Chapter Twenty-Eight: Kids on the Ice!

"I think we should get more than a thanks."

Ah Newton, better friend than a kick in the nuts. He had his arms crossed and looked like he was prepared to uncross them and come out with a knife in his hand. Thanks guys, can totally protect myself here. Like Uncle Shinta couldn't leap over me and pummel the guy with two fingers anyway.

I flicked my eyes over to the water, noticing the tips of Alec's blue head poking out from the sea. I glared at him, and Luna from her perch. They were not going to help anything, much as their protectiveness now was cute. Could have been great earlier when Guile was getting his tail pummeled in the jungle.

But we couldn't focus on that now. I nodded at Koh before he could speak, or give Newton more ammunition. "Hey," I said, acting like this wasn't the most awkward thing ever. "You hear anything new?"

Koh's shoulders slumped a little. Not even in that, 'oh thank god, I'm not dead' kind of way (most people here didn't actually do that) but more in that 'why am I so fucking useless' way which I knew pretty damn well. "No. I don't need to. No one talks anymore." He paused, as if trying to explain himself. "Sunshine's basically a ghost town. Even the quest givers aren't saying much anymore. I've ended up having to check the boards."

Every Union Tamer in the room grimaced at the same time and I turned to explain it to my uncle. We hated the quest boards. They, despite being a part of the system that took in quests to begin with, were the most unorganized set of files since the first boot of iTunes. It was even more tedious because they sorted by date of quest entered, which was great until you realized CITY goes on a semi-Earth based calendar (in terms of a certain birthstone) but the Digital World doesn't run on the same timeline. So quests could be years old on that thing from their perspective, even if we'd just gotten in two days ago. The only exception was Union Quests, and half the time, that board never turned on because you had to see the Union staff in person.

So, yeah, him having to skim those boards may have gotten him some sympathy points from at least the older kids.

"And?" Dorothy's voice piped up from the other side of the room. "Anything?"

Koh tapped the hand on his wrist, gripping for something that wasn't there. Probably a watch. "Not until I snuck in and got the Union Quest board up and running."

I heard Newton's jaw drop, possibly with respect. He was the only other guy I knew who could easily handle CITY technology, probably because his family was one of the only ones who willingly went up here rather than being dragged up.

Koh blinked. "It's not that hard. It's the maintenance that's such a pain with the bits CITY gets for upkeep." He paused and turned pink. "Sorry. Anyway, I went and started backtracking through the dates. All of the recent quests have been to Limit Valley-"

"We know that," Sukekiyo deadpanned and Kakumi stuck him in the ribs.

"And Access Glacier," Koh continued like there hadn't been any interruption.

Everyone stopped at that. I swore. I had forgotten about that freezing hellhole.

Koh nodded, looking a bit like that swaggering idiot I had met at the Coliseum. Not by much though. "Yeah, a lot of missions have gone there. I have been busy with a lot of stuff. The last time I was up at Access though..." A strange, painful look crossed his face and then faded. I almost thought that in my social ineptitude I had just imagined it. "I caught a glimpse. The place is still standing so that's the only place they might be that's not Limit."

We were all very quiet. I was thinking of being covered in snow-

In another time, another place, covered in slow and frozen up to my brain and smiling at a person I knew by smell, dying as I looked at him, dying but being happy for some reason-

Then Dorothy, being Dorothy, said very quietly. "Are they even still alive?"

No one answered that, and I shuddered a little before I could stop myself. Sure, Digivices could insulate us for a set period of time, but that wasn't forever, and in an arctic mimicking zone that was even less time. They could be dead. Hypothermia was a shitty way to go.

"Well," I finally said, and Uncle's arms tightened around me. "Guess I gotta go and see if they aren't."

Newton made a noise of distaste. "You hate the cold, Sayo. That's why your Tamer Home is a tropical island."

I scowled. "Well we can't send you, asshole. You all just got back and someone needs to tell Raigo we've got something and I sure as hell ain't gonna do it. Besides, he'll think I'm lying for a desperate chance to get my sister. So, ya'll go talk to him." I made to leave my Uncle's arms, who gripped me all the tighter. I grinned up into his face. "Relax," I told him. "I'll be fine."

Shinta nodded but his face said he disagreed. He'd rather me not go, never go out in danger again. This was my job, and even if it wasn't I'd go. He loosened his grip on me and I smiled again.

