"For your part in helping to save our planet, your crimes have been forgiven," Kifune says. He steeples his fingers and leans his elbows on his desk, peering over them. "But they have not been forgotten."
Ms. Yuri bows her head. "I place myself in the hands of the Net Police."
Tesla, on the other hand, merely looks bored. "Can we hurry up with this? I have a cruise to get to."
"Tesla . . ." Charlie sighs, shoulders slumping in exasperation.
Kifune stares at Tesla impassively for a few moments. Chaud, personally, is impressed that the Commissioner isn't losing his temper with the woman - he certainly wouldn't have that much self-control, especially since Tesla's the entire reason Dark Chips became a thing again. Not anymore, of course, since their distribution stopped when Neo World Three fell apart, but as Kifune just said, forgiven but not forgotten.
"You're free to do as you please - within reason, of course - but you must report in weekly," Kifune tells Ms. Yuri and Tesla. "Come to my office personally if you're able to, or simply call if you can't. Either way, if you miss even one weekly report, we will assume you've gone back to your criminal activities and will arrest you. Is that understood?"
"Of course," Ms. Yuri agrees, again bowing her head.
"Fine, whatever," Tesla mutters, inspecting her nails. "Can I go now?"
Kifune closes his eyes for a brief moment, and Chaud can almost see him restraining his annoyance. "Not yet, Tesla. There's still one more matter to discuss."
Tesla looks annoyed, and then curious as Dark Miyabi steps into the Commissioner's office. Chaud senses a little spike of excitement from Mimic - she thinks ninja are pretty cool, so of course that means she thinks Dark Miyabi is cool, even if he is an assassin.
Lan, on the other hand, is clearly a little nervous. That makes sense, because Dark Miyabi's contract with Tesla was to delete MegaMan, and the only reason the assassin was even working with them in the first place was because they had to save the entire world. Now that the danger has passed, there's nothing stopping him from carrying out the contract, no matter how willingly he worked with them.
"The matter of your contract with Dark Miyabi," Kifune explains, gesturing to the assassin. "From what we understand, you made a contract with him just before Neo World Three was disbanded. That contract was to delete MegaMan."
"Oh, that?" Tesla doesn't look at all bothered. In fact, she looks no more bored than she already was. "I don't care about deleting MegaMan anymore. There's not much point, since, as you just said, Neo World Three was disbanded."
"You have already paid half the deposit," Dark Miyabi points out mildly. "Part of my personal code is to never leave a contract unfinished. I cannot take another contract until I have received full payment for my current one, which will only be given after completion."
Tesla actually rolls her eyes. "Fine, if that's the problem, then I'll just give you the rest of the money. Surely your personal code lets your clients dissolve a contract if they don't want it anymore?"
" . . . It does," Dark Miyabi admits, after a moment of silence. He inclines his head to her. "Very well, then. I accept your full payment. The contract between us will be dissolved as soon as the money is in my account."
"You'll have it by tomorrow," Tesla says. She gives Kifune a flat look. "Is that it? Can I go now? Seriously, that cruise isn't going to enjoy itself."
"Tesla," Charlie says, sounding greatly pained.
Kifune sighs deeply. "Yes, you may go." Only Chaud and Mimic hear him muttering, "Please."
Tesla grunts and spins on her heels, then marches out of the Commissioner's office without so much as a backward glance. Charlie shoots them all a look that's in equal parts apologetic and pained, and then he follows her.
Ms. Yuri, on the other hand, simply bows again and turns to leave. She pauses, glancing at Chaud and Mimic uncertainly.
"Forgiven but not forgotten," Chaud reminds her, giving her a steady look. Mimic tilts her head a little, expression perfectly blank.
Ms. Yuri nods, accepting that, and then she too leaves. Dark Miyabi glances over at Chaud and Mimic with a raised eyebrow - he doesn't ask, though, and he follows Ms. Yuri out of the room with all the grace and quiet of the ninja he is.
Once everyone aside from Chaud, Mimic, Lan, and Manabe are gone, Kifune sighs again and rubs his forehead with his hand.
"I didn't realise pardoning former criminals would be so trying," he mutters.
Manabe chuckles a little uncertainly. "Well, given their history, it's to be expected. They're hardly the first troublemakers we've dealt with, anyway." She glances at Chaud and Mimic as she says that.
"I'm just glad MegaMan and I don't need to watch out for Dark Miyabi and ShadowMan anymore," Lan sighs, relieved. "They're good people, for assassins. And I don't really like having to fight my allies or friends - unless it's a NetBattle, anyway."
"Speaking of fighting," Kifune says, gesturing for them to step up in front of his desk. They do so, and he continues. "I didn't just call the three of you here so you could watch me pardon Ms. Yuri and Tesla."
