Chapter 29: Source
10:10 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday July the 17th…
"… Unh… Huh… Uh… Huh…?"
"Ugh… Ah… Unh… Eh…?"
Netto and Saito slowly woke up to find out that they were lying on their house's bed and futon: the blinders were just half-closed allowing for light to come in and the birds were singing.
"We're home…? We made it…?" Netto wondered.
"Yes… I'm sure of that… And I think we've slept for over 24 hours as well but it's no wonder, really…"
The door opened and both Yuuichirou and Haruka came in: they looked half-sad and half-glad.
"Papa, Mama…"
"Relax. You're home. The nightmare's over."
"Like Yuuichirou – san said… You're safe now."
"We're sorry… We fell for such a silly trap…" Netto sighed.
"I thought we were mature enough to…" Saito began.
"Don't blame yourselves. No use crying over spilled milk."
"The breakfast's waiting: my specially baked pea cake~…"
"WHOA! Cake!"
"My stomach's rumbling…! I want some…!"
"Tee, heh, heh. See, Yuuichirou – san?" She giggled.
"Man. Haruka. You know them better than I do." He admitted.
"That's because Yuuichirou – san is so absent-minded…"
"I know…"
Netto and Saito quickly stood up and raced downstairs: a whole banquet had been set on the table and both looked awed.
"Go ahead! We already had breakfast." Yuuichirou invited.
"It's all for you~…" Haruka teased.
"Yum! Itadakimasu!"
Both began to eat although Saito was more paced and calmed than Netto who seemed to be an unleashed lion: both parents sat on the sofa and glanced over there while smiling.
"Man! I'm stuffed!"
"No wonder. Go have a shower, Netto – kun."
"Huh? You're still at that spot, niisan?"
"I'm not a devour-it-all glutton."
Netto stretched and sounded satisfied while Saito was not impressed: he suggested a course of action to Netto who blinked in surprise but then grinned and headed upstairs while Saito calmly continued his meal: he spotted that Yuuichirou was doing something with the Advanced PET II in the meanwhile.
"By the way. How did they find us?"
"Well. The 3 Musketeers began to compare notes sent by Dr. Lartes, Laika – kun and Misaki – kun from the Ministry of Habitation along with Enzan – kun and Vadous – san… In the end Omega found it in a backup server and realized the original register had been erased… But they checked over 100 similar spots with the help of the local police too… Most ended up collapsing from pushing themselves and are taking this day off to rest along with yesterday…" Yuuichirou explained.
"Wow. So Omega was the one who located us… What became of the culprits, though?"
"Sigma apparently used his sword's charged up strength to send them flying 8 kilometers across the skies."
"Whoa. Sigma sure is strong…"
"They then made their way back there and by then Omega had found out something else which they'd been working on… They've begun to rebuild the giant robot and were also aiming to somehow forcibly force you to undergo "Cross Fusion" to make you become the power source for that thing since they didn't have access to the materials used to build the initial power core… But I'd rather say they were aiming to use as human shield to try to impede them from striking it down…"
"I see." He calmly replied.
"The criminal "Nebula Grey" also caused some ruckus in the Middle East by slaughtering a whole terrorist commando somewhere in northern Africa too… And he even assaulted Vadous - san's HQ Cyber World but they managed to repel the attacks… Their ID is still unknown but it'd seem Vadous – san has decided to go interrogate the villain known as Anaya Maria to figure out at least which one of the other two it is but he's already guessed he's the second…"
"Ah yeah… I think they were supposed to mirror some video game characters…"
"Well. It'd seem that if they compare them then it'd match with the second of the "Snake" trio… "Liquid Snake"… A very intelligent man and competent fighter… The third one, "Solidus Snake", was a different tale because he even got to be the President of Ameroupe before he instigated a campaign against some mysterious organization… But he seemed to have very different aims altogether… So maybe "Admin 3" is going to be the type to look on from the background…"
"Hum. Well. I finished too so I'll go have a shower as well. Then I'll come cleanse all of this up…"
"Alright, dear."
Saito made it upstairs and found that Netto had arranged his bed back: the bathroom door was closed so he shrugged and crouched to begin fixing his bed: he didn't notice someone creeping from behind.
"Boo."
"YIKES!"
"Heh, heh, heh!"
"JEEZ! Netto – kun!"
Netto, having already changed into his usual clothes, was grinning at him while Saito looked both ashamed and annoyed.
"Oh! What a face!" He laughed.
"Jeez. Behave already!"
"Heh, heh, heh! When I show Blues…"
"Netto – kun! Behave, I told you!" Saito protested.
Netto grinned and ran out while Saito fumed and began to fix his bed: he then opened the cupboard and picked a pair of boxers and of socks before heading into the bathroom: he locked the door from the inside and took out his pajamas and another pair of boxers before stepping into the shower: he turned it on and soon steam built up.
