Raika plodded onward with a broom in his hand, utterly determined to finish his task. Thankfully, the broom seemed to know what he wanted, and it did not do anything besides seemingly weigh a bit too much as he nearly dragged it across the floor.
Yet again, he was in the home of his older uncle, who also was known as Chief Malenkov over an area of the Sharian net savers. Raika was among the said net savers, which was a rarity in his military academy. He and Searchman were among the stronger net op and net navi pairs, which, along with the fact that they alone out of all of Sharo's net savers could perform cross fusion, was one reason why they were sent repeatedly to Netopia, where the famous Sci-lab was located.
And here he was, tediously laboring with a mere broom in the middle of a room. Only the fourth of all rooms that he had managed to sweep already.
"Raika, your aunt did say to rest yourself if you needed it," Raika's navi, Searchman, warned.
Raika sighed. "I know," he replied, temporarily holding onto the broom handle for support with both hands. "However, she had also said to sweep the floor."
His aunt Suraiya had indeed said that earlier, though she had stated to leave the basement of the house alone, since he had wanted to reorganize a bit of it first before it was swept. She was currently out of the house for a while on errands.
He managed to stand straight again with some effort and began the chore again. Truly, it should not be so difficult. However, even his strict chief uncle had managed to notice that his nephew kept on repeatedly being ill.
As his uncle had said, "An elongated rest period should invigorate your senses more than brief periods of recession."
Raika resisted rolling his eyes. Here he was, a net saver (and his navi partner) with a long string of successes, and he was down with a stupid, extended cold!
If that was what it was, anyway.
He was weakened one day, fine the next, then weakened again for three days, fine after that . . .
And quite frankly, it was a long, exhausting process that left Raika almost wondering if somehow he had managed to catch a computer virus of some sort. No cold he had had in the past had ever gone so long and so sporadically before. He knew of a few others that had, but Raika had been lucky that he had never been sick generally longer than one week.
Of course, his chief uncle had managed to convince even his superiors that Raika should spend more time at his home, unburdened by the strict standards and grueling exercise routines maintained by stern, experienced guards at the military school that would quickly catch anyone that dared to slacken their efforts. Raika had been caught by them a few times, but not that many. (Unfortunately, four of those times had all occurred in the past two weeks.)
At least he was still allowed to be with Searchman. Generally, if a student in his school was exposed to having a disabling long-term illness or condition, they were immediately expelled, whether or not they had been truly fit to be in the school at the time of their admission or not. They would be separated from their navis (that had been created for the military in the first place), who would be later partnered with another cadet in the school.
Raika wearily lifted a rug from where he had put it over the back of the living room couch. At least it was not heavier than it was.
He shook the rug slightly so that it would be straighter when he set it down.
"Raika, there is a magazine on the floor near you."
Raika looked downward, blinking a bit as he indeed saw a colorful magazine on the wooden floorboards, where the rug usually was. Apparently he had somehow knocked it down from the side table without noticing. Hopefully nothing else would randomly happen.
Even with his current weakness, he and Searchman had already managed to eradicate viruses in three homes with lesser ranks, and therefore, a slight bit of less tight cyber security. His uncle's home had many high-levelled security guards stationed all over the home's cyber network, so problems initiated by viruses were rare.
Raika managed to sweep some more rooms on the floor, including a bathroom, where his crazy broom managed to become stuck for a frustrating two minutes in the space between the door and the wall.
A few minutes later, he heard his PET's alarm for emails go off. Sighing, he leaned the broom against the wall of the kitchen before grabbing his PET from his right pocket and flipping open the top.
"It's a message from Chief Malenkov," Searchman reported, and brought up a window.
Raika flinched at the unread email. Perhaps his main area chief had even decided that Searchman permanently should be sent away from him, or stay at his school's navi observation lab for any odd symptoms that related to Raika's . . .
He read the email and then sighed in relief, though winced a bit at his foolishness. Of course, his uncle would not immediately agree to separate his nephew from his navi, who were one of three net op and navi pairs in the entire world that were known to be able to perform cross fusion. (There were most likely others that could, but locating them was not particularly a large concern at the moment. Dr. Hikari, one of the main scientists who worked at Sci-lab, had even hinted about another pair they had wanted to try at one point. Raika had not seen anyone else yet, though.)
A sharp clack on the floor startled him. Raika sharply turned to his left where the noise had come from. He glared for a few seconds at the silly broom that had apparently fallen from a less than stable perch against the wall beside him, and was now lying haphazardly on the floor. As if something as mundane as a broom should cause him to be frightened!
