Raika saw the stern lieutenant almost glaring at him. "Your penalty will be to clean the break rooms in the west wing for the next three weeks," the lieutenant ordered.
He nodded, attempting to not let his utter shame show as the superior swiftly walked out of the room.
Raika then glanced around at the computers that he had insanely hacked less than thirty minutes ago. They were all on standby mode, but he had managed- with three different superiors looking for him- to disrupt the then busy room with attempts to flee the base as a navi. Raika scowled slightly, but knew that reflecting on the idiotic move from his previously insane mind would not help at all. He was only slightly satisfied that Searchman had not shown the same incompetence with being a human that never was supposed to exist in the first place.
He retrieved the appropriate supplies, and silently began the task assigned to him. He had been given similar chores before, but hoped that nothing else would go wrong that day. He did not need anything else with his already much scarred reputation as a high-ranking net saver after the merge had occurred, even though the combination had saved him in the first place. Even his navi form was different that it should be- generally green, but temporarily a strange mix of blue and purple that even covered Searchman's symbol on his armor (and the superiors that had eventually caught him had denied him an immediate color change as he was definitely not supposed to be a navi in the first place) seemed to mock his severe incompetence.
A few hours later, he was finished for the day, and returned the cleaning supplies. Raika was only slightly satisfied that he had actually been able to finish the task in the first place. He truly was not supposed to have to worry about himself causing multiple problems . . .
He ignored a few chiding remarks from a few fellow net battle cadets in the hallway, then retreated to his a study room, laptop in hand. There were several other cadets there, but aside from a few curious glances and one downright glare, they thankfully ignored him.
Raika had typed part of a report due within the next few weeks, when his PET rang. He swiftly opened it.
"You are needed to report to Lieutenant Kiyoshu's office immediately," Searchman reported.
Raika nodded, and closed his laptop. He soon knocked on the door, slightly anxious as he had managed to fail the previous mission from the lieutenant less a week and a half previous- and the lieutenant had been one of the superiors to actively search for him in the cyber world earlier that day, at least he was not the one that had given him the punishment earlier.
He was permitted inside the office, and respectively saluted the superior. The lieutenant then started to speak.
"There is a dimensional area half an hour from here," Lieutenant Kiyoshu stated formally. "You are to enter it at once and defeat the enemy."
Raika nodded, managing to hide his surprise. The last time that he knew of a dimensional area in Sharo, Princess Pride from Brightland had been summoned instead. Perhaps the darkloid was not particularly harmful this time, though, so there was time for yet another merge effect and another cross fuser to come for potential backup.
He clenched his glove slightly, a bit nervous. This type of mission was so far, the only type that he was allowed to enter without any actual backup as was required for other missions. Basic dimensional areas could only be entered by those that were able to cross fuse, and he was currently only one of four worldwide with the ability. It could even be that all of the others were busy with more pressing matters.
Raika accepted the assignment, and he was soon travelling by vehicle to the location with a superior. He supposed that his superiors would be watching the outside of the dimensional area from security cameras.
Entering the cyber shield was quite easy, without even any damage to vehicles or otherwise, and soon, he landed on the snowy ground nearby a small general store where a manager urging two civilian youths into the store. He caught a glimpse of the manager hurriedly closing the door, his eyes betraying his fright. Of course, a cross fused human and navi pair might even seem like an intruding cyber enemy if one did not know otherwise, but he could not worry about that currently.
"Search for the darkloid," Raika then ordered.
His navi stated nothing, but Raika knew that the scan was in progress. "The darkloid is in the building two hundred meters to your left," Searchman reported less than a minute later.
Raika nodded, sprinting toward the location. He was pleasantly surprised that the building was fairly large, with wide rooms, which would hopefully cause help in causing less damage to public property. Searchman was easily able to locate the intrusive data form, and he came to a large room that was thankfully void of any civilians.
The darkloid was quite small, but easy to spot against the light-colored flooring with its bright orange and red armor. He fired at the navi hiding hear the wall, who strangely did not dodge the purple beam.
The being scowled, but lobbed a slow solid sphere at Raika. Suddenly suspicious, instead of firing at or dodging the slow item with a basic attack, he shot a mixture of an energy draining chip for small items and a web to hold it in place a few inches above the ground. He was rewarded of the hidden grenade indeed exploding a few seconds later, but with much less force than it would have, with data fragments merely bouncing a bit off of the ground slightly below it before dissipating.
The darkloid scowled. "I hate it when others find out my tricks," he complained loudly.
