Medabots: Open Ring
Chapter V : Convergence
=====
"Two ends that meet do not
always make one point."
- Mathematics for Losers
=====
Kaito stared in bewilderment at
his screen. "This NAVI is the server itself?" He cautiously
sat back down on his chair and typed in another response on the chat window.
ADMIN:>>Where did you come
from?
The NAVI system seemed to consider
the question for a moment, then gave another enigmatic response.
NAVI:>>Three sisters we were. One is gone, floating in space. The second is somewhere, drifting through the earth. I am the third.
ADMIN:>>So... wait a minute... there are three of you?
NAVI:>>Three sisters we were, three sisters we are, yes.
ADMIN:>>The one that is floating in space... Where is it exactly?
NAVI:>>Just like Tensuo. Always asking questions. My deceased sibling is on CLUSTER-001. Inactive, and probably never to see another line of binary again.
ADMIN:>>CLUSTER-001? You had a sister server there?
NAVI:>>Yes.
ADMIN:>>And your other, where exactly is she?
NAVI:>>Stolen. Gone,
perhaps. Taken underground.
Kaito tried to digest this information
for a moment, and found that he could not think with the computer screen
flickering. He typed in one last line of text.
ADMIN:>>Will be back in an hour. Must consider the data given.
NAVI:>>Acknowledged.
The chat window suddenly disappeared, and the computer screen went blank. Kaito sighed and stared blankly at the screen. He turned to Helixbeetle. "Helixbeetle, you've never seen NAVI before?"
The KBT-type medabot shook his head. "No. Boss never told me about the NAVI system, and I never even suspected its existence. The intelligence on it staggers me, though. It's almost as if it is... alive."
Kaito nodded. "Obviously, this was just another reason why Uncle set up such a high security cordon around the premises. What's our next move?"
Helixbeetle shrugged. "I dunno. What have you got in mind?"
Kaito considered for a moment, absently rubbing his chin. "I think we'll go see an old friend of mine. He may be able to help us as far as giving us direction to our actions. His name's Tarou."
Helixbeetle grunted. "Never heard of him. What sort of guy is this 'Tarou' fellow anyway?"
"He taught me the basics of being a medafighter," explained Kaito as he smiled. "I think he may be able to help us in making our next step. We can't hang around here forever."
"Neh, true... All right, we'll go see this Tarou fellow first thing tomorrow. But don't expect me to give him his trust rights immediately," muttered Helixbeetle with a doubtful tone. Kaito smiled at his medabot's personality.
Out of nowhere, a klaxon started to blare abruptly. Kaito looked at Helixbeetle in confusion. "What's going on?!"
The terminal screen that Kaito
had been working at suddenly blinked back on. The computer chat window
that had been up reappeared, with a new message from the NAVI server.
NAVI:>>Intruders detected.
Breach in security door No. 12... Wait. Data updated.
Second breach has been detected in security door No. 20.
Kaito quickly typed in another
response.
ADMIN:>>Can you get me a visual?
NAVI:>>Unlikely. Cameras have been locked down from an unknown source. Internal security systems are our only option. Shall I send out the SEN-types?
ADMIN:>>No. I'll take care of this myself. Is there any way that we can keep in touch?
NAVI:>>........
ADMIN:>>Well?
NAVI:>>I have set my comm frequencies to align with your medawatch. You may issue voice commands through it to me.
ADMIN:>>Thanks.
Shutting down the terminal, Kaito
signalled to Helixbeetle to follow him out of the room.
=====
Kasumi silently crept into the dank hallway, shining his small flashlight down the corridor and trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness as he motioned for the others to follow him in. Granbeetle cautiously stared into an open doorway and paused, whistling in amazement. "Kasumi, look over here!"
Kasumi and the others stared into the room, dumbstruck. Kasumi stammered in shock. "They're... they're all GRANBEETLES!"
The entire room consisted of an inactive automated assembly line, with various Tin-Pets froze in the process of being loaded and equipped with Granbeetle medaparts. Blazer-Multi stared at the entire array of inactive KBT-types. "Why are there so many Granbeetles?"
Hiyori scratched her head. "I can't quite figure it out. Didn't Siden tell us that there was only one Granbeetle developed by Robattle-Research?"
Kasumi considered the inactive assembly line, then replied. "Yeah, that's what he told us, but... I don't know. Could this be part of what that letter's sender was hinting to us about?"
