It had been a few days since the digidestened first arrived at the castle. Izzy had much to explain and he had to meet with the head mangers to discuss what they were going to use the digidestined officially for. A major part of their delay was because the digivices had to be updated with the latest advancements that the research teams had developed over the course of the few months before the digidestined had been called to the Digital World.
Davis had been allowed to return home time for dinner. In fact, they were all allowed to return to the Real World to grab things they thought they would need for journey. Most of the digidestined informed their parents they were going on a trip, but a few who knew about the digital world knew that their kids were lying. The parents understood though and urged them to be careful. They knew they couldn't stop them from going.
The excuse of taking a trip was for security reasons. It would have been suspicious if there was a rise in kids going missing around the world, so as part of the plan by the departments the kids were to say they were taking trips to different places around the world with some friends.
Takeru knew his mom was worried and he didn't like doing that to her, but there was nothing he could do. Takeru felt badly about what he was doing to his mother again.
Takeru was currently fiddling with his updated digivice. The digivice now had a hologram screen that popped up from the little screen the device had. Takeru was examined the map trying to get used to features on it. A blue dot on the map showed where Patamon was. There also was green dots on the map and they showed where a human was. The dot for humans were only green if they also had a digivice. The dots indicating a human were usually yellow and digimon were orange.
Takeru had already played with the other features on his digivice. One of the new features by team Alpha was a scanner device on the digivice. They had attached a scanner to their old digivices. The scanner made it possible to scan clothes and medicine and have them stored in the digivice, and when you needed them you could release the data and they would be ready to go. The idea that developed this advancement was the fact the Digital World was made to be a game, so just like an MMO one could theoretically make a storage system just like in a video game. Their theory proved to be correct.
When the digivices were confiscated from them, Izzy explained to them that since they already had digivices they would have to be manually updated. According to Izzy, they are certain a human first created the digivice and set it in the program to reveal itself when it was needed. The research department just enhanced the framework of the digivice, so when new people arrive they would automatically receive the updated version of the digivice. Though, they had yet to figure out how to change the whole digivice into a new digivice, like what happened with Kari's and Takeru's digivice when they were trying to stop the digimon emperor.
Takeru had to admit the things they had come up with were quite brilliant. The way they wrapped their heads around the Digital World reality and were able to come up with so many advancements was astounding. When he talked to Franz on team Alpha he had learned that Franz's hobby was designing video games. It made a lot of sense that many of the people in the Research Department were into video game design. He doubted anyone besides them could have looked at this world and seen beyond what was right in front of them.
Takeru lay back in the grass and gazed at the sky. He was bored with messing with his digivice and wanted to enjoy the nice air. He slipped his digivice into his pocket. Takeru was wearing some clothes that he purchased in town. Cephas town. That was the name of the town they were in.
Only clothes in the Digital World could be converted into data and it had created booming industry within the digital world. Medicine was different though. It could be converted into data once it was not in the real world, because that was what the Research department was mostly focused on. It had taken numerous resources to be able to do it, and to be honest the research department found it more important than clothes. Takeru agreed with it. If clothes could be purchased in the digital world then it was fine. He understood how important it was for there to be access to inhalers and bandages. He definitely understood why the Research department made that call. With the scanning of medicine, it had allowed for the data to copied and be recreated. Therefore, digimon with their own shops had started selling them too. Joe had examined the medicine the digimon created to be just like the ones in the real world. Takeru wasn't so sure that was a good thing considering people abused drugs in the real world already and the last thing they needed was for there to be digimon who did it. Though most of medication worked only on humans.
With the ability to store clothes in a digivice, it had created fad among the digimon to sport some cloth clothing and for shops to sell them. He had gone shopping with Kari at the shops in Cephas Town today, and he had seen a lot of digimon sporting hats. Kari even bought Gatomon a bandanna to wear so they could match. The payment they made was in bartering since they didn't have any Digi-money at the moment. Izzy had given them digital items to trade in town to get some supplies and medicine.
