Unmei Force: Encoded Memory (Arc 2.5)
Chapter 24: Saving Chitose and Erika
In the real world, at the Central Hospital of Tokyo...
Richard, Gus and Keisuke were sitting together on one of the benches, as Wormmon scooting over from behind them. From there, the Digimon noticed that Keisuke seemed to be disturbed, while Richard was giving him a sympathetic look, as he didn't know what to say about what happened to Yu.
"You look really down, Keisuke." Wormmon commented, as the boy tilted his head towards the Digimon. "You still can't believe that 'K' was Yu all along, with everything he had done?"
"Yes... It's quite painful to actually hear the truth like that." Keisuke answered back, before he sighed. "I can't believe I was so stupid. If only I paid more attention to his feelings and mental state, I could have figured this out sooner...!"
"Hey, don't say that." Gus told Keisuke. "You've done all you could. Saving him was the best thing you could do at the time, and even though it was hard, you managed to forgive him and he returned back to himself."
"What are you doing here, Wormmon?" Richard asked the small insect Digimon. Wouldn't Erika be needing your help?"
"No, she's been doing her work and she didn't want me to disturb her." Wormmon shook his head. "Speaking of which, watching you all made me think hackers are so cool. So I want to be a hacker Digimon!"
Richard chuckled a little, as Keisuke was surprised by the sudden declaration. "Well, I've never heard of such a case, you believe that you can achieve it, little Wormmon?" Richard asked in a sagely voice.
"Wouldn't it be really cool, though!?" Wormmon energetically replied back. "Erika and I share memories, so thanks to it, I'm pretty good at hacking. My goal is to take over from your friend as the new Vanguard. It's just like he said, 'Become the Vanguard, the hacker of justice'!"
"Vanguard? Wormmon, you didn't really have to do that for me-" Keisuke responded back, as he gave the Digimon a weak smile.
"Your friend went crazy because of a Digimon. He may have gone about it the wrong way, but that dream is pretty awesome. That's why I want to become the Vanguard and do lots of good things!" Wormmon stopped Keisuke with determined words. "If I can do that, it'll prove that not everything you and your friend did was a mistake! And if I can become a great hacker, Ryuji might be able to join Hudie as one of my hackers, even if I can't return to the Digital World. Two birds with one stone, right?"
Richard remained silent, before he then burst out into great laughter, clutching his face, as Wormmon was hurt by him finding his words humorous, as Gus glared at Richard strictly.
"Richard! Wormmon's being serious here! You can't just be a jerk and laugh at his ambition!" Gus told off Richard.
"No no, I'm not laughing about the ambition itself." Richard replied back. "I'm just simply amused at how ambitious you are, Wormmon. Achieving a goal like that would make you something near a digital god if you could achieve that. Plus, who knows when I might exceed Ryuji. Then you would have to earn my subservience in order to prove your might as a hacker! I was just simply amused, when I haven't been like this for a while, hearing all of this. I admire your determination to achieve this."
"Really!?" Wormmon asked back, his eyes sparkling with confidence.
"Yeah. You remind me of one of my closest friends. She's a little bit stubborn at times, and rarely knows when to back down..." Richard responded back. "But it's that unfaltering willpower and confidence that makes her so awesome and great, and she's got what it takes to back her confidence."
"Wait, could you be talking about-" Gus was about to say, before Richard then interrupted him, as he saw that Erika was beckoning them to come in by the doorway, before she then returned to her ward.
"Ah, Erika must have something to discuss with us." Richard told the group, as he got up. "Come, we need to hear what she might have got from the thesis."
Gus and Keisuke followed after him, as Wormmon jumped onto Keisuke's back, as the four passed by Richard's other members, who were talking amongst each other, before they were called over by a hand-wave from Richard to get them to come with him.
When they entered the ward where Erika was, as Erika was sitting on her bed, looking a little better than she was before, thanks to having gotten her treatments again to help her health.
"Alright, I've finally analysed the paper that Akemi Suedou gave me. I was just entering the necessary data into the terminal... We'll start when it's done. Anyway, we're helping Chitose next." Erika told everyone. "After reading the information from the thesis, I finally know what happened to Chitose. His mental data has been assimilated by an Eater. To save you the trouble of having to read his papers on the Eaters, they're basically data-gathering devices. They collect data and send it somewhere. That's their main behavioural patterns."
