The Park

"Don't mention it," Zeo responded happily to Harke. He was glad he hadn't ended up sticking out his hand for nothing. Of course, that probably wouldn't have happened anyway. He was feeling a bit less nervous than he had walking up, which was a good thing. Instinctively he reached to his shoulder for his PET again, then realized he was and stopped. ViralMan was probably fine. He was way better at this kind of thing. Instead he proceeded to close the strap and secure the device in the holster for a while. Yes, Zeo was sure that ViralMan was perfectly fine.

Stepping back a bit to give Harke room, Zeo cast about for a new topic. He was once again reminded of his Navi off in the NetSquare. "So Harke, what's your Navi like? Is it one of those super powerful tournament Navis, or even better?" he asked, smiling. Zeo hoped that Harke could tell he was joking and was not expecting some kind of super Navi. "And," he quickly added while turning to Sabrina, "Where did you run off to, Sabrina?" He only remembered watching her set off for the chip shop, so he figured that she would probably elaborate this way.

Zeo stole another glance at his PET before turning to face the others and wait for an answer.

Head still throbbing, Harke turned to Sabrina, only to see her sprint off to the chip shop. Okay, that was unexpected. He turned to Zeo, who'd asked him something about... his Navi? He brought up his PET, then pressed a few buttons with his thumb, his other hand still occupied with his head. God, that brain of his was pumping out pain faster than he could think. Remembering Zeo's earlier question, he replied quickly. No, not really. My Navi isn't all that stuff. His name's Eternalis, aqua element. What's yours, then?

Then, he turned his attention to... Sabrina? When the heck did she get back? The hand that he was placing absent-mindedly on his head turned to gesture at her, when suddenly, he felt his hand dripping with something. Something that felt really kind of warm and runny, but also some cold and hard. His head felt a lot lighter than before as he brought his hand down to earth and stole a glance at it. Sure enough, his hand was drooling red, most probably as a result of eeeehhhh- Hey, look, them people are melting.

"Oh, just to SciLab to get an upgrade for SplashMan. Nothing big!" Sabrina smiled as she answered, knowing that an 11000z upgrade probably qualified as 'big'. But she didn't want to flaunt SplashMan's strength, so...

...Harke's hand. It was red. That meant one of two things. And since it was extremely unlikely that he poured tomato juice on his head while she was gone..."Oh my God, your head's bleeding!" She pointed at the wound, though it was more out of reflex than out of a flair for the dramatic. "I'm no medical expert, but I think we need something to cover that up. Lemme see..." The Netopian girl fumbled through her on-hand things, eventually coming across a cloth handkerchief. And no one was more surprised by the find than Sabrina herself. "Huh? When did I get a handkerchief? Well, I won't miss it!" Hastily folding it a couple of times, she pressed it against Harke's head, and held it there. "Stay with us, Harke! If you die or something, everyone will think we did it!"

"An upgrade? Cool. It's been a while since I bought anything since I didn't have the money," Zeo said to Sabrina. Hmm. Something was off about Harke. He seemed a little off colour...

...or maybe that was just his bleeding...hand? Oh crap, his head was bleeding. That was probably really bad. "Crap-Harke, your head!" he exclaimed with no idea what to do. An EnergyPack wasn't going to help here. Zeo smacked himself on the forehead. Make stupid jokes later! Help people now! Sabrina already seemed to have that covered as she dashed forward with a handkerchief and pressed it to Harke's head. Zeo wasn't too amused at her last comment, and could just imagine the anime style sweatdrop sliding down his head. With nothing left to do, Zeo decided to just talk to Harke and see if he was still conscious. "Harke! Are you okay!" Well he obviously wasn't, but Zeo tried anyway. "Can you hear me?"

