Author's Note: I'd like to apologize to the people following this story for the insanely long delay. In addition to the writer's block I was having at the time, life sort of happened. One of the reasons this story got derailed is actually a somewhat traumatic incident at what is now my former job. I won't get into details, but the incident happened at about the same time I was grappling with the issues I was having with this story. So I chose to distance myself from all of it and went to work on some other projects for a while.
For a long time I didn't think I'd ever get back to work on this story, but a couple of months ago I ended up playing that Digimon Survive video game, which also led me to replaying the Cyber Sleuth games again (because while Survive's true ending had a pretty cool plot involving the Harmonious Ones/Digimon Sovereigns, I greatly missed the techno edge that the Cyber Sleuth games had). It all sort of rekindled a little of the passion I had for this Radiance Mythos of mine. So after spending the last couple of weeks reviewing what I had already done and what I had planned to do, I decided it was time to finally resurrect this tale.
Now, I can't say how regular updates to this story will be since I'm still working on a couple of other projects right now, but I can assure everyone that I'm not going to just leave this story unfinished.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
Chapter 7: Digital Girl
Not all of the Digidestined went straight home after the meeting discussing the battle against DoneDevimon. Tai, Matt, Arthur and Johnny ended up going to a nearby bar with their respective Digimon to unwind a little. Conversation at the bar was kept pretty light of course. Tai meanwhile was being careful not to drink too much while they were there. After his regrettable night with Meiko at the start of their current predicament, Tai was being overly cautious about doing something that might cause a similar incident.
As the waitress brought over their third round of drinks, Arthur looked at his watch. "I didn't realize the hour had grown that late. We should probably call it a night, but before we do I'd like to propose a final toast." Arthur lifted his glass. "May we resolve this current crisis quickly, so that we may protect those we care about and get back to our lives."
"Here-here," Tai responded as the four clicked their glasses together while their Digimon continued chowing down on the chicken wings that had been brought for them.
"So Arthur, looks like you and your team are getting tired of having to do this sort of thing too," Matt observed.
Arthur nodded. "None of us asked to be Digidestined. And while it has had the benefit of allowing us all to meet our Digimon friends, it has not been an easy road for us to travel. In fact it's getting harder now that all of us have entered adulthood."
"We know exactly what you mean," Tai responded. "None of us can keep up this sort of thing forever, and it's only getting harder with the government getting involved and the negative public opinion against Digimon right now."
Johnny crossed his arms. "Still, when crap like today's battles happen, there isn't anyone else who can step in but us. With great power comes great responsibility."
"Wow! You have a real way with words, Johnny," Agumon praised.
"He actually got that from a comic book, bro," Elecmon informed him.
"It's true though," Matt pointed out. "We're the only ones who can deal with hostile Digimon."
"Well…that's not exactly the case," Arthur responded as he took another sip from his glass. "Perhaps the time has come for us to hand things off to a new generation. Take Norn's young friend, Toya for instance. He seems fairly capable, and from what you told us he was chosen by old Gennai himself."
"The kid seems pretty green though," Johnny pointed out.
"Were all of us not just as inexperienced when we had this destiny thrust upon us?"
"Arthur may be right," Tai agreed. "Maybe we should step aside and let a new generation of Digidestined handle things."
"It's a lot to lay on a bunch of kids though," Matt pointed out.
"Matt, we weren't any older than Toya when we got involved in all this."
"Plus this new generation has something we didn't," Arthur pointed out. "They have us around to help show them away."
"Mentoring the next wave of Digidestined kids, huh? You always have the best ideas bro," Johnny praised.
"Toya and Hackmon do seem like they can handle themselves," Gabumon admitted.
Matt nodded. "True. Toya's brother, Kotaro seems like he can handle himself pretty well too."
"You mean that kid with the Veemon?" Tai asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not so sure about him. He doesn't seem too reliable to me."
"He may be a little rough around the edges, but he seems pretty capable."
"Well…Kotaro may have a little potential, but I certainly don't like how friendly he is with Norn."
"Tai, Kotaro's not Davis."
Tai set his glass down with a clunk and rose from his chair. "In my book he's close enough. C'mon Agumon, let's get out of here."
"Uh…right," Agumon responded.
"Guess I better go with 'em since I'm their bodyguard," Johnny realized as Tai and Agumon walked off. In the next instant, Johnny and Elecmon were following Tai and Agumon out of the bar.
Arthur sighed. "I take it Tai hasn't totally forgiven Davis for his betrayal of Kari."
