Laika looked down at Netto, "You're lucky it was Leon that came by," he said quietly.
Netto raised an eyebrow, "Is that a compliment on Leon's behalf I hear?"
Laika growled, "Netto I'm not kidding. We both need to be more careful," he said.
Netto nodded, "Fine, I know this. But judging from your reaction when he came neither one of us were ready for it."
Laika sighed and sat on the couch next to Netto. "You do worry me, you know."
Netto snorted, "Me, worry you? Laika if I'm not mistaken you were the one who almost froze to death."
Laika looked a tad upset at this remark while Netto gazed down at him from his end of the couch. "That wasn't very fair," Laika said.
"But true," Netto retorted. "Laika, I can take better care of myself then you give me credit for."
Laika eyed Netto with a slightly skeptical look. "What?" Netto snapped.
"Nothing," Laika said hurriedly. "I believe you."
Netto sighed and leaned into the couch. "Well that meeting took about 10 years off my life."
Rockman smiled, "I know what you mean," he replied. "Laika-san is right, we're lucky we ran into someone like Leon."
Searchman nodded, "Leon and Silver are very trustworthy people."
Rockman raised an eyebrow, "Wow, that's high praise coming from you," he said.
Searchman coughed, "Silver saved my life in battle once," he replied.
Laika nodded, "They are indeed powerful, however like me and Searchman they prefer to work alone."
Netto shrugged, "There's nothing wrong with that. It's when you ignore everyone else and pretend you're the only person when there's a problem."
Laika knew that comment was directed at him but he didn't take the bait. "So, apparently now we get to wait."
"Joy," Netto said sarcastically.
The two boys sat in silence for awhile before something crossed Netto's mind. "Hey Laika?" he asked.
"Yes?" Laika replied.
"Leon said something about your parents," Netto said innocently. "But you never talk about your parents. Who are they?"
Laika opened his mouth, then closed it. At first Netto thought Laika was going to yell at him but then to his great amazement a sad look passed over Laika's face. "They… split up awhile ago," he said simply.
Netto read deeper into that statement then might have been thought wise by others, "What happened?" he asked.
Laika looked at Netto who was now sitting up and gazing at Laika with a sympathetic gaze. Laika sighed, "Well, my mom married my dad because he told her he was only going to be in the army for a few years to make some money when the economy was bad. Only thing is, after a few years he fell in love with being a solider and when I was about 10 years old he told her that he wanted to stay in the army.
"At first mom was okay with it. She figured she could adjust to it, to dad being away all the time. But so many night waiting for a person to come back can take their toll and when I was 11 and a half, they split up. Mom going her way and dad going his.
"Since I grew up in Sharro they both thought the best thing for me was to stay here since I was busy with school at the time and didn't really see either one too much. About a month after I turned 12 my dad was killed in action in a battle to save the power plant that gives power to over ¼ of the country. You see, some terrorists attacked it and he blocked one of the blows intended to take out the power core. Anyways, when that happened mom was devastated. She and dad were still very good friends, regardless of the divorce and she said that she was in no position to take care of a child.
"So, I went to my grandfather, who is a general and finally I followed in my father and grandfather's footsteps and enlisted," Laika said. "That's about it."
Netto looked really sad after hearing what happened, "Where is your mom?" he asked.
"She's living with her sister in Jawaii," he said. "She comes to visit every once in awhile."
"That's really sad," Netto said.
Laika shrugged, "I'm used to it," he said.
"No you're not," Netto said accusingly.
Laika was taken aback, "What?"
"You're not used to it," he said. "You never really get used to it," he muttered. "Not having you family there all the time."
"Netto-kun…" Rockman said softly.
Laika gave him a puzzled glance, "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked.
Netto gave Laika a small grin, "Well Saito-nii-san for one," he said giving Rockman a small smile. "But for most of my life papa has traveled around the world. He never came home until about a year ago and even now he's called away for weeks at a time. Mama can handle it because he was like that before they got married but still… it does hurt doesn't it?" he asked.
