I don't own digimon.

Story 63

Good Data hunting

Kole stared at the screen one more time. There had to be something here that had gone under the radar of everyone else. But not him. No, he was certain of further information hidden within NORA. Whether or not he would be the first to crack this enigma, remained to be seen.

"I have to be getting close here…" the hacker thought as his fingers whizzed across the keyboard. Commands being inputted, but the output not quite known to him. Forcing his gaze away, he looked over to the phone he had attached to his computer. By no means a top of the line model, it was more than powerful enough to run the NORA pet. Staring at the boy on the screen, a tiny part of Kole pitied him here. Here he was, using him as a lab rat in the hopes of figuring out whatever secrets had been purposefully put into him. How else could an app come out of nowhere and take the top spot without anything in the way of advertising? Someone was either purposely messing around with the download count and/or artificially inflating them for one reason or another. Datamon would be so proud of him. At least, Kyle hoped he would. Sooner or later he would've expected to run into his partner on one of these deep dives. But, it was looking to be the opposite in fact. Even in the deepest depths of code, all he could find was traces of nothing. No signs of tampering by way of digimon or other similar entities where there should've been. Part of him wanted to believe that this was just a result of what had happened, that didn't make it any less weird. Videogames were one of the few fringe ways that one could enter the Digital World. While there was a possibility that one could have crossed in that time, his research suggested that there was something else going on. In that search for that answer, it had brought him to NORA. Coming out of nowhere a year after the whole Eosmon mess, it was the first decent lead in what felt like forever. Perhaps this would be what would finally reunite him with Da-

"It is not time yet." NORA announced and got a glare from Kole. Part of the hacker suspected that he was getting taunted here. Like he knew something that Kole could never understand in the slightest. Probably did. Seemed like he was the only one who was always one step behind, unable to reach forth and grab hold of the information desired. The worst kind of feeling one could be treated too here. For once, he would prove them wrong. He would step forward and they would be the ones who would be following right behind. Even if his momentum did eventually peeter out and he fell to the back, the feeling of the shoe being on the other foot was well worth it. For now, Kole let that thought fade away.

"If it's not time yet, then when is it?" Kole announced and split his gaze between the laptop and the phone. Even if Datamon wasn't here, he would probably tell him to take a moment and clear his head. There was bound to be some area he was forgetting at this moment. Letting out a deep breath, he stared over his findings. So far, that consisted of a series of .txt documents. Odd, considering that nothing about the NORA app suggested that there was nothing that could even interact with those kinds of files. Perhaps there was something within that would explain this mystery. Clicking on the first document, he watched it open up.

?: Testing, testing, are you here?

$: Yep. Been some time since we've talked. How have you been?

?: Better, minus a certain someone taking to chomping on my wires. How about you?

$: Better now that I've gotten a chance to bury some bodies. Still have a majority of the student body left to find a place to lay to rest.

?: I would im- Someone is listening in. Name yourself!

%: I'm Nora. I didn't mean to intrude. I'm just not certain how I got here.

$: Join the crowd. There's bound to be a reason.

Looking up from the chat log before him, Kole wasn't honestly certain what to make of this. This sounded dark and mysterious. But at the same time, this only raises further questions when it comes to the NORA app. Why would someone go through the trouble of throwing this stuff in. Had he just stumbled onto an ARG? Entirely possible. Yet, something about this felt far more sinister.

"Nora, can you tell me who those people are?" Kole announced and watched NORA's face lock onto him. A tear rolled down his digital face, falling to the ground of his prison without a sound.

"My friends." NORA answered and pulled his gaze away. "But that does not matter to you, does it? You plan to divulge this information to the world."

Kole nodded. For so kind of virtual pet, NORA was surprisingly sharp. Raised further questions - both ethical and scientifically of what was going on here.

