And then there were two. Half of the foes removed from the equation of battle meant that Amy could breathe just a little bit easier. Not that she was excessively panicking though; this battle had certainly been a change of pace compared to her previous experiences.

"Okay, that's done, now what?" she asked. "Actually, you know what? Never mind; send me the Shockwave and Pulsar please." The remaining Satellite had lowered itself down again, almost touching the glowing panels inside the dome. If she was quick enough she may be able to catch it with a rolling shockwave before it rose up again.

"Shockwave and Puls-whoops." Eric stopped as he accidentally fumbled with the Pulsar chip; slipping out of his hand, it tumbled down the side of his arm and into the gap between the chair's cushion and armrest. Mentally slapping himself, he hit transmit once the Shockwave had been loaded as he looked to where he thought it had landed. "Sorry, the Pulsar will be a second..." he grumbled as he tried to reach into the crevice to locate it. Unfortunately, the space that his hand entered into found nothing, and shifting his fingers up and down the seam seemed to have the same result.

The Shockwave entered into Amy's purple right boot, so without any further adieu she took a step forward and stomped hard, unleashing the attack wave into the dome and towards the mechanical creature. It was hard to say if it saw the attack coming; it didn't have eyes. Or a face, for that matter.

"Come on Eric, time's a-wasting..." she pointed out whilst her arm was pointed forward towards the Satellite. It had managed to score some hits against her moments ago, but the healing nature of her garments had nullified any effect as it continued to glow unwaveringly. In her head she was mentally calculating how much damage was required to neutralise the Satellite. In its natural state it had 100 hitpoints, and the floating cube had attempted to heal 15 hitpoints earlier; assuming that the DBLCUBE healed it again she would need a combined attack power of 115 hitpoints to finish it off. 100 plus 15 equals 115. See? Virus busting isn't hard, it's just basic math, she tried to reassure herself. Unsuccessfully. Or not. Like that's the only variable involved...

Based on that math though, if the Shockwave disrupted an equivalent of 40 hitpoints, and the Pulsar disrupted 70 hitpoints, she was still short an extra 5 hitpoints. She'd need to hit it with something else. Eric was still too distracted to prepare another chip so she loosened up some of the mistified cleansing gel from her backup disruptors and expended it into the field at terminal velocity.

"Sorry, it's coming now," Eric finally advised. The Pulsar's sonic speaker finally took shape on her right arm, which was handy as it was still angled towards the Satellite from Amy's gaseous dispersion. No point in waiting; a third entry was thrown into the ring as the invisible soundwave charged through the air in the same direction as the attacks prior.

"Wow Eric. Butterfingers much?"

"Sorry Amy."

---------

Actions:
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]
[1] [Disruptor] Shockwave [40 DMG, Line1, Ground] >>> SatelliteA
[2] Seamshot [15 DMG] >>> SatelliteA
[3] [Disruptor] Pulsar1 [70 DMG] >>> SatelliteA
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]

Cooldowns:
Calming Spray(A) [+1 TCD; 1/1 TCD; Ready!]

Party:
Amity.EXE: 170 / 170 HP

One down, three to go. With the Satellites taking to the skies, Amy recalled what Eric told her moments ago: {{{...once locked onto a target it will enter an evasive mode to avoid most forms of hand-to-hand combat whilst attacking...}}} Given their sudden change in appearance, surely this was what Eric had alluded to. No time to waste then, she needed to make the most of her current situation.

"Shotgun next please Eric!" she directed whilst loading up on cleansing gel. She'd noticed that the DBLCUBE had opted to try to heal its allies instead of attacking her; that was fine as far as she was concerned. The less directions she had to watch for incoming fire the better.

"Shotgun loaded," Eric confirmed as the data began to transmutate her left arm, the cold steel giving her a slight shiver during the very brief moment where skin and metal were partly one. The Satellite on her left had been partially incapacitated by the ZapRing fired earlier, a sensation she'd hoped to never feel herself, but that wasn't going to last. Taking aim with both arms, Amy let her attacks loose as both the cleansing gel and the modified shotgun exploded from her arms and began to race each other to their intended target.

The arms on her dress glowed in the same muted light as the frills on the hem, which in this environment reflected off the glass structure somehow and sparkled in the bluish grey smoke left behind by the shotgun's spray. She may have had time to admire it if she wasn't in the middle of a battle.

She'd been standing on the edge of the area, outside of the curved drop-off, but with three viruses still in play she readied herself in preparation for their response.

---------

Actions:
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]
[1] [Disruptor] Shotgun [50 DMG + Spread1] >>> SatelliteB
[2] Calming Spray(A) [40 DMG, Aqua] >>> SatelliteB
[3] Dodge preparation
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]

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

Party:
Amity.EXE: 170 / 170 HP

As Amy walked through the outer rim of the city she'd dropped into, she noticed that the further she got away from the main hub the weirder the technological structures got in shape, size and colour. It was almost like the ones worth viewing had been moved closer to where citizens could admire them, and the 'rejects' were just left on the outskirts, as a reminder of what not to do for those needing inspiration.

Eric had been mostly quiet as Amy moved through the region, but occasionally she'd hear him flipping pages. It sounded like he'd found something to read, so at least he was occupied for the time being. Little Miss had stuck her head out of the back seam and was sightseeing as Amy passed by each structure. Her head was twisting from side to side as each new structure came into view, causing Amy some mild discomfort as she walked but nothing worth complaining about. What Amy considered to be an eyesore was the exact opposite for her passenger it seemed, as her focus remainded on the more bizarre constructions longer than others.

