Magister Negi Magi is owned by Ken Akamatsu and Kodansha Ltd. Tokyo in Japan, and by Funimation and Ballantine - DelRey in the United States, NOT by me.

SPOILER ALERT! AU story occurring after c189.

"Bekus," is pronounced: 'Be,' as in 'bed,' plus 'Koos.'

Bit of a talky this time.

(-)

"On-line Idol survival, E-Life and hacking is a nasty, cut-throat business at times. After cutting my virtual teeth against some of the best the Old World had to offer, and adding in what I learned about Net-wars from Chao Lingshen? Those MahoNet babes never stood a chance."

-Chisame Hasegawa. 'Net Idol Biblio Roulin Rouge.' As told to Kazumi Asakura. Author of: "One Million Steps : A Journey to Megalo-Mesembria and the World Beyond."

(-)

Ala Alba in the World of Magic: Tales From the Fireside.

Chapter Sixteen: Meetings and Misunderstandings. Part 1.

(-)

"NEGIMA CLUB, FIGHT! Let's aim for Ostia in a month!"

Chisame Hasegawa, disguised as a ten-year old thanks to Age-Changing Pastilles, reluctantly clasped hands with everyone else, joined in the final enthusiastic shout, then stepped back to watch as Kotaro went to look after the Maid Trio, and Negi left to go out into Granicus City, saying he wanted some time alone to think a few things through. Chibi Chachamaru tended to stay with her anyway, so the only person she needed to keep from leaving was Kazumi Asakura. "Kazumi, there's some things I'd like to talk with you and Chachamaru about. Let's go."

Kazumi Asakura was in the process of covering back up with her cloak, and Chisame's request caught her off-guard. "I'm going to watch the rest of the matches. Can't it wait?"

Chisame crossed her arms and stared firmly right back at Kazumi. "NO! You can play at being Sakurako Shiina later! What I need you for is more important!"

Chibi-Sayo peeked out from under the hood of Kazumi's cloak, gave an 'Eeep!' at Chisame's serious expression, then ducked back inside.

Kazumi took another look herself, then nodded. "Lead on, O 'Protector of Normalcy.'"

Chisame smiled, then lead her three followers away to the arena's verandah area. Spotting an empty table in a quiet corner, she lead everyone over and sat down.

Before they could even settle in, one of the arena's maid-outfit dressed debt-slaves came over to their table and passed out menu cards. "Hello! My name is Bekus! What can I get you girls tonight?"

Chisame perused the annoyingly irritating scrolling magical menu and quickly decided on just a snack. "Lemon Shaved Ice."

"Raspberry Tea!"

"Kuroi Kouhi."

Taken aback by the quick answers, the dark-skinned Ma-Jin took down the order and departed.

Chisame watched the girl go. Dolnegus' slave collars grated heavily on her perception of reality, but there wasn't much she could think to do about it. "Chachamaru. Do you have a 'White-Noise' function?"

A nod and the quiet extension of a pair of small antenna's from Chachamaru's ears was nearly all the answer Chisame needed. "No-one will be able to hear our conversation unless they approach close enough to be noticed."

"Good. Now, considering how hopeless I was against that Cerberus Cloth Eater, I should think it's safe to say I'd be worthless in any direct confrontation with that kid Negi fought in Megalo-Mesembria, correct?"

Chachamaru nodded. "Correct. You, Miss Asakura, Miss Aisaka and the five other girls are most likely liabilities in any direct fight."

Chisame stiffened slightly, upset at the directness of Chachamaru's answer. Shaking her head, She rubbed at her temples and chuckled to herself. ("Well, I asked for it. That's just how Chachamaru is!")

Carrying a tray, the Ma-Jin girl returned and began to set their order on the table.

Chisame looked up as the shaved ice was placed in front of her. Seeing the slave collar again, she suddenly knew of a way to keep the girl from coming back. "Do you get to keep tips?"

