Digital Shuffle
by famirad

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Italics are for thoughts, sound effects, emphasis
Bold is for implied feelings, mostly for the Juggernaut.

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Digital Shuffle
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(Picking up the Pieces)

Yamaki Mitsuo had a hell of a day. It started innocently enough but got progressively worse. The high point would have to be that surge (or whatever it was) that blew out just about anything electronic in the building. Luckily, he'd been fast enough to order all the plugs pulled and power disabled before damages could escalate further.

Rubbing away a migraine, Yamaki wondered if maybe he should've just slept late, should've just said, "Screw the meeting. In fact, screw all of this".

This was the second time Hypnos was in the dark; Yamaki could only hope this wouldn't become a daily occurrence. However, he still had ajob to do and because he'd shut everything off before things started blowing up on him, they'd gotten off pretty light. It still meant salvaging. A lot of salvaging. The Yuggoth program had suffered a considerable amount of damage as well. That meant several all-nighters for the tech teams, who already had enough work just maintaining everything.

"Sir?"

Yamaki grunted, turning his face up toward the voice. The command deck was still completely dark. He'd sent an aide off to get some candles or flares, but he wasn't back yet. The circuit breakers weren't working either. "What is it?"

Reika's voice drifted down through the shadows. "Kei thinks we can work on restoring the files and programs as soon as the power returns."

"Which files did we lose?" Yamaki toyed with his lighter.

"We don't know, sir. There's no way of knowing for certain until we can run checks."

Well, that was just what he wanted to hear. The extent of the damage couldn't be determined until the damned power returned, and who knew how long that would take? Yamaki counted to ten. And then doubled it to twenty because he was still pissed by the time he reached nine. For some reason he wished he had one of those idiotic stress balls, just so he could throw it at something. There was really nothing to do but to wait until everything returned back to normal.

Yamaki hated waiting.

From his impression, a Digimon hadn't been responsible for this. There were no species he knew of that could, for three hours straight, create such an uproar over the whole city. The electronics hadn't just shut off or started backfiring. They became overrun with binary, the code incoherent babble, and so far he hadn't been able to decipher it. Even the lights implanted in Kei and Reika's goggles had started burning out, glowing brighter and brighter even as the two women hurriedly tossed them to the floor. Just in time too – the bulbs exploded only a few seconds later. Any way slower and someone would've been missing an eye.

Yamaki went back to rubbing away at his headache, running his fingers through his hair. This was just so damned frustrating. Every time he thought Hypnos made progress, something like this happened. And these weren't just little problems: these were huge setbacks.

This wasn't normal. And it only made him that much more suspicious.

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It was around 3AM when Tamayo Yonekura finally limped into her apartment. Glancing about as she pushed the door open, the secretary sighed and stepped out of her shoes. It was good to be home.

"Ryo?"

No answer. Well, he was probably asleep by now. Carefully easing her weight off her aching ankle, Tamayo closed the door behind her, straightening her glasses as she reached for the light switch. A frown. Nothing happened. Another try. The power was still out. Maybe it would be better in the morning. Tamayo was dead tired – it had been a wild day – but she wanted to check up on her charge.

Wincing as weight was put on her tender foot, Tamayo crossed the kitchen, dropping her purse on the couch as she limped down the hall. She was amazed her own apartment unit hadn't burned down or anything: she'd seen the fires several blocks down, the firefighters still working to put them out. Right now Tamayo counted her lucky stars. Her car had been totaled when it'd lost control for no reason, but she'd left with only a sprained ankle and a bruised shoulder.

"Ryo?" Tamayo peeked her head into the boy's room. It was still bare, despite the fact they'd lived in the apartment for several months now. Ryo lay in the shadows on his futon. From his slow, even breaths, it sounded like he sleeping. His guardian shut the door. She'd let the poor kid get some rest.

Maybe it would be better if she stayed in the living room. Ryo was a light sleeper and if she started making too much noise, he'd wake up. Tamayo went back the way she'd come, limping over to the dark, misshapen shape of the couch. Dropping herself down onto the cushions, the woman let out a long sigh. Now that she was back home, she began to realize how exhausted she was.

At least Ryo's okay. That was her main concern. She was responsible for him, after all.

Lying down gingerly on the couch, Tamayo glanced toward Ryo's bedroom. He was unhurt, thank God. With everything that happened, she'd rushed home as fast as she could and it was a relief that she found him already there. Ryo's a smart kid. He was also a perfectly decent guy, no matter how much he tried to hide that, Tamayo reflected with guilty remorse. The problem was Ryo didn't let others get close to him anymore. It was difficult trying to coax him out of that shell he'd wrapped around himself and it didn't help Tamayo was far too shy herself to set much of an example. And she still didn't know just what happened when she'd first met him...

That had been a year ago. Of course, Ryo didn't remember their first meeting. He'd been too delirious at the time. Tamayo was shocked he was relatively normal after that whole thing.

A year ago she'd been driving down a long stretch of road on her way back from a family reunion. There wasn't a lot of traffic: basically easy going. She hadn't been paying much attention to the roadside and almost passed the body collapsed at the base of a sign. Upon pulling over, Tamayo discovered the "body" was still alive.

There wasn't any ID on him. The boy looked to be young, his face twisted in agony. He lay on his right side as he curled up against the sign pole and she hadn't seen the large injury from her angle, not at first. It'd been an ugly, bleeding gash stretching along his waist all the way up to his chest, coated with dirt and becoming visible as she gently rolled him over. Tamayo almost threw up at the sight of the infected wound. Somehow she managed to swallow the rising bile and call for help, fumbling with her cell phone, watching with horror as blood continued to form a sticky puddle under him.

What made the experience more surreal was the fact Ryo was conscious the whole time. His eyes fluttered and rolled backward until the whites showed. The kid babbled pure gibberish to himself, his voice incoherent with pain as he kept trying to get to his feet. Most of his words didn't make sense, but from Tamayo gathered, the boy didn't know where he was – something about a "Digital World" – and he didn't even know she was beside him. His eyes only continued to stare blindly over Tamayo's shoulder she tried her best to help him, cradling his body in her arms.

