Chapter 2 – The Announcement

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?"

The entire classroom was stunned by the announcement that Ms. Mari gave to them. They could not believe what they were hearing. Not only was this a huge surprise, but it presented a once in a lifetime opportunity to see some of the best technology in this day in age.

"That's right everyone. We will be taking a field trip to the Science Labs here in DenTech City. Dr. Yuichiro Hikari himself setup the field trip, and he will be our guide while we are there," Ms. Mari explained to the class. "The field trip will be tomorrow at 9:00am. We will be meeting up at the front gate of SciLab. Make sure you are not late!"

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"Wow! That is the coolest," an overly excited Dex exclaimed to Maylu, Yai, and Tory. "We will actually get to see SciLab! I am totally psyched!"

Maylu and Yai just looked at each other, giving the other a giggle. For Dex, it was something that didn't happen too often. However, for Maylu and Yai, since they were always so close to Lan almost all the time, they saw the inside of SciLab on almost a daily basis. It wasn't as exciting to those two as it was to Dex.

"Dex, the only thing that is really exciting there right now is some secret project that Lan's dad is working on. We've seen everything else," said the small girl within the group. Yai was a very popular girl. Her father was the president of AyanoTech, the multi-billion dollar software company. While she is "popular" in her own right, she really only talks to Lan, Maylu, Dex, and Tory.

"Huh? What secret project? Is Dr. Hikari making something new," Maylu inquired. Tory and Dex were also quite intrigued by what Yai had said. They all knew that Lan's father was the head scientist at SciLab, and he was responsible for creating many things that were used, such as the SynchroChip that Lan and Chaud use to perform CrossFusion.

"Yeah. I heard that this new project that SciLab is working on will revolutionize how NetNavis and humans interact with each other. In fact, it is said it will be even more advanced than the hologram projectors on our PETs," Yai continued. "It's going to be cool to see what this new system is!"

"Miss Yai. Your schedule says that it is almost time for your writing lessons. May I suggest that you proceed home so that you are not late," called a voice from Yai's purse. Yai immediately looked at her right shoulder to see Glide's hologram appear.

"Glide! Can't you see that I am in the middle of giving out some important information here?"
"My apologies, Miss Yai. I am just reminding you."
"A girl's allowed to change her mind."
"Absolutely, Miss Yai."

Maylu couldn't help but giggle inside a little bit at Glide's 100 percent obedience to Yai. Most NetNavis would have probably got into an argument with their NetOp if they, the NetOp, talked like Yai did. But, Glide seemed to be programmed to follow Yai's every single instruction, down to the letter, as well as agree with her like some corporate yes-man. Yup. Glide sure was one loyal NetNavi.

"Has anyone seen Lan? He disappeared after school," said an observant Maylu. Indeed, Lan did disappear. Normally, Lan would have stayed with the group after school and talked a little bit. More often than not, they would have left the school's courtyard and headed for Yai's house for some NetBattling, or just talking and letting their NetNavis hang out in Net City.

"That is strange. Normally, he is right here with us, waiting to beat Dex in some NetBattles," Tory said. However, Dex wasn't going to take a comment like that sitting down. "What do you mean 'beat Dex in some NetBattles'? I beat Lan quite a few times, you know," Dex retorted at Tory.

"Yeah, but those were before Lan got Megaman. Since then, you haven't won a single match against him," Yai said to Dex, with a hint of amusement in her voice. Dex, on the other hand, did not see the amusement of the comment, and quickly gave Yai a glare. "Don't give me that look! You know it's true," Yai continued, even though she knew that Dex was becoming agitated by her comments. She actually found it funny that Dex would get so worked up over a few comments, even though he knew, and those around him, knew they were true. But, it was something that he never really wanted to admit.

"…" Dex was at a loss for words. All he could manage was a small groan before we looked away and appeared to go into a state of thought. This appearance was reinforced when he blurted out of nowhere, "do you think Lan knows what this new project is, exactly? I mean, he is the son of the man developing it."

"Hmmm…maybe he does. Dex does make a good point," Tory concluded.
"Yeah. Dr. Hikari tells Lan about almost everything that happens at SciLab," Maylu agreed.
"I'm almost sure that he knows something," Yai stated, in agreement with Maylu and Tory.

The four children then looked at each other and burst out into laughter. They knew that if Lan knew about it, THEY would know about it. Lan was never good at keeping really big secrets…well…secret. He was barely able to keep his identity as a NetSaver a secret for more than 2 weeks before Maylu was able to catch on. If Lan knew what this secret project was that his father was working on, the four of them knew that Lan would have blurted it out to them at some point.

"Good one, Dex. You almost had me going there," Maylu exclaimed, still trying to get her laughter under control. Dex, Yai, and Tory, however, seemed to show no restraint. They continued to laugh without hesitation. Once they realized they were still laughing at the seemingly funny joke, the rest of the kids finally came to a haul in their laughter. Seemingly in unison, they all began to think about the question that Maylu has asked only a few moments earlier. 'Where is Lan? Did something happen?' They all then got an uneasy feeling in their stomachs.

This was highly unusual.

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Lan skated down the street, this time, at a more normal pace. He wasn't really concerned at the moment about leaving his friends at school, wondering what had happened to him. He actually didn't think twice about it. His main concern right now was getting to SciLab. A few days ago, during a NetSaver mission, a virus attack happened and sent a feedback pulse through the wireless connection between Megaman and Lan's PET. This pulse disrupted the holographic projector of the PET, disabling Megaman's ability to project himself as a miniature, translucent hologram on Lan's shoulder.

