Activation!
By StarWulf.EXE
Chapter 9: The Fragment Code
"Cannon BattleChip, in! Download!"
The mysterious Navi's right arm morphed into a bright green cannon. He pointed the cannon's barrel right at the Net Savers.
"Duck!" shouted Dan, grabbing Chris and Pride.
An orange energy beam shot straight at them Luckily; Dan knocked the two teens to the ground before ducking himself. The beam hit one of the severs, exploding on contact. The three Net Savers crawled behind the wrecked server as the smoke dissipated.
The Navi chuckled to himself. "Too easy." he said, turning back to his work.
Unknown to the robber, the three Net Savers where planning their next attack.
"What's a Navi doing here without a dimensional area?" Chris asked the others.
Pride shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe there is a dimensional area and we just can't see it."
Dan unhooked his PET from its case and pointed the infrared sensor at the ceiling.
"Jack in, Chaos! Power up!" he whispered.
There was a moment a silence. Chaos appeared on the PET screen.
"No luck, Dan. I can't find a way into the real world." he said.
"C'mon Pride, let's give it a try!" said Chris, raising his PET.
"Jack in, Wulf! Power up!"
'Jack in, KnightMan! Power up!"
More silence.
"Still nothin'." replied Wulf.
"I am sorry, Miss Pride." KnightMan said, bowing slightly.
"Maybe we could try to Cross Fuse." Pride suggested, pulling out her SyncroChip. Dan and Chris did the same.
"SyncroChip, in! Download!"
"SyncroChip, in! Download!"
"Spirit SyncroChip, in! Download!"
The three put their SyncroChips into their PETs. The main screens flashed before the chips popped out from the PErsonal Terminals.
Unable to perform synchronization. Dimensional area not found.
"Damn it!" Dan swore softly, searching the room for something useful.
Chris gasped. "We got even worse news! Look!"
He pointed to the black icons resting in the corner of their PET's screens.
The Navi cracked his back as he stood up. "That Fragment virus is the best thing that happened to me! I wonder who else I can rob?" he thought.
The demolished sever in the back of the room slightly shook. The green Navi grinned.
"I was wondering where my little visitors went." he laughed, turning his arm back into a cannon and taking aim. "Good luck trying to stop me when you're dead."
He fired.
Fragment Code! Activation!
The Net Saver's PETs violently shock. The Fragment icons disappeared as a flash lit up the screens.
Execute!
The PErsonal Terminals exploded, leaving behind a thick fog of computer code. The cannon's shot bounced off it and hit the ceiling.
"No!" exclaimed the Navi. "Not them too!"
The code swirled around the three, forcing them to stand up. In a bright explosion of light, the Net Savers where gone. In their place where their Navis.
The medieval Navi shook his head. "What just happened?"
Wulf shrugged. "We where in our PETs just a second ago."
"We can ask questions later! He's getting away!" Chaos shouted.
The commercial Navi was drilling a hole in the back of the room, hoping to break through to the outside.
"Chaos Sabers!"
"Knight Shot!"
"Lupine Slasher!"
The three attacks launched at the robber, fusing together in mid-flight.
"Tri-Attack!" the three Navis yelled.
Their attack struck the green Navi in the back. He bent over in pain, code streaming from his wound.
ShotMan, Fragment transmission disconnected. Logging out.
ShotMan's eyes glazed over as he returned to the Internet, leaving behind a couple hundred thousand Zenny in the form of a small disk.
- - -
"Where are we?"
"I don't know…It's so dark."
"Wait…There's a light up ahead!"
- - -
Fragment Code! Deactivate!
The three Navis broke down into computer code and became PETs once more.
Transmission ended.
A bright flash erupted in the middle of the room. Pride, Chris, and Dan came crashing to the ground from out of nowhere.
"Ow."
Lan, Chaud, and Laika came running through what remained of the door.
"We got the security system back up! Plus, I won myself a few new BattleChips from Laika and Chaud!" Lan said, showing off his new Giga-Class BattleChips.
"Whoop-dee-doo…" Pride called out from the floor.
"Princess, are you all right?" KnightMan asked from her PET.
Laika gasped. "What happened here!" he shouted, looking at the room.
Everything was in disarray. All of the bank's servers where broken, some still smoking. There where holes in the walls that looked like they where made from gunfire. The ceiling was charred black as well as the floor.
Chaos and Wulf appeared on Dan's PET. "No sign of ShotMan." they reported.
Chaud calmly walked over to his partners and helped them to their feet.
Chris dusted off his shorts and Wulf logged out of Dan's PET. "Thanks."
"Now, tell us what happened." the skunk-haired Net Saver demanded.
- - -
Back at SciLab, the six teens where gathered around Famous' computer, their Navis already jacked in, It was running a video that was taken by a security camera at the bank. The clip of Dan, Chris, and Pride vanishing and Chaos, Wulf, and KnightMan in the real world kept replaying.
"I think we found out what the Fragment virus is doing." Dr. Hakari exclaimed as he walked into the room with the Famous in tow.
The brunette scientist turned off the PC and cleared his throat.
"Much to our surprise, the Fragment virus was not created to cause cyber havoc. Instead, it was created for use as a tool. The virus installs the "Fragment Code" into a PET, enabling the Fragment functions. When a person or Navi uses the code, they perform a move we call "Activation". Activation allows a Navi to enter the real world without the use of a dimensional area. However, a Navi must find a willing Operator for the move to work. When a Navi enters the real world using the Fragment code, the Operator gets sent to the Cyberworld."
There was a long silence in the room. The only noise was that of Dr. Hakari trying to catch his breath after explaining his findings.
"What about Cross Fusion? With people being able to do Activation, what's the use for SyncroChips?" Lan asked as he fingered the SyncroChip in his PET case.
Famous decided to answer the question so Yuichrio could take a break.
"As of this morning, SyncroChips have become a thing of the past. Still, you should keep them with you. In fact, I got a better idea! Hand me your SyncroChips and I'll give you all Spirit SyncroChips."
The Net Saver chief took all of the group's SyncroChips, except for Chris, and replaced them with the newer version.
"This has been a big day for you all. Go home and get some rest." He said, nodding to Dr. Hakari. "You are all dismissed."
The Net Savers left the room and exited SciLab. Lan, KnightMan, Chaos, Chris, MegaMan, Dan, and Wulf were talking about battle strategies while Pride was mumbling about how boys are so immature. Laika, ProtoMan, Chaud, and SearchMan were too busy scowling to take part in the conversation.
- - -
Eventually the group went their separate ways. Chris and Lan said goodbye to their friends while MegaMan and Wulf waved from their PETs.
"So what do you wanna do tomorrow?" asked Chris.
Lan clasped his hands behind his head. "I dunno."
"We could head out to the electronic show at the Dentech Expo Center." MegaMan suggested.
"Then it's settled! Tomorrow, we go to the electronic show!"