22) Deceptions and Deceit
"Any problems?', Koichi asked his diminutive visitor.
"None, culu, they can't seem to be able to detect me, culu? Even if they did, they think I'm just a talking doll, culu?"
"Let's see what you brought me", he said as he plugged in one of the pen drives.
"Anything, culu?"
"So far, this looks pretty routine".
"Did I fail you, culu?"
"There's still a bunch of files to go through yet. Just sit tight".
"Allow me to assist you".
It was Renamon, who'd just "teleported" herself.
"Can you?", Koichi asked.
"But of course", she said, "after all, I am a digital being"
With that, Renamon picked up the drives, and seemed to "phase out" for just an instant.
"It's bad..."
"How bad?"
"May I?"
Koichi relinquished his place behind the monitor. Renamon plugged in one of the other drives, and clicked on a file. This one related to Shaggai.
"Here", she offered, "I think you'll find this one interesting".
"I didn't think...", Koichi began.
"Culu?"
"Not even Yamaki could be capable... We need to show this to the others, ASAP. Renamon..."
"Probably the park would be best", Renamon said, "it's closer, and since they can't drive..."
"I was hoping for a place a bit more private", Koichi objected.
"The park's pretty private..."
"And Yamaki knows all about it by now, I'm sure"
"No one will listen in", Renamon promised.
Koichi brought out his lap top, made sure it was charged, and copied over the files he needed.
"I'm off, you can get to them, let them know?"
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
"Ruki", it was Icedevimon, "what are you doing down here?", he asked.
She explained everything about the disastrous photo shoot, how her mother provoked her, and deliberately, and the bare assed spanking.
"If I go home...", she began.
"I am your partner, and I will protect you. If they attack you, I'll..."
"No, you can't", she objected. "digimon are one thing, but attacking humans..."
"Are you telling me you value digital life less than human life? How dare..."
"It's not me!", she protested.
"Then who?!"
"The police, the authorities: they don't care because there are no laws against killing digimon. There are laws against killing humans, and the police take that very seriously. If they discover dead bodies in my house, they will never stop investigating, and we will be caught.
"It's just the way things are right now. Once your Master takes over, then things can be different. Right now, we..."
"There is no need for you to go back. I swore to protect you, and protect you I shall. What is it that you require?"
"I could use a change of clothes, and something for breakfast would be nice", she said.
"I will return very soon", Icedevimon promised.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Chou Park: Guilmon's Shed
"Why did you send Renamon to bring us here?", Takato asked. "I had a helluva time explaining why I had to run off so suddenly".
"Before we start..."
"Moumentai, leave it to us", Terriermon promised. "Calumon?"
"Culu? Noone will listen in, culu?"
"Last night, Calumon successfully infiltrated Hypnos", Koichi explained, as he booted his lappy. "It doesn't look good".
Jen and Takato read what he'd brought them here to see.
"Jen, Yamaki has your father and his former colleagues thinking they're working on a weapon of targeted assassination for Wild Ones – feral digimon, trouble makers like this rash of Devas we've been having. That's what they think, anyway.
"What he's really planning is genocide on a massive scale. Not just digimon who've come to the Material World, but digimon everywhere, including the Digital World itself..."
"He can't!", Takato protested.
"He wouldn't...", Jen began.
"Actually, he can..."
"But Father would never agree to that!", Jen continued his protest.
"Wouldn't he? After all, he did agree to work for Hypnos and Yamaki. He and his Wild Bunch friends wouldn't necessarily even know what he's up to. Think about it: how do programs get written these days? Think about an op-sys kernel, for example. You have coders working in their specific modules and libraries. They aren't seeing the program as a whole, and probably never do until very late in the development cycle.
"Your father – his old college pals – they aren't seeing Shaggai as a whole. They won't figure it out until ir's too late. You know what that Yamaki asshole is like, do you really think he'd tell them what he's really up to? Do you think the politicians really care? Do you think he'd be honest with them, even if they did?"
"Then what should I do? Tell Dad..."
"That's the last thing you should do", Koichi explained.
"Then what?!"
"You can't tell him. Think about that: he'll want to know how you know that, even if he's willing to listen in the first place. Are you gonna tell him that you and your friends can infiltrate Hypnos – a major government agency – at will? Even if he doesn't go running straight to Yamaki the first chance he gets, what if he inadvertently lets something slip in a moment of unguarded candor?
"What would Yamaki do? If he and his Wild Bunch walk off the job, he'll be persona non grata everywhere in the IT world. It will end his career. Remember, Hypnos is a major government agency, and these politicians have very long memories. They, and Yamaki, can make life very difficult, especially if your Dad gets himself on their bad side.
