Digital Shuffle

by famirad

One night, Takato vanishes, leaving Guilmon behind. With something weird happening at Hypnos, maybe there's more to this than just a missing boy. Jenrya and Ruki must face conspiracies, a Digital World bent on invasion, and new allies with their own agendas. They aren't the first kids to meet Digimon...and these partnerships aren't as magical as they seem. [Tamers AU with 01, WS]

22. Shake Down

Digital Shuffle
By famirad

Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon, this fic is for fun.
Author's Note: Holy moly. Longest chapter I've written so far. Very full of stuff. Thank you so much for reading if you've made it this far!

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Digital Shuffle
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(Shake Down)

"I'm well aware of that," Alice said. "But I don't think you're Ryo Akiyama. You should have remembered me."

Ryo had no idea what to say. It took a couple of long seconds for what she said to even begin to sink in, let alone actually register. And when it did, he wasn't sure if he should start laughing or not. It was stupid! What was she talking about? He'd never met her before. A girl like this he would've totally remembered running into. Charming girl like that, you think she'd be really hard to miss.

"The Ryo I knew didn't have brown eyes; he had blue. He didn't have this or these," Alice pointed at her right cheek and left ear, miming the faint scar and the trio of small steel studded earrings Ryo wore as remnants from his time in the Digital World. "He also should have recognized me, if not any mention of my grandfather."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ryo repeated hotly.

"Exactly. I want to know who you are."

"I already told you!" Ryo exclaimed.

"That doesn't change anything. What you told me was false."

"I'm not lying!"

His outburst went unnoticed. Alice took another step closer until she was practically invading his personal space, her cold eyes running up and down Ryo's body as if she was performing a medical examination. Ryo glared uneasily at her probing.

"You're look close enough. I'll give you that. Except for what I pointed out, you look pretty much exactly how I remember you," Alice said at length. "I wanted to observe you more before I said anything, especially in front of Ruki Makino and Jenrya Lee."

Ryo felt like the world was spinning in dizzying circles around him. This was downright surreal.

"I want to know how you got here."

Ryo could only stare. "What?"

"And I want to know what you're doing here in his place."

Ryo was sure he was going to start gaping like an idiot at Alice all over again. What kind of questions were these? All this talk of some "real" Ryo was went way over his head. Last time he checked, he hadn't stashed a twin anywhere. She was talking to him like he was some kind of spy. How could he prove he was, y'know, him? Where was Alice even coming up with this stuff?

Wait a minute. Why should I feel forced to prove who I am?

I know I'm me.

"If this's a joke, I'm not laughing," Ryo said coldly.

"I don't joke."

Ryo didn't answer. It was like he was arguing in circles and he could feel his good hand curling into a frustrated fist. None of this made any more sense then the dreams he couldn't recall. There was only Alice and the hushed whispering of the breeze through the brush surrounding the stairs. A few leaves fluttered past them. There was the wet scent of coming rain.

"Well?" Alice asked.

I don't have to put up with this. Ryo rolled his eyes – she was crazier than he was! - and started to brush past her, but her hand shot out and grabbed him by the upper arm. She was a lot stronger than she looked, her fingers closed together with an iron grip he couldn't seem to pull free from. Ryo glared at her.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. Wish I did," Ryo gritted through his teeth. "What do you want, a blood test? You want to whip one out, then knock yourself out. Whatever floats your boat. But right now we're wasting time."

Alice's grip tightened. "A few minutes won't make a difference. I don't know who you are, or how you got here. But you're not going to jeopardize the others while I'm here."

"Why would I do that?"

For the first time since they met, emotion flickered across Alice's face. It colored with pure anger as her doll-like face broke into a deadly expression. Her fingers were icy against Ryo's arm even through his turtleneck's sleeve. When she spoke, her words were clipped. "Because I think you're just some little replacement," she hissed into his ear. "You think I wouldn't suspect? That I wouldn't notice something was wrong?"

Ryo tried to pull away again, but Alice still held onto his arm with that same cold grip.

"I don't know how they did it. I don't care how. The real Ryo died," Alice said. "My grandfather and I have proof of his death."

"And what proof is that?"

Alice met his eyes. Her anger had hurt, too, as if seeing his face was like pouring hot oil into some old, festering wound. She stared at him for a second, wondering if she should fill him in. If it was a waste of time explaining anything to him of all people. She then sighed and drew back, her arm drooping, her hand still on Ryo. She suddenly seemed older than she really was from the way her shoulders fell.

"You – the real Ryo," Alice corrected herself, "went to the Digital World two years ago. Ryo wasn't supposed to go that early, my grandfather wanted him to wait. He went anyway. My grandfather was so angry about that, saying it was too dangerous for kids to be going again. I was the one to act as the middleman between Ryo and my grandfather. That wasn't so bad. It meant I got to talk to Ryo every day since he always had something to report back to us about the nature of things in the Digital World."

Ryo said nothing. Alice continued, her voice flat now.

"Things seemed fine at first. Ryo said he and his partner were traveling into the Mid-West, since that was where the majority of the worst rumors originated. His reports began to grow less frequent. He said in one of them that the city they headed to was where Digimon calling themselves the 'Council' met. He didn't know what it was about. Said that he'd be careful and keep out of the way," Alice said. "That was the beginning of last year. We didn't hear from either him or his partner for several months."

Alice looked down at the ground. "When we did, things were bad. They retreated north into hiding. Some loyalists to this Council noticed them snooping about and reported them. They were chased out. Ryo pretended he wasn't worried. He said the Digimon following them were farther behind than they really were. He said they could find hiding in a neutral village in the mountains. Said he didn't mind going sight-seeing up there," she hesitated. Her fingers around Ryo's arm tightened painfully as she looked up and met his eyes. "We didn't hear from Ryo again."

Ryo was tempted to dismiss this all of this. Getting to the Digital World hadn't been planned at all; he'd never even heard of Alice or Rob McCoy until now. Alice, though…she spoke with such utter conviction in that dead, flat voice of hers that Ryo knew she believed everything she said.

"I don't see how that's proof I died."

"I never said you did. You're not Ryo."

Not this again. Ryo bit down a sarcastic retort, trying a different approach. "How's that solid proof? So you didn't hear from the other Ryo again."

"We heard from his partner after Ryo's last contact with my grandfather and I," Alice answered tersely. "He said they'd been outnumbered and he hadn't been able to do anything. They walked into an unexpected attack and there were too many, too powerful. Ryo wasn't moving anymore. He kept saying Ryo wasn't waking up like he was supposed to. That he wasn't responding, there was a little blood, but nothing changed even after he bandaged the wounds. After that last message, we didn't hear from Ryo's partner either."

Alice released Ryo suddenly. The blond girl made an unconscious motion to rub her hand on her dress.

"Ryo died out there. His partner probably deleted himself too. Eventually we started getting only static."

There was a long stretch of silence after Alice finished with her story. Ryo didn't know what to say. And what was he even supposed to say? It was way too out there, even for him. He'd had his share of near-death experiences, sure, but running headfirst into a Council hotspot wasn't one of them. Her face was averted and for a strangely guilty second Ryo wondered if she was crying. But he was proven wrong as Alice turned toward him, dry-eyed.

"There's no question my friend died," Alice said with finality. "…Which brings me to what you're doing here."

"I told you, I'm here to help out Jenrya and the others. I got a stake in this too," Ryo surprised himself by coming out and saying it. "It's not like I want to see the Real World get stomped anymore than you do."

She didn't blink as it began to drizzle. At the bottom of the stairs, Dobermon was giving the two of them a questioning look of impatience, wondering how long they were going to make him wait. Alice's face fell back into that same coldly indifferent expression, the hurt anger draining away. She continued to stare at him with the same piercing look she'd fixed on him the moment she laid eyes on him.

"So you keep saying," Alice said. "I haven't figured out what to do with you."

"Getting off my back would be nice," Ryo said sarcastically.

"I don't know whose side you're really on or why you look like the real Ryo," Alice's voice took on a hard edge. "But if you ever try to stop Jenrya Lee or Ruki Makino or, in any way, get in their way, I will not hesitate to take action. You might look like how Ryo Akiyama used to, but that won't make a difference if Dobermon and I are forced to deal with you."

Ryo's face darkened, "Are you threatening me?"

"Think of it how you like."

Alice turned on her heel and went down to meet Dobermon, leaving Ryo to chew that one over.

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Reika Ootori didn't believe a word of it.

Nagamora had called a giant meeting with all the Hypnos employees to announce a "management change". When he said "Hypnos employees", he apparently meant everyone. Even the janitors and lowest level technicians were crammed into the conference room. Now that everyone was here, most forced to stand since there weren't enough seats to accommodate this many people, Nagamora hadn't even bothered to show up.

Instead, it was Kincaid who strode into the room to brief them. Reika glared at the back of the woman's head as she headed to the front of the room, not even realizing she was staring silent daggers.

Reika kept Yamaki's laptop under her arm, with her at all times now. Ever since he disappeared a few days ago, she had noticed strange things happening near his apartment. Once, walking down the street past his apartment, she noticed lights up on his level, coming from his windows. She went instinctively to her cell phone to call her boss's personal number, only to stop. He wasn't there to pick up – she had tried earlier - and she hadn't gone to investigate who was going through his apartment. Something told her Yamaki hadn't come back to get his things.

She didn't buy that whole London-Hypnos branch story Kincaid trotted out.

What did they do with Yamaki? Reika was careful to keep to the back of the room, barely visible through the crowd of other employees. After insisting everyone have some complimentary tea and gourmet donuts, Kincaid got the announcements under way. The American woman had just finished giving an explanation about "new steps forward" with Hypnos, stating why Yamaki Mitsuo was gone. It seemed perfectly reasonable. Yamaki was a valuable asset, Kincaid said, and since more and more Digimon bio-emerged not just in Japan, but worldwide, he wanted to expand the Hypnos network in the UK.

Yeah, right, Reika thought.

She frowned to herself. Why was she even worrying so much about Yamaki? They were business partners, in bed and in the workplace. Nothing more or less. But, Reika decided, watching as Kincaid began handing out folders to everyone, at least I knew Yamaki was on our side.

Nagamora definitely wasn't an ally. Kincaid wasn't either.

Reika had seen the video. Well, enough of it that she rushed over to Hypnos as soon she realized what happened. It was too late. Yamaki was gone. Obviously he failed to kill Nagamora since he was still running things, despite the fact he hadn't deigned to show up for his own meeting. By now Reika had seen all the clips Yamaki left on his laptop. So Nagamora was with the Digimon. It explained why the Juggernaut was sealed away, the Yuggoth's blackouts. But what exactly happened four years ago? Reika wondered. The reports on Yamaki's computer were sparse, coded in such a way she suspected only Yamaki and Nagamora (among a choice other few) could read them and actually glean meaning from them. From what she managed to gather, there had been some kind of attack on Yamaki. Something about one casualty and one injury.

Considering how Yamaki stormed out, she could hazard a guess that the casualty was someone important to him.

"Please look over these folders carefully," Kincaid was saying now at the head of the room. She beamed. "We've been doing a good job so far. Let's keep it up!"

One employee made a motion at this, catching both Kincaid's and Reika's eye at the same time. She'd seen him around – she guessed he was one of the few outside contractors Yamaki liked to keep. The few times they talked, the two men always came to a disagreement that seemed on the verge of blowing up. Still, Yamaki obviously respected this man, visibly keeping his temper in check during these times. Now the man sitting in one of the chairs pushed up the small glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose, his thick blur hair standing out in a shock like he hadn't had time to get dressed before the meeting. Reika understood how he felt.

"Are you sure Hypnos is progressing? If I recall correctly, there have been a large number of setbacks within this past month alone. It's very easy for a Digimon to bio-emerge at this point in time."

The smile on the American's face twitched, but she only nodded.

"You got a point, Mr. Lee," Kincaid said, leaning against the wall near the projector and holding the extra folders under her arm. "But we've been recovering. Besides, you shouldn't worry yourself too much over Hypnos affairs, as I believe your contract position is no longer needed due to recent policy changes. Thank you. Next question?"

Lee? Oh. That had to be Janyuu Lee, Reika realized. He was mentioned in hundreds of the classified reports, cited as being an expert on Digimon because he used to be a Monster Maker. Janyuu settled into his chair with a disgruntled look. It wasn't so much his layoff that bothered him, but the fact Kincaid – and apparently Nagamora – had dismissed his expertise so quickly. Maybe he can help me figure out what to do, Reika thought. If anyone would know how to properly decode the files in Yamaki's laptop or explain anything, it would be Janyuu. Maybe she had an ally here after all.

The rest of the meeting continued. It was only when someone asked about Nagamora that Kincaid's smile faltered a little.

"I'm afraid he's fallen ill; he's human too, y'know," Kincaid said, shaking her head as if she was regretting the gall of the janitor who asked such a stupid question. "Not all of us can afford to come to work and make things worse. Bad for the health and all that."

The woman in the blue janitor's jumpsuit blushed and suddenly had no other questions.

"Okay, I think that's it. Thanks for coming!" Kincaid said cheerfully.

The crowd cramped inside the conference room filed out. Reika pushed through the other employees, trying to follow Janyuu's blue hair through the horde of people between them. She caught up with him outside of the conference room, next to one of the huge windows overlooking Tokyo. Other employees streamed past.

"Mr. Lee?"

