Maylu isn't doing very well. Her exhaustion rolls off her in waves, ironically like energy that builds with every back-and-forth motion. She's not going to be able to last much longer, more than likely she'll end up collapsing on the road sooner or later.

Arcadia's worried about her. It's very easy to forget - however temporarily - that not every human has the same capabilities as Chaud, whose energy is almost limitless. At least in comparison to Maylu's, anyway. But when Arcadia does remember this, he's struck with intense worry, and he finds himself unconsciously drifting back to walk alongside Maylu.

She's stumbling along, and he sometimes reaches out to help her, but it's not doing much good. Simply helping her walk isn't going to make her exhaustion vanish, and every time he touches her, he feels that exhaustion like it's his own.

It's not pleasant, and it only serves to make his worry grow.

He looks up ahead, to where Chaud is walking. He's just as worried about Maylu as Arcadia is, so he's taken to drifting on ahead in an effort to hopefully spot anything that might let them - or more specifically, Maylu - rest for a while. They can't exactly stop and sit down on the side of the road, it wouldn't be at all safe.

Aside from the worry that Arcadia senses from Chaud, he can also detect a faint ache of pain. That's another source of worry for Arcadia - this one's for both of his operators, not just Chaud. The wound had appeared rather suddenly last night when they were making camp. Arcadia heard Chaud cry out and was shocked to see his secondary operator's arm bleeding for seemingly no reason.

They quickly worked out that it wasn't Chaud, but Mimic who had been injured. Without forcing another sight-share (which would exhaust Arcadia), all they could do was guess what happened, and hope that Mimic was okay. Luckily, some of the supplies they bought from a previous town included a basic first-aid kit, and Chaud - being pretty efficient in first-aid - managed to dress the wound well enough that it stopped bleeding.

It's still hurting him, though. Doesn't matter how well you dress a wound, the pain isn't going to go away even if the bleeding stops. It's just a faint ache now, but it's painful enough for Arcadia to be able to sense that it's still bothering Chaud.

So Arcadia's worried about both of the humans he's with. Chaud because of his arm, and Maylu because of her exhaustion.

"How much longer are we gonna have to walk?" Maylu asks weakly. "I need to rest . . ."

Chaud hears her and glances over his shoulder, but doesn't pause. "According to the map, the next town isn't too far from here. We should get there by nightfall at the latest."

"At the latest!?" Maylu staggers to a halt and Arcadia is forced to stop as well, along with Chaud. "I can't make it that far . . ." And she collapses to her knees right there.

Chaud comes back and crouches beside her, peering at her with a worried frown.

"I can always carry you," Arcadia offers.

"You're way too hot," Maylu sighs, slumping. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'd just melt if you carried me . . ."

Ah, right. His Holy Fire gives him an internal heat that he can't really turn off - it's fine for his brother and his operators, since they're cats and they love warm things, but for normal humans, it'd definitely be a bit too much.

Chaud suddenly perks up. "Wait, I can hear voices!"

"You can?" Arcadia blinks at him, then looks up and spots something just over a small hill. "Oh, I see smoke!"

"That means people! Humans, even!" Chaud gets to his feet and looks down at Maylu, who's following Arcadia's gaze with weary hope. "Stay here, okay? I'll go and see if they can help us."

"Wait, what if they're hostile?" Arcadia reaches out and snags his vest before he can leave. "Not every human is gonna be friendly, remember."

"I know that, but we can't stay here," Chaud says, nodding to Maylu. "It's too open, and the Zoanoroids could easily find us. If there's even the slightest chance that the people over there will help us, we have to risk it."

Arcadia sighs and releases his operator's vest. "Alright, fine. But I'm coming with you, just in case."

Chaud accepts that with a nod. They leave Maylu to rest in the middle of the road - after extracting a promise from Roll that she'll shout if anything tries to attack - and climb up the hill.

Around them now is a sparse forest of sorts. Directly below them, there's a clearing completely bare of trees, but holes litter the ground here and there. These holes are wide and deep, and from what Arcadia can tell, they're human-made. There's quite a lot of them, so whatever or whoever made these holes must have been working for quite some time.

"That's not something you see every day," Chaud mutters. He starts down the hill, heading for the nearest hole.

Arcadia follows him, casting out with his Empath Program to try and locate the humans. He manages to detect no less than four minds nearby, and they're quite bright and energetic, somewhat boisterous, but he doesn't sense any kind of malice or hostility. Then again, that might just be because the owners of the four minds haven't spotted them yet.

They reach the bottom of the hill and Arcadia turns to Chaud, intending to tell him about the four minds he can sense, and he's just in time to see Chaud tumbling down into a hole with a startled yelp.

For a moment, all Arcadia can do is stare. Then he senses aching pain all over Chaud's body and rushes forward, leaning over the edge of the hole - only enough to see into it, though. He's careful not to stand right on the edge, otherwise it'll crumble and he'll fall in like Chaud did.

"That was kind of your own fault," Arcadia informs his operator.

Chaud rubs his head, teeth bared in a wince, and then glares up at Arcadia. "Shut up and help me out of here."

Arcadia suppresses a giggle and hunkers down, about to reach down and help pull Chaud out of the hole he got himself into - literally - when he suddenly senses the four minds he detected coming closer. And with those minds come voices.

"Moliarty, c'mon, you be leaving all these holes everywhere!"

"Yep, I got it, I got it! I was just taking a quick rest, is all!"

Arcadia glances up and sees two adult humans - one short and stocky, the other tall and thin - coming around a thick cluster of trees. He senses two more minds with them and realises they must have NetNavis, and then the two humans catch sight of him.

"Uh," the stocky human says.

"Hi," Arcadia tries.

The two humans stare at him, and then their eyes flick to Arcadia's NaviMark. There's a flash of shock from them, along with the loud thought of oh crap it's a Zoanoroid, so Arcadia quickly gets to his feet and holds up his hands, trying to show that he's not going to hurt them.

"Wait, hold on, I'm not a Zoanoroid!" he exclaims. "It's just my NaviMark, I know it looks like Falzar's symbol, but it's not, I swear!"

The humans' hands are inching toward their pockets, where their Gates probably are. Arcadia's strong, but he doesn't know anything about these humans' Navis, and he'd rather not risk getting his ass kicked while his operator is stuck in a hole and Maylu is exhausted on the road.

"Hold it!"

The two humans stop and blink as Chaud hauls himself up, grip almost slipping on the unstable ground. Arcadia automatically reaches down to help him up, and he remembers the two humans too late, but luckily they're too surprised at him helping a human rather than attacking said human to go for their Gates.

"Stupid hole," Chaud mutters angrily as he manages to get to his feet. Arcadia tugs him away from the edge as he brushes the dirt off his clothes. "I hate holes."

"You okay?" Arcadia asks him.

"No, I am not okay!" Chaud scowls. "I just fell into a goddamn hole and now I'm dirty!"

"Yeah, you're fine."

"I'm dirty," Chaud insists, still scowling.

"Wash it off later, then," Arcadia suggests, and Chaud looks at him like he just suggested cutting off his head.

However ridiculous this display is, it's putting the two humans at ease. They're still a little wary of Arcadia, he can sense that, but their hands are relaxed now, no longer inching toward their Gates. The other two minds that must definitely be NetNavis have calmed down, too.

"Heya, kid," the stocky human says, giving Chaud a lopsided smile. "Sorry about the holes, I was actually just gonna fill 'em in."

"This is why you be filling in your old holes before you be digging new ones," the thin human scolds him, though not in a severe way. "People might be falling into 'em!"

"Yeah, yeah," the stocky human dismisses.

" . . . Right," Chaud says. Arcadia can sense he's not entirely happy about this, but beggars can't be choosers. "We have a friend back there on the road, she's tired and she can't walk anymore. We're trying to get to a town nearby. Is there any way you could help us?"

"Oh, there be more of you?" The thin human brightens up considerably at that. "Sure, if your friend be tired!"

"We've got a truck back there, if ya don't mind riding with us," the stocky human offers, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. "Tell ya what - you go and get your friend, and I'll just get started on filling in these holes."

Despite Chaud's obvious misgivings, he's still relieved that these two humans are willing to help them out. Arcadia's Empath Program tells him that the two humans feel a bit guilty about Chaud falling into one of their holes, but even though that's the primary motivation for them being so willing to help, he can also sense that they'd still offer their assistance even if Chaud hadn't fallen into one of their holes.

