On the same day that German writer Emma Wieland passed away in a traffic accident, she was born far away in Eustis, Detroit, Michigan*.
In this setting of foul odors emitting from a drainage channel that became dull with rust like blood clinging to the wall of a slaughterhouse was a den of retched scum seeking violence, gambling and cheap alcohol. A town like shit slowly sinking down in a toilet bowl. This was Eustis.
Her grandparents immigrated from Germany and settled in this town. Even though there were countless towns of a larger size in the United States. They came to this town, of all the towns they could have chosen.
When she was seventeen, she left the town without saying goodbye to her family. She was tired of everything around her. Eustis was useless to her. There was no hope for her future there. All she had was her hacking skills acquired through self-study. She decided to live by relying on that.
From then on, she traveled to cities along of the east coast such as Boston, New York, and Washington D.C., among others. She changed residences frequently and changed “hunting grounds” even more frequently. There was nothing to restrict her if she were connected to a network. She roamed around the computers of famous large companies. She destroyed systems and exchanged the extracted information for money with anyone who wanted it.
She did not feel any hesitation about her cracking activities.
She had no political beliefs or faith. She did not intend to work for her former home country nor to harm her current country. She just asked for money online in exchange for her skills. She was only concerned with the reward.
She rarely looked back on her hometown.
She threw everything away beyond the red rust that covers the town.
The ALGOS monitor room was silent. Flugel, Kusame, KK and the other programmers held their breath and watched the screen in front of them.
The camera displayed the interior of one of the huge 200-meter battleships that were part of the large fleet floating out of bounds.
Urania and Drain were facing each other.
They were standing about 15 meters apart.
What was about to begin was a showdown between crackers. Two people with opposing roles, similar in terms of being harmful to the system.
A virus and an anti-virus. The one that destroys the world and the one that protects it.
Urania activated the wallhack radar while she kept her eyes on her opponent. There was no response. There was no character other than the man in front of her on this ship.
Yet Urania was skeptical of that information. This man hides rats as though in ambush. He is also an immensely skilled cracker. She did not know which programs he used to disguise data.
As she thought about this, Drain moved.
He raised his hands and clapped once in front of himself. Then, after a moment, he clapped once again. The sound echoed in the empty hangar.
"Congratulations. Allow me to bestow blessings upon you in regards to your arrival at this place."
It seemed he intended to clap again at this moment.
"But… you’re alone? What happened to your usual team?"
Drain folded his arms and pretended to think deeply by placing his right fist under his chin.
"Did no one bring the Sophia Corps? I see, I see. This means there are many things to consider…"
He narrowed his eyes and looked at Urania as though assessing her.
"In preparation for the rat threat, others turned to protecting the town… no, that’s not it. If you strike me down, you should know that the rats will be released, so you ought to do your best here now. That’s not quite it. What I’m trying to say is, you can only act on your own now."
There was no change in Urania’s expression.
"I observed your team in Net Slum. It appears that my abilities and your abilities are very similar in several respects. It could be said that viruses and anti-viruses are inseparable."
Drain continued to talk.
"For eight people excluding you, moving is simple. They are not players. A semi-automatic unmanned PC that you control remotely - it’s an option in a shooting game. As I am responsible for the rats, you are responsible for the other goddesses."
After he said that, he smiled.
"But, how many hours have passed since my rats started transferring? Are the Sophias working all the time? Tremendous mental power is needed to operate eight Sophias simultaneously. You must be exhausted. I saw that your limits are already drawing near, but what do you think?"
Urania was expressionless. While standing upright, she took a small step forward with your left foot. She stretched her left hand in front of her and pulled her right hand around her waist.
"It’s like the chirping of birds in early spring," she muttered as though spitting.
She had an elegant look, like she had received an invitation to dance. However, it clearly differed in that both of her fists are clenched. It was an old, yet strong, style of boxing, close to the bare-knuckle boxing style.
"If you want to sing so much, I will make you sing plenty."
Drain looked with apparent interest at Urania’s pose.
A saintly smile lingered on his face.
Then -
Urania moved in front of Drain. It was as though a flash ran a distance of fifteen meters.
By the time Drain realized what was happening, a golden PC body was standing in front of him. Her right fist came flying outward in a straight line.