Janyuu turned at the sound of her voice. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Reika Ootori," Reika held out her hand. Janyuu shook it warily. "I used to work directly under Yamaki Mitsuo. You've probably seen me around. Could I have a bit of your time?"

"Sure. I'm guessing this is private?"

Reika nodded. Janyuu turned and led her down the halls and toward the fire escape. He held open the door as Reika followed him inside. They continued their trek down the windowless stairs. The two had gone down a few floors before Janyuu stopped and opened the door onto the current floor: it looked almost exactly like the one they just left.

"This floor's supposed to be remodeled soon," he explained. They went into one of the offices with a window view. The carpet had been ripped out here, leaving only a few folding chairs, several discarded soda cans and not much else. Janyuu sat down in one of the plastic chairs as Reika sat in another. The view outside was as spectacular as the view from the very top of the Metropolis Government Office Building. Clouds reappeared over the sprawling city below, the sky now a light, blue-gray as drizzle began to fall. Reika leaned forward, Yamaki's laptop lying flat on her lap.

"I have a problem. It's not just that Yamaki supposedly went up and left," it was clear she didn't believe this as Reika continued, "But all of this. I think Hypnos is in trouble. I was hoping you could help."

"With what? Look, I'm just a programmer, I can't – "

"You're an expert on Digimon. And I believe your son is partnered with one."

Janyuu stuttered at this, trying to say those were rumors, stammered his son only played the game and had a few of the toys. That's all. Reika tried to offer a comforting smile to show she wasn't out to blackmail him or anything. She turned the laptop toward him and turned it on.

"Don't worry, Mr. Lee. Only Yamaki and myself knew about it – your secret is safe," Reika reassured him. Janyuu deflated slightly. They waited for the laptop to finish booting up. Drizzle dotted the window. "I'm not sure how far I can trust Hypnos, not if Yamaki's not at the helm anymore. That's why I came to you."

"You didn't believe that whole crock about him going to London either?"

"I've known him longer than anyone else. Yamaki would've at least given some sort of warning," the laptop finished booting up and she opened the clip that her boss had been watching before he disappeared. Reika turned the screen toward the Janyuu. "Please watch this – it explains some of what's been happening with Hypnos."

Janyuu watched. His eyebrows kept rising higher and higher as the file played. His lips parted in astonishment as he recognized Nagamora in the clip with Musyamon. By the time the clip finished playing, he was looking up at Reika with furrowed eyebrows, "What is this? Where'd it come from?"

"It was something Yamaki was watching before he vanished," Reika replied. She stopped the clip. "There's a report that comes it, but it's encoded heavily. I was hoping you could go through them and tell me what this is all about. All I know is that Nagamora isn't working to further Hypnos. We can't trust him. Or Kincaid."

Janyuu leaned over and began quickly looking through the laptop, seeing what was on it and using Reika's knees as a makeshift table. Whatever he saw, it made his expression darken even further. Long minutes passed as he scanned what had been practically meaningless to Reika's eyes. He eventually pulled away, one hand on his chin as he sat back. The fragile plastic chair gave a squeak but held under his shifting weight. He looked up at Reika.

"What happened in that video was the most recent extermination incident. According to that report, they called exterminations like those 'Purging'," Janyuu said, frowning. "I see references to some kind of Council. I'm guessing they're overseers or something, since Nagamora reports back to them on schedule. And since he's working with the Digimon, this Council..."

"What's wrong?"

Janyuu shook his head. "This Council has been reuniting all the Digital World sectors for years," he said. "My son has some friends who seem to know what's going on. He told me they're going to try to open some kind of rift in Tokyo between our World and the Digital one. If Nagamora's reporting back to them, it's probable they're using Hypnos to achieve this."

"Your savior is the harbinger of the digital apocalypse."

Reika's face paled at this. So her guess about the mystery e-mail was right! She felt sick. If Yamaki had this confirmed to his face, he would've been crushed that his life's work was being used against him.

"How could they possibly open up a rift?"

Janyuu thought about this. He reached up and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, "I'm not sure. It would take not only a lot of physical power to accomplish anything like that, it would also take a staggering, impossible amount of data as well. According to the research, it just can't be done with the technology and data levels of today. Not yet."

"We keep the data from the Digimon we've deleted in the past," Reika said slowly.

"That's a lot, but it's only a fraction of what they need." Janyuu paused, his mind racing. "You need the impossible to achieve the impossible. You would need access to more data than is probably available in the world right now. Modern machines simply don't carry that amount of data. And even if you had this amount – theoretically speaking – I just don't see how you could possibly find the sheer amount of computing power you would need for something to work with all of that."

Thunder rolled from somewhere in the distance, followed by a faint flash of lightning at her peripheral. Reika sighed. This was worse news than she'd hoped. If Yamaki was here, he'd flip.

"Obviously this isn't impossible since the Digimon – this 'Council' – are trying. They're smart creatures: Digimon don't try something unless they know there's a good chance of success," Janyuu mused aloud. "I don't know. It baffles me where they could be getting all that data this quickly. And what they're going to use to funnel it together so it's highly concentrated."

"Some kind of machine, I'm guessing," Reika hazarded. "Bet it's here in Japan if Nagamora's behind Hypnos."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was here in Tokyo."

A silence as it sank in. Reika tried to think of any machines fitting that bill, attempting to recall the status sheets she glanced at a month ago. There was the new GADD system Hypnos installed into Tokyo eleven months ago. GADD stood for Governmental Anti-Digimon Defense; there hadn't been a use for it since Hypnos itself usually deleted the Digimon before they became a national hazard. While that had access to a lot of digital information, it simply wasn't "smart" enough to sort and concentrate the amount of data Janyuu was talking about. It could only search and destroy and it would only do that when manually activated by a government official armed with the access code. The monthly logs that filtered into Hypnos showed it hadn't ever been activated. It was busy collecting dust.

What about that Rewodë Project in Silicon Valley? Yamaki told her a few times about it. It was supposedly an independent anti-Digimon project without any ties to Hypnos, led by the famous Rob McCoy himself to create some "D-Reaper". She hadn't actually seen the surveillance reports on it, so all she knew was that it existed. But that's just a program. It's not an actual machine. Besides, that was in the United States.

Reika crossed that idea out.

It's not Rewodë or GADD. So what was left that was in Tokyo that could possibly handle anything like that?

Wait…Why else would it be sealed away? Reika had a feeling she was onto something here. What better reason to seal it? So no one would get curious about it? Why was it that Kincaid was in charge of it when her Class Level was far too low for something that big?

Why would Nagamora give Yamaki the funding to make "it" unless he knew he could use it for his own agenda?

Yuggoth and GADD were both predecessors: one was intelligent, the other had a high data capacity. Nagamora personally gave the green-light on all three projects.

It's never been used by Hypnos…

Janyuu jumped as Reika gasped out loud.

"What's wrong?" He demanded.

"I just thought of something," Reika's words came in a rush. "What about the Juggernaut?"

Janyuu blinked. "That big paperweight downstairs? They never finished it."

"If you think about it, we don't know anything about the Juggernaut. I mean, the construction teams kept changing, only one person was in charge of writing up the progress reports. None of us regular staff were allowed near it. I think Yamaki's only seen it, what, twice? And that was in the early stages, so…" Reika said hurriedly, "We don't know know what kind of machine they actually got down there."

Janyuu frowned. "I think you're making some rather large assumptions, Ms. Ootori."

"Everything behind it looks suspicious."

Janyuu frowned, still not entirely swayed.

"We've got to do something; I mean, the facts about it are too bizarre to be coincidental…" Reika started. "We should at least consider it a big possibility."

"Assuming it's true, there should be two versions of the Juggernaut progress reports. One for Yamaki and one for Nagamora. Does that laptop happen to have either?" Janyuu got up, shrugging on his overcoat. "Would you mind if I borrowed it for a while?"

Reika hesitated. That was the only possession she saved from Yamaki's apartment besides his lighter and the folders he kept filed away there. The rest were at her own apartment, hidden in a safe location. She reluctantly handed the laptop to Janyuu.

"I'm sorry, but if you borrow that, I must accompany you until it's back in my hands. I hope you won't be offended – it's not that I don't trust you, Mr. Lee. But that's Yamaki's personal laptop. Please understand."

Janyuu gave a solemn nod and held open the door to the window office. She stepped out and together they rode the elevator down to the lobby. They didn't talk as they hit the more populated floors. Reika glanced at each person as they entered the elevator to join them. None of them seemed suspicious. There were mostly workers from the offices leaving to go home, a small tour group with a bunch of little kids. They looked harmless enough, but she didn't dare talk to Janyuu; he avoided eye contact with her, staring forward.

Janyuu headed for his car in the underground parking lot. Reika delayed, loitering a bit around the lobby's marble floors before going out the door after him. Once there, she slid into Janyuu's car silently. He pulled out of the parking garage and onto the street outside. Reika found she kept twisting back around in her seat to see if they were being followed. It didn't look like it, but she kept turning around and around even when they put a couple of miles between the Hypnos and themselves.

No wonder Yamaki was always so paranoid.

Reika would be paranoid too if she put up with the same things he did on a daily basis…wherever he was now.

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The Juggernaut's timer continued to ticking away.

Over twenty-four hours since it passed the internal checkpoint.

The supercomputer continued to strengthen the Metropolitan Government Office Building. Underground in the city's roots, coils heaved like living flesh, curled and undulated as they tunneled under the surrounding buildings and withdrew with more materials. Above ground, those in the offices noticed a strange series of faint tremors throughout the day, but ignored them. The Juggernaut focused almost entirely on its task. The human children weren't the real threat right now - the threat of collapse from the coming earthquake was. Its Creator had realized this and halted the flow of Golems until the earthquake would pass. It was best if the machine focused all its attention on its preservation.

Humans would die in this. There was no question about it. A great number, potentially ranging in the thousands.

The Juggernaut found this unsatisfactory. It was a waste of a limited resource – the Juggernaut would only be able to harvest whatever was trapped within the Shield's limits after the earthquake – and it was hardly efficient. Humans didn't multiply as quickly as Digimon could. As a fuel source, they didn't self-replenish at what the Juggernaut considered an acceptable rate. Live humans at this point were to be considered a commodity.

Cables underneath Tokyo began to bind together in a web-like network. It was impossible for the Juggernaut to cover all of its sectors, but at least the damage would be minimized along with death count. It was a matter of salvaging what could be salvaged.

But again, that couldn't be helped. There were other matters to attend to.

What was Jenrya doing?

Takato was convinced he was up to something. He came and went as often as before. There was nothing really weird in Jenrya's outward behavior. But somehow Takato knew something changed. Jenrya knew something, was waiting for it and he'd been too busy to talk to Takato as often as he used to. Too busy to take down that mirror forcing Takato to watch the outside world. Watching the humans out there, watching day turn to night turn to day again.

It wasn't a real mirror, but he couldn't think of any other name for it. It hurt him inside instead of outside; he almost would've preferred the latter, since outside-pain could turn numb if there was enough of it. There was nowhere to run to.

Takato knew Jenrya was only being fair: Jenrya put up with seeing the outside world and since Takato always said he was so close to his friend (they were best friends after all), that meant he had to do the same. Tokyo throbbed with death itself. Pulsed with it, alive with too many diseases to be named. Alive with creatures dying by the second.

But it was only fair. Jenrya could do it. Jenrya killed like Takato had and look, death didn't bug him.

Unlike Jenrya, Takato wasn't so strong. If he could have, he would've squirmed away and made another room to crawl away from seeing like Jenrya did with his million eyes. He couldn't look away no matter how he tried. Takato shuddered. Even his guilt about the blood on Jenrya's and his hands wouldn't compare to this. It wasn't meant to be torture, Takato heard his voice telling himself faintly. Jenrya meant it for his own good. He'd learn to deal with it. Jenrya had, obviously.

But seeing everything like he the first time…Suddenly his guilt just seemed meaningless.

After all, those people were going to die anyway, if not now. And Jenrya – Takato – killed quickly. Mercifully. .

They made death logical.

He (or was it Jenrya?) didn't kill like humans did. Killing in their terms was fair. Just. Jenrya couldn't understand "just" – nor would he care if he did - and Takato himself barely remembered. But he did know it was "just", even if that word didn't mean very much to him anymore. It meant absolutely nothing to Jenrya, aside from the thousands of varying dictionary definitions he could cite. But Jenrya made death a useful, logical and efficient machine. It never dragged out. Quick and humanely fast.

Suddenly the mirrors inside his hiding spot flipped to something he hadn't ever seen before.

Darkness filled the room from all sides. For a second, Takato thought that the punishment – "lesson" he corrected himself again - was over. It wasn't. He was simply seeing something with little light. It was very dark and he had to let his eyes adjust. Eventually he did get used to the change in lighting, and he stared around him. Metal snakes of various widths were oozing over one another slowly, pulsating together as if they shared one synchronized heart. Every now and then Takato caught a glimpse of something white through the snakes' rubber and metal segments.

It took him a long, dull second before he realized that he was looking at himself. This was how Jenrya saw him: a body locked down with metal bands to a strange throne of some kind, a gently sloping, spotlessly white helmet covering his face from the eyes up as pulsing wires curved back into the rest of Jenrya's other body.

Takato didn't like looking at himself, at that human body trapped within the teeming nest of snakes. It made him uneasy for some reason.

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"We're still on Garurumon's tail, right?" Jenrya yelled over the wind.

