Chapter 4

The PET III

As she walked down the sidewalk Terra couldn't help but think how weird all this was. She had quickly showered and gotten dressed, she had also given Whisper a fashion chip so at least not everyone would know what was going on. With out the helmet, boots, and gloves she looked like anyone else; actually she looked like Terra besides their eye color and the way they wore their hair they looked identical and they were getting the looks to prove it. She now had on a pair of jeans and a hooded pea coat to make her fit it; even though she couldn't feel the cold that came with this late January weather.

When they turned the corner they found that they weren't the only ones that were up early. Chaud was coming and he wasn't alone Protoman was with him. Although no one would know that if they didn't know Chaud since the navi look was gone; he had on a thick red and purple jacket and jeans, the only thing that might throw someone off was that his hair was still practically down to his feet now topped with a billed beanie. Not to mention that he still had on his signature shades. And to tell you the truth Chaud looked a little freaked out.

"That's sure to get people talking, it's not even sunny today." Whisper said.

"Well he could always pass off as blind." Terra added. "What about that hair?"

Whisper didn't answer for a few seconds. "I have to admit, looks a little out of place without the helmet and jumpsuit."

"A little? Really?" Terra asked quiety as Chaud was close enough to overhear if she spoke any louder.

"Seams like you decided to tell your father after all." Chaud said when they met gesturing toward Proto.

"Actually no," Terra replied taking the flash drive out of her pocket, "I picked up the wrong drive last night. Dr. Hikari must have seen my program.

"Well at least you know it works." Protoman said.

"Sure, if you like having a heart attack at 7:30 in the morning. What are you guys doing here anyway?" Terra asked.

"I was looking for you actually." Chaud replied. "What are you doing here?"

Before Terra had time to answer they heard Lan give out a short yell.

"Lan are you ok?" Chaud asked to Lan's open window. Soon Lan appeared on the balcony with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Megaman's out of my PET!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, we know genius." Terra replied. "And hurry up and get dressed we have to be at Scilab."

When Lan came out of the house his unnerved look hadn't disappeared and Megaman had a look that mirrored it. If anyone hadn't noticed the resemblance between the two before there was no denying it now. Besides the hair and eye color everything else was the same. Megaman had a blue and yellow coat on with jeans and wore a backward baseball cap; without his helmet Terra saw for the first time that the navi had bangs, bangs that oddly looked exactly like Dr. Hikari's. Terra couldn't help but think how they looked so much alike. Like brothers, twins even. As they stared to walk to Scilab she decided to say something about it but Chaud beat her to it.

"Have you guy's ever noticed how much you two look alike?"

Lan and Mega turned to face one another and after a quick glance turned away. Terra thought that that was odd but noticed that both Mega and Lan wore a look that said that they had noticed but didn't want to address the fact. So instead of questioning them further she decided to change the subject.

"So what did you let out that yelp for?" she asked.

Flashback…

Lan was walking down an empty hall he didn't know where he was or why he was there but he was being drawn to a certain place. When he arrived at what felt like his destination he knew exactly where he was. Room 229. The room where his brother had died. He tried to walk away but the invisible force that had led him there drew him inside. When he looked around he found the room empty he turned around and was almost to the door when he heard his name being called.

"Lan," as small voice called.

Lan slowly turned around and was faced with a small navy haired green-eyed child.

"Lan, find me." The child stated.

"No this isn't possible," Lan said backing away, "you died eight years ago." He turned to leave but only was faced with the child once more.

"Lan, find me."

Lan ran around the child and bolted for the door. He didn't stop running until he was back at home. Once there he went straight to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, and tried to regulate his breathing. Once he was calm he looked up at his reflection in the mirror only to see someone behind him. It was the child from the hospital, only it was no longer a child but a teenager. A teenager that looked strangely like his navi.

"Lan, find me." The figure stated, the voice bearing a striking resemblance to Megaman's.

"Mega?" Lan asked but before the figure could reply it seemed to phase out of existence.