As they approached one structure in particular, a green glint of light entered into Amy's eyes, turning them skyward to the source.

"Hey, Eric, is that another one of those mystery data things?" she asked, pointing to the rotating crystal at the top of a glass structure.

Eric tapped the zoom on the monitor display to further enhance the image. "It looks like it, yes. But it looks like it's being guarded," he pointed out, referring to the odd cube-looking creature that hovered above it.

Amy's scanners locked onto its signature and confirmed it didn't belong. "It's a virus," she advised. "A DBLCUBE, apparently."

"DBLCUBE... DBLCUBE..." Amy could hear more pages turning as Eric muttered unintelligible words under his breath. "Here," he announced. "'Has the ability to both attack and defend multiple targets and allies at once, depending on the colour currently being emitted from its core.'"

Amy pulled up a monitor of her own to see how Eric was providing this useful information. In his lap was a thick book, and sure enough the page he'd opened to had a few images of what looked to be a virus family; the first image was a near-perfect representation of what she was looking at. Listed below it were expected hitpoints depending on the particular family variant encountered, along with some descriptions of their common attack habits and patterns.

"Where was that?" she asked.

"I went looking through the pile of magazines to see if there was any kind of battlechip... list?... database?... I don't know. Anyway, I couldn't find anything useful on the table, but this was sitting in the table drawer." Keeping a finger in place so as to not lose where he was up to, he flipped the front cover back into view. The word 'NetPendium' was written across the front, with the byline 'Your navi operations encyclopaedia'.

"And?" she asked.

"It has a LOT of stuff in it. It's got four main chapters; viruses, terrain, battlechips and miscellaneous. Anyway, if that's a DBLCUBE, that's what it says, anyway."

"Okay then..." Amy looked to the area and saw a manner turret that was sitting underneath the glass tower. It was identified as a Gunner. "What about a Gunner?"

A few page flips followed. "Here it is. 'Gunner. Attacks through waves of gunfire. While the attacks themselves aren't powerful, it makes up for this by either attacking a large area at once or by focusing multiple blasts at a single location.' It also says they can't move under their own power."

"Fair enough." As she got closer to the edge of the bowl, two more viruses came into view. These were identified by her scanner as Satellites. "What about Satellites?"

Eric turned more pages until he found that one too. "'Satellite. Will use its sensors to lock onto a target before attacking multiple times with increased accuracy. Its sensors can see through many types of illusions, and once locked onto a target it will enter an evasive mode to avoid most forms of hand-to-hand combat whilst attacking.'"

"Wow. That's a LOT of useful information. Don't let go of that book Eric." She dismissed the monitor and returned her attention back to this new arena. Did she want to start a fight unnecessarily? It was just like the playground all over again; the viruses weren't causing any trouble to anyone.

The Gunner must have detected Amy's presence as its gun came swinging around to face her. Okay, so maybe they weren't entirely friendly. Or maybe it was just preparing for her to make the first move?

{{{Vigilance is required to keep the order.}}} Those words repeated in her head again like a nagging voice. She had the ability and the circumstances to remove the viruses from the area. Did that make it her duty?

"I don't know, Eric. Do you want me to engage them?" Amy began formulating her first moves should the response come back affirmitive.

"...They're viruses," Eric finally replied. "I know you don't like the idea of fighting them, but Stacey always sa-"

"If I wanted to know what Stacey thought I'd ask her. What do YOU think?" Amy needed to know how Eric felt about her situation. Not his sister. Not her navi. Him.

Eric bit his lip as he tried to think of the right words. "You really want to know?" he responded shakily. "I could be completely wrong."

"Yes, I do."

Eric took a deep breath, if only to calm his nerves. Here goes... "If viruses didn't exist, navis wouldn't have been given tools to fight them. I guess it's true that some navis fight other navis, but that's because of the same reasons some humans fight other humans, it doesn't make it normal or right. Those weapons were designed to help navis fight back against the world of viruses. I have a job because viruses mess around with our networks and break things they shouldn't. Everyone in the NetPolice have jobs because viruses are used all over the world to commit all sorts of crimes. That's why Stacey has a job, she helps them try to keep the peace and stop anybody causing trouble." Eric paused to catch his breath. "I mean, look at you," he added. "You feel bad about hurting others, especially when you think they didn't do anything to deserve it. You've hesitated before every battle I've watched so far. You let that Metool escape when Crony could've finished it off in one shot. You helped that little girl in the cave, even though I think Crony and his team could have helped her better. In light of all of that, you still have a virus-fighting setup that, while it doesn't delete them completely it still removes them from the area. Doesn't that tell you something about your maker?"

Amy was uncomfortable about how observant Eric had been about their adventures so far, but couldn't let him stop now. "What? What does it tell me?"

"They programmed you with an overwhelming desire to protect others. One even you can't explain. But you still have a battle system, so they still expected you to fight. My guess is that they gave you only the tools you needed so that even if you did have to fight, you'd be doing it in your own special way so that nobody got hurt permanently. I think you're still struggling with this responsibility though."

Amy was cut to her core. As much as she tried to fight it, Eric's words rang true; that's why she'd taken Little Miss on as her own problem, even though she really had no obligation to. It was lingering guilt from not having helped the Metool earlier, even though that too wasn't her fault or problem.

"So... what should I do?"

Eric had expected some form of rebuttal, some sort of backlash from his brutal yet honest words. He didn't like to speak his mind as it usually got him into trouble. Amy had not only heard his remarks but still wanted more feedback; did she really value what he had said? Had he been right?

