Chapter 36: Smoke & Mirrors
09:52 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday July the 17th…
"… How thrilling, really…!"
"So, our fellow conspirer…? Is our deal still valid?"
"Yikes! Y-yeah, it sure is… Please don't creep in from behind just like that: it scares me, you know!"
"Heh, heh, heh… But it's fun."
Obihiro had been reading some data using his notebook computer when Netto and Rock Man suddenly sneaked on him from behind while looking amused: he gasped and turned around while looking nervous.
"But do you think you can keep Ijuuin – kun the way he is forever?"
"Don't worry! Before August is over we'll cancel that." Netto grinned back at him.
"By then there'll be no turning back: the CWC Plan will have entered full-implementation mode." Rock Man whispered.
"A-alright… But please don't do that of the other day again… If that was your idea of an initiation rite I gotta say it was too extreme…!" Obihiro pleaded in a hushed tone.
"Don't worry… That was just once in life."
"Won't happen twice…"
"Phew."
"Let's go to the meeting room, alright?" Netto grinned.
"Alright…"
"Yo! What's with the chit-chat? Discussing the upcoming stormy weather brought to you by Uncle Weather?" Oda laughed at his improvised pun as he walked in.
"No, sir."
"The Plausible Deniability Club Strikes Back With A Vengeance!" Oda laughed at his impossibly long motto.
The three of them groaned in annoyance and quickly came out of the cubicle to head for the elevators and stairs: they climbed up one floor and then reached the conference room: Enzan and Yuuichirou were already there looking at some documents: Meijin and Oda came in next and they all sat on their seats.
"Alright. Some days ago we got a glimpse of a new technology named "Cross Fusion"… It apparently works along with something named "Synchro Chip" and the "Dimensional Areas" created by those "Dimensional Converters"…" Enzan began.
"The "Synchro Chip"…" Netto muttered.
"You've heard of it?" Enzan guessed.
"Well… Yeah. Miquel showed it to me but didn't say what it did. He merely called it their "ace-in-the-hole" so…" Netto admitted.
"Well. This "Cross Fusion" procedure, according to a mail forwarded to us by Noir, allows for a Navi to come out into the real world by "borrowing" the Operator's body. The end result is a "fusion" of both of them which allows the Operator to behave like they were a Navi: they can use any Battle Chip and special ability as well. The system incorporates the possibility of using a jet-pack to fly around too." Enzan explained.
"Wow. So it's like Full Synchro but taken to the real world." Rock Man whistled in surprise.
"Yet there are several factors which must be taken into account if you want it to work. You need to have a Synchronism rate of over 90% to begin with, both Operator and Navi must work in synch, and you must be inside of a "Dimensional Area"… The "Cross Fusion" drains a lot of physical strength off the Operator so it usually sets a limit about how much effort you can do it while in that form… If you receive too many blows or the chest emblem gets damaged then it's very possible that the "Cross Fusion" will get cancelled…" Enzan detailed.
"So it has some weaknesses to it too…"
"Everything has a weakness somewhere."
"Our insider reported how they've heard Hades mention something named Paradise… And if we go by the mythological logic that Hell is in the underground, Purgatory is in the surface and Paradise in the skies then Paradise might be a remote unmanned plane."
"Unmanned plane... I thought there already were some of those operating out there, right?" Netto seemingly recalled.
"Yeah. Well. The behavior of everyone seems to be more or less the same as always with Tozukana now demanding Sharo Army sniper rifles because she can't stand "out-dated" stuff."
"Guess so!" Rock Man shrugged.
"Sometimes Noir is absent during several days in a row before showing up again: all he admits is that he's working with the "Zero" super-computer into calibrating it and running more tests… It currently can operate to about 61% capacity… We don't know how he goes to Purgatory and comes back either. Our insider has a job to do too so we can't have 24/7 surveillance. All attempts to infiltrate flying micro-robots have failed because Hades always seems to find them out." Enzan continued with obvious frustration to his voice.
"I guess we should be glad they don't mind about the insider unlike 95% of the bands out there." Rock Man reminded them.
"Yeah. We really should." Blues admitted.
"Video Man, Burner Man and Needle Man keep on making those radio adaptations of the comic book series known as Mortadelo y Filemón by Francisco Ibañez: they're a long-running franchise which has always been extremely popular in Spain for all ages." Enzan continued reading from his notes.
"I see. They must have the type of voice which suits the radio more than the TV." Obihiro looked amused."
"And that's all for the time being…"
"Good job. But I'm afraid we'll never get to the very bottom of the whole thing…" Yuuichirou muttered.
