Raika heard the door open to the medical room that he was in. He stood from the chair he had been told to wait on, briefly saluting the medical assistant that came in. His navi, Searchman, was being scanned himself again in the medical navi network.
Raika frowned inwardly. Fortunately, he was there only for yet another check-up, and not something else that had gone wrong with his and Searchman's merge. He was surprised that Searchman was somehow able to bring him out of the cyber world without any known effects for either of them, besides the general known weakness, with the effect more strongly for Raika's transfer that had been close to the other one.
The assistant spoke, his voice not showing actual concern for the cadet in front of him. "Has there been any change since the last scan?" he asked briskly.
"No, sir," Raika responded, and let the assistant go on with his task.
The check-up was thankfully brief. The assistant then scowled as he put his data pad away in his pocket that he had been taking a few notes on.
"I suppose that you are well enough, for now," he stated, his voice full of dislike. "I will say this, though. Data chimeras never work, whether intentional or not. From what I have seen, they always either fall apart, or cause so much damage that they are needed to be destroyed. Truly, they should never be bothered to be created in the first place."
The doctor then swiftly left the room, leaving Raika alone. He frowned heavily- the assistant knew full well that the merge had saved his life- the only net saver in the entirety of Sharo that could cross fuse. The other two known cross fusers in the world were in another country entirely. However, Raika knew the assistant was not the only one that that poorly of the merge in the first place.
Of course, he was correct in that there had been problems with net navi chimeras before. Raika had seen only a few of them, but none of those had been like a standard navi one their own merge was complete, with coherent reasoning or otherwise. It was not quite like a darkloid or virus; even the latter could handle simple missions.
One of those "merged" navis he had seen was a custom one that had somehow combined with extra data from a stray lone navi that had somehow survived a harsh network known for strong viruses that seemed to create themselves easily. The navi's deteriorating coherence had gotten to the point that it had only been capable of repeatedly stabbing the ground or wall with its much-cracked default sword, with the net op panicking, sending random unhelpful chips in a futile attempt to restore his navi's mind, causing the navi's data to further degrade. It was only after the navi had managed to destroy itself by striking hidden bombs from various viruses in the ground that the issue had been resolved.
Raika flinched inwardly, remembering the noise of the bombs exploding and the instant spray of fading pixels in the air that had denoted the navi's deletion. He had not thought about the incident in a while, but it was definitely true that Searchman had made them both be chimeras, in a way. Then, the first time that he and Searchman had use a reverse cross fusion chip, they had managed to combine with stray data that had formed another net navi altogether. Raika now used another revised synchro chip that did not have the effect, and the lone chimera navi was at Sci-lab, under watch as it was not still known if he would choose to cause havoc, as was the way of darkloids and most viruses- and a the medical assistant had stated, most known chimera navis in the first place.
He frowned slightly as he then opened the door to head to navi scanning room that Searchman was in. If he was all right for the moment even with his and Searchman's merge, then most likely Searchman was, also.
Raika watched a large computer screen as Dr. Hikari explained things to the small group that was watching. "So this is something that I have been working on for a while," he stated. "It is not perfect yet- but testable. Lan and Chaud have already done so, as well as Princess Pride a few weeks ago."
Raika blinked at the name of Brightland's oldest princess and heir. He heard Chaud speak up, also apparently confused.
"You said that only those who can cross fuse can use this," he said. "Was Princess Pride already tested for cross fusion?"
Dr. Hikari blinked slightly, his face suddenly a bit baffled. "Yes, but I thought I had already told you," he said, looking at them, the three cross fusers there, as well as one of Lan's friends, Tory Froid, who happened to be there that day and had been allowed to see the project. From what he knew, the latter was better with learning information about various topics rather than net battling, though he did help in the few battles that Raika had seen him and his navi, Iceman, in.
Lan folded his arms. "I didn't hear about that," he complained. "And I just talked to her last week!"
Dr. Hikari sighed slightly. Raika knew that the busy scientist could be a bit forgetful sometimes, but generally not to the point of disruption of an important project or other such information. He supposed that it truly was not necessary that he know about the princess's new technique, though. If he had actually needed to know about it, he would have been told, including by his own superior in his own country.
The engineer Famous, standing nearby, shrugged a bit. "Well, you know now, so there was no harm in it," he pointed out.
Lan pouted, still sulking, while Chaud slowly nodded. "We'll see her sometime, then," the latter stated evenly.
Famous nodded. "At some point, since there are so few cross fusers, and Sci-lab is still the main testing area for cross fusion," he said.
Dr. Hikari then continued. "So, here" -he pointed at the screen at a small cyber network- "is the current place that any human that is capable of using this program, for being digitized in the cyber world. We still can't get them to other places in the network, including Sci-lab, besides one of the smaller scanning areas we managed to connect to it. For some reason, all other places are automatically excluded, including the other scanning networks. It's still very much a work in progress."
"But it's still something, though," Lan said to his father cheerfully. "Right, Dad?"
Raika saw that Dr. Hikari did not completely share his son's enthusiasm. "Well, it's a start, but I would like to be able to progress further with it at some point."
Famous then raised an eyebrow at Raika, who futilely stopped his face from suddenly reddening a bit as he knew what topic might come up. "It should be interesting when Raika tries it," he commented. "The others went through the process just fine without any complications, but his and Searchman's merge could show some differences that the others did not have."
Raika of course knew that he could actually go into the cyber world by himself, with him turning into a feeble version of his powerful navi. Dr. Hikari knew about it, as well as Famous . . . but Chaud and Lan did not. Of course, they were likely to act some point, including when he used Dr. Hikari's new program and most likely being baffled when seeing him in armor without being cross fused, but they also did not know about his short "excursions" that had happened in both Netopia, as well as Sharo, when he insanely thought that he should be data. He had hoped to avoid the topic with some certain people, but unfortunately, an explanation would probably be incoming shortly.
