Getting the facts straight [closed]

[not_that_scary]

Who: Haseo [ou], Atoli [ou]
Where: Pisces district, Apartment 06-03
When: Backdated to the evening of Haseo's first day in Hinoto-Ri
Summary: Haseo explains to Atoli the truth of what was happening with himself and the Lost Ones
Warnings: .hack//G.U. Spoilers

'Come to the Pisces district. My apartment is number 06-03. I'll explain everything there.' He sent this text message to Atoli once he figured out how to use the devices given to him. And why wouldn't he? He promised to tell her the truth, and she deserved to know what was going on. She might be from the past, but that didn't make her any less worthy of knowing these things.

Now, as he sat inside his apartment, he waited to see if she would actually come and seek the truth for herself.

Comments

[not_that_scary]

Wow, she took that better than he had expected. "A number of things occur right after we defeated Tri-Edge..." In truth, he wasn't Tri-Edge, but he'd get to that later. "First, a data monster known as an Artifically Intelligent Data Anomaly, or AIDA, the same monsters that I had been secretly hunting with Pi and Kuhn, steals something from your PC's code. The thing it steals from you is actually the same type of thing that allows me to hunt and destroy AIDA. It's why you were able to hear that noise."

He heaves a sigh as he continues. "Because of how that thing was stolen from you, your arm develops symptoms of Doll Syndrome." He visibly eyes the arm in question before focusing on Atoli again. "Despite that, you still kept playing the game, even getting a one handed controller to compensate. It was pretty brave of you." He shakes his head. "I'm getting off track, though. Do you want to know what that thing is? The thing that was stolen from your PC? The same thing that makes your PC look so much like Shino's?"

[virtualbirdwatching]

There was another reason?

All of Chigusa's decisions when creating Atoli were her own, right? Then why would there be a reason beyond pure coincidence that she and Shino looked so much alike? She trusted what Sora had told her, that Haseo liked her for who she was, but were they connected on a deeper level?

Did this have something to do with those mysterious conversations he'd had with those two practically right in front of her on some occasions? Were it not for encrypted channels or party chat, she'd have been able to hear them outright!

"I had sort of been wondering what you three were talking about sometimes. Please tell me."

And here we go

[not_that_scary]

"It's name is Epitaph. 8 PCs contain them, and no two are the same. They have wills of their own, and the PCs who can control them can use them to fight beings like AIDA." Alright, now for the big one. "Before you were playing the game, Shino's PC contained the Epitaph of Innes. Due to being PK'd by Tri-edge though," the real Tri-edge, Ovan, "Her Epitaph left her PC when she became a lost one. When you created your PC, Innes found a second home in it. Because Innes existed in both you and Shino, your PCs look similar except for coloration."

There. It was out of his hands now.

And for some reason my first thought is "is that a valid spelling for that"??

[virtualbirdwatching]

She absorbs his explanation carefully and calmly. It makes sense, sort of. Why he'd been so worried about the other Cleric. Furthermore, his fixation on Tri-Edge.

"...That actually explains something else, too."

Recall the feeling. Draw it out, giving it form...

...Oh dear. Atoli's Persona does not seem to be having the best of times fitting into the apartment.

"Innis is my Persona."

It promptly vanishes, not having much to do, but there's no doubt it's the same one.

"...But does that mean that The World does something with our minds?"

Yours is probably the correct spelling :P 1/2

[not_that_scary]

"I-Innis!" If Innis came here with Atoli at that point in time, and manifested itself in that way, then...

2/2

[not_that_scary]

It looks like I have to find you again... Ryou shakes his head and focuses on the question at hand. "No, the game itself does nothing to our minds as far as I know. Things that exist within the game, things that most people are not aware of, like AIDA, or Tri-Edge, or even Epitaphs are capable of affecting our minds. AIDA-infected PCs who PK other PCs turn their players into Lost Ones, and are the primary source of Doll Syndrome. But that isn't the extent of how AIDA could affect other people."

He leans back into his seat. "As an example, the AIDA that stole your Epitaph was able to use it to create a Mirror Server of Mac Anu, and everyone who was logged into the Delta Server at the time had their minds brought into the game. No one could log out. When we resolved the situation, we learned that what we thought took hours to deal with took all of a few minutes of time in real life."

[virtualbirdwatching]

Oh no... it sounded like all of this had happened because of her! ...sort of.

"It sounds like that was about to happen, and since I was still logged in..."

But finally, she had an explanation.

"Anyway, it probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't run off like that... I'm sorry..."