Chapter 4: Parallel developments
09:45 AM (Barcelona Time), Monday July the 25th…
"… Hum, hum… Tan – dan – tan…"
Mr. Denpa whistled a tune as he walked down the street while carrying the daily newspapers and three baguettes: he reached the entrance door and rummaged on his jeans for the keys.
"Excuse me." A voice called out in English.
He looked to the right: there was a man standing next to an Opel car the engine of which was running.
He looked on his sixties and was rather bald.
He wore a grayish suit and he also sported sunglasses.
"What might I help you with?" Mr. Denpa asked.
"Do you know a man named "Denpa"? I believe he lives around here."
Mr. Denpa frowned under the sunglasses.
What the heck is a foreigner doing in front of MY house in this village and how does he know about me? But he must believe the "Liquid Ocelot" disguise is my true face, thus…
"… Ah! He left early this morning. I don't know where but he looked in a rush. He lives in that house across the street but I know his number: I could contact him. What should I tell him?"
"Hum… Ah. Have this."
The man took out a piece of a newspapers' page and handed it to Mr. Denpa.
"Tell him to call me at this number. I do not believe what this paper says and I want to know who did this."
The man handed him a business card and, before Mr. Denpa could ask more, the man climbed into the car and departed.
If ye are in a rush, then fly back to your nest… Whatever.
Mr. Denpa shrugged and unlocked the door: he closed it and entered the front yard which he crossed and then stepped into the kitchen.
Well! Let's see what's wrong with that foreigner.
He left the bread and newspapers on top of the glass table and picked up the black wireless phone: he then stored the sunglasses on its case and took out his reading glasses.
What does this thing say? My, my! A Japanese newspaper English version print-out… He doesn't know Japanese, then. I guess I'll have to speak in English but no trouble with that. I don't have the CPE examination cleared in vain! Heh, heh, heh.
He read the article and frowned: he suddenly gasped and seemed to have realized something as he re-read it.
So that's what this business is about!
He picked the phone and dialed the number: he then cleared his throat and practiced another tune of voice which sounded like an elderly man with a lot of vigor to him.
I'll use Zimmerman's voice…
"Hello?" The man from before asked as the hum from his car's engine was heard on the background.
"So! You have to be a member of "them"…"
"Correct."
"And if you bothered to approach me it must be because the man who is said to have been killed by a burglar in a theft and murder incident was someone important. And you don't believe the conclusion the local police drew. And you want to know if I know someone who had a motive to do that. Let me set something straight in the first place: we DON'T believe in assassinations. We fight an attrition war yet it is by cutting off influences and supply lines. My point: we DIDN'T do this."
"Of course you didn't."
"Good. Now… That man… A launderer, I guess?"
"Correct! A very important one, too! Now we've lost 500 million credits because the assassin took the laptop with him or her and thus had access to the accounts he controlled."
"Hmmm… Oh. It's so obvious! That bothersome mouse… So that's what's he's been up to! After rural banks now he strikes the very heart of his former organization and picks a fortune outta them…"
"You know who did this?"
"Keitai Denwa!"
"…"Keitai Denwa"…? Who is that man?" The bald man questioned.
"I already forgot the silly serial number you gave him… He was that man who was supposed to find out the structure of command in our organization between 2002~2008… We used to call him Agent Tengoku on this side." Mr. Denpa shrugged.
"By all the…! He died on 2009 after his car had an accident and fell out of the road due to reckless driving and bad visibility!"
"Ah. But did you ever find the body?"
"The police did: and the dental records matched!"
"My, my. He could've easily switched them around especially if it was a small prefecture. A disposable Navi makes the car go past the edge and then the thing is then archived as reckless driving. Keitai can be a clever mouse from time to time: guess we're to blame for that, yeah." Mr. Denpa laughed.
"Where's the lowlife!" The bald man growled.
"He pulled a show on us on June and then fled. He hasn't stuck his nose out here and now we see why: that fortune. He surely bought a manor in Oklahoma and is living a millionaire's life there! Use some of your gray brain cells, Hastings!" He taunted.