Harke's balance center began to fail him as his legs turned to jelly. His remaining shards of consciousness began to try and piece together what was happening. Okay, posture, tilted a few degrees back, danger of falling. Leg muscles, not responding. Course of action: Try to see what he was seeing. Of course, that was no easy task, as his eyes had been shot from the lack of brain processing power. Any onlookers would only see a blank stare, dilated pupils, and nothing else. All he could see was some blurs that were moving and talking. People, he guessed. A mind on blood deficit couldn't afford to waste any more than a word of thought.

Then, he felt something press against the back of his head, and he was at the mercy of gravity any longer. Of course, that was about the only input he got from external sources. His subconscious began to go into overdrive, trying to fill in the blanks of stimuli. Unfortunately, it did its job rather poorly, instead opting to fuel the lack of outside contact with hallucinations. Suddenly, Harke found himself in front of a familiar face. Caring eyes, soft expression, and a non-stop torrent of memory flood. Tears began to stream down his cheeks as his head did the same, except with critically vital fluids. Harke's hands began to lift themselves up, despite his circumstances, trying in vain to grasp what he thought was real.

....Mom....

After a short while, when he thought his arms were going to fail him as his legs did, his conscious mind screamed out in indignation. Reach out for her! it seemed to say. Then, a burst of adrenaline shot through his body, and all of his muscles suddenly got the boost they needed. Without much ado, he threw his arms around the image he had in his head and hugged it as hard as he could. The energy rush disappeared as fast as it came, letting his body go limp once again.

Mom... he mumbled, repeating it once again before his systems decided they'd had enough of this stoopid subconscious fugue taking over and shut down everything, leaving him to faint, still in embrace of his maternal projection.

Sabrina contined to hang on to Harke, getting slightly worried at the utter lack of response on the latter's part. "Harke? You with us?"

"...Mom..."

"H-Hey!!" Hey, she was NOT in the mood for any stunts, especially when head trauma was involved. "I'm all for hugging, but you better not try anything funny!" Slowly, she started to reciprocate the embrace, albeit much softer due to the injury. "And can you ease up? It's getting kinda hard to breathe...thanks!"

Huh? That was a little too loose, too quick...a quick check revealed that her 'son' was temporarily out of commission. "Umm...Harke? Harke?!" Shoot, he was out like a light. "This isn't good..." She wanted to set him down, but if she did...ugh, she couldn't chance it. "Darn it! Hey, Zeo! Think you could call 911 or something? I don't really want to move Harke any more than I have to right now..."

Walking out of the Metroline, Reverus whistled a made-up song as he strolled across the ACDC park space. Ah, the wonders of fresh air, he thought. Much better than that cramped space of an hellhole they called his office. His white labcoat fluttered around in a light breeze as he looked around, quietly taking in the scenery. Children playing around happily, chasing each other. Nostalgics run through his mind as he re-lived his earlier days in Sharo. Dad was always the awesome nutcase in the family, he thought. Though, really, he was just a nutcase.

Reverus looked around some more, scanning the area. Green trees, park benches, his son unconscious in some girl's- wait, what? Okay, weird. Then again, he was talking about meeting a girl the day before. Maybe this was said female? Hm, perhaps it's time for a little paternal intervention. Boldly walking up to the trio in the park, he addressed them in a friendly tone.

Excuse me, he started, but I noticed that that boy seems to be unconscious. I'm an EMT. Can I be of assistance?

Perfect. No one will suspect anything.

Ugh, this wasn't good. She'd already used up the extent of her medical knowledge, and Zeo apparently had no clue. At this rate, someone that knew what to do was going to have to show up magically or something...

Excuse me, but I noticed that that boy seems to be unconscious. I'm an EMT. Can I be of assistance?

...Like that. "Um, yeah! What, you think this is some kind of kinky romantic thing?! Do something before it's too late!" Seriously, was this guy blind or something? Did he think she was going to stop him from helping? Get on it, already!

And 'kinky romantic thing'....Sabrina couldn't think of exactly what she wanted to say, but that might've been for the best, considering it couldn't have possibly been any better than that.

