Thread 6254189

You are Marnie, of no last name, and you want nothing more than to escape your artificial life. For the last several weeks, you’ve been training alongside your Digimon Partner, Phascomon, and have recently bonded enough to unlock the secret of Digivolution.

With the combined strength of you and your allies, you seek to ascend The Tower and defeat its mighty guardian, so you can leave City 87-O and live your life as a human should; out there in the real world.

But first, you have to survive the many threats coming your way, whether they take the form of hostile Digital Lifeforms, or the iron claw of the City’s enforcement units.

Where last your story left off, you entered a network subsystem in search of your missing friend— enigmatic Code Cracker Doc Cracker. With the help of a City-employed pair of Digimon that you threatened into cooperation, you managed to locate him, as well as the old enemy of yours that abducted him.

Now, it's time to fight back.


==

Last Thread
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2025/6216903/

>Fight. You feel like you can take the fight back to DarkTyrannomon. Get in the robot and battle alongside your wounded allies, and try your best to defeat the marauding monster. He's kept you running for too long, and if you can repel him, you can escape the mall subnet with minimal risk to the prisoners you came here to rescue.

"I'll do it."

You reach up and pull yourself into Doc's Mekanorimon's cockpit. It's cramped and tight, but you manage to squeeze in. A Rookie Digimon would have a much easier time moving around in here. All sorts of buttons, levers, and handles are present, leaving you overwhelmed at first.

"Fine. Three of us on one. But you'll follow my lead on this. I'm the one who knows how to pilot this Digimon."

You nod, quickly performing a scan with your goggles. Miraculously, your display highlights numerous segments of the vehicular Digimon. The ignition handle is lit up and labeled, the jet engine is indicated with a glowing joystick, and the laser is simply a large red button. You take a tentative first step, feeling each powerful stomp as your ride moves around. You're raised above the ground now, and piloting the mech gives you a distinct sense of power. You stare at Porcupamon through the blue glass, making sure he's still capable of moving.

"Just when I finally beat you in height... You end up looking down at me again. Damn it! You won't catch up next stage, I guarantee it!" Porcupamon whines.

"Well, you three go beat his face in. Me and the boys will make ourselves useful." Doc cackles. His jovial facade swiftly fades, and he raises a finger to point directly at you.

"Take good care of him, Marnie. He's helpless in this form without a pilot."

"I know. I will, you can count on me. I brought him home once before, didn't I?"

"..."

Mekanorimon seems to want to say something, but it can't seem to produce any words of its own. You find it a rather unfortunate state for a Digimon to be in.

"Let's get started. He's down there waiting for us, and he's too tall for us to attack from the ground. We'll need to claim the aerial advantage."

"But I can't fly!

"You won't have to. Me and your friend are going to draw his attention from up above. He'll probably try and shoot us, but the sky is going to throw his aim off. And while he's looking up, you hit him in the eye with those awful spikes of yours."

"That's a plan I can get behind. You good to fly?" He asks, looking towards you.

You nod and slide the lever forward, beginning to power up Mekanorimon's engines. It's time you get to dish out a beatdown personally.

==

The vehicle is easier to control than you first expected. It moves and attacks with a specific gait, even without micromanagement. It seems like the Digimon has some built-in capability of its own, even if it can't utilize it without a pilot. You wonder how these existed out in the wild, or if they're solely a creation of the city's systems. The existence of this thing makes you realize that there's so much you don't know about Digimon.

Using the jet engine is the hardest part. Once in mid air, you're left with a third dimension to navigate. You lift off several times, managing to not fall through the broken railings or crash into the ceiling. You practice just enough to go straight up and come back down.

Finally, after a brief crash course from Commandramon, he signals that it's time.

"Remember. I'll dodge left, you always dodge right. Don't crash into me."

With that, you both ignite your Mekanorimon and take to the skies, drawing DarkTyrannomon's attention immediately. Your chunky silhouettes are cast against the vibrant blue sky, prompting him to look up and charge another explosion. He's almost uninjured, but he looks tired out from all his raging and rampaging. There's no signs of the Rookies either, even though they should have unfrozen by now.

"Running?! I won't let you. Come down here! I won't be done till I absorb every scrap of your data!"

He launches a fireball between the two of you. Commandramon's estimation was wrong. Even in his fatigued state, his aim is true. You're forced to dodge to either side, rather than letting it miss on its own. You feel a sense of weightlessness, akin to the usage of a f1oat.app, as Mekanorimon pivots to the side.

Down below, your partner takes advantage of the distraction. He sprints out of cover and raises his arm, drawing numerous spikes out of his body once again. DarkTyrannomon's eye flicks towards him, and his metal-tipped claws rise to swat at the second floor.

"Madness Broach!"

The mass of razor-sharp thorns strike your enemy across the face, embedding into his left eye and blinding him. His claws move upwards to scratch at his face, leaving several new scars across the black expanse of scales.

"PORCUPAMOOOON!"

"Now!" Commandramon shouts.

Both of you deactivate the thrusters of your mechs. The full weight of two metallic missiles descend towards the Champion Digimon, claws outstretched to sink as deep as they can go. He's hit by the both of you in the sync, and the force of your attack knocks him to the ground for the first time. You don't waste even a single second. As soon as his chin strikes the tile, you're pulling levers and causing Mekanorimon to slam his claws down repeatedly. The feedback travels throughout the cockpit, making it feel like YOU'RE the one bashing his head. It's satisfying to do so, after all this time, and a manic grin spreads across your face.

You can't do it for long, though. He starts pushing himself back up, and you scurry off his head. You can't pin him due to his size, even with two powerhouses on your team.

"Another one. You're full of tricks, human." He hisses, pain evident in his voice.

"Whatever it takes to win. You said it yourself." You taunt over the speakers.

You both back away as he rears back up to his full height. His head swings from side to side, trying to get all three of his enemies within his field of vision. It's an impossible venture for him. Porcupamon is at head level, and has vanished after wounding his left eye. The two of you are down by his feet, gradually spacing out so he can't charge both at once.

He gives up on his attempt to fend off another sneak attack. Instead, he charges straight forward, between you and Commandramon's ride.

You expect him to miss, and place your hand on the levers that will let you deftly dodge. Once he comes close enough, he instead plants one muscular leg into the ground and halts. DarkTyrannomon thrusts his hip outwards, turning his charge into a spin attack that whips his bulky tail across the ground. The tip collides with Commandramon and his Mekanorimon, sending them backwards, but the bulk of the trunk-like appendage comes right for you.

You're struck with little warning, and get sent flying by the assault. You scream as your Mekanorimon strikes a wall and lands in the same fountain pool that Porcupamon hid behind earlier. Warning alarms fill the cockpit, and your vision turns red. Luckily, it doesn't hurt you that bad, or transcend the pain cap. You hear a distant shout from your partner as you pull your ride back upright, but can't make out what he's saying.

"You okay?! You dead in there?!" Commandramon yells from outside, through the crackling audio emitted by his machine.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" You call back. This was the sort of force that the two of them had to endure over and over.

DarkTyrannomon claws at Commandramon next, forcing him to take shelter by a row of shops. The black dinosaur's shoulder collides with the ceiling, and he fails to make any further progress in rooting out his foe. His shoulders rise and fall with exertion as he tries to deal with three pesky bugs at the same time.

You need a new plan. Dazing him and blinding him with the aerial strike has been effective, but he's not going down just yet.

>Use your Mekanorimon's Twinkle Laser. Earlier, he was able to land stray blows because of his already clumsy fighting style. If you curse him with a lack of coordination, he shouldn't be able to focus on three targets. You can get him close and whittle him down one by one. There's an average risk to all three of you, but it allows you to maximize your damage output.

>Try and hit him with Evil Snore. Porcupamon is out of energy, he's going to be turning back into Phascomon soon. That means you'll regain access to your sleep-inducing move. However, it's not guaranteed to work on a target of his filesize and aptitude, and exposing a Rookie-level Digimon to Champion-level attacks is sure to bring a high amount of risk. You'll require your partner to sneak all the way onto his head and land an attack between his eyes, allowing you to land a decisive blow afterwards.

>Let him continue attacking Commandramon. If you win this fight, you'll need to deal with him as an enemy, so you want him as ragged as possible at the end of it. Only hit him while he's distracted by the other Mekanorimon. Low risk to yourself and Porcupamon while doing this. However, if you misjudge Commandramon's current durability and he ends up getting defeated because of this method, you'll be back to your previous situation of lacking enough firepower.

Big thanks to drawanon for the op image! Made it a lot easier to whip up, creating new threads is always a hassle for me momentum-wise, so it helped a ton.

>>6254194
You're welcome, OP. Feels good to have my art in an OP image of a thread that's not my own.
I didn't think the Darktyranomon fight would be so long because it would have been great to make one to put I'm instead of Brigadramon. It doesn't matter anymore, it looks good.
I'll vote later after thinking a little bit.

>>6254193
>Use your Mekanorimon's Twinkle Laser. Earlier, he was able to land stray blows because of his already clumsy fighting style. If you curse him with a lack of coordination, he shouldn't be able to focus on three targets. You can get him close and whittle him down one by one. There's an average risk to all three of you, but it allows you to maximize your damage output.

>>6254193


>Let him continue attacking Commandramon. If you win this fight, you'll need to deal with him as an enemy, so you want him as ragged as possible at the end of it. Only hit him while he's distracted by the other Mekanorimon. Low risk to yourself and Porcupamon while doing this. However, if you misjudge Commandramon's current durability and he ends up getting defeated because of this method, you'll be back to your previous situation of lacking enough firepower.

Time to take Vito out fishin.

>>6254193
>>Use your Mekanorimon's Twinkle Laser. Earlier, he was able to land stray blows because of his already clumsy fighting style. If you curse him with a lack of coordination, he shouldn't be able to focus on three targets. You can get him close and whittle him down one by one. There's an average risk to all three of you, but it allows you to maximize your damage output.

>>6254193
>Try and hit him with Evil Snore. Porcupamon is out of energy, he's going to be turning back into Phascomon soon. That means you'll regain access to your sleep-inducing move. However, it's not guaranteed to work on a target of his filesize and aptitude, and exposing a Rookie-level Digimon to Champion-level attacks is sure to bring a high amount of risk. You'll require your partner to sneak all the way onto his head and land an attack between his eyes, allowing you to land a decisive blow afterwards.
If twinkle beam works, this should too. I hope the Doc and company can cover him up.

>>6254193
>Try and hit him with Evil Snore. Porcupamon is out of energy, he's going to be turning back into Phascomon soon. That means you'll regain access to your sleep-inducing move. However, it's not guaranteed to work on a target of his filesize and aptitude, and exposing a Rookie-level Digimon to Champion-level attacks is sure to bring a high amount of risk. You'll require your partner to sneak all the way onto his head and land an attack between his eyes, allowing you to land a decisive blow afterwards.

>>6254232
DarkTyrannomon is for sure the biggest challenge so far, literally and figuratively.

>>6254189 (OP)
wait a minute, I recognize this artstyle

>>6254475
F-Forget about it...

>>6254486
Coward! Reveal yourself this instant!

>>6254356
I change my vote to:
>Use your Mekanorimon's Twinkle Laser. Earlier, he was able to land stray blows because of his already clumsy fighting style. If you curse him with a lack of coordination, he shouldn't be able to focus on three targets. You can get him close and whittle him down one by one. There's an average risk to all three of you, but it allows you to maximize your damage output.
Fuck everything, I'm pussing out.

>>6254237
>>6254301
>>6254559

>>6254297

>>6254400

Writing!

>>6254486
it's okay. will the other quest return soon ?

>>6255182
I'll reply here >>6255201

>Use your Mekanorimon's Twinkle Laser. Earlier, he was able to land stray blows because of his already clumsy fighting style. If you curse him with a lack of coordination, he shouldn't be able to focus on three targets. You can get him close and whittle him down one by one. There's an average risk to all three of you, but it allows you to maximize your damage output.

You line up the targeting reticule while DarkTyrannomon’s back is turned. Your fist hammers the red button, prompting your ride to hum and vibrate with gusto. The sound of a spooling coil fills the cockpit, and the lens flares to life on the outside.

“TWINKLE BEAM!”

You fire a powerful blast, aiming to singe his back and disable his sense of rhythm. You don’t bother aiming for any kind of weak point, knowing that he’s just going to absorb it regardless. The main point is to debilitate him so you can get in closer.

The Digimon tries to pull himself out from under the ledge, but Porcupamon is already charging in. He holds out his arms to catch the swinging tail, feet sliding across the ground from the effort, then shoves it aside and clears the rest of the distance for a shoulder tackle. DarkTyrannomon is wedged deeper beneath the ceiling by the motion.

You close in as well, ordering Mekanorimon to gallop forward on its knuckles. A more experienced pilot could have hovered a foot off the ground with the jetpack, but you don’t want to risk a crash. You hear gunfire from under the ledge as well, that could only belong to Commandramon.

Once you’re close enough, you join the assault. The three-pronged attack allows you to dish out far more damage than before. Porcupamon’s spines constantly grow and shed, embedding themselves in the black textures of your foe’s flesh. Your mech’s claws descend on his flank savagely, cutting open wounds that become slower and slower to heal. And under the ledge, the gunfire is replaced with mechanical whirring.

”GYRO BREAK!”

With his shoulder and arm jammed underneath, and his coordination hijacked, DarkTyrannomon is unable to escape. He’s forced to take the full-on corkscrew punch to the stomach, and you see his face contort in agony. He can’t even snap or bite at anybody like this. Sadly, the laser only lasts so long. With a mighty heave, he pushes himself upwards and outwards, shattering the ceiling completely and causing portions of the second floor to rain down on all of you. You cover your head instinctively, shielding the glass from cascading rubble.

Within the debris cloud, you see an ominous shadow lash out at your partner. You don’t have time to get a warning out before it reaches him.

”DARK NAIL!”

He doesn’t have enough stamina left. One hit will finish him off. But before it does, you see a puff of light, and the towering silhouette of Porcupamon collapses. The nail goes wide, swinging at empty air, and DarkTyrannomon screams in impotent rage once again. His tail whips behind him, and you hear a metallic clang as it collides with your other ally.

You slam the button again, only to be hit with an error prompt. It’s still charging. Commandeamon’s ride has a broken lens too, stopping the both of you from catching him in a permanent loop of partial paralysis. He comes for you next, and you rapidly scuttle back in your Mekanorimon. Better for him to chase you than focus on Phascomon, who’s surely scurrying around in the dust and getting to safety. His claws swing outwards, and you raise both arms to block. Despite surviving the slash, the force sends your ride into a wall again, jarring your bones and filling your vision with static.

You keep an eye the laser’s power meter this time, making sure to only attempt firing when it’s ready. DarkTyrannomon charges up another fireball with great effort, aiming for you with his head tilted to the side. You struggle to get Mekanorimon back upright. Before he can launch it at you, your Rookie-sized partner leaps out of the darkness with crimson claws outstretched, slashing at DarkTyrannomon’s right eye. It’s a direct hit.

”FIRE BL- ARGH!“

He thrashes wildly as he goes completely blind. He doesn’t waste energy firing off the ball without a target, and instead stomps about to try and crush Phascomon. He fails, and in that time, your laser comes back online.

Bang. You smash the dashboard again, hitting him with a second beam. Now he’s blinded, disoriented, hit with venom, and more. You look around and see Commandramon powering up his jet engines, getting ready to charge. You do the same, intent on meeting him at the moment of impact. Your ride blasts straight ahead, and together, you deliver a pair of devastating bladed uppercuts to the bottom of DarkTyrannomon’s chin. Metal claws tear into his flesh, causing a deluge of static blood to spew from the injury, and he topples over backwards completely.

“GYRO BREAK!”
”GYRO BREAK!”

After landing heavily on the ground, he pants for several moments, while you each try and recover from the force of your own attack. As you get your creaking and sparking mount back into a fighting stance, the colossal dinosaur pushes himself back upright. You feel a pang of despair at the prospect of continuing this battle. But rather than resume his rampage or fight blind, he roars in utter frustration, then turns tail to stomp away from the two of you.

”He’s on the run!” Phascomon calls.

Fear gives way to relief, as you watch DarkTyrannomon charge through the remnants of the first floor and past the giant globe that forms the exit. You don’t dare to give chase and finish him off. The strength difference is still present, you’ve just outmaneuvered him once again. Pursuing a fleeing beast will bring about a whole new layer of risk.

Commandramon’s mech moves towards yours. Your head is still spinning from the intensity of the fight, so you don’t process that it’s over until he opens the cockpit and waves his arms around to get your attention.

“Huh? Sorry, what did you say?”

”I said… I’m going after him. Mekanorimon and I are going deeper into the subnet. That’s our job. Don’t try and follow, I’m certain humans can’t survive in there.”

You open the cockpit and zoom in with your goggles. You can see the black silhouette of your foe moving further into the distance, beyond where the map ends. The ground gives way to floating chunks of greenish-blue light, forming some kind of artifact-riddled highway that leads off into the greater network that runs as the undercurrent of 87-O. Digimon can traverse these, but they’re likely even more hostile than service partitions.

“You sure? All by yourself? We could only repel him with all three of us, why do you think-“

”Get a clue already!” A voice cries in frustration. You look around in confusion, and spy Phascomon emerging from the dust and dirt to reunite with you.

”I’m sniffing what you’re scratching, buddy. Go on ahead.” He says.

With a solemn nod, Commandramon turns away from the two of you and clears his throat.

”Ahem… as per my mission directives to get to the bottom of the attack on the district, I will now be making an effort to pursue the culprit—DarkTyrannomon. As a person of interest in this case, I will require your full cooperation. You are to stay outside the partition and await further instructions, while I go off and follow the trail. Understood?”

You nod.

“And I suppose you’ll want to write a report on all of this after.”

”Yes. I’ll be legally required to. Now, go outside and wait.”

He gives you one last furtive look as he slams the cockpit shut and marches off, taking his injured partner further into the system. You know there’s nothing he can do to stop you from leaving while unsupervised. And so does he.

Once DarkTyrannomon is gone, you hear a barking laugh from atop an upturning pile of mannequins. Gazimon and his rookie companions are standing atop the rubble, staring at the receding figure of their former leader.

"There! He's not unbeatable after all! Look at that, he just left us behind and wandered off." He taunts.

"Guess so..." Tsukaimon mumbles, floating idly above Elecmon.

"And it's all thanks to me! That's right! I knew he'd get beaten down if I got him impatient enough to keep charging in. So in a way, I defeated him! That means I'm the boss again."

Elecmon rolls his eyes, but says nothing. He merely stares over Gazimon's shoulder at an approaching shape.

"You two have a lot to make up for, just going along with that damn lizard. Where's your loyalty to ME, huh?! Well, things are going to change around here! Now that I'm back to being the top dog, you two are going to-"

"Eucalpytus Claw."

Phascomon slashes Gazimon across the back, savagely ripping his textures apart and sending him tumbling down the mountain of holographic bodies. His two companions just watch quietly, uninterested in interfering. The paralytic venom shoots through him, stopping him from even opening his mouth to beg or shout.

"If there's one thing that went right today, it's that I got to meet you again, you pezzo di merda."

He rolls Gazimon over with his foot, then places it squarely on his chest so he can look down at his face.

"You were never important or strong. Just a scurrying little rat bastard of a Digimon. It's nice to see that some things never change."

Phascomon swipes a second time, tearing through Gazimon's face and ripping apart his old nemesis. You say nothing. You stopped him the last time, but now there's no reason to deny him his catharsis.

DELETED.

With that, his power grab is over as quickly as it started.

"So... you the new boss now, or something?" Elecmon asks, as he watches Phascomon absorb the remnants of Gazimon's data.

You look around from within the cockpit. Doc said he would be off doing something useful, so he'll probably be back soon. He lost one Kokuwamon to this squad. Even if the two of them were just following the orders of their leader, he might want to exact vengeance. You don't know how he'll feel about this. They seem antsy and ready to flee, now that both of their prospective bosses are gone.

>Finish them off. You have just a little juice left in your Mekanorimon, so deleting two Rookies should be trivial. They did break into Doc's apartment and kidnap him. They're dangerous, and you've seen the downside of allowing potential enemies to live.

>Let them go. Doc may be disappointed in this choice, if he's set on revenge. You don't know how he'll react to it. However, they're not hostile to you, and were merely going along with the hierarchy of wild Digimon.

>>6255483
What do they even want? Are they happy being dumb muscle in exchange for security?
>Ask how they feel about getting a job? If they're willing to work for food, Marnie or Doc could find them something to do. Better to keep them somewhere in sight.

>>6255483
>>Finish them off. You have just a little juice left in your Mekanorimon, so deleting two Rookies should be trivial. They did break into Doc's apartment and kidnap him. They're dangerous, and you've seen the downside of allowing potential enemies to live.

>>6255483
I vote for capturing them to hand them over to Doc. It's his damn grudge not Marnie's.
If I can't, I choose:
>Let them go. Doc may be disappointed in this choice, if he's set on revenge. You don't know how he'll react to it. However, they're not hostile to you, and were merely going along with the hierarchy of wild Digimon.
Gazimon was deleted, Darktyranomon hurt and that should be enough. If Marnie wasn't soft, Doc would be already dead.

>>6255486
+1

>>6255483
As with >>6255782, my back-up option would be
>Let them go. Doc may be disappointed in this choice, if he's set on revenge. You don't know how he'll react to it. However, they're not hostile to you, and were merely going along with the hierarchy of wild Digimon.
if a write-in isn't allowed

>>6255568

>>6255782
>>6255792

>>6255486

Writing! Will indicate when write-ins are applicable, for situations with a bigger range of outcomes.

>Let them go. Doc may be disappointed in this choice, if he's set on revenge. You don't know how he'll react to it. However, they're not hostile to you, and were merely going along with the hierarchy of wild Digimon.

Phascomon looks up at you with light in his eyes. You recall what he said about wanting to lead a gang of Digimon. But not now. Dragging a few new minions along is going to be messy, and you don’t know how Doc will react to you cozying up with the ones who killed one of his friends. They’re looking antsy to get going, and you don’t reckon you can stall them until he arrives to make a call.

Neither will your partner accept the idea of stringing them along with the idea of forming a pack, only to have them deleted in revenge. Doing so would rip your relationship apart. He fights dirty, but this is a sore point for him, especially with Gazimon freshly out of the picture. It’s either fight them outright, or free them. You shake your head at Phascomon.

With a shrug, he turns back to the duo.

”Nah. Maybe someday else. You catch me out in the REAL Digital World, and we’ll talk.”

That’s all the confirmation they need. The pair scurry off to the globe and make their exit, fleeing ahead of you into the city streets. You hope they don’t end up at the beck and call of yet another malicious boss.

Doc Cracker shows up several minutes later, with his Digimon in tow. He has several portable screens around him, hovering in the air as he walks. By now, your Mekanorimon has lost power, and reverted to good ol' Kokuwamon again. He jogs forward to receive a pat on the head from doc.

"Heard the big lug toppling over from all the way upstairs. Good work, boy. Marnie, where's the Commandramon?"

"He let us go in the end. The two of them went into the network."

"Now, there's a welcome surprise! Let's get a move on. I've been hijacking the radio waves to keep the heat off us. No backup for that Digimon until he heads outside."

You take a good look at him. Even though he's reset his avatar, he looks haggard and exhausted, with his clothes hanging loosely off his wiry frame. He doesn't have the veil of static around his face, nor do you think he had time to put on a VPN. If this partition marks users, he's surely been logged by now. Heading back to the lab is out of the question.

He leads you to the globe, where he fiddles with the panel a little more. Before your eyes, numerous blue holograms pop into existence, wandering into the mall from the same direction that DarkTyrannomon fled. He's enabled the customer redirection protocol again, to flood the real mall with customers and muddy the trail that you two are going to be leaving.

Before departing, he looks around the mall suspiciously, his numerous eyes focusing on the trace data that leads into the very same globe you're using.

"Did you see the Rookies?"

Solarmon rotates on the spot, and the three Kokuwamon snap their claws together idly.

"They're gone." You admit.

"Bah... Would have liked to finish them off. Solarmon here would get much stronger from beating three viruses. Did you at least give them a good clobbering?" He asks, clearly bothered by their escape.

You think back to the fight you had, where you kicked Elecmon in the nose and launched Tsukaimon off the second floor. You can say conclusively that you did.

"Clobbered hard. They had a sort of second-in-command, who put the gang together before BlackAgumon came along. Phascomon finished him off."

"That's good. One down. But it's the big one that's really to blame."

"What'll you do if he comes back? He did once, and I doubt Commandramon can take him out for good."

"I'll set up shop a bit deeper in this time round. He could only reach me because there was nobody around to respond. This time, I'll be right under their noses."

He sighs.

"Real big loss of data, with the lab gone. But I have safehouses, so don't you worry your little head."

The whole lot of of you step outside, and the world inverts once again.

==

Once you've escaped the mall, you and Doc slide into the nearest alleyway to reconvene. It's difficult for him to hide so many Digimon. You lend him your backup slot, placing Kokuwamon in your Digivice like you should have the first time. Meanwhile, Phascomon takes a much-needed rest in the main slot. He's hurt and exhausted, and will need plenty of rest in the upcoming days. The other two Kokuwamon fit into Doc's Digivice, leaving Solarmon to float about. As the only one capable of flight, he's forced to follow along from the air.

"Where to now?"

"A good Code Cracker always makes backups. I'm off to my Safehouse, like I said."

A thought crosses your mind, and you suggest it immediately.

"I met another Code Cracker who was really interested in your work. She wanted me to ask some questions and see about setting up a meeting. Her group has a whole base of their own, I'm sure they'd take you in."

He shakes his head just as quickly.