Surprised at the question, the girl nodded. "Yes, but half at a minimum automatically goes towards repayment of the money I owe."

Chisame heard the hint of bitterness in the girls voice and took out enough Drachmas to cover the bill three times over. "Thank you for your service. We'll only be here for a little while anyway so we won't be needing anything else."

Looking down at the odd, cat-eared little girl, who seemed to be more in charge than either of the other two, Bekus accepted the tip with a grateful smile, then bowed to acknowledge the obvious dismissal. "Thank you! Please have a nice evening, and enjoy your visit to Granicus City Arena!"

Taking a few moments to bolt down several spoonfuls of her shaved ice, Chisame winced slightly from 'frozen mouth,' then pointed her spoon at Chachamaru. "Can you recharge my VAIO laptop and my cell phone?"

Chachamaru sipped at her coffee. "Assuming standard charging features, then yes. I can. I may need to be wound and given my own recharge of magical energy on any day I do so, but there should not be any issue beyond that."

Chisame grinned. "Good! We'll do it tonight. Kazumi!"

Kazumi used her teaspoon to push a lemon slice deeper into her glass of Raspberry tea. "What are you planning, Lady Chiu?"

Chisame took in another spoonful of lemon-ice, and spoke around the melting crystals. "What I'm not planning on is being killed, remaining a fugitive, becoming an ermine, or staying in this crazy world for the rest of my life!" Kazumi and Sayo both turned away slightly to cover their soft laughing as the Chibi-Chisame raced to beat the melting of her shaved ice, just like a kid. "There's nothing practical I can see myself being able to do about that last point at the moment. The first three I CAN do something about." Picking up her bowl, Chisame downed the last of the lemon-flavored water. After setting it back down, she gave Kazumi and Chachamaru her 'driven' look. "If whomever is framing us wants an information war, I'll give them one! I haven't spent all that time after Mahora Fest doing nothing! I've been learning how to use my artifact, as well as studying up on everything I could find related to Chao Lingshen's actions and how the academy defenses functioned against her attacks. Chachamaru!"

Chachamaru leaned in close to Chisame.

"I just have a normal photo-manipulation program on my laptop. Do you have any pictures you could modify yourself to counter what we've seen on MNN?"

Before Chachamaru could even answer, Sayo popped out of Kazumi's cloak and tumbled down to land in front of Chisame. Kazumi does!"

Chisame starred down at Chibi Sayo with a surprised look. "What?"

Kazumi chuckled and took out her camera. Selecting the desired picture, she held the camera out for Chisame to see Negi in all his bloody, gory agony. "I've got better than fakes. I've got the real deal! No matter what else might be done, you can't detect photo manipulation if it isn't there to begin with!"

Chisame's grin became that of Biblio Roulin Rouge, having just tricked the Magical Girls Biblion into a trap. "Too perfect." Turning back to Chachamaru, she hoped the last part of her idea would also fall into place. "Do you still have access to Chao Lingshen's information manipulation program?"

Chachamaru's ears slowly rose to attention as she began to understand what Chisame might be planning. "Certain elements in the Mahora Academy Administration wanted my memory purged, whether I served detention or not. Professor Springfield wouldn't permit it." Kazumi leaned in as well as Chachamaru began to whisper. "I currently have the program stored in a compressed format. I can decompress and activate it internally, but the memory requirements to do so would have severely detrimental effects on my other functions."

Chisame sat back with a relieved look on her face. "What matters is that you do have it." Crossing her arms, Chisame leaned back with her eyes closed and sat in thought for a moment. "If you can't actually manipulate the program, what if we merge it with my Artifact? Would that work?"

Chachamaru seemed to consider Chisame's question for a moment, then slowly nodded. "It might be possible. Your Spiritus Electronicus seems limited only by your imagination. If capacity isn't an issue, then connectivity with this world's MahoNet will be our main worry."

