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saviior_exe

Stole was a new word for it. Rockman had said some choice things, some angry sentiment, but not stole. The time wasn't stolen to them, because- "Um, thank you."

Tea. It was always tea. Netto expected coffee, the horrible instant stuff that Enzan only really pulled out when he wasn't expecting anyone. At the office. He stared down at the cup for a few moments. Rockman still inspected the table.

"Um, yeah. Um- I guess that was low on the rung of crap that happened, but I thought it was- kinda the worst part." This, Rockman did react to- his hologram disappeared, but he was only returning to the PET. "Uh- the tech he was, working on, was also kinda bad too."

He took a sip, and the sting on his tongue seemed to invigorate him to keep talking. "It was, like, a thing to make it easy to do full-synchro with any navi. A Link. Based on, like, the pulse transmission stuff. Just a lot safer. In theory."

Maybe if he said it in a rush it wouldn't feel so bad. "It made me really sick, and uh-" He glanced at the PET, and went for it- "I think it's made me, um, unable to synch with Rock. At all."

He said it, and it was a bygone conclusion, but soon after the words left his mouth there was a steady drip drip from his cheeks. He was crying. It was the absolute worst part. Damn the lost time, damn the pain, damn the sickness and the hallucinations, this was what was stolen from him. Netto blushed, as if ashamed of it, and looked away from Pen. "W-We just go fucking ballistic if we do. Can't control it anymore. W-Which sucks."

Understatement. Netto pushed the heel of his free hand into his eye to stem the sudden flow of tears. He thought he'd already cried them all.

Role

"Oh," Pen breathed, just barely audible over the sound of the kettle. She rubbed her face, as a torrent of emotions she hadn't been ready for rushed over her. The void they had all felt, the space Netto usually took up, the extra time Pen had spent—

"Oh, Netto," she shook her head, because then she felt the guilt he must just be realizing. "He stole so much from you. From us."

She couldn't cry, not yet. It was obvious from his expression that he would stop right here if she gave any indication she wanted him to.

"I'm so sorry," she repeated. "Let me get you a cup, before you keep going."

"Thank you for telling us this, boys," Role said softly.

saviior_exe

"Um," Netto stalled out, which was quite unusual of him. If there was anything he was known for it was his quick wit; but Pen's hands on his face made his eyes water. He quickly shook his head (a motion Rockman had done a thousand times before) as if to clear the emotion he was feeling. He'd already talked this out with Enzan and Laika. He could do this again.

"I mean, I guess- I guess he did. I don't know what to think about it," and he was honest. Brutally so. Rockman looked at an interesting chunk of the table, as if he were tracing the wood grain, and did not chime in again. "Do- do you remember how, like, I like- showed up late?"

(Netto remembered it and felt a pang in his chest; looking at Enzan's betrayal, all over his face, in that horrible hospital bed- oh, and Laika-)

"A-After everything happened. W-Well, um. I guess- we were all kinda busy, right? Haha- um." The laughter was clearly nervous. He started to twirl a strand of hair near the burn scar. "I didn't. Know. I - I didn't know what was happening when it happened. Cain-" He loathed the name, it felt horrid in his mouth now- "He blocked my communication and didn't, tell me. Made it seem like everyone just stopped reaching out. He would- randomly let calls through, so I wouldn't get suspicious."

Netto suddenly barked out a laugh louder than he meant to. "When I say it like that, it sounds- sounds like some real villain shit, ahaha."

Rockman's little hologram glanced up at Netto, though didn't quite look at him. He'd seen it all already, known this part; but it didn't stop the ache. Didn't stop what they now shared.

snoruntpyro

It was just like Siren said, wasn't it?! If these people didn't have something to hide, or some kind of will to impose on everyone else, then they wouldn't be defending their fortress so vehemently!! The barrier being raised was a little intimidating... but she'd push through it!! For the sake of everyone like her...!!

It was easy enough for Siren Splash to find herself on autopilot. These guards may have had some kind of voice clip or something, but they were the same as scary, wild viruses, weren't they? She'd done that a million times. She'd operated her Navi- her- her- her...? It was just like before, but she wasn't there, she was here, inside instead of outside and the one firing endlessly on her targets and feeling the most focused she'd ever felt, no, no, was this right? She wasn't a Navi- why was she fighting-? Keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting...

Siren was having a difficult time comprehending what was going through her host's mind, and she pushed herself to repress it. This human could have a mental breakdown and die, for all she cared - all that she needed to do was last until their job was finished. They'd even managed to give Mega Man the slip - so. Just. Listen. And keep fighting.