"I can't answer that for you, but if it helps, Crony always said that viruses are a stench on-"

"-on all networks," Amy interrupted, finished his sentence. "You told me that earlier." And I was right, it WAS Crony who said that.

"Oh. Sorry, I forgot. Look, I'm sorry if that was all wrong, but that's how I feel, anyway."

No, you have nothing to apologise for, but that was too clear, too concise. I think you just described parts of yourself as well, didn't you...?

Amy nodded in confirmation. "No need to apologise. In that case, let's do this. Send the Cannon please. Oh, and send me that Bunny's battlechip as well." She nudged the child's head back into her dress to ensure her protection, her own hair filling its absence to create a tangible defense.

Eric passed both the Cannon and ZapRing1 through the reader. "Both chips coming now."

The Cannon took formation on her right arm as she trained it towards the Gunner that had done the same thing with its gun pointed towards her. Her dress hems had already begun to glow in preparation for the battle to come, as if it was giving her the green light to engage (even if it was technically white). The Gunner itself was sitting in the middle of four glass poles that held up the glass platform above it; she had to make sure she didn't hit any of the poles themselves. The ZapRing was still taking formation on her left arm as she jettisoned the cannonfire into the field towards the manned turret, bluish smoke leaving a streak from her arm.

The ZapRing took shape and created a slight buzzing feeling in her body as it charged up for the shot. The Satellite on her left was closer and likely to be the bigger immediate threat, so as she prepared for the inevitable mobbing to follow from her new enemies she lined up her shot and fired, a brilliantly dazzling yellow shining ring of energy emerging from her sleeve as it whizzed into the battlefield.

---------

Actions:
[1] [Disruptor] Cannon [60 DMG, Knockback] >>> Gunner
[2] [Disruptor] ZapRing1 [40 DMG, Elec, Stun1] >>> SatelliteB
[3] Dodge preparation
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]

Cooldowns:
None

Party:
Amity.EXE: 170 / 170 HP

Commendation? For her? Was this officer serious? The only reports her name had ever featured on were ones that precluded her from progressing in her training, or reports that detailed all the things she'd done wrong in exams. But to get praise for doing what any reasonable person would do...?

That's wasn't exactly true though, was it. Her original intent was to leave everything as it was, to avoid what was in her eyes an unnecessary battle since she couldn't decide who to side with, the navis or the viruses. It was only because of Eric's reasoning that she'd stepped into the park and dealt with the viruses in the first place. It was him that really deserved the praise, not her, even if she had been the one that did the necessary removals.

"My name is Am...ity. Amity." She wasn't sure why she'd suddenly hesitated to use her chosen name, instead defaulting back to the name on her biopage; an unknown feeling was tugging at her mind, like she had something to hide. There was no need to fear though; these were police officers, navis designed to protect her and others. She could trust them. And yet, she didn't correct herself, instead moving to her operator. "And his name is Eric. Eric... umm... what's your last name?" she asked.

"It's Bauersox, officer," as he spelt it out. "Please don't make a big deal out of this though, we were really only just doing the ri-"

"HEY!" Amity yelled as she saw the blue navi running into the playground. The danger had subsided now that the viruses had been dispatched, but it was running towards an object that Amy hadn't yet claimed as her own. "Nonononono!" she warned as she dashed in front of the child to claim the data fragment left alongside the merry-go-round. "I'm sorry, but we need this," she apologised. "Eric?"

"Just a second," he replied whilst digging into his backpack. He didn't remember packing his chip folder, and he certainly didn't remember packing any blank chips, but sure enough a small stash was sitting at the bottom of the pack. "That's handy," he admitted. "I wonder how long they've been in there..."

Amy transmitted the data off the net to Eric, and a new ZapRing1 was ejected from the PET. The image reminded Eric of the Bunnys, but that wouldn't help him work out its abilities and attack power. As he stared at the chip, his eyes darted to the stack of magazines sitting just within his eyeline. Was it possible he could find some kind of book here that listed all the common battlechips and viruses they might run into? It wasn't such an absurd idea; they were in a police safehouse, no? It didn't look like the magazines were read much anyway, so surely nobody would miss it if there was one. He'd have to clear it with Stacey first, of course. He sat back up and began to flick through the pile.

Amy was ready to move on, but with the two police officers still present, it might have been hasty to assume they were finished with her. "Sorry for the disturbance officer, but if that's all you wanted from us, are we clear to go?" Amy was still keen on exploring, but after dealing with the mess she'd landed in from busting inside the city limits, she wanted to get as far away from the city buildings as possible; the green-signed building would have to wait for another day.

----------

Battle #1 Complete!

Rewards:
Zenny: +600 (220 >>> 820)
Battlechip: ZapRing1Damage: 40 + Stun 1
Accuracy: A
Description: Shoots electricity in a ring shape to stun an enemy in their tracks.
Duration: Once
Element: Elec
Trader Rank: D
Battlechips: 12 >>> 13

(((Select Amity's next action: [Continue talking to officers] / [Seek out battle #2])))

Amy stared at the officer who bore a similar resemblance to Crony, although this one looked less sophisticated and a lot shorter too, but not so short that Amy could look straight into its eyes as equals. Its presentation didn’t seem nearly as intimidating, nor how it had engaged her in conversation. Hopefully she could avoid any sort of confrontation.

