Megaman Battle Network - New Generation
By Zelloss
Author's Note: LOTS about to be revealed! As in MAJOR REVELATION CHAPTER! I mean, I suggest you read this twice, as you may miss something and find yourself confused! Disclaimer: ... I can't believe you still need one...
Chapter 6 - Histories
"Ark, no!" I heard Dynast shout, as Ark dashed across the dome. I tried to move, to reach my PET, to unplug it, but I couldn't. Dynast was as helpless as I was.
Ark came closer, pulling the Hero Sword out of nowhere. "Dynast. You've been serious competition for me too long! Time for me to win."
I tried to move, but my body felt weak. The electricity had left me paralyzed. "Dad.."
Zel reached for the PET's cord, but was still blocked off by the glass wall between us. "Damnit... Ark, stop it now!"
Ark moved forward towards Dynast, stopping in front of him and lifting his chin upon the side of his Hero Sword.
"No... Ark..." Dynast nearly pleaded. Ark smiled menacingly.
I reached for the PET. I couldn't reach. I was going to die. Dynast would be deleted. So would I.
"In the end, the great warrior of darkness is left with nothing" Ark smiled. "Not even enough energy to move, at the mercy of his best friend."
This couldn't be Ark! He was never this evil... not even in his dark history, was he like that. Never.
Ark moved the blade closer to Dynast's throat. I could feel the side of something sharp along the front of my neck. Something cold.
"Ark, please, no..." I heard Dynast plead.
"Goodbye, Dynast" Ark muttered, as he swung the blade back.
I gathered up all my energy, and reached the cord to the arena. I pulled quick, removing Dynast's data from the virtual stadium. The Hero Sword swished through the air, cutting nothing.
"I'm not done with you, and neither is Koushada!" Ark smiled. "I'll be back, Dynast!"
I felt incredibly tired suddenly. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
* * *
"I hope he's alright. He's taken more punishment then most people I know."
"He's fine, Zel-chan."
"That's good. It's just... I can't believe Ark would..."
"I don't believe it either."
I opened my eyes, to see my father standing next to me. I looked around, to find myself in a rather small room, and I was lying down in a medical bed (Or so I thought). "Dad?" I muttered.
Zel nearly jumped before turning to face me. "Hayato! You're alright!" he smiled, before reaching down to hug me. I returned the hug happily.
"He's awake?" I heard somebody say. I tried to focus on who was making the sound. I couldn't recognize the voice, though.
"Yes. Hayato, you won't believe who I found..." my father said. I sat up and stared at the figure in the lab coat. He was working with something, before turning to face me.
"Zen?" I asked, surprised.
Zennith smiled at me. "The one and only, of course!"
I smiled back. Zennith was alright. That was a good sign.
Zennith turned back to the device, before walking over to it and placing it on a table beside my bed. I looked at it and recognized it as my PET.
"Hayato, you alright?" Dynast muttered.
"Yeah... just a bit weak though. Probably just because I'm tired."
Zennith smiled. "If you don't mind, I have an ONBA to return to, so if you'll excuse me.."
"Zen?" I asked, stopping him short. "How did you and dad find each other?"
Zennith stopped cold. "I'm not sure. Ask your father, because I don't remember much after I was knocked out by Teasel Bonne in the ONBA HQ... well, when it was still around, that is."
With that, Zennith left the room, leaving me, my father, and my PET. The room was silent for a few minutes. "Well?" I asked curiously.
"Er... what can I say? Let's see... I found Zennith unconcious and tied up inside the Bonne's house. They took us there. They're not happy with Koushada for removing them from the World Three. So, of course, they wanted to make amends. As for Yamatoman... well... he doesn't seem to be anywhere. As for the others, the Bonnes said everybody else was split up and taken somewhere else, and all the navis were taken by Koushada."
I took a moment to consider this. "So everybody is split up and without navis?" I muttered softly. "This never is good."
"Yeah, especially when you consider what could be happening" Zel said. "I mean, what happens if all the navis are like Ark?"
I shuddered as I remembered the murderous Ark. Something had obviously happened to him.
"What do you think happened to Ark?" I asked. Zel paused for a moment.
"His core program was extracted. Not copied, extracted. It's worse then you might think... I can't explain too much, without going too technical. Dynast, on the other hand, should be able to help here."
I turned my head to the PET on the table beside me. "Err... well, a navi can survive without it's core program, if it's done right. In that case, they basically don't care about anybody or anything, and serve the extractor of their core program. That's what happened to Ark. It's like stealing a human's soul, I guess. Ark no longer cares about what happens to him or anybody else."
I shuddered again. A soul-less Ark? That was definatly a scary thought. I mean, if he's ruthless, then...
"Dad, I need to know about the Navi Design Prototypes. Everything you know."
Zel stopped short. "Rest for now. When you're ready, I'll show you something incredible."
Zel left the room, leaving me to my own thoughts, and I slowly drifted off into sleep.
* * *
I jacked Dynast into the port at the hospital, appearing in the central system. Zel spoke first.
"Dynast, access port Teknet. We're going back online."
Dynast dissapeared, and the PET's screen showed a long tunnel through the net, before we arrived at a trio of security cubes. A security cube is used to protect entrances to remote systems from the net, without the proper passcode. Dynast used a data of some sort to pass the first one, then the second, then the net. We headed through the remote system. Nothing special about it so far.
At the end of the small system, there was one last security cube. "Dynast, recall codes for the Zeto Area net."
