Digital Shuffle
By famirad
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Digimon.
Author's Note: Third season, centered around Takato and Jenrya (and one more character). Switches to the other characters from time to time. Takes just before Yamaki sets forth his Juggernaut plan (like, a day or two before the Juggernaut is activated. Don't really know the exact episode, guess between Episodes 12 and 14) departs from canon from there and goes off in a different direction).
Italics for thoughts and emphasis and sound effects
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Digital Shuffle
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(Chapter 3 – Kincaid)
Terriermon watched with wide eyes as Guilmon demolished Jenrya's lunch. He hadn't thought it was possible to eat that much food in three seconds, but Guilmon proved him wrong. Jeez, he's got one big appetite, he thought to himself, amazed. Guilmon sniffed about the empty knapsack, turning it over with his snout and then made a mournful sigh.
"No more food?"
"You ate all of it! Y'know, you're gonna get fat one day." Terriermon said. No way a Digimon could eat that much every day and not gain weight.
Guilmon shook his head, "Will not."
"Will too."
"Will not." Guilmon paced around the stone shed, tail swishing. "I never gain weight."
Terriermon scrunched up his black nose. He found that hard to believe: he knew he could never inhale so much food! Maybe it was because he was smaller. Guilmon was at least three times bigger than he was. Terriermon flopped down on the floor, leaning back on his paws. There wasn't much of a point in arguing, and besides, he was too bored to continue. At least he had some company. He never liked waiting for Jenrya to get out of P.E, but he didn't have much of a choice. Guilmon was easily better than hiding in a locker all day.
He happened to have a little thing against smelly lockers.
Terriermon reached up and removed the watch he left looped around his ears. It took an hour for him to get from the school to the park (small legs to thank for that) and he spent ten minutes trying to open the gate to the shed (short height to thank for that). He hadn't been able to reach the handle until Guilmon padded over to help.
He turned the watch over in his paws so the face was now toward him. He squinted, moving so he wasn't in the glare of the sun and could read it. Almost two. One more hour before Jenrya got out of school. The Digimon looped the watch around his right ear again, and stood up, stretching. Guilmon stopped pacing, turning his large eyes on Terriermon.
"You're leaving already?" he asked.
"Yup," Terriermon said, "But you're coming with me. We're meeting Jenrya."
Guilmon beamed. "Oh, are we playing? Tag, maybe?"
Terriermon laughed. That seemed like a really good idea! "I don't know. If we do, I don't wanna be It!"
Guilmon pushed open the barred gate, talking as he did so. "Okay, then I'll be It."
"You gotta give me a head start too. It's not fair 'cause I'm not as big as you."
"Okay. Thirty seconds." Guilmon started down the sloping stone steps. He hunched down to let the smaller Digimon climb up onto his scaled back. "So, where're we going?"
"You know that tunnel? The one Takato tried to hide you in?"
"Yeah."
"That one." Terriermon wrapped his tiny black claws around the ridges on Guilmon's back. "But I don't know if we're gonna have enough time to play Tag. I think this's some sort of meeting."
"Is it secret?"
Terriermon shrugged. "How would I know?"
Guilmon thought this over as he slipped through the trees, winding his way down the hill. The setting sun sent out beams of afternoon light shooting through the trunks and leaves, the two Digimon weaving through the shafts. "Oh, I can't wait!" Guilmon was saying, "First, when we get there, I'm going to ask why Takato didn't bring me anything to eat. Then, I'm going to tackle him!"
Terriermon blinked as he held on to the other. "Tackle him? Why? That sounds painful."
"Because I'm glad to see him. Why else?" Guilmon answered. He laughed, " 'Sides, Takato doesn't mind when I tackle him."
"Right…" Terriermon dubiously said. He didn't really buy that – after all, Jenrya complained when he leaped at him. Why would Takato feel any differently? Guilmon was so much bigger it had to hurt being tackled. Like getting run over by a small bulldozer, he imagined. A small, red dinosaur bulldozer. Terriermon tugged on Guilmon's wing-shaped ear as he started to step out from the thinning foliage. "No, Jenrya said we're supposed to stay hidden. Secret-like."
Guilmon bobbed his wedge-shaped head in a nod of understanding. "Top secret-like."
He turned around and trotted down through the bushes, making his own trail. The branches scratched against his hide. Guilmon hardly noticed, his thick scales proving to be imperious to snagging twigs. Terriermon ducked as one low branch swung past and sat up as they hurried through the greenery. Guilmon moved at a rapid pace, the muscles in his hind legs working as he trotted. They were making good time. Terriermon glanced at the sun, close to the jagged horizon of the sprawling city. It probably wouldn't take that long to get to the meeting place.
Guilmon hummed happily. He was looking forward to seeing Takato – maybe his friend would like to play with him later. It was fun playing with everyone else, but there was something special about having his partner all to himself.
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Yamaki crushed the spent cigarette in the ashtray. He briefly considered lighting another one, but decided against it. Too many of these things would kill his lungs and he preferred to be able to breathe, thank you very much. He needed to throw away the rest of the pack, otherwise he'd just probably light another one on reflex. Easy to slip into old habits again.
Now Yamaki stood on the floor of the main deck. The Yuggoth system was still in working order. He almost expected they would've done something to it. After all, the Four had already sealed up the two floors the Juggernaut system occupied, and he had been concerned they might've decided to do the same to the Yuggoth. Thankfully, they left it untouched, no sign they even entered the room. Something he supposed he could be thankful for.
He looked at his watch as he crossed the command deck. A little past three. The techs just left to take their break. Yamaki glanced up at the sprawling dome where the multiple screens were glowing their normal blue and green. No sign of any attempts to bio-emerge, no warning sounds from the quietly beeping and buzzing machinery.
Yamaki reached up, pushing up his sunglasses. One of the new techs was climbing into one of the high-rising chairs, the first of the next shift. Reika called in earlier in the morning saying she would probably be late for her shift, so he had to call in one of the newer employees to take her place. This replacement had been hired only five months ago, he recalled, because he was pretty sure he had seen that cropped, almost neon-purple hair before. All he knew was that she was a foreigner, though her Japanese was nearly flawless. He couldn't for the life of him place that strange accent. What was her name? Something that started with a "K"? Kincaid, he suddenly remembered.
" 'Afternoon, Mr. Yamaki!" She called down as the chair began to lift into the air. "When did you start smoking?"
He nodded, a little surprised as he noticed he was still holding the opened pack in his hand. Observant girl, he noted.
"Since today."
