Creation
By, half-a-recess
Disclaimer: I do not own any Rockman.EXE characters or any characters from any other show, game or manga. That would be so freakin' cool if I did and maybe someday I will have a manga that I write, but it is not now. Thank you. bows
Yeah, I'm working on my I-can't-think-of-anything-right-now story in my spiral and I hope to get The Day's End updated pretty soon after I take care of… certain issues… coughboyfriendcoughbreakupcoughcough. I hate being the initiator of the separation, but I suppose it could be worse—I could be on his end of the situation. Ah! ENOUGH DRAMA!! You didn't come here to hear about drama; you came to hear about Red and what happens to him! So here we go!
h-a-r: poking toadstool with wand
toadstool: growls and barks like a Chihuahua
h-a-r: Ah! Link, kill it! PLEEEAAAASSSEEE!!
Special thanksez so far:
Marshmellow Dragon—thank you for helping me with my predicament, for being my first reviewer, for making me excited enough to write future chapters! You don't know how happy you made me! Thank you!
Necklace of Raindrops—I deffinately enjoyed your review! I'm so happy that you read my story and hope that you continue to read it! After seeing your review my brain began working again on contemplating where to pick up on the story! Thanks bunches!
Serenade of Light—I literally jumped for joy when I saw your review (my little sisters are my witnesses)! Thank you very much for taking the time to review to my story! I hope very much that I will not let you down! I'll try my best! Arigatou! (is that right? I'm not good at Japanese) P.S. You caught me completely off guard!
Chapter 4
Red's mind was racing. Everything was so exciting! Red had to find out about his creation by pestering Trill until she got annoyed enough to tell him the entire story, but even still he had no idea that he was connected to Net City and the Undernet this much. In fact in a way he had to be a part of Net City just as the Undernet was. Perhaps that was why he got to contribute to this mission. Arrow, who as Trill had explained didn't talk very much at all, had actually suggested that he was the one who fought all the way to the Grand Council in order to get Red on the list to explore Net City.
Red suspected that Arrow knew something that Red didn't and that Arrow was purposely withholding that information, but either way it didn't matter. Now Red was finding out all he needed to know, and somehow this all seemed so familiar… It felt like he knew all of this at one time but forgot all of it in a millisecond, the same way he felt about learning fighting skills. The strange dreams and the ghostlike memories that kept coming back to him like strange familiar shadows in a fog only made him ponder more about the true nature of his existence.
These were the kind of thoughts that Red was having in the nanosecond that it took him to be transported into the large, grey rectangular room. Now he faced the tests.
---
"This is not just a test on a virus-blocking program, Mr. Hammel, sir," Dr. Hikari told the ISRDC manager. True, the labs belonged to Dr. Hikari as did many of the projects conducted in them, but the organization was run by Mr. Hammel, a tall, dark American brunette with salt and pepper hair and a hard exterior. Mr. Hammel continued to watch the monitor on which was displayed a boy dressed in strange red armor who was standing in a dull grey rectangular room. Dr. Hikari continued, "This, my good man, is a virus–destroyer, a program that can analyze complex situations and take necessary action to actually obliterate viruses with means of provided weapons." Dr. Hikari knew that this man was all about objects that would grant power, and the only way to help Net City was to appeal to the man's hunger.
"Very well," he said in a bored manner. "You may begin the tests."
---
The first group was simple: a group of Level 1 Metool viruses. Still, they would get annoying if left to their own devices, so Red leapt swiftly over their shock waves and made a long horizontal slice, destroying them in one blow. No sooner had he done that than a group of viruses he had never encountered before appeared. They looked like jellyfish, so Red took a wild guess and went with the assumption that they were water-type and again hit them with his sword.
"This is mildly interesting, though I do not see the point in putting in graphics like a video game," Mr. Hammel said, resting on his cane.
"Inserting graphics would have been a waste of precious time and money," Dr. Hikari replied, turning towards Mr. Hammel and watching him carefully. "That is why I didn't insert them."
In a manner of disbelief the man turned back to face the screen as he watched Red narrowly dodge a spider-like virus that nearly dropped from the ceiling on top of the him before he destroyed it with the quick shot of an arm-cannon. The boy seemed so life-like as he drew deep breaths.
"What do you mean, you didn't install the graphics?" the man asked.
