Converge

Rockman and Punk were left to their own devices after Netto, so exhausted he forgot to take his lens out, passed out on his bed. "Good thing you told Beat to come back here every night, 'or else'," Rockman said. "Netto-kun's got to have been planning to set up that link he was talking about, from inside the Citadel."

"I thought he was just puttin' a brave face on and not thinkin' of the aftermath until it got here," Punk muttered. "But this was a suicide mission all along! What were we supposed ta do after?!"

"We've got to make sure that seaplane winds up on the bottom of the harbor," Rockman said as agreement. "We'll strand them all."

Punk crossed his arm and cable. "And then…?"

"It's… out of our hands for a while, yeah," Rockman said, "but whatever happens next has got to be better than sticking with this plan."

"Point taken," Punk conceded.

"And that's why we need to get out of this room," Rockman finished. "I know we can't explain everything with what little time we have, but we have to at least warn Papa of what's waiting for the Net Saviors at the harbor."

"Haven't ya skipped a couple steps there, Rockhead?" Punk asked. "If we derail our side of the plan, how would they know what they're lookin' for an' where?"

"It's Enzan and Meiru working together, so they've got to have gotten close on their own. Even if they're not on the right track now, the most they'll need to get there is a little nudge," Rockman said confidently. "As for the finer details… well…" He grinned sheepishly. "It'll all come out in the wash?"

"Sounds like a real half-baked plan," Punk said. Looking at Netto sleeping on the bed, he added, "And those've gotten us pretty far."

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One of the wonderful things about Internet City was how incredibly old it was, at that point in time. Its usage logs were not exactly sophisticated by modern standards. Entering and then applying a simple data signature mask while inside it could keep a clever Navi from being detected exiting, throwing off the trail of any humans who would have wanted to see where the two signatures who originated from the former Nova network were going. It was a very similar effect to what using a VPN on an old Internet terminal had done for a human user.

With Beat in tow, they had a rather sophisticated signature mask. It was more caution than either Navi would have thought necessary to use under any other circumstance. But nobody would be tracing Rockman and Punk from the Ministry of Science to Netto, and to both Navis, that was paramount.

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The first to notice the entrance of Rockman and Punk were, naturally, their two creators. "Rockman! Thank goodness," Yuuichirou said, dashing toward the central display and attracting the attention of Enzan and Meiru.

"Papa!" Rockman said, just as happy to be reunited with the Ministry team.

"Rockman!" shouted Roll, overjoyed.

"Roll-chan!"

"Hey," Punk said over the happy reunion, waving awkwardly in Meijin's direction.

For once in his life, Meijin seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Where have you been?!" Yuuichirou asked next.

This time, Rockman didn't give anyone else in the room a chance to step around the issue at hand. "I've been helping Netto-kun and Punk. We're the ones who sent that leak your way, and we're going to have even more where that came from. But we need your help for this one."

"Netto?" repeated Yuuichirou disbelievingly.

Punk looked from face to face, quickly reaching the obvious conclusion from how Yuuichirou was the only one reacting like his son being among the living was news. "Did you people not tell him?" he asked scornfully. "Y'all really thought that wasn't gonna be an issue."

"Er, we don't have much time," Rockman cut in before Punk could set off a real argument among their audience. "The Darklish agents from the Net Police Headquarters have set up a temporary base in Densan Harbor while they wait for a seaplane to take them home tomorrow night."

"An' if Netto winds up back in Darkland, he's done for," continued Punk. "Problem is, Netto's tryin' to get sent home, so's he can set off the end of his stupid plan."

"What's important right now is you have to sink that seaplane," Rockman finished. "The agents will probably scatter, and we'll get more time to…" The truth was closer to 'talk Netto out of it', but it was less alarming to say, "…come up with something else."

"Got it," Enzan said, determined as ever.

Meiru added, "Thanks for giving us this lead time, you two."

"Uh, maybe send the grown-ups for this one," Punk said. "There're these real nasties waitin' for ya, Virus Fusions, they're called. I don't like either of you little shits, but I still don't wanna see your guts smeared all over the pavement."

"The Virus Fusions don't need a Dimensional Area to remain substantiated," Rockman explained. He was sure his Papa could bend a few rules under the circumstances, though it was surprisingly considerate of Punk to extend his concern to someone outside of Netto.

Sure enough, Yuuichirou explained, "We've got a pair of Copyroids on the way. We'll be prepared, don't you worry." Before Rockman could say his goodbyes, his creator asked. "Just tell me… is Netto all right?"

"He's… I wouldn't say he's completely okay after what's happened, but he's trying to do the right thing," Rockman explained.

"He's fightin' this with all he's got," Punk seconded. "An' speakin' of that, we need to get outta here before he knows we've done this."

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Just as suddenly as Rockman and Punk had appeared, they were gone.

Meiru had a terrible feeling that the conversational void would be filled by any of a number of difficult questions; unfortunately, she was not surprised. "Couldn't either of you have told me…?" Hikari-hakase asked.