"So they collect the 'souls' of the digital people, and trap them in a place where they are stored? Yikes... " Antonio said in a shocked and fearful tone.
"EDEN Syndrome results from an error that occurs when a human's mental data that has been converted to information is absorbed by an Eater." Erika continued. "The mental data is then sent via the Eater Network to the core Mother Eater in the Digital World. That's what his paper says. So if we get his mental data from there, he'll wake up."
"But where's 'there'?" Sanae asked, as she rubbed the back of her head with a dull groan. "It's not helpful unless we have something to get in there with..."
"That has been taken care of. But first, we need to find a route to the Mother Eater." Erika answered back. "Much like how Wormmon fell into EDEN from the Digital World, there must be a point or several where the two worlds are connected in some manner. A junction specifically. So we will try to find something like that, so that it will save us the trouble of opening up our own route, which is dangerous and time-consuming. So we'll follow the Eater network back, to get direct access to the Mother Eater."
"Great! Is that what Suedou's paper says?" Wormmon asked back.
"He wrote about a different way about getting to an Mother Eater, but I couldn't decipher it." Erika said. "He seems to be very determined to keep that a secret from anyone. Do you remember where the junction is, Wormmon?"
"Erm... Hold on, it's been a while since I used this memory. I fell into this world when I was really small, so my memory isn't clear..." Wormmon pondered, with closed eyes. "But I vaguely remember a big stuffed toy. That place looked like a park."
"Junk Plaza!" Keisuke and Richard declared at the same time.
"Yeah! That's the place! That's where I fell into this world!" Wormmon answered back with joy. "Then let's go there! This is going to be so exciting! Saving a friend from the lair of an evil monster! That's just the kind of treacherous mission that calls for a hacker Digimon! Hang on, Chitose! Wormmon the Vanguard is coming for you!"
"Well, do be careful in there, you don't want to get sucked dry by their tentacles... Huehuehue..." Reimu giggled evilly.
"HIIIEEEE!' Wormmon shrieked, as he immediately scrambled back into the blanket, as Reimu chuckled.
"Come on, you little coward. Don't be so afraid. You do remember that Richard and the others have partners strong enough to fight against them, right?" Reimu said. 'You won't be harmed with us by your side. Didn't you say that you're the Vanguard! Then show us what you got!"
"Hacker Digimon? What's a Vanguard? Why's he so excited?" Erika asked the group.
"It's a term he coined for himself when he believes he is a Digimon who is also a good hacker, the title is something that Yu aspired to be, sort of like the title of hero, and both of the former reasons combined is what got him determined to dive in and rescue, as it would be thrilling and amazing." Gus answered the questions in respective order in which they were asked.
"Well, he better not tire himself. He seems to be getting more and more clumsy, ever since he came to this world." Erika sighed in a motherly tone, caring about Wormmon's safety.
"I'm coming for you-" Wormmon said, before he then slammed his head against a wall by accident. "Ow!"
He then fell onto his back, as he was knocked dizzy by the impact, as swirls appeared over his eyes. "Oooh..." He moaned dizzily.
Richard then smiled, as he picked up the Digimon, sat down in front of the desktop, placed the still-dazed Wormmon on his lap, and then logged into EDEN, with a swish of his EDEN visor.
In the first level of Kowloon...
The group arrived at the topmost layer of the cyberspace, as they summoned their Digimon partners, in order to handle any wild Digimon encounters. Strangely, on their way, they didn't encounter any wild Digimon, as the few they saw seemed to be fleeing from them.
"That's strange..." Richard remarked. "I guess the power manifested itself into a aura that seems to deter Digimon that are wild and/or hostile to us. Then again, they're Rookies and In-Trainings, so I guess it seems reasonable why things are like this."
They soon arrived at the Junk Plaza, which seemed to be a rundown park filled with various kinds of junk, including tire piles, a basketball hoop, traffic signs, and pipes. Looking around, they found Erika with Wormmon, waiting for them.
"There you are!" Wormmon cried, as he leaned out from Erika's side, waving a leg. "Over here!"
The group immediately did so, as Erika summoned up her user interface.
