//Beyond the World

つながるセカイ (Connecting World)

君の横顔　盗み見て少し幸せな気分。 (Stealing a glance at your little happy profile) 君の笑い声　なんだか笑顔ってうつるよね。 (Made me laugh, it’s a contagious smile) 

目と目が合って思わず目をそらす。 (But I looked away unintentionally when our eyes met) はぐらかすように空見上げた。 (And looked up at the sky, begging a request) 

君と出会って気付かされた　空の青さとやわらかい風。 (I always remind the soft wind and the blue of the sky back there when I met you) 少しせつないこの気持ちが　少しだけ届きますように。 (Feeling a bit sad that this feeling will only reach you a little)

君の服の袖つまんで　駆け足でついていく後ろ。 (Giving a pinch at your sleeve in a hurry to keep going) 君と同じことしたくて　君の癖真似したり。 (We were so alike, that you imitated my habit)

 手と手が触れてちょっと恥ずかしくて。 (And feeling a bit ashamed, our hands touched) やさしいい風が二人包む。 (A gentle wind embraced us)

 君と出会って気付かされた　木々の緑とこぼれる光。 (The light spilling in the green of the trees reminded me when I met you) 手を繋いでるこの瞬間　少しだけ時間を止めて。 (This moment we are holding hands, stop the time a little bit)

気付いてくれないかな。 (I wonder if you didn’t notice) 言葉で言えないから。 (Because I didn’t say a word) いつも視線は君を追いかけている。 (But my sight was always chasing you)

君と出会って気付かされた　空の青さとやわらかい風。 (I always remind the soft wind and the blue of the sky back there when I met you) 少しせつないこの気持ちが　少しだけ届きますように。 (Feeling a bit sad that this feeling will only reach you a little)

 交わした言葉一つ一つ　そっと心の宝物。 (One by one the words were exchanged) 風が紡いだ赤い糸が　君に繋がっていますように。 (Treasuring in my heart softly)

          Oh, he got used to that. His appearance was very much not normal and the AI knew it well. Azure Kite simply approached her and held his hand out to her. It was with a smile that he offered such a thing, remembering to at least try to not be as scary as he possibly could.

           So… How to ensure her that he was safe and not scary? He went through most of the data he obtained and decided on patting her head lightly.

Well, at least they could speak. That took some of the initial fear away, but there was still the matter of appearances. Something about them just... unnerved Sora, like they were stuck in the uncanny valley and unable to get out, no matter how human they sounded. 

"Ah--!"

                      And Yuuichi would rather do this kind of gameplay more than anything.

"Y-yeah, I'm still what you'd call a noob..."

Was that even the correct word for it?

She reached out and grabbed his hand, shaking it in greeting. Sora was still rather new at this, and was terrified she'd accidentally make the handshake a little too violent. 

Directing her attention to the ground once more, she sighed a bit, readjusted her hat, and looked back up. 

At least they were sociable... Sora didn't know what she was expecting when the other-- Ovan-- began talking; probably a deeper voice? Regardless, it sounded... almost fatherly, the way he spoke. She thought it had a reassuring tone to it, a little something to take the edge off.

"Ahh... I'm So-- Kite! It's Kite..."

            A sound came to the AI, the patchwork being focused his attention to the Player. The similar design to the Original Data was noted, save for the minor details that were either missing or modified. Teal locks swayed with the mirage of blue fire flickering from his very form. Thanks to the modifications he had, he didn’t need to float all the time, learning how to walk properly while in isolation.

            And a working speech partition… Or so the AI thought.

She couldn't believe her eyes. 

They looked nearly exactly like her model, save for the tattered clothing and height. And... they appeared to be male, but she couldn't really tell with the length of their hair. Their face was pale, devoid of really any emotion it could possibly display. 

Sora wanted to approach and speak to them, but they bowed in front of her. Why--

"Ah!"

They seemed... eccentric. A little too hyper for even her. Then again, that would simply be hypocritical... 

She stood up and brushed herself off, adjusting her hat and pulling gloves up. 

"I think I'm alright..."

"I-I'd love to!"

