I don't own digimon.
Story 49
All in your head
Emma stared about her home and let out a sigh. She was a grown woman, but the rumors about people fixated on murder for the sake of returning to 'Neverworld' were just too much. Even for someone like her - who could easily make their way through life unscathed from the various dangers thrown the inventor's way, this was on a whole different level. She and many people had lost at least someone during the Eosmon attacks. But to think that there existed an entire group that wished to bring about a similar event once again, Emma didn't even want to think about it. All the more reason to push herself to work on the various projects she had scattered about in the hopes of quelling the massive storm of anxiety threatening to swirl forth within and throw her completely off from what had been actually a good week for once. Yes, there had been moments where things weren't looking so hot. But Emma defied the odds and proved herself and everyone around her wrong by making it through mostly unscathed. But this would be her hardest task yet - passing the time in anticipation of a possible attack by these light-obsessed monsters. Emma was a digidestined, after all. That was more than enough of a reason to take her on. Without a digimon partner, that just made her all the easier to kill. While probably not true, that was the thought echoing across her mind. Trying her best to quell it, that only made the negativity grow that much more. She was nothing without her partner. He had been rock, always there for her when things got tough. Now, the inventor was on her own. Even with the support of friends and family, it didn't feel like enough to stop the worst parts of her from rearing their ugly head. When that happened, she was left to pick up the pieces and somehow tredge onward.
"I got this." Emma thought as she came to the first project that had been left unfinished - a circuit board. Placed on the table, the tools had been kind enough to remain in their place. Better than some of the other projects that had a habit of growing legs and just walking every piece to a different place for maximum frustration and time-wasting. That was the absolute worst. Especially since she knew who was behind it - herself. Whether by way of a moment or an accident, the inventor managed to separate pieces from the projects she was working on. But not this one.
Taking a seat, Emma took a moment to look over her work. Relatively clean, there were just a couple more connections to solder to the board. Once she did that, then her ball-throwing robot would be ready for action. A prototype at the moment, it would be perfect for canines or canine digimon. If there was a market for that kind of thing and she could keep the manufacturing costs down. Something to think about once she reached that stage.
"Perfect." Emma thought and set her soldering iron down. Picking the board up, she looked it over one time for good measure. Satisfied with the results, just a matter of putting it into the robot and making sure that they understood all the commands she coded for them. Hopefully this one wouldn't accidentally burst into flames by way of throwing the ball too hard. As critical failures go, that was kind of funny. But also sad in a way. That robot had so much potential waiting to be used. Instead, it threw it all in the trash right at the start. The worst feeling to have as an inventor. But one that was to be expected in stressful times like this. Away from the office, the only thing that could distract her was herself. But at the same time, that one obstacle was perhaps the most frustrating of all. When Emma could focus, anything felt possible. But when her focus refused to stick, everything felt as if it was just out of reach and she was running in place. Thankfully, today was the former rather than the latter currently. Would suck if it somehow turned out to be the other way around and she was wasting her efforts. But the inventor pushed those negative thoughts away. Never did any good, regardless of the situation. Instead, she turned her attention to finding wherever her ball-throwing robot went. That was the next project that needed to be completed. Once the circuit board was installed, she could test it's ball-throwing capabilities to the fullest.
"Hello? Is there anyone home? I have a gift for you!" a voice announced and Emma looked about. Trying her best to find wherever that it was that this person was, she found herself coming up empty. Whoever it was needed to try harder in order to get her away from the tasks that needed to be completed currently. Ignoring it for now, the inventor turned back to her space in the hopes of finding her ball-throwing robot. It had to be around here somewhere. Unless it had somehow grown legs like some of the other stuff. Even if it had, the weight of the robot made going anywhere extremely hard to begin with. Especially when put in the corner. Wait. That was one of the few places she hadn't looked. Of course it would be there.
