Part Two: Befriending A Monster
The metal shutters rolled downward, shutting off the new day's light before it could enter the room and burn the occupant. Nicholas sighed in both relief and yearning as he turned away from the strengthening rays of the unreachable in order to consider that which now took up part of his couch as it lay unconscious on the blanket he had spread out for it.
It.
The alien that was half his size and a fraction of his weight.
The midget monster in 'Stitch-It-Yourself Halloween garb.
The impossible. Or, at least, the highly improbable.
What was this creature that had literally dropped into this latest chapter of his life? Never had he seen the like save in the odd fantasy videos that Dr. Lambert, his friend and confidant---one of only a handful of mortals who knew his true species---, sometimes brought over to watch with him.
Not knowing anything about alien customs or possible taboos, Nicholas had reluctantly opted not to remove any of the clothing save the hat---which kept tumbling off anyway. That article he'd laid within easy reach on the table along with the primitive staff. If his otherworldly guest preferred to be covered from nose to toe, who was he to say otherwise? Last thing he needed was to be zapped by an irate alien with a space gun. Or a crooked staff.
Still, he couldn't resist staring. Even an alien should understand the pull of simple curiosity.
Could this really be an alien from outer space? It didn't look like anything from Star Trek. More a denizen of Tolkien's Middle Earth." Nicholas smiled as he thought of his days spent listening to the English professor propound on his imaginary world, imbuing it with details that at times made it seem more real than London itself. His old friend, Ronald, would likely have been amused by the notion of a warlock parachutist-sans-his-parachute. This being did sort of look like a hobbit---speculative eyes traveled to where leather brown boots rested against the black leather of his sofa---except the soft leather boots were too small to be hiding big, hairy feet.
Oh well, it hadn't been much of a theory anyway.
The vampire's thought train was derailed by a snufflling noise coming from the head of the couch. De Brabant realized with more than a touch of apprehension that 'the hobbit' was awake and struggling into a more upright position as it stared curiously around at the loft's eclectic decor.
"Why am I not in a digiegg?" the odd voice asked in a baffled tone. A moment of silence; then an equally uncertain, "This is not Primary Village. Is this even.. No, surely not?"
Soon the hawk-like gaze settled on him, but whether the being was frowning or smiling, Nicholas couldn't tell because of the cowl still covering everything of the alien's face below those fierce looking eyes.
"This does not feel like Digital World. More like the Real World, yet..not the same," the being muttered as if to itself, wearily sweeping his long bangs that hung in front of its eyes. They merely fell back into place again. It seemed not to notice and kept staring at the vampire as if waiting for something. Nicholas felt like he was being visually dissected and shifted his weight a fraction to the side. The jade-hued eyes moved with him. Finally it spoke again, the words deliberate and slow, as if afraid speaking faster would get it attacked.
It was as wary of him as he was of it.
"You appear human, but humans don't smell or sound as you do nor have fangs. At least..." the voice faltered in mid-sentence "the Destined and their kindred did not." It shook its head as if trying to clear away mist from its vision, hand taking up the staff as the alien used it to get unsteadily to its feet, raising the implement in a threatening manner when Nicholas instinctively shifted forward to assist it. "Are you another Data digimon?" it asked, tone changing from utterly mystified to one of warning. "I've never seen anyone digivolved as you. Are you a Vaccine sent to help or a Virus of Myotismon's assigned to guard me? Is he holding me captive against my friend?" The green eyes narrowed to slits as De Brabant did not answer right away. "Please answer me, mon or whatever you are. I would rather be reduced to digital dust many times over than be used against Gatomon or for any such foul purposes."
The vampire cleared his throat as the little creature continued to stare at him with quiet dignity even as its legs trembled underneath it.
"Virus, Data or Vaccine? I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. I've never heard of 'Digital Word' or 'Myotismon, or anything of the strange terms you've mentioned," Nicholas said in an effort to placate the alien. "You're in my home---in Toronto, Canada., Earth A few hours ago you literally fell on top of me a short distance from here," he explained. "As for strange appearances," the vampire gave a weak grin, "it's safe to say that in all my years, I've never encountered anything remotely like you save in books or celluloid."
The creature blinked at him as if Nick had spoken some sort of gibberish. Then it sank back down on the couch dully staring at its feet.
"Oh.." it said in a near whisper, closing its eyes and swallowing hard, thinking.
