Back to the Digital World
The Tamers and their partners arrived at Dr Naka's home in the foothills after a long drive. The Nakas' home was located in the middle of nowhere. A white picket fence surrounded the yard. A dirt track led off the main road. It was a two story ranch style house with a wrap around breezeway. Steps leading up to the front porch.
The convoy of cars pulled up to the house. Everyone piled out to stretch and share farewells.
"Please be careful, no unnecessary chances", Takato's father told him while giving him a bear hug.
"Always, we'll get this business settled and be back soon".
"I still don't like this', his mother added.
"Don't worry, Mom", he said as he showed her the amulet she sent with him on the first trip. "See? I still have it".
"Juri, I still don't like it", her father was saying.
"I have to. It'll be OK this time, no D-reapers or Kernel Spheres this time".
"I shall protect her life with my own", Shadowkitsumon reassured.
"Come back to us soon", her step-mom added. Also farewell hugs.
"I hope this is what you want", Ruki's mom told her. "I hope it won't be a disappointment".
"I'm sure you'll find Renamon", her grandmother encouraged. "You were meant to be together. Just promise us you'll be careful".
"Always", Ruki promised. "I've come to realize it isn't just a game. We have to do this".
Hiroshi and his wife Misuzu appeared on the porch.
"We've been expecting you", he announced.
He led the way to an outbuilding, his laboratory.
"Yamaki explained everything", he was saying. "I will do what I can, but no promises. The equipment is almost thirty years old, and hasn't been used in ten. I don't want you getting your hopes too high".
"Better to try and fail than fail to try", Ryo said.
"You haven't fired it up in ten years?", Jen asked. "I figured Noguchi would be asking".
"You know about that?", Hiroshi asked.
"I did my research", Jen explained. "It was widely reported, a human child raised by digimon in the Digital World who came back ten years later. I thought he'd be here…"
"Noguchi is away at university. He did ask, lots of times. However, if I opened a portal to the Digital World, Hypnos would know immediately. I'd likely lose everything and be sent to prison".
"And now?", Ruki asked.
"Your friend, Yamaki, explained everything. He will ignore the warnings, and make certain no one finds out what we're doing. I hope you appreciate the chances he's taking here".
"We do", they answered in chorus.
Inside the shed, it was crowded. Hiroshi had been doing clean-up. There were tarps piled in a corner. The PC that controlled the equipment was still the original, an old PC. The monitor a green screen CRT, and the programs loaded from five inch floppy disks.
The gateway was a hexagonal frame with six electrodes projecting inward from each vertex. These connected to heavy duty cables that snaked their way along the wall to a heavy duty transformer and other black box equipment along the opposite wall. That didn't look at all reassuring: this equipment looked like it could instantly fry anyone who stepped inside that frame if something went wrong.
"Before we begin", Hiroshi announced, "you need to understand that this portal will open to some random location. It lacks the precision that the Digital Dive had, so no guarantees it will place you anywhere near your partners. I can't guarantee you won't drop into a dangerous area, so if anyone wants to back out, now is the time to mention it".
"We already figured we'd be looking. From what we can gather, they're in hiding", Jen explained.
"So one place is as good as another", Kazu added.
"Just so you understand".
Hiroshi began the start-up. He consulted the lab notes he'd made the last time he sent Commander Satsuma and some of his DATS agents through it. There was a crackle of electricity.
"Good. The transformer hasn't developed an open", Hiroshi announced.
The tips of the electrodes glowed just before arcs were struck. These arcs didn't behave normally, going from electrode-to-electrode, nor did it flash to anything grounded. The arcs met in the center of the hexagon. Hiroshi consulted his notes: "This is it", he announced, as he hit the "Enter" key.
A white circle began to form in the center where the arcs met. It began to grow, but then flickered out.
"Dammit!", Hiroshi swore under his breathe.
"Not to worry just yet", he announced to the assembled Tamers and their Guardians. "Let me try that again". He entered new data at the keyboard. "I'll get that portal open".
He hit "Enter" again, the white circle formed, and this time it expanded until it nearly filled the frame. Next, a black dot appeared in the center, This grew in size, forming a dark circle within a circle.