"No. I don't like rooming with others, present company aside," he says, touching the Digivice on his hip. "And I have a feeling they're not free of heat. I'd bet my Digivice they're the ones who blew up the factory, aren't they?"

You nod in surprise.

"How'd you know? We haven't even gotten to talk yet."

"I can see it written on your face. You've been real busy the last couple days. Plus, an .app like this doesn't come from nowhere."

He slides the leftover orange files back to you, and you place them back within your inventory.

"How about we stick with you for today, Doc? Show us your backup lab so we can help set up."

"Works for me." You add. You're both worried about how he's going to cope.

Doc raises his arms over his head to stretch. He rubs at his wrists, nursing the phantom ache left behind by the manacles.

"You two have done enough. I owe you big time, Marnie, Phascomon. Come on by anytime when I'm set up. But you should be heading home now."

You don't fight it. The two of you travel in the same direction for just a little more, and you resolve to keep an eye on him until your paths diverge. Along the way, you see servitors continuing to interview people. You sigh in relief once you spot them camping outside unrelated hab-partitions. Seems like you haven't actually been stalked to your home, they're just going through the motions. The both of you are forced to use alleyways and rooftops, as Doc's malware-scarred face is sure to grab the attention of any patrolling robots. While you make use of f1oat, he relies on Solarmon, who pulls him along like a hang-glider. The machine Digimon is still badly hurt, but dutifully fills his role.

Finally, he pauses on a roof, staring at your apartment in the distance. The Tower stands ominously above you both, with its numerous guardians in perpetual orbit. Mekanorimon was likely up there too, at some point, and will be again.

"This is where we part ways. I won't forget what you did for me. Don't get Podded before I can pay it back now." Doc says.

You send Kokuwamon out of the Digivice, and leave his transport for Doc Cracker to deal with. Phascomon sighs with relief once the slot is cleared. The two of you have resolved his issue with the backup slot, but he's still anxious over the idea of you adopting another partner for the long run. You have no such plans to stress him out like that, or split your attention.

You give Doc one more concerned look over your shoulder before plunging off the roof and returning home.

==

You load yourself back into your apartment, and finally allow yourself to unwind for the day. You spent less time fighting DarkTyrannomon than you did exploring the data center, but it's been just as exhausting. Phascomon doesn't even have the energy to come out of the Digivice and sit on the sofa. He's allowing it to revitalize him bit by bit, while he lounges amidst the simulated foliage.

"What a day... We didn't even get to ask him anything in the end."

"Tell me about it. But he's safe and sound, at least. Just wish we could have deleted DarkTyrannomon."

"It's not enough."

You nod. You know full well what he means.

"Not enough strength. I got too big for my britches after just one milestone. We can't fight another enemy like that."

"I still want to know what happened to him. He's alone, right? You didn't see any humans with him?"

"No, nobody at all. And the marks on the workshop prove that he can go back and forth between stages, just like me."

It's a mystery that you have no way of unraveling unless you consult Doc. And he's no longer available for today. BlackAgumon somehow evolved into a Champion alone, in that reversible way that varies from Raremon or Kaus Gammamon. Kokuwamon showed off the same ability, but he had a Digivice in the equation to explain it.

"Do you think Squid will have any clue?"

"No, she was stumped the last time. Doesn't hurt to ask though."

You start composing a message to her while you lounge on the sofa. The view outside is as stagnant as always. You decide to turn the news on, searching for updates on the flood you and the Dogs of War caused the other day.

"-live update from the 87-O News Network. Our investigators on-scene have completed their assessment of Disaster Zone C2, and discovered the cause."

The footage reveals the zoned-off area that Doc's workshop once sat in. Numerous security servitors are flying about, with not a single Digimon to be seen. Commandramon and his mech are absent from the broadcast, leaving only the faceless robots to dictate the narrative.

The vandalized partition was damaged by a roving Digimon, which was subdued and repelled thanks to the efforts of 87O's highly trained enforcement team. There were no residents in the area, and the battle was a result of territorial aggressions between two of the wild creatures in an uninhabited area.

The block will be closed off for the foreseeable future, while they clean up and restore its system files. Citizens are reminded to not engage with wild Digimon, and that excessive fraternization may constitute a violation of the Digital Lifeform Conservation Act.

It's not complete bull, but it allows them to pat themselves on the back in the wake of Commandramon's report. There's no mention of you, nor the illegal Code Cracking workshop. The news network is just using this incident as a demonstration to the populace, so they can emphasize the importance of leaving Digimon alone. It's nowhere near as major as the Agumon Flood, nor the explosion, but they continue to milk coverage in order to show off their successful handling of the situation.

After a bit more of this, the news channel finally swaps back to footage the mass junk spill. Progress has been made in cleaning it up, and they're gradually teleporting masses of junk into the sewers, just as expected. They've completely stopped making claims about being on the trail of the culprits. You feel uneasy from the lack of posturing.

"Phew. I need a couple days off. These fights have been doing a number on me."

"Yeah, let's try and relax. I'll draft up some more training plans in the meantime."

"We need somewhere else to visit too. Sewers are a no-go while they're dumping all this junk into it. It's gonna be chaos in there."

You think about it. The next few days should be spent nursing Phascomon back to full health. There's also nothing pressing at the moment. Wind and Squid are keeping an eye out for news, in order to make good on their debt to you. Doc is settling into his safehouse. Phascomon is too tired to train, and your training spot is also off-limits. You have no choice but to take a break, there's no work you can really get done.

How do you spend your well-earned rest days?

>Head out into the city every so often. Phascomon has never gotten to see what life is like for humans. You suppose it won't be too bad to show him around. Despite being disillusioned by the status quo, there's enough trivial entertainment to have fun for a while. You can also keep an eye out for Digimon data traces that might signal potential hotspots. However, this will expose you to servitors, who may try to scan/interrogate you again.

>Stay home and recover. Don't go out at all. Lounging about all day doesn't appeal to you, but there's a double dose of heat out there, thanks to Operation Havoc and DarkTyrannomon's rampage. You want to stay clear of the robots and wait till Doc is able to contact you again. In the meantime, you can spend time talking to Phascomon and making grand plans for the future.

>Write-in. Something else, like visiting one of your non-Doc acquaintances, looking for a type of location, or raising a specific topic with Phascomon.

>>6256153
>Go shopping for textures. Easy, safe, you've got a massive smuggling partition to work with, and you get to work on your own skills.
Can clothes be made for digimon?

OR

>Check out the borders of the city. They should be pretty far away from the heat, and you can look into a base of operations or plan of action for the big escape.

>>6256153

>Stay home and recover. Don't go out at all. Lounging about all day doesn't appeal to you, but there's a double dose of heat out there, thanks to Operation Havoc and DarkTyrannomon's rampage. You want to stay clear of the robots and wait till Doc is able to contact you again. In the meantime, you can spend time talking to Phascomon and making grand plans for the future.

>>6256170
+1 to either of those. Good write-ins!

>>6256153

>>6256170
+1 either, but I prefer the former. Latter is big movement and can draw attention. Former is innocuous and routine. Just shop and rest and wait the heat out

>>6256170
I'm actually not sure. I think the standard across media has been that they can just put physical objects on, but it never really sticks to them since they often have their own sets of clothes already. And outright retexturing them long-term is probably more akin to brain surgery than fashion. Clothes shopping is cute though. So is camping in the outskirts.

Will count in a couple hours!

>>6256170
>>6256420
>>6256442

>>6256292

Shopping it is!

>Go shopping for textures. Easy, safe, you've got a massive smuggling partition to work with, and you get to work on your own skills.

For the rest of the day, you just lounge in bed, too exhausted to do anything else. You're not even in a mood to indulge in the delicious meat haunches spawned from the Digivice farm, and you eat a nutrient brick for the first time in weeks. You find yourself appreciating how easy it is to consume. Phascomon barely says anything either. He just sits in the Digivice for the rest of the evening,

You wake up in the early hours of the next day. Not that morning looks any different from night. You sit there in your pajamas and examine the smooth pillars and marble columns that make up your apartment. Before Phascomon wakes up, you spend an hour or so idly rearranging the furniture with a control panel.

The reorganizing gives you an idea. You just spent all of yesterday running around in a mall. Maybe you should visit a real one and go shopping. You could just buy items online, but you also want to show Phascomon a bit more of human society. He seemed interested when you last suggested the idea to him, so you bring it up again when he wakes up.

"Huh. I did get to see a bit already, back with Takuda. But we never really did anything I wanted. I guess it couldn't hurt-"

His round ears perk up on the pixel screen.

"It could, actually. What if the bots start hassling you while you're out in public?"

"I guess we'll have to be careful. But I'm not going to live in fear forever, just hiding away from them. Like how Doc has to. I'll think of something if they show up."

That's the spite talking again. You know he's right, but you turn up your nose at the notion of being barred from having a good time outside, just because these damnable servitors are breathing down everyone's necks.

"Well, alright. I'm not gonna talk you out of something fun for me."

He yawns and stretches, then winces hard. You can't make out the extent of his injuries through this pixel screen, but he seems to be in poor shape. Ever since you got closer, he's been putting up less of a front regarding his health. That means a lot of whining whenever he’s recovering.

“You okay? No Digicore damage?”

”Nah, I’d know immediately. A damaged core is pretty terminal. Best case? We end up turning into something like Raremon from the instability.”

While you chat, you walk around the house and prepare your equipment for a day out.

“I’d like to fight him someday. I’m sure you could defeat him now.”

”Yeah. I wouldn’t mind a rematch with Gomamon either. Maybe once the cleanup is over.”

You put on your usual jacket and baggy pants, making sure the scar on your leg is properly covered. The bots might be able to detect the damage right through the pants texture, but it makes you feel just a little safer. The rest of your inventory is filled with junk and spare items, with everything useful stashed away in the smuggling compartment.

“Let’s go. Feel free to sleep, I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

He nods, already drifting off to bed. You load yourself back into the apartment hallway, then make your way down into the main lobby. No servitors are collecting metadata today, since yesterday’s incident has been neatly resolved.

You stick to rooftops as always, until you get close enough to the nearest mall. None of these system-run places have proper names. This is just Mall 109, and nothing else. Once you clamber down the side of a building and step back onto the street that leads to 109, you're hit by a prompt.

<HELLO, MARNIE! WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACTIVATE SHOPPING MODE?>
>Yes
>No

>No

You dismiss it with an impatient wave of your hand. You're not interested in taking part in the redirection protocol, or using the easy-purchase function. Part of the joy is in window shopping, and seeing if there's anything at all that can fascinate you from behind the holographic screens.

"We're here, Phascomon."

He stirs within the Linker on your wrist. Still wrapped up in a blanket, he tunes in to your goggles and observes the view through your eyes.

After yesterday's fiasco, you're wary of the subnet that runs parallel to the mall itself. You keep looking around for any sort of statue, symbol, or control center that could hold an entrance like the one Commandramon opened up for you yesterday. Even though you know you're being paranoid, some part of you is screaming that DarkTyrannomon might claw his way back out onto the street.

"You okay? Been freezing up for a while."

"Huh? Yeah. Sorry. Let's go in."

You don't have a lot of credits, since you've never worked. However, each person gets a weekly allowance, and yours is untouched. You top it off with a handful thrown in by Doc and Squid for previous tasks in the past. Your very first stop is an ice cream stand by the entrance. Phascomon's face presses up against the screen as your goggles reveal rows and rows of flavors. Your expression sours when you see that it's a bot managing it.

"I want that green one! I bet it's eucalyptus!" He calls.

"It's not-"

"Just get it!"

You pay for two cones. The ice cream servitor extracts two perfectly spherical orbs of color and slaps them onto two perfect wafer cones. You stare at the geometric perfection and roll your eyes. The taste, at least, won't be something to complain about. You've gone for mint.

"Please enjoy, you two!" Calls the servitor.

You nearly drop the cone in shock. You stare at its black screen, waiting for red dots to appear and indicate hostility. It takes you a moment to realize that it's not addressing Phascomon, and it's just making the assumption that your second cone is for somebody else. You grab both and scurry out to feed its data into your Digivice.

"Bleh! It's sour! What is this?!"

"Lime Sherbert."

"I guess it's not that bad... I've never had food this cold before. Makes my mouth shrink up."

You slowly enjoy your dessert, as you begin wandering the mall in search of clothing shops.

Phascomon seems enamored by the bustling mall. 109 is one of the more popular locations, and you've picked it in order to hide within its density. Your mission today is to obtain items that might have specific, practical uses.

One example is the backpack texture that you applied to the bomb partition on your back, or the watch your Digivice is disguised as. You might also be able to rip the textures from wooden tables or crates to disguise future boxes, or even shop for small items that you could put in your partition. You recall your trip to the sewers, where you made a makeshift bridge-ladder by copying the assets you found in the debug room. Maybe something productive could be done in here, while you enjoy your day out.

>Write-in: What sort of textures are you looking to procure?

>>6256704
>Lamps or light fixtures of some sort. Small and it never hurts to have a bunch of light sources to throw around.
>Mirrors or mirror textures, if possible
>Aquarium or some other water or foggy display that distorts rather than blocking a view.
>Giant stuffed animal in the same general profile as Porcupamon.
There's gotta be something like monzaemon right?
>A texture you can climb?
>A junk texture disguise that doesn't smell as bad as actual junk
>Tall grass textures for making ambush points

>>6256710
+1 but can we do fake exit points to Wile E. Coyote people?

Phascomon having fun gives me years of life
>>6256704
>Write-in: What sort of textures are you looking to procure?
A better surf board or something to prop surf and something you could use as a weapon charging it with propulsion apps.

>>6256704
>A better surfboard
>A stuffed bear or koala
>Obscuring textures like in >>6256710

>>6256710
>>6256711
>>6256731
>>6256895
Writing! Will take everything doable into account.

>>6256788
Hell yeah. He deserves a snack after the last couple weeks. Figured it was a good time to wind down for a few updates since it's been encounter after encounter.

>>6257010
It was a very needed breather desu.

You should get easily acquirable textures first, before you move on to models and objects. You stare at a circular fountain, watching the water move and churn. It's much smaller than the one that the Digimon were stomping around in yesterday. The water makes you think of the vast oceans that you saw in your book. There's nothing like that here. The biggest body of 'water' you've seen is the sewer. There's nothing you can do with the texture of it, however. You can't freely suck up fluids and stuff them in your storage inventory, nor strip attritbutes from them. You move on to a clothing shop next. Those are almost entirely servitor-run, as outfit design isn't really a practical field.

Today's selection of premium gimmick goods are as garish as ever. There's some kind of jacket covered in golden neon trim and silver spikes, along with electric blue pants. It's like a Champion-level version of your own outfit. Then there's a red dress with a massive hem that flows behind it, ending with four orbs that hover in the air and lift the train above the ground. And then there's a gigantic mascot suit. You do a double take as you move past the store.

"What is THAT?!"

"Some kind of bear costume...? Why do they have it here?"

"Nobody walks around in this, surely. What's the audience for it?"

"I don't think there even is one. A lot of this stuff is randomly pulled from some outfit archive, so people have something to spend credits on."

"It's a bit bigger than my Porcupamon form, even."

You slowly set foot into the store, eyeing the credits bar in your inventory. Surely not...

==

Five minutes later, you've evaded the robotic clerk's attempt to take your measurements, yelled at it for trying to scan you (and your bad leg), and have exited the store with the item newly tied to your user ID. What a waste of credits. But surely this sort of cover for your Digimon partner will see a use someday.

With the hit to your finances, you move on to camping goods. There's an outermost ring of the city where the ground turns into flattened terrain, and hab-units are banned completely. It's the closest thing to wilderness 87-O has. The outskirts lack wild Digimon, nor is it anything like the scenic vistas you've seen in your book. That fact was made very clear to you during an old school trip. Now, with the data traces visible within your goggles, you might be able to confirm or deny that for yourself. It's still very much a part of the city, especially with the absolute and inviolable barrier at the edge of it, and the blue fog beyond where the map ceases to exist.

That doesn't stop the mall from trying to advertise it as an 'outdoor experience'. Some people eat it up, packing their bags and tents and heading out to the border to spend the night. The absolute lack of worldly conveniences drives people home immediately, but you've heard of a notable few who have taken to living long-term there.

You stop in front of the department store. Self-sufficiency is an important part of this camping concept, so it should have plenty of practical goods. You walk past the folding furniture items and simulated bonfires. Many of these are meant to be portable, and are exceptions to the rules that prevent users from placing furniture down on the street. You look at a series of handheld lamps, and add them to your electronic cart. Light sources are easy to procure, and very useful. You get a few chairs too, and a handful of props that resemble overgrown shrubs. You also throw in a tent for good measure. By the time you're done procuring camping gear, you've ended up in front of the bathroom section.

Shower, bathtub, sink, mirror. You wave a hand in front of the mirror, wondering how much it would be to get one. Surely it would have lots of uses, but you're forced to abandon that train of thought once you recall what another Cracker told you (a non-Doc one). The way you understood it, there's actually no such thing as a mirror. That tidbit has been irrelevant to you for a whole sixteen years, till now.

Pretty much all mirrors are actually screens and cameras at the same time, which capture and render an image of the world before them. That means it requires processing power of its own. You can't apply that to an object on the fly, so it's more of a challenge than it seems. You explain this issue to Phascomon when he asks you why you've been staring into a mirror for several minutes.

"What about Chrondigizoit?"

"Oh? What about it?"

"It's the basis for metal data, right? That's what the bots use to make their bodies."{/b]

"Right."

"So if it's a 'real' material, unlike all the stuff humans coded when you set this city up, maybe it has properties of its own already."

You nod. It's an interesting theory. Maybe you can examine it further in the future, but it's low priority. You move on to other items you can make use of.

With the hit to your finances, you move on to camping goods. There's an outermost ring of the city where the ground turns into flattened terrain, and hab-units are banned completely. It's the closest thing to wilderness 87-O has. The outskirts lack wild Digimon, nor is it anything like the scenic vistas you've seen in your book. That fact was made very clear to you during an old school trip. Now, with the data traces visible within your goggles, you might be able to confirm or deny that for yourself. It's still very much a part of the city, especially with the absolute and inviolable barrier at the edge of it, and the blue fog beyond where the map ceases to exist.

That doesn't stop the mall from trying to advertise it as an 'outdoor experience'. Some people eat it up, packing their bags and tents and heading out to the border to spend the night. The absolute lack of worldly conveniences drives people home immediately, but you've heard of a notable few who have taken to living long-term there.

You stop in front of the department store. Self-sufficiency is an important part of this camping concept, so it should have plenty of practical goods. You walk past the folding furniture items and simulated bonfires. Many of these are meant to be portable, and are exceptions to the rules that prevent users from placing furniture down on the street. You look at a series of handheld lamps, and add them to your electronic cart. Light sources are easy to procure, and very useful. You get a few chairs too, and a handful of props that resemble overgrown shrubs. You also throw in a tent for good measure. By the time you're done procuring camping gear, you've ended up in front of the bathroom section.

Shower, bathtub, sink, mirror. You wave a hand in front of the mirror, wondering how much it would be to get one. Surely it would have lots of uses, but you're forced to abandon that train of thought once you recall what another Cracker told you (a non-Doc one). The way you understood it, there's actually no such thing as a mirror. That tidbit has been irrelevant to you for a whole sixteen years, till now.

Pretty much all mirrors are actually screens and cameras at the same time, which capture and render an image of the world before them. That means it requires processing power of its own. You can't apply that to an object on the fly, so it's more of a challenge than it seems. You explain this issue to Phascomon when he asks you why you've been staring into a mirror for several minutes.

"What about Chrondigizoit?"

"Oh? What about it?"

"It's the basis for metal data, right? That's what the bots use to make their bodies."

"Right."

"So if it's a 'real' material, unlike all the stuff humans coded when you set this city up, maybe it has properties of its own already."

You nod. It's an interesting theory. Maybe you can examine it further in the future, but it's low priority. You move on to other items you can make use of.

Next up, you look for smaller handheld objects you can use to get around. You remember how useful that scrap metal lid was. Something more durable can be used to propsurf if you find yourself in a partition again. You also want something to help you climb walls, so you look for pitons that can be jammed into them. You also grab a few ladders just for good measure. Unfortunately, you can't seem to replicate the texture of a partition exit. It would have been an excellent idea for trickery, but it's something baked deeply into the functions of the world, and hard to copy.

By the time you're done with everything, even your regular inventory is full of junk, and your wallet is empty. You're satisfied with the shopping trip, since you got everything you needed. The mall layout was surprisingly helpful, and you seemed to find whatever you needed one thing after the next. You settle down by the fountain and settle onto a bench to talk to Phascomon.

"Got everything?"

"Almost. So, what did you think?"

"It's bizarre! You all just have these things up for sale? I think there are more products than Digimon types!"

You hope that's not true. It would suck if the entirety of the Digital World was somehow eclipsed in variety by machine-made catalogs and inventions. As you prepare to head home, you check your newfound goods one last time. Your focus lands on the tent.

"We're not busy for about a week, right? While you're recovering?"

"Yeah. Why?"

>Go camping. See what the city outskirts are like. You'll get a good break from all the action, and even if it bored you the last time, you might be able to appreciate the slight change in scenery now that you're older. The downside is that you'll be far away from home, the DOW sewer base, and Doc, leaving you unable to assist if anything goes awry or your attention is needed.

>Rest up at home. Not as exciting, but far safer. You've already taken a mild risk by heading out here to have fun. Maybe a few more brief trips outside might help curb the boredom, but you'll still be in the neighborhood while the both of you recuperate.

Was a good chance to go into further detail on the physicality of the world. Also brought the alternate option back up.

>>6257192
>Go camping. See what the city outskirts are like. You'll get a good break from all the action, and even if it bored you the last time, you might be able to appreciate the slight change in scenery now that you're older. The downside is that you'll be far away from home, the DOW sewer base, and Doc, leaving you unable to assist if anything goes awry or your attention is needed.
screwit, you've done everyone plenty of favors.

>>6257196
+1

>>6257192
>Rest up at home. Not as exciting, but far safer. You've already taken a mild risk by heading out here to have fun. Maybe a few more brief trips outside might help curb the boredom, but you'll still be in the neighborhood while the both of you recuperate.
I want Doc's reward as fast as possible

>>6257192
>Go camping. See what the city outskirts are like. You'll get a good break from all the action, and even if it bored you the last time, you might be able to appreciate the slight change in scenery now that you're older. The downside is that you'll be far away from home, the DOW sewer base, and Doc, leaving you unable to assist if anything goes awry or your attention is needed

>>6257192
>Go Camping
WHOOOO NATURE SIMILACRUM

>>6257196
>>6257197
>>6257443
>>6257659

>>6257264

Camping time! Might take a bit longer for this update.

>Go camping. See what the city outskirts are like. You'll get a good break from all the action, and even if it bored you the last time, you might be able to appreciate the slight change in scenery now that you're older. The downside is that you'll be far away from home, the DOW sewer base, and Doc, leaving you unable to assist if anything goes awry or your attention is needed.

"I'm thinking about taking a trip. What do you think? You can rest perfectly well inside the Digivice, even if we're not at home."

"Where to? I thought you said there wasn't anywhere to go here."

"There's just one place. One big extended place, really. I'm thinking I should bring you to the city's borders. If we're going to get out of here one day, it might be worth checking out. Once in a lifetime chance."

"Ha. You'd better believe we're getting out. Let's do it. Anything we need to pack?"

"Food. I'll go pick some up, head home, then we can leave tomorrow morning."

"Perfect. Come on then, chop chop!"

==

You head home first. As of late, entering the building is a harrowing affair. You're worried about catching the attention of bots, or finding some kind of ambush waiting for you. Nothing of the sort happens today either, but you still make sure to exercise vigilance. You sort through your items once you're back, making sure your new tools are neatly organized. You try to make good use of your regular inventory, and keep the tent and sleeping bag materialized for hand-carrying.

Once your metaphorical bags are packed, you start worrying about transport. The large strip of usable campground is up in the far North, and you need to take a train. That means buying tickets, and that means interacting with servitors who could pivot to interrogation or examination of your leg any time. You decide to spend the evening contacting Code Crackers about fake tickets and temporary metadata spoofing.

Fortunately, Squid is the first one to come up with a solution for you. She sends you a set of coordinates, not too far away, and you hike there to claim the dead drop. By the time you get home with the executable package, it's late, and you settle down to order your ticket under someone else's name.

You drift off to sleep with the thought of roaring campfires and tranquil forests on your mind, and the next day, you're ready to seek them out for real.

>Go camping. See what the city outskirts are like. You'll get a good break from all the action, and even if it bored you the last time, you might be able to appreciate the slight change in scenery now that you're older. The downside is that you'll be far away from home, the DOW sewer base, and Doc, leaving you unable to assist if anything goes awry or your attention is needed.

"I'm thinking about taking a trip. What do you think? You can rest perfectly well inside the Digivice, even if we're not at home."

"Where to? I thought you said there wasn't anywhere to go here."

"There's just one place. One big extended place, really. I'm thinking I should bring you to the city's borders. If we're going to get out of here one day, it might be worth checking out. Once in a lifetime chance."

"Ha. You'd better believe we're getting out. Let's do it. Anything we need to pack?"

"Food. I'll go pick some up, head home, then we can leave tomorrow morning."

"Perfect. Come on then, chop chop!"

==

You head home first. As of late, entering the building is a harrowing affair. You're worried about catching the attention of bots, or finding some kind of ambush waiting for you. Nothing of the sort happens today either, but you still make sure to exercise vigilance. You sort through your items once you're back, making sure your new tools are neatly organized. You try to make good use of your regular inventory, and keep the tent and sleeping bag materialized for hand-carrying.

Once your metaphorical bags are packed, you start worrying about transport. The large strip of usable campground is up in the far North, and you need to take a train. That means buying tickets, and that means interacting with servitors who could pivot to interrogation or examination of your leg any time. You decide to spend the evening contacting Code Crackers about fake tickets and temporary metadata spoofing.