Ruki nodded, shouting back over her shoulder, "The trail's still pretty fresh. We're moving as fast as he is, so if he stops, we'll catch up. We're probably only a mile behind him."

Jenrya focused on holding on as Kyuubimon made another sailing bound that took them over several roofs. He kept his arms tightly locked around Ruki's waist, Terriermon clinging to the backpack looped around his shoulders. Ruki seemed to have no trouble riding her partner. Her legs tightened automatically at certain motions, shifting to the side as Kyuubimon leaned into a turn without even thinking about it. Jenrya, on the other hand, found himself half-convinced he'd bounced right off to hit the street far below before they caught up to Garurumon. This was his first time riding Kyuubimon and he could honestly say this wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. Ever.

Terriermon didn't even care. He was having the time of his life, a wide grin pasted on his face as wind whistled past. The Rookie cackled with glee right in Jenrya's ear.

Garurumon and the fake Takato led them on a twisted route. They went several miles out past Shinjuku's boundaries into the next district, only to turn around and zig-zag back in. Now they were heading around the twin towers of the Metropolitan Government Office Building, standing tall above its neighbors. There was no mistake that Garurumon and the fake Takato were making a beeline for it.

Jenrya didn't know what Ruki planned to do once they caught up. She can't possibly think of attacking Garurumon, Jenrya thought. The previous battle hadn't gone so hot considering it was two against one. Somehow Jenrya had a feeling Kyuubimon wouldn't be able to get the upper hand on the Wolf. Not when she was weighed down with passengers, not when Garurumon was with that false-Takato. Jenrya still remembered how "Takato" fought Terriermon.

They were within two miles of the large skyscraper when Garurumon came into view. He was running along the rooftops with another Digimon. Jenrya squinted through the drizzle at the two figures in the distance. Where was the fake Takato? The gaunt creature galloping next to Garurumon resembled a large starved horse, its hooves beating along the rooftops, a thick mane whipping behind it. The equine face looked like a mutated skull with its skin pulled back almost to the breaking point; Jenrya gasped as the Digimon turned its head over its bony shoulder. Thinly curved fangs replaced normal teeth, the eyes nearly all eye-white except for the wild blue-irises glowing with a life of their own even this far away.

The unknown Digimon wheeled around and stood his ground, his serpentine tail lashing out behind him.

"WRM Blast!"

A rapid volley of purple energy suddenly rocketed toward Kyuubimon, fired from the twisted Digimon's jaws. Kyuubimon veered to the left as the barrage exploded where she once was, beads of light bouncing this way and that like dozens of glittering metal ball-bearings. Garurumon, noticing his escort wasn't following, was turning around to join the unknown Digimon even as Kyuubimon retaliated.

"Everyone, duck!" Ruki yelled.

Jenrya quickly leaned forward to make himself as small as possible with the others as Kyuubimon's nine tails rose up above them. Ghostly blue fire shone in a glowing ring about them, floating in mid-air.

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

A salvo shot forward from Kyuubimon's raised tails. The unknown Digimon leaped to the side, staggered backward as one of the blazing shots bowled into his shoulder and sent him skidding back several paces. Garurumon leapt in front of his escort before Kyuubimon could strike again. There was a look of humiliated anger in the unknown Digimon's eyes aimed at the Wolf's back. If these two Digimon were allies, it was not because of choice.

In fact, they were arguing.

"Keep going, you fool!" snarled the twisted, horse-like one through his fangs. "I'll catch up!"

"I won't let you fight this scum by yourself, Kaminmon!" Garurumon retorted.

"You're no good to my Mistress deleted!"

"I don't run!" Garurumon growled. "I don't care about your Mistress!"

"Just go!"

Garurumon ignored Kaminmon. His jaws snapped open. Blue energy crackled in bolts around his snout, "Howling Blaster!"

Kyuubimon danced out of the beam's path. The rooftop where it hit burned for a few seconds before the scorched area became encased in a sheet of ice. Jenrya held on for all he was worth, his knuckles white as he dug his fingers into his hands to keep them locked together around Ruki's waist. He wanted to jump off so he could help, but they were moving so quickly that one second they would be running along the roof, the next second suddenly sailing through the air to the next building. Ruki was busy snapping warnings to Kyuubimon.

The Champion dove down in between two buildings – her legs splayed stiffly under her as she sailed down – and landed in the dark alley. Overhead, Kaminmon's WRM Shot flew wide as his target dropped down out of sight. There was a brief moment of bickering from the two Digimon on the rooftop as they argued whether to keep fighting or run.

"Ruki, you need to give us time to get off!" Jenrya shouted. "You guys can't fight them alone!"

"No time!" Ruki replied. "You won't have enough time to get off and help Terriermon digivolve into Gargomon!"

Jenrya tried to protest. "But –!"

"Kyuubimon and I can handle it!" Ruki interrupted him. Her body tensed under Jenrya's arms as she looked up sharply. "Here they come!"

Kaminmon's grotesque head was peering over the rooftop now, snout pulled back in a permanent leer by his mutated skin. He looked up, gave a little duck and snarled in anger as Garurumon bounded right over his head and down into the alley. The Wolf shook himself, fur bristling. Even as he landed, the blue energy of his Howling Blaster was crackling about his snout. Kyuubimon's tails started to rise in response.

"WRM Blast!"

"Howling Blaster!"

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

The fight was strangely even despite the fact Kyuubimon was outnumbered. Kaminmon and Garurumon spent most of the battle focused on arguing with each other rather than working as a team against their common enemy. Kaminmon wanted to take care of them himself, but Garurumon wasn't having any of it. For a few minutes, the Digimon fired off potshots at each other. The standoff spilled along the street and then back onto the rooftops. It was only when the fight had backed within almost a mile of the Tokyo Metropolis Government Office Building that Kaminmon turned without warning and ran. Garurumon paused and then went unwillingly after him.

Kyuubimon gave chase. The flames around her claws and tail flickered brightly as she went after the two Digimon.

"We got 'em," Ruki said. She made a motion with her head, "Jenrya, do me a favor. Reach into my pocket and get the card in there!"

Jenrya clung onto Ruki and felt around the pocket in question, praying he wouldn't slip and slide right off. He managed to pull out the card without any hitches and awkwardly handed it to Ruki, the other juggled her D-Arc so she could slash the card.

But she never got a chance to use it.

They'd just crossed within the mile radius of the twin towers dwarfing them when the area exploded into a mass of cables.

Jenrya gave a warning shout as hundreds of sparking… things erupted up from the street directly in front of them to form a solid, throbbing wall. Kyuubimon bolted into a sharp u-turn as cables shot forward and dived into the building they were on. The roof caved in under the sheer force, sending up a thick cloud of dust and debris rocketing straight up in the air. Jenrya glanced over his shoulder. Several of the tentacles rose up and spiraled through the haze of the dust cloud after them.

Dozens of inch-thick wires darted forward ahead of the huge mass rising up in the back. They moved in bizarre jerking motions that spurted forward, making them hard to predict. Kyuubimon was hard pressed to keep from getting speared by them as they encircled her and plunged into the ground like rifle-shots.

A shadow curved along their path. The sky darkened. Jenrya looked up. His eyes widened. Two enormous cables arched through the drizzle above their heads, dropping down toward the four of them with a screaming whistle of wind rushing past metal. They seemed to be impossibly huge, the diameters of each easily several yards across and blotting out the light overhead.

"Kyuubimon, turn right!" Jenrya shouted desperately.

Kyuubimon didn't wait for any orders from Ruki. She went right. Her paws practically flew under her. To the left, the two cables collapsed into the roof of the store they leaped onto. The store simply vanished under the mass of the two huge cables as they obliterated whatever was under them. Somewhere, glass windows tinkled as steel bent and folded in on itself with a drowned-out whine. Kyuubimon kept up the frantic pace, head bent low until it was parallel to the roof tops.

A flurry of explosions roared behind them, shrapnel flying forward to pelt Kyuubimon and her riders.

Several minutes passed before Jenrya realized their attackers had fallen behind. The deafening noise wasn't surrounding them anymore, instead becoming fainter and fainter. Heart still thudding in his chest, the beats echoing in his ears, the Tamer glanced over his shoulder. Thick dust was still hovering in the air far behind them. He thought he could still see the coils off in the distance slithering back through the clouds of debris, sparking with electricity as they slid up into the air and then silently back into the ground and out of view. Kaminmon and Garurumon were nowhere to be seen.

Kyuubimon didn't slow down until she put another mile and then another and another between them and the Tokyo Metropolis Government Office. The pace began to slacken, her chest heaving as her breakneck speed slowed into a gallop, slowed further into a canter and then finally into an exhausted trot. Jenrya could feel her sides billowing in and out as the Champion sucked in wheezing breaths. Another glance behind them. The dust cloud hovered, but it was silent again.

What was that? Jenrya frowned. His heart was still doing that dance in his chest, adrenaline pumping. We almost died!

Kyuubimon wheezed for breath. Ruki leaned forward, patting her partner's thick white mane, but said nothing.

They retreated all the way back to the park before anyone spoke up. By then, Kyuubimon had regained her breath as she came to a halt on the wet grass. Jenrya pulled away from Ruki after un-looping his hands from around her waist. He'd been holding on so tightly that the back of his hands bore marks left from his nails, his fingers stiff and painful to move. The two humans slid off Kyuubimon's back.

Ruki dusted herself off as Kyuubimon reverted back to Renamon.

"That was fun," Ruki said. Her tone made it clear it as anything but. "I'm guessing going back right now is a bad idea."

"At least we know where Garurumon's at," Jenrya tried to be positive. He bent and helped Terriermon free from the backpack. His partner clambered to perch on Jenrya's mess of blue hair. "I don't think that whole thing was an ambush, do you?"

"I noticed we didn't get attacked until we were within a certain distance of that skyscraper," Renamon gestured over her spiked shoulder toward the building, almost completely hidden behind the treetops. "The attack stopped after we were out of that range. Perhaps it was some sort of automatic self-defense system?"

"Seemed like it," Ruki agreed. "Those wire things weren't moving like they did the last time. It seemed like a knee-jerk reaction."

"It didn't attack Garurumon and that freaky Digimon with him," Terriermon chimed in from his position on Jenrya's head. "Doesn't seem that knee-jerk to me."

"I'm guessing something about us set this automatic 'self-defense' off," Jenrya said after a moment of thought, "But if there's that crazy of a defense around the Metropolitan Government Office Building, it means there's something important about it…maybe that's where that fake Takato – or that Kaminmon thing – are taking all the bio-emerged Digimon?"

"Probably," Ruki glanced at her watch. Jenrya had to jog a few feet to keep up with Ruki as she started down the grassy hill. She nearly slipped on the wet grass, slick from the drizzle, but managed to keep her balance. The Tamer continued resolutely down the knoll toward the path leading to the park's entrance.

"Where're you going?"

Ruki glanced at Jenrya. "I'm going to go find a payphone and call Alice and Ryo."

"Why don't you use your cell-phone?" Jenrya asked.

The other Tamer made a face. "Dobermon's little EMP fried my phone."

Jenrya blinked. Chances were, his cell was the same state since he and Ryo had been in the blast radius of Alice and Dobermon's E-Pulse Stromstärke. Shoot. And here he'd been telling the others a few days ago they could keep in contact with the cell phones. A bit hard to do if none of them work, Jenrya thought, irritated he hadn't thought to make sure everything worked before saying that. Good going, Jen.

He followed Ruki to the nearest payphone by the street against the park's outer wall. Ruki didn't have enough yen for the call; Jenrya gave her his phone card. Ruki took it, muttered something about paying him back and picked up the receiver. She inserted the phone card inside the slot and waited for the dial tone. Hearing it, she dialed in the number of the cell phone Rumiko let Alice borrow.

Jenrya waited as the phone rang in Ruki's ear for a few seconds. Now that he knew about the cell phone thing, he was getting worried. What if his Dad tried to call or e-mail him, only to find he couldn't get through? I better try to get back home after this…

"Alice?" Ruki asked into the receiver. "Are you in Odaiba?"

A brief silence as she listened to the other voice on the line.

"You're almost at the harbor? …Okay….Okay. Yeah. So that blue energy is still there?" Ruki glanced at Jenrya and frowned, but continued to speak into the receiver. "We had a problem going after Garurumon. I'll tell you when you get back since I don't want to eat up Jenrya's phone card."

Another pause as Ruki listened. Jenrya held up his hand, started to say something but closed his mouth when he saw the other Tamer was completely engrossed in listening to Alice.

"…So there's no sign of Zudomon?" Ruki frowned. "….No. What? No, I wouldn't try hitting the water to see if he's still there. You can't handle an Ultimate by yourself."

Jenrya glanced out toward the street. A few cars lined the other side, rain dotting their hoods and windows. They were the only people he could see; apparently these days most people didn't dare venture out in a place as secluded as the park. No telling if you would suddenly up and disappear without warning. He had to wonder if the rest of Tokyo outside looked like this. Was it only Shinjuku? His attention wandered for a bit before coming back to Ruki.

"…does Ryo recognize any of it?" Ruki was saying. "Can I talk to him for a second?"

A drawn silence from Alice's end. And then Ryo was on the other end of the line. Jenrya could hear the other boy's familiar voice filtering through the phone, but he couldn't make out the words.

"…It does look like you've seen it before?"

A sound of confirmation from Ryo. His words were tinny. Ruki shot a look at Jenrya as the payphone gave a warning beep to indicate the card was a minute away from completely expiring. Almost out already? Ruki mouthed to Jenrya in exasperation. He nodded sheepishly. Didn't get a chance to tell you, he mouthed back. Ruki rolled her eyes.

