Lily's wings quickly shrank back down to their normal size, their owner having noticed the pair were surrounded in all directions by creatures who appeared to not only be aggravated by the duo's entrance, but more so by the fact that they'd just knocked over whatever it was that was clearly the focus of this bizarre setup.

Or perhaps they just didn't like strangers.

"Amy, what's the plan?" Lily asked nervously as her attention and gaze began rotating endlessly through the list of potential foes.

Amy was becoming used to being outnumbered, and to her surprise the normal rush of navi-andrenaline (for lack of a better word) wasn't as peaked as her previous encounters. Perhaps their battles were making her more steeled for battling.

Or maybe Amy just didn't fully appreciate what dangers they may have created for themselves. The threat was definitely a concern to Lily, as her electrical energy field kicked into gear to help them fend off the pending assault.

Amy's attention darted down to the crystal she'd knocked over moments ago as it looked somewhat familiar. "Call it a hunch, but I'll risk it," she mused out loud as she took the crystal off the ground.

"Uhh, won't that anger them even further?" Lily questioned. Didn't she just say she wasn't a thief?

"I'm not stealing it, I'm protecting it," Amy replied as she tried to slide it into the groove at the back of her dress.

Lily hadn't expected such a move and was both disturbed and agitated by the action. "Hey, occupied!" she protested.

"Hey, just hold onto it would you? You're not occupying my whole back," Amy retorted. The normal gel patch she'd used for storing small(ish) items was somewhat blocked by Lily's main body, but hopefully it would still fulfil its purpose. That was Amy's hope, anyway; it didn't feel particularly secure this time around as only half the normal surface area was able to make contact with the crystal, Lily's body blocking the other half.

"This isn't comfortable," Lily complained from her space, the lower half of the crystal pressing up against the back of her head and pushing her face further into Amy's back.

"Alright, so I'll need to do something about that later," she half-pondered, half-commanded as her attention (finally) came back to the task at hand. "Eric, MettFires and HauntedCandles. They both look like Fire ty-" she began to advise, but a pulse in her left arm cut her off. Amy knew what was coming next, and had only a second to bend her arm in the right manner before the familiar shield stretched itself into existence.

Asking for the shield would have been her first move regardless, but Amy couldn't deny she was a little annoyed that Eric hadn't waited for the order. Her instinct to rebuff the help was defeated by the thought that maybe letting Eric operate this way wasn't such a bad idea. After all, he'd predicted right, it was the correct choice.

Meanwhile, Eric had taken his navi's command and was on the right pages. "MettFire. Will seek protection behind an object or ally before summoning fiery meteors at its chosen targets." His finger was not far away from the next entry. "HauntedCandle. Will continually attack its prey by use of flame spires. Immune to fire damage."

Amy was about to speak when Eric cut her off. "It also says the flame on their head can be extinguished using a Wind-type attack, preventing it from attacking." Eric picked up the PET again. "They're all Fire types, if that helps..."

I knew it, she grinned as cleansing gel began coursing down her arm. Fire types were her specialty thanks to her aqueous nature, but which ones to target first...?

Knowing that the candles could be disabled with a Wind-type attack was useful information, but as Amy didn't have a Wind-type attack in her possesion she had no ability to apply that knowledge. Perhaps that agitation was what led her to decide on attacking the candles first. Her feet were as nimble as always, orbiting her body on the same patch of ground as she tried to anticipate whoever would attack her first, but getting hit seemed somewhat inevitable in this scenario.

"Repeat after me, Lily!" she directed as the first manifestation of cleansing gel began ready to disperse. Her hand raised to the first candle, and the familiar satisfying whoosh could be heard as the gel launched from her hand and flew across the battlefield to its intended target. It had company in the form of a transparent wave of energy that tailed behind it, crackling as it flew and igniting the scattering mist from the gel into a dim but glittery kaleidoscope.

Amy's body whirled around to face the opposite direction as she again felt the gel gather into her hand, doing her best to remain attentive to the entire field. In a similar manner, another familiar 1-2 of cleansing gel and ionised wind left the pair in an attempt to meet the second candle and potentially neutralise its threat to their existence.

Eric returned the Guard1 chip to its place in the folder, allowing it to begin the recharging process. His hand hovered over the selection as he anticipated what would be requested next.

----------

Actions:
[LA] Turbulence >>> Protect Amity/Liliana (shot/lob potential only)
[A1] Collect crystal / attempt safekeeping in back pocket
[A2] [Disruptor] Guard1 [Reflect <60 non-Break DMG, Line] @ Amity
[A3] Dodge
[A4] Calming Spray A (40 Aqua DMG) >>> HauntedCandleA
[L1] Ion Wave (25 Elec DMG) >>> HauntedCandleA
[A5] Dodge
[A6] Calming Spray B (40 Aqua DMG) >>> HauntedCandleB
[L2] Ion Wave (25 Elec DMG) >>> HauntedCandleB

Cooldowns:
Calming Spray A [Used; 0/1 TCD; Recharging]
Calming Spray B [Used; 0/1 TCD; Recharging]

Party:
Amity.EXE: 210 / 210 HP [Equipped: Guard1] [Turbulence active]
Liliana.SP: 60 / 60 HP [Equipped to Amity]

The bunching of debris across the roof in semi-organised piles indicated that someone (or perhaps someones) still wanted to keep the area in an organised state. It became obvious as the battlefield cleared with only Amy standing that any such attempts for cleanliness had been in vain, as debris now littered most of the rooftop.

