Fun in the sun in the..coffee shop?

"Maybe our navis have an idea about where to go."

Destin thought out loud.

"SINNBAD report!"

Destin commanded as the holo-screens were replaced by a 3D image of his knightly navi, crouched, and without his helmet. He looked like he had been swimming in his armor.

"My Lord. It has been suggested that Yoka, NetAfrica, or Sharo would provide a suitable challenge. And since Trent is from Sharo..."

"He would serve well."

Destin finished. Then turned to Mark.

"What do you say to that?"

"Trent is from Sharo, he was made to be a member of the region. It has been a while since he has logged on the the networks there however. He would love to go back. That works great for me."

"You heard the man, find a port."

"Yes My Lord."

SINN stated as he vanished from the display.

Mark went blank as he pulled up the GMO screen of his PET. "I have no idea how to do this," he said followed by a nervous laugh. He scrambled over the PET, attempting to figure out the correct ways to make a GMO for Trent. After he got into the software, the actual construction wasn't bad at all. It was simple enough to make overall, it didn't take long before Mark had completed a simple GMO, which would easily satisfy Trent's simple GMO tastes.

Mark didn't really enjoy the way that Destin spoke with SINN. It felt, demeaning. Almost insulting. Mark didn't let on to this yet, maybe it was just a hard facade for when around newer people. "Trent will greatly love being back in the snow. How will SINN be keeping warm in the harsh weather while wearing metal? His description of, 'knight's duty' wasn't very informative."

"Well, technically something as mundane as .GMO clothing won't provide more protection against the elements as one might think. However, SINN's cloak should be thick enough to waver the warmer parts of Sharo. Plus the mind is a powerful thing."

Destin said with a finger tap to his temple.

Mark shrugged in agreement to Destin. "Even though it won't help I see the idea of the change in clothing gives the mind a boost. Plus this material is closer to what Trent wore before when he was in Sharo nets. Does SINN ever change his outfit with GMO's? I think it would be amusing if he had a outfit like a King outfit or a a jester. Jester SINN would be funny." Mark joked.

"I haven't made any .GMOs for SINN yet."

Destin mused.

"Perhaps I should make some."

"Do it! Make him a Jester! With his personality I, personally, would find it amusing to see him cloaked as one." Mark said laughing. Mark took another look at the PET, and all its displays around him, seeing Trent was still fighting in the battle in Sharo. Mark wondered at that point if SINN and Trent would find another person to be busting with in the fights.

Mark threw the thought from his head, stretched back and then settled back down into his seat, his tiny frame barely filling it out. "SINN is a knight, right? Does he try to protect and help as many people as possible?"

Destin stretched as well, his back creaked against the backrest. His finger lingered on his temple and twirled a piece of hair before returning his hand to the table. He picked up his cold drink and took a sip. When Mark was finished stating his question, Destin responded as he put the drink back on the table.

"As you've noticed, SINN is a little unstable. However, when his virtues are shining through, he attempts to do the knightly thing. At the moment his will to protect is strong, but he also notices when someone can defend themselves. I think one of the reasons he has been giving Trent the lead and not interposing himself between the viruses and Trent, is because, besides me telling him too, he sees another capable warrior in your navi."

Destin's finger traced the rim of his mug for a moment before grabbing the handle and drinking another gulp. His long ponytail crept around his shoulder and tickled his neck.

"One navi can't protect much on his own, no matter how powerful. That is why I'm trying to get a castle. A fortification to put between the viruses and the innocent, unoperated navis."

"His knightly thing sometimes get in the way it seems. And sometimes it gets a little misdirected." Mark said making a point for when SINN attacked the civilians. "But overall it seems to be useful. He strong sense of right and wrong will be a goo counter to Trent's much more shades of gray approach to things." Mark said. "Trent would be happy to hear that SINN finds him to be capable. He focuses greatly on his battle abilities, both physical and tactical."

Mark listened intently to Destins conversation about the castle he planned to build. He was watching Trent mop up the last of the fight and transferred the zenny to his account. It was good to be getting some more funds, Mark planned to buy some rather large scale upgrades for Trent, the zenny would be needed.

"Does the netsquares already serve as a form of a castle against viruses? Do you want the castle to be another form of a netsquare?"

Destin stopped at the first question. He pushed a button on his PET and another holo-screen popped out. He rotated it around so Mark could see it. It showed a large obsidian tower.

"This tower appeared in an area of the NetSquare right after my navi was meeting with some other navis after a failed mission. Normally something like this shouldn't be able to erupt through the firewall, but it did. As such, the NetSquare is not as safe as one would think."

He closed the window and continued, brushing his hair back.

"Besides, if the NetSquare was so safe, why is there a sizable population of unoperated navis living in poverty with the NetMafia and NetPolice preying on them night and day? No, I plan on making a much safer haven then the NetSquare."

Mark observed the image shown to his carefully. He hadn't heard of such a thing in the netsquare. Shows how much attention he paid to current net events and the likes prior to getting his upgrades on Trent. "Has anything happened from that tower? Has anyone gone near it? Does it cause harm?" Mark was loaded with questions about the tower, trying to understand it as best he could.

