So I was watching a play-through of Megaman Battle Network 4, and I noticed that Higsby told Lan about how dangerous dark chips were. Higsby, the former W3 member? So I came up with the headcanon that Wily's the one who told BN1!World 3 how dangerous dark chips were. He probably told every iteration of World 3 until after BN5, and maybe Gospel too. The title was almost 'A Warning' because I was hesitant about using 'Unrest in the House of World 3', but I decided 'A Warning' would be a bit bland, I guess?
I don't know :U. Enjoy the fic!
...also, consider this kind of a spoiler warning in general for Battle Network because we don't really learn who Regal's dad is until 5, issues with writing aside.
"Come to HQ immediately. There's something I need to talk to all of you about."
Mr. Match couldn't help but read over and over the ominious message sent to him as he made his way to World Three's HQ. He was told to begin his part of the Life Virus plan in a few days, only to suddenly be called towards headquarters…
"He isn't changing his mind all of a sudden, is he?" Fireman wondered.
"He better not, I just got everything ready for stealing the Fire program," Mr. Match responded, frowning.
Lord Wily, Ms. Madd, Higsby, Count Zap, and Yahoot were either waiting or just arriving themselves when Mr. Match entered the room. Wily had a grim look on his face, and Mr. Match could see a purple chip in his hands.
"I'm glad you all came here today. Last night, I realized there had been something I had forgotten to bring up when I hired you five," Wily admitted.
"What is it? I think you were pretty clear about what we had to do, Lord Wily," Ms. Madd questioned.
Wily held up the purple chip in his hand. "Do you see this chip? This, World Three, is a dark chip."
"Dark chip?" the Operators chorused, confused.
Wily set the chip down on the desk in front of him, shutting his eyes for a moment. and taking a deep breath. "A long time ago…someone I knew very personally was attempting to find a way to make his Navi stronger, to defeat someone he detested. He wanted to prove he was better than him, and…I'm afraid he paid the price for it."
"Is this guy that Tadashi Hikari man you keep talking about, huh?" Higsby asked.
"No, this has nothing to do with the Hikari family. As much as I hate him, he had nothing to do with this project," Wily clarified.
"You didn't bring that dark chip here for fun, did you?" Count Zap guessed.
"I brought it to warn this group about it," Wily answered, "and I can only hope you will listen. Dark chips can give more power to Navis, that part of the project was accomplished. However, the more dark chips are used, the more the Navi and user are corrupted. Eventually…nothing may be left of the Navi than something resembling a virus or a bunch of loosely-cobbled scraps of data, and their Operator…I wouldn't want to know what may be left of them."
The atmosphere felt tense all of a sudden, the World 3 members exchanging worried looks. Who was the unlucky Navi that had to be used for Wily to find out about its effects?
"Consider this an order, World 3. If you, at any time, find a dark chip, you are to destroy it on the spot. No exceptions. I don't care if one of Tadashi's relatives uses one, I don't care if somehow I get senile and use one by accident, you destroy it at all costs," Wily commanded, narrowing his eyes.
"But wouldn't it be to our advantage if someone related to Tadashi used one?" Mr. Match asked.
"No, it wouldn't!" Wily snapped, raising his voice. Everyone almost took a collective step back as Wily leaned forward, the old man shaking in anger. "What did I just say, Mr. Match? Destroy any dark chip you find, no matter what! What part of that do you not get?!"
"S-Sorry, Lord Wily!" Mr. Match apologized.
Wily seethed for a few moments, turning away from the group. Ms. Madd couldn't help but whisper, "I've never seen him this angry before. Whoever made the dark chips must've been really important to him…"
"Do you think they're dead?" Count Zap mumbled back. "Maybe this dark chip stuff killed them…"
"…okay. Okay. As I was about to say," Wily began, returning his gaze to the group of Operators before him, "the plan will continue, otherwise. And I would like to get this out of the way before anyone asks; if any of you are found to have used a dark chip, consider yourself fired. Dark chip usage will not, nor will they ever be, tolerated in World 3."
"Yes, sir," the W3 members quietly responded.
"You're all dismissed," Wily ordered, turning and walking away into a back room, grabbing the dark chip. The group of W3 members proceeded to leave the base, Mr. Match looking back at Wily for a quick moment.
"I didn't think he'd get so worked up over something like dark chips. They look pretty harmless," he commented.
"I wouldn't want to risk my job over using a dark chip," Yahoot responded. "I belive Lord Wily knows what he was talking about."
"Eh, good point," Mr. Match conceded.
Mr. Match doubted he'd actually encounter any of those dark chips. It's not like they would be important later, right?
Right?