In a large room located in the spacious Krysarch Residence, a light flashed intermittently on a woman's long and tousled platinum-blonde hair. The lady was fast asleep, exhausted from a long night's work. Her arms wrapped around her head, she slumbered peacefully, not heeding the monitor's insistent flashing. Her right hand loosely held a red PET, its screen dimmed. The door opened slightly, and outside light filtered into the little room. The sleeping one stirred for a bit, and the door-opener popped her head in.
"Scarlet, if you want to sleep, you should do so on a bed. That chair is not good for your back," she commented.
"Mmmmrn." The only response.
The door-opener simply shook her head, and her hand reached to flip open the light before subtly closing the door again. She did not make any effort to notice the other person in the room, as the doorknob softly emitted a click. The room lit instantly, and Scarlet groaned from her disturbed sleep. She hadn't meant to do so, anyway, she figured. Looking up at the monitor in front of her, still flashing away on her face, she made a move for the mouse and started clicking. After a few clicks, she arrived at the last one she would make. Scarlet leaned her head slightly to observe the other person in the room. The full-scale hologram of the naked human could do nothing to return her gaze, however, as it was featureless, faceless. A blank slate.
Scarlet turned back to the monitor, and clicked the last button. Accomplished as she felt, she still wondered if she would suddenly fail, that her work for years on end would be rent to shreds in an instant. Her bleary eyes focused on the progress bar making its way swiftly to completion. Subsequently, she turned her attention to the last book that she had on the table. Artificial Intelligence for Numbskulls, Eleventh Edition, its title boldly proclaimed.
Then, the progress bar filled without a word, and Scarlet's finger lazily picked up the PET and thumbed a button on it. A small holographic screen lit up soundlessly in front of her, and her finger arrived on the 'Projection' button. The hologram which stood in front of her phased out for a moment, then started to build itself up, bit by bit. The legs were first, high-cut leather-strap boots and shapely legs. Then, brown shorts, black gloves, a slim figure, a green leotard, and finally, a soft, mature face. Long, glossy green hair to the ankles.
Scarlet examined her work for some moments, then stood up to greet the fellow. She mustered her best smile, and said, "Good morning, Terra. I'm your operator, Scarlet Krysarch. You can call me Scarlet. Nice to meet you."
The Navi simply stood there silently for a bit, then blinked hard. Terra returned the smile, and replied, "Good morning, Scarlet. It's a pleasure to meet you, too."
--------
"What should we do first, Scarlet?"
Scarlet and Terra had taken some time to walk the corridors of the expansive Krysarch estate, with Terra surveying the wonders of the place. They hadn't known it, but after a couple of hours of talking, they had traversed the entire place more than thrice. "Hmm. Well, since you are just a new Navi, I thought I might test your ability to delete those viruses I talked about earlier."
"And that I should test these abilities you have programmed into me, right, Scarlet?" Terra asked innocently, her head tilted constantly towards her operator, observing.
"Yes. I thought that we might go to a foreign network first. A usual training ground for new Navis is usually the ACDC network, in Electopia," Scarlet explained patiently. "We'll jack in at the main garden, here. The fountain over there," she pointed at the laboriously-crafted water-spewing device, "has an access point."
They both halted in their tracks, and Scarlet looked towards her newly-created Navi. She smiled nervously at Terra, who simply returned it with a comforting one. The Navi nodded knowingly, and stated, "I'm ready."
Scarlet exhaled noisily and tapped her watch. The PET's holoscreen menu appeared in front of her once again, and she touched the large 'Jack In' button located on the menu. She watched Terra's form flicker for a bit before pointing the watch at the fountain, announcing for all the world that was listening.
"Jack In, Terra.EXE, Transmission."
The Krysarch Residence
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Jacking out from the fountain network, Scarlet took the PET out from the pocket where it had resided for a while, and twirled it around, pressing the Projection button once again. An image of Terra stood in front of the woman, still covered in wet earth and holding a large handful in her hand. "... Uh, don't you want to clean that off?" Scarlet said, pocketing the PET. Terra looked innocently at her operator, the mudball in her hand dripping through her fingers.
"... Can I do it later...?" Terra said airily, her eyes shining.
