Year 20XX. Technology has made such a progress in a short period of time that the Internet, also called as “net”, has integrated into all aspects of society and life. From entertainment to purchases, everything works thanks to this technology. But the biggest revolution was the development of Net Navigators, also called Navi: sentient AI that accompany humans in their daily lives and can explore the net as if it were its very own world, also facing the menace of viruses.

From that perspective, one of the most important locations in the world for this technological progress is Den City, and within such an interesting place, our story takes place in ACDC Town, a small town where people spend their lives peacefully… or that was until some threats of cyber terrorism arose, caused by the criminal organization WWW. However, one young boy called Lan Hikari and his companion Navi MegaMan faced that organization over and over again, saving the world, his family and friends. Thus, anybody would believe Lan could rest peacefully and enjoy his life with his friends, right?

So thought Mayl, Lan’s closest friend, as she entered her classroom in ACDC Elementary School. Just like every morning, she arranged her red hair nicely, decorating it with a pretty badge and went to school with her usual attires: a green shirt with long sleeves with a blue sleeveless jacket on it, a pink skirt and black tights. For Mayl, attending school was fun. What could be funnier than spending time with her friends Lan, Yai and Dex? However, every morning for the last month, she went inside her 5-A classroom with an expectation. And just like every morning, that hope vanished as soon as she stared at Lan’s desk, which had been empty during all that time.

That was one of the biggest mysteries around the school at that time: Lan’s whereabouts. Where could the hero of ACDC Town be? Everybody in the school wondered that and rumors spread widely. Mostly crazy theories, like Lan had been hired as a spy or that he transferred to a Netbattling school. None of that made sense for Mayl, who knew that Lan’s disappearance was not just mere chance. For weeks prior to his absence, the girl had noticed how her friend looked sad for whatever reason, but whenever she tried to ask, the boy would say he was just fine. However, Mayl knew that was not true.

While contemplating her friend’s empty desk, she approached hers, locating Yai and Dex talking to each other. Yai was wearing a pretty red dress, but her most known trait were her long pigtails which, given how short she was, they almost reached the floor. Dex, on his part, wore his favorite green t-shirt and brown shorts, his mohawk looking as sharp as always. Even though she knew nothing would probably come out from that conversation, she needed to ask them:

“Hey, don’t you think it’s weird?”.

Dex and Yai looked at their friend, whose face clearly showed how concerned she was. Yai understood very well what Mayl wanted to talk about. It was not the first time they did. Dex, however, was as clueless as he usually was, a trait that everybody hoped he would fix anytime soon. Still, none of them said anything, waiting for Mayl to add more.

“I mean, it’s been one month already since Lan last came to school”, finally concluded Mayl.

Upon hearing their friend’s name, everybody stared again at the empty desk. Even Dex was not that oblivious. Everybody was well aware of his absence. Mayl was obviously the one most worried about the situation, but Yai didn’t fall that far behind: even though she usually kept an optimistic perspective, she was actually worried about her friend as well. Just as she was tried to comfort Mayl, Dex giggled a bit, raising his head in an arrogant way.

“Maybe he’s training extra hard to defeat me and GutsMan”, proclaimed Dex, with the usual tone he used to brag about his Netbattling skills.

Sure, Mayl and Yai probably expected that kind of reaction, and still, they found it annoying. It was their friend they were talking about. How could Dex not be worried? Yai sighed with frustration at the idea of correcting him… once again.

“Not even Lan is THAT obsessed with Netbattling, Dex! And should I remind you how you always lose to him?”, scorned Yai to Dex, whose pride and arrogance vanished instantly, replaced with nervousness. Having accomplished her goal, Yai looked at Mayl and asked: “Have you talked to him?”.

“Yes… on the phone”, answered Mayl shyly.

“So?”, asked Yai with curiosity.

That question brought back memories of their last phone conversation a couple of weeks before. Once every few days, Mayl tried to contact Lan through the Net, but not even there he could be found. When she tried on the phone, she finally got an answer.

“Hi Mayl”, greeted Lan back then.

“Lan!”, exclaimed Mayl, happy to hear her friend’s voice. “Are you ok?”.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry for worrying you”, answered Lan.

“Is something wrong? Are you sick? Do you need anything?”, asked Mayl nervously.

All that Mayl could hear through her phone was a sigh. She didn’t understand why, but Lan sounded worried.

“I’m sorry, Mayl. I didn’t want to worry you that much”, said Lan with sadness.

That was strange. After all those years, Lan had barely shown that kind of reaction. He was usually more cheerful or even short-tempered, but he really looked worried about her feelings.

“It’s ok. I’m glad just knowing you’re fine”, said Mayl, although she didn’t know if that was true or not. She wanted to know more. “But… can you tell me why you don’t go to school anymore? Maybe… we did something to you?”.

Deep inside, she blamed herself. Mayl believed she had done something wrong. She didn’t want to do that to the person she liked so much, and still, her heart always worried about that conclusion.

“What?”, exclaimed Lan in shock. “No! You didn’t do anything! Just…”.

Once again, Mayl felt Lan was hesitating about what to say. And once again, that was something new from him.

“Listen, I… I just needed some time for myself. I… I’ve been trying out new things. I’ve been exploring, working on something… It’s something really important for me. I needed some time and space to try out all these new things”, explained Lan nervously.

That was not the answer Mayl expected. Knowing Lan, she imagined there was a new cyber threat he had to deal with, and she was willing to help him just like she did in the past. But this sounded very different.

