Well, here it is: Ch. 4.
About time if you ask me.
Oh yes, and by the way, the next chapter will be written by Vyser. How's that going?
I have the blueprints all laid out in my mind.
Of course before that we still have to get through this chapter. So let's get to it!
After a final check, Dr. Hikari declared Dolph fully recovered and ready to be taken home. Chaud offered Lee and Serena a ride back to Serena's house. They both accepted. "But first," Lee added. "There's somewhere else I need to take Serena."
Serena looked at him questioningly.
"You'll see…" he told her, before they drove off.
Under Lee's direction, Chaud's driver took them into the city. Before long, they arrived in front of Higsby's chip shop. "Why are we here?" Serena asked.
"You need battlechips," Lee said simply. "Especially after what happened today."
Lee asked Chaud to wait for them while he and Serena went inside.
"Whoa…" Serena gasped at all the chips lined up on the walls. "Are there really that many different kinds of battlechips?"
"Something for everyone," Lee said as Higsby came from the back room.
"How can I help you today?" he asked.
"Well, I heard about this place from a friend and I thought I'd check it out."
"And who might be your friend?"
"Lan Hikari."
Lee was suddenly seized by the hand as Higsby began pumping it up and down enthusiastically. "You're a friend of Lan's? Well, welcome to Higsby's! I'm Higsby!"
Lee managed to get his arm away from Higsby. "I figured that," he mumbled. Serena giggled. "I just need your basic Netbattler's battlechip folder," Lee said.
"One folder coming up. It'll take a few minutes to get it ready. In the mean time, feel free to browse. Who knows?" Higsby winked at them. "You might find something else you like."
Lee nodded slowly, looking at Higsby very strangely. "Right…"
Higsby continued talking as he disappeared into the back room. "You know, you're very lucky that you showed up when you did, because I was just about ready to close up shop."
"That's great," Lee muttered, moving away to look at the shelves. Geez, this guy won't shut up once he gets going.
Meanwhile, outside, Chaud noticed some movement in an alleyway near the shop while he was waiting for Lee and Serena to come out. He could see someone talking on their PET suspiciously. After a minute, they nodded and headed toward the shop. Chaud quickly ducked out of sight as they passed him and entered the shop, just in case it was someone he didn't want to be spotted by.
Lee didn't turn around when he heard the door open. He simply glanced over his shoulder at the person who walked in. Then he turned around all the way and stared a moment. "Um, Cypher, I need a second opinion, but I think that's…"
"It is!"
"That's all I needed to know." Lee slowly turned and walked over behind the person, who was looking up and down the shelves of chips. Keeping a straight face, he stood behind them and said, "I don't think you're here for chips, young lady."
The girl turned and matched his seriousness. "No, I'm here for you."
They stood glaring at each other for a minute, then burst out laughing. "Hey, it's great to see you again, Allie!" Lee said. "You sure have changed a lot since I last saw you."
"Well so have you," said Allie. She had black hair down to her shoulders, a white shirt and shoes, and a blue vest and a long dark blue skirt.
"Your order's ready," Higsby reported. He noticed Allie. "Oh, can I help you?"
Allie shook her head. "No, I'm just here for him."
Apparently, Higsby took that the wrong way. "Oh, how nice. I wish I had a relationship like that. But, alas, she is too good for me." There was a pause. "But I'll never give up trying!" he added.
Lee clapped a hand to his forehead as Allie looked away, blushing. "No, she didn't mean it like that! She… Never mind, how much do I owe you?"
"Calculation, please, Numberman."
"6000 zenny," Numberman replied, rather quickly.
"That'll be 6000 zenny," Higsby repeated.
"I know. I just heard him say it," Lee murmured.
Serena began digging out her PET, but Lee went ahead and brought his out in front of the register. "This is on me," he said.
Serena looked as if she was going to protest, but then decided against it. "Thanks," she said.
After he transferred the appropriate amount of Net Cash to Higsby's register, Lee took the package off the counter and handed it to her. "Now I expect you to train with this, just in case anymore bad guys come after you."
Serena nodded. "I will."
Then the three of them walked outside. Chaud met them and noticed Allie. "Who's she?" he asked.
"An old friend," Lee explained. "Kind of lucky we came here today, isn't it?"
"Yea…" And a little too convenient, Chaud added mentally.
