Papa bass 9
~0~
A week had passed after the...
Well, the revelation triggered via the divine family and Netto... Netto didn't want to return to how things were before.
His mother, now knowing of her son's true nature, had pulled him out of school, trusting Moiya and Ekachakra to teach her son instead of Miss Mariko. And it had taken everything to finally get her soon out of this establishment since all parents and teachers wanted him to stay, stating that the school was not safe when he was gone.
And miss Mariko didn't trust the two Vaishnavas, saying how they would brainwash Netto.
Netto didn't exactly mind their brainwashing, to be honest. it felt nice and made him feel more normal then when he was binging meaningless tv shows and vines because he had nothing better to do in his day.
But he was free now... but not from his homework.
He still had some trouble focusing, and most of what he would learn he would either forget it or get it messed up. But it was still a step up from his constant headache, fatigue and... Dekao.
Really, that guy could be a bully one moment, and then share his 'pictures not meant for Netto's eyes.' the next, and forcing him not to say anything, threatening him with physical harm if he ever opened his mouth to an adult.
So, for him to learn in the Dei's house is practically a dream come true. He will miss...
Actually, the only ones he will miss are Tory and Enzen. But he has their contact numbers, so it will be easy to keep in touch with them.
There had been some talk about how people will object to Netto not going to public school and essentially remain cooped up in some odd Families' house, but considering he was also getting training from Ekachakra Prabhu on how to fight in the web, his days were not boring.
it... was still out of the web but, foam sword fighting and nerf guns raids were a rather efficient way to train without having to deal with the Virus population and whatever Net-Abheration lurked in the codes nowadays.
Oh, and the wonderful quatuors would never be prevented to play outside. And they would always drag Netto out to play and wrestle. It would either be in the backyard, or in the park.
The young cyber-fae preferred the backyard over the more public place since he didn't want to run in his old classmates and be forced to answer question's he had no answers to... and couldn't answer.
And it's not like he didn't have friends to play with. No, he had two awesome friends in Partha and Bhuta, and a sister, Hari-Pryia that was one of the boys despite her lighter body and hallow bones. Then there was Lavanga-Manjari, who was shamelessly feminine and seemed to embody all that was sweet and good in a girl.
She was kind, sweet, loved to be helpful rarely got angry but had a very sharp wit and an intelligence and memory that was nothing to sneeze at.
But best of all Netto had a big brother; Prometheus.
He had started calling him Aniki... actually, Netto felt that the scary youth had this big brother vibe to him, and thus, began calling him brother.
Prometheus's reaction had been to break into tears and swear that he would give his life for him. Holding the younger boy in his arms as his entire body quivered with contained sobs.
It had taken Ekachakra, Moiya, his mom and Partha to calm the young man, and only after he had sent the teen to Moiya (and Pandora, most likely) that Netto had realized that Prometheus had a panic attack.
He had lost his little sister... she had suicide to save her dying big brother.
She probably called him aniki also.
While Prometheus calmed down, Netto had been learning how to do curry sauce with the man of the house. The young revealed Fea had attempted to apologize only for Prometheus to embrace him again, apologize for his overly dramatic reaction, and tell Netto that he would be Honoured to call him his O-toto.
Netto never had an older boy to look up to, not even Enzen. And now, he had two proper role models.
Ekachakra and his dedication to his Family (extended too.) and God (it was hard not to be impressed by a man who would, without fail, thank the Lord for his family and give a pair of st... of Murti all the money he had gathered for the day.) was something awe-worthy to behold. He was not Fanatic about but, but he held his conviction and knew when his anger was meant to burn. Usually on some well-deserving Faes... and the two-legged garbage controlling them.
But otherwise, he was a very pleasant a pious man who loved his family, cared for their continued well-being and gave everything he had to God, Krishna.
And Netto had to admit, while he'd never had any prior knowledge of what God was, he now understood a few things.
1) He was not this body, he was the spirit soul consisting of eternity, knowledge and bliss. His body was not him and could die, while he, the soul was immortal and without beginning.
2) He was a part of God, and God was eternally a person.
3) God's name is Krishna, He is eternally 15 to 16 and would never grow older. He is as blue as a sapphire, tall, with broad shoulders and long arms that reach his knees. He wears a golden-yellow dhoty, a flower garland that almost touches his feet and he wears more gold jewellery then Yaito's mom and aunt combined. The bottom of his feet and the palms of his hands were as red as dawn and marked with different symbols. Krishna had long, curly black hair with a peacock feather stuck at the very top, his eyes were broad, and their colour were red at the side and deep dark blue in the middle.
