"So, we've got everything set up for us to try this out?" Emu picks up a rather cobbled together looking headset. "For now, anyway?"

"Yep. Between the blackout glasses and the headphones, we should be able to keep you from seeing or hearing anything outside, so we'll be able to listen in on both ends of your conversation, but you won't be talking via the intercom at all." Kiriya pauses. "That was the intent you guys had, right?"

Parad nods in confirmation. "The arrangement is that I'll be in the office with Kiriya, while Emu's down here with Brave, right?"

"Correct." Hiiro nods. "Now, let's get the both of you hooked up and start testing this…" he grimaces. "Telepathy skill. You really couldn't think of a better term?"

"No, not really."

"It's pretty accurate."

"Fine then."

"Alright, Parad's hooked up, you can get yours on at anytime."

"Got it, going in now." Emu grins, slipping on the headset as he leans back in the chair. Underneath, his brow furrows in concentration. "Parad, are you there?"

'Ow, yeah, not- uh, not so loud. That's. Wow.'

"Woah, yeah, okay, you too. Uh, maybe if we back off a little-"

'Right, it's like you're shouting in my ear. Maybe because we can't hear anything else?'

"We're probably overcompensating for that, right. For next time, we should probably adjust the setup so that it won't be a total blackout. Was that any better on your end, Parad?"

'Mm-hmm. A lot, actually. You?'

"Yeah. So…" Emu crosses his arms. "How's life treating you?"

'Funny. Real funny.'

"You know what I mean. We might as well get some other work done while we're at this."

'I mean, I guess.'

"So?"

"Well…" Parad hums. "It's not as bad this time around, at least."

'What do you mean?' Emu sounds worried, not that Parad can blame him. He hasn't talked much about the past six years.

"I'm not alone, for one. There were a lot of tests to find out what I could do and. Well… to figure out what exactly I was."

'Didn't they already know? I mean, Kuroto designed the root of the bugster virus, right?'

"No, not really. He found it, and did… some work with it, but then when he received your letter – and keep in mind, I only heard any of this after the fact – but he'd only just begun when he sent that demo off to you."

'…He had no idea what was going to happen to me, did he?'

"Absolutely none. I am a fluke, by all rights none of this should have been possible at all."

'I really wish you wouldn't talk about yourself like… like that.'

'It's true, though. It doesn't make sense that the bugsters exist in the first place, does it?' Parad's mental voice is quiet, and Emu assumes his actual one is, too. 'It's unprecedented, that's why there were all the-' he cuts off. 'Never mind.'

Emu frowns. "No, that's not a 'never mind' sort of topic! All the what?"

'…There… for a while, there were a lot of… tests, I guess you'd call them. Experiments, maybe?' There's a pause, like Parad's choosing his words carefully. 'Just… just for a while, there were a lot of scientists and stuff that showed up a lot. I…' There's that hesitation again. 'I don't wanna talk about it. They stopped coming after a while, so it's fine.'

"Parad… what do you mean by 'experiments'?" Emu does his best to keep his voice gentle, but it clearly isn't enough.

'I said I don't want to talk about it!' Parad is very definitely yelling, and very definitely getting worked up. 'Just drop it!'

Flinching, Emu reaches up to hold his head, an ache spiking somewhere deep in his skull. "Okay, okay, just – I won't pry, calm down!" He can't hear what Hiiro's saying, but he can feel the hand on his shoulder, and waves it away. "You don't have to talk about it until you're ready, okay?"

'…Fine. Sorry, I just- Sorry.'

"I get it. Everyone has things we don't want dredged up out of their pasts. You and I are no exception." Emu sighs. They won't be able to put this conversation off forever, but they can put it off for now. "Do you want to stop? The test here, I mean."

'Yeah. I've had about enough.'

Parad doesn't talk to anyone when he comes out of the near trance he'd wound up in while he and Emu talked. Not while Kiriya disconnects the monitor leads that had been hooked up to keep track of what biometrics he does have, or when Emu and Hiiro come back upstairs.

