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Blues keeps refusing to take breaks. Hollow doesn't like this—he's their favourite person, sure, but they would rather he actually take some time for himself every so often. Caring for them has to be a drain.
Everyone assures them it isn't, but they know they're a high-maintenance Navi. Even now the fog sometimes descends on their mind, and there's a chance of them reacting violently if anyone so much as pokes them. Their programming is better, but still a mess, and they need constant observation in case something goes wrong.
So that's why they helped the others convince Blues to take a day for himself. Rockman and Roll have dragged him out to Internet City, leaving Hollow to wander the Ministry on their own. It's fine if they stay inside the servers or the building itself.
But... it's awfully lonely.
There aren't any bugs indoors, none they can find, and most of the humans are busy with work. It doesn't help that quite a few of them are uneasy around Hollow, especially with their sword strapped to their back. Or maybe it's just their height. Or their appearance. Or all three.
Whatever the case, they don't like the nervous glances they keep getting, so they go and find Hikari-hakase. He doesn't seem to mind Hollow at all. Meijin would be a good choice too, but he's at the Net Police HQ right now.
"Hollow!" Hikari-hakase looks up as they enter his personal lab, beaming. "Hello, I wasn't expecting you to visit. How are you?"
'I am fine,' they sign. 'Just. Somewhat lonely, without Blues.'
Hikari-hakase frowns, squinting a little. "Er... Sorry, I'm not as good at sign language as you..."
Oh. Right. They probably should have expected this. Hikari-hakase is a very busy man, after all—he likely doesn't have time to learn an entirely new, non-verbal language.
They can't help the slight slump in their shoulders, however.
"Ah— I'm sorry, I should have phrased that better," Hikari-hakase quickly says, now looking sheepish. "I don't have much free time, but I am trying to learn it. I can fingerspell, and I know a few basic words and phrases, if that helps?"
...Fingerspell. That should be okay. They'll have to keep their words short, possibly limiting themself to just one or two per response, but it's better than not being understood at all.
'Okay,' they fingerspell, and Hikari-hakase watches their hand movements closely.
"Okay?" he asks.
Hollow gives him a thumbs-up.
"Excellent!" Hikari-hakase brightens. "So, how are you today?"
They think for a moment, then fingerspell, 'Lonely.'
"...Ah," Hikari-hakase says, softening. "That's right, you all convinced Blues to take a day off, didn't you? I can call him back if you—"
Hollow quickly shakes their head.
'Rest,' they fingerspell.
"Are you sure? You know he wouldn't mind."
They repeat the motions, adding in some sharper movements for emphasis.
Hikari-hakase holds his hands up placatingly. "Alright, alright. Then, hm... I know—why don't I show you what I'm currently working on? I think you might like it, and I was planning on telling you soon anyway."
Now curious, they click and buzz. Hikari-hakase grins, evidently taking that as consent (which it sort of is), and gestures for them to come closer to the console. On the screen is a Navi Development Module, a transparent, egg-like container. The barest blueprints of a Navi's frame, mostly incomplete but with the 3D outline visible, floats inside it.
Hollow tilts their head, squinting a little. They can make out a horned head and small limbs, along with something that might be a cloak.
'Like me?' they fingerspell to Hikari-hakase.
The man nods eagerly. "That's right! I'm actually basing this Navi off of your appearance. Not just that, but your programming as well."
Hollow's eyeholes widen before they can stop themself. They unconsciously back away half a step, and Hikari-hakase notices.
"Oh— oh no, I did it again, I'm sorry," he quickly says. "Not exactly like you. I'd hand myself over to the Net Police if I even considered something so terrible, I promise!"
They hunch in on themself a little, fingers sliding together out of nerves.
Hikari-hakase softens. He looks... apologetic. Concerned. Genuine. Yet Hollow can't get the thought of him doing the exact same thing their operator did out of their head.
They know he's able to. He created Rockman, after all. It was out of desperation and grief, but...
"What I meant was that I want to study your Substantiation Program properly," Hikari-hakase explains gently. "You know we stabilised it using the research we did for the Digiroids, right?"
Hollow nods hesitantly.
"But your ability is still almost exclusively a result of that program, so it's completely different to the Digiroids. I've been wondering if there's a way to combine the two, which would be a massive help in our research. But in order to do that, we need to know the ins and outs of the Substantiation Program—and I figured the best way to do that would be to program it into a new NetNavi."
Hm. That doesn't sound... bad. More like reverse-engineering, or something along those lines.