Chaud blinks. "You didn't?"
"No." Kifune clears his throat and looks at them one-by-one. "What are the terms of your contracts as Net Savers?"
"Uh . . ." Lan's brows furrow as he thinks. "That's . . . um . . . we get called in to do missions and work on cases and stuff?"
"I think he's talking about payment," Chaud says.
Lan's eyes widen. "Oh, right! Payment . . . um . . ."
"We're paid half the amount given other Net Savers, but receive a bonus pay if we have to use Cross Fusion during a mission," Chaud recites. He gives Kifune a politely questioning look. "With all due respect, sir, why are you asking about this?"
"We've already compensated the others for their part in stopping Duo," Kifune says. "Ms. Yuri and Tesla have been pardoned, and the others have received a gift of their own choosing, some of them more than one. It's a small reward for saving the entire planet, but it's all we could think of."
"I was surprised at how few of the others wanted money as a reward," Manabe adds. "As I recall, Charlie simply asked for a new helicopter. Nenji wanted a make-over for his fireworks factory. Maylu asked for a new piano and various books on sheet music. I think Dark Miyabi was one of the few who actually wanted money, though."
"And that's not even getting into what some of the others asked for," Kifune says, sighing a little.
That makes Chaud wonder just what exactly everyone asked for in return for saving the world, but he's still curious about why Kifune brought up his, Mimic's, and Lan's pay as Net Savers, so he keeps quiet.
"The only ones who haven't yet been offered their rewards are the three of you and Raika," Kifune goes on. "The Commissioner of Sharo's Net Police has assured me that Raika's reward will be handled by him, so it's just the three of you, now."
"You have a choice," Manabe tells them. "You can either choose to be gifted with anything you want - within reason, of course - or we can triple the usual bonus pay you'd normally receive upon completeting a mission which required Cross Fusion."
Chaud's not really sure what to make of this, and he can tell Mimic and Lan are just as shocked. The bonus pay they receive for Cross Fusion missions is considerable enough already - but to have it tripled? Even Chaud, who has more money than most of his friends put together, knows that's an absolutely absurd amount of money.
But there's also the fact that they're being offered quite literally anything they want. Even if it's a choice between that or money, whichever they choose, it's still a damn good reward.
Last time they saved the world, they didn't exactly get one. That was fine, in Chaud's opinion - the battle had been difficult and tiring and everyone was just glad it was over, to be honest. Though technically there was a reward, at least for Mimic; she became Famous's first personal Net Saver, if only because she clashed far too much with Kifune and Manabe.
Chaud also remembers that Kifune and Manabe had said they'd considered giving them a reward for stopping Dr. Regal's rampage, but had decided not to since rewarding them could make them targets for any of the remnants of Nebula or any other enemies they may have made during that entire incident.
This time, however, there aren't any enemies left. Nebula was a big organisation, bigger than anyone had thought it'd be, but all of the former members have been arrested by now. Neo World Three only ever had five members - six, if you include Gauss, though no one's really sure where he is at the moment - and their leader has just been pardoned, and as far as Chaud knows, the other four had their memories erased and aren't even aware that they were criminals in the first place. The only Asteroid Navi left on the planet is NapalmMan, who's not their enemy at all, and Duo already said they passed his test, so he's definitely not going to come back and attack them.
They have no enemies. That's . . . quite an odd thought, to be honest.
"Can I have the money?" Lan asks eagerly, nearly bouncing on his feet. "Then I could buy all the curry I want!"
"Why am I not surprised?" Kifune chuckles good-naturedly and nods to Manabe.
She takes out her PET and marks down Lan's choice. "It'll be in your account by tonight, or tomorrow morning by the latest."
"Curry party here I come!" Lan cheers, throwing his arms.
"Oh, Lan . . ." MegaMan sighs, though there's laughter in his tone.
Chaud's still trying to make his own decision, but he senses Mimic's mind working. She's weighing her options - and he's not at all surprised to find that she's trying to work out whether a bunch of money to buy games would be better than simply asking for the games themselves.
Lan's thing is his obsession with curry. Mimic's thing is her love of games. Of course that would influence which reward they choose.
Eventually, Mimic makes her decision. Obviously the idea of getting games as a reward appeals to her very much, but then she'd be stuck with just the ones she asked for, and if she wants any others, she'll have to buy them with the money she normally gets as a Net Saver. Chaud's not even sure why she bothered thinking about it, honestly - it was kind of obvious which reward she'd pick in the end.
"Money," Mimic decides. "Buy lots'a games."
"Also not surprising," Kifune says.
Manabe marks down Mimic's choice, and then the only one left who has yet to decide is Chaud.
