A Newbie's Quest, Part 3: Eternal Scars

Bomb Factory; four years ago

Sector Q had learned of a factory that was manufacturing bombs made of a toxic waste. The poisons came from an unknown source, but the factory was run by Professor Chang, a Russian Brotherhood scientist in a white suit.

Eddy Flores was the first to infiltrate the factory, stealthing past the guards to reach the Security Stations. He used his hacking skills to disable the alarms and communications, as well as open doors for his teammates to enter. The guards swarmed the operatives and fired red laser guns, but the four were quick dodgers as Drake shot his harpoon to disarm them and Quill shot ice to freeze them. Jenny was the trickiest target, fast on her skates as her feet flew up to bash the minions in the heads.

E. Carmine broke away from the others to regroup with Eddy. Carmine had puffy brown hair in a small ponytail, her eyes wide and pink. She wore a white frilly dress with bombs attached all around it, with white strap-on shoes. Carmine threw bombs to guards up ahead, exerting enough explosive force to KO them without serious injury. "We'll find the Toxic Core in just a few turns!" Eddy indicated the map.

"I'll blow it to smithereens!" Carmine declared, her smirk radiating with confidence.

The core appeared to be a large pumping mechanism with several pipes of toxic gas attached. "Just attach your timed bombs near the pressure points so we can get outta here. I'll reseal the barrier, too."

"Let's get to it!" Carmine raced to the core and began to attach bombs around various points. Once she was finished, Carmine pushed a remote to start a ten-minute timer, and Eddy inputted a code to seal the core under a large gate. The duo began to race out of the chamber, but just as Eddy left first, a door suddenly separated the two. "Ahh! Eddy!" Carmine banged on the door in panic.

"Carmine!" Eddy yelled.

"Just where do you urchins think you're going?" Professor Chang yelled from a windowed control center above the room. "If you're planning to destroy my factory, it's only fair you go with it!"

Carmine gasped and tried to use the remote to disable the timers. However, the core's barrier was too thick for the signal to reach. "No! Eddy, I can't shut off the bombs!"

"I'll try to get you out of there!" Eddy said, quickly tapping his keyboard. "Crap! Chang already changed the codes! AAH!" Lasers shot at him.

"Stop what you're doing, kid!" the guards yelled, shooting lasers at Eddy. The boy scrambled to dodge in the tight space, and his computer was shot and destroyed. With no other option, he hastily dodged past the guards in search of a control room.

"Eddy!" Carmine cried in worry. She looked up at the control room and yelled, "Please, open the barrier! I'll disable the bombs!"

"It's too late for that, dearie!" Chang stated. "You kids have done too much damage, and I'm certain more of you will come eventually. I'll have to abandon this factory, anyway! At least I can take a few of you with it!"

"The hell you will!" Quill broke into the room and shot plasma bullets at the scientist. Chang whipped out his own gun and countered him, but Quill's shortness allowed him to evade, the boy dashing to shove into Chang. Quill then jumped to shove the shotgun out of his hands, followed by a quick kick to Chang's face. "You better let Carmine out of there now!"

"You children doomed yourself by coming here!"

"And I'll make sure you're doomed, too!"

"Grrr! Fine, you insolent brat!" Chang pushed himself up and turned to the terminal. "Just give me a second to input the 20-digit code, then we should be…"

And in the next second, the windows were blocked by strong shutters, along with the room's exit. "There! Now we should be perfectly safe from any nasty explosions!"

Quill leapt to strangle the scientist and haul him to the floor, bashing his head mercilessly until Chang was knocked out. "Dammit! Eddy, I'm trapped in the control room with Chang!" he yelled into his communicator.

Eddy had made it into another security room. Jenny was working to take down the guards trying to catch him. "Okay, I'll have you out in a sec, too!"

"No, just focus on getting Carmine out of there! Chang set it up so we'll be safe from the explosion!"

"Hurry, guys!" Carmine called into her com. "There's not much time left!"

"Damn, 10 minutes flies way too quickly!" Drake yelled. "Guys, check the nearby closets for spare contamination suits! I don't know if we'll make it out on time!"