"The connection here is there, but it's too unstable to see, let alone reliably use." Erika stated, as she fiddled with the coding of the area. "Hold on, I'll try stabilising the values."
Soon enough, after Erika finished her work, a large white tear in the cyberspace appeared in front of them, as Wormmon looked at it, as he seemed to recognise it.
"Wow! There it is! The hole I fell through!" Wormmon remarked, jumping with joy.
"It worked. And it looks like the link to the Mother Eater has been activated as well." Erika commented, as she wiped some sweat off her forehead. "Suedou's paper gave values for the approximate location of the Mother Eater. I just tried connecting to them. It was like opening a back door."
"Just like you usually do for us?" Richard asked with a nod. "Well, it seems that it won't go the full way to the Digital World, but it'll at least reach the Mother Eater right?"
"Using the Eater Network has led to that, and there's no guarantee that it will take us where we want." Erika said. "But with time and improvements, perhaps it will allow us to make stable pathways to the Digital World for real. Alright, this is it. Once we infiltrate the Eater network, we'll need to secure an Eater. I'll hack it and disguise us as Eater information. That way, we shouldn't be attacked even while we're close to the Mother Eater."
"Leave it to me! If we get surrounded by Eaters, I'll hack them all!" Wormmon confidently added.
"No, you need to stay here and watch." Erika told Wormmon. "Someone needs to stand guard here. I'll share the procedure for controlling the route. I'm counting on you."
"But... But I want to... save Chitose..." Wormmon whimpered in a disappointed voice.
"I know, but you might not be ready for that yet." Erika assured Wormmon. "This is a extremely hazardous mission. Some very dangerous things could happen. I thought that you were the only one I could trust with this mission, but with Keisuke, Richard and the others. So you won't have to risk yourself.
"Then leave it to me! After all, I'm a hacker Digimon! And the future Vanguard!" Wormmon nodded.
"It'll be all up to you to ensure that you'll get us back in one piece, Wormmon. We're counting on you, Vanguard!" Sanae shouted to him.
"Alright, let's head in. Remember, this is a place where anything could happen, so stay on your guard." Erika warned everyone.
"Since when have we never?" Richard asked back with a grin, as Erika noted the point, and didn't say anything else.
They soon entered the portal, as Wormmon kept watch.
"This is great! Everyone is already starting to see me as the Vanguard!" Wormmon cheered. "Hackers, Digimon, anyone... Do your worst!"
Wormmon then kept watch, before he then looked around, as he deflated a little.
"...I hope they will come back soon..." He muttered to himself.
In the Eater Network...
The group found themselves in a world of black and white, as the entire area consisted of black and white-patterns with thin black chevron-marked rails in white, spirals of black and white in the background, and large rings of black and white with complicated patterns for them to fly through.
"So this is the Eater Network..." Richard said, as he looked around. "It looks so... bleak."
"Our avatar sensations seem the same as in EDEN." Erika noted, squeezing her hand to test her sense of touch, before she noticed a Eater coming their way. "Excellent timing! Weaken it! I'll use the chance to hack it!"
"Roger!" Richard cried, as he summon Kuro, while Elma and Reimu were up for the battle, as Ran and Adam came into the battle.
"Well, this is the Eaters that I heard about... Sheesh, talk about creepy digital squids with a tendency to shove their tentacles into the bodies of avatars and Digimon." Adam quipped, as he clicked his tongue. "SO not my cup of tea."
"This deformed being will not be spared of repentance for its sins." Ran said, as she readied her brush. "I will do as Erika says, and weaken it."
The both of them attack the Eater using their various attacks, as the Eater was no match for the Ultimate and Mega, as it began to slow down from fatigue and exhaustion, before Kuro fired off a laser shot to immoblise the Eater.
"That should do it. Now to steal its permissions." Erika said, as she tapped on her Memetan, before she stopped, as the group felt a strange sensation around their entire body. "It worked. To them, we now appear to be the information they send to the Mother Eater."
The Eater then began to move, but instead of engaging the group, it merely floated away in the opposite direction.
"See, the Eater isn't interested in us anymore." Erika stated. "Now we can get close to the Mother Eater. But it's not a complete fail-safe. Some might still attack us, so keep your guard up."
"Alright, noted." Gus answered back, as he summoned Sun, while Antonio summoned Bolt.