Raika did not respond, but shot another web at the darkloid, who again, surprisingly, did not attempt to dodge the snare. He then found out the reason when the covering was then repelled suddenly from the enemy, to come at him at a surprisingly high enough speed to be unable to dodge it. He scowled as he was pinned ungainly to the ground with his own weapon. Of course, it was not the first time that attacks had been reflected back at him or Searchman, but it seemed that he should have been able to think of the possibility this time.
Less than a minute later, though, he was able to dissolve the web with a few chips. He then frowned as the enemy was still in the same spot, as if waiting for something. Raika shot a few fast chips at the darkloid with the ability to negate some attacks, including mirror types.
The darkloid grinned, unharmed. "So, do you think you can you really attack me?" he asked gleefully. "I think not, since I already am familiar with your data."
Raika frowned at the particular phrasing, but a few attacks later, including a few chips that were activated by themselves instead of him firing them, the darkloid, unaffected, was still mockingly bouncing upside down on the high ceiling. He did not want to attack the human property, though, as he would not think of as much in the cyber world, since of course items and buildings located within the internet could be built much faster than materials in the human realm.
"I cannot find anything to denote what he had stated was true," Searchman reported after yet more futile attacks. "However, that does not mean there is something that my scan was not able to pick up."
Raika scowled slightly, then attempted something that he had not tried for a few more battles- the queer "viewing" ability that he had uneasily used a few times before that obviously nothing to do with Searchman's scanning. However, even two "focus paths", as he sometimes had phrased them to Searchman, revealed nothing.
Raika let go of the queer "focus", somehow shamed that he had not been able to discover anything, even though his navi, whose scans had been quite helpful in many missions before also had the same frustrating result. He slumped a bit, wearied from the attempts of his own strange ability, but managed to stand again, firing with more chip combinations, but only managed to put a few small cracks in the ceiling and walls while the darkloid joyfully jumped around the building, regardless of gravity.
"I see you; I see you!" the darkloid shouted mockingly, flipping from the left wall to the ceiling again.
He then frowned- the enemy's words seemed to be similar to an ability that a strange large virus he had fought a while again with some other cadets. The oldest one there had stated that virus somehow had an ability to hone in on the appearances of the weapons that were used and deflect any attack from those for a short time. There, merely switching to another weapon had worked.
For this, though . . .
Raika was not quite sure if time was another factor. However, he was not quite sure how long the darkloid would actually just waste time bouncing around while he futilely attack, before deciding to do actual damage, or even targeting civilians.
He sighed inwardly, wondering if Searchman would actually agree. For one thing, both of them would be weakened. Of course, another cross fuser could be summoned, but he did not know how long it would take for someone to come- he had been assigned the mission in the first place, instead of someone else.
"Searchman-"
"I can do it, Raika," his navi assured him.
Raika then nodded. Apparently Searchman had figured out what he meant already.
He fired a few chips that would not hurt the building or the navi, but merely caused physical distractions instead, then fled the reddish haze toward a small room nearby. He had Searchman scan and he fired once, but as he had thought might occur, the attack had the same result as the other futile attempts.
Sighing, Raika then un-cross fused. He then cringed, looking at his PET. He absolutely despised being a navi, and it certainly did not help that most of the time, he had been one willingly in an insane escape to the cyber realm before being caught. Fortunately- or perhaps not- his navi would have already temporarily used a power of a currently inactive PET program to quickly make it so that any cyber being in the small device, himself included, could use battle chips. It could be done with just Searchman's regular skills also, but not as fast as was needed currently.
He was then distracted slightly as a something his size suddenly appeared next to him. Flinching a bit, he saw Searchman's human form, which quickly slumped to one knee and supported himself with one hand. He had not seen the form often, but he despised seeing his navi friend so weakened.
Before he could speak up, though, Searchman lifted his helmetless head. "Raika, get in the PET," he urged quietly. "Adequate timing would be the most help."
Raika nodded. Timing was certainly the issue- he also hoped to restore the used PET program before any of his superiors found out. Not allowing himself to think too much about his next actions, he quickly relinquished his battle chip pack and PET to Searchman and willed himself to the device that seemed much too small to hold any human, much less a full-sized navi. He then was surprised slightly at the view of familiar green-lined walls, and knew that the transfer was successful- as well as the fact that his stats were much lower than they should be.
He had done the transfer on purpose at Sci-lab for testing purposes, but by himself . . . Well, he could only hope that nothing would go amiss- again. He supposed that it was only a bit positive that certainly he or Searchman would not insanely want themselves to be in their incorrect forms, as they were already done.
Raika then winced as he heard Searchman place the synchro chip in the PET and felt the power of the chip take hold- in the opposite form that it had been planned for in the first place, but still applicable. Almost strangely, though he knew he would happen, his viewpoint was still the same height if he were the in the same position as Searchman, as well as his general sense of data, but he very well knew that Searchman had the control, as well as the physical sensations.
