Scene #7272: Seeker of Zero

Owner	Pose
Forte	Welcome to the internet. Hope you like pop-up ads and malware! Well, no, that's not quite true. (The part about this being the internet, not that it's full of pop-up ads and malware. Which is to say it's very full of malware and popups.) This is... sort of the internet, in physical form? This is Cyberspace, capital C. It is the internet of another world, and more specifically the city in Cyberspace known as Elecsquare. It's very futuristic. It's also very... plain. The area immediately surrounding the warp gate is built up a bit, and looks a bit more ornate, but past that there's a lot of what could charitably be described as 'minimalistic architecture'. Pathways that are plain gradients of color, tesselated patterns, or tiles of various sorts. The buildings either ape real world buildings - modern metropolis or traditional japanese - or they're collections of polygons in building-like shapes. In either case there's about as much aesthetic cohesion as your typical minecraft server; people build what they want, unconstrained by realism nor by reality. To recap, you're here looking for someone. The last incident turned up a suspect - someone going around Elecsquare selling faulty Zero Virus cures - and an image of the same suspect. And as far as where to start looking... the area around the warpgate seems to be a fairly active social hub, albeit a disorganized one. It's a good spot to approach random people, if you feel like gumshoe-ing it is the way to go. Down one direction, there's a large building that's labeled 'GENERAL FORUMS' in large yellow letters. It clashes with its neighbors, of course - but so does everything else. Down another direction, there's some sort of large battle arena. Sounds of sci-fi combat and roars of the crowd issue forth at regular intervals. Going a third way, a bit deeper into the city, there's an open-air shopping district. It is undoubtedly one hundred percent reputable and the new laptop that you order from there will most definitely not be an empty box with a literal brick in it. And a fourth way is some sort of official-looking structure. There's a small crowd clustered around some sort of notice board next to the main entrance. Oh, and while the group has been taking all of this in, they're all hit by at least one pop-up ad, spontaneously appearing in front of them. You have to literally reach out hit the X in the corner to get it to go away.
Rebecca Chambers	"Usually you only hear about things like this existing in novels and movies," Rebecca comments as she takes in the sights and sounds of actual Cyberspace. "I have to wonder what it would be like accessing computer applications like this?" She's mostly talking to herself, although if anyone cares to offer a comment to what she's said, she's more than likely going to make brief conversation, with the key word being 'brief' because she's on an important assignment here. Of course, being on assignment doesn't stop pop-ups from appearing, and if they were annoying onscreen, they're even moreso annoying in person! Letting out a sigh of frustration, Rebecca has to manually tap the 'X' buttons to get them out of her way. "What's next, someone claiming to have ten million credits and needing a safe place to sell them?" She comments with sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Forte	Actually, yes. That is pretty much exactly what the next popup Rebecca gets is.
Ishirou	"So we're looking for...well, assuming that the naming conventions of this place hold up...Novaman.exe. Though try and avoiding bringing him up directly, and instead of looking for a 'cure' to the Zero Virus. That's what he's selling!" I4 says with a look on his face that might make it seems he's overly thinking about something. His flying box with arms floats to the pop-up and hits the X. "I'll head to the forums," he says and walks that way. If he can, he'll use his access to the internet to actually make a post. 'OMG zero virus. i was on a train that the virus got on, it was real scary. is there something i can buy to avoid being infected?' Ok good with some bait set, and hopefully he wouldn't have to set more elaborate bait! Right now he'll also check the other forum posts, just in case there might be other clues. Still, he speaks to his box. "POD, keep a constant scan out for anything with the Zero virus signature. Better that we get the drop on anything dangerous instead of the other way around.."
