Misaki wakes up the day after the disastrous battle that led to Lan's PET getting broken. Mimic's first immediate reaction is anxiety, because Misaki had been injured pretty badly - and half of it had been her own fault, before the battle had even started. She'd literally bit a hole into his arm, and according to the doctor who stitched it up, it's going to leave a massive, ugly scar.
She didn't enjoy hearing that. She's already given herself a scar from biting her own hand, and that had been before she'd gotten sharp teeth from Cross Fusing with ProtoMan - Misaki's scar will probably be even worse, and not just because it was an actual hole.
It's a wonder he even managed to walk around with that kind of wound, but then again, he'd been out of his mind because of the Dark Chips. If he can rip a door off its hinges after being driven insane from the damn things, wandering around with a ragged hole in his arm is probably nothing.
Even so, she's still anxious about it, and feels so intensely guilty that Dr. Hikari takes her to see Misaki in the hospital. Lan's at school at the moment, otherwise he'd have come with them, though he's honestly so distracted by his worry for MegaMan that he'd almost forgotten he had to go to school and only remembered when Maylu showed up at their front door to ask if he wanted to walk with her.
Misaki's sitting up in his bed when they arrive. He's staring blankly at his hands, but when they come in, he looks up and awareness floods back into his expression.
"Dr. Hikari, Mimic," Misaki greets them.
Mimic almost wonders why he's not calling her Chaud. Then she remembers Lan telling him about her 'fake' name, and marvels at Misaki's mental awareness - he's injured, hospitalised, still recovering from the withdrawal symptoms of the Dark Chips, and yet he still remembers that he's not supposed to call her Chaud.
"Good morning," Dr. Hikari replies. "We heard you'd woken up, and Mimic wanted to see you."
"He did?" Misaki looks at her, and there's something almost sad in his gaze. "I . . . I'm sorry. I can't really imagine why you'd want to see me, after what I did to you . . ."
Mimic can guess what he's talking about. She'd tried to stop him from leaving, thinking that, if she somehow kept him away from Ms. Yuri, the battle wouldn't happen and Lan's PET wouldn't get broken - but, of course, her body worked against her yet again, because she's too small and skinny to stop a full-grown man. And not just that; Misaki's unnatural strength factored in to why she couldn't stop him.
He'd thrown her into a wall after she'd bitten him. But, of course, the fact that she bit him in the first place is why she's here.
"He wanted to apologise," Dr. Hikari explains, putting a gentle hand on Mimic's shoulder. "For biting you." He glances at the bandages wrapped around Misaki's arm, hiding the stitches keeping the hole together.
Misaki glances at the bandages as well, and then looks back at Mimic when she steps forward.
She bows to him. "I'm sorry I bit you," she says. Normally she doesn't speak above a mumble, but she makes an effort to make herself clear this time. Not everyone's used to her being so quiet, and no other human has the same sensitive hearing that she has. Plus, Misaki's injured - he deserves actual words, not a mumble.
" . . . I'm sorry I threw you at a wall," Misaki says, after a moment. Mimic straightens out of her bow and looks at him. He gives her a good-natured smile. "Besides, at least I'll get a cool scar out of this, right? Though I'm not sure how I'll explain that a twelve-year-old with absurdly sharp teeth ripped a hole in my arm . . ."
It's easy to tell he's making jokes to try and lighten the mood. And maybe to lessen her guilt a little bit as well - if it's so obvious that Dr. Hikari decided to take her to see Misaki, then it's probably obvious to Misaki himself how she's feeling.
It . . . kind of helps, though. Knowing that he's okay with her, even after she ripped his arm open. Most people probably wouldn't be able to look her in the eyes if she'd done that to them. They probably wouldn't even want her near them at all.
"How's Lan?" Misaki suddenly asks, bringing her out of her relieved thoughts.
"He's . . . okay," Dr. Hikari replies. "He wasn't badly hurt during the battle, if that's what you mean. Physically, he's fine."
"And . . . and mentally?" Misaki almost looks like he doesn't want to hear the answer, but he's asking anyway. He can barely remember what he did, so maybe he needs to know.
Dr. Hikari hesitates. "His PET was broken," he admits. "MegaMan was injured as a result, and Lan . . . he's been worried about MegaMan."
Misaki lets out a despairing sigh and buries his face in his hands. "This is my fault," he mumbles.
Dr. Hikari doesn't seem like he heard it, but Mimic heard it just fine. She knows there's nothing anyone can say to make Misaki believe it's not his fault - after all, how many times has she blamed herself for something bad that happened, regardless of what anyone else told her?
It wasn't Misaki's fault - not entirely, anyway. He'd gone along with Ms. Yuri's experiments of his own free will, but everything that happened afterwards was definitely not his fault, since he'd been taken over by the Dark Chips and was basically insane for a while. He was just so desperate to achieve his dream that he lost sight of his sense of justice, and darkness was able to take him over from there.
