
Shiki and Rebecca marvel at Hermit. They are surprised how quickly they found her. Weisz obsesses over the fact that all the starshines are women. Something appears off with Hermit however. Her internal system is “full of errors,” she doesn’t move or has the inability to speak. Sister Ivry cannot heal her and Weisz claims that he can’t fix her. Witch says that her “mind,” or soul has been damaged.

Shiki suggests that they “go inside” of hermit and “fix her soul.” He asks Weisz to build a machine to accomplish that. As usual Shiki accidentally stumbles upon a good idea. His idea to go inside Hermit is silly but Witch notes that they can save her by going to the Planet Digitalis. Hermit is in a “dive state,” which means that her “self” is in a digital world. Planet Digitalis is a “planet that whose physical form cannot be grasped.”

They have to be digitized in order to enter the world. Digitalis was once an online game. It was one of the original servers for the MMORPG, “Rogue Fantasia.” The NPC’s in the game became self aware, altering their own programming and carried on as if they were living. They can only use their “innate powers,” and any damage received in the game, will be reflected on there real bodies. When they enter the game they’re asked to create their avatar. Anyone who’s played a MMORPG will find this part of the chapter familiar. Rebecca and happy run into a stranger that freaks them out.

Going into a MMORPG could be a really fun arc. I wonder how true to gaming this arc would be. It’s been done several times in other series and of course there are whole anime series that focuses on MMORPG’s. I’m excited for the possibilities.
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