Fortunately, Squid is the first one to come up with a solution for you. She sends you a set of coordinates, not too far away, and you hike there to claim the dead drop. By the time you get home with the executable package, it's late, and you settle down to order your ticket under someone else's name.

You drift off to sleep with the thought of roaring campfires and tranquil forests on your mind, and the next day, you're ready to seek them out for real.

The visit to the train station reminds you of the day when you first met BlackAgumon. You slow down significantly as you approach it, staring at the ominous staircase that leads down to an empty plot. There could be another vending machine there, with another threat inside ready to pounce. You shake the thought out of your head and move on. This is a different station. It's in between the one you first boarded, and takes the same route that you battled Espimon on.

"We riding up top again?"

"No, that's what the ticket was for."

You curtly hand your ticket to the servitor. Transport is free, and tickets aren't needed on slower trains. For long-distance ones that have no stops, like the carriage you're boarding, early bookings are needed to secure spots.

Prior to boarding, you've activated the .app Squid sent you. The bot allows you through without fuss.

"Have a pleasant ride, Michelle!"

The interior of the train is comfortable and clean. It automatically refreshes at each station, ensuring that it's in a pristine state for each new batch of customers. You step inside and settle into your allocated seat, which is highlighted with a yellow arrow that's visible only to you.

There are quite a lot of people today. Seems like the outskirts are a popular destination, with all the chaos happening lately. In order to prevent humans from getting lost and being unaccounted for, only the Northernmost section of the city has been set aside for the artificial outdoors. It's a large wedge shape, and you don't know what lies within the other part of the disc. You're headed towards the primary campgrounds, where you can set up camp in an empty plot and enjoy a day in the great outdoors. You hope it's not as disappointing as you remembered, but you've never once witnessed a piece of infrastructure like the outskirts get revamped or updated.

As you lose yourself in your own thoughts, the conductor lets out a jingle over the intercom. A brief safety message plays, warning riders to keep their limbs within the vehicle and to not open any of the doors or windows. It begins chugging along, picking up speed and roaring loudly. Once the volume hits a critical point, it abruptly mutes itself, sparing the passengers from having to deal with it the entire trip.

Your cabin is too crowded to talk to Phascomon out loud, so you message him instead. He speaks out loud while you send messages to your Digivice through your screen.

"What do you think?"

"Roomier than I thought. I thought people would be squished inside."

"The short-distance trains are crowded. These ones need to be a bit more comfortable, because they go all across the city."

"I don't get it. Why don't they let people just shift coordinates from one place to another? I'm sure they've got the technology."

"I haven't gotten a straight answer from a bot before. But I think they just don't want it to be so easily accessible. It's a high-level software function."

"Would be much simpler if you didn't need all these train networks."

"Yeah. Lots of stuff here to optimize..."

The interior of this train is far more comfortable than riding on top, with heated seats and plenty of leg room. You take to looking outside the window, watching the view zoom past. The data trails in the eternal night sky whiz by at a dizzying pace. By now, the pillar of light from your last mission has dissipated, leaving only the Tower to stand firm and eternal. You watch it go further and further away, barely shrinking even as your train takes you kilometers into the distance.

==

"We're here!"

"Finally! I was sick of that view."

During the last couple of minutes, the scenery changed abruptly. The buildings abruptly got shorter and shorter, before ceasing entirely and giving way to flat land. It's completely flat, even. No shrubs, no rocky terrain, no foliage, nothing. It's just a barebones portion of the map, that goes from the concrete ground to the same low-ish poly color that makes up the floor of parks. Maybe a bit more yellowish-green.

"This is what we came to see?" He asks, disappointed.

"It gets a bit better. I think. Look over there."

The train is slowing down significantly, preparing to pull into a station. The ground here finally has grass. It's disorienting to stare at it for too long, as only three grass models are rendered. The small grass forms tufts of three, spreading out far and wide. The medium ones are scattered about in clumps as well, perfect duplicates of each other. Then the tall grass sprouts are intermittent and placed randomly.

You get out of your seat and reach upwards, your fingers managing to hook the handlebar when you tiptoe. The train slows down little by little, making a smooth stop while you sway from side to side.

"Thank you for riding with us, dear commuters! Please exit the vehicle in a timely fashion, and do remember to claim your belongings!"

The station is unremarkable. However, the silence is anything but. You remember what left an impression on you now. It's the most quiet the world can get while outside a partition. The scenery may be severely lacking, but the atmosphere is powerful and sublime. There are no vehicles, no sounds of Digimon passing overhead, minimal chirping servitors, and no crowds moving omnidirectionally. Phascomon picks up on it too.

"Wow. It's quiet."

"Right? Feels like you can actually think."

You move past the folks who are returning from their own camping trips. The tent package is clutched under your arm, and you deftly dodge a group of friends who are spreading out and blocking the entire path. The campgrounds stretch out far ahead, with fewer and fewer servitors visible in the distance. Most of them are clustered around the train station and the ranger outpost, ready to zip out and attend to people when needed.

An interface pops in front of you when you enter the campgrounds, providing a tutorial on how to choose your plot and reserve your space. You decide to move as far in as you're comfortable being, so that Phascomon can hololize in physical space. You feel secure enough after about twenty minutes of walking, when you've stopped seeing people.

"Hololize."

Phascomon sets foot on the artificial ground. He frowns immediately as he feels the texture of the grass.

"Ew. It's all gritty to walk on. The Digivice had better grass."

"It's pretty bad, isn't it? But look on the bright side. We're all alone out here. Nobody to bug us or chase us down for today, we'd see them coming a mile away."

You motion to the flat world around you. This far out, trees have started appearing. There are also just three types, but it's less disconcerting than the grass since they're not tessellated with one another. The environment is nothing impressive, but like your stargazing session atop the train roof, the night sky doesn't look so hideous out here.

"Hey, I can't see the tower from here. We're too far out!"

"Right? And look at the datastreams. All the different colors going across the sky."

"I guess it's pretty nice. Hey, set up a fire, why don't you? I remember that page, I want the campsite to look just like it!"

He's read your mind. You reserve the chunk beneath your feet and begin placing your furniture, customizing the campsite that you'll be staying in.

After several minutes, it's all set up. You settle into a folding chair, with your partner claiming the child-sized one next to you. The both of you recline backwards to watch the data cut across the black sky. Closer to the horizon, the colors take on a bluish hue, like the fog that appeared inside the partition whenever something was beyond render distance. When you look straight North, there's nothing but that ugly, garish hue, and the dozens of copy-pasted trees that sit before it.

What do you focus on during your camping trip?

>Spend time chatting with Phascomon. The last time you two had this sort of atmosphere, you were able to share quite a lot. Spend time going over your future goals and wishes. You're a bit closer to actually having them come true now.

>Look for traces of Digimon. This wilderness looks completely unconducive to Digital life. There's no food, no cover, nothing. But surely there's something in this uninhabited reserve, right?

>Get up and go further North. You want to check out the barrier at the edge of the world, and see for yourself what defines the boundary of the map. It's most likely to be wishful thinking, but you're wondering if there's an alternate route out of this place, apart from the portal.

>>6258080
>Spend time chatting with Phascomon. The last time you two had this sort of atmosphere, you were able to share quite a lot. Spend time going over your future goals and wishes. You're a bit closer to actually having them come true now.
This is very cool

>>6258080
>Spend time chatting with Phascomon. The last time you two had this sort of atmosphere, you were able to share quite a lot. Spend time going over your future goals and wishes. You're a bit closer to actually having them come true now.
I want safety until Phascomon recovers, so no enemy Digimon or pissing off bots in the frontier.

>>6258080
>Get up and go further North. You want to check out the barrier at the edge of the world, and see for yourself what defines the boundary of the map. It's most likely to be wishful thinking, but you're wondering if there's an alternate route out of this place, apart from the portal.

Get me OUT!

>>6258094
+1
The Tower has the exit out into the real world, but what lies beyond the edges of the city borders? What's inside that blue fog?

>>6258080
>Spend time chatting with Phascomon. The last time you two had this sort of atmosphere, you were able to share quite a lot. Spend time going over your future goals and wishes. You're a bit closer to actually having them come true now.

>>6258082
>>6258094
>>6258572

>>6258144
>>6258326

Locking and writing!

>Spend time chatting with Phascomon. The last time you two had this sort of atmosphere, you were able to share quite a lot. Spend time going over your future goals and wishes. You're a bit closer to actually having them come true now.

You're back to square one in terms of firepower, with your partner so exhausted. You don't want to risk any sort of encounter with an enemy. Now that you think about it, trying to approach the barrier is sure to alert servitors, and you simply can't take the heat right now. Same goes for searching for Digimon. You take a look with your goggles anyway, so you can locate the traces.

Almost nothing. You see evidence of Plant-type data, but the trails are scattered and sparse. The few trails are moving in either clockwise or counterclockwise directions, with absolutely nothing going North. You think about the shape of the camping area, and develop a hunch regarding the wild areas of the city map.

"Huh. There aren't many Digimon tracks, just a few going towards the edges of the campground."

"If they come and go from nowhere, they probably popped right out of portals."

"And maybe starved to death. That sucks."

You don't go chasing them, however. You just take your goggles off and kick back, watching the sky with Phascomon. You sit in comfortable silence for several minutes, then reach into your inventory and pull out a pack of sausages and skewers.

"Meat or marshmallows first?"

==

Even though the environment is dull and dreary, you make your own fun in the end. You suppose it's where the joy of camping comes from. Your little plot of land is decorated with shrubs, a roaring bonfire, and a few decorative stumps. Phascomon gets a little annoyed when you keep swapping the seats into different styles, and complains that it's disorienting. You finally settle on a reclining chair for yourself, and a hammock for him. Then you continue cooking your food.

"You'd think they'd add a timer on it." Phascomon says, as he shoves his entire arm into the roaring inferno.

You watch idly as he pokes at the coals, his whole body illuminated a ghastly shade of orange by the artificial fire. In his hand is the raw sausage, with an invisible counter slowly ticking down towards its cooked state. You've chosen to cook up some smores. The chocolate, biscuit, and marshmallow are all held together. Unlike your partner, you've just been letting it roast.

The sugary treat abruptly transforms. One tick, it's a collection of parts smooshed together by tongs. The next, it transforms into a gooey, melted sandwich. The same thing happens to the sausage moments later, where its whole color shifts at once, and a char appears on the shimmering surface.

"Ha! Are those grill marks?"

"Yeah. And someone sliced them too."

You both pull the pre-selected models out of the fire and begin blowing on them. Smoke wafts away, dissipating in the night air. Phascomon takes a bite first, exhaling rapidly to air out his mouth.

”It’s good!” He exclaims.

You take a bite into your own s’more and find yourself agreeing. It may be a recycled model, but the taste is there. It was well worth the credits.

Once your meal is done, you go back to looking at the sky. Naturally, your thoughts drift towards your quest, and you find yourself curious about what will happen at the end of it.

“Hey, Phascomon?”

”Mmph?” He asks, as he rips open another sausage pack.

“What’s the first thing you wanna do when you’re out in the Digital world? You want to be in charge of a whole group, right?”

”You’re damn right! I’ve got it all planned out. By then, I’m sure I’ll be strong enough to do whatever I want. I’m gonna go find the toughest, meanest Digimon around, and gun straight for him.”

“Like what BlackAgumon did to Gazimon’s gang?”

His face falls.

”Yeah. Like that. But don’t compare me to those two, alright? I’m not gonna do it just for vanity's sake. There’s plenty of poor mooks stuck under the thumbs of others. Like Elecmon and Tsukaimon. What they need is a top dog who they KNOW can take them down— but who isn’t bossing them around all the time and sending them to their deaths like tools.”

You choose your words carefully. This is a deeply sincere topic for him.

“Some kind of… benevolent dictator? They can do what they want under you, as long as they know who’s the boss?”

”Yeah! You’re getting it! No leader but me. No dumb little gangs where it’s a Rookie lording over babies.”

You glance back towards the tower. It reminds you of the way the city’s Mega-level Digimon stands over all others. Maybe it won’t be so oppressive out in the wild. His reach surely won’t be as all-encompassing as that Digimon, who has a whole kingdom laid out before it.

”What about you? You want to see so many different things. What’s the first thing you hope is waiting for you in the real world?”

"There's just so much. I can't choose. I'd be happy with anything, really."

"Nuh uh! I gave you a straight answer! Now you have to pick one too. Them's the rules!"

"Fine, fine! I think I'd like to see..."

You look around the flat expanse of land. The entire concept of nature is alien to you. Even the parks and holodecks can only capture it in limited definition. There are so many flavors of nature. The mountains, the deserts, the ocean. You're partial to the ocean yourself. You'd like to see actual shades of blue, that aren't born from a failure of your own eyes to render matter. However, what you're really interested in now is Digimon. You've heard so much about the gardens, and how they live lives of their own, and of how badly the city has paved over their homes.

"Something like this. A forest. But an actual one. I wonder how overgrown it is by now, with no humans to mess with it."

"I wouldn't be too sure. No way you're the very first, or the very last human to get out of here."

"I think they'd have better things to do than chopping down trees then."

"Fair enough."

You sit there for a bit more, toasting sausages and marshmallow sandwiches until the packets both run dry. Then you extinguish the fire and head into the tent. Phascomon's mind is still racing, clearly, for he immediately comes up with more questions.

You sit there for a bit more, toasting sausages and marshmallow sandwiches until the packets both run dry. Then you extinguish the fire and head into the tent. Phascomon's mind is still racing, clearly, for he immediately comes up with more questions.

"Hey. What's the real world made of?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that we're all made of data now. Right? So what's the opposite of that?"

"Matter. It's like... You know how things here are coded to have properties? Like metal, or trees, or gravity."

"Right."

"Out there, it all just exists. Nobody coded it, there's not supposed to be some underlying source code than can affect it all. It just... is, apparently."

"But that doesn't make any sense! How does it know to do all that without instructions?"

"Like I said, it just does! And there are strong theories that the Digital World is the one emulating those rules. That's where it draws them from. Think about it. Our ruleset has to have a source, right? And if you go all the way up, the instructions need to stop somewhere. So that would be the real world, where it's not actually taking orders from anything."

"I'm not following. Ugh, you sound like Squid! I can't keep up with this, tell me how it feels to 'just be' when you're out in the real world then."

That gets you thinking too. As you go along on this journey, your paths will eventually diverge. These past few weeks with Phascomon have been the most meaningful of your life. But when you reach the end of it, that'll be... well, the end. The idea of splitting up for good weighs heavily on you. Now that you've gotten used to each other, it's easy to take the temporary nature of your agreement for granted.

Even if you've become good friends now, you each want something different out of life. Will you always be able to walk that path together?

You stare at the back of his fuzzy head. He's sleeping on his side in the tent, an arm's length away. Just as you open your mouth to say something, a loud snore fills the enclosed space, and he flops over onto his back with a giant snot bubble oozing from his nostril. You stare at it distastefully and purse your lips, then roll over to the other side.

"Goodnight, Phascomon."

==

The next morning, your sleep is interrupted by a dazzling beam from the outside, that pierces the translucent gaps in the tent. You shoot upright, and so does Phascomon. It's bright. That's not possible. The city has no daylight cycle. You're struck by the dissonance of being outdoors, yet showered in light. Phascomon says something to you, but his voice is drowned out by the sound of rotors and engines.

It takes you several more seconds to catch on to his frenzied yelling. His claw nicks you lightly as he tugs on your arm, and before you can react, he hololizes himself back into the Digivice.

"Greetings, citizen! Please step outside!"

Your eyes grow wide, and you look towards the door. How fast can you run, when there's already a pursuer this close? The telltale engine of a mechanical Digimon is overwhelming your hearing, but the message comes in loud and clear through a direct broadcast to your user data.

If you're caught, there's no point hiding in here. Maybe Phascomon will need to fight regardless of his injuries. Or maybe you can use your freeze code. Or even go further North to the barrier.

"Please step outside and remain within your designated camping plot!"

You unzip the flap and put your goggles on. It automatically dims the world, allowing you some solace from the glow. As you make your way outside, you see a Cargodramon hovering high above you. Once you're in the light, several green servitors rappel down, with funny little hats on their oblong heads. You brace yourself for the worst as the rangers surround you.

"Good morning, Marnie!" One says, as though its known you your whole life.

"We are currently in search of a Digital Lifeform, to aid in our relocation and conservation efforts. We believe it has passed through this area."

"... Okay?"

"As you are the only camper within two hundred plots of its last known location, we require your cooperation."

You stare at your wristwatch. The perpetual r3t3xture is still there for everybody else, so maybe they haven't identified your Digivice yet. You stand still and think, as the sound of rotors rips through your ears and sends your hair into a whirlwind of jet black.

"Have you, within the last sixteen hours, witnessed any form of living organism within the vicinity of your campsite?"


You can't tell if they've picked up Phascomon's presence, or if this is a coincidence, and they're responding to some other emergence event. You need to spin a lie, then get the hell out of this campground before they ask too many questions.

>Lie about seeing some sort of random Digimon. You know that plant-types are rarely present. Try to make something up, so they go bother somebody else. The downside is that if they're actually looking for Phascomon, you might start up a whole new investigation into this fake Digimon that might come back to bug you.

>Make up something about Dark Beast Digimon. You suspect that Phascomon's presence has been detected, and that's what they're looking for. If they're NOT actually searching, you might end up introducing the idea of him to them.

>Say absolutely nothing. Don't try to lie. Just be as belligerent and uncooperative as you can, to make them go away. This is a risk in and of itself, because if you go too far, they might start scanning you or asking you to share your metadata. This far out, there's nowhere to run and hide. Your hate for them could end up having too much power.

>Write-in

>>6258092
Cute! No panties? L-lewd.

>>6258804
>Say absolutely nothing. Don't try to lie. Just be as belligerent and uncooperative as you can, to make them go away. This is a risk in and of itself, because if you go too far, they might start scanning you or asking you to share your metadata. This far out, there's nowhere to run and hide. Your hate for them could end up having too much power.
Spitemaxxing!

>>6258804
uhhh, smell doesn't work the same way here does it?
>Say absolutely nothing. Don't try to lie. Just be as belligerent and uncooperative as you can, to make them go away. This is a risk in and of itself, because if you go too far, they might start scanning you or asking you to share your metadata. This far out, there's nowhere to run and hide. Your hate for them could end up having too much power.
honestly, if someone woke me up with blaring copter engines and a direct announcement to my head, it's pretty reasonable to be upset.

>Did the winds tear up any of the camping gear? We can shout that they were perfectly intact before the servitors came disturbing her.

>>6258804
>Lie about seeing some sort of random Digimon. You know that plant-types are rarely present. Try to make something up, so they go bother somebody else. The downside is that if they're actually looking for Phascomon, you might start up a whole new investigation into this fake Digimon that might come back to bug you.
We can point in the vague direction of a Digimon trail we saw earlier and send them on a chase for a different Digimon?

>>6258843
problem is how sparse the area is. It'll be obvious if it needs a specialized tool to scan for traces, unlike plain footprints or smells, and sound would require accurate descriptions.

>>6258804

>Write-in
Just tell them" No, Mr. Servitor, I haven't seen any Digimon" but then show some interest in them. Look at Cargodramon with fascination and start asking questions about how the Digimon they are looking for looks like. Ask them a bit about Cargodramon, like a kid asking about animals in a zoo, Why can they ride a Digimon if interacting with them is such a big crime and stuff.
The point is make them think that they pestering you with a fucking ultimate is actually making you take an interest in Digimon.
If they ask for her ID, tell them you're not cooperating unless you get a ride in Cargodramon.

>>6258819
>>6258842

>>6258843

>>6258877

Staying silent! Well, not literally. More of telling them to get the hell out.

>>6258842
Yeah. Generally, there are things that can't be picked up by humans, since they aren't running on the same sort of 'OS'. For example, junk data just looks like confetti goop, while it smells bad to Digimon. However, Digimon are the middle-ground, where they start producing sensory output that would otherwise just be regarded as virtual noise.

>Say absolutely nothing. Don't try to lie. Just be as belligerent and uncooperative as you can, to make them go away. This is a risk in and of itself, because if you go too far, they might start scanning you or asking you to share your metadata. This far out, there's nowhere to run and hide. Your words could end up having too much power.

"Get that light out of my face!"

You stare up at the Digimon, and the numerous searchlights it's blinding you with. As calm as you can, you try and pack your gear up. Normally, a wind wouldn't mess with your campsite, but Cargodramon's power is churning up vast volumes of Wind Data, sending loose items flying away and causing the textures of your flimsy tent to glitch out.

"Have you, within the last sixteen hours, heard or seen traces of-"

"I SAID NO! You're disturbing my camping trip! I came all the way out here to get away from the noise, and you show up right in front of me?! Go away!"

The servitors look at each other, exchanging information at the speed of light. Then one slides back upwards on the rope. Cargodramon shuts off its lights once they're inside, plunging the world into darkness again, save for the flickering amber firelight. Despite the wind, the holographic fire is unaffected.

"We apologize for disturbing your trip, citizen Marnie. However, it is integral that we capture this Digital Lifeform as soon as possible, in order to preserve both its, and the safety of humans including yourself. Please answer the following question. Have you-"

You look for something to chuck at it. Thankfully, all the empty sausage packets and s'more wrappers have been blasted away by the wind, leaving you with nothing to pelt it with and get reprimanded for.

"Are you deaf? Why are you sending a weapon all the way out here anyway?! Don't you have better things to do?"

"Weapon?" It muses from up above.

You feel your heart sink again, once you realize it can hear you. It's not a mindless vehicle-type like Mekanorimon. You hope it isn't packing a more complex scanning method. You turn your attention away from it so you don't risk upsetting it again.

"It is integral that we return all digital organisms to registered conservation zones, in order to avoid accidents that may lead to human casualties, and to preserve their continued existence. For this, we need your cooperation. We have one final question. Do-"

You pull your furniture back in your inventory and start walking South, back to the station. The servitors watch you walk away. You glance back, but they aren't following. There's no detainment protocol activating, so you assume these park rangers haven't registered you as a hostile.

"Fine! I'll just go back to the city, if you're going to ruin the whole trip! Useless hunks of junk. I hope your servers all crash."

"Have a good day." It says.

You turn back, and to your utter horror, you see the bots scanning the area with their light lattices. If there are fragments of Phascomon's data left behind, they'll spot them. You're so far in that you can't outrun these robots. And sure enough, Cargodramon soon turns towards you. You begin to sprint, even though you know it's impossible to beat its speed.

"Hello, Marnie. We have made a discovery."

The bot calmly hangs off the rope, calling out to you as Cargodramon flies overhead. It dangles beside and above you, its expression still placid.

"It appears that, despite your lack of notice, a digital lifeform was present within your plot. Please be aware that-"

You try to speed up, but it only prompts the Digimon to accelerate in turn, putting the rope back in front of you.

"-selecting a plot this far away from other residents brings with it a minor risk of unforeseen incidents. Please always camp with a buddy and partner, and do inform the ranger station if you experience any encounters. Do you require a checkup to-"

"Okay! I get it! I still didn't see it, leave me alone now!"

Satisfied, the Digimon slowly pulls the rope upwards and returns to the station, leaving you behind. You feel weak in the knees. They didn't catch you after all, thanks to the assumption that Phascomon was just rummaging around your camp. They're not here for you.

"Holy hell, that was close... Marnie, you alright? You look white as a Bakemon."

"I'm fine. I'm fine. Let's just go home..."

You immediately activate your program again, spoofing your identification code so you can book a train ticket. The last thing you want is for them to stop you at the station one more time for questioning or a safety warning.

==

Your ride home is far less eventful, but you spend it on the lookout for attackers again. You've selected the end furthest away from the conductor's carriage.

"They didn't seem too worried about you lying. That's weird, isn't it? The ones we've seen have been way pushier."[/green]

"Maybe they have a different set of orders? They must be the ones who fly in and deal with any garden portals in the camp grounds, right? I doubt there are a lot of campers who are willing to just scoop up a Digimon and keep it, so they don't have to deal with people breaking the law often."

"That sounds right... Now I want to know where these conservation zones are."

"It has to be the entire rest of the city outskirts. It forms a big ring, and this is just the Northern quarter. No wonder they're packing actual firepower."

"Huh. Well, it was nice while it lasted. At least we had a good break, eh?"

"That really just threw a wrench in it. They ruin everything, I swear."

"Aw come on, Marnie, don't be such a sourpuss. We had fun, they can't turn back the clock and un-eat all those snacks for us."

You suppose he's right. You stare at his pixel depiction on the Digivice screen, then slowly lower your hand. You finish the rest of the train journey in silence, opting to reminisce on the fun day you had, rather than worry about retribution from the bots.

==

Your ride home is far less eventful, but you spend it on the lookout for attackers again. You've selected the end furthest away from the conductor's carriage.

"They didn't seem too worried about you lying. That's weird, isn't it? The ones we've seen have been way pushier."

"Maybe they have a different set of orders? They must be the ones who fly in and deal with any garden portals in the camp grounds, right? I doubt there are a lot of campers who are willing to just scoop up a Digimon and keep it, so they don't have to deal with people breaking the law often."

"That sounds right... Now I want to know where these conservation zones are."

"It has to be the entire rest of the city outskirts. It forms a big ring, and this is just the Northern quarter. No wonder they're packing actual firepower."

"Huh. Well, it was nice while it lasted. At least we had a good break, eh?"

"That really just threw a wrench in it. They ruin everything, I swear."

"Aw come on, Marnie, don't be such a sourpuss. We had fun, they can't turn back the clock and un-eat all those snacks for us."

