Shit this chapter did not want to be written...
The situation was getting worse.
All over downtown ACDC, the maddened citizens and animals ran amok, some not even wearing clothes, some teaming up with dangerous animals like cassowaries, others outright stealing from people on the streets. The Sniper Joes were doing the best they could, but without any of their other, more dangerous weapons, they could only cordone off the addled into Downtown ACDC Park. It was a literal jungle out there, an almost hell on earth for human and Navi alike.
But for one bird, a bald eagle of all things, it was of no importance. It had a job to do and another hour of flying to go. ACDC's law enforcement, DenTech's Cybercrime division, all of them were working to further WWW's endeavors. And all they had to do was do the best job they could.
ACDC Academy, 24:34
Principal's office
Meanwhile, a certain hypnotist was indifferent to the chaos he helped wrought to pay any mind.
{ Chikyuu ni pinchi ga yatte kuru
Dekkai mirai ga abunai ze
Kodoku no uchuu kara oo ima koso
Kaette kita zo hagane no tamashii }
He had more important things to do. If this were any other school, Saiko would be amazed at the blatant corruption that had to be going on in order for a principal to get a room this exquisite. Soft carpet floor, oak desk, a miniature garden with an AI controlled nursery, and a flat-screen TV that came out from the ceiling. But given the crazy amount of money this school got from time to time, there probably wasn't that much money being transferred under the table.
He sat in the leather chair, PET connected to the principal's laptop. Given the intensity of tonight's mission FlashMan was communicating with him via text and audio only, the PET's processors too taxed to render him or the system menu on the screen. "Please tell me you've found a way in."
{Somewhat.} FlashMan's voice said from the PET. {Our friend has found a way to let me in, but only me. I can't access the elevator controls on my end, not even the doors. It seems that the controls for that require both human and Navi operation working in tandem, and the file format I'd have to use to work my way around that is too old for my internal emulators.}
"So you'll have to undergo disassembly to reduce your file size?"
{You're correct.}
"Hmmm…" Saiko leaned back, pondering as the theme song came to a close. "I think I might have something. How much does that Kominato girl know of the elevator network?"
{Nothing that BubbleMan's idiot lackeys didn't know themselves.} He didn't need to be there to see Saiko's smile. {Ahhh, I get what you're going for! I just have to get the model information for that vehicle she's using, and we'll be good to go!}
Saiko bought out his spare PET. While FlashMan was busy with that, he could finish working on his part of the big project for WWW.
ACDC GateWay Network, 24:37
GateNet#4
Glyde stared at the bubble, and at the small singe at the side of the terminal. Buster fire passed right through it, but he couldn't. And if he destroyed the terminal, who knows what would happen? "Mistress Yai, do you think a compressor would do the trick? That Navi was quite nimble on his feet, so he might have had it so that a certain amount of data couldn't pass through the barrier." It was the best idea he had given the situation.
|Dex probably does.|
|Yeah it's right here under the School Bypass folder. Dumb IT guys still don't know how me and GutsMan keep sneaking out!|
Yai transferred the data to her PET and activated the program. A few seconds later, Glyde shrunk to a dimension of 122X222, and flew to the bubble. He touched it, and much to his displeasure, the collision was still active. "Curses."
Meanwhile, the Saberuff had just dodged out of the way of a Charge Shot from the gigantic oaf that was it's opponent, the energy blast punching a hole clean through a hill. "DARN IT!" He yelled. If only it could get into the idiot's Email, but every attempt to do so was blocked! Did his NetOp not install the newest spam filters?!
As for the hill, It looked as though there weren't proper physics coded into it, so the hill didn't collapse under its weight. Growling, it broke into a run in the opposite direction, making a break for the Warp Gate, only to be sent on it's side by a Buster Shot at it's feet.
"Grrrrr…." It quickly got up, thanking it's fortune that this ape of a Navi missed and focused it's attention back on him. As long as this lug was around, it's safety wasn't guaranteed, and if it deleted him with its StepSword, that weakling in the other area wouldn't listen to it. But then again, the idiot did have those reflexes, which necessitated this retreat. The Warp Gate was just within it's reach, and it was in range of his enemy's bullets and Chips.
