Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon

Digital Manifest

Keepers

Chapter 10: "… Before the Storm."

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Light slowly entered the world of darkness that made up Ryan's mind. It started out as a fuzzy blot in a sea of shadow before finally growing into one bright, but blurry image of a ceiling until finally snapping into view. Ryan groaned and shifted in his position on… a bed? Craning his head, he saw that yes, he was in a bed. A little different from the hospital bed that he was in the last time he had been conscious, but still similar, especially seeing as how he was hooked up to a heart monitor and everything. Whoever had put him here, wherever he was, certainly wasn't sparing any expense at making sure that he was going to be comfortable and okay. Ryan shifted again as he stretched a little, the little beep, beep of the monitor accelerating slightly, but not much. Taking another look around to make sure that he wasn't dreaming or anything, Ryan groaned.

"This is starting to become a habit," he said groggily.

"Good, you're awake," said a voice from somewhere within the room. "You've had us all pretty concerned there when you collapsed after the battle."

Ryan turned towards the sound of the of the voice and found himself looking at the steel blue eyes of… Ryan blinked. He had never seen him before. But if the digivice that was at his side was any indication then he had to be a…

"Tamer?" Ryan croaked out before coughing. His throat felt dry. The boy got up smoothly and handed him a glass of water. Muttering thanks Ryan drank it gratefully. After he was done the boy took it from him and smiled softly before speaking again. Ryan immediately felt at ease in his presence.

"Yeah, I'm a Tamer," said the boy. "My name's Ryo Akiyama. And your name's Ryan if I understand your friend Chris correctly." Ryan nodded his confirmation, and Ryo continued. "You've been out for the past couple of hours. No surprise since you and your buddy took a hit from a Mega attack."

This information caused Ryan to sit up.

"Where's Richoemon?" He asked, his voice filled with urgency.

"Relax," said Ryo. "He's safe. You both are. He's got some guys checking him over just to make sure though, and from what I saw that certainly isn't a bad idea. How're you holding up?"

Ryan gave the question the weighty consideration it deserved before answering. Just how did he feel? Well, he certainly wasn't feeling great but at least he wasn't throwing up this time around and he promptly told Ryo so, leaving out the puking part though. Ryo nodded.

"I'm not surprised. Like I said, you got hit by a high-level digimon attack. You're lucky to be alive." Ryo stopped and chuckled. "But then, you did have a nasty looking digimon serving as a living shield for you so I guess I shouldn't be surprised about that. Still, Beelzemon may have been a little too extreme in his attack…"
Ryan frowned. The name Beelzemon brought up the memory of a conversation that he had with Kazu about Leomon.

Didn't Kazu say something about how a Beelzemon deleted Leomon? Hmmm… must have been a different one. I can't imagine these guys teaming up with a murderer of a friend of theirs.

A hand waved in front of Ryan's face suddenly, startling him. "Ah…"

"Sorry," said Ryo, smiling gently. "But it looked like you were spacing out on me there, and I was trying to ask you a question."

"Sorry," said Ryan as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "What'd you want to know?"

Ryo's face became serious.

"What can you tell me about a girl named Raven?"

Ryan cocked an eyebrow.

Chris had been stuck at Hypnos with Henry's father for what seemed like forever in his mind while they went over the data that his and Ryan's digivice had gathered since Shinjuku's most recent Godzilla attack. Janyu was especially interested in looking over Ryan's digivice since, according to Chris and the other Tamers, it had changed color from black to white with green trim after the battle had ended. After pumping the group for more details, which inevitably led to what everyone had assumed to be Ryan's merging with his partner Janyu was now excited as he checked out both digivices. At present he was focusing on Chris's since it had gathered the most amount of information on the enemy it had scanned, but every so often he went back to Ryan's digivice and did something with his computer that made it light up and make noises.

Apparently the man had been busy in his spare time.

