QUARANTINE (Another Birth)
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| Title | .hack//Another Birth vol.4//QUARANTINE |
|---|---|
| Volumes | 4 |
| Author | Miu Kawasaki |
| Artist | Kazunori Ito |
| ISBN Number(s) | ISBN 1427801126 (U.S.), ISBN 4044199086 (Japan) |
.hack//Another Birth vol.4//QUARANTINE (.hack//Another Birth もうひとつの誕生 Vol.4 絶対包囲) is the fourth and final book in the .hack//Another Birth novel series.
Contents |
[edit] Chapters
[edit] The Entrustment of Hope
Akira sits at home depressed. So far all of the evidence she's gathered has pointed to one horrible conclusion, Mia the strange cat PC is in actuality Macha, the sixth Phase of the Cursed Wave and her enemy. Unsure of what to do, she calls Mayumi on the phone to talk things over. Mayumi tells her that with everything she's seen, it seems unavoidable that Mia is Macha. However she reminds her that the true enemy is neither Macha nor Mia, but whatever entity is controlling the Cursed Wave. After talking to her Akira reminisces about everything she's accomplished in the three months since she started playing "The World".
Later, BlackRose receives an e-mail from Lios announcing a meeting in Omega Server's Root Town Lia Fail. She warps to Lia Fail, but finds the Root Town is so corrupted that it's impossible to play there. Helba helps out by creating a mirror server that simulates Omega Server, and everybody warps there instead. BlackRose notices that the new version of Lia Fail is modeled after Helba's base Net Slum. Wiseman explains that they've changed their strategy to combat the Cursed Wave. This new strategy, nicknamed "Operation Orca" will use a vaccine program to drive the Cursed Wave to a location where it can be safely battled. Kite explains that the strategy is based on the way orcas, or killer whales hunt their prey. To help out, Lios has brought in several of his subordinates to assist in the program. He tells Kite that strange data has been discovered in Ω Bigoted Snowflake's Capsule. After forming a party, Kite, BlackRose, and Balmung go to investigate. Entering the dungeon, they locate and battle a Data Bug, giving Lios the opportunity to obtain some data from it.
In the real world, Akira is busy studying for final exams. However her plans change, when she hears about a recent data error that caused many hospitals to experience problems. Her parent's leave to check on Fumikazu, leaving Akira alone to take care of her little brother Kouta.
BlackRose logs into "The World" to talk to Kite. He tells her that the hospital Orca was in, Niizato University Hospital was one of the places affected by the problems. Luckily Orca was fine, but it only proves that they need to defeat the Cursed Wave, and quickly. As they talk they are approached by Spiritas one of the Wandering AIs from Net Slum. He tells them to travel to Σ Screaming Wind Sand's Fate Castle to find another one of Harald's mysterious rooms. They travel to the dungeon, and sure enough find themselves in one of the strange rooms. This time the room contains a small hill, with a tree growing on top. Standing under the tree is a woman holding a parasol. BlackRose recognizes the scene as the hill where Harald learned of Emma Wielants death, however in this case it's Emma waiting on the hill and not him. Kite and BlackRose hear another one of Harald's notes and another Epitaph fragment.
When they return to Fort Ouph the run into Elk who is busy searching for Mia. BlackRose suggests that he join up with their group to help search, and invites him to help with Operation Orca. Happy to have help finding Mia Elk accepts her offer. Kite is also glad to have Elk on the team, even though Elk is still unaware of what's actually occurring in "The World".
Only later does BlackRose realize that if Mia actually is Macha, then Elk may wind up becoming her enemy.
[edit] Mia's True Character
Akira finishes her finals, which turn out quite poorly. She also loses her spot as a starting player on the tennis team to Natori. However neither of these things bother her quite as much as the thought that Mia will be her next opponent. She talks to Asaoka at school and tells her everything that happened since her fight against Fidchell, Asaoka asks if she can tell Hagiya, and Akira tells her it's ok.
In "The World", BlackRose works to raise her level. While adventuring alone she encounters Mia, who warns her not to get close to her. BlackRose asks her about Elk, and Mia tells her that for his benefit, she has to stay away from him and gates away. She considers telling Elk about this, but decides against it. Later, Wiseman e-mails BlackRose with information on Operation Orca. BlackRose travels to Net Slum for a meeting, and notices that Elk is there as well. Once Kite arrives, Balmung explains the operation. Lios and his men were able to track the Cursed Wave to the area Ω Cruel Vindictive Scars, Kite is to organize a party to travel there and confront the Wave directly. To BlackRose's surprise, Kite forms a party of himself, her, and Elk. They travel to the field, but as soon as they arrive Helba contacts them and says that the moment they entered the area, the Cursed Wave moved to another area Ω Graceful Tempting Fallen Angel. As they fight their way through the dungeon, BlackRose notices that Elk seems to be acting strangely. He tells her he feels like Mia is somewhere in the dungeon. BlackRose wonders what they'll see at the bottom, will it be Mia? Or Macha?
