Unfinished Business
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The robot didn't make things easy for Musou; even as Musou peppered it with attacks, planning seemed easier than practice. It was impossible to aim for weapons while the thing moved with such surprising speed. The spider legs of the metool clacked and danced around, making him a hard target to hit. More annoying than that, however, was its arsenal; the metool robot was equipped with guards, deployed from each of its knee caps. The shields blocked much of the incoming damage and reflected some of the attacks back at Musou as shockwaves.
Before he had a chance to re-evaluate his strategy, however, Musou noticed several navis beaming into the area. As they beamed in, they collapsed upon the ground gracelessly like rag dolls. That first impression, combined with their purple, hooded cloaks, black wings, and awful odors, indicated to him that there was little chance that the NetPolice had come to save him.
But he was saved, it seemed. Rather than focusing on him, the navis all greedily jumped upon the robot, attacking it mercilessly. Alone, each of those navis would probably have been little better than a drunkard fighting a quarterback, but as a writhing pile of bodies, they brought down the robot and, presumably, tore it to pieces. It was impossible to see behind all of their feathers.
Another navi beamed down behind the others, raising a low-lying cloud of white, chemical smoke as she did. The curves of the navi's white, close-fitting armor made it apparent that she was a woman, but the unflattering gas-mask hiding her entire head didn't fit that image. Four pumps stuck out from around the corners of the mask, making it look eerily like the skull-and-crossbones that one might see as a warning in a laboratory setting. "I've been watching you," the navi informed him, speaking in a breathy way through her mask. The fully white, slitted shapes of her eyes regarded him coldly, but her voice sounded cordial. It seemed that all sorts of unsavory women had their eyes on him.
"My master would like to make an arrangement with you. We have rescued you from this monster; furthermore, I can provide you with data on the ancient 'officials,' straight from the NetPolice archives. I cannot guarantee that it is the same information, but you will no doubt appreciate the resources. All I ask from you in return is two favors: the first is that you allow these creatures to consume this metool. The second is that you grant me your silence. Tell no one that you met me here and do not pursue any of these leads any further. You must wipe me, those navis, those augmented viruses, the mastermind behind all of this. If you can promise me these things," she paused here, giving a loud hiss into whatever fluid those tubes were pumping into her mask, "then I can route some of the archive's data to an e-mail of your choosing and send you on your way."
The offer made it clear that whoever the new navi was, she'd been watching Musou for a while... probably more for interest in his antagonist than in the navi himself. She also didn't seem too forthcoming with information related to her own identity. Musou would have to make a decision quickly, however, or he'd be forced to accept her offer regardless; the giant shape of the metool robot had all but disappeared under the bodies of the navis. He could vaguely make out the sound of cracking and slurping... the navis were trying to literally eat the robot.
---Enemies---
Mechtool: 1 HP (Movable Normal)
--The Metool Engineer: 70 HP, Piloting
---Plucky Hero---
Musou: 130 HP (Normal)
--New Arrivals--
Alchemy Navi A: 20 HP
Alchemy Navi B: 1 HP
Alchemy Navi C: 20 HP
Alchemy Navi D: 100 HP
Alchemy Navi E: 100 HP
Alchemy Navi F: 1 HP
Alchemy Navi G: 60 HP
Alchemy Navi H: 100 HP
Gas-Mask Woman: 200 HP
---Terrain---
50% Normal
50% Movable Normal (Scattered, off-color panels) (Panels have the same properties as normal panels, but can be moved and reconfigured into different positions.)
---Objects---
Barricade: 200 HP (Blocking regular entrance)
Panel Barricade ??? HP (Blocking back room door) (Weak to panel break attacks)
---Locations---
Hole in the wall: Where Musou came in. Leads to the warehouse's entrance lobby
Back room door: At the far end of the room, where Musou is now.
Before he had a chance to re-evaluate his strategy, however, Musou noticed several navis beaming into the area. As they beamed in, they collapsed upon the ground gracelessly like rag dolls. That first impression, combined with their purple, hooded cloaks, black wings, and awful odors, indicated to him that there was little chance that the NetPolice had come to save him.
But he was saved, it seemed. Rather than focusing on him, the navis all greedily jumped upon the robot, attacking it mercilessly. Alone, each of those navis would probably have been little better than a drunkard fighting a quarterback, but as a writhing pile of bodies, they brought down the robot and, presumably, tore it to pieces. It was impossible to see behind all of their feathers.
Another navi beamed down behind the others, raising a low-lying cloud of white, chemical smoke as she did. The curves of the navi's white, close-fitting armor made it apparent that she was a woman, but the unflattering gas-mask hiding her entire head didn't fit that image. Four pumps stuck out from around the corners of the mask, making it look eerily like the skull-and-crossbones that one might see as a warning in a laboratory setting. "I've been watching you," the navi informed him, speaking in a breathy way through her mask. The fully white, slitted shapes of her eyes regarded him coldly, but her voice sounded cordial. It seemed that all sorts of unsavory women had their eyes on him.
"My master would like to make an arrangement with you. We have rescued you from this monster; furthermore, I can provide you with data on the ancient 'officials,' straight from the NetPolice archives. I cannot guarantee that it is the same information, but you will no doubt appreciate the resources. All I ask from you in return is two favors: the first is that you allow these creatures to consume this metool. The second is that you grant me your silence. Tell no one that you met me here and do not pursue any of these leads any further. You must wipe me, those navis, those augmented viruses, the mastermind behind all of this. If you can promise me these things," she paused here, giving a loud hiss into whatever fluid those tubes were pumping into her mask, "then I can route some of the archive's data to an e-mail of your choosing and send you on your way."
