Ryu's POV:

"It's late. You should be asleep." Adraxis said from the speaker in my wall.

"Can't sleep. By the way, I forgot to ask Aero something earlier, but you'd be able to answer my question just as well."

"Go ahead."

"Well, Aero said that you were the ship's computer, right? Well, I don't feel any movement, so that means we're not on the water, I don't think you can get something this big to fly comfortably through the air, and –"

"You want to know the location and type of vessel you are on."

"Exactly."

"That's easy enough." A panel in the wall slid open to reveal a computer. "Now, first I'll display the ship's schematics."

A small wall monitor lit up and I walked over. Filling the screen was what looked like a map of the area I was in. "Okay, explain this to me."

"This is a diagram of the ship. There are three primary sections. You are currently in the living quarters, located in the middle of the ship."

"Wait, how about displaying the ship from the outside. Start with the hull and then break it down."

"Okay then." The image moved out until the whole ship was visible. "From here, all you can see are the weapon systems and the general structure."

"That's enough for now." I said. The ship was obviously a warship. On the front were two cylindrical cannons, and they made up almost a quarter of the ship's length. Just behind the cannons, the ship took the form of a highly elliptical oval, and that continued for almost half the length of the ship. In the center of this section was a slightly raised bulge that I assumed was the bridge. The last quarter of the ship was made up of eight large engines. "What are the weapons like?" I asked.

The two cannons were highlighted in red. "These are Planetary Assault Cannons, capable of blowing quarter-mile wide craters in the surface of a planet." Several hundred spots along the hull were then highlighted. "These are actually the primary guns. They're far weaker, but can fire about twelve-hundred times faster-twice a second, as opposed to once every ten minutes."

"Okay, I get the idea. Now for the second question. Where are we? That's a horrible design for anything in an atmosphere, which must mean that we're in space. Or that whoever made this ship didn't care about efficiency."

"You were right the first time. Actually, your room comes with a view. Interested?"

"What?" I asked, confused. "Err…sure."

Large sections of my wall pulled away, leaving an opening the size of what was my wall. Below was the digital world, and above was what looked like a thick haze. "What's that?" I asked, pointing upward.

"The primary divide between the human world and the Digital World. To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to penetrate it. If nothing else, my systems are inadequate for that task. One thousand years ago, a fleet of one hundred thousand automated ships were used in an attempt to penetrate the barrier. 99982 of the ships were destroyed when they hit the barrier. However, the command ship Eternity along with 18 of the ships vanished. As of now, no data exists for returning ships. Speculation died out on the subject more than five hundred years ago."

Aidan's POV:

I can't sleep… "Adraxis." I called out.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Do you have any information on the Fire Seal?"

"You'll have to be more specific. I have a very extensive database," came the reply.

"In the past hundred years."

"Hmm, let's see now…with those parameters….one thousand two hundred seventeen entries."

"That's narrowed down!?"

"There are more than a million files referencing the Seals, and about one hundred fifty thousand on the Fire Seal alone."

"Okay…Am I mentioned in any of them?"

"One moment." The room went quiet for several minutes. "You're in luck. There are eight files that reference both you and the Fire Seal."

"Can I see them?"

"Certainly. There is a terminal to your right. I will display the files there."

I sat down at the terminal, and, as promised, eight files were displayed.

"Which one comes first?"

"They are ordered chronologically."

I opened the first one and began reading.

'It's no wonder that no one's ever been able to find the Fire Seal. We've got the best detection equipment ever created, and it's barely detectable. Not only that, but it's located here, in an active volcano. I'm sorry sir, but until we can put together a better recover op, there's nothing to be done. The Meramon won't go near the magma, the temperature is above even their limits."

I stopped reading. "Adraxis, I thought you said I was mentioned."

"I did."

"Well?"

"Here." The page scrolled down several pages and a section was highlighted.

I continued reading. "In further exploration of the area, we discovered a cavern that led below the magma. There was a small chamber that was completely sealed off. However, our instruments picked up a large power source on the other side. I think that we've found the Fire Seal. However, as I have stated before, nothing we have is capable of withstanding that heat. In fact, if not for this barrier, which seems to be generated by the Seal itself, we wouldn't be standing here right now."