Cantio	The technological wonderland that is Elecsquare has Cantio looking rather at home with... Well, everything. The futuristic, yet not quite overdesigned aesthetic almost feels like second nature to her, but the fact that she's on a mission rather than a sightseeing tour does dampen things just a little bit. "I wonder if they might have it at the markets somewhere... Maybe we can look for one of those later. And there might even be some nice souvenirs while we're there." Not too much dampening. She's still going to be gawking at stuff a fair bit, intrusive and potentially dangerous ads be damned. The fact that she's dressed in her usual shlock-bait vaguely sailor-y outfit might make it a bit difficult to get around unseen, but she's banking on being seen this time around! It might even help her stick out among the regular people at the OFFICIAL LOOKING STRUCTURE. Either way, she still needs to figure out how to actually investigate this Zero Virus and the faulty cures. First things first: Seeing what everyone's gawking at. She'll even ask around a bit, mostly probing and expressing vague CONCERN about bringing this ZERO VIRUS back home to sound more like a concerned tourist than a real investigator.
Forte	< Salutations and blessings upon you I am a deposed yumtopian prince who was recently overthrown by his evil brother and forced into hiding in my country. My most trusted adviser says that my personal treasury will be stolen by my neverdowell brother next if I do not find a safe place overseas to keep it. your name came up as a result of your good deeds and good outlook as a reputable person to hold onto my wealth of Y$10,000,000,00 yumtopian dollars. I know I can trust you to be to pay it back to me once I am in safety once again. Please to be forwarding your bank routing number, your network security number...> I4 can access the internet (reception here is pretty good). By the time he gets to the forums physically (which turn out to be large rooms with walls of scrolling text that the internet denizens physically write on) there's already a response. Actually, several, with more popping up as I4 starts reading. <HEY YOU NO-POST-HSITORY NEWBIE CUT IT WITH THE STUPID ACRONYMS AND LEARN HOW TO CAPITALLIZE YOUR I'S BEFORE I POKE OUT YOURS. YOUR EYES. WITH MY GIANT DIIIIIIIIICK> <Oh come on he asked a serious question, and the zero virus is scary shit, stop trolling> <bold of you to assume zhi's a male, jeez, tool of the patriarchy much> Meanwhile, Cantio gets some better luck. "Oh! Yeah! The Zero Virus, we're all pretty concerned about it..." says a passing mermaid woman. "Speaking of... are you headed for the meetup? You're dressed for it," she adds, looking Cantio up and down.
Ishirou	Wow! Responses already! He writes one response to all of the people at once. <er, sorry about that. also uh...i guess i identify as a male? not important. can we get back to the thing about zero virus protection? tho it seems like the i's have it here :)> Well, while he's here, he can look up if Charge man was posting on the forum.
Rebecca Chambers	"No thanks, I'm not interested!" Rebecca says as she X's out of the infamous scam. "OK, enough hanging around dealing with nonsense, it's time to get to work!" Rebecca decides to take a chance with the sci-fi arena, thinking someone might know something. From what she's heard, people who are into video games tend to know a bit about what goes on in terms of viruses and things like that to look out for. Especially when they could affect online games. While she doesn't know how effective her hand gun will be here, she does check to make sure it's loaded just in case someone gets a little too close for comfort or someone with bad intentions confronts her. All Rebecca wants is a little 'insider information' if she can get it.
Cantio	"Right? Things are getting so dangerous these days..." Cantio replies to the mermaid woman, sounding relieved at someone sharing her barely defined concerns. There's a brief pause at the mention of a meetup, and then she nods quickly in return. "Certainly! I mean... Yes, I'll be going. You're going too, right? " Another pause, and she lowers her voice juuuust a little bit. Just in case. "Have you heard anything about it lately? I heard there was some sort of commotion a while back, but I don't think it's anything to worry too much about right now." More vagueness, more fishing for information. "Not unless... Do you think it'll be safe to go?" And then she tops it all off with a non-commital question to see if the mermaid woman fills in the blanks for her! "You don't think the Virus could...?"
