Lost One (Roots)


 * For information on the term please see Lost One.

"The Shino in reality... is unconscious and is lying on a hospital bed."

- Haseo

Lost One is the fourteenth episode of .hack//Roots.

Story
Tabby visits the Hulle Granz Cathedral, to lay some flowers on the spot where Shino was PKed. Suddenly the sign located on the altar begins to glow, causing Tabby to run out of the Cathedral in fear. After she leaves, the area continues to experience data fluctuations, which destroy the flowers she put there.

Returning to Mac Anu Tabby goes to visit Phyllo. He asks her if she changed her mind about quitting, and Tabby says that after hearing about Shino she just couldn't bring herself to leave "The World". She begins to question Phyllo about Shino's situation, but he tells her that he only knows rumors. He says if she wants real information, she'll have to talk to Haseo. Tabby tells him that talking to Haseo is impossible for her. Phyllo responds by saying that Tabby is the only person who can still talk to Haseo. He encourages her to find him and talk to him about Shino.

Meanwhile, at the Arche Koeln Waterfall Haseo reminisces about Shino. He wonders where she went, and why she refuses to answer her phone in real life. He angrily shouts at Ovan, wondering why he hasn't come back to help Shino.

Inside the Serpent of Lore, Yata and Pi keep a close watch on both Tabby and Haseo. Pi attempts to examine Haseo's character data, but receives an error. She tells Yata that this error has occurred every time she's tried to look at his data. She says that it's probably nothing more than a bug, but Yata reminds her that they thought the same thing about Ovan. Until his "bug" became strong enough to break the restraints around his PC. Yata says that they data they did manage to get showed that Ovan's PC had formed a sort of restraint or prison around the bugged data, and speculates that it may have formed as a sort of protective barrier for Ovan. Pi wonders if such data could have been formed by the black box hidden in "The World's" data, and speculates that Ovan's power may be a remnant from the first revision of the game. Yata reminds her that even if that were true, they are currently in "The World R:2", and that anything currently in the game is considered a part of R:2. He then gives Pi a new mission, the try and awaken the strange data that lurks inside of Haseo.

Elsewhere in "The World", Ovan travels to Shino's favorite field. He stares at the scenery for a moment, before warping away. Almost immediately afterwards, Phyllo warps in. He goes to Shino's favorite spot and looks around. Suddenly the scenery begins to grow dark. Without warning Tri-Edge appears nearby, and rushes to attack Phyllo, who desperately tries to defend himself.

At the Hulle Granz Cathedral, Tabby finally succeeds in locating Haseo. When she asks him about Shino's attack he tells her that he was there when it happened, and that there was nothing he could have done to save her. Tabby wonders what would have happened if she'd been there too, but Haseo tells her that the outcome would have been the same. She wouldn't have had the power to save Shino either. Suddenly Haseo receives a phone call in the real world. He tells Tabby that it's about Shino, and suddenly warps out. Traveling back to Mac Anu, Tabby finds Phyllo, with an unusually serious expression on his face. He asks her if she met with Haseo, and then reveals that Tri-Edge attacked him.

In a shrine dungeon, Pi meets with one of her contacts, a woman named Saburou. Saburou asks her how Pi was able to reinstate her banned account and supply her with a new character. Pi, wanting to keep her administrative powers secret dodges the question, and merely tells her that if she wants to keep the character, she'll have to work for her. She tells Saburou she'll give her some time to decide, and leaves. To her surprise Saburou follows her back to Mac Anu. She tries to get information about Pi's current mission, but Pi refuses to tell her anything. However, she is able to find out that Tri-Edge is somehow related. She also asks if Pi is somehow involved with the new Forest of Pain event. Pi tells her that to do that she'd have to be a CC Corp administrator. Intrigued, Saburou agrees to work for Pi and says she'll contact her later. On Mac Anu's bridge Haseo talks with Phyllo. He asks him if he's heard about a new rumor on the BBS, that PC's who have been killed by Tri-Edge become Lost Ones, players unable to return to the game. Phyllo dodges the question, and tells Haseo to follow him. They travel to Shino's favorite field, and Phyllo tells Haseo that Tri-Edge attacked him here. Haseo asks if Phyllo defeated Tri-Edge, but Phyllo says that he didn't, during the fight Tri-Edge suddenly stopped attacking and warped away. Haseo wonders, why was Phyllo spared when Shino wasn't? Phyllo asks about Shino, and is surprised by Haseo's response. That the real Shino was found unconscious in her room, and had to be rushed to the hospital. Haseo blames himself for Shino's condition, and tells Phyllo that if he'd just arrived at the Cathedral earlier he might have been able to save her. Phyllo tells him that having fought Tri-Edge, that Haseo wouldn't have stood a chance, and would have wound up as another one of Tri-Edge's victims. Changing the subject, Haseo asks Phyllo why he was visiting this field in the first place. Phyllo uneasily tells him that this is the area where Shino met Ovan for the first time. This knowledge causes Haseo to fly into a rage. He runs back to the Cathedral and breaks down in front of the altar, attacking it repeatedly with his swords.