ProtoMan leaves Mimic to her bath, and meets Arcadia in Chaud's - Mimic's - computer. He stands before an access point leading into a completely new network they are mere moments from exploring.

Arcadia tilts his head inquisitively as ProtoMan approaches.

"She is relaxing, for once," ProtoMan says to him. He lets out an amused huff. "Apparently she has a thing for bubble baths. When I left, she was trying to see if Chaud could mess with the bubbles in her reflection."

Arcadia blinks. "Huh," he says thoughtfully. "I've always wondered how much Chaud can interact with, being a reflection and all . . ."

"We will need to ask Mimic when we return," ProtoMan decides.

Arcadia nods, and glances at the access point. "Should . . . Do you think we should wait, after all?" he asks, suddenly looking guilty. "I mean, it'd be more fun if we all explored together . . ."

"Think of it this way," ProtoMan offers. "If we explore first, we can show Mimic around later."

Arcadia perks up at that. "Y-yeah!" he agrees, bouncing on his talons. "And if we find any places Mimic might like, we can go there right away! Right?"

"That's right," ProtoMan agrees. "So, on that note. Shall we?"

Arcadia nods enthusiastically, and together they enter the access point leading into the brand-new Internet City.

It is massive.

That is ProtoMan's first impression of Internet City - and the sheer awe he feels when he first sets foot in the city, of course. There are Navis everywhere, programs wandering around between them, and streets and walkways and teleport points everywhere. Buildings are clustered together neatly, much neater than they would have been if this city had been in the real world rather than the cyberworld.

It is also loud, but that is to be expected. It is the first city of its kind, after all.

Others will follow, he knows. The Japanese site is simply the first to go online, but he knows the Netopian Internet City is well on its way to being completed.

Beside him, Arcadia is almost vibrating on the spot.

"Wow," he says, voice hushed as he looks in every direction he physically can - even down, because their access point has put them onto a transparent walkway.

"'Wow' indeed," ProtoMan agrees, taking note of the advertisements floating past in the air. Everything about this place is impressive - and he has only just gotten here.

If their first impression of Internet City is this, then it can only get better from here.

Arcadia is already fidgeting, wanting to explore, and ProtoMan feels the same urge. So they do - and it is not long before they realise that it is extremely unlikely they will be able to explore the entire city in just one visit. Mimic will get to explore some of it with them, it seems.

They find a teleport point that takes them down to street level, below the transparent walkways. From there, they discover an information stand with a NetNavi handing out maps of the city. ProtoMan takes two - one for himself, and the other for Arcadia in case he ever comes here on his own, though ProtoMan is uncertain if he will.

Using the map, they find their way around much easier. There are shops wherever they look, even cybercafes - ProtoMan was unaware that NetNavis could even eat, but apparently there are cyberfoods and cyberdrinks they can consume. He does not know if it tastes anything like real world food or drink, but Arcadia enjoys it, and he decides the taste is good as well. Cyberworld versions of companies in the real world also exist here, with NetNavis in place of the humans of course. He knew this was a feature of the city already, because IPC has its own Internet City branch, but it has yet to go online due to still being under construction.

"ProtoMan!" Arcadia exclaims excitedly, when they are investigating a street that is narrower but still bustling with Navis. "ProtoMan, look, look!"

ProtoMan follows Arcadia's pointing finger, and tilts his head.

"A toy shop!" Arcadia is bouncing up and down, his wings rustling and giving him a slight boost out of sheer excitement. "I didn't know they- they had a toy shop! Do you- do you think m-maybe-"

He is so excited he cannot get the words out. But ProtoMan can guess what he wants.

"We can have a look inside, if you want," he offers, and Arcadia's head practically blurs as he nods rapidly.

There are a few Navis inside the shop when they go inside, and their heads turn curiously when Arcadia gets overexcited and lets out a high-pitched squeal. ProtoMan is on alert immediately, ready to defend his friend if any of them protest, but the Navis only look amused and go back to their business.

Well. Okay then.

"Look!" Arcadia tugs on his arm. "Look-look-look! They have those- those balls! Like the one we have!"

He allows Arcadia to drag him over a large display full of toy balls of various sizes. ProtoMan cannot keep the smile off his face as he watches Arcadia rummage through the display and eventually pull out a ball of similar size to the one he spoke of.

"Um," Arcadia says, suddenly looking hesitant. "I don't have- I mean, could . . . I-I was thinking, if we had this one, I could go and give the restaurant that ball back, because I . . . I think I stole it, by accident of course! B-but I liked playing with it, a-and you, and . . . well . . . I don't have any zenny, s-so . . ."

"Arcadia," ProtoMan says, with a quiet laugh, "I do not mind. I know Mimic will not either. And, besides, I am not sure the restaurant even noticed you took the ball."

"Well, yeah, but . . . I still kinda feel guilty about it . . ."

"Alright then," ProtoMan agrees, still highly amused. "We will get this one, and then give back the other one. I know the Do-re-mi restaurant already had its own network for NetNavis, so it should have its own version in Internet City. We can hand the ball to the Navis there."