He then saw that his faithful navi wasted no time in forming the default weapon, which reminded him to perform a scan. Embarrassed, Raika did so, quickly coming up with the enemy darkloid's general location even through the smoke screen and other harmless data bits that filled the target area. His scan also revealed something else.
"His energy levels are actually not very high," he reported, managing to push away the longing that Searchman was not the one doing to report instead. "Maybe somehow his data scanning ability with visible navis hid that from your earlier scans."
"One shot, then," Searchman's human voice stated quietly from his weakened position on the floor.
"I would think so."
A few minutes later, a charged shot was ready, and his currently human navi carefully raised his rifle, trembling slightly. Raika hoped that the shot would actually hit the target.
His fears were not verified, though, as he watched the shot pass through a small warp and directly slam into the immensely surprised enemy. Raika briefly wondered how many navis he had gone through before trying the human realm, but thrust the thought aside. The darkloid's data vanished in a pixel shower, though with the log out message showing afterword instead of the obvious deletion one.
Disappointed, he then brought his viewpoint back to Searchman's, seeing that his friend had already recalled the default weapon and was looking at the floor, still unable to stand. The view then moved upward some, and then Raika suddenly felt the chip's power vanish. He was back in the despised small space where his faithful navi willingly worked for his net op until he was summoned to the cyber world briefly for battles, training, or otherwise. Raika was grateful that at least he could control himself again, and also that he felt the fall of the dimensional area nearby, so the enemy had not returned.
He heard a small clack on the tiles, and Searchman's weakened human voice again. "Raika, the PET is now on the floor where it will not fall and have any possibility of becoming damaged. Return to your proper place."
Raika nodded- then suddenly, heard gleeful laughter. He tensed- there was not another dimensional area, yet there seemed to be another cyber enemy nearby. It was not the same voice from the damaged darkloid from earlier, but another one- and unfortunately if he and Searchman switched places again, they would be even more weakened than they were already.
An armored enemy then appeared on the PET's screen, near the door, taller than the other one. Raika saw the darkloid then frowned at Searchman on the floor. His human navi had already picked up the PET, but of course he could not run. He winced slightly. Yet again, the only defense seemed to be the cross fusion between their switched forms.
The darkloid raised an arm, and Raika saw that the enemy had some sort of telekinetic power as the blue synchro chip that his navi held was easily wrenched from his right hand. The darkloid easily caught the small item.
"I think that you're not going to do that," he said, carelessly tossing the chip behind him.
Raika flinched, knowing that Searchman's feeble human form would be an easy target for the powerful cyber enemy. Even Searchman retreating into the PET seemed futile, as the small fragile device could easily be crushed, with him also inside.
He watched as the enemy raised an arm again, and Raika suddenly wondered if his human navi would be critically injured, unable to be healed . . .
The darkloid spoke, his tone obviously uncaring about his fears. "You're lucky I don't want to actually harm either of you, like you did my comrade," he stated stoically.
Raika was slightly confused, but knew that they could not win the battle without the synchro chip. He had shakily stood and was about to open a window to send a message to his superiors, asking for backup, when a translucent blue mist appeared around him. Alarmed, he managed to summon his default rifle to shoot at the mist through with no result, and then his stats then plummeted further until the small room around him dissolved into blackness.
He could hear some voices nearby. They all seemed to be jovial, with some laugher from a few of them.
Raika opened his eyes slightly to see strangely smooth tiled flooring beneath him, being part darker and light blue, as if the darker part was part of a line. His eyes then shot open. No human surface generally would have that type of flooring. He managed to sit up, seeing that he was correct in his suspicions.
He was still in the despised small room in his PET, where Searchman rightfully belonged. As for his navi . . .
Raika opened the screen that would allow him to see outside of the PET. The device was obviously on some sort of bedside table, and he saw a slight crowd of civilians in a small bedroom, ranging from younger children under the age of ten to a man and woman. He assumed that the room was a guest one instead of one belonging to a youth or small child, due to the lack of individualized decorations that many civilians chose to place on the walls.
One of the younger people moved, and he was then able to see the person on the bed nearby- a human youth with red hair. Raika scowled, and not just that his navi was in his rightful realm. His superiors would definitely not be pleased to learn that apparently mere civilians had to rescue them from a mission, and that the enemy most likely had been able to do what he pleased without any sort of interference. Not to mention, they would obviously state that it had been quite idiotic of them to switch realms in the first place, which had certainly led to his being unable to finish his assignment of not deleting the first enemy, and certainly not the second one. He was not even sure if they would believe that both of them had become their current forms willingly, without any sort of insane longing involved.