Forte	When I4 searches Charge Man's post history the first thing that pops up is a long conversation about trains that spiraled very rapidly into an argument about trains that spiraled even more rapidly into a toxic wasteland of a flamewar about trains, fueled by posts between two people that are, apparently, both arguing the exact same thing about some minute detail just in a slightly different way, and if they'd stop flaming at each other for literally one minute they'd find that they actually agree. (Spoiler: they don't, and the thread gets locked.) The second search result is about multiversal travel. <Oh yeah, if you're going to go out and see other worlds, you'll need some extra protection. Come hit me up, I've got the good stuff.> The username on that post looks like a generic throwaway account and is probably a dead end as far as leads, but the post history suggests they've been reaching out to a couple other people... The sci-fi battle noises turn out to come from actual sci-fi battles; two of the online denizens (net-navi's, if anyone thinks to inquire) battling it out in front of a packed crowd. Up on deck right now is some lanky guy with a lightbulb for a head fighting against someone who's been appropriating native american culture a bit too heavily. It looks as though there might be an empty slot in the battle schedule, if Rebecca's feeling like taking on a sidequest... "Yeah!" says the mermaid woman. "I'm going... and yeah I think it'll be safe to go. They say it becomes pretty obvious before you turn, so people jack-out and isolate..." She extends a hand. "Name's SplashWoman.EXE, by the way! What's yours?"
Rebecca Chambers	At first, Rebecca's not too keen about taking on the battle thing, but after a moment she decides to see what it entails and see how she could get involved. Not because it looks like fun or could provide a good distraction, but she's hoping to pick up some information in an undercover style. With that, Rebecca goes to clear things up with those in charge to see about how she'd get involved, all the while hoping she hasn't bitten off more than she can chew, nor is she about to make a fool of herself.
Cantio	Another relieved sigh, and Cantio nods slowly as complete with hand over her chest. She's certainly got the worried act down pat, although it's not completely an act considering that she's getting more information by the minute with all of this. Not once does it occur to her that she might not even need to be this secretive about any of it. "I haven't personally seen it happen yet, so I really hope I don't anytime soon. Ha... Hmm." She chuckles briefly, then takes SplashWoman's hand to shake it firmly. She bows lightly at the waist as per the routine of a proper leader, even. "Cant-" Wait. she's supposed to be secretive about her identity! Sure, she might not have an actual disguise on, but she still needs to cover her tracks a little bit. "-ghh. Gantio.GG. Pleased to meet you!" Smooth.
Ishirou	Well...that's a bit annoying, but it does tell him at least one thing. If this guy was just infected and spreading it around because he's infected he wouldn't be this clever about it. This guy is actively infecting other people, on purpose, for some benefit? This actually turns I4's usual happy go lucky demeanor to /slightly annoyed/. His brows furrow. Woah there partner. Ok, so this might take a moment, but fortunately, data is his game. The account was a throwaway, but if he could just do a scan...and look at all of the threads that have something like this response. Specifically looking for 'extra protection' 'zero virus' and 'the good stuff'. It would just be a matter of filtering those responses down once he can. He also looks at the user names that this account talked to. Might be good for saving those navis, if they can be saved...maybe he could get more information out of them too, but that comes second to preventing another Zero.
Forte	"Gantio.GG... guess your operator sprung for a vanity designation, huh? Nice," says SplashWoman.EXE. "So c'mon, we've got a private room set up right through here..." Cantio's lead off the beaten path a bit, to a building that seems hotel-like in that it's nothing but hallways containing rows of doors, some closed and some open. SplashWoman puts in a PIN code into one and opens it, entering... Inside, there's about a dozen people, sitting or standing throughout the room, about half of which are wearing costumes of some unknown significance. Does Cantio enter, and how does she introduce herself? Rebecca gets handed a clipboard by a distracted looking navi. "Sign in, get ready, you're just in time. We've got some hotshot rookie up next and his opponent cancelled." There appear to be no questions asked, if Rebecca wants to continue on with this. I4 gets results. Most of those results end with posts indicating that the target got infected and went rogue, was deleted, or disconnected ('jacked out') and is in isolation now. ... Except for the most recent post. <Yeah, I'll go meet you in an hour to bring the good stuff, you won't be disappointed ;D> says the last post, dated six hours ago, in conversation with someone named 'Blu_Bombr'. Most recent post by Blu_Bombr: <Argh! So disappointed. Gonna go to the arena and let off some steam.>
Rebecca Chambers	Biting the bullet, Rebecca signs the clipboard as necessary and then hands it to the navi. She feels a little embarrassed doing this, as she's a S.T.A.R.S. operative and not some geek who plays games like this for a living. Yet, at the same time her inner voice is reminding her this could be a great chance to eavesdrop and possibly pick up new information. Rebecca sighs to herself as she waits for her moment to be called to her position and start playing. She'd observed what happened before and had an idea of what to do, but whether she could actually do it is anyone's guess.
