Let’s go back in time. All this occurred before Saydaa spread the serum across the world. Let’s ponder the question:

How did Nemesis’s first interactions with technology and the Internet go?

Case: Elise

“Request: Commander Bob, this unit would like to access ‘the Internet’.”

Bob froze at the breakfast table, slowly putting down his mug. He looked up at Elise.

“What for?”

“Explanation: This unit has heard of a global network of computers containing a great deal of information and remote access to systems. It is only natural for this unit to infiltrate the network and leverage its resources.”

Bob heaved a sigh.

“Elise…the problem is…not everything on the Internet is accurate. Or helpful.”

“Observation: But much of it is, correct?”

Bob heaved another sigh. Letting the girl bonded with an AI into the internet seems…risky…in all sorts of ways.

But still, he knew this day would come. She was right that she had a great deal of untapped potential if she wasn’t connected to the Internet. It would certainly expand their capabilities.

He still didn’t like the thought of exposing her to the web.

“Fine…but you need to use a safe-search mode. We’ll need to discuss some rules…”

“Affirmative.”

Elise converted her finger into a plug and plugged straight into the modem. Her eye flashed as her network connected with the web, her AI rushing to explore. It wasn’t long before something caught her eye.

Combat simulations! Some of which had millions of participants!

She knew for a fact that running combat simulations on her own had diminishing returns. Ultimately, the results of those simulations needed to be exposed to external influences to determine their ultimate efficacy.

She knew now what she needed to do.

Bob’s mug paused once more as he tilted his head.

“You want to…play games?”

“Clarification: This unit wishes to test herself in ongoing combat simulations.”

“...I guess that’s how you’d see it.”

Bob rubbed his chin and hummed. Actually, maybe this was a good chance for Elise to interact with normal people…and maybe learn to have a little fun?

Hopefully.

Bob nodded.

“That’s no problem.”

“Expressing Gratitude: Thank you, Commander Bob. This unit will make the most of the opportunity to refine simulation efficacy.”

“...right.”

Elise stood in front of a personal desktop computer. She had considered connecting straight into the simulation…but it turns out that’s against the rules. She found that curious but accepted the logic when Commander Bob pointed out the majority of participants would be fully organic and incapable of direct interface. The combat simulation would be most useful if conducted with all participants on even footing, after all.

Elise booted up the simulation and joined the ongoing round. She looked down at the keyboard and mouse, calibrating how the simulation reacted to the different controls. This method of simulation control seemed…inefficient and unrepresentative of reality. Yet, millions of participants relied on this combat simulation, so there must be a reason for it.

Her screen flashed red as she was calibrating the controls. Her avatar dropped to the ground.

Something appeared on the screen.

“gg ez, noob!”

Another avatar appeared on the screen, repeatedly crouching over her avatar’s corpse.

Elise stared at the screen.

She didn’t know why.

She didn’t understand what was happening or the purpose of these actions.

But somehow…her organic components seemed to know the appropriate response.

She moved her hand over to the computer, transforming her finger into a port.

“Acquiring target…tracing through web…locating simulation terminal…target located. Activating termination protocol.”

Elise sat back at the computer after Commander Bob had ordered her to abort all termination protocols. She plugged back into the computer.

“Acquiring target…tracing through web…locating simulation terminal…accessing network provider…cutting access.”

The target simulation terminal dropped from her perception as it was cut off from the web. Elise unplugged from the computer and moved back to the keyboard and mouse.

“Resuming simulation calibrations.”

One week later.

Elise stared at the screen as her hands flew over the keyboard and mouse.

Her avatar traveled through the map in the most efficient patrol pattern she had calculated, updating its path based on what areas were free of hostiles.

Her avatar moved the exact pixels before jumping to land on a ledge most users didn’t seem to make use of, giving her an ideal view of the last remaining area.

The moment a single pixel changed on screen her reticle snapped to it and opened fire.

The screen changed, displaying ‘Victory!’ in large letters. Elise typed into the chat window.

“Customary Post-Simulation Greeting: gg ez noobs.”

Chronolock ripped her headset off and slammed the computer desk.

“That’s bull!”

Voidspeaker jumped to her side, sweat dripping down his brow.

But he knew better than to speak.

“Did you see that last shot?! I wasn’t even on the screen! He’s definitely hacking!”

“Y-Yeah, for sure, he must be hacking.”

“We’re reporting him.”

“R-Right…”

Just then, text appeared in the chat window. Chronolock’s eyes narrowed.

“We’re reporting him.”

Voidspeaker gulped.

He knew where this was going.

Looks like they would be grinding this game all night.

User: NSLICE-00P

Infractions over the past week:

-Reported 113 times for suspected aim-bot use: investigation cleared.

-Reported 86 times for suspected wall-hack use: investigation cleared.

-Reported 32 times for unsportsman-like behavior: investigation cleared. User issued warning. User blocked by 45 other users.

Case: Kiyosuke

Cikizwa walked down the hallway. She looked up and held back a gasp.

It was Kiyosuke, walking back from the cafeteria.

She finally found him outside of a mission.

“Mr. Amano.”

He walked past her.

“Mr. Amano, I have something to discuss with you.”

He sighed, then grunted and turned around.

“...what?”

A vein bulged on Cikizwa’s forehead.

But she was a professional handler. One moody teen wouldn’t get to her.

“I don’t see you very often.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Yes, actually. I need to be able to contact you in an emergency.”

Kiyosuke just crossed his arms and scoffed. Cikizwa took a deep breath. But she reached into her pocket, pulling out a thin, rectangular device.

“Here, I’ve been meaning to give this to you.”