The offer made it clear that whoever the new navi was, she'd been watching Musou for a while... probably more for interest in his antagonist than in the navi himself. She also didn't seem too forthcoming with information related to her own identity. Musou would have to make a decision quickly, however, or he'd be forced to accept her offer regardless; the giant shape of the metool robot had all but disappeared under the bodies of the navis. He could vaguely make out the sound of cracking and slurping... the navis were trying to literally eat the robot.
---Enemies---
Mechtool: 1 HP (Movable Normal)
--The Metool Engineer: 70 HP, Piloting
---Plucky Hero---
Musou: 130 HP (Normal)
--New Arrivals--
Alchemy Navi A: 20 HP
Alchemy Navi B: 1 HP
Alchemy Navi C: 20 HP
Alchemy Navi D: 100 HP
Alchemy Navi E: 100 HP
Alchemy Navi F: 1 HP
Alchemy Navi G: 60 HP
Alchemy Navi H: 100 HP
Gas-Mask Woman: 200 HP
---Terrain---
50% Normal
50% Movable Normal (Scattered, off-color panels) (Panels have the same properties as normal panels, but can be moved and reconfigured into different positions.)
---Objects---
Barricade: 200 HP (Blocking regular entrance)
Panel Barricade ??? HP (Blocking back room door) (Weak to panel break attacks)
---Locations---
Hole in the wall: Where Musou came in. Leads to the warehouse's entrance lobby
Back room door: At the far end of the room, where Musou is now.
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Musou staggered back, apparently from the foolishness of laying into a deadly arsenal of mechanical weapons covered in reflective plating. His data shield had fallen and he had taken several of the shock waves. That definitely didn't go how he planned it to.
"M-Musou, are you alright" his operator cried out. His navi didn't look too badly damaged but this was all following a proverbial tornado of energy and bullets going to the thing and returning to his navi.
Groaning a bit, the martial arts navi says "I'm f-fine, Sensei. Wont be doing that again though-". Their conversation is cut short by the realization that many others had arrived. Musou was used to fighting alone and didn't belong to any organization that could send him help and he knew it. He paused long enough to listen to some of the strange lady navi's offer. But he didn't even finish listening to it before he noticed the others were consuming the metool engineer's mecha suit. And they didn't look like they were stopping.
He took his fighting stance again, his body reacting without thinking to the savagery before him. He had sat and watched Rook roast things alive and call it some kind of religious purification. He wasn't about to let it happen again to anything intelligent. The lady navi's final words settles it for him. He is being bribed to stand and do nothing. By a group that looks just as shady as his previous "employers".
Musou clenches his fists as he widens his stance. The navi mumbles "Just give the word, Sensei" and chip data returns to him, entering his mind and filling his body with power.
"Do it", Kenji says as he and his partner prepare to defend the Metool engineer that just tried to kill them. Musou focuses his senses and attunes himself to the data flow of the area. A moment later, he can feel the very presence of the mecha suit, the virus within it, the hungry attackers, the gas mask-wearing lady navi.
"No deal, Ma'am. I'll speak with you in a moment, but 'doesn't look like your buddies are going to stop even if I tell them to so-" Musou says even as he focuses his energy for the assault.
Leaping into action, the navi seems to float up into the air as a pair of green wings sprout from his back. He leans forward in the air and without another word, and but a single flap, he tears into the pack of navis eating what's left of the engineer's mecha suit. They are on top of the suit and Musou knows exactly where the metool is within the thing, because he saw it armor up. He aims to crop the assailants from the armor and leave the virus unharmed.
Landing from his brief yet deadly flight with a skid, so he doesn't crash into any of the dangerous movable panels from before, Musou turns back to what may be left of the crowd and raises an open palm. He tucks in his thumb as he aims for a moment and a burst of scattering energy flies out to cover the group in a hailstorm of blue blasts. He tries to aim high, as to not hit the Metool, but doesn't have much control over the burst.
1 - Activate Sig: Absorb Data [Opponent(Deleted): 30 Healing; 1 TCD] @ Self
2 - Use Battlechip: DashAttack1 (90+Impact+LineAttack5) @ Alchemy Navi A
3 - Use Battlechip: Vulcan1 (10 + Spread 1 x 3 Shots) @ Alchemy Navi D
[Bash: Unused]
[Battlechips Used: Zapring1, MachineGun1, DashAttack1, Vulcan1]
[Sig Flash Kick cooldown: 2]
[Sig Absorb Data cooldown: 1]
"M-Musou, are you alright" his operator cried out. His navi didn't look too badly damaged but this was all following a proverbial tornado of energy and bullets going to the thing and returning to his navi.
Groaning a bit, the martial arts navi says "I'm f-fine, Sensei. Wont be doing that again though-". Their conversation is cut short by the realization that many others had arrived. Musou was used to fighting alone and didn't belong to any organization that could send him help and he knew it. He paused long enough to listen to some of the strange lady navi's offer. But he didn't even finish listening to it before he noticed the others were consuming the metool engineer's mecha suit. And they didn't look like they were stopping.
