Pools of Information

{EAX034}

{<<< From Internet City: Commercial Area: Navi-Net Shop <<<}

=== CHAPTER 7: In Too Deep ===

Blue navi and pink associate landed on a teleportation pad very close to their desired destination; in fact, the venue's business billboard was visible as they took their first steps forward. As they walked down a neatly-assembled tile path, passing the occasional navi and Prog in the process, Amy was able to make out the finer text underneath the two larger words that had been emboldened in a cursive font.

[Seisen Onsen]

[Be comfortable in your own shell]

"What's that supposed to mean...?" the butterfly enquired.

"Errr, I don't know. I thought the whole point of this is that it's a pool, no?" Amy had half-expected Eric to offer some advice, but when the commlink remained silent both ladies shrugged it off and continued walking towards the front gate, where a female navi in a long, narrow patterned dress rose up from her seat when she realised that the duo was heading her direction. Amy was intrigued by the style of the dress and did a visual search on it, but the only word that came up in the results was 'yukata' as they stepped up to a service desk.

"Welcome to Seisen Onsen. Is this your first time here?" the lady asked. Her gentle tone and small bow during this question caused Amy to hesitate before responding; it didn't feel right to respond casually to such a person.

"...Yes."

"Is it just the two of you?"

"Yes. Wait, no. My friend as well."

Lily fluttered her wings in response to the statement, which the lady observed and understood.

"Excellent. Do you wish to bathe in one of the traditional onsens or a modern one?"

The question brought a brief silence, both girls hoping the other would answer.

Lily was the one to finally take the initiative. "Forgive our ignorance, but what's the difference?"

"My apologies, I shouldn't have assumed you knew." The assistant stepped out from behind the desk, her navy blue dress becoming more visible as the gold and white flower pattern became fully visible. She walked to the two pathways in front of them, each one bordered off by large dome-shaped rocks that stacked upon each other to make walls. One pathway led off to the left, while the other led off to the right.

"The pathway on my left will take you to a selection of the 'traditional' onsens, where one can bathe as did our ancestors. It is requested that all personal possessions and clothing be removed before entering these bodies of water."

"That makes sense; you don't want anything contaminating the water, right?"

"...That is one aspect of it, yes."

Amy looked shocked as she looked down to Sakura first, and then back to the attendant. "So... everybody in there will be... naked...?"

"That is correct, but nobody will be able to see your figure once you are submerged."

"What about the other one?" Amy inserted rather bluntly, all of her earlier manners lost in a moment of concern.

"The 'modern' onsens allow for those who are unable to remove their outer garments or do not wish to do so to experience a taste of the 'traditional' onsens. It is said though by many of our clientele that the experience in a modern onsen is not as... refreshing... as the traditional ones."

I'll take my chances, thank you.

"I think my friends would like to try a modern onsen first," Lily suggested, correctly reading her navi's trepidation.

"As you wish. Several of our regular clientele first started as regulars in the modern onsen before trialling a traditional experience. This way please," she finished by directing Amy and Sakura down the pathway on the right. After a few minutes of walking, the pathway's stone-dome walls opened out to a tiled platform that oversaw a number of pools of water in front of them, to the west, the north, and the east. Most of the onsen were large enough to house several dozen navis of larger builds, but half walls of the same stone-domes meant that each of the onsen appeared to have a somewhat secluded, private setting once you descended down the stone staircase in front of them.

"Whichever onsen you choose is up to you. However, if you may allow me to say so, the onsen toward the back are often selected by some of our... more opinionated clientele."

"Understood. Thank you for your help."

"It is my pleasure." The assistant bowed once more before returning down the pathway they had entered from.

After walking down the staircase, Amy's first instinct was to head towards one of the pools furtherest to the west of the entrance zone, however as they walked past each secluded semi-circle the first, second and third pools were all already occupied by a number of navis, and the final pool contained one rather large boulder-shaped creature that reminded the pair of the rock that had tried to eat Meep the day before.

"Hard pass on that one. The fact he's alone could be a sign not to risk it."

"Agreed."

The same situation was true when they navigated towards the east; the first and second pool were reasonably occupied, but the third pool was swarming with child-like navis, similar in size and shape to Sakura.

"It's perfect! She'll have plenty of navis to play with!"

That is, of course, if the little princess hadn't moved behind the navi's purple hair, trying to hide herself from the hysterical laughter and squealing taking place.

"Let's... just keep moving."

