Unmei Force: Encoded Memory (Arc 2.5)
Chapter 9: Raremon and Sanae
In the internet cafe, Hudie...
Keisuke went back onto his internet booth, as only Reimu and Antonio were with him, as Richard and Gus occupied the booth that was opposite to it.
"Hey, Keisuke." Richard said, as he pulled out his new EDEN visor, and did some start-up configurations, as he created his own EDEN account with little ease, as it was nothing different to setting up a user account from any website, except for some extra categories and questions to fill up. "You can hear me through this, right?"
"Yeah, I can." Keisuke replied back, as he plugged the Hudie USB in, as he entered the Hudie hacker site, to check on the Bulletin Board for some new requests. "If you have me registered on your friend's list, we'll be able to communicate to each other privately in EDEN. There's nothing much to worry about."
"So I see..." Richard said, as he also plugged in another Hudie USB into the desktop's system unit, as he accessed the same Hudie hacker site, with the same credentials and rights as Keisuke himself. "Whoa... Not bad. That means that we can split up the team into two groups. I'll lead one, you lead the other. It'll be good for taking care of multiple requests at the same time."
"Yeah, but are you sure you're fine with having your friends being with me without you?" Keisuke asked. "They seem to be quite attached to you."
"Nah, even without us, they can handle themselves." Richard smirked. "Remember how Reimu and Antonio busted Airdramon out of his cage? That's proof there.
"Fair enough." Keisuke said, as he pulled out a request. "I've got a request sent by a Kamishiro sub-contractor on the Bulletin Board. They were talking about illegal trash dumps in EDEN, which are fouling up the nearby atmosphere in the servers. The task is to find the source of the trash stuff and get rid of it before it causes bigger problems."
"Hah. It looks like you're picking a easier job." Richard replied back. "Alright, while you do that, I found a request from some girl, that revolves around a occult rumour about a elevator that makes girls disappear in it. She thinks her sister is responsible for it. Gus and I will go alone, since we have the more powerful Digimon, considering we have one Ultimate and one Champion."
"But wasn't Kuro trashed by the Eater before?" Keisuke asked back. "Are you sure it's a good idea to field him? I can lend you one of the Digimon that I have been raising in the DigiLab as a fair replacement, if you like."
"Nah, he's clean as a whistle after I fed him some HP Capsules, and some ailment Recovery Discs." Richard answered back, as he continued to read the request. "It seems that we'll have to go and try the myth out for ourselves. Chances it might be a Digital Shift, so I'll try to find some way to holler. Maybe the private communication channel between Digivices? It does have a function for that, which Mirei pointed out for me so kindly."
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea." Keisuke said, as he slipped his EDEN visor on. "See you there."
Reimu and Antonio disappeared, as Keisuke became silent, as Richard took a look at the request he was assigned with.
"Huh. This request requires a face-to-face meeting with the client, in the K-Cafe." Richard said, as he then logged out of the website, as he prepared to leave. "Say, should we get some Hudie coats, Gus? It's going to be hard to recognise a Hudie Hacker correctly without their trademark jacket."
"...I would say yes, but I'm not sure how to get one here..." Gus answered back.
"Fair enough." Richard said, as he left the internet cafe.
In the EDEN Community area...
When Keisuke, Reimu and Antonio teleported into the public area, they looked around, as they took a few sniffs of the air, as they smelt nothing majorly smelly or strange.
"There's no stench now, but maybe someone has smelled it somewhere. I'll ask around." Keisuke said. "Sorry. Reimu and Antonio, would you mind...?"
"No problem. Pals gotta help pals!" Antonio smiled, as he gave him a flashy grin and a thumbs up.
As Keisuke went around, while the duo asked around for any strange smells, only to find that most of the people here didn't even know about the problem, until they found someone who knew, which was a businessman looking at the bulletin board in front of him.
