Chapter 11: Between Life and Death
10:40 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 4th…
"… That Earth Rock Man guy was LAME!"
"Sure… Why didn't they name them "Soil Man" to begin with?"
"Dunno, Laika."
"Heh! Let them show off in vain."
"That tune sounds weird coming from ya, Saito – niisan."
"Who knows, Netto – kun?"
"Oh. I do. I know that Arcane Pigeon Man came."
"Shadow Man. Stop fooling around."
"I see no point on that, Blues."
"Join the club, Search Man."
"Hum. Mr. Vadous should be about to come… He said he'd seized some important info…"
"Where's Misaki – kun, sir?"
"I sent him with a team to have another look at the lab and see if we locate the missing "Zoanoroid"…"
"Knowing the guy he's a thousand miles from there by now…"
Netto, Saito, Enzan, Laika and Miyabi had come to a Net Police meeting in the Net Police HQ and were chatting to pass the time while Kifune rubbed his chin: Manabe asked about Misaki and Blood Shadow muttered his opinion.
"Bloody~ Shadowy~! Nam Etag is going to haunt your dreams with his Dnah Nomed and his Etag Etomer plus the Nonnca Etag!" Sigma began to mirror words.
"Jeez. Go tuna." Blood Shadow tried to shoo him away.
"Go arcane mackerel." Shadow Man chuckled.
"Please…" He found it silly.
"Shadow Man… I think your past self was better."
"Maybe you need me to invoke my past self? Listen up! "…Heh, heh, heh…! Heh, heh, heh! I've finally found you, Knight Man! No… Anti-Virus Program…!" "That guy…"… "Shadow Man!"… "Shadow Man?" "A bad Navi hired by "Gospel"!"… "I know it, Knight Man. That you yourself are the Anti-Virus Program's core…" … "Grrr!" … "My bad. But I'll have to delete you."… "Try to, if you can!"… "I won't let ya do that, Shadow Man!"… "I'll confront you two later. Hrah!"… "Netto!" … "Stay there for a while."… "How dare you attack Netto – kun!" … "Hra~h!"… "Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! Knight Man! These guys are your opponents! Inferior! Middle! Superior! Shadow ninpou: combine!"... "That's…! Knight Man!"… Well?"
"Oh come on. You had to bring up that time almost 4 years ago when you tried to delete Knight Man. And getting trapped into that spheroid thing wasn't funny: I could've run out of air!" Netto grumbled.
"Since Miyabi was so eager to know my past self…"
"I didn't mean that and you know it."
"Unless you turn more specific… "Hmpf! You're not my foe, after all. Time for deletion… What!"… "Rock Man! Heat Guts!" … "Rock Man! Use this! Royal Wrecking Heat Guts Buster!"… "Hruh! But next time things will be different!"… Had enough?"
"More than enough."
"Enough Guy came to say Enough Not Enough."
"Even I find that silly." Sigma didn't find it funny anymore.
"Join the club." Blues invited.
"I get the sarcasm, yeah, Blues."
"Really… What need was there for that?" Kifune sighed.
"You never know. Someone might reuse and old trick."
"Style Change, you mean? It got overwritten by Cross Fusion over 3 and half years ago and Soul Unison is way better: Style Change was too random and there was no way of predicting when it'd engage." Netto rolled his eyes.
"I think Rock Man didn't find it practical either." Saito muttered.
"Excuse me for the delay! I overslept!"
Vadous came into the room in a rush while carrying a printed paper on his right hand and looking out of breath: he sat on his seat and drank some of the water served in a cup: he sighed.
"I stayed up late because Omega brought me some news… But this goes first: it's a very important thing."
He placed the paper on the table and Kifune read it: he lifted his eyebrows along with Manabe before pushing it forward so that the others could read it as well.
"An email printout? "From sapphire-DP-org to jade-panther-DP-org. Subject: Grand Scheme! Text: Jade! I just had a brilliant idea. What if we took over the DNN Studios and filled all systems linked to it with "Noise" bursts to disable all devices? We could make a great show there and even if the Net Saviors come in Dr. Yoru's Navis will beat 'em. But I'm too shy to give out this idea to the other so why don't you say it was yours instead? Then it'd get approved. Of course: if you see flaws with that thing you can tell me to send it to the recycling bin. I'm waiting for your response. Sapphire Kraken… Saturday July the 26th, 2008, 22:22:22 PM (Honolulu Time)." … Oh!" Saito realized.
