What we got? What we got? What we got?
What we got? What we got? What we... Huh?
Doron!
Everything I saw reflected in his eyes
taught me about the world I was still naïve about back then.
It was fate that we met.
People are like the moon.
We all have a dark side nobody else ever sees.
Where all the bad kids at?
Smiley and the Flying Lost One
Found ya!
Smiley and the Flying Lost One You got me!
You're it now, Berry.
Nerdy-birdy's a slowpoke.
Aw, we're still doing this hide-and-seek thing?
Testing is essential.
Can't you just test it yourself?
No. When building a world,
you need clinical objectivity to reinforce it where needed, not experience.
Seems like a waste to me, making something like this but never experiencing it.
Basing everything on a subjective experience leads to emotional fallacies,
which can in turn lead to bad judgment.
Real easy to sound cool when you're quotin' someone else.
Pipe down, Namahage Demon.
Everyone do the 'hage dance!
Can we please just resume the test already?
Well, if you think about it,
the objective Finn and the subjective Hack make the ultimate duo.
You really think so?
Hey, detectives. Time for work.
Ta-da!
Here's our new client.
This is our client?
I am the general-purpose drone, Doron, yes.
Doron the drone, huh?
Zoom! Droney-droney-drone!
Although, frankly, I'm not sure if I actually like the name or not...
Hey now!
I gave it to you. You don't even remember your real one, you pile of junk.
For your information, I am not a pile of junk!
I believe a fault in my protocols is to blame for me losing my memories.
Which means I am malfunctioning, not junk!
So you've got, like, amnesia?
He's "lost," essentially. A case of a wandering AI drone.
Hey, she found you in a junkyard on the edge of town, right?
He came flying at me from outta nowhere.
I am certain that my owner has been inconvenienced by losing me.
I ask that you find my owner for me.
So it's the owner that's inconvenienced, huh?
It should just be a case of checking your Customer Center registration.
Right, Watson?
Except we couldn't find a registration number.
Which makes this a job for the Yurei Detective Club.
No memories, no registration, and hunting for his owner without a single clue!
So Love-y!
Not interested.
No bingo.
Hey, Finn, let's keep doin' that thing from before!
I need to water the plants on the roof first, and you're helping.
Kinda weird to see you helping people out, Smiley. Or robots, in this case.
I've never seen this model of drone before,
so I figure the owner's gotta be rollin' in Love.
That makes sense.
Seems to have a few years on him, too.
Well, I'm in!
Yeah, me too!
I-I-I-I am ever so grateful.
Helping me like this... I can't thank you enough-nough-nough...
You're shaking kind of a lot there. You sure you're not junk?
H-H-How r-rude!
Some kind of vibration function?
I-I th-think I-I'm j-j-just sh-shaking w-with g-g-gratitude...
You okay?
Y-Y-Yes...
Told ya he was junk.
Huh, you don't see this every day.
Well?
Can you fix him?
Hey, there's some kind of number here.
Probably a production number.
Gotta say, the little dude's a lot more complex than you'd think from lookin' at him.
I bet that means an even bigger Love payout.
Okay...
What are you doing?
Seeing what kinda data he has.
Will you be able to read his memories?
Won't know until I take a look.
I can say this much, though...
We're looking at an illegal drone here.
Love-y!
There.
All done!
Nice!
Okay, from the scope of these customizations,
it's fair to say this drone acted as its owner's proxy on the regular.
But the owner seems to have gone missing.
And the only clue left behind?
Quit building the suspense.
Get a load of this.
I have no idea what I'm looking at.
Exactly. It was made this way on purpose to keep it hidden.
Pretty patchy, too.
This is the one part I was able to restore.
"Zero is a lie."
"And everything that isn't zero is reality."
Phantom Zero!
For real?
This is the one from the game, though.
So who's the guy with Doron?
Hey, I know! If they're playing together, maybe that's his owner!
Hello!
What was I doing?
Great! You're all better. Now we can get to work on the investigation.
Is this my owner?
Well, he's in the picture with you.
His face isn't ringing any bells.
See? Junk.
How rude! It's the repairs made to me that are junk!
Excuse me?!
I guess that should do it for today.
It was kinda like "Ungh" when I landed right at the end.
Could ya make it more like "Klak!"?