They say goodbye to Misaki after some slightly awkward small talk, and as she and Dr. Hikari are walking through the hallways of the hospital, she can't help but wonder if that'll happen to her at some point. Chaud had Cross Fused with Dark ProtoMan and was hospitalised as a result - will she need to do the same thing to save ProtoMan? She'd do it in a heartbeat, but if there was an easier way, one that didn't require her or Chaud to fight their own Navi, she'd rather do that.
"I think we might need to talk about your habit of biting things," Dr. Hikari suddenly says, jolting her out of her thoughts.
She stares up at him blankly for a moment.
"You seem to be biting a lot of things lately," Dr. Hikari clarifies, when she doesn't respond verbally. "Sponges, people . . . fish."
She puffs her cheeks out indignantly, and he laughs.
"Yes, Lan told me you caught a fish and tried to eat it," he says. Then he pauses, glancing around, and he leads Mimic over to the side where they won't get in anyone's way. "In all seriousness, you are biting things a lot. I'm . . . honestly a little concerned."
"Only bit two people," Mimic points out defensively. "Self-defence."
She doesn't think Amano counts. She technically didn't bite her, even though apparently she'd tried. So unless almost biting Amano is counted, Mimic has only bitten two people - Ms. Yuri and Misaki. And even if Amano does count, that was technically in self-defence as well, so the point still stands.
"I'm aware, but it's still concerning," Dr. Hikari says. "If you feel the need to bite things, we could always get you something to chew on."
Mimic perks up, and can't help grabbing his arm and bouncing up and down excitedly. "Sponges!" she exclaims, grinning.
"I'm fairly certain you'd tear them apart in moments," Dr. Hikari says, and he laughs good-naturedly when she slumps in disappointment. "How about some actual chew toys? They'd last a lot longer than some sponges."
"Chew toys . . . like f-for dogs?" Mimic blinks at him incredulously.
"I'm thinking more along the lines of cats," Dr. Hikari replies. "Considering you're . . . sort of like a cat."
She basically is a cat. Just in a human body. A cat in a human body.
That's . . . a weird thought. She's a girl in a male body, and also a cat in a human body. What is this world doing to her? She's not objecting - her cat abilities have been ridiculously useful so far - but it's a bit weird to think how much she's changed since waking up in this reality.
When she thinks of home, the first thing that comes to mind is the Hikari house. She barely even thinks about her old reality anymore.
The next morning, Lan goes to SciLab with Mimic. He's up earlier than usual, because he wants to check on MegaMan - though last time Mimic checked, MegaMan was still offline (unconscious, in human terms) and being repaired. Dr. Hikari takes them to the Navi repair lab and shows Lan the machine that's helping to rebuild the injured Navi, while Mimic, who saw this yesterday, hovers in the background and simply watches.
"We will fix him," Dr. Hikari promises, putting a hand on Lan's shoulder. "We're doing everything we can."
"Yeah," Lan mumbles, just barely sparing his dad a quick glance before turning back to the screen - back to MegaMan, who's being scanned and put back together by SciLab's repair system.
"MegaMan's repairs are going smoothly," Dr. Hikari reassures him. "And your synchro chip was completely undamaged. We just need to hurry and complete the new PET, and then you and MegaMan will be back in fighting condition in no time."
Lan glances up at him, seemingly more alert this time. Mimic's happy to see that Dr. Hikari's words are getting through to him - he looks a little better than when he'd come in, like his hope's been restored. That's great to see; Lan's one of the happiest people that Mimic knows, and it's so strange and worrying to see him down like this.
Unfortunately, no matter how much Lan might want to stay, he can't - because he needs to get to school. It's easy to tell that school is definitely not on his mind, but he goes without much of a fuss, and promises to come by afterwards so he can check on MegaMan again. He did the exact same thing yesterday, but no one's going to say he's not allowed. After all, Mimic practically camped out at SciLab when Dr. Hikari was trying to save ProtoMan, and Lan's worry for MegaMan is understandable.
Mimic stays with Dr. Hikari the entire day. She keeps an eye on MegaMan and Chaud memorises every scrap of information he hears, so she can have something to tell Lan when he comes by later - any information on the progress of MegaMan's repairs might help him feel better, even if it's just a tiny bit of progress. Something is better than nothing, after all.
It's a few hours before anything happens. But it's not anything to do with MegaMan - not yet, anyway.
Dr. Hikari suddenly gets a message on his PET - he takes it out to glance at it, then does a double take and stares at the screen like he's never seen it before.
Mimic's sitting on the surface of a nearby table - she's small enough to take up as little space as possible, so no one had complained - and she sees his odd reaction. When he doesn't say anything, she reaches forward and gently prods his shoulder, silently asking what's going on.
"I just got a message from someone called Raoul," Dr. Hikari tells her, sounding just as confused as he looks. "I . . . don't think I've ever met anyone by that name . . ."
"Lan has," Mimic says. Her interest had spiked when Raoul's name got mentioned - though she has to wonder why he's contacting Dr. Hikari.
"He has?" Dr. Hikari blinks at her.
"M-met him in Netopia," Mimic explains. "On that- that trip. From the N1. Emailed m-m-me and said he m-met- met a guy called Raoul. And Raoul he-helped during the- th-the Gospel beast thing."