The kid rambled feverishly on and on as she tried to still his shaking arms. At one point, he'd philosophically wondered why he wasn't dead yet, that he should be by now, wondered why "he" attacked him in the first place. Theen he'd begun screaming a bunch of nonsensical names to himself as Tamayo propped him into a sitting position, frantically applying pressure to the blood oozing from his side with her hands, her blouse, her skirt, whatever was closest. He screamed and screamed…

It seemed like an eternity before the paramedics finally came over the ridge.

She could still hear Ryo. Even now, they echoed, those choked screams of his…

…those endless, animal screams…

They'd whisked the poor child away from her. One of them somehow pulled her along with the ambulance. Tamayo was too confused to resist. They asked her all these questions, but the dazed woman hadn't been able to answer many of them. No, she didn't know who he was. No, she wasn't a relative. Yes, she found him lying there. What was her name? Tamayo Yonekura. Twenty six years-old. She did the right thing by reporting this, another told her, he would be okay.

They hadn't lied. Ryo survived, though he was hospitalized for several weeks.

She visited as much as she could, leaving her work early so she could catch him before visiting hours were over. Most of his stay, he was asleep or so drugged he was completely out of it. As it turned out, this boy was a "Ryo Akiyama", from the other side of Tokyo. He disappeared from his home and had been missing until Tamayo found him. It was strange, though, a doctor confided in her. From what he'd heard, Ryo disappeared without a trace, as if he suddenly left in the middle of doing something. No eye witnesses. His parents had also vanished, but the explanation for that was they simply packed up and left the city several months after. There was no way to contact them. So he would have to be assigned a guardian.

Tamayo was too timid to volunteer at first. After all, she never had any kids of her own. How could you deal with one like this? What if she hurt the poor boy more? Ryo had been through enough. She might not be a good role model, she might not be able to support two people. Seeing Ryo finally alert a few weeks later made her quail even further.

Ryo was assigned another guardian.

She hadn't seen the kid for a while then. It was only several months afterward that they met again. Over that space of time, he burned through four volunteers, each complaining he was sullen. Impossible. Tamayo volunteered as soon as she could; she felt that she could understand what Ryo had been through. As far as Ryo was concerned, the first time he'd met a woman named Tamayo Yonekura was in a bland office where adults kept trying to pretend to be his parents and then shucked him off to another grown-up as soon as they got sick of him. This Tamayo was another stranger. She wasn't surprised when Ryo turned a suspicious eye on her as she drove him to her apartment. At first, things were off to a shaky start, but she was convinced things could work.

For one thing, he never insulted her. Ever. True, he wasn't the most...respectful of people, but he did keep his tongue checked whenever she was around. He sometimes dropped his self-centered façade every now and then when he was around her. Did Ryo hate her? She didn't think so; actually, she didn't know what Ryo thought of her. Despite the fact he usually pretended to be aloof, she had a feeling this was only a form of protection, like a threatened armadillo curling up into a ball. So then was Ryo scared of something? Or someone?

Whatever it is, he won't talk about it. Instead of pursuing it, Tamayo would drop it every time. Every time that mocking grin appeared it meant Ryo remembered something from before that day they met. Tamayo didn't want to alienate him. For now she kept her mouth shut about finding him that one hot afternoon.

Maybe one day Ryo would open himself up to her. For now, though, he was still too suspicious to allow it and all she could do was wait.

It was still hard to believe the poor, half-dead kid then was the very same Ryo Akiyama currently living in her apartment.

One had been a ball of pain. Pitiful, terrified. The other was a cool, distant mirror of someone else.

What happened to him? She knew Ryo hadn't always been like that – from previous records she poured over, he appeared to be friendly before he was reported missing. What could've been so bad he completely changed his own personality?

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Ryo woke up late and totally missed his first class. Oops.

Sunlight crept through the blinds. Rooting about through his clothes, he pulled on some jeans. Finding a t-shirt, Ryo faced the mirror on the far wall and started to pull it on. And stopped, staring at his reflection with a frown. Sometimes he could almost forget all those scars on his side, a parting gift from serrated fangs when they tore into him. Silently he ran his fingers across the raised skin.

He's long gone, Ryo scowled at his reflection. Bet he's been deleted by now.

Yeah, well. That was then. If the past didn't kill you, the present could easily finish the job. It seemed like a good idea to keep both eyes open for what was coming. Ryo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Would he be left alone if he kept trying to contact the Tamers, dropped a few hints to help them out? The fact that he hadn't been targeted for extermination by them said something. Apparently they didn't care about Ryo as long as he didn't try to reunite with his partner. Like he was literally the lowest on the priority list. It was almost insulting.

Too late to sit back. But he could still sit on the sidelines too. Real tempted. There were days he wanted nothing more than to go back to school and pretend he was a normal kid again. Like if he just kept his head down, he wouldn't be next on the hit list. Other days, though...the thing was, no matter what he thought of these new kids, he didn't want to see the same thing go down. After all, they weren't that much different from him. They were kids too. And things had escalated a lot since.

There wouldn't just be accidents and broken light-bulbs. Replace that with growing casualties.

If he thought it'd been bad in the Digital World, well...

A dry mental laugh. How long are our days numbered? A few weeks? A few months? Ryo wasn't a sadistic bastard: he didn't want to see people around him dropping like flies, no matter what impression he might give others. He knew what rumors were being whispered across the Digital World, that a call to arms was sounded. That this was bigger than the past Purges. The Digital World was in an uproar. Something was going to happen. Something big. Times like this, he wondered what a couple of kids could hope to achieve.

Ryo left his room and peeked into his guardian's room; the bed was still made and it looked like Tamayo hadn't slept in it. A twinge of an unfamiliar feeling tugged. Did she come back at all? Or had she been in one of those pile-ups from last night? If that was the case, what if she was still be out there? He better go look for her. Whirling around, Ryo stormed down the hall.

