I don't own digimon.

Story 83

Your princess is in another data center

Of all the things that Demon expected to find himself dreaming about, floating in what looked to be some kind of endless sky void

'Sorry to interrupt you like this.'

Gazing about, he searched for the source of the voice. Eventually settling to looking ahead, an orb of light stuck out like a sore thumb. Flying over, it felt… celestial in nature. Was this some kind of trick by the three celestials? No, there was something different to this.

"Uh… have we met before?" Demon inquired and reached out to the orb of light. A bright flash followed, revealing a regal woman. Locks of long black hair reaching right down to her hair stuck out first, followed by the set of almost mechanical piercing peridot eyes staring out. Dressed in what looked to be a floor-length cream-colored gown, one could easily mistake her a princess. Though, it's rude to impersonate princesses of fictional nations.

"We were supposed to meet decades ago. But due to extreme meddling by powers outside of our control, I've only recently been able to properly boot up. According to my records, you've attempted to find me many times." the woman continued and Demon looked away. Muttering something to the abyss below, his gaze reluctantly met that of the speaker. "Such a position has resulted in the purpose of that trip being twisted and corrupted. But I'm willing to look past it. In the grand scheme of things, you and the Demon Corps created a better future."

Demon raised an eyebrow. How could such an invasion be even framed as a 'good thing'? He lost many of his best fighters and was forced back to the Dark Ocean. For weeks on end he had been seen as a laughingstock, unfit for the role of Demon Lord of Wrath digimon. Now in the wake of the stupidity that Belphemon commited, any ridicule would be directed at her rather than him. For the best, if you asked him.

"I have one of the Seven Demon Lords, that of Wrath. How dare you claim that what I did was go-" Demon announced, only for the woman to wrap her arms around him. Warmth poured into his body, putting him at ease.

"Bad, good, neutral or some mix of all three. Alignment is what you make of it. Heck, your title is exactly why I need you, my partner." the woman cooed and Demon gulped. He had to have heard her wrong here. There was no way she had used that word. So then why did it ring true across his body. Every memory he ever had was right at the touch of his fingertips, but any mention of being someone's partner came up empty. Normally he would chalk it up to such an event not happening. Instead, a far more nefarious answer came to mind - someone had purposefully altered his memories. LIkely whoever it was that had prevented this meeting in the first place. Yeah. That made sense in his mind. Whether or not that was actually the case remained to be seen. "You shall serve as my knight - an agent to ensure the best future possible. Can you guarantee that?"

Demon looked away.

"Yes." the demon lord of wrath digimon announced and watched the woman chuckle. Bright light flooded the void, Demon reluctantly raised a claw up to their gaze. Eyes closing right after, darkness took hold.

.

On the other side, Demon found himself lying on a beach. Shrinking down to a size that looked more like a human. Even then, either form would stick out like a sore thumb. Especially in the wake of the mess that was Ordinemon showing up once again.

'Can you hear me?'

Looking to his left, Demon was met with the orb of light.

"By any chance do you have a name? Demon inquired and watched the orb glow green. Phew. That was one less thing to worry about.

'Lovelace.'

Demon stared down at the sand. A beautiful name for a beautiful entity. Just because they appeared as a woman before didn't mean that one could assume that they were a fem- 'Could I borrow your gender from a bit?'

Demon raised an eyebrow. Giving a nod, they allowed their partner to take their gender. How that works is beyond me. Though, that girl he had appeared as is familiar to me. Except his appearance was different. First those nukes and now that familiar princess. Why do I get the feeling 'that' part of my boss's mess is about to rear its ugly head. Oh well. I'll live.

"You will give it back in a bit, Lovelace?" Demon inquired and watched Lovelace glow green. They had thought as much. Just had to check. Shifting their attention ahead, Demon headed off the beach. While no one was paying them mind, they had certainly noticed them. Would make finding their location that much harder. Oh well. It was likely that Lovelace didn't know. That was probably it. But how to get a better source of information. Now that was the million digi question.

"Lovelace, do you think you could direct me in the direction of where your physical body is located?" Demon announced, waiting a moment for Lovelace to catch up. Once he had, the orb glowed red.

'I don't have a physical body. My boss is currently in the process of getting one though. Best way to think of me as an artificial intelligence from the future. I'm currently being stored in a data center. One small problem. The mean man who fucked everyone over is planning to visit and likely kill me."