"Okay!" Arcadia agrees, with another rapid nod.

The NetNavi working on the counter gives them a cheerful smile when they come over, and he scans the ball for them - and then pauses, looking at them.

ProtoMan does not even have time to feel any dread before the Navi speaks.

"Did you know these ones come in packs of ten?" the Navi asks, nodding in the direction of the display. "You might like it better if you had more to play with, I think."

Arcadia's eyes light up and his wings tremble with excitement. They have been doing that all day, but now he looks like he will burst from the feeling.

"It certainly will be more interesting trying to keep ten balls off the floor rather than just one," ProtoMan remarks, and that is all the confirmation Arcadia needs to zoom off and find a pack of ten.

The Navi at the counter laughs. "Your little brother's pretty cute," he comments.

ProtoMan's systems stop working briefly.

"M-my-" he stammers. "What?"

"Oh," the Navi says, blinking, "sorry. Is he not your brother? I just assumed, since you were both together, and . . ."

"He's- he is just my friend," ProtoMan says. "But, um . . . do we really . . ."

"Yeah," the Navi says, as it it is obvious. "The way you two are acting, it's just like how some humans are with their younger siblings, you know?"

ProtoMan looks at the Navi for a moment, and then glances over his shoulder at the other Navis inside the toy shop. He wonders if everyone saw it but him - and wonders how many other Navis assumed they were brothers just from how they were acting around each other. The amused looks Arcadia is getting, followed by the glances toward ProtoMan, tells him the answer very quickly.

He feels embarrassed, but only because he had not noticed it before.

There is also another feeling, underneath the embarrassment. He is . . . pleased? Yes, that is the word. He feels pleased at the assumption, even if it is not true.

"Well, you look happy," the Navi at the counter says, seeing his expression. "Glad I could help."

If he opens his mouth, he will likely say something completely dumb, so ProtoMan wisely keeps his mouth shut and just nods. Arcadia comes back at that moment, thankfully, and ProtoMan pays for the pack of balls and they leave the toy shop.

"What's wrong?" Arcadia asks, as ProtoMan sends the pack directly to Mimic's PET so they can open it later.

"W-what?" ProtoMan looks down at him, perplexed.

"Your cheeks are red," Arcadia points out. "Are you okay? Did something happen? Did- did the shop Navi say something?"

He did. But it is not what Arcadia thinks. ProtoMan coughs, and tries to school his expression into something a little less thoroughly embarrassed.

"I'm f-fine." His voice breaks, so he tries again. "I'm fine. The Navi just . . . made an observation that . . . flustered me, is all."

"Oh." Arcadia blinks. "Um, okay? Was it bad, or . . .?"

"No, it was good," ProtoMan replies. "Just a little unexpected."

It turns out MegaMan is also exploring the city, with Roll leading him. ProtoMan and Arcadia run into them in one of the larger streets, near a small cluster of cybercafes and what appears to be a simplified version of a park. He can see a few child-model Navis running around in it, and briefly wonders if Arcadia would enjoy it too.

Right. Okay, maybe he and Arcadia are like brothers. It is easier to see now that it has been pointed out for him.

"ProtoMan!" a familiar voice shouts, hailing them from across the busy street. He looks over and spots MegaMan waving at them, Roll also waving by his side. "Arcadia, hey! Over here!"

Unlike human cities, the only traffic is people, so it is easy for ProtoMan and Arcadia to duck through the crowd and get across the street. They find MegaMan and Roll quickly.

"Why don't you sit down?" MegaMan gestures to the table he and Roll sit at. They are outside a cybercafe, clearly taking a break from exploring. "You guys look like you've been walking for days."

Well, ProtoMan muses, it certainly feels like they have. Between his own curiosity and Arcadia's boundless excitement, they have explored what feels like half the city - but according to their map, it is only a small portion in reality. And they still want to explore more, so perhaps a break would be a good idea for now.

He and Arcadia grab a couple of chairs and sit at MegaMan and Roll's table gratefully. Arcadia still bounces in his seat, apparently having too much energy to be tired.

"I'm guessing you've been having fun," Roll says to Arcadia, grinning at his bright expression.

"This-place-has-a-toy-shop-it's-so-cool!" Arcadia bursts out, speaking so fast his words almost blend together.

MegaMan and Roll blink, then look to ProtoMan for an explanation.

"We came across a toy shop," he says. "And they were selling toy balls, so we bought some."

"And we're gonna give back that one I stole from the Do-re-mi restaurant," Arcadia adds, thankfully at normal speed this time.

"Wait, what?" MegaMan looks startled. "You stole a toy ball from- when did that happen?"

"I was holding it when the viruses attacked," Arcadia says awkwardly, clawed fingers twitching, "and I forgot about it until afterwards. But by then, we'd already left, so I just put in Chaud's PET . . ."

