Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Call it what you will; call it Cyberworld, call it the Internet, call it the Network, the Nexus or something different all together. Regardless of what you call it, the name chosen doesn’t change what it was; Dr. Hikari Tadashi's Legacy. The result of decades worth of hard labor; it rewrote the rules when it came to computer networking, and manifested as this wonderful and mysterious place that exists just on the other side of a computer screen.

Know this; the Network of today isn’t the first he created; that honor belongs to ‘Alpha’, and which acted as a basis for all Net Society. However, Alpha was littered with bugs, causing it to malfunction and be sealed away so that a more refined Network known as Beta could be created.

The Network of today could be classified as Beta’s successor; Gamma.

A digital universe that was delicately intertwined with the Real World; it was one that Allen found himself stepping into on more than one occasion.

Speaking of which…

As of this very moment, Allen found himself standing in an empty piece of cyberspace – a private server currently sealed off from the rest of the network – as he continued working. Directly in front of the youth was a number of floating, transparent ‘monitor’s each one connected to a single equally transparent keyboard that flicked as his fingers ran over the keys. On the aforementioned monitors there were countless lines of data being written across them in binary code – sequences of 1’s and 0’s. As he looked over the writing, the youth made a face as he noticed something. A few lines of code that needed to be corrected so they might not cause a series of programming bugs, or be deleted altogether.

Reaching out he ‘plucked’ those lines of code and got to work on them.

Fixing the codes wasn't too difficult, especially when you're on ‘this side’.

When you’re on this side; when you're surrounded by lines of code, when you're able to interact with them… It just becomes so easy.

Still, the only reason he could do that was thanks to the ‘chair’ in his world.

Well, ‘chair’ was underselling it by~ a lot.

It was a piece of old tech, something called Pulse Transmission System. It was something that could have changed the way people interacted with the Network – or bring in an age of VR gaming.

It could have, if the technology lacked the risks that came with it. See, whoever was in the ‘chair’ was vulnerable to be attacked by viruses and the like, and since they’re a collection of concentrated brainwaves, any damage they took could cause serious brain damage.

With that being said, there were still plenty of people willing to take the risk in order to freely interact with the Network; there were several companies like Sci Labs and schools that made use of the old technology, but whoever was in the chair had to be under direct supervision to make sure they were safe.

Allen’s school happened to have a few lying around, and he was in one of them today.

He didn’t have to be on ‘this’ side, but he found it much easier to read and interface with the data he was working with.

Besides…

“Almost done.” The youth muttered as he took a minute to shake his hands like one would when they were trying to either get the feeling back in them or to relax. Didn’t ‘have’ to, again he’s just a collection of brain waves right now, but habits are hard to kick. Afterwards he just looked ahead, his attention turned towards what rested beyond the holographic screens and to the capsule resting not that far from him. Inside it was a sphere of sorts, something that was surrounded by countless strings of binary.

Not many got to actually see this. Sure they thought about what it might look like, made their theories and hypotheses, but very few actually knew what it really looked like.

Some called it the Digital Core, others called it the KERNEL.

Regardless of what you call it, it was something that existed in both manmade programs and naturally occurring viruses. It was more than just a collection of ‘data’ though, more than just the core of a digital lifeform - more than just 1’s and 0’s. The big brains at SciLabs wrote in books and articles that it was to be considered to be the equivalent to both a human ‘heart’ and ‘brain’, and the religious folks believed it was the digital equivalent to a ‘soul’.

As for the youth? What did he believe?

Well, at the end of the day that didn’t really matter, at least not at the moment.

The KERNEL’s functions were pretty simple. It maintained a program's vital functions, it helped determine both their appearance and even their potential for growth. So long as the program’s KERNEL was unharmed it could function indefinitely, if they lost it though… if it was destroyed…

The young man pushed that thought to the back of his mind, not wanting to think on such a thought and instead focused on the KERNEL resting not that far from him.

“It’s stable.” He muttered as he turned back towards one of the screens next to him and read what it had written on it.

[Prototype Hybrid Network Navigator]

[Serial Number: 00-00-00-00-X]

Network Navigator was the original title given to these AIs, but everyone liked to use the term NetNavi for short

They were sentient, or at least semi-sentient, computer programs. Their AI programming consisted of software that was advanced enough to allow their systems to imitate the logical and emotional thought processes of a human.

It helped them seem less like a tool and more well… human.

Its why people saw them as friends, confidants and even family.

As it stood, this NetNavi wasn’t… human, at least not yet.

The youth was still piecing it together; and regardless of being on ‘this side’ it was still a time-consuming process.

He’d had to go through a few countless books and articles to understand the processes needed to build a NetNavi and other things.

Thankfully the school he went to was willing to help fit the bill so he and his classmates could get the material they required. Then again when you go to a school for designing Netnavis and Net orientated programs and systems, that was kinda expected.

Still even he’d admit it would have been less time consuming if he just contacted SciLabs and paid them to create his Netnavi like everyone else.

