Author's Notes: I've now got a story up on FictionPress.net as well, so
you might want to check it out. It's significantly different in tone and
writing style though, and has subtle messages (whereas this story has none)
so don't expect the same experience, but you might like it. You never
know.
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Chapter Eight: La Inquisición Digital
The Gotsumon (as Mimi discovered they called themselves) had tossed Mimi in a dark, dank, and relatively stereotypical dungeon-like cell and stripped her of her backpack. She had made up some pathetic lie about how she required a device in her backpack to help her breathe in cases of respiratory attacks and had managed to swipe her CD player. This helped her condition, but not much.
She sat in the dark on a low bench, obviously built for the shorter Gotsumon, for about an hour, listening to her music and scanning the cell, trying to find a weakness in its construction but found none; there was not even a window to squeeze out of, just a few inch-thick slots at the very top of the wall that let in light. Eventually, the great stone door leading to her cell swung open and one of the guards stepped in holding a short black strap in his hand. Mimi, eyeing the strap nervously, asked bitterly if he was to be the waiter for this evening.
"The chief will accept your presence now," he grunted, walking over to her. Mimi stood up to leave, but the guard reached up, grabbed her elbow, and pulled her back down onto the bench roughly.
"Ow! how about being more considerate? Hey, what are you doing?!" she squealed in annoyance and surprise as he wrapped the strap snuggly around her neck and fastened it. She immediately tried to pull it off, but somehow it had closed and now formed a continuous piece of cold, but surprisingly malleable, black metal. "What is this thing? Take it off this instant!" she shrieked. The guard just grabbed her hand and led her out of the cell. The door slammed shut behind them and Mimi yanked her hand back and jumped, startled. Surprisingly, the guard did not grab her hand again. Instead, he began to walk down one of the corridors. Mimi, not knowing what else to do, followed him. "Hey," she asked, "how come you don't know I'm going to take off or something?" The guard looked up at her with a slight smirk.
"Not happening" he murmured and kept walking. Eventually, they made their way to two large stone doors, each about twenty feet high and ten feet across. As they walked up the doors opened slowly, revealing a room proportional in size to the doors. The guard motioned towards the cavernous room but did not step inside. "The great chief, Monochromon, is waiting. Oh, and the other prisoners wanted the breathing device you're holding back." He pointed to the CD player in Mimi's hand. She handed it over and stepped hesitantly through the threshold, and again, found the door slamming shut behind her.
"Eep. Not a friendly place," she thought. She stepped quietly along the marble floor, looking about for signs of life. "Hello?" she asked meekly. With that, the room instantly brightened as hundreds of torches simultaneously caught fire. Unlike all other parts of the building, this one had a softer, warmer feel to it; there were tapestries and paintings hanging on the walls and the marble floor shone brilliantly, reflecting the glow of the torches hung systematically on the walls about three feet from each other. The scene could have been taken straight out of medieval Europe. At the far end of the room Mimi saw a golden platform and seated on it a large Digimon that she assumed was Monochromon. It had the appearance of a dinosaur, a Triceratops more specifically, except that it was covered with metal armor. "That's one over-sized and intimidating monster" Mimi told herself with a nervous shiver. "So, um, what exactly did you call me here for?" she asked, with forced aggression. The Digimon actually smiled (somehow).
"So, you're the 'ill-behaved' human my soldiers mentioned to me. Why, the meaning of this discussion is just that: to discuss the situation. Now," he said, in a commanding voice, "do you believe you are guilty for committing the crime of murdering four of our young tribe members?"
"Hey!" Mimi interjected, "what is this, a discussion or an interrogation? And besides," she muttered, "I thought it was five Digimon." With that, the ring around her neck emitted an electric shock that resonated through her body like a crash of thunder. She clawed at her neck, trying to rip off the metal collar but to no avail. Slowly, the shock diminished in strength and Mimi collapsed to her knees. She sat there for a moment, stunned, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Quickly, her fear and confusion turned into a blind rage. "What the hell was that?" she screamed, her high-pitched voice resonating throughout the room. "An electric shock that strong could have easily killed me!"
"Ah, but it didn't," the Digimon reminded her. "And why do you suppose that is?" Mimi opened her mouth to shout again, but then found that she couldn't come up with a response and shut it. Monochromon stepped off of the platform onto the marble floor and walked slowly to where Mimi sat. She quickly stood so as not to appear too intimidated. "There is something you should understand about the Digital World that differs greatly from your own: in your world, pain is a sign of injury or danger, so that you might escape the threat. Here, however, injury or death can be painless, and pain, in turn, can be completely harmless, at least physically speaking. The infliction of pain can still, of course, have psychological effects."