You suppose he's right. You stare at his pixel depiction on the Digivice screen, then slowly lower your hand. You finish the rest of the train journey in silence, opting to reminisce on the fun day you had, rather than worry about retribution from the bots.

==

After your little holiday, you spend some more time recuperating at home, all the way till Phascomon is back to full health. It takes a couple more days, and in that time, half of the data center mess is cleared. They still can't seem to repair the interior, and the partition itself is bricked, leaving the neighborhood without oversight for the foreseeable future. On deep web sites, frequented by Code Crackers and rebellious youths like yourself, word is going around that people have hacked into pre-existing partitions, and are able to squat freely in the abandoned units.

Your brief encounter with the robots fills you with sadistic glee at the notion of their infrastructure being broken. You nearly said 'I hope somebody bombs you again' when you were yelling at the rangers the other day, and that would surely have raised alarm bells. Fortunately, you've mellowed out just enough to avoid such a thing. Your recent decisions have instilled a sense of calmness within you. Maybe the fact that you can actually change your fate is helping too.

Finally, you end up receiving a text from Doc. It takes the form of a mysterious number and a set of encrypted coordinates. His new partition is set up, and you can go visit. You have so much to ask him, and you want to check if he's okay.

However, you get a message from Squid at the same time! She tells you that they've made progress in figuring out the next steps they can take, and that they might be able to deliver on what they owe you soon. She wants you to come on down in person so she can explain it.

Neither situation is urgent or demanding, and you'll have to go settle both eventually. You just need to pick one for today.

>Go find Doc. You have plenty of questions for him, about how Digimon are going back and forth between stages. You also want to catch him up on the mission to the data center.

>Head to the Dogs of War base to find Squid and Wind, in order to hear her explanation on your potential training method for Phascomon. It also gives you a chance to inform them of the mall incident, and see if they can offer help regarding DarkTyrannomon.

>>6259224
>>Go find Doc. You have plenty of questions for him, about how Digimon are going back and forth between stages. You also want to catch him up on the mission to the data center.
Digi-mechanics now, before blackagumon feels like bothering us again.

>>6259224
>Go find Doc. You have plenty of questions for him, about how Digimon are going back and forth between stages. You also want to catch him up on the mission to the data center.
He owes her gadgets and info.

>>6258819
Let keep this is between you and me, I never put panties to anything.

>>6259224
>Go find Doc. You have plenty of questions for him, about how Digimon are going back and forth between stages. You also want to catch him up on the mission to the data center.

>>6259232
>>6259243
>>6259630

Doc time. Writing. Also quick retcon because I got the order wrong while typing an older update. Kokuwamon 2 died from the workshop attack, not 3. 3 is the one Marnie saved back at the start, and the same one who turned into a Mekanorimon.

>Go find Doc. You'll probably end up bombarding him with those same questions you had in mind, like how Digimon are going back and forth between stages. You also want to catch him up on the mission to the data center.

Doc should come first. You want to see how he's faring. The Dogs of War can take care of themselves, but he's in a bad spot with his workshop destroyed and his research seized by Commandramon. Plus, you have lots of questions for him that are immediately relevant. You decide to pack your things and get ready to go.

"You're good to get up, right, Phascomon?"

"I'm alright. Should be ready to throw hands, whether it's a Digimon or bot! Give 'em the ol' one-two if they show up."

"Let's go visit Doc, then. He sent me his new coordinates."

You leave the house in the usual cautious manner, sweeping your surroundings for bots. The frequency has gone down, but you still see them in crowded areas asking for samples of metadata. Something worries you about it, though. Instead of stopping random users, they seem to stare into mobs, pick out specific people, and then approach them. If they're filtering out individuals who haven't volunteered their data yet, it's only a matter of time till they ask you too. Maybe you've underestimated the rate at which they've stop-searched your neighborrs.

All the more reason to travel over the rooftops. You head towards the district that Doc has set up shop in, keeping an eye out for aerial bots or flying Digimon. You never want to see a Cargodramon come so close again.

The block is a suspicious looking place, with litter and grafitti covering the infrastructure. Few bots patrol here, and you know it to be a den of delinquency and crime. It's quite a conspicuous place, so it surprises you that Doc is willing to work so close to his potential customers. Several people eyeball you as you walk through the streets, and you glare back from beneath your goggles.

You reach the place before long, and head into the partition. Doc's safehouse is on the top floor, so you load yourself through the lobby's entrance portal.

OUT OF ORDER.

Huh. You try again.

OUT OF ORDER.

This neighborhood is full of punks and seedy Crackers, so nobody will call in the bots to fix it. On a hunch, you raise your other wrist and press the interface button again, with the Digivice held close to it.

Bingo, you're in. You walk down the hallway, keeping an eye out for the freeze code lasers that you know must be here. You ring the doorbell at the very end of the hall, wait about ten seconds, then load yourself in.

You've let him know that you're coming, so you assume that the weapons are all powered down. Kokuwamon #1 is still standing sentry, and her antennae crackle when you step in. She waves once she identifies you.

"H E L L O, M A R N I E."

"Kokuwamon! Hi!"

You didn't have any opportunity to catch up with this one, for she was one of the two who were held captive in a different room. She starts leading you deeper into the apartment.

You notice that it's stuffy, but not hot enough to raise any alarm bells like a workshop would. If he does anything strenuous in here, it might tip off the bots and force them to come investigate. Having so many Digimon is already pushing it near the limit.

Doc is tinkering with his Digivice on a table, with several screens hooked up to it. It's displaying some kind of battle interface, with all three Kokuwamon being pit against a simulated dummy. He pauses the fight and turns to face you once you walk in.

"Welcome to mi casa, what do you think? Comfy, eh?"

You look around the disused room, with its dreary lighting and drooping furniture. The lights are off to conserve processing power, and the only other source apart from his computers is the open fridge in the kitchen. Kokuwamon #3 is rummaging through it.

"...Sure. You okay, Doc? Health-wise?"

"I'm fine. No need to worry about a man my age, I can take care of myself. Oh, feel free to send your boy out. I've got room for one more."

"Hololize."

Phascomon materializes on the mushy carpet. He immediately gags and starts shaking his legs, scared of having its flaky fragments left behind on his textures. It's degrading rapidly. This saferoom looks like it hasn't been used in years.

"Jeez, Doc. I liked the last place more."

A scowl crosses your face at his insensitivity, and you lightly kick his back.

"Ow!"

"So did I, little bear. So did I. But there's no going back now."

He sighs and pushes the screens out of the way, clearing the desk out for you. Several objects come out of his inventory, and he tinkers with them while keeping an eye on the both of you.

"I don't want to talk about the mall anymore."

"Okay."

"Capisce."

"Whatever I had in place to fend off intruders, it was... inadequate. And one of my partners died for it. I don't blame you for what happened. You're the type to fret, girl, so I need you to know that."

It's true. A part of you has been feeling bad about all this. You defeated BlackAgumon, didn't finish him off, and then stole two of his prey. You've been feeling responsible for causing this all in the first place, and it's like he's reading your mind.

"All of this is on that little shite, for attacking Kokuwamon that day. And he'll get what's coming. But so will you. Have a seat."

You settle into a chair that he offers, and you slide closer to the table. It's another assortment of tools and upgrades! The last time round, he gave you the smuggling program, and its been incredibly useful. You also know it was expensive, and he only parted with it because you traded him a whole Digimon partner. This is just as valuable, and is a reward for saving his life, his friends, and his whole operation.

"Take one. Pick it before you start hitting me with questions. I know there's a lot you're wondering about, but I want to give you something for all the trouble I put you through."

>A malware packet gun. It's been a long-standing rule of his that he doesn't do guns. Now, he's offering you one without being prompted. He must really be angry about all this. Just like before, you know how illegal and attention-grabbing this will be. Your own predecessor got podded for it. However, if you're in a high-stakes situation and your tracks are covered, you'll be able to fight with it. It's still too low-powered to hurt big Digimon much, even if you aim for weak points- not that you've ever aimed, or even played games for practice.

>Long-term, automated Encryption protocols. This spellbook of macros will help you shroud yourself in various ways, ensuring that you can hide your identity, cover your face, and become resistant to scans. With it, you won't need to worry about being permanently marked by some nonsense that's out of your control— just big missteps, and traces that you've already left behind. It also reminds you that you need to ask him about the metadata issue later. Something like this could prevent future problems related to it.

>A movement tool. You're quite sure you recognize this as a grappling hook, but with no actual chain. This tool will allow you to pull yourself from point to point, and is particularly effective when paired with f1oat. It can't pull objects to you, unfortunately, nor can it exploit physics to a degree that enables flight. All it does is create a one-way motion chain while Kinetic Matching you to the device wrapped snugly around your wrist. It's the same concept Espimon used to stick to the train, and will aid your urban exploration.

>>6259918
>Long-term, automated Encryption protocols. This spellbook of macros will help you shroud yourself in various ways, ensuring that you can hide your identity, cover your face, and become resistant to scans. With it, you won't need to worry about being permanently marked by some nonsense that's out of your control— just big missteps, and traces that you've already left behind. It also reminds you that you need to ask him about the metadata issue later. Something like this could prevent future problems related to it.
we already expended 2 invis programs, but I won't complain about the grappling hook. There's a bunch of things we can do either way.

>>6259918
>Long-term, automated Encryption protocols. This spellbook of macros will help you shroud yourself in various ways, ensuring that you can hide your identity, cover your face, and become resistant to scans. With it, you won't need to worry about being permanently marked by some nonsense that's out of your control— just big missteps, and traces that you've already left behind. It also reminds you that you need to ask him about the metadata issue later. Something like this could prevent future problems related to it.
I'm worried about the Cargodramon encounter, I hope it wasn't that big of a fuck up.

I can't wait to know about why certain Digimon can't go back to rookie after evolving. My theory is that it's related to the "loss of innocence".

>>6259918
>>Long-term, automated Encryption protocols. This spellbook of macros will help you shroud yourself in various ways, ensuring that you can hide your identity, cover your face, and become resistant to scans. With it, you won't need to worry about being permanently marked by some nonsense that's out of your control— just big missteps, and traces that you've already left behind. It also reminds you that you need to ask him about the metadata issue later. Something like this could prevent future problems related to it.
Stealthmaxxing. We can get a gun from someone less scrupulous in the future once we know we won't get caught for using it.

>>6259918
>Long-term, automated Encryption protocols.
No more being terrified to exit our apartment or walk the streets for us!

>>6259988
>loss of innocence
Hm, maybe. But is BlackAgumon innocent? He's running gangs, killing mon, plotting revenge, and seems to be the asshole who was running that Dramon eugenics garden by the way he was talking to Commandramon.

>>6260063
Good point. Then my bet is about them getting an emotional change so big that they can't be the rookies they once were. BlackAgumon didn't change that much, he just became sightly smarter.
Gammamon couldn't go back to being a Gammamon after Wind's training erased his childish nature, he can't go back to be a chocolate loving little brother, he's a soldier now. In the case of MadLeomon, he would have been corrupted by Marnie's sheer spite.

Can we ask about how MadLeomon would have fared against DarkTyranomon?

>>6260201
Hello Marnie! Your extended car warranty-

>>6260072

MadLeomon would have been able to put up more of an upfront fight. Far more offensive potential compared to the tanky Porcupamon. Would have been able to fend him off earlier, at the cost of a longer corresponding recovery time, and the loss of getting to hang out and enjoy a vacation afterwards.

>>6260243
Meh, it doesn't look that impressive

>>6260243
I never realized madleomon had a bikini made of ribs

>>6260257
>>6260259
He's smaller than I thought, yeah. I think I'd probably have depicted him like 1.5x bigger. I didn't actually watch Xros wars, I was basing the evo lines off the Vital Bracelet and saw a cool route for it. I think I was looking at the super huge final form at first for scale. I do like his posture a ton more than base Leomon.

>>6260264
Even while cooler and with sick next form he still has one fatal flaw.
After all being Leomon comes with an curse most unfortunate.

>>6259918
>Long-term, automated Encryption protocols. This spellbook of macros will help you shroud yourself in various ways, ensuring that you can hide your identity, cover your face, and become resistant to scans. With it, you won't need to worry about being permanently marked by some nonsense that's out of your control— just big missteps, and traces that you've already left behind. It also reminds you that you need to ask him about the metadata issue later. Something like this could prevent future problems related to it.

>>6260286
>After all being Leomon comes with an curse most unfortunate.
Kek, true! He survived Digimon Adventure 2020, though, right?

>>6259921
>>6259988
>>6260039
>>6260063
>>6260450
Writing!

>Long-term, automated Encryption protocols. This spellbook of macros will help you shroud yourself in various ways, ensuring that you can hide your identity, cover your face, and become resistant to scans. It also reminds you that you need to ask him about the metadata issue later. Something like this could prevent future problems.

You've been faced with a recurring issue recently. Identification is the biggest threat to your daily life. You can do without a gun, do without a hook, but you lose everything if you're flagged and placed in a database. Your home, your ability to walk in public, access to city functions, so on and so forth,. It's a miracle you've managed to cover your tracks so far, but you WILL slip eventually. You need to mitigate that risk.

You point to the archive of files, after asking Doc several questions about it. He hands it over with the manual, and you store it away for later. You won't leave this partition without reading it end to end, that's for sure.

"Thanks, Doc. This should help a lot."

"Yeah! Would be a real shame if-"

This time, you're fast enough to kick him again and stop him from rubbing it in Doc's face. The man has lost years of work, for crying out loud.

"Oi!"

"I hope it does you some good."

He swipes the others back into his inventory, and reclines further in his seat.

"So. We've got a lot to talk about. Why don't we start with what you've been getting up to in the past few weeks?"

==

You spend the next hour or so regaling Doc with your tale. The Kokuwamon wander in and out of the room, each lingering for varying spans of time to hear the story. At some point, Solarmon floats by with a plate of snacks for the two of you, and you accept it gratefully.

You tell Doc of your sewer training arc, and of the Raremon that lurks far beneath. He knows of the sewers, of course, but is intrigued by all the little details. He can't risk going down there, and he doesn't want to send any of his Kokuwamon underground either. The debug room is what catches his attention the most, and he asks plenty of questions.

Then comes your meeting with Wind and Kaus Gammamon. He sits up straight as you brief him on the existence of an underground rebel group, and seems even more enthralled when you mention the homebrewed teleportation node.

"Fascinating... I've heard of them before. Worked with them, even. But I never thought they were more than little upstarts. You mean to tell me they have a Cracker that can use such a complex function? And it worked multiple times?"

"Without a hitch."

"You have to give me her contact, Marnie, I insist."

"Actually, she wanted me to set up some kind of meeting with you! She was excited to learn about Digimon from you." You say. You then hold your hands up defensively.

"I didn't tell her anything private! Just that I knew a code cracker who made me the Digivice. She had her own product too, but I think it was..."

"Inferior. Yes, of course. It's hard, but doable. Just the basics, I'm afraid."

You can tell that he wants to bombard you with questions about Squid, but he holds it in. They can talk in the future. For now, he wants to hear about your quest to devastate the data center. You spare no detail, going over the plan, the training period, and the process you used to fill an entire partition with junk. You detail your entire journey through it, and Phascomon even chimes in with his point of view. He did a lot of fighting, you carried out plenty of sabotage, and you both had to sneak your way to victory. Finally, you get to the part where Phascomon Digivolves to defeat Strikedramon, and your story peters off.

You don't quite want to detail your talk in the partition. Phascomon looks at you too, and you can tell he feels the same. That moment of truth and vulnerability is something shared between the both of you. It's not to be dissected. You take the lead and just sum it up.

"We had a... talk in there. We both thought we were going to die. But things worked out, and I think we got past it. Then suddenly we felt this-"

"This feeling of power, like it was being channeled right through me with a data cord. It's some kind of energy that leads to Digivolution, right?"

"Very good, very good. Yes, that's the power a Digivice has. Your little tyrant-to-be's partner Digivolved through tons and tons of practice. He fought plenty of enemies to get all that data, and permanently became a Kaus Gammamon. But you, Phascomon? You're young. You're immature. You think you're ready to be a Champion-level Digimon forever? You wouldn't make it in the streets like that. You'd be too big to hide."

He grumbles in response to the slight, but doesn't argue.

"Places like the sewer are probably the only spots Champions can be, right, Doc? Otherwise..."

Doc nods and points upwards.

"Otherwise, bullets will come from on high in an instant. That is, if they cause a mess. A peaceful one would most likely get hunted down and dragged off to whatever they consider a conservatory."

"So the Digivice is temporary, because it uses... Energy from a human?" Phascomon pitches, trying to prove himself in light of that comment.

"Energy from your bond, yes. It responds to your feelings. Have you failed to activate it before?"

You nod. He couldn't demonstrate it to Squid, but you two had no issue Digivolving in the partition. You had a hunch about it back then.

"That's because you didn't really need that power, and you knew it. But a little bit of psychological conditioning, and you'll be right as rain. Just pick a good place to practice. Never in here. One Champion is all it takes to brick my whole room."

Speaking of which, you look towards Kokuwamon 3.

"What about that Digivolution you did? What happened with Mekanorimon?"

"That's another one of my secrets. I thought it would be best if you didn't rely on it, and I didn't expect you to unlock his Champion stage so fast. It has to do with the Digicore."

"What about it?"

"Every Digimon's body is the expression of their internal Digicore data. Meet the correct requirements, and it self-corrects to form the shape of an individual Digimon species. By scanning the core, something we seldom get a chance to do, we can identify the core expression needed for a specific Digivolution. It's what I refer to as Digi-DNA."

"Oh, so that's what you did! You just copied it directly?"

"Normally, it's not so simple. If somebody wants to Digivolve their little friend into a specific form, they'll need it to sit still for as long as it takes. And a wild Digimon isn't going to do that. Nah, usually they end up fighting the same one over and over, to get fragments of data from an undamaged body. Do it enough times, and they get a viable Digi-DNA sample. Just like that." He snaps his fingers.

That's the second question explained. You still have one more big and pressing one. BlackAgumon is a missing link here. Phascomon's back-and-forth can be explained by your own connection. Kokuwamon's own bond with Doc does the same. But who does that one have?

Before you start asking him about that, you think about some other questions you might have for him.

>Write in: Questions for Doc, regarding tech, your current issues, Digimon, anything, really.

There's more stuff I'll automatically have Marnie ask, like DarkTyrannomon, fixing the metadata issue, etc. I just wanted to break it up so it's not too much of a giant expository brick, and to provide an opportunity to ask things.

>>6260643
>Does he have any idea how the city got a Mega and a bunch of Ultimates to cooperate with them to begin with?

>>6260643
>Is there anything different for Ultimate level? We just gotta get closer?
>What do you know about books about the outside world?
>Talk about the camping trip incident

>>6260643
>Who is he actually?
>How does know that much about Digimon and the Digivice? He can't even get outside and his Digimon seem to be not trained at all
>Was he involved in the construction of the city? Did he work for the government at some point?
>What would BlackAgumon even want him for?
>What does he know about the DOW? What's his opinion about them? He just suggested that Wind might turn into a tyrant.

>>6260693
I think BlackAgumon just followed Kokuwamon and Phascomon's data trail to Doc, and took him hostage to bait or spite us.

>>6260829
Yeah, maybe I was overthinking it. I still hope there's a another party involved. Someone had to give Marnie and Wind their books.

>>6260643
>What is beyond the boundaries of the map?
>Is there any way to power up Digimon besides Digivolving?
>Are there other methods of Digivolution?

Going to be a bit before I can update! Busy today and tomorrow, getting home very late on both days and I won't be able to get to my home IP for formatting and the image folder.

Will weave as many as possible to fluidly include in the update.

>>6261223
Thanks for looping us in. See you soon, and thanks again for all the hard work.

>>6260455
Can't immidiately recall his fate in that one. It's such an new series i haven't rewatched it yet.
>>6260643
>The digimon working for/in city what makes them different enough to be allowed?

>>6261223
Locking and writing! Sorry for the wait, tail end of the week was packed.

The biggest question comes to the forefront of your mind: What’s the next step?

“Phascomon and I have been talking. We’re not satisfied with just his Champion form. Where do we go from here?”

He lets out a harsh laugh.

“Now, here’s a girl with aspirations. You’re already lucky to be climbing so far, so fast. What’s the rush?”

”The rush is that heat has been coming down on us nonstop. Only a matter of time till something worse happens. We want to be out of the portal by then. We don’t have forever.”

“Most Digimon stop their growth at that stage, you know. It’s extremely rare to reach a higher level.”

“We have to try. Come on, isn’t there anything we can do? Like that Digi-DNA thing?”

“It’s not universal. Digimon have different paths they can take. You’d never be able to turn Phascomon into a Mekanorimon right off the bat.”

”What about ways to get stronger without Digivolving? I’ve been packing on my file size! But is that all?”

“Well.. I’ve heard of eggs that can trigger spontaneous evolution. But I don’t think it’s a great deal stronger than what you already have. You’ll just have to keep beating others and loading their data.”

Doc points upwards again, in an unmistakable gesture. You're on the roof, so he could only be pointing to The Tower.

“Of course, the stronger a Digimon you beat, the faster you grow. You want to hit Ultimate-stage? You'll want to start by defeating one and absorbing its data."

The idea of facing Cargodramon is terrifying. You'll need a whole team to take it down—and it won't be alone either. There'll surely be a whole armada of Commandramon inside.

"Seriously?!"

"If you can find the data from one, or some kind of information packet that's equivalent to it, you might be able to avoid a fight. But yes, that's the fastest way to climb up. Beating something ahead of your level."

"If they're so hard to train, how does the city have so many of them? They even have a Mega."

"Resources. They can identify and give their Digimon every bit of guidance they need to climb up the ranks. And they raise the same ones over and over, so they can recycle the same requirements each time. Remember your little ol' pal, Commandramon?"

"Yeah! The pipsqueak!" Phascomon calls, ignoring the fact that he's shorter than the other Rookie.

"He's probably up for a promotion soon, where they'll let him Digivolve into something stronger. They have all the Digi-DNA in their archives, after all. Or they might want to keep him as a Rookie asset."

"So even the Cargodramons used to be Rookies? Wonder how they'd adapt to having no legs ever again. Ha! I guess that one we saw at the border is living a lonely, leg-free life up there."

Doc raises an eyebrow, and you begin explaining your brief encounter with the rangers at the edge of the city.

"They say it's illegal to buddy up with Digimon, but they have so many under their employ. I don't get it. What makes those Digimon so special?"

"It's not that deep. Just hypocrisy. That's why you're not fond of them, isn't that right? Plus, there's sense in not letting just about anyone get their hands on them. It's not about the Digimon, it's about us."

You nod. Those guys do follow the orders of the city management directly, instead of being in unpredictable human hands. If everyone had access to a partner, there would probably be a lot more chaos. You did bomb a data center the moment you became friends with Phascomon, so you can see the sense in keeping them away from unscrupulous hands.

"Hey, speaking of which... Strikedramon seemed different from all the mooks we see around. What's up with that?"

"You two told me he was stuck protecting the core. That was news to me too. My guess is that anything that doesn't fit the mold gets put in a more private location. You've noticed that they only use a specific few on the outside, haven't you?"

Cargodramon, Pteramon, Espimon, you keep seeing the same guys over and over. You suppose that's what's special about them: That they're fully catalogued and understood by the ones in control of them. You move on to your next question, also born from your little vacation.

"Doc, what's past the city borders?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing that you know of? Or actually just nothing?"

"Always room for me to be wrong. But I mean nothing at all. Just a void, no map, no color, nothing. That's why there's no way to get out."

"But where does it go? When we hit the edge of the whole partition, is it just a big wall?"

"There's no edge to nothing. Nothing is nothing."

"I don't get it."

"Yeah, me neither."

Doc scratches the back of his head, failing to come up with a suitable explanation.

"When you imagine something inside your mind, can you touch the inside of your skull with that thought?"

"Uh..."

"What?"

"Oh, never mind, girl, ask something else!"

That's all you're getting regarding what's beyond the borders, then. Unsatisfying, but that's all there is. You're glad you didn't go any closer to it.

Phascomon asks the next question.

"How exactly do you know all of this, Doc? You stay cooped up in here, and the Kokuwamon don't seem to have that much battle experience. You used to work for the city or something?"

"Ha. Nothing like that. They don't put humans in charge of anything essential. I've just lived a long life, and most of it as a Cracker. You survive enough nonsense, and you start picking up a skill or two. Still, city is much older than me. Everything was already set in stone when I was still a tot being ferried around by bots."

"What about your Digimon? How'd you meet them in the first place?"

"Stroke of luck, really. Garden portal that opened right in front of me. Kokuwamon number one here came to me as a Kapurimon."

"Hey, just like me!"

"Y E S."

"And I found her skills useful enough to collect her DNA. She's a mechanical Digimon, who are usually clear-cut. Good choice for a beginner. But her Insect data makes it harder for city management to understand and catalogue her. That means her tracks are less telling. From there, I just had her sweep for wild Kapurimon ever so often, and offered them a home here. Guided them all into being Kokuwamon too, so it'd be easier for us to understand each other. Got to four, before you walked in here with Phascomon."

And now it's three.

"What about all this stuff with Digivolution?"

"Learned and taught people. You're not the only child to ever come in here with a Digimon. But don't ask me anything about the others. You're not a member of a secret club. You've just unlocked the special menu, see?"

You wouldn't want him blabbing about you to any other customers, so you don't push that point. It's nice to get confirmation that there are others, beyond the Dogs of War.

"Of course. I'll probably be meeting with some other Digimon tamers soon. Speaking of, what was it you said earlier about Wind?"

"Yeah! I mean, I agree, but I wanna know why you said that."

"It's mighty simple, little bear. This city is built by bots, run by bots, and it's been that way for probably hundreds of years. That kid is, what, seventeen? Maybe a year or two on you, Marnie. He thinks HE can topple that and then lead? No, no, no. The mere act of that is already pride incarnate."

