The Guardian attacks are indeed Data Drain attacks. They're just miniature versions of Data Drain - that's why they put Ginkan into a coma for a few days, rather than semi-permanently. I cannot understand at all why you would believe so strongly that the attack isn't Data Drain just because it only had a temporary effect ON Ginkan, Brad Evans. That doesn't make sense at all. Skeith's Data Drain attack only had a temporary effect when it was used on Mia and Tokuoka, after all. And obviously there are many different types of Data Drain - Kite's DD is different in many ways from the DD used by the Phases, and Morganna has her own, supreme version of DD (Drain Heart, wasn't it called?) which she used on Tsukasa late in the SIGN series. So why shouldn't Guardians have their own Data Drain?
Besides, you're ignoring one important fact - those 'rings' you can see in the middle of Guardians are actually Twilight Bracelets XD You know, the item Kite uses to Data Drain? Feel silly now, don't you?
On Mia/Macha - Hm. I have my own theories on the matter. But this is a very interesting discussion, which is why I'm contributing...
My theory is that all of the Phases have been altered by Morganna from Harald's original programming. That's why they all look so incredibly freaky and bizarre when you fight them - the original versions made by Harald probably look more like Macha: creative, but still obviously drawing on fantasy and mythological references, and not so bizarre as to not even seem remotely human like the Phases you fight do.
I think that Morganna altered the Phases physically when she changed their original programming to fit her new, more aggressive goals. Macha was the only Phase who we ever saw manifested as Harald intended for his Epitaph of Twilight-based event, because Macha was the first Phase created, and also because when Macha was created was the only time Morganna needed a Phase for non-combat reasons - she needed Macha to help convince Tsukasa to stay in The World, not to kick Kite's ass or hunt down Aura or destroy Net Slum whatever.
My theory is supported by the obvious differences between Macha's cat-wizard form and all of the Phases when you fight them (including Macha). When you Data Drain a Phase, it transforms into a dull, broken, incomplete version of itself, basically just shrinking down and dissolving in pieces as though most but not all of its 'viral' nature had been drained from it by Kite. When Macha as cat-player, however, was Data Drained, she simply became a player-ish wandering AI: Mia. Perhaps in Harald's original programming, all the Phases were supposed to turn into harmless AIs like that once they were beaten, but that too was changed when Morganna warped their purpose.
So, to explain what happens to Macha/Mia - First she's created in the form intended for her by Harald for the secret 'The Wave' event he hid within The World's programming as a special quest with the end goal of turning Aura into the 'Perfect AI.' She looks pretty harmless, at least compared to those bizarre Phases you battle in the .hack games. Eventually she decides to turn against Morganna and help Tsukasa because she's touched by his kindness, and as a result Morganna has the Twilight Guardians use their miniature version of Data Drain on Macha. Macha's data is scattered across The World, and when it finally re-gathers itself it's in the form of Mia; Mia is, essentially, the true Macha's 'data drain monster' form - just like Mushroom Kings become Twinkle Grass when Data Drained, Macha becomes the player-character-ish AI Mia.
Anyway, everything's going fine for Mia until the Phases start getting destroyed, which causes her to slowly start transforming back into Macha. The only problem is, since Morganna's new versions of the Phases (started when she created Skeith) are the bizarre warped combat-oriented ones, Mia starts to turn into THAT Macha - the one you finally fight as Phase 6 of the Wave. If Morganna hadn't gone against her original programming, what probably would have happened would simply have been Mia turning back into the kitty-cat wizard Macha in order for her to re-assume her role as the Phase. Actually, come to think of it, if the original programming had been followed, Macha wouldn't have been created to begin with until it was her turn to gather data on stuff for 'Phase 6.' Macha being created first, before even Skeith, was probably another one of Morganna's interferences to further her own goals, in that case keeping control of Tsukasa so Aura couldn't awaken.
Anyway, the only thing I'm unclear on is why the warped phase Macha turns back to normal Macha after being destroyed, while the other Phases seem to simply be deleted. Since warped-Macha turns into kitty-Macha (and finally all the way back into Mia, when you re-recruit her in the bonus dungeon after beating QUARANTINE), the other Phases should also have turned into their normal forms eventually when destroyed, and perhaps showed up after Morganna was finally done away with and they could show their true natures. But that doesn't happen. Maybe the reason Macha's the only Phase who returns is because she's the only Phase who was ever given a chance to develop a real Artificial Intelligence... she even forms a personality, as a result of being given a chance to interact with Tsukasa while in kitty-wizard form. The other Phases were ALWAYS warped from the moment they were first manifested by Morganna, so they never had a chance to develop any real intelligence beyond Morganna's will. Thus, there was no point in them re-forming after they were destroyed. What I'm saying is, maybe the reason the Phases didn't become normal versions of themselves after being destroyed, like Macha became normal after her Phase was over, is because the Phases didn't WANT to be reformed... they didn't care one bit, they didn't have any sort of intelligence yet, so they were fine with being deleted once their original purpose of collecting data and facing Kite was fulfilled. Only Macha cared about continuing its own existence, so only Macha re-manifested yet again after being defeated, and, after being saved from Morganna's virus remnants in that annoyingly huge dungeon she gladly rejoins the party... after becoming Mia again, though. Hmmm... I haven't gotten that far in the .hack games, so can anyone tell me how exactly it happens? I hear Macha fights you once, while combined with a virus creature after a few other battles at the bottom of the dungeon... if that's true it would support my theory about Macha -> Mia when DDed, since kitty-Macha transforms into Mia when you DD her at the end of QUARANTINE just like she became Mia near the end of SIGN when a bunch of Guardians DDed her. Though even if that doesn't happen, doesn't mean my theory's automatically wrong... Macha could become Mia again just because she WANTS to, there's no way of knowing whether she can just change forms when she wills it... and there are other explanations too.. but whatever, I won't go into any more details with my (rather tangentially related to the games, but, heck, I don't really care as long as it sounds neat and makes good fanfic fodder XD) theory. Not until I get some feedback and clarification on what happens after you fight Phase 6 Macha, and when you re-recruit Mia at the end of QUARANTINE...
Any thoughts? :O
(btw, I'm new to the board, just got linked to her from GameFAQs, and very glad to have found a place like this ^^ so.. HI! hahehahe...)
