cityofhex//APPLICATION

[betterlogoutand]

OOC Information
Player name: Lavvy
Player age and gender: 24, she
Any other characters in game? N/A

IC Information

Character name: Haseo (real name: Ryou Misaki)
Character canon: .hack//G.U.
Canon point: The end of vol.2
Character history: .hack//Wiki
Since the wiki likes to include all the noncanonical spin-offs under his history without any distinction, you only need to pay attention to Roots and the G.U. Games. Sora's history in SIGN, ZERO, Liminality, and the original games are also relevant, though Haseo has no memory of any of those events.

Character world:

Ryou comes from a modern-day Earth set in the year 2017. Technology is slightly more advanced, such as the popularity of VR headsets for both gaming and general computer use, more and more things becoming fully automated or done online, plans for the world's first space colony, and so on. Nearly all computers also use the same OS (ALTIMIT) due to a severe network crisis that happened in 2005, crashing all computers except those running ALTIMIT and causing global chaos. But besides all of that, it's roughly the same as our current Earth.

At the core of .hack's story is a VR game imaginatively named The World. The World was the first MMO to be released after the network crisis in 2005, so it immediately gained popularity. It was a fantasy game with magic, medieval weaponry, monsters, all that generic fantasy stuff that you'd expect, and it was generally very well received. However, The World wasn't just a game. Its true purpose was to create the ultimate AI, named Aura, using data gathered from players within the game to give it the capacity for human responses and emotion. The World was also meant to test the boundary between reality and virtual reality, pushing the limits of the technology to create a world that was truly alive. This whole plan backfired catastrophically when Morganna, the AI created to "birth" the ultimate AI, became self-aware and realized that it would lose its purpose if the ultimate AI was born. It trapped its creator inside the game's programming and began work on a long and elaborate plan to corrupt the ultimate AI and basically make sure it never stopped having a reason to exist. An anime and four games later, Morganna's plan was foiled and the ultimate AI was fully realized.

Aura ascended to an almost goddess-like state within the world's networks, watching over The World but also throwing the Internet at large into chaos whenever her existence was threatened. Every part of the series after the first anime/quartet of games is basically the results of some fucking idiot decided to prod the Almighty Goddess of the Internet with a stick or something, or just fucking around with her game world which isn't much better.

The World itself has gone through a recent revision after a fire damaged the servers (which was the start of the most recent goddess-prodding incident, but I'm not going to ramble on about the entire plot of G.U. here), but the heart of the game's strange existence remains the same. Most people are aware of rumours surrounding the game and its involvement in another network crisis back in 2010, but few people believe the stories. It seems impossible that a VR game could put someone into a real-life coma, and it doesn't happen normally. Only when those supernatural elements of the game world rear their heads do player's lives get put a risk.

Character personality:

Haseo is, first and foremost, a huge antisocial jerk. He's brash, rude, and selfish, always working to become stronger and taking down anyone who gets in his way. He prefers to play solo, rejecting and pushing away others when help is offered, and quick to complain whenever he's forced into playing as part of a team anyway. Despite his abrasive attitude, however, Haseo is actually a pretty decent guy all around (even if he gets super embarrassed when he's caught being nice to anyone). For all his complaining he's never the type to ignore a person in need, and he always shows up to help when asked. He's extremely protective of his friends and despises people who look down on others. He started his career as a PKK to obtain information on Tri-Edge, but protecting the weaker players of The World was also part of his motivation. Children are another soft spot for him, and he tends to act like slightly less of a jerk when talking to kids.

It takes a long time for him to open up to anyone, but when he does he's a very honest person. Haseo is incredibly blunt and to-the-point, and though his criticisms are usually harsh he's always looking out for the best interests of others. He is also extremely emotional oh my god this kid cries so much it's unreal. In a way, his jerkish selfish attitude is just a sad attempt to cover up how much of a delicate crybaby he is. He is so tsundere it's probably unhealthy. He might act tough and uncaring when beating people up in video games, but that act shatters into a million goddamn pieces the second someone is in real, actual danger—hell, when someone might be in real, actual danger, considering how badly he flips the fuck out when Shino gets killed by Tri-Edge, long before Haseo should have any idea what's actually going on there. Apparently, seeing someone's online avatar explode is grounds for spamming their voicemail and bawling all over your computer while screaming their name dramatically. Yeah. Haseo doesn't deal well with people getting hurt.

