Chapter 3
Takuya and Tomoki walked up the sidewalk to Tomoki's local stadium, the conversation mostly centering around Project Frontier and Takuya's gaming exploits.
"...So I managed to jump off that tree, on to the other guy's back, and threw my biggest attack at him. It didn't quite take him down, but it stunned him enough that he wasn't aiming properly. I dodged around his attacks and tackled him soccer-style." Takuya mimed the move as well as he could while still walking. "And that finished him."
"Wow." Tomoki's eyes shone with admiration as Takuya opened the door to the stadium. "Could you teach me to do something like that?"
"Sure!" Takuya headed to the desk to see if there was a two-person cubicle available. As he did, he saw Tomoki suddenly dart to his other side, keeping hidden from a nearby crowd of kids watching a battle replay on a TV.
"Tomoki, what..."
"Never mind, okay? I just don't want them to see me here."
Takuya wondered about that, but came to the logical conclusion that it likely had something to do with the person Tomoki wanted to beat. Then the employee came back with the key for an available cubicle and the incident slipped his mind.
"Here's the cubicle we play in. They're designed to be soundproof, because sometimes battles can get very loud and we have to hear each other in team battles. See this button on the door? It's kind of like a doorbell wired up to the system for anyone playing in the game."
The two-person cubicle was, as the name stated, built for two people instead of one. This was mostly for local matches or for team play. There were several chairs for visitors against one wall. Two reclining chairs, each with one of Project Frontier's VR gloves and helmets, were in the center of the room. The chairs all faced a set of three TV screens on the wall. After storing their hats and the prizes Tomoki had won earlier in the cubbies, Takuya gestured for Tomoki to take the nearer VR chair.
"Okay Tomoki, let's get started. The first thing you do is put on the seat belt. You'll still be able to move, but you won't fall out of the chair if you get too excited."
"Uh-huh." Tomoki accepted Takuya's help with the loose belt around his midriff, leaning back a bit
"Next come the gloves, then the helmet. When you put it on it activates the machine."
Tomoki nodded as he pulled on the gloves and helmet, then gave a little gasp as the game started. At the same time, Takuya saw the leftmost TV screen come to life, displaying Tomoki's view of the boot-up menu. The screen in the middle also flicked on, showing a third-person view of things.
[ System Boot ]
"Wow, it's working!" Tomoki exclaimed.
"Is this your first time doing VR?" Takuya asked.
"Yeah."
[ Bootup complete. Insert Digivice into slot ]
"Okay," Takuya said. "Now you put your Digivice into this slot on the side of your chair."
[ Synchronizing. Do not power down the system. Project Frontier will begin shortly ]
"What's 'synchronizing?'"
Takuya thought about it for a moment. "It's like loading on a video game. They put the game's data in your Digivice together with your brain waves, or something."
"Oh."
[ Synchronizing complete. Welcome, Tomoki Himi ]
The scene around Tomoki changed. Now he was floating around a foot above the ground in a place that looked like something like an enormous high-tech science-fiction gym.
"This is the starting arena. It's kind of like a combination of starting area and sandbox where you can change the environment any time you like. It's perfect for practicing. But first the game chooses a Digimon for you," Takuya pulled out his own Digivice and moved to the other chair to log in.
[ Generating Digital Monitor ]
"You mean you don't pick your Digimon?"
"Nope. The system picks one for you. Nobody knows if it's randomly generated or if there's an algorithm to it. Don't worry, they're all good."
[ Digital Monitor Generated ]
A nebulous shape formed around Tomoki's body, visible as the younger boy looked down. Flippers, a beak over his mouth, a rotund body.
"Hey, am I a penguin?"
"I think you got Penmon." Takuya replied. "He's an ice-type. Here, I'm almost on."
Another shape appeared next to Tomoki. He could see text around it welcoming Takuya Kanbara to the game, then the older boy was visible under the see-through image of some weird cross between a human boy and a fiery goat.
"Is that your Digimon?"
Takuya grinned. "Yup, I'm Flamon. So now we're both here. Um, you can open your menu by saying the words 'activate menu.' That's how you can change your settings and look for challengers and stuff."
"Activate menu!" Tomoki stared at the blue screen that appeared in mid-air in front of him. "How do I navigate? Wait, I use my hands?"
"Yup. It'll show your friend list and challenge options and stuff like that."
"Oh." Tomoki stared at his options. "Hey, how come it says I have friends? I just started!"
"I—" Takuya stared at his own menu to see that four new usernames had joined his friend list. "That's our team, from the tournament."
"But I don't want to do the tournament!"
"I think it's automatic." Takuya took a closer look at his list. "Actually, it says one of our teammates is online right now. See where 'CrazyPunch' is green instead of white?"
"Yeah..."
"I can invite her here, if you want. I met her last night through the team chat."
"S-sure, you can invite her."
Takuya put the invitation on before continuing.
"So, you're an Ice-type. That means you can freeze opponents. You also get a bonus if you're playing in any Ice-based area, but your attacks won't do as well in hot places. Ice types can hit pretty far on their ranged attacks, and you get some AOE attacks..."
"What are those?"
"Area of Effect. It means you can hit a wide area around or near you instead of straight ahead. Ice has one major weakness, though, and that's in defenses. Your Digimon can't take too many hits."