'No human?' Hollow asks, just to be absolutely sure.
"God no," Hikari-hakase replies, vehemently shaking his head. "Like I said, I'd turn myself over to the Net Police if I even considered it. And even if I didn't, I know my co-workers would drag me there instead. Meijin would probably arrest me himself."
Cautiously, they relax. They nod and shuffle closer, looking at the screen again.
"I'm sorry I keep upsetting you," Hikari-hakase offers, slowly reaching up. Hollow keeps an eye(hole?) on his hand, but doesn't stop him from patting their upper arm. "My wife says it's a sign I've been working too long. My brain-to-mouth filter doesn't work quite as well as normal, and I often end up offending someone."
Hollow blinks slowly. A memory comes to them suddenly—one of Enzan's, from when he was... fifteen, maybe? It had just been the two of them in a room like this one, and Blues had been in a Recovery Program. Hikari-hakase said something similar back then, too. Apologising for a thoughtless remark which upset Enzan.
They wonder if Hikari-hakase remembers too.
But they don't really know how to ask such a question, so instead they just take Hikari-hakase's hand and lean down, pressing his palm to their cracked mask. He looks surprised for a moment, and then his expression smooths out into a smile as he gently rubs their head.
"If it helps at all," he says softly, "I won't be discarding this Navi when I'm done. The programming I'm writing is a sort of... sister to yours. Like how some companies have sister companies. And I could never do such a thing to a sentient creature."
Hollow leans back a little, mostly so they can fingerspell.
'My sister?' they ask.
Hikari-hakase considers that for a moment.
"Yes, that sounds rather fitting," he decides, nodding. "This Navi can be your sister. You can help me program... her, if you'd like?"
Hollow perks up.
They hadn't considered the possibility of having a sibling, let alone a sister. The closest thing they have would probably be Blues. But it feels nice to think about. And... maybe they won't be so lonely when Blues takes a break.
'Yes,' they fingerspell.
Hikari-hakase beams. "Excellent! We can get started right now, if you're okay with that. I only have the basics of her frame put together at the moment. You know how your own body moves, so you could demonstrate movements for me and help me code them to suit her."
Hollow nods eagerly. Any thoughts of being lonely are now gone.
Blues learns about Hollow's sister—or soon-to-be sister—the moment he returns from his break. To absolutely no one's surprise, he immediately throws himself into helping.
Something that does surprise Hollow is when Netto and Rockman begin helping as well. They're not entirely certain how they should feel around Netto, because Enzan's memories paint him as a carefree child and young adult, but the version they see now is a (mostly) mature man. Who also does double-duty working for both the Ministry and the Net Police, just like Meijin.
But he's more than capable, that's for sure. The fact that Hollow is coherent and able to walk normally speaks to that.
Meiru and Roll help as well, but neither of them know much about programming Navis beyond the basics needed for maintenance. As a result, the support they provide is mostly moral, along with reminders to stop and take breaks for Netto and Hikari-hakase. In Hollow's opinion, that's quite possibly the most important type of support anyone could provide ever.
Their sister's frame is close to being completed by now, though. They're excited and keep picking Blues up to whirl him around, and they're practically dancing when Hikari-hakase reveals their sister's emblem design. Blues makes a few noises as he's spun around and around, but he isn't trying to escape, so Hollow takes that to mean he doesn't mind. If he did, he could easily slip out.
They do have to slow down so they can actually look at the emblem. So that might be part of it.
It's a white needle-and-thread on a black background, surrounded by a gold ring like Hollow's scarred emblem. It looks almost graceful, but sharp at the same time. Somehow, they know it's fitting.
"Is she gonna be a seamstress or something?" Netto asks, glancing at his father.
"Er... That depends on your definition of 'seamstress'," Hikari-hakase replies.
"...Dad."
"Basic answer, not really," Hikari-hakase sighs, sounding a bit put out. "We've registered Hollow's subclass as a bug, so I figured their sister should be a bug as well. That way they'll have something in common right from the start!"
"A needle and thread..." Meiru muses, pursing her lips. "So... does that mean she's a caterpillar? Or maybe a spider?"
Hollow is too excited by the whole concept of sharing something with their sister to correct her. Spiders aren't bugs, they're arthropods, but whatever.
"A spider!" Hikari-hakase cheerfully confirms. "I even created a needle for her to use, based on Hollow's nail."
Everyone, even Hollow, looks at him.
"...What?" he asks.
Netto speaks first. "What do you mean, 'nail'?"