Then it had not all been just a bad dream? He was still on Earth. But had he actually been deleted? Impossible---he'd be either an unthinking mass of Data bits waiting for the Matrix to recycle him, or a newborn in its digi egg preparing to start functioning anew. Obviously, he had not been recycled by the System. But did that mean that Myotismon's blast hadn't succeeded in deleting him after all---or that his Data was stuck on Earth to be forever barred from going home because the Matrix had been unable to gather his Data from such an alien place? Was this even the same Real World of the Digi-Destined that he and Gatomon had been transported to? Somehow he felt that it was not. There was just a sense of 'offness' about his surroundings, even greater than what he had felt when he'd first entered Kari's world. Oh,no, no, no---so many possibilities! The portal between the Two Worlds had shown him that the schematics of existence were far more complicated than he had ever imagined. Could this indeed be not just another world... but another dimension altogether? One of many connected together at odd points? Maybe transitional connections that haphazardly touched, bouncing off each other like Babies learning to move?
Oh, Matrix!
Lost. He was lost. More lost than he or any other digimon had ever dreamed of in their wildest nightmares! Unbidden tears began to blur his vision as he realized the implications.
He might never see his home again.
"Cautiously, Nick sat down opposite the shivering alien and handed over a black-silk handkerchief. The stranger eyed it dubiously, but seemed to decide it was harmless.
"Thank you."
"My real name's Nicholas de Brabant, but most everyone in the city knows me as Nick Knight. Care to talk about it?" the vampire asked. He hated to see anyone in distress.
The alien used the ebony bit of cloth to dab self-consciously at its eyes. "You are very kind, Nick. I'm sorry that I did not see that right away, but this is all very unexpected. Very strange."
"Tell me about it," his host grinned.
The other cocked its head as if considering it.
"Alright. I'm Wizardmon," the alien creature bowed his head. A cool hand took his gloved one and gently shook it.
"Nice to meet you, Wizardmon. I take it you''re not from around here?" Nicholas joked, trying to put his unusual guest at ease. The alien's eyes looked so sad.
"No." Wizardmon sighed as he recalled the more recent events experienced by his latest evolutionary form. "I'm not."
It seemed eons ago when he had first broke out of his egg and looked afresh upon a familiar world. Due to his nature, it had taken him a long time to reach his first digivolve into that of a Rookie. Slightly longer to become the Champion he was now. He had never been one for conflict either real or play, sheer apathy making him literally choose option 'flight' over 'fight' when it was open--so his strength had amassed at a slower level. But that was expected of the Data-castes. Fierce fighting was done by the Vaccines and Virals who strove for control of Digital World. Datas simply did what was needed, typically only fighting when dragged into it by the pressings of the other two. Wizardmon's development had been further complicated by his utter confusion about what his function even was. The problem being that there was simply no one he'd been able to find and ask. The Data caste might be as common as Virals and Vaccines... unfortunately, Wizard-class Data digimon were incredibly rare. In fact, wizardmons were the only Wizard-class Datas the System created, and as far as Wizardmon knew, he was the only one to evolve into that form for many, many years.
"Until not long ago," the digimon resumed, "I was working for the Virus, Lord Myotismon." He made a disdainful sound as he said the accursed name of the Enemy. "Well, not exactly working for him, understand,"Wizardmon added, voice filled rancor, "You see, I was trying to help my friend, Gatomon, because she saved my life and has a great destiny to fulfill. I only pretended to be loyal to Myotismon so I could keep an eye on her." The green eyes glinted with anger as he looked up at the ceiling. Myotismon. A vampire-class Virus of extradinary power that seemed more Mega than Ultimate in its magnitutude. Had his enemy been close to digivolving into that level? "Myotismon took away most of her past memories after we met---a spell of forgetfulness most likely---so that she treated me as harshly as the others under her command. That is the way Virals train others," Wizardmon spat out bitterly, "by speeding their natural digivolving process along with torture so that instinct will force the body into a stronger level in an attempt to survive. Gatomon, fortunately, was strong and attained her own Champion level this way. However, I knew that was not the real Gatomon for I'd known the span of her true heart before that monster hid it in his darkness." A mournful sigh escaped from the digimon. "I suppose.. in a way she thought she was doing me a favor. At times---small instances, gone quickly---I felt she hoped that I would attain another level for her sake,to help her and not just so that Myotismon's army could have a wizard-class Ultimate in their ranks. Poor Gatomon. Either way it would never have worked for in my case the foundation of the idea was faulty. Not all of Myotismon's twisted influence could induce me to hate or fear her. I saved those emotions for the master, himself."
