32) Shibumi
"Now that that's settled", Koichi announced, "how about a swim to wash that desert off?"
"Good idea", Renamon, Impmon, and Leomon agreed.
"What about me?", Juri asked.
"Tell you what", you and Leomon go first. "Then we'll go", Kazu siggested.
Koichi and Renamon went last, and by this time, everyone knew why. They swam to Orochimon's island for another session of love making.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
The data stream deposited Takato, Jen, and Terriermon in some sort of water world. They surfaced in an air pocket that looked to be a partially submerged cave.
"It looks hopeless", Takato was saying, "there doesn't seem to be any way out".
"If you're worried about Guilmon, I'm sure the others are taking good care of him", Jen encouraged. It looked like Takato was dangerously close to one of his depressive funks. Although Jen secretly agreed: this was looking hopeless.
"Terriermon?", Jen asked.
"Leave it to me", as the dog/rabbit dived in.
"I'm sure he'll find a way out of here, or at least another air pocket", Jen reassured.
Terriermon surfaced: "So how did it go?", Jen asked him. Terriermon shook himself dry.
"It's like a maze down there. If there's any way out, I sure couldn't find it".
"Did you find another air pocket, at least?"
"No..."
"I see..."
"What now?", Terriermon asked.
"Takato!", Jen called out.
"What?"
"If you want to see Guilmon again, we have to figure some way out. It won't happen if you just sit there feeling sorry for yourself".
"Sorry... you're right...", he paused to consider something. "What about cutting through the wall? But, how can we?"
"Let's try it!", Jen reached for his digivice and cards.
"That won't work", Takato objected, "the cards, digivice... were underwater. That probably fucked them up".
"We still have to try... Dorulumon's Drill: digimodify!"
It worked, and Terriermon got busy working on that wall.
The Material World
"All we've gotten out of you people is the run-around! Up till now, we have heard nothing! We don't need an explanation! Just tell us where this 'Digital World is", Kazu's father was complaining.
"We'll bring him home ourselves", his mother insisted.
The parents of the Tamers were meeting with the Wild Bunch at a fancy hotel restaurant located at the top of a downtown hotel. The circular dining room rotated slowly, giving everyone a panoramic view of the Tokyo skyline.
"We didn't tell you anything until now because we didn't know anything. It's only recently that we have heard back from the children. We invited you here to discuss it as soon as we were able.
"It's not that easy", Daisy objected. "You can't just book an airline flight".
She broke down in tears.
"Hang in there", another of the parents encouraged.
"It's alright", her husband was telling her. "At least he left a note... Still, if he'd told us, we could've said 'Good bye'"
"What do you mean 'Good bye'?", Victoria was saying, "Koichi and the others will be coming back"
"And you act like you don't even care! What kind of parents..."
"Settle down", Juri's father was saying, "Mr. Lee was going to tell us about Juri and the other children. He can't do that if you keep interrupting".
"I understand how you feel, Mr., Mrs. Shioda". Janyu offered. "I'm in the same situation as you are. My son, Jenyra and his partner went there as well... Anyway, where was I?"
"You were going to tell us why it has to be children", Takato's father asked, "Tell us"
"Allow me", Rob "Dolphin" McCoy began his explanation. "Even though we, as adults, developed digimon originally, the ideas for their forms and abilities actually came from my young son. So you could say that digimon were developed by children, for children. Digimon simply like children..."
"Dolphin, that's nonsense and you should know better", Curley objected. "Who's playing the video games, drawing the fanart, writing the fanfic? How many in their thirties, forties, fifties, are doing that? How many adults expose themselves to the digimons' awareness? Damn few. That doesn't mean that there aren't any..."
"Then why in the hell didn't any of you go!", Juri's father said. "You created the damn things, after all?!"