"Oooh." MegaMan's expression clears. He laughs. "I don't think they'll mind, I mean, we did kinda save the restaurant from being overrun by viruses. Maybe they'll let you keep it as a reward or something!"

That is almost exactly what ProtoMan said, but he did not say anything about a reward. Nor did he think about how the restaurant would see the virus attack. The viruses, he knows, had been targeting himself and MegaMan - so his only thought had been to stop the attack from destroying the restaurant's network by leading the viruses away from it.

"I still wanna give it back," Arcadia says, shaking his head. "It wouldn't feel right, after I took it like that." ProtoMan gives him a half-smile and pats his head unthinkingly.

"You guys are so adorable!" Roll coos.

ProtoMan freezes, and then groans, leaning forward to bury his head in his arms. He hears MegaMan and Roll make confused sounds at his actions.

"A-are you okay?" MegaMan asks tentatively.

"I have been embarrassed far too much today," he mutters.

"Um. Alright?"

"He was kind of like this when we came out of the toy shop, earlier," Arcadia tells them. "He wouldn't say why, though. Just that the shop Navi said something to him."

"I bet the shop Navi said you two were cute or something," Roll giggles.

"Someone delete me," ProtoMan begs, lifting his head so he can look pleadingly at his friends.

All they do is laugh at him, the traitors.

"See if I ever save you again," ProtoMan grumbles. That only makes them laugh harder.

But their good cheer is infectious, and ProtoMan soon finds himself smiling along as well.

After running into MegaMan and Roll, they decide to explore the city together. With four of them, it is a little more chaotic, and Arcadia still manages to zoom around and investigate anything that takes his interest, but this time he has three Navis to drag rather than just one. Not that they mind - ProtoMan has never seen him this happy before, and he knows MegaMan and Roll have not either, so they are content to let him drag them in every direction.

"I think this is good for him," MegaMan says, as they trail behind Arcadia, who is currently tugging Roll toward what seems to be a marketplace.

"Being here?" ProtoMan guesses. MegaMan nods. "Yes, it is. Honestly, I was worried he would be too nervous to want to explore the city, but . . ."

"Obviously that's not happened." MegaMan glances ahead of them, at Arcadia. He is listening to a stall Navi with wide, curious eyes, as the Navi explains what he is selling. "He's always really nervous, but if he gets a chance to be happy - and I mean really happy, like he is now - maybe he can start to recover from . . . whatever it is that happened."

ProtoMan looks at him.

"I know his operator disconnected him," MegaMan sighs. "But, beyond that? You guys never said anything. And, I'm not gonna push. Not after what Lan promised Chaud. I know you three don't really deal with prying questions too well. But I can kind of guess - that Amano girl wasn't exactly the nicest operator, was she?"

That is putting it lightly. But ProtoMan refrains from speaking, as MegaMan is clearly not finished.

"And you and Chaud took him in, and you're trying to help him," MegaMan says. He gives ProtoMan a sad smile. "Even if you seem to have your own problems - which I won't ask about, don't worry. But, it's nice, seeing people helping each other like this."

"We try," ProtoMan says. "That is all we can do, I believe. Just . . . try."

He tries for Arcadia. He tries for Mimic, and for Chaud - but it is harder for them, because they are in the real world, whereas he is stuck in the cyberworld, unable to do anything more than give them comforting words. He wishes he could give Mimic a hug, like he can with Arcadia, and he does not recall a single day in the last several years that he has not wished he could hold Chaud when he cried.

This group of his is . . . odd. A little broken, maybe. But he will try his best. Because, as he said, that is all he can do.

"You might need a little help sometimes, too," MegaMan tells him, voice suddenly gentle. "You know? You can't always be the rock."

ProtoMan wonders what he means by that. He opens his mouth, about to ask, but then pauses as an alert rings in his systems.

"ProtoMan?" MegaMan asks, seeing his expression change. "What's wrong?"

"There's an intruder in the mansion," Protoman says, feeling panic welling up inside him. "I have just been alerted by the house programs."

"An intruder?" MegaMan's voice sharpens. "Human or NetNavi?"

"NetNavi."

Arcadia and Roll come back over to them, looking cheerful, but they see ProtoMan and MegaMan's expressions and quickly realise something is wrong. ProtoMan is trying to get more information from the house programs, but his connection is cut off from them - but not before they send him an image of Mimic, struggling to breathe as odd gas fills the bathroom.

"My operator is in danger," ProtoMan hisses.

"Okay," MegaMan says, quickly turning to Roll, "can you get Lan and Maylu to head to the Blaze mansion? Do they know where-"

"I can lead them," Arcadia breaks in, with a glance at ProtoMan. "I think- I think ProtoMan needs to go back. R-Roll, I can help."

Roll nods, but her expression is worried as she looks at ProtoMan, and then MegaMan. "What're you gonna do?" she asks.

"I'll go with ProtoMan," MegaMan replies.

ProtoMan is hardly listening, but MegaMan thumps him on the arm and forces him to pay attention.

"Take me to your access point," MegaMan tells him.