Zeto Area? I was a bit confused, but I let my father control Dynast. The navi walked through the passage hidden behind the cube, arriving at a well-decorated net. He walked along a passage high above the rest of the net, though, and opened one last security cube.
The scenery changed suddenly. We had arrived at what appeared to be a huge library, data streams and programs moving about wildly.
"Welcome to Gingnet" Zel told me. "This place is where all the files ever created are backed up. Of course, it takes a long time to be able to access this place, and you have to have an incredible navi, but that's not important. You see, Hayato, everything that ever went on in the net is recorded here. Anything and everything you could ever want to find out about any navi is here. In fact, this place even has direct links to all other net areas, although they're one-way only, but you can even head to servers in foreign lands with ease."
I stopped amazed. Everything I could ever want to know about any navi... the Prototypes!
"How can we help you?" a rather tiny, green program asked.
"We're looking for all information on the Prototype X Navis" I told the program. It took a moment, but the program nodded.
"Right this way!" he said, leading us off down what seemed to be netmiles of shelves, stacked with tons of files. After a couple minutes, the program pulled down a rather small file off the shelf. "Here you go!"
Dynast opened up the file as the program left, probably to prepare to help somebody else. "Let's see here... Oh my god! Zel... do you know what this is?"
My dad grabbed the PET from my arm, as he looked over the file. "That's the file... the file that... I see... Hayato, you're in for quite a shock" he said mysteriously, and handed back the PET.
I began to read
Entry 1 - XX00 The scientests have gathered, ready to begin what may be our longest undertaking ever. Among us three, we have Dr. Hikari, famous for his incredible work in Electopia. On the team is me and my dearest wife, making up the other two. Let's just hope that our designs for a Peace- keeper Navi will work out right. We'll begin project X001, Zero, right away.
Entry 2 - XX08 It's taken 8 days, but the Zero project has been completed. We discovered something unusual, however. Zero seems to have a 0% Synch Rate. No matter what we do, we can't operate him, nor raise the Synch Rate. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing. To counter him, however, we've begun work on project X002.
Entry 3 - XX14 No progress on Zero project. It's still a 0% synch. On the other hand, X002, the project we've named Megaman, has a natural synch, although it seems like it could increase with ease. Beyond that of a normal navi. We've decided, however, that X002 isn't strong enough, so we've begun two more projects. The X003, Megaman Juno, and the X004, Megaman X. Each slightly diffrent, we hope these two will be more powerfull.
Entry 4 - XX20 Zero and Megaman projects have been fighting, and Megaman is loosing. With the discovery that Juno and X both have a 0% sync, then I believe that they will also not work with the original Megaman. Therefore, Dr. Hikari has taken Megaman with him, to give to his son, as we no longer have a use for it. Juno and X were much better then Megaman, anyway.
Entry 5 - XX27 It seems as though we've created a super team of navis, but we need one last one, a super-powerfull one. We all agreed, all except Dr. Hikari, who left the team. He fears the power of a super-navi. We don't, we intend to use it. To replace him, we've hired the other famous Electopian scientest, Dr. Wily. We've taken the most powerfull bits of data from each navi and have begun one last project. X005, the Super-Navi we will call Bass.
Entry 6 - XY03 Finally, X005 has been finished. Bass is truly a super-navi. Perhaps the strongest that will ever go onto the net. I'm worried though. It once again has a 0% sync. Perhaps there is something seriously wrong.
Entry 7 - XY05 X005 is haywire. He's tampered with the other navis, making them think of destruction of the net. I believe this is somehow Wily's doing. If we were smart, we wouldn't have let him work here. We've decided on one last course of action, but we're very worried. We're going to deactivate all of the navis. I don't care if this means that Megaman will have to be our 'Protector', as long as these aren't our enemies.
Entry 8 - XY16 We've deactivated, at level-three, all of the other navis. We've also deleted the hub.bat files they used for core programming. They should never awaken.
Entry 9 - YY03 It's been quite a while since my last entry. I'm only writing this because Wily truly is a traitor. We caught him trying to reactivate X005, Bass. He's been removed from the laboratory. We have no more intentions of trying to complete another navi.
Entry 10 - YY06 It's truly incredible. Bass has reactivated himself, although I doubt Bass really reactivated himself. I suspect Dr. Wily had something to do with it. We tried to redeactivate Bass, but he dissapeared onto the net. Unfortunatly, we have no way of following him. Perhaps 'Tracker' will work. Even if it does, 'Timebomb' will have to work. There's so many risks though, and neither program is complete...
Entry 11 - YY14 No sign at all of Bass. At least the others are deactivated. I don't think Bass has gone to work for Professor Wily. I have no way to answer for sure, however.
Entry 12 - YY17 Bass seems to have dissapeared without a trace. Perhaps this is good, perhaps not. Only time will tell. All this time, however, has made me begun to miss my son, on the small island far from here. He's so young still, he has no real idea what is going on in this place. Nor does he realize the power of my wife's project. A navi who's name means 'King', where I come from. I intend to send him to my son, but I don't expect that he will be finished anytime soon.
Entry 13 - ZY00 This is most likely going to be the final entry. It's because I doubt I will last much longer to write anything more. It seems that somebody intends on killing me and my wife, possibly because of what we created on purpose. Or mabye because of what we created without realizing. The deleted Hub.bat weren't as gone as we had suspected. They became a powerfull virus, although it seems to have no harm. It's odd, because this virus has no form, but reacts with navis that have a high sync rate. Incredibly odd.
