Neko

Very nice job, everyone! You're all in so far. But there seem to be a lot of demons in this story, so I'm closing down the demon sign-ups. If you want to sign up as a demon, you'll have to PM me with the sign up sheet to be judged before you can get in. Let's see some more Angels and Humans!

Heh, Kiba...I kinda figured you'd want in on this one. Well, there seems to be some confusion as to what 'sub-race' means, so I'll go ahead and clear that up. Sub-races are, as I have previously mentioned, the various subgroupings among humans, demons, and angels. For humans, basically this is your occupation. 'Jobs' would be the reference to your sub-grouping. Also realize that humans in this story can have magically-based occupations. For angels, there are several different types, mainly associated with their unique abilities. I'll list a couple examples. Lesser Angel: One who has just become one of the holy army. This title doesn't necessarily imply weakness, it just shows that said angel is new among the holy ranks. Spiritcaster: An angel that focuses their spiritual power to harness divine magics as their weapon to combat foes. Aurablade: Quite the contrary to a Spiritcaster, Aurablades focus more on physical attacks with their superior skills with a blade. They usually enchant their weapons to imbue them with powers far beyond a simple piece of metal. Archangel: One who is advanced in both magical prowess and physical combat skill is referred to as an Archangel. These types are more often than not more powerful than other Angels because of their skills, both physical and arcane. Demons are slightly less differentiated between classes, but have far more sub-groupings than both angels and humans. I won't list off their respective abilities, as I expect most people are familiar with them, but here are some examples: Vampire Succubus Incubus Imp Devil Unborn Shadowmancer Just two more quick things. I'm not allowing any more Succubi, as my character already has that position filled. Get creative, pick something else. If you feel like it, make up your own sub-race and give a breif description of it. And Kiba, you're gonna have to alter your bio. You can't be the killer, so no painting numbers on the wall. The real murderer will be revealed in the story, if it gets out of the Adventure Inn. Hope this helps in some way, guys!

Name: Mieruru Anaka Age: 15 Race: Demon Sub-race: Succubus Appearance: See Attachment. Weapon of Choice: A scythe made of pure energy, taking form as a black mass of darkness, which she can summon up at will. Bio: Mieruru led on her life, never aware of her demonic nature, the dark forces subtly taking root in her existence. Harassed and generally mistreated by her parents at home, darkness planted itself in the depths of her soul. As the years of suffering went on, the darkness within her slowly grew into a completely alternate personality, a more evil form of Mieruru. This was when she first realized her demonic tendencies. One night, during a particularly harsh beating from her parents, this other Mieruru emerged in a wave of energy. This New Mieruru, enraged and unable to cope with being physically pained by another being, summoned a dark scythe - the embodiment of death - and retaliated, flaying everyone the old Mieruru had known and loved. When Mieruru learned of this alternate form, she realized that she was indeed a succubus, the demon embodiment of lust and temptation. She slowly learned to use these dark powers to manipulate others. After all, what warm-blooded male can resist the charm of a succubus? She would convince people to borrow her ridiculous sums of money in return for empty promises, money she used to get by on the streets of this city, Utoma. These killings with the numbers, Mieruru is sure means something, her darker half knows it, but she can't drive the curiosity of what it could be out of her head. So she travels by night, searching for this elusive killer to, if for no other reason, clear up the mystery surrounding the murderings.

Another day, another demise. The news had long since ceased to surprise people. Mysterious deaths all over town, with not even a single trace of a murder weapon, nor, in fact, any trace of a murderer. After the first few weeks, the weary population of the city of Utoma began to accept this strange problem. The media dropped it, the church fanatics stopped seeing significance in it, even the families of the unfortunate victims weren't taking the losses as harshly as they had been. But now, something's beginning to change. At first the deaths seemed completely random, the crime scenes not terribly violent. Something new is happening, though. Each night, the scene is becoming more and more grotesque, the method of the kill more and more macabre, more brutal. And there is another thing, too. Near each body, perhaps within fifty or so yards, a sign is being written in the victims' blood: a number. What does the number mean? Nobody knows for certain. It started at one-hundred-twenty. And each night, each death, the number is slowly counting downward, a sadistic timer...but to what? The people were so perplexed they eventually chalked it up to coordinated suicide, people picking up on a death 'trend' as a way to take their own life. How terribly wrong they were... A youthful female figure peered out cautiously into the graveyard from the wind-rattled tree, scoping out her prey; a young man, perhaps in his early twenties, coming to pay his respects to some lost relative. And who is going to be mourning for you, I wonder? she thought to herself, her luminous crimson eyes glinting eerily in the glorious moonlight. In the time one might blink, the girl was on the ground, soundlessly closing in on the man as he knelt before a grave. With a heart-piercing scream, the man looked on in horror as a razor-sharp claw tore clear through his body. The girl smirked as the man slumped over on the gravestone in front of her. Collecting some of the leaking blood on her hand, she walked over to a burial tomb, and, drawing her fingers quickly across the hard marble of the door, she left her mark. And then she was gone. Just like that, no movement, just gone. But the crimson mark remained on the doorway, glimmering in the moonlight. One-hundred-one. Okay, here's the deal. Someone's going around killing people at random. A few people have begun to band together to solve the mysterious deaths once and for all. Some may be particularly devoted investigators, some might be eager news reporters, some may even be friends or family of the victims, whatever. The point is, someone's gotta do something before anything really bad happens. And, though the local populace may not be aware of it, they've got help from...higher forces. Angels have been sent down to investigate the situation, searching invisibly for the killer, whom they believe might be more than just human itself. A demon. The demons, as well, have taken note of this situation, though they aren't as concerned with the matter. If anything, most of them enjoy the torment that the humans go through when their 'number' is up. But some demons believe that it could end up instigating a new war between all three worlds, a concern that, though they may not be aware, the angels share. So the choice is yours, you can be a human, an angel, or a demon. But remember to choose your allegiances wisely. Because in this city, even your most trusted allies can be enemies. Name: (fairly obvious) Age: (Demons and angels tend to, but don't necessarily have to have higher ages than humans) Race: (Human, Demon, Angel) Sub-Race: (Various sub-groupings among humans, demons and angels) Appearance: (You should know the drill) Weapon of Choice: (Please limit yourself to two or three, I may make exceptions) Bio: (A paragraph. A page. Whatever.) I'd just like to warn you all that I'm gonna be a bit tougher letting people in this time. I've learned from past mistakes...