Raika then forced his gaze from his unconscious human navi to glance at the crowd again. He then blinked slightly as he spotted a strange resemblance that he had not noticed before- all of them, including his navi, had mostly the same shade of light red hair. If he had not known otherwise, his navi could have even been a distant relative to the people around him.
"I wonder when he's gonna wake up?" a young girl about ten years old asked, impatiently shifting back and forth. "He's away from that enemy now."
The man, perhaps the "leader" or father of the group, smiled at the child. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Marissa," he assured her, smiling a little. "I even heard that the bad navi disappeared from the building, so everything's safe."
"He even has red hair, like everyone else we found," the youngest boy that was several years younger than Marissa chirped. "Is he going to stay here?"
The same man spoke to the young boy. "It would depend on the circumstances," he stated gently. "If he belongs elsewhere, then he goes there, not here."
"His navi doesn't have red hair," Marissa stated, looking in the direction in the PET. "And he's all purple."
"And blue," a much older girl added. "And if the internet was working at the moment, he would have been healed in a computer instead of being konked out in his PET."
Raika blushed slightly, seeing that indeed, his usually green armor that was actually Searchman's was still not the hue that it was supposed to be. He knew that the false coloring would fade later, but that was certainly not the most important issue currently. Not only was Searchman weakened and in the wrong location, but himself still, even though his stats were somewhat restored, and they would be even more enfeebled once they returned to their proper realms. The only slight positive thing about the circumstances was that the civilians in the room might not recognize Searchman if they saw in him in navi form later.
The crowd then began chatting amongst themselves about other topics. Raika turned away from the strange people that once again hid Searchman from his view, and instead opened a window to send an email to his superiors. They would ask why he had not sent a message when able, even with their current idiotic situation (unless they would only believe that he was currently in an unreasonable state of mind)
He finished the message, but was surprised as an error message came up instead of it sending. Frowning, he scanned for possible sources for the disturbance in the area, but frustratedly did not discover anything amiss other than the obvious lack of internet capabilities, obviously including PETs in the area. Of course, Searchman was "most likely" much better at the skill in the first place, and perhaps would have found something useful already.
The voices from the small crowd then became slightly louder before the man hushed them. Raika looked through the screen again, but could not see his human navi again due to the crowd.
"He's awake!" the young boy that had spoken earlier cried.
"Don't crowd him," the man stated, pushing some of the eager younger children back.
The children reluctantly obliged, allowing the man and the woman that perhaps was his wife to be the ones nearest the bed, and Raika was finally able to see part of Searchman again, his red eyes open. His navi's face turned confused for a bit as he turned his head.
Searchman's face then turned to stoic, and he attempted to sit up. The man put a slight restraining hand on his shoulder.
"Slowly, now," he said.
Raika was just glad at the moment that his navi did not seem to be harmed by the second darkloid after all, bizarre as the situation seemed. Darkloids usually did not spare anyone they considered their enemy, after all.
The man then spoke again. "Hello, there," he started friendlily. "You were unconscious in the west Eton building just a few miles from here. I work there, and got you away since there was considerable trouble there."
"There's trouble over here, too," Marissa piped up. "The network is down."
"Enough," the oldest female next to the bed said, and the young girl frowned, but obeyed.
The man spoke again. "So, you didn't seem too injured," he continued. "We are the Gerasimov family. My name is Kirill, and these people over here are my family, my kids and wife included."
"Is he gonna be our brother, too?" the young boy that had spoken earlier asked.
"Didn't he say to be quiet, Henry?" the older girl piped up.
Kirill laughed. "So I did, Kira, and it would be nice if this nice youth would be able to speak up. And no, I don't know if he needs a family or not."
"Like Gerda and Hana and Konji and Fredrick," Henry stated proudly.
His father smiled. "Yes, we have taken in some children-"
"-All with red hair," Henry interjected.
"-All coincidentally with about the same hair color as our birth children, and Kiun and I," his father agreed. "But again, that might not be the case for this young person here. He might have some other place he is supposed to be." He then pulled a familiar-looking chip out of his pocket. "I also found this in the same room you were in, and guessed it was yours. It's definitely not one that I've seen before."
He held out the synchro chip. Searchman nodded his thanks and took the chip, placing into Raika's chip holder.
"What's his name?" Marissa asked, attempting to edge around her younger brother before Kira pulled her away. Marissa scowled slightly, but then just rolled her eyes.
Kirill smiled some, then turned to Searchman. "Yes, that is a good question. I can't just call you 'no—name.' So, what do you want to be called, and where are you supposed to be? Unlike hospitals, I don't have the authority to call the emergency numbers on your PET."
He looked expectantly at Searchman, who frowned. "It doesn't matter," the human navi responded quietly. "Yes, I need to be somewhere, but it would be best if I were to leave by myself."
