Chapter 2: Strange data
09:44 AM (Spain Time), Monday December the 5th…
"…Viva la Vida beats 'em all."
Hunter Man hummed a tune as he worked inside of Obihiro's PC.
He interacted with several screens and graphs, which gave out multiple readouts.
"Almost there… 98.87% complete… Another little bit… And the program will be functional again!"
A purple flash came out of nowhere and a bubble-shaped Time – Space anomaly with a gray mass on its center formed.
"What! That's…!"
A lance with a diamond on top of it flew out and hit the ground.
It stood there vertically and projected a dome of blue transparent light.
"That's a gateway of the Black Hole Area…!"
A figure jumped out of the bubble and landed inside of the dome while its body emitted a golden flash, which forced Hunter Man to protect his eyes with his right arm.
"You must be Hunter Man EXE." A voice rang out.
Sidier stepped out of the dome, carrying a data cube under his right arm.
"Sergei – sama…!" He gasped.
"Wrong. My design is based on him. My name is Sidier. I serve Emperor S – sama." Sidier corrected.
"Emperor S – sama!?" Obihiro gasped.
"Obihiro Shun?"
"C-correct!" He quickly confirmed.
"Emperor S – sama has a job for you."
"I-I'm honored!"
"It's about this."
He deposited the data cube on the ground and it projected a holographic display of data clusters, extremely damaged and broken.
"All of our attempts to repair this have been in vain and we believe that the root lies within our world's atmosphere. That's why Emperor S – sama thought that it might respond to this environment and it might be capable of be repaired. It's not a mere program or a Virus! We believe it to be a new kind of cybernetic data living being." Sidier announced.
"Please leave to me… I'll use… All my potential… For Emperor S – sama."
"Excellent. If you were wondering… We've been able to come out thanks to us reverse engineering the "Light Armor" you designed when you were an insider on the Science Labs. We have to pay a price, though! 10% of our power is spent to protect us from contact with the environment. The damage does not affect the "Transition Program", as we have named it."
"That's something… to be expected from Emperor S – sama…"
Hunter Man glanced at Obihiro's face and gulped, too.
"So… Sidier… You will… drop by to monitor us?" He guessed aloud.
"Correct. And you might call me "Sidier" just like that. I have no rank. I am but a warrior."
"W-we understand." Hunter Man acknowledged.
"Leave that "safe zone"! I need it to power up this program! It'll save me the trouble of having to bring a new lance every time I have to drop by. I'm fond of surprise visits."
"R-roger."
"There's no deadline, but don't neglect work, Obihiro. Emperor S – sama knows everything."
"I'll start to work on it ASAP!"
10:01 AM (Spain Time)…
"… So?"
"He behaved as Yamikawa – sama predicted."
"I knew it."
"Sure! That you're dense."
Sidier had reported to Yamikawa, but then Kagehi's voice rang out.
"Yikes!"
"Hmpf."
Both felt a shiver go down his spine.
Sidier stepped asides as she walked in, annoyed.
"B-but! Somari – chan! I fixed that!" He protested.
"Hmpf. Gotcha." She grinned.
"I think we were being made a pun." Sidier muttered.
"Bravo, Sidier. You're starting to catch up."
"Thank you very much… Somari – chan." He saluted.
"That's way better! Anyway. Saruba. There's a mosquito buzzing around your head." She told him.
"No way… There aren't mosquitoes in the Cyber World! Stop trolling us, please!"
"Anyway! That of the DS Viruses wasn't a bad idea, either… It was fun to battle that Spark Bee hive! Their Queen had some mood, really! It's now resting three feet under the ground." She giggled.
"Is that so…?"
"I'm sure you'll run off to the Death Temple to see your buddies and make sure I'm not contagious. And then I'll teaching this guy over here one or two things."
Sidier's skin turned white and he began to sweat and tremble as he tried to kept the saluting pose.
"Man! It's not like I'm a woman S&M sadist! I just meant to say how to see through those idiotic clichés and what contents you shouldn't look up!"
"I s-see…"
"Something tells me Solo went ahead to the Fortress Temple because the atmosphere here is heating up… As usual. Am I correct, Somari – chan?"
"Meitantei Saruba strikes back… Weren't ya gonna say that, Saruba?"
"M-maybe…" He nervously replied.
"Hmpf. Anyway… Beware of Asajj Ventress! The chick is hot and wants to slice all of you into pieces to prove that she's a true Sith warrior."
"Who is "Asajj Ventress"? Yamikawa – sama?"
"A Star Wars character… She was involved in the Clone Wars as an assassin for the Sith Order! She was the sadist type to go and kill with satisfaction and sans remorse as far as I can recall… The character showed up for the first time over three years ago in a comic book named Jedi: Mace Windu…"
"I see. What are my orders, Yamikawa – sama?" Sidier nervously asked.
"You're dismissed."
"Roger."
Sidier stepped out and entered his own room.
It only had a bookcase, a bed, a desk with a purple lamp and a chair.
"Let's see… This one."
He walked over to the bookcase and pulled out an e – book comic labeled The Adventures of Blake & Mortimer: The Great Pyramid's Mystery (Volume 2).
"Excellent!"
18:08 PM (Japan Time)…
"… De masu… Mariko – sensei looks as beautiful as ever…"
"Yamitarou! Quit it already!"
"Mariko – sensei…"
"Higure!"
"Yikes, de masu!"
CRASH!
Higure Yamitarou had been spying on Mariko while standing atop a tree and using binoculars.
Number Man had tried to stop him when someone called out to him.
He fell down f in a chaotic manner and his glasses flew out.
Oozono Yuriko fumed as she loomed over.
