And here's the rewrite of chapter two. This is nothing like the original chapter two and you should probably forget about the original chapter two. I plan on keeping some ideas from that but it's going to be done in a completely different fashion that does not involve me using OCs I have no idea what to do with.
Also, I think this is the first time I have ever updated on a Wednesday, so that's kind of cool.
So, this is essentially just continuing last chapter with no intermission.
I hope you enjoy!
SciLabs, General POV…
"You think a hacker did this?"
"The PET is free of viruses and has been for a long time from what I can tell. Nothing apparently happened on the net itself from what the navis have explained from their perspective so my logical assumption is, yes, hackers." Dr. Hikari explained with a sour note in his voice. Although it was not directed towards anyone in the room.
Net technology had been making leaps and bounds in the last several years, with business and industry beginning to take up the slack and help herald the way alongside SciLabs. The Net itself was changing as designs were updated and older technology was pushed aside for the new and improved versions.
In fact even PETs were being redesigned. With today's technology people would no longer have to "Jack-in" to connect to the Net, it would be a wireless connection. This was made possible by the already growing number of devices that had no requirement for wires in order to communicate with each other and with the Net.
But with these advances came more problems. For every upgrade that was designed, new viruses that were capable of bypassing these upgrades would shortly follow. Not to mention what the simulations showed would happen if a virus were to get into the wireless adapter while a navi was "linking-in" wirelessly. It would risk not only deletion but permanent damage to both the adapter on the PET and on the device.
Despite the virus problem, the thing that made Dr. Hikari grind his teeth the most, were Hackers.
Hackers had existed for years of course, but as time went on they got smarter, and more dangerous. Old technology was essentially an easy target for these kind of people.
It was not the fact that they were capable of doing such things that bothered Yuichiro, it was the fact that they caused chaos and problems for countless people for no reason other than the fact they could. The Net technician had no doubt that if he were to set his mind to such things he could accomplish them as well, but if that were true why was the reverse not true? Why couldn't these people use their obvious talents for the benefit of the world rather than for their own despicable games.
"Why target Dingo and Tomahawkman?" Meiru asked as the group processed Yuichiro's diagnostic. "I mean what could possibly be gained?"
"There are a few reasons really." Dr. Hikari pointed out. "For starters it's not exactly secret that those two have connections to SciLabs, and furthermore connections to the Net Savers. Anyone who have done their research could figure out the relation and target Tomahawkman as a way to get to one or the other."
"Or," He continued, "It could just be chance and that Tomahawkman is the victim of a random and cruel attack." As unlikely as that particular possibility was, one should always consider all of the options. Especially when dealing with a situation like this.
"But can you fix it?" Dingo finally blurted out. Yuichiro blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst before realising the young man had looked like he was on the edge of his seat in the emergency room waiting to hear about a matter of life and death.
"I haven't been able to get a proper scale of the damage to Tomahawkman programming but I feel confident that the PET itself should be in working order." He explained patiently. "From what I can tell it appears that whoever is responsible for this found a way past the firewalls and then changed wiped the memory and put it in factory mode. I'll need to check Tomahawkman's programming but if you just reinstall his information everything should be fine."
Dingo sighed in relief. "Thanks Dr. Hikari, I don't know what we'd do without you."
"It's no problem, really. I'm happy to help." He honestly was, he enjoyed helping others, with no amount of arrogance he knew he was smarter than most other people. The least he could do was help them with the problems they couldn't solve.
"Still I can't help but feel like something doesn't add up." Meiru pointed out and pulled out her PET, Roll's face appeared on the screen. "Roll, is Tomahawkman still stable? No change?"
"Mostly." The navi told her operator before elaborating. "He's able to move and talk but he kind of…" She searched for the right word. "Glitches. He'll be talking and then repeat a syllable a few times before finishing the sentence. Apart from that though, he seems fine."
Meiru nodded as though she had expected an answer like that. "Thanks Roll, could you keep us updated, okay?" When the navi gave her agreement Meiru put away the PET.
"I don't see the problem." Dekao commented. "Tomahawkman will be fine once his information his reloaded into the PET and the other navis don't have anything wrong with them."
"The problem Dekao," Meiru glared at him. "Is exactly that." She got looks of confusion from almost everyone save from Dr. Hikari and Tohru. Those two appeared to catch on to what she was saying.
"There's nothing to gain." Yuichiro murmured more to himself than anyone else. Despite that everyone heard him due to the close proximity of the room. What was the point of attacking Tomahawkman if there was going to be no further actions. Why stop at Tomahawkman, why not weaken the other navis who had operators? True it could all just be part of a nasty trick but why stop there?
"We can worry about that later." Dr. Hikari decided before picking up the PET and plugging it into his computer. "First let's get Tomahawkman reinstalled."
Even as he started the download that would reload the navi back into his PET he got a call from security.
"Dr. Hikari, Meijin-san is here to see you, he says it's urgent." The posted guard announced.
"Send him up, we're just finishing up here." Yuichiro told the man.
A few moments later Meijin arrived looking concerned.
"Meijin-san what is this about?" He asked the net saver. "If this about Tomahawkman everything appears to be fine."
"Tomahawkman?" Meijin didn't look too surprised but nodded along. "I'm glad to hear you fixed what was wrong, especially if it is what I think it is."
"What do you mean?" Tohru pressed looking confused. The other denizens of the room shared his expression.
"If it is what I think it is then Tomahawkman was disconnected from his PET, am I correct?" When he received a series of nods Meijin continued. "In that case it is my unfortunate duty to inform you all that Tomahawkman is just on victim among many. I'm glad to hear that you can fix it doctor, because their are a lot of people who are going to need help."
"Wait a second are you saying..?" Yuichiro trailed off unwilling to finish the sentence.
"That a hacker, or a hacker group attacked thousands of PETs and exploited a defect that allowed them to reset it to factory condition." Meijin explained discontentedly. "We're trying to find out what model numbers and what exact defect was exploited."
"So right now thousands of navi's are in similar state to Tomahawkman?" Yaito asked for confirmation.
"I'm afraid it's worse than that young lady." Meijin said sadly. "The defect was exploitable even if the PETs navi was inside of it at the time."
"Oh dang." Dekao muttered shaking his head. "That's messed up."
"The news doesn't get much better." Meijin continued. "While we were trying to solve that crisis a large number of viruses started attacking the telephone network making communication difficult, it's why I came here personally rather than called ahead. We're not sure if the attack is the result of the hackers or if another group attempted to take advantage of the chaos."
"What do you need me to do?" Yuichiro asked with determination in his voice.
"You, I ask to help solve the hacker problem. But I need Rockman and Lightman to help with the viruses. I assume they're listening in?" Meijin commented.
"You bet!" Lightman's voice came from the computer as a window opened up with his and Rockman featured. "We're ready for anything you throw at us."
"It won't be me doing the throwing but your enthusiasm is appreciated." Meijin commented. "You two are the only net saver navis we have that don't need a PET. If it is the hackers responsible for both the attack and the viruses then we can't risk sending Enzan or someone else. Therefore you two are best for the job."
"You can count on us!" Rockman told him as the window closed.
Not the longest chapter but I feel happier with this than I did with the original chapter two or chapter three.
So, get ready for some action next chapter.
I'll probably update Village Idiots on saturday and Gone Ghost next wednesday. Until then, bye!
~FriTik
R&R