Chapter One: The Clock Turns Now
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Meijin Eguchi stared at the clipboard Manabe had just handed him two minutes ago.
Hikari Netto was sleeping on the couch beside him, snoring away. Meijin could hear his Navi, Rockman.EXE, trying to wake him up from the PET on the glass table. Netto was much more interesting than the clipboard, with pages and pages of typed words and numbers. The scientist constantly glanced at the two objects of his attention: Netto, clipboard, Netto, clipboard.
"I'd look at it, it's my report."
Meijin nearly fell off the couch, upon the TV screen was Laika. Snow could be seen in the background, it looked like a blizzard.
"Oh, this is yours." Meijin sighed, it was his day off. He should be sleeping in, not doing extra work.
"Yes. You told me to write a report on the happenings in Sharo." Laika raised an eyebrow. Meijin peered back down at the paper.
"How long did I say it was supposed to be?"
"You never gave a limit."
"Ah." Next time, he'd limit the pages to three. Not ten.
"So how's it going over there, anyway?"
Laika glanced behind him, a few officers ran by holding up tarps that were flapping ferociously in the wind. "Not much progress," he replied, "this blizzard blew in exactly an hour and forty-five minutes ago. It wasn't predicted so we were unprepared, we'll be lost of communication for a few hours, but that will be all."
Meijin nodded, gazing at the still sleeping boy beside him. He was like a rock, a loud, snoring rock.
"Maybe you should wake him." Laika suggested after a moment, turning his attention to Netto as well.
"Yes, please." They could hear Rockman's muffled remark, and Meijin reached down to pick him up. Rockman was standing with his arms crossed, green eyes displaying his annoyance.
"We're supposed to meet up with Meiru-chan today." Rockman explained.
Meijin could just imagine the pink haired girl, indignant and upset. Netto really had no tact.
"Well, then, we're just going to have to wake him up!" Meijin loved doing things like this. It made his day so much more bearable. Laika waited, with aloof interest, for what the crazy scientist intended to do. Whatever it was, he just hoped it would stop the boy's insufferable snoring.
But before Meijin could even push himself off the couch, a beeping noise erupted through the speakers and a small icon of a TV popped up on the corner of the screen.
"Oh, sorry Laika, but someone's trying to get a hold of me. I'll read your report and get back to you about it later." Meijin fumbled around for his PET. He'd left it somewhere…
Laika nodded and saluted, the window closed itself and was replaced automatically with the default PET screen.
Meijin managed to find his PET just as the call was about to cancel, as it was programmed to after so many beeps. "Reform, accept transmission."
The little white Navi nodded, performing the task she had been created solely for. Sorting his calls and mail was important, after all.
The icon disappeared, and another window opened. Commissioner Kifune appeared on the screen, features calm and serious.
"Eguchi, I have some urgent news."
The Commissioner was currently staying in Amerope due to the strange occurrences happening in the city. Net Navis were disappearing at a rapid pace; words of worry had stretched out to all countries. Densan City was the most concerned, however. Navi disappearances were starting popup as well, but they were random and few. Enzan Ijuuin had been sent out to investigate this alarming incident. Netto was not active in this; he'd just returned from an assignment elsewhere and was completely exhausted. Meijin did not bother to question the point of it, he was just glad to know the job was done.
"Yes?"
"I was just informed that a scientist, not a very well-known one, is being held captive in his own home on the north side of the city. I have dispatched Enzan." Kifune briefly glanced over at Netto. Rockman, from his PET, listened intently.
"All right, I'll wake him up." Meijin sighed, and Kifune nodded. Communication was promptly terminated.
Luckily for the goggled scientist, he didn't have to lift a finger. Netto awoke not a second later, rubbing at his eyes and not noticing the drool that had begun dripping down the side of his mouth.
"Wah…?" He mumbled groggily. Rockman merely sighed, and Meijin handed the PET to the boy. Netto took it without even a thought. He yawned loudly.
"Good morning. How was your sleep?" The blue Navi questioned tartly.
"Fine," Netto stretched, before blinking aware eyes around the room.
"Well, you've got another assignment, it seems." Meijin quickly stood. Netto craned his neck so he could look up at the man.
"What about it?"
"A scientist is being held prisoner by a group of criminals. The Commissioner wants you on it." Meijin checked his watch. Three thirteen.
Netto, following the scientist's lead, looked to the clock on the wall, it read the same time as Meijin's watch.
"Hey…wasn't I supposed to do something today…?" Netto asked slowly.
"Something like meet Meiru-chan at Syron's Café, maybe?" Rockman pointed out.
It was Meiru's birthday today. Netto, after having been smacked over the head for not remembering, had promised to take her to the new Café that had opened on the north side of Densan City. He'd told her two. It was several minutes passed three.
Netto groaned. He was so dead.
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It was a nice, clear day in Densan City. The sound of traffic could be heard miles away, people waved to each other on the street while others yelled angrily.
Nothing can go wrong today was what Sakurai Meiru thought as she ambled happily through the crowd. It was her birthday today, her mom had made the best cake, and she'd gotten everything she'd wanted. It had been a perfect day thus far, and now it was time for the icing on the cake.
This was not a date. Meiru had reminded herself while choosing her outfit. Even though Netto had forgotten the date, he'd offered to take her to Syron's Café. He would be late, she knew it, but Meiru was sure he would at least make it; it was her birthday, after all.
She'd eventually picked out a simple white dress with wavy lace at the bottom and the sleeves, a pair of black party shoes, and a white headband to top it off. Her mother commented on how cute she looked, Meiru hoped Netto would notice too.