Matt shook his head. "Not completely. I mean the two of them talk now and are on fairly friendly terms, but it just isn't like how it used to be between them. You have to understand, back when Ken began his reign of terror as the Digimon Emperor, Kari and T.K. were the only ones from our original group who could freely come and go to the Digital World. At the time, because he couldn't be there himself, Tai sort of saw Davis as his successor. Hell, he even gave Davis his original pair of goggles."
"In other words, Tai put all his trust into Davis. It's not easy to forgive the betrayal of such trust. It's not right for Tai to punish young Kotaro for it though."
"No. It's not," Matt agreed as he took another sip from his glass. "And I get the feeling Tai isn't the only one punishing Kotaro for what Davis did."
Kari awoke with a soft gasp from a nightmare she could thankfully barely remember. The little she could remember from the nightmare was that Meiko was trying to have her way with her. Kari's strange encounter with Meiko during yesterday's battle had definitely left an impression. There was no doubt in Kari's mind that Meiko had an insane hatred for her, but rather than wanting to destroy her, Meiko wanted to dominate her in every way…including sexually. The very thought of Meiko's twisted desires on her made Kari's skin crawl.
It didn't take long for Kari's nightmare to fade, and as her conscious mind finished its morning boot-up she became fully aware of her surroundings. The clock on the nightstand next to her side of the bed read that it was close to the time she usually woke up in the mornings. The light streaming through the closed curtains was a dim blue, and she could hear the sound of a soft rain outside. Kari also felt the comforting sensation of the still sleeping T.K.'s arm draped over her. Being very careful not to wake him up, Kari turned around to face her husband.
The sight of T.K.'s sleeping face put Kari completely at ease. She decided she would simply wait and watch until he woke up. Eventually T.K. began to stir and his eyes opened up. They both smiled and whispered good morning to one another before sharing a morning kiss. As their bodies pressed against one another, Kari could feel a noticeable bulge on T.K.'s crotch. He had a pretty rigid case of morning wood.
Kari's hand under the covered reached through the opening of T.K.'s boxers and took hold of his rod. T.K. gasped and let out a groan as Kari stroked his member, causing it to become even harder.
"Uh, Kari? I, um…I need to leave for class pretty soon," T.K. informed her.
"We still have a little time," Kari told him as she continued her ministrations. "And I…I really need to feel you right now."
T.K. smiled and nodded, and once Kari let go of him they kissed and embraced one another. They rolled briefly on the bed until T.K. was on top. Once they broke the kiss, T.K. pushed himself up with his left arm, and with his right hand still under the covers, he skillfully pulled aside the crotch of Kari's panties and pushed his still exposed rod into her entrance. Kari let out a soft moan at the feeling of T.K. sliding into her. T.K. meanwhile pushed himself up the rest of the way and took hold of the headboard.
The bed began to creak heavily as T.K. plowed into Kari. Kari instantly lost herself in the sensation of T.K. plunging deep inside her. She realized that between their busy schedules and Norn coming to live with them, it had been far too long since the two of them had made love. With the way things had been recently, they both needed to now more than ever. Eventually Kari could feel T.K.'s rod start to twitch inside her as her own inner walls tightened around him.
"Kari! I think I'm about to…" T.K. began.
"Yeah! DO IT!" Kari cried out.
In one blissful moment they climaxed and Kari felt a massive blast of warmth gush into her. She could also see small white sparks going off in front of her eyes. As the two of them came down from their massive orgasm, they smiled and pressed their foreheads against one another.
"I guess it's been a pretty long time since we've done this, huh?" T.K. realized.
Kari nodded. "I think we both really needed the release. After all, you've been just as stressed out lately as I have, right?"
"How could I not be? Some crazy woman is coming after me and my family."
"You know…we both have a free weekend coming up soon. Maybe we could leave Norn with my mom or Matt and go somewhere, just the two of us."
"That's the best idea I've heard all week," T.K. agreed before kissing her on the forehead. "Right now though, I better get up and get dressed."
With that, T.K. got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Kari decided to remain in bed for a little while longer and wait for the afterglow to completely fade. As the afterglow did fade though, her original unease started to return. She remembered again that Meiko was still at large, and because of this Kari wondered if she and T.K. really would be able to enjoy that free weekend.
Kotaro sat at his desk with a scowl on his face while his fellow students chatted in their usual groups in the classroom. He looked at the still empty desk where Norn sat and sighed. His mind was filled with questions, all of them about Norn. Toya meanwhile sat at his desk as if everything was normal, which only served to darken Kotaro's mood.