"There it is." Emma thought and headed over to that particular corner. Done up in a mix of wallpaper patterns, the previous owner had been quite indecisive when it came to the walls. She could very much relate to that sentiment. Every once in a while she had wanted to entirely redo the interior. For now, she settled on just replacing the light switch covers. That was good enough for now. Especially with so many different options to pick from. Shifting her focus away from the walls, Emma let her gaze come upon her next project. A mix of steel beams, actuators and a makeshift doggy shell, it even had a thing for holding the tennis balls. Sadly, there was nothing in the way of devices to actually return the tennis balls back to her. No, that would be straight out of science fiction. Even if the tech existed, the canine/canine digimon would just bring the ball back and render it pointless. For now, Emma pushed that thought away and opened the shell. Sliding the circuit board, she took the time to make sure it was snug and closed the shell up. Now where exactly had she put the controller for her invention. Had to have been somewhere close to this corner. But where exactly?
Scanning the area, Emma searched for the controller. Relatively large to fit the ball-throwing robot, that should've made it a heck of a lot easier to find. In actuality, it made it just as hard if not harder to do so. Absolutely baffling in her mind. Heck, she had even gone through the trouble of applying stickers and a touch of glitter to make it stand out even more. But that was still not enough to stop it from somehow remaining just out of her vision. That, or she wasn't trying hard enough to look in places for the controller to be. Like the table. Yeah, that was as good of a place as any to begin looking at. Though, she was fairly certain she would've seen the controller there while working on the circuit board. But considering that her focus had been fixated solely on that, that was probably why she hadn't se-
Right as Emma walked up to the table, a large foam missile crashed through her missile. Taking a couple steps back just in case, that was the missile's cue to begin following her.
"What did I do to deserve this?!" Emma screamed as she looked for something to bat the missile out of the air. Was this some kind of strange prank unrelated to that of the people who wished to return to 'Neverworld'? No, they seemed like the sort that would be more direct when it came to getting their message across. Something to keep in mind for the short time she would likely spend with this animated projectile. Sadly, the missile lacked anything in the way of methods to communicate and her words fell on deaf ears. Even if they somehow hadn't, what exactly would a missile say? Something about wanting to shoot her? No, it probably just announce her assailant's plans and give it all away. That sounded exactly like the kind of thing that a missile would do. But she pushed that dumb thought out and picked up a chair. Swinging it into the projectile, that did little to really dissuade the missile from leaving her alone. If anything, that just made it move faster. Now rapidly darting around her, Emma did her best to block it. Coming awfully close to hitting her, she managed to get out of the way just in time. A short-term solution when a long-term solution was very much needed. But what exactly? The ball-throwing robot, maybe. Yet, the controller remained out of reach and was bound to continue it's mischievous habit of evading her vision at every turn. If she could just bring a swift end to that then maybe she could turn this situation around. A pipe dream in Emma's mind. But one that the inventor believed she could turn around. Where else could it be that she somehow hadn't looked at yet? Pondering the question for a couple moments, the answer came to her - the other corner. Of course it had to be there. By sheer process of elimination, of course. Scurrying over, Emma did her best to dodge the missile and slow it down as much as humanly possible. Easier said than done with the lack of things that she could use to defend herself. The controller was her only hope here. If it somehow didn't work, Emma didn't know what she would do. Probably curl up in a ball and await whatever fate that this missile intended for her to have. Likely death, maybe capture if her opponent believed that she was somehow more useful for her technical abilities. At her actual jobs, she did quite a bit of work with robots and neural networks. Very much bleeding edge technology, the applications were not quite ready for the general public, but they were only a few years out at most. That was also relying on people actually being willing to give the stuff a try. Once they had gotten their foot in the metaphorical door, full adoption should be an absolute cinch to achieve. But Emma was getting ahead of herself here. Turning to the corner, it was here where the controller sat. Picking her pace up slightly, she scooped the device up. Taking a moment to turn it on, just a matter of pointing it at the ball-throwing robot and hoping to god that her invention was up to snuff. No pressure.
"Here goes nothing." she thought and pushed the left stick forward. Just catching a glimpse of the robot moving to face the missile, there was still a margin of error involved in this process. Ignoring the doubts, Emma pressed the button on the remote. Watching the ball shoot out, it was a direct hit on the missile. Now spinning about in an uncontrolled fashion, it eventually collided with one of the walls. Creating a hole, Emma found herself staring down a figure. Dressed all in black, she swore she could make out a set of dark eyes staring right at her.