He frowned inwardly. All Sharian net savers, especially ones from the military and helping in other countries, such as himself, were supposed to always show skills, including self-control, in all that they did. Attempting to explain that he should remain in the cyber world as data, of course, showed none of that. He certainly was not quite ready to explain the small bouts of the opposite of control, and chastised himself slightly for not thinking more of how to introduce the topic earlier.
Raika was then (almost) relieved when suddenly, the alarms went off for another invasion.
"Now?" Famous said, frowning, pulling out a portable message device as it beeped.
Raika stood at attention, ready for orders. He almost wished that the battle would take so long that two certain net savers would not be there when he would be able to test of the new project. He then berated himself. Of course, anyone in Sci-lab could know about the more awkward effects of the merge- but who was to say that he did not appreciate the merge in the first place, strange effects or not? He was alive, and Searchman not deleted. Just as he had gone through several demeaning punishments and beratings in Sharo before for various mistakes, he could (hopefully) handle a bit of embarrassment with te stranger merge effects.
"A new enemy navi is in the network on the west side," Famous reported. Famous nodded from in front of his own device. He appears to be working alone."
"It's not a darkloid?" Lan asked, his face a bit anxious.
Raika could understand the anxiety, a little bit. The younger net saver had reluctantly told him that the last darkloid he had faced had damaged his navi, Megaman, in several places, and he had to wait a week for him to be healed.
Famous shook his head. "No, it doesn't appear to be one. It's just a navi this time, and not one that we've seen before. I don't know anything about him, but he appears to be destroying some of the data."
"He's not stealing it?" Chaud asked, a bit confused.
Dr. Hikari responded this time. "No, but you three should get there, quickly, before any possible trouble, such as locked doors that stop you from getting to the network. Hurry!"
Raika quickly followed the other two net savers, while Lan called out for the hesitant Tory to come along. He frowned a bit; it was a case for net savers, not civilians, but he had seen Tory's navi aid in a few missions before, along with some other of Lan's friends that were net battlers.
Within a few minutes, they were in the thankfully unlocked room. Raika was at least somewhat glad that the data would not be the one for the new program, since as much as he did not want certain others to witness him using it, he knew that Dr. Hikari and several others would have worked on it for a while and would be more harrowing if it was damaged.
Raika quickly jacked Searchman within a port, as did the others around him. On his PET screen, he saw a navi with multi-colored armor raising his rifle at several data cubes, which Raika recognized would be for several extra codes for healing navis.
Searchman and the other navis quickly made their presence known, dashing toward the enemy with their own default weapons at the ready. "Stop right there!" Megaman commanded, holding his rifle steady.
The navi turned around, amused. "I was told by another navi and their net op to do what I can with these," he sneered, apparently unimpressed by the newcomers.
"Why is that?" Megaman answered back. Searchman was also ready, with his own rifle carefully aimed toward the navi.
The navi chuckled. "Since I was," he said briskly. "Must I tell why? I suppose you would want to know who my superiors are, but I am not going to tell that, either."
"You're surrounded and outnumbered," Protoman then spoke up, his default sword held out toward the navi. "Give up, already."
The navi rolled his eyes. "Why should I? I may have been defeated before, but not this time."
Raika frowned at the odd words- it was not like an enemy to actually admit that they had failed in something previously. Generally, he had seen criminals boast that nothing could stop their crimes or attempt to distract the net saver somehow (if they actually attempted to talk instead of running off).
"Who are you anyway?" Megaman asked. "Answer that."
"So you can look me up in the database? You will not find me there."
Raika heard Chaud groan slightly from beside him. "A lone navi," he muttered.
Raika remembered the navi that had been deleted that had merged with another navi again, and was slightly glad that he was currently in Netopia instead of Sharo. The country had less strict standards when dealing with lone navis, to say the least, even if they were enemy ones. It was almost odd for the navi to actually give a hint that he was not a registered custom navi, also.
The opposing navi then chuckled. "As for my name, I am known to only a few as Chimeraman," he said quietly, but sounding a bit menacing at the same time. "But for being outnumbered . . . no, I am not."
Raika frowned at the navi's name, then forced himself to concentrate more on the standoff. He then blinked as the navi glowed a bright cerulean blue, then parted into four beings, each seeming to be a different navi with a separate main color for each one instead of the rainbow of hues he had been before.
The pale yellow one on the left, which was the only one to hold a rifle, smiled and spoke. "I think I am not outnumbered, after all."
"We should have attacked before he separated like that!" Lan moaned.
Chaud placed a battle chip into his PET. "There's no time to worry about that."
Raika watched as Searchman fired at the pale orange navi from, which bore a black sword. The form blocked it easily with his sword, then aimed the weapon forward. Broad silver lightning shot of the tip. Searchman easily dodged it, jumping into a backwards flip and landing steadily on one knee.
He briefly glanced at the rest of the battle. The other navis, including Tory's Iceman, were holding their own, but with no sign of any of the forms being worn down yet.
Raika then entered a few battle chips of his own, with the orange form barely able to hold off the attacks with desperate swipes of his sword. Raika then slot in another battle chip, and Searchman raised his rifle, only for the opponent to suddenly vanish.
He scowled; apparently at least that form had a teleporting ability. At least two of the other forms were on the cyber floor, with one futilely attempting to block Protoman's powered sword.
The blue form on the right, which Iceman had partly frozen, spoke. "Onto other areas," he ordered, looking at the other forms.
They nodded, and without any sort of visible disappearance, the other forms vanished. Raika ordered his navi to perform a scan, and Searchman obeyed, lowering his eye piece scanner.
"Are they still in Sci-lab?" Lan spoke up, dismayed.
Chaud answered. "Maybe," he replied grimly. "But at least they don't seem to be very powerful."
"I guess they want to delete more data," Lan stated, frowning. "Can Searchman find where they are?"
Raika frowned, remembering the navi's name and what he had said about the data he had been near. "He may not be actually deleting the data," he mused aloud.
Lan swiveled toward him. "But it looked like he was," he argued. "What else would he be doing?"
