"Can I help you find something, ma'am?" asked the clerk in the electronic games shop.
"Yeah, I'm looking for information about an RPG that involves something called digimon," I replied.
"'Digimon,'" the clerk echoed. "I'm not familiar with that...do you have any idea how old a game it is?"
"Not exactly, but it must be fairly new. I just accessed it last night, and it's the most incredibly real virtual reality game I can imagine."
"Well, let's look it up, then," he suggested, leading me to a computer terminal at the register. "Digimon," he repeated, typing it in. "There's nothing about it in anything we stock," he reported after a pause, "and nothing about it in our suppliers' catalogues either. I can't go online from here except to place orders, but you might try running a search at home. I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't think where else you could find out what digimon might be."
"Digimon is a card game," said a childish voice. A young boy was standing near the counter, holding several game magazines. "You can get it at the trading card shop by the bookstore."
"Oh, thanks," I said. "And thank you, too," I added to the clerk.
"So, do you know how this game works?" I asked the child.
He shook his head. "I just saw the packs the other day. I think you have to have some kind of electronic thing to play it, though, 'cause they had those, too."
----------
The 'electronic things' didn't look much like the device that came with the equipment. I bought a starter pack of the digimon cards, and yes, they did have a magnetic strip along one side for an electronic reader. I didn't buy one of those, however, figuring the one I had was probably all I'd need.
Back in my room, I set up the VR equipment, took the cards and reader in hand, and opened an Internet window. Instantly, I found myself back on the boulder in the sea of grass. I looked around for Patamon, but no one was in sight. Hmm. Well, as tall as the plants were, the little thing might have gotten lost. I decided to have a look around the edge of the forest while I waited for it to show up.
The grass clung to my socks and felt unpleasantly prickly against my bare legs. I wished for a moment that I'd worn longer pants. There might be insects...I laughed at myself. How stupid--but this game world was so vivid I had trouble remembering it wasn't real. I could smell the sap from the stems I broke in passing, feel the tickling of the softer blades on my calves. Ahead of me, a single mountain reached toward the sky, ringed with storm clouds like a ghostly coronet. A high wind blew from that direction, carrying the scent of rain and the echoes of distant thunder.
"Greetings, Digidestined," came a voice—masculine, adult—decidedly not Patamon's, from beyond the tree line. A human figure stepped out of the forest ahead of me. He wore a blue suit trimmed with yellow, mostly in the form of stylized bats, and a black cape lined with red. A scarlet domino-style mask hid most of his pallid face. Combined with his elongated canines, he gave the rather amusing, if unnerving, impression of a colorblind vampire.
In spite of myself, I took a step back as he approached. "'Digidestined,'" I repeated, reminding myself how silly it was to be frightened. "Is that what you call the players of this game?"
Was it my imagination, or did he seem a bit startled at the question?
"Why...yes; yes, any player who has claimed a partner is a Digidestined," he replied smoothly.
"And you are...?"
"Forgive me," he executed an elegant bow that was altogether at odds with his absurd costume. "My name is Myotismon. Think of me as the Help Function personified. My duty is to answer players' questions and provide information so they can evoke the optimum performance from their digimon."
"So you give advice, then?"
"Precisely," he grinned, stepping closer. I couldn't help drawing back a little further.
"Now, there's no need to feel intimidated," he chuckled. "I am here to help you. The first thing you will need are modify cards—ah, I see you already have those."
Surprised, I glanced away from Myotismon, toward the cards, forgotten until now, in my hand. But—the cards were real objects; how had they become part of the game's reality?
Myotismon's hands clasped mine at that moment, distracting me from my wonderings. Even though I knew it was only a game, being near him made my skin crawl. I pulled away, feeling a revulsion I couldn't explain. Myotismon only smiled—was that amusement? Surely not. He was a digital image, nothing else. I forced myself to move nearer again.
In order to progress in this game, your Digimon must defeat others. You help him to do so by scanning the appropriate modify card for the occasion through your digivice—the device you hold there. The cards will temporarily alter your partner, enabling him to better combat his opponents. Your objective is to destroy as many other digimon as possible, weak or strong. The more digimon you destroy, the more powerful your own digimon will become."
"Will I meet other Digidestined in this game?"
"Perhaps. If you do, you must attempt to destroy their digimon as well. Otherwise they will destroy yours; and believe me; once you've learned to enjoy this game you'll want to se it to completion without having to start over.
"I should warn you though: many players develop the unfortunate delusion that their partners are really alive, and they will go to great lengths to prevent the digimon's destruction.
"I believe your partner is coming," Myotismon remarked, turning to leave. "I should let you proceed with the game. It might be best if you don't mention me to him; digimon are programmed to be possessive about their tamers, and I am, after all, a digital being." He walked back through the trees, dissolving into mist as he went.
"Hang on!" I called. "How do I get hold of you if I need help?" A small bat-like creature darted through the trees and came to rest, upside- down, on a limb. "My bats are everywhere," Myotismon's voice came floating from an indeterminable direction. "If you need to contact me, inform one of them and I will come to you, if possible."
"Hurray! You're back!" Patamon's voice called. As I turned in his direction, the digimon slammed into my chest like a living basketball. "I thought you said 'noon,' but I don't care! You came back, and that's what's important!"
"Missed me, did you?" I inquired teasingly.
"Yeah!" Patamon agreed. "So, what d'you want to do? Huh?"
"I found out some things about digimon today," I said. "That's why I was late."
"That's okay!" Patamon interrupted, to my annoyance.
