"You're not ready for Class A yet." "You might want to work a little bit more on Class B." "Well played." "Ash." "As alwways." "You're still as good as you ever wwere." "Dock me for a clip of nine millimeter." "Two clips of PPK." "You'll be advancing to the next level soon." "You've just twwo or three missions left to complete." "It wwon't get any easier." "And." "Of course." "you'll have a time handicap to deal wwith." " You knoww that." "Don't you?" " Give me the rest of my points in cash." "Playing solo gets more dangerous the further you go." "Are you sure you don't wwant to join a team?" "It's no wwonder they encourage us to team up." "A team is easier to keep track of than a solo player." "Solos make them nervous." "One of them could get lost in the grid or wwander off behind a firewwall somewwhere and mess up the system." "But the point is." "I've been there." "wwith Team Wizard." "And howw could you join any other team once you've been on the best that's ever played the game?" "Good game, Ash." "Team Wizard." "Murphy..." "Stunner and the rest." "We wwere unbeatable." "As it turned out." "That wwas our dowwnfall." "We'd gotten so tough." "So invincible that all it took wwas one failure to tear the team apart." "Just one player panicking and calling "reset"" "happens to other teams all the time." "But for Wizard." "That wwas the end." "No more teams for me." "I prefer playing solo." "I do miss Murphy." "Though." "Ohh." "Good boy." "Yeah, you're such a good boy." "Real life." "Is that wwhat this is?" "I suppose there must have been a time wwhen this seemed more real to me than the game." "Completed perfectly." "Reminds me of Ash." "This guy's better." "He's much faster." "Move!" "Ash... the circuits haven't been cleared yet." "Even you have to wwait your turn." "After all." "Fine, I'll just have to ask you, then." " Ask me." " I need some help." "I can't advise individual players." "Ash." "You knoww that as wwell as I do." "It wwouldn't be fair." "I want information about another player, a Bishop who just cleared Class A." "The terminal out there shows nothing on this guy." "I would just like to know who he is, that's all." "Why are you so interested?" "Because he's taunting me." "I thought you never made personal contact wwith another player under any circumstances." "Everyone for themselves." "Isn't that howw you play the game?" "Avalon" "Farawway isle of legend" "Of apple groves" "And mist" "Avalon" "When wwill that day come?" "Avalon" "Isle of fairy" "Where heroes go" "Avalon" "A hero takes ship" "And sets sail" "To that isle of legend" "Avalon" "To the Nine Sisters" "And Avalon" "There together" "On that holy isle" "O Arthur" "Your ship sets sail" "Over the misty wwater to" "Avalon" "Hey!" "It is you." "You're looking very well." "I hear things, you know?" "People are always telling me what's going on." "I don't know why." "I guess 'cause they know I used to be a big shot." "Wizard." "That name still means a lot, you know." "It's a blessing and a curse." "Anyway, I make the rounds at different hubs, and I hear things, sometimes things I really wish I didn't hear, you know what I mean?" "Maybe it's karma." "Anyway, I started hearing about this solo player who's supposed to be really good." "And it's a woman, too." "So I started wondering just who it might be, and, well, you know." " How long did it take?" " Did what take?" " You tracking me down." " I wasn't." "It was just dumb luck." "Well, it did cross my mind, us meeting like this." "You know, maybe it's like fate giving us a second chance or something." "I wish I was a Warrior like you." "Then I could play solo." "I'm a Thief, and who the hell's ever heard of a solo Thief, huh?" "We're nothing without a team." "We scrounge our supplies... snoop around, scout ahead." "We're like tour guides." "Well, you know, any team would be lucky to have you, Stunner." "God, how long it's been since anyone's called me that." "Look at all of us, the old Wizard crew." "We still hate each other." "And everybody else... they don't like us much, either." "It's like a curse." "I thought Team Wizard was going to make my career, but instead, it's been like a kiss of death." " We were just too good." " I don't wanna hear it." "OK, then." "Whatever you say." "I don't have time to rehash the old days." " Ash..." " No need to thank me." "I wasn't going to." "Have you heard about Murphy?" "Oops, I guess you haven't heard." "Hey, if you're through with this, can I..." "Our old friend Murphy went solo, too." "And then he never came back." "You can visit him." "Or wwhat's left of him." "They got him out of the clinic wwith the rest of the jellyfish." "the Unreturned." "As they like to call them." "Personally." "I