Author's Notes: The story moves really fast in this game... It might be because I'm cutting out all the non-story-related stuff... but the main story really isn't all that long. It only takes a while to play because I spend forever in the DigiLab reorganizing my Digimon. And then there's also the option to train and grind for better evolutions... which I usually ignore because the game is really easy. I mean... so long as you keep a healthy spread of Data, Vaccines, and Viruses...

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Arata smirked. "It took some time to do a little prep work."

"That's fine," Kyoko nodded to him. "I am really looking forward to seeing your Kamishiro infiltration plan."

"Excuse me," Yuuko looked around the room in confusion, "but what did you need from me?"

"Sorry to have called you here out of the blue, Kamishiro Yuuko-san," Arata apologized to her. "But now we have the Cyber Sleuth's Connect Jump, my hacking skills, and your connections. My plan involves using all three of these in concert for the first time."

"Connect Jump?" Yuuko frowned before staring at the redhead sitting across from her.

"Oh, you don't know about that?" Arata asked. He looked up towards his friend with a nod. "Hey, Takumi. Explain it to her."

"Um…" Takumi averted his blue eyes from her as he told her the truth. "So… my body isn't really… physical… It's half-cyber and can access any type of digital network through a Connect Jump."

"A half-cyber body?" Yuuko gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth in surprise. "Is that even possible?"

"It's a… side effect of my actual body having EDEN Syndrome," he revealed to her.

She took a moment to consider all of Takumi's actions up to now. "I see. I think I understand now. That's why you've been able to move about so… mysteriously, at times." She frowned as she sympathetically stared at him. "So then you have EDEN Syndrome as well…"

Takumi tilted his head to the side when he sensed a bit of lingering sadness in her voice. "Yuuko-san…? Is something wrong?"

The quiet girl quickly shook her head. "No, it's nothing. I'm sorry for interrupting," she bowed her head. "Please continue," she told Arata.

"I'll explain the main thrust of the strategy now," Arata nodded. "Our target today is the secret database on Kamishiro's Avalon server. Beyond that is a top secret area known as the 'secret room'."

"The 'secret room'?" Yuuko repeated.

"Yeah, Kamishiro's most confidential area," the hacker nodded. "In other words, it's the location of the folder for every Kamishiro CEO, including Kishibe. Once that folder is open, you all can dive into Kamishiro's confidential database." He frowned at the woman sitting across from him. "Man, this detective agency is turning out to be scarier than any hacker team I know…"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kyoko smirked and crossed her arms, "Yet our previous operation still ended with nothing to show for it. Now I get it. You've got your eyes on an even deeper level."

"That's the plan," Arata nodded. "Using a Connect Jump, we can get in as far as the confidential database. First, we use our Kamishiro connections to get us invitations to the preview event at Kamishiro HQ. Kishibe Rie, the CEO of Kamishiro, mentioned it, right? It's a preview of the big update for EDEN. We'll have Takumi infiltrate the confidential database from a terminal there. Once in, send an invitation URL for the database to me and then I'll be able to get in as well," he crossed his arms.

"Then you'll access the secret room, correct?" Kyoko asked.

"Yeah," the hacker nodded. "Once we have the data kept there, we should be able to solve this whole thing, including figuring out Suedou's true motives."

Yuuko brought her hand up to her mouth as she considered the plan.

"For that, we're gonna need to tap your connections once again," Arata nodded to the former CEO's daughter.

"Eh?" the girl blinked at him in surprise.

Arata shook his head. "The pass code that gets us into the secret room changes every day, right?" he asked Yuuko. "The only one who knows the pass code is Kishibe. We need you to get close to her. You're the only one of us who can."

"You want me to steal the pass code from her?" Yuuko asked.

"Well, that's the plan," Arata nodded. "Once we're in the top secret area, I'll override the security so we can communicate with Kyoko-san. You can tell us the pass code via Kyoko-san."

Yuuko closed her eyes and thought it over.

"Huh? What is it?" Arata frowned as he crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you've suddenly come down with a case of cold feet?"

"No, that won't be an issue," she quickly shook her head. "But I do have one request."

"Yuuko-san…?" Takumi tilted his head to the side as he studied her determined expression.

"My father, Kamishiro Satoru…" she looked up towards Takumi. "His notes and research data should still be in the secret room. Could you also get those for me? I'm sure the truth about my father's suicide and information related to EDEN Syndrome is in there."

"I see," Kyoko nodded. "We were certainly unable to find anything conclusive last time," she stated as she brought her hand up to her mouth. "If it's anywhere, it'll probably be in the secret room."

"Okay, I'm down with that," Arata shrugged and smirked. "It won't make the mission any harder, anyway." He paused though as a thought came to him. "Well, we don't know if the data is even there to begin with, but…"

"You're right," Yuuko agreed. "There's one other possible data storage site."

"Where?" Takumi asked with a tilt of his head.

"The core for EDEN's quantum processing and control," Yuuko replied, "the Valhalla server. That server's got to have all of EDEN's history recorded on it, dating back to the very beginning."

