"Dream! Are you paying attention?" Forte suddenly snapped at her. She had been looking into his face, her big red eyes fixed on his attentively. but he'd learned that didn't necessarily mean anyone was home. Dream had a knack for appearing attentive, when her thoughts were actually a million miles away.

She confirmed it now, by starting slightly. "Oh, of course papa. What else would I be paying attention to?" She said disingenuously, widening her eyes even more, to look sweetly innocent. It was cute, adorable. and utterly manipulative. Forte's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

"Repeat what I said." He demanded. Dream sighed.

"You said that humans are our enemies. That they use and discard Navi's. That we are super Navis, and far superior to any of them." Dream rattled off his reasoning, sounding faintly martyred. She didn't notice the speculative look Forte was giving her.

He had detected a note he'd never noticed before. Either Dream wasn't guarding herself well enough, or it was new. A note of resignation, as if she was humoring him. repeating something she didn't believe in.

Briefly, he considered deleting her and trying again. But he'd had her for nearly a month, and she had rather grown on him. She was sweet, tolerant, and cute as a button. Unfortunately, she knew it, and milked it for all it was worth. That didn't endear her to Forte, but she was also capable of deleting Navi's like a human swatting bugs. Forte had been cautiously impressed, the first time she'd faced down a group of Netbattlers. She had deleted them in under a minute, with no sign of remorse.

Forte was convinced she had depths, and what it took to be his true partner. but she'd never experienced the truth about humans. She'd never been betrayed by them, and he sensed that despite her outward acceptance, she didn't really believe him when he told her about them. Dream just didn't have the experience.

And there was only one way to get it.

"Enough." Forte interrupted her stream of words, and Dream blinked slowly at him. "I think it's time you left here."

"Left?" Dream stared at him blankly, confused by this concept. She'd hardly ever been allowed out of the WWW area, her little home. Forte nodded.

"You need to find things out for yourself, I think." Forte reached down, catching her chin in one hand. "You need experience. and you need to find out the truth about humans on your own." Dream blinked again. then smiled.

"Oh, papa!" She suddenly floated close, and surprised Forte by grabbing him. And surprised him even more by fastening her lips over his, in a passionate kiss.

What the.? Forte reached up to pull her away. then shuddered as a sudden pulse of energy ran through him. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before, and he had a curious feeling, a feeling of bonding. An energy connecting them, as if Dream's program was trying to become part of his own.

It ended all too soon, as Dream pulled away with a gamin grin. "Goodbye, papa!" And then she was gone.

hr

Freedom was a strange thing.

At first Dream.EXE didn't adjust well. or perhaps she adjusted too well. After so closely guarded a childhood, a bit of hyper overreaction might be expected.

She marveled at the digital net, as she saw flashing by. and released a torrent of viruses on one section, because she thought it was ugly and needed some improvements. The guardian programs of that particular company (which, frankly, deserved it for completely unrelated reasons involving pollution violations) leaped into the fray, and soon a fierce battle was on to preserve the company data.

But she didn't wait around to see the outcome of that. Instead, she flowed onwards, pausing to play in a data stream. The raw data billowed upwards in golden clouds, as she splashed in it, laughing. Any normal program would have been deleted. and Dream decided to vacate when she noticed the crowd her antics were attracting.

Her next target was Netbattler HQ itself. She blasted through every defense in a matter of seconds, making sirens blare. and caused grass and flowers to grow over everything, before hiding herself away to watch confused Netbattlers clear it away with fire weapons. She hadn't added any viruses to trouble them, so they were mystified. A few of the more intelligent and opportunistic Netbattlers gathered the multi-colored, beautiful flowers, and Dream laughed. There would be some female Navi's with pretty gifts tonight.

Next, she managed to completely mortify the nighttime news by hacking into their system and misspelling every word just before it went on air. Dream had a giggle fit over that.

But eventually, she settled down, and found a nice place to curl up and rest. She felt pleasantly tired, from all the things she had done. Before long, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, though, reality set in.

Dream frowned, glancing around. She was alone. Not that that was anything different. Forte had often left her alone for long periods. but this time, she didn't have the option of finding anyone.

She'd always had the WWW Navis to talk to. Some were pleasant company, some weren't, and she'd kicked a few butts in her time, but still, they were there. Now, she had no one. It was a trifle disconcerting.

But only for a moment. Dream wasn't going to let that get her down, and floated up with a smile.

"What should I do today?" She mused, thinking. "Hmm." The possibilities were endless. She could visit foreign nets. she could cause mischief.

She could find some friends. And for that, she didn't need to go anywhere. Internet city was close by, and would do quite well.