"But," Mimi responded, with some of her courage returning, "anything and everything psychological is equally biological."
"Indeed. So I suppose that there is something to fear from pain." Monochromon responded with melodramatic disappointment. Mimi frowned at this, realizing that the Digimon now had just won the argument by purposely setting Mimi up with a logical fallacy that would prove his point wrong.
"Who'd have thought they'd be so cunning?" she wondered. "But even more bizarre: how did he know that I'd even notice the logical fallacy?"
"We should return to our previous, and more important, topic; once we finish, you can have something to eat, for I'm certain you're quite famished by now." Mimi's stomach growled at the mention of food.
"Don't try to manipulate my answers with promises of food," she warned angrily, but she knew that in the end, she would have to cave in.
"I'm certainly not meaning to," Monochromon replied with feigned insult. "I'm just trying to speed things along, that's all. Besides, my questions are relative to the investigation; it's not like I'm asking you how many fingers I'm holding up." Mimi's eyes widened in astonishment. "And," the Digimon continued, pretending not to notice the terror in Mimi's eyes, "I'm sure you're wondering what the whole electric shock thing is about." He walked over towards one wall and motioned towards a metallic box-like device with his head. On it was a dial. "It responds to my wishes through remote-control by monitoring my brainwaves." He paused for a moment, as if to build the suspense. "You can see that the numbers on this dial run up to a hundred. Will you please remember, throughout our conversation, that I have it in my power to inflict pain on you at any moment and to whatever degree I choose. If you tell any lies, or attempt to prevaricate in any way, or even fall below your usual level of intelligence, you will cry out with pain instantly. Do you understand that?" Mimi backed towards the door.
"How could you possibly know? Cease this allusion instantly! I must be stuck in a dream; how else can you know what I know?" Monochromon turned back towards her.
"Yes, George Orwell's "1984" did have an impact on you when you read it, didn't it? He was quite an influential writer, and British, wasn't he?" The smile returned to his face. "Think Mimi. What do we call this place?"
"The Digital World," she responded hesitantly.
"Correct. And why do you suppose we call it the Digital World?"
"I don't know!" Mimi wailed, despite the fact that the answer existed in her brain. The hunger and fatigue and the constant interrogation was wearing away at her stamina and capabilities, both physical and mental.
"Then, why does your friend think so?"
"I don't know!" she wailed again, this time accompanied by tears. Again, the band around her neck released a surge of electricity, turning her cries into screams.
"LISTEN!" Monochromon shouted as the shock faded, "the Digital World is like a great computer program; it's a place consisting of 1's and 0's, a world created and manipulated by technology." He lowered his voice to normal speech. "Wouldn't it be logical that the door swings both ways? If we're just like a computer program, why shouldn't we be able to access the data stored in computers and other technology?" The great stone doors swung open again, revealing the Gotsumon guard.
To Mimi, Monochromon said, "We'll continue this discussion later, after you regain your senses. Make sure to get plenty of food and rest; tomorrow's going to be a big day." Mimi stumbled towards the door and, supported by the guard, back to her cell. "Oh, and guard," Monochromon added, "prepare a nice variety of foods for her to choose from; she's useless in this maniacal state."
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Author's Notes:
In this chapter, I've added some of the technology from season 2. Don't be surprised if elements from this later time appear occasionally; this fanfic is only season 1 and will never be season 2 anyway, so it really doesn't matter. When I originally planned out what might happen in "Replaced" (over two years ago), I was going to follow the story-line of the show pretty closely, but after writing the first two chapters, I realized that was not happening. I haven't seen Digimon season one at all in about a year and a half now, so I've forgotten many elements of the show, particularly the plot. Not to mention, what's the point of a fanfic if it just becomes a retelling? For these reasons, I have taken the idea of Digimon, the characters, and basic plotline and expanded it, making it my own world with my own rules.
Also, I've never been a big fan of Taichi, Sora, or Jou, and Takeru's too young to really play a major role, so you probably won't see much of these characters. However, I associate with Yamato, Koushiro, and my recreation of Mimi so obviously, they've taken the role of major characters. Someone else (or even myself for that matter) could easily rewrite the story focusing on the other group of characters more, as the group as a whole has split up (and will probably continue to do so). One of the major flaws with the show is that there are too many main characters, which means the development of each of them suffers greatly. By keeping the number of characters to four or less the story gains realism (in real life, even though a large group of friends might go to the mall or movies together, they inevitably split up into groups of three or four).
