Cindy was pacing. Up and down, fidgeting with a cellphone. Damian wondered what had her in a knot like that. As far as he knew, everything was going according to plan. Maybe there was something a little more critical...

Her phone rang. She flipped it open and answered it in time to clip it's first ring.

"Yes? ... Oh, thank God. Yes, gate twelve. ... I'll be there right away." She hung up.

"They're finally here! Damian, get that earth link ready."

"Sure thing."

"It's about time we got this ball rolling," she said, walking out of the control room. Damian couldn't help but grin.

Gate Twelve was a border link between Earth and the Digital World. The Earth-side gate was located in Nevada, and the Digital World-side on the northern end of the Continent, not too far from Cindy's castle.

The gate was located at the bottom of a valley, which rolled into a massive, flat plateau. That plateau would serve as their operational base. The gate – a massive ring carved out of the mountain face - was active. And thousands of troops were pouring through. She watched as another tank made the entrance, flashing into existence and rolling down the ramp, joining the procession that was already making it's way down the valley, and out onto the plateau.

From where she was standing, she could see everything. Soldiers and their commanding officers were scurrying around, marking lines, erecting tents and control modules, automated defenses and sentry devices.

A very large army had just started assembling itself. She rubbed her hands together in excitement. This operation had been a long time coming. The commander – General Ryan Hawkins – was still on the other side. As soon as he arrived, they would start discussing the attack strategies.

She turned to go. Her latest prisoner was due to awaken soon. And it was time to start prying information from him.

"Flame..."

The voice echoed from the infinite darkness surrounding the trapped Digimon. Flame was unconscious, but a part of his mind was active – and lost in a void. He was entirely disconnected from the world around him. He could feel no pain, no anger, no shame.

"Flame..."

"Yes?" He called back into the darkness. Suddenly, it wasn't dark anymore. An explosion of light transformed the darkness, revealing a valley so brightly lit that Flame's eyes hurt for a few moments.

He forced them closed, then opened them again. There were mountains and an ocean in the distance. Clouds were scattered across an azure sky. In the distance, he could hear the soft sigh of the shore, he could feel a gentle breeze across his body. On the edge of his hearing, there were little birds, happily singing and dancing across the sky.

"Flame," came the voice again, and Flame turned to see Gennai standing there. It was a much younger version, though – Flame estimated him to be about twenty-six. Externally, he looked unremarkable – middle height, average build, short, faded brown hair, brown eyes, dressed in black leather and denims - but Flame knew him better than that.

"What is this place?" Flame asked.

Gennai motioned to the air next to him. "This place? Nothing and nowhere. It's a state of mind – a happy, relaxed state of mind."

"Why am I here?"

Gennai sighed. "Something I locked within you. I had hoped I would have time to reveal it myself, but it seems that ... other forces have achieved that instead."

In an instant, it all came flooding back. The nanobots. Searing pain. Anger, denial – hatred – flowing into a pocket of memory that had burst. A young Veemon, brutally murdered. By accident. White glows, disappearing into the sky.

Flame opened his eyes again – and they were filled with the same anger. Before Gennai could so much as blink, Flame had charged forward, grabbing him around the neck and slamming him into a tree at maximum force.

Had he been human, his neck would have snapped, and his head would have been embedded in the tree. As it was, he lived.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Flame screamed. Gennai's eyes betrayed nothing.

"To protect you."

"FROM WHO?"

"Yourself." Gennai replied, impassive. Flame regarded him for a few moments, then withdrew his claw. Gennai hit the ground but stayed standing. Flame backed off, regaining control.

"What do you mean, from myself?"

"After your abrupt death, you were recovered and reconfigured. Fixed, as such. There was a small chance that you would remember the event – and the death of your parents. To prevent potential emotional breakdown, I isolated and hid all those memories. It was necessary for you to start over, with a clean slate."

"A clean slate. Is that what you call it?"

Gennai shrugged. "Would you rather have wanted to deal with that pain at that young age?"

"Yes," Flame said, then shook his head. "No ... I ... I don't know." He turned away, burying his face in his hands.

"I was planning to unblock those memories, but events turned for the worse, and it would have been better to reveal them in an unpressured environment. I'm terribly sorry." Gennai said, but Flame could sense he was hiding something. Whatever it was, this was not the time.

"Sorry doesn't cut it," Flame mumbled from behind his hands.

"For better or worse, that block has been removed. What happens from here on out is your choice."

Flame said nothing. Gennai stepped to the side, and started walking backwards.

"Remember, Flame – it's your choice. They're depending on you to choose wisely."

"They?" Flame asked looking up. But Gennai was already gone. So was the light, the warmth, and the entire valley. All that remained of the vision was a pair of eyes – cold and brutal. And a voice that he had come to loathe and fear.

"Yes, they. Your friends." Cindy said.

Flame had been chained back to the wall. The nanobots in his system had been deactivated after he fell asleep, but they responded to his rising energy levels, and activated themselves. Flame could feel their minute buzzing throughout his body.

He knew what it meant. Most of his power was back. But he also knew that he had a choice to make. He could resist interrogation again. It would be a shorter resistance, but the anchor would remain hidden – for at least a while longer.

Or he could tell Cindy, and then hope that Jet, Jorcy and the others stopped her. This would mean less torture, and more strength for whichever battles lay ahead.

Two options. Before he could think any further, Cindy walked back into the room, accompanied by a man Flame hadn't seen before. An older man, but age didn't get to him. His hair was close-cropped and silver, and his ice-blue eyes betrayed an enormous intelligence.

"General Ryan Hawkins," Cindy said, "Meet Flamedramon."

"Ah, yes, Flamedramon," Hawkins said, nodding approvingly. Flame noticed that his voice didn't sound very old – but it did carry an air of authority with it.

"I would say I'm pleased to meet you," Flame said, "But I'm not sure that would be entirely honest."

Hawkins laughed. "A Digimon with a sense of humor! This will be fun indeed. Now, you know why we're here?"

"Not at all."

"I'm surprised she didn't tell you. Well, no matter. You're not meant to know anyway. All you need to know is that we want access to Chelone. Chelone does sound familiar, right?"

"Hardly," Flame said.

Hawkins shrugged. "That's none of my concern. I was told that you knew the location of the anchor on this continent, that connects Chelone to the Digital World. To put it simply, Flamedramon, we need to know where it is."

"A what?"

"An anchor, Flamedramon." Hawkins said. "Not unlike that of a ship, except that the chain is a high-density data stream. Surely you know of at least one?"

Flame could sense Hawkins' humor fading. It was now or never. He wondered if he was making the right choice. He took a deep breath, expelled it, and said -

"Yes. I know of one."

Hawkins grinned. "Excellent!"

Footer note thingies: OMG, yes, I updated. There's a thread on the DZN forum for this story, entitled "The ARCANE Deception", if you have anything you'd like to ask ;)