He sighed, leaving the broom where it was for the moment as he reread the email. Of all things, his uncle was letting him travel to Netopia again for another net saver mission. Raika frowned a bit. His uncle must have been thoroughly convinced that he alone was needed, since he had wanted his nephew to recuperate in his home instead of at his school in the first place.
At least his head did not hurt, though- or Searchman's. Raika remembered with a huff that the last time he had been in Sci-lab, he had caught another sort of cold. Unfortunately, due to their strange combination, his navi had also shown a few symptoms then, included a heat reading that matched Raika's fever.
His navi was fine now, though he hoped that Searchman would not react physically each time he had a high temperature.
Raika sent an affirmative response to his chief, then closed and pocketed his PET. He slowly picked up the broom and frowned at it. He wished that he could have at least attempted to finish his "mission" of sweeping (he could have shown that he was still capable of something, at least), but his uncle had been firm in the promptness of his attendance in the email. Someone would pick him up in about an hour, and by then, he would need to be ready for the cross country trip.
Raika sighed. He then reluctantly put the broom away in the closet, and then wearily to his room to pack. At least he knew of what to pack, though, with both his school's basic standards for missions as well as the various times he had been summoned to Netopia before.
Raika sat in "his" room in Sci-lab feeling wearier than ever. He had not even been needed to cross fuse. However, his and Searchman's ability to perform strong program advances, plus Searchman's powerful search and long range attacking abilities, had been needed, and might be needed again.
Unfortunately, he did not know any other navi that harbored something similar to all three capabilities. He assumed that the area chief of Netopia and Dr. Hikari were the same way.
Raika then smiled a bit, despite his exhaustion. At least he and Searchman had been successful in their first mission already. Now, he was to of course to work on his homework, which Searchman had helpfully stated was finally sent to him after hours of some strange glitch in his school's network.
He clicked on the folder for his first assignment-
-He should be in the cyber world.
Raika frowned at the odd thought, but somehow, knew that it was true. Then again, he also knew that it was not. Unlike Searchman, he definitely was not a navi (being half DNA from a permanent merge with Searchman did not count).
Raika attempted to concentrate on his homework, even with looking up a reference for his first question. He answered the next one within a few minutes work, then the next with more than double that.
However, Raika stared at the next set of words, not bothering to attempt to answer the question. He knew that he was supposed be in the cyber world. It was just a fact.
He should be in the cyber world. He should be data. Strangely enough, he thought a tiny bit about how he did not know beforehand that he had always been in the incorrect realm.
Then he quickly cast that thought away. Why did it matter, anyway?
In his mind, there was a single, blatant fact- he was certainly in the wrong place, this foreign human realm with its strange molecules and DNA. There should be only data all around him; in him; part of him- all coalesced together in a world that he belonged to. He was supposed to be there.
However, getting into the cyber world was the issue. Raika frowned heavily, his anxiety of him being in the wrong place growing. He could use his reverse cross fusion chip-
-No, he needed to be in the cyber world as just himself, and not through any form of cross fusion-
The feeling abruptly stopped.
Raika managed to not gasp as his mind suddenly shifted to . . . definitely not something that was insane, but left him feeling rather baffled and extremely embarrassed at the same time. He ended up blinking several times before controlling his outward emotions. If he had been a navi, the previous strange sensation (to say the least) could have even been some virus, or some sort of attack.
Raika resisted putting his head in his hands in humiliation. The feeling had been nearly overwhelming- like he had been suddenly hypnotized. Searchman had definitely not warned him of any materialized darkloid, though, so that was not a likely cause.
He was definitely human, even with data inside of him . . . and a very tired human, at that. Perhaps his mind had been jumping to extremely peculiar assumptions, though he frowned at the slightly absurd explanation. The feeling had been so- irresistible, in a way, and he briefly severely chastised himself for not resisting the ridiculous impression more.
Raika huffed slightly. How in the world had he thought that he had needed- like he was actually was supposed to- be in the cyber world, of all crazy things? The very idea conflicted with common sense. He had fantasized a bit about being in the internet a few times beside his navi as some times before, but perhaps there were several net ops that dreamed of the same impossible venture. He had even thought of it some after being able to use his newer reverse cross fusion chip, especially since, unlike Lan, he definitely did not want to essentially replace Searchman in the cyber world in a mere frivolous scheme, with his navi left to be only a spectator in his own domain.