"You lowlifes will come later. That lowlife goes first. He who laughs last laughs better, Denpa – Henkan!"
The call ended up in an abrupt manner: Mr. Denpa made an exaggerated sigh while shrugging and placing the wireless back on its place.
"Tell that to Holmes' ghost." He muttered as if he was challenging the earlier interlocutor.
"Huh? Holmes' ghost showed up?"
"Hiro – kun. I did tell you to properly wash your face."
"Man. Ya sound like everything I do is bad to my health."
"Saito – niisan gets that behavior, too, from time to time."
"Ah, yeah? Isn't my responsibility as your big brother, Netto – kun? Are you trying to loophole it or what?"
The four teens walked into the kitchen and Mr. Denpa looked up from the newspapers' headlines with a smile.
"No, no. I was challenging a certain someone."
"The Navi thief, that "Sigaano Nogaano" or whatever guy?" Hiro asked as he barely suppressed a yawn.
"No, no. The enemy, gentlemen."
"The man in the Opel?" Saito asked as he lifted his eyebrows.
"Good eye. Correct! It turns out Keitai has had his little payback on his old bosses for treating him like a piece of junk. One of their biggest money launderers has been fired and he picked the money. 500 million of about-to-be-laundered bucks."
"500 million!" Everyone uttered.
"He came up with a simplistic set-up which those Lestrade apprentices fell for, too."
"Whoa." Everyone whistled.
"I sent them to Oklahoma outta pure randomness. Let them look for a millionaire in vain. Keitai has surely divided the whole thing into portions and will only use a minimal portion which will not raise the alarms."
"He mustn't want to bring attention to him, then." Delta guessed.
"Obviously not. And now we learned how he made them believe he was dead. A staged car accident, some swapped dental records and there you have a certified death by reckless driving."
"Whoa."
"But let's leave that talk for later: your stomach must be grumbling by now, gentlemen."
"True!"
Everyone prepared their breakfast (except for Mr. Denpa who only picked a glass in which he'd poured cold water) and then headed for the front yard into which they sat down: Netto's Link PET suddenly rang up.
"Netto! Saito! Everyone! Listen!"
"Papa?"
Yuuichirou had showed up onscreen (wearing his lab coat) and looking serious as he called from what seemed to be his office.
"I have grave news!"
"What? The 5 Navis showed up and drove Tokyo crazy?"
"No, worse than that!"
"Please, Papa… Stop with the drama. Just what happened?"
"Proto has been stolen!"
"Proto?" Hiro and Delta asked.
"What! THE Proto has…?" Mr. Denpa gasped.
"Proto, Proto… Oi, Saito – niisan! Didn't someone tell us about that thing time ago?" Netto frowned.
"You're already forgotten? Back on September, 2009! When we went to Vadous – san's residence… He explained it to us!"
"I'll explain for those not familiar with the history… "Proto" stands for "Prototype Internet"… An initial version of the Internet which had to be forcefully de-implemented…" Mr. Denpa began.
"Huh? Why?" Hiro asked.
"During the years of testing, a bug had built up on the deepest of the core sector's layers… It eventually grew into gaining intelligence similar to that of an amoeba, the gathering of unicellular organisms… Yet the scientist didn't notice that and instead believed that another project being run at the same time was the fault… Forte."
"Wha! Forte? But… Wait. When did that happen?"
"Over 20 years ago."
"Forte has been alive for over 20 years? I thought he'd been created by "Gospel"!" Hiro gasped.
"I did that, too." Delta admitted.
"Anyway… Forte was to be the world's first fully autonomous type Net Navi and had the "Get Ability" program allowing him to copy any abilities other programs held… The lead of the project was a Sharo Nation scientist, Dr. Cossack. Yet there was boycotting of the project by some of the higher staff who at the time believed Navis couldn't be more than dumb tools to become humans' proxies. They were afraid of his capability to learn and his intelligence." Mr. Denpa explained.
"So they tried to blame him?"