Green eyes released their hostility, taking on a faraway air as he thought about the white, cat digimon with the black-tipped ears and soulful eyes of sky blue. "Gatomon was lonely like I was and wanted to find the one she had been searching all her life for but did not know who that was." The wizard noticed that his rapt audience of one wore a small smile on his face and shook his head, his own, more doleful smile at the thought safely hidden from view. "No, Nick, it was not what you are thinking. It wasn't me.. As it turned out, she was the digimon for the eighth Digi-Destined child that Myotismon had sent us into the Real World to locate so he could destroy her. You see, there is a prophesy that only the Eight Chosen Pairs working together could stop Myotismon's evil. And Gatomon was the Eighth Child's digimon partner." He shrugged. "I knew she was special. I just hadn't realized how much. Apparently, neither had Myotismon though he had taken her despite her being a Vaccine. Maybe he did it for the challenge... warp a Vaccine into believing they were Viral."
He cocked his head as he eyed the odd human. "But I am boring you?"
Nicholas was quick to answer in the negative. "No. No--not at all. Please go on, this is fascinating," he gestured for his guest to continue.
"As you wish." Wizardmon began again. "After exiting the portal, we were each ordered to seperate either singularly or in pairs for the search. Not wanting someone constantly looking over my shoulder, I didn't wait for anyone to latch onto me, but flew straight away to find these 'children' to study. They are an interesting level of human, children. Akin to digimon in many ways. I masqueraded as a human magician as I searched for the child"---low chuckle---"a masquerade within a masquerade, for I was not doing it for Myotismon---but for Gatomon. Even though we didn't know she was DigiDestined at first, I sensed she was special and figured that the sooner the Eighth Child was found and Myotismon defeated, the sooner Gatomon would be set free. That she was a DigiDestined herself I blame myself for not seeing sooner. Unfortunately, Myotismon realized her true identity as well, not long after I did and took both captive as the other Destined strove to delete him. He was too powerful, though, and aimed his most powerful energy attack directly at my friend and her Chosen before Kari could get ahold of her digidevice and release the power to turn Gatomon into an Ultimate as prophesy stated must happen for the Vaccines and Destined to win."
Grisly Wing.
The wizard shuddered, his voice unconsciously becoming agitated as he recalled what was nearly his last memory before dying.
"The energy force Myotismon releases takes the form of a dark cloud of bats that batter and tear the victim to deletion! I had no choice---my existence was worthless without Gatomon---whereas Gatomon and Kari were destined to save everyone! So, I threw myself into its path and re-directed the energy at myself to keep it from reaching them. It took almost everything I had to make those bats zero in only on me. For a moment I was terrified they wouldn't listen to my command! But they did--thank the System!---and the dark force left the others alone. Previous battles with the monster had depleted my energy reserves too much---there wasn't anything left to form a shield.when it struck. The blow was... It felt like every particle of my Data had been fried. I am glad Gatomon and Kari were spared it." Wizardmon sighed again, turning back to look at his host as he wrung his hands. "Now I can but wonder... Did my actions help them to win the battle? I hope it was enough or Digital World is doomed to suffer under the hand of Myotismon."
And did Gatomon manage to survive?
The tall human looked slightly confused.
"I---I'm afraid to have to confess your tale---though rivetting---has left me too far back in the dust to give a valid opinion," Nick admitted self deprecatingly. "Just what is a digimon?"
Blushing several shades darker, Wizardmon hastened to apologize. Of course the Real Worlder didn't know about any of this! How stupid and inconsiderate of him to have kept blathering on about himself!
"It's short for 'digital monster'," he explained, laying a hand across his red vest. "I'm a Data digimon, wizard class, who has attained Champion level in power." Wizardmon went on to describe various fabulous creatures that lived where he came from. " In my world---Digital World, everything is digitized matter instead of..I think your term is 'analog'? And when someone dies, they revert back to basic data to be retrieved by the System. The Matrix holds the data until it is needed, after which it is placed into a digiegg and deposited at Primary Village. Electmon cares for them as they hatch out as either Vaccine, Virus, or Data babies. Once they are strong enough, they become Rookies, ready to start learning and practicing their designated function. And so the cycle of life continues on." He groaned heavily, shaking his head. "Only for some reason, I ended up here instead of there."
Defect! The old accusation rang within his memory, a stinging possibility as to why he was no longer part of the System: dying on Real World had been a convenient way for Digital World to get rid of him.
Defect! Defect! Irreparabley damaged, the memories taunted.
Rejected by the System.