Dr. Hikari mentally sighed. He had hoped he would be able to avoid these questions, but he did have to tell the whole truth for the most part. "Apparently, these are not 'graphics', but rather they are the actual form viruses take. Or is it virii…"
Mr. Hammel ignored the old doctor's trailing statement, used to his thinking out loud about random things. "Do you mean it is like the video telephone?"
Dr. Hikari almost laughed at the words "video telephone", but caught himself as he remembered that not only were there significantly fewer of these new types of phones that transported sound and video at the same time in the U.S. than in Japan, Mr. Hammel was American (obvious in his thick accent) and that was the only way to describe his thoughts to a native speaker. Instead Dr. Hikari replied simply, "Yes, I suppose that is quite an accurate assimilation."
"Then this means that we look into another world, yes?" Mr. Hammel asked, almost bursting out of his emotional shell in his excitement, but remaining on borderline.
Dr. Hikari winced at the foreign accent and use of less proper grammatical structure which grew thicker by the second with the man's energy, but luckily the man never noticed the wince as he was much too infatuated with the computer monitor to do more than process the words that Dr. Hikari was feeding him. "That is what Net City is, Mr. Hammel—another world that connects directly to ours so that we can fix and protect ourselves. Everything happening in the internet happened through means of text, but now things have become visually true. Things have switched from one dimension to three."
"Yes, yes," Mr. Hammel replied distantly.
You just barely wriggled out of that one… Dr. Hikari thought to himself.
---
This wasn't too hard. Most of the viruses were of a kind he had never before encountered, but many were low-level and quite stupid compared to those of Abyssian territory. He had been taught by Arrow in private training sessions (which were always random and mysterious considering Arrow didn't "give a damn" about mostly everyone) that viruses were vicious or sly or quick depending on the type, but rarely, if ever, were viruses completely stupid. This logic was different in Net City where a virus would stand still and almost allow a Navi to delete it because it couldn't think of anything. On top of that, in this pace if a Navi ran away after attacking, the virus was very likely to forget that the Navi was ever there rather than looking to destroy its attacker. Where Red lived for the past four months viruses were to be taken seriously, not like here where they seemed to be things that one played with like cats with mice. Like humans with Navis.
Red angrily brushed the random thought away like so many other hateful thoughts that would pop up or the sudden bursts of rage in the pit of his soul, both of which he fought very hard to keep hidden, but the more he attempted to keep them at bay, the more often they happened. All of a sudden a spider virus dropped from the ceiling and Red dodged it, narrowly avoiding one if its sharp claws. But as he brought his sword through it he began to feel strange and everything went black.
---
"What's happening? I can barely see his movements anymore," Mr. Hammel said, leaning so far forward on his cane that Dr. Hikari thought the man might fall into the computer monitor, but seeing as the man showed no signs of losing balance, Dr. Hikari focused on the issue at hand.
"I honestly don't know," the old doctor admitted. "Perhaps we should wait and see what happens. It may be a glitch that we will have to work out of any future models."
"Future models?" the man asked, eyes still wide with greed as he continued to watch the invisible and wild slashes that split virus after virus in half with a hard-working computer attempting to continue generating viruses at a fast enough rate to keep up with the rate of destruction.
"Yes," Dr. Hikari nodded. "I believe it would be best to begin creating these programs to serve humans on the internet. Each person can have a personal Internet Navigator, or NetNavi as they would be called. That way we could actually end up making money on this project. Perhaps we can even alter their personalities to prevent them from going out of control due to their complex nature. Ah, come to think of it, that would make more people buy them in the first place, wanting a custom NetNavi for their child—a custom friend…" Dr. Hikari drifted off, his eyes twinkling as he imagined that these beings would actually be appreciated for bettering society. But then again, Dr. Hikari also wished for a utopia and such things could not be so in the real world.
---
Red ran along narrow corridors looking for something. He couldn't see himself, but it was definitely supposed to be his body. Flashing light and screaming alarms indicated the facility was in trouble, and though he had no idea where he was headed, his body obviously did as it carried him purposefully through automatic doors and flashing hallways, down stairwells and down rumbling elevators, across gaps and through holes that used to be walls. He was getting closer. There wasn't much time left. He jumped over a dark pit that gaped like a mouth attempting to suck him in and almost succeeding as he slipped and almost missed the other side, barely landing on the edge. He wouldn't let anyone know he almost fell to his death, though. It would take away from his image. Why couldn't he run any faster? He mentally cursed God with all his might at his misfortune as he continued on, begging for something to boost his speed. Why couldn't the clocks just temporarily slow down and give him more time? He must find him… I must find…
---
Red gasped awake. The viruses had stopped appearing and he was utterly spent. He had never had any of the dreams in that much detail. Often they were spliced things that made no sense as a whole. This one was logical. And it happened when he was awake. He almost shivered at the feeling of being in some other body. Then, the silence was broken by the sound of alarms and the flashing of red lights.
