. . .

? ? ?

. . .

"Your vitals are still holding up excellently," The good doctor explained with a smile, "Our nutrient supplements are keeping you healthy, and with advancements in new prosthesis I'm sure we'll have you out of here in no time."

The young girl nodded to him, "That's good, are you thinking days... Weeks?"

"Eh-" He hesitated, before clearing his throat. "Well, it's hard to say for sure, building a total spinal replacement is quite the expensive procedure, we're still working on securing the funding."

"O-Oh, okay... When will my parents be coming to visit again?" She questioned.

"I believe they said they'd be free tomorrow," He assured, "I've got to get back to my other patients, did you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine... You can go." As she said the words, as if in response to her desires, a doorway appeared beside the doctor.

He seemed unnerved by this, but kept any worries to himself. "R-Right, just let us know if you need anything." He added, before stepping out, disconnecting his mental data from the server.

As he disappeared, the young girl sighed heavily. "Okay he's gone, you can come out." Smiling softly as her little friend tumbled out from the pile of stuffed animals in the corner. "Sorry to make you wait, Kuramon."

It was hardly anything more than a little blob with a big orange eye, but it oozed with personality as it bounced over. Perking up excitedly as it jumped into her lap. "Asobu?"

She smiled softly and held up the little blob, "Yeah we can play now, lets see if your aim is getting better." She chuckled, turning it towards the pile of stuffed animals. "How about the teddy bear, top left with the bow on it's ear."

"Gurea!" Kuramon responded, it's single eye flashing briefly before the stuffed animal in question exploded into fuzz, body breaking down into digital bits before reforming.

"Nice shot! You're getting good at this." She giggled lightly, rubbing Kuramon's head.

"Yoi yoi!" The tiny digimon beamed in delight, proud of its work.

Where this strange little creature came from, she wasn't sure. And neither was Kuramon, evidently, it appeared out of nowhere and didn't seem to quite understand anything beyond its own base instincts. But it was friendly, and made her happy, like a puppy keeping her company in this place where she felt so trapped. The growing existential dread of being stuck here for years encroaching at the edges of her mind.

The creature in question paused, looking up at her as if it could sense her worries. "Kanashikunai?!" The little digimon bounced out of her arms, tumbling across the floor and spinning around. "Asobu yoi asobu yoi!" Tumbling into the pile of stuffed animals, its rapid rotations sending them flying all over the room.

She couldn't help but chuckle lightly at its antics, "You always know how to cheer me up huh?" Before she leaned back on the bed, "Wish I knew where you came from."

Kuramon spun to a stop, looking back at her as it tilted its head. "Kara kuru?"

Making the young girl roll her eyes, "And what language you're speaking..."

Meanwhile, beyond the confines of this cyber space, in the halls of a large private facility, the good doctor was quietly watching on the monitors. Tentatively keeping an eye on the creature that had since moved into his "Patient's" room. While beside him stood a tall, imposing figure, a man with pale skin and slicked back black hair. The benefactor of this entire facility.

"Interesting, this creature seems to have taken quite a liking to her." The doctor noted, "You were perhaps right not to have it removed, it is certainly helping maintain her mental state, Mr. Caster."

"Indeed," He nodded, folding his arms over his chest. "What new develops have you got for me, Braun?"

"Well, the subject has begun to show signs of influencing the cyber space around her," Doctor Baxter Braun explained, "Creating doorways for my mental data to leave through rather than the usual disconnect, along with creating links to her own favorite tv shows and movies to watch at her leisure."

"Forming her own URL's and connections across the net," Mr. Caster hummed, placing a hand on his chin. "Interesting, now can you tell me why the creature speaks Japanese?"

"Eh-" His words hitching before he laughed lightly, "Well, my only guess is that its because our host servers are located in Japan."

"Well keep an eye on it, and the subject." Caster ordered, "I want her under surveillance twenty-four seven."

"Y-Yes sir, but there is the small matter of our funding." He pointed out, "Maintaining a private cyber space even of this small size is costing us-"

"You've got a blank check so long as she continues producing new information, doctor, there are plenty of wealthy old fools that would sell their entire families away for what we're piecing together here." He answered sharply, "And while they fund a pipe dream, we study the real implications of human integration into cyber space." Before he began to walk away, "Keep up the good work and we'll have no problems."

The doctor nodding slowly, "Right of course, I'll forward any and all findings to you." Before his eyes slowly drifted back to the screen, watching the two of them playing together. He felt a twinge of guilt in his chest, but forced it back down. "No... It's better this way, if she really knew what was going on..."