"Mr. Katou, all of that is true", Janyu explained. "However, we were young comp-sci students. When our work didn't attract the attention and support we hoped it would, there were the demands of starting new careers, then starting families. We simply lost contact with the whole project. There was no reason we couldn't have gone instead, except we didn't even know digimon were in this world. It never occurred to me that Jen's Terriermon plushie wasn't what it appeared to be. Yeah, I thought it strange Jen was still playing with stuffed animals at his age, but if it helped with his obsession over that video game, who were we to complain? I didn't know about digimon until a chance meeting with Impmon, and it wasn't exactly a good introduction either. We would have preferred going in the place of our kids. It wasn't to be".
"Why are they always dragging our kids into their shit? Why can't these damn digimon show a little self-reliance for once?!"
"As for why, they went to recover this Calumon, who controls evolution. Some nasty digimon who's been sending his Deva to attack the Material World captured him. If he can tap into that power, he just might make good on the threats he made on more than one occasion. I agree with their decision to go to try to recover him... Granted, I don't particularly like the idea myself, and probably wouldn't've given my permission, but looking back on it, they really had no choice".
The Digital World: Water Space
"Oh hell!", Terriermon called out, as a torrent of water poured through the hole he'd made.
"Yukidorumon's Absolute Zero Punch: digimodify!", Jen scanned the card that allowed Terriermon to form an ice plug.
"That was close", Jen said.
"So we're surrounded by water?", Takato asked. "Maybe another card... I don't understand", Takato said. "I was sure... I mean, they're not waterproof, are they? Certainly not the cards even if the digivices are?"
"I hadn't thought of that", Jen told him, "unless...". He went to the water's edge, and scooped up a handful. "What if we only think the water's wet?"
"Huh?", Takato asked.
"We see the water, and accept what our senses tell us is the reality of this world, but that's not right. Isn't this a world of form without substance? Isn't it composed of pure data? We accept the wetness of the water because that's what we expect"
"So you mean I got wet because I thought I would?", Terriermon asked.
"I believe so", Jen theorized. "Maybe...", he wondered.
"What are you thinking?", Takato asked.
"I'm going to try something", he said as he dived in.
"...297... 298... 299... 300", Takato was counting off approximate seconds. This made nearly five minutes. No way could he stay underwater that long... "Jen?", he asked.
A few seconds later, Jen surfaced, and climbed out: "Feel my clothes, my hair", he requested.
"Dry", Takato observed. "So that means..."
"You can't drown unless you think you will. Of course, you must not have any doubt, otherwise, it won't work. If you believe you won't drown, then we can find a way out no matter how long it takes".
"I don't know..."
"Takato, it's not like we have much choice. Terriermon's ice plug isn't going to last forever. Better we go now".
"Moumentai!", Terriermon encouraged. "Everything Jen said makes sense. And he was under for a long time, wasn't he?"
The Material World
"We're planning on contacting all our former colleagues", Babel was promising, "to research a solution to this problem, find a way to get the kids back. Tao, can we leave it up to you..."
"Excuse the interruption", there was a new arrival.
"Yamaki!", Janyu said, "what do you want?", he asked with suspicion. Yamaki was the last person he ever expected to see here.
"There's something I'd like to show you... all of you", as he opened his lap top.
"Yesterday, over the Hypnos building, that was Shaggai. Haven't you learned anything?!", he accused.
"That wasn't my doing", Yamaki explained. "I tried to warn them that there was something very wrong with the whole program. They didn't listen...", he decided to cut short his rant. "We got there just in time to shut it down before it did any real damage".
He placed the lap top in front of Koichi's father: "Have a look at this".
"A message from Koichi?", he asked. "They're OK!", Doyle said.
"Why was it sent to you?", Janyu asked.
"Before they left, I gave Koichi my hand-held, so they could contact us".
"Are there any other e-mails?", he asked. "Can you send one?", he asked. "For all of us?"
"Let's see...", Yamaki began to type out a message...