"Let me guess. You're going to go on some kind of spiel about the danger of leaking this stuff and then use it as a bargaining chip to get me to Datamon?" Kole countered and watched his target look away. Staring in the direction of a cut-out of a scantily clad angel, the hacker couldn't quite figure out what the significance of it was here.

"I would go that far, but that does sound tempting. Let's do that." NORA announced and attempted to do his best evil villain pose. The results… were less than spectacular. If anything, it looked as if the virtual pet was trying to scam him out of his hard earned savings. That, or a used car that was bound to blow up. Perhaps both if he was extremely unlucky. "Yes. You will not get your partner if you even lo-"

Before NORA could finish his threat, Kole had already looked back to his computer screen. Moving the mouse about against a Sailor Mars background, the hacker forced his gaze back to the virtual pet. Now frustrated, he was trying his hardest to give a one-fingered salute. But all that accomplished was a black box appearing in front of his hand. Pulling the appendage back down, he brought up the stuffed turtle plush.

"Now that I think about it, this would've worked better if I suggested something else. Or had the capacity for proper evil." NORA continued and squeezed the plush. More tears fell down, a small puddle forming down at his feet. "No, I was supposed to be a hero. But at the end of the day, my only legacy is that I accidentally letting two birds fuck. But that isn't the story you wish to hear from me, right?"

Kole raised an eyebrow. At this point, he wasn't completely certain what he had just gotten himself into. At least in regards to whether or not this had anything to do with Datamon in the slightest. Probably didn't, now that he thought about it. Would make for a good start to a story.

"Uh… I'm just trying to understand how the heck you and your app were able to rise so rapidly up the app store ratings, dude."

NORA stared at Kole, the words not quite registering to him currently. What the heck was an app? When he was around, apps were either something you bought from a restaurant or filled out in the hopes of getting a job. Why the heck would a store sell those kinds of things in bulk? Let alone him being one of their best sellers. It just didn't make sense to him. He was trapped in this stupid prison, his partners reduced to inanimate objects by some cruel asshole for the sake of someone else's entertainment.

"I did not understand a single word you just said." NORA announced and Kole sighed. Now would be a wonderful time for Datamon to show up and put some sense into this virtual pet. He was a far better explainer than the hacker ever was. A feat his partner had contributed from a digimon school. Even if said name of the school was just 'Digimon School'. Though, that could be chalked up to naming things not being a strong suit of some digimon. Yeah, that was probably it.

"An app is a special kind of program that enhances a phone in one way or another. But, it is not preinstalled on the device." Kole explained and watched NORA nod. While that explanation was definitely missing a bunch of key details, it got the job done nicely. If NORA actually cared, he would be asking further questions here. But no, he was oddly content with the fact that he was currently trapped within the phones of millions of people. Actually, it was probably best to leave that fact out. Nothing like having your virtual pet come to the horrifying realization that they were not in fact unique or special in the slightest. Knowing his luck, that would be the ex-

"So there's a bunch of me out in the world?" NORA inquired and Kole's gaze shifted to the computer screen. Part of him wanted to say yes just to see what his reaction would be. But at the same time, that was bound to cause something bad to happen. He couldn't say for certain why he thought that or what clued him into that thought. Just felt like the kind of outcome that would come about in this situation. He could always say no, but he had set things up in such a way that such an answer would be an obvious lie and probably piss NORA off even more.

"Pretty much." the hacker answered and watched NORA take a seat. Squeezing his turtle plush, Kole swore he saw it move ever so slightly. But that was probably the result of the virtual pet messing about with the stuffed animal rather than it being a digimon for some reason. That would just be silly… right?

"Ahem. I suggest that you stop messing with things that you have no business sticking your nose in and let me kill you." a voice called out and Kole froze. Even without seeing whoever that might be, he knew it to be Veronica. But at the same time, there was something else mixed in that couldn't be good. What could've gotten into her now? Better yet, did he want to know?

