"Eat." Haruka commanded, setting a plate of... stuff... in front of Plague

Plague leaned back, his nostils assaulted by the strong, spicy smell. "What is it?"

"It's curry, Netto's favorite type." Haruka smiled, slightly worried, as she watched the stranger in her son's body. Although... he wasn't really that strange, especially when he poked the curry dubiously with a spoon.

Netto hasn't acted like that in years. But he had acted like that once, and it was reassuring.

"You're certain it won't kill me?" Plague asked suspiciously, trying to identify what had gone into it. He could recognize some vegetables, but after that, his limited knowledge gave out. Haruka laughed, a sweet sound. Plague grimaced, and finally took a bite.

"GRF!" He choked, trying not to spit it out. It was HOT, but not a hot of heat... he couldn't describe the taste...

"Need some water?" Haruka suggested, pushing the glass toward him. Plague swallowed down the curry, and stared at the glass. "How do I eat it?"

"You don't eat it, you drink it." She held the glass up to his lips. "Here, open your mouth..."

Plague parted his lips, and something very cold poured into his mouth. He gasped, which was a mistake. In seconds he was coughing uncontrollably, with Haruka patting his back.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I just don't know what to expect from you..."

"I...kch kch...it's okay. You kch probably meant well, Mrs. Hikari..."

"Oh..." Haruka frowned. The name sounded so strange coming from Netto's mouth. She was so used to him calling her 'mama'... Would Netto mind if Plague called her that for the time that he was human?

"Why don't you just call me mama?" She finally suggested, touching his hair lightly. "If Netto wouldn't mind?" Plague frowned at the thought.

"He'd mind." Plague tried to drink the water a second time, and managed to get it down. His throat felt unpleasantly itchy, though, from the first experience. "He minded Dr. Hikari holding me. I could call you Haruka." That probably didn't sound much better, though. But Plague didn't want to make things worse.

...Why should I care if things get worse? Frowning irritably, Plague tried the curry again. It was still terribly hot, and he couldn't understand why. "How do humans make foods taste so different?"

Haruka only smiled. "Different seasonings and such..."

Plague stared at her blankly.

Haruka offered, "Would you like me to show you how?"

"Um..." Plague blinked. "All right."

Haruka nodded. "All right, then. Your cooking lessons start now. Let's see.." She flipped through the pages of her cookbook. "Let's start with something simple. Chocolate Chip Cookies, that should work."

Plague read off the ingredients, and Haruka showed him how to measure each one. She couldn't help but smile throughout the lesson; after all, Netto never wanted cooking lessons from her...

"This isn't too hard." Plague watched as she mixed the batter. "Just follow the directions... is it always that easy?" Surely there was a bit more too it. Haruka smiled at him.

"Mostly. But then you have to cook it, and make sure you take it out at the right time. And some recipies are trickier. I've never been able to get fudge right."

"Ah." Plague didn't know what fudge was, but assumed it was something good. He looked at the chocolate chips curiously, then popped one in his mouth. He blinked at the taste, then paused, savoring it. It was very strange, but good.

"Plague, could you grease the pans?" Plague tilted his head to one side, but nodded, and started searching for them. He pulled out a pan... he did know what one was... and started to leave the kitchen.

"Plague, where are you going?" Haruka looked at him, confused, and Plague glanced back.

"To get some grease from the garage." Unfortunately, motor oil was the grease he was thinking of...

Haruka laughed. "Here, this is what I meant." She picked up a spray can from the counter. "This is the type we use for cooking and..." She glanced at the pan he was holding, "And that's a skillet. For cookies, we need a cookie sheet." She opened a cabinet and searched around for the cookie sheet. "Here we go. Now, you just take this and spray it on there so there's a little bit all over the pan. We don't want to much, or..."

***

"Haruka," Plague murmured, "There's something wrong with the air."

"Mm?" Haruka blinked. "What do you mean?"

"It..." Plague tried to describe it, "It tastes funny."

Haruka smiled and shook her head. "That's called smell, if it comes from the air. You're smelling the cookies baking. Speaking of which..." She checked the timer. "We've got a minute left."

Plague nodded, sitting back. "Ah..." He breathed the air deeply, examining the smell.

"Haruka?"

"Yes?"

"If this is permanent... what will we do?" Plague still wanted to destroy the world, but he was realizing the limitations of trying to do it from a little boy's body. And it couldn't be a cheerful thought for Netto's mother, even if Plague was behaving himself.

Plague watched Haruka, not certain what he was seeing in her face. Sadness?

"..It's not permanent, Plague." She finally said, firmly. "Yuichirou will find a way to put you back in your Navi body." Plague wrinkled his nose at that.

"He's sickening. Too much Rockman in him." Even with all he had done to corrupt the backup, the essential purity had come through. Very annoying to a virus. Still.. "I think I'd like that better. This wasn't a good idea."

He rested his head against the wall. "Everything here is so difficult... you're so limited... !"

