Episode 12

original air date: 6.19.02

Entanglement

The episode starts out with some images of a spiraling tunnel and what looks like a pointer of some sort coming in and out of the screen. The screen goes black and the words "Like I've been telling you many times over, being 'brain dead' and being a 'vegetable' are completely different from each other.  For a patient in a vegetable state, the patient has a chance to recover." appear.  We then see the spiraling image was a screensaver on a computer screen, and the pointer a pen being tapped by a man.  "Please try to calmly think this over." appears on the screen.  We know see it is a doctor sitting at his desk - explaining these things to someone.  The other man speaks - again appearing as words on the screen "You mean, it's like Nancy Kruzen's family?"  The doctor responds with "We've had a look at that... But in that particular case, the patient’s consciousness was already acknowledged."  The man sits across from the doctor and again speaks "According to a friend, what has finally been confirmed is the fact that her father is obtaining a death authorization for her having said something about 'being in the stead of the patient’s consciousness.  Obviously, wouldn't that mean he simply didn't want to see her?"  The man sits upright and looks out the window saying, "The kid, he's getting thinner....  He should be absorbing the supplements from the IV.   ...Strange." 

On the Dun Loireag server Mimiru is talking to Tsukasa, she found a Mythril Rod and it trying to give it to him, telling him she can't equip it at all so has no use for it.  He asks her why not sell it, to which she asks him if he has thought about being better equipped.  He tells her yes- and she asks him why he can't be a bit more materialistic.  He simply says, "material desires... in this kind of place...?"  He still tells her he doesn't need it- but she's going to hold on to it for now. She does on to say how nice it would be if money in the game could be traded for real money like in Pachinko [a famous Japanese Pinball-type of game where earnings are exchanged for gift prizes] - especially when Tsukasa is around.  Mimiru tells Tsukasa that if she got to do that she's going to get herself a new handbag that she's had her eye on for some time.  Tsukasa asks her what kind of handbag.  She tells him it's a "Messenger" bag- made in Germany and made out of the stuff they use to make missiles.  She goes on to say that only the shops in Shimakita district carry them.  Tsukasa asks where that is "At the southern exit?"  Mimiru is a bit surprised and asks him if he is from Tokyo.  She tells him she just assumed that since he knew about the Shimakita River - also the fact that he speaks standard Japanese.  She apologizes for asking so many questions- Tsukasa tells her it's all right.  He mentions the time and asks how much longer she can hang around- she tells him she might have to leave soon.  Mimiru asks Tsukasa about dinner, and if he ever gets hungry.  He tells her "not really." She then asks about sleeping- she also mentions the fact that she's told her that he can sense pain and smell things in The World.  He tells her it seems he can do without sleep - but there are times when his consciousness just floats around - but feels different than sleeping.  "I manage somehow..." He tells her if she doesn’t sleep to stop by.  As she gets up to leave he tells her "Do take a bath."  "Huh?" is Mimiru's response.  "I can tell," he says.  Mimiru a bit embarrassed tells him ok and she'll see him later - then logs off.  Tsukasa is left alone and is just sitting there when we hear a gong from a bell- Tsukasa notices it as well and turns to look.

As if hearing the same gong Subaru turns her head swiftly - back in Mac Anu with Ginkan. He asks her "what is it?" - she tells him it's nothing.  She tells him if anybody wishes to see that he should notify her through mail - no matter whom it may be.  Ginkan assures her he will do so.  She then tells him goodnight before warping out. 

In an area filled with large thorny vines Tsukasa appears- it turns out to be Aura's domain- as we see the teddy bear entangled in the vines floating through the air.  Tsukasa is shocked as he sees Aura too is also entangled in the same vines and more are below her wriggling to encase her.  Tsukasa speaks briefly, "Why?" As he rushes up to her and tries pulling them off of her they begin to move and make their hold tighter around her.  Tsukasa flinches looking at his hand and the pain scratches the vines have given him. 

On the Dun Loireag server Bear and Mimiru are talking as the sun rises.  They are discussing the comment Tsukasa made about the southern exit when Mimiru mentioned the Shimakita district.  She tells him that was yesterday and that she though he knew about Shimakita.  Bear lists off the all the subway exits that he could have been talking about.  She agrees it has to be one of them, to which Bear agrees. She asks which one it is- he simply says "Sorry, I'll leave it at that for today."  Mimiru whines about him leaving and asks when he'll be back- he tells her "later."  "When's later?" she whines as Bear loggs off.

Tsukasa is still attempting to rip the vines from Aura - despite the pain.  As he does - they only grow back thicker- he turns around and sees the vines have wrapped themselves around his staff.  As he rips his staff lose Maha appears.  Her head is down and she is shaking as if in anger. Tsukasa asks what's wrong- and tells her it's him.  She makes some swifts moves in the air, and then a tiny slug like creature appears on Tsukasa's shoulder.  As he looks back at Aura he sees the slugs all over the vines.  Maha continues to make strange gestures with her hands.  "I don't like this, Please stop it.  I don't like it... Why?" Tsukasa mutters. "Am I the bad guy?" he asks.  The screen gets distorted and changes to a monitor you'd find in a hospital with vital readings.