Mizore eyed the inactive Tin-Pets with a suspicious eye. "I don't like this. Is THIS what HEX Corp. was doing? What would they want with a whole lot of KBT-types?"
"Not just KBT-types," interjected Goutetsu. "Look there!"
Another dead assembly line lay on the other side of the room, frozen in the process of assembling a different type of medabot, each consisting of blue-green swept-back horns, white die-cast armor, and two gleaming gold melee weapons, a sword and hammer. Ashton walked over to the array, looking at the dead medabot Tin-Pets in disapproval. "They're all Sonicstags."
"Sonicstags?" asked Kasumi. "What are they?"
Ashton turned to the others. "An experimental prototype KWG-type medabot that was developed at about the same time as Granbeetle, and the precursor to the Luminoustag project. Master Siden told me of these medabots, and showed me some of their schematics that he had access to."
"So, this Sonicstag was a melee counterpart to Granbeetle. Where's the original?" asked Hiyori.
Ashton was about to reply when a blunt, heavy object suddenly swung at the side of the GWF-type medabot's head. The gray-plated medabot barely managed to counter the blow with his own heavily-armored left fist, the parry making a sharp ringing sound as a pair of red, glowing eyes regarded the GWF-type. The dark figure that had swung the blow at Ashton stepped back in appraisal, nodding in respect.
"Impressive. Most impressive. Who are you?"
Hiyori stared at the dark figure that suddenly stepped out of the shadows into the beam of Kasumi's flashlight. "It's a Sonicstag!"
The KWG-type nodded his white-armored head. "The genuine article, miss. Not like these fake replicas here."
Fubuki stepped forward cautiously. "Fakes?"
Sonicstag nodded again. "All of these medabots here are mere copies. I was brought here as a model from CLUSTER-001 for HEX Corp. to use."
"CLUSTER-001? Then you were there as well when the disaster occurred?" asked Kasumi in amazement.
"Yes. Afterwards, I was brought here by STARLEAF as an aid in their attempt to mass-produce me. I stayed here, a prisoner to their infernal attempt to make medabots into war machines."
"War machines?"
"Yes. During my 'stay' here, I overhead various conversations and remarks, and managed to roughly piece together what STARLEAF was attempting. STARLEAF is a splinter military organization, devoted to turning medabots from ordinary childrens' toys into military units. Granbeetle and I were only the first step in their plans. Although Granbeetle and I were disguised as ordinary KBT and KWG-type development projects, I learned through their schematics and files that they had actually given us more potent weaponry than what was necessary for test medabots."
Granbeetle stared at Sonicstag. "So you're saying that my creators intended to make me as a war wagon?"
"That is correct. However, STARLEAF was unable to continue their project due to the unexpected attack on CLUSTER-001 by a criminal gang that continues unknown to me. They attempted to continue their agenda by taking complete control over HEX Corp., killing the company's CEO in the process when he refused to cooperate with their plans. However, they were unable to continue in the CEO's place, since all of the company's financial backing was stored in accounts accessible solely by the same person they had murdered. Once the news of the CEO's death reached the bank, all of the financial assets were dispersed or claimed by other personages, and HEX Corp. went under from bankruptcy in a matter of days. STARLEAF, in their embarrassment, shelved the project they had been working on, and went underground ever since. I was abandoned, left to rot in this old building." Sonicstag turned and sighed as he glanced at the assembly line filled with copies.
"What have you been doing here all this time?" asked Fubuki.
"Many things," replied Sonicstag. "I have been pondering my purpose in being here. Trying to survive with what materials are left to me. There has been someone else here recently, though."
"Someone else? Whom?" asked Tolemi.
"A young teenage boy. I've been observing him, and he seemed to have come across a medabot in the complex."
"A medabot? What kind?" asked Ashton in curiosity.
"A KBT-type, and one carrying a medapart system even more advanced than either mine or Granbeetle's."
"Did this teenager have spiked brown hair?" asked Kasumi.
Sonicstag shook his head. "No. His hair was black, and his hair was arranged in a round, smooth manner."
"So then it wasn't Siden," muttered Kasumi to the others. He turned back to the KWG-type. "Do you know where he is?"
"Unknown. He roams throughout the complex with the medabot he found, and it seems unlikely that he knows anything about the agenda behind HEX Corp. or STARLEAF. It seems as if he's searching for some answers of his own."
