As promised, we get an entire chapter of Chaud, and maybe a little bit of ProtoMan if there's enough room.
Though considering what I'm planning on having in this chapter, that's probably not gonna happen. Let's just say it's gonna be weird and cool. Weird because, hey let's face it, we're in an underground cyberpunk city that's actually cheerful instead of dystopian. Cool because this is Chaud and he is nothing if not cool. Aside from his bad habit of getting lost constantly, which is only present in this particular world because I find it amusing to annoy him.
But yeah, let's get straight into this before I forget what I wanted to write.
I don't own MegaMan Battle Network/NT Warrior, on with the show!
OOOOOO
"Welcome to Nowhere City," Professor Hestia announced.
Lan squealed like a little kid getting a new toy at Christmas, and Chaud sighed heavily.
"Lan," Maylu scolded with a frown.
"Sorry," Lan said, though the massive grin on his face said otherwise. "Sorry, it's just . . . Nowhere City is awesome."
Professor Hestia smiled. "Thank you," he said, his tone amused. "But I'm afraid this is just the Gate District. It is part of Nowhere, but it's not the main part - more like the entrance, honestly. It's called the Gate District because the main gate is right behind us, and this is the first district most people see when they come in. We're standing in the main street, and to answer your next question, yes, this is a festival. It's the annual anniversary of the bombing of the old city, and we usually honour the memory with the Bomb Festival. It honours the millions who died on that day, and celebrates the determination of the people who refused to leave their home, even when it was impossible to return. The main part of the festival runs from this part of the district right to the other end, all throughout the main street, but it covers the entire district, and it goes for three weeks. We're currently at the end of week one - the festival ends on the day of the bombing itself. You'll be free to come and visit whenever you please once we've had a look at your Navi."
"How did you know that was gonna be my next question?" Lan wondered, as they started off through the festival's main street.
"You were practically drooling the moment you noticed the food."
Haruka laughed. "That's our Lan - always thinking about food!"
At least he wasn't as absent minded as he'd been on the ship. That had been extremely unsettling.
While they walked through the festival-filled street, Professor Hestia pointed out the various stalls and street performers. Everyone else drunk it all in like sponges, but Chaud wasn't that interested in the festival, although he wasn't about to dismiss its importance to the people of Nowhere.
The festival was loud, and the people were mildly annoying, but they were celebrating something that most people would try to forget. That was admirable.
The citizens of Nowhere City were something else entirely.
Professor Hestia said it was easier to just follow the main street all the way through the district, so that was what they did. Halfway down the street, however, they came across the giant black pyramid that Chaud had noticed almost immediately upon entering. Up close, it was absolutely massive, although it was only half the height of the cavern. It was more wide than tall, Chaud guessed.
"This is our Sun Pyramid," Professor Hestia explained. "It's basically like our own version of sunlight. When it's day, the light at the tip is yellow. When it's night, it's blue. At dawn, it's red. And at dusk, it's purple. There's a Sun Pyramid in every district, right at the very centre."
"Why is it called a Sun Pyramid if it has colours for dawn, dusk, and night, as well as day?" Yai asked him.
"Well, calling it the Day and Night Pyramid didn't sound as catchy, and nor did calling it the Moon Pyramid, although there is a Moon Pyramid in the Cultural District - but it's purely for aesthetics," the professor replied, looking pleased at the question. Clearly he enjoyed it when people asked questions like that. Then again, he was a professor.
They moved on, going around the Sun Pyramid - which took quite a while, considering its size. Chaud had to guess that the kind of technology required to make this kind of time-keeping device, although it'd probably be more accurate to call it a time-of-day-keeping device, would have to be incredibly complex. No wonder the pyramid was massive.
The entire square surrounding the Sun Pyramid was clearly the busiest part of the Bomb Festival. It was packed and they almost lost each other quite a few times, but using their Navis to keep in touch, they were able to meet up at the other side of the pyramid, where they continued on down the rest of the main street.
