Here it is! I'll come back tomorrow to finish checking it for grammar mistakes but right now it's freaking late so I must sleep. See ya!
Edit: Okay, I think I corrected my mistakes (well, the only one I saw) but because I don't see them doesn't mean they're not there ^^"
9.
Through small hints
The sun was shining high in the sky, its warmth bathing the blooming nature. March was back, and with it spring and sunlight. If it wasn't for the silent threat of the mavericks, everything would have been perfect. Indeed, things had been calm. Too calm. Then again, the mavericks never had truly been the kind to attack repeatedly. Most of time, the insane infected would cause problems while the others would go who knew where—and no one truly wanted to know. There had been some rare attacks in the real world after those to test the materialization program, but they had been calculated: one to get rid of Netto and Rockman which was officially a partial success, one aiming at Enzan and Blues which had failed, another to prove Rockman's deletion, and that was it for Densan's area. Of course, attacks had also been reported in other parts of the world, a lot of them aiming at the crossfusion members, or massacres to scare the crowds, but what was strange was that Lumine hadn't given a sign of life since the last one. It wasn't indicating any peaceful end to this situation, but all leads had been nothing more than dead ends. The only way to get more information would have been another attack, but no one would ever wish for one.
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So far, they knew the usurper had been created from Axl's ultimate program and had been made to be perfectly compatible with the materialization program, so he could stay almost a whole hour in the real world without the need of a dimensional area. They didn't know if he could copy more than one navi, or if he could copy a human without having access to their crossfused form. Moreover, the identical DNA of the twins added to the mystery, since the maverick could have thought having copied Netto's when he could have also had access to Saito's DNA. However, a part from Meijin and professor Hikari, no one knew about this not-so-little detail. Nevertheless, there was another risk linked to this: if he had truly been able to copy DNA, and then adapted his frame to look like Netto as he was then, nothing would keep him from disguising as Saito. Then again, the netpolice didn't know yet about the existence of his elder son, and professor Hikari still hesitated to tell them.
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The scientist snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the door open, letting an apparently animated conversation between his sons reach his ears. He smiled, looking at the USB in his hand. She would be perfect, he was sure of it. And it would be a relief to finally have her watching his son—his sons—when he wouldn't be there. Indeed, now that his body was strong enough to let him hang around without being instantly tired, Saito had let his curiosity get the best of him more than once. Of course, he was still far more careful than Netto had ever been, but also far more vulnerable. Yuuichiro would have had no problems with his elder exploring the cyberworld: as a navi, he had everything he needed to get out of trouble if necessary. However, now that he had brought him back to this world, Yuuichiro couldn't help but being worried about the ability to get in trouble Saito shared with his brother. The fact the child had insisted he would be fine without a navi didn't help, although he could perfectly understand it. He had been the navi for years, so switching the role to being the operator might have felt a little out of place. Haruka and he had gotten him a PET almost immediately after he had decided to go outside alone, so they could at least call him and see where he was, but it wasn't in Yuuichiro's plans to have his barely back in the real world son wandering naviless. Then again, he should have had another year to finish her if it wasn't for what had happened, so the twins had already been reunited for more than two months. He saw Netto's head emerging from the entrance, apparently hesitating to join his father in the living room. His son then settled for going upstairs, waving him a hello before taking his brother with him.
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The two immediately went to Netto's room, locking the door behind them so no one would enter while they were talking about their current problem. Of course, both disagreed on what should be done, otherwise they wouldn't have to decide once at home. Then again, they had reasons to disagree. Sitting on his chair, Netto resumed their conversation by bringing up the very point on which they simply didn't know what to do: should they ask their father before telling their friends about Saito being Rockman? Or rather, should they tell him they would reveal the truth to them at some point, for they knew they would. Actually, Roll already knew, since Saito had admitted he had told her months ago, but neither Netto nor Axl had been really surprised. Both had already guessed the pink navi knew, since she had been so careful with not asking any question or saying anything which could have put them in trouble. However, neither Meiru or Dekao had shown any sign of suspecting anything. Then again, who would? There was also the question of Enzan and Blues, who would understand a part if they saw Saito. After all, they couldn't keep on avoiding them forever. For the last ones, they knew their father wouldn't be reluctant to let them know, since they weren't exactly left with another choice. However, even if they both wanted him to know what they were up to, they couldn't help but worry he would try to dissuade them from talking to Meiru and Dekao. Netto sighed as their debate was leading to nowhere once again. Of course, he didn't want to push Saito either, but the hesitation of his brother was getting on his nerves. When he was sure they shouldn't say a word about it before they were done, Saito wanted to tell their father and not say anything to their friends at the same time. Netto could understand it made him nervous, since they would have to explain that he actually had died, but they had to decide something anyway. After all, Meiru already knew Rockman hadn't been deleted, and they had told Dekao, so it would only be another step.
