People occasionally ask for a sequel to Us After This, and after a disasterous sequel of another epic of mine, I was loathe to even consider the idea. Butit is one of those fics I can't bring myself to leave be...if I'm not rereading and editing it, I'm dreaming of things that might have happened after. Four EXE games have come out since the original story was written; four games that mess with the continuity of both this and that piece of fanfiction. :P (I guess I expected it, having set it so early in the series.) So does a sequel incorporate or disregard later games? The option that allows for the most creative output is clear...seeing how later games tend to disregard earlier games, like a certain character that seemed pretty important to the ending of the first game. Well, I do so love writing in the game canon, and now I've gone and written myself out of it. So may as well go for broke, now.
Us After This, if you desire to read or reread it, can be found on my profile. I'd suggest hitting 'Edit' on your taskbar and then 'Find' rather than sifting through everything. If you'd rather just have a synopsis/refresher, here you go:
(Contains spoilers, obviously, for EXE 1 and Us After This)
A story taking place in between EXE 1 and EXE 2. (Battle Network 1 and 2.) After Rockman is affected with a data-destroying virus, the DNA link between he and Netto causes Netto to be on the brink of death. In order to save his life, a heart monitor - a miniature computer filled with medical programs to keep the boy alive - is installed in Netto's chest, and through an accident, the rescued data of Rockman.EXE is deposited there for safekeeping. Through the monitor, Rockman has access to all of Netto's neurological functions, enabling them to "share" his body temporarily. Once his Navi form is re-created, Rockman returns permanently to it, but still retains the ability to plug-into the monitor when needed.
On with the show.
Fall To Pieces
by Shimegami-chan
Theme: Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends
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"Please."
"No."
"Pleeeeeease."
"Absolutely not."
Rockman could only see part of his twin brother's anguished face, peeping at him from behind a huge blue pillow. "That's so cruel. I'll flunk without your help. Can't you do it one time?" Netto pouted, hiding his head behind the pillow once more. "What good is complete English fluency programming to me if I can't get you to use it? I just want a little help, just once."
Rockman sighed, not bothering to point out - again - that there was a difference between 'a little help' and 'Saito-niisan please take my English test for me'. "Nope. Nothing doing. I'll help you, but I'm not taking it for you."
"Help in the sense that you'll give me answers?" Netto looked hopeful.
"I'll help you study. Tonight. Now." He waved vaguely at the PET's sidebar menu, one of the icons of which was a shortcut to a very concise English dictionary. With a flick of the wrist he had opened it as well as a bright blue text window over his own head.
"Ah...well, I guess that's better than nothing," the brunette mumbled, lazily reaching for his textbook. He flipped it open to a random page and began to read aloud in broken speech: "Za quick browned fox jamp over za lazy dog. How boring. Why isn't any of this book about food?"
"Jumped," Rockman corrected, displaying the verb in the correct tense above his head, fully aware that Netto couldn't see it from that angle. "This would work better if you were sitting at your desk."
"Mmph." Netto literally fell off the bed with a thump and crawled to the chair, his mussed brown hair finally coming into Rockman's view. "Sure."
Rockman pointed at the word with a gloved finger. "The '-ed' means it happened in the past, right? You remember? And 'jump' has a u, not an a."
Netto yawned.
"Great."
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summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends
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here comes the the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are
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"Hey, Rock..."
They had been studying nonstop for nearly two hours. It was actually the first time Netto had attempted to broach a subject other than English in quite some time, an indication of just how tired the boy really was. Rockman wondered if they should have taken a break or two. "Hmm?"
"Why do you always help me, even when I don't deserve it?"
Rockman blinked and hesitated before answering. "Because you're my friend. And my brother."
Netto slumped forward over the desk, the keyboard beeping angrily as his slackened hand hit the number pad. "Not just because you're programmed to, right? You have a choice, don't you?"
"Maybe the Navi part of me has programming that influences my decisions. But when it comes down to it, I make what I think is the best choice. Not just because of my AI - even artificial personalities make decisions based on what's right for everyone." Rockman crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Nothing terrible would happen to me if I didn't help you tonight. But you'd be paying for it in detention tomorrow, so despite myself I'm going to do it...er, so, what brought on that question?"
"Oh." Netto laughed sheepishly. "It was just dumb, actually. I was trying to think about exactly how Navis work. How regular Navis are so different from you."
"From me?" Rockman waved the text window away, aware that his twin's eyes were on him, waiting for a reply. This had always been a touchy subject when a younger Rock - still new to the world and always asking questions of Yuuichirou - brought up the subject with his father. Why, Rockman had asked, was he the only 'special' Navi? What made his situation different from all the other Navis with advanced programming? And why, if a human-to-Navi conversion could be done to save a life, was he the only one in existance? "If all Navis were created from real people there'd be more ethical considerations to thinking about. Deleting a Navi could mean deleting someone's father or child. And not all could be restored from backups - plus, Navis in full synchronization with their Operators run the risk of killing each other."
"Oh. Right, that."
"Whether we like it or not, we'll die together." He stuck his tongue out at his Operator.
"Hey, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather die with! Again."
"Bah." Rockman put his hands on his hips, his face appearing on the monitor as he linked from PET to PC. "Seriously, I've been a Navi for as long as I remember. But I wouldn't wish it on anyone who'd remember a human life. It's too big of a difference. And the synchronization is a big problem for anyone who wants to Netbattle a lot. Your emotions affect me, my wounds affect you...there aren't many people crazy enough to volunteer for that. It's probably the biggest problem we've faced with the synchro."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's worth thinking about, though."
Rock crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to one side. "You'll probably grow up to be like Papa, don't you think? Doing Navi research and programming?"