"Can't talk long. Phone card's about to go out," Ruki said into the receiver. "What exactly is it we're dealing with here, Ryo? If you recognized it, you should have at least more of an idea than we do."

Ryo apparently began to launch into his own speculations when Ruki suddenly made a sound of disgust; the call had been cut short, the spent phone-card ejected from the payphone. She turned to Jenrya.

"You got another card?"

Jenrya shook his head.

"We'll have to wait until either they get back or we get home," Ruki glanced at Renamon. "I need to get going anyway. My mom said she wanted me back as soon as possible so we can start evacuating."

"Same here," Jenrya said. His stomach jumped, "I'm worried about the Matsudas."

"…We'll figure something out about them," Ruki said after a pause. She started down the street back in the general direction of her house, Renamon at her side. The Tamer turned and stopped, seeing his dark expression. "Look. I don't normally give advice. You can do better things with your time besides constantly worrying over everything. Just chill out – that's supposed to be your specialty."

Jenrya watched her go without volunteering an answer to that parting remark. The drizzle had begun to lift by now and stopped completely by the time she was out of view. Jenrya turned and went their own way through the streets, the scent of wet asphalt rising around them. Clouds continued to hover over Shinjuku, stained blue by the aura emitting from Odaiba. Terriermon looked thoughtful from his perch on his partner's head. The Rookie tapped a stubby black claw on Jenrya's head:

"She's right, y'know," Terriermon finally said.

Jenrya stopped at the intersection, glancing right and then left for any approaching cars before quickly jaywalking across the street. "What, that I should stop worrying about people? That's a bit cold, don't you think?"

"I don't think Ruki meant it like that."

"Okay, so tell me what she meant."

"I think…" Terriermon paused carefully, his words slow, "I think she means momentai, y'know? Sometimes things are out of our control. No point in wasting time worrying about those if it means you can use that time to help with what is in your control."

"It's not a waste of time to be worried about the Matsudas," Jenrya said. "I want to still help them. I want Takato to have a family to return to when he gets back."

Terriermon sounded resigned. "I know…just don't burn yourself out, Jenrya."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Time passed outside. Jenrya had been observing this for some time, Takato unable to help eavesdropping, his voice repeating. It surrounded him, cold, logical, almost unrecognizable as his friend's. Takato couldn't understand some of what Jenrya said. For a while, it sounded like Jenrya was repeating numbers, sets of zeroes and ones, over and over again. Some kind of code that Takato could almost understand, but for awhile it evaded him. Slipped through his fingers like fine sand. Eventually he thought he could break it down, if he listened hard enough.

It was a countdown.

Fifteen hours. Twenty-two minutes. Five seconds. 0.4 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 2 percent.

Fifteen hours?

A few hours ago, he felt something wrong. Even surrounded by the mirrors, he sensed it at the same time as Jenrya. A deafening series of alarms went off and sent him huddling to the floor on his knees, clapping hands to his ears, and squeezing his eyes shut as something flashed overheard. Without warning, the room was cast into pure darkness as practically all systems and running programs came to a screeching halt in whatever they were doing. They abruptly rerouted into various defensive modes. Silence that lasted less than a second. And then Takato could feel Jenrya moving with him again, even though he didn't remember commanding all their limbs to lash out like that. Black Growlmon had been immediately recalled from his position in Ueno, but that hadn't been necessary when intruders were quickly driven away. Everything flicked back online. New data flowing through told Takato that nothing had been damaged.

The threat was gone.

Too close this time. Not in some remote corner of Shinjuku, but right in its center.

Right where it could be vulnerable.

The mirror room was one of the last things to come back online. Everything else returned to their original functions and operated as quietly and smoothly as before the interruption. For a few seconds, Takato was bathed in perfect darkness, unable to hear or see or even feel the floor under him, but still strangely aware of what happened (nearly happened) around Jenrya's heart. The intrusion attempt was noted and logged away into a file. Fire trucks and ambulances were now arriving at the scene. Three deaths. Two from crushing, one in the fire that broke out. The burns had been too severe, making the casualty count for this incident come out to three since the female human died on location.

Jenrya's voice told him that three casualties, while a regretful loss, would not make a difference. Three was a small price to pay to ensure those intruders wouldn't damage anything internal. Three lives in exchange for their own.

An obvious choice. They were the greater being; stronger, more intelligent. Better.

The countdown resumed as if nothing happened.

Soon the mirror room came back. Still kneeling, hands resting on the floor as sight, hearing and touch returned, Takato found himself staring right into his own blinded face amidst Jenrya's snake nests.

Why was Jenrya doing this? Takato's red eyes darted about the room. Metal snakes writhing and shifting everywhere. On the floor, walls, and ceiling, in such sharp detail that they could have been right here in the room with him. This couldn't be how Jenrya looked. It wasn't right. That couldn't be how Takato looked either, sitting pale and prone in that throne like he was in a coma, wires of various colors curling up into the rest of the moving mass from the headpiece covering his face from his eyes up.

No matter what he told himself – or what Jenrya wanted him to believe – he knew instinctively this was Jenrya's true form. Just a mass of electronics and coils. Attached to Takato like a parasite because that was what he really was.

(Jenrya was ugly).

Fourteen hours. Two minutes. Six seconds. 0.01 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 6 percent.

Takato had tried to think carefully about why he was watching himself and Jenrya. Maybe it was a trick, a test? Stupid, Jenrya didn't play tricks, found tests useless if they didn't produce results. Takato watched as one of the thin wires pulled itself free from his check, leaving a small gash with ragged edges from which a little blood dribbled down, and slithered away. Another promptly came to replace it. The coils surrounding the other comatose boy continued to throb gently. An endless collection of giant organs through which not-blood pulsed from some invisible heart. Aside from the internal countdown and the scrapes of Jenrya's organs against one another, there wasn't any sound, at least nothing he immediately noticed.

It took awhile for Takato to realize he could hear his own breathing. It was shallow and forced. Drawn trembling in through a thin chest that rose up and down, up and down like a barely functioning pump. It was worse than seeing Jenrya's real body around him.

Thirteen hours. Thirty-five minutes. Zero seconds. 0.4 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 4 percent.

The breathing kept going. Takato wondered when it was finally going to stop. Hoped it would.

The milliseconds, seconds, minutes and hours continued to tick past. The weak breaths echoed in the room. A terrified thought. What if this wasn't planned? What if Jenrya really had forgotten about him? What if Jenrya was actually capable of forgetting? Takato knew thinking about all these questions was dangerous, really dangerous, but he couldn't stop himself. What if those faceless coils were really Jenrya and the Jenrya he knew was a fake, a fake with silver-within black eyes and claws, and a voice without words?

Eleven hours. Ten minutes. Six seconds. 0.02 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 2 percent.

Jenrya couldn't be a fake, Takato worried, biting his lip. So what if he looked different? He was still the same person. People grew up and changed all the time. Jenrya was no different, right? But Takato could only continue to stare at the nest of coils snaking over each other. The barest flicker of doubt. That couldn't be Jenrya. Unaware his distress had multiplied until it started to act his thoughts out, unbidden, the Will began unconsciously accessing files, unaware of his own activities. The one from the recent intruders popped up and opened on its own. A floating screen suddenly appeared in the mirror-room.

What's this? Takato leaned forward.

On screen, two Digimon were approaching Jenrya's home. One was the Creator's servant. The other, Garurumon, was on file, dating back from the days of the Purge as one of the successful rehabilations of the first traitors. Garurumon and Kaminmon were pursued by others, the file's binary translating into video for the Will. Takato stared as they came into view and the cameras fixed on them. A large golden fox-Digimon was racing after the two Digimon further up ahead. Passengers clung to her fur. There were two humans. One was a girl with auburn hair pulled up into a ragged pony-tail. She seemed vaguely familiar but Takato couldn't place her name. But there were files on her too. She was a threat, deadly to both Jenrya and Takato. She was one of the ones that Takato hadn't been able to kill.

And the other rider…

…Was Jenrya.

No, it was all wrong. Jenrya was here. It was some kinda trick the enemy was using. Takato leaned forward and stared at the other Jenrya, unable to help a morbid fascination at this version. He doesn't look like Jenrya, Takato thought. This one didn't have the alien eyes, or those metal claws. This one's face was…expressive. His motions were too sloppy. Too flawed. Too human. Not perfect and smooth, controlled. There was something even stranger aside from those differences and it took Takato a long moment to realize what it was.

The other Jenrya's lips were moving.

Jenrya's lips never moved. He didn't have a voice; he couldn't, Takato knew he was a mute all his life. He spoke in zeroes and ones only Takato could understand. His voice was all and nothing, something that couldn't be touched yet was real. Very real. This couldn't be Jenrya, this other boy with blue hair and gray eyes and lips that moved. All of this had to be another test of Takato's obedience. But why? If it was a test, he would've already passed it. Takato already knew who the real Jenrya was. The test should be over.

Ten hours. Fifteen minutes. Fifty-six seconds. 0.12 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 2.5 percent.

Yet Jenrya didn't appear.

Ten hours. Four minutes. Forty-one seconds. 0.1 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 2 percent.

Somehow this Jenrya felt familiar.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jenrya sat the kitchen table and watched as the strange woman accepted the beer from his dad. What had he said her name was? Reika? The tech snapped open the beer after a polite "thank you" and took a generous sip. Jenrya exchanged looks with Ryo. How was she going to help them? He'd arrived home to find that Dad beat him there, waiting with strange woman. Freezing in the door, Terriermon sitting on his head, Jenrya stopped and stared, wondering what to say.

His Dad introduced the two of them, saying the woman was "Reika Ootori", a co-worker. Hopefully what she knew would help them with the whole Digimon problem. Reika stepped forward at this and held out her manicured hand; it took Jenrya a delayed second to realize she wanted to shake hands with him. Blushing over the fact that he'd his head in the clouds for a second, he gave her hand a quick squeeze. Reika offered a polite, tight little smile, one that grew slightly frigid as she nodded a hello to Terriermon. Everyone had settled around the kitchen table when Ryo finally returned home.

He waltzed in minutes after Jenrya. Ryo took a moment to remove his shoes and left them at the front before stepping into the hall. His normally spiky hair was matted down from the rain and he excused himself for a second to towel it dry. Ryo eventually joined them at the table, giving Jenrya a look.

"As I said, I work with Ms. Ootori," Janyuu said. He took a small sip from his own beer. "I worked as a part-time consultant, since where she works is…ah…well…?"

Reika nodded. "It's okay. They might as well know by now."

"Are you sure?"

"Perfectly," Reika said. She turned to Ryo and Jenrya. Ryo's expression was cynical, Jenrya's bordering on bewildered. "I work for Hypnos. I believe you've had encounters with us before. Or with what we've been trying to accomplish."

Jenrya tried to remember strange incidents with any adults. There was that one time with the tall blond man in black. And Takato had said something about a battle with Devidramon getting interrupted by the very same guy. "I've never heard of Hypnos."

"Me neither," Ryo shrugged.

Reika took another sip of beer. "I wouldn't be surprised. Most of our work has been a closely kept secret. We're an underground, anti-Digimon organization with a ties to the government and the military," Reika said. She hesitated and pursed her lips, "Actually, you weren't even supposed to hear that part about the government or the military. I just broke a legal agreement I made when I signed on not to mention either in relation to Hypnos."

Jenrya blinked. There's been an anti-Digimon group this whole time?

"I'll pretend I didn't hear," Jenrya found himself saying.

"Basically we're the reason you haven't seen a lot of Digimon bio-emerging up until now," Reika continued. "We've been guarding the Real World. Most Digimon we managed to delete before they actually came into our World. In fact, we were expanding our programs so we could start protecting other Digimon hotspots internationally."

She took a minute to finish off her beer. Reika let what she said sink in before she continued. Jenrya had an increasingly shocked expression on his face, Ryo's growing more and more unreadable. Terriermon looked uncomfortable at all this talk of deleting Digimon. Jenrya gave his paw a comforting squeeze.

"However, we've had a number of problems with Hypnos," Reika went on. Her face darkened. "Hypnos's founder – Yamaki Mitsuo – vanished a few days ago. None of us have heard from him since. I'm sure you've noticed the number of Digimon successfully bio-emerging into the Real World's increased over the past couple of weeks. Furthermore, we've made a disturbing discovery about Hypnos's main supporter."

Janyuu produced Yamaki's laptop. Reika quickly showed the clip with Musyamon, Nagamora and Yamaki, explaining it as best as she could with her limited knowledge about the events back then.

"...There," she paused the playing file and pointed at the screen. Jenrya and Ryo leaned forward to look. "I'm told that this was taken about four years ago. We have Musyamon right here," she circled the armored figure with her finger, "but that's not where it gets interesting. See that man there? That's Ataru Nagamora. He's the one who's pulling all the strings with Hypnos, especially now that Yamaki isn't here anymore. He bankrolls us and has the highest level of clearance. Essentially he's in control of all our operations."

Ryo watched the clip after Reika un-paused it, his eyebrows drawing together as the bearded man – this Nagamora – and Musyamon conversed over what looked like a human body. Obviously something was up since Musyamon wasn't hefting that huge saber of his and braining Nagamora over the head with it. That's not a natural behavior, Ryo thought. Most Digimon were openly hostile to humans. Even the tolerant ones wouldn't be acting like a human was the one who wore the pants in the relationship, not like how Musyamon was ducking his head and bobbing his shoulders this way and that, as if Nagamora made him nervous.