Toya at last noticed the expression on his stepbrother's face. "Everything okay?"
Kotaro shrugged. "I guess. So at that big meeting you got to sit in on last night…did they say anything about Norn?"
"Nothing important. I told you all about the important stuff from the meeting last night, not that it all made sense to me. Guess I should've recorded everything with my phone or at least taken notes. I'll remember that for next time."
Kotaro roll his eyes. "You are such a student."
"You sure nothing's bothering you?"
"Look, it's…it's about Norn. Didn't you wonder last night how she was able to do all that stuff?"
"Of course I did! I even asked Norn's Uncle Tai and one of his friends about it a couple of times before the meeting. They pretty much told me to mind my own business." A bitter smirk formed on Toya's face. "Guess they don't trust the wet behind the ears rookies with their big secrets."
Again Kotaro rolled his eyes. "Lame!"
"Is it really that important we know though? How Norn was able to do all that stuff I mean?"
"Don't you think so?"
Toya shrugged. "Not really. I mean I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but me knowing about Norn's…abilities isn't life or death. It's just one more thing about her that's amazing."
Kotaro looked at Toya for a few moments before turning his face forward again. "Yeah well…I feel like I really need to know."
At long last Norn entered the classroom. The eyes of every boy in the classroom and at least one girl followed Norn as she walked to her desk.
Norn gave Kotaro and Toya her usual dazzling smile as she came up. "Hello you two. I feel like I must apologize to you both for yesterday. If Agu, Gao and I had acted sooner, you, Vic and Hackmon wouldn't have had to put yourselves in such danger."
"Don't worry about it," Kotaro told her.
"Yeah Norn. It's sort of our duty right now to protect you," Toya added.
"You are both far too kind," Norn responded as she sat down. She began to look through her bag and frowned. "Oh dear. I seem to have misplaced my pen. Would either of you happen to have a spare I could borrow for the day."
Both Kotaro and Toya did indeed have spare pens, and they immediately got them out of their respective bags and held them out to Norn. In that exact same instant however, every other boy in the classroom, along with that girl who had been gazing at Norn as she walked in earlier, had immediately rushed over to Norn's desk and held out pens of their own for her to use. Every other girl in the classroom looked on at the scene with fury that seemed to radiate like billowing flames. After a few moments of hesitation, Norn finally chose the pen Kotaro offered her. All of Norn's other would-be suitors walked back to their desks dejected.
Norn gave Kotaro another dazzling smile. "Um, thank you."
Kotaro smiled and waved Norn off as if to say it was nothing. As their teacher finally entered the classroom, Kotaro's thoughts once again turned to the question of just who Norn really was, and how she was able to use such abilities.
The afternoon had grown late, and Matt and Sora were spending it at home. Sora at the moment was busy finishing a paper she needed to turn in, while Matt sat on the couch with Gabumon and Biyomon watching some old action movie he ran across while channel surfing. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Matt immediately got up to answer it while Sora continued with her paper. When Matt opened the door, he found Kotaro and Vic standing on the other side.
"Yo," Kotaro spoke. "We need to talk. Mind if I come in?"
"Uh…sure," Matt responded as he stepped aside to allow the two to enter.
Sora noticed Kotaro and Vic coming and got up from where she was sitting at the kitchen table. "Matt, who's this?"
"This is Kotaro, one of Norn's school friends," Matt answered as he led the duo over to the table.
"Sorry for just dropping by like this, but I need answers," Kotaro explained as he sat down in one of the chairs. "I wanna know how Norn was able to do all that crazy stuff in yesterday's battle."
Matt and Sora both exchanged troubled looks. By this time Gabumon and Biyomon had come over.
"What, um…what crazy stuff did Norn do?" Matt asked.
"Okay. Now you're starting to piss me off a little," Kotaro responded. "She combined with her two Digimon into some kind of super robot or something, teleported all of us to Tokyo Tower, and then vaporized that freaky Digimon you were all fighting like it was nothing. I didn't ask Norn because I knew she wouldn't tell me."
"I asked Agu and Gao about it today, but they just played dumb," Vic added.
"Anyway, I didn't think it'd do any good to ask Norn's other uncle or either of her parents about it, since they all seem to hate my guts for some reason," Kotaro added. "I sorta get why her dad wouldn't like me, but I don't get why her mom or her uncle have a problem with me."
"That Gatomon partnered with Norn's mom seemed to think I was slime for some reason," Vic added.
Once again Matt and Sora exchanged looks, as did Gabumon and Biyomon.