            Aura had bade her knights to exist within the Forbidden Areas of the new World, wanting to ensure that the intergration of her knights would not be harmed. Sure, she had little need of them, for she has grown quite strong, but the Ultimate AI fixed them up with the new installments. The virus that had plagued [The World: FORCE ERA] still had its remnants, just like AIDA.

            A pity that it died very quickly at the hands of the Azure Flame God, who found himself at Arche Kolen Waterfalls, before the stone engravings depicting his creator… His sensors picked up a Player entering the Area, and he could not help but frown.

Sora was spending a lot of time getting accustomed to normal life in the game. Even though she started nearly five months ago, she was still rather engrossed in the 'special' way of playing, IE, running across a field blindly while screaming. Oh, and 'raising' Aura's power once more. She wasn't even sure if that was gone yet... Every now and then it felt as if there was another force granting her strength, but it wasn't very often. 

She found herself standing at the field Balder and Gondo brought her to once, gazing across the chasm at the waterfalls cascading down. It was really a sight to behold. Adjusting her hat, she ran forward, wondering exactly what was happening here, intent on thinking it was an event area. 

"Wha?"

Sora waited for her friends up on the main balcony overlooking the lake of Alba in the distance, entranced in its azure waters. It was a familiar scene, however this time there was no Balder confessing to her, or an airship waiting to take them across said lake-- 

It was just strange to have a peaceful afternoon in general, after what happened a few months ago. 

Something small ran by Sora, grabbing her attention before another player ran smack into her. 

"Owwww..."

She rubbed her head and looked up at them.

A day and night cycle? That was certainly new. The only times she’d seen the time of day change in any of the Root Towns was for an Event of some sort. As she glanced at the in-game sun, she noticed that it was, indeed, slowly dipping towards the horizon. She stared for a few moments, awestruck at the sheer majesty of it all.

"Wow. It’s…incredible."

As the sun finally crept past the horizon, she turned back to this player, taking in her appearance fully. It was rather interesting; she looked like a non-zombified version of Azure Kite, one of the AI Guardians of The World. That, and she appeared to be more feminine as well. Her name suddenly popped up next to her, startling Atoli. Well, that was certainly new as well; it wasn’t so…large in R:2.

"Yeah. I noticed that it wasn’t there when I logged in. I’m guessing there’s a different way to get to areas now, huh?"

"The whole game's changed, from what I've heard..."

She looked on in a mix of shock and awe at the other; they didn't seem to know how any of this worked. From their apparent surprise at the Chaos Gates to the intrigue at learning about the supposedly mundane day/night cycle, this woman was clearly not adapted to this Revision. 

Ah, they noticed her companion...

"Oh, you mean Makoto-san? She's my Server Robot." 

Elaboration may have been needed... After all, the Robos were crafted extremely recently in the history of [The World]. 

"She keeps my server secure so I can basically play anywhere..."

She was amazed she was still speaking with this man; if they didn't prove as sociable as they have been, Sora would've ran miles away by now. 

She was simply sitting by the Harbor, watching the eternal sunset. It was incredible, really; she had thought that R:2 had been realistic, and yet this version somehow was even more beautiful than ever before! She idly wondered if the Hulle Granz Cathedral had been carried over when she heard someone speaking behind her. She tilted her head to look at the young girl behind her, a warm smile on her face and a giggle in her voice.

Sora felt like she was meeting a celebrity of sorts; one of the original Clerics! And to boot, they remembered playing previously as well! It was rather overwhelming to the young player, but she sucked it up and nodded wholeheartedly back. They seemed so nice, the way they were smiling and even giggled to Sora's greeting. 

"A-ah, the game changed a bit... There's a day and night cycle now..."

Had they not played since the previous Revision? Tomohiko told her previously that there used to be a static sky in the Root Town, and that the Chaos Gates were used to connect any and all areas. 

"I-I'm guessing you used to use Chaos Gates as well?" 

It was so fascinating, to speak to someone of prior knowledge. To think, players used to need to go to these gates just to enter a new area! For Sora, it was as simple as taking a stroll out of the city. The game must have had its fair share of expansions, if that was the case...