It was still Monday, but already entering evening. 5.30 p.m. to be exact.
Adam was getting restless. He had spent nearly the entire day cooped in the apartment, with nothing much to be done. Tokomon had woken up somewhere during the time he was watching a movie on the television, but the little in-training had dozed off once more after having his lunch. It appeared that the Dark Digivolution was really a taxing ordeal for him, so Adam left Tokomon to rest and resumed with the movie thereafter.
His sister didn't even call once. Not that it was strange; Adam simply assumed that she was busy with work at the office. But she should already be on her way back home by now, although Adam only expected her to arrive at their apartment by 7.00 p.m. That was, if she was lucky enough to be able to escape the town's evening traffic jams.
He had even taken the initiative to clean the house in whichever way he could. The trash bag was full; Adam took it out at the dumpster, careful of not letting anyone see his bruised face. The oven was slightly soiled with oil from the previous day; Adam wiped it off clean. Then he took out the vacuum cleaner and began vacuuming the whole apartment idly. Feeling hungry, he made himself a sandwich and took liberty of another ice-cream serving.
Plain and simple; he was bored. But then, his eyes trailed to the computer – which was in its hibernating mode – and smiled.
Maybe he could contact TobuCatmon, and ask him whether anything had happened in the Digital World. There was no news from Liu Ying, and Gayathri had informed him earlier that she would be going to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to send off her parents, who were going for a business trip to the United Kingdom. She would have been back by now, but Adam didn't think that the girl would know of anything.
Just by moving the mouse a little and Adam was brought back to the main screen. The internet connection was immediately reestablished, and as Adam had set up for the Yahoo Messenger program to connect to the net immediately after detecting a connection, the chatting client's window was also on.
There was an offline message for him, but before he could read it a gray box popped up at the screen.
"Add contact request?" Adam wondered, his eyes searching for the name. He found none, but recognized the username anyway. "JD?" he wondered. Refusing the request would be rude, so Adam decided to just approve the request and see what would happen. The gray box then was closed and Adam managed to read the offline message, which was also from JD.
"Thanks for the thought…" Adam read, and smiled. "…although I didn't expect you to message me about it. Heck, I didn't even expect you to message me, period. Late? Well, better late than never, right? Anyhow, I appreciate it."
"You're welcome," Adam said, to nobody in particular. Is it just me, or does JD actually sound friendly in this message? He thought silently, before hearing a knocking sound from the speaker.
Someone was just online. Looking at the name, Adam saw that it was JD.
Before he could contemplate on what to do, a chatting window popped open in front of him just as a 'Buzz' was heard from the speaker. It didn't take Adam long to figure out who had sent him that buzz; TobuCatmon was offline, and both Liu Ying and Gayathri haven't approved his request to add them as contacts. The only one who was online was JD.
And it was he who'd buzzed him.
"Yo."
"Uhh…hi," Adam typed, unsure of how to respond to the brief greeting JD had given him.
"Wassup?"
"Fine, thanks."
"What'cha doin'?"
"Nothing, really. Just cooped up inside the house."
"Why? You sick or something?"
Adam pondered on how to answer the inquiry; he wasn't actually friends with JD, but the way JD asked him about it sounded as if they had been friends for a long time. In fact, he had only spoken to the blonde teen twice, and that was during the Computer Club meeting. Even so, the older teen didn't seem interested in becoming their friends at all. He was always either making Liu Ying mad, or in his own world.
Why the sudden change? Adam wondered curiously. Then, he got an idea and his face lit up. Oh, is it because I've sent that birthday message? Come to think of it, even if I'm having a bad day, a birthday wish like that would certainly cheer me up considerably. Yeah, that has to be it. Even a 'tough-guy' like JD has got to have a mellow spot, right?
"Sick? Well…that's one way of putting it."
Adam wasn't going to tell JD that his face was currently bruised, or the fact that his body suffered injuries due to a fight with the Harpymon. He settled for being vague with JD. Even if he explained the whole truth to JD, he doubted that JD would be able to grasp it fully. (Of course, Adam didn't know how wrong he was)
"Bummer."
"Tell me about it."
A brief pause ensued between both of them. Adam eyed the chat window's status bar…it seemed that JD was trying to come up with something to say, but nothing came up in the mainframe window. It was like he had typed something up, then changed his mind and deleted it. This went on until a couple of minutes, and all the while, Adam tapped his fingers on the table patiently.
Then, after another minute had passed, a reply came up, in a form of an inquiry.
"Hey, listen…you doing anything right now?"
"No. Not really, why?"
"'Cos I've got like NOTHING to do right now, and I'm bored out of my wits, and I don't feel like going out. Mind chatting with me?"
And right at the end of the sentence, a pleading-looking smiley face was placed, seemingly emphasizing the request. Adam sweatdropped; he didn't know why he was resisting the urge to laugh as there was nobody around. He just thought that it was a funny request, somewhat unbefitting to the teen whom everyone had thought to be 'cool'.
But then again, this was cyberspace. Things weren't always what they seemed. For all Adam knew, JD might just add that smiley out of habit.
"Uhh, you ARE chatting with me now," Adam pointed out directly.
A red, angry-looking smiley was placed, followed by a purple, devil-like one. This time around, it managed to make Adam laugh. "Heh. Not like that. I mean, really chat, y'know? Not just, 'Hi, How are you, I'm fine, Bye'…but maybe discuss something. Like, favorite movies, or sports, or hobbies… you get what I mean?"
"He sure likes to use those smiley faces," Adam muttered as he typed, "Oh…ok. How about hobbies?"
"Fine with me. Mine's basketball and videogames. What's yours?"
What's my hobby? Adam wondered, and a flicker of smile came from his lips. Lately, it's been saving the Digital World. But…
"I like reading storybooks when I have some free time."
"READING?" A wide-eyed, gaping smiley was included to further emphasize what seemed like a shock to JD. The way the smiley ensued the capitalized inquiry sounded somewhat teasing, in Adam's opinion. Then on a new line, a laughing smiley followed, with a statement beside it. "Don't you do that enough for school already? What kind of books do you read anyway?"
"I like Hardy Boys and Harry Potter, among other things."
"Ok, help me out here, Adam." A pause ensued before the second sentence popped out in a new line. "What's so big about Harry Potter anyway? I don't read the books, or see the movies; I don't get it why many people are so hyped about it. Care to tell me?" A smiley with a questioning mark embedded with it was included at the end of the sentence.
