For Mari.
Press the Green Button
-by Shimegami-chan
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"Lower the power, Bit."
"It's at half-power," Cossack called in reply. "It's stabilized."
"Good." Hikari Yuuichirou stood up at the console, nodding his head in satisfaction. The machine ticked quietly to itself, the power levels displayed in chart form on an LCD screen. The power indicator hovered at 50, just as Cossack had said.
"All status bars are green," Emdee, Yuuichirou's Navi, noted. His solemn face was visible on a pop-up window above the console.
"Thank you, Emdee. Have a complete write-up done, if you can." Yuuichirou minimized the window and drew away from the keyboard, looking over his shoulder at the white lab-coated intern a few feet away. "Bit?"
"Hm?" The younger man turned his attention away from his Navi, Gamma, and approached Yuuichirou's console.
The elder scientist hovered over his computer for a long moment. "You think it's ready for a real test?"
A wide grin spread over the sandy-haired man's face. "Definitely! It's ready!"
The look Yuuichirou shot him, however, was hesitant. "I'd prefer to be the one who goes in, though, Bit. If something goes wrong Emdee will know how to assist."
"But you know how long I've been waiting," Cossack said disappointedly. "Gamma's perfectly capable of doing everything Emdee could."
"I do, but I'd prefer to put myself in danger rather than you, for such an uncertain experiment." Yuuichirou turned away, missing the scowl on his colleague's face. "You can certainly re-test it if this goes successfully. Go ahead and restart the machine, will you?"
Yuuichirou left the room in a flurry of white. Continuing to sulk, Cossack powered down the main computer, unable to quell the jealousy brewing inside him. This was his pet project, and his brainchild. Why should Hikari get to taste the fruits of his labour first?
As if he had heard his Operator's thoughts, Gamma attempted to intervene. "Mahito-kun, isn't it better for him to do the first test anyway? It might be dangerous."
"There is no danger," Cossack spat. "I put those components together myself--nothing will go wrong! I can't believe I'm actually submitting to that guy's orders."
"Hikari Labs is the only group that can possibly fund this project," Gamma chided. "And anyway, Hikari-san learned from your father. The best! I'm sure he can teach you a lot, even if you don't like it."
"Shut up, Gamma," Cossack growled. "He treats me like a child. He can't even call me by my real name."
"Your father called you Bit as well."
"Hikari is not my father."
"Mahito-kun..."
"And he has no right to! He thinks just because he and my father were friends, he can kick me around. I don't have to take this! That old bat's just paranoid!"
Yuuichirou re-entered at that moment, preventing Gamma's reply. "Okay, done. Are we ready?"
"Yeah," Cossack said, his tone surly.
The device was mostly part of the master computer, and trailed off to a table with a glass seal over it. The resemblance of the compartment to a transparent coffin was all too evident to Yuuichirou, who laid a hand on its cover. "All right. If anything goes wrong, shut down the computer. Clear?"
"Crystal."
Yuuichirou raised the seal and lithely hopped onto the table, donning the helmet that lay inside. He left his PET plugged into the main computer as Cossack brought it back to life. "I'm ready. Emdee?"
"Initializing conversion."
"Bit?"
"Go." The young intern threw the switch. Yuuichirou's body stiffened and went limp--unconsciousness was necessary for the process.
The glass case glowed as if electrified, and as Cossack watched in horrified fascination the human body within it began to convert into data before his eyes. It poured off him in streams and remained locked in place inside the glass, like a resurrected Navi's Frame.
"Receiving transfer."
We've done it, the young scientist thought, his face a mixture of jealousy and awe. We've converted a human body...into Navi data.
Emdee's voice materialized from the mother computer's speakers. "Cossack-hakase, could you please manually lower the power input? I'd rather not change the internal settings."
At least someone around here respects me by using my name and title...even if it is Hikari's Navi... Cossack moved to the computer and turned the dial to half-power. "Can you talk to him, Emdee?"
"Not yet," the silver Navi answered. "He's not actually here yet. The data is still being converted and diverted. I have to guide the input to the area where I am."
"Of course." Cossack watched Emdee with some degree of envy. Gamma is just as well-equipped as he. I should have known better than to get involved with Hikari...success has made him overconfident.
The scientist eyed the cord connecting Yuuichirou's PET to the master computer, thinking about Emdee's last statement. "I have to guide the input..."
"If something goes wrong Emdee will be able to assist..."
Without even thinking, Cossack reached out and snapped free the cord that linked Emdee to the machine. Gamma looked up in alarm. "Mahito-kun?"
"I've lost the connection--!" Emdee cried.
"Shut down the computer," Cossack ordered. "Hikari-san said to stop if anything went wrong."