"Red," Dr. Hikari's voice said. Red turned to look at the newly formed floating monitor. "We're being attacked in the center of the city and it has caused a blackout in almost the entire northern half of the city! If it isn't stopped soon, it will spread and the human world will be in great danger! I'm sorry to have to ask this of you, but there isn't any other option. Can you stop it?"
"Yes, I think so," Red replied not wanting to let the kind doctor down, though he really had no clue as to whether he could put an end to it by himself or not considering he had not even seen the situation. "But I am lower on energy that I would like," Red admitted, slightly embarrassed at having to ask for energy during a crisis like this.
"Oh, yes," Dr. Hikari replied. "I found out from the data collected during your battle the when things are deleted on the Net they sometimes leave behind concentrated energy, correct? Well, I also discovered how to collect this energy immediately in the moment of a virus' deletion to make it in concentrated form. Here, try some."
A large green capsule appeared beside Red and he turned to stare at it in awe as he stood in its green glow. He had come across this energy before, but they were small capsules about the size of minibombs. This one was almost as tall as himself and when he touched it he felt as though he could go through ten more testing sessions, for he had not refilled on energy since before the run across the Undernet.
"Now I will warp you to the trouble point on one condition," Dr. Hikari said as Red straightened up.
"Name it," Red nodded to the scientist.
"You must return here when you are done," the doctor said.
"Or else what?" Red asked neither threateningly not rebelliously.
"Or else I will face grave consequences," Dr. Hikari replied, meeting the eyes of the Navi.
"It will be done," Red answered, bowing before he felt the familiar sensation of being transported to another area.
When Red was gone only Dr. Hikari's lonely monitor was left, hovering a few feet above the ground. He hoped with all of his worth that Red would come back. Not only would the Navi be able to teach them so much, and not only would they have at least one friend from that world, but his secret of being sentient would be kept safe. Red had no idea, but the idea of something other than a human being having free will and intelligent thoughts was extremely debatable and even feared by most humans. Luckily, Dr. Hikari tended to surround himself during these projects with scientists who were either completely open to all ideas like those, or people who firmly believed it was possible. He clutched the pouch in his pocket for reassurance. He would never again allow a sentient being to be so emotionally scarred, so afraid of their own emotions that they withdrew from the world, or doubted what they fought for in the end, or watched it all happen not even sure they were feeling the sadness and the pain. Sometimes a protector needed to be protected.
"Be safe," he whispered before the glowing window disappeared, leaving nothing but the flashing lights in a dull grey room.
---
Arrow slipped silently through the narrow alleyways between the skybound buildings hearing nothing but a small whisper of the presence of the other thirty-five Navis who darted through similar pathways nearby. Arrow brought them to a stop holding up his hand and waiting as the silent message was passed around. He beckoned Trill to come closer so he could talk.
"Has Trace recovered enough yet?" he asked the female Navi.
"Yes, he thinks so," she replied. "We just have to make sure this is the right building before we enter. Stealth will only be easy for him in one shot; otherwise we might be detected immediately upon entry as other systems become aware that there has been an entry."
"Right, have Sonnet search for his track—"
"Sonnet is with the rebellion group," Trill said, though she was more interested with scraping off the spot of lime green nail polish that she had painted her nails with earlier that day when the group had stopped for a break.
"Trio?"
"Absent."
"Matt?"
"Nope."
"Anthony?"
"We have no Anthony, sir," she said, giving him a strange glance. She only said "sir" in an I-call-you-sir-because-you're-male tone rather than one of respect. Of course this was the tone Trill tended to take with everyone because she treated even her enemies with a friendly and casual manner. If it wasn't for her charm and the way she displayed her emotions and flaunted her use of body language, she would have gotten in trouble many times over with the Grand Council, but naturally no such thing happened to her.
"Just seeing if you were paying attention to me," Arrow replied.
"Since you always have to be in the spotlight," Trill countered, still trying to coax the bright polish off the side of her finger without messing up the rest of her nails.
