Chapter 47: Conference

13:03 PM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 29th…

"… Alright! We're all here? Kage – kun, Zarashe – kun, Qong – kun, Agoras – kun for the gentlemen… Tozukana – san, Suzuki – san, Ikada – san for the ladies… Mr. Keitai Denwa… President Hades and I… All of the Navi staff including our guest… Ms. Secretary… Excellent. Good! Mr. President, if you may…"

"Delighted…"

All of the Golden Star staff had gathered in the lobby, which had become an improvised conference room; a small wooden podium had been set and portable foldable plastic chairs brought in so that every human member and their Navis could sit (Noir and Hades were standing atop the podium); a holographic screen was hovering in the air behind the podium and currently displayed the Golden Star logo.

"Alright. First, we'll introduce our special guest. Please meet our new member: Zero EXE."

"Zero EXE?" A chorus of voices asked.

"Hullo." Zero greeted as he showed up onscreen.

"Cool!" Zarashe whistled in admiration.

"Cocky." Tozukana grinned.

"… Mechanical…" Qong merely muttered.

"Zero EXE…!" Suzuki immediately spotted the connection.

"Cool fellow!" Kage just grinned.

"Hum! By Moran. This is interesting." Agoras smiled.

"As you may have noticed, his name does indicate his role! He is the administrator of the super-computer Zero, which is built inside of Purgatory! It's meant to be one of the most important super-computers! You've heard of the auctions and such by now."

"Next item: the true nature of Purgatory."

An aerial photo displayed an overhead view of Purgatory, proving it was several hundred meters long and having a submarine-like profile when seen from above, including a central turret; whistles of surprise rang out across the room.

"THAT's Purgatory? It's - HUGE!" Beta X exclaimed.

"Whoa. Amazing!" Victor was awed.

"What a behemoth!" Lily gasped.

"Interesting, ain't it?" Tom grinned.

"Hmpf…Grandiose!" Andy made a smug smile.

"My, my. Talk about "size does matter"..." Sandra joked.

"A hybrid of a warship and a submarine…!" Akemi spotted.

"There's another piece of news! Purgatory isn't just the shell shielding "Zero" from physical interference! It'll become our new permanent HQ! We did say we'd move to another place! Here you have it! All rooms are already furnished and you'll have your own private access code so you can control access to them. They're sound-proof too." Hades added the last sentence with a hint of amusement.

Suzuki merely lifted an eyebrow, as she'd obviously realized that the message was intended for her, but she didn't display it and Hades didn't look at anyone in particular either.

"The process will be carried out along tomorrow: Purgatory is docked in the harbor taking advantage that this area isn't used by commercial ships anymore… A building where motor boats are stored at when not attached to Purgatory has been secured too… Its security is top-class! Even if someone could pick a boat, they wouldn't know Purgatory's coordinates because they're relayed over a biometric ID system. Extortion and such are of no use too because the biometric data would vary from the accepted values and be refused. The ship will move at a slow manner around the harbor but won't come out of it either."

"Wow! I can't wait to get there."

"Additionally… A watch of Navis will be established on the deck upon slotted periods… Even if an intruder could get past those, they'd find they need passwords to access each room… Even if they skipped them and tried to head for Zero, we've prepared a huge lock gate of a thickness which not even plastic explosive can damage… The gate can only be opened from the inside by Zero EXE himself, or by one of us two using a biometric ID… Even if they managed to gain acesss to the corridor, "Dimensional Area Walls" will be deployed every 50 meters to block progress! It's impossible to detour them or skip them and even Cross Fusion users would be unable to break them." Hades detailed.

"Whoa. What heavy security." Keitai Denwa whistled.

"Is it not obvious? Zero must be protected from the greedy fools and the foolish people who would try to use it for their own goals! Censorship, counter-espionage, terrorism, sabotage…" The "secretary" told him.

"Of course, ma'am. I hadn't thought of it."

"Thinking again, I take it back. I tend to be picky at small things."

"Say… May I ask something?" Suzuki requested.

"Go ahead."

"Thank you, sir. Some months ago… I came out one evening and saw a blackish behemoth's figure for an instant close to the harbor… When I tried to look at the waters with IR goggles there was no trace of it or of anything having been there… Was that Purgatory?"

"Correct. It'd just come out of dry dock and it was testing its maneuver capacity… Its camouflage system also allows it to hide from IR scanning systems…" Hades admitted.

"I see. Thank you."

"Any other questions?"

"Can that thing shoot?" Tozukana asked.

