Strategy: Zeta
By Zoram Selrof
Chapter 1: Evening & morning
22:22 PM (Japan Time), Friday April the 15th, 2012…
I've been waiting for a long time… Too long, even… But today all waits come to an end…
A figure was walking down a street one night in Densan City: their height was hard to tell given their black clothes and the poor lightning because some of the street lights weren't functioning to begin with: the street was deserted and silent and the only lights were some of the apartment buildings' windows: the figure calmly walked down the street as they interacted with a Link PET.
Distance to target: 175.9 meters… Estimated time to arrive… 3 minutes 22 seconds… I've gone each detail over and over again ever since a few months ago… You are my fated one… I have been searching for you for a long time and by painstakingly efforts… But I finally found you… And no one shall get in the way…
They kept on walking until they reached a small apartment building which was about 4 floors tall: they inspected the interphone and aimed the PET at the Plug-In port to then shot the transfer IR beam at it: the door buzzed and the figure stepped into the hall.
Second floor, apartment 3… I'll use the stairs, as I'd calculated. It's quieter and no – one will notice my entrance upon the apartment. I'll get in, get my target, their PC and I'll get out. Then I'll go to point Alpha and, from there, use "it" to get to point Mercury… Everything will begin from then but let's not forget to build the "alibi" and keep it running each day. Besides! In few days' time… "That" will keep everyone's eyes away from this front and into another… My strategy is flawless!
They silently began to climb the stairs and slowly opened the door to the second floor hall: they headed for the door with the "3" label.
Here it is. I'm mere minutes away. I brought oil for the hinges so that the door is totally silent when opening and closing. It'll be so soft that the owner will not realize it. They will be sound sleep: that's their usual behavior, anyway…
The figure placed oil on the hinges and then used a key to open up the door.
The admin has a master key. I simply had to pick it one night, have a copy be made, and return it. This way no – one will notice anything. I'm a genius: and I set up an "alibi" of my own, too. No one will repair on me because they'll be nervous with what will happen. Even if it ends before I'd scheduled that won't bring upon any change.
The figure slowly opened the door and softly closed it before they took out their sneakers and slowly walked across the unlit flat while using what seemed to be a pair of IR goggles: they seemed to know the insides of the apartment pretty well.
I came here one night they weren't here to familiarize with the layout and figure out how much time it'd take me to get in and out. It takes about 6 minutes. Not bad. I can always pretend we'd been going out and they were sleepy so I'm taking them home. No – one will find it odd. They will think they were in some party or another.
The figure sneaked into a bedroom where there was someone sleeping in a single bed: they silently brought down a backpack into the ground and took out a flask of something covered in black wool along with a black handkerchief: they soaked it with some drops and then placed the flask back into the backpack: the figure then pressed the handkerchief over the sleeping person's mouth: there was a muffled gasp but the figure simply applied pressure on the base of the neck: the sleeping person seemed to faint and the figure slowly pocketed the handkerchief.
Good… Next will be dressing them up in street clothes and then we can execute the remainder… It's been a long time, too long even. But I finally found you. No – one will get in the way. Only you and me. It will be entertaining, that I promise you… Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…!
08:58 AM (Japan Time), Saturday April the 16th…
"… Destruction Beam!"
"Uwah!"
"Heh, heh, heh!"
"S… Saito – niisan! That wasn't fair!"
"Who knows? Maybe you're turning into a sleeping prince~?"
"That nickname's running OLD."
"It's walking NEW."
"Jeez!"
"Let's hammer a hammer-man!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yessir."
"Not with the glitch thing again!"
"Blame Ms. Glitch."
"Yeah, yeah. I know that tune of yours. It's been 3 years, you know!"
"Yessir. A three of tree."
"What's that? An English pun?"
"Of course. Did you expect it to be an Australian pun maybe?"
Hikari Netto (aged 14) woke up with a start from his left-side bed to find Saito, his big bro, sitting on his, the right-side one, and looking at him with some amusement: Netto grumbled something.
"By the way, Netto – kun. Did you dream of "it"?"
"No!"
"Then explain that stain in your boxers below the pajamas." Saito grinned and signaled it.
"Huh! That's… Hum… Something else!"
