This translation is modified from the official English translation provided at https://digimon.net/digimonseekers/
Its only purpose is to perhaps provide a little more readability. I will try to update as regularly as possible, but they may be sporadic. I will also be editing this document at random if I read it back later and think it could be improved on.
Please continue to show your support to Digimon Seekers by viewing the official site! We are getting new content for free, and gauging audience interest is a way for marketing to decide what next steps there will be in Digimon! Show your enthusiasm (and sometimes your wallet)!
-@onkeikun
10/01/2023: Still working on this, but on hiatus for now as I organize other projects.
CHAPTER 1 - Eiji: Wolf of ninth avenue
CHAPTER 2 - Hacker Leon: WWW Airlines Flight 626
CHAPTER 1 - Eiji: Wolf of ninth avenue
Chapter 1-1
There are wireframe T-Rex running intently.
The Tyrannosaurus rex is a carnivorous reptile that reigned on Earth during the Cretaceous Period about 67 million years ago. The largest one ever to be recorded was 13 meters long and weighed 9 tons.
A dinosaur, in other words -- but what we see running here is a slightly different creature from what paleontologists had theorized based on fossil findings.
These creatures are much smaller than the T-Rex. And yet, their forelegs are remarkably developed and their three claws are sharp enough to tear apart their prey's flesh.
---Tyranomon. Adult-level. Dinosaur type. Data species.
Their wireframe 3D body is covered with skin textures, mapped to bring about additional texture.
The pseudo red T-Rex creatures run with single minded purpose.
They were herding their prey together. One chased, another stalked, while the last one laid in wait… It was a highly intelligent coordinated group hunt.
Gradually, their prey would be trapped, drawn deeper and deeper into the tunnel.
When the claws of the approaching Tyranomon were finally about to capture its prey…
POW!
ROOOAAARRR... With an ear-splitting roar, a huge square object passed by them at breakneck speed.
It was a subway train – a wireframe train.
The Tyranomon, forced to pull back to dodge the hurtling subway, could only see vermillion streaks, the color of its tracks marking the route. The train's destination display showed a mysterious string of characters in a language that looked both familiar and unknown.
They were not in a jungle of ancient times, but a concrete underground constructed with line drawings.
The three Tyranomon resumed chasing after their escaping prey. They turned off at a branch in the tunnel and went deeper underground.
SPLASH!
The sound of feet slapping through water.
This road led to a vast sewer system. It was so dark that nothing could be seen, not even the tips of outstretched fingers.
But the Tyranomon were aware of their surroundings.
The stench of filth from stagnant winds, the footsteps of prey fleeing through the channel... They could sense the very air around them.
Graaarrr!
The Tyranomon lying in wait screamed.
A tornado suddenly formed out of nowhere, and the column of water sent the Tyranomon flying.
Thrown off-balance, the Tyranomon fell on its back into the waterway, its belly exposed.
FUSHAAA!
The shockwave that followed came from close range, delivering an unexpected but powerful finishing blow.
The Tyranomon was silenced by its prey's retaliation, and static around the wound on its red skin spread.
A pop-up billboard with a 3D advertisement. The store's mascot, a Kabuki-like character with its face covered in heavy Kumadori makeup, was jumping out into the street, advertising a new burger with four times more meat than any other burger on the market.
"Wonder if there are any good part-time jobs out there…"
Eiji Nagasumi took up a spot at the 2nd floor counter of the fast food restaurant, lingering there with a soft drink that he got with a coupon.
With smartphone in hand, he skimmed through the topics of the social networking site GriMM.
GriMM is a pan-global communication tool. In addition to basic short message, voice chat, video and live-streaming functions, it also maintained various communities based on group channels. GriMM probably had the highest number of users among all social networking sites. Its most distinctive feature was that it formed a single economic zone by serving as a financial tool with its own cryptocurrency DC (Digicoin).
However, it was also half-illegal.
"Tools cost a helluva lot of money, and I'm gonna have to learn how to actually code on my own rather than outsource. Oh shit… chip prices are rising again. Guess my business is about to go into red ocean," Eiji muttered something along those lines to himself.
GriMM is a must for freelancers like Eiji looking to make money, as it serves as a venue for information gathering, private sales, and crowdsourcing. GriMM is essentially a republic in the network that is based on an entirely new set of values.
...Without exaggeration, so to speak. The scale of its economy is such that it now threatens nations with major powers in the real world.
"A breeder… is a bit too much for me to handle. I guess capturing for collectors is the quickest and easiest way to make money. But in order to be a full-time hunter, I'd need a sales channel with customers... A Black Agumon? 100 million DC for its capture?!"
Eiji looked hungrily at this job request.
Agumon is the name of a data type that was traded by code crackers like Eiji – undocumented workers in the network community – who frequented GriMM.
--- "Agumon, Black." - "Must be alive and unharmed."
The dinosaur-shaped silhouette was accompanied by details and a note in the job description.
100 million DC is more than 100 million yen, right...? That was more money than Eiji could imagine, probably enough for him to live for 10 years without working.
However, as he perused the replies of the original post, he immediately deflated. All of the comments were either filled with abusive words, prankish, or plain begging for money...
GriMM was a lawless place. It was the network equivalent of a garbage dump.
"Ugh, this must be some kind of urban legend or something. There's no way that 100 million is real, and besides, it wouldn't be called Agumon if it was black… What the! My Tyranomon #3!"
He raised his voice without thinking.
A group of high school students on the same floor glanced at Eiji.
Until last year, Eiji had been wearing a high school uniform just like them.
Like them, he'd lived a life of mindless ease, chatting about nothing important, with no goals in mind, no worries about the future. Fun days with no real sense of purpose…
Eiji stopped swiping his phone and used his other hand to touch another gadget on the table. It was handheld sized, with a monochrome LCD screen and control buttons. At first glance, it looked like an electronic toy.
On the screen was a pixelated character, looking like a tiny dinosaur-like creature.
---Tyranomon.
Its name was displayed, but this one had fallen to the ground and had X's for eyes.
"I was so busy looking for a job that I blew all my money away! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
Eiji hit his own head repeatedly.
The other two Tyranomon, #1 and #2, looked at him from across the tiny black-and-white screen. They appeared troubled, as though awaiting instructions.
"Please, you gotta do this! I'll go broke otherwise!"
Eiji used the gadget to replace the downed Tyranomon with another one.
"If you don't capture the target, you get no food! Or rather, if you don't capture it, no food for me for a month!"
The high school students must have thought he was a weirdo that got too serious about video games. They raised their eyebrows and left their seats to get away from him.
But this wasn't a game.
This was serious business.
Eiji is a code cracker.
A hacker is someone who possesses outstanding computer skills, but code crackers are hackers who are willing to engage in "illegal" and "gray-area" activities. Code crackers were more of a jack-of-all-trades within network communities.
"Set tool settings to 'capture!' Reassign target to 'ModokiBetamon!' You're about to regret underestimating Cracker 'Fang,' AKA Eiji Nagasumi… Execute command and away you go!"
With a click, he pressed the "Execute" button. The Tyranomon on the monochrome LCD screen vanished.
They had a job to do. All that was left now was for the A.I. to capture the "prey" specified by the tool.
After downing his drink in the soggy paper cup, Eiji began to browse through GriMM again.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-2
Tokyo Dennō University was established as a major government program to welcome and support science majors who would become responsible for the future of science, technology, and the nation itself.
Although relatively new, it boasted top-class research that was responsible for great strides in the field of computer science. It is located in the Denrin District, which has become the new center of the multinational city of Tokyo. The university's reputation as a good starting point for jobs with global companies and tech giants made it increasingly popular with prospective students.
Adjacent to TDU's Denrin campus, there is another facility.
Abadin Electronics Corp., AKA "AE."
AE is the leading company in electronic terminals, network equipment, and fabless semiconductors. The Abadin Electronics' Denrin Digital Lab (DDL) was the home base of AE's research and development team.
The first-floor lobby at DDL was simpler than Eiji had imagined.
All it had was a reception desk and a common-looking waiting bench. The large TV display on the wall didn't show any advertisements about AE. Rather, it showed scenes of prairies, dense forests, polar seas, mountain ranges, rapids trailing autumn leaves, the underground and caves... scenes of nature from each of the four seasons in an endless video loop.
"I guess that's because the Digital Lab is a research facility, and AE's headquarters is elsewhere."
The exterior walls of the lab were gently curved with green, and there was no company logo or sign to indicate what a prestigious place it was. Anyone passing by might think that this building was part of the University next door.
Eiji looked at his reflection in the glass.
He was dressed in his usual casual attire. Apparently, casual attire was allowed at the DDL.
The people who worked here were supposed to be the elite, the best and finest minds of the field. It wasn't the place for a freelancer who was fresh out of high school.
Regardless, Eiji walked to the reception desk without hesitation.
He was here to work.
"Hello..."
Eiji calmly greeted the receptionist.
"Huh?"
She looked at Eiji with eyes that clearly wondered what this suspicious-looking kid was doing in here. Since he wasn't wearing a square backpack, he obviously wasn't here for a food delivery.
Oh, I see… There must be college students or passersby who occasionally enter the lab by mistake. She must have drawn the conclusion that he was one of them.
"I have an appointment. Do I type into this tablet?"
A research facility is bound to have trade secrets. There were several buff guards stationed at the gate on the other side. If this were the United States, they would be carrying handguns.
"Yes... Of course..."
Even her hesitant voice was cute.
She had short, voluminous hair tucked in at the collar. While she wore a plain outfit in the style of what was to be expected at a laboratory, she had a small face and a slender neck and shoulders. She was the type who was bound to attract attention just by sitting there.
"---Do I put my real name where it asks for my full name? I tend to use an alias at work."
"Excuse me, but are you a writer or in show business?"
"Neither."
It was not a stage name or a pen name. Eiji, like most code crackers, used his alias for job functions.
"Please use your real name then, if you don't mind."
"Eiji Nagasumi then… Phone number, appointment time… and the reason for the meeting, would that be enough?" Eiji took a look at her nameplate. "Hatsune-chan."
"Please don't get all casual on me."
"Okay then... Hatsune-cchi."
"...!" A muscle twitched at Hatsune's temple. "If you're here on business, then put your company's name here..."
"I don't have a company yet."
"Oookay..."
"But my occupation is... Wait, what was that guy's department again? Oh, whatever, this is such a pain in the neck."
Eiji took out his smartphone.
—Tomonori Ryusenji, professor.
Tapping on the contact, he sent an "I'm here" and decided to wait in the lobby.
There were several other guests there, all of them receiving guest passes from reception. None of them looked like businessmen, but rather like academics who had just stepped across the campus buildings of TDU.
(...)
Eiji looked at the object in the center of the lobby.
Three spheres floated in the air. Each sphere had a distinctive mark engraved on it.
They formed a circle with each other, more or less, rotating as they overlapped each other. They were like three globular clusters gravitationally pulling each other in space.
(Did I see those here before...?)
Eiji went to take a closer look and pulled back in astonishment.
"This is a three-dimensional image... A Hololize!"
"---Hey there, Fang!"
A voice from the other side of the gate called out his codename.
At the same time, the three circular objects collapsed, disappearing without a trace.
Eiji turned around.
The man was about 170 centimeters tall, a chiseled face with a touch of gray and a slight Caucasian look to him. He should have been in his 60s, but his gait and posture made him appear much younger.
The majesty of his presence was more apparent in the reactions of those around him than in the man himself. The eyes of everyone in the lobby trailed after him at his unexpected appearance.
"Hello, Mr. Ryusenji… I mean, Professor!"
Professor Ryusenji was one of the co-founders of Abadin Electronics.
An extremely wealthy man, he still owned more than 20% of AE's shares, which have a market capitalization of more than $100 billion.
He was called a professor because he also happened to be a university professor. As the boss of Ryusenji Laboratory, which is well known in the industry, he was also currently a professor emeritus at Tokyo Dennō University. He had built his company, which had started up as a university-launched venture, into the world-class company that it was now known for within the past 10-20 years as one of its top executives.
"This is my first time meeting Cracker Fang, but it certainly doesn't feel like a first time."
In terms of social status, the man was untouchable. Under normal circumstances, Ryusenji would not be someone with whom Eiji would feel at ease.
"Well, we're always talking through voice chat. Oh, my name is Eiji Nagasumi," Eiji said, introducing himself properly.
"Well then, Fang– or rather, Eiji-kun, let's get going. Sorry for all the trouble we put you through. Which reminds me... A guest pass for him, please," Ryusenji said to reception.
The suspicious-looking kid had just so casually summoned the de facto boss of Japan's AE that the receptionist, Hatsune, became increasingly nervous and flustered.
"Yes, sir! Right away..."
"We're going to D4, so he will need a Co-researcher Pass."
"What?"
"The board has given its approval... just this morning."
"Oh... Of course, sir, understood!"
Hatsune was surprised for the second time as she tapped the terminal to confirm this and issued his pass.
As Eiji held up his special pass, he walked through the gate detectors as the guards stood by in rigid salute.
Just doing this made Eiji feel a bit more like an adult.
Employees and researchers passing by greeted Ryusenji as they walked down the corridors. Eiji stood behind him like glue, staring wide-eyed at everything and returning their bows.
It felt great.
"Professor Ryusenji, why are you called "professor"? Why not the president, or vice president, or board chairman?"
"Probably because 'professor' is what describes me best."
He must mean because he had the mind of a researcher. He had already left the management of AE to his former subordinates.
Eiji himself wasn't sure how to interact with a corporate manager, but he felt more comfortable talking to someone who acted more like a university professor.
"Before we go to my office, I'd like to stop by a place. There is something I want to show you."
"What is it? I can't wait to see!"
"This way."
They took the elevator to the next floor, where they were met by another heavily guarded gate.
The gate wasn't the same as the one in the lobby, a detection gate that you'd pass through in an airport. This one was a bulkhead. This area up ahead seemed to be completely isolated from the rest of the DDL building.
—The D4 Section.
"What you're about to see here is Abadin Electronics' top secret project. The core research that will determine the future of our company is being conducted here," Ryusenji explained.
The core of AE's state-of-the-art research facility DDL was in D4.
Eiji gave up his phone and personal belongings to the waiting security guard. He was also subjected to a rigorous body check.
"..."
"What is it?"
Ryusenji, who had passed through the bulkhead gate before him, looked back at Eiji.
"Umm, I'm not sure if I'm ready for this."
"I assure you, it's just an experience, that's all. Do you not like amusement park rides?"
"Huh? You mean the fun kind?"
"Indeed, indeed... Not that we're genetically engineering dinosaurs or researching a zombie virus."
"Now those sound like fun."
Relaxed by Ryusenji's joke, Eiji passed through the D4 gate.
And inside was—
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-3
It was a sea of networks within a dome-shaped theater.
Eiji stood in the center of the room as a schematic diagram constructed with wireframes was projected before him.
Floating on the surface of the Worldwide Web were the servers of nations, corporations, and research institutes. Their servers sat atop its surface like floating islands or ships on waves.
The projection then dove deeper beneath the network to a deep-sea region, where a completely different world unfolded.
—The Digital World.
A voice began to play within the dome theater, taking them through an audio tour.
The wireframe schematic was rendered into 3D and took on vivid colors.
"It is a world different from our world, the real world," the audio said. "One could call it a cyberspace that exists in the digital network."
The 'other world' that stretched out from beyond the network, the Digital World.
Such scenic beauty…
While the picture quality was poor, it had a clear and beautiful wilderness to it, much like the environmental images shown in the entrance lobby.
"Inhabiting this Digital World," the audio continued, "are these—"
The data became 3-dimensional.
It was Hololize, a technology that was spearheaded by TDU and put to practical use by AE. This technology was what was used in all of the 3D digital signage seen throughout the city.
"---Digital Monsters, known as Digimon!"
Something was Hololized.
At first glance, it looked like… a frog?
It was like a tadpole that still had a tail, but on the verge of becoming a frog. It had the color of a watermelon, green with black stripes. What made it distinctive were its dorsal fin that stuck up like a mohawk, the claws on its limbs, and fangs curled up into a cocky smirk.
—Betamon. Child-level. Amphibian type. Virus species.
The pseudo-frog's data was displayed.
"Digimon are information life forms that live in the Digital World," the audio explained. "An A.I. lifeform!"
You'd never find something like this in a school textbook.
(An A.I. lifeform…?)
Digimon of different motifs— like fish, amphibian, reptile, mammal, plant, insect, crustacean, mollusk, even machine and chemical phenomena, not to mention other phenomena like the myriads of mythological creatures, gods, and demons to exist— Hololized one after the other.
The discovery of the Digital World and research about its history.
The identity of Digital Monsters, known as Digimon.
The evolution of Digimon (Baby, Child, Adult, Perfect, Ultimate-levels).
The three basic attributes of Digimon classification, etc…
These explanations came along with the images of the Hololized Digimon.
"That's the object I saw in the lobby…"
A video of the object that Eiji had seen before emitted a tri-colored laser show, illuminating repeatedly over Eiji as he stood in the center of the dome theater.
"It's the motif of the three attributes that form the basis of a Digimon's taxonomy— 'Virus,' 'Data,' and Vaccine,'" Ryusenji explained.
"Digimon are the fruition of mankind's efforts, of our successful contact with a new world – the Digital World – in the network!" the audio cried. "Digimon have revolutionized human society. By using and applying Digimon A.I. as tools, it has led to remarkable discoveries in various areas of study such as software development, cryptographic security, and A.I. drug development. However—"
It is still a secret to mankind.
A majority of people in the world still don't know that the Digital World even exists.
Suddenly, the image was disrupted.
The dome theater vibrated.
— "And even if they did, they wouldn't understand it anyway."
The tone of the dialogue changed at that last line. It sounded like it had been processed through a machine.
"---There is the ethical and non-ethical. Digimon can be misused as tools of cyber-terrorism. These instances are known as 'Digimon Crimes.'"
The video abruptly jumped to a scene in the real world.
It was… the passenger cabin of an airliner.
The plane's wings could be seen outside a window. The roar of its engine jets was audible as the plane flew above the clouds at night.
The video was being taken by one of the passengers filming the cabin with his smartphone.
Sleeping next to him, under a blanket, was either the photographer's wife, lover, or daughter...
—BOOOHHH!
A realistic roar of wind deafened Eiji.
The world was flooded by static and then… silence.
—ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR.
Without warning.
Their vision went dark. The angle of the video was disturbed. An alert. Oxygen masks came down in the cabin.
Screams.
Confusion.
(..................!)
Eiji averted his eyes.
He couldn't stand to watch anymore, but there was also nothing that he could do.
The airliner suddenly nose-dived
and fell headlong through the clouds at an altitude of more than 30,000 feet.
Tomonori Ryusenji had always been the leading figure of the world in discovering the Digital World and researching Digital Monsters. He was the very reason for why AE's Digital Lab was located next to TDU.
There was no known precedent of a single researcher making such a significant contribution to a university's reputation and a company's business performance. The remarkable development of both the university and AE were all made possible by Professor Ryusenji alone.
"Magnificent!"
Ryusenji beamed with approval as he inspected the Digimon Dock, a gadget that Eiji used to deliver his goods.
They were in the DDL, in Ryusenji's office. It was a private room where one part of the wall was made of glass. It looked much like a university laboratory, with shelves crammed full of equipment, reference materials, and cardboard boxes.
Ryusenji connected the Digimon Dock to his lab equipment, and the Digimon that Eiji captured was Hololized.
It was a frog-like creature with a tail.
"It is indeed the ModokiBetamon that I requested! Just look at those gentle, beautiful curves!"
Ryusenji traced the outline of ModokiBetamon's image with his finger, as if touching something precious.
Among all of the data found in the unknown Digital World, these A.I. programs called Digital Monsters, AKA "Digimon," sold at a high price on the GriMM market due to their convenience, scalability, and rarity.
"It took me three Tyranomon to capture that one!" Eiji entreated as he set his bag down on the work desk. He'd had his personal belongings returned to him since they were no longer in D4.
"Wow, sounds tough."
Betamon have a habit of throwing their dorsal fins when they feel that they're in danger. However, ModokiBetamon emit a shockwave from their dorsal fin... That was how Eiji's Tyranomon (#3) was killed by its "Blade Fin" technique during its capture.
"Yes, it was! But Professor... I'm not sure how this ModokiBetamon is different from the other Betamon..."
"What do you mean?" Ryusenji looked offended. "Eiji-kun, can't you tell? Do you really not know the difference between Betamon and this ModokiBetamon?!"
Eiji was alarmed that he'd disappointed his client.
"Umm… Well, the color… is a little different?"
"That's right! The color of this ModokiBetamon isn't nearly as vivid! I knew you could tell the difference.. Eiji-kun, you can expect a bit of a bonus to your payment this time."
"Yes, yes, yes! Thanks for your patronage!"
It seemed that his random guess was correct. Now Eiji could add pickles and raw egg to his beef-laden rice bowl for dinner tonight. The client seemed super pleased.
Ryusenji began to transfer the ModokiBetamon's data to his lab equipment.
"---Eiji-kun. What did you think of your experience earlier?"
"Earlier... You mean the video that I saw in D4? It was awesome!"
"It's a promotional video. Our company once had a plan to expand into entertainment. We were going to call it 'Digimon Land'..."
"Nice."
"Hmm."
"So you were going to sell Digimon as characters to the general public who don't know anything about the Digital World, huh? I especially liked the idea you guys had, that Digimon are living A.I. creatures. Fantasy? Fiction? If I were a kid, I'd be hooked."
Eiji let his imagination run wild.
"Digimon are alive."
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-4
"Digimon are alive," Ryusenji had said.
"---Well, it would be a lot of fun if Digimon were really alive!" Eiji said. "There are fanatics out there who keep Digimon like digital pets, and then there are collectors like you. But for code crackers like me, Digimon are like… a useful A.I. tool."
For Eiji, Digimon are valuable work tools. He favored using Tyranomon, a relatively common capture in the Digital World, which meant they could often be traded on GriMM.
"Hmm."
"So, when and where are you gonna have this Digimon Land thing?"
"It's been shelved for good." Ryusenji let out a sigh of disappointment.
"Oh dear."
"Realistically, it was hard to enforce. That's why the Digital World remains a secret to mankind."
At Ryusenji's words, Eiji flashbacked to the images of the plane crash that he had just witnessed.
"Yeah, I guess it would be, since there are people out there who use Digimon for crimes. People in the same business as me… Although they're more of the nasty sort."
While code crackers are generally in the gray zone, there are some even among them who weren't completely morally bereft… and some who were.
There were some who were gray, but close to white. Then there were those who were gray, but close to black. Some of them weren't so bad once you talked to them, while others were truly crazy, or flat-out criminals, or the enemy of all mankind.
Anyway—
Network failures, information theft through unauthorized access, and cyber-terrorism had been occurring frequently here and there in recent years, and Digimon used as A.I. tools actually had a lot to do with it. Like what Eiji had seen in that video, there actually was an incident of a terrorist using a Digimon to bring down an airplane.
That information, of course, had not been made public.
The general public did not know about Digimon or the Digital World. World leaders and international organizations were quick to cover up their existence.
Besides, it would become too great a scandal if characters at a theme park were used by criminals for acts of cyber-terrorism. Just imagine.
"If the public found out about the Digital World and Digimon, it would lead to revealing to the entire world the existence of Digimon crimes," Ryusenji said. "What do you think would happen if we did that?"
"Mass chaos."
"Exactly."
The media would probably come up with sensational titles for clickbait, like how Digimon were invaders from another world or something. The easiest and simplest conclusion that would be drawn from such an emotional state would be that the Digital World and Digimon are evil.
"A majority of mankind does not know yet about the Digital World. Even if they did, they would not understand it."
Ryusenji's words sounded genius and profound, and they were difficult for Eiji to understand.
"..."
"They would not understand that there lies another world beyond the network that is different from our world… and that Digimon are actually alive…"
Even if they knew about it, they would not understand it.
"Professor Ryusenji…"
Eiji felt as though those words had been said to him as a code cracker– as someone who used Digimon for his job in the Digital World.
Digimon are living creatures.
"Cracker Fang… Eiji-kun. Don't you want to know? About the real world and the Digital World… The truth of the two worlds? Don't you want to see what lies on the other side of it?"
"Well… Of course I would!"
Eiji was immediately excited.
"---I mean, I know nothing about it! The Digital World to me is nothing but the information on the black-and-white screen of my Digital Dock. But the world that you're seeing… the world that you saw, Professor, it's different, isn't it... Like what I saw on that video—"
That sea of networks, the real world, and the Digital World.
And glimpses of that world that lay beyond the static…
"Do you know why that video in D4 is top secret?" Ryusenji asked. "Why it's kept secret from the public?"
"Because," Eiji had a flash of insight. "It's real?!"
It wasn't a fake promotional video, but an actual video of the Digital World…?
"Yes... That video was A.I. generated by our observational data and composited as an imagery of the true Digital World. And the Digimon really do live there, in the Digital World. Turns out that the real extraterrestrials came from our digital network, not from outer space."
Ryusenji looked into Eiji's eyes. What he spoke of wasn't a metaphor or an abstract way of looking at things.
"Digimon are alive…!"
Eiji looked at the Hololized ModokiBetamon.
It was alive.
If that was the case, then the Tyranomon that he'd been using as an A.I. tool were also alive…? And all the other Digimon too?
"To see firsthand," Ryusenji said gravely. "With my own eyes, the natural Digital World and the Digimon in their own habitat. To see the Digital World directly with all of my five human senses, and not through virtual monitors or observational data.
To break the 'constraints' between the real world and the Digital World.
To experience it as it actually is. That is what I, Tomonori Ryusenji, have devoted my life to researching. Everything I do is, and has been done, for the sake of D4."
The data transfer of ModokiBetamon was finally complete.
Ryusenji ejected Eiji's Digimon Dock from the device, and picked it up with his fingers to peer at it.
"...Ah, thanks." Eiji extended his hand.
SNAP!
Ryusenji tossed the Digimon Dock aside.
"Whaaaaaaa?!"
Without any time to react in surprise, Eiji slid across the ground and intercepted the Digimon Dock before it fell into the trash can.
"What was that for, Professor?!"
He'd leapt forward so vigorously that he'd face-planted straight into the trash can.
Eiji had made this Dock from used parts. Even though it was mostly junk, it still cost him a lot of money.
"There was an error in its memory."
"Seriously?!"
Ryusenji is a Digimon collector, so he was more careful than most about the condition of his data.
"You shouldn't use outdated equipment, especially if you're working a job for me… That almost destroyed ModokiBetamon's data."
"Still, you didn't have to throw it away… Freelance code crackers aren't exactly swimming in money like big corporations are, Professor. I can't pay for everything out of pocket, or ring up a bill, or use all the high-spec equipment that's here whenever I want."
"Hmm."
"...Hello?"
Eiji was puzzled.
Ryusenji's response was a little strange. But he was, after all, a genius scientist of the highest caliber in Japan. He could be forgiven for coming across as a bit eccentric.
"I apologize for that. But… Well, that makes for perfect timing. Hold out your arm."
"Huh?"
Eiji didn't know how the timing was perfect, but he did as he was told.
Ryusenji attached something to Eiji's left wrist.
Eiji... swallowed hard.
"...!"
When had he'd last felt something like this?
When his parents had bought him a new video game console as a kid? When he'd gotten his first smartphone?
No, this was a thousand times greater than that…!
He felt as if his entire world was expanding just by wearing this thing.
"It's yours."
It was a wristwatch-like gadget.
"Is this… Abadin Electronics' state-of-the-art Digimon Dock? And a smartwatch type?!"
Eiji felt like jumping up and down and doing cartwheels.
AE's products were easy to modify into Digimon Docks, and thus were highly regarded among code crackers. And this was a genuine AE product. Because it involved Digimon, it was a trade secret.
—A Digimon Linker.
"This is the prototype of a product that I've been working on."
"Professor Ryusenji… I already knew this about you, but you are amazing!"
On Eiji's arm, the wristwatch Digimon Dock began to set itself up automatically.
"Well, I'm also the technical director of the Digimon Dock division. This device has a biometric vital sensor, so it can only be used by you, the person to whom it's registered."
"Oh! So it's made for me!"
"It has a medical device class sensor that records pulse, blood pressure, respiration, body temperature, and so on. And it comes with a 24-hour medical support system via our Life Support."
"I'm about to get so healthy!" Eiji responded enthusiastically.
"It also has a Hololization function. Normally Digimon Hololization is only allowed at DDL and a few other authorized facilities, but... this is a special exception."
It was all special, special, special. He was being given special treatment!
"But you're giving me the prototype… Are you sure? There must be some kind of catch."
"Relax. This is simply a gift from me to you."
"Oh wow!"
"But here's the thing."
"Yep, I knew there was a catch! I'm starting to catch on to what kind of person you are, Professor!"
While he said that jokingly, Eiji had no intention of parting with his smartwatch Digimon Dock.
He wanted it. The Digimon Linker had functions that were, without exaggeration, in a different league – even leagues – from Eiji's DIY Dock.
"I want to see what Cracker Fang can do with it in this next job that I have for you."
"I'll do it."
"Well, that was fast. Good, good. That's what I like about you."
Ryusenji took Eiji's arm and pressed a switch on one side of the Digimon Linker. The screen glowed faintly.
A mysterious flame seemed to flicker from the clock screen.
—Loogamon. Child-level. Magical Beast type. Virus species.
A Digimon that he had never seen before sat there on the color screen.
Eiji squinted.
"A puppy… A dog?"
After receiving the new job request from Professor Ryusenji, Eiji passed through the gate alone and returned to the reception hall on the first floor.
"Break the constraints between the real world and the Digital World, huh…?"
The Hololized tri-colored object was back in the center of the hall.
"Oh, hello again!" Hatsune spoke up at the reception desk.
"Do I return my pass here?"
"You can put it here. Thank you."
Eiji gave her back his pass. Hatsune noticed the device on his arm.
"…"
"Oh, this? Professor Ryusenji gave it to me... Do you know what it is? It's a Digimon Dock."
Eiji showed off his new smartwatch gadget to Hatsune.
Hatsune looked around quickly and then whispered back, "Isn't that the new secret model?"
She seemed to be well-informed of company rumors. Maybe that was a perk of her position as a receptionist.
"It's a prototype though. I'm just doing a test run."
"Wow. That Professor Ryusenji himself asked you to test it out? He must really trust you."
Hatsune seemed to be genuinely surprised, rather than buttering him up.
"Hmm... I wonder. I mean, do you really think so?"
"Absolutely! I mean, despite his appearance, Professor Ryusenji is so—" Hatsune lowered her voice. "He can be a bit difficult to work with."
"Oh yeah, he is a peculiar one," Eiji said, trying not to laugh. Hatsune's attitude towards him was completely different from when he first saw her. But that wasn't a bad thing. "I'll see you later."
"Oh, Nagasumi-san."
"You can call me Eiji."
"Then… you can call me Hatsune-chan or Hatsune-cchi, whatever you want! So… about your entry form. I noticed that you left out your occupation! If you don't mind me asking, what should I put there?"
Hatsune looked at him expectantly and fidgeted.
"My occupation?"
Eiji thought about it.
Being a freelancer… wasn't exactly an occupation. It just meant that he had no established job.
"---I'm Eiji Nagasumi, a code cracker."
"Huh…"
Hatsune's reaction was the most doubtful that he'd seen her all day.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-5
There are two major ways to obtain Digimon in the Digital World.
One way is by using tools in their full capacity to capture Digimon. The other is by collecting Digimon eggs known as Digieggs.
Although these Digieggs are the shape of eggs, they are different from the eggs of birds or fish.
Let's start off with this: the current accepted explanation is that Digimon do not have gender. They are neither male nor female.
This leads to the question of: In that case, how are Digimon born? The current theory for this is that they are born from Digieggs.
When a Digimon dies, it leaves behind data that could be called its soul. This data remnant is then reborn somewhere in the Digital World as a new Digiegg.
It may sound like the circle of reincarnation, but there is much that is unknown about the Digimon's way of life.
Humanity still understood only mere fragments of the Digital World.
It was a long, long night.
Dusk seemed to go on eternally in the twilight sky. But no, what looked like the sky was actually the Net Ocean, and what looked like clouds were the waves of the Interweb. The shooting stars were streams of information... It was like being at the very bottom of the ocean floor. The shimmering pale light illuminating the ground came from the real world located far above the ocean surface.
The world of the network was both brilliant and beautiful.
But any world that is inhabited by living creatures grows to be, without exception, somehow broken and stagnant.
Rain the color of rust iron spattered down, and the wind smelled of blood.
Sewage water, rich with the pungent smell of chemicals, bubbled up as it was swept away by the rain.
It was more than just a drainage ditch. It was a blockaded city where mine pollution flowed— the flow leaving a trail of strange fluorescent colors that glowed in places, and unidentifiable garbage data that chipped away at the seawall as it spewed out of the fenced-in estuary.
Why was there a "flow" in the Digital World?
The flow of time. The flow of matter and the flow of natural phenomena such as weather– Why is that? Why was there this mountain of garbage that was so obviously remnants brought about by a living society?
According to one theory, contact with the real world (and thus, human society) through the network brought about an enormous diversity of data and wide circulation throughout the Digital World.
If that was true… It would be like how the Europeans, when they had discovered a new continent, brought pathogens with them that destroyed the local empires. It would be like the plot of a science fiction suspense movie, where interstellar travel was possible and an unknown bacterium attached to the homecoming spacecraft caused a terrible crisis on the home planet.
It would mean that contact between mankind and the Digital World had forever changed this other world and the creatures living in it.
Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Nobody knew.
After all, it wasn't the police's job to neatly draw a line between what was right from wrong.
These areas contained the secret and furtive agendas of many minds.
A wireframe schematic appeared on her heads-up virtual monitor.
—The Last Coast.
No one knew how it had gotten the name, but it was the name of this beach with red iron sand. Digieggs that washed up in the flow of garbage data often ended up here.
Some poachers took advantage of that.
"Deputy squad leader! We have a suspicious Digimon in sight!" The voice chat through the police radio said.