Adam chuckled. "I'll tell you…"
The dark-haired DigiWira then began typing a brief explanation about 'Harry Potter' to his chatting companion, being very careful not to let any vital plot being spoiled as JD wasn't familiar with the story at all. Well, since Adam had some time to spare, he might as well use it. It was better than doing nothing at all.
Of all the things I thought JD would ask me, I didn't expect it would be Harry Potter… Adam thought as he typed. Some people are just not what you've expected. At school, I thought JD is just one of the school's troublemakers. But he seems decent enough to chat with in cyberspace. Hmm…maybe this is why Hakim has him as a friend in his MySpace?
-
At the same time, inside a darkened room where its sole source of illumination came from the computer screen, JD let out a dark chortle as he watched (without really reading) the text messages that were sent to him, explaining briefly to him of the adventures of a boy wizard and his two loyal friends.
"Gotcha!" he said with a smirk. "How gullible of you, Adam."
Cracking his knuckles, he leaned back against his chair, letting out a satisfied smirk as his eyes flashed with crimson glow, before reverting back to their former bluish-green hue. He was satisfied of the quick progress of his plan. The best thing was that Adam didn't suspect anything at all. It was slightly difficult to initiate a chat conversation with Adam at first, but JD decided to make himself appear friendly while online to get Adam to warm up to him. The plan worked.
"You have no idea now, have you, Adam?" he said softly.
His left hand pushed up the sleeve of his red shirt before tracing the thin scar that was on his right arm. He grimaced upon setting sight on it. Against his toned arm, the scar looked ugly. He grunted and pulled his hand away, letting the short sleeve of his shirt fell back to his elbow, hiding the scar.
As Adam continued on explaining about Harry Potter, JD decided to use that time to surf the web. He typed out an address at the URL box, which brought him to the main page of MySpace. The username and password had already been entered in asterisks, so he just pressed on the enter button and waited for his main profile page to load. Then, his eyes were brought to his mailbox, which indicated that he had several unread messages.
Clicking on the link, he scanned the titles of the messages. Friend request…friend request…trash…rubbish…nothing important…AHA! There it is. Just the message I'm looking forward to.
He clicked on the message eagerly and scanned its content His eyes narrowed slightly upon reading the message.
Well, it's nothing that I don't know, but thanks anyway, Hakim…for nothing, JD thought snidely. He then checked on all the messages in his mailbox, not bothering to open any of the other unread messages, and hit the delete button.
Then, noticing that Adam had stopped with his explanation, JD immediately minimized the browser window and scanned the messages rapidly in order to come up with a response. He found out that Adam had just finished explaining about the three major characters of the Harry Potter books briefly. He grinned devilishly as he saw an opening where he could comment on.
"Umm…about this Hermione girl; she sounds hot. Tell me more about her."
xxx
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 14 – One Peaceful Day
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One Tuesday afternoon, Alisha stared at the screen of her monitor in confusion as she was eating a sandwich. Her left hand was expertly navigating the blinking optical mouse, despite her not being a left-handed person.
A black window was being displayed by the monitor. It took up nearly three-quarters of the whole screen. Inside, there were many lines of codes in green letterings.
The codes looked encrypted, or were written in a completely foreign language. Alisha had never seen such alphabets before. They didn't make any sense at all to her.
"I nearly forgot," she murmured. "The translation program; Jackie's burned it for me in a CD yesterday."
The previous day, around evening when she was about to make her leave, Alisha had insisted for Jackie to let her copy some of the programs he had designed for the DigiWira, so that she would be able to start learning whenever she had the time. She was sure that she would be able to understand the programming behind them.
Jackie had warned her that they would be too much for her to take on. Alisha however had insisted that she was a fast learner.
And thus, the brown-haired computer instructor had relented to Alisha's wish. He immediately burned all the programs he had written so far for the DigiWira inside a CD. Alisha had brought along with her a pen-drive, but the programs proved to be too large for the pen-drive alone. She managed to copy the Digital-Detect-Discover program that Jackie had copied from Liu Ying's Digivice into the D-Terminals, and was determined to grasp the way the program was designed while she was working that day.
"Now where did I put the CD?" Alisha wondered, and reached for her handbag, which she had placed beside the monitor. She dug into it, and smiled as she took a CD jewel case out. "Aha!"
Alisha took out the CD from its casing and inserted it in the CD slot of the desktop system in her office. A burring sound was heard as the CD was being read. Looking around the office, she could see that the office was currently deserted. No one was around as it was break time. She could hear voices coming from the room where people would go for a cup of coffee, but in the main office no one was around.
It was a perfect time for her to check out her newest task, which she had given herself.
"DigiMentor," Alisha whispered, shaking her head. "I guess that's what I am right now – a mentor to the DigiWira."
A dialogue box then appeared on the screen, imploring for a program to be installed. Alisha agreed; and spent the next three and a half minutes waiting for the translation program to finish being installed. When the installation was completed, Alisha watched with amazement as slowly, the strange alphabets exhibited by the opened window began to be replaced with some characters which Alisha was familiar with.
"Now this is more like it," Alisha murmured, and began scrolling the program.
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Gayathri's thoughts were rather preoccupied these past two days. A few things went through her mind.
Upon seeing that the afternoon was slightly cloudy, but with no sign that it was going to rain anytime soon, she had decided to put off doing her homework until later, and opted to go out for a few rounds of rollerblading. Hopefully it would ease her mind slightly. Things were too quiet at home to her liking, with her parents at the United Kingdom. Mak Mirah, the family cook, was out to the hypermarket with her son Anding to stock up some of the food supplies and other household items, leaving her alone in the Nadarajah family's big bungalow house. They wouldn't be back until at least another hour or so.
It was now Tuesday, and while rollerblading down the empty street in front of her house, her thoughts rolled back to events that had happened to her these past two days.
/Flashback/
On Monday morning, right before the weekly assembly was about to start, Gayathri found her two best friends approaching her. They didn't look too happy, and judging from the way they were looking at her, it was as if Gayathri was the reason for that. She wondered what could be wrong.
"Gaya, you didn't show up at all at Sunway Pyramid yesterday!" Belinda Foo began. "Dina and I were waiting for you there. Remember? Our every two-weeks shopping trip?"
Gayathri nearly smacked her head; she had totally forgotten about it. In fact, it didn't even cross her mind at all. She was doing something far more important than a shopping spree – she and Liu Ying were rescuing their captured teammate Adam from the evil Digimon of the Digital World.