This was His original form, and all other like the Vishnu's and other Avatars came from it.
In another word, the lord was extremely beautiful in a way that, while conceivable, could not be properly explained.
3) He, Netto or... the soul that was in the body called Netto had an eternal relationship with Him. He just forgot about it for a very long time.
And 4) the way to revive this eternal relationship with God was to Serve Krishna favourably and perform Harinama Sankirtana, of the congregational chanting of the holy names of Sri-Hari, Krishna. After that, he would never have to die or suffer anymore. Same as his brother.
Which was that the Volnutt-deis were doing morning and evening, and if the City would aloud it, in the street also.
It was so easy, even Netto could do it, and he didn't need a major in philosophy or some other thing he didn't know about.
He just had to sing and dance at Eka and Moiya's Karatala and drum beat.
It was fun, it was easy, and while Netto had to pass himself. (no way he was gonna get dizzy around them or his mother, they were stressed enough as it was.) Netto wished it would go on forever.
Also... Netto had developed a passion for cooking! Not that Eka was surprised, for Silas-Prabhupada had once said that those whole loved eating made the best cook.
And it was by now well know that Netto loved food, and he loved sacred food even more.
It was also known that Sri-Krishna was the only man, and, being the supreme man, the quickest path to his heart was through his Servant's stomach. And just like with the Sankirtana process, cooking for Krishna was also something easy despite being new.
And... it gave Netto a golden opportunity to hang out with his mom, cooking was an activity they could share.
When was the last time Netto had the chance to do something with his mom that had nothing to do with the Net?
"Mom? How does it look?" the net-saver asked as he showed his mama the layered moon cake.
It was decorated with a pretty natural colour and filled with mung dhal paste.
"Oh, it looks pretty good Lan-kun. Be sure to pinch the bottom well." His mother said as she was also working on the moon-shaped sweet. Using his old nickname.
No, Netto had no idea why his mom called his Lan-kun, but it was her secret name for him. Just as Saito's pet name was Hub or Hubby-kun.
A small, tentative smile dared to stretch Netto's lips. If... no, when they'll get Saito out, he would never call him this name ever again.
He would forever be known as Hubby-Kun.
"Netto? What are you thinking about?" His mother asked, her withe apron stained with natural die and her movement somewhat jerky.
"I'm thinking about... about what I'll do when Rock... When Saito will be back." this time, Netto didn't bother hiding his smile.
His mother's eyes dimmed a bit as she delicately put the finished sweet on the baking tray. "Netto..." she spoke quietly, almost as if her voice would go and find Saito and kill him.
Netto bit his lips. Sure, he could be loud and promised his mother that everything would be alright and that Saito would soon be back with them, maybe even with Forte.
But...
But there was also the possibility of... things going wrong.
Sure it didn't happen often for Netto and Rockman. But ever since this time he had played in Lord Wily's hand like a pawn, the young net saver had learned to plan for the worst also.
Forte could kill uncle Lumine and take Saito deeper into the dark web. Or Saito would not want to follow Lumine and would not remember his family. Or... Or they could be too late.
Netto shook those thoughts away, Butha had told him that Gaura-Nitai had everything under control and that everything would go well. And short of being a cynical atheist, Netto was more inclined to his friend's reassurance.
Still... Netto knew... his brain knew that nothing short of a miracle would bring Saito completely back.
Uncle Lumine had sat with Netto and Haruka to explain that what had happened to Saito, from the trauma of his apparent death, to whatever had happened to him between the last time he was held in the arms of his mother to waking up as would not be remembered. And that he doubted Saito even remembered that he had a brother.
For all intent and purport, Saito, along with his Navi persona, was dead. What was left was Roku, a young boy who saw the herald of darkness as his father.
"Oh!" Netto exclaimed as he pressed the moon cake a bit too hard, squishing the filling and tearing the pastry skin.
" It's alright Netto... maybe you need a little break?" His mother asked as she took the ruined sweet.
Netto grumbled and huffed. No, he had to think Positive, there was not way his Brother, the one he saved the world with, the one who would invariably wake him up in the morning, the one whom Netto could always depend on, the small yet powerful Netnavi.
Rockman had to remember, He had to...