Several red dots flashed across her virtual monitor on the estuary area of the map. They were unidentified Digimon.
"This is Tamahime. Continue the search."
She borrowed the "eye" of her Digimon, which stuck out from the river surface like a periscope.
"Detailed search is underway," her voice chat replied. "...Espimon, Child-level, Cyborg type, Virus species."
"Got it," she said. "Looks like a tin can toy."
The Digimon's appearance was hard to describe and definitely going to be damn difficult to report for her records later. At a quick glance, it looked like it could be a toy from one of those retro comedy robot shows that were popular in the Showa era. It was like an upside-down snowman, with the head bigger than the body. It had manipulator arms and its legs were simply rocket-propelled nozzles.
"I count four."
"They must be code crackers…!" She hissed. "The four of 'em are all bots, those assholes."
She clicked her tongue.
The word "bots" was police slang for a Digimon that was automatically controlled by tools.
"This Digimon has been pretty popular among the code crackers lately," came the voice of one of her men through the voice chat.
"Yeah, cyborg Digimon work well with tools," She agreed. "It's a good beginners' choice."
It was a common code cracker technique to implement A.I. tools on a Digimon and then let those Digimon run through the Digital World to search within certain areas and collect data that the code cracker was looking for.
If this were a real world server, they would be targeting corporate secrets and personal information.... But in this remote part of the Digital World, there was only one thing that code crackers wanted to make money off of.
– "How many Digieggs did you get?"
– "Only one so far."
The police eavesdropped on their devices, picking up the GriMM voice chat conversation among the code crackers. Their voices sounded young. There was no evidence of a voice changer in use.
"Their voice chat is fully leaked... Are they amateurs?" She asked.
The Digimon were bots, but the code crackers controlling them were also logged into the Internet. They must have felt like they were playing an online game.
"What should we do, Deputy squad leader?"
Her men were controlling their Digimon through docks and tools, just like the code crackers. Their view of this rusty coast and the Digital World could only be observed in the form of schematic diagrams and numbers on their virtual monitors. They couldn't directly see it or smell it.
They knew, but they didn't understand… Those were the words of a famous scholar from somewhere.
The only one who knew— and who was physically here– was deputy squad leader, Satsuki Tamahime.
She used a tool to block more than 99% of her olfactory senses. Satsuki's Digimon actually loved poor environments like this rusty iron beach, but it wasn't for her.
"Police can't just pick and choose their criminals, so… Arrest 'em all."
More than ten green dots suddenly appeared on the virtual monitor's schematic. The code crackers' Espimon had long been surrounded by Satsuki and her team.
"Jam their voice chat," she continued. "The Commandramon squads will break off into two and overpower the targets from both sides."
"Roger."
The Espimon did not notice them.
The code crackers couldn't see them in the first place, and they probably didn't even know what sort of place their Digimon were in right now. The only thing they could see was the crude LCD screen of their Digimon Docks in hand. That's why they weren't alerted to what was going on.
But Satsuki could see them.
As they actually were. With all of her five senses.
She was one of the people who had broken the constraints.
"How dare youse come here, ya goddamn poachers!"
Their voice chat was jammed followed by this warning. Upon hearing that beautiful feminine voice echo in the background, the Espimon finally noticed their presence.
The Digimon of Satsuki's men, who had been quietly scuttling around them, stood up at that voice and surrounded the poachers.
—Commandramon. Child-level. Cyborg type. Virus species.
The Commandramon were equipped with police-regulation attire. They looked like humanoid dragons or lizard men in appearance. They wore body armor and a helmet with "POLICE" written on the front as they carried assault rifles.
The Commandramon had a special textured surface added onto their bodies which allowed them to turn on electronic warfare camouflage on themselves based on their surroundings. This was how they could approach their enemy undetected.
"Found the Digiegg!"
The Commandramon secured the poached Digiegg. The code crackers' tools and everything else were secured.
All that remained now was to round up the actual code crackers themselves to finish the job. Nothing more to say after that.
— "The police?!"
— "It's the Digi-Police! Shit!"
The code crackers finally caught on to what was happening, but could do nothing more than grumble in the voice chat.
Satsuki announced the current time of the arrest and the charges.
"—You've been caught red-handed! Come quietly or else! Just so ya know, there's no point trying to escape… We've got your identities! Don't underestimate the police, we have your names and the schools you attend!"
The annoying thing about it was that the code crackers were apparently high school students. As minors, they could be taken into custody but they wouldn't be officially arrested. One of their seniors was probably a bad influence and urged them to become code crackers for profit. This kind of thing happened all the time.
"We're arrested? On what charges?!" A high-schooler said. "We've done nothing wrong..."
"You violated the Unauthorized Computer Access Prevention Act, the Basic Network Act, and the Digital Vandalism Prevention Act! In other words, you're guilty of poaching Digieggs, ya dumb shit!" Satsuki spoke bluntly.
"This is the Digital World!" They protested. "It's not a country! Why are the Japanese police getting involved?!"
I see. The code cracker kids had some knowledge so they weren't going down without a fight.
Satsuki took a deep breath, her voice dropping in tone to one of thick tension.
"You think you're free to do whatever you want in the network and in the Digital World...?"
"...?!"
"That's the crack team's philosophy, isn't it? Youse bring up a big topic... but since what you're talking about is trash anyway, go say that shit on your social media! I'll knock your teeth out, you shitty code crackers!"
Drip-drip-drip-drip-drip!
Satsuki's Digimon, which had been hiding underwater with only its eyeballs protruding from the surface, appeared in full-form like a submarine.
NUMEEEEEEEEEE!
The red lights of the police siren flashed.
Seeing that Digimon, with their horrible moaning and slimy intensity, made the code crackers' Espimon tremble.
Satsuki's Digimon was—
"Unplug your ears and listen up, fuckers! In the end, your identity is that you're all Japanese citizens! And as long as you're involved in illegal activities! The Japanese police are gonna get you and call up your guardians, you assholes— Hey, don't move!"
– "Divanish!"
The Espimon suddenly disappeared.
One after another, the Commandramon lost sight of the targets at the ends of their muzzles.
It was vanishing magic. As soon as the Espimon pressed the button on their belly buttons, they melted into the red seaside background.
"Optical camouflage?! Those cheeky bitches!"
It was an invisibility cloak.
There was a volley of bullets. The Commandramon all fired their assault rifles at the same time. It was the firepower of an entire squad.
The Espimon, however, clad in camouflage and outmatched by Commandramon, managed to slip past the police circle. This was thanks to the Digimon A.I. 's built-in self-defense function rather than any code cracker's ability.
"Mechanorimon!"
As soon as Satsuki gave the order, two more Digimon appeared behind her, shedding their camouflage.
—Mechanorimon. Machine type. Adult-level. Virus species.
This Digimon was larger than Espimon and Commandramon. In terms of scale, it was about 3 to 4 meters tall. Its body color was white, and it looked like a robot– a humanoid power suit with long arms.
While Digimon were classified as police equipment, the Mechanorimon were classified as special-purpose vehicles. Inside each of them was a dedicated Commandramon, who was in charge of piloting the vehicle.
Whiiiir, whiiiiiir…
The Mechanorimon's single eye glared as it probed the area.
Because the Mechanorimon were equipped with powerful detectors, sensors, and other electronic warfare equipment, they could serve as field command vehicles.
Screee—
An optical weapon emitted from the linear lens embedded in the Mechanorimon's body.
— "Twinkle Beam!"
With a flurry of sparks, the optical camouflage of one Espimon dissolved as it fell with a thump onto the beach in a scattering of iron sand. The three remaining red dots on the virtual monitor faded fast as they broke up running.
"Don't let 'em get away! Shoot!"
"We're charging for the next round… We can't catch all of them!"
Just as Satsuki and her subordinate aboard the Mechanorimon said this,
— "Petit Impulse!"
A bolt of lightning pierced the rusty coast, followed by a thunderclap.
Satsuki didn't react to this right away, taken aback by this unexpected event.
"...Huh?! The Espimon!" The police radio blared.
The remaining Espimon, blackened, crashed to the ground in wreckage one after the other. The lightning bolt had struck them simultaneously and with great precision.
Who had done it…?!
Satsuki looked at the new indicator that had appeared on her heads-up virtual monitor.
It was just standing there, seemingly unperturbed, on top of the deactivated Espimon.
It looked like a legendary beast of thunder.
"Is that... Pulsemon?!"
—Pulsemon. Child-level. Beast type. Vaccine species.
Known as 'Lightning Bolt,' it was difficult to even catch sight of this Digimon as he moved at a high-speed zigzag pattern.
Could it be another code cracker? The Commandramon squad readied their guns.
"The only one," Satsuki said slowly, "Who uses Pulsemon is…"
She knew his name all too well. "As far as the police know, it can only be one. He's a hacker!"
"Deputy squad leader! Your orders!"
"It's that hacker, 'Judge'!"
ZAP!
Pulsemon glanced at Satsuki's Digimon.
"You're too soft," Pulsemon said. "Deputy squad leader of the Digi-Police."
With a smile and blowing a kiss, he sped off immediately like a lightning bolt into the Net Ocean.
"What the...!" Satsuki sputtered. "That pisses me off!"
"Deputy squad leader!" The Commandramon squad insisted on instructions.
Satsuki shook internally with anger at being ridiculed, but remembered her position as field commander and managed to maintain her composure.
"We've got the Espimon under control... and the poached Digiegg is secured. We'll let jurisdiction handle the rest in the real world."
"But that Pulsemon..."
"Leave that hacker jerk alone. We can't catch up to him anyway. He's also…"
Satsuki sulked.
Pulsemon and the hacker that Pulsemon was linked with, was the same as Satsuki.
—They had broken through the constraints as well.
"Copy that, Deputy squad leader."
"Sorry, we're going over the K-Line. If we exceed the time limit, Squad leader will nag about it and we'll get penalized with a pay cut."
"Yes, of course, after you! But what about the Digiegg?" The subordinate reported quickly.
"Huh?"
Satsuki could feel her mood drop to uncontrollable levels.
The Digiegg that had been lying on the beach earlier was gone.
The one who had snatched it away, of course, had been…
Like a bolt of lightning…
"Pulsemon... Hacker Judge! Give me back my evidence, goddamnit!"
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-6
Eiji Nagasumi, AKA Cracker Fang, visited his client, Professor Ryusenji of Abadin Electronics (AE) at his Denrin Digital Laboratory (DDL).
There, he received a Digimon along with the latest Digimon Dock, the Digimon Linker.
After getting takeout at the restaurant in front of the metro station, a beef bowl with soft-boiled egg on the side, Eiji headed home in high spirits that he hadn't felt in a long time.
DING!
He rang the bell of the Buddhist altar.
His room was a very small one-room apartment (the size of 3 tatami mats) with a loft, furniture-style Buddhist altar, and LED candles. He didn't usually offer incense because that would cause a fire.
"I'm home, Mom, Dad. Grandma and Grandpa."
He greeted his dog too.
His family's mortuary tablet had the names of his family members. For some reason, there was even one for a dog that he had a long time ago.
Placing his hands together in prayer, Eiji sat down to eat dinner alone at the table.
He looked at the Digimon Linker on his arm.
"Never seen a Digimon like you before."
Loogamon.
The color screen showed a dog-like Digimon sitting fluffed up in a ball.
—I want you to raise this Digimon.
The request from Ryusenji had been quite simple.
If one scrolled through GriMM, they'd find that Digimon training jobs were prevalent. In pet terms, it was like being a breeder.
Because the growth of Digimon was a kind of learning A.I. program, their behavioral patterns from birth were largely relevant to its matured state. This meant that code crackers who were experts in dealing with Digimon could also serve as breeders.
–If you are interested in my research, then your encounter with Loogamon ought to be very interesting.
"If Professor Ryusenji has that much expectation in me, then I've got to do my best."
Eiji had never been this excited before in his life. Nothing could go wrong as long as he followed the professor's lead.
However, Eiji had little experience in training Digimon.
"I have three Tyranomon, but all I'm doing is fine-tuning them with tools… I guess you could call that part of the training process?"
He laid his Digimon Dock on the table. A pixelated Tyranomon showed on the monochrome LCD screen. The dock that stored the Tyranomon was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand.
This type of dock was outdated in terms of specs, but blueprints were available, so it was relatively easy to obtain parts and make one yourself. Shops with GriMM code crackers as their target audience sold special cases and complete units. Eiji also owned a few of them.
"The professor said something about the memory card being corrupted in my delivery dock… so I'll have to switch out those parts. But since I have the Digimon Linker, there's no need to rush."
Eiji grinned at the memory as he looked at the new Digimon Linker around his wrist.
This Loogamon was like a good luck charm for Eiji. He couldn't help but think that he needed to take good care of them.
"...Still though, why do I have to wear my Digimon Linker 24 hours a day, even when I'm in the shower?"
It wasn't really a problem since it was completely waterproof and antibacterial, but still…
Loogamon grew during the 2-3 days that it took for Eiji to learn how to operate the new gadget. It was a Digimon that grew up fast as they felt Eiji's heartbeat through the Digimon Linker.
"It feels like I have my own kid, growing big as I carry them around in my heart…"
Eiji looked fondly at the Digimon in his wristwatch.
Digimon growth— in other words, their evolution, is systematic.
When a Digimon hatches from a Digiegg, they start off at the Baby-level. Like a newborn baby, it has not yet learned anything and is not immediately useful as a tool.
Normally, one would start raising a Digimon from this Baby-level. However, Loogamon was already at Child-level, the next stage of growth.
Eiji posted questions to breeders in GriMM.
Naturally, he didn't mention his job from Ryusenji or about Loogamon, but he did ask about how to raise "dog-like" Digimon in general… After all, when he searched GriMM for information on Loogamon, he didn't get any hits.
"A.I. learning programs and training programs… There's actually a lot to this."
It might even be a bit of a pain in the neck. Eiji started to almost regret taking this job.
"When was the last time I even owned a pet? I guess not since my dog died when I was a kid."
—To see firsthand, with my own eyes, the natural Digital World and the Digimon in their own habitat. To see the Digital World directly with all of my five human senses, and not through virtual monitors or observational data.
That was the kind of impressive research that Ryusenji was conducting.
"If that sort of thing is possible, then I want to see it. I want to see the world that Professor Ryusenji sees. A world where the Digimon are living creatures, huh? If I raise you, Loogamon... If I got you to evolve to your Perfect or Ultimate form, would something change for me?"
To break the 'constraints' between the real world and the Digital World.
If he could become a top-notch code cracker like that, which Ryusenji said was possible…
There was the sound of a notification.
Eiji picked up his smartphone. He had received a reply to his question post on GriMM.
—Fang, congrats on becoming a Digimon breeder! If you're raising a Digimon from Child-level,
then I recommend keeping it with a number of other Digimon. When you have more than
one Digimon together, they'll play and learn from each other.
"I see! So you keep a number of Digimon together! Many thanks to collective knowledge!"
Eiji immediately connected his Tyranomon's dock to the Digimon Linker.
Being the latest model, the Digimon Linker had more than enough capacity and processing power. It would be a good idea to transfer his Tyranomon in with his Loogamon for company.
But… in his excitement, Eiji didn't read the rest of the answer.
—Some Digimon have a social hierarchy, though, much like dogs do. It's important that you discipline
them first!
Which was why…
Trouble came about several days later.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-7
After receiving an urgent call from Abadin Electronics' Denrin Digital Laboratory, Eiji immediately went to Ryusenji's office at DDL and cried out with a teary voice.
"Professor! Professor Ryusenji!"
"Good morning, Eiji-kun."
It was already afternoon, but Ryusenji seemed to be the type to always say "Good morning."
"What is wrong with this Digimon?!"
He showed Loogamon napping on the Digimon Linker screen, who appeared to be having a good dream on a full stomach.
"Looks like you're doing a great job with his training. I look forward to seeing him evolve," Ryusenji smiled.
Digimon change forms as they grow, starting from a Digiegg to Baby-level (I & II), Child-level, Adult-level, Perfect-level, then Ultimate-level.
It was similar to how insects, for example, grew from egg to larva, then pupa, then adult.
What made it different, however, was that the same individual transformed into a completely different Digimon. This was why the growth of a Digimon was labeled as "evolution" in the academic sense.
"---If you evolve him to Adult-level, I'll pay you an incentive."
"An incentive... An additional reward?!"
"If you get him to Perfect or Ultimate-level, you'll get even higher rewards. I wonder what kind of Digimon Loogamon will evolve into. I'd like to see Eiji-kun and Loogamon looking cool together," Ryusenji said supportively, quite obviously baiting him.
"You wanna see what?!" Eiji spluttered. "Don't try to change the subject by metaphorically dangling money in my face! That's the behavior of a bad adult."
"Hmm."
"You saw the training report that I sent you yesterday, right?" Eiji complained.
"I get hundreds of emails every day so, actually, I hardly open any of them," Ryusenji admitted shamelessly.
"Sure," Eiji said, backtracking. "You'd lose days of work if you checked them all..."
"That's right. I'm a researcher and I don't have time for anything but my research. However, Eiji-kun... I do have notifications on for your messages so that I can check them immediately."
"I felt that right in my heart a bit," Eiji said, clutching his chest.
"You're a very important business partner of mine, Eiji-kun."
Eiji couldn't dislike this part of the professor in the least. In fact, it made Eiji like him even more.
The world's leading authority on the Digital World claimed that Eiji, a code cracker brat, was his business partner.
Ryusenji opened Eiji's report on the monitor and played the attached video file.
---Loogamon. Child-level. Magic Beast type. Virus species.
He was in a virtual training cage. The video was dated to yesterday's date.
Loogamon was eating food.
Digimon stop growing if they don't eat. This is why, when they get hungry, they instinctively continue to eat food.
It may seem strange for an A.I. to eat but food was, in essence, data and information. Even human beings would not grow in any way, shape, or form if they did not read books, watch videos, and study to obtain information.
For some reason, there were four plates of food in front of Loogamon. And for some reason, the three Tyranomon that had been housed with Loogamon were all trembling in a corner of the cage.
"---Even with three Tyranomon, he's too much to handle?" Ryusenji observed, sounding curious.
"Tyranomon are Adult-level, and yet this Child-level Loogamon has them under his paws..."
"Loogamon is a magical beast type, which strongly influences data relating to wolves," Ryusenji explained.
"Wolves... So he's not a dog."
Eiji mussed his own hair in frustration.
"He is a dog, so to speak... But more primitive, the type of dog that was directly descended from tamed wolves," Ryusenji said. "In any case, they form a pack and have an alpha. Such packs are strict about their social hierarchy order."
"So... is this because I kept them all in the same cage? Did Loogamon make the Tyranomon... his minions?!"
"More or less. Obviously, the boss has first dibs on food."
Ryusenji was smiling for some reason.
"But that doesn't make it right for him to eat the others' food! He's such a glutton! He even tried to eat one of my Tyranomon at the beginning!"
"Oh wow! Now that's quite interesting. That sounds much like the mythical demon wolf that dares to eat giant gods."
"The sight was too horrible to make a video of... Anyway, this guy eats too much! He costs too much and poops too much!"
"...And?"
"What?"
"Do you have a problem with that?" Ryusenji asked back.
I see…
All of this was simply interesting developments to a genius researcher.
Eiji took a deep breath.
"The following data that I got is the result of benchmarking Loogamon. It's definitely not your average growth score."
"Hmm."
"By the way, Professor... What is this thing on Loogamon's forehead?"
Eiji paused the video and zoomed in. Loogamon wore a mask or a face protector that covered his forehead and nose. On it, where his forehead was, was attached a shiny jewel-like object.
"---I've been wondering about it," Eiji admitted. "Sometimes it even glows."
"I'm not sure what to say about it," Ryusenji said. "But good on you for noticing it, Eiji-kun."
"Thanks."
"So how do you feel about him? You have tried using him already, haven't you?"
"He's so peaky that I can't evaluate his performance as an A.I. tool."
Eiji paused for effect.
"What do you mean?"
"It's not that the tool's commands don't work... He just won't listen to what I tell him! Forget getting him to work, he won't even go for a walk. This dog that I used to have years ago was the type to pull the leash because he loved going on walks so much."
"...So you don't think you can raise him?"
"I didn't say that! Raising him is my job... and I'm interested in Loogamon! I'll definitely get him to evolve!"
"Try to Hololize it," Ryusenji said.
Eiji chose a command on his Digital Linker. The still sleeping Loogamon was Hololized.
He was big and bulky.
Child-level Digimon, depending on their type of course, are usually about one meter in length. Loogamon was about the size of a Siberian Husky or a small wolf. His physical form was small but stout, so he had a strong presence while indoors.
His fur was blue-gray, like a gray wolf. His eyes were red.
Eiji would have liked to pet him with both hands, if he could.
"The Digimon Linker checks your bio-information 24 hours a day, Eiji-kun. I've inspected the data along with Loogamon's training information and… My word!"
Ryusenji gave a loud shout.
"Wha?! Don't surprise me like that!"
"You are truly remarkable!" Ryusenji raved.
"Huh? Why am I being complimented?"
"Look at this number!"
Ryusenji brought up the evaluation report and pointed excitedly at the screen.
"What's 'DS value…?' Actually, I can't even read this."
The numerical number was blinded out for privacy. It wasn't a term that Eiji had heard, not even in code cracker circles...
"That's D4."
"Oh, so it's classified."
"DS value is one of the indicators that I've designed to assess one's compatibility with a Digimon. Eij-kun… Your compatibility with Loogamon is already second to none, even compared to the best code crackers."
"Seriously?!"
Eiji looked at Loogamon, who remained napping on the floor.
"I'm glad that I was right about offering you the job."
"So does this mean… that Loogamon can evolve right away?!" Eiji asked excitedly. "To Adult-level… even Perfect and Ultimate?!"
"I can't say for sure."
"Why not?"
"The DS value is only an indicator of potential."
"So it might still be possible then!" Eiji was undeterred.
His compatibility with Digimon… Eiji had never really thought about that before. The extent of it, for him, had been mainly whether or not the Digimon was easy for him to use as a tool.
"I've only been in contact with Digimon like… Tyranomon and stuff. The ones that pretty much everyone else uses."
The more prevalent a Digimon was among code crackers, the easier it was to adjust tools to suit your needs. This was because you could listen to what other people did and copy them. Recently, cyborg types were all the rage.
"Where have you been getting your Digimon?" Ryusenji asked. "At GriMM?"
"Yeah. Though that's slightly illegal in Japan."
"There are countries where it is legal, after all. There are no borders and laws in the network… In the Digital World."
"Yes! 'There are no borders in the Digital World!'"
"Eiji-kun... Do you know who that quote came from?" Ryusenji asked.
"..." Eiji was stumped. "Who is it from? Doesn't everyone say that? It's like a set phrase among GriMM's code crackers at this point. Are you saying there's a source?"
At this answer, Ryusenji shrugged his shoulders dramatically. "What was your occupation again, Eiji-kun?"
"I'm a code cracker."
"Then you know of 'crack teams,' don't you?"
Illustration: PLEX
Chapter 1-8
—'Crack teams.'
They are a community of anonymous individuals who upheld the philosophy of being "free to do whatever you want in the network and in the Digital World" as their goal.
There is no membership list. It is not a special club of friends.
Even crack teams had diverse groups within them. They all had different ideologies, principles, and goals. Often, they even broke out into fights among each other.
Crack teams are at odds with the existing law and government.
A group of outcasts that were labeled an anti-social group— through process of elimination, this was the only common denominator that was shared among all crack teams.
Nevertheless, those who called themselves code crackers more or less agreed with the crack team philosophy and slowly participated as such.
A short promotional movie on crack teams that was uploaded to GriMM's video service played on the monitor.
"---Be free to do whatever you want in the network and in the Digital World… The Digital World has no borders or laws. Therefore, no government of ours or laws can oppose any activities that involve Digimon," Ryusenji said.
This was a common argument from the code cracker's POV.
"Stuff like that goes over my head, but…" Eiji shrugged. "It was simply the most lucrative job for me at the time, since I had no connections or education."
Eiji had first gotten interested in code cracking while he was in high school. One of his seniors who had a bit of a bad streak talked him into doing it for the money... The story was a common one.
It was probably a good fit for him. He made more than enough money doing it on a part-time basis.
But after a bunch of stuff happened and he gave up on taking college entrance exams, Eiji started to take code cracking much more seriously. He decided that he'd try to make a living at it.
"It's good that you can do what you love," Ryusenji said.
"Yeah, seriously! I just work jobs that I like doing."
"But to the government, code crackers are the network's worst offenders, causing nothing but trouble."
"I'm careful of traps!" Eiji protested. "I don't get too greedy, or the Digi-Police will come after me."
The police department that handled cyber crimes had a team that dealt specifically with Digimon crimes.
The Digi-Police.
It was a secret organization unknown to the public, but well-known among code crackers. Just recently, a high school student was arrested by the Digi-Police for acting as a code cracker poaching Digieggs.
"You've joined the crack team, but you're not really interested in their ideals," Ryusenji mused. "Is the idea of freedom for you something that you take off at the end of the day, something trendy?"
"Shallow of me, right? But the things that I want most right now are a job and credentials!"
"Credentials, eh? I wonder where your future is leading you. Eiji-kun... What is your dream?"
"I... I want to win!" Eiji replied sincerely.
"Oh? Win what?"
"I couldn't be a winner in real life, but on the Internet… If I get big on the Internet and rise to power, I ought to be able to change reality! To do that, I want to earn money, evolve my Digimon and… become a top-class code cracker! I want to reach the point where I have a team of my own!"
"Would you need to be a code cracker to do those things?"
"Yes! For me, the Digital World is the only place where I can really change my life!"
Eiji had a premonition. This job was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to become a code cracker of the highest caliber and to change his life.
"---I want to be on the same level as you, Professor Ryusenji! If it is possible to interact with the Digital World directly with all five senses, and not through monitors or observational data… If I could do that…!"
As it actually was.
—If it was possible to live in the Digital World.
Upon hearing Eiji's words, Ryusenji smiled.
"The Digital World... can change a person's life."
Much like it did mine.
Eiji took those words as that of a successful man who had become one of the wealthiest figures in the world.
He had nothing at the moment. No savings, no education, and, moreover, no girlfriend.
He didn't have the luxury for those things. His life was spent in a cramped three-mat room, living on an unhealthy, irregular diet. Being able to survive a day at a time like he did now probably wasn't something that he could sustain in the long run. He would simply be wasting away like that, just getting older as time went by.
That was boring.
"I... I want to change my life! I want to be a winner in the Digital World!"
Eiji made up his mind.
He had no intention of losing out on his unlikely acquaintance with Professor Ryusenji.
No matter how hard or frustrating it might be, he would master his Digimon Linker and this training job with Loogamon…
No matter what.
"Sometimes, by changing your viewpoint to a different angle, one can finally understand the world that you thought you'd known and seen for a long time," Ryusenji murmured.
"...?"
"Thank goodness. This is great. I had asked you to train Loogamon, but I was also testing you as well, Eiji-kun."
"Ugh, there you go again!"
"If you were invested in crack teams down to their ideology... If you were a foolish, happy-go-lucky kid drunk on the idea of freedom... I wasn't going to give you this job."
—"SoC."
An insigniaーa badgeーwith three letters of the English alphabet.
This badge that featured in the promotional video was a familiar sight to anyone who has ever tried to peek into the network underground.
"''Sons of Chaos'...!"
Eiji gulped.
"The Sons of Chaos indeed," Ryusenji said mildly. "It appears that you know of them."
"Of course I do! They're an incredibly famous group of code crackers..."
"What is your honest impression of the SoC?"
"..." Eiji answered. "A group of dangerous guys, I guess."
The SoC were top-notch. Eiji would even admit to admiring them.
But if you wanted to enjoy a carefree, easygoing life, they were people that you needed to stay away from.
The SoC were extremists. A militant organization that was considered the far-right of crack teams.
"---They're known for their crimes using Digimon… information theft, corporate blackmail, cyber-terrorism, you name it," Eiji continued. "But their leader is so charismatic! The legendary code cracker, 'Tartarus,' who was the mastermind behind that Cyclops Incident… the person who went to war with the world!"
The Cyclops Incident won't be described here. It was the trigger that made it impossible for the leaders of the international community to ignore the existence of code crackers, crack teams, and the Digital World.
The identity of SoC's leader, code cracker Tartarus, was unknown. Apparently they were Japanese, but beyond that there wasn't even a whiff of rumor.
"They're like a dark hero, certainly. Tartarus is very popular, even more so than I am," Ryusenji smiled.
"GriMM has a lot of Tartarus followers too, but… on the other hand, a lot of people hate them because when extremists like them get too conspicuous, the laws and regulations get tightened."
"That's just it." Ryusenji looked at Eiji. "The SoC is meddling with the Digital World in a very negative way. Their excessive interference is creating risks to the Digimon ecosystem and ultimately to human society. And naturally, it's threatening my research as well. That's what I am most concerned about."
"I see."
"If stricter legal restrictions were to be enforced and caused the Digital World and the real world to grow even further isolated from each other than they are now, it would be unfortunate for both humans and Digimon. Wouldn't you agree?"
Ryusenji remained in a neutral camp when it came to code crackers. He wouldn't have hired Eiji in the first place if he wasn't.
However, when it came to violent crimes and terrorism using Digimon, he was deeply concerned.
This was because, ultimately, he loved Digimon.
If there was one thing that Ryusenji found deplorable, it was humans and code crackers who misused Digimon and put them in danger.
"Don't you have lots of contacts in the government though? Politicians and the like?" Eiji asked back.
Ryusenji was a government expert on technology and their special advisor to the Digital World. If Eiji remembered correctly, he was also involved in choosing the police equipment.
"Of course," Ryusenji said. "I lobbied for changes. However, the current prime minister is all about sitting back and observing, not acting… The police just follow the law and crack down on code crackers. Relevant laws are not yet in place and the ones we have are insufficient... It's not going well."
"Professor… What you're telling me sounds like you're taking a dangerous direction."
"Do you want me to stop talking about it then?"
"Not at all! It's making me more and more excited!"
Ever since Eiji had decided to become a code cracker, he knew that he would want to do a job like this one day. Not capturing Digimon, or collecting Digieggs or junk data. He wanted to confront other code crackers as a fully fledged code cracker himself… A dangerous job with a more adult feel to it.
"I want you to do an undercover investigation into SoC," Ryusenji said. "To find out what their mysterious leader Tartarus is up to. Do this for the sake of the Digital World and the Digimon. To protect them!"
Illustration: PLEX
Chapter 1-9
Professor Ryusenji asked Eiji to investigate the Sons of Chaos (SoC), a destructive group of code crackers.
—Join the SoC as a fellow code cracker. I want you to make contact with their leader Tartarus, and find out what their goal is.
The SoC organization consisted of a group of hardliners who were said to be the worst and strongest of all code cracking teams. Lately, they had been showing signs of planning something large-scale.
Intelligence agencies and police forces from all over the world were on the case, but Ryusenji felt that even the Digital World wasn't completely impartial to what could occur. Therefore, he hired a personal code cracker to investigate.
—To protect the Digital World and the Digimon.
The reward offered to Eiji was through the roof. But what moved Eiji's heart more than anything else was Ryusenji's passion.
If the activities of SoC and Tartarus caused the international community to view not only code crackers but even the Digital World as dangerous and Digimon as the enemy...
—The ecology of the Digital World, nay, the very lives of the Digimon, will be at stake.
Long ago in Europe, the U.S., and even in Japan, wolves were eradicated simply for preying on livestock. This tragedy had to be avoided from being reproduced in the Digital World.
Digimon were living creatures. Eiji was greatly influenced by this viewpoint from his role model Ryusenji.
"In other words, I'm a spy," Eiji said out loud in his cramped single bedroom.
A fluffy lump with its belly up lay sprawled at the foot of his futon on the loft. It was the Hololization of Loogamon. Pets weren't allowed in here because the room was a rental, but that rule didn't apply to digital pets.
"Listen up, Loogamon!," Eiji said to the Digimon. "We're gonna infiltrate SoC, and find out who Tartarus really is! Don't let your guard down!"
He had never spoken with intent to a Digimon before.
Loogamon continued to lay with his feet in the air, cocking his head like a dog.
There were many opinions on how well Digimon understood human language, but...
"We'll be dealing with SoC, after all! Those guys are hardcore code crackers, and really scary to boot. My ordinary Tyranomon wouldn't stand a chance. You, on the other hand, would be a rare find for them, even if you're still a Child-level."
Eiji was going to sell himself as Cracker Fang. Everything would start from there.
He stretched out a hand to stroke the jewel on Loogamon's forehead.
Of course, he couldn't actually touch it... but the moment his fingers went there, Loogamon growled and bared his teeth.
"Oh, you don't like that, huh? Sorry... Now that I think about it, I once had a dog that got mad whenever I tried to pet it."
The dog had been cuddly to his parents, but only behaved that way toward Eiji for some reason.
The alarm went off.
It was time to get to work.
"Let's go, Loogamon."
He undid the Hololization, returning Loogamon to the Digimon Linker screen.
Attaching a voice chat intercom over his ear, Eiji leaned against the loft wall and opened the Digimon Linker menu.
A virtual monitor projected on the heads-up screen. This was another application of Hololization technology.
Once Eiji connected the virtual monitor to the network, he logged into GriMM.
Joining the SoC itself was not difficult. Once you obtained an invitation code from GriMM's member registration page, you could come and go from the SoC's private channel as a part-timer.
Eiji had applied to the SoC in advance and secured an appointment.
"---SoC deals with government agencies, the military, police, and global corporations... That sort of bunch. The level of code cracker skills that we look for is quite high, to say the least. What's more, it's risky."
A senior member of SoC was speaking with Eiji via voice chat. It was an online interview.
"So it's easy to apply, but if you don't have the code cracker skills, you're turned away," Eiji mused.
"Do you have what it takes, newbie?"
"The name's Fang."
"Yes, Cracker Fang. Are you willing to put your real life on the line to be a part of SoC?"
The interviewer's username only said "Interviewer."
The icon that they used on GriMM looked like a standard Showa-era salaryman wearing his necktie as a headband. His voice however sounded like… a section chief or something? It was the voice of an older gentleman.
