Down in a different lab, Yuichiro and Dr. Kalinka Cossak worked on searching for any ghost data that were related to Kalinka's father.
"Any luck yet, Dr. Cossak?" Yuichiro asked as he watched Kalinka.
"Not yet..." Kalinka answered. She typed on the keyboards rapidly as she viewed the computer monitor. Streams of data were scrolling down the screen as Kalinka performed several search protocols in an attempt to find something – anything – about what her father may have left behind about Project Trichotomy.
After several minutes, Kalinka stood up from her chair and rubbed her eyes. She exhaled a frustrated sigh.
"Still no good. I'm taking a quick break while the computer performs my latest set of protocols to search any ghost data that relates to my father." Kalinka spoke.
"All right. Hopefully, we'll come across something." Yuichiro said.
Lan and Mr. Famous later came into the main laboratory that Yuichiro and Kalinka were in.
"Hi, Dad. The kids went home for the evening. Patch and Baritone are going to be at Charity's place for a sleep over tonight. Also, Chaud called earlier and said he would be coming some time soon." Lan explained.
"I see..." Yuichiro said.
"How's the search coming along?" Lan asked Kalinka.
"Nothing so far. But, I am hoping that something will come up in the current search protocols I've placed. All we got to do now is to wait." Kalinka answered.
"Ah." Lan remarked. He saw the music sheets that Kalinka had placed near the keyboard. "So, how did you manage to decipher the music sheets that your father encoded?"
"Like I said before, I learned the piano since I was a young girl."
"I would've never expected that the notes E, E, C, A would stand for Electopia. On the other hand A, C, D, and C would've been easily deciphered as ACDC Town." Lan commented.
"How did you come across these music papers?" Yuichiro asked.
"...Well..." Kalinka paused a moment before she answered. "When I was younger, my mother and I took a plane to where my father was held in prison. There, he gave me an old book that had the words 'Handel's Messiah' embroidered on the cover."
"Handel's Messiah... That's a very famous musical work." Yuichiro mused. Over the years, Yuichiro had become interested with musical works through his daughter-in-law, Maylu.
"And your father was in prison, Kalinka? For what?" Lan asked.
"My mother and I never knew. Father refused to say a word about what he was charged with. All he said was that he was sorry. Some time later... he was sentenced with capital punishment."
"I'm sorry to hear that..." Yuichiro said.
"It means nothing to me. He put his work before us..." Kalinka muttered bitterly. Both Yuichiro and Lan blinked in surprise and were speechless.
Kalinka continued talking about how she was too confused and upset to even be able to open the old book until several years later. She explained that when she finally opened the book of Handel's Messiah, instead of seeing the musical score of Messiah, she saw several sheets of the same musical gibberish that were now next to the computer keyboard.
"When I tried to play the notes on the piano it didn't sound right, so I thought it was some serious mistake. I began to throw most of the music sheets away or used them as scratch paper. But at some point, I couldn't shake the feeling that I would need them, so I had saved a few copies. Over time, I gradually began to realize the papers had some kind of a hidden meaning. But, as of now I don't fully understand what my father was trying to tell me through these music sheets. All I know is that there's got to be something here in SciLabs where my father used to work." Kalinka explained.
"Hmmm..." Yuichiro mused. But before he could speak his thoughts out loud, Chaud finally came in to join the 3 scientists.
"Hey, everyone." Chaud greeted briefly. "Max told me things went well with Protoman and Searchman's recovery."
"Yeah..." Lan breathed a sigh of relief. "Let me get Protoman transferred to your PET."
Lan went to a different computer in the lab and pulled up the site where Protoman and Searchman were located. Both Navis woke up from their restful sleep.
"Hello, Chaud," Protoman greeted. "Glad to see you back."
"Good to see you're well." Chaud relaxed and gave a small smile.
"Now, if only Raika was here to say the same thing." Searchman joked.
"At least both of you guys are doing all right now." Mr. Famous remarked.
"Protoman, do you still have the video files of what happened in the battle with NeoForte?" Chaud asked.
"Yes, I do. Let me transfer the files up here." Protoman answered. He transferred the video file into the computer's system and played it.
The humans watched as the battle scenes were replayed. The human's saw the footage from Protoman's point of view, who was blocking NeoForte's bugged Dark Arm Blade with his own sword. Protoman grunted and pushed NeoForte back before he retreated back a few feet away from the bugged Navi. Even Protoman's sword was vulnerable to the potent bugs.
The leprous bugs grew and infected the blade. They continued to creep toward Protoman's arm. At this point, the crimson Navi yelled and collapsed to the ground.
"I can't get the bugs off...!" Protoman panicked.
"Of course you can't. My bugs will corrupt and devour you, and I will only grow stronger! Haaaaahahahahahahaha!" NeoForte guffawed. "You all enjoy your last moments before you're completely devoured... I have much work to do..." NeoForte then fled.
Protoman blacked out and the monitor became noise. The video file stopped playing.
"Ugh..." Kalinka groaned in disgust.
"So that's what happened..." Yuichiro remarked. "And the bugs must have spread as time went on..."
"But I don't like the sound of NeoForte declaring that he will grow stronger by gorging on data and spreading his bugs..." Chaud commented.