This . . . is somewhat difficult for him. Neither of the things being offered as a reward matter much to him - he has more than enough money as it is, and he could easily buy whatever he asks for anyway.
But, well . . . he still receives pay for being a Net Saver, doesn't he? And he hasn't used even a single zenny of that. It's not meant to be used, because it's in a separate account to his main one, an account that Father has no access to. There's a considerable amount in there already since he hasn't used any of it, and if he adds in the tripled bonus pay that Kifune and Manabe are offering, he'll pretty much be set if he ever needs to use it for any reason.
"I'll take the money, too," Chaud says.
He feels the ghost of a touch on the back of his hand, and glances at Mimic. She knows what he was thinking and why he made his choice, the same way he knows why she made her choice.
It's clear that everyone else in the Commissioner's office knows, too. Lan's excitement at the idea of a curry party dims into a solemn air, and his worried expression is almost difficult to look at. Kifune and Manabe are no less concerned, for all that Chaud technically doesn't even work for them.
But no one says a word. They accept his choice, and that's it - and he's glad for it. It's already awkward enough when this comes up at any other time, so he's not really keen to discuss it here. Not with Kifune and Manabe, anyway.
Lan's at least eighty percent sure that his dad needs a break, but he's way too into the project he's working on right now. Which is fine, really, except Mom sent Lan to SciLab with instructions to get Dad to at least eat something and maybe take a half-hour nap if he can manage it.
But Dad's as stubborn as anything. The project he's working on right now - something to do with the stuff they found in the translated books from the ruins, Lan thinks - has his full attention, and when Dad gets down to it, he really doesn't stop. That much Lan would know even if his dad hadn't nearly worked himself into exhaustion when creating the dimensional core for the dimensional area almost a whole year ago.
Somehow, Lan manages to get his dad to eat a sandwich from SciLab's cafe. Getting him to take a nap or even just a little break is impossible, but at least he's not gonna accidentally starve himself now.
Lan heads out of the lab his dad's working in after extracting a promise from Famous that he'll try and get Dad to go to sleep sometime soon. He's still got some time to kill before the fireworks show, so he goes up to the roof.
Mimic and Chaud are already up there, sitting on the wall encircling the roof. They're both looking out at the darkening sky, watching the sun going down, and as Lan comes closer, he hears them talking.
"What do you think's better?" Mimic is asking. "Sunset or sunrise?"
"Given we're practically nocturnal, I'm going with sunset," Chaud replies.
"Same!" ProtoMan calls out.
"I'd have to say sunset, too," Arcadia muses. "Not just because I'm an owl, but I think the darkening sky with all the stars coming out just looks . . . peaceful, almost. Beautiful, too."
"You're all fucking weird," Bass speaks up next, which at least explains why Mimic and Chaud are talking out loud instead of in their heads like they normally would.
"What, you prefer sunrise?" Chaud asks, glancing down at his hip where his PET holder is. Bass must be in his PET, then.
"Fuck yeah I prefer sunrise!" Bass exclaims proudly. "Have you seen what it looks like when it's coming over a mountain or some shit? The pictures I found on the internet are fucking epic."
"He's got a point," Mimic says, with a shrug. She glances over her shoulder at Lan. "What do you prefer?"
Lan's already used to the idea that he literally can't sneak up on Mimic or Chaud, since their cat-abilities make it nearly impossible, so he's not surprised at the sudden attention. They could probably hear his footsteps coming up the stairs long before he even set foot on the roof.
He heads over to them and leans on the wall between them, looking out at the sky as well.
"I like both, actually," Lan admits.
"Bullshit," Bass huffs. "Pick one, you dumbass! You can't say you like sunset and sunrise."
"He can like both if he wants to," MegaMan defends Lan. "Me, though, I prefer the sunrise. Bass is right - the pictures on the internet are really epic. There's just something majestic with the view of sunrise coming over a sheer mountain, don't you think?"
"Hah," Bass says, sounding as smug as anything. "See?"
"It's not a contest," Chaud points out, and Bass scoffs disbelievingly.
They all spend a few moments looking out at the sky. Arcadia's right about the sunset, Lan thinks - there's a peacefulness in the way the sun goes down over the horizon, and the stars just beginning to shine in a darkening sky. It really is beautiful.
" . . . Remember when we used to look at the sky, and all we'd see up there was Duo's comet?" Lan asks, breaking the comfortable silence.
"Pretty but ominous," Mimic murmurs.
"I'm happy it's gone," Chaud admits. "I didn't exactly like the idea of it hanging over my head constantly. It was kind of unnerving."
Lan holds out his hand, palm up, and looks at the space where his Crest was. It no longer fades into view if he wills it - all thirteen of Duo's Crests vanished after they passed his test, and the copies that Dr. Regal made were deleted along with the madman himself when Ms. Yuri killed him.