Overall, Chris didn't really mind being there, since he was at present the keeper of the two digivices (with Ryan temporarily out of commission, again). He didn't have anywhere to go (though Takato's offer of staying the night at his house was still on the table, Chris didn't think that he was going to get to it anytime soon). His main problem was that he didn't really understand much of what Janyu was talking about and to be honest, it was making him a little bit bored. Fortunately, Yamaki, Janyu's son Henry, and the rest of the Tamers (who had all shown up after they heard about the commotion that had started up not too long ago) were there to keep him company (though in Yamaki's case it was more because he wanted to know what Janyu was discovering). Unfortunately the mood in the room had to be kept to a serious tone (a challenge for Kazu, Chris quickly discovered) so that Chris wouldn't be distracted while he was mentally shuffling through his digivice's memory files.

At present, everyone was looking at multiple downloaded images of the Snimon that had attacked earlier as they were displayed on Janyu's computer, starting from its original form and going all the way through the various changes that it had gone through since.

"I started off thinking that this was another form of digivolution," intoned Janyu. "But the more I looked at the information the more I realized that it wasn't the case. The forms retained data that was similar to the Snimon, but radically reorganized and even strengthened in other areas, but lacked the differences in the amount of data that is normally found in digimon level, leading me to conclude that these forms were more of a response to a given situation. Sort of like a fighter changing combat styles against an opponent. Like here when it developed armor for dealing with Dracaramon's attack," Janyu pointed to the first change. "And here when it kept changing its choice of weapons to handle Metal Dracaramon's defenses when he digivolved." Janyu indicated the image of the Snimon when it had swapped out its sickle arms for the spiked hammers.

"I don't see how those clubs could do anything to Metal Dracaramon's armor," said Kazu. Chris looked at the visor-wearing boy and frowned.

"Actually Kazu, it was a good choice on its part…"

"Chris," said Caramon miffed. "Are you complimenting the enemies decision making?" Chris frowned.

"I mean it," the blonde haired boy replied before assuming a tone in his voice that the others associated with a teacher explaining something to a classroom full of students. "Back in medieval Europe, there was a period where plate armor was reaching its peak in development and guns were still a ways off in the future, so edged weapons like the sword were becoming less and less affective. Military minds turned to favoring the kinds of weapons that could get around that handicap, which basically meant that anything that could pierce, puncture, crush, or hack and had a lot of weight behind it when it was swung was the most obvious and preferred choice of arms for battle. Which explains why weapons like spears, lances, war hammers, and axes became more common place and sword design became more refined around the area of the tip, putting more emphasis on stabbing rather than slashing."

The others looked at Chris incredulously, causing the boy's face to flush and he shifted his feet nervously. He could feel their gaze as though they were branding irons.

"I… I happen to like history," said Chris trying not to meet anyone's gaze.

Kenta turned to Kazu. "Well, what do you know? I guess you do learn something new everyday."

Kazu growled in frustration and crossed his arms. He didn't even bother dignifying that with a response.

"So if its not digivolving, then what is it?" Asked Yamaki, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"I'd say that it's a lot like Takato and Guilmon's Mode Change when they shift from regular Gallantmon to their Crimson Mode," replied Janyu.

"I guess," said Takato, feeling it necessary that he contribute something to the conversation. "Only from what you've showed us and from what we've seen that digimon could change form at will while… well… I still can't figure out the first thing about it."

Janyu nodded. "And the strengths seem to vary as well. However, while I was looking over Chris's digivice, I did notice this." Janyu clicked on a program and showed it to the Tamers. It was several images that they guessed were related in some way to the Snimon. The images contained a circle with varying degrees of a gray color inside it. The children and their digimon blinked.

"What is that?" Asked Henry.

"This circle represents a digimon's central core. It's their source of power and, essentially, their soul. What makes them, them. The gray coloring represents foreign data that has infiltrated the Digicore, almost like a computer virus. And by the looks of it, this foreign data can manipulate its host digimons data directly and at an unprecedented rate. Interestingly, I noticed a similar line of code in your digivices, Chris."