"Lan, find me." Was all he heard.

"Lan."

Lan heard his name being called.

"Lan. Come on, Lan wake up."

The next thing Lan felt was himself being shaken by someone, and he was slowly being pulled to reality.

"Uhh," Lan groaned as he tried to hang on to sleep.

"Lan get up!" The voice said again, and Lan felt himself being shook again; then he felt himself being shoved out of the bed.

"AHHH." He yelped as he hit the floor. "Hub!" Lan exclaimed still half asleep as he got off the floor only paying attention to a pair of green eyes; then he noticed that it was Mega who had an equal amount of surprise on his face. "How are you…" Lan started. The next thing he heard was Chaud's voice.

"Lan are you ok?" he asked.

Lan went out to the balcony and found that both Lan and Terra were on the sidewalk in front of his house; and they weren't alone Protoman and Whisper were with them.

"Megaman's out of my PET." He said.

"Yeah, we know genius." Terra said gesturing to the two navis, "hurry up and get dresses we have to be at Scilab.

"K," Lan said turning to go back into his room, when he did Mega had a concerned look on his face.

"Lan why did you call me Hub? Your brother died eight years ago." Mega asked. "Is it because I look like him?

"I don't know." Lan said getting dressed. "I was half asleep when I said it and I had just had this really weird dream about him, just drop it ok?" Lan asked leaving Mega no choice as he waked past him grabbing his bandanna, PET, and a few chips which he downloaded before leaving the room.

Mega watched as his jumpsuit disappeared and was replaced with civilian clothes, even his helmet had been replaced. When he caught his reflection in Lan's mirror Mega realized there could be trouble if they ran into Hukara before they got out of the house.

As Lan walked down the stairs he could hear his mother clatter around in the kitchen, what he didn't notice was that Mega had slowed behind him.

"Oh! You're up early for a Saturday." Hukara stated when she saw her son come in. "I'm making pancakes. What kind do you want? I'm up for requests."

"Um, I'm not going to be able to eat breakfast Mom." Lan replied. Hukara was shocked.

"Since when do you turn down food?" She asked.

"Since this happened this morning." Lan said as he looked back at Mega gesturing for him to come into view but Mega ignored him staying in the shadows. "What is wrong with you?" Lan asked hushed as he grabbed Mega's wrist pulling him into the doorway. However the reaction he got from his mom wasn't what he was expecting. Lan expected his mother to be surprised but Hukara's face went pale.

"Hub?" She asked in a shaky voice. Mega went pale too.

Lan looked back at his friend and noticed that with the fashion chips he had used Mega looked more like Hub than ever. That was if Hub had still been alive. The chips had been a recent gift from Yai and Lan hadn't used them before now.

"No, Mrs. Hikari." Mega replied. "I'm Megaman. Lan used the fashion chips on me before I could tell him not to, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"That's okay." Hukara replied nodding her head like she was trying to come to terms with something. "You just look like how Hub would now, if he were here. Could I hug you anyway?"

"Sure." Mega said as he walked forward, Hukara hugging him tightly.

Seeing that they were both far enough away from Lan that he wouldn't hear she whispered into Mega's ear.

"I love you."

End flashback…

"Let's just say I had a rude awaking." Lan replied, although looking back he couldn't help but wonder if his subconscious was trying to tell him something. He never felt that Hub as really gone and he was having these dreams pretty regularly for the last couple of years. But what did that have to do with Mega? "So I guess you decided to tell your father after all." Lan said motioning to Mega with his eyes.

"No, not really, I left my flash drive at the party last night in the Chief's office. Your dad must have found it.

When they arrived a Scilab Terra didn't go in.

"What's wrong?" Megaman asked.

"I don't want to go in there." Terra replied.

"But everyone'll be proud of you won't they?" Lan asked.

"I know, but it's not your dad or the chief or even Famous that I'm worried about, it's my dad. I know that he's upset that I didn't tell him about this." Terra replied.

