Mimic: Stream

by RennyBanette

Sequel to Mimic: Axess. Mimic has finally started to get used to living in this world, but with the arrival of Duo, she finds her world turned upside-down yet again.

9. The Mystery of the Crater

The werewolf's claws tear into its enemy's flesh, ripping them apart in a spray of blood that sticks on its fur. Once its enemy is dead, the werewolf crouches over its kill and gorges itself, replenishing its lost health.

The faint sound of rolling thunder appears just on the edge of the werewolf's hearing, and it looks up as a Storm Atronach drifts over the hill. Like the werewolf, blood coats its body, a sign of the enemies it defeated while the werewolf was busy chasing its own enemy.

Do you need to eat? the Storm Atronach wonders, drifting to a stop close by the werewolf. Already have perks.

My health was low, the werewolf replies mentally, because its mouth can't make human words at the moment. Plus, I don't have all the perks yet - I still need one of the totems.

Perk now? the Storm Atronach asks, drifting idly from side-to-side in a way that suggests it would be tilting its head if it physically could.

The werewolf is about to check, but a familiar voice calls out to the pair, and they're both distracted.

"ProtoMan! Dark Shadow!"

A screen appears in the air, and Chaud looks at the werewolf and its Daedra companion with an expression of fond exasperation.

"C'mon, it's time to go," Chaud says.

The werewolf moans in protest, but Chaud is firm.

"We'll be late if we don't get moving now, ProtoMan," he tells the werewolf. "They can't start the final test without us, remember."

The werewolf whimpers, but relents. It ends the game demo, and suddenly the world around it becomes the network of Chaud's computer - and the werewolf and its Daedra companion become the NetNavi ProtoMan and his shadow-double Dark Shadow.

"I only just got most of the perks!" ProtoMan complains. "Now all that progress is gone!"

Chaud huffs out a laugh. "Quit pouting and get back into the PET," he retorts good-naturedly.

"I am not pouting," ProtoMan grumbles, as he streams himself into Chaud's PET, with Dark Shadow being pulled alongside him.

"Mm-hm," Chaud replies, picking up his PET and pocketing it. "You keep telling yourself that."

---

The ground blurs beneath them as they fly overhead, keeping up with the jeep but not getting so close that they'd be a distraction. Mimic is gripping Lan's wrists in her talons, keeping her hands free so she can use her Holy Fire when needed, and Lan keeps his attention focused on the jeep, watching to make sure Famous and Manabe make it through alright.

They seem to be doing fine at the moment, though. Famous is driving the jeep, and Manabe holds onto her Battle Chip Gate and downloads battle chips whenever viruses appear, courtesy of Chaud back at SciLab, who's using his own custom Battle Chip Gate to send them.

Of course, that Battle Chip Gate used to be Mimic's, but she doesn't use it anymore - there's not much point, since it only works in dimensional areas, and she now uses Cross Fusion instead. The only reason Chaud has it is because he thought it might still be useful for something, so she had no objections to him taking it. He's making good use of it, even if it's only to materialise viruses for Manabe to delete.

A wave of water shoots out from around the jeep and deletes a group of Mettaurs, clearing the way across the field for Famous to drive. Next up, a bunch of Shrimpy viruses materialise, and Famous drives the jeep around a spray of bubbles from the viruses before Manabe downloads an Elec Shock and deletes the lot of them. Then a bunch of Fishy viruses materialise, and Manabe downloads a Boomer which circles around and slices them all apart.

Why're those things called Fishy viruses? Mimic wonders, beating her wings to get a bit more height - she's listing a little, distracted by the battle, and only just noticed the tip of Lan's boots brushing the ground. It won't be pretty if they crash at this speed.

Because they look like fish, Arcadia replies. Oh, watch out, there's one in front of you!

Mimic abruptly comes to a stop in mid-air, surprising Lan, who had been entirely focused on Famous and Manabe. By the time he looks up to check what's going on, Mimic has already created a Firebomb, and she throws it at the Fishy virus. It explodes into a blast of white fire mixed with the pixels from its deletion.

They do not look like fish, Mimic says, beating her wings to get moving again. The jeep has gotten a little too far ahead, but with her speed, catching up is as simple as running along a wall.

They have fins! Arcadia tells her.

Those are fucking wings, man, Mimic retorts. Why not call them Birdy viruses instead?

They're fish, Arcadia insists.

While they're arguing, the jeep has driven into a field full of odd purple eggs. Mimic doesn't immediately recognise what they are until one hatches with shocking speed, and a Big Snake bursts out and chomps one of the jeep's wheels clean off.

The jeep swerves and skids to a halt, unbalanced on one side, and Famous and Manabe look around with somewhat dazed expressions. Mimic comes to a stop as well, simply hovering nearby in case she or Lan are needed. They haven't been so far, but the first few tests they did with the new Battle Chip Gates didn't exactly go well - and everyone learnt very quickly that it's best to have at least one Cross Fusion-capable Net Saver on standby in case the Gate doesn't work or the person using it gets overwhelmed.

More of the purple eggs hatch, and Big Snakes burst out of all of them and head straight for Famous and Manabe. In response, Manabe downloads a Flame Line, which creates three lines of fire in a protective triangle around the jeep. The Big Snakes throw themselves at the fire and are deleted for their efforts.

The Flame Line dies down, and Famous and Manabe start to relax. But Mimic and Lan can see an extra purple egg that hadn't hatched with the others.

As it starts to crack, Mimic twists in mid-air and hurls Lan toward the jeep. The Big Snake bursts out and throws itself at Famous and Manabe, but Lan downloads a Sword and slices it in half before it can touch them. He lands on the hood of the jeep, resting for a moment, and then stands up to turn and face Famous and Manabe. Mimic flies over as he starts to speak.

"Don't get too careless, Ms. Manabe," Lan jokes.

"Thank you, Lan," Manabe replies gratefully, while Famous lets out a relieved sigh and slumps over the wheel.

Mimic lands on the back of the jeep, clutching the bar with her talons, just as Dad's voice comes through the radio.

"Test completed!" Dad tells them. Judging by his tone, he's pleased with the results they got from this final test. "Come back to SciLab, and we'll go over the data."

"Gotcha," Famous agrees, as the dimensional area overhead begins to vanish.

Mimic and Lan are forced to Cross Out. It's a bit weird, going from having bird-footed talons to normal human feet, but by now, Mimic's kind of gotten used to the physical differences in her body when using Cross Fusion. First with ProtoMan's claws and cat-abilities, and now with Arcadia's wings and talons.

Famous drives the jeep back through the testing field - a wasteland area that SciLab bought for the express purpose of using it as a testing grounds for the Battle Chip Gate. Mimic hangs onto the back easily, while Lan sits somewhat uncomfortably between Famous and Manabe. He'd probably sit on the back like Mimic if he could be sure he'd be able to stay on, but he can't, so he has to make do with sitting on the uncomfortable floor of the jeep.

They're almost back to the city, and Mimic is teasing Lan by poking the back of his head with her foot (gently, of course), when Dad suddenly calls them again.

"Change of plans," Dad says. He sounds a lot more serious than before. "Famous, take Lan, Mimic, and Manabe to the airport. I'll meet you all there."

The transmission cuts out before anyone can ask what's going on. Lan, Famous, and Manabe are all pretty confused, but Mimic perks up a little in interest - if this is what she thinks it is, she knows why Dad wants them to go to the airport instead of SciLab.

Her PET's screen appears beside her. She glances at it, sees Arcadia's questioning look, and nods. He doesn't need to ask - she can tell just by his expression what he's thinking, because he always has that look when he wants to ask her if she recognises something from the anime.

And she does. This is when they first find out about that giant crater in the middle of some wasteland in Netopia, and all those strange time distortions it causes. It's also the first time they meet Colonel, a mysterious NetNavi belonging to one Baryl.

This also happens to be when Chaud is supposed to decide to stay in Netopia to help deal with the Asteroid Navis that pop up there.

Mimic doesn't know what will happen with that here. If she wasn't here, Chaud would probably stay in Netopia, no question - but she is here, and their connection isn't something they like to toy around with, especially given how volatile it seems to be now that they're in separate bodies.

Their connection gets weaker with distance. Usually they're just on opposite sides of the city - but neither of them particularly enjoy being apart. They're better together; there's an empty space in Mimic's mind that only Chaud can fill, and she knows it's the same for him, so they feel more comfortable when they're near each other.

But what will happen if they're not just in different parts of the city, but in different countries entirely? No one knows if a certain amount of distance will break their connection entirely, and Mimic and Chaud don't particularly want to find out. Aside from the fact that they're used to their connection, having it broken so abruptly could very easily kill one or both of them - or at least leave them brain-dead.

They can't leave Netopia unguarded, though. Mimic doesn't really want to leave Japan, but what if she has to stay in Netopia with Chaud, just to avoid accidentally breaking their connection and risking whatever the consequences may be?

She's undecided, and apprehensive.

Maybe she'll be able to figure this out when they go to Netopia to deal with the thing at the crater. That's what she always does anyway - deal with things as they come, rather than trying to do something ahead of time. Things never really work out in her favour if she tries to force things to happen.

---

She's right, of course - that astronomer professor from the anime is waiting with Dad and Chaud when they get to the airport. He introduces himself as Professor Taki, and then takes them - meaning Mimic, Chaud, Lan, Dad, and Manabe - onto a plane owned by the space centre. Famous is staying behind because someone needs to keep an eye on things in Japan, and they're going to need him later on (though no one but Mimic knows that last thing).

When they're all on the plane and settled in, they take to the air and head for Netopia. Mimic hasn't been on a plane since she was vice president of IPC - and that was during the Gospel beast thing, which was an entire year ago.