"So, let me ask you instead… If my skills are up to par, will I get to meet Tartarus?"
Eiji got right down to business. On the internet, it was not considered a social faux pas for code crackers to speak frankly and bluntly with each other.
"Are you interested in our leader?" The interviewer's voice tinged with a hint of caution.
"Who wouldn't be?! They're a legendary genius!"
"Hahaha… You're really young, aren't you? Are you in high school? Or maybe junior high school?" The interviewer laughed.
"Well, how old are you, Mr. Interviewer?"
"It doesn't matter if I tell you I'm a 60-year-old fart or a 17-year-old high school girl, because there's no way to prove it. Here we simply sound and look like how we want others to believe we are."
"Insisting on your high level of Internet literacy is characteristic of a certain, salty generation of old men though, isn't it?"
Eiji had a hunch that the interviewer really was an old man.
"…"
"Oh, please continue," Eiji said.
There was a brief pause.
"...Our leader, Tartarus, is a mystery. Low-level members like me have never even heard their voice."
"A mystery, huh."
So that was how the organization wanted to spin it.
"If you're the genius code cracker you think you are, and you have a good track record, one of the executives will get in touch with you without you even needing to go looking. If you get access to the executives' chat room, maybe you'll get to talk to Tartarus."
It looked like this was going to take a while...
The only way to get in touch with Tartarus would be to participate in SoC activities and make a name for himself. The organization was a meritocracy.
"So, is this job that I'm about to take the SoC's employment exam?"
"That's one way to look at it. For your reference, the difficulty level for this is equivalent to the semi-A level... I've shared the file with you on GriMM. I've also opened up a channel exclusive to the mission."
A summary of the mission displayed on the virtual monitor.
"---The name of the mission can be… uhh, whatever you choose."
"Wolf at the Back Gate strategy," Eiji requested.
"...? Why that?"
"Just the first thing that came to mind." There was no real meaning behind it.
If there were to be meaning assigned, it would be because it was his wolf— Loogamon's first battle. It signified that Eiji had made up his mind as a code cracker to do something that had no turning back.
"A Wolf at the Back Gate… Very well," the interviewer said. "That's kind of long though, so we'll just call it Operation Wolf."
"That's too short!"
"Are you really sure about going for a semi-A? In nine out of ten cases, you'll lose your precious Digimon. Needless to say, we do not insure or provide compensation for their loss."
"I got you," Eiji said. "Prepare a welcome party."
"Welcome party? For what?"
"To celebrate me as a new SoC executive."
Big words, but it was not a foolhardy move on Eiji's part. He had something special in store.
—In order to infiltrate the SoC, I have temporarily lifted the functions on your Digimon Linker.
For this job, the reliable Ryusenji had provided Eiji with the means to improve his code cracker skills in one fell swoop. It was the results of D4's research, the very thing that would push him past the "constraints"...
(I'll go see it! I can see the world the way that the elite see it! This Digimon Linker and Loogamon that Professor Ryusenji gave me will make that possible!)
Eiji took a deep breath.
"Please read the file for the details of the operation. I wish you success."
"Thanks, Mr. Interviewer."
Eiji gazed at the Digimon Linker screen. Loogamon looked back at him through the small monitor, silently.
(Digimon are alive... I bet I'll learn what Professor Ryusenji meant when he said that!)
Eiji selected the menu.
>mindlink
The sensor measured his biometric data and allowed him to make commands after checking his vitals.
The limiter was lifted.
His consciousness was about to become light and thrown wide open.
Now then...
—"Mindlink"!
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-10
Sound and vision faded.
The feeling of all his limbs, along with the weight of the Digimon Linker on his wrist, went away.
Eiji lost consciousness.
Dizziness.
The semicircular canals of his inner ear went awry.
The world fell as if rolling down a slope, turning upside down.
Sinking.
As he sank… he suddenly flash backed to memories of his childhood.
Summer.
He played in the river with family. At that time, it was both his family and his friend's family.
His very best friend…
—Leon!
His friend's father, getting the BBQ ready, called out for his son.
—Eiji!
His friend yelled out his name, heading out from the river towards the shore.
But Eiji had been heading towards the sandbank and had unknowingly entered the river at its deepest point. When he turned around, his foot got caught in the sand at the bottom of the river.
(...! Oh no!)
One step ahead was an invisible cliff.
Eiji considered himself a good swimmer, but a flowing river is different from a swimming pool.
He couldn't float. He couldn't tread water and could only plunge his head beneath the water surface.
What he caught glimpses of underwater was—
Another world.
What looked like a home of monsters that was deeply gouged out from beneath the clean, clear flowing water— a place that could easily swallow up a child.
Air bubbles swirled.
It was going to swallow him whole.
And then, all of his senses disappeared.
It was only for an instant. Or was it?
Something soft and fluffy gently received Eiji's consciousness. It felt similar to wearing a wetsuit while floating in water.
Before long, light scattered through the bubbles to form an image.
A new world.
No, it was a world that he thought he was already familiar with… By changing his viewpoint, Eiji's consciousness was hit with newfound stimulation.
(...?!)
It was so bright.
The light was too strong here. And yet, he couldn't close his eyes.
What's going on here?
Confusion. Anxiety.
He didn't know what he was seeing or what was going on.
The image seemed to zoom in coarsely like a digital zoom, but then faded away as if he was looking through binoculars upside down. Static rang through his head. A bug flew into his ear and flailed around buzzing noisily.
He smelled like an animal…
(It's like the smell of wet dog here. What a bad dream…)
— "It's not a dream."
That voice was the only thing that Eiji could hear clearly.
(Huh? Who's that?)
CRASH!
The sound of something being kicked over was heard as someone came running.
—Chuumon. Child-level. Beast type. Virus species.
The data was displayed above its head.
A small rat Digimon appeared, moving like an old Western cartoon. The naked pink rat was holding pieces of data— pieces of cheese in its arms.
Where was this place?
The inside of a building.
The walls, ceiling, and floor were concrete. Was it under construction? Or abandoned?
Another Digimon emerged.
—ChuuChuumon. Child-level. Puppet type. Virus species.
This one was another rat Digimon. However, it was not a beast, but a puppet— a stuffed rat doll with sharp glaring eyes. It was riding atop another machine-like Digimon.
—Damemon. Adult-level. Mutant type. Virus species.
Its metallic-looking body was clutching a tonfa, a T-shaped club used in martial arts. Its appearance could be described as follows:
(A kettle with limbs...? No... That thing looks like a pile of poo!)
Eiji was unsettled.
If this was the phantasmic Digimon Land brought to life, he would have cheered loudly. But Eiji had put aside his pure childish heart, which would have once been amused by the mere appearance of poo, in his time capsule of memories.
Eiji looked coolly now at what was happening before his eyes.
Damemon was a poo-shaped Digimon being piloted by ChuuChuumon.
"You've got guts trying to steal from my family."
"Squeak! Please, show me mercy, ChuuChuumon! We're both fellow rats!"
ChuuChuumon threatened, while Chuumon begged for their life as they clutched the cheese. Apparently Chuumon had run off stealing ChuuChuumon's food.
"It offends me to think that we are the same species, Chuumon," ChuuChuumon said.
"No good, no good." Damemon pointed their tonfa at Chuumon with a jerky motion.
Just then, ChuuChuumon noticed Eiji's presence.
"By the way, you dog there."
(Huh? Dog? Where?)
Eiji didn't know what they were talking about.
What was this anyway? What was he being shown?
(The Digimon is… talking?)
……
"I haven't seen you around here... This is Wall Slum's Sixth Street and my family's turf. You should tuck your tail in and run while I take care of Chuumon here. If you're still in my sight after I'm done..."
"A rat picking a fight with a wolf? Don't make me laugh."
The voice that Eiji had heard before growled in his ears again.
He took a step forward.
No... Eiji hadn't moved at all.
And yet, he was approaching Chuumon. As though… he was riding a car that had begun moving on its own.
"---From this day on, this is my home turf."
"...! Get him, Damemon! Use Gun Vulcan!"
Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!
The Vulcan cannon, embedded in the tonfa, discharged. Bullets chattered as they landed in the floor and walls. Chuumon ran right and left to escape their trajectory.
(Whaaa?!)
Eiji suddenly felt nauseous.
This was...
(I-It smells! My nose is burning!)
It was like poison gas.
The bullets of Gun Vulcan weren't powerful, but they released a horrible stench that was unbearable.
"Ahahaha! This attack must be torture for a dog with a strong nose! Digimon fighting is all about exploiting weaknesses!" ChuuChuumon cried triumphantly at their successful strategy.
"No good, no good!"
"I say we get rid of this stray first… Damemon! Finish him off with your Boost Atta—"
Fwooooom!
Some kind of energy swirled around Eiji.
(What?!)
It was an ignited flame— bright and furious. Moving faster than Damemon—
"Howling Fire!"
A fireball ripped through the entire floor of the building.
The flame consumed everything. In a whirlwind of heat and shockwave, Damemon was blasted out of the building through a window.
(So hot…!)
Eiji was surprised. He felt as though his face was being burned by a bonfire.
"Damemon is known for his toughness, and you took him out with a single attack...?"
ChuuChuumon had rolled out of Damemon's cockpit and lay on the ground.
The floor smoldered with flames. There was nothing to burn but the flames weren't extinguishing right away.
"What kind of fire is this?! It's no ordinary fire!" ChuuChuumon panicked.
Eiji glared down at the stuffed rat Digimon— from above.
"Maybe I should eat you…"
He sniffed with his nose.
ChuuChuumon's face pulled into a grimace as they trembled.
"That old interface on your forehead…!" ChuuChuumon gasped. "Is that you, Loogamon? No, you're... Sir, you're the Demon Wolf of the Castle of Nine Wolves!"
(Loogamon...?)
It was then that Eiji gasped. ChuuChuumon was talking to Loogamon.
Which meant Eiji was...
"Nine wolves...? Oh, I see… I remember now…" The voice murmured in Eiji's ear.
"Sir… Have you returned to Wall Slum?!" For some reason, Chuumon's voice suddenly took on a more respectful tone.
This conversation—
Where and how was Eiji able to hear it?
"---You don't look tasty at all… Get outta here."
Loogamon turned his nose away.
ChuuChuumon scampered off before the fearsome wolf could change his mind.
Eiji, on the other hand—
Although completely baffled by the conversation, he regained his composure and spoke up.
"Umm, Loogamon? Can you hear me? It's Eiji! Hey, Mr. Loogamon...?"
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-11
"---That voice is Loogamon, isn't it? Could you go ahead and… I mean, could you please explain to me the circumstances here, sir?" Eiji couldn't help taking on a more formal tone.
"Explain? Explain what exactly?"
"I don't understand a single bit of what's going on."
Where was this place?
Why were the Digimon talking?
And most of all, what happened to Eiji?
He was supposed to be up in his loft at home!
"Eiji Nagasumi... You didn't listen to anything that Ryusenji told you?"
"Huh? Ryusenji?" Eiji was taken aback that Loogamon referred to the professor so casually, without using his title.
"The Mindlink explanation."
—In order to infiltrate the SoC, I have temporarily lifted the functions on your Digimon Linker.
The research results of D4, a top secret within both AE and DDL. The professor had even said that it was a means to improve Eiji's code cracker skills in one go.
"Umm... It's a function that'll make me into an elite code cracker... right?"
"Ugh..."
"The professor's explanations are sometimes hard to understand, alright?" Eiji felt slightly uncomfortable that his casual nodding along to cover up his own ignorance had been found out.
Loogamon started walking.
"---Oh, there's broken glass there, so watch..."
As Eiji spoke, he spotted the reflection of a Digimon in the large window shards, their form illuminated by flickering flames.
It was Loogamon.
"..."
No matter how hard he peered into the glass, all he could see was Loogamon. "I'm... not here?"
This was...
Was Eiji seeing the same world as Loogamon…?
Thump!
Another rat came rushing by.
"Good sir! I apologize that I failed to recognize you, the great boss of the Castle of Nine Wolves[[1]]! My name is Chuumon, a lowly rat Digimon at your service!"
The Chuumon who they'd happened to rescue by chance came forward in greeting.
"..."
"If you don't mind me asking, where have you been, sir? I haven't heard your name in these parts for quite some time. Rumor had it that either an assassin turned you into a Digiegg or that you were captured by a human..." Chuumon dared to probe a little.
"Who allowed you to speak to me?" Loogamon growled.
"Chuu! So sorry!"
"Do you really think that an assassin could turn me into an egg, or that a human could collar me?"
"P-P-P-Please forgive me!" Chuumon trembled all over in fear.
Loogamon sighed and quickly raised his head.
"Yes, I remember now... The Dust Kingdom. You Chuumon served the Great Sukamon, ruler of the Fifth Avenue trash heap."
"Yes, sir!"
"I'll look after you from now on," Loogamon said. "Besides, you look tastier than that stuffed animal from earlier."
Loogamon sniffed Chuumon and licked them.
(Yuck!)
Somehow, Eiji was also able to smell the rat and taste them with his tongue. The shock overwhelmed him.
"Squeeeaaak!" Chuumon cried in fear. "I promise to be of use to you, sir!"
"The Demon Wolf of the Castle of Nine Wolves, huh."
It's got a familiar ring to it, Loogamon whispered to himself.
"---Hey, Chuumon."
"Yes, sir!"
"Do the others think that I've been captured by a human then?"
"It's only a rumor! After you was gone, Ninth Avenue has gone absolutely dismal… It's deserted."
"Wall Slum looks to have changed a lot in my absence as well... Here's your allowance, take this."
Loogamon threw food at Chuumon.
"This is… real world meat! You sure eat the good stuff, sir, as befitting of your stature! Until next time then!"
After gathering up the meat and cheese, Chuumon ran away as though he never wanted to see Loogamon ever again.
"Umm... Are you finished talking now, sir?" Eiji spoke timidly to Loogamon.
Loogamon just sighed. "You wanted an explanation, right?"
"Yes, please!"
"What do you humans say at times like these... Seeing is believing? The proof is in the pudding?"
"Wha… Whoa!"
It happened so suddenly.
Loogamon threw himself out of the broken window. Eiji experienced his first free-fall of his life.
Loogamon easily landed from a height of 3-4 stories and looked up.
It was a sea of multi-story buildings. Among them was a dark skyscraper— it made one think of a deserted city sub center just before dawn, isolated from glitz and glamor. Its windows were completely dark.
Once he approached the tallest building in the area, Loogamon ran up— vertically, along its wall.
He ran swiftly as his claws dug into the structure.
He felt the wind on his skin.
Eiji shared all the sensations of the five senses that Loogamon was having— his eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin.
"I see... So this was Professor Ryusenji's research! This is the top secret technology of D4!"
Because the Digital World has a different structure from the human world, the real world, it could not be directly perceived by humans. For example, a submarine relies on instruments and sonar, and a space probe travels outer space. Humans can only perceive what is going on around us indirectly in those areas, through observed data.
Would it be possible to somehow experience the Digital World through the five human senses?
After exploring this possibility, it was discovered that a human's "mental data" could be transferred into the "Digicore" of a digital life form that is a Digimon to create the closest thing to a true "real-life experience."
"Mindlink is a technology that converts the human mind into digital data and transfers that human consciousness into a Digimon's Digicore," Loogamon spoke as he ran up the skyscraper, not even sounding winded.
The Digicore is the data center of a Digimon's core. It is the core of life, the area that shows the Digimon as an individual— the ego or the soul of a Digimon, so to speak.
"Yes! I remember the professor saying something like that!"
Once it became clear to Eiji, he was more intrigued than bewildered.
This was no tiny monochrome LCD screen. He was seeing the true state of the Digital World and the Digimon with his own eyes. It wasn't through a virtual monitor and observation data. He was perceiving the Digital World directly with his five human senses.
Ryusenji had already perfected this technology.
This was the answer. —Mindlink!
"It's like I've become a Digimon! Mindlink... So this is the world that the best of the best are seeing!" Eiji crowed with excitement.
"It's your first Mindlink, so it's only natural that you'll be feeling some confusion. You'll get used to it soon enough."
"I'm already getting used to it! But when was my mental data converted into digital data?"
"The Digimon Linker has been sampling your biometric data, brain waves, and level of consciousness for 24 hours a day."
"Seriously?! You mean my personal info was being leaked?!"
"What do you mean? That's what the Digimon Linker is for. The amount of data required to convert the human psyche into digital data is enormous."
"Professor Ryusenji is incredible… So incredible."
"...... Any other questions? I'm getting annoyed with all your constant yelling in my Digicore."
"How am I able to talk to you? You're a Digimon!"
"What a stupid question. It's because Digimon are alive. We always have been and always will be."
Digimon are alive.
Loogamon, Tyranomon, and all the rest of the Digimon were alive.
"I see... So the Digimon have been talking to me all along..."
"You're just getting to know us Digimon a little better is all."
After finally climbing to the top of the skyscraper, Loogamon stood triumphantly on the roof.
The view from there was—
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-12
"So this is the Digital World!"
Words escaped him. Eiji didn't even have the ability to describe it, with his vocabulary.
As clichéd as it was, it looked like a colony of cities built on an outer planet… The kind that you saw in science-fiction movies.
The sky was filled with the sea of networks.
The city was densely packed with buildings that seemed to have been built over a small mountain. Lights radiated from over its peaks. The buildings themselves sharply varied in height and material quality, spanning from the latest planned communities that you'd find in Denrin and the Middle East to barracks in slum housing.
Meanwhile, absolutely no life existed outside of the city, in its surrounding area.
Nothing of significance seemed to be there. It was like an erg filled with noise, concealed by sand, gas, and clouds... All that could be seen from time to time was a thin stream of junk data.
"---Well, this is surprising! What do you call a place like this... Cyberpunk? I had no idea it was more like this."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Loogamon asked.
"I mean, I always thought that the Digital World would look more like the wild or something!"
The video of the Digital World that Eiji had seen in DDL had been simulated by A.I., but it had made him think of a beautiful natural environment that had four seasons.
"This place is called Wall Slum," Loogamon said matter-of-factly.
"Wall Slum!" Eiji repeated.
"It's the security wall that protects the Digital World," Loogamon continued. "This city is unique in that it has that collection of junk data sticking to the outer side of the wall."
"Security wall?"
This was another word pair that Eiji had never heard before.
"Take a look at the ground of this city... Wall Slum sits on a round surface, see?"
"Oh... Yeah."
As they both looked far off into the distance, Eiji could see that the horizon separating the Net Ocean and the outer wall of the security wall was indeed round. It was clearer than if they were, for example, looking down at the earth from an airplane.
"The Digital World is, to put it bluntly, protected inside the round shell of the security wall," Loogamon explained. "This city that we're in right now hangs onto the outside of the eggshell."
"So, the Digital World is inside… underground from here?"
If they had been on Earth, it would have been described as underground… But this was the Digital World.
The areas in this world were divided and protected from each other. The security wall that acted as a "protective barrier" – the ground that Eiji saw from here – was really the data processing, logical, and conceptual boundary that separated the real world from the Digital World.
"If you humans tried to enter the Digital World from the real world via the network, you'd be blocked by this security wall."
"Wait…" Eiji said. "So you're telling me that when we code crackers were controlling Digimon with tools... What we thought was the Digital World was actually..."
It was actually just Wall Slum.
"That's right. The Digimon used by code crackers were just puttering away through Wall Slum. Most code crackers don't even Mindlink, so they never see this view in the first place anyway."
Loogamon's answer left Eiji speechless. So Eiji's Tyranomon had been chasing ModokiBetamon somewhere here, in Wall Slum?
"Has anyone ever gone beyond this security wall to the other side? To, you know, visit or observe the Digital World?"
"You mean a human? I doubt it... Though I bet Ryusenji is researching a means to do so."
Unprecedented.
So no human, with the exception being this Wall Slum, had ever stepped into the Digital World.
Beyond the wall lay the "deep" Digital World.
Anyway...
When Eiji, by borrowing Loogamon's eyes through the Mindlink, saw what lay beneath the sea of networks… All of his knowledge and preconceptions about the Digital World were flipped upside down.
This was...
It was so easy to understand why leaders of the international community were so reluctant to refer to the Digital World as anything other than "mankind's secret."
There was no telling what the Digital World could do against the real world and to mankind.
Digimon are living creatures. And this world, that harbored life, no matter where its location, was filled to the brim with incomprehensible energy.
"Now then."
Loogamon took a deep breath.
Before Eiji's vision— Or rather, before Eiji's conscious mind where his mental data had fused with a Digicore– a heads-up virtual monitor appeared. It was like being in the cockpit of a state-of-the-art fighter jet, or that of a mecha in a robot anime.
"What's wrong, Loogamon?"
"Eiji... You do remember why you came here, don't you?"
"..."
"Oh, sorry. I forgot that you're a pathetic code cracker."
A file appeared on the virtual monitor.
—OPERATION WOLF.
"Oh!"
The Sons of Chaos (SoC) job.
The shared briefing materials were displayed. According to the file, Eiji was supposed to be at these exact coordinates, to be briefed on the mission in detail by an SoC member on site.
—You're two minutes late.
Someone— A Digimon, cloaked in rags, was looking down at Eiji from atop the antenna facility on the building roof.
—*******. **-level. ** type. ** species.
No data was displayed on the virtual monitor. The auto-search was blocked. The only thing Eiji could tell was that they were about the same size as Loogamon.
"I'm late?"
It was indeed two minutes past the time specified in the operation's files.
"Our leader, Tartarus, likes their members to be punctual."
"I ran into some trouble. Don't be a stick in the mud," Loogamon replied.
"Hey, Loogamon..." Eiji interjected.
"What, Eiji? —Whoa!"
Loogamon was taken aback a bit.
At some point, unawares, Eiji was standing right next to him.
"Hey, I did it!" Eiji looked at his hands and tried to move his limbs around. His clothes were the same as what he was wearing before.
"Eiji... Where the hell did you come from?!"
"Huh? Well, you know how during Mindlink, you can control stuff on the virtual monitor just by thinking about them? So there was this Hololize command there, and I thought since this is the Digital World, maybe I'd be able to Hololize myself."
And it worked.
"So you weren't scared or thought about what could happen if something went wrong…"
"Hmm?"
"You're pretty stupi— I mean, brave. That's the word."
Loogamon appeared to have given up spending brain cells on it.
Eiji extended his hand to pet Loogamon's forehead.
Thump.
"Huh? I felt it…"
"Don't touch my forehead!" Loogamon bared his fangs.
"Whoa! Sorry! But how am I able to touch you? I'm a Hololization." Eiji was more surprised than Loogamon at the touch.
Loogamon rubbed his head with his paws like a cat.
"A Digimon is just data when they Hololize in the real world… But if you Hololize here in the Digital World, well, data takes form here."
"Cool, a real Hololization!" Eiji accepted the answer intuitively.
"Just so we're clear… You shouldn't stray too far away from the Digimon that you've Mindlinked with… In this case, me."
"Hey, whatever! As long as it makes this job easy!"
Standing next to Loogamon at his true life-size height, Eiji turned back towards the cloaked Digimon.
"Anyway... I'm Code Cracker Fang!
"...I thought it was Eiji," The cloaked Digimon quipped snidely.
"No need to focus on the details! So, what's the job? According to the information given to me by the interviewer, I'm supposed to, uh... ask for the details here."
"I'm sure the interviewer also told you that this job is a test to determine whether you, Code Cracker Fang, will be allowed to join the SoC. You've already been deducted two points for showing up late."
A virtual monitor opened above the cloaked Digimon, displaying a rough map of Wall Slum.
The city was basically circular, broken up into districts as if it were a pizza cut into irregular shapes. The center of the city was elevated, a vacant space that looked like a volcanic crater.
They were in... Sixth Avenue, which that ChuuChuumon had mentioned earlier.
"---What your job entails is surveying and mapping the area painted here. As you may already know, Wall Slum is undergoing a lot of redevelopment."
Because information from the real world was constantly flowing into this place, not a day went by where everything was the same as it was 24 hours ago.
"Mapping? You want me to make a map! Sounds fun!"
"Wall Slum is a very important source of income to the SoC. We always want to keep our map data up-to-date."
The cloaked Digimon tossed down a memory card-shaped file. Eiji caught it. A line of code appeared on the virtual monitor in his hand.
"A mapping tool, huh." Loogamon understood its contents in less than a second. Nothing less from a Digimon in this respect.
"All you have to do is walk around the area while running the tool, and it will auto-map it for you. We want you to investigate Ninth Avenue in this manner, and within there, this..."
"R, huh?" Loogamon laughed. "Perfect."
"...? What do you mean?"
"I've got some business to attend there as well." Loogamon turned his back.
"Loogamon, are you sure we don't need any more explanation?" Eiji asked, hurrying after Loogamon.
The cloaked Digimon gazed quietly after the duo. "I pray that you will pass. For Tartarus' sake... I hope the day will come when I can call you a member of the SoC."
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-13
The cloaked SoC Digimon gazed at Loogamon and Eiji Nagasumi from atop the building roof in Wall Slum as the duo headed to their mapping job.
"I wasn't told that they'd be Mindlinked..." The cloaked Digimon spoke up suddenly to somebody who wasn't there.
— "I hadn't been told of it. Also didn't expect him to suddenly show up with his limits unlocked."
The reply came through voice chat.
"Never mind the new kid," the cloaked Digimon said, "I wonder if that dog... Loogamon noticed that I was Mindlinked too."
"Well, I can't be sure." The voice of the person on the other end belonged to the SoC interviewer.
"You asked the Demon Wolf of the Castle of Nine Wolves to map Ninth Avenue…" the cloaked Digimon said with some concern. "For a test, isn't that way too easy?"
"You're right," the interviewer said. "This sort of test wouldn't be semi-A level for the likes of them. I'll be making a few adjustments."
The interviewer was up to something.
Once Loogamon reached ground level, he headed further underground.
"It's a shortcut," he assured Eiji.
They reached an underground station platform.
Chug, chug, chug, chug…
In front of a bewildered Eiji… a Wall Slum train came to a standstill.
Eiji stared out in a daze at the rapidly changing scenery outside the train as he held onto a hanging strap.
"The Slum Loop Line subway…"
The interior of the train was very familiar. In fact, it looked similar to the Tokyo metro system that he normally used. The only difference was that the passengers on the train were not humans, but Digimon.
The subway map had characters on it that Eiji had never seen before. He wasn't able to read any of the advertisements within the train or at the station.
"What is this? Digimon language?"
"It's forbidden to cause trouble in the subway," Loogamon said matter-of-factly.
"Forbidden… so, no fighting?"
"It's a public place, so mind your manners."
Saying this, Loogamon laid down, taking up three whole seats to himself. The Digimon around them look annoyed, but apparently it wasn't a breach of manners.
What the heck were considered good manners to Digimon? Eiji had no idea.
The subway train passed through a stop every 2-3 minutes. Eiji was fidgety and restless, partly because he couldn't read the characters on the map, which he found out was called DigiCode.
"I've been thinking about Mindlink," he said to Loogamon as a way to distract himself. "Is me being in your Digicore similar to… like a human riding a Digimon? Am I the ChuuChuumon earlier who was riding the Damemon?"
"Don't compare me to that piece of poop!"
"It's not like that then? Hmm..."
"Not even close! Where do you think your real body is right now?"
"Umm... What?"
Eiji's consciousness was currently within Loogamon's Digicore. Since his physical body wasn't here… it must be back at home, leaning against the wall of his loft…
"That's right. Your body fell asleep like that. Your consciousness doesn't return back to your body unless you break the Mindlink."
"Huh... Well, that's fine, whatever."
"That's fine?"
"By the way, Loogamon..."
"What is it?"
"Since I'm able to touch you now… Can I touch your toe beans?"
Since Loogamon was lying on the seats on his side, his paw pads were visible. They looked plump and squishy.
"No. Why do I have to allow what you want?" Loogamon said grumpily, showing his teeth.
"No, huh... The dog I used to have wouldn't let me touch his toe beans either."
"I'll kick you out of my Digicore if you keep talking rubbish like that! Also, from what I'm hearing in your stories about that dog of yours…"
"Hmm?"
"He probably didn't think of you as his master. He looked down on you for sure."
"Whaaaat..."
A surge of passengers got off and got on at the next station. Digimon who boarded the train reacted in surprise when they saw Eiji.
"Hey, Loogamon... I feel like all of the Digimon are staring at me."
"Well, it's rare to see a human here."
"Oh... so this is like if a Digimon was Hololized and riding on a train in the real world."
No wonder he was attracting all this attention.
Since it didn't appear likely that he would be harmed, Eiji took the opportunity to take a closer look at his surroundings. The Digimon in the passenger compartment seemed to mostly consist of one single type.
"---Almost all of the Digimon here have corrupted data," Eiji observed. "They look injured."
"Most of Wall Slum's inhabitants are Digimon that were originally used by humans," Loogamon said matter-of-factly.
"What?"
Now that he mentioned it, Eiji could see that a majority of the crowd were cyborg types or machine types, which were favored by code crackers.
"They're all Digimon that were used by humans and discarded for some reason or another," Loogamon said. "They screwed up on the job, or were entrusted with the security of some company's servers and got destroyed from an attack or something."
"Discarded Digimon..."
Eiji was astonished.
It was true that code crackers used and abandoned Digimon regularly.
Although it was not generally known to the public, governments, military, mega-tech companies, and other important servers and data centers were already using Digimon in their security. Digimon got used up there on the daily.
No matter how carefully tools are treated, they eventually break. When they fail, they fail. That was how Eiji had felt about it before now.
"Normally those Digimon die a dog's death and revert back into Digieggs…" Loogamon said. "But as they survived by slurping up the scrap data that drifted along the outer security wall… they built up houses, villages, and towns. As long as they can find their way to this place, Digimon who were abandoned by humans can survive. The stray Digimon that gathered together here are what became this city—this slum."
A slum known as Wall Slum.
"I thought humans were pretty tough, but Digimon are strong too," Eiji said, impressed by the very life force of the Digimon.
"This trash heap of a slum is the last paradise for stray Digimon... Some of them may have gotten fed up with humans and drifted away on their own. Others may have wandered here due to some kind of trouble in the Digital World beyond the wall. Nowadays, it's not unusual to find Digimon who were born and raised in this slum."
ROOOOOOAAARR—
The subway shot out above ground. The sound of wheels treading along rails thundered. The red, polluted surface of the river beneath the truss bridge was spread out into the distance.
Eiji learned from Loogamon that the slum was full of Digimon like Chuumon who were proliferative everywhere, the mutant Damemon — and other Digimon who had adapted and evolved to live happily in an environment polluted with garbage data.
"Do the Digimon here not get along with each other?"
Chuumon and ChuuChuumon had been fighting over food. The rule of no fighting allowed on the subway meant, when you flipped it, that there was plenty of fighting allowed everywhere else.
"Basically, everyone is poor here, and that's the reason for it all," Loogamon said. "Those in the slum can't consistently feed themselves, so fighting is a daily occurrence. There are turf wars, and Digimon in each neighborhood who acts as its boss. Only in this subway and in the center of the slum, Avenue Zero, is there an unspoken noncombatant agreement..."
"The center of the slum..."
That must be the blank area on the map that the cloaked Digimon had shown them earlier.
Eiji looked out the window. Upstream of the river was a mountain peak at the center of Wall Slum, made hazy by static.
"I can't see it very well... What kind of place is it?"
"It has the gate that leads to the inside of the security wall— The Wall Gate," Loogamon responded.
"Inside the security wall… You mean, the 'deep' Digital World?!"
This Wall Slum was, without any doubt, a part of the Digital World. But the deep part of it that was protected by the wall contained the "original shape" of the Digital World…
"It would be an unknown Digital World for you humans. The Wall Gate controls the flow of data into the Digital World and prevents unauthorized entry."
The train crossed the river and slid back underground. The subway cars went dark for a moment, then flickered, and the lights came back on.
"..."
Eiji thought a little bit.
"---This Wall Gate prevents code crackers... us humans from getting in?"
"That's right."
"..."
"It's not only humans," Loogamon said. "It also includes Digimon who have been used by code crackers and hackers. That's all of the Digimon in Wall Slum"
"Huh? All of the Digimon here?"
None of the Digimon on this subway were able to return to the Digital World.
"This Wall Slum has perpetually been affected by real world data via the network," Loogamon said. "Once a Digimon is contaminated by real world data, it can never return to the Digital World. They lose the ability to pass through that gate."
"On whose authority?"
"The Digital World's system... which is all I can really say about that. To put it in human terms... our god, so to speak? For the Digimon of Wall Slum, the inside of the 'wall' is their long lost home..."
"Loogamon... Do you know what's on the other side of the "wall"?
"We're getting off here."
Loogamon got up from his seat.
Eiji had no idea of what route they'd taken, but he heard the announcement say, "Next stop, Ninth Avenue. Ninth Avenue."
Eiji's mind switched over into work mode. First, he had to fulfill Ryusenji's request and pass the SoC entrance exam.
"So we're mapping Ninth Avenue…" Eiji said. "I wonder what kind of place it is."
"Find out when we get there."
"You sure seem to know a lot about Wall Slum, Loogamon. Have you lived here before?"
Loogamon had been stored from the beginning as his Child-level stage in the Digimon Linker. Eiji hadn't bothered to ask before where Loogamon had been and what he'd done before then. It had never occurred to him that Digimon could have a past.
"I don't remember."
The sudden confession confused Eiji. "What?"
"My memory is hazy from one point to another. I know that I grew up here in Wall Slum. But I only remember when I was just a brat at Child-level. Everything else after that is vague…"
Loogamon said that he knew about the Digital World and Wall Slum, but he couldn't remember much about himself.
He had no idea who he was here…
"Is it amnesia?" Eiji asked. "Seems kind of half-assed, though."
"Whenever I try to remember, it's like there's a haze around my Digicore."
Like fog settling down on my memories.
"Come to think of it, that Chuumon and the others said something of interest," Eiji said. "They seemed to know about you. Spoke reverently to you, calling you the Demon Wolf and Boss and whatnot…"
"After coming to Wall Slum with you and listening to them... I feel as if my memories are returning little by little," Loogamon said. "That's why I said we might find more out when we get there. I get the feeling that there's something at Ninth Avenue. Something that's very important to me."