GutsMan kept his focus on the virus. 'Man this thing is fast!' Not that much HP, but it could hit like a truck and run like a horse, the worst combination for him! The second it opened it's mouth, GutsMan fired point blank, only for his Buster fire to hit the fireball head on, causing it to explode. Through the smoke came the virus, fangs raised, right in range of GutsMans fist! "GutsPunch!"
SLAM!
Shame it missed though. "GoshGuts it!" Who the heck gave this virus enough articulation to do a dodge roll?! Before he could turn to face the stupid mutt, he suddenly found the ground beneath him to be warm...very warm. Some would say scorchin even. "OOHHHhohohoOHHO! HOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!"
Seeing the idiot was busy with that, the Saberruff made it's escape. The oaf's friend didn't seem like a complete idiot, so it might have a chance with him. Just a bit more and-
"HOHOHOHOOt! BLACKBOMB!"
Darn it! It stopped just in time, feeling the rush of wind from something flying above it. What it was was revealed just a half second later, a massive black bomb that made a large thud just in front of him! "Gotcha Guts!" Darn it!
Glyde looked at himself, more specifically the copy that was Jacked In and made it's way over here. "Hopefully this should work."
|We've got a lot more options if it doesn't.| Yai assured him. |I loaded basic typing instructions into this backup, and a walking program.|
"And I thank you for that." If filesize wasn't a problem, maybe memory was, and this System Restored backup of himself, free of anything, including the ability to load BattleChips or use PET functions, was as light on memory as can be. "Alright, march!"
The copy just bounced off the bubble and fell on it's butt. "Curses!" So it wasn't a CPU memory problem then….
"
"HAHHAHAHAAH!" The virus turned its head to the rapidly approaching Navi. "Try to run now, Guts!" …..He wasn't serious was he? "BusterChange!" Oh good lord he was.
BUSTERCHANGE
ENHANCEMENT CHIP
DISCARD 4 ELEMENTAL CHIPS. YOUR BUSTER WILL
THEN GAIN THE ELEMENTAL PROPERTY OF SAID
CHIP UNTIL THE CUSTOM BAR FILLS
"Try anything-" He warned, his Buster glowing with an ethereal orange flame. "And I'll blow that bomb up, Guts!" He...he was actually going to do this! The fool had no Aura Chips left! "SlowGauge!" Oooh, he wanted to drag this out! OF COURSE! With a groan, it moved- "I warned you!" -And the second the ape fires, it was suddenly in front of him thanks to StepSword, and tanked the fist sent into its stomach to dodge the bomb explosion.
"AWWWW!" Man, this virus was smarter than he thought! That was totally a MegaMan trick! Back when he sucked at least! Before he could deliver a BattleChip through it's midsection, GutsMan got a fireball to the face, and then his entire midsection felt like it was on fire! "OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWO!"
Now that the Navi was busy with that, the Saberruff turned to the bomb and fired on it, detonating the explosive and allowing it to go into the Warp Gate unimpeded.
|Darn it man!} Dex yelled, probably in Yai's ear if the sounds she was making was any indication. |What'll we do now?! That-| There was silence, before Dex let out a gulp. |Yai, make Glyde big, now!|
|Huh? Why?!|
|That virus is on it's way! Glyde winced at his mistress's shriek. |GutsMan got whooped by that virus big time!|
"Oh dear." Glyde was suddenly back to full size, ZetaCannon aimed at the Warp Gate as the virus teleported in, staring him down. "I suggest you stay where you are." He warned as it stared at the bubble. "I know you are sentient, so you must know that you are outmatched. This is a Program Advance I have active, so I suggest you leave at once!"