He can't talk to them. Not after that. He shouldn't have brought it up. He shouldn't have – they don't need to know about any of that! It's in the past, it doesn't matter, so why'd it even come to mind?

It's not like he'd been given any choice back then, anyway. Not like now. So it's completely different. Right? Right.

Firmly, he gets out of the chair he'd been in and goes directly over to the couch, pulling at the sticky pads he didn't wait to get off and wrinkling his nose at the glue that stays behind. Well. He's not going to be getting into his hammock until he's made sure he's gotten all of that off.

"Here." Someone sets a small pile of packaged wipes on the seat near him. "These'll help get it all off."

Chancing a glance up, Parad stiffens a little at Emu's regretful expression, and doesn't say anything as he pulls the wipes closer.

"I'm sorry I was pushing. If you want to talk later, I'll listen. If you don't, I'll still listen." Emu tries to smile. "My shift down here is almost over, so I've got to get back up to pediatrics. See you tonight."

Parad just nods.

Almost an hour passes, during which Kiriya teleports back to GenmCorp, headsets in hand, muttering something about fit adjustment and recordings. Hiiro, however, stays downstairs. Weird. Parad looked at the calendar earlier. He was supposed to be upstairs a half hour ago.

"Brave?"

"Yes?" Hiiro doesn't look up from his cake.

"What are you still doing here?"

He does look up for that, at least for a moment, to give Parad a look which clearly says that that is one of the dumbest questions he has ever heard.

"I mean, aside from eating. You've clearly got a goal here."

With a sigh, Hiiro puts down his fork and knife. "I keep forgetting how observant you two are." Parad preens at the compliment. "I know you've been asking us all about why we've been willing to let you stay around. Frankly, I'm a bit insulted you haven't come to me yet."

Shrugging, Parad hums, his legs swinging back and forth off the edge of the couch. "Been trying to only ask when Emu's not around. When he catches me at this stuff, he gets that kicked puppy look, and-"

"Ah, yes, that one. It's infuriatingly difficult to avoid, isn't it? Regardless, I figured that I may as well finally get this discussion out of the way while Emu is otherwise occupied." Returning some of his attention to the cake, Hiiro continues. "I assume you remember what he was like after the coroner was killed?"

"Yeah, that's pretty hard to forget. He was super close to just flat out crashing. What's your point?"

"You and Poppy died. I'm tired of seeing him that way."

Parad looks down at the table. "So… Emu went all empty again, then?" Hiiro nods in reply, Parad watching from the corner of his eye. "Guess I underestimated how much he was gonna miss her…"

"Oh, for crying out loud… Parad, listen to me." Hiiro sighs. "Make no mistake, I'm not certain that I can trust you just yet. But Poppy isn't the only person that Emu was mourning." The confusion must be written on Parad's face, because when Hiiro continues talking, it's weirdly gentle. "He missed you, Parad. It's not just because Emu is, frankly, far too nice for his own good. He trusts that you can be better than you were. For the most part, he's usually been right when he decides that. That's how it was for everyone else who works here, certain game developers notwithstanding. So, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for now."

"It's still kinda weird to hear all of that, but." Quietly, Parad nods. "I'll take it."

They remain silent for the rest of Hiiro's break, not… ignoring each other, necessarily. But neither of the two are the greatest at interaction, particularly with people they aren't familiar with. It's easier this way. Eventually, of course, Hiiro can't put off going back upstairs any longer. "You will behave until Emu returns, correct?"

"Yeah, of course." Parad hesitates, and then gives a small wave. "Good luck up there."

He swears he can see a small, brief smile as Hiiro leaves.

Outside in the rain, and upstairs in the hospital lobby, everything promptly goes to hell.

"Kuroto, we need your help."

He raises an eyebrow. "That's not something I expected you to ask of me anytime soon. I appreciate that you finally appreciate my godly tal-"

"Yeah, whatever." Emu looks to the side, dismissively. "We're running a little low on manpower, right now, to say the least. We need to figure out what's going on, which means we need all conscious hands on deck."