"We tried to call you since Saturday evening, but you weren't home," Wardina Fadlullah added, but her tone was not as loud as Belinda. She was demure as always, but a curious look was reflected from her calm brown eyes. "So we just assumed that you'd show up like you always would. We tried calling you again yesterday morning, but your cook told us that you've left the house already. We thought you've already on your way there."
"But you never showed," Belinda finished. She placed her arms on her hips. "What gives?"
Gayathri quickly ran several thoughts in her mind. She knew that she couldn't just say out that she was a DigiWira and the previous day, if she was out shopping, Adam wouldn't be at home recuperating from his ordeal that day. Usually she managed to clear out some time on Sundays to go out with her friends, but with Adam being kidnapped by the ShadoWira…
"I'm really sorry, girls," Gayathri finally said. "I was out...with Liu Ying. She needed my help on something, and I kind of promised her that I'd do it." Well, that's stretching the truth, but definitely not a flat out lie, she thought silently, hoping that Belinda and Dina would accept her explanation. Then, before any of them could ask her more questions, Gayathri quickly came up with her own inquiry. "By the way, what did you two buy yesterday?"
"Nothing much, really," Dina answered. "I bought a new top. Bel bought a storybook. It wasn't as fun as when you are around."
"Sorry, sorry," Gayathri said, daring herself to smile a little. "Am I forgiven?"
"Sure," Dina nodded, smiling back to her dark-skinned friend. "You promised Liu Ying, after all. Did you manage to get it done…whatever it is?"
"Thankfully, yes," Gayathri replied promptly.
"And I take it that we're not going to know about whatever the two of you were doing?" Belinda asked pointedly.
"There's someone we both know, and Liu Ying doesn't want…or can't, actually, go alone; that's all I can say," Gayathri said evasively, hoping that her well-placed hints would mislead her friends. "You can ask her for details if you want."
Both of her friends smiled slightly upon hearing this. Apparently, they had misperceived Gayathri's patchy explanation, just like she'd wanted them to.
"Say, Gaya, I don't know whether I'm the only who notice this, but you seem to be hanging out around Liu Ying a lot lately," Gayathri's athletic friend suddenly pointed out. "Last year, you didn't seem to realize that Liu Ying exists, but from when the school first opens until today, you are very friendly to her. That, I don't understand."
"Well, let's just say that during the holidays, while you two were off to somewhere on a holiday and I was bored at home, I met Liu Ying. She helped me out from one tight situation, and I've done her the same favor. We then decided to be friends." Gayathri was amazed of how she had managed to summarize two of her adventures at the Digital World with Liu Ying, without even mentioning Digimon at all. Her explanation didn't sound suspicious at all.
"Oh," Dina said smilingly, adjusting a stray of her brown hair which obscured her eyes. "Well, I'm her classmate this year, and she's quite nice. Although outside the class, she can be very strict."
"Tell me about it," Belinda said glumly. She ran a hair through her short hair. "She chided me for missing the spot when I threw a can of Coke into the rubbish bin two weeks ago."
"Did you pick the Coke can up after you missed the shot?" Gayathri hazarded a guess. Knowing her friend, Belinda would just pretend that she didn't see that she had missed the target.
"Um…no," Belinda admitted. "But still, she didn't have to bite my head off. Luckily no one was around."
"She isn't made the second assistant of head prefect for nothing," Gayathri pointed out.
The bell then rang and the girls split up. When she met up with Liu Ying later during the recess period, she had totally forgotten about the conversation she had with her two best friends when Liu Ying introduced her to Adam's older sister, Alisha Ariff.
/End Flashback/
That was one of her problem – her best friends from primary school getting suspicious of what she were doing hanging around Liu Ying and Adam lately. Adam seemed to have the same problem; Hakim seemed somewhat distant from him. But then again, Gayathri noticed that Hakim was slightly distant to everyone, not just Adam. What his problem was, Gayathri could only wonder. The previous day, when Adam was absent, Hakim did seem to be worried, although he didn't voice it out.
Suddenly, her own problem didn't seem too big anymore, Gayathri thought, as she rollerbladed down the slightly steep road. Getting kidnapped was bad enough; getting kidnapped by demonic creatures and evil people with superpowers was a lot worse. No one deserved to go through that kind of ordeal. And in the real world, his best friend was being cold to him. If it happened to her – if Belinda and Wardina suddenly gave her the cold shoulders – Gayathri would have cried.
Yet, Adam seemed to handle this just fine. Calm, optimistic and cheerful, as he always was.
All of a sudden, she was reminded of what Dina had mentioned about Adam a couple of weeks back. (Refer Chapter 03 – Fairymon's Vice Versa)
"Back then he was…well, rather withdrawn. Aloof too; I sometimes saw him having faraway looks while in class."
"Adam was different. I mean, he was perfectly civil and all but unless talked to, he usually would stay silent and preferred to watch everybody in class. Everyone thought he was…well, a little weird. He didn't laugh at any jokes anybody made in class. It was hard actually to know what he was thinking back then, his face was always neutral. Nobody really knew whether he was happy or sad, he was always…well…unnaturally calm."
And it was after meeting Hakim that Adam began to actually look happy, and friendlier, Gayathri thought as she swung her hips slightly, maneuvering her way on the empty road. The Adam I know now is very, very likable. It's no wonder Dina likes him… Gayathri smiled inwardly upon thinking about her best friend Dina, and her DigiWira teammate Adam. Both cute, both nearly equal in heights, both are just very, very shy to ask each other out.
She shook her head, brushing that thought about Adam and Dina away. Thinking about them caused her mind to think of one particular person.
That particular person was one charming guy with dark spiky hair and russet-colored eyes. The strong and silent type of guy, in Gayathri's opinion. Just thinking about him made her heart flutter, and sent the butterflies in her stomach flying. Nobody had that kind of effect on her before.
Do I like him? Gayathri thought. I just knew him for a few weeks…not even close to a month yet.
In these few weeks, her new neighbor, Emmanuel Abah, had transformed from a shy, introverted guy that she had first met, into a slightly more outgoing, confident type. The lunch trip she at Kenny Rogers not too long ago came back to her mind.
While asking her to join his family for that lunch trip, Manny had mentioned that it was his mother who had wanted Manny to bring her along.
But while Manny was getting some desserts after their meal, his mother, Kimberly, had confided to Gayathri that it was Manny who had asked her whether he could bring Gayathri along to the lunch trip.
That particular day had been lingering within the curly-haired girl's thought for a while, too. She didn't know what to make out of it.
And earlier that day, she had been invited once more to lunch by Manny's family.