The Saberruff stared at the bubble, and a second later it popped. "What did you just do?!" He kept his eyes trained on the virus, and all he saw was it's eyes glow. "Did you just help us?" The Saberruff nodded. "But why? Surely it would be in your best interest to have those ravenous beasts kill our NetOps!"
|DUDE!|
"Apologies Master Dex." The virus let out a huff, as if it was sighing, and soon Glyde's PET was sent a message that immediately went into the Spam folder. A glare at the virus caused it to nod. "I see…" Likely Master Dex forgot to update GutsMan's spam folder. Who knows how many messages the virus sent it? "Open it please, Mistress Yai."
|Are you sure?|
"Positive." He activated his PET's antivirus, putting the file in quarantine as he and his NetOp read it. Eyes narrowed and with his cannon aimed at the virus, he walked to the computer and typed on it. Since his attention was on the virus, Yai was the one who put the password in, taking manual control of his free hand to do so.
PASSWORD ACCEPTED. ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS GRANTED.
Control granted back to him, Glyde immediately took a defensive stance after hearing the confirmation, attention focused on the virus. "So you were telling the truth after all. You will leave this network, correct?" The virus nodded. "Good." His tone told the virus all it needed to know. A few seconds later, it had left the system, just in time for GutsMan to come out of the Warp Gate. "Ah, just in time!"
"Where's that stupid furball at?!"
"It left, after giving us what we needed." He turned up his PET's speakers. He had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time they would see that particular Saberruff. "We're all clear, Master Lan. Care to tell us your idea?"
|I see. That makes sense.| Piruluk grimaced. To have that happen to her, even for a second….but it'd keep her in line once MegaMan came. |My internal Firewalls are set to go down at your signal. 'll initiate it when I'm in position.| Piruluk finished 'typing in more commands' as she practiced descending onto one of the buildings. This one thankfully didn't end with her having to use her ice as a jack to lift the damn thing out of the roof, it was a smooth landing. 'Finally.' Thank god those other Mr. Progs were too busy doing god knows what - 'Don't think about it don't think about it!'
Ignoring that 'thing' that was speaking from the vehicle's speakers, Piruluk lifted the saucer up and kept it stationary. She moved it backwards, activating the holographic signal signs in the back, then did a perfect 180° curve that flowed into a diagonally downward curve which then chained into another 180 that went around a building before she rose back up in a diagonal trajectory. "I think I have the hang of this now."
|Wow that was fast.| Ruko said in amazement. |Usually Navis have to have the instructions installed into them, but you learned how to drive it in just a couple minutes!| That was too fast; There was obviously no way Akira had a license of any kind, and despite their hatred for each other, the two always stuck together -barring today's incident- so where did the experience come from? |So-|
|Ooooh, that was some good turning, my green, floaty stud!
The human girls grimaced, Akira speaking up. |So uhmm, is that seat...sti-|
"No."
|Oh thank god!| Ruko turned to her. |What?|
|Did you seriously have to ask that?|
Piruluk tuned them out and continued her training with the saucer.
"Yes!" Lan cheered. "We're in!"
Dex and Yai sighed in relief before the former spoke. "So what's that big plan of yours, Lan?"
BANG BANG BANG
"AND TELL US SOON PLEASE!"
"GET THE SPEAKER CONTROLS!" Lan panicked. "THERE SHOULD BE A SIGNAL DIRECTING THE ANIMALS TO KILL US!"
BANG BANG BANG
"I see.." Yai muttered as Glyde began working on the speakers. "You got it Glyde?"
|Yes Mistress Yai, but there's a problem.| He and GutsMan loaded the file directory onto their NetOp's screens. |There's a separate sound file for each animal!|
|They're all playing at once Guts, and we can't disable more than five!|
"There's 10 of them there!" Dex exclaimed. "So if we do this, then we have a 50/50 chance of making out of here alive?!"
|I'm afraid so, Guts.|
Lan and the others sighed. "Well it's the best choice we have. Get the biggest and fastest ones out of here, and we'll have to hope we make it!" That was when one of the glass panes fell and shattered, one of the gorillas climbing down. "NOW PLEASE!"
"Understood!" Glyde yelled as he and GutsMan began to feverishly disable as much as he could, as well as download every bit of data they were able to."Applying changes...now!"
