"We'll go around the horses again!"
"No, on them!"
"I'm the blue one. You get the purple one. It has polka-dots."
"And I'm a kitty riding a donkey!"
"It's still a horse. See? It has reins."
"Oh. I'm a kitty riding a green horsie. Okay!"
Raika looked away from the three small children now "riding" the colored stone donkeys in a small play area in a grocery store that he was in. He wondered how he was allowed outside- and outside the base, no less- in the first place. His aunt was nearby, looking at some food in the frozen food aisle. Of course, he had strict orders not to run off and to stay near his aunt at all times.
He glanced back toward the children, where the smallest was now petting the "horsie's" mane. For some odd reason, the scene seemed familiar . . .
"I didn't really want to come here," Raika griped, talking in a low tone so that his Aunt Hilda could not hear him. "Someone always makes fun of how we speak ancient Sharian."
He did not mean everyone, of course, but four certain kids that were on some colored horses nearby.
His aunt's- his father's oldest brother- two oldest children, Niqua and Jekosa were definitely not listening- they were having a contest on who would name the most strangest flavors of ice cream that all started with the same letter in thirty seconds.
He scoffed his foot against a slight mark on the tiled flooring, ignoring his cousins and the shrill laughter of the children on the colored horses (and a single goat, for whatever reason) nearby. Of course, the mark would not come off on his boot, no matter how much he rubbed against it. It was a shame that even if the mark on the floor could get onto his boot, the certain aunt that was with him would not be one to notice it.
Raika then heard Peter speak up from right beside him. "I guess they really don't know anyone else who speaks another language," he suggested, from his six-year-old wisdom.
Raika, who was only four (but almost five- in three weeks!), shrugged. "I still don't like them." The boy on the blue horse was noisier than the rest, holding out his arm like it held a lasso. His aunt that was with him (and certainly his aunt Suraiya, waiting for him and the others back at the base) would surely tell the kids to "use their inside store manners." Raika scoffed at the idea, wishing a bit to climb on the horses mounted on the springy metal. Who put a play area inside a store and expected no one to make any noise?
At least the kids currently there were at least occupied with something else besides shoving him and Peter off the slides at the park just outside the base; trying to tangle up their swings; and purposely throwing the rope in between two platforms away from them. One time, they had even thrown cucumbers (dipped in ranch dressing, at that) at them, and he and Peter had gotten into trouble.
They could not escape them forever outside the base, but Raika was glad that he had never seen them on it. They were most likely civilians that lived nearby the store.
Raika turned away from the horses, and walked with Peter toward his aunt again . . .
Raika blinked, looking at the different children still on the horses. Actually, the younger two were off them now, with the youngest one crawling underneath the yellow horse, which was still teetering side to side.
He frowned. Surely he had not just had some sort of memory. There were better things that could happen (such as not having to relive the virtual reality- what had actually happened- one more time). Certainly annoying younger children in a random store had no significance- besides that Peter had been there; Peter who had disappeared perhaps just a year after the incident, and had vanished to the public entirely.
Raika huffed slightly. If he was to actually remember something, why could it not be something more important? Something about Peter's disappearance would certainly be much more useful. He supposed that the (memory?) meant somewhat that he had Peter had certainly gotten along- from what he could tell, anyway- just as his aunt and chief uncle had stated. Of course, it was no different than their firm partnership now.
He turned away to walk closer to his aunt (just like he had years before?), where she was occupied with hefting a large bag of frozen fish from a cooler. Raika swiftly moved to help her, lifting the bag with ease into a small metal cart.
The items were soon bought, and Raika followed his aunt toward the small car, laden with a few bags. He almost wished that he was in his military uniform, but it was not required for when he was off-duty. Plus, his aunt had given a firm suggestion that he not put it on.
A group of laughter from nearby got his attention. He turned toward his left to see a large shuttle bus with a group of youths standing by it. A few held suitcases, while others just stood by with nothing, their hands jammed in pockets. He was not quite sure why a random bus with probably school kids was in a grocery store parking lot, but perhaps there had been something wrong with the vehicle or otherwise.
He was about to turn away when two more male youths stepped off the bus and were hustled by an impatient man to the front of the group.