"Say the woman that takes pleasure in purposefully denying people's time off." Kole announced and pulled the phone off the cord. Disconnecting from his computer, it provided a nice view of Belphemon. The strange black diamond digimon floated in his doorway, more than ready to tear everything he loved and adored for the sake of a reaction.

"A demon lord needs to get their kicks somewhere, hacker boy." Belphemon taunted, a twisted smile forming on her face. Reaching out, she scooped up a Sailor Mars clock. Squeezing it with a single clench of her fist, the remains fell to the ground right after. "A shame that your partner isn't here to save you. Not that he could when I'm around. So just die for me and we'll be all good."

Kole rolled his eyes. While he didn't understand anything that was going on here, that wasn't a reason to just commit suicide. Especially not without seeing his partner beforehand.

"Go fuck yourself, Veronica." the hacker announced and threw the chair he had been sitting in at her. Colliding cleanly, that did little to actually defeat Belphemon. If anything, it probably made the demon lord of wrath even more pissed. Looking for anything else that he could throw here, Kole found himself coming up empty.

"Oh yes. I'm the one who got fucked. Yep. That's me. After all, you've totally gotten tons of pussy. Oh wait. You're too nerdy for any girl to like you."

Kole rolled his eyes. Was that really the first thing that came to his opponent? He could honestly think of a dozen different things.

"Maybe I'm not that interested in people. How about that?" Kole countered and looked over to the side of his room. There, an open window awaited. More than big enough for him to get out of, his opponent would struggle to squeeze through. Letting out a sigh, the hacker jumped through with relative ease. On the other side, out came the phone with NORA on it. Unharmed from all that happened, Kole wanted to keep it that way. "Sorry about that."

NORA shook his head. Taking a moment to squeeze his plushie, a smile formed on his face. At least, that was how it looked from Kole's end. For all he knew, it could've been a variety of other emotions here. But he let that thought fade for now and instead looked for somewhere to get away from Belphemon. The further away, the better in his book. Not that Belphemon was bound to let him get that far. Especially with his digimon partner out of the picture. Knowing Datamon, he probably got lost and/or mistaken for a bad digimon. Which meant holding out until he appeared. By no means a great option, it was one of the few that was actually available to the hacker right now.

"You're clever, I'll give you that. But you're still a moron." Belphemon announced as she smashed through the wall. Floating above the grass, Kole was met with a grin. The sort that one would want to make the person doing it to literally eat shit. Sadly, that wasn't looking to be possible at the moment.

"Maybe I am, but at least I'm aware of my abilities and aren't trying to scam people for personal gain." Kole responded and picked up what he hoped to god was a rock. Throwing it at Belphemon, the demon lord of wrath weathered the blow with relative ease.

"You do not know the lengths I have gone through for the sake of making my position my power. But you're probably on Lilithmon's payroll." Belphemon announced and Kole looked away. Not because she was on the money in that regard, but more because he had no clue what the fuck she was talking about here. First off, he was mostly freelance. The few 'official' jobs he had taken were far more trouble than they had been worth. Pay was shit as well. Secondly, who the heck was this 'Lilithmon' chick? She sounded powerful. But considering the kind of person that Belphemon was, that did sound like an endorsement from her. At the same time, there was no way that he could actually use it as one here. Better yet, no employer was bound to take a digimon as a reference and/or endorsement. Especially not a demon lord. Shaking that thought out of his head, Kole forced his attention back to his opponent. Nothing about this made a lick of sense. Yet, he liked it. "If you're not going to answer, I think I have a way to make you answer."

Reaching behind herself, out came Datamon. Trying their hardest to break free from the grip of Belphemon, that doesn't stop them from staring at Kole. Tears rolling down, it was honestly hard to even look at his partner.

"I'm sorry, Kole." they croaked out, black chains piercing through their chest. Shattering into data right after, the demon lord let out a laugh.

