Just a random topic I found on GameFAQs - What is wrong with her? If, as Juli said, the nerves recognizing the outside world don't function, how does she still manage to play the piano? It's not that she can't form sentences and words as she talks to Rubedo in her mind, and as stated in episode 1, merely any physical illness can be fixed, so it's probably not her vocal chords. She appears to be conscious and all, she recognizes Rubedo in the real world and all while playing the piano, and can remember that...whatever it was that she asked Rubedo to repeat to Juli to know it was her (forgot what it was at the moment) and all. I read somewhere that she died trying to protect Albedo from U-Do (might have been in Xeno DS, not sure), so the "illness" didn't really affect her all that much, she simply couldn't talk. Even with that, couldn't they have just given her a keyboard and voice projector thing? If she can play the piano, she can most likely (or at least be taught to) type and all.

...Meh, just wanted to bring some life back into the forum

From what I remember, Sakura's mind or conciousness got stuck in the U.M.N. That's why the Yuriev institute used her conciesness as training grounds for the URTV's. They'd be able to train against U-DO and at the same time try to cure her illness.

Yeah but if her mind was in the UMN, why was it able to react clearly to the real world, such as the piano, or recognizing Rubedo (I recall she smiled when she saw him)

Well she wasn't a complete vegetable but I believe they explained it pretty well in the game in the Database. She still retained some functions but communicating with others was very hard for her.

Guess so. How do you think she got it though? Being mostly attuned to the other world and not being able to fully communicate in this world although still affecting people in it...seems a little like the Gnosis and Testaments, though through mind instead of body

It didn't seem like a common disease, and they said that it's not something that happened before UMN travel got big, and Gnosis, just like the UMN, are consciences. UMN is a collective conscience, Gnosis are the consciences of those who resent the world, in a way

She was a lot like Abel, except the people that saw her realized that she wasn't simply autistic (like everyone believed Abel was until Yuriev noticed him).

She can play the piano, but it's more of a reflexive, idle conscious mind that inhabits her body in the real world, and her subconscious is active and lives on in the UMN. So in order for her to be able to communicate at all, is through the UMN. She died protecting Albedo in the UMN, thus killing her consciousness. She didn't do in the real world, but in the semi-real UMN world.

I'm asking this as an off topic question somewhat directed at Denim, but when you say she died in the semi-real world, or the UMN, isn't the UMN imaginary space? or do I just not understand what exactly imaginary space was in the game.

I'd assume it was like The Matrix, when you pull the plug out or die in the matrix, you're dead. The mind believes you died, so you do die

It's an imaginary space that can kill you. thus semi-real, like the Matrix.

I mean, if it wasn't even a little real, there'd be absolutely no danger in any UMN dive.

well, what I mean by that is, in the game, they refer to the realm that the Gnosis are from as imaginary space, however in the beginning of episode III, the gnosis invade the S-Line server (located in the UMN) and are able to be damaged without the use of the hilbert effect, which suggests that the UMN is also located in the same realm where gnosis are from implying that the UMN is in imaginary space (or the realm of conciousness that cannot be percieved as opposed to real space, which is the physical world that humans live in)