The betrayal was plain to see on his face, and it was heartbreaking. "I'm sorry, Hikari-hakase," Meiru said. "I... There's really no excuse for how any of us have behaved…"

"It's been hard for us to process," Enzan said quietly. Meiru felt her eyes fill with tears of shame. How on earth had they ever thought keeping this secret for Netto was a good idea, when all it had ever done was drive wedges between them all? The thought of what they had done to Hikari-hakase after all those years of his support was sickening to Meiru.

She didn't expect to be pulled to Hikari-hakase's side in a half-hug; from the small gasp she heard next to her, neither had Enzan. "I know you kids were just doing what you thought was right," Hikari-hakase said. "We'll bring Netto back home together, all right? And if you need someone else's advice, you can always come to me. Don't ever feel like you have to go it alone."

"All right," Meiru agreed, reaching over to hug Hikari-hakase back with one hand and pull Enzan closer with the other. After a moment, Enzan reciprocated, shoulders relaxing under Meiru's hand.

Meijin coughed, prompting the three to separate and wipe away any stray tears. "I apologize as well, Hikari-hakase," he said. "I've also known since before the leak came in that Netto was involved with what started as the Nova plot. I didn't know how to tell you."

"You were in a difficult position, between your duty to me and to your Net Saviors," Hikari-hakase said. "I understand."

Meiru glanced over in the short lull to see Enzan contemplating something. "Well, we just had that big moment about no more secrets," she pointed out. "So tell us. What's wrong?"

"There's nothing we can do about it," he said, a bit defensive. "…Not as Net Saviors."

"Meiru-chan's right," Meijin said. "No more secrets."

"A Net Savior is bound by the law," Enzan pointed out rather than answer. "And as employees of the Ministry of Science, you two aren't just acting for yourselves."

"…You and I have to be the ones to take credit for everything," Meiru realized, a cold feeling settling over her heart. "If it seems like we're acting alone, we'll just lose our Net Savior roles, and then we'll go back to being civilians." There would probably be some kind of scandal and community service involved, too, but that didn't seem like such a big deal anymore. "But if Meijin and Hikari-hakase help us, that gets harder…"

"It's like Hikari-hakase said, right? I have a duty to my Net Saviors. All three of them," Meijin said. "I certainly don't plan on putting any of this down as official business, but I can't turn a blind eye, either. We need to pool our information, figure out what we don't have, and start coming up with some plans of our own."

"That sounds like a great idea, on one condition," Hikari-hakase cut in. "Can we wait for the sun to rise first? I think we could all do with some rest, and Kaita-kun and Mary-chan won't want to sleep through this."

"We need to focus on planning for Densan Harbor tomorrow, too," Meijin seconded. "Let's prepare for that first. We can figure out what our endgame is afterward."

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"This is Enzan and Meiru we're talking about. They're going to egg each other on into something absolutely insane," Pride fretted to Laika over another, much more secure, video call.

"And we'll be picking up the pieces," Laika finished. The two had separately felt the need to contact each other after the odd correspondences they'd received from Japan's Ministry of Science. The very obvious conclusion each had come to was that Enzan and Meiru were completely ignoring their warnings. "This is so selfish of them," Laika sighed. "I wish they'd realize that the political implications of what they're aiming towards are going to shatter this region for years to come."

Pride probably knew that even better than Laika did. While Laika would by necessity have very little to do with a politically-motivated conflict as a Net Savior, she would be on the front lines of dealing with its fallout. Nonetheless, she pressed on, "…But I have to admit, it would make sense. And wouldn't you rather that Netto isn't doing these things of his own free will?"

Laika conceded, "There are a great many people who would find themselves disillusioned, if this new hypothesis were to not pan out."

"Yourself included?" Pride asked gently.

Laika could not answer.

"Well, it's on the record that we both told them to stop," Pride said lightly. "We can let the proper intelligence channels know what may be coming, so that our statesmen are ready to respond when this all comes to light. And until then, for propriety's sake, we watch and wait."

But there was still a missing piece to Enzan and Meiru's plan. Laika didn't want to bring it up for fear of what Pride might decide to do after hearing it. She always had been prone to recklessness, and that seemed to be one of the few things that hadn't changed at all in his time away. "…They need one other thing to seal the proof that this story is true, and I don't see how they get it." His uncle had been giving a lot of unprompted advice suggesting that he act discreetly but follow his heart after Enzan and Meiru's last in-person visit, so he'd already made sure there were no microphones listening in on his end. He only hoped Pride had done the same.

"A link from within the Citadel network out to the greater Internet, so the world can see what's inside," Pride finished, equally aware. "I can't let you be the one to travel there, Laika. If anything went wrong, you'd be thrown out of your position at best, and imprisoned for treason at worst."

"But you can't do it, Princess. That would be an act of aggression from Creamland to Darkland. Your cyberwar would turn hot." Boxed into a corner, Laika had to confess, "I gave Searchman's credentials for Sharo's archive on the Afrikku situation to Roll and Blues during that last conversation we had, as well as a link in. When they follow it, I'll already be in trouble."