Laika gave Netto a rare smile, "Yes it does," he replied. Netto returned the smile then he got up to talk to Rockman for a bit.
A few hours later Netto came over, yawned and fell back on the couch. "Well, hopefully Leon will get back soon with some good news," he muttered.
Laika looked at the clock, "You're tired already?" he asked.
Netto shrugged, "Yeah, but then I'm always tired. Rockman and Searchman are both already asleep," he said glancing at the navis.
Laika looked at his navi who was slumbering peacefully on the floor of the net. "Searchman?" he asked.
Searchman didn't respond to his call but instead he merely turned over and sighed. Curling himself around Rockman. Laika frowned and pulled out his PET and began to type on some programs to see if he could wake Searchman up. Something was nagging at him, telling him something wasn't right. When he finally rebooted Searchman's files as a last ditch effort to get him to wake up and he didn't Laika knew something was wrong.
Then Laika's PET began to ring. "Leon?" he asked.
Leon's face appeared on his PET. "Laika, you won't believe this, but the Neko Virus just mutated again," he said.
"Now what?" Laika hissed.
"Apparently it's now stealing energy from navis to grow. Whatever you do don't let your navis or Netto fall asleep," Leon explained.
"Too late for that," Laika hissed through his teeth. "Searchman is already out, and so is Rockman."
"Wake Netto up now," Leon said. "I have no idea what will happen to a human if this program gets a hold of him."
Laika nodded, "All right, is Silver okay?"
"For now, but the signal is growing stronger, be careful for now," Leon instructed then he cut off the connection.
Laika ran over to Netto and shook him violently. "Netto, wake up," he hissed.
Netto leaned against Laika, almost completely asleep. "Hm?" he asked Laika.
"Netto, snap out of it. The Neko Virus is doing something weird again," he said. "You can't fall asleep."
Laika wasn't even sure if Netto heard him that time. Laika sighed in a frustrated way and set Netto back down on the couch. Then he ran into the kitchen and filled a large glass to the brim with water. He walked back to where Netto was lying on the couch and said, "I'm sorry Netto," before dumping the contents over his friend.
With a yelp Netto sat up and shook his head trying to will away the water that was now covering his upper body. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled.
"Netto, listen to me," Laika said while Netto started to pull at his ears, which were now quivering.
"What?" Netto snapped.
"The Neko Virus just mutated again and it's now stealing navi energy to make its self grow," Laika said.
Netto whipped around to stare dumbfounded, at his friend, "Are you sure?" he asked.
"Leon just told me. Rockman and Searchman are both unconscious, and…" he eyed Netto who was shaking his head dazedly. "Are you all right?"
"What do you think?" Netto snapped.
"Sorry," Laika said. "You were about to fall asleep though."
Netto held his head, "Yeah, that sounds good," he muttered.
"Netto," Laika growled.
Netto nodded his head, "I know, I know! We need to wake up our navis," he said.
Laika sighed, "I already tried, not even rebooting them wakes them up."
Netto nodded, "All right, then we'll just have to isolate them from the signal."
"How do we do that?" Laika asked.
Netto gave him a withering look, "Put them in their PET's and turn the PET's off," Netto said slowly.
A small blush crept over Laika's cheeks, "Oh," he said.
Netto grumbled and logged Rockman out of the main computer then turned off his PET. Laika did the same with Searchman. Finally Netto collapsed back on the couch and groaned. "No," Laika said, while setting his PET on the table.
"I'm tired…" Netto whined.
"Netto, you have to stay up. There really is no way to keep you disconnected from the internet unless we close the link between you and Rockman," Laika said.
Netto sighed, "I really, really, really, hate this virus."
Laika nodded and sat down next to Netto, "I know you do. But falling asleep would only give in to it."
Netto yawned, "Damn virus," he muttered, his tail beginning to twitch.
"Don't worry, this will get settled out soon," Laika said.
Netto dropped his head into Laika's lap who looked vaguely surprised and muttered, "I hope so."
Laika nodded, "Sharro has some of the best intelligence in the world. Don't worry, it'll be over soon."
Netto nodded and curled into a ball, "I know."
