Chapter 3: Invasion

Nicole pressed the doorbell and waited. She was calling for Daniel's parents. It had been three months since Daniel had collapsed in school and she hadn't heard from him since that day. The only time she found out about him was when she visited his parents. Apparently, he had been taken to a specialist treatment centre in the United States. She dearly wanted to see him, hell, even just talk to him would be fine. But she knew almost as much about his condition as he did. She knew the chances of him living were slight. But still

Her thoughts were interrupted as Mrs Higgins answered the door. Her young face was terribly pale and drawn.

"Hi, Mrs. Higgins. I was just dropping by." Mrs Higgins regarded Nicole for a few moments, as if trying to remember who she was.

"Oh, Nicole. Nice to see you." She waited at the door hesitantly. It was clear she was sick with worry.

"Would you like to some in?" She gave a strained smile.

"Yes, thanks." Nicole walked in and stood awkwardly in the hall. She hadn't felt comfortable in the Higgins' house since Daniel had been taken away for treatment, mainly because of his parents. They always had such hopeless looks of despair, always pale, as if he had been condemned to death. She hated the waiting, the anticipation, the not knowing what was happening.

"You're welcome to stay for tea, Nicole. It that's okay with you?"

"Of course. Thanks, Mrs Higgins." She smiled her best encouraging smile and walked into the front room while Mrs Higgins went to the kitchen. In the living room was Mr Higgins, sitting with the TV on, but the volume on so low it was almost mute.

"Um Mr Higgins?" She was almost frightened with Mr Higgins' mood swings. Sometimes, when they thought she was out of earshot, he would become irrationally enraged, screaming about why they weren't keeping their promise to keep them informed, and sometimes he would cry most bitterly, and others, like now, he would be silent and scarcely acknowledge anyone's presence in the room. Nicole didn't know which was worse; at least when he cried, he would acknowledge her presence and Mrs Higgins' too.

Nicole decided she had better not disturb him. She walked into the kitchen and stood by while Mrs Higgins cooked dinner. They talked, a little less casually than they usually did, but it was a start. Every so often, when Mrs Higgins reached for a pot, a jar or anything, Nicole would notice her hand would tremble violently. They continued their small talk until dinner was almost ready, when they merely had to wait until the dinner had cooked for twenty minutes.

"I don't know how much longer I can take this" said Mrs Higgins suddenly, taking Nicole by surprise. It was the first time she had openly mentioned the fact that she was deeply worried about Daniel.

"I want to know how he is I want to see him Hear his voice Anything!" She turned round and Nicole noticed that her eyes were wet with tears. Her eyes were red, suggesting she had been crying some time. Damn! How long had she been crying? How could she be so insensitive as not to notice she was crying? Nicole had no idea what to say to her.

"I'm sure they'll be finished soon, Mrs Higgins. These things take time. It is a high-tech treatment, isn't it?" Mrs Higgins nodded and wiped her eyes, apparently not bothered whether Nicole saw her crying or not.

"They said it could take anything between a month and a year. I I don' want to be separated from him for that long Just one month is agony, but three?" Nicole felt close to tears herself. She embraced her and Mrs Higgins returned the embrace, crying softly.

Please Just come back Daniel

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Mojave Desert, USA

"FiveTest start." A computerized voice intoned. There was a loud series of beeps from each of the terminals and a progress bar appeared on the main screen.

"Well, that's that." Said a male intern, a Japanese man in his early twenties, "How long does the system test last?"

"It'll take about six hours." Said a female intern, an American barely in her twenties.

"Incredible. The first system test took almost a week to complete."

"Technology has moved forward since then." Marie said from beside Yamaki's desk, "Alright, good work everyone. Take a break until the test is complete. All lab staff level green and higher, stay on alert in case anything happens." Marie spoke into the PA. Her voice resounded throughout the facility.

The Japanese man snorted, "Like that's gonna happen."

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Outside, in the staff lounge, three of the interns who worked in the control room were talking.

"It's amazing, the first system reset took a week to complete." Said Claire, the first intern. She ignored the stares of several male colleagues nearby. Young and only nineteen, she had been asked out with almost every male in the base by now.