They then continued down the path, as they saw that there was a stream of blue lights, of varying brightness, as they flowed to the end of the network.
"Could this be the human mental data?" Erika questioned about the flow of blue she saw. "So that's what a normal person's mental data is like. But I wouldn't know which is Chitose's data. So I prepared something for that."
She then typed a few keys in, as a familiar Ankylomon appeared in front of them, as it roared its greetings to the group, giving Richard a friendly look.
"No way... That's... It's Chitose's partner, Ankylomon!" Richard exclaimed.
"That's right. It could act as a receptacle to draw out Chitose's mental data. He knows Chitose's information better than anyone, as they share a bond between each other, and so he might be the best chance of helping us find his partner's mental data." Erika confirmed back, before she walked up to the Digimon. "We're looking for Chtiose, do you know where he is?"
The Ankylomon is silent for a moment, as it regards the streams of mental data, following the flow with its eye, before it then moved, and beckoned the group to follow with a wave of one of it's hind-legs.
"It looks like that he's just ahead. Let's follow." Erika interpreted the Digimon's gesture.
The group continued down the path, before they landed in a small flat area, where the floor were checkered in black and white, and in front of them seemed to be a black-haired version of Yuugo's avatar, as his back was turned to them.
"...Yuugo?" Keisuke asked.
The Yuugo-lookalike turned around, facing the group, as he had the same face as the original as well. "I can't believe it. I never thought I would see any normal mental data in this place." He spoke gently. "Hehehe, nope, I'm not Yuugo. I don't have anything to do with him. That might be a little hard to explain why though."
"Tell us, we're willing to listen." Gus offered to the lookalike.
"Not before I ask you this: How exactly did you get here?" The lookalike responded with another question.
"Simple, we followed an Eater in. Afterwards, we hacked one of them in order to gain permissions to be like information that the Eater collects, allowing us safe passage to here, which may be the Mother Eater, by the looks of it." Keisuke honestly answered the question.
"I see. I never seen anyone gain access to here like that." The lookalike nodded, speaking in a amused tone. "Then again, it's pretty much unheard for anyone to reach this far. How is it that you're able to do that? It must have taken considerable processing power. Something far beyond normal people."
He then turned his head to Erika, as if he was examining her, before he turned back to them.
"Ah, so you are involved with EDEN." The lookalike continued. "Because I am a part of a giant data structure, I can always recognise someone like me. But I've been fully assimilated. My abilities are very limited. Consider me as a guard, but not the kind who would engage you all the sudden. We protect the human mental data assimilated by the Eaters, so they don't accidentally erase us."
"Then we just want to ask you something. We want to retrieve the mental data of a friend who was victim to your Eaters." Richard said. "Please allow us to find him. We're confident that we can find him amongst the sea of mental data."
"Sorry, but I can't help you. All I can do is protect the mental data to stop it from being erased. Once mental data has been separated from the body, it is impossible for them to be unified again. Even if you did find him, how will you circumvent this problem?" The avatar guard asked back, before he noticed that Chitose's Ankylomon was rushing past him. "...Huh?"
The Ankylomon then rushed into the stream, before coming out with a sphere of human mental data, as the Ankylomon roared to gain the attention of everyone.
"Could that be Chitose?" Erika asked.
"Ah, a Digimon. I can feel a definite connection between him and that Digimon, but..." The guard shook his head sadly.
"No, it's possible. A bond is something that is not easily forsaken, guard of the Eater Network." Richard answered back. "These kinds of bonds link the souls and spirits of two beings together so tightly, that not even death would separate them eternally. These kinds of bonds would allow them to meet again in their next lives, as if it was destiny itself. So if the scientific and logical side of things won't allow this, why don't we let the emotional and spiritual side make their argument?"
"Yes, I've heard of such things." The guard answered back. "In that case, then I have no objections at all. Perhaps considering the recent events that I might have heard from what little rumours I heard from the unfortunate people whose mental data were erased without rhyme or reason. And the time I spent in this network has left my thinking inflexible. If you believe that this is possible, then I won't stop you. You deserve to get your friend back, or at least try, after you have done everything for his sake."
"Thank you... Thank you, black-haired brother..." Elma thanked the guard.
