On the Train to the Labs

Mark awoke to a loud ping in his ear, causing his to violently stir from his sleep and look desperately at his PET. "What the hell?" Did Trent set an alarm just to screw with him? On the screen of the PET was an icon for an email, and his Navi looking at his oddly. "You saw nothing," Mark muttered as he opened the email. It was from Leo. Mark read the email in his head while Trent returned to simple training exercises.

"It seems that the SP was done much faster than what Leo thought it would be. The info you set to him, so he says, was pretty easy and basic to do. He threw in a simple addition of a collar, but otherwise went by the info you gave to him. I guess your SP is ready early."

A smile of eagerness couldn't stop itself from creeping over Trent's face. "Lets install it then."

Mark downloaded the new SPbase from the email and began the install. It shut down the PET, rebooting it after it was ready, which took only a few short minutes to be ready. A white light bathed his face as he awaited the return of Trent to the screen. As the image of the Navi returned, he was looking at a new bulky white shape. The dog was sitting and barking excitedly at Trent, trying to remain still as the Navi gave him a look over.

Suddenly Trent dropped to one knee and started to pet the large dog behind his right ear. It happily turned its head to get the rubbing in the exact stop he wanted. Trent was admittedly excited about his new friend. "He's well done," Trent remarked. Something in this harsh warrior seemed much softer in this private time with his dog.

Mark let the two do introductions, a small game, and a simple lesson for the SP on hand signals and vocal commands. Although most of his in depth training would happen in the field, Trent was shocked at his intelligence, having the brains of a navi, just simply lacking the ability to talk like one. This fact made him even more pleased. "Lets get some training in for him," Trent said, nearly unable to contain the excitement in his voice.

Mark waster no time in extending the PET's retractable cord to plug it into the arm rest of the chair beside him. "Let's get some training indeed." Mark said, Happily jacking the two into the trains network. "Have you thought about a name?"

"Sasha."

{To Internet City}

Mark pulled Trent from the networks just in time, as the train rolled to a stop at the Scilabs station. The large metal door creaked open as the passengers began to unload from the metal rolling box and depart, each going their own way. Mark threw his stuff into his backpack and rushed from the train as the doors were closing. He dusted off his clothes, and pulled them straight. They were starting to get rather wrinkled and crumpled at this point. This made Mark rather unhappy, sloppy dress was not viewed highly in his eyes. Mark pulled out his PET to check on Sasha and Trent.

The two were happily playing together, the data that Trent had recovered being enough to bring the dog back to a fully healthy and happy state. As the two rolled around and played, Mark couldn't help but enjoy the sight of it all, before rolling the PET back into his bag. Why disturb them right now? Mark already knew which upgrades he wanted for Trent, and which upgrades Trent would be going after as well. Mark carefully counted his zenny. He didn't have enough to get every upgrade that he wanted. A frown crossed his face. He would have to come back soon with new zenny.

Mark slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed towards the scilabs shop. It wouldn't be long before Trent was back in the ring at this rate.

Mark made his way from the store in a hurry, the two packages in his hand gripping tightly as he moved faster than normal, back to the train station. As he made his final few advances towards the train, it pulled away from the station, leaving him with nothing to look at the but the back of the metal rolling tube. Although Mark was disappointed he would have to wait later, at the same time it was beneficial to him. His spirits were too high to get himself down as he ran over to a table and started to hastily unwrap the packaging.

Shreds of cellophane and cardboard were flying into the air as Mark ripping into the boxes like a small child at Christmas. The upgrades on the table, Mark powered down the PET and started to install them. The loading bar couldn't load fast enough. He tapped his fingers and bounced his leg in excitement. The first navi he had bought was now being upgraded to a much stronger level. Soon, he would be back in the ring, making fame and fortune. The eagerness of his hard work towards this goal was paying off. All the fighting, training, studying setting up matches.

DING!

The PET was finished upgrading now. Mark flipped it back over to its front, and began to set the settings on the process upgrades as best he could, to allow Trent to settle out the rest of the information. The screen went black as his finger hit the "FINISH" button, and remained like that for close to thirty seconds. The anticipation was killing him. It wasn't long before the screen began to light back up, slowly at first, and showed the 'new' Trent and Sasha. Even though they looked no different at all, the fact that the upgrades were there and working was more than enough for Mark to be very excited.

"Everything install ok?" Mark asked.

Trent nodded towards him as he moved back to Sasha, to check that the collar was installed as it should be on his dog. "Lets test out these upgrades."

"I thought you would NEVER ask!" Mark exclaimed, moving towards the closest thing with a internet port. Which turned out to be a old computer. "You are so close. We should probably head the warnings of the net family before we try to set up any more fights soon. We don't need that much resistance towards our goals here. Lets train up a bit more, then head over over for our recruitment."

"Understood"

{Trent.EXE jacking in to internet City}

Trent jacked out of the old computer and back into the PET, shutting down the holo screen that were up in the process of doing so. The knife fighter took his weapons from his side and carefully placed them down on the basic homepage that was constructed for him. Then, in a flash, turned back to Sasha and began to play roughly with the dog. Scratching behind the ears, rolling the large white beast over and pinning him down, and all sorts of unusual activity for Trent. Sasha brought out a side that Mark hadn't seen before, and one that he was curios to observe as his Navi rolled on the floor with this large fluffy dog. Sasha was also enjoying it greatly, letting out loud barks and yelps as he tried to kick away Trent's massive form. Playful nips and growls were a common sign from the dogs as the two play fought.

Mark watched the two for a moment, without saying a word, before bring up information on the level stats of Trent, and if any upgrades were allowed. When he did so, a window for Sasha popped up as well, showing a list of upgrades that his system could process for the number of bugfrags that he had eaten. The one that stood out the most to Mark right off the bat was the speed upgrade. According to the readouts provided, if that upgrade was bought then Trent would also gain a level. Not like the extra level would do him must good, the pair didn't have enough zenny to buy three process upgrades. Maybe Trent could run into the networks one last time to gather the zenny needed for the upgrade, then the two could get started on the mission.

As much as Mark wanted to put Trent right back into the rings, he knew he couldn't yet. The biggest thing Trent needed more of was health, something which wouldn't be easy to obtain. He should start making money from the rings to buy these upgrades. It was the best he could do for now. "Trent. I am going to send you back into the nets, just to gather a bit more zenny for upgrades. We only need 515 more to get a nice section of upgrades for you. After that I found some information on ways to upgrade Sasha, then we can get you new process upgrades and head to the rings."

Trent's happy nature was soon dropped at the mention of the rings. He stood up, trying his best to ignore the playful dog still nipping at his hands, and lowered his head saying, "Jack me in."

{Trent Jack into the SCILABS Net}