"..." The gorilla stopped, as did most of the banging. It took one look at the terrified kids and climbed back up, confused as to where it was. The three kids and their Navis heard shuffling from up above as the banging began to lessen.
"...Is it over?" Dex asked fearfully.
Lan shook his head. "Nope." He pointed to the now open roof. "Jack your Navis out and let's get out of here."
They skated and scooted away, with Yai on Lan's back this time. Crows and ravens poured out of the open hole, as did a few orangutans. "They're gonna flank us!" Lan warned as he watched some of the animals run past them above. "I think they're deer!"
"I see them!" Dex yelled as they got up the stairs. "Don't look back Lan!"
"I won't!"
"Shut up and keep running you idiots!" Yai exclaimed, both boys muttering an apology.
SLAM!
"What was that?!" Dex yelled.
Lan narrowed his eyes."We'll find out soon enough!"
It took them 4 minutes to find out. Reaching the end of the hall they found the door broken down by five deer. "OH NO!" Dex screamed as Lan took out Yai's PET.
"Cover your eyes!" He warned he and his friends did just that and stopped. "Glyde, Nighttime Intruder Mode!"
|Understood!| Lan closed his eyes and pointed the PET towards the now charging animals. |HALT!| All the kids heard was a bright whining noise and the sounds of screaming deer. |You may open your eyes now.| Glyde instructed a second later, the three children's jaws dropping at the sight of the downed, twitching animals. |I hope you don't think I can do that repeatedly Master Lan. that took out 56% of the PET's battery!|
"Darn it." Lan looked to the exit. "We need to hurry, now."
|I think I may have just the place to go, Guts!| GutsMan activated the map function. |There's a friend in the area that lives next to a used car salesman!| Lan and Dex's eyes met at that, and a smile formed on their lips.
They escaped, a herd of deer coming down the hills and forests as they went down the trail. "What the heck Glyde?!" Dex shouted.
|It seems I might have triggered an emergency counter-program when I disabled the more dangerous animal.| Glyde explained. |I think it sent the program meant to kill us to every other sound device across the region!|
"Oh great.." Lan mumbled as the main road came up in the distance. "We're almost there, let's go!"
Back at the school, Piruluk learned how to do a loop-di-loop, five in a row actually. |Why the hell are you doing tricks instead of helping us?!|
"In case I get into a fight." Piruluk explained as she landed back when the saucer found her. "We may get into a fight, and I want to learn the controls to the best of my ability." That and these controls were universal across all antivirus vehicles. If it ain't broke don't fix it. "Are you ok Ruko?"
|Yep.| The brunette replied. |Once you get hit by that stupid curse one too many times, it doesn't take that long to recover.| Akira and Piruluk just stared at her with open jaws. |Hey. I beat more Selectors by beating them up and taking their PETs than fighting them. Can't become an Eternal Girl if your PET's broken, and by the time they run away, it doesn't matter if I'm unconscious!|
'The fact that you said that with such pride is depressing.' Piruluk thought. "Very well then." She began to lift the saucer off the ground. "I'm heading to the elevator controls in the main tower." Docking bay 2, just a few minutes away from the central processor. "Wish me luck."
And then the damn saucer opened its mouth.
The three of them stopped underneath a highway bridge, the two boys on the ground panting while Yai was on lookout. "I don't see them…" She whispered. "GutsMan, how far are we from the school?"
|Twelve more minutes, Guts. I don't see any road closings, so we should-|
CRASH
"OH MY GOD IT'S A STAMPEDE!" The three kids trembled as they heard a lot of footsteps above, and a lot of people screaming.
Yai's face looked like a gaping fish. "...I don't think that was a signal rerouting. We didn't delete that weird Navi, did we?" The boys shook their exhausted heads. "So that explains it. We probably triggered a second trap when we stopped those animals from getting to us."
"Well…" Dex said through panting. "They're not...stopping us...now…"
"That's not...a...good...thing.." Lan wheezed out. "I think I bruised my ribs…" And MegaMan still wasn't active. Was the battery even on?