"So," I continued, "let's start making you stronger."
"Yeah, I'm looking for information about an RPG that involves something called digimon," I replied.
"'Digimon,'" the clerk echoed. "I'm not familiar with that...do you have any idea how old a game it is?"
"Not exactly, but it must be fairly new. I just accessed it last night, and it's the most incredibly real virtual reality game I can imagine."
"Well, let's look it up, then," he suggested, leading me to a computer terminal at the register. "Digimon," he repeated, typing it in. "There's nothing about it in anything we stock," he reported after a pause, "and nothing about it in our suppliers' catalogues either. I can't go online from here except to place orders, but you might try running a search at home. I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't think where else you could find out what digimon might be."
"Digimon is a card game," said a childish voice. A young boy was standing near the counter, holding several game magazines. "You can get it at the trading card shop by the bookstore."
"Oh, thanks," I said. "And thank you, too," I added to the clerk.
"So, do you know how this game works?" I asked the child.
He shook his head. "I just saw the packs the other day. I think you have to have some kind of electronic thing to play it, though, 'cause they had those, too."
----------
The 'electronic things' didn't look much like the device that came with the equipment. I bought a starter pack of the digimon cards, and yes, they did have a magnetic strip along one side for an electronic reader. I didn't buy one of those, however, figuring the one I had was probably all I'd need.
Back in my room, I set up the VR equipment, took the cards and reader in hand, and opened an Internet window. Instantly, I found myself back on the boulder in the sea of grass. I looked around for Patamon, but no one was in sight. Hmm. Well, as tall as the plants were, the little thing might have gotten lost. I decided to have a look around the edge of the forest while I waited for it to show up.
The grass clung to my socks and felt unpleasantly prickly against my bare legs. I wished for a moment that I'd worn longer pants. There might be insects...I laughed at myself. How stupid--but this game world was so vivid I had trouble remembering it wasn't real. I could smell the sap from the stems I broke in passing, feel the tickling of the softer blades on my calves. Ahead of me, a single mountain reached toward the sky, ringed with storm clouds like a ghostly coronet. A high wind blew from that direction, carrying the scent of rain and the echoes of distant thunder.
"Greetings, Digidestined," came a voice—masculine, adult—decidedly not Patamon's, from beyond the tree line. A human figure stepped out of the forest ahead of me. He wore a blue suit trimmed with yellow, mostly in the form of stylized bats, and a black cape lined with red. A scarlet domino-style mask hid most of his pallid face. Combined with his elongated canines, he gave the rather amusing, if unnerving, impression of a colorblind vampire.
In spite of myself, I took a step back as he approached. "'Digidestined,'" I repeated, reminding myself how silly it was to be frightened. "Is that what you call the players of this game?"
Was it my imagination, or did he seem a bit startled at the question?
"Why...yes; yes, any player who has claimed a partner is a Digidestined," he replied smoothly.
"And you are...?"
"Forgive me," he executed an elegant bow that was altogether at odds with his absurd costume. "My name is Myotismon. Think of me as the Help Function personified. My duty is to answer players' questions and provide information so they can evoke the optimum performance from their digimon."
"So you give advice, then?"
"Precisely," he grinned, stepping closer. I couldn't help drawing back a little further.
"Now, there's no need to feel intimidated," he chuckled. "I am here to help you. The first thing you will need are modify cards—ah, I see you already have those."
Surprised, I glanced away from Myotismon, toward the cards, forgotten until now, in my hand. But—the cards were real objects; how had they become part of the game's reality?
Myotismon's hands clasped mine at that moment, distracting me from my wonderings. Even though I knew it was only a game, being near him made my skin crawl. I pulled away, feeling a revulsion I couldn't explain. Myotismon only smiled—was that amusement? Surely not. He was a digital image, nothing else. I forced myself to move nearer again.
In order to progress in this game, your Digimon must defeat others. You help him to do so by scanning the appropriate modify card for the occasion through your digivice—the device you hold there. The cards will temporarily alter your partner, enabling him to better combat his opponents. Your objective is to destroy as many other digimon as possible, weak or strong. The more digimon you destroy, the more powerful your own digimon will become."
"Will I meet other Digidestined in this game?"
"Perhaps. If you do, you must attempt to destroy their digimon as well. Otherwise they will destroy yours; and believe me; once you've learned to enjoy this game you'll want to se it to completion without having to start over.
"I should warn you though: many players develop the unfortunate delusion that their partners are really alive, and they will go to great lengths to prevent the digimon's destruction.
"I believe your partner is coming," Myotismon remarked, turning to leave. "I should let you proceed with the game. It might be best if you don't mention me to him; digimon are programmed to be possessive about their tamers, and I am, after all, a digital being." He walked back through the trees, dissolving into mist as he went.
"Hang on!" I called. "How do I get hold of you if I need help?" A small bat-like creature darted through the trees and came to rest, upside- down, on a limb. "My bats are everywhere," Myotismon's voice came floating from an indeterminable direction. "If you need to contact me, inform one of them and I will come to you, if possible."
"Hurray! You're back!" Patamon's voice called. As I turned in his direction, the digimon slammed into my chest like a living basketball. "I thought you said 'noon,' but I don't care! You came back, and that's what's important!"
"Missed me, did you?" I inquired teasingly.
"Yeah!" Patamon agreed. "So, what d'you want to do? Huh?"
"I found out some things about digimon today," I said. "That's why I was late."
"That's okay!" Patamon interrupted, to my annoyance.
"So," I continued, "let's start making you stronger."