"What happens if the Wild Bunch drags their feet? What if they sabotage Yamaki's code? He's gonna figure it out, isn't he? He may be an utter asshole, but he's not a stupid asshole".
"Then what are we gonna do?!", Takato called out. "I don't wanna lost Guilmon!"
"You won't..."
"Then what?", Jen asked.
"I have a plan", Koichi explained, "and you two need to be very sure before I explain it. You need to be very sure you never mention a word of this to anyone. That means your parents, that means your girlfriend..."
"Juri's not my girlfriend...", Takato began to protest.
"... doesn't matter. You've already demonstrated you can't keep anything from her. You did show her Guilmon, didn't you? You have to be very sure..."
"I get it", Takato replied. "Not a word. Not if Guilmon's life is at stake".
"Good: because that's precisely the situation here"
"What did you have in mind?", Jen asked.
"We're going to install our own back door into the Shaggai code. If Yamaki tries something that threatens our partners, then he's gonna get the surprise of his life. If all goes well, he'll never figure it out because it'll be at the machine code level. Our little cream puff downloaded all the specs for Hypnos' mainframe. Let him go through every line of code, he'll never see anything. Let him go through all the assembly, he'll never suspect a thing. He'll have to go through each and every line of machine code. Maybe by the time he qualifies for his lavish government pensions, he'll discover it. Our little cream puff can install it. If all goes well, we may even be rid of Yamaki forever".
"But how...", Jen began. "That's got to be one helluva big program... it'd take months just to analyze the damn thing!"
"Actually, it won't", Renamon explained. "You're forgetting one thing: I am a digital being, even though I wear this physical form. I can think much faster, and I also have all the resources of the Digital World at my disposal. We will protect your partners".
"Are... are you sure?", Jen asked.
"Lives are at stake here", Renamon replied.
"We have Yamaki's developmental code, don't forget. We know everything he knows", Koichi reminded.
"Here's something else you might find interesting", Koichi said, as he clicked on another file.
"Takato Matsuda
Partner: Guilmon
DOB, Place of Residence, yada, yada, yada..."
Despite his happy-go-lucky demeanor and the occasional displays of childish immaturity, he is quite intelligent, even if he is an underachiever in school, and the occasional discipline problem. This makes it easy to underestimate him. He is also quite determined, and has definite leadership qualities. His greatest weaknesses are a certain sentimentality towards his partner, with a reluctance to put him in danger. He is susceptible to depressive episodes that can lead to his giving up too easily.
Threat level: High"
He clicked on another file:
"Jenyra Lee.
Jenyra fits the stereotype of the on-line gamer and 'geek'. He does not make friends easily, and is somewhat socially awkward. However, his friendships are steadfast. His technical proficiency rivals that of his father, Janyu, and is years beyond that expected of a fifth grade student. Major weakness is his extremely sentimental view of digimon, and pacifist tendencies and beliefs. When faced with a decision, he tends to suffer 'paralysis from analysis'.
Update: Disregard the above. He has demonstrated he is willing to commit his partner to battle.
Threat level: Moderate
"Anything on you?", Takato asked.
"Oh yeah..."
Unknown Tamer
Partner: Renamon
Update: This new Tamer has been identified as Koichi Lonnegan. Nationality: American
Being much older, Koichi is the most mature of the Tamers. He has a nasty temper, and is very protective of the other Tamers and their partners. There is no doubt that he will resort to violence, and would kill without remorse in defense of his associates. Reputed to be having a...
"Let's skip that part, shall we?", he said as he scrolled the screen.
"...It may become necessary to eliminate him by finding a pretext, or manufacturing one, for deportation.
Threat Level: Extreme"
"It would seem our Mr. Yamaki has been a busy little bee. I think you'll find this fascinating:
Ruki Makino and her partner, Icedevimon, have proved themselves most useful for the elimination of Wild Ones materializing for the purpose of partnering with children. Ruki disdains friendship, and avoids relationships. Her main motivation is the seeking of power and recognition, as she believes this to be the means by which she can earn the love of others. Has a very uneasy relationship with her mother, and seems to prefer the grandmother. These tendencies make her unusually easy to manipulate for our purposes of keeping these digimon away from kids, and their tendencies to see the Wild Ones, not as threats to our world, but as pets to domesticate.
"I knew it!", Takato said. "That day, when Yamaki captured Darklizardmon, he called me a 'cowardly kid'. I couldn't understand it at the time, because I didn't do anything cowardly. I didn't run away, or anything like that, and I challenged this guy about what he was doing. The only one who called me a 'coward' was Ruki. He must've heard it from her".
"Our Mr. Yamaki is a real piece of work", Koichi agreed. "Using a disturbed young girl like that... it's beyond despicable".