"You mean Ryan's."

"No, both of yours, though when I was analyzing Ryan's I took note that his has one complete line of code, and another fragmented one similar to what I found in the Snimon's."

"But Ryan's digivice returned to normal after he parted with Richoemon."

"That's something else that bothers me," said Rika as she leaned against the wall near the door. "Why'd he biomerge with his partner and only go to the Ultimate level. Usually when a Tamer merges with their partner they digivolve to Mega, and you guys are already able to go Ultimate. So what's the deal?"

"Since when does having a digivice make me an expert…?"

"I'm sure that there are questions that you all want answered," interrupted Yamaki. "But right now I think that we should focus on what's in front of us."

Janyu nodded. "I would like to run some tests on the boy, Ryan, later once he recovers." Janyu glanced at Chris. "If he's willing that is."

"I'll get the appropriate paper work ready for you, now if you could continue?"

Janyu cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, the algorithm that is inside the Snimon is able to manipulate the data that's around it, meaning the host digimon, and it does share similarities with the ones that I found in Chris's and Ryan's digivices. Now the way that these algorithms appear to function is almost on the same line as a digimon's."

Henry frowned as he took that bit of information in. "So… are you saying that those digivices are digimon?"

"In a way," said Janyu. "But not quite. They have lines of code that resemble the original algorithm that my college friends and I made years ago, but there are differences. It does qualify as a digital life form, or at least it does in my opinion. I would have to compare the data some more and come up with a battery of tests to check out my hypothesis but if I didn't know any better I'd say that yes. They are alive, though in the case of the digivices their relationship with Chris and Ryan and their respective partners is more of a symbiotic relationship while the one that exists in the Snimon in parasitical in nature."

Chris looked down at his red trimmed digivice. So… this thing's alive?

"At any rate, the algorithm inside of the Snimon was doing much more than just reorganizing the data of its host for battle. While I was analyzing the information I noticed that there was an overall program running inside of it that was changing its structure, which may account for the difference in its color. I'd say that the program was attempting to transform the Snimon into something else. Possibly a new form for the data within the digimon's central core."

"What kind of new form?" Asked Kenta.

"Not sure yet. I'll need to set up a program to run some simulations based on what I've gathered so far. If Yamaki feels that it's important that is…"

"Run the simulations," said Yamaki with a curt nod. He didn't want to take any chances. If having an idea on what new form looked like gave them an added advantage when confronting whatever was coming their way he'd take it. Besides, he wanted to see the face of what could potentially be their enemy.

There followed a knock on the door and everyone turned to see Ryo Akiyama standing in the doorway with a grin on his face.

"He's awake. Again."

"Perhaps now would be a good chance to ask him about participating in those tests that you asked about," said Yamaki to Janyu.

Leomon sat on the roof of Hypnos, his legs crossed and his mind in deep meditative thought. He was focusing on the events that had occurred today, and even on some that had transpired before.

"Double Scissor Claw!"

That day when he had first met Ryan and Chris. It had been a confusing time for him. This may have had something to do with the fact that he had no idea how he had gotten there. Even his own actions since that day had been… odd shall we say? He should have asked questions, should have tried looking for Jeri (his last memory in fact prior to arriving at that crucial moment had been of Jeri right after Beelzemon had impaled him). Instead of doing any of those things he had taken those two children and their partners under his protection and offered to be their guide during their stay in the digital world. Occasionally, some things would come to mind, bits of information floating to the surface like so much driftwood. And all the while he hadn't once questioned where any of it had come from.

Until now, when he had lied to Ryan at the hospital.

I feel as though there's something in me, overriding my thoughts. And it's taken me until now to realize it. Why did I lie to Ryan about Ahuramon's Shadow? For that matter, how did I even know about it?

The setting of the sun held no answers for the lion digimon.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Go talk to him."

"And why should I do dat?"