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'Come on, Saito!' Netto leaned on the back of his chair, visibly irritated. 'Roll was okay with it!'
'Because it's Roll. And she already knew about me being Saito.'
'Just Meiru then?'
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There was a moment of silence, before Netto could hear his brother sigh out of renunciation. He smiled, fully knowing Saito was more at ease with the pink navi's operator than with the others.
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'Okay, just Meiru then.' As he saw his twin delight his small victory, Saito noticed Axl's absence. Indeed, instead of being incredibly silent as he had first though, the copynavi was simply missing. 'Netto, have you seen Axl?'
'He's not in the PET?'
'I wouldn't ask if he was.' he said, waving at the empty device on the desk on which Netto had put it for it to charge.
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The brothers exchanged a look, before going downstairs where they knew their father would be. Their intuition paid as they saw the black and red navi happily talking with his creator. As he heard them finally coming to him, Yuichiro handed them a small USB.
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'Here.'—he gave his sons a smile—'It's a small gift a little late.'
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Netto, however, was already sure of what the gift probably was, for he still recalled the last time he had received such a device with similar words written as a short letter. He smiled as he let his brother start the installation, before a new figure appeared on the screen of the previously empty PET, making him forget about their current issue. And with this figure, generic words which had been spoken thousand times with little variation.
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'Hello. My name is Cinnamon, I am your new original netnavi. Pleased to meet you.'
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oOo
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To a human, the cyberworld could seem a little… tasteless. There were no unnecessary stimulus such as birds flying in the sky, for there was no real sky either. There was no real ground, as it was always made of the same kind of data networks. The only exception to this was Netcity, where all had been created to reproduce the view of the real world, the one netnavis could only dream to be in. However, even there, such senses as smell and taste were non existent. When thinking about it, even the way navis could feel what they were touching wasn't as complex as humans'. Of course, they could say the form of an object without seeing it, or if it was rather soft, but warmth and coldness… They could only feel it if a special program said it was an effect of what touched them. Even then, was it really how it felt?
Then again, most netnavis couldn't even have thoughts like this. Even though original netnavis with advanced artificial intelligence were common among children and teenagers, many adults still used generic navis or ones with old artificial intelligence. Most of them would say there was no use for a program to be able to fake emotions, or even to contest their decisions. However, a lot simply feared to grow attached to something which was, all in all, only made of ones and zeros.
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Roll considered herself as a very human navi, as her programming allowed her an almost completely human behavior. Thanks to Meiru always making sure she had the most advanced version of her program, she could now do more than acting accorded to a given personality. Of course, it was still at the core of most of her actions, but she knew the personality which had once been programmed into her wasn't the one she had now. She had learned, evolved, and it was what made her so close to a human. However, she wasn't human. Humans could be irrational, she couldn't. Even if she could hesitate, choose what her personality wanted instead of what logic wanted in some cases, some situations had simply been programmed into her.
Originally, navis couldn't lie. Then, humans noticed it could be a necessity so they gave them the ability. However, conditions were numerous, as the lie had either to be programmed so the navi wouldn't be able to do otherwise than hiding it, or given in such a way the consequences of its revelation would always be so it would be better not saying anything. Hopefully, Rockman knew this. It was the reason he had been so meticulous when revealing who he was to his best friend, the reason which had pushed him to carefully go through the consequences of it being discovered. He had done so not because Roll would have been incapable of if, but so her program wouldn't have to do it by itself every and each time the situation would call for it. The pink navi was grateful, but it was also a burden. Moreover, there were still risks: if she had to choose between numerous lives and this secret, she knew she would have no choice but revealing it. And it scared her.
