Mega Man Ж: New Dawn
Chapter 2: Training
"Are you sure they're in this part of the city?" Nat asked his PET. "I don't come to the slums every day…"
"Yes. The rebel operators convene in the lower city at the abandoned downtown metro station," Xe replied.
Nat was walking through a desolate sector of the city. Long since disused, the Ethnet City slums were a place for criminals and outcasts to congegrate. A dead wind blew through the unkept streets. Nat pulled his jacket up slightly to shield himself.
"This is the place, Downtown Metro," Xe said when Nat was standing in front of a set of stairs leading down to a subway terminal. "Go down and jack into the first port you see."
Nat made his way down the old stairway into the subway station. He flipped on a flashlight to make out the dark underground.
"I can see why they chose this place. No one would ever look down here…" Nat said as he carefully stepped down the stairs. He shined his beam along the walls, looking for a data port. "Here it is," he said when he encountered a port attached to an old schedule display board on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. "Jack in, Xe."
He plugged the PET into the board and uploaded Xe into the board. He watched the PET to observe as Xe materialized inside the cyber world.
Inside the cyber world, Xe looked out across the digital domain. "It's me, Xe!" he called out, hoping someone would hear. The cyber world seemed empty until three beams of blue light flashed onto the plane. The beams gave way to the figures of three NetNavis. The first, a bulky Navi with a bull's head and heavy blue armor, greeted him.
"Xe, I see you've come," he said in a gruff tone.
"Yes, Minos, I'm back and I've brought an operator," Xe replied.
The second Navi was a smaller, female Navi with a red color scheme. She had a minigun-like attachment on her left arm and bore sharp eyes. "An operator? It's about time," she said with a hint of dissatisfaction. She placed her hand on her hip to express her skepticism.
"Please, Blitz, hear him out," the third Navi said. He was a taller Navi with a black coat that surrounded his armor. He had on a sleek, gold helmet with fins at the back. He put his hand on the female Navi's shoulder.
"Thank you, Faze," Xe replied. "Let us in and you can meet him."
"Very well," Faze replied. "I'll open the door."
In the real world, the wall on the other side of the digital board slid open, revealing a secret hallway. "What is this?" Nat said in astonishment. The hall was brightly lit, unlike the rest of the subway, and seemed much newer than the subway station. The floors inside were smooth tile and white walls.
"Go in there," Xe said. "I'll join you once you're downstairs."
Nat disconnected the PET and entered the hallway. After he was inside, the door behind him slid shut. I really hope Xe wasn't lying about this place. I don't exactly like being led into traps… he thought.
After walking around two turns, the hallway emptied out at an elevator lift. Nat cautiously stepped onto the lift. Now what… he wondered as he waited for the next occurrence. As soon as he was fully onto the platform, the lift's gate closed and began to descend into a long shaft. Beams of light flashed by as the lift continued downwards. After about a minute, the lift slowed down at the bottom. The gate lowered and Nat was standing before another hallway. At the far end was a set of sliding doors. Nat approached them and stood in front.
"Hello?" he said, hoping someone on the other side might hear. "I'm Xe's operator, he sent me down here."
The sliding doors slowly opened, revealing behind them a large control room-like area. Computers and monitors lined the walls and in the center of the room was a holographic display unit. Inside were sitting three other people. They were wearing dark black clothing and sported a range of hairstyles.
"So you're the punk that Xe dug up, eh?" the first one said. She flipped back her flashy pink hair. "Psh, can't say he picked the cream of the crop."
"Why would he choose someone as weak-looking as you?" another one of them stepped in. He sported long hair that was tied into a braid and spoke with a belligerent tone. "Have you ever operated a Navi before?"
Nat was kind of flustered at the bad attitude of the people inside the room. "Well…ah…er…" he stammered, trying to make a good impression.
"You better hope Xe vouches for you or we got no business with ya," the last one said. He was clearly the biggest of the three and looked like the leader among the group. He had his hair in a buzz cut with a small braid at the bottom and spoke with a deep, intimidating voice.
"Lay off him," Xe's voice suddenly quipped in. Xe's image flashed onto the holographic display at the center of the room. "He's the guy I sent down here."
The three people running the room turned to face the display. "Xe, this guy claims he's the one you picked as your operator," the one with the braid said. "Did you choose some rookie? I thought you were better than that."
