According to an old folk saying,
normally, people are supposed to know what path they should pursue.
But despite this,
they tend to lose sight of the most important path.
Haraken!
Where's Fumie?
She said she had prep school.
"I don't want to lose sight of my path in the future," she said.
How's the analysis of the diary coming along?
It's almost certain that at the end of the path Kanna was following,
there was an Illegal.
There sure are a lot more different types of Illegals than you'd expect...
I was surprised to see how many of them exist. The fish, the Bearded Ones...
Yeah.
And let's not forget that there are Spaces no one's even discovered yet.
Here it is. The fog.
Kyuu-chans!
What are they doing?
So they're deleting access to the obsolete Space.
Let's hurry and try somewhere else!
Good, good! Great job!
At this rate, I can definitely reformat all areas.
This is the last route
Kanna jotted down in her diary.
Haraken, look!
It's an obsolete Space!
So there was another one!
What amazing fog!
Oh?
This bicycle...
Huh?
Isn't that Denpa?
And that's...
Denpa, watch out!
Haraken?
Yasako?
R-Run!
D-Denpa, you're the one who should be running!
Run away! Hurry!
So that "run" was...
...meant for the Illegal?
What are you doing here?
Go home, quickly!
Denpa, what on earth are you doing?
Don't tell me...
...y-you're raising an Illegal?!
I named it Plesio.
Don't tell anyone, please?
Not even Daichi.
Sure. It's a promise.
Of all things, Denpa...
It's amazing that you're raising an Illegal.
It's not a pet or anything.
All I did was feed it, but at some point it became attached to me,
so I visit it sometimes.
But it's an Illegal!
Right, I need to ask you.
Huh?
We're looking for the Illegal involved in the cybernavi accident.
By any chance, does Plesio
connect to a cybernavi domain?
I don't know,
but it never broke anything,
nor did it make any cars break down.
All it eats are metabugs.
I see...
I remember one time someone brought their cyberpet here,
and the one who ran away was Plesio!
It's so docile.
Has it always been this big?
No, in the beginning it was much smaller.
When I first saw it,
it was this small, exhausted-looking thing sticking out of the ground.
That's how it was when I found it.
When I looked around, I saw more of them on the lot too.
I was scared, so I screamed out,
but they ran away.
At that moment, I accidentally dropped some metabugs, and it ate them,
so I collected a few rubbishbugs to feed it with.
It recovered slightly, then went back into the lot.
When was this?
About half a year ago.
I didn't even tell Daichi.
But their numbers gradually declined.
In the end, all the Plesios...
I always liked big creatures,
so when we walked together after we met,
it reminded me of a dinosaur.
In a way, your dream has come true.
Yup.
That's why we became friends so easily.
But I think this guy's grown too big.
And to think that it was the smallest one to begin with!
Now that you mention it,
that fish from awhile back also kept growing bigger and bigger.
The program that controls their size must have a bug in it.
There's also another bug.
It's quite interesting.
Plesio, this way.
Oh, so he can only move along the dark ground.
It's a bug that mistakenly reads the dark parts as water.
Oh, I didn't know such a thing could happen.
Yeah, and that's why it can't cross white lines or concrete.
How odd.
The ground has ripples, just like water.
So he doesn't like the sun, either?
Yeah.
On this lot, there's a spot where the sun never shines.
So that's how it's been able to survive.
Back then, when we met the Bearded Ones, I wondered
if perhaps Illegals are like lost children.
Lost children?
Yeah.
I thought, "Maybe what they're looking for is their home,
where their family awaits them."
Family, huh?
But in reality, it's the last one left.
Its cry is so sad...
I think
that if humankind faced extinction,
and if I were the only one to survive...
...living alone until the very last day
would be so miserable.
These bottles are typical of the energy drinks often drunk by exhausted salarymen.
I'm tired of studying.
Where's Haraken?
He said he'd be at the hospital.
It's about that dizziness he experienced last time.
It's so hot I feel like I could have a dizzy spell, too!
Hey, is it still far?
We're almost there.
You'll see. You'll be very surprised.
Nothing surprises me any more.
Okay then, when I tell you, open your eyes.
Open them.
Huh?
So you really don't get surprised any more.
You're amazing, Fumie.
She's passed out on her feet.
Wh-What was that thing?
So you were surprised after all!
It's a Plesiosaur Illegal.
I can't stand huge things.
And since it's so huge, Satchii will probably be here soon.
This must be a domain Satchii can't enter.
I wonder who's managing this place?
It doesn't really matter who.
A cybersubstance that grows that large becomes quite fragile.
Really?
The server load grows proportionally.
Don't forget that Illegals infiltrate the servers illicitly,
so their bodies are constantly being deleted bit by bit.
Their bodies are... deleted?
Even in the case of cyberpets,
their bodies are broken up into segments
which are handled on different servers.
If a server finds traces of an Illegal,
it deletes them at once.
So then, its cry of pain...
...may be a cry of pain from having a bit of its body erased.
If it can actually feel pain, that is.
Well, you know, you shouldn't get so attached to artificial life forms.
That's not true!
I'm telling the truth.
If it feels pain...
No, it does feel pain!
But if I tell it that I'm right here beside it,
the pain eases a little!
That's what friends are for!
But all living things die someday.
Fumie...
I'm very busy with my summer course.
I only came here because I thought it would be something more interesting.
Fumie...
You know,
Fumie once had a pet, but Satchii...
I know.
It's just like Fumie said.
Everyone has to die some day.
Yasako!
What is it?
They're going to start building on this lot!
You mean this place is going to disappear?!
The construction will start...
tomorrow!
All we can do is move it someplace else.
Isako said that
if an Illegal is in a normal Space, it will disintegrate.
So it can't move from here?
Actually,
there was one time when Plesio left this Space and entered a normal Space.