But if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to put the skills he’d been acquiring from school to use.

RUN PROGRAM?

[Y/N]

“No.” The youth muttered as he went back to his keyboard and got to work again. “Not yet…” He told himself. He still had some work to do, still had some data he needed to piece together, there were some errors he needed to get rid of and so on. “Sorry this is taking so long.” The youth muttered, talking to the KERNEL resting ahead of him. “But I wanna make sure you’re going to be ‘ok’ when I wake you up.” He wasn’t sure if the KERNEL could hear him, wasn’t sure if it even understood him, but talking to it felt right.

He’d heard from others like him - those that had actually built a NetNavi from scratch - that talking to a core felt almost natural. Something about, helping forge a bond between the two. They weren’t just strangers that were brought together by circumstance or money.

He even heard some mothers compare it to talking to your unborn baby.

Not too sure how to feel about that comparison, but… yeah.

“Let’s see… just a few more adjustments and I’ll run one final system check before bringing you online, alright?” The core didn’t respond, it never did, but that was fine. He smiled. “Almost done.” He muttered. “Pretty soon we’ll have our first real face to face.” He stated. “There’s going to be a lot you’re going to see after you wake up.” He admitted before going silent. ‘I don’t mean ‘here’, but the Network…  there’s just so much out there. It might seem a bit overwhelming at first.” He stated. “But I’ll be here with you, and we’ll take things one step at a time, ok?” He smiled as he finished his coding. “And we’re done.” He muttered to himself as he dismissed a few screens and started to perform a final systems check. “Alright everything’s looking good.” He admitted before turning his gaze to a familiar line.

RUN PROGRAM?

[Y/N]

“You ready?” He muttered, looking at the core. “No turning back after this.” He muttered before pressing Y to finalize everything as lines upon lines of data started flying towards the capsule and started spinning around the core before the entire thing started to take a humanlike shape.

NETWORK NAVIGATOR BOOT UP…

KERNEL / ACTIVATED

INTERNAL BOOT CONFIG / ACTIVATED

SOFTWARE ANALYSIS / ACTIVATED

NETWORK NAVIGATOR BOOT UP COMPLETE.

He watched as a pair of eyes flickered open as he leaned against his chair. “Good morning, Shell.”

Chapter Text

The Sandbox; that was one of several unofficial names that people gave this place.

Some liked to call it the toyboy, others liked to call it a Test Server, and others still just called it “Blank”. Regardless of the name it was still the same thing. It was a testing environment, one that could freely be changed at a whim. In programming it was useful for trial-and-error runs, testing changes in source codes before they were put out on the net for things like games or actual servers.

For would be netbattlers though, at least those that knew how to work it, they found they could mold to be used for Netnavi training purposes.

“Alright… reconstructing Field 3, City.”

From a blank space erupted a sea of 1’s and 0’s. Each strand of code stretched across the empty sandbox as they started molding themselves into shapes. It took less than a minute, but when it was over a city had been made. An endless sea of skyscrapers and low buildings, parks and empty vehicles. There was no life in this cybercity though, it was almost as if all life had been spirited away.

“Now… setting environmental conditions…”

More 1’s and 0’s birthed a sun and a sky of gentle blue, creating “day” in the artificial city.

“Alright, now, jack in; Shell.”

The upload only takes a few short seconds, although to be honest, none were even sure if it even took that long. The typical upload to the Net seemed almost instantaneous at times, the only time it actually seemed to take longer was when there was excessive traffic going across the Cyberworld or there were a few viruses that chose to pop up. Neither happened this time around.

Materializing in the center of an empty street, a Netnavi just opened his eyes as he looked around, his attention not really focusing on anything before he took a moment to stretch his limbs.

The Netnavi known as Shell, looked a ‘little’ off compared to most. For starters there wasn’t an emblem on his chest, rather there was a small ‘jewel’ of sorts resting on his collar. The legs of his bodysuit flared out into pants that disappeared into short boots. His gloves were equally short,  just going past his wrist  instead of his elbows. At his waist one could find a belt with a sort of bag on the rear. His helmet looked more like headphones over a headband, one that also his emblem on it, which took the form of an upside down red triangle.

“About time…” The navi, Shell muttered as he continued to stretch his arms out before switching to his legs. “Was starting to feel a little cramped in the PET.” He admitted as he dropped low, put his weight on one leg before switching to the other.

“Well, good morning to you too, Shell.”

Looking ahead, Shell saw a young man standing across from him, hands on his hips and a tight but humored smile across his face. He wasn’t too young, maybe 16 - maybe 17, with some freckles and short messy black hair. They wore a uniform of sorts, not ‘work’ uniform, but rather a school one.

“Morning Allen.” Shell stated, continuing his stretches. “On this side again, huh?”

“What can I say?” Allen shrugged. “I like how quiet it is on this side.” He admitted as he took a few steps to the side as he looked around. “So, how you feeling today?”