Siren Splash, in her panic, tossed out an Ice Spin Battle Card, which was enough to cut her a zig-zag-y path through the Satella Police Wizards attacking her. It was almost impressive that she was still able to keep fighting well even while under so much duress. Like the motions had been burned into her brain, inexplicably.

(She was doing better than when she was Operating L------, how pathetic-)

Cosmine

"Halt!!" a Satella Police Wizard called out as it lead a charge of other official looking Wizards brandishing stun batons.

They warped in and stormed forward, becoming an oncoming deluge of a counter-attack. As Siren Splash began her assault, a barrier arose around WAZA, encompassing the building in hexagon patterned light. The Satella Police Wizards quickly surrounded her, but were quickly knocked aside and bubbled by Siren Splash's strength.

Inside WAZA, Dr. Goodall watched the feed with a tense expression. She whipped around and quickly made way for the main computer in the back. She continued her work on clearing the Noise from Lurerre, focusing intently as if the world around her had disappeared entirely.

Aaron did a double take as he watched the doctor walk away while the rest of WAZA was scrambling like a disturbed nest of ants.

He followed after her, leaning over conspiratorially and hissing, "Dr. Goodall, is this really the time to be working on that?"

"Now don't blurt this out, Aaron dear," she advised sweetly, keeping her eyes trained on the screen and hands on the keyboard, "But that's Triese that's attacking us."

"That's Tr-!" he sputtered, covered his mouth and quickly recovered, "Wait, do you think Lurerre can help us with this?"

Dr. Goodall furrowed her brow, "Not yet... Maybe at the right moment. We can't risk looking like a kidnapper and agitating her further. This is a delicate situation."

Aaron nodded and adjusted his cap, "Right. Ok then! I'll contact Geo and keep him updated. Let's hope he can get through to her."

"It's not him I'm worried about," she noted.

The entire building shook like someone had slammed a drum against the outside, making some lights flicker and causing everyone to pause and look at the monitors. The fight was not going in their favor.

Aaron pulled out his Hunter and called Geo, anxiously watching as the signal struggled to connect through the shielding, "Come on... Geo, wherever you are, please be okay."

Role

"Oh, Netto," Pen whispered. She stared at Netto's downcast face, finally noticing the faint burn scar along his temple. She stood up, placing her hands on his face to turn him to look at her.

"What happened?" She asked. "Did he hurt you?"

Words like "ethics" brought up frightening images in her mind of testing and probing that harkened back to the darkest days. She pulled back from him, to hug her arms to her chest. Coming from that figure of authority... Why would Netto ever have said no? She remembered Enzan telling her about slipping into the crossfusion scanner, how he couldn't refuse a doctor's words.

"I'm so sorry, whatever it was," she said. "That you were involved in something... messy."

snoruntpyro

"She didn't mention them...?" Rock questioned, genuinely surprised. "I mean, I dunno what they've been up to since we went on our whole overseas trip, but it was still pretty suspicious that they were on the island at the same time as us." She crossed her arms, looking away from the PET; it felt bad to be having a normal conversation with Dr. Wily again, but there was really no avoiding it. "They were makin'... robots or something, right? So what the hell would these data-absorbers have to do with that?"

Lan narrowed her eyes, dots connecting chaotically in her mind. "Maybe they're trying to hide something," she speculated. "It'd make sense why they'd want the vaults back if they messed up, right? Maybe they got... like, loose, or something."

"If what your contacts say about the vaults is the truth, then that very well could be the case," Dr. Wily surmised. "Technology firms often have some very interesting things to hide. If anything, it would be wise to track this vault down... if only so we can pry for info on how to end this little problem of yours."

Lan grumbled, narrowing her eyes. "Okay? Whatever. Where is it, then?" she barked. "If we deal with it, then will you stop calling me?"

Choosing to ignore Lan's threat, Wily instead explained the mission. "The company they're suing is a gambling corporation. Their largest casino just so happens to be in downtown Den City," he said. "So it doesn't surprise me that one of those vaults could've crawled all the way there. I'd start by investigating that business. I'm certain they won't even care if you loiter around the premises, given our gambling laws. Ha, ha."

Lan immediately blanched. "C-casino... company?" she muttered, bad memories already bubbling up in her mind. Rock, similarly, was looking quite displeased. "Ew... ew... ugh."

scenegraph

“Because it’s about the Arcana Viruses! I oughta help!” Kaita tried to explain over the panic.