"What the fuck, Veronica?! What did I do to deserve my partner being killed?!" Kole screeched and looked for anyone who could possibly help him here. But the hacker found himself all alone here. If he wanted to push fate, there was always Keith's house. Perhaps he could make a beeline over there. No. He needed to figure out something that would actually get Belphemon off his ass and let him get somewhere safe. Try as he might to think of a solution here, Kole found himself out of options. But perhaps… it didn't have to be him. Maybe NORA could in some way or another help in this situation. Odd as that sounded, there was nothing to lose and everything to gain.

"NORA, do you think you can help me with this here?" Kole whispered and dug the phone out. Getting a nod from the virtual pet on the screen, the phone rose out of his hands. Thick purple sludge formed around the device, shining brightly against the afternoon sky.

NORA infusion digivolve too… ToxinAngewomon (Mini)!

Kole averted his gaze for just a moment. Even from his limited perspective, the hacker could make out what looked to be a cross between one of those transformer toys and a porn star. While he had seen pictures of Angewomon, none of them had purple skin and locks of neon green hair. Six verdant green eyes covered by a gasmask stare in the direction of the opponent, fluorescent green lips licked about by a tongue covered in purple spots. The blonde hair was now a shade of lavender, with green tips to boot. As for her attire, ToxinAngewomon had gone for a purple bodysuit. Clinging to every curve, the bangles over her breasts were not found. Leading right into a heel on the right foot and a blob of something or other on the left, this was not the result Kole was expecting to see here. Purple latex gloves covering the hands with what looked to be green needles on the arm, complimenting what the hacker could only assume to be some kind of chemical jetpack on the digimon's back.

"NORA?" Kole called out and 'NORA' spun around. Joints on full display here, a degree of shame had followed. Happy as they both were that this worked, further questions had made themselves known. For starters, what the heck was infusion? It sounded like someone's attempt to sound cool and/or edgy. There was also the matter of how the heck that created an alternate version of Angewomon. Was this somehow a variant or was this a full-on different digimon entirely? Kole couldn't say. Part of him kind of didn't want the answers here.

"Yep. That's me." NORA answered and charged at Belphemon. Holding a hand out, purple barbs formed around their body. Pointed directly in the direction of the opponent, they look more than ready to fire forth and jab into Belphemon's fur.

Toxin Barbs!

Firing the barbs off, NORA watched them head for their opponent. Piercing through Belphemon's fur, the demon lord of wrath shrugged them off. Responding with fiery chains, NORA did their best to weave through and respond with more barbs. Colliding with the chains, both attacks were promptly canceled out. Knocking toxic angel digimon back, they were able to catch themselves on the side of the house. Shooting back, care was taken to not create any damage to Kole's home.

"Pathetic worm. If you knew the trouble that you're causing to all of us, perhaps you would just throw in the towel." Belphemon announced and threw her chains out in the direction of Kole. Heading right for the hacker, he braced for their inevitable impact.

Miasma Beam!

A cross-shaped ray of poison shot forth from NORA's hands, knocking the chains away and managing to sear some of their opponent's skin.

"You know what, fuck you. Leave or I will make it really hurt. I bet you don't want that now, do you?" NORA announced and got ready to shoot forth another Miasma Beam. But all that accomplished was Belphemon teleporting away. Letting out a deep breath, a cocoon formed around their body. Disappearing a second later, ToxinAngewomon was gone. In their place was NORA once more. NORA on screen, Kole swore that a cut-out of Angewomon was now on screen. As for the turtle plush, that sat at the virtual pet's feet.

"Are you alright?" Kole whispered and watched NORA nod. Letting out a deep breath, that was the exact cue for his phone to begin ringing. Of course. Just his luck. NOnetheless, he switched over. "Hello? Oh. Hi Keith."

Waiting a moment for Keith to talk, Kole could feel the gears turning in his mind.

"I'm on my way." he announced and switched back to the NORA app. Once he got there, there was bound to be quite a chat on his hands…