Shell continued to stretch his legs. “Pretty good.” The Netnavi stated. “Especially since I finally get to move around again.”

“Of course.” Allen admitted rolling his eyes. “How are your systems feeling? Anything I need to look back on before we get started?”

“Nah, systems seem normal.” The Navi muttered as he got back up and rolled his shoulders before starting to hop in place. “So, what’s on the menu today?” Allen for his part just scratched his head.

“All I have for you today is the usual start up tests. Sorry it’s not much, but -”

“Hey it’s fine.” Shell stated, smiling as he stared off into the distance. “A light workout is better than nothing.” Allen stayed silent for a moment.

“Are you… really alright with that?”

“I can’t really complain.” Shell muttered as he rubbed his neck. “I mean, this is just the warm up, make sure everything’s still good and not bugging out.” He stated as he ‘popped’ a joint in his neck causing a small string of 1’s and 0’s to emerge from the spot. “Afterwards we can hit the net and have some real fun.”

“That’s the plan.” Allen sounded like he just released a chuckle. “Before we start though, please introduce yourself.” That got Shell to groan in annoyance.

“Do I really have to?” He whined. “I mean you guys already know who I am - I mean, you did build me.”

“Yeah, I know.” Allen admitted as he made a gesture with his thumb. “But it’s more for the record the guys outside are keeping.”

“Right, right.” The Navi muttered as he scratched the back of neck.“I am a custom NetNavi, serial number 00-00-00-00-1. Development name PN-X. Official name, Shell.” The Netnavi stated in a bored tone. “As it stands my body is currently configured for simulated operations, my output is limited to 22% of its normal capacity. Estimated offensive specifications are-”

“Alright that’s enough.” Allen stated as he saw Shell sigh, though even he wasn’t too sure if it was in annoyance or relief. “Now that we have that set up, let's get started.”

“Whenever you're ready, boss.” Shell didn’t get an audio response from his creator at first, instead he just got a nod as Allen tapped the air and brought a screen into reality, one with the words <Audio Only> plastered on it.

“Fio, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear Allen.”

A feminine voice called out. “Let’s pick up from where we left off.” He told them. “If my memory’s right, that should be Process 16 correct?”

“17 actually, at least that’s what our records say.”

Fio remarked.

“Either way, we’re placing Target Drones in the Sandbox. We’ll set them to ‘random movement’ and ‘enemy ambush’.”

“Sounds good.”

“Wanna do a practice run before getting started?”

Allen looked at Shell who made an x with his arms. “Yeah.” He told her as Shell groaned in annoyance. “Hey Shell, you may not want to but we should warm up before moving onto the actual program.” He remarked. “A practice run should get us in the right mindset.”

“Whatever you say.” Shell remarked. “We’re doing this regardless, even if I do complain it ain’t getting me anywhere.”

“Not wrong.” Allen stated as bits of data started to form in front of the pair.

When you're on the Network, there’s about three things you need to worry about. The First and most dangerous was a server crash, when an entire server suddenly went dark for no unexplainable reason. The second was a connection error, when your PET malfunctioned and NetOps couldn’t get in touch with their NetNavi partner anymore.The Third and probably the only thing one could really deal with was running into malicious programs.

More often than not, these programs take the form of viruses, but that isn’t always the case.

In this case, those programs turned out to be Pantheon.

They look like netnavi’s, but they’re not, not really. If anything they’re more like a Mr. Prog, being equipped with a fairly limited artificial intelligence and combat capabilities.

Little bit of trivia? They’re mass produced programs that were created by SciLabs; and they were designed in the image of a Netnavi known as Rockman, though neither Shell nor Allen were sure if this was pure coincidence or because of the Netnavi’s input and ego.

Regardless.

Shell just got ready, reaching for the bag on his hip before seemingly pulling something out. It looked like a handle, one that he started to spin between his fingers and across his palm

“Handheld again?”

“What can I say?” Shell tossed the handle into the air. “I have my preferences.” Catching the handle he swung it to the side, igniting it to a cybersword that was nearly as tall as he was.

Preference; that really was all it was at the end of the day. Like all Netnavis’ Shell was designed with a standard weapon built into his arms. But using a handheld blade was simply his preference.

It was something he’d picked up from his time being uploaded into a few of Allen’s computer games.

Allen stepped back, getting out of the line of fire as he tapped the air and brought up a screen of sorts. On it he found a collection Battlechip Data ready to be used. “Alright Fio, ready when you are.”

“Starting Practice Program in… 3… 2… 1.”

The screen-like eye of the Pantheon flashed red as they stood up straight, their arms turning into Busters as they opened fire while Shell started swinging his cybersword.