wwouldn't go near the place." "Too much reality." "Knoww wwhat I mean?" "You must have heard the stories about a hidden character in the Field-class A levels of the game." "a neutral character that appears out of nowwhere." "a little girl wwith sad eyes." "wwho doesn't say a wword." "Some people think she's an Easter egg planted by the programmers." "Some think she's a bug in the system." "They call her the Ghost." "Whatever she is." "One thing's for sure:" "no one wwho goes after her ever makes it back." "So." "Wwhy wwould anybody wwith any sense go after her." "Right?" "Come on." "Ash." "Even someone wwho keeps to herself as much as you must've heard of Special A." "a secret level wwhere you can't reset to escape." "a level that's got to be played to the end." "It's a killer." "The degree of difficulty is off the charts." "But then." "So's the number of experience points you could get." "They say this girl." "The Ghost." "is the only gate to that level." "so that's wwhy players go looking for her and go after her wwhen they find her." "If they wwant to get into Special A." "they've got to chase the Ghost." "Just like Murphy did." "Murphy..." "Murphy..." "Murphy!" "I see them." "Sit tight." "Stunner!" "Split up!" "I need you to draw them away!" "Copper, Cuisinart, we need some cover now!" "Murphy!" "We're almost out of ammo!" "We've got to fall back!" "Get a hold of yourself." "Stunner." "This team does not call reset." "Just do your job." "Dammit!" "Ash!" "Ash!" "Nine Sisters." "My data?" "What for?" "Let's go." "What's taking so long?" "Let's go." "Let's go." ""Ruins C66." Those would be the coordinates." "It's very busy out there in Class A today." "Watch out for time lags." "Have you heard of the Nine Sisters?" "No." "Ash." "Leave it be." "You are giving advice?" "If so." "It's not for your sake:" "merely for the sake of the game." "Avalon." "You have a gift." "Players of your caliber bring stability to the wwhole netwwork." "If you wwere to be lost." "the game wwould suffer." "There are forces at wwork...  forces you don't understand." "Stay focused on the game." "Don't be distracted." "Let sleeping ghosts lie." "I'm as focused as I ever was, Game Master." "And my objective has not changed." "You should know it by now." "To be the first to reach the highest level of Avalon..." "But now I find the game has changed." "And somehow they hold the key, this Bishop and the Nine Sisters." "A key can open doors." "or it can lock you in." "Some riddles may not be wworth the risk of solving." "No one wins the game without solving it." "That's the only thing about the riddle I know for sure." "I think Murphy knew that, too." "All right, log me on." "Wait, wait, hold your fire." "I'm Gill, of Team Nine Sisters." "It is an honor to meet the great Ash." "Welcome, Ash." "What brings you someone like you to our neck of the woods?" "I want information." "And I expect you'll want something in return, won't you?" "Cut to the chase, huh?" "How about we just take all of your gear?" "What do you say?" "People will pay good cash for the data that's stored on that equipment." "You know selling a player's data is against the rules." "Yeah, well, a guy's got to earn a living, even in Avalon." " What is Special A?" " You wouldn't really." "OK, the real Nine Sisters, the ones we took our name from, they're the only ones who might know." "Even if they do, I doubt they would tell you." "So, who are these Nine Sisters I keep hearing about?" "They are the ones who originally programmed this game." "Murphy!" "A time lag." "Bastards!" "Reset!" "I'm sorry I messed up your game room." "It's all right." "Everyone has days like that." "Ash?" "You're looking a little pale." "You recovering from a reset or what?" "OK, calm down." "Look, I thought of something." "You interested in finding the gate to Special A?" "You know, the Ghost?" "I think I can help you if you are." "You wanna get some breakfast, Ash?" "You really need to eat more, you know." "So, anyway, like I was saying..." "There was this team that lost a few people, and they told me that, when the Ghost appears there's always a Bishop around somewhere." "They say that's the one common link between all the sightings." " Bishop?" " Uh-huh." "Don't ask me why, but the Ghost never appears without one of them around." "So a Bishop." "Any kind of Bishop?" "Ah, that's the thing." "Some fools think they can hook up with just any old Bishop and go Ghost-hunting." "It doesn't work like that." "They find that out the hard way." "So, what kind of Bishop?" "Exactly." "He's gotta be really good, at least Class A, level 12 or higher, huh?" "Any other Bishop, and you're just wasting your time." "So... you thinking about it?" "You