It's nice to come across humans like this. Arcadia suspects they'd get along pretty well with Lan - he's nice to everyone, even people who used to be bitter enemies.


The two humans' truck is less of a truck and more of some sort of camper van. Arcadia knows very little about camper vans or trucks, but if these two humans refer to it as a truck, then he's not going to argue with them. Besides, for all they know, 'truck' might just be what the people of Beyondard call camper vans.

He, Chaud, and Maylu sit in the backseat. It's comfortable, except when he leans back, his wings end up squashed against his shoulders and it's very much uncomfortable, so Arcadia has to lean forward and rest his forearms on his knees so he doesn't overbalance and fall over while sitting down. That would just be embarrassing.

"Looking for missing friends, huh?" the stocky human - who introduced himself as Moliarty - muses. "Sorry to say, but we don't know anything about 'em. If we did, we'd tell ya, promise."

"Ah," Maylu sighs, slumping a little in disappointment. Arcadia senses it rolling off her in waves, but she forces a grateful smile on her face nonetheless. "Thanks anyway, Mr. Moliarty."

"Just call me Moliarty, the 'mister' thing don't suit me too much," Moliarty laughs.

"But we don't know what kinda information we might be getting when we get to town," the thin human - whose name is Press - adds, twisting around to smile at them. "You kids be in luck - we be heading there ourselves for another job, actually! You kids can stick around and see what it is we be doing, if you want."

"Can we, really!?" Maylu's enthusiasm melts her disappointment away. "That'd be fun! Right, Chaud?"

"As long as I don't fall into another hole and get dirt all over me again," Chaud says. He's still sore about that - both literally and figuratively. It's a wonder the wound on his arm didn't get torn open by that fall, but Arcadia supposes they're lucky in the regard.

"You shouldn't be getting dirty, no," Press agrees.

"Again, sorry about that," Moliarty says.

"Pretty sure there be an inn or something with baths where we be going," Press goes on thoughtfully. "You still be a bit dirty, so-"

"Absolutely not," Chaud interrupts. "I'd rather stay dirty than take a bath."

That makes both Moliarty and Press stare at him. Chaud isn't Mimic, so he doesn't get too uncomfortable under their incredulous stares, and he looks right back at them, unblinking.

" . . . You be a weird kid," Press eventually says, as Moliarty turns back around again.

"I'd like to take a bath," Maylu meekly speaks up, raising a hand.

Press grins at her, and Arcadia senses a bit of relief from him. Relief for a distraction from how odd Chaud is.

"You be getting one if you want!" Press brightly tells her. "Moliarty and I be paying for the inn, so you and your little brother can-"

"I'm not her little brother," Chaud says, at the exact same time that Maylu says, "He's not my little brother."

"No?" Press looks puzzled. Moliarty doesn't turn around again, but his confusion is easy to see even without Arcadia sensing it.

"They're not actually related at all," Arcadia says. "Chaud does have an older brother and a twin sister, but Maylu's just a friend, not family." Chaud and Maylu nod their agreement.

"That be kinda odd," Press comments, blinking. Then he shrugs. "But who're we being to judge? Moliarty and I don't be related either, so . . ."

"I've heard some people say we fight like brothers, though," Moliarty says, laughing. Arcadia can't help but smile a bit - this human's energetic and boisterous nature kind of reminds him of ProtoMan in a way.

"That be true!" Press agrees cheerfully.

"And you nag me like a brother, too," Moliarty goes on, grinning.

Press grins back at him. "Only because you be needing to be nagged at!"

They share a laugh, and Arcadia's smile gets a little bigger.


The town they've been travelling to - and have now gotten a ride to - sits at the base of a mountain. It's a strange mountain, though - while it towers over the town, it's far wider than it is tall, and seems to span a great many miles. At the peak of the mountain, two giant oval-shaped black stones jut out, but thanks to the position of the sun, they aren't casting a shadow over the town. They likely do in the morning, though.

The first thing Moliarty and Press do upon arriving in town is find the nearest inn and get two rooms - one for themselves, and one for Chaud and Maylu. Technically Arcadia as well, actually, but NetNavis are rarely counted toward room limits, and he's somewhat thankful for that. Otherwise he might be forced to either go back into Chaud's PET - which he doesn't want to do - or Moliarty and Press would need to pay for a third room just for him - which he doesn't want them to do.

The second thing the two humans do is find their client. It's the owner of the local bath house - apparently this is a mining town, so the bath house sees a lot of use from workers needing a good soak in hot water after their shifts, and the owner wants to see if there's any way he can expand the bath house or even build a second one nearby since it's difficult to keep up with the demands.

The owner is a little puzzled to see two random kids - plus a NetNavi - tagging along after Moliarty and Press, but after assuring the man that they won't get in the way, he allows it, and leads them to the site he wants them to work in.

And Moliarty and Press finally reveal exactly what it is they do for a living.

There's an indent in the ground, wide enough for an expansion or an entirely new bath house as needed. What Press does is climb down into the indent with Moliarty and immediately send out his NetNavi, a large machine-like Navi with what appear to vacuums for hands.

"DustMan, scan the ground for me!" Press calls, and the large Navi nods and sets his vacuum-hands down onto the ground.

"DustMan?" Chaud repeats, blinking. "That name sounds familiar . . ."

"It's another Navi from Mimic's list," Arcadia reminds him. "Like ChargeMan."

He senses a pulse of shock from Chaud. "Th-that means we could get some data from Press, and Lan'll have both Charge Cross and Dust Cross!"

"Moliarty has a NetNavi as well," Arcadia muses, glancing back down into the indent to watch the two humans and the large Navi work. "I wonder if that Navi's name was on the list, too?"

Chaud frowns, and Arcadia senses a faint trace of worry from him. "I'm not sure if my PET can hold the Cross data of three completely different NetNavis . . . even two might be stretching it."

"What's that?" Maylu glances over at them, momentarily distracted from watching Moliarty, Press, and DustMan work.

"DustMan is one of the NetNavis MegaMan can get a Cross from," Chaud explains. "Moliarty might have another Navi we can also get Cross data from. But we've already got ChargeMan's data, and while we might be able to fit another Navi's data on my PET, three would be too many. The memory wouldn't be able to hold that much."

"Why not let us hold the third one, then?" Roll offers, appearing on Maylu's shoulder.

"Do you know exactly what data MegaMan needs to make a new Cross, though?" Arcadia asks her.

Roll deflates a little bit. "No . . ." Then Arcadia senses an idea flashing in her mind, and she perks up. "But that shouldn't matter! Chaud can get the data from Moliarty if he really does have another Navi MegaMan can get a Cross from, right? So you can just put it into Maylu's PET for us!"

"Hey, yeah, that's a good idea!" Maylu agrees, nodding. She looks at Chaud. "Would that work?"

Chaud's mind works quickly as he thinks. After a few moments, he smiles and nods.

"It should," he says. "Thanks, you guys."

"Happy to help!" Roll and Maylu chorus cheerfully.

Down below, DustMan has finally completed his scan, and he removes his vacuum-hands from the ground. Press hums at the results, and there's a trace of happy triumph in his mind.

"These be good numbers," he reports, glancing at Moliarty. "There definitely be a hot spring down there. We just be needing to dig it out!"

"That'll be our job, then," Moliarty agrees, nodding. He takes out his own Gate and holds it up. "GroundMan, transmission!"

GroundMan turns out to live up to his name. He's just as big as DustMan, even has a similar colour-scheme, though he has two giant drills attached to his shoulders. He doesn't have legs - instead, he has tracks, almost like a manned drill machine, though obviously sentient.

"That confirms it," Arcadia says. "GroundMan's another Navi from the list. I'll get DustMan's data, and Chaud can get GroundMan's and transfer it to Maylu's PET."

"We'll keep it safe, don't worry," Roll tells him, and he nods his thanks to her.

GroundMan immediately gets to work and starts tunnelling his way below-ground. It's quite impressive to watch - he's a physically powerful NetNavi, and the speed at which he tunnels is far greater than anything a simple machine can manage.

Arcadia's just grateful he doesn't have to participate in this. He doesn't hate being indoors or anything, but the thought of being inside a tunnel, confined and unable to move around much, nearly makes him shudder. Even worse if said tunnel has a low ceiling - he does not do well if he doesn't have room to at least stretch his wings out.