Arata's eyes widened at that. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on a second! The Valhalla server?" he shook his head. "Oh, sure, go right ahead and name-drop that like it's nothing, why don't you? Even the most legendary of hackers couldn't hope to get close to that thing. It's got the toughest security in the world, all in one place!"

"Oh?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow at him. "Admitting defeat already? That's not like you. What, did you have a bad experience there?"

"Who asked you?" Arata defensively asked. "It doesn't matter. That server is a no-go. It's not something we can just hack into," he adamantly stated.

"But if a Digimon program was used for the hacking," Yuuko considered, "there might be a way…"

"What did you say?" Arata frowned at the girl sitting beside him.

"Nothing…" Yuuko quickly shook her head.

Takumi frowned at both Arata and Yuuko as the two of them were acting rather odd. Did Arata try to hack into the Valhalla server before? And is Yuuko-san actually considering it? But… Yuuko-san isn't a hacker… Takumi quickly shook his head to clear his mind of distractions. "Okay, but back to our operation," he spoke up, "we need to decide now whether or not to attempt to break into the server."

"It's already a gamble just infiltrating the secret room," Arata crossed his arms. "Asking us to hit the Valhalla server is another matter entirely. I want nothing to do with it," he firmly stated.

"Hmm…" Kyoko brought her index finger up to her forehead. "If you bail on us now, we lose everything," she told the hacker. "Anyway, our target today is the secret room."

"That's all there is to it, then," Yuuko nodded. "He who runs after two hares will catch neither. That's fine with me."

"Yuuko-san…" Takumi narrowed his eyes though as he sensed the girl was still interested in the idea of breaking into the Valhalla server. She might have dropped it now, but the Cyber Sleuth would have to be careful in the future. It didn't help that a part of him was also curious about the server as well as wanted to help her discover the truth about her father. Maybe then it would clear that strange painful loneliness I always sense binding her.

"Okay," Arata cried out, shaking Takumi from his thoughts. "Then let's get this mission started!"

"Alright," Kyoko nodded at the three teenagers, "Head to Kamishiro headquarters in EDEN."

Takumi blinked at the strange disguise covering his avatar. He pushed up his glasses and shook his head. "So far, so good," he muttered to the brunet standing at his side.

"Well, we got into the preview no problem," the disguised Arata smirked. "Still, this is all pretty nerve-wracking."

"You don't have a lot of guts, Arata," Takumi laughed as he crossed his arms. "The thing with you is—"

"Quiet!" Arata frowned at him. "Don't use my real name! You're gonna blow our cover, Takumi! You idiot!"

The fake businessman frowned back at the hacker. "You were saying?"

"Oops," Arata turned away from him. "Sorry, sorry…" He cautiously looked around them. "We lose everything if they see through our disguises. Let's be careful about this."

"I see you…" a Kamishiro guide suddenly stated as he came up to both boys from behind. Both disguised teens turned towards the man and tensed up. "…have all gathered here today," the man smiled at the crowd gathered in the lobby. "Thank you so much for your patience, everyone. This is the entrance to the upgrade preview area," he said, pointing to the open portal in the center of the lobby. "Please follow after me."

When the man walked away, Takumi let out a sigh of relief. "Wow… That was something…"

Arata crossed his arms and frowned. "Had me going for a second with that 'I see you'… Way too close for comfort." He looked towards the portal and nodded to Takumi. "The venue is over there. Let's go!"

They joined the rest of the guests trying to get in and Takumi did his best to stay at Arata's side. When they finally made it into the preview, the Cyber Sleuth's jaw dropped at how different EDEN became. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought he was back in the real world. "Amazing...!"

"Whoa, this is intense!" Arata nodded in agreement as he stared at the viewing platform. "They weren't kidding about it being a major upgrade. But this ain't the time to be gawking," he smirked. "Time to start our plan. But before that… Don't you feel funny in these get-ups?" Arata asked. "I played around a bit with the Stealth Hide you used before."

"So?" he asked before a flash of light shone in his eyes. He blinked when he noticed their disguises were gone. "Hey! What did you do!?"

"Relax," Arata crossed his arms and frowned at him. "This will help us recognize each other. There's nothing to worry about. Anyone else will still see us as different people," the hacker smugly smirked. "Okay then. Ready to get started?"

"Of course!" Takumi nodded. Both teens were about to set off, but paused when images of two young boys flashed into their minds.

"Ah…!" Takumi blinked and looked around.

"Aw man, not this again!" Arata complained.

Takumi frowned to himself as a strange feeling of nostalgia and sadness washed over him. Why does this feel so familiar?

"Did you just see that too?" Arata asked.

"Y-yeah…" Takumi nodded.

"Whew… That's good to hear," Arata sighed as he crossed his arms. "Guess I DON'T need to have my head examined. But what was that, then? Digital… noise or something like that? Could it be related to EDEN Syndrome?"

"Could it?" Takumi seriously considered that possibility. So far… all those times I've seen those images… Didn't Eaters also appear afterward?

"We don't have time to think about this now," Arata shook his head and placed his hands into his pockets. "For now, let's just stick to the plan."

