guy was all about. Meeting in an hour? S'okay. Maybe he'd get in a few words before then. Sekai and Raquar... Must've been the two other new guys. Never heard of them before. But then again, in The World, there were several guilds which he barely ever had experience with. He wondered if these two were from another group...)

BING!

To Lighteria, Zan, Senna, Zhao Xun, Canti, Dien, Reinier, Phoenix, Rayo, Cypher, Hijinx, Armina, Raquar, Sekai, Nall, Raine, Sheena, Nighthand, Silverblade

I’ve distributed item/spell/equipment inventory sheets in front of each seat in the meeting room. If we’ve an hour before things start, that gives us plenty of time to get some initial prep work done. I’d like everyone to fill one out and pass it on to me before we head out. I want to know what everyone is capable of doing so we have a better chance of not dying out there. If we have accurate information to work with our chances for survival go up. Even if you’re not sure if you’ll attend, please fill one out regardless.

Rayo


Canti: Uhhh....'kay...

(An inventory? That wouldn't be too hard to mess with. After all, he could see his options and displays. He'd get it taken care of...after some shopping. Then, almost immediately afterward, another flashmail had come through, this one from Dien, addressing everyone and...oh dear. Canti laughed out loud at this. Dien was complaining about a lack of sleep. Well, this may sound strange to all the rest of you Freedom Fighters, but Damon didn't feel especially sleepy right now. So, just as a joke, Canti sent Dien some mail.)

TO: Dien
FROM: Canti
SUBJECT: Sleep?

Sleep is for the dead, so GET UP AND GET IT ON, you lazy hacker! You're already asleep and you don't know it! Your body is sleeping its way to Death's Door every minute you delay!


(That ought to take care of it. For the record, Canti is an asshole, but more like the funny Denis Leary kind of asshole. There was no way that he was gonna let an over-achieving, thinking-machine like Dien slack off and miss the boat. It also reminded him...he had to find Zhao at some point, 'cause he hadn't even SEEN the guy in a long while. As if on a cue, Kit disengaged from the petting, apologizing.)

Canti: Nah, it's cool. I needed to go somewhere anyway.

(And he did. He needed to go take care of a little shopping at high speed. Heading off, he went to the hideout's stores and purchased a number of support items with accumulated funds with such a blur that he was barely noticeable. YES, he was flying at the time. No one else was around to see it anyway.)

Well now... You seem to be enjoying yourself.

Canti: Ah, hello voice. Come to challenge my psychosis again? You almost screwed me up big-time back in Mac Anu.

Yes, I do apologize for that. There was some feedback from your mind. I couldn't stop it, since my computer very-nearly burned out in the process.

(Canti stopped.)

Canti: Computer?

Hmmm... I guess I'll have to tell you now. Alright, Canti. No more mysteries, for now. It's time I explained... I'm not a product of your mind, not necessarily. I'm using it as a proper connection to your...spirit, if you will.

Canti: Huh? No habla espanol.

(The voice sighed. It never did that before. Then, the female voice-in-his-head said something that shocked Canti so much that he dropped his weapons.)

I'm right here, Canti. I'm sitting beside you with a laptop and a few CC Corp devices. My assignment is to investigate your coma on the basis of your brainscans. You brought out some pretty interesting figures...and I was told to see if I could 'raise' any of you, or find out what's going on. It's strictly confidential work, but I AM here to help you.

Canti: Whoa, wait! BACK UP A MINUTE!! How did you even know about me in the first place? I wasn't in a coma back at the tower, but I SAW YOU there, in a pool of water!

Bit complicated, but it boils down to this: You're the result of my examination of a rather dubious hacked field. You're the only one who saw me, so you're the only one whose brain I can 'hack' into to communicate. I'm sorry if that's been harming you. I never intended that...

Canti: No... No no, it's okay! I shouldn't have snapped at you. It just didn't make any sense before. So, you're really there... D'you have a name or is that confidential too?

I'm afraid I can't divulge that right now. I don't want even the slightest possibility of being traced through even my World username. Hmmm... I know. Something I use to go by elsewhere... Call me Reyome, and don't make mention of me at this time. I'm in the strictest of secrecy right now.

Canti: I won't. And...thanks.

(The Twin Blade sped off with his goods again, and found the paper filled with the questionaire. He said he'd do it, so...that's what he was doing. While he was there, he noticed some of the rest of the troop. Well, he figured that they could wait for the moment as he worked on his inventory...thing. The winged Twin Blade was seen pulling out a good number of things and writing them down, some of them he'd conveniently forgotten about. Canti stopped as he heard Light bitching at some of the others. Looking the Archer's way, he threw in his own two cents.)

Canti: Pay no attention to the jackass Twin Blade. His attitude sucks, majorly. I'm Canti, by the way. I'll be ripping into him for the next few days until he knows when to shut up. I'd like to say it's a pleasure to meet you, but...let's just face it, this whole thing sucks. Care to tell me how it happened? I can tell you 'bout Dien, Zhao, and myself in return.

(He wasn't sure what the hell he was doing, spouting off like this like he was some damn professional. Truth was, he was lost and The World was an ugly place right now, so what was he up to? Well, in a way, he WAS kind of professional now, sort of. He'd gone through hell and now the next wave was coming through. The least he could do was be a bit less of a hard-ass about it than Zan was.)

OOC: For your convenience, Rayo, here's a profile-link. It's easier this way. http://glasscharm.org/diverge/viewtopic ... 0960#10960

Sekai, if you want to do a dialogue-chat thing, let me know.
I'll have a doozy of a sig later, I swear. It'll reflect ".hack//CODE" an' everything.

Hey look! A profile! It's got items and stats and things! Cool! If it isn't fully up to date, it will be, so don't worry 'bout it.

Zan
Exalted Player
Posts: 206
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:28 pm
Contact:

Post by Zan » Thu Apr 19, 2007 5:55 am

Zan reclined along the familiar green couch in an attempt to grab at some actual comfort, something in his position continuing to be difficult and unruly. What was wrong with the damn thing? It was like the cushions had suddenly lost their oomph. No matter how he twisted or turned, he couldn't help but feel like something was off. Which was when he noticed he was higher in the air than he should have been. An attempt to recall how that had happened brought to him a brief, blurred memory of rising, of being pulled in two. Rolling off onto the floor and rising to his feet a moment later, the lycanthrope tried to grasp what it was he was seeing. Zan, the avatar, was lounging where he had just been, hood pulled back to reveal the mess of scars over the left side of his face and the orange-amber, wolven iris of the same side. A glance down revealed a pair of roughed up jeans and a dirty, loose-fitting white shirt. The hands that shot up in panic to his face revealed nothing but smooth skin and the hang of light brown, disheveled hair. He was Conner again. He was...but how?

Before the former college student could even hope to grasp
that development, the pain in his chest began. It was like something was trying to rip its way out of him, claws digging into the bone of his sternum, organs forced to squirm and rip around to compensate for the aggression. When Conner was sure he was going to simply implode in a rain of blood and gore, something began to diffuse from his torso. There was no blood, no, but there was plenty of pain. The mass of dark, rich brown fur writhed and shook, binary ripping apart from binary until (Conner not having realized they were closed) he finally opened his eyes once more. Sitting on the floor at his feet, animal eyes staring up at him, was Conner's wolf, his Beast. Or was it Zan's Beast? It was then, like a flash of something obvious, he knew it was neither. The Beast was a part of Conner since his infection and, truly, it mattered not whether he was on or offline. It seemed docile enough and, though part of him feared the loss of his hand, he felt obligated to give it an affectionate pat on the head. The fur was soft but gruff at the same time, the feel of something that's had equal time to run free in the wilds as it has had to rip through the bodies of countless prey. The wolf's tongue hung lazily out at his attentions, hot pants breathing out against his arm as its tail swished happily through the air.

Conner had almost forgotten himself in the oddity of the going-ons when the presence of something behind him turned his attentions away from the Beast (much to its annoyance). Nulus stood tall, knowing, the billowing cloak and dark void of its hood something one almost felt sucked into. Unlike Zan on the couch and the Beast on the ground, Nulus seemed just as confused about what was happening as Conner did. What was going on? Why was this happening? The thoughts hit him with a flood of panic piggy backed to it all, Conner trying to sift through the insanity to assure him that everything was okay. They'd go to Silverblade or Raine to figure out why Conner was splitting up into his parts. They had to know. This couldn't be the first time this has happened. Just as he turned to do so, the former student paused. There was something else there, something that was plastered to the ceiling, grafted into Conner's bones. It was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, a conundrum of 'what the huh?' that had Conner's mind assaulting with not only his fear, but the Shade's as well. He didn't have to ask what it was, who it was. It was all of them, every single thing in that room at once. It was Conner, it was Zan, it was the Beast, it was Nulus; it was the Merged. The memory of what it was like to be that thing, to be so enriched with power, lingered in what Conner now knew was his subconscious. Though with Nulus and him separated the Merged was technically deleted, he still remembered what it was like to be such an entity.

And he wanted to be it again. Now. It was like a hunger, a craving to be one being. Though Conner knew it was just his data's way of urging him to stop fighting the separation, to accept the similarity of Nulus and his data and be combined. It was the game's obsessive need for balance, to make sure both sides of the equation were equal. With the two of them separated and yet linked, the lycanthropic Twilight was begging for union, for logic and reason to a formula that wanted stability. Another second and he'd give in, he'd do it. It would be so easy.

So easy...


-------------------------------------------

Zan suddenly wrenched himself from the wall, a moment of panic and confusion setting it as he fought to regain his composure and sense of placement. Where...was he...oh. Right. The Hideout. The meeting room. Had he actually fallen asleep leaning against the wall? A wipe of his hand into the blackness of his hood and along his hood revealed a neat line of drool. Smooth. Wiping that up with a quick drag of his thumb, the dream (was it really a dream?) hitting him not a moment later. Oh God...was he? No, that wouldn't make sense, but shit. He had almost Merged in his motherfucking sleep. Yea, that'd be a good way to début his new little acquirement. The first time it had happened, it had been violent and spastic. Chance was if Zan started flipping out in the middle of the room? Well, he'd just end up looking like Phoe who, before the lycanthrope had fallen asleep, had a little attention-whore freak out. No need for that. The moment the thought had entered his mind and Phoe had left, Lights (who didn't even smell like himself anymore, not completely) made a point of mocking the Blademaster's little show. God bless him.

"That was probably the best thing I've heard all day. A-fucking-men." That done and Rayo's request noted, Zan first made a quick message to Lighteria. Well, whoever it was. The Lycan was simply too exhausted to make a big deal out of it. The kid's attitude, and his scent, were out of whack. It wasn't like this body snatching thing was uncommon amongst them. Not enough to warrant any freak out or to alert the group as a whole. Er...did everyone already know?
Flashmail!
To: Lighteria
From: Zan
Subject: How much is that stranger in the window?

Try not to be too thoroughly amused by my insanely witty subject title. I'll be to the point. I know you're not Lighteria. Doesn't matter how I know, just know that I do. That said...