And nearly tripped over Tamayo's legs sticking out from the couch in the process.

Ryo let out the breath he'd been unconsciously holding. Tamayo was fasst asleep on the couch, the woman looking exhausted. He quietly stared down at her. She was still wearing the same clothes she left in and one of her sleeves had a tear in it, the shoulder frayed. Ryo leaned closer, his eyebrows knitting together.

Tamayo's eyes flared open then and she found herself suddenly face-to-face with Ryo. Giving a startled squeak, she sat up like a bolt. Ryo straightened as Tamayo sought to still her frantically beating heart, pressing her hands over her chest. Even as she watched, the self-confident mask easily slid over his face, hiding the unfamiliar expression just a second a ago. Tamayo groped blindly for her glasses, murmuring an almost inaudible "thank you" as Ryo handed them to her.

Tamayo fitted them on her nose, avoiding her charge's gaze as she began unbraiding her hair.

"When did you get back?" Ryo asked.

Tamayo focused her attention on her hair. "This morning…I'm sorry, I should've gotten back earlier, but my car ran into some trouble and I had to walk back."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." Ryo didn't believe her, she knew he didn't, why oh why wasn't she more responsible in the first place? Why did she think she could foster a kid? "…I'll…are you hungry?"

Ryo nodded.

"Okay," Tamayo dropped one of her unfinished braids. She got to her feet and began to make her way to the kitchen, trying to keep her hobble to a minimum, determined to keep it to herself until Ryo was gone. It was such a minor injury, surely it didn't need immediate attention. Besides, it didn't hurt that much. It wasn't serious.

But Ryo saw it anyway, despite her attempt to appear perfectly fine.

"What's wrong with your foot?"

Tamayo kept her back to him. Her shoulders tensed expectantly. "There's nothing wrong with it."

"You're limping."

"It's nothing," a flush of embarrassment crept up to color her cheeks. She didn't dare turn to face her charge. Tamayo knew she was lying. Ryo knew she was lying.

But what Ryo said next was completely unexpected:

"You need ice if you've got a sprain." And then Ryo brushed past her. Startled, Tamayo could only watch as he opened the freezer and began searching for ice, impatiently tossing packages of frozen peas and carrots to the counter. She stared at him as if he'd sprouted another head. "You should know better, Tamayo."

"I…well…" Tamayo trailed off, staring at her hands. Ryo always made her feel like he was the adult and she could only pull at the corner of her sleeve with a sheepish expression.

Ryo began dumping the ice cubes into a plastic bag. "Take a seat."

Tamayo obediently sat down, the blush growing. Ryo was going to chew her out now: it was rare he did, but he only did it when she did something extremely stupid (like forgetting to stock up the refrigerator) or she began working too late (she had a tendency to be a workaholic). Instead, Ryo sat down beside her and, without asking, took her hand gently in his and put the makeshift ice pack in her slack fingers. He then guided her hand to her swollen ankle with infinite patience.

"Keep the ice there for a while," Ryo told her. Tamayo looked up in open confusion from the ice pressed to her sprained ankle to Ryo. Ryo's face was once again wearing that amused expression, but his voice didn't have that same bitter, defensive snap to it. Instead, it was calm and controlled, almost kind. The ice pack started to slip from her stunned fingers and Ryo caught it before it fell, placing it back into her hand with the same gentle care as before. "You shouldn't let injuries sit like that."

Tamayo couldn't find anything to say. This was a new side to Ryo she was, quite frankly, unfamiliar with.

"How'd you sprain your ankle anyway?" Ryo asked her.

Tamayo stared at the ice pack. She shouldn't tell him…but the words were already spilling from her even as thought crossed her mind."I…it was a car accident. My car lost control last night and I ended up hitting a signpost. It's nothing," she insisted defensively.

Ryo's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly and for a moment a strange expression flicked across his face. It was gone so quickly Tamayo could only wonder if she was seeing things now. Had it been anger? Or something else entirely?

Why was he so concerned about this in the first place?

"But you're okay."

"I'm fine."

Ryo merely stared at her with those black eyes of his, and Tamayo couldn't help but squirm under them.

"You…" he trailed off. There had to be a better way to word this. After a moment of deliberation, he only frowned at her ankle, as if it was something that could've been avoided in the first place. "If things like that keep happening, you need to be more careful. You could get worse than a sprained ankle if you don't take care of yourself."

"I know. Thank you, Ryo."

Ryo pursed his lips. He couldn't tell Tamayo – or anyone – of his own experiences in the Digital World; adults wouldn't believe him and there was no way his guardian would understand his warnings. But he could definitely try to tell her to be more on the ball in the future, to be ready. Even if that might not mean a whole lot to a shy secretary, at least it was something.

He got to his feet gruffly as Tamayo looked up at him. The silence had grown uncomfortable, as it always did whenever they spoke to one another. Today it was because of unfamiliarity: Ryo wasn't at all sure why he was acting like his guardian was some sort of fragile kid (who was the adult here?) and he could only wonder when he'd started caring so much in the first place.

Wasn't she supposed to be just like all the others? So then why…?

Ryo turned away from Tamayo, speaking haltingly. "I got to go." The barriers were up again. He headed for the door and reached it. "Keep that ice on your ankle. You should stay off your feet until the swelling goes down."

Tamayo blinked as the door shut behind Ryo. Just what happened? She looked down at the slowly melting ice in the plastic bag pressed against her ankle. What possessed Ryo to help her like that? He'd never done anything like this before and this departure from the norm was confusing. For a moment, Tamayo had been sure he was angry. Not at her, but at something else, something else he had control over. Had she imagined this whole thing?

Another glance at Ryo's ice pack.

It was still there.

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Jenrya was beyond tired. If there was a zone past exhausted, he'd be there. Last night he ended up walking the entire way because nothing worked. No buses, no cars, no subway.

Fun times.