Raika's eyes widened with surprise at the features. They were not looking directly at him, but they were somewhat tall- one taller than him, but only slightly, and the other looking to be about his height. They had dark ebony hair, and light brown skin, with the older one's pulled into a loose ponytail.
He recognized them- and so would Searchman. Surely his navi would be taking at least one picture for him to see later. He did not know why they were in Sharo- he had known (or rather, "known") them in Netopia.
He barely heard his aunt call out to him. Surely the group would not be waiting outside in the cold for a long time.
"Raika, are you all right?"
Raika frowned and turned to his aunt, gripping the bags tightly. He could not let the two familiar-looking youths be out of his sight so soon.
"May I talk to two of them quickly?" he asked softly, pointing toward the group of youths bythe bus. "I won't be long."
His aunt's brow creased slightly. "Do you know them?" she asked.
Raika frowned again. "Not really . . . but I would like to speak with them."
He did not want to have to state why, of course. Hopefully his aunt would not insist on following him, and therefore, overhearing the conversation.
He was in luck, apparently, with his aunt's response. "You may, but do not take too long- and don't run off," she added.
Raika resisted sighing out loud at the latter part of the response. Of course, generally it would not apply to him, though. He hefted the bags a bit higher on one arm, and at a slow run, dashed quickly toward the two youths. They turned as he came right by him (as well as several others).
"Pardon?" the older one asked. "Are we in your way?"
Raika could not speak for a few seconds. He could clearly see the eyes of the older one, and the younger one also- they were a deep brown. He could also more visibly see the matching features of both youths. Obviously, they were related.
The younger one's face were almost hostile, though, where the older one seemed merely a bit reserved, but no less observant.
Raika tore his eyes from the familiar features for a second. He and Searchman had seen those faces quite often for a short while . . .
He wished he had thought more of what to say to them beforehand, but either way, nothing would sound entirely logical. He spoke up finally, for once slightly glad that he was not in his uniform.
"So you are Henry and Nathaniel?" he asked bluntly, chancing that their names would be the same.
Henry's eyes deepened in suspicion, while he noticed that Nathaniel scowled slightly. "How do you know this?" Henry asked evenly.
He managed to shrug nonchalantly. "I have heard a bit about you both, and was wondering if you were truly the same people," he stated, careful to mask any nervousness. "We could also have something in common. I hoped you would care to share a means of correspondence, including perhaps an email address."
Raika ignored a blatant remark from someone nearby about his formalities, waiting for one of the two youths to respond.
"What for?" Henry asked, his face still serious. "Also, I don't think we would know each other. We are from Brightland on a school trip."
Raika involuntarily flinched. He had not expected them to be from yet another country . . . but they certainly looked familiar, even with the difference in nationality. (Actually, they had "been" Sharian in the virtual reality, but only by default.)
"Just for any similarities," he responded, clearing his face. "If you want, the correspondence need not last any longer than one time-"
"How could we have anything in common with him?" Nathaniel jutted in, though keeping his voice quiet.
Raika was a bit miffed about the interruption- need the younger one be so rude?- but rejoiced a little, since Nathaniel had not spoken in the main language of Sharo, but in ancient Sharian.
"I know the same language," he supplied, responding with similar wording that would most likely sound gibberish to most of the youths nearby.
He had had to restrain himself from saying "we," though he wondered at the near mishap. At least if they did agree to any sort of communication, they would know that he had not willingly eavesdropped without telling beforehand of his knowledge of more than one language.
"Is he saying that he wants to go on the broken bus?" a youth nearby quipped, chortling a bit.
"Maybe he's homeless," another one piped up. "Look at those bags."
"Maybe he's got others stored somewhere else? It doesn't look like he's actually got that much- not for living, anyway."
"You sure he's not actually insane or something?"
Henry also seemed to ignore the jabs of his peers as he turned toward another bus that was pulling into a lot nearby. He frowned, seeming to decide, then turned toward Nathaniel, who shrugged, surprisingly looking a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps the younger youth did not appreciate the "stealing" of the advantage he and Henry usually shared of another language that many others around them did not know.
