A/N: Ugh, just noticed it broke my page breaks and indent formatting on the last chapter, had to fix that. Hopefully the breaks stay and in this one too, the indents though seem to be gone.

So first proper chapter here, hopefully this will set a better standard for this story, let me know what y'all think.

Reboot

Chapter 1 - Arrival

Location: Shinjuku

Time: 20:47

It was late in the city. Darkness had fallen under the threat of a heavy storm looming. Thunder crashed in the distance, flashes of lightning framing the oncoming rain. Those unfortunate enough to still be out hurried home to beat the inevitable downpour, while the even more unlucky ones that had to be outside cursed their luck and braced for the tempest. Wind howled as it's herald, rushing down streets with the ferocious, angry sound of impending chaos. Even the street lights flickered from the distant storm.

Tyler was your average late teen male with a twist. At the age of eighteen he still attended school, intending to brush up on a few grades and secure a more qualified job once he finished his education. He had plans, plans to join a tech firm in programming software for security systems. He already had the job providing he improved his last couple of grades, a task he deemed worth staying back an extra year or two to do for his dream job. Tyler loved nothing more than doing his part to make the world a better place. He was the sort of male who would actually help older people cross the street if he saw one, rescue cats from trees and generally tried to be a citizen who looked out for others. No one had a legitimate bad thing to say about him, but like all people Tyler had his friends and enemies.

It was borderline unheard of for someone so old to still be in school in Shinjuku. Students graduated at sixteen and left, moving into employment soon after. Tyler was two years behind on that. It didn't matter to others that he purposely chose to stay back for his upcoming employment, to his enemies he was strange and that's all they needed.

Tyler being who he was though didn't let any of that bring him down. He knew that at the end of those extra two years he would be so much better off than all those who jeered at him, that their prospects were low and his much higher. It's not common for someone to leave school - at any age - and go into a fifteen million Yen a year salary job the next day. Tyler was set in his life provided he pulled the grades he needed from school.

He could see the storm approaching through his window, glancing up from his computer screen where his current assignment sat in an open document. He wanted to get as much work completed as he could before he became too tired to continue and had to sleep, tomorrow was the weekend for him and he didn't want to spend all of it working on his school stuff.

He had a dual monitor setup on his desk, one to work on and the other free to play music or listen to the news as background noise for him. The current story on the feeds was about a young red headed girl winning some trading card tournament. Tyler barely held back the scoff when they read out her self given title of 'The Digimon Queen'

"Child… Pointless titles for a pointless game I guess."

Tyler knew of Digimon like others did. Some children's show just like all the others that came before it and those that would likely followed wouldn't be much better. He took no stock in fanciful dreams of make believe, but rather in his free time practiced coding. Because coding was real. Digimon and the other cartoons were not.

Yet another thunderclap exploded overhead, following a lightning flash not a few second beforehand. The storm was close and the wind was louder than ever. Tyler sighed and stood from the desk to draw the curtains closed, but paused when he reached them. There was something outside, or someone, laying on the ground. He couldn't properly see as the street light nearest to his window wasn't working, and hadn't been for a couple of weeks now, but his compassionate nature kicked in regardless. He still drew the curtains but he also left his room and headed downstairs, past the lounge where his mother was relaxing with a glass of wine and her favourite chick flick after her workday. She heard him pass but left him be as he always seemed to be moving around in the late evening hours. Tyler grabbed his coat and slipped on his shoes before he left the house through the side door and went around the back, underneath where his window was.

It took him a minute to process what he saw. He didn't know really what to expect but even if he had to take a wild guess he would have still been a million miles off from what he encountered. He tried to find a way to deny it, tried to find some kind of explanation for what laid before him, but only one came back with any kind of truth. He was looking at a Digimon.

Specifically, from what he knew, Tyler believed he was looking at a Renamon, or at least something based on one. What laid before him was the right shape but the colours were all wrong. Where he believed should be the yellow fur instead was a pale grey, and the whites were a soft pink. The gloves on the arms were white and blank, likewise the thighs were also devoid of the usual markings. The under eye markings were there, in white, but she - for the shape was female to him - also had long white hair, as well as a white crop top and shorts. Subsequently it was the shape of what was under the top that made him realise the form was female.

