Drinking some cyber-tea

Splitman walked into the Cafe. It was... more dull in appearance than he had initially thought but he took it to heart that he must be calm and gentle and polite. He felt stupid though, just standing there looking for someone who had not described themselves...

Indeed, no-one had given Splitman even the most basic description of whom he was here to meet. But, they had apparently thought of that, as a line of script appeared before his eyes...

Welcome.[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b]

The script faded, and was replaced by another line that scrawled itself out before his very eyes.... in mid air.

Please seat yourself at the empty table with the 'Reserved' marker on it.[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b]

Again, a short pause as the script faded, and a new line of it wrote itself into existence. This time, giving him directions on where exactly he was supposed to sit.

It's the 9th table to your right, near the wall. I will join you shortly, once you are seated.

~ Sil[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b]

It was apparent only he could see the text, as no-one else reacted to it in the slightest.

Splitman reached back as though to scratch his head then quickly waved his hand in front of the text/his face. Yep... he had gotten himself in a bit deep... He called out for Chad quietly, but there was no response. What was the worst a semi-godlikely person could do anyway. They were only SEMI-allpowerful.

"Whatever" He muttered outloud as he carefully turned right and counted tables towards his goal. One.. two.. three.. four.. fivesixseveneight....... nine.... Carefully he looked both ways then sat down at the table.

A few minutes later, a female Navi of average height in a dimmed silvery-white body-suit, with matching silver gloves, boots, and helmet walked towards Splitman's table, carrying a tray with three cups of cybertea on it. When she arrived at the table, she sat the drinks carefully upon it, and banished the tray into thin air.

As the Navi sat down, Splitman got a better look at her. For starters, she had a stripe running down the sides of her suit, as well as arms, that was the same shade of silver as her gloves and boots. Her helmet featured a clear glassine visor, with no colored tint at all, that fell over her green eyes. She also had white hair that fell to her shoulders from beneath the helmet.

She picked up her cup of tea and sipped it, closing her eyes as she did so.

Hello.[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b] The text suddenly scrawled itself through the air before his eyes. Do enjoy your tea while we wait for my associate. It's delicious.[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b]

She seemed totally unconcerned.

"I am sure it is virtually unbeaten" Splitman said, before laughing slightly at his own joke. He caught himself mid-laugh though, and transitioned into a cough "Anyway... what business is it that brings you here, or rather me here... at this time" Splitman asked while drinking his cyber-tea.

She didn't respond to him, and instead opted to drink more of her tea. Her air was casual and unconcerned as she sat there... until someone tapped the back of the booth's bench, at which point she scooted over to let the new arrival sit down beside her.

The new arrival was a Next-Gen Navi, made evident by her more human-like appearance than that of her white-clad colleague. Aside from the ear-covers featuring her Navi Emblem and the transparent visor that ran across her face, over her brown eyes, she literally looked like a lady decked out in full business attire. A secretary, perhaps. She had no helmet, leaving her shoulder-length brown hair visible. Her Emblem was of a quill pen writing in a old, open book.

He noticed the room had suddenly become very quiet. The activity level in the room hadn't lessened, but the noise level had gone down considerably. In some cases, he could see other Navis talking, but he couldn't hear them any longer. The noise level continued to fall, until...

"Hello, Splitman." the secretary finally spoke. "It's good to finally meet you in person. Coming directly to the point; I am interested in hearing anything you might care to share with us about your recent excursion with a Navi we've heard rumors about." She paused for a moment, then added "You will of course be compensated for your time, and the compensation will be better the more details you can provide us."

You may speak freely. No one else can hear us.[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b] the text silently communicated to him.

"Interesting.." Splitman said, looking about the room "You'll have to teach my that trick some time. On to business"

Splitmans tone changed quite suddenly, it became more cold, more collected, almost as though he was spitting out something he rehearsed. "First, before I have any trust in you, I will have to know your reasons. To put it bluntly, why do you have the stance that you do? If you want, you can tell me who you are aswell. It would certainly help either way. You see... I know a certain someone, likely who you and I both mention, he could pretty easily get me erased. I cannot complete my goals if I don't exist. Trust me, I don't mean this as any offense to you, but I quite simply cannot take any risks more than I already have"

"I see." The secretary said reservedly as Splitman finished his rant. "It was rather rude of us to call you by name without sharing ours... wasn't it?" She paused to take a drink from her own teacup, then continued as she set it back down on the table. "Well, then, allow me to introduce myself. I am ArchIvy. And this..." She waved to indicate the white-clad female Navi happily sipping tea (indicated by her expression) next to her, "...is Silencia."