He then looked back at Raika again. "We could set up a correspondence," he said quietly, still in the familiar flow of words so different than most Sharians. "I could share one of my email addresses" –Raika noticed Nathaniel frown at that, but stay silent- "and we could talk. We hold the right to decline any further conversations or to block you at any time, of course."
Raika wondered at the formal-sounding speech, which was different than most Sharian youths. Then again, he tended to speak formally also. It could be that the older one was merely mimicking his speech pattern in accepting the queer invitation.
He rejoiced, though, at the quick approval of his proposal. Perhaps he could finally discover something more about the virtual reality at last . . .
Raika swiftly shared a lesser email address which he mostly gave out to a few civilians as needed on missions. It had not been used too often, though, so the inbox was much less likely to be cluttered with other less useful items, unless Henry and Nathaniel did not share his liking of not wasting space. He hoped that nothing would ever be too strange in any email headers that the security navis in his uncle's home or anywhere else would notice.
Henry gave him a quick nod- Nathaniel just glared at him instead, clearly still suspicious- before they both went with the other youths towards the new bus.
Raika watched them board, then easily sprinted back over to his aunt, who was unsurprisingly waiting near the car. He saw that she had placed her bags in the back seat.
"So did you speak to who you wanted to?" she asked briskly, as she opened the door to let him place his bags by the others.
Raika nodded, placing his bags neatly so that they would not topple over. "Yes," he responded curtly responded.
He hoped that he would not be questioned too much (but perhaps with the whole silence with other certain topics, it would not be looked over after all . . .) Perhaps his aunt would think that the youths he had spoken to were ones he had seen on a mission at some point, though he had never done such a thing informally before while staying at his uncle's home.
Yet again, thankfully his aunt was silent about the matter, and as they drove back to the base, she merely related about another younger relative of his that she had heard from one of his older cousins.
Raika was only partly listening to the tale about a piano and the twenty-six plastic hot dogs that had somehow been shoved inside of it. He finally had another clue . . . if it would actually lead somewhere. He suddenly wondered if it truly had been sheer luck that the same two youths from the virtual reality had been in Sharo, and near enough that he could see them, at that. Then again, it seemed quite odd that a whole bus could be derailed enough just to be near him (he, one person out of many). Plus, a school trip to another country would have been planned months in advance. The virtual reality would have been set up way after then.
He deliberated, not for the first time, as his aunt was finally silent and he watched the homes and businesses outside fly past through the foggy car window, that perhaps he and Searchman (or even just himself?) had never actually woken up from the virtual reality after all.
Briefly he wondered about Searchman worriedly gazing at his supposedly unconscious net op, while someone else futilely attempted to stop the program from running. (. . . But would that not mean that they would be watching him currently?)
He then forcefully cast the ludicrous thought aside. He had not known that he had been in the virtual reality while in it, of course. What could the point be of one allowing such a large glitch at any point? Surely that fact alone would disrupt any procedures meant for him and his navi- not to mention, that he had been rescued far too easily in the first place.
He clenched one first slightly before releasing it. He (and especially Searchman, as the attacking navi that cyber enemies saw) had been targeted before. Perhaps there was something more that they could do . . . at some point. Even though he currently did not know how the "knowledge" of the virtual reality could help more, he at least had one thing to go on.
"So, how big is this place, anyway?" Lan asked as he stepped through the front door of his uncle's home.
Raika resisted rolling his eyes as he closed the door behind Lan and Chaud. "Big enough," he replied curtly.
He had just returned from a mission that had involved cross fusion- and surprisingly, the only other two net savers that knew he could cross fuse were summoned as well. Raika supposed that he should not have been surprised that Lan had asked (insisted, rather) that he visited where Raika was currently "living".
He briefly showed the two younger net savers where to put their coats (one again, Lan raved about how supposedly "cold" it was in Sharo- and yet again, Raika resisted a comment about the northern part that stretched partly into Brightland that was much colder).
He took off his own coat, quickly hanging it next to the left side.
"So are any of these coats Chief Malenkov's?" Lan asked curiously.
Raika frowned at the would be clearly rhetorical question. "Obviously," he responded.
"Whose is that coat?" he heard Chaud ask then.
