No Time For Shopping

"Huh... I've never seen this part of ElecTown before." pondered Kina aloud as she landed amongst the hustle and bustle of Electopia's largest shopping district. "How can anything on the Net be this busy with viruses running around?"

"They're just used to it, I guess. You've been really secluded to specific areas due to your initial non-combat build, so stuff like this probably looks very strange." suggested Eliza as she joined in the observations through her PET's view-screen.

"Mm... And you're sure there aren't any of those Wood viruses around?" asked Kina.

"Yeah, lots of Elec viruses, same element as you. I think there are some other types around, but I'd be surprised to see Wood types." nodded Eliza as she answered.

"And nothing like the Powies, right? Big and powerful, yet seem to be able to avoid me a lot?" questioned Kina again.

"I... can't really promise that." said Eliza as she shook her head. "Just keep your scientific enthusiasm up and charge forward! I'm sure it'll work out this time!"

"I think you said that last time..." sighed Kina as she began her venture out onto ElecTown Net.

(Battle 1 Start)
Moving into the populated Electown network, Kina quickly found some viruses, even with the packed environment. A lone Metool was accompanied by a couple of Bunny buddies, and they didn't seem to be very happy with Kina being in their way. Also, the floor really needs repairs.

-- ENEMIES --
Metool: 40 HP [Metal]
Bunny A: 50 HP [Magnet]
Bunny B: 50 HP [Metal]

-- NAVIGATOR --
Kina.EXE: 100 HP [Metal]

-- TERRAIN --
20% Magnet (Scattered)
80% Metal

-- BATTLE 01, READY? START!! --
"See? Elec viruses!" exclaimed Eliza, pointing at the Bunnies from her side of the screen. "Now they're fighting on your terms. None of that giant, smashy stuff or downhill rolling logs."

"Okay, fine..." sighed Kina, having heard enough of her Operator trying to convince her about how much better this run was going to be. To be fair, though, the viruses did seem much cuter and less intimidating than before. Little round things and rabbits... "Any particular tests to perform this time?" she asked, breaking her own train of thought to prevent over-adoring the cute viruses.

"Well, I think before we do any new mode tests, we need to get you controlling the Time Ring more efficiently. There's just no way the viruses are going to keep waiting on you to plug in temporal coordinates!" explained Eliza. "I mean... Right now, it's just 3 steps, right? Select the mode, set the time frame, and ignite the portal. You need to do that like... Um..." Eliza fumbled around as she tried to find the right words, moving her fingers around until she accidentally snapped them. "Ah...! Yeah, like that! You need to be able to do it like that." she said, snapping her fingers again to emphasize what "that" was.

"I guess that's true..." muttered Kina as she played with the silver ring on her finger. How was she going to use this thing faster... Theoretically, like Eliza said, it just came down to press, spin, and ignite. She could do that much, right? Okay, so she was still an uncoordinated bookworm by any combat Navi's standards, but it wasn't that much different than flipping quickly through a few file pages... right? "Well... Just give me a Battlechip to use, and I'll give it my best."

"That's the spirit! I'll give you the new chip we got, it should do some good against those Bunnies." applauded Eliza, before quickly picking out her new RollingLog and sending it to Kina. It really didn't take long at all to find that particular Battlechip, seeing how she had all of five of them.

"Alright... Press, spin, ignite... Press, spin, ignite..." chanted Kina as she lowered her visor, trying to mentally prepare herself for the upcoming task. "... Okay, here it goes!" With the announcement, Kina released the Time Ring from her finger, letting it levitate in front of her and grow to a more usable size before hastily grabbing it back. She immediately mashed the blue hologram, shouting "Future!" in the process to help keep her thoughts and actions on the same pace. "30 days!" shouted Kina again as she dragged her hand across the holographic ring after pressing the mode button, sending the diagram into a spin that stopped at her commanded time frame. Kina then flung the Time Ring forward towards the viruses, only to have it stop a few feet ahead and expand to full size. "And ignite!" yelled Kina as she commenced the final step, sending an electrical current up through her coat and into her sleeve before thrusting her hand through the Time Ring, using the charge to ignite a blue Future portal.

... Well, okay, there was a fourth step. Jump. Kina did that in short order, though, just falling through with the momentum she had from igniting the portal. Her white clothing turned blue once again, signaling the complete transfer of her future self's mind to the here and now. "... Just how many times have I had to use this thing?!" moaned Kina as she realized how often Eliza would be giving her this chip to dispatch with Elec viruses. "Oh whatever, one more time won't hurt!" she decided, though one more time was the first time... But it wasn't... and it was... Bah. Kina swung her left arm forward underhanded as if she was throwing a pitch, and as things would have it, a big wooden log popped into existence in front of her and tumbled towards the Bunnies. "Not done yet!" announced Kina, repeating the process with her right hand to throw another log.