"Heh, heh, heh. Guilty as charged."
"Jeez."
"Anyway! Easter Break. Aren't you happy, otouto – sama~?"
"Jeez. Quit it with the nicknames, Saito – niisan!"
"Too bad. Nickname Man dropped by with the 6:66 PM express."
"That's a joke by Omega!"
"Yeah. He'll sue me when he gets back from overseas."
"Huff."
Netto rolled his eyes and climbed down to head for the adjacent bathroom: Saito giggled and opened the cupboard to pick his clothes for the day: the PET rang and he picked it up.
"Yo."
"Hey. Forte. Did you bust some ugly guys today?"
Forte had showed up on-screen and since he'd opened the cloak one could see he looked amused.
"Guess that, Rock Man… By the way… I found an access code for Guts Man's PC… It'd seem the guy forgot it when he dropped by the Reverse Internet… Some guy was about to sell it but I happened to be there and Gospel Jr. scared the hell outta them." He sighed.
"Jeez. Dekao – kun… You should be more careful with those… What if you get hacked?" Saito sighed.
"I know. At least they can use normal PAs but they got sold another scam by Bubble Man… Some Bubble Spawn Pawn Cannon…"
"Bubble Spawn Pawn Cannon? The rhyme sounds too forced." Saito looked taken aback.
"I totally agree with ya on that."
"Grawl! Grrr…"
"Yeah. That guy's back… Gospel Jr. smelt his deodorant…"
"It ain't Hugo Boss, I take it."
"No. It's Hugo Pawn, I guess."
"Hugo Pawn! Let's patent it."
"Sure. I'll borrow an advert screen in Internet City."
"Huh? Well. Forte. What's up?" Netto came out of the bathroom and headed over there.
"Ookarada lost his code and I had to get it back."
"Uwa~h!" A yelp rang out in the background.
"And that's the guy who tried to sell it."
"Gospel Jr.'s breakfast?"
"Not really. His morning sprint." Forte laughed.
"Hah! That's a good one." Netto grinned.
"Well. I'm off to dropping this at Ookarada's place. Laugh and grow fat, I'd tell him. See ya around."
"See ya."
"Alright, Netto – kun. Time to shower. You go first."
"Alright. But don't try to come in all of a sudden and start it up!"
"Who knows?"
"Jeez. I'll place the lock from the inside."
"Be my guest, cutie."
Netto sighed in defeat and picked his clothes before getting out and locking the bathroom door from the inside.
Heh, heh, heh. That's some wake-up, eh, otouto – sama~? Heh, heh!
09:09 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Perv Drake's Comeback!"
"Whoa! What! Hiro – kun! That was rude!"
"Heh, heh, heh!"
"And weren't you the pervert to begin with?"
"Maybe. Did my chest look horny enough?"
"Jeez. Not that again…!"
"Wanna get a teaser?"
"No."
"My. What dryness."
"Jeez."
A guy had been sleeping in a bed when someone woke up him with a silly motto: the guy looked about Netto and Saito's age and he had black hair and blue eye irises: his face had some reminiscence of that of Saito.
"Heh, heh, heh."
There was another guy standing next to the bed: was a guy around Netto's age and height: his jet black hair was a mess, much like Netto's, and his eyes' irises were blue.
"So! Drake Ekard!"
"Jeez! Tenishi Drake! Akashi Hiro – kun!"
"That's a manly guy's name!"
"Isn't that a redundancy?" Drake sighed.
"Who knows? Maybe ya do? My cute senpai lover?" Hiro teased next with a grin.
"I'm not your senpai, Hiro – kun! We're just one month apart when it comes to birthdays!"
"Did ya know it?"
"Know what?"
"That your hairstyle would make girls faint."
"Oh come on."
"Maybe you need Takeshi to fix it for you?" Hiro suggested.
"Who? The Rock-Type Gym Leader in Nibi City…? No thank you!"
He climbed off the bed and stood up: he was about one or two inches taller than Hiro who suddenly closed his arms around his waist and began to lick his neck: Drake let out a low moan and Hiro began to unbutton his pajamas' shirt when Drake pushed him apart.
"Now's not the time!"