Who are you? There a reason you're borrowing a Freedom Fighter's body? It would be a shame to have to make your little undercover op a public show if it's unnecessary, mmm?

-Zan

Flashmail! End
So he was lying.
Flashmail!
To: The Party [Lighteria Excluded]
From: Zan
Subject: Lighteria

I'm sort of hoping I'm not the last guy to have figured this out, but Lighteria? No him. Someone's using his character which is, you know, odd for a kid in a coma. Didn't know that was possible. For those who can, check to see this person isn't some sort of poorly-crafted plan for the Elites to get in on the inside. Much appreciated.

P.S. Let's try and keep him under the impression he has some of us fooled until we're sure he's harmless.

-Zan

Flashmail! End
And with that done...Rayo. A list of his spells and his abilities and what not? If Zan hadn't just gotten through an insanely long dungeon with this guy and seen that he could trust him, he would have laughed. Hard. It was like asking someone for the key to kicking their ass. Mind you, Zan wasn't a complete moron. Just because a person knew what he was capable of didn't mean he couldn't take care of them if the time ever came to it. Okay, so Rayo would probably be the one doing the ass-kicking, but that was neither here nor there. Besides, it wasn’t like he'd tell him everything. Not about the Merging, anyway. That was asking for trouble he didn't want to deal with at that particular moment in time. A look through his items and his skills (namely the latter) had him fighting not to laugh at the sheer obscenity of its size. The last dungeon (and a proceeding trip to shops) had him ganked up with swords and armors. That, in turn, had him overflowing with skills that made him pleasantly versatile. Which was odd...considering his class. Heavy Blades weren't exactly known for their flexibility in battle; not to his knowledge anyway. Shrugging and, deciding writing it down on paper was stupid if he only cared for Rayo to have the info (he was the only one who cared enough to ask, after all), he opened up the flashmail system once more.
Flashmail!
To: Rayo
From: Zan
Subject: Items and Skills

[EQUIPMENT]

Weapon: High Forger
Armor: Forester Helm | Hands of Wood | Holy Tree Mail | Green Guard
Special: Book of Gracefullness

[SKILLS]

Kannon
Karin
Vak Smash
Vak Drive
Rairaku
Raika
Rai Smash
Rai Drive
Hirameki
Juk Smash
Juk Drive
Danku
Gan Smash
Gan Drive
Sohgasho
Hayabusa
Death Bringer
Calamity
Ol Repth
La Repth
Repth
Rip Maen
Rip Teyn
Rip Synk
Juk Kruz
Juk Rom
Juk Zot
MeRue Rom
Rue Rom
Rue Zot
Rue Kruz
Gan Zot
Gan Don
Vak Kruz
Vak Rom
Vak Don
Rai Rom
Rig Gaem
Rig Saem
Ap Juka
Ap Ruem
Ap Vakz
Ap Ganz
Ap Corv
Ap Vorv
Ap Torv
Ap Do
Ap Corma
Ap Vorma
Dek Vorv
Dek Juka
Dek Vakz
Dek Ganz
Dek Ruem
Added Abilities: Life Drain [Absorber, Steeler, Shiva's Rings], Death [Slayer], Skill Drain [Devil Blade, Magnifier, Sakabatou]

[ITEMS]

Mage's Soul
Health Drink x18
Restorative x5
Antidote x4
Resurrect x5
Speed Charm
Fortune Wire
Sprite Ocarina
Fairy's Orb
Holy Sap x9
Warrior's Blood x6
Hunter's Blood
Knight's Blood
Wizard's Blood
Beast's Blood
Hermit's Blood
Warrior's Bane
Hunter's Bane
Knight's Bane
Wizard's Bane
Beast's Bane
Hermit's Bane
Treebane x3
Light Cross
Green Gale
Gale Breath
Wood Sprite x2
Raining Rocks
Raging Earth
Ice Floe
Ice Storm
Meteor Swarm
Fire Tempest
Lightning Bolt
Plasma Storm
Nightblight
Dark Night
The Lovers x2

Hope that...er...helps?

-Zan

Flashmail! End
Leaning back against the wall, settling into the niche he had found, Zan waited for the meeting to actually begin.
Lv. 50 Heavy Blade
Wishlist
Special: Levels, GR Sendai, PL Sakai, Darklore.
W: Tonosama Sword, Mineuchi, Jundachi.
A: Samurai Helm, Able Hands, Rare Greaves.
I: Holy Sap, Treebane, Cooked Bile, Nightbane.
EX: Elemental Summon (Lv. 2), Overdrive (Lv.1), Elemental Attacks (Lv. 2), Enhance Dark, Elemental Breath (Lv. 2).

User avatar
Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Post by Nighthand » Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:16 pm

At the head of the table, Silverblade seemed to be in the leader position. Why, really, no one knew but himself and Nall. The long and the short of it, basically, was that Nall had finally realized he had too much on his shoulders to be the public leader of the group. He was still the one that knew more than anyone else about the Elites, including Raine and Sheena. There were things he didn't tell even them. Nall was still one of the strongest, fastest, and most powerful people in the room; especially with the number of Twilight Items under his possession. The Cape of Deceit, the Titan's Armor, and the Twilight's Tear were all his, and none could take them from him.

Even so, there was too much pent-up hatred at him, too much anger at his lies and his half-truths, and his voids of information, for him to have everyone's trust. He was a stranger to most of them, and only a select few actually trusted him. Nighthand, and hence Silverblade, was among them. And so, when Nall had approached him about being the 'leader' of the group, he had shrugged and agreed. At the very least, Nighthand could honestly say “I don't know”, whereas most of the time, coming from Nall, it was a lie.

Silverblade went to work filling out the sheet of paper Rayo handed to him. Listing off scrolls was an easy enough task; multiples of every element scroll at level one, many of level two, and a select group of level 3s he had picked up. While they weren't as useful to Silverblade as they were to Nighthand, they still would be useful. His items and skills available listed down, he went a little into detailing their powers as well. Nighthand's spell manipulations, his Nightblade, and their shared State Shift were all listed down. He declined to list his own power, as he could not access Nighthand's spell controls, though he made sure to note that both the controls and the Nightblade would be inaccessible until Nighthand returned. Let them find out what his own power was at a later date.

Flashmail!
To: Rayo
From: Silverblade
Subject: Nighthand

You don't need to include both of our names, Nighthand and Silverblade, on your mail to lists. We inhabit the same body and, essentially, are the same person. I can explain to you more later if you wish, but for the moment Nighthand is gone and I'm in charge of the body. I have a slightly different set of abilities from the one's you're used to from Nighthand, but since I'm not exactly sure how they'll play out in battle, I'm preferring to leave them off this list for you. Also, in case you're wondering, I've been with Nighthand for quite a while now. I just don't come out often except when I have to.


His flashmail sent, Silverblade continued to watch people shuffle in to the meeting room. A flashmail from Dien arrived shortly, and Silverblade read and discarded it. Fine. If the blademaster didn't want to attend the meeting, he wasn't going to drag him in.

“Did I do something so wrong to all of you that you did nothing for me? I was unconscious on the floor here. I know that Hijinx was the one who put those cones around me and expect nothing for her but some of you, I expected much more. I’m apologized to the people who don’t know for this but the rest of you, I’m disappointed. Before I do something stupid, I’m going to train for a bit. When I come back, I’ll continue to rant about this with everyone else.”

Phoe's outburst was a little unwelcome, but really. What could the blademaster expect any of them to do for him? Aside from maybe move him to the barracks and toss him on a bed, there really wasn't anything. Had there been any threat to the rest of them, Raine, Sheena, or Nall would have noticed it, and done what they could. Really, why had the blademaster chosen the meeting room to fall asleep in rather than a bed?

Besides. With the arrival of two new players and the confrontation that occurred because of them, a quiet passing out in the corner was less than worrying. At least his affronted feelings had stopped the blademaster from noticing the two new arrivals and doing his usual “get out while you still can” speech. That was the last thing they needed in their condition.

Flashmail!
To: Nighthand
From: Hacorie

It has been quite a while. I seem to have lost myself in all the great anguishes which followed my entrapment to The World. I have since found myself and also found a need for help. Help to find a way out. I figured out that I am not the only one seeking this answer. Thus, I would like to know if I could come back and become a Freedom Fighter once again. I have reached the Theta hideout, but I seem to have a feeling I am being watched by someone. I just keep getting this cold feeling up and down my spine. Well, I await your reply.

–Hac
End Flashmail


Silverblade took a moment to think before responding. This guy HAD been bit in half by a giant bird and thrown off a mountain that, as Nall had warned, was supposed to delete you if you fell off. He appeared to have made it through okay, but... Apparently he was being watched. Probably because he was in a hideout. That was, generally, one of the worst places to be when they're being watched.

Flashmail!
To: Hacorie
From: Silverblade
Subject: Instructions

I know this isn't Nighthand's name. Suffice to say I'm close enough to him that you shouldn't worry. The hideouts aren't safe; both the hackers and the admins have them watched. I'm surprised you haven't been attacked yet. I'll send Raine to come get you; hopefully she can snatch you before someone breaks into the hideout and gets to you first.


Flashmail!
To: Raine
From: Silverblade
Subject: Pickup

Hacorie is in the Theta server hideout; can you get to him before the Admins do and bring him here?


Looking at the azure-haired wavemistress, Silverblade noted her nod. She stood and left the room.

-------------------Theta Hideout------------------
Hacorie would be beginning to wonder if he should leave the hideout and head to the gate or not, when a section of the wall begins to turn blue. Soon, a circle large enough to be a person-sized chaos gate is formed, shimmering the same blue as the gate itself. A blue-haired wavemistress, weaponless and dressed in a simple robe of black and white with a star on one shoulder, steps through.

”Hacorie? Come with me, and hurry. The admins are almost here.”

With that, Raine would leave, stepping back through the way she had come. Hacorie, following, would experience no sensation other than stepping through a doorway, despite having stepped from one root town to another. He would automatically be keyed to the new hideout, it becoming the default root town for whenever he decides to enter the Lambda server. He would notice most everyone gathered in the meeting room, the direction that his Wavemistress savior had headed.

Back in the hideout, several uniformed players would step into the hideout, weapons drawn. They would look around, just missing the now-faded blue spot, now-disappeared. “No one here... that's odd.” One would say. “A false positive?” “Perhaps,” Continues another. “We don't know how this code works, after all.”

-----------------------Lambda Hideout---------------------

Silverblade chuckled a little at Lighteria's antics. He knew it wasn't the same Lights in the body, the timid twinblade was nothing like this caustic personality. Still, while it warranted watching, there wasn't really anything he could do about it right now. And, from the looks others were giving him, he wasn't alone in figuring it out.

Flashmail!
To: The Party [Lighteria Excluded]
From: Zan
Subject: Lighteria

I'm sort of hoping I'm not the last guy to have figured this out, but Lighteria? No him. Someone's using his character which is, you know, odd for a kid in a coma. Didn't know that was possible. For those who can, check to see this person isn't some sort of poorly-crafted plan for the Elites to get in on the inside. Much appreciated.