"Don't remind me. That was when we had to take seven hour-shifts with just about two hours rest and relaxation in between." Said the second, the Japanese man named Ichiro. He stretched out and put his hands behind his head. "Man, I'm beat. I'm going for a drink, want one?"


"Sure thing." Said the two remaining interns, Claire and another woman, the same scientist who had coaxed Vritramon into volunteering for the treatment.

"I feel so sorry that boy Daniel is it?" said Claire. The scientist, Michelle, nodded and pushed her glasses back into place.

"Yes. It must be really horrible for his parents. Imagine what they must be going through"

"You know I wonder what DARRC wanted, you know, a couple of weeks ago? That Garret guy seemed awfully interested in Vritramon." Remarked Michelle. She picked up a magazine from a pile next to the chair and began to read. "I never did trust those people All that X-level stuffGives me the creeps."

"X-level? What do you mean?" Claire asked, resting her chin on her hand.

"Oh, dirty stuff, genetics and biological sciences. Weaponry mostly."

"But I thought they dealt with Digimon and the Digital World." Said Claire, her eyes widening.

"I didn't mean DARRC in particular. That's the kind of stuff those organizations get up to though. People like us, you know, working for new medicines and treatments We've always got those nuisance diplomats and beaurocrats breathing down our necks, begrudging every penny they give us. But when the X-level organizations start churning out new bio-weapons and poisons, that's when they start crawling over themselves to get the money." She added with a clear bitterness.

"It makes sense though," quipped Claire, "If the public ever got wind of anything like that Even a rumor alone would cause the whole thing to explode in front of them."

"I'm back. What'd I miss?" Ichiro placed a tray of mugs, two with coffee, one with tea on the table in the middle of the chairs.

"Cheers Ichiro." Said Michelle, taking her cup of tea.

"I'll second that." Added Claire, grabbing a black coffee. Ichiro took his own milky coffee and all

three gulped their drinks, a chorus of loud glugs' as they did so.

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A solitary guard stood at the entrance to the garage. Dressed in his white uniform, with black beret was standing guard, holding an automatic weapon. He was rather bored, not having ever experienced any action. All he did all day was stand here for two and a half hours, holding a weapon that may as well have been solid lead. His arms were aching and his legs were stiff. He sighed and shifted his weight from one leg to another, idly gazing over the different cars parked in the bay.

He failed to notice a single figure sneaking stealthily behind him. A figure in black body armor, with gasmask and helmet. In his hand was a combat knife. The figure quickly slipped an arm over the man's face and blocked his mouth, silencing the man's cry. He plunged the knife into the man's back, puncturing through to his heart. The man tensed up in pain and shock, then fell limp barely a few seconds later, warm blood dripping to the floor, forming a small puddle. Behind the two, the bay doors began to whine open. At first, all that was visible were dozens of pairs of black booted legs. Then black trousers, adorned with kneepads and shrapnel guards, followed by the torsos and automatic weapons, then the faces hidden in gasmasks.

The man holding the dead guard pulled the man back into the standing squad and disappeared. The men raised their weapons and moved forwards, bent double, swishing this way and that. They moved in almost total silence.

They approached a guardhouse, a small concrete room with a glass partition for the guard inside to check the ID's of the drivers and open the gates outside. The squad stopped. The one in front, the squad leader made a gesture with two fingers, beckoning two of his men and motioning toward the checkpoint. He then made a fist and brought it sharply down, completing his gestured orders. The two men he summoned scuttled to the door and knelt on either side, their backs to the wall. One of them put his automatic on his strap and pulled a long, silenced pistol from his leg-holster. He nodded to the other who carefully reached up and began softly turning the knob.

The guard inside was watching a football game. He sat with his feet up, sipping from a mug of coffee, an ashtray of cigarettes lay smoking at his elbow. Very slowly and softly, the door began to open behind him. The two men sneaked in and the man with the pistol raised it. He fired while the man was in mid sip and hit him in the back of the head. The man instantly went limp, his coffee hit the floor and smashed, black coffee mixing with crimson blood. They dragged his body from his chair and stuffed him under the desk. The leader touched the side of his head and spoke very softly.

"Bravo unit. Garage is secure, no problems. Over."

