Ben10 & Digimon Tamers

Heroes and Humanity

Part 02: Humanity and Heroes

Presage – Chapter 72

Originally Written: Wednesday, April 19, 2017 ~200AM to 305AM

. . . . .

Albedo yawned, looking at nothing in particular from his spot on the couch. He had a blanket wrapped around his hunched frame. His laptop rested on the table in front of the couch, on, but not being used. An unopened water bottle was next to it.

'Jeri Katou detected.'

He looked at the door in response to Juggernaut.

"Hello Albedo." Jeri smiled at him. She was disguised as another civilian this time, still a female. She would mix in the crowds of Japan easily disguised this way. She entered the apartment, holding a bag and her broken digivice. "Still fuming?"

He looked back at the table. He wasn't sure if she knew about his many rants to Dr. Iris concerning Tennyson, especially the latest one. He decided to take the safer route. "I can't tell what's more annoying: my mentor's idiocy or this insane story."

Jeri giggled, "Imagine how Ryo feels."

"Ugh." He scowled in disgust. According to the Digimon Adventure games, Ryo traveled the Digital World, saving it twice before he even met any of the other Tamers. One time being manipulated into doing it by the Sovereign in the form of a tournament. Albedo was pretty sure Ryo hadn't taken that in stride. He knew he'd have reacted the same way. He wouldn't be surprised if that's what made Ryo leave them all behind. Supercomputers, time controlling Digimon, the ability to forge a Digidestined Bond and make any Digimon digivolve... He shook his head.

He saw the similarities between Ryo's digivice and the Omnitrix. He already saw evidence for why Ryo was a plumber during the Invasion, but now it was truly confirmed. The way Ryo had arrived in this dimension. He didn't have a choice to be anything but a plumber.

A part of him wanted so badly to believe the games weren't true, but a larger part knew that even if the games were incorrect, as the shows were about the digital world, there was still some truth to it. Unfortunately, there was enough truth that Ryo didn't like whatever he had gone through.

Maybe...

Jeri set a bottle of saki on a plate on the table. Small droplets of water coated it's sides, slowly running down. She held another bottle in her hands. Albedo noticed she did not hold a cup as she looked at him with golden eyes.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh fine." Jeri huffed and trudged back into the kitchen.

Albedo looked at the guard at the door. They both looked at the kitchen doorway. An awkward, long silence followed. The guard eventually sighed and shook his head. Albedo watched him return to his post.

Jeri returned to the living room. She exchanged the bottle for a glass. She held out her Digivice to him. "I'm not quite sure why you asked to look at mine."

"Hm?"

"What with all the Digivices surrounding you."

"Oh," He took the device from her, and examined it, taking note of its physical condition. "There's interference in the other's devices. I know how they run, but yours gives me a default of sorts to work with. It should help me fix the issues with the prototype D-Terminals."

"Oh, I get it. I think." She sat next to him, curling her legs up under her. She smoothed out her shirt. A bland garment compared to what he was used to her wearing. She really would get lost in the crowd the moment she stepped out the building. "D-Arcs are connected to their respective digimon. I'd imagine the extra data and connections are what's interfering with your analysis?"

Albedo looked away, unused to a human being so blunt. Even if upgrading the D-Terminals wasn't exactly what he wanted her Digivice for...

"It's fine," Jeri opened the bottle of Saki on the table. "It's the only thing different from my D-Arc compared to theirs."

He set the device on the table. He pulled at his sleeves, and fixed the blanket wrapped around him. What was worse: his mentor's idiocy, those horrible games, or Jeri's bluntness concerning her digivice and digimon? He lowered his head.

"Hmm."

Silence filled the apartment living room for a bit. He glanced at Jeri, watching her debate on something as she held an empty glass in her hand.

Jeri sharply and suddenly turned to him. "Not too much, not too little." She pointed to him, eyes serious, yet shining with something he didn't recognize.

He instinctively leaned back from her. "What?"

"You know, it's funny." She turned back to the bottle. "If you have a person who thinks with just their mind, you wind up with a heartless emotionless bastard."

Albedo blinked at her, watching as she forwent the glass completely and took a long swig from the bottle itself.

"You didn't want any, right?"

He shook his head, "No."

She waved a hand, "Just checking. Anyway, like I was saying. If you have a person who thinks with just their mind, you wind up with a heartless emotionless bastard. But if you have a person who thinks with just their emotions, you also wind up with a heartless emotionless bastard."

He scrunched his face up in thought. What in the world was she going on about? He hoped she wasn't having some kind of crisis in the apartment. He wasn't in any shape to assist anyone like he was when he first met Jenrya. He only recently managed to move the pile of taken down mirrors out of the apartment completely.

"And it makes you wonder." Jeri continued, blissfully, perhaps, unaware of his thoughts. "How can you have emotion, but be emotionless at the same time?"

Albedo looked at her expectantly. He wasn't exactly in the mood to think of an explanation why. The Digimon Adventure games and Tennyson already were taking up much of his thoughts. He refrained from shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh no." Jeri took another long swig from the bottle. The liquid didn't even phase her. No coughing or sputtering. Nothing. "I'm not answering that one." She continued, "You finished one puzzle. Now, you need another to work on."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He shook his head ever so slightly.

"Just think about it when you get the chance then." Jeri smiled warmly at him.

He looked at her for a long while. Eventually he settled on nodding. "I suppose I can fit in the time." He drawled.

"Good good." She set the bottle on the table. "So, what did you think of the Digital World?"

"You guys all told me it was mostly desert, but I did not think it was that much desert."

Jeri giggled, "That's the layer that it usually drops us on. We're all so used to that one, it's what we've coded the transporter to send us to." She folded her arms on her lap, a solemn smile on her face. "The deserts are the first places we saw when we went to the Digital World for the first time. For a while we all thought we were going to run out of supplies. Even though it still stretches for miles and miles, there's actually less desert than there used to be."

"Hm." Albedo looked down at his lap.

"D-Reaper had taken quite a bit of the Digital World's resources for itself. It left it barren in many places, and barely able to hold itself together in others. Hence the layers. I'm not sure how many there are total. Ryo would know though."

"Without the D-Reaper, the digital world can rebuild itself then?"

"Mhm," Jeri nodded.

Albedo closed his eyes for a moment. "What," he paused, thinking carefully, "what did you think of it then? The Digital World."

Jeri sat silent for a long while, "I thought it would be as beautiful as it was in the show. I thought I'd travel with Leomon and the others and help out too." She shook her head and laughed a short laugh, "Isn't it amazing how stupid you are when you're ten?"

"For humans, no."

Jeri snorted.

"It's actually quite typical. It is, however, amazing how hopeful we are." He held in a frown.

Jeri poured a glass of Saki and handed it to him.

He smirked wryly, and took it.

"Cheers." Jeri held up the bottle.

"To what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know," She giggled, and grinned.

Albedo looked at the liquid in the glass. He smiled the barest hint of a solemn smile. "Cheers...to hopes, and memories."