Takeru remembered in his first adventure to the digital world there were always a few digimon who wore clothing for jobs or disguises, but now it had become more popular since the humans had been arriving to the digital world. The increase in inventory of clothes in the digi-shops was mostly because humans liked to have clean clothes, so they bought a lot of outfits. He also supposed humans brought more of a model on what to do with clothes and the digimon picked up on the idea of expressing yourself with clothes. They used them show your individuality. Which was understandable, Takeru would hate to look like everyone else and he could only imagine how hard it was to determine who was who in a village with all the same digimon.
While shopping with Kari, Takeru had gotten some pants that fit him well and were designed to endure a lot of running. He was currently wearing some of the clothes he bought. The shirt he was wearing was made for traveling and the long sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He also bought another beanie to wear, but the one he bought at the shop had the symbol of hope on it. Takeru couldn't resist getting it. He wore it right after he bought it.
Takeru liked that his crest was hope. He found purpose and satisfaction in being able to remind people there was hope. It hadn't meant much to him as a little kid, but now he really liked his crest. Hope is something that was needed to fight or to do anything. It was an essential component to everything and Takeru knew that there will be times when others will need reminding that there is hope. He hoped that his hat could remind passing digimon that there was still hope.
Abruptly, a face appeared above Takeru's, and out of surprise he had tried to lunge up from his spot. His head ended up colliding with the Kari's head. There was a light thud from impact. Hikari immediately move her head back and held her forehead.
"ow," they both said. Takeru rubbed his head as Kari leaned away from his head.
"Ouch, I guess that's what I get for sneaking up on you," said Kari as she rubbed her forehead. She was kneeling a little ways above Takeru on the grassy hill he was relaxing on.
"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" Takeru asked as he fully sat up and he turned around to see what the damage was. Takeru had actually been meaning to talk to Kari. He had noticed something has been wrong for a few days now. He also knew Gatomon was getting really worried too and had spoken to him about it.
"Yeah, its fine, Takeru," replied Kari and smiled at him as she finished rubbing it with her hand. "So what are you doing, Takeru?"
"I was just enjoying being outside." Replied Takeru as he tilted his head up to look at the sky. "Did you know that Cody has been helping Team Alpha while he was out here training? He really is part Izzy."
"Haha, I know," Kari chuckled, "and Joe was actually helping Izzy with logging different foods we ate from our first adventure, and he had no idea. Izzy didn't tell Joe it was going to be a real book."
Kari scooted near Takeru and sat beside him, "This is great spot you found Takeru!"
Takeru smiled as she sat beside him. Takeru loved these moments with Kari. There was something about just hanging out one on one with your best friend. Takeru would actually kind of classify himself as introvert because he preferred small groups over a large crowd of people. Takeru loved having one on one conversations. He especially loved them with Kari because he felt like they both grew from them. She was quite different from other people. She thought about others and looked at their side of the story. He will always remember how she felt bad for Black Wargreymon and how she was able to empathize with him. It made him look at Black Wargreymon differently. It gave him another perspective, and he knew from the lesson he learned that day, he was able to become a little bit more of a better person.
"You can also see the people in town from up here. It looks so peaceful," Takeru said as he gazed back out at the town.
In the town there were a few digimon flying about doing their daily errands. In the distance you could see the Castle. The town was small, but it wasn't like the Koromon Village with the hay houses. The houses in town were made of wood or stone. It kind of reminded him of Real World in a way. He also really liked the diversity of Digimon that lived in Cephas town. You could see life taking place ad growing. You could also hear soft chatter coming from the town too. It was like this was how the Digital World was meant to be.
"Yeah, it does," Kari replied and smiled at him.
"Have you tried out the new features on our digivices?" asked Takeru as he looked back at her.
"Yeah," Kari said, "they're pretty awesome! Have you tried out the updated d-terminal Izzy gave us? Tai and I communicated over video with it while I was looking for medical supplies."
