Post-Apocalymon World
Although the Digidestined declined the offer to become MIB agents, they still retained their role as the Digidestined. The MIB closed the portal that they children inadvertedly accessed after Apocalymon was defeated to secure the Digital World and Earth. This was why Gennai ordered the children to return to Earth; The children would see their partners again, but they just didn't know it yet. Gennai and Izzy still kept in touch and communicated on a regular basis. Yet, this was not the end of trouble for both worlds.
The events in Odaiba had a profound effect on the Digidestined. Although the children were the only ones fully aware of what occurred, their families did not have full insight as to what happened and unlike the rest of the population, they remembered what happened but only talked amongst themselves about the incidents. Zed had MIB agents visit the families and instructed them to keep quiet about the events and the activities of the Digidestined. This was one of the factors that led Mimi's family to leaving the country. Unbeknownst to them, they moved to the same city where the MIB headquarters were located. Zed viewed this as a geographic convenience as one of the Digidestined could be monitored more closely.
In addition to containing the Odaiba district and virtually erasing all traces of the August 1999 incidents, the MIB also considered blocking all access and awareness of the Digital World to the general public. Gennai mentioned to Zed, that it wouldn't be possible nor a practical plan, because both worlds are linked and whatever is done on earth by a click of a mouse, will effect the Digital World; And since technology will continue to advance, it will be a matter of time before the public world wide will have access to the Digital World and vice versa. Zed didn't like that notion, but Gennai assured him that it could be a good thing, as there will be more digidestined around the world to serve the better interests of both worlds.
Gennai's foresight began to take shape in the spring of 2000 when a virus Digimon hatched and wreaked havoc on computers world wide and caused chaos. This would be the biggest crisis the children would face since taking out Apocalymon a few months earlier. Izzy received word from Gennai about what was taking place and met with Tai. Making the situation more challenging was the fact that most of their comrades were unavailable to fight this menace. Only Matt and T.K. were available, albeit remotely in a rural part of the country. What made this incident a key event in the history of the Digital World was that children all over the world were watching on their computer screens and sending messages of encouragement.
When the incident broke out, Gennai suggested to Zed that the MIB not intervene on the incident. "Great", said J, "I don't need a virus to corrupt my good looks; it's bad enough that I nearly suffered third degree burns at the Maelolite Commemoration." "Well you had it coming", Zed retorted, "I told you not to serve them Habaneros; They're highly sensitive to spicy food." The worms cut in, "You should have seen the look on your face after you got blasted by their flame." J was not amused at being reminded of his embarrassing blunder. Zed ended the conversation by instructing everyone to focus on the current situation. Unlike the computers of the general population, the MIB's system was not connected to the general servers, so they're technology was not affected by the chaos taking place. Gennai was able to relay messages to Zed much easier without the same restrictions of the voice mail system. J amused himself for a moment, imagining all their gadgets going haywire had the virus affected them.
Zed and the entire MIB staff watched the battle unfold on the twins' large screen computer with apprehension. The worms were the only ones watching as if it were entertainment. They took advantage of the computer malfunction by stealing several kegs of beer, cigars, and adult magazines. Zed was not amused by their antics, "What the hell are you cretins doing? This isn't a time for goofing around; Our world is at stake." The worms were not fazed by the severity of the crisis. Zed shook his annoyance. "Why do I allow them to stay on Earth", he thought to himself. "I bet you a pack of cuban cigars that the virus makes the next move", Neeble declared. "How the hell did you get those", Zed questioned. "How do you think", Neeble responded sarcastically. This was their antics during the entire crisis. During this time, Zed prepped a containment crew for the network incident. Despite his apprehension, he was confident that Tai and Matt were able to defeat this menace.
When victory was declared, the MIB staff sighed in relief. The next business was to somehow cover-up the incident and circulate an explanation as to what happened. The story that was circulated was that hackers from an unfriendly nation had attempted to sabotage the network systems and scare the general public. This was followed by an urging for computer users to secure their computers and systems from viruses. This was meant as a distraction, but to raise awareness of the seriousness of computer viruses and hackers.
The following day, Gennai received communication with the God of the Digital World that four new children where chosen to take the reigns as the Digidestined, but the youngest two of the old guard will still be active and the old guard will still play a supporting role. This was due to their Light and Hope qualities and their involvement with prophecies, which were seen as important. Zed was perplexed as to why just four new children were selected. Zed was anxious to see what would soon transpire. He wouldn't have to wait long, for new and bizzare discoveries and incidents were just around the corner.