After barely a minute of tunnelling, GroundMan hits his target. Moliarty informs Press, and Press orders DustMan to jump down and add in the 'finishing touches', though what that means is a complete mystery, even to Arcadia.

But whatever it means, those finishing touches do the job, and suddenly GroundMan comes speeding out of the tunnel he made. He grabs Moliarty and Press and zooms out of the way, and then DustMan hops out of the hole next and jumps up in front of the watching crowd, holding out his arms to shield them.

That doesn't make much sense until a torrent of water comes gushing out of the tunnel. Arcadia lets out a yelp and grabs Chaud, who wasn't standing under DustMan's arms and is too startled to move, and yanks him closer, bringing up his wings to shield both of them.

He doesn't enjoy the sensation of water spray hitting his wings. His own internal heat makes the water dry quickly, but it's not instantaneous, and now his feathers feel damp and heavy and he doesn't like this one bit. It's better than Chaud getting wet, though. Chaud would just scream if he got wet.

"Thanks," Chaud says, once the water spray has died down enough for Arcadia to tuck his wings back in.

"In a choice between one of us getting wet, I'd rather I get wet," Arcadia replies.

"I know I'm supposed to say I'd rather it be the other way around," Chaud begins, "but I agree."

Arcadia laughs.


The money that Moliarty and Press get for completing their hot spring/bath house job is a pretty substantial amount, and they use some of it to buy a somewhat late dinner at the inn for themselves and their tagalongs.

Arcadia once again finds himself eating human food, and once again has to marvel at how he's actually able to consume it. He can actually taste it - and now he's starting to see why ProtoMan loves eating so much, this is awesome. Even better that none of the humans find it odd to see a NetNavi eating their food, though he does sense a few traces of mild curiosity when some of the humans realise he's been materialised for far longer than ten minutes.

Ah, well. He can worry about accidentally terrorising the locals later - he has no idea what animal the cooked meat he's eating came from, but it tastes great.

"So your job is digging holes, then?" Maylu asks Moliarty and Press, after finishing off her own meal. She eats a lot faster than even Lan when she's hungry, and her earlier exhaustion is fading away with all this rest and food. That's good, at least.

"That's right!" Moliarty agrees, twisting his fork into the plate of what looks like spaghetti that he and Press are sharing. "And Press here's a recycling expert - it's his job to recycle whatever junk we dig out."

"Sometimes we be getting good treasure along with the junk," Press says, also twisting a fork into the same plate of spaghetti. Arcadia can't see this ending well, but the two adult humans are too busy talking to notice. "We be selling that treasure for extra marks, so we don't ever be short on money. But we don't be finding treasure that often, though."

"Eh, we make enough from the jobs we get," Moliarty says flippantly.

"You guys work really well together, huh?" Maylu smiles.

Moliarty and Press shovel the spaghetti into their mouths, and finally the problem presents itself. They end up sucking most of the spaghetti up, but the strands they eat are connected, and they narrow their eyes at each other before pulling away and allowing the strands to break apart. They suck up their snapped ends and glare at each other.

"Not at all!" Press exclaims. "Moliarty here be caring about nothing as long as he be digging holes!"

"And Press is a nit-picking clean-freak, always fussing over the mess I make!" Moliarty retorts.

Maylu looks faintly worried as she glances between them, and Chaud looks up from his own meal - the same kind of cooked meat that Arcadia is eating - and blinks at them. Arcadia, though, isn't worried at all. He does sense some mild irritation from Moliarty and Press, but it's the fond kind of irritation that he's used to sensing from Chaud, Mimic, and Lan about each other, and the kind of fond irritation he's used to feeling himself when ProtoMan does something ridiculous.

Sure enough, Moliarty and Press break out into grins and put an arm around each others' shoulders, laughing. There's a faint trace of bewilderment from Maylu, but Chaud understands pretty much immediately, and he goes back to his meat with a little smile.

Arcadia's about to get back to his own meal when he senses a new mind entering the inn's restaurant, and he glances up instinctively. And then pauses.

There's a human standing in the entrance, decked out head-to-toe in gems and fancy-looking clothing. She looks like the kind of human Chaud would have interacted with when he was the vice president of IPC, and Arcadia can sense that she's focused on Moliarty and Press. He's curious as to why she came here for them, but the reason why is relatively obvious - she wants to hire them for a job.

"Oh, wow, she's pretty," Moliarty says softly, noticing her as well.

The fancy-looking human winks at them, and Moliarty and Press immediately start blushing. It's kind of like when ProtoMan denies having a crush on Crescendo.

"She winked at me," Moliarty says dreamily, turning to Press, who says, "She be winking at me," at the same time in the same tone. They both pause and then share a sheepish and faintly embarrassed laugh.

"She looks super-rich," Maylu says, nudging Chaud. "Don't you think?"

Chaud blinks at her, then glances at the fancy-looking human.

Huh, he muses. So Beyondard has fake gems, too.

Arcadia, surprised, glances at him. He doesn't want to say this out loud - just in case he offends the fancy-looking human if she hears him - so he holds out his hand, palm up, and Chaud dutifully copies him.

[you can tell fake gems] Arcadia signs onto his operator's palm.

Yeah, it's pretty easy, Chaud replies.

Arcadia stares at him. [not easy] he eventually signs.

. . . Really? Chaud's surprise and mild confusion sparks off him through Arcadia's Empath Program. Ah . . . I just assumed it was, honestly . . .

They'll have to talk about this some other time. For now, the fancy-looking human is coming into the inn, and Moliarty and Press's faces are about as red as ProtoMan's armour when she stops in front of them.

"Hello," she greets them with a very smooth, delicate kind of voice. Arcadia senses nothing malicious or hostile about her, but he keeps an eye on her all the same. "Are you two Moliarty and Press?"

"Th-that's us," Moliarty squeaks out. Press nods so fast that his head nearly turns into a blur of motion.

"I saw you earlier, with the hot spring," the fancy-looking human says. "I have to say, it was excellent work. I'm Ms. Millions - I'd like to hire you for a job, if you don't mind taking another one so soon."

"We be willing to take as many jobs as you can give us!" Press eagerly tells her. A little too eagerly, perhaps, but he's so besotted by this fancy-looking human that he doesn't even realise what he's getting himself and Moliarty into.

Luckily, Ms. Millions doesn't take advantage of their obvious crushes on her. "Just the one job will do, but thank you," she laughs softly. "Will twenty times the price of the hot spring job be enough?"

The mention of money snaps Moliarty and Press out of their crushes.

"Y-ya serious with that kinda money!?" Moliarty gapes at her, astonished.

"That be a lot of money . . ." Press breathes.

"Well . . ." Ms. Millions smiles and clasps her hands together. "Truth be told, it's a treasure excavation!"

"Oh, wow!" Maylu gasps.

Arcadia frowns. There's no physical signs of it, but he can tell that this human is lying - her thoughts don't match up to what she's saying. If she really is trying to hire Moliarty and Press for a treasure excavation, wouldn't she be thinking of treasure? Instead, all he can pick up is a vast sense of desperate loneliness, and an unshakeable determination to do . . . something.

He opens his mouth to ask her why she's lying, and then Chaud taps him on the shoulder. He glances back, blinking, and Chaud shakes his head.

I know she's lying, Chaud tells him. But is she lying for a bad reason?

Arcadia hesitates, then shakes his head. He can't sense any hostility or anything that would suggest that Ms. Millions is lying for a bad reason.

Then we don't bring it up, Chaud says. Whatever she really wants, she'll get found out sooner or later, anyway.

If he says so. Arcadia doesn't exactly understand why this Ms. Millions human is lying about a treasure excavation, but if his operator doesn't want to expose her, he won't go against it.

"Shall we go right now?" Ms. Millions asks, and then glances at their plates of food. "Ah . . . perhaps you'd like to finish your meal, first."

"Nope, we're done anyway!" Moliarty jumps to his feet and thumps his fist against his chest. "Me and Press're ready and raring to go!"

"That be true!" Press agrees, also getting to his feet. "Just be giving us the word and we be digging wherever and whenever you be wanting!"

"Can I come too?" Maylu asks, standing up. Her excitement sparks off her like a miniature lightning storm. "I won't get in the way, I promise!"

Ms. Millions glances at her, and Arcadia senses surprise as she finally acknowledges the other members of this strange little dinner party. "Oh, I didn't realise you had . . . is that a NetNavi?"