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-14
Wall Slum's Ninth Avenue.
When Eiji went up the stairs out of the subway exit and stood agape at his surroundings, he wanted to turn right back around.
"What is this, another country? A real slum?" Eiji asked. "This is crazy! I'll lose my life here!"
The air was dank with soot.
The abandoned building that he'd seen earlier was one thing, but this place... It was something else. If this place was listed in a tourist book, Eiji was sure that it would say things like "has the highest crime rate on the planet" or "don't go anywhere near here."
"..."
"What do you call this sort of place... Kowloon City?" Eiji asked. "Kabukicho in the Showa-era?"
He looked up the city block from below the densely packed buildings built on illegal construction.
A place that was like Kowloon City, a slum that had once existed in Hong Kong before the reversion to China, built by illegal immigrants on land that had been ungoverned by the government. Or like the Kabukicho district of Shinjuku in the Showa era, a city that never slept and was alight with neon signs for restaurants, brothels, hotels, and other establishments.
A red-light district.
"Wall Slum is the boundary between the real world and the Digital World," Loogamon explained. "Real information is always flowing in through the network, so it's constantly changing. Because of that, everything here changes from one day to the next."
"Loogamon..."
"What?"
"Would you happen to be really intelligent?!" Eiji said, his eyes shining.
"Digimon are intelligent."
"Maybe I'll have you help me with the hard stuff from now on," Eiji said. "Can I call you Senpai?"
"Quit it."
"But I love you, Loogamon! You're so reliable!"
If Eiji had a tail, he'd be wagging it right now.
"This is exactly why your dog looked down on you... Let's hurry up and get to work!"
With Loogamon verbally whipping him back into gear, Eiji launched the tool on his virtual monitor.
He initiated the mapping.
Now all they had to do was fill in the map by walking around.
"Mapping this red-light district, huh..."
Eiji was so overwhelmed by the visual absurdity of Ninth Avenue that if he tried to describe it in words, he would lose his mind.
There were no straight streets. Alleyways were nothing more than gaps between buildings. The width and direction of the streets were a mess and there was clearly no urban planning. There were no restrictions on the building coverage ratio, oblique restrictions, earthquake resistance standards, or any other legal regulations based on the Building Standards Act.
To add insult to injury, not even architectural mechanics seemed to exist here. If one were to bring in realistic human sensibilities to this city that ignored all safety and construction standards, they would feel uneasy just by being here and would forever walk around thinking of the inevitable "collapse" that was sure to happen two seconds later.
Like, for instance, if a sign hanging from a single screw fell, the steel frame over there would snap, and all the buildings around it would collapse like dominoes…
Eiji checked on the map as he walked around.
"Looks like there are Digimon around here. Hiding, though."
He could feel eyes watching him all over from the alley.
"Ninth Avenue is the worst neighborhood in Wall Slum," Loogamon said. "If outsiders walked through it, they'd be stripped of their clothes within 50 meters and left for dead within 100 meters."
"Scary."
"Our destination is the heart of Ninth Avenue— the Castle of Nine Wolves."
Eiji and Loogamon continued their work. It was a bit of a letdown in the end, but they were able to proceed with mapping without hassle. There were no Digimon to be seen anywhere. It was as if they were in the middle of nowhere.
Although Loogamon insisted that he could sense them close by…
A dead end street.
There was a tiled-roofed building in a small plaza surrounded by overhanging, ramshackle buildings. It looked more like an imperial house in Chinatown than a castle.
"Is that the Castle of Nine Wolves? We need to map that and what's ahead of it."
Eiji walked up to the mausoleum.
"..."
Loogamon stopped.
"What's wrong, Loogamon?" Eiji had gone ahead of him, but he couldn't go too far as he was Hololized.
"This is my home… or, it was."
"...? Did you remember something?"
"It has a faint smell. Markings that I'd left behind... But it's me and not me. It's much, much stronger…!"
"Maybe it could be…" Eiji had an idea. "The evolved version of you?!"
"...! Something's coming!"
Loogamon turned his nose to the narrow strip of sky between the buildings.
BRAP BRAP BRAP BRAP BRAP!
It was a thunderous roar.
Winds picked up. The sound seemed to hit the ground and blew away the surrounding garbage data.
Eiji was forced to his knees. Loogamon dug in his claws.
"What is it?!" Eiji cried. "What's coming?!"
A winged monstrosity cast a shadow over the Castle of Nine Wolves.
Eiji had shut his eyes to protect them from the billowy dust, but now he held up a hand over his eyes and squinted up at the sky. "Is that a bird? A dragon?"
"No, neither... That's…!"
The thing had engines on both wings.
It was a machine-type Digimon based on a tilt-rotor aircraft that was capable of vertical takeoff and landing.
—Cargodramon. Perfect-level. Machine type. Virus species.
On its fuselage was the word "POLICE" in intimidating letters.
"It's the Digi-Police!" Eiji shouted.
"The police? What are they doing in Wall Slum?"
Digimon affiliated with the Digi-Police descended off the hovering Cargodramon from a rope. They were Commandramon.
The heliborne squad spread out, quickly securing the base.
An alert rang.
At the sound, Eiji looked at his map on the virtual monitor.
Markers indicating Commandramon appeared in the vicinity of the Castle of Nine Wolves. The castle was being surrounded.
"They're demanding that we open up voice chat... on the GriMM channel?!" Eiji cried out. He had received a warning notification from the police in the operation channel.
GriMM was not a service that belonged to any particular company. So if you didn't comply with police demands, that wouldn't be an immediate criminal act by itself… However, it would mean that you have taken a defiant attitude towards a state power.
"What do we do?" Loogamon asked.
"It doesn't matter one way or the other. That interviewer's the only one with administrative power for this operation channel.."
Eiji didn't have the authority to open it.
— "The hell! Don't ignore me, you shitty code cracker!"
BOOM!
A shrill voice came from the Cargodramon above.
The voice was loud and shrieked like a cartoon character. It rang directly through Eiji's Mindlinked sense of hearing.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-15
In Wall Slum's Ninth Avenue, the police-issued Cargodramon that appeared in the skies above the Castle of Nine Wolves let out a warning.
"---We got tipped off by our patrols... You're no match for us, crappy code cracker! This is the police department! We are the Digi-Police that strikes fear in the hearts of all!"
"The Digi-Police!"
It was as Eiji had suspected. The Digi-Police were scarier to code crackers than the thought of demons. When it came to cyber-terrorism and Digimon Crimes, there was no better counter-Digimon force in Japan.
"Oh wow! It's my first time seeing them!" Eiji was immediately excited. "This is so cool! Loogamon, get a picture of that Cargodramon!"
"My eyes are not cameras!" Loogamon snarled as he glared at the Cargodramon. Its powerful built-in sensors were pointed directly at Loogamon.
—ML (Mindlinked) active.
The duo was being probed. The sensors fulfilled an aspect of police questioning by scanning what they were carrying.
"You're one of those degenerate criminals, the SoC, aren't ya?! And a Mindlinker on top of that... That tip-off we got wasn't an exaggeration!"
"Tip-off? Exaggeration?" Eiji had no idea what the voice was talking about.
"You even Hololized yourself for me... Are you really that dumb or as cocky as y'look? Hey! I want answers outta youse, you ding-dong cracker and fivehead Digimon!"
"Ding-dong?"
"Fivehead?"
Eiji and Loogamon looked at one another.
Apparently the nickname "fivehead" was because the voice was making fun of the large headpiece on Loogamon's forehead.
"Get your ass over here…" The voice trailed off and corrected herself. "You're coming back with us to the station."
"That's optional, right?" Eiji said innocently. "I'm in the middle of work right now, so..."
He began to walk away.
"Ohhhh, lookin' down on me, are ya?" She hissed. "Hit 'em with the M16 Assassin!"
TATATATATATATATATA!
There was a crossfire.
At the call of the woman with the phony Edo dialect, who seemed to be their commander, the Commandramon squads that had split up into left and right took aim.
"Hey! They're shooting at us!"
Eiji fell to the ground, covering his head. Rays of fire crossed above his head.
"Those were warning shots."
"Says you!" Eiji shouted back at the Digi-Police commander. In what world was firing assault rifles at full power considered a warning shot to civilians?!
Someone climbed down from the Cargodramon on a rope.
"A female officer?" Eiji breathed a sigh of relief.
She too appeared to be Hololized… but the voice of the police commander that he had been speaking to apparently belonged to her.
The woman had shoulder-length bobbed hair that was black with inner green streaks. She had on gyaru makeup, and was wearing a cap, high boots, and a loose-fitting jacket. It was a rather unique look for a police officer.
"Oh... You're kind of cute."
That was Eiji's first impression of her.
"I'm tired of hearing that."
"And a lot of self-esteem, too!"
She was the type that most guys, not just Eiji, would be thrown off by.
"So whatcha' working on, SoC code cracker? Poaching Digieggs? I'll drag ya off red-handed in that case!"
Although she looked cute, she had the mouth of a sailor and a difficult personality... At least she was clearly dedicated to her work.
"That Digi-Police lady means real business," Loogamon said from his lowered stance. He, too, had been wary of the Commandramon's shooting.
"Hey, Loogamon... What happens if we get shot?"
"Ah? Why don't you go find out."
"Whaaaat..."
RATATATATATATATATATATATA!
"Gyaaaah!" Eiji screamed.
The Vulcan cannon suspended from the Cargodramon's fuselage dug holes into the dirt with its 30mm rounds right in front of the cowering Eiji's eyes.
The smell of gun smoke lingered in the air. Were they breaking up the soil to plant new vegetation or something, damn it?
"Like I've said many times before," Loogamon said matter-of-factly. "In the Digital World, data has substance."
"I understand now..." Eiji shuddered.
If he got hit by a bullet, it would hurt like normal and he'd die. Eiji's soul would break into pieces. That's what he felt would happen.
"Don't call me a lady! Do you wanna die during a Mindlink?!" The female officer was fuming.
"What a short fuse!" Eiji exclaimed.
"I should've brought Mechanorimon with me," She continued with grit teeth. "I'd have burned you to death in an instant. Lucky for you, it's under maintenance. Hey, you shit code cracker! Last warning here!"
"You wanna know what I was doing here?" Eiji raised his voice. "I was walking! I was mapping the area while walking! I wanted to know about the Digital World, uh… For science!"
While he made it sound nice, he wasn't exactly lying.
"You what? …Cargodramon!"
"They carry no signs of Digieggs or captured Digimon, Deputy squad leader," Cargodramon reported.
"In other words...?"
"It appears that they were indeed taking a stroll through Wall Slum, just as they claimed."
"Nggghhh!"
The loud lady that was their deputy squad leader was clearly disappointed.
Although the SoC was a dangerous code cracker group, that alone didn't qualify an arrest. Minor faults weren't a warrant for prosecution.
"This is Wall Slum's Ninth Avenue, and they're at the Castle of Nine Wolves! It's the ninth avenue of hell!" She shrieked. "Even we, the Digi-Police, can't step in here without the proper equipment… It's a den of rogues! You're plenty suspicious if youse just out here takin' a stroll in this dangerous place!"
"It's no use... This lady is beyond high-strung." Eiji gave up on holding a conversation. He checked the map on his virtual monitor as he held his head.
There was the Commandramon, and then the Cargodramon in the air...
(There's others here too…? There's something else aboard the Cargodramon…)
The Digi-Police had reinforcements. There wasn't going to be an end to this.
"Let's get out of here, Loogamon... Loogamon?"
When Eiji looked up, his Digimon was already gone.
— "Spiral Bite!"
Sharp fangs pierced body armor. One then two markers disappeared off the map.
The Commandramon's bullet-proof armor was ripped apart like cardboard and they were knocked away one after the other.
"Huh…?"
Eiji was taken aback. It had all happened so fast.
Loogamon had fought back… defeating them with only his sharp teeth and claws.
Loogamon stood before the mausoleum of the Castle of Nine Wolves.
— "This is my home!"
He howled as if to emphasize that fact.
"Th-Th-Th-This is an obstruction of justice! Why you…! What kind of monster are you anyway?! Is this... some kind of trap?!" The deputy squad leader's voice turned in on itself.
The tip-off that she had received was a trap— from the way things had turned out, it wasn't wrong of her to think so.
But it was Eiji who was even more astonished.
"He took out two fully equipped Commandramon in an instant... Loogamon, you're super strong! But wait... Don't do that! You can't mess with the police!"
Eiji was back to holding his head in his hands again.
"Why not? Shouldn't I have?" Loogamon keened and tilted his head to the side in a dog-like gesture.
The rest of the Commandramon tried to re-encircle Loogamon from a distance while retrieving their fallen comrades.
"If you mess with the police... You'll get taken from me! We'll be arrested!"
"There's no such law in the Digital World. The only rule in Wall Slum is eat or be eaten."
"Whaaaat..."
Eiji, with his head still in his hands, connected to GriMM in a last desperate attempt. He wanted to inform the SoC interviewer of what was going on.
"...Hey, the interviewer guy momentarily left his seat!"
What a horrible person.
"How dare youse treat my subordinates like that!" The Hololized deputy squad leader rolled up her sleeves.
"Is that... a Digimon Linker?!" Eiji noticed.
She was wearing on her wrist a watch with a smartwatch-type dock. It had police colors so the coloring was different, but it looked like the same type that Eiji was wearing.
"You'll pay for underestimatin' me!"
Police lights suddenly came on, rotating their warning lights around her.
"What the heck is happening right now…?" Eiji cried. "Hololization is way too convenient!"
"That lady is Mindlinked, too!" Loogamon returned to Eiji's side and braced himself.
Abadin Electronics received orders from the police on a variety of electronic equipment. What's more, Ryusenji was an advisor to the Metropolitan Police Department.
"You're kidding me…!" Eiji cried.
"Her Digimon partner is... over there!"
Loogamon looked up at the Cargodramon.
BOOM!
The Cargodramon moved in the sky above.
It changed the angle of its rotors and raised its nose slightly to open the large hatch at its rear.
Something— The Digimon that had been waiting in the cabin peeked out.
Smack, slap… Smack smack…
"What the hell is that?!"
A chill ran down Eiji's spine.
With a hideous writhing, the Digimon pushed itself out of the hatch and landed on the ground with a heavy thud.
—NUMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
It was a huge slug.
"Ughhhhh! It's Numemon!" Eiji screamed in terror.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-16
—Numemon. Adult-level. Mollusk type. Virus species.
The Hololized deputy squad leader rode on top of Numemon's back. The Numemon was about the size of a small truck. They appeared to act as a police vehicle because a police siren rested on top of their head.
"You're under arrest, the botha youse! Ya got me real angry now! Who the hell d'ya think I am?! I'm Deputy squad leader of the Metropolitan Police's Community Safety Department's Cybercrime Division's Digimon Crime Response Police Team Investigation Section 11— Satsuki Tamahime, you bastards!"
"That's one hell of a long title," Eiji called out.
Code crackers normally referred to them as the Digi-Police, but this was Eiji's first time hearing it referred specifically as "Investigation Section 11."
"Oh, shit, my affiliation... I wasn't supposed to say that!" Satsuki covered her mouth with both hands. "Hey, Fivehead and Ding-dong! You didn't hear that!"
"I don't give a crap," Eiji called out.
"And why do you keep calling me Fivehead..." Loogamon grimaced, nudging at the interface on his forehead with one front paw.
"Well, I'm not wrong, am I?! Mangy mutt!" The deputy squad leader— Satsuki, refused to let up.
"A wannabe cop like you has no business insulting me!" Loogamon grumbled. "Maybe I'll make you cry… I like this interface on my forehead! And I'm not about to let you off easily for making fun of it!"
"Enough talking, Fivehead! On my command, Commandramon! Fire the M16—"
"What kanji do you use for your name, Satsuki?" Eiji tried to calm things down a bit.
"Huh……? It's the 'tama' from shogi, 'hime' from princess, and you write Satsuki with the kanji for 'thread' 'little' and the 'moon' and... why am I telling you this?! It's personal information!"
She really was on edge. Teasing her brought out funny reactions, and Eiji feared that he'd get addicted to doing it.
"My name is Eiji. Eiji Nagasumi."
"I didn't ask!" Satsuki made a gesture with her hand as if to ward off a persistent playboy trying to hit on her.
"Wait, scratch that, I'm Code Cracker Fang! Forget what I just said, Satsuki-chan!"
"No, you just saved me the trouble of I.D.ing you… Eiji Nagasumi! I've established you as an elite class-A or higher code cracker capable of Mindlinking!"
Satsuki pointed at Eiji threateningly.
"All right! I got Satsuki-chan's seal of approval! Loogamon! Did you hear that?! I'm an elite code cracker!"
"Class-A code crackers are automatically placed on the Metropolitan Police Department's backlist! Your days of living a normal life are over for youse, sociopath! You're about to end up on the other side of the fence!"
—NUMEEEE!
The slug cried out.
"Don't be scared just 'cause the enemy is Adult-level," Loogamon said, readying himself for battle.
"I get, like, a physical reaction against slimy things…" Eiji said queasily. "Like grated yams, or okra, or natto."
BLIP! BLIP-BLIP-BLIP-BLIP-BLIP!
Numemon shot something out of their body, like a rapid-fire cannon.
"Spineless guys like you who can't eat natto might as well eat Digimon food!" Satsuki instigated.
"That's not food… That's poop!"
Eiji and Loogamon dodged Numemon's attack in the nick of time.
"What a disgusting attack..." Loogamon said, repulsed. "This is why Digimon who look like they're from the landfills of Fifth Avenue have zero taste. They're a perfect match with that loud-mouth woman though."
"Umm, Loogamon... She can hear you, you know? You seem to have a talent for pissing off women."
Eiji was sweating bullets, but the damage had already been done.
"Mangy fivehead mutt! You can insult me all you want, but I won't let you talk about my Numemon like that!"
That was what incited her anger further?
Numemon fired something huge at the duo. Loogamon took a small jump to get out of its way.
But the projectile bounced off the wall and hit Eiji.
"Oh, sorry. Forgot you were there."
"Help me, Loogamon!" Eiji cried pathetically. He was completely covered in poop.
"It was only a ricochet. Besides, it's good luck."
"Ha, ha! Very funny! Ugh... Getting covered in manure isn't something you even see in comedy manga these days. I should never have Mindlinked!"
Eiji started crying. It was because he was Mindlinked that he could smell and feel Numemon's poop as real poop. His will to fight plummeted.
"Kyahaha! Pathetic! Serves you right for making fun of my beautiful Numemon!" Satsuki laughed loudly atop her Numemon.
"Satsuki-chan... What do you even like about Numemon exactly?" Eiji asked as he wiped the poop off himself.
"Their shine, their sliminess, and their hidden ferocity... It's so charming ♡ I raise the Granulilimax fuscicornis in the real world, but they prey on the other slugs and snails. They gulp 'em right down, it's so thrilling..."
"I... I'll look that up later."
"Do you want to see?"
Satsuki opened up a virtual monitor above her head and went on a video site.
"Not here, please…"
Silence.
Satsuki was apparently the type to keep going and ignore the atmosphere of the room when she began talking about something she liked.
"Hey, Eiji... Wait, 'Fang,' was it?" Loogamon carefully corrected himself.
"Forget it. After all that's just happened, I'm so done," Eiji said moodily.
"Ugh... Good grief." Loogamon clicked his tongue. "We're Mindlinked, so while it is a huge pain in my ass, you and I are one mind and body right now."
"Oh, that's right! No matter how much of a first-class code cracker I've become, I can't let myself get eaten— I mean, arrested while you're here!"
"Cut off your Hololization and return to me."
"But I'm covered in poop."
"After you've cleaned off!"
Eiji cut off the Hololization as Loogamon had directed. His form disappeared. Only the poop remained, splattering to the floor from where he'd stood.
Eiji was once again back in Loogamon's Digicore.
His viewpoint merged with that of Loogamon.
Eiji's consciousness connected to the heads-up virtual monitor. He activated his tools and set the A.I. mode to "Battle".
"Commandramon!" Satsuki cried. "Fire!"
— "DCD Bomb!"
The Commandramon took the initiative, tossing bombs all over the place.
Loogamon dug all four feet into the ground before leaping up and running vertically across the walls of the illegally constructed buildings surrounding the plaza, dodging the explosions.
— "Howling Fire!"
A wall of flames divided the Commandramon into two, disrupting them.
"Tch... An inextinguishable 'demonic flame'!" Satsuki grimaced. "It's only as strong as a bonfire, but still a pain in the ass!"
Satsuki's Numemon advanced forward, unafraid of the flames.
"That damned slug's undaunted by my flames," Loogamon growled.
The slug's slimy mucus seemed to ward off the flames to a certain extent.
"Loogamon's fire has no effect!" Eiji cried in disappointment.
"It's poop, but it's an Adult-level poop! Plus, there's the Commandramon here too! If I don't give it all I've got, we're toast!" Loogamon said. The tone of his voice seemed to insinuate that he was testing Eiji.
"Adult-level… Give it your all... Are you talking about evolution?!"
"Yes, Eiji! Evolution!" Loogamon called out.
"Can we really do that? Here? Now?"
"Did you think lifting the functions of the Digimon Linker were just for show?! I've gotten pretty used to Mindlinking with you, too. But more than that… I'm losing control of myself."
The blue wolf's fur stood up and he bared his fangs.
"Loogamon…!"
Even Eiji's consciousness could feel the chill of goosebumps.
"Ever since we arrived in Wall Slum... since we arrived at the Castle of Nine Wolves... Something inside me... some kind of power has been trying to burst out!"
As if there was something that wasn't him, inside of him.
"---I want to evolve so much… that I'm suffocating! This power is too great for a Child-level's body to handle!"
With Loogamon's cry, an alert flashed onto the virtual monitor.
—"EVOLUTION" [[2]]
Eiji's tools informed him that a mutation was occurring in Loogamon's body.
"Evolution... Okay! I'll evolve with you, Loogamon, and become the ultimate code cracker! I can't afford to stumble and fail here! I'll be a winner in the Digital World…!"
Eiji's heart stirred with morale.
There was no need for him to hold back. He could do it... In the network, there was nothing he couldn't do. It prompted a Digimon to grow explosively.
"Damn fivehead… you're up to something, aren't you? We'll get 'im once and for all! Give them an extra-large serving, Numemon!" Satsuki ordered dangerously.
Numemon hunkered down right there, straining.
"Loogamon, evolve—"
FLASH—
With the glow of evolution— Loogamon's stats displaying on Eiji's virtual monitor shot through the roof all at once.
"Warning! Warning! Target is evolving!" The Commandramon up above warned aloud.
"Evolving? Gghh!"
A swirling flame appeared above Satsuki's head.
There was a shockwave, throwing the Commandramon in disorder.
Satsuki was blown off Numemon's back.
---Loogarmon. Adult-level. Dark Beast type. Virus species.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-17
More supple, more powerful, more shrewd.
Such was the form that he'd changed into, a result of seeking power only for the sake of hunting and eating his prey. The fearsome wolf that was said to dwell in Wall Slum's Ninth Avenue.
"Loogarmon? No way. This Digimon is...!" Satsuki hissed from her fallen position on the ground.
A blue wolf, far more massive in size than he was before and clad in demonic flames, landed on the tiled roof of the Castle of Nine Wolves' mausoleum.
An enormous amount of energy could be observed. The energy overflowing from within this Adult-level Digimon erupted out in the form of spitting flames from his mouth.
"That's right. I am Loogamon but also... 'Loogarmon'!" Eiji's Digimon recalled the memories of the magic flame that had been burning within just moments ago.
"Loogamon… I mean, Loogarmon?" Eiji spoke up from inside him. "Did your memories come back?!"
"The 'Demon Wolf of the Castle of Nine Wolves'! I've heard of him before. It's supposed to describe the Digimon boss that inhabited this place!" Satsuki gritted her teeth.
Magic and fire converged within Loogarmon's mouth.
A flash.
— "Howling Burner!"
He shot out a condensed, incandescent flame.
No amount of mucus could defend against it. Numemon took a direct hit, causing them to wriggle and thrash about.
"Ngh!" Satsuki screamed. "N-Numemon! My precious Numemon!"
When a partner's Digimon is damaged so severely that it reaches their Digicore, that damage affects the mental data of the Mindlinked human as well. The human can feel the pain of the damage to their Digimon, creating stress signals to their consciousness.
Numemon kept burning within the inextinguishable fire.
The power of this flame was far greater than the one before it. If the flames of the Child-level were like a bonfire, then this flame was a colossal burner that could incinerate steel.
— "Numemon is heavily damaged!"
— "There's orders to retreat! Recover the wounded!"
The members of the Digi-Police acted immediately upon seeing their fallen commander.
The wind pressure from Cargodramon's rotors extinguished the flames consuming Numemon, and after they recovered their wounded into the cargo area, the Digi-Police – with the rest of their Commandramon squadron – retreated.
On board the Cargodramon…
"How dare they do this to my Numemon?!"
Satsuki grit her teeth in fury as she tended to her badly burned Numemon.
"Deputy squad leader! Warning thresholds have exceeded! You must hurry and deactivate the Mindlink!"
"No."
The Hololized Satsuki brushed off her subordinate's concerns in their chatroom.
"But...!"
"Look what they did to my Numemon! Next time, I'll make that insolent code cracker pay..."
The Cargodramon returned its tilt-rotor engines to a horizontal position and ascended through the Net Ocean at full speed.
Satsuki bellowed as she gazed down at Wall Slum's Ninth Avenue below, "Code Cracker Eiji! You'll be mine to arrest!"
After watching the retreating Cargodramon disappear beyond the Net Ocean, Eiji Hololized once more and stood beside his Digimon.
Loogarmon.
His appearance remained largely that of a wolf, while the color of his fur gave off the impression of a larger Loogamon. What was different though, was that the hairs on his body had grown longer, giving him a more demonic appearance. The biggest difference of all was his size: Loogarmon was about as big as a rhinoceros.
The interface on his forehead remained there, unchanged.
As Loogarmon stood on the tiled roof of the mausoleum, he looked up at the narrow slit of sky above the Castle of Nine Wolves.
"After I evolved to Adult… After I'd evolved back, I finally remembered something. This Ninth Avenue in Wall Slum is where I rule."
"The Demon Wolf of the Castle of Nine Wolves... right? So you're the boss here. Impressive!" Eiji complimented.
"I don't know... I mean, being this way now must mean that I've lost my position as boss, right?"
Maybe he'd lost his authority to someone else. Or maybe he'd just left? He couldn't remember.
"You've got a very strange kind of amnesia, since you only remember more each time you evolve," Eiji commented. "Then again, my knowledge of amnesia comes from comic books and movies."
"Hmm... Well, whatever..." Loogarmon shrugged. "I'll get it all back... My power, my memories, and all of my evolutions."
Loogarmon seemed to have a hunch that he could evolve further…
The smoldering magic flames finally died out and silence returned once more to Ninth Avenue.
A rustle…
Something appeared from within an alley.
It was Digimon. Not just one or two… Crowds of Wall Slum residents, in numbers that made one wonder where they had managed to hide, emerged to gather in the castle's plaza.
"Huh? What's going on?" Eiji said in surprise.
In Wall Slum, it was either kill or be killed. Were all of these Digimon planning to attack them next?
Loogarmon however... calmly greeted the Digimon that were gathered in the plaza.
— "Loogarmon!"
A voice cheered.
The cheers soon become the voices of dozens, of hundreds of Digimon, echoing throughout the Castle of Nine Wolves.
— "Loogarmon! Loogarmon! Loogarmon!"
The Digimon gathered at the Castle of Nine Wolves celebrated the return of their boss.
The unknown SoC Digimon hidden under rags watched their celebrations secretly from atop the building roofs of the red-light district.
"The Demon Wolf of the Castle of Nine Wolves has returned," the cloaked Digimon said.
"---An inspiring sight, isn't it?" Someone murmured in the voice chat. It was the SoC interviewer.
"That was a nasty thing you did, tipping off the fuzz just to test them."
"The Digi-Police's deputy squad leader wasn't even a match for him," the interviewer said. "I didn't think they'd send a Mindlinker of their own, but the results were what I'd expected. Loogarmon... that 'prototype Digimon' is just what we're looking for."
"What about the code cracker kid?"
"I'm reserving judgment for now."
"Hmm... But it looks like he completed the mapping job."
They had already received the mapping tool's data hours ago.
"He's passed the SoC entrance exam, of course," the interviewer said dismissively. "I want as many code crackers with the ability to Mindlink as I can possibly get."
"Do you think he can guide him? That kid Eiji Nagasumi, I mean. Do you think he can take his Digimon partner…to 'deeper' depths?"
"He'll have to. It's the place we've been promised, after all. Wouldn't you agree, Dorumon?"
Whoosh.
The ragged cloth fell away just then, pulled by a strong wind.
—Dorumon. Child-level. Beast type. Data species.
He had a bushy tail.
The Digimon that emerged from beneath the rags was plain in color and looked like a squirrel at first glance.
However, he had the data of "Dragon," the mythological beast that was told about in stories passed down through generations, stored in his Digicore. The only evidence of that were the small dragon wings sprouting from his back—
The same interface as Loogamon's gleamed on Dorumon's forehead.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 1-18
Are Digimon living creatures or computer programs?
There was no legal definition for them, at least in human society. Legislation regarding Digimon was undeveloped due to the Digital World being undefined.
Was it legal to capture Digimon in the Digital World? Was it possible for someone to be punished for possession of a Digimon?
If it was in fact punishable, would the punishment be based on existing laws such as the Act on the Prohibition of Unauthorized Computer Access, the Subversive Activities Prevention Act, or on laws related to animal and environmental protection? Responses would also differ between countries.
But crimes that used Digimon were definitely happening.
At least in Japan, anyway.
A realistic response to them was to classify Digimon crimes perpetrated by code crackers as subversive acts and to set up a special unit within the police to stop them.
That became the Metropolitan Police's Community Safety Department's Cybercrime Division's Digimon Crime Response Police Team Investigation Section 11.
Otherwise known as the Digimon Crime Response Police Team, or even shorter: the Digi-Police.
They were a secret organization created to respond to Digimon crimes. A cybercrime police unit that monitored and investigated all code crackers.
"Loogamon..." Section 11's Squad leader Shuu Yulin murmured as she scrolled through the report on her desk monitor.
She wore a very short bob hairstyle that was cropped on the sides and back, and minimal makeup. Her sharp looks and flawless work record earned her the nickname as the "demon" squad leader. While her name and roots were of Chinese origin, she was a Japanese citizen.
"Yes, Squad Leader! This is the Digimon that was owned by the SoC cracker that we encountered today at the Digital World's Outer Wall Slum, in Ninth Avenue," deputy squad leader Satsuki Tamahime reported smartly to her boss.
Section 11 was really the size of a normal police department, but it took on the appearance of a smaller organization in order to conceal its existence both from the public eye and its internal department.
"He drove away the Commandramon squadron, eh? His reactionary speed and power are unparalleled for a Child-level. We've got a dangerous code cracker on our hands." Yulin analyzed the data from the report.
"Those fivehead bastards even evolved into Loogarmon and sent my Numemon to the infirmary…! The next time I see them, I'm putting them in handcuffs!"
"A level-A code cracker with the ability to Mindlink... I didn't see his name on the list of SoC executives that we'd obtained. Eiji Nagasumi... I'm amazed that you managed to get his real name so quickly, Satsuki."
"Well, he said it. He gave it to me himself."
"Huh?" Yulin slumped back on her desk a bit.
"Like I said, this Eiji kid gave me his full name. You'd think it would be his alias or a code cracker name that he goes by, right? But it appears to be his real name."
"I can't tell if he's really smart or really stupid..." Yulin murmured.
Although to be fair, Yulin's second-in-command, deputy squad leader Satsuki, had also made public both her full name and her undisclosed affiliation to Section 11 to a code cracker.
"My guess is that he's a very skillful moron," Satsuki said. "That was my first impression of him anyway."
Satsuki was infuriated. That so-called skillful moron had sent her Numemon to the infirmary.
The police force was a tight knit organization.
Whenever a single police officer's life is in danger, the entire organization does everything in its power to catch the culprit. This was a means to settle the matter, wrap things up and tie them with a bow. If they didn't end things completely, the entire police force would lose face, leading to further harm in the future.
Pests who struck out against the police had to be stomped out of existence.
"Morons are one thing... But you've crossed the K-Line once again, Satsuki. How many times has that been this year now?"
"...Sorry." Satsuki looked dejected.
"I know you don't need to hear this again but… Mindlinking has a time limit for a reason. If you cross the K-Line, the warning threshold, and then into the L-Line, the connection limit... your mental data will end up glued to the Digicore and only your consciousness will be left behind in the Digital World."
"That'll have a huge impact on our department's audit."
"It could kill you. I, for one, Satsuki, do not want to lose my men. Not a single one of them."
"Please accept my apologies. I'll be more careful. I don't wish to be DMIA, either."
DMIA (Digitally Missing In Action).
This term referred to people who went missing or fell unconscious during their activities in the Digital World.
The warning threshold determined by the Digi-Police was like a yellow card, or the K-point in ski jumping. If a Mindlinker continued beyond the warning threshold of the K-Line, their consciousness would eventually reach its limit. The L-Line was the limit line. This was the red card, the L-point. At worst, reaching this point would force one to exit life as if they had a head-on collision with a concrete wall.
'DMIA' was a Digi-Police term for someone who'd exceeded the Mindlink's time limit and whose consciousness could no longer return to the real world.
Yulin opened Eiji Nagasumi's file. It contained everything from his family registry, a brief synopsis of his background, to the latest video footage of him captured by surveillance cameras on street corners.
"Isn't that DDL?" Satsuki spoke up.
The surveillance video was taken in front of a facility adjacent to Tokyo Dennō University.
"He isn't a Dennō student, I thought?" Yulin asked.
It was, after all, Japan's top-ranking university for science. A majority of its students could be potential hackers or code crackers.