As if fear commanded respect from the armored Champion.

"I came to Mr. Lee since I thought I could trust him," Reika gave the laptop back to Janyuu. "This means Hypnos isn't under our control. Nagamora's allied with the Digimon, with this 'Council'. We have an idea what he wants Hypnos for, but…"

"It's mostly assumptions right now," Janyuu picked up where Reika left off. "I myself need to go over the files stored in this laptop before anything can become conclusive."

Ryo thought about this. "Where's Hypnos located?"

"The Metropolitan Government Office Building," Reika answered.

"That's the same place where we got attacked today," Jenrya said. His dad's eyebrows furrowed together sharply, shooting him a worried look Jenrya pretended not to see; he usually glossed over the battles. "Ruki, Renamon, Terriermon and I followed these two Digimon there and we hit some kinda automatic defensive system."

Puzzled, Reika frowned, "We don't have an automatic defensive systems. At least not physical ones; the only ones we have are set around the rift perimeters between the Real and Digital Worlds. What was it like?"

Jenrya described the wall of coils from underground, moving like they were jerkily animated to life. Reika blinked at this description. Even before he came to a finish, she looked like she couldn't believe any of it, her lips pursed together in that same displeased look like when she'd met Terriermon.

"You can't just rip stuff like this out of the ground," Reika protested. She began ticking off points on her painted nails, " A Digimon would've just attacked outright instead of bothering with such indirect means. And I can't think of any human designing anything that…advanced? And why didn't I hear this? I was at work today."

"I didn't hear anything either," Janyuu said. "I mean, we should've at least seen something…"

"What time were you there?" Jenrya asked. Sitting on his lap, head barely peeping over the table, Terriermon was uncharacteristically quiet. The Tamer guessed the revelation of an anti-Digimon organization gave his partner a lot to think about. Jenrya couldn't blame him. He'd probably need to talk to him after this. At least let him know that this didn't change at all how Jenrya felt about his partner.

Reika brought her finger to his lips, tapping them as she thought. "I got to work around 5:30 this morning. Pretty sure I left around 3:40 in the afternoon."

"I left with Ms. Ootori," Janyuu supplied.

"You must've left before we arrived," Jenrya answered. "I'm sure the whole thing's on the news or something by now, I mean I can get Ruki and Renamon and –"

"Jenrya, I believe you," Janyuu interrupted. "It's just difficult trying to imagine it. I'm sure what you guys saw really did happen. I mean, with everything else, why not this?"

Ryo leaned across the table. A wince as one of his broken fingers was jostled. "So what do we do now? What do you expect Jenrya and the others to do? How does this change anything?"

"Hypnos is being used. We know that for certain," Janyuu tore off a piece of paper from the graphing notebook sitting on the counter. He came back with a pen and began to write. "We have enough evidence to show it's no longer anti-Digimon. Since it's run by Nagamora, who takes orders from this 'Council' you guys told me about…"

"…I think I get it," Ryo glanced around the table. "We know the Council is aiming to make a breach soon. Probably before the year is out. Has anything else weird happened around there recently?"

"There was the blockade because of the lights in the sky." Reika said.

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "What lights? Did they happen to make a humming sound?"

"Yeah. They circled around Hypnos for a few nights," Reika blinked. "How'd you know?"

"Long story. I know what those things are; I'll explain about them later," Ryo thought about this. "I'd like to know what those Golems were doing at Hypnos."

"We'll work on that. But I'd like to talk about the Digital World, since you brought up the breach," Janyuu replied. He finished writing on the graphing paper and passed it to Jenrya and Ryo. "Here."

Jenrya pulled the graph paper toward him with two fingers. The two boys bent over it. I wish Dad was neater, Jenrya thought, giving a mental sigh. He could (barely) read the scrawl in blue pen but he knew Ryo was probably scratching his head and trying to figure out if any of the chicken-scratch were actually words. Janyuu had drawn a series of notes and diagrams on the paper. First was a series of e-mails and phone numbers; among them was Reika's contact. Under it was a rough scribble of several domes overlapping one another and then a bunch of names of things and people with lines drawn to them.

"From what we know, the Digital World is made of several levels," Janyuu said. "Digimon mostly stick on the one I highlighted. It's kind of like climate and people choosing to live in temperate zones. There are several tiers between us and them, which means they're going to have to break past all of those if they want actual contact between our worlds. From what you told me about Rob McCoy's project and what I've seen going through this laptop, it's going to act a little like Hypnos's current Yuggoth system."

Reika interjected before the two boys could ask: "Yuggoth is basically Hypnos's primary defense. We set it up on the first Tier's fringe so we can catch any Digimon as they attempt to bio-emerge. That's usually when they're the most vulnerable."

" I used to be a student under Rob: he's highly intelligent. I'm guessing he already knows about Hypnos. And their defense on this first Tier," Janyuu continued. He gestured with a pen toward the outer dome. "From what I've gathered about this Rewodë project of his – this D-Reaper thing you boys mentioned – it's not going to be a complete fringe operator like Yuggoth."

The pen moved to draw a blue line to the second tier.

"D-Reaper will insert itself into the first level: I'm not entirely sure, but Rob's probably going to try to 'cheat' and use the Yuggoth as a stepping stone to get in and sneak past all the security."

Reika looked taken aback at this. Janyuu smiled.

"If he knows about Hypnos, I wouldn't put it past him. He hates wasting effort if it's unnecessary. If Hypnos kept Rewodë on surveillance, he was probably returning the favor," Janyuu tapped the pen tip on the second dome. "Anyway. So D-Reaper is going to leapfrog into this second tier, Tier 2. Tier 2 is essentially what we know as the internet. Digimon generally avoid Tier 2 unless they're going to bio-emerge very soon. D-Reaper will probably set up a copy of itself in Tier 2 and then move onto the third Tier. Remember, this is hypothetical."

Down went the pen to the third dome. Janyuu marked it on the side with the number "3". As an afterthought, he labeled the rest of the Digital World diagram with numbers before continuing.

"Tier 3. This is where our knowledge begins to grow fuzzy since this is basically where the Digital World actually starts. I'm guessing this is where the D-Reaper will make another copy of itself and then move onto the last Tier before the main level. At Tier 4, D-Reaper is probably going to station itself there and spread out: I don't think it'd be able to make it here," Janyuu bolded the fifth level. He'd drawn the fifth level as the largest of the domes, "because the Digimon would surely detect it the moment it entered and destroy it."

"So how does this help us?" Ryo asked.

Terriermon spoke up for the first time, "Because if the D-Reaper doesn't insert itself all the way, the other Digimon won't know. Most of us can't detect traps like that or anything outside our World. It'll give it time to prepare for whatever it does."

"Terriermon's right. I don't know if the D-Reaper is going to stay within Tier 4 permanently or if Rob's going to go further than that with it," Janyuu frowned. He circled the fifth dome on the graph paper. "Gathering from what I've read about Rewodë in Hypnos's records, its main function is probably going to be defense, just like the Yuggoth. It will stop Digimon from bio-emerging like the Yuggoth does. That's likely its primary function since we can't really afford any offensives, looking at this realistically. And assuming there is some kind of breach – I'm assuming Rob knew about this 'Council' – the D-Reapers in Tiers 4, 3, and 2 will acts as advanced firewalls with Yuggoth acting as point."

He marked the fourth dome again with a little series of wavy lines to show the D-Reaper "net". Janyuu then wrote "T4D-Reaper".

"The D-Reaper on Tier 4 is probably the most important. It's the last defense between our Worlds, so it must be the strongest. It has to either slow this breach down so it won't have enough force to pass into the next level all the way or completely stop it. Tiers 4, 3, and 2 are wide open without the D-Reaper online yet. Right now we have one 'net' – the Yuggoth on Tier 1 – which is theoretically the weakest of the 'nets' I was talking about," Janyuu set down the ballpoint pen and looked about the table at his audience.

"But we're not entirely defenseless," Reika added. "Yuggoth is still online. This breach isn't going to be easy for them to pull off."

"Again, some of this is guesswork. I need to find out just how much Hypnos knows about this; I get the feeling we don't have everything on Rewodë here," Janyuu blew out a breath. "Even if the D-Reaper isn't perfect, it's better than what we have now. The problem we have is time. We need more of it. So we need a way to stall this breach, as Ryo here was telling me."

After that, they spent the next half hour talking about evacuations.

Ruki's family was probably going underground by tonight, Jenrya said. At least that was what the other Tamer told him. Reika guessed she should probably join them if there was room – if there wasn't, well, she could find her own shelter. Janyuu's family would naturally have priority, she reasoned, especially since he had children. Ryo didn't volunteer much during this, but glancing sideways at the taller boy sitting next to him, Jenrya knew he was thinking about Tamayo.

It was nearing eight when Ruki's mom called. Janyuu picked up the phone after the first two rings. Jenrya used this lull to go back to his room. If they really were evacuating, he better start packing. He wandered back to his room, glancing at his dad: Janyuu was still on the phone, voice quiet.

We've got to do something about Tamayo, Jenrya thought. Ruki's mom and his Dad would get into contact with the Matsudas. Between the two of them, they might have better luck with Takato's parents than he had. He was sure they would. So that left Ryo's hospitalized guardian. She was going to be a problem. Jenrya just didn't see how she could be moved. He supposed Ryo was all for kidnapping her right out of the hospital and driving her to wherever they were going to evacuate to, but…well, it wasn't a good idea. None of them had any real medical experience.

"Are we really going to need that much stuff?" Terriermon asked from his position on the desk. The Rookie was lying on his stomach, lop-ears out to each side like wings, his chin resting on his paws.

"I'm packing for Ryo too since we haven't gone back to his apartment," Jenrya folded another sweatshirt this time as he spoke. "Besides, it's better to have too much than too little."

Terriermon fell silent for a moment before changing the subject.

"Reika didn't like me. Did you see the way she looked at me?"

"Well, she's a part of this Hypnos, I'm sure she's more used to chasing Digimon around than actually talking with one," Jenrya stopped in his folding, glancing over at his partner. He tried to offer a reassuring smile. "Look, I wouldn't worry about it."

"Guess I'm not used to people looking at me like that."

"I know. Just don't worry about it. It's not like I look at you like that."

Terriermon smiled a little. "Yeah," but he was still quiet about all of this. "Just 'cause I'm a Digimon doesn't mean I hate you guys. I mean…um…that is…"

"I know."

"I don't think I'm superior to you or anything."

"I know," Jenrya repeated. He set down the jeans he'd been folding and held out his hands – Terriermon took the cue and hopped off the desk, sailing into his arms slowly. Jenrya reached up and scratched behind the little horn on his partner's head. It was one of the Rookie's weak spots and Terriermon practically purred under the attention. "What she said doesn't change anything about us. We're still partners."

Terriermon looked up at Jenrya. The Tamer rarely saw that expression on his partner's face: a lonely, downcast look that was usually overshadowed by jokes. But it was that look that convinced Jenrya he was going to be there for his partner, no matter what happened. Terriermon didn't like being alone. That's what he's worried about, isn't it? Terriermon had been alone in the Digital World, had spent most of it surrounded by no one who considered him an equal, but rather only data fodder. They hadn't exactly talked about that – Terriermon just wasn't comfortable about it – but Jenrya could read behind the lines. And what he saw made it clear that Terriermon wasn't about bad jokes. Those were surface things. What really mattered to Terriermon was his partner and his friends.

They talked a little bit more before Jenrya went back to packing. Jenrya had filled his first duffel bag with a variety of clothing – some shorts, t-shirts, and then plenty of warm clothing - and was working on a suitcase when there was a knock at his door.

"It's open."

Ryo let himself in. "You busy?"

"A little, yeah."

Jenrya struggled with the suitcase, trying to jam it shut. He only had so many hands. Ryo watched for a second before coming over and holding the top down for him. The suitcase's canvas sides bulged out a little, but it remained closed as Jenrya took it by the handle and deposited it next to the bed. Jenrya straightened, Terriermon perched on his shoulder. The other boy glanced about the room.

It was a mess: clothing was thrown all over the place. Clothing that Jenrya decided he would leave behind had been draped over his desk, tossed back into the closet or kicked across the floor. Ryo found a seat next to Jenrya's computer, sitting the opposite way and straddling the desk chair with his arms across its back. He watched for a bit as Jenrya went rooting through his closet and found an old, worn backpack. He dumped the contents on the floor and began making a sweep of his room for anything else he'd need to bring.

"How're you holding up?" Ryo finally spoke up.

"Okay. I think. You?"

"Yeah right," Ryo made a derisive snort. "It gets better and better, doesn't it?"

"It'll work out," Jenrya said. He went through his drawers, threw some things into the backpack as Ryo's eyes followed him. "We need to buy time, like Dad said. Once that D-Reaper thing is in place, we can take our time, find out exactly what is going on and figure out how to deal with it."

Ryo rested his chin on the back of the chair, slouching.

"Tomorrow I'm getting Tamayo."

Jenrya glanced at the other boy, frowning. Ryo was looking away with a nonchalant expression, but it was forced. Ryo really had been thinking about his guardian when he'd gone silent. Jenrya sighed. How to approach this? It was a touchy subject.

"We can't move her," Jenrya said. "We don't have any medicine or anything. I don't know about you, but I don't know how to deal with broken legs."

