Digimon.EXE 3

By Wolf O'Donnell

WARNING! May contain Alternative Universe situations and out-of-character experiences. Upon reading this, you hereby agree that you forfeit all your rights to sue me and that I cannot be held liable for any psychological or physical damage caused by the fact that I use British English spelling and that this fanfic contains NO graphic depictions of a heterosexual and homosexual nature. Digimon is copyrighted by Bandai and Toei Animation Ltd. Wolf O'Donnell is copyrighted by Nintendo Ltd, although that might have nothing to do with the fanfic. Digimon.EXE 3 is based on Rockman.EXE, which is copyrighted by Capcom Ltd. Please read and review. I won't continue unless you do.

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File 04: Find Out

"Remember, we need maximum disruption if this Operation is to work."
"I remember," said the second voice. "Currently, the Orbital Space Ring is as dry as a bone. There's no water to drink or wash with. As long as you guys keep the delivery ships from arriving with the emergency water supplies, we can keep this up for weeks. The people will be literally dying for a drop to drink."
"Just keep it that way until we can get what we want, do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."

"Oh, come on!" whined Guilmon. "Wake up, already!"
Groggily, Takato did just that. His mouth felt dry and sticky, and his hair was stuck up in the strangest manner. Frankly, he stank and he didn't feel quite himself. As he slid out of bed, the part of him that was awake, hoped that the water was back on. He walked over to the sink in his pyjamas and then turned the tap. There was a dry gurgling and that was it. No water. Not a single drop.
Takato moaned in anguish. He had only just filed the complaint yesterday and that had nearly taken it completely out of him. They had said they'd get the water back, but apparently they hadn't. When was the last time he had washed or brushed his teeth? He couldn't remember, but he felt like... something dirtier than a really dirty pig.
"I'd kill for some water right about now," he commented and then slumped to the floor. "This must be some kind of nightmare. Any minute now, I'll wake up and find that when I turn the tap, there's going to be some nice, cool water." He waited. "Guilmon, pinch me."
"Oh my gosh!" came a scream from the lounge.
In a flash, Takato leapt up from the bathroom floor and ran towards the lounge. There he saw his mother with a look of shock on her face.
"Mum, what's wrong?" he blurted out, as he ran into the lounge.
"It's... it's Hypnos!" she exclaimed, as she pointed at the television. "They're back and they're demanding 10 million Wulongs in return for the water."
A frown registered on Takato's face. Hypnos? Hadn't he helped the Officials destroy them? Then another thought hit him. 10 Million Wulongs? Wulongs was the currency of the Earth and the Orbital Space Ring, but 10 million of them?
"I... I... I don't understand!" stuttered Takato. "I thought Hypnos was destroyed!" Yet now they were demanding 10 million Wulongs? "So, they were behind this water shortage all along! I knew it! No public service, no matter how incompetent could make such a mess."
"Wait! Takato, where are you going?" cried Takato's Mother.
"I'm going straight to Tento Town," replied Takato, as he stripped his pyjamas off and threw on some clothes as quickly as possible. "I'm sure that I can help the Officials sort this mess out." He grabbed his D-Tector and then dashed out of his room, or at least, he would have liked to had his mother not got in the way. "Mom!" he protested.
There was a stern look on her face, as she blocked his way out.
"You, young man, are not going anywhere," she told him. "This is a matter for the Officials, not a young boy like you. And don't give me, you were a DEVA Cadet routine. The DEVA Organisation doesn't exist anymore, remember?" Upon hearing Takato protest, she folded her arms and gave him a cross look. "What I say goes, young man."
"Oh, Yoshi, don't be such a stick in the mud," called out Takato's father from behind her. "Let him go."
Takato's mother whirled round to face her husband with a cross look on her face.
"Do you remember what happened when we let him go last time?" she asked Takato's father sternly. "He nearly got killed fighting the Dragon Syndicate. I'm not letting my son go risk his life once again. Hypnos is a Terrorist Organisation, dear, and they've probably got a grudge against Takato and his friends for destroying their Juggernaut Virus..."
"Mom, I can take care of myself," protested Takato angrily.
"Honey, let him go," Takato's father told her. "It can't hurt him, I mean, the Officials will be there and besides, no Hypnos Agents will be anywhere near there. Do you really think that Hypnos would physically be there for so long without anyone noticing?" He placed an arm around his wife, as he said, "They're most likely working through the computer viruses and Takato can't get hurt from them."
Mrs. Matsuda then turned to look at Takato and saw the look she gave him.
"Oh, all right, you can go," she sighed, "but don't work yourself up too much. Remember, there's still no water and you might get dehydrated."
"I remember, mom," replied Takato with a nod of his head. "I promise, I'll be all right."
"And I'll take care of Takato," vowed Guilmon.
A smile spread across Mrs. Matsuda's face.
"I know you two will," she said quietly. "Be careful."
"We will," replied Takato and Guilmon simultaneously, before Takato darted out of the doorway.
The trip was uneventful. The trains were nearly completely empty. Takato realised that due to the water shortage, people were staying home and were probably staying as still as possible just to avoid dehydrating. The youth began to think about when he last actually drank something and found that he had almost forgotten what it was like to drink, even though he had only been without water for a day.