/Flashback/
Earlier that day, during recess time, Manny had managed to catch up to Gayathri before she joined Belinda and Wardina. He seemed somewhat eager about something.
"Manny? What is it?" Gayathri inquired curiously.
Manny smiled at her. "Gayathri…remember about what my mom said about another lunch invitation? Well, how about tomorrow? She's going to prepare her special chicken, using the family's recipe. She's asked me to ask you whether you want to join us again. I bet you one thing; it's way better than Kenny Rogers!"
Gayathri's eyes lit up, but before she could stop herself, she blurted out. "Really? Is it your mom who asked you to invite me…or is it you who want me to come?"
She had meant for the question to sound lighthearted, and had even added a smile to it, just in case Manny perceive the question wrongly.
However, what she didn't expect to happen was to have Manny's smile vanish from his face. It happened so quick, Gayathri didn't think that her newfound super speed power could even match the quickness of Manny's smile being wiped away from his face.
"What…what do you mean?"
"Well, when we were at Kenny Rogers, while you were down to take the muffins up, your mom told me that you were the one who asked her whether it was ok for you to bring me along. Really, Manny, I think that's so sweet, actually. You should just have told me directly, you know."
The smile on Manny's face returned, but looked somewhat strained. His dark reddish-brown eyes had a nervous look on them.
"Oh…ok. So…you still coming tomorrow, right?" he asked carefully.
"I'd love to."
/End Flashback/
That was odd, Gayathri thought finally. But still, I think that's sweet of him, even though he 'uses' his mom as a reason to get me to join his family for lunch. I shouldn't have confronted him on trivial things like that. Me and my big mouth.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice somebody coming up from her front. A loud warning cry was heard, but it was too late.
THUDD!
"OOOF!"
"AACK!"
Gayathri felt as if the wind was knocked out of her chest as she felt herself losing her balance. A pair of slightly damp arms attempted to catch her in order to stop her from falling, but failed to do so as everything was happening all too quickly. Gayathri managed to clutch on those arms, which resulted in both of them to fall onto the grassy sidewalk beside the road.
And Gayathri, to her utmost embarrassment, found herself on top of a very familiar person. Even their position was very suggestive; the two of them were somewhat tangled up between each other. Both of them were blushing furiously, and tried to get up. The person was trying to get himself up; he was currently lying on his back, and Gayathri's added weight on his body made it somewhat difficult for him to get back up.
"Gayathri?" Manny called out to her. "Uh…mind getting up from me, please?"
"Oh, Manny!" Gayathri said, and scrambled back up to her feet. She however nearly lost her footing once again – the rollerblades she was wearing made it difficult for her to stand straight up. Manny quickly shot up to his feet and helped Gayathri regained her balance. He was smiling slightly…and embarrassedly.
"You ok?" he asked, holding both of Gayathri's arms. Gayathri noticed that his palms were a little sweaty, but didn't make any mention about it.
"Yeah, I'm ok…" she said, her eyes were looking down. She was too embarrassed herself to look up. She couldn't believe that she didn't see Manny, and ended up crashing onto him instead.
"Good," Manny said, finally letting out an amused smile. "What were you thinking back there, if you don't mind me asking? I was jogging, on my way back actually, when I saw you coming my way. I waved at you, but you didn't wave back…you seemed to be very deep in thought."
Gayathri took a second to look at Manny. The burly boy was wearing a sleeveless dark blue T-shirt, which was soaked in sweat, and a pair of light blue shorts. His arms and face were all sweaty, and so were his short cropped brown-maroon hair. He was breathing heavily, and his face was slightly flushed.
"I'm so sorry," Gayathri said; she couldn't possibly say that she was thinking about him – which ended up in her colliding onto him! What would he think of her then? Then she realized that Manny too, was observing her as he waited for her answer. Not observing…staring. All of a sudden, she became self-conscious. What was he staring at? She was wearing a pink top with a red heart logo and blue jeans shorts, with knees and elbows protections, and a pink helmet. Her curly brown hair was done in two plaits, and for every plait she had tied a purple ribbon on.
She cleared her throat, which effectively caused the boy to avert his gaze back to her eyes. "Umm…yeah, something was on my mind just now, I'm so sorry that I didn't see you, and collided onto you instead. Are you hurt?"
Manny was rubbing his back with one hand. A strained look shot up his face, but he shook it off with a smile. "Don't worry about it, Gayathri."
"Does your back hurt?" Gayathri asked worriedly; she didn't miss the look on the boy's face. "Is it because of the fall that your back's hurt?" she pressed on.
"My back?" Manny asked back; his smile gone, replaced by a frown. Then, the smile returned back. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's not because of the fall. It's just that…I got into trouble with something involving water. You see; I was swimming on Sunday, and somehow, I swung my arms wrongly. Until now, the pain's there."
"Shouldn't you see a doctor about it?" Gayathri asked, concerned.
"I did get it looked up too," Manny assured her. "At least, now it's not as bad as it used to be. Don't worry."
"Ok," Gayathri nodded, and then noticed that Manny was still holding her right wrist with his left hand, trying to balance her straight. "Umm…" she said, her brown eyes shot towards her hands.
"Oops, sorry about that," Manny apologized, removing his hand slowly, as if afraid that Gayathri would fall back onto the ground if he'd let go.
"It's ok. So…you were jogging?"
"Yeah. Trying to lose some fats," Manny answered, and smiled sheepishly. "Until my back's ok, I won't be swimming for a while, I think. So I decided to jog."
"I don't see any fats," Gayathri said playfully. Then she grimaced as she looked down on her own body. "Now that you've mentioned it, I think I'm the one who needs to jog, as I've got lots of fat to get rid off." Gayathri was not actually fat, but she was leaning towards the plump side.
"I think you look fine, actually," Manny pointed out earnestly. "Healthy. Not so thin, not fat at all; just perfect."
Gayathri's cheeks colored a little. "Um…thanks, I guess. Anyway…I'm going to go for a round around the block with my rollerblades now. See you later?"
"Oh, ok, sure," Manny said, and stepped aside. As Gayathri rollerbladed past him, he waved towards her retreating form. Gayathri turned around and waved back before increasing her momentum. When she turned around the corner and disappeared from the road lane, Manny's left arm rubbed his aching back once again. "Man, my back hurts."
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"Grandpa, are you doing something?" Liu Ying called. She cocked her head back towards the sofa, where her grandfather was sitting on, and saw the elderly man reading a newspaper.
