"Is something bothering you?"
The Boss nearly jumped in his seat. "Black. I didn't call for you," he said, his voice tight and controlled.
"Of course you wouldn't. I wouldn't call for anyone right now, either; it's troubling, how close that Net Savior got." Black looked over at the chair across the room as small hands came from behind the chair's backboard to grip the smooth armrests. "And I'll admit, I was far from blameless."
"You practically led him here!" the Boss cried. "And that other man, too—they know where we are now!" Hot, frightened tears spilled out of his eyes, hidden by the massive back of the chair but evident in how ragged his voice was as he choked, "I've worked for so long—for so long—"
"I know," Black said, calm and patient like only a programmer of his caliber could be. "It's admirable, with the odds you've faced. I can't think of many people with your drive." He stepped closer to the Boss. "I won't be doing any more business on the side; I came here to assist you, and that's what I should focus on doing now, especially now that we're approaching the most crucial stages of your plan."
"But the damage is done," the Boss said sulkily. "They know where we are, and there's nothing we can do about it. The Net Saviors'll be at our door within the week."
"Not necessarily," Black said. "According to... certain stories I heard, the Net Savior has been warned off pursuing this further. If he has a working set of ears, I'm sure he'll listen." Before the Boss could protest, Black added, "It's up to the Net Police to decide what they'll do. If they leave us alone, there's no need for us to concern ourselves any further. If they get out of hand, well... we must retaliate, such that there can be no further interruption of our plans."
"Retaliate?" the Boss asked. "In a way that's that bad?"
"Just tell us where to go and I'll take it from there," Black said.
"It just seems... aggressive, for so early on," the Boss said worriedly. "Can we really risk our resources just for this?"
"If we don't, we stand a chance of losing everything," Black told the Boss. "We aren't merely intimidating them this time; we want to severely weaken or cripple their operations." The Boss was silent. "I know that I wasn't around for the earlier days of Nova, but you must trust me on this. As our leader, it's crucial that your location and your commands are kept secret..." Positioning himself just behind the Boss's chair, Black said in a low voice, "More safe than they are now, wouldn't you agree?" He asked, "Checked for bugs lately?"
The Boss did so. "One disabled," he reported, more disappointed than surprised.
"Then I can now disclose this in safety. My... acquaintance, Atsuki, he's... not as dedicated to your revolution. He doesn't think you can do it, even with all the plans in the world. He wants power of his own; thinks he can influence me, of all people..." Black chuckled, soft and dark. "You need to keep him busier. Perhaps with desk work; you don't want him getting out of hand…"
"Out of hand?"
"You don't want to attract the wrong attention. Nova's rule will be short if it becomes too widely known that a gaggle of kids can halt his stunts without fail."
The Boss couldn't help but agree. "On that note, send him in. If he has the time to devote to spying on us, it's only fair he be rewarded for his troubles."
"Make sure it's something good and pointless, the more boring the better," Black advised as he headed for the door. "See if you can't bring up that morale of his." Before he opened the door, he said, "I have a few preparations I'd like you to consider making; if you want, I can be back by this evening."
"Make it this afternoon, and you have yourself a deal," the Boss said, pleased once again. "Thank you, Black."
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Meiru sighed as she sat in her usual lunchtime spot. "You know, I feel like I'm constantly running late."
"I know what you mean," Roll said. "First the gas, then that weird stuff all over the center of town... All we seem to be around for is recording the mess." A bit more cheerfully, she said, "At least Kaita-kun and Mary-chan seem to be holding their own!"
"That's true. I guess I can't complain if the bad guys get defeated..."
Suddenly, Roll beamed. "Here comes Junichi-kun!"
The first thing he did was pull her to her feet. "What are you doing sitting all the way over here? Come on!"
"A-are you sure?" asked Meiru. She couldn't help feeling a little nervous. Just before Junichi could whisk her away, she grabbed her lunch and her backpack.
"Positive." Junichi smiled down at her. There was genuine caring in his eyes. Meiru realized that he really did want to get to know her; what he'd said when they'd first talked had been no trick. "You can't be my date if you don't know my friends!"
