It's exactly what you call "by name and by fact."
According to rumors from the industry,
the reason the Micet series was taken off the market
was because it facilitated breaches of privacy such as covert photography and eavesdropping.
I want toast!
Definitely toast!
I really don't care—
No! You must have toast, too!
Japanese eat natto on rice.
Natto is a traditional Japanese meal made from fermented soybeans, popular for breakfast.
No way!
If you make me eat natto, I'll only eat toast from now on.
That way, you'll never have me eating natto again!
You most definitely can't have natto with toast.
I don't wanna eat toast every day!
You must have toast!
There you go again with your bickering.
All right, Fumie.
You'll only have toast during the summer break.
Eh?!
But I don't want it every day!
You're not a child anymore.
Stop being picky.
Fumie.
Akira.
Don't think you can sleep all day just because it's summer break.
Ah...
You sure get sick of eating toast every day.
You see?
Isn't it exactly like your mom told you?
You should let us eat something better.
After all, we're your beloved children.
You're the one who wanted this, aren't you?
If you don't eat everything, you won't grow any bigger.
Here you go, dear.
Look at this.
You should've done as I said.
Akira, I'm giving this to you.
If you don't eat it to the very last crumb, you won't grow any bigger.
Thanks for the meal!
This is a Micet.
It's a small cybercat.
It's as large as a thumb,
and it has a special function.
A normal petmaton
can't record the things it sees or the voices it hears.
That's because of privacy and copyrights and stuff like that.
But a patch that enables these things for Micet started to circulate,
so now it's possible to record both sound and video.
Of course, I installed the patch too.
So if Satchii ever found out,
it would delete mine immediately.
But this little guy is extremely fast and alert,
so it won't get caught easily.
Of course, this type has already been taken off the market.
As a matter of fact, I consider myself lucky to have one.
Because...
If you don't eat it to the very last crumb, you won't grow any bigger.
Because with these records,
when it comes down to it,
I can make my sister shut up.
This is my sister, Fumie.
Today, I would like to show the real story of my sister and her friends.
Ah, I forgot to mention...
I'm Akira.
I'm a fourth year elementary school student.
My sister is a hundred and twenty centimeters tall,
and she weighs twenty-seven kilograms.
For a sixth grader, she's quite small.
There've been a lot more Kyuu-chans lately.
"Kyuu-chans"?
You've never heard of 'em?
They're "Kyuu-chans" because they're spherical.
So what's the assignment?
My pet has entered a wall.
There was a hole there,
but it disappeared right after.
Um...
My name is Yuko Okonogi.
Nice to me—
This space is so obsolete.
The price is 200 meta, okay?
Meta?
What're meta?
What? You don't even know what a metabug is?
Remember? It's like the one I gave you earlier.
Yeah, that one!
That one will do just fine.
My sister is extraordinarily cunning when it comes to money.
Needless to say, I got back at him by hacking.
Especially since metabugs are becoming rare.
She takes each and every metabug Micet or I collect.
And now this...
The key player for this mission.
Is this also from Megasia?
This is Oyaji,
They don't sell this.
my sister's slave.
Oyaji is a kind of bizarre petmaton.
Even in obsolete Space,
it's very resistant.
Time to work, Oyaji!
So next we slap a metatag on it.
She even sends it into obsolete Spaces,
And now it has increased protection.
where it wouldn't last long without Mega-baa's metatag.
Get in there right now, Oyaji!
And from there, it takes metabugs.
Metabugs are a mysterious cybersubstance,
That's what a metabug is.
and they only have value among kids.
It's a special product of Daikoku City.
I don't know why, but you can only get them here.
This girl is Yasako.
She just moved to Daikoku City,
and she's a wonderful person.
Fog!
Her name is written with the kanji for "gentle girl" and is read "Yuko,"
The "yu" in Yuko can also be read as the "yasa" from "yasashii".
so in its alternate Japanese reading, it makes her nickname "Yasa–ko."
I've never talked to her much,
but just like her name says, she's a very gentle girl.
You don't have any other scratches, do you?
I can't believe it's just a coincidence...
This has nothing to do with my story, but...
I really like gentle girls.
I'm sorry for being late.
Densuke!
What is it now?
In the end,
Satchii has come too!
Me Satchii!
Nice to meet ya!
This is Satchii.
It's a gigantic antivirus software
that Daikoku City installed recently.
But it's extremely stupid.
It tries to "format ray" everything relentlessly,
such as normal cyberpets or kids' toys.