"Maybe we need help from the Deep Department?"
"No, thank you." Yuuichirou calmly replied.
"Oi! Meijin! The video jerk is here but… There are 100 of them!"
"100 of them?" Everyone uttered in disbelief.
"Mwah, hah, hah. Try to tell us apart, Mr. Anderson!"
"What the fuck?"
"Mwah, hah, hah. Wind Cutter!"
"Muwo~h!"
"Shit! Plug In! Blues, Transmission!"
"Papa! Should I…?" Netto asked.
"No." Yuuichirou replied.
"Netto – kun. We're rusted. We gotta admit that."
"Oh, true… I sometimes forget about it…" He sighed.
"So! Blues! Can you face me and my colleagues?"
"Colleagues? Oh damn it." Blues cursed.
"Shah, shah, shah!"
"Heh, heh, heh…"
"Needle Man and Burner Man too! And there are a lot of them all over the place! I don't get it!" Punk growled.
"Use your imagination, Agent Smith!"
"These guys have seen The Matrix or what?" Meijin wondered while sounding rather skeptical.
"Oh my. Blame me." A girl's voice rang out.
"You're…!"
"Sandra. Bertha – chan's Net Navi. Surprised?"
"So you've staged for this."
Enzan and Meijin turned on their holographic screens so that everyone else could look: Punk and Blues were standing with their backs glued and surrounded by a huge amount of Video Man, Burner Man and Needle Man copies as well as Sandra who was hovering in the air while surrounded by a "Dream Aura" and having a smug smile on her face: she suddenly blew Punk a kiss and he gasped.
"Whoa. A chick blew me a kiss… Gotta be my lucky day!"
"Snap out of it! It's a trap!" Blues growled.
"Huh! R-roger!"
"Tee, heh, heh. I challenge you to figure who got the coffee cup with the red chili on it." Ikada's voice rang out.
Everyone looked at their coffee cups and quickly checked inside of them: Enzan drew a red chili from it and he didn't look amused in the very least at the joke.
"My! Enzan. Cha gotta be lucky." Ikada teased.
"This woman…!" He growled.
"But I'd rather have the cute chibi boy." She suddenly announced while sounding eager.
"M-me?" Obihiro gasped and looked terrified.
"Wanna hang out with me, cutie?"
"No, ma'am! I'm not even 13 yet!" He protested.
"A~w… You lack thrill, my cutie."
"I prefer to protect my hide, thank you very much!"
"Ever heard of something named S&M?"
"But that's…!" Oda, Meijin and Yuuichirou began.
"No, not that thing. The technology!"
"Technology? There's a technology named like that?" Meijin wondered while frowning.
"A~w… Guess none of you have military background, so… Smoke & Mirrors: that's the name! Produce optical illusions to lure enemy fire and have them exhaust their resources before sending in the real thing and delivering the coup de grace!" She giggled.
"So they're copies produced by Video Man?"
"Yessir. Using a mirror I was able to record myself…"
"Shah, shah, shah! Needle Cannon!"
"Strike Burner!"
"Wind Cutter!"
"Fuck! How do we beat all of these?" Punk cursed after receiving the blunt of all three attacks.
"Distract the videotape fucker." Blues whispered.
"Huh? Alright… Oi! You videotape fucker! Time to retire! Blu-Ray came to replace ya!" Punk taunted.
"Wha~t? That silly-named thing will replace me, you say~? That's impossible! There'll always be nostalgic fellows who will keep their VHS collections even if they can't visualize them anymore!" Video Man shot back.
"Battle Chip, Heavy Shake, Elec Sword! Double Slot In!"
"Oh damn it! That's…!"
"Double Go-Round!"
"Good! I hit the other two!"
"Shah! Damn! That hurt!"
"Fuck."
"GO~!"
"Muwa~h!"
"Oh crap!"
Blues repeated his trick from several months ago and all video copies vanished in the midst of the EM outburst: the four Golden Star Navis' jaws hit the floor and they looked like their confidence had fallen: Blues and Punk advanced towards them.
"Game Over. And there aren't any "Continues" left." Blues sarcastically told them.
"Oh yeah! I'll beat ya to a pulp!"
"We can still fight!" Burner Man growled.
"Shah, shah, shah! Bring it on!"
"Enough."
"Ma'am!"
"Oh shit."
"Oh fuck."
Slur suddenly showed up and both Blues and Punk cursed while the four Navis kneeled in front of her as she hovered above the air with her typical uninterested face.