Kincaid settled back into the chair, pulling on the goggles over her silver eyes. She leaned over her computer terminal and shook her head at the man standing below her. "That stuff's bad for you, sir!"
Yamaki felt a grudging smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Normally, he wouldn't allow unnecessary conversation between the workers and himself, but sometimes he'd let some of it slide by. She was good at her job and useful at other tasks, most likely why Nagamora sent her over as soon as soon as the construction on the Juggernaut began. Originally, she oversaw the production, but recently she was assigned to another station. If Yamaki remembered correctly, Kincaid had also been the one who adapted his vague idea of the Juggernaut into solid blueprints. Apparently she was skilled at multi-tasking, something Yamaki also approved of.
He had forgotten about her, what with all the bio-emerging Digimon. He reminded himself to consider her for a raise.
"I do. And I ignore them." Yamaki said, shoving the pack into his pocket. "How long's your shift, Kincaid?"
The reply drifted down. "Eight hours, Mr. Yamaki!"
"You've been stationed up there before?"
"Sure have. Twice. This is my third time."
Yamaki raised an eyebrow. "You know what to do?"
"I learn fast." A cheeky grin.
Yamaki shook his head. He didn't really like the idea of having someone with little experience on the Yuggoth deck, but he supposed Kincaid could use this as an opportunity to get used to the controls. It would be useful if he could have more people accustomed to the Yuggoth than just Reika and Kei.
"Yamaki!"
He turned around. A burly man jogged toward him, clutching several sheets of computer printouts in one hand. He couldn't recall the man's name, but Yamaki recognized him as one of the original Digimon programmers. He nodded in greeting as the programmer came to a stop before him, struggling to remember the other's name. His face remained an expressionless mask as he sized up the other man:
"Yes, what is it?" Yamaki asked.
"We've come across something which might explain why the Digimon seem to be appearing with increasing frequency."
He nodded. "And?"
"Actually, it's not really anything more than a theory, but," the programmer handed him the print-outs, "Take a look at this," he pointed at one of the sheets. "This is the total number of Digimon appearing nine months ago." He pointed again. "And this is the number of Digimon five months ago. And the Digimon appearances this month. Are you seeing a pattern?"
"They've tripled."
"My colleagues have been studying some other data – the recent weather, where these Digimon seem to be appearing, what…uh…'levels' these Digimon are when they appear – and we noticed something. First of all, almost all of the Digimon appear primarily in Japan, mostly here in Tokyo." The programmer reached over and pulled out another computer printout. "Nine months ago, only high-level Digimon were appearing. Recently, the weaker Digimon have also been appearing, as well as some of the stronger ones. The weather has also been acting in an abnormal fashion since then."
"It snowed at the end of the summer," Yamaki muttered to himself. He remembered how the media had a field day with that one. The same thing with the strange drought mid-October.
"Actually, we don't have any truly solid proof, but I've come up with an explanation for all of this but…ah, well, it is a little far-fetched."
Yamaki made an impatient gesture for the other to continue.
"I believe the barrier between our world and the digital one is weakening, which might explain why the Digimon appearances are increasing. It also explains the bizarre weather: contact with the digital plane just might throw the weather patterns off. I think Japan, no, Tokyo, is the focal point."
"So you're basically suggesting Tokyo is a convenient bridge? That Tokyo is where the Digital World and our own are closest to each other?"
"Basically. But we don't have solid proof, as I said before."
Yamaki grimaced, handing the papers back. "Makes sense to me. Do you think there would be any way to strengthen this hypothetical 'barrier' of yours?" It might be easier to simply block the data from entering our world than just deleting all them. But if this "barrier" were weakening, then it would probably still continue to deteriorate, even if it was strengthened. From what he's described to me, it's almost like something's…eating away at this supposed "barrier"…
"I can't really say. It should be possible to fix the…" the burly man trailed off, at a loss for words.
"Tears?"
"Tears," the black man agreed. "The tears in the barrier. But if that was the case, it's also possible to open them further. The only thing I can be sure of is that it would take an incredible amount of energy. I don't even know if we have the technology to do any of this."
Yamaki shrugged. "That's not your concern. You should just focus on finding that code I requested." He paused. "But it was good you came to me about this. I want you and your team to pursue this idea of yours."
He turned away, leaving the programmer to return to his team. Kei was already climbing into her chair, the young woman glancing curiously over at Kincaid, who was in Reika's usual seat. Kincaid said something over her shoulder – probably a greeting, though he was too far to hear her words – and returned to her work, her gloved fingers flying over the terminal. Yamaki crossed his arms over his chest, lost in thought.
What if there was a way to completely block Digimon from our world? If deleting them wasn't the only way to get rid of them?
Yamaki wavered for a moment.
No.
It doesn't matter what we do to these things. They're just packets of data, nothing more. These Digimon have caused more trouble then they're worth. They overstayed their welcome a long time ago!
Blocking access to the Real World would be too lenient. Best to stick to the tried-and-true method of deletion. He couldn't afford to be soft.
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Strangely enough, Takato's eyes hurt. Actually his whole body ached, but his eyes hurt the most. It felt like someone decided to take a couple of pins and poke some holes into them. As he slowly came to, he began to realize there was something wrong, completely ignoring the fact all his limbs were sore and the muscles in his back were utterly killing him for some unexplained reason.
In fact, the only thing he was sure of was he didn't want to get up. Something said he'd regret it.
Where am I? Takato wondered. He started to become aware of his surroundings: of the small, sharp objects pressing themselves into the small of his back, the sense he was outside (last time he checked, his bed was indoors), and that someone was standing over him. This last observation made him uneasy – he instinctively knew this wasn't anyone he knew. This had to be (according to his parents' warnings) a Stranger.
He tried to move his legs. They refused to budge. Arms wouldn't either.
Ouch.
Takato decided he needed to think: he didn't know how long he was out, though he had a feeling several hours passed. Guilmon woke me up and then we were heading to Tokyo Tower…something was wrong though…it was distracting, trying to think with a huge headache that was, at the moment, pounding his skull with a pair of heavy-duty hammers. More painful than the rocks digging into his back. Ow …please let this be a bad dream…
"It's not."
Takato froze in mid-thought, unaware he'd spoken aloud, as the alien voice continued.
"You will be wishing it was, however." The voice was definitely not human, but he could hear the thinly veiled contempt.