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial]You know what? Regardless of the circumstances at the time, they went way, [I]way[/I] over the line on this one. I mean, seriously, just put yourself in the mindset of the little girl: You've just been cuffed -wrists [I]and[/I] ankles - and sent off to jail with none other than those scary poice-guys. You know, those guys that your parents told you take care of bad people that need to be locked away for a while. Only, before the cops get a chance to pull away from the school, you get stopped by a mother that hates you, and is probably flaming-pissed at you for what you're doing. I don't really think this would improve a five-year-old girl's attitude, nor, for that matter, her [I]sanity[/I]. I'll be honest with you, I've done more than my share of things that were - or at least from how it sounds to me - roughly as extreme as what that girl did. Did I get cuffed by the men-in blue?! Certainly not. They (my supervisors at the time) just 'let' me go to a nice, quiet, empty room for a while and let me vent [I]there[/I]. Is that really so hard? It's not like I'm saying what the girl did isn't wrong, but there are easier, more [I]effective[/I] ways of calming down a child than sending her off with the police. If anything, that would just make the situation more unstable. If she has no father, and her mother hates her, maybe they should consider finding her a loving foster family? I'm sure a little bit of love and caring for a change might help the little girl...certainly more than a trip to jail would.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

OOC-*Hold up a jealous hand* What, no cookies for Kia? You guys are so selfish...*Laughs* ||Ω-Net Slum|| "Helba, how're we doing on pinpointing Macha?" Kia asked, trying to hide the anticipation in her voice. Helba looked down at her, giving her what passes for a quizzical look, if you can read facial expressions without being able to see someone's eyes. "I'm working on it, Kia...but really, I think you should sit this one out," Helba replied, sensing Kia's eagerness, despite how she tried to hide it. Kia glared at her. "You know me better than that, Helba. I'm not going to just sit out on an important fight. Nobody's gonna stop me from helping you guys." "I wouldn't say that to a hacker," Helba smirked playfully, "I could easily shut you out from the field if I wanted to." Kia jerked like she'd been slapped by the remark. Both of them knew she didn't have a good comeback from that one. "Fine..." Kia sighed at last, getting a devilish idea, "I'll sit this one out. But when you figure out the field, can you give it to me, so I can tell the others?" Helba thought about it for a moment before agreeing. Could she have really fallen for it?! It was such an obvious trick! Now that Kia would have the field name before everyone else, she would be able to get there before telling them where the field was, and then they'd have no choice but to let her fight alongside them! Kia smiled. "Thanks, Helba. I don't know what we'd do without you." And with that, Kia warped back to Mac Anu. ||Δ-Aqua Capital Mac Anu|| Kia opened her eyes only to find Mia walking around vacantly, that strange dazed expression in her eyes again. She walked up to Mia, smiling. "Hey, Mia, how've you been? It's been a while!" she said cheerfully. Mia's head tilted at an awkward-looking angle, looking back at her. "Elk...where's Elk? Where'd everyone go...?" she asked, her voice different than usual. She'd been like this a few times, Kia realized. "They went off on some stupid trip, they'll be back soon. Are you feeling okay, Mia?" Kia reached out to feel Mia's forehead, though even as she did, she remembered that touching Mia while she was like this could be a...painful experience. Too late... But as Kia's hand touched Mia's forehead, nothing happened, no static reaction, no nothing. But...but there was a sort of pulsating feeling. A throbbing sensation, like that of a heart beating, amplified a billion times over. Kia's own heart slowed to match the slow, steady throb. A soft light began to glow around the two as the throb grew louder, drowning out every other sound in the area. Kia, sufficiently freaked out by now, tried to draw her hand away from Mia. But she found that there was no strength left in her body; she couldn't move, let alone pull away from Mia, who was now staring at her with eyes that almost seemed to be glowing white with energy. And a moment later, Mia was gone. Gone. Just like that. No reaction. Kia backed away slowly, a ringing sound in her ear. She glanced left and right, but couldn't find Mia anywhere. Frightened, she organized a quick message. TO: Mia FROM: Kia SUBJECT: Where'd you go?! Hey, Mia, what just happened? Where are you? No sooner had the message been sent than a voice started droning at her, an automated notice: We're sorry, the username: 'Mia' , you are trying to reach does not exist. Please re-check your spelling, or try again later. Doesn't exist?! Kia's mind raced, trying to sort the situation out. How is that possible? We've all known Mia for a long time! Kia paced back and forth for a little while, trying to come up with some logical answers. None of her theories worked very well, needless to say. Maybe the others can help figure it out, she thought, and arranged another message. TO: Kayla, Sakura, Sora, Elk, Kite FROM: Kia SUBJECT: Missing In Action Mia's gone MIA. I can't find her anywhere, and the game directory's saying she doesn't exist! We gotta check it out, I'll explain what happened when you guys get here. Usual place, you guys know where to find me. OOC-The beginning of the revelation is finally near! except...nothing's going on right now...I'll let you guys figure this out, as if you haven't already. *Laugh*