He took his fighting stance again, his body reacting without thinking to the savagery before him. He had sat and watched Rook roast things alive and call it some kind of religious purification. He wasn't about to let it happen again to anything intelligent. The lady navi's final words settles it for him. He is being bribed to stand and do nothing. By a group that looks just as shady as his previous "employers".
Musou clenches his fists as he widens his stance. The navi mumbles "Just give the word, Sensei" and chip data returns to him, entering his mind and filling his body with power.
"Do it", Kenji says as he and his partner prepare to defend the Metool engineer that just tried to kill them. Musou focuses his senses and attunes himself to the data flow of the area. A moment later, he can feel the very presence of the mecha suit, the virus within it, the hungry attackers, the gas mask-wearing lady navi.
"No deal, Ma'am. I'll speak with you in a moment, but 'doesn't look like your buddies are going to stop even if I tell them to so-" Musou says even as he focuses his energy for the assault.
Leaping into action, the navi seems to float up into the air as a pair of green wings sprout from his back. He leans forward in the air and without another word, and but a single flap, he tears into the pack of navis eating what's left of the engineer's mecha suit. They are on top of the suit and Musou knows exactly where the metool is within the thing, because he saw it armor up. He aims to crop the assailants from the armor and leave the virus unharmed.
Landing from his brief yet deadly flight with a skid, so he doesn't crash into any of the dangerous movable panels from before, Musou turns back to what may be left of the crowd and raises an open palm. He tucks in his thumb as he aims for a moment and a burst of scattering energy flies out to cover the group in a hailstorm of blue blasts. He tries to aim high, as to not hit the Metool, but doesn't have much control over the burst.
1 - Activate Sig: Absorb Data [Opponent(Deleted): 30 Healing; 1 TCD] @ Self
2 - Use Battlechip: DashAttack1 (90+Impact+LineAttack5) @ Alchemy Navi A
3 - Use Battlechip: Vulcan1 (10 + Spread 1 x 3 Shots) @ Alchemy Navi D
[Bash: Unused]
[Battlechips Used: Zapring1, MachineGun1, DashAttack1, Vulcan1]
[Sig Flash Kick cooldown: 2]
[Sig Absorb Data cooldown: 1]
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The gas inside the woman's mask hissed (perhaps in anger) as Musou took off after her men. As they were single-mindedly eating a robot, they were unprepared for an attack and scattered in all directions off of their prey. A few of them gave mad, frightened wails of pain, reached out their arms, and then crumbled into data. The navis all stared at him in stunned disbelief, trying in pain to crawl back up to their feet and retaliate. Before they could, he blasted them apart with with blue energy beams, absorbing back some of their life energy as he did. When he was done, only two injured navis remained. Both of them crawled away towards the walls and groped at them madly, leaking data from their black wings.
The white-armored female navi clutched her head for a moment, then the tubes upon her helmet began to pound as if trying to ram something deep into her skull. "Do you realize that you only had two options? You could cooperate with me or you could cooperate with her. If you're not going to cooperate with that woman, and you're not going to cooperate with my master, then who are you expecting to protect you from both of us?! The viruses?! You've made some lists that you don't want to be on," she ranted. "And look... While you were protecting that metool, you deleted several of my men. These navis can't depend upon jack-out mechanisms! They're gone now!"
She didn't sound like she repented their loss; she was almost surely just trying to use the words as a way to twist a dagger in Musou's wounds. Besides that, it didn't look like there was as much sense left in them as there was the metool he was trying to save. "The data in this place-" the metool spoke from within the wreckage of his robot.
"Forget the data. That had no relevance to anyone. I have no idea why you want it, nor why this place is full of unnatural viruses, only that the woman led you on the path through here. I will not allow you to play into her hands just to preserve your fantasy of being a hero to viruses," she growled. Reaching up to her helmet, she held her hands on its sides until it stopped pumping, then removed it from her head...
... Revealing nothing but noxious green fumes, which began to pour across the area. She unzipped her suit quickly, which would have been provocative, except that again, she had no body beneath it. The suit crumpled to the ground, allowing the rest of the gas to begin pouring out. It wouldn't take a genius to realize that the fumes coming out were seriously dangerous; the navi had no reason to use a bluff at this point.
"Do you understand what real danger is? The woman you've become involved with is not a small matter and neither is my master. How do you think it will feel to die, suffocating in this gas, without the reassurance of a jackout?"
Punctuating the sentence, a warning flashed onto the operator's PET, alerting him that jackout functionality had ceased. The navi that they were fighting might just be part of the Mafia, renowned for their jackout barrier technology. Worse, there was no ostensible way to fight her; the body had completely disappeared, leaving only the spreading toxic gas and her suit lying upon the floor. Before Musou could contemplate his options, the metool began to utilize his; the panels lining the walls flipped around, acting as rapidly rotating fans and dispersing the gas from the room.
The threat was dispelled with humorous brevity... or so it seemed. Instead, the naked figure of the woman reformed, a shimmering cluster of black gas. She'd reformed behind the metool and grasped both hands around its helmet. "Because I believe in conducting things rationally, I'll leave the data here with you. Perhaps that token of good will may bring you to my side? Regardless, I'm through negotiating," she explained, taking the metool with her as she jacked out.
Whether he'd done it out of good will or not, the metool engineer had saved Musou, repaying him for his earlier act. The metool's chamber seemed barren and forlorn without its master; the panels spun for a bit longer, then creaked to a silent and depressing state of rest. The data sat in front of him, denying his need to progress any further into the chamber.
