Disclaimer: I own the names of all the original characters used in this story. All characters named belonging to the Megaman series belong to Capcom.
Author's Note: This is the second time I've posted this story on FFN, but the first copy really sucked as it was written while I was still a kid. Please review the chapters if you like it. I was only recently introduced to the Traffic feature of FFN, so I actually have a way of knowing if people read this.
Chapter One: Power, Control, Stability
Takeda Shinkei had been tossing and turning all night long. The gnawing, relentless restlessness of his mind banished any possibility of sleep, despite his body's desire for a peaceful slumber. Tight muscles flexed as his arms heaved and lifted his firm, strong frame from the soft mattress to roll onto his back. Soft? Heh, tonight's one of those nights where it just doesn't matter I suppose,Shinkei thought, aggravation twisting his handsome face cruelly. Bloodshot emerald eyes stared through locks of brown hair impatiently at the alabaster ceiling glowing blue with the light from Shinkei's PC monitor. God damn him! What the hell does he know anyway! the sixteen year-old thought.
Powerless.
Above all the feelings in the world, Shinkei hated this one the most. To be powerless was to be unable to control one's life, and without control everything around him would be unstable. A cursed, vicious trifecta whose factors created utter chaos if they were not in perfect harmony. Shinkei felt powerless, and because of that, everything else was threatened. It was no wonder that frustration robbed him of sleep with his pitiless, unending mocking.
It's not even my fault! It's HIS! Damn Sai! My god damn little brother! the emerald eyed teen screamed in his mind, choking out all other thoughts.
Abandoning the hope that this night retained any respite for him, the tall youth rolled out of bed. Standing, he could barely believe that he had just about breached six feet in height. At this rate, he'd be taller than anyone else in his family, even his father who was an impressive six feet and two inches tall. The warm summer night had given Shinkei cause to abandon his nightshirt, leaving his exposed, muscular chest; his tight, well-built frame was the fruit of his athletic endeavors as a swimmer for the majority of his life. Maybe if I spent less time in the pool, and more time in front of a computer I'd have some kind of revelation and become like Sai, Shinkei thought with helplessness overwhelming him.
Certainly, athletic achievement on the level of Shinkei's was nothing to balk at. It's not everyday that a sophomore is placed on the varsity high school swim team, nor is it every season that same youth becomes a state-ranked distance swimmer. Unfortunately, this world wasn't ruled by the athletic, but the intelligent. Such is the way of fate when the entire world is run on the internet. Those who held the power in the internet were the most powerful people in the world. Children's heroes were no longer sports stars, but Net Battlers.
Even the youngest child could tell you of the historic day that the future of the world was decided. The day that the United Alliance government declared the Net Society Plan put forth by Doctor Hikari Takashi was the path to the bright new future they had promised. Within the course of the last part of the twentieth century and the first few decades of the twenty-first century the entire world became connected to the Net, a program that transformed the simple internet into a living, interactive cyberspace world.
To facilitate the interface between humans and cyberspace the Personal Terminal, better known as the PET, was invented. It was essentially the next step forward from popular touch-based phones of the early twenty-first century that had no way of utilizing the Net properly. The PET was capable of connecting to the NET, and from there the user could do anything from access their bank records or hold video chat sessions with friends entire continents away. The PET was also programmed with a basic Net Navigator Assistant, now simply referred to as a Navi, that followed voice commands in order to utilize the Net's various functions. Processing speed was transformed from bits of data flowing through currents over the web to travel time for the Navi to reach the required Net program and access whatever it was you desired. It was simple, quick, and reliable.
Quite soon, as had been popular with old-tech operating systems, programmers began modifying and customizing the Navi programs, giving them new appearances or tweaking their programs to enhance processing speed or signal output. Some even began creating custom programs that were pseudo-weapons that would weaken signal output of a Navi, potentially deleting them by accident if too much force was applied. It was the creation of recreational net battling. After a year of heavy losses, SciLab was forced to start producing its own generic Net Navis compatible with the net battling programs, but soon recovered those losses by purchasing the rights to create and manufacture battle chips, temporary programs that gave Navis access to various new weapons. Certainly, though, there was no law prohibiting other brilliant programmers from creating their own customized Navi programs, in fact most of them quickly picked up jobs with either SciLab or the Official Net Battlers Association (ONBA), which acted like a sort of cyber-police force.
Takeda Sai, Shinkei's younger brother, was one such programmer. At the age of only ten, Sai had completed high school, and it was clear that academics were not even his strong point. By the time he was twelve, Sai had actually created his first custom Net Navi, and now that he was fourteen he had created what most called a masterpiece, Crystalman. Not only was he a gifted programmer, but he was a ruthless and skilled Net Battler as well. ONBA had awarded him a S-rank License for his help in defeating several of the early WWW threats. One of the many things that infuriated him about his brother was that, with as gifted a programmer he was, he refused to customize Shinkei's SciLab Navi.
"Such gifts are wasted on those who lack the talent to truly utilize them," he would say, his face emotionless and calculating as always.