Raika turned toward the smaller purple thick jacket that was on the right side of the closet next to one of his aunt's. "One of my younger cousins," he said, stepping back and shutting the closet door. "They accidentally left it here last time with her family somehow bringing two coats for her."
He saw Lan's face turn confused. "Cousins? . . ." he asked.
"Well, Chief Malenkov is his uncle," Lan's navi, Megaman, spoke up.
His net op did not seem to make the connection. "But he's at the headquarters . . ." His eyes widened, almost comically. "Wait, Chief Malenkov has kids? So he's married?"
Raika resisted the slight urge to slap the younger net saver's face. Really, now, even with the strange rumors that he had heard over the years in just his military school alone (and some strange idiots that had eventually figured out their family connection even thought that Raika had been kidnapped and forced to be in the military) . . .
"Of course," he replied, keeping his voice even, turning to head upstairs.
Quick footsteps sounded from behind him to his side. "But he's the chief!" Lan sputtered. "How could he have any kids? . . . And where are they, anyway- and hey, wait, where are you going?" he added, looking around the empty entryway.
Raika started up the stairs nearby. "Putting up my bag," he stated, not bothering to stop while Lan impatiently stepped up behind him, and Chaud further behind. "All of Chief Malenkov's children are grown now and have since moved away."
Chaud spoke at last. "Chief Keifer is married, isn't he?" he asked conversationally as they turned toward Raika's room. "I heard his family mentioned a few times before."
"It would make sense if he was," Raika responded as he let the other net savers into the small room. He swiftly shrugged the pack from his back and placed it on a hook in the closet. He turned around in time to see Lan's eyes even wider as he stood in the middle of the room on the rug that covered the wooden floorboards.
"No way!" Lan's face was quite disbelieving. "Why wasn't I ever told that?"
"I didn't ask about it," Chaud replied. "I just heard a few people mention it."
Raika closed the closet door just before Lan spoke up again. "Just crazy," Lan said. "Did you ever know about that, Megaman?"
Raika resisted closing his eyes in slight frustration. Certainly, younger school children could believe that their teachers actually lived at school, but this was certainly something else. Of course, like regular civilians, not everyone in the military and the net police had a spouse in the first place. Combined with the fact that generally those in the military were publicized as a unit, not with their families, it partly made more sense, in a way.
Thankfully, Megaman spoke up with more common sense. "Well, maybe you could look at it this way," the friendly navi suggested. "Your dad is married, and so is Chaud's. And I would guess that Raika has parents somewhere, too."
His net op blinked a few times, finally seeming to understand the response, with his face settling into a less comical pose. "Right . . ." he said slowly. "I guess that does make sense." He put a hand behind his head. "I mean, who would guess that my dad doesn't live at Sci-lab?" He then laughed a bit. "Well, sometimes it kind of seems like he does, if you know what I mean."
"I guess so," Megaman responded friendlily.
Lan chuckled again. "Well, I guess it is pretty funny that we're all related to somebody kind of famous," he said. He then put a hand on his chin briefly. "Hmm. Not that anyone's ever really asked me about it much before."
"Yeah, they all just want to battle you instead," his navi quipped.
Lan's hand went downward into a fist. "Hey, not everybody!"
"Well, several people, anyway . . ."
Lan went on into a charade of someone supposedly powerful that he and Megaman had beaten just the week previous. Raika bemusedly watched the duo argue slightly- with the knowledge that another particular topic was not currently being discussed.
Unfortunately, Chaud still seemed to have the subject in mind. "So have you mentioned the virtual reality again with your uncle yet?" he asked.
Raika scowled inwardly at the question, and not just the fact that family relation was used instead of military office, almost mocking his own position. Lan stopped his argument to look curiously at him.
"We have discussed it," he replied briefly, careful not to show the consuming anger inside of him.
"How much?" Lan asked, unfortunately not fooled. "I mean, Dad said that you wouldn't tell anything much, and then you never wanted to talk about it when I had asked you."
Raika gritted his teeth. Of course the virtual reality would be asked about . . . again. Perhaps even someone had asked them to question him.
"Me neither," Chaud added quietly, his voice now much more serious.