Eliza did have some concerns that Kina's scientific enthusiasm from her research days wouldn't carry over to a virus battle, but seeing her attack so decisively was quite reassuring. "Don't forget to dodge, Kina!" reminded Eliza to her Navi.

"I know that! Actually... Better than you do!" responded Kina as she back off back towards the active Time Ring and assumed an evasive stance. It was true, Kina did have about a month of this battle stuff up on Eliza right now.

Actions:
1) RollingLog1 (50 Wood damage [c], Ground Attack, Wide Attack (2)) @ BunnyA/B
2) RollingLog1 (50 Wood damage [c], Ground Attack, Wide Attack (2)) @ BunnyB/A
3) Dodge
Having used the Time Ring more efficiently, Kina activated her Future self and threw a couple of logs at the Bunnies, deleting them easily with her later-obtained battle prowess. The Metool whacked its pickaxe onto the floor, creating a shockwave, though this was easily dodged.

-- ENEMIES --
Metool: 40 HP [Metal]
Bunny A: DELETED
Bunny B: DELETED

-- NAVIGATOR --
Kina.EXE: 100 HP [Metal]

-- TERRAIN --
15% Magnet, 5% Normal (Scattered)
80% Metal
"I must be a really quick learner... That feels really weird to say." thought Kina aloud as she stood across from the lone surviving Metool. "Even a month later, I couldn't have used a Wood chip more than... than... Huh? I don't remember?" she said with a concerned look and two fingers pressed to her temple.

"Even AI memory isn't perfect... Well, the Time Ring might have errored slightly." suggested Eliza, changing her theory after a momentary pause. "Just... slightly, yeah. Yeah."

"Wha...? Eliza, my AI being compromised isn't a 'slight' kind of problem! What if my present memories are messed up now?!" whimpered Kina as a sense of panic set in.

"It's fine, it's fine! You'd know if your present memories got messed up!" assured Eliza, albeit without any certainty to that claim.

"How would I? I don't know what I might have forgotten!" gasped Kina, who was turning into a frightened wreck as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Kina, Kina, calm down!" implored Eliza, who herself was getting flustered thanks to her Navi getting flustered. "Look, that might be the most considerate Metool in the world, but it's not going to wait on you all day! I'll give you the Cannon, and I want you to wrap this up! Whatever you do, don't shoot yourself in some delusional attempt to free yourself!"

"What kind of girl do you think I am?!" responded Kina angrily. Well, at least Eliza managed change the source of the bad emotional state. "Ugh, fine, I just want a moment to think afterward!" With that demand, Kina pulled up the heavy and unwieldy Cannon fixture, took a moment to steady her fidgeting hands, and fired at the Metool. She'd tried to dodge if the Metool survived, but... what if the error wiped her memory of how to dodge?!

Actions:
1) Take Aim
2) Cannon (40 damage [A], Knockback) @ Metool
3) Dodge
Taking considerable effort to aim at the final virus, Kina pointed her new Cannon at the Metool and fired. The blast managed to hit its target just as its target was raising its pickaxe again, which was probably a good thing.

And that was it.

-- ENEMIES --
Metool: DELETED
Bunny A: DELETED
Bunny B: DELETED

-- TERRAIN --
15% Magnet, 5% Normal (Scattered)
80% Metal

BATTLE 1 COMPLETE!

-- NAVIGATOR --
Kina.EXE: 100 HP [Metal]

-- REWARDS --
480z

"Okay, good work Kina, now just go back through the Future portal and maybe we can get your head all sorted out..." instructed Eliza cautiously.

"Yeah..." sighed Kina as she did just that, hopping back through the circular blue portal to wipe that color off her clothes, returning every bit of her being back to the present day state. "Um... How do I diagnose this...?" she asked uncertainly, which only compounded her worries since uncertainty was what was already scaring her.

"Uh... Well, basic stuff. Let's start with basic stuff. What's your name?" queried Eliza after grasping for something to ask.

"... Kina. You just said my name a moment ago." answered the Navi flatly in regards to the flawed question.

"Right, right... What's my name, then? Full thing." questioned the Operator.

"Elizabeth Jacqueline McConnell. You hate your middle name, too." responded Kina, adding in some bonus information.

"Yeah, I do... So we're not going to be mentioning that again, then. How about... Ah! How long have you been my Navi? A time question should test things well." noted Eliza after her next question.

"11 years, I was your present for your 8th birthday. You showed me off far, far too much just because not a lot of the 2nd graders in your class had custom Navis." explained Kina thoroughly.