"R-right," the redhead reluctantly decided to let it go for now.

"You need to find a terminal and do a Connect Jump," the hacker nodded. "Contact me once you're in the database."

"Alright, but there's a lot of people here," the Cyber Sleuth pointed out. "Someone's bound to notice me performing the jump."

"Don't worry! I'll make a little noise to distract the Kamishiro employees," the taller boy stated. Both teens nodded to each other before Arata walked away. "Whoa! This is incredible!" His eyes widened and he rushed towards the window. "Sick! It's nearly identical to the real world! Sick! Really just… sick!"

"Ah, young man…" a Kamishiro guide tried to approach Arata. "Please keep your voice down!"

Now! Go! Arata sent Takumi a signal. "Whoaaa, this sky looks like the real thing! Kamishiro's tech is sooo amazing!" What're you doing? Hurry it up!

Takumi nodded before spotting a usable terminal. After a quick around him, he extended his right arm towards the access port and quickly Connect Jumped into the Avalon server. When he landed, he quickly fiddled with his Digivice to send the link to Arata.

He blinked when it didn't work. "I can't send the invitation URL," he muttered. "I'd better get in touch with Arata." He tried placing a call and smirked at the raven-haired teen when it got through.

"Hey, it looks like you got in easily enough," Arata smirked. "Now send me the invitation URL."

"I can't," Takumi shook his head.

"What? You can't send it? There's a block on it?" the hacker crossed his arms and frowned. "Hmph, stupid ol' Kamishiro database… Okay," he nodded to Takumi, "I'll try and do something from my end. For now, track down and break through the security so we can contact Kyoko-san."

"Will do," the Cyber Sleuth nodded. He nervously looked around though. "I don't know how I'll compare to you, but I suppose I'll do what I can."

"Hey, hang in there! No need to be nervous over something like this," Arata tried to put him at ease. "Talk to you later."

Takumi took a deep breath and sighed to himself. "Let's press on. Security should be around here somewhere!" He continued forward and blinked at the Andromon ahead of him. There was another Digimon too and his Digivice quickly scanned it. "MetalMamemon, another Perfect."

As soon as the boy approached them, both Digimon reacted by charging up their attacks. The small MetalMamemon pointed his Psycho Blaster at the intruder. "Energy Bomb!"

"Gatling Missile!"

Takumi quickly called out his Digimon and have them counter the attacks. "Rapidmon! Golden Triangle!"

The speedy Vaccine Digimon destroyed the attacks with his energy beam as Lilimon flew above him. She quickly pointed her hands at the Andromon as a flower appeared in them. "Flower Cannon!"

The Andromon flinched back before Takumi's Andromon rammed into it. Both robotic Digimon wrestled each other before the tamed Digimon opened up his chest plate. "Gatling Missile!"

"Good work, Andromon!" Takumi smirked as they quickly took down one of the two opponents. He frowned though as the Data-type MetalMamemon was giving Rapidmon trouble. "Andromon, Rapidmon, switch out! Lilimon, cover them!"

"Sun-Crescent Kick!" Lilimon flew forward and kicked the small Digimon, but as MetalMamemon was launched into the air, he aimed his Psycho Blaster at the fairy.

"Magnet Beam!" A strange beam shot out of the cannon and when the attack connected, Takumi flinched a fiery explosion erupted around his Digimon.

"Lilimon!" The Cyber Sleuth quickly reached into his back for a recovery patch and looked over his shoulder when he noticed his backup was finally done loading. "WereGarurumon (Black), get her out of there!"

The werewolf howled as he quickly leaped into the air. "Full Moon Kick!" He slammed his foot down onto the MetalMamemon before lifting Lilimon from the ground and returning to Takumi.

MetalGreymon (Virus) roared as he covered the retreating werewolf. "Trident Arm!" He launched his mechanical arm at the small metal bean, finishing their opponent off.

"Good work, everyone!" Takumi nodded to his team before he heard footsteps behind him.

Arata let out a chuckle as he reached the Cyber Sleuth's side. "Caught up with you!"

"Eh!?" Takumi blinked at him. "How'd you get in?"

"I was about to try to bust through security head-on," Arata began with a frown, "but it went down on its own just now. I don't suppose you did anything?" he asked with crossed arms.

"Well, I just took out two Digimon," Takumi shrugged.

"I see. Those Digimon you took out must have been there in place of normal security," Arata guessed. "Digimon aren't the sort of thing you can take out from the outside. Hell, usually you can't even take them out from the inside, either," he frowned at Takumi's powerful team. "I'm lucky you went on ahead of me!" he smirked at the redhead.

Takumi smiled back. "I suppose," he nodded.

"Okay, we'd better secure a line to Kyoko-san," Arata stated. "Hang on a sec, Takumi!"

"Right!" the younger boy nodded as the older hacker began to work his magic.

"Still, this is a nasty situation…" Arata muttered.

"What do you mean?" Takumi tilt his head to the side.

"If Digimon are being used for security purposes, then Kamishiro staff might be using them for all sorts of ends."