"I see! This mail was forged by Atomic Network to lure them into taking over the DNN Studios and causing their "sky-fall"!" Miyabi realized next while looking surprised.
"The time stamp: I find it too coincidental. I'm sure it was automatically delivered without Navi intervention and it happened to reach Jade's inbox at that moment…" Enzan muttered.
"And it precipitated everything…"
"Say! Where's Nelaus?" Netto suddenly asked.
"He volunteered to help Misaki – kun search the lab."
"Ah! Well. We should tell them this: maybe he remembers some detail about Jade's behavior which indicates when he began to prepare for the DNN Studios take-over." Saito suggested.
"It's a good point." Vadous admitted.
"Boss. Next is…" Omega whispered.
"Yes, I know. Yesterday evening, in Melbourne… Twilight was spotted."
"Melbourne? That's Australia's capital city, right?" Netto recalled.
"I once went there for some business 2 years ago…" Enzan admitted.
"The ribs were too deliciously juicy for your taste, Enzan?" Laika joked.
"Hum. And let me guess: he was in one of "those"." Miyabi guessed.
"Correct. But that's not all… Netto – kun. Do you remember about that mysterious biker who helped your friend Hikawa – kun back in the summer?" Vadous brought up.
"Ah! Yeah… Wait! He was there, in Melbourne?"
"He raided the place where Twilight was at and they had some confrontation… A corridor CCTV camera caught some of it and the rest we got from a recorder hidden in the room yet it'd seem Twilight edited it before we could find it because there are some earlier patches missing altogether… It'd seem someone named "Priest" has hired him and given him the codename "Past"… Twilight suspected that he'd gone through something similar in the past and that's why he chased those creeps: his Navi happened to be a bulky Security Navi but it'd seem it was a disguise to hide their true looks…" Vadous exposed.
"Disguised as a bulky Security Navi… Maybe they're bulky too?"
"Oh. Good point, Saito – kun. I hadn't thought of that one."
"So… What should we do regarding them?"
"Not mind them: they're helping the police so…"
"Ah! One last thing. You won't find Zoan Gate Man in the lab: Twilight hired him to be his "carrier boy" and he works alongside him yet he keeps on being a coward… I spotted him lurking by the Virus Factory remains and talking to 14 Mettools." Omega added.
"Then I should recall the investigation team."
"You should recall the non-investigation anti-team." Shadow Man joked on the spot.
"Oh. Stay quiet." Miyabi grumbled.
"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"
"Well. I'll be going: don't be surprised if Twilight starts showing up again to taunt us… We need to resume investigation on "Hell's Envoy" because they're the only solid thread we have. Good morning."
"So! Enzan. What's your diet? Pancakes and Pepsi?"
"Oh come on. It's not like I gotta eat military rations each day."
"I don't see why Laika – sama has to bring this up." Search Man muttered.
"He likes testing Enzan – sama, I think." Blues muttered.
"Mwah, hah, hah… Nazne – amas is annoyed."
"What in the… That sounds SO weird!" Enzan cursed.
"Beware! The Arcane Pancake will fly into your office through the windows and curse you to dream of pancakes!"
"Shut – up." Miyabi hissed.
"The city goes mad AGAIN?" Saito sighed.
"And here I thought it was the summer heat…" Netto rolled his eyes.
"Oh boy…" Blood Shadow sighed.
11:11 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Hikari – hakase? He's on a meeting."
"Ah. Then we'll wait here."
"No problem… I think it ends in 10 minutes… And if you see Meijin please tell him I'm looking for him. I'm Rondo."
"We understand."
"Sure thin', Odnor – onod!"
"W-what was THAT?"
"Jeez. Sigma."
Sigma pulled a joke on a Science Labs researcher once Netto and Saito asked him about Yuuichirou: Blood Shadow seemingly rolled his eyes under the shades.
"Don't mind him, sir." Saito politely told him.
"Guess he's the prankster type…"
The scientist, Rondo, headed out of the hall while they both sat on a bench nearby: Netto began to read a tankobon while Saito checked something through his PET's holographic screen.
"Ugra~h! It's a Brazilian Wandering Spider! Ru~n!"
Rondo ran out like he was going to be slaughtered alive and a giggle rang out from one of the rooms.
"Rondo! Ya fell for the oldest trick on the book: an empty box with a photo of a spider atop it!" Someone muttered aloud.
"Oson! What's this about?"
"Oh. Kanea. Did you see Rondo's face? Priceless."
"Jeez! What happened to the research on firewalls?"
"That can wait."