"Ah… I missed this."
He put shampoo on his hair and washed it before he applied body lotion and distractedly glanced at the rope imprints left on his flesh as well as the imprints of the gear.
"Bah. They'll eventually fade away."
He finished showering so he put on the boxers and socks before combing his hair: satisfied, he came out and put on his shorts, shirt and blue vest to finish dressing up: he folded the pajamas and placed them under his futon pillow: he stood up and stretched.
"Well! Guess we should be going to see the others and tell them we're alright… Let's get on the move."
Those two failed, anyway. And they won't be able to come up with anything smarter anytime soon!
10:55 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Man."
"You're still like that?"
"We had a perfect chance to carry out the project…"
"The robot's rebuilding ain't finished yet, you know."
"I know that but still…"
Forte was lazily laying face-up on the sofa while looking disappointed while Shirakami wasn't impressed and he read the daily newspapers: he looked calm and like he didn't care.
"How can ya be so calm and collected, anyway?"
"Guess Search Man passed that into me." He shrugged.
"Jeez. That ain't amusing. We're supposed to look evil."
"I don't go by decades-old clichés, Forte. And remember that I'm not a replacement for Saito. Don't try to fuck me."
"Of course not! I'm mature enough to respect our deal."
"Fine. But he who warns a traitor is not so you've been warned. The robot's rebuilding is about 90% completed but I guess we'll need the rest of this week to finish it up." Shirakami reminded him.
"Jeez! I want something interesting to happen."
"Such as?"
"Never mind. I was rambling aloud. Man. I now feel like a guy on his 20s who doesn't know what to look forward to or what to expect from life to begin with… How the mighty have fallen!" He groaned.
"Guess so."
"Shit. I need some stimulation. I'm going to re-watch the recordings and maybe that'll improve my mood…!"
"Alright. Go ahead, big guy."
"Sure, sure…"
Forte sluggishly stood up and walked out of the room while Shirakami began to play the Sudoku game the newspapers included: a beep began to ring out and he looked up, surprised.
"The phone..? Crap. Let's hope it's a mistaken number or else let's try to make them think they've dialed the wrong number and don't pick up if they call again…" He muttered.
He headed to the office-like room having the computer and picked a wireless phone to then press the "CALL REPLY" button.
"Hello?" Shirakami asked.
"Tell me, young man… Is it really you who want to inflict harm to others or is something influencing you?" Someone asked.
"Huh? Wrong number, mister."
"No, no. Don't be so quick, Shirakami – kun."
"Huh? How do ya know who I am? You're not "Nebula Grey", obviously enough, but you're the first one to ever call me like that…"
"K. S."
"K. S.? What's this about, whoever you are?"
"I'm trying to confirm a little theory of mine… I believe that it can explain the source of your "moods"… Yes. There's a reason to them and I think it isn't something you developed on your own… You've mentioned the other Admin right now, right? Number 2…"
"Wait a min! So you're the Number 3 Admin, then?"
"Correct. I've been monitoring both you and Admin 2… Back in March I heard about the whole "Crisis" tale but I was overseas so I missed pretty much the whole of it or else I would've been able to locate Forte easily enough to relay that information… I believe Forte is the source…"
"The source of what…?" Shirakami frowned.
"Well. The source of your own behavior…"
"I'd already figured that out."
"Maybe I should say that Forte wasn't like that at the start but that he ended up being influenced by an encounter with Admin 2 sometime in late January?" The man asked instead.
"B-but… By then the guy hadn't stolen the "Wily Program" off the "Reverse Cyber World", right?" Shirakami argued.
"Correct. But maybe Admin 2 somehow managed to implant the seeds of his current behavior into him to try to create an heir who would continue his work if he was captured or killed… And Forte passed that into you, hence your "sadist" behavior… But those are slight programs Admin 2 implanted into Forte and which then got passed into you… They alter your thoughts and distort them… To make you enjoy inflicting pain and humiliation into them… But I don't believe you, who aren't even 13 years old, can develop such a behavior on your own… Even if you're Rock Man's "reverse side"… It doesn't fit with me. And by looking around I dug up this data which seems to confirm my theory…"
"W-what! Then that guy has been using us to continue the work Anaya Maria began for him? He wanted us to be "hated foes" to everyone's eyes and such makes us deepen into our lust…?" He gasped.
"Exactly. That's what's going on. You must realize it or else that lust will only lead you to further danger… Into a point of no return… A place which obscures anyone's minds and where lust dominates your will along with the desire to rule over others… And I'm not trying to sound dramatic: that's what it is… What the "Secret Empire" was and is… Even without unity and even with internal strife… That place won't change. You MUSTN'T EVER come close to it. You've got one foot there and another in the surface but if you're not careful… You'll sink there… And won't rise twice: sinking even further…"
"A-ah… I… understand…" He was pale by now.