Renamon sighed in exaspiration as she fixed Impmon with a fearsome glare.

"Impmon, you've been avoiding Leomon ever since you first saw him. You always used to tell me about how you wished you could tell him how sorry you were for what had happened. Now, here's your chance."

Impmon scowled as he looked at Leomon's muscular form. "No, I don't have to. Dat's not Leomon."

Renamon's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean? Why isn't he Leomon? He remembers all of us, and more importantly Jeri's digivice works on him…"

"What're you getting' at Fox-o?"

"Just that he passes all the requirements that makes him the Leomon we knew."

"Except that you're forgettin' on thing, Foxy."

"And that is…?"

"I still have Leomon's data."

The vulpine digimon's face remained passive, but mentally she scolded herself.

Of course. Why didn't I think of that myself? How embarrassing that it had to be Impmon to make the connection before me, but then he would know better than anyone. Wouldn't he?

Renamon now looked at Leomon with renewed interest, and even caution.

"That Leomon may act like the one yous guys used to know," continued Impmon. "But he's not. He can't be. I can still feel Leomon's data inside me. I don't know who that one is, but he's not the Leomon that I… destroyed."

"Excuse me?" Asked Ryan. "I'm not sure if I heard you right. Did you just say that you want to experiment on me?"

Janyu smiled. "All I did was ask if I could run you through some tests?"

"What's the difference?"

Janyu sighed. Ryan's face assumed an apologetic look.

"Sorry. I'm sure you mean well, but may I ask why?"

Janyu nodded. "I feel that it's necessary to have your physical condition checked out. Your partner and your digivice may have returned to normal but the sudden reasserting of their original condition and the reasons behind it puzzles me. Usually when a Tamer merges with their digimon they bypass all their other evolutionary stages and go straight into the Mega level. According to Chris all that happened was a correction in your partners data and he returned to his initial Ultimate level form. Now based on what we gathered from yours and Chris's digivices there was a corrupting line of code that was changing your partner and making both him and your digivice assume their dark coloring. The code that remains in your digivice is fragmented now, but there's a massive amount of data missing from it. Since you were merged with your partner I want to see what sort of possible affects that the experience has had on you."

Ryan listened carefully as he weighed his options.

"What kind of experiments?" Ryan asked.

Ask a silly question. Get a silly answer as they always say, thought Ryan, as he lay strapped down on a bed while technicians placed sensors on his body. After they were done the bed jerked as hidden mechanisms began to draw the boy into a tube like machine. Once the bed halted inside the tube, lights activated and began to alternate between on and off as hidden sensory equipment began to scan Ryan's body. Ryan sighed inwardly. All that was left to do now was wait.

Janyu's computer processed and displayed the information that it was receiving while the former Monster Maker analyzed it. At first he didn't see the importance of what it was that he was being shown, but then his eyes caught something and he looked it over again.

This is impossible, thought Janyu as he flipped through the incoming data. This can't be…

It was getting late out and the Tamers had decided on going home. Over Yamaki's protests (which weren't terribly enthusiastic they thought) they had politely refused the offer of transportation. Wasn't that big of a deal though. Rika quickly hitched a ride with Kyubimon and Kazu and Kenta climbed onto Guardromon and flew off. Henry opted to stay behind a little bit longer and see if he couldn't get a ride from his dad later (and if not there was always Rapidmon). As for Ryo, Chris, Caramon, Takato, and Guilmon, they decided on depending on Cyberdramon to give them a lift back to the Matsuki bakery. For the moment though, they were waiting patiently for Takato as he was currently talking to Jeri.

"Jeez," muttered Caraamon. "Why don't those they just kiss and get it over with already? Some of us would like to sleep sometime this century."

Ryo raised an eyebrow at the little lizard while Chris sighed in exaspiration.

"Only been here for one day and already he's picking up Terriermon's bad habits."

"Momentai," chuckled Caramon.

Chris groaned.