Resigned to the area that they'd been warned to avoid, Amy and party headed down to the northern section to find five pools arranged in a formation resembling a hand's fingers. The thumb was occupied with a number of navis wearing business-like attire, as a few of the occupants took note of the party's entrance. A few of the females gave the navi a dismissive sneer before returning to their conversations.

The pools that resembled an index finger and middle finger were both occupied by creatures that, while technically wearing clothing, were very much unconcerned about how much of their features were on display for others to see. Amy felt no consideration to such a display, but for reasons she couldn't explain her hand instinctively moved across the eyes of the child in tow as she too turned away.

"Prude much?" the butterfly mocked.

Amy remained silent as her eyes passed over the onsen resembling a ring finger containing six navis that were styled as mermaids and mermen. They were too busy talking amongst themselves to even notice the group that walked past their area.

Amy was ready to give up on the whole idea when the last onsen surprised her. Granted, it was a tad smaller than its surrounding brethren, perhaps able to house only 20 navis before things became a little crowded, but its main selling feature was... it was unoccupied.

"Ours?"

"Ours."

Amy's outer clothing was no stranger to water, but it didn't seem right to keep her boots on when the pebbles that lined the water's edge looked comfortable, almost calling out to her feet to experience their texture. The boots were dismissed, allowing her toes the rare opportunity to sense something other than a snug shoe. The navi continued holding Sakura's hand as the pair waded into the water.

The water was nothing like what Amy had experienced before. The heat was the first thing she noticed; it wasn't scorching hot, but it also wasn't the typical mild sensation she felt when stepping into any body of water. Initially her muscles responded to the heat with resistance, as if they were coming into contact with a threat, but as the seconds passed by and the two waded deeper and deeper, a calm began to shut down that hesitation. Something was in the onsen's water that made every gentle current rub against her body feel like the onsen was massaging her extremities. It was as if her dress wasn't even there, although she knew full well that it was, as she would occasionally pass her remaining hand over her body, just to be sure it hadn't in fact melted away. The aroma that wafted off the surface of the water further added to their serenity.

"Amy."

"I know."

"This is amazing."

"I know."

The group slowly drifted across the pool to the opposing edge, where the onsen's floor slowly raised back up, allowing one to sit down in the water if they so desired. Amy took the invitation and propped her head up against the dome-stones, allowing all but her head, shoulders and chest to remain submerged. Lily's wings disappeared as she crawled out of the dress' back seam and into the water. Her wings reappeared momentarily as her miniaturised yellow wings created a semi-buoyant raft of sorts, acting as makeshift floaties for Lily's body as she bobbed up and down on the water's surface. Sakura, noticing an opportunity of her own, spun around in front of Amy and sat down, using the navi's lap as a smaller bench, taking up a similar position to her big sister.

As the girl's head came to rest on her chest, a warm feeling blossomed from within her. A week ago... she would never have imagined such a situation would be possible for her. And yet... here she was.

"Eric?"

"Yes?"

"...Nothing. Just making sure you're there."

The navi's eyes closed as she continued to absorb the warmth of the onsen.
"Tell me you're joking. Surely he's not that stupid."

"I'm not, and he is. Idiot deserved what came to him."

Amy's eyes opened to the sound of two voices broadcasted her direction as they searched for the source. At the entry end of the pool were three humanoid female navis dressed in matching bikinis, making their way into the onsen's water. The tallest navi wearing a shade of pink had her orange hair pulled up into a bun that rested on her head as she conversed with the smalled navi wearing a shade of gold, her long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. The final navi was following behind them, her red bikini almost a match to her own bold red hair, its length down to her ankles and not tied up in any manner; it floated on the water as the trio waded further in.

"Hold up, looks like we have company."

Amy maintained her focus as the three sets of eyes locked first onto her, then onto Sakura, and finally to Lily, whose position hadn't changed at all since she'd deployed her wings as a raft.

"Great. That's just great," the navi in red complained. "I swear, they'll let just about anybody in here these days."

Excuuuse me...?

"Just tell them to move. We have seniority here, and this is OUR area."

"Time to clear off kids, the adults want to relax."

Her fists were tightening with each word that came out of their pretentious mouths, but with Sakura fast asleep in lap the navi didn't want to cause a scene. Thankfully she didn't need to, as Lily's wings made ripples in their miniature pond as she took to the air. Hovering a small distance above the water, her wings rippled with the faintest crackles of electricity as she placed herself between both Amy and this new party.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise we were in the presence of royalty," she gasped, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Please, tell us the names of the ladies with which we have been given the privilege- no, the HONOUR of making acquaintances with," she continued, her body bowing down whilst still hovering mid-air.

