Rania and Suita, er, Suien

"Well, here's a small bench where we should be able to sit down and jack into the net. There's a number of computers here with ports that you can use for the sort of thing. I'll be interested to see what your navi is like," she said, plopping down on one of the benches. "I'm sorry; I should say this before we start. My navi is a bit... disagreeable. Okay, he's really awfully rude," she explained, unable to lie. "I hope your navi won't have a hard time getting along with him," she sighed, jacking MeleeMan into the net.

((Sorry, a bit rushed.))

Suien absentmindedly nodded in response Rania's warning about her antagonistic navi. Too absorbed with trying to justify his previous infatuation with a minor, the tall netOp took a seat next to the red-haired girl and unhooked his PET from his holster. "Um... yeah, okay..." he replied, with an offhanded gesture, taking care not to sit too close to the underage girl and present the wrong message. After propping up the PET on the empty seat next to him, he withdrew his chip folder from his pocket and unfolded it, allowing for easy access to the array of battlechips he had accumulated.

Realizing he hadn't directly addressed his new friend's concern, he gave her a nervous smile. "Don't worry about it," he said, "My navi isn't the most assertive thing on two legs, so having a partner who is forward and commanding might actually end up doing him more good than anything else." With a few deft keystrokes, he beamed Rass into the network, locking onto Rania's navi signature and...

...wait... THAT'S her Navi? thought Suien.

"Oh, sorry if I'm making you feel uncomfortable," Rania muttered, moving her hand from Suien's and standing up from her seat. She didn't look terribly apolagetic, however; it was as if she was still seeing through to all of Suien's thoughts. "Anyways, I think I might do a bit more busting in the Scilab area to earn some zenny. Do you have any plans for now, Suien?" she asked, working with something on her PET as she talked.

"MeleeMan's out for now... but I know he won't be ready to stop fighting just because he's got one broken arm. So long as he has a good fist, he won't give it a rest, I'm sure," she thought to herself, eyebrows twitching at the thought of MeleeMan's stubborn-headedness. "To think that I'm going to jack my navi in with a broken arm and head bandages... I only just got MeleeMan! How has he already reached this condition?"

She shook her head, returning her focus to Suien. "So, er, what were those plans?" she coughed, returning to programming MeleeMan's cast and bandaging.

Suien frowned and scratched the back of his head, looking uneasily at Rania's PET. Closing up his chip folder with a light clap, he blinked, then turned his attention to the young girl. "Not to cast doubt on MeleeMan's abilities, but are you sure he's up to something like that?" he asked, watching Rania program a set of bandages for the powerful pugilist, "He was, after all, just engaged in a pretty grueling battle. Do you really think that it's a good idea to continue pushing him so hard?"

Suien crossed his arms and looked upward, pondering an answer to his own question. Before Rania could answer, however, he fiddled with a few dials on his PET and slid in a few spare data packets through the chiptray, rapidly rebuilding Rass' core personalities and regenerating the vital circuitry. Rass' body flashed bright green on the bottom PET screen as wisplike strands of data flowed through his circuits like the roots of a plant, regenerating and reinforcing itself as it moved. Turning to Rania, he nodded his head and reopened his chip folder. "If MeleeMan's going to insist on going, I'm sure Rass wouldn't mind tagging along for support. Just give the word and he'll be there."

"N-No! Don't get the wrong impression! It's not that I want MeleeMan to jack back in with the condition he's in, but honestly... well, besides the fact that he'd be incessantly complaining all throughout his recuparation," Rania muttered, rubbing one arm with the palm of one of her orange knuckle-gloves, "I'm worried that if I don't let him keep fighting, the battle will have taken more of a toll on him than just his physical damage. You see, from what I can tell, MeleeMan lives only for the thrill of battle. If I deprive him of that, I'm just worried that there will be a psychological toll present to accompany the one his body has taken. It may be a little foolish of me," she admitted with a sigh, "but I just can't bring myself to tell my navi that he can't fight any more."

"Rania, did I hear you say you weren't going to let me fight because of these stupid flesh wounds?" MeleeMan growled. Rania was a bit taken back, being unused to MeleeMan's rash and aggressive attitude after spending so much time with the relatively agreeable SeraphimCross MeleeMan. "I hope that's not what you were implying, because I'd rather amputate the damn limb then put down fighting for even a second," MeleeMan rumbled, beating his chest once with his left fist.

Rania's eyebrows arched irritably. "No, MeleeMan, I was saying that I wasn't going to make you drop fighting! Sheesh, do you have to turn everything into an argument?" she scolded. "Now are you going to smile and be happy?"

MeleeMan spat on the ground to his side, clenching and unclenching his left hand quickly. He attempted to clench the fingers on his right hand as well, but he could do little more than flex them, and it was still quite painful. "I'm not going to smile for you, dimwitted girl, but I'm not turning down the chance to fight. Jack me in!" MeleeMan responded with a nod.

"Fair enough," Rania mumbled, transferring her navi back onto the Scilab network. She plopped back down next to Suien, sighing in a disappointed fashion. She was obviously unhappy that the charm MeleeMan had obtained from SeraphimCross had so quickly vanished.