“Oh, is that so?”, asked Mayl with confusion and curiosity. “Can you tell me what it is?”.

“Sorry… not yet”, answered Lan with sadness. “I want to tell you all. I want to show you all, just… I’m not ready yet. But I promise I will. I want to do it soon. I just need a bit more time. I know I’m asking too much but… do you mind waiting for me a bit more?”.

There it was again. Lan’s words sounded so deep and… honest. Mayl had never heard him talk about anything with such intensity. That was the proof that, whatever he was doing, it had to be important. The girl sighed with relief, smiled gently and said:

“Very well. I will wait for you. I don’t know what it is but… I know you. You would never do anything bad”, asserted Mayl with kindness.

There was a brief silence on the phone, probably caused by Lan’s reaction, whatever it could be. However, Mayl could notice a slightly happier tone when Lan said:

“Thanks. I hope you like it when you see it”.

Those were the last words Mayl heard from Lan. She could still remember that conversation with accuracy. That’s how she knew those gossips around school where nothing more than that. And even though she promised she would wait, she couldn’t help being worried. Mayl looked at Yai, who was still waiting for an answer.

“He told me he’s fine, that he’s been ‘trying out new things’ and he would be back soon, but…”, explained Mayl.

Yai didn’t expect any other answer from Lan. He always tried to help others and not to worry anybody else unless necessary. But knowing how much Mayl loved Lan, it was logical for the blond girl that she would worry that much.

“Well, it’s Lan we’re talking about!”, said Yai in a relaxed tone while letting his head rest on her hand. “If he were in danger, he’d call us for help, right? All we can do right now is trust him!”.

“I know, but…”, tried to protest Mayl, but she was interrupted by the sliding door of her classroom.

It was Ms. Mari, 5-A class teacher, who came inside the classroom. Even though her elegant appearance with her purple and dark green dress, she was quite approachable. And her hair, tied up with pigtails that looked like a baumkuchen, gave the teacher a cute side to her outfit. She looked at the class and with her usual gentle smile, she said:

“All right, class! Sit down!”.

Upon hearing the order, all the kids in the class sat down in their respective desks. Mayl couldn’t help but looking back at Lan’s, which was still empty. Her worries wouldn’t dissappear so easily, but she tried to focus on the lesson about to begin.

“I hope you all did your homework, especially you, Dex!”, said Ms. Mari with a joking tone, making everybody in the class, including Dex, laugh. “But before we begin, there’s something important I want to say.”

Rumblings and chattering quickly arose in the class. Could it be a trip somewhere? The kids were excited at that idea.

“No, no, it’s not a trip”, said Ms. Mari to calm down the children, who obviously turned sad knowing there was no trip. “As you already know, someone in our classroom, who we hold very dear, hasn’t come to school in quite a while.”

Mayl opened her eyes in shock. Just like everybody in the class, she instantly knew the teacher meant Lan. That was the first time Ms. Mari had addressed Lan since he stopped going to school one month ago. Even though she remained silent, waiting for the teacher to explain herself, the other kids talked again about their classmate.

“Well, today I’m glad to announce that the whole class will be reunited again!”, exclaimed Ms. Mari with happiness.

“Lan’s back?”, exclaimed the whole class in unison, especially Dex, Yai and Mayl.

The low initial rumblings turned more nervous and louder as fast as someone would insert a Battle Chip. Everybody was eagerly waiting to see Lan again, but instead, Ms. Mari raised her hand and said calmly:

“However…”.

That ‘however’ made everybody shut up as quickly as they began talking before. Mayl, who was at first happy about the news, turned worried again.

“Hikari has an important announcement for you all. It may surprise you. We will share with you all the information you need about this. So I hope you offer a warm welcome to your friend, ok?”, asked Ms. Mari with kindness.

Nobody could hear it, but Mayl’s heart was beating really hard. She was so nervous that she didn’t notice how Ms. Mari referred to Lan as ‘Hikari’ when she would always use his name. At that moment, she remembered their phone conversation. That was it. Lan was about to share whatever he had been working on. She waited for a long time and, even though sometimes her patience was at its limit just like that morning, she kept waiting for her friend. Mayl kept looking at Ms. Mari, who turned at the door and said:

“You can come in!”.

“Yes!”, said a kid’s voice at the other side.

The door slid again. Everybody stared at it closely, waiting for the boy with orange jacket, black shorts and spiky hair to come in, showing that cheerful smile he was known for.

However, that was not what they saw.

Instead, a completely different person came in. It was a girl, with long brown hair that reached her shoulders. Her white t-shirt was covered with an orange sleeveless jacket and she wore a long black skirt with white stripes at the sides. She walked to the front of the classroom, showing her brown shoes, with elegance and cuteness. If there was something that looked a bit different from that outfit was her hair band: blue with a red and black logo in the center of it. A hair band everybody in the class knew very well. That was Lan’s hair band.

“What?”, could barely muster Dex in shock.

“Really?”, wondered Yai with surprise.

“What…”, was all Mayl could say as she contemplated the scene in awe and reached the same conclusion as everybody in the class.

That girl was Lan.

While everybody was speechless, Lan reached Ms. Mari and stood by her side. The kid they knew for so many years was then in front of them, obviously nervous and fidgeting, her cheeks slightly blushed. Finally, she said:

“Hi, everybody. I’m glad to be back. But also… Nice to meet you!”.