"Chaud, what happened to the 3 Colonel units that were dispatched with Protoman and Searchman." Lan asked.
"It was strange... They weren't deleted, but they teleported and vanished." Chaud answered.
"Something tells me they'll be coming back to attack." Lan said.
"And Lan, how did you manage to restore Protoman and Searchman? Those bugs were so potent that not even my own anti-malware software could destroy them." Chaud asked.
"Actually, it wasn't me. It was Baritone who was able to heal them."
"Baritone?" Kalinka said curiously.
"You remember the boy that was here today? The one with the white hair, blue eyes and oversized white lab coat? That was Baritone." Lan answered.
"How can a human heal Navis?" Kalinaka questioned.
"The thing is... you could say he's part human and part Navi."
"What? That's impossible. Are you suggesting that a human and a Navi can have children? How can a human and a Navi produce a hybrid child?" Kalinka argued.
"Baritone's the son of Bass and Naomi." Lan answered. "...Which reminds me... do you know where they could be?"
All eyes turned to look at Kalinka, who became silent and scowled.
"What is it, Dr. Cossak?" Yuichiro asked.
"...What are you saying? Bass and Naomi are still alive? I thought they were dead!" Kalinka argued.
"Well, we're not sure as of now, but it seems they are alive. Baritone's left his mother's mind world and is searching for his father." Lan explained.
"Mind world? Baritone's parents? What nonsense are you talking about?" Kalinka asked in frustration.
"...May I ask why you seem to be disdainful of your sister and Ba-" Chaud tried to talk before he was rudely interrupted by Kalinka.
"Sister? That daughter of nobody isn't related to me at all! Don't put us on the same level!" Kalinka was practically shouting at this point.
"...Easy, Dr. Cossak. We're just as baffled as you are in regards to Baritone and his parents." Mr. Famous pleaded.
Kalinka was too angry and instead walked out of the laboratory.
"Geez, I think she was overreacting when we mentioned Baritone, Bass and Naomi." Lan said.
"Odd... Ms. Kalinka said that she and Naomi are not related at all. But aren't both of them Mikhail Cossak's daughters...?" Yuichiro wondered.
"I remember that Naomi was raised by Dr. Mikhail Cossak's relatives. But then Dr. Cossak adopted Naomi after they died. Technically, Ms. Kalinka and Naomi would be cousins... but judging by Ms. Kalinka's reaction, it seems the two may not be actually related." Searchman inferred.
"Apparently, Ms. Cossak isn't fond of Bass and Naomi as well." Chaud commented.
The computer finally beeped, indicating that it was finished with its search. Lan pulled up a chair and sat down to see what results were. There was only one result found.
"Hey, we found something!" Lan said. "Someone go get Kalinka!"
"I'll go get her." Yuichiro said as he walked out.
"So, what'd you find, Lan?" Mr. Famous asked.
"This..." Lan showed the result to Famous.
"...Huh." Famous responded.
Yuichiro searched for Kalinka and found her sitting at a table in the lobby.
"Dr. Cossak? Are you all right?" Yuichiro asked.
"...I am fine." Kalinka answered quietly. "...I apologize for my rude behavior earlier."
Yuichiro got a couple cups of coffee and sat down with Kalinka.
"Would you like to have some, Dr. Cossak?" Yuichiro offered.
"...Thank you." Kalinka took a cup and sipped. Both were silent for several minutes before Yuichiro asked a question.
"If I may ask... why did you react like that earlier?"
Kalinka hesitated for a minute before she tried to answer. Yet, even when she answered she struggled to say the words.
"...My father... was always busy in his work. He rarely came to visit me and my mother. He... He was very ambitious in his work. It... It got to a point where my parents separated. But... we still kept in touch. Later... when he told me that he created Bass, the world's first Solo NetNavi, he didn't even ask how I was doing. He only talked about Bass. And later he... he adopted Naomi and took care of her... instead of me..."
"I'm very sorry to hear that..." Yuichiro consoled.
"Again, I am sorry for my rude behavior. But please do not mention them again. And I do not want to see this... this 'NeoForte' you and your friends keep mentioning. He is a disgusting Navi – especially because he looks like Bass... And whoever this Baritone is, I don't want to see him either. He looks too much like... Naomi..."
Yuichiro was at a loss of what to say. He could only agree with Kalinka.
"...Understood, Dr. Cossak. I'll let the others know. Oh! And my son wanted me to tell you that the search did bring up a result. He wanted you to come and see it."
"I see... Thank you, Dr. Hikari... I will return to the laboratory and meet with him." Kalinka stood up and excused herself.
Yuichiro could only contemplate the curious request that Kalinka made. Do not mention anything about NeoForte, Bass, Naomi and Baritone? In Yuichiro's mind, he believed that the current problems seemed to be closely related. Yet, Kalinka's personal grudge seemed to make her deny or ignore the issues...
Yuichiro was worried not just for Kalinka, but also for Baritone and his family should they encounter Kalinka. The aging scientist finished his coffee and headed back to the laboratory where Lan and the others where.
"NeoForte returning to cause havoc... A son searching for his missing father... A scientist deciphering her father's cryptic clues... and complicated family issues... What such dilemmas..." Yuichiro said to himself. Little did he know that the situation would become even more complex later on...