Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digital Manifest
Keepers
Chapter: 23/ Comparing Notes
Ryan grimaced as the faint rays of sunlight touched upon his face, glaring through the darkness of his closed eyes and interrupting him from the depths of sleep that he had just been in. Next to him the soft snores of Richoemon and Terriermon could be heard in the quiet of the bedroom. Turning onto his side Ryan opened his eyes and blinked, slowly ridding himself of the tired feeling that held his eyelids in a vice like grip. After a few seconds of staying in that position Ryan lifted himself up and took a look around blearily, reflexively checking his most recent memories to make sure that he really was where he was and that it wasn't just a part of some dream or that he didn't just arrive in some strange place by accident and didn't know it. It had come to be an instinct for both him and Chris to do that ever since their jaunt into the digital world. Given the rather unexpectedness of that situation and the oddness of the world that they had found themselves in it seemed rather natural to do that. Ryan wondered if any of the Tamers did anything similar.
I'll bet Henry does given the partner that he has, thought Ryan as he threw back the borrowed blanket and began to fold it up. With a partner like that anyone would want to check their sense of reality.
Ryan set the blanket aside and stretched a bit, working some of the stiffness out of his joints before leaning back, glancing around the room again, thinking back to some of the events from yesterday, and some of the things that had been brought up from the Tamers at the hospital following the fight with yet again another Wild One. Ryan frowned a little, disliking the fact that he hadn't been able to get there in time to help out, though from what he had been told later it was highly likely that he would have been pretty much ineffectual.
A Mega digimon, thought Ryan remembering what Yamaki had told him and the others following Rika's return to the waking world. Further collaborations from Chris and Ryo upon their own recovery added to the sense of threat that had been growing ever since he and Chris had arrived in Shinjuku. Ryan thought back to the Apemon and Snimon (digimon that had borne an all too familiar dark shading that Ryan and Chris had seen once before on a Mammothmon prior to their return to the real world) that had entered the picture scarcely two days after showing up, not to mention the BlackKnightmon and Nightmare Blitzmon…two digimon who had definitely been pursuing him and Chris for no reason that either of them could see. The trouble hadn't ended there either. Three days later two digimon had bio-emerged. One of them, a variation of the standard Gargomon form had fought both himself and Rika in the park, using some rather unique attacks that didn't fit its description (and had also evaded the Hypnos tracking system as Yamaki had expressed some surprise over this revelation). Shortly afterwards a Mega had arrived and attacked Ryo. No reason was given apparently, and afterwards the Mega's attention had shifted to Chris…
Ryan frowned at that as he lifted his green trimmed digivice from off the floor and looked at it, thinking back to what the Gargomon had told him.
What did he call it again? A…Mee-yolner? Ryan thought, pronouncing the word in his mind as he had heard it. Whatever it's called he sure was interested in taking it. Was practically willing to kill me to get at it. I wonder if that Mega from yesterday was after Chris's. I remember Henry's dad telling me some stuff during one of my visits that this thing may be alive. Wonder if that has anything to do with it.
Ryan sighed to himself as he clipped the device to his waist and got up.
These things have become quite troublesome lately…Wonder where Henry went, thought the boy, taking note of the fact that the boy hadn't been in the room when he had woken up. Seems rather odd that he didn't take Terriermon with him. Those two never seem to Part Company except when it comes to the bathroom.
Ryan walked over to the rooms exit and opened the door. All things considered, staying over at the Wong's apartment had been a much more pleasant experience compared to the last time that he had been here. Of course, the fact that Suzie had been oddly well behaved had something to do with that. She hadn't tried to dress up Richoemon or anything except stare at the orange, tiger striped dinosaur and giggle childishly. As disturbing as Richoemon found that, Ryan had reminded him that the alternative could be far worse.
"Hey, look who's up," spoke up the familiar voice of Henry Wong, catching Ryan's attention as he closed the door behind him. Turning, Ryan found the half-Chinese Tamer walking towards him, still dressed in his sleeping clothes; his hair damp from what was undoubtedly from a morning bath.