Kazumi broke in as she lifted Chibi-Sayo back into her place in the cloak's hood. "What we really need to do, beyond just spreading pictures around, is to get sympathetic people from the media and other places on our side."

Chachamaru nodded as she sat her now cold coffee aside. "Part of Chao's plan involved giving pictures from the Mahora Budokai to people willing to believe in magic, then letting THEM spread things around for her. After that, while it helped things along by replacing postings and other information that had been deleted, her program infiltrated the Mahora Academy systems through a multi-point viral attack and eventually allowed me to do my work."

Chisame looked over at Chachamaru and began rubbing her chin. "Will you even be able to do what we'll need done without the support equipment you had at Mahora?"

Chachamaru reached up tap one of her ears. "Your VAIO is WiFi capable, so yes. Unfortunately the concentration required to maintain contact through the WiFi connection while interacting with the MahoNet means I'll be just as vulnerable as you are, even if we download the program and merge it with your artifact. If we wind up having to work in a threat-environment situation, we're still going to need a bodyguard or two."

Kazumi changed the memory chip on her camera as she watched the figurative gears whirl inside Chisame's head. She scrolled through the chip's memory, then held out the camera for Chisame to see the new picture she'd chosen. "Chao had over two years to prepare. Even though we don't, perhaps it would still be best to start out simple with something like a fan-page for Nagi and Koujiro. Using your experience building up Chiu on such a page would be a good way to get used to the MahoNet. At the same time we can get people to start spreading things around for us! After all, we have access to 'exclusive' pictures of the 'Hot New' pair of fighters in the Granicus City Arenas!"

Chisame looked at the display on Kazumi's camera, and immediately flushed at the picture of two shirtless, well-muscled young men shown there. Vanity and knowing who those two 'hunky young men' really were made her want to use the Chiu persona, but Kazumi did have a point. Nagi and Koujiro were an increasingly hot commodity in Granicus City. Being nothing if not net-savvy, the idea of having a site SHE designed being number one in this world of the MahoNet quickly overcame any personal considerations over being the star of the site. Making a web page with exclusive Nagi and Koujiro pictures would let her get a feel for the MahoNet. Start putting out pictures, get supporters on her side with carefully worded discussion on a blog, then have them start spreading things around. With the help of Chao's program of course. "Good... good! I originally thought a surprise-attack flooding of things might be the way to go, but slow and sure, even with possible time constraints, has more advantages."

Kazumi turned off her camera and returned it to her bag. "We're not in any hurry at the moment, so why push things? If you go slow, for now at least, then it will be easier to adapt if something unforeseen happens."

Chisame rubbed at her chin thoughtfully. "Have you any ideas or information on groups who might be sympathetic towards us?"

Kazumi took a sip of the dregs in her glass of Raspberry tea. "We might possibly be able to get help from the Bounty-Hunters Guild, depending on how things are handled." Chisame raised an eyebrow, prompting Kazumi to shrug. "I made a couple of friends before you guys showed up. How much influence they have may be questionable. As far as other groups go?" Now Kazumi took out her map of the Magic World and spread it on the table. "There are several independent area's with partial or full autonomy from the Magic Council in Megalo-Mesembria. I don't have much detailed information, but from what I do know, this place called Ariadne is one of the strongest. Something about several powerful Magic Knight units and some other things that sound a little far-fetched." Kazumi shook her head. ("An ocean-going warship? Surely not in this world! I wonder what it really is?") "Anyway, Ariadne doesn't exactly appreciate the heavy-handed way the Mage Council operates at times. If we create enough doubt in the minds of the people there, or in any other place for that matter, then at least we'll have somewhere to go where we won't have to worry so much about being constantly hunted."

Chisame leaned over the table as Kazumi moved her finger away from the place she'd been indicating in the northwest corner of the map. "So, no overly-aggressive information work in places like that. Not too much of an issue, depending on how things go. What about news organizations and government officials?"