Ishirou	Alright, that's...well, a trend and at least he can start working from there. Alright...alright! "POD, create a program to constantly search on these keywords, we can deploy it once we get back from the arena, but we should back up Rebecca in case her opponent goes into viral meltdown," -Acknowledged, constructing program.- With that out of the way, he walks towards the Arena, but likely Chambers is going to have to deal with the blu bombr on her own first. Whoever that is.
Cantio	Cantio laughs politely at SplashWoman.EXE's comment, mentally boggling the whole way to the hotel-ish place as to whether or not that's some kind of insult. Or is it just a sign of wealth? Should she not be flaunting that kind of thing, or would that make her more of a target for this cure-peddler? From the looks of the interior of the room, perhaps the latter. It's gotten her an in with this whole... Whatever this is, anyway, and she only hesitates for a moment before stepping inside. She doesn't introduce her with that same flourish from earlier, though, instead taking on a more reserved tone and less flamboyant greeting in the form of waving meekly at the gathered people. "Er... Hi. I'm Gantio.GG, and this is..." She trails off, glancing at each person's choice of costume. She's keeping her eyes peeled for anyone that looks particularly bright or themed after suns and light, but trying not to make it too obvious by playing up the awkward, anxious newcomer act. Granted, she's still not quite sure what this meeting is even about, but she's bumbled her way this far! She clears her throat, then deliberately focuses her attention on SplashWoman.EX like someone that's too nervous to ask the entire gathering something potentially stupid. "Should I be saying or doing something until this starts, or...?"
Forte	Rebecca gets lead in... and onto the arena floor, at about the same time I4 arrives in the audience section. This looks... suspiciously like a deathmatch arena, and not a video game tournament. The announcer speaks over the loudspeakers. "Introducing our newest newcomers, their first time in the Elecsquare Netbattle Arena, it's... (okay, odd names, but okay...) It's Rebecca and Chambers.EXE!" The crowd cheers. "Though it seems like Rebecca isn't connected at the moment - she mmmmay want to fix that soon, because netbattling waits for no man nor woman, and if her navi's still connected then all's fair! And her opponent, the hotshoot rookie and the bluest of bombers... Lan and MegaMan.EXE!" A blue armored navi appears at the other end of the arena, and behind him, a panel lights up on the wall, showing a young elementary school kid. "Battle Routine, set!" calls the announcer. "EXECUTE!" roars the crowd in response, which seems to be the signal for the blue navi to start firing energy shots at her. --- "Hi, Gantio.GG," respond most of the group, in staggered fashion. A couple of them are wearing elaborate costumes that could cover up distinctive features, including the apparent group leader and one that's slumped over in a corner with the letters 'AFK above his/her head. "Aw, she's shy..." says SplashWoman, misinterpreting what's going on. "I know, it can be a bit hard, people look down you for being a Havensnug fan too, huh?" "Here, we like to start new members of the fangroup out with this quiz," she continues, shoving a dialogue window in front of Cantio, "it'll tell you who your GnollSona is and what phase of the moon they correspond to-" "Psssh," says another group member. "That quiz is garbage, it told me my GnollSona was calcanthum-aligned and gibbous, when obviously it's lixivium and a crescent moon." "Well, it's a good spot to start with," defends SplashWoman.
