Chapter 05

A few months went by, and I found myself growing more and more hooked on two things in my life. My Navi and Jenn. Jenn and me spent most of our free time together without the accompaniment of Nick and Ben. Meanwhile back at home my Navi grew more and more advanced with each passing day until my room just became one giant supercomputer. The more advanced my Navi grew, the more driven I was to solve the mystery of Lain and the Knights. One night Jenn and me were walking down the shopping district of Cleveland, both enjoying ice cream cones, which I bought. We were about halfway to my house when my cellphone rang in my pocket. Looking at the small screen I recognized the number as one of my top informants outside of the wired.

Snapping it open I said "Make it quick, I'm kinda in the middle of something."

"Alright, but there's something you should check out as soon as you can. Tonight if possible."

"Can it be tomorrow, I gonna kinda have a guest over tonight and…"

"NO IT CAN'T WAIT!"

I feel silent as he explained to me the creator of some human experimentation might know something on Lain, but the problem was the guy was on his deathbed and wasn't expected to make it through the night. Sighing as I closed my phone I turned to Jenn and disappointedly said "Sorry, but I might be busy when we get to my place. I got a new clue as to solving this Lain mystery…" I trailed off as a thought just sprung into my head "Hey, I just figured out how to transfer a human mind into the wired, if I can fix another headset do you want to come with me."

After a brief seconds thought she said "Sure, But we're still watching anime afterwards." She said with her bright, contagious smile.

Returning her smile I said, "Would I ever lie to you?" Side by side we set off towards home. Even though I invited her, my brain was full of worries of what she might see; my informant did mention something about human experimentation…

Immediately booting up my navi, I constructed a new headset in all of five minutes. In a few more minutes we were walking down a cathedral highway, when I heard a familiar hissing, like a snake laughing. Jenn seemed uneasy but after giving her a reassuring smile I called into the darkness.

"Hello, Cheshire Cat." In the void before us a sneering mouth appeared with the finesse of a Special Olympics ice skater.

"So it seems the great Matt has company today, I'm here to give information, not tell you people the hottest dating spots in Ohio."

"Stuff it. I take it you tapped the call my informant and me had. Stop pussyfooting around and take me to get this guy already."

"Um, Matt…Where exactly are we going?" Said Jenn in a timid voice unlike her own.

Don't worry about it." I said in gentle tones "There's nothing dangerous, and besides I'll protect you if something happens." I said smiling at her. I took her hand and squeezed tightly to reassure her. She seemed to feel better, but something was still bothering her, as I could tell. A doorway opened before us and I walked in with Jenn trailing behind me. I emerged into a hospital room where the old man's life was measured in ghostly green lines. He smiled at us as though he was expecting us.

"Old man, I've come to ask you something, about human experimentation." I said wasting no time. The old man's enigmatic smile didn't fade as he opened his mouth to tell his story; the world around us shifted to a bioresearch lab.