"Contact!", Hiroshi announced, with the Digital World".
The Tamers and Guardians stepped through the passage. Much like the first time they went through the natural digital portal Guilmon had discovered under the shed, there was no sense of gravity. This time, it was like floating inside a dark tunnel whose exit couldn't be seen. The sides were decorated with patterns looking like the schemos of, ironically enough, vacuum tube equipment. Impmon recognized these.
"Triode audio amplifier schemos", he pointed out as they sailed past a schemo.
"That's… weird", Jen replied. "I'd expect something like logic gates, especially for a digital world. Even discreet transistor diagrams".
"That's the Digital World for you: always full of surprises", Impmon said.
They flew out the exit of the tunnel and found themselves dropping from a considerable height.
"JEEEENNNN!", Siuchon called out. This wasn't how she entered the Digital World the last time. He flew to her, holding her tight.
"I'll be OK", he reassured. "We did this before", he said.
They could see they were dropping into a city by a large river. As they fell closer, it was becoming obvious that they were headed for what could only be "downtown", about maybe a kilometer - maybe less - from the water front. The first indication they saw that all was not right was a distinct lack of street traffic. No vehicles moved, and these streets should have been well occupied as the streets of Tokyo.
Still closer, and the buildings were beginning to reveal themselves as being distinctly run down and decaying. What had caused this? Takato wondered: D-Reaper? He had not a clue. Closer, and Takato saw what looked like a tree growing out of the roof of a long deserted office tower.
He had little time to think of it as he and Lutramon landed in the middle of a street. He bounced and rolled, and unlike the last time, did not form a crater, as they had done when they dropped into that desert. Was that because the surface was not soft sand? Or was it because of the different functioning of this particular digiport? He watched Jen with Siuchon slam onto the roof of an abandoned, trashed-out car. Ikkakumon dropped onto the sidewalk, and Lynxmon onto the street. He heard someone crash through the roof of a nearby building.
The flighted digimon, Harpymon, Devidramon, and Calumon had it a good deal easier, as they glided to a soft landing.
Takato stood up, brushed himself off, unhurt. He looked around, and at least some things had not changed. The sky was an unnatural shade of deeper blue, and was dominated by the Material World Sphere. It was studded with silvery "funnels" from which projected pink rays that contrasted against the blue sky. Jen and Siuchon, Ikkakumon and Lynxmon, joined him. "What a shi...", Jen corrected himself, remembering his little sister, "...messed-up place".
"Yeah, you got that right. I wonder what happened here?"
They were distracted by activity coming from a three story building directly across from them. The door dropped completely out of its frame, as Ruki appeared in the doorway.
"Gross! Disgusting!", she complained as she threw something off that had been clinging to her. Takato had out his digivice: they'd made contact with their first digimon:
Name: Numemon
Type: Feral animal digimon
Attribute: Virus
Level: Rookie
Attacks - YUCK! It throws its shit at its victims
"Just my luck: I fell all the way to the basement, and it was lousy with those things!", Ruki complained, as she stepped down the decaying steps to the street. "Why can't we land some place nice for once?"
"They're the 'rats' of the Digital World: vermin", Devidramon explained.
"Hey, guys!", Impmon called as he came running from around the corner, having dropped a block over. He, Kyukimon, Shadowkitsumon and Kazu joined Takato and the others from where they fell. Kenta, Juri and Kyukimon landed on the roof of a skyscraper, but had to walk down flights of stairs, as there were no working elevators. Ryo and Lobomon came down on the same street, though several blocks away. Finally, they assembled together, to decide what to do next.
"Now what?" Kenta asked.
"We look for out partners, silly...", Kazu started.
"But how?", Kenta asked.
"Let's see if Yamaki's comm works like he said", Takato said, as he pulled the device from his back pack. He opened the clam shell case, and turned it on. The LCD screen lit up, Takato took out the stylus, and tapped out a simple message:
Dear Mr. Yamaki:
Takato here. We just arrived in the Digital World safely. It was an uneventful trip. Will get in contact later with further developments.