Arcadia swallows a sigh and waits for the inevitable realisation of how much his NaviMark resembles Falzar's symbol. He's actually surprised when it doesn't come - she does glance at his NaviMark, as most humans in Beyondard do when they meet him, but rather than a flash of alarm, all she feels is a mild sense of curiosity.

Hm. Interesting.

"Yeah, we're just helping these kids out for a bit," Moliarty says. "I dunno what's up with the Navi, though."

Arcadia's starting to wonder if he should just make a digital card that says 'no, I am not a Zoanoroid; yes, I've been in the real world for more than ten minutes; no, I don't know why' just so he can bring it up and show it to humans who question his existence. He loves being able to share the same world as his operator - without the use of their CopyBot, even! - but he's a little bit sick of this happening again and again.

"It should be fine if they want to tag along," Ms. Millions decides, after a moment of consideration. "I have no objections."

Maylu gives a little bounce, the prospect of finding treasure making her excitement reach its peak. Arcadia is almost tempted to tell her that Ms. Millions is lying and they won't be finding any kind of treasure, but Chaud told him to keep quiet, so he does.

"You guys wanna come, too?" Maylu asks Arcadia and Chaud, as Ms. Millions leads Moliarty and Press out of the inn.

"No thanks," Chaud replies, going back to his meat. Meal. Whatever. "We've got something else planned."

"We do?" Arcadia looks at him, puzzled.

"Yes, we do," Chaud confirms, completely calm. But Arcadia can sense an idea forming in his mind, so he goes along with whatever it is Chaud is planning.

"Ah- yeah, we've got something to do," he says, glancing up at Maylu. "Sorry."

Maylu is confused for a moment, and then she rolls her eyes. "Fine, whatever, I won't tell you if we find treasure!" she says haughtily, though it's easy to tell that she's just joking. She confirms it herself a moment later when she smiles. "See you later!"

And she happily trots off after Moliarty, Press, and Ms. Millions.

Arcadia waits until their minds are far enough away that he knows they're out of earshot, and then he turns to Chaud. "So what's this idea of yours?"

Chaud smiles at him. "You picked up on that, huh?"

"Of course I did," Arcadia says, raising an eyebrow under his feathered hood. "So what is it?"

"Well-"

"Ah, that was Ms. Millions, wasn't it?"

They both pause, and then glance over at a table where three of the locals are sitting. The one who spoke is a man with a bowl of what's probably soup in front of him.

"At it again with those Rocks of Steel, huh?" another of the locals muses. Arcadia senses pity from him and his two friends, along with a long-suffering sort of amusement.

"Too bad for her," the third comments. "There's no breaking those things."

The three of them get back to their meals, and Arcadia exchanges a glance with Chaud.


There's a crowd gathering near what appears to be a mining tunnel near the edge of town, exactly where the base of the mountain begins. It's almost like looking up at a sheer cliff from this angle - even to Arcadia, who can fly, it seems daunting.

Inside the tunnel, Ms. Millions is with Maylu, Moliarty, and Press. Arcadia's hearing isn't anywhere as good as Chaud's, but he can easily hear Ms. Millions explaining the situation to them.

The Rocks of Steel turn out to be those two oval-shaped rocks jutting out of the mountain's peak. As Ms. Millions explains, they're extremely dense, so dense that the best anyone could dig through in three years was a single metre. Three years for one metre. That's . . . that's a really strong rock. And there's two of the things, as well.

Some of the crowd starts making comments, and it would sound almost derogatory, except Arcadia can sense pity from every one of these people. One in particular grabs Arcadia and Chaud's attention, because he doesn't make any comments despite the pity rolling off him in waves. There's a sense of sad sympathy from him, too. They make note of that particular human, because Arcadia senses that he knows more than most of this watching crowd does.

Moliarty and Press materialise their Navis, and then things get extremely loud. Arcadia finds it very discomforting, and Chaud outright hisses and brings his hands up to cover his ears, so Arcadia wraps him in his wings to try and help muffle the sound further. He can sense that Chaud appreciates it, and that it works to some extent, though the noise is still nearly unbearable.

If they were any closer, the noise would be even worse. Hell, if they were right next to the source of the noise - GroundMan drilling through the Rock of Steel - it would definitely be unbearable. There's no way Arcadia or Chaud would be able to handle sticking around here like this.

It doesn't last long, thankfully. GroundMan and DustMan's HP was already depleted from their earlier job, and even though they manage to make a dent in the Rock of Steel, doing so uses up what's left of their energy, and they're forced to stop. Arcadia hears Moliarty and Press promising to try again tomorrow, and he wonders just how far they'll be able to get with something like this.

"Looks like it was a failure this time, too," one of the crowd mutters, as Ms. Millions walks out with the others.

"What else was she expecting?" someone else wonders.

"Poor Ms. Millions," the sympathetic man murmurs, shaking his head. He's the only who feels genuinely sorry for Ms. Millions - the others are starting to lose interest now that the spectacle is over.

Chaud steps up to the man before he can wander off. "Excuse me . . ."

The man blinks at him, and then spots Arcadia standing at Chaud's shoulder. Surprise flashes through him, and once again the mildly-ridiculous idea of making a digital card comes to Arcadia.

"Do you mind if I ask you about Ms. Millions?" Chaud asks, getting the man's attention again. "You . . . you seem to know more about this than other people."

"You're one of the kids who came here with those two diggers, aren't you?" the man asks. Chaud's own surprise flashes out, and it shows on his face, so the man continues. "News travels fast around here, especially if it's about strangers." He glances at Arcadia. "Strangers with NetNavis, no less."

Arcadia carefully doesn't react. So far today, the only humans who've been even remotely wary of him were Moliarty and Press when they first saw him, so he's not about to make any sudden movements and make these humans think he's going to attack them or something.

"Come with me," the man eventually says, turning and beckoning for them to follow.

Well, at least he's willing to give them the answers they want. Chaud's idea was to find out more about Ms. Millions from the townspeople - and now they're about to get some information from a man who definitely knows more about this than most of the people who were watching.

The man takes them to a nearby warehouse. It turns out he's the owner of a company that makes mining machines - the town relies on this company a lot, and its sole source of income are the workers who pay to have new mining machines created or old ones fixed.

"The treasure thing is a lie," is the first thing the man tells them, which is what they've already figured out. But they can tell the man is leading up to the actual truth, so they keep quiet. "I don't think such a good thing can ever come from that mountain. But what she's actually after is to make a tunnel."

The man gestures toward a pile of broken machines near one wall of the warehouse. It's quite a startling sight to see - they're all broken well beyond repair, it's easy to see that even without any knowledge of mining machinery.

"By her request, we made the best drills and mining equipment we could," he explains. "One-by-one, each machine broke. Nothing could get through that Rock of Steel, and there's another one on the other side, too. But Ms. Millions didn't give up, right up until she went completely bankrupt - and then she just kept going, all on her own. She's been here for five years now, I think, chipping away at that Rock of Steel."

Arcadia senses sad sympathy from Chaud. "Why would she be willing to go through all of that?" he asks quietly.

"Her hometown is a small village on the other side of that mountain," the man tells them. "It used to be that you could easily travel between this town and that village. But when the Great Change happened, that mountain appeared in between, and the village became completely isolated."

"Wait, the mountain just appeared?" Arcadia blinks, unable to contain his surprise. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure mountains don't just appear out of nowhere."

"This one did," the man replies, glancing at him. "It's not the only thing that happened when the Great Change occurred, either. I heard there's a town somewhere that used to be in a dense forest, but one day they woke up and they were in the middle of a desert. You guys are just kids, so you weren't even born back then, and the only world you know is this one - but older folks like me? We remember what things used to be like before all this happened."

There's not a whole lot Arcadia and Chaud can say to something like that. Not without contradicting the man, at least.

"Anyway," he goes on, getting back to the story, "the village was completely isolated. Now, even if you've got a ride, it still takes at least half a day to travel over that mountain. The people of the village decided to try and make a tunnel straight through the mountain - it was a good idea, and it would have worked, except . . ." He rubs the back of his head, and Arcadia senses a deep kind of sad pity from him. "Except they came across the first Rock of Steel. All the mining equipment they tried to use broke, and eventually they all gave up."

"But what about Ms. Millions?" Chaud asks, though Arcadia can sense he already has an idea as to what the answer to that is going to be.

