"Digimon were, are," The director of operations of Hypnos corrected himself, "digital life forms that evolved on the digital networks of our world, . Originally created by a team of college programmers, Digimon started out being nothing more that artificial intelligence programs. However the Monster Makers funding was cut and the program was shut down. All their work was supposed to be scrubbed from every computer. However one of the programmers wouldn't let it die. So just as they were forced to pull the plug he set them free. Shubumi created a subprogram that would allow a Digimon to evolve beyond their original programming. They could rewrite their own programming to live in any computer."
"Click"
His superiors had seen it fit to recruit a new hand for day to day operations. Their choice had been a fairly young whiz-kid named Taki Asaji. He had had several jobs with many different sections of several different governments. His record appeared clean, minus a few authority disputes. He had high recommendations from all of his former employers. The usual complaint was that he worked too hard, something that at Hypnos was never a problem. The rest of his history was pretty blank. The boy had been part of several different secret operations put on by which ever government he worked for. The boy had a sense of humor which would probably not serve him well here. Thankfully the boy had managed to stay quiet, only asking for coffee every half hour or so of the extensive briefing.
Yamaki continue, "However Digimon wormed their way into everything, including the crackpot programs of a few people trying to create virtual worlds. The digital created by the first Digimon using the internet as a matrix for these insane programs. New species that could build upon the matrix of the web evolved alongside another type of new digital entities, the digignomes. Because of the new sub-matrix and the rapidly expanding internet Digimon could sustain themselves without a host computer. As the internet has grown so too has that original sub-matrix, now named the Digital Plane."
"Click"
"From that Digital Plane evolved several more complex layers that the Digimon inhabited. Eventually the Digimon abandoned the Digital Plane almost entirely. Mr. Asaji the digital world itself is part of the Digimon." Yamaki finished and turned to face the newest employee of Hypnos. Already hardened by other government programming jobs he had lost the shimmer and shine. Messy brown hair and rumpled cloths spoke louder than his resume concerning his work ethic. Hopefully he would survive Hypnos as well. The organization often ran programmers out of their minds. Asaji looked promising, as long as he didn't get in Yamaki's way.
"Click"
"Great, so eventually these Digimon find a way through and along with them comes the Monster Makers fail safe who apparently has some vendetta against humanity." The kid had at least managed to stay awake through the briefings. This was probably attributed more to the several gallons of coffee he had consumed rather that his personal diligence. Yamaki nodded and glanced out the window of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Tower. Tokyo still lay mostly in shambles outside. The world was still rebuilding itself from the near doomsday.
"Click"
"Correct, to a point. The D-reaper was meant to force stop evolution in the creatures beyond a curtain point. However in the real world anything that couldn't adapt fast enough to respond to its threats was ingested. First inanimate objects, eventually plants and animals, and if we had stepped in to it, humans too would have been absorbed. I am still standing here and talking to you so, you probably are guessing that we found a way to beat it."
"Click"
"You mean those kids found a way to beat it," Taki said. Yamaki scowled, he hated being interrupted, but even more he hated a smart mouth. Perhaps he had been wrong, Yamaki though, this kid might not make it through the week.
"Click"
Yamaki pretended to ignore to comment and began to recap Hypnos's more resent exploits, "After the defeat of the D-reaper Hypnos has been building up defenses to keep the Digimon were they belong. The Digital Wall has been primarily successful, and all breaches have been dealt with. You should consider yourself lucky for getting in here; you're the first new programmer Hypnos has hired since the incident. Your job will be to monitor the collection of Firewalls that keep us separated from the Digital World and anything else I can think of. Understand?"
"Click"
"Yes sir." And with that Yamaki dismissed the boy. Turning back to the window he saw Tokyo. The people out there had been through a lot. Ravaged by giant digital creatures from another world, nearly demolished by a giant pig, and worst of all, deleted by a giant red blob. The least he could do was keep his them from having to suffer through something like this.
Yamaki turned and left the conference room. His lone footsteps echoed off the empty halls. The world hadn't changed much, or at least on in the ways the director of Hypnos had expected. There was no push to study or eliminate the Digimon, politicians were squabbling over how control of the Digital World should be doled out. There were no entrepreneurs trying to screw up the system and offer vacations to the digital world. There was only a trickle of funding running in for anti-Digimon weapons. The world, it seemed, would like nothing more than to forget the D-reaper had ever come up out of the earth.
"Click"
Of course there were things that were to be expected, crackpots trying to write books about Digimon, huge numbers of people trying to cope with PTSD, and the wakos who thought that if they just stop using computers the Digimon would never come back. The communications of the world were still in shambles, residual radiation from the quantum bubble messing with radio and television frequencies. Hundreds of damaged satellites still hung in space. Though the world pretended it was too busy fixing itself to admit it, they lived in constant fear and curiosity of the digital world.