"It can't wait! It has to be completed by next Sunday!"
"What! Next Sunday? I thought we had until December!"
"Then you read it or heard it wrong! This ain't a playground! Get to work or go work as cleanser! Move it!"
"The staff's gotten weird too." Netto muttered.
"The October wind, I guess." Saito sighed.
"Maybe…" Blood Shadow looked defeated.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… What a club!"
"What happened with Rondo?"
"Oh! Meijin. Well, Oson here did THAT."
"A Brazilian Wandering Spider? Wait! The box it's too light: it's empty to begin with! You tricked him?"
"Sure. His face and yell were priceless, Meijin!"
"GRHXHXJ! GET BACK TO WORK!"
Meijin came out of a nearby lab while looking exasperated.
"Huh? Ah! Netto – kun and Saito – kun."
"Good morning, Meijin – san!"
"… San wa iranai… Could you give me a hand? We've got some old stuff we'd want to take to the junkman's but everyone's SO busy that they can't lend me a hand to load the truck… Ah! And Hikari – hakase wanted to do a backup of your PET software too."
"Alright. We don't mind, Meijin – san."
"It's on the garage, right?" Saito guessed.
"Yeah. Can you give me the PETs and I'll bring them to Hikari – hakase's lab?" He asked.
"OK!"
"Mwah, hah, hah… Irakih – esakah's lab…"
"Shut up already."
Meijin headed to the lab and returned soon enough: they followed him into the garage where there was a truck with some boxes pending loading: both picked one and managed to load it up: they continued like that with Meijin sometimes switching for Netto or Saito until all of the boxes had been loaded up..
"Oh! By all the… Saito – kun! I forgot the ID card to open the shutter: could you go fetch it? I think it's on the Cross Fusion lab."
"The Cross Fusion lab? OK! I'll be back on a breeze."
Saito headed out while Netto and Meijin loaded the last box: Netto blew his hands to cool them but didn't spot Meijin picking a steel rod hidden besides a box and lifting it up: he silently brought it down into Netto's head from behind and knocked him out.
"Ouwah!"
He quickly jumped off the loading area and closed the doors before climbing into the truck's cockpit and turning it on: he took out a remote from a compartment and opened the shutter: the truck rolled out and he spotted a discrete blue Honda parked nearby with two passengers onboard: the passengers looked there.
"It's Mr. Meijin taking out stuff…" The driver told the partner.
"Colonel Talos was coming to check with us, right, Mori?"
"Correct."
The truck soon became out of sight and a green Opel parked nearby: the driver stepped down and headed for the Honda.
"Comrades."
"Colonel Talos, sir!"
"You may rest."
"Roger, sir."
Colonel Talos looked as being on his late forties.
His hair was grey and parts of it fell down in the front of the face and he seemed to be missing his left eye as well.
He was dressed in a grey army uniform, although the area around the sleeves and neck was colored in a reddish patch.
He had a distinction on the right side of the uniform just underneath the right shoulder.
He sported tall black boots too.
"Anything new, Agent Karasu?"
"No, sir. We just Mr. Meijin drive a truck out."
"Do we have any news on the enemy, sir?"
"No, Agent Mori… We've yet to see their next ploy."
"… Meijin – san! Where are you? I brought the ID card! HUH? Where's the truck at? Netto – kun? Are you pulling a joke? Hello~?"
"Huh? What's going on?"
Colonel Talos ran towards the open garage to see Saito looking around, obviously confused, while carrying an ID card on his right hand: he was worried by now.
"Mr. Hikari Sr.?"
"Ah! Colonel Talos, sir… I'm looking for Meijin – san and Netto – kun: they'd finished loading the boxes and Meijin – san told me to go fetch his ID card but… The truck's gone!"
"Agents Mori and Karasu say they saw it come out."
"But then why did he ask for the ID card? He said he needed it to come out of the garage."
"By all the… The enemy!"
"No way! That was Atomic Network? They tricked us! The whole "backup" deal was a ploy to leave our PETs behind and the ID card thing… He purposely picked the Cross Fusion lab because it takes at least 10 minutes to do the round trip!" Saito realized.
"Fetch your PETs and I'll contact Mr. Sponsor! It hasn't even been 5 minutes and such a big truck can't go unnoticed for long: he must switch vehicles… We'll set up speed traps and watch secondary roads: his nanomachines' GPS must still be working because they can't have gotten into any tunnel yet!" Colonel Talos commanded.
"Roger!"