"Correct. And Proto played along, too. They secretly sent Elite Unit Navis to try to delete him but he overcame them and fled with a white scar across his chest which became his symbol given how his emblem is originally black and non-decorated. Yet that wasn't the end: Proto then revealed its true nature as an ever-evolving "monster" which began to "absorb" everything connected to it… It got harder to control…"
"The Internet growing outta control…! It had to be chaotic!"
"It was. The scientists were desperate to find a solution and they came up with a first risky idea: a powerful program, "Giga Freeze", which should be able to halt all processes on Proto yet if misused the whole Network could end up frozen and irremediably damaged. It was voted as too risky of an approach and thus discarded."
"What did they do, then?" Delta asked.
"Starve it."
"Huh? How can you make the Internet starve?" Hiro frowned.
"Remove all devices connected to it. Cut off all transit lanes, reel back the wires, destroy the routers, switches, servers and similar devices… Reduce the extent of the infection and limit its power feed… Let it slowly decay and lose power… Close into "ground zero" and, then, when "Proto" was in a weakened state due to insufficient energy and data to maintain itself they sealed it up… forever." He detailed.
"W-whoa!"
"And it still is. Have you never seen that sealed off Science Labs section requiring four codes to open the four security doors? Those are the "Tetra Codes" which were hidden across the world afterwards. The whole "Proto" was scrapped and the incident became known as the "Proto Rebellion" yet all info on it was classified. A new Internet had to be built from scratch and this became our current Internet. Yet the whole thing had severe consequences. Dr. Cossack, believing Forte to be dead, renounced to ever research on Net Navis again and returned to Sharo Nation while mourning the death of his "child"… Some directives were forced to resign after it transpired that the bug could've been detected way in advance yet they believed Proto was immune to anything."
"But… What happened to Forte?" Hiro asked.
"That's the tragic part since he was scarred for life… He began to mistrust us humans and began to wander the Internet alone and fighting countless battles while growing in power…"
"No wonder…" Deta muttered.
"And the Reverse Internet was a result of the whole thing, too. After the incident, they speculated that the "Giga Freeze Program" might be needed to be used again one day, so… They needed somewhere to hide it and yet make it accessible… And that's when a researcher named Urakawa designed a new section of the Network largely isolated from the main one and concealed the "Giga Freeze Program"… But that Network's purpose was hidden and criminals saw it as an ideal lodging place given its initial hard accessing… But there's an authority there: the Ranked Navis and "S", the "Reverse King"…"
"Whoa! Someone actually rules over that place?" Hiro gasped.
"True. Ranking System is a method designed to test the strength of the Navis by making them challenge several Net Navis whose power increases as the ranks are being climbed up… And one who manages to achieve Rank #2 might be strong enough to use the "Giga Freeze Program"… Yet that program is dangerous to use: if the Navi were to be unable to process its whole power they'd end up frozen and it'd be very hard to restore them to normal. And Serenade is in charge of protecting it. Incidentally, he and Forte fought once and that's when Serenade managed to "kick" some sense into his confused mindset which led to an evolution of his persona until how we currently know him."
"Incredible… So, someone has stolen this "Proto", then? Did they find the "Tetra Codes"…?" Hiro summed up.
"… Wrong." Yuuichirou replied.
"Do excuse me?" Mr. Denpa politely asked.
"They bypassed them."
"Isn't that impossible, sir? The whole "vault" is surrounded by invisible containment walls, isn't it, sir?"
"True, Mr. Denpa, yet… Have a look at this … Footage of the actual theft, which happened about 2 hours ago… You'll understand what I mean once you see it…"
The screen shifted to display the imagery of a camera mounted at an angle which aimed against the NE corner of the "vault" where the bluish metallic hexagonal container had been placed at: four orange-colored barriers blocked off access to it.
"That's Proto itself?" Hiro gasped.
"Correct. But it's coded and locked by a powerful protect… The "Guardian Program" Hikari Tadashi – hakase designed… Only Forte could break it and that's why Wily, through "Gospel", tried to recreate him using "Bug Fusion" yet the whole thing was a fiasco. That might be why you had that misconception of Forte's origin."