It's . . . oddly peaceful, up in the sky. Mimic flies when she's using Cross Fusion, of course, but there's always a battle going on, and she's never had time to just enjoy the feeling of flying. But if she ever gets the chance to, Mimic thinks she'll enjoy just flying around and being in the air. The only sounds she can hear are the faint noises of the plane, the people on the plane, and beyond that? Just the peaceful quiet of the sky.

Chaud feels the same way about this as she does. Mimic can feel his peaceful calm, a reflection of her own, and their good moods are in stark contrast to the serious air of the conversation currently taking place.

"There was an explosion in a desert region in Netopia," Professor Taki is saying. He has a remote that he's using to change the images he's showing them on a screen that's set into a wall. "We're still not entirely sure what caused it, but it was so bright that the night sky lit up as if it were day." The screen shows them a bright object - similar to Duo's comet - crashing into the ground before a bright explosion lights up the sky, as Professor Taki said. Then the image on the screen changes, and they're now looking at an overhead view of the area of the explosion. "Even now, the area is still extremely hot - as far as we can tell, the temperature hasn't even dropped a single degree. Take a look at this." Now the screen is showing a large red disc, with yellow areas in the middle. "This is an infrared image of the site, taken from a satellite. From this, and various measurements taken from the ground, we've determined that the crater is more than five kilometres wide in every direction."

Mimic feels a brief stutter of shock through the peaceful calm she's been sharing with Chaud. This doesn't surprise her, of course - but Chaud didn't know about this, so the shock is his.

"Five kilometres?" Chaud repeats, looking just as stunned as he feels. "A-are you sure about that?"

"We've taken very careful measurements and checked the data as many times as we could," Professor Taki replies seriously. "There's no mistake about it. No matter how absurd it seems, that crater is definitely five kilometres across."

"Could an asteroid have created it?" Manabe asks.

"It's a possibility," Professor Taki says. "We considered it, but if it really was an asteroid, the sheer size of the crater means the asteroid would have to be massive. And if an asteroid of that size were to hit the Earth, its effects would have been felt across the globe."

Yeah, no shit, Mimic thinks, blinking slowly as she peers at the infrared image on the screen. I'm pretty sure something that big is what wiped out the dinosaurs.

No, that one was a lot bigger, Chaud tells her. I don't think this one would be able to wipe out most life on Earth - maybe a small chunk of the population, sure, but not everything.

"This is indeed very strange," Dad muses, narrowing his eyes. "Did the asteroid somehow vanish upon impact? Where did it go, if it even existed in the first place?"

"That's something else we have yet to determine," Professor Taki replies. "The Netopian government wanted to discover the truth, so they sent in an expedition team to investigate the crater itself. One of the members of that team is Professor Moura - he's an excellent astronomer, and I've known him for many years." Professor Taki gives Dad an intense look. "Dr. Hikari."

Dad straightens a little, evidently seeing the intensity in Professor Taki's expression.

"Do you remember when Duo's comet was about to hit the Earth?" Professor Taki prompts. "It began to send out strange signals before all those giant viruses materialised."

"Yes, I remember," Dad says. "It was some sort of weak electromagnetic interference, right?"

Professor Taki nods and takes out a report, which he hands to Dad. "Look at this," he tells Dad. "Professor Moura sent me regular reports on the crater, and anything that may be related to it. We've detected the same signal that we picked up from Duo's comet, and it seems to be coming from within the crater itself."

Dad skims through the report briefly. Chaud leans across Mimic to try and get a quick look at it, but Dad is too focused on reading it himself to notice.

"I see," Dad murmurs. "And the date of the explosion . . ."

He trails off, and his eyes narrow. Whatever he just read, it must have been what Professor Taki wanted him to see, because he nods again.

Lan leans forward to look at Dad. "What is it, Dad?"

Dad glances up and looks at all three of them in turn. "The date is the exact same as when Duo started to destroy the Earth," he replies, "and when Mimic and Chaud were separated."

Lan's stunned expression matches the pulse of shock Mimic feels from Chaud. She's less interested in how they react to this news, and more interested in seeing what Professor Taki makes of Dad's somewhat-cryptic wording.

The professor seems a little bemused, and he catches Mimic's eye as he glances over at her and Chaud. He's clearly wondering what Dad means by 'separated' - but would it be a good idea to tell him? He's researching Duo and the comet and everything, but they can't just go around blurting out the truth to anyone who's remotely interested in Duo.

I'd rather not become someone's science experiment, Chaud says, picking up on her thoughts. It was awkward enough having to explain things the first time around - and we might be poked and prodded and experimented on, this time.

Imagine what they'd do to us if they found out about our connection, Mimic says, suppressing a shudder. They might force us to test it to the limits, or try and see how far apart we can go before it breaks.

The mere thought of that happening is enough to make both of them swear not to tell Professor Taki - or anyone else like him - the truth about their origins. Maybe Professor Taki wouldn't do something like that, but Mimic's already had people trying to exploit her when everyone thought she could see the future, and twins with an actual connection between their souls might be too interesting of an opportunity to pass up for anyone within the scientific community.

Anyone aside from Dad, and Famous. And the rest of SciLab, who're already kind of used to Mimic and Chaud. Alright, fine, anyone within the scientific community who doesn't already know them.

Chaud's right - they'd rather not become someone's science experiment, even if their origins might reveal more about Duo or something. Besides, what more do they need to know other than that Duo is a delusional alien NetNavi who thinks he has the right to destroy entire planets just because their network 'evolved wrong' or some bullshit? Here's their enemy; just let them fight it.

---

The plane lands at a Netopian airport. Mimic thinks this might be Heaven's City, but she can't be sure because she's never really seen the place for herself - seeing it in the anime is different to actually being there, after all.

There's a man waiting for them on the runway, and just beyond him is a long helicopter with the Net Police logo on the front and along the tail. Mimic recognises him, but she can't remember what his name is - he only appeared in a few episodes, and his name was rarely mentioned.

"Welcome to Netopia!" the man calls, as they step off the plane. "My name is Hunter - I'm a detective in this city's Net Police department."

"I'm Manabe, the Superintendent for Japan's Net Police," Manabe replies, shaking his hand.

"I'll be taking you all to the base camp site via that helicopter," Hunter explains, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder to gesture at said helicopter. "I'll be the pilot."

"Thank you," Manabe says, nodding. "We'll leave it to you, then."

The adults head toward the helicopter, but Mimic lingers behind with Chaud and Lan. Not on purpose - Lan's staring up at the sky with an oddly serious expression, and he's not moving. Even though Mimic could only see it during the star shower, she knows exactly what Lan is looking at.

"What's wrong?" Chaud asks, giving Lan a gentle prod. "Do you see something?"

"Duo's comet," Lan says quietly.

" . . . Oh." Chaud glances up at the sky too, even though he - like Mimic - can't see anything other than clear blue skies. "That's right . . . It's something to do with that mark on your hand, right?"

Lan nods and holds out his hand. An odd black symbol fades into view on his palm - the Crest of Duo.

After a few moments, Lan looks over at Mimic. "Do . . . do you know anything about this? Did your anime ever explain what this is?"

"It never went into much detail," Mimic replies honestly. "It's the Crest of Duo - that's all I know for certain."

And anything else is just the failed attempts at figuring out what the Crest means, or what it's purpose is. As far as Mimic knows, the Crest's only real purpose is to identify those who have been chosen to take on Duo's test. Any attempts at using the Crests for something other than identification never worked out well for anyone who tried it.

This also begs the question of what's going to happen with Chaud's Crest. He's supposed to get his when he decides to stay in Netopia - Mimic is pretty sure he'll get it anyway, but she doesn't know what's going to happen with her.

Will she get a Crest, too? There were only supposed to be thirteen of Duo's chosen in the anime. Would Duo change the number to fourteen, just because Mimic is here? Or will she not be given a Crest? Mimic thinks it'll be the latter. Duo seemed to have it in for her when they first met him - and he's not likely to give his Crest to someone he sees as a violation of nature. If anything, he'd probably try and destroy her the same way he's trying to destroy this planet. She was lucky to get out of their first encounter with him alive, much less in a body of her own.

---

Their Navis get ill on the way to the expedition base camp. Hunter has just reported that no one's responded from the base camp when MegaMan suddenly speaks up, sounding, for lack of better terms, like he's about to throw up the contents of his stomach.

Mimic's pretty sure NetNavis don't have actual stomachs - not in the same way as humans, anyway. She remembers being told once that NetNavis can expel data from their mouths the same way humans vomit, but only if their stomach takes a big hit, like they're coughing up their own version of blood or something. So for MegaMan to sound like he's going to throw up, well . . . that's definitely weird.

She knows ProtoMan feels the same way, because this happened in the anime, too. By that logic, Arcadia should also be the same.

"Lan, I think I'm sick," MegaMan complains softly.

Lan takes out his PET and gives his Navi a worried look. "What do you mean?"

"I feel dizzy," MegaMan explains.

"So do I," Arcadia adds, sounding the exact same as MegaMan. Mimic takes out her PET to check on him, and even though she already knew this would happen, it doesn't help the pang of worry when she sees the uncomfortable expression on Arcadia's face.

"You both feel sick?" Dad asks, looking puzzled. He looks at Chaud, who's sitting in the middle. "What about ProtoMan? Is he feeling the same way?"

"He hasn't said anything-" Chaud begins.

He's interrupted by a loud gagging sound from his PET, and then a faint retching, followed by a wet splatter.

" . . . Never mind," Chaud says. He takes out his own PET and winces. "Oh, that's not a pretty sight."

Did ProtoMan throw up because he's a cat? He didn't do that in the anime, so that's the only reason Mimic can think of for why he'd throw up now. Arcadia seems to be fine, aside from feeling sick himself - so maybe it's just a cat thing.