"If there's one thing I know is you can't run away from your problems or even avoid them." Chaud said taking Terra's hand and leading her in the building. When he did the chief was there to meet them.

"Terra, I've been expecting you." He said ushering her into the office that he had set up within Scilab. "I've been very proud of many netsavers over the years, but I've never been prouder than I have with you. You've made years worth of progress on the PET. You should be very proud."

"Thank you." Terra replied. When she saw that that was all that the chief wanted to say she relaxed. "I just wish that everyone would feel that way."

"What do you mean?" the chief asked.

"Up till now my dad just thought that I was a normal slightly gifted straight A student. I never let on that I was capable of this. Now he knows and I'm sure he's upset."

'Well I can understand why you kept it from your father."

"You can?"

"Oh course, your father's brilliant dear but he can go a little overboard. But I'm sure if you tell him how you feel he'll understand." The chief replied.

"Thanks." Terra said responding the reassuring statement, "So where to next?"

"I think Dr. Hikari wants to see you now."

When she turned to leave the chief called her back.

"Oh, before you go, I think that you'll need these." He said handing her three PET's, her PET.

Terra hadn't felt more pride than right now. She never thought that her PET would ever be more than a simulation. And here it was. When she came out everyone ran to meet her.

"What did he want?" Chaud asked.

"Oh, he wanted to congratulate me," Terra replied, "and give me these." She said handing Chaud and Lan their new PET.

"Wow, these are so cool." Lan remarked.

The third generation PET was sleeker and more stylish than the other two models. For one thing they weren't as bulky and the screen took up most of the PET. The buttons that use to be on the front were now on the side.

"So where to now?" Whisper asked.

"Dr. Hikari's lab." Terra replied. "They're really eager to give these things a test drive.

Mega however was less than eager.

When they arrived the lab was full of life. There were people everywhere.

"Looks like the new PET caused quite a stir." Protoman remarked.

"Do you see my dad anywhere?" Terra said looking at the many people in the room.

"No, I don't see him." Chaud replied.

"I'm going to try to find him." Terra said walking off but she was soon intercepted by Dr. Hikari and Famous.

"Terra, I'm glad that you're finally here." Dr. Hikari said coming up behind her.

"So did you like your wake up call this morning?" Famous asked.

"Well it was interesting." Terra said as they walked back to where Lan and Chaud were waiting.

"Interesting? It was more like The Twilight Zone worthy." Lan said when he overheard Terra thinking back to the incident with his mom.

"Well, all I can say is that it was quite unexpected." Chaud answered.

Terra raised her eyebrow at this. With a reaction like that she would have killed to see what Chaud's reaction had been that morning.

"Glad you enjoyed it, that was a feature of the PET III I wasn't sure would work but it did." Dr. Hikari replied as he looked the three navis over; one in particular. As they walked Mega singled Yuichiro out.

"Dad..." He whispered, but Dr. Hikari gave him a look that told him not to pursue any further conversation.

"So how do they get back into the PET?" Lan asked as he gestured to Mega, Proto and Whisper.

"Just push this button." Dr. Hikari said motioning to one on the top left hand side. When they did their navis disappeared and reappeared back on the PET screen.

"So that's what that buttons for." Lan said.

"Yes, I know you guys probably want to see how far these thing can go. Plus the chief wants us to get a move on so we should get to that. You guys ready?" he asked.

"Of course." They all replied.

"The only thing we have left to test is the double crossfusion. Since the battlechip gate technology and the trace data program has been incorporated the crossfusion should be much stronger. Now both the navi and the op will have access to all the battlechips in the PET's memory. This function is the closest of kin to a solo navi, this program will instantly unlock during double crossfusion or if the operator is unavailable or injured. It will also sustain the mental link between you and your navis. You'll be able to hear each others thoughts just like you did during the original crossfusion. I've also written in the PET's programming that if the navi sustains a certain amount of damage that it will instantly jack out and go back to the original form of crossfusion."

