We Are Similar

Panic

Everyone was gathered at Tiny Orbit. They heard everything that happened from Takuya and Hugo, who both heard it from Jin. They didn't understand what happened, but Professor Oozora confirmed it. Eva was in a coma.

No one knew why or how. When Niara, Kirito and Olivia got there, there was nothing going on outside and Mizel was gone. Eva's eyes were half open and diluted. Originally, they thought she was asleep, but when they tried to wake her up, she didn't respond.

When Jin came, he immediately contacted Hugo, who was coincidentally at Tiny Orbit. Hearing everything from him, Hugo and Takuya both rushed to their dorms and brought them to Professor Oozora, who was also working there. While the professor checked on her, Takuya called the rest of their friends and they arrived shortly after.

Now, they were all gathered in Takuya's office, wondering about what they should do.

"To think we were just talking about how we're going to spend the New Year all together..." Jessica said sadly.

"The festival, the shrine visit..." Ran continued.

"It wouldn't be any fun without Eva!" Asuka groaned.

After a moment's thought, Kazu asked, "Does anyone in your school know how to hack?"

"Yeah. Me." Kirito replied bluntly. "I know what you're thinking. If those other kids could hack, they could've done something to her. I can tell you that's not the case. I saw the footage before coming here. All they did was call out to her and throw rocks at the door, not that it can actually create a dent though."

"How are we supposed to help her when we don't even know what happened?" Gouda growled.

Sendou pulled out a card. "Hermit... Solitude?"

Niara blinked before shaking her head. "That just makes no sense. Since when does Eva liked being alone?"

"She's not alone." Jin spoke up. "She had Mizel."

They all exchanged glances. Hiro broke the silence. "You don't actually think Mizel did this, right?"

"But it would make the most sense..." Yuuya trailled off.

"But Mizel's his sister. He wouldn't do anything to hurt her, right?" Ban argued.

"He might've done it to protect her." The kids jumped in surprise. They almost forgot Prof. Yamano was also there.

"What do you mean, professor?" Ami asked.

The professor didn't reply. Instead, Takuya figured it out. "I see. Mizel might've sensed how Eva felt and put her to sleep, preventing her from having any negative thoughts."

"Close, but that's not it." Hugo came in with his laptop in hand. He sighed as he made his way to the CEO's desk to make sure everyone's attention was on him. "Eva freaks out really easily. She gets panic attacks pretty often when she was younger. Jin could testify for me."

The younger boy didn't expect to suddenly be called out, but nodded at the statement. "She can get stressed, scared and uncomfortable pretty easily."

"And how does she act when that happens?"

"She... Cries herself to sleep."

"Exactly." That shocked many of them, but Hugo payed it no mind. "This might've been the exact same case. Except that, back then, her AI would just cut out the memory of her panic. Now, Mizel had taken her AI to somewhere within the Infinity Net."

They all had mixes of confusion and frustration written all over their faces. They weren't sure how to react. They wanted to ask if that sort of thing was even possible, but this was Mizel they were talking about. His entity itself is a mystery to them.

"So then." Niara spoke up. "What do we do?" She was ready to fight with anyone at this point. She's gone through way too much in just this one month. Of course it wasn't as much as Eva, but her patience wasn't as long as the blonde's.

"We go into the Infinity Net!" Everyone jumped when the screen enlarged itself and showed Otacross. "Hugo and I have been working on the VR Mind Prototype togther and have recently just finished. We'll use it to help send you into the Net and save Eva-tan!"

"It's finished already?!" Takuya asked, surprise clear in his voice.

"Pulled off a ton of all-nighters." Hugo said, taking off his glasses to wipe them. Only now do they notice the bags under his eyes. "But it turned out great and we can test it now that we're in this situation. What was the term for it again? Killing two birds with one stone?"

Otacross' face was suddenly pushed away from the screen and Prof. Oozora appeared. "Everyone, come down to the lab. We'll talk about how it works and what you should do."

Without a second thought, they all did as they were told.

~~~~~

Mizel sat on top of the barrier, watching them all from a ball of information. He could see anything and everything here as long as there were cameras in the real world.

They want to stop me again... This time, he really doesn't understand. Why would they go against him? He's doing this for Eva's happiness. Do they not wish for the same thing?

His eyes narrowed and blinked red. He'll show them everything. Everything that has happened to her. Everything that has caused her pain. This time, he'll make them understand, he's the one that's right.

~~~~~

The procedure is simple. The prototype was small, which is why it can't fit them all in person. Instead, it'll be connected to Otacross' device and use the help of their LBXs. Back in the fight with Mizel, it could only fit three, but now, with Hugo and the professors' help, the legendary master hacker had been able to attach most of the LBXs. Gouda, Sendou, Olivia and Izayoi stayed as back up. Too many of them might invoke too many memories.

They all went into the control pods. The Sparkbload system had their signals transfered to the Net through their LBXs. Once all of their hatches were sealed, the adults got to work. A bright light appeared and their surroundings changed.

Bubbles of information connected through golden lines in a universal space.

This is the Infinity Net.

~~~~~~~~~~

Happy ending not there yet. Still have a ways away to go ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

The Infinity Net!