"Oh yeah? When, then?"
"When I feel like it."
"You're no fun as a lover… Always postponing it… I've waited a long time for it, ya know! And you still won't stick it into me."
"I don't need to."
"Well! Guess I'll need my hypnosis mirror."
"You never had that." Drake sighed.
"Heh, heh, heh. Oh the despair!"
"More like exasperation."
"Heh, heh, heh. So? Does my cock feel huge?"
"Jeez. Give me a break, Hiro – kun. It's only been 10 months since I gained the ability to materialize."
"But these have been too dull! I need thrill, man!"
"Thrill leads to disaster in 99% of the cases, Hiro – kun. I'm off to showering and don't dare to try to break in!"
Drake picked some clothes and shut the bathroom door: Hiro groaned and sighed as he sat in front of the computer.
"Jeez. Guess I need to use the handcuffs again."
There was a beep coming from his PET (colored purple and having a silver Delta against a black background as emblem) and Forte showed up onscreen: "Gospel Jr." (it was a smaller version of the "Gospel" monster but still close to 2 meters tall) was jumping across the background and chasing a Heel Navi.
"Yo. Wanna see Gospel Jr.'s morning sprint, Akashi?"
"Heh! Sure. I lacked some thrill."
"Thrill leads to Trill." He laughed at his pun.
"Not bad. You could patent it."
"Yeah. Rock Man suggested patenting Hugo Pawn."
"Oho. As expected of Rock Man!" Hiro laughed.
"Delta isn't around?"
"Showering! Anyway… Any news?"
"That guy picked Ookarada's dropped PC code and tried to sell it."
"I see. An omen is after his hide."
"Sure thing. Hugo Pawn! Sweat and then use it to get rid of the stench!"
"What nonsense is that? Uwa~h!" The Heel Navi yelped.
"Heh, heh, heh. Make 'em sweat for a while, Forte – sama~!"
"Delighted, Akashi… Hugo Pawn! For only 10,000 Zenny!" Forte announced aloud.
"That's ridiculously expensive~!" The Heel Navi protested.
"Grawlll!"
"Uwa-wa-wa-wa~h!"
09:17 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Ah… A good morning coffee… So, Roll… What news is there?"
"Not many."
"Until now, that is."
"Who's there, in the firewall?"
"Forte."
"Forte, huh? What's up?"
"Ookarada almost got hacked."
"Oh yeah? As expected of Fatman Jr."
"Jeez. Meiru – chan. That joke's running old."
"On the contrary, Mistress. It's walking new."
"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure."
"Heh."
Sakurai Meiru had been drinking a coffee on her house's living room while wearing a blood red kimono over her blackish pajamas: she didn't look too surprised as Roll told her there weren't news until Forte called out from the firewall: Roll opened a communications screen and began to tell the news so Meiru got amused and Roll fumed.
"I'm going to invent Hugo Pawn. I'll give the credit to Rock Man."
"Heh. Saito – kun came up with an original idea."
"Hugo Pawn… How original, really." Roll fumed.
"Complain to His Grace, Mistress!"
"Jeez. "Miss" is already fine."
"Heh."
"Grrr…"
"What? The earlier guy who was about to buy the PC code? Go for another morning sprint."
"Grawl!"
"Uwa~h!"
"Heh! And then they say men are courageous." Meiru muttered with obvious sarcasm.
"Let's not bring that up again, Meiru – chan." Roll sighed.
"Don't worry, Roll. I'm in charge of the situation."
"Jeez."
"Hugo Pawn! For only 15,000 Zenny! Cheaper than Bubble Man – sama's scams!" Forte called out.
"No way~!" The guy being chased uttered.
"Way of wandering ways."
"HU~H? UWA~H!"
"No philosophical instinct, I see."
"That's "philosophical instinct"? Jeez." Roll sighed.
"Heh. This town is too much for cha, Roll?"
"Guess that, Meiru – chan. It's gone mad."
"Maddening madder mad." Meiru giggled.
"I preferred how you weren't so random before."
"People change." She sipped some coffee.
"That's a loop-hole, ain't it? Meiru – chan!"