"That's the end of the file. However, I regret to say that the results of the second expedition are not included in my data banks."

"Okay then, what comes next?" I asked.

"Here." Another file opened, and the image of a Datamon appeared. "This one is a video recording."

"Okay. Run it."

The video began. "First off, according to my readings, the Fire Seal is contained within the egg. I have to congratulate the recovery team, the egg's in perfect condition. Anyway, here's where the really fun part begins! If I can trust the readings, the egg is almost one thousand years old! That puts its creation slightly after the Great War. And best of all, the data in the egg is almost organized. It'll hatch within ten years! However, I don't know what to expect then. Anyway, we've never had experience with incarnated Seals, so I have no idea what the development path will be. We'll have to be careful."

"Adraxis, is there anything about a hatching?" I asked.

The video stopped. "Yes."

"Display it please."

"Of course."

The datamon was back. "It's hatching! I don't know what to expect, but it's getting a little warm in here. I don't know how bad it's going to get, so I'm getting out of here!" The camera was turned to the egg, and a thudding signaled the datamon's retreat.

Within moments, a heat shimmer began in the room.

After a few minutes of that, a computerized voice rang through the area. "Danger. Temperature in the lab exceeding safety parameters. Plus ten…plus twenty…plus thirty...Activating force shielding." A blue bubble appeared around the egg.

"Temperature rising. Plus forty…plus fifty…activating emergency hazard shielding." Several thick sheets of armor rose up from the ground around the pedestal the egg was on, and kept rising until they hit the ceiling.

"Beginning cooling. Exterior heat levels constant at plus fifty. Interior temperature at plus one hundred and rising."

"Heat levels stabilized at plus one hundred fifty. Dropping. One forty. One thirty. One twenty… Deactivating hazard shielding." The sheets of armor sank back into the floor, revealing what was left of the pedestal. Lying on a pile of slag was a small dragon, about two feet long.

"Adraxis. I've seen enough. You can stop now." Aidan said.

"Affirmative." The images stopped and the monitor deactivated.

Aero's POV:

"Adraxis, give me a full readout on the abilities of the Earth Seal. Both combined and separated."

"Processing. Data compiled. Displaying." The monitor that took up most of the front wall of his wall lit up, and several schematics appeared.

"I see. So unless we can get the two halves together, there's no way for the power to be released?"

"Seems that way. So what're you going to do?"

"Hm…Clear all that. Give me the results of the scans of those two. Special focus on personal abilities."

The images flickered out and were replaced by two rotating images of Ryu in his digimon and human forms. Around the images were many lines of text.

"So, unless they fuse again, his powers are restricted to this?"

"Once again, I can't be sure, but from what I've been able to scan, it appears so."

"That's a bit of a setback. He'll have to relearn everything. And fast. Given the most recent readouts, we don't have too long. The last thing I want to do is send them out unprepared."

"You could always-" Adraxis began, but was sharply cut off by Aero.

"NO! I won't use that. There are far too many risks if they use that eechnique. In fact, I will warn them against it."

"Their power will increase dramatically. If it is needed, do you really have a choice?"

"I just have to try. I can't risk them like that. The prophesy already says that bringing the ten together will destroy the world."

"But the world will be renewed in that scenario. The alternative is far worse."

"I know. That's why I'm acting now. Anyway, how goes the scan for the remaining Seals?"

"I've got general data for Water and Ice, somewhat specific data for Wood and Air, and am still searching for Metal. As you well know, Lightning, Light, Dark, Fire and Earth are already accounted for. However, I think that Water has either found a host or has been taken. The few readings that I've been able to get have been scattered all over."

"Keep trying. We have to get them all under control before the prophesy completes itself."

Rune: Yay. Another chapter done. And no reviews on the previous one. How fun. shrug yeah, I know that one was sub-average, even for me. I'm having fun in college. XP Finals are in two weeks, so I probably won't start writing the next chapter until my finals are over. Yeah. Convenient, isn't it? Anyway, like I said before, I put together a little 'History of Tharos' thing. I could try to put that up between now and the end of my finals, if anyone's interested.