Or . . . maybe it's not because ProtoMan's a cat. Or not entirely, anyway. He's part virus, and the Poltergeist Program inside him causes some minor glitches. Most of the time it's just the odd flickering screen or something, maybe flickering lights or machines suddenly not working if he's jacked into a network. Maybe this time, the glitches combined with the cat virus and the sickness made him throw up.

That's just what I was thinking, Chaud says, glancing at her.

. . . Huh, Mimic says, a little surprised.

She feels a faint sense of amusement through Chaud's worry about ProtoMan.

You're not stupid, you know, Chaud tells her. You've picked up a thing or two after living here for so long. And you learnt from me the same way I learnt from you.

Before Mimic can respond to that - not that she'd know how - Dad's voice distracts her.

"Give me your PETs for a moment," he says, holding out his hands.

There are three PETs, how does he expect to check all of them? But somehow Dad manages it, because he's Dad. He checks all three PETs, keeping Chaud and Lan's in his hands while balancing Mimic's on his lap, and after a few moments, he frowns.

"That's odd," Dad murmurs. "Their high precision timing chips are off by two-point-zero-three seconds . . ."

Lan looks blank, and Mimic doesn't blame him. She doesn't understand why that would matter either - she knows what's causing this, of course, but the fact remains that she just doesn't know why their high precision timing chips (whatever those even are) would be affected.

"What about them?" Lan asks, more brave about admitting his ignorance than Mimic is.

"The timing precision in a PET is like an atomic clock," Chaud explains. "They're extremely accurate, right down to the second, and should only be off by a second every few million years. So two-point-zero-three seconds is definitely odd."

"What the fuck is an atomic clock?" Mimic asks.

Dad gives her a stern look. "Language, Mimic."

"Whom the fuck-"

"No."

Manabe hides an amused smile behind her hand, while Professor Taki just looks bewildered. Mimic would almost feel sorry for him if she didn't think he'd try to experiment on her and Chaud the moment he finds out about their connection or their origins.

---

The area close to the crater is almost unbearably hot. Chaud steps off the helicopter and is hit with a blast of heat so sudden and intense that he has to stand still for a moment to adjust. Mimic hops off the helicopter beside him, blinks in the harsh sunlight for a moment, and then wanders off in the direction of the crater.

"Mimic!" Dr. Hikari calls to her as he steps out next. "Don't get too close, we don't know what's down there."

Chaud gets the feeling that Mimic knows exactly what's down there. As she comes back to the group, he picks up a faint sense of anticipation from her, the kind of anticipation she only feels when she's expecting something to happen. He already suspected she knew about these events from the anime - and this confirms it. She's not saying anything, though, so she's keeping quiet for a reason.

They head inside, and Manabe and Hunter offer to search through the base camp for other people. Dr. Hikari checks out the foyer and the surrounding rooms, but even their combined efforts are fruitless.

Chaud and Mimic could've told them it was pointless to look anyway. Neither of them can hear any humans in this base camp aside from the group they came in with - the only other sounds they hear are the faint noises from the desert wasteland outside; the wind blowing and the odd noises Chaud's been hearing from deep within the crater, much fainter and less detectable now that they're indoors.

Chaud and Lan stand just in front of the fireplace - it looks like a real fireplace, but it's actually an electric one - while Mimic, as usual, settles herself on the table. Chaud still doesn't know why she likes sitting on tables.

"We've checked the entire camp," Manabe says, as she and Hunter step back into the foyer. "There's no one here. Even the cars are gone."

"I wonder where they all went . . ." Dr. Hikari murmurs.

Manabe and Hunter exchange a glance.

"We'll go and check if there's anyone outside," Hunter says. "They might have been busy when we arrived."

Chaud feels a wave of mild exasperation from Mimic. As if they could miss the noise of that helicopter, she says.

It could be possible that they did - the base camp is quite large, and the area wouldn't exactly carry sound very well. But Mimic still has a point. The noise of the helicopter would've drawn out anyone who could have heard it.

While Manabe and Hunter head outside, Dr. Hikari turns to Professor Taki.

"Let's go over the data," Dr. Hikari says. "There might be something in there that could give us some clues about the crater - or whatever happened to the people in this base camp."

Professor Taki agrees, and Dr. Hikari leads him out of the foyer to find the data storage room. Before Chaud can follow, he notices Mimic twisting around to look over her shoulder.

He follows her gaze. The only thing he sees is a closed door on the far side of the foyer.

Puzzled, Chaud glances at Mimic, but she offers no explanation - mentally or otherwise. She's done a lot of odd things, and looking at a random door for no apparent reason is probably not the weirdest, though it's still strange.

Lan opts to continue exploring the base, to see if he can find anyone, though Chaud seriously doubts he'll be able to - even if Chaud and Mimic couldn't hear that the base camp is empty save for them, the fact that Manabe and Hunter's search came up empty is a pretty big indicator that Lan won't find anyone. But Chaud won't stop Lan from trying. After all, suppose Chaud and Mimic's hearing is wrong, and there is someone in this base? That someone could be sleeping, or just not moving around, or moving around quietly enough that neither of them can pick up any traces of that person with their sensitive hearing.

Chaud still kind of doubts it, but, well . . . whatever, right?

When they find the data storage room, Chaud honestly thinks that he's accidentally jacked ProtoMan into the network without realising. One of the overhead lights is flickering almost dizzyingly, and for a moment, Chaud thinks he can understand how their Navis are feeling with their strange sickness. The constant flickering between light and dark makes his eyes hurt, and he can't look at it for more than a moment without feeling queasy.

The feeling is doubled through his connection with Mimic. It's worse for her, thanks to that weird shared pain thing, and when Chaud glances over at her to check how she's doing, he sees that she hasn't even come into the room and is just standing outside, pressing her forehead into the wall and squeezing her eyes shut.

Dr. Hikari notices how uncomfortable both of them are with the madly-flickering light. It's hard to miss, because Chaud can't exactly hide this the same way he hides the pain from his father's punishments.

"How about you two go and find a replacement bulb?" Dr. Hikari suggests.

It's easy to tell that he's suggesting they do it just so they don't have to endure this any longer than necessary. But they have no objections, because they'll probably throw up if they have to deal with this constant flickering any longer.

Chaud heads out of the room and tugs Mimic to follow him back through the foyer. He's pretty sure there should be some kind of storage room around here somewhere, and the foyer seems to be the central hub for most of the base camp. They can start from there and see if they can find a storage room.

They're lucky - there's a storage room near the foyer, through the door Mimic was looking at. Chaud rifles through a few of the boxes in the room, searching for a new bulb to replace the flickering one.

Do you know what happened to the people here? he asks Mimic, as he finally finds a bulb and carefully takes it out of the box.

I'm at least eighty percent sure most of them are dead, Mimic replies.

Chaud drops the bulb, and it clatters to the floor, thankfully unharmed, though he's not paying any attention to it anymore. He stares at Mimic in shock.

You heard those sounds from the crater, right? Mimic nods in the direction of the outside world. The anime never really explained what happened to the people here, but considering the condition that Moura guy was in when he showed up, I'd guess most of the people here were killed.

And . . . and the thing that killed them . . . is in the crater?

Mimic nods. More like 'things', but yeah.

Chaud continues to stare at her. He's less shocked, and now more horrified. There's something - multiple somethings, according to Mimic - in that crater that may or may not have killed most of the people working at this expedition base, and now they're here, providing a prime target for the things once again.

We're fine for now, Mimic tells him, which she means to be reassuring, but to Chaud, it just sounds like an ominous promise of the horrors lying in wait for them.

He picks up the replacement bulb and tries to hide his growing terror - not from Mimic, because that's impossible, but from Dr. Hikari and Professor Taki. They would definitely ask what's wrong if they saw him looking like he'd seen a ghost or something, and even though he's almost in shock himself, he doesn't want to freak out anyone else.

Mimic seems perfectly calm with the knowledge that the things which killed the people in this base are down in that crater, though. Come to think of it, she was actually walking toward the crater when they first arrived - even though she knows whatever is down there is extremely dangerous.

Chaud's still trying to digest all this when he and Mimic head back into the foyer. He's distracted by an odd ringing sound, and looks up curiously, only to see himself on the other side of the room.

Himself, and everyone else. They're all as they were when they arrived, just after Manabe and Hunter came back from checking the base for people. The only difference is, of course, the fact that Chaud and Mimic are standing right here, looking at themselves and everyone else.

The scene plays out the same way it did before, and Chaud watches in stunned silence. All thoughts of the things in the crater have been chased out of his mind for now - this is taking up all of his attention, because what the actual hell is going on here?

Just as the scene starts to fade, the Mimic sitting on the table twists around and looks over her shoulder, directly at the real Chaud and Mimic. With a surprised jolt, Chaud realises this is why Mimic was looking over here earlier - because she knew this was going to happen.

The scene finally fades, and Chaud blinks, then turns to Mimic. She's looking at the place they just saw the strange scene with a tilted head and a mostly-blank expression, but Chaud can feel faint sparks of curiosity coming from her through their connection.

What the hell was that? Chaud's shock makes him blunt, and he very nearly demands rather than asks.

The anime called it a Past Vision, Mimic replies. It's because of the weird time distortions around the crater.

T-time distort- what the hell? Chaud blurts out, gaping at her.

Mimic shrugs. That's what the anime told me, she says. C'mon, we should get back to Dad and see if we can get that light fixed.

How the hell is she so calm about this? First the thing with the crater apparently being home to whatever might have killed the people in this base, and now time distortions. And she casually mentions it all as if they're discussing NetBattling techniques!