"A garbage smell in EDEN? Oh, it might have been just my imagination, but now that you mention it, I smelt something before." The businessman told them. "But it was only for a moment, and I can't remember exactly where it was."
They thanked the businessman, as they found a boy who was sick of the lingering stench, as he didn't even say anything, as he just sent them the URL to the suspicious space without a moment of hesitation.
As they returned to Keisuke, who was inspecting the residues of garbage data that he found around the area, which surprisingly had no strange smell.
"We managed to get a URL from someone, which could lead us to the source of that stench." Reimu told Keisuke. "Although I might loathe going in there if it's as bad as the clients say it is, but I can handle it, if it's for some more money."
"Money?" Keisuke asked.
"Don't mind her, she's a money-grabber. But she won't overstep her boundaries in asking for all of it. Just remember to give her a decent and respectful share of it, and she'll be happy to help you." Antonio told him, as they stepped on the server transfer pad.
In the K-Cafe...
Richard and Gus walked into the cafe, as they saw that there was the owner, a black-haired man with glasses and a black apron over a grey suit, who was cleaning up his shop after serving some people, as he was accompanied by a cat-maid with blonde long hair and the typical black-and-white dress, as Richard's eyes were a little surprised, at the sight of the latter for a moment, before he calmed himself down quickly, before anyone could spot the facial change of expression.
"Ah. You must be the hackers who have accepted our request, right?" The owner asked, as he walked over with his worker. "Sorry to make you come all the way here."
"No problem, sir. Kage and Phoenix of Hudie at your service." Richard did a curt bow.
"Welcome!" The blonde cat-maid smiled back. "Did you ask them to help with Rico's problem?"
"Yeah, I'm sure they're the men for the job." The owner replied to his co-worker, as he let a young girl dressed in a black and white polka dot dress and black hair tied in a short ponytail on the back of her head. "This young lady is Rico, the client."
"Erm... It's my big sister... She's gone missing." She said in a timid tone, as she often averted her eyes from the male hacker duo.
"Hah... We get that much, Rico. That's why we're here." Richard smiled. "It's our duty to solve your case, no matter what. We think we heard of that rumour before, so I think we got a fair enough grasp of what we might possibly face."
"Yeah, I'm worried about the owner." The cat-maid answered back. "Just be careful when using elevators."
"You're worried about me? How kind." The cafe owner smiled.
"If you have to go missing, please make sure you pay me this month's wages first." The cat-maid added.
"Oh, so it's not me you're worried about." The shop owner said, before he chuckled a little.
"Umm..." Rico tried to say.
"Um, let's not get off topic." Gus said.
"Right. That urban legend has been doing the rounds in Nakano for ages. Every school-kid knows it." The owner replied back. "But it might be more than just an urban legend."
"It seems that Rico's sister went missing right in this building." The cat-maid said, with genuine worry in her voice. "And it was after getting in an elevator."
"I would question why you would be asking for a hacker, rather than the police for it." Richard said, with a finger on his chin. "Is it because the police refuse to take the case, because considering that Rico's sister is within youth years, so it would be hand-waved as a unannounced meeting of friends."
"But that's wrong! She got in an elevator, and then vanished! She must still be in this building somewhere." Rico shouted, as she was unhappy about the fact. "Even our parents weren't worried about here, they said she will be back sooner or later."
"Fair enough. But we don't have anything to go on with. Rico, could you please remember what happened before your sister went missing?" Gus asked.
"Well, we came here together." Rico recounted the events for the two friends. "After playing the capsule machine on the first floor, my sister said let's go to the arcade in the fourth floor, so we got into the elevator. We arrived at the floor, but something wasn't right. All the lights were off, it was pitch-dark. There was no one else there! It was scary, but we had a look around. This was the only place with any lights on. And then we heard a dog barking inside. When we got close to the door, a big black dog came out. I was scared, but my sister petted it. Then she went inside. I was about to follow her in when the door closed. I pushed it as hard as I could, but it wouldn't open. I called out to her, but neither she or the dog answered back. I was scared, so I went back into the elevator, to go to another floor, and find a grown-up to help me. When I got in, the door closed by itself, and the lights in the elevator went out. I didn't know what to do, until the lights came back on, and the door opened. It was the same floor, but the lights in the corridor were on, and there were people everywhere. I ran to the cafe, because I thought my sister would come back, but she didn't. And that's all that happened that time..."
