*Bomb has been planted*
"Oh shit, they must be on B. You gotta try and get over there, Ren."
Ren was sitting in front of the tamer's computer, learning how to play Counterstrike. The tamer was standing over his shoulder, watching and trying to help him learn the basics.
The digimon was still getting the hang of moving and aiming, clumsily walking his character around.
*BANG*
"...oh... you got AWP'd."
Ren stared at the screen, with the view switching to spectate one of his teammates. He watched for a moment before pointing at the screen and looking back to the tamer.
"What... what is that player doing, Tamer?"
The tamer was trying to contain a silly smile.
"Um... he's... he's teabagging you."
"What does that mean?"
"Um... well... it's like..."
The tamer decided to spare Ren the literal definition and stick to the significance of the act in the game.
"...gloating. Making fun of the fact you died."
"But... we are on the same team."
"Um, yeah."
"That... is not very nice."
"No, no it isn't."
*Terrorists Win*
Ren turned around with a sullen look on his face.
"I do not think I like this game."
"Sorry, Ren..."
The tamer gave an apologetic shrug.
"...don't be too upset though. You know... now that I think about it, CS isn't the most friendly game for new players."
Ren's expression didn't change despite the tamer's encouragement.
"...did you feel like you're getting the hang of the keyboard at least?"
"I think it will take some time. I keep wanting to look down at the letters to make sure I press the right one."
"Yeah, but eventually you'll memorise it and then it'll be like muscle memory."
"I hope so. There are so many keys... and all the same shape. It is tricky."
The tamer pondered Ren's comment for a moment, before giving a suggestion.
"You know, maybe you'd be better off trying with a controller. A lot less buttons, so it's easier to get a feel for it. Do you wanna try my Xbox?"
"Is that different to your computer?"
"Yeah, sort of. It's designed just for playing games, but it uses a controller instead of a keyboard and mouse. I reckon it might be better to try that. Come on."
He waved for the digimon to follow him through to the lounge.
As they entered, the tamer pointed at the couch.
"...take a seat and I'll get it set up."
Ren did as told, sitting down on the couch. However, he was leaning forward, eager to watch what the tamer was doing.
The tamer opened up a cupboard below the TV and pulled out a white Xbox controller. He turned on the console and the TV, before moving to sit next to Ren and waiting for it to load.
Suddenly a loud sound played, causing Ren to jump.
"What was that, Tamer?!"
The tamer was smirking at the digimon's reaction.
"Sorry, I always forget to turn the volume down a bit when I play. I dunno why, but my Xbox is just louder than regular TV shows for some reason."
He chuckled as a funny thought occurred to him.
"...at least it wasn't the THX logo."
Ren gave his trademark blank stare.
"...nevermind."
The screen changed to show a page full of colourful icons.
"...ok, let's try something a bit more accessible."
The tamer navigated across the icons and selected one.
A piano started playing a slow tune.
"Tamer... what is Minecraft?"
"Well, it's a... um, what do they call it? Oh... it's a sandbox game."
Ren again stared blankly.
"I have no idea what that means."
"Oh... right. It's basically an open world and you just… do whatever you want. In this one you can mine stuff and build whatever you want."
"That sounds quite peaceful."
"Yeah, for the most part it's pretty relaxing. There are some enemies, but you can avoid them mostly if you want to. Just... uh... don't fall in the lava."
Ren looked alarmed at the thought.
"...don't worry about it for now. Let me start a new game for you."
He navigated through the menu, creating a new world called 'Rensworld'. For the seed he put in 'renamonworld'.
The new world loaded in, with the character spawning on top of a
jungle.
"Why does it look like that, Tamer?"
"Hmm? Whatcha mean?"
"The... visuals. They look very poor compared to the other game."
"Ah... yeah, that's part of the game. Everything is meant to look low-res, like old school games. Don't worry, it still manages to chew up all the memory."
"That... seems a poor design."
"Don't worry about it. Here..."
He handed the controller over to Ren.
The digimon found the controller fit comfortably in his hands, with the shape naturally guiding his grip.
"...ok, so that's perfect. You let the controller sit between your palms like that... then use your thumbs to reach the sticks and buttons on the top."
Ren did as told, reaching his thumbs for the sticks.
"How do these work, Tamer?"
"So, it's a bit different. Left stick is to move around, like WASD. Right stick is to look around, so basically like the mouse."
The digimon gave each of the sticks a test wiggle with his thumbs, watching the character move and look around with the input.
"...I'm hoping this might be a bit easier for you, since the sticks stand out from the other buttons. Now, on the front there are two triggers. The right one attacks or mines stuff."
Ren tilted the controller upward to look at the triggers, before adjusting his grip to place a finger on each. He gave the right one a test.
The character on screen swung a chunky arm in a punching motion.
"...nice. Now, try punching that tree."
Ren turned to stare at the tamer with a confused look.
"Why... why would I punch a tree?"
"Well, you gotta gather some materials to build stuff."
"Surely I need tools to do that?"
