Prologue

It was always a big deal when the President of the United States gave a speech. The army of cameras, microphones, and reporters swarmed and buzzed around the still vacant podium like an annoyed hive, watching waiting.
Well-groomed reporters stood in front of their respective cameras, all buzzing about how they were just moments away from the President’s speech and reminding the anchors and viewers about what that speech would be addressing.
Finally, he appeared. He was a short, somewhat rotund man with a thick head of perfectly-coifed silver hair. Ordinarily, he was a jovial man, with sparkling blue eyes and ruddy cheeks and very well-defined laugh lines. He was a man known to crack jokes at State of the Union addresses and laugh it up with foreign dignitaries. Not now though. The laugh had disappeared from his eyes and his face was pale. The laugh-lines were now creases of worry that cast dark shadows across his face as he approached the podium.
“Good afternoon,” he said mechanically as he read the prepared statement in front of him. “I trust you all know the reason why I called for this press-conference.” He paused and stared with grieved eyes into the cameras that surrounded him. The swarm of reporters fell into expectant silence, the only sound being the clicking of camera shutters and the occasional cough. The President continued. “Last night, at 0200 hours, the entire data-bank for the Port of New York, including important import and export inventories, was deleted.”
Murmurs and “Mr. President!”s broke out from the crowd, but the President ignored them.
“This is the third such deletion,” he went on, “the first happening eight months ago at the Los Angeles Port in California, and the second happening just two months ago at Port Everglades in Florida. Both incidents are identical to the one which occurred last night in which their entire shipping schedules and inventories were completely wiped clean.
“We now have new evidence that the information was stolen rather than deleted. In all three instances, a security Navi on duty disabled the firewalls and the cybernetic security surveillance systems. The program responsible then subsequently disappeared, and the information we presume they have stolen along with them. We do not know at this time if these attacks are coordinated, and, if they are, who is behind them, but we will soon. I have enlisted the aid of the Maverick Hunters to investigate the matter, and Japan has offered us the cooperation of their Network investigation team, the Net Saviors. In the meantime, Congress and I have approved new security features, which are to be implemented immediately at all sea-ports, airports, and other places of commerce. I fear that this is only the beginning of something far more sinister, and we must be prepared for it.”
A shrewd reporter took advantage of the pause and blurted out, “Mr. President! Do you think that a cyber-terrorist group, such as the World3, could be behind these attacks!?”
The president had opened his mouth to continue but now closed it and stared at the reporter. “As I had just finished saying,” he said, “we don’t know who’s behind these attacks. That’s what the Maverick Hunters are going to find out.”
The flood gates now open, the proverbial deluge of questions issued forth. “Which Maverick Hunters are going to be deployed? Are the Net Saviors reputable? Isn’t Japan in the middle of its own crises? Is it true that children will be assigned to deal with this threat? Mr. President? Mr. President!”
Tired, annoyed, and finally finished, the President of the United States mumbled, “This concludes today’s press conference,” and disappeared into the safety of his White House.
~*~
“…and that about sums it up.”
Fifteen year old Ryan Weil glanced up at his companion, but said nothing.
“I don’t like it.”
Fourteen year old Alexander Light started at the voice and looked back down at the sleek, black PET he held in his hands. “What don’t you like, X?”
A screen appeared in mid-air near Alex’s face, displaying a sky blue armored Net Navi program. His arms were folded and his eyes closed, his brows furrowed tightly in deep-set worry.
“Three different ports, three different Navis. Each time, they shut down the security systems and just…” he held out his hands in exasperation. “Disappear! I dunno, Alex. Something about this just… It feels like we’ve overlooked something!”
A second, similar screen materialized next to Ryan’s face, though the Navi displayed on it was drastically different from X. Red, imposing armor, long blonde hair hanging in a loose ponytail, and a face that was the picture of calm and collectedness, though now in a half-smile, amused by his fellow Navi’s frustration.
“X, how can we miss something if we haven’t even started the investigation?”
“I don’t know, Zero!” X shot back. “It’s just…”
Ryan suddenly stood up. “We won’t know anything,” he said, “until we actually go to the scene of the crime and investigate first hand.”
“Good point.” X sighed. “I guess there’s no arguing with that logic.”
Zero lowered his voice and answered, “There’s no arguing with Ryan’s logic. Period.”
“This…is true...”
Ryan simply shrugged. “We don’t have enough data to come to a definite conclusion,” he said. “So, we just have to gather more.”
Alex glared at his partner. “You ripped that off of Sherlock Holmes, didn’t you?”
“What does it matter?” asked Ryan, unfazed. “What matters is that it’s only common sense.”
“Point taken,” Alex admitted.
“Well, how about we go do that instead of sitting here, yakking?” said Zero. He crossed his arms. “As far as I can see, we’re just wasting time.”
“Zero’s right,” said X. “While we’re standing here discussing, our enemy could already be planning his next move!”
Ryan tapped the display screen next to his head and brought up a clock. “Our plane isn’t scheduled to take off for another…hour and a half.” He looked at Zero. “You and X go ahead. If you find anything, let us know.”
Zero nodded. “Fine. Now, if you’d be so kind and get us online, then.”
Alex pointed at a line of pay-phones. “How about those?”
“Perfect,” said X. His screen disappeared and he re-appeared on the PET screen proper. Zero did likewise.
By now, the two Maverick Hunter agents were standing in front of the pay phones, PETs extended so that the infrared ports were aligned with the ports on the phones.
“Connected! X, you’re online!”
“Connected! Zero, you’re online!”



Infection