The Digital World
"A reply?", Koichi asked himself. "Oh hell!", he said. "It looks like there's some sort of gathering, and all our folks are there. What do we do about Takato, Jen and Terriermon?"
"Let the others answer", Renamon suggested. "Best not to worry them; don't tell 'em Takato and Jen have gone missing".
Kenta, Kazu, and Juri wrote their replies.
"What do you suppose Takato and Jen would say?", Koichi asked.
The Material World
"Thanks for that", Janyu offered his hand. "We'd appreciate your help".
"My pleasure".
"I think we can trust him", Babel said.
"Now if we only had Shibumi", Curley told him.
"So far, we haven't been able to locate him, I'm afraid".
"Not locate him?"
"No idea where he's hiding, or even why".
The Digital World
"Takato", Jen reprimanded, "you're not gonna drown. I'm not, am I, so you don't have to hold your breathe".
"Moumentai!", Terriermon called out, as he dived to the bottom, and bounced up, doing a back flip to demonstrate they would be OK.
Takato finally let out his breathe, and saw that Jen and Terriermon were right. It was definitely strange, feeling as though being underwater in every way, except for not being wet, and being able to "breathe". He copied Terriermon, doing a dive and back flip. Now, the only question was how to find some way out...
"What's that?", he asked.
They'd come to a wall, with a barely visible, though definite, circle inscribed on it. It looked too perfect to be natural.
"Door of some kind?", Jen speculated.
"Then open it?"
They swam to the door, but it wasn't opening.
"Stand aside", Terriermon ordered, as he ran into it hard enough to cause it to swing open on a horizontal axle. The rush of water pulled them through.
They met their first underwater digimon...
Otamamon
Amphibious animal digimon
In-training
Jen ran a profile. They were like small, blue tadpoles in appearance. They swam off, but something else was arriving.
Hangyomon
Anthro animal digimon
Ultimate
The first thing he did was skewer Takato's backpack with a hand held harpoon attached to a cord, the same type of harpoon used for fishing.
"Why are you attacking us?!", Jen demanded.
Hangyomon retrieved his harpoon and threw it at Terriermon, who dodged.
"Stop!", Terriermon demanded, as Hangyomon hit him, sending him flying.
He then attacked Jen, who, at first, tried swimming away, though he was at a tremendous disadvantage. He dodged the harpoon, and put to good use the skills Cho-sensei taught him. A kick disarmed him, and Takato caught the harpoon.
"Good going, Jen!", he encouraged.
Jen delivered a couple more kicks, then got Hangyomon in a head lock, and rammed his head into a rock.
"Awesome!", Terriermon complimented. "Now, my turn: Petit Twister!", he launched his attack.
"I give up!", Hangyomon called out, as he dropped to the bottom, and six Otamamon came to see if he was alright...
"You thought we were attacking the Otamamon?", Jen asked, incredulous.
"No", Takato said, "it's a misunderstanding", he explained.
"The sea is filled with predators", Hangyomon explained, "and we can't always take the chance of seeing who's a threat and who isn't. Their only defense, such that it is, is blowing bubbles... We're sorry", he apologized.
"Moumentai, moumentai", Terriermon replied.
"Now that that's settled, do you know where the exit is?", Takato asked.
"Exit?", Hangyomon asked, "where did you want to exit?"
"We came from a desert..."
"Desert?"
"A world without water", Jen explained.
"Such a world exists?", Hangyomon asked.
"This is the only place you know?", Takato asked.
"Yeah... but if there is an exit? Maybe?"
Hangyomon led them to a large pipe: "If there's an exit, then I don't know where else it could possibly be".
"I'll check it out", Terriermon offered, as he swam towards the opening.
"Don't!", Hangyomon ordered.
"Moumentai", Terriermon said as he disappeared into the opening. There was a crackle of electricity, and Terriermon came flying back out.
"That was rather shocking", he said.