I see. Let me make the adjustments.
Found something.
What's this symbol?
Let me see.
Interesting.
Hack, I need you to go back in.
What for?
There's something I'd like to look up.
This is a list of people who have reported lost hardware.
That's a lot to go through.
Is this really going to get us anywhere?
Yeah, I mean, you're illegal in the first place, right? No way you'd get reported missing.
I'm i-i-illegal?! I-I had no idea!
But what is it about me that's illegal?
Why?
Is my very existence a crime?!
I bet the parts he's made from are legal.
Is my very existence a crime?! Oh, I get it!
Oh dear, I'm illegal.
There. Everyone who has a legit drone has been excluded.
Then, my owner who we saw using the Deco must be one of the people left?
Yeah! Let's go through it together.
Thank you so much, Miss Berry.
You really like to stick your nose into everyone's business, don't you?
Do I?
I didn't say it was a bad thing.
Hey, I haven't seen the Madam lately. What's she up to?
Guess she hasn't been in the mood to drop by.
Ah, he broke again.
Give it a rest already, you flying junk heap.
How rude. Also, you're wrong.
Membership Number
Look here.
Membership Number One of them is registered to a... Kearney?
This person is my owner.
Now to run a search on his last known location...
Kearney
Wait, that's...
"Sunflower"?
It's an old folks' home.
I guess that's where he was using you.
In a place like that?
I see.
I take it you recovered that data from the drone?
The programming's on the older side. I'm having trouble loading it.
Not exactly. The code is simpler and more elegant than you realize.
You getting in on the case?
I'm back!
Huh?
Where's Smiley?
She said she had business to attend to and you can "take it from here."
Well, guess I'll have to, then.
Come on, Doron. Let's go see this Kearney guy.
Right!
Sunflower
Um...
Sunflower What's wrong? You're finally gonna meet him.
If I'm illegal, perhaps I was meant to remain hidden?
Which makes me question if I should really just float on in there.
Don't worry about that.
Hank said you wouldn't be spec'd out the way you are if he didn't care about you.
So it'll be fine.
Okay, let's go meet your owner, Mr. Kearney.
Right. Please lead the way.
Excuse me. I'm with Fuzzy Deliveries. Is there a Mr. Kearney staying here?
What is the nature of your visit?
One of our drones made a delivery here the other day and there seems to have been a mix-up.
That's odd.
There's no one here by that name, including on the staff.
Maybe he used to be here, then?
He did not.
But I've got a record of this Deco being used here...
I'm sorry, but I need to verify your employee ID number.
Oh, uh...
Excuse me!
Huh? Where'd he go?
Hey, Doron!
Doron, wait up!
139573832...
What?
139573832...
I recognize this place!
What do you mean?
Excuse me.
Oh, sorry, I mistook you for someone else.
Hey, Berry.
Smiley?!
But what are you doing here?
This is Grandma's room.
"Grandma's"?
Grandma, you've got a guest.
Well, isn't this a rare treat!
Huh? Madam 44?!
Care for some melon?
Tastes Love-y!
I didn't expect a visit from you.
Madam.
You've met Doron before, haven't you?
Does that mean you know this Kearney guy?
Everything I saw reflected in his eyes...
taught me about the world I was still naïve about back then.
It was fate that we met.
He said it was his duty to create a world unlike anything anyone had seen before.
By his side, I could become a princess, a witch, a thief, or just about anything.
It was wonderful.
But during the revolution he instigated, he handed me his bag of tricks and vanished.
I borrowed this from Grandma.
My owner's information!
Warning: Non-registered individuals must vacate the premises.
Crap, they're onto me!
For now, we need to run!
But the information about my owner—
Commencing removal of intruder.
This way!
Wow! How'd you know where to go?
It's not a memory exactly, but I feel like I've been here before.
Wait!
No! Miss Berry!
Doron!
Grandma! Berry's in trouble!
You girls are such a handful.
I'm going to change!
Where'd this robot come from?!
Weren't you listening when I said I could become anything?
Madam!
So come on. Get over here.
This is super Love-y!
Hold on tight, my dear.
Damn, Grandma.
Okay, we should be far enough away now.
Time for you to head back to the office. And about Smiley and me...
Your secret's safe with me.
Life's more fun with a few mysteries in it, right?