"Do you suppose we should try to clean this up?" Lily asked her team. Amy took a few steps forward, and Lily took this as a possible 'yes'. The three cores of the Ratty viruses rose up into the air, circling each other in a strange dance before deciding to dart off towards the north, only missing Lily's outstretched wings by a few centimetres.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Lily remarked as Amy knelt down. "I know that it's not a normal ability, but my instincts keep telling me I'm not doing my job."

"Amy said something similar the first time I met her," Eric recounted, a twinge of guilt resurfacing as he recalled that eventful first busting run. "But to be honest, I think it makes you better."

"How's that?"

"I'm... really uncomfortable about deleting anything." Eric admitted. "Viruses may be a problem, but they're still able to think... at some level, anyway. So every time one gets destroyed... it's like I helped kill something intelligent."

"I would disagree that most viruses are intelligent. From what I know, most just operate on instinctual programming, not any free will like myself and Amy. But maybe I'm being ignorant. What do you think Amy?"

Silence.

"Amy?"

Lily hadn't noticed that Amy had knelt down in front of the Prog she'd disabled moments ago. Lily's attention towards the emancipated cores had distracted her from Amy's focus on the object now lying on the ground. It hadn't decompiled into errant code, instead now lying as a disfigured mess at her feet.

"I wasn't paying enough attention," she mumbled, as if she needed an excuse for her actions. "Or maybe there was no other way."

"Can't you just fix it?" Lily suggested.

"With what tools? This isn't even an area I should be in."

That comment made Lily chuckle. "I did say earlier we shouldn't be up here," she asserted in a tone Amy didn't appreciate. "But if you're really worried about it, why not take it back home and repair it? You were worried about Sakura not having anybody to play with... why not give it to her?"

Amy shook her head. "This Prog doesn't belong to me. I'm not a thief."

"Who said anything about stealing?" Lily retorted. "It was in a pile of garbage on a rooftop filled with garbage. I think it's safe to say that it was thrown away. If anything, that means we're giving it a new life. A future."

Amy liked Lily's reasoning, wanting to believe it was the right course of action. But in her mind it sounded like someone trying to justify a bad decision. "Eric? What do you think?"

Eric hadn't made a decision either way, but now that the spotlight was on him he had to choose his words carefully. "I mean... I think you're both right. You shouldn't take anything without permission, but this Prog... it was left out in the open in a damaged condition..."

"And...?" Lily pressed her operator for an answer.

Eric's mind swayed back and forth between 'leave' and 'take' until an unexpected thought made him chuckle. "I guess it wouldn't be the first time you took something without permission, Amy."

His cheeky prod took Amy off-guard, her face blushing as she realised what Eric was referring to. After all, she *had* taken Sakura without permission instead of allowing Crony to find her rightful owner.

"I'm not saying that makes it right," Eric quickly added. "But..."

"...but maybe... if we look after it well, it justifies the decision?"

"It's up to you Amy. It's your choice."

"I guess I have your back too."

Amy's mind was made up. It took a moment to configure the PET to accept an incoming stream that wasn't her own being, but after some quick protocol avoisions, the Prog's mangled frame was deconstructed and transmitted through a travel path back to her PET. It arrived with no fanfare, just a hunched body.

"You'll help me repair it, right Eric?"

"I suppose. I've never done repairs on Progs before, but... how hard can it be, right...?"

Optimism. A welcome change.

"Exactly! We've got this!" she chirped up.

With the battle's events now behind them, Amy's attention turned back to finding her former sporting partner. They had covered a considerable distance in a brief period of time. However, as Amy crossed over a few more rooftops she noticed that she'd come to the end of the thoroughfare, but the sight that met her on the other side of the intersecting street was her new concern. How society could be so close to an arid wasteland that stretched out towards the horizon seemed to be at odds with the assortment of buildings she'd just been hopping on. It was almost like the street below was a dividing line between the future... and the past.

"So we're heading into that, are we?"

"That's what the radar says, so... yes, I guess."

Amy took the necessary steps back from the final ledge. Height was going to be her friend, and with a little bit of skill (and perhaps luck) she surmised that she might be able to close off just a little more distance between her and Meep.

"Umm, what are you aiming to land on?" her partner asked, her voice giving away a sense of concern.

"I'm not aiming for anything. Are you able to help me cover as much distance as possible?"

Lily didn't respond, but when Amy saw the cyan wings expand even further outward, an answer didn't seem necessary.

"For the record, leaping off a tall building without knowing what you're heading towards... remember what happened last time you did that?"

A loud huff of disapproval followed. "It's not called a 'leap of faith' for nothing. The sooner we find Meep, the sooner we can go back home."

"You really like this 'Meep' character, don’t you."

Amy shrugged. "Not really. I barely know Meep. But I made him a promise, and I intend to keep it."

Amy centered her gravity, pushing her weight towards her back legs and keeping her hands firmly planted on the rooftop. She was going to need as much speed as possible to maximise her gliding time.