Finally they reach the bottom, Elk rushes into the mist filled portal without taking the time to cast strengthening magic. As BlackRose suspected, Mia is on the other side. Elk rushes to her side, and Mia begins to talk to him. She tells him that she's come to the realization that she only exists inside the system of "The World". As BlackRose watches Mia slowly begins to lose control of her body. Concerned, Kite tries to approach her, but as he gets close Mia apologizes to Elk and begins to transform. Before her very eyes, BlackRose watches as Mia turns into Macha. After completing the transformation Macha turns to Elk, and warps him out of the dungeon. BlackRose contacts him via Flash Mail, and he tells her that he's been locked outside of the dungeon. Suddenly Macha begins to attack, and BlackRose loses her connection to Elk. Kite and BlackRose are forced to fight Mia without a third party member. BlackRose finds it hard to fight against a former friend, but Kite tells her that the creature in front of her is no longer Mia, but Macha. He hangs back to act as a healer, while BlackRose fights Macha directly. Eventually they succeed in data draining, and defeating Macha. As they strike the final blow, Macha fades away revealing Mia, who crumples to the ground.
Kite rushes to Mia's side, and Elk arrives soon afterwards, the protective field over the dungeon having lifted with Macha's defeat. He tries to help Mia with his recovery magic, but it's no use. Mia fades away in front of him. Angry, he storms off, ignoring Kite and BlackRose's calls to wait. Lios' voice breaks the silence and orders them to return to Net Slum, but Kite and BlackRose find themselves unable to look away from the spot where Mia once stood.
[edit] Each Resolution
Kite and BlackRose recover themselves and return to Net Slum. Lios tells them that after Macha's defeat, the Cursed Wave fled back to Ω Cruel Vindictive Scars. He orders them to pursue it and fight it there. Kite invites Balmung to the party, and together they return to the field. BlackRose feels uneasy about fighting both Macha and Tarvos in one night, but is confident that with Balmung on their side again they'll be able to handle anything that comes their way. They reach the bottom of the dungeon, but before they can enter the mist filled portal Lios suddenly contacts them. He tells them that the Cursed Wave was able to resist his vaccine, and destroyed his entire support team. He says that he's suspending the operation and orders them to return to Net Slum immediately. However, before they can escape the segment that Kite is holding suddenly floats out of his character. Looking up, BlackRose sees Aura floating above her. As the segment reaches her body, Aura opens her eyes. However before she can talk to them, Cubia appears and begins to attack. Aura tells them to run away, then flees the scene.
Realizing they can't escape, Kite and his friends prepare for battle. Using the same strategy as their previous battles, they begin to wear down Cubia's HP. During the fight BlackRose notices a strange shadow inside Cubia's core. When she examines it closer she notices a PC that looks almost exactly like Kite floating inside. She has little time to think about it though, and after losing its HP, Cubia makes another retreat.
BlackRose, Kite, and Balmung return to Net Slum where Lios bitterly tells them that all of his subordinates have fallen into comas. Without their help, there's no way they can continue with Operation Orca. Helba appears, and tells him that even with the loss, they still have to continue their fight. She tells Lios that reinforcements have already arrived, and BlackRose watches as a large group of people warp into the area. She recognizes Natsume, Sanjuro, Piros, Terajima Ryoko and Gardenia among their number. She also remembers the names of the other players, Nuke Usagimaru, Rachel, Marlo, and Moonstone as people she's seen on the BBS. Sanjuro tells her that everybody here is a friend of Kite, and they've come to support him in his hour of need. Suddenly a new figure warps in, it's Mistral! Mistral runs over to BlackRose and tells her that she too has decided to help them out. Helba tells Lios that the best way to help his subordinates, is to continue fighting. Lios agrees with this and announces that Operation Orca will resume immediately using a new form of the vaccine program.
Kite's friend warp away, leaving Kite, BlackRose, Mistral, and Balmung in Net Slum. Kite decides to switch Balmung out for Mistral, so Balmung leaves to join up with the support group. Having formed a party, Kite and his friends return to Ω Cruel Vindictive Scars. When they reach the bottom of the dungeon, Lios tells them that they've managed to secure the Cursed Wave in one place. Kite and his party enter the portal, and find themselves facing the seventh Phase, Tarvos. Tarvos battles them by using several instant death techniques, and also keeps changing its tolerance levels. However despite its strength, Kite eventually succeeds in Data Draining it, and Tarvos falls.
They return to Lia Fail, but instead of Lios they find several Wandering AIs waiting for them. The AIs, Jin, Sconk, Dorin, and Culhwch speak nonsensically before gating away. Their leader Tartarga thanks Kite for his help and gates away as well. Mistral speculates that Lios went to visit his subordinates in the hospital.
Later that night BlackRose receives an e-mail from Kite. He tells her that Aura just contacted him with another encrypted e-mail. BlackRose asks Kite to forward it to her, and waits for it to arrive.
