Allow me to shed some light...

[thedudewhosadude]

Well, this morning I dropped by my local B&N to pick up my copy of .hack//AI Buster. It's 230 pages, with somewhat of a big font. There are several illustrations scattered within, all black and white. Basically, it's a little smaller than the 3rd manga. There's quite a lot of connections in this novel, but it puts to rest the whole "the anime/manga of LotT is canon!" argument. At least, it spells it out, rather than saying that it makes for sense for the manga to be canon (which it turns out, it is). Anyway, I'm going to open discussion about the novel on several issues. Note though, that these include MAJOR spoilers, so don't read the text under the black highlight unless you really want to get spoiled!

[spoiler]Random unarranged tid-bits:
-Watari (the "owner" of Albiero) worked with Tokuoka (see: .hack//Liminality) on localizing the game. Tokuoka was the leader of the project.

-The battle against The One Sin (which takes place in Omega Captive Fallen Angel) is described in detail, as it takes place during the novel. However, it does not match the video clip seen of The One Sin fight, as in the novel it takes place in an area of a perpetual snowstorm.

-The major links from the novel go to the third manga.
On page 113, we see Shibayama (Owner of Kamui) trying to convince Watari not to leave. The whole accident that she's referring to is his run-in with Lycoris.

On page 116, Kamui has lycorises around her. A lycoris looks like this: http://www.photohome.com/pictures/mixed/lycoris-1.jpg When Lycoris was deleted, all that was left behind was a Lycoris.

On page 148, Kamui uses a quote of Watari "Shibayama......never forget the love you felt when you first visited The World." The quote used in the book (page 115) is "Never forget the love you first felt for The World."

On page 165, we meet Lycoris again! Her "end" is very similar to how it
was in the novel.

Lastly, on pages 228 and 229, we see little bits of //AI Buster poking though. The scene on 228 is a little odd though, as I don't recognize the character on the left. The character on the right is Hokuto.

-None of the areas visited in the novel are playable in the game.

-Hokuto is actually W.B.Yates (a person who posts on the EoT)

-Lycoris is most definitely a failed version of Aura. Bits and pieces of Lycoris show in Aura. For example, when Lycoris is first "deleted" at the beginning of the novel, she escapes by breaking herself up into parts. In the game, Aura did the same. Rather, Morganna forced it upon her. Also, in the game, once you recovered all of Aura's Segments, you accidently killed her, causing her to be reborn. Lycoris shares somewhat the same deal: she is only able to be truly deleted (and not really it appears) until all of her files are back together.

-Lycoris's parts:

eciov.cyl: Obtained in "Divine Statue Room" (Zeit Statue in the game) of Lambda Dark Inaccessible Ruins. Restore in-game voice functionality. Allows Lycoris to literally speak.
rae.cyl: Obtained by defeating the "boss" monster in the Delta server. Logically, it should restore hearing functionallity, but she seems to be able to understand Albireo from when he first met her in Lambda Dark Inaccessible Ruins. Maybe it inhances what she can hear?
eye.cyl: Obtained by finding the crimson feather dropped by the freed Captive Angel, held captive by the One Sin at Omega Captive Fallen Angel. Restores eye functionality to Lycoris, allowing her to open her eyes and move around on her own.
yromem.cyl: Obtained by Albireo selecting 'Neither' at the Spring of Myst (called Phantom Spring in the novel) in Sigma Murmuring Night Alchemy once Lycoris threw herself in. Restores Lycoris's memory, which allows her to remember Albireo.
etaf.cyl: Obtained in Delta Hidden Forbidden Sacred. Lycoris reprograms Albireo's Divine Spear of Wotan, and includes this part of her with it. It is her free will to be deleted. With it, she can be deleted.

-Harald makes somewhat of an apperance here, appearing to Lycoris in Delta Hidden Forbidden Sacred, basically telling her that he doesn't wish for her to exist, since she's a failure and won't become Aura. Harald appears as he did in .hack//SIGN, inverted. He is known as the ghost of the church.