Rebecca Chambers	"W-wait, what's going on?" Rebecca asks, before realizing that MegaMan.EXE is actually shooting at her. "Wait, stop!" There's no stopping MegaMan.EXE it seems, so Rebecca attempts to dodge the energy shots. "Stop it! Please! I'm not a Navi!" She'd go for her hand gun but then realizes that this is different and that her weapons won't make a difference most likely. "Stop this! Please!"
Ishirou	"Huh..." I4 says to himself. The box speaks up, -Identifying. Ninety-nine percent chance that is the target, with a one percent margin of error.- says the feminine box with arms. "Thanks, POD, but I think I figured this out..." I4 instead of running for the arena, runs for where Blue's partner would be, "Ok hold on! Stop fighting! That viral cure you got from the guy was actually a fake and it's going to cause all sorts of problems including a really powerful guy named zero who's going to cause a lot of problems and explosions!" I4 says with the speed of someone who can speak really fast when pressed for time. He also doesn't have to breathe.
Cantio	Havenwhatnow? It takes a fair bit longer for Cantio to process just what it is she's gotten herself into, only managing to catch on that this is some kind of fangroup meeting and not a secret hoax-peddling cabal. It's a little too late to bail out now, though, especially if these people are expecting her to actually know whatever this... Thing is that they're going on about. Besides, it could still be a ruse. There could still be something deeper and darker going on underneath this nerdy cover. "Right... I mean, there's not really anyone else at home to talk to about it, and..." Improvise. What would be a sensible explanation for her barely knowing anything about whatever this internet club's focus is? "... Well, I haven't gotten too far yet since I don't get much privacy with my operator always goofing off instead of working or taking care of things offling." She sounds genuinely frustrated at that last part, but calms herself enough to put her cheerful tone once more. "But I really like the visual designs and the fanart!" It might make her look bad, but it's the only excuse she can think up of on such short notice. "This quiz doesn't have too many spoilers, does it?" She glances over at the leader and the AFK person in particular, gesturing towards the latter with her head after a moment. "Does that happen often?"
Forte	"Uh, Lan, she's not shooting back and she's saying to stop!" calls MegaMan, who has stopped firing (but still has his armcannon trained on Rebecca). "It's a trick! MegaMan, get ready, I'm sending battlechip data- huh?" Lan gets interrupted by I4 doing the equivalent of photobombing his operator camera. "Wha-" The young boy peers at I4, leaning in closer to his screen. "The viral cure? Of course its fake, we were investigating that guy! It's a fake cure that's actually a live dose of the virus and it makes you go berserk... we tracked him down by looking at CutMan's post history and found him and set up a meeting but he got away!" --- "Spoilers... ehm, maybe skip question four..." says SplashWoman. "It doesn't spoil anything important, the arc with their mirror-ego alter selves and the heist against those weird golem people themed after shogi pieces is hot garbage," interjects another group member. "You take that back!" says someone in an indescribable costume that's simply festooned with shogi pieces. "Okay, okay, simmer down..." says SplashWoman. "Just... pick random for question four. And as for him?" She thumbs over at the full-body-costumed afk-er in the corner. "He joined up just a couple hours ago, took a couple quizzes, then said he had to AFK. No big deal."
Rebecca Chambers	When the shooting stops, Rebecca breathes a sigh of relief. "OK, now that the shooting has stopped, can someone please get me out of this whole thing?" She looks around, feeling not only humiliated but also frustrated with this whole thing. Fortunately, it seems I4 is taking care of explaining things, which saves her some stress. "Anyone know where I can get a drink of water?" She comments to anyone who might be able to hear her.
Ishirou	"Oh...it never occurred to me that someone in this world might also be looking into this..." I4 says, with a visible relief in his voice. He offers a hand towards Lan, "I4, I'm not from this world, but I got involved because of Cutman.EXE, and then Chargeman.EXE. That's where we got wind of the culprit." He looks towards Rebecca, "Also she's not lying...I think she didn't realize what she was getting into. That's not a Navi, that's a human. I mean, as far as humans get in other worlds," he says with a laugh. "We have another friend, but they seem to have gotten in trouble, but they haven't called for help yet...something about a hotel and a secret meeting?"