"I almost can't believe we actually did it," Lan says. "It feels unreal. I keep wondering when the next Asteroid attack is gonna happen, and then I remember that Duo's gone and there's no more Asteroid Navis."
"Aside from NapalmMan," Chaud corrects him.
Lan manages a little smile at that. "Aside from him, but he's a good guy. Better than the original NapalmMan, anyway."
"Didn't he try and destroy Creamland or somethin'?" Mimic asks.
"He did?" Chaud blinks, looking puzzled.
"How did you-" Lan begins, but then he remembers. "Ah, right, your anime. Yeah, the original NapalmMan tried to attack Creamland through the cyberworld. I'm happy the new one is a much better person."
Mimic hums quietly, and looks back out at the sky. "They nearly didn't manage it in the anime, y'know."
Lan and Chaud look at her questioningly.
"Don't remember much from the details, but I know the world went bye-bye as soon as they jumped into the Past Tunnel," Mimic tells them, not taking her eyes off the sunset. "Duo's comet went off and destroyed the whole planet."
Lan sucks in a sharp breath. Chaud's eyes widen.
"But they got it back," Mimic goes on. "Baryl and Colonel Cross Fused with Duo 'cus the only way t'make him understand people was to Fuse with one of 'em, and then Duo restored everythin'. Think I remember there was somethin' about everyone's memories gettin' erased or altered 'cus'a that, actually. Everyone but Duo's chosen and Dad and Famous, 'cus they were at the Temporal Tower when it happened."
"But it's different, now," Chaud says.
"Mm," Mimic agrees, with a slight nod. "World didn't go bye-bye, so everyone still remembers."
"Our actions spoke louder than our words," Lan says thoughtfully. "That's why Duo stalled his comet's activation, and that's why we passed his test."
"S'all different, a lot," Mimic mumbles, idly fiddling with her fingers. "I think, anyway. Lots'a stuff got changed, but important bits stayed the same. Too much was different, though. Didn't know half'a what was goin' on."
"That's fine," Chaud tells her. "It doesn't matter whether things are the exact same as they were in the anime."
"But that's what I'm supposed to do, right? Make sure stuff goes the way it did in the anime?"
Chaud looks vaguely uncomfortable. "Well, that's . . . that's what I think, anyway. There's no definite proof that I'm right, though. I've been thinking about it. You've been trying to make sure things happen the same way you remember them happening, but nothing's really come out of that, as far as we know."
"Maybe you're here to change something that happens, instead of making sure everything goes the way it should," Lan speaks up. Mimic glances at him, and he shrugs a little. "I dunno any more than Chaud does, really. It's your knowledge, so you do what you want with it."
Mimic hums again and turns back to watching the sunset. "'Least it'll be easier with the next thing. I watched Beast pretty much to death. Wasn't as big as Axess or Stream or the original, so there's not as much to remember, too."
She's quiet for a few moments, and then glances at Lan and Chaud again. She looks a little puzzled when she sees them staring at her, wide-eyed.
"What?" Mimic asks.
"What do you mean, the next thing?" Chaud looks almost offended. "How many more world-ending crises are we gonna have to avert?"
Mimic opens her mouth, hesitates, and then purses her lips and starts counting on her fingers.
"The fact that you actually have to think about it is horrifying," Lan remarks.
"Yep!" Mimic agrees brightly, giving up on counting. "Good news is, it won't be half as confusin' as this mess with Duo. That shit was hard, man."
Chaud pinches the bridge of his nose, and Lan groans and buries his face in his arms.
" . . . M'not really helpin', am I?" Mimic asks.
"What was your first clue?" Chaud deadpans.
"Hey, you guys!"
Grateful for the distraction, Lan lifts his head and looks down, far below at the ground. He sees Maylu waving at them with Dex and Chisao on either side of her, and she's wearing a pink kimono - it's brightly-coloured enough for Lan to pick out the details on it even from this distance.
"The fireworks are starting soon!" Maylu goes on.
"You were too slow, so we came to pick you up!" Dex adds.
"C'mon, hurry up already!" Chisao cries.
Lan raises an arm to wave back at them. "Alright, we'll be down soon!" He glances at Mimic and Chaud questioningly. "You guys have your earmuffs and stuff, right?"
"Yeah," Mimic replies.
"We left them in the lobby so we could pick them up later," Chaud adds. "Which is now, I suppose."
"Awesome." Lan grins. "Let's go watch some fireworks!"
The fireworks show that Nenji puts on is, in Mimic's opinion, absolutely the coolest fireworks show she's ever seen.