Sitting with his head resting in his arms, Jenrya wondered if he was going to doze off in the middle of the class. He hoped not. The conversational murmur was muted today; half of the class was missing because the trains and buses still weren't working and it would take a day or so to fix them. Mr. Mori himself wasn't even there yet. Jenrya was still wondering why he hadn't done the smart thing and slept in late. Could've gotten away with it, just this once.

"Is Jenrya tired, woof?"

Jenrya didn't raise his head as what felt a lot like a puppet tapped him on the back. "Very tired."

A bark of a giggle.

"Bwoof, Jenrya should've stayed home today!" Juri's puppet pretended to nip him on the shoulder. "Juri heard today is only going to be a half day!"

Jenrya raised his head, blinking blearily at Juri and her perkiness. She grinned.

"Sorry, Juri. Didn't get any sleep last night."

Juri plopped down next to him. "Last night was scary!" She set down the puppet, her legs kicking idly as she leaned on the surface of a nearby desk. "But I'm glad it's over. My dad was really upset – he's gotta replace all the light bulbs in the house and the TV and the computer..." she paused, scrunching up her face in thought. "Oh, and someone rear-ended our car in the driveway!"

"Jeez! Everyone okay?"

Juri nodded. "Yup! We stayed home. Actually, it was kinda fun – we ended up using a buncha candles and played all these games."

"Lucky. I ended up walking home," Jenrya groaned back into his arms, his forehead thudding back down. Juri only laughed good-naturedly. She had a point. Last night didn't change the fact they still had stuff to do the next day. His father was called into work at the crack of dawn and he was long gone by the time Jenrya finally crawled out of bed. Terriermon decided to leave the Lees' house today: he said he'd go keep Guilmon some company. And that Jenrya had to come with plenty of bread and pastries.

A mental curse. He still had to do something about Guilmon, so –

"Morning, Ryo!"

Jenrya glanced up at Juri's voice, peeking over the crook of his arm. Ryo let himself into the classroom, sliding open the door and striding in with his usual cocky gait. A frown. Ever since that bizarre meeting last night – sheesh, his side was still hurting – Jenrya was only confused. Why was Ryo waiting for him? Jenrya was so sure Ryo wasn't concerned about whatever was happening now, but then he'd turned around and tackled him like that. He'd probably be sitting in the ER because of that exploding TV if Ryo hadn't saved him.

Jenrya watched out the corner of his eye as Ryo wound his way past the small clumps of chattering students and parked himself at his desk. It was as if nothing happened last night. As if Ryo was above it all, untouchable. He leaned back into his seat, not even bothering to spare a glance at Jenrya. At the moment, Jenrya was too exhausted to be offended; 'sides, he was wondering if he'd been too quick in judging the other boy.

He accidentally nodded off when an unfamiliar man finally stepped into the classroom. Jenrya sleepily raised his head as the new teacher faced the class.

"Mori was unable to make it today, children," he held up his hands, frowning underneath his bushy mustache until the last question died down and it was quiet enough so he could continue. "I'll be replacing him. My name is Yuuto Kanemaru." He folded his hands over his stomach, eyes roaming the half-empty classroom. "Any questions?"

Hirokazu's hand shot up. "Do we really have a half-day, Mr. Kanemaru?"

"Yes, you'll be getting out at 1:30 today," Kanemaru pointed to the next hand waving desperately for attention in the back. "You."

"Um, will we have to…?"

Jenrya eventually went back to sleep at this point. He woke up only to find they were working in their prospective groups again and Mr. Kanemaru with his head buried in a newspaper. He followed Juri back to the square of desks, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to wake up. Hirokazu and Ryo were already there, the taller boy looking bored with his arms crossed over his chest. Jenrya sat down next to Hirokazu as Juri immediately took charge – her puppet began chattering about how to put everything down on a poster board that she'd laid out on her desk. The group set to work.

Jenrya kept an eye on Ryo as the class ticked by. Today he seemed distracted with something and the other boy would only grunt a brief response whenever Hirokazu asked him a question. Was Ryo on their side? He'd been so sure he wasn't, but now…well, he didn't know what to think.

A sidelong glance. Ryo was watching the others with that same amused expression, but there was something distant in it, too. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking. Ryo simply sat back and observed the three students. Like studying the normal kids in the room through plexiglass. Jenrya pulled his attention away. He'd have to talk to Ryo again. Whatever Ryo Akiyama knew, it would inevitably draw him into what Jenrya was already neck deep in: he couldn't always take a step back and let everything pass by him.

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Kincaid was grinning from ear to ear by the time she pushed open the Yuggoth's deck door. Reika shot a stare as her coworker practically danced in. Yamaki was in one of his usual bad moods (damn, the guy had a perpetual storm-cloud hovering over his head) but she wasn't fazed as she threw a mock salute.

"Kincaid Donovan, reporting in."

Yamaki looked up from his PDA at her voice. Giving an order to the tech crew working on repairs, he motioned her over. He was already scowling. He always did that, the scowling.

"You'll be working with these three," Yamaki told her, not even trying to hide the pained expression.

"Sure thing!" Kincaid gave a thumbs up. "I'm on it."

"You'll be replacing the wiring for these panels," here he gestured at a row of machines housed in their casing, "and then you'll be assisting the team with whatever they need to work on next."

"Sounds like fun."

Yamaki made a face at this. "Fun"? This wasn't a time for fun. Shaking his head, he pointed out which types of wires would have to be replaced and then gave his usual threat to Keep Out Of His Way.

Reika looked up from her terminal as Yamaki left the four to their work and approached her. Yamaki was in a bad mood and she wisely kept her mouth shut as he flopped down in the seat next to hers, slamming his PDA down. Kei discreetly moved away from the two, wandering out of earshot. Whatever went on between Yamaki and Reika was none of her business. Good.

"At the rate everyone's moving, we're not going to be back online for two, three days."

Reika kept her focus on her screen, running through the checks. "Everyone's going as fast as they can, sir."

Yamaki growled in the back of his throat, leaning against the armrests of his chair. "Should've been more prepared for this," he glanced at Reika. "I should've written a procedure for a full failure."