He had to.
"Kids." Moiya suddenly said he hear to her phone and Croire at her breast, her newborns were now a little above one week old.
Once again, Ekachakra had plenty to praise about. For Netto's intervention, and for Krishna's mercy of having the brave young man fearlessly enter their home and face the imposing challenge that rested there.
No sooner then Moiya finished her word, the rest of their ever-growing brood dropped whatever they were doing and sat by their mother's feet.
"Lumine just contacted me, he found Forte and Saito."
A gasp rippled through the huddled group.
"And Forte forte's ... not against entering our home domain with..." Moiya paused as she considered how to break the news. "His Son, Roku."
"Six... why did he call Saito Six?" Partha-Sharati quietly mumbled as he flanked Netto, Bhuta was to the other side. "It's like, so impersonal. Who the heck would call his son a number?"
"Well... maybe He called him six because of Saito's Navi-sona name. You know, Rockman... Ro Ku-"
"Yeah, OK. Can you two please shu... quiet down?" Netto asked as respectfully as possible despite how anxious he felt.
'Alright, so Rockman... Saito identifies as Forte's Son. No problem.' the Net Saver thought as he tried to not feel a bit jealous.
It seemed everybody else had an awesome dad who (seemingly) loved them. Ekachakra das, Aolus, Dekao's dad Barrel, even Yaito's eternally busy dad would always shower his daughter with all the love and affection he had before he left for work, promising to help her with her homework whenever he had the time.
And he would only break this promises if something earth-shattering, like Wily taking over the net or one of his chip labs burning down, would happen.
And now... even Forte was better then Yuuichiro.
But considering who Forte's Father was.
'Huh... If Forte's a Cyber-fae, does it mean.' cold sweat flashed a crossed his back. ' I need to contact Doc Cossack after this.'
" From what Lumine told me, Roku's still remembering you two." Moiya's eyes met Netto's and Haruka's gaze, her smile bright. " It's not really him tough, just an avatar. But once we have him in our server, Prabhu and I will easily be able to locate him."
"Ah! You'll go in the web again?" Hari-Priya exclaimed, her green eyes shining with glee. " Does it mean we can go and hunt again?"
A slight blush tinged Moiya's cheeks. " No, I told you, Harini. Hunting down criminals is not something we should focus on... as long as those criminals are not messing with Sri-Krishna's servant, then they are not our problem." She explained.
There must be a story there.
" I will go no further then our home modem." She spoke as she readjusted her baby, the other was in Haruka's arms. "I will locate where Saito really is... if Forte will let us."
"But mom!" Partha protested. "Your like, way stronger then Forte!"
"Yeah! And with all of us around, we can swarm him!" Hari-Pryia added a glint to her eyes.
"But... maybe it's not a good idea?" Lavanga murmured. From the quadruplets, she was the most peaceful.
Beside Netto, Bhuta shrugged. "It'll be up to him. Right now we don't know how Saito's health is, and uncle Lumine told me no one used an avatar for so long." he rasped as he rubbed his chest. "And he has untreated HBD... who knows how long he'll last." The waifish boy whispered.
A shiver went up Netto's spine, and the young boy jump to his feet. "No!" He exclaimed. "Rockman's stronger then that. It's not some dumb heart defect that will kill him!"
"Netto!" Haruka shouted as tears flowed down from her eyes.
Immediately, Netto deflated. Guilty of downplaying the illness that had taken Saito away from his mother's arms.
Sure, he was alive... but still, he had also been dead, in a way.
Netto sat down heavily beside Butha and leaned his face on his hand. Absentmindedly rubbing his chest as he felt his heartbeat a bit too hard out of excitement.
He'd tried to hide it but... he was worried.
He and Saito were twins... but his brother was the one with the genetic heart defect.
Sometimes, When Netto could not sleep (something that had to do with all his adventure and not wanting to dream about ripping a newborn's leg off while trying to pull her out of her crying mother's womb.) He would think...
He would think hard...
About his future, about his dad... about his friend that were not really around until Netto was needed. And if everything was normal with his heart, if he was normal, and if not being attracted to either girls or boys was normal when his classmates were starting to notice girls... and sometimes other boys.
He wondered why Wily wanted to take over the world. Why did his... not really dad did what he did, why was Saito alive somewhere in Sci-Lab and not at home with them.
Why was Dekao even his friend, why did Yaito hung out with them, especially Netto. And...