"Ah, you're right," Takumi thoughtfully brought his hand to his chin.

"Could this actually all be part of that jerk Suedou's plan?" Arata asked.

"Maybe? But he doesn't seem like the type to be relying on Digimon," Takumi pointed out. He was about to dive a bit further into his thoughts but a successful ping rang out from Arata's Digivice.

"Hey! I've gotten through," Arata smirked. "Try calling Kyoko-san, Takumi!"

"Right!" The detective's assistant quickly dialed in the office's number. "Kyoko-san, it's us!"

"I've… been… waiting," Kyoko appeared on the screen. "Can you… hear me?" She frowned as she worked on stabilizing the connection. "Can you hear me?" she repeated herself.

"Hey, we did it!" Arata nodded. "We're reading you loud and clear, Kyoko-san."

"Aha. Well done," she crossed her arms and smirked at the two boys. "And now for the passcode…"

"Yeah… Here's hoping that girl does her part," Arata nodded.

"Don't worry about her," Kyoko stated. "She'll do a good job."

"What makes you so sure?" Takumi asked.

"She's a bit wet behind the ears, but she's desperate and there's nothing scarier—and no one most dependable—than a novice who's desperate," Kyoko replied, bringing her hand to her mouth.

Arata chuckled at that. "You may have a point there."

"I'll check with her for the pass code," Kyoko nodded before hanging up.

"Okay then," Arata smirked. "We'll head off to the 'secret room'! I trust she'll get us the pass code, right?"

"If Kyoko-san says she will, then I trust Yuuko-san," Takumi nodded with a smile. "Besides, Yuuko-san hasn't let us down yet."

Yuuko quickly broke past the first few layers of firewalls Kishibe set up. "Just a little… Just a little more…" she frowned to herself. She looked around the large office before her eyes went back to the goggles wrapped around her left arm. The raven-haired girl knit her eyebrows together as she returned to her task, remembering what was at stake if she failed.

Takumi frowned as he stumbled upon a dead end. "This path is no good too," he told Arata.

"What's up?" the taller hacker raised an eyebrow at him. "Huh? We can't go any further?"

"No matter where we go, we can't move forward," Takumi sighed and closed his eyes as he tried to come up with a way around this.

"Hey now," Arata smirked. "Why do you think I came along?" He shook his head as he studied the path before them. "Hmph. A newbie like you might not see it, but if you can find a point in the security net that's more strained than others…" he pulled up a monitor and began typing. "Ah, here we go."

Takumi watched as a path suddenly opened up. "Whoa…!"

"And now security itself is our way in," Arata nodded. "Okay, let's go!"

"Right!" The Cyber Sleuth noticed some strange data sealed and smirked as he quickly began scanning it. "Okay, this stuff I can handle."

Arata nodded as he spotted another dead end before them. "Super easy," he smirked as the two of them hacked their way through the server. Eventually they made it to the end and the pair slowed down. "That looks like the entrance to the secret room!"

"Let's go," Takumi nodded. He was about to take a step forward but sensed a familiar unwanted presence. "Arata!" he quickly turned around to face the Eater that suddenly appeared behind them.

"Huh!?" Arata turned too. "But that's…! What is an Eater doing here!?" He shook his head and prepared his Infermon for battle. "Ngh! We don't have any choice. We've got to fight it!"

"WereGarurumon (Black), go!" Takumi directed his fastest Digimon of his current team to preempt the monster.

"Kaiser Nail!" the werewolf quickly rushed up to the Eater and slashed the creature with his claws.

"Hell's Grenade!" Infermon laughed as he fired multiple shots out of his mouth.

Arata smirked as the mollusk-like beast was easily dispatched. After a while, he turned towards Takumi with a serious frown on his face. "This is no laughing matter. There's no way this thing was a part of Kamishiro's 'security' measures, right?"

"It shouldn't be," Takumi worriedly frowned as he thought back to the preview demonstration. He was quickly taken out of his thoughts when he received a call.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kyoko smirked. "Yuuko-san got her hands on the pass code."

"Hey! She really did it!" Arata smirked.

"I'm sending it now," the detective nodded.

"Alright," Takumi nodded. He blinked at the new message he received though and groaned. "W-wait… this is it?"

Curious, Arata peered over the shorter boy's shoulder and read the password he just received.

PASS CODE: rie-chan_moe_moe

The older teen's face fell. "H-huh…?"

Kyoko blinked at both boys in concern. "Did it go through? That's the pass code to the secret room."

"This is it?" Arata asked in confirmation.

"Apparently the password wasn't something that was capable of being deduced via hacking," Kyoko pensively stated, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "You'd have to have a strong handle on her personality or else make a lucky guess."

"So… rie-chan_moe_moe…" Arata frowned.

"Yes, rie-chan_moe_moe," Kyoko smirked at him.

"Uh…" Takumi frowned at the strange lady's password. "Have I ever mentioned that she scares me…?"

"I did mention how the pass code changes daily, right?" Kyoko crossed her arms. "This one is still valid. By the way, yesterday's pass code was…"

Arata and Takumi gulped as they nodded. "W-what was it?" Takumi asked.