He is also super-competitive, and very easy to rile up. When Haseo sets a goal for himself he doesn't stop until he succeeds, often reaching a point of unhealthy obsession. Whether it's gaining more power, rescuing his comatose friend, or grinding for days to reach the top PvP rankings just so he can beat up some jerk who told him off, once you get Haseo going he's guaranteed to keep at it until he succeeds. He's very hard working, never the type to cheat his way to victory or lie about his accomplishments.

Haseo also tends to repeat things. A lot. He likes to remind himself of things out loud so he doesn't forget. He usually does this in his head but sometimes it creeps into his speech. It's kind of annoying.

There is also the small matter of Skeith. Skeith is an AI connected to Haseo within The World (who is also actually himself through shenanigans, .hack is confusing). Being an AI programmed only to destroy and invoke fear in others, Skeith encourages Haseo to act more genuinely assholish and violent, and also causes him to be more emotionally volatile when under its influence. It tends only attempt to take control when its host is in extreme distress or under highly negative emotional states, although Haseo is also capable of resisting those attempts if needed.

Skeith is intelligent, but very shortsighted. It will do whatever it takes to preserve its own existence, so its unlikely to be drawn out unless Haseo is met with something that he can't handle on his own and his life is at risk. Otherwise, Skeith is perfectly fine with remaining a backseat observer and pushing its negative influence on Haseo's mind.

Character abilities:

Lots and lots of video game bullshit, basically.

• Since he's inhabiting the body of his MMO character, he is actually very fit physically despite being a lazy teenager IRL. He also has a bit of muscle memory for combat. If you handed him a scythe/broadsword/twinswords, he could give a pretty decent impression of having any idea what he's doing without actually having any idea what he's doing.
  
  Sadly, his skills would fall apart completely in any real combat scenario. A more experienced fighter should easily be able to tell he's inexperienced, though they might at least be convinced he's had some form of training.
  
  
• Superhuman strength and speed. He's seen doing such feats such as jumping several stories high and wielding a weapon larger than his own body, all while maintaining a thin, lean body. Basically, he's an anime character who can do ridiculous anime things on occasion.
  
  
• As an MMO character, he has access to an inventory system and an internal messaging system ("flash mail"), as well as a variety of other menus. These menus are only visible to him and are mostly useless, besides the inventory. Flash mail can only be used to exchange short messages with compatible users, ie. he can use video game telepathy with other characters from MMO worlds probably.
  
  The inventory allows him to freely store and summon any object that would fit in his pocket. He can also summon his weapons and Steam Bike in this manner, but these are the only larger objects that can be stored. They're special.
  
  
• The Steam Bike! This is a large motorcycle-like vehicle that Haseo can summon at will, provided he's not "in combat". It supposedly runs on steam, which looks like magic blue orbs produced by tiny animals, but actually it doesn't seem to run on anything at all. It just runs. Somehow.
  
  
• An array of basic elemental spells that are as mildly impressive as they are incredibly weak. Haseo is a not a magic-based class. He can perform the most basic fire, water, earth, wind, dark, and light spells, but they're very weak and use a large amount of SP compared to his tiny SP pool. Not even worth it.
  
  
• On the slightly more useful side of the scale, he also has access to the most basic healing and resurrection spells. Again, though, he does not have a very big SP pool, so he's not very good as a healer. Small injuries wouldn't be any problem, but something larger or more life threatening would require a lot of recasting and waiting for his SP to recover, if he could even manage enough casts before the injuries worsened.
  
  For the sake of balance and the fact that this isn't a video game world, the resurrection spell would only work on someone who's just died, or about to die, and it would only restore their injuries to the point where they could potentially survive. They would still need proper medical treatment immediately to avoid dying.
  
  
• THE BIG ONE: Skeith, The Terror of Death. Skeith is a powerful AI bonded to Haseo's character data, acting as a link between Ryou's mind and his character's body within The World.
  
  The simplest way to put it is that Skeith is a large summonable monster (around 15 feet tall) that exists on another plane known as Avatar Space. Haseo can control it directly using their mental link and his own body's movements, kind of like a puppet. Since Skeith exists on a different "plane" of the game, it can only be seen by others who have access to that plane. However, Skeith and other Avatars can still affect things in the regular plane, such as attacking human players. Skeith is the smallest of the phases, but its also quick and powerful. Skeith wields a large scythe and can shoot energy bullets, but its true power comes from Data Drain, which allows it to remove and rewrite data in other entities (more on that in a bit). Skeith also gives Haseo a natural immunity and defence against other virtual entities of a similar type, such as other Avatars or AIDA.
  