-This is the main point of discussion: Once Albireo stabs Lycoris, she shows him a clip of when she was talking with Harald. Albireo talks with Lycoris about many things, one of which is Harald. I'll type up this part, just so those that don't have the book right now can contribute to the conversation. Be well aware though, simply reading this excerpt can kill the book for you. Lycoris starts:

"Who was that man?"
"Harald Hoerwick. That's why the folder [he's referring to the "blackbox folder in which the game's core data {which includes Morganna, the Phases, and Aura} is kept in] is called the Harald System."
"I know that name. It's the same man in the church."
"You mean the ghost?"
"Yes. But I call him Morganna Mode Gone."
"What?"
"That's the name of God, Albireo. It's what lurks in the Inner World, which Harald attempted to create. God exists. It is what gave you the Divine Spear of Wotan and sent you the message telling you where I was. God tried to delete me."
"God . . . tried to delete you?"
"That's right. I am an unwanted child. Even God doesn't want me."
"I don't understand. What's Morganna?"
"I was fleeing from Morganna. Morganna told you where I was hiding. Morganna wanted you to delete me."
"I thought God wanted to delete you?"
"Morganna Mode Gone is God."
"So you weren't hiding from me, but from Morganna?"
"Yes."
"But didn't you just say that Morganna sent me to delete you?"
"Yes. You tried twice, but both times you failed."

****SKIP SKIP SKIP****

Lycoris starts again:

"I wanted to continue to live in this world, but . . ." she trailed off. "But I cannot become Aura."
"Who is Aura?"
"You will delete me."
"I no longer have to delete you."
"Then Morganna will delete me."
"Why?"
"Because if an AI exists in this world and accumulates data, it will hasten the birth of Aura."
"Morganna does not wish for Aura's birth?"
"No."
"But didn't Morganna give birth to you in the first place? Isn't that where you came from? The blackbox folder?"
"Morganna is contradicting herself."
"A program that contradicts cannot function," I pointed out.
"An extremely complicated system can function even with contradictions. And its results are contrary to expectations."
"But that's . . . that's no different from human beings."
"Yes."
---END UBAH SPOILERZ!---

Ooh, spooky, yes? Lycoris also points out earlier that the anonymous tips they recieved on her location were "whispered" by Morganna to the Cobalt Knights. So, this means that Morganna, end in end, always holds the reigns...at least until Aura was able to override her. [/spoiler]

Ouch....so dark! Anyway, discuss! Any questions, go ahead and ask but PLEASE remember to use spoiler tags if it involves spoilers! To use them, simply type "[spoiler]" (without the quotes) BEFORE the spoiler, and then "[/spoiler_]" (without the quotes and underscore) AFTER the spoiler.

[CRtwenty]

Yea, I read it... it was pretty interesting, even though it didn't really say too much that wasn't already known.

Though, I wonder... why exactly was Lycoris a failure? Just because she wasn't Aura? And it also raises a few questions for the manga... for example, why does she show up in the manga, and what is Zefie's relation to her?

[Brad_Evans]

[spoiler]ah no, the event that (Kamui trying to persuade Albireo not to leave CC) was connected to is the event on Tsukasa, not Lycoris ^^;

The character that stands beside Hokuto in UdeDen manga appears on the Rena Special pack novel, .hack// .. er what was it again? ^^;;[/spoiler]

[thedudewhosadude]

Yeah, I've been thinking about that. Maybe all the "versions" of Aura, regardless of if they "failed" or not, share the same consciousness. [spoiler] For example, say that there were two versions of Aura present in the same time. Let us say Lycoris and .hack//SIGN Aura. Lets also assume that they are of the same "level", i.e. Lycoris is not a failure, and Aura isn't a "more advanced" form of Lycoris. Now lets say that Aura was deleted by the Crimson/Scarlet/Cobalt (a theme of red, eh?) Knights. Maybe Lycoris would gain knowledge of Aura being deleted, and would become aware of the threat. So, what I'm trying to get at, is that maybe Aura is aware of all of her previous Versions of herself, and somehow passed her knowledge of Lycoris onto Zefie.[/spoiler]