________________________
The metal shutters rolled downward, shutting off the new day's light before it could enter the room and burn the occupant. Nicholas sighed in both relief and yearning as he turned away from the strengthening rays of the unreachable in order to consider that which now took up part of his couch as it lay unconscious on the blanket he had spread out for it.
It.
The alien that was half his size and a fraction of his weight.
The midget monster in 'Stitch-It-Yourself Halloween garb.
The impossible. Or, at least, the highly improbable.
What was this creature that had literally dropped into this latest chapter of his life? Never had he seen the like save in the odd fantasy videos that Dr. Lambert, his friend and confidant---one of only a handful of mortals who knew his true species---, sometimes brought over to watch with him.
Not knowing anything about alien customs or possible taboos, Nicholas had reluctantly opted not to remove any of the clothing save the hat---which kept tumbling off anyway. That article he'd laid within easy reach on the table along with the primitive staff. If his otherworldly guest preferred to be covered from nose to toe, who was he to say otherwise? Last thing he needed was to be zapped by an irate alien with a space gun. Or a crooked staff.
Still, he couldn't resist staring. Even an alien should understand the pull of simple curiosity.
Could this really be an alien from outer space? It didn't look like anything from Star Trek. More a denizen of Tolkien's Middle Earth." Nicholas smiled as he thought of his days spent listening to the English professor propound on his imaginary world, imbuing it with details that at times made it seem more real than London itself. His old friend, Ronald, would likely have been amused by the notion of a warlock parachutist-sans-his-parachute. This being did sort of look like a hobbit---speculative eyes traveled to where leather brown boots rested against the black leather of his sofa---except the soft leather boots were too small to be hiding big, hairy feet.
Oh well, it hadn't been much of a theory anyway.
The vampire's thought train was derailed by a snufflling noise coming from the head of the couch. De Brabant realized with more than a touch of apprehension that 'the hobbit' was awake and struggling into a more upright position as it stared curiously around at the loft's eclectic decor.
"Why am I not in a digiegg?" the odd voice asked in a baffled tone. A moment of silence; then an equally uncertain, "This is not Primary Village. Is this even.. No, surely not?"
Soon the hawk-like gaze settled on him, but whether the being was frowning or smiling, Nicholas couldn't tell because of the cowl still covering everything of the alien's face below those fierce looking eyes.
"This does not feel like Digital World. More like the Real World, yet..not the same," the being muttered as if to itself, wearily sweeping his long bangs that hung in front of its eyes. They merely fell back into place again. It seemed not to notice and kept staring at the vampire as if waiting for something. Nicholas felt like he was being visually dissected and shifted his weight a fraction to the side. The jade-hued eyes moved with him. Finally it spoke again, the words deliberate and slow, as if afraid speaking faster would get it attacked.
It was as wary of him as he was of it.
"You appear human, but humans don't smell or sound as you do nor have fangs. At least..." the voice faltered in mid-sentence "the Destined and their kindred did not." It shook its head as if trying to clear away mist from its vision, hand taking up the staff as the alien used it to get unsteadily to its feet, raising the implement in a threatening manner when Nicholas instinctively shifted forward to assist it. "Are you another Data digimon?" it asked, tone changing from utterly mystified to one of warning. "I've never seen anyone digivolved as you. Are you a Vaccine sent to help or a Virus of Myotismon's assigned to guard me? Is he holding me captive against my friend?" The green eyes narrowed to slits as De Brabant did not answer right away. "Please answer me, mon or whatever you are. I would rather be reduced to digital dust many times over than be used against Gatomon or for any such foul purposes."
The vampire cleared his throat as the little creature continued to stare at him with quiet dignity even as its legs trembled underneath it.
"Virus, Data or Vaccine? I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. I've never heard of 'Digital Word' or 'Myotismon, or anything of the strange terms you've mentioned," Nicholas said in an effort to placate the alien. "You're in my home---in Toronto, Canada., Earth A few hours ago you literally fell on top of me a short distance from here," he explained. "As for strange appearances," the vampire gave a weak grin, "it's safe to say that in all my years, I've never encountered anything remotely like you save in books or celluloid."
The creature blinked at him as if Nick had spoken some sort of gibberish. Then it sank back down on the couch dully staring at its feet.
"Oh.." it said in a near whisper, closing its eyes and swallowing hard, thinking.