She was just about to launch when Eric's giggling stopped her.

"Is something funny?" she quizzed her operator.

"Hmm?" Eric hadn't realised his humour was audible. "It's nothing, just ignore me."

"No no, out with it. What's so funny?"

His mind knew it was a mistake to verbalise the thought, but Amy wasn't going to let the matter drop. He sighed before admitting his thought process. "You said you're taking a leap of faith into that wilderness to find Meep."

"Yes."

"So you could say it's a... Meep of faith."

Silence again filled the air.

It was Eric's turn to blush as Amy refocused her energy to the ground. The smallest of grins may have suggested she at least found some humour in that statement, but she wasn't going to make it known. Her body leapt forward, and using the parapet as a hurdle, her feet boosted her into the air as Lily's supersized wings accepted the downward force and created a windstream to surf on as they entered into the unknown. Viruses of differening families appeared and disappeared from view as they soared over a large swatch of land, but Amy's wings were not capable of suspending her indefinitely, her altitude continuing to lower the further they travelled.

A final hill came into view as the distance between navi and land was no longer safe for gliding at high speed. It seemed apparent that Amy had indeed not learned her lesson earlier, as the final wind-assisted downdraft from Lily's wings gave Amy a final boost skyward to clear the barren hill, allowing her to land on the other side... and right into the middle of more drama.

----------

Battle #1 Complete!

Rewards:
Zenny: +750 (420 >>> 1170)
Bugfrags: +16 (11 >>> 27)

Party:
Amity.EXE: 210 / 210 HP
Liliana.SP: 50 / 60 HP [Equipped to Amity]

{{{ Seriously Amy, with great power comes great responsibility. Requesting Battle #2. }}}

Absolutely; this wasn’t the full registration, I just needed to know if that base mechanic would even be accepted before working on the rest.

Act 1 finishes in Chapter 8, with that being the first run of this sub-plot mechanic, so I’ll have a much more detailed run-down as it gets closer.

You will get a run sheet of the field, the players, and the three possible mission outcomes (depending on success/stalemate/failure) but more on that later. You’ll have more than enough creative freedom to make your own plays within the environment.

Thanks for the feedback, I’ll keep going with the planning. ;)

The plan would be only my operator at first. Without getting too involved into the story arcs themselves, the idea would be to pit my operator and navi against other story-driven navis, as the opposing navi’s operator would normally be engaged in other duties that would prevent them from engaging in battle (requiring their navi to engage in protection/distraction). It wouldn’t be until the end of arc… 5…? that a moderator would get the chance to operate both an operator and navi in these scenarios, but I would never be operating two or more humans at once.

...and seeing what sticks, I guess...

So it goes like this. For the sake of the Acts, I want to end each Act with something a little different, in theme with both Amy's progression and her own overarching story-line. I know how I want to do it, and it would only really fit into a Subplot-style storyline, but I first need to know if what I'm planning would even be allowed inside said Subplot event/s.

For those of you who watched the anime you might feel like this is a cheap knock-off, but I like to think that it has big differences between the anime take, not to mention the mechanics are somewhat different (as you'll see).

But I won't even bother continuing down this particular avenue if the base idea is shot down, so here goes...

----------

Requesting confirmation whether the following would be allowed for Subplot-only battling.

*** Artificial Augmentation Fields ***

Background: The mixed result of a desire to introduce the world to net-navis in complete safety and another desire to create digital soldiers, Artificial Augmentation Fields (or 'AAFs' for short) were created using experimental technology and are still being developed and tested.

How It Works (Meta; skip unless interested): AAFs are created when eight AAF projection terminals are arranged over a large area in a cube-shape and then activated together to establish an electrical field. Inside this field, digital entities can manifest as physical entities, able to interact with the real world. This is done by the use of electrical currents that simulate the surfaces of those entities, to purvey their realism if touched.

By those programmed boundaries, it also allows spawned entities to create and use their normal battle weapons. In the case of navis, if an AAF transmission backplate is attached to a compatible PET, that PET can send battlechips to its paired navi while they exist in the AAF. Doing so brings its own risks, however, as the operator too would need to be in the same AAF to use this function. The electrical field itself is not powerful enough to bring harm to an operator, even over long periods of time, however as the manifestation of attacks are actually just bursts of electricity, operators in the field are exposed to the risk of electrocution if their body connects with one of these attacks.

The limitation of these fields is that the electrical pulses of attacks are just that: electrical pulses. While a navi may simulate a Bubbler chip or a Heatshot chip, the aqueous and heat properties are only simulated with other digital entities; their cooling and heating properties do not transmit to the real world. What is important to remember, however, is that while their elemental properties will not transfer, kinetic energy is still kinetic energy; a Heatshot may not cause a cold box to thaw, but the force of the shot will still send the box flying across the room if it isn't heavy enough to sustain the blast.

It is extremly difficult to disrupt an AAF from within it; as any attacks can only travel as far as the electrical field's boundaries, it is not possible for any digital entity to directly attack any of the eight projection terminals in order to take it offline. However, as stated before, kinetic energy is kinetic energy. If used correctly, a physical object inside the field could be propulsed in such a manner that, with repetitive force, a projection terminal could be taken offline, however doing so would leave the instigator exposed to attacks from other forces if present. With this in mind, the projection terminals are often placed at a distance from the edge of a planned AAF, to avoid this outcome.