"Yeah, he isn't. He's currently a freelancer."
"Zoom here," Yulin instructed.
The video paused and the camera zoomed in on Eiji's left arm when he emerged from the DDL building.
Analysis.
The image, grainy from the zoom, was reconstructed into a clearer visual through A.I. processing.
"A Digimon Linker... That would be the latest Digimon Dock model made by Abadin Electronics," Yulin's Digimon spoke in the dramatic tones of an old-fashioned samurai.
—Ryudamon. Child-level. Beast type. Vaccine species.
His Hololized figure at Yulin's side looked like an ancient, armored dragon.
He wore a Japanese-style helmet and was the size of a large dog, which was about the common size for a Child-level.
Since he spoke— that meant that this Ryudamon was also already Mindlinked with a human.
"Loogamon and the latest Digimon Linker..." Yulin pondered.
"They look awfully similar, don't they, Squad leader?"
"...?"
"The forehead of your Ryudamon and the forehead of this dog… I mean, Loogamon."
The exact same kind of interface was also on Ryudamon's helmet.
From a tower apartment overlooking the Denrin District at night…
His one-bedroom apartment was on the middle floor. His mentor/boss owned the room which he rented while attending the university here in a study abroad program.
He exited the shower room, dried his hair roughly with a towel and put on a bathrobe.
He'd kept on his wrist his smartwatch— the Digimon Linker.
When he walked into the living room, there was a Digimon there.
The Digimon was Hololized. There is no light on in the room, but the Digimon himself glowed with tiny lightning bolts flashing over him, which lent a faint light to the room itself.
"The SoC is up to something!" the Digimon cried.
Pulsemon.
The "Lightning Bolt" Digimon that had a run-in with the Digi-Police's Section 11 deputy squad leader at Wall Slum's Last Coast the other day.
"A code cracker? Is this a sign that the SoC's about to start their large-scale operation?"
He took a bottle of mineral water out of the refrigerator. Most of his meals were either taken at restaurants or delivered, so there was no food or even snacks inside.
"Yeah! Looks like the SoC's trying to increase their numbers, Leon."
"Elaborate, Pulsemon."
Pulsemon spun in the air and displayed data on a large monitor propped on the wall. Leon used the Hololized Digimon as a smart speaker, an A.I. assistant.
Needless to say, Pulsemon and he— Leon Alexander, were Mindlinked.
"There was an altercation between a code cracker and the Digi-Police in Wall Slum."
"It's not the usual police scoring points by catching petty thieves red-handed?"
"You'd think so, right? But this took place in Ninth Avenue, otherwise known as the Castle of Nine Wolves."
"...? That's not the kind of place a normal code cracker would visit for a bit of fun."
Leon plopped down on the couch.
"It seems that this skilled code cracker and his Digimon partner drove back the Digi-Police. They're unquestionably Mindlinked."
"So, this code cracker... What does he have to do with the SoC?" Leon sipped from his water bottle.
He liked Japan's softened water. When he'd lived in Japan as a kid, he grew up drinking gallons and gallons of this water at school and at the park.
"Funny you should ask! The SoC channel is currently ablaze with rumors about him!"
Character design/illustration: malo
CHAPTER 2 - Hacker Leon: WWW Airlines Flight 626
Chapter 2-1
WWW Airlines Flight 626.
There weren't going to be many people who remembered that airline, flight number, nor the model of plane to which it referred. Not in today's world, where big news stories would frequently bleed together. While plane crashes were not an everyday occurrence, they did happen somewhere in the world almost every year.
Although not every crash had a number of casualties in the triple digits.
WWW Airlines Flight 626 had reached cruising altitude somewhere above 30,000 feet after takeoff when it suddenly and inexplicably deviated from its flight path and disappeared altogether.
Authorities confirmed that the plane crashed into the ocean, but neither the plane nor its flight recorder was ever recovered.
Not a single body turned up. Everyone aboard was eventually presumed dead when, several months later, a piece of the plane washed ashore thousands of kilometers away from the crash site.
The cause of the crash was never determined, let alone whether it was an accident or foul play. Theories on everything from mechanical failure to the pilot's mental health were floated but none were confirmed.
There was one person, however, who knew the truth:
That a code cracker used an A.I. known as a Digimon to deliberately crash WWW Airlines Flight 626.
This information was not made public because the public wouldn't have understood. A majority of the world wasn't even aware of the existence of the Digimon, let alone the Digital World.
"...Gasp!"
Leon Alexander snapped bolt upright in bed, his breathing ragged. He'd had the same nightmare again.
He hunched over and steadied his breathing before reaching a hand out into the darkness.
Soft light illuminated the room.
"I heard you scream. Are you okay, Leon?" said the Digimon beside his bed.
The Digimon was Hololized and was the source of the gentle glow. His body crackled with electricity, occasionally setting off little sparks.
—Pulsemon. Child-level. Beast type. Vaccine species.
He looked like a small electrical elf. A lick of fur on his forehead stood out like a lightning bolt, bobbing gently as he worried over his partner.
"Were you dreaming about the accident again? You haven't done that in a while," he said softly.
"Yeah, Pulsemon. I dreamed it again," Leon groaned.
Aided by Pulsemon's light, Leon snatched the bottle of mineral water from his bedside table and twisted off the cap, draining the entire bottle in one go.
"Do you need your medicine?"
"No thanks, I'm good. Thanks, Pulsemon. Ugh… What a time to be awake, huh?"
Leon looked out of his apartment window at the commanding view of Denrin District below.
The skyline was barely visible in the pre-dawn light.
"You've got an early class today, don't you? Why not try getting a bit more sleep?" Pulsemon suggested.
"Nah, I'll just get up now. The class is boring, but the professor's real strict about attendance."
The courses were online but there were always attendance checks and a pop quiz on the lecture at the end, which were a real pain.
"Do you even need to graduate at this point? You're basically an Abadin Electronics's DDL employee by now," Pulsemon said.
"I promised my father that I'd graduate and get a job, so that's what I'm going to do. Besides, being a college student with loads of free time leaves me with plenty of time for other things," Leon replied.
"Like ethical hacking?" Pulsemon asked with a playful wink.
"Haha… I should go shower."
The nightmare had left his pajamas sticking to him with sweat. Leon Alexander hoisted himself out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom.
Digital World: Wall Slum, 9th Avenue.
Ninth Avenue's boss, Loogamon, and a Hololized Eiji stood before the mausoleum of the Castle of Nine Wolves.
"So, you haven't actually gotten your memories back then?" Eiji asked Loogamon.
"I can only tell from the scents here that this Ninth Avenue is where I grew up and later claimed as my territory..."
The memories themselves were fragmented and lacked detail.
"I see. I hope you'll remember the rest someday," Eiji said.
"I don't care either way," Loogamon shrugged.
"Oh. Really?"
Loogamon didn't seem too concerned about whether he had his memories or not.
"Do you humans remember everything that's happened to you and like clinging to those memories?"
"Hm... I don't remember anything prior to elementary school, so no. And there are things from middle and high school that I'd prefer not to remember, either," Eiji admitted.
Eiji had become a freelance code cracker at the same time he graduated high school, so inevitably he'd lost touch with all his friends who had moved on to higher education.
"I thought as much," Loogamon snorted. "The stuff that's trivial, we tend to forget about anyway, so who cares."
"Well, don't you sound all grown up and tough. Like a hardboiled detective."
Just then, three Tyranomon emerged from the various alleyways surrounding the Castle of Nine Wolves' main plaza.
"Oh, hi fellas. Nice work," Loogamon said.
—GRRRRRR... GRRROWWWLLL...
The Tyranomon purred low in their throats as they handed over the data they'd gathered to Loogamon. They had been set out as a mapping tool to gather data, as well as estimate the Digimon population within the confines of Ninth Avenue.
"They really got into the role of being your minions, the Tyranomon…" Eiji mused. They were like the underlings in a mafia group. He tossed them a couple strips of meat as a reward.
"There's still room for one more in my gang," Loogamon said. "You could be Minion number four."
"My Tyranomon outrank me?" Eiji grinned wryly.
"Set these guys to patrol Ninth Avenue periodically," Loogamon said. "I fear there will be those foolish enough to try invading my territory while I'm away."
"I'll set up the routine now… Take good care of this place, Tyranomons," Eiji said, petting one that loomed over him.
The Tyranomon responded with quick, low growls.
Eiji couldn't hold a conversation with them since they hadn't Mindlinked, but… unlike before, he could now tell when they were trying to communicate with him.
That felt nice.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!
The wail of a sharp, piercing siren snapped Eiji out of his momentary reverie.
"What's going on?!"
He spun around, scanning his surroundings. The alarm wasn't coming from his Digimon Linker or any other tools.
The other Digimon who had been loitering in the plaza fled in a panic. Some retreated into buildings while others scrambled towards underground bunkers.
"Eiji!" Loogamon shouted above the din. "Gather your Tyranomon and get back in here!"
"Why?" Eiji shouted back as he used the virtual monitor to swiftly return his Tyrannomon to their dock, then disengaged his Hololized form to return to Loogamon's Digicore.
He could now see through Loogamon's eyes. A virtual monitor opened up above Eiji's eye-level.
Loogamon dashed up the side of the Castle of Nine Wolves, to the top floor where a watchtower stood, looking over the expanse of the Net Ocean. The Digimon on lookout was the one sounding the alarm.
—"There's turbulence!" the lookout Digimon cried.
"Turbulence?" Eiji repeated. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant in the context of the Digital World, but he could tell it was bad from the frantic Digimon below.
"...! There," Loogamon said, shifting his gaze.
Eiji's eyes focused, revealing a gigantic hole — no, a whirlpool — on the surface of the vast Net Ocean.
It looked as if someone had pulled the drain plug in a massive bathtub.
The vortex had to be several meters in diameter, and it moved slowly outside Wall Slum within the "desert" of meaningless data as it sucked all manner of digital detritus into its gaping maw.
"We stand on the security wall that protects the Digital World from contaminant data of the Real World… but of course, no wall is perfect," Loogamon explained. "There are small gaps and cracks within the security wall, which cause the turbulence that you see there."
The security wall was a literal wall that protected the Digital World, while the Wall Gate managed the flow of web traffic. Wall Slum was built from the wayward bits of junk data that accumulated around the Wall Gate.
But holes in security were bound to spring up anywhere, even outside of the gates controlled by the Digital World's system.
"So that's coming from a hole in the Digital World's security?!" Eiji yelled, understanding the broad terms.
"Exactly. They're like natural disasters that we never know when or where will occur. That area in particular, though, is a hotbed of vortex activity..." Loogamon said, keeping his eyes on the path of the turbulence.
"Hotbed?"
"All of the data that Wall Slum can't contain spills out from the Last Coast into the outside borders. It'd be like if a huge garbage dump ended up trailing into the ocean… I don't know why the current carries it all there, but there it remains: a floating island of refuse," Loogamon said gravely.
"That's awful…"
"Over there is Dust Kingdom— but not even the scavenger Digimon of Fifth Avenue tread near that area. It's full of useless garbage data, after all. No one knows if the contents of that useless data are the reason why it causes… warps."
"Warps?"
"The warping creates all sorts of things to happen, but most of all, it creates turbulence. Most turbulences are short-lived, but every so often a particularly large one forms. On rare occasions, they threaten Wall Slum directly."
"Then what happens?"
The turbulence in front of them skimmed over the edges of Wall Slum.
ROOOOOOAAAAAAAR…!
An immense roar filled the air as they watched the vortex tear up a section of Wall Slum, breaking apart data before it was sucked into its vast void.
"...It completely obliterates an entire district, including all the Digimon who live there," Loogamon said solemnly.
"You can't be serious!"
Fortunately, the current vortex quickly retreated and dissipated after grazing Wall Slum's outer shores.
The siren ceased wailing, and Eiji/Loogamon watched as Digimon re-emerged into the Castle of Nine Wolves' plaza below.
"What happens when you get sucked into the turbulence? If that thing is a hole in the Digital World's security, then… could it take you to the deep Digital World?" Eiji asked, furrowing his brow.
If there was a wall in the security, then surely there would be something on the other side of the wall... Right?
"First of all, we Digimon don't call what's beyond the wall the 'deep layer.' And besides, that would be impossible" Loogamon said, shaking his head.
"What makes you say that?"
"The Digital World wouldn't allow a security hole to remain open. If a human used the turbulence to reach the 'deep' Digital World that you guys speak of..."
"What would happen?" Eiji asked, swallowing hard.
"Even if you managed to endure the force of the turbulence itself, you wouldn't leave it alive. There would be no room for miracles. Under no circumstances would the Digital World's system administrator abide an intruder from the real world. Now, let's go," Loogamon said, changing the subject quickly.
"Go where?"
"Don't 'go where' me. You're the one who set the reminder, and now I've gone out of my way to remind you."
That was enough to jog Eiji's memory. Time flies when you're Mindlinking.
"Oh shoot, my appointment with Professor Ryusenji!" he shouted.
Eiji severed the Mindlink and returned to the real world.
Abadin Electronics, Denrin Digital Laboratory (DDL).
"Good morning, you two. These are phenomenal results!" Professor Ryusenji beamed, heaping praise upon Eiji and Loogamon the moment he'd stepped into his office.
"Thank you, Professor. We owe our successful Mindlink to the Digimon Linker and your tireless work!" Eiji said, smiling from ear to ear.
Loogamon's Hololized form sat curled on the sofa.
"And to your compatibility, my dear boy! Mindlinking doesn't work with just any Digimon, and it takes more than just an advanced device to do it! You two share a special connection," Professor Ryusenji said with a grin.
"---Still," Eiji began, "when I came out of the Mindlink and woke up back in the real world, I did feel a little woozy."
When Eiji had woken up from his first Mindlink, he had found himself still leaning against the wall of his apartment. His head had been swimming as if he was on board a wafting ship and he had felt like he'd wanted to vomit.
"I've been monitoring your vitals through the Digimon Linker, and I haven't noticed anything unusual. From looking at past trials, I don't think it's something to be concerned about so long as a bit of rest was enough to help you recover," the professor explained.
It was no different, apparently, from an astronaut returning to Earth after a stint in zero gravity, and something Eiji would grow accustomed to with time.
"That's a relief! Oh, there's also the thing about Loogamon… Hey, Loogamon!"
"Don't talk to me. I wanna sleep," a languid voice shot back. Loogamon got upset when he was bothered out of his naps, so Eiji decided to leave him alone.
"A question for the professor then! How are Digimon able to talk in the real world, too?!" Eiji blurted excitedly with his basic question.
"Once you've Mindlinked with a Digimon, you're able to communicate with them from that point onward," the professor calmly replied.
Once a human had Mindlinked with a Digimon, they would converse with each other even after the Mindlink was severed.
"So that means… there are more talking Digimon in DDL?!" Eiji prodded, extrapolating from the professor's comment about "past trials."
"That, as you know, is classified: D4," Professor Ryusenji answered, by way of indirect confirmation.
DDL was AE's state-of-the-art research laboratory. The D4 division must be full of exceptional hackers, code crackers, and now, Eiji suspected, powerful Digimon.
"Right then… to business," Eiji said, pivoting to the meat of the meeting. The purpose of Eiji meeting Ryusenji today was to give the professor his interim report.
Professor Ryusenji had selected Eiji to infiltrate the militant team of code crackers known as the Sons of Chaos (SoC), and get close to Tartarus, their mysterious leader, to learn more about the massive operation the SoC were planning.
"---I got word from the interviewer that I've passed the SoC entry exam," Eiji said, flipping his phone around to show the professor. Said interviewer's avatar, an abstract icon wearing a necktie as a headband, sat alongside the message he'd sent through GriMM informing Eiji that he'd passed.
"What did they give you as your test?"
"To survey the Wall Slum's 9th Avenue."
"That's a danger zone where even code crackers and the Digi-Police fear to tread..." the professor noted.
"It was easy for me, thanks to the Mindlink! Luckily, it also turns out that Loogamon used to live right there in Ninth Avenue. It was his old stomping grounds!"
"Hmm."
"Did you already know about that?" Eiji couldn't help but ask.
"Well, DDL took— Rather, DDL collected," the professor began, choosing his words carefully, "Loogamon from Wall Slum all those years ago. To keep him safe."
"Safe from...?" Eiji asked expectantly.
"That's classified."
"D4?" Eiji asked, guessing the answer.
"Quite right. Now, were there any more developments with regards to Loogamon's memory?" the professor asked.
"He only remembered bits and pieces when he picked up his own scent in Ninth Avenue. When he evolved into Loogarmon, it felt more like he was originally his Adult form and just remembered that the form existed, rather than achieving the evolution," Eiji said, voicing a hunch of his.
"Hm... So he recovered some of the power that he'd originally had," the professor said, nodding in acceptance.
"He couldn't remember much of anything, but the other Digimon of Wall Slum remembered Loogarmon— I believe they called him the Demon Wolf of the Castle of Nine Wolves," said Eiji.
Loogamon was a big enough boss Digimon that he had two names to prove it.
"---So his higher-than-thou attitude was from his original state of mind, I guess? I'm just glad that it wasn't due to bad training on my part!" Eiji said, pleased with himself.
"I'm sure you're already aware, but we have observed errors in Loogamon's memory. What we would call amnesia in humans," the professor stayed on topic.
"Yeah."
"It's possible that, as he remembers more, he will suffer bouts of mental anguish. If and when he does, Eiji-kun… I want you to be there for him."
—I want you to face the Digimon from the heart.
It was clear from the professor's gentle tone of voice that he cared deeply for Loogamon. He wasn't just some A.I. program to him.
"You got it!" Eiji said, looking over at Loogamon still curled up on the sofa.
Whereas Eiji was Hololized in the Digital World, here in the real world it was the other way around.
"---When I was Hololized in the Digital World, I think I got to understand Loogamon a bit better. Like, how Digimon… feel, I guess?"
Eiji couldn't adequately put his thoughts into words.
"Is that so? Well, let me just say then that I feel incredibly fortunate to have met such a young code cracker as yourself," the professor said.
"You really mean that?" Eiji said happily. "So much has happened since I met you and Loogamon, and now I feel like my life is moving again! That's why I really want to work with Loogamon in the Digital World to change life for the better!"
"Mmm yes, life... I suppose that makes you two partners in this endeavor."
Ryusenji describing him and Loogamon as "partners" hit Eiji just right.
"You bet we are!"
To Eiji, Loogamon was his Digimon partner who he teamed up with to help one another navigate the Digital World.
That was how Eiji honestly felt about Loogamon, and Eiji would do whatever it took to make sure Loogamon felt the same way about him.
If he could manage that, they could do anything! Even grow successful in the Digital World and change his life for good.
"Oh, that's right," Professor Ryusenji said. "Here's a little something extra for you, seeing as you got him to evolve to Adult."
"Awesome, a bonus!"
This was uncharted territory for Eiji.
He would never have been able to save up 100,000 DC, let alone 500,000, in an hourly job, no matter how many hours he poured into it. Now, though, he wouldn't struggle to pay rent or his credit card bills anytime soon. Feeling financially stable was exhilarating.
(It's sushi for dinner tonight.)
His small successes in the Digital World were paying real world dividends, and in turn affording him the ability to take on more risks in the hopes of reaping big rewards down the line.
"Now Eiji-kun, I want you to continue your investigation into the SoC," Professor Ryusenji ordered.
"Well, I'm an official member now and I've already been contacted by the higher-ups, so I'll be meeting with them later today," Eiji said.
"You certainly work quickly."
"Being able to Mindlink opens doors! It's better than any business card."
The mere mention of being a Mindlinker earned Eiji immediate respect, and wearing the Digimon Linker conferred more status than any luxury watch he could've bought.
"Who are you meeting with in the SoC?"
"Uhhh, let me check..."
Eiji scrolled through the messages on his phone to find the name: Marvin.
"Code cracker… Marvin, I guess is his name. I've only texted him."
"Marvin the Songsmith! You weren't kidding about meeting the higher-ups."
Professor Ryusenji rarely took such great interest in people, so this caught Eiji's attention.
"Is he famous or something?"
"He's a code cracker that writes code as though he is a virtuoso playing their instrument. He's one of the lead developers of that app you use... GriMM, that's the one."
Which made him one of the leading software engineers in the world.
GriMM protected its financial and social media services with extremely robust security. People the world over trusted it implicitly. However, if you worked for or ran an upstanding enterprise, you couldn't use GriMM for official business.
Why? Rumor had it that GriMM was developed and run by volunteer code crackers... In reality, though, there was no end to all manner of public institutions and armies casually using GriMM out of sheer convenience, which became an enormous security issue.
"Oh, so he's huge! Then maybe getting to their leader Tartarus is just one step after getting to Marvin, eh?" Eiji mused.
"Be careful, Eiji-kun. You're a spy; never forget that. You must operate in the SoC's inner circles without blowing your cover. I would prefer that you have a long career," the professor cautioned.
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Now before you meet with a member of the SoC's upper echelons, it's important that I show you something. It will be a matter of life and death for you."
Professor Ryusenji opened a file on his computer for Eiji to see.
—"D4 CLASSIFIED - M.L. EXPERIMENT NO. ■■■ - DATE:■■ ■■ ■■■■ - SITE: DDL"
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 2-2
"Channel SoC" on GriMM was the base of operations for the hostile code crack team known as the Sons of Chaos.
GriMM allowed anyone to set up a channel for whatever they wanted, so the SoC set up their very own safe haven on the network. Their top page featured that well-known propaganda video about their code cracker team, while the subchannels held a range of other content that helped SoC crackers earn their living: information about the Digital World, Digimon trading tools for sale, miscellaneous chat rooms and more.
They had even set up a sort of virtual reality lounge where members could communicate with one another through their avatars. The room wasn't that large, though, and the graphics were dismal compared to the latest online multiplayer games.
— "It's Eiji!"
— "The man, the myth, the legend!"
— "The hotshot rookie who took out the Digi-Police is here!"
The voice chat messages were coming in thick and fast, and in no time everyone in the SoC knew about the fresh-faced code cracker who'd overpowered the Digi-Police in Wall Slum. No one knew how the story got out, since Eiji's interviewer should have been the only one privy to it.
(No kidding, since I made sock puppet accounts to spread it around.)
Eiji himself had been the source of his own rumor, of course. The SoC were meddling with the Digital World far too much and endangering Digimon in the process. Professor Ryusenji had enlisted Eiji to get close to Tartarus, the leader of the SoC, and find out their motive for why this was happening. In order to ease that process, Eiji had set about selling his name around as a hotshot code cracker, one that Tartarus wouldn't be able to ignore.
(So, I accidentally used my real name instead of my Code Cracker name, but… whatever, right? It's a common name anyhow.)
Eiji sat leaning against the wall of his loft again, staring down at the virtual monitor of his Digimon Linker as he browsed GriMM.
The vSoC lounge was designed in a cyberpunk style, reminiscent of an industrial factory city covered with pipes. Eiji stood in it as his avatar while Loogamon sat beside him. Obviously, they were not Mindlinked.
It was evident to anyone that– even with the graphical limitations– whether he was the dot graphics in the Digimon Dock, Hololized, the realistic presence when Mindlinked, or the shoddy graphics of this lounge, Loogamon was clearly a Digimon.
"Sounds like this Cracker Eiji is a popular guy," Loogamon said flatly.
"All according to plan," Eiji said knowingly.
They weren't careless; Eiji had set his conversation with Loogamon in private mode to keep people in GriMM's open chat from hearing Loogamon's voice.
"How convenient that all these code crackers happen to think you're a hotshot code cracker," Loogamon continued, dryly.
"Well, I actually am, you know. I'm one of the few Class-A code crackers who can Mindlink!" Eiji retorted cockily.
It was true that the hurdles to Mindlinking were high. To start, one would first need to pay out of pocket to build a device that was the equivalent to the cutting-edge Digimon Docks being developed in AE's laboratories.
They continued to stoll casually through the lounge area.
"..."
"What are you doing, Loogamon?"
Loogamon on Eiji's screen… was lifting his rear leg delicately into the air and peeing on a steel pole.
"Just marking my territory."
"You can't run around marking whatever you want! This is the SoC's public space!" Eiji scolded.
"So I should make the SoC my minions instead?"
"We're spies, so don't attract too much attention. Okay, partner?"
Eiji felt justified in setting their chat to private mode. There was no telling what was going to come out of this mutt's mouth next.
"'Partner?' Really?" Loogamon protested, cocking his head.
"Well, you didn't like it when I called you Senpai, so… we're partners!"
"..."
Loogamon didn't respond and lifted his nose into the air.
It was the telltale sign that he'd realized something. That he'd picked up an interesting scent.
"---Someone's running a search on me," he said quietly. "I'm being watched."
Unlike Eiji, who was at home in his loft, Loogamon 'actually' existed in the SoC channel on GriMM's servers.
"That bothers you?" Eiji asked.
"Well I certainly don't like being stared at... There, that's the guy doing it," Loogamon growled, glaring at the large avatar approaching them.
It was a Black man whose dreadlocks made him look like a reggae musician. A Digimon with broad, mangled wings fluttered like a butterfly above his head.
---Airdramon. Adult-level. Mythical Beast type. Vaccine species.
The Digimon's head and body looked like a dragon from Eastern mythology, as it had no arms or legs. It would be more accurate to call it an amphiptere.
"I'm Marvin, from the SoC. It's a pleasure to meet you, Cracker Eiji." His tone was warm and friendly.
"The pleasure's all mine, Marvin. I've heard a lot about you."
"So, you've read my messages, then."
"Sure have. This is my partner, Loogamon."
Loogamon appeared to say something more to Marvin, but his chat was muted. Airdramon let out a series of sharp cries.
"Your 'partner'... I see. So that's your relationship." Marvin appeared rather impressed.
"So, to what do I owe the honor?" Eiji asked.
"Eiji... According to my records, you applied to join the SoC channel only yesterday."
"That's right."
"Have you ever applied under a different name? Or were you previously a part of any other code cracking teams?"
"Nah. I've always been freelance." That part was the truth.
"You sure about that?"
"Are you always this suspicious of people?" Eiji asked casually, though his heart was pounding.
"Well, when I hear that a rookie who joined within the last 24 hours is a hotshot code cracker who embarrassed the Digi-Police, I tend to think that's either a lie or something more going on," Marvin said, his smile never leaving his face.
"..."
Eiji kept quiet. Instead of ingratiating himself in, he'd made them even more wary.
Still, Eiji now stood before one of the SoC's higher-ups. That had to count for something. "Well…"
"Regardless, I also don't think a code cracker who is capable of Mindlinking would go out of their way to do something this stupid," Marvin said. "Follow me, and we'll finish this conversation."
They walked further into the factory, passing steel supports and pipes spewing steam.
Eiji entered Marvin's "room" after receiving an invite code; it shared the same cyberpunk-ish aesthetic as the rest of the group's channel.
"This is my private room on the SoC server," Marvin's avatar said in lieu of a formal welcome as he sat down on a chair. He gestured for Eiji to sit as well.
Eiji tried to imagine Marvin in the real world. What kind of person was he? Aside from a genius engineer, of course.
"So, you're an executive in the SoC?" Eiji asked.
"There's no such thing as official positions among us, but I've got some privileges on the channel, sure."
"I've heard that you're the engineer who built GriMM. Is that true?"
"I was one of the first core members on the project, but so were a lot of people. I just helped with a handful of lines of code, and suddenly everyone's calling me the creator of GriMM."
According to Marvin, GriMM was based on a number of different apps built by a multitude of volunteer code crackers. He couldn't take all the credit.
"So, you're saying that the Digimon tools are all self-made?"
"My main job is creating and evaluating those tools, yeah. If you want to put in an order, just say the word. First tool's free."
Airdramon rested on the catwalk above them, its tail tightly coiled around a beam. Loogamon sniffed here and there around the room with interest.
"---Now, down to business," Marvin said. "Eiji, the SoC's planning something big, but we don't have the numbers to pull it off."
Well, there it was. The big operation that Professor Ryusenji mentioned.
"Don't have the numbers? Aren't there a ton of people in SoC?" Eiji asked, feigning ignorance.
"Oh, we've got way more members than we need... But what we don't have are code crackers who can Mindlink and are classified as Class-A or higher according to the Digi-Police. That's when you showed up."
"I'm in. I'll do it," Eiji said bluntly.
"Pretty quick answer… For someone who I'm sure knows how dangerous the job is."
Marvin took a breath.
(...)
Eiji's thoughts had only been on his mission to spy on the SoC. He hadn't had the bandwidth to consider the operation's finer details.
"Dangerous… Yeah, dangerous, sure… Is it that dangerous?" Eiji checked, some worry finally seeping through.
"Look, you picked a fight with the Digi-Police and won. I get it."
Marvin seemed fully impressed by him now.
Despite being higher in the SoC ranks, he never once showed any disrespect towards Eiji. This was how strong of a determinant Mindlinking was on a code cracker's status; not only in terms of the Mindlink performance but how they were treated by those around them as well.
"Was that...bad?" Eiji was suddenly extremely worried about everything.
"You gave Section 11's Commandramon unit the boot and incapacitated their deputy squad leader's Digimon for good measure. That puts a gigantic target on your back. They'll lock you up and throw away the key if they ever catch you."
"Yeah..."
Digimon, by legal rights, were tools of law enforcement. It would be hard for Eiji to wriggle his way out if he was charged with destruction of police property and obstruction of police business.
"I guess I did break their confidence... Satsuki-chan got pretty pissed at me, too..."
"You got away with making such a big stand against the police because you knew how not to make a bad shot," Marvin said admiringly. Eiji suspected that Marvin wouldn't still be smiling if he revealed that he'd told Satsuki his real name.
"So, this thing—the big operation you're planning. Is Tartarus involved?" Eiji asked, laser-focused on his goal.
"You curious about our leader?"
"Well...yeah! Their code-cracking skills are legendary, and I'm only interested in SoC because I'm interested in Tartarus. Right, Loogamon?"
"Woof!"
Loogamon barked and took off, dashing from one end of the factory floor to the next.
Airdramon tossed something with its tail. Loogamon ran to fetch it, bringing back the object in his mouth.
"Is that a ball...?" Eiji asked distractedly, staring at the scene before him.
"Your Loogamon sure is a vigilant Digimon, but you've got him well-trained," Marvin said as he got up and walked toward Loogamon.
"Oh, uh, he's never really been around anyone but me... And he's a wolf, not a dog."
Eiji grew worried. Loogamon glared at Marvin with open hostility, as if to say, "Take this ball from me, I dare you!"
"Who's a good boy?! Go get it!" Marvin tossed something into the air. It was data.
A bone-shaped treat.
"Woof!"
Loogamon barked and took off at full speed, eyes locked on the morsel.
"For being a wolf, he sure acts like a dog! He never does that kind of stuff for me!" Eiji blurted out, suddenly a bit jealous of Marvin.
"Our leader Tartarus seldom makes an appearance," Marvin said abruptly.
"Sorry?"
"Tartarus is a mystery even to us higher-ups in the SoC. But, of course, it is Tartarus who has personally ordered us to carry out this operation," Marvin explained as he sent Eiji another invitation code.
—"OPERATION INFINITY," it read. Quite the name.
"Here's the channel where we discuss plans. I'll share the files with you. It's happening tomorrow at Japan time **:**... I'll divulge further details once we're all assembled here."
Marvin was being very careful not to let any information leak. The only thing that Eiji currently knew was the operation name, time of assembly, and that they would be meeting in Marvin's room.
"..."
"It goes without saying that you must be Mindlinked. I'll loan you the money for anything else you might need."
"Great! I'll message you later, then!" Eiji chirped, desperate to take advantage of this stroke of luck. An organization as big as SoC must make boatloads of money off their activities on GriMM. He imagined he could expense whatever he wanted, whether he had the receipts or not.
"Alright then," Marvin nodded.
"Catch you later!"
"Actually, there's one more thing."
Marvin's words stopped Eiji and Loogamon as they were leaving.
"---Do you know anything about the 'Black Agumon'?" Marvin asked.
"Nope," Eiji quipped. The silence persisted; he was desperate to fill it. "But I do know there's someone looking for it."
"Oh, that's us who are offering a reward for it... The SoC."
"What? That 100 million DC reward?!"
Eiji was floored. Marvin's avatar crossed its arms.
"That kind of money is pocket change for Tartarus. Finding that Agumon has become an obsession of theirs..."
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 2-3
All SoC executive members set to participate in Operation Infinity were gathered in Marvin's private room.
There were eight of them in total, Eiji included. All of them appeared as their avatars, naturally, but no Digimon accompanied them.
A virtual monitor displayed the briefing for the operation.
"It's overseas…" Eiji couldn't help his honest reaction and swallowed hard.
While the Digital World itself had no borders, such borders did exist on mankind's internet networks. Servers, being physical, were hosted in countries with geopolitical borders and thus subject to those countries' laws or the rules of whatever organization owned them.
The infamous large-scale operation that the SoC were to undertake involved hacking into the server of a well-known foreign nation: the nation of X.
"They're ranked the lowest by GDP, but they're notorious state sponsors of terrorism," Marvin said. Some dictator or other had ruled over that nation for decades now.
"X nation… I've heard of them on the news..." Eiji said quietly.
"Eiji?"
Marvin, as well as the other SoC bigwigs, seemed taken aback by the newbie's somewhat naïve reaction to the proceedings.
"What is it you don't like about these guys that we're messing with them?"
At Eiji's question, the execs erupted into loud laughter.
—HAHAHAHA!
Eiji began to suspect, from their raucous behavior, that a majority of them were not Japanese.
"Sorry, Cracker Eiji," Marvin explained respectfully. "I know this part of the briefing is boring for someone as highly skilled in code-cracking as yourself, but I need to explain everything in order. Even though we're all SoC members, it's rare that we actually assemble a team at this level. Gotta make sure everyone's on the same page."
X nation had been developing nuclear weapons, and more recently was engaging in cyber warfare that involved the Digital World in order to distract the public eye from their more stealthy terrorist activities that threatened to destabilize the real world.
"X nation has been the source of a number of cyberattacks in recent years. Just the other day they hacked the stock exchange and stole the equivalent of billions of dollars in cryptocurrency," Marvin said.