"Well. Guess it's going to become a buddy-buddy chat so I'm off to deliver these to Ookarada. See ya~…"
"See ya. Tee, heh, heh. Guess I'm in a good mood today."
09:27 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Guts, guts! Gutting Guts Machine!"
"Go, Guts Man!"
"Bravo, Ookarada!"
"Huh? Forte? Whaddya want?"
"Guts?"
"Ya lost something."
"My pride!"
"No, no. The PC access code…"
"A~h! That! I thought Tooru had picked it!"
"Why would Hikawa do that?"
"Dunno."
"Heh, heh, heh. Intriguing, by Forte's eyebrows!"
"Guts?"
"HUH?"
Forte dropped by Ooyama Dekao's place: Guts Man was training against V1 Viruses and Dekao encouraging him when Forte dropped by: Dekao sighed at first and then slapped his forehead: Forte looked somewhat puzzled at his comment and made a joke.
"Anyway… Let's beat the beat."
"Huh? Is that eatable?"
"Guess not. It's crushable, though."
"Crushable? And why's that related to me, anyway?"
"'Cause Guts Man's cousin is Crush Man."
"Guts? Crush Man? Cousin?"
"Ya jerk…! Stop kidding me!"
"Stop annoying the Mistresses."
"Wha~h! Meiru~! Why did ya turn me down like that?"
"'Cause ya brag…"
"Netto bragged lotta more!"
"Not really. But he learnt not to. Not like Sakurai – sama has picked him instead of ya, see?" Forte reminded him.
"Huff!"
"Guts… Roll – chan is annoyed with Guts Man… Guts Man brought Cyber Junk but she yelled…"
"Huff. Of course, Guts Man! You bring Cyber Flowers to a Mistress and not Cyber Junk!" Forte looked baffled, for once.
"Guts? Really? Then that Bubble Man was wrong, guts?"
"Of course he was! He's scammed ya guys over and over again!" Forte rolled his eyes.
"Wha~t?" Dekao gasped.
"Huff. No wonder Sakurai – sama gave up on ya! If ya won't admit that you've been scammed over and over again… Next time ya need some battle advice try asking Zero!"
"Zero? Who's that?"
"Jeez. I'm off. You're exasperating, really!"
"Oi! Forte! Che! The jerk! Jerks! All of 'em!"
"Guts, guts?"
"We're so gonna beat them up!" Dekao proclaimed.
"Guts! With the Bubble Spawn Pawn Cannon!"
"Yeah! Let's go! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"
09:38 AM (Japan Time)…
"… So! Glyde! Did you glide across the sky with a glider? Tee, heh!"
"Yaito – sama… I didn't, ma'am…"
"Of course cha didn't!"
"Then…?"
"It's a joke! Jeez!"
"I apologize, Yaito – sama!"
"Jeez. Ya can be so stiff from time to time, really."
"Is t-that so?"
"Heh, heh, heh! Boo! Hugo Pawn!"
"Wha!"
"Hah! Forte! So cha dropped by."
"Indeed! Forte! I am here!"
"Ware wa koko ni ari… That was said by that Mewtwo fella, eh?"
"Sure."
Yaito had begun to kid with Glyde when Forte sneaked on the guy and he gasped: Forte began to pull pranks and Yaito played along.
"Anyway… Hugo Pawn is the best solution for the glider's sweat."
"Totally!" She laughed at the joke.
"Please, sir…! It's ridiculous, sir!"
"Then invent Hugo Butler."
"Nyah, hah, hah! Hugo Butler! Hugo Maid!" Yaito laughed.
"Hugo Boss is so gonna sue us."
"Let them try! Gabcom Inc. won't get cold feet!"
"Trouble." Glyde grimly muttered.
"Anyway… I'm pending dropping by Hikawa's and Tomono's places and then I'll go back to training and seeing Serenade…"
"By the way: what's with gray – chan?"
"Huh? Ah! Obihiro? He went off to the mountains in Gunma. He needed a while to disconnect. He said he'll be out 2 weeks 'till next Friday and will be sending us some photos." Forte shrugged.
"OK! Then I'll invent Hugo Hacker."
"Hugo Hacker! Excellent! Say, Mistress… Do you have any programmer good at designing ads? I'd like to advertise them as "delayed April Fool's" products over the Internet City displays."