Plus, a human by their own self had no place in the dangerous, virus-filled cyber world. Had he not proven that when he had been sent there by someone whose identity was still unknown, where even with Searchman's assistance, had been attacked twice, with the second time requiring repair of his damaged fragile data? Even a mere feeble virus that Searchman would have no trouble deleting could prove to be a monumental problem for his frail, slow, human frame, as frustrating as it was.
"Raika, are you all right?" he heard Searchman ask from his PET.
He quickly nodded, knowing that his faithful navi was not referring to his obvious fatigue. "Yes, I'm fine," he replied briefly.
Raika then shook his head slightly. Surely- hopefully- the strange feeling was something that would not occur again. For now, though, he needed to finish his homework, and nothing else at the moment.
Raika jacked in his navi amidst the blaring sirens around him. He then huffed as he briefly glanced down at the chair he was sitting in. Dr. Hikari (and he supposed others, as well) had insisted that he sit down for the net battle instead of standing, as he usually did. He had sat down in his previous net battle, though, and that had gone well enough.
Raika then attempted to ignore the somewhat strange position. He could as easily battle with Searchman sitting down as well as he could standing up.
The enemy navi on the computer screen in front of him- since it was not a darkloid, it could not materialize into Sci-lab instead of staying in the cyber world at least- was standing by a large wall in Net City. The wall had been part of a large community store for international navis, such as Searchman if he were not the net navi of a net saver. The employee navis there could help with various languages if travelling navis had not been previously installed with Netopia's main languages.
He scowled. As someone that was bilingual, he knew that the center had meant quite a bit for others that were quite lost amidst strange gabbling words that may as well mean complete nonsense. Raika even had met several people in his homeland before that knew the ancient language better than the current main one, even though he had not lived the main, selective area himself. It would take a while to construct a new building that the enemy navi near Searchman had mostly destroyed.
Raika entered several offensive battle chips into his PET. Searchman's charged rifle instantly fired, trapping the surprised enemy in a water-based web. Of course, the navi reacted as many others that he had seen trapped in the water cage- thrash around, attempting to free their self.
He smirked slightly. Unless the net op or navi had an extremely capable scanning system, they both had no idea that the navi now had several virus-like weakening objects coursing through his data.
Behind Raika, there was a ping from a communication device. He heard Dr. Hikari gasp slightly.
"There's been a break in the security in a major sector," he reported.
"Viruses?" Famous, the engineer that worked along the scientist, asked worriedly.
Raika turned slightly in time to see Dr. Hikari nod. "Right. Could you get the net police navis armed with what they need to take them on? There's just so many of them, and Searchman cannot be in two places at once."
"I'll do that at once," Famous replied instantly.
Dr. Hikari nodded, his face still tense. "Unfortunately, both Lan and Chaud suddenly came down with the flu badly two days ago and are even worse than Raika currently," the scientist reported, uneasily looking at Raika sitting on the chair. Raika attempted to sit up straighter, despite his weariness. "I hope that cross fusion won't be needed if there is some darkloid behind this."
"We'll have to do without them," Famous said firmly, before quickly leaving the room.
Raika looked at the battle with his navi again, barely paying attention to when Dr. Hikari later also left the room to assist with a wall in Sci-lab's cyber world that seemed to be sprouting walking purple-spotted chairs, of all strange things. He assumed that it was yet another virus of some sort, even if an odd one. He had seen even stranger ones before, though.
He turned back to the screen and Searchman's current battle. The enemy navi was still thrashing in the watery enclosure, not knowing that it would cause him to further weaken. He could hear the unseen net op ordering his navi to break the thick fibers of the net.
Raika smiled some. Some net ops truly were clueless, though of course he should definitely still be on guard. For all he knew, the criminal might come to his senses and enter several rare healing battle chips, or use illegal methods to have the same reaction.
Searchman charged his rifle again from where he crouched behind a small pillar. At least there were not any more panicked net navis in the way- security navis had taken care of that minutes before.
Fortunately, the navi just seemed to be weakening more, his movements become increasingly feeble, which would make an easier target for Searchman-
-Why was he not in the cyber world?
Raika frowned at the computer screen. The battle itself did not seem to matter as much as the fact that Raika was not where Searchman was. He watched with mostly disinterest as Searchman hit the navi with a charged shot after the net and weakening stats that had done all they could and had finally disintegrated. The navi was still somehow not willing to yield, though, and was attempting to stand feebly on the street.
Raika looked to his right slightly for a few seconds, away from the irrelevant scene.