Dr. Hikari's expression turns from confused to politely interested. "Oh," he says, glancing back at his PET. "Well, alright then. I'm still wondering how he got my contact details, though."
He opens up the message on his PET, and his expression clears.
"Ah," Dr. Hikari says, like he's gotten the answer to a strange riddle. "It's from Lan - he used Raoul's PET to send me a message. Apparently there was an incident at the Waterworks, but Raoul and his Navi helped to solve it quickly." Dr. Hikari smiles. "I'm glad to hear that Lan's got good friends like that."
"Waterworks?" Mimic echoes. "N'they're . . . going to HQ."
Dr. Hikari looks at her. "Yes, they are," he says, sounding a little puzzled. "Lan says he's taking Raoul to meet Commissioner Kifune. How did you know-" His eyes widen. "Did you have a dream about this?"
"Check it out yo, check it, check it out yo," Mimic sings absently. "Check it out yo, check it-"
"Chaud," Dr. Hikari calls, and she jumps. Dr. Hikari is giving her a half-amused, half-worried smile. "What was that, just now?"
"S-something I- I heard. In my dream," Mimic mumbles. She's telling half the truth, at least, because she has heard that before - just not in a dream about the future.
She'd been using her mimicry to mimic BrightMan's weird catchphrase song thing. Dr. Hikari probably thinks she's gone crazy. Well, crazier.
Honestly, she couldn't really help it. BrightMan's weird song is stupidly catchy, and every time she ever thought about that particular Darkloid, that had been one of the first things that came to mind. She used to just mutter it to herself for fun, but now, she supposes, she can just mimic BrightMan's voice properly. Still for fun, of course. Why else would she sing his weird song?
"Did you only dream about the Waterworks?" Dr. Hikari asks her.
"Um," Mimic says. "N-no. Don't- don't think so. There was . . ."
Fuck, what was it? The Darkloids had attacked some other place, too. A power plant? But that's already happened, because the two separate attacks had been simultaneous in the anime. Raoul had taken care of the Waterworks thing, and Raika had made a surprise reappearance to deal with the power plant, or whatever it had been.
There was another attack, after those. At a place that had something to do with oil. She should probably tell Dr. Hikari this, actually.
"An oil place," she says. "There's- there was this . . . a-an oil place. Like- like a factory but . . . um . . ."
"An oil refinery," Dr. Hikari guesses.
Mimic nods eagerly - she remembers now, that had been what the place was called in the anime. What else was there? BrightMan had attacked the place, along with that weird fridge-Navi called . . . ColdMan? And there were two other Darkloids who showed up near the end, and they all ganged up on SearchMan and ThunderMan. They won, of course, but only after a very difficult battle.
"Four Darkloids," Mimic says. Dr. Hikari gapes at her. "No- no dim-mensional area, though. Don't . . . think so. Just cyberworld. Happens . . . happens after Waterworks and- and power plant, I think it is? Happens after those."
Dr. Hikari frowns as he processes what she's told him. She waits patiently for him to figure out what to do - it's a massive relief to not have to worry if she should interfere or not, because even though she's still lying about how she knows, she doesn't have to hide the fact that she does know about this stuff in the first place. And that means it's not entirely up to her to decide what to do with the information she has.
"I'll send an email to the Commissioner right away," Dr. Hikari eventually says. "I'd call him and tell him, but considering Lan and Raoul might be there . . . well, Lan knows about your power, of course, but Raoul wouldn't know." He pauses for a moment. "Well, I do actually need to talk to Lan anyway, and if he's going to be at HQ, I may as well just call the Commissioner's office. I can tell him about the email, and talk to Lan at the same time. Two birds with one stone!"
Mimic claps slowly. Dr. Hikari huffs out a quick laugh.
"That sounds sarcastic, for some reason," he comments. Mimic just grins at him, and he shakes his head in amusement.
After the attempted attack on the Waterworks, Lan takes Raoul straight to HQ. He guesses that Kifune would want to talk to the guy who helped stop a Darkloid attack - and what luck that it happened to be the very same Darkloid that Raoul was looking for, apparently.
He does want to let his dad know what happened, though. Raoul's nice enough to let Lan borrow his PET - Lan just hopes that Dad doesn't get too confused about why some random guy is sending him a message. If Chaud's still with him, maybe he can explain who Raoul is; Lan's pretty sure that he told Chaud about meeting him after the N1, when he was on that trip. If Chaud still remembers, he can shed some light on the mystery message.
"Raoul," Kifune says, "thank you for your help with the Waterworks incident." He raises his hand to shake hands with Raoul, but Raoul doesn't offer his in return.
"No need to thank me," Raoul says, almost with cold politeness. "He's my enemy too."
Kifune looks a little nonplussed as he lowers his hand, but Lan's too excited to pay any attention to the mood of the room. He leans forward, getting Kifune's attention, and almost bounces with energy.
"See?" Lan exclaims excitedly. "I told you Raoul was strong, Commissioner!"