She hadn't moved from her position on the ground despite Tyler's presence. She could be asleep - which would be odd, or perhaps sick or weak. Kneeling beside her Tyler called out softly. Silence came from her. It was then he noticed an intricate collar around her neck. To him it looked like something from a sci fi film, but he was also educated. He knew about things like shock collars for pets, designed to easily punish bad behaviour for training purposes. So it was easy for him, despite the strange design, to recognise the ring around her neck as a shock collar. Several probe like protrusions pushed against her neck from all around the inside edge of the collar. The sight of it sickened him. It had to come off, no matter the reason for it being on.

The collar looked unpowered though. He could clearly see where lights would be and that they were all dim. Running his fingers around it he could feel the coldness, again confirming it was offline, but also a large flat button. He didn't push it for fear of it being a power switch, or a manual discharge button, but it could also be the release catch. He had to be sure, so he carefully looked around the collar as much as he could, spotting a power switch elsewhere labelled with the typical 'I/O' label.

"So you're power… In that case the flat button must be either manual shock, which won't work without you being on, or the release. So if I push it gently…" There was a click as he depressed it, and the probes on the inside retracted back into the ring shortly before the collar itself opened close to the flat button - hinging from the opposite side. With a victorious look Tyler removed the collar and unceremoniously dropped it down a drain, hearing it splash into the water underneath him.

Thunder erupted overhead reminding him of the oncoming storm. Leaving her wasn't an option without the storm, with it he knew he had to hurry. He could feel the first spots of rain falling and he knew without a doubt the rest was not far behind.

Despite the absurdity, and unbelievability of it all, Tyler slipped his arms under the female creature, one under her knees and the other behind her back. Picking her up like a bride just leaving her wedding he took her inside. He made sure his mother was occupied with her film before he slipped past the doorway and headed upstairs, entering his room and pushing the door closed softly. He marvelled at how real the fur felt and looked. At first he thought it was some kind of oversized stuffed toy but the warmth she gave off was definitely a sign of life, that and the fact she was breathing.

Setting her down on the bed gently Tyler laid the sheets over her to keep her warm, and hide her from view should his mother look in on him. She's pretty good at leaving him his privacy though, his room was his responsibility and she only ever came in if she needed him.

Ever since his dad left them three years ago it's just been Tyler and his mother. If he was honest he didn't miss his father anyway, neither of them did. He was a drunk and prone to aggressive outbursts when he got home late. Luckily he never got physically violent but it could only have been a matter of time. He left though before things could get that far.

Tyler sat on his chair at the desk and looked over at her. Not many minutes ago he scoffed at the news report of that girl winning some childish tournament, and yet there he was looking at what appeared to be a living breathing creature from that very same franchise - differences aside.

"Digimon aren't real… are they?" He swung round in his chair, saved and closed his assignment, and fired up his internet browser. But no matter what he searched for, no matter how obscure the results he clicked on, all he could find were references to the television shows and the trading cards - as well as all the other toys and merchandise for both.

That was until he saw one link near the bottom of all the others. It simply read 'You Know the Truth.' Curious Tyler clicked on it. He expected the conspiracy theory webpage he got, but he didn't expect the photos. Pictures labelled as 'The truth of the Japan attack', or 'Cover up evidence'. Pictures showing the same creatures from the shows and cards but in real cities, images where someone seemed to have tried to remove those beings from the image, leaving behind strange visual artifacts that didn't stand out until you saw it side by side with how it 'should' really look.

Tyler closed the page. He couldn't tell if it was in fact truth or just some nutter somewhere who had nothing better to do than believe the government was watching him so he had to wear a tinfoil hat to stop mind reading. The same nutters who believed they were abducted by aliens and all that nonsense. Tyler was not a nutter, well he hoped not at least. He put no stock in conspiracy theories or government cover ups, nor the ramblings of those who believed them.