"Well, I never been thanked like this. Yet another thing that I must consider..." The guard smiled back, before he then frowned again, before he noticed that some Eaters appeared behind him. "Oh dear. It looks like they detected you all as foreign objects when you accessed the mental data. It's time for you all to leave, since your cover might not work now. I cannot help, so run!"
"You don't have to say this twice!" Richard cried back, before he summoned Kuro. "Kuro, we don't have time to fight them as well as their reinforcements, blow a path through! Use Transcendant Sword!"
Kuro obliged to the order, as he immediately slashed across the area in front of them, as the attack actually managed to bisect one of them, making them useless, while the others were at best floored, dazed from the great force of the attack.
"Go... GO!" Richard shouted.
The group immediately flew for it, as they rushed with the Eaters on their tail. The group managed to do so well, until Erika managed to accidentally slam into a Eater as it latched onto her.
"Argh!" Erika cried.
"Erika!" Richard cried, as Kuro immediately moved in front to stem the tide of approaching Eaters with his attacks as best as he could. "Are you alright!?"
"Stay away!" Erika shouted, as she struggled to get the Eater off her. "Save yourselves! I'll be fine!"
"No way! I'm not leaving you here!" Richard cried, as he was about to summon a sukima to bring out a blade to sever the tentacles binding Erika.
"Wormmon!" Erika cried, as she opened up a communication line to Wormmon.
"Erika!? Are you okay? You seem to sound like you're in trouble!" Wormmon exclaimed, with worry about Erika.
"Shut down my server! Hurry!" Erika ordered her Digimon.
"But if I do that! You'll be...!" Wormmon replied back, as his voice seemed to be filled with dread.
"It's fine! Just do it!" Erika ordered, as Wormmon was silent, before he then closed the communications line.
Erika then suddenly disappeared, shocking the group for a while, as Kuro was pushed back by the waves of Eaters pursuing them.
"We haven't got time to waste! Let's get out of here, before things turn ugly!" Richard ordered his friends.
The group then reached the opening as they tumbled out of it one-by-one, onto each other, as they separated from each other. Richard saw that the Eaters was close-behind them, as he could see a Eater Tentacle come out slowly.
"Oh shit! Wormmon, cut the rift, now! NOW!" Richard screamed with fear, as he backpedalled away from the tentacle.
Wormmon immediately did so, as the rift disappeared, as well as the tentacle poking out of it.
"I did it, Erika! I did it! I'm a awesome hacker Digimon!" Wormmon cheered at his success, before he then remembered what happened. "I think we need to check on Erika, she should be fine, since I helped log her out before she could be affected..."
Richard felt a sense of dread, as he felt things weren't going to be that simple.
In the real world...
When the group returned back to the real world, Richard turned to Erika, as she seemed to be fine, as her eyes showed no signs of unconsciousness or mental degradation.
"Oh, thank god, Erika. You're fine! We managed to save Chitose after all-" Richard sighed in relief, before coming over to her.
"Who are you?" Erika asked in a unfamiliar voice, which caused Richard to freeze mid-step.
"What do you mean, Erika?" Wormmon asked her. "Don't you remember me?"
"Erika? Is that... my name?" Erika questioned herself, as she looked around, before looking at Wormmon. "Are you a bug?"
"I'm not a bug! I'm a Digimon!" Wormmon cried back. "You've really forgotten everything!? Pull yourself together, I'm Wormmon! You're Erika! We're partners!"
"Part... ners? I..." Erika muttered, before she then suddenly fell forwards, as she fell unconscious, as blood leaked from her nose.
"Erika!" Wormmon shouted in dread.
"Oh crap, she's sick again!" Antonio cried, as he rushed out. "Someone call the nurse! She's bleeding in the nose!"
When the group managed to get help, they saw that Erika was undergoing treatment, as Richard grimly looked at her.
"Tell me, Wormmon. What you did was a hard reset of some sort? You did a quick shut-down of her memory server, to restart it." Richard said, not taking his eyes off Erika. "Whatever it was... It didn't work as intended. She lost her memories and her illness acted up again. But still... better than being assimilated by Eaters, because that would be something we can't fix like this problem... But what's the solution then?"
"Ah, you're there too?" Suedou's voice sounded, as Richard's eyes widened, as a murderous intent filled him, as he clenched his fists, and slowly turned around to face the digital researcher.