Before she could respond to its request for an explanation, Eric’s voice drowned hers out in a flustered panic. “We’re sorry officers, we didn’t mean to cause any harm! There were viruses in the playground that were keeping these other navis from enjoying the area, and since nobody was around to help, we thought we’d do our part, that’s all! We didn’t mean to cause any trouble; the playground equipment was ruined by the bears!”

Amy stepped forward. “Umm, that’s not entirely true,” she commented, pointing to the merry-go-round. “That was my fault, but it was necessary to eliminate as many threats as possible without taking too many risks. I was going to try and repair it afterwards, I promise.” As she looked to the second officer completing network repairs, she was glad that someone could fix up the zone so soon. Maybe the blue navi could play there after all.

An unsightly lump had grown out of Amy's head as she shook off the confusion that comes from being slammed by a solid sheet of metal. The attack certainly wasn't unjustified given she'd struck first, but it still hurt nonetheless. Her healing systems were already trying to fix the damage as she regained her composure and focused on the final combatant.

"Are you okay?" Eric asked. Being hit head-on by a slide would be enough to hurt anybody.

"Yeah yeah, just a bump to the noggin', all good," she replied with the tiniest of grins. Eric seemed to worry about the slightest of risks to her health, but she certainly wasn't going to complain about it; it was nice having someone fuss over her wellbeing.

"Please, just be careful," he responded. "So, what do you need next?" His hand hovered over the chip folder, waiting for orders.

The Teddy had been having fun throwing whatever object was closest to it in Amy's direction. While it would have been fun to reciprocate the favour, Amy didn't feel like getting close to its claws. "Let's just finish this from here," she replied whilst generating cleansing gel into her right hand. "Requesting the Shotgun please."

The cleansing gel reached critical mass in her hand whilst the Shotgun took shape on her left arm. She took a brief glance around the former playground; she'd hoped to clean out the viruses so that it could be used as originally intended, but not a single piece of equipment was now in its original position or its original state. She'd failed in that regard; had it all been a waste of time to fight after all?

Dismissing the thought, she ejected both the cleansing gel and Shotgun pellets towards the Teddy whilst preparing for any resistance along the way. The soil under her shoes felt much more welcome than the cold steel she'd been walking on earlier, but it still felt different to the regular terrain she was used to. As she compared the three terrain types, an idea came to her mind. Sure, she may not be able to fix the playground, but her glacier gel generators were functioning again. At the very least, if she couldn't fix the equipment, she could use the situation to test out her newly repaired subsystem and give some children an early taste of winter.

First things first, though; that Teddy had to go.

----------

Actions:
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [150 >>> 160 / 170 HP]
[1] [Disruptor] Shotgun [50 DMG, Spread1] >>> TeddyB
[2] Calming Spray(A) [40 DMG, Aqua] >>> TeddyB
[3] Dodge preparation
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [160 >>> 170 / 170 HP]

Cooldown:
Calming Spray(A) [Used; 0/1 TCD; Recharging]

Party:
Amity.EXE: 170 / 170 HP

"Damn, that thing can throw!" Amy remarked, quickly glancing behind her to the climbing frame that had now changed positions in the field. "Stacey was right, those claws really can be used for more than just slicing and dicing..." The strength itself may have come from the creature that was almost twice her height, but Amy liked entertaining the idea that she could do that too if she wanted to. Her small frame being able to handle that much weight... yeah, she could get used to that.

A faint sparkling on the ground dragged her attention down to her legs. The hem of her dress... was it glowing a little brighter than usual, or was that just her imagination? It was true that she could feel her repulsors buzz with a little more enthusiasm than before, and Eric had said that the navi parts he'd installed were upgrades. Working in unison, hopefully the upgrades would amplify her active abilites to do an even better job than before. Time would tell, of course; compared to her battles yesterday, this was almost a walk in th-no, don't start with your silly puns again... she stopped mid-thought.

The two Bunny cores took off into the air with much haste as they departed the playground. Good; with two foes down and two to go, Amy plotted her next course of action. "Alright, that worked... a little too well, I might add," she nervously chucked to her operator. "I guess let's try a little more offense then. Requesting the Shockwave and Cannon. Please," she added, almost as an afterthought once again.

With the two chips in hand, Eric did his duty and uploaded the necessary data. "Done, they're on their way."

The Shockwave lit up the underside of her right boot as the Cannon took form on her right arm. With any luck, the combo would be enough to eliminate the closest threat and take the remaining count of foes down to one. As the Cannon cylinder edged out of her dress, Amy's eyes glanced over to the merry-go-round she'd just mangled through the soundwave of the Pulsar only moments ago. I need to make sure we do our best to fix that after this is done; I don't want there to be any trouble from us breaking anything... she told herself.

Lining up her shots, Amy took a step forward and slammed her right foot against the ground as she did so, unleashing the rolling wave towards her closest foe. Without waiting for a reaction, the Cannon was fired in succession in an effort to neutralise. It was a shame really, but Eric's words came back to mind as she prepared herself for the retaliation. {{{Vigilance is required to keep the order.}}} Definitely something that Crony would have said; the statement itself simply reeked of 'high and mighty' rhetoric, which was something she expected out of the police navi, not his operator. It was true though; what would have happened if the Teddy had thrown that equipment at the little blue navi that just wanted to play? It was doubtful it would have had the ability to fight back like Amy did...