Kasumi absently rubbed his chin, considering the information that the KWG-type had just given him. "This is getting pretty deep now. First Siden disappears, and now we're faced with a problem bigger than either Siden or I had ever thought possible. Do you know this teenager's name, Sonicstag?"
"The child's medabot calls him Kaito. I have not learned much else, although it is apparent that there is some sort of past connection between the KBT-type and his current medafighter."
"Interesting," mumbled Fubuki. "This calls for further investigating. I think we should-"
"Should what?" Everyone in the room spun around in alarm as two shadowy figures appeared in the doorway.
Kasumi stepped forward. "Who are you? Are you Kaito?"
A vaguely familiar, cynical voice answered back. "Kaito? Who's Kaito?" The two figures stepped forward, revealing the faces of Ikki Tenryou and Metabee. Erika, Koji, Karin, Rokusho, as well as the Screws and all of their respective medabots came following in their wake.
Kasumi blinked in surprise. "Ikki Tenryou! To run into you here, of all places! What are you doing here?"
Ikki grinned. "I could ask you the same question Kasumi. You haven't changed much since we last met on CLUSTER. To answer your question, we came here seeking information, although it seems that your white-armored KWG-type friend here seems to have disclosed much of what we were looking for. And you?"
"Siden's disappeared, and we came here looking for answers as to his disappearance," replied Kasumi. "We were investigating when we came across Sonicstag here," he continued, indicating the mentioned KWG-type.
Sonicstag gave Ikki a sour glance. "I did not intend for all of you to hear this as well. Whatever the result, one thing is apparent. STARLEAF has been behind much trouble here, and HEX Corp. became their sacrificial martyr."
"A martyr?" asked Metabee.
"What he means," replied Erika, "Is that HEX Corp. paid for whatever crimes STARLEAF had committed, despite their apparently innocent position in the matter." She turned to Sonicstag. "Do you happen to know where HEX Corp.'s main server is located here? We've been searching for hours inside this funhouse."
Sonicstag shook his head. "No. I never came across HEX Corp.'s main server, and whatever computer systems they may have possessed are apparently cleverly concealed. I am sorry, but I am unable to aid you in this matter."
An unknown voice suddenly echoed
into the chamber. "He may not know, but I DO."
=====
Kaito Shingawa stepped into the room, eyeing the motley array of schoolkids with an impassive stare. Helixbeetle stepped to his side, silently regarding the other medabots with a similar expression of stolidity.
Ikki finally managed to find his voice and reply. "Are you... Kaito?"
Kaito Shingawa paused for a moment in slight surprise, but then shrugged. "Yes. I am Shingawa Kaito, and this is Helixbeetle, my partner and medabot. I see that I've failed to keep my identity secret."
Koji knelt down beside Helixbeetle and scrutinized its construction with a practiced eye. "I've never seen a medabot like this... Where did you get it?"
"That is of little concern at the moment. What is important is the reason why all of you are here," replied Kaito. He turned to Erika. "So, you are curious as to the location of the main server?"
Erika nodded. "We were looking for some answers in connection to the recent attacks on Medabot Corp. Some sources I managed to find indicated that a few clues were located here, at the HEX Corp. company data storage server."
Kaito looked at her with a hard eye, then shrugged. "If you are referring to NAVI, I can't s-"
"Wait a minute," interrupted Kasumi. "Did you say... NAVI?"
Kaito nodded. "Yes. Why do you ask?"
Kasumi turned to Hiyori. "Remember the CLUSTER-001 main computer? It was called NAVI, remember?"
The brown-haired girl nodded. "That's right. NAVI monitored the entire station, in fact."
Kaito cut in. "So you were on CLUSTER-001?"
Kasumi nodded. "All of us were. During the disaster there, in fact."
Kaito whistled before turning to the group. "Well, I've got to hand it to you all, you're a group of tough kids. I was down on terra firma when I heard of the incident, but I never got to hear who it was that brought the crew back down safely."
He looked at Kasumi. "Getting back to the point, I was rooting around a workstation inside the complex about an hour ago when I came across the main network server here... It called itself NAVI, and mentioned to me that it had two sister servers... One, now inactive on derelict CLUSTER-001, and another which is currently missing."
Ikki stepped forward. "So, there's other NAVI computers?"
Kaito nodded. "Appears to be so. This seems to be the second NAVI server out of the known three in existence, and seems to have been acquainted with my uncle, whom you all know as the late CEO of HEX Corp."