"Do you have to add something negative to the end every time...? Jeez. Okay, last question, let's try something current. What was that new chip I sent you in the battle? The one that you had to use the Future portal for." quizzed Eliza.

"What was that called... RollingLog? I didn't know how to use a Wood chip, so I went 30 days into the future... That's the longest I've gone, isn't it?" asked Kina in return.

"Yeah, so far." nodded Eliza quickly.

"The first thing I felt out of the portal was a feeling that you've made me use that chip a lot. A whole lot." explained Kina, with a look of deep thought on her face.

"Hm... Well, I can see why I'd want you against Elec viruses a lot, and that RollingLog is a good way to dispatch them. So I could believe that. It's weird to think that I still need to do it, though..." muttered Eliza aloud.

"I guess when you put it that way... Why can't I remember how many times I used it in those 30 days, though? It seemed like a big number, yet..."

"... Kina, it sounds like the future you just lost count. 30 days is a long time to track a single Battlechip's usage." interjected Eliza while her Navi spoke.

"Wha? I'm a research Navi, there's no way I would..." mumbled Kina as she began counting on her fingers. She paused on the second time through, looked up to Eliza, then looked back down and put a hand over her face to cover a blush. "That's so embarrassing..."

"Well, hey, that means the Time Ring didn't create some kind of temporal discontinuity in your brain! That's good news!" exclaimed Eliza with an optimistic view on the matter.

"... That just frightens me to think about, rather than make me feel better..." whimpered Kina, who clutched her head with her hands as if to protect it.

"Then don't think about it! You're fine! You just need another test to get your mind off it, so go find some viruses!" encouraged Eliza, her words chock-full of ulterior motives.

"A nice book would get my mind off it just as well..." sighed Kina as she followed orders reluctantly.

(Battle 2 Start)
Kina didn't have to search very long before coming across another small group of viruses. A Champu idly shadowboxed the empty air while two Billy viruses watch it from behind. Kina came to a stop before one of multiple magnet panels that dotted the area just as the Champu noticed her and immediately tried to attack her. That didn't go so well, the virus appearing on the panel and flying backwards off of it in a flash. It gave Kina the chance to prepare herself, but it also gave the other viruses a chance to rally with their flaming friend.

-- ENEMIES --
Champu: 60 HP [Metal]
BillyA: 80 HP [Metal]
BillyB: 80 HP [Metal]

-- TERRAIN --
10% Magnet (Horizontal dotted line across the area)
40% Normal (Kina's side)
50% Metal (Virus side/between Magnet)

-- NAVIGATOR --
Kina.EXE: 100 HP [Normal]

-- BATTLE 2 START! --

"... Oh! Hey! There are some extra chips in my pocket!" exclaimed Eliza as she extracted her hand from the interior pocket of her ragged lab coat.

"... Wha? You've been holding out on me...?!" asked Kina in dismay.

"No no, of course not! I just forgot about them. The society members gave them to me right before we left, so I just, uh... slipped them into my coat pocket and left them there." explained Eliza sheepishly. "I was just in a hurry to get some field testing done on the Time Ring, you know?"

"Too well..." sighed Kina heavily. "But I guess if any of those other chips can help make this easier for me, that's better late than never. Just... check all your pockets before we get much further."

"I have now, I promise! Here, I'll send you one of the new chips along with the RollingLog again. We'd better get to work with that one since you apparently will be using it so much." announced Eliza with a chuckle, playing on a bit of future humor that no one else would get. "I think just a week should be good enough for the new chip, it doesn't seem very complicated."

"Alright..." answered Kina with an apprehensive nod, who plucked the Time Ring back off her right ring finger and began applying both the right settings and her more efficient motions, sorted out in the prior battle. With the Time Ring only expanded to hand-held size, it took Kina only a moment to select Future mode and spin the holographic time dial forward enough for a week. With that done, Kina tossed the Time Ring forward and allowed it to expand to full size. An electrical charge ran through her coat all the way to her left sleeve, with the voltage crackling as it spun around the wire ring repeatedly. "Ignite!" shouted Kina as she thrust her super-charged hand through the middle of the Time Ring, sending the electricity pulsing outward to power the Time Ring and create the opaque blue Future portal. She didn't really need to shout, the Time Ring didn't take vocal commands. It was just a psychological motivator, since Kina was routinely frightened by this time travel nonsense.

Being a brave girl at heart, though, Kina did leap through the Future portal once more and emerged clad in blue, wielding all sorts of knowledge from the week to come. "So... Hmm? Eliza, did you send the chip yet?" queried Kina, looking a bit puzzled.

