Laika and Pyp trudged through the snow, the small girl leading the net savior down a number of back roads and alley ways. Laika had recovered as much as he was going to, and since he couldn't remember anything about himself other than his name, Sketch and the others had decided to keep Laika with them for the time being. So Laika had, to some extent, become Pyp's shadow.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Laika asked as they turned down yet another narrow street. It hadn't taken long for him to become thoroughly lost, though Pyp seemed to know exactly where she was.

"I think we'll know it when we see it," Pyp replied, looking down at her Pet. "After all, Naomi was pretty vague with her information."

Laika nodded slightly. Naomi had come running into the room from down below, shouting that something was setting off alarms in the middle of Downtown Densan City, and it was spreading outwards at a decent speed. The hacker estimated that it would be an hour or so before whatever it was reached their area. Not wanting to be caught off guard, Sketch had sent teams out to the "infected" area to see if they could find out just what the something was. Hence the reason Laika and Pyp were outside and in the middle of the city.

"Pyp, is it just me, or did it get a lot darker all of a sudden.

Pyp looked up and looked around. "I think you're right. And something feels...off about this place."

"Laika-sama, my sensors have detected something up ahead," Searchman reported, pulling up a map onto the screen of Laika's Pet. The map showed something moving towards them, but whatever it was had no definite shape that Laika could see.

"What is that?!" Pyp exclaimed suddenly, pointing to the end of the street.

Her exclamation caught Laika's attention, and his eyes were drawn to the direction she was pointing in. He didn't like what he saw. It looked like black fog, but the way it moved was very unnerving. Like a wave it rose up into the sky, hovered there for a moment, then slowly came back down, moving outward a few feet each time it moved. Inside of the area covered with fog, he could see several soemthings moving, but what exactly they were, he couldn't tell.

"Well, we found what's setting off those alarms," Laika said. "Now what?"

Rockman was in hurt and confused. He remembered that woman shooting his Pet, which should have, by all accounts, have destroyed him. But he wasn't deleted, or else he wouldn't be thinking these thoughts right now. He tried to call out to Netto, but their bond was stretched to its utmost limit, and he was unable to reach his brother. He could sense a bit of pain trickling down through their link, but what its cause was, the navi couldn't say. All he knew was that that woman had said someone had wanted Netto.

Clenching his fists, Rockman opened his eyes and tried to force himself into a sitting position. He got about half way up when his strength abandonned him, and gravity took over and he fell back against the ground. Feeling dazed, Rockman stared up at the ceiling, which was covered in a dark mist. Actually, as he turned his head to look on either side of him, he saw that the walls were covered in the same mist. There were several machines scattered around the room, most of which looked like computers...That didn't make sense. Why would there be computers in the net? And why was there dark fog covering everything? Where was he?

He's awake! He's awake! a tiny voice shouted excitedly. Only Rockman didn't actually hear the voice with his ears, he 'heard' it in his mind. What was going on?

"Ah, awake I see," a more human-sounding voice said. "That's good. I was worried about you for awhile, and so was S-chan."

Rockman looked around, trying to see who was talking. He was very confused now. S-chan was the name of Kichi's skunk. How could she be in the net? Quite suddenly he found himself staring at a human girl with brown eyes and hair, and sitting on her shoulder was none other than S-chan!

"What's going on?!" Rockman exclaimed, trying again to sit up. "How did you two get into the net?"

The girl shook her head. "Its the other way around, actually, Rockman. You're in the real world. A lot of navis have been appearing, along with viruses, and actual parts of the net. Its like the two worlds are merging where ever this fog touches. I know that that demon-navi is behind this, but I haven't been able to pinpoint where he is. Then you showed up quite suddenly, looking like you've been in one hell of a fight, and without Netto nonetheless. Well, S-chan was worried, and so was I, because that is most unusual."

Rockman nodded, finally managing to sit up. "Netto was kidnapped by some woman. She knocked him out, then destroyed my Pet. I have no idea what happened to Netto." Rockman's tone was very concerned. He had a strong feeling that that woman had taken his brother to that demon-navi, and he was very worried for his brother if that suspicion was true.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna help you find Netto. I need to find Kichi as well, since she was supposed to show up earlier, and never did. Knowing her, she's into something, and she might have a clue as to where your NetOp is. I'm Neko, by the way."

"You're the one whose been giving Kichi her information?"

"You catch on quick. That's right, me and some good friends of mine, all of us being hackers. We have quite a network for a bunch of people not directly involved with any crime syndicates." Neko grinned. "Just keep a watch out for viruses while you recover your strength, and I'll begin searching for Netto."

"Thank you, Neko."

Neko smiled and nodded. "Not a problem."