"Lime green?" Arrow cocked a hidden eyebrow. "Really, Trill of all the colors you could have picked, you chose lime green?"
"Yes, I did!" she shot. "I have the right to wear any color of nail polish I want! At least I have the sense not to wear bright pink!" She made a face at the mention of the color on her.
Arrow reached over and tugged on a strand of her hair as he stood up. "Go get Trace. I'll check if this is the building for sure."
"Yeah, yeah," Trill muttered as she brushed the offending hand away. Then she turned on her heel as she set off through the narrow alleyways at a silent jog.
Arrow walked out into the open area near the building. Well, nothing was shooting him, so that meant that either Red hadn't alerted the security systems, or there weren't any. What am I thinking? I'll just go ahead and admit it-- it's the latter. This would be so much easier if there was dirt or sand of some sort, but the strange blue tiles showed nothing, not even scorch marks of the battle earlier as the city had already regenerated. As he scanned the area he realized that there was an anomaly. All of the buildings should have shown up on the scan as green because they were made up of regular data and regular systems. This building showed up as purple, indicating that the systems had a significant amount of data inside and it was made up of different data altogether—the same type as the Undernet. This mystery data was normally found deep in the farthest reaches of the world and made things by itself. In a way the data was almost sentient. And the Undernet was made of it, giving the landscape the ability to change form all the time and move every so often like a person in its sleep. It was like how the ocean was alive as one being that was made up of others. Sort of like God—Gitten—although this data belonged to him as well like the ocean. Hmm… Interesting, but better stay on track…
Strangely enough, this building, into which Red was said to have gone, was made of this strange data… The same data that Red was made up of, in fact. Arrow was not sure if anyone else was able to see mystery data, but he strongly hoped that no one could. Red's secret must be kept secret even to him. The Grand Council certainly had the idea that Red's data contained a large amount of secrets behind the Undernet that could only be explained if his memories could be accessed because even though Red had no clue, his id—his inner-mind that knew the full truth about him—held the key to many things that the Grand Council wanted answers for. Luckily, they had not made a move, so Arrow had some breathing room and thought that maybe they wouldn't think of examining Red's mind.
As for the building, there didn't seem to be any signs of Red entering it, but then again there didn't seem to be any signs of anything in this place. Even if Arrow observed the data spilled by wounded Navis it wouldn't really help. In the Abyss he could always track Red after a battle by traces of the strange data that he left behind because his data didn't seem to have the will to bond with the network, but everyone's data seemed to bond to this place and help heal it like a black hole pulling in everything that floats randomly, bad or good, because this place was made of neither; therefore it was made of both. Still, this had to be the building that Red entered because if Arrow was correct—and he certainly thought so with confidence because confidence in his first impulses often made him right—when Red was searching for cover (which he did often) he must have unknowingly been drawn to this building in particular because his soul sensed it to be the safest place seeing as their data was the same. That hunch would have to be proof enough, Arrow realized as Trill was making her way back, tugging on Trace's ear. Arrow sighed, this would get interesting.
---
Red heard the explosions and the clank of swords on metal as soon as he materialized in between two buildings in the city's center. Certainly there must be some higher-level viruses in order to make this level of devastation. Readying his buster cannon he slipped carefully towards the noise in hopes that he would be able to pick some of them off before he was forced to approach them as a group.
"It isn't even fighting back, this is too easy," a voice said.
Red froze. Viruses couldn't talk. They had no language.
"Tch!" came another from nearby. "I would have enjoyed a little action!"
They were Navis… Net City didn't have Navis, so they must be a part of the Abyssian force, but what were they doing attacking the city? It made no sense they weren't supposed to be attacking it. Furthermore, this would take more than just cheap buster-shots. Navis were capable of intelligent thought and would realize where they were being attacked from. To destroy them all it would take skill and speed, which Red had, but the problem was so did they, and to further the problem many of them probably had more than Red. Although Red was a fair fighter and not really a Navi to be taken lightly, he was quite lacking in experience whereas most of the other Navis on the team had a lot to brag about in that area. Not only that, but Red had to take into account that he was obviously outnumbered and that he would be a traitor if he attacked them. Still, they were attacking Net City and somehow it… hurt him. He could feel in the back of his mind a panic at his only link to finding out the truth disappearing before him. There was no question of whether Red would go through with this. He had no choice.