"That was them?!" Even Eiji had heard of that incident.
"Yep, it was a Digimon crime perpetrated by X nation. Terrorist acts like this one could potentially end up affecting our GriMM's economic sphere, along with code cracking teams' principles and freedom."
GriMM's market ran on DigiCoin, or DC, as its proprietary cryptocurrency. By breaking away from the world's most popular legal fiat currency, the U.S. dollar, GriMM was able to stand alone with its own economic zone. It was also the SoC's source of funds.
Which meant, when you thought of it from a different angle…
GriMM's economic sphere, based in the Digital World where there were no laws, sent shockwaves through the real world's financial markets. For national central banks and governments that sought to monopolize the right to issue currency so that they may shape national interests, GriMM's very existence posed a threat.
If the Digital World possessed currency that was of the same value as currency in the real world… it would mean that the cryptocurrency DC had the same value as the U.S. dollar. Allowing this would mean the collapse in value of other major commodities, ending in irreparable damage and losses.
And then what would happen?
Public society, a majority of whom hadn't even known the existence of the Digital World, would suffer massive losses, while those who had already been accumulating wealth in the Digital World would be afforded colossal amounts of power.
It would precipitate a financial crisis worse than any that had ever happened upon the world before. This was why current upper echelons of society were desperately trying to place restrictions on the Digital World, so that they might one day control it themselves.
(...)
Much of this explanation flew right over Eiji's head, but he managed to understand that the reason why world governments stood in opposition to code crack teams was due to who held rights over the Digital World.
Simply put, there was money to be made in the Digital World. This was the very reason for what drew Eiji to become a code cracker in the first place.
The international community denounced code crackers as terrorists, while code crackers insisted on their freedom to do what they wanted as they risked their everything to pioneer the new frontier known as the Digital World.
"But wait, if the X nation is committing cyberterrorism and Digimon crimes... If you take a step back, wouldn't that include all of us code crackers?" Eiji asked, causing the execs to laugh again.
Code crackers weren't exactly upstanding citizens to begin with.
"You've got a point, Eiji," Marvin said. "The only real difference is that X nation's dictator doesn't respect the freedoms of the network or the Digital World as we do. His respect for it only extends to how far it serves his own self-interests."
"Yeah, but that's like pot meet kettle. I wanna strike it rich in the Digital World, too. Isn't that why we all became code crackers? To change our lives?"
"Well, that brings me to why we're targeting X nation..."
— "Because that dictator pisses us off."
The SoC bigwigs' words were straight to the point.
"We want to destabilize that X nation's sorry, balding excuse for a leader because of—"
"His Ultimate-level 'Mugendramon'," Eiji interjected.
"...!"
"X nation is using their Ultimate-level Digimon for Digimon crimes and cyberterrorism, and pinning the blame on the SoC," Eiji continued.
Yesterday– As soon as he'd left his private meeting with Marvin, Eiji had opened up a chat with Professor Ryusenji to update him on the proceedings.
—Operation Infinity, eh… I see. The SoC must be after X nation.
All it had taken was the name of the operation for Ryusenji to decipher their plans.
He had explained to Eiji in painstaking detail about all of the information he needed to know… About X nation and its dictator, about how only X nation possessed an Ultimate-level Mugendramon, and of the SoC's deep rivalry with the country.
Back in the present, Marvin took in a sharp breath. "You already knew all about that, huh?"
Digimon crimes rarely made the news unless they were major accidents. That's how they remained a secret from the general public.
"You want to get back at the dictator who made you guys look bad," Eiji concluded.
"Damn right. You underestimate us, you pay the price!" Marvin yelled.
It was pure mafia logic: If someone made you look weak, you got back at them. That was part of what was in the life of a code cracker.
— "You're all here."
A voice crackled through the voice chat.
Everyone in the room sat up straight. Even their avatars looked twitchy with anxiety.
"Seeing as there's a fresh face here, allow me to introduce myself. I am the leader of the SoC, Tartarus, and I will be running this operation."
Eiji swallowed hard.
(It's Tartarus!)
He finally got to meet Tartarus. Well, hear Tartarus, anyway.
"Our main objective is to reach X nation's data server. Once we render their server useless, we'll capture their state secret Digimon, Mugendramon."
A state secret Digimon was a term for powerful Digimon who were capable of penetrating national security. It also meant that this Digimon could erect extremely solid defenses against outside attacks.
They were an ace-in-the-hole when it came to any fight between countries, be it cyber or conventional.
Nations who possessed such a Digimon, even if they were a small population, would command the same international attention as countries with nuclear weapons had once did.
"But our biggest and most important goal of all is to take that balding dictator down a peg!"
The entire room erupted in cheers at Tartarus's words. They set their watches to X nation's local time.
"This is a fight for freedom," Tartarus proclaimed. "And those who raise the flag of freedom must wage a lawless war!"
"For the freedom of the network!" Marvin shouted at the top of his lungs.
"For the freedom of the Digital World!"
All of the members shouted back.
This unification was what defined the militant team of code crackers, Sons of Chaos.
If this operation succeeded, the world would finally be forced to acknowledge the SoC as a code cracking team capable of toppling nations.
Eiji tried not to be overwhelmed by Leader Tartarus's strong presence.
The SoC executives took out their Digimon, many of them Cyborg types which was a code cracker favorite.
Eiji muted his microphone and looked down at his Digimon Linker.
"This is it, Loogamon! Here. We. Go!"
"Actually read through the operation file, won't you? I've already read it all."
"Oh, right."
One by one, each SoC member's avatar disappeared from the virtual monitor. Their Digimon, too, blinked out of existence as they were transferred from Marvin's room.
They were now Mindlinked.
Eiji slid his eyes down the shared file list to the coordinates of the operation's next steps.
"Launch a direct attack on X Nation's server from the Digital World, huh? Alright, here goes..."
Eiji's heart was leaping out of his chest. No matter how tough the security was, he'd be able to slip in unnoticed, like a ninja.
Eiji pressed a button on his Digimon Linker.
Breaking through the "constraints"---
"Good Eiji… Come on!"
"Let's go, partner! We're about to become even classier than first-class!"
Eiji felt certain that if he pulled off this mission, he'd get to meet Tartarus face-to-face.
He took a deep breath.
The sensors lit up to check his biometric data, and he was cleared to issue commands after his vitals had passed.
The limiter was lifted.
Eiji's consciousness became like light, and was thrown wide open.
— "Mindlink!"
The Mindlink digitized Eiji's consciousness and transferred that digital data into Loogamon's Digicore.
"An out of body experience!" Eiji said in an exaggerated spooky voice.
"What are you talking about?" Loogamon was having none of Eiji's jokes, as usual.
"Doesn't the Mindlink feel like I'm some living spirit possessing you or something?"
"I don't know what you mean about living spirits or possession or whatever!" Loogamon growled "If that's the case, then what about your body back in the real world? Does that mean you're a corpse?"
"No, I'm pretty sure I'm still alive!"
"Really?"
"Well, when you put it like that… What the heck happens to my body when I'm like this?" Eiji was suddenly VERY concerned.
"Didn't you hear Ryusenji explain the risks of Mindlinking the other day?" Loogamon snapped, sounding audibly exhausted.
"Erm, yeah, but his explanations are always so hard to follow," Eiji whined. "I do remember him telling me to Mindlink somewhere private so people won't see me, though. Like the toilet."
Did his body look like he was asleep while he was Mindlinked?
"If we find that you'd peed on yourself when we get back home, can I laugh?" Loogamon asked.
"Maybe I should've sat on the toilet first, before we started," Eiji groaned.
"You'll give yourself hemorrhoids," Loogamon shot back.
"I wonder how those SoC hotshots do it…"
As they languidly conversed, Eiji thought back on the risks of Mindlinking that Ryusenji had explained to him the other day.
—Now before you meet with the SoC's upper echelons, it's important that I show you something. It will be a matter of life or death for you.
As the two of them stood in his DDL office, Ryusenji opened a classified file on his monitor.
—"D4 CLASSIFIED - M.L. EXPERIMENT NO. ■■■ - DATE:■■ ■■ ■■■■ - SITE: DDL"
A recorded video played after the display showed this heavily redacted title.
"ML" stood for Mindlink, so it must refer to a Mindlink experiment that took place on a certain day in the D4 division of DDL.
The footage was taken from a camera attached to the ceiling.
There was a person sitting, dressed up in a special suit connected with cords. They wore a helmet covered in sensors on their head.
The whole getup prevented Eiji from telling whether they were a man or a woman, but they were obviously the subject of a Mindlinking test.
"Who is that?" he asked anyway. It was worth a shot.
"A hacker who worked for the laboratory," Ryusenji answered. "And a fantastic one, at that. They'd logged more hours Mindlinked than any of our other hackers at the time. In fact, I believe their record in the simulator still stands."
The video fast-forwarded. Before Eiji could ask what Digimon this person was trying to Mindlink with and why, something went wrong.
—".......!"
There was no sound on the video so he couldn't tell what the person was saying.
All of a sudden, the hacker convulsed wildly, as if they were being electrocuted.
Eiji jumped. Had they not been securely strapped in, they would surely have fallen onto the floor, risking further injury.
Medical staff came rushing into the picture, futilely trying to hold the hacker still. Eiji could see them shouting and screaming silently.
……
A few moments later, the hacker went limp and motionless.
The staff set about removing the cords from their suit, and the video cut out as they began pulling off the helmet.
"...What happened to that hacker?" Eiji asked, swallowing hard.
"Their Digimon partner ran into some trouble. We theorize that this led to them exceeding the Mindlink limit."
"The Mindlink limit…?"
"You haven't read the Digimon Linker manual yet then, I take it?" Ryusenji asked, shrugging.
"Oh… I'm more the 'learn by doing' type..."
"Needless to say, Mindlinking comes with a big risk," Ryusenji said.
Eiji instinctively nodded in response. "A big risk...?"
"Since Mindlinking fuses your consciousness with the Digicore, your ability to communicate with and issue commands to your Digimon increases greatly—the speeds are otherworldly. But there is a time limit to how long you can stay in this state."
"A time limit."
"The length of this time limit depends on the hacker or code cracker's individual level of training and physical condition, as well as their compatibility with their Digimon partner and evolutionary stage."
"Evolutionary stage," Eiji echoed back.
"For a Child-level Digimon like Loogamon, the countdown is quite slow. This explains how you were able to spend so much time Mindlinked in Wall Slum. However, should Loogamon evolve to Adult-level or beyond, the countdown will tick away far faster."
"...Suppose, through some chain of unfortunate events, Loogamon evolved to Ultimate-level..." Eiji posited.
"I imagine the Mindlink window would be quite short indeed at that stage."
Eiji gulped at Ryusenji's words. "Why is there a time limit?"
"There is an upper bound on the amount of time one can remain Mindlinked. I call it the L-Line, for Limit Line. Spend any amount of time above that line, and your consciousness will fuse with the Digicore, leaving only your mind trapped in the Digital World."
"When you say 'fuse,'" Eiji began.
"This will place the Digicore under immense strain as well, and completely destroy the Digicore itself in the worst-case scenario. The least that you'll get away with are errors in your data field."
"So when that hacker in the video crossed the L-Line… What happened to them?"
— "D. M. I. A."
Ryusenji enunciated each English alphabet letter carefully. It was obviously an acronym for something.
"DMIA?"
"Digitally Missing in Action," Ryusenji said quietly. "That's the designation for those who we lose to the Digital World while out on assignment. The hacker you just saw, we don't and will never know where they are now. Their consciousness has been shut out from ever returning back to their own body and to the real world."
"...!"
Eiji flinched, disturbed by what he was hearing. To think that one could be doomed to remaining in the underwater depths of the Digital World, never to be able to return to the surface…
"So then, uh...well, the body. What do you do with the body? That can't go to the Digital World, right?"
"The body remains in the experimentation room; it is now an empty husk."
"An empty husk… You mean…?"
"They've exited life."
In other words, they were comatose. There was no chance the hacker could be revived.
"...!" Eiji flinched again.
"The number of DMIAs has increased in recent years, due to a remarkable increase in the overall skill of the average code cracker on the street. More and more of them are capable of Mindlinking these days. And in response, so has the number of those in the Digi-Police's forces. In any case, once you run into trouble and cross the L-Line, it ends one of two ways."
"And those are?" Eiji asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answers.
"The first one is physical death, when your body remains undiscovered. This happens to a vast majority of code crackers. Eiji-kun… If you were to become DMIA, I imagine this would be your fate," the professor said gravely.
"Oh... I see."
So, he'd die in his three tatami mat-sized one-room apartment and no one would be the wiser.
His rent was paid via automatic withdrawal from his bank account. Because of his newfound savings, it would be several months before an overdraft hit, meaning he might not be found until his neighbors complained of the rotten stench coming from his apartment.
He'd be just another lonely death statistic[[3]] who died of unknown causes.
"The other option, if you're lucky, is being found unconscious and taken in for medical treatment. You'd be in a coma but your body would be looked after… but often, that too doesn't last. I don't know of a single person who was determined DMIA and has naturally regained consciousness and returned to the real world."
"Not even one?!"
"We can't even locate the lost hacker's Digimon partner. They vanish. Even if we did find them, the hacker's consciousness would likely have fused to their partner's Digicore."
The conversation was so shocking that it left Eiji speechless.
So long as he kept to the Mindlink's time limit, he'd be able to use the Mindlink to its highest ability, but it was one heck of a risk…
"To implement safety, I've set another line that comes before the L-Line. This is the K-Line."
"K is for…?"
"Keep clear, as a warning.[[4]] The K-Line is the line at which you stand the best chance of returning to the real world safely if you sever the Mindlink at that point and exit the Digital World."
—The L-Line (limit line to the connection) and the K-Line (warning threshold).
"The Digi-Police follow this system strictly, to the letter. You may think at times that they are in a hurry to retreat, but there's a very good reason for it…"
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 2-4
A type of international border does exist on the real world network.
Governments can, if they so choose, refuse connections originating from other nations. They can even cut the fiber optic cables running across the sea floor or take communication satellites out of orbit in order to physically restrict access.
The Digital World, however, didn't have such borders… which was something of a security issue, to put it mildly.
And the SoC was about to take full advantage of that problem.
What they were about to do—hacking into X nation's server– was cyber-terrorism. Their only defense was that their target was also a fellow code cracker who was a terrorist dictator.
Loogamon tore through the Digital World at the speed of light.
"What do you think Leader Tartarus has in mind by collecting all of these top-secret Digimon— these Ultimate-levels?" Eiji asked.
Airdramon, Mindlinked to Marvin, flew a few feet ahead of him.
The mission operated in teams of two, with each pair approaching the target from a different direction.
"What do you mean, 'collecting?'" Marvin shot back.
"Well, our orders were to capture it, right? Not destroy it."
Infiltrating into the heart of a state-sponsored terrorist organization and stealing their prized pet Digimon was going to be way harder than simply killing it.
"Hmm… Eiji, are you telling me you're more interested in Tartarus—in the whole SoC organization—rather than this operation?"
Eiji could hear the hesitation in Marvin's voice.
"Well..."
"Man, I can't believe you're so laid-back when this operation has been all I can think about! I didn't even sleep last night!" Marvin griped. "Being way too smart like you is gonna draw attention to us, you hear? Can we PLEASE focus on the mission first?"
Marvin clearly seemed to have fully overestimated Eiji's abilities.
(Which is good news for me, Eiji the Spy...)
Thank you, Mindlink. Thank you, Professor Ryusenji and all of your knowledge.
"I've known Tartarus the longest out of all of us at the top," Marvin said. "We go back to the founding of the SoC."
"Well hello, old-timer."
"But even I only know half of Tartarus's story. If there was a reason for why Leader would go after state secret Digimon… Then I'd presume…"
"..."
"We've reached the other side of the wall."
Marvin's Airdramon looked down.
Eiji also gazed down through Loogamon's eyes.
What they saw within the network looked like a planet amid a sea of stars.
The "deep" layer of the Digital World that lay unexplored by man was protected behind this security wall. Its surface looked not unlike that of the Earth's crust.
Of course, being the "deep" layer didn't mean that the Digital World existed below the crust. The real world and the Digital World were constructed differently.
If someone was to describe it, they would say it looked like a gigantic, sprawling space colony.
There were Digimon living there, surely, and likely in far better conditions than what Eiji had seen in Wall Slum…
"The other side of the wall…" Eiji repeated in wonder. "The deep Digital World beyond the security wall…"
One theory about Tartarus's identity was that they were a researcher trying to reach the true Digital World. Would that make them someone like Professor Ryusenji? Was reaching the deep layer the reason for why they needed such powerful Digimon…?
"Is Tartarus trying to bust through the Wall Gate?"
"Perhaps."
"Huh."
"Leader Tartarus is no ordinary code cracker. They take on challenging the Digital World continuously, as though they're looking for something. Always looking for something..." Marvin trailed off.
"What are they looking for? Anything in particular?"
"Not money or fame, obviously."
"The 'freedom' that code cracking teams talk about?" Eiji posited.
"Perhaps… Or maybe a never-before-claimed piece of the network on which to build their own country," Marvin said.
A country on which to raise an army of code crackers that would commit cyberterrorism on governments around the world, Eiji guessed.
Just then, he caught something out of the corner of his eye.
"There's turbulence!"
He spied one spinning along the surface of the security wall.
"Yeah, but that's a small one," Loogamon informed him.
No sooner had the words been spoken that the vortex disappeared. That couldn't have amounted to any harm for those living in Ninth Avenue.
"Phew! That's good."
"There's the hotbed," Loogamon continued. "The 'Demon Waters'[[5]] that I told you about. No one could go near there."
"Turbulence is a huge threat to us code crackers as well. If we get sucked into them, there's nothing our remote-controlled Digimon can do to escape," Marvin explained. He muttered 'absit omen!' under his breath as if to ward off bad luck.
"So, those vortexes," Eiji said, turning to Marvin, "Have any code crackers been brave enough to dive into one?"
"What code cracker hasn't found a hole that they don't want to dive into?" Marvin said, grinning wryly.
"But those things are holes in the security, right? And if the security wall is what's protecting the deep Digital World, then…" Eiji trailed off, hoping Marvin would see what he was implying.
"I'm sure there have been countless code crackers who've sent their Digimon into those things."
Eiji pictured storm chasers sending sensors into a tornado, or scientists launching probes to investigate the surface of a harsh and unforgiving planet.
The vortexes drew in the curiosity and tickling sense of adventure for those who strived to reach the deep Digital World.
"And? What happened to them?"
"If any code crackers and their Digimon were lucky enough to discover interesting data and return from the deep Digital World, then I haven't heard about them."
Marvin's answer wasn't any different from Loogamon's.
—Even if you managed to endure the force of the turbulence itself, you wouldn't leave it alive. There would be no room for miracles.
"Because the Digital World's system administrator would never abide an intruder from the real world… huh?" Eiji murmured, recalling Loogamon's words.
"If such a system administrator really exists, it's not a form we can conceive of," Marvin said flatly.
"So you don't know anything about it?"
"I doubt even that Professor Ryusenji guy would know. I have heard rumor of an elite code cracker who once Mindlinked and dove into one of those vortexes though."
"Whoa! What happened to them?"
"DMIA," Marvin said shortly.
"Missing..." Eiji muttered. He felt a shiver work its way through him.
Mindlinking definitely afforded a performance boost, but if the Mindlinked Digimon were incapacitated, their human partner could easily blow past the time limit and become DMIA. Worse, if the Digimon itself died, their Digicore, along with the human consciousness fused to it, would be destroyed, too.
"There is a ghost story going around that says you'll catch a glimpse of the system administrator if you go through a vortex," Marvin said solemnly. "Whoever gazes upon the face of that 'god'... dies."
"Say what?"
"It's a classic consequence of the old legends, you know? You burn up in flames if you catch even a glimpse of a god's true face, et cetera et cetera," Marvin said, adding, "Don't even think about it."
—Don't ever go near the turbulence. You won't like what comes out of them.
This was an unwritten rule for all code crackers, even among the SoC.
"Don't go near the turbulence, huh..." Eiji said quietly.
Whatever fight they were about to get into in X nation's server might visit death upon them, too. Whether they were ready for it or not…
"---Living in the Digital World is easier said than done, I see," Eiji grumbled.
"If that's what a hot-shot code cracker like you thinks, what chance do the rest of us have?! Young code crackers these days are all style, no substance. Everything's gotta be a fun game to you," Marvin groused, showing his age.
"Just wait until you see me with my game face on."
"Tell you one thing though," Marvin said, "Not a single person on any of the missions Tartarus led has ever landed a DMIA."
That's Leader Tartarus's leadership credential.
(No wonder everyone trusts Tartarus so much...)
They must be quite the charismatic leader, if they could unite the SoC, the most aggressive of all code cracking teams.
"---Enough chit-chat. It's time to launch our attack on X nation's server. We'll be right in the midst of enemy territory now," Marvin warned.
Since they were attacking, they had to be ready for a counterattack.
Eiji intuitively flicked his virtual monitor aside and engaged his tools to search-and-destroy mode.
They rose up towards the surface of the Net Ocean.
Real world servers floated on the surface like islands and boats. One among them was X nation's server, their target.
The outward appearance of the server was, in a word, gauche. It was a statue in the image of the dictator, towering above them in all its glory.
"Are we really gonna enter into a statue shaped like that old dude?"
Eiji was suddenly reminded of a time as a kid when he'd entered a giant Buddha statue somewhere in northern Kanto.
— "Spinning Needle!"
With a flap of its wings, Airdramon sent out a knife-edge wave that mowed down a horde of Digimon belonging to the X nation's defense forces.
The enemy were soldiers in the dictator's own army, professionals. However, they clearly weren't familiar with real battle.
— "Howling Fire!"
Hellfire poured from Loogamon's mouth, cutting off an entire street with inextinguishable flame and stopping the defense forces in their tracks.
"Nice one," Marvin said, tossing Eiji and Loogamon a compliment.
"Are you sure I should stay at Child-level?" Loogamon asked.
Airdramon was an Adult-level, and Loogamon hated to be one-upped. He was clearly wanting to evolve into Loogarmon so they could be on equal footing.
"We're a two-man team, and I want Eiji and Loogamon as backup," Marvin replied. "Stay at Child-level so you can budget your Mindlink time and pull us out of battle if necessary. The tool I sent you has a timer on it, right?"
When Marvin had said he could get Eiji anything he needed, Eiji had requested a tool of Marvin's own making.
"Yeah, I see it on the bottom right," Eiji said, shifting his vision to the corner of his virtual monitor.
A digital timer stood out on the bottom right of the tool, ticking down pretty slowly thanks to Loogamon remaining at Child-level. Each tick was roughly a second.
"---Marvin, this Mindlink tool you made is pretty awesome. It's so intuitive!"
"Well, thank goodness I'm an engineer."
Eiji would have to complete the mission in full before this timer reached zero, which indicated the L-Line. Wait, not even that, he'd have to finish things before he reached the warning threshold of the K-Line.
Airdramon remaining at Adult-level signified that Marvin was a veteran at this sort of thing, and he'd have ample time for the operation even at Adult-level.
"Eiji! You, me, and our Digimon partners are the keys to this whole operation," Marvin barked.
"I like the sound of that!" Eiji chirped.
"All of the other support members are currently engaged in a full-frontal cyberattack on X nation's server. Even the separate team trying to infiltrate the server is a decoy for you and me. We're the ones who are gonna head straight for their state secret Digimon, so conserve your Mindlink time until it's go time," Marvin said as they emerged from a wireframe tunnel.
Real world servers were the dullest things that Eiji had ever seen. It looked like they were in a retro game from decades past. It was wild how much of a difference it was from the view that Eiji had of the Digital World through Mindlinking.
"So, what you're saying is, you and I are gonna be capturing the super menacing state secret Digimon…"
The resistance that they were facing from X nation's defense force wasn't as big as Eiji had expected. The decoy team must be doing a great job of putting up a diversion.
"Something's up ahead," Loogamon said suddenly.
A few moments later, Airdramon came to a stop at the end of the tunnel.
The wireframe tunnel had been blocked off.
"That's HUGE!" Eiji shouted, looking up at… a door. It had to be about four or five stories tall.
"Is the state secret Digimon behind this door? Nice work, Loogamon."
"I've got a good nose," Loogamon said.
"Busting through this security lock is gonna be a pain in the ass!" Marvin spat as Airdramon calculated the distance to the bulkhead.
"Nah," Loogamon said casually, approaching the door.
"? Loogamon…?" Eiji asked.
"Eiji, set your tool to 'decode' mode," Loogamon commanded.
"Oh… Ohhhhh!"
Decode Mode — in other words, decryption.
The interface on Loogamon's forehead began to glow.
"Wait, what? Are you serious?!" Marvin yelped, stunned.
The decoding rate shot to 100%.
With a deep, mechanical rumble, the massive door unlocked and slid open.
"It appears I'm good at unlocking doors," Loogamon said with slight surprise.
Marvin's Airdramon did a quick twirl in the air in a show of appreciation.
"Eiji, Loogamon… you two could literally rob the Central Bank's vault without breaking a sweat. Go check the Federal Reserve Bank in New York and tell me if they're really packed with gold bars, would you?" Marvin joked.
"Yeah, pass. That'll get us arrested for sure," Eiji retorted, trying to hide his own astonishment at Loogamon's apparently infinite potential.
The massive door to X nation's server was now wide open, revealing a vast, yawning darkness.
From somewhere within rose a low, robotic roar.
MUGENDRAMON.
The X nation's state secret Digimon.
It held a criminal record that included cyberterrorism, wire fraud, cyberattacks on the networks of enemy nations, and a litany of other charges.
This was humanity's greatest foe, a veritable Frankenstein's monster put together from the parts of various other cyborg-type Digimon.
It was, in a word, massive. About the entrance-to-an-aircraft-hangar massive. Its gleaming silver body recalled the contours of nature's most formidable carnivorous dinosaurs, and upon its shoulders rested the massive double barrels of its Infinity Cannon.
---Mugendramon. Ultimate-level. Machine type. Virus species.
"Yo, this is too much!" Eiji yelled, quaking with fear.
Code cracker or not, it wasn't every day that Eiji got to see an actual Ultimate-level Digimon before him. Much less one that he was supposed to help capture.
"That thing's nothing more than a dog tied down with a chain... Less than a dog, even," Loogamon sniffed.
"What are you talking about?" Eiji said incredulously.
"Look at it. It's held in place by a bunch of tools."
Loogamon was right. Mugendramon was lashed down to the docks of this massive hangar inside X nation's server. Its limbs and body were restrained by cuffs of code.
—Grrrrooooooooaaaaaaar…!
Mugendramon let out another series of low roars.
No one could tell what it was trying to say, but the roars didn't sound particularly angry, sad, or even vengeful. It was the sounds of a lifeless Digimon.
"---They won't let it live, but they won't kill it either. They're just wringing every available bit of power out of it. What a pathetic existence."
I wouldn't want to end up like that, Loogamon murmured. He looked at Mugendramon with an unusual amount of sympathy.
Marvin's Airdramon advanced. "We're gonna hit it with all we've got! Eiji, back us up!"
"Yeah... You got it," Eiji said uneasily.
"Airdramon, evolve–!"
Airdramon began to glow.
Its lower half turned serpentine, like the Nagas of ancient myth. Its upper half took on a muscular, more humanoid form, albeit half-machine.
Marvin's Digimon grew even larger in size, its robotic armor changing its appearance from a mythical creature into a cyborg. It looked even more like a soldier ready for war.
—Megadramon. Perfect-level. Cyborg type. Virus species.
Eiji gulped. "Perfect-level Megadramon…!"
Marvin's Digimon had just upped the pressure significantly. The "Songsmith" was ready to start the show.
Megadramon was one of the strongest and most devastating when it came to destructive power among the various Perfect-level Cyborg Digimon that were out there. He was a program built to destroy, a near-perfect computer virus that could easily infiltrate even the most hardened of network security and completely reformat the host computer on which they were installed.
Megadramon raised both arms that were like the ends of massive demolition arms.
Its three pincer-like fingers opened up like pliers to reveal the cannons hidden in its palms.
— "Genocide Attack!"
Missiles flew out of Megadramon's hands, landing all over Mugendramon. The blasts tore into the codes that kept it restrained.
"Hey, watch it! You're gonna end up killing Mugendramon!" Eiji screamed, his nerves jangling as he kept an eye on their surroundings.
Mugendramon remained still. It couldn't fight back even if it wanted to. Ultimate-level it may be, but it was completely under human control. At this point, it wasn't even certain if it could even still be considered a proper Mugendramon.
"Relax, I'm only targeting its restraints," Marvin said dismissively. "It may be all chained up, but it's still an Ultimate-level. The only way we're gonna capture it is by force."
"By force?"
"Gotta bust this thing out of its chains and use our own capture tool on it. Time to tear 'em up!"
Mugendramon crossed both arms.
— "Ultimate Slicer!"
A rupture.
A cross-shaped slash briefly fell over Mugendramon, shredding data in its path.
POP! CRACK! HISS! POP! POP! POP!
Sparks like fireworks suddenly filled Eiji and Loogamon's sight.
It was electrostatic charges. The constant flickering and rumbling completely disoriented Eiji inside Loogamon's Digicore.
"Damn! Where the heck did those flashing lights come from?!"
Electricity to Digimon was like blood and air to humans, but it was possible for too much electricity to overload their system and break them.
In the absence of visuals, Loogamon used his nose to search.
——Ultimate-level. Deity type. Vaccine species.
"Ultimate-level?!" Eiji squeaked, his voice cracking as he read the data on his monitor.
There was another Ultimate Digimon here, besides Mugendramon?
The light gradually faded.
Pulses of small lightning danced along the walls as sparks leapt across the open air of the hangar.
FWISH!
There was a rush of air.
Neither Eiji nor Loogamon could believe what they were seeing.
"What the—?!"
"No! Megadramon!"
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 2-5
Marvin's menacing Megadramon was now motionless and spewing smoke. Its powerful cyborg arms hung limp at its sides and massive gashes were torn into the metal. Something had cut through, deeply.
—"Dual Sword Thunderclap!"
Twin sword slashes ripped through the air, destroying everything in their path.
Was it coming from X nation's defense forces? Loogamon continued to search for the invading enemy.
"Marvin! Hey, Marvin!" Eiji shouted, but heard no reply.
"This is bad…" Loogamon said. "Megadramon must have shut down from all the damage. I can't communicate with old man Marvin."
During a Mindlink, the human was safe within their Digimon's Digicore so long as they didn't Hololize and leave themselves open to outside attacks. If the Digicore didn't take any damage, the human didn't receive direct damage either.
However, if the Digimon themselves lost consciousness from damage, or even temporarily ceased to function, the Mindlinked human's consciousness was unable to gain contact with either their Digimon partner or the outside world.
"---Hey! New guy!"
A voice broke in through voice chat. It was one of the other pairs of SoC members who were part of the operation. They had made short work of the defenses on their way to meeting Marvin and Eiji here.
"Mugendramon…?! You guys still haven't captured it yet?!"
"What the… Hey, Marvin!"
The pair quickly realized that Megadramon was in freeze mode.
"A sneak attack took out Megadramon and I can't reach Marvin!" Eiji summarized shortly.
"Someone… Someone got Marvin?"
"I thought we drew away the entire defense force from you guys…"
The SoC pair was utterly bewildered.
"If the defense forces aren't behind this… Is it the Digi-Police?!" Eiji wondered.
"No, it's not the feds… We're overseas, they don't have jurisdiction," one SoC executive dismissed immediately.
That would be an abuse of legal authority. If it came to light that the Japanese police had also hacked into X nation's server, it would be an international incident. Such an incredibly risky move wouldn't be done so openly.
"Anyway, it seems like the other guy is another Ultimate-level!" Eiji informed them. "Everybody stay—what was that?!"
There was static… or was that clouds?
Just when Eiji thought he caught a glimpse of something abruptly form out of nothing—
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE!
Their Digimon (with them inside) were thrown against the wall of the hangar.
There were shock currents— once again, violent electric discharge crackled throughout the hangar. From a cloud of flashing purple lightning emerged the personification of a thunder god.
—"Kazuchimon!"
The creature held twin blades crackling with lightning. His clothing and sacred rope wrapped around him like a belt recalled to mind the Japanese god of thunder, Takemikazuchi, from whom his name was likely inspired from.
"That guy is trouble!" Loogamon growled, trembling in fear. The pressure that Loogamon felt traveled into Eiji through their Mindlink.
It was through this that Eiji could immediately understand that Kazuchimon was one who could face a thousand fighters by himself— with his horrific blades, he was an Ultimate-level Digimon who had honed both his body and mind to absolute perfection.
"The Ultimate-level Kazuchimon…!"
Eiji felt faint.
This guy went above Perfect-level. Being an Ultimate-level meant that you had the power of a god in the Digital World.
While X nation's Mugendramon was also an Ultimate-level, Kazuchimon was on another level in a way that Eiji couldn't quite articulate. Kazuchimon didn't look particularly special or gigantic in size like Mugendramon, yet Eiji felt cowed by the pressure that emitted from him.
This was an Ultimate-level who felt more real, more alive…!
"Ultimate-level Kazuchimon…! There's only one person we know who can control that guy…!" one of the SoC leaders said.
"You know him?"
"He's… a hacker," their voice choked. "Hacker Judge…!"
SLICE! SLICE!
Ultimate-level Kazuchimon struck out with his two swords. The tips of the blades cut jagged shapes like lightning through the air.
"Hacker Judge?!" Eiji repeated.
Hackers shared the same views as the police when it came to their opinions on code crackers. However, while the police were public servants who opened investigations and issued arrest warrants, hackers were private citizens who were the same netizens as code crackers. In slang terms, they were self-governing, self-righteous types with a penchant for vigilante justice.
While the principle of code crackers was to embrace freedom of the network, there were people who did not agree that such complete freedom should be available.
Such as it was, the principle of hackers was to enact "justice."