Takato
He hit the "Send" icon, and waited. "E-mail sent successfully", came the reply. "Great. It worked", he announced.
"Did you say you're looking for someone?", a voice called out. Ruki pulled up the profile:
Name: Betsumon:
Type: Mutant digimon
Atrtribute: Virus
Level: Rookie
Attacks: Cold Gag and Tsukkomi Punch
Betsumon looked like a grotesque parody of Gatomon, or a child wearing a particularly bad Gatomon costume. He was uniformly white with bright pink inside the ears. He was wearing oversized tiger hand paws. The face an inexpressive cat mask.
"I can help you with that. I know a place where you can find anything or anyone... for the right price. You have something to trade? Then we can do business..."
Calumon trapped Betsumon with his force field: "What...", the digimon began to protest. He never got the chance to finish. Calumon didn't simply trap him. This time, they watched in disbelief as the shield bubble imploded, crushing Betsumon until he burst into data, which Calumon loaded.
"Why...", Takato began. He never figured Calumon would ever do such a thing, as it seemed so out of character.
"I hated to do that, culu?", Calumon explained. "I sensed something very wrong, and now I know, culu? He didn't know who we were, but recognized the humans for what they are, culu, and knew he could get a reward for betraying us, culu? I couldn't let him live, otherwise, we would be reported even if we didn't follow him all the way to this bar, the Red Dog, where they would have attacked us, culu? Even reporting the presence of humans would be worth something, culu? From now on, best to select our digimon company with care, culu?"
"That fits the pattern. They don't fight; they're cowardly and lazy and always up to no good. They'd rather scam even if honest work would be easier and more lucrative. Honour is a foreign concept to them", Shadowkitsumon elaborated. "We can't stay here. This place has a very nasty reputation. All the decent digimon moved away a long time ago, abandoning the whole city to cut-throats, criminals, and outcasts like the betsumon. We won't find any help here".
"How do we get out? Is there a highway?"
"I doubt we'd get that far", Impmon replied. "Best bet would be the river. Build a raft, and float down stream until we're well away from here. Once that's done, then we can decide how to proceed".
"Can you do that?", Ruki asked. Secretly, she wished Renamon was here, as she was the resourceful one.
"I'm sure we can find something useful. Looked like there were some abandoned factories along the river front. See what's available, and get to it".
Hypnos HQ
The Director was on the phone: "I need to know why Shaggai hasn't been deployed. You had your orders and the time you asked for. I expect your resignation on my desk by five. If it isn't, I will see you fired".
"Before you do that, there is more that you need to know. Last night, Hypnos monitored a large volume of data entering the Digital World at approximately 1800 hours. Comparing the digital signatures of that data with the event logs of last year's transit of the Ark, is proof positive that the children have returned to the Digital World. Are you prepared to explain that you ordered the murder eight children? Are you prepared to face the consequences when the news of this is made public? Are you prepared to explain to the Prime Minister that you were responsible for the very likely fall of the government?"
"Was that a threat, Mr. Yamaki?"
"I don't know what you're talking about..."
"How could you let this happen in the first place?"
"What could I have done? I'm not their father..."
"You could have stopped them..."
"Hypnos can do a lot of things, but reading minds isn't one of them. We had no possibility of determining the children's intentions, no way of identifying them until after they'd arrived in the Digital World, no way of locating the means by which they entered the Digital World. If you still want my resignation..."
"You just happened to pick event logs from last year to compare the new data? I don't believe in lucky coincidences; I believe you damn well knew in advance that these 'Tamers', as they call themselves, were going. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out that you put them up to it. I can't prove it, otherwise, I wouldn't be asking for your resignation... Alright Yamaki: you may have won this round... for now".
"Was that a threat, Mr. Director?"
"I don't know what you're talking about".
Digital World
First, Impmon had everyone stand on the concrete floor of an abandoned factory, and scratched out a rectangle big enough to accommodate everyone to establish the size of the raft. Kyukimon, Lutramon, and Lobomon set off to find what Impmon requested: empty steel drums, seven per side, to form pontoons, steel angle stock or rebar to make up the frame, and skids to complete the design.