Taking his chances he stepped out into plain view of all the Navis. They numbered around fifteen, some of them standing on the ground shooting at a large glowing cylinder which was suspended in the air, but most were leaping at it and striking with their swords sort of making it into a sport. All of a sudden a green-clad Navi which had scaled a tall building and jumped over the power source, slicing the top of it on his way, continued sailing, unaware that his jump was aimed at another Navi until it was too late. It happened so fast, Red didn't realized what he had done at first.
"Woah, watch out!" exclaimed the Navi, Alliance, Red briefly remembered. Without thinking Red replaced his buster with a sword and swiftly sliced vertically, cutting through the Navi's insignia. The Navi disappeared in a shower of blue data and everyone turned towards the newcomer.
"…Red?" one of the Navis asked. "Where've you been? Arrow might get worried if you don't find your way back to the group."
His tone was not friendly. It dripped with malice, and even though the Navi did not move towards Red he did ready his sword threateningly. Red had never liked the Navi, whose name was Brach. It was something about that buff figure that had practically no neck which made him appear as aggressive as he really was.
"Shouldn't you be headed back?" he ordered more than asked. Again his voice carried the cruel tone that Red despised. Red had always disliked Brach, and Brach had always disliked Red. It was an agreement they had from the first day in the cafeteria. Now, they were away from the watchful eyes of Arrow, Trill, and Gale, and there was no stopping them from letting lose. Still, Red knew that Brach would not fight him one-on-one even though Brach had a fair chance of winning. Brach liked to gang up on his prey and make a Navi pay for mercy.
"They want you to stop," Red said shortly.
"Hah! A little traitor!" exclaimed Brach amusedly earning some threatening laughs from the other thirteen.
Traitor… Traitor… A traitor is what you are and what you will always be… Said a voice in his head that he didn't recognize. No, Red thought back, feeling slightly dizzy. He had never heard someone else's voice in his head other than his own. I'm not a traitor… I'm not… The voice replied, Yes, you are… and you know it… Show them. Betray them… You must. You must show them… yesss… You must. Show them. Betray. YOU MUST!
"What's wrong? Did I hurt your feelings?" Brach taunted.
"Stop, no…" Red moaned, grasping his aching head. No, this was not the way he wanted to take care of this!
DESTROY! BETRAY! YOU MUST! KILL! SLAUGHTER! DEATH IS YOURS TO COMMAND! KILL DESTROY SLAUGHTER KILL DESTROY SLAUGHTER…
Red didn't even realize what he did, nor did he have any remorse. His eyes became pits of anger which carried nothing but hatred in their crimson depths. It wasn't his body. He couldn't think, speak, or control anything. All he could see was through tunnel vision. One moment Brach was standing taunting him, the next Red was upon him, a sword piercing the insignia. As everyone stared in shock Red allowed the once powerful body to fall to the ground like a rag doll, and then Red's body performed an unspeakable act. He held out a hand and grasped the splitting data and willed it so strongly towards himself that he absorbed it, adding it to his own strength.
---
Red dashed through the long corridors with the flashing lights once again. He must find Him. He must. But everyone was dead or dying dead… all dead… And whose fault was it?
---
So slow… they were all so slow, these Navis. Ignorant in the ways of battle. They were defenseless. They had no strategy. They could not dodge, parry, defend, attack like he could. They never stood a chance. Another sweep. Gazelle was gone in a shower of blue cubes. She belonged to him.
---
His… The fault was his… He could not warn them. He could not help them. None of them stood a chance. He should have been there, but he was not. He was out following fake leads. He had to find Him… He could not be dead like the rest.
---
So simple. Killing was so simple. In fact, it was comical how simple it was. Red had never thought of something so funny in his life. He began to laugh and laugh. It was not his laugh though. It was strained and crackling and maniacal, like something transmitted with a terrible signal that didn't quite come in. Two sweeps. Six more Navis fell. Seedpod, Mika, Splitter, Charley, Pat, Shaze… all his now.
---
But these people are my friends, Red thought. Stopping in the middle of the hallway. This was the first time he could control anything, even the thoughts of this body. "No," the body spoke to him. Yet again this was a first. The person whose body he shared in these visions had never spoken to him before. "Your friends are dead," he said coldly. "All but one of your friends are all gone. He may even be gone. If we don't find Him soon, He will be gone for sure. You are no one. You have no friends, no purpose. You were made out of war and for war. Now you have lost. There is no reason to live. Except for Him. You must find Him. Even if you have no more purpose in this world, He does. And you will give Him that chance."
