Hitting the Street

"Wa-wait Mister!" The boy shouted. "I won't mess with this guy if I was you. I mean, he seems like he's weak to fire, but I dunno..." The boy paused, thinking. "Before Basketman was EJO'd, I overheard something. I suppose they thought we were already down and out, so they didn't care, but...The girl mentioned something about the bank. She said that she would be able to take the bank's power or something to create a barrier that would protect the guy while he did what he had to do. I-I dunno what he's gonna do...He just growled in response. If he's got some sort of barrier, than even fire attacks won't touch him. You gotta stay away from the bank until the police can get there, okay mister?"

((Please keep in mind that the bank is on a private server and without the ability to smash through the firewall, you would be best off jacking in from inside the bank))

"I don't think I can quite do that, though thanks for the concern." With a wave, Wes headed off towards the bank. After waiting a short time, his navi finally returned to him, "Its about time. Were those enemies more than you expected them to be?"

"Hardly worth the effort. The salvo we threw at them finished them all off. Had you waited enough thirty seconds before running off, I could have just plugged out. Instead, I had to track down your signal just so I could exit the net." Junior replied. He then got to the issue at hand, "So, what's the situation?"

"We need to track down some wannabe Mafia guy who has been tearing up Netopia's net. According to my last source, he's going to try hitting this bank, he can only really take damage from Fire chips, and he might have some back up." Wes explained. Of course, he left the detail of the back up being female. No use getting him worried about fighting a girl now. Wes headed into the bank, stood in line, then talked to the person at the desk he approached, "Excuse me, I don't want to panic you, but I recieved a tip that this bank might get attacked by that weirdo navi that's been causing havoc in the country's netspace. I think he's supposed to be after some kind of ultimate barrier program, though I have no idea what that's about. I'm just supposed to take this guy down so if your manager wouldn't mind, could I take part this bank's defense department today? Feel free to contact the netpolice if you question my motives. My name is Wesley Xesivan, so you know who to inquire about. I'll just sit down right over there and await your response." With a polite nod of the head, Wes took a seat over to the side. This would no doubt take a little bit of time to get cleared and there was a good chance they'd think he was up to something devious until they talked to the net police. He didn't want to seem to anxious and get himself marked as a suspect. Besides, the deal was he had to take care of the navi, not save this bank so even if they denied his request, there would be other chances, no doubt.

"Um..." The girl behind the counter paused. "Uh...Uh....Hold on?"

The girl didn't seem very sure of herself. She turned around and moved quickly to a tall, elderly man in a suit. Wes could see them speaking together in a whisper, but couldn't hear what they were saying. The man disappeared into the back for a few minutes and then returned to speak with Wes.

"Ahem," he spoke. "I've contacted the NetPolice and they have confirmed your story. Once I've seen your identification, you can jack into a port over there. We thank you for all the aid you can give us, but...I have no idea about any barrier chip. Are you sure that's what this Navi is after?"

"No idea whatsoever." Wes said matter-of-factly, "Everything I know about this navi I've gotten second hand. I've yet to come in contact with this buffoon, so what I heard on the street is all I know. The info that this guy is targetting the bank and after some barrier program is what some kid told me. Whether its reliable or not, I don't really care. This is the best lead I got so I'm gonna run with it." Wes said. He then brought up some idenfication information on his PET, then prepared to plug in, "Now then, my two best guesses are that this barrier is part of your security system or is something one of your customers have locked up here. The second makes more sense, since you have no idea what I'm talking about and I doubt you know every single thing being stored here so a barrier program under your care might escape your notice. Of course, you could always be hiding something from me, in which case, the first could very well be true. Of course, knowing my luck, its probably some third option that I haven't even thought of and thus all this thinking was for nothing. In the long run, though, I don't really care. This navi's just some mafia wannabe so whatever his motives are, they are of no concern to me. As long as I get my promised payment from the Net Police, the underlying motives for all this ruckus are beneath my concern. In any case, since I assume you're at least going to provide a bit of support, equip your security navis with any Fire element weapons you have. If my information is reliable, then only Fire attacks hurt this guy, though as much as I hate to contridict myself, that does make me slightly curious. In any case, I'm sending you in, Soulman_Junior.EXE."

"Sheesh, you talk a lot. Its not like this poor man needs to hear each and every little thought and opinion you have." Junior complained.

"Yeah, I know. He might not have even caught everything I said. Its mostly for my benefit. Hearing me say my thoughts out loud. Now then, get in there and get ready. I'll try figuring out which chips will work best." Wes commanded.

"Fine, I'm going." With that, chatter time was ended and Junior entered the bank's netscape.

The lights in the bank flickered wildly and then dimmed to almost nothing.

"What's that?" the managed asked. "Is someone siphoning our power?"

"Hmmmm.... well that can't be good. Can you tell where it's being redirected to?" Wes asked. Surely something as stupid as stealing the banks power couldn't be the big trick behind this guy's invincible barrier, could it? That would just be stupid. Though, if that was the case, would simply turning off the power be enough to stop the barrier? Perhaps for now Wes would stay his hand and avoid using his fire chips. Stalling might be his best bet, "Also, on a semi-random note, if the power of the bank's computers were to be turned off, how long could your security navis hold in there. I know that my PET's battery would probably be able to hold for at least one battle, though I might want to try hijacking a car battery, just in case..."

"I-I'm not sure..." the man stammered. "I suppose that a barrier that powerful would need a lot of energy to generate it...Maybe more than a single PET could handle. Maybe severing the power would disrupt the barrier...Maybe. As for the security Navi, they should be able to last a few rounds without back-up power. If the barrier drops and you guys can finish this quickly, there shouldn't be a problem."

"Then do that, if you please." Wes requested. Finish this quickly, huh? With all that HP, they'd need a miracle to do that, "Also, did you equip your navis with fire attacks? I have a little something here that will boost my Fire chips, but even with those I can only do so much. Though only way this'll work is if we all have enough chips to hammer him... I mean, geez, look at his HP."

"Yeah...yes," the man said. "It may take a few moments to get everything powered down. I'll go do it now."

The man hurried off into the back room to turn off the power.

"Crap, he got away." Wes said with a sigh as he stood up. He then addressed the manager, "Well, at least everything should be safe... Its probably fine to turn the power back on." Wes thought to himself for a moment. That one navi with the keyboard said they obtained what they wanted, but what specifically was it, "Hmmmm.... anyway, if there is anything missing, let me know. Here's my e-mail." Wes said, writing a note on some scrap paper the bank kept on the desks, "Also might want to report back to the NetPolice, since its their fault that I'm even here. Hmmmm.... so she called him Grendal, huh? Sheesh, I hated Beowulf..." Wes then turned and walked out of the bank. He then found his way to the metro and began to type out a message on the Mission BBS during the ride.