The two robed navis looked at Musou with disgusting grimaces, then scampered out of the hole Musou had entered through. The other door allowing progression further inward was now blocked; in a final act of defiance, the metool had sealed it with one of the large, cross-bearing guards. The jackout mechanism had lifted and all that was left for Musou to do was take the data... if he could even accept something offered to him from such a source. Foresaking it and proceeding in to further wreck the establishment that the metool had put together almost seemed like it would be a spit in the face of its former owner.
---Enemies---
Mechtool: DELETED
--The Metool Engineer: TAKEN
---Plucky Hero---
Musou: 160 HP (Normal)
--New Arrivals--
Alchemy Navi A: DELETED
Alchemy Navi B: DELETED
Alchemy Navi C: DELETED
Alchemy Navi D: DELETED
Alchemy Navi E: ESCAPED
Alchemy Navi F: DELETED
Alchemy Navi G: ESCAPED
Alchemy Navi H: DELETED
Gas-Mask Woman: ESCAPED
---Terrain---
50% Normal
50% Movable Normal (Scattered, off-color panels) (Panels have the same properties as normal panels, but can be moved and reconfigured into different positions.)
---Objects---
Barricade: 200 HP (Blocking regular entrance)
Panel Barricade ??? HP (Blocking back room door) (Weak to panel break attacks)
---Locations---
Hole in the wall: Where Musou came in. Leads to the warehouse's entrance lobby
Back room door: Blocked.
--BATTLE FINISHED--
Musou gets: 3000 zenny, NP'Officials'.TXT (you can choose to take it or leave it)
The white-armored female navi clutched her head for a moment, then the tubes upon her helmet began to pound as if trying to ram something deep into her skull. "Do you realize that you only had two options? You could cooperate with me or you could cooperate with her. If you're not going to cooperate with that woman, and you're not going to cooperate with my master, then who are you expecting to protect you from both of us?! The viruses?! You've made some lists that you don't want to be on," she ranted. "And look... While you were protecting that metool, you deleted several of my men. These navis can't depend upon jack-out mechanisms! They're gone now!"
She didn't sound like she repented their loss; she was almost surely just trying to use the words as a way to twist a dagger in Musou's wounds. Besides that, it didn't look like there was as much sense left in them as there was the metool he was trying to save. "The data in this place-" the metool spoke from within the wreckage of his robot.
"Forget the data. That had no relevance to anyone. I have no idea why you want it, nor why this place is full of unnatural viruses, only that the woman led you on the path through here. I will not allow you to play into her hands just to preserve your fantasy of being a hero to viruses," she growled. Reaching up to her helmet, she held her hands on its sides until it stopped pumping, then removed it from her head...
... Revealing nothing but noxious green fumes, which began to pour across the area. She unzipped her suit quickly, which would have been provocative, except that again, she had no body beneath it. The suit crumpled to the ground, allowing the rest of the gas to begin pouring out. It wouldn't take a genius to realize that the fumes coming out were seriously dangerous; the navi had no reason to use a bluff at this point.
"Do you understand what real danger is? The woman you've become involved with is not a small matter and neither is my master. How do you think it will feel to die, suffocating in this gas, without the reassurance of a jackout?"
Punctuating the sentence, a warning flashed onto the operator's PET, alerting him that jackout functionality had ceased. The navi that they were fighting might just be part of the Mafia, renowned for their jackout barrier technology. Worse, there was no ostensible way to fight her; the body had completely disappeared, leaving only the spreading toxic gas and her suit lying upon the floor. Before Musou could contemplate his options, the metool began to utilize his; the panels lining the walls flipped around, acting as rapidly rotating fans and dispersing the gas from the room.
The threat was dispelled with humorous brevity... or so it seemed. Instead, the naked figure of the woman reformed, a shimmering cluster of black gas. She'd reformed behind the metool and grasped both hands around its helmet. "Because I believe in conducting things rationally, I'll leave the data here with you. Perhaps that token of good will may bring you to my side? Regardless, I'm through negotiating," she explained, taking the metool with her as she jacked out.
Whether he'd done it out of good will or not, the metool engineer had saved Musou, repaying him for his earlier act. The metool's chamber seemed barren and forlorn without its master; the panels spun for a bit longer, then creaked to a silent and depressing state of rest. The data sat in front of him, denying his need to progress any further into the chamber.
The two robed navis looked at Musou with disgusting grimaces, then scampered out of the hole Musou had entered through. The other door allowing progression further inward was now blocked; in a final act of defiance, the metool had sealed it with one of the large, cross-bearing guards. The jackout mechanism had lifted and all that was left for Musou to do was take the data... if he could even accept something offered to him from such a source. Foresaking it and proceeding in to further wreck the establishment that the metool had put together almost seemed like it would be a spit in the face of its former owner.
---Enemies---
Mechtool: DELETED
--The Metool Engineer: TAKEN
---Plucky Hero---
Musou: 160 HP (Normal)
--New Arrivals--
Alchemy Navi A: DELETED
Alchemy Navi B: DELETED
Alchemy Navi C: DELETED
Alchemy Navi D: DELETED
Alchemy Navi E: ESCAPED
Alchemy Navi F: DELETED
Alchemy Navi G: ESCAPED
Alchemy Navi H: DELETED
Gas-Mask Woman: ESCAPED
---Terrain---
50% Normal
50% Movable Normal (Scattered, off-color panels) (Panels have the same properties as normal panels, but can be moved and reconfigured into different positions.)