She tossed it at the boy, who caught it with ease.

“That’s a smartphone. It’s got my number in it already, so pick up if I call you.”

Kiyosuke just stared at the device in his hands. Cikizwa raised an eyebrow.

“You know how to use that?”

Kiyosuke scoffed again.

“Obviously.”

With that, he flickered away before Cikizwa could respond. She heaved a dramatic sigh. But ah well, now she didn’t have to care if she couldn’t find the brat in the facility. She could just give him a call…

She tilted her head.

How did the broke ninja boy know how to use a smartphone anyways?

In his room, Kiyosuke stared at the device.

Well, he had no idea how to use it.

But he would figure it out.

All on his own.

This too, would become his power.

A step towards his revenge.

He stretched a hand towards the device, looking over it.

He groaned, he couldn’t see any sort of seals on it.

Maybe the seals were internal?

He channeled his chakra through the device.

No response.

He narrowed his eyes and channeled more.

No response.

He grit his teeth.

How?

How was it not enough?

How was he this weak?

How did he lack the power to use a simple communication tool?

Kiyosuke channeled as much chakra as he could into the device.

Completely forgetting the fact that Cikizwa can’t even use chakra…

The device began to heat up. Kiyosuke smirked. See, he would find a way, all on his…

The smartphone exploded in his hand.

Three visits to the infirmary later, Cikizwa concluded that the phones were not in fact, defective, and that Kiyosuke was simply lying about knowing how to use them.

Bob had an extremely annoying tech class with Kiyosuke shortly after that.

Case: Nana

It was a normal day, just like any other. Cikizwa was walking down the hallway, eyes glued to the report displayed on her tablet. She sighed.

Being the handler of a mercenary team…was a lot of paperwork. Like, a lot a lot. Even more than the normal military. Turns out there are a lot of tracks to cover to keep things in the legal grayzone.

And she still needed to print those other reports. Needed a hard copy. Cikizwa sighed. She had forgotten about those earlier, and now the printer was very, very far away.

She looked up. Nana was just returning from the firing range.

Cikizwa smiled.

Right!

The ninjas! The very fast moving ninjas! The nice one even!

“Hi Miss Ueno, how are you doing?”

The girl jumped a bit at being addressed.

“Oh! H-Hi, Ms. Mzolisa. C-Can I do anything for you?”

Cikizwa stopped herself from grinning.

“Yes, in fact, I could use a favor if you don’t mind.”

“I-I don’t mind! How can I help?”

“I need a report printed out please.”

“O-Ok, um, printed?…a-also, um, w-where is the report?”

“Oh, I stored it on the cloud, should be easy to find.”

“U-Um…the cloud?”

Just then Cikizwa’s phone rang.

“Ah crap, sorry I need to take this. Thanks Miss Ueno!”

Cikizwa ran off as Nana fidgeted about.

“U-Um…w-what did she mean by a cloud?”

Nana stood on top of the roof, staring up at the sky. She frowned.

Barely a cloud in sight.

She glanced around until finally, she found something.

A small cloud.

Hanging around the peak of a mountain in the distance.

Nana nodded to herself. Now it made sense why Miss Mzolisa had asked her to retrieve it. This wasn’t just a favor. This was a test! A solo mission!

And Nana would complete it, whatever it took!

The girl leapt from the roof and took off running…

A long time later, a winded and sweaty Nana arrived at the peak of the mountain. The cloud was just a short distance away.

Now…how to access it?

Nana searched the cloud. She jumped at it, releasing her chakra as she passed through.

Nothing but mist.

Nana frowned. There had to be some sort of seal, some chakra weaved containing the report Ms. Mzolisa wants.

She wouldn’t rest until she found it.

A long time later and a girl stood on a mountain, shooting guns wildly at any cloud she saw.

“WHY?! WON’T?! YOU?! OPEN?!”

A few days later, Nana stumbled into the Nemesis HQ, covered in dirt and ash. Her stomach growled, and she had dark bags around her eyes.

Cikizwa happened to pass by and her eyes widened.

“Nana?! Where have you been?! We’ve been searching all over for you!”

Nana grimaced, biting her lip.

“The cloud…”

“Huh?”

The girl burst into tears.

“The cloud! I failed your mission! I couldn’t find the cloud you wanted, Ms. Mzolisa! I searched every cloud I could reach, tried every method I could think of to unseal it! But they were all just normal clouds! I couldn’t find the cloud the reports are stored in!”

Cikizwa just stared at the girl.

Clouds?

What is she talking about…

Cikizwa froze.

She remembered…the favor she had asked of the girl.

And now…she remembered…the girl is from a poor rural village with almost no contact with the outside world in centuries.

And all she told her…was the report was in the cloud.

Cikizwa trembled slightly as she watched the poor girl sob.

Being the consummate professional and experienced handler she was, Cikizwa knew there was only one thing to do.

Pass it on to Bob!

Bob heaved a sigh.

Elise randomly cutting people off from their ISPs.

Kiyosuke converting very expensive phones into improvised explosives.

A great deal of comforting before Nana could even look at a printer without crying. She still trembled whenever someone opened a cloud storage site in front of her.

Oh…and don’t forget the sheer number of websites Saydaa had gotten banned from for incessant trolling…

How is it that not one of his team knew how to interact well with technology?!

Just then Arvid walked into the room. Bob trembled slightly as he slowly opened his mouth.

“Arvid…do you…do you know how to use a computer? The internet?”

Arvid tilted his head.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I? Such things are common sense these days, are they not?”

Bob nearly collapsed.

“Oh thank goodness.”