Oh, and if you haven't read "1984" by George Orwell, I highly suggest you go out and buy or borrow the book. Not only will you be able to comprehend the goings-on in this chapter better, but you will have also read one of the most influential and important books in the 20th century. Allusions and references to it appear everywhere; even in Star Trek. And please don't shy away from the book because it shares the same author as "Animal Farm"; the two books are nothing alike.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Chapter Eight: La Inquisición Digital
The Gotsumon (as Mimi discovered they called themselves) had tossed Mimi in a dark, dank, and relatively stereotypical dungeon-like cell and stripped her of her backpack. She had made up some pathetic lie about how she required a device in her backpack to help her breathe in cases of respiratory attacks and had managed to swipe her CD player. This helped her condition, but not much.
She sat in the dark on a low bench, obviously built for the shorter Gotsumon, for about an hour, listening to her music and scanning the cell, trying to find a weakness in its construction but found none; there was not even a window to squeeze out of, just a few inch-thick slots at the very top of the wall that let in light. Eventually, the great stone door leading to her cell swung open and one of the guards stepped in holding a short black strap in his hand. Mimi, eyeing the strap nervously, asked bitterly if he was to be the waiter for this evening.
"The chief will accept your presence now," he grunted, walking over to her. Mimi stood up to leave, but the guard reached up, grabbed her elbow, and pulled her back down onto the bench roughly.
"Ow! how about being more considerate? Hey, what are you doing?!" she squealed in annoyance and surprise as he wrapped the strap snuggly around her neck and fastened it. She immediately tried to pull it off, but somehow it had closed and now formed a continuous piece of cold, but surprisingly malleable, black metal. "What is this thing? Take it off this instant!" she shrieked. The guard just grabbed her hand and led her out of the cell. The door slammed shut behind them and Mimi yanked her hand back and jumped, startled. Surprisingly, the guard did not grab her hand again. Instead, he began to walk down one of the corridors. Mimi, not knowing what else to do, followed him. "Hey," she asked, "how come you don't know I'm going to take off or something?" The guard looked up at her with a slight smirk.
"Not happening" he murmured and kept walking. Eventually, they made their way to two large stone doors, each about twenty feet high and ten feet across. As they walked up the doors opened slowly, revealing a room proportional in size to the doors. The guard motioned towards the cavernous room but did not step inside. "The great chief, Monochromon, is waiting. Oh, and the other prisoners wanted the breathing device you're holding back." He pointed to the CD player in Mimi's hand. She handed it over and stepped hesitantly through the threshold, and again, found the door slamming shut behind her.
"Eep. Not a friendly place," she thought. She stepped quietly along the marble floor, looking about for signs of life. "Hello?" she asked meekly. With that, the room instantly brightened as hundreds of torches simultaneously caught fire. Unlike all other parts of the building, this one had a softer, warmer feel to it; there were tapestries and paintings hanging on the walls and the marble floor shone brilliantly, reflecting the glow of the torches hung systematically on the walls about three feet from each other. The scene could have been taken straight out of medieval Europe. At the far end of the room Mimi saw a golden platform and seated on it a large Digimon that she assumed was Monochromon. It had the appearance of a dinosaur, a Triceratops more specifically, except that it was covered with metal armor. "That's one over-sized and intimidating monster" Mimi told herself with a nervous shiver. "So, um, what exactly did you call me here for?" she asked, with forced aggression. The Digimon actually smiled (somehow).
"So, you're the 'ill-behaved' human my soldiers mentioned to me. Why, the meaning of this discussion is just that: to discuss the situation. Now," he said, in a commanding voice, "do you believe you are guilty for committing the crime of murdering four of our young tribe members?"
"Hey!" Mimi interjected, "what is this, a discussion or an interrogation? And besides," she muttered, "I thought it was five Digimon." With that, the ring around her neck emitted an electric shock that resonated through her body like a crash of thunder. She clawed at her neck, trying to rip off the metal collar but to no avail. Slowly, the shock diminished in strength and Mimi collapsed to her knees. She sat there for a moment, stunned, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Quickly, her fear and confusion turned into a blind rage. "What the hell was that?" she screamed, her high-pitched voice resonating throughout the room. "An electric shock that strong could have easily killed me!"
"Ah, but it didn't," the Digimon reminded her. "And why do you suppose that is?" Mimi opened her mouth to shout again, but then found that she couldn't come up with a response and shut it. Monochromon stepped off of the platform onto the marble floor and walked slowly to where Mimi sat. She quickly stood so as not to appear too intimidated. "There is something you should understand about the Digital World that differs greatly from your own: in your world, pain is a sign of injury or danger, so that you might escape the threat. Here, however, injury or death can be painless, and pain, in turn, can be completely harmless, at least physically speaking. The infliction of pain can still, of course, have psychological effects."
"But," Mimi responded, with some of her courage returning, "anything and everything psychological is equally biological."