"So you should be the one to get in even more trouble by doing this alone?" asked Pride disapprovingly.

"You don't seriously think Enzan and Meiru haven't made the same calculations, do you?" Laika retorted. "As few people as possible should be implicated in this, to minimize the blowback on our countries. It is paramount that it appear to the outside that I have gone rogue."

The two were silent for a moment. Impulsively, Pride decided, "Well, then, we've got no other choice than to do it together."

Thrown for a loop, Laika asked, "How is that not the worst possible scenario?"

Eyes twinkling, Pride explained, "Why, we've at least got some kind of excuse if we're acting out of our minds together! We're just two young people wandering in a dream of justice; under the influence of a faerie's spell." More seriously, she explained, "I can have a decoy prepared to give me an alibi. You'll have Knightman's assistance, but I'll cloak his signature from the Darklish server's logs. I promise you I'll remain discreet."

"…We should prepare," Laika finally said. The feeling of being absolutely swept away by the Princess's passion was also unchanged by time.

"I'll be at the Sharo-Sycclea border in two days' time," Pride said. "I'll send coordinates over as the time draws nearer."

The call ended, and Laika closed his eyes with a sigh. The idea of dragging Pride into this still made him feel absolutely sick. Even the idea of dragging himself into this, criminal as it was and bafflingly sprawling as its consequences would be, remained nauseating. He couldn't imagine meeting the faces of his countrymen if they ended up sent away to another drawn-out war between the Eastern Ameroupian nations due to his actions.

But Netto was his ally.

Netto, as Black, had worked tirelessly to spare as many people as he could in the depths of Sigma's base. He had saved Laika, probably knowing all the while that his kindness would only earn him another opponent, when the Silver Division's modus operandi was to leave as few witnesses as possible. The violence at the Ministry of Science remained a dark stain on his record, though, something Laika absolutely couldn't condone.

But after Netto had produced survivors out of Sigma's base and Enzan had started trying to dig deeper, his superior officers must have been furious—

Above all, Netto had been trying incredibly hard to keep them all from learning the truth. From being more witnesses.

"If we're all aiming to fall on this sword, then who will actually land on it?"

"I can't say, either, Laika-sama," Searchman remarked. "Perhaps all of us."

The time until the Princess's rendezvous was ticking down, and engaging in conjecture was worse than useless, so Laika got to his feet.

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Aoni-san's two Copyroids had arrived overnight on Japan's shores by seaplane and then traveled to the Ministry of Science by helicopter, the easiest way to bypass the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force's checkpoints and the airport's customs officers. Looking over the ad-hoc briefing Meijin had put together in his office using a whiteboard and some printouts, it made perfect sense to Enzan that Darkland was doing the same thing to move their own secret reinforcements out.

"This is such a big complex," Mary said, looking over the blueprint she and Kaita had just come back from fetching from the city archives. "How are we going to find them before they run around the Navis we send and leave…?"

"Just worry about the seaplane and whoever comes after it," Meiru told Kaita and Mary. "I'm going in, too."

Enzan nearly choked on his coffee.

Meiru explained, "I'll do the rounding up, so all you two need to worry about is making sure anything needing sinking gets sunk."

Amazed, Kaita asked, "You can do that? But we only have the two Copyroids!"

Meiru winked. "Don't forget that Rush can substantiate, too! When he turns into a Rush Synchro Chip, Roll and I can Cross Fuse with him." A determined smile settling on her face, she said, "And I know just how to make him do it, too…"

"I see," Mary said.

"Meiru-chan, should you really look so excited about tricking Rush…?" wondered Roll.

"What's a Cross Fuse?" Kaita wondered.

Enzan hid his concern behind another swallow of coffee. This was Meiru, and she wasn't the Meiru of five years ago. It would be hypocritical to protest against her doing everything in her power to fight, when Enzan would do the same in her position. But he still hated the idea of sending R-Roll in by herself to flush out whatever the Virus Fusions at the harbor were.

He looked up from his mug to see Hikari Yuuichirou smiling calmly back at him. "Did you know about this?" Enzan asked the older man, quietly enough that Meiru and her admirers wouldn't notice.

"Of course," Yuuichirou said. "I'm the one who reactivated the Synchro Chip ability in Rush's program, after all." He stood before Enzan could silently steam in his general direction. "Enzan-kun, I need your help with something. Could you come with me to my office?"

"Sure," Enzan replied, gathering his coffee and getting to his feet. Meiru raised her hand and smiled, and he returned the silent farewell as he and Yuuichirou left Meijin's office.

"You know, you've always struck me as a cat person," Yuuichirou commented. "Has your family kept a pet before?"

"Er… not as long as I can remember," Enzan replied. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Everything," Yuuichirou said. "I'll need to install a program onto your PET, though it won't modify Blues in any way…"