Raika was a bit relieved, although he truly had not expected anything else from his faithful navi who had before stated that basically that he liked being in human form as much as his net op appreciated being a navi.
"Let's call him Jaroslav, then!" another younger girl stated, who looked about a year younger than Marissa.
"Yeah, Jaro!" another girl that looked almost identical cheered. "Like the one at Fredrick's school that won the archery tournament! But Fredrick almost won, too, and they were both in the newspaper," she added.
A youth a few years older than Raika spoke up. "He had the better bow," he huffed, while Kira huffed and shook her head.
"As if," she countered. "You said that you're bow was a good one, too."
Fredrick scowled. "His was better made. He has that great-uncle that is in the bow-making business and other related stuff."
Searchman frowned. "It would be best if I leave immediately," he persisted.
He slowly got out of the bed, reaching for his shoes placed at the end. Raika could see that his navi was not fully healed, as he was not, but at least he was certainly better than before.
Kirill sighed. "At least you should have some nourishment before you go," he insisted.
Searchman shook his head, but the man insisted, and his navi relented, frowning a bit. Raika also frowned, but hoped that the eager red-headed civilians would let their newfound possible "relation" leave quite soon. The mission had been supposed to be over hours before. . .
Kirill and his wife left the room, with the order to "be nice" to the visitor.
"Where's your coat?" Marissa asked Searchman curiously. "Did someone steal it?"
"Maybe he didn't have a coat, like Fredrick didn't when he first came here," Henry stated pointedly.
The oldest boy blushed slightly. "You never know," he said lightly, though Raika could hear some embarrassment in his voice. "Maybe it's just still in Dad's work place."
"What about the navi?" wondered a boy a bit older than Henry. Raika guessed that he was Konji. "Did he ever wake up?"
Instantly, several pairs of hands reached for the PET, but thankfully, Searchman's pale ungloved one grasped the small device first. Raika saw his navi's red eyes worriedly look at the screen, but then soften once he saw Raika standing. Again, Raika very much wished that he was on the other side of the screen, but of course he could not do anything about that currently.
"Is he all right?" Marissa asked, finally angling around her older sister and coming up right beside Searchman. She then giggled as she spotted Raika on the screen. "Yup, he's fine," she reported. "And- hey!"
Marissa pouted as Searchman jerked the PET from her eager fingers and placed the device in one of his pockets. "No fair!"
"No touching other people's PETs, Marissa," Kira intoned. "Dad's told you that before. And you too, Henry," she warned, glaring slightly at the younger boy.
Henry rolled his eyes. "Dad said I'll get a navi someday," he retorted. "And then he'll beat Fredrick's."
"Not a chance," Fredrick stated evenly, folding his arms. "You've got to learn PET basics and other such skills first."
"Whatever," Henry huffed.
The door opened again, and Kirill came in, his wife behind him, holding a small portable tray with a thermos and a bowl with soup.
"I hope you like beef and noodles," Kirill stated cheerfully, while Kiun carefully handed Searchman the tray. "And cider's good, too."
Searchman nodded his thanks, and began eating quickly, but neatly. He was soon done with the small meal.
"I'll take that," Kiun said gently.
Searchman merely nodded again, his face still stoic. Kirill's wife took the tray and again left the room.
"Maybe he can battle Fredrick's navi before he leaves," Henry said eagerly.
Konji spoke up, excitedly bouncing beside Henry. "And then Daddy can take him back to his work so he can get his coat and get on the right bus," he added.
"He still looks pretty tired," Kira stated critically, frowning a bit. "Maybe he should rest some more before he goes."
Fortunately, Searchman again shook his head, denying their offers. "It would be best if I leave now," his insisted.
Raika saw Kirill came a bit closer, his face worried. "I can get you a coat quick," he stated. "One of Fredrick's should fit, even if it might be a little big. And I would be happy to drive you to where you need to be."
"I appreciate the offer, but none of that is necessary," Searchman asserted firmly.
"At least a coat," Kirill repeated.
Raika flinched a bit at the care offered to his human navi. He was used to being unnoticed for missions as a cadet that worked for the military, but not as a mere random unknown navi that civilians generally would not even care about other than a way to net battle a new net op . . .
He then heard a shrill alarm come from somewhere in the home's system. Kirill finally stepped away from Searchman, going to a computer in stand-by mode and pressed a key.
"Still only static," he muttered. He pressed a few more keys, and the alarm stopped. "I'll have to call security to see what's wrong with the system."
Raika conducted a brief scan, the gasped a little. "There are three critical enemies in the cyber base," he reported.