"Admin 2 is heartless villain. He will stop at nothing to destroy the future generations of the world. He will try to turn you into replicas of him just to laugh at us and say "I've got an heir and you've got nothing"… Do you get my point, Shirakami – kun?"
"Damn it. I sure do. I can totally picture that."
"So stay away from the "Secret Empire" and began to question yourself: try to scan your bodies for any program which has a tint of "evil" to it similar to a "Dark Chip"…"
"A-alright."
"And I don't mind your little "project" but it'll surely won't last 6 hours if I know Cousin Vadous well enough. When he gets annoyed then it's better to run for the shelter." The man warned.
"Y-yeah… OK…"
"Good. Maybe we'll speak again. If not… Remember my words. And think about them… Maybe one day you could try to start anew… Maybe in the future… It's all up to you. Goodbye."
"G-goodbye."
Shirakami replaced the receiver and looked at his hands: he seemed to start thinking right there because he didn't move at all: Forte came in from another room and looked surprised at seeing him immobile like that so he tried to wave a hand in front of him.
"Hullo~? Anyone home~? Shirakami~?"
"Huh! Ah! Huh… My bad. I began to slip away."
"Was it me or the phone rang?"
"It rang. And it turns out "K. S." or "Admin 3" was the caller… Say, Forte, can you remember any encounter with anything unusual back in January which you feel like it altered your thoughts?"
"Well… Now that you mention it… I was resting in a van I'd picked and I vaguely remember some weird dream…"
"What was that dream about?"
"Hum… It's very blurry… Some kind of figure looming over my Navi body and making a Darth Vader – like SFX… I thought I was overreacting because I'd recently tried to watch The Empire Strikes Back and got engrossed with it so I thought I was dreaming about being in the movie or something like that… By the time I woke up there was nothing weird to be seen but over the following days… I began to picture Hikari and Rock Man more and more… I began to imagine them naked… And then submitted to my control… I formed a cock of my own too and that's when I began to set the foundations for what I would do in March… I never linked both of those together until you asked me… Wait… Are you trying to tell me that…?" He began to recall before he seemingly spotted the connection.
"Yeah. That "figure" was the "Nebula Grey" freak who wanted to make of you his insurance, his heir, in case he was captured or killed… He used his Navi to inflict that into you… Maybe his Navi is a shell with no personality and serves as an extension of his power into the Cyber World… Not unlike how Laser Man was an extension of Regal into the Cyber World although he knew he was someone apart from Regal… You know: their voice tone was the very same and such… And I think that Regal sometimes used Laser Man as a walking speaker too…"
"Yikes. Then you mean that I've done insofar was because that "Nebula Grey" freak manipulated me in an off-handedly manner to make sure I'd end up becoming as evil as the freak?" He gasped.
"Sure as Hell. We gotta scan our bodies and stay MILES away from the "Secret Empire" remains or else we'll end up dragged in and we won't be able to escape, sinking into our lust…"
"Oh man. G-gotcha… I'll tune in the scan machine… What did he say about our project, though? How long would it last?"
"He says less than 6 hours. When that Vadous guy gets pissed off then you'd be better off running to the shelter."
"Oh man. Well. Guess we'll pull it and see what happens." Forte sighed and rolled his eyes.
"He suggested that maybe going away for some time, maybe for a year or such, could make us cool it off along with the other guys and maybe we could try a different approach…" Shirakami added.
"Well… That's not crazy… Say… How did he figure out about where we were and the phone number? He got the information from the Net Police by hacking their files?" He wondered.
"Maybe. I dunno."
"Alright…"
Forte walked out while Shirakami sat on the sofa and sighed while hanging his head down: he seemed to be concerned.
What if… What if, in the end, what both of us are looking for is but recognition and a "bond"…? People seek "bonds"… What makes Netto – kun and Saito strong is their "bond"…
"Alright. I'm tuning the scanner. I'll go first and then we can try to find where those files are at…"
"Look for anything which looks remotely like a "Dark Chip" or a "Dark Aura"… Something "evil" different from them but, at the same time, similar…" Shirakami instructed.
"Roger. By the way…"
"Yeah? Did you figure out something?"
"Admiral Roger is fond of the Jolly Roger Cocktail."
"What the hell is that supposed to be…?" Shirakami asked with annoyance he didn't bother to conceal.
"My new supreme and invincible motto~…! It'll become a viral phenomenon over the Cyber World and everyone will sing it! Yay! Check it out! Heh, heh, heh, heh! I'm so clever, really~… Right, Shira – chan?"
"Oh heck. He got cocky now? Better than that annoyed, guess…"
"Shira – chan is going to dance~! Heh, heh, heh!"