"Well, anyway, Chaud, you go ahead and take Serena home. Allie and I are gonna catch up a little. I'll meet you tomorrow back here, OK, Serena?"
"OK, see you tomorrow!"
Chaud and Serena got into his car and drove away. Lee let out a huge sigh. "Phew, I never knew babysitting could be so much work," he said.
"Babysitting, huh?" Allie teased.
"Well, not exactly babysitting. I only just met her today and I've been trying to keep her out of trouble." They began walking down the street together.
"You mean like playing bodyguard?"
Lee pulled a face at her and changed the subject. "Anyway, how's it been going with you?"
"Oh, you know. Same old same old."
"Yea, pretty much the same here." Besides the fact that I'm a Net Saver now." How's your navi?"
Allie pulled out a dark blue PET with black accents. "She's still here… I think."
The female navi on the screen put her hands on her hips. "Ha, ha."
Cypher grinned. "Nice to see ya again, Cheval."
Cheval had a black suit, light blue armor on her chest, arms and shins, as well as her left shoulder, and a bow attached to her right arm. Black hair came from the back of her blue helmet like the way a knight chess piece has it. Her symbol, a horse's head with a silver arrow in its mouth, was on the right side of her chest armor. (Cheval is the French word for horse, and it's pronounced "Shuh-vall" just in case you didn't know.)
The two continued walking down the street silently for a moment. Lee had a thought as they rounded a corner. "Hey Allie, your good with computers and stuff, right?"
Allie nodded. "One of the best, as you might remember."
"Well, I was wondering, could you run a scan on Cypher? There's something I want to check out."
Allie was puzzled at the strange request, but obliged anyway. "Sure, my place is just a few blocks down."
Cypher whispered to Lee as they followed Allie down the street. "Why didn't you just ask Dr. Hikari to run the scan?"
"Cypher, he's a professional scientist. He doesn't have time to investigate every little thing. Besides, this might just be a wild goose chase."
"Alright, if you say so… But I think investigating is what scientists do."
Upon arriving at Allie's family's apartment, Lee and Allie moved into a makeshift computer lab. "You'll have to excuse the mess," Allie apologized. "We only just got here and haven't had time to fully unpack."
Lee shifted over a few boxes and sat down on one. "Ha, you should see Mac's room," he said.
Lee jacked Cypher into the PC and Allie began typing in commands. "What exactly are we looking for?" she asked.
Lee shrugged. "Anything out of the ordinary."
"Gee, that really limits it," Cypher commented.
"You be quiet." Lee said, pointing at the screen. "Or I'll have Allie remove your voice program."
Cypher pulled a face that said, "Ooo, I'm scared," but didn't say anything else.
A couple hours later, nothing major had occurred, but Lee was still persistent. "There's gotta be something we aren't trying."
"Lee, trust me," Allie said. "If it's possible to do, we've done it. Isn't it time you got home?"
"Not until I figure this thing out." Lee stood and stretched, stiff from sitting on that box the whole time. He continued thinking as he paced what little space there was in the room. "We've looked at programming errors, data corruption, and bunches of other stuff…what else could be the cause?"
"Well, we could try scanning for specific data frequencies," Allie suggested.
"Data what-cies?" Lee and Cypher both said.
"Data frequencies," Cheval repeated. "All types of data give off a wide range of different frequencies of electromagnetic waves. Some kinds, usually specially engineered types, give off only one specific frequency though."
Allie continued working as she explained further. "Right, so what we do is find a frequency that differs from the overall frequency that Cypher's data gives off. If the data only gives off one frequency, it won't change to blend in." She continued to hit keys. After a few moments: "And… got it!"
Lee came back over toward the screen. Half the screen was the actual view of Cypher in Allie's PC's Cyberworld; the other half was a window showing an outline of Cypher. A green target hovered over a blinking gold dot in the outline's shoulder. "So how do we find out what the data is?" Lee asked.
"Like this." Allie said, tapping a few more keys. The window showing Cypher shrank and moved off to the side to make room for another window. It showed a picture of a 3-D brown wedge with a gold lightning bolt on it next to a block of text.
"Now that I recognize," Lee said, pointing to the bolt.
"Yea, it looks like my symbol." Cypher put in.
"Actually, I was gonna say it looked like the symbol on Elec type chips."