Ryo's black eyes returned to Jenrya. He recognized that look: it was one of sour disdain. Ryo wasn't even wearing that smile of his this time as he glowered quietly. Not now, Ryo. Jenrya didn't really want to get into a fight. Even the little arguments with Ryo were bad enough, although those grew less frequent over the days. But touchy subject or not, he said the wrong thing. Both of them knew it. And Ryo wasn't going to let him take back those words.

"What, so it's okay if we leave her?" Ryo's eyes narrowed. "While everyone else hides underground?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean? Because maybe I'm too stupid to follow you."

Now Ryo was starting to fall back into his old sarcasm. This was a bad sign. Terriermon, noticing the rising tension in the air, mumbled something about food and, hopping down, scurried out of the room to leave the two boys to face each other. Ryo sat up straight now, the old hostility from before starting to come to the surface. Jenrya shook his head.

"I never said that," he replied. "I was just saying we might hurt her or something."

"Like it's any more safe where she is right now."

"At least there are people who can take care of her!" Jenrya retorted more sharply than he intended. "What makes you think you can do any better?"

"What makes you think I can't?" Ryo's voice took on a caustic tone, words turning acidic. "It's not like I haven't been injured before and I didn't even have the same medical stuff you've got here. And I'm still alive, so it's not like I'm helpless. Unlike some people."

Jenrya stood startled into silence at this: even Ryo looked surprised, like he hadn't expected the last part to come bursting out. His expression was shocked as Jenrya's and he looked away, eyebrows drawn together. Obviously he hadn't meant to say that and now he was the one trying wanting to take back his words this time.

"I didn't mean that."

Jenrya was quiet. "Really?" he returned dryly. "So what if I didn't go through what you did? Doesn't mean I've been pampered. Or that I should go through whatever it was you experienced."

Ryo said nothing, but he didn't do a very a good job masking his hurt. Jenrya could see Ryo was regretting his impulsive remark now – it'd been born from impatience and exasperation just like Jenrya's– but a part of the Tamer refused to let this drop. Sometimes he could only take so much of Ryo being him.

"Maybe you really did mean it," Jenrya crossed his arms over his chest. He saw Ryo wince at this. "Maybe I did mean what I said too. We can't keep walking on glass around each other all the time. I can't read your mind. And you're not the only one with people you care about. Tamayo's not the only person out there to worry about; it's selfish to think that she is…"

Okay, okay. Calm down. You're going too far.

Jenrya closed his eyes, let out a breath to relax himself, and felt the anger and the desire to get back at Ryo slowly drain away. He didn't want to think about the awful things they said to each other. He wanted to shove it to the side, but it was too hard with Ryo sitting in the same room as him. Sitting down heavily on his bed, Jenrya avoided the other boy's eyes.

"Sorry."

Ryo got up and left without another word. Jenrya stared at his hands. Why were they fighting? Looking back on it, it seemed like a part of him knew to word everything wrong, had been looking forward to some kind of confrontation with the other boy. It was wrong and he knew it. Ryo hadn't taken the bait because he wanted to get into an argument like Jenrya did, but because he was that worried about Tamayo and it made him touchy. Jenrya had snapped at him so easily and he was starting to realize that maybe it hadn't been entirely on accident. Maybe he'd baited Ryo on purpose.

We can't be fighting right now. Jenrya felt tired. Both of them needed to keep away from the other for a while until they were ready to face each other again. It'd be a better idea to finish up the packing and then get some sleep. Hopefully everyone would be in better moods tomorrow morning. He'd be ready to apologize and mean it.

But even if he'd unknowingly goaded Ryo on or not, Jenrya couldn't forget the other boy's words. They bit deep.

Was he really helpless?

It was true Jenrya hadn't lived out in the wilderness like it seemed Ryo had. He hadn't ever broken any bones, involuntarily or voluntarily, like the other boy had to save them from Black Growlmon. Jenrya was the one with the normal family, the one who still had friends and a partner Digimon. It wasn't like he was trying to pick up parts of an old life like the other boy. Ryo had practically nothing, except for what Jenrya was starting to suspect was a disregard for his own life. How much of what Ryo said rang true?

Stuff like this was exactly why Jenrya wanted to get some sleep. It was giving him a headache just thinking about it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The moon traveled across the sky as the final hours trickled down. There were no sightings of Golems at all that night nor any reports of mysterious monsters that could speak like humans. It was quiet, the hushed kind of silence similar to the tense few seconds before a bomb went off. As the countdown continued, the Juggernaut made its final preparations. It sealed up the Metropolitan Government Office Building under which it resided. Most of those working late shifts inside remained unaware of this, although a few tried the lobby doors and found them jammed shut. Keycards were rejected. Regular keys wouldn't fit in the keyholes. The emergency system to open the doors refused to respond.

There was no going in and out.

Shinjuku had been as reinforced as much as possible with the given time frame. The areas around the barrier's projected borders hadn't been bothered with. The force of the destruction closest to the barrier's borders would be the strongest there; strong enough to even tear the Juggernaut's extensions to shreds if it tried to reinforce those areas.

The Juggernaut was so busy with its final preparations that it didn't immediately notice what its Will was doing.

Five hours. One minute. Eleven seconds. 0.13 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 2 percent.

The Will spent the last couple of hours clumsily accessing files without knowing he, not Jenrya, was the one bringing up all the images. Computers closest to the Metropolitan Government Office Building began to flicker on as their owners slept. Hundreds of files were accessed and closed as if a ghost were at the keyboards. Takato wasn't as experienced at the Juggernaut: what would take the supercomputer mere seconds – if not less - took him hours despite the fact he was moving at breakneck speeds too fast for any human. The Will jumped from computer to computer. The digital displays on all electronics flickered and pulsed in binary.

All Takato knew was that more windows kept appearing and the more he learned, the more he felt sick. This was wrong, seeing another Jenrya. It was like…like something bordering on blasphemy. The knowledge there were two, even if one was obviously a fake, seemed like it was asking for trouble. Jenrya had to know this, so why…?

Why give him a reason to doubt?

Why let him see the other Jenrya?

Four hours. Six minutes. Thirty-seven seconds. 0.33 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 1 percent.

There had to be a reason. Why else would Jenrya make Takato doubt? There was always a reason with Jenrya. So there had to be a reason why uneasy fear were beginning to fester alive the more he watched this other Jenrya, gathered information on this stranger with a voice. Takato was almost sure the real Jenrya wanted him to observe this human trying to steal his face.

Maybe.

Over the hours, Takato managed to pinpoint the sector the other Jenrya lived in. Sometimes his inexperienced control slipped and the Will suddenly found himself fending off hordes of anti-spyware and anti-virus programs, far inferior programs Jenrya would've crushed without even giving it a thought. Takato managed to defend himself under the bombardment, lashing out. Behind him, he left a trail of computers overrun with one word, one name, repeated over and over and over.

Jenrya.

What he learned was that this Jenrya was one of those committing a taboo, the forbidden act of partnering human and Digimon. He was like how Takato used to be. A human boy clearly labeled as an enemy. Takato wasn't sure why, but it was hard to believe someone who looked so much like the real Jenrya could be so cold-blooded.

What made it worse was he was beginning to realize he wanted to meet this other Jenrya, see for himself if he was really such as threat.

"I can't do that," Takato whispered, as if the real Jenrya would swoop in any second. "I shouldn't."

Three hours. Fifty minutes. Thirty-two seconds. 0.3 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 2 percent.

Takato could now see West Shinjuku through the cameras scattered around the area; he had a sinking feeling he'd be punished for showing initiative. Even though Jenrya hadn't specifically said he couldn't do this, wasn't supposed to do anything other than what the other boy told him, he knew that his friend was going to get angry. Very angry. Jenrya didn't like to put Takato out in the open because he didn't like to share; he'd driven away anyone who tried to get close his Will. But Takato couldn't stop whatever side of him was in control of all this now.

Even if he changed his mind about wanting to see this other Jenrya for himself, it was too late.

Whether or not he still wanted what he was now seeking, Takato was going to get it.

His Will would see to that.

His vision continued to travel as he kept narrowing down the search. Takato's view turned left at a streetlight. The picture quality of his eyes weren't that good, the images fuzzy at best. The cameras weren't responding well to him controlling them and he didn't know how Jenrya managed to see as clearly as he did. Takato could at least tell dawn was approaching in the distance. The gray toward that direction was lighter.

The faint tremors through his – no, their – body announced the ground was becoming unstable. Even without Jenrya's voice counting down the hours, he knew he didn't have much time.

Jenrya Lee's apartment. He found it.

It wasn't like he could enter through the door these days. Takato had faint memories of being able to do impossible stuff like that, but he couldn't do that anymore. It was an obstacle now. His eyes turned back onto the apartment building; thousands of glittering white lines ran along the interior, electricity coursing through them and irrigating the entire complex with power.

A few minutes passed before he found one that led right up onto the other Jenrya's floor.

Traveling there took seconds, although the lines kept trying to reject him. Takato was blind now since there were no cameras here. He could see the concentrated electricity of the wires he was using as ones and zeros. He could see the general cloud of bio-electricity the humans cast off. But their flesh were good insulators and he couldn't see them as well as the non-organic electrical sources.

The hijacked line dropped the Will off in one of the rooms. Takato turned his new eyes on: a television set flickered into life, buzzing with static. There was some color now. These were better eyes, way better than the grayscale ones from outside. Takato liked these new eyes. The room was dark, very different from his own room back home. There was color, and things inside.

Takato tried to grasp what their names were. He somehow recognized what they were, knew what they were used for, but their names slipped away. His memory just wasn't what it used to be, full of holes and tears and rips like Jenrya took a clawed finger to tissue paper and poked holes into it at random. Takato knew he used a "TV" as his new eyes, but he didn't know what the thing was in front of it. It had four wooden legs and a flat surface. You put things on it. But he couldn't remember its name.

There was a human boy lying on the big chair: like the other humans, he cast off a very faint aura of bio-electricity. Something about it bugged Takato, only he couldn't place his finger about it. It looked like the others and didn't look like them. Maybe it was something faulty with his new eyes? This close, Takato IDed him as another priority target, the one called Ryo Akiyama. A moment of indecision. Ryo was here. Asleep. Takato could probably kill him right now without even waking him up. It would be painless. It could even give him an excuse to be here and maybe the punishment for his disobedience would be less severe once Jenrya found out. But the Will was here to see this other Jenrya, not carry out their orders. Not kill.

He'd be lying if he said it wasn't tempting..

"Maybe I can do it afterward," Takato told himself.

Yeah.

That was a good compromise. Do both.

He wouldn't feel too guilty if he did it while Ryo asleep. It would be very quick. Very merciful. It was a good plan, good for everyone. Everyone would be happy. Or dead, in the case of Ryo here. Better yet was the fact that Takato had made it on his own.

Takato looked about the rest of the room with his new eyes. His presence here sent all the other lesser electronics into little dances of excitement. Turning on silently one by one, those with screens running with binary that he knew matched his thoughts. Four. No, five humans inside. He was only interested in the one right now. The Will looked about for another line and found several he could use.

The first attempt dumped him in the master bedroom of the apartment. A few lamps turned on. Wrong room. Takato tried again.

Success.

Jenrya Lee was here.

Takato couldn't stop the thrum of excitement. Like the other rooms, lights were turning on. Takato wished these eyes he was borrowing were really his to call his own: he couldn't turn them, get a better view of the blue-haired boy who was slowly waking up because of him. Takato was frustrated. He frowned to himself.

Text impatiently scrolled down the computer's glowing screen, as several new files found their way onto Jenrya's computer. Several were images, garbled "memories" Takato forgot to delete from the computer's history – he was too caught up in what he was doing now to shield his own thoughts from overflowing back into his surroundings.

Jenrya was here. Here was his enemy. Here was the impossible boy with a voice.

"Wake up," Takato was horrified to find he was actually talking to the enemy now. "Wake up!"

This was going too far now. He didn't budge.

"Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."

And in the background, far off down the miles and miles, Takato could feel a shifting sensation, like a large mass was rolling over. As if a huge snake turned over its monstrous coils. The real Jenrya was starting to get distracted from whatever kept him so busy. It wouldn't be long before he figured out where Takato ran off to. Takato had to hurry up and finish here, get a nice long look at this boy, kill Ryo and leave before he got dragged away by force.

"Come here, Jenrya. Please? I can't see you from here."

Takato pleaded to himself to hurry up, pleaded to Jenrya to hurry up, pleaded for more time.

"Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Come here, Jenrya. Please? I can't see you from here."

Someone was here. Who - ? Some voice, just out of his reach, called out to him. Jenrya tossed in his bed, Terriermon making a small sound in his sleep. There was a faint memory of something like this happening before. Jenrya was dreaming. He had to be: there was another voice – the same one? – calling for him and he woke up sitting at his computer for some reason. Jenrya at first tried to go back to sleep, but whoever was here was persistent. It wouldn't go away.

Whoever it was, the voice was begging him to wake up.

"Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."

Jenrya's eyes drifted open.

It took him a second to realize all the lights in his room were on. Jenrya froze, still lying on his side and staring at the wall. The feeling that someone was here hadn't faded like dreams did; someone really was here. Without making any sudden movements, the Tamer cautiously glanced about the room only to see Terriermon was still asleep. Aside from his partner, there was no one here. There were just the lights, Terriermon, himself and his computer, on like everything else.