The train soon stopped at Tento Town Station and it wasn't long before Takato made his way out to the deserted High Street. He could see the large facade of Orbital Waters PLC, the Orbital Space Ring's only Water Company, not too far away and made a bee line straight for it. He stopped.
"Ruki?" he exclaimed in surprise. "Alice? Juri? What are you three doing here?"
"Probably for the same reason you're here," replied Ruki sternly. "To help get fix the water supply, right?"
"Well, that's why I'm here," said Juri hoarsely.
Takato looked down towards Orbital Waters HQ and saw that it had been completely surrounded by cars, each bearing the Symbol of the Officials.
"If that's what we're all here for, then what are waiting for?" asked Takato. "Let's get going!" He ran ahead of them, a silly thing to do given the circumstances but logic never was his strong point. Still, he was the first one to make it the glass doors of Orbital Waters PLC.
"Hey, you!" shouted an Official, as he strode over as quickly as possible towards Takato and his friends. "Stop right there! Where do you four think you're going?"
"Inside?" was Takato's short reply.
This made Ruki sigh and roll her eyes in despair.
"Look here, we're Reservists," she told the Official sternly. "We came here to help fix the water supply and thwart Hypnos' plans, so if you..."
"No, you look here, miss," said the Official crossly. "Even if you were Reservists, which you're blatantly not, Reservists weren't called for. We don't need Reservists, so go home. Now!"
"Okay, okay," called out Ruki, before she and the others walked away until they were out of sight.
"Now what?" asked Juri, as she turned to face the others. "We can't get in, there's too many Officials and that lie didn't seem to work either."
Takato shook his head.
"It wasn't a lie," replied Takato, "well not, completely." He delved into his pocket and brought out his D-Tector, pressed a few buttons and then showed them the screen of his D-Tector. "See? I've got a Z Licence. Ruki and I got issued them after the DEVA Organisation was disbanded."
Takato was quite proud of his Z Licence. It officially allowed him to log-in to any electronic equipment he liked, except for 'Priority One' equipment (which are defined as any electronics equipment that is 'vital to the safety and well-being of the public in general'). He could only log in to 'Priority One' equipment during a National Crisis or International Crisis, when all Reservists are required to report to their nearest Official for duty.
"Then you both really are Reservists!" exclaimed Alice in surprise. "I'm surprised they haven't classified this as an National Crisis."
Juri was speechless. The love of her life, whom happened to love someone else, was a Reservist. She knew that he loved Ruki, but this turn of events made her love Takato even more. The girl felt slightly unsteady and leaned against the emergency fire door behind her. What happened next was kind of predictable and, as Juri lay flat on her back, she reflected that it was rather stupid of her to lean against a door.
"Juri, are you okay?" asked Leomon from her D-Tector.
"I'm fine," sighed Juri, as she got back up to her feet.
"Way to go, Juri!" cheered Takato, as he peered through the open doorway.
Alice, however, was less elated. She looked at the door, which should have been firmly shut and began to wonder. After all, these emergency doors weren't supposed to open from the outside but from the inside.
"Something's not right," she said sternly. "That shouldn't have happened."
"The Hypnos agent must have used this door to escape," mused Dobermon.
"Yeah, and now we'll be using it to go in," stated Ruki sternly.
"Hey, you! What are you four doing?"
Takato turned round and saw the Official from before running straight at them. That was a silly thing to do without any water to quench one's thirst.
"Run for it!" he cried and they dashed in. He turned round quickly and slammed the emergency door shut behind him, locking the Official out. "We'd better get to a computer quick and see if we can log into the Water Plant's network."
Alice heard footsteps and knew someone was coming. She reasoned that they were the Officials.
"Takato, Ruki, you two go and find a computer," she told them. "Juri and I'll keep the Officials busy."
Some men clad in a blue sweaters, blue shirts, black trousers and immaculately polished black shoes– the uniform of the Officials– suddenly rounded the corner.
"Hey, you! Stop right there!" shouted one of them, before the Officials rushed straight at the kids.
Takato and Ruki ran for it as quickly as they could along the polished floor of Orbital Waters HQ.
"Here, you go this way! I'll go the other!" cried Ruki, taking full charge of the situation. She ran through the rightmost door and Takato took the other one.
Takato swore, or at least, he would have if this fanfic wasn't rated PG-13. He had run straight into a room with no way out.
"Darn it," he sighed and then he suddenly realised that he was facing a huge number of servers. Was this where they controlled the Water Plant's entire network? Well, there was only one way to find out. "Guilmon, prepare to log-in," he called to his Digimon.
"Wait, don't you think it would be wise to load my wood-style?" asked Guilmon curiously.
"Yeah, you're right," agreed Takato with a nod of his head, as he ducked underneath one of the machines for cover. A fire-style Digimon in a computer system for a Water Plant was just a recipe for damage. There likely to be water or electricity style viruses in the system. Ideally, earth style would have been best, but wood was just as resistance to electric-style viruses and was pretty good against aqua-style.
He pressed a couple of buttons and changed Guilmon's programming, such that he was no longer a fire-style, virus-type Digimon but now a wood-style, virus-type Digimon with the special attack, Leaf Twister. "Okay, let's do this. Guilmon.EXE Log In!"