A direct thrust.
Drain dodged the unexpectedly fast attack by a hair’s breadth.
It was because bewilderment crossed his mind that he backed off without striking back.
Drain was wary of Urania’s projectile weapons. There were two attack skills that the Sophia team showed in the previous Net Slum fight. Napalm and a laser. For both of them, Drain had already analyzed them and applied a countermeasure program to himself.
But in the current situation it was almost certain that the laser ought to be used. He read her skill frequency, so he would leap away at once and deal with it. That was what he thought. He wouldn’t use rats. Even if one pitted a virus against an antivirus, the damage would only increase.
However, she did not use projectiles, but came to strike directly?
When he thought about it, he felt as though the ground was heavily tilted.
The battleship had not shifted.
He was shocked to realize that that fist was supposed to have scraped his forehead. His field of vision was blurred by this alone.
Drain’s smile vanished from his face.
Urania came forward again in a flash. The same onrush. A right thrust of her fist.
Just before the strike landed, Drain smoothly lifted his hands with his fingers spread out and blocked Urania’s fist.
He would stop Urania’s blow with both hands. He would grab her and pull her arm, dislocating it from her shoulder. Just like he did to the deputy chief of the debug team. He would twist and break off this woman’s right arm, he thought.
The timing was perfect, but the force put into the strike was unexpected. He couldn’t stop it. Urania’s fist penetrated through the gap between both of Drain’s palms and the fist sunk into Drain’s nose.
Flashes appeared before his eyes and the blurry environment became ever more distorted.
He stepped back to create some distance between them.
Urania stepped forward to close that distance.
A front kick was launched into Drain’s abdomen like a stake.
He was struck directly in the pit of his stomach.
"Gaahhh."
He flew backwards and fell down. He then rolled over the ground and quickly sprang to his feet.
Urania posed the same as before. She stretched her left arm forward and pulled her right arm around her waist.
This woman - Drain thought as he tried to stabilize his disheveled breathing - was she not planning to use any projectiles in this place? Did she intend to fight with just her bare hands?
He was misled by her strange appearance and flashy arms. Now he understood. This woman’s moves were based on those of a Grappler.
However, that was not the problem.
Drain felt that the data that was struck by Urania in this place would be torn apart. PC body data would be erased as though it had been scraped off with a giant baseball bat-like metal file. A strange sort of damage different from being shot by Brieler Rossel.
"Have you stopped singing already?" Urania sneered.
"What’s wrong? Say something more interesting."
Drain put himself on guard.
This woman’s abilities were a mystery, so it would not do to continue to receive further attacks.
Urania rushed in again with a smile on her face.
She quickly prepared her attack, but this time she did not strike with her right fist.
She used a feint. By the time Drain realized, Urania was already launching her next attack.
He realized that Urania’s right leg swung out instead and a strong low-body kick hit him. It was not a low kick. She kicked Drain’s left knee straight on with her heel.
"Arghhh."
The blow caused Drain to stagger. He tried to push the strike back with his hands, but he could not. He tried to guard himself with each of his arms, but a literal fist sunk into Drain’s stomach. The same place struck by the front kick.
"Ack."
Drain’s PC body was bent at the waist and he got the air knocked out of his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. It was as though the nerves within his abdomen had been grabbed directly.
"I don’t use bullets," Urania said.
"‘You’ve already applied the countermeasure program’… There’s that, too. The most important thing is to make sure. To be sure, here and now, with this hand I’ll destroy you and erase the rats. I’ll beat you to death and dispose of you once and for all."
An ominous roar escaped her beautiful lips.
"Don’t think you can escape, rat-user. I won’t leave a scrap of data behind."
Then Urania moved into position to make another rush.
It was like being shocked by continuous shock-waves.
A thrust, a kick, rapidly sank into the Drain’s body.
It was so fast, so powerful. He could not stop it. He took the full force of the blow.
Drain held his head with both hands.
It was not a substitute for guarding. He was just tying to avoid a critical hit to the head.
Despite being stupefied by the flurry of strikes, Drain tried to grasp his exact position in the hangar.
He did not intend to use it. He arranged it just to be on the safe side. It will be damaged accordingly. He had no choice but to do it.