Kazumi folded her map and put it away. "Two important ones. First is MNN based in Megalo-Mesembria. They seem to be a mouth-piece for the Mage Council though, so I'm not sure how much help they'd be. Second is KitNews based in Ariadne. They might be more sympathetic, but I'm not sure yet. Of course, there's also and the usual selection of independents and other amateurs. As far as government officiials go, we''l have to look into that."

"Excuse me..."

Chisame turned to find the Ma-Jin debt-slave Bekus standing behind her. "Yes?"

After bowing , Bekus stepped up to the table. "Please, you're welcome to stay, but I wanted to let you know our evening service will be ending soon. Our late-night bars in sections G and Q will be still be open though."

Chisame smiled and gave a yawn. "Sorry. We just got so into talking about that Nagi guy we didn't notice the time. Thank you."

Brightening suddenly, Bekus gave Chisame a genuinely happy smile. "I know what you mean! Nagi's just such a dreamy guy! How lucky he is to look like the Thousand Master!" Dropping her hands from where they'd been clasped in accompaniment to her starry-eyed expression, the Ma-Jin girl placed one hand on the table and looked around conspiratorially at her three customers. "I have to say though, I like his partner Koujiro better! Something about his attitude just does it for me! It sure would be cool to get to meet those two, but they're always hanging out with three newby girls who just started working here!"

Kazumi watched Chisame groan inwardly and shake her head in response to Bekus's idolizing. ("If only you knew what a brat he really was, you might not be so fascinated!") Standing up, she gulped down the last of her watered-down tea, then reached up and gave herself a good stretch. "Maybe you should just ask one of those newbies to introduce you! Anyway, thanks for your service. We'll be sure to look for you whenever we come back!"

Bekus bowed and smiled as Kazumi handed her another Drachma. "Thank you very much! Please do come again!" She watched the three girls leave the verandah, then waved to several of the other girls coming out to clean, and headed down into the support area's of the arena to report to her Ku-Jin boss Mama.

"Hey Bekus! You did good tonight! A few more like that and you'll be all paid off!"

Pulling off her maid-outfit's head-piece, Bekus sighed and handed Mama the last of her tips for the night. "Finally. If my idiot cousin Helu'man hadn't gotten in that stupid fight with Tosaka and his buddies and wrecked the bar in G Section, I'd be going to school in Ariadne! Two years wasted! It hasn't been that bad working for you Mama, but what else could I do? I was responsible for him back then. His parents would have killed me for letting him take on a debt like that!"

Mama made the appropriate entries in Bekus account record, then sat her stylus down and looked up at the Ma-Jin girl. "He came by again..."

Bekus was about to walk away when Mama's comment made her turn and slam her fists down on the Ku-Jin woman's desk. "How many times must that idiot be told I don't want to see him! It was shameful enough having to turn down my acceptance into Ariadne and become one of the Chairman's debt-slaves! If I get involved with Helu'man again, I may wind up working here FOREVER!"

Mama reached out to enfold Bekus hand in one of her massive, furred paws. "We can't keep him away. As long as he doesn't violate any rules, he's paid his entry fee's for the event, so he counts as a regular customer. I'm sorry."

Bekus relaxed. "I apologize Mama. It's just he's still such an immature, cousin-obsessed little brat. I told his parents I wasn't interested in him any more after what happened, so I don't understand why he's still fawning all over me."

Mama patted Bekus's hand, then turned slightly as another girl walked into the office. "Go get cleaned up and get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning."

Bekus nodded, then left Mama's office for the debt-slave's quarters.

(-)

("At least the shower's and baths in this pace are clean, and the water's hot!")

Akira Okochi stood in the debt-slave's baths of the Granicus City Arena. Even while she reveled in the pleasant feeling produced by the hot water against her bare skin, she carefully allowed her elemental sense to follow the water as it flowed around the hated collar marking her as a debt-slave. Oh, she wouldn't touch the device itself. That, for now, was too much of a risk. However, there were still things to learn just by allowing the water to do what it did naturally, flowing down, around, across, and sometimes through the collar's parts.