Cantio	Still in, no suspicions raised. Good. Somehow, Shogilord's costume doesn't surprise Cantio one bit, and she seems more befuddled by the talk of the arc itself leading to whatever that costume is all about. "Oh, I love those kinds of arcs! I mean, ironically. I'd rather watch something terrible than something that's just bland or okay." Alas, she can't focus too long on that source of confusion as the AFK person's existence continues to raise questions in the back of her head. TWhy would someone showing up to a fan meeting and joining that same day just go idle suddenly? Ignoring the possibility of life issues just springing up out of nowhere, she instead goes straight to the illogical conclusion that something weird must be afoot! Actually confirming or denying that, though... She'll need a way to check this person out without arousing everyone else's suspicion. She opts for a more diversionary method of doing so: Using one of her hairpieces to create the sound of a voice call on the side of the room opposite the AFK person. It's not quite so loud as to be ear-destroying, but it's certainly loud enough to be annoying by the sixth repetition of that generic incoming call tone. If anyone looks for the source of the noise, of course, there won't actually be anything by that wall. As she does that, she slips a small orb out of her pocket, rolling it towards the AFK person. The drone comes to life a few seconds later, bumping and jostling into the person's leg with a fair bit of force to try and see if they even move or drop something from the light-ish impacts.
Forte	Lan does some quick menu'ing to withdraw from the fight against an apparently real person, and the fight ends, and the two combatants are ushered off of the field. Shortly thereafter, the four (well, three plus a floating view window) are brought together in a meeting room. "... Yeah, I should have figured this'd spread out, and there'd be multiversals looking into it too..." says the boy in the window. "Name's Lan Hikari, ace netbattler! And this is my brother, Hub, though most of the time he's just MegaMan.EXE." "A pleasure," says MegaMan, who has hands that can actually be shaken, and has managed to find Rebecca some water. "So we managed to meet with this guy, but he ran into... how'd you describe it? A hotel thing? Yeah, that sounds like the private meeting rooms, and we tried searching there but we can't crack open the locked doors, you know? We tried contacting the Officials to do a search, but they're all busy with outbreaks and stuff and kinda just paid us lip service..." --- The group looks over at the call sound, giving Cantio her opening. The drone bumps into the AFK'er, who sits up, startled and apparently not actually 'afk' after all. "What was that?" says a male voice.
Rebecca Chambers	Accepting the greeting, Rebecca gives a couple of handshakes before sipping the water. "Just like in the real world, thank heavens," She says with a smile, before looking to hear what's being said. "Looks like they had better luck than I did," Rebecca says with a sigh, folding her arms. "If Chris hears about this, I'll never hear the end of it."
Ishirou	"Nice to meet you both!" I4 says to them both, shaking hands. Sitting down, he introduces himself. "I'm I4, I already introduced myself to Lan, but yeah! And yeah...things got pretty bad. I managed to save Chargeman.EXE and got a lead on Novaman.EXE." Some explanations come, and I4 thinks. "Well, I could open it up, actually! Getting into places locked by data is basically my specialty."
Cantio	Jackpot! Maybe. Nothing falls out, though, even though the not-really-AFK person awakens, and that's Cantio's cue to let the ball drone take a roundabout path back to her waiting hand. The call noise stops shortly afterwards, and she feigns confusion for a few moments longer before pretending to just notice the person speaking up. "Oh! Welcome back. I heard you're new here, too?" With the others momentarily distracted, she takes thatopportunity to seem almost relaxed enough to speak normally. "Gantio.GG. Pleased to meet you." A pause, and then she glances around again before taking a deep breath deliberately. "... I guess it really is safe here. That's a good sign." It's a mildly disappointing sign, but at least these nerds seem to be safe considering the circumstances behind her coming here in the first place.