The Tamer abruptly found himself wide-awake. His vision blurred. At first he didn't see the form towering over him as his vision swam. When he finally focused, he immediately wished he hadn't as he saw the owner of the voice. Takato tried to scramble away, panic making him unable to cut off his squeak of surprise. Before he could get far, a cloven hoof slammed down a few inches above his head. Takato froze again. If he'd moved a little bit faster, the force of the blow would've caved in his skull. He could only stare as the large, clear (and familiar) blue eyes drew closer, looking him over.
He belatedly recalled the past events. This was the Guilmon who came into his room and tricked him, the Guilmon-that-wasn't. The only thing certain was his captor was a Digimon.
The creature bore a resemblance between a mix of an antelope, a skeleton, and an exotic bird. Lightly feathered wings swept back from the long face of the Digimon in place of ears, the lips pulled back to reveal interlaced fangs and bare, glistening gums weeping with pus. Aside from the bright blue eyes, the only signs of color was the green tips of the thick fur jutting out from its jaw-line up to the monster's forehead – the markings surrounding its eyes were a dark black. From where he was lying on the ground, Takato couldn't see the rest of the Digimon and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to: his heart was still skipping in shocked circles from his first glimpse of the Guilmon-that-wasn't.
The Digimon pulled back his head, shaking out the long mane in a gesture of irritation. After a moment of deliberation, it stepped back as it craned its head to look over its bony shoulder, the sky-blue eyes glazing over for a long moment. The lengthening shadows threw themselves against the sloping floor – Takato could see that they were at the bottom of one of the dried out aqueduct lines running through the city.
The Digimon stood over him.
"Where is it?" It demanded. "Your Digivice! Where is it?"
Takato didn't know. He only had his D-Arc, though he couldn't feel its comfortable weight at his side.
He managed to shake his head frantically. There was something wrong with this Digimon, something different from those he had come into contact with. The Digimon leaned forward, fixing him with those piercing eyes and staring right at him. Before Takato could even blink, he suddenly went blind as a wave of disorientation surged through him, leaving him light-headed as it passed and he could make out the black and red spots dancing in his range of vision.
The Digimon cursed. "Of course you'd drop it. Humans!" It then made an apparent attempt to collect itself. "You're little more than an infant. An imperfect infant, at that. It is understandable for such a clumsy creature to make stupid mistakes."
It started to shimmer, the air around it sliding around the beast like a mirage. It bobbed its head in a nod, as if acknowledging some mental question.
"Our way has been prepared for us. Your 'D-Arc' can wait." A thin layer of fog crept toward the paralyzed Tamer and the Digimon. The very same fog Takato mistook earlier for a digital field, curling around the ground in fingers.
"We mustn't delay any further…Divine Mist!"
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Jenrya leaned against the wall of the tunnel and crossed his arms across his chest.
"What are you telling Guilmon?"
"I don't know, Ruki," Jenrya said. "He has to know, but I have no idea how to break it to him."
The other Tamer frowned as she paced before him. Ruki had been the first to arrive at the meeting place and was waiting until Jenrya could finally get out of cleanup duty and race over. Jenrya didn't see Renamon anywhere, but he knew she came with Ruki. She had a habit of appearing out of thin air. Jenrya watched wordlessly as Ruki turned in her tracks and began to pace past him again. He could see she was worried as well, but she was trying to hide it by looking impatient.
"Why aren't Terriermon and Guilmon here yet?" Ruki demanded, "They're late!"
"They're probably on their way right now, Ruki. It takes a while to get here from the park, remember?"
"Whatever."
"It's not whatever."
"Stop correcting me!"
Jenrya only shrugged again. Ruki scowled at his reaction and continued her pacing. Acting like that won't automatically solve the problem. Jenry thought. If we're going to work together – as a team, for once – then we can't be having these arguments all the time. Teams work together. And what was he going to tell Guilmon? He didn't really want to have a hysterical Digimon on his hands (it was hard enough keeping track of a calm one) but he did think Guilmon needed to know Takato had vanished off somewhere. Again, Jenrya had to wonder what his friend was thinking, disappearing like that. Was there a reason? Or did someone take him? Something?
Jenrya looked sharply up at the commotion further down the tunnel. Ruki stopped pacing, head turning and her hand reaching down for her D-Arc as the scuffling sounds drew closer. There was a muffled squawk of surprise, followed by silence. A few seconds later, Renamon padded into view, holding a squirming black Digimon at arm's length by the scruff of his skinny neck. She sported several scratches from her attempt to keep the Rookie from escaping.
"Found him sneaking about," said Renamon. "Personally, I don't like him listening in on our conversations."
"Lemme go! I swear, yer gonna be sorry!"
Jenrya blinked, eyebrow arching at the sight of Impmon.
"Ya want a Bada Boom up yer nose?!" Impmon continued to squirm, glaring like it was going out of style. "What're ya dumb kids looking at? You'd think yer idiot eyes never saw a Digimon before!"
Ruki shot the Rookie a withering look, but ignored him, turning toward Renamon. "What was he doing? Did he hear anything?"
"He was eavesdropping, so he probably heard quite a bit."
Jenrya spoke up. "What are we going to do with him? I don't think we need to delete him," Impmon made a muffled squeak at this remark, "over this."
"Delete him? Why would you delete him? We only delete mean Digimon."
Jenrya turned around at the sound of the new voice. Guilmon and Terriermon headed toward him from the shadows, the rabbit-Digimon perched on Guilmon's back. Guilmon kneeled down as they reached the group to allow Terriermon to jump to the ground.
"I didn't say we would delete him," Jenrya answered.
"Oh, that's good. Say, where's Takato? I still need to tackle him." This earned a snicker from Terriermon, who was now perched on Jenrya's head.
"Ah, about Impmon here…" Renamon hastily said, steering the conversation away from Takato. Ruki had filled her in earlier about the situation.
"He's harmless," Ruki smirked in disdain at Impmon's indignant expression.
Jenrya glanced over at Guilmon: he was looking around the tunnel for Takato, his snout turned up in an expectant toothy smile. Shoot, I know this isn't going to go well. It might be a better idea to keep him in the dark for a little longer. Still, maybe Guilmon could help them out. Like, he could sniff out Takato by his scent or something…Takato did tell me Guilmon has a really strong nose. He could tell the Digimon it was a game – the locate-the-Takato game – but then he knew he'd have a lot of explaining to do later. Which wouldn't be any fun at all: he wasn't sure if Guilmon would panic or get really angry and start lobbing Pyro Spheres at him.
"Hey, Guilmon, can you keep a eye on Impmon?" Jenrya asked. Guilmon glanced from the Digimon in Renamon's hold to the Tamer, "Don't let him run away or anything – we might have some questions we might want to ask."