"She didn't give up at all," the man replies. "She left her hometown and came here to try and make a tunnel from this side, but . . . like I said, she couldn't get through. The Rocks of Steel are nearly indestructible, at least for normal mining equipment. Those two diggers with their Navis might be able to get through, but I'm not holding out much hope. Ms. Millions has been disappointed before."

"Why not just make a tunnel in another place, where the Rocks of Steel won't get in the way?" Arcadia suggests.

"The tunnel they were trying to make - that Ms. Millions is still trying to make - is the most direct route between this town and the village," the man explains. "Besides, we have no way of knowing how wide those Rocks of Steel are inside the mountain itself. For all we know, they could span the entire mountain, which would make digging a tunnel in another location completely pointless."

"Ah . . ." Arcadia winces. "Yeah, that . . . that makes sense . . ."

"Ms. Millions seems far too determined just for the sake of her hometown," Chaud muses. "There has to be more to this - if everyone else in her village gave up, why didn't she?"

"For the sake of her husband," the man tells him, and that makes Arcadia and Chaud pause. "From what I heard, the two of them were leading the tunnel operation. I don't know exactly what happened, but her husband died. Finishing that tunnel was his dying wish, so Ms. Millions continued even after his death."

"That's . . . definitely a motivation," Chaud says softly. There's a faint sense of empty sadness coming from him now, and even stronger sympathy - of course, he'd understand losing someone he loves. "Do the people of that village know where Ms. Millions is? Do they know she's still digging?"

Arcadia glances at him, curious, but Chaud's thoughts are racing, and he can't quite figure out exactly what his operator is thinking.

"I don't think they do," the man replies. "If they did, I'm almost certain they'd help. But like I said, they all gave up. Maybe they think she gave up, too."

The man looks back at the broken machinery, and then sighs.

"I'm afraid that poor woman is going to be chipping away at that tunnel for the rest of her life," he says sadly. "No one can make her stop. Believe me, we've tried. But that kind of determination . . . it's not something that can be swayed easily, I'll tell you that much."

"I see," Chaud murmurs. He looks up at the man and inclines his head politely. "Thank you for telling us."

"Yeah," the man replies absently, still looking at the machines. "Sure, kid."

Arcadia can sense the man needs to be left alone right now, so he tugs on Chaud's sleeve and they head out of the warehouse. It's clear that the man wants Ms. Millions to see her dead husband's wish come true, but like everyone else, he doesn't think it's possible. That's just sad, and heart-breaking. Well, core-breaking, in Arcadia's case.

He lets go of Chaud when they're outside and takes a step in the direction of the inn, but is surprised when Chaud starts heading in a completely different direction. There's a sense of solid determination about him, something that took root inside him after their talk with that man in the warehouse, and even without trying to pry with his Empath Program, Arcadia can tell what Chaud wants to do.

He smiles a little, then trots to catch up with his operator.

"You're really gonna walk the whole way there?" Arcadia asks, glancing at him as they walk.

"Yep," Chaud replies, determinedly staring straight ahead. "And don't try to stop me, either. That village needs to know what Ms. Millions is doing for them."

"Did I say I was going to stop you?"

Mild surprise flashes from Chaud, and he glances at Arcadia questioningly.

"I just thought it'd be easier if I carried you," Arcadia tells him, pausing. Chaud does the same, now curious. "I wouldn't be able to go at my max speed, obviously, but it'd still be a lot quicker if I flew us both over the mountain."

" . . . Alright, then," Chaud eventually says, smiling.

"Do you think we should let Roll and Maylu know where we're going?" Arcadia wonders, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the inn.

Chaud shrugs. "It'll be fine. We know they won't move on without us, and we won't move on without them. Besides, we're only going to a village on the other side of a mountain."

"In any other reality," Arcadia muses, turning back to Chaud, "that would sound absurd."


The sun was already beginning to set when they came out of the warehouse, but now the sky is dark and the moon is steadily rising. By the time they get up to the peak of the mountain, it's already been half an hour. The mountain doesn't look very big from a distance, but it still takes quite a bit of effort to get up to the peak, even when flying.

The night air is colder up here, even more so than it would have been in the mining town. Arcadia isn't affected by the cold, but he can still feel it, and he's fully aware that Chaud can too.

"How're you doing?" he calls over the rushing wind, glancing down at his operator. Chaud seems more or less comfortable in his arms, and if Arcadia were anything other than a NetNavi, he would never have been able to carry him for this long, regardless of how little he weighs.

I'm fine, Chaud replies, keeping his face buried in Arcadia's chest to shield himself from the cutting wind.

"You're not just saying that so we don't stop, are you?" Arcadia presses. "It's pretty cold up here."

Your internal heat is keeping me warm, don't worry, his operator says.

Arcadia chuckles and beats his wings, speeding up a little. Even if Chaud says he's fine - and Arcadia can't sense any lies, so Chaud really is fine - he'd rather not keep him in the cold for too long. Neither of his operators react well to cold, same as his brother. There are advantages and disadvantages to being cats, after all.

In total, it takes around two hours for Arcadia to finally touch down in the village on the other side of the mountain. He doesn't have night vision, and he can't use his Holy Fire while carrying his operator, so he has to rely on Chaud to tell him when he's about to hit the ground. The landing is still smooth even if he can't see the ground properly.

He sets Chaud down, and some of his internal heat is still lingering, so Chaud isn't cold - yet. Arcadia would rather not risk that happening, so he keeps a wing around his operator, which serves to both shield him and keep him warm.

They're right at the base of a cliff overlooking the town, but there's no signs of a second tunnel anywhere. It takes Arcadia a moment to realise that the descent from the peak of the mountain to this village was longer than the ascent from the mining town on the other side, and that's what makes him realise that this village is actually lower down on the ground than the mining town is. Maybe they were on a slope of sorts before the Great Change happened.

"I'm guessing the tunnel must be there," Chaud says, turning to look up at the cliff. "Sound kind of echoes weirdly up there, like there's a deep space."

"I didn't notice anything on the way down," Arcadia says. He frowns. "Then again, I could hardly see the ground when I was landing . . . I'll take a quick look, see if I can spot the tunnel."

He steps away from Chaud and spreads his wings, then takes into the air once again. This time, he's able to create a small ball of Holy Fire, and he holds it in his palm as he rises up. It doesn't do much for visibility, but when he comes up and over the edge of the cliff, he's able to see a large, dark hole in the side of the mountain. The second tunnel, which the villagers have long since abandoned.

Satisfied that the tunnel is still there - though there's not really anywhere it could go - Arcadia drops back down and lands beside Chaud, though he doesn't extinguish his ball of Holy Fire.

"The tunnel's there," Arcadia reports, and Chaud nods.

"Now we've just got to figure out what to do," he mutters. He turns to face the village, frowning. "Hm . . ."

"It's the middle of the night," Arcadia says, also turning to look at the village. "This village isn't very big, so my Empath Program can reach most of it - and I can sense that most of the people here are asleep."

"Most?"

Arcadia concentrates on the few minds he can sense that aren't asleep. While he does so, some of them fade into the dull sense of sleep, and he sighs.

"Never mind, a bunch of them just went to sleep," he says. "There's still one person who's awake, though. But I can't sense the very edges of the village, so for all I know, there could be a few more people who aren't asleep there, too."

"Let's go to this one person who's awake here, first," Chaud decides. "Whoever it is, they may be able to help us. Or . . . we may be able to help them, I guess."

Arcadia nods, and they head into the village proper.

There aren't a great many houses here, or even buildings. Not in comparison to the mining town they just came from, at least. But these houses and buildings are scattered around, with wide cobble streets filling the spaces in between, giving the village the impression of being much bigger than it actually is.

It's still pretty small, though, so it doesn't take them long to find the house where the one awake mind is. This particular house doesn't look too different from most of the ones they saw before, but that might just be because it's too dark to see any actual differences. Even Arcadia, holding up his ball of Holy Fire, doesn't see much - and Chaud's night vision only lets him see in black-and-grey tones, so it's not much use for detail like colour or anything.

Chaud walks straight up the path to the front door, and Arcadia trails behind him, finally extinguishing his ball of Holy Fire. They don't want to scare anyone, especially since it's the middle of the night. That would just be rude.

Are they still awake? Chaud asks. Arcadia nods. Alright then.

Chaud reaches up and knocks on the door. Arcadia senses surprise and confusion, and then curiosity, from the human inside. He hears the sound of a chair scraping against a wooden floor, and then footsteps coming closer.