Without much difficulty he started deflecting the rounds that were sent his way, knocking them left and right as he made a show of movements. He knocked one into the air as he did a full turn and let the sword slide across his back before returning to his hand and rushed forward. He jumped over a shot round before suddenly shooting towards the side to avoid another round aimed at him. Hitting the floor he pushed himself forward as he closed in on one of the Pantheon and started swinging away with his sword. Throwing  them into the air before his free arm turned into a buster and started shooting at the unit before it disappeared and he turned his attention towards another. At seemingly  random he turned, batting away another buster shot before lunging towards the pantheon that fired at him. His sword hit it’s mark, and he followed it by a flurry of swings that ended with him launching the pantheon into the Air before following after it, using his sword to launch them both back towards the ground.

I swear, I never should have let you play my Devil May Cry games.” Allen muttered as Shell continued his battle, dodging, jumping, deflecting everything that seemed to be thrown at him.

“Too late for regrets!” Shell remarked as he turned dodging a round before responding with a buster shot, before running towards the Pantheon before dropping low, sliding across the ground to get behind them before kicking them into the air as he started  to spin, fire coming from the soles of his feet as he seemingly started breakdancing, striking his target with his feet before planting one on their chest and launched them away with a sudden burst of fire from his heels.

“I never should have given you Air Shoes.”

“Again, too late for regrets!” Shell hopped to his feet, dodged a round heading for his face before pressing on. “I am the sum of all your decisions.”

“Ain’t that the truth…” Allen muttered before shaking his head and started to feed Shell some battlechip data. “Fio, how’s everything looking?”

“Pretty good, we’re getting some pretty good data feedback.”

Fio told him.

“Can’t wait to see what we get from the actual Program and not the practice.”

“Yeah, me too.” Allen admitted as he watched Shell continue to dispatch the Pantheon showing up. “Shell’s definitely improved over these past few weeks.” He admitted. “It’s not just him either, Ram’s also gotten better, at this rate they’ll be ready to handle the School’s Evaluation test coming up.”

“You’re right.”

Fio remarked over comms.

“That reminds me, How’s X and Patch doing?”

“They’re alright.”

Fio told him.

“But they’re not doing great.”

“What’s the issue?”

“Same as usual. Stressed to all hell and pushing themselves way too hard...”

“That sounds about right.” Allen muttered as he fed Shell a battlechip as his free hand turned into a vulcan. “I wish those two would stop and just breathe, but…” He admitted. “They’re Lan and Megaman’s kids, they have a lot of expectations on their shoulders.”

“I know.”

The two fell silent as Allen just continued dispatching the Pantheon units. “Alright, I think that’s enough for the warm up.” Allen said after a while as he got to his feet, and the Pantheon units suddenly went dead. “I think nice and warmed up now Shell. Time to move onto the actual exercise.”

“Sweet.” Shell remarked. “You guys sare gonna up the difficulty, right?”

“Fio?” 

“Beat the exercise on normal, and then we’ll talk about upping the difficulty.”

Allen just smirked as he looked at Shell’s pouting face. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m not controlling the data output today.” He made an exaggerated shrug as he watched the last few Pantheon disappear into data. “Anyway, we’re ready when you are Fio.”

Real World

-           Ten minutes later

With the training done for the day, Allen found his eyes opening before he raised a hand to rub them. “Ugh~ the light always hurts when I come out.”

“Does it now?” Fio asked as she leaned over the chair to see Allen sit up. “How ya feeling?”

“Stiff.”  Allen muttered as he shook his head and looked at Fio. She was a young lady, in the same school uniform as he was wearing with short boyish black hair and light skin. “Was I in there longer than normal?”

“Yes.” Fio stated. “You and Shell were running around a bit too much before we started the program. You two took up a lot of time.”

“Sorry about that.” Allen pulled himself from the chair as he stretched his back out. “But how was the data we sent you?”

“Pretty good.” Fio admitted. “Not perfect, but pretty good.” She added, unhooking Allen’s PET and handing it to him. “Anyway, since your season is finished, that means we’re done for the day.” She admitted. “You gonna head straight home or do you wanna grab a bite to eat first?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Pizza.” Allen raised an eyebrow.

“You want pizza?” He asked. “Didn’t you have pizza yesterday?”

“What’s your point?”

“You’ve just been craving pizza lately, haven’t you?”

“I will neither acknowledge nor deny that.” Fio stated with a grin as she patted Allen’s back and started leading him off. “Still, come on. It’s my treat.”

“Eh~” Was all Allen said as he looked elsewhere. “I don’t know~ pizza for two days straight sounds inviting but nah.”

“Hey you don’t need to buy a pizza, they have calzones.”

“I’d rather go for burgers.”

“A calzone is like a burger.”

“No, it’s not.” Allen stated as he looked at Fio. “Burgers are burgers, calzones are calzones, and pizza is pizza.”

“I’ve never tried any of those!” Shell yelled from Allen’s PET.

“Neither have I!” A more feminine voice called from Fio’s pocket as the girl chuckled.

“Have to fix that.”

“You’re gonna feed her pizza?” Allen asked as the two locked up and continued walking down the schools’ halls. “Is that safe?”