Zefie's quote, when asked about Lycoris is "She was a forgotten piece . . . . . . . of some very old Data. Seems like there are many remnants in the Net Slums." Apparantly, the theory of conservation of mass is present in the data world as well. This theory states that nothing is ever created or destroyed. Everything is simply rearranged. For example, if you break something apart, its cells (be it bio or artificial material) are all still there, they've just become unconnected to oneanother. Perhaps the same can be said in the data world. Lycoris was never truely deleted, her data just existed in a form that couldn't take...well, form. Right before the gang runs into Lycoris, they also find a winged girl. She was deleted early in the second manga, yet she appears in Net Slum. Net Slum must be where these wandering data clumps go to retain their form.

Oh, and more "links": On page 231, A message is posted on the board by "W.B.Yeates" [spoiler]So, it seems that Hokuto's been playing all this time![/spoiler]

On page 128, Zefie says ". . . In The World, everyone is Blessed. Even you . . . . . . and me." Once again, the lycorises start to bloom here, at mention of a quote from the novel. Zefie continues on 133: "That's Right. Every Player Character in The World . . . . . . is equally blessed." I can't find the exact location of it, but [spoiler]the same quote is said by Watari to Hokuto, I believe. However, throughout the whole novel, Lycoris is near Albiero. This means that even though she wasn't directly spoken to, she still retained information of what was happening around her. Furthermore, this also means that Aura and Zefie do obtain data from their failed/previous versions. [/spoiler]

On page 151, Zefie said to Kamui "Are you . . . . . . going to erase me again?" Just a few panels before, we see Zefie with closed eyes, and in the distance we can make out Watari's PC, Albiero. Is "Spear of Voltan" an incorrect translation? Albiero's weapon was called "The Divine Spear of Wotan" I seem to remember somewhere that it said that he gave his spear to Kamui. Anyway, what Lycoris said in the same situation was "Are you going to delete me?" So, it seems that all versions of Aura, rather, components of Aura, are able to relay information back to Aura, even if they are deleted.

Now everything seems to make sense...[spoiler]If I'm correct, the phases were created to collect data on certain emotions and feeling from humans, to then relay back to Aura/Morganna, right? However, Morganna then altered them to do her bidding. This collection of data was all to help Aura become the ultimate AI. However, Morganna didn't want Aura to be born, because then she would be deleted. And even though Aura awoke after .hack//SIGN, she was never fully born until the end of the first four games. Now, refer back to the novel. "Then Morganna will delete me."
"Why?"
"Because if an AI exists in this world and accumulates data, it will hasten the birth of Aura."
So, it seems that Aura is currently already in existance (perhaps in the domain known as Twilight; the area with the bed and teddy bear) and any AI that gains data relays it back to her. So, it would seem that the Phases actually weren't programs, but AI. Well, the AI would boil down to a program, but the Phases had to have some sort of "thought". Skeith had to think "Okay, I've been told to collect data on the terror that accompanies death. What's death? What causes it? Why are people terrified of it?" So anyway, what I'm thinking, is perhaps Lycoris wasn't a failure. Maybe it was her self-esteem that was the issue. She was told by her God, her very creator, that she was a failure. She was told by Albireo that she was a bug, a glitch, a ghost in the machine. All around, she's being told that she shouldn't exist, and that her existance is an error. She was told this by Harald, whom was actually being talked through by Morganna Mode Gone. Lycoris's will to "live" was completely destroyed, thus she allowed herself to be deleted. If you read back in the third manga, Zefie says to Kamui "You are here because of your will to be here. And The World embraces you for that." So, Lycoris didn't want to be part of The World anymore. Before she had, but once she was told that she was just an error, she lost all hope to live, and surrendered herself to the system. That's why she was a "failure". You can even see at the end of the book a "family portrait" with Aura, Zefie, and a lycoris flower. Furthermore, it seems that every single "vagrant AI" was created by Aura.