"No. It has no weaponry. It's intended to be a fortress, after all. Any boarding party will be clearly overwhelmed with our Net Navis and Cross Fusion users providing the defense… We'd try to show them how they don't stand a chance and just wait for them to pull back… We'd obviously find out where they go or where they came from to report it to the proper authorities…"

"Okay. No problem, then…" She shrugged.

"Is there a… VR room?" Qong asked.

"Of course. We've designed it for these kinds of exercises! There's also a shooting range with simulated shooting in case you want to polish your marksmanship." Hades confirmed.

"Interesting, by Moran." Agoras smiled.

"Isn't it, ladies and gentlemen?" Hades smiled at them.

"I know it sound silly, but… Next we'll have an underground facility named Hell?" Zarashe asked.

"No, there's no need to. My own code-name means Hell too."

"S-sorry. I take it back."

"My, my. Lacking imagination, my fellows?" Ikada giggled.

"You wouldn't be happening to be thinking of doing something sneaky, would you, Bertha – chan?" Sandra questioned.

"Who knows, Aunt Moran?"

"I give up."

"Mr. Dark Man has offered himself volunteer to run the onboard kitchen and cafeteria… You'll all be given a salary, and you're free to choose if you want to have the meal onboard or go have it at the mainland! There'll be total freedom of movement at any time and any day. Everyone can come and leave as they please."

"We must be discreet! Don't boast in the midst of the streets about this!"

"Of course not." Kage affirmed.

"Today I feel like running the show! Let's go for it!"

"Go on ahead: we've finished by now." Hades invited.

"Attention, you guys… I've got two important missions which must be taken care of… One of them brings along no danger whatsoever… It's comfortable, really relaxing… The other mission is terribly dangerous and full of risks! Which one do you prefer?"

"I prefer the second one! And you, Boss?"

"Me too, me too!"

"That's what I expect from my agents! They're courageous, they're brave, and they're seasoned fighters…!"

"Yeah… The first one is way too fat."

"And the second one has some moustache…"

"This Choina girl with the bikini is cute!"

"The fifth one isn't that bad either! Right?"

"I'm talking to you two! TO YOU TWO~!"

"Say that before…!"

"Say, say! We're listening!"

"Let's see~… What would you do when faced with a vile creature, a being capable of committing horrible atrocities…?"

"I'd bring them to the paredón! Note: I'd call the firing squad on them!"

"That's it! We gotta be drastic!"

"But, Boss… The "Paredón" is a restaurant specialized in garlic soups! Why don't you bring her to the "Happy Spider-Crab" instead?"

"Hum, not sure… Maybe I'll bring them to the "Chipiron Despatarrao" 'cause it's cheaper and they invited you to a cup of cognac…"

"Note: a rough translation would be: "The Messed Up Lobster"…"

"What a beautiful lady! Allow me! Allow me to frame the photograph! BOOM! I don't think they'll let you inside of the "Spider-Crab" or the "Lobster" either because you gotta bring a shirt to begin with! Note: he swapped the photo for a frame built of four TNT cartridges. In exchange, you're going to fully step within this new mission! Do you prefer to do it out of your own will or…?"

"The phone! I prefer to do it through the phone!"

"T-through the phone~?"

"You're such a nit-witted guy, Boss! Go wait for her to come out of her work and invite her!"

"No! I'm telling you I'll do it through the phone!"

"Take phone~! Take this! TAKE THIS! Now! Pay attention to your upcoming mission! I take it you've heard of the UFOs, spaceships or flying saucers… Well then! This time we gotta deal with the… Flying Tea-cups!"

"The Flying Tea-cups!" Everyone (save for the "secretary" and Pharaoh Man and Qong) broke into laughter.

"And thus began a terrific mission of trying to restore to normal those bitten by the alien worms hidden inside of the "Flying Tea-cups" deep within the coffee!" Video Man announced.

"Man! I should find that comic and read it!" Zarashe laughed.

"Don't fret! We've uploaded it into the download server for everyone to enjoy!" Burner Man announced.

"Shah, shah, sha~h! Bring it on, big alien worm!"

"You asked for it! Behold my terrible bite!"

"I fail to see the point but as long as it contributes to morale…"

"Do not worry, Mademoiselle, as is under control."

"Indeed. We've finally achieved our goal. We're victorious!"

13:45 PM (Japan Time)…

"… I see. So that's how it is."

"Yes, Superintendent Oda… They were repressing my memories so that I wouldn't spoil the surprise of what Purgatory was…"

"I guess I'm guilty of something, then…"

"Why, Obihiro – kun?"

"T-that0s… After nagging a lot, I managed to get Netto – kun to get me involved in the super-computer's debugging stages and such I've known of that Zero guy for a while now… Please… I was bored and I wanted something which was up to my level…"

"Alright. You can't be blamed. After all, I'm still studying the "Copy-Roids" and their "Dimensional Converter" technology because they fascinate me with their complexity…"

"Who wouldn't want to have a way of having a peek at some new revolutionary technology?"