"Phew." Delta muttered.
"Coming." Yuuichirou warned.
A sparkle of fire formed in the middle of the air and lingered there for about five seconds as its colors became a fierce orange and inner yellow glow: two flames formed at its sides and began to draw a fiery circle made out of flames: the perimeter of a narrow and tall vertical oval object was drawn and it suddenly became a black pupil: it expanded to acquire "volume" along with the circle which began a ball of raging flames: the final result was an eyeball made of flames with a black lifeless pupil which seemed to be looking around.
"W-what's that?" The four teens gasped.
"The… Eye of Mordor…! From the Lord of the Rings trilogy…! I can't be mistaken…!" Mr. Denpa muttered.
"Correct." Yuuichirou replied.
A distorted chuckle echoed out of nowhere as the eyeball suddenly grew in size until it was about a meter tall: the front of it vanished to reveal some kind of data tunnel forming inside of it: a white light began to emanate from it until it expanded into a bright flash which froze the imagery and the clock on the SE corner of the screen stopped as well: when the flash died down and the clock began ticking again Proto wasn't there anymore and the "eyeball" was gone too.
"By all the…!" Mr. Denpa cursed.
"See? And there's another thing. Serenade met this thing in the "Secret Area" where he lives and was frozen for almost two minutes. When he regained control he found out that roughly 90% of his data had been copied." Yuuichirou added.
"Why stop at 90% and not do a 100% while you're at it?" Netto asked as he broke the silence.
"The personality files…!" Saito gasped.
"Bingo."
"This guy wants to recreate a heartless Serenade which can destroy that "Guardian Program" and resurrect Proto, then!" Delta realized.
"Could this be the same guy, that "Sigaano Nogaano" guy?" Hiro suddenly asked.
"It is. I got an email with that crappy Paint-made signature. I tried to trace it down and I got Meijin's old email account which he'd abandoned 3 years ago. By the way… I got a mail from Enzan – kun apologizing over "things I dragged Hikari Jr. into at Ms. Lucy's place" yet I don't remember having heard about that… I tried to check with him but he'll be out the whole day in a general meeting." Yuuichirou brought up.
"Ms. Lucy's place? But I haven't seen Enzan in person ever since… What, April? He's always fortified there, on IPC…" Netto frowned.
"And I don't recall them doing anything together, either. Enzan is still somewhat self-centered and keeps on trying to play the cool guy in control of all." Saito sounded puzzled.
"I think it must be an attempt to bring up mistrust between us, Hikari – hakase, sir."
"Ah! Then I'll delete it. Be careful, everyone!"
"Okay, Papa!"
"Roger!"
17:39 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Heh, heh, heh. Home, sweet home~! Or so would E. T. say instead of that silly motto? Heh, heh, heh."
A man dressed in blue mechanic's overalls including a cap walked into a dusty and abandoned-looking room having a wooden desk, an electronic blackboard and some abandoned devices.
He carried a mask for the cold and the cap hid his sight so it was hard to tell his age.
"Have my beloved guests been behaving?" He called out.
"Ho, ho, ho… I've been training hard!"
"De a~ru… The crew completed a drill…"
"PIKIRIIRU!"
"Fu – ru – ru! We know ya trained hard, too!"
"Hum! I will punish any evil-doers!"
"That sounds good enough. Blast Man! Dive Man! Element Man! Circus Man! Judge Man! You guys will be charged with some missions later on... I have some little businesses to tend to but you can't exit this place yet. And I've set up several mechanisms to prevent that, just that ya know..."
"Roger, Sigaano – sama!"
The man seemed to form a smile under the mask for the cold and then looked at his gloved hands before chuckling.
"Too bad, aibou. I am fortunate in life. I can now switch between two scenarios at will yet I'll wrap this one up before I make my presence fully known in the "alternate" scenario… The Network has to be trembling by now… Let it shake and rumble 'till it demands more bourbon on the rocks… Heh, heh, heh. Yet… Some military gentlemen are about to come up with an interesting showcase. Let them jump into the stage…"
He laughed aloud in a victorious tone of voice…