"Hey Henry," said Ryan. "I was wondering where you were."
Henry raised an eyebrow.
"Any reason in particular?"
Ryan shook his head.
"Nope, I was just curious. Anything new today?"
"Not really. Yamaki hasn't called, and my dad hasn't left yet for work so I don't expect to hear anything new right away. I was thinking about going down to the hospital to check up on Takato and the others if we don't hear anything."
Ryan nodded. He was rather worried about the others himself. Ryo, Chris, and Rika were okay and the same went for their partners but Takato and Guilmon had still been conked out by the time visiting hours were over. Despite all assurances to the contrary he had to wonder just how bad things were for the goggle-wearing Tamer and his crimson colored dinosaur of a partner. Getting forcibly separated the way that they were…from what Rika had told them…did not sound good at all. Having merged with his own partner not too long ago, Ryan had the feeling that the experience was something that he'd rather not have happen to him.
"So I guess that means that the meeting that Yamaki wanted to hold today is still on?"
Henry shrugged.
"Your guess is as good as mine. Like I said, we haven't heard anything new today. I'm sure that Yamaki would want all of us to be present for the meeting. Takato especially. All we can do now is just wait and see."
Ryan nodded as Henry walked up to his bedroom door, opened it and stepped inside; as the door closed with a click Ryan padded on down to the kitchen to get something to eat. He felt a little odd doing so. He supposed that he was never going to get used to living off of someone else's generosity. Granted, he knew that he did so regarding his parents, but that had an unconditional factor to it that had to do with them being his family, something of which he had nothing in common with any of the Tamers. Not by a long shot. These people were strangers. Even though he had now gotten to know them for about a week they were still strangers. Of course, all things considered this was perhaps the least of the things that he should have been worrying about, but he found a kind of comfort in worrying about the small things as opposed to the much larger, life altering ones. The fact that the two were intertwined however took that comfort away from him.
The sounds of dishes clattering in the kitchen, and the smell of food being cooked brought his mind away from the matter however, and upon entering the room he found the faces of Henry's father, mother, two sisters, older brother, and Lopmon calmly having their breakfast and chatting away as if there was nothing going on. As if their visitor and his friend hadn't inadvertently brought something dangerous into their lives.
Well, they're probably used to it, thought Ryan as he scratched his ruffled hair, taking a moment to look the family over, reflecting on how accepting they were about the whole situation, and wondering if this would be what his life became like if and when he got home.
Suddenly Suzie spied the brown haired boy standing at the entrance into the family kitchen.
"Hi!" The little girl said loudly as she swung her feet beneath the table excitedly. "Good mowning sleepy head!"
" Morning Ryan," said Janyu cheerfully. "Hope Terriermon didn't keep you up last night. You look frazzled."
Ryan grinned half-heartedly at that and shrugged, not really having a reply to that.
Too early in the morning for that sort of thing.
"Well come on in," said Janyu's wife, Mayumi looking up from the stove where she was cooking. "You'll be wanting to get something to eat before Henry and Terriermon get out here."
"Yeah," said Jaarin, Henry's sister. "Especially Terriermon. With the way he eats I'm surprised that we haven't been put out on the streets yet."
"I heard that!" Cried a certain dog bunny indignantly as he entered the kitchen with Richoemon, rubbing at his eyes sleepily with his tiny paws, apparently having just been kicked out of Henry's room so that the boy could change in privacy. "And I'll have you know that Guilmon eats more than me. I don't know how Takato's parents can afford it frankly…"
"Well, you have a point there," said Jaarin, nodding in agreement.
"Anyway," said Terriermon. "They're right about one thing. You'll want to get something before me and Henry get in there. After what Yamaki told us yesterday about that meeting that he wants to have today I've got the feeling that we're going to need all the energy that we can get."