And was it Normal for his chest to hurt? Why was it so hard to run like the other kids? He was not like that fat-ass Dekao, Netto was quite small and thin too...
Was it...
'No... no, I got tested and my test came back negative.' He reminded himself, unwilling to think of what would happen if he truly had HBD.
The memory of Mamoru who, after his experimental surgery, had shown promises of an uneventful recovery... only to have everything come crashing down.
Netto knew Mamoru was dying, he knew the surgery only made things better for a month before the pain returned with a vengeance.
He... Netto had been afraid to see his dying friend... he knew he wanted to see Mamoru one last time before her... left his body, but at the same time...
He was not ready for it... not ready at all.
Moiya's kid's on the other hand, all seemed to know the young boy, being Moiya's assistant death Doula and spiritual consultant.
Apparently, Mamoru had a spiritual name, and it was Manohara. and he was friends with the Dei's kids, and they would talk about his future life.
Those kids were truly fearless, they could face death the same way one would meet a friend, or deal with someone leaving to another country for a long time.
"Death's not the end, Netto." Partha had once told him. "Srila-Prabhupada explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that death is just six months of sleep for the soul before they take birth again all went through this change of body and while a rare few can remember their past life, most of us won't... and this is for the best."
This made Netto feel a bit better about death in general. It was not a goodbye forever, but a see you later.
When, where how and whether they would remember was another question entirely.
Still, Netto was still... he didn't like this whole death thing, it made his skin crawl.
The adult spoke a bit more about how to deal with Forte and Sa... Saito.
Basically, no antagonizing, let the adult speak and be kind, he's a guest.
... Netto doubted Forte knew how to act in this type of situation. For all he knew, he would probably blow the house up because of reasons.
Or... Because he didn't want to let go of Saito.
'But... Maybe he'll listen to us?' A little voice that somehow grew stronger the longer he stayed with the Dei spoke from the deep confine of his heart.
'yeah... but why would Forte listen to us. Sure, I feel bad for him but... He's still too evil to listen to us.'
'No, not evil. Just very prideful and with an Ego the side of the universal studio domes." Netto thought wryly.
Of course, this was if Forte didn't change his mind and killed Uncle Lumine. But... well, this was still up in the air at this point.
Agreeing didn't mean he would do it... just like his dad agreeing to help him with his algebra and then not doing it 'caus he was busy in Sci-lab over something more important then his son's future.
Since, you know... maintaining the web meant maintaining the world, Netto could... he could see it.
But at the same time, it wasn't like his dad could not teach some other people, and...
Actually, The net didn't need Yuichiro since it was the cyber elve's original home.
'Curiouser and curiouser.' He thought.
Suddenly, Maya grabbed her phone again from her purple satchel and hurriedly opened it up. "Hare Krishna, Lumine... so did-" her blue eyes grew wide. "I see... I see... Ha Cha..." Then her smile opened up as relief flooded her heart. (if her love and gratitude-filled gaze toward the altar was any indication. It seemed God and his Brother pulled a miracle again.) "Alright, I will tell them... do you want me to call Sangita? No? Alright, that's very kind of you. I'll see you later. Haribol." And with that, she closed her clam-shell, her smile never slipping.
"Well, guess who's coming tonight for real?" She asked her family.
"Sangita?" Hari-Priya hopefully asked, and Maya's smile faltered.
"No, They have no desire to leave Manohara's side until he goes back home back to Godhead."
"Oh." Hari-Priya hunched on herself, clearly disappointed. "... when can we visit them?"
"Once we managed to Secure Saito's Gross body," Ekachakra spoke up as he got up from his seat on the floor and began to move furniture away from their Web-portal. "Lumine managed to convince Forte to come, didn't he?"
"Spoil-sport." Moiya's grin turned wry. "Yeah, So Forte's coming here is confirmed. And Lumine told me that they should be there in twenty minutes if everything goes well!"
Haruka gasped as she pressed her hands to her heart, tears flowing from her eyes. "I... I will see Saito again?"
Moiya's lips pursed and her kids all had this... awkward mood.
Haruka took a steadying breath and Prometheus got away from his baby sister's side and Joined Netto, his callous hand heavy and protective on his slight shoulder. "Hey, It's all right. Your bro just went through the same thing my little sis did."
"But... he didn't..." Die.