Raika closed his eyes, but resisted mentally looking at Searchman, who was most likely with Megaman and possibly even Protoman in the shared network that all PETs could connect to when near enough each other and each individual net op allowed. He did not need to spy on navis, even his own, when privately with other cyber acquaintances.
He opened his eyes, and hoped that he would sound calm. "I will discuss anything further about it with Chief Malenkov," he stated. Hopefully the two other net savers would get the hint already.
"Just Chief Malenkov?" Lan asked dubiously, folding his arms in contempt. "Come on. No way everything had to do with serious military stuff from Sharo."
He was almost glad when Megaman spoke up again. "Well, we don't know what type of things were in it, or how it worked," the blue navi stated reasonably. "It could have been a day-to-day scenario, or something else entirely."
Raika frowned heavily. They did not know how hard it could be sometimes to remember something, and then realize that it had never occurred. He had even almost mentioned a program in production in Sci-lab to Chaud in an email, before he recalled that the date it had supposedly started would be two months in the future. They did not know that he still woke up slightly confused sometimes, thinking that he should "be" back in one of the places in the virtual reality, or that several times he had to push himself to remember some topics that he had actually reviewed months before – mentally it still seemed that long for him- in his classes. Even worse, they did not know- or even care- that there was even a slim chance that he had learned some other things that even his their chief while in Sharo could very easily turn him and Searchman in for.
Six months. He and Searchman had "been" somewhere else for a whole half of a year. His uncle knew of that at least, for certain, as well as a few others in Sharo, but it had seemed that not many knew about it. Apparently, even though someone had alerted the net police department in Dentech City about the reality, they had given few details about the events he had minimally related, if even that. It almost seemed bizarre that someone from Netopia even cared, even though the two people nearby him were the ones to come to his aid in the first place.
"So it could be enemy secrets, then," Lan persisted. "Come on, Raika. Just say something about it, already. There's gotta be something that would be good to know."
"I don't know of any new enemy that was against the Sharian military," he replied evenly.
"So Sci-lab, then? Maybe there would be something about that. Lots of places don't like Sci-lab. I have heard people say that before."
"But Sci-lab's in Netopia, not Sharo," Megaman pointed out.
"So? People in Sharo still know about it!"
Raika was not quite sure about the current argument- the topic was still not one he wanted to discuss. In any case, nothing that he knew about (or "knew?" He still was not sure what was actually fact or fiction from the "reality") would harm Sci-lab in anyway- just a few random enemy navis had attacked there, which was generally more or less usual.) He supposed that Lan did have it correct that Sci-lab had been a part of the virtual reality, even if a small part.
. . . Or was it actually a small part, after all? He remembered Lan's (not the actual Lan, but just from the "reality") as he saw someone entirely new come rushing into battle with a supposedly stolen synchro chip. The chip had not been stolen, however, but was merely Raika's, but no one in Sci-lab had ever figured it out.
Of course, the same person- but in name (later, though) and looks only- had sent out an email to him just the day before, containing mostly only trifle items, and not anything else that seemed useful at the moment. Of course, Henry (and still reluctantly, his younger brother Nathaniel) did not know him outside the reality. They had no reason to trust him in the first place.
The two brothers- though they had not started out that way- had been some of the start of a long flight and hiding in the first place . . .
He had been surprised, though, at the similar names of their navis- which they had eventually had in the virtual reality also. Two other beings were also the same . . .
"Raika?" he heard Chaud ask.
Raika quickly looked at Chaud, embarrassed that he had been caught while lost in thought. He supposed that the net saver had asked a question of some sort, and he had missed it, which was unusual for him.
Lan rolled his eyes. "Great, Raika's spacing out now. Did you remember anything good at the virtual reality you want to tell us about?"
Raika fumed inwardly again at the blatant remark- though he was not quite sure how to respond, even though it was just two curious younger net savers from another country, not his strict military uncle.
He was glad when he heard a knock on the door. Raika opened it up to see his aunt Suraiya, her long grey hair as usual hanging completely down besides a small part that was braided on top of her head.
She smiled slightly when she saw him. "I apologize that I was not at the door to greet you," she stated.
Raika nodded- he had known just a bit slight family emergency of a younger toddler that had somehow gotten ahold of something he should not. He assumed at least most everything else had been cleared up about the situation if she was talking to him now.