Sorry, guys, but I'm gonna have to overwrite a bit of what you all just posted. Kia can't really be doing much of anything right now, because she's fatally wounded. Think along the lines of getting your chest ripped open by a four-foot bastard sword. Kinda like that. And Grim wasn't hurt that badly from Kia's attacks, just like minor cuts on his shoulders and sides, maybe. Sorry I didn't make all this clearer from the get-go. Δ-Crimson Headquarters :PROTECTED AREA: Kia was laying weakly on the hard stone floor, slipping slowly in and out of reality, fading somewhere halfway between life and death. Through her blurred vision, she could see the damage Grim's blade had done in the reflection of her crimson pool. She heard the static buzz of the Crimson Knights entering the room, the metallic sound of several swords being unsheathed for battle. No matter. Kia was done. Done with fighting, with life. The battle ensued, raging all around her, oblivious to the small girl nearly drowning in a pool of her own blood. A mere one of the knights suddenly glanced at her, the crimson stain on the floor catching his eye. He walked cautiously over to her. Lost in the confusion of the fight, Kia felt strong arms lifting her off the floor. She struggled faintly to look up at whomever was carrying her. She saw a silver helmet with two big, glowing red eyes glaring down at her. It was the last thing she saw for a while. When she woke up, it took her a moment to regain her vision. Everything was blurry, no detail. She looked down at her chest, where seemingly only moments before she had been gushing out her crimson life, only to find a white bandage wrapped around her chest instead. Apart from this, and another rather conveniently placed white wrapping, she saw that most of her armor and clothing had been taken. As her vision began to clear, she saw her two oversized blades resting against the far wall. She stood up and walked over to it. But after about ten feet, her body stopped. She looked back, her eyes adjusting further to the dim lighting. Her arms and legs were chained to the wall, along with a metal 'leash' around her neck. She looked towards her blades again and now noticed that there was a very sturdy looking set of steel bars between her and the outside room, like some sort of virtual prison. A prison, apparently, designed to accomodate one very special little girl. A knight walked in, grinning evilly at her. He stopped right outside the bars forming her little prison. "You've been asleep for quuite awhile, miss 'Kia'," he laughed, "We were beginning to worry that you might be more than just sleeping." "Where...where am I?" Kia asked, her vioce shaking, sounding like a harsh rasp compared to her usual voice. "In your new home," the Crimson Knight sneered, "We had our programmers design this little place for when we finally caught you." "Where're my clothes?" "We couldn't conduct the examination with them on, so-" "Examination?" Kia cut in, glaring up suddenly. "Yes," the Knight laughed. "We wanted to study you, just in case someone else like you ever comes around again." "You...!" Kia lunged towards the man, ready to slug him right across the face, blades or not. The chains yanked her brutally back down to the ground. The Knight laughed. "I wouldn't try anything stupid, little girl," he smirked, "this is gonna be your new home for...a while. Not ver y smart to anger the people that run this place, eh?" He laughed cruelly as he left the room. Kia began to sob.

Δ-Crimson Headquarters :PROTECTED AREA: With the others busy distracting the majority of the knights in the area, Kia had managed to sneak into the central podium -where Grim was- with little challenge. She had expected that. She had also suspected that she might have to fight Grim once she got to him; a fight she wasn't sure she would survive. All the more reason to fight. Kia was, needless to say, nearly shaking in fear as Grim walked slowly up to her, his blade gleaming against the sun. Still, she feigned confidence, nonchalantly raising her own blades in defiant challenge, hoping to keep up not only Grim's faith in her to free him, but also her faith in herself. The first attack came so swiftly she was almost dead in one strike, lost in her own thoughts. A last-minute sidestep saved her from being cut in half right there. Grim swung again, but this time, Kia was back in her own head, and easily stepped out of the blades range. "Come on, Kia, hurry up!" Grim shouted as his body made another involuntary attack against her. She jumped out of the way, then moved in again until her face was only an inch away from his. "Do you really want to be free, kid?" she asked, her blades pinning his sword down from behind her back. "It'll be painful. Pain beyond possibly anything you've ever felt before." "I'll take anything over being controlled by some piece of equipment," Grim smiled, even as he threw his strength behind his arm and heaved his blade upward, literally flinging Kia up over his head, sending her spiraling through the air only to land gracefully on her feet some twenty feet behind him. Kia smiled a sad smile. "Very well, then." Let's see if I can pull this off... She dashed in with the speed only a twinblade can boast, and before Grim could even lift his hand to strike, she was behind him again, her blades flashing in the light. Four seconds of utter silence before the blow registered. A thin line appeared in one corner of Grim's armor before he was knocked back with the force of a small truck, one of the corners of the armor literally shattering from the force. The other three edges of the armor, the three parts where the frontal plate was still connected to the back plate, gleamed in Kia's eyes, her three targets. Within the next few moments, another target was shattered. Kia doubled back, getting ready to cut another corner of the binding armor apart, but Grim had learned from the previous two strikes. As she ran with lightning speed towards him, he prepared his counterstrike several seconds in advance. To any observer, it would seem like something straight out of the movies: their weapons both flashed as they struck, Kia glaring with her cold, almost lifeless eyes into Grim's face, Grim, who merely shouted far too late for her to get out of the way. It only lasted a split second, but that moment seemed like an eternity. The two fell from the air roughly thirty feet from each-other, backs turned. Closely following was a violent streak of blood, flung off from one of their blades. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. For a while, nobody breathed. Then, after a full fifteen seconds, Grim's armor fell to the ground, blood welling up from the shallow slashes Kia had made while cutting the damned thing off of him. Somehwere behind him, Kia gasped, clutching at her chest where a crimson stain was rapidly spreading across her shirt. She fell to the floor. She breathed little...she moved not at all. Grim looked up in horror at his blade, only to find it soaked in the same blood that had fallen from the air behind him... Yay for cheezy, clichéd action sequences! Oh, and Kia's not dead, by the way, just damn close.

Δ-Crimson Headquarters :PROTECTED AREA: Kia sighed for a moment while she sorted the situation out. They most definitely had the element of surprise on their side, but the opposing numbers of knights would easily overwhelm a small group of newbies and a trapped player. Within seconds, even. Unless... Unless they could be subdued individually when they were separated. Now, in order to get them apart... "What's the plan, Kia?" Xia repeated. "Easy," Kia said. "You guys just need to distract them for a few minutes." "Wha...? Why us? What about you?" Shadow complained, for good reason. Kia grinned sadly, walking up to him. She placed her hand softly on his cheek, looking into his eyes for a moment. "Can you feel that...?" She asked, knowing that somewhere in the real world, a boy was staring into his neuro goggles, stunned, as he felt the echo of a young girl's hand on his cheek. Shadow nodded slowly. Kia laughed cruelly. "I feel everything," she whispered. "I can feel the ground, I can feel the wind, I can even feel your heart beating, as if I was touching you in the real world. If they were to catch me, you know what they'd do to me. And I don't want to go through the pain." "Oookay..." Shadow muttered, "slightly freaky, but I'll buy it. So what are you going to do while we're...'distracting' them?" "I'll sneak in and get Grim out," Kia shrugged, "Simple as that." "Wait a second..." Xia interjected, "We're talking, like, the Crimson Knights, here. Wouldn't they have ways of tracking where Grim was?" Again, Kia smiled sadly. "Leave that part to me." I just hope I won't have to hurt him too bad... Kia thought silently to herself, looking down at the blades she would have to cut the armor off Grim with...