"Netto? What's death?" Prometheus asked, and once again, the young net saver was reminded that his Aniki was partly raised by a family of Hare Krishna's training to be death-day helpers.
"Death... I don't know?" He admitted. Not used to bull his way out of this.
"Death is the same as falling asleep for the soul while the body gets destroyed, and when the soul wakes up again, they have another identity."
"So... Saito... Reincarnated as Rockman, then Rockman died and... was reborn as Roku, Forte's son!"
"That's it, you a smart cookie, aren't you?" Prometheus asked as he affectionately ruffled Netto's hair.
Netto blushed and pushed the offending hand away after he had enough. He didn't want his hair to be messier then it already was, especially if he was about to face Forte again.
He pressed his hand to his heart... it would be alright. If worst came to shove, the Cyber-fae could always try to buy his heart family more time by punching the herald of darkness hard enough to blind him.
~0~
"Are we there, yet?" Forte asked for the 38 times as he followed Lumine. He felt jittery and extremely vulnerable. His tiny son huddled in his arms, clutching his neck in a death grip. "It's taking forever, I hoped for your sake that this isn't some nasty trick Lumine, or I swear-"
"That would rip my ugly face off and feast on my Data, I know." Lumine doily drawled as he lead the duo through cyberspace. "And once again, how do you think Roku will react to this level of violence? Ar did you change your mind about how you want to threaten him?"
Forte growled, cursing his softened heart.
"As for your first question, we are almost here, just give me five minutes."
"Five minutes, what are you using? A dial-up at the top of a mountain?"
"Daddy, be nice." Roku fearlessly scowled (more like pouted.)
In normal times, Forte would do the opposite and be as mean and terrifying as he could. But now?
He didn't have the heart to do that. Especially when there would be a chance he would lose his precious son.
"You know." Lumine started conversationally. "You surprise me, Forte."
"really?" 'I'd prefer if you'd fear me, asshat.' Forte thought privately, he wanted his Roku to remain sweet and innocent until he reached the lovely teenage years, there, oh... he would turn him into a proper rebel with a cause... or without one.
"Indeed." Lumine nodded. "You see, your hatred of humans is even more legendary then the strength of your buster. And yet, here you are, taking care of a human child stuck in the web."
Around a thousand rebuked fought over Forte's mouth, only to cancel out each other.
He could not deny that Roku was a human child anymore. And not only a mere human child but Saito, Netto's twin Brother and Yuichiro's... Haruka's son.
And Rockman.
The Most Powerful Navi alive... was a human.
"I don't give a flying feather about that," Forte growled as he kept marching forward, never letting go of his Roku. "He's my son."
"Oh-ho!" Lumine playfully exclaimed, raising Forte's hackle at the mocking tone. "Has your stint in fatherhood cure you of your hatred for humanity?"
"Daddy?" Roku called to his father, his voice unsure.
Once again caught up in a conundrum, Forte had no choice but to think about the result of his actions.
On one hand, humanity was filled with jerks. But... one of those jerks had given birth to Roku.
And... As Annoying as Netto was, Forte could not deny that the kid had some guts, same with Rockman.
"Say... Lumine." Forte began, feeling uncomfortably exposed and unsure. "Are humans... how are humans?" He asked.
"They are a mixed bag." The Abhorrent Navi admitted. "You'll have the good, the bad, the ugly and those who deserve death... but it's by no mean an excuse to eliminate all of them." Lumine scolded. "I know how you feel about that, Forte. I truly do."
"Oh yeah?" The dark Navi challenged. "What? You NetOp saw how...weak you were and let you die in the dark web?"
"Papa!" Roku scolded, his disapproving pout both cute and fearsome.
"No... I was... an experiment, stolen from his family and... changed into something other by a bunch of so-called humans. They called theme doctors, scientists." he growled, his voice gaining an ethereal edge. " They wanted to see if they could make enslaved Fae 'immortal', making us respawnable." Lumine paused his steps, holding his arms. "It worked too well for them, and they... abandoned me in the Sea of Corruption."
"Excuse me?" Forte squawked as he protectively held his baby boy to his heart.
"Papa? What's the Sea of Corruption? And why did it make you do a weird noise?"
Forte looked at Roku, then back at Lumine who simply hung there, his lean and tall body unnatural, even compared to his little Godling.
"The Sea of Corruption in, as the name suggests, a wide expanse of corrupted data. Legend had that this used to be the old internet before world war three busted all the servers.