----------

Actions:
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]
[1] [Disruptor] Shockwave [40 DMG + Line1 + Ground] >>> TeddyA (+TeddyB?)
[2] [Disruptor] Cannon [60 DMG + Knockback] >>> TeddyA
[3] Dodge preparation
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]

Sigs:
None in cooldown

Party:
Amity.EXE: 170 / 170 HP

As Amy approached the scene, a shiver went down her spine as she recognised the two viruses spinning around on what looked to be a most unusual device, while one bear-like creature played with another unusual contraption, and another bear laid out in the middle of the yard.

"Eric, what is this?" she asked. She'd never seen anything like this before.

Eric had to zoom in a little to understand what he was looking at. "Oh. It's a playground for navis," he replied.

Amy was confused. "Playground? Why would a navi need something like that?"

Eric shrugged. "I think the more important question is, why would someone program a navi to look and act like a child? That always confused me," he replied.

It wasn't a direct dig at the girl, but if what he said was true, the navi attached to her midregion would probably have used and enjoyed such a creation if it had been designed for her. It also made sense then why the green navi was concerned about the viruses; the blue navi in her charge probably had the same desire.

Logically speaking, it may have been possible for both navis and viruses to co-exist in a peaceful environment. But as Amy stared at the two Bunnys and how their ears kept arcing off the spinning metal platform, even that in itself could be a potential hazard. And while the bear's carefree and laidback nature was fine right now, Amy recognised the claws on their arms as RageClaws; she knew their power too. But the team of four had gotten there first. Was it right for anybody to remove them from the area?

Amy was perplexed about what to do about the situation. Her mind returned to the scene yesterday with the three Metools; did she have the right to interfere?

"Eric, what would you do?" she finally asked, desperate for another point of view.

"'What would I do?'..." he repeated, sure he hadn't heard her properly.

"Yeah. This isn't like anything I've had to deal with before."

Eric wasn't sure why he'd been chosen to act as the mediator between the two parties; he certainly didn't have any experience in this area either. "Are you sure you want my advice?" he asked. "The navis there would probably be more use than me."

Amy shook her head. "No, they seem just as conflicted."

Leave them be... or remove them. Leave them be... or remove them. Leave them be...

...or remove them.

"This might just be my thinking, but viruses are not natural, right?" Eric reasoned. "This is a part of the internet made for navi use. You said that your disruptors don't kill, right?"

Amy nodded. "They just destroy the outer data layer, leaving the inner data core intact. What happens next is up to them, I guess; I don't actually know much about the cores themselves or why they do... whatever it is they do afterwards. Most just fly away; back to their source network I assumed."

'Assumed' was the right word; as she'd learned from her encounter with the Batworm, that thesis was now in need of revision. It had behaved in a way contrary to all other viruses and now Amy didn't know what to think.

"But the outer layer is the dangerous part, yes?"

"I guess..." It was true, for sure, but still meant inflicting pain to erase that layer.

"Stacey and Crony are the ones always saying that viruses are a stench on all networks. That vigilance is required to keep the order," he offered as a reason to justify the course they were planning.

"Viruses are still intelligent creatures, with thoughts and feelings. Do you believe everything those two say?" she questioned back.

"...Not exactly. But Matt thinks the same way, so I believe them."

'Matt' was not a name that Amy had heard yet. Now was not the time to play Who's Who; a decision had to be made regarding the playground.

"So. If we're going to be partners, I'm supposed to follow your lead. I'm not used to having someone else call the shots, but... if I disagree with you, I'll definitely let you know," she chuckled. "So, what do you want me to do? I'll follow your lead... for now."

Eric took another look at the field. "'Strength in numbers'. That strategy still work for you too?"

"Absolutely." If that's how they were going to do this then Amy was ready and already formulating a plan. "In that case, requesting the Pulsar... please."

The late addition of a 'please' made Eric smile again. It was the first time she'd asked politely instead of just demanding what she pleased. He passed the chip through the reader and transmitted the data.

"Okay, let's do this..." she uttered to herself as the Pulsar took form on her right arm as the sonic speaker. The safety fence was going to be an issue as it was blocking her attack path. Gingerly stepping around the fence to avoid drawing attention to herself, she moved into the left side of the playground nearest to the entrance, fully aware of the range of the shockwave that she was about to unleash and hoping not to catch herself in it as well. It had done an amazing job of levelling a full region of a cave; catching the two Bunnys on the metal stage should be easy, right...?

I hope we can fix it again afterwards... she thought to herself as she discharged the sonic blast towards the merry-go-round. It didn't look like it was structurally sound enough to survive the resonance, but maybe she could do something about it. Her attention now swung to the field as a whole, ready to 'play' with whatever decided to give her a hard time. As expected, the faithful healing system made itself known through its gentle glow, ready to offer a helping hand where needed.

----------

Actions:
[1] Feint/Movement (dependent on distance requirement) to enter playground's near left zone
[2] [Disruptor] Pulsar1 [70 DMG + Triggered Blast 2] >>> Merry-Go-Round ~> BunnyA & BunnyB
[3] Dodge preparation
-----
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]
[P] THAW [9 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amy [??? >>> ??? / 170 HP]

Sigs:
None in cooldown

Party:
Amy: 170 / 170 HP

{EAX007}

[<<< From Science Labs: Small Steps <<<]

"Hey, is that one of those black transmission boxes like what you had back at home?" Amy enquired. It certainly looked it to her; the blinking lights and RF receiver seemed to be a dead giveaway.

Eric stared up on the wall. "Looks like it, yes."

Amy stared at Eric, and Eric stared right back.

"Do we have to?" Eric moaned, realising why she was interested in the first place. "I thought you don't like virus busting."