“It’s not dangerous.” Fio stated. It really wasn’t. Since SciLabs found a way to digitize food some decades ago, Netnavi’s could actually eat. Sure it didn’t really ‘do’ anything for them, but it allowed them to actually take part in a meal. It was a difficult thing to do at first, but they’d made great strides in refining the process over the years.

“Does Ram even like cheese?”

“Course I do.” A small holographic Netnavi appeared on Fio’s head as she grinned. Ram was a small navi, not like ‘young teenager’ model, but like ‘little kid’ model. Her feet were covered in legwarmers while her wrists were covered in armbands. She had a little sheep-like tail, and her ‘helmet’ was more of a collection of fluffy hair than anything.  “I have cheese on my chilidogs!”

“Ohh~ I love chili dogs!” Shell stated, materializing out of Allen’s PET and settled down on his shoulder. “Can we go for chili dogs instead of pizza?”

“No way.” Fio stated putting her hands on her hips. “The only good place with chili dogs is a closed shop for remodeling.” She declared. “And I’m not going to burden my tastebugs by eating from a place that doesn’t compare.”

“Honestly…” Allen shook his head as the pair reached their lockers and grabbed their things. “Anyway, if you wanna eat somewhere you three need to come to an agreement quick. We don’t have all evening.”

“Trust me, we know.” Fio pouted, tossing her bag over her shoulder and started leading Allen off the school grounds.

The pair went to school in Netopia called Grace. It was a good academy, not the best, but it was up there. Out of all the ones out there, it was recognized as one that specialized in the construction of Network Navigators and Cyberspace Gear development.

“How bout that new halal spot that just opened up?”

“I wouldn’t mind going to that one korean spot you like?” Ram asked as Fio scratched her chin.

“I’m not really up for korean right now.”

“There’s that nacho spot on 34th street.” Shell stated.

“Nah~” Ram seemed to lean forward on her Operator's hair. “The chips keep getting stuck in my teeth.”

“What about chicken wings?” Fio asked as the two netnavi’s looked at each other.

“I could go for wings.” Shell admitted.

“I like tenders though.” Ram stated as the two seemed to stare at each other a bit longer. “Both?”

“Both is good.” Fio stated as she put her hands behind her head. “It’s decided then, we’re going for wings and tenders.” Allen just rolled his eyes as he smiled. “Ram can you go to DoorDash and set up an order for pickup?”

“Already on it.” Ram stated as she brought up a screen as she started placing an order. “Wait.” Ram paused as she looked at Allen. “You guys are gonna pay us back for your part of the order right?”

“Well duh.” Shell stated as he looked at Allen. “We will reimburse them for our part of the order, right?”

“In your own words, well duh.” Allen remarked. “You know how Fio gets when people owe her money.”

“Yeah that’s true.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Fio pouted as she stared at the two.

“You know exactly what it means.” Fio just elbowed Allen in the ribs as he smiled. “Am I wrong?” Fio just fell silent for a moment before shrugging

“No, I guess not.” She admitted as the two continued walking off, moving through Netopia before noticing that a group of people were gathering across a street. “What do you think’s going on over there?”

“Not too sure.” Allen remarked. “But it looks like they’re gathered in front of one of those shop TV's."

"That's enough reason for me to check it out." Fio stated as she started walking over before looking back at Allen. She made a gesture with her head. "You coming?"

"Are you giving me a choice?"

"Given that I'm paying for lunch… no." Fio grinned as she jogged off, leaving Allen to shake his head before following her.

"In other news, several reports have come in concerning breaches into Cyberspace.”

A News Reporter began.

“Dimensional Areas have been discovered opening up across the city of Netopia and viruses once confined to the Network have been entering the real world and causing havoc. While the Netpolice has been taking active steps in keeping the people safe, they are still uncertain if these attacks are at random or part of a much more sinister agenda.”

The reporter continued for a moment as Allen put his hands in his pockets. “More virus breaches huh.” He heard someone grumble under their breath.

“Seems like it.” Another voice called out.

“Yeah, I thought we were done with that when the whole Nebula thing wrapped up decades ago.”

“Same here, seems like that wasn’t the case.”

The chatter went on for a bit as Allen and Fio looked at each other before walking off. “What do you think?” Allen asked after a moment.

“I’m not really thinking about anything,” Fio stated.

“Fio~” Ram muttered as she ‘smacked’ her partner on the cheek. “Seriously, your world is getting attacked by viruses and you don’t have any thoughts concerning it?”

“Hm~ not really, no.” Fio admitted. “Viruses have been screwing with things on this side since forever.” She stated. “The Dimensional Area tech didn’t exactly change that.”

“I guess you're right.” Allen muttered looking at the sky. “From what I heard, they used to just screw with us by messing with us through the Network, the Dimensional Area just means that they were able to mess with us more openly.”

“I think that’s downplaying it a bit but, fair.” Shell muttered as he leaned back on his spot on Allen’s shoulder. “I guess this is just an issue with our two worlds being so closely connected.”

He wasn’t wrong. 

