Rogue

[Albert Wesker]

The silence lasted for a long while, interrupted intermittently  by the brief background noises of the Dataverse. A few side paths, with thin streams of data branching off and joining the larger stream, were all that broke the otherwise uninterrupted line of code. The slow, periodic clun-ka-thunk-clang of Number Man shifting joined the dull drone of travel, and many attempts at trying to remedy the increasingly-oppressive silence from him came and went.

It was not until Cricket finally spoke up, forcing himself to push past his fear over how close he had come to certain death to ask something he had been growing curious about. "Number Man...where is it you're going, exactly?"

The numerically-minded navi paused in his shifting about. "Ah..." He seemed uneasy for a moment, looking pointedly away from the much shorter navi. "...strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to say. But you're already headed there, and we'll be sending you on your way..." He trailed off. "No harm in it, I suppose. I'm headed to a meeting with my employer, a gentleman who manages the breaking down and recycling of junk data into omnilium to reintroduce into the digital economy of the dataverse. It's really quite the little business, and certainly helps keep things clean around here."

Cricket was momentarily struck dumb at the sheer coincidence on display here. Slowly, he spoke up, "I think...I was scheduled to have a meeting with him at some point."

"...hmmm?" Number Man finally turned to face the normal navi at that, head tilted to one side. "Now that's odd. I don't recall hearing anything about that." A series of rapid flashes of differing colors splayed across his cranial dome, before he held up one finger thoughtfully, tapping his chin. "....though I suppose that isn't really so surprising. I am only infrequently called in for personal meetings and hands-on work. Most of my work is done remotely, calculations and lists sent in via e-mail." He paused, shrugging lightly. "But that does make this somewhat convenient, I suppose. You get a chance to meet my employer before your scheduled meeting with him."

"Who...is your employer?" the helper navi ventured, wariness and shame fading as curiosity overtook him once more.

"Oh...he's a very strange sort of person. Hard to really get a bead on him, but he's certainly dependable enough. And a very hard worker; I've scarcely seen anyone so devoted to their work as he is." Number Man chuckled briefly, tilting his head back to look upward. "It would be admirable, if he weren't so frighteningly hands-on about his insistence that he do the actual labor himself. His employees are only allowed to do the collecting, and calculations about how much should be managed and put together into each individual shipment to be sent back out. Any actual breaking down and reforming is done strictly by him." A synthesized sigh escaped from his speaker-mouth, and he lifted his hands up in a gesture of defeat. "But, it is reliable work, and something to keep the processors busy. And meaning no offense to them, but it is far more preferable to working for the Empire. Coruscant is certainly an interesting place, don't mistake me, but..."

There was a rather pointed pause in his speech as he stalled, waving one hand in a lazy circle. "....well. I suppose personal opinion doesn't really factor much into it. They're no doubt a fine place to work in as well as for, if you're of a mind to have such a..." Once more he stalled mid-sentence. "...er.... That is, such a police...well, military, really, state as your employer." He waved his hands quickly, as if trying to brush that thought aside. "But I much more prefer clerical work, you understand, that has nothing to do with such things! Personal preference only, I assure you! Hah...ahaha....ha...."

Cricket just stared at him blankly, his eyes slowly spinning to narrow his focus down to the clerical navi. "...yes, I think I get it," he finally said. "But you...managed to bypass my question in all of that. You talked about your employer for a bit, but...never really mentioned who he is."

Number Man had no color that could drain out of his face, but the expression on his face -- one eye expanding, the other contracting, lights flashing in number patterns on his rounded cranium -- as he recoiled said it all. "Ah, well...yes. Do forgive me, I was..." He coughed, trying to right his expression and recover himself. "Ahem. Well, yes, my employer... He is an individual by the name of Junk Man.EXE. Eccentric, and perhaps a little volatile...but truly, he is a good worker, and cares deeply about his chosen task, odd as it may be."

"Junk Man..." Cricket echoed, looking down momentarily. That name was registered in his memory files, courtesy of Colonel upon his creation. An independent navi, born out of junk data and bugs amalgamated into a single entity, somehow gaining sentience and the rough, crude form of a net navi along the way. His appearance was said to be frightening and unsettling, and his nature full of spite and hate was well-documented, though his deletion was also confirmed, according to the records he had. This...was going to be an interesting meeting. "I...I see. He certainly did pick an appropriate field to engage in working, if nothing else."

"Oh, yes, very much so. No one could possibly understand or work better with junk than Junk Man!" Number Man said cheerfully. "Without him, there certainly would be a lot more useless junk around. Or, at the least...junk that people perceived as useless. He breaks it down and reforms it back into building material. He's unappreciated and unknown, most certainly due almost entirely to his reclusive nature, but his work is certainly taken note of and very much appreciated. It allows for expanding of the dataverse, and rebuilding of any damages that much easier. Certainly helps make up for any destruction caused when some unfortunate souls go off and blow things up in dealing with viruses or the like."

"Yeah...some things you just can't get away from, huh?" Cricket mused.