"Maybe I should have a talk with Gatomon later," Biyomon suggested.
"And I should probably have a talk with Kari," Sora agreed.
"Will you all just tell me what the deal with Norn is already?" Kotaro demanded.
"Matt? We better tell him," Gabumon suggested. "He's not gonna let up until he finds out the truth."
"Plus as involved as he is now, he has the right to know," Biyomon added.
Matt sighed and sat down at the table before looking Kotaro in the eye. "Okay, fine. But you have to promise you won't say a word to anyone about what I'm about to tell you."
"No problem," Kotaro responded.
Matt took a deep breath before he began. "Alright. You've probably figured out Norn isn't a normal human, and I don't have a clue about how her powers work or anything. The reason she has those powers is…because she was created in a lab."
Kotaro raised an eyebrow. "You mean…she was like, grown in a tube or something? So Norn's parents…aren't really her parents?"
"Actually they are, technically," Sora interjected. "Kari and T.K.'s DNA was used to make Norn."
"So…she's like a clone."
"Well…in a way, I guess she is," Matt answered as he scratched his head. "It's…a little hard to explain. Um, how much do you know about the Digital World?"
Kotaro shrugged. "I've actually traveled there a couple of times with Vic. Vic's told me some stuff about it over the years, and over the last few days I've learned a little more about it from Hackmon, Gankoomon and the Sistermon Sisters."
"Have you ever heard of Yggdrasil?"
"I have," Vic interjected, raising his hand as if in a classroom. "Hackmon's mentioned him a few times. He's like some dead god of the Digital World, right?"
Matt nodded. "Okay, that makes things easier. Yggdrasil was a sort of super computer made to serve as a protector god of the Digital World. He, or it I guess you could say, was created long ago by ENIAC, another god of the Digital World. ENIAC was actually one of the first computers ever built. You can look up more about him…or it I guess…online later if you want. Anyway, ENIAC created Yggdrasil to look after the Digital World once it realized it was headed for the junkyard in our world.
"Yggdrasil protected the Digital World until a group of evil Digimon called the Seven Lords started a war against it. The war ended with Yggdrasil sacrificing its own life in order to seal the Seven Lords in a place called the Dark Ocean."
Kotaro shrugged. "This is interesting an all, but what's this have to do with Norn?"
Matt sighed. "A few months, a man named Neo Saiba traveled to the Digital World and found a piece of Yggdrasil's core, basically its brain. Saiba figured out a way to use this piece of Yggdrasil to make a new life form, but to do it he needed to combine it with digitized human DNA. As for why he used the DNA of my little brother and his wife, well…that's another long story."
Kotaro nodded. "So what you're saying…is that Norn is this Yggdrasil reborn as a human."
"Pretty much," Matt confirmed. "Must be pretty strange, huh? Being friends with someone who was made in a lab?"
"You think I give a shit about something like that?" Kotaro asked, looking offended. "I asked about this because Vic and I made a pact with Toya and Hackmon to protect Norn. But I felt like I couldn't do that unless I knew everything about her. So…thanks a lot for letting me in on the secret."
Matt smiled and nodded. "You're welcome."
"Of course…it kinda seems now like Norn doesn't really need our protection," Vic interjected. "I mean she's basically a goddess, right? She blew away that evil Digimon yesterday like it was nothing! Doesn't really seem like she needs protection."
"That's not true," Matt told him. "You remember how tired Norn was after that battle? She may have a lot of power, but she doesn't really have the strength yet to use it for long stretches of time."
"Plus while Norn maybe have the body of a twelve-year-old, the brain of a super computer, and Yggdrasil's memories, she's only been alive for barely a month," Sora added. "In a way, she's still a newborn. You understand what I'm saying Kotaro?"
Kotaro looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and nodded. "Yeah…I think so. That actually explains a couple of things about Norn."
"And Vic, wasn't it?" Gabumon spoke. "You should probably know that Norn's two Digimon were also made in a lab by Neo Saiba."
Vic nodded. "Explains why they don't seem to know much about the Digital World."
"Anyway, thanks again for letting me in on Norn's secret," Kotaro told the couple. "I feel like I know what I need to in order to protect her."
"You must really care a lot about Norn, don't you Kotaro?" Sora asked.
Kotaro blushed and looked away. "You could say that." He then got up from his chair. "Anyway, I should be going. I'm actually supposed to be out getting aspirin for my mom right now. Last night Gankoomon dared her into a drinking contest and it didn't end well for her. Before I take off though, can I ask why Norn's mom and her Uncle Tai hate my guts?"