Then it had not all been just a bad dream? He was still on Earth. But had he actually been deleted? Impossible---he'd be either an unthinking mass of Data bits waiting for the Matrix to recycle him, or a newborn in its digi egg preparing to start functioning anew. Obviously, he had not been recycled by the System. But did that mean that Myotismon's blast hadn't succeeded in deleting him after all---or that his Data was stuck on Earth to be forever barred from going home because the Matrix had been unable to gather his Data from such an alien place? Was this even the same Real World of the Digi-Destined that he and Gatomon had been transported to? Somehow he felt that it was not. There was just a sense of 'offness' about his surroundings, even greater than what he had felt when he'd first entered Kari's world. Oh,no, no, no---so many possibilities! The portal between the Two Worlds had shown him that the schematics of existence were far more complicated than he had ever imagined. Could this indeed be not just another world... but another dimension altogether? One of many connected together at odd points? Maybe transitional connections that haphazardly touched, bouncing off each other like Babies learning to move?
Oh, Matrix!
Lost. He was lost. More lost than he or any other digimon had ever dreamed of in their wildest nightmares! Unbidden tears began to blur his vision as he realized the implications.
He might never see his home again.
"Cautiously, Nick sat down opposite the shivering alien and handed over a black-silk handkerchief. The stranger eyed it dubiously, but seemed to decide it was harmless.
"Thank you."
"My real name's Nicholas de Brabant, but most everyone in the city knows me as Nick Knight. Care to talk about it?" the vampire asked. He hated to see anyone in distress.
The alien used the ebony bit of cloth to dab self-consciously at its eyes. "You are very kind, Nick. I'm sorry that I did not see that right away, but this is all very unexpected. Very strange."
"Tell me about it," his host grinned.
The other cocked its head as if considering it.
"Alright. I'm Wizardmon," the alien creature bowed his head. A cool hand took his gloved one and gently shook it.
"Nice to meet you, Wizardmon. I take it you''re not from around here?" Nicholas joked, trying to put his unusual guest at ease. The alien's eyes looked so sad.
"No." Wizardmon sighed as he recalled the more recent events experienced by his latest evolutionary form. "I'm not."
It seemed eons ago when he had first broke out of his egg and looked afresh upon a familiar world. Due to his nature, it had taken him a long time to reach his first digivolve into that of a Rookie. Slightly longer to become the Champion he was now. He had never been one for conflict either real or play, sheer apathy making him literally choose option 'flight' over 'fight' when it was open--so his strength had amassed at a slower level. But that was expected of the Data-castes. Fierce fighting was done by the Vaccines and Virals who strove for control of Digital World. Datas simply did what was needed, typically only fighting when dragged into it by the pressings of the other two. Wizardmon's development had been further complicated by his utter confusion about what his function even was. The problem being that there was simply no one he'd been able to find and ask. The Data caste might be as common as Virals and Vaccines... unfortunately, Wizard-class Data digimon were incredibly rare. In fact, wizardmons were the only Wizard-class Datas the System created, and as far as Wizardmon knew, he was the only one to evolve into that form for many, many years.
"Until not long ago," the digimon resumed, "I was working for the Virus, Lord Myotismon." He made a disdainful sound as he said the accursed name of the Enemy. "Well, not exactly working for him, understand,"Wizardmon added, voice filled rancor, "You see, I was trying to help my friend, Gatomon, because she saved my life and has a great destiny to fulfill. I only pretended to be loyal to Myotismon so I could keep an eye on her." The green eyes glinted with anger as he looked up at the ceiling. Myotismon. A vampire-class Virus of extradinary power that seemed more Mega than Ultimate in its magnitutude. Had his enemy been close to digivolving into that level? "Myotismon took away most of her past memories after we met---a spell of forgetfulness most likely---so that she treated me as harshly as the others under her command. That is the way Virals train others," Wizardmon spat out bitterly, "by speeding their natural digivolving process along with torture so that instinct will force the body into a stronger level in an attempt to survive. Gatomon, fortunately, was strong and attained her own Champion level this way. However, I knew that was not the real Gatomon for I'd known the span of her true heart before that monster hid it in his darkness." A mournful sigh escaped from the digimon. "I suppose.. in a way she thought she was doing me a favor. At times---small instances, gone quickly---I felt she hoped that I would attain another level for her sake,to help her and not just so that Myotismon's army could have a wizard-class Ultimate in their ranks. Poor Gatomon. Either way it would never have worked for in my case the foundation of the idea was faulty. Not all of Myotismon's twisted influence could induce me to hate or fear her. I saved those emotions for the master, himself."