It was Wednesday afternoon, and she was spending time with her family. With no homework needed to be done, she used the free time she had to accompany her five-year-old brother Liu Meng to watch some cartoon DVDs. She had already changed into much more comfortable clothing, which were a simple yellow sleeveless V-necked T-shirt and a pair of knee-length sweatpants. Her long, black hair was left untied, secured out of her face by an orange headband.
Grandpa Chang placed the newspaper down on his lap and lifted his reading glasses. He peered to his granddaughter with his small eyes from under the glasses, and shook his head.
"Is there something you wish to ask me, Ying?" he inquired.
Liu Ying cast a look at Shaomon, who was asleep on the big cushion which was placed on the carpeted floor. Liu Meng was patting on the Digimon, seemingly singing a mispronounced lullaby to the little in-training. Smiling, she turned back to face her grandfather.
"Yes. You see, I'm somewhat curious about the concept of Yin and Yang."
"Oh?" Grandpa Chang smiled upon hearing his granddaughter's inquiry. "Why the sudden interest in that?"
The previous day, Liu Ying and Shaomon had encountered Kyuubimon; a perfect mirror image for Youkomon, with the differences being their size, gender and color. And in order to defeat Kyuubimon, Youkomon had unlocked a latent power – a hidden power which was linked to her affinity to the concept of Yin and Yang. It was only yesterday that she had gotten to know that Youkomon was a Yin-type, and had a dormant Yang-form within her. After gaining the art of astral projection, she could project her dormant Yang mode as her astral self.
Definitely an attribute linked to the magical element of the Yellow DigiSphere, she mused silently, and began telling her grandfather about the previous day's event.
"That is definitely interesting," Grandpa Chang commented ten minutes later. "Shaomon is actually an embodiment of the Yin and Yang concept; how very curious."
"That's why I want to know more about it," Liu Ying said.
"Well, in that case, I'll do my best to explain it to you," Grandpa Chang said with a smile. "Alright, firstly, what you should know is that the concepts of Yin and Yang are actually from the ancient Chinese philosophy, which describes two opposing forces which complement each other in various ways. These are found in nearly every thing in this world. Yin refers to the darker element, which is linked to sadness, dark, passive and feminine, while Yang refers to the elements of light, such as happiness, brightness, active and masculine. Yin is night, while Yang is day. Yin is water, while Yang is fire. You see, Ying, all of the examples I have given you are complimentary, while also opposing, to each other. Do you understand this?"
"I understand now, grandpa, thank you," Liu Ying nodded, but one of her grandfather's examples caused her to shiver slightly.
"Do you have anymore inquiry that you'd like me to explain?"
Liu Ying smiled and shook her head. "No. I think I get the concept. Thank you, grandpa."
"You're very welcome, Ying."
Yin is water, and Yang is fire? she thought; her mind immediately reeled back to the perfect example of water and fire. The ShadoWira?
Hiding the uneasiness she was feeling, she resumed her attention back to the TV as her grandfather lifted the newspaper back to in front of his face. It was certainly fitting, Liu Ying thought. The ShadoWira, when together, were an unbeatable force. But separate them, and they were able to be defeated.
Her sharp mind then found another connection.
Yin is dark, and Yang is light. The Red DigiSphere has an element of darkness…and the White DigiSphere is purely of light. Could it be the reason why the Red ShadoWira seem to focus all his attack only on Adam, instead of the three of us? He's the one who abducts Adam, he's the one who hits Adam, he's the one who has attempted on Adam's life…more than twice, and he's the one who stole Adam's D-Terminal. Adam sure has a very dangerous enemy…
The thought sent her shivers down her spine; if it was true, then she had to warn Adam about this.
But then again, the other element of the Red DigiSphere… the fire element, isn't it an element of Yang? Light also is an element of Yang. Oh dear, this is all getting too confusing!
Her eyes then fell onto the sleeping Shaomon, who looked content and comfortable being babied by her little brother. Liu Meng had thought of Shaomon as the family's pet, which Shaomon had found to be rather offending to her at first. But now, the Digimon realized that Liu Meng didn't harbor any ill intention when he said that, and settled for that.
Youkomon is Yin, Kyuubimon is Yang. Why would Labramon Digivolve into Youkomon, instead of Kyuubimon?
Female is Yin, Male is Yang? Is that the reason?
Liu Ying pressed her temples in frustration. These Yin and Yang concepts are brilliant, yet very complex. Maybe it's best if I don't think about this too much. Besides, this seems to be a free day for me. I should be using it to enjoy a quality time with my family, not thinking of things I don't have to.
xxx
xxx
Adam stared at his reflection in the mirror. Perfect! TobuCatmon's medicine works wonderfully! No way would Kak Lisha be able to make me stay in the apartment tomorrow. Only small traces of bruise remain now…and I think I can fix that!
His face now was almost bruise-free. There was a slight bluish tint along the lines of his right nose, which extended until the wings of his nose. However, it was not really detectable. It was still bright outside; Adam would just have to wear a cap, and the shadow would hide his face. No one would know that he was bruised.
After spending Sunday and Monday, and the first sixteen hours of Tuesday cooped up in the apartment, Adam couldn't wait to get outside. He was only going to a shop nearby to get something to drink – something cold and carbonated, instead of the ranges of fruit juices his sister had bought. Hey, he was a teenager, and teens loved carbonated drinks!
"Tokomon, will you be alright here all alone?" Adam called towards the living room.
"Shh! Don't interrupt me. This guy is trying to fool the other guy into thinking that he's his friend; while actually, he's the enemy! It's so suspenseful!"
"Want anything? I'm heading to the shop."
"Shh! Oh, look! That poor guy doesn't even know what's coming to him. That evil fiend is tricking him, and still he believes…"
Adam shook his head; Tokomon was back to his usual afternoon routine – soap marathon! He had been disappointed that he had missed out the drama serials for the previous day, but luckily the stories were excruciatingly slow in progress from one episode to another; (too slow for Adam's liking) it was easy for Tokomon to catch up what he had missed.
"I'll be back in a few!"
"Bye…"
Adam could hear a muttered reply elicited from Tokomon as he exited the apartment. He locked up the door and began jogging his way down the stairs.
Dressed in white T-shirt with orange accents lining the sleeves and collars, and a pair of light brown pants which reached just past his knees, and a maroon hat, Adam was ready to head his way towards the nearby shop. It was not a very sunny day; Adam could jog his way there without breaking a sweat. And when he passed a parked car in the apartment complex compound, he took the time to look at his reflection at the car's tinted window. He saw that his face was shadowed by the cap – perfect for his attempt to cover up the bruise.