Eddy spent the next few minutes trying to hurriedly hack the system using the security room's computer. Jenny skated in with two suits in hand. "I got some for us!"

"And I almost have the door opened!" Eddy said. "Carmine, are there any suits in there?!"

"No, I can't find any!" Carmine called back. "There's only a couple minutes left!"

"Couldn't you have opened the core's barrier so she can turn the bombs off?!" Jenny asked.

"That would've taken longer to hack! Okay, I think I got it! Hurry, Carmine!"

As the door opened, Carmine quickly crawled under it, but some guards were still around and trying to shoot the girl. Carmine tried to run past, but they grabbed hold in attempt to restrain her. Sadly, before she could even attempt to escape, her bombs went off.

The core exploded, breaching the barrier as the gas spread throughout the entire base. "AAAAAHHH!" Carmine cried as she became enveloped in the fumes, the force of the explosion blowing herself and the guards away.

"CARMIIIIIINE…"

Sometime later…

Carmine had no idea what happened next. She was probably in Limbo, lost in the realm between lives… but eventually, her vision was filled with the somber expressions of her four friends. Even Drake had taken off his sunglasses, exposing his despair to the waking girl. "Carmine… thank goodness you woke up." Jenny sighed.

"Nnnnmmm…" Carmine could make out a tube around her mouth, muffling her voice. "Gys… wht hppned?"

"You were out for a month and a half." Quill said. "It's October 15."

"Uh mnth? …Is evryne… uky?"

"Is everyone okay?" Drake repeated. "Well, the rest of us got the suits on in time, but we had to search through the gas to find you. Honestly… we barely recognized you."

"After we pulled you out," Eddy continued, "we called other operatives to help clear away the poison. Then we managed to save Quill and arrest Chang."

"Uuu…tht's good…"

"Yeah… anyway, you're in pretty bad shape. Do you wanna see yourself? You're not gonna like it."

"…Uhuh…"

"I guess she said 'uh-huh.'" Drake figured. With that, Jenny held a mirror up to Carmine.

Her wide pink eyes had become more pink and dry. Her lush and puffy hair was gone, and her skin had decayed to a wrinkly, pinkish, and round alien-like form. She could vaguely make out her mouth through the tube: her lips were gone, and only a few scrawny teeth remained. "Uuuuuuu…" She almost wanted to cry and scream, but couldn't find the strength for it.

"Yeah… your whole body looks like that." Quill explained. "Haruka helped pump the poison out of you, and we had Melody and other healers try to fix you. But nothing worked, and you were even squirming in your sleep. Apparently, you're extremely sensitive to… well, everything. But it at least told us you were still alive. We fed you safe amounts of warm water."

"Nnnn…uuuu…"

They assumed by her moans that she was incredibly upset. They heard the door open as Haruka walked in. "I'm back with the anxiety pills. …Did you break the news to her?"

"Yeah." Drake said. "So, uh… when'll she be fit to battle again?"

"What?!" Haruka gasped. "What are you saying?!"

"I mean… you said you were getting a suit ready for her."

"That was so she wouldn't have to stay cooped in here! It was so she could return to a relatively normal life, not go out and get hurt some more!"

"Yeah, Drake, why would Carmine wanna get back on the field after this?!" Jenny shouted.

"But, I mean…" Drake hesitated, as if he really hadn't considered that. "Well… okay. Is that what… you want, Carmine?"

"…" Carmine only stared at them, not even sparing a moan.

"Maybe we should step out for a minute." Jenny suggested, slowly rolling out of there.

"Hmm…" Drake grunted in guilt as he awkwardly stepped out. Quill and Eddy shared a look before following.

Haruka sat at Carmine's bedside, putting a gentle hand over Carmine's blanketed one and smiling. "But yeah… we made a specially designed suit with a gentle plastic interior. You can walk around or touch things without feeling a strain on your body. But you might have to get readjusted to walking again. As for your diet, I recommend mostly water and soft foods."

"Nnnmm…cn I rlly… cme bck… lke ths?"

"Can you really… come back? What do you mean?"