"Oho! I know a gal who's good at that, yeah. She'll like the irony: let's shoot down some clichés!"
"Sure. Hugo Grunt will drop by."
"Hugo Admin will climb around."
"Good, Mistress, good!"
"Tee, heh, heh!"
"No good." Glyde sighed.
"Let's go, Mr. Glider. Can you beat the bat-glider?"
"W-what?" He gasped.
"Tee, heh, heh! Not bad, not bad!"
"A~h! Run for your sanity~!" Glyde ran off as if he was gonna lose his sanity there and now.
"Don't forget to buy some Hugo Medic!"
"And Hugo Doctor!"
"Hugo's downfall!" Both laughed.
09:49 AM (Japan Time)…
"… So, Ice Man… What's up?"
"No big deal, desu… Save…"
"Save?"
"Glyde – san was running around and yelling, desu…"
"How odd."
"That'd be OUR fault, Hikawa – sama~…"
"Yikes! Forte!"
"Indeed!"
"When will you stop sneaking on people's PCs like that?"
"When Black 2 and White 2 come out in June?"
"Huff."
"Desu?"
"Yo! Ice Man. Go ice a man."
"HUH?"
"That joke's lame, Forte!"
Forte dropped by Hikawa Tooru's and Ice Man's PC next and Hikawa grumbled at his puns and his behavior while Ice Man looked like he didn't get the point of it.
"Or maybe we need to wait for the two heavy weights?"
"Heavy weights?"
"Halo 4 and Biohazard 6…"
"Jeez. Those surely won't come out until the next course. I'm busy enough now looking ahead for the May exams."
"May I have an exam?" Forte made a joke.
"I give up." He leant his head on the desk.
"Tooru – kun, desu…"
"Heh, heh, heh. Oh the despair!"
"I hope Omega – san doesn't drop by next…" He grimly muttered.
"Ah! Omega. The nice chap! My nice senpai, see~…"
"Huff. I speak too much."
"So? What's the deal with Sakurai – sama?"
"I don't think you'd get it. Honestly." He sighed.
"Ah… I see… So it's still "dominatrix"… "Femdom"… Right?" He whispered to Hikawa.
"Huff. Yeah. But since I gave her permission then… My problem is that I thought refusing would sadden her so… But lately she doesn't seem to be so "ruthless"… I heard that that gentleman… I think their name was Vadous – san… Yeah… Well. That gentleman told her a tale about a person who began like that and ended being a ruthless person who harmed countless persons out of lust…" Hikawa admitted.
"Huh. Hence why Zero told me not to laugh at these things… The guy is technically genderless since he's a Virus having a Net Navi's form but he behaves like a guy… Guess sticking around with Omega he got a hold of some discussion about that…"
"Yeah. So please don't go around saying it loud. Please?"
"Alright, alright. I talk too much myself and I should remember that it isn't something to take lightly… By the way… Hugo Ice will ice you."
"How devious of you." He sighed.
"Desu?"
"Heh, heh, heh. Well, I'm off to Tomono's… See ya!"
"At last… Let the madness end!"
10:05 AM (Japan Time)…
"… I'm the bang-pang-bang guy!"
"Rafael… That's turning annoying…! Tune it down…! I'm trying to read this novel!"
"My bad! But ever since Delta let me use this "Copy Roid" then I can't stop running around! The real world feels so different! This is the future of Net Navis! Yahoo! Down the railing!"
A Navi had been running across a corridor in the first floor of a house somewhere when his Operator showed up.
The Navi, Rafael, used black as his main body color and he struck as being around the same height as his Operator: close to a meter and sixty tall.
His head was encompassed within a helmet having a copy of his emblem set on the forehead with a metallic rim: the forehead piece was colored red while the rear part was black: a red stripe extended from the forehead and through the middle of the helmet while heading towards the rear: the sides of his helmet had white armor constructed over them: a small cavity housed the ear-pads from where a red stripe originated and was drawn across it until the end: the helmet design also included two small yellow pieces extending until the edge of the lower jaw.