Within ten minutes, he had arrived at the shop. He jogged his way in and waved his hand towards the shopkeeper, whom he was familiar with. The shopkeeper waved back as he entertained one customer, whom had his back turned. Adam immediately went to the refrigerator and chose one drink before stepping towards the counter. The conversation between the shopkeeper and his customer could be heard; the customer seemed to be somewhat irritated, from the way he sounded, and the shopkeeper was trying to reason with him.
"I'm sorry, young man, but we don't have enough change for RM100. Do you have a smaller note?" The voice of the shopkeeper was heard, slightly exasperated.
"No. I only have RM100 with me. What kind of a shop is this? A hundred ringgit isn't that much, yet you still don't have a change for it. How much money you're short of anyway?" Adam thought that this voice was somewhat familiar, but couldn't place it directly.
The shopkeeper, a man with a receding hairline, looked at his calculator. "Well, I've given you RM91.20, so the remaining change is RM1.50. Maybe if you get another canned drink…"
By that time, Adam had reached the counter, and saw a familiar person arguing with the shopkeeper. His eyes widened instantly.
The said customer was wearing a dark red shirt which clasped onto his arms and chest, but was loose on his lower torso, and a pair of black Bermuda. What identified the customer to Adam instantly however were not his clothes, but the fact that he had a slightly messy mop of dishwater blonde hair. Not many people around the town had blonde hair. The customer turned around, and Adam saw a pair of hazel eyes glinted with mirth upon setting sight on him…or rather, the carbonated drink he was holding. A too-familiar lopsided grin then ensued.
"How much is that drink he's holding?" JD Kamaruzaman demanded to the shopkeeper, pointing towards the green canned drink Adam was holding.
"Huh?" Adam said, surprised. Why JD would be asking about the cost of his drink, Adam wondered.
"That one?" The shopkeeper took a moment to think before replying. "Mountain Dew costs RM1.30."
JD nodded. "Ok then. That's on me, too. And you can keep the change."
"Hey…you don't have to…" Adam began protesting, but he was too late. JD had already paid for the drink he was holding, and was about to leave the shop.
Before exiting, the blond teen cocked his head back and smirked at Adam. He made a slight gesture with his head, signaling for Adam to follow him before walking out of the shop. Adam saw that JD had paused nearby the parlor of newspapers, presumably waiting for him.
"Um…" he said uncertainly, and nodded at the shopkeeper before following JD.
Then he walked out, and approached JD. Adam dug into his pocket, but was stopped short when the older teen raised his right palm.
"Don't bother; it's my treat."
"Really?"
"No, you'll have to pay it back with 100 percent interest," JD replied with a smirk, which caused Adam to face-fault. "Nah, I'm just kidding you. My treat, seriously."
"In that case, thanks."
"No sweat," JD replied, before fishing his hand into the bag he was holding, and took out another can of carbonated drink (Coca Cola). He opened the seal and took a sip of his drink. He gestured for them to walk away from the shop, towards the sidewalks of the road. For a moment, neither spoke anything as they walked, until JD broke the awkward silence. "So, not cooped up in the house anymore, huh?" he asked with a smirk, referring to their online conversation the previous day.
"No. Not really," Adam replied unsurely. He opened his drink and took a sip as well, careful not to lift his head too high, lest JD would be able to see his bruised face.
"You come here often?" JD asked, taking another gulp of his drink. He was wondering why Adam kept his eyes down from him, but he had a pretty good idea.
"Yeah," Adam said, nodding. He stalled his steps slightly on purpose, so JD would be in the lead.
"What's with the short answers, Harry Potter fan? Cat bit your tongue?" JD asked, slowing down his paces to let Adam catch up to him. Seeing the boy to be slightly tensed up, JD gave him his trademark lopsided grin. "Relax, man; I don't bite."
Adam raised his head up slightly, and was about to reply when he realized that he had done a mistake. Quickly, he lowered his gaze back down, but it was too late.
"Hey…" JD said, and without warning, he snatched up Adam's red cap. In reflex, Adam's head shot up, and the faint bruise was visible for JD to see. Adam grimaced instantly as JD's hazel eyes widened in surprise. A small smirk formed on the older teen's face. "Wow. Took a nasty beating now, haven't you?"
"It's nothing like that," Adam said hastily.
JD leaned closer to get a closer look on the bruise, which made the younger teen took a step back. Raising his arms up, JD drew his lips into his mouth, giving himself a grim look. "Look, Adam. I for one know a beating when I see one. After all, I've got my fair share of beatings too sometimes."
Adam nodded. "I've heard," he said with a small voice. This year only, Adam had heard about JD being caught up in a fight with a Form Four student, as the latter was commenting of JD's ancestry in a rather insulting way. That was during the first week after school had opened.
"So you've heard," JD nodded. "So there's no use fooling me now. But I don't think you're one that would get yourself tangled in a fight."
"I wasn't fighting," Adam said indignantly. Then he raked his brain for a reason of the bruise on his face. "Actually, I was…mugged," he finished weakly. Well, he thought. It's still true.
JD didn't look convinced. "Mugged, huh?"JD resisted the attempt to smirk upon the thought; after all Adam didn't flat out lie to him – JD (as the Red ShadoWira, unknown to Adam) did mug him off his D-Terminal. The blonde teen saw that the young teen was getting uncomfortable about the subject, and decided to drop it. But there was one last thing that he wanted to ask Adam about the bruise.
"Anyway, it looks like it's healing," JD pointed out. He was surprised of that, too. A bruise like what he had inflicted on Adam would take days to fade. But the remaining trace of the bruise on Adam's face was the slightly bluish tint on his otherwise fair complexion.
"I've got some good bruise-removing cream," Adam replied evasively. He couldn't tell JD that the remedy he was using didn't come from their world.
JD saw Adam's evasiveness and decided to change the subject, realizing that his plan won't work if Adam was withdrawing away from him. For his plan to work, he needed Adam to be relaxed around him…which could take some work.
"Anyway, where you're heading to?" he asked as he twirled Adam's cap with his right index finger.
"Home," Adam answered; his eyes lingered on his maroon cap. "Can I have my cap back, please?"
"Hm? Oh, sure," JD said, and instead of giving the cap on Adam's slightly extended hand, he placed the cap back on Adam's head. "There you go."
"Uh…thanks," Adam said, unsure of how to react. He was wondering why, all of a sudden, the school's famous troublemaker, was being so sociable to him. It couldn't be just because of a simple birthday wish, could it? Curious, Adam decided to ask JD about it. "Umm, I have a question before I go?"