"Yeah, he is. His name is 'Nat Mirochu' and he's going to help us take down the WWW," Xe replied.
Minos appeared on the central display alongside Xe. "Xe's told us about him and…I think he's got potential. You should at least help him out, Max." Nat could tell he was addressing the larger member of the group.
"Can we trust him? I mean we only got your word on him, Xe," the female operator added.
Blitz's image was added to the collection displayed on the hologram. "He was just fired from his job because the WWW suspected him of snooping, Cat. I don't think you have anything to worry about. I'm pretty sure this guy doesn't have any kind of good feelings towards the WWW."
The last Navi with the long black coat stepped into the image. "Pryce, I think we should believe Xe and let his operator join. If everything he said is true, Nat could be the one we've been waiting for to finally help us. If you assist him, he could lead us to victory."
The three operators looked at each other uneasily. After a brief silence, Cat spoke up.
"Fine, we'll let him in but if he can't cut it we got no reason to keep him around, agreed?" she said to the Navis.
"Agreed," Blitz told her operator. With that, the holographic display shut off.
Nat looked uneasily at the three operators until Pryce extended his hand. "Well then…I suppose we should get better acquainted," he said, now with a friendlier demeanor. Nat gingerly took his hand and shook it. "My name is 'Pryce'. This is 'Cat' and 'Max'."
The two others still looked somewhat resistant but Cat likewise came over to shake Nat's hand. "We are the 'New Dawn Net Resistance'," she explained. "We serve two functions: to oppose the WWW's control of the Net and to offer refuge to Navis trying to escape the extermination forces."
"Our storage servers here offer a place for operator-less NetNavis to remain, safe from deletion by the WWW," Max continued. He pointed to the large server in the corner of the room. "The resistance force has been in place for years."
Nat nodded. "I'm assuming those were your Navis," he said to the group.
"Yeah," Pryce said. "The one with the long coat is 'Faze' and he's mine. The one with the minigun is 'Blitz' and she belongs to Cat. And the big guy with the minotaur head is 'Minos' and Max is his operator. The Net underground is the only place where you'll see custom Navis like that."
"It places us in danger to have customized Navis but…we stick with what we believe in, even if it's risky," Max said. "We won't let the WWW hold us down."
"I had heard of this group in the news…but they made you seem much larger in the past," Nat said thoughtfully.
"We have multiple chapters around the world…however, in this region our numbers have fallen thanks to aggressive efforts by the WWW," Cat said with a twinge of regret in her voice. "Their influence on the Net is too great and…we have been the ones to suffer. If we don't put an end to the WWW soon, there won't be enough of us to fight back."
"Xe has been operating as a reconnaissance Navi for the past 20 years. He's worked for numerous New Dawn chapters in helping to undermine the WWW," Pryce said. "We believe he is the key to our success in taking back the Net but his refusal to find a new operator has hindered us."
"Xe is an intelligent Navi who has seen many things during his time on the run from the WWW. He's gained a lot of experience but to take back the Net, he needs a competent operator to help him," Max told Nat. "That's why you're here. It's taken him over a hundred years but he may finally have found someone who can support him in the real world."
Nat looked at the three operators. He was overwhelmed with the idea he had been called up to help the resistance. He looked down at his PET and contemplated.
"I'll help you," Nat said after some thought. "However, I need experience in net battles. My NetNavi was never qualified to participate in net battles so I have never done it before."
"Well, that's why Xe said you should come to us, I assume," Cat said. She walked over to one of the terminals along the edge of the room and entered some commands on the keyboard. "We have a viral battle simulator on these machines. We keep copies of viruses on here to further perfect our net battling skills and to better synchronize with our Navis."
As Cat set up the simulator, Max walked over to the opposite wall and pressed a switch, revealing a hidden closet full of metal briefcases. He took one out and opened it for Nat to see. Inside was a vast collection of PET chips. "These are 'clean' battle chips," he told Nat. "These are battle chips that aren't regulated by the WWW so you'll be able to use them on the Net without the WWW knowing they were being used. We've managed to amass a large collection of these from help of various underground members."
Nat pulled out a few of the chips and looked at them. They had labels like 'Sword Y' and 'Vulcan1 G'.
"Nat, the program's ready," Cat called him over. "Xe is already in the system. Jack your PET in and you can begin operating him."