||Δ-Hidden-Dark Side-Aqua Field|| Kia eyed this 'Rentin' character cautiously. He seemed to be the leader of the group. Another short observation, and she decided that there wasn't much of a chance that her, Xia, and Grim were going to get away, backed up in a corner as they were. I guess I have to reveal my secret now, she thought, half saddened, half frightened. She stepped up in front of Grim and Xia and drew her far-too-long blades. "What's this all about, anyways?!" she laughed, trying to sound nonchalant, calm, cool, though fear was shaking her to pieces on the inside. "You got something against newbies, or do you just feel like being an asshole today?!" 'Rentin' gave her a strange look. As long as he doesn't touch me, she whispered to herself. "Ooooh...little miss n00b has a bit of a lip!" Rentin laughed, drawing his blade. "Hey, Rentin, should I give the mouthy one some more bats to shut her up?" Rainer asked, waving his staff slightly in her direction. "No, Rainer," Rentin laughed, taking a step towards Kia, "You've already had one!" "Hey, so have you! No fair!" Rainer growled, obviously faking anger. "Yeah, well, I'm closer to her," Rentin stuck his tongue out at Rainer and took another step towards Kia. "As for you..." Kia tried to take a step back, but bumped into Grim and realized that it had been an outstandingly stupid idea to try to stand up in front of such high-level players. It wouldn't matter, that evil voice in her head noted, high or low-level, you'd still die from the pain. Besides, you've got your own little surprise, remember? I don't want to hurt them, though! Kia shot back. But suddenly, Rentin swung the blade. Fine, she told the other voice in her head, go ahead. But don't hurt them too much. That's what I thought. In a flash of movement, Kia's blades suddenly snapped forward and across, drawing an 'X' through the air. It took a full second to register, but Rentin's blade, which had only moments before been screeching down towards Kia's fragile body, now fell in three cleanly cut pieces onto the ground. "Don't lay a hand on me," Kia's voice growled, though it was in fact the dark, evil side of Kia talking. "I won't hesitate to kill you right here." Rentin jumped forward with the decidedly shorter, but still nice and sharp remains of his blade, throwing a swing that even Kia's alternate personality couldn't stop. The short blade slashed in a swift downward motion across Kia's left arm, opening a deep gash that began to well up with blood...her blood. Kia, not the other person inside her, but Kia, screamed in pain before the evil side clamped down on her and, through eyes streaming tears of pain, slashed once, twice, three times furiously at Rentin's arm. Rentin Damaged: 0 Rentin Damaged: 0 Rentin Damaged: 0 "What was that?!" Rentin laughed after a moment's pause, having completely failed to notice the three deep gouges in his arm, nor the one in Kia's that was now gushing blood. Kia glared menacingly up at him. "You want to log off and get to a hospital, kid," the evil side growled, clutching at her wounded arm. "That damage didn't stay in the game." "What are you talking about?!" Rentin laughed, looking down at his arm. Then, as he looked down at his arm, he saw it. Not in the game, no, but wherever he really was. A terrified expression crossed his face before he was engulfed in yellow rings, signifying that he had logged out. "Rentin, wtf?!" Rainer shouted nervously, "Where'd you go?!" Kia looked at her blades, dripping with Rentin's character's blood. "He probably went off to get a very large bandage," the evil Kia replied with a smirk before the real Kia took over again. "I...I cut him real-really deep..." she whispered, her voice quaking. "I got no idea what you're talking about, girl, but I'm going to look for him!" Rainer shouted before logging off himself. Kia turned to the Xia and Grim, who looked like they'd just seen a ghost or something. "I...I can't believe...I-I lost control..." she whispered, terrified at what she'd just done. Kia! The voice inside her shouted suddenly, You've lost too much blood, you're gonna- Too late, she sighed, and collapsed face-first onto the cold stone floor, blood leaking steadily from her arm. "Erm, what just happened?" Grim asked uncertainly, peering down at Kia's unconscious body. "I, uh, I think she just passed out..." Xia replied, kneeling down cautiously. Updates: -Kia is trapped in the world (hopefully you knew that by now) -Kia doesn't have HP, but rather takes damage according to how much damage she would take in real life -Players touched or hit by Kia in the game can feel it in the real world -Kia has two very different personalities which constantly stuggle for control over her body

Loading program: "Devil May Cry 2: A jester's Play" Initializing... Name: Mieruru Age: 22 Race: Demon Gender: Male Description: With his silvery hair and dark expression, one would think him some long-lost brother of the demon twins, but he is merely a wanderer. He is almost entirely covered in black leather: He wears black leather Pants, Military-style boots, and black gloves with the fingering cut off, all wrapped up in a black leather trenchcoat, chains haning loosely off of various loopings in the coat, wrapping around his body. In his devil form, he looks remarkably similar to Dante's Devil Trigger (from Devil May Cry 2), though he lacks wings and is incabable of flight. His weapons also radically change in this form, a whip and sword replaced by four demonic scythes, two of which he controls merely with his mind (think along the lines of the Death Scythe enemies from DMC1). Weapons: Weapon Name: Death (Melee/Ranged)-An exotic weapon he calls a 'wirewhip', Death is, in essence, a whip with a one-inch thick steel cord, about twenty feet in length, which is extremely flexible and demonically charged with the essence of water. Weapon Name: Rebirth (Melee)-His beloved Katana, a sword with a jet black blade stained with the blood of thousands of demonic wars. Under the presence of demons for so long, Rebirth has taken on a sort of life of it's own, thirsting endlessly for the blood of demons and humans alike. Power: He can turn his body into a shadow-like state for brief periods of time, a skill that he generally uses as a last-resort method of avoiding attacks. Also, although this is more of an ability than a power, he can stay in his devil form for much longer than the normal amount of time, reaching towards a half hour when his power is fully unleashed. Fighting Style: Royal Guard Reference: .hack//TRUTH page 19

I believe Helba sent you a message concerning how best to get virus cores. You know, the whole 'different-sized' monsters for different cores deal? Well, Just try to track down 'big' monsters, 'medium-sized' monsters, and 'small' monsters, and use the basic data drain on them. 2128 Drain is NOT your friend when looking for virus cores! If you list the specific core you're looking for, I'll do what I can to help.