"Yeah, you can make tools, but you'll need stuff to make them with."
Ren continued to stare, unconvinced.
"...trust me, just give it a try."
Ren moved his character to the nearest tree and punched.
*Thump*
"Nothing happened."
"Well, yeah... you gotta hit it enough. Hold the trigger in this time."
Ren did as told, holding the trigger
*Thump-thump-thump-thump...*
*Pip*
"It disappeared."
Ren seemed too focussed on the disappearing piece of the tree to notice that the rest of the tree was left floating. The tamer was a bit disappointed by the lack of reaction.
"Uh, yeah. You didn't... uh... notice anything else?"
"You mean the fact the tree is now floating?"
"Yeah. Honestly, I kinda thought you'd be a bit more surprised. That doesn't seem...you know... strange?"
"I have seen it happen before."
It was the tamer's turn to be confused, giving the digimon a skeptical look.
"What do you mean you've seen it before? Trees don't do that, Ren."
"Well, I know they are not supposed to, but occasionally in the digital world...things get corrupted and behave unexpectedly."
"Jeez, it sounds like an actual computer game in there. Anyway, it didn't disappear. You picked it up. See..."
He pointed at the character's hand, which now held a chunk of oak wood.
"...you're holding it."
"Oh... and... what do I do with it?"
"Well, you probably wanna get more than that eventually, but for now just open up the crafting menu and then you can try make something."
Another blank stare.
"...sorry, press X."
—
The tamer spent the next hour showing Ren the basics, from making planks and a crafting table, to actually building a little house.
It was all going smoothly. Ren was getting comfortable with the controls and genuinely seemed to be enjoying the experience.
Unfortunately, a very distinct sound decided to shatter the digimon's enjoyment.
*HISSSSSSS*
"...oh shit."
Ren looked over to the tamer to ask what the issue was, however he was interrupted before he could.
*BOOOOOM*
You Died!
Ren sat staring at the screen, not having any idea what had happened.
"What?! How?! Tamer... what happened?"
"Um... you got blown up by a creeper."
Ren's ears drooped as he realised all his progress was lost.
"But I had gathered so much material..."
"Yeah, I know... it's just part of the game, Ren. Look, respawn and see if you can get your stuff back."
"I can... try again?"
"Yeah, you just gotta try and remember where you were."
Luckily, the digimon had been focussed on gathering building blocks to expand his little cabin, so his deathbed wasn't too far from his actual bed.
As Ren made his way back to gather his scattered resources, the tamer remembered something he had heard previously.
"...hey Ren, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"So, I heard something weird about digimon, and respawning reminded me about it. What... what happens when digimon die?"
Ren stopped what he was doing, looking over to the tamer with a serious expression. He put the controller down on the couch between them.
The tamer timidly pointed to it.
"...um... might wanna... you know... pause the game."
Ren made no move for the controller, so the tamer reached over and pressed the pause button.
Ren was silent for a moment, pondering how to approach the tamer's question, before he eventually spoke up.
"When we are deleted, what happens next can vary..."
"OK... based on what?"
"I am not entirely certain, but it has to do with our digicore."
Ren gave the tamer a curious look.
"...why do you ask?"
"I just... I heard a weird rumour. That digimon can somehow come back after death. It just... sounds like something out of a game."
"As far as I know, unless their digicore is destroyed, a digimon can be reborn."
"Is that why you don't care if you die?"
Ren looked genuinely confused at the question.
"Why... what makes you think that, Tamer?"
"It was just something you said... or more... uh... how you said it."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember back to the first night we met. We were chatting away and I was trying to figure out how long you'd be hanging around."
"I do recall."
"You said you'd stay til you were deleted."
"I did, and that is still the case."
"Right, but... just... the way you said it. It was like you didn't care. I just thought... if digimon can come back after death, you wouldn't really care about dying."
"I... do care. The thought of not existing is... discomforting. But in the digital world, it was always a possibility... so I came to terms with it."
Ren looked away, considering the possiblity of his own death.
"...I suppose... thinking about it, it bothers me more now than it did previously."
"Uh, how come?"
"Well, in the digital world, I was alone and just trying to survive. But now, being your partner has given me purpose. And I have started to find things I can enjoy. I never had that in the digital world. I feel like I... I owe you for giving me that."
"Nah, it's cool."
"But surely there is something I could do in return for you."
"Well... you could fix that hole in the wall."
Ren's expression fell, remembering what he had done in the other room.
"I... could try. But it might not be a very good job."
"I'll help you out, ok? We'll go to the store sometime and get some stuff so we can patch it up."
Ren gave a nod in agreement.
"...and don't feel like you owe me. Honestly... it's just kinda nice having you around. You know... having some company."
The digimon gave a small smile, pleased at the thought his tamer liked having him around.
"I am glad to hear that. But I still wonder why you brought this up. Does the thought of my deletion trouble you?
"Well, yeah. Of course I don't want you dying, especially now I'm getting used to having you around."
The tamer looked away bashfully.
"...so, um... yeah, please don't die."
"I will try."