"..." The operator looked questioningly at the Navi, who replied with a blank look. Sighing, she relented. "All right, fine. Just make sure to clean it by tonight. We're leaving for Electopia to go buy that thing for you," replied Scarlet, waving her hand about as she turned around to leave and motioned for her Navi to follow. Terra's smile widened by the slightest at her operator's answer, and not only in the happy kind of way. Something had occurred to Terra as she looked down at the blob of muck she had grabbed. She narrowed her eyes, not moving an inch.
"Hey, Scarlet."
"Hm?"
As soon as Scarlet turned her head around, Terra swung her hand back, and chucked the mudball at her. "Ah!" Taken by surprise, Scarlet brought up her arms, crossed defensively in front of her face. She stayed like that for a couple of seconds before realizing- "Wait a second- HEY!" -that the ball was nothing but thin air. Having her Navi projected in full 1:1 scale, she had forgotten that anything she saw was purely of an illusionary quality. Bringing her arms down with a reddened face, Scarlet was treated to Terra sporting a wide grin as the Navi chuckled heartily.
"Heehee, hee. Okay, let's go," said Terra, skipping ahead of Scarlet, who followed suit without another word.
----
"Flights sure are nice," Scarlet murmured. "It is a shame there's not much to do, though."
Walking down the large hall of the Whitesoil International Airport, Scarlet headed for Departure, bringing with her a small backpack. She had shrunk Terra's projection to shoulder-sitting size, so as not to startle anyone who found Terra's outfit... unusual. She turned to her right, where Terra was perched. The terraformer was playing around with a little ball of earth she had been practicing on for a while.
"Flying seems like a dangerous thing to do, Scarlet," Terra commented, without turning to her, still focused on the ball. Her hand was moving around it, levitating it to move it around freely.
"Well, I'm sure it's pretty safe. They've got all sorts of safety and security built in to prevent this kind of stuff. And the whole thing's run by tough computers, too," Scarlet replied, waving her hand about again. Terra kept quiet after that, reaching up to the stairs to the plane's entrance and taking her seat. First class, of course, no less than the finest. Settling down in the chair, she took to connecting the PET to the terminal beside her, and preparing to enjoy her trip to Electopia.
"... Can I do it later...?" Terra said airily, her eyes shining.
"..." The operator looked questioningly at the Navi, who replied with a blank look. Sighing, she relented. "All right, fine. Just make sure to clean it by tonight. We're leaving for Electopia to go buy that thing for you," replied Scarlet, waving her hand about as she turned around to leave and motioned for her Navi to follow. Terra's smile widened by the slightest at her operator's answer, and not only in the happy kind of way. Something had occurred to Terra as she looked down at the blob of muck she had grabbed. She narrowed her eyes, not moving an inch.
"Hey, Scarlet."
"Hm?"
As soon as Scarlet turned her head around, Terra swung her hand back, and chucked the mudball at her. "Ah!" Taken by surprise, Scarlet brought up her arms, crossed defensively in front of her face. She stayed like that for a couple of seconds before realizing- "Wait a second- HEY!" -that the ball was nothing but thin air. Having her Navi projected in full 1:1 scale, she had forgotten that anything she saw was purely of an illusionary quality. Bringing her arms down with a reddened face, Scarlet was treated to Terra sporting a wide grin as the Navi chuckled heartily.
"Heehee, hee. Okay, let's go," said Terra, skipping ahead of Scarlet, who followed suit without another word.
----
"Flights sure are nice," Scarlet murmured. "It is a shame there's not much to do, though."
Walking down the large hall of the Whitesoil International Airport, Scarlet headed for Departure, bringing with her a small backpack. She had shrunk Terra's projection to shoulder-sitting size, so as not to startle anyone who found Terra's outfit... unusual. She turned to her right, where Terra was perched. The terraformer was playing around with a little ball of earth she had been practicing on for a while.
"Flying seems like a dangerous thing to do, Scarlet," Terra commented, without turning to her, still focused on the ball. Her hand was moving around it, levitating it to move it around freely.
"Well, I'm sure it's pretty safe. They've got all sorts of safety and security built in to prevent this kind of stuff. And the whole thing's run by tough computers, too," Scarlet replied, waving her hand about again. Terra kept quiet after that, reaching up to the stairs to the plane's entrance and taking her seat. First class, of course, no less than the finest. Settling down in the chair, she took to connecting the PET to the terminal beside her, and preparing to enjoy her trip to Electopia.
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