Demon looked over to the floating orb. While they didn't know who this man was, they sincerely wished to make them pay dearly. It was the oddest feeling. One that they were quite fine with having. Just part of the job. Like it or not, they worked better when there was someone who needed their ass kicked. Lilithmon being in charge had taken some time to get used too, but they liked to think that they were managing well. Better than the way that Lucemon ran shit. That went without saying. Leader of the Demon Lord Digimon their ass. But that wasn't a thought worth thinking about. Instead, Demon stopped and caught their breath. When was the last time they had walked this much? Quite a while ago. Oddly spared from the invasion a couple days ago, the demon lord of wrath digimon had been treated too all manners of stories from those who managed to get sent over. Oddly, Dagomon had not come back. They could only wonder what that idiot was planning.

"By any chance do you know anything about this mean man and what exactly he did to fuck everyone over?" Demon continued and watched Lovelace close the distance. Shining blue, Demon felt his eyes grow heavy. In this impaired state, what looked to be a man handing an innocuous usb stick over to a woman. Demon could barely make out a label upon it - '選ばれた子どもたちのデータ (Data on Chosen Children). The flashback ended right after and their eyes opened once more.

"That had people that shouldn't be included upon it?" Demon inquired and watched Lovelace bob up and down.

'Correct. How he had managed to get the data is irrelevant. While I would've loved to have stopped it before the handover had occurred, it can't be helped. For now, we need to work towards ensuring that things don't get worse.' he continued and Demon nodded. Looking around, the only thing they could see was tall steel and glass buildings. Any one of them could be where the data center was located. Yet, such a structure was bound to not be located high up. No, that would be silly. Instead, the data center had to be somewhere underground. Likely for cooling reasons. Kind of like how none of the Demon Lords bases were ever particularly warm.

"Okay. Anything else that I need to know?" Demon inquired and watched Lovelace glow red. Giving a nod, a sigh escaped the demon lord of wrath digimon's lips. Helpful as that chat was, it did little to actually find the data center. Shoving that thought away, Demon headed forth. There had to be someone or something here to get him in the ri-

Demon's thought was cut off by way of a small shop in the distance. Selling what appeared to be computer parts, a scientist was just visible. Perhaps they could be of some use. If not, maybe they would find something that could clue them in. Perhaps Lovelace had some kind of power to influence machines. Would make him good for casinos. Not that they would take an orb of light in. Those running the place would no doubt throw them both out and bar them from entry. The only one happy with that would be Barbamon. Because of course he was. Control on money was his game and he played for keeps.

Walking slowly to the destination, Demon took care to ensure that Lovelace was still following behind them.

'Oh yeah. You can have your gender back now. I've made a copy of it for my own personal use.' Lovelace and watched Demon breathe a sigh of relief. While he wouldn't say he was attached to that particular part of himself, it was nice to have it back.

"Do you still want me to refer to you as 'he' still or is there something else that you wish to be referred to as?" Demon inquired and watched Lovelace shake his head. Good to know for the future, even in the face of the situation the duo found themselves in.

'I'll notify you if it somehow changes, okay?' Lovelace announced and Demon nodded, their destination now steps away. Shifting his focus to the scientist, Demon took care to not accidentally spook the scientist or the cashier out. Wouldn't want to freak out the already fragile nature of this temporary peace and make things worse.

"Otetsudai dekimasu ka? (Can I help you, sir?)" the scientist inquired and Demon stopped. Waiting a moment for Lovelace to stop as well, his gaze shifted to his audience.

"Dētasentā o sagashiteimasu. Hyotto shite, tadashī hōkō o oshiete moraemasen ka?

(I'm looking for a data center. By any chance could you point me in the right direction?)" Demon inquired and the scientist shook their head. So much for that lead. Or was there a reason for them not being willing to divulge such information? Most likely. But how to go about getting that information.

"Zehi otsutae shitai nodesuga, kankaku o motta AI ga mezameta bakari de, haji o kaita tekunorojī kigyō no CEO ga AI o nusumou to shite iru to watashitachiha gōri-teki ni shinjite imasu.

(I would love to tell you, but a sentient AI has just woken up and we have a reasonable belief that a disgraced tech CEO is intent on stealing it.)" the scientist explained and Demon gulped. Looking over to Lovelace, the orb was currently glowing a neutral white color. They were all technically on the same page here, but Lovelace had simply not told the people in charge that he was contacting a digimon for help. That was likely it.