JD raised an eyebrow, and crossed one arm (which hand was holding the plastic bag) across his chest, while the other was used to hold his drink. "Shoot."
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm just curious…why are you suddenly so friendly to me all of a sudden? It couldn't be just because of a simple birthday wish, right? During at the computer club meeting, you didn't look too interested in becoming our friends." Then Adam's cheek colored a little. "And there was that rude message you've shown me with your phone when I asked you whether you'd like to join us…"
JD groaned inwardly, but nothing escaped his mouth. He just stared at Adam's face while contemplating an answer. Oh, damn it. He had to ask…Well, one way to answer this kind of question.
Adam suddenly felt JD staring at him pointedly. With his height, bigger stature, and add those with the glinting effect his hazel eyes seemed to be projecting, JD seemed to give out a somewhat intimidating aura. The younger boy suddenly thought that the older teen looked somewhat dangerous. Now he knew why people don't mess with JD.
"What's the matter? Too good to be friends with me?"
Adam flinched. "No, it's not like that! It's just…"
The glare from JD suddenly vanished as the blonde teen smirked at him. "Don't worry; I was just kidding you," he said, and pushed Adam's cap downward with a finger, fixing it tight on Adam's forehead. He chuckled lightly before continuing, "Anyway, about that little message…" he said, grinning. "Sorry 'bout that, ok? I didn't mean to show you that swear message like that, but…let's just say that I wasn't really having a good day."
"On your birthday?" Adam inquired curiously.
"Let's just say that I've got into a fight…with my dad. Verbally, if you're wondering. We didn't exactly see from eye to eye." Now why the hell am I getting personal all of a sudden? Well…if it means gaining Adam's trust, then I might as well. "Don't even think about asking."
"Wasn't going to."
"Good." JD cleared his throat and looked down to the younger boy, who was listening to him. JD resisted the urge to smirk, but it seemed that his plan was working. Now all he needed to do was to seal the deal. "Look, I know you have some not-so-good impressions on me. Ah ah ah…don't deny it; half the school has that kind of impression, the other half perhaps were thinking why in the world the school is still keeping me. I don't really care. Anyway, why not let me become your friend? I'm sure that after a couple days or so, your impression on me might change."
JD did make a valid point. Adam suddenly felt horrible for questioning his intention. He didn't know what to say in response to JD's statements.
"And…okay, what you called as a simple-birthday-message actually meant a lot, 'cos not many people knew about it."
Adam rolled his eyes slightly. "Not many? What about your… gang? What about your online friends? The ones who'd sent you birthday messages?"
JD winced inwardly. Man, this kid is sharp! He held up his finger up. "Ok, firstly – Kenny, Samy and Megat didn't even have a clue about my birthday. Secondly, who you called as my online friends, well, I don't even know them. I don't broadcast my MySpace profile to everyone at school. Most of the people in my friends list…I don't even know nearly 90 percent of them! You know how the site works. People just add anybody they want as their friends."
"But my friend Hakim is in your list," Adam pointed out before he could stop himself. He had been wondering about it since yesterday, and since JD had brought up about that topic…
Oh man, looks like my plan really need a LOT of work. "Ok…I didn't exactly know that best friend of yours, but he'd helped me out once with…something. So I added him."
Adam thought that JD's explanation was somewhat stalled, but didn't think much about it. It was fine if Hakim had helped JD out with something, and JD didn't have the obligation to say exactly what it was to Adam.
JD then looked at Adam suspiciously. Damn! He could've seen those messages! I've to make sure that he didn't. "How did you know that I have Hakim as my MySpace friend? You didn't snoop around the page now, did you?"
Adam scowled, missing the tensed look on JD's face. "No. I just saw his picture on the main page before I logged you off. Honest."
JD instantly looked somewhat relieved. "Oh. Ok. Sorry about that." He gave Adam a lopsided grin. "There's something you're not supposed to see in my mailbox; it'd tarnish your innocent mind." JD decided to be bold; after all, the truth was what people would least expected to belief.
And it looked like Adam fell for it instantly. The dark-haired boy gave him another scowl. The blonde teen laughed.
"Tell you what, Adam. Do you need to go back home right now? It's only 5.30."
"My curfew is actually before Maghrib," Adam informed. "But I don't have any plans, so I might as well head home."
"Nope. Guess what? You have plan now," JD immediately said. "Come on, I haven't celebrated my birthday properly yet. Don't worry; Maghrib's my curfew too…although I always break it." He grinned slightly. "On purpose, usually."
"Didn't you celebrate your birthday with your family?" Adam asked curiously.
"I did…but it didn't go well. Anyway, not the point. Let's go to Taipan. Wanna go grab a bite or something? My treat."
Adam blinked. "What? You don't have to do that."
"Ok, so it'll be your treat," JD said with a serious face.
"But I don't have a lot of money with me now," Adam protested weakly. "But if I go home…"
"I'm kidding," JD assured quickly. "And I have enough money for both of us. C'mon. Let's go. Where do you want to go eat? Mc-Ds? KFC? Pizza? Malay cafes? Coffee Bean? Mamak's?"
"Um…" Adam thought. When he stepped out from the apartment, this wasn't what he had in mind. Tokomon would be wondering where he'd gone to. But then again, the little in-training knew how to use the telephone, and Adam had his cell-phone with him right now. And, looking at the watch, the TV still had some soaps airing in NTV7, which would be followed by a Chinese serial dramas on TV3. Adam knew Tokomon wouldn't want to miss those if he didn't have to, so he guessed that the little in-training wouldn't mind if he would come back late.
"Mamak's sounds nice," Adam said finally.
"Great," JD grinned widely. Looks like the cat is in the bag now… "To Mamak's it is. Let's go!"
xxx
xxx
It was past the work hours, but Alisha was too caught up with her 'extra work'. Her colleagues assumed that she was simply making up for her absence the previous day, and didn't ask her about it when they were on their way back. Her boss was slightly curious as Alisha had completed her work way before the end of the work hours. But as Alisha had always been a diligent employee and a competent worker, he didn't question her intention before he too stepped out from the office.
In truth, Alisha was juggling between her work and the extra work she had decided to partake.
She had been studying the programs Jackie had given her for the past five hours. She had now understood the Digital-Detect-Discover function of the Digivices and the D-Terminals, and she had taken the time to study briefly the way Jackie had modified the sun staff to work as a visual projector for the Forest Sanctum and to his own computer in his office. The programming was a little too complex for Alisha – which made her wonder where exactly Jackie had acquired his profound skills in I.T.