Before they can head back to Dr. Hikari, however, they meet him and the professor coming into the foyer. Chaud blinks at him, still shocked from everything Mimic told him - too shocked to have realised that he could hear the sound of footsteps heading toward them. Mimic evidently didn't have that issue, because she greets her dad cheerfully enough.

"Manabe and Hunter just called back," Dr. Hikari explains. "They found one of the cars from the base. Come on, we're heading out to check it now. I've already called Lan - he should be waiting for us outside."

Chaud glances at the replacement bulb in his hands.

"We can fix that later," Dr. Hikari tells him, taking it from Chaud and setting it down on the table. "Right now, finding out what happened to the people in this base takes priority."

Except the people in this base are probably all dead.

I said most of them might be dead, Mimic reminds him, as they follow Dr. Hikari and Professor Taki outside.

Like that's any better, Chaud retorts.

They meet Lan on the way, and it's only when they're almost there that Chaud realises they're heading toward the crater. He hadn't noticed because he was too busy trying to listen for whatever's inside the crater.

He stops dead on the rim.

"Chaud?" Dr. Hikari gives him a puzzled look. "What is it?"

"The . . . the car's in the crater?" Chaud curses his voice for shaking so much. Dammit, he's normally better at hiding his fear.

"Yes," Dr. Hikari replies. "Is there a problem?"

"I . . . well . . ." Aside from whatever killed those people, no, there's absolutely no problem whatsoever. "C-can I just- is it okay if I-"

Mimic pushes him into the crater.

Chaud lets out a high-pitched shriek as he slips down the side, and eventually manages to catch himself on a rock that's thankfully not sharp, but steady enough to help him stop. He stings all over from his undignified sliding, and has to wait a moment to recover from the slight rush of adrenaline from the fall.

He hears the others coming down the crater after him, and scrambles to his feet just as Mimic skids to a stop nearby. He can see the others - Manabe and Hunter included - looking extremely startled, but all Chaud cares about is why the hell Mimic just shoved him into the crater.

He marches over to her and grabs the front of her shirt. "What the hell was that!?" Chaud demands.

Calm down, Mimic tells him.

"Calm down? Calm down!?" Chaud can't believe what he's hearing. "You told me the people in that base camp were killed by whatever the hell is down here, and you want me to calm down?"

We haven't been attacked yet, Mimic reminds him, infuriatingly calm. And we don't need to worry about the things down here right now.

Chaud stares at her for several moments, and then sighs and drops his head onto her shoulder. "Your sense of danger is completely screwed up," he informs her.

Blame all the near-death experiences we've had, Mimic says, reaching up to give him a half-sarcastic pat on the head.

He turns his head so his cheek is pressed into her shoulder instead of his forehead, and gives her a flat look.

"You're insane," Chaud says.

Mimic flashes him a sharp-toothed grin. Did you only just figure that out?

Dr. Hikari steps forward, with an almost horrified look in his eyes, and it's only then that Chaud realises he said all of that out loud - and very loudly, too.

"Did . . . did you just say 'killed by whatever is down here'?" Dr. Hikari asks. "Mimic, Chaud, do you know what's going on?"

Chaud sighs and pulls back from Mimic. They exchange a glance, and Chaud decides to speak, because he doesn't think Mimic's creepy calm vibes will do much good here.

"Mimic told me she thinks the people in the base camp were killed by the things that're down in this crater," Chaud explains.

Most, Mimic reminds him.

"She thinks most of the people were killed," Chaud corrects himself. "She's not sure, though. But . . . we've both been hearing weird noises from down there." He gestures further down the crater.

"We need to get out of here, now," Manabe says urgently.

"We're fine for now," Mimic tells her. "Only problem is that guy."

She points to the thick cloud of mist down below, and everyone looks in that direction. Upon first inspection, there's nothing there, but after listening for a moment - and ignoring the faint scuttling noises coming from deeper into the crater - Chaud can hear the faltering footsteps of a human, and a harsh, ragged gasping that practically screams exhaustion and fear.

It takes a few moments for those sounds to be audible for everyone else, and then a shape appears through the mist. It's a man, staggering up the crater as if every step is a massive effort.

The man collapses a few metres away, and the stunned silence that came over the group is broken abruptly. Professor Taki, Hunter, and Lan rush over to help the man, while Chaud, Mimic, Dr. Hikari, and Manabe stay back to avoid crowding them.

Professor Taki gets to his knees beside the man, and helps him to sit up. "Professor Moura!" he exclaims, eyes widening when he sees the man's face.

"Lan!" Hunter glances at him. "Get some water, quickly."

"Uh-" Lan looks startled for a moment, but Dr. Hikari comes forward, producing a water bottle. Lan takes it with a grateful look, and then holds it up to the man's lips.

The man - Professor Moura, apparently - drinks like he hasn't touched water in days. When Lan starts to back up a little, evidently intending to take the bottle away, Professor Moura grabs it and chugs more water until he practically chokes on it, then pushes the bottle away and gasps for air, slumping in Professor Taki's arms.

"Professor Moura," Professor Taki says, leaning forward, "it's Professor Taki, from Japan. Do you remember me? What happened? Where is everyone?"

He's asking that, even though we just told them the people in the base are probably dead? Chaud wonders incredulously.

Mimic shrugs beside him. He's probably still trying to hope that they're all still alive. They might be, but it's highly unlikely.

Meanwhile, Professor Moura somehow manages to gather enough strength to speak. Everyone strains to hear what he says - well, everyone but Chaud and Mimic, who hear Professor Moura's voice as easily as they hear the odd noises from deep within the crater.

"M . . . monster . . ." Professor Moura rasps.

"Monster?" Professor Taki repeats, shocked.

Professor Moura suddenly springs into life, struggling in Professor Taki's grip until he lets go. "Monsters!" he cries. "Monsters everywhere, all around us! There's- there's one inside me-"

Professor Taki tries to get him to calm down, but he's too worked up, and even from here, Chaud can see the traumatised horror in Professor Moura's eyes. The man's terrified scream echoes off the walls of the crater, and then, mercifully, he falls into unconsciousness.

---

They head back up to the base camp after that. There's no way anyone's going to stay down in the crater for longer than they have to - and after finding Professor Moura, Mimic's theory is just that little more believable. Though Chaud - and everyone else, he suspects - isn't exactly happy about that.

"Professor Moura should be fine after some rest," Dr. Hikari reports, as he steps back into the foyer. The door he came through leads to a hallway where the sleeping quarters are located, though Chaud hasn't been down there himself, so he's not sure what the place looks like.

"I wonder what he meant," Manabe murmurs. "'Monsters' . . ."

Dr. Hikari sits in one of the armchairs opposite the sofa that Chaud and Lan are sitting on. Mimic has settled herself on the arm to Chaud's right, and she swings her leg absently as she watches her dad.

"I'm not entirely sure," Dr. Hikari admits. "I was able to get some more information out of him when he woke up again, but all he could tell me was that he apparently saw himself while he was trying to escape from the monsters."

"He saw himself?" Chaud blinks, straightening up. "Mimic and I saw something like that, too. In this room, actually, just before you and Professor Taki came to get us."

"Something like that happened to me too!" Lan exclaims. "I left the break room, and suddenly I could hear all these voices, but when I looked, no one was there."

"We saw ourselves just after we arrived," Chaud says.

"That's very strange," Dr. Hikari says, putting a hand on his chin. He doesn't speak for a moment, simply gathering his thoughts, but then he looks up. "Mimic, what do you know about this base?"

"Why are you asking your daughter?" Professor Taki asks, before Mimic can respond. "She's never been to this base. What would she know about-"

"They're not monsters," Mimic interrupts. Chaud feels a slight sense of impatience from her, and guesses that she's grown somewhat tired of people questioning Dr. Hikari when he asks her for information. "They're viruses. Trilobite viruses."

"Trilobite?" Dr. Hikari repeats, while Professor Taki gapes at Mimic. "But that particular species of virus was eradicated over a decade ago . . ."

He goes quiet for another moment, and then speaks again.

"I assume these viruses are what killed the others," Dr. Hikari says.

"May have killed the others," Chaud corrects him. "Mimic doesn't know for sure."

"Just guessing," Mimic agrees.

"Do you know how they got here?" Dr. Hikari asks.

"Duo," Mimic replies.

"He put them here? Or he caused them to appear?" Dr. Hikari presses.

"Both," Mimic says. "I think. Dunno everything. Most of it's guessing."

"And what about the crater? Do you know anything about that?"

"A little."

Dr. Hikari waits for a moment, but when Mimic doesn't elaborate beyond that, he narrows his eyes thoughtfully and leans forward.

"You're not giving me a straight answer," he says. "That's on purpose, isn't it? You know something about this place, but you refuse to tell us for some reason."

"If you know something, you need to tell us," Manabe says, giving Mimic a hard look. "Withholding this kind of information could prevent us from discovering the truth about this place."

"If Mimic isn't telling you something," Chaud speaks up in defence of his twin sister, "then there's a reason. Sometimes she can't tell us everything. Maybe there's something that needs to happen with this place, and telling us everything now would change it. Or maybe she just doesn't want us to start relying too much on her knowledge. We can't expect her to be able to map out every detail of our lives, after all. You all managed just fine before, anyway."

"He has a point," Dr. Hikari says mildly, looking at Manabe. "Besides, if Mimic doesn't want to answer my questions, I'm not going to force her. She'll tell us if she wants to."

A few moments pass by in tense silence. Chaud and Dr. Hikari keep their gazes fixed on Manabe, who looks vaguely uncomfortable, while Mimic keeps her expression mostly blank - though Chaud can feel her apprehension, so she's definitely not as calm as she looks. Meanwhile, Lan looks like he's just realised something, most likely about how Sunayama and Saiko got away (because it's not hard to realise Mimic knew about that when faced with such obvious evidence), and poor Professor Taki looks completely bewildered.

