In ACDC

Shigeru started whistling a random tune as he walked into the store.

Shigeru ran outside, and checked his PET. But all he found was static. Voltman couldn't have been deleted... could he?
SHIGERU! GIVE ME A CHIP, YOU USELESS PASTY FACED USELESS BASTARD!
Ah. Not deleted, then.
Shigeru shut off the sound, stopping Voltman's tirade, and slotted in the Widesword. He just knew Voltman would be surprised. Maybe he'd shut up for a while...
But not for a while longer. The chip was rejected. He could see and hear Voltman, but it didn't work the other way yet, and he couldn't give him chips yet. He was forced to observe.
Hoo, boy. Voltman was in for some trouble if he kept acting like the maniac he was battling. Charging with no rational thought...
That could get a navi killed.

Shigeru grimaced as he watched the navi selfdestruct on his PET screen. He quickly jacked MiniVolt out, but he had already seen it.
Shigeru, will that navi be okay?
Uhhh... (I can't tell him the truth... he'd be too shocked...) ...yeah. He'll be fine.
He quickly jacked Voltman in again, and switched MiniVolt to sleep mode. It would be better if he just slept that image out of his head.
And Shigeru needed to get Voltman more prepared. He was heading to the Navicust shop. Some more process upgrades could never hurt...

He got off of the metroline, and wasted no time as he headed towards the shop, jacking Voltman in.
You're on your own for a while, okay?
Whatever...

Shigeru was clawing his eyes out as he exited the shop, and after he had mentally blocked the image of Soryu, he reconnected with Voltman.
Any luck?
I wish...
So the hunt's not going well?
Nope. I feel like I've been looking for days.
Shigeru just shrugged, and got the battlechips ready.

Voltman reappeared in the PET along with a hurried command of Healing progs! Now!.
Shigeru sighed and activated the autohealing mechanism, bathing Voltman in a stream of electricity and knitting the data together where the Cacti had pierced his armor. In something like five seconds, it was done.
Alright, send me back.
...
What? What is it?
Do you really think he's gonna restart Requiem?
Damn, I hope so. Now, send me to the net.
Shigeru shrugged, and sent Voltman towards the jack in port, programming his arrival coordinates as the Netsquare.

Shigeru was quite startled when, exactly at the time Aida had said she was leaving, a girl nearby had packed up and rushed to the chip shop.
It couldn't be...
But he couldn't take that chance.
Hey, Aida! Wait!
He started to run over to where she had been, and settled down to wait.

(Edited to avoid unnecessary posting)

Shigeru walked back, having missed Aida, and reconnected to the battle. He did a quick calculation in his head, finally deciding that the enemies would number small enough that one more round of attacks would easily defeat them.

Shigeru sighed, getting up. Voltman had the rest of this battle covered. He, on the other hand, had some preparations to do if they were to do as well as he would like in this colosseum event...
Stretching, he got off the bench, left a quick message for Voltman, and headed out for the Metroline. Upgrade time.

(To Scilabs!)

(Continued from Here)

Shigeru shook the new arrival's hand, muttering Shigeru... in response. He looked out the window briefly, but the light had turned green and bus and patrol car had disengaged. He turned back to Archard. Sorry, just a stressful day, I guess. Archard nodded, sitting back and staring at Shigeru. Everything about him declared nonchalant like it was written on his forehead, from the messy hair to the slightly torn sleeve on the plaid button-up shirt, and yet his expression directly contradicted this by being almost unnaturally focused on the other member of the conversation: Shigeru. Listen, can I help you with anything, or is this just what you do for fun?
Archard shrugged, looking over the bus. The same bus ride gets boring after a while. Let me guess, you're headed to Soryu's chip shop? Shigeru gave a slight nod. Just the park area, really. Scilab is fun and all, but after a while you just need to sit by a pink squirrel for a few hours. Both laughed, attracting the looks of nearby bus passengers.

I suppose. Everyone needs a chance to relax every once in a while. The bus stopped to a halt in one of the ACDC streets, to which the friendly bus passenger stood. Whatever happens, you look like you just need to cheer up a bit. Way too solemn for someone under the age of 50 and not employed as some sort of HR director. Lighten your mood. Shigeru watched the kid with detached interest as he left, but just talking with the kid had made him feel slightly better.

By the time Shigeru disembarked from the bus, he'd already forgotten the person's name, or why they'd started talking. But he wasn't quite as worried as he'd been when he'd gotten on the bus.

Immediately, he reconnected to the net. How had Voltman fared?

(Character was an inactive op that my friend used to RP here. Got permission to use him.)

Shigeru stared at the email he'd just received in slight shock. That was only part of the mission, and this was already more than they'd have made in a hell of a lot of virus busting. He checked his news feed, but he found exactly the nothing he'd been expecting. No notifications to the public about any sort of operator in Scilabs related to the Netvegas... well, attack was the only term he could really use. It wasn't a pleasant one, but it was the truth.

Boarding the metro, he headed back the way he'd come.