. . .

Sakura

. . .

It was early morning, the sun hadn't even risen across the Pacific, on the island country of Japan. While Kai planned a trip overseas, his fiancé was searching for answers on her own. She'd remained less than open with Kai over the phone, it was only because of a lack of true understanding of the situation herself.

And that brought her here, before the doors of her fathers office at 3:00AM.

"Is this really a good idea?" Chimed in the voice of another woman following behind her. A timid keeper of the house, formerly a shrine priestess turned maid, and Sakura's closest friend these last few months. She was a tall woman, and wore a simple loose fitting red and white kimono, with pale silver eyes and long raven black hair tinged with greys despite the fact she still appeared quite young.

"If father won't give me answers," She replied in a whisper, slowly beginning to slide the door open. "I'll find them myself, watch the door Saki." She ordered, stepping inside. "Just pretend you're cleaning up a spill or something..."

"Right, as you ask." She bowed obediently, and took her post.

While Sakura went straight to the file cabinets behind her father's desk. Carefully pulling them open as to not make any extra noise, narrowing her eyes as she began checking the file names, opening them up when she saw anything she didn't recognize. "There has to be something, anything in the family business files..."

"Hey!" She nearly jumped as a rough male voice sounded just down the hall. "What are you doing here this late?"

"O-Oh me? I-I was just-" Saki stumbled a bit, before asserting her sense of guile, "I heard a noise outside my room, I got scared and was trying to find one of you."

"Oh is that right?" The voice was familiar, and he sounded suspicious.

"Dammit," Sakura tensed up as she knelt down behind the desk. "It's Karasu..." That goon that always seemed to be skulking around her father.

"Hmph," He scoffed, pausing for a moment as an unsettling silence remained between them. "Just like a woman to get frightened by a little noise," He shook his head as he walked by her, "Come on, I'll escort you back to your room, and then I'll make sure you didn't leave any messes around here that still need to be cleaned up."

"Y-Yes, please that would be nice." She nodded, walking away with him. "Thank you so much." Shoot a glance back towards the office, "Be careful, Sakura."

Sakura remained still until their footsteps had disappeared, before breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Saki." Before she slowly began to pull one of the folders from the cabinet, it pulled her attention with the sheer thickness of it, unlike any of the other files. She laid it across the desk, narrowing her eyes as the looked upon a list of what appeared to be investments. "Cypher Enterprises?" She'd never heard of them before, and based on the names she was seeing, it was obvious they were foreign. "Hmm..."

She quickly pulled out her phone and snapped a few images, before tucking everything back away as to not leave any trace of her snooping. Once it was all said and done she poked her head out the door carefully, making sure nobody was around before making her way out into the hall. Slowly beginning to creep back to her room.

"Investments to a foreign company, this new change in our staff... And trying to force the wedding sooner." Sakura surmised as she went, "These pieces... They have to connect somehow..."

. . .

Kai and Madison

. . .

It was early afternoon, and a light breeze rolled across the ruins of the once abandoned warehouse. The debris had been cleaned up, but the building was left in utter ruin. No city official interested in investing in already long forgotten storage. So here it remained a heap of metal and concrete left asunder by Devidramon's awakening, something that to both humans in attendance felt like a lifetime ago.

"Weird to think it's only been a few months." Madison broke the silence between them, "This place used to be my special hideaway, not so much anymore."

Kai nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Well, did you need any help finding a new one?"

To which she laughed, "No, I don't think I need hideaways anymore... But anyways," Looking towards the nearby river, spotting a few benches that had avoided destruction. "Why don't we get to why you called me out here?"

"Right," No sense beating around the bush any longer. Kai followed her over to the benches, "I might have made it sound more serious than I meant to, I really just need some advice."

Madison quirked an eyebrow, "From me? Alright, I can't promise that it'll be any good but I'll try."

Kai smiled softly, as he sank down into the bench. "Don't sell yourself short just yet, your words alone have done wonders in the past." As if the ruins around them weren't reminder enough. "I'll try to keep it simple... You know my entire life was mostly planned out for me, up until I am placed in control of the family assets and home." He explained, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I... Don't think it's ever come up but, I've also been arranged to marry the daughter of another important family, to conjoin our houses."

Madison's eyes widened at that, "An arranged marriage? That's sort of... Old fashion."

"Traditional, but yes." He nodded, "We were introduced to one another as children, told from a young age we'd be husband and wife once we finished college." Before he turned his eyes away from the water, sighing heavily. "But recently Sakura's father has been acting... Strange."