His face had a hard-to-spot scar in the shape of the Alphabet letter "X" drawn above the nose: his eyes' irises were green and he looked youthful: spiked brown hair came out from behind the helmet.
Rafael's emblem was two triangles missing the base and being intercrossed plus three round dots on the middle of the formation and to the sides of it: the whole set was colored bronze and set against a navy blue background.
His chest armor had the emblem set on its middle: three parallel red lines were drawn over its upper edge and extended past the neck's base.
The segment below the emblem was colored yellow and it included a red stripe on the center which extended until the edge of the chest armor.
His shoulders had the shape of a red triangle drawn on their upper face while their main color was black: a thin round yellow stripe was present just where the arms began.
His arms' skin was also gray in this spot yet it soon got covered by black armor having a metallic piece of the elbow colored in a thicker shade of gray: the armor extended until the wrists where a trapeze-shaped piece of armor originated: his hands were covered in white "gloves" as well like most Net Navis.
Two thin red stripes ran down the unarmored gray-skinned body until the waist where another piece of armor was present: it had the general shape of briefs underwear and the color of choice was black as well: yet another red stripe ran down the center of it and curved to continue towards the rear.
One gun-belt colored silver was attached on the waist and had holsters for two guns which looked like modified handguns colored purple and having a white muzzle.
His boots began over the knees and extended until the feet: the color of choice was black again and there also was a red stripe running down the length of them across the center: the outer sides of each one had a white-colored triangle-shaped cavity which had a lower edge and a red stripe running down the rightmost edge: the heels' armor was gray as well.
Two white triangle-like extensions protruded from the rear of his body and extended diagonally towards the ground in a SE direction.
Overall, he looked heavily customized and cool.
"And up the stairs! This is cool, Noa – kun!"
"Please go play elsewhere! Get into your civilian clothes and go play into the square! Pretend you're a cousin of mine!" Tomono exasperatedly requested.
"OK! Transform! I'm just like Super Man!"
"Not with that joke again…"
Rafael glowed and switched all of his armor for civilian clothes which were a wool green sweater, a black shirt below, jeans, a leather belt, white socks and sneakers.
"I'm off through the Off Door!"
"Jeez."
Rafael slid down the stairs' handrail and ran off: Tomono sighed in relief and headed back into his bedroom: he had greenish hair and blue irises and was about the same height as Rafael.
"The TMNT reincarnation is too troublesome for ya, Tomono?"
"Huh! You're Forte, aren't you? Rafael let you in?"
"Indeed."
"Jeez."
"Heh, heh, heh… So? What's the catch?"
"The catch?"
Forte had showed up on Tomono's PC screen and he rolled his eyes as he sat in front of the desk.
"Raf said there's a deal."
"Huff. He talks too much."
"Ah… I see… Like Delta and Rock Man, eh?"
"… Yeah. Satisfied?"
"Guess that. Heh, heh, heh. Anyway… Hugo Prophet." Forte came up with another joke on the spot.
"Jeez. That joke's lame."
"Who knows? Maybe Hugo King? In homage to Serenade?"
"I don't think he'll get the point."
"Well then! I'm off to telling him, then. See ya and this ends Forte's early Saturday morning Akihara VIP Tour. Heh, heh, heh!"
Forte left the PC ignoring Tomono's groan of annoyance and met up with "Gospel Jr." before they jumped down the edge of the area and landed down some seconds later somewhere in the Reverse Internet: Forte made the silence sign and spotted a bunch of 5 Heel Navis whispering amongst themselves.
"We're gonna get rich!"
"Yeah! Let's sell these things that Bubble Man guy had tossed in a corner of those workshops!"
"And then they'll blame the guy!"
"They'll get his head!"
"But we'll be overseas!"
They all laughed and Forte looked slightly annoyed.
"Bubble Man's the comic relief guy around, so…"
"Do you need a hand?" Zero showed there.
"Zero. Good. Let's go scare them a bit."
"Delighted."
"Grawl."
"Boo."
"UWA~H!"
"Go!"
"Gospel Jr." chased the band as they dropped Battle Chip data and both picked them up.
"Let's give 'em back to Bubble Man or we'll run out of gags!"
"Yeah. Guess that. See you next chapter, guys. Heh, heh, heh."
