Chapter 3 – The Search
Roll sat in the corner of the little grey room, hugging her knees. It seemed like Rockman had been gone for hours, she hoped he was alright. She also hoped he hadn't done anything stupid.
She had been turning the day's events over in her head, revisiting them again and again, and she was no closer to figuring out what was wrong with Rockman than she had been when she started.
She simply couldn't understand what had triggered this change, and she had no idea what he would do now that he was like this. Whatever 'like this' was.
He hadn't tried to hurt her, but he had kidnapped her. He had forced her to kiss him but stopped when she asked him too…eventually. Roll couldn't shake the feeling that she was looking at an unfinished puzzle. You might be able to get glimpses of different details, but as far as figuring out the big picture went, you were stumped. She hoped Meiru and Netto weren't worrying too much.
Roll was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard that scraping sound begin again. Was Rockman back?
"Rockman?" she called, and was proven correct when the blue net navi stepped into the room.
As soon as she laid eyes on him, Roll realised there hadn't been any change. He was still…for lack of a better word, she was going to say 'possessed'. Yes, Rockman was still 'possessed'.
As he crossed the room, Roll noticed there were scratches on his face.
"Are you okay?" she asked, "You're not hurt?"
He gave her one of those blank looks that she had been getting so frequently. His injuries didn't look too deep, and he didn't seem to be in any pain. While she wanted to be certain the scratches weren't serious, Roll wasn't sure what his reaction would be if she approached him, and so remained where she was.
He knelt down opposite her and stared at her, his face blank. Roll fidgeted, shifting uncomfortably as she stared back at him. Both stayed silent.
"He WHAT?" Netto exclaimed, staring open-mouthed at Glyde.
"As I said, Rockman appeared to…loose control," Glyde said hesitantly. "He attacked us and…abducted Miss Roll."
"Roll," Meiru breathed, feeling tears start to gather in her eyes, "Do you think…" She couldn't finish.
"Hey, it'll be okay," Netto soothed, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I mean, this is Rockman we're talking about. He wouldn't hurt Roll, he'd delete himself first."
"He fired on Iceman and I without hesitation," Glyde said as gently as he could. Above all, Meiru and Netto had to be made aware of the facts, however distasteful, with no embellishments. But upon seeing their stricken expressions, he hastened to add, "But he did seem reluctant to harm Miss Roll. She gave him greater provocation than either I or Iceman, but it was only us he attacked."
"See? Roll's going to be fine, she's tough," Netto encouraged, trying to smile. When Meiru looked up at him, he felt his chest constrict at the heartbroken expression on her face.
"But we don't know-" Meiru began, before Netto cut her off.
"You're right, we don't know. So let's not assume the worst right off the bat, okay?"
A tear rolled down Meiru's cheek, in spite of her best attempts to hold it back.
Without thinking, Netto reached out and wiped it away, gently stroking Meiru's cheek with his thumb. It took several seconds before he realised what he was doing. When he did, he pulled his hand away quickly and looked down, trying to hide his blush.
Meiru's heart had been racing since Glyde told them an out-of-control Rockman had kidnapped Roll, but now she could feel it beating even faster. She was positive her face was glowing like a sunset, and stammered out an affirmative.
'Come on,' she berated herself, 'Get a grip!'
"S-So, we should probably try to figure out what caused Rockman to act like this, huh?" Meiru directed her question to the floor, certain that if she looked up Netto would see her blush.
"Yeah," Netto said fiercely, "Whatever's happened, we'll figure it out!"
'I need to do something,' Roll thought desperately, 'It feels like I've been sitting here for an eternity. Staring at Rockman, who's staring at me, and the pressure's going to make me lose it. I'm going to go completely nuts.'
But what could she do? Roll was thinking about what activities could lend themselves to flat, featureless rooms and only needed one player, when she yawned.
'Well I am pretty tired. What if I forget the activities and just go to sleep?'
But could she? She glanced at Rockman, still sitting across the room. He hadn't even twitched since he sat down. Yes, Roll decided, she could trust him. Even though he was 'possessed', he hadn't really attacked her – he could have deleted her a dozen times over by now, but he hadn't so much as hit her, even when she shoved him.
'He's not going to hurt me. He's had hundreds of chances and never acted on any of them. He's not going to hurt me if I fall asleep.'
Roll yawned again and stretched out on the floor, tossing and turning a few times to try and get comfortable. She could feel exhaustion beginning to settle in her spent body.
Hovering on the brink of sleep, she raised her head to look at Rockman.
" 'Night Rock," she murmured, "I'm going to go to sleep now, okay?"
It may have been her imagination, but as her eyes closed, Roll could have sworn she saw Rockman nod.
