Author's Notes: Hello, hello! Oh my god, it's the almighty Goldberry! Time for some hero-worship. [Worship] And yeah, to answer KaitaKembi's questions…

To use HTML formatting (bold, italics, double paragraph spacing, and all those cheap effects I use to make this story look prettier than it actually is), you open Microsoft Word. Then make a new file—a Web Page file, which should be the icon next to the Blank Document picture thingy. When you save it, with bold and italic effects and all those things you like, be sure to tack a ".html" after the file name, so FanFiction.net will accept it. Have fun! (Kite and BlackRose are from the .hack games series. Love them! Worship them! They are your idols!)

The little dividers last chapter didn't show up. [Grumbles and mumbles about Microsoft Word] I'll fix it later. Much, much later.

Disclaimer: No .hack…

Chapter 13: Actions and Consequences

Heaven's not enough

If when you get there…

Just another blue

And heaven's not enough

You think you've found it,

And it loses you

Heaven's Not Enough – Steve Conte

"If I had known he would do something like that, Bear," Kite hissed through gritted teeth, obviously thinking the Blademaster had misjudged his ward, "I would've actually thought twice about helping him out of that staff."

The Blademaster grimaced—not out of apprehension about the way he was confronted for Sora's behavior, but rather the fact that Sora was still capable of virtual homicide. He regained his mature composure and stared down at him. "I truly am sorry for what he did to your partner," he began, "and I hope she's alright. Again, I'm sorry. Tsukasa and I will ensure that it won't happen again." He was a compassionate, fatherly man at heart, and so he was surprised to discover that he didn't care much for BlackRose's dilemma. "But I have other questions that I need answered at the moment."

"Such as why he targeted BlackRose in the first place?"

They blinked, and turned, gazes meeting that of the teal-and-green-and-blue-clad Wavemaster, with the crown cradling her hair glinting in the Carmina Gadelica moonlight. (The Cultural City, in its perpetual night, was famed for, six months ago, having a certain Player Killer ascertain his presence through death after death. That was before killing was prohibited in Root Towns.)

BT wasn't smiling that funny little smile of hers—her usual snide fashion when she expected a price for information. There was a sort of forlorn air then, like a thick obscuring puff of miasma or fog. Kite's intuition would be correct when he assumed something was wrong.

"I'd like to know," he managed, folding his arms, fingers clutching at the white fabric. "Maybe he knows she's with me."

Bear spared him a bemused glance and a lifted eyebrow.

"Maybe," BT deadpanned, tapping the pointed end of her staff against the hand-laid stone grounds. "Bear, you know Mimiru, correct?" she asked, on a different note entirely. The blue-faced Blademaster blinked a few times, and then nodded, shifting his weight onto his other foot.

"She met up with Tsukasa in real life, a month ago."

"Her character design is remarkably like BlackRose's, wouldn't you say?" she queried further, turning around rather deliberately slowly. Knowing BT, she would prolong suspense simply for personal gain or thrill. "What if Sora recognizes Mimiru's character design?"

The older man frowned slightly. "A far-fetched theory. Mimiru has a standard-issue Heavy Blade character." He paused. "Even so, why would he hunt for people who look like Mimiru? Why her?"

"There are several possibilities." The staff in her hand evaporated in a mass of colorful data, before she began ticking things off on her fingers (the nails of which were fairly long). "She's Tsukasa's best friend. On various occasions before he fell into a coma, Mimiru connected with him as more of a person than a killer, through petty arguments or pleasant conversation—moreso than any of you."

"You shouldn't talk, BT," Bear retorted with a half-smile.

"All I'm saying," she interrupted, casting a glare at him, eyes shooting proverbial daggers at his face, "is that you should keep your eyes open. It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on Mimiru, either."

He sighed, defeated by stress. His shoulders sank faintly, and his eyes glued themselves to the floor. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. But I don't think it would hurt to remember that even if Sora's targeting Mimiru, she's not the only one in danger here."

BT blinked, alerted by Kite's presence, emanating withdrawn fury. She looked down at him, scrutinizing him with foreign sympathy. She was a graceful sort, carrying herself with all the air of a calm but dominating hacker—similar, in many aspects, to Helba, though lacking the capabilities to acquire inside information at the press of a button. "Your partner. Has she logged in yet?"

"No," he mumbled, tilting his chin up slightly. "Maybe it's better that way… Her character wasn't in the best shape when she logged off… I think I'll e-mail her." The Twin Blade brightened at the prospect of contacting BlackRose, and turned, presumably to write the aforementioned e-mail. He froze suddenly, gloved finger hovering above an invisible spot, before facing the Wavemaster and the Blademaster. "Sora," Kite began, something unrecognizable flickering in the depths of his stormy eyes, "might have been infected."