"Indeed. So I suppose that there is something to fear from pain." Monochromon responded with melodramatic disappointment. Mimi frowned at this, realizing that the Digimon now had just won the argument by purposely setting Mimi up with a logical fallacy that would prove his point wrong.
"Who'd have thought they'd be so cunning?" she wondered. "But even more bizarre: how did he know that I'd even notice the logical fallacy?"
"We should return to our previous, and more important, topic; once we finish, you can have something to eat, for I'm certain you're quite famished by now." Mimi's stomach growled at the mention of food.
"Don't try to manipulate my answers with promises of food," she warned angrily, but she knew that in the end, she would have to cave in.
"I'm certainly not meaning to," Monochromon replied with feigned insult. "I'm just trying to speed things along, that's all. Besides, my questions are relative to the investigation; it's not like I'm asking you how many fingers I'm holding up." Mimi's eyes widened in astonishment. "And," the Digimon continued, pretending not to notice the terror in Mimi's eyes, "I'm sure you're wondering what the whole electric shock thing is about." He walked over towards one wall and motioned towards a metallic box-like device with his head. On it was a dial. "It responds to my wishes through remote-control by monitoring my brainwaves." He paused for a moment, as if to build the suspense. "You can see that the numbers on this dial run up to a hundred. Will you please remember, throughout our conversation, that I have it in my power to inflict pain on you at any moment and to whatever degree I choose. If you tell any lies, or attempt to prevaricate in any way, or even fall below your usual level of intelligence, you will cry out with pain instantly. Do you understand that?" Mimi backed towards the door.
"How could you possibly know? Cease this allusion instantly! I must be stuck in a dream; how else can you know what I know?" Monochromon turned back towards her.
"Yes, George Orwell's "1984" did have an impact on you when you read it, didn't it? He was quite an influential writer, and British, wasn't he?" The smile returned to his face. "Think Mimi. What do we call this place?"
"The Digital World," she responded hesitantly.
"Correct. And why do you suppose we call it the Digital World?"
"I don't know!" Mimi wailed, despite the fact that the answer existed in her brain. The hunger and fatigue and the constant interrogation was wearing away at her stamina and capabilities, both physical and mental.
"Then, why does your friend think so?"
"I don't know!" she wailed again, this time accompanied by tears. Again, the band around her neck released a surge of electricity, turning her cries into screams.
"LISTEN!" Monochromon shouted as the shock faded, "the Digital World is like a great computer program; it's a place consisting of 1's and 0's, a world created and manipulated by technology." He lowered his voice to normal speech. "Wouldn't it be logical that the door swings both ways? If we're just like a computer program, why shouldn't we be able to access the data stored in computers and other technology?" The great stone doors swung open again, revealing the Gotsumon guard.
To Mimi, Monochromon said, "We'll continue this discussion later, after you regain your senses. Make sure to get plenty of food and rest; tomorrow's going to be a big day." Mimi stumbled towards the door and, supported by the guard, back to her cell. "Oh, and guard," Monochromon added, "prepare a nice variety of foods for her to choose from; she's useless in this maniacal state."
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Author's Notes:
In this chapter, I've added some of the technology from season 2. Don't be surprised if elements from this later time appear occasionally; this fanfic is only season 1 and will never be season 2 anyway, so it really doesn't matter. When I originally planned out what might happen in "Replaced" (over two years ago), I was going to follow the story-line of the show pretty closely, but after writing the first two chapters, I realized that was not happening. I haven't seen Digimon season one at all in about a year and a half now, so I've forgotten many elements of the show, particularly the plot. Not to mention, what's the point of a fanfic if it just becomes a retelling? For these reasons, I have taken the idea of Digimon, the characters, and basic plotline and expanded it, making it my own world with my own rules.
Also, I've never been a big fan of Taichi, Sora, or Jou, and Takeru's too young to really play a major role, so you probably won't see much of these characters. However, I associate with Yamato, Koushiro, and my recreation of Mimi so obviously, they've taken the role of major characters. Someone else (or even myself for that matter) could easily rewrite the story focusing on the other group of characters more, as the group as a whole has split up (and will probably continue to do so). One of the major flaws with the show is that there are too many main characters, which means the development of each of them suffers greatly. By keeping the number of characters to four or less the story gains realism (in real life, even though a large group of friends might go to the mall or movies together, they inevitably split up into groups of three or four).
Oh, and if you haven't read "1984" by George Orwell, I highly suggest you go out and buy or borrow the book. Not only will you be able to comprehend the goings-on in this chapter better, but you will have also read one of the most influential and important books in the 20th century. Allusions and references to it appear everywhere; even in Star Trek. And please don't shy away from the book because it shares the same author as "Animal Farm"; the two books are nothing alike.