"Strange how?" She questioned, tilting her head.

"He's been trying to push up the wedding," He elaborated, "And being her only remaining guardian, he can force that to happen... But both Sakura and I are beginning to have doubts..."

Madison folded both arms over her chest, "You aren't robots, can't you just not get married?"

But Kai shook his head, "It isn't that simple, these arrangements are... Decades worth of deals and legally binding exchanges between the Sarata family and Tanaka family." His hands gripping together tighter, "If I just back out, if this marriage doesn't happen without good reason then they'd have legal standing enough to seize our assets overseas..."

The gravity of the situation starting to weigh on her as that settled in, "I don't know Kai, this sounds a lot more serious than you made it sound on the phone."

"Right, sorry about that," He released a grim chuckle. "I suppose it sounds very doom and gloom, but truth-be-told, marrying Sakura would not be the worst possible outcome." He assured, "I just don't think we're quite ready, which is why her father attempting to force the wedding to happen sooner is complicating things."

"Do you know why they want to move up the wedding?" She questioned, unsure if she was qualified to give any sort of advice so far.

Kai shook his head, "No, and Sakura isn't being forthcoming with information either," He admitted, leaning back in his seat. "I have my suspicions that she knows something she can't talk about."

"Kinda hard to marry someone you can't trust." Madison noted, looking out over the waters.

"My grandfather suggested I make a trip overseas to meet with them," Kai explained, "Go under the guise of visiting to prepare for the wedding or discuss details, see if I can't butter them up a little and get the answers I need but, well..." He hesitated for a moment, "I'm not sure if I'll like the answers I find."

She nodded slowly, considering his words carefully. "So, what kind of advice are you looking for exactly?" She questioned, "Old Japanese traditions are a little out of my area of expertise."

Getting a chuckle out of Kai, "I suppose I'm just looking for perspective, what would you do in this situation?"

"What would I do if I was being strong-armed into an arranged marriage?" Madison surmised, "Well, I guess first I'd ask myself if I really loved the person I'm being forced to marry." She shrugged. "If the answer is yes, well then why fight it? You'll end up there eventually..." Before her eyes drifted downward, "But, if there's any doubt... If either of you aren't sure about this, then I think going through with this might be the worst mistake of your life."

Kai hadn't expected such a simple answer, but couldn't argue with the logic. "And if I'm not sure one way or another?"

"Take the trip," She replied, "Go see Sakura, talk to her, pour your heart out, spend some time together," Maddie listed off quickly, "And once its all said and done, ask yourself if you really love her in the way they want you to," Before she paused, sighing lightly. "Or rather, the way they don't care if you do."

"... And if I don't? What then?" He pressed, "How do you pretend to love someone?"

"Well, I don't think you do." She answered grimly, "If that's what it comes down to, you have to decide whether your own happiness is worth sacrificing for your family's security." Before she shook her head, "Not a very pleasant thought, but I'm just trying to be honest, its a tough situation no matter how you look at it."

"No, I understand," Kai nodded, "And thank you for being honest, you've given me some stuff to think about."

To which she gave a thumbs up, "Any time."

The young prodigy rose from his seat, sighing lightly as he stretched a little. "Then I guess I have a flight to schedule, I'll talk to you later?"

She nodded, "Yeah, and good luck, let me know how it goes."

"Will do." He gave a small bow before walking off, leaving her there on the bench.

Madison watched him walking away, suddenly feeling a sense of tension in her chest as she digested the situation he was in. Watching him as he went, that tension turned to a faint feeling of sadness. But, before the more selfish thoughts could take root in her mind, her better nature washed them away and a hopeful smile spread across her lips.

"Whatever happens, I just hope you're happy."

. . .

Thomas

. . .

Meanwhile, Thomas was rolling his way out of school alongside Kokuwamon. It was the end of his second day back, and he couldn't help but notice a strange sense of being watched by basically everyone. And Thomas was starting to suspect it wasn't just because of the big metal beetle following him around.

"Man we only just started and Pre-Calc is already killing me." Eric sighed, walking along beside them. "I'm going to take over the auto-shop for dad, why do I gotta know Calculus?"

Thomas chuckled lightly, "I wouldn't stress about it too much, it'll look good on your transcript though." Breaking away from the larger crowds as they made their way through the parking lot. "I'll help you out, same as last year its no big deal."

"Right," Eric nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets. His eyes watching Thomas carefully, "I'm amazed you still even show up, if I had a brain like that I'd have ditched this place a looong time ago."