"Do you really think that your father will be able to fix the projector," Megaman's voice called out from the PET, still on Lan's arm.

"I hope so. He knows more about this kind of stuff than I do. And, besides, I have a backup plan in case he can't," Lan responded. Megaman was a little thrown off by this comment. He began to wonder what this 'backup plan' Lan had entailed. Did he plan on buying a new PET if it couldn't be fixed? Did he think Mr. Famous would be able to fix it? A few more questions crossed Megaman's mind when he finally came to a realization.

"If your dad can't fix it, you are going to take it to Chaud, aren't you," the Navi said through the speaker of his PET. This comment made Lan slow down a bit in his skating, almost as if he was in a state of quiet contemplation. Megaman took notice of this, and assumed that he was right in his guess that Chaud was plan B.

"Yeah. Since both SciLab and BlazeQuest Games worked on developing the Link PET, one of them has to know how to fix it. I just want to ask my dad first, since Chaud would probably say 'I am too busy to help you' or something like that," Lan said, with a small smile on his face.

Megaman let out a small laugh at Lan's comment. Sure enough, Chaud was like that. Unless it was something that had to do with the NetSavers, Chaud was normally too busy running his company to help Lan with anything like this. It just wasn't high on Chaud's priority list. He just wanted to make sure that his company would stay afloat in the market, considering that AyanoTech released information about a new development that might put BlazeQuest at a huge disadvantage. To Chaud, his life was almost nothing but business.

"Well, here we are. SciLab," Lan stated as he skated up to the front door.

He entered through the front door, and immediately saw none-other-than Chaud in the lobby. 'Chaud? Here? I wonder if he just came back from a mission,' Lan thought in his head. Normally, around this time, Chaud would be in some kind of meeting with a potential company that wants to enter into a contract with BlazeQuest, though Chaud rarely, if ever, accepted the proposals. He was overly confident that his company could handle any project that other companies came up with on their own.

"Hey, Chaud. What are you doing here," Lan asked in an inquisitive manner.

"I was asked to come here by your father. He said something about a new experiment he wanted me to be a part of," Chaud replied.

"Huh? Experiment? What kind?"
"I don't know. He didn't want to say much over the phone. He did, however, ask Chief Keifer and Manuela to come, as well.
"Hmmm…maybe it has something to do with the NetSavers."
"Maybe. I guess we will find out soon. Why are you here, Lan?"
"Oh, I need my PET fixed. The last mission I did messed up my holographic projector."

Chaud looked at Lan, and soon noticed that Megaman was not being projected has the translucent hologram that the PET would normally emit. Chaud couldn't smile inward at this. Rather, he let a small grin appear across his face as he let out a soft chuckle. "Leave it to Lan Hikari to mess up his own PET," he said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault. The virus I was attacking sent some kind of feedback pulse through the wireless connection between Megaman and the PET. It shorted something out inside it," Lan said, with obvious protest.

"Lan, calm down. Chaud is just making a joke," a reassuring Megaman said from inside his PET.

"Easy for you to say. That comment wasn't directed at you," Lan shot back at Megaman. This caused Megaman to unintentionally laugh at Lan. He just found it funny when Lan felt the need to argue with him. They were a team, after all. But, no team is without flaws, and Megaman knew that. Lan's constant argumentative nature, which was almost always directed at Megaman, was something that Megaman, once again, highly admired about the boy. It was something that Megaman actually found to be one of Lan's better qualities, using the term "better" very loosely.

"I heard that laugh, Megaman," Lan commented, with a slight hint of anger in his voice. But, Lan knew it was all in good fun. He didn't want to hurt Megaman's feelings, as then they would not be able to work well together, especially if they got a mission where CrossFusion was needed. Copyroids were still around, specifically in the Black Market and the UnderNet market. There were times when a copyroid would get loose, and some NetNavi from the UnderNet would make their way to it, thereby activating the copyroid and causing all kinds of havoc in the real world.

"Oh, there you are, Chaud. I was just about to ask if you made it her yet," an older voice said. Chaud turned to face the source of the voice and found none-other-than Dr. Hikari walking in from a door to the far left of the lobby. That door lead to the main facilities at SciLab, specifically where most of the employees worked. Such areas were off-limits to people, as extra sensitive information and machinery were kept back there.

"I came here as soon as I got the call from the lab," Chaud said, in his usual indifferent tone of voice.

"Yeah. I called you here because I will need yours and Protoman's help with an experiment we are just about ready to wrap up. If you can follow me, we'll head over to the Experiment Room," Dr. Hikari said, starting to move towards the door he just came from.

"Hey! What about me? I came here, too," Lan called after his father, who didn't seem to even notice him.

"Oh, sorry, Lan. I didn't even notice that you were there. Hehe. I guess I was just caught up in my work that I wasn't paying attention," Lan's father replied to the protest.

"Hehe. Wouldn't be the first time," Lan retorted back, with a smile on his face. Dr. Hikari laughed a little and smiled at his son's comment. It was 100 percent true. Every time he got involved with his work too much, he seemingly ignored all of his surroundings. For all Lan knew, if his father was working hard enough, he probably wouldn't even notice a tornado or earthquake if he was totally absorbed in his work.

"But, it is a good thing you are here, Lan. I wanted you and Megaman to be present for the experiment as well."