Chapter 7: Walls have ears

16:49 PM (Japan Time), Saturday February the 1st…

"… I'm surprised you called me here. Did you find Miquel or what?"

"No, not yet. But we found some interesting information."

"Shoot it at me."

"That's not a bad catch-phrase either…"

Enzan had met with Netto in a café terrace somewhere.

"We met another Navi… Legato… A Blues spin-off…"

"Blues spin-off… Like Rock Man DS?"

"Yeah. The same concept but this guy is a very different tale. His strength is obvious because he beat us very easily and without doing too much effort… He let out some information regarding the structure of the gang, named "Golden Star"… Apparently Kage was the one who came up with the name given his bandana's drawing…"

"Oh yeah? Funny. I always thought he was a guy very focused on the everyday matters and not the day-dreaming type…"

"They admitted they found him in Houston and invited him to take part into the business… He's got the eye of the onboard VP and responds to him… Both President and VP can do as they feel like and they're not obliged to tell each other what they've done but that's on the paper and in the field they work together pretty well… It'd seem that Burner Man gets bored easily given how he burnt some discarded film tape belonging to that Video Man jerk…"

"No – one's perfect or so they say."

"Guess so. I really need to train."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. Keep as you are. It doesn't involve you directly. You quit the Net Police because you didn't want to be part of battling anymore, no?"

"That's right. I simply want to live as a normal human."

"We're still looking into the Chicago stuff…We've got no clues as to how he came back to Japan undetected… He surely changed his appearance and they gave him a fake passport…" Enzan muttered.

"Could be, yeah…" Netto shrugged.

"Did he display any unusual abilities?" Rock Man asked Blues.

"He was pretty fast and strong, yeah, and could form one arm cannon as well to attack me… He seemed to read my moves in advance and be ready for them." Blues admitted.

"Whoa. And if he's Number 2, then Andy must've gotten quite a power boost ever since we last saw him…" Rock Man whistled in surprise.

"How did he use to be?" Enzan suddenly asked.

"Huh? Miquel, you mean? He was… Timid. Rather timid. He did address everyone formally and such, but… He was always nervous when he asked of us to lend him a pencil or an eraser even if it was for a little moment… He thought he was being annoying, even, but we told him he wasn't. We invited him to Yaito's parties as one more of the gang together with a B Class student named Hikawa Tooru – kun, whose father works in the Waterworks, and has a small Net Navi named Ice Man. It took him about three months to open up! Before that, he was distant. Despite attempting to look in a good mood, I could see something was bothering him. Guess it was that uncle's stuff… After he opened up, he began to join Net Battling, which he'd kept out of… After a month of struggling, he managed to beat Guts Man. We used to have friendly Net Battles on a more "basic" level where we didn't use anything else apart from the basic Folder and removed all Navi Customizer Programs so that we both were at the same HP and stats."

"I see. Did he strike you as cocky or…?"

"On the contrary! He was a guy who worried too much. He looked like me in the part that he was always concerned with each hit Andy got. That's also why I felt I was getting along."

"That means he must've had a radical change ever since the summer given the behavior he and Andy exhibited in the underground station… Probably a combination of that uncle and joining the org…"

"Sounds logical!"

"Here's a transcript Obihiro did and he's working on some sketches to illustrate the scene… He couldn't use his PET because its camera doesn't have night vision mode, and the flashlight would've given him away…"

"Hmmm… Very hostile and straight to the point… Yeah… If you hadn't told me it was Miquel, I would've believed it to be someone else. Maybe that hostile behavior is a mask to hide something else? Such as anger? Or sadness?"

"It's very possible."

"It's not crazy."

"Speaking of crazy… Superintendent Oda… Does he act crazy 100% of the time? Or does he get serious when there's an incident going on?" Netto asked as he picked the orange juice glass with his left hand.

"Huh? When did you become left-handed?"

"I still haven't gotten off the habit I had to develop while my wound healed…" He admitted.

"I see. Regarding Superintendent Oda…"

"…he'd like of you to bring him some sushi cookies."

"True, true, and… Superintendent Oda! H-how did you know I was here?"

"Have you forgotten your suggestion regarding CID members when off-duty should be easily located just in case?"

"Oh heck. My own idea turned on me!"

"Hello! Hikari – kun. Teaching him the virtues of using the left hand in a karate match?"

"No, sir. I've never trained to learn karate, sir."

Both rolled their eyes, annoyed at his jokes; Oda cleared his throat and showed them a sketch drawing of the scene at the station: Netto and Rock Man looked at it with attention.

"Yeah… That type of coat, the bandana, the sunglasses… It's Miquel, alright. Andy looks like he used to do, too."

"He sure does… Yet that face is scary, even."

"That reminds me. Andy. What kind of personality did he have? Friendly, cocky…?"