A tickling made Roll snap out of her thoughts, as she recognized the sound of the dishwasher finishing its job. It was probably late if it was the case, and a quick check to her internal clock told her it was indeed past midnight. The pink navi sighed before getting ready to go into sleep mode. If she didn't, her data would be a mess once the sun would arise, for it was the time they would be organized by her program. However, as she was about to launch the program, she detected a connection to her PET and turned around to see Rockman.
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'Hi, Roll.'
'Rock?'
'I know it's late, but…' Her friend hesitated for a second, wondering if he should go on. 'Can I talk with you a little?' As she nodded, he came closer and sat cross legged on the floor. It was an habit he had taken in the past few months in the physical world, since standing for too long used to tire his body much faster than it now did, and Roll joined him as she always did. 'How do you think Meiru would react if she learned that Saito is... me?'
'So you've finally decided to tell someone else?'
'Roll, please…'
'Well… I think she would be confused,'—she saw a glint of fear in her friend's eyes, and quickly corrected herself—'but it should be okay if you and Netto explain everything to her.'
'Everything… Everything?'
'I think it would be better. And what would you want to say to explain the fact that your body isn't a copyroid? Or why you are officially Netto's twin?'
'That's what Netto said,' he said, smiling slightly, 'you two must be right.'
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He was still scared, Roll could see it in his eyes, but she knew he would tell everything to Meiru with some help. Just as she knew he had already made his mind before coming to her, but only wanted her support. Rockman then added Netto and he still had to agree on whether they would tell their father before or after revealing the truth with a sigh, apparently not delighted at the idea of having this conversation again. To be sure her friend wouldn't delay the time he would tell her operator, Roll proposed to give her small hints. This way, it would let her guess progressively, instead of giving her all the elements to digest at the same time. It would also keep the twins from backing down, but she didn't voice this detail— Rockman didn't need to know she was doubting he wouldn't change his mind. Roll couldn't guess how long it would take, for it could have been everything from a few days to a few months, but at least it would happen.
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'There's one other thing…' Rockman looked at her with a nervous smile, as if himself didn't know how to voice what he wanted to tell her. 'Since dad brought me back too early, he had trouble to do so, but… He managed to sign me in for school. As a human.'
'School? You mean that you'll have to go?'
'Well… I mean, he wanted to give me back the life I couldn't have so…' He sighed. 'Yeah, school.'
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It was something she would have never expected, even if a part of her knew it had to happen. Somehow, she had looked past it and never even tried to imagine the consequences of this new situation. Now, the facts were eventually hitting her.
Once he also told Roll about Cinnamon, the nurse navi his father had given to him to watch him while in the physical world, the pink navi felt completely left out. Since Rockman already had to spend a lot of time as Saito, even just to take care of his body, the thought of him leaving a normal, human life felt wrong on many levels. Of course, she was happy for him since he could explore both worlds in a way she would never be able to, but it also scared her. She was only a navi, stuck in the cyberworld as long as copyroids were forbidden. He was a human, even if he had been digitized years ago. He was able to choose between both worlds, and nothing kept him from choosing the physical one, and she was afraid of losing him this way.
However, all she could do was give him support and hope for the best.
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oOo
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Through more or less obvious hints, the twins and Roll let Meiru guess part of the truth they wanted to reveal her. Of course, it was nothing more than implying things, or making sure she would overhear parts of conversation she shouldn't have otherwise heard. The pink navi found herself enjoying this game of cat and mouse—or rather, mice. However, if Meiru had no idea of what was going on yet, she wasn't oblivious to the fact hers friends were playing with her and it wasn't much to her pleasure. Little did she know she would soon be told the reason why.