Forte	"NovaMan? But we're tracking down StarMan..." If shown the picture, both operator and navi nod. "Yeah, him." "I guess he could be a NovaMan..." A short walk later, Megaman points at the hotel-like building that Cantio happens to be in. "He ran in here, and disappeared into one of these doors... Couldn't tell which." "Yeah, and then we camped out for hours," complains Lan. "(I camped out for hours, you went to go get ice cream...)" mutters MegaMan. "But yeah, at that point... we figured cut our losses and see if we could pick the trail back up later." ---"Yeah, nice to meet you, I'm busy," says the full-costumed figure, who goes afk again. "Heh... sorry, social skills are... well..." SplashWoman tries to find a polite way to say that some people who can't function well in society find a welcoming home here in spaces like these, and honestly that's alright, everyone needs some place they can just be themselves and find a tribe, and if a tiny gathering of fans obsessed with a years-long-completed webcomic is what some people need to have a haven of stability and social interactions without being looked down upon, then it should be celebrated that the internet can provide that, we've all got our quirks and none of us can help how we're made. Except she doesn't have that level of nuance, so she finishes that hanging statement thustly: "... not... always a priority around here."
Ishirou	"Huh...well if you give me a moment...and some back up?" I4 asks, walking towards the Hotel, "My friend is there too, I wonder if she's managed to make any progress." He stands up and starts walking to the Hotel. "So...why you guys? I mean, it seems like you're not part of the police or anything? Kind of dangerous to handle something like this on your own!"
Cantio	There's a brief flinch from Cantio at the brusque response, and she holds up a hand in reflex. "Sorry! Er..." She turns away from the re-AFK person towards SplashWoman's explanation, eventually managing a light chuckle in return. "I.. Noticed. It's alright, though. I've seen a lot of that back home, too, but that's just part of the hobby..." Things start to click. I4 mentions that their suspect is in this very building, and Cantio's suspicion is once again focused on the full-body guy. She doesn't leave SplashWoman hanging for long, however, instead putting on an understanding smile. "Thanks for showing me this place. I'll have to come back again sometime soon. My operator's calling for me, though, so..." She trails off, getting up slowly and deliberately to buy herself a bit more time for her allies to show up at the door. Once she can get confirmation that they're outside, she'll head for the door and try to get it open from the inside.
Forte	"Hey! We're official netbattlers!" says Lan as they head in. MegaMan clears his throat. "... Junior class official netbattlers." "Ahem." "... Junior class official netbattler candidates." "ahem" "Okay, well, we will be candidates when the exam opens next month!" says Lan, exasperated. "But me and MegaMan saved the world once, that's gotta count for something!" "Till then we're just sorta, um... freelance," says MegaMan. In short order, they show up at the right door, waiting outside in the hallway, and Cantio can get it open from inside. What's the next play?
Ishirou	I4 laughs a little at the banter, "Alright, alright! Well, netbattlers, we're going to do this. Again, I'm with the Paladins! Basically the superheroes of the Multiverse! I guess? Multiversal politics is weird sometimes! In fact we're working with someone from another superhero group. She's cool though!" At the door, they get there right as Cantio opens it up. "Well...this is definitely a thing," he says, and just...walks through the door. "POD, wide-area scan! Scan for No-Starman.EXE!" The POD makes a sound, and opens up an antenna on its head and scans the room for Starman.
Forte	The pod points at the slouched-over AFK'er in the full body costume, who promptly sits up and looks alert.
Ishirou	Without even taking a second thought, I4 releases a beam of light towards Starman, attempting to hack his systems. The reason? Trying to literally just reduce his speed to the lowest number he could set it too. Specifically trying to aid his allies in tackling the guy and dragging him out of here. "How dare you infiltrate the fandom to hide! You'll answer to this most awful crime and the actual most awful crime of spreading the Zero virus."