"I guess. But I'm going to head on through that portal any day now, so it's not really my problem."

He gives you a long, furtive look, speaking carefully when he next opens his mouth.

"The rest of us still have to live here, Marnie."

It's gentle, with no hint of judgement, but you can't help but feel chided. You squirm in your seat uncomfortably, clear your throat, and then move on to thinking up the last of your questions. Phascomon rescues you with one of his own, after giving you a worried glance.

"Hey. I know you said you didn't want to talk about it, but I just want to know. For all our safety, y'know? What did BlackAgumon want with you?"

"He just didn't want to let prey get away. Solarmon here-" Solarmon whirrs in response from the kitchen. "-escaped him. He wanted him back in his gang as muscle. Then when he realized I was a human who knew how to invent things, he was drooling over the idea of getting me to supply them with .apps. It's a rare sight, to see them using programs by themselves.."

You recall the crimson manacles, made of EM waves. They must have obtained the program from somewhere, showing a higher level of intellect than the rest of the Rookies you've met. Maybe he wasn't bragging about learning from your battle after all. He did just charge forward and try to kill everyone again, but the handcuffs are an unmistakable step forward.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd know this. How exactly does he Digivolve back and forth?"

"That's been stumping me too. I didn't get the sense he had a tamer. There shouldn't be a source of all that emotional power. Most Digimon can't just invoke Digivolution by themselves... I've had to chalk it down as an anomaly."

"Anomaly is right. He got that strong in the exact same span of time as us! And he's huge! It's not fair."

"It's really not!" You complain, thinking about how he towered over all of you.

"If you're envious of his strength, you'd better go train up. Or look into getting that big bounty of data we talked about."

That's all you need for now. It's been a long session, and you've caught up by now. There's just one final thing you need his help with.

"Last question before I get out of your hair. Remember when I told you about the metadata issue?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, there are still bots out there interviewing people. I'm worried that if I get caught by one, it'll ask me to provide an alibi. Is there a way to fake what I give?"

"That's beyond me, sorry. I can't open up user metadata. But you've done a good enough job dodging them so far."

"We had to use optical camouflage. Real expensive!"

"Is there really nothing you can do...?"

"Hey now, I didn't say that. The problem is that they haven't collected what they want, right? So you go out to shop, and there they'll be, ready to snap you up."

You nod.

"So what if you've already given them your data?"

He holds out a strange program file. Its icon is a clock, with a wicked looking series of spikes on the back end. He gives it to you spike-side up.

"What's this?"

"It's your choice whether to use this or not. Consider it an investment. You can keep dodging them, and it'll only be a problem if you get caught. Or you can go find a bot and stab them with this."

"Stab them?"

"Ya, you heard me. That'll run their clock forward, and skip to the part where they thank you for contributing and pat you on the back."

"That sounds perfect! Why's that an investment?"

"Because if you ever do anything that makes them search you up, they'll find the gap. And they'll see that you were marked as having passed the check, even with nothing there. Now, combine that with whatever you might have done to catch their attention, and tell me: ain't that the most suspicious thing in the world?"

That's the catch, then. You can use this to cease pursuit in the immediate term. Combined with your new encryption tools, you're in a good spot to evade future suspicion. But if you fail, the double-whammy of suspicious circumstances will bust you for real.

"Thanks, Doc. I'll hold on to this."

"You'll want to go now. Here-"

He motions to a screen, where you see several reports of bot patrols. The path home is clear for quite a while. It's a good time to head back and avoid them all. You get to your feet. He seems tired too, so you oblige and get ready to go.

"Glad you're okay, geezer. Hey... If anything happens again, send us a message, yeah?"

"Yeah. If we knew about the incident earlier, we'd have come down immediately..."

"Appreciate it. Let's hope nothing like that happens again, eh?"

With that, you head out of his partition, and wave goodbye to his Digimon. The three Kokuwamon stand in a row to bid you farewell, with a conspicuous gap between them.

==

It's a peaceful, uneventful trip home, thanks to the patrol schedule Doc has shared with you. You're afforded the luxury of walking on the street instead of having to roof-jump just to avoid notice. As you walk, you have a quick discussion with Phascomon about the tool you've just gotten.

"I say just use it."

"But we'll have to go find a bot all on our own."

"So? If you plan to use it, ever, shouldn't we do it under circumstances we can control? Instead of having to scrabble to pull it out when we get cornered by a random one."

It's a sensible point. You look at the edge of the city block you're currently strolling through. The adjacent one is going through heightened patrols right now.

>Go find a bot, and try to create circumstances where it's all alone. Then you'll be able to use this tool to forcefully pass an inspection and clear your name from future scans. However, you'll need to leave your newly-obtained encryption protocols deactivated in the first place.

>Don't go looking for trouble. Keep it in your pocket for next time. If you never provide your info in the first place, they can still dismiss it as a failure to conduct their census. Creating a false positive will attract even more questions, like Doc pointed out.

Phew, that took a while. There were some I missed out, will raise em again soon.

>>6262517

>Go find a bot, and try to create circumstances where it's all alone. Then you'll be able to use this tool to forcefully pass an inspection and clear your name from future scans. However, you'll need to leave your newly-obtained encryption protocols deactivated in the first place.
Let's take this out of the way at once.

>>6262522
Rest assured, OP. Marnie's thirst for knowledge has been quenched.

>>6262517
>Go find a bot, and try to create circumstances where it's all alone. Then you'll be able to use this tool to forcefully pass an inspection and clear your name from future scans. However, you'll need to leave your newly-obtained encryption protocols deactivated in the first place.

>>6262517
>Don't go looking for trouble. Keep it in your pocket for next time. If you never provide your info in the first place, they can still dismiss it as a failure to conduct their census. Creating a false positive will attract even more questions, like Doc pointed out.

>>6262517
>Go find a bot, and try to create circumstances where it's all alone. Then you'll be able to use this tool to forcefully pass an inspection and clear your name from future scans. However, you'll need to leave your newly-obtained encryption protocols deactivated in the first place.

>>6262586
>>6262617
>>6263260

>>6262743

Writing! Time to find and hijack a bot.

>Go find a bot, and try to create circumstances where it's all alone. Then you'll be able to use this tool to forcefully pass an inspection and clear your name from future scans. However, you'll need to leave your newly-obtained encryption protocols deactivated in the first place.

This issue needs to be resolved before it's too late. You're already lucky enough that the rangers didn't ask for your metadata the other day. You were most likely saved by the sheer distance between both incidents.

"Okay. Yeah, you're right. Let's get ahead of it."

"Now we're talking! Send me out once you see a target, I'll sweep the area."

==

Fifteen minutes later, you're prone on a roof, with your arms folded in front of you to casually support your chin. Several bots march down below, tagged separately by your goggles. Phascomon cups his eyes next to you, trying to get a good view. When outside of the Digivice, he can't borrow your perspective, so he's left to struggle with the tracking.

"There, that one. It's going down an alleyway."

"Got it. I'll make sure nobody else enters it."

You suck him back into the Digivice, then take a running leap off the roof with f1oat enabled. As you descend, you point to an awning that's much closer to your intended target.

"Hololize!"

Phascomon lands on it without issue, immediately scurrying off to get a good angle on the alley. You take a moment to admire your teamwork, before completing the rest of your descent and lightly touching down on the ground. The servitor is just up ahead. You lower your head and shuffle forward, making sure all your items are securely in your smuggling compartment. As you pass, you bump into the bot with your shoulder and click your tongue in irritation.

It barely moves when you collide with it, and your shoulder stings from the impact. It seems to be doing the trick. The robot turns around.

"Excuse me. Hello, Marnie."

"What do you want?"

You turn around to glare at it. Beams of light are projected from its head, catching you in a lattice of brilliant green lasers.

"You have been selected for a random search. We would like to request access to a portion of your metadata. Please accept the following request if you are willing to cooperate."

It's certainly not random, they're scanning everybody on their patrol route to see if they've already collected their data. You hope they don't go any deeper and double-check, for that will make this entire operation moot. A window pops up in front of you, with details regarding the time and date it's trying to scan.

"Ugh. Fine."

You hold out your hand to accept. Once you do, it will automatically clip the section of your data that's responsible for tracking your location during the data center attack. You can't hit that button.

Instead, you pull the clock out of your inventory and lob it at the bot. It latches on to its face and immediately begins ticking, while you hit 'NO' and close the window. The servitor slides into its idle animation, bobbing up and down at an incredible speed. Once the clock runs out, it stumbles about and tries to recover from the disorientation. It has been fast-forwarded, and is left to assume that you've finished providing the data.

"Done. Anything else?"

"That will be all. Thank you for your cooperation, Marnie! Your information has been noted, and will be treated with the utmost privacy.

With that, it heads off. Easy. From now on, you won't need to fear stop-searches, they'll just scan you and decide that you have nothing more to give them.

Phascomon drops down into the alleyway and gives you a thumbs-up.

"Bunch of bots tried to come in, but I knocked a bunch of stuff over. You done?"

"Just wrapped up. Thanks."

You retrieve him with your Linker, and the two of you head home. That's one big problem solved. You just need to make sure you don't mess up in the future.

==

The rest of your day is spent finishing up a few chores and drafting a rough training schedule for the upcoming days. Tomorrow, you'll head to the Dogs of War base to speak with Squid and see what she's learnt. In the meantime, you practice using the tome you've received from Doc. There are numerous functions that can help you avoid detection, and you'll need a few days to get them all mastered. You look at the various options and study hard, until you're too tired to pore over macros any longer.

You carry out a small audit of the total amount of processing power you're using up. The r3t3xture app that's perpetually hiding your Digivice is the first must-have tool. Next up, you'll have a constant series of reactive subroutines from your encryption catalog. Some need to be constantly activated, but they'll flare to life in response to scans. You tidy up your smuggling compartment by moving all of your old encryption .apps to one corner. You won't need them as long as the main book is doing its job, and you have unlimited usage of it.

That leaves you with just a bit less room to work with programs. Activate too much at once, and you'll be flagged for unusual processing usage, which will ping bots and send them to you, disguised or not.

"Looks complex."

"It's not that bad. Part of living here."

"Well, not for everyone."

Finally, you put all your things away and settle into bed. You lie awake for a bit more and think of potential areas to try and visit for Phascomon's training. The two of you have discussed it, but haven't been able to come to a conclusion. You'll want to go train after hearing what Squid has to say, if it doesn't take too long. Time for more action.

>The Sewers. There will be increased servitor presence due to the cleanup operation, but your new encryption protocols means you're safe from long-term flagging, unless you get caught. You can also have a rematch with Raremon, which is a valuable opportunity to fight a Champion.

>The Surface. You know that Digimon hide in urban areas. It might be a good experience to discover which spots have wild Digimon. Fighting them there has the downside of attracting attention from both humans and bots, and will have sparser pickings than the sewers, but you also won't be cornered like in the labyrinthine depths.

>>6263440
>The Sewers. There will be increased servitor presence due to the cleanup operation, but your new encryption protocols means you're safe from long-term flagging, unless you get caught. You can also have a rematch with Raremon, which is a valuable opportunity to fight a Champion.
Finding another partition wouldn't be bad either.

>>6263440
>The Sewers. There will be increased servitor presence due to the cleanup operation, but your new encryption protocols means you're safe from long-term flagging, unless you get caught. You can also have a rematch with Raremon, which is a valuable opportunity to fight a Champion.
Raremon is a good target to train against.

>>6263440
>The Sewers
By the way OP where'd you get pic related from last thread? Source?

>>6263440
>The Sewers. There will be increased servitor presence due to the cleanup operation, but your new encryption protocols means you're safe from long-term flagging, unless you get caught. You can also have a rematch with Raremon, which is a valuable opportunity to fight a Champion.

>>6263524
Baka Arts, they do a lot of gritty sci fi stuff.

>>6263486
>>6263494
>>6263524
>>6263740
Writing!

>The Sewers. There will be increased servitor presence, but your new encryption protocols means you're safe! You can also have a rematch with Raremon, which is a valuable opportunity to fight a Champion.

The sewers are the best place to visit if you want to grow fast. Plus, there's a Champion-level Digimon that needs squashing down there. You've beaten a handful already, and now that you have a good gauge, Raremon is absolutely the weakest. You share your plan with Phascomon, then finally drift off to sleep. Tomorrow will be another long day of talking.

Bright and early, you send Squid a text. You're paranoid after the incident with Doc, and you begin pacing once she takes more than an hour to reply. Fortunately, Wind replies instantly when you message him to check in. They're all fine. You begin making your way towards the VVV café, making sure to enable your new protocols.

A bot stops you on the street while you're walking, and you feel a strong sense of fear as you allow it to scan you. Fortunately, Doc's solution holds up. It politely informs you that it does not require further information, and allows you to leave without issue.

When you enter the café, a few of the Dogs of War are sitting in the upstairs room, laughing and joking with the store owner. They wave to you as you enter, and you recognize them as the body doubles.

"Hi! You heading down?" One boy calls.

"Yeah. What about you guys? I thought Wind said you were supposed to stay underground until the heat passed."

"We are. But he let us come up here, as long as we stay indoors. Cabin fever is too strong otherwise..." Another girl replies.

You nod sympathetically. The barista hands you a coffee, and you take it gratefully. You take one sip as you interface with the homebrewed teleportation beacon, and blanch immediately. Black. No sugar or milk. You stash it in your inventory as you head down into the headquarters.

Wind is sitting in the main chamber, waiting for you with a newspaper in hand. Kaus Gammamon stands behind him, hands hanging placidly by his side. You take a long look at both of them, remembering what Doc said yesterday.

"Morning."

"Hey. How's it been?"

"Good, all things considered. We've been laying low and planning out our next move. The last operation is starting to fizzle out."

He holds up the paper to show you the second page, depicting the relatively clean streets around the data center. They're starting to wind down coverage. You've still been hearing word on the street about it, but nowhere as much as a week ago. Regular joes are worried, but the punks that hang around seedy places like Doc's new district are all eager to follow the topic.

"So it's time for the next one?"

"Yeah. This one is less of a show of power, and more for practical reasons. There's also something we need you to see."

"Does it have anything to do with what you owe us?"

"It does. By the way, do you need a refill of Squid's .apps?"

"Yeah. We're going to the lab anyway, I'll ask her. The EM gloves came in handy a few times."

"She'll be glad to hear that, she's really proud of that one."

You send Phascomon out, and the four of you head over to the Code Cracker's workshop.

"Squid! Marnie is here!"

ToyAgumon is at the foyer to receive you. He waddles out on his blocky feet, while you hear clanging and crashing from inside.

"She okay in there?"

"She'll be fine. She just stayed up too late messaging that Code Cracker you two told her about."

"They must have had a lot to talk about." You comment. Doc received her contact details sometime during your meeting.

"Not really. He went to sleep at a normal time! Then she just stayed up staring at her screen and waiting for a text back."

Yeah, that sounds like her. You hope she hasn't driven Doc off with that, it wouldn't reflect very well on you either. Before you can say anything else, her orange hair pops out from around the corner.

"Good morning! Come in, please!"

You step into the lab and look around. Most of the gadgets and gizmos have been swapped out from the last time. You spy multiple displays with maps and charts that fluctuate in real time. Right before your eyes, a siren blares from a screen. ToyAgumon scurries over to attend to the white flashes.

"What's that?" Phascomon asks, pointing to the Virtual Machine that once held the zipbombs.

Two book.apps are being held above their pedestals, with numerous wires and sensors plugged directly into them.

"That's one of the things we wanted to ask you about," Wind says, "but we'll save that for later. Squid is going to share the next bit of info."

She points to the screen.

"So, we've figured out some things about Digivolution! In order to go from Champion to Ultimate, a Digimon needs a much higher volume of data. And it speeds it up if they have reference material from Digimon that have an equivalent filesize."

Right, you heard this from Doc too. You feel a little bad that they've been working so hard to discover this, when you got your answer in five minutes. Phascomon seems to find that hilarious, and chokes back a gurgle.

"Mhm." You nod, looking around the room to see if you can figure out where she's going with this.

"Remember when I told you that we were looking into a way to locate Digimon? Like when you were asking me about your leg injury? Well, we found something we can use!" She exclaims.

Wind motions to a map with warning labels all over it.

"This is the device that 87O uses to keep track of Digimon. It's a piece of indexing software, responsible for locating specific Digimon types."

You examine the footage on the screen. The exterior of this partition has a giant antennae dish, that swivels rapidly and points towards the streams of junk data in the air.

"What's more- There's a whole repository of Digimon reference data inside!"

"Hey, sounds like Digi-DNA." Phascomon quips.

"What's your plan? We're not blowing it up, right?"

"No. I want us to get in, pirate the software itself, and then grab a few key pieces of data. Being able to locate Digimon will be vital to our long-term plans. Plus, some of our members could do with upgrades to their partners."

"When you say long-term, you mean taking over the city, right? What specific Digimon do you need for that?"

"We need something that can counter and destroy Brigadramon."

Now they're speaking your language.

"Do you already have a Digimon in mind for that?" You ask, leaning forward and suddenly rapt with attention.

"There's a Digimon we've discovered, named Deckerdramon. Apparently, it's incredible in urban combat, and has anti-air capabilities that could threaten even a Mega-level Digimon. The issue is that there's no info on where it lives, or if the city even employs it for anything. If we're going to get data on it, the indexing system is our next target." He concludes.

"And- and- imagine being able to find ANY Digimon we want?" Squid yells, waving her hands about in excitement. Her goggles are covering her eyes, and even as you speak, lines of code run across the internal display.

"Solid enough goal. So, the next mission of yours is to break in there, steal key data, and get out. Is that what you've called us here for?"

"Yes. This is directly related to what we've promised, regarding your next stage of Digivolution. We might be able to get a packet of data from an Ultimate-level Digimon."

"Cool. Let us know when you finish it." He says, picking his nose with a claw.

The room grows quiet, apart from the intermittent beeps and flashes from the observation displays.

"Uh... Phascomon, I think what they're implying is that they want us to help."

"Yeah, I'm getting that. But this is a debt they owe us! They can't expect us to tag along just to collect it, they're telling us that we need to do a whole new favor just to get what we're already owed!"

He has a point. You'd be going on a whole new quest. You examine Wind's face, and see that his expression is scrunched up in frustration. Maybe he does deserve a hard time from Phascomon, though. He dragged your buddy into a dangerous mission, based off Takuda's old debt. You think it's only right that he makes good on what he owes.

"I have a proposition." Kaus Gammamon interrupts. He gently sets a hand on Wind's shoulder, to stop him from gritting his teeth hard enough to vibrate their textures.

"You are correct in assuming that we would like your presence for this mission, Phascomon and Marnie. Yet Phascomon has brought up the fact that you are not obliged to accompany us, as this is a deliverable that we owe you. Please consider the following: We do not know what form this data will take, nor if it is even in a transferable format."

"Hey, that's true..." ToyAgumon mumbles.

"It would not do to have us infiltrate this deeply, only to realize that the format the data takes is incompatible with our transport methods. Nor can we take every possible contingency for that possibility without prior information. As such, I would like to propose that you accompany us not as a teammate, but as a V.I.P." He finishes.

"V.I.P?" Wind asks, raising an eyebrow at his partner.

"Hey, yeah! I like the sound of that. No being bossed around. We just follow along, mind our own business, and then we snag the data. What do you think, Marnie?"

You think about what you've learnt from Doc. He harvested Mekanorimon's data using his Digivice's scan function, then implanted it in his own partner. You're not sure if the Digivices owned by the Dogs of War have such an ability. Wind and Squid have proper ones, with colored cases and blocky displays, but the rest have junk docks held together with circuit boards and electrical tape. You might be needed to grab the Digi-DNA in the first place.

At the same time, you don't want to set a precedent that they can stiff you like this. They said they'd deliver, they owe you a finished product. You don't need to go along for the ride.

>Accept the mission in full. It annoys you to have to work for it AGAIN, but their chances of success are lower without you. You're in a position to demand better terms this time. No getting sent on a dangerous solo trip, you want to be up to date with the plan. But ultimately, this puts you under them, and you don't want Wind to get any ideas regarding your employment, or how he can control you.

>Follow Kaus Gammamon's compromise. You won't be an active participant, nor part of the planning, but they'll take you right where you need to go. This decreases the mission success rate, but you can supervise it and try to get what you're here for: The Digi-DNA packet that might be relevant to Phascomon's further evolution.

>Reject participation entirely. You don't want to tank this risk when you don't have to. Plus, this operation helps them in the long-term. They'll need to do it with, or without you, in order to further their plans. Don't let them rope you into giving them free labor. This both decreases their success rate, as well as the chance you'll get what you want, but it means there's no risk to yourself.

Additional vote, to be chosen alongside main:

>Share everything you know regarding Digi-DNA with Squid. This could make a big difference, with or without you.

>Don't go spilling Doc's secrets. They can figure it out on their own.

>>6264067
>Accept with a compromise. You'll go along with the mission, but if we find an ultimate level digimon in our way we're taking it down as a team. We might even use the newly plundered data to gang up on it with a lot of champions.
Whether or not the repository is a bust, we can get some ultimate level exp.
>Share everything you know regarding Digi-DNA with Squid. This could make a big difference, with or without you.

>>6264070
Ah crap, knew I was missing something. I forgot to include a write-in option. It was intended for this post since there’s a lot of factors. Write-ins A-ok for this one o7

>>6264067
>>6264070 +1

>>6264067
>Accept the mission in full BUT ask for something extra besides what they already owe you like a new Squid gadget or one of the rewards for putting the bomb that you didn't pick in the first negotiation with Wind. Maybe both, yes both, Phascomon seems good a haggling. Add the condition that if the mission succeeds but the data is useless, you get your reward anyways. Also do not agree to be separated from Phascomon.
I sincerely don't want to take this mission, I don't like Wind (if he gets Regulusmon we are fucked) and I doubt whatever data they have there is better than Astamon (apparently he is as strong as a mega) , but if the reward is good, I have no problem with the employment.

>Share everything you know regarding Digi-DNA with Squid. This could make a big difference, with or without you.
I think they could use KausGammamon data to upgrade some of their rookies with this. You could try to use this info to get even a better deal for the mission.

>>6264070
+1, BUT we want them to know they still owe us afte rthis. If we're giving our full aid, this can't clear the debt. Not entirely.

>>6264067

>>6264070
+1

>>6264070
+1

>>6264070
>>6264082
>>6264105
>>6264231
>>6264241

>>6264093

Writing!

>Accept with a compromise. You'll go along with the mission, but if we find an ultimate level digimon in our way we're taking it down as a team. We might even use the newly plundered data to gang up on it with a lot of champions.
>Share everything you know regarding Digi-DNA with Squid. This could make a big difference, with or without you.

"I think we'd be willing to just do our part. If-" You raise a hand to stop Wind from interrupting. "-you follow a few conditions."

"What would they be?"

"Firstly, don't consider our debt wiped out just from that. We'll be helping and putting in work, so you'll still owe us by the end of it. And secondly, I need there to be a few additions to the mission goals.

"Yeah!"

You look towards Squid and tap your Digivice.

"I actually have a bit more info on Digi-DNA. Doc told me about it a few days ago, I think it'll help with our planning."

You roll your chair closer to her, while she listens eagerly and pulls out a display window to take notes.

==

"An Ultimate-level Digimon. You want us to try and take one down?" Wind asks, looking between Phascomon and his own partner.

"Yeah. Like I said, that's the best way to obtain the data needed to Digivolve further. And its Digi-DNA could come in really handy."

"Our combined firepower would not be able to overwhelm a Digimon of that level." Kaus Gammamon says.

"You've got a whole bunch of little guys. If we get to the lower-level data first, and help them evolve into Champions, maybe we'd stand a chance."

"It's a big risk. But it seems like a step we'll need to take eventually... Alright. IF we find one, and IF I deem that we can handle it, we'll make a detour and take one down. You'll need to accept that this isn't a guarantee."

A compromise goes both ways. You nod and hold out your hand. Wind shakes it, cementing your deal. When they plan out their mission details, you'll come along, without the ability to call shots as a client. Your objective will be part of the mission if possible, opening up a route to unlocking Phascomon's next form.

"When are you planning to do it?"

"Couple weeks from now. I'll share details another time. Let's move on to a different topic, though..."

Squid stands up and heads over to the Virtual Machine. She's been lost in her notes ever since you briefed her on Doc's Digi-DNA harvesting, and she's been scanning her own Digivice to see if it has that ability. She seems just as excited to show you what's in the locked room, and doesn't mind switching gears. It's actually rather surprising, since you've seen how much of a one-track mind she has.

"Remember when we were talking about those books we had?"

"Yes."

"And we both realized that there was an overlap. Well, I brought mine to Squid to investigate, and guess what? She has a book. Same as us."

"Mine was about the city, and the systems that are used to run it!"

No way. You set your hands on the glass display and stare into the chamber, where you see the encryption protocol working overtime to unveil something about the books. Just like before, your first instinct is that you're being messed with somehow.

"What does this mean...?" You ask, your eyebrows furrowed in absolute confusion.

"Apparently, both our books are heavily encrypted. You wouldn't think so from the contents, but the author, origin, date of writing, everything else is obscured. Squid can't crack it. All we got was the original filename."

"Quit holding out on us! What's that filename supposed to be? What's the big deal?"

Squid pulls up a window with the file properties of the two books.

Fruit of Knowledge.Greed

Fruit of Knowledge.Pride

You instinctively pull out your own file. You flip through the pages, looking over those animated oceans and beautiful scenes of human celebrations. You feel utterly disoriented at the idea of this book having some kind of deep secret. You don't even know what these names mean, but they seem to imply that they're part of a series? It's an awfully ominous title for a book.