But can I ask you something?
Well... Were you and Kearney in a relationship?
Was he the reason you joined the Detective Club? In order to find him?
You're such a little romantic.
Hm, who can really say?
I've forgotten my reasons.
No way.
Then, were you lying before?
Lies shouldn't be wasted carelessly, my dear.
There's no telling when you'll need an important one.
Do you know where Doron's owner, Kearney, is?
Doron wants to see him.
I do, too.
Then...
You really do like poking that cute little nose into everyone's business, don't you?
I don't think that's a bad thing.
That's probably why little Hacky...
What about Hack?
That child's heart used to be locked up tight and everyone was treated with suspicion.
But since meeting you, something's changed.
I think I understand why.
Um... Well...
Right, then.
There is one thing I can tell you.
You can have more than your fair share of sorrow all on your lonesome,
but to truly experience joy?
You need the help of others for that. That's why I joined you all.
Okay, I'm heading back now.
Oh, and tell that little cutie...
that I appreciated his visit.
I'll see you back at the agency.
See you later.
The moon is beautiful tonight.
Hank!
It's bad! Doron's hurt!
Man, he really took a whooping.
So how'd the hunt for his owner go?
Well, I found a few leads...
But we still don't know where Kearney is.
I'm going to connect his circuit board directly to the SOS.
Huh? But why?
We'll world up and get our hack on, nerdy-birdy!
Examining his restored data brought something interesting to light.
Wait, you two said you weren't interested...
Put a sock in it, nerdy-birdy.
Thank you, Finn! Hack!
And tera!
Where are we?
It's the Hyperverse.
We're going to reinitialize your programming from here.
But how?
Open sesame!
Here we go!
Now, let us begin.
My puzzle is a mystifying one...
But there is no puzzle that cannot be solved.
You needn't worry on that score.
That's Phantom Zero!
Phantom Zero is a magician from a fairy tale, capable of doing things no one else can.
What a zappy light show!
Begone, interlopers!
Be careful. He's a security block intended to erase the contact logs.
What's going on here? Is this a game?
Damn right it is, nerdy-birdy!
This "game" was created from the core of Zero Nation's systems.
Hack, you need to find out who this person is.
I. Love. Ai!
This way, you two!
How'd you know?
It's laid out like the garden at the old folks' home.
Correct.
Nice one, flying junk heap!
Where have they gone?
Dash...
Got yer mask!
Mr. Hackitt!
So it really was Hackitt.
Huh? Who's Hackitt?
Mr. Hackitt!
I am Phantom Zero.
Doron!
Grabbed everythin' we needed!
That's what you were after? Phantom Zero
Right. It's the key to learning about Hackitt.
And Hackitt is...
The world-building genius
and legendary architectural designer, Kearney.
When he worked as a Hyperverse game designer, he went by the name "Hackitt."
He was the one who said:
"When building a world, you need clinical objectivity to reinforce it where needed."
Wait, does that mean Hackitt is...
Right. I consider myself a student of his.
And he made the Phantom Zero game?
That's correct.
I remember everything now, thanks to your collective efforts.
I see. So he designed that old folks' home, too.
Which is why you knew how it was laid out, Doron.
And the greatest game he ever created was Phantom Zero Nation.
Huh. Pretty cool.
But that means this has nothing to do with the real Phantom Zero.
So if you remember everything now, where is Hackitt... I mean, Mr. Kearney?
He's not...
Sadly, he is.
But I was able to restore my most precious memories.
And he did not abandon me.
I see!
Yes.
Detective Club, you have my thanks.
Yeah, it looks like you're about done here.
Which means there's no Love to go around, is there?
Miss Smiley.
Miss Berry.
I have one last thing to ask of you.
Grandma?
Hey. Guess it was a wild goose chase, huh?
I wouldn't be so sure.
Right, Watson?
I examined the mask Hack stole in the Hyperverse.
The death of legendary designer, Kearney, AKA Hackitt, seems rather suspicious.
This is a Center surveillance record.
You think they got rid of him?
He knew something.
For real?
There's a chance that his drone coming to us was his way of delivering a dying message.
C'mon, man, you sound paranoid.
Finn?
The name "Hackitt" sounds like "hack it" for a reason.
Sure, but what's your point?
My point is... we're going to expose the truth.