"Well, well, Akemi Suedou. Ain't that a lovely pleasure?" Richard spoke with dripping sarcasm. "What are you here to do? To talk more about your conspiracies about the Eaters, huh?"
"Actually, I'm the one who developed the basic theory behind her treatment." Suedou responded back. "Just the basic theory. I'm not involved in her actual treatment. But when I heard that there was a unusual incident from one of the doctors, the head doctor called me in to take a look."
"So that you can mess with her!? Hell no-!" Richard was about to roar, before he was restrained by Gus.
"Calm down, Richard. I know that you hate Suedou, but he's trying to help us here. It wouldn't help to say such things about him." Gus told Richard with calming words.
"Have you forgotten that he's the reason why Erika is like this!?" Richard shouted back.
"Have you forgotten what we just did? Saving Chitose's mental data from the Eaters using the very same method you're blaming?" Gus retorted back.
Richard then noticed that Gus was right, as he immediately closed his off and trailed into silence.
"So you know how to restore her memory, Suedou?" Wormmon asked. "It looks like that the link was broken when the memory server was shut down."
"Hmm... As much as I would like to talk about how I'm impressed your friend managed to access Mother Eater, I suppose you're more interested in listening for a solution for the current problem from me." Suedou explained. "Of course, it's possible. She has a backup device in her memory server. Even if the link is broken, the device saves all her memories until just before the shutdown. The server contains a program that reestablishes the link when the server is booted. If you can activate it, her memories will be restored. But it won't be easy. To do external access of the server, you'll need a team of highly skilled engineers. But another was is to access it from EDEN to activate the backup. Usually, only Erika as the owner can access it. But as her partner and the one sharing her memories, you're effectively another back-up of her memories, and thus would be given access the the server as if you were her. I see no reason why it wouldn't be the case."
"So if we can get into the server and activate the backup memory, Erika will wake up!?" Wormmon asked back, hooked on by the offer.
"So we have to do a digital version of the Dive Into The Heart Sequence with Erika?" Sanae added.
"Excuse me?" Suedou asked Sanae, strangely intrigued by her words.
"I mean, I was just being a little silly there. Sorry." Sanae apologised immediately.
"Correct, but the server is still equipped with safety countermeasures, so you'll need to be careful not to trigger them or you'll never come back." Suedou warned them, before he turned away to leave, after placing a few papers in front of Wormmon "I must take my leave now. Please read my papers on memory access before you go. Remember that my papers only illustrate the underlying theories, and the cure for her disease is still nowhere to be found. If you want my personal opinion, restoring her memory would be making things painful, since she will have to wake up to her painful memories that plague her mind, creating sadness and sorrow. Once I have completed my plans, everything you have done or will do will become completely meaningless. Until then, may you live your lives as happy as you wish."
Richard hatefully watched Suedou leave, before he scoffed.
"Screw that nut-case. If he wants to euthanize Erika, then he can shove it up his ass." Richard swore. "We're going to restore Erika's memories not only because she deserves to live a happy life, but because after what he said, I'm going to spit at it by doing the very thing that he is against. To hell with his prejudices."
"Yeah... I can't believe that he would do such a thing... Even though he has been quite helpful lately..." Keisuke reluctantly agreed.
"Erika wouldn't want this either! She still has to save Ryuji and bring Hudie back together!" Wormmon chimed in, before Keisuke and Richard received a message from Suedou with the server URL.
"Well, time to go. Wormmon, we're counting on you again, so do your best, alright?" Richard told Wormmon.
"Right!" Wormmon shouted back.
They then went back into Erika's ward, as they logged into EDEN from there.
Inside the Memory Server...
Richard was the first to log into the memory server, which was a large singular platform with a massive hemispheric device in the middle, as it had ridges and glowing lights around it, as there were several terminals around the corners of the device. Soon, the rest of the group entered the cyberspace, as Wormmon waddled in front of it.
"This is Erika's Memory server." Wormmon stated. "According to the manual Suedou gave us, we can get inside if we can access that terminal. But still, I know what we said about Suedou, but is it really the best choice to restore her memories? Her memories have been confused with mine lately, and I don't know whose is whose. I don't want to wake her into someone who remembers the wrong things, and ends up hurting herself..."