"Hmmm…" He makes a show of resting his chin on a propped-up arm. "And what possible reason could I have for aiding you right now?"

Dragging a hand down his face, Emu groans. "Look. Right now, it's us, Parad, and Kiriya. Everyone else is stuck in some sort of virtuality, or whatever it is that's got them trapped."

"…Oh. Even-"

"Yeah. Yeah, whatever's going on, these guys were able to knock Poppy out, and stick her in… wherever everyone's consciousnesses are right now. Whoever's in charge is using a Gamer driver, and a gashat that I know isn't from Genm Corp. 'Hurricane Ninja', I think?" Emu bites his lip. "Pretty sure that one's an in-development Maxima Vision game…"

"…Damn them! Fine, fine, I'll help!"

'Yup. When in doubt, appeal to his main weaknesses: Poppy, his ego, and his massive complex about people using his creations.'

"We're positive this setup won't knock me out, right?" Emu unbuckles the wired gloves to put them on. "I don't want to leave you two as the only people available to fight, if I need to get out."

"You say this as if you don't trust me."

Emu glares at Kuroto. "I don't. The VR we use at work still functions if someone's already unconscious. If this thing puts me under-"

Kuroto rolls his eyes as he plugs in the monitors. "It won't. This is the commercially available headset, as are all the other components. The only non-standard equipment is your driver, the gashat, and yourself. …You should take off your coat before you put those on."

"Oh, come on-"

"It'll get in the way. You're actually moving around this time, and I doubt you want to get tangled up."

Emu bites his lip. "…Okay, true." Shrugging the coat off, he calls over across the room. "Parad! Catch!"

"Wha-"

"You're, shall we say, familiar with my body language. Mind playing decoy?"

Sparing a glance in the rearview mirror, Kuroto frowns. "You're being awfully quiet back there."

"Shh!" Parad hisses. "I'm listening, okay?!" There's a brief pause. "…Aw, hell. We thought right, Kiriya's in there."

"Well, isn't that just great, it'll just be the two of us, then. No backup what-so-ever. Wonderful."

"…Genm…?" Parad's voice wavers. "We have a problem."

"Aside from us being the only ones available to stop this man right now?"

"Do you… do you think, after the stunt I pulled during that final battle…" He swallows heavily before continuing. "I used the gamedeus vaccine to hold him back… Do you think that made me immune? That I could do that again?"

"I do not like where you're going with this."

"It's him again. What I'm feeling from what Emu's feeling in there, it's Gamedeus, his code signature's all over this place, but Emu and Kiriya can't feel it. I think he's aware now, not just a construct anymore, but I don't know how, and – holy shit we're in trouble. Y'know that little girl? The one Emu's been real worried about?"

"Vaguely."

"From what they're saying in there, I think she's the target, somehow."

"…Maybe we can hold him back. Maybe, if it's both of us at once, because last time, trying to stop him did result in you dying." Kuroto grits his teeth. "Can't say I'm enthused about this alleged plan, but quite frankly, if I let an 8 year old succumb to Gamedeus, Emu would probably be the next to snap."

"Most lik- gah!"

The conversation screeches to a halt as they come out of a tunnel, and a ninja drops down onto the hood of the car.

Oh, great, he's using the enormous building-sized form. Well. No two ways about it. It doesn't help in the slightest that everyone else was knocked out of their most powerful forms in just one blow. Parad and Kuroto both run in, tanking the blast – Kuroto must have added some proper defenses into his suit, after he was brought down to two lives – one now, actually – and break apart into data to try and suppress Gamedeus's powers. Hopefully they can buy the doctors time to help that girl – what was her name? Madoka? That was it, Madoka.

In the moment before he leaps, Parad sends a desperate thought towards Emu. "Help her! The origin gashat – use it like Kuroto did against me!"

Everything goes black, after that.

'-elp h-r! Th- origin gash- - -se it like - did -gainst me!'

