I think I'll reveal my secret of mach updating. You see, I've already posted this in its entirety on another site, so all I have to do is copy and paste into Word, make some minor alterations, and presto! Instant update! Time taken, about five minutes.

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Chapter 7: Slate
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''So, let me get this straight. This Netto Hikari married this Meiru Sakurai, and they had Saito, but that was like, eighty years ago?'' Vick asked.

It was the evening of the day after the trip to Scilab. Everyone was crashed in the lounge, which consisted of several leather chairs, a sofa, and a coffee table. On top of the table sat the four PETs, each on displaying its holographic screen, so that the navis could see what's going on.

''Yep, that pretty much sums it up.'' Karla answered. She was sprawled across the sofa.

''Then how do you explain him?'' Vick asked, pointing at Saito, who was taking no notice of them, completely absorbed in a picture he was drawing.

Karla moved into a sitting position, ''We told you already, we really don't know. It's just so... bizarre...''

''Bizarre is right. I've asked Beta to take a look at that file but...'' began Dash.

''...It's corrupted too much to be natural, it had to have been facilitated by a person.'' Beta finished.

''Well, what about that code we found? Has anyone made any progress on that?'' Tyria asked.

''Hmph, it's not much of a code. Akihara 009 could mean Akihara House No. 9... and R is the 18th letter of the english alphabet, O is the 15th, than C is the 3rd...'' Butch trailed off.

Terry's eyes widened. ''That spells out 'Rock'! Rockman was the name of Netto's navi! Maybe he wasn't deleted but was actually...''

''What are you talking about?''

''That message is really telling us where Rockman is! He was hidden in Netto's house in Akihara!''

''But why would anyone hide him?''

''I don't know, but I think we should go there and see if he really is there, he might know stuff about Saito, or we could get him to join our group! He was supposed to be exceptional, so I'm sure Slate would let us go find him-''

''What about Slate?'' a cold voice said.

Everyone turned to the terminal that the voice had come from. A navi was staring back at them.

He was of medium height, and his bodysuit was dark purple, while his boots and gloves were red. His helmet was also dark purple, with red fins and a blue triangle on the front. Long blond hair spilled from the back, and there were two protrusions on either side of the helmet, a lot like mouth guards. He wore a short cloth tunic, also red, over his upper torso. His symbol was of a long blue triangle over a black background, and it was displayed on the tunic's left side, like a badge.

''Uh, hello Zero...'' Dash mumbled.

''What are all of you doing?'' Zero continued, arms crossed.

''Well, we were just... relaxing, that's all.'' Terry answered lamely.

''Right, relaxing.'' said Zero in a tone that clearly showed that he didn't believe him.

He looked down and spotted Saito, who was blissfully ignorant of what was going on around him. ''Who's that?'' Zero asked, pointing at the young redhead.

Terry was spared having to answer the question by the arrival of Slate.

Slate was tall, with black hair that was spiked backwards and his eyes were icy blue. He was wearing an overcoat and khaki cargo pants.

His real name was Akira Iwasaki, but he was called Slate because his face was hard to read. Years ago he had been a member of T-Corp's enforcement squad, there he had been called 'Iwaki'.

''Oh, uh, hi boss.'' said Butch nervously, moving to block Saito from view, even though he was still in full view of Zero.

''Akira-sama, there's a child in here that they are trying to hide.'' Zero said calmly.

''Really. Bring him here.'' Slate ordered.

Not daring to disobey, Vick and Karla brought a confused looking Saito forward.

''He's an orphan! He was being mistreated by the townspeople, we couldn't let him-'' Karla blurted out.

''Silence!'' Slate and Zero shouted at the same time, and Karla immediately shut up.

Slate lowered himself so that he was eye level with Saito. ''What's your name boy?''

''S-Saito.'' Saito answered nervously.

''His last name is Hikari.'' Butch added.

A brief lock of surprise passed over Slate's face, but it instantly vanished.

So Slate recognizes the name! was the collective thought.

''Hikari... Interesting...'' Slate said quietly.

''He will just impede our upcoming mission we should get rid of him.'' Zero stated, eyes narrowing.

''You don't have to be so cold Zero!'' Dash shouted from his PET.

''You're lucky that you're over there, otherwise I would have taught you a lesson for speaking to me like that!'' Zero said, a dangerous edge to his voice.

Terry sent the blond navi a scathing look. Zero could sometimes be, well, an asshole.

''So, uh, what did you do on your trip?'' Butch asked, in an attempt to steer the conversation away from Saito.

Slate withdrew a manila envelope from his coat. The words 'Proto Di-'' were visible, the rest was covered by his hand. ''I gathered this important files and documents. They contain some very important, no, extremely important data. I am now calling an official meeting so that we can discuss them.''

He thumbed a button on his PET, and Zero plugged out of the terminal.

Slate turned around and started to leave the room.

''What about Saito?'' Karla asked.

''He can stay, for now. Now what are you all standing there for? I've called a meeting.''

And with that, he left the room.
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Yes, that is Zero, the Zero. This one has no connection to the Zero in Transmission and Beast Plus, this one is based off of the Zero series Zero, hence the near identical design. I felt that he was appropriate because the Zero series is about rebels too, and that particular Zero looks more, navi like. Never really liked the artwork of the X series. And, at least for now, he's a jerk, so bear with me, because he does soften up, eventually.