"Drke wnts mm… t'cme bck."

"Drake wants you… Carmine, why would you want that?"

As Carmine answered, Haruka tried to make out her words more concisely: "People are gonna think I'm a freak. None of my classmates will wanna play with me. My friends will keep having to defend me, but they'll always be away on missions, without me. Or maybe…maybe they'll just quit, just to be with me."

"You shouldn't feel compelled to stay just for that."

"But…but I don't wanna leave. I wanna come back… for my friends. I wanna try… and be useful. When I'm a KND, I can help people. I don't wanna stay helpless… and useless…"

"Well, even if you come back, I can't say you won't be picked on. …Maddy's seen you a couple times, and… she didn't make the most polite comments."

"That's okay… even if people pick on me… I don't wanna feel useless… If I wear that suit, can I still go on missions with them?"

"In theory… yes. You couldn't really run as fast as you used to, but wielding weapons or your bombs should still be fine."

"Then I…I wanna come back. I don't care… if I'm weak or sensitive… I just wanna try."

"Okay then…" Haruka smiled understandingly. "Sorry for making you talk this much."

A moment later, Sector Q reentered the room as Drake approached. "Soooo… I'm sorry if I made you feel pressured… Carmine. You don't have to come back if you-"

"Don't worry." Haruka interrupted. "Carmine says… she wants to return."

"Y…You do?"

"No, you don't have to." Jenny said. "Drake was just being inconsiderate, you should worry about getting better."

"U…U wnt t…t'rtrn."

"Carmine's already decided that she wants to return." Haruka explained. "She wants to keep being useful. Even if it's dangerous, she wants to take the chance."

"Are…are you sure?" Quill asked.

"Uhuh…wll you gys… lt m' cme bck?"

"I…I don't really know if we should." Jenny said. "Should we let her?"

"She'll need to get used to moving around again first." Haruka answered. "After that… we'll see how she does."

"Then what're we waiting for, let's get her in that suit!" Drake cheered.

"You're really inconsiderate." Eddy said.

"Hu hu hu…" Carmine let out some laughs.

"The boys are gonna have to leave first." Haruka said. "She's kind of indecent."

"Ah, good point!" Drake rushed out.

Carmine was carefully helped out of bed, trembling as she did so. She was steadily fixed into a brown suit with a gas mask. Within half an hour, she limped her way out of the medical wing, her friends supporting her. She had little vision through the dark lenses of the mask. "I can barely see… I feel so pathetic…" she spoke with a meek, muffled tone.

"Are you sure you don't wanna change your mind?" Quill asked.

"No… I promise I'll get better at moving. I won't be a burden… I promise."

"Well, we ain't goin' on any missions until you're used to it." Drake said. "But we'll help you work on it!"

"Heh…thanks, Drake. So, what did I miss?"

"Like, A LOT!" Jenny exclaimed. "A bunch of sectors fought with Cheren's evil opposite from the Negaverse, then we wound up in a war with some Nature Goddess! It's still going on! She's been dropping Reset Bomb things around the world; Sector W took out one, but we took out another, and…"

"Wow… that sounds really exciting."

"Yeah, but… with your bombs, I bet we'd really sock it to them!"

"Y-yeah! I'll try my best to get better!"

Present time

"And that's basically the story…" Carmine wrapped up. By the time night had fallen, the friends were seated on the floor in Eddy's room. They each had a cup with a frosty dessert of their choice, with Miko serving Eddy his mocha slushy.

"Aww, that's so inspiring!" Miko cheered. "It's so cute that Drake wanted you back!" I kinda zoned out during the mission details, but that ending part! The feels!

"Haha, yeah…" Carmine smiled, sipping water through a straw. "And because of the incident, Cheren bumped us up to the Number 6 sector. We were at Number 10 before, so… I guess risking your life does wonders for your score."

"And now we're in 5th place 'cause Sector DR got fired! Woo!" Drake cheered. "Still, some operatives were complaining about it being a 'pity win,' so we did our best to keep our place. Luckily, Carmine got herself ready in time for Halloween. She was the only one who didn't dress up in an actual costume, so she didn't get hit by Dracula's curse. I ended up acting like Captain Hook, Quill became an elf, Eddy turned into a monkey, and Jenny became a real monster truck. Carmine was the only one still normal enough to fight Dracula's vampires."