P.S. Let's try and keep him under the impression he has some of us fooled until we're sure he's harmless.

-Zan

Flashmail! End


As if reading his thoughts. That werewolf couldn't smell his brains, could he? Ah well, it was an issue worth thinking about, if not acting on.

Flashmail!
To: Zan
From: Silverblade
RE: Lighteria

Yeah, pretty sure most of us know. He hasn't become a threat yet though, so for now all I'm doing is watching. And since you're wondering, it's still Light's body, just not his mind. It's not an AI simulacrum or clone or anything, Nall and the girls have enough experience recognizing those that I'm pretty sure they would have made an issue of it if he was.


So... many.... flashmails.... Silverblade was tempted to start emptying Nighthand's mailbox, but he wasn't sure how much his fellow mind wanted to keep. Despite being almost the same person, Nighthand still had a number of 'sentimentality' issues Silverblade didn't quite understand.

Still, it looked like most everyone was here. Time to begin.

”Alright, alright, let's get this little thing started. As most of you know, we've been assaulting the Elites for a really long time now. We've finally made enough headway that they're pissed off at us, and so we're hiding. We're running what amount to covert operations, to destroy their communications. We've taken out one flashmail hub, out of three known.

The guardian of these hubs appears to be a character known as Marionette. We know next to nothing about him other than he hasn't reported us to the Elites. That's probably the only reason we're still alive. We defeated one of his guardians and blew up a hub, and now we have to go for a second.

I notice a lot of new and returning members here, so... I propose a question and answer session. We're lying low, hiding, so we may as well use this time. After this meeting we should have our next destination decided on, as well as some basic idea of what all is going on. Some of you may not even know why we're doing this, let alone any of the details. There's a lot going on that not many people know, outside of Nall. I want all of us to know at least a little bit of what's going on. At the very least, we should each get to know each other a little bit better, so we can better trust each other and our abilities in combat.

So... I'll start. I'm Silverblade, an AI occupying Nighthand's body. Usually Nighthand would be here, but he was called away because of this.”
Silverblade pulled aside a few strands of hair so that everyone present could see the scar across his face. ”This was given to us by Marionette's first guardian. We're a level 50 Heavyblade with a a few special abilities. I can go into those later if you want.

For the moment I'm acting as leader of this little group. Nall would usually be leading us, but he has other things to think about these days, and honestly, I don't blame him. He's been stuck in the game far longer than any of us; pretty much since The World was created in fact. It's understandable that it can get to him eventually. That said...”


That said, Silverblade paused, and looked at Raine. She was sort of the brains behind the original Trio, despite not really having all the information Nall had. She was at least the most level-headed and mature of them.

”I'm Raine. That's Nall, and that's Sheena. We're the 'original' freedom fighters, you could say. This was our base of operations before we moved to other servers and the Elites grew cockier and more powerful. It's also the most well-hidden and well-protected, which is why the Elites haven't found it yet; so don't do anything to spoil that, please.” She smiled slightly.

”Alright... Introductions? Thoughts on the Hubs? Questions? Consider this an open forum.”

He wasn't so sure Nall would be happy with all the questions, and he couldn't guarantee that the blademaster would even answer everything, but hey; it was a start.

---------------------ooc:

A week, maybe two, for the meeting, then I plan to head off to wherever we've decided. Post and ask your questions, and don't worry if it's short. I'll be posting short posts to answer questions as the week goes on, as well as my main post on Thursday. Assuming of course that you people ask questions. If it comes down to it, a decision will be made by that two-week notice, regardless of opinions expressed, and we'll move on. I don't want this to drag on like the last quest.

A lot of you have kept up a good schedule of posting, and posting speed; thanks. To the few of you that haven't posted much, you might not make it into the actual quest if you're too out of it, so I suggest keeping to the once a week minimum.

Quests shouldn't take as long as the last one anymore; I'm going to be building them shorter. Oh... and guys? No splitting up for the last two hubs. I'm just not going to do it.

Hacorie
Ikkitousen
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:30 pm
Location: Here and there.
Contact:

Post by Hacorie » Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:27 am

A random and familiar sound hit the eardrums of the Heavy Blade as he brushed up against the wall of Freedom Fighter hideout in the Theta Server. Flinching for a second, Hacorie smiled as he places his hand on the smooth wall and pushed. This action sent him back in an upright position as he checked the new Flashmail which just arrived. With a smile creeping on his face, Hacorie only had one thought echoing through his vast brain. Finally, the Heavy Blade has come back to the Freedom Fighters. Thank you...Nighth....Silverblade. Looks like they will actually need my help after all. I will keep my powers to those who do not know me in the dark then. If any of them end up being spies, I do not want to show my trump card. With a blink of the eye, Hac’s smile devolved to only a straight face as he read the letter more clearly. The emotion of anguish filled his heart as his hand slid from the air to his sword. The clanking metal excited the Heavy Blade as the scent of battle drew nearer. Another fight for his life was about to begin as the ground shook from the footsteps of the oncoming Knights.

Flashmail!
To: Hacorie
From: Silverblade
Subject: Instructions

I know this isn't Nighthand's name. Suffice to say I'm close enough to him that you shouldn't worry. The hideouts aren't safe; both the hackers and the admins have them watched. I'm surprised you haven't been attacked yet. I'll send Raine to come get you; hopefully she can snatch you before someone breaks into the hideout and gets to you first.


An unfamiliar sound crept to his ears like the tearing of paper. Turning around, while sliding his sword where a small portion of the blue gleaming light could be seen, Hacorie was met by a blue circle. Blue...its my favorite color... The Heavy Blade began to sing in his head changing the original lyrics. A hand quickly protruded from the newly created hole as the body of a lady with very small familiarity stepped forward. Her blue hair was almost like the eyes of Hac. A star was seen upon her shoulder, which vaguely reminded Hac of when he cosplayed as Gene Starwind from Outlaw Star in an event a few years ago. These characteristics were seen by Hac in the past; this Wavemistress he knew once before...her name was... “Raine!” Hac called as the Wavemistress switched her attention to him while scouring the room to see if anyone else was left in the hideout. Of course, it seemed Hac was the only one.

Hacorie? Come with me, and hurry. The admins are almost here.”

Releasing his grip on the Oceanic Aura, Hac began to speak, but before he could even utter a word, the Wavemistress disappeared into the blue void. Hastily, Hac turned to see the shadows of players begin to form outside the hidden door. His heart began to race as thoughts began to rush through his head. The blue portal was growing smaller with each second and his eyes began to race back and forth as many scenarios relinquished themselves in his mind. Finally, Hac grit his teeth and turned to the portal which was now a circle, like the one in which acrobats jumped through in the circus. Closing his eyes, Hac jumped toward the closing gap and hoped for the best for he was not sure if this was a trap or not. A bright light passed by his closed eyes.

“OOF!” He called as he landed on the ground. Opening one eye, Hacorie looked around to see that he was in a new sort of place. After he finally realized where he was, Hac looked on to see the Wavemistress disappear around a corner. Once she moved out of the way, players familiar and unfamiliar were seen. With a smile back on his face, Hacorie stood up and brushed off his blue cloak which had accumulated a bit of brown dust from the floor and the evil dirty Theta sever hideout which was unoccupied and covered with cobwebs and soot. Putting one foot in front of the other, the Heavy Blade found his way to the room which the entire Freedom Party had gathered. Looking around to all the innards, Hac began to list all the people he knew from the past. Lighteria, Zan, Reinier, Phoenix, Cypher, Hijinx, Nall, Raine, Sheena, Nighthand/Silverblade, and....Oh my gosh! SENNA!

The female Long Arm had been a part of Hac’s past many a time. The two had traveled through the trials and tribulations which were brought upon by the town in Theta Server in which none of the players could gate out. The two players have also been involved in a special event for Halloween a few years before the present time. The two had dressed as the best duo from the game of Radiata Stories: Franklin the sparkly and Felix the transv...girl that everyone in the game confused with a guy. The team of Hac and Senna ended up winning the event even though they were opponents. The prizes the two gained were even traded amongst them to where Hac received the Shiva Rings and Senna got the Time Bracer. Beginning to walk over to his old teammate, Hac stopped as the meeting began. A meeting of what, he could not figure out.

“Alright, alright, let's get this little thing started. As most of you know, we've been assaulting the Elites for a really long time now. We've finally made enough headway that they're pissed off at us, and so we're hiding. We're running what amount to covert operations, to destroy their communications. We've taken out one Flashmail hub, out of three known.

All right so let me see if I can grasp everything in this meeting that is going on so far. It seems that Silverblade has taken over Nighthand’s body. I have seen this happen before, but my sense of perception back then was not what it is today so I really do not remember how they differed besides personalities. I guess when I was killed and went out on my journey, everything began to take a turn for the worse. It seems we are also working on secret operations instead of an all out assault as we did before? Wonder what happened...and what in the world is a Flashmail hub?

The guardian of these hubs appears to be a character known as Marionette. We know next to nothing about him other than he hasn't reported us to the Elites. That's probably the only reason we're still alive. We defeated one of his guardians and blew up a hub, and now we have to go for a second.

Aww a Marionette. I love puppets. They are so awesome, especially when you build one from scratch and take it to school to show everybody, but they think you are weird for wanting to be a ventriloquist. People just do not understand the awesomeness of puppets...wonder if this character is just that. I have not met or seen it, but by this small amount of information about hubs and guardians, seems it is working for the Elites. Ahh, the elites...brings me back to my skewered days on the Mistglaive...such fun times. However, if this creature works for those hackers, why did it not report them to its masters...

I notice a lot of new and returning members here, so... I propose a question and answer session. We're lying low, hiding, so we may as well use this time. After this meeting we should have our next destination decided on, as well as some basic idea of what all is going on. Some of you may not even know why we're doing this, let alone any of the details. There's a lot going on that not many people know, outside of Nall. I want all of us to know at least a little bit of what's going on. At the very least, we should each get to know each other a little bit better, so we can better trust each other and our abilities in combat.

OOO! I love this game! It is like those old movies where the main character had to go to AAA and tell a little about him/herself. Hmm...seems Nall has changed a bit. Last I met him, he wanted to be involved in every little aspect of the battles. He would even risk getting killed just to attack one of the Hacker Elites. Wonder who will introduce themselves first...bet it will be Nighthand.

So... I'll start. I'm Silverblade, an AI occupying Nighthand's body. Usually Nighthand would be here, but he was called away because of this. This was given to us by Marionette's first guardian. We're a level 50 Heavyblade with a a few special abilities. I can go into those later if you want.