"But you didn't."

Yamaki didn't explode at what would normally count as sarcasm, instead nodding to himself. Reika had a point. She usually did. Unlike him, she didn't dwell on the past, so she was quick to point out mulling over it couldn't change what already happened.

"I didn't," he agreed. "Now I will because of this."

Next time he would be far more prepared than this time. Hypnos could (and would) recover from this. This was only a temporary setback, but that didn't detract from the fact it was still frustrating. Yamaki shielded the flame rising from his lighter with his palm as he lit a cigarette, watching the clusters of different tech crews huddle around their work. Next to him, Reika swiveled in her chair, her arms folded on the desk in front of her as she glanced over her shoulder. The two gazed at the others, the silence stretching out for several minutes.

Reika was the first to speak up.

"Are you going to be needing me tonight, sir?"

"Yes."

They fell back into silence again. She already read his mind. Reika knew him so well she could read into his expressions with little difficulty; the way he moved probably betrayed how he felt more than his own face. Yet another indicator that he'd stayed with Reika too long, leaving Yamaki to wonder why he didn't move onto someone else. Reika was good – very good, a lot better than most – but there were others out there who could put even her to shame. And they didn't ask uncomfortable questions. A sudden thought. Don't tell me I'm starting to get attached to this woman. The very idea. Ridiculous! Yamaki wasn't interested in a relationship, he'd said so dozens of times. He was certain Reika felt the same way.

They were just "business associates". We just happen to want the same thing.

End of story.

The end of his cigarette glowed red as Yamaki took a drag, glancing aside at Reika. As women went, she was beautiful – Reika also had a brain, which she used like a weapon when she decided to pry into his life. Most of the women he'd been with hadn't hadn't made it a hobby to get under his skin. None kept him on his toes as Reika did. Reika was one of a kind. Intelligent, skilled at what she did. Sometimes he wondering what a woman like her was doing working for him when she could get a higher salary and less hours employed to someone else. When you worked for an organization like Hypnos, you couldn't expect to get big bonuses.

As long as she did her job, it didn't matter. As long as Hypnos functioned properly and continued to delete Digimon before they become a menace to society, Yamaki didn't really care what Reika's motives were.

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Terriermon tried not to panic. He was so in trouble! Jenrya was gonna kill him!

He didn't know how he did it, but he lost Guilmon.

The Rookie peered again into the shed, triple-checking. Guilmon was gone and it bugged Terriermon that he had no clue where to. Now that he thought about it, Guilmon had been acting weird. He was very listless, even when Terriermon began balancing on his head to cheer him up. Guilmon had said very little, his amber eyes slightly clouded as he stared at nothing in particular. Nothing Terriermon did got him to lighten up. Almost as if he was distracted…

Maybe he's sick?

Jenrya was definitely chewing him out. Definitely. How'd this even happen? Terriermon only left the shed for a minute or two to check out this cool kite in the distance and when he came back, Guilmon was gone. I'm so in trouble, Terriermon chewed nervously on his stubby claws, his eyes flicking from the depth of the den to the gates. Even after he ran around the park trying to find the other Rookie, he came up with empty paws.

Guilmon vanished to who knew where.

How am I going to explain this to Jenrya?

Terriermon couldn't sit here – he had to go tell his partner, even if it meant leaving his post.

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It looked like the wind was picking up. The weather had been acting weird for a while: by tonight, the winds would probably reach hurricane strength. It would be dangerous being outside and Jenrya wouldn't be surprised if it even started to hail. The weather guys couldn't explain it. It could easily become as calm as the eye of a storm, become dry instead of humid and then do a huge u-turn. You just never knew anymore.

Jenrya ran up the flight of stairs, taking the last few two at time. As soon as classes were over, he went searching for Ryo. Most of people avoided going up to the roof, but from what little Jenrya knew about the new guy, he wasn't like "most people". Jenrya mounted the last step and threw his weight against the door, pushing it outward as it opened on rusted hinges. A blast of cold air hit him as he stepped out onto the roof of the school's main building.

There he is. Ryo stood near the far edge, one hand resting on the chain links of the perimeter's fence as he gazed off into the distance, his back to Jenrya. Jenrya pursed his lips and strode across the gravel, his shoes crunching as he closed the distance between them. Ryo didn't turn around. It was only when he came to a stop a few feet away the other boy spoke up with a thoughtful drawl.

"Doesn't it frustrate you, how unpredictable everything is these days?"

Jenrya blinked. Was this some trick question? A bitter smile was on Ryo's face as his fingers tightened against the fence.

"The weather, Digimon, even people. They're all so random. They can change like this." Ryo snapped his fingers.

"What's your point?"

Ryo only smiled and shrugged. His back was still to Jenrya. "Just thinking. Forget it," he turned to face Jenrya. "So you found me. Congrats."

Jenrya frowned. Best to go for it. "Why don't you want to get involved?"

"Because I did once and it got me nowhere. Bad memories, y'know," Ryo replied. His eyebrows drew down, his face darkened for fleeting second. "And it's also none of your business."

Jenrya wasn't fazed. "What was going on last night?"

"It's over, isn't it? I told you, I don't know how it happened, but I think I know what it means."

"What?"

"They're putting their plan into action," Ryo shifted his weight against the fence. "But that was only the beginning."

"What about Takato? Where is he?"

"Beats me. I also told you that. I only know whoever's running around looking like him isn't someone to mess with."

Jenrya's frown grew. He'd already figured this out now, thanks to Ruki. Something happened to Takato that night he disappeared. And now there seemed to be another Takato, one that didn't act at all like him – that he also knew. I need to know more than this. There had to be more…but was it Ryo that had all the answers? Or someone else he wasn't aware of? Well, he'd have to see what he could get from the boy standing in front of him. It was better than nothing, and Jenrya would never forgive himself if he found out later that something could have been done, if only he'd been on top of things.

"Real unfair I'm answering all your questions and getting nothing back," Ryo drawled. "Now it's your turn."

Jenrya was on his guard. "What?"