"Well…" Sora began as she exchanged another look with Matt. "Norn's mom…used to date another Digidestined partnered with a Veemon and…it didn't end well."
"What'd this guy do?"
"He cheated on Kari three times with some drunken sorority girls," Biyomon bluntly answered.
"Biyomon!" Sora exclaimed.
"Oh! Did I say too much?"
"So Norn's mom and uncle are comparing me to this dumbass just because my partner's Vic?" Kotaro asked. "Lame!"
"Yeah, sorry about that," Matt responded. "Just don't let it bother you. Give them some time and they'll see what sort of person you truly are."
"Yeah, yeah. Well, thanks again. I'll see myself out," Kotaro told him, and with that he and Vic headed for the door.
"He seems like a really good kid," Sora remarked as Kotaro and Vic left. "I wonder how Norn feels about him?"
Matt shrugged. "Not sure. He's probably the last boy T.K. and Kari would want her to date though."
The following morning at school, Norn was secretly handed a note from Kotaro asking her to meet him up on the roof of the school alone during the lunch hour. Eventually lunchtime came, and Norn came up to the roof and found Kotaro standing by the chain link fence surrounding the roof's edge.
"Glad you came," Kotaro spoke as Norn walked up.
"What is it you needed to speak to me about alone?" Norn asked.
"I met with your Uncle Matt and Aunt Sora yesterday. They told me what you are; that you're an artificial human made from the remains of the Digital World's god, Yggdrasil."
Norn was visibly startled by this news. "I…I see. I can only imagine what you must think of me. Perhaps you see me as a freak of nature. I can understand that, logically at least."
Kotaro shook his head. "Norn, I don't care at all where you came from. You're no different to me now than you were before I learned where you came from."
Norn gasped, and a smile formed on her face as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm…happy…and relieved to hear you say that Kotaro." She then wiped the tear from her cheek and looked the moister on her fingertips. "Curious that I would be crying."
"There's one thing I still don't get though Norn. How come you're going to school? Your aunt said you're as smart as a computer, and from what I've seen in class I believe it."
Norn nodded and came up to stand next to Kotaro by the fence. "The reason I'm coming to school is so I can learn to be human. As you've probably just deduced, human emotions are still very new and complex to me. I didn't have them when I was Yggdrasil. My hope is by interacting with other children my current physical age I will learn how to handle them. I believe my parents have the same hope."
"Well, maybe I can help you with that a little."
"I would be very grateful for any assistance you could provide, Kotaro. I'm really hoping I'll do well as a human. I certainly didn't make a very good god."
"Why do you say that?"
Norn turned to look seriously at Kotaro. "What did Aunt Sora and Uncle Matt tell you about my former life as Yggdrasil?"
"Not much. Only that you were created by ENIAC and that you died sealing away some group of evil Digimon called the Seven Lords."
"And what did they tell you of the Seven Lords?"
Kotaro shrugged. "Nothing really."
"I see. Well you see the leader of the Seven Lords, Lucemon…was a Digimon I created to protect and maintain order in the Digital World. Unfortunately Lucemon's interpretation of my directive was flawed. He decided the only way to protect and maintain order in the Digital World was to rule its people with an iron fist. I could not allow this, so Lucemon rebelled and raised an army to overthrow me. The resulting war was a brutal one that caused massive devastation to the Digital World."
"Maybe I'm wrong, but it kinda sounds to me like what happened is on Lucemon, not you."
Norn shook her head. "Lucemon was still my creation. His actions were my responsibility. I failed both the Digital World and him because of an error I made when I created Lucemon. I was a flawed god, and the Digital World is far better off without me."
Kotaro sighed. "Norn, you were basically a computer, right?"
"Essentially yes. I had no physical body in the human world though. I was essentially software ENIAC created."
"Okay, but ENIAC was a computer too. I looked up stuff about him online later after I talked with your aunt and uncle. Anyway, humans made ENIAC, and us humans are anything but perfect. Because humans built ENIAC, he probably wasn't perfect either. So since ENIAC probably wasn't perfect, doesn't it make sense you wouldn't have been perfect either?"
Norn was amazed by this revelation. "An imperfect creation…could only make an imperfect creation. This is a concept I never considered before…but it makes total sense."
Kotaro put a hand on Norn's shoulder. "I'm sure you did the best you could for the Digital world and for Lucemon. That's all anyone can do, even digital gods. Don't beat yourself up over how you screwed up in the past. I'd hate to see you do that."