The Network and the Real World were so delicately interconnected that you had to do some serious digging in order to find something that wasn’t connected to the network in some way or form. Seriously; everything from a car to a refrigerator, from schools to freaking toilets worked because they were connected to the internet. It was impressive, sure, but at the same time it was kind of concerning if you thought about it. A random system bug or a malicious hacker could bring things to halt for minutes to hours and even days. Random equipment could go on the fritz, someone could be spying on you through your webcam, Hospitals could go dark, and whole people could be turned into ‘ghosts’.

Stuff like that’s been an issue for decades now, and it hasn’t gotten better, not really.

Sure, the Netpolice have cracked down on a lot of breaches in security and everything, but it’s still a problem.

There probably won’t be a day that it wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

“Anyway, let’s hurry, I don’t want our order to be cold by the time we get there.” Allen stated as Fio nodded her head.

“Right.”

Chapter Text

There was never a good reason for playing hooky to get out of something. Didn’t stop people from doing it though. There’s plenty of wannabe delinquents out there who skip school just because they could, and then there are those who snuck away just to get a minute to breathe and get themselves back together.

“Remember.” Allen stated, looking at Fio. “This is a one time thing.”

“It’s cute that you think that.” Was her response as she stuck her tongue out before heading further into the Arcade she’d brought them too. Allen signed, before looking at Patch and giving him an apologetic look.

“I am so sorry.”

“It’s ok… really.” Patch awkwardly nudged him as he watched the girl look around trying to find something to do.. “Much as I hate to say I, I kinda need this.” Allen raised an eyebrow as he settled back in his seat.

“Stressed?”

“Yeah~” Patch’s smile was kinda tight. “I guess you could say that…” He paused as he rested his head on the table and took a moment to sigh.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Eh~ there’s nothing really to talk about.” Patch stated. “Even if there was, it’s not like you can help in any way.”

“Yeah but…” Allen paused. “I can listen at least.” He stated. “Sometimes that’s all you need right?” Someone with an open ear who won’t judge.” Patch’s smile became a bit less strained.

“I guess you got me there.” Patch stated as he seems to think, makes him say something before stopping himself and shaking his head. “Maybe later.” He adds as he gets to his feet and stretches slightly. “Anyway, let’s see what we can get into.” Patch states. “No point in just sitting around, right?”

“Fair point.”

//ROOT

//ACCESS_REQUEST

//ACCESS_REQUEST_SUCCESS

//COLLECTING PACKET_1………………………………………………………..ERROR

//COLLECTING PACKET_2………………………………………………………..ERROR

//COLLECTING PACKET_3………………………………………………………..ERROR

//COLLECTING PACKET_4………………………………………………………..ERROR

//BREACH

//BREACH_UNSUCCESSFUL

Allen found himself watching Fio and Ram compete in a game of Dance Dance Revolution and couldn’t help crossing his arms. “Since when can you dance?”

“Since forever!!” Fio didn’t take her eyes off the screen in front of her as she kept moving about.

“Then how come I’ve never seen you dance?”

“Never had a reason too!” She shot back with a grin as her song came to an end as she jumped and saw her score. “Yes! New personal best!”

“Still not as good as me though!”

Ram shouted as she was unhooked from her port and returned to her PET. “I still kicked your butt.”

“Yeah yeah.” Fio smiled at her Netnavi as she hopped off the stage. “Just you wait, I will have my revenge.” She stated as someone else took her spot on the stage. “So, where to next?”

“I’d like to see how Patch is going.” Allen stated as Fio broke into a grin.

“Sounds like a plan.” She stated. “Last I saw him, he was heading over to the basketball machine.”

“Then that’s where we’ll head first.” Allen stated as he started walking off, heading towards the machines in question. It was kinda interesting, seeing so many people here at this hour. Mean school wasn’t gonna let out for another good 4 or 5 hours, so most of the kids shouldn’t be here.

Guess there’s more people skipping class than I expected.” Allen admitted. “Not sure how I feel about that.”

“I’m cool with it.” Fio said as she put her hands behind her head as Patch approached them. “Hey Patch, how was hoops?”

“Huh?” Patch snapped out of whatever daze he in as he scratched his head and lowered his PET. “Oh, uh good I guess.”

“You guess?”

Ram asked, her little hologram settling on Fio’s shoulder.

“Didn’t you have fun?”

“Not really…” Patch muttered as X rested on his shoulder as well.

“I’m afraid Patch doesn’t really like basketball all that much.”

“Really?” Fio raised an eyebrow. “Then why’d you head over to play hoops?”

“Just… thought I’d give em a shot you know.” Patch muttered. “I mean, I’m never played before, but it’s always on tv so I figured Why not try it.”

“Ah~” Allen spoke up as he adopted an understanding expression. “Yeah, that makes sense, whole reason I tried baseball once.”

“He sucked at it.”

“Shell, you don’t have to put it that way.” Allen grumbled as he looked at his Netnavi who just grinned at him.