"What are you guys going to be talking about anyway?" Asked Jaarin as she dug into her breakfast. "You were all pretty tight lipped about it last night…"
Terriermon shrugged, smirking a little as he did that. Janyu took the moment to enter the conversation.
"Sorry Jaarin. You know that it's not something that we can easily talk about…"
The girl huffed a little at that.
"As if people can't already guess what's going on around here," the girl muttered to herself.
"…But," continued Janyu, ignoring that last comment. "I can tell you that it involves the recent bio-emerges and especially our visitors since they seem to be at the center of it all. Anything more than that we can't say."
Jaarin seemed to be a little bit more satisfied with that, but not by much. As far as breakfast and dinner table conversations went digimon tended to keep things interesting even though her mother didn't like to discuss the dangerous side of that topic often.
"Cheer up Jaarin," piped in Terriermon from his place next to Ryan and Richoemon. "It's just a meeting about what's been going on around here. Nothing too big. If you'd like I can try to find out about Ryan here's experience in the digital world involving a Suukamon and Chumon…"
As Ryan felt his face begin to heat up and turn red, he found himself repeating one thought over and over in his head like a mantra, so as to not upset the Wong family who had been kind enough to put up with him since he got here.
Must not kill Terriermon. Must not kill Terriermon. Must not kill Terriermon…
"OW!" Shouted Terriermon suddenly. "Richoemon! You stepped on my ear! Watch it!"
"Sorry," said Richoemon innocently. Ryan looked over at his partner with suspicion, faintly aware that the rest of the Wong family was doing likewise, though with some amusement to go along with it as well.
Somehow I'm sure that it'd be better if I didn't even bother to ask…
Two hours later Ryan, Henry, Terriermon, and Richoemon found themselves waiting patiently inside the room of the Tamers Takato Matsuki, and Ryo Akiyama with Jeri, Kazu, Kenta, MarineAngemon, Chris, Rika, Renamon, and Yamaki. Takato had finally woken up, groggy and somewhat sore by his account, but he was awake. He certainly looked the worse for wear and upon seeing him each and everyone (Yamaki included) had asked if he felt up to the meeting that they had scheduled for today.
"Hey c'mon," said Takato as he forced out a tired laugh. "Don't worry about me. If we're having a meeting, we're having a meeting. You guys shouldn't hold it off on my account…"
"That's true," said Yamaki looking closely at Takato, gauging his condition. The rings beneath the boy's eyes, signs of fatigue, were not exactly confidence builders to the Head of Hypnos. "But you do look like you could still do with some rest. As much as I'd hate to leave you out of the loop perhaps it would be better if one of the others came by later to fill you in. After all, out of all of you who were in that battle you were the one that took the most serious hit."
"Gee, thanks for that," said Takato with a touch of exasperation, causing the others to raise an eyebrow at him. A second later Takato heaved a sigh. "Sorry guys. I guess I am still out of it. I'll be fine though…"
"We might as well have the meeting here anyway," spoke up Terriermon. "Seeing as we're already here."
"Terriermon," began Henry in a warning tone. For some reason Yamaki felt as though he were watching a universal law in action. The one that went for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
"Terriermon's got a point," said Ryo from his bed. "You're all here anyway, and Chris and I would still need to be discharged from the hospital if you intend to take this back to Hypnos. Not like that would be a difficult thing to do but…"
"I get it," said Yamaki calmly. He had already decided on doing just that anyway. As much as he hated to admit it, Terriermon did have a point, that and the fact that he had a fair amount of respect for Takato. While he was concerned for his well being this was hardly the type of situation where it would be necessary for Takato to sit on the sidelines until he was more fully recovered from his experiences. Besides Takato would have to hear about it sooner or later. If he dropped off to sleep during the meeting he'd hear about the rest of the details later.