Hunter seems to be the only one who's unaffected by the tension, though. He alone seems to be truly calm, though for all Chaud knows, that's just a clever facade. He can only read Mimic's mind - he doesn't have Arcadia's Empath Program, which allows him to sense the emotions of anyone nearby, rather than just a single person.

"I'm not quite sure I understand what's going on," Hunter says slowly, "but from what I can tell, that crater outside seems to be the main cause of whatever's happening here." He nods to Mimic. "We can't force a kid to tell us something, so I won't ask. But I still want to find out what's going on down in that crater."

"Right," Dr. Hikari agrees, leaning back in his chair. "Thanks to Mimic, we know that there are Trilobite viruses materialised down there. What we don't know is how or why those viruses are there in the first place."

Manabe looks like she wants to say something, but she wisely keeps quiet. Good thing, too, because Chaud was seriously starting to consider hissing at her, if only to just warn her off bothering his sister.

"We should investigate the crater," Dr. Hikari announces. "There should be something down there, other than the viruses."

"But the only expedition car we have is in no condition to be driven," Professor Taki protests.

"From what I could tell, all of the equipment is still fully functional," Dr. Hikari says. "So it's more accurate to say that the car is no condition to be driven by humans." He looks at Chaud, Mimic, and Lan. "Your Navis can drive the car down into the-"

"Arcadia stays here," Mimic breaks in.

Dr. Hikari blinks at her.

"He stays here," Mimic insists.

She offers no further explanation, and after a moment or two, Dr. Hikari nods.

"Alright, then," he agrees. "MegaMan and ProtoMan will drive the car down into the crater. We'll keep in contact with them and monitor their progress. If they run into any of the Trilobite viruses, they'll return immediately."

More like when they run into any of the Trilobite viruses. Will they even be able to outrun the things? Chaud knows absolutely nothing about the Trilobite viruses - like Dr. Hikari said, they were eradicated over a decade ago, so it's not like there's any actual information about them. Today is the first time Chaud's ever even heard of these things.

---

They somehow manage to drag the car back over the rim of the crater, and the others head back inside to set up a transmission between the car and the base camp. Chaud and Lan get into the car so they can jack their Navis in, and Mimic hops up next to Chaud, leaning over his shoulder to look at his PET's screen.

"Be careful, you two," Chaud says, as ProtoMan and MegaMan settle into the driver's seats in the network.

"If you guys start feeling sick again, let us know," Lan adds.

"We haven't really stopped feeling sick," MegaMan admits.

"Sorry in advance if I get data-vomit all over the console," ProtoMan mutters.

"Are you gonna be okay to drive?" Chaud asks him, worried.

"I should be," ProtoMan replies, glancing up at him. "Really, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"I'll keep an eye on him," MegaMan promises, and ProtoMan shoots him a mildly offended look.

"Watch out for the viruses," Mimic tells them. "And f'you meet someone called Colonel, he's a friend."

"Colonel?" MegaMan looks at her, blinking. "What does he look like?"

"Big Navi," Mimic replies. "Black armour, with a cape. Red right arm. He's a human-Navi."

"We'll keep an eye out for him," ProtoMan says, nodding.

Mimic backs out of the car, and Chaud slips down to follow her. On the other side, Lan hops out and then turns to close the door - there isn't one on Chaud's side, so he doesn't need to bother with that.

The car starts up, and then begins to make its way over the rim of the crater and down below. After watching it vanish into the mist, Chaud turns to Mimic and Lan.

"Come on, let's head back inside," he says.

The expedition base camp isn't that big, so it's easy to find their way back to the data storage room. Dr. Hikari is seated at the console, and when they come in, ProtoMan and MegaMan are already some distance down into the crater.

"Outside temperature now at sixty-four degrees and climbing," MegaMan reports.

"Stay alert," Dr. Hikari reminds them.

"We know," MegaMan replies solemnly.

They keep going, and the data that the screen gets from the car is . . . kind of bizarre. Chaud's seen a lot of data, but he's never seen anything as weird as this - it's almost like the information can't decide what to do with itself, and it's all over the place. Numbers scroll down the screen, too fast for him to read, and then so slow that he gets to the bottom of the screen before it even changes again, and then it's too fast again, then too slow . . .

There's definitely something weird in that crater, aside from the Trilobite viruses. Mimic mentioned time distortions - maybe it has something to do with that.

"Do you feel that?" MegaMan asks. It takes a moment to realise he's not talking to them.

"Yeah," ProtoMan replies. Chaud's alarmed to hear that he sounds even worse than he did on the helicopter. "The sickness is getting worse . . ."

Dr. Hikari's eyes narrow in thought, and he quickly types something onto the console's keyboard. After a moment, a new window pops up, showing two digital clocks. The one at the top of the new window is blue, while the one at the bottom is red - and, for whatever reason, neither of them are in sync.

"I think I've figured out why your Navis are sick," Dr. Hikari says, glancing over his shoulder at Chaud, Mimic, and Lan. "It's because of distortions in time."

"Distortions in time?" Chaud repeats. Well, at least this confirms what Mimic said.

Dr. Hikari nods and turns back to the screen. "The digital clock on the top is the passing of time for the base camp. The one on the bottom is the passing of time within the crater. Time in the crater is moving at a different pace to the area outside it."

"It's moving a lot faster than here," Lan comments, watching the two different clocks with an interested expression. Then he blinks, and he jerks back in surprise. "Now it's slower!"

"I think whatever made that crater also created some form of space-time distortions," Dr. Hikari says. "I'm not sure how or why, though." He looks at Mimic. "Is Duo responsible for this?"

Mimic nods. She doesn't offer any information - this time, Chaud realises, because she simply doesn't have any information. Knowing that Duo somehow caused this is completely different to knowing how this even happened in the first place. Then again, Duo is a god, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Duo is not a god, Mimic says, shooting Chaud a mild glare.

He gives her an exasperated look in response. He separated us into our own bodies, created an entirely new type of NetNavis that can materialise without dimensional areas, and is now apparently responsible for creating distortions in space and time, he retorts. If he's not a god, I'm a mouse.

Then you're a mouse, Mimic fires back. He's just an alien NetNavi-

-with delusions of grandeur, yes, you've said, Chaud sighs, rolling his eyes.

They're distracted from their argument - such as it is - by MegaMan speaking up again.

"Outside temperature has now reached eighty-four degrees," he reports.

"We're nearing the centre of the crater," ProtoMan says. He really doesn't sound good at all - Chaud's beginning to wonder if they should have just sent MegaMan on his own, or sent Arcadia instead of ProtoMan, because ProtoMan seems to be affected the most by these time distortions.

It's like Mimic was thinking earlier - ProtoMan is part virus, and the Poltergeist Program inside him causes minor glitches even at the best of times. Arcadia and MegaMan are full NetNavis, so while they're affected by the time distortions, they aren't anywhere near as sick as ProtoMan is.

As if on cue, ProtoMan gags and then retches. They hear a sharp exclamation from MegaMan, and then the data stops coming through suddenly.

"MegaMan! ProtoMan!" Dr. Hikari calls sharply. "Are you both alright?"

"I'm okay, but ProtoMan threw up again," MegaMan replies. "We had to stop driving. I . . . I don't think we can go any further like this. ProtoMan can't, anyway."

"S-s-sorry . . ." ProtoMan chokes out. "I don't . . . think I- hurk-"

The sound of violent retching makes Chaud wince, and he wishes he could jack ProtoMan out of the car, but he can't do that because it's too far away. The transmission that Dr. Hikari set up between the base camp and the car isn't enough to let him get ProtoMan out of the car's network and back into his PET.

"ProtoMan!" Arcadia calls out from Mimic's PET. "MegaMan! Can you hear me? Come back to base, now!"

"But we still need to figure out what's going on with that crater-" Professor Taki begins.

He cuts himself off when Chaud hisses at him. Mimic backs Chaud up by baring her teeth, startling Professor Taki even more.

"If ProtoMan's too sick to continue, they should return," Dr. Hikari says firmly. "We can try again with MegaMan and Arcadia - but only after we're sure that ProtoMan is alright."

"Can someone please knock me out?" ProtoMan begs. "My stomach's trying to eat itself . . . And I don't even have a stomach . . . Oh, fu-"

He throws up again.

"Okay, yeah, we're going back," MegaMan decides. "You gonna be okay there for now?"

"Delete me."

"I'll take that as a 'probably'."

Despite his worry for ProtoMan, Chaud can't help but be faintly amused at how ProtoMan is acting right now. He's still joking around and being an idiot, even when he's suffering like that - Chaud thinks ProtoMan would've never done something like this before Mimic came into this reality. He changed to suit her needs, and what she needed was someone who could stay light-hearted even in a dark situation.

The result of that is a slightly bratty version of ProtoMan, but it's absolutely hilarious, so Chaud has no objections. Maybe the 'bratty' thing came from the cat virus data . . . Cats are notorious for being assholes, after all. Even Ragdoll, Mimic's gentle giant of a cat, is no exception to that.

ProtoMan continues to complain for a few moments, and then his voice dies down as he becomes too ill to speak anymore. MegaMan reports that he's turning the car around and heading back to base camp as fast as he can - and, of course, that's just when everything goes wrong.

Warnings pop up on the screen suddenly, flashing red and causing sharp alarms to ring out from the console. Professor Taki seems to recognise those warnings immediately.

"That's the same signal from Duo's comet!" he exclaims.

Lan leans over his dad's shoulder. "MegaMan!"

"MegaMan, can you go any faster?" Dr. Hikari asks tensely.

There's a moment of silence, and then-

"Viruses!" MegaMan cries. "Trilobite viruses! We're being overrun!"