  To translate this into the world of Hex, Skeith takes on a similar nature to that of a ghost. When summoned by Haseo, Skeith's form only exists in a plane similar to Twilight and cannot be perceived by non-player characters. It can still affect the physical world, but when "manifesting" in this way it can be physically interacted with by those who can see it, and thus it can be stopped or attacked. Affecting the physical world in this way also takes a great deal of energy, and he would need a 9~10 memory score to even consider using Skeith in this way. Anything less than that and they'd both exhaust themselves just trying to rustle a curtain.
  
  
• Data Drain is the ability to rewrite data, and coming from a world composed entirely of data that means altering the fabric of reality. Its primary uses are extracting harmful viruses or infections from users or destroying the data of a harmful entity such as AIDA. It also has its own methods of breaking through computer security systems and opening virtual back doors.
  
  In a living, breathing world, it's a bit more complicated. Data Drain is too simple of a method to work on something as complex as the real world, so at best it can only scramble the "data" of whatever it touches. On anything living, this would probably be fatal. On the bright side, living entities also have a natural resistance to the effects of Data Drain, so it'll only have the full effect against a target that's been heavily weakened and injured. Against a healthy target, getting hit by Data Drain can have any number of effects ranging from nothing happening at all to making them violently ill.
  
  Data Drain requires Skeith's Avatar form, though. Much like summoning Skeith, this ability is only available at a 9~10 memory score and degrades very rapidly with the loss of memory.
  
  
• Supernatural abilities aside, Skeith is still connected to Haseo even without a semi-physical presence. It doesn't try to interfere with Haseo's actions beyond implanted thoughts here and there, but if its host is in extreme distress then it won't hesitate to try and hijack control of the body to save him. Haseo has gotten better as controlling his emotions and resisting this mind control, and generally he would prefer not to give Skeith free reign like that, but it's an option that's available for the most dire of situations. If he managed to convince it to cooperate with him, he could also potentially use Skeith's knowledge or skills without giving up full control of his body (good luck with that one, though).
  
  As for what Skeith could actually do that Haseo can't on his own... Skeith is an advanced AI, so it has a very strong understanding of programming and computers, particularly sneaking past security systems and destroying systems. It's not held back by things like fear or morals. Skeith's influence isn't inherently a bad thing, since it can also be used to push Haseo forward even if he's on the verge of a breakdown. Skeith can fight a hell of a lot better than Haseo and prefers scythes and staves, though its also been known to straight up claw the shit out of people. It has a very wild, barbaric fighting style.
  
  
• The amazing ability to speak in emoticons.

Samples:

Sample 1 (Network)
Sample 2 (Log)
Sample 3 (TDM which I super dropped the ball on, but hey it's something recent to show I can still write good so why not)

AU nature:

Haseo is a Sin-Eater, with Skeith playing the role of his geist. His threshold identifies him as one of the Torn, and he can wield the Keys of Passion and Stigmata. His Manifestations of choice are Caul and Rage. His keystone is a six-inch long cross that doubles as a stake, and he also possesses a charmed chainsaw that jams a lot and is generally not as useful as he'd like it to be.

Further details on his abilities as a Sin-Eater can be found here, for those canonblind to Geist or anyone who just wants a better idea of Haseo's specific talents regarding his abilities (also for my own reference tbh).

AU history:

When Ryou was ten, he was involved in some horrific incident. Whether it was an accident, an attack, or something else—he doesn't know. It was traumatic enough that he completely repressed the memory, blocking out every detail except for the fact that he was in the hospital for awhile and missed several months of school. His parents were happy to let him forget, and so the incident became a taboo that was never to be discussed. He was transferred to a new school to further distance himself from the trauma. Ryou lived a relatively normal life, never thinking about that odd hole burned into the back of his mind.

He forgot, but it still changed him. Ever since that day, Ryou became something of a dowsing rod for the supernatural. He didn't see or hear strange things, but he had an attraction to anything haunted or marked by death. He was always able to pick out the charms and the mementos from ordinary trinkets, the true hauntings from the fakes or other supernaturals, but it was an ability almost completely unknown to him for years. He didn't think anything strange of the things he picked up on, and was too much of a skeptic to even consider the possibility of ghosts or otherwise. To him, he was just a perfectly normal, ordinary guy.