Thankfully, Shinkei wasn't totally without back-up in the face of his brother. No, Shinkei had one ace-in-the-whole: his best friend, Yagami Kai. Kai was a living legend, the best Net Battler in the entire region with SS-rank privileges granted to him by ONBA without even being an official member of the organization! Kai had taken his Navi deep into the pits of the Undernet, a restricted portion of the Net filled with viruses, wild Navis, and other dangers. When he returned, the Navi had been reprogrammed and wielded ferocious dark power. It took on the name Shademan, after the enigmatic vampiric Net Navi spoken of in rumor. Nobody, not even Sai, dared to cross paths with Kai.
Unfortunately, that left Shinkei to be the powerless one of the trio. A fact that haunted him sometimes to the point of losing sleep, such as that night. Shinkei removed his PET from the charger and linked up to the Net on his computer. The latest PETs were all wireless now, for too many sad events had taken place when an operator had been unable to use the USB link to access the Net. The visual display on the monitor warped to the swimmer's homepage. Ryo, Shinkei's Navi, appeared on the screen. "Shinkei, it is quite late. You should be sleeping. After all, even though it is summer there is no excuse to neglect your health," the Navi said with programmed concern. Another of the benefits of a custom Navi was their Advanced AI program which made them more like a living, breathing companion than a computer program.
"You let me mind my health, Ryo. I simply need to get on the Net long enough to clear my head and tire my mind," Shinkei said in an exasperated voice. The Navi acquiesced his request and instantly uploaded into the Net. It was late on the Net in his region, and most kids were asleep. The message boards held no interest to Shinkei, nor did the empty square. Any operator staying up this late was off hunting down viruses on the RegionNet or, perhaps, seeking passage into the Undernet.
Nothing to do.
Shinkei had Ryo access the RegionNet, hoping to find something other than the boring emptiness of the Square. The plasma monitor shimmered as the ultra-defined polygons gathered together to form the RegionNet, a vast area of cyberspace that led to all the important access points on the Net. It too was empty. Shinkei shifted uncomfortably in his chair. The RegionNet couldn't possibly be empty. Antivirus, advertisement, and search engine programs were supposed to litter the RegionNet at all times of day, everyday. Programs didn't need or take days off.
Something was very wrong.
The high-definition display in front of his began to warp and shift in a certain area just a few net-meters from where Ryo stood. Shinkei had never seen anything like it before. The teen's surprised emerald eyes focused on what could only be called a "tear" in cyberspace. It was beautiful. The colors of the tear were delicate, but powerful, and without a doubt alluring. Shinkei felt himself transfixed, unable to bring his Navi out of the Net and back to his PET. Had Ryo been a custom Navi, he perhaps would protest at being placed at such a mysterious event, but thankfully he had no mind of his own. Perhaps it was better that way.
This was not the kind of event that Shinkei ever thought his eyes would witness. This was something that Sai was supposed to see, or Kai, but not him. Not the powerless, no-talent operator Takeda Shinkei. No, it was in these next few moments that perhaps, just maybe, his life would change. The tear grew wider and longer, as if it needed to accommodate something of immense size. When a dark figure, much smaller than expected, came out of the tear Shinkei sent Ryo forward.
The generic red-colored Navi moved to inspect the figure that had fallen through. "What is it, Ryo?" Shinkei asked softly. The Navi looked down, uploading the image to Shinkei's computer. It appeared on screen instantly, the strange figure that had fallen from the ominous tear looming behind it. It was a Navi, or what was left of one!
The teen had never seen any Navi in the condition he found that one. Its armor was shattered, small red fragments were the only traces left. The helm was cracked and the Navi Symbol, the core of the program, was in pieces. This mysterious red Navi was on the verge of deletion; pieces of its body were becoming fragmented data and fading into cyberspace. Ryo knelt to get a better look when suddenly the Navi grabbed it with a shockingly strong left hand.
"H---h---help me!" The navi cried out in a raspy, static-filled voice. Its vocal programs were going fast.
"Shinkei, what do we do?" Ryo asked.
"If y---y---you don't h---h---h----help…I d---die," it begged in the same static from a second ago.
At this point, most of the legs were gone, and the right arm was fading quickly. Shinkei pulled at his brown hair. What could he possibly do? His face twisted with indecision. Unfortunately, this was not one of the times that he could simply give in to indecision as his guide. "I'm not a programmer like Sai, what can I do? I'm powerless…" Shinkei said helplessly.
"Is it p---ower y---y---ou want? M---m---m---ine y--ou c---c---an have," the Navi forced out as its right arm vanished.
Shinkei looked at the Navi on the display. The lower body was beginning to fragment and disappear. Power? Did this Navi just promise me power? Shinkei thought. Yes, it had. He looked at the Navi. Whatever had happened to it, something gave Shinkei the sense that any other navi would already have been deleted. The Navi had to have been powerful.
Power. Control. Stability.
This Navi was just like him, Shinkei decided. Someone had taken away his power, his control, and his stability. Shinkei was flesh and blood, the Navi was codes and algorithms, but they were cut from the same cloth. It was one of those rare moments, on the cusp between the present and the future where Fate loses its power over the course of your life and you are free, for that singular moment, to forge a new destiny for yourself.
"What do I do?"