How It Works (Rule Changes): There are no changes to existing rules; no changes to navi HP, turns, effects, etc. The only change is that the player will now control an extra charater in battle: the operator.

Upon entering an AAP a human operator will normally have 100% health, although this may change due to RP reasons if the operator is already injured.

A human's 'health' (perhaps vitality is a better word) is always viewed as a percentage, and cannot exceed 100%. In the first prototype field, attacks that would deal damage to a navi only deal 2% of their original damage to a human, but that value will increase as the story continues and further Acts come to a finish. Any damage incurred is represented as a percentage rather than a HP value, and are always rounded up to the nearest 0.1% if required. For example, if a 17 HP attack landed on an operator, 2% of 17 is 0.34, which would be rounded up to become 0.4% damage.

A human cannot be healed by recovery methods used by navis, instead needing to rely on their own stamina to recover. They can still use network defenses created for them (eg. shields, barriers, casings, etc), however attacks that cause negative effects can (and will) affect humans in the same manner as their navi counterparts.

A human's health directly affects their ability to assist, evade and recover:
75.01%-100% at turn start: 6 actions, normal evasion ability, +1.5% stamina at turn end
50.01%-75% at turn start: 4 actions, evasion ability -1 rank, +1% stamina at turn end
25.01%-50% at turn start: 2 actions, evasion ability -2 ranks, +0.5% stamina at turn end

A human's actions can be used for (but are not necessarily limited to):
* attempting evasion
* interacting with the environment
* transmitting a battlechip to their navi
* using a weapon provided to them (if possible)
* resting (which restores stamina dependent on the current level of health)
--- 75.01%-100%: 1% / 50.01%-75%: 2% / 25.01%-50%: 5%

If a human's health reaches 25% or lower, they will fall into an unconscious state (the final result of sustained electrocution). This is an unacceptable outcome, and will force the accompanying navi to rescue and eject their unconscious partner from the field (the equivalent of a human EJO).

The only other notable callout is that, while elemental attacks will still retain their strengths and weaknesses, their ability to affect the physical world does not carry over. For example, ice attacks do not actually freeze real-world objects, nor do fire attacks set items on fire. The field will simulate such effects, but the underlying objects will remain unchanged. HOWEVER, any explosive properties are still retained, as energy is energy, and kinetic energy will still interact with all objects in the same manner regardless of whether the entity is real or digital. The important thing to remember is that kinetic energy cannot leave the AAF; it will simply dissipate to nothing once it reaches the simulation edge. Any digital entity will get a sharp shock if they try to leave an AAF's boundaries (think of it as your body being disintegrated into nothing; you'd have the same painful reaction).

----------

Please let me know if this is out of the question, or if any changes would put it on the table.

Amy was getting used to the shiny panels that met her feet as she touched down from another overly dramatic glide through the air, but was taken aback by the appearance of three new viruses in the far corner as they became aware of her sudden presence. Perhaps Amy would have thought them to be cute, were it not for their rummaging through garbage.

"Eric, I think we have company," she advised as her sensors read their metadata. "What can you tell me about Ratty viruses?"

Her request had come at the same moment that the cafe waiter had placed down Eric's drink in front of him. He'd pushed the Netpendium to the side, but now with Amy's request waiting he was now trying to franctically move the hot chocolate away from him without spilling its precious contents.

A short flutter of page turns towards the viruses section and Eric had what he needed. "'Ratty. They fire missiles at you in an erratic but accurate pattern. Missiles that miss you have the ability to change course and seek you out again.'" Eric didn't like the sound of that. "Sounds dangerous," he added.

"Agreed."

Amy could already feel the static embrace of the turbulence field as it began generating, but based on their conversation last night about its abilities, she wasn't entirely sure it would repel one of these missiles. Time will tell, she told herself.

"Are you sure they're dangerous? They look kinda harmless," she commentated. But perhaps a little too soon; no sooner had she voiced the thought than one of the rats demonstrated what Eric had just mentioned; a rat-shaped missile launched forward from the pack and began to take wild deviations as it screamed towards them.

The panic was short-lived, as one of those derivates sent it into a pile of junk closer to Amy, ending its journey in a somewhat sizeable burst of junk not too dissimilar to the one Amy had created herself minutes ago. The difference this time was that it too awoke a disturance, and as this new entity rose to its feet, Amy's pedicels started surging warning signals to her mind. Sure, it looked similar to the Progs that oversaw The Flower, but there was something very sinister about this one.

"Eric...?" her voice quivered as it stood up, uttered some scrambled phrases at her and began walking forward.

"Don't think, attack!" Lily ordered.

Such an order might have seemed like the obvious answer, but Amy's own programming was staying her hand. This was not a virus, it was a Prog. Her disseminating techniques were more than capable of shredding the outer layers of rogue viruses, but she'd never tested their powers on a Prog before. Were they programmed the same way...? Or would her disruptive coding not prevent its permanent demise?

"Amy, do something!" Lily stressed to her partner, but her voice washed over Amy's ears, their meaning lost and unreciprocated in her stupor.