Never mind the fact that it's the only one she's seen - the only one she's seen personally, that is. But she's definitely seen a few on TV and the internet, from fiction and the news and stuff, and compared to those, this one that Nenji's putting on for everyone is way cooler.
It helps that she's wearing her noise-cancelling earmuffs, so the explosions aren't so loud. Bright fireworks against the night sky is also pretty much asking for trouble with her night vision and all, so she's also wearing the pointed sunglasses she wore for her punk rock disguise during the Nebula incident.
Chaud's also wearing his noise-cancelling earmuffs, and a pair of his own sunglasses, too. They're more like wraparound sunglasses rather than Mimic's pointed sunglasses - a good thing too, because if he'd worn those ridiculous circle-shaped sunglasses from his disco outfit, Mimic would've teased him the entire time. Most likely he's gotten rid of the outfit entirely, since there's really no need for it anymore, though Mimic can imagine poor Raoul's sorrow at the loss of Disco Chaud.
"Where'd you even find them?" Anetta asks, peering at Mimic's pointed sunglasses curiously. "I'm pretty sure none of the clothes shops I go to sell anything like that, and I know for a fact that you don't care about fashion at all."
"SciLab," Mimic replies, flashing her sharp teeth in a grin. "They got all kinds'a weird shit there."
Anetta blinks, and glances at Chaud.
"They really do," he says, with a shrug. "And absolutely no one will give us a straight answer as to why, either."
"Tried askin' Dad and he changed the subject like ten times in the same sentence, so I ain't doin' that again," Mimic mutters.
"Huh. SciLab really is full of weirdos," Anetta muses. "I guess it's to be expected, since they're all basically mad scientists . . ."
"Mood," Mimic says wisely.
"Aren't you going to at least try and defend your dad?" Chaud asks her.
"Well, she's not wrong, is she?"
Chaud pauses, and then concedes the point with another shrug. "True."
The fireworks show continues to impress and delight everyone watching it - sure, Nenji's putting it on for the people who saved the world, but pretty much anyone is invited to come and watch. Despite all the people watching from a distance, though, the people who were personally invited by Nenji have their own private space, so it's not crowded and the distant gasps and cheers of the watching crowd stays in the distance, which suits Mimic perfectly fine.
Mom has even somehow managed to convince Dad to come out of SciLab and watch the show, which is impressive given that Lan couldn't do more than make Dad eat a single sandwich earlier, as far as Mimic knows. But, well, Mom's known Dad longer than any of their kids have, so of course she'd know how to make him stop obsessing with whatever alien tech he's trying to build and come watch a fireworks show.
There's a brief moment of shock when Duo's comet suddenly appears in the night sky, until Mimic and Chaud realise it's just another firework. A special type, that is, one to show everyone what Duo's comet looked like, since only fourteen people were able to see it.
The fireworks comet is a lot better to look at than the real thing, Mimic thinks. Especially now that Duo is gone for good - they can finally live without looking up and seeing it hanging over them constantly, as Chaud said.
The only thing that puts a slight damper on the fireworks show is Yai, to be honest. Anetta finally gave in and told them what's up with her - apparently, she has a crush on Chaud, or at least she has a crush on the Chaud that Mimic was pretending to be before Duo gave them their own bodies. Yai sees Anetta as a rival for Chaud's affections, which is why she's not too fond of Anetta.
It's . . . stupid, really. And mildly confusing. Yai's crush is on Chaud, but since she developed that crush almost explicitly on the Chaud that Mimic was pretending to be, it's unclear as to whether or not that crush is now on the real Chaud or if it's just transferred over to Mimic. Or maybe Yai's got a crush on both of them, who knows? Certainly not Mimic and Chaud.
Anetta told them that Yai literally said the entire reason she even has a crush on the Chaud Mimic was pretending to be is because she - Mimic, that is - was timid and submissive, and Yai found that adorable.
Chaud nearly laughed himself sick upon hearing that. Mimic would've laughed too, except she was too confused. She's not exactly the most confident person on the planet, but she's pretty sure she's never been submissive in her life (not counting everything that happened whenever she saw Shuseki, that is), so Yai's reasons for developing a crush in the first place make literally no sense to her.
But, well. They won't have to deal with this whole 'Yai has a crush on one or both of us' thing for much longer, since Yai's going back to Kingland tomorrow. She just flew over to enjoy the celebrations with them, really, and then she'll be gone again.
Of course she'll be back at some point - but that'll be a problem for later, really. It might not even end up being a problem, since unlike Mimic, Chaud will have absolutely no trouble telling Yai to fuck off. Whether or not that'll work is a matter of debate.
Raika shows up the day after the fireworks show. Apparently his uncle gave him some time off as a reward for saving the world - it's not the only reward he got, but it's the only one that matters - so he's gonna be spending that time off in Japan, just kind of . . . hanging around, basically.