The way she looked at Takeru just then alerted him again that something was on her mind. He gazed into her eyes and knew something was really worrying her, but he wanted to let her bring it up on her own and he felt like she was trying to get to that point right now. He felt like she was trying really hard to get the courage to talk to him about what was on her mind. It was one of her flaws, he wasn't sure how it developed, but she had a real hard time with venting how she felt. It included anger, sadness, worry, and other emotions. Takeru had a theory it had to do with how hard her mother pushed her. He reckoned it had to do with perfectionism and they say perfectionist parents raise perfectionist kids.
"I haven't tried the D-terminal yet. I have been mostly messing with my digivice," Takeru replied.It was quiet for a few minutes and the young teens had taken to watching the peaceful mundane workings of the town from their vantage point on the hill.
"Does it bother you that there isn't someone trying control the digimon with rings or gears?" asked Kari
"Not really, I mean I hope this new threat doesn't try to turn good digimon into slaves. If you ask me, it is getting kind of boring," Takeru joked trying to comfort her, "Kari, what's on your mind, normally that wouldn't bother you? Normally you would be glad that tactic was finally given up."
Kari's eyes held so much worry in them once Takeru asked outright about what was on her mind, but Kari couldn't bring herself to talk about it. "It's nothing, Takeru. I'm just worried about Tai. As you know, Tai and Matt are going to be stationed in one of combat teams."
Takeru knew it was lie. She wouldn't look him in the eye as she said it, and Takeru also noticed she was really tense. He wasn't going to push her on it though. He could tell just by looking at her this wasn't about Tai with how tense she was. He has seen her worried about Tai, but he could tell this was different. He wished she didn't try so hard. She was so bad with just speaking her mind about things. He knew though that when she was ready she would tell him. For now though, he would just settle with knowing something was worrying her and taking care of that.
"Hikari, they'll be fine don't worry about it. And I promise you'll be fine too," Takeru said and placed a hand on shoulder. On the last part of Takerus's response, Kari had looked up at him and the skin around her eyes crinkled and she gave a slight smile. Her response, Takeru realized was because she realized he was on the right track and she felt she could tell him. He had hit the nail on the hammer, and she wasn't going to hide it from him anymore.
"The dark Fog felt like the Dark Ocean. I could even hear the sound of waves. Ken also heard it. I'm worried that this might involve the Dark Ocean." she let out and closed her hand around the grass beneath her as if it were a hand supporting her. "I'm scared," Kari softly let out. Her eyes expressed how sincere she was.
"Hikari, it's okay. If I comes after you again, I'll do everything in my power to stop it from taking you," Takeru replied and gave her quick a hug.
"But what if you aren't there to protect me," Kari asked. Her eyes held so much worry in them as they looked back in Takeru's own.
"Even if I'm not there with you when it happens, I will find you and be there. And if I can't do that, I know that you are strong enough to fight it, but I will be there for you no matter what." Takeru said and moved to sit closer to her. Takeru was at a loss of what to say that wouldn't seem like it was minimizing her pain and settled for that. He knew she didn't need him, because she was so strong. It was just Kari didn't understand it herself. However, saying that might make her feel like she shouldn't be afraid or worried. And that was the last thing he wanted to do to her because it was a very scary place and she had a right to be afraid. The Dark Ocean was the place of her greatest nightmares. She would sometimes call him late at night after she had dreamt that she had gone to the Dark Ocean. Though, what Takeru had said seemed to quell her worries for a bit.
Takeru knew she had gone there once with Ken and Yolei, and He had hadn't been there. He always feels indebted to Yolei for keeping Kari safe. He sometimes has nightmares about her going there and not coming back safe and sound.
The fog could be connected to the Dark Ocean and it was something he never considered. Takeru made a mental note to speak with Izzy about it. To be honest though, Takeru was worried about the dark fog too. A part of Takeru was not only afraid for Kari, but also for himself. He honestly never wanted to experience that dark fog again. It was officially on the top of his list of things he never wanted to do again. It was followed by re-experiencing Piedmon when his friends were turned into keychains.