"Yeah, I did. Shouldn't you know what it looks like?" responded Eliza quickly, showing empty hands to her PET's screen to prove her innocence.

"That's, um... I don't remember any actual weapon with this chip." explained Kina awkwardly, as she rattled her future memories for some sort of clue as to what she was supposed to be using for this chip. "Maybe it'll just show up if I go ahead and target...?" she theorized aloud, before pointing her left hand at the Champu like she had done for the Time Ring. As validation of that theory, a second electrical pulse raced through Kina's coat and jumped out of the ring around her sleeve. This time, though, instead of expanding outward, the ring of electricity shot straight forward at the Champu. "... Oh!" gasped Kina as the ZapRing triggered, both in surprise and realization.

"Well that's useful... I guess with you being an Elec Navi and all, electrical chips can mostly just go off without any medium." noted Eliza of the result.

"Yeah, it seems so... I was so stuck on trying to remember a weapon to use that I missed just firing the ZapRing directly." admitted Kina, showing quite clearly that while she did gain more things to remember, she was in no way better at actually remembering them than she normally would be.

"Well, don't get so stuck on that you forget to use the RollingLog. I did send it to you." reminded Eliza quickly.

"Oh, yeah. I guess that should be a little easier the second time..." said Kina quietly as she ran that scenario through her head one more time. With that in mind, Kina knelt down and thrust both her arms forward, producing a large wooden log ahead of her to send tumbling forward at the pair of Billys. Opting to play it safe instead of trigger the chip's second use, Kina moved back close to the Time Ring, hoping to see and avoid whatever counterattack might come.

Actions:
1) ZapRing1 (40 Elec damage [A], Stun 1) @ Champu
2) RollingLog1 (50 Wood damage [c], Ground Attack, Wide Attack) @ BillyA/B
3) Dodge
After the Fast-forward, no-montage training session, Kina prepared herself in battle with new chips at hand!...However, the battle ended much quicker than anyone would have anticipated, even with or without the practice. The Champu was caught off-guard by the sudden zap of electricity, which was amplified by the metallic floor, and the Billys were quickly smashed by the rolling log without too much trouble...

All those fancy time-jumping for nothing, what a shame.

-- ENEMIES --
Champu: DELETED
BillyA: DELETED
BillyB: DELETED

-- TERRAIN --
10% Magnet (Horizontal dotted line across the area)
40% Normal (Kina's side)
50% Metal (Virus side/between Magnet)

-- NAVIGATOR --
Kina.EXE: 100 HP [Normal]

-BATTLE WON!-
485z
"That was quick..." noted a surprised Kina as her viral adversaries were, simply put, no longer present. "Is the RollingLog really that effective against these Elec viruses?"

"Well, yeah, just as effective as it would be against you. So, uh, don't hit yourself with it." explained Eliza with a cautionary warning appended at the end. "... Hm? Wait. Why were you surprised about the battle finishing quick? Shouldn't you have known that it would?"

"Ah... Hm. I... don't? That's odd, I don't remember a battle from the next week ending this quickly..." pondered Kina aloud as she probed her memories from the future to no gain.

"That's... Ah!!! A discovery! Is this evidence of the Net not adhering to a singular future, but instead diverging into many possibilities?!" gasped Eliza upon her revelation.

"I guess...? That's always been more of a philosophical question, really..." sighed Kina, having taken part in that debate several times herself.

"It was, but only because no one could make proof either way! But the two of us, we have time travel on the digital plane... sort of!" announced Eliza, who quickly started backing off of her own accord.

"Well, yeah, it is kind of a strange form of time travel. The only thing displaced is my memory... right?" queried Kina uncertainly.

"I think... so? I can't say for sure, since you refuse to do a jump that would change you on the physical level." answered Eliza.

"Well of course! I'm not going to do something that dangerous!" exclaimed Kina emphatically.

"... So then virus fights aren't that dangerous, since you're already doing that. Great! Let's move on to the next test." replied Eliza slyly.

"Wha...? Hey! Don't twist my words like that!" whined Kina to no effect, as she really had no choice but to continue.

(Battle 3 Start)
((I'll admit, this was a pretty lazy post >:I))

After a quick, 'intelligent' conversation with one another, Kina and Eliza found their next group of viruses...And fast! Before the navi could even size up her enemies, the Armadil had closed up into a ball and began to roll straight towards Kina!

Armadil: 100 HP (Approaching Kina!)
CactyA: 70 HP
CactyB: 70 HP
BunnyA: 50 HP
BunnyB: 50 HP

Terrain:
100% Solar

Kina.EXE: 100 HP

-BATTLE THREE, START!-