"Dammit," Dr. Hikari growls, "we're too late!"

"MegaMan!" Lan calls again, more frantic this time.

Through his sense of growing panic, Chaud begins to hear something. It's faint, but he recognises it - he's been hearing the same sounds coming from deep in the crater this whole time, and now it's closer than it was before. He looks over at Mimic, about to ask if she can hear the same thing - after all, maybe Chaud's worry for ProtoMan is getting to him, and making him hear things - but she's glaring up at the ceiling, teeth bared. That confirms it.

They're under attack at base camp, too.

"Dr. Hikari!" Chaud exclaims, hurrying toward him. "Is it possible to get a dimensional area out here?"

"A dimensional area?" Dr. Hikari blinks at him, and then looks past him at Mimic. His eyes widen when he sees his daughter glaring at the ceiling. "What do you hear?"

"The viruses are here, too," Chaud quickly explains. "We hear the same things we heard from the crater."

"This is why Mimic wanted Arcadia to stay here," Dr. Hikari realises. He nods and takes out his PET, quickly sending a message. "I'm sending an emergency signal to SciLab. Famous should still be there - he'll send us a dimensional area via satellite."

"How long will it take to form up?" Chaud demands, as the faint scuttling begins to get louder.

When Hunter looks up at the ceiling with an unsettled expression, Chaud realises the scuttling is now loud enough for everyone to hear it. Dr. Hikari grits his teeth as he puts away his PET.

"Not that long," Dr. Hikari replies. "But I don't know if it'll form up before the viruses get to us."

"Too late, run!" Mimic snaps, whirling around and shoving at the nearest person - Manabe - just as a golden claw smashes through the ceiling.

A giant beetle-like virus with a golden shell and three glowing red eyes forces its way into the data storage room. It lets out a loud chattering noise as it advances, and the group quickly backs out of the room and escapes into the hallway. Another of the beetle-like viruses - the Trilobite viruses, Chaud realises - bursts through a room just up ahead, then turns to face them. It's smaller than the one that came into the data storage room, but it looks just as dangerous.

They head for the foyer, in the opposite direction of the smaller Trilobite. Hunter rushes into the sleeping quarters to get Professor Moura - there's no way they're leaving that man to these viruses.

While they wait for Hunter to get back, Chaud hears the familiar sound of a dimensional area forming up overhead. A moment later, every surface is covered in a multi-coloured sheen.

Mimic wastes no time in downloading her synchro chip. The glow of Cross Fusion is just dying down when a Trilobite forces its way into the foyer, and Mimic barely waits for the light to fade properly before blasting the virus with a stream of Flashfire. Then she whirls around, quickly forming two Firebombs, and hurls them at a larger Trilobite that tries to smash its way through the ceiling.

Hunter comes back into the foyer with Professor Moura on his back. His eyes widen when he sees Mimic in full Cross Fusion - he seems surprised, of course, because he's never seen Cross Fusion before. But Chaud thinks he also looks awed, and more than a little impressed.

The biggest Trilobite so far crashes through the front entrance of the foyer, chattering with a high-pitched noise that grates on Chaud's hearing. He picks up a sense of discomfort from Mimic even before he sees her eyes narrowing through the eye-holes on her feathered hood, but she takes a few running steps toward the giant Trilobite anyway, Holy Fire already crackling along her arm in preparation for an attack.

There's a crumbling sound from behind them, and Chaud looks over his shoulder, eyes widening, as no less than three Trilobite viruses smash through the walls. Everyone backs up into the middle of the room and Mimic spreads her wings, using them to boost her jump so she sails overhead and lands in front of them to face the trio of Trilobites.

Unfortunately, she also left the giant Trilobite behind them. It forces its way through the narrow entryway and rears up on its back legs, and Mimic whirls around, pointing her Holy Fire-coated hand at it while keeping her other trained on the three Trilobites. She can't take on that many opponents at once and still keep everyone safe, though - Chaud doesn't need his connection with her to know that she's very quickly getting overwhelmed.

Then Manabe takes out her Battle Chip Gate, and Chaud abruptly remembers the reason they were even doing those tests in the first place - so situations like this won't be so common, and regular members of the Net Police can have some way to fight against materialised viruses or Asteroid Navis.

"Life Aura, download!" Manabe exclaims.

The Life Aura barrier shimmers into existence around the group, and Chaud feels Mimic's relief as she turns away from the giant Trilobite and focuses on the other three. She quickly forms an Avenger's Arrow bow and shoots the one in the middle, and the Avenger's Arrow explodes. It deletes the middle Trilobite and leaves the other two damaged, so Mimic forms two Bound Swords and hurls them at the remaining two Trilobites' heads.

While Mimic is dealing with the trio of Trilobites, the giant Trilobite tries to force its way through Manabe's Life Aura barrier. Its efforts cause it to wreck even more of the base camp building, but it can't get through the barrier.

"Bamboo Lance, download!" Manabe quickly says.

Shoots of bamboo pierce through the giant Trilobite virus, and it writhes in agony for a moment before freezing, and then bursting into data as it's deleted. Just in time, too, because the Life Aura barrier dies down at that exact moment - but luckily, all of the enemies within the foyer have been defeated.

Unfortunately, Chaud can still hear more Trilobites in the area. There's so many of them he can barely tell where they are, except that they're all outside - the way the chattering and scuttling noises echo in open air is different to how they sound indoors.

Mimic! Chaud cries, twisting around to look at her.

She nods, spreads her wings, then boosts herself overhead and takes off running through the ruined entrance as soon as she lands in front of them. Almost immediately, the sound of roaring Holy Fire makes itself known, and Chaud heads outside with the others to see Mimic blasting Holy Fire at another giant Trilobite as she climbs into the air.

"Where's the helicopter?" Hunter demands, looking around. "We can use it to escape!"

"No way!" Chaud snaps, turning on him. "I'm not leaving ProtoMan behind!"

"Or MegaMan!" Lan adds.

"It's not safe for us to stay here," Hunter argues.

Before Chaud can argue, he picks up a sharp sense of pain from Mimic. It's not the same as her shared pain - he can only sense that she's hurting, not feel it for himself. But it's enough to distract him from the argument, and he looks over just in time to see her crash and skid along the ground.

Trilobite viruses begin to surround her. She struggles to get up, glaring at the viruses, but Chaud can feel her exhaustion. She's taking on too many opponents at once - it doesn't matter how powerful Cross Fusion makes her, even she can't handle this much.

"Mimic!" Dr. Hikari yells, starting forward. He stops abruptly when even more Trilobite viruses appear, scuttling toward them.

Manabe quickly downloads an Elec Reel that makes a ring of electricity around the group, keeping the viruses at bay. Mimic gasps for a moment, trying to get her breath back, and then downloads a Life Aura of her own to keep the Trilobites off her.

Chaud grits his teeth and backs up until his back is pressed against Lan's, and even though they don't share a mental connection like he does with Mimic, he knows they're both thinking the same thing.

If only their NetNavis were here, they could fight back. If only ProtoMan and MegaMan were here, Mimic wouldn't have to fight alone, and Manabe wouldn't need to struggle to keep the viruses off the group.

---

MegaMan blasts out a Charged Shot at a small Trilobite, deleting it, but there are so many that it doesn't matter that he deleted a single virus. He's fighting on his own, struggling to keep up with the literal swarm of viruses - ProtoMan is still too sick to do anything but tremble where he collapsed earlier, and Dark Shadow refuses to move away from him, crouching over him and opening its split-mouth wide enough that it could probably swallow one of the smaller Trilobites whole.

Not that MegaMan's going to complain about being forced to fight on his own. He knows ProtoMan hates being unable to help - he can tell by the way the red-armoured cat-Navi is baring his teeth, digging his claws into the ground of the network even though he can't move. And besides that, MegaMan's not about to give ProtoMan any grief for something he can't help. It's not ProtoMan's fault that he's so sick, and MegaMan refuses to blame him for it.

That doesn't change the fact that MegaMan is still fighting on his own, and is losing. Badly.

If only Lan was here, he could probably fight these Trilobite viruses off easily. But he only has his Mega Buster, and while it's a powerful attack, especially the Charged Shot, it's not enough to deal with this insane amount of viruses.

MegaMan fires two shots in quick succession, deleting two more Trilobites, but still it does nothing to curb the tide of viruses. He backs up, firing as he goes, and only realises he's back at the driver's console when he feels a clawed hand on his boot, stopping him from stepping back any further.

He glances down, meets ProtoMan's visor, and looks back at the swarm of viruses as they scuttle toward him. Dark Shadow crouches lower and flickers angrily, and MegaMan raises his Buster, knowing it's nearly futile but refusing to give up anyway. Even ProtoMan, though he's still so sick, lets out a faint but defiant hiss.

And then an odd symbol appears in the air just above the swarm of viruses. It looks almost like a NaviMark of some kind, but MegaMan only has a moment to take it in before it cracks open, and a NetNavi bursts through, swinging a massive sword on their red arm and slicing apart three viruses in one attack.

The NetNavi slashes their way through the Trilobites until they're at MegaMan's side, and the Trilobites back away, almost as if they're wary of this stranger who cut them apart so easily.

"Colonel," ProtoMan says weakly.

MegaMan blinks and looks down at him. The rush of battle and the nearly-hopeless situation makes his mind blank, and he honestly doesn't know why ProtoMan is saying 'Colonel' like it means something.

"Mimic s-said . . . remember?" ProtoMan tells him. "A big Navi . . . w-with a cape . . ."

Big Navi, Mimic had said. Black armour, with a cape. Red right arm. He's a human-Navi.

MegaMan's eyes widen and he whirls around to gape up at the NetNavi - at Colonel.