Raika did not have time to respond as his navi spoke up. "Scan complete," Searchman reported. "The copies are in four different sectors, still in Sci-lab. All are relatively close."
Raika heard the specific sector names, and he and Tory headed to the fourth location, a thirty feet from the room he had started in. He supposed that he was lucky that two of the locations were extremely near each other, so that Lan, who had gone that direction, could battle them more easily. Unfortunately, the same new rules that applied in Sharo still were applicable in Netopia- Raika was not to go about any net saver mission alone, if possible.
Tory and Iceman were not quite as adept battlers as himself and the other two younger net savers, to say the least, but they could be of some use with fighting if needed, and definitely a messenger if yet something else went wrong with the merge. He rather disliked the need for back-up, certainly as he had never needed such type before the merge. Almost even more demeaning was that even the net savers in Netopia knew and respected the decision that had ordered it in the first place. He was supposed to help, not show weakness as a highly regarded foreign net saver. However, he was still allowed to participate in missions.
Thrusting his embarrassment aside, Raika quickly turned knob to the door, thankful that it was not locked, and flicked on the light. Troy followed him into the small room. He was slightly glad that there were computers in the room; with that, he could see the battle more clearly than he could his own small PET screen.
He quickly jacked in Searchman, Tory doing the same with Iceman, then flicked on the monitor of the computer. Another blue cyber network appeared on the screen, with the orange navi form frowning as he turned to see the one who interrupted him possibly copying more data.
Raika did not waste time with less powerful moves; instead, he entered the chips for a single program advance. He did not want the navi to have the chance to possibly absorb any of his navi's data (or his DNA by default, with the merge). Of course, the combined navi had been near the healing data in the other sector but he hoped that the more powerful attack might do more damage before the enemy had a chance to heal itself.
The navi scowled, but was unable to move as it was thrown hardily toward a small tower nearby. The orange armored being frowned at Searchman, just managing to stand and dodge another assault from both Raika's chips and Iceman's default snow attack from the other side.
"You are also a chimera navi, but not a type that I have seen before," he muttered hoarsely as he fired a few shots, narrowing his eyes at Searchman as he shakily stood. "It's too bad that the type is so unfamiliar. I could do something about it otherwise."
Raika was not sure if the navi actually possessed an ability to scan data somehow, or had been previously told about Searchman's and his merge. Some opponents, data or otherwise, had found out about it before and thankfully had been able to do nothing about it, including harming his navi.
Iceman then blew another cloud of snow flurries, and this time, with the enemy down after Searchman attacked again, the navi actually was frozen in place by various bits of ice that formed over his thin frame. Raika was surprised that Tory's navi had actually be able to do anything more useful in the current battle- the few reports of the small navi's battling skills that he had managed to overhear before had been things such as "mostly a good attempt" and so forth from Lan's talkative navi, Megaman.
Raika sent in another chip, as he was quite sure that the ice would not hold. However, he was too late the orange form suddenly glowed slightly, and the flimsy ice instantly shattered, leaving the navi's form then returned to the original hue as it firmly stood, apparently unharmed from the ice. Searchman's next attack, a hyper beam that certainly was not weak, merely bounced off the navi's chest.
"His stats have vastly increased," Searchman reported.
Raika frowned a bit- he did not know if the power increase was only temporary, but he did not want the navi to manage to teleport to another building entirely. Quickly, he jacked out his navi and slot in his reverse synchro chip.
He blinked slightly, as always a bit alarmed at the abrupt change in scenery. Raika then frowned- it was not time to act like a human.
"That's not a true merge," the orange navi muttered, as if to himself.
Raika ignored the navi, and purposely placed himself in front of Iceman, raising his cross fused rifle. He fired, releasing a net that had various properties. As he had expected, the serious enemy easily dodged it, jumping to one side. The net than changed shape- it was now a small cage, but only visible to himself, as the one that had utilized the chip. The net bars shifted, wrapping themselves around the navi, who winced as he was able to feel the slight pressure of the moving bars.
The orange form then rolled his eyes. "Probably one of those traps that can only be dispelled by not attacking it," Raika heard the navi mutter.
He grimaced as the navi stand still, then held out his sword slightly, with lightning shimmering above it by a few inches. Of course, though, he had had various enemies discover ways out of traps he set, even quickly as this one did before.
The navi then dodged a few chip combinations, then closed his eyes. His left arm formed into another ebony sword, and his eyes glittered when looking at his opponent.
"I was correct when I said that the current combination of you and your navi is not a proper long-lasting merge," he stated quietly. "However" –he pointed both of the swords at Raika, lightning forming on both of them- "you are already a chimera by yourself, and I can do something about that."
Raika was slightly confused at the navi's words, but could do nothing as the lightning then shot from the double swords, faster than he could dodge-
Raika opened his eyes slowly, wincing at a slight headache. The right side of his face was pressed against a cold floor, and he could see a tiled floor in the dim lighting of the room. Somehow, the lights in the room had been turned off besides a few emergency ones, or the power in at least part of Sci-lab itself.
He then gasped, forcing himself to sit up, using weakened arms. The enemy form of the navi had mentioned that he (or possibly Searchman- sometimes it was not clear who the enemy was speaking to when he was in cross fusion form with his navi) was a chimera. He himself was obviously fine, obviously being weakened, but he did not feel any sort of injuries.
His PET was a few feet away in front of him, the screen glowing almost harshly in the dim lighting.
Raika managed to grasp it and squinted at the screen. He was relieved to see his navi standing there, seemingly uninjured. Raika was then surprised to see his navi frown.
"Who are you?" Searchman asked, his voice cold.
Raika grimaced, instantly concerned. "What do-"
He stopped, as his voice seemed strange, as it was not close to what he heard when he spoke. Raika shook his head, and tried again.
"Searchman-"
He blinked, stopping again at the queer, unfamiliar tone. His voice did not seem hoarse, but a different tone entirely. Raika forced himself to not panic, only slightly managing to calm himself.