What happened?
I found it an hour later.
I remember that its body was misencoded, and it seemed to be in a lot of pain.
What can we do?
An hour...
That's a dangerously long time if we want to move it.
But if we leave it like this,
it'll definitely...
I've made up my mind.
It can't stay here any longer.
No matter how hard it is, let's find another place for it.
But where?
It has to be an obsolete Space,
spacious, and on dark ground.
To make things worse, all the obsolete Spaces are disappearing.
As I thought, it's not so easy to find any at all.
This feeling...
Could it be...?
I've found it!
Great job, Yasako!
You're amazing!
I-It was just plain luck.
Yasako, thank you!
Now we have to figure out a path.
That's right, because we can't use any streets that are white.
This is the entrance to the path you found.
I think I just found a possible route.
Let's try a practice run.
It happens to be the longest route,
but almost all the streets' surfaces are completely black.
It should be fine.
Eh?
Ah!
The pavement is being changed to white tiles!
According to the town plans,
this area will be tiled white.
No way.
And to think I said it was the best route...
Oh, yeah!
Haraken, use your connections.
My connections?
Hello, I'd like to speak to Tamako Harakawa from the Cyberspace Management Bureau.
What? A school day?
So your aunt studies at an all-girls school.
This is the first time I've ever come to my aunt's school.
Ken!
Auntie?
B-But she...
But what, huh? What?
You didn't seriously believe that I ride a bike all the time, did you?
So what do you need?
Actually...
A road?
I'm just an employee, and more importantly, roads don't fall under my domain.
But I'm begging you, Auntie.
Even if you ask me like that, there's nothing I can do about it.
Anyway, why are you asking me this?
W-Well...
Anyway, it's not really important!
H-Hey!
Because that schoolgirl caused so much trouble here,
I've lost face.
If I ask them to do such a thing, they'll send me straight back to Kanazawa.
By trouble, do you mean...?
The Space failure incident at the station,
the Space distortion at the bus graveyard,
the inundation of cyberwater all over town...
Ah, it's not important after all!
Our actions have come back to haunt us...
We need to get through somehow before the construction is finished.
We're running out of time.
We need to act.
This is the first time I've taken Plesio with me.
Well?
It's not as bad as I thought.
Since its body is large,
it can probably resist longer than the smaller Illegals.
Let's go, Plesio.
Not only is the new Space inflicting damage,
but the streets with white surfaces make it especially hard, too.
What about the places where the distinction between black and white isn't so clear?
The dark tones are spotted by external cameras.
So, depending on the sunlight's angle...
We can't pass through the commercial district.
Let's take the back streets.
The road itself is black,
but in some areas it has white patches.
That's the color the server has recorded.
Oh no!
Haraken!
Wait!
You're the best in this sort of situation.
Wait!
There's no end to them!
Me Satchii!
Wait!
It's not stopping!
Why?
Run for it!
It's impossible.
And the construction is progressing rapidly.
At this rate, it won't be able to leave here at all.
We have to buy some time
while we search for a new route.
I've heard all about it.
Fumie!
No way around it. I'll help you out.
All we need to do is interfere with the construction, right?
That's my specialty!
Will you really help us?
Y-You could say that.
But Denpa,
I'm gonna tax you 10% of the metabugs you collect from now on.
What kind of person are you?
Well? Do you think we can find one?
We've searched everywhere, but...
There just isn't a path we can use.
I wonder how Fumie is doing?
If you don't stop construction, my blood will be on your hands!
Damn!
Can she really slow the construction down by doing that?
I found some information today.
Tomorrow, at 3am,
the lot's domain will become accessible to Satchii.
That means...
...Plesio can only stay there
until then.
If only it could cross this bridge,
we'd have plenty of paths for it to go...
But every bridge has a white surface.
And at night?
It's useless.
The street lamps are too bright.
That's it!
What is it?
We'll have it go across the water!
The water?
But look how it shines.
At night, the water's surface is completely black.
All right!
Let's commence the plan tonight before 3am!
Yeah!
All right! With these high spirits, let's go!
We're sleepy...
Why are they still working at this late hour?!
They want to make up the time they lost by working at night!
Uh-oh.
Let's hurry!
It can't go any further!
The domain is already starting to change!
We'll have to expand the Space by using kurobugs.
Denpa, quickly!
The kurobugs will attract Kyuu-chans!
Plesio...
They're here!
It's no good! It's too narrow!
It's Satchii!
I have no choice.
It might be a bit too powerful, but...
Stay back!
Wait!
Everyone, hurry!
Are you okay?
The first barrier.
Plesio, you can do it!
Now for the second barrier.
Oh?
It's empty...
Plesio, you can do it!
Watch out!
Denpa, watch out!
Plesio!
Plesio, hang in there!
Is it far?
Don't worry, we're almost there.
Thank goodness!
It's only a bit further, Plesio.
Haraken...
Because it's been in a new Space for some time,
the damage inflicted by the white surface is spreading.
But...
It probably won't last much longer...
...whether we reach the new site or not.
It's dawn!
Let's hurry!
So we didn't make it in time...
Don't talk nonsense!
We're going through!
But at this rate, it'll die!
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Plesio.
Plesio?
Wait!
What can we do?!
Hurry! We've got to get it back here!
Plesio!
PLESIO!
It couldn't be helped...
This just means that it wasn't strong enough to survive.
After all, it's only an artificial lifeform!
And it's an Illegal.
That's what happens when you get attached to something!
It was...
Plesio must've felt very sad after being alone for so long.
It really did
want to reach its family.
In the direction Plesio had desperately run
stood an abandoned factory, its eerie chimneys standing in a line.
They looked like a herd of Plesios.
I heard that a few days later,
the factory and its line of chimneys were destroyed.