.... Kinky romantic thing? Man, he was just trying to be polite. Harke's certainly chosen quite the rough one, he thought. Thanks, I'll tend to him immediately, he replied, smiling, even though he was seething under the hood. Scooping the unconscious 17-year-old in one swift move, he checked the body for the usual sign of vital activity: breathing. Chest moving up and down, check.

Lowering down Harke onto the bench earlier, he felt his pulse, and was surprised to find it dangerously low. Looking up and down, he saw the head was spattered with some specks of caked blood. An quick examination revealed the head wound, and a look of grim seriousness quickly replaced the cheery facade. He turned back to face the two, their worried expressions now clear and apparent to him. Acting quickly, Reverus lifted Harke off the bench and properly onto the ground. The determined father turned the boy to his side, lifted his chin and locked his arms and legs loosely. Recovery position, check...

Then, he pulled up his sleeves, exposing white (and a bit of grey) bandages around his arms. Working the bandages, he managed to rip them off easily, letting loose two weights that fell onto the grass with a muffled thud. The white wraps quickly found their place on Harke's head, with a bit of grunting and huffing included for effect. Having done his work, Reverus lifted his son onto another bench with a back-rest-thing... whatever it was called.

Hey, lil' guy, Reverus started, attempting to break Harke out of the coma, wake up. Waaaake up. A bit of cheek-pinching, and his eyes fluttered slightly.

Nnnnngh, the boy moaned. Where am I?

Hey, man, your friends're worried sick. Wake up, he continued, chuckling at his own antics.

Nnnnnn... Dad? Wh-where am I? Harke asked, his eyes still only open by a single tiny slit of his left eye.

ACDC Park. You took some blow to the head, I assume.

What? Harke groaned, his hand immediately reaching for his bandaged head. Reverus' quick reflexes prevented that. Never mind. Just go back to bed, he reassured.

N-no. I can get up... A protest.

Don't bother, his father warned. But-

I mean it, Harke.

Harke looked up at his father with that little slit in his eye, his furrowed eyebrows saying a determined 'no', before finally conceding to the paternal figure's authority. His eyelids began to lower themselves once more, lulling him into a fitful nap on the bench. Satisfied with his work, he glanced around and saw Harke's PET. Might as well, he thought as he discreetly pocketed the terminal. Then, he turned back to the two who had been there the entire time while he messed with his son. Time to deal with the crowd, he thought.

So! I don't think I've introduced myself very well yet. Reverus Ezarith, Harke's father. Nice to meet you both, he greeted them as a big warm smile formed itself on his face.

Zeo was a little surprised when an EMT just happened to come along and save Harke. It was almost as if all of this was scripted. Of course, it couldn't have been that convenient but Zeo was just glad Harke wasn't going to bleed to death. And he was sure Sabrina was now glad that she wasn't going to be convicted for Harke's murder with himself as the witness. That wouldn't have done much for their friendship, if it could be called that yet anyway. Finally finding some words, Zeo smiled back at the man (albeit a bit awkwardly) and gave a half wave.

"Hey. I'm Zeo Yamikagi. I just met Harke a little while ago," he responded. Harke's father seemed like a nice guy; Zeo figured that being picky about who he associated with was pointless. Whelp, time to explain what happened to the father before he got the idea that he and Sabrina had beat Harke up or something. "Harke sort of...fell. Off that bench." He pointed at the bench where the injured person slept. "It just happened out of the blue. Does that happen often?" he asked, genuinely smiling now. After a pause, he continued. "It's a good thing you came along. We didn't really have any idea of what to do."

"Now that I think about it, your timing was impeccable. Paternal instinct, maybe?" Zeo joked.

Phew, this guy had a clue on how to treat head wounds. And...was Harke's father? She didn't see that one coming. "Hi! Sabrina Jetto's the name!" She listened as Zeo tried to describe what had happened, and decided to chip in herself. "Yeah, you know that NetBattling tournament that was held recently? We were talking about the stuff the finalists got, and when Harke saw what they were, he just...fell off the bench. I guess he really was into the stuff they got or something. Sanctuary and VariableSword aren't really chips you see every day...or ever..."