"As I was about to explain", Hangyomon said, "there's that electrical defense, and no one can get through. I don't know why, or what it's protecting".
"We have to get through there somehow", Takato said.
Jen thought about it...
"You said the Otamamon make bubbles?"
"That's all they can do", Hangyomon confirmed.
"If they made enough bubbles", Jen explained, "then maybe we could get through? Would you ask them?"
The half dozen otamamon began to blow bubbles, in sufficient quantities to encase them within a bubble.
"Good idea Jen", Takato congratulated, "use a bubble to guard against that electrical defense".
"Bye, and good luck!", Hangyomon called after them.
"Bye-bye", Terriermon said as they disappeared down the pipe.
The inside of the pipe was pitch black, and looked endless. Then they saw a light ahead that grew brighter as they approached what looked like the end. However, it wasn't. This pipe connected to a transparent conduit of some sort.
It was one of many, all connected to an assortment of nodes that filled the strange space. Except for the occasional dust packet drifting past, they saw no other signs of life or occupation. At least nothing that could pose a threat.
"Now what?!", Takato asked. "How in the hell do we know which one to take? What if there are more electrical barriers?"
"Moumentai".
They couldn't tell if these nodes were filled with air or water. As soon as they entered the node, the bubble burst. It was filled with water.
"Now where?", Takato asked.
"Follow them?", Jen pointed to several owl-like creatures who were "flying" past. They had no better idea.
Something began to appear ahead, at first indistinct. As they got closer, it was a library that looked like it was straight out of 1900 that was just suspended with nothing to support it. Arched, leaded and stained glass windows, red brick construction, slate roof. Stone steps from a nonexistent sidewalk up to a stone porch. It obviously had two stories, with a central spire over the front doors that looked like polished oak. Terriermon pushed open the doors, and they stepped through a wall of water that defied every law of hydrodynamics, as it didn't immediately flood in.
The interior was completely dry, even with that slightly musty old book smell. Lines of shelves packed with books. Fresh flowers in planters, interior lit by candle light. It looked as if no one had been here in a very long time, if ever. No librarian wsa on duty.
"Who's maintaining it, and what is a library doing here?", Takato asked.
"No idea", Jen replied.
They climbed a staircase to an upper level. There, they discovered a sliding door that opened into a large lecture hall. The contrast couldn't be greater, as this lecture hall was lit by fluorescent lighting and looked a good deal more modern than the part of the library they'd just left.
There were two distinguishing features about this lecture hall: from the ceiling was suspended a much larger representation of their digivices; at the podium was a man, maybe late thirties, early forties, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, wearing a baseball cap over uncombed locks. He was slumped over the lectern, sound asleep, as if cat napping before his class or audience arrived.
"Excuse me", Jen called out, "sorry to disturb you, but would you please wake up?"
The ball cap wearing, bearded gentleman looked up through one eye: "You guys sure look solid", he said.
"And you're looking a bit transparent", Takato observed.
He held up a hand: "So it would seem", he said as though there were nothing unusual about this.
"Who are you? Are you human? How long have you been here?", Jen asked.
"Who am I? Goru Mizuno, Shibumi to my friends. Am I human? Yes. How long... I wonder", he said as he sat up, taking off the cap.
"How did you get here?", Jen asked.
"I could ask you the same thing", he said as he placed his hands under his chin, "how did you get here? No, that question is useless. I already know who you are, after all, I created you myself"
"What are you talking about?", Takato asked. "Are you still half asleep?"
"I am... actually it isn't just me. All of mankind is asleep. When we wake up, it will be time for a new evolution"
"That's crazy talk; are you fucked up on drugs or something?", Takato asked.
"You wouldn't happen to be one of my father's old colleagues? He used to be a part of the Wild Bunch: Lee, Janyu Lee", Jen asked.
"Tao? You're Janyu's son? Good memories, good times".
"And I'm Terriermon", Terriermon introduced himself.