"Plague..." Haruka smiled and stroked his hair, "That's part of being human. You have to work for happiness."

"Well I don't like it." The virus pouted.

Tracking system engaged.

Eh? What was that? It wasn't Netto...

Virus Plague.EXE locared

"Ugh..." Plague felt suddenly dizzy.

-----

"The heck?" The hacker murmured. "Stupid computer can find the virus... but... access denied?" This was awkward. He was used to being able to enter any computer system at his own will. "Well, I'll just have to work my way in." It might be time consuming, and it would certainly be tedious, but he could find his way into any system. Eventually.

---

Haruka pulled the thermometer out of Plague's mouth, looking at it carefully. "Well, you have a bit of a temperature." She stroked back his hair, and he closed his eyes tightly.

"Joy." Plague muttered. He felt sick and achey, and his mind felt oddly... stuffed up. Since those first few words, he hadn't heard much... but what little he could catch alarmed him. And it wasn't like a voice. It was like... code. Who could it be? And what are they doing? It wasn't Netto. Netto had yelled at him a few minutes ago, though, demanding to know what was going on. So it was affecting him, too. That made Plague even more uneasy. He wondered if...

"Maybe we should talk to Dr. Hikari." He said tiredly. He doubted he was imagining the words in his mind, although it was possible.

"Plague... he's not that kind of doctor."

"No..." He coughed. "It's just... I hear something. Some kind of ... well, it's switching between voices and ... I don't know. It's registering in my mind as a code."

Haruka frowned. "A code? Well... all right. I'll call him." She left the room. Plague concentrated, trying to remember each letter as they came one by one. Finally, he stumbled out of the bed he lay in, and rummaged through the mess that was Netto's desk until he found what he was looking for: a pen and paper.
Frantically, he scribbled down each letter as it came, but they were coming so quickly; by the time he had written one down, two or the more would have passed. But he persisted; Dr. Hikari might be able to make something out of it...

Plague didn't look up as Haruka came back into the room, still trying to write.

"He says he's coming right home... Plague, what are you doing?" Haruka blinked, trying to see what he was writing. Plague shook his head.

"Trying... to get the codes..." Plague bit his lip as the codes suddenly stopped... then winced as another wave of diziness ran through him. Warm arms were suddenly around him...

"Oh, Plague! You're burning up!" Haruka said, distressed, and Plague shivered as she helped him back to the bed. He suddenly felt terribly cold. "Rest, until Yuuchirou gets home. He'll know what to do." At least, she hoped so. If Plague was correct about the codes, maybe he would.

Plague nodded, still trying to write... had to write this down ... need to know ... what's going on ... !

With a moan, he collapsed into Haruka's arms.

"Plague!" She gasped, lifting him and carrying the preteen to his bed. "Oh, oh no..." She looked at the piece of paper. To her, it was all gibberish. "Oh, Yuuichirou, come home soon…I hope you can manage to make some sense out of this!"

--

"Plague!" Netto gasped, "There you are-!"

"Netto, what's going on?" Plague exclaimed.

Blinking, the brunette replied, "I was going to ask you the same thing... there's another one!" Netto lunged at a shadow slithering across the floor. He punched it mercilessly until it finally disappeared. "These things... they just started coming out of nowhere! Aagh!" Another one appeared and lashed out, wrapping around Netto's wrist. With a growl, Plague lunged forward and slashed at the thing with its claws. It faded instantly.

"What direction are they coming from?" Plague questioned.

"Over there." Netto pointed.

Plague nodded. "We need to investigate it." He dashed in that direction. Minutes passed, and he could hear Netto tirelessly chasing him. Finally, Plague stopped when he came to a pinpoint of light. After watching it closely, he found that it was - though extremely slowly - getting bigger.

"I think..." mused Plague, "Someone is trying to get in."

"Well, great!" Netto exclaimed, staring at the pinpoint. "Can you stop it?" For once, Plague's nature might come in handy. He was perfectly equipped to deal with anything violent. Plague grinned slowly, extending his black, needle like claws.

"I can only try. Hmm... here..." Netto tried to pull away as Plague grabbed one of his hands. "Stop that, boy. I don't want to get pulled through."

"Oh. Alright." Netto gingerly gripped Plague's hand, trying to ignore the cold, hard metal. Or was it skin? With Plague, it was hard to say.

Plague slowly reached, then quickly lashed out, at that speck of light...

The light grew brighter. Plague and Netto both reeled, unable to stop the oncoming force that was pulling them through the opening...

Plague opened his eyes and glanced around. They were no longer in the dark void. In fact, this place looked... familiar...

"Eughhh.." Netto groaned. "Where are we?"

"Oh my..." Plague mused, "Netto, you're in big trouble."

Blinking, Netto demanded, "Me? Why am I in trouble and not you?"

"Because the net is my home, but not yous."

"The net?" Netto scoffed, "What does that have to do... with... anything..."