On page 226, Balmung and Mistral are talking. The "limited edition" character campaign was created by Aura to pull Shugo and Rena back into the game, so they could obtain data, inadvertantly, for her. In the top right panel, we can see the winged vagrant AI. So, it would appear that since the phases were "deleted" Aura had to find some other meathod of data collecting. Thus, she created Vagrant AI's. However, Lycoris was created prior to the phases activation. This leads me to believe that Lycoris was actually the first version of Aura. She was successful, but perhaps it was Lycoris that showed Morganna what her future would be. If Lycoris was to continue to exist, she'd become like Aura, and would be a theat to Morganna's well-being. So, she sought to delete Lycoris. However, she cannot disobey her core function, to give birth to Aura. She created Aura, in a sleep-state, and linked Aura to Tsukasa's personality, to keep her from awakening. So long as Aura slept, Morganna would remain God of The World. However, Aura eventually awoke, so Morganna tried to prevent Aura from becoming "born". She fragmented Aura down (through Skeith) and sought to prevent the fragments from coming back together. She also activated Cubia, the system's security. I believe that Cubia was actually supposed to be self-activating, but end in end, Morganna is the God of The World, and can control such matters. Eventually Aura's fragments came together, and the final battle was at hand. In a desperate attempt, Morganna launched Drain Heart, and Data Drained most everyone. If there was no one to kill Aura, she couldn't be born. However, Kite managaed to dodge all of her attempts, and accidently killed Aura. Once Aura died, she rose again, and destroyed Morganna. Four years later (manga version, the anime version does not go well with my theory, due to Moruti's existance. ) Aura is busy at work trying to live up to herself. She is collecting data from every source she can (remember, she doesn't have the phases to help) and even creates a few AI to help out. She also creates a character campaign to pull in Shugo and Rena. I assume that Aura was also responsible for the Level 40 magic portal. Once Shugo died, she gave him the bracelet and sent him on his way. After a while, Zefie appeared literally out of the blue. I think that Aura gave birth to Zefie, and then sent her off before she could form and "hard" memories (such as how to return to where she was) Shugo's bracelet, since it was given to him by Aura, attracted Zefie. Through many events, Zefie was eventually reunited with her mother Aura. Somehow I have a feeling that the whole //LotT sequence was just different scenarios set up by Aura to collect data. Obviously, some of it wasn't planned (i.e. the Cobalt Knights) but everything went as Aura planned.[/spoiler]

Huh...so now it seems that everything is explained, at least in my little theory. I wonder how //ZERO will play into this.

[spoiler]Is it really? How was Albireo connected to Aura? I thought that by Vagrant AI Shibayama ment Lycoris..[/spoiler]

[Brad_Evans]

[spoiler]It's reasonable to think that the accident was related to the comatose people rather than Lycoris. After all, the Lycoris incident didnt cause any kind of damage to the CC Corp (are the CC guys even aware of her existence?). The vagrant AI he's referring to may still be Lycoris tho. My friend told me about this (Albireo's connection to Tsukasa). I would think this is included in those extra chapters in .hack//The World (Wotan's Spear, Second Character, and Kamui). Lets hope those will be included in AI Buster 2 so I can spoil it here =b

Actually if anyone can read Chinese I would be glad to post the scans of the Second Character Chapter =b[/spoiler]

[thedudewhosadude]

Wow, that was pretty obvious and I didn't even realize it X_X Thanks for clearing it up though.

And also, I thought that there was only a //Zero 2? I mean, what else could you expand upon with //AI Buster?

[Brad_Evans]

Ah there will be AI Buster 2 as well. I posted it in the thread "The cover is finally out" =3 I was hoping it will include the extra three chapters for AI Buster in three .hack//The World mags since I missed the first and second one =/

Only have the Chinese version of the first (which no one that I have access to is able to read) and Japanese version of the third.

I have no idea what may be in AI Buster 2 since I agree with you that the story feels conclusive by itself ^^;; I think it does have some room for sequels tho. As long as it makes money, Bandai will make it. As long as it's still good, I'll still buy it =b

[Xeno]

Does anyone know how much time passed between Lycoris' [spoiler]deletion and Watari's resigning from CC Corp.?[/spoiler] I always assumed Watari was unable to continue to delete Vagrant AIs after meeting with Lycoris which led to his resignation.

Also, it would have been nice to have seen some of Kamui in the book.