Kifune chuckles as he nods. "Indeed," he says, turning back to Raoul with a more pleasant expression. "You definitely have the power of a Net Saver, if not more."
Lan almost can't contain himself. "Yeah!" he cries. He glances up at Raoul. "Hey, Raoul, would you help us protect Japan? That's okay, isn't it, Commissioner?"
"If Raoul accepts," is Kifune's cordial reply.
Lan looks back at Raoul, but he's a little put out when he realises Raoul doesn't seem that eager. If anything, he looks wary, which is . . . definitely not what Lan had expected.
He wonders if it's because of that horrible mayor that used to be in charge of Heaven's City. Does Raoul think all authority figures are as corrupt as that guy was? Hopefully, if he spends any length of time around the Net Police of Japan, he'll see that Kifune isn't like that. Lan knows all too well - Kifune may be strict sometimes, but he's perfectly reasonable, and more than willing to listen to the people under his command.
And, Lan can't help but think, he hasn't fired Chaud yet. Chaud's . . . honestly kind of a loose cannon, even more so than Lan himself, and that's saying something. If Kifune is fine with Chaud, then he'll be totally okay with Raoul.
"I don't want to help the Net Police," Raoul says. "Or any kind of police, for that matter. I'd rather not be pushed around with orders and missions, if I can help it."
"Raoul . . ." Lan says.
Before he can even think of saying anything else, Raoul glances down at him and continues speaking.
"But Lan is my friend," he says. He gives Lan a quick grin. "I'll help you, for his sake if nothing else."
Lan grins back at him. That's great! With Raoul helping them to defend Japan, he won't have to worry so much about Nebula attacking while he and MegaMan are still out of action.
He knows Chaud is more than willing to fight - but Arcadia's mission is to protect him, and he can't do that if he's fighting some other threat. Even with the Battle Chip Gate, Chaud's still not going to be safe. And his orders are still under review; yesterday, Kifune had said that they're waiting until the new PET has been completed to issue Chaud's new orders, which makes sense, since he and Chaud are supposed to be partners. There's no point in giving Chaud new orders if he can't act on them just yet.
"I don't think this will be necessary."
Lan jumps at the new voice. He recognises it - but he can't quite place where he's heard that voice before, at least until he turns around and see who's just walked in.
"Raika!" he exclaims, grinning again. Now here's another guy he hasn't seen in a while; but why hadn't Raika told him that he was in Japan again? Sure, he doesn't have a PET right now, but it's not like there's no way to contact him. And his messages aren't being monitored like Chaud's are.
Raika spares him a quick smile - at least it seems he hasn't forgotten what happened last time he was here and is still relatively friendly, despite his less-than-savoury words of greeting.
"What do you mean by that?" Raoul asks, bringing Lan's attention back to the actual topic of conversation.
"Civilians will just get in the way," Raika replies bluntly. He walks past Raoul without even turning his head to look at him, heading straight for Kifune. "Net Saver Raika, reporting for duty. In light of recent events, I've been temporarily assigned to Japan's Net Police branch to assist in the struggle against Nebula's forces."
"We're glad to have you, Raika," Kifune says, nodding politely. "And I'm sure Mimic will be happy to hear you're back in the country, as well."
"Is he not here?" Raika asks, looking around as if he expects Chaud to pop out from underneath Kifune's desk or something.
"He's at SciLab with Dr. Hikari," Kifune explains. He looks pleased to hear that Raika is still friendly with Chaud - and Lan, too, because it's hard to miss that Raika's not as standoffish as he was the last time he was here. "If you'd like, Lan can take you there later."
"Thank you, sir," Raika says, bowing his head. "I'll visit SciLab after I've been briefed on my mission."
Raoul scoffs. "What is it with you people and missions?" he asks rhetorically. He shakes his head as if he's dealing with a hopeless cause. "You help people out of your own heart, because you want to, not because some mission tells you to. The desire to protect others makes you strong, and pushes you forward."
"I did not say that I have no desire to protect others," Raika says. His tone is perfectly steady, but Lan can almost see the tension in his body language, for all that he's wearing that big collared cloak. "I just happen to use that desire to do my duty as a Net Saver, rather than butting in where I'm not needed."
"I don't think I could get along with someone like you," Raoul comments scathingly.
"I feel the same way," Raika says coolly.
"H-hey," Lan says hesitantly, "c'mon, guys . . ."
They're interrupted by a call. Manabe, who'd been watching the conversation with a faint sense of amusement, turns away and goes to Kifune's desk to answer it.
A holographic screen appears between the five of them. Lan's surprised to see his dad on the screen - he's alone, but Chaud's gotta be somewhere around. He's probably just sitting off to the side or something.
"Dad!" Lan greets him. "What's up?"
"Lan, I need you to come to SciLab," Dad says, apparently not wanting to waste any time.
"SciLab?" Lan repeats. Panic shoots through his chest. "Did something happen to MegaMan!?"
"No, I just need your body," Dad quickly says.
"My . . . my body?" Lan can probably be forgiven for being totally confused. He honestly can't think of any reason why Dad would need his body.