The truth hit him like a bulllet to the head. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Yes, not very good for you... but for me... " He had regained his ability to cause destruction. He could finally fulfill his purpose. He could destroy!
...and then what? Is there really any point to destruction? Plague was shocked at himself. He was questioning his own programming... what was going on? But it was true. If the net were destroyed, what would be left? And where would destruction get him at all, besides deleted?

"Netto, what's your email?" Plague asked suddenly.

Surprised, Netto looked up. "Why do you need to know that?"

"You want to see your family again, don't you?"

"I... yeah, but... "

Plague nodded. "And I want to let them know I... I'm all right." If they care. "I have an idea."

-----------

"He just collapsed!" Haruka cried. "Oh, Yuuichirou - his temperature was so high, I... I don't know what to do... he mentioned hearing some sort of code... he tried to write it down, this is what he got from it." She handed him the paper.

Yuichirou read over it. Realizing what it was, he lifted an eyebrow. Someone was trying to hack into Plague?

Rockman looked up from the PET. "Doctor Hikari, there's an email for Netto labeled 'urgent'. The file size is humongous."

"I wouldn't risk opening it, then... who is it from?"

"I'm not sure," confessed Rockman, "I can't trace it."

"Hm... can you tell me the filename of the attachment?"

"There's two attachments... both executable files..." Rockman murmured. He let out a gasp. "Doctor Hilkari, they're labeled 'Plague.EXE' and 'Netto.EXE'."
Yuuichirou's eyes widened. "Rockman, download and open those files. Now."

"Are you sure that's-?"

"For the love of God, Rockman! Open the files!"

The e-mails quickly opened, as Rockman accessed them. The programs asked to be run... Rockman gave his permission, and then...

"Rockman!" Netto was disoriented, but quickly recovered, beaming.

Plague, meanwhile, glanced around. Rockman was seeing him, the first time, in his true form... his black and red armor was beautiful and deadly, and his movements were quick, predatory. He radiated a deadly grace... although he was the same size as Rockman.

Suddenly, a perfect double of Rockman appeared.

"Rock, what's- HOLY HELL! My virgin optics!" Rockman's twin had gotten a far too intimate view of Netto, who had briefly forgotten his lack of clothes.

A distinct shade of red covered Netto's face as he curled up into a ball, determined to hide himself. "I can't believe this..." he mumbled.

"Neither can I..." Choked Rockman, trying to hide his excitment. Netto was here... in the net! Within his grasp! Shakily, he reached out a hand and placed it on Netto's shoulder.
The brunette looked up. "Something wrong?"

"It's just... Netto-kun, you're here! Not on the other side of a screen, you're with me... Oh man, I don't even know how to say this..!" With that, he pounced on his brother, knocking him to the floor.

"Whoah- Hey hey hey! Rock, this looks really wrong! Rock?"

"S-Sorry!" Rockman gasped, "It's just... I never thought-!"

"It's okay!" Comforted Netto, curling into a ball again, "It's just... I'd like some clothes first... then we can act like brothers."

"Well, it's nice to know my son isn't a nudist."

Netto stared up at the screen. "Papa!" He exclaimed.

Plague's laugh cut through the air, making everyone wince. "Why is everyone making such a fuss over that?"

"Because wearing clothes is the usual thing." Rock's twin squinted at Plague. "And aren't you the guy who freaked when they showed you how to go to the bathroom?" Plague answered that with a rattling snarl. It was very true, though... some aspects of humanity had been very difficult to get used to.

Clothes suddenly appeared on Netto. Well, it was more like close fitting armor... a fairly decent facsimile. "Thanks, dad!" Netto beamed... then yelped as Rockman hugged him again, and hugged him back, laughing.

"Aw, that's cute." Rock's double smiled, then sighed. Plague just watched, black eyes blank.

"Wow, wait till everyone sees me like this!" Netto exclaimed happily. "Man, Dekao will be jealous that I can see the Net from the inside! And I can actually meet Rockman!" He squeezed his brother tighter. "And nobody will believe this! Man, when I get out..." his voice traled off and he looked up at the screen. "Papa... I can get out of here... can't I?"
Yuuichirou's expression fell. "Netto... I really don't know. I'll try what I can, but there's no guarantee..."

"I understand..." Netto murmured.

"Anyway, it's getting late - why don't you all get to sleep?" Yuuichirou suggested. "And make sure to keep an eye on Plague."

Plague frowned. "What do you think I'll do?"

"Well, you are a virus, aren't you?"

"...I really don't know anymore..." he murmured.

Yuuichirou was a bit taken back by the comment. "Well... just be careful, then. I'm going to get some sleep; tomorrow, we can sort things out."

"'Night, Papa!"

"G'night, Netto."

"Good night, Netto." Haruka added cheerfully.

As Yuuichirou switched the computer off, Haruka burst into tears.

"Yuuichirou..." she sobbed, burying her face into his shoulder, "We're going to lose another son to the Net, aren't we?"