"Alpha unit," a second voice crackled in through the radio, "Alarm system hacked. Communications jammed. All level one security devices overridden. Proceeding to lower levels. Over."

"Sir, we have found two interns here. They are unarmed. What should we do?"

"Execution of non-combat personnel has been authorized. Terminate them."


"Yes sir." And through the radio, a series of silenced gunshots punctured the silence.

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Yamaki was watching the monitor in the control room intently. Beside the system test status bar, a pair of windows with the vital information of Vritramon and Daniel could be seen. Claire and Ichiro had returned for their half-hour shift and were sitting at their monitors.

Suddenly, Claire cried out, "Who the hell is that?" She pointed to her monitor.

"Beam it up on the main screen." Yamaki ordered. Claire obeyed, tapping the keys of her console rapidly. On the main screen, a man in black body armor rushed past the camera, bent double, holding a gun. As they watched, several more passed by.

"Who the hell" Yamaki started, but one man suddenly stopped and glanced up at the camera. He seemed surprised at first, if it was possible to tell behind the gasmask, but he raised his weapon at pointed it at the camera. There was just enough time to see a bright flash in the gun's muzzle before the screen burst into static.

"Issue a Level One alert! Prepare for combat! Inform the security that there may be terrorists that have already infiltrated the facility!" Claire pulled her mouthpiece toward her mouth and began speaking over the intercom.

"All personnel to Level One Alert. Unidentified hostiles have infiltrated level one and are armed. Security, please safeguard the elevators and stairways. Report to your CO for more instructions."

"Inform all non-essential non-combat personnel to evacuate via underground route four." Yamaki ordered and Claire conveyed the message over the intercom.


"Could they be terrorists?" Marie muttered to Yamaki. He stood up and walked over to Ichiro's station, leaning over his shoulder.

"Ichiro, playback that recording again." Ichiro obeyed and played the recording of the men in the black armor again. "Hold it there!" Ichiro paused the image when several men were running by at once. "That's odd"

"The man in front He's carrying a Glock Isn't that Russian?" Marie frowned at the image.

"Yes but the man behind him has an MP5, and a Reading 12'. Those are British weapons." Yamaki scratched his chin.

"And I'm sure that man who fired at the camera had an M6 That's American." Added Ichiro.

"Why are there different nationalities in a single terrorist group?" Claire spoke up.

"Are you sure they're terrorists? Their armor looks a little too authentic to be some rag-tag group of revolutionaries. I'd say they look more Special Forces."

"Ichiro, try to find any insignia that will identify them, and keep me informed of the intruders progress through the facility. Claire, send an emergency call to the Head Office, tell them we're under attack." Both interns got to work, Ichiro scouring his monitor and watching the images flit by. Claire was speaking into her mouthpiece.

"All we can do now is wait" Yamaki said, sitting back at his desk.

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Michelle was dazed and confused. All she could hear was people running back and forth outside the toilet. She opened the door and looked out. Two interns in uniform ran past the door, but they were suddenly thrown back. Loud gunshots blasted from the end of the corridor and the two young interns were thrown back, blood spurting in all directions until they collapsed in a heap, their white uniforms stained red. Michelle put her hand to her mouth and gasped in horror. She rapidly slammed the door and locked it.

She looked around, trying to think of a way to escape. She then remembered that there were air vents above each cubicle. She ran to the nearest one, her heart pounding in her throat, crying hysterically. She lowered the lid of the toilet and stood on it, reaching up to the ceiling. There was the vent, just in reach. It was barely large enough to accommodate her, but it was her only chance. She desperately hammered on it, trying to pull it open. It came loose and crashed to the floor. Just then, there was a loud bang on the door.

Close to outright panic, Michelle tried to pull herself up. She wasn't a strong woman, and couldn't pull herself into the vent. She pulled and pulled, lifting her legs up. Her high-heeled shoes fell to floor with a loud clip-clop. There was a shout at the door, "Someone's in here!" and a furious banging ensued.