The dark fog was especially on the two teens' minds today because they were going to be stationed together on a darkness patrol team. It made sense they would be stationed there since their digimon could help control the mist's advancement. Their evolutions after all were Angemon and Angewomon.
Takeru put an arm around Kari and brought her close to him. It was mostly for Takeru's sake. He wanted to feel that she was safe. It was what he had settled for when they were ever in danger. He would stand in front of her like a shield or wrap an arm around her to keep her from falling off whatever mode of transportation they were on. It started when they came to rescue Gomamon and made that sled. It was rough ride and he had and arm around her so she wouldn't tumble off or fall into the freezing water. He remembered when sled tipped, because of having an arm on her he had caught her and she hadn't ended up in the freezing water like Cody.
Patamon came quickly flying up to Kari and Takeru. Takeru dropped his arm from around Kari's shoulder. Patamon didn't notice and landed on Takeru's head. He peeked down from his head and looked him in the eyes.
"I found you! Takeru, I'm hungry can we try out some of the food we bought in town today," asked Patamon as his stomach growled. Takeru could feel the rumble from the on top of his and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Sure, Patamon," Takeru said and stood up. He turned to Kari offered her a hand up and asked, "Would you like to join us?"
Kari took his hand gently and he pulled her up. Once she was standing, she smiled at Takeru and replied, "Yeah, I'm starving."
"Alright, looks like it's lunch time then," Takeru exclaimed.
Kari, Takeru, and their digimons would be leaving tomorrow to head to another town where their digivices could be further updated. It would be Kari, Sora, and him heading out tomorrow. They were still trying to determine a spot for Davis, Yolei, Ken, and Mimi. Joe agreed to be part of the medical department and work as best he could out in the field to help digimon and people back to health. He was supposedly assigned with some genius that became a doctor at age 16. Joe was pumped to see what he could learn. Cody was part of a Scouting team already. He also served as an interim between them and Research Team Alpha.
The walk to the castle didn't take too long and the food was prepared with ease inside the functional kitchen the castle had. While Takeru, Hikari, and Patamon were eating some of the food they made, Takeru found Kari staring up at the flyers in the team Alpha's work room. They decided to eat in there since they weren't sure where they were allowed to go and what was being used by other digimon. And they couldn't eat in their quarters since they had communal quarters. One room was for the boys and the other was for the girls.
In the work room, Glen was the only one still working. Everyone else was on lunch break and wanted to get out of the work room for a little bit. Glen said he was fine with them eating in there and they weren't going to be a distraction. Glen's Agumon sported a white vest with pockets. In the pockets were different kind of tools. There was wrench sticking out of the right pocket and some other tools Takeru couldn't name. Compared to Tai's Agumon, Glen's Agumon was slightly smaller in size and seemed a lot different too in personality. This Agumon was curious about everything and it also seemed to have an exorbitant amount of patience.
Kari stopped eating for a moment and swallowed. "Glen, do you have a moment?" she asked
Glen turned around from his computer and looked at them, "Sure, what's up?"
"Above your computer, why is there "X's" on some of them?" Kari asked. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Kari quickly added.
Takeru knew she didn't want to hurt Glen by bringing up feelings if what Franz told her was true about that blonde girl that was up there too.
"Nah, its fine. Those are the first people that died in a mission. I have them up to remind me that what I'm doing here is important and to motivate me to do better. In a way, I have them up there to inspire me. I don't want anyone else to die," Glen said sheepishly. "The four up there that are not crossed out are people who were MIA and we found them. The blonde girl over there," he said while pointing to the flyer, "according to the reports from the other three, she held off the Digimon they were ambushed by, so they could get a way to safety. She was never seen again, and her body was never found. The digimon she faced has be spotted though."
"Does her Digimon know if she is alive?" asked Patamon as he flew to get a better look at the flyer.
"Yeah, he does. But we aren't sure if he might've lost some of his memories when he was reverted back into a digiegg. I guess, really we don't know what to believe," said Glen as he watched Patamon land on the tower of his computer.