"Do you know what pain is, Jenrya? I don't mean sadness over a dead pet. Or tears over a sprained arm. I'm talking about real pain. Know what it feels like?"

Jenrya was completely taken aback. What kind of question was this? What did that have to do with right now? Ryo nodded, like his silence said all it needed to.

"Yeah, didn't think so." Ryo snorted. "Most people don't. Lucky. Sooner or later luck runs out." He tilted his head, taking in Jenrya. "Just saying."

"Get to the point."

Ryo only chuckled. "Whatever. I'm not your mom." Another shrug. "As I already said, I was involved with this crap before. By jumping into like some hero, you're just putting your life on the line and you'll drag in others. And if you get killed, then who's going to be there to protect what you care about? Sometimes it's smarter to step back and take the time to actually look at the whole picture. Live carefully and you'll survive another day."

"You could fight with us, Ryo," Jenrya said quietly. "We need all the help we can get."

Ryo went silent at this, his smirk fading as he stared at the Tamer. Shaking his head, he turned to the fence again, now serious as he regarded the city sprawling past it. He looked up, as if composing himself.

"I can't. Got my reasons."

Jenrya was blunt. "Why?"

Ryo's shoulders tensed, his fingers clenching at the fence links. "Because I might end up fighting against someone I don't want to. This time I have to sit on the sidelines," he glanced over his shoulder at the other boy, his face expressionless now. "I don't really care if you understand me or not. But I can't get even more involved, not unless I have no other choice. Not when there's other alternatives. Not yet."

"Then when, Ryo? When it's too late?" Jenrya spat.

It was inevitable, wasn't it? Maybe he'd change his mind. But what if Ryo did go along with these new kids, if he did join them? What if...he showed up? Ryo was the first thing he'd zero in on, a familiar face in a sea of strangers. He wouldn't rest, then, until he'd finished the job. Ryo would be dead within minutes if he found the boy again. And what use would Ryo be if he was killed? But what if innocent people – such as Tamayo – were involved? Then what? Would he still sit back and pretend he was neutral? Maybe there were some good points to "jumping into the fray", as Jenrya suggested. If it was one life compared to the many…well…did it matter, then, if he suddenly disappeared again?

But this time he wouldn't be able to come back. Tamayo might even miss him for doing the right thing. But it was better him than her…

Ryo actually sighed, for a moment sounding tired.

"I'll think about it. That's all I'll do for now."

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So this was what it was like to be one.

All systems online.

There was so much to do. But they had plenty of time. Machines didn't age.

Awaiting further instructions.

There was no "he". There was just "them". Just "it". Just one consciousness.

…?

Someone was there? She was going to enter their chambers.

One of the cameras over the sealed door swiveled: a purple-haired woman approached it, glancing up at the curving lens and giving a little wave as the camera focused on her face.

Intruder identified as KINCAID DONOVAN.

AGE: 28.
GENDER: Female.
HEIGHT: 5 foot, 4 inches.
WEIGHT: 129.5 pounds.

SPECIES: Non-Human.

CLEARED.

The coils stopped roiling. Their creator was here.

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Kincaid pulled herself from the crack she'd pushed her malleable form through and was rewarded with the overhead lights flaring on with a life of their own, the screens around her lighting up in a sort of greeting. Her lips curved in delighted grin. The Juggernaut was fully aware and operational. And on schedule, too. No doubt the whole fiasco yesterday was the Juggernaut's doing. The woman stepped past the row of glowing monitors, her brown fur solidifying into human hair again as she moved further into the heart of the supercomputer's chamber. Approaching the Juggernaut, she gazed up at it with a smile of pride, her hands on her hips.

"I've new instructions for you," she called. "Tonight a Golem will come to you. Delete it and absorb the energy it carries."

The screens blinked on and off in an affirmative.

Kincaid reached into her pocket and retrieved the flash drive. "This has the rest of your orders. The Council has accepted my nomination for you. If you are voted as the Sword, you'll have to cooperate with the Shield. Keep any threats to the mission to a minimum. Dispose of threats any way you want."

A satisfied whine from the computers surrounding the Juggernaut. Kincaid held out the flash drive. A wire snaked up from a small hole drilled through the floor. It slowly curled around the flash drive, then turned in midair and wove a lone path toward the Juggernaut. It's fully functional. It was almost beautiful, actually. It was because of the boy that the Juggernaut had the ability to move now, to control whatever it was commanded to. A human Will, put to good use. Underneath the city lurked the cables, the wires, all the electronics the Juggernaut now had complete control over. A whole series of interlocking networks creating a large spider-web under Tokyo's streets.

The flash drive disappeared into a mass of writhing coils as the Juggernaut opened its plates just enough to admit this new "gift". They closed as soon as it was safely inside.

It was amazing the Juggernaut was already looking out for its own survival. The cautious way it only opened itself to let the flash drive in spoke volumes: it kept the main body of the supercomputer protected, keeping its own "heart" away from any possible interference. She doubted she would be able to check up on the personality matrix now, even though she was the machine's creator. After all, the Juggernaut was now looking out for its own interests, now that it had become more "aware" of itself.

Kincaid looked down at one of the monitors. Text rapidly scrolled across, asking her a question.

"Why did I nominate you?" Kincaid shrugged. "You can cover more area than any of the other candidates, for one thing. And, unlike them, you can be in more than one place at a time. Besides, you have a home field advantage."

The Shield had been nominated, yes?

"It's been decided. He'll be biomerging in the waters near Rainbow Bridge."

So this Shield operative only needed create the physical barrier around the whole perimeter of Tokyo.

Kincaid laughed, giving the screen in front of her a motherly pat. "Of course. He's not gifted like me," she preened a little bit. "If you're chosen, you'll have to access your new dual system." The woman reread the next line of text. "You can't use the Digivice unless you do so, so no. Yes. Where is he now? In the tunnel? Okay…no, it's fine with me. Keep him out of sight until I can confirm your position. You'll have to make him digivolve to clean up the other pests running around."