Charmed, I'm sure....[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b]

"I represent the interests of our organization. Our current interest is information concerning this Navi...." She leaned forward a bit, and let her head rest on he bridged hands "Shall we say this individual poses a few problems for us....?"

"Good enough" Splitman said, looking disdainfully at his tea. "The key things I am aware of are as follows, I will hope you will forgive the parts that sound like madness, everything goes that way around him... We went out on a journey with.. this navi.. and excluding his pranks upon us, two things of note happened. He found a golden apple which he used to bring us to another location, perhaps the undernet, perhaps the rogue net, I am really not quite sure, and he brought us to.... a pineapple.. after hours of walking. I at that time destroyed it and we returned to base, the mission was a failure because of my actions." Splitman took another short sip of the tea before continuing "Was there anything else you needed to know?"

"What name did this individual go by at the time?" Archivy asked, without skipping a beat. "I'd also like to know more about the other Navi that was seen traveling with you."

I'm more interested in the finer details of the nature of his pranks. You were there amidst them. Any insight you could provide there would be helpful....[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b] the text conveyed as Silencia looked at him around her tea cup.

"Hmmm.... his pranks seemed tangible, while they might have been simple illusions.. they neither seemed nor felt like them. I do not know how he does them, but I could not discern them from reality in any practical way. Not once did they do damage on their own though. "If you had intended to, I suppose you could have destroyed me on a whim, so I might as well spell out a few details for you as a sign of thanks. Each question in turn. Mental, DNR, very.. eccentric.. if he had the powers he would likely act just like Mental, looks and acts like a doctor, seems very poor at healing, he seems very dedicated to... the other one... forgive me, I very much dislike speaking the name." Splitman looked at his tea and then back again at the two women then sighed, hopefully they weren't here to kill him... "Did you require any more details?"

The two turned to look at each other at the mention of illusions, then ArchIvy turned to regard Splitman for a moment. "I see." She seemed to process what had been said so for for a second while staring blankly at him. After a moment, she turned and arched an eyebrow at Silencia, who closed her eyes and nodded once.

"We're satisfied with what you have told us. That will be enough." sha said as she produced a briefcase she hadn't walked in with, and pulled a document file out of it. She placed it upon the table, and slid it towards Splitman. When she lifted her hand from it, a quill pen was left in its place.

"One last minor detail... You are required to sign this confidentiality agreement before you leave this table. For all parties to be happy in this transaction of information, this conversation...." she waved to indicate the document ".....never happened."

Splitman would find that is was indeed an air-tight expertly written legal PDF that covered all angles. It was as if a lawyer had written it. Yet included in the text was the sum to which Splitman and his Net-Op would be paid, as well as clauses stating their right to continue living after the meeting was concluded.....

....If he signed, that is.

"Heh, why not, I will seal off all relevant memories of this for all practical purposes, you will need to tell me when I can remember any of this, understood?" Split said as he signed his virtual soul away on a piece of virtual paper.

ArchIvy retrieved the PDF, and placed it back into the briefcase, which vanished back under the table. "Thank you for your time, Splitman." She reached back out, and left a tip on the table for the staff.... The sound in the room rose to audible levels again, as the sound dampening effect dissipated. "This has been very profitable for us both. Now, I shall take my leave. Take care."

With that, she slid out of the booth, stood, and walked away from the table, leaving Splitman behind with Silencia (who was on her 4th cup of tea by now...). She put her cup down, and produced another. She sat the cup on the table, and slid it to Splitman.

This might just be your cup of tea, I believe.[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b] the text silently communicated to him. Silencia was now looking away from Splitman, out towards the network traffic outside the Cafe. He finally caught a good look at her Emblem: An eighth note, circled and crossed out on a silvery background.

The tea cup... Instead of being filled with tea, it was filled with Zenny data. DENSE Zenny data.

If you'll excuse me, I have a mental case to silence. I bid you farewell.[font=French Script MT][b][/font][/b] the text silently communicated to him as Silencia stood up, turned and began walking quietly away.

After a while, it looked like no-one planned to delete Splitman.... They had kept their word it would seem.




Reward: 2,500 Zenny

Splitman stood up, slowly pocketed the money, and left. No reason to make a scene.