It's morning?
Not here?
Giga! Tera! Peta! Exa! Zeta! Yotta...
Nerdy-birdy!
You like to oversleep, huh?
Good morning, diary.
The weather around here is great again today.
The Yurei Detective Club
It's come together nicely.
It's gobblin' time!
Ah, food.
It's gapao rice today.
Smells great!
Ew, cilantro. Always smells like bombardier beetles to me.
Don't like it? Don't eat it.
Gobble, gobble, gobble!
Everything you make is great, Finn!
Well, around these parts,
you can't tweak how it looks with your Deco, nor how it tastes with Flavor.
You can taste the realness!
Gobble, gobble, gobble!
Wow, it's Love-y!
This right here, though? I'd delete it.
Thanks for the food!
That was a hell of a meal.
No.
Found anything promising job-wise?
"Searching for lost property..."
Temp work?
What about this?
They're recruiting members for a flash mob in the Hyperverse!
Sounds like fun!
Nope. Couldn't be more not interested.
How many times do I have to tell you? We...
"...don't do odd-jobs."
Still, doing that kind of surprise sounds like fun to me.
Not to mention, we've been open for four months now.
Ya think we can still afford to be picky?
We're a detective club, don't forget.
Yeah, yeah, I know. You're hung up on being "pro" sleuths.
Hank's Parts
And so, this is how our day begins.
down here
And so, this is how our day begins.
And if you're curious about when my life started looking like this...
It was four months ago.
A Zero Phenomenon occurred at 2538.39 on the Timeline.
And after the court case, I became a Yurei, just like Hack.
What do we do, Finn?!
Now! Jump into the terminal!
Yup, back then, Finn fabricated data to make it look like Hack and I died in an explosion,
and overwrote the records.
That's how we got away from the Customer Center.
With my personal record gone, I couldn't use my Deco anymore.
All the data and Love I'd got in the Hyperverse was gone, too.
The Deco in my right eye is still broken,
but Finn hacked the one in my left eye so I can still use it.
I'm now invisible, just like Hack.
I'm a Yurei!
The jobs we take as a detective club are merely a means to an end.
Our real objective is the Zero Phenomenon.
We will solve that mystery!
That'd be glitchy-witchy.
That person we saw in the Hyperverse was Phantom Zero,
the one responsible for this phenomenon, right?
It's possible they're to blame, but right now, that's just a theory.
The exact relationship between this "phantom" and the Zero Phenomenon...
That's where we start digging.
One more mystery to figure out, huh?
The ground zero data makes it look like it could be a natural occurrence.
True enough.
But the fact of the matter is Phantom Zero has been used as an urban legend
to cover up certain inconvenient truths in the city.
DECEASED
And according to the data of a friend of mine,
DECEASED
And according to the data of a friend of mine,
everything was all cleaned up while we weren't looking.
Damn. So they're acting like you two did it now?
One thing has become apparent.
Looking at what data has been falsified and deleted to cover up the Zero Phenomenon
will be the key to figuring out the facts.
Plus, it's the only way to prove that Hack and Berry are innocent.
Understood!
Finn!
And so, diary, Finn made contact with other Yurei like him
down here
Since Decos and Love aren't much use out here,
everyone has to actually make stuff from scratch.
But being able to actually touch everything is so weird...
And Love-y!
I might be homeless, Love-less, and declared dead...
But I'm still here.
Come on in.
Uh... well...
I'm sorry!
Um, I'm looking for Finn...
Finn?
This is a detective agency, right?
So that's my story...
Missing
Your daughter is missing?
Right. I only took my eyes off her for a second...
Mr. Mitsumame, the Customer Center is better suited to this sort of thing.
Please don't say that! I'm begging you!
This dude's a liar! He's lyin' like crazy!
What do you mean?
Check it. I diggity-dug up some big picture data.
Mitsu- mame
Th-That's my personal information!
Hey, man! This says you're not married, and you sure as hell ain't got a daughter!
Not even a girlfriend, baby!
Care to explain?
I'm sorry. But I...
This missing daughter of yours... This is actually your avatar, isn't it?
Yeah.
For real, nerdy-birdy?
When you call her your "daughter,"
you mean you care about her as if she was. That's how it is, isn't it?
I'm begging you! I'll pay you all the Love I've saved to get her back!
All your Love?!
I. Love. Ai.
And just how much Love are we talking here?
}Follow
Well, that's a joke.
We've got us... nothing!
As low as it goes!
Huh? That's odd.
Where'd all my Love go?
More like you're just lyin' some more.
Could this be...
No Love, no point.
Please!
You Yurei are the only ones I can turn to!
Naturally. Given that it's an avatar, the Customer Center likely wouldn't care.
But she's the only one for me. Without her, I've been like the walking dead.
When exactly did she go missing?
At 2538.39 on the Timeline.
Glitchy-witchy...
It's just a coincidence. I wouldn't read anything into it.
I see. It was near the scene, too.
The scene of what?! Did something happen?
I understand, Mr. Mitsumame!
Berry!
We'll look into it for you.
Th-Thank you so much! She really means the world to me!
Well, diary, Finn said "Suit yourself" to me, and Hack's napping.
How do I find this avatar? Hack and Finn aren't gonna help... ^_^;; For now, I'll head to the scene of the disappearance. I might find some leads there.