"I see you already know me," Colonel says, nodding to ProtoMan. "That makes this easier."

"Are you here to help us?" MegaMan asks desperately. Mimic had said that Colonel is a friend, so he must be here to help them.

"I was sent here to help you, yes," Colonel agrees. He narrows his eyes at ProtoMan, as if he's trying to assess his condition. "You're in no condition to fight. What are you doing here?"

"Vomiting my data up," ProtoMan snaps back. His frustration at being unable to fight is making him short-tempered, MegaMan thinks.

"Will you be alright to defend him?" Colonel asks MegaMan, ignoring ProtoMan's angry response. "I can thin out the viruses' numbers to make it easier."

"Yes, thank you!" MegaMan exclaims. He can't even begin to describe the sheer relief he feels at having such an obviously-powerful NetNavi helping them fight.

"Don't fuckin' need defending," ProtoMan mutters, as Colonel rushes out into the swarm of viruses and begins to slice them apart in a frankly impressive display of skill.

"And I suppose you can walk on your own two feet," MegaMan retorts sarcastically, lifting up his Mega Buster and shooting at any viruses that Colonel doesn't immediately delete, or any that try to get past the big black-armoured Navi to attack them.

"I'm not completely useless!" ProtoMan spits out. He glances up at Dark Shadow. "Come on, there's no need to protect me, MegaMan's enough on his own! Help Colonel!"

Dark Shadow flickers in what MegaMan thinks is an uncertain manner, but ProtoMan insists, half-heartedly swiping his claws through his shadow-double's body. It does absolutely nothing to hurt Dark Shadow, but the meaning is clear - get going.

After another moment of hesitation, Dark Shadow bursts into tendrils and whips out to attack the viruses. Immediately, the swarm bursts into a frenzy, scuttling over each other in an attempt to escape the lashing tendrils of shadows.

Colonel looks startled for a moment, before his eyes follow the trailing ends of the tendrils back to ProtoMan. MegaMan sees his eyes narrow thoughtfully, but before he can even wonder what that's about, Colonel gets back into the fight.

Between MegaMan, Colonel, and ProtoMan's shadows, they manage to delete the majority of the viruses. When the swarm is thin enough that he can relax for a moment, MegaMan glances over his shoulder to check on the driver's console. He'd left it running on automatic when the viruses appeared, because there's no way they're the only ones being attacked, and he wanted to get back to Lan and the others as quick as possible.

The car is just getting over the rim of the crater, and MegaMan sees a group of Trilobite viruses scuttling around outside the base camp. Even more alarming is the fact that all the humans are outside, too - but judging by the condition of the building, it's easy to guess that the Trilobites attacked from the inside and forced everyone out.

One group of Trilobites surround the humans, Lan included. There's a ring of electricity sparking around them, keeping the viruses at bay, and MegaMan can just about see Manabe holding her Battle Chip Gate. But there's a second group of Trilobites nearby, and through their golden legs, MegaMan sees the shimmer of a Life Aura barrier, and can make out the white shape of Arcadia - no, wait, that's Mimic.

So Mimic tried to take on the viruses more or less on her own. MegaMan feels a pang of guilt for that, even though he knows it's not actually his fault - Mimic and Arcadia were forced to fight alone while he and ProtoMan were trapped down in the crater, unable to get back to their operators to help them fight, too.

"Will you be okay for Cross Fusion?" MegaMan asks, glancing down at ProtoMan.

He's just getting to his feet, though he's still unsteady, and his mouth is twisted in a way that suggests he's moments from throwing up again. But there's a determined aura about him, and MegaMan can tell that ProtoMan doesn't care if he's sick - nothing will stop him from getting back to Chaud and helping him fight.

"MegaMan! ProtoMan!" Colonel calls. Most of the Trilobites are gone by now, and only a few remain, which Colonel quickly takes care of while he speaks. "Get back to your operators!"

"Thanks for the help, Colonel!" MegaMan calls back.

He has just enough time to see Colonel nodding in response before he and ProtoMan stream themselves out of the car and back into their operators' PETs.

---

"Lan!"

Lan jolts, and quickly whips out his PET. He grins when he sees MegaMan, and they exchange a quick nod before he takes out his synchro chip.

"Synchro chip, download!" Lan exclaims. MegaMan's voice joins his as he continues. "Cross Fusion!"

He hears Chaud downloading his own synchro chip, and neither of them wait for the light of Cross Fusion to die down. As soon they become NetNavis, they launch themselves into action.

Lan activates his Mega Buster and starts blasting the Trilobites surrounding them, and Chaud jumps up onto one of the Trilobites' heads and bounces off it to get through. Lan sees him streaking along on all fours toward the group of Trilobites trying to get at Mimic, and then hears an angry, high-pitched shriek as Chaud hurls himself at the nearest virus and starts ripping it apart.

Dark Shadow's static-screeching joins Chaud's shrieking as it begins to tear at the Trilobites surrounding Mimic as well. Satisfied that they've got Mimic covered, Lan turns his attention back to the Trilobites trying to attack his dad and the others.

"Spreader, download!" Lan snaps, raising his arm.

He shoots as soon as the Spreader materialises, and deletes two of the Trilobites in one blast. Being mindful of the weapon's durability, Lan turns it on the other Trilobites, deleting them in twos and threes before his Spreader finally breaks and vanishes from his arm.

But luckily for him, he managed to delete all of the Trilobites around him. It looks like Chaud and Dark Shadow were able to delete the ones trying to attack Mimic, too, and Lan can't detect any more viruses nearby, so they must have won the battle.

He slumps and falls onto his backside as the dimensional area fades, and catches his PET after Crossing Out. Lan lets out a sigh of relief just as Dad crouches by his side, looking just as relieved as Lan feels.

"Good work, Lan," Dad tells him, nodding. He glances over at Mimic and Chaud. "It looks like Mimic isn't too badly hurt, as well. She was just tired from trying to take on too many viruses at once."

Lan smiles at that, glad that his sister is okay. Chaud seems to be talking to her, but Lan can't hear him from this distance - he wonders if he'd be able to if he had Mimic and Chaud's sensitive hearing. After a moment, Mimic pulls Chaud into a hug, and they just sit there for a while.

After a quick rest, Lan pushes himself to his feet. Dad hovers nearby, watching him carefully to make sure he doesn't fall over, but he's fine. Lan heads over to Mimic and Chaud, Dad following close behind, just as the twins stand up as well.

Mimic looks a little unsteady on her feet, but Chaud helps keep her upright, and she gives Lan a sharp-toothed grin as he gets closer.

"Teach me to f-fight too much at once," she jokes.

"You did pretty good, though," Lan says, shrugging. He grins slyly. "For a skinny twig."

Mimic narrows her eyes at him, and a moment later, Chaud reaches out and gives Lan a light slap on the ear. Lan winces, though it didn't hurt much, and glares at him.

"What was that for?" Lan demands.

Chaud shrugs. "Mimic told me to," he replies.

Lan very much wants to wipe that smug look off both their faces, but he's not going to hit his sister while she's tired, and he's pretty sure Chaud would just bite him.

Stupid smug cat-people, Lan thinks, though he can't suppress his grin.

---

They don't head back to Japan right away. After the day they've had, Hunter decides that they should all get some rest, and they spend the night at the Net Police HQ in Netopia. It's probably daytime in Japan, Mimic thinks. She's not entirely sure, though, because she doesn't understand time zones even at the best of times.

She and Chaud head out of the room everyone's staying in - temporary beds have been set up for them all, though there's one less because Mimic and Chaud insisted on sharing a bed. Though they're not really using it at the moment.

They're exploring Netopia's Net Police HQ. It's a lot different to Japan's HQ, and definitely more interesting. Or maybe it's just more interesting because they're used to Japan's HQ building, and Netopia's HQ is completely new to them. It's certainly a cool building - it's more like a mansion or a castle, and has its own grounds like SciLab does, unlike Japan's HQ, which is just a skyscraper on the corner of a main street.

This place is super cool, Mimic says, when she and Chaud find their way into what seems to be an observatory room.

So much better than the one back home, Chaud agrees.

They head over to the window and look out at the city. Even that's different - DenTech City has skyscrapers all over the place, and you can't throw a stone in any direction without seeing some sort of fancy technology. But Heaven's City, while still just as technologically advanced, seems more rustic in comparison. The buildings aren't as tall, but they're big and look far older and full of history.

The location is completely different, too. DenTech City has a beach and an ocean on one side, a rocky quarry on another, and a mountainous forest surrounding the rest. Heaven's City, on the other hand, boasts a very plentiful forest surrounding most of the city, but as you get further out to the east, the wasteland desert they spent the day in begins to take over.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

The new voice doesn't startle them - though they were occupied with the view of Heaven's City, they're not completely unaware of their actual surroundings. They heard Hunter coming long before he even entered the room.

He steps up beside them now, looking out at the city with a soft smile.

"I sometimes come up here just to look at the view," Hunter admits. "I've been all over Netopia, thanks to my assignments, but Heaven's City has the best view I've ever seen in this country. Especially when it's night, like this." He sighs suddenly, and his smile drops into a worried frown. "Yet I can't always bring myself to enjoy it."

"What do you mean?" Chaud asks, blinking up at him.

Hunter glances down at them. "You guys have been dealing with those Asteroid Navis in Japan, right?" he asks. When they nod, he continues. "We've been having the same problems here, too. It takes a lot of manpower to take down a materialised NetNavi - you kids should know how tough they are, since you fight them a lot. And now, with that crater just barely a few miles outside the city . . ."

He trails off, looking deeply troubled. Hunter turns back to the window and looks out across the city in silence.

Mimic exchanges a glance with Chaud, and without speaking a word - not even mentally - they both come to a decision at the same time.