Nat plugged his PET into the terminal and it immediately lit up with battle information. Readouts of things such as Xe's status, logistical operating information, and slots for chips were displayed on the PET's screen. In the center of the screen a live display of Xe was shown and standing opposite him were some virtual Mettaur viruses.
"What happens now?" Nat asked.
"You're in control, Nat," Xe told him. "I'll battle the viruses, you supply me with instructions on how to battle and equip battle chips."
"The difficulty in the simulator is set to '2'," Cat said. "There are 10 difficulty settings. We'll get you up to level 10. After that we can have some real fun."
"Alright…" Nat said nervously. He looked at the PET and set the battle range to 'mid' and then inserted two Cannon chips. "Ready to go, Xe…" Nat said as he sent the chips into Xe.
Inside the simulator, Xe analyzed the three Mettaur viruses. They stared back at him with their beady eyes from beneath their shiny yellow hardhats. The closest Mettaur moved into position and raised a pickaxe. When it hit the ground, a shockwave emerged from the point of impact.
"Here we go…" Xe said quietly. He leapt over the shockwave and peppered the Mettaur with Buster shots. Xe shifted his weight and set down out of line with the first Mettaur. As he landed, the second Mettaur took a position in front of Xe and launched another shockwave. Xe's arm transformed into a cannon as he leapt over the second shockwave. As he remained airborne, he aimed his cannon and destroyed the Mettaur virus in one shot. The Mettaur evaporated into data fragments as Xe's arm returned to normal.
"Yes!" Nat said from the real world as he watched Xe battle. The third Mettaur had Xe lined up for a shockwave but Xe, reacting in an instant, transformed his arm into a cannon again and returned fire before the Mettaur could even bring down its pickaxe. As it disintegrated, Xe began to glow and a pink halo began floating around him.
"Impressive," Pryce said while observing. "Xe scored a counter hit."
"Counter?" Nat asked.
"Yeah. If your Navi takes out a virus right before they attack, they go into a mode called 'Full Synchro'," Pryce explained. "It ramps up the power of your next chip and makes it easier for you to score more counter hits. Your PET will indicate right before the enemy is about to attack and if you can hit it at that time, you stay in Full Synchro."
Nat nodded and returned his attention to the PET. He adjusted the range to point blank and loaded a Sword chip into the PET. Xe stood in front of the last Mettaur. He moved left and right in an effort to confuse the virus as he closed the gap to point blank range. As Nat watched Xe move in, he saw the Mettaur raise its pickaxe. At the same instant, the screen flashed in inverted colors and it appeared as it if had briefly paused. Nat immediately knew this was the indication that the virus was about to strike and that he could use the opportunity to score another counter. "Now!" he shouted at Xe. In a flash, Xe was standing in front of the virus and had cut through it faster than his operator could blink. It disintegrated and the simulator program ended.
"Hm…not bad for someone who's never operated in a net battle before," Pryce said when the simulator had completed. Nat was looking fairly excited as he reflected on his victory. "You actually got some talent." Pryce tapped his foot and raised his hand to his chin as if he was planning something. "Say…let's just skip the games, eh?"
"What are you suggesting?" Cat said with concern.
"Well, why do we need to put him through some simple trials? Anyone could look good at such a low difficulty," Pryce said with a smug look. "Let's put his operator skills to the ultimate test." Pryce took over the keyboard and entered some new commands into the terminal.
"No!" Max said when he saw what Pryce had activated. Onscreen the words 'Net Battle Simulator: Navi Battle' were displayed. "You want him to fight him with Faze?"
"Hey, why not? Let the greenhorn show us he can take the heat," Pryce said with a level of arrogance. "Come on, Nat, take me on in the arena."
"You want to fight him after only one battle?" Cat said. "What are you trying to prove?"
"Hey, let him answer, will ya?" Pryce said, continuing to flaunt his perceived superiority. "It was gonna happen sooner or later."
Nat nervously looked back and forth at the other operators. He glanced at his PET for guidance from Xe.
"What do you think, Xe?" he asked. "Do you think we should try?"
"Back when I was being operated by Lan, I'd be up for any challenge," Xe replied. "I'm ready if you think you can handle it."
Nat contemplated some more. I'm still kind of new at this but…I think I might be able to handle Pryce and Faze…what's there to lose? Nat thought. "Alright, you're on!" Nat said, full of confidence.
To be continued…