Hikari-hakase blinks. He looks so genuinely confused that Hollow puts Blues down and takes their sword off their back—it's now attached to their programming as a basic weapon, but they prefer having it within reach rather than just summonable, so they have straps for it.
"See, look," Hikari-hakase quickly says, gesturing to the sword. "It's all sharp and narrow, but it gets thicker just before the grip, right? Like a nail."
"Um... No offence, Yuuichirou-san, but that's a sword," Meiru says delicately.
Hikari-hakase honest-to-goodness pouts.
"Well, it looks like a nail to me," he grumbles.
"I think it's more of a longsword, honestly," Blues says, leaning around Hollow to inspect their sword. They tilt it toward him helpfully. "Yes, definitely a longsword."
"I don't think any longsword is that big," Rockman argues. "It's more like a greatsword with that size."
"But greatswords typically have thick blades, and this one is thin. Therefore, it's a longsword."
"You can't just call it a longsword because it's long!"
"That is literally why they're called longswords."
Hollow tilts their head as Blues and Rockman descend into an argument. Then they just tune the two out and inspect their sword for themself, holding its blade carefully so it's flat.
They can... sort of see Hikari-hakase's reasoning. And they have to be honest, calling it a nail does sound kind of cool. Unique, too. And if Hikari-hakase has already designed a needle-based sword for their sister, then it makes sense for them to have something similar. So they can match, and have more things in common.
Their eyeholes pinch, and they buzz loudly to get everyone's attention. Once everyone is looking, they fingerspell.
'Longnail.'
A beat of silence.
And then Blues turns to Rockman with a smug grin. "Hah! Told you!"
"This does not mean you're right!" Rockman protests, looking as though he's been personally offended. "Just because Hollow wants to call it a—"
"It's a longsword and that's that!"
"What makes you the expert!?"
"I'm a swordsman, you idiot!"
"Yeah, well, you're also a jerk!"
"And you're a—"
"Alright, alright, that's enough, you two!" Roll loudly interrupts, shoving between them. "If you wanna fight, take it to the Colosseum or something."
Blues and Rockman eye each other.
"Later," Roll quickly adds.
"Evening?" Blues promptly asks.
"Eight," Rockman replies, and the two of them shake on it.
Hollow tilts their head, blinking. How strange.
But Hikari-hakase looks quite pleased, so that's nice.
After weeks and weeks of effort, Hollow's sister is complete. Now all they have to do is wait for her systems to initialise, and she'll wake up on her own.
She still floats in that Development Module, eyes closed. But Hollow knows her eyes are like theirs, because they've seen them a few times when Hikari-hakase booted up parts of her programming during tests.
That's not the only thing the two of them share in terms of appearance—they both have horned white masks, though her horns are single-tipped with no ridges, and she obviously doesn't have a crack on one side of her mask like Hollow does. Her body is similar to theirs too, pitch black in colour with thin limbs, and covered by a pretty red cloak.
Blues picked that colour. Rockman and Roll had gently teased him, but Hollow thinks it suits her.
The one thing they do question about her design is the fact that she's a spider, yet she only has four limbs. Hikari-hakase says it's mostly her abilities that make her a spider, which... sort of makes sense? Since their own appearance doesn't really match any real world bugs either. So the two of them can be strange together, perhaps.
I hope you wake up soon, Hollow thinks. I want to meet you so badly, sister.
Obviously she doesn't respond—even if she was awake, telepathy was not among the abilities Hikari-hakase programmed into her. But it makes them feel like they're talking to her in some way.
And then, almost a full three hours later, there's the slightest hint of movement.
Hollow jerks back into awareness, looking at their sister. Blues is sitting with them and he notices too, straightening and watching her intently.
"I didn't imagine that, right?" Blues asks. Hollow shakes their head. "Okay, good. I'll send a message to Rockman and Roll, they'll want to be here for this."
He begins drafting that out. In the meantime, a screen appears beside the Development Module—and on it is an excited-looking Hikari-hakase.
It takes ten minutes for the others to arrive. Meiru and Roll come first, eager and excited, and then Netto and Rockman, practically barrelling in with a speed that impresses even Blues. Everyone quickly gathers around to watch in anticipation.
Hollow's sister had begun moving more and more while the others were on their way, and now she seems to be slowly coming into consciousness. Her eyes open once or twice, only a little bit each time, but it still happens and Hollow scrambles their feet, holding their hands in front of their chest.
Finally, their sister awakens. Her eyes open more slowly, but they don't stop halfway this time, and she begins moving her head a little, looking around. Eventually her eyes land on Hollow, and they offer her an excited wave.