"It also used to be were we, the Cyber-faes used to live before that time." Lumine spoke up. " we... dare not to return here, for the legend said that a demon used to live there, untamed and unstoppable."
Forte's little Roku whimpered as he burrowed his face in his papa's cloak. "I don't wanna see it... I don't wanna go there."
"You won't," Forte promised. He knew this place... and that's all we needed to know.
"It took me... I don't know how long to crawl my way out. And by the end of it, I wanted to see everything... I was in the same mood as you, Forte."
'he wanted all humans dead.' "And why haven't I heard of you?" The Herald of Darkness asked as he readjusted his child, Roku's spindly legs were not strong enough to hold him for that long.
" Unlike you, Forte, I acted in the shadows. Lifting codes for nuclear weapons, exploiting back doors and cinch in hospitals and numerous private server's armour... I was about to expose myself fully when my first... public target fearlessly took me on in an internet cafe as one does a new acquaintance, She spoke to me without fear, showed me the pictures of her family and told me the mother of all sob story about a dead little boy with a weak heart." Lumine huffed. "And that one of her sons was one of us... he had contacted his NetOp mother's and... and she spoke to him as if he was her son." The aberration's eyes softened as 'tears' gathered in his eyes.
"By this simple act of Genuine love, I began to doubt in the wretched nature of humanity, and with her help, I learned that... There are both good and bad persons in the world... and there are those who blur the line."
Forte Stared. "Wait... you mean to tell me that you, an immortal cyber-abomination that was used, abused and experimented on by a bunch of sadists, who was filled with righteous anger and who could have blown the entire frigging world and wipe out the human's scums by a mere thought-"
"Had a change of heart by meeting a wonderful woman who herself has all the right in the world to seek revenge." Lumine finished for him. " She's Roku and Netto's mother, by the way. And my first friend."
...
"Daddy?"
Forte looked down to his little son, he sported the brightest smile the Herald of darkness had the chance of seeing.
His little son (no, him being... not a Godling would never change that.) crawled up to Forte's 'ear' and whispered to him. "Mommy's a Hero... she will save you!"
Once again, the image of his Waifu... who was none-other then the two brats' mother shone through.
She did have this ability to soften his heart... not sure about the saving part.
"Alright... let's move along then. I'd rather not let Mercy wait longer then expected.
This was not the Server Forte expected to be in. The cyber-area had more in common with a cozy living room with a couch, a coffee table holding a jug of water (water, in cyberspace.) snacks (and human food.) and some crayons and other bobbles for his little son.
In front of this seemingly mundane set up was a screen, but instead of showing the outside world it showed the back of a pair of dark curtains.
"OK... so, this place is supposed to be a home modem..." Forte half-murmured as he kept Roku in his arms, not trusting the place. "Lumine, I've been in home modems, this doesn't look like a normal home modem."
"That's because I don't like my home portal to be cold and empty for my guest." Came a woman's voice. It was rather deep and held the remenent of a German accent... no wait. It was less of a remenent and more like the national hymn of the place. "Please, sit down, make yourself at home."
"I will once I get to see the b...witch in person." Forte caught himself, this was not a good moment to learn little Roku a cuss word.
"Fair enough. Please, stay away from the screen, my husband and I will be right there."
Forte grumbled as Lumine slunk to the far corner of the room, like the violet shadow he was.
"Oh, Lumine, are you here?"
"Yes, I am, Mercy." Forte raised a brow at this name. What type of woman she was to have such a lame name.
" I received a call from Sangita... no, he's not gone yet but. She would like your presence now. The situation is getting to her."
"I see." Lumine inclined his head. "Do you think she could wait?"
"I don't think so, not with how she sobbed." Mercy regretfully informed the Aberration. Whose eyes grew wide as guilt and worry filled them. "I will go but..."
"Don't worry, nothing will happen Lumine. As long as Forte behaves himself, he has nothing to fear." Came a man voice, this one had an Indian accent.
Forte bristled. "Yo, I have a Godling in one arm and my dark buster in the other. Now come and call me a weakling to my face and see what happens." He jeered, activation his left arm-buster despite Roku's protest.
"NO! PLEASE! NOT MY BABY!" A woman screamed, only to be hushed.
This voice... triggered something in Roku. and all cyber hell broke loose.
