"I don't need parents." "Humans are all alone." "They're not connected to anyone at all." "How did it go?" "Lain's acting funny." "It's nothing new, but still..." "No, it's perfectly normal." "Huh?" "What're you talking about?" "Mika, watch your tone with your father." "Is she right?" "Yes." "Shit!" "Shit!" "Shit!" "Shit!" "Shit!" "What do you want?" "!" "What's going on?" "!" "Shit!" "SHIT!" "Gotcha." "We have homeroom next hour, right?" "Is that lucky, or what?" "Don't you think it's strange that they called a special staff meeting?" "Do you think it's true, then?" "What?" "They say a high school senior committed suicide." "S-Suicide?" "It's not just at our school, either." "Somebody jumped off the roof of their apartment building a while ago, too." "Hey, Lain." "Sorry." "What is it?" "I guess Lain wouldn't know anything about it..." "The suicide, you mean?" "You know about that?" "Really?" "I've just heard a little about it, that's all." "Where?" "The Wired." "Right, you must've gotten the hang of your new Navi by now." "You'll have to show it to me sometime." "Sure." "But I'm modifying it a little right now." "Modifying it?" "I didn't know you were into that hacky stuff." "You know, you've changed lately." "Really?" "You think so?" "She has?" "Yeah." "I can't put my finger on it." "So, what sort of rumors have you heard in the Wired?" "Well..." "That's it's some kind of game." "A game?" "A network game, you mean?" "I don't really know." "I don't play those." "But they say that all the dead kids were hooked on it." "Guys sure like that stuff..." "A game, huh?" "But why?" "I..." "Hey, don't wolf down food like that!" "You'll choke!" "I'm okay." "You mind if I go home'?" "Hey, you don't need to ask our permission or anything." "You have plans?" "I want to get home and put my Navi back together." "It's still in bits and pieces." "You prefer a machine to your friends, huh?" "Cut it out, Juri!" "Don't talk like that!" "I'm not accusing her of anything." "Once you're done, you'll have to show us, Lain." "Sure." "Sorry." "She has changed." "I'm sorry!" "Here." "No, it was my fault." "Sorry!" "Log in." "Lain." "Authorized." "Mail." "Voice mail." "Hello, Lain." "I couldn't figure out the answer to your question by myself, so I asked a colleague at the lab about it." "If that really is a Psyche processor that you have, then you should probably set the oscillation to "variable" like you thought." "Navi motherboards are designed to work with just about anything, but you might run into some glitches." "Good luck." "If you need anything else, just ask." "JJ!" "Yeah?" "You know anything about that net game that all the kids are playing?" "Oh, you mean Phantoma?" "Forget about it." "An adult like you wouldn't be into that." "Right, Lain?" "No way..." "Damn, are my ears playing tricks on me already?" "I..." "I quit already!" "Leave me out of it!" "This isn't the Wired!" "Why?" "Why is this happening?" "!" "Wait, don't run." "Who are you?" "!" "Are you a PK, too?" "Help me!" "I can't go where you are." "What's going on?" "!" "Stop screwing around!" "Bullet charge!" "Gauge 5!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "Die!" "I was scared, that's all." "I didn't know it was just a little girl." "It's not my fault." "I didn't even know her." "Phantoma is a game with a dedicated client application that lets you fight in the Wired." "I downloaded the app from an illegal server to play it a little while ago." "For us, it had a dungeon-style action game interface, but I guess it had somehow gotten linked... to a tag game played by kindergartners." "You have mail." "Open it." "Hey, Lain." "I didn't know you were into stuff like Phantoma." "I checked around, but didn't find out much." "Anyway, the basic game isn't all that unusual in the Wired, so my guess is that they just modified that." "The problem is the part that lets the programs connect to each other." "It looks like there's some kind of weird hole in the protocol." "My buddies and I think that this may be the work of the Knights, too." "Knights..." "Lain?" "Looks like you and the Wired are getting along just fine now." "Yeah." "Let me give you one little warning." "Huh?" "When it's all said and done, the Wired is just a medium for communication and the transfer of information." "You mustn't confuse it with the real world." "Do you understand what I'm warning you about?" "You're wrong." "Huh?" "The border between the two isn't all that clear." "I'll be able to enter it soon." "In full range." "Full motion." "I'll translate myself into it." "Even with a top of the line civilian Navi, you couldn't..." "I can do it." "I've modified mine." "A Psyche processor, huh?" "But..." "Don't worry." "I'm still me." "Sometimes I wonder." "I waited for you for hours!" "Why?" "Why didn't you come?" "!" "Damn you!" "Damn you!" "Damn you!" "Damn you!" "This mail is a message of happiness!" "By receiving this, you'll be happier than anyone else!" "In other words, the Knights do not physically exist, but are rather thought itself that occurs within the Wired." "They can be thought of as a religion that is spreading through the Wired." "Would you go out with me?" "If you already have a boyfriend, I apologize." "If you love him, I'll give up on you." "But if..." "Please browse code J946@5488AA97464." "Whoever gets this mail, please help me, whoever you are." "You may not believe this, but I'm always being followed." "Lain, why won't you come here?" "Go away." "Go away!" "Intruder interrupted." "I thought I was innocent, but I'm being punished." "I didn't start this, but I have to finish it somehow." "I can't say I didn't know about it, but I don't remember taking part in it." "I get the feeling my freedom cost me dearly, but I don't remember selling my soul cheaply." "Hey, hey!" "Until I die and say goodbye..." "Hey, hey!" "...no one will ever catch me." "You probably don't know the eternal outlaws who wander the distant night."