"I'm Takato Matsuda".
"Matsuda? I don't recall anyone by that name... high school, maybe... Oh well, never mind. After all, I'm only dreaming"
Two of those bird-like critters they followed to the library flew past: "Those are kinda cute, what are they?", Takato asked.
"I really don't know...", Shibumi started.
"They're not digimon?", Jen asked.
"Definitely not: they're something else - a type of artificial life that evolved completely independent of digimon. They were here first, that much I know. They have a language all their own that has, so far, defied all attempts at translation. I've tried, the digimon have been trying for a long time, but, so far, no one has had any success. For lack of a better term, I call then 'digignomes'. What I do know is that they can cross the Frontier, coming and going, at will. They have the ability to transform matter. Have you ever heard something, and looked around and nothing was there? Ever just catch the briefest glimpse of something at the corner of your eye, only to look around and see nothing? Ever put something down, and not been able to find it again, even a few minutes later, even though you were certain where you put it? If you have, chances are you met a digignome and didn't know it.
"There is so much we don't understand about this world. How long has it been in existence? Did we create it the century before last, when the first digital technology took off, and the telegraph spanned, first continents, then oceans, starting in the 1870s? Did it arise out of the telephone exchanges set up in the early decades of the 20th century? Is it the result of the growth of the Internet? Could the Digital World be as old as the universe itself, and our information technology is just now making us aware of its existence? If only I could understand the digignomes, may be I'd have answers".
"So they're living things?", Takato asked.
"What do you care if it's a living thing or not? Even the Earth is alive, you know. When you take an ecosystem for a living thing, then it doesn't matter if they are alive or not".
"Enough with that incomprehensible hippie bullshit, please", Takato asked. He was distracted: one of the digignomes was carrying something: "Blue Cards!", he exclaimed.
"While it looks like that particular data storage medium to you, all it really is, is an algorithm".
"An algorithm?", Jen asked, "Could you explain more?", he requested.
"I think Tao and the guys have long forgotten all about digimon. That's too bad. It's been my wish to see that digimon could evolve themselves far beyond human expectations. That algorithm I developed - that you know as the 'Blue Card' - was designed to strip off the limitations, such as the idea that digimon is an existence only as a program. Or the idea that the 'Net is just another mode of communication".
"We became Tamers when we used the Blue Cards", Takato said.
"Is that so?", Shibumi asked.
"Yeah, I scanned my Card Fighter score keeper with a Blue Card, and it changed into a digivice". Takato pulled it out and showed it to Shibumi: "This one, to be exact. Those cards also work for something called 'Matrix Evolution', that takes our partners to their Ultimate levels".
"They were designed to do just that: take off limitations. It was digignomes who recreated your score keeper as a digivice. That is part of their natural abilities, to transform matter. How they manage to do that, well, that's a whole 'nother story".
"Oh, what happened?", Terriermon asked, as a digignome landed on his head.
"Since they don't speak our language, they communicate through sign and body language. If I could understand better, things would become clearer to me".
Two of the digignomes took hold of Takato's digivice: "Huh? What're ya doin?", He asked. They set it up in front of him, and it began to project an image onto the green board behind the lectern.
"That's the picture I drew", Takato said as the digivice projected his first crude sketch of Guilmon. As he watched, a collection of dust packets covered the image. Next, Guilmon's outline appeared, then filled in with ones 'n' zeros. More details appeared, until the figure of Guilmon was complete, including various views, much like a CAD program might produce.
"That's the digimon you designed", Shibumi explained.
"Huh?", Takato asked.
"That's Guilmon - he's our partner", Terriermon explained.
"That's their way of communicating. They must've gathered the data from dust packets to create Guilmon, using your drawings and specifications as the core program".
"So Guilmon is... just data?", Takato sounded disappointed.
