.hack//AI Buster - Volume 1 - Chapter 1.1

Chapter 1 - Area.1 Tacit Ruins

.: 1 :.

I threw an axe into a small spring that emerged from the withered wasteland.

An impish demon with oversized water drops for its eyes and nose popped out of the water like a jack-in-the-box.

"Did you drop a golden axe?" asked the spring demon, sounding bored. "Or this silver axe?"

A system window popped up on my sq:een, displaying the three answers I could select: Gold Axe, Silver Axe, or Neither.

I hit: Neither.

"Whaaat? Neither of them?" The spring demon sounded troubled by this answer.

"Hmmm ... then take this!"

A sound effect chimed and the spring demon whooshed high into the air and then disappeared back into the spring with a great splash.

A message display indicated that I had obtained a new axe. This one was more powerhll than the axe I had just tossed in.

Even though I had plenty of weapons, I still enjoyed seeing the spring demon perform his magic show. No matter what you tossed into the spring, he had to give you back something more powerful.

I checked the game screen again, this time to see where I was.

A map displayed itself in the upper right corner of my perspective. An arrow marked my direction. I turned toward the dungeon's entrance and ran across the wasteland as fast as I could.

A (Lambda) Server Zone: Dark, Inaccessible, Ruins

I activated my Fairy's Orb, a device that reveals and displays areas that have never been searched. A message popped up saying that a fairy was investigating. A moment later, the dungeon's hidden floor-map appeared in thorough detail.

It was a classic 3-D dungeon with rooms and passages extending four levels below ground. Special markers indicated treasures and hidden monsters.

"It looks pretty large." I muttered to myself.

Fortunately, I had a few cheats on my side. In this case, entered the dungeon from the field and slipped straight down to the fourth level. This way, I didn't have to bother fighting every creature on levels one through three.

I quickly memorized the map and moved forward.

Spooky background music filled my ears as I entered. The dungeon resembled a demons' underground palace complete with stone walls that glowed red.

Suspended above the passageway was the corpse of a dead prisoner lying in what looked like a giant birdcage. His dried flesh clung to his bones. I targeted it for information, but it was out of range.

I ignored it and moved on.

There is a difference between something that can be targeted (like an object or creature that you can interact with), and background imagery, wh ich is only there to lend armosphere and can't be picked up, moved, or altered in any way, no matter how mud, you hack at it. Sometimes doors are just decorations that lead nowhere and have nothing behind them. Windows might give you a view, but you can't break the glass or jump through them. In other words, anything that can't be targeted is mean ingless eye candy.

However, the next door could be targeted, so I opened it.

Even though The World responds to voice chat from the internal microphone on my Face Mount Display (FMD), sometimes it's easier to key a door open than to speak the command.

Upon entering, I encountered my first creatures: three undead headIess knights attacking wirl' their swords in one hand, their skulls in the other. Pretty standard dungeon fare.

Their feet scraped harshly against the ground as they charged forward. I targeted the closest one and attacked.

A clean slice sent the creature's stamina gauge from green to red, indicating he was nearly dead. Another swing sent a barrage of armor and bones clanging against the walls.

The battle ended in seconds. These creatures were no challenge at my current level.

A clinking sound indicated th at the last one had a blue treasure chest, which meant it was trap ped. Using the item command, I selected my Fortune Wire that automatically removed the trap. Targeting the chest with it, I opened the box.

I was rewarded with another Fortune Wire.

That's it?! I hadn't gained anything, which wasn't new but was still disappointing. Hopefully, they'll correct this when they finish the next upgrade.

I checked the map. Every corridor and room was infested with monsters.

Hmm? Where should I go next?

Somewhere behind me, I heard a faint sound. Footsteps.

Spinning around, I turned back toward the direction from where I came. Had I missed a monster?

While in the darkness, I tried to target anything. I was surprised by what I had found: a little girl dressed completely in red without any shoes. Hard to believe such a sweet image could exist in this nest of devils and demons. But there she was ... alone, moving toward me with her head down.

"Huh?" she muttered as she collided into my character.

The girl stepped backward and noticed me for the first time. She appeared frightened as she hesitantly raised her hand and moved it toward my chest.

Her actions were too rich and natural for her to be just another player. Was she an event character?

I lowered my perspective and zoomed in on her face.

Her skin was like snow. If I looked closely, I could clearly make out each eyelash.

Her eyelids were closed. Was she blind? Perhaps that was why she hadn't seen me.

A chat window opened at the bottom of my perspective and the following text appeared:
Lycoris: Help me.

December 24, 2005.

Every human being who's ever sat in front of a computer or a television knows t11is date. It was the day the Internet crisis is occurred: the day the Pluto Kiss virus was launched.

Go ahead. Do a word search on Pluto Kiss and see what you find.

Of course, millions of other people are probably searching for the information at the exact Sa111C till1e, so you may have some difficulties. I'll give you a summary:

The Pluto Kiss tangled up and shut down the entire Internet. Powerful stuff, eh?

In response to the astronomical damages the virus caused, the United Nations, along with the World Network Council (WNC), ordered a limitation on Internet LIse until a solution could be fOLmd. The emerging net culture that had blossomed at the end of the twentieth century suddenly groLlnd to a halt.

Stripped of thelnternet during this crisis, people referred to this era as the Twilight of the New Gods. Of course, the Gods they worshipped were the Gods of technology.

It took two years before ALTIMIT OS proved to be completely resistant against the virus and a reliable service.

During that time, a new Internet system was bullt and the question of corporate management and responsibllity was determined.