"Okay." Guilmon fixed a golden eye on Impmon. The furiously struggling Impmon was transferred from Renamon to the other Rookie, the scratching paws of the small Digimon proving to be useless against Guilmon's scales. Guilmon padded off. Jenrya waited until he was pretty sure the Rookie was gone before turning around and drawing the others aside.
Terriermon non-too-gently thumped the top of his head with a paw. "Now are you gonna tell me what's going on?"
"Would you stop that? I was getting to it." Jenrya protested, making a half-hearted motion to pull the heavy Digimon off his head
Ruki rolled her eyes, and spoke up. "For your information, Terriermon, Takato ran away from home - "
"- You don't know if that's for sure," Jenrya interjected.
Ruki scowled. "Well, that's what I think he did." She planted a hand on her hip, turning back to Terriermon, "No one can find him. His parents called the cops and everything. We're gonna go looking for him."
The rabbit-Digimon perched on Jenrya's head fell silent, thinking this all over.
"Ms. Hanatora said his parents think Takato went missing since last night," Jenrya added.
"What about Guilmon?" Terriermon asked.
"I don't think any of us want to break the news to him," Renamon said from her place behind Ruki. "I don't suppose you want to volunteer?"
Jenrya could feel Terriermon shake his head vigorously. "No way! Find someone else!"
"Well, that doesn't help," Jenrya said, looking up at his Digimon. He shook his head, deciding to change subjects. "Renamon, Ruki says you might be able to help us."
"I can?" Renamon sent a slightly startled glance at her partner. You'd think Ruki's never exchanged a nice word with her or something, Jenrya thought sourly. Renamon recollected herself, and gave a small smile. "Perhaps I can, if Ruki feels that way."
"She said you're always out at night. Did you see anything?"
Jenrya felt his heart sink as Renamon shook her head.
"No, I wasn't anywhere near Takato's neighborhood last night. In fact, the only person I know who would have seen anything would be…" Renamon trailed off, her blue eyes suddenly narrowing as she thought of something. She pushed herself away from the wall. "Impmon! I knew he wasn't telling me everything!"
Ruki glanced over her shoulder with disapproval at her partner. "You talked with that small fry?"
"He was sneaking about as usual, Ruki. I can't stop him from going where he pleases." Renamon touched the young girl's shoulder to show she wasn't hiding anything, "But he did mention something that might be helpful."
Jenrya felt Terriermon fold his paws across the top of his head, as if his Tamer was some sort of desk. "What makes you think we can trust 'im?"
"I never said anything about trusting him. I merely said he told me something that might help us now," Renamon said, her tail swishing lazily behind her. "He babbled about seeing something interesting at Tokyo Tower," she waved a paw, "But he also made this odd remark: I think his exact words were 'might want to call those other loser 'Tamers', if you can find all of them'." Renamon held up her paws, seeing Ruki frown at this. "That's what he said. I have an excellent memory."
"That's some nerve for such a weak Digimon," Ruki growled.
Jenrya glanced down at the ground, trying to think. So Impmon must've seen something, he knew Takato was missing when he talked to Renamon. He didn't like this. Too many questions were cropping up, and all his old ones were still unanswered. And what did Tokyo Tower have anything to do with Takato? Takato lived far from the building. Had Impmon actually seen Takato leave? Or…maybe the Digimon had a hand (well, paw) in Takato's disappearance. Jenrya felt a surge of anger. He had never really liked Impmon and if he had been responsible for his friend vanishing like that…
No, burying him alive does not make things any better.
The annoying, nagging part of his brain told him he didn't know for sure if Impmon was to blame. Jenrya took a deep breath to calm himself. I should be more concerned with finding Takato instead of searching for some scapegoat.
"Okay, so what're we going to do?" Ruki asked impatiently, her foot tapping against the floor of the tunnel.
"I guess we start searching." Jenrya said, "I think we should split up, we can cover more ground that way."
Renamon nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. But the chances of us finding him are –"
" – I think we should go to Tokyo Tower to see if there's anything there!" Ruki interrupted her partner. "I was thinking we could take Impmon with us. He could answer our questions on the way there."
Jenrya dubiously put his watch back on. "He's not going to go with you willingly."
"He will or he's going to have to deal with Renamon. Right?"
"Right, Ruki." Renamon agreed.
"Don't do anything to him if you don't have to," Jenrya said. "No matter how irritating he can get, he's also a Digimon, flesh and blood."
Ruki rolled her eyes. "I think we're all very aware of that, Jenrya."
"So you, Renamon, and Impmon are going to this Tokyo Tower?" Terriermon asked, ignoring the Tamer's sarcasm. He continued when Renamon nodded, "Then I guess I'll be going with Jenrya and Guilmon."
"Should we meet here at another time?"
"Don't bother. If I find him, I'll call the two of you."
"I have your cell number, but I don't have a cell phone myself," Jenrya said. He looked down at his watch, "My parents said I have to be back before seven for my sister's birthday, so after then, you'll have to call my home number."
"What time is it now?"
"3:41."
Ruki exchanged glances with Renamon, "We'd better get moving. Where're you guys going?"
Jenrya paused. He hadn't given this thought yet: a remote place few people visited seemed like a good hiding spot.
"They've built a new park north of the Diet building. I'm going to try looking over there."
"Fine, then it's settled." Ruki turned toward Renamon, "Ready?"
"I'm ready when you are."
Ruki started down the tunnel, breaking into a run, followed by her partner Digimon. The two quickly disappeared into the shadows. Guess we better get started. Jenrya picked up his backpack, checking his pockets to make sure he had enough money for the subway fare. It would at least be an hour trip if the subway was crowded – it usually was after school and some of the grown-ups would be getting off from work right now. Great. Jenrya loved standing pressed face-to-face with people he didn't know.
"I guess we'd better get going as well, Terriermon. Let's go get Guilmon."
"You gonna tell him?"
"…Not right now. I need him to help us out," Jenrya answered. He felt like such a jerk, always hiding things. I'll tell him tomorrow morning, he promised himself. We might find Takato before then.
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Two hours later
Things were going perfectly.
Well, as perfectly as they can go with all this planning, anyway, she thought wryly. Kincaid glanced over her shoulder at the tech sitting in the other high-rise chair. Kei was bent over her work, her fingers tapping on the terminal and focused only on doing her job. Kincaid leaned over the side of her own chair, looking down. Yamaki had shooed away the rest of the techs and was now standing near the stairs, staring intently at the PDA in his hand. He was busy as well.