Ah, "format ray" is just a name I invented randomly.
That's the ray that kills a petmaton when it hits them.
Also, the glasses' user's information, which is stored on a server,
is damaged.
If the auto-restore function of the OS starts,
you're forcibly charged the equivalent of two years' otoshidama.
As a basic defense,
my sister installed some software that enables her forehead to shoot a beam.
Because Satchii is simply executing the orders it receives,
it doesn't do anything that would make it hated.
My sister just hates it unfairly.
Moreover, Satchii is under the control of the Ministry of Posts,
so it can't enter schools or Shinto shrines.
That's because schools are under the Ministry of Education's jurisdiction,
and shrines are under the Ministry of Culture's jurisdiction.
We've learned so many things...
Kyoko!
Poop!
Run!
Stop!
This is Haraken.
He seems to be quite absent-minded,
He's the Biology Club president, Haraken.
and even I, a mere fourth grader,
the vice president of the club by the way.
can't think of him as being reliable.
Despite this,
he was raising an amazing pet.
Yup,
it was back then, during the metabug hunt at the bus graveyard.
I don't have any walls or mega-be left!
Stop!
Haraken!
Sit.
Shake hands.
C'mon, we'll escape while it's like this!
It'll only obey me for a minute.
Who on earth...
...are you?
Believe it or not,
Satchii is Haraken's pet.
To be precise, it's Haraken's aunt's pet.
But this isn't really important.
Did you
tell Daichi
about what happened
at the station?
Please forgive me, Sis!
Sis?!
Yeah, he's my little brother, Akira.
This is the most embarrassing moment of my entire life.
I'll probably suffer trauma as a result.
In the future, I'll become a policeman or a lawyer,
and then I'll sue her and prove that she's guilty!
I'll save all these recordings,
and I'll use them as undeniable evidence in court.
I'm so glad I have a Micet.
And that's why
video and audio recordings that are taken illegally and in a concealed manner
can't be used as evidence in court.
"...can't be used."
Wh-What?!
I've been very depressed since this morning.
Okay, so I gave up on using them as evidence in a court case,
and instead decided to use them for my own research.
The title is, "Chronicles of a Living Creature."
That's because, in general, my sister is a "living creature."
I know I shouldn't say so myself, but I think it's a perfect title.
Let's take a break from my sister's bullying for a bit,
and talk about the other people here.
Kyoko!
Do you know these two?
Yes, she's my little sister.
This area is very dangerous. Be careful.
There's even been an accident before.
Yes... I know.
Um, thank you very much.
Yasako!
Kyoko!
I'm so glad to see you!
Ah, it's the stalker!
It's Satchii!
Stop!
Shake hands.
Sit.
Wh-Who are you?
You've finally found her!
Thank goodness!
Ken!
A-Auntie!
A-Auntie?!
She's Satchii's master,
also known as Auntie.
Her real name is Tamako Harakawa.
She's called "Auntie" because she's Haraken's aunt.
Anyway, she's the person who installed Satchii in Daikoku City.
Her strong personality surpasses even my sister's.
In fact, even if Satchii wasn't here,
she'd still be the one who spreads chaos all over town.
Hey, ya jerk!
What the hell are ya doin'...
...here?
You're a lifesaver, Auntie.
Haraken?!
This has nothing to do with my story, but...
I really, really like
girls with big breasts.
Cut it out!
Auntie is like my sister as far as personality goes,
but as for the breasts,
she's nothing like my sister, who's in sixth grade and is as flat as a board!
I reckon that my sister's breasts
will stay the same forever.
Dammit! Dammit!
These guys
were in the same club as me.
They're the Daikoku Hackers.
Daichi,
Gachagiri,
Namecchi,
Denpa,
and me.
But they're not that important.
Rather, their enemy is.
That's Isako.
Just like Yasako,
her name's Yuko,
but it's written with different kanji—
the ones for "courageous girl."
She's a very courageous girl indeed.
This has nothing to do with my story, but...
I really like
brave girls.
Anyway,
this "war" game, which was played with weapons sold at a dagashi store,
ended in a landslide victory.
I heard later on
that behind the scenes, Isako was also waging war against my sister at the same time,
but I was too busy and didn't notice at all.
Isako won both battles.
She's awesome.
And then, according to my sister's "Cyberbulletin,"
Isako was the one responsible for breaking the Space
and extracting loads of metabugs.
Apart from Yasako, Isako, and my sister,
no one knows the whole truth behind the story.