Aiming his timing for when Urania dropped her guard for a moment, Drain was finally able to escape and create some distance.
Urania, who seemed already convinced of victory, followed Drain with a steady footstep without showing any signs of fear.
Drain caught the moment when her foot hit a corner of the floor and he switched from “standby” to an “attack” command.
Suddenly rats that were mimicking a wall simultaneously unraveled from their camouflage, passed over Drain and rushed toward Urania.
Urania could not react in time to the swarm of downpouring rats. In a moment her golden body was covered by a purple effect and she vanished from sight.
Beforehand, in one corner of this hangar, Drain had placed thousands of rats to mimic a wall.
As he watched Urania who was being swallowed up by the swarm of rats, Drain was finally able to catch his breath.
Urania was trying to escape her struggle to the death for now. Less than twenty percent of the rats would die by her armed resistance, but that would be all. Escape would be impossible once she was incorporated into the carpet of rats, unless she were to use a clever scheme like Flugel.
The rats were devouring her to their heart’s content.
Just then, a light began to appear from a person-shaped lump covered by rats.
It looked like lines like magic summoning circles were spreading over the carpet of rats, and a loud sound and dazzling light covered everything and blew all the rats away.
In that moment, Drain looked on as every one of the rats burned and vaporized.
"I thought you were planning something."
The light faded and Urania, who had removed the carpet of rats, replied with a few words.
"Rats with a stealth function? How stupid."
While the debris of the rats fell to the ground as scraps of data, Drain knelt down. He could not believe what happened before his eyes. He could not stop himself from trembling within the core of his body.
It was unbelievable. What had just happened was absurd.
Now she used a "Data Drain."
The Sophia commonly known as the SSS version, or “Sophia System Security”, is a program created artificially by extracting the data of the goddess Aura.
Its development began right after the Akashic Records incident in 2010. And how could she artificially control the godlike power of "Data Drain?" She had a history of defiance.
The powerful non-specification skill Data Drain seeks the capabilities of those it strikes. And if those who do not meet requirements try to release the Data Drain, it brings disaster to the surroundings in the form of corrupted data. Like the wrath of God against humans who violated taboos.
When the initial development period had passed, the development team produced the prototype Sophia.
This software had sufficient performance as an anti-virus, however, it had not fully utilized Aura’s data. That was the best they could do. They were made to realize the unpleasant truth that even if they came to grapples with the genius Harold who created Aura, they could not compete with him.
So they changed their way of thinking.
If they could not precisely control it, then they did not have to control it from the start.
You always emit the Data Drain at low output, avoid accumulation of power, and therefore avoid unpredictable and fatal data corruption.
The golden Sophia Urania was designed with that idea in mind.
Take jellyfish cnidocytes for example. Urania’s whole body was covered by a group of infinitesimally tiny Data Drains which were fired when touched. That is to say, a contact-type Data Drain with an omnidirectional zero-distance fire. Just punching and kicking will destroy virus data.
The body always seemed to shine like gold because it was constantly ‘firing.’
Camouflage using this light was merely a byproduct.
Members of the Sophia other than Urania were optional beings and at the same time they had the role of lightning rods that mitigate and alleviate corrupt data.
Naturally, however, the burden on players would be tremendous. It was necessary to have a character with a different significance to the person eligible to wear the original bracelet.
That was why support and regularly maintenance was essential because to ALGOS. Startup time was limited to a very short time.
However, in regards to this problem, it could also be handled by a development team that was not full of geniuses like Harold. There was an expectation that it could be overcome by developing technology.
Due to the information that was sent just before the rats that touched Urania were erased, Drain understood these matters.
A virus opponent is almost unbeatable - what kind of humble words were these?
Drain realized he was mistaken about this opponent.
Urania was an opponent who should never be fought from the front.
It was a bad move that he led her to a one-on-one fight due to his fear of the rats being damaged.
He should have fought a war of attrition.
He was getting exhausted, and now he was fighting to force exhaustion.
"…I could win more easily…" he muttered from the back of his throat.
Urania did not hear his voice.
She did not try to attack Drain immediately.
She felt that her opponent was still hiding something.
The one that Urania despised was an evil-handed monster. He was kneeling on the ground, cowering, and staring up at her. If he tried anything sneaky, she would jump at his throat in an instant and crush him.