What's more, their "justice" wasn't one consolidated view among their peers, but whatever the individual hacker thought was the moral and just thing to do. From a code cracker's point of view, the entire lot of hackers was a group of dangerous-minded radicals who could never see eye-to-eye with them.
Kazuchimon's data was finally obtained and appeared on Eiji's virtual monitor.
"A Mindlink!" Eiji cried. "Loogamon, he's Mindlinked too!"
"You need to be Mindlinked in order to unlock 100% of an Ultimate-level's power. That hacker is in deep," Loogamon said quietly.
Cruuuunch!
The next thing Eiji heard was the sound of rending metal. Mugendramon, who had been chained to the walls of the hangar, was not only awake, but freeing itself from its restraints. Megadramon had already broken its chains from one arm and one leg.
It would be impossible to control if it escaped.
If an unchecked Mugendramon ran loose on the outside network...
"---Pitiful."
A voice spoke from Kazuchimon. Was it the voice of the Mindlinked Hacker Judge?
"...?" Eiji didn't understand what the voice meant by saying 'pitiful.'
"You have committed too many crimes," the voice continued. "Not all of them willingly, perhaps, but you will be punished for them all the same."
Kazuchimon—or was it Judge?—was speaking to Mugendramon. Had Kazuchimon been focused on Mugendramon all this time?
Whatever the case was, Eiji had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"No way!" he cried.
With a loud crackling, Kazuchimon summoned a number of small spheres made of pure electricity. He looked like he was charging up for a massive attack.
By compressing electrical energy in terms of both temporal and spatial, it gains an energy density that is instantaneously equivalent to the power consumption of an entire world. Pulse power— this was a fusion-grade power likened to the core of a small sun.
Such amassed electric charge was shot out in a fraction of a nanosecond.
– "Final Ultimate Blow… 'Divine Lightning Summon'!"
No one's eyes could follow it.
All everyone knew was that, when they next blinked, there was a hole through Mugendramon's metal body. The lightning bolt that had shot out from deep within the Digicore scorched everything in its wake and ripped cleanly through Mugendramon, settling down into dust.
There was a roar.
It was the sound of Mugendramon in its death throes.
The perpetrator of so many Digimon crimes and terrorist acts, the one who had made a name for itself in the network's secret history, was falling to pieces before their very eyes, threatening to take the hangar and data server down with it.
"Return once more to your Digiegg. I pray that next time, you are not captured by another wicked human," Hacker Judge spoke solemnly as he witnessed the end of the state secret Digimon.
So this was the god of thunder, the Ultimate-level…
Kazuchimon turned around to face the remaining code crackers.
His gaze was enough to freeze even the SoC executives in their place.
Eiji… took stock of the situation.
Megadramon lay unconscious on the floor of the hangar. Hopefully Marvin was still alive in there, but he couldn't be sure.
(Oh shoot, Marvin! How long has he been Mindlinked?!)
Megadramon had launched a massive attack on Mugendramon to free its restraints, which meant even a seasoned veteran like Marvin had to be close to reaching his Mindlink limit.
"As for you, SoC members..." Judge said, turning his attention now toward Eiji and the others.
"He knows who we are!" Loogamon growled.
"I took a free ride on your little operation here in order to quickly and efficiently rid the world of a state sponsor of terrorism. Mugendramon, who was one of the major sources of Digimon crime, has been eliminated, taking with it X nation's ability to wage cyber warfare."
—For that, I am grateful to you.
The hacker spoke languidly.
"...! Yeah, well, way to swoop in and steal our prize!" Eiji yelled in annoyance.
Spy or no spy, he couldn't contain his anger at someone not only sidetracking his work but stiffing him of his reward.
"I said I am grateful… However, I am a hacker."
"?!"
"As such, I do not allow code crackers to go as they please."
You will be cut down immediately.
Hackers made immediate decisions on their actions, judging according to the justice that they upheld.
—"We're out of here."
A voice spoke. It was Loogamon's inner voice that only Eiji could hear.
"Loogamon…?"
"The SoC operation was a failure, a colossal fiasco. None of us expected this hacker's Ultimate-level, and old man Marvin may be permanently lost. What do you say?" Loogamon said, waiting for Eiji to make the decision.
"..." Eiji thought for two seconds. "We're leaving. There's no point in staying here."
"Okay."
"But we're rescuing Marvin," Eiji insisted.
"The guy's from the SoC, remember? The organization you're supposed to be spying on?" Loogamon pointed out. "He's not your friend."
"I don't care! He made a custom tool for me, and he's a good guy! I've still got a lot to learn from him and I'm not just gonna..."
Eiji didn't finish the thought. He switched to the chat with the other SoC leaders.
"---This is Eiji! The operation is a failure! We'll draw the hacker's attention away while you guys grab Marvin and get out of here!"
"Okay… But can you do it? He's an Ultimate-level—"
"There's no time! Let's go, Loogamon!"
Eiji and Loogamon turned to face their enemy. The SoC pair ran to Megadramon and attempted to recover Megadramon using the same tool that they'd planned to capture Mugendramon with.
"..."
Kazuchimon lowered his dual swords. The electricity crackling around him dissipated.
"From what I've heard about your leader Tartarus," Hacker Judge began, "is that they have never lost a single person in any of the operations they have directed. I expect that I will drag that reputation through the mud today. Did you really expect me to allow you to leave here quietly? This shall be the SoC's final resting place!"
—Boutmon. Perfect-level. Humanoid Beast type. Vaccine species.
"He reverted to his Perfect-level form?" Eiji said in bemusement.
This was a downgrade, not an evolution. He failed to see the rationale behind it.
"I have defeated the SoC's Marvin and his dangerous Megadramon. Now that Mugendramon is destroyed, this form will be enough to clean up the rest of you."
Boutmon was a Digimon who was a learned martial artist. He appeared as if he excelled in hand-to-hand combat.
"Is this guy underestimating us?" Eiji muttered low in annoyance.
"He may be de-evolved, but he's still a Perfect-level," Loogamon warned. "And remember, he's on a time limit the same as us. That hacker jerk is so composed that it's freakin' annoying… but…"
"Loogamon…"
"Eiji… If that guy's underestimating us like you say, then this is our chance."
"...! Got it!" Eiji barked, casting one last look at his stats on his virtual monitor. "Loogamon, evolve! We'll hit him where it hurts!"
---Loogarmon. Adult-level. Dark Beast type. Virus species.
Loogarmon instantly wrapped himself up in a ball of fire and lunged. He struck Boutmon, who had been advancing towards Megadramon, with a speed and power that hadn't been anticipated.
—"Flame Blow!"
Boutmon was hit and flung backwards. He had guarded himself with a knee block, but had been thrown a great distance.
"...?!"
Boutmon was visibly shaken. The knee that he'd blocked with was still smoldering, taking continual damage from the undying magic flames.
The SoC pair safely secured Megadramon with their tools during that time.
"You..." Judge seethed, his full attention now on Loogarmon.
Loogarmon's evolution from Child-level to Adult-level had significantly increased the bulk of his legs, and his once blue-gray fur was now covered in red flames that bordered along his body like a plume of decorative feathers.
—"Howling Burner!"
Loogarmon roared, unleashing a torrent of fire.
Boutmon blocked the concentrated fire again, this time with his arms, but again the flames covered them, adding to the damage tally.
"You can only evade this fire, huh? What was this Digimon called again? Loogarmon?" Judge said through gritted teeth.
Eiji kept up his hit-and-run attack pattern. Since his enemy was a fighter-type, it was best to keep him at a healthy distance.
"You don't have all day to keep this up, eh? Mr. Martial Arts?" Eiji taunted.
He had no idea what Judge was capable of, nor how much time he had left. Everyone had a time limit, but if Judge was particularly compatible with his Digimon, this could be a long fight.
"..."
"You've launched a couple big attacks as Ultimate-level. No matter how much of an amazing hacker you are, that's got to have cut down huge on your leftover Mindlink time. That's why you needed to downgrade to Perfect-level, to buy yourself a little more time!"
Meanwhile, Eiji and his teammates had remained in Child-level form. Time, at least, was on their side.
And they didn't even have to win this fight. They were just buying enough time to get Marvin out of here.
"All units, retreat! You too, Eiji! Hurry!" shouted a familiar voice in the open chat room.
"Marvin, is that you?! Good to hear from you, man!"
Megadramon had come to inside the recovery tool, restoring Marvin's chat access in the process. The SoC members were already starting to flee the hangar.
"Eiji...?" Judge said softly, with a hint of recognition.
"Hacker Judge!" Marvin yelled. "You've made a huge mistake, destroying Mugendramon! You're gonna regret making enemies with the SoC!"
"Hmph! Keep barking, little dog. You've lost, Marvin the Songsmith," Judge said dismissively.
"You'll pay for this, Judge Leon!" Marvin shouted back from within Megadramon's wounded body.
"Leon…?" Eiji's ears pricked up at the name.
"Eiji, look!" Loogarmon cried.
Boutmon was downgrading once more, this time to Child-level.
—Pulsemon. Child-level. Beast type. Vaccine species.
The hacker must have decided it was time to give up. They had destroyed Mugendramon, which was their main objective.
Eiji looked at the small elf-like Digimon that now stood before him, shooting off sparks like small fireworks, and… it looked so familiar.
A long time ago…
—"You're the only one I've ever shown him to, Eiji. He was entrusted to me to be my treasure… He's my dearest friend."
It all came rushing back to him.
He had been jut a boy in elementary school when his best friend had secretly shown him that same exact Digimon, Pulsemon.
He hadn't known anything about Digimon, let alone the Digital World, back then...
"Pulsemon..." Eiji turned the name over in his head. "Is that you, Leo-cchi?! Leon Alexander?"
On impulse, Eiji Hololized himself. He stood beside Loogarmon for his opponent to see.
"...!"
Judge's demeanor from within Pulsemon noticeably changed upon hearing Eiji's words, and he Hololized as well.
The hacker Judge that appeared next to Pulsemon was blond-haired and blue-eyed, as Eiji remembered, but an obviously masculine young man. So very unlike the delicate, almost feminine boy in Eiji's memories.
But he still looked… so familiar. It couldn't be anyone else.
"Leo-cchi..."
"Eiji... Is that you, Eiji Nagasumi?!"
The screeching sound of an alarm shattered their reunion. Reinforcements from X nation were approaching.
The SoC pair, with Marvin and Machinedramon still safely tucked away within their capture tool, had left the hangar. Eiji, however, couldn't take his eyes off the hacker and his Digimon in front of him.
"Leo-cchi!"
"Eiji… How did you end up becoming a code cracker? –Gghh!"
Bullets rained down from above. X nation's defense forces seemed to have finally grasped the situation, as their attack fired down upon Pulsemon.
Like a bolt of lightning—
Pulsemon turned into a lightning bolt to dodge all attacks, escaping the hangar. No one could track him with the naked eye.
The hangar continued to fall down around them.
"Leo-cchi… Leon is a hacker now...?"
"I don't know what kind of history you have with Judge, but we're done here! We have to get out, now!" Loogarmon barked, holding the approaching defense forces at bay with a wall of demon fire.
Deep inside the Digicore, Eiji's mind reeled as Loogarmon fled X nation's server.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 2-6
In GriMM's SoC channel, a visitor darkened the digital door of Marvin's private room.
"What brings you here? Never thought I'd see you come all this way to wish me well?" Marvin asked, turning to face his unexpected guest.
Standing in the doorway was an avatar of a salaryman with a necktie around his head… The SoC interviewer.
"Glad to see you're not experiencing any lingering effects, my friend," the interviewer… no, the Digimon at the avatar's feet was saying.
—Dorumon. Child-level. Beast type. Data species.
He flicked his bushy tail.
Though Dorumon was classified as a beast type, there were small wings protruding from his back upon closer inspection. Rumor had it that Dorumon had the data of a mythical dragon stored within his Digicore.
"I wouldn't have made it back if not for you, Dorumon," Marvin replied.
"And what of Megadramon—or rather, Airdramon's status?"
"Luckily, his Digicore didn't sustain heavy damage. He's undergoing maintenance right now, and probably will be for a while."
Indeed, Marvin's Digimon was nowhere to be seen on the catwalk above.
"If Megadramon had remained frozen and your consciousness crossed the L-Line..."
Marvin would've been DMIA, lost within the network forever.
"Heh… That new kid you scouted saved me," Marvin said with a low chuckle. "Can't believe I let a hacker get one over on me. For the first time in all my years on the network, I felt old. Heck, maybe it IS time to hang up the hat, I dunno."
Marvin couldn't stop grumbling. GriMM was already abuzz with news of the attack on X nation.
Hackers had leaked their side of the story: that a lone hacker named Judge had single handedly stopped the SoC's large-scale attack on X nation's server. That Judge had not only taken down X nation's state secret Digimon, but had outwitted the SoC and their leader Tartarus.
"We're exploring retaliatory options against Hacker Judge," Dorumon said.
"If you make an enemy of Judge Leon... You make an enemy of my home country. The good ol' stars and stripes," Marvin said, taking on a ruminating pose.
"This is a severe provocation that threatens not only the SoC, but the very ideals of all code crackers," Dorumon shot back.
— "In other words, we're not going to let this go."
The interviewer, who had remained quiet all this time, interjected. His avatar was no longer that of an office worker with a tie for a headband.
A new avatar of a man, wearing a jacket, stood beside Dorumon. A scar ran from just above his left eye to his forehead. No one could have mistaken him for a salaryman.
—Tartarus.
His avatar as an interviewer was a sub account, used for cover. This was the real identity of Tartarus, the legendary code cracker and leader of the SoC. Only Marvin knew of his true form.
"---So, it's gonna happen, then? The big war that you—both of you—have been plotting? Tartarus. Dorumon," Marvin said, gaze fixed on his leader.
"Losing that state secret Digimon hurt but… the time is ripe. The final piece of the puzzle has at last fallen into place," Tartarus said.
"Loogarmon, the Demon Wolf of the Castle of Nine Wolves… and Cracker Eiji," Dorumon said, finishing his partner's thought.
"Eiji, huh… I get what you guys see in him," Marvin said. "At first, I thought he was a bigheaded prick who only cared about how he dressed, but… he didn't let flattery go to his head, and he didn't overestimate himself. That kid's got the instincts of a pro. He didn't cut and run, and he didn't leave me behind. Heck, I think I actually like him."
"Wow," Dorumon commented with a wry smile.
"His partner's still Adult-level, though," Marvin pressed with a note of concern.
"I see it as room for growth. And grow they must, if we're to succeed. To that end..." Tartarus said.
"Tartarus, you're not thinking of—" Marvin started.
"Evolution," Dorumon interrupted. "We only reach new heights when we're pushed to the limit. When we turn that limit into a stepping stone."
Dorumon brought up a virtual monitor. It displayed the photographs and profiles of both Eiji Nagasumi and Leon Alexander.
"---We haven't seen the full extent of Eiji's powers yet," Tartarus said. "Until we see who he is as a code cracker—as a human—we can't rely on him to cover our backs in the end."
—The SoC fights for freedom of the network. For the freedom of Digimon.
"Can we count on you to protect my back? To protect Tartarus's back to the end? Marvin the Songsmith" Dorumon asked.
"Of course, my sworn friend Dorumon. And Leader Tartarus—"
At Abadin Electronics' Denrin Digital Lab's simulator room in the classified D4 department—
Leon Alexander, DDL-employed hacker, carefully removed the sensor-tracking helmet used for endurance tests and sat up from the sheets.
"Nice work, Leon!" his partner Pulsemon greeted him, Hololizing to run rapid laps around the room. Sitting still was never this Digimon's strong suit.
"You too, Pulsemon," Leon said, standing up to his full 180 cm height. The form-fitting suit that he wore for bio measurements hid little of his Greek-sculpture body. His dirty blond hair complemented his blue eyes, and he looked well-bred for a 19-year-old.
"We did it!" Pulsemon cheered. "That's a new Mindlink endurance record!"
It was simulator-only of course, but as far as anyone could confirm, what they just did could be a new world record.
"Oh yeah? …Well, I couldn't have done it without you, Pulsemon."
"What else did you expect? You and I are unstoppable, Leon! After all, I've known you since you were in diapers…"
"That's an exaggeration."
"Ah come on, we've been a team since you were in elementary school! Casual code crackers have got nothing on us!"
— "Phenomenal!"
A voice over the simulation room's intercom broke in. They turned to see Professor Ryusenji standing on the other side of the room's glass.
"I didn't realize you were there, Sensei," Leon said, bowing to him.
"Hey there, Ryu-chan!" Pulsemon chirped casually, never one for decorum.
While there were theories that a Digimon partner took on the characteristics of the person raising them… for this pair, that was a total lie.
"Hey there, good morning, Pulsemon," Ryusenji mimicked Pulsemon's playful tone, "And congratulations, Leon!"
"Thank you, Sensei."
"America got its revenge on the criminal who took down WWW Flight 626," Ryusenji said.
Leon's blue eyes sharpened as he processed the meaning of the professor's words.
"..."
"The SoC's premeditated, large-scale attack on X nation's data server was brought to an impasse by a lone hacker, and X nation's crown jewel, the state secret Digimon Mugendramon, was destroyed. Absolutely phenomenal…. Hacker Judge's strategic maneuvering is a match for an entire nation!" Professor Ryusenji beamed as he heaped praise on Hacker Judge– Leon's exploits.
"Mugendramon was behind the WWW 626 crash that killed more than 100 Americans, and America does not abide terrorism," Leon said carefully.
"And who ordered the strike? The Department of Defense?"
"No, I acted of my own accord. It was now or never," Leon said. "The crash of WWW 626 was… It was an act of terrorism that is my humiliation to suffer and a loss that I needed to overcome if I was to continue my hacking career."
"I will leave it at that, then," Ryusenji said, not asking any more questions out of Leon.
"Yes," Leon agreed.
"To ride on the coattails of the SoC's strategy, though, how exciting! Goodness, to think that the little boy that I gave a Digimon Dock and Digiegg to those many years ago would grow into the young man I see before me now!" Ryusenji smiled.
Leon Alexander had lived in Japan for a few years, when he was in elementary school. His father was an assistant professor at Tokyo Dennō University.
One day, through his father's connections, Leon got to visit Abadin Electronic's lab next to the university, where a man his father called "Sensei" showed him a strange black-and-white video.
Something that looked like a living creature, made up of dots, moved around just behind the screen.
The professor explained that what he was seeing wasn't a mere game or toy, but a digital creature that was very much alive in the Digital World, another world from theirs.
—"You look like you'd do a fine job of raising this creature. Allow me to give you this Dock."
He handed Leon a keychain Digimon Dock. On its black-and-white screen was a small egg: a Digiegg.
The A.I. creature that would one day hatch from this egg and how Leon raised it would determine how his evolutions would form. The professor went on to explain that he called these life forms Digital Monsters, or Digimon.
From that day on, Leon was hooked on raising his Digimon.
He was always a quiet child with few friends, and having a Digimon only increased his introversion. His scholarly-minded father was simply happy to see his son enthusiastic about something, and didn't intervene or worry more than necessary for his son's future.
Eiji Nagasumi, his best friend who he knew through their parents and whom he got along the closest with, was the only person who Leon secretly showed his Digimon to.
His Digimon had hatched from the Digiegg by then, and evolved to Child-level.
Pulsemon.
How had Eiji reacted again…?
Leon had a feeling that he'd been full of praise, saying things like "That's so cool!" or "Does it poop?" or "Wow, it listens better than our dog!"
The two had eventually drifted apart as middle school exams kept them busy, and then the results sent them to different schools.
Not long after that, Leon's father had to move the family back to America out of the blue. No one came to see them off, but that wasn't a surprise considering Leon's father had only told his supervisor. It hadn't bothered Leon that much.
Leon had gained insight into his life's work– To study Digimon, these A.I. creatures. He worked towards applying for admittance into Tokyo Dennō University, where he could work alongside his role model Tomonori Ryusenji.
Throughout the years, Leon emailed Ryusenji on occasion, dutifully updating him on Pulsemon's progress. In return, the professor sent him links with instructions on how to best take care of a Digimon and how to build and modify his Digimon Dock.
Before Leon knew it, he had become a long-time "geek" of the underground GriMM world.
During high school, Leon stockpiled a ton of experience on the Internet, using his father's connections to secure parts and equipment. He even gained the ability to Mindlink.
His self-confidence grew along with his pride, as he recognized himself as someone who knew about the secret Digital World, who touched upon the real truth.
Illegal Digimon crimes were prevalent in the network. Leon developed a righteous indignation toward code cracking teams, who he saw as criminal organizations sowing the seeds of lawlessness among their members. He began to bring justice to them as a hacker, with a further evolved Pulsemon.
Until that fateful day—
Leon had seen the signs of a massive Digimon crime being plotted on GriMM, and decided to take a deep Mindlinked dive into the network to stop it.
It was going to be a showdown between a group of cyberterrorists carrying out Digimon crimes and counterterrorism forces—namely the cybersecurity special forces in the American military.
No one knew details of that mission beyond how it had ended.
Flight WWW 626 diverted from its planned flight path and disappeared from radar altogether before crashing into the ocean. The flight recorder was never recovered. The death toll from the number of people on board was in the triple digits.
X nation's state secret Digimon, Mugendramon, had been responsible for the worst plane crash in history. And America had been unable to prevent the atrocity.
Leon had—
Leon, who had been until then a self-proclaimed hacker of justice, and Pulsemon, had been powerless.
Mugendramon, the fearsome Ultimate-level, had looked like the devil straight out of the apocalypse.
As Pulsemon lay wounded and Leon's Mindlink countdown crept closer to the L-Line, he wept openly inside the Digicore.
He'd put his Digimon in harm's way. He'd failed to stop an act of terrorism.
He would never forgive himself.
He'd been disgraced. He'd lost.
But one thing he didn't do was wallow.
With his gained hacker skills, Leon slowly rebuilt his confidence one win at a time.
He shot to the top of his class in school almost as fast as he shot up in height. To control his nerves, he took up combat sports and martial arts. He even underwent military training.
Above all else, Leon himself became someone who stuck out his chest and kept moving forward.
He had a goal.
To get into Tokyo Dennō University, and develop his hacker skills under Ryusenji's tutelage. To protect the real world from Digimon crimes– and to protect Digimon from being used by evil code crackers.
Having such a clear image of his own future and making defined choices at every turn closed Leon off from some opportunities, but opened himself to others.
Those of his generation might have thought him mature because of this lifestyle. Women were naturally drawn to him. Being a student with a part-time job as a hacker made him financially independent, and his high school career was a bit flashier than most.
When he reached college student age, Leon returned to Japan to attend Tokyo Dennō University, exactly as planned.
He began working under Ryusenji as a DDL hacker, which meant he lived a very different life from that of his fellow students. While he appeared as a university student in the real world, he began his full-blown career as the hacker of judgment, Hacker "Judge," in the network.
Professor Ryusenji knew of his actions, naturally, but… he didn't speak much about it, only quietly giving him a new Digimon Linker as a sign that he was cheering Leon on from behind the scenes.
It wasn't long before Leon learned more about Ryusenji– not just as a researcher but as a person of influence, advising the military and police on current techniques. His deep connections to heads of state.
Professor Ryusenji knew, loved, and had knowledge on the Digital World more than anyone, which made him both a hero and the ideal man to Leon. When he got to sit next to Ryusenji for an online meeting with the United States' Secretary of Defense, Leon's heart swelled with justice.
Pulsemon evolved from his Adult-level to Perfect-level Boutmon, then to Ultimate-level Kazuchimon.
He would annihilate code crackers, those wrongdoers and their Digimon.
The Digital World needed justice. And Judge Leon rose to provide it.
Word of him quickly spread far and wide over the network; he became the code crackers' natural enemy.
The police, and by extension the Digi-Police, were forced to reckon with him.
Back in the DDL simulator room, Leon Alexander asked Pulsemon for the time as Professor Ryusenji continued to look at them through the window.
"---It's almost time," Pulsemon said.
"Have plans this evening?" Ryusenji asked.
"Yeah, I'm going to meet an..." Leon searched for the right words. "An old friend."
"Oh? What a surprise!"
"We reconnected online by chance... I hadn't known this, but he was my classmate in elementary school and… I believe you know him as well, Sensei."
The attack on X nation's server had reached the mass media.
Because they were a dictatorship cut off from diplomatic relations with the international community, the media didn't have all the details. Analysis of satellite photos showed that electricity in the capital had gone out and the area was pitch-black.
— "This tragic calamity was the direct result of a cyberattack perpetuated by criminal code crackers, and we are likely to enact our furious vengeance in response," X nation's dictator had proclaimed in a publicized press conference.
The heads of state who knew what had really happened were likely laughing themselves silly as they watched his speech. Most of X nation's cyber warfare capabilities had just been destroyed. His prized state secret Digimon was gone. He was no doubt shaking with rage internally at being so thoroughly humiliated.
(I was there, on the front lines of this cyberterrorist event...)
This was what Eiji had always imagined it was like, to be a code cracker.
He felt a weird exhilaration from it.
While he wasn't completely free of worry, he felt hope growing within him— hope for himself, and for the success of his own future. The feelings were a complicated jumble, but predominantly what he felt was a light and fulfilling sense of accomplishment.
For the first time in the nearly 20 years of his life… Eiji felt good.
— "Eiji!"
The shout rang through DDL's lobby and Eiji looked up from his smartphone, where he waited on the bench.
Those tri-colored spheres were still Hololized right where they'd always been. On the other side of the security gate waved the friend that Eiji had been waiting for.
Memories from elementary school came rushing back to him.
The slender, almost feminine boy from Eiji's past might as well have been a different person. Leon Alexander stood now tall and muscular before him.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 2-7
Leon Alexander, 19—the same age as Eiji—is an American student at Tokyo Dennō University.
"Leo-cchi, it's been forever!"
"Yeah! It's good to see you again, Eiji," Leon spoke in fluent Japanese.
"We last saw each other in elementary school, right?"
"Yep. I went back to America as soon as we went to middle school," Leon said with an easy smile.
"Ah, that's right... Your dad was a professor at Tokyo Dennō, right?"
"You've got a good memory."
"And you got tall! I remember being the bigger one when we were kids."
Leon was not only taller but bigger all around. Eiji figured he must be hitting the gym or playing some kind of sport.
"Let's find a spot to sit and talk," Leon said.
Eiji got a pass from the front desk, stepped through the gate, and they made their way to the café inside DDL.
Security at the café was light compared to the rest of DDL and was far less tightly controlled than the D4 division. They bought drinks and sat at one of the tables.
"So Leo-cchi—er, I mean…"
"Leo-cchi is fine. You're the only one who ever calls me that," his childhood friend said with a carefree laugh.
Eiji tried to cast his mind back, but his memories prior to elementary school were an indistinct haze of shapes and colors…
Leon took something out to kickstart the conversation: a keychain-style Digimon Dock.
It was several generations old and sported a black-and-white LCD screen.
"Oh my gosh, that's a Dock! I always thought it was a game console!" Eiji cried.
Leon had raised his Digimon with this very Dock some seven or eight years ago.
"I didn't know anything about the Digital World then, either. I was singularly focused on raising Digimon," Leon said wistfully.
Looking carefully at the back of the device, Eiji noticed it was made by Abadin Electronics. It still appeared to work, but it was empty of Digimon.
"Wow, this takes me back... I'm starting to remember now," Eiji said, visions of his childhood coming back.
At the time, Leon had been completely absorbed with raising something "on a handheld game that wasn't sold on the market." They both got busy studying for middle school exams, and he got into a different middle school than Eiji. From there, they'd slowly drifted apart…
It was shortly after that Eiji heard from his parents that Leon had returned to America.
"It all happened so suddenly," Leon said now. The offer itself had been fantastic, apparently good for his father's career. "If I'd known I'd be leaving for America, I wouldn't have bothered with those entrance exams."
"Yeah, I'll bet..."
Eiji would admit to himself that he had felt lonely upon hearing the news back then.
But friendships at that stage of life changed like the flip of a book– even changing classes was enough to dissolve them, never mind changing schools. Even now, Eiji hadn't bothered to keep in touch with his high school friends.
So it goes.
Sometimes, though, life provided chance reunions like this.
Leon held out his arm, revealing a smartwatch Digimon Linker.
A Digimon Hololized from it, shooking sparks off his body. He looked like an electric elf that would send an electric shock to whoever touched him, but it was a harmless image.
"This is Pulsemon," Leon said.
"Yeah! This is the one you were raising all those years ago," Eiji said excitedly.
The creature hadn't changed one bit since elementary school.
Eiji, too, Hololized Loogamon from his own Digimon Linker.
The two Child-level Digimon looked at each other in silence from across the café table. Hololizing Digimon was permitted within DDL.
"..."
"..."
They hadn't exactly fought each other directly on X nation's server the other day, and yet…
Loogamon narrowed his eyes and kept them fixed on the smirking Pulsemon across the table. He was staring him down.
(They're Hololized, so they won't be able to do anything to each other…)
Ignoring their Digimon, Eiji and Leon turned to one another to continue catching up on each other's lives.
Although they had never consciously labeled one another as best friends back then, they would have named the other if asked who they best go along with.
That was why Eiji still held Leon in high regard, only remembering him as the boy that he'd been close with. Leon felt the same...probably.
But people didn't exist only in memory. They were far too young to go around trapping themselves in some imagined nostalgic past conjured out of distant memories.
"---You know," Eiji began, turning the conversation to what he'd really been wanting to talk about, "I'm surprised you were able to find my contact info."
It had been Leon– or rather, Hacker Judge– in the first place who had sent a short message to Eiji, offering that they meet up in the real world.
"You moved, right? Your old house is gone."
Eiji's family home had long been sold off. He hadn't been back since and wasn't about to go out of his way to see it, but he'd heard it was due to be torn down and replaced by an apartment building like the rest of its surroundings.
"Oh... I'm, uh, living on my own these days."
"Same," Leon said, explaining that he lived in a high-rise apartment building in Denrin District.
While Eiji lived in a one-room apartment that was three tatami mats in size with a loft.
"Leo-cchi, you're…?"
"I'm a hacker, so..."
Using dummy accounts was a frequent occurrence in GriMM, even the SoC channel. It wasn't as simple as finding Eiji's account and sending him a message.
"Yeah, but you're not just a hacker. You're in Japan and a student at Tokyo Dennō, no less."
Eiji mentioned to Leon's text that he sometimes came to "work" at DDL, so they'd decided to meet up there.
"Studying at Tokyo Dennō has been my goal ever since we moved."
Indeed, Tokyo Dennō was the best in the world for anyone looking to learn more about Digimon or the Digital World. While it was one of the toughest Japanese universities to get into, only a chosen few were selected to work in Ryusenji's research lab.
"---Which brings me to the second surprising thing: you're one of Professor Ryusenji's students. I've been working with him as well," Eiji said, proudly emphasizing the last part.
Leon roughly summarized his history with Ryusenji.
—You look like you'd do a fine job of raising this creature. Allow me to give you this Dock.
"So it was Professor Ryusenji who gave you that keychain Dock..."
Eiji could help feeling awed. The world had never felt smaller, or more dense with meaningful connections.
Leon continued explaining how he had become a hacker contracted by DDL. He'd even accompanied Ryusenji on overseas trips to various meetings and academic conferences.
"You're basically his apprentice, then?" Eiji asked.
"More like his manager or his personal assistant. Ryusenji-sensei is a bachelor so… he's not able to purchase tickets or reserve a hotel room on his own."
"Ahh… Yeah, he doesn't seem like he can do it himself."
"Right?"
"I met Professor Ryusenji a lot more recently. I can still count the number of times we've met, I'll put it that way."
"I had no idea. It must've been weird to get a job offer from him, seeing as you're a code cracker... We could have nearly missed each other."
"Yeah, for sure. What a small world!" Eiji took a sip from his drink.
"I see your Digimon Dock is also Abadin's latest," Leon said, glancing at Eiji's arm as he picked up his paper cup.
"Yeah, it's pretty sweet! The same as yours… just in a different color."
"Yep."
"Professor Ryusenji gave it to me for a job. This guy too… my Digimon. Oh, this is between you and me, yeah? The job has to do with some sort of testing and raising Digimon."
"These Digimon Linkers are more important than you realize," Leon said, his face visibly stiffening for the first time.
"Oh yeah?"
"They're highly-classified A.E. devices. I thought I was the only one aside from the police who had one. I've gotta say… I'm a little ticked to find out that's not the case."
Leon's words came out a bit too sharply to be a joke.
"..." Eiji sat in silence for a moment.
"A Digital World researcher personally reaching out to a code cracker for a job isn't the weird part. It's rarer than hiring a hacker, but not unheard of," Leon continued.
"Yeah, like finding rare Digimon! I caught a ModokiBetamon for him once," Eiji interjected.
"Heh, Sensei does like his Betamon. But my point is, Eiji… that if he was going to ask a code cracker, then he could have asked me, his actual pupil."
"..."
Eiji was stunned. Was Leon… jealous?
From Leon's point of view, Ryusenji was his mentor who introduced him to the world of Digimon. He definitely had a longer relationship with the professor than Eiji.
Leon was a true believer of Ryusenji… a passionate fan. Not that Eiji wasn't, but...
"---Yeah, and if we'd actually fought back there? I would've won!" Pulsemon was saying.
"Say that again, you static shock?!"
Eiji was still processing how to react to Leon's words when the voices next to them rose.
"I can go all the way to Ultimate-level, pup. And you—Loogamon, right? You still have your hands full maintaining your Adult form, that's so adorable."
"You little…!"
The two Digimon seemed to have been carrying on their own conversation… and had now begun arguing about who would be stronger in a fight.
"That's enough, Loogamon. We get it, you're the boss of an entire district, but… you're still no match in a one-on-one with an Ultimate-level," Eiji hissed.
"Eiji! Take that back!" Loogamon growled, his fur standing on end.
If Leon and Pulsemon could get all the way to Kazuchimon, that must put them as one of the best hackers in the world. If Eiji were A-tier, they were S-tier, if not double-S.
"Be nice to him, Pulsemon," Leon said.
"I can't help it Leon, Loogamon keeps antagonizing me!" Pulsemon whined, smugly acting as though he had done nothing wrong.