But going by the Timeline...
It was the same time Hack and I got hit by the Zero Phenomenon.
Plus, it happened near the area where Mr. Mitsumame's avatar went missing.
Even if it's a coincidence, I'm curious.
Okay!
Perfect!
I'm counting on you!
Whoa, hold up. Try using this.
What kind of robot is it?
Doggo the Robo-Dog.
I built him to sniff out and track down data.
That's Love-y!
I'll see how he does. Thanks!
Well, it's still early days for him, so I dunno how much help he'll be.
Hey, Berry?
How'd it go with that guy?
Really good!
Rule #1 of being a detective:
Check the scene thoroughly. That's where the case begins.
If there are clues, they'll be there.
And according to Mr. Mitsumame, this is where the avatar went missing.
How's that?
What is it?
Aw, this is just my device.
Did the cleaners push it here?
Guess I'll go check the Public Information Office.
I'm telling you, he showed up again. On 9th Street in District 19 this time.
Phantom Zero? Probably a load of hooey again.
Hey, Logi!
Hm?
Huh?
Hey, Harper!
What was that?
Something wrong?
Oh, right. They can't see me because of the Deco camouflage.
I got the feeling someone was calling out to me...
What are you on about?
Well, whatever. I say we go looking for residual data!
Can't. I gotta go to the dentist.
Bet you do, with all that sugary stuff you eat.
Give it a rest. Anyway, you can go with someone else.
Someone'll be in the response team office. Hm, probably not Berry, but...
I'm right here.
Come to think of it, where did she get to?
She just stopped coming to school. Wonder what happened to her.
Well, it's not like her attendance was all that great before.
Tell me about it! And she'd make up stuff like seeing Phantom Zero.
I didn't make it up! I really did!
Fine!
Huh? Was that Berry's voice?
I thought so, too.
Ah! Jeez, Logi, don't eat my stuff!
Huh? C'mon, you know me better than that. You just ate it faster than you thought.
Uh, guess I must have.
Huh.
You're right. Let's go.
Okay!
Is your interest in this case personal?
Maybe a client treating a lost avatar like a missing child struck a chord with you.
It's not like that!
Once something's been struck from the record, it'll fade from memory over time.
As if it never existed.
Is it right for everything to be reduced to zero like that?
I couldn't say.
It bugs me...
You can leave if you're feeling homesick.
Look, it just bugs me, okay?!
I know lots of stuff now that I could never even see when I lived in the city.
Some of it bad, some of it scary, and not all of it stuff I needed to know...
But the fact nobody ever has a chance of knowing is what bugs me.
So I want to know.
Right. And that's what we're here for.
Yeah.
Jeez!
Maybe there's still some trace at Mom and Dad's workplace.
Rule #3 of being a detective...
Let's check it out.
Never thought I'd come back here for something like this.
Okay, I'm in.
If I check Mom and Dad's activity on the Timeline...
No data. Figures.
Ah, but I can still check their tag history.
Here we go!
Lessee... Is there anything in the data on the Zero Phenomenon that was covered up
that matches the avatar's file size?
Nothing.
Maybe it wasn't covered up, just discarded?
There it is!
Oh, crap.
Dad...
Hey. What's wrong?
What about you? It's late.
I'm having trouble sleeping...
So I figured I might as well fill my quota.
I see. I guess I woke you.
It's not that...
I see.
On nights like this, I keep thinking she's come home.
We've been over this...
But...
I told her if something was really important, deleting it wouldn't make it go away.
But now, she's... really gone...
I still can't believe... she died in an accident...
I know. But we've done everything we can.
There might still be something.
I think she's just missing...
But we even got permission to check the secret backup data
the Customer Center collects. We begged them for it.
Yeah, you're right. And we didn't find anything. Even so...
The Customer Center collects the city's backup data?
Well, if we can't sleep anyway...
Let's keep looking.
I had no idea they could do stuff like that. I'd better show the others.
Yeah. Maybe I'm just tired...
I'm sorry, Mom and Dad, but I can't just yet.
How's that?
I'm back! This is awesome!
Oh-Em-Gee! I'm, like, so grateful!
I'm over the moon!
Save your thanks for the kid.
I'm happy for you. Turns out, it was disposed of by mistake.
I didn't know what to expect, but I am so glad I came!
And now I feel fantastic, Miss Detective!
Thanks so much!
You look like someone popped your tires.
Finn was right. The avatar going missing wasn't caused by the Zero Phenomenon.
Feelin' like bailing?
Don't be stupid. We still haven't figured out what glitchy-witchy's deal is.
True that.
Oh! But I did see this weird system...
At a content moderator's workstation?
Yeah.
I managed to catch a glimpse of Mom and Dad doing a search at the Customer Center.
Nice work.
And they can apparently search the Timeline for a backup of the entire city.
For real?
Where would they store that kind of data?
I've never heard of a Timeline backup like that.
Here's the footage I captured.
Let me see that.
You hit the jackpot!
She's really onto something with this data, isn't she, Finn?
She is. Not bad.
Really?!
Well, diary...
There were a few twists and turns, but I'm ready to solve this Zero Phenomenon mystery
so I can be reunited with the people who haven't forgotten me.
I'll solve it at this detective agency with all my weirdo friends!
And the weather around here is great yet again!
Easy there...
What is that?