Over the course of eight months, his life completely changed. It started with a chance meeting that may not have been chance at all. Looking for directions in an unfamiliar part of town, Ryou realized too late that his "guides" were actually muggers leading him to a secluded alleyway. Before they could take a stab at him, a mysterious figure appeared to scare them off, saving Ryou's life. The man identified himself as Ovan, and the first thing he told him was that he had a gift. Ovan didn't elaborate further, though he did invite Ryou to meet with him again before parting ways.

Cautious but intrigued, he decided he wanted to find out more. This is what brought Ryou to join the group known as the Twilight Brigade—an occult club that teetered on the edge of being a cult, with Ovan at its center. The second-in-command who did most of the organizational work was a woman named Shino, who Ryou fell for almost immediately. He came for Ovan, but it was Shino that he stayed for.

The Twilight Brigade's activities were both vague and bizarre. They were told that they were looking for something called the Key of the Twilight, which was some vague and mystical item that most certainly did something, but no one had any idea what. Rumours about it floated around from time to time, but most agreed that it was entirely fictional. Still, Ovan insisted that it was real, and Shino did a good job of motivating the members to help out in the search. They would scour caves and tunnels for clues, or visit locations surrounded by rumours and myths to see what they could find... but rarely did they find anything. The Brigade had far more former members than current members, to say the least. People that knew of its existence considered it something of a joke, and Ovan an eccentric weirdo.

Ryou's presence started to change that, however, because Ryou had a knack for finding those clues that Ovan so desperately wanted. They started to collect strange fragments infused with supernatural power—pieces of a key that wasn't the legendary Key of the Twilight, but that supposedly held some relevance to the legend. Once enough pieces were found, Ovan guided them to an underground ruin where a ritual would be performed. The results were unmistakable. Up until that point, Ryou still had some doubts about the supernatural part of things and only played along with Ovan's games so he could stay alongside Shino. But when all the fragments were brought together in those ruins, a gateway opened up, if only for a brief moment in time. Ovan entered that gateway, ordering the rest of them to stay behind in case anyone tried to follow him. A few minutes later, the gateway closed shut.

Ovan never returned after entering the gate. He disappeared without a single trace, and the fragments that had once opened the gate lost their power. The remaining members of the group were completely shaken, both by their leader's disappearance and the bizarre reality that they'd witnessed, and everyone quickly scattered to the wind and cut contacts. The only ones who lingered were Shino and Ryou. Shino was the closest to Ovan, and Ryou wanted nothing more than to comfort her. It was never part of the plan for Ovan to vanish, but she believed that he would reappear and contact them if they waited patiently.

Unfortunately, things would not work out that way. One day, Shino contacted Ryou asking him to meet with her. The location was an odd but familiar one—an abandoned church that they'd once searched for clues. When Ryou arrived, Shino had collapsed in front of the cathedral's altar, a large triangular wound cut into her torso. The police and paramedics were called, but there was no saving her. She was dead before they arrived.

Ryou was briefly held for questioning, but he was let go when the investigation ran into more and more dead ends. There was no murder weapon, no clues, and even the cause of death was a mystery. The wounds on her body were deep, but she didn't die from the bloodloss. It was as if something had simply caused her heart to stop.

Rumours started floating around about similar mysterious deaths: a killer who carved jagged scars into his victims and disappeared without a trace. Some even claimed him to be a vengeful ghost or demon, but information was scattered and vague at best. There were many different names and variations of the tale, but the name that stuck with Ryou most was "Tri-Edge".

At this point, Ryou knew that there was something much greater than him going on. Despite that, and despite the obvious danger, he still wanted answers. He wanted to find Ovan, track down Shino's killer and put him to justice, no matter what. He dedicated himself to the task, using his few remaining contacts from the Twilight Brigade and searching online message boards for rumours and stories about the bizarre rumours. He also started giving a fake name around this time—if he'd learned nothing else from Ovan, it was that he probably shouldn't be giving out his real identity when meddling with supernatural affairs. In his day to day life he remained Ryou, but when investigating the supernatural he went by Haseo. He gained something of a reputation on the sites that he frequented, though his faith in them became less and less the more he searched. Finding real resources for the paranormal was difficult when there were so many fakes and false rumours floating around, and over time he stopped relying on those resources altogether. He became something of a legend himself—a mysterious hunter chasing after he ghostly Tri-Edge, seeking revenge for his dead friend.

