Net-Fit

(( From Home))
Net-Fit turned out to be inside one of the many smaller buildings that huddled at the outskirts of the skyscrapers in Electown. Located in a three story building, it catered mostly to office workers from the business district. The branding was slick and welcoming and when she arrived in the Lobby at a quarter after one in the afternoon she found a few people in business attire going in and out of the locker room doors.

Sweat began to form on her palms but she straightened her shoulders and waited for her turn in line. When she stepped up to the counter the primly dressed receptionist in a tight polo shirt smiled at her and greeted her the same as all the other customers.

After a short speech about the facilities on site (beyond the typical gym set-up there was also a shoe-care kiosk that offered cleanings and short-term rentals to guests and a massage parlour on the third floor) and some of the odder commodities (offering to tie the PET to a tracker app that would only unlock certan levels of chips or signature abilities as workout goals were met), and Sophia was finally free to set her backpack on a hook on an exercise bike in line with others with a large TV hanging in the wall in front of them, one for every bike.

"Well, we're here. Are you ready?" She asked as she finished arranging her chips on the tray in front of the bike and settled the PET into the brackets. Vasilia flashed her two thumbs up and bounced with eagerness.

"Yeah! Let's hit the Net!"

"Remember, shopping first then looking for trouble! Vasilia.EXE, Plug In!" With a certain satisfied flourish she pulled the cord out and slotted it into the jack on the bike. Instantly the console lit up and Sophia hurridly clamoured onto the seat as she watched the PET's screen go dark, then light up again as the TV across from her clicked on.

((To Navi Net Shop ))
It had started well at first. No one had apaid atention to them, she hadn't been dramatic or anything while they bought their purchases at the Navi shop. It had beenf ight, why would they need to emergency jack out after all? WThey hadn't needed to in Hades Net and that, according to her dad, was anothing short of a miracle given their combined inexperience and the elemental differences.

He had had serious questions aabout how the message had ended up in Hades net of all places as well but had let it go.

Ego's appearance had been weird, but Sophia was a fan of horror movies herself and if she had spent time designing a customized Navi for herself she could see her self going for something similiar (not now though, definately not now after that). The aesthetics had been perfect for something horror inspired! A combination of The Thing with body horror like the Tales From Carcosa series.

And then, the White, the unease. Something about how it had acted, something ab out how Ego had mentioned a NetOp in trouble.. at first Sophia had thought it was just acting, or maybe the Navi was part ofa promotional eent for a new movie but as Ego had repeated that, as Egomorph had said she had known Vasilia...

Sophia sighed and leaned her head back against the outside wall of the gym. They had drawn attention then, well mostly she had drawn attention with her yelling. That had been enough for some people passing by to do a doubletake at the tv screen in front of her and sh ortly thereafter a regular of the gym and a gym attendant had both come up to speak with her d uring thhe fight. She had expected questions, maybe a scolding about the noise but had instead been surprised by how quickly the two had swapped over to efficient advic e giving.

They had gotten her through the last bits, had pointed out elemental combinations with the soil panels that had been forming around Vasilia.The attendent had helped her change the settings on the bike to adjust the GUI on the television screen.

He had also pulled the exercise bike off the network the moment Vasilia was back in her PET.

The woman had talked to Sophia quietly, had reassured her of the policies of the gym and that Sophia herself wouldn't be held responsible for anything left on the machine. She had been a supportive but firm force when talking with the gym manager and later when giving a statement to the Net Police about what Ego had said. Or at least what Sophia remembered the weird girl saying.

She lifted the PET to look at the screen, grimacing at the large number of errors that were popping up. The attendant had mentioned something about refreshing from back up to deal with the problems caused by the confluence of the older style PET being riddled with so many bugs. She had one at home just...

Sophia sighed and pushed off from the wall to begin the trip home. She had her keys, she had her PET, she had her chips, and a voucher for a month of free gym use and a folded up pamphlet for the netbattling and exercise group that met there. Both of the last were in paper, something that the woman had pushed for 'what with your PET being so on the fritz right now'. Less tangible than the vouchers were the promise of assistance in raising her skills, and the questions and concerns she had over the entire event.

"Nothing to do but to get through it." She told herself with a light smack on both of her cheeks. She couldn't hesitate just because she was scared! That was how the monsters caught like, 70% of their prey!