Thomas simply shrugged in response, "I need to get social contact somewhere, it's either this or Social Media, but a Cyber Book profile would just give the government another way to keep track of me."

Getting a snort of laughter out of his friend, "Well good to know your time away didn't make you lose your paranoia..." Before he started to slow down in his walk, eventually coming to a stop.

Thomas quirked an eyebrow, stopping as well and turning to face him. "What's up?"

He shifted nervously, "I don't know, what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dude," Eric scoffed, "You were gone all summer after that crazy storm and the attack, your parents thought you were missing," He listed off on one hand, "And now you're just... Here, with this weird little robot, acting like nothing happened."

Thomas waved him off, "I told you, I lost my phone and got stuck at one of the emergency shelters until-"

"Yeah I know what you told me," He cut him off sharply, shaking his head. "But I also know when you're lying."

"When I'm-" His words hitched for a moment, "What are you talking about? I'm not lying about anything!"

"So was it aliens? Government won't let you talk about it and gave you this super high tech robot to bribe you?" Eric was evidently, not convinced, "Look, bro, you're a super genius but you've never been a very good liar, and everyone else is suspicious too they just feel weird about asking."

"Is that why they've been acting so strange?" He surmised, before shaking his head. "That's not it at all! You've totally got the wrong idea." He huffed, turning his chair and continuing to roll.

"Hmph, suit yourself." He shrugged, before smirking lightly. "But I gotta say, that's not it at all, is an interesting choice of words." Thomas tensing up, "Kinda implies something did happen that you can't, or don't want, to talk about."

Thomas' eye twitched, before he sighed lightly and looked back at him. "So you can't handle Pre-Calc but you're an ace in english huh?"

Eric grinned in response, "What can I say, I'm an idiot savant."

Thomas rolled his eyes at that, "Look, I can't talk about it here, but come over tomorrow and I'll try to explain alright?"

Eric nodded, offering him a fist bump, "Deal."

Thomas bumped knuckles in return, "Cool, see you in a little while."

. . .

Sakura

. . .

"Absolutely not!"

"What!?" Sakura exclaimed, standing across from Saki. Their walk coming to a halt as Sakura lead them down into an alley to avoid being listened in on.

"I will not help you break into your Family's Record Vault!" She replied, shaking her head, "It's out of the question!"

Sakura held up her hands, "Look, if you're afraid of losing your job I can protect-"

"I don't care about the job!" She cut her off sharply, slashing a hand through the air. "I-" Before biting her tongue, reigning it in a bit before sighing. "I'm not sure what your father is up to, but it might be dangerous... Call it a former priestess' intuition."

"All the more reason we should be trying to expose it, figure out the truth." Sakura pressed. "Before something terrible happens."

"No it's all the more reason for you to avoid whatever's going on," She scoffed in response, "Who knows what might happen if someone finds out you're snooping around."

To which she narrowed her eyes, "He's already planning to force me to marry my friend, how much more drastic can it get!?" She demanded, snapping at her. "He's controlling every aspect of my life, we can only take this walk because it fits into the appointed schedule!"

"I know you want things to change, but this isn't the way!"

"Then what is!?" She demanded, starting to pace back and forth. "I'm so sick of this cage, I'm so sick of doing what's good for the family or what is expected of me!" Sakura continued ranting, "I just want to be free of it all, I want-" Her words hitching a bit, the piled up emotions rushing out the same way they'd done that night at the boardwalk, with Kai. She felt the anger dissipating, as she sighed heavily. "I just want to be free, to make my own choices..."

Saki remained silent for a moment, watching as Sakura reached up to wipe a tear from her eye. "I... I understand." Before she pulled Sakura into a hug, "This... It isn't just about finding the truth is it?"

Sakura blushed lightly, but didn't shy away from the embrace. "No... If there is any chance of breaking this stupid accord between our families, so that we might both be free... It's in those Records."

Saki nodded, slowly releasing her. "Forgive me for not realizing sooner... You have my full support, whatever you need." She promised with a nod.

Sakura felt a weight lift off her shoulders as she smiled up at her. "Thank you, Saki... You're really the only friend I have to rely on right now." She added, as she began to head for the alley's exit. "Come on, we should get back before anyone starts getting suspicious."

Saki was right behind her, "Of course, and we'll plan our next step later." Watching Sakura from behind, she frowned as she thought of what dangers might lie ahead. "Sakura, if you keep pushing like this... I won't be able to protect you."