So we're actually gonna take a step back for this one, mostly due to Remi's last chapter. Took me a little longer to figure out how to word this part, but here it is!

Data Fragment 36: Foregone

Ken wasn't supposed to die. He wasn't even meant to get infected when Ryo took vengeance on the original Digidestined. Ryo gave that necklace to Sam because Ryo wasn't in the most...stable condition. Freshly evolved, Ryo still couldn't maintain his human form very long. He sure gave young Willis a good scare, which was pretty funny.

Sam wasn't supposed to die either, but admittedly Ryo had no way of preventing that.

Now, Ken or Sam despised him. Not after what he did to the original Digidestined. Now here they were as ghosts, in the cold room of the puppet ENIAC.

Ryo always kept a copy of himself here to protect ENIAC, but it didn't make what he needed to do now any easier.

If only the brothers accepted they weren't pure either. Rebirth in the Digital World inevitably mixed difference sources of data. So anything recreated, including souls, would have new data. Digimon data, memory data, predictive data of their behavior in the Digital World...maybe they were nothing more than projected recordings. It would explain a lot, wouldn't it?

Ryo kept telling himself that as he typed code.

Both ghosts grunted and grabbed their chests, their forms flickering violently.

"What did you do, Ryo?" Sam snarled.

"You guys are boring, so I'm deleting you now," said Ryo with a grin, as he leaned against a wall.

Both ghosts stared at him in horror. Good.

"But hey, it's not gonna be instant, so maybe you can survive," said Ryo with a smile. "All you have to do is learn to change. I'll let you guys decide what that means. Now go have a last hurrah or whatever! Warp Void!" Tendrils of translucent mist circled on the floor, creating a translucent portal that sucked the ghosts in. It would then spit them out somewhere near some Saints, as Ryo desired.

Ryo quietly watched the portal twine apart. The deletion would be slow, not to be sadistic, but to give the ghosts time to really consider if they wanted oblivion. A last chance for choice. A last change to prove they were real. That's why he left in a loophole. It was probably pointless, but it was there.

Pointless, like the revenge he took on the original Digidestined.

Pointless, like pretending to be part of the Tamers.

Pointless, and inevitable. Reducing ENIAC to an empty shell did nothing to change Ryo himself.

He let himself slide to the floor, hugging his knees to his chest.

IIIIII

Let that copy of himself cry in that little room. It was the safest way for Ryo to let out such emotions, leaving his true self clear-headed and ready to embrace the chaos he sowed.

Now he needed to find Rika. Izzy probably had her, but which base was Izzy using today? It didn't help that Izzy excelled at encryption and other tricks to conceal his presence. At least he had Rika's Dark Spore to guide him...

Wait, that wasn't Rika's. It was Ken's. So this was where he ended up...

Ryo took a quick detour, and saw Ken glowering at three Saints.

Then Ryo spotted Davis, also angry at the Saints. That...was perfect.

"Hi Davis!" Ryo greeted loudly, startling everyone.

"Ryo, what are you doing here?" Yolei grumbled, shooting him an annoyed glance.

"Uh, hi?" greeted Davis, raising an eyebrow as Ryo approached.

"Hi Ryo!" Veemon greeted cheerfully.

Ryo was surprised Veemon still remembered him. "Hey, how's it going?"

"You know him, Veemon?" asked Davis.

"Ryo," Ken snarled, gliding between Ryo and Davis."What are you planning now?"

It saddened Ryo to see Ken act so predictably. "Ken! Perfect timing!" He tilted a little to the left to look at Davis. "Hey, did you know there's a program slowly deleting Ken?"

"Huh? Wait what?" asked Davis, his gaze snapping to Ken. "Ken, is that-"

"I would know, because I put it in there!" Ryo added with no loss of cheer.

"What?" Davis barked. "Why would you-"

"But hey, you're a Digidestined of Miracles, right?" Ryo paused as he tinkered with ENIAC.

Davis jumped as the Crest of Miracles briefly glowed gold on his chest.

"Done! You have one miracle now!" said Ryo. "You can use that to save Ken! Or use it for something else, up to you! Just put enough soul into your miracle, and it'll happen! Just remember, the bigger the miracle, the more soul it'll use! Anyway, gotta go! Have fun!" Ryo flew off before anyone could object.

There, Ryo thought. It won't be such a foregone conclusion now.

IIIIII

So once again, Ryo is Ryo and throws wrenches in everyone's plans, including his own lol.

Btw, trying to edit anything during the Silvagunner Professor K stream was a mistake XP.