It was nice to have someone worry about me this much and not have it feel weird. Or be my directly related family.

Koh moved hesitantly closer to me. I blinked and he held out his Digivice. "I have to give you the protocol to enter Access," he said with a sheepish grin. "It's usually sent out once you get Gold Rank in Sunshine."

Oh this fucker.

I smirked at him, all teeth. "If that's your idea of a challenge, you've got something to look forward to."

That little shit actually blushed.

My Digivice beeped with the data and I took it carefully. I didn't need this like Newton and his 'upgrades' again. ADR protocol confirmed. Sweet. "I… I'll go on ahead." I swear his face was still red when he turned and left. Dorothy giggled at me. Well, I guess having no idea what that was about was worth it if it made her laugh a bit. We needed something good in all of this crap.


I touched the icy ground and at the second I felt my foot slide, caught it with Soul. With a grimace, I pushed more of it outside of myself. I guess being a walking beacon was a worth it price to pay for not freezing to death or giving myself another concussion. Besides, I had three dragons on me, and one of them had fur. Said Doru was rubbing against me to keep warm. I wasn't sure if that was helping but I figured I couldn't protest. Alec was complaining up a storm.

Luna, however, was darting ahead, skating and sliding like she would have hatched in here instead of Magnet Mine, where tiny moondrops were always at more often than not.

"One would think you were in a good mood," I muttered under my breath.

She heard me, of course, and shot me a pout. I shrugged and let her go. It wasn't like she and the others didn't need something good to happen to them, at least. So we kept walking.

Guile, a little too eager, ran ahead of me at the sight of an Ikkakumon, rushing it with his now giant metal armored arms and slicing. I almost winced.

"Little too excited, isn't he?" Sasha's voice filtered from my Digivice, where she, Alec, and Gao waited. Alec hated the cold. Hopefully I would be able to just let him chill for a while.

… I think there was humor in that thought somewhere. I think? I have no idea.

I kept watching, stopping Guile to let Doru have her chance in the murder game. Protocol said to kill any hostiles, and Folder loved to be covered in hostiles, especially ones of the Adult and Perfect level.

Probably.

Case in point, one jumped me from behind. I wheeled around and kicked an Ikkakumon in the nose. It squealed, louder than the all-too-satisfying and yet disturbing crack where my boot connected with the furry face. I rounded on it, hearing Luna soaring down behind me in an attempt to finish the job. It scrambled backwards, raising its paws.

"Wait! Wait, hold on!"

I paused. Well, this went against the rules… I think. Then again, most Digimon on Folder didn't talk. They didn't like humans. Or at least Tamers. Light Fang gave lots of reports on that. Maybe we were civilizing things… and I was getting distracted again, god damn it. "Why?" I said abruptly.

It huffed at me, the sound awkward through a bleeding nose. "Because that hurt, you brat. That should not have hurt!"

"Union Tamer, hurting people and getting paid for it," I deadpanned. Then again, I didn't disagree with him. That was pretty weird. I mean, Dad was strong but… that was dad. Dads were probably uncommonly strong or something.

"Yeah, b-but-" It waved a giant arm at me. "They aren't supposed to do that by themselves. Their Digimon do that!"

My eye twitched. "Okay, look, dude, I feel you, you got your ass kicked by a tiny human in combat boots, it's demeaning, but I have to go and do a saving-people-thing so can you just leave me the fuck alone?"

The Ikkakumon raised itself up all of its very tall height and glared at me. "No."

I stared right back, not intimidated.

"I could roast him," Guile offered from where he was now over my head, chest lasers ready to fire.

I grimaced. "No." Then I turned sharply on my heel and kept walking.

"Where you goin'?" he yelped at me, ignoring the fact that Guile was perfectly ready to put two holes in him.

"To do my job," I replied. "Either come on or stay here with a broken nose. I ain't healing it until this is done."

Because I had other things to put my Soul into, like living.

I ignored the indignant hollering behind me, eyes sweeping the edges of the ice flows. Had to find a pipe. Macro Sea was just under here and even if it was as screwed up as Koh implied, the pipes still had to be working or this region wouldn't have been here.

I rubbed my head and kept looking. Maybe I should just let Guile do it. Was better than thinking about the fact that my feet didn't sting, even with Soul padding.

Better than thinking at all.