Emdee complied, forcing the computer into sleep mode. "Right! What could have happened? I was receiving the transfer until just a moment ago."
Just as he'd suspected, Emdee had been too occupied with the transfer to notice movement outside the cyberworld. "I don't know," Cossack lied. "All the data is gone from the compartment -- it's already gone into standby mode."
The glass box containing Yuuichirou's Frame had indeed sunk into the huge contraption and another, empty box had surfaced. The machine was already ready for the next transfer. "It was probably already complete, but I wasn't able to direct it here," Emdee replied. "We have to get him out!"
"Gamma and I will handle it," Cossack said quickly. "You should make an accident report, and get any other data specialists in the lab to lend a hand. After all...Hikari-san was so insistent on testing this this himself that I don't really know as much about it as I should."
Taking his temporary Operator at face value, Emdee linked out of the PET and into one of the databases downstairs. "Leave it to me!"
As soon as the Navi was gone Cossack opened a panel under the console and chose one of the wires connecting the memory access of the main console to the converter case. He loosened it just enough to damage the connection, closed the panel, and faced his Navi's worried yellow eyes. "You'd leave him there?"
"I couldn't help myself," Cossack answered bitterly. "I'm never going to get anywhere with him running things!"
"But he could die. He could already be dead."
Cossack turned away.
"Mahito-kun..."
"Take the computer out of sleep mode and wait for Emdee. Organize a repair effort in the conversion area."
"But the wire you pulled out--"
Cossack's malevolent gaze finally fell upon his partner's. "I don't want him found, Gamma."
"But--"
"Ever."
-
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In that place close to the starry sky
I think there's something
On the opposite side of a locked door
If you want to see for sure
Even if it seems you have no propeller or feathers
All it takes is a small idea
and certainly you can soar Fly high
-I.D.E.A., RoST
-
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"Netto-kun! Wake up, you're late!"
"Nnn...five more minutes..."
"No! Get up now!"
"No way, Rock..." Netto sat up, rubbing his eyes. "It's only--AAAAGH! IT'S 8 O'CLOCK! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?"
"I did," his Navi chided. "You were sleeping like a log."
Hikari Netto threw himself out of bed and yanked on black shorts and a white long-sleeved t-shirt, pulling his orange vest over his head. "Late again! Mariko-sensei's going to kill me!"
"It's your own fault," Rockman said imperiously as he watched Netto run a comb through his unruly brown hair.
"You don't even sound worried," Netto accused, tucking the mop into his blue headband.
Rockman busied himself with organizing the homework he had forced his partner to do the previous night. "It's not like it's out of the ordinary! Maybe you'll get lucky and Yaito-chan will call your name in attendance."
"Maybe," Netto said doubtfully. "Can you e-mail her and ask?"
Rockman's halted the PET's word processing and opened the e-mail inbox. "Do I have a choice? Ah--Netto-kun, you just received an e-mail. It's from Enzan."
"What's he want this early in the morning? Can you read it out?"
Rockman was silent for a moment. "It says, 'Hikari, something important's come up. Come to the Science Labs immediately'."
Netto blinked. "Something important-enough-to-miss-school, important?"
The Navi's voice was apologetic. "It doesn't say."
Netto jammed his rollerblades onto the bottoms of his shoes and took his PET out of its PC adaptor. "I'm already late...guess I'll go see what Enzan wants first." He vaulted down the stairs and coasted through the living room. "I'm off!"
"See you later!" Hikari Haruka called after him. "No breakfast?"
The smell of fresh rice enticed the sixth-grader, but he shook his head and flew out the front door. "No time, Mama. Bye!"
"Have a good day!"
Netto turned right to head for the Metroline station instead of left towards Akihara Elementary. "That Enzan...it must be serious if he's calling me."
"I doubt it's a social call," Rockman replied, a disembodied voice at his waist. "I'll send Blues a reply that we're on our way."
Netto veered left and then right at Dekao's house, easing down the steps into the train station with the assistance of the railing. Slowing, he jammed a few coins into the machine to buy a train pass to Densan City and boarded the car.
Once inside the two partners fell silent for the short ride. Netto had a bad feeling, though, that something was wrong. Only rarely did Ijuuin Enzan ever admit that he might need Netto's help...usually Netto had to go out and find the trouble himself, and get himself buried so deep in it that Enzan had no choice but to allow him to assist.
"It's important," he said aloud, and Rockman nodded. Sure enough, when they disembarked Enzan was hovering at the doors that opened into the WaterWorks building.
"Hikari," Enzan greeted, his face troubled. "I'm glad you're here."
"Yeah. What's wrong?"
"Well…there's been an accident."
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-to be continued...