Saito ran out while Colonel Talos seemingly cursed under his breath in Russian as he drew his iPhone 3G.
"Mr. Sponsor!"
"What happened, Colonel Talos?"
"The enemy! They've got Mr. Hikari Jr.! I'll explain the deal later: we need to zero on his GPS transmitter because there aren't underground spots around here. Let's hope they don't know about it."
"I'm turning it on… What about Saito and Sigma and Blood?"
"They're alright. They're with me."
"Phew. You must tell me how they managed to pull it off despite the fail-safes… It couldn't have been a "DC" because the PETs can emit a disabling signal which works on all kinds of models."
"No. It's a truck but I suspect they'll switch vehicles around."
"Alright. They're moving at a speed matching a truck's and SSE from here, about 9 kilometers away… I'm going to figure out what's nearby that can serve as hideout. Some hut, I guess."
"Good. I'm going to pick them and we'll get on the move."
"Like we'd let them get away with it…! We'll lock them using a "Dimensional Area" and I'll send the Three Musketeers there!"
11:51 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Ugh… O~w… My head! It aches! What happened? Where am I? By all the… You're not gonna tell they kidnapped me!"
Netto slowly began to regain consciousness and felt how the back of his head ached: he tried to sit up but hit his head against a cover or something like that so he fell back into face-up pose: the space he was in was very cramped and felt both cold and metallic.
"What in the… A metallic box?"
He suddenly frowned and despite the almost inexistent lighting he managed to see that he was naked.
"Heck. These guys are perverts or what?"
He suddenly noticed some air blowing into his neck from behind and managed to extend his right hand north to touch.
"There are two holes here… Pretty deep… Air is blowing through them but I dunno what it is for… Maybe to make sure I won't run out of air…? Huh? I hear another noise… That noise…?"
He suddenly felt a hot liquid seeping out of the holes and starting to spread across the insides of the box: he gasped and began to try to pull the cover up.
"Don't kid me! You can't intend to drown me here! Oi! Open up! I demand to know what this is about!"
A slit over his eyes suddenly opened and he had to close his eyes to give them time to get used to the new lighting: he spotted a bandaged face looking towards him with holes cut to show the eyes and the mouth: they looked smug.
"You're… "Hell's Envoy"!"
"Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh… The neutrinos and positrons are gonna crawl into ya body and soon ya will be no more!" The man taunted in accented English.
"Don't screw me! Open this up!" Netto yelled back in Japanese.
"Heh, heh, heh… You die!"
The face vanished although the slit remained open: Netto began to punch at it but it didn't seem to break.
"Damn! It's not glass!"
He tried to arch his body backwards and hit the slit with his head but he got bounced off and he hit the ground with a THUD sound.
"Grah! It's too thick and hard! Damn it! The liquid's climbed about half of the volume by now… I don't have much longer! I gotta break it up somehow!"
He tried to repeatedly punch it but it did no effect: he began to sweat and get afraid as he noticed how the water kept on climbing.
"No! I'll do anything! I'll tell you anything! But I don't wanna die! Stop the water! I'll confess!" He pleaded.
No response came and the water merely kept on climbing: he arched his head up to glue it to the slit so as to try to look out but he could only make a lone light bulb hanging above him and a simplistic concrete ceiling with pillars supporting it.
"Please…! Please! Please! I don't wanna die! I'll tell you anything! The location of the Subspace HQ! The insides! The security systems! Don't you want that info? You must want it! That's why you picked me!"
No response came: his body, save for the head, arms and legs, was submerged already: he began to kick and punch and hit the cover but it barely rocked at all.
"Shit! No! No! I can't die! I won't die! You won't get away with it! You'll get the capital sentence! You'd deserve it, damn it!"
His neck was already submerged and he had little space left: he breathed in several times.
Maybe if I appear dead they'll open and then…!
The water finished climbing and he had to close his eyes: he tried to hold his breath but was unable to and the water rushed into his lungs: he immediately blacked out.