"That's the second thing we wanted to talk to you about. Are you willing to hand yours over? We're barely getting anything out of these two. Maybe with a third, we can find some kind of secret. Or minor difference that can help us get to the bottom of this. And if not, I think we can at least pull out the filename for you. Whatever the hell it means."

You clutch the book.app close to your chest. Phascomon stares at you in concern.

You don't really want to hand this over. It's yours, and while you're willing to share it with close friends, the idea of having them pick it apart and unravel its code is disturbing to you. You don't know if you can trust them to return it undamaged. At the same time, something is nagging at you. This whole situation is extremely odd, and you'd hate the idea of your childhood book hiding a deep secret from you.

>Hand it over. Let them do their own investigation on it. You want to know what this original filename is too. Ignorance isn't bliss.

>Refuse. You're better off not knowing. The book is the same as its always been, you're not going to look too deeply into it.

"Remember when we were talking about those books we had?"

"Yes."

"And we both realized that there was an overlap. Well, I brought mine to Squid to investigate, and guess what? She has a book. Same as us."

"Mine was about the city, and the systems that are used to run it!"

No way. You set your hands on the glass display and stare into the chamber, where you see the encryption protocol working overtime to unveil something about the books. Just like before, your first instinct is that you're being messed with somehow.

"What does this mean...?" You ask, your eyebrows furrowed in absolute confusion.

"Apparently, both our books are heavily encrypted. You wouldn't think so from the contents, but the author, origin, date of writing, everything else is obscured. Squid can't crack it. All we got was the original filename."

"Quit holding out on us! What's that filename supposed to be? What's the big deal?"

Squid pulls up a window with the file properties of the two books.

Fruit of Knowledge.Greed

Fruit of Knowledge.Pride

You instinctively pull out your own file. You flip through the pages, looking over those animated oceans and beautiful scenes of human celebrations. You feel utterly disoriented at the idea of this book having some kind of deep secret. You don't even know what these names mean, but they seem to imply that they're part of a series? It's an awfully ominous title for a book.

"That's the second thing we wanted to talk to you about. Are you willing to hand yours over too? We're barely getting anything out of these two. Maybe with a third, we can find some kind of secret. Or minor difference that can help us get to the bottom of this. And if not, I think we can at least pull out the filename for you. Whatever the hell it means."

You clutch the book.app close to your chest. Phascomon stares at you in concern.

You don't really want to hand this over. It's yours, and while you're willing to share it with close friends, the idea of having them pick it apart and unravel its code is disturbing to you. You don't know if you can trust them to return it undamaged. At the same time, something is nagging at you. This whole situation is extremely odd, and you'd hate the idea of your childhood book hiding a deep secret from you.

>Hand it over. Let them do their own investigation on it. You want to know what this original filename is too. Ignorance isn't bliss.

>Refuse. You're better off not knowing. The book is the same as its always been, you're not going to look too deeply into it.

>>6264459
>Hand it over. Let them do their own investigation on it. You want to know what this original filename is too. Ignorance isn't bliss.
>Take it back after the mission. You're fine with just the name.

>>6264459
>Hand it over. Let them do their own investigation on it. You want to know what this original filename is too. Ignorance isn't bliss.
Marnie's whole character is about finding the true nature of things.

>Fruit of Knowledge.Greed
>Fruit of Knowledge.Pride
Interesting. These sound like a set of negative crest. Probably man made.

>>6264459
>Hand it over. Let them do their own investigation on it. You want to know what this original filename is too. Ignorance isn't bliss.

>>6264459
>Hand it over. Let them do their own investigation on it. You want to know what this original filename is too. Ignorance isn't bliss.
>>6264467
Possibly and considering demon lords are aligned with those emotions too maybe there's someone else who also wants their hands on real world.

>>6264846
Not to mention Phascomon's current evolution path can commonly conduce in the Demon Lord of Sloth...

>>6264459
>Hand it over. Let them do their own investigation on it. You want to know what this original filename is too. Ignorance isn't bliss.

>>6264467
+1
Stick to character motivations

>>6264898
I am not versed in Digi-autism, but the wiki says Porcupamon has a lot of possible digivolutions.
https://wikimon.net/Porcupamon
But what I'm wondering is which set of 3 will the QM make us choose from? We chose Porcupamon and not Sangloupmon or MadLeomon. Assuming all the (with X) options on the wiki are ruled out, that leaves...
>Astamon
>Lamortmon
>Matadrmon
>Mephismon
>Skull Baluchimon

>>6264898
and wrath

No update today, feeling a little under the weather. Will start writing though!

>>6264913
It would be a pretty baller love through to rock up to the final battle with a fully decked out Rampage Mode. Could probably crash any partition smaller than a cityblock by itself.

>>6264913
Astamon to Belphemon is most traditional and the "default" line, IIRC.

>>6264991
Feel better soon, QM! Thanks for running such a great quest.

>>6264991
Oh, shit, fuck. Well, that's life, I suppose.
>>6264913
WaruMonzaemon, Astamon and something fucky, probably going back to Leomon path.

Drawing that I got on /i/
>>>/i/811518
There's one more in the thread, pretty cute.

>>6264913
Yes, SkullBaluchimon is the third one because he's a dead inside Digimon that only lives to kill. It's the perfect spite choice. It's not like in Dusk and Dawn

>>6265187
Ha, cute!

>>6264459
So guys, if Wind represents Pride with this book plus what Doc said in >>6262513, how is he supposed to get to Lucemon FM from Kaus Gammamon? For that matter, what could he get from Kaus Gammamon that fits whatever "pride" path he's on? Is is going to be Regulusmon and then we're doomed?

>>6265187
Oh, that's cute! Hell yeah.

>>6265183
Thank you! Feeling better today, finished up and posting right now.

>Hand it over. Let them do their own investigation on it. You want to know what this original filename is too. Ignorance isn't bliss.

"... Okay. Take it."

You hold the .app out. Squid reaches out to take the file, but you whip it back at the last second.

"Just- just be careful with it, okay? It's really precious to me."

"I will, I will! Don't worry. I wouldn't damage any of these. My own book is in there!"

She begins loading it into the Virtual Machine. Phascomon is paying close attention to the filenames and tapping his chin in thought.

"I don't know nothing about no fruits. But this smells suspicious."

"Yeah, tell me about it!"

ToyAgumon joins Squid in inputting lines of code. You watch as your book appears next to the other two, and wires slowly descend to interface with it. Wind clears his throat to get your attention once more.

"That's all we wanted to share with you. You're welcome to stay for a bit, have some coffee upstairs or whatever. I'll let you know when we have a concrete plan that you need to be roped in on."

"Sounds good."

You think about your schedule for the rest of the day. You're not in a rush, so you can always go to the sewers tomorrow. While you're here, you might as well talk to some of the other Dogs of War, or ask Wind to help out with your training plan. Phascomon may have reached the same stage as Kaus Gammamon, but the latter has been practicing for far longer. You could use a second opinion.

"Hey, there's something else. Are you free to walk me through how you did Kaus Gammamon's training?"

"Sure. Let's leave Squid to her work."

"Oh, what?! Come on!" Phascomon cries, clearly recalling how rough that holodeck training session was.

"Don't worry, I just want to know about their methods. We didn't come here to work you to the bone today."

Phascomon sighs in relief. Wind lets out a muted chuckle, then motions for the lab exit.

"Marnie! I'll let you know as soon as I'm done!" Squid calls. You give her a thumbs up as you move to the meeting room.

The four of you settle into the egg-like seats of the meeting room, and Wind begins explaining his former training routine.

"Back when he was just a Gammamon, we spent a few months fighting whatever we could in the sewers. I stuck to a sort of weekly goal. Four days of battling, three days of rest."

"This method of indiscriminate battling was consistent and functional, but we eventually learnt of a more directed approach."

"Directed?"

"Yeah. You've scanned Kaus Gammamon before, right?"

You nod and slide your goggles onto your face, just to see what kind of point he's making.

KAUS GAMMAMON- CHAMPION- DRAGON MAN- DATA

"As Gammamon, his type was 'Ceratopsian'. I didn't know what that meant, but we came up with a theory that his Digivolutions would be some kind of reptilian form. Or draconic. So we started skipping enemies in the sewers who didn't fit into those parameters."

"We were also worried that indiscriminately taking in data would result in an unpredictable Champion form."

"So, if Porcupamon is a Puppet-type, what kind of Digimon are we supposed to fight?"

The two of them don't seem to be able to answer that.

"I guess your Digivolution path has already become unpredictable, huh?"

"Yeah. If I turned into another Dark Beast, it would have been easy enough to guess what an Ultimate stage would be like. Could beat up mammal-types like Gazimon or Tsukaimon for their data. But Puppet? I don't know what's next. Do I even want to stick to that? I don't know what the strongest option is."

"This is a path that differs for every Digimon. While we are able to provide guidance, we cannot help to chart your path of growth."

"We haven't actually fought that many different Digimon, have we? So it's not like their data could have influenced you that much. Not if Kaus Gammamon fought a whole bunch of Digimon while maintaining a stable form."

"Let's see... We beat BlackAgumon, Espimon, and then a whole bunch of bots in the sewers. Oh, I did have to finish off a few Espimon and Commandramon while we were in the data center."

"So was it Espimon that gave you a Puppet-type Digivolution?"

"Doubt so, Espimon is a Cyborg." Wind replies.

You think about the moments that came right before his Digivolution, while you were both filled with fighting spirit. Back then, you wished for the ability to keep you both safe. Maybe that had something to do with it? But you don't say pitch that idea out loud. It doesn't check out with the rest of the science behind Digivolution.

"Eh, whatever. No point doing an audit if we can't use the results. Let's just fight whatever strong enemies show up."

It's not like you have any other options, so you shrug and set your elbows on the table.

"Oh, there's one more thing I almost forgot." Wind asks. "I'm interested in knowing how you Digivolved Phascomon so fast. Have you found out anything else about that temporary form?"

Phascomon meets your eye. You're suddenly unsure of whether to explain it to him or not. Doc told you that the spontaneous Digivolution was due to a strong bond between you and Phascomon. So what does that mean for Kaus Gammamon and Wind? Are they not actually that close? Have they not gone through the same sort of trials? It's information that they can use to become stronger, and giving it to him for free would mean losing out on a bargaining chip.

Then again, maybe finding out about it would change Wind's approach to raising him.

>Share what you've learnt about the Digivice, and let him know that his model could possibly do the same thing. It could help improve his methods beyond the brute-force training he consistently does.

>Keep it to yourself. He already owes you, you're not giving him a freebie right now. There's not much they can actually offer you at the moment that's equivalent to this, nor is the info worth a major favor, so you'll want to withhold it completely instead of trying to bargain unsuccessfully.

>>6265361
>Keep it to yourself. He already owes you, you're not giving him a freebie right now. There's not much they can actually offer you at the moment that's equivalent to this, nor is the info worth a major favor, so you'll want to withhold it completely instead of trying to bargain unsuccessfully.
Should include the time Phascomon worked with Takuda, I suppose.

>Mention that even Doc was pretty vague about it, getting the info on Digi-DNA was the most detailed he's ever gotten on the subject.

>>6265364
+1
Keep cards close until we benefit from the Dogs of War again, then pull this info out when we need them again or to make them owe us again

>>6265361
>Share what you've learnt about the Digivice, and let him know that his model could possibly do the same thing. It could help improve his methods beyond the brute-force training he consistently does.
Their goals don't conflict with ours, so while we aren't a Doggo ourself, we can probably work together. If we create an environment of generosity and reciprocity, we won't have to lean on haggling so much.

>>6265361
>Keep it to yourself. He already owes you, you're not giving him a freebie right now. There's not much they can actually offer you at the moment that's equivalent to this, nor is the info worth a major favor, so you'll want to withhold it completely instead of trying to bargain unsuccessfully.

>>6265361
>Share what you've learnt about the Digivice, and let him know that his model could possibly do the same thing. It could help improve his methods beyond the brute-force training he consistently does.
Tell him. I don't want him growing impatient or getting frustrated because it may unlock an evil Digievolution. I'm scared shitless of the Gulus line.
Maybe if he can get closer to his Digimon, he may soften a little bit.

>>>/i/811616
>>>/i/811527

>>6265364
>>6265379
>>6265465

>>6265390
>>6265516
Writing! Saving this info for later.

>>6265841
>Toyagusword
Kek

>Keep it to yourself. He already owes you, you're not giving him a freebie right now. There's not much they can actually offer you at the moment that's equivalent to this, nor is the info worth a major favor, so you'll want to withhold it completely instead of trying to bargain unsuccessfully.

"Nah, we didn't get much out of it."

Phascomon plays along.

"Zilch. It'll happen again when I need it. Oh, hey. We should tell him all about DarkTyrannomon."

"Who?"

Right, it nearly slipped your mind. That's something they might encounter in the future. You begin telling him the story, starting from your initial encounter while you were both Rookies. Even Kaus Gammamon's stoic posture gives way to genuine interest, and the two of them are enthralled by the tale.

==

"So in the end, you drove it away?"

"Couldn't finish him off... Neither did Commandramon."

"Now he's out there. I'll keep an eye out and let you know if we see anything. Man, what a story. And this was just a few days ago?"

"Right after our mission. We took a rest for a few days, visited Doc, like I said, and found his partition."

"Where would a strong Digimon like him even go, after entering the network?"

"My estimation is that he would try to carve out a territory for himself, either inside, or outside it. You recall how Raremon patrolled the sewers regularly. Alternatively, he could be looking for further growth by defeating other Digimon, or searching for large volumes of data. You said that he had a pack?"

"Old enemy of mine, yeah. And two mooks. I bet he's gonna be gathering minions again."

"I'll just hope that the city takes care of him." Wind mumbles.

"I hope so. He was too big for us to take on. It took three to beat him."

"Maybe two, with Kaus Gammamon."

"Maybe."

Wind receives a system notification after you're done discussing the incident. He checks the window and gets to his feet slowly.

"Squid is done scanning."

"That fast?"

"Yeah. We already did all the groundwork before."

You move back to the lab without fanfare. As you walk, your stomach twists into a pit of dread. You don't want there to be any suspicious circumstances around your book. That tome helped you find your dream. It got you through years of an empty existence. You hate the idea of there being some nefarious purpose behind it. You want it to be what its always been to you: Just a book. Just a source of comfort.

That wish doesn't come true. You already know what you're going to find before you walk through those doors, and your fears are confirmed when you see the file properties window.

Fruit of Knowledge.Envy

You stare at the text, even as Squid extracts the book.app from the VM and sets it neatly in your hands.

"See? Good as new. Marnie? Marnie?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry... Just thinking about it."

You swipe at the window and dismiss it. That's three different keywords now, meaning that all three of your books are part of some kind of series. You slide yours back into your inventory.

"Hey, don't look too far into it. We'll handle the digging. You seem kinda freaked out by it." Wind says. He scratches the back of his head awkwardly, unsure of how to make you feel better.

"Come on, Marnie. Let's get home. Or we could go check out the sewers! Kicking some behind could cheer you up." Phascomon tugs at your pants leg.

You shake yourself out of your stupor. Mysterious words or not, that's still your book, and you're not throwing it away. You try to tell yourself that it doesn't matter, so you can move on with your day.

"Okay. We'll be going now. Thanks for the help, you guys."

"Bye! And seriously, don't tweak over this, okay? I'm sure it doesn't mean much." Squid calls.

"Bye, Marnie. Stay safe"
"Goodbye.
"Bye bye!"

You're in a hurry to leave the base after that, so you don't bother greeting all the Digimon-wielding members you traveled with the last time. You're not really more than acquaintances anyway. You return Phascomon to your Digivice and head upstairs. The barista waves as you step back onto the street.

"You okay?"

"I've just got a lot of thinking to do."

"About the book."

"Of course. I'm just wondering who could have set this all up in the first place. No way it's a coincidence that three kids get mysterious books with all sorts of stories that extend outside the city, and then grow up in the same field."

"Is it really too big to be a coincidence?"

"Yes, the filenames proved that."

"And that's worrying you, huh? That maybe getting that book steered you somewhere you might not have gone otherwise."

You nod. You've both gotten much better at reading each other's moods recently.

"Let's just go home."

"Hang on, what about the sewers! You said you wanted to do some training today. Come on, it'll be fun. Let's cut loose."

His laziness and motivation come and go in equal measures. Today, you can tell that he's trying to cheer you up with this. A small, appreciative smile inches across your face.

"Fine, fine. Let's go. Park is that way-"

You let your wristwatch hang at your side, and you move towards the usual teleportation beacon.

==

With your new metadata obscuring tool, you're able to come up with a fake identity for entering the sewers. There's no more chance of you being logged upon entry. You also don't end up sabotaging it for the bots this time. Just to be safe, you cover your face with a veil of static before stepping towards the booth and using it. You're sent underground to the familiar intersection that you first arrived in.

The first thing you notice is that the flow of junk data is greatly accelerated. Large volumes are being pushed through the canals and towards the recycling plant beneath The Tower.

"Hololize!"

"Argh! Forgot how bad it smelt!"

"Is it worse because of all the flow?"

"It is! Gross."

You look around with your goggles. There are plenty of traces. The sewers are a hotbed of activity thanks to the cleanup operation, so there are probably more Digimon and bots around. You have some minor objectives lined up.

>Go train normally. No need to search for anything specific, just fight Digimon and get stronger. Like Wind and Kaus Gammamon shared, you can't really benefit from hunting down data types since Phascomon's next form is a mystery.

>Hunt for Raremon. You're confident you can beat him now, and get a bounty of data. The downside is that deleting him may create a power vacuum that would mess with the sewer ecosystem.

>Search for Gomamon. You wonder if she's okay down here. Life is short in the sewers, it's possible she might already be gone, but maybe it'll be nice to see her again.

>>6266129
>Search for Gomamon. You wonder if she's okay down here. Life is short in the sewers, it's possible she might already be gone, but maybe it'll be nice to see her again.
Maybe she could cure her leg. She's supposed to be obsessed with cleaning what the viruses mess up.

>>6266129
>Hunt for Raremon. You're confident you can beat him now, and get a bounty of data. The downside is that deleting him may create a power vacuum that would mess with the sewer ecosystem.
I don't think Gomamon would be happy to see one of the architects of the increased junk flow

>>6266167
+1
Raremon will be fine after we beat him up. The increased junk will help his recovery

>>6266129
>Hunt for Raremon. You're confident you can beat him now, and get a bounty of data. The downside is that deleting him may create a power vacuum that would mess with the sewer ecosystem.

>>6266167
>>6266204
>>6266329

>>6266141

Writing!

>Hunt for Raremon. You're confident you can beat him now, and get a bounty of data. The downside is that deleting him may create a power vacuum that would mess with the sewer ecosystem.

“Well, it’s gonna get even worse when we’re done. Let’s go defeat Raremon.”

He nods. You begin hyping yourself up, feeling the now-familiar font of energy welling up within you. Before you can share it with Phascomon, he rears up and holds both hands ahead of him.

”Hold on, hold on!”

“What? Do you see something?”

”Nah. I just don’t want to go Porcupamon-mode yet.”

“Why not?”

”You crazy?! I’m gonna slip into the junk!”

“That’s true… But don’t you have a gas mask in that form?”

”Oh, of course! Forgive me, my mistake! So how about I find you one too, so you can take a dip?”

“Okay! Jeez, point taken.”

You reach down to ruffle his fur, then begin walking. Your goggles highlight distant traces of passing Digimon, but there are some deeper gouges of vital information that have been carved into the wall textures over and over. You can sniff out Raremon’s patrol route now. Without further ado, the two of you march on.

==

Your journey is rather lengthy, and several unremarkable encounters pass in a blink. You end up having a chance encounter with a Chuumon, a pink rat Digimon that’s digging into a pile of scrap data packets. He’s nice enough to point you Raremon’s way once you ask. Phascomon refuses to get close to fight the smelly bastard, so you move on without incident.

Then you run into a bot patrol. You have the bad luck of rounding the corner right into their rear guard, forcing you to quickly retreat and double-check all your VPN tools. Phascomon clears them out after a while, allowing you to progress.

Finally, you reach a massive gap, where junk flows through the canal and blocks your path. You check your map, and for a moment, you’re puzzled. You’ve been here before, the chasm wasn’t so wide. Phascomon then points out that the level of junk data has risen so high that the walkway has been covered, and you’re standing on the inner lip of the passageway instead. You’re forced to make a detour through one of those round wall chutes, where a deluge of data rushes past. You wade ankle-deep in it while chasing the signature from Raremon.

Finally, you make it to a drier series of hallways. You can see several locked partition openings here. You also smell the horrid miasma it was giving off. Last time, it was enough to paralyze both Rookie Digimon. Today, Phascomon stands strong and takes the first step forward.

”I hear it. That guy is close.”

“You ready?”

He nods.

<D I G I V O L U T I O N>

<進化>

Your journey is rather lengthy, and several unremarkable encounters pass in the blink of an eye. You end up having a chance encounter with a Chuumon, a pink rat Digimon that’s digging into a pile of scrap data packets. He’s nice enough to point you Raremon’s way once you ask. Phascomon refuses to get close to fight the smelly bastard, so you move on without incident.

Then you run into a bot patrol. You have the bad luck of rounding the corner right into their rear guard, forcing you to quickly retreat and double-check all your VPN tools. Phascomon clears them out after a while, allowing you to progress.

Finally, you reach a massive gap, where junk flows through the canal and blocks your path. You check your map, and for a moment, you’re puzzled. You’ve been here before, the chasm wasn’t so wide. Phascomon then points out that the level of junk data has risen so high that the walkway has been covered, and you’re standing on the inner lip of the passageway instead. You’re forced to make a detour through one of those round wall chutes, where a deluge of data rushes past. You wade ankle-deep in it while chasing the signature from Raremon.

Finally, you make it to a drier series of hallways. You can see several locked partition openings here. You also smell the horrid miasma it was giving off. Last time, it was enough to paralyze both Rookie Digimon. Today, Phascomon stands strong and takes the first step forward.

”I hear it. That guy is close.”

“You ready?”

He nods.

<D I G I V O L U T I O N>

<進化>

Porcupamon lands heavily on the concrete. The two of you move forward, until you spot a familar wall of melting blue flesh. Raremon is currently cornering a Betamon. The poor creature is being ripped apart before your eyes, and it's too late to save it. The ecosystem down here is savage. Porcupamon takes the chance to charge up an attack. Numerous spines are pulled from his body, forming a mass of razor-sharp energy. He flings it at the oblivious Raremon's back mid-meal.

"MADNESS BROACH!"

"Rrrgh... Ahh...?"

It whirls around.

"Hedoro."

Raremon spits a familiar ball of sludge at Porcupamon. Last time, you felt absolute dread upon seeing this attack. It was sure to have spelt both your dooms with a mere touch. This time, your partner charges through it, allowing the acid to wick past his slippery suit. He tackles Raremon, lifting his razor-sharp arms to catch the deadly claws and wrestle with them head to head.

"EW!"

It's not even close. This thing is a failed Digivolution that suffers endlessly. It's only ruling the sewers thanks to the junk data supplementing its power. Your partner will likely be able to take it down without issue. You do have a new conundrum, however. If you delete Raremon, you'll shake up the entire ecosystem of the sewer. There will likely be another Digimon that can turn into a Champion. You'll gain a good deal of data, but you also don't know if you can consider all the ramifications of that. Even Wind spared it.

>Aim to delete Raremon. You have a partner who's stronger than it, and you know exactly how to fight it thanks to Kaus Gammamon's methods. You'll have Porcupamon grow stronger, but the sewer will become more unpredictable.

>Have Porcupamon do his best to leave him alive. It might make for a tougher fight if you're not just tearing out all the life support, and Porcupamon might take some more hits, but you'll maintain the status quo.

>>6266770

>Aim to delete Raremon. You have a partner who's stronger than it, and you know exactly how to fight it thanks to Kaus Gammamon's methods. You'll have Porcupamon grow stronger, but the sewer will become more unpredictable.
I want power, fuck the sewer. It would be nice to put Gommamon as the new boss of the gym.

>>6266770
>Aim to delete Raremon. You have a partner who's stronger than it, and you know exactly how to fight it thanks to Kaus Gammamon's methods. You'll have Porcupamon grow stronger, but the sewer will become more unpredictable.
Feeding the junk champion even more junk is a bad idea. I've seen Raremon's canon evo, that thing is terrifying.

>>6266127
>Fruit of Knowledge.Envy
Okay digi-autists. How can we go from Porcupamon to Leviamon?

>>6266770
>Aim to delete Raremon. You have a partner who's stronger than it, and you know exactly how to fight it thanks to Kaus Gammamon's methods. You'll have Porcupamon grow stronger, but the sewer will become more unpredictable.
You'll feel much better after this...

>>6266770
>Aim to delete Raremon. You have a partner who's stronger than it, and you know exactly how to fight it thanks to Kaus Gammamon's methods. You'll have Porcupamon grow stronger, but the sewer will become more unpredictable.
An act of kindness and convenience. Raremon probably doesn't want to live like this, and if it continues down this path, a Rareraremon will be a danger to everyone else.

>>6266789
>Okay digi-autists. How can we go from Porcupamon to Leviamon?
Hangyomon, Dagomon, MegaloGrowmon, or TonosamaGekomon work.

>>6266770
>Aim to delete Raremon. You have a partner who's stronger than it, and you know exactly how to fight it thanks to Kaus Gammamon's methods. You'll have Porcupamon grow stronger, but the sewer will become more unpredictable.

>>6266858
Now the questions are:
>will the QM have one of them as a possible choice for Ultimate?
>should we even go for Leviamon at all, or defy the pull of the book and walk a different digivolution path?