Entry 14 - ZY04 It wasn't my last entry. The virus escaped. I have no clue where it went, but I doubt I will see any signs of it. As for my wife's project, 'King', it is nearly finished. I hope she finishes it before we die.
Entry 15 - ZY07 'Tracker', 'Timebomb', and 'King' are all uncomplete. Perhaps our son will find them and finish them. Perhaps not. I just hope he finds this. We must hide ourselves, so we do not die early. I have sent somebody to tell my son on the small island that I am dead. Goodbye, everybody. ~Neero Grausherra
Entry ?? - ???? Shinga Zelloss, Norai es Grausherra, Suitos na Eto.
I reread the text. It seemed to take a while for my brain to think about everything.
"X003 is Megaman Juno..." I spoke slowly. My dad nodded. I continued to read over the data again.
"What exactly is a Sync Rate?" I asked. Dynast responded.
"Well, a Sync Rate is a rating of how syncronized the minds are of the operator and navi. The only person to ever achieve it naturally was Hikari Netto and his navi, Megaman, or X002. Both Shinju and your father have done it, but it wasn't naturally. You've done it too. For me, I can do it simply by utilizing blackfang. Of course, you know what the downside of a high Sync Rate is, right?"
I nodded. That explained why Dynast was hurt when I was.
"Well, there's also a downside to a low Sync Rate, but it can also be an advantage. A navi with a naturally low sync rate doesn't like working with operators. One with 0% will never, ever work with an operator. Most navis, however, have a natural sync of 50%, and that will hardly ever differ 10%. Of course, a program advance is risky if you have a low sync rate, as it becomes very difficult."
I nodded, before pulling the file back up on the PET's screen. "King? Timebomb? Tracker? Why do those sound familiar?"
Zel smiled. "Tracker, you should know, is the program installed in Dynast. I uninstalled it from Dynast when I deactivated him. Timebomb is what I used in the World Three HQ. King happens to be the english name. The word for that is Dynast."
My eyebrows raised for a moment. So that's where Dynast came from. I read the next bit. "My son? Wait a second... the person writing this wasn't grand-father, was he?" I asked surprised. Zel nodded.
"Yes. Your grand-father did create all the navis. Not only that, but the virus too. I assume you have figured out what it is by now?"
"Err... No! It couldn't be..." I spoke surprised.
"Blackfang" Zel said with assurance, but I swore I heard him shudder a bit when he heard it.
I stood stunned for a moment. The link Dynast had with my father, and now me, because of a virus, that was created by my own grand-father. The man who created this thing that tried to take over my body.
"I see... so Neero was my grandfather... what about my grandmother?"
Zel smiled. "I guess I've got a lot to explain about the family history, don't I?" to which I responded by nodding.
"Well... this is a long story, so brace yourself" Zel warned, but he began right away.
"My name is Zelloss Grausherra. It literally means 'Lover of Darkness'. As for dad, he was Neero Grausherra, which means 'Creator of Darkness'. Kinda funny how that works, huh? Anyway, mom's name was Aioya Amerias, or 'Queen of Life'. Call it an odd combination. Of course, it did make sense. She specialized in designing custom navis for people. Especially for children. As for dad, he was an amazing programmer."
"Well, I was born on the island of Eyod. It's a small island that, as far as I know, still isn't connected to other nets, although it does have it's own system. It's secluded from the rest of the world. No planes fly there, and only the occasional boat goes there. It's mostly forest, although it's really a beautiful place. The houses there aren't too high- tech, though."
"Anyway, it's a foreign land, which means it speaks a diffrent language. Just figured I should let you know that. It's important, as you'll see. Anyway, mom and dad left to work on the project when I was rather young. I think only four or five. By the time I recieved word they were gone, I was about eight years of age. I really overreacted. I went nearly mad."
"Out of desperation, I took the first boat I could find to Electopia. Unfortunatly, nobody over their speaks Eyodian. Which didn't help. I had nothing to do, so I had to work petty jobs. I was homeless, familyless, naviless, and moneyless, except what I could earn. Which wasn't easy, as I couldn't speak. Things never looked good. Well, until I met a scientest. He recognized me when I was about 9. Said he was a friend of my father, in perfect Eyodian, oddly enough. I never saw him after what he did for me. He took me to the lab my father had worked at."
"There I found three things. The 'Timebomb' program, the 'Tracker' program, and Dyanst. Of course, they were all incomplete, but I treasured them. There was no way for me to complete them. So I hid them in the place where I had made my home, a back alley, where I lived for many years, believe it or not."
"Then something changed suddenly, when I was ten. I was hit by a car. Hit and run. I was rushed to the hospital. Nobody could find my record. I had never had injuries before. Not having a PET either didn't help. They simply left me to recover by myself. It didn't even take a few hours. I had changed. I swear that's when I became a genius. I knew tons. I could speak perfect Electopian. I found my way easier; and I took it upon myself to finish the programs. To do that first, I had to finish Dynast."
"So I did. I've known Dyanst since he was finished. I finished the Tracker and installed it, although it still took quite a while to perfect the two programs. Then, I found myself used to being online."
"That's when I became infected with Blackfang. It took me by surprise, taking over my body, Dynast's body, and fusing us. Dynast became Dynast Grausherra, which, you should know, means King of Darkness. Before the ultimate program advance, Doomsday, was completed from the Legendary Chips, Yamatoman turned into a navi of incredible power known as the White Samurai. He managed to destroy Dyanst Grausherra, seperating us. It's taken his help sometimes, for me to remain alive. It worked though. However, it was Gemini, not Zennith, that controlled him. How Zennith got ahold of it, I do not know."