… I'm dead…? There's nothing… I float in the middle of nowhere… Voices, memories… A light…? "Netto – kun… Netto – kun…! Netto – kun! HEY! Hikari Netto!" … "Ugh! Who the heck is making up this scandal?" … "It's me!" … "Huh?"… "Here! Inside of the PET!"… "The PET, you say?" … "Good morning, Netto – kun!" … "You're…?" … "My name's Rock Man!"… "Rock Man?"… "I got programmed by your Papa. I'm your Original Battling Navi!"… "My Original Navi, you say?"… "Pleased to meet you, Netto – kun! … Netto – kun?"… "I see." … "What's wrong?" … "He promised me… "When you became a 5th grader, I'll create you an Original Navi"… But…"… "But?" … "It's different from what I'd imagined! I thought you'd be scarier and have a bigger body… I expected a strong-looking guy!"… "Eh?"… "What a disappointment!"… "N-no way…"… Oh man. I'm remembering our re-meeting, 4 years ago… 5 days after I started 5th grade… Maybe Papa actually timed it to match with the number? I wouldn't be surprised. And I had too much of an imagination back then… The events which would happen afterwards would correct me… Never judge someone by a simple dismissive look… I guess those Atomic Network guys have fallen for that same thing… Isn't that "irony"?
He suddenly tried to open his eyes and although his surroundings were blurry he could make out a distorted light.
Is that the pathway to Heaven or what? I'm remembering other things, such as… The aftermath of Pharaoh Man's defeat… Papa, Saito – niisan and I met in the Science Labs… "Netto, Saito. Now that the truth is out I can finally give you this program…"… "What's it? A new Battle Chip?"… "I don't think so, Netto – kun." … "Hah, hah. No, it isn't a Battle Chip. It's a very specific program which allows for you and Saito to "synchronize" your thoughts using a special frequency which interacts with your brain and Saito's processor… In short: you will be able to exchange thoughts!" … "W-WHOA~! And if I peek into his mind I'll know the homework's solutions, then?" … "Ah! But then… Saito could choose to deny you access, you see, Netto..." … "Netto – kun! You must solve it yourself!"… Really…
He tried to move his body but it felt lagged or like it wasn't responsive so he gave up on that.
Heh, heh, heh… But I've learnt my lesson, Saito – niisan… I didn't try to cheat in homework but Dekao… The guy won't change…
CRASH!
"COME AT FULL POWER!"
"What the fuck!"
Huh? Isn't that Sigma? Then… What's the deal? I'm alive or I'm dreaming up a rescue? Then again, can you dream when you're dead?
"HORRA~H!"
Netto managed to see how light suddenly invaded the space and two large hands brought him out of the liquid: he coughed and spat the fluid but he was too dizzy to follow on: he felt how he was deposited in cold concrete ground and he could hear voices around him which weren't too clear and movement: his sight was blurry and his body wouldn't move.
What's going on…? I'm descending into further madness…?
"Netto – kun! Netto – kun!"
Saito – niisan…? Huh… I'm hallucinating, right?
He felt something wrapping around his body but the blurry vision didn't clear and he still felt out of place.
"I'LL CRUSH EACH OF YOUR BONES!" Sigma was yelling close by.
Bones? Navis don't have bones… Right? Do you mean Skull Man? You wanna beat him in a Net Battle?
"I'LL SEND YOU BACK TO THE HELL FROM WHERE YOU CAME FROM! I PROMISE!"
Ugh… My head is spinning… I feel like I'm going to lose consciousness… But am I alive or am I dead? Am I imaging things? Then again… This cold floor feels very real… And the air as well…
"… GO TO HELL!"
"… Cool it, Sigma!"
"HOW CAN YOU STAY SO COOL, YOU?"
Is that Blood…? And if they've found my body then… It's no wonder… Is my soul seeing this somehow?
He suddenly noticed a large black blurry shape looming over him and heard a gasp.
"By all the… You're right! Oi! Hikari! Wake up!"
Huh? He doesn't sound surprised that I'm dead…? Or I'm getting things wrong.
"YOU PUNK! EXPLAIN THIS NOW OR I'M GONNA CRUSH YOU~!"
Who is he talking to? I can't remember… How I ended up here to begin with… I feel a cold blackness creeping in… I'll soon be gone? I think I can feel Saito – niisan close by… I'm sorry, Saito – niisan…
"Sigma! Stop already!"
"Yikes! Commander Omega! But…!"
"We've already figured out what's happened so drop that lowlife: nothing will save them from prision."
Omega…? What "lowlife"…? "Figured out"…? Your words feel distant and remote like you were very far away… Like an echo…
"…is he?" Saito's echoing voice asked.
He's dead, isn't he…? Yeah… I'm dead… I'm sorry…
"…recover…?"
Recover my body… I'm sorry, guys… But the blackness is here… A free fall into blackness… A never ending blackness… I'm going… Saito – niisan: you can do it… You can… beat those guys… Sayounara…
He saw blackness approaching and then it engulfed him wholly…