“Am I wrong though?”

“...” Allen didn’t say anything, just looking at Fio who broke into a grin as she looked elsewhere. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I can hear your thoughts.” Allen grumbled as Patch just broke into a smile.

“You two really are close, aren’t you?” Allen and Fio just broke into a smile as they looked at each other.

“Yeah, I guess we are.” Fio hit Allen in the shoulder. “I mean we have been friends since we were kids.” She added after a moment.

“Anyway, what do you two wanna try next?” Allen spoke up as he made a gesture with his finger. We got plenty of options left. What are you thinking of trying?”

Before either could respond a growl like noise reached them. Allen blinked, looking at Patch as the boy raised his arms.

“Don’t look at me.” They both turned their attention to Fio who was rubbing her belly with a sheepish smile.

“Sorry~” She scratched the back of her head. “Pizza anyone?” Allen rolled his eyes.

“I swear, what is it with you and pizza lately?” Fio just stuck her tongue out as Patch smiled at their antics.

“This is nice.” The two looked at Patch in confusion as he started to blush. “Uh - sorry.” He lowered his head and started to scratch his head. “It’s just… seeing you two bicker like this.” He muttered. It’s nice, you know.” He admitted. “It shows how close you two are.”

“Well yeah, I mean like Fio said, we’ve been friends since forever.” Allen mutters, scratching his head while Fio puts hers behind her head. “So of course we’re gonna bickedr about stuff.” He shrugged. “Just how it goes, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Patch smiled as Fio grabbed the two and started leading them off.

“Anyway come on, let’s go grab that food. Lord knows I need it.”

“Yeah, yeah lets -”

“_”

Allen stopped talking as he looked around, attention turning elsewhere as Patch raised an eyebrow. “Allen?”

“What was that?”

“I think that was my PET.” Fio grumbled as she reached for the device and made a face. “Yeah, it looks like I just got something.”

“Your not the only one.” Patch muttered looking at his own device. “I got something too.”

“Well that’s oddly well timed.” Fio grumbled as Allen stayed silent before looking at his own PET. “Allen?”

“I don’t think this is coincidence.” He grumbled as he showed his PET to the two. “I got something too.” The other two fell silent as they looked at each other.

“Well, what is it?”

“Don’t know.” Allen admitted as he started messing with his PET to get a better look at things. “I’m not getting anything, but it's definitely some kind of digital code.”

“I could say the same.”

X stated, appearing on his operator’s shoulder.

“I’m scanning the data, but I’m not getting anything that makes sense.”

“Ditto.”

Ram stated.

“It’s not malware or a virus or anything like that, but it’s not making any sense to me.”

“Patch, Fio, can I see that code real quick?” Allen asked as the two brought their PET’s closer as they let him look at the holographic code being displayed. “I’ve seen this before…” He made a noise.

“You have?”

“Yeah…” Allen muttered as he continued looking at the data. “It’s Digimoji.”

“Digimoji?” Patch blinked in confusion. “What’s that?”

“It’s a written language.” Is all Allen says as he starts messing with his PET a bit to get a better look at things, then did the same to the others. 

“Hey~” Fio  pouted. “Ask first.” Allen ignored her remark.

“What do you mean it’s a written language?”

“You know about binary right?” Allen muttered, taking his Pet over to an empty table and settled down. Right after he reached into his bag and pulled out his laptop before booting it up. “It’s the language of computers, anything that goes on the internet gets translated into binary so it can be understood.” He muttered as connected his PET’s to his laptop. “Digimoji is essentially that, but… it’s more archaic, I guess?” He made a noise as Fio and Patch leaned over to look at his laptop screen seeing a couple of windows showing archeological reports and photos. “ “According to Diggers, ruins scattered across the Network have this stuff written on walls and stuff. They think it’s leftovers from whatever lost civilizations that once existed on the Net.”

“Lost… Civilizations?” Patch seemed confused. “There were previous civilizations on the Network?”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” Fio muttered leaning on the table. “I mean, yeah, Netnavis live on the Network, we know about it, and we see it every day.” He paused. “But a previous civilization? That’s not possible.” She looked at Allen. “Right?”

“Ack anyone else and they’d probably agree with you.”  Allen muttered. “But remember, our Network isn’t the same as the one that came before it.”

“Are you talking about the Alpha Revolt?”

X asked, speaking up.

“The Alpha Revolt?” Patch muttered, getting X’s attention. “What’s that?”

“Dad told me about it once.”

X admitted.

“He said that before our network there was one before it, the Prototype Network. Basically, Alpha was riddled with so many viruses and bugs that it started to cannibalize itself, and Grandfather and the others had to seal it away and build a new network on top of it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Allen muttered as he continued working on his laptop. “There’s still parts of the Alpha network out there scattered across ours network, and those are the ruins that Diggers step into and find well… this.” He tapped the screen.