"I'll explain when you get here," Dad tells him. He glances off to the side for a moment, and then the screen flips around to face Kifune. "Also, before I end this call - Commissioner, you've probably just received an email. It's important, so I'd prefer if you could read it right away."
Kifune looks absolutely mystified, but he nods anyway. "Of course," he agrees. "If you say it's important, I'll believe you."
Dad nods, and then the call ends abruptly. Lan wonders if Dad's too busy to even say goodbye, but that doesn't really matter right now. What does matter is that Dad needs him to go to SciLab, so that's his next destination.
"I'll see you later," Lan says, to both Raoul and Raika. Hopefully he will - Raoul's his friend, and Raika apparently wants to go to SciLab and say hi to Chaud. Maybe Lan can introduce Raoul to Chaud at some point, too, though he'll probably have to make sure Raika's not there at the same time.
It kinda makes him sad to see that some of his friends don't get along with each other, but maybe Raoul and Raika are just way too different to get along. Then again . . . Chaud's basically Lan's total opposite, and yet he and Lan are brothers in everything but name. But maybe it just depends on personal views or something.
While Lan's just starting to leave, Kifune heads over to his desk and sits down. Curiosity overtakes Lan for a moment and he dawdles, wanting to know what could be so important that Dad felt the need to tell Kifune he'd sent an email - even though Dad hadn't actually said the 'important email' came from him, it's pretty obvious that it did. Why couldn't Dad just tell Kifune during the call?
Kifune suddenly stiffens as he reads through the email. It doesn't take a genius to realise that whatever the email is about, it's serious - and Lan's suspicions get confirmed a moment later when Kifune looks up, glancing at Raika and then Raoul.
"We've had a tip-off that there's going to be a Darkloid attack on the cyberworld of the oil refinery," Kifune explains. "I want both of you to head out there with the Net Police officers and assist in defending it. I'll send the full details of the mission to your PETs - Raoul, if you wouldn't mind giving me your contact details . . ."
As Raoul steps up to the desk and hands over his PET, Lan can't help but wonder if he should stick around after all. This sounds serious - and really bad, too, because he knows oil is super explosive and if a Darkloid attacks the refinery, it might cause a lot of damage. There could be a huge explosion!
And yet . . . what good can he do, right now? He doesn't even have a PET. He'd probably just slow down Raoul and Raika at best.
Raika glances over his shoulder. His eyes narrow when he sees that Lan's still in the office, but he doesn't make any comments. Instead, he simply nods - a silent promise that he'll be able to handle whatever's going to happen at the oil refinery.
Slightly comforted knowing that his friend is on the case - and more than a little hopeful that Raika will work with Raoul, even if they don't like each other - Lan nods back and heads out. There really isn't anything he can do. He'll just have to trust his friends to deal with things while he's waiting for MegaMan to be repaired and for the new PET to be completed.
It's only when he's halfway to SciLab that he thinks about where that tip-off came from. Dad had sent the email, that much was obvious - and even more obvious is the conclusion that Lan can draw from just that information alone.
That tip-off came from Chaud. He must've had a dream, and he'd told Dad - who, in turn, gave Kifune a warning about the impending attack on the oil refinery. Hopefully whatever information Chaud had been able to give is useful for the attack; Lan has a feeling that Raoul and Raika will need all the help they can get.
But for now, he has to get to SciLab. He still doesn't know why Dad needs his body, but he'd said he'd explain when he got there.
Mimic stays in the observation room of the repair lab. Dr. Hikari's in the lab itself with Lan, explaining what's going to happen - basically, Lan's just going to lie in the scanning machine and allow it to scan his body, and he'll be used as a base for MegaMan's repairs. It makes sense to do that, since Lan's Cross Fused with MegaMan a lot, and their bodies are very similar; they're about the same height, as far as Mimic knows, and the same shape.
She doesn't want to interfere with the scanning. Dr. Hikari had said that it shouldn't matter if she was in there with Lan, but Mimic isn't going to take any chances, so she's going to stay in here with Dr. Hikari and the other scientists who're working to repair MegaMan, and she'll just watch.
She hears Dr. Hikari warning Lan that using a human as a base to repair as Navi has never been done before. He tells Lan to push the button beside him if he feels weird at all, but although Mimic knows it'll probably start to hurt him, Lan won't push the button. He's too determined to see MegaMan repaired - he'll do anything to help his Navi, the same way Mimic and Chaud vowed to do anything to save ProtoMan.
Dr. Hikari comes into the observation room and places Lan's synchro chip into a machine that'll scan it. Then he sits at the repair console, and the repairs begin in earnest.
As soon as Lan and MegaMan's bodies have been scanned, MegaMan's blue armour begins to materialise over Lan's bare skin. It's strange to see that without a dimensional area, and Mimic has to wonder how Dr. Hikari managed to make this work.
Maybe he's using some of the data from SciLab's dimensional area, Chaud suggests. Lan's not doing full Cross Fusion, so they wouldn't need much to make this work.