But as she arrived at the Café a minute early, ordered them a table, and set herself ready to wait, she would have never been prepared for the disappointment.
An hour, a full hour, Meiru thought she was going to cry. Her Net Navi, Roll, watched her sadly from the PET and offered once more to contact Rockman. Meiru, again, told her no. She was going home. Netto was such a jerk.
Now she walked aimlessly down the sidewalk, not knowing where she was going, and just continued to mentally berate the boy she had a crush on. Why did she like him anyway? He obviously didn't care. She knew she was being unjust. As a friend, she should be used to Netto's often absences. But, at the moment, she didn't feel like "just a friend". She was upset, Netto had promised her. And he had broken that promise.
The sounds of sirens filled her ears, and she jumped unexpectedly. The world had disappeared around her as she drowned in her furious thoughts, but now it reappeared in many flashes of red lights. Meiru found herself standing in front of what looked like a bad wreck, although instead of a street, policemen hovered around a tall, nearly tipped building.
Police cars were everywhere; there was a distinct panic in the air, though it was properly suppressed. A helicopter swooped through the sky; Meiru gazed at it with a gaping mouth.
"What's wrong, Meiru-chan?" Roll asked. The girl looked down at her PET, which dangled at her side, and quickly brought it to her face.
"I don't know. Do you think you could find out?"
"Maybe…" Roll murmured, bringing up a screen so she could see the scene. She placed her hand beneath her chin in thought.
All this repressed urgency didn't seem to be something they could handle on their own. Calling Glyde or Rockman or even Blues would be a safer bet. She turned her attention back to her friend.
"We shouldn't do anything. I'll alert Glyde," Roll knew this was a more cautious thing to do, as Meiru was probably not in any mood to speak to Netto, "you just stay here, okay?"
Meiru nodded and looked at the scene again. She took a step closer but paused, deciding to heed Roll's words.
"Meiru!" The aforementioned girl turned around just to see a surprised-looking Enzan Ijuuin amongst the large crowd of officers.
"Enzan-kun!" Meiru was relieved to see someone she knew.
"What are you doing here?" He inquired, walking over.
"I just kind of wandered over." Meiru smiled sheepishly, she felt rather silly.
"Well, you should leave. It could get dangerous."
"What's going on here, anyway?"
"Someone's kidnapped a scientist and has him tied up in there somewhere." Enzan jerked his thumb in the direction of the building. Meiru stared it; she hadn't really paid any attention to the structure itself upon arrival.
It was made of brick, long and tall. It was skinny and reached far into the sky, windows—frames painted black and paper of the same color covering up the glass—on every story. The building was odd as it tilted to the right, as if it was a Slinky jumping into an arch.
Meiru blinked, "That's weird."
Enzan nodded, "I'm guessing this scientist was a fanatic."
"Meiru-chan! I've contacted Glyde. He said that Yaito-chan will be coming as soon as she can." Roll reported.
"Oh, thank you, Roll!" Meiru replied quickly, having forgotten that Roll had set out to get Glyde in the first place.
Enzan cocked an eyebrow and she smiled, embarrassed.
"Enzan-sama!" An officer cried, hurrying over, hat askew.
"What is it?"
"The captives have sent a transmission, they're demanding money and something called the 'Eradicate'!" The officer explained hurriedly. Enzan nodded.
"Tell the commander that I'll be there in a minute." The young officer nodded and dashed back whence he came.
"Come on," Enzan jerked his head towards the officer's retreating back, "Netto-kun should be showing up here soon anyway."
And then Meiru was reminded why she was wandering around in the first place. Hikari Netto. The jerk would show up to danger but not a simple outing.
Meiru followed him, bad mood returning, and Enzan moved out of her way slightly. What he said must have triggered something, and he was not in the mood to evoke the girl's ire.
-
Soft, yet cold, alive, yet dead; he was nothing but metal. An empty shell, wrought from human hands, those that had damned him to this Hell. An empty void, lost of feeling, lost of life.
Where were the kind souls who had supposedly taken him in? Where was the boy who'd called him his own, taken care of him, called him his brother? Where was that boy now?
With them, he was sure. They were the reason he was here, it was their fault he rotted alone.
Cold, so very cold, like ice; he'd never really felt actual cold. This was different; could he really feel, though? Was it all an illusion?
But what about the boy, he'd been real. He'd felt so real. And that girl; she'd felt real as well.
Something was touching him. Poking at his conscious, something was trying to awake him. He tried to move, squirm away from even colder tendrils.
They damned you, took you to this place. It is them; they deserve to suffer like you've suffered. Make them die, make them bleed.
Who are you…?
You remember don't you? When they thought you'd gone too far? Remember them?
Remember…?
Yes, remember.
I…I do remember. Them, they left me here. They deserve to suffer like I've suffered.
I can free you. I can let you destroy them.
Free me…
Yes, free you. They will die.
I want them to die…
And they will.
-
Time cannot be touched, it reaches out so far that you are lost in its continuum. So many "ifs" and "maybes"; everything you do affects the "could've-s" and the "if only-s". For every step you make, an alternate universe is destroyed and another is created. Only a few actually survive, spinning off into a slightly or very different sense of reality based on events that have occurred in the "true" reality. And now, in the "true" reality of the Rockman Universe, one step was taken that was not supposed to be. Thousands of alternates were destroyed, three still hold steady. The step did not affect two, but the one was thrown into mass chaos. Everything was wrong; it had always been the closest to the "real" one. But now, it was farther away than any other.
People did die.
People not meant to die.
Bonds and friendships were formed that the "real" universe already had claimed.
People did die.
By the wrong hands.