War of the Heart

Part Four: Into the fort they go…

Remembering where the WWW HQ was located from their last adventure there, it wasn't long before Lan and Chaud had reached it. The place was a mere shell of its former self. The only thing that appeared to be there were piles of wreckage and rubble.

"So, this is what happened to the place," Lan said. "We're lucky that the subway leading here wasn't destroyed."

"What a mess," commented Chaud. "I wonder where those creeps could be hiding anyways."

"Lord Chaud, I'm picking up some unusual electrical energy readings from deep within the wreckage," said Protoman. "It would seem that there appears to be an bunker of some sort deep underground."

"Of course! The perfect place to hide out!" exclaimed Megaman.

"And it's obviously the place where they're holding Mayl captive! Let's go!" chimed Lan.

Some time later, Lan and Chaud were scavenging through the rubble to find the entrance to the underground bunker. Protoman had confirmed the location of the electrical readings, but so far, there appeared to be no sign of any entrance.

"Man, where could that entrance be?" groaned Lan. "We've been searching for half an hour now!"

"There's no need to complain," said Chaud. "It's not like we can just look over this pile of rubble here and-…"

He peaked up over the pile of rubble. The area in front of him was significantly more cleared off than the rest. Lying on the ground appeared to be a door of some kind.

"…find it."

"You found it?" asked Lan, heading for Chaud's position. "Hey, you found it! Great!"

The two headed over to the door. Once they reached, Lan grabbed the handle and yanked as hard as he could. Unfortunately, it was locked.

"Darn it!" exclaimed Lan.

"Hmm…there appears to be a jack-in panel here," observed Chaud. "We should be able to unlock the door from here."

"Okay then. Ready, Megaman?" asked Lan.

"Ready!" exclaimed Megaman.

"Jack-in! Megaman, execute!"

Megaman and Protoman quickly surveyed the environment that they had entered. It appeared to be just a simple computer block, only consisting of one room. The only notable feature in it was a large console.

"Hello," it said. "I am Key Program 34287. Enter five-digit identification code to unlock door."

"Don't worry. I have some code-cracking experience. This one should be no problem," Protoman said as he stepped up to the console. "Now, let me handle this. The password is 7-8-2-4-3."

"Incorrect password. Please try again," chirped the console.

"All you did was just its program number backwards," noted Lan.

"Let me try again," said Megaman. "The code must be 3-6-8-4-5."

"Incorrect. Please be aware that a third failure will result in calling security," warned the console.

"You just guessed at random!" exclaimed Protoman.

"Fine, so code-cracking wasn't what I was programmed for, okay?" said Megaman.

"This isn't working. We need some other way of figuring out this code," said Lan. "Any ideas, Chaud?"

"Well, we could try the combination that an idiot puts on his luggage," suggested Chaud. "Besides, there doesn't seem to be any clue as to the combination of this, anyway. Give it a try, Protoman."

"Very well," said Protoman. "The combination is 1-2-3-4-5."

"Beep. Access granted," said the console.

"I don't believe it," groaned Lan. "You used the world's simplest combination and it worked?!"

"Just be happy it did. Let's go, already," said Chaud.

At the start of it, the underground bunker appeared to be nothing special. It only appeared to be a long hallway, formed completely of metal. Lan and Chaud walked down the hallway toward the nearest door.

"This is weird," commented Lan. "You'd think there'd at least be a security camera or motion sensor or something, but there doesn't appear to be anything here."

"Most likely, they never intended to use this bunker and didn't bother to install anything for security purposes, save a door lock or two," suggested Chaud. "Still, they must have something important down here since there are some energy readings. Are you still picking them up, Protoman?"

"Yes, Lord Chaud. They seem to be coming from deeper still within this bunker," reported Protoman.

"Well, I guess we have no choice but to go in deeper…" said Lan.

"I still can't believe that old thing was spared," commented Ms. Madd.

The three WWW members had gathered in the main facility of their underground bunker. Fortunately for them, the destruction of their past had left the area intact, due to its super-strong protection. Also, the project that Yahoot had hoped for was also down there.

"We're just lucky it's in working order," said Count Zap. "How much longer should it take to finish?"

"I'm guessing another half-hour at the most," guessed Yahoot. "This has had some good successes in the past on human subjects. How's that Navi reprogramming coming?"

"Harder than we expected, but we should have it done by the time she's finished," replied Ms. Madd.

Just then, one of the lights on a nearby console began blinking. Count Zap took a quick look at it.

"The silent alarm has been tripped!" he exclaimed. "Lan and some other kid are on their way!"

"Other kid? Looks like we'll have to deal with him too." said Yahoot. "Luckily, once this is finished, neither one of them will have it in them to hurt us…"