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A ray of sunlight came to caress her face, awaking her slowly. She moaned, before pushing away the sheets and getting her feet on the soft carpet. The young girl rubbed her eyes as she yawned and stretched. Soon, the curtains were moved by her hands so the sun would enlighten the whole room. Meiru then smiled at the fair blue sky, already knowing it would remain this way for the next days. However, an orange strike caught her eyes and she looked down at the street to see Netto leaving his house. It was surprising, especially so early, but she decided not to think too much of it. After all, he was a netsavior and it wouldn't be the first time his help was requested at an hour he would have been sleeping otherwise. When she lost sight of her friend after he ran past what her window let her see, she turned around to unplug her now charged PET and say hello to Roll. The pink navi, however, was still in sleep mode even though it wasn't an habit for her. Meiru smiled as she took the small device with her downstairs; Roll and Rockman had probably stayed up late, talking. They tended to do this now that the blue navi spent more time at SciLab than within his own PET, since they couldn't talk as much as they were used to.
Both her parents were off to work, and without Roll's cheering company, the house felt quite empty. Grabbing a bun in the pack, she went outside. Sure, she was still in her pajamas, but the fresh air of the morning was worth it. When Roll finally awakened, her operator was quietly eating while sitting on one of the outdoor chairs. As the pink navi appeared on the table nearby, Meiru greeted her with a bright smile before the girls went on with their morning routine.
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Clipping her usual hair clip, Meiru looked at herself in the mirror. It was common to wear one's family symbol, especially in their generation where it would usually match the crest of their navi, but many adults did it too. However, she wondered if she could wear it differently… As a bracelet, maybe? Her mother wore it this way, and it was far less childish than her current hair clip. Then again, she liked putting this small accessory in her red hair as a link between her and Roll and didn't want to hide her symbol under her sleeves. Nevertheless, she wasn't wearing pink as much as she used to, and it tended to contrast with her clothes. With a sigh, she swapped her mint green sweater for a light pink jersey while Roll went through the news.
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'Apparently, the netpolice have discovered some new information which could help to find the leader of the mavericks and the missing navis.'
'Really?'—Meiru's eyebrows frowned—'Netto said nothing.'
'Well… It's written that it was confidential up until now.'
'Maybe that's why Netto left so early this morning?'
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When she heard the words of her friend, Roll's heart skipped a beat. Unless the netpolice had discovered new things during the night, it was probably a trap to lure the mavericks. If it was the case, either Netto had been called after Rockman had left to come talk with her, or her blue friend was in trouble and had called for help. Either way, it would mean nothing good.
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'Meiru, was Netto in a hurry?' she asked worryingly.
'No, I don't think. Why?'
'Rockman said he had a lead yesterday, concerning the mavericks, and I thought that maybe…'
'Don't worry Roll, they're together.' Meiru gave her navi a smile. 'They'll be okay.'
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Roll tried to be reassured by this statement, but couldn't help worrying anyway. Rockman had told her he would investigate by himself, so his father wouldn't be able to stop him as he had intended to do before. Either he had told Netto instead of leaving while he was still sleeping, or he had gone with a plan which could have undoubtedly be attributed to his brother. In both cases, Roll had a bad feeling about it.
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oOo
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In the meantime, Axl was venturing in a isolated part of the cyberworld as Rockman. It was old, probably around twenty years old. And abandoned. Indeed, its physical world counterpart was a dilapidated car factory which had been closed for more than a decade. The only life forms the place had seen ever since were squatters having illegal deletion battles between navis or rats, as could testify the surroundings. As he was complaining about how boring it was, he reached another edge of the network he was walking on.
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'Come on, Netto! There's nothing here!'
'There has to be something.' The boy sounded concerned, as if the thought of not finding anything was more stressful than actually encountering a threat.
'And what makes you so sure you'd drag me here so early?'
'You remember the last time I fought infected navis… with Rockman?' Axl could hear him whisper something to himself, but couldn't understand his words before he resumed his speech. 'Well, he followed the one which hadn't gone insane, and he lost him near here. It's the only place where it's probable he went.'
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Axl's attention was then caught by a dark spot behind one of the deactivated machines' core, which he carefully approached with the rockbuster armed.
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'Wait… I think I could've found something.'
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oOo
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The commissioner Kifune was quite surprised to see Netto report on a morning, especially since he had been given no mission. Indeed, his father had been very specific after his son was sent to the hospital: Netto and Rockman were not to be called unless it was an emergency. Now that Kifune knew of Rockman's deletion and of the navi which was replacing him, however, he would have admitted he would have done exactly the same thing if one of his children was concerned.