"M... Mama?" He asked, his whole body shaking. "It's... it's my mama, Papa! It's my mama!" He exclaimed as he tried to wriggle his way out of Forte's grip, only for the herald of darkness to hold his son tight... which caused Roku to start waling as if Forte was murdering him slowly.
But... he had the distinct feeling that Roku would not call him papa for very long.
Eventually... both were calmed down by their own parties. And Forte's appreciation for the Aberration grew to see him as an... equal in all but badassitude.
Seriously, the way he'd managed to calm Roku down... Forte may be prideful, but he knew when he had to swallow his pride and steal some data from someone who knew better.
Like... him.
"Alright." The woman, Maya Dei, spoke in a huff. "Now that mom and kids know of each other's existence... Let's just skip the formalities and get this done."
"Hear hear!" Forte muttered. He had no idea who this Maya (Mercy) was, but she made sense.
"Alright, Lavanga, Hari-Priya. You may open the curtains now." Mercy ordered, and indeed, the curtains were pulled back...
it was then that Forte realized that this was not the view one would have through a Camera... but a hypothetical screen...
His heart skipped a beat as he saw what was in the other room. No, not the tall blond in a black and red dress, not the brown man beside her with the forehead mark and a shirt with the weird alien one on it. Not even the somewhat sickly-looking Netto. (why the hell did he looked sick. Like... as if he was a few days from keeling over.) or the two kids flanking him and an older teen with an ice mullet and a scythe.
Not... it was the plain-looking woman that sat beside Netto, her brown hair was cut in a boyish style that made her eyes pop and her round face glow. She wore a simple pink shirt, not the same as Forte's picture, but a clean one that went well with the long brown and highly decorated shirt. Her feet were barren, one of her toes having been broken in the past...
Also, they had a nice carpet...
yeah, so Forte could not look his very real Waifu in her eyes. I mean, how is one supposed to act when the object of his infatuation sat in front of you as you held whatever remained of her deceased son...?
" Oh... It's him.." He heard... he heard Haruka whispered, sounding close to tears again. And closer to his ears, Roku whimpered.
"Rockman, It's me... do you remember me?" Netto spoke as he stood up, his face palling considerably as he held onto yet another pale and sick-looking kid...
that looked surprisingly healthier then the net-saver, all things considered.
Forte and Haruka frowned... as all the adults and kids of the group.
All eyes went to Little Roku, who was by now clinging to Forte's neck as he warily looked at the human. "I'm... I'm not Rockman... I'm Roku..." He whispered. "But... I think Mama used to call me Saito... Am I Saito?" he asked the woman in question.
"Yes, you are... Saito... my baby."
And once again, tears fell... and Forte wanted to leave.
This was not his place, he was a stranger here...
He was about to leave R... Saito to run to his mother... it was ridiculous, to be honest. Since his Roku definitely had a digital presence while his mother, Haruka was definitely made out of flesh.
"You look confused." the man spoke up, standing up to the monitor.
So close, Forte could not deny that he looked a whole bunch like R... Saito and Netto. Despite his brown skin and shockingly green eyes.
Scratch that, this man must be the dad of the group, no other male around and all the kids looked passively like him.
"I am..." Forte admitted as he let Saito down, expecting him to run to his mother...
his real mother... as in, she was not in a virtual reality.
Speaking of reality, Forte's own came crashing down on him.
He was the herald of Darkness, Gospel's servant. He was an artificial being cursed to wander through cyberspace.
Love was a joke, and whatever was there was completely fake. And what to say about having a family...
He clenched his fists... his beautiful dream shattered beyond repair.
"Mister Forte... please stay here." the man spoke as he...
Entered cyberspace through the screen.
"What the hell?!"
~0~
"So... this is what going on," Forte mumbled as he sat on the couch. Dazed and... flat-footed at the numerous revelation he'd just had.
The man, Ekachakra das and his family were all Cyber-Fae, human-like beings who once inhabited what was once called cyberspace... and Netto (and his not so dead bro.) were also Cyber beings...
In other words, Netto was a Net-Navi... and Net-Navis were on par with humans, save for a few abilities, which included net-walking, dual forms and different powers.
And all of them were slaves to humans... the net-navies in P. that is.
"But not all of them are slaves of mistreated," Ekachakra informed the other man. " Netto's neighbour is a family of them. You must know Roll and Mailu, right?"
Forte rolled his eyes. "yeah... she's a bit too into Rockman, to be honest." the herald of darkness muttered as he slid his eyes to were Roku played with Haruka and Netto.