[ Incoming Player ]
A third figure materialized in the arena, a Tinkermon. A child-sized blonde fairy with her hair tied back in a ponytail carrying a large red harpoon. The username of CrazyPunch hovered over her as the HUD analyzed her. It took Takuya a moment to remember that he had invited Izumi, although he was a bit surprised that he couldn't see the girl within the Digimon.
She's got her opacity settings turned up? He thought. That's strange...
"Hello!" She waved cheerfully to the two boys. "You're Takuya, right? I see you found one of the other kids on our team. I'm Izumi."
"My name's Tomoki, but I haven't decided if I'm on the team yet. I'm just trying Project Frontier out because Takuya asked me to."
"It's his first time playing," Takuya chimed in.
"Oh, in that case, I hope you have fun." She smiled warmly. "My Digimon is called Tinkermon, and I see you've got a Penmon. I've been playing for a long time and I can answer any questions you have."
"Well, I have a question. Why can't I see you inside of your Digimon like I can with Takuya? Is it because you're online?"
"No, it's because I want to keep my identity private. I've got the opacity settings turned all the way up."
"Oh."
"So, Tomoki," Takuya said. "Do you want to start?"
"Yeah!"
"Let's start with the basics. Um, moving. The VR helmet reacts to your thoughts so you can move around just by thinking about it."
Tomoki as Penmon responded by shuffling a bit to each side, the human body suspended within the penguin form hovering in place. He raised his flippers and waved them a bit.
"Pretty neat, huh?" Takuya grinned.
"It's not just on the ground," Izumi added. "If you're a Digimon with wings, you can fly too."
She demonstrated by taking off and hovering a few feet in the air before landing again.
"I don't think I can fly like that."
"Nope, penguins don't fly even in this game. You can swim real good, though." After a brief pause, Takuya continued. "Okay, now you know how to move, let's move on to the HUD."
"HUD?"
"Heads-Up Display," Izumi clarified. "It's an English phrase. You see all those stats around your vision? The green bar at the top is your hit points, there's also a line of blue icons to your left. Those are your attacks, they turn red when you use them because they're cooling down. It keeps the game even, because stronger attacks have more cool-down time."
Tomoki scanned down the list. "Mugen Binta, Ice Prism, Freezing Breath, ..."
"They're in order from your weakest attack to your strongest," Izumi told him.
"What are the little shapes next to their names?"
"Those are your attack types. What symbols are there?"
"Mugen Binta has an 'X,' Ice Prism has an arrow, and Freezing Breath has a triangle."
"Mugen Binta is a melee attack that doesn't have much cool-down time and you can use it more often." Izumi tilted her head a little. "Ice Prism's a ranged attack because it has an arrow next to its name. I think you can hit up to fifty feet away. It also has a small chance of freezing anyone it hits, unless they're a Fire type. Freezing Breath is an AOE attack effective within around five feet and has a good chance of freezing. It's got the longest cool-down time since it's your strongest attack right now. You unlock more attacks based on how long you've been playing. You get one new attack per five hours you spend in the game, and you get ten attacks at the most."
"So, how to I do them?"
"There's a button in your gloves under the palm. Think of which attack you want to use then squeeze your hand for the attack. The longer you hold it, the longer the attack will go on, but the weaker it will become, unless it's a charged attack. Then you hold the button down to charge the attack and release it to use the attack."
Tomoki paused to feel the button. "There are buttons under both hands."
"Yes, they're for attacks that come from the hand, like firing from your right hand or left hand. Here, I'll show you. Activate target."
Izumi turned away from the two boys as a target materialized in front of her. She aimed her right hand at the target and shot a blast of wind, quickly destroying the target.
"That was my Wind Stream attack," she said. "You can see it in your HUD if you're looking at me. Here. do you want to try?"
"I think so. Activate target!"
Sure enough, another target appeared in front of Tomoki, He paused for a moment, apparently trying to decide which attack to use before going for Freezing Breath. His Penmon opened its mouth and spat a blast of ice that engulfed the target, freezing it solid before it dissolved.
"I did it!" Tomoki's huge grin was infectious.
"Sure did." Takuya agreed. "Okay, you know the basics of moving and attacking, the next step is to start getting the hang of doing both. You ready for that?"
"Yeah!"
"Activate basic training course!"
An obstacle course materialized in front of the three. It looked almost like a normal grade school gym course, except much simpler. The occasional ramp, small platforms, a balance beam, and short columns to weave around. Targets lined the way every five feet.
"You have to get through this course in the least amount of time, while hitting every target," Takuya said. "We'll do this for a while, then call it a day."
...
An hour later, Takuya had to practically pull a somewhat tired, but still delighted Tomoki away from the game. By this point, the crowd that had been gathered around the TV earlier had mostly dispersed for the night, but Tomoki was so eager to talk about the game that he didn't even notice.
"And-and did you see how I slid around on my ice that time? It's totally awesome!"
"Sure is. Tomorrow we can meet up here and maybe try the training course again."
"Really? I can't wait! And...hey, what's this TV here?"
"Oh, that's your Stadium's high score list. It's to show the records of anyone who plays here regularly."
"Huh. The top score's Kizamizuki." Tomoki paused. "Isn't that one of the guys on our team?"
Takuya froze as he looked at the screen. The top scorer, by a clear landslide, was indeed Kizamizuki.
Maybe they weren't kidding when they said they didn't need to practice, he thought.