By the time they finally got to the end of the street, Chaud was almost burnt out. He hadn't minded the energy in the air when he'd first come into the city's festival, but having to navigate through the crowds and performers and everything else was just a nightmare. It didn't help that people with balloons and ribbon streamers and other things kept popping up in front of him, trying to persuade him into buying something.
He was a kid, but that did not mean he was gonna act like a kid.
Although those ribbon streamers did look kind of interesting.
Chaud shook his head to try and rid himself of the sudden urge to get one, and he followed Professor Hestia into a metal-lined tunnel. The tunnel was short and, thankfully, not as packed as the festival streets, and opened out into a bigger tunnel that was home to a train station.
"And this here is the Gate Station," Professor Hestia said, gesturing around at large. "The very beginning of our tramline, and it branches out to every district in Nowhere City. Unfortunately I don't have the time to give you the grand tour of the entire city, but then you'll have plenty of time to explore on your own if you want to. For now, though, we'll take a tram to the Science District."
He told them to wait for him here, and went over to the ticket stations to get them Science Tram tickets. While they were waiting, Chaud did a quick scan of the tramline station.
It wasn't as big as the second Gondola station cavern, but it was certainly longer. There were a few people here and there, some in groups and some alone, waiting for trams to arrive so they go to whatever district they needed to go to. The people who were in groups seemed to be festival-goers who had had enough of the festival for the day, but didn't appear to have exhausted their energy.
There were wide support pillars that seemed to be made from rock or brick at first glance, but upon closer inspection, Chaud found that they were actually metal - and each pillar had a jack-in port on a small panel. He couldn't see any other means of support in these tram stations, not like he'd seen in the Gate District (which had been an almost spiderweb-like patchwork of supports on the walls and ceiling), so maybe these pillars were special for whatever reason.
Other than the fact that you could clearly see the rocky texture of the walls, the tramline station was just like a normal underground train station. Or tram station, as it were.
"This place is really cool," Tory said, suddenly appearing beside Chaud.
He hadn't noticed him coming up, but Chaud didn't allow himself to jump. He had a reputation, after all, even if he didn't much care for it.
"It is," he agreed. "You gonna explore the city after we're done at the lab?"
"I think I'm kinda worn out after getting through that festival," Tory laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Dr. Hikari told us he's booked us all in at a really cool hotel in the Haven District, so I'm just gonna spend the rest of the day there. IceMan says he wants to see if the net is as cool as the actual city is, though."
"With the way things are looking, I'd say that's almost a certainty," Chaud said, a smile tugging at his mouth. "I wonder what it's like inside that Sun Pyramid, though?"
"I bet it's awesome!"
Chaud agreed to that wholeheartedly, and a few moments later, Professor Hestia came over with several tramline passes. He handed them out to everyone.
"Normally guests and tourists in the city aren't able to get Frequent Passes, but the purpose of your visit is extremely unique," he explained. "So I've pulled some strings and abused the authority invested in me by the powers that be, and I've managed to get you all Frequent Passes. Essentially, these are tramline passes that you can use over and over, and you won't have to worry about paying. You can go anywhere on the tramline now."
Chaud accepted his with a 'thank you'.
"The next tram to the Science District should arrive in ten minutes," Professor Hestia went on. "It's on the other side of the city, so it's quite a long ride, I'm afraid. If anyone needs the toilet, I'd suggest you go now!" He laughed at his little joke heartily.
What a cheerful man. Chaud wondered if everyone in this city was just as cheerful, or if it was just the atmosphere of the Bomb Festival bringing out the best in people.
oooo
Not many people apparently needed to go to the Science District, so when the tram arrived, just a few minutes late, they had the entire back of the tram to themselves. A couple of other people also got on, but didn't sit anywhere near the group.
Chaud spent his time watching the tramline tunnel pass by - like the tram station, the rock walls were making no efforts to hide themselves, and unlike the majority of the city that he'd seen so far, the tunnels didn't appear to have much lighting. The tram itself provided that, with lights built into its ceiling for the passengers and headlights at the front and back of the tram, lighting the way through the tunnel.