Cantio	To blow her cover or to keep plausible deniability? That truly is the question as Cantio steps back to let Lan, MegaMan, and I4 (and POD) inside. Considering the AFKer's reaction to being indicated by the POD, it seems the jig's already up, but... There's no telling if anyone else here might be in on the scam. "P-Pod? Paladins? Oh my goodness... What's going on?" She opts to keep the clueless act up for now, even going as far as holding her hands up while glancing from I4 to the POD to the probably-Starman, then even to the group leader and SplashWoman with the same bewildered look.
Forte	"Excuse me-" StarMan gets to his feet, looking like he's going to make a run for it (through the one door in and out of this room, which is occupied by two foes - not a great plan, but at least a plan) when I4 manages to hack his speed. "Lan, that sounds like-" "Yeah, it's him! Battlechip, Zap Ring, slot in!" <<BATTLECHIP SLOT IN>> ZAP_RING_1 Z - EXECUTE The boy in the window does something, and then the end of MegaMan's arm cannon glows briefly before firing - a ring of sparkling electricity that hits StarMan and paralyzes him. "Um... what the heck?" says SplashWoman. None of the other Havensnug fans here look particularly pleased, either.
Ishirou	"Hi yes, I'm I4, with the Paladins. This is Starman, who is named wrongly. Anyway, he's the source of the Zero Virus, and has been selling fake cures that infect people with it! So if you got anything from him, please let me know now, and I can take care of it. Or if you haven't taken it but got it from him you will want to hand that over, so I can burn it." I4 flashes his official Paladins badge. The POD attempts to collect Starman, by attempting to carry him like a very big weapon it's used to sometimes carrying around. Slowly trying to get the paralyzed Navi out the door so they can question him. Alot. Why isn't it Novaman? "Sorry for the interruption! Please continue on with your fan gaming!"
Cantio	Starman moves about as fast as a sack of bricks, MegaMan blasts him with electricity, and everyone else seems to have their ire directed entirely at the blue guy, the silver guy, and the boy in the window. Perfect. Short of something mostly unexpected happening in the next minute or so, Cantio still hasn't blown her cover! She steps aside as I4 tries to get Starman out of there while glancing over at the fanclub. She tries catching SplashWoman's or the leader's eyes to silently mouth 'Is this a bit?'. Of course it's not a bit, but someone has to stay behind in case there really is something going on beyond the surface. There probably isn't, but she needs to know!
Forte	"Yeah! We got the bad guy!" says Lan. "Excuse me - who the heck are you, busting in here without a warrant - hey!" Splash Woman and the other fans protest, but I4 manages to get the paralyzed navi out into the hallway. The fans aren't at all happy. "Hrgh..." mutters Star/Nova Man, who's starting to come to.
Ishirou	"Yes hi I told you already, okay goodbye!" he says and closes the door. "I think you need to hit him again Megaman. At least until we get him somewhere where we can make him talk?" He says, before thinking. "Yeah just hit him again..." he says, before attempting to hit him with another HACKING BEAMU.
Cantio	Meanwhile, Cantio's a little trapped! She can't just blow her cover NOW after pretending to be so clueless the whole time, but just leaving would just waste the opportunity to see if there's anything more dastardly underfoot! That just laeves her with the option of sticking around and reassuring the fanclub after things finally settle down. Best case scenario, she finds something juicy. Worst case scenario, at least someone's keeping an eye on these kids.
Forte	Via egregious use of HACKING, I4 gets the download (literally). A few months ago, Dr. Wily attempted to take over the world via military satellites and something called the Life Virus, and was stopped ("Oh! Oh yeah, that was us. We were awesome." - Lan). He's missing, presumed dead, after the attempt. ("... Oh, um... didn't think about that..." - Lan) Most of his retinue of minibosses are jailed or otherwise incapacitated... except for one. His intern. That intern (calling himself The Professor) decided that the problem with the original plan was that it just wasn't done hard enough, and has set out to try to recreate it and take over the world, first by pulling out one of Dr. Wily's backup plans out of storage - the Zero Virus. You get a location - a base deeper into the internet, where the Zero Virus Prime is being stored and used to create infectous samples.