But, after studying Isako's moves,
I've come to believe that it's all true.
Well...
In the end, she also had a fight with Satchii,
and she actually won!
Me-Me... Me Sa-Sa... Satchii...
That's how Isako was able to prevail over the Hackers,
and why I wasn't surprised
when she kicked Daichi out.
I'm just an elementary school student,
who's just way more powerful than you.
I feel sorry for Daichi,
but not only is Isako stronger than Satchii,
I also find her kinda scary.
Do you want me to teach you...
So, I had my Micet
do some research about Isako.
At this point...
Uncle!
Thank you for coming.
How are you?
Can you leave the hospital yet?
I think I'll be here a little longer.
Listen, Uncle...
My brother will be back soon!
I see, I see.
Glad to hear it.
I'm not joking!
Yes, I know.
I just came here to tell you that.
Bye.
By chance, I discovered an unexpected side to her personality,
so I kinda got a reassuring feeling that Isako is a normal girl, after all.
However, I strongly believe that she's up to something.
Anyway,
today I sent my Micet out to gather some info.
I can't wait to see what video it'll bring back.
I forgot to mention this,
but in the Micet series,
there's a special feature installed, so that when two of the same type meet, they play rock-paper-scissors.
Especially now that they've been banned from the market,
it never meets another of the same type.
So as far as I know, it doesn't get the chance to play R-P-S.
Ah, Micet.
You've done a good job today, too.
So?
Did you find anything?
Oh?
Could this be a Micet of the same type?
Eh?
Eh?!
Why did it stop in the middle?
This is the first time it's done that...
Well, whatever.
Let's play around and edit my sister's real life diary...
I'm listening to everything, you know.
Don't underestimate your sister.
Watch out!
The light is red.
Sorry...
I felt as if... my friend was standing over there.
You're lucky you didn't get hurt.
Are you wearing
cyberglasses?
Y-Yes...
You'd better be very careful.
Especially at the zebra crossing.
The number of accidents has been increasing lately.
The victims, you know, were kids like you.
Later.
Hey...
Wow, this is amazing.
You've done a great job with such extensive research.
You're an elementary school student, aren't you?
And you chose the Illegals for your research?
That's a big deal.
A moment ago,
you talked about the accidents, right?
Yeah.
Were you involved in an accident?
Ah, no.
I'm just doing research on all the strange things that are happening in this town.
On my own.
What do you think about the accident involving the childrens' glasses
that you mentioned before?
As you wrote in your report,
the most probable explanation is
that the cybernavi was somehow manipulated
by an unknown operation.
This "unknown operation" you're talking about,
could it be...?
...an Illegal.
Yes.
As it turns out,
a black shadow is often seen near where cybernavi accidents occur.
But since we actually ignore the real nature of Illegals,
as well as their relation with these accidents,
this doesn't venture beyond the boundaries of urban legend.
This is just my hypothesis,
but if Illegals happened to be a cybersubstance that is self-generated,
wouldn't it be possible to interact with them?
I think that by eliminating their only possible habitat, we're driving them to extinction.
It's true that some of them
escape into cyberpets or cyberdevices.
Others, perhaps, become harmless and try living among us in a new Space,
just looking for a place that they can call home...
a safe place to live in.
But even if this hypothesis turns out to be correct,
this wouldn't even be the surface of what's really happening.
Something's happening in this town.
What... do you mean?
According to my hypothesis, I think
that the accident was only coincidental.
I believe that the truth is hidden somewhere else.
And I'm sure that you're beginning to understand it somewhat, aren't you?
I like you.
That's why,
for your own good, I'll give you a warning.
From now on, if you further your research...
Who are you?
If you dig deeper,
you won't be able to come back when you want to anymore.
Just like your friend.
Who...
Who are you?
Calling it "independent research"
was just a lie, right?
What...
What are you talking—
You want to meet her, right?
The one you're looking for is not an Illegal.
However, this method...
Pretending to do it for research...
What are you saying?
For now, restrain yourself.
If you dig too deep,
you'll end up the same as your friend.
Just like Kanna Hashihara.
How... do you know about Kanna?
Have you heard of the words "Dennou Coil"?
Dennou...
Coil?
If you haven't,
then you'd better investigate what happened four years ago.
Who...
Who are you?
I'm the one who's here to ensure the safety of you kids.
You'd better not take my warning lightly.
Just a little bit...
Just a little longer and we can meet...
Brother...
Next time
on Dennou Coil:
The Boys from the Other Side of the Station.
See you next time!