Neither would notice anything if she was quiet about it.
Kincaid hunched over her terminal. He should be on his way. If only he hadn't decided to go right through the Juggernaut like that. She should've warned him about that. I've done everything I could to prepare for this…all I need to do is make sure those tracers don't lock on to him. Another cautionary glance down at Yamaki, who appeared to be completely absorbed in his work. Good. This made things a little easier.
This was, after all, for the greater good of all Digimon.
Infiltrate. It was her specialty, after all.
No matter what commands Kincaid typed into the machine, it stubbornly refused to disable the tracers. I don't have time for this. I won't have another opportunity like this. The young woman gave the panel a moment of consideration. She could set up the machine in such a way that if it made an illegal shutdown, her tracers wouldn't function in the digital plane. In fact, they probably wouldn't work online at all until some other technician fixed her machine.
She looked around to make sure no one was looking and then pulled off one of her gloves. Because of her power, she hadn't been able to completely get rid of the digital energy that seemed to stick to her the moment she arrived in Japan. Usually, it was a nuisance (especially since the electrical charge seemed to collect mostly around her hands: the reason she had to wear gloves all the time, otherwise people would stare), but for today, it would prove to be helpful.
One illegal shutdown coming up.
Kincaid pressed the tip of her finger against the softly glowing screen of the terminal, the air itself wavering around her exposed hand. For a moment, the images and icons on the screen swirled. With an almost inaudible warbling buzz, the terminal blinked off as the machine shut down. Kincaid fitted the glove back onto her hand. Well, that was easy enough! Now all she had to do was turn it back on and viola! Everything would be running except those irritating tracers.
She paused. Viola? …Well, well, looks like human language is starting to rub off on me. Bad girl. You're not supposed to adapt to them.
Kincaid gave an impish grin at her terminal as she turned it on again. That took care of the last of her problems. She had been lucky to be assigned to the Juggernaut construction. It was lucky as well Yamaki never wandered down when she had been overseeing it – it also meant he didn't see the "little" changes she had made to it. He would only see the shell he blueprinted. None of the modifications she made to prepare for her servant and his charge's arrival. She had also take the opportunity to fiddle around with the Yuggoth system when she had "found" the bug; the program was blind to her presence now.
He was coming. She could feel him drawing closer. Kincaid was finding it difficult not to smile with suppressed glee: she had prepared five months in advance for this. Months, no, years of hard work - it was all coming to a head.
Humanity had no idea what was coming.
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Jenrya trudged through the empty park. Built on a hill, it rose a bit above the city so you could get a good view of the sprawling city. Pretty and all, but Jenrya was starting to hate the climb. It didn't help he had Terriermon riding on top of his head and he had to stop every other minute so Guilmon could sniff curiously at a random rock or flower. At least no one on the subway asked any questions. They probably thought Terriermon and Guilmon were stuffed animals I was bringing home or something. Of course that wasn't true, but he hadn't made any attempt to explain himself.
"Guilmon, what're you doing?" Terriermon asked for the third time in the past ten minutes.
Guilmon raised his wedge-shaped head from a small clump of bushes. "Looking to see if Takato's hiding in here!"
"First of all, Takato couldn't possibly fit in there," Jenrya said. He explained the find-the-Takato "game", but he could tell Guilmon wasn't taking it seriously, "Secondly, Takato's probably hiding really good, so you're not going to find him in such an obvious spot."
"I see!" Guilmon scampered a few yards ahead, reptilian head swiveling as he tried to pick out more possible hiding places. Jenrya followed gamely after him, glancing down at his watch. 5:50. That didn't leave that much time before he'd have to take the subway back home. Jenrya craned his head to look up at the sky, which was quickly darkening from late afternoon into the early evening. As the three climbed higher, he could see the rest of the city start to light up. Jenrya suddenly wished he brought a flashlight as he noticed there were no overhead lamps.
"Hey, penny for your thoughts," Terriermon commented quietly.
"It's nothing." Jenrya replied. He knew his partner didn't believe a word of it so he continued. "I keep thinking I'm handling all this – everything – the wrong way. I'm making a bigger mess of things."
"You're doing the best you can. You worry too much. I think you've been really calm and stuff."
"You think that's good?"
"Well, yeah, 'course I do. Everyone can always count on you: you're the most level-headed out of all of us," Terriermon said, and Jenrya knew he was grinning although he couldn't see him. " 'Cept for me, of course."
"You're a modest one, aren't you?" Jenrya said with a laugh.
"Have to be to keep you in line, y'know. But being serious now, you expect too much from yourself sometimes. You always try to do everything without any help from anyone, even when you really do need someone to back you up. That's just shooting yourself in the leg."
"It's called shooting yourself in the foot, Terriermon."
"Same thing. You know what I'm talking about."
Jenrya fell quiet for a moment. He hadn't ever thought about himself that way. He always felt he had to be independent of others. You have to be self-sufficient, otherwise you constantly depend on others...And if you depend on others, you won't be able to do anything on your own. And if you can't do anything by yourself, you can't help those you want to care for. He knew the argument could go in circles.
"You should be more trusting about people, y'know? Not all of them are incapable of getting things done."
Jenrya didn't know what to say.
"Try to remember that, okay?"
"I'll think about it, Terriermon," Jenrya sighed. Guilmon waited for them at the top of the grassy hill, claws holding onto the railing as he tried to take in the view all at once. The Tamer called up to Guilmon, "Did you find him?"
"No! Takato's good at this game, isn't he?"
"Yeah. He's very good at it."
Guilmon raised his snout, nostrils twitching, as the others joined him. Terriermon scrambled down from his perch on Jenrya's head to balance on his partner's shoulder, making a small sound of awe as he took in the view of the carpet of lights that Tokyo. The Tamer crossed his arms over his chest, glancing around: he was about to tell them that they were going to look elsewhere, when he noticed the drawn, tense expression on Guilmon's face. He felt himself instinctively tense.
"What's wrong?"
Guilmon rumbled, his lips pulling back in a snarl, "Something bad." He leaned over the railing, claws gripping the metal tightly. He made a low growl. "It's coming!"
"Terriermon, can you feel it too?"
A tense reply, "Yeah. It's gotta be a Digimon."
Jenrya faced the direction Guilmon and Terriermon stared, across the blinking city of lights. He didn't see anything. No digital field of fog, nothing. But Jenrya trusted his partner's instincts, as well as Guilmon's. If they were acting like this, then the Digimon probably wasn't friendly, either. Talk about bad timing. First Takato goes missing and now this!
