"Server status, nominal." a female technician said, her fingers dancing over a keyboard, "You're good to go."<br/><br/>Hasegawa sighed and pulled the headset on, taking the controller in her hand and keeping her other on the keyboard before her. A quick jab of a key and she suddenly found herself appearing before the gate in Mac Anu.<br/><br/>"Server Maintenance is complete?" She asked, holding the mute key on her controller. She heard the technician type a few commands over the game music and sound effects.<br/><br/>"Yes. Latest Patch has been installed and pushed to all clients connected." she said, "All Town servers online and Areas loaded."<br/><br/>"What's currently ongoing? Any events or campaigns?" she asked.<br/><br/>"Balmung is conducting the Night of the Weaver Festival Event at ? Milky Way River." the Technician said, "Other than that, nothing."<br/><br/>"Explains why Mac Anu is pretty much dead at a peak time like now." Hasegawa said with a sigh, "How is that area server coping with the increased activity?"<br/><br/>"Just fine. No Data anomal....." she paused for a moment, "Hold on."<br/><br/>"What?" she asked, lifting her headset a bit to look at the Technician as she poured over the data.<br/><br/>"The monster he was using for the event is corrupted. The system cannot delete it!" she said, "Reki is trying to coordinate an evacuation of the area."<br/><br/>"A Data Bug? Another one?" Hasegawa said, "I'm on my way!" She replaced her headset and turned to the gate, but felt the Technician's hand on her arm.<br/><br/>"Wait! The data! It's being rewritten!" she said, "The monster has become a level 1 common monster."<br/><br/>"How?"<br/><br/>"Unsure, but a player had his PC Data altered as well. Username: Komiyan III." she said. Hasegawa sighed.<br/><br/>"Fine, get to work restoring the PC Data for him and please investigate the cause." she said, "I'm going to mingle in here and see what I can find..."<br/><br/>----------------------------------<br/><br/>The glow of the screen dimly lit his darkened room. With a headset over his head, it barely made a difference and the darkness with the silence of his room helped increase the immersion experience for the game. It was the first time he logged in and already he was highly impressed. The graphics for the character creation screen were rivaling the best FPS games he knew.<br/><br/>Selecting the magic user class, he spent thirty minutes adjusting the look of what would represent himself, then came the hardest part, the name.<br/><br/>What name would suit him? Maybe he should pick a name that wasn't him? Maybe he should become someone he wasn't, to live like someone else. The thought crossed his mind, as he could be anyone in this game regardless of who he was in real life. It wasn't like he had it bad. All the girls loved him and his parents were proud of his grades, yet he had few friends to speak of, and most people assumed he was sort of too elite to talk to, intimidated by the image he portrayed. In here it would be different. In The World, he would be someone you could call a friend. He would keep who he was a secret so that they wouldn't be intimidated. Maybe he could make a friend or two while trying to chase his main goal. Like the .Hackers, it seemed that regular players often were called to become heroes, something he aspired to.<br/><br/>His fingers flew across his keyboard and he logged in. Taris. Simple yet memorable. It suited him well.<br/><br/>The World appeared to him in a flash of light. He assumed his headset was loading the magnificent scenery before him when it started flashing colors after he hit the log in button, but as he appeared in Mac Anu, he realized he forgot to keep breathing and began gazing around at the environment.<br/><br/>The place was desolate at first, turning to see a giant spinning ring behind him, then suddenly players began warping in all around him at once.<br/><br/>"What the hell is going on?" he muttered. A player heard him as she appeared beside him, making him jump.<br/><br/>"An event just finished." she said, "Kind of crazy. A Monster went mad and they told us to get out of the area."<br/><br/>"I see." Taris muttered. As the crowd dispersed, he wandered over to the bridge and leaned on the rail, peering into the water.