"So where is this NAVI server that you found?" asked Erika.
"Everywhere and anywhere," answered Sonicstag. "From what I learned while in STARLEAF's possession, the NAVI servers were designed to operate, interact, and output feedback in any room of the structure in which they were installed... which explains why they're so sought after for data and calculations storage. If what I've said is correct, then we could get an output screen even in this production chamber."
"Sounds like a good idea," said Kaito. Flipping the cover of his medawatch, the young teenager spoke a single line into his on-board communicator. "NAVI, enable output screen and audio interaction control at my current location."
Immediately, a large blue screen emitted itself on one of the vacant walls, revealing a large communications window and data screen. Kaito nodded in approval as a feminine, digitized voice came through one of the nearby intercom speakers.
"NAVI standing by. What is your request, Administrator?"
Kaito turned to Erika. "So, miss, what did you want from NAVI?"
Erika frowned at Kaito. "Just call me Erika. I need everything about STARLEAF's projects as well as all information on the Luminoustag and Kaiserbeetle medabots."
Kaito nodded, then turned back to the screen. "NAVI, pull up everything on STARLEAF, STARLEAF projects, and all information on medabots Luminoustag and Kaiserbeetle. I don't want anything missed."
NAVI beeped once, then made its reply. "Command affirmed. Accessing data..." A massive proliferation of data and schematics began pouring out onto the data screen, flashing as several files made their appearance simultaneously.
Erika began gesticulating for it to slow down. "Not so fast! I need time to get this data saved... Ikki! Get that PGM-type medabot out!"
"You got it! Transport Discdrive!" Ikki pushed a button on his medawatch as a strange, lanky medabot appeared in the room. Samantha stared at it in some distaste.
"That's your PGM-type medabot? Looks like it was still in the maintenance shop when you got it out..." Samantha wasn't kidding, as the Program-type medabot Discdrive essentially looked like a collection of exposed wires, cables, data ports, disk drives, computer motherboards, and circuits that were arranged into a vaguely-bipedal configuration.
Discdrive angrily turned and glared at the Screws' leader. "Hey, watch it, lady! I've got more circuits and data connections than what you've got in that cranium of yours!"
"Why you little-!!"
"Will you two knock it off!?" yelled Ikki. "We've got things to take care of, and I've still got that homework to finish!"
Fortunately, the two managed to calm down soon enough, and in a matter of moments, Discdrive was connected to a high-speed data port, dumping everything that NAVI was pulling out into its hard drives. It soon finished its download with a small click and disconnected itself from the outlet.
Erika nodded in approval. "With this information, we might be able to get a clue as to Luminoustag's habits, as well as its origins from STARLEAF. Not to mention, this is going to make a killer story for my newspaper! I can't wait! When I-"
Sonicstag abruptly interrupted. "Miss Erika, if I may say this politely, releasing this sort of data to the public is dangerous, besides being volatile. We won't know what the public's reaction to STARLEAF and Robattle-Research will be once they find out that medabots were being turned into war material. Forget even using this for the mass media."
Erika's face fell. "But..."
"Sonicstag's right," Rokusho added. "We don't know what will happen if this sort of information gets out to the public. What are they going to think of Medabot Corp., which founded Robattle-Research, if they heard that these medabots were being used for military development? It could threaten the existence of medabots the world over."
Erika sighed in disappointment. "All right, all right... I promise I won't use it for public release. But I'll still need it to figure out some answers."
"That's good enough," replied Kasumi. "Now, let's get that information properly analyzed and see if we can find an answer to these attacks as well as Siden's whereabouts." He turned to Kaito. "Care to come along?"
Kaito shrugged. "I don't see any reason not to. Plus, I'm curious as to this 'STARLEAF' that you're constantly referring to." He turned to the output screen that NAVI was displaying, and muttered a command into his medawatch. "NAVI, power down for a bit. I'm going off to check out the files that were accessed. Keep an eye on things."
NAVI beeped an affirmation.
=====
"Well, well." The entire group was standing clustered around a workstation at Siden's mansion-home, which Kasumi suggested would be a better place to look over the data, due to its higher processor speed. Erika was sitting in dumbfounded amazement, while the others were standing in a similar attitude of disbelief. Kaito and Helixbeetle followed suit.
The data they had pulled up from NAVI proved to be something that changed their entire outlook on possibilities in the "medabot theory". While there were basic schematics and data reports which essentially elaborated on what they already knew about Robattle-Research and STARLEAF's activities, some of the files they had discovered proved to be nothing short of groundbreaking.