"Do you think that's funny?" the navi in pink growled, taking her own step forward to position herself in front of her friends.

"Oh, I know my humour is awful. In fact, I'd say it's rather shocking." Her wings lit up with a flare of yellow light, to further drive home the cringeworthy pun wasn't just a pun.

"Stupid program, you'd be hitting your own friends in the process."

"My friends are more than capable of insulating themselves from a little electricity. What about you?"

The tall one moved her arms into a ready stance, but the navi in gold stopped her.

"Don't. She's not worth it."

Finally, some reason.

"Just let the silly delinquents have their fun, we'll stay down this end."

...Nevermind.

The pink bathing suit returned to its friends as Lily floated back towards its operator. Sakura had awakened during the stand-off, and was now watching the three with an intense stare.

"Ignore them Sakura, they're just rude people," she reassured the girl whilst stroking her hair.

The navis proceeded to forget about our group and returned to their previous conversation as if the encounter had never happened.

"So what happened?"

"Obviously he was wiped out; sent back to his PET in a fragmented mess. Operator was furious; PMDs aren't easy to come by. Probably won't see him for a while."

PMDs...?

"I still can't believe he didn't bring an Untrap subchip with him. The damn things aren't that expensive, especially when you consider the potential rewards. Mimics are a stain on the network, I tell you; getting a ride out of the suffering of unsuspecting navis just looking for a quick buck."

Mimics...?"

"Forget subchips, they're only good for one use."

"Hey," Lily whispered into Amy's ears. "You don't suppose they're talking about mystery data, do you?"

"I was just thinking the same thing," she whispered back.

"Not everybody can afford expensive NaviCust upgrades and expansions like us, you know."

"What's that supposed to mean...?" Lily kept repeating Amy's thoughts as they crossed her mind.

"Oh give me a break. The parts are only 2,500 zenny each, and expansions are cheap enough. If you can't afford something that basic, you shouldn't be navigating those sections of the internet anyway."

"You're only saying that because you HAVE all the programs. I only have the Millions and Bugger programs; my operator doesn't care about battlechips so he won't shell out for the Collector program. 'I'm strong enough to defeat anything the internet throws at me'. She damn-well knows that's a lie."

"That's too bad," her friend replied without a hint of sincerity. "With these three programs in place, I never have to worry about encountering a Mimic... ever. I'll open every mystery crystal I can get my hands on."

Those words were music to Lily's ears. "Millions, Bugger, Collector," she repeated.

"What?"

"We're finding out what those are later," she chuckled.

All three navis suddenly turned towards the entranceway, their focus seeming to be in unison. Amy couldn't make out what was worth their attention until the blue dress came to their water's edge.

"I beg your pardons, but may I humbly request the assistance of any navis trained to deal with virus problems...?"

"Sorry, no operated navis here," the navi floating in a puddle of red hair fired back.

What, you're speaking on my behalf now...?

"What's the problem, anyway?" the gold navi asked, her back already facing the attendant.

"A group of the region's viruses are harrassing the clientele as they try to enter our establishment. I do apologise for the interruption," she finished with a bow as she turned and headed out of the area, presumably to the next pool.

"Amy."

A pause. "..........do we have to...?"

"Well, no... and I know we have to look after Sakura, but..."

"...But if we were the ones in need, you'd hope someone would help you...?"

"See? This is why we work well together."

Amy placed her arms underneath the child's legs and against her back, allowing her to cradle the pink dress and bowtie as she crossed the deep of the onsen. The trio of ladies noticed their approach and moved aside, as if the girls were somehow diseased.

"That spot won't be there when you get back," the navi in pink sneered as they made it to the pool's edge.

"Good riddance," the red navi added.

The butterfly paused as Amy continued back towards the north sector's communal area. "Thank you," Lily replied whilst doing a mid-air bow with her wings.

The orange navi scoffed. "Whatever for?"

"For reminding me what kind of navi I never want this lady to become, someone who thinks only of themselves."

Violet hair was already vibrating the remaining water off Amy's head while Lily's body slid into the seam of her dress, her wings expanding once again to navi size while shifting from yellow to cyan. The navi's boots reappeared as they sealed her feet back up into a combination of purple leather and reinforced rubber. The lady gave both boots a light tap with her feet, as if she needed proof they were assembled correctly before rushing forward, looking for the attendant.