After almost fifteen minutes in the tunnel, it suddenly brightened, and they came out into another tram station. Chaud looked out the window and spotted a sign with writing that he couldn't read in bold letters. This station, unlike the previous one, was far more colourful, and even had creative graffiti on the walls and support pillars. By 'creative' he didn't mean rude, but literally creative. Very colourful indeed.
The tram stopped for a few minutes, giving people a chance to get on, and then started off again. As they were speeding up, Chaud noticed a group of people crowded around a trio of energetic dancers with a stereo blaring behind them.
"The Cultural District is essentially the 'artsy' area of Nowhere," Professor Hestia explained, when he noticed Chaud looking out the window. "From art to music, and everything in between. This is where most of the street performers in the festival come from, actually."
"Why is this place called Nowhere, anyway?" Yai spoke up. "Doesn't really seem like the kind of thing you'd call a city like this."
"The name is actually sort of our greatest joke," Professor Hestia replied, turning to her. "When the city was first built, it was actually a small town. People joked that they were living in the middle of nowhere. The town eventually grew and grew, but no one could decide on a name for it - it kept changing constantly, you see, because the people just couldn't agree on a name. Eventually, someone came up with the idea to use the joke 'we live in the middle of nowhere', and the town was finally named Nowhere. It became a city soon afterwards, and thus became Nowhere City."
So the city's name was both their greatest joke and their greatest legacy. This place was getting more and more interesting the more Chaud learnt about it.
Almost two hours later, and three more tram stations later, they arrived in the Science Station. It was more uniform than the others, cleaner and less cluttered, and the majority of people who were waiting for trams or for people getting off trams appeared to be scientists of varying types. But while this station did seem more professional than the others, it was still relatively cheerful, just like the rest of the city.
Professor Hestia led them through the quiet hustle of the Science District's station, waving to a few people he apparently knew, and through the streets of the district. Unlike the Gate District, the Science District was more of a maze, and the streets went in every direction with no hint of a main street.
To get to the lab, Professor Hestia told them, they would need to get to the walkways above them. The lab was apparently built on top of a tall plateau near the edge of the district, nestled inside what would be called an alcove.
He took them to a wide support pillar holding up part of the walkway, a large platform connecting four different paths. There was a lift big enough to fit all of them and more inside, and they took it onto the top of the platform. When he stepped out and looked around at the pillar, Chaud saw that it kept going all the way to the ceiling of the cavern, keeping the entire structure up. From what he could see, various platforms and walkways had the same system, although the pillars on the walkways weren't as wide and didn't appear to have lifts built into them.
Professor Hestia called them over to a walkway with pale blue lights running along the sides.
"All we need to do is follow this walkway, and we're at the lab!" he declared. "Come along, and try not to fall off, although we do have safeguards in place just in case someone does fall off. It doesn't happen too often, at least not with the citizens. We're all used to it. The Haven District is actually the only district without any walkways, mainly because it caters almost exclusively for tourists and guests in the city."
"This still doesn't seem too safe," Haruka said, hesitating to walk on the path. "It's . . . it's not narrow, but it still seems like we're going to fall off."
"You guys need railings or something," Dex agreed.
"Why would we need railings?" Professor Hestia frowned, genuinely puzzled at the notion.
Interesting. Yes. That was the word for it.
Not terrifying.
oooo
Luckily they didn't need to walk too long on the wide but incredibly-worrying walkway (Chaud wasn't the only one who was constantly checking where he was going, and he saw Haruka walking in the very centre of the walkway with Lan and Yai). In just ten minutes, they came to the edge of the cliff that housed the lab they were going to, and everyone except Professor Hestia hurried off the walkway gratefully.
He gave them all a confused glance while he walked off calmly, as if he did this kind of thing every day of his life (which he probably did, actually), and gestured to the lab.