Tuning the character out officially, Hacorie looked around to see everyone intently staring on at the level 50 Heavy Blade. A petite voice once again caught his ear as the blue haired Wavemistress began to speak. She said something about being an original Freedom Fighter, and that the hideout everyone was in was the most well protected. Not even the admins or hackers had found it. She also made a remark in which Hac hoped was not directed at him. It was something about how the hideouts were secret and should not be told to anyone on the outside. As she finished her much shorter speech than Silverblade had just done, the higher leveled Heavy Blade began to once again talk. This line, however, was short and to the point.

“Alright... Introductions? Thoughts on the Hubs? Questions? Consider this an open forum.”

As Silverblade stopped moving his mouth, everyone in the room began to look amongst one another to see which member of the party would speak first. Hac’s blue eyes began to move around to all the old members whom he had met wondering if they would express themselves in order of the joining date. No one began to talk though. Everyone in the room remained in a quiet sense as if huddled around a candle while trying to summon the dead. Shaking his head up and down, Hacorie decided he should be the first to speak since he had been gone for quite sometime. A lot of newer members of the great and massive party may not have even heard his name before.

“Umm...Hi everyone! I guess I shall be the one to break the awkward silence of the room. I guess I should start with my name, eh? I am Hacorie. I was part of this group a while ago, but in a battle I was....well let’s just say I disappeared because of what happened. After becoming stronger, I decided to return and see if my improved abilities could help me not get skewered or chopped in half by a giant bird.” Hac said with a small chuckle as he looked around to see the groups members’ reactions to his sudden outburst.

Turning back in the direction of Silverblade, Hacorie decided to ask the first slue of questions he needed answers for.

“So, Since some of us have no idea what is going on, beside the brief synopsis you gave.....can someone tell me what exactly happened? Where is Gingi? What happened to make all of us go into hiding. I am just so lost...and do we know anything about these two remaining hubs in which we have to occupy?”

Asking a bit more than he knew he should, Hacorie stepped back and waited for a reply. While looking to his side, he waved at Senna while tilting his head and creating a fake smile upon his face. The smile was for comfort, due to the fact that everyone was trapped in this game...trapped in The World...


(OOC: Yeah....xD I love questions.)
Hacorie
Level 36 Heavy Blade
Gold: 21237

Equips
Oceanic Aura/Sharktooth-Ice Helm-Winter Coat-
Shiva's Rings-Bondage Pants
---Water Magic, BL Yokohama

Wishlist:
Level Meh Up
Weapons: Sakabatou/Rock n Roll/Peace Blade
Body: Knight's Armor
Other: Earthlore/Feng Shui
--------Water/Earth Scrolls

Phoenix512
Exalted Player
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Post by Phoenix512 » Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:55 am

That training session was very relaxing for me. Not only I learned the limits of my new powers but it cleared my head about some things. So now when I’m in the field, I won’t have ‘Oh crap! What happened to my power just now?’ Raine certainly had outdone herself this time. I don’t have to leave the hideout if I need to hone my skills.

Phoenix had just finished his training and proceeds back towards the meeting room. He found an open suit and began to write down his items, equipment, powers, and Suzaku’s abilities for Rayo. He especially notes about his new powers since he does not want Rayo to ask him to do something involving his old powers. Once the blademaster finished up with the list, he gave it to Rayo and told him if there were any questions, just ask. He goes back to the chair and sits down once again. He looks around the room and noticed a few new people in the room along with a few old allies.

Kazuma-sama, the new people have already been infected with the Twilight. So it is too late for them to leave now.

I know, Suzaku. I felt the presence of the Twilight in them. It seems that I can notice the Twilight in people now. I wonder if that was an added bonus from the new rune. No matter. At least I won’t have to give the ‘better leave now or go to a life of damnation’ speech. I wished someone would actually listen to me when I give that speech but oh well.

After that thought, the meeting began with Silverblade/Nighthand. The AI mentioned that he was going to lead the group now instead of Nall. Phoenix had viewed Nighthand as a more respectable leader than Nall ever was even though he had his problems with Nighthand in the past. Nall was very powerful but at the same time, he did not lead very well and withhold information from most of the group. The blademaster viewed Nall’s methods of recruitment as cruel and unusual punishment with promises of rewards if they joined him. Phoenix was never offered a reward since Nall was declared dead at the time when he joined the Freedom Fighters.

Then Raine gave a brief introduction to herself, Sheena, and Nall as the original Freedom Fighters along with the current hideout being well hidden and protected before the Silverblade opened the floor for questions. There was a brief silence before an old ally of Phoenix’s spoke out.

“So, Since some of us have no idea what is going on, beside the brief synopsis you gave.....can someone tell me what exactly happened? Where is Gingi? What happened to make all of us go into hiding. I am just so lost...and do we know anything about these two remaining hubs in which we have to occupy?”

At that moment, Phoenix decided to take the floor. “Hac, before I answered your questions I need to say a couple of things first. First off for those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Phoenix. I like to apologize for the outburst earlier. I realized that you guys couldn’t do much to help me but at least put me in a bed instead of leaving me on the meeting room floor. Hac, we moved into this hideout after the destruction of Mac Anu where the collective Elites showed off their fearsome power. Even the admins were powerless against them. For the new people, I’ll be willing to bet that the admins either covered up what really happened to Mac Anu or temporary shut down the root town.”

The blademaster took a moment to breathe before continuing to answer Hac’s question. “As for the two remaining hubs, some of us did attempt to take on the Level 30 hub but we had to retreat since continuing would be too hard at that point. The only thing we know about the other hub is the field stats. We should probably go back to the Level 30 hub since we know what to expect and maybe our combined brain power could figure out that damn riddle. Then about Gingi, I rather have Nall or Silverblade answered that question as I don’t know much about why she disappeared. Also, I have a couple of questions as well. First, Raine or Sheena did you get anything useful from the flashmails downloaded from the hub? Second, I’m curious about the two new people. How did you become infected with the Twilight?”

Phoenix stopped talking at that point and waited for the others to answer his questions.

OOC: I’ll describe my new abilities in the training grounds and a profile update.
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

User avatar
Lighteria
Well-Oiled Machine
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:59 am
Location: :noitacoL

Post by Lighteria » Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:50 am

"Pay no attention to the jackass Twin Blade. His attitude sucks, majorly." Was all that was needed for Lighteria to break his promise to Kit. His fist clenches tightly and he gets up from the couch; no way was he going to let THAT one slide. This guy had been picking at his nerves from the moment he'd ported to Lambda today... and it was a BAD day. Mocking and berating could only go so far. THIS time, he was gonna get it.

"Look sunshine." He says, gripping Canti's shoulder, turning the twin blade around to face him. "I've had it just about up to he-"

*New Flashmail!*

"..." His eye twitches. "...Will you excuse me?" He says in a fake-cordial tone of voice. Turning around and storming back to the couch, he checks his mail, growling through his teeth that it'd better be that kid contacting him or something REALLY important.

How much is that stranger in the window? ...What kind of a subject is THAT?

As he reads, a large sweat bead drops down the back of his head.

....oh.

Lighteria swallows a growl down into his throat, glancing slowly over to Zan who, at this point, was looking rather indifferent about it. ...Oddly enough, THAT ticked him off as well. It was hard enough trying to keep tempers down when you're pretty much literally trapped in a crazy house and now here was another ultimatum for him to fess up. Was it really THAT obvious!? ...In any case, a fiasco with these unstable crazies was best to be avoided. Through gritted teeth and clenched fist, he replies to the lycan with enough choked back venom to paralyze a musk ox.

FLASHMAIL
From: Lighteria
To: Zan
Subject: Re:lamejoke

Your creepy-ass paranoia aside, you're sorta right. Look. I'm not exactly thrilled with my situation right now either, so I don't need you making a spectacle out of the girl stuck in his body, ok? There was a crash, things got mixed up. That's all, ok?

END FLASHMAIL


Groaning, he puts his hands over his face, rubbing his eyelids gently.

Ugh. Whyyyyy is this happening to me? I can't deal with anything else right now.

As if on cue, Silverblade steps up and officially starts the meeting. Lighteria listens from the couch, looking almost eager to get some more answers to this insanity.
He manages to stay quiet through the whole thing.

...

...Jesus, this guy is serious isn't he?


With the gravity of the situation starting to hang over his head, the twin blade rubs the back of his neck, again with the trying to make sense of things. A seemingly level-headed heavy blade makes a few good questions known and Lighteria glances to Silverblade, expecting him to answer. Instead, the blademaster he'd mocked a few minutes prior speaks up instead. Listening to him for a second, Lighteria gets up from his seat on the couch and moves to the table.

"Color me surprised, Red." He says, sitting down, looking to Phoenix. "You're actually level headed. Glad to know I was wrong." He says in a rare, rare moment of sincerity. That done though, he sits back and whips his hand in front of himself, apparently being either flippant or dramatic... hard to tell really. "As long as it's Q&A, I want to know what you expect will happen once this hub is blown up, shine eye. I mean... I've played as much Call of War as the next gaming junkie, but is there really a chance to win with guerrilla tactics here? ...Also, what's this twilight you mentioned?"
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

User avatar
Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Post by Nighthand » Sat Apr 21, 2007 7:07 am

"Gingi... well, none of us really know where she went off to. She could be fighting her own fight, or she could be dead. It's been a while since we've seen her." Silverblade suppressed a sigh. Her light-based powers had been a huge tactical advantage, as the rare element was used only by a select few others in his considerable experience.

"As for the Hideout, Phoe's got it covered pretty much. The Admins set a trap for us, but just as they sprung it, the Elites sprang their own. Each had an army, Elites and Admins alike, and we were caught in the middle. After we escaped, the hackers left, and the Admins restored the root town, we decided to stay here. Or should I say, it was decided that we stay here, since there wasn't really much choice or democratic vote. Both the Elites and the Admins are assumed to be watching the hideouts for any activity, to try to locate us; the Elites because we've killed too many of their number, and the Admins because they believe we're the hackers."

At least, that's what he assumed was the case. They didn't really have much information from inside either group; and little wait to get it.

"I did get a little bit of information from the hub flashmails, but nothing directly useful at this point. Hopefully we'll be able to get more from each of the remaining two, and figure out where to go from here. As it is, there was only vague mentioning of skirmishes, new players abducted, and that sort of thing. As sad as I am to say it, the usual. They DID have something about admin resistance, which I found odd. The Admin power players were killed in that war in Mac Anu, the Knights shouldn't be as organized as they appear to be." Raine finished her little speech. Sadly, there wasn't as much useful as she had hoped.

"As for you, Lights..." Silverblade looked directly at the twin blade. Intimidation? No, whoever was in there would just be flippant about such tactics. More like... simply a warning, letting him know he shouldn't get too out of line if he didn't want a confrontation. "At this point guerrilla tactics are all we have. We don't know how to access the Hacker's server, nor are we powerful enough as a group to confront more than one Elite at a time with even a glimmer of hope of winning.

For those of you who don't know, the Hubs are essentially programs too large to be run in the background. They had to be embedded in the data of a field itself, one typically unavailable to the public. The Elites have hubs of their own, that ferry their flashmails around without the prying eyes of the Admins able to read their plans and communications. Or something like that, anyways. The point is, by taking out these three hubs, we're crippling their communications and, hopefully, gaining a little more information as to the whereabouts of the entrance to Yamiyo, the hacker server."