He then looked anxiously at the cyber world for what it was- data; pure data. Data beings could reside there with no problem.
He was in the incorrect world. He knew he was. Somehow, he had to get to where Searchman, his navi, was.
Raika then frowned slightly. Surely, though, he should be battling with more chips to support his navi in the spar against the criminal pair. They had been ordered to.
Then again, he was not in the cyber world where he belonged.
Raika's hand was limp on his PET, which was in his lap. Vaguely, he knew that if he had been standing, he might have even dropped the small device already on the floor.
He shifted his gaze to the enemy navi, who had finally stood up. His net op obviously have slot in a battle chip, as the navi's arm turned into a glowing red sword. Raika recognized it as a heat focused one. He even remembered vaguely that it was tricky to wield, as it was a bit heavier than most generic cyber sword types, though more powerful.
Raika huffed in growing frustration as he watched Searchman quickly leap out of the way of the red sword that dashed his cover to pieces. The glowing embers of the shards moldered for a few seconds, then faded into their regular hue.
He scowled, not at Searchman nearly missing a desperate quick swipe of the sword, but that there was not much room beside his navi for himself. It would be a fine surprise indeed for himself to show up if there would be, though. How many navis saw their own net ops in the cyber world?
He had once been once in Net City, and with Searchman, even; he definitely remembered that. That had not been himself rendering the action, though; some unknown person had done so.
He watched with detached interest as Searchman dodged another jab of the sword, then managed to not dodge in time into for the second. There were no pixels coming out, so he supposed that his navi was not severely damaged.
Raika then frowned again, frustratedly looking down from the screen. It was almost agonizing that he should be next to his navi, where he should be-
The overwhelming sensation abruptly halted, and Raika's eyes widened slightly in shock. His navi was wounded, and he was just idling, wondering how to get into the cyber world?
Raika scowled ferociously, this time at himself. He clenched a gloved fist, hard. How in the world could he be so crazy and not aid his navi in the battle he was supposed to be paying attention to? If the opponent had been a much more experienced one, his navi could currently even be in danger of deletion.
On the screen his Searchman was lifting himself up from the rubble-filled ground. Raika could see that his navi would not be swift enough to dodge the incoming attack from the enemy navi's now large rifle.
Generally, with Raika working properly in tandem with Searchman, his navi would not be reduced to the lower energy state that he was currently in with the type of attack. His navi partner certainly had not been aided at all by his deranged desire, to say the least.
He angrily lifted his PET from his lap and entered a shield chip that would deflect the charged beam of the rifle, then slot in several miniature bombs for his navi. He saw Searchman move his hand in a mostly unnoticeable throwing motion- the explosives were so small that he and generally most navis did not see them unless they knew that they were there.
The bombs did their job as the other navi howled in pain. Searchman crouched before aiming his next shot from his own natural rifle. Raika could see a bit of thinly camouflaged pain on his navi's face. He frowned heavily again at his former lack of austerity in his part of the battle, but at least knew that his partner was not severely damaged.
The shot aided in the damage already inflicted from the bombs, and the enemy navi, though not deleted, was clearly incapable of further engaging in battle as it crashed heavily onto the street.
Raika sighed slightly. At least Searchman had still been able to win the battle, even with a distracted net op.
Several security navis soon came after that, and the criminal net op's navi was logged out. Raika then received a message from the area net police chief, Chief Keifer, that the net op had been arrested.
He breathed a small sigh of relief as he jacked his navi out, ignoring the small urge to head straight to bed (though he still had to finish his school work), not due his still weakened state, but out of pure shame. Surely there would not be more trouble that day and he could just pretend to hide for a while away from his sheer stupidity-
And then more alarms blared around him.
Raika frowned, but unfortunately knew that he would be needed. Again.
. . . And even more so when a small dark-blue darkloid materialized in the room just six feet from him.
Raika managed to not fall from his chair as he weakly dodged a long range attack from a sort of shooter saw, that shot circular energy saw of all things, aimed straight at him.
Raika scowled. He would not let anything distract him from this encounter. Although Searchman could not generally be harmed during cross fusion, but it was possible if the enemy attacked in just the right place in his cross fused armor, his PET as well as Searchman would be severely damaged. It had occurred with Megaman and his net op before once.
Hopefully he would be able to even battle well enough in the first place. Searchman was not weakened, but he himself definitely still was. At least Searchman's general battle style did not require much movement.
"The dimensional area is up," Searchman then informed him, thankfully not sounding resentful of his net op's less than helpful actions for a small-sized span in the previous mission.