He hoped that Searchman would understand the reference to the two darkloids they had encountered earlier, plus another one that he did not know. He did not know why they were in the home currently, but hoped it had nothing to do with him and Searchman being there. The mission had gone wrong already; he did not need civilians harmed due to his actions.
The crowd looked in Searchman's direction. "He actually talks," Henry stated, raising an eyebrow. "Sometimes Fredrick's and Kira's navis won't shut up."
Thankfully. Kirill seemed to have better sense. "What is this he is mentioning?" he asked Searchman, stepping away from the computer.
"My navi has some scanning capabilities," he replied, his voice even. "I believe we may be able to help in this situation."
Raika flinched, knowing that even with full stats he could not stand against three regular navis, much less three darkloids. He was wondering if there was a possible way to somehow lure the darkloids away from the home, when Kirill spoke again.
"I think that it's best we try the authorities first," Kirill warned, frowning a bit.
To Raika's surprise, Searchman then pressed the button on the PET that revealed the three-dimensional revolving net saver emblem. "I have something in mind," he stated firmly. "However, it would be best if two other navis also helped."
Kirill blinked at the obvious net saver emblem that vanished after a few seconds. "If you're sure," he stated cautiously. "I don't want any casualties here."
Raika saw his navi nod. Kirill and his wife then led his younger children out of the room, and Kirill then came back in a few minutes later alone, with the "net saver" and the two older youths.
Raika frowned slightly. He still did not know what Searchman was planning, and with two civilian navis, at that. Asking civilians for aid in any situation would not mandatory, to say the least. His human navi then went to the keyboard and pressed a few emergency codes, and with Raika's help, the screen was visible.
He was jacked into the cerulean network less than a minute later, as well as the navis belonging to Kira and Fredrick. Raika winced a bit at the civilian navis, both taller than him. They would be much stronger, and he would not be surprised if he somehow did not fulfill Searchman's expectations. He truly was not as skilled as Searchman as a cyber being, to say the least, and definitely did not represent the type of cyber partner that was supposed to aid a net saver.
The three darkloids came near to the trio. The smallest, the one that Raika had battled with Searchman in cross fusion form, grinned savagely.
"You are just crazy," he stated, grinning at Raika. "I see you, and so you can't beat me. My partner's good at healing stuff, too."
He jabbed a hand toward the third darkloid, which was one that Raika had not seen before, which was taller than the first one, but shorter than the one that had stolen Raika's synchro chip. Apparently the small darkloid had gone to the healing comrade after logging out from the dimensional area.
"Swords," Raika heard Searchman mentioned quietly. "Just a plain prototype will do."
The smallest darkloid frowned. "Don't you know that we can be all of you just like that?" he stated. "No one can beat us, just like you didn't beat him," he added, pointing to his tallest partner on his right.
Raika frowned a bit, but knew that apparently the darkloid truly did not know that they were the same pair that had attempted to battle him earlier. He wondered about Searchman's instructions, but did not have time to discover the purpose as he felt the power of a lower-levelled cyber sword chip that his navi had downloaded into the PET. Of course, he preferred long range attacks best, but supposed that most civilians would be more likely to have basic sword chips as opposed to more powerful rifle ones.
He raised the sword, the blue edges glowing slightly. "Now," Searchman stated, the order quiet, but firm.
Following his current "net op's" direction, Raika and the two actual navis struck at each of the beings. To his immense surprise, none of them attempted to dodge the attack, or even move in defense.
"How did they figure this one out?" the smallest darkloid wailed as it was thrust toward the ground.
Raika then saw a simple web come appear in the cyber realm, and knew that it was another chip placed into his PET. The web was large enough for all three darkloids, but they all did not attempt to thrash in the holding. Still rather baffled, Raika initiated a scan to discover that the three darkloids' stats were nearly empty.
"Why didn't you delete them?" Fredrick asked seriously Searchman placed a holding cube around all three of enemies, interlaced with some codes to aid in their continual capture.
"They will be needed to know what they did," Searchman replied simply.
Raika assumed that it would be about what the tallest navi had stolen from the earlier building, and possibly more information about the third darkloid.
"They can't just be in our network forever," Kira mentioned, her voice slightly worried.
"That will be taken care of shortly," Searchman assured her.
Raika heard the girl huff. "I hope so," she scuffed.
The older civilians' navis then disappeared in a log out, with Fredrick's navi first, then Kira's. Raika waited, but it was surprisingly about a minute later that he then felt himself log out and was facing the familiar green-lined walls again, where Searchman should be . . .
A bit warily, he then checked the message center. Raika frowned, seeing that Searchman had sent a brief message to his superiors at the base about the darkloids and their current switched forms. He winced a bit, knowing that they would now not be able to switch realms before presenting themselves again. Plus, Searchman, not himself, as the net op, had managed to discover a way to finish the mission after all, even if it was in a much different way that they had planned, to say the least. Of course, it would not be enough to make up for the fact that they were simply not themselves as they should be.