Roku was not a Navi, but an Avatar, his body sleeping somewhere else as he played the role of Netto's Net-Navi.
No, no one knew of this fact until Rockman suffered from his spontaneous reset.
And because he was not a proper Fae, but a virtual puppet... Saito and his family could not properly hug and cry like the bunch of emotional girls they were...
...
"So... if I get it straight." Forte began as he put of processing all that had happened and the absolute heartbreaking sight he had just seen. " You need me to bust through sci-lab's security so that you, your wife and kids can locate Ro... Saito's body and... deal with it from the outside?"
"In a nutshell," Ekachakra confirmed before his face turned grim. "We have no idea what state his body is. For all we know, it's but a torso."
They heard a sharp intake of hair, and the two men turned to see a very upset Haruka and Maya...
Apparently, the name Maya had two meanings. Illusion, or Mercy.
But with how the (apparently) formidable woman was glaring at the husband... the name got another meaning altogether.
Ekachakra cleared his throat with a dusting of pink on his cheeks. "Right... and if... what you told us about Roku is right, then we may not have that much time left." He practically whispered, unwilling to break the sweet mood the three had.
Forte followed Ekachakra's gaze and once again... felt weird.
Ro... Saito, Netto and Haruka had found a way to play. They asked the boy question's about everything, how he was being treated by the Herald of darkness, was he happy, did Forte hurt him.
At that Question, Forte was delighted to see the reflection of Roku's scowl... he was a fast learner.
"No... Papa never hit me. Papa loves me too much for that..." then his face fell. "Mama... Will you and papa get together? I like this papa more then the other papa."
Haruka opened her mouth, her cheeks red and eyes wide as she sputtered.
Forte... wasn't in any better condition. But unlike the mother of the two, he had his cloak to hide his furious blush.
And fear...
It was like his son (would he remain such after the whole deal would be over.) had asked him if he would get together with Hatsune Miku...
no, wait. That was a terrible comparison.
Still... He had never expected to meet Haruka, the girl in the ATM photo, for real.
Who was she? Forte had given her an attitude to match what he wanted in an ideal woman... but who was the real Haruka?
He looked back at the hopeful face of Roku... and the wary Netto.
The boy looked on the verge of having a meltdown over this but remained quiet despite it.
Those two went head to head with the WWW, Gospel and the Alpha build. They were internationally recognized as heroes and even Forte (as much as he loathed to admit.) had to run away from plenty of fights he had with them.
Not only that, but she managed to befriend an abomination with a thirst for vengeance. And from what Lumine had told forte about her...
she was the ideal woman.
Soft, sweet, able to defend herself when needed but still dependent.
Others would call this a flaw nowadays, but Forte was never into a completely independent woman.
He liked to think that he was the provider for her, that he would be there when she would cry, that he would be her strength and she his.
They didn't have to fight for themselves, they would never have to fear or feel the pang of anxiety. Not that Forte wanted a completely dependent woman. He was not stupid.
Life had a way to send those types of curveballs that would turn wives into widows...
Wait... did Haruka worked? Probably not, not after what Lumine had told him.
'I have a nice hoard of Zenny's... just from virus busting. But I think I'd better start looking for a legit job, can't have her lose me so quickly."
Maybe it was too macho of him, but there was nothing wrong for a woman to be soft and sweet and plenty feminine. Which was what Haruka seemed to be.
Oh, and free from all anxiety... it wasn't like he would control everything single thing in her life... he just wanted her to be safe and happy, she deserved it. Being the perfect woman and all, a treasure to be kept and worshiped.
Oh... she was an expert cook and loved to treat people to her sweets, she was very protective of Netto without stifling him.
But... she had her reason. Very good reason too.
She had lost someone dear... her first son.
After raising Roku for the time he did, Forte didn't think he would be able to live if... something were to happen to him.
He tisked as he turned his head away from the mother of two warriors. 'Great... I've gone soft.'
Should he regret it? Forte hoped not, it felt great to be around people he knew he could trust. ( seriously, Ekachakra and Moiya just screamed 'we are safe and won't screw you over.') and to interact with those of the same age... and species.
'It won't last.' Came his intrusive thoughts... but Forte...
was weak... and, until the whole show would stop, the Herald of darkness would play along until this beautiful dream would shatter.
And when it did...
no one would survive.