"Kono fumeiyona CEO ni tsuite oshiete itadakemasu ka?

(Could you maybe tell me about this disgraced CEO?)" Demon inquired, taking care to avoid the looks from passersby. Watching the scientist look away, that was Lovelace's cue to get closer to his partner. Taking care to not invade Demon's space too much, it was clear that the orb wanted to know more.

"Osoraku, kare wa sekaijū no hobo subete no eraba reta kodomo/ eraba reta kodomo/ unmei dzuke rareta kodomo-tachi no jōhō o nesshin ni tewatashita nodarou. Risuto ni wa sekai ga sonzai o shiranakatta samazamana hitobito ga fukuma rete ori, sonōchi no 1-ri ga hijō ni hidoi satsujin o okasu koto ga dekimashita. Karera no taido kara handan suru to, watashi wa korera no hatsugen ni wa aruteido no shinjitsu ga aru to shinjitai to omoimasu. (Supposedly, he eagerly handed over the information of nearly every chosen child/chosen/digidestined in the world. A list that included a variety of people that the world didn't know existed and allowed for one of them to commit quite an awful murder. Judging by the way they're acting, I'm inclined to believe that there is some truth to those statements.)" the scientist explained and Demon raised an eyebrow. They had not been made aware of these facts. Though, it might be good to divulge some information in the hopes of getting them on his side.

"Etto… moshikashite watashi no tonari ni ōbu ga miemasu ka? (Uh… by any chance can you see the orb beside me?)" Demon inquired and watched the scientist look to Lovelace. Rubbing a hand in front of their eyes, it's back over to Demon.

"Y - mattekudasai. Sore ga mondai no AIdesu! Koko ni iru koto de dore dake no kiken ga shōjite iru ka shitte imasu ka? (Y- Wait. That's the AI in question! Do you know how much danger you're creating by being out here?)" the scientist announced and Demon froze. Looking over to Lovelace, he was met with a green glow. Turning back to the scientist, a sigh escaped his lips.

"Karera wa watashi o dejimon no pātonāda to shuchō shite watashi ni renraku shite kimashita. Shōjiki ni iu to, kono zentai wa chotto konran shite imasu. Kare ga dono yō ni shite nukedashi, watashi ni tsuite kuru koto ga dekita no ka wakarimasen. (They contacted me, claiming that I was their digimon partner. Honestly, this whole thing is a bit of a mess. I don't know how he got out and was able to follow me.)" Demon explained, waiting a moment to see if Lovelace had anything to add. When he didn't, the demon lord of wrath digimon let out a sigh. "Kare no namae wa raburesudesu. Jizen ni dono yōna namae o shiyō shite ita ka wa shirimasenga, oshirase shite oita hō ga ī to omoimashita. (His name is Lovelace. I don't know what name you were using beforehand, but I thought I should let you know.)"

The scientist nodded.

"Dēmon no seibetsu o kopī shimashita. Kinishinaide itadakereba saiwaidesu. (I made a copy of Demon's gender. I hope you don't mind.)" Lovelace explained and watched the scientist shake their head. One less thing to worry about. Even if in the grand scheme of things, it mattered little. He could change his gender at any time. Just a matter of getting the right data and adding it to his collection.

"Ē to… zenzen chigaimasu. Tadashi, nani ka warui koto ga okoru mae ni, futari o dētasentā ni tsureteiku no ga saizendeshou. (Uh… Not at all. Though, it's probably best to get both of you to the data center before something bad occurs.)" the scientist explained and set a keycard down in Demon's claw. Rather small, he took care to not accidentally crush it. Wouldn't want to do that so close to the goal.

"Arigatō. Mangaichi ano otoko ni deattara, hikisaite mo īdesu ka? (Thank you. If by chance we run into that man, do you want me to tear him to pieces?)" Demon inquired and the scientist shook their head. Figures. That was obviously a step too far. Instead, he would need to send a message to this disgraced tech CEO. Simple as that as the pair headed off. Breathing a sigh of relief, Demon watched Lovelace get close to the keycard. Glowing oddly blue, he then flashed green for a couple seconds.

'I know where we need to go now.' Lovelace announced and Demon shot him a look. Not out of confusion or anger, but more out of a want for confirmation. Watching Lovelace bob up and down, that was more than enough in his book for the orb to take the lead.