"The complexity behind this is way beyond our current technology," Alisha said to herself.
Alisha had tried asking her fellow colleagues about it, quizzing the more experienced ones about it while being subtle, anytime when she managed to engage a conversation with them. Even the smartest of them all couldn't come up with a decent answer. This made Alisha more curious.
Looking at the time, she realized that it was just past six. She realized that there was no use stepping out from the office now; she would just get herself stuck in the legendary traffic jams at the roads connecting the nation's capital to the town where she lived. It was better if she waited until after Maghrib. However, that would mean that she'd reach her home around 9.00 to 9.30 p.m., and her brother and his partner would be very hungry by then.
Reaching for her cell-phone, she pushed the second button, accessing the quick dial function which would connect her phone to Adam's cell phone. A ring tone was heard, and Adam picked it up after the second ring.
"Hello, Kak Lisha."
"Hi, Adam….where are you right now? I hear noises." Adam seemed to be somewhere which was filled with noises, conversations and laughter.
"I'm at Taipan…at 'Canai & Such' café. A friend's treating me a meal for his belated birthday," came Adam's excited reply.
"You're outside?" Alisha asked. "Your bruise…"
"Don't worry. I got it covered."
"Ok…anyway, Adam, I'm still at the office. Do you think you can fix something for yourself and Tokomon to eat while I'm not back? I think I'll be home around 9 or so, and I'll get something for you two to eat while on the way back. Is it ok with you?"
"It's fine. I'm already eating here and…little Toko has eaten too."
"Little Toko?" Alisha wondered, and then remembered that Adam was in the company of a friend, who might not know about Digimon. Hence, little Toko instead of Tokomon. She had to chuckle of her brother's creativity. "Ok, Adam. So I don't have to buy anything for you guys?"
"I don't think so…you see, this guy here is forcing me to eat a lot more than I can take. Maybe you should tell him to stop…"
A laugh was heard coming from somebody who was not Adam, but sounded near enough to the phone. Alisha assumed that this was the friend Adam was talking about.
"Well, ok. I'm glad that you're already eating. Don't forget to thank your friend before you go back."
"I won't. Hey! I thought I've told you that I don't want these chocolate cakes? I'm already full enough as it is…Umm, sorry, Kak Lisha, I wasn't talking to you just now. Seriously I'm so going to get a stomachache tonight."
Another voice, somewhat loud and adult-like compared to Adam's boyish tone, which Alisha didn't recognize, added, "Well, too bad, you're eating them anyway!"
"How nice of your friend to give you a treat like that," Alisha said smilingly. "Well, Adam, I won't interrupt your meal anymore. Enjoy the cake! Bye."
"Bye, Kak Lisha. See you tonight. Salaam..." And the connection was cut off.
She placed her light-green cell phone on the table and resumed her focus to the monitor. She had opened a Microsoft Word new document, and typed in bold, caps-locked letterings at the center of the blank page was 'FUTURE DIGIWIRA PROJECTS'.
She then clicked on the numbering list button on the list of shortcuts on the top of the word program.
"Ok, what should Jackie and I focus on doing which would help Adam and his friends greatly?" Alisha wondered. Thinking about it for a while, she smiled and began typing the first project that came to mind. "Since the DigiWira are still pretty much in the dark about these ShadoWira's civilian identities, our two top priorities now are…"
1. Find a way to increase the scanning range for the Digivices, so that they could detect the ShadoWira's Digivice signals.
2. Find a way to track Adam's missing D-Terminal.
She leaned back against the back of the leather chair, and wondered what else she could do. She had understood the D3's functions, so that was what she and Jackie would do first. She had sent Jackie an SMS, asking whether he could help her with a third project. It was the biggest project she could think of, and some research would need to be done. Her office mates would know about this, and could give her some tips. There were some reference materials in the office which she could use as templates.
But to integrate the project to the Digital World…that was not Alisha's forte. She would need Jackie, and TobuCatmon's, helps with that.
Jackie had replied to her SMS; he had praised her brilliantly and lamented himself for not thinking of that sooner. He mentioned that TobuCatmon had thought of her suggestion as a good idea too, and he knew just where in the Forest Sanctum to accommodate the program Alisha had in mind. The three of them would be working closely together for this project, and for the time being, the DigiWira would not know about it.
Why? Because for one, there was a chance that this project would fail, and it would cause them to be disappointed.
Two; they were already preoccupied with the ShadoWira business. No need to get them riled up about the project.
Excitedly, she began to type the third planned program for the DigiWira.
"There's no way the kids could practice their powers with real Digimon, as they might end up hurting them by accident. So…"
3. Design a simulation program for the DigiWira to practice their special powers.
Author's Notes:
This is one of a non-battle chapter focusing on the DigiWira. At first I wanted to skip this chapter, but it does have some building up elements which will be important in later chapters. Also, this chapter gives me the chance to write more about JD's plan on Adam, as well as exposing more about Gayathri's thought and dilemma. Also brought to highlight is Alisha's further involvement as the newest mentor of the DigiWira team. And to balance out this chapter by making sure that all DigiWira are included – the Yin and Yang dialogue between Liu Ying and her grandfather, and the inclusions of the sidelines characters such as Dina, Belinda, Hakim and Manny.
TERM GLOSSARIES:
Maghrib
Its actual meaning is the dusk praying time for Muslims. Used more commonly among the Malays to refer the time of sunset.
Mamak's (or Mamak Stall)
Popular al fresco style dining eateries among Malaysians operated predominantly by Indian Muslims. The foods served there usually of Indian origins. The mamak stall has been etched permanently in the Malaysian culture as a popular hang-out place for people of all races, religion and age.
More info about Mamak's at this link, just delete all the spaces: en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Mamak(underscore)stall
Replace (underscore) with an actual underscore mark.
NTV-7 and TV-3
Two of Malaysian TV channels.
RM
Ringgit Malaysia – the term referring to Malaysian money, similar to US's dollar sign. In comparison: USD$1.00 about RM3.70
Taipan
A business center area in the township where the DigiWira live in. It has restaurants, shops, banks, private offices, hardware shops, and many other.
Sunway Pyramid:
A popular shopping complex in Malaysia, located in Petaling Jaya. The country's first themed shopping complex inspired from the Egyptian's Sphinx and pyramid. The shopping complex's main design is a pyramid with a big lion statue guarding it. The rest of building is designed as a monument style with hieroglyphics decorations.