"Aren't we all?", Shibumi explained, "You, me, Jen, Terriermon, Guilmon... aren't we all 'just data' (finger quotes)? What is DNA, if not another medium for the storage of data, just like the Blue Cards? Are the Digital and Material Worlds really that different?"
"I never looked at it quite like that", Takato said. He recalled that Terriermon had said much the same thing, back when he first told them about how Guilmon "phased out" as they walked past that tunnel that concealed that digital anomaly that almost got him. He didn't believe it at the time.
"Let's get down to business", Jen said, "Do you know the way out of here?"
"Where do you want to go?", Shibumi asked.
"A desert wilderness where we came from, I guess, the top layer of the Digital World?", Jen suggested.
"No, you can't mean the top. That's the domain of the four Holy Beasts. You must've come from one of the lower layers".
"You mean Qinglongmon and company?", Takato asked. "They protect the Digital World, right?"
"Didn't Guilmon tell us that one of them, the one that calls himself 'God', went rogue? Like Cherubimon?" Jen asked.
"Not exactly", Shibumi explained, "There is some sort of factional infighting going on between the Sovereign. I don't know all the details, but it involves a difference of opinion concerning what to do about an old enemy that has returned to threaten the Digital World. The Sovereign would do anything to survive, and I suppose the one calling himself 'God' has run out of patience with his colleagues. He may indeed be acting on his own, without the approval of the others, but it's not a coup. He wants to hurry up evolution to prepare to counter this threat. That's what I've been able to gather, but I'm sure I haven't gotten all the details right".
"What enemy?", Jen asked.
"Now that I do not know".
With that, the digivice model hanging from the ceiling activated: a hatch opened, a beam of light shone on Takato, Jen, and Terriermon. They felt themselves being lifted towards the open hatch.
"Aren't you coming?", Terriermon asked Shibumi.
"If you want to sit, you sit. If you want to sleep, you sleep", he replied as he returned to resting his head on his arms to continue his cat nap.
Once they were on board, the ceiling above them opened, and the digivice shaped vehicle rose through it, as the water above, once again, defied hydrodynamics and did not flood into the lecture hall below.
"Takato", Jen encouraged, "you'll see Guilmon soon".
"It's not that", Takato explained. "I'm getting sick and tired of all this bullshit..."
"Moumentai!"
"Don't 'moumentai' me...", Takato reprimanded.
"What is it?", Jen asked.
"Look around you", he explained, "there's no cockpit, no navigation, no nothing... Haven't you noticed? We're being played here, and I don't like it one bit. Where in the hell is this thing taking us? For what purpose? Haven't you noticed? How convenient it was to step off that clay cube and just then Makuramon went flying by? How convenient it was to just run into Hangyomon, who just happened to know how to get us out? You saw that water space? It had about a bazillion nodes, and we just happen to pick the one that brought us to that library where one of your father's old colleagues just happened to be waiting for us? What's he doing here anyway? Like Koichi would say, that's hitting the lottery kind of luck. Something's going on here, and I damn well want to know what it is!"
"Moumentai! We'll find out when we're meant to find out".
"I think he's right about that", Jen explained. "Yeah, I noticed the 'coincidences' (finger quotes) too, and you're right: they are a little too coincidental. There's some providence at work here..."
"Like what?!"
"The digignomes, perhaps..."
"If they want something, then why don't they come out with it? Why are they fucking with us?"
"Maybe they can't do anything else? Shibumi said they had some unusual abilities; he didn't say they were omnipotent. Maybe they have another reason..."
"Like what?"
"Well, for starters, how about how we've all learned to work together? Before, would you imagine yourself working with someone like Koichi? Could you imagine that someone twice our age would bother to give us the time of day? If they're delaying, that would be a very good reason, don't you think?"
"I suppose so... but I still don't like being taken on rides to God knows where, and for God knows what..."
"Moumentai! I'm sure we're going exactly where we need to be".
"I think that's the best way to look at it", Jen agreed. "What other choice do we have?"