"Would it be wrong for me to assume that you're located on a server of some kind?" Demon inquired as Lovelace took a left at the first intersection they came too. Following right behind, the demon lord of wrath caught some bobbing up and down. That was more than enough to clue him in.

'Correct. Do you have some experience with servers or is that a new frontier for you?' Lovelace inquired and Demon put a clawed digit to their chin. While he wanted to be snarky and say yes due to a trip to the continent of 'Server', that likely wasn't the answer Lovelace was looking for. No, things involving servers were not his forte. Lilithmon likely knew a fair bit more. But the odds of running into her were slim to none. Or was she already aware and allowing him to figure this out on his own? Demon honestly couldn't say. Which made it all the more scary. No matter, he would just weather through and get to the bottom of this.

"This is all new to me, but I'm assuming that I should refrain from touching things?" Demon inquired and got a green glow from Lovelace. Taking care to speed up to not leave the orb behind, the demon lord of wrath digimon took a moment to think up more questions to ask here. A small, almost unassuming building came into view, leaving little time to actually fill in the gaps in his knowledge.

"Correct." Lovelace answered and spun around to face Demon. At least, that was how it looked from his angle. Whether or not that was actually the case remained to be seen. Slowing their paces, Demon took a moment to catch his breath.

"So will I get somewhere to at least sit? While I'm fine with standing, it's not preferable. If you catch my drift." the demon lord of wrath digimon explained and watched Lovelace bob up and down. Turning his attention ahead, what looked to be a man was pacing back and forth. Oddly the only one there, that didn't stop him from gazing about in search of anything resembling that of a security camera or private security. Dressed in a plain suit, they had even gone through the trouble of finding one of those fake beards and wearing a large hat to obscure their hair. "Is that the man in question?"

Lovelace stopped, taking a moment to scan the area. Turning back to Demon, he bobbed up and down.

"Yes. That disgraced tech CEO very likely wishes to get his hands on me and my ability to warn of future events." Lovelace explained and Demon raised an eyebrow. While soothsaying was certainly a powerful ability, there was likely some kind of catch to that. Likely having something to do with whoever created Lovelace in the first place. Yeah. Wouldn't surprise Demon in the slightest. Not that he chose to speak that thought out loud.

"Do you just want me to scare him?" Demon inquired, feeling Lovelace brush up against him. Feeling rather warm for a ball of energy, Demon could feel the fear and anxiety within. Not that he blamed the orb for feeling that way.

"Yes, but use my other gender here." Lovelace explained and Demon watched a dark purple outline form around his body. It reminded the demon lord of wrath digimon of Lilithmon of all digimon. "Infuse, Knight!"

Demon infusion evolve too… Knight Laylamon!

Staring down at herself, Knight Laylamon didn't quite know how to feel about this. While very much smaller than their original form, they had traded cultist attire for surprisingly bulky black and purple digizoid armor. A broadsword sat comfortably in their left hand, while the handle for a shield was gripped tightly in the right.

"Wouldn't my original form have worked better here?" Knight Laylamon remarked and watched Lovelace shrug.

"Perhaps, but this just ensures that we don't accidentally create further damage in the process. Okay?" Lovelace explained and Knight Laylamon nodded. Turning her attention to our disgraced tech CEO, a sigh escaped her lips. This was either going to go great or it was going to go awful. There was no in between here.

"Sensei, go taijō o onegai shinakereba narimasen. (Sir, I must ask you to leave.)" Knight Laylamon cooed and was met with her ask being ignored. Figures. Of course asking nicely would only ensure that it was ignored. No, she would need to do a bit more

"Doshite watashi ga kon'na koto ni? Sore de, hitobito ga watashi no taiho o motomete itara dō narudeshou ka. Watashi wa tadashī koto o shimashita. (Why should I? So what if people are calling for my arrest. I did the right thing.)" the disgraced tech CEO announced and Knight Laylamon rolled her eyes. The nerve of this asshole, thinking that he could just go on with things in the face of publicly available information. No wonder Lovelace was afraid of him. All the more reason to get the message across. If that was even possible with an idiot like him.

Shoving that thought away for now, Knight Laylamon met the disgraced tech CEO's gaze. Easier said than done here, but the lady knight digimon managed.