Roll woke from her doze with a start. For a second, she was disorientated, her eyes darting around the room as her sleep-fogged mind struggled to remember how she had gotten here. Then her eyes landed on Rockman, and everything came rushing back.
Along with a realisation of why she had awakened. She was cold. PET homepages had a temperature regulator to keep the navis comfortable, but it seemed shops didn't. Roll shivered, hugging herself for warmth. It didn't appear to be bothering Rockman, he was in the exact same position he had been in when she dozed off, and his eyes hadn't moved from her. Had he slept at all?
To Roll's surprise, Rockman stood and approached the corner she was crouching in, before kneeling in front of her. Green eyes swept up and down her body, and Rockman extended his arm, resting the palm of his hand against her shoulder. He stayed that way for several moments, staring at his hand, watching and feeling the vibrations of her shivers. When he met her eyes again, Roll blinked. He looked…worried? About her?
"Hey, I'm okay," she reassured him, "Just a little cold, that's all."
He regarded her silently. Rockman then sat cross-legged in front of her, reached for Roll, and yanked her toward him.
Roll squeaked in surprise as he settled her in his lap, one arm supporting her shoulders as he pulled her to rest against his chest. Roll tensed at first, wondering if he was going to try to kiss her again, but relaxed when she felt him beginning to rub gentle circles on her back.
"Thanks, again," she said, smiling into his chest.
There was a pause.
"You know," she continued conversationally, "I'm just not getting you, Rock. You attack Glyde and Iceman, you kidnap me but you don't hurt me, and now you're stroking my back and hugging me because I said I was cold."
Rockman didn't answer.
"But don't think I'm not grateful," Roll continued, "Because I am."
Roll rested her head against his chest, listening to the humming whirr of data passing through the layers of programs that were Rockman.
'I've dreamed about this,' she thought, 'Just laying in his arms, falling asleep there. It can't hurt to pretend, just for now, that this is a dream come true, can it?'
With that thought, Roll wrapped her arms around Rockman's neck and gave him a gentle hug.
"Good night, Rock," she whispered.
And Roll fell asleep – truly asleep – to the feel of Rockman stroking her back, and the sound of data rushing through his circuits.
"We've got to think this out," Yuuichiro said, pacing the length of the living room, "What on earth would cause Rockman to do this? A virus?"
Tohru and his netnavi shrugged. Yaito was clearly thinking hard and didn't answer. Meiru and Netto looked like they hadn't even heard the question in the first place.
Glyde spoke up from Yaito's PET, "A virus would have manifested itself physically – a colour change, erratic behaviour previous to his outburst – I do not believe any virus could have had such an immediate and extreme affect."
"That's a point," Yuuichiro acknowledged, without ceasing his pacing, "So we're back to square one, what caused this and how did it get into his system?"
Everyone else in the room was silent as Netto's father tried to puzzle it out. Meiru stared listlessly at the floor from where she sat on the couch. Beside her, Netto tried his best to comfort her, smiling encouragingly and squeezing her hand . The others looked on awkwardly. They felt like intruders on what should have been a private exchange.
"What can we do?" Tohru asked, "I mean, the only one who could tell us is Rockman and he's, well…"
"Return to the scene of the crime!" Yaito exclaimed loudly, making everyone jump.
"What do you mean by that?" Netto asked.
"Just what I said. If we go back to where it happened, maybe we'll find a clue," Yai clarified.
"So if our navis go back to where Rockman started acting weird, they might find something to explain it?" Tohru queried.
"Precisely!" This time it was Yuuichiro who answered. "Good thinking, Yaito. If I send Rush with them, he might be able to pick up something. Maybe a data trail or-"
"What's a data trail?" Meiru asked quietly.
As this was the first time she'd spoken since their unofficial meeting began, everyone turned. Yuuichiro apologised for not paying attention and asked her to repeat the question.
"What's a data trail?" Meiru said again.
Yuuichiro smiled gently, "The whole net is made up of data, and navis are made of data, right?" At everyone's murmured affirmatives he continued, "When a navi interacts with a program – anything from attacking it to simply walking on it – they leave a digital imprint. Like an echo. It doesn't change the program itself, but it's a record of the interaction."
"So if I programmed Rush with Rockman or Roll's schematics, he would be able to read the imprints off the programs and track them down."
"So he really is like a scent dog?" Netto piped up.
"Exactly."
"If I'm understanding this," Tohru said slowly, "Dr. Hikari will program the digital outline of Rockman and Roll into Rush, so he'll be able to find out where they've gone?"
"You've got it," Yuuichiro nodded, "It won't take long to program it in."
He looked at Netto and Meiru sitting on the couch. Meiru gazing sadly at the floor, and Netto still holding her hand.
In spite of the situation, Yuuichiro felt a smile twitch his lips. Those two just looked so cute together.
He addressed his next sentence to the couple, "We'll find them."