"Are you all right, Searchman?" he asked quietly, almost not caring about the fear he definitely heard in his own strange voice as much as his navi was acting even more oddly. "I'm Raika, your net op."
Searchman narrowed his eyes. "How can you confirm this? You look nothing like him, just as the other human nearby."
Raika flinched as he briefly looked down at himself, seeing the same clothing he had on before the battle started- a generic Sharian junior military uniform. A quickly glance at both of his hands revealed only gloves that were the same type as he knew.
He then swerved his head behind him to spot the unconscious form around six feet to his right. He could not see the being very well in the dim lighting in the room, but managed to crawl toward the unmoving form. Raika raised the PET's screen over the person, and he saw an unfamiliar youth around his age with curls framing his head. The only things familiar were the hair color- very close to Raika's own- as well as the same outfit that Raika wore.
Almost automatically, Raika reached out for the youth's wrist, feeling a steady pulse. He then pulled back his hand, frowning as he turned his gaze back toward his navi.
"Searchman, I am definitely Raika," he said firmly, hoping that his navi was not permanently damaged even with his firm stance.
He then purposely switched to ancient Sharian, telling what the mission was he had been in just before the orange navi had just attacked, then his full name, his Netopian and Sharian superiors, and then a few bits of information that most likely only he and Searchman would know.
"I truly am your net op," he concluded. "Searchman, I hope you can still trust me, and that you are truly all right."
He saw Searchman close his eyes, then open them. To his relief, the suspicion had faded, replaced by concern.
"I apologize, Raika, for doubting you," he stated. "However, I was not prepared after the navi had attacked and after waking, to see what seemed like someone else, along with another human in the room that was not there before. Not only this, but the battle chip pack and other items that you were scattered on the floor nearby, so I could not immediately tell who had them before. I also am blocked by a data disturbance in the area from any sort of messaging service, or even using my abilities for long range distance message sending. However, I can at least tell you that I myself at least am not damaged in any way, merge or otherwise."
Raika smiled, a bit relieved at the last part. He then frowned again. "How am I different, other than the different voice inflection?"
"I will pull up a window so you can see for yourself."
Raika nodded, then blinked as the screen changed to a mirror feature that showed a dim view of another unfamiliar youth his age. This one had straight hair like his own, but a bit thicker, and slighter darker in hue. Almost more surprising was his eyes that were a dark brown instead of the usual lighter blue.
"How . . ." He then stopped, not knowing how to continue. A strange thought was that he somewhat looked similar to a civilian that he had seen in a previous mission in Sharo- and whose features had looked similar to his regular self- but he cast that aside.
The window was minimized so that Raika saw his navi again. "I apologize, Raika. I am not sure what the enemy has done to you. Are you injured?"
Raika shook his head. "No, there is just weakness, that I can tell. Do you know who he is?" he added, turning his head toward the still unconscious youth nearby.
"I apologize, Raika. I do not know, but it could not be any good that it was done, whatever it was."
Raika nodded, grimacing slightly. "What of the status of the mission?"
"The location of the enemy in any of its forms is unknown, and the power is out in this area of Sci-lab, reaching a perimeter of approximately one hundred meters. I was not able to connect to any network, either, as well as the same for the civilian and his navi."
He frowned- the power was not out for even half of Sci-lab, at least, but he had let the enemy escape, and clearly there was still a mission to finish. However, he doubted that he could even stand by himself, with his severe weakness.
"Can we talk now?" a small doubtful asked from behind Raika.
He swerved to see Tory crouched on the floor, holding his PET. Raika had heard Iceman's voice, but Tory was no less interested and also looked fearful, just as his navi. To his slightly dismay, Raika saw what looked like the entire contents of what was generally in his pockets in a small, scattered pile around the boy.
"I am Raika," he stated firmly in the language that he had first spoken in after waking, knowing that neither net op or navi had understood the latter words of the conversation. "Searchman can vouch this." He then made his voice stern. "What are you doing with my belongings?" he asked firmly.
Tory flinched, but answered. "They just came out of the computer, like Raika's- your- PET, with Searchman inside it," he answered, in a mostly steady voice. "There were also two people- you and the other person."
"Searchman told us to be quiet and wait for him to handle things," Iceman then spoke up ruefully.
His net op nodded. "That enemy navi just disappeared again, and after that, the power went out and Iceman couldn't get anywhere else from that network since it was blocked by something, so I jacked him out. I couldn't even open the door. It's jammed somehow, and I couldn't open it. I can't even send a message to anyone, since that's blocked, too. Oh, and er, Searchman let me get your things, and then I was waiting over here."
Raika frowned, but slightly understood the boy's fright- generally people, including foreign net savers with strange merges, did not turn into two people. He sighed slightly, wishing that he had asked Searchman to trap the navi first instead of just downright attacking it- most likely, he would not be in the situation he was currently. He hoped that the other two young net savers had more luck than him, to say the least.
"Bring my belongings over here," he instructed quietly, despising his current weakness.
Tory did so, eyeing him warily, as he carefully placed his possessions beside the older boy. Raika supposed that the youth had a reason to be unsure with his unusual appearance, but he knew that he was definitely himself.
Raika turned again toward the strange youth. "What do you know about him?" he asked quietly to his navi, almost not wanting to know the answer. The enemy navi had done something, after all, and just before that, had stated truthfully that he (and Searchman) was a chimera.
Thankfully, the human youth did not stir as his navi responded. "I have scanned him briefly with my limitations from him being in the human realm, but I at least do know that he has at least some of my data inside of him as you do," he replied. "However, I do not know the amount."
"That's impossible," Raika argued, despising that his voice sounded so different as he stared at the still form that seemingly resembled his true appearance more than he himself did at the moment.
"I don't know how it was done, but that is what I sense," Searchman stated.
Raika frowned, turning toward the small screen of his PET. "Did you sense any strange data in you, or myself?"