"All right. To start things off I think that a little recap is in order. Now I've collected each of your reports on the most recent battles, with the exception of Takato but that can wait as I'm certain that there's little that would contradict Rika's own documentation of the events surrounding them. Since Ryan and Chris have arrived there have been a number of bio-emergences within the area of Shinjuku, and they seem to be focused primarily on our two newest arrivals…"
"I don't buy it," said Kazu from a chair next to the Legendary Tamer's bed, arms folded back behind his head. "If that was the case then how come that Sakuyamon wanna-be went after Ryo in the first place?"
"Kazu," said Ryo. "You were there when I told Yamaki what happened. She specifically stated that she wasn't after me when I asked her…"
"Like a bad guy would be truthful about their intentions."
"…And was zeroing in on Chris," Ryo continued, ignoring the boy's comment.
"Yes," said Yamaki. "And then there's the report that Ryan filed on his and Rika's encounter from yesterday. The digimon was targeting Ryan; more precisely he demanded that he turn over his digivice. Identifying it as a…" Yamaki looked down at the file that he held in his hand. "…Mjolner."
At that, Chris looked up.
"That's weird," said Chris, more to himself than anyone in particular. Yamaki turned to the boy and raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you say that?"
Chris flushed a little, realizing that he had spoken out loud. He didn't like being the center of attention all that much.
"You dug the grave. Might as well lie in it," Chris could hear his partner sarcastically saying in his mind. Even when the sometimes mouthy digimon wasn't around he still had a way of chipping in his two cents.
"Well…it's just that I mentioned something along the lines of that to Henry's dad shortly after we arrived. The…um…shape of Ryan and mine's digivices resembled a kind of symbol from Norse mythology that I saw in a book once. A Mjolner. It's supposed to represent Thor's hammer or something."
"I see," said Yamaki as he carefully digested this bit of information, not sure as to what relevance it had in the grand scheme of things but unwilling to just simply discard it out of hand. "Is there anything else that you can tell me about this Mjolner symbol?"
"Um…just that the myth about it said that it was really heavy and involved something with lightning, nothing that has any relation to how these things have worked so far," Chris took out his digivice and waved it in the air in front of him to emphasize his point. "Anything else I can't recall off the top of my head at the moment. Sorry."
"Hey," said Henry entering the conversation now. "Hey Takato. Remember that time when we were in the digital world and met up with Mizuno for the first time? How he said that digimon took on forms of ancient gods of people? And remember how the Devas that we fought were based off of the Chinese Zodiac?
Takato blinked.
"Yeah. Yeah I do remember."
"What are you getting at?" Asked Yamaki looking over at Henry with a curious gaze.
"The digital world is made up of a combination of people's dreams and wishes as well as data. We've all seen the proof of that. Maybe there's something like that with Ryan and Chris's digivices. Now I can't be sure," Henry placed one hand on his chin in contemplation. "But in that battle we had with Apemon, when Ryan threw away his digivice it looked like the Apemon was trying to grab it."
Ryan thought about that. He hadn't exactly been in the best of condition at the time to really take notice of what was going on around him, but seeing as how the Gargomon from yesterday had demanded his digivice, or at least he thought that it was his digivice that he was referring to, there may be something to it.
"Okay…but how does that make them important?" he asked looking at the Tamers. "So far they don't do a whole lot besides digivolve our digimon. Heck, from what I've seen your digivices do a whole lot more than that. You can actually help your partners beyond just digivolving them and then sitting back and keeping out of trouble."
"…And it still doesn't explain why Ryo was the one who got jumped out of all of us," added Chris. Ryo chuckled lightly and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"That probably had more to do with my just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You see I arrived at the scene of the last battle after it had taken place and Ryan and Rika had left for Hypnos." Ryo's frowned a little as he fanned through his memories of the experience. "Funny thing though. When that red Sakuyamon had me captive it… I don't know. There was something about that period of time that felt weird. I found myself remembering all sorts of things about my life and…this is going to sound a little crazy but it felt like she, the red Sakuyamon, was watching my memories as they played out in my head."