Raika was slightly relieved, but did not let himself become distracted. He did not even nod, but quickly managed to lift up his chair that he had been sitting on and lobbed it feebly toward his opponent. The throw was not powerful with his weakened self, and would only provide something for the navi to either easily dodge or just slice through.
It would have to be enough time for him and Searchman to cross fuse, though. He had even managed to distract materialized darkloids with few options before, also.
He entered a single battle chip into his PET, then his synchro chip.
Instantly, Raika barely resisted a gasp of sheer surprise. His energy, having been teetering on the verge of exhaustion, was suddenly much more than it was not one minute ago. It almost seemed that he had stepped into some sort of instant restoration program. Strangely enough, it was almost as if he had never been ill that day at all.
He could not lose time reveling in the strange situation, though. Raika quickly looked up to see that the chair he had weakly thrown had been merely tossed aside. With renewed strength, he quickly straightened from his crouched position and easily jumped aside a ferocious swipe of the long, sharp blade.
The darkloid was quick and spritely, but that did not mean than he could not be caught. Briefly, Raika wondered how long his newfound energy would last, but chose not to dwell on the thought. He could not help wonder if he was somehow draining Searchman of energy, though.
The single battle chip that he had entered would certainly be useful for ending the battle more quickly. A single energy lasso entered into his hand-which was actually a metal attracter, though he had not planned on using that feature- and the darkloid's main attack evidently the saw on his right arm.
He tossed the lasso at the wall, and of course, the darkloid with its small size, was instantly sucked into the magnetic field meant only for digitized items. The lasso encircled him before the rope grew some and tied around several more times around his struggling frame.
Raika wasted no time in aiming at the darkloid, thrashing in its prison, just like the enemy navi had done earlier in the cyber world. This time he definitely would not lose track of what he was supposed to be doing.
He easily shot with his cross fusion default rifle at the darkloid. The darkloid scowled, then logged out in a shower of data pixels. However, it would be easily captured in the cyber world, as the battle chip would still be in effect. A few minutes later, Searchman- thankfully looking like he was at full strength- was standing next to the enraged defeated darkloid imprisoned in a semi-transparent dome in the cyber world.
"It's a shame that you were wanted alive for testing instead of deleted," Raika reported to the figure, still furiously thrashing in its cage. "You would have been so easy to defeat."
He had been sent an urgent email from the area net police chief just a few seconds after jacking in his navi. He did not know the reason for the order, but it did not matter currently, anyway.
The darkloid scowled even though he could not see Raika. He then threw himself in a cross-legged position and purposely turned his head away from his navi, a furious scowl on his face.
Raika smiled some. The darkloid knew that he was defeated for now, at least.
He jacked his navi out as a small team of security navis arrived in the cyber world, with three of them announcing their current assignment of guarding the prisoner. He was soon frowning again, though. Even though he and Searchman had definitely won both battles, he was not feeling fully victorious even with his renewed energy.
Raika knew that it was even partly luck that he and Searchman had won the battle earlier in Net City, even with his highly distracted state. He could have gotten his navi severely damaged . . .
Warily, he righted the chair that the darkloid had thrown, placing it back in front of the computer desk. He was still not sure how to avoid another insane mental attack- surely it was that, after all, and not something else- though.
The door to the room soon opened, revealing Dr. Hikari and Famous. Raika knew that the security navis had been successful against the random viruses reported earlier even before they had reported it. However, after Dr. Hikari confirmed the victory, he was then asked about his obvious stronger stance.
Raika sighed, knowing that the truth would sound rather improbable. He had been requested to answer by his superiors after all, though, so he began to speak.
"I was feeling the same as I was earlier during the battle with the criminal net navi in Net City," he started. "However, just as soon as I cross fused with Searchman, the feeling suddenly vanished."
Both men's eyes became confused. "Just like that?" Famous inquired, his tone rather disbelieving.
Raika somewhat did not blame him, even though he was quite frustrated. At least his navi knew of his sincerity, with him witnessing the sudden higher stats after they had cross fused.
Dr. Hikari did not seem to believe him fully, either. "Are you sure you're doing all right, Raika? This is not something that you should cover up."
"Or make jokes about either," Famous added, frowning.
Raika closed his eyes briefly, attempting to stay calm. It was very rare that either Dr. Hikari and Famous were angered at him, and much less both at the same time. He resisted a frustrated huff. He certainly had not performed well in the mental attacks he had experienced earlier, but he was definitely telling the truth about this. As if he would tell a lie about his own strength in this sort of situation!