December 24, 2007, the anniversary of the virus, became known as The Mother Mary's Kiss. It was the day the WNC announced their Network Securi ty Declaration that ended the Twilight. Limitations were removed and the Internet became available to everyone once more.

That same day, CyberConnect Corporation (CC Corp.) released The World.

It was called a Massive Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Game (MMORPG) and was the first online role-playing game allowing large numbers of simultaneous players to coexist in the same world.

By the end of the first day, the game had been downloaded 4,576,623 times. By the end of the year (only a week later), that figure had nearly doubled.

It was the big bang of the new Internet world.

Lycoris: Help me.

There was no voice to go with the text. I had to assume she was an NPC giving out her scripted message.

Lycoris: I want you to help me.

Lycoris, I guessed that was her name. I enabled the voice chat.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

There was a short time lag, maybe half a second, before any spoken words were converted to text by my FMD and appeared on the lower edge of my perspective:

Albireo: What's wrong? Are you okay?

That was the beauty of voice chat. Gone were the days of typing.

Lycoris: Help me. I need you to help me.

Albireo: What happened?

Lycoris: Please take me to the Divine Statue Room.

The chat window scrolled down as the conversation unfolded.

Albireo: Why?

Lycoris: I can't see.

I don't know why I had bothered conversing with her. She is an NPC. Everything she said is a pre-programmed response to ptayer queries. But that's what role-playing in The World is all about-the illusion of reatity in a make believe world. Voice chat is simply another function to create a stronger illusion. But I coutd have said anything and she would have given me the exact progratmned response. Just the same, I stayed in the conversation.

"Okay, Lycoris;' I said into my microphone. "All I have to do is take you to the Divine Statue Room, right?"

That was so easy I didn't even need to think about it. After all, asking for assistance in a quest is a familiar gaming adventure.

.: 2 :.

Usually, if you!lm into a PC (another person running an avatar), you can make verbal contact by using a microphone.

But NPCs don't work that way.

Under normal circumstances, event characters who make a request usually accept eirher a YES or NO  response. However, once I accepted Lycoris' quest, her setting automatically chatlged and she became attached to my character. Literally.

There are two perspectives, or point-of-view (POV) options, in The World. First-person sets the gatne camera's viewpoint thtough the character's eyes-you see what your character sees (that was my preferred point-of-view). Third person sets the camera away from the player's character. In that mode, you can see your avatar.

Most players choose the third-person perspective because it gives a targer field of vision. However, first-person makes the experience more real.

I had toggled to third-person to make sure Lycoris was still following beside me, and I was surprised to find her character holding my hand.

I didn't have tong to rl,ink about it before more creatures attacked. Lycoris moved behind me. She wasn't going to help me fight, but at least I didn't have to worry about her either. She didn't have a health gauge, meaning she couldn't be killed. I would have been more worried if I were with a low-tevel player character that needed protecting.

Not that it mattered. I made quick work of the creatures and we continued through a door that took us farther into the dungeon.

We entered a room containing an alrar. Floating above the altar was a strange-looking statue. It was the Divine Statue Room, the place where she wanted to go.

That was easy, I thought to myself.

The Divine Statue was always located in the deepest part of the dungeon, making it the most difficult place to find. Consequently, the treasure found there was usually far more valuable than any othet in the dungeon.

Albireo: This is the Divine Statue Room.

Lycoris: Please open the treause chest.

I targeted the treasure chest and opened it.

You've obtained eciov.cyl!

"What the hell is this? A bug?" I wondered aloud.

It was a strange name for an item. Not only that, it had a file extension as part of its name. If it were a document, the extension would have been ".doc" If it were an executable file it would have been ".exe:' But ".cyl?" I'd
never heard of it.

Could it have been a mistake? An etror that was missed during the last upgrade?

Instead of playing in The World, I was suddenly thinking about code and computers. It ruined the illusion of role-playing. Then my chat window opened.

Lycoris: Please give me the eciov.cyl.

NPCs' requests are nonnegotiable. The only way to continue with the event is to follow their instructions.

Using the trade command, I selected the item and okayed the trade even though Lyco ris had nothing for me.

Still, there should've been some kind of reward for completing the quest. It could be gold, experience points, information, even another quest. But if this was a bug, I couldn't expect much. In fact, it could even ca use my character data to be damaged or wiped out. I wondered if I should've traded.

"Thank you," she said. Only it wasn't as scrolling text. She spoke!

"Huh?"

"Thank you, Albireo."

I was shocked.

The World allows for full vocal communication, so it isn't strange for an NPC to speak. What was strange was that she should suddenly switch ftom text to verbal communication. Even more amazing, her lips were in sync with her words. Beforc I traded the file, her lips hadn't even moved.

As I looked at hcr face, she started to come to life.

What was happening?

I could still hear the baekgtound music and sound effects, so I knew my FMD speaker and PC were operating normally. Could something be wrong with the server?

No. The World is on ALTIMIT OS, which uses the finest fiber-optic cables available and has excellent bandwidth to accommodate the heavy traffic. So why the sudden change?

If Lycoris' voice had been prerecorded, they would have done all her lines that way. Maybe it was a program error that misread the voice link data. If that was the case, then this was a serious programmer error. Or maybe the event itself had changed and th ere was no way to rerecord the opening. Actually, that made some sense.

Silence.

The background music, the sOlLnd effecrs, everything was gone.

A virus?

My speaker began to vibrate with a deep bass noise.

"Albireo."

She called my name again.

"Lycoris?"

I tried looking at the litrle girl, but at that moment, a brihght light formed a ring atound my avatar.

My POY was enclosed inside the tunnel of light and I was lifted upward. W hen the light dissipated, I found myself teleported OlLt of the Divine Statue Room.