"Welcome to the Navi Research Labs," he said. It wasn't as dramatic as when he'd welcomed them to the city, and Lan certainly didn't let out an embarrassing squeal, but it was still very impressive.
Mainly due to the lab itself, which was a very impressive structure. Different buildings were arranged in a semi-circle around a large courtyard that had a fountain in the very centre and various paths branching off to the different buildings. Each building was backed into the walls of the alcove, and more than one appeared to actually extend into the walls. The largest of the buildings was also the most impressive, and directly opposite them.
Professor Hestia pointed it out. "That's the main lab, the Navi Construction Centre. It's where we actually create new Navis and PETs, so it's basically the hub of our little section of the district." Then he gestured towards one of the closer buildings. It was smaller but no less impressive than the rest. "That building there is where we're going - the Navi Medical Science Lab. The scientists you'll meet are . . . well, eccentric, to say the least, and I mean that in the nicest way possible - mainly because I'm the head of that particular lab."
Even Dr. Hikari was surprised.
"The last time I was here," Dr. Hikari said, "you were just the head of one of the construction teams at the Centre."
"I got promoted," Professor Hestia replied with a grin.
He took them into the Navi Medical Science Lab. Here, he also waved at a few people he knew - all of them obviously scientists, although none of them were wearing what Chaud would call 'typical lab wear'. About one in four of them were actually wearing lab coats like Professor Hestia, while the rest seemed to wear whatever they pleased.
They went all the way through the main building, and into the part of the building that was built into the cavern wall. The corridors were more spacious here, but he couldn't say the same about the rooms, since they hadn't gone into any just yet. They were led straight through to the very back of the Medical Science Lab, and entered a double-doored room that was almost the same size as the second Gondola station's cavern.
"This is the heart of our lab," Professor Hestia explained, "and as such, the largest room here. Dr. Hikari, Haruka, kids, may I present the pride and joy of the Navi Medical Science Lab, the data-bone reconstruction room!"
At the sound of his voice, the team of scientists who were working in the lab - about twenty in all - looked around and peered at the group curiously. A few of them called out a greeting.
Professor Hestia headed for a large machine at the back of the room which took up most of the wall space, and they followed in silenced awe. As he was walking by, Chaud noticed a woman with long bushy hair wearing an aviator hat, complete with goggles, and she caught his eye and winked at him.
Chaud frowned. Weird.
"This here is our scanner," Professor Hestia was explaining when he caught up to the group. "It's used so we can scan Navis for data-bone damage. There's smaller versions of this in all of the medical rooms, but this one is the most powerful, because it needs to be able to detect even the slightest of fractions inside a Navi's body. It'll give us detailed reports on any type of break or bend, and checks the physical condition of the Navi being scanned. All you need to do is jack your Navi into the scanner, and we'll do the rest. If I remember correctly, you spent a lot of time in this room when you were here, didn't you, Dr. Hikari?"
"I did, yes," Dr. Hikari agreed, a smile spreading across his face. "This scanner wasn't here back then, and the machines weren't as advanced, but the room is almost exactly how I remember it. I needed a lot of help in figuring out how to make the structure of a Navi's bones, and the scientists working here were a massive help. The Navi Project worked beautifully because of their input."
"I thought the project was a SciLab-exclusive project?" Lan asked, frowning.
He wasn't the only one confused. Chaud hadn't heard of any other Navi labs being involved in the project either. He had known that Dr. Hikari had come to Nowhere City at some point, but he hadn't known the specifics as to why.
"Oh, it was," Dr. Hikari replied, turning to his son. "It's just that the project was so complicated, and I had little to no idea as to how to actually create a Navi from scratch. I was advised to go to the Navi Research Labs in Nowhere, and they helped me with the theory of the project and even gave me a few ideas as to how to move forward with it."
"You were gone for three months, I remember," Haruka said, smiling. "And when you came back, you were extremely excited."
"Aha . . . yeah, I was," Dr. Hikari chuckled, looking a bit embarrassed. "I was kind of hyper for a few weeks, wasn't I? But it all worked out in the end."