Yai looked down. "He's right Lan. this is our chance to get out of this and get to the school." She really didn't like to say this but… "We can't do anything here." Dex looked at her in shock. "What? We're little kids! And we got ran out of the only place that could stop them!"
"But.." Dex began, but she realized she had a point, like usual. Lan may have been the leader, but she was the brains that kept them all in place. "...You're right."
"I know." Yai said with a nod. "Now get me on one of your backs. We need to run, now. And Glyde?"
|Yes mistress?|
"You and GutsMan tell us everything that you downloaded off the server."
|Very well.| Glyde answered. |Though it will take some time, I'm afraid.|
It took a good 14 minutes to reach the next part of the city, thankfully without any interruptions. There wasn't a main street in this part of town, and the roads were very hilly, slopes as common as trees. Dex remembered going here once with his little brother a month back. They had this friend who had a totally legal copy of a game that wasn't out yet, and the three of them played that thing until they were found out by the company's security and had the console bricked; good times. The dealership was just below the cliffs the three kids were on, ready and waiting. Shame about the spiderwebs though.
"OH COME ON!" Lan and Dex yelled, the latter when he saw just how much webbing there was, and the former looking for any signs that his brother was active, and finding none. Dex couldn't believe what he was seeing, and Yai wouldn't be able to either, if she didn't cover her eyes once she saw the first batch of fist sized tarantulas. "How did this happen?!" Dex wasn't the best student, he knew that, but he knew that spiders couldn't make this much webbing! It looked like snow, covering the wheels and roofs and trees of every house, and thanks to the streetlights, he could see the little creeps skittering about! "Oh man this is bad! This was our last chance!"
"What about the dealership?" Lan asked, looking down at it.
"What about it?! Have you seen-" Lan pointed Dex's head towards it, where he saw. "It's not spider'd!" In fact, you could say the thing wasn't touched at all! None of the cars were gunked up, it was brightly lit, so the two boys could see that none of those creepy crawlies with their skittering legs were around, and it looked like all the cars were plugged in! There was still power there! "Oh yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!" He saw Lan staring at the dealership, suspicion in his eyes, causing the rotund boy to deflate. "Yeah yeah I know." He learned to smell out suspicious crud like this after who knows how many life threatening situations. But this was the best chance they had right there!
"Are the spiders gone yet guys?" Yai asked fearfully as she was picked up by Dex, the three taking one of the roads down to the city.
8 minutes later, the trio arrived at the dealership. After a good 2 minutes of making sure none of this spiders got on their bodies, they were standing in front of the cars, when they noticed something even more suspicious.
"Why does a dealership out here have hovercars?" Lan asked. Those were extremely expensive! Not only was refueling them even more expensive than getting a new PET battery, but the maintenance cost, as well as the fees for allowing Navis to even Jack-In were astronomical! Not to mention you had to be in range of a broadcasting station to download the necessary updates and security codes for your vehicle!
"Dang it!" Dex yelled, crossing his arms. Lan had another good point! He bought out his PET. "Hey! You unpacked those files yet?!"
|Sorry Guts, 88% done.|
Lan ignored Dex's yell of frustration and looked to the main office of the dealership. 'I wonder….' He went to the shivering Yai and shook her out of her fear induced stupor. "Hey. HEY!"
"HUH?!" Yai looked frantically around. "Oh I'm still in this evil place?! I thought it was a dream!"
"Fraid not." Lan grumbled, doing everything he could to avoid looking out at the city. "I think I might know why this dealership isn't affected by the spiders."
"You do?!" both of his friends exclaimed, Dex speaking first. "Then spill man!" Lan pointed to the main office itself. "Oooohhhh…"
Yai's eyes narrowed. "That makes sense."