Norn gave him one of her dazzling smiles. "Thank you Kotaro. What you've said means a lot to me."
As soon as school let out and Norn returned home, she entered Izzy's digital grid with Agu and Gao. Izzy had since expanded the grid with more servers, giving Norn much more space to work with. Norn had planned to do more construction on the grid, but as she looked out at the vast white empty landscape she found she didn't know where to begin.
"This space has a lot of potential," a familiar voice remarked. Norn, Agu and Gao looked and saw Erika walking up to them. "I take it you're the one who built that little Digimon villa back there?"
Norn nodded. "I'm a little surprised you were able to enter this grid. Its security is supposed to be state of the art."
"Well, the security here is pretty tough." Erika then smiled and did a Sailor Moon pose. "But not so tough that a cool Hacker Digimon like me couldn't break in."
"Well, you are welcome here any time. By the way, I trust you were able to resolve that matter from the other day without difficulty."
"I didn't have too tough a time with it, no."
"Uh, what are you guys talking about?" Agu answered.
"Does this have something to do with how Hu…I mean Ms. Erika suddenly took off when all the weird stuff at Nakano Broadway happened?" Gao asked.
Norn nodded. "You remember the data streams we saw forming shortly before my mom's mysterious adversary arrived? Erika went to deal with them."
"So what exactly where those data streams anyway?" Agu asked. "And where did they come from."
"Basically, there was a server set up to distribute malware onto people's devices, malware designed to make those devices accumulate negative data," Erika explained, holding up her index finger. "Once enough devices had become infected and enough negative data was accumulated, they would then transmit that data in the form of high intensity digital waves to a single source."
"Oh! That evil Digimon at Tokyo Tower!" Agu realized.
"So you're the one who cut off that data flow?" Gao deduced.
Erika nodded. "Locating the server the malware was being distributed from was a snap. The security for the server was pretty weak, but another evil Digimon was manning it. I'm guessing this Digimon was a minion of the one you guys had to deal with. Fortunately this minion wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Once the Digimon was defeated, I took control of the server, cut off the data flow, and whipped up an antivirus program that I transmitted to every infected device using the server's link to them."
"You did incredibly well," Norn praised.
"Thanks. So, what are you planning to build out here?"
"Honestly, I do not know. I find I'm having trouble figuring out where to begin."
"Maybe you're just trying too hard," Gao suggested. "You don't need to worry so much about being perfect."
"I…I know that now. Today I realized that even as Yggdrasil I was always imperfect, because one who was also imperfect created me, and there's nothing wrong with that. Still…I find I want to do the best I can with the creation of this grid's layout."
"The problem is you just lack a beginning, right?" Erika interjected. "Well, maybe I can help. In addition to being a backup to this reality's Digital World, I also carry the memories of the world the original Erika Mishima is from. Contained within those memories is information on another digital space frequented by humans, a place called EDEN. Perhaps you could use some of EDEN's features as a beginning."
Norn smiled and nodded. "That's a wonderful idea! You know…I find I'd like to show Kotaro this grid once it's finished."
"You mean Himeko's little brother? You must really like him."
"I do, very much. I like Toya very much as well. I've come to consider them both close friends."
"Uh, no. I mean, you like-like Kotaro, don't you?"
Norn tilted her head in confusion. "Like-like? I do not know what you mean."
Erika opened her mouth to explain but then thought better of it. "You know what? Let's circle back to this conversation another time. I suddenly think you might not be ready to have it. Let's just focus on the grid for now."
Norn nodded. "If you say so."
With those words, Norn placed her hand on Erika's forehead. Erika closed her eyes and began to send Norn information on the cyberspace world of EDEN.
Meiko and Meicoomon emerged from the computer inside the abandoned house they still used as a base in the human world. A swarm of bats flew out of the screen right after them and formed into CountMyotismon.
"Well, I think all of our preparations are now finished," CountMyotismon declared.
"Did we really have to go through all that?" Meiko asked with a scowl on her face.
"I realize the process of setting up our little arena was an uncomfortable one for you, but it was necessary to my plan. After all, you do want Kari to fully understand the suffering you went through, do you not?"
"…Of course I do. More than anything!"
CountMyotismon chuckled. "Then your discomfort was a small price to pay. Now then, stage is set and our trap is ready. All we need now is the proper bait, and I think young Tai will be perfect to lure Kari in. And when she arrives, we shall both revel in her despair as I cut off her dear brother's head right in front of her!"
Please review and let me know what you think.