01 | Video

[virusbusting]

[Right from the start, this video feed is very shaky. Not wildly, but like someone's pressed 'record' and forgot it. After a few seconds of swinging, a hanging ceiling light comes into focus, only to swing away as the device is once again moved.]

C'mon, stay up! ...Hah, there!

[It stops once again, this time showing a boy's face. It might look familiar to some, even if the eyes are the wrong color, or the design on the headband wrapped around his forehead might even be recognizable.

If not, nothing wrong with that. He looks happy at getting his phone to stay up.]

Hi! This is recording, right? The guy that gave it to me sorta explained it...he said if I asked around the network, I'd find more answers, so here I am. [A pause.]

Um...I'm Lan Hikari and I'm new to the country...or this part of the country, anyway. I have no idea what I'm doing here and could use some help with...anything. Like getting home. Or getting ahold of my mom or dad so they know I'm okay.

Or fixing this. [He retrieves an offscreen object, bringing a second device into the camera's view.] It got busted somehow, and last time I tried to fix it...

[It turned out badly. But he'll just imply that for now, shrugging before ending the video feed.]

Comments

text; network id: dr. h. gottlieb

[mathemagier]

What sort of device is that?

text; ID is his name

[virusbusting]

a pet. personal terminal.

[At least it isn't super unusual for people in Lan's world not to have them.]

[Video]

[monge]

Monge~! Keita, you made it, zura~!

[...Wait, what did he say his name was, again? Oh shit, wrong anime kid.]

O-Oh, I'm sorry, zura- I-I mean, a new guy, you made it, z-zura! I don't think your parents are here anymore, so you're gonna have to become a man now, zura.

[He's...trying to help.]

[Video]

[virusbusting]

Huh?

[He made it? He wasn't sure he was supposed to be here in the first place, but--oh, wait.]

Um...wait what? I'm not ready to become a man yet!

permatext

[hypnotherapy]

[ That sure is Lan Hikari. Megaman is going to be one happy navi. ]

Ask Hiro Hamada to fix that PET of yours. He should know, if anyone does. [ He gave Hiro his own PET to look over when he wasn't using it, after all. ]

text

[virusbusting]

hiro hamada? never heard of him who is he?

[But he knows what a PET is! And apparently how to fix it. Yes good.]

not here

[hypnotherapy]

[message was corrected to erase 'hamada' in the sentence a minute after this conversation started]

[Video]

[eastdetective]

[In Conan's opinion it was one thing for him to be pulled into this mess. He was seventeen and more than capable of taking care of himself. Even if no one would believe it to look at the first grader he appeared to be.

It was another thing altogether to involve what looked like a normal kid. After the last incident with the Russians and war, Conan was not happy about this turn of events. With some irritation he opens the connection on his phone and puts on his usual act as a kid. He was well aware that anyone could be watching on the network.]

Nice to meet you! I'm Conan Edogawa.

Sorry, but getting home from here is a little complicated. And so is everything else here.

Re: [Video]

[virusbusting]

[Hello Conan, you're pretty well-spoken for a 6-year-old. But so far nice enough, so points for you.]

More complicated? Like...harder than taking a plan back to Japan? Well, I guess that'd be hard anyway, I think they took my passport.

video

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

Hi, Lan! I'm Ripley.

I'm real sorry, but I don't think you're gonna be able to talk to your parents. Unless that thingy you've got there is like a trans-universal phone or something.

--wait, is that what that is?

video

[virusbusting]

Trans-what? It can make phone calls, but it isn't a...whatever you said.

permatext; comm tag is "Tadashi"

[tadeadshi]

[Wait.



Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait. He knows that name. Sort of. In passing.]

I know someone who may can help fix that.

[Yeah ok he's being coy as shit, sue him.]

text; tag is "Lan Hikari"

[virusbusting]

[He knows Tadashi's name pretty well. It's his grandpa's, and as such it makes him look twice at his screen.]

really? who?

video

[glitterateur]

Where're you from? You can probably visit the city in this dimension!

video

[virusbusting]

This...dimension? I'm in a different dimension?

[That explains a lot of things...but also creates so many more questions.]

Densan City...

Action!

[megabytes]

[STOP EVERYTHING.

HE KNOWS THAT VOICE. HE KNOWS THAT FACE.

IS HE DREAMING HE BETTER NOT BE DREAMING.


Sup Lan, hope you're ready for surprises. His comm suddenly gains a little loading circle out of nowhere, which chugs merrily along for a moment before:]

Lan!

[Megaman is right there, hands pressed against the "screen" like he's trying to get as close as he can. Which, well, he is. Is this really real? Is his brother really here?]

Is it action if he's technically in the comm?

[virusbusting]

[Lan is not ready for surprises! By the time Megaman shows up, he's been told he's in an alternate universe, his parents are gone, he's stuck in a foreign country, and that his brother-Navi is alive and well.

And suddenly right in front of him. And that certainly is a surprise, albeit a nice one, and if the few people sitting nearby weren't startled at Lan's video conversations or frantic texting the past while, they might jump at his suddenly yelling at the phone.]

Megaman?! You're--I thought--you're okay!

[He is not very close to crying, you're imagining things.]

video; ID is Tim Drake-Wayne

[alreadywon]

[It kind of pisses Tim off on principle that this place has been kidnapping actual kids - admittedly, Tim's technically one of those but he doesn't really count himself - and this one clearly has no idea what he's doing, so.

He greets Lan with a friendly, sympathetic smile. There's basically just a wall behind him, so there's not much else to see in the video other than his face.] My name's Tim, and I'm new here, too. Did the person who gave you that device also give you a file or something?

video

[virusbusting]

[Lan doesn't really think of it as a kidnapping, rather a displacement. In his opinion, a kidnapper wouldn't give their captive a phone, nor would they let said captive out of their sight, both of which Lan's 'kidnappers' have done.]

A file? Mm, I got a folder with my name and an address on it. I haven't looked at it yet.

video

[booyahh]

Hey there, Lan. I'm Traci Thirteen. [ She gives a bright smile ] I know this probably isn't great news, but you can't really get into contact with your parents here. I know it sucks, but the good news is they aren't going to be worrying about you. This place is super weird and the going theory with a lot of supporting evidence is that our absence isn't noticed. The even better news is that most of us here are just like you, from different places, and we're not all awful at helping each other out.

video

[virusbusting]

It's okay, Dad's probably busy anyway. Mom's the one that really worries about me most of the time.

[And Megaman, but this is prior to actually reuniting with him here.]

I guess I'm not as alone as I thought I was...that's cool.

[maglevflash]

[Lan? Megaman's Lan?

Holy shit. She's happy to see you and she doesn't even know you yet.]

Seems like you've got the basic rundown already. [If the other replies are any indication. She sees several familiar names up there. Kid's in good hands.]

[virusbusting]

[The very same! So many people know him so well already, it's so strange.

Well, strange not to be known for his dad, anyway.]

A little bit. Everyone's super helpful, it's awesome.

[Most everyone, anyway. Some are just confusing.]

text; comm tag is "Hiro"

[microbrobotics]

[ Have an overly excitable Japanese kid with fluffy hair. ]

Holy crap! You're Lan?

text

[virusbusting]

Yes?

[That's a new reaction to his presence.]