"I did approve of this strategy and I did think it would succeed yet we let this little detail slip us by… Yet you are not to blame: you did make them see what we can do with just one Navi's power…" She calmly told them while folding her arms.
"Thank you, ma'am!"
"Retreat to the base."
"Roger, ma'am!"
The four Navis jumped into the purple "gateway" while Slur remained behind to direct a glare at both Blues and Punk: she then glanced at the holographic screens and formed a smile: she suddenly warped out of the Cyber World to show up behind Rock Man inside of his PET: Rock Man gasped and stepped back while looking scared.
"So. You are Rock Man."
"Y-y-y-yes, ma'am…" He nervously replied.
"Has Andy not talked to you about me?"
"H-he did, ma'am, yet… He did not warn me that ma'am had such an overwhelming… presence." He admitted.
"Ah. Is that so?" She formed a smug smile.
"Y-yes, ma'am, yet it cannot be blamed… It's something one wouldn't understand unless they witnessed it on person…"
"Of course. Then there is no problem. I just had the longing desire to try to comprehend what Serenade saw in you."
"I-it is natural, ma'am… Andy – kun did tell me that thou had been one of the persons Serenade trusted in, ma'am…"
"True. So. Hikari Netto. What did Serenade see in you?"
"Eh? M-me? W-well, I guess… courage?" He improvised.
"Ah. That should be it. Courage… A persistence which told you to keep on pushing on forward and not just "try" but to "do" it… So that is what he saw in you after Meijin requested of him to help you out…"
"Y-yeah, I've always thought so… Ma'am." Netto added the last word to try to sound respectful.
"Eh, ma'am… Regarding Forte…" Rock Man timidly called out.
"Oh. Him? He is alive. Yet he has fallen into never-ending slumber from which he shall not wake up. It is for the best."
"O-of course. He's too volatile."
"Wait a minute. Aren't you Hades' secretary to begin with? Your accent, height and behavior all match up as well as the voice: you just wear that black hat to make it hard for other to see your face." Enzan suddenly told her.
"Indeed."
"Why would you bother to do something so complicated?"
"Good question indeed… It could be because this provides me with a position from which to observe the Operators' behaviors… The whole acting makes me merge with the environment and nobody questions anything… So I can supervise whether the Operator influences the Navi or it is the inverse…" She calmly exposed.
"Well. That's not a bad idea…" Yuuichirou muttered.
"Do be assured… Once the moment comes all data on "Cross Fusion" shall be granted to the Science Labs for civilian research… It would not be fair for them to get some credit since they were the ones who designed the "Dimensional Converters" and "Dimensional Areas"…"
"Huh! Ah… Well…. You're welcome."
"I think there has been enough chatter. I have fulfilled that little caprice which was bugging at me so I shall depart. Farewell."
Slur became the stream of yellow energy and vanished into the purple gateway: everyone sighed in relief and some tension seemed to have been removed from the air: Obihiro directed a short glance at Netto who feigned not having noticed it.
Man. They made up a totally believable scene… Guess Slur's own presence helped them act convincingly… No wonder we'd never realized anything: with that skill to act as they're supposed to act at any given moment… It's a mask which can't be pierced through… But I can't complain, really. They send me actual data from the super-computer and are in need of my help to fix bugs and make it run smoothly…
"… Alright. That was another display of power. Guess there'll be more in the upcoming days…" Enzan broke the silence.
"Man. Now I see why they say she's powerful. Her mere presence makes you feel like you're a tiny bug compared to her mightiness. I'm sure she could stop a war simply by appearing in the midst of the battlefield as well!" Netto muttered while apparently still recovering from the fright he'd gotten.
"Sure thing…" Punk muttered.
"Would you believe someone used a Malaysian "Eau de Fleurs" to kill flies?" Someone suddenly asked.
"No." Everyone quickly replied.
"Would you believe someone used eyelash mascara thinking it was typing machine grease?" The voice asked next.
"No!"
"Would you believe the owner of both of those threw an axe at someone claiming it was an "idiot-killer"?"
"NO!"
"Heh, heh, heh. Then believe it because it actually happened. Don Ibañez says so, my fellows." The voice chuckled.
"Video Man!" Blues cursed.
"Ops. Got found out by this excellent Jedi out there. See ya around, my fellow Jedi Knight." Video Man laughed.
"Grfjtx!" Blues grumbled.
"Blues a Jedi Knight…? Come on…"Rock Man didn't like it either.
"Then you will be his Padawan, Rock Man!"
"No way." He groaned.
Video Man laughed while everyone else groaned in defeat…