"Yeah, but Sandman saved the day in the end…" Carmine said modestly.

"Who cares, you were still awesome!"

"Yeah!" Miko agreed, lightly spilling part of the slushy over Eddy. "Whoops, sorry." The boy sighed in dismay. "But seriously, you guys should be bumped higher!"

"No, the Top 4 sectors have been through way more than we have." Carmine said. "So have the lower ones. Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't already dropped. Maybe we do still have our position out of pity…"

"Hey, just because we aren't Chosen Ones, it shouldn't say any less about us." Jenny stated. "We did a lot for the KND and I say we've earned our place."

"Especially now that you got me!" Miko cheered. "I can bump our score even higher!"

"You have a mess to clean up first." Eddy pointed.

"Heheh, I'll be right back."

Miko went to get a washcloth and napkins to clean Eddy's blanket. "But don't you have to work at that Hinobi place tomorrow?" Quill asked.

"Yeah, I do. You guys gonna come to see it?"

"Wouldn't pass it up!" Drake said. "It's not every day that an operative has a part-time job!"

"Knowing what just happened, I feel a little uneasy about this place." Carmine replied. "Wouldn't they try to mind-wipe us if something bad happens?"

"That… might be something I'll have to bring up with the manager." Miko said concernedly.

When time came for bed, the six teammates retired to their rooms. Carmine slipped out of her boots and gloves, leaving on her interior plastic gloves and socks. One of many things she had always missed were the cozy comfort of new socks, or the warmth of gloves on a winter day. Now her disgusting hands and feet could only accept the soulless feel of plastic. She would change them out daily, but it wasn't enough variety. "Huuuu…" She released a sigh. She was thankful for Miko's support, but couldn't help but feel envious at the girl's lush, colorful appearance. Still, Carmine enjoyed being around Miko more than certain others…

Hinobi Stop

The following day, Sector Q followed Miko to the Hinobi store, now established as the central building of a shopping center. "Boy, they really wanna stand out." Eddy commented as they approached the wide, bright-blue, H-shaped entrance.

The inside of the store seemed relatively normal, with shelves full of games, some mini TVs and consoles where people could play demos, and a central desk area where the name 'Hinobi' wrapped around the blue exterior, along with the slogan, The Future Is Fun.

The group approached a chubby man at the desk. "Hey there! Name's Miko, ready to start my new post!"

"Well, that makes one of us." The gray-shirted man turned to them; he had light-brown hair and a beard.

REE! Miko perked up so intensely that the "Alert" sound from Metal Gear could be heard! "PHIL!!" She jumped over the desk and gripped the man in a hug. "You came with me! I knew you were gonna miss me!"

"Eh heh heh…" Phil chuckled sardonically. "Inspector 7 requested me to come and supervise you. I had no say in it. So yeah, thanks for making me leave my favorite donut shop."

"Awwwww, it was my pleasure, Phil! So yeah, hey guys, this is Phil! My manager from Coruscant! Phil, this is Sector Q, they're my new teammates!"

"So, you went from the D-Team to the Q-Team." Phil remarked. "Boy, how they fall."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Quill asked.

"Ah, just a little joke." Miko brushed off. "So anyway, Phil, I kinda wanted to go over some stuff." She jumped topics quickly. "Like, is it okay if-"

Phil's cellphone rang. He checked it and said, "Ugh, I gotta take this. Your uniform's in the back, go get changed." He walked off on that note.

"Well, feel free to check out the store, gang!" Miko said to her team as she left to go change.

Sector Q freely looked around the shop. Eddy was checking out cords and setups designed to accommodate consoles with Earth TVs. Quill was checking out games organized by series, such as Chomp Kitty, Castlestein, Smashozaurs, or Flunky Quest. "Oooo, Skidd McMarx Pro Hoverboarding 3!" Jenny swiped the game case in question as she gracefully rolled by. "There's a game I can get behind."