He was still smiling. What a disgusting face, thought Urania.
That monster opened its mouth.
"Incredible. There’s no way you should have that kind of ability…" he said, his voice shaking slightly. He had been showered with blows from handless fists. He was shaken by the damage he suffered.
"Could it be… Data Drain?"
His voice seemed to fade. However, his voice grew loud.
"‘Drain! Data Drain!’"
Drain slowly stood up.
His whole face radiated joy.
"Could it be it is here? Marvelous. Truly wonderful. You appeared, armed with Data Drain, before me, Drain, the one who wishes for the abandonment of the internet. What a miracle, what luck. Perhaps you do not understand the weight of these words. Data… and Drain!"
"What?" Urania replied, but she was ignored.
"That’s right. In retrospect, it was fatefully implicit from the events of Net Slum in the first place. At that time, I was provoked by Flugel’s words and named myself ‘Drain.’ I appeared immediately after that. You have ‘Data Drain.’ Incredible. Everything was made clear in advance. This is a revelation and a blessing bestowed upon me…"
Drain continued talking ecstatically.
"As before, I feel that I am walking the path of the light of truth. I am elected to the ‘trial.’ Some grand purpose is guiding me to my ‘trial.’"
"Okay, I get it."
Urania crouched drown and lifted her right fist.
"Now, die!"
"That’s why, from now on, what I said…"
Drain continued without regard to what she said.
"It is a small thank-you to you, Judy Goldman, for making me realize how right I am. Listen closely to my words. Let me share something with you honestly."
Urania stopped in her tracks.
The one who called her by that name had been gone for a long time. A name that she had half forgotten. The name she had cast off in her hometown of Detroit.
"Judy, you are completely using technology given to you by CC Corp. You believe you fully understand Urania. But do you really? Was your understanding correct to begin with?"
Drain’s voice echoed in the hangar.
"No one can run away from their deeply ingrained past. Two years ago, you left your hometown of Eustis. You ran away. From your parents, from your family, from your hometown, from the smell of rust."
Se did not want to hear Drain’s words. However, Urania stood frozen as though held by an invisible force.
"I think you threw a part of yourself away. That’s the impression I get. Perhaps you were disgusted by Detroit’s wealthy Goldman family, but is that really the case? Is that the correct interpretation?"
It was as though Drain’s eyes were growling.
"Of course not. Your family threw you away. That is why you left home. You must not make a mistake in the order of events. You made an effort to meet the expectations of your parents. You tried to live up to the Goldman family name."
This was something only she and her family knew.
"But it was impossible. You could not become the star child. Your parents were disappointed and they…"
He paused for a brief moment.
"…gave up on you. That is the truth of the matter."
Drain lightly shook his head and looked at Urania with eyes that can express even being filled with kindness.
"There is a legend that a high priest of Judea molded earth to make an artificial man and set him to work. Judy, you are that being… a golem. Used for the convenience of your maker… abandoned… rejected by everyone… no one who understands you. Nowhere for you to belong."
Drain’s voiced echoed.
"A pitiable doll, a golem. You do not have a soul. Those without souls don’t deserve to exist. That’s why I said that, that you are not a ‘trial’."
"Urania."
The chat was switched on for the first time since entering the battle and the voice of Flugel could be heard.
"I don’t know the situation, but don’t get hot-headed. He’s provoking you. You’re making a mistake."
"I know. I’m calm," Urania responded in the chat. Her voice remained steady.
"He’s talking nonsense. Damn cheap provocation. He’s inviting projectile attacks. Is he trying to create an opening to escape, or is this a counter-aim? But he’s not really doing anything. At this rate, I’ll destroy him in one fell swoop!"
As she finished saying this, Urania rushed toward Drain.
At that moment, Drain moved forward faster than Urania.
Perhaps there was some spare energy left where he was struck. The very moment she started to move, she was struck in an instant.
Struck by a tackle like a bolt of lightning. As though inviting a partner to waltz, Drain suddenly embraced Urania. He grappled with her.
Urania gently grasped her opponent’s neck with her left hand and tried to drive her right fist into his face, but Drain’s hand pressed down Urania’s wrist and held it with force like a vise.
A shiver ran through Urania. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end in the real world.