Emu can just barely make out what Parad's trying to say. They need to figure out how to use this telepathy thing on command, and fast.

Assuming they get the chance.

No, no, he has to trust that whatever Parad and Kuroto are doing will work, and that they'll come back. For now, he has to do what he can.

"The only one who can give Madoka-chan the strength to live, and make her smile again… it's you, and you alone!"

He has to convince Mr Kagenari. He has to, because this man went to these lengths already. He cares, and however misguided his attempts to help have, that's far more than so many kids can ever expect. So Emu has to get this through his head.

And somehow, he does.

Next up… stopping Gamedeus, once again.

Oh, good, he was just in time! Parad and Kuroto aren't hurt when they're ejected from Gamedeus – well, not any more than they already had been.

"It's not over yet." Emu stands between his friends and the gargantuan bugster. "We'll defeat the last boss, and clear this game." Emu can feel the grin as Parad gets up, and starts channeling power over to him.

"You really think you can defeat me, a god?!"

Maximum Mighty X! Hyper Muteki!

"I'll change all our fates, with my own hands! Hyper Dai Henshin!"

The group watches on as Ex-Aid takes off to fight Gamedeus.

Literally takes off. He's flying through the air, with seemingly minimal effort.

Taiga squints at the now distant speck of gold. "That's new."

Parad stares, wide eyed and bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Does anyone have a phone with a camera on them? We need to record this, and I don't have one of my own yet."

Hiiro quietly hands his over. "…Did he just come back out of that skyscraper…?"

"Yep."

"After going vertically through it?"

"Yep!"

Both Hiiro and Taiga glance over at Kuroto. ""How durable did you make that armor?!""

one week later

"S-Sirs, I can't be reading this correctly." Emu looks back and forth between the director, Secretary Hinata, and the paper in his hands. "You want me to be- no, I'm sorry, there must be some sort of mistake here-"

"There's no mistake, Dr Hojo." Director Kagami gives Emu a slightly confused look. "You're being promoted to head of the cyber rescue unit."

"But- I- why?"

The secretary looks from his end of the conference call. "You… are aware that you have essentially been performing in this role for the past several months, are you not?"

Emu stares blankly at him.

From the other end of the office table, Hiiro clears his throat. "Emu. You were basically the person in charge during our conflict with Kamen Rider Chronicle and Dan Ma- Cronus." He quickly corrects himself, seeming to remember the particularly insistent way in which Emu and Parad insist on referring to Kuroto's father.

"Well, if we'd come at the situation from only the medical perspective or only the game perspective, it wouldn't have been possible to succeed, we needed both angles-"

"You are the only reason we were able to handle Maxima."

"Nobody else was available at first, I had to step up-"

"Emu." Hiiro moves to place his hand on his shoulder. "I would really think that if neither of those achievements were enough, that your leading the post-Chronicle press conference would be proof."

"Wha- no, I was assisting, Doctor Kyotaro was leading it! …Weren't you?"

Hinata takes a moment to gather himself before answering. "On paper, perhaps. But that was your… 'show,' as it were."

Nobody appears impressed by Emu's muted noises of protest.

"…But. Head of a department?! Me?!"

Parad scoffs from where he's been sitting in the background. "Emu! Pretty sure they're paying you a compliment. If you keep trying to turn it down, you're gonna have to go through some sort of 'self esteem' talk or something."

"R-right." Emu bows his head to the secretary. "Th-thank you, sirs."

"You're very welcome. Now, with regards to Mr. Hojo, in back…"

""Wait, what?""

Parad points at himself. "You mean me?!"

"Following the events with Maxima, we've managed to expedite the processing of your paperwork, and yesterday the official confirmation came in." Hinata folds his hands across his desk. "I believe congratulations are in order. You are now legally Hojo Parad." Hinata continues on. "The paperwork for the residence is still processing, unfortunately, so there will still be a few days before you're able to move into your new location, but once that has been settled, you're free to go."

The pair look at each other, stunned, before grinning in unison.