Episode 4: Digital Waves

"How's our friend?" Connor inquires, sitting on Mr. Crest's couch.

"Ganimon has been successfully relocated!" Espimon replies.

"He seems happy with the location," Mr. Crest adds, sitting across from Connor. "Away from humans and not in a rundown building."

"Good." Connor holds his hand to his temple. "Lance, Lauren, and Ezra… The border between the human and digital worlds seems to be vanishing more by the day."

"Speaking of which…" Mr. Crest looks Connor in the eyes. "One of them goes to your school, don't they?"

Removing his hand from his head, Connor looks back at Mr. Crest. "We haven't seen each other yet. I doubt he'd try to do something in broad daylight. He'd probably try something in Digital Space."

"This is true."

"We'll be ready for him if he does try anything!" Wormmon confirms.

"In anycase, we're going to tell Shelby and Sara tomorrow."

Shelby browses an online message board on her computer. Coming across a picture of a blue, almost dragon-like monster wearing a hoodie under a tree, she reads the message accompanied with it: 'This little guy was asleep under a tree at my school. I've been reading a lot about "Digimon" on here. I didn't know what to do. So I just left him alone. :'D'

'ai is getting too good' another comment replies.

'No! I saw this one, too!' a comment protests. 'This one with another kid at my school was chasing down another Digimon!'

'one stole my phone a couple days ago'

'you dropped and broke it didnt you?'

Scrolling through the comments, Shelby keeps reading conflicting comments about Digimon. She pauses and looks out the window, thinking back to that one day she told everyone about these rumors. 'Don't get involved,' Connor's voice repeats in her head. 'There's some rabbit holes not worth exploring.'

"Why are you acting so protective?" Shelby ponders to herself. "What is there to hide…if it's just made up?"

Lance and V-mon enter Mr. Crest's classroom. "Why are we here at six in the morning?" Lance yawns. "School isn't going to start for another two hours."

"In here," Mr. Crest gestures to the closet. Lance opens the door, the inside decorated and furnished.

Lance looks in amazement. "This was here all along?"

"We made this when Connor was still here. But now that you and some of the others have Digimon partners, they're welcome to use this space."

"I can hide in here?!" V-mon gleefully asks.

"You don't need to be outside and risk exposing yourself," Mr. Crest tells V-mon. "You'll just need to get here early." Knock knock. "Speaking of the others…" Mr. Crest opens the classroom door to Lauren and Ezra with Renamon and Herissmon.

"Hello!" Lauren cheerfully greets.

"How do you have that kind of energy this early?" Lance inquires. Lauren giggles.

Exiting the building, Shelby walks along the campus grounds until she finds a table. She turns her head, looking for someone. Seeing many students much older than her, she doesn't find the one she's looking for. "He'll be around soon." Opening up her lunch box, she pulls out a sandwich and begins eating. She pulls out her computer and starts typing code.

A few minutes go by. "You should learn to enjoy your breaks." Shelby turns her head to the direction of the voice and sees Connor.

"I like getting things done. Since we're in the same major, you could see something I'm doing wrong."

Connor takes a seat across from her. "Don't stress too much." He takes off his bag and puts his green, worm-like stuffed toy on the table. "How does it feel to be almost done with your first year?"

"It's a little surreal. I still feel like the odd one out, like everyone is staring at me."

"No one is doing that." Connor takes a moment to take out his food.

"But…" Shelby starts, "I'm only fifteen and already almost finished with my first year of college. I don't want the attention."

"People just want to get through the day for the most part. You're doing better than I did in my first year." Connor pulls the lid off of his container. "But what you're feeling is normal for your age, believe it or not."

"You're a lot of help." Shelby glares at Connor.

"Well…" Looking to his stuffed toy, Connor takes a breath. "Actually…I need to change the topic a little." Connor looks Shelby in the eyes. "When we go to the park to hang out with everyone else, there's something Lance and I need to tell you. I can't explain it all here."

"Mr. Secretive as always," Shelby sighs. "For someone who carries a stuffed animal with him, you seem to think of yourself as dark and mysterious." Shelby starts petting the worm-like stuffed animal.

"That's not my intention," Connor chuckles. "Either way, let's just say it's…up your alley."

Shelby raises her eyebrow.

Looking at the projection, Shelby types down notes in her laptop. "Digital Waves are a special type of energy that carry information," the professor explains. "Some of that information can be decoded. The rest is too corrupted to attempt decoding." The projection changes to strange symbols. "There's a few oddballs saying this is a language from an alien planet-" The class chuckles. "But these claims have been quickly dismissed." Shelby makes notes of these symbols in a notebook. "These waves are believed to be created when there's an overload of data in data lines. With nowhere else to go, they expel themselves as invisible waves."