"Yep!" Lan said with a nod as the three crept towards the building. "So if we stop what's going on in there, then we'll probably stop the spiders here." The other two nodded, and crept ever closer...closer…
|Stop right there!| The three nearly fell over from the shock of Glyde's yell.
|He's right Guts! Don't take a step further!| Dex and Yai bought out their PETs, Lan looking over Yai's shoulder to screenshare. |That place isn't just broadcasting a signal Guts! It's just a receiver!|
|He's right.| Glyde continued, bringing up a text file for the kids to see. |Apologies for taking so long, but this list was the first file to be created from that directory. If you look past the rather derogatory remarks towards that Navi's intelligence, you can see a list of locations, all with broadcasting capabilities.|
"Oh you gotta be." Lan said with a groan, causing his friends to turn his head to them. "It's just like what happened at the Waterworks a year back!" The second he said Waterworks, the two stepped back. It was an incident still fresh on a lot of people's minds, though not as much as the Auto Traffic Tragedy. "We go in there, and it'll be just like that, only with spiders!"
"A-are you sure?" Dex muttered, still remembering when he drank during that incident. "We could-"
"-He's right." Yai grumbled. "You see those spiderwebs right? How big those spiders were? That sound is supercharging them. Who knows how fast or strong they are! We step in there, and an alarm could go off sending each and everyone of them right to us! Lan, your Netsaver training coach taught you how to drive a car right?"
"Yeah?" Lan asked, perplexed while Dex looked at him with the mix of a jealous child whose brother got a new toy before he could, and the coolest bro ever. "But I only know how to drive with Navi Assistance." No thanks to Chaud being a buzzkill and not trusting him to drive on his own. "Why?"
"With all you've done Lan, I'm surprised that you haven't learned to drive yet." She handed him her PET. "Jack him into the car and you should have enough permissions to override the security."
The three said no more, quickly unplugging the car as Lan got into the driver's seat, Dex took shotgun, and Yai was strapped to the back with as many seat belts as possible. "Guys this is too much!" She complained as Glyde logged into the car's network and turned it on. "Just one seatbelt's fine!"
"Not with how fast we're gonna be going!" Dex nearly yelled. "Let's get out of here Lan!"
"Hold on!" Lan waited until pedals moved upward to reach his feet, and the steering wheel extended to be within his reach. "Alright, let's do this!" The car reversed, so much so that it almost hit the building on the other side of the lot, but Lan quickly got control of it and exited the dealership. Glyde turned on the map function, allowing Lan to see the best roads -aka the ones with the least amount of killer animals- to take. "So if we take a right here, and then go up that hill…"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
The three kids froze, Glyde immediately activating the car's auto-control option, which slowed it down immensely, damnable security measures. |Do not be alarmed, but I think the townspeople and the animals are working together.|
"Y-you don't say!" Dex nearly choked in fear, seeing old ladies and geriatric men riding on bears and deer, keeping up with the car while wearing clown makeup and stupid clothes. And that was on their left! To their right were animals riding other animals, including a monkey with a padded baseball bat! "WHERE ARE ALL THESE STUPID ANIMALS COMING FROM?!"
Lan sped up as fast as he was able to, slowing down to make a sharp turn that thankfully some of his pursuers didn't take to- Keyword here being some- crashing into the forest.
"Ohmanohmanohmanohmanohman!" Dex was not having a good time right now. Yai would be panicking with him, but she was busy gripping the seat for dear life.
|Turn left!| Glyde ordered, Lan making a sharp drifting turn down a steep, curved hill that took him into a tunnel. |That was an excellent maneuver Master Lan!|
"Thanks!" Lan yelled, heart pounding as he exited the tunnel and found themselves coming out onto a very empty, car filled highway. "Oh man…"
"It's like one of those disaster movies." Dex muttered in awe and fear as the car bob and weaved through the mess of vehicles. "Where is everyone?!"
|They either ran away-| Glyde began |-Or the most likely scenario, they were hypnotized by our mysterious foe.|
Lan gulped. "Yeah, that's a thing. So to stop the hypnosis, we gotta stop those transmitters like back in the gateway?"
|Correct. The downloaded files contained a map of every active transmitter.| The boy's faces lightened as Yai detached herself from the seat. |But sadly we are too far from any of them.| The light died. |And what's worse, we can be sure that whoever was in charge of that Navi and virus duo we fought is well aware of what we know by now. So that leaves only one option.|
"Beat the source Navi?" Lan asked.
|Correct. Get off on this exit, Master Lan. Thank you. If we delete the Navi leading this terrorist attack, or their PET, then the signal should cease.|
Lan took his hand off the wheel for a second to feel in his pocket. 'Still not up yet.' "How much farther?"
|6 more minutes if we continue down this road.| Glyde answered |We should-|
KNOCK KNOCK
"OH NOT AGAIN!" Dex whined. "IT'S THE SAME OLD PEOPLE!"
