This was extremely unnerving. Laying on the seat of his car while he drove. That thin green navi they referred to as Dashman staring at me from his perch. I kept my expression neutral as per usual. My gaze wandered to examine his operator and then back to Dashman. Still quietly watching with a curious expression. His eyes however lead me to believe he was judging me. My view of the outside was very limited from my position. I could just make out the tops of buildings and the glows of streetlights, maybe a few people who crossed the road close by, but nothing more. When I looked back toward Dashman it was obvious he hadn't moved in the slightest. I was beginning to get the feeling that he didn't like me for whatever reason. Neither did his operator I'm sure.

"So what's your story then?"

I wasn't sure whether or not I was relieved by the silence being broken. Maybe they'd help me get back to my own operator and be glad to be rid of me if they did dislike me as much as they seemed to. There was also the possibility that they wouldn't want me upsetting Claus and threatening me or smashing me himself, but they had a much lower percentage with what I had seen so far. This may be my only chance. They could take care of Claus and explain the situation should they decide to assist me.

"I got separated from my operator and then sold for spare change by those that found me." That got a glance from Dashman's operator. Nothing sinister. Just plain curiosity. "You shouldn't be taking this time to fix me when my own operator can easily. I'm sure this isn't cheap."

"... Separated how?"

"There was an explosion within the shopping center in the northern part of the city. He dropped me and I fell."

"Ah." His operator spoke up. "That was a big thing. I was down there for an investigation. It was no accident that was for sure. So many people died that day. I wouldn't get your hopes too high. Didn't get the list of all the casualties, but if you were that close there's a chance he may not have survived."

"I am aware. Though I would like to try and find out. Would you be willing to help me?"

"Not sure we'll be of much help. You're a long way from home now if you're from the city. We don't go down there is a pretty out of the way place."

"I see."

Oakfield. A country town or a town on the outskirts of the city. That would explain why I found nothing even remotely familiar anywhere. But at least I knew my general location. It was at least something to go on and maybe I could get him to help me a little more. He couldn't be that hard to track down after all.

"If I may be so bold could you, if you ever find yourself in the area, try and find Enzan Ijuuin?"

"I suppose I could try. And what of Claus? Does he know of this?"

"I've tried to speak to him about it. I explained that my operator may come for me at some point, but he didn't want to hear any of it."

"I would assume so."

It was quiet for a time. Just the sound of the occasional passing car and people outside. The nagging worry that Enzan had not survived came back, but I shook it off. Now was not the time to doubt and be overcome by emotion. I needed to plan. To find a way to get a message across somehow if he couldn't get to the city anytime soon. If I could get into the net and get pointed in the general direction of the city I had to come across someone who could pass something along or help guide me back. Then he could come get me.

"Well until he's found or confirmed dead, just take care of Claus and we'll go from there, alright?"

"Of course, Sir."

"Che. Lucien Keiki."

The feeling of just blinking to find that so much time was missing like I hadn't existed in that span at all was awful and was something I'd rather not feel again. It was disorienting and the sudden input of data that had just stopping flowing in suddenly coming back made me dizzy to the point I had to sit down. I had missed several hours it seemed. The man who was still poking and prodding at something I couldn't see looked bored and was loudly smacking his gum making my ears ring after the apparent silence I didn't even remember. Then he stood and set me in a glass case with multiple other navis that appeared to be well taken care of despite the clutter in the rest of the work area. Plastics, metals, chips, paint, polishes, and many other items were scattered about and lain on top of each other. The lock made a loud click as it slid into place and then he was off. It was quiet and ever so slowly my dizziness left me and I found I had a while to wait until school let out.

With a soft sight I prepared myself for the long wait. There was some light chatter between navis that couldn't see each other about their operators and how they had come to be damaged. Though boredom seemed to be driving them to converse as it would taper off for a while before someone brought up something else or asked a question. This was going to be a long few hours.