Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
What Happens in Bellwood... – Chapter 50
Originally Written: September 9, 2016 1110PM to September 10, 2016 212AM
. . . . .
"They weren't kidding. He seriously does wear the gaudy Hawaiian tee to important meetings." Ryo blinked, stunned, as he took in Magistrate Max Tennyson's appearance. A heavyset middle aged man with graying hair. Light shined in his eyes as though he were waiting in anticipation of the next alien based adventure.
A feeling of melancholy filled Ryo. It seemed that for anyone who wasn't a tamer, an adventure was a good thing. Cyberdramon towered over Ryo's shoulders, breathing warm, heavy air on him. He usually didn't mind the action, but looking at Max Tennyson, Magistrate Tennyson, it only served to unnerve him.
Yamaki walked alongside the male, appearing cool and calm and collected with a hand in his pants pocket, and stern eyes watching every plumber, human and alien, with a concentration that Ryo knew only came with experience. Yamaki's sharply tailored suit contrasted greatly with Magistrate Tennyson's choice of dress. Ryo was certain not many would guess that Mr. Tennyson was the higher ranked individual.
He wasn't sure how Jeri managed to convince Yamaki to give him a break from that dangerous desk of monotony. Maybe she hadn't managed anything and Yamaki decided to let him come on his own. Either way, he was here, looking at the Legendary Plumber himself. He was glad he took to wearing jeans and a sweater today.
"Magistrate Tennyson, this is Ryo Akiyama," Yamaki gestured to Ryo, "and his digimon partner, Cyberdramon."
"It's an honor to see you again, in person, sir." Ryo smiled at Yamaki's surprised look. Catching him off guard had its entertainment value.
"It's always a pleasure." Max replied as he shook his hand. He smiled and nodded at Cyberdramon.
Ryo fell in line next to them. Cyberdramon followed obediently. Plumbers ran this way and that, working on all sorts of tasks from repairs to transporting criminals.
"Quite busy today, huh?" Max commented.
"If it's not busy, something's wrong," Yamaki replied, "in my experience."
Ryo imagined the blond haired male was grasping his zippo quite tightly in that pants pocket.
Max laughed and nodded. "No dull days at a plumber facility."
The quartet walked down a corridor full of impeccably dressed security guards. They all took moments to salute as they passed by, looking at Max with awed shining eyes as the male nodded and occasionally saluted to them.
"I'm quite eager to see how the transition is coming along."
"We've got big shoes to fill, but I'm certain Hypnos is well on its way to fitting right now." Yamaki assured the Magistrate.
"That's good news." The male smiled brightly.
The act made Ryo giddy. He lowered his eyes, a shy smile on his face. He wondered if dad would like Max. Underneath that stern exterior, Mr. Akiyama occasionally indulged in meeting people with odd interests. Magistrate Tennyson, from what Ryo knew and heard through the grapevine, was full of them.
Yamaki directed them to a moderately sized meeting room with a large table taking up much of the space in the middle of the room. A few plumbers Ryo had seen around the base, but didn't personally know, were already seated at the table, drinking coffee, tea and other beverages while reading over a multitude of classified documents.
Magistrate Tennyson stood at the head of the table, arms folded behind his back. Plumbers looked at him expectantly. Some, who were aware of exactly who just entered the room, quickly stood and bowed. Ryo grinned brightly. It was like watching the silence that engulfed a room Takato entered when he was in Tamer mode. He waited patiently.
Suddenly the Magistrate laughed. Yamaki jumped.
There it was.
Max waved his hands, "Please please. As you were. We're all people working towards the same goal."
Various plumbers relaxed, and returned to their seats, resuming their work.
Max took a seat and looked around the room, "Before leaving for West Shinjuku, I received some very interesting news. I'm quite impressed that Plumbers at this base managed to apprehend Albedo. Peacefully at that."
As Max spoke, Ryo and Yamaki took their seats. Cyberdramon stood behind Ryo, breathing down his tamer's neck, daring anyone to look at his tamer for more than a few seconds.
Yamaki chuckled, "Just our luck here in Shinjuku. Albedo Lowenthal managed to fully disarm security on floor B12. Slipped right out under our noses." He clenched a fist and shook his head.
'I don't blame him,' Ryo thought, looking down at the tablet placed in front of him.
"Don't beat yourself up about it. Albedo is a slippery one. He knows many of the ins and outs of plumber bases. He's also quite the strategist. Nonetheless, we'll catch him again. I'll notify Ben just in case." Max looked around the room. "In the meantime, I heavily, heavily suggest we continue keeping my presence here on a need to know basis. Albedo tends to enter quite a blind rage when he even hears a word that sounds like Tennyson." He shook his head sadly.
Ryo wondered if the older male knew Albedo anywhere near as well as Ryo felt he did. Dare he say the male could probably understand Albedo's motivations better than him at this point in time? Or was he more concerned with who could easily be viewed as an obsessive madman attacking his grandson? Ryo refrained from shaking his head. Surely he was more concerned with a member of his own family above one who kept attacking them.
Still...Ryo drowned out conversation around him...if a criminal was being attacked...He held in a sigh. He didn't even know who had attacked Albedo. It was just as likely to be dismissed as some kind of act of miscommunication. He closed his eyes. No, no. No way. You don't get to be Magistrate of a local defense facility by being that stupid. Ryo fully shook his head.
'Treat it like a Digimission.' He focused on the article on the tablet handed to him. Albedo's plumber file.
"This is Albedo's profile from Bellwood's Plumber base, sir." A female plumber spoke in a soft voice.