A few moments passed, before she continued. "But yeah, Zeo's right. If you hadn't shown up when you did...well, I don't really want to think about that too much." Hmm...speaking of that..."So, what brings you to ACDC Park, Mr. Ezraith?"

Reverus laughed at the two's comments heartily, and responded quickly. Well, good day to you, then, Sabrina, Zeo. Commenting about his son, he continued, arms crossed, Yeah, about that... Harke does daydream from time to time. His versions of daydreaming do include completely phasing out of the real world, yes. More than he wants to admit, or maybe know. He always preferred to stay locked up in his room when he was little, and I never knew about his daydreaming habit until he did it at the dinner table. I can still see his sauce-splattered face... heheh, Reverus ended his little revelation with a little chuckle.

Then, a comment about his... what, impeccable timing? Hahahah, sorry to disappoint you people, but I don't have any powers of premonition or future sight. That paternal instinct thing may be true, though, since, well, maternal instinct is kind of, uh.. Reverus hesitated for a bit, wondering how much to divulge before going on, ..on hold. His eyes wandered for a split second before he snapped back to attention.

Realizing the sombre topic, he immediately changed the subject. Oh, my reason for being here? Nothing much, Sabrina. Just on my way to Soryu's to pick up some parts for a couple of my collegues back at SciLab. My head was getting kind of muddled up in that lab air-conditioning, so I figured some fresh air would do me good. More like a good excuse to get out of work, really, he thought. Also, Sabrina. It's E-za-rith. Not Ez-raith. Just so you know.

Turning around, he found his son still sound asleep, so he continued, I think I'll stay till I get Harke here to Beach Hospital, first, though. First time he got injured by this daydreaming thing, and I'm a bit concerned. Suddenly, a low beep interrupted his line of thought, prompting him to take out Harke's PET, which he had taken earlier. Pressing a few buttons, he placed it down beside him and reached into his coat pocket again. Reverus pulled out a plastic container and sat down on the bench next to Harke, legs crossed. Opening it revealed a rather large stack of sandwiches, the smell of peanut butter and jelly wafting through the air. The man offered the container to the two with raised eyebrows.

Anyway, it's getting close to lunch. You kids want any?

Lunch? Zeo was pretty sure that eating lunch with the father of a guy he'd just met who he'd also just met was not something he would normally do. Well, Zeo had been doing many out of character things lately, so why not? Reverus didn't look like some kind of serial killer who poisoned food, although he did have those weights...

Zeo shook his head vigorously. He was starting to think like ViralMan. Besides, he was getting hungry from all that panicking. He hadn't noticed it until then, however. Zeo's stomach growled lightly. He laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, sure. Lunch sounds like a good thing right now." He glanced at Sabrina. "Oh yeah, are you okay after that little...event? That must not have been very fun for you." He glanced around before retrieving a sandwich from the container and thanking Reverus. As he took a bite, he focused on Harke lying on the bench. "Now that I think about it, how are you going to get Harke to the hospital? It would be a little difficult to carry him..." he asked Reverus before trailing off. Zeo supposed they could carry Harke if necessary, but he wasn't looking forward to that ultimatum.

"Whoops, sorry about that." Admittedly, Sabrina had kinda forgotten about how to pronounce it, so she just guessed. "Lunch, huh? Eh, why not?" She grabbed a sandwich, and proceeded to take a bite out of it. Not bad. Not bad at all. Not as good as her mom's, though. But then again, what was?

"Nah, I'm okay! It's really not anything I ever want to do again, though..." The lone girl of the group took a glance over at Harke, who was still out like a light. "I guess we could just call an ambulance or something. I mean, I don't think anyone wants to see someone with a bleeding head on the Metroline..." A second bite was taken, which was done more so to shut herself up for a second while she thought than out of actual hunger.