The door opens, and Arcadia squints a little at the light. It takes his eyes barely a moment to adjust thanks to his hood, but Chaud has more difficulty. He's good at hiding it, though.

An old man stands in the doorway, peering at them with a puzzled frown. "Do you know what time it is?" he croaks out. He's not annoyed - just confused. "Wait, who are you?"

"Do you know a woman called Ms. Millions?" Chaud asks, without prompting.

Shock sparks through the old man, and his eyes grow wide. After several moments of silence, he blinks slowly, and comes back to his senses.

"I think you'd better come inside," the old man murmurs, stepping back and leaving the door open for them.

He invites them into his living room and pours them both a cup of tea, which is something Arcadia's never had, so he accepts it eagerly. He's drunk human beverages before, but tea is something he's never had. He doesn't know what flavour this is, but it reminds him of some sort of flower, and he decides he likes it.

While Arcadia is happily distracted by the flowery tea, Chaud explains why they're here. The old man's shock grows when he learns that Ms. Millions is still determinedly digging her way through the tunnel on the other side - and then confirms what the man in the warehouse said, by telling them that he thought she'd given up as well.

A sad kind of happiness flows through the old man, and he smiles a little. "So she never gave up after all . . ." he says wistfully. "I should have known. That woman has determination in spades - even when she was younger, she refused to give up on anything."

"She hired a couple of diggers to help her break through the Rock of Steel on the other side of the mountain," Chaud tells him. "They made some progress earlier, and they're going to be trying again in the morning."

Arcadia sets down his now-empty cup - a human wouldn't be able to drink that fast, but his Holy Fire runs hotter than that tea did, so he could drink it without an issue - and focuses his attention and Empath Program on the old man. He's curious as to whether this information will affect the old man's thoughts.

And, sure enough, the old man is affected. His mind is nowhere near as active as Chaud's - Arcadia doesn't think anyone's mind can be as active as Chaud's, except Mimic's anyway - but his thoughts still race, and an old, buried emotion is dragged up to the surface. It's a type of determination similar to Ms. Millions', but more weathered and a little weaker. It's still determination, though.

There's a lot of that going around, lately.

"If Ms. Millions hasn't given up, then we shouldn't either," the old man declares. "I'll tell everyone else in the morning, and we can get straight to work. Thank you for coming here, you two." He gives both of them a grateful nod. "You can rest here for tonight, if you want. I don't have an extra bed, but the sofa should be comfortable enough . . ."

"We're fine, thank you," Arcadia tells him. He and Chaud had already discussed this on the way over. "My operator and I want to get started right away, if that's okay?"

"But . . . it's the middle of the night . . ." the old man says, even more confused than he was before.

"That doesn't matter to us," Chaud replies. "We're kind of nocturnal anyway. We do have an idea for how to break through the Rock of Steel on this side, but we have to do it on our own."

"Humans won't be able to handle the heat," Arcadia adds, nodding.

"The heat?" the old man repeats, blinking slowly.

In response, Arcadia holds up his hand and makes another ball of Holy Fire. The old man's eyes widen, and understanding flickers through his mind.

"I won't stop you, then," the old man says. "As long as you know what you're doing."

They know what they want to do, but whether or not it'll actually work is an entirely different matter altogether. At least they have the old man's promise that no one will try to interfere - which they extract from him before they leave the house - so it should be fine.

Arcadia and Chaud head back to the base of the cliff. There's a path that leads up to it on their right, but Arcadia won't be using that path anyway. He just hopes that their plan doesn't end with half the tunnel collapsing in on him, though he supposes Chaud can always just return him to the PET before anything too bad happens.

"You're sure you can get your fire hot enough?" Chaud asks, before Arcadia can take off.

"Not at all," Arcadia replies. "But if I don't try, I won't know if I can, will I? ProtoMan wouldn't let a little thing like doubt stop him."

"ProtoMan would blunt his claws if he tried to break through that rock," Chaud retorts. "Besides, he's kind of a terrible role model."

"Says the human raised by that same NetNavi," Arcadia fires back, grinning.

Chaud gives him a light shove, also grinning. "Get up there and melt that rock, you lunatic."

Arcadia nods. "Be ready with the Aqua-chips, okay?"

Chaud nods back, and then steps away to give Arcadia room to take off.

It takes less than two seconds for Arcadia to get up and over the edge of the cliff, and he lands easily, then strides forward into the dark tunnel ahead. He immediately creates another ball of Holy Fire to light the way, but he needn't bother - it's just a straight path, right up until the dead end of black rock that's about twenty metres into the cave.

He places his claws against the rock - the Rock of Steel, he reminds himself - and taps it experimentally. There are indents and cracks here and there, proving that the village people down below tried and failed to break through, and even though Arcadia doesn't have the kind of scanners that DustMan evidently has, he's able to tell that this rock is insanely dense.

Rock of Steel is right. This thing's so dense and hard it may as well be made of steel. ProtoMan would definitely blunt his claws on this thing, and so would Arcadia if he tried to break through like that.

But he's not here to slam his claws against solid rock.

He brings his ball of Holy Fire closer to the Rock of Steel. He doesn't have to worry about his own fire burning him, so he places his other hand on the rock, frowning.

His Holy Fire isn't doing much. The rock is heating up a little bit, but if he keeps his Holy Fire at the temperature it's at now, it'll take forever to melt through. No, he's going to need a much hotter flame.

It takes temperatures of six-hundred to one-thousand-three-hundred degrees Celsius to melt rock. Considering how dense this Rock of Steel is, Arcadia is willing to bet he needs a temperature on the higher end of the scale - maybe even hot enough to turn sand into glass, actually, since the temperature for that is akin to the kind of temperatures a space shuttle will reach when re-entering the atmosphere.

Arcadia's Holy Fire is digital, therefore technically artificial. But it still works like real fire - he can still burn things like real fire would burn things. The one thing he can't do with his Holy Fire is lower its temperature, but he should be able to raise it.

So that's exactly what he does.

Arcadia focuses all of his concentration on the ball of fire in his hand. He focuses on compressing it - not just making it smaller, but condensing it, keeping its intensity the same even though the flame itself is getting smaller. He pours all the power he can into it, and eventually, he's rewarded with what looks like a nearly-solid dagger of Holy Fire. A very small dagger, that is. More like one of those tiny retractable knives that some humans keep in their pockets.

He holds it up to the Rock of Steel, and this time he doesn't need to check the temperature with his free hand. He can see the rock heating up, sees its colour changing from pure black to burning red, and then he doesn't need to see it anymore because he can feel it, too, heat so intense that, if he were human, he most likely would have melted by now. Or died. Even other NetNavis would be affected by the heat at this point - there's a certain threshold of extreme temperatures that NetNavis are able to withstand before they actually start to feel the effects, and Arcadia has gone well past that threshold by now.

But he's not human, and this is his fire - so no matter how hot it gets, no matter what happens to this Rock of Steel, Arcadia won't be harmed. He'll feel the intense heat, but he won't be affected by it.

He grins, unable to help himself.

He's about to melt an insanely dense rock. This is, quite possibly, one of the coolest things he's ever done. Figuratively speaking, of course.

Arcadia takes a step back and keeps the dagger of Holy Fire going. He's going to need something much bigger than a tiny dagger like this if he wants to make any progress with the Rock of Steel.

It takes quite a bit of concentration to form a Bound Sword using the compressed fire. The Bound Sword, when he finally manages to craft it, looks very different to how it normally is.

Usually, it just looks like a normal sword - based very vaguely on the Bound Sword spell from Skyrim, made out of rippling fire that gives the Sword the impression of being almost alive. It's solid enough to be used as a weapon, though it looks just as fragile as his Holy Fire illusions.

Now, though, the compressed Bound Sword looks like an actual, solid weapon. The fire doesn't ripple - it's so intense that it's almost completely still, and the Sword looks far more detailed than the regular Bound Sword could ever hope to be. With all of the fire compressed into an almost solid form, the heat it gives off is so powerful that it's nearly melting the Rock of Steel (not to mention the rest of the tunnel) just by existing.

Arcadia wonders if he should come up with a name for this. 'Compressed Bound Sword' doesn't sound very cool, and it's a bit of a mouthful. Compressed Sword, maybe? No, that just sounds silly. Bound Blade seems like a good option, if he uses the same logic applied to the Sword- and Blade-chips that Chaud is fond of using. But it still doesn't sound right.