The man outside the door lowered his weapon and fired at the door, blowing open the lock. He and two others piled in, pointing their weapons this way and that. All but one of the cubicles was open. The first man beckoned with his fingers at the closed door. As he passed one of the cubicles, he glanced down and saw two high-heeled shoes lying in front of one of the toilets. He slowly gazed upwards, his eyes resting on the open vent. With a wicked grin, hidden by his mask, he raised his weapon and opened fire. The ceiling exploded in puffs of plaster, slats of ceiling coming loose and crashing to the floor. He stood on the toilet and poked his head into the hole.


"Did you get em?" one of the soldiers called. The first man peeked into the galvanized metal duct and peered along its length.

"Nah. No-one's here."

"Let's try this cubicle here then." The men received a message over their radios.

"Unit 7, what's your status? You're falling behind!"

"Sorry sir. Just chasing up an escapee."

"Gregory, you take care of it. Wesley and King, get back to your unit!" The two men on the floor shrugged ruefully at Gregory and ran out the door. Gregory cursed and peered again into the duct. Then he remembered the closed cubicle. From his height, he couldn't see inside the end cubicle. He hopped down and moved slowly toward the end cubicle.

"Come on out, I won't hurt you. Give yourself up, and I'll take you topside without a scratch." When he received no answer, he raised his weapon and pointed it at the door of the end cubicle, making his way toward it. When he reached it, he stood closer and gently knocked on it, hoping to scare the occupant. He got quite a shock.

Michelle, after hearing his knock, panicked and kicked the door full force into the man's face. He was thrown back and hit the wall. He slid down slowly and crumpled to the floor. Michelle was too shocked to move for a moment. She slowly stood, brushed herself off and walked unsteadily toward the unconscious man. She noticed his weapon lying by his side. Gingerly, she picked it up and held it to the light.

"Oh God" she murmured as she examined the machine gun, "Please tell me this isn't happening" she held the weapon in a ready position. She examined the loading chamber and saw that it was ready to fire.

"Pull it together, Michelle. Just get to the garage Then you'll be fine." Sniffing, wiping her nose on her sleeve, she picked up her glasses which, surprisingly had survived intact. She replaced them on her nose and stood, trembling slightly. Then she made her way to the door, cautiously looked left and right at the threshold, then left with the gun in her arms.

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Yamaki had never felt so helpless since he had let Takato and his friends enter the Digital World over ten years ago. He could only watch as the monitor, depicting each section of the facility as a yellow and black hexagon slowly turned to red and black, indicating hostile takeover. He bit his thumbnail nervously, Claire and Ichiro and three other interns sitting at their consoles watching helplessly as the base was slowly being taken over.

Finally, Yamaki spoke, "This is hopeless. We're just suffering casualties. Tell them we surrender." Everyone around the room, including Marie, his second-in-command stared at him in shock.

"Sir? Are you sure?" Ichiro spoke out. Yamaki bowed his head and nodded.

"We are suffering pointless deaths. Me might as well" There was a stifled cry from one of the consoles, attracting everyone's attention.

"Ichiro! Oh God!" It was Claire, visibly recoiling in her seat as she stared in horror at something on her screen. Ichiro leaned over and his eyes widened as he beheld the image.

"Those sick Those bastards!"

"What is it? What's happening?" The image was beamed up on the main screen. They sat in shocked silence as they saw what it was that had shocked Claire and Ichiro. The soldiers in black had cornered a group of interns trying to escape in a small office. One of the men had a flame-thrower. He raised it at the cowering men and women and activated it. Within seconds, the screen was obscured in the thick tongues of flame. Several interns looked away in disgust or fear, others stared in speechless horror, as the interns were burned alive.

"Sir We can't We would" Ichiro stammered. Marie bent down and whispered in his ear:

"Sir, we cannot allow ourselves to be captured. We would be killed for sure." Yamaki pressed a button on his panel, blanking the image on screen. He stood up and addressed the staff in the room.

"Listen to me everyone." Every head turned in his direction expectantly, completely silent, "We are evacuating this facility. Send a general alert and order all security to protect the remaining staff to escape. Order all non-combat personnel to the level four escape route." There was an instant buzzing as the interns began speaking simultaneously, issuing different commands and instructions.

"What about our data? Our files? What about Vritramon and Daniel?" Marie whispered.

"Daniel can be evacuated with us. Vritramon" he thought carefully, not knowing how they were going to evacuate the beast. Then, a thought struck him.