"Maybe it was gathering information about you," said Rika with a touch of sarcasm as she leaned against the wall next to Takato's bed, arms crossed over her chest. A second later her voice became serious. "Or maybe information about all of us."
"You might have something there, Rika," said Henry, his eyes narrowing in deep thought as he began to compare stories in his mind. "Ryo was the one Tamer that was most readily available at that moment. Assuming that is that the digimon you guys encountered was capable of reading minds…"
"You mean like how everyone can predict your response to everything I say?" Asked a certain, long eared digimon who was dangling off of Henry's shoulder.
"Terriermon…"
"What? It was just a question! Sheesh!"
"Well first of all, your question involved predicting, not telepathy. And everyone can already guess my response anyway because they've seen me do it enough times."
"Yeah, but you have to admit it you fell for it just now."
Henry rolled his eyes and groaned, biting back the reflex to scold his partner in his traditional way, causing some of the Tamers to chuckle at the two. Yamaki soon ended the scene by clearing his throat loudly.
"All right," said Yamaki once he was sure that he had everyone's attention. "Although I don't think that we'll have an accurate understanding of why that digimon attacked Ryo first, Rika's theory does leave room to suggest that there is a greater intelligence at work here, especially if we take into account the BlackKnightmon and Nightmare Blitzmon attack. Ryan and Chris," Yamaki turned to the two children. "You both said that those two digimon had been pursuing you prior to your arrival here. Renamon said that she heard the Nightmare Blitzmon state that it was imperative that they find something called Keepers. Given your own account is there any reason to believe that they weren't referring to you two?"
Ryan and Chris looked at each other, and Ryan shrugged. Chris took this as an indication to make the response.
"We were certainly under the impression that we were the main targets. You don't get chased across the digital world as long as we were from a case of mistaken identity…at least I don't think that that would be the case. Wish we knew what they were referring to though. No one we met before them ever mentioned that word before. Centaurumon said that we weren't using our digivices to their full extent but we didn't get a chance to ask him in full detail what he was talking about."
The Tamers nodded, remembering the boy's story about how their friend had been killed in battle with an Okuwamon.
"What about Ahuramon's Shadow?" Asked Jeri in a voice that, despite its low volume had a way of echoing in the room. Ryan felt as though he had just received a shock.
"Pardon?" Asked Yamaki.
Jeri began to look a little uncertain now.
"Well…Leomon mentioned it to me a while back…and to Ryan too. It was that day that we first encountered that weird Apemon. Leomon said something about how he had heard stories involving digimon that had no shape and could possess other digimon. He…ah…also told me afterwards that he wasn't sure how he remembered it…"
Jeri felt her right hand fidget with her dress nervously. She wasn't all too sure if it was a good idea to add that last part but Leomon had been taking his time getting around to telling Ryan about that particular little detail. Still, it might be a complication that they could do without. But then again, it might also be important.
Ryan for his part could feel Chris's gaze settle on him rather heavily.
"Hmmm…" Yamaki furrowed his brow in thought. "I'll have someone look over your partner's data a second time. It's possible that it's just a minor defect in his code that can easily be corrected. Leomon had been presumed destroyed prior to his return to Shinjuku, correct?"
Renamon thought back to a conversation that she had with Impmon, where he had claimed that the Leomon that had arrived with Ryan and Chris was not the same Leomon as the one that he had destroyed and loaded as Beelzemon. The vulpine digimon suddenly felt that a little inquiry with the diminutive virus was going to be necessary…
"Yes Mr. Yamaki," said Jeri nodding, not betraying any sign of emotion concerning her recollections of the day that she had lost her partner beyond simple acknowledgement of that fact. Yamaki nodded back and once more reiterated that he would have someone look into it.
"Now, about this Ahuramon's Shadow," resumed the blonde haired head of Hypnos. Rika snorted at the name almost disdainfully.
"Sounds like something from a storybook," the girl quipped. At that, Chris's eyes widened and for a second it looked like he was about to say something, only to close his mouth and frown, looking for all the world like he was thinking Rika's comment over as though it had some relevance.