"It did," she agreed happily.
"Ah, but you said the same Navi you created via the project is the reason you're here today?" Professor Hestia asked, a worried frown appearing on his face. "May I ask where this Navi is, so we can have a look at it?"
"Right, yes," Dr. Hikari agreed with a nod. "Professor Hestia, scientists of the data-bone reconstruction room, I'd like to introduce you to my sons - Lan and MegaMan."
Lan stepped forward and waved sheepishly, suddenly embarrassed under the surprised stares that the scientists and Professor Hestia gave him. He didn't pull his PET out, most likely to spare MegaMan.
"Did you say sons?" a scientist wearing a black boob tube and a pair of grey jeans asked.
"How can a Navi be one of his kids?" another scientist asked his neighbour.
His neighbour shrugged and ran a hand through his artfully-styled hair, messing it up a little. Then he realised what he'd done and quickly fixed it.
Professor Hestia hadn't been kidding - these people were eccentric.
"You told me the project was to combine human DNA with a Navi," Professor Hestia said, his worried frown turning into a puzzled one. "Do you mean to say you used one of your own children to do this?" His tone was guarded, and mildly angry. Offended.
Of course he would be. Without context, without the actual story behind MegaMan's previous life as Hub Hikari, anyone would automatically assume the worst of the information.
"I'm not a mad scientist," Dr. Hikari said calmly, as if he'd had this conversation before and knew exactly how to deal with it. He probably had, now that Chaud thought about it. "I wouldn't put the lives of my family in danger purely so I can further my own research. The Navi Project was almost complete, but I had some missing pieces, and I couldn't go any further with it, despite all the information I'd gotten from the people here. Around the same time that the project started to die out, one of my sons - the elder twin, Hub Hikari - became very ill, and it was unlikely that he would survive. We tried everything we could, but in the end, Hub died. Yet I couldn't let go. I used the soul of my dying son to finish the last pieces of the Navi Project, and he was reborn as MegaMan. It . . . I'm aware that this sounds utterly insane, and also extremely unethical, but . . . I couldn't let him go. I didn't want to. He'd barely begun to live, and I didn't want Lan to grow up without a brother, without someone to look out for him or someone to understand him, or vice versa. MegaMan became that person."
"I couldn't let go either," Haruka said gently, placing a hand on her husband's shoulder. "I'm glad you used Hub's soul to create MegaMan. He's our son as much as Lan is, and I love them both."
"I'm glad too, Dad!" Lan cried, running over to give Dr. Hikari a quick but firm hug. "MegaMan's my best friend in the whole world, and I wouldn't trade him for anything."
Chaud glanced at the scientists in the room, to judge their reaction to Dr. Hikari's story. They seemed less hostile now, and more understanding - a few of them were even nodding as if they would have done the same thing, and it struck Chaud that they most likely had children as well.
" . . . So," Professor Hestia said after a few moments, "the Navi that you want us to take a look at is, in fact, your son?"
"That's right," Dr. Hikari agreed.
For a moment, Professor Hestia didn't reply. Then he smiled.
"Then we'll just have to do everything we can to make sure he gets fixed," he said. "Right, everyone?"
The scientists called out their agreement. The woman wearing the aviator hat came around to Professor Hestia's side, and stood there with her arms crossed and a wild smirk on her face. Chaud got the impression she was probably the most eccentric one of the bunch.
"Now, why don't you jack MegaMan into the scanner, and we'll find out the extent of the damage?" Professor Hestia said to Lan.
"Um," Lan said.
"What is it?"
"Dad installed a wheelchair program for MegaMan, is that gonna be a problem for the scan, or . . .?"
Professor Hestia shook his head. "No need to worry, the machine only scans a Navi - not a program. Provided he doesn't move during the scan, it'll be fine."
"I don't think him moving will a problem," Lan murmured sadly, going over to the jack-in port on the scanner. Without any of his usual fanfare, he jacked MegaMan into the scanner, and then backed away to allow the scientists to do their work.