"Hey, kid!" Phil yelled. "No skates in the store! You're gonna knock something over."

Jenny blew a raspberry at him, skating backwards as she—"WHOA!" she crashed into a shelf and knocked some games over.

"Ugh…Miko, your new friends are makin' a mess!"

"I'll get it!" Miko rushed out to start putting everything back. She was wearing white pants and a light-blue shirt, her bright violet hair in a bun.

"Wow, you look way more mature now." Quill commented. "It's almost kinda weird!"

"I know, uniforms just feel so dorky." Miko said. "But hey, it's nicer than wearing an apron!"

Carmine was looking at a game titled Kill All Humans, which depicted stereotypical, round-headed aliens with bulbous black eyes shooting everywhere. "Wouldn't this game be offensive on Coruscant?"

"Maybe it's some kind of satire." Drake figured.

The bell ringed as another customer walked in, a brown-haired girl with strong arms and red fingerless gloves. Her sleeveless blue top and shorts gave her the image of more of a gymnast than a gamer. "Ahoy! Welcome to Hinobi!" Miko called.

"Well, if it isn't Maddy!" Drake greeted. "What's up?"

"Drake?" As Maddy recognized the Sector Q members… her eyes were drawn to a particular one. Carmine, as well, turned to her. "Um…hey, Carmine."

"…I'm gonna go." Carmine decided, about to walk past Maddy and-

"Where ya goin', you just got here!" Miko held her back cheerily.

"Uhhhh." Drake put a hand to Miko's shoulder. "She and Maddy… aren't on good terms. I think we mentioned her during the story."

"Oh…" Miko thinks she overlooked that part. "So, what happened?"

"Carmine, I said I was sorry." Maddy said. "I always remember to buy stuff for your birthday, when're you gonna stop being mad at me?"

"My pain doesn't go away. Not just the physical pain." Carmine turned elsewhere and walked away.

"Uhhh…" Miko drawled cluelessly. "So, something about a bad birthday? I can relate to that."

"Maddy used to pick on Carmine after the accident." Drake whispered. "Calling her contagious, kicking her away, and she got other classmates in on it… then she stopped coming to school for a couple months."

"And it adds a little insult to injury when you started speaking up for Maddy." Quill commented, the two just noticing their shorter friend behind them.

"Hey, I got dragged into space with her by that Nefarious creep. I could tell she was changing, and after all that crazy business was settled, she started trying to make up with Carmine. I told her Carmine's birthday and her favorite toys, so Maddy always remembered to-"

"Will you guys stop talking about it?!" Carmine shouted, hearing them from across the room.

Miko bit her lip guiltily. Wanting to change the subject, she noticed the monitor Carmine was close to. "Hey, Carmine, check out this game!" She jogged over and directed her friend's attention to it. "It's a demo of Aincrad, a big VR project Hinobi's been working on! It's only on console now, but you get to customize your own avatar with, like, a million different settings! And there's like a hundred full kingdoms to explore! Doesn't that sound cool?!"

"Um…yeah."

Miko frowned. "…You know, one of the cool things about games is imagining yourself as someone else. It's a good way to take your mind off life's stressful moments."

"Fine, I'll give it a try." Carmine clicked on the monitor and brought up the avatar customizations. "Um…" Her gloves were rather thick for the smallish controller.

"How 'bout I help you?" Miko took the device. "Which of these look cool?"

"Um, I guess…"

"Carmine, what else do you want me to do?" Maddy asked. "I already beat up the kids who were still picking on you. Got detention for it, too."

"You still don't know how I feel. You're always obsessed with getting stronger while I just get weaker. I can't get strong like you."

"But you learned Observation Haki and first aid, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but even then… I wasn't even brave enough to go to New Galaxia. I just knew I wouldn't be reliable."

"Well, there was no shame in staying behind."

"So, you agree."

"That's not what I meant."

"Okay, I think I made something!" Miko announced. "What do you think about this one?"

Carmine studied the avatar: it looked like a blue-robed swordswoman with a long, black ponytail, sharp fierce eyes, and a katana. "Well, it's certainly not me."