"Yuriko – san…! What a… coincidence, de masu! There some rare birds… around here! De masu!" He nervously improvised.
"Rare birds in the middle of the city? Are you making fool of me?"
"What were you expecting, Yuriko? This guy is a Battle Chip otaku!"
"Please don't do that again or I'll report it to the authorities! You can be charged with stalker behavior!" Yuriko scolded.
"Wha~! De masu~!"
"That person… He's impossible."
"What are we gonna do, Yuriko?"
"I'm going to check out the surroundings just in case. Let's go."
"OK! Let's go!"
"If only there was a way to fix that guy!"
"Shah, shah! Sure! Life would be easier!"
18:19 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I see. We aren't making any noticeable progress, then?"
"No, Princess. We haven't."
Pride was speaking with Knight Man and she sighed at the information.
"Not only cannot Nakayami Ivan and Sergei be located, the clue to the traitors Obihiro and Hunter Man is too vague to lead anywhere."
"We're totally stuck and I don't like the sound of it. I fear for what they can do next…" Pride muttered.
She stood up and walked towards the windows to look out into the city while having a worried expression on her face.
"By the way. The Black Hole Area trio have been very quiet! Even though they often fooled around…" She brought up.
"Good point, Princess."
"Feels like they're plotting something, too. They did admit that they did not expect to consider them trustable. But, even so… If they could link their world with ours once, they probably can do it again."
"Seeing how they reached a level where they could project holograms of themselves in the real world…"
"They probably know the whereabouts of both parties but stay silent because they want to see us struggle…" She muttered, annoyed.
"What cowardly commoners! Princess! Please allow me to swing down the hammer of justice on them!"
"No need to get heated up, Knight Man!" She scolded.
"I apologize."
"Sorry. I didn't meant to scold you. It's just… The frustration…"
"Understood, Princess. I shall reinforce security!"
"Do so. They might attack from one moment to another!"
18:27 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I insist!"
"No! It's dangerous."
"But…!"
"No "buts"! It's for your own good, Dingo."
Dingo was discussing with Maha over something.
"Give me back my tomahawk, Maha! I can't live without it!"
"You can." Tomahawk Man replied.
"Why did I have to name ya "Tomahawk" Man instead of "Sioux" Man?"
"Ask Mr. Universe." Wily chuckled.
"Good afternoon."
Miyabi stepped into the store and sat down in front of Wily's seat.
"Miyabi! Is everything nominal out there?"
"There are no Naraku envoys anywhere." Shadow Man announced.
"Quit it with the Naraku…"
"Wouldn't you know? I met Gauss – kun the other day! He was so surprised, really! I know how he claimed that the WWW was the only stain on my name! Well then! He should've tried to speak with the "Professor" about it! He'd shown him that the WWW was a serious organization! That "Neo WWW" thing should've been called "Fool's Club" to begin with."
"I totally agree with it! Fool's Club: you punks are over! Hah!"
"They were so stupid… Wily – sama proved it to them back when the solar eclipse day!" Hinoken exclaimed.
"But! The "WWW" is still dismantled. We haven't resurrected it yet."
"Not like I had any intent to do that! I'm just fulfilling a final wish for a person I respected." Wily calmly replied.
"Barrel Tai – sa…" Miyabi muttered.
"Good afternoon…"
Dekao walked in, exhausted.
"You're still under punishment, Dekao?" Maha guessed.
"They want to extend it until February! Why doesn't anyone believe me?"
"That's because you couldn't prove anything. It was just boasting and an insult to the honor."
"I get it… I'm gonna work on the kitchen…" Dekao grumbled.
He headed inside of the kitchen while Guts Man entered the Cyber World while scratching his head.
"What does "esper" mean, de gutsu?" Guts Man asked them.
"…"Esper"? Someone who can read people's minds, they say… Thanks to ESP or Extra Sensorial Powers!" Elec Man frowned.
"I'm not one." Shadow Man announced.
"Guts… And what is a "schemer", de guts?" He asked next.
"I'm one." Shadow Man chuckled.
"Very funny." Tomahawk Man drily told him.
"It'd seem you aren't one for humor anymore, Tomahawk Man."
"No. I ain't. And bring your jokes to a King Land show."
"Gladly…"
"Guts… This guy is the bad guy, then?" Guts Man guessed.
"Wrong. Shut your trap, Gorilla Man." Tomahawk Man snapped at him.
"But there isn't any Gorilla Man here, guts." He looked around.
"Dekao lacked imagination so that's why he tried to be cool and name ya "Guts" Man instead of "Gorilla" Man. You look like a stupid primate!"
"No way, de guts!" He gasped.
"Way." Tomahawk Man shot back.
"Internal strife and confusion… The envoys of the Naraku are at work!"
"I don't think you can joke with that." Miyabi warned.
"Let me loose for a while, Miyabi."
"And when I look back you'll have decorated this place to look like that fake Chinatown District Internet City you and the Cut Man Brothers came up with back when "Gospel" hired you." Miyabi countered.
"That wouldn't be a bad idea."
"Crap. I spoke too much."
"It'd seem they're still roaming out there, though… That bomb didn't get to delete them." Wily warned.
"Interesting. Maybe I'll go visit the elder: he though highly of me."
"… I can feel it! Something is happening."
"So you're an esper, Miyabi?"
"Chut. This is serious."
"But what's happening, then?"
"Some plot…" He muttered with some annoyance to his voice.
"Obihiro?" Shadow Man guessed.
"Possibly. The Nakayami Brothers are candidates too."
"Should I investigate?"
"Go on ahead! Try to contact Needle Man too."
"That's weird. I've got a bad feeling too."
"Guts Man feels that the air is cold, de guts."
"That's not a good sign…! What's going on?"