They were enraptured immediately.

"But," he continued, fingers drifting furiously over an invisible keyboard, "he wasn't…covered in the infected cells, like monsters. He only had one." He hesitated, eyes wandering over text unseen before giving a final nod, letting his arms fall limply to his sides. "It was right here." He prodded the center of his own forehead, brushing aside sea-colored bangs and indicating the space above and between his eyebrows.

"The temple," she noted, adjusting the crown on her own forehead. "It's probably some indication as to Morganna's invasion of his mind." Bear's head shot up instantly.

"If Sora's able to log in, and if Morganna finds her old marionette…"

"She will inevitably discover the result of placing people in comas."

"And take advantage of it."

Bear, BT, and Kite had spoken in tandem as apparitions of the consequences danced in their minds. Ten million users, comatose at their terminals. Ten million users without memories. Morganna was an AI, and thus could not quest beyond the virtual reaches of The World. But there were ways—especially if she learned to utilize the knowledge of her pawns.

She turned to Bear, the folds of her robe dancing feathery-light near her boots. "I think," she said coolly, though something akin to fear and anticipation gleamed in her catlike eyes, "it would be best that Sora does not touch The World for a while." In spite of her passive demeanor, it seemed that any imagined outcome had only recently begun to faze her, and with a last troubled glance at the Cultural City's midnight sky, she disappeared in a vertical train of gold rings.

---

Annako shut the door and tiptoed into Sora's room, tentatively entering his white-walled prison to which he was sentenced whenever he had a fleeting glimpse of insanity and acted on it. She was a good person in spite of it all, and she mentally confirmed that Sora was as well—not "evil" or any of that per se (no thanks to Morganna), but simply…misguided. A misguided innocent.

"Sora? I'm sorry for yelling at you," she rushed. She found herself submissive these days, as opposed to Tsukasa's originally withdrawn and holier-than-thou attitude that always seemed to get the better of her in The World. "I…"

Sora glared. His eyes were the type that always seemed to see right through you; ulterior motives were as plain as day. Upon judging that she had none, he still shunned her, averting his gaze. His knees were drawn to his chest, though a simple white sheet blanketed the former. His arms rested on his knees—not around, but on, and the forearms of which cradled and half-sheltered his chin and mouth.

"Are you okay?" Annako asked suspiciously. "If there's something wrong…you can tell me, you know."

Concern, and extending the hand of friendship. She'd learned it from Subaru.

"Information's costly," Sora responded blandly, locking eyes with her again. Annako blanched, maintaining eye contact for about four seconds before letting out a secret sigh and looking away.

"What do you mean, 'information'?" she said, bewildered. She did not consider the sharing of feelings a thing worth paying for—that is to say, she expected such an intangible and almost insignificant thing to benefit him more than her.

The lanky boy twisted and then planted his feet on the floor, before pulling himself up into a standing position. The only way she could describe his motions was "trudging"—he seemed dragged by some unearthly force. "Many things are wrong," he mused poetically, only arm's length away from the mundane, colorless walls. "Anything is possible—someone always has the proper information, but to extract it from them, you have to know how to make a bargain."

"Err…you're misjudging me." Annako felt very small all of a sudden, hands clasped behind her back and toe nudging the carpeting. "I only want—"

"The fine line between genius and insanity…ah…I wonder when I erased it…?"

"Sora, what're you—"

"Who was she?"

Annako did her very best to recollect the name of Kite's companion and friend. (Perhaps they were more than that, but she hadn't the time to properly acquaint herself with them.) "Er…BlackRose, I think. Not sure."

"Whom is she working with?"

"The Twin Blade, Kite. The bearer of the Bracelet—"

"And who are they working against?"

Annako froze in place, suddenly finding herself unable to breathe or think.

His eyes slid languidly to her rigid expression. "What did they see?"

"Huh?"

"Does a pawn move when there is no hand to guide it?" Sora paused, running a hand through forest-green hair. And he turned to stare at her, crimson eyes flickering coldly. "Do puppets dance without strings? Implausible. Impossible. I think the correct metaphor is…

"Reading between the lines.

"If 'Kite' is too much of an imbecile to realize that what he saw was not what he thought he saw…

"Well…just wait. Patience is a virtue, after all."

And with that, he said no more, edging even farther into the corner of the room so as to seclude himself. Annako nudged him for more information through baffled inquiries and lamentations of danger and possibly his own salvation… But, with one last withering stare, it became clear to her that the conversation was over.