Chapter Text
Five years have passed since the resolution of the Cache incident. The newest incarnation of the crime syndicate Nova has begun operating in Densan City, though its goals remain unclear. The Net Saviors and their young protégés have been countering Nova's attacks, but they slowly learn that the syndicate is a front for something far more insidious. Its increase in power and resources is the work of the Silver Division, a secretive cyberwarfare unit from the distant country of Darkland. What's more, a long-lost friend is among their ranks—but our heroes have reached his heart, and he can no longer bear standing by while Darkland takes what it wants from both them and the Ministry of Science...
Five years ago, Hikari Netto disappeared in a subway bombing, presumed dead after his bloodied bandanna was retrieved from the wreckage…
After spending four years known only as the Seventh of Darkland’s Silver Division, forced to work on all manner of cutting-edge technologies and top-secret missions, Netto has been ordered back to Densan City under the guise of experienced hacker Black Hiroki. His mission is to manipulate the small, failing net mafia Nova into capturing the Ministry of Science, so Darkland can obtain the missing pieces to some of its own projects.
But while he’s done all he can to protect his former friends from the truth, he can’t shake them off for the full year that he’s spent in Densan using the Black persona. Now, they know too much, and his commanding officer in Darkland is aiming to make everyone involved pay dearly. Rather than let Kaita and Meiru get imprisoned and the Ministry of Science fall to the Darklish spies, Netto has finally resolved to fight back—but he knows it’ll cost him his life…
Five years ago, Rockman’s original Operator, Hikari Netto, was caught in a subway bombing. In the chaos, his PET was destroyed beyond repair…
Rockman was salvaged from the wreckage of his Link PET, but his memory data was severely scrambled by the damage. In particular, he remembers something impossible: his Operator being not killed in the bombing that took the lives of everyone else aboard the train, but kidnapped. But without any leads, when the one helper he finds turns out to be luring him into a trap to secure his Ultimate Program, Rockman is left to doubt the memory is even real.
Time passes, and Rockman settles into a new life at the side of his creator, Hikari Yuuichirou, who teaches him the ropes of being a researcher’s Navi. He supports his girlfriend, Roll, and his best friend, Blues, with everything he’s got; though he never stops wishing he could fight by their side once again...
An enforcer Navi who arrived in Netto’s charge through happenstance relatively early in Netto’s tenure with Nova. The two quickly gained a rapport with one another due to their similar experiences—and their dangerous levels of skill on the digital battlefield. Punk’s playfulness has long since been warped into outright cruelty, and he keeps a gruff distance from most people, but he cares deeply about his Operator.
After ‘Black’ failed to secure a vital piece of data from the dilapidated World Three Area thanks to Meiru’s interference, Nova’s sponsors sent him backup—another experienced Net terrorist that Black had worked with before. In reality, Atsuki is a senior member of Darkland’s Silver Division, its Third, and akin to Netto’s mentor within the ranks. Unmoored from the outside world’s sense of right and wrong, Atsuki sets his intense focus on following his orders without question or remorse. But he’s particularly unforgiving of anyone trying to sway Netto from the path his superiors have laid out for him, protective of the younger Silver to a degree that crosses into possessiveness.