"No, let's just move on, shall we?" the blonde woman shook her head. "It's a bit too lurid for minors like you."

"I expected as much from that woman," Takumi sighed.

"Hang on! Wait!" Arata frowned.

"All right, proceed with the operation," Kyoko teasingly smirked at the curious teen. "We don't want Yuuko-san's efforts to be in vain. You have to make your way inside!"

"Man," Arata crossed his arms in disappointment. "Now I really want to know what it was!"

"Well, I don't," Takumi shook his head. "Let's just hurry before it somehow changes into something else."

Yuuko let out a relieved sigh. "This should do the trick…" She looked towards the exit and got up from the oversized office chair. "I've got to get out of here and fast." She only managed to get past the desk when a security alarm sounded. She froze up and gasped. "I've been found out?" She looked around the window displays around her as they flashed red. "So then this is…" Yuuko frowned as she hoped Takumi and Arata were at least successful at their end.

"Well," Arata smirked as they stepped onto the terminal, "looks like this is the place. The secret room, huh? Well then, let's see what secrets you're hiding exactly, shall we?" He crossed his arms and sighed. "But that pass code makes me think. What kind of woman is Kishibe? She can't be anything like Nokia, right?"

"N-no… she's worse than anyone I've ever met…" Takumi answered, bringing his hand up to his mouth. "There's something… unnatural about her…"

"Well, never mind," Arata shrugged as he inputted the password and a door opened up. "We've got some searching to do."

Both teenagers took a deep breath to brace themselves before stepping into whatever hell was waiting for them. Takumi tensed up when he was assaulted by the strong scent of roses and the color pink. He looked around with an uncomfortable frown on his face. "Ah… this is… almost normal… Not really… but close enough for Kishibe, I guess…"

"Whoa… For real?" Arata scowled at the tacky decorations. "So this is Kamishiro's top secret area, then?" He shook his head as he brought them both on track. "We've got to find the data we're after now! You go search over there," he pointed over to the dresser off to side of the room as the older boy started for the vanity.

"Right," Takumi nodded as he opened up a drawer. He tensed up at what he found though. "Eh!?"

"Huh?" Arata hurried over to him. "You found something? What is it?" He blinked when the redhead lifted up a strange piece of fabric. "That trashy old rag?" He paused when he realized what it really was. "Th-these are…"

Takumi blankly blinked at what he was holding up. "Um…"

"Panties?" Arata shook his head. "Why are these in here? And how long are you gonna hold 'em for? Put those away!"

Takumi fumbled with them before dropping them into the drawer and slamming it shut. He backed away from the dresser and tripped before landing in the obnoxiously fluffy pink bed. Something hard painfully pressed against his chest and the Cyber Sleuth didn't quite look forward to knowing what it was. He carefully pushed himself up and removed the object in question. "What is this? Hm?" he blinked at what looked like to be a locked journal of some sort. "Arata, I think you take a look at this."

"Now what?" Arata sighed as he walked up to the younger boy with hands in his pockets. "Huh? Rie's Heart-Wrenching Diary? All right," he carefully took the journal from Takumi, "let's see what you've got…" He worked on decoding the information but blinked at how complex the lock was. "It looks like the contents are encrypted. It can't be. This is the confidential library?"

Takumi blinked when his Digivice began to ring. As he answered, Kyoko urgently frowned at the boys. "Are you two okay!?" she asked.

"We're fine. Why?" Takumi tilted his head to the side.

"Has something happened, Kyoko-san?" Arata asked.

"It seems there was a disturbance at the preview," Kyoko stated.

"Huh!?" Takumi tensed up as a chill ran down his spine. He could distinctly feel an abundance of distorted Digital Waves gathering in a location. Although he was too far to analyze them, the signature of an Eater was unmistakable.

Arata crossed his arms and frowned. "A disturbance? What's that supposed to mean? At the preview venue?" The hacker quickly pulled up a few monitors to hack into a camera for them to see what was going on. "Uh-oh!" Arata's eyes widened as the guests in the preview were being attacked by multiple Eaters. "It's another Eater!"

"Kyoko-san!" Takumi knit his eyebrows together. "What's happening!?"

"Kamishiro has put an emergency stop to the EDEN service for the time being," Kyoko informed them. "The announcement claims illegal access by hackers as the reason behind it."

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Arata frowned. "Always conceal the truth!" He paused as he considered something. "But if that monster manifested before so many people, they won't be able to control things so easily." He paused to consider something. "Huh? Then that means…"

"Arata, look!" Takumi quickly pointed out something on the monitor that quickly caught his eye.

"That girl and… Kishibe Rie!" Arata's eyes widened.

"N-no way…" Takumi tensed up as he stared the screen. "Was our operation compromised again…?" He could see Yuuko facing off against Kishibe as the woman kindly smiled at the young girl. "Yuuko-san!"

"What's this about a disturbance?" Yuuko asked. "The servers are down from an online attack? That's just nonsense, right?" She frowned as she considered the Eaters at the venue. "There must be victims of EDEN Syndrome from all this. So why…? Why hide that?"