As he called the officer Manabe to transmit her the new information Netto had discovered, he decided to inform the young netsavior about the plan the netpolice had. Of course, since he could no longer perform crossfusion, he wasn't supposed to know about it, but it was better to make sure he would stay safe. Surprisingly enough, the young boy just nodded as he assured the commissioner he would be careful before hanging out. Kifune sighed, and leaned back in his chair: he would have expected Netto to be more of a hot head on this. However, the existence of this hub in a dilapidated factory meant nothing good, and he was relieved that the young netsavior had decided to tell him instead of sending his navi headfirst into whatever was on the other side. According to what Netto had said, it was probably one of those with which the infected who had been chosen could join the other mavericks. The commissioner would have probably send Enzan to investigate further, since Blues was the most powerful navi he had at hand, but he couldn't risk to take his best crossfusion member away before the mavericks had fallen into the trap which was waiting for them. All he could hope for was that Netto's current navi would be enough.
And, to be honest, so did Axl.
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The young copynavi nervously came out of the hub, ready to be attacked. However, there was nothing but the solitude of the undernet around him. He walked around a little, never getting too far from the hub in fear it would close and trap him there. He had lost the connection to the PET, but he had figured out investigating a little could do no harm. After all, Netto expected such thing to happen and he would understand if Axl took a few minutes to try to find useful data. Since there was nothing around, the redhead simply retrieved the cache data of the area before going back to the factory's cyberworld: he liked challenges, but he wasn't willing to get deleted either. The data had been corrupted, and it took a while for Netto and he to find the proofs it was indeed the mavericks' doing. Once they were done, they reported to the commissioner Kifune and sent him the data.
Barely a few minutes later, the PET rang as the commissioner called. Without thinking about it twice, Axl picked up and an holographic screen displayed the images caught by the webcam on the other side in front of his operator. The young copynavi could tell Netto wasn't expecting the view of the reunion room on his PET by the look in his eyes, and himself thought Kifune would be alone. The fact that Enzan and his father were among the officials present was something Netto had not accounted for, and it made his heart almost skip a beat. He gulped, trying to swallow his nervousness before explaining what Axl and he had found—obviously, it was the reason Kifune wanted to talk to them. As he talked, he saw no strange reaction from anyone in the room, and relaxed a little.
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'The data have been corrupted, so it's hard to tell what the mavericks did.'
'You and, hum… Axl, is it?' Manabe hesitated, unsure of the name of the navi currently replacing Rockman. 'You said you were sure it was their doing.'
'Yes. Axl could isolate sequences which hadn't suffered too much damages, but it's only a small part of the cache data.'
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Quietly listening while, Enzan frowned when he didn't hear any sign of Netto's usual brash attitude. The dual haired teenager glanced at professor Hikari, but the man showed no sign of concern. Even though something felt off, Enzan knew it probably meant they weren't talking to the usurper. He looked at the hologram of Blues standing near him to figure out whether his old friend and dear advisor shared the same suspicions, and he guessed he did. How he could tell when half of his navi's face was hidden by shades, some would never understand. Of course, both of them were hiding it so no one would notice. However, they were detailing professor Hikari's movements, trying to understand why he didn't seem worried by the behavior of his son.
As for the professor, he checked the time to be sure of the reason he hadn't received a call from home: barely ten o'clock. It meant Haruka was probably still at the supermarket, and his second son still asleep. Since it was their vacations, both of them tended to stay up late, whether because of each other or on their own. However, he knew them enough to be sure only one of them would have the motivation to go out so early to investigate, and he had to admit he was quite surprised of the plan he had come with. As his son stopped talking, nervously waiting in case someone would ask him more details, professor Hikari decided to talk despite the reaction Enzan and Blues would probably have when hearing his words.
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'Tell me, Saito… Has Axl even noticed it was you and not Netto?'
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There was a few seconds of silence, before the copynavi reacted.
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'Ah! Good one, Yuu! As if I'd ever—' Axl then paused, before thinking to what had just been said. 'Wait… What?!'
PS: I just noticed we are halfway through the story :)