“Huh~” Fio made a face. “So that’s it.” She looked at the screen for a moment. “But things went back to normal after six months right?” She asked.  “That’s when they got the new Network up and running.” She remarked. “If that’s the case, wouldn’t we know about this language thing? I’ve never heard of it.”

“You're right.” Patch muttered. “If only six months passed, wouldn’t we still be using this language, heck wouldn’t this lost civilization still be around?”

“That’s just it. They wouldn’t because of the time dilation.”

“Huh?” The two looked at him in confusion. “Time dilation?”

“How to put it? Allen grumbled. “Fio you like Dragon Ball, right? Think of the Networks concept of time to be like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. One day for us, equals a year on the Network.” he states. “That’s how it goes when the clocks aren’t synched up properly.” He states. “Scilabs aligned the clocks for us, but after connection with Alpha was lost…”

“The clocks stopped aligning.”

X muttered and Allen nodded his head.

“If that’s the case… the Network’s concept of ‘time’ would have  returned to normal, or sped up dramatically.”

“Right.” Allen muttered. “And there were still Netnavis and other digital lifeforms trapped on the net when Alpha’s connection to the real world was cut.” He grumbled. “For us, that only lasted six months, which is a long time on its one, but on the network when time is speeding up? Forget years and decades, they could have been cut off from us for centuries.” Allen fell silent. “Generations of digital life forms could have been born on the remains of the old Network, whole civilizations rising and falling one after another before Scilabs re-established connection.” He stopped messing with his laptop as he seemed to think. “They could have -” Fio closed his laptop. “Huh, Fio?”

“You're dumping a lot of info on me right now.” She started unhooking Allen’s PET before standing up straight. “And real talk, I’m starting to tune you out.” She admits. “Anyway, lets worry about that later, we’re here to relax, not~” She made a gesture with her hand. “Whatever we’re doing now.”

“Right…” Allen scratched his head. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Fio pats his shoulder. “You’re not doing anything wrong.” She grins as she starts walking off. “Come on, let’s finally get some food.”

“Sure thing.”

Patch looked at Allen as the boy started putting his laptop back up.

“Allen?”

“Hm?” Patch watched him get up.

“Are you ok?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m ok.” Allen muttered looking at Patch.

“You don’t sound ok.” Allen forced a smile as he scratched his head. 

“I’m fine, really.” He states. “It’s just… thinking about the Netnavi’s trapped on the network then… it just got me thinking.” He paused, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it.” He stated, patting Patch on the shoulder before following after Fio. “Come on, before Fio starts complaining.”

“Sure…” 

//ROOT

//ACCESS_REQUEST

//ACCESS_REQUEST_SUCCESS

//COLLECTING PACKET_1………………………………………………………..COMPLETE

//COLLECTING PACKET_2………………………………………………………..COMPLETE

//COLLECTING PACKET_3………………………………………………………..COMPLETE

//COLLECTING PACKET_4………………………………………………………..COMPLETE

//BREACH

//BREACH_SUCCESS

There’s an alarm going off; that’s never a good sign.

How could it be? Every time it went off, that meant something was going on.

Looking forward, attention locked onto the two large monitors that were resting at the end of the Control room, a man couldn’t help but narrow his eyes slightly.  “Status report.”

“Commander, NYX is picking up a Breach in Sector 21.”

“There’s no doubt, a virus is on the verge of Realization.”

‘Again…’ The commander mutters to himself. “Alert sector security, I want that sector sealed off as soon as possible.”

“Sir yes sir!”

‘Another one huh…” materializing into this air a Netnavi made a noise as they crossed their arms. “How many does that make now in this week alone?”

“Too many.” The commander states. “Send Amalea, I want this virus threat dealt with as soon as possible.”

Walking out of the Arcade Fio can’t help but stretch as she smiles. “Ah~ them was some good eats.”

“It better of been.” Allen grumbles, looking at the girl. “You ate most of it.” Fio chuckled nervously.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Patch muttered. “So, what do you two want to do now?” The others seemed to think for a moment before Fio started to grin. Whatever she was thinking though never got heard, as a moment later they hear the sound of sirens coming close.

“Hm?”

“Attention all citizens!”

“A Dimensional Breach has opened in the vicinity.”

“Authorities are attempting to seal it. Please return to your homes or seek shelter immediately.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“A dimensional breach?” Patch muttered. “In this part of town?”

“That’s not good.” Allen grumbled. “We should start evacuating.”

“Yeah…” Fio trailed off as she started to think.

“Fio~” Allen’s tone changed, becoming more authoritative, like he was about to scold her. 

“Relax, I’m not thinking about checking it out.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean I am, but I’m not gonna actually do it.” She stated. “Unlike the Netpolice we don’t have those Synchro Chips that let’s them fight viruses on this side.” She grumbles. “So, we can't really do anything if we run into a virus.” Fio starts walking back towards the Arcade. “Come on, the streets probably won’t be safe for a while, so let’s take shelter in here.” Allen nodded his head.

“Sounds like an idea.”

“Yeah, right behind you.”