Mom takes Mimic and Lan to meet him at the airport, and then she somehow manages to bully him into staying with them for however long he's here - and poor Raika looks so bewildered that he can only stammer and splutter his protests, which Mom cheerfully ignores, and that's the end of that.
Mimic would almost feel sorry for him if she wasn't so busy laughing at him.
Her bedroom used to be a spare room, and her futon used to just be a futon that her family took out whenever they had a guest staying the night. Normally that would mean Raika wouldn't really have anywhere to sleep in the house, despite Mom bullying him into staying with them for however long he's gonna be here for, but there's a simple solution - they may not have a futon for him to sleep on, but they have two sofas downstairs, and a surplus of blankets.
"So what else did y'get for savin' the world?" Mimic asks curiously, as Raika tries to figure out how to make his sofa-bed comfortable.
"Uncle said I can have whatever I want for dessert for the next year," Raika replies absently. He lays down one of the blankets and tests it out, bouncing a little as he slumps onto it, but then frowns and gets back up again.
"Don't sound like much," Mimic comments.
Raika shrugs. "Maybe not to you, but I can choose to have ice cream for dessert every single day, and Uncle can't go back on his word."
"That . . . is an excellent point," Mimic is forced to admit.
"What did you get?" he asks, glancing over at her.
"Shitton'a money."
Raika blinks and turns around properly to stare at her.
"So did Lan," Mimic goes on. "And Chaud. Manabe said Dark Miyabi got money, too."
" . . . Right," Raika eventually says. He goes back to his task, and Mimic continues watching him.
She doesn't bother offering her assistance. For one thing, he hasn't asked, and it's gonna be his bed, so he should make it how he wants it. For another, a futon isn't exactly the same as a normal bed, nor is it the same as sleeping on a sofa with a small pile of blankets, so her opinion or assistance wouldn't be much help with this to start off with.
He could probably ask Lan for some help, but Lan's in the bath right now (and Mimic suppresses a shudder at the thought of all that water). Dad's at SciLab, still working on his alien tech shit, and Mom's gone out shopping for food, so it's literally just three humans, three NetNavis, and one oversized cat in the house right now. Four NetNavis, technically, but Bass doesn't really live here, and he's just playing Skyrim on Mimic's computer upstairs. And Ragdoll's under the dining table chewing on a catnip stick, so his opinion wouldn't matter anyway.
Raika eventually gets his makeshift bed the way he wants he wants it, and flops down beside Mimic on the second sofa with an exhausted sigh. It's a good thing he's not wearing his Net Saver uniform - he'd probably be fucking sweating like a pig or something if he was.
Mimic's literally never seen him in casual clothing. Not even in the anime itself. So it's a little odd to see Raika wearing every day clothes. He looks a little less like his normal mildly-intimidating self, like he's smaller without his uniform, even if he's still unnaturally tall for a fifteen-year-old. Or is that sixteen, now? Mimic has no idea when his birthday is, and he's never offered the information.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Arcadia calls out to Mimic.
"Chaud's calling!" he tells her. "I'll put it up on the holographic screen."
The screen appears above her PET, which is resting on the table in front of the sofas, right next to Raika's PET. Chaud seems to be sitting in his car, but Mimic has no idea where he is, because the backdrop is just the city going past in the windows, and there's a lot of city to be in.
"Hey, Mimic," Chaud greets her. "I heard Raika's in the country. Do you know where he is?"
Mimic glances to the side, and Raika looks back at her, shaking with suppressed laughter.
"No, I haven't seen him at all," she says flatly.
Chaud finally sees Raika sitting literally right next to her, and he looks appropriately embarrassed. "Ah. Right. Um."
"You're fucking blind," ProtoMan's voice laughs. "You sure you got better eyes from Arcadia's Cross Fusion?"
Chaud coughs in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. It doesn't really work.
"Mrs. Hikari convinced me to stay here while I'm in Japan," Raika explains.
"More like bullied you into staying," Mimic mutters, just loud enough for Raika to hear.
He shoots her a look before turning back to Chaud. "Did you need something from me?"
Chaud brightens up. "Well, I actually have something to give you! Mimic and Lan, too. Is he in the room too, or . . . ?"
"Bath," Mimic says, sticking her tongue out in disgust.
Her twin brother pulls a face too. Raika looks like he doesn't know whether to laugh or roll his eyes at their reaction to the word 'bath'.
"I'm almost there now, so I'll see you soon! And Mimic, no peeking into my mind when I get there. This is a surprise."
"Uh, sure," Mimic says, just before Chaud cuts off the call and the holographic screen vanishes.
"I wonder what that's about," Raika muses.