But Jenrya shut that off last night too…

Despite the fact that Jenrya didn't see anyone, he could still sense that strange, ghostlike presence. Jenrya could almost feel unseen eyes straining to see him, turned in his direction. Jenrya didn't count himself as overly skeptical. He'd seen too many strange things. But he didn't believe in ghosts; his willingness to believe drew the line there and checked itself at the door at that point. A Digimon? Jenrya frowned, slowly sitting up. There was no digital field. Terriermon would've bolted awake at the sign of one.

Jenrya felt a shudder run up his back. When he'd sat up, the presence strengthened even more, and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled as if someone's cold breath was against his skin. Looking about the room, he tried to pinpoint just where it came from. It seemed like it was emanating from everywhere, from his computer to the printer. Even his alarm clock. Jenrya stared: the clock was going haywire, the red numbers spurting rapidly in a series of ones and zeros almost too fast to follow. Eyes narrowed, Jenrya started to nudge Terriermon awake, but the intrusive presence – neutral so far – suddenly turned hostile. Tension riddled the air. He stopped. A long second. Jenrya slowly moved his hand away from his sleeping partner and the tension faded away, although the sense of urgency remained.

When he cautiously got up and approached the computer, the presence suddenly emitted a pleased feeling that buzzed joyfully about the room as Jenrya got close enough to see the screen.

His name was plastered all over.

At the bottom of the screen, his name was hidden in rows of binary, but the most recent additions at the top were that one word, repeated over and over like whatever was behind it was a broken record. The words were scrolling right over his desktop. Behind the march of Jenrya's name across the screen, he could see other activity too. Whatever was in there was unloading so many files onto his hard-drive, all at once, that several warnings had already popped up in the background warning about remaining memory. It felt like his stomach was frozen in place, ready to do a few nauseated cartwheels.

His name continued to scroll down until it filled up the entire screen, the desktop faintly visible in the back. Why was his name the only word on screen?

One side of him was so weirded out he was ready to shake Terriermon awake, hostility from this thing or not. But another side was morbidly curious, actually wondering if maybe whatever was in here was trying to communicate with him. It clearly knew who he was.

Jenrya reached out and touched the mouse. A new folder had been added. Opening it, Jenrya could only stare for a long, helpless second as he caught sight of the sheer number of new files inside. Video clips, mp3s, text, pictures, even some file types he couldn't even open or recognize.

Everything was in binary. Trying one of the text files only confirmed that: there were rows of it, actual paragraphs of ones and zeroes formatted like some weird textbook. Jenrya couldn't read it – his dad or Ms. Ootori probably could but Jenrya himself had never made it a point to learn how to read binary. Another text file: the same thing, although one word was translated back into standard Japanese and that was – surprise, surprise – his name. It didn't take long for the rest of the file to dissolve into a chaotic jumble with Jenrya's name repeated again and again.

Whatever was here, it was obsessed. It loved his name, loved repeating it, loved hearing it, loved seeing it.

Loved it so much it was turning into a twisted language of its own.

During all this, the half-Chinese Tamer could feel those invisible eyes on him, ones that seemed to be only a few inches away from his own face. Like lips were at his bare neck. Like a breath on his shoulder.

The eyes were still on him as he tried one of the sound files, picking up the headphones still in the speaker jacks and putting them on. At first there was no sound, at least nothing he'd really notice. Just a strange little rustling noise. Like something coarse was moving along another rough surface…and then there was someone breathing in the background, very quiet, and he couldn't tell who it was. The breaths were slow, shallow and weak.

Jenrya tried another one. This one was different: it was completely silent at first and he didn't expect the sudden wave of static. The Tamer winced as it went up and down, changing its tone almost as if someone were talking. The static rose up and shifted – a quieter "voice" seemed to reply back. A pause. Then the first "speaker" was speaking, the crackling static rising. If Jenrya closed his eyes and relaxed, it almost sounded like there were two unseen people talking over his head. What was all of this?

Jenrya's eyes opened. First the breathing, then the static; he wasn't sure which one was creepier! Jenrya threw a glance behind him, half-expecting to see someone suddenly standing over him. No one. His heart was thudding even though he knew he was alone.

He stumbled upon the picture files. Remembering the mp3s, Jenrya clicked the first image cautiously. A white room, so pure in color that Jenrya almost didn't realize that it was actually a room, not a solid color. Screens littered the area, overrun with static. There didn't seem to be any exits. Jenrya clicked the next picture…

This time he really did jump.

Someone was staring back at him. The picture was blurred too, but this was such a close-up that he could see more than enough. Ragged blue hair framed a bloodless face; it was like looking at a dead body or something. The face wasn't mobile. It was still. Too smooth. But the worst were the eyes. The whites of the scelera was gone, now stained a black that only made the silver irises stand out. He hurried clicked to the next picture and almost had a heart attack.

Red eyes this time, looking downcast and away from him through a mess of bangs. It wasn't just another face; that wasn't what made him start again.

Takato Matsuda.

Jenrya sat frozen to his chair. Even if he couldn't see more than a weird angle of the other boy's face, there was no mistaking who it was. Takato. That's Takato, his mind ran in circles. Takato's okay! Jenrya forgot about his name plastered all over the place, forgot about that other face with the alien eyes, the breathing, the static and the "voices". It sank in.

Takato was okay.

Staring hard at the picture, he was definitely sure it was Takato. The real one. Not the Digimon posing as him they'd been chasing around for the last couple of days. Takato was missing his goggles, his face turned partially away from the screen in the still. He didn't look good. His expression was drawn, the laugh-dimples totally gone and there was something about him that looked…off. Unfocused. Like whatever Takato was looking at, he wasn't really seeing. He looked like he was in bad shape.

Jenrya tried frantically to check the other files, but all he got was a few glimpses of the boy with the weird eyes. Pictures of Shinjuku, Odaiba, the outskirts of Tokyo. A woman with short purple hair going up a flight of stairs. And then they suffered the same fate as the text files when pictures of Jenrya began popping up in between these. At that point, Jenrya closed the image viewer. He really was getting tired of seeing his name mentioned everywhere; he didn't want to start seeing his face doing the same thing.

Takato was still out there. Jenrya buried his face in his hands, rubbing at his eyes and trying to come up with something. No ideas. No plan whatsoever. All he could think of was the look on Takato's face.

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Takato didn't understand it. Staring at this other Jenrya, watching his face make all these expressions, eating up everything he did, the Will didn't understand it at all. How was this human a threat? He was sitting there at his desk, right before Takato's eyes, with his head buried in his hands in a gesture that meant he was either very tired or very upset. If Takato really wanted to, he could kill him right now before his partner even had a chance to wake up. But he didn't. It would be overkill.

Besides, seeing this Jenrya like that, cradling his face in his hands…made Takato not want to kill him.

It didn't seem fair.

It wasn't even taking into account this one looked almost like the real Jenrya. Takato probably couldn't kill even an obvious fake just because of the resemblance alone. It was too close to home. Killing one Jenrya would feel too much like killing the other.

Takato knew he'd seen enough. He could still feel that shifting, heavy sensation of the real Jenrya/Juggernaut turning over. It was getting worse, getting more frequent; he was going to come very, very soon. Takato had to get out of here. Oh yeah, he had to go finish off Ryo Akiyama in the room with the TV-eye, so he wouldn't be caught so obviously disobeying. He'd seen plenty of this Other Jenrya.

Yet, for some reason, that wasn't enough.

Takato couldn't pull himself away, not when there was so much to watch. Every little motion this Jenrya made was…interesting. It fascinated him. Kept him rooted. The tiny changes in posture, the unconscious slouching, the expressions: the real Jenrya barely had those. And the voice…there was an actual voice! The fake didn't say anything but Takato could still hear the quiet breaths, could tell this one had vocal chords the real Jenrya didn't.

In the couple of seconds before Takato felt the rushing heaviness that meant the real Jenrya was coming for him, he suddenly knew why he was here.

Maybe he – not Jenrya - had tried to test himself and he'd failed his own experiment. It was all maybes, all ifs, all uncertainties. Takato hadn't been able to strike at the enemy on his own. He hadn't been able to do it. Takato could kill countless strangers from a distance, wipe out entire blocks if he needed to and would find no problem in seeing it as okay. Jenrya saw it as okay, so therefore it was. But Jenrya wasn't going to see what just happened (didn't happen) now, here, as okay. It wasn't okay because Takato had gone off on his own.

Takato slowly withdrew from the computer's eyes and waited for Jenrya to come for him; the Juggernaut was already practically on top of him, a huge, overwhelming presence that made him buckle under the pressure alone.

Displeasure radiated out from Jenrya.

Individual operations outside are prohibited, Jenrya droned with his non-voice. Contact with high-priority targets is prohibited. You've disappointed me once again Takato, betrayed my trust once again.

Takato couldn't see Jenrya because he lost his temporary eyes but he could feel those claws closing around his arm. Takato hung his head guiltily at Jenrya's words, but couldn't stop himself from looking in the direction of the fake even as the real Jenrya chewed him out.

You are never to have direct contact with these targets, Jenrya was turning and quickly dragging him back home now. The Shinjuku streets flew under them but Takato couldn't see the roads or the buildings since it was Jenrya who was using their outside eyes, not him, and Jenrya wasn't sharing now. Takato was blind but he could still feel the Juggernaut/Jenrya all around him, hear him in his head and that didn't make him blind to the electricity of the city, the silver lines weaving a glowing tapestry around them toward home. They are threats to us. They can destroy me and kill you. They want to. It's what they live for. It is their function to erase our existence. Do you want to assist them in that function?

Takato knew that. Takato didn't want that. Takato hadn't been able to help it.

And that is why you are not fit to perform individual operations without my guidance. You are flawed. Perhaps you still do not understand that.

Takato didn't.

Perhaps you are not ready to be with me.

Takato shook his head quickly. He was!

They were back home now, speeding down toward the nest of snakes. The Juggernaut's huge chassis. Takato could feel the Juggernaut's displeasure, but it wasn't the storm of intense, brutally cold fury that he'd been expecting. Jenrya was too distracted to fully deal with the Will's insubordination. Takato wasn't sure if he should be grateful or not.

You will be punished as I see fit, considering the level of your protocol breach.

Takato found himself dumped back in his white room – the mirrors were gone, leaving only Jenrya standing before him. The strange infection that changed Jenrya's eyes and hands had now crept up past the elbows now and the shirt his friend wore kept flickering in and out, overrun with strings of static like it was broken. Strange red marks were running up Jenrya's arms in symmetrical lines, the surfaces near the hands hardening over so they gave off a dull gleam under the light. Similar marks were forming under the shirt from what Takato could see through the black shirt's static.

I will also consider if you should be replaced. Jenrya said simply. Being that I cannot afford risking my destruction due to your lack of restraint during inappropriate times such as now.

That brought Takato up straight. All thoughts of the fake Jenrya vanished. The real Jenrya sounded so horribly coy now, his alien eyes narrowed. There was an agonizingly long pause.

We shall see if such a drastic measure is required. Perhaps after your punishment, you'll learn to keep yourself under control

Takato thought he whispered a "yes" but he was too shaken to remember if he did reply or not. Takato didn't want to be replaced, not when he wanted to be there for Jenrya. Not when he still remembered the promise – was it a promise? A real one? – that he wouldn't get left behind or alone or abandoned. That Jenrya needed him just as much as he needed Jenrya? When Takato looked up, the Juggernaut had vanished, leaving him to his own devices. That was part of the punishment, wasn't it? To make him doubt and fear? Yeah. All he knew was that Jenrya saw everything, knew everything he thought or did.

Jenrya was very, very good at punishments. It was a talent. He could punish all like he saw and knew all.

1 hour. Seven minutes. Two seconds. 0.39 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 1 percent.

No more thinking about that fake Jenrya. It was bad for him and it was bad for the real Jenrya.

Takato had seen plenty.

That's what he told himself. Yet...

Somehow plenty wasn't enough.

0 hours. Fifty minutes. Twenty-three seconds. 0.01 milliseconds. Inaccuracy percentage of count is 0 percent.

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Terriermon made a face in his sleep. Something for the past couple of minutes kept bugging him until he bolted awake.

Jenrya was already up and staring moodily at his computer screen, but Terriermon ignored him for the moment. The feeling still nagged at him. Outside, birds were cawing loudly, a few dogs in the distance barking up a storm. Okay, weird. Weird enough he wanted to see what they were barking at. Terriermon hopped off the bed, wanting to smell the air outside. He'd made it to the door and padded to the living room only to see Ryo was starting to sit up from the couch, blinking sleep away and starting to wear the very same puzzled expression Terriermon already had.

"What is that?" Ryo frowned.

Terriermon was struggling with the slider to the balcony. "Dunno. Something's wrong," the Rookie grunted.

Coming up behind him, Ryo reached over and opened the slider for him. Terriermon stuck his head outside and sniffed, his little button nose twitching. Something smelled strange, like something was burning. No smoke or fire, though! Just a blue, wavy sheen to the morning sky. The sun started to rise in the distance, with the sky surprisingly clear for once. With the slider open, he could hear the racket outside: it wasn't only the crows and the dogs kept outside overnight. He could hear the neighbor's cats mewling and in the building across from their apartment, a small puppy pawed at the glass slider, claws scrabbling as it whined. The air smelled of anticipation, danger and fear from the other animals. It smelled of death.

Something was gonna happen.

And it was gonna happen soon.