.Searchman shook his head. "No. You still seem to bear only the data from our merge. However, I was not able to sense if either yours or theirs is specifically a copy. It would take a full scan using other sources to be sure of what all was done."
Raika nodded, again glancing uneasily at the youth that only slightly resembled his former self. Perhaps the enemy had managed to split him with different appearances, or even create some human copy somehow, odd as the idea seemed.
"What about chimeras?" he heard Toy ask quietly from behind him.
Raika frowned, turning to see the boy's still frightened, but somewhat serious face.
"That is off-topic," he stated, not wanting to discuss anything with the civilian.
He hoped that the civilian would not somehow cause trouble with the other strange youth nearby, even though he had not seen Tory as one that angered easily. Then again, surely it was his own fault as for what had occurred, and no one else's. He, the stronger battler along with Searchman, had been the one targeted, after all, and had not managed to dodge the last attack aimed at him.
He saw Tory shake his head, almost impatiently. "No, I meant natural born chimeras. That navi- Chimeraman- can make himself divide into separate forms, but also can seem to sense if navis are chimeras. He said that he could do something to you and Searchman while you both were in reverse cross fusion, but Searchman seems fine after the attack, and not in two places. But there were two humans that came out of the computer after the reverse cross fusion was undone, not just one. What if he sensed something about a natural born chimera instead of your and Searchman's merge and did something about it? Most people don't even know if they are chimeras."
Iceman spoke up. "I don't know what Tory means about this chimera thing, but he might be right about something. He likes to learn about stuff."
Raika frowned, rolling his eyes slightly. "Impossible," he muttered. "It would not be able to be done to any human. Perhaps a navi, if they had managed to combine with some other data somewhere, or if they were illegally created various types of data, but not a human." He did not mention that natural born chimeras might not even include two full sets of DNA in the person, but could even be one set and merely part of another.
"But you were in the cyber world at the time when something happened," Tory stated, his voice calm even though the somewhat shy boy was going against Raika. "Different things can happen in the cyber world than the human one."
Raika shook his head at the idiotic idea, turning back around to look at the strange youth in the room. Perhaps the civilian truly believed that the queer idea was sound, but it hardly mattered with the other current problems, including the power outage.
He then heard a low moan from his right, and swerved toward the strange youth nearby to see the frazzled curly hair move, the head it was on moving slightly. The youth reached out one arm on the hard flooring, pushing himself slowly upward to a sitting position. He turned to his right, his eyes widening when he saw Raika, his eyes reflecting was seemed to be fear. Raika forced himself to not gasp as he saw that the light colored eyes that were the same color that he knew- his own.
"Who are you?" Raika asked, forcing his voice to be stern. He slightly wondered if Searchman had had to remind himself to not show any weak emotion when first speaking to his changed net op, but then cast the thought aside.
The youth blinked a few times, seeming uncertain, then spoke. "I don't know."
Raika blinked, having not expected the answer. "Clearly you at least have the ability to understand and process the language we are speaking," he retorted. "How can you not know anything?"
The same curly hair whirled as the youth shook his head. "I'm not sure . . ."
Raika frowned at the evasiveness, but went with another tactic. "What do you know about the items in this room, and the location?" he asked, hoping that he was not just wasting time.
The youth frowned, looking around in the dim light. "I don't know where this is, but there are computers- it might be a work room in a school of some sort or another setting where computers are required. It's probably not a home, and not just due to the multiple computers, since the flooring is tile instead of carpet, wood, or some other material more likely to be seen in homes. Further adding to that, the ceiling is also made of tiles instead of plaster, and the lights are different than for private homes.
One computer is obviously on, but in standby mode, so someone used it recently. As for the dim light, either the light in the room was turned off besides the emergency lights, or there was some sort of power failure in the area. Also . . . I don't know why, but I feel weakened, and I don't know how long I will be that way."
"That's a lot to know if you don't know who you are," Iceman muttered, sounding confused.
The youth whipped his head around. "Who's that?" he demanded, his voice suddenly more cross.
Raika saw Tory's face whiten a bit in fear, and he wondered if the civilian was hoping that he would not be attacked by data (if he was not still on the strange divided chimera theory).
"I'm just Iceman," Tory's navi spoke up. "Tory's my net op."
"Net op . . ." the youth muttered. "I know what that is, also . . . But I don't know if I have a navi of my own."
Raika managed to not wince as the small civilian navi chattered on. "You and Raika came out of the computer," he stated boldly. "You both were Raika- and Searchman- I mean you were combined in reverse cross fusion. But then the enemy navi did something, and when Raika and Searchman came out of the computer, instead of just them, there was Searchman in the PET and two humans, including you. But Raika now looks different."
Raika sighed inwardly- surely the strange youth would have found out the truth soon, anyway. "So now you know what occurred just before you appeared," he stated evenly. "But are you sure that you don't have any memories besides of mere things?" Raika purposely did not mention that the memories could even be his own.
The youth narrowed his eyes. "It looks like I was either cast from somewhere else to land here, and you changed- or I am divided from you."
"It could possibly be either, or something else entirely," Raika said, still keeping his voice stoic, "though less likely for the first as I do not know you, even though you are dressed in the uniform of my school." He wondered how the youth had mentioned the second idea so easily, as if it was even a possibility that could happen often, but did not mention the thought aloud.
"Which do you think?"
Raika scowled. "I would not know- the enemy that caused this change did, or even you, if you are hiding anything."
The youth scowled. "I have some memories of things- obviously- but I would like to have memories of what happened specifically to me before this. Where did that navi escape to, then? You seem to think that it is not deleted, and so is possible to find it."
"That would be a job for others currently more capable to find out," Raika retorted, feeling utterly foolish at the admittance of weakness, but knowing that the youth could clearly see that he was still sitting warily on the floor instead of standing, like Tory was behind him.
"You don't trust me."
Raika frowned at the blunt words, so much more stern than when the youth had wakened with supposedly no memory of himself. "I have nothing to go on," he retorted.
"Hey- hey- making enemies when you don't need to won't help," Iceman pleaded from Tory's PET.