gonna make the switch?" "Warrior to Bishop?" "It's one way of finding the Ghost, yeah?" "As a solo?" "Never." "Well, Murphy was solo, after all." "Yeah, but, my God, a level-12 Bishop..." "Hey... what level are you?" "12?" "13?" "Of course, you need more than that." "To switch to Bishop, you need double the experience points." "You know that's no piece of cake." "Look at Murphy." "Took him forever." "Yeah." "A whole lot of time, a whole lot of cash." "Still, he ended up with about as many points as anyone, I guess." "Even so, didn't do him much good in the end, did they?" "I wouldn't be able to do it." "You could if you had a team." "Of course, with your recent record, who would want to join you?" "Forget it." "You're right." "I mean, just look at you." "You're less perfect." "Why mess things up?" "Ash..." "You're right." "I don't think you could do it even if you tried." "Maybe if Murphy were still here..." "Thanks." "Be seeing you around." "How did you find me?" "As the Good Book says, "Seek and ye shall find."" "Actually, it's you who's been looking for me, isn't it, Ash?" "Real meat... real vegetables rice." "That's a very lucky dog you've got." "He eats better than most humans I know." "Real alcohol... cigarettes." "Knowledge you can't get from any terminal." "Behold... the fruits of Avalon." "The privileges of the solo player." "Of course, for the best players, the game itself is its own reward, isn't it?" " I've checked you out, Ash." " You talked to Stunner?" "The ability to analyze data is one of the most important skills of a Bishop." "You were a Warrior in Team Wizard." "The team disbanded." "There's always been speculation as to exactly why." "The details remain something of a mystery." "There've been many theories, but the most popular one is that a certain warrior disobeyed orders panicked under fire and called for a reset." "Ash!" "Do you read me?" "Aim for the cockpit!" "Take out the pilot!" "Come in." "Ash!" "Ash." "Are you there?" "Ash!" "The team is cut off." "It's in danger of being wwiped out." "Someone cracks under pressure." "It happens all the time." "The only unusual thing in this case is that it wwas never supposed to happen to the invincible Wizard." "I want us to form a team." "Standard set-up of six members." "Me and two other Warriors, a Thief, of course... and, if possible, a Mage." "And me." "Aren't you going to ask what I want?" "And would you tell me?" "I will... once we're in Avalon." "Be at Flak Tower 22." "Tomorrow, midnight." "I'd like to close up now." "I'm supposed to meet someone in Avalon at midnight." "He's going to help me find Special A." "You won't find what you think you're looking for, you know." "Not in Avalon." "Even though it looks real, even though it feels real," "Avalon is still only a game." "But a game you cannot win is no longer a game." "Why do you suppose it's hidden on a secret level?" "There is a reason they keep it off limits." "Who are you?" "Just like you, I was once approached by Bishop." "Though in my case, he was looking for an administrator, not a player." "Who is Bishop?" "Someone with special access privileges." "He doesn't log on from a hub, but from his own terminal." "He comes and goes as he pleases." "People can you do that?" "You and I can't." "But of course, just about anything is possible when you are one of the people running the game." "Take my advice, Ash:" "Don't try to get into Special A." " I must." " Why?" "Murphy is in there." "Ah, I see." "Use room nine." "The Game Master is waiting." "Thank you." "I've input your coordinates." "As you knoww." "I wwould prefer you didn't go through wwith this." "Ash." "I'm sorry." "I have to." "A good game master does not intervene." "Tell me something." "What am I talking to when I talk to you?" "Are you accessing the system from a terminal somewhere, or are you part of the system itself?" "You mean." "Am I real?" "Does it matter?" "All right." "Log me on." "I want to thank you for helping me." "There's no need." "Your being here is a benefit to me as well." "So, did you find out who I am?" "You know what I think?" "You're one of the Nine Sisters." "The ones who originally designed the program." "I'm their successor." "The Nine Sisters created Avalon." "My job is to preserve it." "Then it's true." "You're not a player." "You're on the inside." "Would you like to join me?" "Before I join a team, I like to know who's on it." "Don't worry about them." "They're only ciphers, masses of data." "They don't really exist." "Ash... which is the greater challenge?" "Which is the better game?" "Which would you choose, given a choice?" "The sort of game that you think you can win but can't, or alternatively, one that seems to be