"Click"
Well the Digimon would never come back, but not because a bunch of people in the USA had burned their computers. Not because psychiatry was the most profitable occupation. Not because of the politicians promises. No, the reason no Digimon would never set foot on earth again was because of him, Hypnos, and the Digital Wall.
"Click"
Yamaki felt a twinge of sadness at the thought of Digimon never returning. The kid's Digimon were locked in with all the others. He hadn't gotten close to the Digimon, but he had met them, even been forced to spend several weeks in a temporary base of operations with them. He had studied them, observed them, and he had tried to figure them out. Yet somehow out of all that study the thing that came across most was the love they had for those kids. Even to the point of giving themselves up for their human partners.
"Click"
But it was a necessary sacrifice. They could have waited for a couple days to figure out a solution that would save the children's Digimon, but if they had done that, whatever it was that had come through during the battle would have joined with the D-reaper. No one knew, or cared to guess what would have happened if that had happened.
"Click"
Now a year later, no Digimon had set foot on Japan. Due to the slow paced scrabbling amongst politicians Digimon had appeared elsewhere around the globe, but Japan, once the digital hotspot of the world was clean. It was Hypnos that had led the rest of the world in the year after the D-reaper. It was Hypnos that had begun the lock down of Digimon in the year 1 ADR. Militaries around the world had used this event to start their own calendar, ADR, After D-Reaper. Yamaki smiled at the name the media had given it, New Common Era.
"Click"
He was leading the world in a new era. The world had yet to recover from the massive, world swallowing red blob, communication networks were only at a fraction of what they had been just over a year ago, the environment had been altered by the quantum bubble, some people were still hiding under their bed in fear of the Digimon. Yet they were entering a New Common Era, one where what little that had gleaned from Digimon was being processed and used. Hopefully they could avoid any disastrous mistakes this time around.
"Click"
"Hiss"
The door open, admitting Yamaki into the dark monitoring room of Hypnos. Climbing the stairs Yamaki emerged into the giant domed room, Riley and Tally sat in their chairs held above the floor. They were tapping away at the near incomprehensible keyboards. The techno-babble had of the years had now subsided into gossip and small talk, the automated systems running most of it. Small talk and gossip could often be heard from them, summaries of what little personal life they could afford. It was in this room that Yamaki felt most comfortable, here where he could see what was coming and do everything to stop it. He had seen this place flash so many times in his dreams. The dome was the closest thing Yamaki could really call home.
"Click"
"Hiss"
"Click"
The door had opened down below. A Janyu walked up the stairs and stood next to Yamaki. As unofficial head of the monster makers he and Yamaki had clashed several times, but things had smoothed out after a time. Janyu was kind and hopeful, his son was one of the children fate had chosen. A blip on the dome appeared and Tally announced its presence, "Wild-one, sir"
"Send it back"
The operator's fingers began to pick up the pace. Tally mumbled what she was doing to herself, while Riley worked in complete silence. These two people were in perfect sink and the only ones aside from Yamaki himself that understood the Hypnos Systems. The million dollar programs ran around their mind almost subconsciously as they returned the Digimon back to its plane of existence. From his vantage point Yamaki could see the new boy already hard at world, doing something; studying the programs, building new ones, it didn't matter as long as the Digital Wall remained intact this world would be safe.
"Click"
From above one of the operators announced the successful rejection of the Wild One, one of the new features Hypnos boasted. Sanity would last for another day. They wouldn't have to fall back on last ditch efforts or minute by minute fixes so the world would continue to operate. The world would operate unaware of Hypnos and its efforts. Exactly the way it should be.
"Click"
Digimon were gone for good.
"Click"
They would never return.
"Click"
"I promise," Those words rang in Yamani's ears. Every time he thought about the future of his world he heard them echoing through time. Why did they haunt him? Why had they been said with so much feeling? Why were those words, spoken by a 13 year old to his goofy little dinosaur, so… True? Yet they did haunt him, they had been said. The scariest thing of all was that even against all odds they could. The digital world was one part data, one part dreams. It housed creatures that could grant wishes. The Digimon were made of data and dreams, a wish your heart makes. Yakami stamped these thoughts out of his mind.
Digimon would never return, he would make sure of it. If he could get the Tamer's Digimon back, fine. But never again would his world be threatened by the likes of Digimon, or D-reaper, or whatever sick and twisted thing that fate could come up with. He would do anything to keep his world from turning to ash. Yamaki had vowed long ago to save this world from the Digimon, save His world.
"Click"
"I promise"
"Click"
Yamaki sighed in defeat as the paranoia won, "Asaji, I've got a job for you."
"Ready, boss."
"Start working on a way to reinforce the Digital Wall."
"On it." The kid didn't even mentioned that he knew nothing about the Hypnos system, the Digital Wall, or the science of Bioemerging. Well, at least Yamaki had every asset he could think of to keep the Digimon in their own world.