They had been seen: six Cyclonemon approached. "And just what do you assholes think you're doing?", the apparent leader demanded. They were a dirty yellow, wearing dark brown helmets, poorly bipedal, and quadrupedal, due to their misshapen bodies. The hind legs disproportionate, the right foreleg twice the thickness as the left. They wore armoured shoulder pads, but only on the right shoulder, and armour for the tail. Nothing else was protected.
"We'll be out of here by nightfall", Impmon explained. "If you'll let us get on with..."
"Stealing our shit"
"It's just worthless junk, this factory's been abandoned".
"You don't understand. This is our turf, and you weren't invited. Everything here is ours, and you are going to pay for coming here where you're not wanted. Leave? I don't think so".
It was obvious the conversation was over: a street gang defending what it claimed for its own.
Shadowkitsumon rubbed his tails together vigorously. A crackle of electricity, blue sparks, and an arc was struck. A fireball formed…
"Strength Arm!", the Cyclonemon leader attacked.
"Fox Tail Fireball!", Shadowkitsumon retaliated, deflecting the attack meant for Impmon, taking out the attacker in the process.
"Hyper Heat!", The attack was deflected by Calumon. They weren't expecting this.
"Silent Symphony!", Harpymon struck from above, taking out one with this energy attack.
"Harpoon Torpedo!", Ikkakumon fired, driving the leader back. Temporarily stunned, Ikkakumon fired again, at the same time Mikemon struck with his Neko Claw. The leader of this gang dissolved into data.
Lynxmon's coat caught fire: "Thermal Mane!", he attacked, severely burning another.
"Dark Sky Horizon!", Shadowkitsumon ran the remaining three off. "I don't think they'll be bothering us for while".
"Hellsamatter with them, culu? Why would they die for nothing, culu?", Calumon asked.
"You have to understand: they chose to die because they have nothing else to live for", Shadowkitsumon explained. "No jobs, no values, no prospects for a better life. That's the reality of life on the mean streets. They'll defend to the death 'territories' they don't even own, and otherwise wouldn't care about. It is the only way they can find any purpose to life".
"That's so sad, culu?"
"Look around you, Calumon. This city used to be a jewel in the Digital World crown. There were good jobs here, even for common working schlubs. Some of the highest paying in the Digital World. Then these know-it-all politicians thought they knew better. The buzz words were nice sounding: 'Urban Planning', 'Sustainable Growth' - bullshit! To pay for their grand schemes in social engineering, taxes went up and up, until property taxes cost more than mortgages. The common workers were the first to go. Then the middle managers followed. Factories closed as they couldn't do business here any longer. Still, taxes kept going up even as the tax base declined precipitiously.
You could buy an entire house for a couple thousand credits, but who'd want to when you'll pay 10,000 credits in property taxes just to live in it. These damn fool politicians who think they know how to live your life better than you do caused this. I've seen war zones that were in better shape. That's been the Digital World's biggest failing. That includes that damn fool Qinglongmon. When I found out I couldn't digivolve, did anyone ask me if I thought it was a good idea? Hell no he didn't!"
"You know this..."
"Because I used to live and work here back when it was still a very nice place. I got while the gettin' was good... I had no choice".
"I thought we heard..."
"Don't worry about it, Lobomon", Impmon explained. "I'd rather have you guys gathering material so's we can get going ASAP". Lobomon was arriving with the steel angle stock. Some were bent, but easily straightened. Kyukimon and Lutramon came back rolling empty steel drums that looked to be in good condition.
While they were bringing the fourteen barrels Impmon needed, he and Harpumon got busy with the frame. Harpymon's Silent Symphony, suitably toned down, worked as efficiently as an oxy-acetyline welding torch. The rectangular frame received two inner braces to form the pockets to fit the drum pontoons. Cross braces added for extra strength and rigidity.
Impmon had branches laid out to form rollers. The drums lined up on these rollers. The frame laid so that the drums were held in place. Old skids lashed to the frame to complete the design. Since there was still daylight, Impmon used the time to fashion a tiller for steering.