Raika turned behind him, seeing Tory surprisingly nodding. "I don't like to make enemies if I don't need to," he said quietly.
Raika refrained from shouting at the younger boy. Making friends with the enemy was nothing a net saver should ever do, except in rare circumstances that a double agent would be useful. He truly did not know the intentions of the strange youth his age.
The youth spoke up again, facing Tory instead. "I don't know you, but I don't want to hurt you," he said. "What would be useful is to get out of this room and find some help for the situation. Surely there is someone in this building somewhere."
"Is he really part of Raika, like you were thinking?" Iceman said to his net op. "He seems to act like him, at least a little bit."
"I don't know," Tory admitted, his gaze on both Raika and the strange youth.
Raika sighed. "Go try the door again," he said. "Unfortunately, that is the only exit in this room, unless you are adept at climbing in ceilings."
Tory flinched, and Raika supposed that it was due to the latter part of his statement. "There's not even anything like a filing cabinet," he muttered, but went to the door.
Raika could hear the knob rattle, but not open. "It's still locked," Iceman called.
He sighed, but placed his embarrassment of being so openly weak aside. "Assist me to the door, then," he stated. "I will attempt to unlock it myself."
"Er, sure."
Tory helped him up, and Raika half walked, half slid to the closed door, with Tory letting him down on the floor just near it.
Raika slid out a lock pick from one of his pockets, and inserted it to the doorknob. Less than half a minute later, the knob clicked open. He managed to back up, and Tory slid open the door reveal a dim hallway.
"There's that," he muttered, replacing the lock pick. He turned to Tory. "Put something in front of the door to keep it open, then go to the main lab, and explain the dilemma. They should be able to do something from there."
"You're not coming with me?" Tory asked, confused.
Raika stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "You obviously cannot aid two weakened people at the same time."
"I guess he really doesn't trust him, then," Iceman piped up.
Tory nodded briefly, then ran across the room to pick up what looked like a dictionary from a shelf on the wall, then placed the heavy book in front of the door. He then dashed out the door into the hallway, his rapid footsteps quickly fading.
"I still didn't get an answer," Raika heard from behind him. "Which do you think I am- someone from somewhere else, or part of you?"
Raika scowled at the pointless question. "I do not have enough information to answer such an inquiry," he stated fiercely. "You, also, are not helping, especially if you are withholding any critical information."
"I'm not, unless I actually do know something that I am not thinking about at this very moment," the youth replied. "But I know this- if I am actually a part of you that was combined, then you would think that I am not supposed to exist."
Raika stared, somewhat getting what the youth was implying. This type of trouble had not occurred to him, but surely something could be done to resolve the situation. He certainly was supposed to only look as himself, and not as he currently did. After all, a navi had caused the problem, and surely due to that, it could be fixed more easily, including with Dr. Hikari's new program.
To his surprise, Searchman spoke up. "If you are truly part of my net op, do you want the knowledge that you might be severely harming him if you refuse to comply in any procedure that might be able to bring you and him back together? It could be that his life span- and yours- might be very short if you stay apart."
Raika frowned at his PET. Surely Searchman did not mean the part about his possible shortened life- but he supposed that there was also the fact that his navi's data was also apparently in the strange youth. There of course could be implications of that at some point (and he hoped that the youth would not utilize any possibility of escaping through the cyber realm somehow). Certainly, he did not want Searchman harmed somehow from the data in the youth, either.
He then heard more than one pair of footsteps coming his way, some sounding heavier than Tory's. Raika narrowed his eyes at the bright beam of a flashlight as two Sci-lab employees and Tory came in the doorway.
The taller one with black hair spoke. "Tory explained the situation to Dr. Hikari and Chief Keifer," he explained. "We were sent by them to retrieve Raika and the other person here. This entire side of the building's communications are blocked, so we couldn't tell you that we were coming, but maintenance is working on it. The two young net savers actually chased that navi and its form into another building entirely, but there's still some work to be done here, obviously." He pointed to the youth across the room. "That's the other person that appeared out of the computer?"
Tory gave a brief nod. Raika frowned and hoped that the source of the blockage was not due to the enemy navi or some helper, but still wondered if the maintenance alone would be able to bring back the power by themselves. He let the taller man help him stand, while the other employee hauled up the youth behind him with thankfully no resistance.
They made their way slowly in the hallway, Raika glancing at the youth a few times. His face did not outwardly show any rebellion, but that of course did not necessarily mean that he still did not plan on complying with anything that he was told to do by the area net police chief. He could be waiting to do something once he regained more energy.
Eventually, they came back to the lab room, with more lights on in the lab, obviously from backup power. As the taller employee had stated, Chief Keifer was present with Dr. Hikari and Famous. Raika and the other youth were helped into chairs that Dr. Hikari and another employee brought.
Famous approached them, his face becoming bewildered. "So there are two people instead of Raika, certainly, and both in junior military cadet uniforms, then. Which one of you has Searchman?"
"I do," Raika answered firmly.
Famous nodded, and Dr. Hikari spoke. "Can you show us? We can't scan any navi right now that is not already in the system, but I would at least like to see him."
Raika held out his PET upward so that they could see his navi, standing without any damage. "That certainly looks like Searchman," Famous muttered, raising an eyebrow.
"It is," Raika stated sternly as he placed his PET back in his pocket.
"I would hope so," Famous replied, almost to himself.
Raika frowned- surely his navi would have said something that was abnormal with himself before now. He was the odd one, not Searchman.
"Tory thinks Raika was born a chimera," Iceman then stated, his voice confident.
Raika sighed at the topic again- he wanted something more useful, such as the status of the enemy navi.
Clearly, Famous seemed to think the same sort of thing. "That's nice," he replied, a bit absentmindedly, "but it's more important now to get the enemy navi captured, and the Sci-lab's systems restored."
Raika then heard another employee in the room speak up. "There's some viruses now visible in a few of the sectors that we can see," he said. "The net police navis are fighting those, but so is Swiftman in another sector."