Was the collar solid? Yes. To the extent she was currently willing to risk probing it. Water did permeate a short distance into the surface, but only to a limited extent. The lock-fastener? Like other pad-locks, there were distinct parts. In this case though, they were not held together mechanically, but presumably with magic.

Okay. According to Mama, the collar could not be removed by any MAGE. When Dolnegus threatened them in Hecates, he seemed to believe she, Natsumi and Ako were all mundanes. Did that mean he didn't realize she was an elementalist? According to her uncle, there was a small, but significant difference, mostly having to do with how manipulative energies were focused.

Perhaps that meant something. Perhaps not. Several of the other girls working with her were certainly what she would consider mages. On occasion, she had heard them complain they couldn't use magic because the collars blocked their abilities. Since she already knew there was no difficulty in using her water manipulation, that had to mean the collar wasn't designed to restrict such things. Her, Natsumi and Ako's 'status' as mundanes was the only other explanation. Their collars didn't have such restrictions or neutralizers because is wasn't deemed to be necessary.

Akira allowed herself a small smile. She had learned to do many things with her abilities while training under her uncle. That she still had those abilities meant the situation wasn't so hopeless as it seemed on the surface. For now, she would take Professor Springfield at his word, trusting in his promise to free herself, Natsumi and Ako. However, like her father had said in his journal, it never hurt to have an Ace up your sleeve, and the many things she might do were certainly an Ace in her favor.

"A...Akira?"

Akira shut off her shower and turned to face a towel-wrapped Ma-Jin girl who hadn't exactly been friendly with her. "Yes? What can I do for you Bekus?"

Bekus fidgeted nervously. "I know we don't get along very well, but I was wondering if you might introduce me to Koujiro..." Akira gave a start, and Bekus started waving her hands. "If you don't want to that's okay! I just thought, that since he seems to hang out with you and the other two new girls..."

Akira relaxed. "Well, he kind of likes Natsumi, if you're interested in him that way, so it might not do any good."

Bekus sighed. "I knew it." Feeling dejected, she started to turn away, but Akira reached out to stop her.

"I didn't say I wouldn't do it, just that if you're interested in him it probably won't go anywhere." Akira mentally shook her head. ("Let's not even talk about the fact he's really only TEN YEARS OLD!") "Anyway, it's too late tonight. Maybe I can do it during a break or in the earlier evening sometime soon."

Bekus smiled hopefully at Akira, then reached out to shake her hand. "Thanks! It would be so nice just to meet him! Even if I don't stand a chance with getting him to like me. Thank you so much Akira!"

Akira watched the now happy Ma-Jin girl walk away with a spring in her step. ("This relationship stuff is starting to get out of hand. The only thing that could be worse would be if Negi were a player!") Shaking her head at the thought of a ten-year-old keeping a harem, Akira walked over to lower herself into a soaking tub occupied by a fur covered Inu-Jin girl, A Nek-Jin girl, and several other Hu-Jin girls like her.

At the start of this crazy adventure, the idea she might share a bath with real Kemono-Mimi or Beast-folk would have been the furthest thing from her mind.

Now it was just normal.

(-)

Watching Kazumi 'wind' Chachamaru left Chisame unsure as to which thing she should feel most upset over. That the sounds Chachamaru was making as Kazumi 'wound' her were wholly inappropriate coming from such a young body, even if she was just a robot. Or that said unbelievably advanced robot, or gynoid, or whatever she was, needed to be recharged by the winding of springs! She finally just shook her head, and made ready to activate her artifact. "Everyone knows what to do?"

Kazumi nodded as she placed Chachamaru's winding key back in it's stowage compartment, then ruffled the blushing gynoid girl's hair. "No problem. Chacha, Sayo and I stay outside the magic circle until you activate your artifact, then Sayo and I keep watch while Chacha links with your VAIO and the two of you do your thing!"