"Maybe." Netto smiled dreamily. "I'll be Hikari-hakase someday. Weird. Doesn't 'scientist' sound odd for me, though?"
"Not with that lofty expression on your face. You look perfectly mad."
"Hey!" Netto swiped playfully at the monitor, and Rockman danced backwards in jest. "Look, you broke my mood! I was so..." he fought for a word, finally settling on one of the English terms in the book before him. "Expensive."
"That's 'pensive'" Rockman laughed. "But nice try."
---
The next morning, Netto greeted the floor facedown again, rolling out of a bed he hadn't realized he was in. The last thing he remembered was learning to pronounce the English verb 'to sleep', and demonstrating on his keyboard.
"Good morning, sunshine." Rockman teased, looking down at him from the PC. "Sleep well?"
"I was until you woke me up."
"Sorry. I had to move you, too - you were sleeping with your head on the spacebar. Lucky for you my PET was in range of your dataport." He pointed at the PET, which was away from its docking station, laying inert on the tangled bedsheets. Since they had upgraded to an Advanced PET with wireless capabilities, the heart monitor installed in Netto's body had been upgraded to include an infrared reciever and updated security. It allowed Rockman a little more freedom to come and go within the implant as he liked, but generally he waited for Netto's express permission. "I put you to bed, since you wouldn't wake up."
"Oops." Somehow, Netto couldn't bring himself to sound sorry. Instead he crawled to the dresser and dug out a fresh shirt and pair of shorts. "What time is it?"
"Seven-thirty."
"No breakfast, I guess." The younger twin pouted as he changed his clothes.
"We can suffer together. My PET was left out of the charger all night."
"Deal." Netto grabbed his backpack and roller skates, running a hand through his messy hair. Haruka was in the kitchen, making tea and humming cheerfully to herself. "Morning, Mama."
"Good morning, Netto! Morning, Rockman." She smiled brightly at them. Netto was sorely tempted to lift his hands to his eyes and shield them from the cheerfulness.
"Good morning, Mama," Rock replied pleasantly.
She pointed at the table. "No breakfast today, either? I can make French toast."
"I have a test," Netto mumbled, jamming his skates onto the bottoms of his shoes. He grabbed his obentou box from the kitchen counter. "I'll eat at recess, I guess."
"Have a good day!" Haruka waved them out the door, all smiles. "We'll have meat spaghetti tonight, okay?"
"Ooh," both twins chorused. Though Netto was usually good-natured about allowing Rock to borrow a physical form at his whims, meat spaghetti nights usually turned into a vy for dominance by them both, of which the Navi usually backed down first in. As much as he loved meat spaghetti, Netto had more right to the human body they shared than he did. But of course, being older and more responsible occasionally won the argument for him, when he REALLY wanted to eat.
"And don't fight over it, you two." she called out menacingly.
"You had it last time," Netto immediately accused, as soon as they were out of their mother's hearing range.
Rockman frowned. "I did not. You've gotten to eat it twice since the last time I did."
"No way. It's been at least a month since I had meat spaghetti - I remember letting you win. Cause I felt sorry for you."
"It's been at least a month since Mama even cooked spaghetti," Rockman retorted, waving a schedular into existance behind him on the screen. "And you definitely had it twice before that. I kept a calendar, see?"
"Oho! You're THAT desperate?"
"Hey. Kid." A rough voice drew both Operator and Navi's attention. "You're damned noisy, you know that?" A tall, muscled student - he looked to be in eigth grade, if not higher - was glaring at Netto from beside the gates of Akihara Elementary. He was wearing a junior high school uniform and an angry frown.
"What's it to you?" Netto replied hotly. "It's a free country."
"Not when you're annoying me." The bully frowned, folding arms over his chest.
"Netto-kun, let's just go inside," Rockman said nervously.
"If you let you Navi win fights all the time, you must be a real pansy. You sure look it."
"Shut up, jerk!" Netto said angrily, his right hand balling into a fist. "What are you doing hanging around here, anyway? Stop bugging me and go back to your own school!"
"How much lunch money do you have there? Any rare chips? What are you gonna give me if I leave you alone, huh?" A feral smile spread across his face.
"A punch in the face, if you don't move."
"Oooh, I'm scared!"
"You should be!" Netto shoved Rockman's PET into his shorts pocket, glaring at his adversary. "Last chance, moron!"
"HIKARI NETTO!" a voice thundered, causing both boys to freeze. Netto could hear Rockman faintly groan, his PET's speakers muffled by fabric. Mariko-sensei, the 6-A teacher, was leaning red-faced out one of the second-floor windows. "You get in here this instant and come right to the classroom!"
Netto gulped and ran past the older boy, who waved tauntingly. "See you, kid!"
The brunette ran past the fountain and pushed open the heavy double doors, letting them fall shut with a bang. "Netto-kun! I can't see, what's going on? What did you do?" Rockman's voice rose in pitch until Netto finally extracted the PET, safe within the lobby of the school. "Are you all right? DId you fight him?"
"No, but I wanted to," Netto hissed, his face contorted in a scowl. "I'll pound him if he comes near me again."
Rockman stared at his incredulously. "What's wrong with you? Breathe, little brother. You look like you're ready to start foaming at the mouth."
Netto blinked and obeyed without thinking, taking a deep breath. His face cleared. "Uh...yeah, I'm okay. Just a little touchy today, I guess." He sheepishly ran a hand through his hair. "I'd better go see Mariko-sensei. She's gonna be mad."
"Okay. You'd better watch out for that guy," Rockman admonished. "He was a lot bigger than you. You could have been hurt."
I didn't even notice, Netto thought to himself. I just wanted to hurt that guy...it didn't matter how big he was. I would have gotten stomped.
But I really wanted to hurt him.
What's wrong with me today...?
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-to be continued...