"So, Mr. E-za-rith," Sabrina said, making sure to nail the name, "You work at SciLab? What do you do? Or is it some classified stuff that you'd have to kill us if you told us?"

Reverus beamed as he dove his hand into the pile of lunch he brought and took out three sandwiches in one hand. Putting down the container beside him, he bit into it nonchalantly and chewed somewhat noisily. Naturally, it took a while for his mouth to clear before his could talk again. His left eyebrow raised itself up at the mention of how he was going to get Harke to the hospital, which was quite a ways from ACDC Park. He hadn't brought his car here, since all he was doing here was errands. Hmm, I could ask one of my guys from work to pick me up here. Thirty-second call. He proceeeded to stuff his mouth once more with triple-layered peanut butter and jelly sandwich before taking out his own PET, a custom-designed clamshell model of brown body and white trim. A few button presses, and he was talking.

Yeah, it's me.
...No, nothing like that, I need you to pick me up here.
...Questions later. Emergency. NOW.
...'Kay, bye. True to his word, it was about thirty seconds when he closed up the PET and went back to munching.

Then, he responded to Sabrina's question, What? Hahahah, well, I do a lot of things at SciLab. It's hard to keep track of all of them. Some things I do are PET modifications, repair jobs, and Navi coding development. If you kids want anything custom-made, you can hit me an e-mail, though I'll likely be buried under work. Stopping for a while to digest a particular bite of sandwich, he appeared to be in thought, but continued after a short time.

Come to think of it, I haven't done any serious Navi coding since back in the old days, when I made Eternalis for Harke over here. He gestured to his sleeping son, an enigmatic expression on his face. He didn't like reminiscing about that particular job, so he diverted the two's attention to other things. As of right now, though, I'm working on a prototype new PET model, but it's still a work in progress. You'd probably never see it past the salespeople over at SciLabs until the next five years or so, he commented with a laugh, and a bite on his gargantuan sandwich.

Zeo stared, looking a little surprised as Reverus grabbed three sandwiches and took a bite. He didn't bother mentioning it, though. Instead, he focused on eating his own sandwich while the man pulled out his PET to make a phone call. Zeo was enjoying his lunch quite a bit; it felt like it had been ages since he'd last ate. Or maybe it was just because he hadn't ate breakfast. As Reverus talked, he let his mind wander a bit.

He realized now would be a good time to check on his Navi. Flipping the cover off of his PET holster, he slid it out with his free hand and flipped it open. One quick look told him that his Navi was now following the girl he'd seen in the picture. Zeo supposed everything was fine. Not wanting to bother his Navi, he snapped the device shut and returned it to its holster. It was about now that Reverus closed his PET and continued eating his sandwich.

Not having caught much of the conversation, Zeo immediately inquired about it. "Did you manage to get a ride?" He then listened as the man talked about his job at SciLab. "A new PET model? Heh, I barely keep track of what models there are these days. I guess I've got a 'stick with what works' attitude," Zeo surmised. Of course, that was the point where ViralMan would comment that Zeo was just being lazy. There was definitely a few bonuses to his Navi's absence.

...Thirty second call? Sabrina randomly decided to test this, using her PET as a stopwatch. And begin...now!

Yeah, it's me.
...No, nothing like that, I need you to pick me up here.
...Questions later. Emergency. NOW.
...'Kay, bye.

Stop. And the time was...30.16 seconds. Dang, he was good.

Hmm...PET modifications and stuff? Sounded like something a certain brother of hers would be into. "Neat! But I don't really want to bug you, so I'll just have my older brother do that stuff for me! He's really good at it, anyway. He split apart my Navi into two different ones, just so I could have one with all the latest features! He's weird, but he's really sweet when he puts his mind to it..." That talking made her wonder...where was Brandon, anyway? She hadn't seen him in person since she got him to give her all that NetBattling stuff. Hopefully he was okay. ...Eh, no hopefully about it, considering who it was. He was fine, no doubt about it.