Then he spots the burning patch of rock on the Rock of Steel beginning to drip, pooling into heated magma on the ground, and Arcadia grins.

Magma Blade, he decides.

It won't be something he can use often, of course. His newly-named Magma Blade is hot enough to melt rock just by existing, and he'd probably end up killing humans and severely damaging NetNavis if he uses it around them. Using it against an enemy wouldn't be ideal, either - it takes too much time and concentration to set up.

But still, he can't deny that this is awesome. He's able to make a weapon that can melt solid rock. How many other NetNavis can say that?

Arcadia raises his Magma Blade and slashes down, cleaving a hot scar through the Rock of Steel. If he had to liken this to anything, he'd say it's kind of like how those Jedi people use their lightsabres to cut through stuff - Mimic made him, ProtoMan, and Chaud sit down and watch the entire Star Wars series a few weeks ago, and the idea that his Magma Blade is almost like a type of lightsabre makes his grin widen.

He keeps attacking the Rock of Steel, carving deep, heated cuts through its face. Within five minutes, he's carved out a space big enough to step into, and the magma is dripping down and pooling at his taloned feet.

"Chaud," Arcadia says, speaking through the connection with his operator's PET, "I need an Aqua-chip."

"Gotcha," Chaud replies through the same connection, and a moment later, Arcadia is alerted to a Train Arrow being downloaded.

He steps back and directs the weapon onto his left arm, and takes aim as soon as the bow materialises. He fires as many Train Arrows as the durability of the weapon will allow, rapidly cooling down the magma, and it turns to solid, if cracked, rock once again.

But the difference is that now it's just solid, cracked rock on the ground. He's managed to carve out a space in the Rock of Steel, and that's more than enough proof that he can do this.

If he can cut the rest of this Rock of Steel before morning, all the villagers will have to worry about is digging through the rest of the tunnel. If they're lucky enough, Moliarty and Press and their Navis will have gotten through the Rock of Steel on the other side, and the villagers and the two diggers can meet halfway.

Arcadia banishes the Train Arrow bow and gets back to work.


It takes the entire night. The entire night for Arcadia to melt the Rock of Steel into magma and then cool it so it doesn't do any damage to either the tunnel or the village. He gets into an easy rhythm after a while, and when he's finally gotten through to the normal rock on the other side of the Rock of Steel, he re-focuses his attention and starts carving out the rest of it.

By the time he's done, the cooled magma is a misshapen pile of cracked rock beneath his feet, so Arcadia gets Chaud to download a couple of Wave Arms and he destroys the magma-rock easily. Then Chaud gives him a Blizzard Ball - which is admittedly a very odd attack for Arcadia to be using, even if he's not a Heat-element Navi - and he uses it to cool down the tunnel as much as possible.

They determine whether or not the tunnel is safe for humans to go into by having Chaud walk up the path. When the heat becomes too much for him, he downloads another Aqua-element chip and Arcadia uses it to cool down the area even more, until finally Chaud is able to stand just outside of the tunnel's entrance.

"Holy crap," Chaud says softly, staring into the tunnel. Thanks to the rising sun, it's much easier to see the interior of the tunnel, though Chaud would be able to see it just fine either way.

"I'm glad I don't need to go back into your PET after ten minutes," Arcadia sighs, lowering himself down to the ground carefully. Even his wings are worn out, and he wasn't even flying. "Otherwise I never would've been able to do this."

"You did good," Chaud tells him, and Arcadia can sense that he wants to say much more than that, but his awe doesn't let him find the words.

Arcadia gives him a weak smile, and then huffs out a quiet sigh and carefully pushes himself to his feet once again. The ground almost seems to sway under his feet as he steps forward, and when he gets close enough, Chaud steps forward and catches him before he falls over.

"We're going back down to that village," Chaud tells him firmly. "And you're going to rest, you hear me? I don't even want to know how much energy you had to use in order to do this."

"Yes, Mom," Arcadia jokes.

Chaud somehow manages to drag him back down to the village. It would probably be easier to just return Arcadia to the PET, but Arcadia protests every time Chaud so much as thinks about it - he doesn't care how tired he is, he is not going back into the PET, and he is not leaving Chaud on his own, certainly not when he's surrounded by total strangers. Granted, there's not much Arcadia can do to protect him at the moment, but still. It's the principle of the thing.

The villagers are already awake by the time they get down from the cliff, and the old man from last night has just finished telling them what's going on. Arcadia's too tired to make much use of his Empath Program at the moment, but it's easy to see the shock and growing hope in the faces of the villagers after they learn that Ms. Millions hasn't given up yet, and when the old man announces that they're going to continue digging the tunnel, the majority of the crowd breaks out into determined cheers.

It'd be heartwarming to see such solidarity if Arcadia wasn't completely spent.

The old man notices them and looks shocked. "You two were actually out all night?" he asks. "I thought you would've gone to sleep at some point . . ."

"The Rock of Steel is gone," Chaud announces, because Arcadia's too tired to do it himself.

Several of the villagers gasp in shock, and more than a few of them turn to glance at the old man, whose mouth is gaping wide open. It takes several moments of silence for anyone to be able to react.

"Go and check," the old man says to the nearest villagers.

They nod, and the three of them jog past Arcadia and Chaud and head up the path. Everyone waits with bated breath for them to return, and when they do, their faces are as white as Arcadia's Holy fire.

"Well?" the old man prompts.

"It . . . it's true," one of the trio says, in a hushed tone. "The Rock of Steel has been . . ."

"It looks like it was melted away," the second one says.

"And all that's left is the normal rock behind it," the third adds.

There's even more shock upon hearing that.

Arcadia's hearing kind of gets too fuzzy and he has to close his eyes because he's far too tired to contribute to any conversations that follow, but from what little he manages to pick up via his Empath Program - however weak and exhausted he is - the villagers are both extremely shocked and extremely grateful that Arcadia was able to melt the Rock of Steel. He hears Chaud speaking to the old man and the villagers, but the words are too muffled to make sense, and then he becomes aware that he's moving again.

Chaud is still the only person carrying him. Or dragging him, whatever. Arcadia's not entirely sure where they're going, but it takes a few minutes to get there, given that they're going so slow.

When his wits finally return and his hearing is no longer muffled or fuzzy - though he's still ridiculously tired - Arcadia manages to open his eyes and take in his surroundings.

He's back inside the old man's living room. He's sprawled out on his front on the sofa, wings drooping but arranged carefully so he's not uncomfortable, and there's a plate of what look like cookies on the low table in front of him.

He's no longer exhausted enough that his Empath Program doesn't work properly, so he's able to sense that aside from himself, the only person in this house is Chaud. He's in the kitchen, though that doesn't last long because Arcadia senses his mind moving and then Chaud steps into the living room with a cup of that flowery tea held carefully in his hands.

Chaud's expression brightens when he sees Arcadia's eyes open. "You're awake!"

"Didn't realise I'd gone to sleep," Arcadia half-mumbles. He tries to get his arms under his chest to push himself up, but his limbs feel like jelly and he just ends up struggling for a moment or two before giving up and slumping back into the sofa with a faint sigh.

"Your energy still hasn't recovered yet, don't overdo it," Chaud tells him, setting the flowery tea down on the table next to the cookies. "Does food help to replenish your energy? That old man said we could have as much as we want, as thanks for melting the Rock of Steel."

"That's nice of him," Arcadia mumbles into the cushion. "And . . . I don't know if food helps, really. The only context I have for this is ProtoMan when he's recovering from going Poltergeist, and that's . . ."

"Not the same thing," Chaud finishes, and Arcadia manages to nod. "Try eating something anyway, it might help. If it doesn't, it doesn't."

That's fair.

With a bit of help from Chaud - okay, a lot of help from Chaud - Arcadia sits up. Chaud hands him one of the cookies and Arcadia's never eaten a cookie before, so even if this doesn't help him recover his energy, at least he'll have tried something new.

He's able to break down human food into data, which allows him to consume it when he's eating, but previously, he's only eaten in places like restaurants and such. He was never completely exhausted, or he was never exhausted enough to notice whether eating food helped to replenish his energy.

He's in luck, though. It seems that eating has the same effect on him that it does for humans - meaning that the food he breaks down into data and consumes is converted into energy, and although the cookies don't seem to give him much, he eats over half the plate on his own and feels a lot better than he did when he woke up.