"...Well, I think I might have a idea as to how to solve this." Richard said, as he examined the girl's account of the events. "But we'll need to work alone. Keep the girl safe like you did, alright? We'll be back if we manage to come back alive and unharmed."
"I see. I can do that. But I must at least tell you something." The owner said. "There is the possibility that it might be a simple elevator malfunction. I hired you guys because that is the most realistic explanation, and someone had to investigate the elevator control system the building uses."
"I see. We'll try doing the same thing as Rico did, and see if there is a similar result." Gus said, before he muttered something under his breath. "Could it be... a Digital Shift?"
"What did you say?" The cat-maid asked, barely hearing Gus's muttering.
"It's nothing. We'll be off. Take care of yourselves. And try to keep Rico happy and entertained. She needs someone who got enough love to take care of her." Gus said, as he and Richard walked out the cafe with a wave of his hand.
"Bye-bye!" The cat-maid said, as she was smiling and waving back.
Richard then went up to the elevator, as he then called it up, as he and Gus entered.
"Alright, Richard. All we have to do is press the fourth floor button, and see what happens." Gus said, as he turned to Richard. "Right?"
"No, that's not it." Richard said, before he then sighed. "Luckily, gaming foresight saves the day. If I remember what the quest entails... The lucky code is..."
Richard then pressed the second and third floor buttons, before he then cancelled them by pushing them three times rapidly, as Richard did the second floor button first, before moving up to the third floor button, before he then pressed the fourth floor button, as the doors automatically closed.
"There. It's a work-up code of pressing and cancelling up the floors, from 2nd to 4th." Richard said, as he smirked and dusted his hands off. "Now, we play the waiting game..."
Suddenly, the lights in the elevator began to flicker, as Richard merely nodded, while the lights slowly dimmed out.
"Yep, prepare yourself, Gus. Expect danger when we arrive there." Richard said, as the elevator rumbled and heaved.
In the Odorous Zone...
The moment that the trio of Keisuke, Reimu and Antonio ended up in the poisonous purple cyberspace, they immediately got a whiff of the place, as they smelt strong garbage in the area, as Reimu covered her nose with her hands to stop the smell from going in, while Antonio crinkled his nose in disgust.
"Phew-ee... That's one hell of a smell there!" Antonio said. "You think this is the place, Keisuke?"
"Yeah, as much as it's worrying, we need to take a look inside." Keisuke said.
Reimu and Antonio summoned Ran and Bolt, as both of the Rookie Digimon became immediately struck by the odorous effects of the environment.
"My gods, what is this putrid stench!?" Ran spoke in outrage. "Has this place been cursed by demonic magic to have such... unappealing smells!?"
"Whoo! This place really needs some clean-up!" Bolt complained. "I wonder what we should do about that."
They then made their through, as Kabuterimon joined them in the battles with the native Digimon, as the new Digimons weredoing quite well at their Rookie stage, as they were fighting evenly with their enemies with their own special moves and various skills they gained from the growth and experience they gained.
Eventually, they bumped into a BlackGarurumon, a giant wolf-like beast with black fur, white tiger stripes, magenta claws, and a very curly tail, as the wolf Digimon was patrolling the area, as he seemed to be using Freeze Fang, which was a blast of ice energy that eradicated the garbage data scattered across the area.
"Phew! It stinks! It doesn't matter how much I clean up, it just won't go away!" The BlackGarurumon complained, before he noticed the group in front of him. "Oh, what are humans doing here, and a... porcupine? Did the Kamishiro subcontractor send you?"