Lily wasn't going to be a passenger to Amy's self-inflicted paralysis. "Eric, Cannon!" Lily yelled. Amy's internal debate had left her oblivious to the threat now directly in front of her, and Lily sensed her powers alone wouldn't be enough for this obstacle.

Eric was also panicked that his navi had stopped responding, but the week of forced net battles were starting to have an effect on his own operating abilities. It didn't matter if it was Amy or Lily requesting the help, he'd do what he could. "Cannon and Guard1, in!" he confirmed as both chips passed through the reader.

The Cannon took its natural place in Amy's right hand, manifesting as the tubular vehicle she'd become accustomed to, whilst the round Metool shield generated in front of her left side, ready to defend when needed. Perhaps it was the partial obscuring of the DarkProg from her vision that snapped Amy out of her moral crisis. The lady in the blue dress had wasted precious time and now only had moments to formulate a plan to get herself out of this situation.

"Eric, cache the ZapRing and FireHit chips as well," she requested with urgency as the cannon barrel was brought forth to bear against the damaged Prog.

"I hope this isn't the end for you..." she whispered.

No sooner than Eric had slid the two extra chips into the PET as requested, Amy discharged the cannon blast out towards the electrical foe bearing down on her position. The blue smoke that filled the air in front of her was pushed aside by the Metool shield as Amy made a somewhat half-hearted effort to run towards the machine block situated on the left side of the roof. It didn't seem like she would make it in the few steps she could take, but perhaps its presence could stave off some of the directionality from her next foes, whose current home was her focus as she prepared the next salvos.

The ZapRing electrical rod peeked out from her sleeve as she brought it too to bear against the first target. Its crackling ring of electrical energy shot out across the rooftop, but what surprised Amy was the energy that followed behind it. Lily had discharged her own attack as a follow-up to Amy's ring, but it wasn't the usual burst of static energy she'd become used to; instead, it seemed to be almost silent, although Amy could clearly see the effect it had on the air as it travelled away from her. She'd have to ask about that one later.

With the ZapRing discharged, Amy found herself a little energised by the chip now loading into her hand. She'd read about its attacking properties with Eric prior to the battle, and it sounded a lot like her own cleansing gel in the way in which it dispersed with high intensity. Amy's particular flair could be seen in the flaming orb as it grew out of her hand, but by some miracle the blue edges of the otherwise white-hot ball of fire had no effect of her dress, leaving no burnt edges in its wake.

Perhaps this was a safety feature of the chip, but her enemies would likely not receive the same advantage.

Amy's hand gravitated towards the remaining two targets. Another forced palm gesture for effect, and the ball left her hand in the hopes of meeting its target. This time, the normal burst of energy followed in its trail, the crackling sound most welcome as it tore after the flame. Of course, her hand was almost immediately graced with a second ball of intense heat, but this was both expected and desired. It too flew off with a whuffing sound as it tried to chase down her final target.

----------

Actions:
[LA] Turbulence >>> Protect Amity/Liliana (shot/lob potential only)
[A1] [Disruptor] Guard1 (1-Hit Shield, Reflect <60 DMG) >>> Amity
[A2] [Disruptor] Cannon (60 DMG + Knockback) >>> DarkProg
[A3] Feint (towards middle ground, closer to Machine Block A)
[A4] ZapRing1 (40 Elec DMG + Stun) >>> Ratty A
[L1] Summer Heat (20 DMG + Phasing) >>> Ratty A
[A5] [Disruptor] FireHit1 (60 Fire DMG + Impact) >>> Ratty B
[L2] Ion Wind (25 Elec DMG) >>> Ratty B
[A6] [Disruptor] FireHit1 (60 Fire DMG + Impact) >>> Ratty C

Sigs:
Summer Heat [Used; 1/1 TCD remaining]

Party:
Amity.EXE: 210 / 210 HP
Liliana.SP: 60 / 60 HP [Equipped to Amity]

{<<< From Kotobuki Town: Osanajimi Plaza <<<}

{EAX024}

Up until this point, each time that Amy had travelled through a transmission stream she had been ejected at a high speed that required a mid-air somersault to land on her feet. With this in mind, our lady navi was surprised that the data stream was short-lived. As instant as she had left the PET, she found herself sitting on a seat in a near-replica of the cafe she'd observed Eric sitting at. The only difference was that the waiters and patrons were navis, not humans. For a reason she couldn't describe, the whole ordeal didn't sit well with her, and so she slid out of the booth and headed towards the door.

"MAY I HELP YOU?" the door waiter requested, in a tone that sounded all too similar to the Progs that oversaw her homepage.

"No, no thank you," she politely rebuffed as she exited through the front entrance, almost being jostled back into the building by a passing navi. Whilst the store itself was a replica of the cafe Eric had entered, the cafe itself was not in a mall like the real world, and leaving the front entrance resulted in Amy being exposed to a main thoroughfare through the network, with glittery, flashing shopfronts lining each side of the wide path. Although the road looked suitable for multiple lanes of cars, not a single vehicle was to be seen. Instead, in a similar fashion to the real Kotobuki, this street too was filled with navis either leaving a day job or about to start an evening one. The mass of heads moving through the thoroughfare would have made vehicular transport through the same space almost impossible.

