Chapter 2: Real Science Fiction

Itsuki was the first to wake up and get her bearings. She let go of Makoto's hands and tried to remember what happened. As she gazed into the new, unfamiliar surroundings, she thought back.

"Mako-chan!"

'That's right,' she thought. 'I fell into a hole or something, then...'

"Hold on, It-chan! I gotcha!"

'He came to save me, but...'

"Aaaaah!" The both of them screamed as they fell through. Ther was so much bright light around them that they had to keep their eyes closed. They clung tightly to one another, not aware of what they were doing.

"It-chan," Makoto whispered into her ear. "Please forgive me. I didn't mean to-" but he was cut short. The two of them hit the ground and slipped into unconsciousness.

'Man, we must've been out for a while. It looks like noon time here.' She did a body check to see if anything was broken. She had a couple of bruises, but nothing too serious. She did notice that her school bag was gone as well as Makoto's.

'We couldn't have been robbed, could we?'

Something else was strange. A pair of goggles with red lenses was hanging from her neck. She was about to put them on her face when Makoto began to stir.

"Ow, that hurt," he groaned. He took a look around and felt lost. "Where am I?"

Itsuki turned to look at him and grinned. "I think we're in the Digital World, but I wouldn't know because I've never been here."

"Oh."

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Makoto suddenly remembered about the fall and the unexpectedly rough landing. Luckily he survived and made it out with minimal damage. He got up from the ground and dusted off his clothes. He walked over to where Itsuki was sitting and offered his hand to her. "You're okay, too, right?" he asked.

"Yeah." She took his hand, and he helped her up.

"So...does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"I can never stay mad at you, Mako-chan," she sighed. "But you sure do piss me off sometimes." She playfully hit him on the shoulder and smiled.

Although he was virtually unaccustomed to it, he (awkwardly) smiled back. Then he noticed the goggled that were around her neck. "Where'd you get those?" He pointed to her neck.

Remembering them, her hand quickly went to the goggles. "I have no idea. Maybe it's someone's idea of a sick joke, like they gave to me in exchange for our school bags."

Not having checked for his belongings, Makoto looked around to see that his and Itsuki's stuff was gone.

"What?! Oh, no! That overdue library book Mom told me to return! Ack! She'll kill me!" He checked his pockets frantically to see if he still had his money and bus pass with him. I hoped he'd be able to find a bus line to take home.

He felt a new weight in his left knee pocket. He pulled out what seemed like a small hand-held computer game. The screen was off.

"What kind of cheap joke IS this?!"

"Maybe it was those thieves' way of saying thanks."

"What kind of lame thieves say thanks?!"

"Quit the hysterics. We need to figure out a way outta here...CALMLY." Itsuki closed her eyes and rubbed her chin. It seemed as though she was in a state of deep thought and concentration.

"Hey," Makoto injected. "What was that hole we fell into? Maybe it's got something to do with that."

Itsuki opened her eyes wide. "That's gotta be it!" she exclaimed. "We must've fallen through a digi-tear!"

"What the heck's a digi-tear?!"

"Daddy and the DMRT are trying to connect the Digital World with the Human World, right? Well, part of that was finding a way to make a bridge between the two without dangerous side effects to either world. A digi-tear is what Daddy calls one of those side effects. They occur when the space fabric is disturbed so much that it can't heal itself. The DMRT must've been testing a new method, and they didn't seal the latest tear in time."

Makoto slowly absorbed what she was saying. Afterall it all seemed like sci-fi gobbledy-gook to him, and much of it was way out of his understanding. after carefully trying to piece together what it all meant, he asked, "Then why the heck did the tear take place in the park and not in their scientific testing lab or whatever?!" It must be pointed out that Matsuda-kun is without much tact.

"Digi-tears are random, but detection sites have been set up all over the world, kinda like seismic monitors that can sense earthquakes. Their job is to isolate the tear and fix it. We probably fell in just as they were on their way to seal it. Before you came, the tear had just opened up under my foot."

"Don't they have any procedures if people _do_ get caught?