She found the lady in blue as she entered the main entranceway, her concerned expression suggesting she hadn't found anybody to assist her.

"Hey!" Amy called out, surprising the attendant as she whirled around to the source of the call. "What's the problem?"

"Oh, thank you very much!" the lady bowed low before running up to Amy. "Please, please, let me take your child and I'll show you the way!"

"She's... she's not... my..." Amy stammered, but it made little difference as the delicate hands removed Sakura from Amy's arms.

"Can we trust you?" Lily perked up from behind.

"I will treat her like she were my own daughter. Now please, hurry!" she stressed whilst running towards the stone wall that led back to the entrance. Amy and Lily followed closely behind her, unsure what to expect and hoping they hadn't just signed up for a fatal encounter, but as they passed by the desk at the entrance way, the navi nodded towards the area of concern, a few paces ahead of them, as if Amy and Lily hadn't already noticed.

"I don't know if that's a problem or not, but I'm not equipped to deal with viruses. Please, protect our clientele," she urged.

Amy wasn't about to let Sakura out of her sight, but once again her desire to remain safe was being overrun by her desire to help.

What to do, what to do...

In reality though, there was only one thing she could do to ensure she could watch over the child in their care whilst entering a potentially hostile situation. Amy's pedicels poked out of her hair as the pair began moving towards the disturbance.

"Uhh, are your antenna stronger than mine...?" the butterfly questioned.

"Nope," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Then..."

"Can't be helped. Not if I want to keep an eye on Sakura. Let's just get this done."

----------

Party:
Amity.EXE: 230 / 230 HP [Hypersensitivity]
Liliana.SP: 80 / 80 HP [Equipped to Amity]

{{{ Battle #1, let's do this. }}}

Status: Hypersensitivity
(Meta)
Whilst raised, Amy's team's antennae give them increased sensitivity to changes in the surrounding environment and act as an enhanced motion and radar tracker (in the case of Lily, her natural abilities are heightened further). The downside, however, is that their antennae are more fragile than any other part of their bodies, and will cause increased harm to their senses if they are attacked.
Any member of Amy's party is vulnerable to hypersensitivity whilst battling with their pedicels deployed.

When triggered, hypersensitivity will cause a 1-action stun (a temporary incapacitation of the victim's senses).

Hypersensitivity may be triggered by any attack that bypasses all defense layers to make direct contact with the target (10% odds of triggering). These odds will increase if the attack is also:
* Fire-based or Ice-based (increases to 20%),
* sound-based (increases to 50%), or
* Elec-based (increases to 100%)

Hypersensitivity-induced stuns will stack across multiple attacks, but will not cause a program to lose more than half of their allowable actions per turn; this calculation includes other instances of stun or similar effects incurred the same turn.

(This is purely RP-based; I will do the necessary calculations.)
As amity and Liliana chased after their friends, terrain underneath their feet, an unfortunate incident would occour, leading the navi to stop dead in her tracks. A massive virus would drop down attempting to crush her under it's weight, leading the navi to stop short and avoid it's sneak attack. As this creature, an undernet staple no less in shape and appearance, would clack it's needle shaped feet across the ground as a new battlefield would begin to appear around the two, small bits of the normal paneling would remain, but, a trio of small pools would take shape in a rough triangle shape as a metric ton of hot coals would begin to appear, just barely covering Amity's feet as the Scuttle in front of her postured and moved side to side.

The sky blue of the virus, instead of a darker icy blue it's undernet counterpart had, would chitter and scuttle about, looking over the navi and SP before finally letting out a roar into the air, not loud enough to disrupt Amity, but enough to bring in a duo of viruses to it's aid. The heavy, strong virus in the Monosword would soon warp in as part of it's sub-routines, a massive claymore slung over it's shoulder and in a battle ready stance as it stared daggers at Amity and Liliana. Meanwhile, the second of the pair, a massive plushie teddybear with massive, sharp and serraded claws would warp in...in a pair of pool noodles and sunglasses, seems it was on a day off or something when the Scuttle would come and ruin it's day. Either way, the Teddy would just sit in the pool and float there, hoping Amity wouldn't bother with it for the most part. Battle routines flared up, it was time to do or die...and hope her friends didn't get too far away as she tussled with the fake-ish Scuttle, all while a glinting green diamond would sit nearby behind her.