"Did you not like your gift?" the figure joked and watched their opponent approach. Letting out a sigh, a cutlass came out.
"Not really? I honestly prefer not being blown up, thank you very much." Emma countered as she poked her head out into the yard. Relatively plain, gardening was very much not her forte. Didn't need to be. She could hire people to do that. Or better yet, build a robot to complete the task for her.
"Too bad. Off to Neverworld for you." the figure announced and got ready to launch another missile. Thankfully, Emma pushed the device they were doing down. This just didn't make sense here. Wouldn't a smaller device be so much better for this situation? Yes, far easier to kill her here. But no, that would be too easy here. Literally in this case. No, this needed to have the grandeur of something far more wacky for the lols or to send some kind of strange message for anyone who might be thinking that they can somehow evade the grasp of these lost children.
"Emma, you need to wake up!"
Looking around, Emma tried her hardest to find the source of the voice. Whoever or whatever it was that shouted her name remained just out of sight. Was actually kind of annoying, but could be dealt with once she was out of this situation. Or at least, that was what she told herself for now until a better grasp of this situation could be achieved. Yeah, that was definitely the best plan one could have in this situation. Pushing those thoughts away, Emma smashed her foot into her assailant's chest. Watching them stagger back, it was a cinch to disarm them of their missile-launching device. Grabbing hold, she pointed it at her opponent and pulled the trigger. The missile shot right out, exploding right into the mysterious assailant. Knocking them onto the ground and sliding back a couple feet, that was Emma's cue to throw the weapon behind her. Turning back to them, she ran over and ripped away whatever disguise that they were using in or-
"Emma, you need to wake up!"
Looking about once more, Emma was unable to find the source of the voice. It was actually kind of annoying to the inventor. A slap in the face to all she had actually managed to accomplish today. No matter, she would crown her accomplishments by discovering the identity of this mystery person. Staring down to their ripped disguise, she found her own face staring back up at herself.
"It must be nice having someone who actually cares about you." her doppelganger announced and cracked a smile. Emma attempted to step back, but found her legs refusing to listen to the commands her head was giving them. Continued attempts gave much the same results.
"Of course I do! I have my friends, my co-workers and my… and my…" Emma stuttered, her mind racing a million places and refusing to come up with the last one. Right on the tip of her tongue, the answer eluded her voice at every turn. Why did it have to be now of all times? She had been on such a roll too. If you ignored the interruption that the inventor currently found herself in and looked at the bigger picture. Who else could she be forgetting? Closing her eyes, Emma tried her hardest to remember. Eventually, a mental image formed in her head. A strange alien figure, the most prominent feature being the light bulb-shaped head. A set of yellow eyes with black slits stared back at her, a raygun hanging within their tentacles.
"Vademon?" Emma called out and opened her eyes. That was the last one - her partner. She felt like a complete ditz for somehow forgetting about them. But Emma let that shame fade away as bright light poured forth from her doppelganger. Trying her hardest to look away, the inventor's gaze was unable to look away. Staring in, her eyelids began to grow heavy. Not even fighting the feeling, she let her body slumber.
.
Opening her eyes up, Emma found herself laying in a hospital bed. The room around her was just as bland as the bed she was placed in. Thankfully, her partner was right at her bed. Tentacles bouncing against his side, a smile formed his face.
"Vademon?" Emma announced and got a nod from Vademon. Shifting to her body, the inventor could make out some bandages near the top of her chest. Touching it, a twinge of pain echoed across her body.
"Relax, you were attacked by those lost children but I got to you just in time." Vademon explained and got a nod from their human. Reaching out to Emma's hand, a squeeze followed. Feeling quite good, the inventor accepted the gesture as a doctor entered. Holding a clipboard, an indifferent expression hung over his face.
"Good to see you're finally awake. I just hope you understand that you'll still need to spend a couple days in the hospital." the doctor explained and Emma let out a sigh. So much for continuing the momentum she had in her dream or whatever the heck that was. But the inventor was content with that. A little break wouldn't hurt.