---Objects---
Barricade: 200 HP (Blocking regular entrance)
Panel Barricade ??? HP (Blocking back room door) (Weak to panel break attacks)
---Locations---
Hole in the wall: Where Musou came in. Leads to the warehouse's entrance lobby
Back room door: Blocked.
--BATTLE FINISHED--
Musou gets: 3000 zenny, NP'Officials'.TXT (you can choose to take it or leave it)
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Quickly covering his mouth and stepping back from the gas, Musou tries to alter his fighting stance and bring his data barrier online. But a moment later it is all for naught and Kenji doesn't even really have time to react to the warning flashing through his PET. The metool engineer's panels clear everything out and just as the gas vanishes, they are all gone. The navi looks around nervously for a moment, expecting more of something to appear before him, but when nothing happens except the escape of the remaining mindless navis he just scratches the back of his head and sighs.
Musou kicks the ground with a half-hearted hit as he relaxes and in fact slumps his shoulders down in shame. He had failed, at everything. "W-what the hell, Sensei.. I-" he wasn't sure what to say but it was choking up in his throat. "I tried so hard and look what happened. All we have to show for all this is some kind of data stolen from the Net Police. They kidnapped the engineer and-" he bit his lip.
Kenji sighed as he slumped back in his computer chair. He eyed the orderly pile of battleships they had used recently, set aside from the rest and knocked them over despondently. The boy usually had some kind of wisdom to share, learned from his father or his own training and patient perceptions of the world around him but not this time. "I don't know what to say, Musou. We can't give up" the boy said as he tried using some of the tracking techniques he saw Jack Chessman using. He didn't really know what he was doing and didn't have the proper software but he couldn't just sit and do nothing.
Musou gritted his teeth and nodded to no one in perticular. His operator was right, or so he told himself. It was far easier to make some efforts to correct the situation then give up and face reality just yet. As he calmed himself and attuned his senses to the surroundings, the navi picked up on the data from the zenni and the data left behind. He collected the zenni and transfered it through to his PET, because succeed or fail, he needed the money to get stronger for what might be the impossible task ahead of him.
The data though, Musou hesistated about.
"Sensei, she said this was right from the Net Police files. Wouldn't they want this back?", he asked. He looked over the data, standing back as if he was afraid to touch it. "I-if I take this wont we be guilty of something? It just doesn't seem right" he added.
"First off, I assume the Net Police, of all people, have backups of all their data. Secondly, if we pick it up and take it back without opening it, we should be alright. I.. Uh.. Think they might be able to tell if we read it" he trailed off, seemingly unsure. It's not like they had covered government tracking in school yet, if they ever would.
"S-So we would be fine picking it up and returning it to them, right? I dunno, it just doesn't feel right. What if it's a trojan or tracking program or a virus bomb-" the navi is cut off by his operator.
"Musou, we don't really have a choice. We can't just leave it laying around. It's a Net Police file. As citizens and busters it's our duty to return it. I think.. But what I'm worried about is.. What do we tell the other lady, that sent us in here to get killed?"
The both of them filled with uncertainty, Musou takes the data left behind, transferring it to Kenji's PET. The boy noticed the zenni transfer and the data following it and hesitated. Because he had his PET plugged into his PC to operate as a buffer for incoming data and as a larger teminal to operate from, he had the option to open the file right on the spot. One little button press could give him the info on the Officials of the past he craved...
But he chose not to open it. Instead he saved the one and only copy on his PET, and made sure the data transfer was clean so there was no trace of it even stopping on his PC. He knew how to do that much, at least. It was easy if you never opened anything and thus made some kind of temporary file for viewing.
"Come on Musou, we are in over our head for the time being. We need to report everything back to Chessman and Rook. Then we need to return this data to the Net Police. Maybe they can give us some kind of help searching for these groups" the boy said.
Musou hesitated though, looking around the facility. "Sensei, I don't.. I don't think we should tell anyone what happened here" the navi put his hands on his hips and gave a sigh as Kenji merely blinked in silence.
"Hear me out, Ken" the navi began. "We came in here to retrieve data that was unlawfully intercepted. That's a fact. But then we bumped into the people who intercepted the transit and rescued the deliveryman. We were fine till then. But-" he paced back and forth a little as he idly looked at some of the imobile panels that had earlier knocked him silly.
"But then we agreed to that lady's demands and ran in here to get something for her. I'm thinking there was no data in here for her, or nothing important. She just wanted us to get out of here hair. She was probably watching the whole time or at least laughing her head off when we went out of sight. The Net Police would probably get mad at us for going through with her demands anyway. And besides, she had a point. We basically were stuck between a rock and a hard place and decided to help the virus. The virus clearly making some kind of giant fort of doom and army to go with it".
Musou shrugged "Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that we helped the engineer, or tried to at least, but we didn't save him or anything. In the end, here we stand in the middle of a wrecked base, used by two groups and holding illegal data. What are we supossed to tell the police? We can't lie and we can't really tell them the truth either".
Kenji blinked again, as his navi seemed done and mumbled "B-But we have to tell them the truth. They are the police.. They stand for everything that's right and good in the net world".
Musou winced and added "Do they really? While all this fighting was going on I was picking up feeds through the data stream about a rogue police navi named Soap Man. Some kind of high officer that got busted for corruption. And here we sit with some of their data. Who's to say it's not something just passed to the mafia, or whoever those women were as part of a bribe? Can we really trust the Net Police?"