-- Viruses --
Scuttle-Scuttle- (Scuttle-)

Scuttle- is an angry looking insectoid creature. Unlike the virus it was designed to be like, it is sky blue instead of blue. This metavirus were made in an attempt to recapture the devastating power of the LifeVirus's creations, byte for byte, to the inclusion/exclusion of various aspects of their virus components, such as removing all flight capability, and cranking up their innate aggressiveness. That they were regarded as failures is more an indication of the real things' incredible might than the metaviruses' weakness. They're still extremely vicious, and very much prefer attacking to dodging.

Area: All

HP: 410
Element: Aqua

Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Aqua + Break + Piercing + Group Attack
Primary Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Primary Attack Description: Lines up with a target and launches a hardened bubble at the enemy. Accuracy decreases by one rank with each hit.

Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 50 Aqua + Knockback + Ground Attack
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Creates a wave of ice water that crashes into an enemy.

Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Aqua + Small Ice Terrain Change + Cone Attack
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: C
Tertiary Attack Description: Uses freezing cold breath to coat the enemy and the ground in ice.

Special: AquaAura: Begins each battle with a 10 HP AquaAura, which is pierced and instantly destroyed by Elec attacks. This reforms at the end of each turn.
Special: WaterProof: Cannot be inflicted with Freeze. Takes half damage from Aqua attacks.

Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Blizzard1, AuraHead1, AquaAura1, Aqua+20, AquaLine (Rare), Zenny
: 410 HP (Right in front of Amity) (AquaAura10)(Special: Waterpoof; Halves water damage taken, immune to freeze)(Coal)
MonoSwordMonoSword (MonoSword)

MonoSword are distant cousins of Swordy, but have evolved further in an attempt become more a threat. They attack by teleporting in front of their target, and slashing with their namesake before returning to their original position. Their blades are sturdier than most, and can cut through things regular ones cannot, such as shields. Their bulky armor also gives them above average stamina, but it weighs them down to the point where they do not move or dodge, aside from attacking. Despite it lacking any sort of defense that would bestow such a weakness, they ironically take additional damage from Break attribute attacks.

Area: Netopia, Yoka, Hades Isle

HP: 120
Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Null + Break + Slashing + Wide Attack
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Delivers an armor cutting slash.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): BreakKnife, Zenny
Special: Break Weakness: Attacks with the Break attribute deal +100% Source damage to this virus, as though hitting an elemental weakness.
Special: Moves by teleporting. This is not treated as a formal Teleport, and does not confer any bonuses.
: 120 HP (To the right of Amity, roughly a dodge away) (Coal)
TeddyTeddy (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 100
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 10 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw1, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
: 100 HP (In the northern Onsen pool) (Onsen)

-- Navis --
Amity.EXE: 200 HP (Roughly middle of the field, in front of Scuttle-) (Coal)
Liliana.SP: 80 HP (Equipped to Amity)

-- Terrain -- (A medium sized battlefield, one movement is sufficent to make it to one end from the other, a fient will suffice to make it to make it to one side from the center, roughly)
55% Coal
  • Fire Elementals gain +20 Strengthen/turn, but must be allocated to Fire Element attacks only. Any Coal Strengthen vanishes after moving off of it.
  • Non-Fire Elementals get Burn (5 Fire/action for 1 turn or until cured) the turn after they come into contact with Coal Terrain.
  • 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Soil.
  • 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to to Lava.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Fire.
(Middle of the terrain that spread out to surround the others)
30% Normal
  • No effects.
(Spread out in three small islands in a V shaped pattern, one the north-west, one to north-east, one to the middle-south)
15% Onsen
  • Aqua Elementals gain 3 HP/action partially or fully submerged, Non-Aqua Elementals only when partially submerged.
  • If any Sea Terrain exists in an adjacent panel, Onsen panels will change to Sea Terrain, except in Yoka (Sea will convert to Onsen).
  • Terrain changes between Sea and Onsen do not inflict damage upon submerged entities, nor do they eject submerged entities to the surface.
  • Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Blast1 Blind.
(Three small pools that connect to each other in the south-east, south-west and middle-north, one action is needed to move between the pools when submerged, each pool connects to one another via a series of tubes shaped like a triangle, able to make it to any pool from any other)

-- Objects --
GMD: 15 HP (Just in front of the south-east Onsen)

Battle mode: Elite, Kill the Metavirus (Scuttle-) to win! Bugfrags rewarded regardless of other viruses deleted, but deleting them will render their chips as potential battle rewards!

-- Battle 1 Ready? Start!! --