Meiru's first impression was that Junichi seemed to be friends with half the school. There were only two spots open at his table, which was actually two tables put together. Next, she tried to come up with something to say to them—she couldn't exactly talk shop at a bunch of normal high schoolers. Junichi gestured to a seat, which she took.
"So, who're you?" the girl across from her asked.
"I'm Sakurai Meiru." She saw some of the further-away students look over at her before starting to talk again—about her? She quickly looked back over at the students closest to her.
"Hello, Sakurai Meiru," the girl said teasingly. "I'm Miki."
"Reiko here," said the pigtailed girl next to Miki, looking up from her magazine.
"Daiki," introduced a boy with short black hair that seemed to shoot in every direction.
"And I'm Shou," said a boy wearing a brightly-colored baseball cap that looked like paint had been splattered all over it.
"Nice to meet you," Meiru said with a polite smile.
"So, Sakurai-san, have you seen Equinox yet?" Reiko asked.
"I don't manage to get out to the movies that often," she told them apologetically. "What's it about?"
"It's the newest part of the Midnight series," Reiko said.
"Rei-chan's on Team William," Miki explained.
"It's soooo romantic!" Reiko sighed. "And there's a bunch of pictures of him this month, look!"
Meiru decided not to tell them about the enjoyable half-hour she'd spent with Meijin and Enzan mocking the special effects, acting, storyline, and everything else in the first Midnight movie while waiting for some lab results. It had been the most interesting thing on TV, and they'd had nothing better to do around the Ministry. "Yeah, he is kinda cute," she said, looking at all the pictures of him. "Who's that other guy?" she asked, pointing out a much cuter actor in one of the pictures.
"The arch-rival," Reiko said dramatically. "Levi."
"William's chief competitor for the heroine's heart," Miki said.
"Okay, that's enough," Shou cut in. "If I hear any more of this, I'm gonna barf my liver up." All three girls wrinkled their noses at him.
"Whatever you do, don't have her watch all the movies," Junichi said. Hand placed on his chest, he proclaimed, "My prom date should be untarnished by drivel." Meiru and the boys laughed.
"All right, fine, we won't talk about Midnight anymore," Miki said. She grinned at the boys mischievously before saying, "Sakurai-san, you've got a pretty cute style!"
"But I would personally go with a shorter skirt," Reiko said. "No offense."
"None taken." Meiru explained, "I just tend to do a lot of running after… cousins, and it's usually without warning, so I tend not to wear things that would lift up."
"We'll have to go shopping sometime," Reiko said, Miki nodding in agreement. "Practical is good sometimes, but you have to know when to switch it up. I know the perfect thing, and there're some new shoes I saw that are so cute!" The boys groaned.
"Did you see that goal Takeda-san scored last week?" Daiki asked loudly before there could be any more talk about clothes. "It really turned the game around, huh?"
As the conversation meandered on its way, Meiru listened and nodded along. She was practiced enough at that much.
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"Did you have to specify 'boring'?" Atsuki complained, brandishing a flyer for Black to look over. Here on the floors above the ones used as the Nova base, there weren't any microphones to maneuver around. "I know we've got to make it look like there's some more distance between us, but now I'm on fishing duty. Literal, actual fishing."
"At least it's a new experience?" What with the places Atsuki normally traveled on business, Black was pretty sure the taller man had never had a chance at it. "What's fishing got to do with the Internet, anyway?"
"I've got no idea," Atsuki muttered sourly. "Maybe that idiot thinks someone really did drop something in the water at Okuden."
Apologetically, Black pointed out, "Well, at least it's a contest, right?"
"A contest in boring." Atsuki sighed. "No helping it now–an order's an order. 'Least we're already prepared for when the Net Saviors come calling."
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When Meiru arrived at the Ministry and got a look at Enzan's face in person, her eyes widened. "Where'd the black eye come from?" It was pretty well-hidden—probably a combination of frozen peas and some makeup—but she knew how to cover bruises, too, and it was still a little swollen; it was fairly obvious to her.