Yet here one was, laying on his bed. Something that apparently didn't exist was in his bedroom, something that came from a television show for children. Tyler had no answers and he didn't know where to look for them. All he knew was whoever and whatever she was she needed help. Why else was she laying on the ground outside before an impending storm, alone and collared like some caged rat?

Perhaps she was dangerous, perhaps some sort of Digimon criminal. Tyler didn't know that but he believed everyone had the right to explain themselves and he would hear their story. The Renamon was no different. Just because she shouldn't exist didn't mean she didn't have that same chance to tell her story, should she want to was a different matter though. And if she attacked him at least he knew why the collar was on her, not that it would help him at all.

Tyler sighed and returned to his assignment. There was nothing he could do at that moment to answer his questions or help her condition, not until she woke up. If she woke up. He reminded himself that he knew very little about her save for snippets of what he knew about Digimon as the franchise. He opened a browser on his computer and began to search for answers again, but specifically he searched for Renamon. He read up on any and all known facts, likely all from the television program he realised. The more he knew the better he could attempt to understand who and what she was, although he theorised that there would likely be discrepancies between the franchise and what she considered facts.

He was in for a long night of studying, not so much for his assignment but for the figure who laid on his bed. With a sigh he pushed his door shut, retook his seat and settled down to learn all he could.

Dawn broke with a much needed reprieve from the storm. The city had been battered all night by lashing rain and howling winds, stabbed by bolts of lightning with terrific booms for each one. The air had the typical sweet taste that followed after most storms, a fresh smell that masked almost any other fragrance or odor. And in his bedroom Tyler stirred from his desk, having fallen asleep on his keyboard.

Given the slight absurdity of the previous night Tyler could be forgiven for wondering why exactly he fell asleep at his desk when he had a perfectly reasonable bed just behind him, and when he asked himself that question and turned around he immediately remembered why. His guest was still there.

She hadn't moved all night, still exactly where he placed her. Tyler realised why he had fallen asleep at his desk as he remembered all the events that led to her ending up in his room. He sat up and stretched with a groan before standing, pushing himself away from the desk with the intention of having a shower and a fresh change of clothes. He checked the time - seeing eight forty two in the morning - and knew his mother would have already left for her work. She worked every other weekend up at the hospital, helping others seemed to be a family trait.

Her being out meant he had the day to himself normally, where he could study if he needed to or take the time to relax and chill. But he normally didn't have a Renamon laying in his bed. Tyler cast a glance to her again before he went to take his shower. He warmed the water, stripped off and stood beneath the cascade, using the time to think and process just what he could do about his guest.

Tyler was average build with just enough definition to be noticable, nothing to boast about though. Dark brown hair sat on his head in a kind of loose mop, giving him a slightly rebellious look, which framed his soft looking face. His eyes though stood out quite noticeably. Tyler had heterochromia, his left eye was a brilliant emerald green while his right was a deep ocean blue. It gave him a mysterious edge to his appearance but generally when people commented on it - because they did - they were mostly positive and complimentary.

During his shower Tyler ran thoughts and scenarios through his head about the Renamon in his bed. He knew she was alive as he had noticed her breathing, but other than that she appeared lifeless. If there was a way to wake her, or restore some kind of reactive sentience to her he didn't know it, at least not yet. He wondered, because she was a Digimon and they apparently are digital data given physical form, could he somehow provide her some sort of power current to rouse her into awareness? Sort of like jump starting a car but less powerful perhaps.

He finished his shower and stepped out, toweling himself dry and dressing in fresh clothes. However when he returned to his room his mind kept thinking about the idea of jump starting her and how similar it was to her wearing that shock collar. Did that help keep her active? Did Tyler inadvertently comatose her by trying to free her from it? Or had a shock put her in the state she was in?

The collar would be long gone by now, that much was certain. But he couldn't shake the thought from his mind that he could have made things worse rather than helped her.