Running through the family?

"This is not Yoka!" shouted Persephone out loud after Area had stopped her motorcycle. The little Navi was waving around her arms frantically on top of Area's shoulder to try and get her attention. Area was staring at a map she held in two hands and sighed, while Persephone continued to whine about it, "I tried telling you we were going the wrong way, but noooo."

"Come on," muttered Area a few seconds later and placed the map in the right bag with her laptop, "I just got lost... That's all..." Looking around to where she had stopped, she noticed a small gas station and dragged her motorcycle along as she went there.

"Wait, what are you doing?" asked Persephone as she noticed they weren't going on.

"First of all, I'm hungry... Secondly, we need to create a band between each other. Just being my Navi doesn't cut it," said Area and locked her motorcycle while taking the suitcases off. Placing them on the ground for a bit to lock the bags on the back, she lifted them again and walked into the store. There was a small section to sit down and eat some in the corner of the building while the rest was a shop-and-go store. "I'll see what they have," said Area and walked to a chair and sat down on it with her suitcases on the ground. The place was practically deserted besides the two people who were working there and a person who was about to leave.

"I'll go in the Net then," said Persephone, disappeared from her hologram form and started to search for a jack-in point. "Got something. Not the best connection, but it'll do. I'm going on," she said and initiated the process herself as Area nodded, glancing over the menu.

"Sand...sand...more sand...hey, I think I see something up ahead," Duke said for the fifteenth time. He had put the top of the convertible down almost as soon as they had entered Netfrica. Somehow, it had taken much less time than it logically should have, but Duke didn't question it.

"That's what you said the last fourteen times," Pianissimo said. "And by the way, I think your music's a bit too loud."

Duke blinked. "I can barely hear it," he said. "Just because YOU can block out the sound of the wind doesn't mean we all can. And besides, I DID see something the last fourteen times. It just either wasn't a gas station or didn't have a restaurant called 'Demeteria' attached. By the way, I thought this was your song."

"And yet it's hard to appreciate 'Enjoy the Silence' when it's so loud. Completely contradictory. Besides, I prefer the Lacuna Coil version over the original."

"Whatever."

Fifteen is a rather odd number to be the charm, but this time, Duke seemed to have found the place. "Gas station, restaurant called Demeteria, and I'm pretty sure that's her motorcycle." Duke pulled to a stop in the space next to the motorcycle and put the top back up again and got out.

Duke spotted Area immediately after he entered, though considering the fact that she was the only person there that didn't work there, that wasn't much of a feat. "Hey," he said rather simply, not really bothering to think of anything else to say as he took a seat.

"Ah, you got here fast," she said as she looked up at Duke and then noticed he had already sat down, "How are you d-"

"LESS CHATTY!" shouted Persephone from her position in the Netfrica Network, her arms crossed and bummed out the sign of viruses approaching seemed to be a dud. "Get his Navi down here so we can look for something! And fix that viral radar!" she continued as she awaited the coming of her new 'companion'.

"-oing... Hang on..." Area ended and glared at her PET as she started to shout back at Persephone, "Will you mind shutting that trap of yours!?"

"You're the one who's clearly wasting our time!" Persephone retaliated immediately and stood up on her book, "Just get that Navi of his in here! You can babble about the birds and bees afterwards!"

"Why not..." Area said, followed by a sigh and then turned to Duke, "Send Pianissimo down there to join the little troublemaker..."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TROU-" shouted Persephone before the audio connection was abruptly ended by Area, who merely grinned at her Navi and waited for her to simmer down.

A few seconds of silence followed after Duke heard Persephone's outburst. "...Wow..." was all he managed to say before sending Pianissimo into the net. "I'm not really sure what to say to that."

"Duke," she started as she stood up from her chair, "I'm gonna go to Suitachi's quickly as I said before. I'm sure you've heard the details of what I'm buying already. Take care of Persephone while I'm gone." With those last words she dashed out of the store and stopped as she was outside. "It's really deserted here, eh?" she said as she held the PET at her chest so she could look at the screen, but then realized she had to disconnect for now. "Oh, right... She's still there... I ought to hurry up," Area said as she walked over to her motorcycle and continued to look around, amazed at the lack of people around the place she had found. Opening one of her bags, while looking left and right and left again to see if anyone was around, she rummaged around to find a stick and the blanket she had been using before. She ripped a triangle-formed piece of the blanket and tied it to the top of the stick. With a firm thrust, she planted it into the ground close to where she was standing and shouted, "I claim this deserted country as Areafrica!" She laughed loud as she put the helmet on her head and rode off to SciLabs.

"There it is!" she shouted as she noticed the flag flapping through the wind in the distance, "Areafrica!" Slowly she came from a halt, the sound from the engine block getting quieter and disappeared as she came to a stop. She took of her helmet after placing her feet back on the ground and sighed with relief, "I thought I'd never find this place again. I can't believe I ended up in Sharo somehow..." With the helmet under her arm, she walked into the store and looked at the place where Duke and she had positioned themselves. "Hi Du..." she started but looked at him sitting there alone from a distance, as she wondered if he had moved in the time she was gone. "Duke...?" she asked after walking over to him. Gently she poked his cheek with one finger and whispered his name again.

"THERE YOU ARE!" shouted Persephone as the PET automatically sought, and found, connection with the internet, "Did you get anything good!? Gimme gimme gimme!"

"Shut up, greedy one..." Area said as she glared at her PET and sat down on a chair again, but a different one than before. Taking the chair next to Duke, she placed her chips down on the table and sighed another time. "Sorry for taking so long... I got lost. Repeatedly."

"Gah!" Duke snapped awake when he felt something against his cheek. He turned around to find that he had been poked. "Oh, it's just you," he said, seeing Area. "Sorry. Fell asleep since you were taking so long."

"I take it you heard that," Duke said, disconnecting the PET after stating his intentions to Pianissimo. As he stood up, it was fairly evident that he was tired, as though he hadn't gotten any sleep in days. He pushed his way out into the aisle again, then glanced back at Area. "Try not to break anything while I'm gone," he added, then gave her a half smile before turning away again and leaving the restaurant.

Outside, he got in his car and drove off towards the nearest airport, muttering something about how Netfrica had to be so far away from everywhere else. Along the way, he glanced at and rolled his eyes at a certain triangular flag.

The restaurant door opened once again, allowing a now definitely tired looking Duke to step in and retake his seat. "Hi," he said lazily, taking up his PET once again and seeing...four new navis on the scene and the caster from before lying on the ground.

((And now, for a timeskip to one event later:))

"So what you mean to tell me, is that for the entirety of the war, you were asleep."

"Yes."

"And...you operated me while asleep?"

"Correct."

"Is that even legal, let alone possible?"

"I don't know, and I don't really care," Duke answered, pushing himself out of the booth. Area had long since left, but he wasn't too worried about it. What concerned him more was the fact that while Pianissimo had been in Electown, he had been sleep-opping him and actually managed to do a good job of it. How?

"You were talking and everything. You addressed that Kazu idiot as though you were wide awake." Pianissimo said, sounding only as incredulous as he could.

"I think I was still awake for that part..."

"Whatever, let's get out of here. It feels like we've been doing mostly the same thing for over a year now."

Duke nodded in agreement, walking out to his car. "You're right, I'm up for something different too. Something where I don't stay awake for six days and feel like I've done so for six months."