Following the speech, Nall took his turn to speak up. He had been anxious about this whole idea, and took it upon himself to tell everyone what Twilight was. After all... he knew more about it than almost anyone else there, and Sheena wasn't one to give a long-winded speech.

"In short, Twilight is a virus that is embedded in everything in The World. In any game, in every game, there is a maximum. A level cap, a cap to stats, a topping off of power. Twilight allows that limit to be broken. It was added to the game code by one of the original programmers. Yes... It's been there as long as The World has existed. So have the Elites.

The Virus was programmed to release it's power when the final event of the game was completed. Unfortunately, a hacker made her way into the code and maxed herself out too early. The programmer had assumed that, by this time, The World would have millions of players. Instead, it was still in beta testing.

The creator had to hack into The World himself to fix things. The virus he had made was created to be self-regulating, to an extent. It was very difficult to hack into and even harder to control. Meanwhile, concentrations of the virus were growing high enough to set off it's trigger, sending people into comas and trapping them in The World.

The creator of Twilight, while trying to reset it and control it, was one of those victims. However, he discovered that even within the game, he had the proper access necessary to control Twilight. Better, in fact, than he could from the outside."


By this time, Silverblade recognized the speech. It was virtually the same as what had been told so long ago, when Nall and Garaa fought in Yamiyo.

When Nall had died.

"Without hope of being released from The World, the creator of Twilight decided he would make the game into the real world. The virus was like a demon, merged with the character data of the programmer. He could control it, but it controlled him as well. The other programmers found out what had happened and, furious about what would happen to them, decided to go to the authorities. On the way, the car of one of them exploded into flames, killing everyone inside.

It's not too hard to guess what the cause was. One by one, the other programmers joined the original creator in The World, infected with Twilight. It was that, or live in fear of technology and the law for the rest of their lives."


"These other programmers joined Twilight's Master, the original creator, and are who we call the eight Elites! We've since killed two of them, Kuja the master of Water and Jett, lord of Earth! The remaining six are: Melzas, master of Ice! Klive, necromancer of Fire! Xenobia, mistress of Nature, and Royce, wielder of Light! Garaa, lord of Darkness, and Rugudorull, wizard of Thunder!"

Nall glared at Sheena, who had interrupted him. He wanted to be in control of what was given out, but there were too many who had the same information, and really, they all needed it.

"Each of the hackers has a special item, that we call a Twilight item. These are what make them so much more powerful than the rest of us. Almost everyone in this room has abilities that aren't part of the original game. These are how your characters, minds, and personalities reconcile the virus code. Consider them a side effect, if you will. The Elites, however, use their items in addition to these side effects. They've been infected a lot longer than anyone else, and so are already more powerful, but with the items they are nearly unstoppable. You see, the items control Twilight directly. You can have all the control of years of experience over the element of fire, but you still only control the element; Klive would control the Twilight data within it, and you'd be powerless to wrest it from his command.

I personally have three Twilight Items. My own, Jett's, and Kuja's. I can only use some of the abilities of each of them, since my control over them is nowhere near as complete as that of their original owners... but still, I have some of their abilities."


When Nall's silence had made it clear that he wasn't going to tell the rest of the story, Silverblade took over.

"Well if you're not going to tell them the rest, I am. Nall has an item of his own because he used to be one of the Hacker Elites. He was the Master of Time, with the Twilight's Tear. He ran away, successfully, and was replaced by Kuja, whom he has since killed. Yes, Nall was once a hacker. Now he's fighting them. I suppose even the worst of them get sick of living in a game? Anyways. That's pretty much the gist of it all."

This time, Silverblade's warning glance was directed towards Sekai, one of the newcomers. He had heard enough of what had gone on to know that mention of hackers could stir up trouble with her, and despite knowing she wouldn't make it anywhere trying to attack Nall, he at least wanted to warn her against trying it.

User avatar
Lighteria
Well-Oiled Machine
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:59 am
Location: :noitacoL

Post by Lighteria » Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:49 am

Lighteria keeps his head resting on his folded hands as he leans on the table, listening to Silverblade talk. Unbelievable as it all sounded, everything made sense... and really, why bother making up something that elaborate?

Damn, what a look he's giving me. It's pretty obvious he's figured out something's up too. Oy, has anyone NOT at this point?

He glances around to the others without breaking his lazy forward-recline on the table, trying to read their faces.

Bah. They're too interested in what he has to say. Though I think I saw that guy give me a sideways glance... or maybe he just smelled something. Whatever, I guess. They don't seem to be ready to kill me or anything, so either they don't care or don't know.

There's a moment where he glances to Silverblade almost piteously, as he talks. The team here had been through a lot, that was for sure.

...I totally am not going to start sympathizing here, right? This is 100% Not. My. Problem. I'm just biding my time until I figure out a way to leave, right? That kid wouldn't abandon me in here, he's too soft and caring. ...
...
DAMN IT. No doubts right now. This story's too gripping anyway.


He looks to his hand for a moment and shifts to resting his chin on only one hand. He flips his hand lightly back and forth, looking at it with half interest.

So the kid's character is trying to come to grips with the Twilight code, hm? I've only heard rumors about it. Kind of exciting to find out it really exists. I'd heard the most common and most powerful form it can take is element manipulation. I wonder what form it took in this one...? Probably Manifest Stuffed Animal or something equally pathetic. ...Still, it'd sure be fun to study up close. The AI of this stuff must be beyond anything I've seen so far. ...Unless it's just some crazy virus that screws with people's heads and data. ...Which really could be just as fun to mess with anyway.

He glances to Silverblade as he finishes his explanations.

Speaking of messing with people... No sense passing this up.


"So tell me." The twin blade suddenly pipes up, half-way looking towards Silverblade, his eyes almost cat-like in their gaze. "You're an AI in his body, hm?" He suppresses a smirk, twirling one of his bangs between his fingers, being forcefully nonchalant. "Doesn't that mean you'll disappear if your host gets out of the game? Why help him at all? Doesn't seem like a good plan."

He chuckles lightly to himself and sits back in the chair, still talking and really not letting him explain. "Regardless. You-" A flash of panic passes his face which is quickly replaced by a cough and a calm voice. "-We are obviously between a rock and a hard place here, what with the Admins trying to get us and the Elites trying to either kill us or trap more people." He flicks his hand in front of his face lightly, like he's making a point. "We've got two insurmountable powers here, insurmountable for different reasons of course, but still pretty tough. I see no reason they'd ever want to work together, so logically we should try to pit them against each other." He glances to Silverblade. "Think of this as something else you have apart from guerrilla tactics." He glances back to the group, trying to explain more. "We just need to create a situation where these two groups can collide and beat the hell out of each other again... sans root town being blown up of course. ...Anyway. These are communication hubs we're going after, right? If we can get to the core, I think we can free up another option." He stops leaning back for a moment and folds his arms on the table, leaning in like he's explaining surgery. "We're being tailed by the Admins because we're relatively easy targets. I mean, a few of us just walk around outside whenever we feel like it."

He glances to Canti and continues before he can protest. "Obviously they're just looking for a few fall guys to take the blame so they can pat themselves on the back and declare mission accomplished. We just need to make the actual Elites better targets. I mean, these guys obviously hate each other, but the Elites have better ways of hiding themselves than we do." He folds his hands up like a ball, apparently miming the hub. "We've got a place where the Elites talk to each other here. Now we managed to take out one, so these things aren't invincible. Why not take advantage of it? In case you didn't know, most in-game communication outside voice chat and bubbles is monitored. Admins are always looking out for hacking and TOS violations, especially ones that threaten their parent company." He waves his hands in front of himself, fingers tracing a frame. "Picture this. A poorly encrypted flashmail suddenly is shot across The World network. Subject? CCcorp. Not even encrypted. The admins pick up on it in a second. They unravel it to find a neat and tidy list of all the elites we know of, and where to find them... whatever we know about them really, all disguised as just another communication between two of them. The Admin teams start cracking down on them, laxing the search for us. We get a break and maybe ringside seats to their hopefully mutual deletion. Done and done. I'm sure someone in this menagerie of mental patients can hack enough to send a message out, right? I'll even pitch in and start encrypting a message if you think it'll work."
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

User avatar
Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Post by Nighthand » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:40 pm

"So tell me."

Silverblade looked again to the twin blade.

"You're an AI in his body, hm?" Silverblade nodded.

"Doesn't that mean you'll disappear if your host gets out of the game? Why help him at all? Doesn't seem like a good plan."

"Not really, no. In this case, anyways. I have... several possible outs, if it comes right down to it, to avoid deletion. Not the least of which is... well, staying right here. If Nighthand gets out of his coma, that doesn't mean his character is suddenly deleted. It could be entirely possible for me to just live on in this body while he goes about his business in the real world."

He paused, thinking about the situation psuedo-lighteria proposed. It seemed somehow familiar...

"There are a few flaws with your plan." Raine spoke up. She had spotted them faster than Silverblade had, having had the most experience with elite-level coding. "First: the Elites are more powerful than the admins. When Mac Anu was turned into a war ground, we saw just how powerful they were. Kamui, Blamung, Tritoch, and Kelvin, the four admin superpowers, were easily smashed into nothing. On top of that, the Elites have certain abilities too powerful for even The World's servers; that's why they have their own. There, they can actually use abilities that would crash a typical server."

She paused, thinking a bit more on how to phrase this.

"Second; the Hubs aren't a part of The World's communication network anymore. The Elites set them up specifically to avoid what you're talking about. The Hubs are their own flashmail system; functionally identical to the real system, but away from the prying eyes of the Admins. We would have to lead the admins directly to the hub, convince them we didn't put it there, AND get some admin with sufficient talent in coding to both recognize it for what it was and be able to deal with it."

And a third point to be made...

"Third. The Admins are convinced that WE are the hackers. They refuse to believe the 'rumors' of a hidden server, an organization of hackers beyond their control, and all of that. We tried to tell them, back when Nall ran off, and other times. Even with first hand evidence, they ignored us. Not to mention that the Admin Power Team, those four I mentioned... they haven't been seen or heard from since they were defeated in Mac Anu. For all we know, the most powerful Admins could also now be in comas, prisoners of the Elites." Raine's voice was filled with contempt for the Admins; at least until the end, when it almost seemed to be filled with pity. As worthless as the four were... she wouldn't wish captivity and slavery under the hackers on anyone.

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:01 am

In response to Dien’s flash mail, he did nothing. If the blademaster wasn’t going to get up, there’d be no guarantee the guy would be ready for the field. The swordsman could pick up one from the room once he decided to join on in. Out of those present, the individuals seemed to be taking it upon themselves to jot it all down on paper, or just let him know like Zan did through mail. Since the sorcerer planned on logging all of the forms digitally for his convenience afterwards, the heavy blade simply made the information exclusive to the sage.