Finding information on Tri-Edge was his main priority, but he also needed to know how to stop a supernatural killer, so Haseo found himself dipping into the research of hunters as well. Unfortunately, he never had much luck. He had no one to guide him, so it was impossible for him to know what would work and what wouldn't until he tried. He attempted to get in contact with some of the ex-Brigade members, but the few that he could get a hold of either refused to speak with him or didn't know anything useful.

Months passed with little to show, until finally Haseo received something unexpected: an e-mail from Ovan, asking to meet with him at a secluded location. He came, and sure enough, Ovan was waiting for him. Ovan spoke cryptically about his absence and, in the end, he never did explain where he was all those months. What he did give Haseo was a piece of information: the killer will return to the scene of the crime.

Looking back, Haseo would realize how foolish he'd been to return to that place. But he was desperate, and it was the only lead he had. The old church was empty when he arrived, but just as Ovan predicted, something appeared there. He attempted to communicate with "Tri-Edge", to get some kind of answer or explanation out of it, but it gave him no answer. When it finally decided to attack, he never had a chance to escape. All he could remember was the sensation of something thick and heavy piercing his chest, the sounds of his own screams, and an agonizing pain that engulfed his entire body before he lost consciousness. He was dead before he could comprehend what had happened.

Of course, death wasn't the end for Haseo. Before his soul could slip away, a terrifying figure of blood and bone appeared before him. The figure introduced himself as Skeith, the embodiment of the fear one experiences upon death, and told Haseo that he'd been watching him for quite some time. He mocked him for his failures, but he also offered Haseo a second chance at life, and another chance at revenge against Shino's killer. Haseo accepted the offer without hesitation.

He awoke on the floor of the church, his body still wracked with pain but otherwise intact. Whatever had killed him before didn't leave a mark on his body. "Tri-Edge" had completely vanished as well, leaving no trace that it had been there at all. He was back to square one in his search. Even so, it wasn't a complete loss. He very quickly learned what it meant to bound to a geist like Skeith. With the power to speak to the dead, finding out about Shino's killer suddenly seemed like a much simpler task.

Unfortunately, it still wouldn't be that simple. Despite her violent death, Shino didn't leave behind any ghost that Haseo could find or learn about. She'd either passed on immediately, or her soul was somewhere else he couldn't reach. With further investigation he learned that her body had actually vanished shortly after the autopsy. The details had been covered up to prevent any more rumours or panic, but the result was that he had no body or ghost to work with. All he had to go on were the whispers of what may have happened to her, according to the passing spectres who claimed to witness some part of it. The dead seemed more likely to speak to him about it than the living ever had, and so Haseo began taking on his duties as a Sin-Eater in order to gather those scraps of information. He also used this as an opportunity to hone his abilities and build more power, preparing for his inevitable rematch against Tri-Edge.

It's been three months since Haseo was reborn as a Sin-Eater. He's still an amateur who lacks proper training, but he's a quick learner with a natural talent for his line of work. Skeith's nature draws him to victims of murders, violent deaths, and the occasional murderer-turned-victim, many of them seeking revenge. He mostly works with the dead, but not always on the dead's side—having learned from his previous experiences with false information, he knows better than to act without hearing both sides of the story. He's known both for destroying the rampaging ghosts that terrorize innocent mortals and enacting justice on those mortals who deserve it. Killing living people is something he avoids (as much as Skeith would love for him to let loose and bathe in the blood of their enemies every once and a while), but sometimes forcing someone to face their darkest fears and suffer torment for the rest of their lives still isn't enough to fit the crime. For the absolute scum of humanity, he'll not only kill them but ensure that they go straight to the darkest depths of the Underworld. Needless to say, Haseo does not plan to take a lot of trips to the Underworld.

Despite accidentally becoming a key part of the Tri-Edge legends, Haseo is almost completely unknown within the real supernatural communities. He has his own (wildly inaccurate) rumours and stories of his quest for revenge, but most write them off as just that—rumours and stories. Tri-Edge itself is still something of a mystery as well, and different groups have their own theories as to who or what it might be, if it even exists. Haseo prefers to work alone and doesn't involve himself with other Sin-Eaters or their krewes, and those who do encounter him rarely make the connection between him and the Haseo of legend. Those who know enough to make the connection tend to assume he ripped the name off the Internet rather than being the real deal. The real Haseo is a bit underwhelming compared to the stories that have been made up about him.