Shelby stops typing. The rumors of Digimon and the Digital Waves…she ponders if they're connected, seemingly too much of a coincidence.

"As many of you probably already know," the professor continues, "we just got the equipment needed to observe and harness these Digital Waves. I encourage all of you to look when you have the opportunity. It'll be available in the labs."

Eager, Shelby quickly walks along the campus. "Shelby!" She turns and sees Connor. "Where are you off to?"

"I want to see the Digital Wave equipment!" Shelby continues to walk. "I'll meet you later!"

"Okay!" Connor calls.

Arriving at the labs, Shelby walks quickly across the atrium. Looking for the correct room, she finds a sign that says, "Digital Wave Analyzer. She opens a door to a large room. Stepping inside, she looks in awe at the large antenna and a single computer. Scanning the room for a faculty member, to no avail, she cautiously sits at the computer. The screen displays several different waves. "These must be the Digital Waves." Noticing an open computer folder, she clicks on it and sees several different files. Clicking on one of them, a file opens up and the same strange symbols appear again. "Must be a corrupted file." Closing the file, she stares at the screen, pondering. "Could the waves overlap?" She drags one of the files onto the Digital Wave being processed. The lights flicker. The two waves become a single wave. "Weird." Undistracted by the lights, she puts two more files into the process. The waves come closer together. "Interesting." Pausing for a moment, she ponders. "I wonder if…" As she continues to put more files into the process, the antenna discharges a spark. The computer starts to spark. "What the-?!" Digital Waves disperse from the computer as Shelby covers her eyes from the blinding light. Opening her eyes, the room looks the same. No damage to the computer nor the antenna. She looks out the window and sees the magenta sky, notices speckles glistening. "Is this…still the lab?"

"Tchehehe! I'm finally free!" A high, feminine voice excites.

Shelby looks behind her. "Who…are you?"

"Is it a good idea to leave her by herself?" Wormmon asks.

"It'll be fine," Connor assures as they wait in the car. "The research into Digital Waves is fairly new. I don't think we'll have anything to worry about."

"But what if she-" A Digital Wave sweeps across them, transporting them into Digital Space. Wormmon and Connor look at each.

"You were right! Let's go!" Wormmon hops onto Connor shoulder as he exits the car. As he runs to the labs, he scans for any Digimon.

"I don't see anything," Wormmon points out.

"Good." Connor throws the door to the labs open and dashes across the atrium. Look at all the door signs. After finding one saying, "Digital Wave Analyzer," he nearly breaks the door open. "Shelby!" Connor stops in his tracks. A blue-ish jellyfish Digimon floats in circles around Shelby.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" The Digimon sings.

Wormmon jumps off of Connor's shoulder. "You stay away from her!"

Shelby shakes her head in disbelief. "It talks?!"

The Digimon narrows its eyes and points one of its two longer tentacles at Wormmon. "How dare you! You leave a poor girl on her own and then assume I'm a danger?!"

Wormmon, taken aback, starts, "Well…we didn't…"

"It's quite alright, Wormmon," Connor chuckles. "I don't think this little one is trying to harm her. What's your name?"

The Digimon's eyes close as a feminine body extends out from the bottom, with the jellyfish body looking like a hat on top of a head. "The name's Jellymon."

=Digital Analyzer=

Name: Jellymon

Level: Child

Attribute: Data

Technique: Bibi Thunder

Floating towards Shelby, Jellymon puts a tentacle on her shoulder. "I was trapped in that machine until this cutie broke me out!"

"I'm not…" Shelby starts.

"How did you end up in there?" Connor asks.

"I was minding my own business one minute," Jellymon recalls, "then a massive current swept me into this giant hole. Then darkness! I was trapped! No matter what I did, I couldn't escape!"

"You must've been caught by a Digital Wave," Connor deduces, "and, when this analyzer caught the Digital Wave, it caught you too."

"Connor…About that thing you were going to tell me and Sara." Shelby folds her arms and glares at him.

Feeling the anger in Shelby's eyes, Connor replies, "Well…as you probably figured out by now, those rumors of Digimon and how they come out of network lines are true. Digimon aren't just a story online or AI generated images."

"I just pretended to be a stuffed animal to blend in," Wormmon adds.

"This place that we're in is called Digital Space." Connor pulls out his Digivice. "Do you have one of these?"

"Hm?" Shelby looks down at her hands and notices a blue and purple Digivice in one of them. "When did this…?" She starts to examine it.

"I see, you also have a Digivice. It happens when humans and Digimon form a bond together." Shelby and Jellymon turn to each other. "You two share a very special bond now. It also acts as a key between Digital Space and our world." Connor puts his Digivice away. "Let's go meet with the others." Turning back to the door, Connor stops. "When…?"

Approaching Connor, Shelby asks, "What happened to the door?!"

"Someone with malicious intent replaced the door with a wall," Connor warns. "We're trapped here."

