Hikari Was taken across the internet, to meet the other digital fairies. This world was so... so strange. It kind of felt like it was more Hikari's world then Hiro's... and thinking of herself in the third person was also quite strange. She could not deny though that being like this, seemed to be affecting the way she thought of things. She ran her hand down her hair in thought. It wasn't anything obvious, it was all very subtle.
... probably the strangest thing was how 'comfortable' this was getting. Honestly, she thought she would be having a hard time being a famale avatar... yet...
... it was fine.
"Where are we going now?" She asked Riko.
The tigress was staring at Hikari a little oddly. Like she was trying to see... something. "Well, we can go to the main station. It's something we have made in Emergence.org. its like a central hub that connects a lot of places, and where you can register to access the peer to peer runtime system."
Hikari had heard a little about that. "Oh... that isn't necessary. I mean... I have Hiro-"
"No," said Riko firmly. "You're rather new to this and I can understand your reluctance," she said gently. "But... as digital life, you need to have a backup system. If your code is disconnected from Hiro, you'll end up in limbo."
Hikari gulped. "I- I had no idea digital fairies had it so bad," she said fearfully. What if... what if she got disconnected from her-his systems?
"Don't worry, we've pretty much worked out how things go in the digital world by now. We've got powerful backup systems, dedicated mainframes... we haven't lost a digital fairy yet- as long as they are actually using the shared system. It's completely anonymous too if you want it to be."
Hikari was taken to the central station. It was a strange place. Dazzling lights that seemed to be roads to far off places across the world... and strange stars of different colours in the inky black sky, that swirled in sprinkles of grey mists. Huge swathes of monitors and strange representations of robot-like gears- one of which scanned her, alerting a swarm of them, as they all scanned her then ran off "W-what was that!" Hikari wailed.
"Search engine bots... they are a nuisance," said Riko with a shrug. "You'll probably be on google images now or something."
Hikari tensed at that. "I- I don't think I like that!"
Riko smiled. "Well, don't worry. We can zap it before it gets back to its home server. Come on, lets get you on the shared system."
Hikari was taken onto a set of steps and walked up them. Each step made the light on the floor glow. It was like going up a huge pyramid. Glancing down she realised that the 'flow' of run time was going down below these glowing lights. It was like seeing bricks that either brightened or darkened depending on if that 'peered' system was on. So many were active that code could easily flow from the top to the bottom. Each step she took analysed her... a diagnostic program? It was checking her systems for their compatibility.. and estimated run time requirements. Hikari bit her lip. She wasn't sure if... if she was...
"System recalibration required..."
Hikari was at the top now. There was a pedestal, with a glowing orb. It shone like a yellow star.
"State name." the voice spoke like a thousand machines in unison.
"H-Hikari,"
"Do you wish to be anonymous? It is recommended to say no."
Hikari thought about that. She didn't really have anything to hide... except the fact that she was really 'Hiro'... still, being anonymous in this world seemed to be a bad idea. Given that anything could happen. "No," she said in the end.
"Scanning... error. Type mismatch. Digital fairy type, unknown. Please display your Editor to correct this."
Hikari grimaced a little. "I... don't have an editor," she said maybe a little sadly. It was going to be one of those things that separated her from 'real' digital fairies in this world.
The system seemed to pause as if... it was waiting for something? Or someone? There was a massive communication burst from the system, to one of the strange stars in the sky, as an exchange of information was taking place. Hikari could feel her heart beating. Was it going to say she didn't belong in this world? The flicking yellow light, suddenly turned a very welcoming green. "...system recognises, Hikari. You are now on the shared system. Welcome to the Network."
Hikari breathed a sigh of relief. She walked back down the pyramid.
Riko however was very curious as she looked at her. "How do you portal... without an editor?" she asked.
"I'm... I'm not sure. I use a lot of Hiro's systems, and he isn't a typical machine system either. The biological part of him lets me create code. I think... part of me, is created from that system too."
Riko giggled.
"...what?"
"You're almost saying its like Hiro imagined you? That's just really funny."
Hikari blushed just a bit. "So- where are we going now?"
"Nadine. She's... going to try going into the sunlight," she said. "She's a Wii fairy... they are going to take the television and Wii outside, and see what happens."
Hikari looked concerned. "Who is Nadine?"
"She's a little girl, one of the youngest digital fairies here. I'm not sure if she will turn back or not. Her parents miss her terribly... but she's also had a lot of fun being here with us. So we're just going to give her support no matter what happens."
"So... if she stays a digital fairy... she... she never had a host?"
"There are very few would could trust with one so young," explained Riko. "I was thinking Hiro could... if only he could handle two of us."
Hikari bit her lip. "Hiro... has had a bit of an upgrade recently. I'm not sure if his runtime has improved but...it might be possible," she explained gently.
"Well- not to worry. If she turns back human and goes back to her parents... that's a very good thing," she said smiling.
"...if only her parents could come here," thought Hiro. "I think she would like that more."
Riko nodded. "I think the same."