"Now, now, Yuuko-chan," Kishibe's smile grew. "Don't be so scared! Your tongue'll freeze up and you won't be able to talk!"

"S-stop joking around!" the girl yelled. "I… You've been taking care of my brother… That's why this whole time, I've been…!"

"That's right…" the green-haired woman frowned. "Little Orphan Yuuko-chan, and a minor, at that… With your brother in the condition he's in, you need someone to keep looking after him. Listen to me and keep what I say a secret. It's better to stay on my good side, don't you think?"

Yuuko tensed up at that. "Ah…!"

"If you're going to go through life with grown-ups holding your hand for you," the CEO continued, "you'd better play your cards right. If not, I might plum forget to take care of your dear big brother. Oopsie!" she threateningly smiled. The raven-haired girl let out a shaky breath at that, resulting in Kishibe laughing at her pitiful expression. "Just kidding! Right? Obviously! But, seriously?" she tilted her head to the side. "Without the hospital taking care of them, all those patients could start fading fast. Oh no!"

Takumi tensed up at that. "N-no…!"

"It would be just awful if that were to happen," Kishibe sympathetically nodded.

"Rie-san…" Yuuko frowned at the awful woman. "People like you should be…"

"What did I tell you about making that face?" the lady laughed. "It's all good, Yuuko-chan! I think of you as the darling little sister I never had! And there's your brother too, of course! He's been orphaned by our dear, departed chairman as well!"

The raven-haired girl lowered her gaze as there was nothing she could say to counter the woman.

"And so to keep me from simply forgetting anything," Kishibe's smile grew as she crossed her arms, "you mustn't access my private data anymore. Do we have an understanding?" Her tone had gone from her usual sickeningly sweet sultriness to a low, threatening whisper.

Yuuko closed her eyes and frowned to herself. She took in a deep breath before glaring at the woman before her. "Rie-san, answer me this. What on earth were you planning to do with the Demon hackers?"

Takumi blinked as Yuuko's question came out of nowhere. "H-huh…?"

"Well, well!" Kishibe chuckled. "You finally asked a direct question. My strategy will be very effective! But that's a secret!"

"EDEN is…" Yuuko angrily tensed up, "is the dream land my father built. Keep your filth out of it! I will never surrender EDEN to you!" With that, the girl stormed out of the office.

As she left, Kishibe giggled at the teenager's tantrum. "You're soooo adorable! Threatening me while trembling and almost crying! So heart-wrenching, I could just die!" she laughed.

"Yuuko-san…" Takumi frowned as the raven-haired girl disappeared from the screen. The Cyber Sleuth was about to turn away but he noticed Kishibe crossing her arms and looking over towards someone else. "Huh…? Is there another person there?"

"And?" the woman seriously continued. "How is the prep work coming along, Akemi-chan?"

"Without any mishaps. Naturally!" Suedou declared as he entered the office.

"We had the desired results from the upgrade, yes?" Kishibe smiled at him.

"We did," the scientist gave her a pleased nod. "We've nearly verified the theory regarding Eater behavior."

The woman let out a squeal. "You did a very good job! And then there was that test. You knocked that one out of the park, Akemi-chan!"

"Yes, yes, leave it to me," Suedou smiled. "I will have an optimal stage ready and waiting! That day will be one that you and I will never forget!"

Kishibe squealed again. "That sounds sooo romantic!" She turned towards the exit, ready to start the next phase of their plan. "Okay, Akemi-chan, let's go!"

Suedou followed after her but paused to look at the camera he knew Arata had hacked into before continuing on. Arata crossed his arms and frowned at the man's actions. "He saw us, didn't he? That old guy?"

Takumi shivered. "I think so…"

"He gave a little sign that he'd noticed us," the raven-haired boy continued, "and yet he didn't give us away!" Arata let out a frustrated groan. "I don't get it! Is he against us? Or on our side? Which is it?"

"I wonder…" Takumi frowned. His Digivice began to ring again so he quickly picked up.

"You've got the information?" Kyoko asked the boys.

"Yeah," Arata answered. "It's called 'Rie's Heart-Wrenching Diary', a library of top-secret Kamishiro information. We've got a perfect copy. We'll wait to do the decrypting until we get back."

"That's excellent," the detective nodded. "Get out of there as soon as you can. With all the confusion going on now, you should be able to leave right through the front entrance."

"But what about the Eaters?" Takumi asked.

"Can we really just leave the Eaters at the preview venue?" Arata frowned.

"EDEN's servers are shut down for the time being," Kyoko stated as she brought her index finger to her forehead. "There shouldn't be any more victims today." She sternly looked straight into Takumi's blue eyes. "I understand your desire to get rid of the Eaters, but think about it. Making contact with one would run the risk of destroying the confidential information."

Takumi frowned to himself as he struggled between wanting to save the preview guests and completing his mission. In the end, he knew he had to choose the latter as it would be more beneficial in the long run. With all of the victims today, he had to prioritize any information pertaining to EDEN Syndrome above all else. "Alright, Kyoko-san," he sighed. "I understand…"

"Roger that," Arata nodded before sharing a frown with his friend. "Takumi, let's go back to the agency."