"Oh, did you… want it to look more like you?"

"I'm not really sure that she wants to play at all." Eddy commented.

"Forget it, I'll play." Carmine took the controller to push the 'A' button and confirm the avatar; however, her bulky finger pushed the 'Back' button at the same time. "Darn it!"

In that instant, the game was confused by her choice, unsure whether she was affirming or backtracking. As a result, the device sparked as a pixelly substance began to cover Carmine's body. "AAAH! What's happening?! Is this part of the game?!"

"Oh, nerds!" Miko cursed, readying her gauntlet.

Hearing the commotion, Phil looked over. His eyes widened as Carmine underwent a familiar transformation. "Uh, I'm gonna have to call you back." He said as he hung up. "Miko, take care of it, I'll lock this place down and start mind-wiping-"

Jenny threw a kick to Phil's belly to knock him down, leaving Drake to bind him with rope. "About that, we need to talk to you." Drake said.

"C-Carmine!" Miko was aghast as their friend morphed into the very swordswoman she had designed. "Is that you in there?"

"I…I feel different." The warrior spoke in a glitchy version of Carmine's voice. "I feel… kind of nimble." She slashed the air a bit. "And it feels kinda good!"

"Hang on, I'll have this thing fixed in-" Miko shot the Derez Ray over the monitor, but reactively jumped away when Carmine slashed her. "Carmine?!"

"My name is Carmurai! And now that I've been reborn, I will seek vengeance on those who wronged me!"

"I didn't think she was into roleplaying!" Jenny said. "And Carmurai's a dumb name!"

"Eh, that was the name I inputted." Miko blushed. "Y'know, it was a samurai, her name's Carmine, so… Ahem, but I think this is a Possessor Glitch! They take control of people and turn them into whatever character they're playing!"

"I dunno what's going on," Maddy said, "but how do we fix—HEY!" She dodged Carmine's slash.

"Maddith of Malefor, you will pay for what you did to me!" Carmine viciously slashed at Maddy, but the fighter was quick to dodge her attacks.

Maddy then grabbed Carmine's sword in her hardened hand. "Fine, if this is how you wanna settle it!" She crushed the digital sword, but Carmine jumped away as it reformed. Maddy swung her iron-hard fists at the samurai, but Carmine moved her legs in evasion. She stabbed down, but Maddy dodged right and went for the hip, but Carmine leapt and stomped Maddy's head. Maddy endured the attack and tried to grab Carmine's ankle in both hands, but Carmine leapt away and did a downward slash, which Maddy avoided. Maddy attempted to use Conqueror's Haki, but the Glitch appeared resistant to the effect. And yet, when Maddy followed this with a kick to the stomach, the samurai made no effort to avoid as she slammed into a shelf of games, knocking them down.

"It's having a hard time derezzing the system." Miko reported, shining the ray over the console. "Maybe you guys can help beat her down a bit?"

"We could, but… I feel like we should just let Maddy handle it." Drake figured.

"So, Carmine is partly in control." Maddy observed. "You were avoiding my attacks before because of her Observation, but when I used Conqueror's, her consciousness couldn't handle it, so I could hit you."

"I…I am Carmurai of Clamland! I will not let my honor be defiled!" She resumed slashing at Maddy, and when Maddy threw punches back, Carmine was dodging again. Maddy assumed she had recovered consciousness.

"Carmine, I've already apologized a bunch for how I treated you. But maybe you should start giving yourself some more credit! You may not be super strong, but you're better than you think you are, so don't let me make you feel ashamed!" With one last solid punch to Carmine's stomach, the samurai fell over, her pixelly body breaking to pieces to reveal the suited girl underneath. Miko was then able to fully derez the rogue Program.

"Phew… that wasn't so bad." Miko smiled. "The last Possessor we dealt with was way tougher."

"Yeah, well Maddy doesn't pull punches herself." Drake said. "It's not surprising…"

"You okay, Carmine?" Maddy asked, bending over her.

"Oooooo…I feel… kinda sick now…"

"I wasn't sure how hard I had to hit you. I didn't want it to be too bad…"

"Well… thanks."