---
"Wait, but who…" Red began, but he found he was in his own world again. Suddenly he felt drained and sick at what he had just done. This was taboo. He could feel nothing but disgust. As he grew weaker he finally fell to his knees, bent forward and retched. Panting, he realized, though it still shocked him, causing him to heave and gag at the very thought, that there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it. He wouldn't tell the others what he had done. He couldn't. What would they think? Trill would never speak to him again. It hurt him just to think about it. She was the first real friend he had, and he could lose her in an instant over something that was beyond his control. She would be disgusted at the sight of him. So he wouldn't tell them.
Red stood shakily and prepared to activate the link back to the Science Labs. In the nanoseconds that he glowed with a white light before disappearing he came to a sudden realization about his truth. He had no idea what he was. He was not a Navi at all. He was not even a monster…
What was he?
---
Gale opened her eyes. Where was she? This was an odd place to be. The room she was in was quite grand. It was clean and classical and roomy, yet it had a sort of modern set to it making things seem strangely out of place. Perhaps it was something about the metal panel of a door that gave it all away or maybe it was just strange because none of it was hers. Well, she thought, maybe some of the things in there were truly hers. She couldn't remember three days ago. Little did she know, she had the same experience seven days before that, three weeks before that, all trailing back to four months ago when things started getting really bad.
Gale could not remember her own name, but she did know she cringed mentally when those people that knew her called her that. Nothing in this set-up was right. She was not where she was supposed to be at all. There were too many things she was supposed to be doing that she apparently usually did, but lately she had neither the energy nor the memory for her work. Arrow… Somehow that name stuck in her mind. She didn't know why, of course, but when she woke up three days ago he was the only thing that she could remember relatively clearly. Both the name and the person greatly annoyed her—the name more than the actually person, though they were almost evenly matched in her dislike—but he was the only one who came to actually visit, to check and see if she was improving any, if she was comfortable, if she needed anything from the market while he was out, if she was clean (that was awkward and embarrassing every time he asked), not to deliver papers that needed her signature.
So, naturally he was the only one she trusted. Often when she thought of him it seemed like she remembered him from a strange dream she had once had, but then again she could never remember any of her dreams at all, so why would the memory of him stick with her? Unconsciously she began to fold the covers of her bed. Then, wrinkling her nose at the thought she stripped it of its sheets and dumped them down the laundry shoot. Taking in the scent of fresh sheets from the cabinet she made the bed all over again. After all, what else was there to do? The room was as clean as it would ever be, there weren't any papers to sign anymore, and something told her it would be a while before Arrow would come back. She could only hope her memory would hold out until then. She sat on the bed and watched the sun set as she twisted her locks of red curly hair around her fingers.
---
Red's data particles reassembled themselves inside the networks of the labs where he had first talked to all of the scientists as a group. Of, course this new sight that greeted his eyes made his stomach give an uneasy jolt, but he managed to fight it back down though he did visibly flinch. Instead of standing inside the glass tube from before, he landed in a room with a life-size screen of the human world. And in this room stood the army of Abyssian soldiers with Arrow standing front and center, his arms crossed and a deep frown on his face as he stared Red down. Suddenly Trill popped up and broke the tension temporarily.
"Well, it's about time you showed up!" she said, crossing her arms like Arrow.
"Ah, I…" Red began, but soon trailed off under Arrow's intense glare.
"I have already been informed of the situation," Arrow said flatly. "Dr. Hikari and I have been enjoying a nice long chat while you were out… taking care of the rebellion group. Tell me, Red, did you have fun in those little tests that they ran?"
"I, uh…" Red muttered as he looked at his feet. He knew the question was rhetorical, but he still felt he should fill the gap in the pause. Red kept praying over and over in his mind that Arrow had not mysteriously found out about what exactly happened in the battle with the Navis. Who knew what would happen to him then?
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it," he said furiously, though his voice remained calm, "Cuz you're sure in for hell when you get back."
Red squinted his eyes shut and bowed his head in shame. "Y-yes, sir."
"What were, you thinking? You could have been killed! Of all the irresponsible things you could do, you just chose to throw your life away like that!"
"Yes, sir."
"Do you even realize how lucky you are that these humans didn't terminate you immediately? What if we couldn't find you? Of all the things, really! Come on, kid! Use your head!"