"This distance is best."
Drain gently whispered in Urania’s ear.
"The one who lets go is the one who values what’s real. I never thought that it would end up like this. Thanks to you, my plans have gone a little awry."
He smiled and laughed.
"But the most important thing is to make certain. Certainly, here and now, I will break you directly with this hand…"
At the same time he said the word “break,” Drain unleashed an explosive attack that he had been absorbing up to this point.
Since logging into The World, his energy had been growing little by little. He unleashed the power of the black forest which surpasses even God.
A glimpse of a jagged, black forest.
Urania felt like she was surrounded by an extraordinary light and heat.
The explosion‘s vibration was able to be confirmed far away at ALGOS.
A noise subsided and the wind blasts died down one after the other.
"What was that just now?!" KK jumped up and shouted. His eyes looked upward.
"He destroyed them with the power of the black forest," Kusame groaned from the back of his throat.
"What a powerful guy. He blew up his own fleet."
ALGOS’ monitor room began to shake like there was an earthquake. It was not just ALGOS. The data of The World itself was swaying in the aftermath of the present explosion.
"I told you! Raising the camera makes the data unstable!"
KK launched into a misdirected roar once again.
"This is your fault! As guildmaster of ALGOS , I will take you two to court…"
Fortunately, they not have to listen to the end of his raving attempt to shift responsibility. They were interrupted partway through. A server error had occurred.
He was forcibly logged out.
Flugel, Kusame, KK, the programmers and all other players were taken outside of The World.
Players were not the only ones who were forced out.
Something similar was happening with the rats.
The rats, who had been engaged in aimless marching since transferring into the town, were sniffing a smell that drifted to their noses.
It was an attractive odor no less. Why hadn’t they noticed this smell up to this point? A sweet, warm, moist, fragrant smell. A rich fragrance that the human brain gives off.
They thought they had to go. They had to go to this scent, no matter what obstacles they had to overcome.
The rats, who gathered in all five towns except Net Slum of The World R: X, began their last action to complete the "Exodus."
Server errors piled up there. Of course it was not a coincidence. It was structured that way. In response to this favorable situation of a forced logout, the rats began to run at full speed. The insignificant data loaded in their small bodies put as much power as possible into their limbs and off they went to a computer terminal, to a computer terminal, to a computer terminal.
A horde of identical digital copies, a large group of rats making a tremendous squeal like the noise of a gale, to a computer terminal, to a computer terminal, to the computer terminal.
They flashed their fangs, drool dripping in threads from their mouths, and like a raging sea, to a computer terminal, to a computer terminal, to a computer terminal.
Without regard for wires or wireless connections, they traced their way, being drawn by electricity, and opened the limits of their data, eating anything in their way, annihilating the obstacles and creating their path by ripping their way through it, to a computer terminal, to a computer terminal, to a computer terminal.
They were jumping out of The World through the network line, to a computer terminal, to a computer terminal, to a computer terminal.
Then, if they reached the end…
On that day, a light burst forth from the monitors of players who were logged into The World, and from the monitors of players who had acquaintances who were also playing The World, and from the monitors of their acquaintances and also from the monitors of the acquaintances’ acquaintances.
The light lasted only for an instant and it was likely not even perceived, depending on the timing of a player’s blink.
However, at that moment the rats had already reached the smell’s origin. The promised land that their creator had shown them. A paradise. They had reached an enormous number of malleable minds.
The Exodus had succeeded.
Translator’s Note:
*It is unclear what place the writer is thinking of. In our reality, there is no Eustis/Eustice/Eustace within the Detroit Metro region, at least not one I can find. There is a small area called Eustis about a 7 hour drive from Detroit on the other side of Michigan, but there is nothing there save a few farm houses. It is, of course, nothing like the Eustis described in this chapter. The Eustis of our reality is a short drive from the Bark River Township which has a population of about 1500 people as of 2018. If this was the intended Eustis, the reference to Detroit is confusing. Therefore, we must assume that in the .hack universe, at some point before .hack//Bullet, a town, township, or neighborhood called Eustis was incorporated into the Detroit Metro region or perhaps always existed and had become a place for drunks and gamblers and other unpleasant sorts. I’m surprised the author didn’t pick a well-known area that already exists in Detroit.