"Click"
"Sir, nothing's even made it to the wall yet, the rejection program is working perfectly."
"Riley, if I've learned one thing about these Digimon: expect everything."
"Click"
Yamaki would not let this would fall apart again, even if it meant separating the tamers. He had assured himself this time after time. Yet something kept telling him that he wouldn't have a choice in them matter. That didn't stop him from making every effort to make sure that he had a say, anyway. The fated nature of it didn't stop him from trying. He would personally sift through every one and zero of the internet if it meant he could keep his world safe.
"Click"
The Tamers had had their adventure, they had had their therapy. Heck they even had their PTSD to prove it all. They had their 15 minutes of fame, many times over. They had fought giant digital beasts from another dimension, they had the road trip of a life time, they had more adventure then a thousand little kids could dream of, why did they want more? Couldn't they just leave it?
"Click"
Why did he want more? Why was he constantly trying to avoid it? Why did he put up layer and layer of separation and defense, both digital and social from him and either world? Some had expected him to come out a little bit more after the world had been saved; instead he had secluded himself even more. Yet it made no difference, it seemed. The head of Hypnos clenched his fist around the nondescript lighter. The small metallic remnant of his past shuddered and quivered. No that was his arm, no his whole body.
"Click Click"
"Want to talk about it?" Yamaki turned to stare at Janyu. The monster makers looked serious but friendly. Someone who genuinely wanted to know what the cloistered man was thinking. Yamaki shook his head, as the father of one of the Tamers Janyu probably wasn't the best person to tell this. There really wasn't anyone that he could tell these delusions of doom to.
Janyu looked off into the distance, or maybe he was looking at some data on the domed screens, "It's not your fault, Yamaki."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Henry's forgiven me… and you."
"I don't know if I disserve forgiveness." Yamaki hadn't meant to say that, he hadn't even been thinking of it, but know that he had said it he realized it was true. But still not what he was thinking.
"We'll get them back some day."
"Maybe, if our involvement matters anyway." Janyu nodded like he understood. Yamaki knew that he couldn't understand the dark heavy feeling in his stomach that nothing that they did was going to make any difference. It was just a matter of time until everything broke down. Yamaki hated waiting.
"That maybe, I guess we'll see," Janyu chuckled. How could had laugh at something like that? How could he brush something off that could mean the destruction of everything he loved? Was he really that naive to think that everything would find a way to sort itself out? Last time it had been close, too close. Next time they might not have those few hours, minutes, seconds, whatever they needed to keep humanity from being whipped out.
"Click Click Click"
Janyu glanced over at Yamaki the lighter lid moving like mad, it was obvious he wasn't going to talk about whatever it was that was on his mind. Tao waited for a second, hoping maybe whatever it was that was bugging Yamaki would get to him. Yamaki remained his cool, minus the rapid clicking of his long empty lighter. Janyu looked up at the operators as they worked away at whatever it was they did all of the time. He had meant to ask them that but had never had the chance.
From above Riley glanced away from the figures at the sandy headed man, concern in her eyes. He had gotten worse and worse every day. The lighter might not take much more of this. She guessed it might be some PTSD that was finally manifesting itself. While everyone else in Hypnos was being treated Yamaki had been working on the digital wall. The test showed that everyone practically in Hypnos, or who had any involvement with Digimon was suffering from some degree of trauma. Their stubborn leader just refused to allow himself to admit that he had been effected by the D-reaper, he had taken the weight of the world onto his shoulders.
She sighed and turned back to what she had done before the Digimon had started to pop up, reading the internet for any kind of terrorist code word or threat or… it was really incredibly boring work. Yet this is what she had been hired to do in the first place, in truth she missed the excitement the Digimon had brought with them.
Takato lay staring up in to the vast darkness above him. His hand lay at his side clasping a pencil. The pencil scratched against a small pad of paper. Lines and abstract figures worked their way on to the paper as the pencil moved across it. Takato glanced down at the pad just to make sure that the drawing wasn't just a random collection of lines. Instead on the pad was a wing, a wing attached to nothing yet, but still a beautiful wing.
Stopping the pencil Takato tried again to close his eyes. Giant red sickles raced toward his friends. The whole world was filled with this terrible high pitched scream, echoed by an omnipresent low rumble. The D-reaper was going to kill them. The boy flicked open his eyes and again he was in his room laying on his bed staring up into the darkness. These visions of the battles flashed before him every time he closed his eyes. It was like a continuous movie was playing these horrible memories over and over and over. It was PTSD, or at least that's what the doctors had called it. To him it was just this continuous waking nightmare.