"Fuck if I know," Mimic replies, wriggling into a more comfortable position. "He told me not to peek."
Lan comes out of the bath a few minutes before Chaud arrives, and he's just as curious to find out what's up with Chaud as they are, so he settles down next to them on the sofa. He almost sat on the other one, but Raika stopped him, since that's now officially his bed for the time being. Not like you can't sit on a bed anyway, but apparently Raika likes keeping stuff that you sleep on and stuff that you sit on separate.
When Chaud finally does arrive, he brings with him two boxes. One is bigger than the other, and Raika quickly gets up and takes it from him, since he's obviously struggling with it.
"What's even in here?" Raika demands, nearly lurching with the box as he sets it down on the table. "Bricks?"
"Battle chips, actually," Chaud says. "For Mimic and Lan, and you too, if you want any."
" . . . What."
Mimic's sentiments exactly. She can tell Lan's pretty confused too, because why would Chaud randomly bring them an entire box full of battle chips? They've already got more than enough between them, and she's pretty sure Raika has enough too, even if she's not really sure where he gets his from.
Chaud sets down the second box, which is considerably smaller and obviously much lighter than the first one. Something about this whole thing seems familiar, but for the life of her, Mimic can't recall what it is.
"Don't keep us in suspense," Lan tells Chaud, leaning forward eagerly. "What's in the box?"
Chaud grins and opens it up, allowing them to see the contents.
Mimic can't contain an excited gasp when she sees them. Three Link PETs sit side-by-side, cushioned inside the box to prevent them from being damaged in transport. One is the familiar blue of MegaMan with his NaviMark, another is the green colour of SearchMan with his NaviMark, and the final one is the same white-and-grey as Arcadia, along with his blue-bird NaviMark.
Lan and Raika are just as surprised and delighted as she is. Lan excitedly leans forward and picks up the blue Link PET, grinning like a loon, and after a moment or two of gaping, Raika picks up the green one.
This is why you didn't want me peeking into your mind, huh? Mimic flashes a grin at Chaud as she reaches out to pick up the white Link PET.
He grins back at her, and she senses the confirmation.
Well, at least now she knows why this felt familiar. Chaud did more or less the same thing back when he gave her and Lan their Progress PETs - he came here and brought a box full of battle chips for Mimic, since she didn't have that many to use, along with their PETs.
He lets her peek into his mind now that his surprise has been revealed. He had this planned as soon as the Link PET finished production - it won't go on sale until tomorrow, but he had four PETs made ahead of time. His own, and theirs, which he would give to them as soon as possible. And that's right now, obviously.
"The Link PET has a few new features that the Progress PET didn't have," Chaud says, taking out his own new Link PET and placing it on the table. "It still uses holographic technology, of course, but we've made improvements to that, and-"
"Navi-holograms!" Mimic interrupts, too excited to keep quiet and let him talk.
Chaud shoots her a pained look, but Lan and Raika are puzzled.
"What do you mean, Navi-holograms?" Lan asks, blinking at her.
Mimic mimes zipping her mouth shut, though she and Chaud know that won't last for long. But she'll definitely keep quiet for now, if only to let him have his moment.
"Maybe it'll be better to just show you," Chaud sighs. He reaches out and gently taps his PET. "Alright, ProtoMan. You can come out now."
That doesn't help to clear things up for Lan or Raika, but Mimic watches the small screen with excited anticipation, nearly bouncing on her seat.
ProtoMan's mini-hologram flickers into sight on top of the PET, grinning as wide as anything. His shadows swirl around him, and then they form into Dark Shadow, crouching at his side. It, too, is grinning - its unsettling split-mouth wide open as it stares around with obvious happiness, even though it doesn't have an expression.
Lan actually jumps out of his seat. "ProtoMan's in the real world!?"
Chaud laughs a little. "Well, not quite," he corrects. "He's projecting an image of himself into the real world. It's the same kind of holographic technology that the holographic screens use in the Progress PET - but for simplicity's sake, sure, he's in the real world."
"Hi!" ProtoMan waves happily. His image flickers a little, but that happened even with the holographic screens and the normal PET screens.
"Hold on a moment," Raika says, setting down the green Link PET with an odd look on his face. "If this Navi-hologram uses the same technology as the holographic screens, does that mean . . . ?"
Chaud grins. "Yep."
Raika's eyes widen, but Lan still seems puzzled.
"What does it mean?" he asks, looking between them.
"We can touch them," Mimic whispers, eyes widening as well. She may have known about the Navi-holograms, but she didn't know about this. "We can actually touch our NetNavis!"
Lan's mouth drops open, and he gapes at ProtoMan, and then at Chaud, as if asking for confirmation. Chaud gladly gives it to him.