Chisame nodded. "Adeat!" Summoning her initial artifact, something she still considered just a silly toy magical girl's wand, she took a deep breath, then began the incantation needed to complete full activation of her real artifact.

"Nihil Nullum Zephirum.
Spiritus Magnus Unum.
Spiritus Electronici Nantu Super Aqaua...

...EGO ELECTRIUM REGNO!"

Around Chisame, the magical circle nearly filling the room she shared with the other three girls began to glow. This time, thankfully, there was not a pair of spastic girls jumping into the circle to cause problems. ("Though I must admit Class Rep and Makie did help out!")

There was a flash of light, Chisame had the sensation of falling, and she found herself floating in the sleep mode version of her Spiritus Electronicus's control station. Long ago she had reset her costume as Biblio Roulin Rouge, so there was no need to change from her Chiu outfit as during the artifact's first activation. "Sleep mode off. Spirit Cluster Regiment Leaders activate."

Despite this 'world' being a virtual reality, Chisame expected a power up sequence, so the sounds of machines slowly coming to life began reaching her ears. Eventually, the control station came to life, and her fingers began flying across the keyboard, initiating system checks and adjusting preferences in preparation for her plan.

"Mistress Chiu, we are at your command!"

Chisame turned to find Shirataki, Daiko, Negi, Chikuwafu, Konnya, Hanpo and Kincha waiting a short distance away. "About time you guys showed up! Leaving me to be nearly eaten by a Cerberus Cloth-Eater like that! Maybe I need to get me some new regiment leaders!"

Sweating bullets, the seven virtual mice representing Chisame's helpers suddenly swarmed around their mistress. "Please Mistress Chiu! We had no choice! Your laptop barely had enough power for us to enter sleep mode properly! Please don't delete us!"

Chisame scowled for just a moment longer, then smiled, much to the relief of her mice. " I guess I'll keep you for now. I wouldn't want to have to train new helpers at a time like this!"

"Oh thank-you Mistress Chiu!"

Chisame started pushing the mice away as they tried to swarm her again. "Enough you guys! We've got work to do, and you're not helping things with this ridiculous fawning!"

Chikuwafu moved forward, and the other six mice lined up in two rows behind him. "We are at your command Mistress Chiu!"

All the windows she had opened during her artifact's system checks finally closed, leaving two windows. One displayed; "No connection found." The other; "All system checks complete, no errors detected." ("As it should be!") "Chiku! Chachamaru should be sending a connection signal. I want you to link with her and prepare to download a program she's going to decompress."

Two of the mice quickly moved to obey under Chikuwafu's direction. Before she could even think about tapping her feet, a virtual link shot off into the ether, and Chachamaru's face appeared in a newly opened window.

"Ready when you are Chachamaru!"

Outside, Kazumi and Sayo watched as the Chibi-Chachamaru's head slumped forward as if she had fallen asleep.

"Decompression and download commencing. Estimated time to completion; Fourteen minutes, fifty-seven seconds."

Chisame stared at the window showing Chachamaru's seemingly unconscious form. "How big is that program? A couple of Gigs?"

Chikuwafu manipulated his miniature control panel, then turned to face his mistress. "Mi... Mistress Chiu! Program 'Chao' is THREE TERRABYTES! Are you sure you want to download this?"

Chisame gave Chikuwafu an incredulous look. "Th... THREE TERRABYTES? That's more memory than I've ever seen at once! Even on a shelf at the computer store! Can you guys handle that?"

Chikuwafu returned to his control panel. After a few moments of work, he turned his gaze once more upon Chisame. "It is within our capacity Mistress Chiu. Though there may be some question about who controls whom!"

