We return with Lan hanging out at ACDC Park with Mayl and Yai, talking about how strange it is that Dex is no longer around. Midway through the conversation Ms. Mari approaches the group to deliver some good news. There’s a small ceremony being held at SciLab where the Officials will present Lan with a commendation for his feats at the Seaside Hospital. Finally, it’s nice to have some official, no pun intended, recognition for our accomplishments. And during this arc we’ll also see exactly why that’s a bad idea.
Once we get to SciLab the mysterious bearded man can be found in the station. Lan’s finally able to thank him for all the help he’s provided, though the man downplays his assistance. And he still doesn’t tell Lan his name. Oh well. In the lobby is an Official who’ll trade a Variable Sword B for a Shake 1 S. And hey, there’re three new jobs to tackle:
Job 14: Somebody, please help!
The client is a young woman in the principal’s office at ACDC Elementary. Some prankster’s set virus bombs inside of the principal’s laptop, so we have to go in and check the place to clean them out. The bombs aren’t displayed on the overworld, they’re actually invisible, so we need to examine the items inside. Once a bomb is found we have to answer a simple trivia question to defuse it, and if we get it wrong we have to fight off a virus. It’s not a difficult job, and there are only three bombs total: one in the first area and two in the second. Our reward is Anti-Recovery B.
Job 15: Looking for condor
The Yoka Zoo’s condor still hasn’t come back after the Beastman incident, and a zoo employee wants us to find it. We’re advised to go meet with its trainer, who’s currently in the hospital. The trainer can be found using the coffee machine in Mamoru’s room (Mamoru himself is asleep) and he’ll give us an old doll that the condor imprinted on after it hatched. We’re told that the condor has been sighted around ACDC Park, so what we have to go is put the doll on the slide there, leave, and then come back. The condor will now be perched on top of the slide. Somehow Lan’s able to get it back to the zoo, where he’s given a Sub Memory.
Job 16: Help with rehab
A Navi inside the TV in the hospital’s lobby wants someone to battle some viruses so that he can recover his fighting instincts after being out of action for a while. The thing that separates these virus battles from previous ones is the fact that we’re pitted against Omega viruses. Omega viruses are the cream of the crop. Each one is the strongest and faster version of their respective species, and some even have secondary effects, like Mettaur Omegas can crack panels with their shockwaves. For persevering we’re given the program Humor which makes Megaman spout corny jokes and whatnot whenever he’s talked to via the L button as well as the WWW ID, which allows us to open the skull doors in the Net to snag what’s behind them. So far these are the available doors:
- ACDC 1 – PMD containing Panic C.
- SciLab 1 – Custom Sword Z
- Yoka 1 – Prism Q
- Beach 2 – easier access to Beach 1
Eh, not that great a haul compared to the first two games. I guess the WWW security cubes stole some of the skull doors’ thunder.
The ceremony is being held inside of the Virus Lab and it’s a pretty simple affair, all things told. Accompanied by his father and several of the SciLab staff, Lan’s given a placard of some sort by an Official. He’s told that Mamoru would like to see him, and one of the staff calls him the hero of ACDC. Liking the sound of that, Lan decides to go and visit the hospital. If you talk to Yuuichiro before leaving the lab, he seems to recognize who the bearded man is, but quickly dismisses it as being impossible. Well at least the next time we run into him we’ll finally learn who he is.
Once outside in the lobby Lan starts gloating to Megaman about being called a hero leading to his Navi warning him about the dangers of overconfidence and shortsightedness. Yep, it’s time for our Acquired Situational Narcissism arc. Lan suddenly stops, recognizing a man at the information counter as “that guy” and rushes over. “That guy” happens to be none other than Mr. Match
◊ of all people. Mr. Match acts much the way he did in the previous game, insisting that he’s not doing anything untoward or criminal in the face of Lan’s well-justified suspicions. Mr. Match claims that he’s left WWW and that he’s taken a job at SciLab in order to make up for his past crimes. Lan doesn’t buy this for a second (I mean, come on, Mr. Match still has the same shit-eating grin mugshot he’s had for three games now!) but then a scientist rushes up and asks Lan if he can help defeat a bunch of WWW Navis that are causing a disturbance in Yoka 2. Lan immediately suspects Mr. Match of being behind it but Megaman says that there’s no time to waste, defeating the immediate threat comes first.
So basically we have to go to Yoka 2 and beat up some Heel Navis. Nothing to it, but afterwards we get an email from Mr. Match saying that there are more belligerent Navis attacking Beach Area. Rinse and repeat for that area. Finally we’re led to SciLab 1, where after defeating the lone Heel Navi there Megaman’s ambushed by three more just as Lan comments that these attacks didn’t seem to be well-planned. Luckily he’s saved by Mr. Match’s new Navi, the fearsome-looking Flameman
◊ (abbreviated as “Flamman” in the dialogue for some reason). This act finally convinces Lan and Megaman that Mr. Match has indeed turned over a new leaf. Hmf.
So after that’s settled but before Lan can go to the hospital, Megaman gets an email from an anonymous sender, telling him to come to ACDC Square. Lan thinks it’s just a prank, but Megaman goes anyway. The sender turns out to be an old-type Navi standing by ACDC Square’s BBS boards and his message is simple: be wary of Mr. Match. And then he jacks out, after telling Megaman that he’s sure that they’ll meet again. The Navi does show up later, but if you’re looking for a concrete answer as to who he is well, you’re not going to get it.
Anyway, now we’re finally free to visit Mamoru. He’s doing much better, and as thanks he gives Lan the Hospital Code item. This opens up the lone security cube in Beach 1, behind which is a PMD containing Spin Pink and a teleporter that leads to the section of Hospital Computer 2 that couldn’t be reached before, though all that’s there at the moment is an Attack + 1 program. Heck if I know how Mamoru got his hands on that code.
Once Lan leaves the hospital room he’s greeted by Mr. Match, of all people, who’s apparently sought Lan out because he wants his help with a task at SciLab. Lan turns him down, no doubt fed up with people asking him to do things for them at this point, but Mr. Match guilts him into helping him anyway since a hero isn’t supposed to be selfish, right? So back to SciLab we go…
So our task is to give data to various Programs. Fire Data goes to a Program in SciLab 1, Heat Data to a Program inside of the lobby vending machine, and Flame Data to one in the computer at Yuuichiro’s lab. This should be setting warning bells off in Lan’s head but he does it largely without question, only griping over having to do the task at all. As thanks, we get a chip for Lava Stage T, and we’re finally free to go.
After Lan leaves, Mr. Match chuckles to himself and says that it’s time to get started…
Virus Listing
- Metrid
- I'm not sure what the point of this virus is, since it's just a slightly-redesigned version of a Met Fire from Battle Network 2. It behaves in exactly the same way too, hiding behind obstacles to call meteors down on Megaman's area.
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