"I'd say Lee is closer," Allie said. "The text says the data is called 'Elec Chaos Data.'"
"'Elec Chaos', huh? What else does it say?"
Allie gestured to the text that was scrolling across the screen. "It gives a basic readout of what the data will do when activated in a navi."
"Like…" Lee prompted.
"It jacks up the navi's speed status way high. Also, the navi gains the ability to reflect attacks."
"Cool! I remember that happening," Lee said.
"Yea, but…" Cypher started to add.
"But whenever the navi attacks, it does damage to itself also," Allie finished.
"Oh." Lee said, a little less enthusiastically. "I remember that now, too."
"Thanks," Cypher said. "I sure do."
Allie pointed to the 3D image. "You see these little cuts in the sides of the wedge? What does that remind you of?"
Lee rubbed his chin. "I'd say a puzzle piece…" Allie nodded. Lee thought a moment. "Wait, you mean there could be more of them?"
"Most likely."
"Hey, that could be what happened to Dolph!" Cypher commented. "I'd bet my core data on it."
"I'll take that bet," Lee joked.
"Here," Allie said, starting to hit more keys. "I'll give you a way to check. I'm creating a program you can insert into Cypher that will allow him to scan for the specific frequency the Chaos Data gives off. Once it's detected, the readout for the Data will come up on your PET screen."
She hit a final key and a data disc popped out of a drive in her PC. She handed it to Lee, who slipped it into his PET. A small window opened, registering the upload. "Geez, I hate these abbreviated names. 'ChsVsn?'" Lee read off the screen.
"Chaos Vision." Cypher translated. He stared at his shoulder. "I can see the data right now." Through his visor, Cypher could see a glowing yellow wedge embedded in his right shoulder.
"And I can see it here," Lee reported, seeing the Elec Chaos readout pop up on his PET screen.
"Then we're all set," Allie said, getting up. "It was nice seeing you guys again."
"Yea, you too," Lee agreed, logging Cypher out of the PC and heading to the door behind Allie.
"Just a warning," Allie said, before she let them out. "This Chaos Data sounds rare and powerful. It might attract some unwanted and dangerous attention. So watch your back."
"Hey, it's me!" Lee said, smirking. "When have I ever let a few bad guys stop me?"
Allie just had to smile. "Alright, go on."
"See ya 'round! Why don't you meet me and Serena tomorrow at Higsby's?"
"Sorry, I've got plans." Allie watched Lee walk down the street from her window. After he was out of sight, she pulled out her PET. "Yea, I've got plans…"
Later that night, at our favorite undisclosed location…
"You what!"
The older man cringed away from his leader. "I'm sorry, Leo, sir, but the other one showed up and I couldn't handle him."
"You didn't even try!" Leo shouted at him. "I told you Ratso would lead from behind, though it might have been in good humor then, but it certainly isn't now!"
"I'm sorry, I'll do better next time."
"If there is a next time for you…" Leo thought out loud as he sat down. The other stayed where he was, not sure what to expect.
Leo's PET, red with white accents, suddenly rang. He picked it up offhandedly and listened to the report. A slow smile emerged on his face. After the person on the other end finished, he put it away. "Well, Capricorn, it seems one of our agents can do something right. I've just received a report on where both of our targets will be tomorrow morning."
"Excellent, sir. What would you like me to do?" Capricorn asked nervously.
"You? You shall do nothing." Leo pressed a button next to him and held it down. "Agent Virgo, report to central command." He let go of the button.
Soon after, another person walked in the room. "Yes?"
Leo got right into business. "Tomorrow morning both of our targets will be meeting at a local chip shop. When they arrive…" He pointed at Virgo. "…you will be ready for them. Do I make myself clear?"
"Perfectly." With that, Virgo walked out.
"Excellent." Leo sat back, relaxing. He appeared to notice Capricorn for the first time. "What're you still doing here? Get out!" Capricorn rushed out all too quickly, all too gratefully.
There it is, another good cliffy. (Just to bug you, Jabber) I just gotta say that I am so proud of myself for all the techy BS I pulled in this chapter about that whole data frequencies thing. Sounded pretty convincing didn't it?
Sure, if you say so.
Well, anyway I should probably let Vyser get back to work on Ch. 5.
Yes, I'll go do that now.
Sure. And I'll let all of you guys get to reviewing. Later days!