Raika then forced himself to turn back to the screen in time to see Fredrick speak to Searchman. "So, how did we win against these 'critical enemies'?" the older youth asked. "It seems that they would be pretty powerful if you said that."
Surprisingly, Searchman shook his head. "They had skills in areas other than stats," he stated briefly. "One of the beings had the ability to deflect any attack given from any known opponent. However, what they did not expect, and could not deflect, was the same type of attack at the same time from the same amount of opponents, not mattering how powerful it was."
Raika blinked, a bit embarrassed. His navi had certainly discovered what he had not. That was definitely not the first time that it had occurred, but it seemed that he should have been able to help with something, especially with the failed mission earlier . . .
Fredrick blinked a bit, his face a little confused. "I don't really get it, but I hope it actually worked," he stated. "And that those enemy guys are actually out of the house soon."
His sister looked no less baffled. Kirill then went to the computer and typed a few keystrokes.
"Looks like the system's working again," he stated, his voice slightly astonished. He then turned to Searchman. "I should really thank you. And, if you ever need a place for a while, we've some space here."
He then pulled out a portable messaging device, and typed a bit. Less than a minute later, the door opened, and Raika saw Kiun, followed by the excited civilian younger children, Marissa and Henry in the lead.
"Jaro's good at battling, right?" Henry stated excitedly, running up to Fredrick.
Raika saw Kira frown a bit. "You don't even know if he even wants to be called that," she pointed out.
"So? It's something, right? And he never wanted to say what his name was in the first place."
The civilians continued to chatter about the brief battle, with Kira and Fredrick relating it to their eager younger siblings. About half an hour later, though, he heard something from outside the home. Raika then cringed as he identified the distinct sound of human footsteps in freshly fallen snow, then a sharp knock on the front door.
"I'll get that," Kirill said.
He managed to detach a few curious younger children from him, and swiftly left the room by himself. Raika heard faint stern voices, and a short while later, Kirill opened the door for two uniformed officers. He then flinched, knowing that a punishment was certainly soon upcoming for himself, and much worse than merely cleaning staff rooms.
The officers turned toward Searchman. "That is the youth?" the one with brown hair inquired stoically.
Kirill nodded. "Yes, he was very helpful in this situation," he stated.
The officer did not acknowledge the praise, but merely went to Searchman and asked to see the PET screen. Raika saw the officer almost glaring at him, just managing to not flinch under the oppressive gaze. He then nodded and went to the computer, pulling out portable device from a pocket. A few minutes later, the darkloids were reported as being secure. Raika performed a short scan to see that they were correct. He almost was worried about even the scan, even though it would not be asked about, since of course he was not supposed to be a navi in the first place, and the officers knew it, to say the least.
The officer pocketed the device with the enemies, then turned to Kirill.
"He will need to come with us immediately," he stated, motioning to Searchman.
Kirill nodded, his face tense. "Yes, of course," he agreed. "But, perhaps, at least a coat-"
The brunette officer cut him off. "He needs nothing from here," he interrupted firmly.
Thankfully, the civilian father merely nodded again. Raika was slightly glad that the officers did not handcuff Searchman, though of course they would both be able to detain him by themselves, and would definitely have powerful enough navis to restrain Raika's much feebler navi form.
Raika watched apprehensively as Searchman was hustled from the area, with him in between the two officers.
"Bye, Jaro!" Marissa called joyfully as they left the room, apparently not knowing that she would most likely not see the "human" again.
It was not until they were all in the military vehicle parked outside that the expected order was given. "Cadet Malenkov, you and your navi are to return to your proper places at once!" the brunette officer stated firmly from the passenger side of the vehicle, next to the driver that had been waiting for them.
Almost surprisingly, Raika did not full a pull following the command, but he supposed that it was due to him and Searchman willingly switching places instead of insanely doing completing the action. He willed himself to the human realm, and was soon slumped against the locked door of the vehicle, where Searchman had just been moments earlier. Raika was a bit surprised that the officer had not waited until they were at the base for them to switch back, but perhaps they had been given an instruction to wait only until they were in a somewhat secure place that was out of civilian view.
"His PET?" the brunette officer then demanded.
His companion nodded, and Raika did not complain as the small device was taken from where it had fallen on the seat beside him. The black-haired officer glanced at the screen, and pressed several buttons.
"Searchman is within the PET, and is currently in the recovery area," he reported. "Also, the program that was used is now returned to its usual state."
The brunette officer nodded, his face only slightly satisfied. "Good," he said stoically. "Not only will that aid in his stats, but will help in stopping any other sort of unnecessary escapades from at least the navi."