"You sure that you don't want me to come with you, Jeri?" Asked Takato gently. "I mean it's a long way for you to get home, and I'm sure Yamaki would…"

Jeri silenced the boy with a shake of her head.

"Thanks Takato, but I'll be all right. I appreciate the gesture but there are some things that I want to take care of on my own tonight." Jeri looked over at Leomon as she said this and Takato nodded in understanding.

"Okay. Just… be careful Jeri. I… I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, you know?"

Oh, boy, Takato felt some heat creep into his face. Thinking himself an idiot Takato looked away from the girl and mumbled something inaudible. Jeri smiled softly at the boy.

"Don't worry, Takato," she said in a brave, cheerful voice. "I have Leomon here to protect me remember? I'll be fine."

Takato returned Jeri's smile and waved good-bye to the girl as she and her partner walked away. Takato continued to wave for a moment longer before lowering his hand. As Jeri and Leomon disappeared around a corner the boys face became a little downcast and he pitched a sad sigh.

Ryo approached Takato and swung a companionable arm around the goggle-wearing Tamer and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Still courting her, huh? Don't worry. She'll come around sometime."

Takato seemed to perk up at this. "You think so? Wait! I mean… er… what're you talking about?"

"You know Takato, it surprises me to no end how you charge into D-Reaper to rescue her without thinking about the dangers involved, but as soon as it comes to matters of the heart you choke. You're one weird kid Takato."

Takato sighed as Guilmon approached his Tamer and nuzzled him.

"Cheer up, Takato," said the large crimson dino. "When we get home we can do whatever you want to make you happy. We can play games, eat bread, tell stories, eat bread…"

Takato laughed lightly and rubbed his partner's head. "Thanks you guys. So, Ryo, I guess that once you drop us off at my place you'll be going home, huh?"

"Actually, if you don't mind I'd like to stay the night at your house. I'd still like to talk to both you and Chris before we turn in. That fight earlier really chewed into our time."

"I'll ask my parents when we get there if it's okay. Is everyone ready?"

"Always am," said Ryo as he motioned for his partner Cyberdramon to come over. Everyone found a spot on the Ultimate to cling to or ride on, and Chris swallowed as Caramon tightened his tail's death grip on his partner's arm. With a mighty leap, Cyberdramon took off and spread his great wings.

"YAAAAH!" Screamed Chris and Caramon as they suddenly realized that they had left their stomachs back on the ground.

Jeri and Leomon walked in silence after leaving the other Tamers behind. Leomon was feeling a little uncomfortable with the girl. He sensed that there was something that she was keeping back from him, and it wasn't like her. Of course, he could attribute this to her own natural inhibitions as she had shown in the past that she wasn't so straightforward about things that she was uncomfortable with.

Just as he was about to ask his partner if everything was all right, Jeri spoke.

"Leomon? Did you lie to Ryan earlier today? When you told him about that shadow thing?"

Leomon froze for a second before meeting his Tamer's gaze. He thought for a moment, and listened to what his heart told him. He found that he could not hide the truth from her.

"Yes. Yes I did," he told her softly.

"Why?" Asked Jeri sadly. "I thought that you trusted them."

Leomon was silent for a moment.

"I do," he said finally. "It's just that the information that I gave him was unknown to me before the subject came up. It was as though one moment it wasn't there, and the next it was. Its arrival caught me by surprise and I… didn't know how to tell it to him." Leomon felt ashamed. He was the kind of digimon who took personal failure hard.

Jeri clasped one hand to Leomon's wrist and made him turn to look at her, halting their progress.

"Leomon," she said. "I don't know what happened to you after we were… separated, but you should remember that as partners we must be open to each other and our friends. Tomorrow, we should tell Ryan what you told me and maybe he and Chris can help you."

Leomon nodded, though he doubted that such would be the case.

Over the city, a winged cyborg saurian flew with its cargo, some of it screaming for all it was worth.

10