"You misunderstand me. I don't like virus busting if it ends in virus deletion. I made peace with virus EJOs some time ago, as any viruses needing an EJO shouldn't be interfering with humans anyway. But I was programmed to protect humans and their networks. How can I do that if I'm not trained? How can I protect you... if I can't even protect myself?" Plus, I need to know that you'll actually defend me without the witch around.

Eric couldn't argue with that logic. "You sounded kinda like Stacey then," he commented in a non-aggressive manner.

Oh, you did NOT just say that! "Okay, you take that back right now, I'm nothing like your sister," Amy scolded.

"...Sorry. I just meant that you both want to protect me, that's all..." Eric pointed out as he positioned the recliner footrest back into place. He checked his backpack, and was disappointed to find his battlechip case inside, as he didn't remember putting it back in after yesterday's testing. No battlechips meant he could have had a valid excuse not to allow it. "Our battlechips are here, so I guess we could... you'll have to help me though; my operating skills aren't the greatest."

"They were good enough yesterday, weren't they? And just think, Stacey won't be on your back either!" Amy replied as she prepared for network transmission. And her boorish navi too, she quipped, if only to herself.

"Well, I guess there's that..." he acknowledged as he aimed the PET towards the black box. Tapping [Transmit] on the screen, a beam of red light shot across the room, and Amy entered the net.

The slipstream looked equally as amazing as the last time she'd travelled, or maybe it was a tad brighter? She couldn't tell if it was just her imagination or not, but upon detecting landfall her course-correcting flip landed her in a new network filled with unusual technological structures built into a city-like grid arrangement, with pulsing lights that seemed to travel along invisible paths way above the buildings themselves. There were several navis walking up and down the sidewalks as well, further adding to the conclusion that they'd landed in a metro district.

"So! Where do we begin?" Amy asked. The sights before her reminded her of pictures she'd seen of human cities, but this... this was something else.

"I don't know," Eric replied, completely unprepared for this eventuality. "I guess... if you want to practice protecting others, start walking and wait for a situation to present itself? Or just wait for a hostile band of viruses to find you, I guess?"

"Don't you mean virii?" Amy corrected.

"I don't know. Viruses sounds more natural to me. But then I guess I wouldn't say cactuses, I'd say cactii...? The English language is hard..." Eric lamented.

"You're not wrong there," she agreed as she saw a blinking green light that belonged to a large oversized sign multiple street blocks away from her current position. "I think I see some sort of large establishment over there. I guess if that's where people are heading, we'll probably find any action that way too." With a spring in her step, Amy turned to her operator. "And let's have some fun too! We don't even know each other that well! Surely you have some questions you want to ask, no?"

Fun? While virus busting? That was simply too much for Eric, who let out a laugh. "How do you find ways to make everything seem so different?" he asked.

"I spent my whole life in a training facility, always being told I would never be good enough to leave. And look at me now!" Amy completed a pirouette on the sidewalk, almost taking out a worker navi in the process with her swinging arms, and then continued to skip down the street. "I'm in a city! With lights! And people! And shops!" she cried whilst passing a window filled with navi graphic upgrades. She paused briefly as she stopped to look in the window of one of the shops they were passing by, amazed by the variety of colours. "It just seems too impossible to be true!"

It was at this moment that her chest suddenly became a lot looser and her back lighter. Unfortunately, that was because the little girl that had been hiding alongside her had decided that she wanted to see what was going on around Amy as well. It propelled herself out of the seam and landed on her two feet a step away from Amy. A navi riding a motorised scooter almost clipped her due to her sudden appearance, and the blaring horn caused Little Miss to run straight back to security by hiding behind Amy's legs again.

Eric saw the whole ordeal unfold and was gobsmacked. "Amy... is that...?"

Amy's face couldn't have been redder with embarrassment. "I couldn't let her be taken away by Crony and his group of goons!" she quickly remarked. "I just wanted to make sure she's looked after! I don't know if she has anybody else now!" she added whilst gripping the girl with both hands and shielding her with her body and hair.

"I'm sure that Crony and his team could find the mum," Eric replied.

Amy brought up the monitor and looked Eric directly in the eyes. "I... I think the batworm killed her..."

Eric's smile faded away. The mood was no longer a joyous one. "Are you sure?" he finally replied, sniffling to hide tears that were desperately wanting to come out.

"...Based on what I saw? Yeah, I think so. I wouldn't know for sure without risking exposing her, I guess."

Eric's eyes darted back and forth, like he was weighing up the options. "Do you think Crony saw her?"

"I don't think so. He was too distracted by the remaining cores to care."

The idea of keeping a secret from his sister was already eating away at him. But it wasn't something she needed to worry about, and it wasn't going to hurt anybody. ESPECIALLY if... the little girl was now an orphan... like him.

"Are you sure you can look after her?" Eric asked.

"It hasn't been a problem so far..." Amy responded. "I barely know the girl though," she added, putting her hand on top of its head and trying not to crush the bow-tie in the process. "I don't even know her name. But I think I can safely protect her in the dress fold. It worked before, right?"

A demonstration didn't need to be requested; a large vehicle came barreling down the road, blasting its horn at a pedestrian that had decided to jaywalk at precisely the wrong moment. The thundering sound caused the little girl to let out a blood-curdling scream, before jumping back into the protection of her new makeshift home.

Amy rubbed her ears in pain. "Wow, no wonder I could hear her all the way from the surface..." she whined. "That was definitely you back then, wasn't it..."