She nodded at the other two with him. "Raika can show you around the home, if he likes."
"Who's she?" Lan asked him in an undertone from behind him.
"My aunt," Raika responded, not bothering to lower his voice.
He did not need to turn around to see the sheer amazement that would be on his Netopian friend's face. "She's Chief Malenkov's wife?"
His aunt smiled again in a friendly manner. "Yes. I am Suraiya Malenkov. Chief Damir Malenkov is my husband, and I am proud to support him in his work and home however I can."
She left after Raika assured her that he was doing fine, as well as his two guests, and she had replied that she would be in one of the study rooms if he needed her for anything.
"Damir?" Lan asked dubiously in the silence afterward. "Really? I only know him as Chief Malenkov."
Megaman answered again. "Well, your dad has a first name, too . . ."
Raika was thankful that Chaud then interrupted the charade, this time with a comment about something else besides strange realities.
"So your aunt said that you could show us around?" Chaud asked.
Raika nodded. "Yes, I could do that," he replied. He had been in the home often enough (including his "vacation" currently), so that he knew the present layout.
He was a bit bemused as Lan's tag that marked him as a visitor to the base bounced bit as he turned toward him. "So which room first?" the younger boy asked excitedly. "We already saw yours- I mean, the one that you're staying in, anyway."
Raika led them on a short tour, starting on the floor they were already on. He was a bit thankful that even if they saw the strange markings of the ancient Sharian language on several books, including on a small shelf in "his" room, no one made any mention of them. They also only briefly looked at the pictures on the mantle in the living room, with Raika only explaining that they were "of some family", before quickly turning toward another room.
They finally finished with the basement, which Raika knew that his uncle had actually helped remodel at one point, including replacing several slightly dented sideboards along one wall.
"So does Chief Malenkov ever do any secret work here?" Lan asked as they trouped upstairs toward the middle floor again- Lan had mentioned wanting to try some homemade Sharian food for a snack.
"I can't say," Raika stated carefully.
"Really, now," Lan replied doubtfully. "You know what my dad does at Sci-lab."
Raika inwardly sighed as he led Lan and Chaud back toward the kitchen. "I don't know everything that he does," he responded.
He briefly saw Lan roll his eyes. "But you know some of the net saver stuff, and that's supposed to be secret."
"I only know about the things I am permitted to have access to."
Lan's face was sour. "So now you want to be a secret keeper for everything?"
Raika set his face in a more equal manner. "Only things I need to."
He had known, without being told, that part of the reason why the two Netopian net savers had been allowed to visit in his uncle's home was yet another chance for him to reveal some more about the virtual reality. Raika wondered about the punishment about it once the chief discovered he was still silent, even with his "friends" (he still was not quite sure, sometimes- they were still civilians, after all, and he was supposed to focus on his military studies in the first place), and the ever watchful navis in the home. Of course, they would also be wanting to report anything slip up he might make with anyone.
He let Lan look through the fridge (after the strange exclamation of that it was the same one that Chief Malenkov used). The younger Netopian seemed rather bemused about the buckwheat and a few other "weird" dishes, but wanted to try the rolls from a few days before, as there were a few left.
Raika watched Lan, then Chaud, nibble and exclaim over the homemade meat and rice rolls (which he had declined- he could wait until supper). That was the last supper he had had before the odd two day "escapade". Raika frowned. He certainly had just wanted to look around the area, not be captured without knowing who had performed the abduction. Currently, he now was just wanting to check his email for another possible one from Henry. Certainly he could not learn anything from the too-curious net savers nearby.
"So do you have any siblings?" he heard Chaud ask.
Raika quickly looked over at him, seeing that Chaud had apparently finished his roll, with Lan happily snacking on another one.
"Why do you ask?" he said, stalling a bit.
Chaud sighed, seeming preoccupied with thoughts. He then spoke again. "I was just curious. I had learned a bit about your parents, and that you have some cousins, but not about any siblings."
Raika scowled inwardly. Lan had curiously asked about his father's work during the short "tour" of the home, and he had also answered minimally about some of his other relatives. He really supposed that Chaud did not know that the two topics were actually related, but he might as well just get the subject over with already.