Enzan's moment of hesitation seemed odd to her, but that thought turned out to be unfounded. "I've found Nova's base," he told her. "That's the proof of it."
"Oh!" Meiru said, surprised. "Well, that's pretty cool! Not the bruise, I mean. But at least we have them on the map now." It was also a little strange for either of them to be that proactive. Not only did they have other places to be for most of the day, but finding locations tended to be the Net Police's domain. But she supposed that with Atsuki and Black's antics being far more likely to injure or kill civilians compared with most of their other enemies', he had a right to be concerned.
"I'm leading a team of Net Policemen there soon," he told her, this time without any hesitation. Meiru wondered what it was she was supposed to have found faulty about this whole idea, if he'd been so reluctant to share before.
"Well, why didn't you tell me sooner? I'm coming, too!"
"Of course you are—it'd be crazy for either of us to go in alone," Enzan told her.
Meiru sheepishly laughed as Hikari-hakase and Meijin walked into the room. The two adults had called a meeting in order to touch base with Meiru and Enzan's new, younger acquaintances; for now, the plans to investigate Nova's base would have to wait.
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Kaita looked around at the vast, multi-storied lobby that welcomed visitors to the main building of the Ministry of Science. He'd never been in person, though Turboman had paid a visit to the network over half a year ago. "It doesn't change much, does it?" remarked Mary next to him.
"As long as things are going well, not at all," one of the receptionists said with a chuckle. "You're the two kids the Net Saviors are expecting inside, right? Just go through those doors to reach the Main Room," she said, pointing out the double doors at the far end.
"Thanks!" Kaita called. Inside was an equally impressive room filled with desks and a giant monitor on the far end. Clustered around the small table at its center were Hikari-hakase, Enzan, Meiru, and a spiky-haired man neither Kaita nor Mary recognized. Kaita nearly did a double take when he got a better look at Enzan's face—it looked like one of his eyes was slightly swollen, though his skin didn't have the sort of discoloration Kaita would have expected a black eye to have. Perhaps it was just an allergy. Nobody else was mentioning it, so Kaita decided to try to ignore it.
"Hey, guys!" greeted Meiru.
The unfamiliar member of the group said, "Todoroki Kaita and Towa Mary, eh? I'm starting to hear interesting things about you two. I'm the commander of the Japanese Net Saviors—call me Meijin."
"Nice to meet you, Meijin-san!" Kaita said cheerfully.
Meijin coughed and adjusted his bright red tie. "Under absolutely no circumstance is there any need for formalities, Kaita-kun," he advised.
"Hear things?" wondered Mary.
"Don't worry, I haven't heard too much," Meijin reassured them. "If anyone tries telling me about two kids riding in a car unsupervised, for instance, I suddenly go deaf. It's very strange." Hikari-hakase looked inordinately amused at this. Kaita and Mary exchanged looks of surprise.
A familiar voice under Kaita's elbow said, "Pipi!" Kaita looked down to see Beat sitting on the chair next to him.
"Beat? Where did you come from?" Kaita wondered. "Hey, wait a second…" He laid a hand on Beat's smooth helmet. "How are you here?!"
"Ah, it seems Rush has taken a liking to your friend," Hikari-hakase explained.
"Aup, aup!" Kaita looked to his other side to see a tan dog program holding a large soda, every bit as incongruous as Beat.
Hikari-hakase continued, "Rush has been able to materialize in the real world for some time now. I'd have to guess that Beat was made with similar parameters, and so the ability was compatible. Is that right?"
"Aup!" Rush said with a thumbs-up.
Beat flew down to land on Kaita's head with a cheerful chirp. "That's pretty cool, Beat!" he told the bird.
Rush pointed in the direction of the center console where the Operators had all deposited their Navis. "Aup aup!" Rush simply leapt inside via the monitor, effortlessly bypassing all common sense, and Beat followed suit after a moment.