"More like humble and cool-headed… He pulled some puns on us but they weren't as terrible as Superintendent Oda's ones."

"Obviously. Uncle Merton passed them down to me: they've been in the family for generations!" Oda proudly announced as he distractedly adjusted his necktie's lace.

"Sure, sure."

"He never got cocky or anything in Net Battles either yet he seemed to like them more than Miquel – kun did. He didn't mind getting a blow or two and he didn't get frustrated with his initials attempts while battling Guts Man because he admitted he was a rookie and needed time to get used to Guts Man's style, which he did." Rock Man continued.

"I see. It comes down again to what we'd discussed before: a radical transformation of their personalities and behaviors. I guess they must have a former forensics or scientific police agent who trained them in to how to analyze the scene in search of traps to catch someone's biological data…" Enzan muttered as if reflecting aloud.

"Maybe they have a CSI Las Vegas fellow there…"

"Enzan – sama, sir. Incoming call, sir… What!"

"Ijuuin Enzan! Found ya!"

"What the hell! Video Man!? How did you know my private number?"

"My own sneaky and stealthy investigation!"

"So that's Video Man? He does live up to the name." Netto muttered.

"Whaddya want? Brag?"

"Maybe yes and maybe not!" He teased.

"Get to the point, you moron."

"Next time I'm going to strangle you!"

"What the hell!?"

"… What did you say? Who said anything about strangling? Did VP – sama tell you about it or you're trying to sound intimidating? I hope you did remember to encrypt this line!" Legato growled nearby.

"Y-yes, sir! I'm not as foolish as Needle Man!"

"Needle Man wasn't foolish! He just underestimated his opponent but it wasn't a setback in any manner." Legato fumed.

"It is encrypted, Enzan – sama…" Blues whispered.

"Try to find Search Man and drag him here so that we can crack their damned code." Enzan whispered back.

"Anyway! Video Man! Whom are you talking with? Answer me! That's an order!" Legato questioned with obvious annoyance.

"I-Ijuuin Enzan, sir…"

"Enzan? What for? To show your hide?"

"I was hoping to intimidate them and…"

"Sheesh. You really are STUPID! Enzan ain't the type to get easily intimidated at all. Quit it before they drag Search Man here and he tries to crack the protocol. Too bad, Enzan, but we're too smart for ya. Patent the Black & White Coffee! Have at ya!"

"They fled… The punk…!"

None of them realized that a woman was observing them; she was on her early 20s, had long platinum blond hair, plus eyes with blue irises.

She had a ruthless-like figure to her and hid behind a novel.

She sported a simple black wool sweater plus jeans and black boots.

A simplistic-looking black handbag was hanging from the chair's right side while a cobalt-colored Link PET with a golden-colored Alphabet "S" character on it as emblem was lying atop the table.

"What do you make out of it, Sandra?"

"Ikada Bertha – chan… It's obvious that they're not minding their surroundings…"

A Navi projected out of the Link PET using the standard-sized hologram while having a smug smile on her face.

Her helmet had a ruby set on its forehead and her eyes irises' were green; her face was that of a woman on her late teens or early 20s.

Her bodysuit's main color was cobalt coupled with a golden band around the waist, golden shoulder plates and golden bracelets on both the wrists and the ankles.

Spiral-shaped magenta patterns travelled down her arms and legs surfaces while eight lines of the same color spread from the black edge of her chest emblem.

She looked prideful and like she wanted to be ahead of the others, given the brightness in her eyes.

"So true. Should we tease them a bit?"

"Let's rather make them feel nervous, Bertha – chan."

"I like that idea! How?"

"Easy. Let's use S&M…"

"Hey. No NSFW in public…! It's not a BDSM parade day!"

"Ahem! I meant Smoke & Mirrors…" She clarified.

"Smoke & Mirrors…?" Ikada frowned.

"Mr. Sniper's Navi told me about that… It's a technology to create illusions, which look like real helicopters and send them to "assault" a fortress defended by AAC guns… The gunners shoot around like mad until they run out of ammo and then the real thing comes to deliver the coup de grace…" Sandra explained.

"Ho~h… How intriguing."

"Ain't it?"

"So let's send some smoked pets to cause some scare at several places simultaneously and distract them. That way we can pull a discrete escape and provide them with a glimpse of what we can do when we set our minds to it…"

"Delighted. I'd prepared everything on advance because I had a talk with Slur – sama, who found it intelligent. Her Grace has already given me the go-ahead to start it up." Sandra admitted.

"Start it up, dear."

"Leave it up to me…"

Sandra disappeared from the PET and Ikada looked at the table where Netto and Enzan were trying to shake Superintendent Oda off, but he wouldn't give up so easily.

"…and Aunt Garrideb used to say that grass is a grassy as a grassed lane, ya know." He was finishing another pun.

"How lame, sir." Netto grumbled.