Huh. That's pretty interesting. Maybe they could experiment with different foods and see what gives him the most energy? It'd probably be meat, considering he's an owl-Navi, though Arcadia would rather not hunt down mice or voles like his real world counterparts do.

He eats through the rest of the plate more slowly, and then abruptly remembers that Chaud actually needs to eat as well, so he sheepishly offers some to him. Chaud doesn't mind at all - he laughs at how eagerly Arcadia was eating the cookies, which is a little embarrassing, but as long as his operator is happy, Arcadia's happy too. Drinking the flowery tea seems to help as well, which is even better than eating the cookies.

They stay in the old man's house throughout the whole day. The old man himself comes in occasionally, checking in on them to make sure they're alright and comfortable, which is nice of him - even more so that he genuinely doesn't mind having two complete strangers (one of whom is the NetNavi who quite literally melted a steel-hard rock overnight) resting in his house for the duration of the day.

The sun begins to dip below the mountain, and Arcadia's energy has been completely replenished. But there's no way either of them can go and help out with the digging now - Arcadia brought up the idea earlier, last time the old man came by, and the old man told him that he's done more than enough already. Plus, Chaud wouldn't be able to handle that level of noise.

So they stay in the old man's house and wait, and are rewarded for their patience when Arcadia senses familiar minds coming closer.

"Maylu's here," he calls, since Chaud's in the kitchen again, trying to find some more food.

Chaud's mind sparks with delighted surprise, and he bounds into the living room just as the old man opens the front door and leads Maylu, Moliarty, Press, and Ms. Millions into the house.

"You guys are amazing!" Maylu exclaims upon seeing them. "Sonjo told us you got rid of the second Rock of Steel!"

For a moment, Arcadia wonders who Sonjo is, and then he sees the old man with a slight smile on his face and realises he must be Sonjo. They never did ask his name, did they?

"What're you looking at me for?" Chaud asks. He points at Arcadia. "He's the one who did all the work."

"Bullshit," Arcadia says. "If you weren't there to give me Aqua-chips, I wouldn't have had any way to control the magma."

"Magma!?" Maylu gasps. "What were you guys doing?"

"I melted the Rock of Steel," Arcadia informs her, and she goes speechless out of pure shock.

"Hoo, boy," Moliarty says, blinking. He feels impressed, and he looks impressed. "I was kinda disappointed that we never got to find out if we could get through that second Rock of Steel, but now that I'm hearing this . . ." He grins and laughs. "I'm tempted to hire you kids as my assistants at this rate!"

"Thanks for the offer, but we still need to find our friends," Chaud replies, half-smiling. "Actually, speaking of . . ."

"Yeah?"

Chaud takes out his PET. "This is going to sound a bit strange, I know, but . . . do you mind if I take some data from your Gate?" He glances at Press. "Yours, too. I promise it's nothing bad, it won't even hurt your Navis."

"Hah!" Moliarty barks out, still grinning. "Kid, after what you and your Navi've done, you could ask me to give you the moon and I'd find some way to make it happen!"

"I don't want the moon," Chaud says sheepishly, his embarrassment burning through Arcadia's Empath Program, "I just want some data off your Gates."

"You be getting it, if you be wanting it," Press says, happily taking out his Gate and holding it up. "Do you be doing this to everyone you be meeting with NetNavis, or do we be special?"

"Um . . . I'm not sure how to answer that," Chaud hesitantly replies.

"That be fair." Press shrugs.

The two diggers allow Chaud to take the Cross data from their Gates. DustMan's data goes into Chaud's PET, and he was right about it not being able to store more than two, because Arcadia gets an alert that tells him the memory is completely full. He lets Chaud know, so Chaud takes out the data for GroundMan next, then transfers it to Maylu's offered PET.

It might seem odd that Chaud's PET is only able to store the Cross data of two NetNavis while Lan's PET is able to store all of them, but Dr. Hikari did upgrade Lan's PET to be capable of storing that much data. By this point, Lan's PET probably has the largest memory capacity of all the PETs in Japan, if not the whole planet. That's partially because MegaMan's ultimate program abilities almost always give him the ability to use other Navis' powers, so of course the PET would need to be able to handle that kind of thing.


The people of the village are extremely grateful for their help, especially Ms. Millions. She thanks Moliarty and Press for all their hard work, and then thanks Arcadia and Chaud as well.

She does everything but pay them for helping her to finally finish the tunnel, but no one minds anyway. Maylu told Arcadia and Chaud what happened on her end of the tunnel - Ms. Millions was eventually forced to admit that she doesn't have the money to pay them for their work, and this was in the middle of a very dangerous encounter with what was probably the biggest Beast Mettaur anyone's ever seen (though how it got into the mountain in the first place is a complete mystery), so the situation was quite tense.

And then Moliarty and Press admitted they weren't doing it for the money, but for their own pride. They wanted to know whether or not they could finish the tunnel - whether or not they could break the second Rock of Steel. Arcadia can't help but feel a bit guilty that he accidentally took that away from them, but they assure him it's fine, since they got to beat up a giant Mettaur.

What Ms. Millions does instead of actually paying them is give them the various fake gems she wore to trick them into thinking she was rich. No one protests since the gems are still pretty valuable even if they're fake - Moliarty and Press can sell them in the next town they go to, and they hand over half of the gems to Chaud and Maylu, who split the gems between them happily.

Moliarty and Press also offer to give Arcadia, Chaud, and Maylu another ride as far as they can. They're still in a forested and hilly area when they're finally dropped off, but they're much closer to the next town than they would have been if they'd walked it.

"There's a fishing village up that way," Moliarty tells them, pointing. "Just follow the path for a couple of days, and you'll get there eventually. I think the path runs up next to a river and a lake, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find."

"That be wrong," Press quickly says. "Last I be hearing, the river be dry as a bone, and the lake be dammed."

"Oh." Moliarty looks stumped for a moment, and then he shrugs. "Well, the riverbed'll still be there, so ya can follow that instead." He grins at Arcadia, Chaud, and Maylu. "Good luck with your journey, kids! And if ya ever wanna do any digging work, just come find us again! We could do with assistants like you - it's not every day ya find someone who can melt solid rock!" He lets out a loud, boisterous laugh.

"We be hoping you kids be finding your friends, too," Press adds, with a friendly nod.

"Thanks, for everything!" Maylu smiles. "You guys are super-cool!" Chaud nods his agreement, and Arcadia smiles as well.

They part ways there, Moliarty and Press heading back to their truck-camper-van-thing, and Arcadia, Chaud, and Maylu turning to follow the path Moliarty pointed out to them. They're not sure how much more forest there's going to be, but Arcadia can see what looks like a rocky valley through the trees up ahead, so maybe they're close to another desert wasteland of sorts. Or maybe just fields, who knows.

"Those guys never really asked for anything, did they?" Maylu muses, almost half an hour of walking later. "Not a single zenny . . ."

"I think they're called marks, here," Arcadia tells her.

"Whatever the money is called, Moliarty and Press didn't ask for anything. That's pretty impressive!"

"I have to agree," Chaud says, smiling. "They seemed like the kind of people who enjoy their work and enjoy getting paid to do their work, but maybe they're just the kind of people who enjoy their work more than getting paid."

"Kinda like you and your siblings, right?" Maylu asks, glancing at him. "You guys are Net Savers, but you don't mention getting paid that much."

"Technically we've only been getting paid for a few months," Chaud says. "We did sort of work for free - by accident - when we first became Net Savers. Or, Mimic and Lan worked for free, anyway. I wasn't technically alive back then."

"For anyone else," Arcadia notes, "that would sound completely insane."

"I'm aware of that, thank you."

"Your family's weird," Maylu decides, giggling. "All the kids are world-saving heroes, the dad is a world-class scientist, and the mom is the best cook on the planet. And that's not even getting into all the Navis and the pets."

"You're a world-saving hero, too," Chaud reminds her.

She winces. "Don't remind me about that," she sighs. "I don't regret helping out, but I was just fumbling around, terrified of messing up half the time."

"So were we," Chaud says.

Maylu opens her mouth to respond, and then Chaud lets out a sharp yelp as the ground suddenly gives way beneath his feet. Arcadia snaps out his arm and quickly snatches Chaud's vest, stopping him from falling into the hole.

"Watch your step," Arcadia says blandly, carefully setting Chaud down on more stable ground.

Poor Maylu is completely bewildered. "Um . . . are you okay, Chaud?"

"I fucking hate holes," Chaud hisses.