82

Watchers

"I recall that the people went about with pale and worried faces, and whispered warnings and prophecies which no one dared consciously repeat or acknowledge to himself that he had heard. A sense of monstrous guilt was upon the land, and out of the abysses between the stars swept chill currents that made men shiver in dark and lonely places." – H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep"

Hiraga was standing outside the building with a cigarette in his hand. Maybe he should have been inside, in case something went wrong with Lilithmon's plan, but the evening was a stressful one, and stress meant that it was time to smoke. He'd been told time and again that he was not to engage his employer's enemies directly. Initially it had been a matter of keeping a low profile – Sato didn't want the kids tipped off that something was about to happen. But before long Hiraga had realized that Sato also didn't trust him to go up against those partner Digimon. Hiraga had felt a little insulted at first, but he couldn't argue with what they had achieved.

So maybe it didn't matter. If only a Digimon had the power to compete with another Digimon, there was nothing that he could do in case Lilithmon failed, whether he was inside or not. So he continued smoking.

The evening was quiet, or at least as quiet as a night in Tokyo ever was. If there was a battle raging somewhere below his feet, there was no sign of it. But he knew it almost certainly was going on. He'd never thought of Lilithmon as being imposing, but he could recognize a killer when he saw one. There was another Digimon somewhere in the city tonight as well, and what seemed like a peaceful night from where Hiraga was standing would be something very different for an unlucky few. Like Koshiro, the mercenary had been monitoring news and police reports, and had drawn the same conclusions.

He was finished with his cigarette. Grinding it out on the pavement, he took a last look around him before heading back inside. And so he happened to see a small group of people come around the corner of the building, about ten meters from where he was standing. He recognized them immediately, but had to look twice nonetheless, because why would the children Lilithmon was supposed to be dealing with be wandering around outside? But it was them. Something had gone wrong. And there were other things with them – things he had never seen, but which he knew must be their partner Digimon, looking ridiculously out of place on a city street.

His first thought was to duck back into the shelter of the building, but instead he told himself to remain still. The teens were looking around themselves, and a few looked in his direction, but gave no sign of recognition. He averted his eyes, but continued to watch them from his peripheral vision. They seemed to be confused about where they were, and were talking amongst themselves about it. He counted them. Only six. Were the others still inside? Perhaps he should go back in and regroup with Lilithmon – assuming Lilithmon was still alive.

He still hadn't moved when the group seemed to come to a decision and crossed the street, where one of them entered another building. Hiraga turned around and headed back inside himself. Using his key card he was able to access the oversized elevator and rode it down as far as it would go before stepping out into the central computer room.

It didn't take him long to get a grasp on the situation. Lilithmon had vanished, and the subbasement was devoid of life. Obviously something had gone wrong. The other six children, like Lilithmon, were nowhere to be found, so they must not have come in the first place. The black, cat-like Digimon wasn't in the building either – for all he knew it was still in Odaiba somewhere.

Sato Katsu would have to be informed. If Lilithmon was dead, Hiraga's employer probably knew already, and would want an explanation. Hiraga returned to the room used for private communication with Sato's headquarters in the other world. He opened the connection, but couldn't get a response. Sato didn't answer.

After trying several more times, Hiraga gave up and began to turn things over in his mind. First Lilithmon's plan had failed and now Sato had disappeared. In all probability, neither was good news for him. Suppose that the escaped children contacted the authorities. For one thing, Hiraga would need to have the basements cleaned out, and quickly. For another, it was time to start making backup plans. Since being hired, Hiraga had been living in this building, secure in the knowledge that he was essentially off the grid. Now that security was compromised.

Fortunately, he had a safe house already prepared nearby – an apartment that he had rented under an assumed name. If things got too hot for him around here, he could relocate quickly, possibly in preparation for leaving the country and disappearing for a while. He had always had a sneaking suspicion that this job would end badly. With the involvement of the Digimon, other worlds, and an alleged epidemic of nightmares, it was almost too bizarre to turn out otherwise.

So yes, he would make plans. If the ship began to sink, he would have a lifeboat ready.

Benjamin was the last to arrive. About an hour ago Gennai had received his message concerning what he had found in the last known location of the Chosen Children: a number of buildings in the desert, all ancient, and all utterly abandoned. Of the children there was no sign. Neither Gennai nor Koshiro had been able to remotely detect them anywhere in the Digital World, and to all appearances they had left it entirely.

Gennai had called a meeting of all six Agents soon after Benjamin's report came in, requesting that they join him in his residence under the lake. The group had no official leader, but Gennai was the original from which the others had been separated at their creation, and in most matters they deferred to him. A gathering like this was uncommon, but with the situation as it was, none of them saw it as unnecessary.

Benjamin slid open the door to the dining room and took his place on one of the cushions arranged in a semicircle, facing Gennai where he stood near a screen. José, Ilya, Jackie, and Eucaly were already seated. To most observers, the six people in the room were physically identical, but the Agents could discern the differences in coding that set each apart from the other.

"So," Gennai said once Benjamin was seated, "We're all here. I called this meeting for a number of reasons, but foremost because, as we now know, it appears that six of the Chosen Children have fallen into the hands of the enemy. Also missing are their Digivices, what Koshiro calls the D-3s. As a result, the other Chosen Children are unable to enter the Digital World."

"But there has to be a way that we can let them return," said one of the others.

