Aura (LINK)

"Surely, for you...the light of dawn will arrive..."

- Aura

Aura (アウラ, Aura) is the spirit of the The World and was created by Harald Hoerwick to be the Ultimate AI.

Appearance
:''In the events of .hack//LINK, Aura has three distinct appearances. Two appearances are from other entries in the .hack series, and the third one first appears in the new story.''

|-|1st Form= Aura first appears in her young child form. She wears only a simple white dress with bare shoulders and bare feet. She has deep purple eyes, and white hair. Her hair is curly, and flows down her back, covering her entire backside, and wrapping around the sides of her body.


 * -|2nd Form=Aura's other appearance is the same as seen in most parts of the .hack series. She is taller, with a more mature face. Her eyes have become bright blue, and her hair lavender. She wears a dress covering her entire body, with a white shawl wrapped around her shoulders and pinned with an infinity symbol brooch. Her hair is less curly and more wavy in this form. It comes down just past her waist, and it flows and wraps around her body. Tokio is visibly surprised at the drastic change when he first sees Aura in this form.


 * -|3rd Form=Known as the Queen of Demise, Aura transform into a giant figure. She keeps many aspects of her second visual appearance, including her lavender hair and dress. However, her face is marred by purple patterns, and her eyes become red and black. Her infinity brooch also becomes thorny and spiked. Several snake-like faces grow out of the lower half of her body, the heads of which greatly resemble Cubia's appearance in .hack//G.U.

Personality
Aura is very supportive, and lends assistance within her time lines where it is appropriate. Aura shows her distaste for the role of goddess early on. In the present time, she remains reclusive to protect herself, and by extension, prevent disaster from befalling the network. However, after her transformation, due to a virus infection that was implanted within Tokio by Geist, Aura becomes crazed, and tries to ensnare the entire world into her network in order to trap them in a twisted expression of her love for the world.

.hack//LINK
In the year 2019 A.D. at Genius's request, the hacker team Schicksal manages to capture Aura and place her in the Akashic Records, intending to use her as the core of a new network control system. However, she erected a an impenetrable barrier around the room, and used the power of the Records against them to call forth the Twilight Knights, the manifestations of over 100 heroes from The World's past, to oppose Schicksal.

Tokio first learns of Aura in 2009 A.D. when Tsukasa mentions her by name shortly before leading Tokio and Subaru to the hidden area where her bed is located. However, Aura is nowhere to be found, and they encounter Morganna instead. Later, after defeating a Twilight Guardian, Tokio witnesses Aura's awakening, and the group retreats to Net Slum. Helba then directs Tokio and Tsukasa to accompany Aura to a field where she can take the next step towards birth. Here Morganna warns her of the fate she faces as a goddess of a world—unbearable loneliness and misunderstanding—and offers to forgive her if she returns to her room, but after encouragement from Tsukasa Aura makes her decision to accept that responsibility rather than running away, a decision Morganna warns her she will never be able to take back.

During 2010 A.D. Tokio and Kite encounter Aura shortly before she is data drained by Skeith. She briefly begs them to reassemble her segments before fading. Once her segments have been gathered, she appears to the .hackers before their battle with Corbenik to warn them. During the battle she appears and summons the spirits of the Coma Victims to assist. When Blackrose and Tokio go after Posaune to rescue the frozen Kite, Aura calls out to them, and warns them to close their eyes. Then, she blinds Posaune with a bright light, allowing Blackrose to rescue Kite from being held hostage. After the battle with Posaune, Aura extracts the Chrono Core from the frozen Kite for Tokio, and speaks briefly of The World's future. Over 2014 A.D. Aura only appears to save Shugo after he is defeated by a Data Bug, and gives him the power of the bracelet. Later, Zefie, Shugo, and Rena go to the location Aura is waiting for them with Tokio's help, likely vanishing shortly after. By 2016 Shino claims that Aura grew sick of The World, Tokio comes to Aura's defense. He tells her that Aura would never abandon The World, and that she was probably still watching from a hidden location.

Then in 2020 A.D. When Tokio and Saika reached the top of Akashic Records, they found a door with an infinity symbol on the top of it. When they entered the room, they found Aura frozen in ice, who asked why they were here. Before either Tokio or Saika could answer, a virus suddenly came out from Tokio's body and trapped Aura with chains that formed like an egg. This turned out to be Geist's scheme to control Aura and realize Immortal Dusk. As Aura was brainwashed, she began creating monsters called Legion that spread throughout The World, corrupting data and beginning the process of Twilight. The Azure Knights still obeyed her, but the newer Twilight Knights worked to save her.When the egg hatched, Aura drastically change and began to Real digitalize humanity as proof of her love for the world. Tokio and Twilight Knights intend to stop her and open her eyes. However, they succumb to her power and nearly lost until AIKA interferes, using her power to regain Aura's memories at cost of disappearing with her. She's last seen, presumably within her own mind, in her child form with AIKA holding her hands before disappear.

Later in 2024 A.D., a mysterious message from Genius comments to an unknown recipient that trying to use the Akashic Records to control Aura was a foolish action. Sometime afterwards, a figure resembling Aura is seen briefly in the small glimpse into the future.

:See Also

 * .hack - Aura
 * .hack//GU. - Aura (G.U.)

Trivia

 * There is a statue of Aura in the central square of The World R:X's Mac Anu. To add in the grassy field areas of LINK, there is also a large statue resembling Aura can be seen partially submerged, and toppled onto its side in the lake.