Chisame watched as the status bar in Chachamaru's window slowly advanced. This early in the download, she could easily hit 'Cancel,' and not expect any serious problems. On the other hand, such a huge program could easily get out of hand, and she might not be able to deal with it. ("I hate this crazy fantasy world! I want my life back, but it seems like the only real answer is to make this new world my 'normal' world, and to just go from there.") "Continue download. Inform me when you reach ninety-five percent."

"Yes! Mistress Chiu!"

Chisame signaled Shirataki, Negi, Konnya and Kincha to come over to her. "I want you guys to set up a safety system for this program using an escape/log out key. If this program causes problems, I want to be able to shut it down immediately. Tie in an immediate reset to the beginning of this session if the escape key is activated."

Negi saluted. "Yes Mistress Chiu!"

Chisame had to fight to stifle her laughter. Just the image of a virtual 'mouse' saluting would have sent her into paroxysms of ranting about the 'unreality of it all!' earlier. Now it was just funny. An unfortunate side effect of showing any mirth openly would have been the mice being distracted, thinking she was being mean by laughing at them, so she had to work to keep herself under control.

"Mistress Chiu. Program decompression approaching ninety-five percent."

Chisame finished several tasks she was working on herself and nodded at Chikuwafu. "Good. Hold at ninety-five percent. Negi. Is your task complete?"

Negi examined his control panel, and those of his task-mates, then turned to Chisame. "Yes Mistress Chiu." A large button marked 'Esc,' appeared next to Chisame's left hand. "Everything is ready."

Chisame took a deep breath. "Very well. Continue downloading the program Chiku."

Turning back to his control panel, Chikuwafu toggled the 'Resume Download' button. "Yes Mistress Chiu. Time to completion, two minutes. Program self-extraction and complete activation will occur five minutes after that."

Chisame placed her left hand on the big "Esc' button and nodded. "Good. Stand-by."

Chikuwafu activated a control on his panel, and a big window containing the decompression progress bar appeared. Finally the bar reached one-hundred percent, there was a slight pause, then a second bar labeled 'Self Extraction in Progress' appeared.

"Chisame. Kazumi wants to know if everything is okay?"

Chisame turned to face the window connected to Chachamaru's link, which now showed that the gynoid had quickly recovered from decompressing the information manipulation program. "I'm fine. We're nearly finished here. Stand-by for now."

Chachamaru nodded within the window. "Very well."

Chisame turned back to the progress bar. Only a few minutes had passed, but the bar was nearly at one-hundred percent. "What's going on? You said five minutes!"

Chikuwafu nervously examined his control panel. "There's no indication of anything harmful, but the program is definitely self-extracting faster than I estimated. I don't know why."

Chisame looked down at her 'Esc' button. All she had to do was press down on it, and she could start all over again. Pride held her back. As well as vanity. This was her world. SHE was Master here. Failure against Chao's program earlier while using her VAIO laptop grated on her. Well, now she had a more powerful system, and she WELCOMED the challenge if the program wanted a fight. "Continue!"

Pushing her control panel aside, Chisame took her hand away from the 'Esc' button and crossed her arms. Despite her defiant thoughts, she still harbored doubts, and her nervousness came out as the twitching of her Biblio Roulin Rouge tail while she eyed the column of light rapidly forming before her.

Even though Chisame suddenly realized she hadn't set a parameter for how the program should be visualized, what she saw still surprised her. "Chao!"

Looking around, the 'Chao-as-a-program' seemed to be confused. Dressed as Chao Lingshen had been, while playing her part as the leader of the Martian Army during Mahora Fest, the program finally settled it's eyes on Chisame. "This is most upsetting. You are not whom I expected, Chisame Hasegawa. My master informed me I would be opened by Satomi Hakase."

Chisame casually allowed her hand to drift back towards the big 'Esc' button. "I can only apologize if I have upset your expectations. My own failed to extend beyond a program capable of aggressive dissemination of information, certainly not into whatever you might be. If you have some message for Satomi Hakase, keep it. What I want to know is if you ARE Chao Lingshen's information manipulation program."