"Be that as it may," said Yamaki. "It's all we have as far as an identification goes. I'll be needing to talk to Leomon too by the way," Yamaki glanced at Jeri, who nodded her ascent. "The digimon that have been encountered so far that match that description seem to be something completely different from the ones that we know so far to be actively pursuing Ryan and Chris. The digimon that you encountered yesterday, and the BlackKnightmon and Nightmare Blitzmon all seem to be variations of a more common type with the differences being that of cosmetic, attack, or attribute change…"
"The Gargomon from yesterday used some attacks that didn't fit its profile," interrupted Ryan. "In fact, if I didn't know any better I'd swear that one of them was a combination of Kyubimon and Terradramon's attacks."
"So you have noted in your statement concerning the attack," said Yamaki hefting the file that he held.
"And let's not forget how that Sakuyamon handled her own Spirit Strike," mentioned Ryo. "No offence Rika, but that one had a lot of imagination to it. I never expected to see that attack executed that way."
Rika just hmmphed, but didn't say anything more in response to it. What Ryo said was after all, true.
"But back to the Ahuramon's Shadow," said Yamaki. "It has been noted, based on scans from Ryan and Chris's digivices that there is a virus type coding that had infected the digimon who you have encountered with the dark appearance, substantially altering them. They have shown themselves to be more resilient then they otherwise would have been…" The Tamers nodded, remembering how the Apemon easily withstood attacks from Rapidmon and WarGrowlmon, both of whom were at the Ultimate level. "…As well as being able to change their own shape and appearance in regards to an opponent that they are fighting." Chris nodded, remembering his own fight with the Snimon. "So far it looks like not all of them have shown themselves to be capable of that, though it may have more to do with experience. Furthermore, Janyu indicated some similarity between that viral coding and the digivices of yours."
Yamaki indicated Ryan and Chris with a nod of his head.
"And let's not forget that Ryan's digivice had been infected for a time by that same coding," said Renamon. Everyone nodded in response to that, Ryan, reluctantly.
"We know all of that though," said Kazu, sounding a little bit annoyed with the recap. "Why are we going over it again? Not that finding out that those weird dark digimon from before now have a name courtesy of Leomon but I'm sure we could have done without all the rest."
"I wanted to pool all the information that we have on the table, Shioda," said Yamaki in an emotionless voice that made it hard to tell what the Head of Hypnos thought of Kazu's outburst. "Due to the increasing frequency of the attacks, and the amount of focus on Ryan and Chris it stands to reason that all of us should be on the same page and come up with theories on what they want and how we can combat them. Furthermore, based on the information that we currently have, I'm of the opinion that we are dealing with more than one group that are actively operating towards a goal…a goal that involves our arrivals."
Really wish that they would stop referring to us as if we weren't in the room with them, thought Ryan a little irritably.
Ryo looked up from his hospital bed.
"Some of you already know this but I figured that now is as good a time as any to toss it more fully into the open. When I was in the digital world I met someone who had a digivice just like Ryan and Chris's."
Takato blinked at that.
"You mean that Raven girl that you asked Chris about the firs time he stayed over at my house?"
Rika blinked at that.
"The same one," said Ryo. "What was her name again? Jay…"
"Jane," said Chris. "Jane Dawn. And don't ask; I don't know a whole lot about her. Do you Ryan…?"
"Not really. I only talked to her once before we got sucked into the digital world. She said only a few words to me regarding my keeping track of my things and that pretty much made up the extent of our conversation, and even our conversations for the entire time that she's been at our school. She doesn't really associate with other people a whole lot."
Yamaki pushed up his sunglasses and looked at Ryo with a hard gaze.
"And why am I only hearing about this now?"
Ryo gave the man a nervous, but confident grin.