"C-Can we trust the police" Kenji repeated, trying to think deeply on what was happening. In the meantime, he and Musou continued trying to run some kind of traces to locate where that woman went with the Metool engineer. Maybe they could at least make up for their failure here and save the virus...
Musou kicks the ground with a half-hearted hit as he relaxes and in fact slumps his shoulders down in shame. He had failed, at everything. "W-what the hell, Sensei.. I-" he wasn't sure what to say but it was choking up in his throat. "I tried so hard and look what happened. All we have to show for all this is some kind of data stolen from the Net Police. They kidnapped the engineer and-" he bit his lip.
Kenji sighed as he slumped back in his computer chair. He eyed the orderly pile of battleships they had used recently, set aside from the rest and knocked them over despondently. The boy usually had some kind of wisdom to share, learned from his father or his own training and patient perceptions of the world around him but not this time. "I don't know what to say, Musou. We can't give up" the boy said as he tried using some of the tracking techniques he saw Jack Chessman using. He didn't really know what he was doing and didn't have the proper software but he couldn't just sit and do nothing.
Musou gritted his teeth and nodded to no one in perticular. His operator was right, or so he told himself. It was far easier to make some efforts to correct the situation then give up and face reality just yet. As he calmed himself and attuned his senses to the surroundings, the navi picked up on the data from the zenni and the data left behind. He collected the zenni and transfered it through to his PET, because succeed or fail, he needed the money to get stronger for what might be the impossible task ahead of him.
The data though, Musou hesistated about.
"Sensei, she said this was right from the Net Police files. Wouldn't they want this back?", he asked. He looked over the data, standing back as if he was afraid to touch it. "I-if I take this wont we be guilty of something? It just doesn't seem right" he added.
"First off, I assume the Net Police, of all people, have backups of all their data. Secondly, if we pick it up and take it back without opening it, we should be alright. I.. Uh.. Think they might be able to tell if we read it" he trailed off, seemingly unsure. It's not like they had covered government tracking in school yet, if they ever would.
"S-So we would be fine picking it up and returning it to them, right? I dunno, it just doesn't feel right. What if it's a trojan or tracking program or a virus bomb-" the navi is cut off by his operator.
"Musou, we don't really have a choice. We can't just leave it laying around. It's a Net Police file. As citizens and busters it's our duty to return it. I think.. But what I'm worried about is.. What do we tell the other lady, that sent us in here to get killed?"
The both of them filled with uncertainty, Musou takes the data left behind, transferring it to Kenji's PET. The boy noticed the zenni transfer and the data following it and hesitated. Because he had his PET plugged into his PC to operate as a buffer for incoming data and as a larger teminal to operate from, he had the option to open the file right on the spot. One little button press could give him the info on the Officials of the past he craved...
But he chose not to open it. Instead he saved the one and only copy on his PET, and made sure the data transfer was clean so there was no trace of it even stopping on his PC. He knew how to do that much, at least. It was easy if you never opened anything and thus made some kind of temporary file for viewing.
"Come on Musou, we are in over our head for the time being. We need to report everything back to Chessman and Rook. Then we need to return this data to the Net Police. Maybe they can give us some kind of help searching for these groups" the boy said.
Musou hesitated though, looking around the facility. "Sensei, I don't.. I don't think we should tell anyone what happened here" the navi put his hands on his hips and gave a sigh as Kenji merely blinked in silence.
"Hear me out, Ken" the navi began. "We came in here to retrieve data that was unlawfully intercepted. That's a fact. But then we bumped into the people who intercepted the transit and rescued the deliveryman. We were fine till then. But-" he paced back and forth a little as he idly looked at some of the imobile panels that had earlier knocked him silly.
"But then we agreed to that lady's demands and ran in here to get something for her. I'm thinking there was no data in here for her, or nothing important. She just wanted us to get out of here hair. She was probably watching the whole time or at least laughing her head off when we went out of sight. The Net Police would probably get mad at us for going through with her demands anyway. And besides, she had a point. We basically were stuck between a rock and a hard place and decided to help the virus. The virus clearly making some kind of giant fort of doom and army to go with it".
Musou shrugged "Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that we helped the engineer, or tried to at least, but we didn't save him or anything. In the end, here we stand in the middle of a wrecked base, used by two groups and holding illegal data. What are we supossed to tell the police? We can't lie and we can't really tell them the truth either".
Kenji blinked again, as his navi seemed done and mumbled "B-But we have to tell them the truth. They are the police.. They stand for everything that's right and good in the net world".
Musou winced and added "Do they really? While all this fighting was going on I was picking up feeds through the data stream about a rogue police navi named Soap Man. Some kind of high officer that got busted for corruption. And here we sit with some of their data. Who's to say it's not something just passed to the mafia, or whoever those women were as part of a bribe? Can we really trust the Net Police?"
"C-Can we trust the police" Kenji repeated, trying to think deeply on what was happening. In the meantime, he and Musou continued trying to run some kind of traces to locate where that woman went with the Metool engineer. Maybe they could at least make up for their failure here and save the virus...
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Kenji clenches his fist suddenly and says "We are going to the Net Police, Musou. They protect us and we have to believe in them. If they give us some kind of reason to stop believing, well.. We will cross that bridge when the time comes".