The flashbacks couldn't compare to the dreams that gripped the tamers when they fell asleep. Cold terrible dreams of their battles or of things that didn't happen but almost did. The worst dreams were the ones where he was floating in a dark red chasm and he couldn't breathe, ther world crushing him. Failure. That's what the worst dreams were of. What would have happened if they had spent another hour, minuet, second in the D-reaper were summoned up in their sleep. What if Vikaralamon wasn't defeated? What if, What if, What it? Those were the worst.
The wing had turned oddly sinister. The fluffy curves were covered by harsh jagged edges and the feathers had begun to look more like heavy scales.
Takato blinked and in that fraction of a second he saw a face that haunted the other nightmares, the ones that weren't about the D-reaper. Megidramon. Around the dark room papers were scattered everywhere. Some of Takato's drawings were tapped onto the walls, some only held up by a few measly tabs of tape. Some were piled in heaps; a few of these small mountains had given way and slid onto the now mostly invisible floor. The drawings raged in size and subject from small doodles to massive sheets of paper covered with people, animals, and Digimon.
The drawings had first started to pile up in mass a few weeks after he had returned to the bakery. The doctors had suggested that he find something to express himself. Apparently keeping everything bottled up behind a smile wasn't very healthy. The drawings that had spilled out of his pencils had ranged from terrible monsters to beautiful angles. 'Speaking of pencils I should probably get some more' Takato thought as he looked at the rapidly shortening pencil. He loved to draw, each picture seemed like it came a live underneath his carful guidance. He would love little more than to draw for the rest of his life.
A lot had happened in the past year, well not a lot compared to the adventures of the previous year, but still a lot. Tokyo had nearly been wiped off the face of the earth. Shinjuku had the worst of it. Almost the entire city had been deleted or pulled into the digital world when the D-reaper had been sucked back in. The noise and jumble of a thousand people going to their office buildings had been replaced by the tedium of construction work. The constant hammering and pounding and scrapping filled the streets as new high rises grew taller and taller. The oddest thing of them all was that though Tocho was practically the center of the quantum bubble, they remained mostly intact. They had been molded and shaped by the D-reaper and left behind when it was defeated as a monument to what had almost happened.
The first thing their parents had decided was they needed therapy, all of them. Hypnos paid for it all so for six months every Tuesday and Thursday Takato had walked into the tent office of Doctor Hida. Tuesday's for a long chat with the man, Thursday's for a meeting of the Tamers. Therapy hadn't been all bad, he begun to draw thanks to them, but Therapy hadn't been all good either. Jeri was left scared by the D-reaper; sometimes it, or Leomon, was mentioned she'd lose it. He loved her, but it was just so hard to see her go through all that pain. She got to the point where she would have full blown seizures when even mildly sensitive topics were bought up. She had begun to show signs of improvement lately. That news had made Takato so happy, Jeri was definitely having a hard time of it. Some of the doctors thought that maybe the D-reaper had left some kind of brain damage on Jeri so they ran test.
It had, whole parts of her brain had just gone missing. It was terrible, what wasn't gone was severity damaged. Yet somehow she was mostly a normal girl in the world. With that discovery all the Tamers had been subject to every kind of medical test imaginable. They were freaks, all of them. The four that had fought inside the D-reapers were the worst, aside from Jeri. Somehow becoming data had messed them up. They weren't even sure if they could be classified as human anymore. Huge sections of DNA were just missing, yet whatever function they coded for still worked. No one knew why they were missing parts, but at least were still alive. A few of the Hypnos sciences had said they looked more like Digimon on the inside than human.
After the shock of being so messed up on the inside their entire humanity was being called into question life had settled down. Schools had started up again, people began returning in mass. Heck within a month the trains had been working again. Japan was nothing if not efficient. So life continued on almost as it did before the whole crazy adventure. School, therapy, Digimon cards, bakery, PTSD, friends, nightmares, rebuilding their lives hadn't been easy but eventually they had reached something that could be called normality.
Some people had taken it harder than others, Rika seemed more open than when he had met her. Sure life wasn't all doom and gloom there were some quirky developments too: the bakery had started a whole new line of Digimon Commemorative Breads. The Tamers were being pelted with interview request from every source imaginable. Basically they were everywhere had every opportunity to be everywhere else too. Hypnos had helped with keeping the wakjobs away. Most of the people that sent letters requesting interviews received a letter from the government organization that said, "Though the Tamers remain a privet entity, their affiliation with matters best kept out of public eye means the government will not allow interviews at this time". So eventually the letters died down and they were left alone.
Sleep began to consume Takato at last. The pencil slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor. Soon Takato was asleep, the nightmares were held at bay for a while so his sleep was calm and quiet. From within one of draws of his desk shown a light, a dim white shine seeping around the edges. It was noticed by no one in the darkened room. As the night grew late the glow dimed and eventually went out. In his sleep Takato felt the evil dreams abate and new dreams claimed him, new dreams of adventure and happiness.