Raika was then helped by the black-haired officer with his seat belt, though he still slumped against the cold window. He was then surprised when the officer then spoke just after the driver started the engine.
"I will say that it is interesting that the switch between them was mentioned to the authorities in the first place, not to mention that they both waited for their arrival, knowing that they would be caught," he stated, his voice almost light-hearted.
The brunette officer in the front seat was not sympathetic. "They were in the incorrect places in the first place," he spat, his voice holding angered tones. "In no situation should they ever be that way."
"Just saying, it was an interesting factor," the officer quipped.
No more was said as the vehicle was driven directly toward the base. A bit later, Raika was hauled out of the car, and helped to a medical room, while his Searchman was inevitably taken to a navi recovery room.
The medical assistant there was no less lenient than the officer that had retrieved the darkloids from the civilian home. "Your orders are to rest," he stated firmly.
Raika nodded, and lay down under the covers. He then closed his eyes, quite ashamed of his actions.
Certainly, Searchman had aided much in capturing not one, but three enemies, including the one that they had been after in the initial mission, but surely that was not enough to make up for Raika having failed to come up with a way to fight the first enemy without them switching to the practically forbidden realms. It seemed that other cadets, not to mention the stern brunette officer from earlier, would have utilized a much more preferable method to defeat the enemy.
He then huffed, attempting to not think of the disappointment of not only the lieutenant that had given him the mission in the first place, but also his strict chief uncle. Both would not have anything positive to say about his poor actions, to say the least. Plus, the civilian family certainly would not be seeing "Jaro" again, and he almost hoped that they would find someone else (though not necessarily red-headed) to join them.
He then closed his eyes again, and weary as he was, had to force himself to sleep.
Hours later, Raika saluted the medical assistant after he came in the room. He was quite thankful that at least he had none of the weakness from earlier, and that Searchman, healed before his net op, had been jacked back into Raika's PET. The small device was back in its proper place, with his navi ready to fight in any given mission- though Raika was not quite sure when the next one would be.
The check-up was brief, with the medical assistant thankfully not mentioning anything about his failures. He was soon released to return his normal duties, along a month's worth of punishment to make up for his idiotic actions in his previous mission. Raika was about to open the door where the assistant had left less than a minute previous, when there was a knock. Surprised, he opened the door to see the back-haired officer that had come for him at the civilian home.
He saluted the officer, managing to hide his amazement, as well as a bit of anxiety. Hopefully the officer had not discovered something else that had gone wrong in the mission . . .
Surprisingly, the officer then grinned a little bit. "So, I am technically not supposed to be here," he started. "I was told- with a few intermittent questions, of course- that you would be over here. So, anyway, one of the darkloids that was captured earlier was one that was planning on attacking a significant part of the net saver base. Your little side mission captured him and both comrades. Plus, we got them to tell which data had been stolen from the building the dimensional area had been around, which probably would not have been possible if we did not have all three at the same time."
Raika blinked a bit. He definitely had not expected the praise, or possibly anything positive from the "side mission."
The officer smiled briefly again. "So- I think that covers that. Something good was done, and I simply wanted to report it."
Raika slowly nodded, still a bit stunned from the words. The officer left, and he managed to recover from slight shock enough to move from the doorway.
He then frowned slightly as he headed toward his dorm room. It was Searchman, not himself, that had come up and had executed the idea that ended up with the capture of the darkloids. Searchman was the one that deserved the praise, not himself.
Of course, his navi was generally only viewed as that- a cyber being that followed the net op and other orders from superiors. Net navis were not supposed to receive approval for anything, and the net ops were mostly given the attention instead. Even if he was certainly a human, he had been the one in data form at the time. He knew better than to expect any praise from any other superiors about the previous assignment, and hoped that the well-meaning officer would not receive any punishment for giving him any.
A bit uneasy, he came to the dormitory, passing one other cadet who was exiting the room. Raika then gathered his school belongings for his next class. His instructors certainly would not show any mercy for anyone that dared to be late.
He had placed the items into his school bag, when Searchman spoke up. "Raika, I would like to say something," his navi began.
Confused, Raika set down his bag and pulled out his PET to see his navi's firm features.
His navi then continued. "No matter what, you are my comrade," his navi stated firmly. "Even though I was the net op at the time, I could not simultaneously be inside and out of the cyber world. You also helped in the capture of the darkloids."
Raika stared at the PET screen for few seconds, a bit stunned, then nodded slowly. Perhaps his navi was correct, but he certainly should not give all the credit to himself for any future net-related mission with him properly as a human, either. Searchman was his cyber partner, and certainly not just way to accomplish a mission- and was also a definite friend.