Ahh, she just blanked out while Mr. Ezarith was talking. Luckily for her, Zeo's comment clued her in on what it was he said. "New PET model, huh? Cool! What new stuff does it have? Or is it still in some lame classified phase or something?"

Yeah, a friend of mine should be here in a few minutes, Zeo, Reverus replied quickly to the boy's inquiry.

...The PET model? Well, it's not exactly classified, since the real thing is still a pet project of mine, sitting in my desk and collecting dust. But once I get the parts I need, I'll be able to submit it to the higher-ups, and then it gets covered up in all sorts of crap. So it will be classified, but not yet. So I can tell you what it does. Kind of long explanation, though, so don't get bored. The main feature is the inclusion of what I call 'Immersion Holograph' technology. Basically, what it does is take the basic holograph function of the PET you have now, the one that makes little Navis sit on your shoulder, and supercharges it to large scale. The possibilities are endless, like you could make your Navi sit right next to you as you talk, full scale, with the Net's sights around you, as if you were really there, Reverus went on, waving his hands dramatically in the air for effect.

Immersion is already in some places. Some special service I've heard about in Electown has it, that lets you meet your Navi face-to-face for a night. Thing is, it's not implemented in PETs because of the high power requirement. The battery wouldn't be able to stay up for half an hour if I put it in a current-model PET. That's what I'm trying to overcome, he finished with a huff.

Suddenly, his PET rang, and he immediately answered the call. A voice replied, but it was a bit too whisper-whisper for anyone to hear. It seemed important, though, as Reverus closed up the clamshell and stood up, sandwich still in hand. Er, excuse me for a sec, I'll be right back, he said as he broke into a speedy dash towards the nearby Chip Shop.

"Um, okay," Zeo managed to get out before Reverus took off. With Reverus gone there was no real point to talking about the man's new PET, so Zeo was left standing there with Sabrina without a topic. That was probably bad seeing as he wasn't much of a conversationalist, even less so when the only other person there was a girl his age.

Oh yeah, and then there was Harke lying asleep on the bench. Couldn't forget him.

Forgetting him for the moment, Zeo watched as Reverus disappeared into the Chip Shop. "Wonder what was so vital that he needed to run off like that..." Zeo said quietly. He then remembered his tasty half-eaten sandwich and proceeded to take a large bite out of it. After swallowing the piece, he wished he'd had access to a glass of milk. Sadly, Reverus had not provided any. Finally, Zeo realized he couldn't constantly avoid Sabrina by staring in different directions and resolved to find some topic to discuss.

The antisocial boy soon decided how to continue the conversation and carried out his one step plan with some mostly fake enthusiasm. "So, what have you been up to since the tournament?" he asked Sabrina. He knew it hadn't been that long since the tournament, but it was all he could come up with.

...Aaaand, Harke's dad was gone. That was almost as sudden as when she left. Oh, and Zeo was asking about what she'd been up to. "Oh, not too much. Been working on getting stuff, checking out Rogue Nets, blah blah blah. How about you?"

Before that question could be answered, a Navi showed up on her shoulder. "I'm back!"

And it was hers, so Sabrina didn't freak out. "Hi SplashMan! Where do you want to go next? For an area with lots of ice and stuff, Sharo didn't really have much Aqua stuff, so..."

"Actually, I'm feeling kinda sleepy all of a sudden...fighting those Megalian really wore me out!" The hologram faded, as SplashMan appeared inside his operator's PET. "Is it all right if I switch you back to SplashLady?"

"Uh...I guess. Have fun."

"Thanks!" One button from within the electrical device was pressed, causing the short water tank Navi to vanish...and be replaced by a mermaid Navi, which many would agree was easier on the eyes. She yawned, not quite anticipating getting up as soon as she did. "Ahhhhh...morning already? Yeesh..."

"Not quite! SplashMan was beat from busting, so he wanted to go into standby."

"Next time, do me a favor. Say no!" The hologram appeared once more. "...Oh, hi Zeo! Didn't realize you were there! How are ya?"