"This is intense," came Lily's voice from the back of Amy's dress. "I doubt your Metool friend is here though."

"You're not wrong," Amy agreed as her pedicels extended out into the air. Finding Meep amongst such an active environment was likely to be a challenge, with so many sources of interference in the area.

Or not.

Almost immediately, Amy's antennae detected the matching gamma radiation signature and directed her off to the south, at odds with the main flow of navis walking down the path. She tried to duck and leap through the gaps where possible, but after being knocked into a building wall a third time she was fed up with being polite.

"Shards to this," she cursed as she ducked into an alley in-between two storefronts. An older lady navi gave her a weird look as she did so, but having a chance to breathe was more important than worrying about someone's opinion.

"Are you okay?" Amy knew Lily had been jostled almost as much as she had by the crowd's forceful movements.

"I'm alright. A few bumps here and there, but I'll live."

Amy's eyes diverted down the alleyway. It was darker here than in the street they'd just left, and was littered with garbage bins, debris, glowing furnaces and other items Amy had never seen before. In spite of this, the one positive feature was that the pathway itself was clear of navis. This narrowed pathway seemed a little hotter in temperature in comparison to the main street, and the occasional billow of smoke coming from the surrounding buildings suggested it may have been used for other purposes too.

Regardless, Amy was unfazed and perhaps a little overconfident. "I'm not going back out there," she concluded, taking a brief glance back at the main road before turning her attention back to this side street. A chance glance upwards revealed a number of ladders and stairways that had been installed onto the side of both buildings, likely as emergency exits and maintenance access points. Tiny windows also lined the floors, more likely as entrances for light than anything else. As Amy continued to stare at the network above her, her right hand raised itself into the air as her index finger began moving side to side between the walls.

Lily watched with curiousity. Although she couldn't physically see Amy's front, the combined radar and sonar properties of her own antennae and wings gave her a much wider scope of the area around them, and by using this technique she was able to trace the finger's patch as she realised what was going through her partner's head.

"Yes, I'm sure you could climb to the top of these buildings if you bounced back and forth up the railings and ladders, but for what purpose?"

"Call it a hunch," Amy pondered as her hands reached for the bottom hems of her dress. In its current state it would only get in her way, but with a few tugs towards her torso and some convenient programming from its maker, the inner seam stitching clung together, turning the dress into a long skirt. "That'll make things easier," she surmised, not at all worried about the sudden visibility of her slender legs.

Amy's natural acrobatic nature was put on show as she used the available ladders, railings, ledges and windows to skillfully bounce backwards and forwards between the two buildings. Slowly but surely, she ascended the walls, her hands finally finding the edge of the rooftop. Amy's hands propped her weight upwards, and with a final pivot to place her lower back against the wall, followed by a forceful kick ending in an aerial somersault, her boots found solid footing on a roof.

"Are you considering jumping from roof to roof?" Lily uttered in disbelief. "I don't think we belong up here."

Amy looked back across the divide between the building they were on and the next building towards the south. Had she planned just a little better, she would have rapelled up the other building, but her focus had been based too heavily on scaling the buildings, not which building was the right one to scale.

"I reckon if I get a good run at it, I could do it," she considered as the gap didn't look too wide. She'd jumped larger distances before.

"Amy?" Even Eric was getting a little nervous.

"I suppose it can't be helped," Lily sighed. In response, her wings began to grow in size. Amy was expecting them to grow back to her normal size, but to Amy's amusement, while the lower two wings grew to the size she expected, the upper two wings grew until they were twice as wide as their lower brethren.

"Lily, what are you doing?"

"I told you, you're too heavy for me to help you with flight. However, I believe that I should be able to help you glide across the gaps by forcing a downdraft once you're airborne. That should give you a little extra jumping distance."

"Excellent! In that case..." Amy took a few steps back from the ledge, and with a few breaths to gain composure, the girl's weight was focused forward as she dashed to the building's edge and vaulted herself off the roof. As stated, Lily's wings caught the momentum Amy had created and allowed her to clear the gap with ease, but another problem quickly arose.

"Watch out!" Lily cried out as a large metal duct came into view.

"No worries, we'll clear the duct easy!" she chippered back, tucking her legs upward.

"Not that, the dum-" but it was too late.

The duo passed over the duct, missing the opportunity to spring off its metal surface and instead dived straight into an overflowing dumpster that had been obscured by said duct. Lily's wings disappeared instantly as her ride was completely swallowed by the trashy mess. A rather unsightly explosion of plastic, food waste and other solids and liquids best left undescribed shot out in all directions. The garbage pile rocked back and forth, but it took a minute before two arms erupted from the heap, and a formerly-cyan dress became visible once again.

Amy climbed over the edge of the dumpster, a yellowish-orange slime obscuring a noticeable lack of enthusiasm on her face. The same slime rendered the affected parts of her dress a bizarre greenish hue. Both Eric and Lily remained completely silent as Amy looked around the rooftop for some sort of cleaning solution, but found nothing of use. An angry scream was followed by a solid kick of the offending dumpster.

"Fine!" she seethed as she lined up the next roof. I get it, I deserved that!"