"...Wait, there are scientists in the Digital World that are trying to open a way to the other side, too. Maybe they can help!"

"Great, so how're we gonna find these scientists?"

"I...I don't know," she admitted. "But it's that or we wait until we can find a tear that leads home, and even that's not a guaranteed way out.

Makoto stared off into the horizon. They were at the edge of a thick forest, and a vast, grassy plain lay before them. The sun was up high in the sky. If the needed to wander through the Digital World, searching for something that'd be almost impossible to find, then now would be a good time to start.

"Itsuki, where do we even begin?" There was a slight tremor in his voice. "I don't even know where we're going." He tightly gripped the little computer device that was still in his hand.

*beep, beep*

Itsuki glanced at the object in his hand, and she saw a blinking light on the screen. "Makoto! The computer thingy! I think you turned it on!" She was excited. She took it from his hands to study it.

"So? What good will that thing do us? It's probably just some toy," Makoto said a bit annoyed.

"Well, it's gotta be good for something! What's that blinking thing?" She began pressing buttons.

*beep, beep*

"Wel-Come to D-Arc v. 3.0," said the computer's robotic voice. "D-World Position-ing System activated."

"A map?" Itsuki nervously inquired. "C'mon, this is your...thing. You take it." She threw it back into his hands, and he fumbled trying to catch it. Once he got a grip on it, he looked at the screen.

He pressed a couple buttons randomly. The screen was indeed showing a map of the surrounding area for he saw the corresponding forest and plain areas. He figured out how to scroll through the system in order to display what appeared to be a symbol for a town.

"Hey, there's a town or something not too far from here. It's at the foot of a mountain, but I'm not sure how far away it is." Makoto lifted his head to look at Itsuki, and noticed that there seemed to be a blink light on her goggles. "Itsuki," he hissed. "Your goggles!"

She looked down. The goggles were emitting a curious light. She tentatively put them over her eyes only to be thrown into a new virtual world of neon-lit grids and numbers. It seemed that she was floating in what was infinitely vast amounts of space. "Wha-what is this?!" she whimpered.

Makoto watched her knees buckle. He caught her before she collapsed on herself. "Itsuki! What is it? What's wrong?!" he exclaimed. He held her by the arm to keep her standing.

"Wait...the goggles, they're...a computer system."

In goggle world she was flown up to a screen that said, "Goggle-Vision Navigation activated."

"Wow," she gasped in astonishment. "It's beautiful."

Makoto looked into the lenses and saw Itsuki's eyes scan through the glowing grids. He apprehensively watched her until she broke away from him, stood up straight, and took off the goggles.

"Well...?" he asked.

"According to Goggle-Vision, it's a three day walk." She pointed over the plains. "In that direction."

"How can goggles do all that?" he said in disbelief.

"I don't know, but it's fantastic. I just gazed into the general direction of the town, and the goggles flew me over while measuring the distance. It was like sight-seeing in three seconds flat. There was a river, and a-"

"Yeah, yeah," Makoto interrupted. "I get the picture. Now c'mon. We're burning daylight here. Let's go already!" He broke out into a determined sprint to lead the way.

"Not one for patience, are ya, Mako-chan."

"Nope, now get your butt in gear!"

"I guess it's go time." Itsuki shrugged and dashed right behind him. The two raced toward their destination, however they were being tracked down by someone that they'd eventually be well acquainted with.

Meanwhile in the Human World a team of 27 men and women in anti-contamination suit combed through a wooded area in the park. Two backpacks were found. Both of them contained Tachi-Yama-Cho Elementary School ID's.

"It's confirmed. Call Lee," ordered one of the officers. She took off her head gear and grabbed a cell phone from one of her gossiping subordinates. "What's the matter with you? Can't you see this is an emergency?!"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Yamaki," the officer bowed to her young boss.

Yamaki quickly dialed the number and put the phone to her ear.

"Yes? Lee, sir. The latest rip has been sealed before we got here. However, your daughter..."

To be developed...

Author's Note: I've done a few concept drawings. I hope to put them on a site so that you guys can see what everyone and everything looks like.