With Little Miss now back in her back pocket, Amity dismissed Eric's monitor and once again took to sightseeing as she resumed her walk towards the blinking green light establishment. The only trouble was that Amy would continually stop at every second or third window to stare at the goods inside and make all manner of sounds, much to Eric's shagrin.

"Please, you're embarrassing me..." he groaned. She didn't want to admit it, but Amy and Stacey really did have a lot in common when it came to shopping.

"Oh come on! When was the last time you did something just for the fun of it?"

Eric smiled. "I guess it has been a while. Well, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself then."

"'Enjoying myself'? My mission is to start enjoying EVERYTHING I missed out on over all these years!"

Eric chuckled. "Is that your... 'primary directive'?"

The sudden change in Eric's voice stopped Amy's little skipping spree. Pulling up a window of her operator again, Amy looked a little concerned. "Are you okay? The audio went all funny for a second."

Eric was trying to hold back a blush. He hadn't meant to make a joke; it had slipped out in the midst of Amy spewing happiness and sunshine. It had lit up a part of his personality that he hadn't seen in years, and the result was an awful joke. "It's okay, pretend I said nothing," he replied, looking down.

Amy recognised that same submissive attitude from earlier in his altercation with Stacey, and didn't want any part of it. "No, go on, spill. What's a... 'primary directive'?"

Eric glanced back to the screen a little sheepishly. "It's kinda stupid. It's not important, really."

"Good, then you shouldn't have any problem telling me what it is."

Eric hesitated. He knew it was nerdish to admit out loud, but Amy wasn't backing off.

"Please... it's kinda dumb. Just ignore it."

"No, I want to know. What is a 'primary directive'?"

Eric took a deep breath. "Well... there's a show I watch. It's about four people with special skills that work together as a team. They're kinda like secret agents, but they work on contract, not for any government. They only take on jobs that help society in general; they're never the bad guys."

"Okay... go on."

"...so, their leader is a guy who they never meet. In fact, they all have secret codenames they go by during missions to avoid giving away their identity in case someone is listening. At the beginning of each mission, the leader gives them their orders, but he doesn't call them orders, he calls them 'directives'."

Amy processed the information with a smile on her face. "Okay, so what? What was the big deal then? I don't get why you felt you needed to hide that from me."

Eric was stunned, to say the least. "Well, it's kinda silly and childish for me to be quoting things from a TV show."

"Is it?" Amy questioned. "Seems to me if you enjoy doing something that isn't hurting or impacting others, who has the right to judge you?"

When Eric didn't respond, Amy continued. "So... what's a 'primary directive'? You still didn't answer my question properly."

A brief pause followed. "The primary directives were always the main things that had to be completed in a mission without fail. If even one primary directive was not completed, the whole mission was considered a failure."

"Fair enough."

"And then there were secondary directives. Things that would help out if they were completed, but weren't completely necessary to make the mission successful."

Amy took this information in as she tapped her chin with her finger. "So... my 'primary directives' right now would be to get some battle training and not let either her or myself die in the process, yes?" she asked, gesturing to her feminine cling-on with her thumb when using the word 'her'.

"...I guess?"

"And my 'secondary directive' would be to get you to loosen up!" she laughed as she dismissed his monitor and began to run down the street. "Don't go anywhere!"

"Okay..." replied Eric, still a little wary of the possibilites in front of them, especially without any backup in the form of Crony. "I... guess I'll wait for you to need me...?"

----------

Amy - 170 / 170 HP

{{{Amy's heading down the street of a busy city sector of SciLab! But that won't stop viruses from having fun! Requesting Battle 1!}}}

{{{You can also ignore Little Miss; for RP's sake, she's a temporary tag-along that has no effect on the battles.}}}

{EAX006}

[<<< From Science Labs: Navi Shop: In the shop <<<]

As the vehicle travelled along the main highway, not a word had been spoken between either four occupants of the car after Eric had returned. The humans were in their own worlds of remembrance, Crony was focused on the task at hand as always, and Amy didn't know what to say to break the silence.

Thankfully, she didn't have to. "Officer Bauersox, come in," came a crackled voice over the car's ham radio.

Stacey picked up the two-way transmitter. "This is Bauersox, please proceed."

"Stacey, thank goodness you're still on the air. I know you've finished a triple, but we need you for a 10-37."

Stacey knew the voice, and knew if it was him asking, there really was nobody else. "Copy that, Officer Mills. Civilians currently on-board, will drop off at the closest safehouse and proceed to assignment. Oh, and Paul, you'd better have a cold one waiting for me when this is all done."

A crackled laughed came back through the radio. "Do this for me and I'll buy you a slab."

"Noted. 10-4," she replied as she placed the transmitter back into its holder. "I swear, this job will be the end of me," she remarked as she veered off the highway, navigated through some side roads and pulled into a driveway. "Sorry Eric, but I'll need to leave you here while I do this. It's only checking out a suspicious vehicle so it shouldn't take long. The front door is electronically locked so you'll need to enter a PIN to gain access. The PIN is 267533. I'll wait until you're inside before I leave, just make sure the door is closed."

Eric didn't remember half of what Stacey said, but now that he had a new partner he didn't have to. "Understood," Amy replied. "Out you go," she directed as she motioned to Eric to leave the vehicle.

Not used to having someone to assist, Eric was somewhat relieved to have someone else hear and remember instructions given to him. "This could actually work," he mumbled to himself, not realising he'd said it loud enough that Amy heard him.