"Well, we won't let that happen. She'll remember us, and we'll make sure that she'll remember who she is, as well as what she has done." Richard assured Wormmon.
"Yeah, you're right! I believe Erika's voice inside of me!" Wormmon shouted with newfound confidence, as he crawled up to the terminal. "I don't know what it'll be like on the server, so keep your wits about you!"
The group then walked up to the terminal, as they placed their hands on it, as they were sucked into the massive central device which was where her memories were stored.
As the group fell down, they saw that there was a rain of digital polymerised space rocks around them, as they were falling towards a large cyan-blue hole, as the digital cyberspace shimmered around them. As they continued to fall, they landed on a clear platform, as they saw the hole slowly shrink and transform into a planet-like orb, as more and more of them lit up in the surroundings, before they zoomed out to reveal they were forming a image of a cartoon-like deformed Erika, whose hair was tied in pig-tails and was floating around, as she was clutching her knees between her arms, as her eyes were closed. She was floating amidst a background of outer space, as there was a spiral-shaped galaxy on one corner, and several planers in various locations. There was also a asteroid belt that looped away and towards her, and behind her was a rain of yellow comets that faded in the dark black space.
Everyone admired the vivid background of Erika's memory-scape, as Richard was beyond astonished by the scene he saw.
"So... So beautiful..." Richard muttered without any control over his words. "I cannot fathom how adorable and mesmerising this looks..."
Richard was so absorbed by the scenery, that he couldn't take his eyes of it, as Gus tried to make him move by poking him, nudging him, and even pinching him to make him feel pain and snap out of the trance he was in. However, neither method worked, as Gus was forced to grab Richard's hand and drag his still friend along the entire way.
The group continued on, before they reached the end of the passageway of clear platforms, as they saw a large circular pad in front of them. As soon as they stepped onto it, they were sent flying forward into the background.
As they continued, they saw that the background image of Erika opened her eyes, before white tears began to leak from them, running down her cheek. The background them zoomed back into the various circles that created the image of Erika, before it zoomed back into the rain of polymer rocks, before it gave way to a image of a cartoony Erika sleeping in a large bed with a thick blanket, as the curtains were open with sunlight streaming from the bedroom's windows, and there was a desk filled with books on it. Most strangely, there were also a lot of animal plush toys around her, as two of them were her trusted companions Memetan and Toto.
As soon the scene changed, Richard snapped out of the trance he was in, as he admired the new scene, although not as much as before.
"Ah! Where did I end up? Did I end up being taken in so much by the pure brilliant art of this place?" Richard asked in a dreamy tone, as if he recently woke up from a great dream of his own.
"Yeah... You looked like you were into it." Gus answered him back. "I had to drag you alone myself by the arm."
"I wonder.." Richard muttered, as he continued down the path with the group. Soon enough, they reached a terminal, which Keisuke approached.
"This is it! We should be able to access the backup memory from here!" Wormmon said, before he then hopped onto the terminal. "Hold on, I'll give it a try."
He then made a lot of quick inputs in a short time with most of his legs, as the terminal let out a triumphant ping alarm at the success.
"I did it! That should restore Erika's link with the server!" Wormmon cheered. "Look who's the Vanguard now! Don't you agree!'
"I do, Wormmon! You were really great!" Elma encouraged Wormmon.
Keisuke looked around, before he then noticed a shadow of Erika standing before him, muck like K's shadows in the server, filled with Yu's memories. He then moved forward to touch it. However, he was stopped midway by Richard, who grabbed his arm firmly.
"It's best we don't pry too much further." Richard warned. "The deeper we go, the more twisted things become. Erika would not like us seeing her deepest depths of her memories. So please, let us respect her secrets by not going any deeper than we must."
Keisuke acknowledged the warning, as he backed off from the shadow of Erika, before then turned around, as he made his way back to the log-out point.
Richard then looked at the shadow as he sighed, while the rest of his team left, as a prideful Wormmon was resting on a cheering Elma's head.
'Erika... I'm sure that you won't be happy that we have been looking into your memories, but soon enough, we will have to dive into your darkest parts in order to help you...' Richard thought. 'I can't let you be alone for so long. I'll be the one to take you to worlds where you will be able to live a life you deserve, and be with people who will care for you as long as you want them to.'
He then left, as the memory server reverted back into its original state.