"Totally, sir." Enzan drily added.

"My. What dryness." Ikada muttered.

"Ijuuin – kun!"

"Meijin? What's up?"

"Whoa. Meijin – san!"

"Hi again, Hikari – kun… Anyway… Trouble!"

"Where? Another berserk truck?"

"Nope! 13 spots at the same time!"

"1-13 spots at the same time…! What kind of trouble?"

"Dream Viruses!"

"DREAM VIRUSES?" The five of them uttered.

"But… How weird. They don't seem to be doing anything else apart from standing and roaring yet their mere roar is disrupting some systems already… Wait a minute… I'll try to get more data!"

"He forgot his cigarettes." Oda joked.

"I don't smoke!" Meijin protested.

"Snake says you smuggle them in your jeans' rear pocket."

"TNJSLKHNSJLTGHNJDHP!" He uttered something undecipherable.

They didn't spot Ikada walking past them by going behind Netto and glancing at them; she'd put on sunglasses so they didn't spot her gaze, focusing on Enzan; she was obviously holding back the wish to laugh.

"Excellent job, Sandra."

"Thanks."

"I'm sure Mr. President will be largely satisfied."

"No wonder. He likes subtle arts."

The roar of a Dream Virus rang out through Enzan's PET, making it and Netto's frizzle, as well as scaring some customers off and triggering the automatic watering system.

"By all the… Someone stop those!" Enzan cursed.

"Huh? It turns out they aren't real Dream Viruses… They're holograms with a program having a sound wave the harmonics of which have been designed to contain a lot of "noise" and mess with basic automated systems…" Meijin reported.

"Yeah. I can't hit 'em to begin with." Punk grumbled.

"This show was brought to you by Industrial Light & Magic. Thank you for your feedback." An automated voice rang out.

"Whoa! That was a show brought to us by the SFX Company that George Lucas founded when producing the first Star Wars films, then? They sure are progressing a lot!" Meijin whistled in admiration.

"With the sponsorship of Uncle Merton."

"I knew it! Uncle Merton is - EVERYWHERE! He's Orwell's Big Brother!"

"Oh come on." Blues growled.

"Someone is conspiring with him to make him look smart." Rock Man muttered.

"Obviously!" Enzan fumed.

"Heck. It's gotta be the "Uncle Merton Fan Club" even."

Well then, cute boys… Play around while you can but you'll soon realize to what ends we can come when the situation calls for it… Kage will love to hear about this…

"They all vanished at the same time! Guess they were synched by someone to appear and disappear. Why do I feel like it's those Golden Star guys, who wanted to pull a prank?" Meijin grumbled.

"Somehow, that wouldn't surprise me. They seem eager to ask for a brawl, even. Sheesh. Guess Legato thinks he's a banchou, the typical leader of delinquent teens in middle and high school." Enzan grumbled.

"Feels likely." Rock Man shrugged.

"By the way! Did you know that Uncle Merton once found a golden tuna from the 17th century and…?" Oda began another of his tales.

"Yeah. Sure. Like there's ever been such a thing." Netto sighed.

Sheesh! What punks! They want a brawl so bad, I'm gonna beat them up and make them regret it! They won't laugh at me much longer!

17:17 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Sheesh. When do I get to shine~?"

"I told you not to get cocky, Zarashe – kun."

"I know that! It's just that…! Sheesh! Training isn't enough!"

"Can't be helped. Until we get orders, busting morons and training is all that we can do right now."

"Huff. The morons of a couple of hours ago were but a bluff! They were trying to pose as scary by lying about smuggling opium!"

Zarashe was grumbling as he was writing something using a laptop; he was sitting in a wooden chair inside of a room that only had a desk affixed to the wall, the chair, a bed, and a small shelf with some books and cases; his PET was connected to the laptop via an USB cable, and Beta X miniature hologram was projecting from there.

"They were also bluffing about their numbers! They pretend to be 50 but they were actually eight of them! Not even a tenth! Their Navis were no better, just wannabes shooting Cannon Battle Chips and Mini Bombs at random and hoping to hit something by DUMB LUCK!"

"Yeah. I wasn't expecting a big deal, either, but their stupidity was dumbfounding, even. Guess they programmed them haphazardly and they only installed the minimum amount of AI." Beta X shrugged.

"DLNKJLFB! When I began to KO them with the gun and the grenades, they began to yell about Rambo come to slaughter them! Oh, come on! They've been seeing too many blood 'n guts movies!"

"I'll agree with you in that aspect. Hey. At least they weren't armed and we were able to take them out easily."

"I know that! Not like I intended to start a gunfight with real Yakuza!"

"As long as you understand that, then…"

"GJDK! Just you wait, Miquel…! I'll prove to you that I'm no moron! One day I'll prove my worth, indeed…! Glory to Golden Star!"