It is an amazing series. Of course get the fourth game! The .hack games are like a great big book: you can't just stop reading ten pages from the end. And trust me, finishing the story is really cool, it's a good end for such an amazing game.

||Δ-Hidden-Dark Side-Aqua Field|| "Xia! Pay attention!" Kia shouted as the battle began, a few low-level monsters appearing in front of the grooup. Why I have to get dragged into these fights, I'll never know, she thought to herself, scolding herself for yet again foolishly agreeing to go somewhere with a bunch of players she didn't know. A goblin lunged at her with a short, blunt dagger. She whirled easily to the side and with a slash that registered as a blue-tinted blur to the eye, the goblin fell in two pieces onto the cavern floor. Kia turned away before the gush of goblin-blood sprayed out. Yet another problem with being trapped in 'the World' is the sick, twisted ability to see the blood of fallen enemies...as well as your own. Kia quickly turned to see how the others were doing. Her eyes grew wide with fear as she saw a gaint wyvern fling the others off of it, like bees nettling a bear, and stare straight at her. It took one giant step towards her, its foreleg like a mountain of scales, and she slowly began to back away from it... ...But after a few seconds, she felt the hard, cold stone of the cavern wall pressing up against her back. "Ummm...guys?" she called weakly, shaking in fear as the others got back up. The great dragon roared, and suddenly it's head plunged down towards her. Kia closed her eyes slowly, and everything seemed to slow to a complete stop for a moment. Is it finally time? she asked herself. Her arms flew up, almost as if welcoming the dragon to crash down on her... OOC: And for anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, that thing is NOT supposed to be here!!! Help!!!

||Δ-Aqua Capital Mac Anu|| Frozen solid, Kia thought to herself as Xia walked slowly away, a confused look on her face. Kia suddenly broke into a sob again. Balmung had told her how she had gotten stuck in this world, and the details were far from pretty. No one knew exactly how it had happened, but she had been found in a park in the dead of winter, frozen to the ground, laying face-down with 'the World' running on her laptop ten feet away. Frozen solid. She could just picture what it must've looked like, a little thirteen-year-old girl laying face-first in the snow in the middle of a blizzard, her skin turning blue from the frost. It's almost a shame that death didn't cross over to me, Kia thought to herself piteously. So much time...so much pain... Not for the first time in her poor excuse for a life, Kia shuddered as she suddenly felt the cold metal of her own blade pressed up against her throat. Why not be done? When will I finally get to take a break from my life? Kia's mind argued with itself, her other hand grasped her blade at the sharp edge, her blood falling in a puddle unto her lap. Still, though, the hand grasped the blade and tried to pull it away from her soft flesh. Finally, she couldn't keep hold of herself anymore. She yanked the blade brutally away with a fresh spurt of red, and passed out where she was sitting, blood trickling down the road from her slit hand. Self inflicted pain is cool!

[SIZE=1]Cubia...is a major pain. One of my favorite fights, though. You're using a level 17 weapon? That's waaay past nuts, man. I mean, you can get higher than level 17 weapons in part 1! I can't remember the specifics, but I believe I got my weapon of choice against Cubia from an NPC in one of the towns. Try asking around a bit, maybe take a break from the storyline to go item hunting? I know I had my darkness stat past 50 when I faught Cubia because I spent a full week collecting [COLOR=Indigo]cooked biles[/COLOR] and trading them to NPCs for that book that increases your darkness stats, then I just got a bunch of items that give you dark spells/abilities. That more than did the trick for me the first time. As for party members, mistral (obviously) and whichever character you've put the most time and devotion into. I went with Natsume because since I got her, I've brought her along on literally every field I've been to since I got her (circumstances providing), and sometimes I think she has better equipment than I do. :catgirl: [/SIZE]

OOC-Thanks, I'll remain unable to level up. It wouldn't make sense otherwise! ||θ-Highland City Dun Loireag|| Kia sighed as the other players warped out of 'the World', one by one, as if nothing had ever even happened. Yeah, you people go do that, she complained to herself, I'll be in here if anyone needs me...like always... Now she was in a bad mood again, and her temper was slipping. Isn't there anyone left that I know? She silently pondered. Then she remembered with painful detail watching Balmung go down in a flutter of greyed-out feathers in front of a lowly goblin. She decided to go see him, if she could find him. ||Δ-Aqua Capital Mac Anu|| It wasn't terribly difficult to find Balmung; he rather tends to stand out in the crowd. Kia walked slowly up to him, hoping he would remember her. "Balmung?" she called to the winged player, who was sitting dejectedly in front of the magic shop. He looked up and, to her relief, recognition spread across his face. "Kia?" he said, squinting his eyes, "You're still around after that goblin raid?" Kia smiled gingerly at him. "You can't get rid of me that easy," she replied with a smile. She sat down next to him, looking into his deep blue eyes, sparkling with the clarity only one who actaully lives in 'the world' can see. And Kia had lived in 'the World' for a long time, so she'd had a long time to see it. "Still," Balmung muttered, "I'll bet it must've been terrifying for you..." He looked down suddenly at his gauntleted hands. "It was for me." Kia nodded in agreement. "It was the most frightened I've been since the second Wave." Her face blackened as a disturbing thought occurred to her. She simply couldn't remember something about herself. "Balmung?" She asked hesitantly. "Yes?" "How did I die?"