"Well, I guess you know everything from there on in. I became a great netbattler. Simple enough. Any more questions?"
"Yeah" I began. "What's this mean, on the bottom?"
Zel's eyebrow raised, before walking over and looking at the screen. I showed him the last line.
Shinga Zelloss, Norai es Grausherra, Suitos na Eto.
"Huh? That was never there the last time I was here..." Zel said curiously. Dynast nodded.
"So, what's it say?" I asked. Dad read it over a couple times. "It says, Son Lover, Heir to Darkness, Fufill the Prophecy."
Zel paused for a moment. "This is new... it's been written by Neero though, I can tell it, which means... no, it's too long, he'd be gone. Of course, Fufill the Prophecy... I can see there's a long story to tell you here. Another one."
"There's an old propechy from Eyod. One from before navis were invented. Before viri took shapes. I think it still has yet to be fufilled, and I believe it also may pertain to the present day. It goes something like this."
Tomo na Grausherra Netro do Neeros soi Ameriass Atorto na Grausherra Se na Mondoro Quisses Se Neeros u Dynast Grausherra Nocortos i Corsos nes Zelloss Hayato ay Netro itai na Grausherra Assi Tertos no Netro Otoso na Seras i Shinga Renours au Mondoro Quisses I Sotos na Tieto do Fierces Nocortos na Tertos Sotos na Airdos de Grausherra Ameriass Renours
"What exactly does all that mean?" I asked after the long prophecy. I barely understood a word, but I swore I could have understood all of it, had I have heard again.
"Err... I forgot you can't understand Eyodian. Here, I'll translate.
One of Darkness Born of Creation and Light Brings the Darkness To the Other World Creates a Darkness King Broken and Controlled by Lover Change is Born from the Darkness As Danger is Born Together the Father and Son Return to the Other World And with the Help of Friends Break the Danger With the Sacrifice of Darkness Life Returns
"I'm not sure exactly what it means," Zel began, "It may help if I remind you of a few things. Darkness is Grausherra, our last name, Light is Amerias, your grand-mother's name, Creation is Neero, your father's name. King is Dynast. Lover is what my name means. Oh yes, while I'm thinking about it, Change refers to you. Hayato means Change."
I paused and considered the prophecy. "Let's see... The first part was already fufilled. All up to and including the line 'As Danger is Born'. The danger must be Juno. So, if everything keeps working according to the prophecy, then together, with 'friends', we manage to win. I just don't understand the last bit about sacrifice. What about you?"
Zelloss bit his lip for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I don't."
I didn't know if he was telling the truth or not, but I didn't really care. I had enough information for one day. More like enough for a month. I had just found out my entire origins in five minutes. I logged Dynast out of the Gingnet system, making a mental note to remember the way there.
Zel slowly walked out of the hospital room, leaving me to my thoughts. My very, very jumbled thoughts. I had a lot to take in.
* * *
"It's not long"
"No, master. We just need one last file."
"Held by who?"
"Held by the one named Dynast"
"Is that one navi really all that stands anymore? I thought Quint would have held the programming.."
"No. I doubted it. Quint was nothing compared to Dynast, you should have known that."
"... You're right, Ark. I don't know if you'll be strong enough, though, to deal with him by yourself. I'll send the whole group."
"All of us, master?"
"All of you"
"Are you sure that's wise, Koushada-san?"
"Yes, I'm sure, Valnas. I don't need you intervening."
"But master, they don't have their core programming! You should know that!"
"That's the downside of absolute service. Ark, go find Dynast. I am expecting the Hub.bat file."
"Shouldn't we free the others? They are no longer a threat."
"Yes. Let them go. All but one."
"All but whom?"
"Toriyama."
* * *
I awoke with a start. I had seen nothing, but heard voices. Ark's voice. Koushada's voice. One other voice I didn't know. Had it been real?
I rose up in the hospital bed. I hardly realized I had fallen asleep again. Of course, I wouldn't have been able to sleep much longer, as Zel walked in the door.
"Oh good, you're awake. You'll never guess who's here!"
A bunch of people walked in behind my father, and I recognized them all! Otoyo, Kiro, Merra, Jen, Freddy, and Nemo. I smiled and greeted them all.
"Good to see you all alive!" I happily smiled. "Otoyo, Kiro, Merra, Jen, Freddy, Nemo... Wait, who's missing here?"
Jen looked at Freddy from the corner of his eye. "It's Shinju" Jen said. "He wasn't released. It seems like Koushada has a job for him. Or he's keeping him for hostage purposes. One of the two."
I shuddered. My dream.. was it real? I blurted out "I knew this would happen" and began to explain the dream I had just had.
The group looked at each other, communicating silently. "That's not an everyday occurance, Hayato" Nemo spoke mysteriously.
"I know" spoke Dynast. "I don't know why Koushada would want Shinju to be held..."
The door swung open again. Another figure walked in, black cloaked. My first thought was that it was Koushada. He walked to my father and gave him a small letter. "This is for you, Zel-san" before turning back to the door. Nemo had shut it and blocked the door.
Without flinching, the man swung through a window with his fist, shattering it as glass rained down outside. We were six floors up! No way he'd jump!
He did. I jumped up to the window, and put my head up. He was gone.
"Who was that?" Merra wondered aloud. I then realized I recognized the voice.
"It was... Shinju" I said softly. Zel opened the letter.