"But, were you… actually trying to hurt me?"

"Not exactly… but I was awake. I dodged whenever you punched me, but the samurai did most of the attacks. But part of me… was also kind of enjoying it."

"She's a hella good dodger though!" Drake cheered. "Maddy had to use Conqueror's to win!"

"I didn't really use Conqueror's at the end." Maddy corrected. "Carmine hesitated on her own."

"Yeah… I appreciated what you said." Carmine replied.

"So, do you forgive me?"

"…No. Now I just feel embarrassed."

"Want me to help you up?"

"I don't want you to help me!"

"Well, I don't wanna leave you on the floor."

"Just move. I can… get up… if I try…" Carmine quivered as she tried to hoist her upper body up. She bent her leg to plant her shoe to the floor, trying to push herself up. "Hnnnn…there." She put the other foot down, but had to lean on a shelf. "I get knocked around a lot on missions, I know how to help myself."

"What a touching development." Phil remarked. "Can you guys untie me now?"

"Eh, sorry!" Drake grinned, retracting his rope.

"Alright then…" The manager helped himself up and brushed off. "I just got a call from someone higher up. Non-Hinobi KND operatives aren't exempt from-"

"Come on, don't wipe their minds, Phil!" Miko pled. "You see how tough they are, they're just as good at fighting glitches as we are!"

"I can see that, but we can't have too many witnesses. I tried talking with corporate about this, but they said if the regular KND handle this problem too much, the customers won't think we're reliable enough. That's why we have to wipe their memories, too."

"But if you wipe their memories now, Maddy and Carmine will forget this touching experience! Besides, we can trust them to help keep the secret! They're not gonna blab to everyone! Right?"

"Hmph…" Eddy huffed.

"I mean, we don't have a reason to at the moment…" Quill replied, "but I still don't know how to feel about the whole thing."

"Phil, if more KND know about the glitch problems, they'll be ready to help deal with it." Miko reasoned. "Can't we at least try to talk with them?"

"I'm not using those memory-wipe gizmos." Eddy stated. "Not just for my eyes, but it's just an awful practice."

"You're not helping my case…"

Phil released a sigh. "You know what… fine. I'll make an exception for you guys."

"You will?! Really?!"

"Just don't go telling too many people, or you'll make trouble for BOTH of us." Phil stated strictly. "And you'd better fix these shelves, kiddo!"

"You got it!" Miko saluted and got to work.

"So, why the sudden change of heart?" Eddy asked.

"Let's just say, I still got my own questions for Hinobi." Phil answered. "So, it's nice to have some leverage around." With that, he left to the back room.

"I'm getting a lot of red flags from this company."

"So, like, these Hinobi guys wipe peoples' memories whenever their games come to life like that?" Maddy asked after hearing Quill's explanation.

"Yeah, they need to 'maintain a good relationship with their customers.'"

"Huh…how pathetic." Maddy cracked a smirk.

"How come you're here, anyway?" Jenny asked.

"I'm looking for a new game for Zach. He was banned from all game stores for replacing all the discs with donuts, while the real discs went to get jobs hunting foxes for robots."

"Everything about that made perfect sense!" Miko perked up.

In his office, Phil was using a small, floating robot named BITT to hack into the building's security network. He began deleting all footage of the incident. "There. If corporate doesn't want anyone to know about Glitches, they don't have to know either."

"But Hinobi Corporate requires daily updates regarding any memory-wiped customers or potential-"

"Yeah yeah, they don't gotta know everything. Not until I figure out why they…"

"Hey, Phil! It's me, Phil! If you don't remember making this video, it's because you probably got memory-wiped by someone at the company again. Y'know… how they do that. Thankfully, BITT has enough memories for the both of us! So, when all else fails, he'll protect the file we recovered from Hinobi's development lab on his cartridge."

"Why can't you just tell me what the password is, BITT?" Phil questioned.

"Your exact orders were to never divulge your secrets to anyone, including you!"

"Sigh, me and my big brain. Well, I'll crack my own code eventually. Just you wait."