Maybe, Mimic murmurs. She could always ask Dr. Hikari later, if her curiosity is too great for her to be satisfied with Chaud's theory. For now, she's not that interested in figuring out how they managed to make this happen - she only cares about whether or not it'll work.
It will, of course. She has her knowledge of the future to reassure her of that - but everyone else is running on the hope that it might work, and that MegaMan will be repaired and Lan won't be hurt by this new method of repairing a NetNavi.
Mimic doesn't need Arcadia's Empath Program to tell her that Dr. Hikari is extremely worried about his son. She can see it for herself - the way he glances up from his screen every so often, checking on Lan and MegaMan as much as he can without hindering his work. She wants to try and comfort him, but anything she might do could distract him; and besides, if she tells him that she dreamed this would happen and it all turned out fine, who's to say she won't accidentally change the outcome? And this might be too specific of a thing to dream about, especially since she made it sound like she only dreamed about the attack on the oil refinery.
Though she's half-tempted to blurt out what she knows anyway when Lan starts to toss and turn, letting out little gasps of pain as a cracked version of MegaMan's NaviMark materialises on his chest. Dr. Hikari's concern is growing to almost tangible levels, but Lan hasn't pressed the button, so he keeps going with the repairs.
She forces herself to keep quiet, no matter how much she wants to tell Dr. Hikari that it'll be okay. That Lan will be okay, and MegaMan will be repaired.
Time barely seems to pass by in this isolated repair lab. She doesn't dare look at a clock to check the time, afraid that she'll somehow end up dragging this out if she knows what time it is. Arcadia probably doesn't have that luxury - she's pretty sure NetNavis have internal clocks, so they always know what time it is, and she hopes Arcadia isn't too affected by Lan's pain. It's nearly unbearable to watch it; she can't imagine what it'd be like if she could sense it the same way Arcadia probably can.
Finally, after what seems like an eternity, the repairs are finished. MegaMan's armour vanishes from Lan's body and he slumps on the scanner, looking visibly relieved and worn out. At least it's over - and now MegaMan is fully repaired.
A few minutes after the repairs are finished, Lan stands in front of the repair console and watches the screen flash a huge OK across MegaMan, informing them that the repairs have been completed. Lan looks so intensely relieved that Mimic's almost afraid he's about to faint.
"Good work," Dr. Hikari says quietly. "Thanks to you, the repairs to his body have been completed. We just need to wait for him to wake up."
Lan blinks up at him, and then turns his attention back to MegaMan. He murmurs his Navi's name, just barely paying attention, but he still looks so relieved that Mimic can tell there's more hope in him than there was before.
Meanwhile, Dr. Hikari glances at the third room attached to the repairs lab. Mimic follows his gaze, peering through the glass window, and sees another team of scientists working on the new PET - the Advanced PET 2, she thinks it's called.
"Now, we have to hurry," Dr. Hikari says, "and complete the new PET."
While they're waiting for MegaMan to wake up - he probably won't properly wake up for a day or two, Dr. Hikari says - Raika shows up at SciLab. It's a surprise to see him; Mimic knew he was in the country again, of course, but she hadn't expected him to come to SciLab.
Apparently Lan was going to take Raika to SciLab at some point, but obviously helping to repair MegaMan took priority. He heads out to meet Raika in the lobby, and Mimic is about to follow him when Dr. Hikari puts a hand on her shoulder and stops her.
"Here," Dr. Hikari says, taking something out of his pocket and handing it to her.
She looks down at it, puzzled. It's . . . a stick. It looks like a stick, it feels like a stick, and Mimic has no idea why she's holding a stick in her hand right now.
"It's a chew toy for cats," Dr. Hikari explains, when she glances up at him. "Famous went out to the department store and got a bag of these for you - he thinks this whole biting situation is hilarious, but he sees the problem. Although . . . those are apparently catnip chew toys. I'm . . . I'm not sure how you'll react to catnip."
With my luck, Mimic thinks, I'll probably go loopy.
Just add that to list of weird shit you've done lately, Chaud jokes.
She heads out to the lobby to meet Lan and Raika, deciding to see if the stick is any good on the way there. It's . . . surprisingly okay to chew on, to be honest. She can't rip it apart like a sponge, which is a little disappointing, but it'd probably be better if she didn't have chew toys she could rip apart in literal seconds - the Hikaris would probably go through more money trying to stop her from destroying sponges than they do when Ragdoll destroys any of his toys.
Lan and Raika aren't in the lobby when she gets there, but one of the women at the front desk is more than happy enough to direct her to one of the smaller break rooms. Lan had asked the lady if she could tell Mimic where they went, since he guessed that she would show up whenever Dr. Hikari was done talking to her.
The break room isn't that far away, and Lan and Raika are already sitting down on the sofas. There's a low table between them, where Raika has put his PET - presumably so SearchMan can join the conversation if he wants, though he looks like he's been quiet so far.
Lan and Raika glance up when she enters the room. Her mouth is still full of stick, so she just waves at them and goes over to settle down next to Lan, taking out the white PET and setting it down next to Raika's PET.
