.hack//sign- Net Slum-- Episode #24

The gate that the members of Bear's party take leads them to a very weird place. It's a bunch of broken images, but weirdest of all, they are all Tsukasa! Bear says that they are data remnants of him.
Subaru has been waiting for a while now, and Tsukasa still hasn't shown up. She sees the Helba gate start to vibrate, meaning it will close soon. As she is about to go through the portal (she has waited long enough) Tsukasa appears. Subaru is very glad he managed to come.
Crim is trying to figure out what these images are and if they talk, but they don't. Mimiru wonders what they're doing in the Slum, and Silver Knight decides to slash one of them. Bear says Silver Knight shouldn't do that, because Tsukasa barely made it to the place, and if he sees everyone slashing the images, it will upset him and he will probably run off and disappear again.
Now that everyone is at the Slum, Helba appears and officially welcomes them to the Net Slum, a place constructed of bugs and data remnants. She says that the omni-present entity (or the Being) was trying to make copies of Tsukasa, but was having trouble, so she brought Tsukasa to the World for that purpose.
Tsukasa has been sitting elsewhere in the Slum, evidently still depressed. Subaru was told to go to him. She agreed and started to talk with him. She says she will stay by his side, because she wants to protect someone now. Tsukasa says that he thought he was a guy in the real world, but it turns out that he's actually getting fake memories, and that he's probably a girl in real life.
Helba starts to talk about Aura, talking about the Being again, and its objective. Mimiru thinks she knows it and says that it's to give birth to the warped Aura. Helba tells her she's wrong. She says that when Tsukasa is happy, Aura grows the way she is supposed to. But when he is depressed and negative, she warps. So what it means is, the being wants Tsukasa to log out, because when he does, the warped Aura will be born and the key of the Twilight will reveal itself in its true form.
Sora revisits the place where the being is holding Aura, and says it's boring. The being wants to know where Tsukasa and the others are, because she can't see them!
The being wants Sora to go find them, and says she'll make him stronger as she trys to give him a bluish-green Guardian. Sora refuses, saying he's already strong enough. The being calls him a fool, and the Guardian tries to kill Sora. Sora teleports away, knowing he's in trouble.
Back at the Slum, Mimiru goes and sits with Silver Knight. Mimiru calls him and old man, and Silver Knight says he isn't that old. He's 23 and works part-time in a video rental store. Mimiru says she used to do that too, she loved to watch as many movies as she wanted. Silver Knight said he wished he worked in a pizza store, so he could eat as much pizza as he wanted. Mimiru laughed, surprised he made a joke. Silver Knight is glad he could have another silly conversation.
Helba clears out all the Tsukasa copies and says that's all she can do. Bear says it's better that Helba doesn't fight, it would be better for her to monitor them. As Helba leaves, Bear says that if the being were to attack them, Subaru would be their first target. If Subaru were hurt, Tsukasa would never be able to recover again.
Speaking too soon, Maha appears and summons the bluish-green Guardian. It starts whipping out its tendrils. Mimiru, Bear and Crim start to attack the creature and tell Tsukasa and Subaru to run.
But it seems that the Guardian won't let them leave, and one of its tendrils almost kill Subaru! Luckily, B.T. uses her defence magic to save them. Tsukasa and Subaru run, but the being starts to follow them.
It seems they're trapped, but then Tsukasa's Guardian comes and destroys itself along with the other.
The other players cheer and think Tsukasa should be awarded. When they ask Tsukasa what he wants to do, Tsukasa says he wants to log out.
Back at the being's place, Maha is hovering around Aura, and the being is yelling, clearly infuriated.