"No, I don't," he replied shortly. It was not a complete lie- as known to the public, anyway.
He saw Lan shrug from the corner of his eyes. "Huh, I don't either," he replied. "Unless there's somebody I don't know about, which would be pretty weird."
"Yeah, it would," Megaman replied.
Lan grinned. "So that's another thing we have in common, then," he stated cheerfully.
Raika resisted a heavier frown. Two people merely not having siblings did not have much cause for rejoicing, as it was very much common among many youths, and not just Sharo and Netopia. At least Lan and Chaud had not been more interested in specifics about the pictures on the mantel, and that at least Lan did not seem the type to curiously poke through old picture albums. The two Netopians would not understand the captions, though- they were all in ancient Sharian.
Unfortunately, Lan piped up again with another question. "So your cousins and even Chief Malenkov seem to have a lot of kids. Why did your parents only have you?"
"There were a few miscarriages," he replied- another truth, but of course not caring to tell more.
"Oh."
He heard someone else step into the kitchen, and he turned to see only his aunt. She smiled again at him, though it seemed a bit strained. Raika could not blame her- he truly was supposed to be at his military school at the moment, not wasting time with "friends" from another country entirely.
"I was going to take over a casserole to the Hilwets a few doors down," she said.
Raika nodded; he had heard about the boy who had managed to fracture his leg in a parachuting accident a few days before (not that most civilians would believe that army brats would ever have such a chance at something generally reserved for those training in the military, and the few professional civilians with actual experience).
"I assume that you all can behave yourselves while I am out?"
She seemed to eye Raika for a few seconds. Raika tried not to let his face redden; he had escaped from her less than a week ago.
Lan spoke up again. "So Raika really doesn't have any siblings then, right?"
Raika frowned heavily, not caring about anyone else that would see it at the moment. Did the younger net saver truly not believe anything that he said that day? Surely they would believe that he had cousins, at least.
Fortunately, Suraiya merely shook her head. "I can't really say that Raika does- but I don't know, though." Lan and Chaud both look confused, until she continued. "He has –had- an older brother, but he disappeared many years ago. I'm sure you can ask Raika, though, if you want."
She soon bade a quick good-bye to them, and left with a small casserole that Raika had helped make earlier that day. Raika was quite sure that she also wanted him to talk about the virtual reality as well, though he fervently wished that she had urged him with another topic. Both she and the chief knew about his reluctance to converse about their Peter that they had fondly shared a few memories of- how could his aunt so blatantly ask him to talk about it with some others that never even knew an inkling of the topic in the first place?
Lan stared at him, his face now accusing. "So you don't have any siblings, huh?" Unfortunately, Chaud looked no less content.
Raika scowled outwardly. He was just tired of their ignorant, pestering questions- just tired of it- and other questions that would surely come yet again later from the area chief and other such superiors. "What would you say if you had an older brother that you practically know nothing about that disappeared eight years ago?" he spat, not caring about any sort of response.
He then swiftly turned around, and not caring what either of the two idiots thought, and quickly marched up the stairs into "his" room- and even locked the door.
Raika sat down at the single desk in the room after not hearing any certain people come up the stairs and knock on the door. He then closed his eyes, letting himself see into the familiar sameness of the small space in his PET. He almost wondered for a few seconds how navis could stand such confinement- he had experienced it a bit himself in the virtual reality, but had generally not found it enjoyable in any way.
Then again, Searchman had been "raised" and taught as a navi. He knew nothing else.
. . . Besides finding out about his actual heritage, and "being" that form for a while in the "reality" . . .
Raika opened up the note-taking program again. I apologize, Searchman. He did not have to say more. His navi knew what he had meant.
He was correct as Searchman again manually typed a response. Raika, it does seem odd that I am supposed to be someone that is missing. However, I still want most of all for you to be safe.
And you, also. Raika could put that much.
Searchman nodded. Raika opened his eyes, knowing that Searchman would close the program. After a quick check of his email- Henry still had not sent anything else- he then uncharacteristically laid his head on his arms on the desk. Truly, he just hoped that two certain net savers would be called back to their own country before his aunt returned.