"Yeah…" Takumi nodded.

"There was official word from Kamishiro that an Eater appeared at the preview event," Kyoko sternly stated. "It seems that Kamishiro claimed that hackers with malicious intent interrupted the preview."

"The press is in an uproar, reporting that hackers caused some of the participants to develop EDEN Syndrome," Yuuko added with a frown.

"Oh, come on!" Arata cried out. "They've got to be kidding! Blaming anything bad that happens to them on hackers!"

"To the general public, hackers are nothing more than outlaws and they're demanding that scapegoats be brought forth," Kyoko stated. "Put it this way. Hackers 'reap what they sow'. Pardon me if that sounds a bit harsh. Still," she crossed her arms, "this brouhaha might have made it easier for you all to slip in unnoticed."

"Suedou saw what we were doing," Arata pointed out, "but he didn't say anything. Why? It doesn't make sense."

"Interesting," Kyoko mused. "The reason why might be in here," she nodded at the data both boys managed to retrieve.

"This is what we found in the secret room," Arata nodded.

"Hmm… 'Rie's Heart-Wrenching Diary'… As I expected," Kyoko nodded, "a library of top-secret Kamishiro information. It was encoded with an advanced encryption, but I finally decoded it just a short while ago."

"And?" Arata crossed his arms. "What was inside?"

"The Paradise Lost Plan," the detective answered.

Takumi looked up at that. "Eh?"

"The Paradise Lost Plan…?" Yuuko frowned at that name.

"Yes," the detective nodded. "Have you heard of it?" she asked Takumi.

The redhead shook his head. "Never…"

"Well, this is the first I've heard of it," Kyoko stated. "It seems that Kamishiro is controlling the Digital Waves to execute some large-scale plan."

"So these Digital Shifts that keep happening lately are being caused intentionally by Kamishiro?" Arata asked.

"It might be slightly misleading to say that," Kyoko shook her head. "Kamishiro's goal is for the Paradise Lost Plan to succeed. The Digital Shifts are simply a side-effect of that. The upcoming large-scale update to EDEN is a part of that plan, it seems."

"Okay, but…" Yuuko frowned. "Just what is the Paradise Lost Plan?"

"Yes, well," Kyoko brought her index finger to her forehead, "unfortunately the documentation doesn't describe the plan itself at all. That said, what is included, and this is very interesting, is the name of the individual responsible for developing the plan."

"The person responsible?" Arata frowned. "Who the hell is it? Cut the suspense and tell us!"

"It's Suedou Akemi," the detective plainly answered.

"Ah!?" the hacker tensed up at that. "Say what? That old guy?"

"And there was one other interesting piece of information in there," Kyoko added.

"What is it?" Takumi asked.

"It's about the first victim of EDEN Syndrome."

"Ah!" Yuuko tensed up at that and Takumi quickly noticed the girl's change in demeanor.

"There was a closed beta test run eight years ago," Kyoko explained, "before the EDEN cyberspace was opened to the public. During the test, there was an accident brought about due to unforeseen errors. One of the individuals involved never regained consciousness and became the first EDEN Syndrome patient."

"Eight years ago, huh?" Takumi frowned as he stared at Yuuko.

"The first victim?" Arata asked. "Who was it?"

"That is a topic for our next investigation," Kyoko responded.

"I can't believe it," the tall hacker shook his head. "They've been running EDEN all this time, hiding this information when there have been victims going back eight years?"

"It's what makes big companies so scary," Kyoko shrugged, "Their refusal to stop for something so 'trivial'. That's why this information is so valuable. We've got to share it with Detective Matayoshi." She crossed her arms and nodded at their operation's success. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained… Well, you've really gained something this time!"

"Um, excuse me…" Yuuko spoke up. "Was there no information on my father, Kamishiro Satoru?"

"No," Kyoko shook her head. "At the very least, there wasn't anything in the data that was brought back."

"There was nothing that looked like that in there," Arata explained. "The only other stuff was some trashy panties," he frowned at Takumi. He blinked when he noticed the redhead didn't seem to be paying attention to the rest of the conversation. The younger boy was intently fixated on studying Yuuko.

"I see…" the raven-haired girl frowned.

"Sorry I wasn't able to do more," Arata apologized to her and hid his frown behind the collar of his jacket. "Thanks for your help, though."

Yuuko dismissed his gratitude and stood up. "Please excuse me." She started for the door but Arata called out to her.

"What? Hey, hang on a second."

"I might not be able to help anymore," Yuuko stated without turning to face them.

"Yuuko-san…?" Takumi frowned as she left the agency.

"Hmm," Kyoko crossed her arms. "It seems like there's something on her mind."

"Hey, Takumi," Arata looked over towards the soft-hearted redhead. "Go after her and see if you can talk to her."

"Me…?" Takumi blinked at him in surprise.