Lily almost uttered the words Are you going to keep going looking like that...? but thankfully her mind was faster than her mouth as the thought never became audible. Without a way to clean herself, the poor lass didn't have much of a choice.

Despite the rather unfortunate experience, the line of roofs did seem to benefit the pair as it led them in the right direction, particular as Amy paid more attention to where she was going. For as long as they stayed close to the Kotobuki main road, the buildings seemed to mostly be of the same height and size. Each roof seemed to house a different set of uses or facilites; dumpsters, ducts, vents, signs, furnaces, chests, cupboards, even the occasional spa. To this end, Amy was at least able to find solace in one of the roofs that had a washing facility; nothing was going to stop her from using it. It took a few minutes for her to clean up the mess from her dress and her body, which was followed up by rapid drying thanks to a heated exhaust vent. It was only a matter of time before once again the pair were roof-hopping towards the south, the occasional head below catching a glimpse of the lady as she glided over the gaps.

But not every roof was welcoming to Amy and her partner, as she found out quickly upon landing on one of the larger roofs. This roof was already occupied...

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Amity.EXE: 210 / 210 HP
Liliana.SP: 60 / 60 HP [Equipped to Amity]

{{{ Roof-hopping always leads to trouble. Requesting Battle #1. }}}

{EAX023}

{<<< From Science Labs: Navi Shop: In the shop <<<}

=== CHAPTER 5 - A Different Perspective ===

The sidewalk was heavily trafficked as the going-home rush was setting in on the downtown streets of Kotobuki. One life was ending as another was reborn; the rush of businessmen and businesswomen heading home mixed in with those of the entertainment and hospitality sectors moving quickly through the crowds to avoid being late for the start of the nightlife. A bizarre sight; the suits and uniforms moving one direction, casual wear, bright vests and the occasional costume moving the other.

It was in this environment that a bus of no particular interest stopped in front of Osanajimi Plaza, one of the smaller shopping malls in downtown Kotobuki, and ejected one nervous Eric Bauersox with a group of brightly dressed ladies. Eric was already on edge from the swarms of people pressing in on him, but his feet led him across the sidewalk and through the main door of the plaza, its neon signs a little less bright than the surrounding shops. His nerves calmed considerably once he was away from the bustling crowd; this mall was familiar to him.

"Why did you agree to meet here?" Amy pondered. "Seems to me that this place doesn't exactly fit your description of him." She'd been advised the person they were meeting was responsible for the management of a number of high-profile shopping malls, but upon seeing storefronts with aging fixtures and dim or gently flickering lights, this centre didn't seem to match the profile of 'successful property owner'.

"That's why it's perfect. The people who run businesses here aren't as interested in earning his favour as the storeowners in malls like Yutaka Plaza. It's a safer place for him to meet clients, apparently."

"I'm getting a little nervous about meeting this man."

"I have to admit, so am I."

Eric brushed off their concerns as he walked past multiple storefronts and used the escalator in the centre of the mall's thoroughfare to rise to the higher level. Upstairs and only a few steps away from the top of the escalator was a restaurant he'd frequented a few times in order to catch up with his old friend, and as it so happened, it had a network connection to Kotobuki Net that was somewhat close to the sector that Meep had last been seen.

The store owner appeared to recognise Eric as he walked in, an older gentleman wearing a white shirt with a green waiter's apron. The man gestured towards a table at the back of the shop without a word, but Eric knew the table in question. He bowed in response to the waiter's gesture and slid into the table booth at the end of the dining area. The olive-tone seats were aged, but didn't show any signs of tearing around the foam edges, and the rectangular table was neatly polished, with only a napkin dispenser and menu holder pushed up against the wall.

"I think we're a bit early," Lily commented as Eric looked at the wall on the clock.

"We're very early. He won't be here for at least another hour, I guess." Eric had planned for the worst (as usual) in making plans to travel from ACDC to Kotobuki via Science Labs, but in doing so they had certainly arrived ahead of the agreed time.

"Perfect. Let's do it now," Amy suggested, eagerness filling her words. "Eric? What do you think?"

Eric was thinking about ordering a drink, possibly a slice of cake; their planned rescue hadn't been his priority yet. Meditating on the possibility, it didn't seem like any harm could come from their rescue mission going first. "You're right, we have time. He's often late anyway."

Eric's eyes looked up to the network sensor on the wall a few paces in front of them. Eric had never had a need to use it before as his navi adventures had never resulted in a long-term partner, but a part of him had watched other patrons use it for various purposes, and perhaps he had been a little jealous to be the odd one out.

Not anymore. Virus busting was slowly becoming a normal thing to Eric. "Here we go," he advised as he lined up the PET with the network relay and tapped 'Transmit'.

{>>> To Kotobuki Net: A Meep of Faith >>>}

(((Understood; I think I confused previous in-character shop banter as future instructions...)))

---

An online shop? That information could be very useful to the both of them, but more pressing matters needed resolving first.

"Thank you very much," Amy directed towards the shopkeep in a formal tone, before switching back to her more assertive voice. "Eric, pick those up please."

As directed, Eric's hands removed the items from the counter.

"Put them in your pocket."

The items entered into Eric's left pocket.

"Now turn around and head outside."