Other pests being the children with the Digimon. The humans that were breaking the taboo.

"Precisely. They're high priority."

The Juggernaut would terminate them as soon as possible.

"Great," Kincaid beamed. "Glad that's settled. The Shield will be here by tomorrow afternoon. As soon as he's ready, you can begin with the clean-up. Try to keep it neat. No messes, if it can be prevented. Yes…yes. That's fine. Me? I'll be running a test tonight regarding the Golem I've called for. It will…"

…it will seek out a host and absorb the energy, the Juggernaut's text interrupted her.

"Good guess. You don't have enough power to make the breach, so we'll need to harvest more first," Kincaid replied. She rewarded the Juggernaut with a wink. "If it's successful, I'll have some more Golems brought in. You have to delete them like you would a Digimon. But you'll leave any Digimon who aren't accompanied by a human alone…I mean it. No unnecessary deletions."

The previous text was replaced with a short line: very well.

Did she imagine it was disappointed?

"Oh, and there's something else," Kincaid snapped her fingers. Now she remembered! There was someone who was posing a problem because recent developments were causing him to reconsider his neutral position. Nagamora had brought that up. "It came to my attention there's a boy living in Shinjuku by the name of Ryo Akiyama. He could be difficult if he's not dealt with quickly. Kill him."

Certainly. When would this need to be done?

"Now. Keep a low profile, but get rid of him."

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Jenrya had a way of getting under your skin, didn't he?

At first Ryo thought remaining neutral was the best thing to do. If he remained out of the picture, then he wasn't responsible for anything that might happen. Wasn't his problem. But then Jenrya had gone for the real meat of it - what would happen if he did nothing. There was no way he could know that was exactly what Ryo had started to wonder.

It could get worse just because he did nothing. Ryo shook his head, watching the setting sun from the roof. A part of him regretted making contact with Jenrya Lee.

But what can I do? Ryo didn't have a partner anymore. Sure, he still had his D-Arc. So? It was true he didn't know a every single thing Digivice could do, but he didn't think that it would help him very much, even though it did have limited self-defense capabilities. Ryo had no weapons. Only what he knew. But maybe that's enough. After all, there were all those rumors that he'd caught wind of and rumors generally had a ring of truth in them, so…They really are going to attempt a breach. It was true humans had the advantage of greater numbers, but numbers meant nothing if they got caught with their pants down.

If the Digital World got the jump on them, fired the first shot...he wondered if he would be able to count the dead.

Ryo drew in a deep breath, his dark eyes focused on the sun sinking into past the skyscrapers. There had to be another way. Ryo assumed a fight was only possible once the enemy arrived in full; if anything, that would be a last ditch effort. But what if it could be prevented before it happened? "Take care of the threat while he's still preoccupied and your chances of victory are higher. Bite off the head and the body dies." Yeah, he remembered being told that, long ago. He told Ryo to take advantages of any weaknesses, to do whatever it took to win the battle.

And then he'd gone right around and mauled Ryo right after.

Of course, he didn't bite off my head. Tried. It had been unusually sloppy, but Ryo had lived, despite his injuries. But that wasn't the point.

So if we start fighting before they actually make the breach and start coming in by the thousands, we might have a better chance. Casualties would be lower too. It meant Ryo would have to put himself in danger if he joined with Jenrya. Digimon were bio-emerging in greater numbers. It was only a matter of time before his own partner showed up.

If Ryo agreed, he'd be targeted.

And it wouldn't be just his partner out for Ryo's blood.

They would order his elimination as soon as he went active. So far, he'd been lucky they decided to overlook him simply because he kept to himself.

Ryo was so deep in thought he didn't notice the scrapping sounds behind him. Two of the electric lines running up the roof exit slowly worked their way out of their supports, writhing until the nails popped out. The last one fell silently against the gravel as the thin cables plopped down, one after another. Ryo's back was still turned as they began to snake toward him...

There wasn't as much time as he'd thought. It seemed like Ryo had little choice but to consider the fact he needed to choose and - Ryo froze, his eyes flaring open. There it was again. That strange sound he'd dismissed only a second ago. He was immediately on his guard.

He whirled around as a cable rose up, winding itself around his legs and tightening.

Ryo fell flat on his back. He scrambled to his feet in response, grabbing at the fence. Something traveled up his trapped legs. With a sudden motion, the end of the coil snapped out and grabbed his left wrist, tugging it down with surprising strength and causing him to lose his grip on the fence. Gritting his teeth, Ryo struggled to free himself. With one hand, he reached into his pocket. His fingers closed about the cold surface of his D-Arc, thumbing a button as the thing around his wrist began wrenching his whole arm back. He pressed the screen of the D-Arc against the coil.

It slackened when the D-Arc came into contact with the cable around his legs. As the two touched, a bright silver spark jumped between the D-Arc and the surface of the wire, emitting a loud shriek. Another shock and he was able to kick the stunned things off his legs.

Ryo heaved himself to his feet, his face drawn in pain as the other cable continued to pull his wrist behind his back with inhuman strength. Even now, the stunned wire at his feet began to revive, the drugged snake-like movements quickening recovered.

But before he could retaliate with his D-Arc, the wire was abruptly around Ryo's free hand in a flash. It quickly wrapped around his wrist even as he threw his weight forward, trying to pull away. It tightened like a python. His trapped hand twitched as blood circulation cut off, the D-Arc gradually forced from fingers he couldn't control. It went bouncing away. His right arm was slowly being twisted around, no matter how much he fought back against the two cables wrapped around his arms, pinioning them back. Ryo gritted his teeth, starting to see spots of pain in his vision...

"Ryo!"

Instantly recognizing the voice even through the haze, Ryo snarled: "It's me they're after, Jenrya! Stay out of this!"

But Jenrya refused to listen. A clear, non-human voice suddenly shouted above the rasps of the coils.

"Gargo Laser!"