Max looked at her as though she were kidding. At least that's what Ryo imagined that blank look to represent. Ryo looked up at Cyberdramon.
"A large amount of Albedo's profile is not there." The digimon replied softly, looking back at Ryo with dull, bored eyes.
Ryo nodded. He lowered his head. He pulled out his D-Terminal from his pants pocket. 'This is seriously nuts.'
Yamaki spoke to Max Tennyson in a stern voice. "What? How?"
"Question of the year Yamaki. Albedo's situation is quite...unique. When you know a great deal of it, you tend not to forget it. And you notice when some of the most important parts are missing from his plumber bio." He took out his plumber badge. He hesitated for a moment. "I'll do it later, when I'm certain there's a secure connection."
"Nothing's that secure yet after the invasion." Yamaki folded his arms.
"Do you still have access to the file you downloaded?"
"Yes sir."
"I need dates of its previous versions. I'll double check the results later."
Ryo looked up from his D-Terminal. He carefully combed through Albedo's profile once more. Occasionally he glanced up at Yamaki. 'There's nothing about Cassiopeian Dream Eaters here.' He typed a message on his D-Terminal. 'Who did Terriermon get this information from?'
"Here is a list of the most recent previous versions and last accessed dates, Magistrate, sir." Another plumber handed him a separate tablet. "This goes back just a few weeks."
"No good." Yamaki said, "We need before Invasion dates." He shook his head. "Who the hell would go out of their way to erase important information on a single person?"
"That is assuming whoever did this only touched Albedo's profile." Max flipped through the tablet's screens. "Still, Albedo has stepped on many toes in his attempts for the Omnitrix, sometimes gleefully. He also has enemies from before those attempts started. We can't put the possibility that he's the only target in this security breach out of our minds. It's also likely this is just a present Attea left us on her way out the door." He scratched his head.
Ryo looked at his D-Terminal. He was certain neither Albedo nor Yamaki would appreciate this, but if it helped in the long run, it'd be well worth it. "You can use my D-Terminal to contact Bellwood, Max." He looked at the aging male.
"Your what?" Yamaki narrowed his eyes.
Ryo held up his device. "Albedo built it before he left West Shinjuku." He looked at his two bosses, "It accesses a wireless connection Albedo set up himself. Whoever's behind this wouldn't know about it."
Max chuckled, as he took the device from Ryo. "Albedo the inventor." He gave the terminal a once over, "Just like his mentor."
"He told me it's just a prototype. He plans on expanding the idea when he gets a chance. You should be able to access Bellwood's database directly and securely." Ryo nearly beamed as he explained the device to Max. No one could understand what it was like holding a piece of home on their person after so long of having nothing. Even if it was a replica built by someone under a case of extreme boredom.
"Perfect!" Max grinned, "This will definitely do for now. Thank you Ryo."
The Legendary Tamer saluted the Legendary Plumber. "You can download a copy of the admin version and transfer it to your tablet without leaving a trace of it on the terminal.
A few plumbers whistled.
Yamaki looked at Ryo with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh please, don't act like I'm not aware there's a version of my own profile I don't have the authority to access." He smirked.
"Cheeky brat."
Max placed the terminal on the desk. He picked up his tablet. "They even touched the admin copy." He looked at the table in confusion. Yamaki looked over his shoulder.
"That date." Yamaki tapped the screen, "One of the last accessed and modified dates is the day Albedo breached security at the Bellwood base."
"That doesn't make sense!" Ryo's hands shook.
Max directed the screen to him. "That is the date. A few weeks after, and then another access date a week before the Incurseans invaded." He quickly flipped the tablet around before anyone had a chance to read anything else.
"We already have confirmation that Fridge, Swamps and Hugh assisted Albedo's escape from the Bellwood facility." A male plumber spoke, "Sounds like an open and shut case, for now."
"Why would they help Albedo escape, screw with his plumber bio and then blame the plumbers for..." Ryo lowered his head, "No. That is nuts."
"Swamps hates government authority figures." Another plumber spoke, "He made that very clear in the interrogation rooms."
"But Swamps isn't smart enough to hack the plumber database."
Ryo shook his head while plumbers debated and discussed.
"Hugh could be though. I heard he was helping Albedo with the transmitters during the invasion."
"That I can confirm." Yamaki looked at Max, "Multiple plumber reports state the same."
"That doesn't necessarily mean Hugh helped set whatever this is up." Max countered. "However, it is something we should look into ASAP."
Ryo leaned back in his chair. He looked up at the ceiling. Way too much information at once. Yamaki was clearly suspicious of the trio. And Ryo couldn't deny that he had a biased soft spot for them. Jeri wouldn't let him. Max however, as Ben's grandfather would have the highest chance of knowing what happens behind the scenes. When it was just them and Albedo without him or Henry distracting him from a particularly annoying obsession.
'If they knew Albedo had been attacked by that Dream Eater thing, and if they saw or thought Albedo was doing badly enough that they felt to coax Albedo back here...why delete the details from the database? To make the plumbers look bad? How does that help Albedo?'
Ryo tapped his fingers against his knee. He looked at his D-Terminal. He and Jeri badly needed to compare notes. Henry too. 'Treat it like a Digimission. Digimissions always leave a bad taste in my mouth.'
Cyberdramon still breathed heavily on his shoulders, a growl occasionally escaping his lips.
If only the universe was a bit more keen on providing a response to the question, 'What's going on here?' Ryo picked up his D-terminal. He wondered if Magistrate Tennyson was as tech savvy as Beelzemon used to be. Knowing his luck, he wouldn't be.