"How did they do that?" Mary asked, wide-eyed. "That… isn't how that works…"
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While the Operators met in the real world, the Navis were gathering together in the Ministry network. Their introductions and re-introductions out of the way, they were promptly interrupted by Rush and then Beat careening into the scene.
Beat seemed to like Rockman at first sight, quickly flying over to his side. "Pipipi!"
"Hey there," Rockman said, ruffling the bird's feathers. "I don't think I've seen anything like you before."
Turboman introduced, "That's Beat. He's Black's, but he tends to just fly around doing whatever."
"Sounds a lot like Rush," remarked Rockman. The dog coughed into a mitten-like hand.
"Wait, he's Black's?" Ring asked incredulously. "Like, the creepy Black, or is there some other one out there?"
"You're kidding," Roll said. "Beat wouldn't harm a fly."
The bird had landed on Rockman's helmet, and looked content while his perch connected the dots. "Wasn't Black behind the Plague Virus?"
"That's the one," confirmed Roll. Beat looked down at them, chirping curiously. "He doesn't seem to have much of a moral compass—he'll just take whatever side's most convenient for him."
"Yeah. He'll just do stuff for no reason," Turboman said.
"And most importantly, he's a jerk," Ring added. "But I don't hold that against you, cutie," she cooed to Beat, scratching him under the beak. The bird squawked happily, then flapped down to look at Rockman.
"Don't worry," Rockman said, extending his arm to provide a landing spot for Beat. "Neither do I." The blue bird looked overjoyed.
"He really likes you, huh?" Roll asked, stepping next to Rockman.
"Any more pets and we could start a zoo!" joked Rockman.
Roll slid her arm around his shoulders, making Rockman blush. Beat snickered into his wing. "Just think—we could run it together! You could wear one of those rugged safari outfits, just like in the movies..."
"I—I guess," Rockman said, his face bright red.
"Awww!" squealed Ring. Turboman blinked at her. "You're such a cute couple!"
Rockman's face got even redder, while Roll giggled. "Thank you!"
"I apologize for their behavior," Gateman said stonily. "We only called this meeting to , not..." He turned his gaze on first Ring, then Rockman and Roll. None of them even seemed to notice. "...condone this behavior."
"Uh, it's okay," Turboman said.
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That evening, after seeing Mary and Kaita off, Meiru slipped away to the roof of the Ministry of Science. It was far enough from the main boroughs of Densan City that one could stargaze, and the complex itself was vast enough that few people ever came looking up here. It was one of the most private places she knew. She sighed, letting the vastness of the universe make her problems feel as small as they undoubtedly were.
"What's going on, Meiru-chan?" Roll asked.
Without thinking, Meiru said the first thing that came to mind. "I feel like a traitor."
"About Junichi-kun?"
"Something just... doesn't feel right. I don't know. What if..."
"Meiru-chan, nobody's going to make you do anything you're not comfortable with," Roll reassured her Operator. "It's just a prom date, not a boyfriend-date! And he and the others are all nice people."
"But they..." She looked up at the stars, considering what to say. "Yamada-san keeps trying to pull me in, but I feel like I can't say anything to him or his friends, and it'll get really obvious soon. They'll probably just drift away after all this is over… but what if he doesn't go away after prom? What do I say to him if he starts prying? I can't tell him I'm a Net Savior…"
"Meiru-chan! Meiru-chan, it's okay!"
She shook her head vehemently. "No, it's not. I barely know him, and I can't let him know me."
"Then who will you get to know? You don't have to let him know everything about yourself to be friends with him."
Meiru looked at her PET in surprise, realizing her Navi was right.
"Meiru-chan, just hear me out, okay? You have to meet new friends eventually, and I bet once you relax a little more, you'll be able to find more you have in common with Junichi-kun and his friends. It's like I said before–give yourself a chance." Meiru nodded in agreement, wiping dry first one eye and then the other. "I think if you stick with these people and let things progress naturally, things will get better. You just need to trust that it'll happen." Roll offered Meiru a soft smile. "Okay?"
"Okay." Her chest feeling a little lighter, Meiru let Roll's advice and the gentle twinkle of the night sky comfort her.