"Porcupine!?" Antonio replied back. "Hey, don't be rude! I like being like this!"
"Yes, we are." Keisuke answered back. "Are you also trying to fix the problem here?"
"Trying!? I'm the one complaining about it all!" The BlackGarurumon answered back, before he noticed Bolt. "And I'm surprised that you've picked a Gabumon as your partner for one of you. I remember when I was a BlackGabumon..."
"Really? That's how much we relate?" Bolt asked, before he sighed. "Well, I guess we're cousins I guess. Mind if I give my possible distant relative a hug?"
Bolt stretched his arms out, as BlackGarurumon looked at him, before letting a quiet 'hmph.'.
"Go ahead. It's not like you're going to do something bad." BlackGarurumon stated, before he was suddenly tackled by the torso by Bolt "Hey! That wasn't a proper hug!"
"Yes, it is. It's my special brand of hugging." Bolt rebuked back with a smile.
"What does that even mean? Hah... I guess I'll never understand you domesticated types..." BlackGarurumon said.
They continued down the server, as BlackGarurumon didn't idly stand by while they fought, as he helped greatly in weakening the enemies for a easy win, as Renamon often used Diamond Storm, which was a rain of reflective diamonds that pierced into all the enemies in front of her, as she often posed for each defeat she gained from doing so, saying that she has 'dealt with the impeders in the holy path.', as Reimu was surprised at Ran's show-boating in doing so.
Eventually, near the centre of the area, they found a massive grey blobby Digimon with gooey arms that have clawed hands, metal plates embedded around its eyes, and a large toothed maw with sharp fangs.
"It's a Raremon! So that's what's causing the smell!" The BlackGarurumon said, as he walked closely to the Raremon. "Hey! Quit spreading that stench! Spare a thought for everyone else!"
The Raremon only moaned, as it turned around to face those before it with a mindless look.
"It doesn't look like it's listening at all." Antonio sighed.
"Then we'll force it out! One way or the other!" Reimu exclaimed, as the Digimon moved forward to engage the Digimon.
"Gaia Element!" Ran declared, as she caused a large burst of green natural energy slam into the loosely-formed Digimon, as it swayed back from the impact, before it then moved forward to try and claw Ran with its hands, only for the nimble Fox Digimon to move out of the way.
"Eat this! Blue Blaster!" Bolt cried, as he let out a breath of blue flame that burnt the arm that Raremon tried to attack Ran with, as it let out a wail of pain, as BlackGarurumon immediately fired off a Freeze Fang to freeze the other arm to the ground.
"This is the end for you! Electro Shocker!" Keisuke cried, as Kabuterimon immediately fired off its special attack, as it collided with Raremon, as it destroyed most of its mass, as it shrunken down the Raremon considerably, until it's just as big as Bolt himself.
"Huh... That's strange." Bolt said. "I didn't know we could actually beat the data out of this thing. But doing it made it much more smaller, and... the smell's actually ten time better than before!"
"That's a good sign..." The BlackGarurumon replied back, as he looked at the Raremon, which was unintelligibly wobbling around with no purpose, as he sniffed around again. "Yeah, the smell's gone, and Raremon is still alive and well. Not like I wanted to get rid of it, unless it's really necessary. Thing must have gorged itself on too much junk data, which created the colossal titan of it before. Must be just destroying the smell data made it better for him, which the battle was targeting in the first place. You're quite the experienced hackers, hm?"
"Yeah, we've been working for quite a while." Keisuke answered back.
"Hm. Well, I doubt it would be stupid enough to cause such troubles. But just be sure, I'll get it shipped off to somewhere else, where it won't be a bother." The BlackGarurumon said, before turning to Bolt. "Oh, and Bolt? Is that your name?"
"Yep! Don't wear it out though!" Bolt cheerfully said.