"There is," Gennai said, "if we are given time. And, of course, if it is really necessary for the Chosen Children to come to this world, the powers that govern it will make it possible. If nothing else, there are now other children in Japan who possess D-3s, and who could let Koshiro and the rest in. But it isn't necessary if we want to rescue the captured Chosen Children. They are no longer in the Digital World."

"In the human world, then?" someone asked.

"Or in the World of Darkness," Gennai responded.

"We have no way of knowing which is more likely," observed another Agent.

"Under these circumstances? No. If the human world, we may be able to help find them, but our resources are limited. And… I'm afraid that there is more bad news. The enemy has surrounded the Village of Beginnings on File Island. They have not attacked it, but it looks as though they intend to isolate it."

"So…" Benjamin said, "V-mon and the others may really have been destroyed."

"That's what it looks like. Now if they are reborn, they too will fall into the enemy's hands, being unable to evolve."

"Isn't there a way to free the village? Can't we send reinforcements?" asked Jackie.

Gennai shook his head, frowning. "I'm afraid not. The remaining six Chosen Children might be able to do it, but not with the Dark Towers that have recently been placed around the village. The children who received D-3s in December are untried in battle, and do not have Digimentals. For now, the village is lost."

"Do you mean that without the twelve Chosen Children we cannot act?" one of the Agents said. "Have we been defeated so quickly?"

"Perhaps so," said Ilya, "if the Chosen Children, who we had thought to be invincible, have been defeated. Maybe even killed," he added, looking at Gennai.

Gennai took a moment before replying. It had been a long time since the situation had looked so grim. While the Chosen Children had been out there, fighting on behalf of the Digital World, even if outmatched, there had been no call for despair. Now… Now the chances of victory were looking bleak. Today was one of the few days in his long, long life that Gennai truly felt old.

"Yes," he said at last. "They may have been killed. We have no way of knowing whether we would be able to detect them if this is the case, since there is no record of a human having ever died in the Digital World. If they are dead, then perhaps all really is lost. But if they are alive, there is a chance, no matter how slim. We have seen too many miracles in our time to doubt it."

"Do we know what could have destroyed their partner Digimon?" asked one of the Agents.

"We can't say for sure," Gennai answered. "We know that there are Ultimate-level Digimon among our enemies. One of them is the demon lord Lilithmon, who the remaining Chosen Children are facing with the power of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. She is in the human world, but there are other powerful enemy Digimon here in this world."

"You mean the one that defeated the younger Chosen Children?" someone asked.

"And others. We don't know how many there may be. One which won in the desert, and another that has won in the sea."

"In the sea?"

"Two nights ago, an Ultimate-level Digimon called Neptunemon failed in the duty given to him by the Four Holy Beasts. He was guarding something crucial to this world's safety in the deepest part of the ocean, but somehow the enemy was able to defeat him and erase the seal he was protecting."

"One of the seals…" José murmured. "You mean…?"

"Yes," Gennai said. "And there are now none left. The Seeds of Light planted less than a year ago have yet to mature. Without the seals and without the Holy Stones, the Digital World is in greater danger than ever. And as I was saying, Neptunemon could only have been defeated by yet another powerful Digimon unknown to us."

"Could Neptunemon have joined the enemy?" someone asked.

"It's possible," Gennai said. "Either way, we are threatened by a group of enemies whose combined evil power has not been seen since the time of the Dark Masters."

There was silence for a moment, broken by Eucaly. "And we still don't know who has organized this?"

"I'm afraid we do not," Gennai said. "Perhaps other Demon Lords are involved, as Lilithmon is, but all we can do is guess."

And that was the unfortunate truth. Demon was a possibility, though there was no indication that he had escaped once more from the World of Darkness after he was banished there in December. According to the Chosen Children, there seemed to be humans involved in the conspiracy, but no one could say for certain how they knew what they knew, or why they were aiding the forces of Darkness.

But there was a possible answer to one of those questions. Gennai kept returning to what he had asked Qinglongmon on the previous night: Where were the original Chosen Children? If the enemy was interested in collecting the current Chosen Children for sinister purposes, might they also be the explanation for the disappearance of Qinglongmon's long-forgotten partner and the others?

But by this time, when the hour was so late, perhaps the answers to these questions did not matter. There was no time left. For years the attacks on the Digital World's stability had been coming, incessant. Apocalymon and Millenniumon distorting the flow of time. The Dark Masters sealing away the Holy Beasts. The Dark Towers distorting space. The Holy Stones destroyed. And all the while the darkness eating away at the barriers, seeking a way in, sucking greedily at the worlds of light as the ocean erodes a shoreline. Something had waited a long time for this. It had waited and waited, watched and manipulated, never revealing itself, until the defenders of the beleaguered light could no longer hold their ground.

Gennai was called back to the present when a sound behind him announced the arrival of an email. Turning to the screen, he and his five clones read what it said:

Gennai-san,

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon managed to destroy Lilithmon, but we haven't found Daisuke-san and the others. We have called the police to investigate the place where Lilithmon was hiding, but I don't know how much help they will be. There are still enemy Digimon in our world, and we will try to eliminate them, but we want to save our friends. Any help you can give us would be appreciated.

Koshiro

Gennai smiled thinly. At least six of the Chosen Children could fight another day. He had no comfort to offer them, but they gave him courage.

"We must have faith," he said to his companions. "As long as those children are fighting for us, hope will never fade entirely."

Now, he thought, looking at the screen again, his smile disappearing. If they can only find the strength to keep fighting.