The coils suddenly loosened their hold. Ryo dropped like a stone. He fell on numb hands. Looking up as he started to push himself to his knees, he ducked as one of the cables rocketed overhead, shooting toward Jenrya and the Digimon at his side. Gargomon easily knocked away the attacker, his button nose twitching as it whipped around and wrapped around the barrel of one of his arms. With a bellow, he jerked the coil taut and applied the business end of his other gun-arm to the wire. It exploded as he emptied his ammo into it at point-blank range.

Ryo glanced up, his eyes going wide as he noticed the other cable shooting toward him again. He rolled away as it plunged into the gravel with as much force as a bullet right where his head was only seconds before. Where was his D-Arc? These things were trying to divide and conquer: while Jenrya and his partner were busy with the other attacker, he'd get finished off by this one.

The weaving wire closed in again, forcing Ryo to roll in the opposite direction. His fingers fell upon a handful of gravel and with a quick motion, he threw it at the coil. It snapped at the flying pebbles for a moment, deflecting them with rapid hits. Ryo scrambled over to where he'd seen his D-Arc fall, turning on his back with it in his hands in time to see the cable lunging at him again. He barely managed to dodge and it went into the floor again. Ryo's D-Arc pressed into the wire and shocked it with such force it went dead as the spark flared like a lightning bolt.

Ryo sat back, breathing hard as he warily nudged the coil with the side of his boot. No movement. He fought to catch his breath, chest heaving as he stared down at the limp wire. It was just a wire again. But whatever it had been before, it had been definitely trying to kill him.

"You okay?" Jenrya ran over as Ryo leaned back on his hands and tried to catch his breath. The adrenaline was still there, buzzing away, and he was tense all over. This wasn't good. Whoever had sent these things knew about him. Ryo glanced up at Jenrya.

"Yeah...yeah."

Jenrya looked shaken as he held out a hand to help the other boy up. Unsurprisingly, Ryo rejected the offer, getting to his own feet. The two were joined by Jenrya's partner, who, Ryo decided (having given him a good look-over), was a pretty big Gargomon. The Champion was checking his barrels, seeing how much ammo he had left as he came to a stop, towering over the humans. Ryo stooped down, picking up the D-Arc he'd dropped. God, his arms were killing him. If they were sore now, he hated to think what they might be like later. Ryo suddenly noticed Jenrya was no longer looking at him, but staring at was in his hands.

"What?" Ryo asked.

"You have a D-Arc too?"

"Sure," Ryo said. He tried to turn it on, but the LCD screen remained blank. Damn. He'd used up all the power driving away those things. It would be at least several days before it recharged, which didn't make it very useful. It would be dead weight until then, exactly why he hadn't used it much in the past. "I've always had one."

Gargomon cast a curious look at Ryo. "Uh…who's this, Jenrya?"

"Gargomon, this is Ryo Akiyama." Jenrya said hurriedly. He looked like he was dying to know where Ryo's partner was, still turning the fact he had a D-Arc over in his mind. "Ryo, Gargomon."

Ryo only gave the barest of nods, pocketing his D-Arc. Both he and Jenrya knew this wasn't the time for a conversation. In fact, Ryo wasn't comfortable sticking around here, not when there might be more of those things coming after him. It was already troubling they'd come after him in such a public place as a school. If he didn't keep moving, he'd continue to present a good target. Ryo glanced at Jenrya as he picked up his jacket from where it had fallen during the scuffle, his face neutral and calm. "Why'd you come back?"

"I had more questions," Jenrya answered, exchanging looks with Gargomon. "And when I met up with Terriermon, I had to turn around. You were lucky we came back."

"Sooner or later they'll send more than that."

Jenrya blinked as Ryo pushed past him. "Who?"

"Them. From the Digital World." Ryo continued toward the stairs leading to the ground level, his voice no longer amused. "They tagged me as a threat. They might've failed this time. Or maybe the next few tries they'll keep messing up. But eventually they're going to finish me off. They're like jackals – they'll wait until I'm not paying attention or I screw up and then go for the kill."

Jenrya fell into step, a smaller Rookie resting on his shoulders. Gargomon had reverted to his lower form as Ryo was talking, Terriermon now listening in on this conversation between the two humans with cocked ears. You couldn't run away forever and it looked like staying off the radar wasn't gonna work anymore.

He had no choice then. Not when time suddenly became even more of an issue.

Ryo opened the door, pausing as he turned Jenrya. "Maybe you don't understand what I'm talking about. They're going to be after me like the others. Let's be realistic. You're not going to be there every time I need help. I'd say my chances are pretty low. If I were you, I wouldn't bother getting worked up all over this."

"But you almost got killed!" Jenrya protested. It was weird how calm Ryo was. It was like he'd been expecting this for a long time.

"This time. I'm still alive. Who knows? Maybe next time will be different." Ryo began going down the stairs, hands in his pockets as he scowled. "I said I'd think about your offer earlier. I know you don't like me – "

Jenrya opened his mouth to say his piece.

" – but I don't think it matters at this point. I'll do what I can, but it's not much." There was that cynical half-smile again, as if Ryo was mocking himself. "But that's assuming I don't eat the big one any time soon." It was almost ironic, that he was getting targeted for something he hadn't yet decided on. No matter how careful he could be, how many attempts he might live through, there would be that one careless mistake, that one slip-up. Game over. Thinking about it, it was actually kinda pathetic, because this really wasn't how he'd planned to live his life.

Everything had gone downhill that one dusty day in the Digital World. When Ryo first received those scars, when he'd lost his partner...

A mental sigh. Tamayo was going to be sad. She was such a sad woman to begin with: so shy and meek and introverted she didn't get along well with others because she had zero social skills. What's she going to do without me? Ryo wondered. If he didn't keep reminding her to eat every time she forgot, or to rest when it was necessary, how would she get anywhere? Tamayo would be even more sad if he vanished one day. And, Ryo suddenly noticed, it bothered him to consider this, that it would because of him she would be sad. She shouldn't have to be sad because of him.

But maybe it would be better to keep her out of this. This was his problem. Only the necessary people should get involved.

Better me than her…

To be continued...
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