Amy was ready with more directions, but her desire for Eric to leave was now in line with Eric's desire to flee. It took no further encouragement for the red-haired man to dash forward, burst through the door, almost knock over a postal delivery serviceman in his haste and then run down the street back in the direction they came, ignorant to the passersby he almost knocked over and a few choice words directed at him as he blurred past people, buildings and cars.

It was only after Eric had run for three blocks that his body finally sought a place to rest. A park bench provided him with a chance to calm his nerves as his breathing returned to normal and his eyes no longer looked panic-stricken. It certainly helped that across the road from the bench was a pet store; perhaps the imagery of kittens and puppies helped to dissolve the turmoil in his head.

Once Eric's thoughts became rational again he surveyed this new area, noticing it was far from where he'd been only moments ago; at least, from his perspective. A nearby clock helped Eric to realise that twenty minutes had gone by since his last watch glance. Upon noticing the sweat lining his shirt collar and his clammy hands, he finally connected the dots.

He raised the PET to his eyeline again. "I'm sorry Amy."

"For what?" she enquired, although her tone suggested a lack of sincerity.

"I thought... I thought I was ready to... to do that on my own," Eric admitted, like he'd failed an important test.

"But you're not on your own," she fired back. "Not anymore. We're both here for you."

An intense warmth started growing in his chest, spreading quickly to his face. Words failed him as he desperately tried to stay the well forming in his eyes. Amy and Lily remained silent as he successfully fought back the tears, and eventually the smallest of smiles began to creep onto Eric's face instead.

"Thank you," he slurred his words in resignation. Perhaps he wasn't fully in control of his emotions yet. "I'll try harder next time."

"Hey, we've got this, remember?" she reminded him as he lifted his body off the seat. "Besides, if that place bothers you that much, it sounds like they have an online store. We don't have to go back."

"...Really?" Eric's ears pricked to this news, his eyes flashing with new energy. "I didn't think they were big enough to have an online shop?" Surely Stacey would have known about this if it was true...?

"I don't know. The shopkeep said something about being online, so maybe we can check it out later...?"

Eric smiled again, the remainder of the earlier grief vanishing from his face. Having to never go back to that street again was the best news he'd heard in a long time. "Please... please do that... for me," he almost pleaded in response.

Amy nodded, but was then distracted by a whispering voice.

"So are you going to explain to me what just happened?" Lily piped up from the shadows.

"Another day Lily, another day," she whispered back.

But truthfully, Amy didn't know much more about Eric's reaction than her partner; Amy wanted an answer as well. There was something about that street that affected Eric deeply. Stacey knew something about it, of that she was sure, but as she wasn't exactly on the best of terms with his sister, they'd both have to wait until Eric felt like enlightening them.

"Alright Eric, let's keep moving. You can install the upgrades while we're on the metro."

----------

Zenny: -1500 (1920 >>> 420)

Process Upgrades: +2 (6 >>> 8)

{>>> To Kotobuki Town: Osanajimi Plaza >>>}

Assuming no issue with purchasing the two process upgrades, I'd like to make the following changes to Liliana:

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Bugfrag Purchases

HP Lv.2 (20 BF)
Damage Lv.3 (30 BF)

Bugfrags: 61 >>> 11

Level Up! HP (+1), Damage (+1)
Liliana.SP: Lv.6 >>> Lv.8 (Amy cap)

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Signature Attacks

Purchasing two Process Upgrades will bump the pool from 320 to 400. Planning to use those 80 points to add the following two new signatures to Liliana. If Gravity cannot be by itself in a standalone signature I may need to revisit 'Spring Breeze' first.

Spring Breeze
[Gravity (40 SP) = 40 SP]
1 TCD - Shot-type - Gravity (No risk of injury to Liliana if 'Gust' subtype ability is active)
Lily's wings don't just dispel electricity. They are capable of causing micro-abrasions against the air itself to generate an unusual static cling to the limbs in question. If Lily generates an electrical charge within the wings whilst they are causing the micro-abrasions, a heightened energy field of magnetism generates onto her body that attracts objects of a similar electrical polarity to the support program with a fierce bond. On its own this would only bind electrical entities with the same polarity, but if Liliana were to discharge the same stored energy at another object, its own electrical polarity would become temporarily altered to match the new energy. Such an alteration would cause a supercharged magnetic bond to be established, even over a large distance, which could then result in said objects being drawn to the butterfly against their will, like a creature drawn in by the smell of a spring breeze.

Summer Heat
[20 Damage (20 SP) + Phasing (20 SP) = 40 SP]
1 TCD - Shot-type - 20 Damage, Phasing
In their natural state, Liliana's wings will discharge electrical energy when attacking. However, if focused correctly, the electrical properties of ionised energy bursts can be altered to suit various purposes. If the positrons and negatrons are disrupted in such a way that the entire digital nucleus of the atoms are temporarily in a disassociated state, they obtains a free-form property that can allow them to bump into solid-form atoms and pass on the continuing kinetic energy to push the attack forward. In short, a 'Newton's-cradle'-style particle wave allows the atoms to continue forward through most forms of solid matter until it is ready to manifest again as a damaging entity in front of (and sometimes inside) its intended target, as unforgiving as a scorching summer heat.