||Δ-???-???-???|| Kia, over the course of what could possibly be described as the worst INFORMATION DENIED years of her existance in this god-forsaken game, had by now developed an amazing sense of patience. But now, a mere ten minutes after the others had gone into the dungeon, Kia felt her patience wearing thin. She peered into the dark cavern, wondering if something bad had happened to the others. What could be taking them so long?! she thought to herself. Then a voice whispered through her head that she had hoped she'd gotten rid of years ago. What does it matter?! a dark voice demanded in the depths of her mind, What do you care for these stupid people?! You don't even know them. They could be PKers! She shook her head slowly, reasoning with herself. Don't be silly, they seem like nothing more than a frightened group of new players. And this one seems nice enough... She turned her head to this player, this 'Loki', who gave her a strange look before returning to her own thoughts. And another player dashed into the dungeon, not so much as a hello to stop him. Kia looked down at the corrupted ground near her feet. "Loki," she said, her voice devoid of emotion or meaning, "weren't you and that sorry group of players looking for someone?" "Yeah," Loki replied, snapping out of her thoughts, "Why?" "Because I think he just ran right past us." Kia replied flatly. She walked into the dungeon, hoping this other player was at least a bit more experienced than the others at this game. "Hey, you there!" she shouted to the player, who had stopped in front of an unopened portal. "Yeah, what is it?" Grim asked, turning to face her.

||Δ-???-???-???|| Kia stopped suddenly when they reached the dungeon, glancing back at the little group of misfits that now formed the party that had survived a full-scale assault on Mac Anu. Peering into the dungeon entrance, a shiver went down her spine, frightened of what might happen to her if she went in. "You guys...you guys go ahead. I need a rest," she sighed heavily, every bone in her body aching from the battle. "How do you get tired playing a game?" one of the others laughed sarcastically. Kia shot the player a loathing stare. She didn't want to tell these strange people her secret, at least not until she learned a bit more about them. "Shut up and go, newbie!" she shouted, irritated that she was being insulted by a lowly level one player (which was slightly hypocritical, now that she thought about it). That seemed to shut the girl up pretty good. "Suit yourself", the girl shrugged, walking into the dungeon, followed closely by the others. Kia sighed her approval and leaned against the stone wall surrounding the dungeon. She looked at the massive, blue, illegal blades she was holding, wiping off the reddish-black goblin blood that had stained it. Normally there was no blood in this fake world, but to Kia, everything was all too real...

||Δ-Aqua Capital Mac Anu|| Kia glanced back briefly at the boy, who had run off to face the Mu Guardian, seemingly the leader of this horde of monsters. Almost absentmindedly, her hands whipped the two massive blades around in impossibly fast arches, keeping the mass of goblins the had now completely surrounded her at a safe distance. As she looked back, she saw the boy take a wild lunge at the Mu Guardian, distracting it from another female player so she could get up and grasp her staff. It Occurred to her that they might be in trouble if they were low-level players, and that she might be able to help them out if she could get to the Mu Guardian. Turning her head back to the mass of goblins that were running suicidally into her blades just to keep those blades in one place, though, she realized that she wasn't going anywhere fast. It would have to be done anyway. Kia turned her attention back to the blades she had been whirling around herself to keep the goblins at bay, and stopped swinging them for a moment so she could change her course. In the instant it took her to stop, the sea of goblins almost engulfed her in the blink of an eye, but she managed to get into a new pattern of attacks, focusing her blades in only one direction, trying to cut a path to the Guardian and the other players. She could feel herself wearing out, though, the restless attacks straining her weak arms. Can I get there before losing out...? she wondered.

||Δ-Aqua Capital Mac Anu|| It was by pure coincidence that she had found her. Kia hadn't even been following that strange instinct, and she'd still somehow managed to stumble upon Kayla, who'd been so absorbed in laughing at a couple newbies that she hadn't even noticed her. "Hello, Kayla," she said as she walked to kayla's side, "I thought that was you." Kayla turned to her. "Hey, Kia, how ya been?" There was that momentary hesitation again. Was that distrust Kia saw in Kayla's eyes? No, no...you're just being paranoid, Kia! Get a grip! nonetheless, that second of uncertainty had sparked up Kia's fiery temper again. Lately, she'd been having more and more problems managing her anger. "Oh, I'm fine, thanks..." she laughed in an obviously sarcastic manner, "considering all my friends just got back from a stupid party that I was never really invited to, or indeed informed of, and I've just been nearly killed by a Cobalt Knight!" Kayla recoiled slightly, probably surprised at the sudden outburst. "Kia, what's your deal lately? You haven't been yourself lately! It's like you're not even on our team!" "Are you trying to imply something?!" Kia shot back icily, gripping her blades tighter, barely able to contain herself from lunging at Kayla. "Are you calling me a traitor?!" "No, no, of course not!" Kayla shook her head, "But Kia, don't you see it yet? You're detaching yourself from the rest of us! I want you on the team as much as you do, but we'll never get to see that happen if we can't trust each-other!" Kia laughed sardonically. "Trust? Funny pick of words, since half of the team is against me! And who's fault is that, Kayla? Who went and spread crazy rumors about me? Who told everyone I was one of...one of them, one of the eight?! Don't talk to me about trust, Kayla. I'm...I'm..." Kia sighed, the anger had burned itself out, nothing but emptiness now. Kayla stared down at the ground, thinking. "Don't get the wrong idea, Kia...I wasn't trying to turn everyone against you...I just felt like you were acting a bit...strange." Kayla shook her head solomnly as she looked back up at Kia. "But that doesn't mean I'm not still your friend." Kia's hands loosened their grip on the deadly-sharp blades. "Okay, okay. Just tell me something, Kayla." "What is it?" Kia smiled ominously. "When do we fight Macha?" OOC-I think I'll leave that question to DDG to answer. :catgirl:

Initializing program: .hack//WORLD loading...please wait program running ||Δ-Aqua Capital Mac Anu|| Kia watched the slaughter from the safety of the roof of the magic shop, which she had reached with the aid of her superior twin-blade agility (not to mention with the help of the boxes in the back of the alley). She laughed bitterly to herself as the goblins, lowly level-one-field monsters, relentlessly hunted down the players in the town, one by one. And then she saw him. Him, the only one out of all the people she had ever cared about who was still playing. She watched in horror as Balmung of the Azure Sky jumped valiently in front of a player, shielding him from a goblin and taking the blow himself. Kia shuddered as Balmung's grey corpse fell to the ground before dissolving into nothing. It did not surprise her when she discovered that her blades were resting lightly in her clenched hands; none of CC Corporation's new 'rules' ever seemed to work on her, who didn't even technically exist. The massive blades almost pulled her down into the fighting below as the boy whome Balmung had just sacrificed his life to save drew his own weapon in surprise and began slashing furiously at a goblin. Kia leaped down from the building, landing lightly on her feet, even as the goblin fell back in grey and disappeared. She walked up to the boy and readied her blades for a strike. He looked at the massive blue blades almost frightfully, and Kia lunged... ...slicing apart a goblin which had lunged at the boy from behind. The boy looked at her half-surprised. "Don't mention it," she said icily, "if Balmung would sacrifice himself to protect you, you must be worth saving."