Terriermon turned away from the balcony. They needed to get out of the building. Not soon. Now. There wasn't time! The Rookie hurried away from the slider and under Ryo's legs, ignoring his confused protests. Outside, lights were starting to flicker on as animals freaking out began to wake up the people in neighboring complexes

Terriermon ran as fast as his little legs could take him. It was times like these he wished he could stay stuck as Gargomon, but he knew Jenrya didn't like it. Ryo caught up to him before he reached Jenrya's room.

"What're you doing?" Ryo asked.

"Gotta get Jenrya and everyone out of the building!" Terriermon huffed. "Gotta do it now!"

Ryo stared at the Digimon but didn't question him – the human was already turning in the hallway and letting himself into the master bedroom. It was incredibly rude, but the genuine urgency in Terriermon's voice told him politeness was the least of his worries. There was a muffled, sleepy question of surprise from Janyuu and then the door shut behind Ryo and cut off whatever he said in reply. Terriermon rushed into Jenrya's room, bursting in through the open door.

"Jenrya!"

Jenrya didn't react. He was busy looking at something on the screen of his computer, headphones in his ears as he stared straight forward in concentration. Terriermon did a dance of impatience at this.

"Jenrya!"

"What?" His Tamer finally jerked to attention.

Terriermon was breathless. "Get your stuff. We gotta go!"

"Wait, what's going on?" Jenrya swiveled in his chair, half out of his seat. "What's the hurry?"

Terriermon scurried over and began tugging on Jenrya's ankle, as if that would make him burst into action instead of asking all these questions slowing them down. "Bad feeling. Explain later!"

Jenrya paused and then turned toward his computer. "Okay, I'll be right there in a second," he said and turned quickly back to his computer. He was busy transferring something onto a bunch of flash drives sitting on his desk. Terriermon just ogled at this: what was his partner doing?

"Jenrya! Come on!"

"I'll be right there!" Jenrya reached around, having filled the first one to the max, and disconnected it. "I need to save this. Just give me a few minutes!"

Terriermon continued to do his little dance around Jenrya's feet. They could get it later, couldn't they? His instincts were screaming they didn't have a few minutes to spare. At least Ryo finished on his end: there was activity outside in the apartment hall. Janyuu was coming out from the master bedroom, still dressed in his pajamas and fitting his glasses onto his nose as he hurried over to get Shuichon. Reika was already up, rubbing at her eyes, her hair sticking up in clumps as she peered out in bewilderment.

Ryo came back into Jenrya's room to report his progress. "We're all pretty much ready," he glanced at Jenrya and stopped short. Everyone else was rushing about getting ready to leave and he of all people was messing around with his computer. "What are you doing?"

Jenrya glanced over his shoulder at him. "Saving something."

"You have to do it now?" Ryo sounded incredulous.

Terriermon bounced around the human's feet in panicked circles. "That's what I said!"

Jenrya hunched over and removed the flash drive before plugging a third one in. "It's really important. Tell you guys about when I finish. I just need a minute!"

Ryo opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off by a tremor. The floor abruptly shook, enough to send him staggering back before he caught himself. Terriermon froze in place, mouth dropped open in a small gape. Ryo righted himself with his good hand against the doorway. None of them imagined that; way too big to just be a big truck passing by. Earthquake? Ryo and Terriermon exchanged looks and came to an agreement without saying anything. Ryo stepped forward. He grabbed Jenrya's left arm as Terriermon took to the air and got hold of Jenrya's right. The Tamer protested:

"I'm not done!"

There was a hint of desperation in his voice. Ryo ignored it.

"Finish it later," he hissed. "Terriermon's right!"

Terriermon tugged on Jenrya's hand, knowing full well Jenrya could easily shake him off, and banking that doing the same to Ryo would be harder. Not only was the boy taller than Jenrya, but he was heavier as well. Ryo was already dragging Jenrya away from the computer although the Tamer tried to resist, still insisting he needed to finish. They had made it to the door when there was another tremor, more powerful than the last. Jenrya was sent stumbling into Ryo. Outside in the hall, Reika exchanged worried looks with Janyuu, who was carrying Shuichon away from the other room.

"We shouldn't stay in the building if it keeps up like this," she said.

"Lets take the fire escape," Janyuu replied, shifting his daughter to another shoulder. The two boys behind him regained their balance as he nodded toward the door. "Come on."

Janyuu led the way as quickly as he could. They made it out into the crowded hall before the third tremor hit. The other residents from their floor were already flooding out. A thundering roar sounded all around them. Suddenly the whole corridor was jumping up and down, rolling like they were on some a gigantic wave. Janyuu clutched his daughter to his chest as everyone braced themselves against the walls or fell to the floor and clung there because it was the only place they could go. Several long terrifying seconds passed before the quake rolled onward. Reika picked herself off the carpet. Noise filled the halls; screams, cried questions, sobs, and curses. Someone got too panicked and suddenly there was violent pushing and shoving surging forward. Terriermon managed to clutch onto Jenrya as Ryo pressed himself against the wall next to the Tamer. The tide of people separated Janyuu, Reika and Shuichon from them.

The three were swept away and vanished from sight as the pandemonium broke out into a full-on stampede for the exits.

"Dad!" Jenrya shouted, trying to peer over the crowd. "Dad!"

If there was a reply, it was swallowed up by the sounds of the stampede. Someone triggered the fire alarm and now a piercing wail rang throughout the floor, a bright white light flashing somewhere.

"We'll catch up!" Ryo tried to make himself heard over everything, shouting himself now. He reached out and grabbed the back of Jenrya's shirt with his good hand before the Tamer could go diving into the crowd to go searching for Janyuu. "We need to get out first!"

Jenrya glared at him.

"They'll be fine!" Terriermon added. "They went ahead of us, I swear I saw them!"

That made Jenrya pause and then he deflated and nodded. Terriermon hadn't exactly seen them – how could he? Everyone had been blocking his view – but his main concern was getting his Tamer out of harm's way. And while he hated lying to Jenrya for any reason, he had to do it now. I hope they really did go ahead, the Rookie thought as Ryo pushed his way through the crowd with Jenrya close behind him. While Terriermon didn't really like Reika much, he did care what happened to Jenrya's dad and little sister. He didn't want to see anything happen to them. For their sake as well as Jenrya's.

The chaos from their floor followed them as they neared the fire escape. The crowd began surging too strongly for Ryo to keep choosing their path and they ended up passing the other set of stairs he'd seen earlier, the indoor ones. Part of the mob had already turned toward those, blocking the way for the others who were forced to bypass those stairs in favor for the other set, moving in a tide. The door opened to the outside fire escape, splattering windswept drizzle into his face and that strange, burning scent. It was so much stronger this time that he knew that even the humans had to be able to smell it now.

Another tremor hit.

This one was so powerful almost everyone was floored this time, even those against the walls were hard-pressed to keep their footing. The only thing that saved Jenrya from ending up like Ryo – on the floor – was the woman standing behind him. The Tamer fell into her and she pushed him back in reflex, staggering herself. The push sent him back toward the wall and he could only press himself against it and watch in terror as the narrow corridor shook violently. The overhead lights flickered and went out. People were crying, some went silent with fear, others were cursing at those crying to shut up as the thundering howl once again descended on them. It rose to a deafening scream over the fire alarm as the hall bucked and swayed from side to side. The floor heaved in a final motion so powerful that Terriermon felt himself actually go weightless for a second before that quake moved past.

Now Terriermon didn't know if they had enough time to make it down to ground level. The tremors were getting so powerful so fast that he couldn't tell how much time they had left. But one thing was clear…

That hadn't been the biggest shock.

The main one had still yet to come.

Ryo picked himself off the floor and joined them before turning and leading the way toward the fire escape. Terriermon glanced behind them. The others were still getting to their feet, although a good number were already following them. The Rookie quickly searched their faces: none of them were Reika, Jenrya's dad or little sister. A sigh of relief. Maybe they really did get out before us.

He could only hope so.

A blast of icy, wet air hit the three as they made it out onto the fire escape's landing. Terriermon could only stare, button-eyes wide. The sky above was riddled with circles, like blue lightning had been somehow bent into concentric circles and they were rippling in toward the center from outside, past Shinjuku. It was too far to see where the center was, but Terriermon was sure he already knew where: Odaiba. These weren't normal earthquakes. Whatever had happened there had to be causing all this.

Ryo led the way down the stairs as quickly as he could, the metal clanking under his feet. They didn't have a lot of time: already others were piling onto the fire escape after them and there were others below them from the lower floors doing the same. Jenrya hurried after the other boy, hand running along the banister. The fire escape continued to creak dangerously. Strange sounds rattled about them. Terriermon knew with cold clarity that there were too many people on the stairs.

To make it worse, he suddenly noticed the animals had suddenly gone silent from their left, probably miles away. Above them, in the sky overheard, the largest band of energy was inching its way toward them from the same direction. That high up, the thing had to be huge. It easily out-dwarfed the previous ones. His instincts were screaming that whatever it was – if this was the main quake – it was heading right for them.

Ryo must've had the same thought, seeing as he turned around and grabbed Jenrya's arm and was rushing along the fire escape almost at a full run, pushing past the people in front of him without wasting any breath with apologies. They managed to go down four flights, with at least three more left to go.

There was a terrifyingly long second of silence before the final earthquake hit.

The following upheaval was worse than anything Terriermon ever experienced in the Digital World. Any outcry from the people above and below them was quickly drowned out by the high-pitched shriek of the unnatural quake. The sound passed quickly as the world seemed ready to break apart around them with a roar of its own. Terriermon clung onto Jenrya, claws digging into his partner's shoulder as the whole length of the fire escape convulsed and vibrated. Gaping cracks appeared above them, running out in black spider-webs with a speed that would've been alarming if the Rookie wasn't completely focused on hanging onto his Tamer for dear life.

A sharp jolt.

The metal stairs became a 45 degree angle slant as something came loose.

Terriermon looked up. The overloaded stairs was collapsing. The weight and this earthquake was putting too much of a strain on it. Screams escalated all around them. The top half – the portion of the stairs they left minutes only before – was tearing away from the side of building. Bolts and steel went flying as the air filled with a horrible metallic shriek. Already the topmost portion swayed free, leaning toward the left, toward the ground. People were still crowded on that section floors above them. Still hanging on.

A shadow passed over them and vanished. Another heart stopping jolt and suddenly their platform had several inches between itself and the building's wall. The gap widened as the steel fastening the fire escape to the wall twisted and tore loose. Another screech. Now they were loose and swaying again for a second just like the landing before them had, before it plummeted out of sight.

There was so much noise, it was like everything was in a weird kind of mute. Part of the Rookie Digimon was screaming that he should digivolve, do something, but he knew he couldn't. Ryo's lips were moving. Whatever he said was completely swallowed up by the sounds of the collapsing fire escape and the earthquake threatening to rip the entire building apart.

They were in full free-fall as the section under them gave away with groans of twisting steel. Terriermon felt his small body go almost entirely airborne as everyone became weightless. One last jolt. Wind whistled, stealing away the cries of the other people around them. Rain splattered. The ground came rushing up.

Sickening jolts ran shuddering up the torn frame of the fire escape' as it hit the ground and continued to fold like it was made out of cardboard and tissue. Terriermon tried to hang onto Jenrya as the torn section they were on impacted with the pavement and dirt. Next thing he knew, he was pulled loose. A vague sensation of being tossed through the air. More screams from above as the stairs continued to rip itself free, the whud of the collapsed portions hitting the ground, the roar of the earthquake. The terrified thought he wasn't holding onto Jenrya anymore. He didn't know where Jenrya was. The world spun.

Terriermon was thrown clear as the stairs sent up a splash of mud.

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There was only darkness.

One of the largest earthquakes to hit Japan in centuries struck Tokyo in the early hours of a rainy Saturday morning.

Even the Juggernaut failed to calculate just how powerful the shocks from the barrier anchoring with the city's outskirts would be. The damage had been lessened by its preemptive measures but it was still worse than projected: the barrier's effect was like a miniature digital shuffle. Several major fires sprang up, the smaller ones too many to count. The outer districts of Tokyo were completely obliterated and reduced to rubble. It was unknown if there were any survivors within a mile radius of the anchor points. It was unknown how many casualties there were. It was unknown where the priority targets were. It was unknown what was happening outside of its home.

It was all unknown because the Juggernaut had been forced offline by the final earthquake.

Thousands of connections, cut. The main power lines as well, which meant the Juggernaut was operating purely on the stored energy from the Golem deletions for now. The background programs – the survival functions – worked furiously to bring everything back. But the sentient part of the supercomputer was down for the time being, the shocks inducing too much damage for it to make an immediate recovery. The sky was left with the same blue tint as before the barrier made the contact. But the Juggernaut couldn't see the sky, or anything else for that matter: all cameras were out. Sight was gone. The only thing left was the automatic defensive measures around the Metropolitan Government Office Building. And there were holes in that since some of the neighboring towers collapsing had completely crushed sections of it.

The Juggernaut was blind.

It was practically defenseless.

Despite the main intelligence core being offline like most of its other systems, the machine knew how vulnerable it was. It was the instinct the Juggernaut programmed into itself as soon as it became self-aware. The survival functions worked frantically to restore power and control. It had to survive. It wouldn't allow itself to be blinded or crippled forever.

Takato Matsuda – unaware of all this – remained in the sleep induced from Jenrya's shutdown.

It was the first time he slept in weeks.

To be continued
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