After a moment or two of silence, she becomes aware that everyone - except Arcadia - is staring at her.
Mimic looks at them all in turn, puzzled. Then she realises she's still chewing on the stick, and she takes it out of her mouth. She's not embarrassed - but it'll be difficult to talk while she's chewing on something. It's hard enough for her to talk anyway; no sense in making even harder for herself.
"Uh, Chaud . . . why are you chewing on a stick . . . ?" Lan asks hesitantly.
Mimic gives him a flat look. "Would you rather I eat a fish?"
Lan's eyes widen comically. "No, no, the stick is fine," he quickly says.
Raika looks between them with a blank expression, obviously trying to figure out what the hell they're talking about. Lan apparently decides to take pity on him.
"Chaud caught a fish and tried to eat it a couple of days ago," he explains to Raika.
"Well," Raika begins slowly, "I mean, you can eat fish raw-"
"While it was still alive," Lan continues.
Raika stares at him. After a beat of shocked silence, he turns to Mimic, an incredulous look on his face.
"I was gonna kill it first," she says defensively.
"No you weren't," Arcadia calls.
Mimic scowls.
"Are you a human or a cat?" Raika asks, looking totally lost.
"Yes," Mimic replies.
She can almost see the question marks popping up around Raika's head.
"Yeah, uh, moving on," Lan mutters awkwardly. He clears his throat and glances at Raika. "So, what happened with the oil refinery, anyway?"
"It was . . . difficult," Raika admits, after a moment of hesitation. "We were ready for it, of course, thanks to that weirdly specific tip-off - but we didn't think it would be so . . . confusing. We certainly didn't expect the Darkloids to actually work together, though they still spent half their time arguing with each other."
"You said there were four of them, right?" Lan checks. Raika nods, and Lan leans back, looking impressed. "Wow . . . Me and Chaud can barely beat one Darkloid with Arcadia's help, and you and Raoul beat four of them just like that - and you even managed to delete one, too!"
"Check it out yo, check it, check it out yo," Mimic mumbles.
Raika, who'd been about to respond to Lan's impressed comments, gives her a look that's very similar to how he'd reacted a moment ago, when Lan told him about Mimic trying to eat a live fish.
"That's the voice of the Darkloid we deleted. And . . . and he was singing that, too," Raika says. "Have you met that one before . . . ? It wasn't in the Net Saver mission reports."
Lan looks like a deer caught in the headlights, and Mimic curses her inability to keep her damn mouth shut. Stupid BrightMan and his stupid catchy song . . .
Arcadia glances at her, and then apparently comes to a decision on his own.
"They haven't," he says to Raika, and SearchMan as well, since he's looking just as confused as his operator.
"So how did-" Raika begins.
"Chaud dreamed it," Arcadia says bluntly. Raika and SearchMan stare at him. "He has . . . a power. It lets him see the future in his dreams - precognition, I think Famous called it."
"I just say he's a prophet," Lan points out. "It sounds cooler."
"Technically that's incorrect," Arcadia tells him. "A prophet is someone who is believed to be in direct contact with a divine being, and is said to speak on behalf of that being. Chaud's power is completely different to that."
"But . . . prophet sounds cooler," Lan protests, almost whining.
"I'm sorry, I'm completely lost here," Raika interrupts. He looks at Mimic. "You can see the future? Since when?"
"Since forever," Mimic replies, shrugging.
"And he only dreams of the future," Lan corrects Raika. "He doesn't see it in, like . . . in visions, or whatever. He just has dreams."
"Wait a moment," Raika says. His eyes narrow thoughtfully. "That weirdly specific tip-off . . . Did that come from you?" He gestures at Mimic.
She nods. That much, at least, isn't a lie - because the email that Dr. Hikari sent, apparently being treated as a tip-off for the benefit of anyone who doesn't know about her 'power', had included all the information she could remember. Of course she'd had to leave out some of the specific details, just to avoid arousing suspicion, but the main points - such as the location of the attack and the fact that there were four Darkloids attacking the oil refinery - were definitely included.
"And . . . and you've had this power since . . . forever?" Raika doesn't seem as sceptical as Mimic would've expected him to be, though he's still confused, of course. Anyone would be confused if someone just suddenly admits to being able to see the future.
"He only told us recently, if it helps," Lan offers. "Chaud . . ." He glances at Mimic briefly, something like sadness flickering across his gaze, and then he turns back to Raika. "Chaud didn't think anyone would believe him about his power, but he was always trying to figure out what to do with the knowledge he got from his dreams. He . . . he knew Dr. Regal was a bad guy before he even met him, 'cus of his dreams."
"I heard about that," Raika says, in a subdued tone. The glance he gives Mimic is full of sympathy and sorrow. "You . . . you were kidnapped, weren't you? Dr. Regal revealed himself as the leader of Nebula when you were taken. And then . . . you lost ProtoMan."
Raika looks down at the white PET. Arcadia only manages to hold his gaze for a couple of seconds before looking down. SearchMan glances at Raika briefly, before he streams out of Raika's PET and appears in the white PET beside Arcadia.