His navi simply nods and since his operator had already initialized jack-out procedure earlier, he merely complies and vanishes from this part of the net, for a brief lay-over in his homepage before heading to NP HQ.
His navi simply nods and since his operator had already initialized jack-out procedure earlier, he merely complies and vanishes from this part of the net, for a brief lay-over in his homepage before heading to NP HQ.
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((Just a 'quick' NPC post to wrap up my end of things here.))
With Musou, the Netpolice, and even the augmented viruses gone from the abandoned warehouse, the building fell completely silent. The once active moving panels hung slumped over on their hydraulic arms, not even given time to retract back into their normal places as part of the floor. The noise of viruses outside that had been there when Musou arrived was gone as well, disappearing with their metool benefactor. Had they been taken by the gas mask woman as well? Or were they simply having a moment of silence for the abducted Engineer? No one was left in the warehouse to say for sure.
That was, until a cloud of mist gathered in the lobby and materialized into a thin navi in a silvery blue bodysuit and helmet. Icicle daggers materialized in his hands as he looked around, but he quickly noticed that there were no threats around and dismissed them. He made his way silently through the side rooms of the warehouse, examining each in turn, then entered the Metool Engineer's chamber.
Raising one hand to rest against the side of his head, he spoke. "All clear. If there's anything left here, it's not coming out." He turned and glanced toward what appeared to be a particularly reflective speck of debris, but as he examined it the speck was joined by several more glimmering dots of light, forming a sphere large enough for a normal-sized navi to stand in. And so one did, materializing in the center of the lights. The form of Stargazer, clad in her usual midnight blue, stepped forward as though to leave the sphere of lights. But the lights followed her forward, remaining in place around her body. "Not that there's much of anything left to see here," the ice navi continued after his boss appeared.
"I know. I was watching," Stargazer answered. She made a show of looking around, but as she turned several dots of light around her expanded into view screens, laying out the entire warehouse around her. All except for the blocked off room. "...As I thought. That metool took great care to hide whatever is in that room. Even I can't see in there."
As Stargazer spoke, the ice navi approached the sealed off room. "If you say so, boss," he said, examining the shield blocking the entrance off. "This thing's just a guard chip." An icicle dagger appeared in his hand, which he used to pierce the shield and break it. The force of the dagger reflected back in a beam that struck the ice navi as the shield faded, but he took the blow without flinching. Either the ice navi was more durable than he looked, or the attack just wasn't all that strong to begin with.
Behind the shield, the panel barricade the Metool Engineer had hastily erected before the fight still stood, although without anything controlling them the ice navi was able to move them aside with ease. "If I'm allowed to ask, just how is it you were able to find it in the first place if you couldn't see in here?" the ice navi asked while moving the panels. "I mean, spare me the techy mumbo jumbo this once, but how could you tell what was inside without seeing inside?"
"It wasn't in there earlier," Stargazer answered. With the barricade removed, not to mention being right in front of the entrance, another viewport opened up, showing the inside of the back room as seen from the the ice navi's perspective right in front of it. Inside, a faintly glowing object, shaped like a mystery data, sat on top of a pile of other junk. As the ice navi and Stargazer watched, the object split apart into several uneven pieces, then rearranged itself back into the same pattern.
"Found it."
In Stargazer's spherical field of lights, another viewport opened up to a straight-faced female navi with white hair, metallic-looking eyes, and a silver headpiece that fell somewhere short of being capable of being called a helmet. Behind her, a visibly and, though it was filtered out of the feed, audibly loud environment offset her quiet, mellow expression. "Stargazer," the navi said.
"Constant," Stargazer answered. "Dichot's found the package you were looking for. Should I send it to you or to Lumi?"
"Luminaire is busy. I'll take it," the navi called Constant answered. "And the Engineer?"
"Gone. Taken by someone claiming to be with the Netpolice. There may be something left of it here, under the floor. Maybe even enough to recreate it. But otherwise..."
"Can't say as I like the idea of infiltrating the En Pee," the ice navi called Dichot interrupted, emerging from the room He tossed the green crystal of a data packet to Stargazer. "Would be a damn sight better than this place if it got fully rebuilt, though. Your met friend's got some crazy shit back here. I gots no idea how a bunch of viruses got their hands on this shit, but it's pretty clear what they were plannin' to do with it." He tossed her another crystalline package from the back room, which dispersed the moment it entered Stargazer's star field and manifested as another viewscreen, showing what was easily decipherable as blueprints.
"Smart metool, not letting navis get at this," Stargazer remarked.
"Do the Netpolice know about any of this?" Constant asked. Apparently she could see the blueprints as well.
"Not that I could tell," Stargazer answered. A second feed opened up, replaying the gas mask woman's statement about how the data 'had no relevance to anyone' and her uncertainty at why the warehouse was full of augmented viruses. "It merits looking into, though. That's more Laplace's line of work, though. I'm just an observer."
"Suit yourself." Constant paused after responding, then asked "What about the kid?"
Stargazer shrugged. "He didn't retrieve the package, so he doesn't get his list of Officials. Not that it matters, since Miss Poison Gas intervened. He's probably harmless, but I'll monitor him for awhile longer anyway. Just in case." The image of Constant nodded, and the feed closed. Once it was gone, Stargazer sighed. "I am not looking forward to giving Lumi a full report," she said to herself then, after sending off a few requests for a salvage team, turned her attention back to Dichot. "Anything else of interest?"