Phoenix entered a moment of rage before walking out, but the blademaster seemed confused enough that arguing wouldn’t do much good. Bodies were laid about all of the base, with plenty of members electing to ignore the furnished beddings. The cones did now seem appropriate though, for more than one reason.

Keeping track of the issues going on became depressing. Nighthand and Silverblade were essentially the same being as far as he was concerned. The twin blade he barely knew wasn’t really the guy the wizard had spent part of a field with. Yet another heavy blade popped in, totaling the additions at five. The adjustment to their numbers was fine, but integrating them, let alone those that knew each other bordered on impossible. Gingitsune was missing completely, although that answer was expected. Unless those departing gave a final farewell and flash mailed now and then, keeping tabs wasn’t easy. Also, it wouldn’t be a priority as compared to shielding their own movements from view. Nall’s past allegiances were not entirely new, but the specifics hadn’t been mentioned while he journeyed alongside them.

Rugudorull… Rayo had seen some of his abilities at work in Mac Anu. That sort of power was impressive, but it put him in a tight spot if they came up against him. Of all the various Elites, their specialties overlapped. Defensively the lightning caster would be at an advantage, but his own successes with attacks would be less than abundant. Darkness would be the suggested alternative, except that would leave him completely vulnerable. Any Elite was trouble, but a fellow wizard controlling thunder… there was a mix of feelings with wanting to compete with him and the urge to stay the hell away. With the debilitation of the hubs as their current goal, facing Rugudorull wasn’t on agenda for yet a while. Was he the one who struck down Kamui? The wave master easily remembered how that captain fended off his own antics with ease. She was another player the wizard had wanted to face again under different circumstances, and that opportunity was now most likely lost. What a different place the game world would be if those sorts of thoughts could actually be entertained without the consideration of death.


“Hey. Everyone, I’m Rayo. I’m the wavemaster who asked all of you to fill out the form you should have located by now. If you still need one, I’ve got extras. I’m prepared to go to either field, although I’d prefer to finish off the hell hole we left early out of principle.

I don’t really have any questions beyond what will be answered by the questionnaire. Since our objective is to come out of here alive, I’m not going to fuss over how or why we’re here. The Elites want us dead, so we need to stop them. If we do, then we might at least be able to focus on a method of returning to normal without looking over our shoulders. Raquar, Sekai, sarcastic body warmer… it’d be good if you came with us. While this location indeed appears to be safer than our previous base of operations, it isn’t perfect. They could successfully break in, or find you if you wander out on your own. With us, you’ll have allies backing you and with luck, will hinder those that would harm you. It wasn’t your choice to end up here, but now you do have a choice on how you choose to carry on. I can’t promise that you’ll get out, but I will promise that you won’t end up dead, at least not alone.”
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

Zan
Exalted Player
Posts: 206
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:28 pm
Contact:

Post by Zan » Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:17 am

It was...gone.

Zan's interest in everything that was going on. Gone. Be it from the over-stimulation of his frantic and constant worry about Lowen or the sheer monotony of it all...he didn't care. The lycanthrope hadn't come to such a realization until he listened to Twilight explained out to him and the conversations between 'Lights', Silverblade and the rest. It all seemed like empty, hollow bullshit in a flash of time. One moment he was eager to hear about some more of Twilight's secrets and the next he was simply...blank. Was this the alien attitude, one of bizarre apathy, that came from the Merged? Was Zan somehow being afflicted by the memories of emotions a different entity than he...and yet still him...had experienced? No, that would be an easy out. It was all just a dragging, repetitive sequence of battle and struggle and slumber. None of it mattered. They were searching, in the end, for a way to get out of the game by hacking through (magically, of course, because magic in the traditional sense is the only thing that will help them through the gauntlet of the Elites) some big shots that have hard-ons for the Infection.

And then what?

Zan would wake up and go back to college...to be a fucking cook? Was he supposed to shake it all off to face the big bad real world again? There was hardly anything for him in either world. Both had hardships, both had pain and suffering. Both had their own joys. Lowen could be such a happiness in either world, but Zan couldn't help but feel he had already lost her. Like he was ever going to actually get out. Ha. Not in time for her. The universe only allowed their kind of love to burn for a few glorious collections of time before it was snuffed out. That view was hardly a romantic one, he knew, but he had never seen it defied. His mother and his father's love had been similar and snuffed out. Not just snuffed out, but tainted. The loss of it made his father something he never wanted to be. Though the current doldrums Zan found himself facing would probably end up evaporating and his interests renewed, he felt something click. Why was he hiding a fake face from people sporting equally fake demeanors? This avatar wasn't who he was. Neither was he that college kid or that lover. Or that best friend. He was at a loss for what his experiences in The World had made him, but he knew one thing: the hood was fucking stupid.

A nonchalant gesture and the black leather was pulled back, rich brown hair down to his shoulders (expectedly disheveled) tucked behind his ears to reveal the collection of scars that riddled every inch of the left side of his face. It made him look like a half-done version of the old cult classic killer 'Freddy Kruger.' The touch of Malfaes' silver had also permanently altered his left eye into the orange-amber of the wolf, an odd combination with the light blue-grey of the other. Though Zan hardly expected some sort of group-shock or individual winces, he was prepared for them just the same. He. Didn't. Care. God, why didn't he care anymore? That in and of itself was the only thing he did have any emotional attachment to: why he didn't care. It was in that moment that he knew he could simply walk out of the Hideout and be just as driven and excited about shit as he would be with everyone in the next Hub. Why even go? So he could slap around some monsters, get slapped around by Mistress Spanks-a-Lot, and come back with some useless flashmails and a destroyed communication center (of which they undoubtedly had hundreds)? Oh, mommy, please could he go?

Setting the back of his head against the wall, still standing up as he was, Zan repressed a bored sigh. The only thing keeping him from making his way to the Chaos Gate and saying 'hasta' to everyone was his lack of energy to do so. Not caring also seemed to make him tired. Or was he still tired from the not-napping thing? Eh, whatever. A glance around at everyone as they went about their interactions and he was also compelled to wonder why some of them didn't just curl up and start laughing at everything. At themselves. No one there had any viable connection to the other. Sure, some could give bullshit, overly-dramatic spiel about how they've become wonderful friends through war, through thick and thin, but it was all crap. Everyone there was simply some lonely kid or perverted old man that just happened to be in a debilitating coma. Sob. Zan was tempted to slam his head into the wall in an attempt to rid himself of the apathy, but he had a feeling that would only draw unwanted attention. Pay no attention to the man sleeping behind the curtain. Maybe if he gave some input he'd...get some inspirational spark again? Maybe. Probably not.

"This is all wonderfully informative and though I'd absolutely love to hear more fascinating stories about stuff Nall has had his thumb up his ass too long to tell us before, we should probably get back to the task at hand. The Hubs. Which are we going to? Everyone going to listen to general sense and go to the one Rayo and the rest have already been partly through or are we going to stumble giggling into the unknown of the other?" A pause. A breath. "At this point, I don't really give a damn. Let's just get this meeting wrapped up so we can all have a day to sleep or jerk off or whatever it is you kiddies want to do. Unless Nall's going to try and make us go soon. Already. In which case he's a jackass." Silence. No one was talking agains fast enough. "What? I'm done. Blabber on. Just thought I'd steer the family van back on the right soccer path."

The lycanthrope, zoning out once more, realized he had sort of screwed up his plan to keep attention off of himself. Talking generally had people focused on you. And the whole being a stoic asshole thing wouldn't exactly give him a good game-face either. Eh. Shrugging to no one and nothing in particular, Zan languidly crossed his arms over his chest. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to head back into the kitchen and gorge like a maniac while no one was there to watch and point fingers he'd be forced to rip off and shove in their eye. Nah. He might actually miss something worth hearing that he'd care about when this little fit of 'boreeeddddd-uhhh' passed. If it passed. There was a good chance his loss of interest in any and everything Freedom Fighter related was a normal and permanent development, but the suddenness of it had him hoping he'd get passed it. If he didn't and it drove him out of the group to mull around like a hobo in some random root town? Well...that'd sort of be lame. Being a bum on his father's shitty couch was a lot more appealing than being a bum in a place where people ran past you shouting 'roflcopter' and 'omgwtfbbq.' Zan would only be able to get to that couch if he stuck with these people.

Damn.
Lv. 50 Heavy Blade
Wishlist
Special: Levels, GR Sendai, PL Sakai, Darklore.
W: Tonosama Sword, Mineuchi, Jundachi.
A: Samurai Helm, Able Hands, Rare Greaves.
I: Holy Sap, Treebane, Cooked Bile, Nightbane.
EX: Elemental Summon (Lv. 2), Overdrive (Lv.1), Elemental Attacks (Lv. 2), Enhance Dark, Elemental Breath (Lv. 2).

User avatar
Sekai
Ikkitousen
Posts: 123
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:04 pm
Class: Archer
Location: Liminality

Post by Sekai » Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:11 pm

Her thoughts had been thankfully interrupted from their rather... disturbing turn by the rustling of clothing and of the sound of someone taking a seat next to her. Almost subconsciously she angled herself closer to the wall and concentrated on the rather interesting piece of something on the leg of her hakama that apparently only she could see. What was she supposed to do now? Unfamiliar territory and definitely unfamiliar people... it was just her run of luck that most of the people seemed to be male. Well, manners were important after all and she needed to remember that while she was here; even if it was uncomfortable being in close proximity.

'It will be alright; I can do this, there is no need for me to go into a panic attack just because he's talking to me.'

Her head turned a little so that she could at least give the speaker a little respect and try to make a little eye contact when she introduced herself. Despite the mental pep-talk and the amount of focus she was putting into making sure she didn't show her unease, well, she was still on edge and trying to make sure that he wasn't a threat while making sure she had enough space that she could get away if needed and was at least a little comfortable. At the moment? It wasn't working all that well and was getting her a little upset.

"I'm... I'm Sekai. H-He wasn't disturbing me s-so there really isn't a need to, um, reprimand him. As... as for how it happened,"

There was a distinctly uncomfortable expression that surfaced on her face, one hand moving to hold her left side as if it pained her and finished up a small explanation.

"There was this odd stream of code... and I... I didn't let it hit the intended target and put myself between the two.”

(Although it was hard to tell with Canti's black eyes, an expression of concern quickly flashed across his face.)

"You... You saved someone?"

She began to nod and halfway through the action paused and shook her head to show that the wording of the question was either wrong or that the answer was no; either choice could be handled with a similar argument really. There wasn't really a good way to explain it properly, not without getting personal and leaving too many questions in the answer's wake.

"No,"

Her voice was quiet, eyes dropping back down to the floor as she tried to figure out a way to even begin to explain how it hadn't been 'saving' him, that she'd just had no other choice in the matter and that his family needed him more than- no, that wasn't a good explanation either. Damn, how could she put it without sounding like some silly school-girl?

"I just... tried to repay him for what he's done for me."