"How is that even possible?" Shelby asks.

"Everything inside Digital Space is data," Connor replies. "And data is editable. Let's try…" Connor pulls his Digivice back out and tries hitting the button to transport them. Nothing.

"What are you doing?"

"This button usually sends out a Digital Wave to transport us between our world and Digital Space," Connor explains.

"Whoever put this wall up is jamming the Digivice's ability to transport us," Wormmon informs.

"Great! From one prison to another!" Jellymon vents.

Kneeling down, Connor unzips his backpack. "Don't worry." Pulling out a computer, he turns it on. "I can hack into it and change it back. It won't take long."

As Connor clacks at his keyboard, Wormmon scans the room. "Since this was a human's doing, it's a good idea to stay alert for any Digimon." Shelby and Jellymon nod their heads.

A few minutes go by. "So," Jellymon turns to Shelby, "since we're partners now, what do you like doing?"

"Me? Well…I'm a bit of an introvert. I prefer staying at home."

"That sounds too boring! You gotta get out once in a while at least."

"I hang out with my friends almost everyday."

Jellymon's face scrunches. "That's not enough!"

Wormmon gasps. "Look out!" Wormmon pushes Shelby out of the way of an oncoming projectile. Out of the direction of the projectile, a gray Digimon with a creepy head and several strips of flesh for a torso emerges from behind a desk. "Connor! It's Keramon!"

Shelby's Digivice beeps. She looks down and sees an image of Keramon. "What's this?"

=Digital Analyzer=

Name: Keramon

Level: Child

Attribute: Unidentified

Technique: Crazy Giggle

Connor leaps up and faces the Digimon. "That must mean he's nearby. Wormmon!"

"Nebaneba Net!" Wormmon spews a web at Keramon. With a creepy laugh, Keramon evades the attack and fires another projectile made of light from its mouth. "Gah!" Wormmon is thrown backwards from the attack.

"Wormmon!" Connor runs over.

"Bibi Thunder!" Jellymon's tentacles discharges electricity at Keramon. As the attack hits, Keramon twitches in agony.

"You got it!" Shelby celebrates.

Glowing, Keramon leaps for the wall where the door was, its body becoming more like a cocoon with six, sharp tentacles and barely growing in size. "It evolved," Jellymon notes, shocked.

"Chrysalimon," Connor adds, his face becoming frustrated.

"Wormmon evolve!"

"Wait!" Connor protests. "This room is too small! You'll crush us." Chrysalimon extends one of its tentacles and pins Wormmon to the floor. "Wormmon!"

'There must be something I can do!' Shelby panics. 'Everything inside Digital Space is data.' Looking at her Digivice, she notices a connection slot. Taking out her computer and a wire, she connects her Digivice to her computer. "Since Digimon are Digital Monsters and data is editable here…" She begins typing in code. "If walls can be hacks, why not Digimon?"

"What are you…" Jellymon begins. Perking up, Jellymon turns to Chrysalimon. "I feel energized all of a sudden!"

"I made you stronger!"

"Bibi Thunder!" Jellymon unleashes a massive thunder bolt from her tentacles at Chrysalimon, breaking the wall in the process.

"Let's go!" Connor picks up Wormmon and exits the room into the hallway. Chrysalimon floats and blocks their path more. "Wormmon!"

Wormmon jumps down. "Wormmon evolve! …Stingmon!"

"Amazing…" Shelby gazes.

"Spiking Finish!" Stingmon attempts to impale Chrysalimon. Evading the attack, Chrysalimon strikes at Stingmon. While dodging the attack, Stingmon creates an opportunity for Jellymon.

"Bibi Thunder!" Unleashing another massive bolt, Chrysalimon barely avoids the attack.

Stingmon prepares to strike again. After examining both of them, Chrysalimon devolves back to Keramon and flees. "Not this time!" Stingmon prepares to pursue.

"Stop!" Connor shouts. "He might have another trap set up."

Stingmon turns to Connor. "We're letting them get away again?!"

"I want to stop them just as much as you. But we need to escape while we can." Stingmon stares at Connor.

Jellymon floats to Shelby. "Do you know what's going on?"

"No…"

Stingmon devolves back to Wormmon. Connor smiles. "We'll get them next time."

"I hate when you're right sometimes," Wormmon pouts.

"Let's go. We have a lot to tell Sara." Wormmon climbs onto Connor's shoulder. "Though…I feel like we might not have a lot to say when we get there." Connor begins to walk towards the exit.

Shelby looks at him in confusion. "Why do you say that?" With no answer, Shelby follows him out.

A young man watches Connor and Shelby leave through a video feed on his computer. Keramon comes from behind him and lays next to him. "You've seemed to have found an interesting crowd, Connor." Next to his computer lies a gray and red Digivice.