A Quick Jaunt to SciLabs

Rayth changed direction, instead heading away from the black Buick Riviera that sat in the SciLabs parking lot. It would be far easier to access the SciLabs Network from within the building itself, rather than transporting through the NetSquare, an area most likely still under investigation by the Net Police. He entered the building, nodding to the young secretary that sat behind a desk off to the side of the entryway. He wandered a bit, looking for a suitable place to jack in, before finding a comfortable looking bench complete with a port.

"How convenient." Rayth said to himself as he sat down. "Alright, what are the specifics?"

"Supposedly, there have been some NetCriminals running around proclaiming to have acquired some rare BattleChips." Chaos answered with an irritated tone.

"Oh? What kind?"

"I'm not your secretary." The Navi snapped. "Read the response your damn self."

Chaos opened the NetPolice BBS with a flick of his wrist. The response to Rayth's inquiry was on the first page. The NetOp read through the mission parameters, getting a feel of what was expected of him. It didn't seem like the job would be too difficult, as long as the thug in question was not actually in possession of a Twilight BattleChip.

"Well," Rayth said as he finished perusing the reply. "Let's hope that this criminal is just bluffing, or else we are going to have some problems."

"Bah, if he does have the chip, I shall rip it out of him and shove one of those EnergyBombs in its stead."

"Sure," Rayth shook his head and plugged the PET into the port. "Jack in."
"An interesting turn of events." Rayth muttered.

The NetOp had finished designing the Regal.GMO in no time at all, having most of the work completed before he installed the blank file that the NetPolice had provided NaviMan for a job well done. He had included several references to knights and Renaissance era noblemen, plus a few speech and mannerism modifications to give the over all package more authenticity. All that was left was for Chaos to give the override a field test.

He had sent Chaos back into SciLabs Net in order to find some Navi to try out the disguise on. Some Navi had advanced scanners, possibly NetPolice issue or black market technology, that would allow them to see through a graphics override. Such things were rare, so Rayth didn't really bother with putting in a fail safe for the Regal.GMO though he would have to rectify that if they planned to use it to sneak past any NetPolice. Still, it was best to give the override a field test to see if it stood up to basic Navi scanners.

However, the interesting turn involved the particular Navi that Chaos had run into in SciLabs Net. The gunslinger, Rayth believed him to be called Triggerman, that they had teamed with in Sharo was now busting viruses in SciLabs. Rayth knew that the gruff gunslinger knew Chaos' true form, but he was unsure whether or not his scanners were advanced enough to pierce the veil of the graphics override. Triggerman was suspicious of "RegalMan", that was very evident, but Rayth was uncertain whether or not the suspicions were just a personality quirk or if the gunslinger knew Chaos for what he was.

Rayth was determined to watch the hardened Navi closely. He didn't want Chaos to be attacked by Triggerman in the middle of a virus battle. If that happened, there was a good possibility that the other Navi would help the gunslinger and Chaos would wind up deleted. While he wouldn't shed a tear for the corrupt Navi, he didn't want to lose all of the work he had put into those GMOs and the zenny he had spent on Process Upgrades.