It took them half an hour to scan MegaMan. Once they were done, the data was stored onto several of the computers around the scanner machine, and Lan was told he could jack MegaMan out.
He did so, and a couple of the scientists examined the data briefly before giving Professor Hestia a report.
" . . . A broken spine," the professor repeated, shocked. "Something actually hit him hard enough to break his spine?"
Dex stepped forward, shame-faced. "That was me, and my Navi," he admitted. "Me and Lan were battling and it . . . went wrong. Really, really wrong. And I'm really sorry about it."
"You're honest and genuinely apologetic," Professor Hestia noted. "Most wouldn't have the guts to own up to something like this, let alone apologise for it. Well done, lad."
Dex gave him a hesitant but grateful smile.
Professor Hestia gave him a nod, and turned to Lan. "The good news is, we can fix his spine," he said. Lan grinned. "The bad news is that we aren't able to do it right away. Even tiny fractures take a while to heal, and this is . . . this is something we've never even seen before. We're going to need to do a lot more scans, and examine the data a lot more thoroughly, before we even begin to attempt to fix his spine. We also need to practise on some dummy Navis, because we don't want or need any mistakes."
"I don't care how long it takes," Lan told him. "I just want MegaMan to be okay again. Thank you, Professor Hestia. And everyone else, too."
"Hey, no worries, kiddo," the scientist with the artful hair spoke up, waving a hand like it was no big deal.
"We can fix him," a bald scientist said. "We have the technology."
"Unless we want him to stay dead," the woman with the aviator hat suddenly said.
There was a long, awkward pause in which everyone stared at her.
"Arin," Professor Hestia eventually sighed, "one of these days, people are going to take you seriously about this stuff."
"Pfff, my own daughter doesn't take me seriously," the woman - Arin - laughed.
"That is both sad and not surprising at all." Professor Hestia turned to the group of Electopians, who were still a little shocked. "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce Dr. Arin Zaliki, who is what you would call a 'jack of all trades'. She dabbles in every bit of science she can find, although she specialises in electronics. She handles the design and creation of PETs here at the Navi Research Labs, and also has a very bad habit of vanishing for days on end without a word."
"Hey, I'm a busy woman," Arin defended herself lazily.
" . . . Right," Dr. Hikari said hesitantly. "So, how long do you need for the initial data analysis?"
"Give us . . . hmm . . . say, two days? Should that be enough time?" Professor Hestia asked, glancing around at the scientists. They nodded, and he nodded back and turned to Dr. Hikari again. "Two days, then. If we're done before then, I'll give you a call. If not, just come back here and see how we're doing. Dr. Hikari, would you like to give us a hand?"
"I'll see to this lot first," Dr. Hikari said, smiling. "Then I'll come by tomorrow. Is that alright?"
"More than alright," Professor Hestia agreed. "Should I sent someone to pick you up, or do you remember the way here?"
"This room may have changed, as has the city itself, but I think I can remember how to get around," Dr. Hikari politely declined. "Thank you anyway."
Professor Hestia nodded, and then looked at Lan. "I apologise for making this sound like a demand or an order, but you'll need to keep yourself available as much as possible over the next few days. After we've completed our initial analysis of this first batch of data, we're going to need you to come back and jack MegaMan into the scanner a few more times before we can gather all the data. We need multiple scans just in case previous scans missed something that others could pick up, you see."
"It's okay, I get it," Lan said, nodding. "I wasn't really planning on exploring the city until MegaMan started to get better anyway."
Professor Hestia smiled sympathetically, and then shooed them all out of the room good-naturedly.
This time it was Dr. Hikari who led the group to the tram station, where everyone got their own tickets for the tram. Before they actually got their tickets, however, Dr. Hikari stood in front of the group.
"Alright," he said, "I'm heading to the Haven District to the hotel I booked us into. Who's coming with me and who wants to explore the city?"
"I'm going to the hotel," Tory immediately said.