He reaches out, hesitates for a split second, and then awkwardly places his hand on Arcadia's shoulder. Arcadia glances up at him and blinks, but says nothing. It's probably best that he doesn't - SearchMan looks awkward enough as it is. At least he's trying, though.
"I'm sorry," Raika murmurs, bowing his head to Mimic and Arcadia. "That . . . that must have been hard."
It seems he's just as awkward at giving out comfort as his Navi is. Mimic still appreciates the effort - coming from Raika, this awkward attempt at comfort is practically a heartfelt conversation, complete with hugs and cuddling. He's a far cry from the asshole who tried to accuse her of being a Navi-thief all those weeks ago.
After a moment or two of quiet sadness, Raika raises his head again.
"So . . . you can see the future in your dreams," he says. "And . . . and these dreams have helped you in the past?"
"Sometimes," Mimic mumbles. She starts fiddling with the half-chewed stick in her hands. "They're n-not- not always . . . helpful. Can't always do something. Or it might be better to let things . . . happen." She stops fiddling with the stick, tightening her grip on it. "Sometimes . . . sometimes things h-happen no matter what I do. Or I make things worse."
She feels Lan's gentle hand on her shoulder, and takes a little comfort from the contact as he speaks to Raika.
"He knew something bad would happen to ProtoMan when he was kidnapped," Lan explains. "But he couldn't stop it."
"That bad thing . . . was the Dark Chip, right?" Raika asks.
Even though his tone is quiet and careful, she still flinches. Lan wraps his arm around her shoulders and lets her huddle into his side, curling up with her knees to her chest.
"I . . . I can't imagine what that's like," Raika murmurs. "Knowing that something terrible will happen, and not being able to do anything about it . . ."
"Could've," Mimic whispers hoarsely. "There was . . . I didn't h-have to use it . . ."
"We would've died if you hadn't," Lan says. Mimic shudders, but he's not finished. "ProtoMan knew using the Dark Chip would make him go insane, but he still begged you to use it anyway. Because he loved you. And he'd do anything to keep you safe."
Mimic lets out a ragged sound that's barely even an attempt at speaking, and curls into his side a little further.
She feels Lan shift as he turns back to face Raika.
"You're . . . taking this a lot better than I thought you would," Lan admits.
"What do you mean?" Raika asks.
"I kinda thought you'd be the type of person who wouldn't believe in supernatural stuff, like ghosts or people who dream about the future," Lan says. "You, um . . . sorry, I just didn't think you'd accept Chaud's power so easily."
"There's no definite proof that ghosts do or do not exist," Raika points out. "Personally, I don't care either way - but the power of precognition can be validated fairly easily, since their predictions can be proven correct if something happens the way they say it will."
"Oh," Lan says, sounding surprised. "I . . . I didn't think of it like that."
"And besides," Raika adds, with a quick glance at Mimic, "he's already proven that his power is the real deal. That tip-off was spot-on - right down to the fact that two Darkloids would attack at first, and then two more would show up to join the battle."
"You can't tell anyone about this," Lan quickly tells him.
It's Raika's turn to be surprised now. "Not that I would anyway, given how hard he must have worked to keep his power a secret in the first place, but . . . why not?"
"Because his power is the reason Nebula kidnapped him," Lan replies. Raika's eyes widen. "They . . . they don't know about his power, not really, but they know he knows stuff he shouldn't. And the Commissioner's worried that Nebula might try and take Chaud again, so Arcadia's been assigned as his bodyguard, and I'm . . . supposed to be doing the same thing, kinda, though . . . I can't right now. Obviously. 'Cus MegaMan's . . . a-and my PET . . . y-yeah."
"But . . ." Raika glances at Mimic again. "If Nebula has ProtoMan-"
"Dark ProtoMan," Arcadia corrects him. "He's not the real ProtoMan, he's just . . . he's the twisted, evil version of my big brother."
"If Nebula has Dark ProtoMan," Raika begins again, "then surely they'd know about Chaud's precognition already?" He addresses his next question to Mimic. "I'm assuming you told your Navis about your power, even when you didn't tell anyone else?"
"I did," Mimic says quietly. "Dark ProtoMan . . . says he's . . . mm . . ." She can't get the rest of the words out, and she's clutching the chew toy stick so hard that she can't get her fingers to uncurl so she can use sign language.
"Dark ProtoMan told him that he's pretending to have partial amnesia, so Nebula will think he can't tell them anything about Chaud," Lan explains for her. "He said he could change his mind at any moment, so he's . . . h-he's basically blackmailing Chaud."
Raika looks horrified. "I'm sorry," he murmurs. "That . . . that must be terrible . . ."
"We'll save him," Arcadia says, with all the certainty that Mimic and Chaud felt when they made their vow to do exactly that. "No matter what it takes. We'll bring the real ProtoMan back, and we'll take down Nebula, too."
"You can count on us to help," Raika promises, exchanging a swift glance with SearchMan, who nods determinedly.
"Thank you," Mimic whispers.