We hear a beep as a flat line has occurred. Suddenly we are back in the real world- a man and women burst through a door. Words again appear between scenes.  A shot of the bed and dangling cord is all we see.  "What do you think you're doing?!"  As the screen pans across a body in a hospital bed we can see the shadows of people fighting and struggling with something.  "Please stop!  Please, calm down!"  We then see (now obvious) an electrical cord fall to the ground.  A hand picks it up

Tsukasa falls to his knees and clutches his chest.  As the camera changes - we see the slugs still coving the vines. Maha offers her hand out to Tsukasa.

In a forest somewhere Bear is telling BT what happened at the hospital in the real world.  He tells her with all that happened and what he saw the kid was defiantly Tsukasa.  She asks him what happened after the situation at the hospital, he tells her he doesn’t' think anything big happened since the incident was discovered quickly.  He goes on to tell her that something was weak in the respirator to start with - and that he was lucky to have the respirator on auxiliary mode.  BT asks him if that is considered attempted murder, he tells her "A 'mental derangement caused by a neurotic obsession' is basically what it is."  [*The guy was over-obsessive with the thought of wanting to do something and his mind became fixated and lost control*]  He tells her that the patient was bruised, making it difficult to walk.  They both agree they don't like the sound of this at all.  He tells her the hospital is working on the situation.  BT asks Bear why he is telling her all of this.  He tells her the story is too much a burden for him to carry all by himself - but asks her to keep it to herself - and that he especially doesn't want Mimiru to find out about it.  BT tells him she's prolly find out about it even if they don't tell her- and tells Bear "if you're not prepared to take on everything about the boy, just stop worrying about him from this point on."  She then tells Bear that Tsukasa's inability to logout and being stuck may be the result of his own actions. Bear disagrees with her, saying how could he do this to himself.

A red slug moves across the grass as we see a hunched over Tsukasa.  "Welcome back, Tsukasa" a familiar female voice echoes.  "Was if fun outside?" she asks.  Tsukasa not understanding says, "Outside?  By 'outside' you mean...."   He is cut off by the voice, "Hey, Tsukasa.  Do you know the story of the Mermaid Princess?  In order to meet the prince the princess who lost her voice in exchange for beautiful legs...  It would have been better if she had never thought about leaving the sea...  Don't you think so?" the voice asks.  Tsukasa disagrees saying if she had never done that - she would have never met the prince.  "But the prince married someone else, and the mermaid princess turned into a bubble of light and disappeared,” is her answer.  "Poor Mermaid Princess... such an affectionate being."  Tsukasa doesn't understand what she is trying to say.  The voice is surprised- asking him if he really doesn't understand.  As she says this we see the vines have begun to shrivel - as a result of the slugs covering them.  The voice goes on "the fact that you're stuck here... you, myself, and that child...  the three of us, without being threatened by anyone... Peacefully, with nothing falling into disorder...” Tsukasa interrupts asking about "this child."  "Since it seemed like Tsukasa was going off somewhere far away, I've held her back with your nostalgia.  It's to make sure that she doesn't go anywhere...  Tsukasa tells her that's a weird plan; he starts to tell her what she should have done, only to be interrupted by her.  "Tsukasa, do you want to return to that filthy world?"  She waits for an answer, and then asks, "Are you puzzled?"  He tells her there's nothing puzzling about it, "You're a good child, Tsukasa.  Please think carefully of where the place you have to be is...  I am your ally.  As long as we walk this road together I will always protect you."  As she finishes speaking the slugs disappear (yet the vines remain), followed by Maha.  "You're leaving as well?" Tsukasa yells.  "Everyone's disappeared..."

In a desert field Crim and BT are talking, he's telling her the only thing that keeps them coming back to each other is their mutual quest for The Key of the Twilight.  He asks how this current conversation is related to that.  BT tells him there are two focal points in this investigation.  Crim asks her if she really believes that - and that to him is sounds like another unpromising discussion.  She tells him one is the strange post on the BBS, and the other is Tsukasa's existence.  She tells him just like The Key of the Twilight is disrupting the system, Tsukasa's presence has the same effect.  She goes on to say "you can't simply assume that the two are unrelated to one another."  Crim finally agrees with her- but asks what of it.  She tells him it would be in their best interests to keep an eye on Tsukasa, that's all.  Crim tells her he can't- for he can't possibly reach his level.  BT agrees with him- but tells him that's what happens when you try to do everything on your own.  She asks him if he's heard the saying "in the right place at the right time."  He tells her he has no intention of using Subaru.  BT offers another suggestion, "I'll make you give up even before you can say, 'I'll leave it to her own discretion.'" 