"Same," Lan agreed.
"Yeah," Maylu said, "I think I've had enough excitement for today. I'll explore tomorrow."
"Well, I wanna go and check out the festival some more," Yai said, offended that the others would dare to chose rest in a city like this. It seemed her earlier unimpressed reaction had vanished.
"Me too, me too! I wanna get some of those toffee apples!" Dex agreed enthusiastically.
"They have toffee apples?" Lan gaped. "Aw, I didn't even see them . . . Could you get me one?"
"Sure, Lan."
"In that case, I'll go with Dex and Yai," Haruka said. "Just to keep them out of trouble."
"I would never get into trouble," Yai huffed, like the very idea offended her.
"What about you, Chaud?" Dr. Hikari asked, turning to him.
Chaud met his eyes for a brief moment, and then glanced at the others. Dr. Hikari knew very well what his answer would be, but not asking him would just raise suspicion.
"I think I'll go explore the other districts first," he said, because it was technically true anyway. "I'll be fine on my own, don't worry."
"Are you sure?" Haruka asked, clearly worried anyway.
"I've been to a lot of places on my own," Chaud reassured her. "I can take care of myself, Mrs. Hikari."
"Just Haruka is fine, dear."
"Okay, Haruka."
"Aw, man, how come he gets to go around on his own and we gotta be supervised?" Dex whined.
"Because you're loud and Yai is a little kid," Maylu told him flatly.
"What exactly does my age have to do with anything?" Yai demanded.
"What does my volume gotta do with anything?" Dex also wondered.
Chaud shook his head in amusement and left them to their argument. He went over to the ticket stations and used his Frequent Pass to get a ticket to the Historical District.
oooo
The Historical District was three tram stations away from the Science District, but it didn't take too long to get there, just over half an hour in fact. This time, he'd thought ahead and had gotten ProtoMan to download a map of the district at one of the jack-in ports at the Science Station, so when he stepped out into the Historical District, he didn't get lost immediately.
This district was just as unique as the other two he'd been to so far. Chaud had a feeling that every single district in the city was vastly different from the others, and that actually made him feel quite excited at the thought of exploring it properly.
But not right now, though. He had a mission at the moment.
"Take a right at the ancient predators museum," ProtoMan said.
Yep, that's right, a museum. There were a lot of museums around this particular district, mainly focusing on history - he had yet to see any art galleries or any museums focusing on science or space travel, but then he supposed those types of museums were in the corresponding districts. The Historical District wasn't all museums, however, it just seemed that way because of how old some of the buildings and the streets looked. This was probably on purpose, to suit the aesthetic needs of the district.
Even the walkways looked like something from a history book. Instead of the dark grey colour that the walkways in the Gate and Science Districts were painted with, these were a mixture of 'old' looking colours, like musky browns and concrete greys. Even the lighting of the district was somewhat muted, probably to maintain the overal historical feel of the district, and the Sun Pyramid in the centre of the city was even getting in on the act, although the light at the tip was still glowing the same bright colour as the rest of the pyramid lights.
Chaud decided he liked this place, although he was withholding his judgement of the entire city until he'd seen every district. Then he could decide on a favourite.
"Just keep going until you reach the end of the street," ProtoMan said, once Chaud had gone past the ancient predators museum. "Once you get there, you'll see two streets branching off. You'll need to take the left one."
"Got it," Chaud agreed. He had the PET in his hand just in case anyone thought he was crazy for apparently talking to himself, and it also had the added benefit of allowing ProtoMan to see the same things he was seeing.
"This place is really nice," ProtoMan commented, while Chaud walked down the street. "It's quieter than the other districts we've been to, but it's nice. Peaceful."
"I suppose that's because it's the Historical District - everything about history just seems . . . peaceful, I guess," Chaud said. "Or, well, not exactly peaceful, since some parts of history are extremely violent and not at all child-friendly. It's the study of history that's peaceful. Not history itself."
"I know what you mean," his Navi assured him.