Green eyes released their hostility, taking on a faraway air as he thought about the white, cat digimon with the black-tipped ears and soulful eyes of sky blue. "Gatomon was lonely like I was and wanted to find the one she had been searching all her life for but did not know who that was." The wizard noticed that his rapt audience of one wore a small smile on his face and shook his head, his own, more doleful smile at the thought safely hidden from view. "No, Nick, it was not what you are thinking. It wasn't me.. As it turned out, she was the digimon for the eighth Digi-Destined child that Myotismon had sent us into the Real World to locate so he could destroy her. You see, there is a prophesy that only the Eight Chosen Pairs working together could stop Myotismon's evil. And Gatomon was the Eighth Child's digimon partner." He shrugged. "I knew she was special. I just hadn't realized how much. Apparently, neither had Myotismon though he had taken her despite her being a Vaccine. Maybe he did it for the challenge... warp a Vaccine into believing they were Viral."
He cocked his head as he eyed the odd human. "But I am boring you?"
Nicholas was quick to answer in the negative. "No. No--not at all. Please go on, this is fascinating," he gestured for his guest to continue.
"As you wish." Wizardmon began again. "After exiting the portal, we were each ordered to seperate either singularly or in pairs for the search. Not wanting someone constantly looking over my shoulder, I didn't wait for anyone to latch onto me, but flew straight away to find these 'children' to study. They are an interesting level of human, children. Akin to digimon in many ways. I masqueraded as a human magician as I searched for the child"---low chuckle---"a masquerade within a masquerade, for I was not doing it for Myotismon---but for Gatomon. Even though we didn't know she was DigiDestined at first, I sensed she was special and figured that the sooner the Eighth Child was found and Myotismon defeated, the sooner Gatomon would be set free. That she was a DigiDestined herself I blame myself for not seeing sooner. Unfortunately, Myotismon realized her true identity as well, not long after I did and took both captive as the other Destined strove to delete him. He was too powerful, though, and aimed his most powerful energy attack directly at my friend and her Chosen before Kari could get ahold of her digidevice and release the power to turn Gatomon into an Ultimate as prophesy stated must happen for the Vaccines and Destined to win."
Grisly Wing.
The wizard shuddered, his voice unconsciously becoming agitated as he recalled what was nearly his last memory before dying.
"The energy force Myotismon releases takes the form of a dark cloud of bats that batter and tear the victim to deletion! I had no choice---my existence was worthless without Gatomon---whereas Gatomon and Kari were destined to save everyone! So, I threw myself into its path and re-directed the energy at myself to keep it from reaching them. It took almost everything I had to make those bats zero in only on me. For a moment I was terrified they wouldn't listen to my command! But they did--thank the System!---and the dark force left the others alone. Previous battles with the monster had depleted my energy reserves too much---there wasn't anything left to form a shield.when it struck. The blow was... It felt like every particle of my Data had been fried. I am glad Gatomon and Kari were spared it." Wizardmon sighed again, turning back to look at his host as he wrung his hands. "Now I can but wonder... Did my actions help them to win the battle? I hope it was enough or Digital World is doomed to suffer under the hand of Myotismon."
And did Gatomon manage to survive?
The tall human looked slightly confused.
"I---I'm afraid to have to confess your tale---though rivetting---has left me too far back in the dust to give a valid opinion," Nick admitted self deprecatingly. "Just what is a digimon?"
Blushing several shades darker, Wizardmon hastened to apologize. Of course the Real Worlder didn't know about any of this! How stupid and inconsiderate of him to have kept blathering on about himself!
"It's short for 'digital monster'," he explained, laying a hand across his red vest. "I'm a Data digimon, wizard class, who has attained Champion level in power." Wizardmon went on to describe various fabulous creatures that lived where he came from. " In my world---Digital World, everything is digitized matter instead of..I think your term is 'analog'? And when someone dies, they revert back to basic data to be retrieved by the System. The Matrix holds the data until it is needed, after which it is placed into a digiegg and deposited at Primary Village. Electmon cares for them as they hatch out as either Vaccine, Virus, or Data babies. Once they are strong enough, they become Rookies, ready to start learning and practicing their designated function. And so the cycle of life continues on." He groaned heavily, shaking his head. "Only for some reason, I ended up here instead of there."
Defect! The old accusation rang within his memory, a stinging possibility as to why he was no longer part of the System: dying on Real World had been a convenient way for Digital World to get rid of him.
Defect! Defect! Irreparabley damaged, the memories taunted.
Rejected by the System.
________________________