The BlackGarurumon moved down, as he gave a gentle lick of Bolt's face. "You did quite well. I'm actually proud and impressed at the same time to have you be my cousin of some sort. If we meet again, I hope we'll be able to talk about whatever stuff you get into with these hacker friends of yours."
"Then it's a promise! I will!" Bolt exclaimed, before Antonio summoned into his Digivice. "See ya!"
"Alright, we're leaving. You'll have the payment sent, right?" Reimu answered back.
"Psh, it's very simple. I can do it, so don't worry about it." The BlackGarurumon said.
The trio then left without another word, as they soon turned their request in the Hudie website.
In the Nakano mall, the fourth floor...
The elevator opened to reveal the floor to them, as the lights were on in the corridor, as it was the only difference to Rico's account of the strange floor.
"Now, we go to the arcade, and see if there is anyone there." Richard said, as he grasped the handle of the door to the arcade, before moving inside with one swift motion, as Gus opened the door to come in after.
They looked inside the arcade, as not a single one of the arcade cabinets was on, creating a eerie silent atmosphere of the place.
"Huh. Well, Rico's right about the floor having no-one. It's like a ghost town here..." Richard sighed. "Nothing here, let's head out."
"Right." Gus answered back.
They headed out, before they heard a growling noise, originating from the K-Cafe door.
"I guess that's where we are going?" Gus said, as he eyed the door where the noise was coming through.
"Obviously." Richard said. "We did come here to solve some matters, right?"
As soon as they opened the door, they were sucked in through it, as the doors closed themselves instantly.
In the Digital Space...
The duo landed on their bottoms, as they suddenly were thrown onto the starting platform in the server maze, as Gus let out a grunt, as Richard let out a loud 'Ouch!', as he got up, clutching his sore bottom.
"Damn jackasses, whoever invented his entrance method is asking for pain..." Richard hissed, as he helped Gus up, as they looked around the blue background with digital data flowing among the space like comets and stars, before he summoned his Digimon, Kuro, to his side, while Gus did the same with Sun. "You know the drill. Purge any Digimon that doesn't start with a greeting or a gesture of non-hostility. It worked so far."
"Got that." Kuro answered back, as he walked just behind the group, ready to spring out if a battle was to break out.
Eventually, as they reached the end of the server maze, after a lot of battling and fighting with the local Digimon, they found a duo of girls which were knocked unconscious on the ground, as one of them looked like a older version of Rico, dressed in more mature uniform, and the other was Sanae, much to the boys' surprise. They were being jealously guarded by a purple wolf-like Digimon with red barbed marking on its tail and body, as it has a long grey mane on its neck, and it had purple bat wing-like covers jutting from the sides of its neck, and over its blood-red eyes, as well as having bladed claws, with pendulum-blades on its ankles.
"The... The FUCK!?" Richard said. "Of all the places, she got placed with that grumpy Sangloupmon!?"
The Sangloupmon immediately wrenched his head towards them, as he immediately jumped at them with a angered expression, surprising Gus and Richard again
"If you insist on disturbing my sleep again, I'll put you to sleep like those humans!" The Sangloupmon roared. "And I am NOT grumpy! You humans forced my inner turmoil to show itself!"
"Uh, I think we angered it a lot with those words, Richard. Perhaps you should have been a little quieter?" Gus told Richard.
"NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!" Richard yelled, as he dragged Gus back, as Kuro used his own arm to block Sangloupmon's ambush, as he flicked the wolf off. The Sangloupmon landed on his feet gently, and circled around the Digimon of the group with a hostile growl.
"We didn't come here to fight you. Beating you would be pointless, unless you want a more violent way to ensure you stay asleep enough to work that attitude out of you." Kuro told Sangloupmon. "Let us take the girls, so that we can leave quietly and peacefully, like you did."
"Absolutely not." Sangloupmon spoke darkly. "They were both screaming their heads off for so long, one out of fear of me, and one out of a feeling that I cannot interpret with another word than fanaticism."