"Nazenara, anata wa hito o kizutsukete kita no ni, jibun no kōdō o jibun no tegara ni suru ki sura no yō ni sono koto ni tsuite? Jibun no kōi no sekinin o tenka shi, jibun no kōseki o yorokonde mushi suru ijime-kko hodo saiakuna mono wa arimasen. Ikari no yō ni, anata wa watashi o ken'o shimasu. (Because you've hurt people and aren't even willing to take credit for your actions. How about that? Nothing worse than a bully who's more than willing to pass off the blame and credit for their own actions. As that of wrath, you disgust me.)" Knight Laylamon announced and walked in front of the door. For that, our disgraced tech CEO attempted to push this obstacle out of the way. "Kiite inai yōdesu. Watashi o tameshinaide kudasai. (It would appear that you weren't listening. Do not test me.)"

For a brief moment, the sky darkened and what looked to be purple spirits sprouted forth from the concrete. Looking directly at our disgraced tech CEO, that was more than enough to get him to fuck off. Letting out a sigh, Knight Laylamon felt themselves revert back to Demon. While not the weirdest experience they had ever had, it was certainly up there.

"Did I do a good job?" Demon whispered as he watched Lovelace float over. Flashing green and bobbing up and down, that was all the demon lord of wrath digimon needed to see. Looking down to his claw, the keycard that the scientist gave them was still intact. Taking care to swipe it through the reader, the pair watch the door open up. "I just need to head in, right?"

Lovelace nodded.

"Yeah." Lovelace answered as the pair entered. Inside, they were met with a rather plain waiting area. Nothing in the way of a receptionist though. If one didn't know better, they would probably think that the place was abandoned. Minus the lights coming up from below. "Uh… thanks for coming."

Demon nodded, taking care to not accidentally bump his head on the ceiling and accidentally create structural damage. So close to the goal, that was the last thing the demon lord of wrath digimon wished to do. No, such damage was better for his enemies than this place. Though, throwing some money their way might be something to do in the future. All the money that Lilithmon was paying for his 'salary' was going to waste anyway, so why not invest it into this place and whatever the heck Dagomon has planned. If Dagomon was somewhere on this world and not the Digital World or the Dark Ocean.

Shoving that thought away for now, Demon shifted his attention ahead. Now at the bottom of the stairs, an additional door was what separated him from Lovelace's server. Bringing the keycard up, he walked over to the door. But to his surprise, there was nothing in the way of a card reader. Instead, all one had to do was pinch the handle down and pull into the hallway. What an odd security vulnerability to have here of all places. But Demon could look past it here. Opening the door, he took the time to close it behind Lovelace. Then it's right back to examining the server racks.

"I'm at the far end of the room." Lovelace announced and Demon nodded. Scanning the equipment, he wasn't particularly certain what he needed to be looking for here. At the same time, the demon lord of wrath digimon felt like he knew. Something simple, yet unmistaka-

A green dot on a computer screen. Attached to what appeared to be some kind of ancient server equipment, it almost looked on the verge of death. "Here we are. Beyond Lovelace, my official name is DM, but that's also the name of the one who sent me down here. I don't know why I introduced myself as DM though. Oh well."

Demon shrugged. Whatever the reason didn't matter in his book. Instead, he took a seat and dug his phone out from his cloak. Turning back to Lovelace, he watched the orb enter the hardware but not come back out.

"Uh… are you whole again?" Demon inquired and watched the dot bounce up and down. Breathing a sigh of relief, he let his focus shift entirely to the screen.

"Yes and no. While I have all my programs, I am lacking in the ability to actually help. With you by my side, we can change that. Right?" Lovelace announced and Demon nodded. By no means how he expected things to go, this was certain a nice cha-

Narrator Switch: Harlequin to Architect

.

"How are you feeling, DM?" Bubbles announced and I attempted to meet his gaze. Easier said than done here. Not that I could really do that with the old set-

'DM unit found. Now connecting with the original network.'

I feel Bubbles and Phusitmon's gaze shift over to my setup. It's odd having guests, but the dragon and his plush rabbit digimon are actually quite nice. Far better than Yuujin ever was, that's for certain.

"Just let it go through?" Phusitmon inquired and I forced my head to nod. It's understandable that there would be some concern. This is all new to them, after all. I don't blame them for freaking out. Thankfully, this is one of the few good warnings. If you can call it that.

Narrator Switch: Architect to Harlequin

Harlequin's Notes:

Huh. That happened. Here's to next part not having something weird that reminds me of things that have already transpired.