Something in the tone of her voice suggested that she was having trouble finding the right words; if the listener was good at picking things up, they'd figure out that English wasn't her first language. How could she explain it when she couldn't even really find the words herself to say in her own language?

(Canti was from Boston, so he could spot someone different from what's considered his norm easily enough. Confused at first, then slowly getting it, Canti nods.)

" I think I understand..."

(Leaning back, he blinks in a prolonged fashion, then continues. He doesn't want to press her for information, not all at once.)

"We were led into a trap. Dien, Zhao, and I were in an event with a bunch of other guys and we 'won', but then our guide tried to turn on us. We were rescued, but there was a battle in Mac Anu and all three of us were put in this state."

An event? She hadn't heard of any event but, perhaps it'd been something like the Eventide Crescendo's subtle movement that caught the eye and made a person believe something was going on? Either way, the word trap seemed to get the girl's eyes narrowing a bit and the confusion on her face was clear at the mention of a battle at Mac Anu. About to open her mouth and ask more about when that battle had occurred, recognition flashed in her eyes as something came back to her. There had been a moment where she and Sana- then known as Sango, had been discussing some kind of remake of the Blademaster's character when they'd both been forced to log out and a message in their inbox explained it had been for repairing purposes/

"The battle in Mac Anu? Was that when they shut the server down due to, what was it they called it... um,"

She frowned, what was it in English again?

"System Maintenance? I might be thinking of a different occasion if that isn't it...”

(Canti shook his head.)

"No, that was it. Had to be. The Admins were there, and so were the hackers that caused this mess. They probably shut it tight to protect you."

(Despite the fact that the Admins had those asshole Cobalt Knights, they were supposedly a decent people.)

"Still...sorry you got thrown in this as well."

A tiny smile was given, shaky and fragile looking as it was, and she shook her head a little and flinched at the sharp pain in her side. Damn, so she was going to wind up feeling things after all, so much for hopeful pain-free wishing not to feel what they were doing to her out in the non-digital world. Then again, in battles and such, she'd felt it for a little while now, not that Kira was really giving any hints as to when the blasted affliction started.

"It... it would have happened sooner or later from the impression I was given."

Her eyes had landed on Zan for a moment, remembering the odd look he'd given her that day they'd finished their sparring match in Mac Anu before he'd gated out of the area before she shook her hair, brushing the stray white strands out of her eyes and frowning to herself a little, eyes distant as she spoke softly.

"Everything will work out; there's a plan for all of us written out... we just don't know what or when that plan will take effect is all."

"A plan, huh... Like someone pulling the strings?"

(He didn't like that kind of reasoning. Marionette was really causing them trouble.)

"Eh...I hope it works out. I have it on a good source that there isn't much that can be done for us on the outside."

(Then, he remembered something.)

"Say, I heard some kind of commotion a little while ago, though I didn't see what it was. Do you know what happened?"

That wasn't too heartening to hear but, she'd keep up hope that something would be done outside this world to help them. Someone pulling the strings though? Frowning a bit at that when it wasn't elaborated upon, the Archer decided to file that away for later examination and perhaps ask it at this meeting that would be happening sometime soon. At the mentioning of the commotion, her cheeks turned pink and she ducked her head a little, gaze once again on the floor as she shifted a bit in her seat. Oops. Someone else had heard about Kira's little, um, temper tantrum.

"Um... that is, I..."

Shoot, she was about ready to lapse back into the nervous babbling back into her native language at this point. Deep breaths, she told herself and bit her lip before trying to explain. Not that she could really expect people to believe she had a hacker hating AI with a severe authority and attitude problem sharing a body and mind, possibly something else too, with her without sounding just a little bit crazy.

"K-Kira doesn't like hackers a-and um, D-Dien m-made the mistake of letting her know that h-he was one."

"Dien?! Oh, that figures... Honestly, bein' a hacker hasn't helped him YET. He really shouldn't go around saying that and...uhhh..."

(He looked at Sekai in confusion just now, dropping his Dien-based tirade.)

"Who's...Kira?"

(He was asking because he didn't know...and because he'd read Deathnote.)

Um... apparently Dien wasn't a popular fellow amongst his comrades? She thought, blinking at the tirade and ranting before the mentioning of Kira's name seemed to silence him in either confusion or, well, something else that she didn't know. Maybe she should be a little more careful as to who she should be talking to?

"Kira is her nickname...um, she doesn't like being called by 'Kirayne'. She's... in an unusual position at the moment, the both of us are."

Her voice had gone timid, she didn't know how people reacted to the mentioning of AI in this place and would rather not have it broadcast to the entire room. Especially because Kira was still in a foul mood about being in a place where hackers were seen as allies along side normal players. Said AI rather loudly proclaimed her denial of being in said foul mood within the girl's thoughts and retreated a little more within their shared mind space to sulk.

"Ummm...'kay."

(Canti figured she must've meant that Kira was in the same position, as in stuck here. He got up just then, stretching. After which, he sent off the inventory thing and then said...)

"Well, I'm gonna head off to the meeting. No time like the present to handle the problem we're in."

(He turned to leave in the direction of the meeting room...then stopped.)

"One other thing, Sekai. I don't know if anyone told you, but some of us have abilities you don't normally see in The World, ones that might remind you of that code. If you see one of us use it, don't be afraid, alright?"

People here could use that horrible thing? And she knew a little about unusual abilities, having seen the way Zan had been able to track her clear across Mac Anu and find her hiding under the bridge at several points. Apparently Kira thought the ability to reattach an arm using several Repth spells was the same kind of thing considering she'd been muttering about that not working when she'd been hit and had an arm wrenched off. She gave a small nod as a response.

"I... have seen a few things that aren't normal to the game so far. I-I'll do as much as I can to keep myself grounded."

(Canti nodded, still not actually facing her right now.)

"Great."

(And, as if to put a head on that statement before, Canti rose a couple feet off of the ground with a flap of his black wings, then flew straight into the meeting room. Funny thing... He sounded about her age, but he seemed to be in more control... Was he just trying to be cool or was he genuinely concerned. Sekai would probably learn later that, with Canti, it's probably both.)

Frowing still and lost in thought when she took her seat away from everyone else, the girl continued to sit as were only proper for someone who'd been trained to sit a certain way since she was old enough to remember and attempted to make sure nothing would show on her expression. Well, maybe not a completely blank slate after all, she thought with a grimace and her hand holding her left side. Silently the young woman told herself not to look at her hand as she moved it away from the pain, because she knew she'd freak out and probably cause some kind of ruckus if she looked down and saw blood on her hand from the incision she knew was being made on her actual body. Causing more of a disturbance than she and Kira had already was not something she wanted or planned on doing in the least. Sedatives in her system, probably amongst the antibiotics they were pumping into her system to kill off whatever other infection she might have gotten thanks to the immuno-suppressants and whatever else they had in the IV drip, were causing her to drift aimlessly in a sea of her own thoughts mixed in with the background noise blending in around her.

Are you in a lot of pain? I could try and make that jackass hacker or one of these assholes who has any hacking powers try and do something to ease it.

Something in the usually sulky or sarcastic AI's tone sounded concerned... worried even and the presence she'd grown so used to shifted within her mind and drew closer to the surface of her consciousness. Closing her eyes for a moment, though generally that probably wasn't a good idea with the medicine cocktail running through her system and brain right then, the girl could see the outline that formed into the familiar tribal garbed and tattooed woman with the ever present glaive in one hand. Brilliant amber eyes fastened directly on her as she walked over, bare feet leaving a pale blue imprint behind her that faded gradually with every passing moment before she looked down at the small girl and knelt down to examine the ugly red-black pulsing centered on the girl's left side. Something small, silver-like was piercing through it and it seemed to bleed out of the area and into the air at the girl's side. Frowning to herself, the AI tried looking closer into the girl's data, only to find no answer there and let herself go back into her own form within the girl's mind. Frustrated and troubled, all she'd been able to do was make the offer, as begrudgingly as she'd have to ask the damn people for help.

'I'll be alright, I think it's being taken care of even as we speak.'

Kira's eyes narrowed, something that could have been static appearing and flickering within the amber depths as the pupil-less eyes seemed to examine the girl's entire body from an entirely new perspective and sighed with a shake of her head. Leaning on her spear, she gestured with one hand all up and down the girl's body to make her point before she tried to explain what she was seeing to the girl who's eyes were rather unfocused and whose body seemed to sway side to side slightly.

You're not fine in the least and you damn well know it. Besides that red-black mass where your kidney is, you have the same unhealthy red in your stomach and it looks like it's starting to spread into your lungs from the vague bits I see in your throat. Your body's also getting some really odd greenish-blue, kinda aqua in color for better verification, data injected into you from your left wrist while there's some white-ish silver coming in from your throat and into your lungs and spreading outwards. If you're going to try and bullshit someone inside your own mind, much less outside of it, you need to work on lying a little more there little one. You're a truthful person and honest at heart, something that's a noble thing but that'll be biting you in the ass at every possible turn here in this kind of situation.

Ignoring the AI's rather... unusual method of somehow seeing what was wrong and where in her body, someone who hadn't been sharing as much time as she had with Kira might have been feeling a little violated because of the woman's in-depth and obvious invasion of personal space, Sekai wearily looked around the space of her mind and sighed before responding back to the woman's statements.

'I don't see any need to lie to anyone when we haven't even really been addressed in the first place. If it comes down to it, I can just withhold information that isn't important or that I deem unimportant.'

Before the two of them could get into a very unnecessary and unneeded fight, something soft, warm and definitely had some sharp little claws jumped up and into her lap. Throwing her out of her thoughts and her mind as she opened her eyes, blinking away the blurry vision to find a very small but very fuzzy form curled up and purring away like a little motorboat in her lap. Grey in color and looking very much content with its current position, it was probably just the distraction the young woman needed from the events she'd been going through and the procedure she was going through outside of this particular body. Unable to keep a soft exclamation of surprise from escaping, the positively delighted smile on the young Archer's face lit her expression as she took it upon herself to gently pet and scratch the little animal's ears. She'd never had a pet before and had almost asked her mother and father several times if she might purchase one to keep her company but... well, she had lost her nerve every time she'd received the irritated look from her mother and the expectant look on her father's face.

She was definitely swayed by the power of the cute; there was no question about that.

The meeting began and she kept herself quiet and as out of notice as possible when the discussions began, her eyes and hands focusing on keeping the kitten purring and happy as her ears tuned into the going ons and conversations.

“-curious about the two new people. How did you become infected with the Twilight?”

Uh-oh. Unconsciously shifting a little in her seat and trying to make herself appear smaller than she was, or hey, disappearing into the floor was always a viable option if said option existed... and she could take the kitty with her that is, Sekai bit her lip and hoped against hope that something just a little more pressing would wind up taking precedence over how she and Raquar wound up in this situation. She'd be willing to bet money that whoever Tiral and Nemera took orders from would probably not be thrilled to know the events that had occurred at the Vak field that they'd been in when they had been sent into a coma.