When not being a vigilante of ghostly justice, Ryou still lives a (relatively) normal life. He's currently going to an expensive private school and living alone in a small apartment, both paid for by his parents. He works part time at a convenience store during the summer.

KEY POINTS FOR NATIVES:

• The Twilight Brigade was an obscure occult club/cult that existed until about nine months ago. It's founder, a man named Ovan, was known for being an eccentric. Little else is known about Ovan. Barely anyone remembers the cult at all because no one took it seriously before it fell apart.
  
  
• There's an urban legend that started within the past couple of years about a supernatural killer called Tri-Edge. Other names may have been given to it before the Tri-Edge name became more popular, or the stories may have been fused with other supernatural activities at some point. The deaths related to the rumour have mostly been either covered up or given very little publicity, but all of the victims died of mysterious causes and their bodies vanished. Victims do not leave ghosts, either because they didn't actually die or because something was done to trap their souls. Most don't believe in the rumours at all due to a large amount of false information floating around about it.
  
  
• About nine months ago, Haseo started frequenting sites asking about the Tri-Edge rumour. The only information he added to the stories was that it killed an unnamed friend of his, and that he was determined to hunt the creature down and stop it. After only a couple months he stopped frequenting these sites and became a part of the legend himself. Over time the stories became more and more exaggerated until Haseo became known as a skilled and powerful hunter of the supernatual, with all kinds of ridiculous stories of his supposed accomplishments. Most don't believe in these stories, either. Haseo finds the whole thing embarrassing.
  
  
• Local ghosts might speak of a "different" Haseo who recently started working as a Sin-Eater in the area. He prefers to deal with victims of violent deaths or dangerous ghosts that need to be put down. Other Sin-Eaters in the area may have heard of him or run into him at one point or another, but he's reclusive and prefers to work alone. He doesn't come off as anything particularly special.

Justification:

Haseo was practically made to fit this role. Here's a handy list of parallels.

• Skeith is nicknamed The Terror of Death, as well as The Shadow of Death, and is depicted as a grim reaper/angel of death in its appearance. Each of the Eight Phases are also meant to represent some aspect of humanity, and Skeith coincides with both death itself and responses associated with death and mortality.
  
  
• Haseo bonds with Skeith after a near (virtual) death experience. Technically, this happens twice, since Skeith is a constant presence with Haseo but is unable to properly manifest until certain conditions are met. The first event is when Haseo is killed by who he thinks is Tri-Edge: an attack that should have rendered him comatose in the real world instead just reformatted his computer and reset his character level, thanks to Skeith's protection. The second event is when he's outmatched by an opponent in the game's arena and about to lose, when losing would also mean losing his only shot at getting valuable information. This fear of loss and association with virtual death is enough to finally summon Skeith. There are other events after this as well where Haseo summons Skeith, both intentionally and unintentionally, due to a fear of losing and a threat of "death".
  
  
• Only Epitaph Users bonded to an Avatar can see AIDA, which are invisible creatures within the game world that can possess normal players and manipulate their emotions. They can sometimes manifest as black masses that even normal players can see. Basically, Internet ghosts.
  
  
• Similar to how a geist can protect their host passively by warding off infection/poison/etc., Avatars also allow their hosts to resist attempts at altering their character's data, such as viruses or infection in the virtual world.
  
  
• Near the end of vol.3, Haseo basically "dies" and has to reach an understanding with Skeith in order to "resurrect" himself, so that's also pretty blatant.
  
  
• Less of a real point and more of an amusing similarity, but Twilight is a term of great importance in both .hack and in Geist. In The World, Twilight refers to a great number of things, but all things related to Twilight are of something beyond the normal game that either can't be seen by normal players or that exists in another plane of reality within the game. Twilight in Geist refers to the plane where ghosts exist alongside the mortal realm, something unseen by normal people. Twilight in .hack also mainly refers to an "item" called the Key of the Twilight, and Keys happen to also be a major theme of Geist. Fun facts!!

I could probably keep going, but you get the idea. His history also translates really well to an AU so hey there's that.