"She's alive then," Patamon said and smiled at Glen. "I know because I knew Takeru was alive when I became a digiegg."
"How can you be sure Patamon? When that happened you defeated Devimon, so you knew I was alive," Takeru mentioned.
"Takeru has a point, and besides he also had us with him," came voice from behind them. They turned around and saw Sora in the door way.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude I just overheard your conversation," Sora said as she smiled at them sheepishly.
"Its fine, it's not like its top secret information. You can access the MIA files and reports on your updated D-terminals. We let everyone has access to them so they can keep an eye out." Glen said and he had a slight blush on his face.
Patamon sighed and his eyes lidded showing how he taking into account what the others were saying.
"I get what you are saying, but I think she is still alive," patamon said and flew back to Takeru and picked up the rest of his lunch. He stuffed it down in no time.
"I hope so," said Kari as she gave Patamon a smile and petted his head.
"So, Sora what brought you here?" asked Glen sheepishly.
"I came here, because I was looking for Yolei. She wanted to tell me what she got assigned to" Sora said. "I haven't seen her all day."
"Come have a seat with us! She is bound to come here," said Kari.
"Thanks," Sora said as she took a seat by Takeru and Kari. Just as she sat down her D-terminal started beeping.
Sora pulled out her D-terminal Izzy gave her from her pants pocket and opened it up.
"It's Yolei! She said 'sorry', and that her and Ken are held up in the market. She says that she got assigned to Research department and Ken did as well. She also said that they are still determining what team they will be stationed at," Sora said as she read the instant message aloud to everyone.
"That's not surprising," Takeru stated.
"Yeah, and it makes sense with Ken too. He was able to make all those things like Kimeramon when he was the Digimon emperor," said Sora. "I hope they get Stationed together."
"Huh," said Glen.
"Ken and Yolei are couple," Kari replied to Glen's confusion.
Takeru, whished the same thing for Sora and Matt. He hoped they got stationed together too. Takeru knew they would both be worried about each other. From what he had heard from Matt, Sora was also stationed for combat. Matt had said they were going to try and station Tai and him together since there Digimon could DNA digivolve and they both were good at fighting. Matt hadn't gotten word about Sora, though. It seemed like she wouldn't be since she was leaving tomorrow with himself and Kari.
"Hey, Patamon, have you seen Gatomon, anywhere," asked Kari.
"Yeah, she was took a cat nap after we went shopping," Patamon replied, "I'll show you where she is."
"Thanks, Patamon!" Kari said. She ate the last bit of her lunch and stood up. Patamon watching her got up and started to fly off. Kari took off after him.
"By the way, thanks Takeru," Kari said as she crossed the threshold after Patamon.
Takeru smiled and waved at her as she left the room.
Sora looked at Kari and then Takeru, but didn't ask.
"You ready for tomorrow?" asked Sora as it was now just her and Takeru. Glen had gone back to his work with his Agumon helping him.
"Yeah, how about you?" asked Takeru.
"As ready as I'll ever be. Though I am interested in the new upgrade we get on our digivice. Izzy said it would help if we are ever separated from our digimon. He said it would help protects us and also be able to help our digimon in battle," Sora said.
"Yeah, I think he is preparing demonstration tomorrow for it once he is done making the D-terminals." Takeru replied. He gazed at Sora and could tell she was lost in thought and wasn't really paying attention to the conversation now.
"Too bad, we won't get to see it. We'll have probably left by then," Sora said.
"Sora, don't worry. He'll be fine," Takeru said.
"Thanks, Takeru," said Sora. At first Sora was taken back, and it took a minute to realize what Takeru was saying.
"No problem," stated Takeru and nodded at her.
Sora suddenly shot up from her seat and the wooden chair flew back a little from the action. "I just remembered, I haven't finished packing yet," said Sora and she left in a hurry towards the girl's dorm.
"Sora, wait up," Takeru called as he ran toward the boys dormitory to finish his packing. He had just remembered that he wasn't done thanks to Sora.