>>6266938
Phascomon's dream is being a mafia boss, making him happy is enough reason for me to go for Astamon.
Also I think the books is the Demon Lords playing with retarded teenagers.
If mere rookies are so dangerous and cruel, these guys might want to cause the apocalypse (again)

>>6266950
>mafia boss
I didn't notice Astamon has a fucking pinstripe suit, yeah okay we NEED to go to him from Porcupamon then
>playing with retarded teenagers
So if we're not going for any of the 7 lords, then which Mega is best for Phascomon to go to from being Astamon? I'm not sure if we can make it to endgame and the exit portal with just him as an Astamon
https://wikimon.net/Astamon

>>6266957
If you go with Belphemon Sleep Mode, everything should be ok, it's not like he'll stop being himself. Again, I don't know how this works.
Other than that. I don't know.

>>6266967
The problem is Belphemon Sleep Mode and wake up.

>>6266957
Olegmon or MagnaKidmon would fit well for how our lad here acts.

>>6266986
MagnaKidmon seems like a more natural evolution.

>>6267040
We are already alking about an evolution line that goes

>Demon koala
>Gimpsuit gas-mask latex teddy bear full of knives
>Mafiaso wearing a spirit hood
whether we then progress to

>Giant solid gold viking captain
or
>Cowboy made out of guns

it's still going to be weird. That's just Digimon.

>>6267042
Gunner into gunner is coherent to me. I'm just saying.

>>6267044
Yeah, the rest of it is just sort of insane, and either way one could say it's outlaw into outlaw.

>>6266938
>>6266950
I think what we should be more worried about is defeating black agumon. I'll bet he's got the book of wrath somewhere in there, and defeating him will lodge the book deep inside Phascomon, where we struggle with 2 demon lord influences.

>>6266776
>>6266780
>>6266789
>>6266858
>>6266929

Deleting Raremon! Writing

Also glad to see the theorizing :)

>Aim to delete Raremon. You have a partner who's stronger than it, and you know exactly how to fight it thanks to Kaus Gammamon's methods. You'll have Porcupamon grow stronger, but the sewer will become more unpredictable.

Porcupamon swipes across his enemy's face, tearing away chunks of blue sludge. Raremon groans and backs off.

"That's what you get! Not such a big tough guy now, huh?"

"Rrgh..."

It gurgles in anger and charges up another pulse of bile. Porcupamon shoulder-checks it again, pressing his own spiky body into the towering mass of slime. The move carries him underneath the mutant's mouth, causing the acid to cascade past him and splatter into the canal harmlessly.

"Marnie! Whaddya think? Should this guy see tomorrow?"

"Kill... You..."

You think about it for the brief moment where they grapple. Things will be very different once it's gone. But the more you consider it, the more reasons to finish it off you gain. It's a dying beast who's trying desperately to reach its Ultimate stage. From what Doc has told you, that's never going to happen. If anything, it'll just be terrorizing the sewers until someone grows strong enough to challenge it. In that time, plenty of Digimon will die like that Betamon did.

"Put him out of his misery."

"Just have to say the word!"

With his bladed claws, he tears through a series of wires and pipes. Raremon shudders as artifact-riddled blood spurts from the injury, in the same scintillating hues as the sewer rot itself. Porcupamon doesn't give in. He shifts the amorphous mound back into the same corner that it claimed its last prey in, and begins ripping more and more life support measures out. You turn away from the grisly scene, leaving your partner in charge of it.

With no need for restraint, he makes short work of Raremon. It gouges him a few times with those wretched claws, but none of its slime attacks make contact. Finally, he rips through the acrid meat and makes contact with the Digicore. His X-shaped stitches meet the drooping plates that house Raremon's eyes, and the creature waits for an order to yield. Just like last time.

But it never comes. He rips the Digicore out of its body, which collapses and drains helplessly into the sewer. The only things left behind are azure wisps of pure, usable data, and the glowing core. You watch the core lift itself into the air and fade away before your partner can claim it. What's left for him is the collection of data threads, and he puffs his chest out proudly.

"Done."

DELETED.

"How do you feel?"

"Stronger! I can sense it already. All that power soaking into me. He wasn't strong, but he had a lot of useful data. A lot of waste too, look."

He points to the remnants that are writhing in the sewer. Without a Digicore, they can't reconstitute, so you don't have to worry about it dividing endlessly.

"What kind of waste do you mean?"

"I felt it when I absorbed his data. The oldest bits were usable, but damaged. I'm guessing that he was taking in data all the time, but it all decays inside him in the end."

"He's gone now. Things are gonna be different down here."

"Maybe another Digimon will get a fair shot. I don't think they'll be following in his footsteps."

The two of you turn the corner, leaving the scene of Raremon's grisly defeat.

"HALT! UNKNOWN USER, YOU ARE IN VIOLATION OF THE DIGITAL LIFEFORM CONSERVATION ACT! POACHING IS PUNISHABLE BY-"

Porcupamon smashes the bot's head off. You stare at the battalion of servitors lined up on either side of the canal.

"Uh oh. Can you handle them?"

"Gladly!"

==

The bots don't give you much trouble, and you're not concerned with being tagged. In order to break through your encryption, they'll need to catch you in their light and complete the entire scanning process. That's a lot easier said than done with a Digimon toppling them over like dominoes. The patrol ends up being a snack for Porcupamon, and he absorbs their data to fix up the mild injuries he received when facing Raremon. Once they're cleared out, you make a beeline for the teleporter booth.

You exit the sewer and reset your model to get rid of the accumulated grime, then head back home. It's been a long day. Phascomon's plan to take your mind off the book has worked. You feel a lot better after your victories, and can relax once you're back in your apartment.

While you walk, Phascomon keeps bugging you about hitting the Clean function on the Digivice. You roll your eyes after the third time, but oblige. He's been helpful today, on almost every count. Hopefully he keeps that attitude up. You'll need to do a lot more training in the coming weeks, while waiting for Wind and Squid to contact you about the plan.

"Hey, Phascomon?" You ask, as you load yourselves back into your home.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we're ready to go into another service partition? It was rough last time."

"I think we can take it. As long as we have proper info. But that's not under our control, so might as well not fret."

"I guess you're right. I'm just a little worried about meeting something that outclasses us again."

"Like DarkTyrannomon. Or a Cargodramon."

"Exactly. I'm thinking we need to find a way to fight more Champion-level Digimon. Raremon was a bit of a chump, but now he's gone. Other Champions are so rare that we're unlikely to find them. Unless we intentionally go challenge the City's minions."

"What about Kaus Gammamon? I wouldn't mind going a few rounds with him."

"That makes sense. Hang on, I'm gonna go get cleaned up. I'll think about it."

While you wash yourself clean and purge that feeling of having been sloshing through the sewers, you consider your next course of action. You have a good span of time to prepare, and you should get more experience fighting strong Digimon. Small fry will probably not cut it for long. Thanks to the stunted Digital ecosystem in 87O, finding a stronger opponent is quite hard. What sort of target is appropriate at this point of time?

>Ask Wind to let your partner spar with Kaus Gammamon. Not deleting him means that you get no data from it, but you can at least have him and Porcupamon practice against each other. It's a much slower training method, but has no risk at all. No heat, no risk of injury.

>Pteramon. You see them flying overhead rather often. It's possible to bait one into being alone, and then challenging it to a fight. It's the most accessible of the City's hostile Digimon. The downside is obviously the amount of heat it will bring.

>Mekanorimon. Just like Pteramon, you see them up in the air sometimes. Thanks to Commandramon, you know that it tends to have elite Rookies hiding inside. There might not be as much data volume from them, but you could start whittling down assets that are less expendable than flying patrol units.

>>6267333
>Pteramon
FREE DATA
FREE LOOT
One good Madness Broach through a wing and free pickings

>>6267333
>Mekanorimon. Just like Pteramon, you see them up in the air sometimes. Thanks to Commandramon, you know that it tends to have elite Rookies hiding inside. There might not be as much data volume from them, but you could start whittling down assets that are less expendable than flying patrol units.

>>6267333
>Mekanorimon. Just like Pteramon, you see them up in the air sometimes. Thanks to Commandramon, you know that it tends to have elite Rookies hiding inside. There might not be as much data volume from them, but you could start whittling down assets that are less expendable than flying patrol units.
Make use of that encryption suite.

Pteramon can wait until we have actual projectile attacks

>>6267333
Changing vote from >>6267344 to
>Mekanorimon. Just like Pteramon, you see them up in the air sometimes. Thanks to Commandramon, you know that it tends to have elite Rookies hiding inside. There might not be as much data volume from them, but you could start whittling down assets that are less expendable than flying patrol units.
But if we come across our guy Commandramon from the mall fight, we spare him and his Mekanorimon

>>6267458
I'm generally planning to spare them, maybe steal some of their machine data to keep them from acting service.

>>6267348
We can throw Madness broach at them.

>>6267333
>Pteramon

>>6267333
I hate my indecision!
Changing vote from >>6267458 back to
>Pteramon

>>6267333
>Mekanorimon
They may be relatively more durable and offer less data but also far safer targets. Unlike Pretamons which are lot faster and possibly hit harder. Not to mention the chance of it escaping by flying away.

Shame to see Raremon go seeing it evolve would have been cool. Also it evolving would have likely caused heavy response from digipolice draining their resources.

>>6267346
>>6267348
>>6267660

>>6267507
>>6267534

Marnie will spend some time figuring out how to snag a Mekanorimon. Writing!

>>6267660
Raremon evolving could have also killed innocent people and mons, tough. And like Doc said... Everyone else still has to live here after we leave.

>>6267660
It would surely be easier if it rampaged. Maybe I would've considered that if we took Madleomon

>>6267144
We'd need to team up with Wind for that or just pick a powerful ultimate.
What evolution path is BlackAgumon taking anyways?

>>6267306
The quest is super interesting

>>6267798
Dark tyranomon is not an unusual evo for blackagumon, it's just naturally strong even without theoretical outside influences.

Demon's not a natural evo, but it's not a bad route to belphemon. Ironically Astamon is more possible. Skullgreymon is also an old classic.

QM curse has struck as of late, going through some Job-related trouble. Might end up missing some days of updates in the coming weeks. Daily is still the goal and always will be, gonna keep writing but won't be able to post today o7

>>6267798
Thank you kindly, got a lot of inspiration as of late, from the Digimon renaissance this year. There are some ideas that are too new to integrate, but really intriguing.

https://digimon.net/digitalworld-shambala/

>>6267806
But BlackAgumon can't go for Astamon because WE'RE going for Astamon. Therefore it has to be something else, doesn't it?

>>6267938
Or we have to eat dark tyranomon to unlock Astamon.

Or BlackAgumon becomes Astamon and seeing that makes Phascomon reconsiders how he wants to do things.

I'm not sure how sarcastic you're being, but one of the big pitfalls with digimon is that we don't have complete control over how the evos will go. Dem mons will evolve without our permission.

>>6267798
>>6267806
BlackAgumon seems to have a Dramon fixation. Maybe Gigadramon or Megadramon? Alternatively, since he's already on the Tyrannomon track and loves fighting so much, MasterTyrannomon?

>Mekanorimon. Just like Pteramon, you see them up in the air sometimes. Thanks to Commandramon, you know that it tends to have elite Rookies hiding inside. There might not be as much data volume from them, but you could start whittling down assets that are less expendable than flying patrol units.

You decide on your target. Pteramon is a Champion-level Digimon too, but you feel like they must have some way of accelerating their growth, or putting them out en-masse as a patrol unit. Mekanorimon needs an actual competent pilot, so those Rookies who drive it must be on the path to a vital role. Disrupting such a role should be harmful to City management, while also providing a great deal of combat experience. You share the plan with Phascomon while stirring milk and sugar into that coffee you received in the morning.

"I just hope we don't run into the pipsqueak while doing that. I'd feel bad deleting someone I know."

"Yeah, me too... He might not feel the same way, though."

"If it comes down to it, we'll do what needs to be done. Getting out of here is more important than some chump leashed to a bunch of bots."

You settle into bed once your mug is empty, and drift off to sleep while thinking of plans and plots.

==

It takes you about a week to come up with a plan. In the meantime, you stay out of the sewers, not wanting to risk another run-in with the bots. The junk flow is still active. When the data equalizes, the ecosystem settles, and servitor presence recedes, you can go back for training. In the meantime, you just run simulations with Phascomon, and spend the rest of your time consulting Doc.

He's taken to chatting with Squid often, and lets you know that he's excited about trading information. She has vital knowledge of the City's administrative structure, thanks to the book, and he has incomparable Digimon knowledge. You'll hopefully be able to get more tech from the union of their genius minds sometime.

When you pitch the idea of fighting a City Digimon, he points out something: You already have the perfect set of circumstances to find one. His old workshop is still off-limits behind an electromagnetic barrier. There ought to be a sentry you can take down. He also sends you a list of things he needs from his old place, and asks you to collect them if they haven't been sucked up by the investigators already.

You can only hope that Commandramon has been pulled off the menial task thanks to his success. If cleanup duty is being left to some different Mekanorimon, you can delete it without guilt. You draft out a plan and do your research on the surrounding area, gathering escape routes, response times, and other factors. The only thing you can't ever account for is the possibility that Brigadramon will take notice. You don't have access to a jamming team, so you can't stop any rescue signals from going out. If he flies towards you from the pinnacle of the Tower, it's over. But that's how its always been, so you come to terms with it in the end.

After a short slump where Phascomon gets too lazy to train, you finally decide to put your plan into action.

"We going right in?"

"Yeah. All the rubberneckers are gone."

You're standing in front of the barrier, with your hands wreathed in orange once again. You've made sure to watch the skies for activity, and as luck would have it, you spotted a shift change after just an hour of rooftop surveillance. A Mekanorimon has entered the cordoned-off field, with another one leaving in the same moment. You don't spot any Pteramon, so you're confident there's just one enemy.

Just like last time, you approach the ruined partition. Construction teams have clearly been through here, and the surrounding buildings are repaired. The only remaining wreckage is Doc's workshop, and the two empty hab-partitions next to it. Now that you have a moment to examine it, the spatial distortion is disorienting. His home was an L-shaped structure that fit between two buildings, and he had some kind of program hiding the door. Now that it's inactive, it looks like a rift in reality that displays both his front hallway and living room from the same angle. It's a kind of optical illusion that your eyes can barely parse.

Your Mekanorimon target is standing on a rooftop. You have about a minute to come up with your combat approach. You knew you had to jump it fast, but your battle plan was always to examine the environment and come up with the best way to bait it in. Another mystery factor is the behavior of the driver. The cockpit is too tinted for you to identify the Rookie and typecast its personality. Could it be a studious Commandramon, a cheeky Espimon, or something else?

You've also made a small tactical error: You weren't able to have Phascomon Digivolve in advance. You still need more practice before you can do it on a whim. For now, you need to feel that psychological need that Doc told you about, and you're starting to experience it while looking up at Mekanorimon.

>Run into the open partition to look for Doc's stuff. If it spots you, it might give chase and squeeze itself into the smaller space to stop you by force. That'll give Phascomon the opportunity to Digivolve and attack it from behind. However, this massive combat advantage has an equally major flaw: If it's cautious, it'll call backup before even trying to chase you.

>Climb up behind it, then Digivolve. The risk is that it might notice you both, and score a hit while Phascomon is in Rookie form, causing him to take much more damage before the battle even begins. If you pull it off, you'll be able to catch it in a battle immediately, denying it the ability to call for aid.

>Digivolve down here on the street and try to hit it with Madness Broach. It's a pseudo-projectile that has a short range, and the edge of the three-storey building is definitely within that radius. If the pilot is good enough to dodge, it'll have time to send out a distress signal. If not, you can damage it instantly, hololize Porcupamon, then clamber up with f1oat and your climbing pitons to redeploy your partner in melee range.

>Write in: You're on the ground, you haven't been noticed, and you need to engage it fast. If you can think up a low-risk, high-efficiency approach, you can put it into action.

>>6267933
Uh sike I guess, had trouble sleeping so I just finished it anyway.

>>6267962
>>Climb up behind it, then Digivolve. The risk is that it might notice you both, and score a hit while Phascomon is in Rookie form, causing him to take much more damage before the battle even begins. If you pull it off, you'll be able to catch it in a battle immediately, denying it the ability to call for aid.

>Retexture some things to stand out but not look dangerous. If there's something for it to focus on investigating, Phascomon should have an easier time sneaking in.
The issue is angles of sight, if we can do this somewhere that's within the privacy of the arena.

>>6267962
>Write in: You're on the ground, you haven't been noticed, and you need to engage it fast. If you can think up a low-risk, high-efficiency approach, you can put it into action.
Distract him so Phascomon can climb up behind him and then Digievolve

>>6267962
>Run into the open partition to look for Doc's stuff. If it spots you, it might give chase and squeeze itself into the smaller space to stop you by force. That'll give Phascomon the opportunity to Digivolve and attack it from behind. However, this massive combat advantage has an equally major flaw: If it's cautious, it'll call backup before even trying to chase you.
If it calls for aid, just straight up flee. A pilot that cautious is too big a risk to engage in the open, but at least we can loot the ruined partition.

>>6267962

I change my vote from >>6268013 to >>6268033

>>6267962
>Digivolve down here on the street and try to hit it with Madness Broach. It's a pseudo-projectile that has a short range, and the edge of the three-storey building is definitely within that radius. If the pilot is good enough to dodge, it'll have time to send out a distress signal. If not, you can damage it instantly, hololize Porcupamon, then clamber up with f1oat and your climbing pitons to redeploy your partner in melee range.

>>6267970

>>6268033
>>6268045

>>6268222

Taking the risk with the open partition. Writing!

>Run into the open partition to look for Doc's stuff. If it spots you, it might give chase and squeeze itself into the smaller space to stop you by force. That'll give Phascomon the opportunity to Digivolve and attack it from behind. However, this massive combat advantage has an equally major flaw: If it's cautious, it'll call backup before even trying to chase you.

"Can you sneak up on it? I'm gonna make a break for the workshop."

"What? You crazy? What if he doesn't bite the bait?"

"Then we have to abandon the plan and go home."

"All-or-nothing approach, huh...?"

He doesn't seem too happy about this, but he shrugs and goes along with it. You're both getting pumped up, so he won't have an issue Digivolving while you're in the partition. You wait for him to be ready, then count down.

"Three... Two... One."

You sprint out from cover and towards the entrance, making no effort to hide your presence.

"Hey!"

Mekanorimon's pilot yells from the rooftop. You hear it creaking from up above, and as you push your way through the open doorway, it lands heavily on the ground.

"Looks like today is my lucky day~"

It stomps after you without even pausing to call for help. It very much is not its lucky day. The Digimon has fallen right into your trap. You can already tell that it's not Commandramon, so that's one concern dealt with. You feel strength rush through you and flow into your partner several meters away, turning him into a Champion once again.

"Think again! Phascomon, DIGIVOLVE!"

Mekanorimon's shoulder is partially through the doorway, and he's attempting to snag you with those savage claws. When Phascomon yells, you see its eye twitch and roll backwards, trying to identify him. It ends up jammed tightly in there, and Porcupamon's blades start tearing through the wires on its other arm.

"AAH! YOU- WHO ARE YOU?!"

The sound is familiar. You've heard it coming out of the mouth of several blue bastards before.

This thing is an Espimon! It's likely higher-ranking compared to the others, but it's the same wheedling little rat. While it gets mauled outside, you pull out one of your camping lights and illuminate the partition. It's always a destructive affair when the walls defining a partition are removed. Everything inside has been subject to a data implosion of sorts, damaging the wall textures and warping the wireframes of furniture. The odd geometry continues as you move deeper in, with triangular scars on the floor and holes in the furniture. You put your goggles on and notice countless little traces.

The workshop has already been raided. Rookies have combed through it, and everything illegal has been snatched. Doc provided instructions on where his well-hidden stuff was, but the first few items on the list are all missing. They've been thorough.

You pause to listen to the sound of fighting from outside. There's plenty of metallic clanging, and you're sure that your partner is delivering a beatdown against the trapped vehicle. Your gamble paid off. There was a decent chance it was a different sort of Rookie, and that might have been the end of it.

You reach Doc's terminal. As you wave your hand in front of it, it comes to life, taking you by surprise. You didn't expect him to have an unsecured public-use terminal right here in his living room.

It's not on the list, so you head past it and continue looking. While you try and find his hidden projects, you think about the terminal a little more. It makes no sense that he'd be using one, when he could just pull out his own screens and displays. Something must have happened to it when the partition collapsed. Maybe he jailbroke a public one and configured it for its own use. Now that it can get a signal from the outside, it must have linked to the greater network and reset itself to factory settings.

You head into the same room that you slept in during your brief stay. It's unrecognizable due to damage from the collapse, and with no unified lighting, the inner sanctum is pitch-black. You're almost at the bottom of the list now. One of the last items is a cracked prompt window underneath the bed. You slide it out and enter the password, causing a segment of the wall to open up. You gather the revealed files and place them in a zipped archive, taking care not to peek at Doc's private storage. He really wouldn't be happy if you started rifling through confidential data, especially if it involves customer records.

A sudden flash of cyan passes across the hallway. You turn and squint at the door, suspicious of a potential Espimon attack. Maybe he had invisible backup. The freeze code comes to your fingertips, and you wait for a few seconds. When nothing emerges to ambush you, you slowly tiptoe out into the living room.

Nothing. No electronics are active apart from the terminal. You head back to the exit to see how the fight has been going.

You step outside and see that Porcupamon has gotten Mekanorimon on the ropes. One arm has been completely ripped off, and spikes are jutting into the softer segments of its body. The initial ambush has done the bulk of the work. He's taken a big counterpunch, and there's a visible rip in his puppet torso. Air is wheezing out at a steady rate, while the Espimon tries to reason with him like a coward.

"Time out! Time out!"

"So you can call your friends? Hell no! Fight like a Digimon!"

"EEK! No! I'm so close! I can't die here! Come on, what do you even want?!"

"Your data is looking mighty tasty. Slap and Rip!"

He advances for another series of brutal attacks, slamming his paws against the metal and cutting three lines across the tinted cockpit.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

The Espimon pops its cockpit open and reaches for the sky, away from any controls it could be using to radio for support. Porcupamon's hand hovers in the air. He can be ruthless, but he's a bit hesitant to attack a surrendering enemy. That is, until he spots you emerging.

"What?" You ask, deciding to hear it out.

"A human? So you're working together..."

Porcupamon swings his arm, briefly feinting towards the blue rat's head. He screams in fright and covers his eyes.

"Try to gather more info on us, and this little breather is going to end fast."

"I don't think there's any other way it can end."

"Should I just smash him then?"

"WAIT! Tell me what you want, at least!"

"I already said it! We want your data, capisce? Your information!"

"I'm just a Rookie! I don't- You want this Mekanorimon?!"

"Now you're getting it."

"Then... Then I'll give it to you! Yeah! That works, right?! I'll get out, and you can destroy it!"

The intact eye of the vehicle Digimon widens in shock, and it rumbles impotently.

"... Wow."

"See?! We can both walk away from this! Just take it! I'll go! I'll leave you be!"

... This guy was trusted with a Mekanorimon? You roll your eyes at the massive display of cowardice. Porcupamon looks chagrined by this Cyborg's offer, and even Mekanorimon is shaking in rage. However, if you get him to stop fighting, it'll save you a lot of effort. Porcupamon has already taken a hit, he'll be able to avoid any further damage if he's beating on a training dummy. At the same time, you don't really have to honor this deal.

>Reject this deal. Keep fighting as per normal, you want no part in this little bozo's begging. Don't give him a chance to call for backup, just have Porcupamon attack savagely until they're deleted, just as planned.

>Accept it. What you really want is Mekanorimon, you don't actually need Espimon's Rookie data. This will give you immediate returns, allowing you to delete the Champion-level Digimon and take its data without resistance. Then again, you can't fully trust him to leave you alone afterwards, even if he's being threatened.

>Accept it... Then go back on your word and delete him once he's out of the cockpit. It's a dishonorable way to do things, but it's clear he deserves it. The two of you are used to dirty fighting anyway, it might be a good time to return to that approach.

>Write-in. The one thing you cannot do is take the Mekanorimon with you somehow, as it has all sorts of security protocols baked in, but anything else is on the table if you can think of it.

>>6268381
>Reject this deal. Keep fighting as per normal, you want no part in this little bozo's begging. Don't give him a chance to call for backup, just have Porcupamon attack savagely until they're deleted, just as planned

>>6268381
>Accept it... Then go back on your word and delete him once he's out of the cockpit. It's a dishonorable way to do things, but it's clear he deserves it. The two of you are used to dirty fighting anyway, it might be a good time to return to that approach.
Kill the blue flying rat-fuck first.
>The intact eye of the vehicle Digimon widens in shock, and it rumbles impotently.
>even Mekanorimon is shaking in rage
Do it for MekanoriBRO even if he's next to die. Espimon deserves no honor or grace. After what that one did to Marnie's leg (granted she caused it to happen by being reckless) there's no mercy to these Espimon.

>>6268381
>>Write-in/Accept it... Then go back on your word and delete him once he's out of the cockpit. It's a dishonorable way to do things, but it's clear he deserves it. The two of you are used to dirty fighting anyway, it might be a good time to return to that approach.
Word it in such a way that we don't actually say "Yes, I will let you go if you get out of the cockpit." Something like... "If you want to get out of the cockpit, then get out of the cockpit. I won't stop you."

If he doesn't fall for it, just kill him the normal way.

>>6268381
Backing what >>6268437 said with my vote in >>6268417. Let's do the mafia boss move

>>6268381
>Reject this deal. Keep fighting as per normal, you want no part in this little bozo's begging. Don't give him a chance to call for backup, just have Porcupamon attack savagely until they're deleted, just as planned

>>6268381
>>6268437 +1

>>6268381
>Accept it... Then go back on your word and delete him once he's out of the cockpit. It's a dishonorable way to do things, but it's clear he deserves it. The two of you are used to dirty fighting anyway, it might be a good time to return to that approach.
Honor is for the honorable.