If you're looking to help you friend Shinju, you'd best come back to the old World Three Headquarters in Electopia. We'll be waiting! ~Koushada
Author's Note: LOTS about to be revealed! As in MAJOR REVELATION CHAPTER! I mean, I suggest you read this twice, as you may miss something and find yourself confused! Disclaimer: ... I can't believe you still need one...
Chapter 6 - Histories
"Ark, no!" I heard Dynast shout, as Ark dashed across the dome. I tried to move, to reach my PET, to unplug it, but I couldn't. Dynast was as helpless as I was.
Ark came closer, pulling the Hero Sword out of nowhere. "Dynast. You've been serious competition for me too long! Time for me to win."
I tried to move, but my body felt weak. The electricity had left me paralyzed. "Dad.."
Zel reached for the PET's cord, but was still blocked off by the glass wall between us. "Damnit... Ark, stop it now!"
Ark moved forward towards Dynast, stopping in front of him and lifting his chin upon the side of his Hero Sword.
"No... Ark..." Dynast nearly pleaded. Ark smiled menacingly.
I reached for the PET. I couldn't reach. I was going to die. Dynast would be deleted. So would I.
"In the end, the great warrior of darkness is left with nothing" Ark smiled. "Not even enough energy to move, at the mercy of his best friend."
This couldn't be Ark! He was never this evil... not even in his dark history, was he like that. Never.
Ark moved the blade closer to Dynast's throat. I could feel the side of something sharp along the front of my neck. Something cold.
"Ark, please, no..." I heard Dynast plead.
"Goodbye, Dynast" Ark muttered, as he swung the blade back.
I gathered up all my energy, and reached the cord to the arena. I pulled quick, removing Dynast's data from the virtual stadium. The Hero Sword swished through the air, cutting nothing.
"I'm not done with you, and neither is Koushada!" Ark smiled. "I'll be back, Dynast!"
I felt incredibly tired suddenly. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
* * *
"I hope he's alright. He's taken more punishment then most people I know."
"He's fine, Zel-chan."
"That's good. It's just... I can't believe Ark would..."
"I don't believe it either."
I opened my eyes, to see my father standing next to me. I looked around, to find myself in a rather small room, and I was lying down in a medical bed (Or so I thought). "Dad?" I muttered.
Zel nearly jumped before turning to face me. "Hayato! You're alright!" he smiled, before reaching down to hug me. I returned the hug happily.
"He's awake?" I heard somebody say. I tried to focus on who was making the sound. I couldn't recognize the voice, though.
"Yes. Hayato, you won't believe who I found..." my father said. I sat up and stared at the figure in the lab coat. He was working with something, before turning to face me.
"Zen?" I asked, surprised.
Zennith smiled at me. "The one and only, of course!"
I smiled back. Zennith was alright. That was a good sign.
Zennith turned back to the device, before walking over to it and placing it on a table beside my bed. I looked at it and recognized it as my PET.
"Hayato, you alright?" Dynast muttered.
"Yeah... just a bit weak though. Probably just because I'm tired."
Zennith smiled. "If you don't mind, I have an ONBA to return to, so if you'll excuse me.."
"Zen?" I asked, stopping him short. "How did you and dad find each other?"
Zennith stopped cold. "I'm not sure. Ask your father, because I don't remember much after I was knocked out by Teasel Bonne in the ONBA HQ... well, when it was still around, that is."
With that, Zennith left the room, leaving me, my father, and my PET. The room was silent for a few minutes. "Well?" I asked curiously.
"Er... what can I say? Let's see... I found Zennith unconcious and tied up inside the Bonne's house. They took us there. They're not happy with Koushada for removing them from the World Three. So, of course, they wanted to make amends. As for Yamatoman... well... he doesn't seem to be anywhere. As for the others, the Bonnes said everybody else was split up and taken somewhere else, and all the navis were taken by Koushada."
I took a moment to consider this. "So everybody is split up and without navis?" I muttered softly. "This never is good."
"Yeah, especially when you consider what could be happening" Zel said. "I mean, what happens if all the navis are like Ark?"
I shuddered as I remembered the murderous Ark. Something had obviously happened to him.
"What do you think happened to Ark?" I asked. Zel paused for a moment.
"His core program was extracted. Not copied, extracted. It's worse then you might think... I can't explain too much, without going too technical. Dynast, on the other hand, should be able to help here."
I turned my head to the PET on the table beside me. "Err... well, a navi can survive without it's core program, if it's done right. In that case, they basically don't care about anybody or anything, and serve the extractor of their core program. That's what happened to Ark. It's like stealing a human's soul, I guess. Ark no longer cares about what happens to him or anybody else."
I shuddered again. A soul-less Ark? That was definatly a scary thought. I mean, if he's ruthless, then...
"Dad, I need to know about the Navi Design Prototypes. Everything you know."
Zel stopped short. "Rest for now. When you're ready, I'll show you something incredible."
Zel left the room, leaving me to my own thoughts, and I slowly drifted off into sleep.
* * *
I jacked Dynast into the port at the hospital, appearing in the central system. Zel spoke first.
"Dynast, access port Teknet. We're going back online."
Dynast dissapeared, and the PET's screen showed a long tunnel through the net, before we arrived at a trio of security cubes. A security cube is used to protect entrances to remote systems from the net, without the proper passcode. Dynast used a data of some sort to pass the first one, then the second, then the net. We headed through the remote system. Nothing special about it so far.
At the end of the small system, there was one last security cube. "Dynast, recall codes for the Zeto Area net."