Beginning login program Please Wait... Program Running Name: Kia Age: 14 (stopped aging when she died at age 13) Gender: Female Class: Twin Blade Appearance: She wears a black sleeveless turtle-neck and a black skirt. Golden Markings run in intricate patterns across her ghostly-pale skin. Her hair is bright pink, providing a stark contrast to her deep purple eyes. Personality: She's very shy, doesn't enjoy fighting or talking much, and is always moping about with a sad expression on her face. Bio: Kia lost herself to 'The World' several years ago, while trying to fight off the first Wave with her friends. She doesn't exist outside of 'The World' due to a freak accident that occurred while she was playing. She died at the young age of thirteen. Since then, there has been some dispute as to what exactly she is anymore: A player, or a Vagrant AI. Because her character was at level one at the time of her death, that is now her official level, forever. To compensate this, a concerned player/hacker designed for her an illegal weapon: two almost feather-light blades that are tinted blue and are a little over four feet long each. But all that was long ago. After a little over a year of endless battles (some of which she'd almost died in), the Wave finally crumbled to dust, though it will surely someday come again. I hope that's okay! I used the character from my other stories.

OOC-That is just so like you 'non-trapped players'...going out on a party while I'm stuck in a game...*laughs* ||θ-Endless-Corrupted-White Devil|| Kia's blades quaked in her trembling hands as she stood amidst the sleet-white field. If I'm going to be stronger, she thought, I need to be able to deal with any environment we go to. Kia walked around for a little while, getting used to the frigid snowy climate. When she felt comfortable with it, she began to run. Finally, she walked up to a chaos gate. A buzzing sound, and her enemy was revealed: a huge, blue-skinned dragon glared menacingly down at her. Kia took a step back, suddenly frightened; her idea had been to test her strength, not to commit suicide. She dashed away from the huge wyrm, attempting an escape. / run program src="ruerom.exe" target="_player(Kia)" / A blue whirlwind whipped up around Kia, picking up shards of glass-like ice. Kia squealed, covering her head as the deadly wind tore around her. She made it through the cyclone attack with only one cut on her left arm, and instead of waiting to see if that dragon had any other brilliant ideas on it's mind, she ran from the fight and quickly gated out. ||θ Capital Dun Loireag|| That was way too close, Kia thought to herself, shaking off the last of the snow from the field she was just in. I guess I really am useless as a fighter. Well, that settled it; she was totally useless to the group now. Just dead weight, more for them to worry about. Oh, get over it, she scolded herself, you'll find something they can use you for! They have returned. Kia simply shook her head in response to the strange voice. She wasn't startled; she didn't care enough anymore to be startled. She simply walked over to the chaos gate and warped back to her normal root-town. ||Δ Capital Mac Anu|| Kia realized her mistake even before opening her eyes. She had completely forgotten about the Cobalt Knights' little escapade here. A man wearing full body armor and that face plating that was the sign of the cobalt knights walked up to her. As far as she could tell, he was the only person in the immediate area. "Stupid scanning," she heard him mutter, as if he wasn't really excited about what he was doing. "All right, your name?" he asked her, probably something they were routinely doing now. "Kia," she said compliantly, trying to hide the fear inside her. I'm just a normal kid playing 'the world', she told herself, nothing special, just a normal, legally-contracted videogame addict. "Right," the man said, taking down her name. "And your password?" Kia locked up, panicked. It had been so long since...since that happened, that she had long forgotten her password. "Ummm...I, erm...forgot it!" she nearly squealed. Nice going, moron, said a voice in her head, and the next thing he's gonna say is... "Forgot...?" that cobalt knight asked, confused, "But, erm, miss, if you forgot it, how can you be in here, playing right now?" A thought seemed to dawn on the man. It dawned on him very slowly. "Hey, wait a minute...you're one of those crazy illegal NPCs, aren't you?!" The man tightened his grasp on the halberd, smiling. "Well, well, well...it looks like I'm finally going to get to handle a case on my own...about time!" He swung the halberd downward, and in the time it took Kia to see the flash of the blade, it was there at her face... ...But it stopped! Kia's eyes grew wide as her arm darted out, catching the pole of the halberd, stopping it cold. It hadn't been something she'd done, her reflexes weren't that fast. She felt a strange energy running through her body, like every piece of her being was alive with electricity. The halberd tore itself from Kia's grasp, and swung again, faster and more lethal this time. In a blink of movement, Kia felt herself whirling off to one side of the attack. And now, she felt more confident...powerful. "You should have never come to me," she said airily, the energy inside her growing. She grasped her blades out of their straps, flashing them dangerously. The knight shouted and swung once more. Kia blinked, and twin daggers drew across each other before her in a blur of movement. The halberd fell into two pieces on the ground. The knight dropped what was left of his broken weapon and took a step back, shaking slightly. "Ummm...a little help ba-" He started to call over his shoulder when four screeches of metal-on-metal emanated from his back. His eyes went wide as a fifth metallic shriek sent a reddened dagger clear through him, Kia grinning slightly from behind. The buzzing energy seemed to flow out of her and into the man, who jerked violently once before falling in a heap on the ground. Kia stifled a laugh as she walked, unnoticed, throughout the town... ...But she could never know that in the real world, a middle aged man had just fallen unconscious onto the floor, the GAME OVER screen flashing across his screen. OOC- Kia, Kia, Kia...whatever are we gonna do with you?! *insert maniacal laughter here*