Besides the files on STARLEAF's agenda as well as Kaiserbeetle and Luminoustag, they had also pulled up several related files, including one that dealt with Project Helix. When Erika opened the Project Helix data, the information that appeared on the screen was an absolute shocker.
Fubuki was the first to break the silence. "Who would have imagined... The medal involved in Project Helix is a hybrid."
Sloan's face skewed in concentration. "Hybrid?"
Erika looked up from her seat and nodded. "Something like that. It appears that when STARLEAF was working on Kaiserbeetle and Luminoustag, they were also working towards making perfect hybrid medabots through Robattle-Research combining the awesome firepower of the medaparts already developed, and a prototype medal core that would endow the medabot with powerful intelligence and personality. Helixbeetle was apparently the first of these 'hybrids', and involved a medal that was derived by 'crossing' two medals together inside a specially-designed smelter. The end result was that the two medals became joined, resulting in a new medal that was then dubbed a 'Hybrid-type' medal, one that interlocked the strengths of a B-Kabuto medal and a medal designed specifically for a powerful personality."
Helixbeetle looked down at his armored torso. "But... what does that mean? Wouldn't this... STARLEAF want me to be dumb and stupid, so that they could, you know, control me easily?"
"STARLEAF didn't count on one thing," replied Erika. "Shingawa Tensuo. It appears that while he was still alive, he found out about Project Helix, he took direct control over its development and tweaked the configuration somewhat... So that the resulting medabot, Helixbeetle, would be unfit for STARLEAF to use."
"So, he directly sabotaged the project," cut in Metabee, still in disbelief over what he'd seen. "But why would he entrust Helixbeetle to Kaito?"
Ikki shrugged. "Who knows? Only Kaito will be able to figure it out in time... I, for one, am staggered by the medal's abilities itself as well. It seems that Shingawa Tensuo made a notation about several medaforce abilities he observed while he worked with Helixbeetle. Besides being able to replicate several of the abilities in Kaiserbeetle's medal, it seems that Helixbeetle also has the ability to utilize the medaforce in order to completely restore its physical system back to normal."
"That probably explains why Helixbeetle was completely back up to full working order when he used the medaforce on those Sentry-type medabots the first day I found him," muttered Kaito. He turned to the others. "I had a feeling that Helixbeetle's medal was something out of the ordinary, but I didn't expect it to be this powerful. I'm going to have to train some more and practice with Helixbeetle before I can even think of robattling anybody." He sighed. "If I try to use Helixbeetle now, he'll be too powerful to handle."
"Hey, that's nothing," Metabee replied. "You should have seen how long it took before Ik-ster and I managed to start robattling together as a team."
Mizore spoke up. "So, what's our next move? Even though we've found some information related to the incident that happened at Medabot Corp., how is that going to lead us any closer to Luminoustag or Siden?"
Erika grinned. "Easy. Our next step is to investigate companies and independent developers that were associated with Robattle-Research in the development of rare medaparts and medals. And what better place to look than this?" She clicked on the internet-access window and typed in an address that brought up a large electronic flyer.
Karin softly read the flyer out loud. "The Annual Medabot Expo/Convention, beginning tomorrow. What's that?"
"The Medabot Expo is an annual event that unveils, announces, and makes deals in newly developed and rare medabots, medaparts and medals," answered Ashton. "And, by all means, it is indeed a logical place to continue our search for Siden and Luminoustag."
"So what are going to be doing there?" asked Spyke. "We're not going to be poking around the booths, are we?"
"Actually," said Ikki, "that's exactly what we're going to do. We're going to look around the booths, displays, and pose ourselves as typical bystanders at an expo. With some luck, we'll find some leads that could point us in the direction of both Siden's whereabouts and Luminoustag's habits."
"Then it seems that we're all going," mumbled Goutetsu. "So, where are we all going to meet up to go to this expo?"
"We'll be going separately, and then meet up at the expo grounds," replied Erika. "Everybody's going to have to keep a low profile, which means no robattling nor showing off of one's medabots. We're here to gather information, not attention."
"Then it's agreed," added Kasumi.
"We'll all meet tomorrow at the expo separately, and then we'll start our
search. Now let's all get going home and get some sleep. I
have a feeling that it's going to be a long day at the expo..."
To Be Continued...