Hastily he pulled off his backpack and began searching for his D-Arc.
He had a feeling he was going to need it.
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Kincaid let her gloved hands rest on the terminal, her silver eyes closed behind the tech visor. Her servant approached the building at a rapid rate, traveling once again through the digital plane. It would only be a matter of time before the people around her would notice him. By then it would be too late. She leaned back against her chair, listening to the clack of Yamaki's metal-cased lighter.
Click.
"Sir, it's a Wild One!"
Click.
"Make sure it doesn't get through," Yamaki ordered, "Kincaid, send a tracer after it."
Oops, but sir, my tracers don't seem to be working.
"My tracer's aren't locking on."
Click.
"Kei, get me a visual image. Kincaid, try again!"
Click.
"I can't get any visual confirmation," Kei shouted down. Her fingers danced across her panel, "It's…sir, the Yuggoth has matched the signature of this Wild One with yesterday's!"
"Delete it!" Yamaki ordered, his lighter forgotten.
Sorry, Yamaki, but I can't have you doing that.
"It's starting to bio-emerge again!"
"That's impossible!"
Kincaid knew where her servant would be arriving – she had informed him as soon as he had left the Tokyo Tower, explaining where he was to take his prisoner and that he was to make a diversion so she would be able to slip away unnoticed. He gave little argument, though he made the usual derogatory remarks about the human race. She had only given a chuckle and agreed.
Kaminmon had a way with words, especially on his favorite subject. Her lips curled up in a smirk.
He's here now. Underneath us and this infernal Yuggoth system of Yamaki's…with the Juggernaut.
The blue-eyed Digimon cantered out of the fog flowing around the room, his cloven hooves touching the floor with a series of clatters. Kaminmon ignored the dead weight of the human boy – Takato, wasn't it? – slung across his spiny back, trotting away from his Divine Mist portal toward the huge shadow at the opposite of the room.
His mistress wanted a diversion. What better way than to send this whole blasted city into darkness?
The wings on his head flared open, starting to glow a bright white as he gathered his energy for his attack.
"Virus Override!"
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"It's bio-emerged – " Kei cut off as the room was suddenly bathed in darkness. Kincaid pulled off her goggles, glancing about. A blackout?It worked as a diversion, heavy handed as it was. She pushed up the panel of her terminal, looking down. She knew she could easily crawl down the structure supporting the high-rise chairs (she had been complimented for her monkey-like dexterity - the humans were so much closer to the mark than they knew), but Yamaki would probably ask where she was going. She needed to have an excuse to leave the deck.
"Dammit!" Yamaki's voice rang out from the darkness. Her silver eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, but even her keen vision was having trouble piercing the darkness and she could barely see Yamaki.
"Kei, try to get the backup power online!"
"It's not responding, sir!"
Another curse. The white noise the Yuggoth made – beeps and buzzes and clicks – was absent, leaving the room eerily quiet. Yamaki's voice now rebounded off the walls of the deck, unnaturally loud. He unconsciously lowered his voice. "Something's wrong with the connection. We need to try the breakers."
Perfect excuse. "Sir, I can do that!" Kincaid volunteered.
She could feel Yamaki turning toward her, his gaze cast in her general direction: he seemed to have no trouble in this darkness, appearing to be perfectly at home. "You know where they are?"
"Yeah," she lied.
"Bring a flashlight with you. And hurry up!"
"Will do!" Kincaid replied. Not that a flashlight would work after a Virus Override attack. But she'd bring one anyway so she wouldn't get any questions. Hopefully all those people barricading the Juggernaut deck left. I'm going to have to thank Nagamora for his help with that. Kincaid began the descent to the floor of the deck, clambering down the structure easily.
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Jenrya stared, frozen in his tracks. He couldn't believe what he had just seen happen. After all, it wasn't every day you saw the city suddenly go pitch black.
Guilmon relaxed his shoulders. He'd had been on the verge of vaulting over the railing and racing at breakneck speed down the hill toward the threat, but now he couldn't sense anything. He shook his head. "What happened to the lights?"
"A blackout," Terriermon said. He jumped down to the grassy ground, only a shadowy form in the dim light the moon was cast. "Maybe that thing we felt caused it. I mean, it's kinda weird when there's suddenly a big blackout right after we felt a Digimon coming."
Jenrya shook off his own surprise. "Maybe, but we're not sure if it was caused by a Digimon. I didn't see a digital field, did you?"
"Nope." Terriermon continued, "But I think we should take a look around, still. Never know if anything icky's sneaking around."
Guilmon shivered, his voice wavering. "Sneaking about? Like a m-monster from a movie?"
The shadowy form of Terriermon turned, and grinned. "Oh, that might be! A monster with fangs, claws and a cape, ready to suck out your juices! Maybe even your blood! Suck it out like a vacuum cleaner sucks up dust bunnies!"
"Terriermon, there's no such thing as vampires. You've been seeing too many horror movies yourself. Stop trying to scare Guilmon. And you're starting to gross me out."
"Aw, but Jenrya…"
"We have to be serious now. Tease Guilmon later," Jenrya said. He looked down at the D-Arc nestled in his hand. "Takato let me borrow his Hyper Wings card yesterday: do you mind flying up and checking things out for us?"
Terriermon shook his head, giving his consent. Jenrya pulled out the card from his pocket, and shifted the D-Arc in his hand so he could slide the Hyper Wings through the slot. He turned the Hyper Wings card in his palm and held the D-Arc raised above his head.
"Digi-Modify! Hyper Wings…activate!"
Nothing. He tried again, thinking maybe he slashed the card wrong.
"Digi-Modify! Hyper Wings…activate!"
Nothing. Again. Now what's wrong? Jenrya lowered his hands, as Terriermon shot him a bewildered look. He held up the card, inspecting it in the moonlight. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with the card – no scratches, no bent edges or no rips – in fact, it appeared to be in perfect condition. So it wasn't the card. Besides, even if there was something wrong with the card, his D-Arc shouldn't have a problem with it. After all, look how Takato made Guilmon. He said he used notebook paper So if it wasn't the card, then it must be the D-Arc itself…
"I don't think it worked," Guilmon said. "Maybe the card doesn't like your D-Arc."
"What happened, Jenrya?" Terriermon asked.