In a subterranean cave Tsukasa is alone, he looks at his scared hand as a lightning bug type of creature flies by it.  A flashback of when Tsukasa was captured, he recalls what Subaru told him.  "That would be... terrible... wouldn't it?"  Tsukasa thinks to himself,  "I want to see her...” The lighting bugs in the cavern start moving about - as they sense something approaching. Tsukasa immediately takes out his Sprite Ocarina and warps out of the area, just as Subaru walks up to where he was.  She sees nothing is there, and with a look of disappointment turns and leaves. 

Outside of the dungeon in the field we see Subaru exit.  "Come here often" Crim asks from atop the entrance.  He tells her is seems Tsukasa's case is troubling her, and asks what's the matter.  "If Subaru-sama of the Crimson Knights makes a face like that it'll reflect on the morale of the other knights."  She points out, "in front of you, the one who abandoned the knighthood; can't I just remain as Subaru of the Crimson Knights?"  He asks her if they knighthood is really in disarray.  She tells him at times, yes - to which he tells her she should quit.  "That again?" she says, "well it is me you know," Crim answers.  Subaru asks Crim why he is there- he tells her he thought maybe "he" would be here, but then he disappeared, and now he's annoyed.  She asks if he means Tsukasa, he only says it's an unfamiliar story to him. 

Back up in the root town of the Don Loireag server Mimiru is yelling at Bear, "I don't agree to that at all!"  He tells her that's why he picked the wrong one.  She demands that he tell her why and how he "picked the wrong one."  He tells her it's about Tsukasa's identity in the real world, and that he thought she would've discovered his identity by now.  She asks him is she was wrong.  "You've been keeping in touch with Tsukasa, haven't you?" he asks her. She tells him somewhat- but there has not been a reply.  She suggests that maybe he's in a place where communications got disconnected - she also tells him that he never would tell her where and what he is doing when he's alone.  "He couldn't have gone submerging again, could he?" she asks.  Bear agrees, and Mimiru says how he Tsukasa doesn't even seem to care how much she worries about him.  She thinks he seems to be doing ok but still wonders what has happened to him.  Just then Bear receives an e-mail.  He tells her it's from Subaru, and that he'll be right back.  Mimiru asks "Mac Anu?  Can I come too?"  Bear tells her no, that things will just get complicated if Tsukasa is involved and that he wants her to stay where she's at. 

Bear has met up with Subaru in Mac Anu and asks of her, "where did you hear that story?"  She tells him Crim told her - and asks if Tsukasa is in a dangerous position.  He tells her he doesn't think it's something that can be resolved soon, and the fact that his consciousness remains on the Net while his body is in a vegetable state are totally unrelated.  He tells her whether Tsukasa will regain consciousness once he logs out or not is not something he can tell.  He does say though that if he is able to log out- it would be best that he return to the real world quickly, and that is all he is sure of.  She asks if there is anything she can do, he tells her if she gets the chance, she should be the person he could talk to.  Subaru asks what she should talk to him about. Bear tells her anything’s fine, just that she should be the person he could talk to.  "There's nothing special to talk about." Subaru mutters.  She tells Bear she thinks Tsukasa is clumsy with words, just like she is.  Bear chuckles under his breath.

Back on Don Loireag Mimiru is walking around aimlessly.  She peers behind some rocks, but finds nothing.  As she turns around Tsukasa appears behind her.  "Ah!! You came!"  She sticks her head right in front of him- he makes a very obvious step out of the way.  "What's wrong? Did something happen?" she asks.  He tells her nothing really, but then she notices his hands are scared.  "You’re lying! Something did happen, right?"  He tells her it doesn't concern her, she asks him if he got finished by someone, he tells her no.  "Something you did to yourself?"  Again he tells her no.  "Something you can't talk about?"  He says he doesn’t want to talk about it.  She asks him if it hurts, he tells her off saying, "Geez, you're nosey aren't you?"  Mimiru tells him he's gone back to the way he was before, as he walks off.  He stops when she says, "if you don't want to talk about it, you can just stay put, but stop running away!"  He's asks of her, "running away? from what?"  Mimiru starts off saying this is more of a talk Bear would have with him but...” Tsukasa interrupts her, "Didn't you just try to run away from explaining just now?"  She tells him if he puts it that way she can't say much... "See?" Tsukasa gloats- proving his point.  She asks him if even knows what he is saying.  "I'm going to leave now," he tells her.  She tells him to wait, that they haven't finished talking yet.  Bear comes running toward the two - Tsukasa keeps walking away.  "What did Subaru say?" Mimiru asks of Bear.  Tsukasa stops.  Bear only says "we'll save that for later." Bear tells Tsukasa they are thinking about looking for The Key of the Twilight, and if he would like to join them.   He goes on to tell him it's a legendary item that surpasses the system.  "I was thinking it might be the key for you to log out and return to reality."  Bear then asks him "where is that place you should be?"   Tsukasa recalls what the voice said to him.  "Think carefully... Where 'the place you should be' is...” Bear asks him "you aren't planning on staying inside the Net forever, are you?"  Tsukasa is still recalling the voice, "Do you really want to return to that filthy world?"   Tsukasa winces, as if holding back tears and answers Bear's question, "I am..." and he runs off away from Bear and Mimiru.