She tilts her head. Blinks. And then waves back.
Hollow buzzes with joy, practically bouncing in place.
"Let's get her out of the Development Module," Hikari-hakase says, and there's the sound of rapid typing for a few moments.
The Development Module dissolves around Hollow's sister. It's a slow, careful process, and a couple of program arms reach down to hold her. When it's completely gone, the arms gently place her onto the ground, making sure she's stable before letting go and vanishing.
Hollow approaches her. She has to tilt her head all the way back in order to look at their face, so they kneel down.
"Who are you?" their sister says. Her voice is young, with a hint of steel behind it. It suits her.
'I am Hollow,' they reply. Hikari-hakase had programmed sign language into her from the very start, so she'll be able to understand. 'I am your sibling. It's nice to finally meet you, sister.'
"...Sibling. Not... brother? Or sister?"
Hollow shakes their head. 'I have no gender, so the word sibling is more appropriate.'
"Oh. Very well then. It's... nice to meet you too? I'm afraid I cannot return your full greeting, as the data that would give me a name seems to be missing."
Netto speaks up at this point. "Yeah, we decided to leave your name blank so you could decide on it yourself, if you wanted."
Their sister looks at the screen. "And you are?"
"Hikari Netto, nice to meetcha!"
"And I'm Sakurai Meiru," Meiru adds, waving.
"I'm your creator, Hikari Yuuichirou," Hikari-hakase says. "Netto is one of my sons. Do you see the blue Navi there?"
Hollow's sister turns to look at Rockman, who offers her a warm and welcoming smile.
"That's my other son, Rockman," Hikari-hakase explains.
"What about those two?" Hollow's sister asks, pointing at Blues and Roll.
"I'm Roll, but you can call me Roll-chan if you like," Roll tells her, waving cheerfully.
"And my name is Blues," Blues says, bowing politely. "I help care for your sibling."
"I see." Hollow's sister looks him up and down. "Hm... We seem to be wearing the same colour."
"Yes, I picked out the colour of your cloak myself. Hollow insisted I get a say in your design."
'The three of us are all related, in a way,' Hollow explains. They hear Rockman whispering a translation to the humans. 'So I thought it would be fitting for him to have some input as well.'
Their sister nods. "I like it. Red is a good colour."
Blues's expression barely changes, but Hollow can tell he's practically beaming on the inside.
Their sister hums quietly, taking everything in. She shifts a little, then her eyes narrow in a frown and she reaches for her needle, which is strapped to her back like Hollow's longnail is to theirs.
"This is my... needle, correct?" she asks, sliding it out to look at it. "Why is there a ring on the pommel?"
"That's so you can use your thread, if you want," Hikari-hakase eagerly explains. "Your needle can be both a short-range and long-range weapon! And it'll be much more versatile, too. You could get very creative with your attacks."
"Hm," Hollow's sister says. She holds out her free hand, releasing some thread, and loops it through the hole. Then she ties it off and lets go of the needle, letting it dangle a bit before spinning it in the air. "Oh... I see what you mean. This is very good."
"I know Yuuichirou-san programmed Battle Data into you," Blues says. He half-smiles. "Since you have that sword—"
"Needle," Hollow's sister corrects him.
"Since you have that needle, how about I teach you a bit about swordplay? I'm primarily a Sword-focused NetBattler myself, and I'd be happy to help a new Navi learn the ropes."
Hollow's sister seems to consider that for a few moments. Hollow pushes themself to their feet, curious and excited to see where this is going.
And then their sister suddenly flings her needle at Blues, who has about half a second to look startled before he activates his Sword and parries the attack. It was clearly pure instinct, because he's a bit too slow to react to her reeling herself in by her own thread and slamming into him at speed.
He staggers but quickly regains his balance, just in time to parry another needle slash. Hollow's sister uses the momentum to get above him, then stabs down—and he moves fast as lightning, dodging and counterattacking in almost the exact same movement.
Now it's their sister's turn to be on the defensive, as he slashes and attacks with even more speed than she did to him. Hollow can tell he's holding back, though—if he wasn't, the battle would have been over the moment she got close enough for him to touch.
"Um, should we stop them?" Rockman asks, looking torn.
"No, I think she's cooking something," Netto muses.
'She has no cooking utensils,' Hollow points out, confused.
"Oh, no, I mean she's got a plan," he clarifies, once Rockman translates.
Then why not just say that? What a strange person.