(On his shoulder, Turboman wondered if his Operator had made the right move, but only for a moment. Everyone was following the same course now, after all, and the ride tended to be smoother that way. Besides, getting there faster was always better, in his opinion.)

At last, the ‘old man’ on the other end of the line regained temporary control of the conversation. Kaita listened intently, looking over at Lan when Wily addressed her in his explanation.

“‘Ancient crap’?” he wondered when Lan mentioned it, entirely earnest. “But, yeah. The way it got explained to me… it sounded like the program at the center of them was sucking up information from its surroundings, somehow. And that’s why they all turn out so different from each other.” He tilted his head. “But Meiru-san would’ve mentioned Dead Hand if she’d thought they knew about, y’know, the kinda stuff the Arcana Viruses have gotten up to since then…”

“Maybe they didn’t then, but they do now,” mused Turboman.

snoruntpyro

Lan couldn't help but jump as soon as Kaita barged in. Rock cringed, too, waving her hands defensively, though it did nothing to stop her operator's resulting outburst. "K-Kaita- why'd you follow me?!" Lan hissed, immediately trying to hide her PET. "It's nothing- it's nothing, it's nothing, it's nothing-!!"

Unfortunately for her, the damage had already been done. Wily chuckled, his gravelly voice still audible even as Lan tried to muffle the speakers. "Todoroki Kaita, hmm? From Beyondard?" he said, sounding rather bemused. "I see that you haven't stopped making the rounds, Lan. A new friend?"

"Sh-shut up," Lan blubbered, completely embarrassed. The expression she was shooting at Kaita was wildly unreadable, besides her face being beet red.

Rock groused to herself, but there wasn't much she could to do perform damage control when Kaita was already engaging with the conversation. Well, it wasn't like they hadn't already been on a mission together - it was just that Lan (and herself...) had been particularly cagey about Wily lately. "A friend... yeah," she replied, sighing. "Just... spit out what you want, already, old man."

Ignoring Rock's less-than-satisfied tone, Wily finally responded to Kaita. "It would seem so. Or, rather... the vaults that those viruses sprung out from," he explained. "It doesn't surprise me. Anyone could've figured out they had some connection to those devices. After all, the first attacked not long after you met their agents, didn't it? But why they would want them back is another matter entirely."

Lan's lips twitched. "Hi...Hika... he, uh," she began, stuttering before she could bring herself to even acknowledge the other world's Dr. Hikari. "It was something like, they were absorbing data, right? Maybe they want that data, or something like that." She slapped the side of her head with her hand in frustration. "Or... that ancient... crap... ugh."

"That's what I want you to investigate," Wily said, before quickly correcting himself to clarify, "Help investigate. No one else has quite the combination of strong Navi and stealthing ability like you do. Ha, ha."

"Oh, how you flatter me," Rock barked back sarcastically.

scenegraph

“Ah,” said Turboman, who had in fact assumed they were talking about whatever the equivalent was in Rock’s Internet.

“You really don’t have anything like it…?” wondered Kaita. He was genuinely amazed. Internet City was so old, and even discounting it there were independently-run webpages to visit, some of which were even older…

Before Kaita could reassure Lan that she was fine, her PET rang. It seemed obvious that she didn’t want to take the call, but just as obvious that she had to. Was this her version of Meijin-san…? He sounded a lot older… But he was speaking with authority about the Arcana Virus phenomenon, just like Meijin-san and Hikari-hakase would’ve to Kaita.

“Guess we’re drivin’ right into trouble,” Turboman whispered to his Operator.

“Looks like it.” Kaita didn’t really mind this turn of events; exploring the Internet and solving problems like this were what he did. But he couldn’t help but murmur, “Sorry, Hikari-san…” to the front door behind them. He hadn’t even realized what a relief it was to no longer need to lie to his parents until he found himself having lied to someone else’s. It was much more uncomfortable the second time around.

With that, Kaita stuck his head over the side so Lan and her caller could see, only to discover that said caller was voice-only. “Um, excuse me!” He turned on his Net Savior hologram on reflex, then remembered the other person couldn’t see it. “I’m Todoroki Kaita, with the Net Saviors of, uh, Beyondard!” he explained as quickly as his mind could recall the proper terms. “We’re doing research on the Arcana Viruses. Are you saying… that Dead Hand is trying to say the Arcana Viruses are theirs?”

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