Zeto Area? I was a bit confused, but I let my father control Dynast. The navi walked through the passage hidden behind the cube, arriving at a well-decorated net. He walked along a passage high above the rest of the net, though, and opened one last security cube.
The scenery changed suddenly. We had arrived at what appeared to be a huge library, data streams and programs moving about wildly.
"Welcome to Gingnet" Zel told me. "This place is where all the files ever created are backed up. Of course, it takes a long time to be able to access this place, and you have to have an incredible navi, but that's not important. You see, Hayato, everything that ever went on in the net is recorded here. Anything and everything you could ever want to find out about any navi is here. In fact, this place even has direct links to all other net areas, although they're one-way only, but you can even head to servers in foreign lands with ease."
I stopped amazed. Everything I could ever want to know about any navi... the Prototypes!
"How can we help you?" a rather tiny, green program asked.
"We're looking for all information on the Prototype X Navis" I told the program. It took a moment, but the program nodded.
"Right this way!" he said, leading us off down what seemed to be netmiles of shelves, stacked with tons of files. After a couple minutes, the program pulled down a rather small file off the shelf. "Here you go!"
Dynast opened up the file as the program left, probably to prepare to help somebody else. "Let's see here... Oh my god! Zel... do you know what this is?"
My dad grabbed the PET from my arm, as he looked over the file. "That's the file... the file that... I see... Hayato, you're in for quite a shock" he said mysteriously, and handed back the PET.
I began to read
Entry 1 - XX00 The scientests have gathered, ready to begin what may be our longest undertaking ever. Among us three, we have Dr. Hikari, famous for his incredible work in Electopia. On the team is me and my dearest wife, making up the other two. Let's just hope that our designs for a Peace- keeper Navi will work out right. We'll begin project X001, Zero, right away.
Entry 2 - XX08 It's taken 8 days, but the Zero project has been completed. We discovered something unusual, however. Zero seems to have a 0% Synch Rate. No matter what we do, we can't operate him, nor raise the Synch Rate. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing. To counter him, however, we've begun work on project X002.
Entry 3 - XX14 No progress on Zero project. It's still a 0% synch. On the other hand, X002, the project we've named Megaman, has a natural synch, although it seems like it could increase with ease. Beyond that of a normal navi. We've decided, however, that X002 isn't strong enough, so we've begun two more projects. The X003, Megaman Juno, and the X004, Megaman X. Each slightly diffrent, we hope these two will be more powerfull.
Entry 4 - XX20 Zero and Megaman projects have been fighting, and Megaman is loosing. With the discovery that Juno and X both have a 0% sync, then I believe that they will also not work with the original Megaman. Therefore, Dr. Hikari has taken Megaman with him, to give to his son, as we no longer have a use for it. Juno and X were much better then Megaman, anyway.
Entry 5 - XX27 It seems as though we've created a super team of navis, but we need one last one, a super-powerfull one. We all agreed, all except Dr. Hikari, who left the team. He fears the power of a super-navi. We don't, we intend to use it. To replace him, we've hired the other famous Electopian scientest, Dr. Wily. We've taken the most powerfull bits of data from each navi and have begun one last project. X005, the Super-Navi we will call Bass.
Entry 6 - XY03 Finally, X005 has been finished. Bass is truly a super-navi. Perhaps the strongest that will ever go onto the net. I'm worried though. It once again has a 0% sync. Perhaps there is something seriously wrong.
Entry 7 - XY05 X005 is haywire. He's tampered with the other navis, making them think of destruction of the net. I believe this is somehow Wily's doing. If we were smart, we wouldn't have let him work here. We've decided on one last course of action, but we're very worried. We're going to deactivate all of the navis. I don't care if this means that Megaman will have to be our 'Protector', as long as these aren't our enemies.
Entry 8 - XY16 We've deactivated, at level-three, all of the other navis. We've also deleted the hub.bat files they used for core programming. They should never awaken.
Entry 9 - YY03 It's been quite a while since my last entry. I'm only writing this because Wily truly is a traitor. We caught him trying to reactivate X005, Bass. He's been removed from the laboratory. We have no more intentions of trying to complete another navi.
Entry 10 - YY06 It's truly incredible. Bass has reactivated himself, although I doubt Bass really reactivated himself. I suspect Dr. Wily had something to do with it. We tried to redeactivate Bass, but he dissapeared onto the net. Unfortunatly, we have no way of following him. Perhaps 'Tracker' will work. Even if it does, 'Timebomb' will have to work. There's so many risks though, and neither program is complete...
Entry 11 - YY14 No sign at all of Bass. At least the others are deactivated. I don't think Bass has gone to work for Professor Wily. I have no way to answer for sure, however.
Entry 12 - YY17 Bass seems to have dissapeared without a trace. Perhaps this is good, perhaps not. Only time will tell. All this time, however, has made me begun to miss my son, on the small island far from here. He's so young still, he has no real idea what is going on in this place. Nor does he realize the power of my wife's project. A navi who's name means 'King', where I come from. I intend to send him to my son, but I don't expect that he will be finished anytime soon.
Entry 13 - ZY00 This is most likely going to be the final entry. It's because I doubt I will last much longer to write anything more. It seems that somebody intends on killing me and my wife, possibly because of what we created on purpose. Or mabye because of what we created without realizing. The deleted Hub.bat weren't as gone as we had suspected. They became a powerfull virus, although it seems to have no harm. It's odd, because this virus has no form, but reacts with navis that have a high sync rate. Incredibly odd.