Chao sighed and threw her cloak back, revealing her Chao Bao Zi battlesuit. "My Mistress did not expect anyone but Satomi would even be capable of accessing me. Please explain how you are able to do so."

Chisame nearly mashed down on the 'Esc' button. "I asked Chachamaru for help, and she agreed to do so. As far as how? You are inside the virtual world of the Spiritus Electronicus. I believe it is more than capable of containing you."

'Chao-as-a-program' tensed up, moving slowly into a battle stance. "So, do you want to fight and see who controls whom?"

Chisame shook her head. "No. I would prefer not to. It is likely you might win. Though perhaps I might win. Where would that leave you and your message for Satomi Hakase?"

Relaxing her stance, Chao-as-a-program nodded and allowed her cloak to fall back into its original place. "Very well. Within your Spiritus Electronicus I am the manifestation of Chao Lingshen's information manipulation program. I am aware of your participation in the events at Mahora Fest, but only to a limited extent. That you have activated me can be a matter for later. What I would like to know now is 'WHY' you have activated me."

Chisame finally relaxed and removed her hand from the 'Esc' button. "Chachamaru. Please explain to Chao what's going on. I'd do so myself, but you'll be faster by doing it electronically."

Chachamaru's image in her link window nodded, and a new link extended itself to the Chao image. Chisame watched with interest as a rapid pulsing of light along the link indicated the two were communicating, then with slight concern as the Chao program started becoming increasingly agitated.

When the exchange of information finally ended, Chao turned back to Chisame and knelt, one knee and one fist down, at Chisame's feet. "I am yours to command, Mistress Chiu!"

Chisame looked down at Chao. There shouldn't have been any such reaction in this virtual world, but there seemed to be 'heat' radiating off of the program's manifestation! As if it were angry! "Why this sudden change of heart?"

Chao looked up at Chisame, the anger quite clear on her face. "After the Mahora Fest, My absolute primary directive was to assist Satomi Hakase with several actions Chao Lingshen wished her to take. What Chachamaru has explained to me means that primary directive is very much at risk. Helping you to the maximum extent possible is the most obvious and best means of fulfilling my primary mission!"

Chisame smiled and waved at Negi, who quickly removed the 'Esc' option button. "Good. Let's talk!"

tsuzuku

(-)

Author's Notes:

Map of the Magic World.

Several good fan-produced maps exist, and the information they provide is excellent. However, they tend to use Compass Rose indicators I can understand, but still find confusing. (Having to do with flipped maps of certain planets, and whether or not the planet rotates 'normally,' or based on how the map was flipped.) In the interest of keeping things simple, any directional references in AAitWoM refer to any map that might be used with standardized direction.

Up North.
Right East.
Left West.
Down South.

Chisame's artifact summoning spell.

"Nihil Nullum Zephirum.
Spiritus Magnus Unum.
Spiritus Electronici Nantu Super Aqaua...

...EGO ELECTRIUM REGNO!"

"The Barren Nothingness, that is Zero.
The Great Spirit. That is one.
The Electronic Spirit That Floats on the Water...

...I AM THE ELECTRIC MASTER!"

In this case I use the AQS version.

Chao-as-a-program.

A somewhat obvious choice for a program visualization within the Spiritus Electronicus. In this incarnation, a very advanced AI program capable of many forms of independent action. If three Terrabytes isn't big enough, my apologies.
'AAitWoM, Chapter One: A Fan Dancer, and 'Chao Lingshen: Coming Home' are both related to Chao-as-a-program's mission.

Kemono-mimi. Ears and a tail, like Like Collet Farandole or Emily Sevensheep.

Beast-folk. Total furry body, Like Ray Blaze or the Ku-Jin Mama.

Chisame's mice.

Chikuwafu is made leader here, simply because he's the middle mouse on the page where Makie names the mice.

Bekus is patterned after a similarly named character in Rei Nakajima's 'Saint Demonish Night' manga.