"I think I know how to get Vritramon. I'll get those two," he added suddenly, looking Marie in the eye, "You ensure there is nothing left of use in the data files. Destroy and delete everything you possibly can, then get out."

"What about you?"

"I'll get Daniel and Vritramon out." As he spoke, he opened his desk drawer and pulled a handgun out. He slid the clip from the grip, glanced at the bullet-count to ensure it was fully loaded, then pushed it back in. He pulled the loading chamber back and released it with a loud click-click. Some of the staff turned to stare at him.

"If I'm not back in twenty minutes, go ahead without me and I'll catch you up later." He called over his shoulder as he ran for the door.

Yamaki arrived at the large elevator not a moment too soon. The lift had barely moved a few metres from the top when the ceiling blew out and troops began descending on ropes. Yamaki quickly tapped a sequence in the huge panel on the elevator. Slowly, the huge blast doors above him began to groan as they closed. He stared up at the figures descending rapidly from the ceiling, getting closer to the elevator all the time. It would take almost fifteen seconds for the blast door to seal

One of the soldiers arrived through the blast door just in time. He made it down to the surface of the elevator just as the blast door closed, snagging his rope. He released himself and fell the last few feet to the elevator.

Yamaki raised his gun, aiming for the man struggling with his harness. Just then, he thought of those interns being flamed by the troops. He thought of the deaths of many innocent men and women, at the hands of these thugs. He didn't realise the man was picking a knife form his belt. The man threw the knife at Yamaki, a sliver of flashing death hurtling toward him. It embedded itself in Yamaki's shoulder, causing him to release the gun.

The soldier freed himself and sidled casually toward Yamaki who was struggling to remove the knife. He stood over him and pointed his machine gun at Yamaki's head.

"Two-two-zero here. I've found Yamaki. Commencing termination." He said with casual ease, almost a tone of a laugh as he said commencing termination.' The man pointed his gun at Yamaki's head. "Sorry pal. Nothing personal." He said with a laugh.

Enraged, Yamaki threw his foot upwards, scything the gun from the man's hands. He stood up, bringing a furious fist into the man's face. Despite his gasmask, the man staggered backwards, stunned by the blow. Before he knew it, Yamaki was forcing him backwards in a furious hail of blows. When he hit the side of the elevator, Yamaki pressed the gun under the man's chin.

"No offense taken." He snarled. He pulled the trigger.

When Yamaki reached the lab, he was holding his bleeding wound with his hand, trying to stem the flow. He staggered forward, swiping his card in the reader. The huge doors hissed open slowly, a cold blast of air streaming out as it opened. He made his way over to the two stasis tubes, grabbing a cool-protection coat as he went. He checked the status of treatment.

The first read: "Daniel Higgins, Status: OK, Completion: 98.87% complete."

The second read: "Vritramon, Status: OK, Completion: 68.98% complete." Yamaki stared at the completion on Vritramon's tube. Damn! He had counted on their completions being within the safety zone: at least 87% or higher. No time to wait.

Yamaki entered a series of codes and an alarm began blaring. An emergency light started revolving, shining a yellow beam in a circular motion.

"Sorry Vritramon," he said quietly, swiping his card, "But I'd rather you were dead than in the hands of terrorists." He completed the codes and a loud beeping occurred. Vritramon was suddenly broken into hundreds of data bits. These were sucked upwards, into many hundreds of little wires and cables, which led into Daniel's tube. Satisfied, Yamaki opened up Daniel's tube, standing at it's side so he wasn't soaked by the liquid that poured out. Daniel, his skin ghostly pale, fell forwards. Yamaki caught him, and after checking his temperature, wrapped his cold-protective coat around him.

"You're safe now, Daniel. I won't let those bastards have you" and with that, he staggered toward a door at the far end of the room, marked "emergency."

Notes

I've been juggling between two of my stories recently. In addition to mounting homework (Big tests coming up soon) I've been trying some new games too. I'll try harder to get my other story updated soon, and I won't leave this one as long either.

PS: Thanks to nightdragon0 for the tips on HTML. I can now format my documents properly, and finally include altered text. Cheers!