Raika flinched at the name of the chimera navi that had been a part of him and Searchman a while ago. He supposed that it was good that at least the lone navi seemed to be battling for Sci-lab and not any other parties, though.
"Well, how are they faring in the battle?" Chief Keifer demanded. "We didn't have any viruses just a while ago that we knew of, and so we don't want to miss out on any information that we can get."
"They don't appear to be unusual viruses, unlike that navi earlier," the employee replied. "They seem to be doing just fine. The only problem is the amount of viruses there. For very virus that is deleted, five more appear."
"I don't want to send out Searchman if we can help it," the chief responded, his voice a bit angered. "I would want him to be scanned first for any possible problems. Plus, Raika is weakened. Iceman would be a better choice right now, if those viruses really are not that strong and only more attacking power is needed."
"There are a few new battle chip gates that were cleared a few weeks ago," Famous spoke up. "Raika could use one of those, and could just stop anytime instead of having to jack a navi out first."
"Do it, then," the chief ordered.
Raika watched as Dr. Hikari gave another employee the directions to where the battle chips gates were located, and Tory again jacked in his navi. He fervently wished that he was allowed to battle with Searchman, but he also did not want to somehow possibly harm his navi. The enemy navi had somehow known that he had something else than just mere data . . .
Raika was aided to sit in a chair next to a working computer screen and the employee soon handed him a battle chip gate. Raika knew how to use it- he had briefly used Chaud's before when Searchman had become damaged for a short while in another Netopian mission. The one he currently held seemed the same type of model.
Raika could see various lower levelled viruses on the screen- surely they would not be difficult to handle. Three net police navis were in the same sector, busy shooting beamed rifles at the invaders. He paused, then ordered his navi to scan for the source of the viruses. He assumed that if Searchman had attempted to scan earlier without harming himself, then he would not be damaged this time, even with another blockage.
He then pulled out a spreader chip that could fire multiple times in several directions that he chose. Raika slot it in, but was confused as he did not see an item from the chip appear in the network.
"Nothing happened?" Famous muttered, coming up from behind him.
Raika frowned. "You said that it was working," he said, his voice slightly accusing.
"I did," Famous replied, frowning. "That would be one of the battle chip gates that was tested by Lan or Chaud. There's even still the sticker on the back that denotes that it does not have an owner yet."
Raika turned the small device around, seeing a small dark blue circle on the back with the letter "U" on it.
"U is for 'unclaimed," Dr. Hikari said from behind him. "It was working when we last tested it, unless something is actually blocking it somehow, like the messaging system in this area. We can't even message Lan or Chaud from this location until the problem here is fixed, so we sent a few detectives with them to help ensure their safety, as well as a few others as runners and messengers in a working communication part of Sci-lab. That we know of, all four copies went into the museum close by, but we did not want to send just one net saver after them."
"Especially after we knew that the navi can divide himself, as well as teleport," Famous added. "We hoped that we didn't need them more here. Also, now we know another problem that can occur with that navi."
Raika frowned. "Perhaps Searchman can at least attempt to fire long distance from my PET?" he suggested. He wondered if his navi's earlier problems would be resolved by now, but kept quiet. "If any problems arise, he could go into the recovery program."
To his surprise, he was allowed. Raika watched his navi perform a scan, much less than a longer distance than to the computer network in front of him, but was confused as Searchman raised an arm without changing it to his default rifle.
"I am unable to use even my basic attacks," Searchman announced, his eyes narrowing in confusion.
Raika's eye's widened in slight fear, but managed to keep the fright at bay as his navi futility tried again to summon his basic weapon.
"We'll have to look at that later," Famous stated firmly, while Dr. Hikari nodded. "Meanwhile, just keep an eye on Searchman for anything unusual. I'm surprised that he can still use his scanning abilities."
Raika scowled, but as he could not help too much as the moment if the battle chip gate did not work and Searchman could not fight, he could not offer his aid. "How is Swiftman's battle faring?" he reluctantly asked instead.
"You think that that lone navi could help more again?" Famous asked, surprised. "I was hoping to not use him again if we don't need to."
Frowning, Raika placed in another battle chip with the same negative result. He heard the chief sigh behind him.
"We may need to rely on other people and navis than Raika and Searchman this time," he said, his voice heavy with regret. "All the same, I would hope that we are able to finish this battle without relying on any prisoners."
Raika frowned and set the battle chip gate down, then looked at his PET. Searchman was still within a scan, so at least he had not experienced another blockage as he had in the other room earlier.
He then glanced at the strange youth with the curly hair behind him. His face was downward, but from what he could see, the youth's face was moldering in silent rage. Raika supposed it could be that he still did not have any usual memories, but also hoped that it was not a signal that the youth would want to rebel at some point.
A few minutes later, Raika heard Searchman speak. "There is a portal in the north side of the building," he reported. "Also, I did not experience any blockages as was experienced within the previous scan, including the area where the last battle took place."
He then gave the exact coordinates. Raika nodded, though he wondered at the sudden discharge of the obstruction that had stopped even Searchman from looking beyond the small room he had been in. He then shook his head; perhaps he could discover the reason later.
"That is all across the building," Famous muttered.
"Send more of the net police navis there, especially ones that have higher speeds," Chief Keifer ordered an employee at a computer.
The employee nodded, and spoke to one of the Sci-lab navis. The cyber being nodded, and dashed off to spread the message, since the messaging system was still down.
"I could go there with Iceman," Tory spoke up, his voice mostly certain.
Raika saw Dr. Hikari frown, then nod. "If an employee can go with you. You're not a net saver, but perhaps Iceman could at least weaken the portal before others arrive to help."
Tory nodded, and jacked out his navi, quickly heading out of the room with another employee. He frowned at the screen that showed several net police navis fighting several variations of low-levelled viruses. He was not used to having his PET with Searchman inside, and still be unable to aid in a mission.
