Chapter 4:

Influence can be a terrible thing when you have none and someone else has a great deal.

The Little Teenaged Geek (not that he would know anything)

Fernson's attention was split between two missions: seek-and-destroy any enemy craft, and try to pilfer as much information from the JK Institute as possible. He was intently listening to the eavesdropping bug's transmission. A series of beeps chimed in through the transmission…beeps that sounded like a series of buttons being pushed. They were buttons to a safe, and, from the pitch of the beeps, Fernson could tell what the numeric combination was. He also listened to Prof. Izumi and one of his assistants talking.

"We need to be very careful that we don't let what's on it out of this lab, Tim."

"Why, Professor? What exactly is on this disk?"

"It contains information about how exactly data and computer code can be changed into digimon. It's more than twenty years old, but it's been out of circulation for a while."

"How did you get it?"

"I've promised to tell no one. And there's more than what I just told you on this disk. You need to give me a minute to catalogue the data on it so that I can tell you which directories you need to keep away from."

"It's that secret, Professor?"

"I'm afraid it is."

After a few moments, Izzy continued, "You need to keep out of the directories, 'dmsday', 'dmscode,' and '1LK29'."

"…I understand, professor."

There was a great deal of technical jargon in the rest of the dialogue, deeper than Fernson could understand. He recorded the entire conversation for later study. He decided that this "disc" was worth investigating, and waited until Izzy and his assistant left the laboratory before sneaking in. He looked at the safe, recalled the code, and typed in the combination. The safe opened and there was the "disc". As the name implied, it was flat, thin, and round. It was colored gold, and, whatever it was made of, it reflected his face like a mirror. If it was a data storage device, it was one that he didn't know about and that his robotic body wasn't compatible with. Whatever it was, it was probably an obsolete data storage system that was no longer in use. He'd have to try to find an older computer to figure out what was on the disc. He pocketed the disc, shut the safe, and left the lab.

Tina burst in the door. "Home at last!" she cried, carelessly tossing her bags of dirty clothes into the laundry room and falling onto the sofa. The house's computer beeped, "There is one message in memory for Ken Ichijouji."

Ken answered the computer, "Play it."

It was Izzy's voice: "Ken, we have a problem. Call me back in private so I can tell you more."

Yolei shot Ken a dirty look. This got Tina wondering: there was something her parents were hiding from her that had a great deal to do with that flat, round, gold thingamajig that her dad had given "Izzy." "Dad, what was that thing you gave Izzy, anyway?"

"I don't want to discuss it, honey. I need to call Izzy back right away." Ken went into his room and shut the door.

Tina looked at her mom. "What's going on, here?"

"Tina, it's best that you not know. It's more complicated than---"

"Dad promised me he'd tell me."

Yolei wondered… "Did he?"

"He did, Mom. I'm not lying to you; he promised to tell me."

Yolei took that with a grain of salt. "I'll believe it when I hear it from your dad. Go to your room: I have something to discuss with your father."

Tina gaped: as if a family secret wasn't enough malevolence, now she was being punished---and right after she'd been through one of the most stressful times in her life: she was in danger of getting an Olympic medal taken away from her that she'd almost gotten killed winning! The Olympics Committee was considering taking her medal away now that they heard about Tina's special blood. Tina's victory started a huge debate over whether mutants should even be allowed into the Games, and what the definition of a mutant is, etc. etc.

She slowly walked into her room and sat down on her bed. She lay there sulking for a while, until she heard her parents yelling at each other. Her mouth slowly dropped open and tears peeked out of her eyes. She cried into her pillow for a few minutes, and then debated in her head whether or not she should go down and see what was up. She was hearing odd clacking and shuffling noises, and footsteps of both parents going up and down the stairs. She finally could bear the wondering no longer, and she opened the door to her room just in time to see Wormmon and her father, walking out the door with full suitcases.

Tina went pale and collapsed to her knees. Was her father leaving the family!

Yolei had been watching Ken leave, so was in plain sight of Tina, and Tina was in plain sight of her. Yolei looked up at Tina, and demanded, "Tina! How long were you listening to us!"

"Mom---are you and Dad having a divorce?"

That answered Yolei's question: Tina hadn't been listening to them at all. "It's nothing like that. We both love each other and you way too much to do that."

"Do you love me enough to let me know what's really going on?" Tina asked.

Yolei sighed. "It's…it might not really be that bad."

"Then why were you and Dad screaming at each other like that?"

Seeing the tears in her daughter's eyes, she realized that her daughter was scared, even if they weren't getting a divorce. Tina was too curious and too smart to be satisfied without knowing everything. "Honey, it's just that the disc he gave Izzy was stolen, and he and Wormmon have a job getting it back and catching the thief."

"What was it?"

"Honey---Ken told me not to tell you yet."

"Yet! YET! Mom, I'm old enough to understand what it is!"

"It's not a question of how old you are, honey. The fewer people who know, the better."

"I'm not just anybody, Mom! I'm your daughter, and I'm Dad's daughter, too. If he's in danger, I should know about it. I'd rather know now than hear it at his funeral!" Tina paused to sob. "And how do you know if it's so hush-hush, anyways?"

"Honey, I know you're hurt, but---"

"Hurt! Hurt! I'm a lot more than hurt, Mom!" Tina rushed up the stairs and locked herself in the bathroom, and refused to be coaxed out.

This wasn't just about her father being in danger: it was about the family keeping her in the dark. She had a taste for adventure, one that would not be quelled. She hated being left out of an interesting situation, especially a dangerous one.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

You may notice that there are only characters from season two of Digimon in this fic, aside of ones I made up. Well, that'll change in a little while…