Digimon Story: Rainbow Traverse -- Chp 21

1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

And once they got into position, he would gently rub his hand along Vivi’a back in a circular motion. “Remember to breathe, HQ. Everything is gonna be okay.” He reassured her as he knelt down and began to help her get her computer in order.

[Rolling= 2 6 3 + 9= 20]

Despite his knack for computers, most of the coding was above anything Al had seen before. Some of which was written entirely in Digicode. That didn't stop him from noticing misplaced command orders and typos in the programming. He even managed to streamline some of it by cutting down on the more convoluted sections.

Vivi adjusted her glasses. "Wow, Al," she said. "I can't believe me and Eyes missed that part. It was staring me right in the face!"

Even though he didn’t understand the higher machine-language that made up bulk of the program, he couldn’t help but stare at it in awe for a few seconds. It had been some time since he properly got to admire a string of coding this complex, and it made the programmer in him elated before he got to work correcting the few mistakes he could find and streamlining where he could. When Vivi looked his work over and complimented him, he gave a bashful smile.

“You made it easy, so I can’t take too much credit. You’re definitely more talented at this stuff then I am by far. I’m just good at fixing hard to find bugs.”

Renamon kissed Al on the back of the forehead. "My lover, the programmer," she said. "Jumping hoops on and off the basketball court."

"Alright," said Vivi as she finished typing. "We're ready. Renamon, hold onto my laptop for me. Al, Malie, let's circle around the INAS and scan it without our digivices."

The group nodded as they followed through. With Renamon standing by, each of the tamers stood evenly apart around the distortion as they centered their screens on the anomaly.

"Renamon," said Vivi. "On my mark, press 'enter'. Everyone else? Start the scan app on your digivice!"

"Runs in the family. Like you said, my dad DOES teach this stuff." Al would then kiss her shiny black nose in retaliation.

He then took his place and held up his digivice, waiting for the signal. "Renamon will be able to go inside the INAS with us right?"

"Yeah, I just needed her to hold my--"

A metallic tine sounded, cutting Vivi off. A pulse rippled through the air, emanating from the distortion. And in its wake, the world stuttered, flickered and shifted. Holographic rings appeared over each of the digivices; reseda-green, ashen grey and deep violet.

"Rena!" said Vivi. "NOW!!"

The vulpine didn't hesitate, smashing a digit over the 'enter' key just as the ground started to shake. Suddenly, the glowing rings grew and expanded out of sight. Each of the digivices became affixed, as if their very molecules refused to let gravity sway them. In a replay of when the tamers had re-entered CatchMamemon's node, Al and co. were pulled into their digivices, their world vanishing as they were digitized! Now all Al could see was a space of gridlines and ever-changing pixels. Ahead of him, a featureless platform was forming from ribbons of binary, each pouring down like waterfalls onto it, and where they touched, color and dimensions changed. Pixels became blocks, which stacked over themselves or twisted into the familiar shapes of plants, rocks, and running water.

A purple-sleeved arm wrapped around Al's waist. Looking up, the teen found Renamon with Vivi and her laptop in the other arm, and Malie on her back as the vulpine aimed her legs at a tree rising to meet them. Without a word, she took the momentum as it bended the digital palm tree to jump to its neighbor, zigzagging all the way down till she reached the ground.

"Everyone alright?" she asked, gravel grinding beneath her feet as she stuck the landing.

Bracing for what was to happen next, Al nonetheless gave a shout of alarm as he got digitized and fell into the Network. Disoriented and tumbling, he let out a gush of breath as Renamon caught him. Gritting his teeth as she bounced from tree to tree.. he then let out a sigh of relief as they touched the ground. “Thanks Rena.”

He then looked around at their surroundings, whistling in a low tone. “Wow, this place isn’t too bad looking… If Kukuimon would be anywhere it would be here.” He said as he reached out to touch one of the digital trees. He then gave the gravel under their feet and grimaced, switching his attention to his partner. “Are your feet okay, Renamon?”

"A little rough," said Renamon, handing Vivi back her laptop. "But it's nothing they can't handle. What about you? Is everyone alright?"

Malie released her grip around the vulpine's neck. "I think I saw the access node being birthed," she said.

"Is THAT what it was?" asked Vivi. "Weird, I thought distortions meant there'd already be a space in the Network set up, kind've like with Catchy's theme park."

That made him frown "I'm sorry that you had to catch us like that Renamon." He then would blink in confusion. "So does that mean we are the ones who created this Node? How did Kukui get here then? If he's here." he said as he began looking about.. and then he turned on his Digivice's radar. With any luck, he would show up on the map.

But as Alemana began scrutinizing the screen, shadows began to stretch across the ground. The sound of rumbling pulled the group from their circle to gaze upon the ever-rising canopy. Palm trees widened and coiled onto themselves, boulders sharped and shot towards the sky like spikes. But even quicker came segments of chain-linked fencing, flickering into existence to form walls and narrow corridors in every direction.

"Watch out!" said Renamon, putting herself between Al and the nearest of said-walls.

"Shit!" said Vivi. "Eyes! We need you here NOW!!"

"Oh what the fuck now?" Al asked as the trees and the boulders began to change, and when the fencing manifested he would give a noise of alarm.

"Exhibits! That's what this must be! Fences are showing up because this is a zoo!" he said as he stayed close to Renamon

The tamers stood with their backs against one another. The fence paneling, as if magnetized, slammed their frames together, arching over the group as if to cage them. Suddenly, a black shadow poured out from Vivi's digivice, falling to the ground before spiraling out and around them.

"Heeeeeere's EYESY--!" Eyesmon was interrupted. The moment her head surfaced from the gravel - the moment she made contact with the fence - was the moment her umbral form went rigid. Her many eyes bulging out, her body like a black thunderbolt as electricity danced across her features.

"EYES!!" cried Vivi, the tamer dropping to her knees as the dark dragon dropped to the ground, pulling her partner's head onto her lap.

"Uhhhhh--my teeth," mumbled Eyesmon.

"The walls've got a live current!" said Malie. "How're we going to move around without getting fried?"

("Looks like the fencing hasn't boxed us in completely,") thought Renamon. ("Whatever's setting all this up at least is giving us a corridor to walk through.")

And indeed, the vulpine was right. A passage led in two directions, and through the fencing Al saw gaps in the mesh that remained to be sealed. Though a new question echoed between tamer and digimon: was the fencing to keep them in? Or something else out?

Al would gasp in shock as Eyes got- well- shocked. While he almost expected there to be something weird with the fences.. he didn't think they'd be electrified. "The zoo doesn't even have those types of fences, this is bull honky!" he said, scowling as he looked at the branching paths.

"Well there is only one thing we can do.. we take one path and see where it goes, and then come back when we can't go any further and take the next. We ain't splitting the part.. any more than we have." he then reached down to pet Eyes "Are you okay Hebi-chan?"

The thousand-eyed shadow hacked like a cat with a hairball, inching her way up off of Vivi as she shook her head clear. "Totally," she said, sniffing. "Never better!"

As Vivi sighed through a smile, Renamon turned to face the group. "Al's right," she said. "We need to keep moving. If we really are the first people here, there's a chance we have full admin privileges over the place."

"You'd think so," said Vivi. "Me and Eyes can try looking into it, but with how fast the node's growing, I dunno if it's safe to sit still and access it with my computer."

“We will take it it one step at a time. Okay, let’s get going.” He booped Eyesmon as he then motioned to Renamon to walk with him. “We’re gonna be up front in case anything happens. “Renamon,” he then held up his digivice ”Digi Armor Energize.”