Oda, Enzan, Obihiro, Yuuichirou and Meijin had gathered in the meeting room within the Science Labs' building and were discussing about the news regarding Golden Star.

"By the way, Obihiro – kun and Ijuuin – kun… Could you drop by my office later? I want to show you something."

"Understood, sir."

"Enzan – sama: mail from Suzuki and Akemi, sir…"

"What do they say?"

"The conference exposed all of the security measures regarding access to Purgatory and within its structure… She's made a summary using bullet points. Have a look, sir."

"Whoa. This is some security."

"No wonder."

Enzan activated the holographic screen and set it to rotate upon its axis so that everyone could read the list.

"There's an extra note, sir. Apparently, Video Man and the others began another comic book and there was a general round of laughing at the title… The Flying Tea-cups."

"The Flying Tea-cups?"

Oda broke out into hysterical laughter and began to bang the table, trying to calm down: the other four looked at him, obviously surprised.

"By my Uncle Merton's beard! That's the funniest title I've heard: that Ibañez man is a - GENIUS!" He laughed.

"Not again." Obihiro groaned.

Man. They knocked me out afterwards and when I woke up I was on the bed… My memories had flowed back during the unconsciousness and I realized that they were right: Hikari needed to become Kage Miquel in order to regain his energy, which he'd lost after that tragic incident two years ago…

"Ijuuin! I'm striking at you from the Dream World! Tremble in fear!"

"Not Video Man again!" Blues cursed.

"I'm striking at you from your imagination, Lestrade!"

"I AIN'T LESTRADE DAMN IT ALL!"

"Nope! You're Uncle Merton's idolized grandson."

"Oho. How true." Oda chuckled.

"Damn it."

"Damn It Man came!"

"Why do you always pick on me?" Enzan questioned.

"You're my worthy foe!"

"How lovely."

"How honorable, you mean!"

"Go buy grease for the video playback device!" Blues growled at Video Man as he looked for him inside of the Cyber World.

"You can't find me! I'm everywhere!"

"Wanna burn, man?"

"Shah, shah, shah! Wanna needle, fella?"

Burner Man and Needle Man suddenly surrounded him and dashed towards Blues; he was unable to react in time but both passed through him and they turned out to be holograms; Blues growled and began to cut around the empty air until he hit something which happened to be a Garuu Virus, which got a twitch over its right eye and howled.

"Here comes the "Flamethrower" attack!" Video Man announced.

"Damn it." Blues growled.

"There's more! Strength!"

The Virus rammed into Blues, pushing him into the floor, and stepped above him; it then jumped over him and rammed into Punk, who apparently was coming to help him; he ended up face-up on the floor too as the Virus ran out of sight..

"How's that?" Video Man taunted.

"Fuck."

"Damn."

"Let's go, my fellows! We've got the honor of being the first watch onboard the maiden vessel Purgatory!"

"Take that, guys! We rock and you pebble!"

"Shah, shah, shah! Patent that, man!"

"Grfjtx! What a farce!" Blues grumbled.

"The jerks!" Punk cursed.

"How lovely." Meijin sighed.

"Oh by the way! I'll say one thing: this Harley – Davidson miniature will bring us good fortune for the next 666 days!"

"Don't be so Occidental!" Obihiro groaned.

"Maybe I'm a hybrid."

"Please…" Yuuichirou obviously thought it was pathetic.

"I'm fed up with this so I'm going for a walk."

Enzan fumed as he stood up from his seat.

"Drop by my office firstly. Come as well, Obihiro – kun."

"Yes, sir. Later, Superintendent."

"Later the Relate!" He improvised a pun.

"I'm off to or I'm gonna go crazy." Meijin cursed.

The group left and only Oda remained in the room; he stood up and looked out of the room's window into the street, while barely holding his laughter back.

"My fellows! This is coming to a close but… Who knows? Maybe we'll get some crazy guys as rivals next!"

"What!? Oh come on! Don't say that, sir, or it ends up happening, sir! You know what they say, sir! "Be careful what you wish for, it might end up becoming a reality", sir!" An officer complained.

"Don't worry, Ikeda – kun! All we need is charisma!"

"I highly doubt it, sir! I apologize if it comes off as rude, sir!"

"It doesn't, no need to fret! Did you know that tale of…?"

"I just remembered I must submit a report! Excuse me, sir!"

"Youth nowadays, always rushing everywhere…"

He has a point, though. We should not lower the guard, indeed!