"Well a lot has been going on. Yeah, I know, that's not a very good excuse but she seemed perfectly able to move in and out between the real and digital worlds. That's how I got back this time around. I was going to bring her up yesterday, but that fight with the Sakuyamon kinda delayed that…"
"What was she doing there in the first place?" Asked Yamaki.
"Looking for those two guys," said Ryo looking over at Ryan and Chris. "But beyond that she was pretty tightlipped. Although she did mention something called an Aesir, which Chris said had to do with some Norse reference."
"A lot of that going around," muttered Rika quietly to herself.
"Why didn't she come with you?" Asked the shades wearing agent.
"There were some…complications. It's why she sent me back here in the first place. She didn't want me following her and she didn't want me talking about her either. I had hoped to find a digital portal so that I could go back and track her down…"
"Without us, again?" Demanded Rika harshly. "When are you going to get it into your thick skull that we're all in this together Ryo? I swear every time we turn around you disappear into the digital world without saying anything or even hinting about you're leaving and then you show up like nothing had ever happened…"
"Gee, Rika. Didn't know that you cared so much."
The Tamers could have sworn that they saw lightning bolts reflecting in Rika's eyes at that moment.
"Man, would you look at the vein on her forehead?" Whispered Terriermon to his partner.
"If you two are done, I would like to move on," said Yamaki starting to sound a little bit annoyed at the Tamer's antics. As mature as they had become in the course of their adventures they still acted like children even in the most serious of situations.
But then, it was that quality that gave them their strength…
Some time later, the Tamers found themselves getting ready to depart. Although their meeting had been fairly informative and had gone a long way towards putting things in perspective they couldn't say that there had been much at all that it had done to help them. The Ahuramon's shadow information had been interesting, but again not a whole lot had been gleaned about it. Ryan, Chris, and Richoemon certainly knew nothing about it, and it was likely that Caramon, who like most of the other Tamer's digimon was still at Hypnos being looked over following the battle with the Sakuyamon from yesterday, knew nothing about it either. Leomon…the thought that he might know something was of interest and all were certainly eager for information, but as Jeri had pointed out the lion digimon had been unaware of how he had come upon that information. Henry theorized that, depending on the circumstances of his revival (the popular theory at the moment involved a type of Primary Village from the TV show, but there had been nothing in their adventures to indicate that one even existed. Certainly none of the digimon had heard of one) there may have been some defect in his code from being reconstructed after deletion.
Something else to ask the lion hearted warrior later on.
And then there was the Raven girl, Jane. Not a whole lot that any of them could do concerning her. The digital world was a big place after all, with a lot of dangers and ground to cover. Lacking an easy means to travel there they could not just very well go and begin a search and rescue mission. They couldn't depend on the blind luck that they had on their previous adventures with everything that was going on now. And the fact that Ryo said that she could move freely between the worlds was certainly something else to consider, though what the overall impact of that knowledge was they could not tell for sure. If nothing else she was bound to be far safer then they would be if they went. At least she could return home whenever she wanted, though it did raise some questions regarding Ryan and Chris's digivices. Both of them claimed ignorance on any knowledge that they could be used to create individual portals to the digital world. They had entered the real world via a portal that had been in some kind of temple in the digital world, and they had used their digivices to activate it but there wasn't a whole lot that they knew about them concerning their use.
That meant, in Yamaki's own words, that a little experimentation was in order…
A/N: This chapter was more about looking over some of the major events and plot holes in this story that had been bothering me than any serious plot advancement (though it is in there if you squint hard enough). My writing style has changed quite a bit since I started this fic (which has caused some trouble for me). That and the fact that I hadn't entirely planned it all out, as well as having a relatively long pause in between certain chapters necessitated, I felt, a look back on what has come before and attempt to link it all back together in my mind before I begin the part of the story that gets the plot moving. Filler? Yes, but a necessary filler. The upcoming chapters will work with plot advancement in far greater detail and no doubt complexity as well. We'll see a little bit more of Rika's possession coming out, which will be a major factor in this story. 'Till next time then.
-Crazyeight
12