As he approached the door, sure enough, an electronic lock was waiting for him. "The PIN was 267533," Amy whispered. Eric fumbled with the keys, having to start over twice before getting it right. Once he was inside he closed the door, wondering how he would know it was closed for sure. A satisfying 'beep' followed by a slight hissing sound was confirmation enough. Eric watched as the squad car backed out of the driveway and took off, lights and siren blaring.

"Okay; now THAT'S pretty cool," Amy admired.

Eric nodded in agreement. He then glanced around the small house he'd walked into. 'House' was probably not the correct term; it looked to be more like a decked-out hotel room with a bigger bathroom and kitchen. He walked over to one of the recliners that was positioned towards the television and collapsed into it. A sigh of satisfaction escaped his lips; this was definitely a few cuts above the loungechairs at home. He took out the upgrades they'd purchased from the Navi Shop and placed them in his lap. "Okay, I'll have to shut you down to install these."

"Have you ever installed upgrades into a PET before?" Amy asked.

Eric hesitated. He'd seen it done at school and been assured at the time that it was almost impossible to mess up, but now, having been asked the question, he was worried. "No, I haven't," he replied.

"Do you know how?"

"They taught us in middle school, I just didn't get to do it to a PET myself," he confirmed.

"Okay. Don't do anything rash then," she replied with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I won't. Promise."

After the screen switched into maintenance mode, Eric accessed the configuration screen and placed the upgrade program chips into the reader. The purchased upgrades were transferred into the PET and reconfigured Amy's core programming with the newly acquired data. A quick post-install self-test indicated no problems, so after the customary shutdown protocol had been completed, Eric pressed the POST-button and waited. A minute later, Amy was back on-screen.

"Everything check out?" he asked nervously.

Amy did a quick twirl on the spot. "Yep, everything seems a-OK! The gel manifestation systems seem to have been marginally repaired by the process too!" That made Amy happy, knowing that she could begin to rely on these a little more once again. Unbeknownst to Eric, Amy was still smuggling a second person inside her dress and under her hair, but she was beginning to get used to the marginal weight increase. Little Miss really didn't weigh a lot, much to Amy's initial surprise. It was almost like her back was suited to carrying things by default.

Eric placed the PET in his lap and sank into the back of the chair. After a few minutes, he looked at the coffee table sitting between himself and the television. Perhaps by coincidence, or maybe not, there was a pile of magazines on the counter, but the one on the top caught his eye. 'DENIZEN BUSTING, VOLUME 3' was the flashy title, with artwork of several viruses. One he immediately recognised; the Metools they'd fought yesterday. He reached over, pulled it off the top of the pile and opened it up. The information seemed geared towards those who already had basic knowledge of virus busting and covered intermediary and advanced battle tactics, most of which went over his head. One he partially recognise, however, was the forward aerial flip Amy had performed to kick the bomb in mid-air.

"Amity, did you learn this move from a magazine?" Eric asked, pointing to the magazine after lowering it to what he thought was the viewable area of the PET.

"No, I didn't," Amy replied. Upon hearing that name, the navi realised she hadn't verbalised her thoughts on that matter. She wasn't sure how Eric would react, but 'Amity' wasn't her real name; she'd already felt that from the moment she'd read it and heard Eric and Stacey using it. She still had no idea who that voice from yesterday was, or where it had even come from, but the way she'd said 'Amy', it brought on an emotion that she hadn't felt in a long time. It just felt right; it felt... normal.

"And it's Amy, by the way," she advised.

"Who's Amy? And where?" Eric asked, cautiously glancing around. That name was new to him, and in that context, he thought she was talking about someone else.

"I'm Amy. Not Amity. That's the name I was looking for earlier but couldn't remember. Amity might be the name that humans gave me, but my real name is Amy."

Eric smiled as he tried it out. "Amy." He liked it. "...I have to admit, it rolls off the tongue better too. Amy."

Amy smiled too. That was a lot easier than she thought. No resistance at all. She glanced away before Eric could see her blush, but in her movement she noticed something of interest.

"Hey, is that one of those black transmission boxes like what you have back at home?" Amy enquired.

Eric stared up on the wall. "Looks like it, yes."

Amy stared at Eric, and Eric stared right back.

"Do we have to?" Eric moaned, realising why she was interested in the first place. "I thought you don't like virus busting."

"You misunderstand me. I don't like virus busting if it ends in virus deletion. I made peace with virus EJOs some time ago, as any viruses needing an EJO shouldn't be interfering with humans anyway. But I was programmed to protect humans and their networks. How can I do that if I'm not trained? How can I protect you... if I can't even protect myself?"

Eric couldn't argue with that logic, although he certainly wanted to. "You sounded kinda like Stacey then," he commented in a non-aggressive manner.

"Okay, you take that back right now, I'm nothing like your sister," Amy scolded.

"...Sorry. I just meant that you both want to protect me, that's all..." Eric pointed out as he positioned the recliner footrest back into place. He checked his backpack, and was disappointed to find his battlechip case inside, as he didn't remember putting it back in after yesterday's testing. No battlechips meant he could have had a valid excuse not to allow it. "Our battlechips are here, so I guess we could... you'll have to help me though, my operating skills aren't the greatest."

"They were good enough yesterday, weren't they? And just think, if you get better at operating, Stacey won't be on your back as much either!" Amy replied as she prepared for network transmission.

"Well, I guess there's that..." he acknowledged as he aimed the PET towards the black box. Tapping [Transmit] on the screen, a beam of red light shot across the room.

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