"You heard her, right?" the older boy sternly frowned. "Her brother has EDEN Syndrome. Someone might be blackmailing her to keep her mouth shut. And then to have EDEN, her father's dream, hijacked by that Kishibe woman… Your body being in the state it's in gives you a stake in all this too. I'm not in a position to comfort or encourage her. But you, you're good at that, yeah?"

"I… guess…" Takumi frowned.

"Go on, then," Arata nodded to him.

Takumi stared at his gloved hand for a moment before nodding and rising to his feet. He quickly took off after Yuuko without another word, leaving Kyoko and Arata behind in the office. The detective brought her hand up to her mouth and studied the hacker sitting across from her. "I've revised my opinion of you a little, kid. You value your friends more than I thought."

"Don't damn me with your faint praise, woman," Arata shook his head at her.

"All right, then," Kyoko replied. "But perhaps active encouragement is better than verbal," she said with a smile. "I've got a new coffee idea! This is special. Oyster sauce for extra punch," she paused as another recipe came to her, "or maybe you'd prefer apple cider vinegar?"

Arata tensed up at that. "Eh!?"

"Yuuko-san!" Takumi quickly caught up to the quiet girl. "W-wait up!"

"Takumi-san?" Yuuko turned towards the boy chasing after her and blinked at him. "What is it?" she asked him. "Was there something else?"

"W-well…" the blue-eyed boy looked away from her.

The girl noticed his concerned expression and knit her eyebrows together. "Did you come after me because you were worried about me?"

"U-uh, y-yeah," Takumi nodded.

"Thank you very much," she politely told him.

"N-no, it's r-really nothing," the boy shook his head. "I understand how it is you're feeling after all," Takumi told her with a sad frown as he considered her current living situation. "It must be difficult… living without your family…"

"Eh?" Yuuko blinked at him in surprise before studying Takumi's sympathetic frown.

"Hm?" Takumi noticed her gaze and quickly put on a lopsided grin. "Oh, I mean… I'm sure things will get better. If anything, you're never completely alone! J-just hang in there…"

The girl frowned as the boy sheepishly chuckled to himself. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Do you want to return to your original body?"

"Hm?" Takumi blinked at her before closing his eyes. He shook his head before opening his eyes again. "I… don't really know," he honestly told her.

"Eh?" she blinked at him in surprise. "But don't you want to find a way to cure EDEN Syndrome? Even now, your real body…" She frowned as it probably wasn't a pleasant thought for the boy. "Do you like this body more than your actual body?"

"No, it's not that," Takumi shook his head before explaining. "It's just… this body has given me the power to help people. Of course I want my real body back, but I'm going to do all I can with the body I have now. There are things only I can do after all. It's difficult, but this is what I've decided to do."

"I see," Yuuko smiled at him. "Yes, that makes sense."

The redhead stared at her smiling face. "Yuuko-san…?"

The raven-haired girl chuckled to herself. "Why am I asking you something so obvious?" She gratefully nodded to Takumi. "My hesitation has gone away. I'm going to try to do what I obviously should be doing," she told him.

Takumi stared into her eyes and nodded. "Yuuko-san, if you ever need assistance, please don't hesitate to ask me. I don't know what it is you've decided, but… for your brother's sake as well as yours, don't take on too much on your own," he gently smiled at her.

Yuuko nodded to him in understanding. "I must be going." She lowered her gaze but still smiled at him. "Goodbye."

The redhead watched her walk away. "Yuuko-san…" Feeling a little bit better about himself, Takumi managed to crack a genuine smile of his own. "I guess I'll have to do the same…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before returning to the agency. He tensed up when he thought he heard someone choking inside.

"Gaaah!" Arata's death cry could be heard through the door. "Oh god… My throat! Oh no, is… Is this how it all ends?"

Takumi winced as he heard his friend collapse to the ground. The redhead nervously backed away from the office as he decided to return later, preferably when Kyoko's new brew was gone. "Actually…" he quickly turned towards the direction Yuuko went off to, "I wonder if Yuuko-san would like to get something to eat…" With a hopeful grin on his face, he quickly took off to find her again.

Final Notes: Originally, I wanted Takumi's mom to be a bit more important to the story, but... I doubt giving her EDEN Syndrome would be beneficial to Takumi's psyche. He's a very sensitive boy after all. Actually... all of the boys in this game are quite fragile... We have Arata posing as a cool, aloof big brother figure. Then there's Takumi's emphatic personality and his refusal to leave anyone in trouble behind, even if it puts him in danger... And finally, there's Yuugo's teenage angst that won't really hit until next chapter. Out of the girls, only Yuuko seems wrought with problems, but that's because she has issues she's actively working on. Nokia and Kyoko though are completely fine. Or at least, Nokia's problem was her inability to act in the beginning, but she's already gotten over that thanks to Agumon, Gabumon, and Takumi. And Kyoko is an extremely well-adjusted adult. I suppose she has to be if she has to deal with Takumi and his friends every day. She loves her assistant dearly after all and won't ever let anything bad happen to him. Sometimes, I feel she's more of Takumi's mom than his actual mom...