"No, this is the truth," he managed to reply evenly. "I don't know why it happened, but it did."
Unfortunately, both men were still frowning. "You'll need to be checked by the medical staff, and Searchman scanned," Dr. Hikari stated firmly. "It wouldn't hurt for you to be scanned, either."
Raika resisted a sigh, but nodded with growing apprehension. Hopefully his sudden healing was not a fluke or something else that needed to be fixed.
Around an hour later, both he and Searchman had been scanned with positive results. Raika had been also examined from a thoroughly confused doctor and checked on again by a much more baffled Dr. Hikari, and was proclaimed completely healed of his previous illness that had plagued him for weeks in Sharo . . . for now.
The scientist had even apologized for not believing him earlier. Raika was just glad that it was known that he had been telling the truth after all.
Raika then sighed. He was, once again, in "his" room in the lab, sitting at the desk that held his lap top. Hopefully he would be able to actually complete his school work this time.
He then recalled the doctor's most recent suggestion, and frowned.
"I don't need to rest," Raika muttered.
He knew that his navi would be able to detect his uneasiness, though that had been steadily escalating ever since he had cross fused earlier, and was not surprised when he heard his navi's voice.
"You might need to," Searchman stated. Raika quickly opened his PET to see his navi steadily looking at him. "This may not be a long-term cure."
"I know," he replied. "I just wish that I knew more of why it happened- though it was a good thing that it did," he quickly added.
Searchman nodded. "Definitely. If cross fusion is something that you need to do periodically, as Dr. Hikari had suggested earlier, than it is very helpful that dimensional areas can be easily created long distance to Sharo."
Raika also nodded. He then clenched his PET harder in his gloved hand. "If this means some sort of foreshadowing that your data might . . ."
He did not finish the sentence. He did not want to, really. However, Searchman definitely knew what he meant.
"My data might be fine, Raika, as your data might be, as well as your whole self, also," Searchman responded. "Your sudden healing with cross fusion may not mean that either of us will suddenly degenerate, even though the merge is still currently firmly intact."
Uncharacteristically, Raika slumped a bit, before he straightened. "I really hope that cross fusion would be the only thing we would need to do."
He briefly wondered about suddenly being too weak to move during a class in his military school and having to be carried to the medical facility there. Even worse, he hoped that his navi would not just suddenly disappear from his PET . . .
"It might be that only cross fusion would be required," his navi stated firmly, bringing him from his horrified thoughts. "It would be better if it was."
Raika nodded, attempting to believe it. "I would certainly hope so."
It would also definitely mean that he would not be straining to sweep a single room in his uncle's home. He could even now clean the whole entire home without too much difficulty.
He was soon frowning again, and Searchman urged him to talk more. Raika did so, relating about the strange feelings of belonging in the cyber world. He knew that unlike some certain others that he knew, it seemed that Searchman would at least not judge him too harshly him for the bizarre incident.
His navi was instantly wary. "Raika, this should be reported," he said urgently.
Raika nodded, suddenly feeling a bit weary even though he still did not have the illness he had just less than two hours ago. Two peculiar happenings had occurred to him in a single day, and one without any viable reason that he could currently think of. He could still vividly recall the sensation of his insane sheer longing for something as absurd as a human thinking they were supposed to only be data. If someone else had reported it happening, it was quite possible that he might have not even believed them.
"I would hope something similar would not occur with you," he then replied. "Being distracted like that would be much worse for a navi battling than a net op behind the PET."
After all, Searchman had been affected with his net op's fevered illness not too long ago. At least his navi had not shown any symptoms of the brief bout of almost madness, though, or his recent sickness, or whatever it had been.
Searchman nodded again. "I know," he stated solemnly. "However, I cannot imagine feeling any sort of need to belong in the human world. I am your net navi, Raika. I need nothing else."
Raika laughed slightly. Of course Searchman would respond with that, even though the very idea of Searchman suddenly telling him that he wanted to be near his net op as a human seemed just as insane as himself ridiculously yearning to be data during an important net battle. He was definitely glad for navi's faithfulness, though.
"I know," he replied, smiling some. "Thank you, Searchman."
"You're welcome, Raika."
He then sighed, gazing longingly at his unfinished homework displayed on his laptop's screen for a few seconds. Once again, he would be doing something else before completing it. At least he still had Searchman, though, even if his unexpected recovery suddenly decided to reverse itself within the next hour and he was practically asleep again for the rest of the day.
Thanks to Starsoarer for editing this story.