Work Text:
“Doctor, do you have a minute?”
Mikhail Cossak swiveled around in his office chair to see Bass, his pride and joy, sifting through data with a troubled expression. “Of course. What’s wrong?”
“I was compressing research data, and it says here there’s another branch of the Navi Project- of my project. Is that true?” If it was that would mean there might be another Navi like him. Bass would like that, he’d decided. Most other Navis were boring and one-dimensional- no one could ever hold conversation for long, and none of them were interesting enough to be considered friends.
“Hmm... yes, I suppose it is,” Cossak mused, stroking his beard. “The Navi from it isn’t what you’re thinking, though.”
Bass felt a sudden sinking feeling in his chest. “What do you mean by that?”
Cossak slid even lower onto the chair, and Bass waited patiently, growing more curious by the second. What sort of being could have his creator so strapped for words?
“It’s- well, how do I...” he trailed off again, and Bass leaned forward in anticipation. It was such a pointless, utterly human gesture that it sparked the proper explanation into Cossak, and he sighed heavily, readjusting himself on the office chair. “It’s a human child. Turned into a Navi. ...Or at least, that’s the simplest way to put it.”
Bass’s brow wrinkled in confusion, and he scanned all of his knowledge bases to no avail- human children and Navis did not intersect, not ever. Human in Cyberworld brought up memory data of Cossak’s Pulse Transmission System project, which he remembered helping with- it was rarely used these days due to the danger it presented to the human, but seeing his creator face-to-face and embracing him for the first time was one of Bass’s fondest memories. But even using pulse transmission, they were still humans with real-world bodies. Not Navis. How would that even...
He shook his head a bit and his eyes refocused to see his creator, who had patiently been waiting for him to process the concept. “I don’t understand.” Cossak’s eyes crinkled with a fond smile, and he sat upright.
“Neither do I, to be honest.” He pushed off from the desk, sending the chair down to where Bass’s PET was plugged in. “Shall we go and see for ourselves?”
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“Who is it- ah, Mikhail! And Bass, too! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Yuuichiro Hikari turned away from the code he was currently working on to see his coworker waiting in the door to his lab, distinctive black PET in hand. Standing up, he walked over to shake Cossak’s hand; while the two men wouldn’t necessarily call each other friends, each being tasked with developing a fully sentient Navi certainly gave them a lot to talk about.
Cossak returned the handshake firmly, eyes sweeping the room before landing upon the large, distinctive monitor currently laying unattended across the homey office. “Actually, we’re here to see Hub... if that’s okay with you?” He trailed off, leaving room for the other man to decline.
Dr. Hikari chuckled, gesturing towards the experimental computer. “He’s all yours! I’m always happy to have someone take him off my hands, and I’m done testing him for the day anyways.” And with that, he returned to his work.
One transmission later and Bass found himself in a very comfortable part of cyberspace, in a way it took him a second to recognize- there were subtle scents and textures, things he’d only really been exposed to before in experiments. A short ways away he could see a small, child-like Navi wearing a striped T-shirt and overalls bearing the Hikari emblem. The Navi had brown hair with fluffed-up bangs, and had he not known better, Bass genuinely could’ve mistaken him for a human child. By contrast, his own design felt a bit clunky.
The boy noticed him almost immediately, looking up from the plushie he was holding and staring at him with wide, curious eyes. Bass blanched and turned towards the nearest screen. “Doctor, what... what do I do?”
Cossak laughed at the sight of Bass’s panick-stricken expression, and rested his elbows on the monitor. “Whatever you think is right. ...Just don’t hurt him. Hikari would have my head on a pike.” It took Bass a second to realize it was an exaggeration, and he briefly tried to picture the mental image before deciding against it.
He turned his attention to the child in front of him and squatted down, resting his arms on his knees. “Hey kiddo. What’s up?” He spoke the words softly, so as to not scare the kid, and it seemed to work- Hub beamed and toddled over, before poking the purple star on Bass’s forehead and plopping down with a giggle. “Heh, aren’t you a lively one?” Bass grinned; there was something about the boy that made it awfully hard not to. “What’s your name?”
The Navi pointed to himself and, with a look of self-satisfaction, said “Habbu!” He then cocked his head at Bass, as if to ask, and you are?
“I’m Bass,” he pointed to himself, then pointed to the screen next to them, “And that’s Doctor Cossak.” He noticed his creator sporting an oversized grin and sighed, realizing he was probably recording this for future embarrassment.
Hub grinned and patted his cheek, and it occurred to Bass that the small Navi’s skin, unlike his own, was warm. “Bayth!”
“No, Bass.” He tried again, saying it slowly.
“Bayth!” The kid was overflowing with expressiveness, and Bass found himself taken with how interesting it all was- from the little bounces to the big grin to the tiny noises and unconscious gestures. He’d never seen another Navi besides himself do anything like it.
He sighed and ruffled Hub’s hair, taking a microsecond to marvel at the softness of it. “I suppose it’ll have to do.” The boy then looked over at Cossak, seemingly wanting to make his own introduction.
Facing the screen, Hub pointed at himself. “Habbu!” He then made a little gesture towards Cossack, and looked down, as if with immense concentration. “Dah.... Do...”
Cossak, with the fond expression he often wore when he and Bass were alone, gently spoke. “Just ‘Cossak’ is fine.” The child nodded and concentrated again, and Cossak enunciated the name for him. “Cos-sak.”
“Cothhak!” Hub beamed, seemingly proud of himself, before scooting back over towards Bass, who was sitting himself down cautiously. “Cothhak’s Navi?” Bass frowned. He knew the child meant no harm, and he supposed he was Cossak’s Navi in a way, but...
“No sweetie, Bass.” He looked over to see Cossak looking at Bass with concern, as if he knew what he had been thinking. “No one’s Navi.” Somehow, the doctor always knew what to say to make him feel better.
Hub rocked back, mulling over it for a second before beaming again. “Like Habbu!” Gaze suddenly diverted, the boy grabbed a nearby plushie and held it up for Bass to see before shoving it into his lap. He then grabbed another plushie and started making noises, and before Bass knew it, they were enacting a mock toy battle complete with sound effects.
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By the time they left, Bass was thoroughly exhausted- they’d stayed for quite a while and eventually the kid simply fell asleep on his lap, something he hadn’t even been aware Navis could do. At Dr. Hikari’s request, Cossak had sent him the recording of their visit (Bass just knew he’d been taking one). But he’d enjoyed himself, and even asked Cossak if they could go back sometime.
“So what did you think of the other independent Navi?” Back in Cossak’s apartment, the two wound down from the day- the scientist cooking cup ramen for dinner, and Bass preparing for recharge.
Bass floated idly, thinking back on their meeting with his child counterpart. “I didn’t realize how different I am... we are... from standard Navis, I suppose. It was interesting.” He frowned. “Will he get bigger, like humans do?”
The microwave beeped, and Cossak removed the cup and peeled back the label. “He will, or at least that’s what Hikari says.” He poured the seasoning packet in, and Bass watched from the nearest kitchen monitor in fascination. “Perhaps you two can be friends when he grows up.”
“Friends, huh...” Bass trailed off, thinking about what the future- and that little Navi- might hold for him. “I think I’d like that.”