"It's the same concept as the holographic screens," Chaud explains, holding out his hand to ProtoMan, who steps onto it with Dark Shadow crawling up beside him. Chaud brings up his hand to his chest as he continues to speak. "You can touch them, but keep it light, otherwise you'll dissipate the hologram."
To demonstrate, he reaches up with his other hand and gently strokes a finger down ProtoMan's back, and ProtoMan purrs and it definitely looks like he's feeling it. His hair's certainly flattened a little by Chaud's finger - and then ProtoMan evidently decides that a single finger isn't enough, because he presses himself against Chaud's entire hand, and Chaud's hand actually moves a little from the sudden pressure.
Lan looks absolutely gobsmacked. Raika's wide-eyed look hasn't changed. Mimic's excitement, on the other hand, is growing with each passing second - and she reaches out too, sending a silent question to Chaud through their connection.
He smiles and takes his hand off ProtoMan, who looks offended at the sudden loss of contact. Then he starts purring again when Mimic scratches under his chin - she only needs to use a single finger, since the hologram is pretty small.
But she's touching him. She can actually feel ProtoMan, she feels the gentle vibrations of his purring, and when he presses into her touch, she actually feels that, too.
Mimic grins from ear-to-ear like she'll never stop.
"Oh my god," Lan says softly. "Oh my god. We can touch them! And- and they can touch us!"
There's absolutely no further convincing needed to get the three of them to transfer their Navis into the new Link PETs. Mimic is so excited that she nearly fucks it up twice, but Chaud helps her out, and Raika has better luck than her - he's able to stay steady despite the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Lan manages on his own too, but he's bouncing up and down eagerly, so much that Mimic can almost feel the movements even though she's on the other side of the sofa to him.
The absolute second their operators have gotten them into the new PETs, Arcadia, MegaMan, and SearchMan activate the Navi-holograms. They stare around the real world in amazement - they've only ever seen it from a screen or inside a dimensional area, so obviously getting to see it for themselves is wondrous for them.
Mimic's almost too impatient to let Arcadia look around, but she manages to restrain herself long enough for her primary Navi to get his fill of the real world. When he does, he looks up at her, and carefully reaches out.
She does the same, and the tip of her finger touches Arcadia's palm. Their grins are nearly identical upon feeling the touch - and Mimic immediately scoops Arcadia into her hands and hugs him to her chest. She's purring almost as loud as Ragdoll, but she doesn't care, because she can touch her NetNavi. And he can touch her.
That . . . that's the most amazing thing ever.
Beside her, Lan is just as excited. He's gently pressing a finger onto MegaMan's helmet, and MegaMan's eyes are wide with delight at the realisation that he can actually feel it. Raika and SearchMan are no different - they're more reserved in terms of personality, of course, but even they're eager to test this out, and their grins are just as big and bright as Mimic and Lan's are when they discover they can indeed touch each other.
"There's also a few changes to sleep-mode, too," Chaud suddenly says, getting their attention again, though it's difficult since they're all nearly too excited about the Navi-holograms. "Normally a NetNavi just shuts down and goes to sleep like a human would, but with the Link PET, there's an added function that allows them to compress their own data while they sleep. The NetNavi can still wake up on their own, or the operator can wake them up themselves. It's better for privacy if a NetNavi would rather be out of sight while in sleep-mode or something, and it helps to conserve battery power."
Mimic remembers seeing something like that in Beast. NetNavis would kind of . . . flatten themselves into data and slide into a little pocket or something inside the cyberworld of the PETs.
"We've also added in a touch-pen," Chaud goes on, picking up his PET. He slots out a stylus - the touch-pen - and shows it to them. "You can use it to create a holographic screen, similar to the one that came with the Progress PET. All you have to do is touch it to the PET's screen-" He does so as he speaks, demonstrating for them. "-and then draw a square or a rectangle shape. Once you've joined up the four corners, the screen will appear."
He draws a simple square shape in mid-air with the touch-pen, and the holographic screen appears, as he said. It's not showing much - just the homepage of his PET - but it's still pretty cool.
"The touch-pen can be used in place of your finger, if you don't feel like trying to work out how light your touch needs to be," Chaud explains. He moves a few things around on the holographic screen using the touch-pen. "It can also be used to interact with NetNavi holograms - unlike with your finger, you don't need to be light with the touch-pen, since it's designed to interact with holograms."
He holds the touch-pen up to ProtoMan, who reaches out and bats the tip as hard as he can. It's almost knocked out of Chaud's grip, but the point is proven.
"There's a few other features I wanted to explain, but these are the main ones - or they're the main ones that I thought you'd be interested in, anyway," Chaud says. "You guys wanna go over the rest of the Link PET's functions?"
They agree wholeheartedly.