Raika was suddenly unprepared when a few minutes later, the full set of lights came on in the room. "The power and messaging service is back up," an employee announced, his voice surprised, "and the portal destroyed. All of the viruses are being more easily deleted now without the backup."
"So soon?" Famous muttered, his face slightly baffled. "I was only expected Tory to only have just arrived to the portal."
"Contact Lan and Chaud," Chief Keifer ordered. "We should know the status of that escaped enemy navi ourselves, and to let them know they can contact us directly now."
"On it," Famous muttered.
He took out a communication device. Raika heard Lan's voice instantly answer.
"We just got that crazy navi captured, and only in one piece again!" Lan cheered. "He's in an extra PET that Chaud found, and is ready to go be scanned by Sci-lab. We were actually just going to tell that Sci-lab employee that was talking to use earlier, but I guess we don't have to anymore." He laughed a bit, then chuckled. "By the way, how are things going at Sci-lab? It has to be better if you're the one that called me."
Raika saw Famous nod. "The power is back on, along with the messaging system," he reported. "Bring the captured navi forms to us to scan." He hesitated, frowning. "Though we do have another problem . . ."
Lan's voice turned confused. "What's that? Is it another enemy navi, or a darkloid?"
Raika was thankful that Famous's answer was non-committal. "You'll see when you get here. Just bring those enemy forms first, and we'll go from there."
He heard Lan's cheerful response, then saw Famous replace the communication device back in his pocket. Raika dimly heard the report that the viruses were mostly defeated, including the ones in Swiftman's sector. He supposed that it was positive the reporting employee also included that the lone navi's guards were uninjured, also.
Tory soon arrived back in the room, followed by the employee with him, as well as two other men that Raika supposed were the communication messengers for Lan and Chaud. About fifteen minutes later, the double doors opened again to reveal the two net savers. Lan ran up to his father, holding out a brown PET.
Dr. Hikari accepted it, and soon, Raika saw the singular form of the navi appear on a screen, encased in holding rings, eyes closed as a scan was started. Raika hoped that the navi was not one that could break through even holding rings during a scan- he had heard of a few in Sharo that had done so, and one more than once.
"Hey, why are there more people from Sharo here?" Lan asked suddenly. "You didn't tell me about more net savers coming. Can they also do cross fusion ." He then frowned, and then continued. "And where did Raika go? Is he and Searchman doing something else about that problem Famous mentioned?"
Raika reddened a bit as he realized several people were looking his direction, but knew that his failure to stop the navi from doing the strange effect would need to be told.
"Actually, that is the problem," Famous said, sighing. "Well, part of it."
Raika managed to not flinch as his previous battle and Searchman's current limitations, including from Tory, with urging from Iceman. Lan's and Chaud's faces were baffled, but he certainly did not blame them.
"You're Raika, or . . . part of him?" Chaud asked, confused, but also looking as if he did not want to believe it.
"Yes, I am Raika," Raika replied, managing to keep his voice even. "I am not sure all of what happened to bring me to this state, but I still do possess my memories, even without my natural appearance."
"No kidding," Lan said, his eyes wide. "You don't look like Raika at all. Actually, that other person looks more like Raika, even with that weird hair."
Raika ignored the wording- Lan was talking to him as if he was another person entirely- and instead glanced toward the youth again, but the stranger was just looking at the computers where the viruses had been, without any apparent interest in the current conversation. He was glad that at least the angered look had faded from his features, to be replaced by an apparent indifferent nature.
He then whipped his head toward the computers as an alarm sounded; several screen had an error message. Dr. Hikari quickly hurried toward the main computer in the room, and typed for a few minutes, his face grim.
"What is it, Dad?" Lan asked, coming up behind his father.
Dr. Hikari sighed. "Not good news, I'm afraid," he responded. He pressed few buttons on the keyboard, but with apparently not the result he was after. "It looks like part of the new program we were showing you earlier was partly destroyed- and not only that, other parts of it were completely corrupted."
"How did that happen? Is there another enemy somewhere?"
"No. It looks like a power build up that we missed completely- from something that was recently taken out."
Raika realized what it was before Famous spoke. "It seems that the portal that was letting in the viruses inside Sci-lab had hidden data in it, and destroying it only led to activating the codes there."
He noticed that Tory's face was currently ashen. "I'm sorry!" the civilian gasped. "I didn't mean- I didn't want-"
"It's all right," Dr. Hikari assured him, his face worried, but somewhat looking kind at the same time. "We didn't know either."
"No kidding," Famous muttered. "I was wondering how the portal had been destroyed so easily. The codes could have even been gaining power while the portal was open, and was released to a set place after the portal was destroyed."
"Which would have been the actual purpose of it being there!" Chief Keifer spat, his face furious. "I would guess that Chimeraman running off to another building was just a distraction."
"And getting himself easily caught, too," Famous added, glancing at the screen where the lone navi was still trapped in the scanning revolving rings. "We could at least get him to tell more about what he did to Raika, and possibly Searchman, and even see if we could get him to reverse what he did somehow."
Dr. Hikari nodded. "Of course. I want to finish the scan first, though, to find out more about him, if we can. We should also scan Searchman soon, and see if his attacking abilities can be restored and any other abnormalities."
Raika saw a partially full data bar near the navi's form on another screen, so he assumed that the scan would still take a while. The multi-colored navi had done something to him that he had never heard of anywhere, including in Sharo. Then again, he had never heard of anything such as cross fusion, including reverse cross fusion, until he had been notified of what had been started in all the way in Netopia.
Then again, Searchman was still affected, as the scientist had stated. While he had witnessed a few battle chip combinations- and a few illegal chips themselves- that had the effect of temporarily negating any possible attack from his navi or any others around him, he had not seen something that had so systematically affected just him, reduced to only his natural scanning abilities. Even Iceman had not been affected that way. It almost seemed that like the partially destroyed new scanning system, that Searchman had also been a target in the beginning, but he was not quite sure, though.
He scowled. Surely Searchman (and himself . . .) could be helped, somehow.