"Then don't blame if I have to put you down!" Kuro said, as he then charged up a Wolkenapalm, as he dashed at Sangloupmon, and smashed him in the head with it, disorienting the wolf Digimon greatly, as he was wobbling on his feet.
Sun immediately blasted a Mega Flare at Sangloupmon, as it knocked the wolf onto his back, before he then got up, as he then jumped into the air, as he threw a rain of pendulum blades at Kuro and Sun, as they were forced to block it with their own methods, Kuro with his metallic arm, and Kuro using his arms and boney helm to negate most of the attacks, as some of them hit them, as they exploded, staggering the Digimon slightly, as they let out red streams of energy that healed Sangloupmon a little when they connected with him. He then let out a howl, as a blast of dark purple energy knocked them away from each other.
"Alright, that does it!" Richard said. "Kuro! Use Revenge Flare. See if the bastard tries hitting you then!"
Kuro nodded, as he entered a counter-stance, as fiery blue aura appeared around his body, as the Sangloupmon tried to tackle him, believing the black Digimon was charging up a decisive attack.
However, the attack was merely redirected away from Kuro with a sweep of his arm, before the aura gathered in his mouth, as he blasted Sangloupmon across the platform with a beam of fiery energy, as the wolf Digimon was knocked unconscious by the sheer force of the attack.
"Whoa, that was actually surprising. I thought he would be defeated normally like it would be in normal battling against someone as strong as him." Richard commented on the battle he just saw. "Well, it saves us the trouble of explaining. We'll get Ryuji or Chitose to deal with this crap, if it rises again. Not like anyone will be able to figure out the secret code of the elevator, eh?"
He then hoisted Sanae, as Gus hoisted the unconscious girl. "Let's scram before he decides to finish his short nap." Richard warned, as they immediately made for the server exit...
In the K-Cafe...
After having returned back to the real world, after detecting the problem in the elevator control system, they fixed the system with some patches, to ensure no-one will enter Sangloupmon's domain again. With the K-Cafe owner and the cat maid, which they learned was named 'Sacchan', arguing back and forth about related topics, they bid their farewells, after answering any questions the two had to offer, as well as questions from Rico, who asked about what happened to Sangloupmon, as Richard told her that he was taken care of, and he won't be making any more messes like this.
They then went to Sanae, as she was beginning to wake up.
"Huh... Richard? Gus? I had a strange dream where I met a Sangloupmon, and I literally went all-out fangirling on seeing him." Sanae groggily replied back, as she was still recovering her senses from being conked out. "It was a shame that the dream wasn't real..."
"Nah..." Richard said, as he flashed her his Digivice. "It's real alright. We saved you when you were being menaced by that wolf. He wasn't so willing to talk, so we gave him a real nap to have, and then pulled you out of whatever cyberspace you ended up in. It's strange how long you have been unconscious for though. Cyberspace hijinks, I guess?"
Sanae blinked her eyes a few time to get a good look, before her eyes widened, as she snatched the Digivice out of Richard's hands, as she looked at it with pure joy.
"This... THIS IS UTTERLY BRILLIANT! WE'RE IN THE WORLD OF DIGIMON, RICHARD AND GUS! MY FAVOURITE ANIME SERIES OF ALL TIMES!" Sanae screamed with utter excitement. "I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IF I CAN GET SOME AUTOGRAPHS FROM-"
"Woah, slow down, Sanae." Richard said, as he took back his Digivice. "As you can tell, this ain't the anime Digimon world. It's more of the fact we're in the Hacker's Memory/Cyber Sleuth timeline. So no, you're not going to get to meet Takuya, Davis, Tai and other famous characters here."
"I... Oh." Sanae said, as she deflated a little, before she then smiled a little. "Well, at least there will be the cute ones, right?"
"...Yes." Richard strained his reply, as he was trying his best not to think too much about them, as they gave him a... complex feeling to deal with.
Sanae merely nodded, as she followed Gus and Richard back to the Hudie cafe.