ACDC Town, 1:33
Sakurai Residence
{We're now 22 minutes into the chase, and neither the animals nor the car they're chasing are showing any signs of slowing down. We have no idea how those moose are keeping up with a car going 90 miles per hour, nor do we have any idea where the moose came from.}
{Experts say that they were smuggled into the country via an unknown party, but can't think of a reason why.}
{..I think we can understand why now, Nagatoro.}
Under her blanket Mayl watched her PET with sunken eyes as the car chase continued toward the school. The camera angles given by the news helicopter weren't the best, but she recognized that headband in the passenger's seat all too well.
At the Hikari residence, Yuichiro was this close to bringing out the 'my boys are in trouble!' sauce. You'd be amazed how well the stuff went through his body when you saw the medical reports he and his wife had to undergo once their sons came back from sneaking into Kotobuki. There was no way Cossack was getting here. All public and private communications all across the city were locked off to prevent any potential spreading of that hypnotic noise, and the only ones allowed to use the net were public service workers, news crews, and SciLab workers like himself and Chidori, which didn't help at all given the fact that none of the computers at his house had the necessary equipment to filter out and analyze that damned noise! His wife thankfully reported in now and again using the SciLab codes he 'legally' gave her for her safety, so at least there was some good news on that front. 'At least Chidori's safe.' Like it or not, and he really, really didn't like to admit it, but Lan survived worse than this; he could make it out of this alive. He just didn't trust Chidori not to do something stup- "Oh no.' His eyes widened, and he immediately bolted out the door into the guest room, slamming it open. "Chidori!"
"Baaaaa!" And he was too later
|Sorry Mr. Hikari| Eldora said sadly from the recharge stand on the dresser. |I told her not to open it and well…|
Both human and LRIG groaned in harmony. "Chidori, stop nibbling on my leg please."
ACDC Academy, 2:10
Principal's office
{We are now 40 minutes into the chase! I think the car in question is heading towards ACDC Academy!}
{Are you sure?}
{Positive! They're taking every available alternative route in the ACDC Auto-Map Database, but they're definitely heading in that direction!}
Saiko shook his head with a cocky smile as he watched the news report. "You're just as brash as I was told, Lan Hikari." Strange that only the little foreheaded girl was with them, but that was one less LRIG to worry about. FlashMan didn't have much HP after all. "FlashMan, status update."
|P2 is ready to head towards the main tower.| He informed his NetOp. |I'm preparing myself for disassembly at this moment.|
"Good. shut down all non vital functionality, and make sure our hostage is kept quiet. Looks like the Hikari boy's coming to us."
|Saiko, remember what Wily said.|
"Yes yes I remember." The human answered with a roll of his eyes. A murder charge with his abilities would make it harder for Lord Wily to break him out of jail, but his master's paranoia served him well over the years. "I'll just have the teachers capture the brats, and grab MegaMan and the Ayanokoji brat's Navi in the process." With the latter's PET at his disposal, WWW would have complete access to their riches and blackmail on Japan's political underworld. And with MegaMan, their greatest enemy would be their greatest ally once Mayu was done with him! "Ready the LRIG, FlashMan."
|Understood.|
Once FlashMan signed off, Saiko turned on the intercom. "Miss Mariko Ozono was it? Your students are on their way. Be a good teacher and help them out, will you?" Saiko grinned evilly as he turned off the com and leaned back in his chair. Just a bit more, and the 2nd TetraCode will be in the hands of WWW! And thanks to all this chaos, SciLab won't find out until it's far, far too late. All in all, this was a good test run!