PROGRAM NAME: DEUS EX MACHINA PROGRAM STATUS: INITIALIZING LOADING PROGRAM...DONE LOCATION: MITSIRU, JAPAN TIME: 04:15:94 PM, MARCH 15, YEAR 2029 Clouds hung densely in the air over Mitsiru, almost as if watching the bleak, lifeless streets from overhead. It's not like the city's roads were always like this; Mitsiru was in fact a massive, bustling town. Today, however, was something different. The people were all inside, anxiously waiting for the most important trial in recent history to begin. A man had died. His name, or rather his professional name, was Dr. Chiro. He had led his small company, Datatech Corporation, into the newest industrial revolution: AI robots. For years, the project had been underway, the massive experiment to create a robot that could think, one that could feel, sense, and percieve...a living, breathing robot. Of course, all of this was supposed to be strictly top-secret, but of course, the media has ways... They had finally done it, they announced. The message was heard all across the world. They had finally created the first AI robot. They said the 'product' would be called "Andriod Model X", and that they would begin mass-production of the unit once it was approved by the TPAA (Technological Product Approval Administration). No one could have possibly seen it coming. /flashback.exe/ Dr. Chiro sat in the limo, next to the masterpiece he was about to showcase at a tech convention. She was a miracle of science, the prototype Android Model X, although the to the casual observer would only see a human girl of about maybe fourteen years of age. She, like all the Model X's that were to follow her, was designed to mimic every aspect of human life. Her humanity was so complete, in fact, that she didn't even know that she was a machination. The emotional recoil such knowledge would produce would introduce variables in the humanitary algorithms too complicated for even the most dedicated mathmatician to work out. Her official name was "Datatech Co. Android Model X Type 01 Unit 00-00-00-00-01", but due to an early system malfunction resulting in an over-clocked persona chip, she had insisted that they name her Kaorin. And so, reluctantly, they had. When they arrived at the convention, Kaorin helped the man she referred to as 'father' out of the car. At once, there was a massive crowd surrounding them, blaring questions, taking pictures, everything. This confused Kaorin terribly, for though she had the body of a young high-school student, in reality she had only been functional for a couple months. Dr. Chiro bent down as security rushed in to contain the crowd. "It's all right," he whispered in Kaorin's ear, "They're here to see how wonderful of a little girl you are." Kaorin looked up at him with her pale blue eyes and smiled, but she didn't say anything. She thought the rest of the 'trip' went very well. All she had to do was stand up on the stage and do whatever he told her to. Sit down, stand up, smile, bow, greet everyone...very, very simple tasks. So simple, at times she wondered why daddy was even bothering to make her do all these things. But she didn't question him, and she did as she was told every time. When the convention ended, the crowd dispersed, and Kaorin and Dr. Chiro walked back to the limo, which they entered abruptly, because it was terribly cold out. Dr. Chiro smiled, and lightly pressed a button, and the windows darkened to black, and a similar black window slid up between the section they were sittong in and the driver's compartment. "You did very well today, dear," he smiled affectionately, drawing Kaorin in for a hug. She held herself up to him, still shivering from the cold outside. He drew her face up with a hand, and looked deep into her eyes, which glowed eerily in the darkened compartment. "It's time for a tune-up..." Without a sound, Kaorin lowered her silky hands, preparing to take off her clothing. Of course she didn't know any better, she had never recieved legitimate data on this particular section of human activity, it always had seemed to make Dr. Chiro happy, and it usually didn't hurt her, so she had of course never refused when he had requested it of her. Something was different this time, though...someone was watching, she was sure of it. There was a certain presence in the campartment making her feel uncomfortable. All too suddenly, the presence made itself known with a shout. "You sick bastard!" a young male voice shouted. Kaorin was suddenly thrown against the door with a thud, and looked up just in time to see a fountain of red erupt from Dr. Chiro's chest, as though something was trying to dig into him. Rips appeared in his shirt, followed by blood...oh, so much blood...who or whatever was dismembering her dad, Kaorin couldn't see, but she could definitely see the crimson liquid bursting out all over the place, staining her clothes. The door was blown clear off the car, and Kaorin saw something jump out. It almost seemed like...a person, maybe! Except you could only see anything that had been stained by the blood...an invisible man! Kaorin turned to see her dad. When she saw the ruined remains of his body illuminated in the sunlight, she fainted... /end program: flashback.exe/ Kaorin shuddered at the painful memory. It had been merely two days since the incident, but so much had happened...she had been interrogated mercilessly, and the end conclusion had been that she had been the murderer. She was horrified at the idea, but it made sense; she had been the only person at the scene of the crime. Of course nobody else knew about this 'ghost man', and they wouldn't care if she told them. They'd chalk it up to delusions of a crazed little girl. The trial was today. Although Kaorin had no idea how, she would have to defend her innocence now. And meanwhile, new models of the Andriod product line were beginning open rebellion in the streets, pushing for equal rights. It was indeed a hectic time in Mitsiru, and though there was no activity in the streets, the tension in the air was unbelievable. If Kaorin was found guilty today, the rapidly growing Andriod population would be thrown into a full-on rebellion, leading to the next planetary revolution. Alone in the bleak, dreary streets, void of all life, a single little girl waked slowly to the court building, her soft footsteps echoing through the entire city... END PROGRAM: DEUS EX MACHINA Okay, hopefully that caught your attention. Basically, there has been a murder, the detail of which are shrouded in mystery. Kaorin knows she's not guilty, but none of the humans really give a damn about what she says, because she's an Andriod. Of course, this makes no sense to her because she isn't aware that she's an android. Andriods are heavily discriminated against, and things are about to turn violent; it all depends on the outcome of the trial, which wil, of course, be an unfair, biased trial. Everyone knows this, but no one is certain what will hapen after the outcome. Many are of the opinion that it will lead to open warfare, and are making militant preparations for such an event. Now for the fun part: sign-ups. It wouldn't be much of a Role Play if you didn't have a character. Here's what you'll need. Name: (Any name'll work) Age: (Again, whatever suits you) Type: (Choices are Andriod and human) Weapon: (Only if applicable, maximum of two, use your imagination) Family: (Only if applicable, andriods are usually property of some family or another) Appearance: (Pictures or descriptions, I don't really care) Bio: (If you don't know the drill, don't bother signing up) I'm looking forward to a colorful cast of characters, but sign-ups will be cut off after four people aside from myself have been approved. I'll post my own sign-up later, like when someone else signs up. There are only two sign-up rules: 1. You can't be Kaorin (That's my character) 2. You can't be the invisible man (He ties deeply into the storyline, so I'm playing it safe) Other than that, just have fun! I'll see you all soon!