Entry 14 - ZY04 It wasn't my last entry. The virus escaped. I have no clue where it went, but I doubt I will see any signs of it. As for my wife's project, 'King', it is nearly finished. I hope she finishes it before we die.
Entry 15 - ZY07 'Tracker', 'Timebomb', and 'King' are all uncomplete. Perhaps our son will find them and finish them. Perhaps not. I just hope he finds this. We must hide ourselves, so we do not die early. I have sent somebody to tell my son on the small island that I am dead. Goodbye, everybody. ~Neero Grausherra
Entry ?? - ???? Shinga Zelloss, Norai es Grausherra, Suitos na Eto.
I reread the text. It seemed to take a while for my brain to think about everything.
"X003 is Megaman Juno..." I spoke slowly. My dad nodded. I continued to read over the data again.
"What exactly is a Sync Rate?" I asked. Dynast responded.
"Well, a Sync Rate is a rating of how syncronized the minds are of the operator and navi. The only person to ever achieve it naturally was Hikari Netto and his navi, Megaman, or X002. Both Shinju and your father have done it, but it wasn't naturally. You've done it too. For me, I can do it simply by utilizing blackfang. Of course, you know what the downside of a high Sync Rate is, right?"
I nodded. That explained why Dynast was hurt when I was.
"Well, there's also a downside to a low Sync Rate, but it can also be an advantage. A navi with a naturally low sync rate doesn't like working with operators. One with 0% will never, ever work with an operator. Most navis, however, have a natural sync of 50%, and that will hardly ever differ 10%. Of course, a program advance is risky if you have a low sync rate, as it becomes very difficult."
I nodded, before pulling the file back up on the PET's screen. "King? Timebomb? Tracker? Why do those sound familiar?"
Zel smiled. "Tracker, you should know, is the program installed in Dynast. I uninstalled it from Dynast when I deactivated him. Timebomb is what I used in the World Three HQ. King happens to be the english name. The word for that is Dynast."
My eyebrows raised for a moment. So that's where Dynast came from. I read the next bit. "My son? Wait a second... the person writing this wasn't grand-father, was he?" I asked surprised. Zel nodded.
"Yes. Your grand-father did create all the navis. Not only that, but the virus too. I assume you have figured out what it is by now?"
"Err... No! It couldn't be..." I spoke surprised.
"Blackfang" Zel said with assurance, but I swore I heard him shudder a bit when he heard it.
I stood stunned for a moment. The link Dynast had with my father, and now me, because of a virus, that was created by my own grand-father. The man who created this thing that tried to take over my body.
"I see... so Neero was my grandfather... what about my grandmother?"
Zel smiled. "I guess I've got a lot to explain about the family history, don't I?" to which I responded by nodding.
"Well... this is a long story, so brace yourself" Zel warned, but he began right away.
"My name is Zelloss Grausherra. It literally means 'Lover of Darkness'. As for dad, he was Neero Grausherra, which means 'Creator of Darkness'. Kinda funny how that works, huh? Anyway, mom's name was Aioya Amerias, or 'Queen of Life'. Call it an odd combination. Of course, it did make sense. She specialized in designing custom navis for people. Especially for children. As for dad, he was an amazing programmer."
"Well, I was born on the island of Eyod. It's a small island that, as far as I know, still isn't connected to other nets, although it does have it's own system. It's secluded from the rest of the world. No planes fly there, and only the occasional boat goes there. It's mostly forest, although it's really a beautiful place. The houses there aren't too high- tech, though."
"Anyway, it's a foreign land, which means it speaks a diffrent language. Just figured I should let you know that. It's important, as you'll see. Anyway, mom and dad left to work on the project when I was rather young. I think only four or five. By the time I recieved word they were gone, I was about eight years of age. I really overreacted. I went nearly mad."
"Out of desperation, I took the first boat I could find to Electopia. Unfortunatly, nobody over their speaks Eyodian. Which didn't help. I had nothing to do, so I had to work petty jobs. I was homeless, familyless, naviless, and moneyless, except what I could earn. Which wasn't easy, as I couldn't speak. Things never looked good. Well, until I met a scientest. He recognized me when I was about 9. Said he was a friend of my father, in perfect Eyodian, oddly enough. I never saw him after what he did for me. He took me to the lab my father had worked at."
"There I found three things. The 'Timebomb' program, the 'Tracker' program, and Dyanst. Of course, they were all incomplete, but I treasured them. There was no way for me to complete them. So I hid them in the place where I had made my home, a back alley, where I lived for many years, believe it or not."
"Then something changed suddenly, when I was ten. I was hit by a car. Hit and run. I was rushed to the hospital. Nobody could find my record. I had never had injuries before. Not having a PET either didn't help. They simply left me to recover by myself. It didn't even take a few hours. I had changed. I swear that's when I became a genius. I knew tons. I could speak perfect Electopian. I found my way easier; and I took it upon myself to finish the programs. To do that first, I had to finish Dynast."
"So I did. I've known Dyanst since he was finished. I finished the Tracker and installed it, although it still took quite a while to perfect the two programs. Then, I found myself used to being online."
"That's when I became infected with Blackfang. It took me by surprise, taking over my body, Dynast's body, and fusing us. Dynast became Dynast Grausherra, which, you should know, means King of Darkness. Before the ultimate program advance, Doomsday, was completed from the Legendary Chips, Yamatoman turned into a navi of incredible power known as the White Samurai. He managed to destroy Dyanst Grausherra, seperating us. It's taken his help sometimes, for me to remain alive. It worked though. However, it was Gemini, not Zennith, that controlled him. How Zennith got ahold of it, I do not know."