Chaud reached the end of the street within minutes, and took the left branching street as ProtoMan had instructed. Then he followed ProtoMan's directions until he came to a quiet little street tucked away against one of the cavern walls.
Curious, he glanced up, and spotted a few windows dotted about on the cavern wall. He peered closer and couldn't see anything inside them, not even in the windows closer to ground-level. Hm. Interesting.
He lowered his eyes and spotted a small antique shop in the middle of the small street. It didn't stand out at all, the windows didn't appear to display anything too exotic, and once again there was a sign with writing he couldn't read.
Chaud went in.
There was a young woman reading a magazine behind the counter, and she looked up as the bell above the door tinkled, warning her of a new customer. She put down her magazine and smiled at him.
"Nice weather we're having today, huh?" she asked cheerfully.
"Yes, but I always carry an umbrella," Chaud replied. Time to see if this worked.
The young woman's smile turned from cheerful to professional in an instant, and she reached under the counter. Then she gestured to the back room of the antique shop silently.
Chaud nodded to her and went in.
Upon first glance, the back room was just like any other storage space - it was full of antiques and boxes that the woman had yet to sell or was planning to put on display, and one wall was entirely bare of anything touching it.
It was this wall that Chaud faced, and it was here that he hesitated.
"What're the chances that this didn't work and I'm about to faceplant into a solid wall?" he wondered.
"About forty percent," ProtoMan replied.
"Thanks," Chaud deadpanned.
Oh well, no time like the present.
He took a quick breath, steeling himself for what he was convinced was going to be a complete failure, and started walking towards the wall. As he was about to walk into it, he couldn't help it, he cringed and closed his eyes.
Yet no collision came.
After a moment, he dared to open his eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief.
He'd walked through the holographic wall in the back room - which would've otherwise been a completely solid wall if the young woman hadn't pressed that hidden switch - and now he was inside of a clean grey corridor. It went straight for a few metres, and ended at a T-section.
Then he spotted the woman striding towards him.
"You took your sweet time getting here," Dr. Arin Zaliki greeted him, grinning wildly.
OOOOOO
And we finally meet a couple of OCs in this fic, Professor Hestia and Dr. Arin Zaliki!
Arin is actually most commonly just called Arin, since she doesn't care about her title as a doctor or whatever. She's just called Dr. Arin Zaliki in this chapter because that's how she was introduced.
While these two are major OCs, they are in no way the only major OCs. There are still other OCs who need to be introduced, including the one who Chaud will be interacting with the most, whose name and identity I will not give away because spoilers.
Anyway, moving on.
I promised a full chapter of Chaud's POV, and I delivered! I did want to include the rest of what I had planned for this, but I decided to end it here instead because it seemed more dramatic to have the chapter end like this instead of however it would've ended had I kept writing.
Just to clarify in case anyone wants to know, Professor Hestia doesn't hate or disdain Arin in any way. I know it kinda seemed like that when he introduced her to the Electopian guys, but I didn't intend it to seem that way, I just wanted to write her character.
Also, who loves the fact that her first ever line in this fic, and the first thing she says to any one of the main canon characters, is 'unless we want him to stay dead'? She's kinda like that, and I'm intending her character to be the typical 'mad scientist' type.
That particular line, including the one from the scientist who said they have the technology to fix MegaMan, are referencing another fic called Reploid Anatomy 101, a fic about the MegaMan X series. If you like the X series, I suggest you go and read it, because goddamn is that a good fic.
Speaking of lines being references, did anyone notice that little exchange in the antique shop? Also the entire shop itself, and the fact that Chaud walked through a secret door?
Well, holographic wall, but same difference.
In case anyone doesn't get it, that was a reference to Captain America: The First Avenger. That scene where Peggy takes Steve into the secret lab, to be specific. The dialogue is almost directly taken from that scene.
Anyway.
Next chapter, we'll get to see what all this is about, and hopefully I can write ProtoMan's POV as well.
Read and review!