"I don't know," Jenrya returned the card to his pocket, turning the D-Arc over in his hands. The white and green casing looked fine. He hadn't dropped it recently (the device seemed to be pretty hardy anyway: you could probably run it over with a car and it would still be running), so that wasn't it. The LCD screen was blank, no longer glowing that soft green that let him know it was on. Jenrya turned the D-Arc over. The Tamer experimentally touched some of the other buttons near the display. It was as if the D-Arc had gone completely dead.
"Here, let me take a look." Terriermon stretched his paws out. He sat down on the grass as he examined the D-Arc. "Whoa, weird. I can't see what you did wrong. And I've seen Takato use the Hyper Wing card a buncha times, so it can't be the card."
"Can I see it?" Guilmon asked.
Terriermon glanced at his partner, who nodded. The rabbit-Digimon handed the D-Arc to Guilmon, as Jenrya tried to figure out what he was going to do. There'd be no way he'd find Takato – in the dark, he'd have trouble picking out his friend from, say, a shopping cart. Guilmon could still sniff his scent out, but so far they hadn't any luck. Jenrya sighed He knew his parents would be worried about him, and with the electricity out, the subway was definitely out of the question. He could call his parents to let them know where he was as soon as the power returned.
But that means I'll have to give up searching for Takato. How can I find him in the dark like this, though?
Jenrya blinked as he realized he was staring at the dark shape of his D-Arc. He took it back from Guilmon. Guilmon made a helpless gesture.
"I don't know what's wrong with it either."
Jenrya made a face in the dim lighting. "That makes the three of us." He went on to explain their situation, that they'd probably be stranded at this end of town until the power returned. He didn't like the idea of trying to catch a ride with the bus. Without the traffic lights, it would be insane trying to drive down the streets. They'd probably end up in a car crash or something.
"I guess this means the find-the-Takato game is over?" Guilmon asked.
"Yeah."
Guilmon padded around Jenrya, starting to head down the hill, "Guess we'd better go…I don't like hanging around here when it's all dark and stuff."
Jenrya followed Guilmon, picking up Terriermon on the way. He started to look at his watch, wincing as he imagined how late he was going to be.
The face of it was blank.
What the…? He checked again, sure he'd be imagining things.
No digital display. It, like the D-Arc, was completely dead.
Weird. Dad bought this watch for me only a few weeks ago.
"Jenrya, Terriermon, come on!" Guilmon called over his shoulder.
Jenrya quickened his step, for the moment forgetting the watch and his D-Arc.
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Click. Click. Click Click. Click.
Kincaid made her way down the emergency stairs, the heavy flashlight swinging at her side. The young woman spun it like a baton, clicking it on and off as she walked. The flashlight remained dark, though the bulb was as new as the batteries.
Click click. Click.
I must be close to the Juggernaut decks by now.
She could feel her servant, his carefully toned down aura drawing even closer with each step. It's been such a long time since I've seen Thanasimon. I wonder if he's still a Rookie? Kincaid shook her head, her short purple hair swinging with the movement. No, he's much stronger than that. He must have digivolved by now. This thought sent a thrill up her spine. What did he look like now? He's probably a Champion, but such power for that level! His Virus Override must have knocked out all the electronics within the city limits. Kincaid felt along the banister of the stairs. Even her inhuman vision was unable to pierce through the complete darkness of the stairwell. I'm sure he'd like to hear that. He probably won't want to be called Thanasimon anymore!
And you, silly girl, are starting to sound like one of those "mothers" cooing over her little brat.
Kincaid stopped in her tracks as she ran out of stairs. She tried the door. It wasn't locked, which surprised her. She thought Nagamora had completely sealed the deck off. Kincaid let herself in, glancing around cautiously. She couldn't make that much about, but she didn't see anyone in the short hall leading to the Juggernaut's room. Good. She shut the emergency exit behind her, heading down the corridor toward the heavy steel door.
She ran her hands along the edges of the door. Welded shut along the top and the bottom, though this left one area untouched. She tried to measure it with her fingers, though it was difficult in the darkness. I could fit through there, with shifting on my part. There was no possible way she could squeeze in through that crack in the human shape she was in now.
Kincaid concentrated on shifting, feeling her present form slide away like water. She pressed herself against the open slit and with a slurping sensation slid through. She quickly returned to her shape, satisfied. Thoughtful of Nagamora to leave her an opening like that. The Founder had always been thoughtful like that. She almost expected she'd have to break the door down. Not that she couldn't, but she was sure people would be more than a little suspicious to see the big metal door suddenly lying on the floor or blasted to pieces.
"Thanasimon?" She called. Her voice bounced around the deck, echoing back at her distorted.
"Over here, my lady."
Kincaid made her way toward the voice. Her servant's voice was quite a bit deeper than she last remembered and she could barely recognize that familiar rise in it. The young woman removed one of her gloves. The wavering air around her fingers started to glow a pale red, reacting in response to the Digimon's presence. She could make out her servant's form in its light.
"You digivolved?" Kincaid asked, looking the winged virus-type up and down.
"Yes. I uploaded enough data to change from Thanasimon to my Champion form, Kaminmon. I am one of a kind and at your service."
Kincaid beckoned the Digimon over, deciding she liked his new appearance, "You're not so sickly looking as before. You're starting to look more like a real Digimon should."
When Kincaid first came into contact with her servant, he had been in an In-Training , barely distinguishable from a lifeless Golem. Golems were data that started out originally as newly created Digimon, but were unable to survive the strain of life. They were little more than automatons that followed any orders from the high-level Digimon and looked down upon by the true Digimon. They were, to use the terminology she learned here, pretty much undead. She took pity on the In-Training, once upon a time, and helped him until he had, with her aid, digivolved to his more stable Rookie form. Maybe he'd originally been a virus from the web, one that happened to come into contact with Digimon data, and mutated. Thanasi - no, it was Kaminmon now, wasn't it? – looked to be promising.
Kaminmon only smiled, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, baring his rotting gums further, blind devotion in his eyes. "I thank you for your praise, my lady."
Kincaid waved his thanks aside, noticing the limp form laid across Kaminmon's bony back. "Is that the one?"
"Yes. The human boy with the virus-Digimon Guilmon. Proof that humans didn't learn their lesson since the Purges."
"Why's he unconscious?"
The four-legged Digimon made a valiant effort to shrug. "I can't really say, my lady. Perhaps humans are too weak."
Kincaid made a sound of disapproval. "Most likely. They're all so frail, it's a wonder the next breeze doesn't blow them away," she gestured for her servant to follow her, heading toward the hulking mass of the Juggernaut. "As long as he's alive, it doesn't really matter. Did you get his Digivice?"