* * * * *

The paths were normally metallic green, as were the terminals. Yet for some strange reason, sand now lay on the paths and terminals and in some places, the sand actually moved like a river and in other places it had become treacherous to tred on.
A datastream flew through the sky, which looked like a screensaver for Orbital Waters PLC, and struck one of the paths. It glowed brightly and then subsided to reveal the cargo it had delivered, Guilmon.EXE.
Normally, Guilmon would have had red scales but he was now a wood-style Digimon and hence had green scales. Whereas in his fire-style he was susceptible to aqua-style attacks, he was now susceptible to fire-style attacks. He sighed.
"This place is dusty," he exclaimed, as he raised a scaly arm to shield his eyes from the grains that blew at him. "There's so much sand." He then spent a few good seconds spitting sand out of his mouth.
"The network's all dried up!" exclaimed Takato. "That's weird. Be careful, Guilmon."
"I will," replied the Digimon with a nod of his head, before he continued down the sandy path. Guilmon suddenly stopped. He looked ahead of him and saw the sand moving, yet it was moving in a direction he didn't like. Guilmon stepped towards the edge of the path and peered down. There was nothing below.
The normal rules of Digital World physics dictates that nothing can stray off the paths and terminals. There was one exception and that was where there was a break in the path, usually caused by a frayed wire or cable in the Real World. If Guilmon was swept away by that sand, he would be swept away to oblivion, never to return.
The ground suddenly shook violently and something rose out of the sand. It was like a head made out of sand that kept flowing down towards the ground, which gave it the look as if it was melting. This was none other than the infamous Sandy virus, one that normally inhabited any sandy patches within the Digital World, but were more common in ArabNet where sand was terribly abaundant.
The Sandy virus inhaled sharply before it breathed out a cyclone that caught the sand in its winds and charged straight at Guilmon.
That attack was easy to counter. Guilmon simply sharply and let rip with his Leaf Twister attack, which sent a cyclone filled with leaves straight at the Sandy Virus' attack. He saw both windy attacks hit each other and cancel each other out. That was his chance. Guilmon rushed straight at the Sandy, just when another virus appeared. He dodged it and slashed his claws at the Sandy virus, cutting the virus in half.
The other virus looked like a gigantic hand and it was none other than a Semtex.A virus. It placed a bomb straight down on the path, before it rose up into the sky.
Guilmon looked at the bomb and knew that if he didn't hurry, he would blown to digital bits. He ran straight along the path, not caring that hte Semtex.A virus was running after him. After all, he could easily outrun any virus, especially one that didn't have any legs.
"Wait, what about the data packet?" asked Takato, referring to the data packet that the Sandy left behind. "You've still got time."
"Already got it, Takato," replied the Digimon, as he ran. "It was just a BugFrag."
There was a sudden explosion behind him, which kicked up dust and sand into the air. The force of the aftershock sent Guilmon flying straight to the ground, allowing the Semtex.A virus to catch up.
"Hold on, Guilmon!" called out Takato. "DigiModify– ZapRing1 activate!"
Guilmon's right arm turned into an electrical prong. He shot out a bolt of electricity, which zapped the Semtex.A and paralysed it. Seconds later, Guilmon's right arm returned to normal.
"Eat this!" he cried out, as he inhaled sharply. "Leaf Twister!" He breathed out and his wood-style attack hit the electrically-paralysed Semtex.A and deleted it.
There was no data packet from this one.
The dinosaur Digimon picked himself back up and dusted himself off. He turned round and saw that he had come a terminal and that several paths branched off from it. The question was, where to from there?
"Takato, where do I go from here?" he asked his owner. Guilmon received no reply and instantly assumed that not even Takato knew what to do.
"You know, I never thought this far," admitted Takato sheepishly. "To tell you the truth, Guilmon, I have no idea. I guess you should just look around and try to find anything suspicious."
"Like that Digimon over there?" asked Guilmon, as he pointed to the level above him.
"Yeah, like that. You think you can get there?"
Guilmon looked around himself and began to wonder.
"Not sure," he replied, "but I'll try." He then turned round and picked a path at random, before he ran straight for it. He knew there was no point in being choosey where he went. As long as he somehow got to that red Digimon on the level above him, that was all that mattered.
He put his foot forward and then sank. Guilmon found himself sinking in the sand.
"Help!" he suddenly cried out. "Takato, help me out of this!"
"I can't!" cried Takato in horror. "I can't log you out!"
That phrase gave Guilmon this (no pun intended) sinking feeling. If Takato couldn't pull him out of, then who could?
"Help!" he cried out again, but this much time more loudly, as he sank further in the digital quicksand. "Help!"

To be continued...