"Well, I guess you know everything from there on in. I became a great netbattler. Simple enough. Any more questions?"
"Yeah" I began. "What's this mean, on the bottom?"
Zel's eyebrow raised, before walking over and looking at the screen. I showed him the last line.
Shinga Zelloss, Norai es Grausherra, Suitos na Eto.
"Huh? That was never there the last time I was here..." Zel said curiously. Dynast nodded.
"So, what's it say?" I asked. Dad read it over a couple times. "It says, Son Lover, Heir to Darkness, Fufill the Prophecy."
Zel paused for a moment. "This is new... it's been written by Neero though, I can tell it, which means... no, it's too long, he'd be gone. Of course, Fufill the Prophecy... I can see there's a long story to tell you here. Another one."
"There's an old propechy from Eyod. One from before navis were invented. Before viri took shapes. I think it still has yet to be fufilled, and I believe it also may pertain to the present day. It goes something like this."
Tomo na Grausherra Netro do Neeros soi Ameriass Atorto na Grausherra Se na Mondoro Quisses Se Neeros u Dynast Grausherra Nocortos i Corsos nes Zelloss Hayato ay Netro itai na Grausherra Assi Tertos no Netro Otoso na Seras i Shinga Renours au Mondoro Quisses I Sotos na Tieto do Fierces Nocortos na Tertos Sotos na Airdos de Grausherra Ameriass Renours
"What exactly does all that mean?" I asked after the long prophecy. I barely understood a word, but I swore I could have understood all of it, had I have heard again.
"Err... I forgot you can't understand Eyodian. Here, I'll translate.
One of Darkness Born of Creation and Light Brings the Darkness To the Other World Creates a Darkness King Broken and Controlled by Lover Change is Born from the Darkness As Danger is Born Together the Father and Son Return to the Other World And with the Help of Friends Break the Danger With the Sacrifice of Darkness Life Returns
"I'm not sure exactly what it means," Zel began, "It may help if I remind you of a few things. Darkness is Grausherra, our last name, Light is Amerias, your grand-mother's name, Creation is Neero, your father's name. King is Dynast. Lover is what my name means. Oh yes, while I'm thinking about it, Change refers to you. Hayato means Change."
I paused and considered the prophecy. "Let's see... The first part was already fufilled. All up to and including the line 'As Danger is Born'. The danger must be Juno. So, if everything keeps working according to the prophecy, then together, with 'friends', we manage to win. I just don't understand the last bit about sacrifice. What about you?"
Zelloss bit his lip for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I don't."
I didn't know if he was telling the truth or not, but I didn't really care. I had enough information for one day. More like enough for a month. I had just found out my entire origins in five minutes. I logged Dynast out of the Gingnet system, making a mental note to remember the way there.
Zel slowly walked out of the hospital room, leaving me to my thoughts. My very, very jumbled thoughts. I had a lot to take in.
* * *
"It's not long"
"No, master. We just need one last file."
"Held by who?"
"Held by the one named Dynast"
"Is that one navi really all that stands anymore? I thought Quint would have held the programming.."
"No. I doubted it. Quint was nothing compared to Dynast, you should have known that."
"... You're right, Ark. I don't know if you'll be strong enough, though, to deal with him by yourself. I'll send the whole group."
"All of us, master?"
"All of you"
"Are you sure that's wise, Koushada-san?"
"Yes, I'm sure, Valnas. I don't need you intervening."
"But master, they don't have their core programming! You should know that!"
"That's the downside of absolute service. Ark, go find Dynast. I am expecting the Hub.bat file."
"Shouldn't we free the others? They are no longer a threat."
"Yes. Let them go. All but one."
"All but whom?"
"Toriyama."
* * *
I awoke with a start. I had seen nothing, but heard voices. Ark's voice. Koushada's voice. One other voice I didn't know. Had it been real?
I rose up in the hospital bed. I hardly realized I had fallen asleep again. Of course, I wouldn't have been able to sleep much longer, as Zel walked in the door.
"Oh good, you're awake. You'll never guess who's here!"
A bunch of people walked in behind my father, and I recognized them all! Otoyo, Kiro, Merra, Jen, Freddy, and Nemo. I smiled and greeted them all.
"Good to see you all alive!" I happily smiled. "Otoyo, Kiro, Merra, Jen, Freddy, Nemo... Wait, who's missing here?"
Jen looked at Freddy from the corner of his eye. "It's Shinju" Jen said. "He wasn't released. It seems like Koushada has a job for him. Or he's keeping him for hostage purposes. One of the two."
I shuddered. My dream.. was it real? I blurted out "I knew this would happen" and began to explain the dream I had just had.
The group looked at each other, communicating silently. "That's not an everyday occurance, Hayato" Nemo spoke mysteriously.
"I know" spoke Dynast. "I don't know why Koushada would want Shinju to be held..."
The door swung open again. Another figure walked in, black cloaked. My first thought was that it was Koushada. He walked to my father and gave him a small letter. "This is for you, Zel-san" before turning back to the door. Nemo had shut it and blocked the door.
Without flinching, the man swung through a window with his fist, shattering it as glass rained down outside. We were six floors up! No way he'd jump!
He did. I jumped up to the window, and put my head up. He was gone.
"Who was that?" Merra wondered aloud. I then realized I recognized the voice.
"It was... Shinju" I said softly. Zel opened the letter.
If you're looking to help you friend Shinju, you'd best come back to the old World Three Headquarters in Electopia. We'll be waiting! ~Koushada