"With all due respect, sir," Red muttered, "can you continue to yell at me after we get home?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," he said as he threw his hands up in the air. Red had never seen Arrow act like this. When Arrow was angry he got violent, but he was acting exasperated. It was almost like he was nervous. "Oh, sure we can talk if we get home!"
"What?" Red asked in a shocked tone, forgetting formalities.
"Oh, yes," he said tapping his chin, "did I forget to tell you that you walked in right in the middle of a negotiation?"
"A negotiation?" Red asked, beginning to feel dizzy.
"Yes," Arrow said, taking a step closer towards Red. "We are attempting to negotiate for our freedom. Look what your stupidity has cost us."
"I…" Red couldn't even look Arrow in the face and simply held his head in shame.
"Please, Arrow," Dr. Hikari said tentatively. "I did not say that Mr. Hammel would not let you go for sure. Please, let me see if there isn't something I could do! I may be able to fix this. No, I'm sure I can! We can think of something—"
"Silence, human," Arrow snapped. "How is it that you can never seem to keep to yourselves? This 'Mr. Hammel' is not taking any of us!"
"Actually," a voice said as a dark-haired man stepped from the shadows. "That is not your call. You see, I run things here and I decide what does and does not happen. Either one of you stays or none of you go. That is my final answer."
"I will not abandon any of my soldiers," Arrow growled.
"Loyalty," the man said quietly. "What would a simple program such as you know about that? You have neither feelings nor emotions. You are made up of advanced data that can make decisions, but you will never be alive."
Trill took a step forward, ready to prove the man otherwise, but Arrow threw out an arm to stop her.
"I will stay," Red said suddenly, causing everyone to stare at him. "I caused this whole mess. This is my fault. I will be the one to pay the price."
"No, you won't," Arrow began, but Red cut him off.
"This is my doing," Red said shakily. "Let me take responsibility for it."
"No, you won't be staying here," Arrow repeated in a tone that said 'don't argue with me or I'll tear you apart and feed your bleeding remains to a spikey virus'. "Because I will be the one to stay."
Red's head snapped up, and gasps and angry murmuring came from the group of Navis at this suggestion. "No…"
"Trill, take them out through the north end of the city and you know where to go from there," he told the small blue Navi.
Clearly he was not accepting arguments of any kind. Trill looked smaller than ever as she sadly nodded to him. Red couldn't help but notice how strangely delicate and feminine she appeared all of a sudden—so small and breakable.
"I will," she said quietly. Then catching Arrow off-guard, she reached up and pulled him into a tight embrace, pulling him down again to kiss his cheek before fully breaking apart. She stepped back and her eyes never left Arrow as she logged herself and all of the other Navis into Net City. Red could not believe that this would be the last time that he might see Arrow, but in his heart he knew that it was probably true. Trill never would have kissed Arrow whether it be on the lips or cheeks or even jokingly on a hand no matter how much she longed to and no matter how much everyone, including Arrow, knew that she wished to. She would never have professed her love of her commanding officer to anyone, especially to said commanding officer. But Trill had done what she would never do. Therefore, Arrow would not be coming back. These were Red's only thoughts as the last of his frame pixilated out with all of the others.
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END CHAPTER 4
AN: Ummm… yeah, so I stopped putting the date and time and place because to tell you the truth I got tired of it. I'm thinking that maybe it brings away from the storyline just a little bit. I began putting them in the first chapter because I felt that it was necessary for the reader to understand that these things were all going on at once, but now I really don't have much need for them because the dates and times will kind of take care of themselves now. I'll bring them back if it bothers anybody that they're gone, but otherwise they're permanently gone. I don't think I'll go back to change the other chapter formats to fit this one unless someone tells me that they would like that.
So, yeah, how'd you like it? I hope I haven't let anybody down yet! Well, besides the fact that I have been so long in updating the story. If everything goes as planned I should have the next chapter up faster than I did this one because I already have some idea of what I'm going to write. Ah, the early hours of the morning do suit me well. Even though I think I have the idea of what comes next, I'm still open to opinions and ideas! This is not something that has to go in one straight line (not that it is anyway)! I'm always open to these things and my ideas can change very easily. Oh, and I forgot to mention this: Just because I'm lazy doesn't mean that I won't go back and change things in previous chapters that anyone feels really should be changed because I will if someone really wishes it! Thanks muchly!
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Suggestions?