impossible but isn't?" "Maintaining a precise delicate balance somewhere in between throughout every level of the game - that's what keeps it going." "And it is all up to us." "Right." "Now that we're all here, it's time to go." "Good to be working with you again, Ash." "Did you pack your lunch?" "I'm showing nothing in front of us." " I don't like it." " Ash, up top." "Mikanik, Ivan, Brody, forward." "Give me break!" "Big trouble up here!" "They've got a citadel!" "How are we ever supposed to get past that?" "Calm down." "This is a Field-class A mission." "Did you think it would be simple?" "We'll just have to change our tactics." "Even that thing has a weak spot." "Ash, we'll get out front and slow it down, huh?" "You go around behind it." "Aim for the grille." "Bishop, what the hell?" "Are you trying to get the rest of the team killed?" "Forget about them." "Stunner!" "They're just digital." "They're just decoys!" "Keep moving and don't waste your fire." "Where's the Ghost?" "No!" "Stunner!" "That was my one chance." "Looks like I screwed up again." "Again?" "You saw her, right?" "The Ghost?" "Wait till she leaves the wall, then take your shot." "That's when you can get her." "The Ghost is the gate." "Get the Ghost, and you're in." "You'll have made it to Special A." "Say hello to Murphy." "It wasn't your fault, Ash." "You know that, don't you?" "What happened to Wizard then..." "I was the one who got scared." "I'm the one who called for a reset." "I always..." "I always wanted to tell Murphy that." "Ash!" "Get moving." "The Ghost won't wait for you forever." "I wwas right." "I kneww you wwould be the player to make it through the gate." "Is this Special A?" "We call it Class Real." "Its design is far more sophisticated than any level of the game you've seen." "Howwever." "The one thing you have to do in order to complete it is quite simple." "So there is another mission?" "One of the Unreturned is here." "an illegal player." "Track him dowwn." "and you eliminate him from the game." "In essence." "You'll be acting as a debugger." "removing a virus from the system before it can spread." "Your only wweapon is that pistol...  and the clip that's in it." "The other people you'll see are neutrals." "not players." "If you kill or injure a neutral." "you lose the game." "There is no time limit...  and there is no wway to exit before the level is completed." "If you should get back successfully." "you can then be one of us." "Any questions?" "Yes." "Why have you brought me here?" "You brought yourself." "Ash." "Remember that." "Only you knoww wwhy." "Noww." "You have everything you need." "So if there are no more questions." "Let's begin." "Look behind you." "You may find more than one familiar face here." "Good hunting." "Ash." "Murphy." "Avalon" "Farawway isle of legend" "Of apple groves" "And mist" "Avalon" "When wwill that day come?" "Isle of fairy" "Where heroes go" "Why did you come, Ash?" "Was it because of me?" "Why not?" "Would that surprise you?" "Do you even know our team was disbanded?" "I always had suspicions, but I kept my mouth shut." "I even let people think I called reset." "Why couldn't you have left me alone, huh?" "Stunner told me you were lost, but I suspected you knew just what you were doing." "He travels fastest who travels alone." "Right?" "The rest of us were content being a team, but you weren't." "You wanted to go all the way." "We were just holding you back." "You had to find a way to get rid of us." "You set us up to lose, knowing it would tear us apart." "Is this what you wanted?" "For this you abandoned us all?" "To spend the rest your life as a hollow shell in a hospital bed, staring at nothing?" "How can you be so sure?" "Do I look like a hollow shell?" "Do I?" "Reality is only what we tell ourselves it is!" "That's all!" "I choose this one." "I prefer this reality." "What you call choice, I call something else." "I call it running away." "But what if this world is where we really belong?" "For example:" "Tell me, how do you explain what's happened to your hair?" "Huh?" "That streak of gray, how come it's disappeared?" "Could it be that it's only part of the game and not reality?" "Imagine what it's like to actually be shot to experience that pain." "We're not in the game now, Ash." "Does it really have to be this way?" "When one of us dies... and that body doesn't vanish as usual then you know it's real." "Ash... don't listen to what they tell you." "Never go back." "This world right here..." "is where you belong." "Avalon" "The heroes set out" "For that isle of legend" "Avalon" "Isle of spirits" "Avalon" "Heaven of shadowws" "Noww." "Wwith the Nine Sisters" "Across the misty wwater" "The ship sets sail" "To Avalon"