Kaminmon, trotting at her side, ducked his equine head in sincere apology. "I wasn't able to retrieve it. The boy dropped it just before the first journey through my portals."
"You're going to go back and get it." It was an order, not a question.
"Yes, my lady."
"Good. But don't forget he's still your charge: until he's ready to help us, I'll have to make sure none of those upstairs knows of what's going on. Be quick about finding it." Kincaid stopped before the Juggernaut, holding her glowing hand so that she could see the plating of the huge machine. She began to feel around the uneven metal surface with her free hand, "Remember how important our work is here. We're doing this for all Digimon. Not just ourselves."
"So no more have to become Golems…" Kaminmon murmured. He was apparently remembering his own brush with that miserable existence. "And because we're running out of time because of the virus."
"Exactly." Kincaid got down on her hands on knees, searching around the base of the Juggernaut.
"Stay back," she warned, her hand hovering over the hidden switch. Kaminmon dutifully stepped backward with a clattering of hooves against the concrete floor as Kincaid pressed her palm to the jagged chunk of metal. With a hiss, the plating of the Juggernaut swung open. Steam roiled away from the machine, curling around her legs.
Kaminmon looked more than a little startled. "What is this?"
"It's Yamaki's Juggernaut," Kincaid patted the opened plates. "But I made some changes to it. We're going to use this to channel the energy we're going to need for our work. This will be our backup."
She stepped away as Kaminmon looked inside curiously. Instead of the chips and wires from Yamaki's plan, there were heaving coils of various sizes which constantly shifted, giving the impression they moved on their own. Silly of her imagination (she knew the Juggernaut wasn't alive, and though she installed a personality matrix into it, along with her other "adjustments", she hadn't done anything with the matrix – it was still a blank slate). It wasn't alive. At least, not in the sense she was - and even if she decided to have something imprint the matrix with a personality, the Juggernaut would only be a false life, feeding off the host.
But the Juggernaut can absorb enough energy for my purposes. If we have the matrix running, it would probably be easier to direct the Juggernaut. At the moment, the machine was blindly grasping for a power source. Interesting. It doesn't know what it is but it's still attempting to complete itself.
"Here, see this?" Kincaid reached in, and brushed aside the thick coils with her arms, revealing a large sloping metal capsule. It was cut into several sections in a reclining position, almost resembling a throne. "This is part of the personality matrix I installed into the Juggernaut. It's not operating at full power because it's not finished."
"What about the humans? Won't they attempt to complete this thing?"
'They won't be able to come down here. One of our operatives has seen to that. We can't have the Juggernaut being finished," Kincaid answered. "Otherwise they're bound to notice this isn't what was in the original blueprints."
Kincaid removed her arm, shaking away the little wires that attached themselves to her arm. The coils had been trying to absorb the digital energy around her hand. They fell back in disappointment, shifting with a creaking sound amongst themselves. "I decided I'm going to implement the matrix into our work. Do you know we're going to be using Golems as well?"
A grunt. Kaminmon, (strangely enough), had an intense hatred for them, even though he had been close to becoming one himself. "I do now."
"No objections?"
"None, my lady."
"And what about the boy?" Kincaid asked. "I know how you feel toward humans, but I need you to be moderately cooperative with this one."
"Whatever your wish is, I shall carry it out," said Kaminmon. "How I feel has little significance."
"Good," Kincaid thrust her hand back in the moving coils, pushing them aside, "See it stays that way. Now help me put him inside the matrix. I had it built for a human body, so he should fit."
Kaminmon warily approached the capsule's exposed interior, rearing up on his hind legs and planting his hooves next to her hands. She removed her arms and picked up the unconscious boy with ease, barely giving him a glance. She turned around as Kaminmon made a sound of protest. The wires had sunk themselves into the hocks of his hooves and were steadily dodging his attempts to bite them off.
"Hold still!"
Kaminmon tried to steel himself, looking away as more wires dug into his fur. Holding the limp form braced against her shoulder with one hand, Kincaid reached through the mass and pushed open the top of the sheet of white metal. She leaned further in, trading the boy from one arm to the other, and placed him in the embrace of the matrix.
"I'm almost done," Kincaid said. Her servant nodded, as Kincaid returned to her work. She remembered she built it so there were various pieces to the matrix: plates for the chest, the arms, the hands, the legs, and the head. She had all of it except for the head plate. It had to be somewhere nearby. Kincaid leaned further into the machine, her hand searching about blindly in the moving coils. Her fingers closed about the smooth edge of something, briefly touched the round smooth surface. She pulled the object out, and fitted it on the boy. The head visor covered the top of his head, though it left the lower half of his face open to the air. She flipped the chest plate back, so that is was snuggly against him and began to snap the arm and hand plates over him.
Kincaid removed her arms, stepping back and motioning for Kaminmon to do the same. The Champion gratefully pulled his cloven hooves from the shifting masses, wincing as small wires were ripped from his fur. He watched with mild fascination as the coils settled around the capsule, the wires now latching onto the boy. Kaminmon rubbed at one hoof with the other and stared as a wire snaked out from the helmet-like headgear and sunk into an exposed cheek.
And that was that. Kincaid shut the enormous doors of the Juggernaut. Kaminmon took a few steps backward, the fur on his snout blowing backward from the gust of air the machine sent off.
"It's going to be a few days before the Juggernaut's personality matrix will completely accept him," Kincaid told him. She started to stride past. "I want you to find his Digivice and bring it to me. Aafter you find his Digivice, you're to contact the next target."
Kaminmon cantered to keep up with her. "It's a Digimon, isn't it?"
"Yes. A Rookie." Kincaid started to pull on her glove again, and thought better of it. "And a potential ally. I want you to get him to understand our cause. Treat him cordially."
"What if he doesn't want to cooperate with us?"
Kincaid shrugged: they were at the sealed door again. "Then he'll be the first meal the Juggernaut's going to absorb. One Digimon's deletion isn't going to matter if we're going to save all of them."
"The whole is always more important then the individual," Kaminmon intoned, and ducked his head as Kincaid rewarded him with a smile of approval. "I remembered what you told me when I was Thanasimon."
Kincaid pulled on her gloves, bathing the room once again in darkness.
"You're a good servant. And a friend." Kincaid said. "You've chosen to do the right thing by volunteering for this. In a few days, we'll see our work pay off."
She ran a hand playfully through his fur for a moment.
"Don't get yourself deleted by those humans. Not when we're so close."
To be continued...
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Going through the chapter to put in the chapter breaks as well as some editing.