Shaking their head, they turn their attention back to the... battle? If that's what it is? And now they see that it's mostly become a blur of parries and attacks, with their sister testing out her needle-and-thread and Blues finding ways to counter her creative experiments. They both seem to be enjoying themselves—Blues has a slight smile on his face, and their sister occasionally giggles.
After a good few minutes of this, Blues manages to use her inexperience against her, tripping her up and then pointing his Sword at her throat. She freezes, eyes wide, and the two of them stare at each other for a few moments.
Then Blues deactivates his Sword, and Hollow's sister places her needle onto her back. They exchange bows.
"You are a worthy opponent," she tells him, as the two of them straighten up. "And I think you will make an excellent teacher. I accept your offer."
"Thank you, I'll be glad to show you everything I know," Blues replies, smiling properly.
Hollow starts clapping, buzzing happily, and the two of them seem startled at the reminder that they have an audience. They both look faintly embarrassed, but while Blues awkwardly stares at his feet, their sister just looks away with a quiet 'hmph'.
"That was great, both of you!" Meiru praises the two. "I can tell you're definitely gonna get along, heheh."
"I would prefer not to have an audience," Hollow's sister mutters.
"Aw, don't be shy, that was so cool!" Roll gushes. "You're almost as fast as Blues, and he's probably one of the fastest NetNavis in the whole cyberworld."
Hollow clicks to get everyone's attention, then signs.
'If my sister does not want an audience during her swordplay lessons, that is her wish. We should respect it, regardless of her natural skill.'
"Definitely, I just wanted to let her know how good she is," Roll agrees.
Hollow's sister glances at them. There's a very faint dusting of red on the cheeks of her mask. It seems Hikari-hakase programmed the ability to blush into her, too.
"You're fine to watch, if you would like," she says, her embarrassment clear from her tone. "You are my sibling. I don't mind."
Aw, how sweet of her! She's all sharp and cool, but kind too. Like a bee with honey. Or maybe a wasp.
"...Speaking of," she continues, after a slight pause. "I have no personal preference for any sort of name, so I doubt I would be the best to pick one out. I would rather you or someone else pick for me. If I do not like it, I can always change it, correct?"
"Absolutely," Hikari-hakase agrees, nodding.
She nods, then looks at Hollow expectantly.
This... wasn't what they were expecting themself, and it's a bit awkward being put on the spot like this. But the fact that she wants them to pick a name for her makes their core warm inside their chest.
And, well... they sort of have an idea already.
'Hornet,' they sign.
She blinks, and then her eyes pinch—just like theirs do when they're 'smiling'.
"What, like a wasp?" Netto asks, raising an eyebrow. "Why not any species of spider or something? Y'know, 'cus she's a spider and all."
'She's sharp and aggressive, just like a hornet,' Hollow explains. Rockman translates again. They'll have to thank him later.
"I like it," their sister—Hornet—says, which puts an end to any further questions. "I will happily take this name as mine."
Netto shrugs. "Alrighty then. So long as you're okay with it, it's all good!"
And then he turns to his father.
"So, Dad, how come one of the first things she did was challenge Blues to a fight?" he asks, giving him a deadpan look.
Hikari-hakase coughs. "Well, that may have been because I, er... based some of her personality programming on Blues's..."
"That explains a lot, actually," Meiru says, nodding.
"Like what?" Blues demands, offended.
"Well, the way she talks, for one. The immediate acceptance of Hollow. The sword skills."
Hornet lifts her chin.
"Needle skills, sorry."
Hornet nods, satisfied.
"...When you put it like that..." Blues thinks about it, then nods. "I suppose it makes sense. And as Hollow said, the three of us are all related in some way."
"Since Hollow and Hornet are siblings, does that make you some kinda... cousin, maybe?" Rockman suggests.
"Hm. I suppose so."
"You are both cousin and teacher," Hornet says, nodding to Blues. "Good. I am proud to have such a skilled swordsperson as a family member." Then she turns to Hollow. "And of course, I am overjoyed to be your sister, sibling. I look forward to getting to know both of you."
Hollow puts a hand on their emblem and bows to her. In a move that's... somewhat uncharacteristic of what she's shown so far, she giggles and uses her needle-and-thread to hop onto their shoulder.
They straighten up and tilt their head to look at her. She just shrugs.
Their eyeholes pinch, and they gently bonk their mask against hers. She giggles again and relaxes, releasing a bit of thread to tether herself to them so she won't fall off.
They like their sister already. They look forward to getting to know her, too.