"The netpolice and netmafia aren't all that bad. Sure, each has its dark side, but both are trying to give them a purpose at least. The netpolice give them someone good to do to help the square." Mark leaned back in the chair and put his arms behind his head.

"Where do you plan to put this castle?"

"We had an encounter with someone who came out of the Tower. A navi called ToxicMan."

Destin stated as he brought up a recording from a previous bust. It was a 3D image that panned so others sitting around the table could get a good look. The readings from the navi as he moved around were garbled, but it had a list of shown abilities, aptly named. It also showed a dangerous poisonous miasma aura.

"He fought in one battle before leaving. His strength is obvious. But he was also quite rude, making it seem that he was the only one capable of protecting others from viruses. This disregard towards others both on and off the battlefield make him a dangerous ally at best. I would sooner delete him with any other virus."

Destin said with a cold bite to his stare and voice as he looked solely on the screen in front of him. When the recording ended, his face returned to normal as he looked up at Mark.

"The NetPolice may be a force for good. But not all their members are so."

He brought up two recordings and played them side by side. He highlighted a navi named FashionMan.

"This one in particular I have been keeping my eyes on. He is not only, not one for diplomacy, but he attacks the innocent. And it isn't due to some malfunction in the combat system like SINN suffers from, but from this navi's own bias towards the so-called 'weak.' As such, this navi is also one to purge."

He closed the windows again and brought up another one, this one showing the castle from the battle with ToxicMan.

"Anyways, the castle is already around and placed. I just need help securing it. It has much left unexplored, another reason to build up my allies."

He concluded.

Mark listened very carefully to the information that Destin gave about the castle and about ToxicMan. "seems to be rather arrogant about things, but deleting navi's simply for being cocky seems harsh. However the castle being already around seems to be a useful first start on the mission that you need. I'm sure Trent wouldn't mind exploring it and checking into the nooks and crannies. He is a rather curious navi and always loves a chance to try different fighting."

Mark took a sip of his drink before addressing the comments about the netpolice. "There will always be members of something that don't match the whole. Individuals have different goals and ideals behind just the main front of the organization. I'm sure the mafia has outliers in its goals as well." He took another sip. "Members like that do need to be gone, but the whole does not."

Mark took another careful sip, and said, "Trent and I were considering joining the netpolice. He isn't nearly ready for what he wants to do for them, but he is teetering on it."

Destin began emitting slurping sounds as his drink was empty, trying to get the last few drops through the straw. Then he pushed the empty cup to the side. He looked across the table at Mark and smiled.

"Well good luck with the recruitment. It would be nice to have an insider in the NetPolice."

He stated blatantly. Already he was trying to calculate how this would fall into his plans.

Mark felt very formal and business like in that moment. As though the actions of Destin and SINN were merely to gather friends to call in mass favors for to achieve his end goal. And his end goal wasn't exactly bad, securing a castle for the use of innocent navis and unoperated ones to use as a shelter. He paused to think what all one could do with that setup, and how else he might plan to accomplish something from having so many powerful allies. Thoughts of how he could use SINN also rushed through his head.

"Trent wants to join simply for the high profile missions for payment. I doubt he will get much power for any form of use." Mark stated, trying to avoid giving any form of a word of if he would actually give any assistance to SINN once in the Netpolice.

Destin waved the concerns away.

"No matter. It was just a thought."

Destin Obscura wasn't one to use someone without reciprocating. Once he had a secured center of operations, he would be using it to help others. But at the moment it was enough to get some people to trust him.

"I have plans for SINN to join the Neo-Shoguns. They seem to want a similar end goal. Though I am not certain how they will wield that power once they have it."

"I have never heard of the Neo-Shoguns. Who are they? They are after a net goal with much less influence from the netpolice and the netmafia as well?" Mark was curious about them, because the thought of unity sounded appealing, as it always did, but Mark was more curious than interested. "Uncertain of how their power will be used it a common problem with any faction."

Mark leaned back in his chair and waited, thinking about how much power Trent might actually get in the netpolice. He would be an elite member, assuming he could get into the correct faction. 'Maybe.' Mark thought.

Destin startled for a second and sputtered.

"No, no. No. I meant that the Shoguns' have a similar goal to mine."

He said as he took up a paper napkin and dabbed his cheek and lips. Taking a moment to calm down. He would have another thing to explain now.

"The Neo-Shogunate is... well, like a shogunate. A feudal system of a lord or 'Shogun' at the top and his knights or 'samurai' generals below. The Neo-Shoguns are led by someone named Neo-ShogunMan. Creative, I know. I don't know much about him due to him not being at a meeting held by his generals earlier last month."

He punched up his display again.

"Regardless, they wish to bring about a more unified society."

Mark felt rather silly after having jumped the gun or jumped conclusions. He listened carefully to what Destin had to say, and watched his video display carefully as well. Net unity was something appealing indeed, however Mark himself had never experienced that the current structure wasn't overall effective. "Interesting indeed," Mark started commenting on the views of the neo-shoguns. "I can't help but chuckle a bit at the name of the leader though." He said with a smile.

Mark's eyes flicked back to his PET displays as Trent's voice called from it that something was wrong with SINN. Mark switched to a better view to see SINN. "What is going on there?" Mark asked both Destin and Trent.