"Eiji and I were friends. He always stood up for me when I was weak..."
Leon's feminine features as a child, as well as being silent, had made him stand out in their class. Eiji had often been there to watch his back.
"Hmm… Is he one of those 'friend' things you humans always talk about?" Pulsemon asked. "I don't get it. At least come up with a hierarchy! …Can you make sense of it, Loogamon?"
"No. What else could possibly matter, aside from who is stronger?" Loogamon mused. "I have more interest in the significance of humans' biological sex though."
"It does seem to help them make more of each other," Pulsemon said, both Digimon laying bare their unique sense of values.
"You weren't weak, Leo-cchi, you just did your own thing," Eiji said finally.
"Hm."
"I've never even seen you cry or anything."
If there was anything that Eiji remembered, he clearly remembered that. Leon was never weak.
"...Yeah, I guess not," Leon said, nodding. "I think you're the only person, other than my dad, who actually understood me. That's why I liked you."
"Oh?"
"Pulsemon… Like I was saying, it's not about who's stronger or weaker. What matters is that the strong protect the weak."
"Yeah! Listen to him, Loogamon!" Eiji said.
"Eiji… You do realize that he's looking down on you right now…?"
"Eh? Really?"
— "AHHH WHAT IS THAT IT'S SO CUTE!"
A shriek of delight startled them all.
Hatsune from DDL's reception desk had arrived into the café with another woman who looked like her colleague. It was the colleague who had screamed.
"Hatsune-cchi?"
"Hello, Eiji-san. You're with Leon-san today… Do you two know each other? Or did Professor Ryusenji introduce you?"
"Oh, Leon and I are—"
"We went to elementary school together," Leon interjected, answering Hatsune.
"Eh? You went to school in America, Eiji-san?" The surprise in her voice was palpable.
"No, Leon went to school here in Japan."
"Oh, that's why Leon-san's Japanese sounds so native!" Hatsune said, nodding to herself.
Hatsune's friend, meanwhile, was utterly transfixed by Pulsemon and Loogamon.
She was a recent DDL hire and Hatsune's junior. Her bright semi-long hair was done up in intricate braids, and it was clear that she had never seen a Hololized Digimon before.
"Well hello there, pretty lady!" Pulseman chirped respectfully.
"What do you want, sis? Like what you see?" Loogamon said, not necessarily displeased by the attention.
"Stop it Loogamon, don't harass her," Eiji snapped.
"Ah? What's gotten into you, Eiji?"
"Hi there!" Eiji said brightly to the woman, hastily making nice with Loogamon. "Are you interested in Digimon?"
"Oh, I mean, I don't know..." she said uncertainly.
"This is Eiji Nagasumi-san. He's a...contractor who is friendly with Professor Ryusenji. And you might already know Leon-san? He's a hacker who's employed here," Hatsune cut in, thoughtfully introducing her junior to the two of them.
"Wow, a hacker!"
DDL's hackers were known to be top-class in the business.
"I'll say this just in case, but they're both 19-years-old, okay? They're younger than you," Hatsune went on in a significant tone.
"Oh my gosh, you're so young!"
"Okay, let's not harass anyone!" Hatsune snapped.
Hatsune's junior was batting her eyelashes in Leon's direction in a very obvious way. The Digimon had clearly been just an excuse for her to come over and chat.
"---This tragic calamity was the direct result of a cyberattack perpetuated by criminal code crackers, and we are likely to enact our furious vengeance in response."
News of X nation was playing on the big-screen monitor that hung from the café ceiling. Everyone turned to watch.
"Ugh, another code cracker attack," Hatsune's junior said with disgust.
Even though she was a DDL employee, general staff like her didn't have many opportunities to be exposed to the truth behind Digimon crimes and the workings of the Digital World. While she'd see a Hololized Digimon or two on the job, she wasn't necessarily any better informed than someone off the street— and didn't have to be. The attack on X nation's server, the fight between the SoC and the dictator's state secret Digimon Mugendramon, the inside story of Hacker Judge's fight… it was all D4-level classified.
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 2-8
Hackers and code crackers weren't that much different, when you got down to it.
Code crackers are just hackers with fewer ethical hang-ups around breaking the law. "Evil hackers," if you will.
It had been like that since the earliest days of the network, well before the discovery of the Digital World. And where there were code crackers, there were hackers with a sense of justice who worked to put a stop to them committing crimes.
"Are code crackers really that unpopular…?" Eiji said almost absentmindedly.
"They're called crack teams or something, right?" Hatsune's junior piped up. "I've seen clubs for those sorts of people in my high school and university and… They tended to attract either really emo kids or really dangerous types, either of those extremes. They're basically like a gateway into the criminal underworld, right?"
She may as well have stabbed Eiji in the chest with a knife.
"Sure, but… suppose being a code cracker helped you strike it rich?"
"There was one pretty popular group on campus that did well and attracted some girls, but… there's no future for them either way," she said, casually passing judgment on Eiji.
She and Hatsune then excused themselves to return to work, not wanting to get in the way of Eiji and Leon's reunion.
The two Hololized Digimon saw them off within the DDL's café.
"---Well, they seemed nice! Didn't they, Loogamon!"
"Pulsemon, who was more your type? 'Cause the junior's mine."
"You sweet summer child! I'm batting for Hatsune-chan. She can have my back any day of the week."
"Eh… You think she'd go for that?"
"Trust me, I'm speaking from experience."
"How are you two getting along already…" Eiji sighed despondently.
Digimon didn't even have biological sexes, for the most part. Why were they engaging in this kind of talk?
"What's got you down, Eiji?" Loogamon asked.
"He probably realized just how unpopular code crackers are," Pulsemon chimed in.
"Don't be so blunt about it, Pulsemon," Leon chided.
Hearing even Leon join in the insinuations left Eiji's heart torn to shreds.
Deep down, he'd known.
He knew that code cracking wasn't popular, and that people had an overwhelmingly negative view of it.
Leon looked upon Eiji, Loogamon and Pulsemon, and let out a small chuckle.
"Digimon aren't just A.I. programs," he began.
"Leon? What are you talking about?"
"We should be calling them A.I. lifeforms. Just look at how our Digimon partners have formed a bond of trust with us. That means Digimon can probably be friends with each other," Leon replied, gazing gently at the two Hololized Digimon before him.
"Digimon being friends with each other, huh..."
"Do you think they can, Eiji? Be friends?"
Eiji studied Leon's face. It wasn't the look of his childhood friend reminiscing on nostalgic memories, or that of a university student talking to women.
Was this the face of his alter ego, the Judge…?
Eiji opted to answer from a code cracker's perspective.
"Until recently, I've always thought of Digimon as tools," Eiji said. "Ever since I became a code cracker."
"Naturally. That'd been your only interaction with the Digital World, I imagine."
"Yeah, I can't deny that. But… after getting this Digimon Linker and meeting Loogamon, I've changed my perspective."
"Because you met Sensei… Professor Ryusenji?"
"Exactly. After Mindlinking and getting to talk with Loogamon.. I mean, Loogamon's got an entire history. All these Digimon have lives, you know? So if with Pulsemon, and other Digimon, and Leo-cchi, and other people…"
If Loogamon could build relationships with others, and not just with Eiji, then...
That was all the more proof that Digimon were lifeforms, not programs, each with their own personalities and quirks.
"Eiji... What is Loogamon to you now?"
"My partner. My pal for life," Eiji said without hesitation. It was the only thing he'd said so far with such surety.
"Good," Leon said, relaxing his jaw. "You haven't completely lost your soul to the code crackers, then."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I'm not going to sugarcoat this, Eiji… You need to quit being a code cracker. I want you to wash your hands of those Digimon-abusing criminals."
At last, the real reason for why Leon wanted to meet up came into focus.
Ever since he'd decided to see him, Eiji knew that it would come up, sooner or later.
Hackers did not allow code crackers to exist.
What hackers considered "justice" left no room for the "freedom" that code crackers so desperately wanted to protect.
"Quit code cracking, huh? That's not gonna happen."
"...!"
Obvious displeasure settled on Leon's face.
"I won't sugarcoat this for you, either, Leon… I envy you. Not only are you studying abroad, you're doing it at a prestigious university like Tokyo Dennō. You get to work part-time at DDL, for crying out loud! You've got all these privileges!"
Eiji wasn't going to give a hedging response either.
Not if Leon was going to seriously admonish Eiji and force him to quit being a code cracker out of some sense of justice.
Justice alone wasn't going to be enough to change his life.
"What do you mean by that?" Leon asked suspiciously.
"Listen, man, I started code cracking just to survive. If I quit, I'll end up working some crappy part-time job for crappy pay. I'm 19! I'm just starting my life, and that kind of job isn't gonna be enough for me."
"You didn't go to college? The Eiji I know always had test scores that were as good as mine."
"Where, Tokyo Dennō? …Hell, I got a B on their mock exams. I thought I'd be a college student too," Eiji said with a sigh.
"...Did… something happen?" Uncertainty crept into Leon's face for the first time.
Eiji finally had control of the conversation. He just wished it could have been anything but this.
"WWW Flight 626."
At Eiji's words, Leon gaped at him, then let out a silent choking noise.
"...!"
"You get it now, right?" Eiji said wearily. "I don't really want to talk about it."
"WWW Flight 626," Pulsemon interjected. "On the date **-**, year ****, Flight 626 departed Tokyo before making unauthorized changes to its flight path. Traffic control lost all contact and the plane disappeared at sea. All *** passengers aboard are determined to have been killed. The flight recorder was never found."
Pulsemon matter-of-factly spoke of the incident, pulling from entries on online encyclopedias to cover for Leon's sudden silence.
"What caused the accident, Pulsemon?" Eiji asked Leon's Digimon.
"There is no official acknowledgement, but… the prevailing theory suggests that the crash was a Digimon crime," Pulsemon answered.
The speculation that the crash of Flight 626 was a Digimon crime was widely prevalent among hackers and code crackers in the know.
"Eiji… did you lose your parents on that flight?" Loogamon asked.
"I did," Eiji said, nodding at Loogamon.
The Buddhist altar was there, in his one-room apartment. He'd just never told Loogamon how his parents had died.
Leon looked a bit shaken now, ever since the mention of Flight 626.
He'd met Eiji's parents several times, and they'd gone together to play in the river too. They weren't faceless passengers on that flight. "Your parents were on that flight... But… why?"
"It was a trip for their silver wedding anniversary. They left me at home and were all set to go to America."
Eiji noticed that Leon was acting a little odd. He seemed to be stifling a spasm, as if keeping himself from screaming.
Had his parents' death really been that big of a shock? But even Eiji himself didn't really remember having time to feel things like shock, back then.
In fact, this was the first time he'd dug out his parents' death from the recesses of his memory, let alone spoken about it to anyone…
"I had no idea about it…!" Eiji rasped, trying to keep the sudden swell of tears out of his voice." But the house was all tied up in a mortgage with a guarantor attached. My parents' life insurance policies... After I dealt with the house, everything we had was gone. College? That wasn't an option anymore."
We live in different worlds now.
This was where Eiji drew a clear line between himself and Leon.
"Weren't there any scholarships…?"
"Heh... Even if there were, I was too devastated. Back then… I couldn't function, let alone study."
If Leon thought that was a sign of weakness, Eiji would dare him to say it.
"But… if you lost your parents to an act of Digimon crime… allegedly… how could you possibly continue code cracking while knowing this?"
Leon was visibly rattled now, but he still followed a hacker's line of reasoning.
"That's a stupid question," Eiji said calmly. "It's not the Digimon who are criminals, but the people using them to commit crimes. Digimon are just tools to code crackers, and I don't misuse them to take human lives."
"..."
"I'm a code cracker in order to make a living. I'm not bragging about how unlucky I am or something. But that's why I take pride in being a code cracker… this work that Professor Ryusenji has taken notice of. You've admired him for even longer than I have, Leon... You, of all people, should understand how incredible that feels."
Professor Ryusenji expected great things from Eiji.
So, right now, this was the only path for him.
"Eiji… What sort of job is Sensei having you undertake? It has to be more than just raising Loogamon," Leon asked.
"Can't tell you," Eiji replied. It was confidential.
"You're in the SoC, though, so I have my guesses. Look Eiji, I—"
"Sorry," Eiji said, lifting his palm in front of Leon's face to cut him off. "---If we keep talking, I absolutely will end up telling you everything."
Leon was Eiji's best friend from elementary school… Those feelings were still there.
But memories alone weren't going to fill your stomach.
"It's time, Eiji," Loogamon said, perking up his ears.
"Oh… Well, I have to go. It's time for my appointment with Professor Ryusenji," Eiji said, standing up from his chair.
"With Sensei…?"
"Yep, code cracker stuff! Good luck with all the studying and whatever. I'll see you around, and hopefully we can skip the heavy, complicated stuff next time. Maybe over drinks, once our birthdays roll around?"
Pulsemon made a "See you later!" gesture at Loogamon and Eiji as they got up from their seats.
"Here, this is for you," Pulsemon said, and handed something to Loogamon.
"What is it?" Loogamon asked, taking it anyway. It looked like a data file on something, compressed into a box.
"A present!" Pulsemon grinned. "Catch you later, Loogamon! Give me a personal tour of Wall Slum's Castle of Nine Wolves someday! I want to go DEEP into your hometown!"
Character design/illustration: malo
Chapter 2-9
After leaving Leon at DDL's café, Eiji headed straight for Professor Ryusenji's office.
"---Morning! I'm running a bit behind today. Just 15 minutes or so," Ryusenji said through mouthfuls of a late lunch as he worked on the latest Digimon analysis.
Current studies of Digimon encompassed a myriad of fields: the biological study and classification of Digimon, the use of Digimon as A.I. tools for systems engineering, the environmental study of the Digital World itself and how it impacted the Digimon, as well as sociological studies of how they both impacted mankind.
And there was Professor Ryusenji at the forefront of this frontier, constantly pushing the research forward. Ryusenji's research was what kept up challenging questions about the Digital World.
Observation and collecting data were the foundations of all learning.
"I'm sorry for interrupting," Eiji said hurriedly to show his contrition.
"Not at all! One of my students is coming by later."
"A student…?"
"An alumni."
That probably meant it wasn't Leon then. Eiji let out a sigh of relief.
"The details of what happened to SoC's… uh, X nation's data server are exactly as described in the report," Eiji said.
"So they were after that state secret Digimon after all. The X nation lost their cyberterrorism weapon, but Mugendramon was also destroyed, which means the SoC failed in their goal. The operation was a failure," Ryusenji said, rattling off his assessment of the situation.
"I think their leader Tartarus is collecting state—well, Ultimate-level Digimon. I don't know why yet, but I doubt they're collecting as a hobby."
"I'm inclined to agree."
"One of SoC's leaders, Marvin, was briefly incapacitated in the battle, but he's recovered now. The whole Mindlink time limit thing is no joke... It feels a lot more real now that I've seen what can happen."
"Everyone makes mistakes under pressure, no matter how talented they are," Ryusenji said. "Especially when things don't go according to plan. Not even I'm immune to it."
He turned his gaze to Eiji.
"Totally!" Eiji eagerly shook his head. "You panic or see something shocking and you make a poor judgment call, or..."
"Even the greatest shogi players will make poor decisions when they've only got one minute left on the clock. In the heat of battle, the duration of your Mindlink time may be just as or even more important than the specifications of the Digimon themselves. You and Loogamon survived that fight with the hacker's Digimon because time was on your side."
"You make it sound like we would've lost if we tried to fight them head-on," Loogamon growled, looking offended. As ever, Loogamon hated losing.
"Hm... Loogamon didn't like that explanation, I see," the professor said.
"Next time… I'll win! I'm gonna trounce that puny static shock!"
"In order to do that, you'll need to evolve. Get to Perfect-level, for starters," Ryusenji said.
"Perfect-level…!" Eiji said, eyes wide with excitement.
What would Loogamon's Perfect form even look like?
"Professor… What Perfect-level will Loogamon evolve into?"
"Whatever form Loogamon takes, it won't be right or wrong… Just like all the creatures on this earth who have evolved the way they have."
Every creature had the ability to find out just what their possible evolutionary choices were, the professor seemed to be suggesting.
"Hey, Eiji! Get me to my Perfect-level form!" Loogamon barked hurriedly.
"You got it!" Eiji said, turning to face Loogamon.
"--I've found valuable data on Mugendramon. It could easily be called the worst Digimon terrorist in human history... I would have liked to have captured it, even if meant sorting through its scraps."
"That hacker got in my way."
"Mhm."
"The hacker was—"
"I know. Leon Alexander… My student, and the hacker known as Judge," Ryusenji said, bringing up a monitor with Kazuchimon's picture on it.
Hearing that, Eiji… let out another sigh of relief.
"You knew about him then? Here I was thinking about how to break the news to you, but I kept overthinking it and twisting myself in knots. I was just talking with Leo-cchi in—er, with Leon—in the café here."
"So you were."
"Look... I'm not gonna get fired or anything, am I?"
"Why would I fire you?"
"Well, Leon doesn't seem to think highly of me being a code cracker…"
"What Leon-kun thinks has no bearing on my appraisal of you, and never will," Professor Ryusenji said sternly.
Ryusenji was the boss and his was the final word.
"Phew, I am so glad to hear you say that!" Eiji exhaled.
He finally felt at ease. It would have been ridiculous if he lost his current job over an old friendship from elementary school.
"Now, putting all that aside…" Ryusenji began. "I have heard that you were the only one to whom Leon-kun showed the Digimon and Digimon Dock that I gave him all those years ago. So all of this feels very...fated, in a way."
"That's right. I was pretty happy about that."
"Indeed."
Eiji, as it happened, had always been connected to Ryusenji through Leon. He just hadn't been aware of it at the time.
"So um... I hate to sound like I'm reporting someone to the teacher, but he doesn't like the thought of me coming in and out of your office. I think he thinks it's because it might tarnish your reputation to be seen working with a code cracker."
"He's…How shall I put this," Professor Ryusenji hesitated, his fingers working through the air as if grasping for the right words.
"---He's… straightforward," Eiji said. "He's always been that way. I admire that about him."
"Straightforward… I see, he has his own criteria for how to judge things," Ryusenji said. "What he values is what he believes to be the 'just' thing."
"And if you acted like that as a kid, you'd get beaten up, right?" Eiji said. "They'd tell you to stop pretending to be a golden boy, that sort of thing. But he was undeterred."
"And now, as an adult… Leon-kun has the power to uphold his values of justice. Both in the real world and on the network."
Leon had grown to become a student at an elite school, a hacker working directly for Abadin Electronics, and powerful enough to control an Ultimate-level Digimon.
He was flawless, compared to his peers.
"I didn't mention anything about you hiring me to investigate the SoC, of course, but I think he suspects something," Eiji continued.
"Hmm."
"So, um..."
"Aah, I get it now! You're worried that Leon-kun will get in the way of your work. And being that he's my student, you can't very well take him out, so you're unsure of how to handle him. Yes, of course," Professor Ryusenji mused, connecting the dots.
"Well no, I'm not going to take him out, just—given the situation, he could leak that I'm spying on the SoC."
From a hacker's perspective, Eiji thought, an internal quarrel in the SoC would be most welcome.
"I'll think about how to handle Hacker Judge. You just continue to—"
Ryusenji was cut off by the ringing of his office phone.
His next appointment had arrived.
Eiji excused himself, cut the Hololization, and returned Loogamon back to his Digimon Linker.
"I'll be on my wa–iiit a minute, I forgot to tell you that I got in touch with Leader Tartarus!"
Professor Ryusenji pushed the bridge of his glasses back up his nose. "Was Tartarus… doing well?"
"I only heard their voice through chat. I heard a bunch of interesting tidbits, though. Like how on all the operations Tartarus has led, not a single person has gone DMIA, and how Tartarus is looking for a Black Agumon..."
A figure appeared behind the glass door of the professor's office. Ryusenji motioned for them to come in.
He had said that it was a former student of his but…
When Eiji saw the tall woman who entered the room, a chill ran down his spine.
"Thank you, professor," he mumbled as he hurried past her, head bowed.
The woman glanced at Eiji as he walked past, but didn't seem to pay him any more attention beyond that.
Eiji heard a faint "good morning" through the door as he left.
After leaving Ryusenji's office, Eiji headed down to the first floor lobby. He passed through the security checkpoint and made his way towards reception.
"Oh, hello Eiji-kun. Good day to you, and thanks for the impromptu chat earlier," Hatsune said, noticing Eiji.
"Hey, you free tonight? Let's go get some monjayaki!" Loogamon called out from the Digimon Linker.
"Shush! You're not allowed to talk outside the checkpoint, remember?!" Eiji whisper-yelled in a panic.
The other people waiting in the lobby glanced over at Eiji meaningfully. They seemed to think that he had been the one hitting on Hatsune.
"Oh… I got asked out by a Digimon!" Hatsune giggled.
"Just saying what Eiji's thinking, like a good little sidekick," Loogamon said smugly.
"Get outta here, stupid Digimon!" Eiji snarled, muting his Digimon Linker. "—Anyway Hatsune-cchi," he continued, forcibly changing the subject, "That woman who just came to see Professor Ryusenji. She's with the police, isn't she?"
It was obvious from one look at her uniform, but he had to know for sure.
"Yeah," Hatsune said, lowering her voice. "She's from the Digimon unit of the city police."
"I knew it."
Which meant that she was probably from the Digi-Police. At least, that's what Eiji's code cracker instincts told him.
"Professor Ryusenji has a lot of influence with the police, so she visits the lab every so often," Hatsune whispered.
"He said she's a former student of his."
"Really? That's news to me."
"Do you know her name or anything?" Eiji asked, his voice now barely audible.
"Yulin Xu from the Metropolitan Police Department. She's tall and beautiful, I'll give her that," Hatsune replied. "Eiji-san, are you into older women or something?"
The name sounded Chinese, but Eiji decided that she had to be a Japanese citizen if she was on the police force. He handed his pass over to Hatsune.
"So, Hatsune-cchi... How about that monja?" Eiji asked. It was worth a shot; the worst he could get was a no.
Hatsune thought quietly for what felt like an eternity.
"Actually..." she began.
"Hm?"
"For you, sure," Hatsune nodded. "You've got a job, you seem decently mature, and truth be told there's something I want to discuss with you. Here's my GriMM address."
—HatsuneMocha.
Eiji's phone buzzed with a text message from Hatsune's number.
Eiji's heart was pounding in his chest. "Uh, something you want to discuss?"
"I'll message you later. It's something I can only talk about with you..."
When Leon Alexander returned to his apartment in Denrin District's tower complex, the lights to his rooms turned on automatically and soft music began playing in the background.
"—What'll it be, sir? Food? A bath?" Pulsemon's Hololized form said reverently.
"Pulsemon? The heck?" Leon asked, taken aback by Pulsemon's actions.
"Loogamon told me that it's the minion's job to greet their boss like this when they come home."
"Oh brother... You're not my minion, Pulsemon."
Everything in the apartment, from its security system, heating and cooling, water, electricity, etc were connected to and managed through the Internet. Leon therefore relied on his Digimon as more of an A.I. assistant on a smart speaker.
"Pulsemon, I want you look something up for me. Search for—"
"The passenger list for WWW Flight 626, right?"
The widescreen monitor on the living room wall lit up with a complete list of the passengers. When a Digimon has been with their human partner long enough, they could anticipate what their partner was thinking. It was still up for debate on whether this was a result of an advanced A.I. learning its user's patterns or was simply a Digimon acting out of thoughtfulness.
"…"
"Are you sure you want to look? This experience for you is…" Pulsemon trailed off.
Leon set down his bag and emptied the contents of a paper bag that he'd received from the pharmacy. Pills and capsules scattered onto a small tray. He downed them all with a swig of bottled water.
"Yeah. It's traumatic," Leon said quietly to himself. "But I have to face it. I have to face my weak and immature past self... Search the passenger list."
"Searching... Two hits for Japanese passengers," Pulsemon said "I'm cross-referencing with other records, but there's no doubt that they're the Nagasumi couple. It's Eiji's parents."
Back then—
When Leon was in high school, he had been an up-and-coming hacker who'd just successfully begun to Mindlink with Pulsemon. And—
"I had no right to criticize Eiji about his life."
—He couldn't save Eiji's parents.
There was no way that he, being so immature, could have prevented the disaster of Flight WWW 626. But even so...
"But I don't want Eiji to continue with code cracking. It's just not right. Even if it makes him hate me for it," Leon said, his resolve strengthening as he worked through his thoughts.
He would sacrifice himself for his own "justice." That was what it meant to be a hacker who could not abide lawlessness.
He would live his life with resolution.
"Leon," Pulsemon said quietly, "Are we going to fight Loogamon?"
"Only if Eiji won't give up code cracking."
"Oh..."
"We've picked a fight with the SoC," Leon continued. "They certainly won't back down. Hackers and code crackers will have to settle this on the network… in the Digital World, once and for all."
Eiji awoke to the sound of chattering voices. A number of his neighborhood aunties were gathered in front of the post office next door, gossiping.
"Nnnngh…" He groaned and curled further into a ball on his bed loft, checking the time on his Digimon Linker.
"Are you awake, Eiji?"
"Morning, Loogamon. Any messages for me?" Eiji asked, scanning his bed. Loogamon wasn't up at the loft, which meant he was somewhere down below.
"You can check them yourself."
"Alright, alright," Eiji muttered, shuffling for his phone without bothering to sit up.
He scrolled through the latest topics on GriMM, then checked his messages. It felt like there were more DMs coming to him every day.
"We got a thank-you gift from Marvin. What a good guy. I should get him something in return."
"You've got a message from Mocha-chan on your public account," Loogamon said.
"Who's Mocha-chan?"
"The receptionist at DDL."
Hatsune… Mocha.
"Idiot, you could've opened with that!" Eiji snapped hurriedly. "Forward it to me!"
"I think my boyfriend is cheating on me," Loogamon said in a bad sing-song impression of Hatsune's voice as he read aloud her message. "I was wondering if you could sneak onto his account and find out..."
"…Never mind, don't forward it to me."
Of course she had a boyfriend. What a crummy way to start the morning.
What did she think code crackers were anyway? Cracking into another person's account was a crime. There were no benefits to all the downsides and risks involved.
"From this, it sounds like Mocha-cchi trusts you, at least," Loogamon said. He wasn't letting the subject go.
"Oh?"
"And if Mocha-cchi's boyfriend is cheating on her, they'll break up, right? Which would make her single."
"…How am I taking dating advice from a Digimon?"
Eiji couldn't believe the depths of Loogamon's interest in human relationships.
"Also, you've got a message flagged as important. It's from the SoC channel's admin."
"Huh, what's that about?"
"Says it's urgent."
"…Wait," Eiji blurted out, finally processing what Loogamon had said. "The SoC admin, that's—"
"Their leader guy. Tartar Sauce, or whatever."
"Lead with THAT first next time, jeez! And if I ever get a message from them in the middle of the night or whatever, wake me up!"
"Why are you so huffy?"
"Argh, whatever!" Eiji furiously tapped his phone to get to his inbox.
—This is SoC's leader, Tartarus.
"Holy crap, it really is from Tartarus."
Since the message came from the channel's administrator account, there was no way that it could be faked.
—"Code Cracker Eiji, your performance in the attack on X nation's data server was exemplary. I sincerely thank you for your assistance with Marvin. We are happy to have such a talented code cracker as yourself among our ranks. I find your skills to be of Class A level and want to request your services once more."
Finally…! A personal request from the SoC's leader!
Eiji kept reading.
—"As you're aware, our operation on X nation was interrupted by a hacker and ended in failure. We lost their state secret Digimon."
No thanks to Hacker Judge. Would Eiji be able to exact revenge on this hacker, in the name of the SoC's code crackers? It didn't matter how Eiji did it, so long as he smashed Judge's reputation.
"This took a turn…" Eiji murmured.
Not taking action against Hacker Judge risked the SoC's credibility. It set a bad precedent and would brand the SoC as timid losers. In the lawless underground of the Digital World, organizations like the SoC couldn't afford to be seen as easily taken advantage of if they were to make any money.
It was also a test from Tartarus of Eiji's loyalty to the SoC.
If Eiji turned down this offer, that was the end of it. Tartarus would doubt him and keep Eiji at a distance.
"Okay! If I beat Leon, Tartarus will have no choice but to acknowledge me."
It was the fastest and simplest way to ingratiate himself with the leader. Eiji's ultimate goal was to fulfill his duty to Professor Ryusenji.
"You're gonna fight Leon?" Loogamon asked.
"Yeah, I am."
"Do you hate him? I thought he was your friend, whatever that is?" Loogamon asked, perplexed.
"Don't Digimon...? Okay, for example, you helped others before, didn't you? Those guys in the Ninth District, they were your friends, were they not?"
"They're my minions."
"So… those minions are friends to each other, right?"
"It's an alliance made out of convenience and nothing more. Working together gives us better chances of surviving in Wall Slum."
Put like that, it certainly didn't sound like they were friends. Perhaps Digimon relationships were more similar to that of wild animals— in the daily struggle to survive, there were packs formed around an alpha or blood relations, but not so much formed out of a bond of kinship.
"Well, a friend is like… I dunno," Eiji said, grappling for the words. "Friends come in all different kinds, but being friends with someone who's fun to be around is a pretty common response. For me, I think of a friend as someone that I want to do something for. Even if it costs me a little something."
"Costs you?! I don't like the sound of that."
"Well sure, no one does," Eiji said. "Especially when it's for a total stranger."
"This friend business sounds too much like playing on hard mode…!" Loogamon exclaimed. He sank into deep thought.
"But right now…" Eiji said. "What I can do for Leon is…"
Not a single thing.
He turned over on his side. The loft, lodged so closely against the wall and the ceiling, suddenly felt like a coffin.
Leon had everything he could want. It was Eiji who had been stewing in jealousy as well.
But because he hated seeing himself like that, Eiji decided to stop thinking.
"—I see, so I'll have to fight Pulsemon."
"Ultimate-level Kazuchimon, anyway… Does that bother you, Loogamon?" Eiji asked without turning over.
"Not at all! That little static shock keeps looking down on me! I've been wanting to knock him down a peg the next time I saw him!"
"I know, right?! I'm not about to lose to Leon, either."
Eiji had built up his career as a code cracker on his own. He wasn't about to let Leon waltz in and take away both his job and his professional relationship with Professor Ryusenji without a fight.
Nor was he going to let Leon interfere with his life with only his hacker's sense of justice to back it up.
There was nothing more important, more valuable, to Eiji right now that he refused to let go.
(I didn't even attend my own high school graduation. I had no idea what kind of face to put on. How do you look happy when you can't stop thinking about how you've been forced out of your own home?)
He wasn't going to let anyone make him feel that miserable ever again.
"I'll evolve and we'll take out Pulsemon and Kazuchimon!"
"I like your attitude!" Eiji said, poking his head out from the loft to look down at Loogamon.
"We'll take 'em out… and then what?" Loogamon said, cocking his head.
"What do you mean, 'then what?'"
"I dunno! I've never felt this way before!"
"A Digimon's heart is more complicated than a fair maiden in love, is it?" Eiji teased. "Or… Don't tell me you're scared!"
"…Say that one more time and I'll never Mindlink with you again!"
It would be a duel between two Digimon.
Code crackers and hackers would have to settle their differences on the network.
It wouldn't bring any real danger to Leon himself; Eiji was no murderer. But what he would break was Leon's willful pride, his concept of "justice" as a hacker.
"—By the way, didn't Pulsemon give you a present at the DDL café yesterday?" Eiji remembered. "What was inside?"
"I dunno, I didn't open it! What if it's a bomb?" Loogamon said, Hololizing the data. The box remained unopened.
"Fair enough. I wouldn't open a present from a hacker either," Eiji said through a wry smile. For all they knew, it could be a computer virus.
"So what's our strategy, then, Eiji?"
"We can't beat Leon and Kazuchimon in our current state… But we'll keep evolving until we can!"
"I'll never say no to getting stronger!" Loogamon perked up at the thought.
"I'm gonna do it, Leon… I'm tired of living a life where I'm envious of others. I'm… Loogamon and I are going to beat you, as code crackers! We'll bring your snobby hacker self down!"
And earn Professor Ryusenji's trust, even if that meant pushing aside his top student. Doing so would open doors to Eiji's success.
Eiji began formulating a plan, dictating it to Loogamon as he went.
He was ready to take Leon down, just as Tartarus had asked of him…
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Chapter 2-10
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Chapter 2-11
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Chapter 2-12
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Intermission
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CHAPTER 3 - Unit 11: Digital Missing In Action
Chapter 3-1
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Chapter 3-2
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Chapter 3-3
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Chapter 3-4
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Chapter 3-5
[1] My first translation note! Hopefully no more, but we'll see!
"Castle of Nine Wolves" is a literal translation of 九狼城, pronounced "kuurou-jou." It is most likely a reference to 九龍城 which is literally translated "Castle of Nine Dragons," but better known to you as "kuuron-jou," or "Kowloon City." The reference to slums in the novel also strengthens this idea. I would personally have translated this term to "Kowroo City" or something similar to keep this reference intact (also the "roo" reference to the wolf, get it?), but as I'm not in charge of this translation in any official capacity, we'll stick to the official translation to avoid fandom mix-ups. -onkei
[2] I pondered over this for a few minutes and decided to stick with "evolution" rather than "digivolution" because it feels like the brink of a slippery slope. If I'm using American terms in this translation modification for one thing, then I'd have to use American terms for the other things (ie, "Champion" rather than "Adult," etc.). Unlike the official translation, my translation will not use localized translations.
[3] "Lonely death" is a documented phenomenon that occurs frequently in Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodokushi
[4] "K-Line" takes the "k" from "Kiken" (Danger) and "Keikoku" (Warning). For our purposes here, I wanted to keep the 'K' and stick to the original thought as much as possible without pulling out a whole other letter (ie, C).
[5] The official translation is using "Dragon's Triangle" to refer to 魔の海域, and you know what, I'm not going to do that– unless I see evidence. You might see this footnote change in the future.