Prayers could be answered after all, this time in the form of their apparent leader moving on in the subject without so much as batting an eye at the question posed by the red haired Blademaster she'd nearly been bowled over by earlier. This... all of this fighting and war against these Elite group... how long had it been going on for and why hadn't anyone tried to make an effort to combine forces or at least reason with the Elites to try and find a way out? Puzzled by the thought, Sekai felt her brow furrow in contemplation and tried to think of reasons why. Obviously the two groups had bad chemistry and blood between them but... when had that started to happen and who was really running the show behind the Elites' motivation?

You're in analytical mode again Sekai. What's going on? Hackers are nothing more than damn hackers who want to further their own agenda. What the hell has you thinking otherwise?

'It's... I think it's because they're like we are and stuck in a coma. Years apparently, but, I don't know how long this has been going on for, obviously someone came in and took advantage of a precarious situation and twisted it to an extent that they're sending others into a coma to build up their ranks. I wonder if there are still some who are pretending to play the master mind's game as a pretense while looking for a way out on the side.'

...Sekai. Hackers are hackers. They serve themselves regardless. Even this Nall guy is only around because the end result of what these people are going for is returning themselves to your world. It's his goal as well. I don't know when you're going to stop seeing through rose colored glasses and wake up to see the real world.

'I still say that there's a reason and a goal behind everyone's actions; not all of the Elites may be happy or content with the way things are going, if anything and one thing only, it could be that we may be able to convince them to assist us even a little by establishing some kind of bargain or deal. Even if it's a shaky bargain with both parties distrusting the other; there is still a chance it could work.'

“-Yes, Nall was once a hacker. Now he's fighting them. I suppose even the worst of them get sick of living in a game? Anyways. That's pretty much the gist of it all."

The heavy weight of a stern gaze was on her and the girl had the decency to look embarrassed, cheeks turning a dark shade of pink as she bit her lip and lowered her head a little more in apology and shame. Part of her wanted to protest the subtle reprimand by saying it wasn't her fault and that she couldn't read Kira's mind or intentions, much less control the free spirited AI, before she realized just how... well, weak and ridiculous that made her sound. Shaking her head a little, Sekai listened intently to the grave situation and watched as the one who'd passed out papers introduced himself, a Wavemaster apparently, and his opinion on what the newcomers, herself and Raquar included should do. To be honest, she didn't know what she should do, much less be able to depart any kind of advice for Raquar if and when he decided to ask her what they should do.

A familiar voice caught her attention, head raising and one hand moving, breaking the pattern she'd fallen into with the kitten, and brushing her hair out of her face, pulling it back behind her shoulder and tucking the longer strands behind her ear as her once-sparring partner began to give his opinion of the situation as well. His hood was down, she noticed a split second later and felt her heart ache at the sight of the disfigured part of his face. She hadn't gotten a chance... and wouldn't let herself bring it up but, she wondered if that was something the Elites had done to him.

As empathetic in nature as you are Sekai, don't pity him. That's about the worst thing you can do besides openly disrespect the scars and mock him; it's a battle scar and a war wound. Given through some kind of fight and if he's still alive to tell the tale, if he tells it in the first place ever, then it's a kind of sign of adulthood. At least among the AI I know it'd be seen as a sign of strength and power.

It would be hard for a little while but... when Kira put it that way, she couldn't help but feel she needed to honor whatever battle he had gone through and, as Kira had said, respect and treat his scars as if they were the symbol of one who had gone through much to reach adulthood.

Perhaps one day... one day her own trial to overcome to reach adulthood would come.

(OOC: Anyone who has questions/wants to get any answers out of Sekai'll have to come up and address her directly to get any or she won't offer anything up. Oh and thank you for the kitty interaction Lights; Sekai much appreciates it.)
Image

Name: Sekai
Level: 54
EXP: 0000/1000
Class: Archer
Clan: Army of Darkness
HP: 835
SP: 347

Currently Equipped:

Einherjar: Kira, December, Zorya

Head: Bat Earrings (Ola Repth 40, Rip Maen 40)
Body: Saint Cross (Rue Zot 10, RaJuk Zot 30)
Arm: Protect Ring (Ap Vorma 15, MeJuk Kruz 20)
Leg: Ninja Anklet (BiVak Rom 20, GiGan Zot 30)
Add-Ons: Forestlore, Wood Magic (permanently raised Wood Offense/Defense by +3 total)

Wishlist: Levels, Summon: Wood, Archer Weapons, Light Armor

Lord Canti
Exalted Player
Posts: 300
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: In da' plains of hell, natch.

Post by Lord Canti » Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:54 pm

"Look sunshine." He says, gripping Canti's shoulder, turning the twin blade around to face him. "I've had it just about up to he-"

(For a moment, Lighteria had been ready to bother the hell out of Canti, his hand gripping the dark Twin Blade's shoulder, but then he paused, and twitched. SOmething had just interrupted him...amusingly so. He didn't know what, but his first guess was a flashmail...unless the guy's virus was actign up now. That would've been perfect...except that here and now was a really bad time for one of those. Dien injured several people that way. 'Course...when Light spoke again, it was clear that the interruption was not viral at all.)

"...Will you excuse me?"

Canti: But of course, mein fuhrer!

(Canti let out a chuckle for a moment and then remembered that he was talking to someone right now. Making an apology, to the Archer he'd been talking to, Canti noted too things. Number one, this was the first Archer he'd ever even met. And second...she was kinda' cute. Gahhh... Bad Canti! Down, you wretch! You're in a coma right now! What would the folks back home say about that during your 'interesting brain-scans'?)

Canti: Well, I'll be sure to hear about it later, I'm guessing...

(She introduced herself as Sekai and appeared to be very nervous...as well as more than a little uncomfortable with talking in general. However, when he heard what it was that brought her to this state - and this place, consequently - Canti's black eyes took on a noted look of concern. She and a friend had been assaulted by some kind of code - possibly the Twilight Virus - and Sekai had protected him from harm by putting herself between it and him. Canti didn't get the name of the other person involved, but his respect for the Archer went up several points. Although saddening, she'd practically sacrificed herself for whoever it was she was helping. Sekai said she owed him or something, but the full intent was not clear. It seemed to the young man of Boston that English wasn't exactly Sekai's first choice, though he was no expert in picking out accents. It was afterwhich that Canti leaned back and told Sekai about what happened to him, Dien, and Zhao. It was just a summary, but it had enough of the important points. The Twin Blade wasn't the long-winded sort, so he just said enough to keep it interesting. If she wanted to know more, she needed only to ask. The question that DID come to mind was the state of the system in Mac Anu during the battle there, which she had trouble expressing at first.)

Canti: Okay, definitely not from this country, but where then? Sekai sounds Japanese...but I never studied, so how would I know? SHe looks the part, but that could be preferrence only...

(To better understand the Archer, he wanted to understand where she was coming from, but it didn't feel right to just ask, so he continued with the conversation regarding the Mac Anu incident. It wasn't a simple fixer-upper. It was war. In any case, Canti told her that they shut it off to protect all the other users, though he felt sorry for her being thrown in regardless. Sekai's idea that there was a plan to every event and happening in the world, both game and not, DID kind of get under Canti's skin. The idea that someone controlled him - like Marionette, possibly - really bothered him. He quickly changed the subject, feeling that it was getting to them both, and then asked about the commotion. It seems that someone called Kira was trying to kill Dien for being a hacker. Well, that wasn't very bright of Dien, but still...this had the Twin Blade notably confused for a moment. Kira? As in like in Deathnote? Turns out that was only a nickname. Alright...good. He didn't need instant death down here anyway. Apparently, or at least as it sounded to Canti, Sekai and Kira were both stuck in the same situation, which really sucked. At that time, he decided it was time to head into the meeting, and flew in after briefly warning Sekai about other people's special powers. Once there, Canti checked his messages - as it was really hard to talk to someone AND read the crap on the walls at the same time - and let out a snort of laughter. Zan thought Lighteria was a fake. Both Lights and Nights were acting funny. Go figure, though apparently Silverblade was more trustworthy. Canti sent back a message to Zan.)

TO: Zan
FROM: Canti
SUBJECT: Fake, you say...

Well, unfortunately, I never even knew Light in the first place, so I don't really know, but I'm guessing that if this is a fake, then the real Lights is a calmer, more decent person? THe one we got right now is an asshole to the max, so if you've got a better one, return this faker to sender and bring on the cooler one. Also, since I never met the guy, I'll just treat him as he's been treated, like a jackass.


(And thus, the meeting got started with just about everyone in there. At wosrt, Canti had missed maybe a couple of minutes. It was true, though, that Nighthand had been replaced - in mind - by some AI called Silverblade. His demeanor and style of speech was very different from how Nighthand was, so Canti gave him a certain benefit of the doubt until at least it all made sense. As long as it wasn't a trick later on, then...)

“Alright... Introductions? Thoughts on the Hubs? Questions? Consider this an open forum.”

Canti: Wait a minute... There's that feeling again. Maybe it's just because of the fact that he's different, but something DOES seem odd. I dunno what it is, though, so I'd better not say anything. Not yet.

(Anyway, it seemed as though Sekai and Kira and 'Lighteria' weren't the only new people. In fact, they were apparently inundated with alot of the old crew and the new. That spoke as frankly...cool...at least to Canti. He leaned against a wall, just idly listening, saying nothing unless he had to. The conversations went on...and Canti heard about the origins of all this Twilight nonsense, and more about the Elites. Then...wait a minute. WAIT JUST A FUCKING GOD-DAMN MINUTE!!! Canti was suddenly thrown out of his ease when Nall failed to mention a particular hacker who was, if he was not mistaken, one of the newer Elites. The Bladed Devil of the dark tower, he whom even the Demon of Fear could not touch... WHat happened to him, huh? Where was-)

Canti: What the...?

(He'd noticed a glance from Light as the other Twin Blade spoke of people walking about freely. Oh great... Well, speaking of scapegoats, it seemed as though the false one was gonna try and make a goat out of HIM. Well, tough shit, fella. He'd already decided that he'd take a fall on that if he had to, but for different reasons. But in any case, there was one thing that Canti wanted to know, and he wouldn't be the only one who would be interested in that info. Canti spoke...)

Canti: Nall, you've been avoiding one issue the entire time since Dien, Zhao, and I were thrown into this mess. I've asked, Dien's asked, and we've never received any sort of definite answer, if any at all. Seeing you talk about the Elites and what they do... I have to know... What exactly happened to Suraisu? When we left that day, we didn't see if you finished him or not and you've been too damn quiet. Did you kill him...or is he still out there?

OOC: No offense, Nights, but actually using silver font for Silverblade is hard to read. Try gray. It's a bit darker and close e-freakin'-nough.
I'll have a doozy of a sig later, I swear. It'll reflect ".hack//CODE" an' everything.

Hey look! A profile! It's got items and stats and things! Cool! If it isn't fully up to date, it will be, so don't worry 'bout it.

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