"That'll stop any unnecessary deletions?" Terra asked.

"Exactly." Dr. Hikari replied.

"Not only that, but now we can stay in a battle longer of needed." Chaud mentioned.

"Well I know I want to test this out." Lan said already leaving the observation deck.

Once everyone was in their places Dr. Hikari powered up the dimensional area.

"Ok, I want you three to start with the standard form of crossfusion."

"What ever you say dad, syncrochip in, download, begin crossfusion now." Terra and Chaud followed suite.

Famous overlooked the power levels. "Ok, everything looks normal, lets take things up a notch." He said.

"Ok, now when I give the signal I want you to jack in Megaman, Protoman and Whiper into the dimensional area. Ready? Now!"

"Ok, lets see with this thing can do. Jack in, Protoman, power up"

"Right behind you Chaud, jack in, Whisper, power up!"

"And don't forget about us, jack in, Megaman, power up."

When the trigger word was said their navi's data began to stream from their emblems and with in seconds they were once again face to face with their navis.

Dr. Hikari looked over the power levels this time.

"Everything looks good the crossfusion is still holding. Ok," he said over the intercom, "I'm going to start sending in viruses. We'll see if the PET can hold up to the battlechip gate technology."

Soon viruses stated to appear everywhere.

"Megabuster." Lan and Megaman said starting to delete viruses left and right.

"Bamboo sword, battlechip in" Terra said slashing a spiky virus in half.

"Fire Sword" Whisper said incinerating a host of viruses.

"Sonic boom!" Chaud and Protoman exclaimed together, taking care of the rest of the viruses.

"This is amazing," Famous said looking over the power levels again, "the power levels are higher now then they've ever have been. Chaud, Protoman, Terra and Whisper are closer to being fully synchronized then they ever have before. And Lan's full synchronization is still holding.

"Oh, I'm glad that's over." Terra said as she collapsed on the floor. They had tested the PET for four hours going over every possible known situation they could face in a battle and after that they had received the assignment to download every battlechip they owned. "I think I have arthritis."

"I have never downloaded so many battlechips in my life." Chaud said.

"I don't think I can move my fingers." Terra said.

"Are you kidding me? I don't think I can move any muscle in my body.

Then all their PET's went off and naturally Chaud reached for his.

"Don't answer it." Both Lan and Terra said together.

"It's probably important." Chaud replied.

"Or they could be asking us to test something." Lan replied.

"Chaud it's Famous, it sounds like it's urgent." Protoman said when Chaud still hadn't answered. Chaud then decided that it would be best to answer.

"Hey Famous what's the problem?" he asked.

"Viruses are attacking at the bank. They already logged out the security navis. We need you three to take care of them.

"Don't worry Mr. Famous we're on it." Chaud said getting off the floor followed by Terra. Lan still didn't move.

"Come on Lan get up." Terra said almost begging, "The faster we take care of this the faster we can get back home and take a nap."

"There is no way you're getting me off of this floor." Lan replied.

"Lan get off the floor." Mega said,

"Fat ch-!" Lan exclaimed when someone jerked him up. When he was back on his feet he was face to face with Mega.

"You forgot what happened this morning didn't you?" Mega asked.

"Yeah," Lan replied begrudgingly remembering how Mega had pushed him out the bed that morning to wake him up as he headed to the door. He was going to have to find a way so he could lock Mega out of that program.

When they arrived at the bank everything was haywire. The lights were blinking the ATM machines were spitting out money and the automatic doors continued to open and close.

"Ok, lets take care of this, jack in Protoman, power up!"

"Yeah. Jack in Megaman power up!"

"I'm right behind you guys, jack in Whisper power up!"

When the navis jacked in the viruses didn't attack them. Instead they stopped what they were doing and left.

"K, I wasn't expecting that." Whisper said when the viruses left.

"Look," Protoman said when the smoke cleared. The viruses had left behind a message etched in the bank's firewall. The message read:

"NEBULA LIVES"

TBC