>>6268381
>Reject this deal. Keep fighting as per normal, you want no part in this little bozo's begging. Don't give him a chance to call for backup, just have Porcupamon attack savagely until they're deleted, just as planned.
Damn you guys want blood

Maybe the digi dna will be useful to sell or use as a disguise, but this coward isn't worth it.

>>6268603
>Damn you guys want blood
Spitemaxxing.

>>6268605
We passed up allcaps SPITEMAXXING when we refused to MadLeomon. Only uppercase Spitemaxxing is all we can accomplish now. There might still be options to SPITEMAXX provided we go for Leviamon for the book route, or any other Demon Lord after Astamon, or another similar path to MadLeomon

>>6268383
>>6268446
>>6268510

>>6268417
>>6268437
>>6268440
>>6268449

>>6268603

Mr Electric, kill this rat! Writing.

>Write-in.

You exchange a glance with Porcupamon, giving Espimon a brief moment of consideration before you nod. Up and down your chin goes, communicating a very clear message to your partner. He returns the slow motion.

"Okay."

"Yeah?" He cries, his heart full of hope.

"Get out of the cockpit."

"Go ahead. I won't stop you."

He sighs in relief and begins clambering out of the chamber. Mekanorimon's eye has almost rolled to the back of its head, as it glares upwards at its treasonous 'partner'. This guy isn't as attached to his ride as Commandramon, that's for sure.

"Oh, you've made a wonderful choice today! You're such kind souls, really, I bet-"

As soon as he's out of the cockpit, Porcupamon slaps him to the ground and rips him to shreds. The bladed fist descends like a hammer, dashing his Cyborg body to pieces on the cold, hard ground. He screeches in agony, static spilling from his wounds and data spraying out into the night air.

"Wuh... Y-you said..."

"I said to get out of the cockpit."

"And you got out, didn't you? Little squeal."

"Nighty night."

DELETED

Mekanorimon's eye follows the streaks of data as they flow into your partner. It stops shaking and closes its eyes, knowing what's coming next. It seems a bit calmer, and its shoulders rise and fall in what could be silent laughter. This part brings you no pleasure. The rat deserved what he got, but that hasn't changed the fate of this Champion. You've gotta do what you've gotta do.

You turn away from the robot. A moment later, a devastating crash rings out across the street, echoing off the buildings and howling through the dark.

DELETED

"Now let's go home."

It's time to go. While you've gotten a good amount of data, the bots have definitely been alerted. One of their own going missing is going to trigger a response alarm. You keep up your fighting spirit, unsure what you'll encounter on the way out. It turns out that the next problem is only seconds away.

"Uh, Marnie. Who's that?"

You turn around, and your heart skips a beat. Standing in the open doorway is a human girl, watching all of this go down with a dispassionate look on her face.

Crap. A witness. Was she observing the entire time? You didn't expect anybody else to be in here, and you certainly didn't see anybody in the partition. Apart from that flash of... blue?

As you examine this strange figure, you notice that she's translucent, with the space behind her highlighted in an azure haze. You can't see her eyes, despite her head being raised to face you, and rectangular packets of data constantly flow from the edge of her body. She seems to be mouthing something, but you can't hear her. It's like the audio is set to zero. Porcupamon gets into a fighting stance, very much put off by the spectral witness.

You feel the same. You've never seen anyone like this before. It feels as though her model is damaged beyond repair, with chunks constantly flying off and being replaced with flat square and blocky artifacts. It doesn't even leave a wireframe behind. A sense of uncanniness strikes you as you register the extent of her malfunctions.

"She saw us! What do we do? We can't just-"

Before he can discuss deleting her, something wrenches her backwards into the dark. Her expression doesn't change, even as she's tugged by the small of her back and folded up into an infinitesimal point. She disappears into Doc's workshop, and all is silent.

"What the hell was that?"

"You're askin me?! You're the one who knows all the crackers!"

"Let's just... Get out of here."

You leave the bizarre specter behind and hololize Porcupamon. When you run towards the fenceline, you can't help but look back countless times, terrified of seeing her once more.

==

Once you're far enough away, you spy a squad of Pteramon flying towards the barrier with a Mekanorimon trailing behind them. They pierce the orange light with their beaks and push through, vanishing into the disused district. You do one last check on your encryption protocols, and are satisfied that you haven't left trails.

"Let's take the data back to Doc." Phascomon says.

"Hang on. I need to think."

"That weird girl is bothering you too, huh?"

"Of course."

You have a delivery you need to make, but something about that situation is putting you off. Why is there a ghost in Doc's workshop? What is it, really? You sure hope it wasn't just a user with some strange tech or c1oak substitute, you'd be in big trouble if someone snitched on you. Your face was obscured, but they'd have a lead if your Digimon is described to the authorities.

The easiest thing to do is to ask Doc when you drop the data off, but you're unsure how he'll react if you bring this up. You trust him, yet this might not be something he'll share easily. At least you have a second option when it comes to strange occurrences in 87O: Squid.

In a practical sense, you could always ask both, but this is more about confidence than efficiency.

>Go to the DOW Sewer Base and ask Squid about what you saw. She might have some answers for you, or at least a theory.

>Return straight to Doc with his data, and confront him about the strange terminal in the workshop. You trust him enough to reveal what you saw, and to ask for an explanation.

>>6269204
>Return straight to Doc with his data, and confront him about the strange terminal in the workshop. You trust him enough to reveal what you saw, and to ask for an explanation.
Ghosts in the machine...

>>6269199
>It stops shaking and closes its eyes, knowing what's coming next. It seems a bit calmer, and its shoulders rise and fall in what could be silent laughter
At least he saw his traitor pilot get what he deserved before the lights went out forever

>>6269204
>Return straight to Doc with his data, and confront him about the strange terminal in the workshop. You trust him enough to reveal what you saw, and to ask for an explanation.
He's a cool dude.

>>6269204
>Return straight to Doc with his data, and confront him about the strange terminal in the workshop. You trust him enough to reveal what you saw, and to ask for an explanation.

>>6269204
>Return straight to Doc with his data, and confront him about the strange terminal in the workshop. You trust him enough to reveal what you saw, and to ask for an explanation.
Squid never knows shit about anything.

>>6269209
>>6269213
>>6269220
>>6269308
Writing!

>>6269308
Squid makes better and more powerful tools, seemingly. Doc has more lore, especially about Digimon. That makes sense, since he's a fogey.

>Return straight to Doc with his data, and confront him about the strange terminal in the workshop. You trust him enough to reveal what you saw, and to ask for an explanation.

It's Doc's former home, you should ask him first and foremost. You have a feeling it wasn't something you were supposed to see, but you trust him enough to bring it up.

"Nevermind. We'll get our answers in a bit."

"Make sure we're not followed. I don't want him to have to move again."

With that, you leave the crime scene behind and return to the shady block of vandalized 'slums', careful not to be spotted along the way. When you're absolutely certain you haven't been followed, you enter the building and head up to the top floor again.

==

"It's all here." Doc says with a nod, as he pores over the info you've given him. He locks it away in a secure folder, then holds out a packet of .app files for your trouble. You look over it and spy a couple of hook-like file icons. He's giving out single-use instances of that gravity hook he offered you the other time. This should come in handy.

"We, uh, saw something real strange while we were fighting."

"And what would that be my furry friend?"

"There was some kind of holographic person. I think she was a person, at least."

"Right there in your home."

He stops tinkering with a file and sets his full attention on you. Kokuwamon 4 sets a plate of snacks down and slides away, while he pulls out a notepad window.

"Spare no detail. What exactly did you see?"

You describe the ghost as well as you can, making sure to bring up her decaying avatar, her lack of speech, and most notably, the fact that she was wrenched into the void by some unseen force. You don't realise how rattled you are until you hear your own voice shaking.

"So, what was that?"

"I believe you've seen a subject of my research."

"A test subject? You made that?"

"No, no, no! Not that kind of subject."

Doc turns to Kokuwamon and sets a hand between his horseshoe-shaped head.

"The other day, you asked me how my Digimon gathered information while I stayed at home. I didn't want to give you a real answer, because I was worried you'd go chasing it and bite the bullet."

"Is it something dangerous? Related to the ghost girl?"

"That's right. She's what we call DMIA: Digital-Missing-in-action."

"What do you mean by 'missing'?"

In response, Doc pulls up a chart with an avatar on it. You quickly recognize that it's your own form, with your arms spread outwards in a T-pose. Your damaged leg is highlighted, and the edges of the projection have graphs and bars displaying information. This is the scan he took ages ago, when treating your corrupted leg injury.

"This is going to take a while. Get comfortable."

He taps on the screen and pulls up a model of Kokuwamon, while you find a chair and sink into it. You stare at your own image, wondering how this is relevant.

"City 87-O is part of the Digital World. All of us in here, Digimon included, are data, yes?"

"Right."

"And yet, we have a network. We have shops, we have messaging interfaces, we have vending machines. All of this is data."

"Uh huh...?"

"So, what makes us different from it? To be in this world, we all have to be made of data in the first place. Why are you distinct from the information flowing through phone calls?"

You stare at the pair of images, trying to figure out an answer to his question. You've never really thought about it in detail.

"Well, it's, uh... Humans don't have Digicores, right? So it can't be that."

"It's not. To understand this, you have to comprehend this world's layers."

You're kind of impressed that he just has these examples ready to go. Doc pulls up a third screen, displaying the message log you sent him with your last burner account.

"The very deepest layer is the kernel. Whatever computer system operates at that level is equivalent to a God. As we go higher and higher, we start to see a separation between functions. You remember the mall we were in, and how DarkTyrannomon could just run out into the network? Or hide in a vending machine beforehand?"

"Yeah. That's because us Digimon can enter the... Oh! That's where the Kokuwamon go."

"You used to send them straight into the network using the terminal."

He nods.

"Digimon exist on the same level as humans, but you're made from a native data format, Phascomon. That's why you can dive into the network without issue. This city map, our human avatars, everything, it's all on a higher level. We're additions to the existing infrastructure of the Digital World."

"And this network is the foundation?"

"Not the lowest level, but yes. A near infinite web stretches across the city, in a layer of processing too deep for us to see. With the right technology, the lowest a human can reach is the informational highways between devices and systems."

You suppose that's where DarkTyrannomon and Commandramon wandered off to. If they kept following these 'highways', they'd have ended up in a different subsystem.

"What do you mean by right technology? And what does this have to do with the ghost girl?"

"To crawl into a lower level, a human needs to convert their entire data structure into a barely-compatible format. There are tools that can allow you to do this, but it's one of the riskiest things you can do. You'd be able to squeeze through these highways meant for trading data, and that Digimon can walk through. What do you think happens to your body if your connection fails at any point?"

"... I don't know. There's something separating higher-level data from the lower types, right? That's why you brought up models and messages."

"You'd become like the ghost." You conclude. "If you stop being separated from lower-level data."

"Excellent. Hence the name. DMIA. I'll spare you the mumbo jumbo, but that poor girl is no longer differentiated from the data that flows through our text windows. She must have crawled out of the open terminal, because I broke all the safeguards on it while it was running my own firmware. That's how I sent Kokuwamon out into the city."

"Is there any way to fix it?"

"Not that I know of. You'd need to gather every bit of her data scattered across this system. And it's zipping around lightning-fast. Then you'd need to run a conversion program, all while the problem of storing her data hasn't even been solved."

"Sounds like a no, then..."

"Why were you concerned I'd try to do this, though? I mean, it sounds crazy."

"Because going digital is the number one way to access restricted areas. Imagine if you didn't need to break into a partition from the outside. You could just ping it, trace the packet route, and then wander through the network until you reach it."

"Huh. Does sound like a good plan. Can't be that easy, can it?"

"Of course not. No robots hang around inside the delivery network. But there are wild Digimon in there. Digital defenders. Or predators. They'll be drawn to the volume of data traveling through the pipeline."

You wonder what was so important to that girl that she risked going into the network like that. If you can help it, you don't want to set foot in there and risk being turned into some kind of ghost in the machine. But you can see the temptation. Can you really say you'd never do it, if there was a situation where you couldn't travel over land?

"What's going to happen to her?"

"It's all already happened, sweetheart. She's not alive anymore. She can't go find a bot for the sweet mercy of being podded. Her only way out? To be gathered up and eaten by a Digimon. Maybe some scraps will survive, though, and they'll go on to haunt the network, with less and less of her visible each time."

You shudder.

"Don't mess with things beyond your control, Marnie. If you want to go in there one day, I'll do my best to make sure you don't go DMIA. But just make sure it's for something worthwhile."

==

Thanks to that lesson, you have information that proves to be relevant very quickly.

Over the week of preparation, Wind and Squid have been struggling to come up with a way to breach the scanning centre. Unlike the last time, the city is likely to have a quick-response team, making an exfiltration plan doubly important. When you ask them about it, Wind tells you that it's difficult to create a strategy that doesn't result in any manpower loss. You now have an idea in mind, but you're not sure if you can trust them to be wise about it.

>Share what you've learnt, so they can try and draft out a plan based off network travel. Take the risk of having to go down the same path as that DMIA girl, but spare them from having to make a risky plan that could lose DOW members.

>Keep it to yourself. Coming up with a plan is his job. If you give them an easy out, they'll likely want to take it, and you won't be able to back out afterwards. Breaking in and out will likely be much harsher on all of you, though.

>>6269760
>Share what you've learnt, so they can try and draft out a plan based off network travel. Take the risk of having to go down the same path as that DMIA girl, but spare them from having to make a risky plan that could lose DOW members.
Squid can pull it off and network travel could be useful to escape after defeating the ultimate.

Sick lore, OP.

>>6269758
Iiintersting...

>Share what you've learnt, so they can try and draft out a plan based off network travel. Take the risk of having to go down the same path as that DMIA girl, but spare them from having to make a risky plan that could lose DOW members.

But make it clear it should be a last resort, and that you aren't doing it without a damn good reason.

>>6269760

>Keep it to yourself. Coming up with a plan is his job. If you give them an easy out, they'll likely want to take it, and you won't be able to back out afterwards. Breaking in and out will likely be much harsher on all of you, though.

Maybe to aid our escape from this place, but not just for some mission.

>>6269818
>>6269899

>>6270032
Writing!

>Share what you've learnt, so they can try and draft out a plan based off network travel. Take the risk of having to go down the same path as that DMIA girl, but spare them from having to make a risky plan that could lose DOW members.

This is key information. You decide to send Squid a summary so she can look into the possibility of it. You make sure to specify that there’s a high amount of risk, and that you’d prefer breaking in from the outside. She’s quick to hit up Doc for further communication regarding it. Now that the concept has been placed in her head, she'll be able to pursue it quickly.

You end up forgetting about the DMIA girl after a few more days. In that time, you train at home, only leaving the house for quick walks whenever it gets too dull. You find yourself visiting stores and attractions a little more often. With Phascomon there to share in these experiences, they don’t feel as pointless as before.

==

Finally, you’re contacted by the Dogs of War once more and invited to the base. Squid has been consulting with Doc, and has come up with a proper infiltration plan for the scanning center. As you make the trek there, you go over your key objectives again. Receive Ultimate Digi-DNA, fight one if it’s feasible, and obtain the scanning software so that future specimens can be located.

You say hello to the barista as you step into VVV, and get another cup of bitter black coffee. You grimace as you thank him. Maybe you come off too strongly as someone who enjoys this type of drink. The body doubles aren’t upstairs today, so you assume the meeting is about to begin.

“Glad you could join us.” Wind says, as you’re ushered into the room. Unlike last time, it’s not a private meeting with him. The rest of the members are either already present, or filing in slowly, while a clock ticks on the main projector screen. Kaus Gammamon pulls out a chair for you, near the front, and you settle into it with a grateful nod. It feels like you’re fully welcome today, instead of being briefed as a contractor. You try not to be tempted by that feeling.

“Good morning. Did you two use what I told you about?” You say to Wind.

“It’s part of the plan, yeah. I just couldn’t break through security. It’s too perfect a fix.”

“I was kinda hoping we wouldn’t have to…”

“I know, I know. But how bad could it be?”

“Bad! You didn’t see the ghost for yourself. I told you, right? She was all-“

Wind raises a hand to stop you. He watches the final person enter the room, right as the clock hits eleven in the morning. Elecmon girl and her partner settle into their chair, completing the assembly.

“Later. I’m gonna start.”

You nod.

“Thank you all for being on time.” Wind says, as he fills the screen with maps and charts. Squid’s face is visible in the corner, livestreamed from the lab.

“I’ll now begin the briefing for Operation Augur. As you may know, our target this time is the Indexing Software used by City 87-O to locate and catalogue Digimon.”

Depicted on the screen is the giant radar dish, constantly rotating atop a wide tower. It’s the tallest building in the region, and is situated in one of those fake business districts that people work at. The antennae swivels towards a stream of cyan data and draws in a thin line of junk, before rotating elsewhere to continue its search.

“What’s it doing?” Asks the Kunemon boy.

“Searching for a particular species. With this software, they can identify individual Digimon in a city-wide range.”

Squid pipes up next.

“We can’t get the dish itself. But I should be able to create a localized solution using the source code! So that’s our primary goal. We’re going to break in, reach the heart of the scanner, and duplicate its code. If we do that-“

A red and yellow face pops up on the screen.

”We should be able to scan the city for key Digimon! That means new partners for some of you guys, that means material for Digivolution, and that means weapons for use against the city’s guardians!” ToyAgumon says in excitement.

“I’m sure you all remember Operation Havoc. Ever since then, we’ve been scouting for new recruits. But we’re waiting till after Operation Augur to let any of them in.”

”Why?” Phascomon asks.

“We don’t want bandwagoners. Everyone here has proven their sincerity long before we achieved anything as big as the last mission. So I need to vet members carefully. And with new members, we need new Digimon. Current members get priority, of course.” His statement is met with nods of approval all around the table.

“So like ToyAgumon said, we'll be able to more reliably obtain Rookies and Baby Digimon as they exit their Gardens, thanks to the Scanner. This is the next big step for the Dogs of War. You all remember how hard it was to get the few we do.”

He swaps his display to a map of the district. There are numerous highlighted areas, forming a lattice of cones and sight lines that weave across the entirety of the city block.

“Unfortunately, we ran into a huge problem with planning. This is the Business district-“ He’s interrupted by laughs and snickers from around the table. You see in his eyes that he’s just as amused, but his lips curl into a forced snarl and he slams his hands on the table for silence. You all know what a joke these false jobs are.

“-and observation is heavy. There are almost no paths to enter the partition without being spotted. That means it’s too easy to corner and hunt us down as we go in and out.”

“Are we breaking in violently, then? Going loud?” Gizamon’s tamer asks.

“We can’t.” Replies Elecmon girl.

“Why not?”

“Because they’re going to have a strike team ready after the last time, and the jamming trick won’t work a second time. They’ll have implemented deadman switches or something. Right, Wind?”

“Yeah. Very good, Liza.”

She beams at being complimented.

“Like she said,” he continues without a beat, “there are measures to counter the method we used last time. Look at this.”

He plays a video of several Pteramon and a Cargodramon descending on a processing center. They form a cordon from the air, then send down several Commandramon on ropes. Accompanying them is a hulk of a Digimon you’ve never seen before, with a red helmet and riot shield. It looks like a stronger version of the reptilian Rookies.

“What are they responding to?” You ask.

“Nothing. This was a false alarm. It’s just good luck that one of our scouts caught this footage.”

You watch as a bot exits the partition and communes with the squad. After handing a portion of metadata over to the leader, the alarm is lifted, and they swiftly depart.

“They’re fast. A fight will be guaranteed while exiting. Who knows what kind of state we’ll be in while we’re leaving the partition? So with that in mind, we’ve been forced to use an alternate solution.”

Squid hijacks the display at Wind’s signal, pulling up a network path.

“Thanks to some trusty intel, we have a way of going in and out unseen.”

“Wow.”
“Really?”
“How?”

“We’re going to go through the Network.”

Her announcement causes the room to fall into silence.

“Uh, Squid? I thought humans weren’t able to go in there. Are we just sending our Digimon through?” Asks Otamamon’s partner.

“Apparently not! I’ve looked into it and procured the necessary tools. As long as we don’t stray off the designated path, and get to our destination in time, we won’t be in too much danger.”

She begins explaining how it works. Apart from Wind, you’re the only person who’s not surprised by what she’s describing.

Wind looks over their horrified and dubious expressions. He can already tell this is a hard sell.

“Digimon Tamers. Remember what we agreed on when giving you your Digivices. In return for the rank it brings, this is part of your duty. But let me sweeten this deal bit by moving on to the second set of mission objectives.”

After delivering the stick, he moves on to the carrot: the prospect of further growth. He makes sure to impress upon all of them that they have a shot at Digivolution, just like himself. Just like you. You see their eyes light up as they consider the potential upgrades to their partners.

“Marnie here has agreed to help us in the procurement of this Digi-DNA data. However, this necessitates a tertiary objective. If we identify an Ultimate-rank Digimon, and I deem that we can handle it, we’ll be doing battle with it.”

There are grumbles and mumbles, so he locks eyes with you.

“Only if I deem that challenging it doesn’t bring excessive risk to the team, and circumstances permit. So if we don’t run into one, or it’s an impossible situation, we’re continuing with the mission. Is this agreeable?”

You sense that challenging him in front of everybody is a bad idea, and fortunately, you’ve already discussed this. This is the best you’re going to get.

“Agreed.”

“Great. So, Squid here is going to be detailing our route. This time, there are no specialist roles. We’re moving as one group inside.”

You sit up attentively as she goes over the process, path, and timeline. Squid has already used numerous servers to ping the center, establishing pathways that can be used to infiltrate the network. They can then be followed directly to the inside of the partition, via entry points scattered around the city. On the day of the mission, you’ll move as a group and pick the most secure of these points.

“Another thing. I’ve managed to do some light scouting. Operation Havoc's destination was a big datacore. For Augur, we'll be visiting one that has multiple little partitions instead.”

“What does that mean for the mission?” Liza asks.

“There are going to be points where only a limited amount of Digimon or Users can enter. Excessive bloat, caused by too many Rookies, or the presence of a Champion, could brick the partition and slow everything down. So you’ll need to take file size into account this time.”

”What?!” Phascomon cries, outraged.

Kaus Gammamon looks down at his claws in mild surprise. An inscrutable expression crosses his face. Wind reaches out to lightly pat him on the shoulder in response to his silent musing.

“How will we know where these partitions are?”

“You’ll be able to check before moving to a new one. I couldn’t scout for long. But there are a LOT inside. The theory about it doubling as a storage unit seems right, if they’re sequestering data away like this.”

“I see…”

That’s bad news for you. Phascomon’s Champion form is a major advantage. You fought hard for it. Now there’s something deeply infuriating about being unable to use it freely. You suppose you should have prepared for this, you learnt of the concept the moment you entered Doc’s lab and felt the heat produced by four Kokuwamon. Hopefully it’s not TOO small inside. And it should hamper your enemies just as much as you.

You keep listening, until you finally reach the schedule. Wind begins discussing assigning body doubles once again, and then concludes with the estimated time of completion.

“-and that’s the timeline. We want to be out before our VPNs expire. If they do… I’m sorry. You can’t come back here.”

The meeting room goes silent again.

“Remember. This is bigger than any one person. I won’t have somebody dooming this whole operation. Any last questions?”

There are many, almost all centered around network conversion, and Squid takes joy in answering them. It’s about thirty more minutes before the meeting is concluded, and you’re all dismissed to prepare for Operation Augur.

Wind invites you to take the same room as last time. You’re able to stay in the base while preparing for this brand new quest. It’s scheduled to be in a couple weeks, so there are plenty of prep sessions and practice initiatives you’re required to take part in.

Some of these prep options include basic combat training, scenario tests, talking with Doc, making sure Wind understands just how dangerous Network Diving is, and doing practice jumps through the network. You’ll be covering all of these in your free time. While you’re here, there are also some extra initiatives you might want to spend your time on.

>Get to know the Digimon tamers. You don’t think you have the time to properly befriend them, but you don’t even know most of their names yet. Now that you’ll be working with them directly, you should make an effort.

>You’re going to be doing Champion-level combat training. However, you’re wary of the partition size limitations. Have Phascomon put in extra effort to do Rookie training, so you won’t be relying exclusively on the larger form.

>Further discuss the plan with Squid and develop your own countermeasures. You’re most concerned with the DMIA risk, but you also need to make sure your encryption is up to par. Being disguised constantly doesn’t mean you get an unbreakable VPN, and it could still fail inside, so you want to place extra effort into mitigation.

>>6270693
>You’re going to be doing Champion-level combat training. However, you’re wary of the partition size limitations. Have Phascomon put in extra effort to do Rookie training, so you won’t be relying exclusively on the larger form.

>>6270699
+1
What if we force enemies to enter a small enough partition one by one? Phascomon Evil Snores an enemy Digimon or bot the moment they spawn into the partition, insta-deletes them while they're asleep. Repeat until all enemy mobs are spawncamped to death. Problem is if they can flush a partition or worse from the outside

>>6270737
Two other possible problems with this strategy are
>if the system has enough small-filesize tools to throw into the partition to overwhelm us
>if there is no partition small enough to enable this strategy in the first place (example, there's space for 2+ enemy Rookies in addition to what is already occupiedbl by Marnie and Phascomon)

>>6270693
>Get to know the Digimon tamers. You don’t think you have the time to properly befriend them, but you don’t even know most of their names yet. Now that you’ll be working with them directly, you should make an effort.

>>6270699
I think we'll be okay. Phascomon still does a lot of fighting as, well, Phascomon.