"Well there was a crude drawing of you that looked like it was etched into the wall with a pickaxe and the words 'horrible jerk', but I don't think that's too important," Dichot remarked.
Stargazer gave a short laugh. "What a charmer," she said.
With Musou, the Netpolice, and even the augmented viruses gone from the abandoned warehouse, the building fell completely silent. The once active moving panels hung slumped over on their hydraulic arms, not even given time to retract back into their normal places as part of the floor. The noise of viruses outside that had been there when Musou arrived was gone as well, disappearing with their metool benefactor. Had they been taken by the gas mask woman as well? Or were they simply having a moment of silence for the abducted Engineer? No one was left in the warehouse to say for sure.
That was, until a cloud of mist gathered in the lobby and materialized into a thin navi in a silvery blue bodysuit and helmet. Icicle daggers materialized in his hands as he looked around, but he quickly noticed that there were no threats around and dismissed them. He made his way silently through the side rooms of the warehouse, examining each in turn, then entered the Metool Engineer's chamber.
Raising one hand to rest against the side of his head, he spoke. "All clear. If there's anything left here, it's not coming out." He turned and glanced toward what appeared to be a particularly reflective speck of debris, but as he examined it the speck was joined by several more glimmering dots of light, forming a sphere large enough for a normal-sized navi to stand in. And so one did, materializing in the center of the lights. The form of Stargazer, clad in her usual midnight blue, stepped forward as though to leave the sphere of lights. But the lights followed her forward, remaining in place around her body. "Not that there's much of anything left to see here," the ice navi continued after his boss appeared.
"I know. I was watching," Stargazer answered. She made a show of looking around, but as she turned several dots of light around her expanded into view screens, laying out the entire warehouse around her. All except for the blocked off room. "...As I thought. That metool took great care to hide whatever is in that room. Even I can't see in there."
As Stargazer spoke, the ice navi approached the sealed off room. "If you say so, boss," he said, examining the shield blocking the entrance off. "This thing's just a guard chip." An icicle dagger appeared in his hand, which he used to pierce the shield and break it. The force of the dagger reflected back in a beam that struck the ice navi as the shield faded, but he took the blow without flinching. Either the ice navi was more durable than he looked, or the attack just wasn't all that strong to begin with.
Behind the shield, the panel barricade the Metool Engineer had hastily erected before the fight still stood, although without anything controlling them the ice navi was able to move them aside with ease. "If I'm allowed to ask, just how is it you were able to find it in the first place if you couldn't see in here?" the ice navi asked while moving the panels. "I mean, spare me the techy mumbo jumbo this once, but how could you tell what was inside without seeing inside?"
"It wasn't in there earlier," Stargazer answered. With the barricade removed, not to mention being right in front of the entrance, another viewport opened up, showing the inside of the back room as seen from the the ice navi's perspective right in front of it. Inside, a faintly glowing object, shaped like a mystery data, sat on top of a pile of other junk. As the ice navi and Stargazer watched, the object split apart into several uneven pieces, then rearranged itself back into the same pattern.
"Found it."
In Stargazer's spherical field of lights, another viewport opened up to a straight-faced female navi with white hair, metallic-looking eyes, and a silver headpiece that fell somewhere short of being capable of being called a helmet. Behind her, a visibly and, though it was filtered out of the feed, audibly loud environment offset her quiet, mellow expression. "Stargazer," the navi said.
"Constant," Stargazer answered. "Dichot's found the package you were looking for. Should I send it to you or to Lumi?"
"Luminaire is busy. I'll take it," the navi called Constant answered. "And the Engineer?"
"Gone. Taken by someone claiming to be with the Netpolice. There may be something left of it here, under the floor. Maybe even enough to recreate it. But otherwise..."
"Can't say as I like the idea of infiltrating the En Pee," the ice navi called Dichot interrupted, emerging from the room He tossed the green crystal of a data packet to Stargazer. "Would be a damn sight better than this place if it got fully rebuilt, though. Your met friend's got some crazy shit back here. I gots no idea how a bunch of viruses got their hands on this shit, but it's pretty clear what they were plannin' to do with it." He tossed her another crystalline package from the back room, which dispersed the moment it entered Stargazer's star field and manifested as another viewscreen, showing what was easily decipherable as blueprints.
"Smart metool, not letting navis get at this," Stargazer remarked.
"Do the Netpolice know about any of this?" Constant asked. Apparently she could see the blueprints as well.
"Not that I could tell," Stargazer answered. A second feed opened up, replaying the gas mask woman's statement about how the data 'had no relevance to anyone' and her uncertainty at why the warehouse was full of augmented viruses. "It merits looking into, though. That's more Laplace's line of work, though. I'm just an observer."
"Suit yourself." Constant paused after responding, then asked "What about the kid?"
Stargazer shrugged. "He didn't retrieve the package, so he doesn't get his list of Officials. Not that it matters, since Miss Poison Gas intervened. He's probably harmless, but I'll monitor him for awhile longer anyway. Just in case." The image of Constant nodded, and the feed closed. Once it was gone, Stargazer sighed. "I am not looking forward to giving Lumi a full report," she said to herself then, after sending off a few requests for a salvage team, turned her attention back to Dichot. "Anything else of interest?"
"Well there was a crude drawing of you that looked like it was etched into the wall with a pickaxe and the words 'horrible jerk', but I don't think that's too important," Dichot remarked.
Stargazer gave a short laugh. "What a charmer," she said.