"We might be able to help with that," Chaud says, turning back to Hunter. The detective blinks down at them, clearly surprised, and Chaud presses on. "There's two of us - we can split ourselves between the city and the crater. One to protect the city against Asteroid Navis, and the other to keep an eye on the crater and deal with whatever comes out of it."

"But . . . you guys are Japanese Net Savers," Hunter points out. "You have no obligation to this country whatsoever."

"Yes, we do," Mimic tells him. "We're Net Savers. Country doesn't matter. We protect the world, not just Japan."

"Besides, Lan's more than capable of defending Japan on his own," Chaud adds, nodding. "Netopia doesn't have anyone who can use Cross Fusion. You'll have the Battle Chip Gates soon, sure, but that's not always going to be enough."

" . . . I'll have to confirm this with your commissioner," Hunter says slowly.

Chaud shakes his head. "Not the commissioner," he says. "We don't exactly work for the Net Police - we work exclusively for the commander of the Net Savers. So you'll have to talk to him, instead."

Hunter looks confused, so Mimic decides to help him out.

"We're Famous's personal Net Savers," she explains. "Work for him only. Get assignments and stuff from him, not Commissioner Kifune."

"I've never heard of anything like that," Hunter comments.

Chaud clears his throat somewhat awkwardly. "We, uh . . . never really got along with the commissioner or superintendent," he admits. "We clashed with them a lot."

That's putting it lightly, Mimic huffs.

Shut up, Chaud hisses back. We're trying to convince him to let us stay and help out. If he finds out we have a reputation for being a pain in the ass, he won't want us around.

Good point, Mimic concedes.

"Famous took us on as his personal Net Savers, at his own suggestion," Chaud continues. To anyone else, the pause in which their mental conversation took place was only short moment - the wonders of the mind and their connection never cease to amaze. "So only he would have the authority to assign us to Netopia."

"Well . . . alright," Hunter says. "I'll talk to him in the morning, then." His expression softens and he gives them both a look full of intense gratitude. "Thank you, by the way. The fact that you two offered yourselves so selflessly . . . I can't even begin to express how much this means to me."

"We'll do our best," Chaud replies, and Mimic nods her own agreement.

Now the only question that remains is how they're going to explain this to the others.

---

Dad is staying in Netopia as well, and when Mimic tells him that she and Chaud are also staying, he doesn't seem at all surprised.

"I thought you might," Dad confesses, when she asks him. "I'm not sure why, but I just had a feeling that you and Chaud would stay here." He gives Mimic and grin and ruffles her hair gently. "I guess you're not the only one who knows the future."

With that out of the way, the only thing left to do is tell Lan. It was easier with Dad, since he's staying behind too, because he wants to study the crater and help Netopia set up a dimensional generator lab so they can fight Asteroid Navis properly. But Lan's heading back to Japan, and he won't exactly be happy to find out that Mimic and Chaud aren't going back with him.

They're still trying to work out how to break the news to him on the ride to the airport. They're passing a cemetery, wondering if they should just wait until they get to the airport to bring it up, when multiple loud explosions of noise echo through the air.

Mimic clamps down on a shriek, clapping her hands over her ears, and Chaud flinches beside her. Lan looks out the window, startled, and Hunter speaks up from the driver's seat.

"It's an army funeral," he explains. "The person being buried was a hero to our country. They always fire off guns like that, don't worry."

"Netopia's weird," Lan mutters. "No offence, Hunter, but I'm glad we're going back to Japan soon . . ."

Opportunity! Mimic exclaims, glancing at Chaud.

"Actually, Lan, about that-" Chaud begins.

MegaMan speaks up at that moment, accidentally cutting him off. Though he probably didn't mean to, Mimic can't really help but feel a slight pang of resentment toward MegaMan - there goes their chance to tell Lan about this in the car. Now they'll probably have to wait until they're at the airport, because there's no way they can just bring this up naturally.

"Lan, look at the tombstone," MegaMan says.

"The tombstone?" Lan leans closer to the window. "What about it?"

"That symbol on the tombstone is the same as Colonel's," MegaMan tells him. "It was on that weird portal he came through, too."

"Really?" Lan blinks. "Huh . . ."

---

As Mimic predicted, Lan is definitely not happy when he learns they're both staying in Netopia. They didn't want to make a scene in public, so Mimic and Chaud took him up to the roof to break the news in private. It still doesn't do much to make it easier on Lan, but at least this way, they won't get stared at by people who overhear their conversation.

"What do you mean you're both staying?" Lan demands almost desperately. "How come you're not coming back to Japan with me?"

"Hunter was telling us about all the problems they've had with Asteroid Navis in Netopia," Chaud explains. "And, well . . . they don't have any Cross Fusion-capable Net Savers here, so we offered to help. I'm staying in the city to deal with Net Saver business, and Mimic is-"

"-staying at the crater," Mimic finishes the sentence easily. "M'going with Dad, helping to deal with the viruses and stuff."

"But . . . you guys are family," Lan says, sounding extremely upset. "Dad's staying, and if you guys are staying too, then . . . i-it'll only just be me going back to Japan. It'll just be me and Mom at home."

While they refuse to regret their decision, the guilt is something they can't really help. Lan's gotten used to having his entire family around him - maybe he'd be fine with just Dad staying in Netopia, but now their family is effectively split in half, and Lan's probably going to be lonely for a while.

But they can't just leave Netopia unguarded. Mimic didn't know what she was going to do about this before she came here, but now she's certain - she has to stay here, with Chaud, and they'll work together to keep Netopia safe. Chaud will deal with the Asteroid Navis that pop up in the city and across the country, and Mimic will guard the crater and deal with anything that comes out of it.

"Mimic, what about school?" Lan asks, looking at her. "And- and your therapy sessions, with Mizuki."

"Can do what I did last term," Mimic points out. "Dad's already talking to Ms. Mari about it. I won't miss much. And I can still do therapy. Video calls, with Mizuki - just need to figure out the time zone stuff."

" . . . What about your father?" Now Lan looks at Chaud, suddenly more worried than upset. "Will . . . will he get mad at you if you stay in Netopia?"

"I can still take care of my work as vice president from here," Chaud replies. "IPC has a branch in Netopia, remember. I'll be overseeing that branch when I'm not doing Net Saver work."

"What about-"

"Lan," Mimic interrupts gently, "we're staying."

"We're sorry we have to leave you," Chaud adds. "But Netopia needs to be protected just as much as Japan." He gives Lan a sad smile. "You'll be fine on your own, you know. You managed just fine before we became Net Savers - and you and MegaMan are powerful enough to make it through anything."

"But I don't wanna be on my own!" Lan bursts out. "You're my brother and sister, I want you to stay with me!"

Chaud looks a little startled to be called Lan's brother. Before he can point out that he's not Lan's brother - though he kind of is, since Mimic is Lan's adopted sister, and Chaud's technically related to the Hikaris because he's Mimic's biological twin brother - MegaMan speaks up from Lan's PET.

"Let them go, Lan," MegaMan says, in a gentle tone. "They're right - Netopia needs to be protected. And it's their decision. They'll be fine here, and we'll be fine on our own in Japan. It's not like we'll never see them again - we can always call them and talk whenever we want, anyway."

"But I-" Lan begins, but he cuts himself off with a sigh. " . . . Okay. Alright, I'll stop arguing." He looks at Mimic and Chaud. "I . . . I don't like being separated from you guys, but I do understand why you're both staying. I-I love you both, you know that, right?"

"We know," Mimic and Chaud reply.

"It won't be forever, anyway," Chaud adds.

"Just until this thing with Duo is sorted out." Mimic nods.

Lan looks between them. "God, I'm gonna miss you two being weird," he says. He sighs again and opens his arms. "C'mon, hug time. I'm not leaving you guys until I get a hug that lasts for at least five minutes, okay?"

"Isn't five minutes a little much?" Chaud wonders.

"Just hug me," Lan tells him.

Sharing a quick laugh, Mimic and Chaud step forward to hug him. Before they can even touch, though, they're all distracted by a sudden flash of light - two sudden flashes of light, actually, coming from their hands.

Mimic jerks back and lifts up her hand, staring at her palm in shock. Chaud does the same, looking completely bewildered.

"Wh-" Lan leans over and looks at their palms. "What is that? Is that-"

He lifts up his own hand and the Crest of Duo fades into view on his palm. Lan looks between his own Crest and Mimic and Chaud's, eyes wide.

"You guys . . . you have the same thing I do," Lan says. He blinks. "But . . . why do you only have half a Crest?"

"Half a Crest?" Mimic repeats, blinking at him.

The fact that it's only half a Crest hadn't even registered to her until that moment - she'd been too busy wondering why the hell she even has a Crest in the first place. She hadn't thought Duo would give his Crest to someone he sees as a violation of nature. She'd just thought Chaud would get his Crest, and that would be it.

But Lan's right. She only has half of a Crest on her palm. She doesn't understand until Chaud sends her a mental nudge to get her attention.

"Here," Chaud says, lifting up his right hand so his palm is facing outward. "Put your left hand against mine."

Mimic does so, copying Chaud, and her eyes widen when she sees that their half-Crests fit together to make a whole Crest. Lan is similarly shocked, and he looks between them, mouth open as if he can't figure out how to close it.

"I think I know why we have a half-Crest each," Chaud says, lowering his hand to frown at his palm. "We were in the same body until Duo separated us, and now we're twins - so Duo's given us half of the same Crest."

"Wait . . . if you guys also have a Crest . . ." Lan blinks and turns around, looking up into the sky. "Can you both see that comet?"

Mimic and Chaud look up, following his gaze, and for the first time since the star shower, they see Duo's comet in the sky.

"We see it," Chaud breathes. "We can see Duo's comet."