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Digimon: Infection Episode 13

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Episode 13: Aftermath; Analysis; Announcement

*Knock Knock* *Swing*

“I brought take out~”

Kurohi rubbed the very visible bags under his eyes. He didn't have any classes today, so he was using the opportunity to catch up on all the sleep he'd missed the past few days...weeks...it couldn't have been more than a month.

Erika strolled past him and tossed the pile of sheets to the floor before sitting down. “Your room's pretty messy. Don't you think you should clean it a bit?”

“I've been busy. Moreover, what's with the clothes?”

Erika had on a very short skirt, a sparkly sleeveless shirt, and a coat over it. She looked down at herself. “My date took me out to a fast food restaurant of all things, so I bailed on him and decided to come here.” Her smile was glowing.

“I'm...honored, I guess?” He pulled a tiny folding table out of his closet and set it up between her and his office chair. “So what'cha bring?”

She put eight paper containers on the table. “All the Chinese food you can eat.”

They sat in silence for a while, chowing down on the variety of seasoned meats, vegtables, and rice that Erika was kindly enough to bring with her.

“So, did you finish the mission and incident reports?”

“I've been asleep since the mission finished yesterday, so I haven't started them yet. I was going to write them tomorrow after I rested up a bit more.”

“Yea, you look like crap.” She took a few more bites of beef. “I' chew *gulp* want I can just ask you questions and we can record it. That way you won't have to worry about writing one.”

“Does that count?”

“Yea, sure it does. Besides, people will be able to tell more about you from a recording than from a written report.”

Kurohi raised an eyebrow. “Who'd want to know about me?”

Erika waved away his question with her hand. “Never you mind.” She pulled her DP out of her pocket and set it on the table between them. “Let's get started then, shall we? We'll start with the mission and then move on to the incident. Firstly, I'd like a brief description of what happened.”

“I met with Potpourri and Ricker before we proceed to what we believed was Sigmund Black. Once there the three of us split up and searched through the four accessible computers there.”

“Our data showed that there should only have been three computers.”

“The fourth computer did not belong to Black, but a Charles White. He was the one in possession of the program. He also mentioned that the residence was his, but that is neither here nor their.”

“And you did not retrieve the program?”

“Ricker and his Digimon, Rollermon, were the first to locate it, but they was ambushed. White was attempting to evolve his own Illegal Digimon to Perfect, but failed when he tried it while we were there. I'd guess that he had either just finished it or had yet to test it. We basically had an unspoken agreement that we would not report his theft and he would not repot our trespassing.”

“Do you believe this 'White' individual is any sort of risk?”

“Minimal to none. From what he said, he made all the necessary preparations to prevent his copy of the program from affecting any Digimon besides his own. I believe at this point he has most likely given up on trying to create Perfect Evolution and will most likely attempt to recreate my Superior Evolution program.”

“Oh-ho-ho, we'll get to that in a bit.”

Kurohi gulped. He did not like the tone of her voice when she said that.

“If you believe he's not a problem, them we'll keep an eye on him, but leave him up to his own devices. Now let's move on to the incident.” She hurriedly shuffled a few bits of chicken into her mouth while turning away from the recorder. “Again, *cough* if you could give me a brief summary *cough*.”

“We...showed up and deleted it.”

“*cough* *cough* talk more *cough*.” She seemed to be hacking up a lung with whatever else was stuck in there.

“The DIGIrus created a spiderweb and was using it to trap incoming data. It wasn't hunting Digimon like GiraffaKuwarus was, so that might have been why it seemed wea...ker...Do you need some water?”

“Oh gob, yes please *cough* *cough*.”

Kurohi grabbed a bottle out of his mini-fridge and tossed it to her.

“Pwaaa, thaaat's better.” She laid back on the bed, able to breathe again. “So you're not using your new evolution as the reason why you won so easily?”

“I'm not saying that wasn't part of it, but it was obvious it was weaker. If I had to guess, I'd say that the quality of the DIGIrus' food may impact its strength upon evolution.”

“Good to know. I think that's all I'll be needing for now. I'll call if there's anything else.” She turned off the recording. “Now pass me some more of that chicken.”

“Just don't choke this time.”

==========

Linkmon fazed through the portal into the private server. It appeared as a small room, with booths and tables lining the walls and placed throughout the floor. Several Monitamons in aprons were running between the tables and what would seem to be a kitchen in the back. In essence, this was a cafe, thou Linkmon didn't understand why normal Digimon would want to feign eating. Maybe because it made them feel more human?

A blue Monitamon stopped him at the entrance. “Hmm...” He walked circles around Linkmon a few times. “I don't think I've seen your type before?”

Linkmon materialized some documentation for him. “My species isn't on the market yet. I'm currently being tested by a Digicorp. employee.”

It waved the papers off. “I believe you. I've seen this twice today already. Are you here to meet the other test Digimon? I'll take you to their booth.”

The waiter walked him to the back of the cafe, where Sopranomon and Rollermon were waiting for him. Before he had the chance to greet his comrades, the Monitamon had pulled out a pen and pad of paper from nowhere. “Now that you're all together, can I get you something to drink?”

Sopranomon piped in. “I will have a raspberry smoothie, and my red friend would like some banana juice, please.”

“Very well.” It scribbled down some notes. “And for you, sir?”

“What? Oh, um...Water? Please?” Even if Linkmon thought faking eating was stupid, he didn't want to seem rude.

“Coming right up.” It threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared.

Linkmon finally sat down. He wasn't sure why, but he felt nervous. It may have been that they were parading around as normal Digimon, or that he didn't know why the two across from him had called him out without their tamers, but there was an awkward knot forming in his lack-of-a-stomach.

The tension did not settle during the two minutes it took for their drinks to arrive. Linkmon noted that conjuring up these drinks couldn't have taken more than a few seconds, but he guessed they were going for 'realism'.

“You aren't going to drink, master Linkmon?” Sopranomon was happily sipping his drink away through a straw. This was made more amusing by the fact that Sopranomon had no visible mouth.

“Sorry, but I'm not fond of pretending to be human.”

Sopranomon shrugged. “Digimon come in a flavors, master Linkmon. Thou I'm not sure if that's the right choice of words, considering our line of work.”

Linkmon let out a small, audible laugh. “If they can actually taste what they eat, then I might hate them a little less.” He picked up the glass of fake water. “After all, Digimon only have two full senses, ignoring our meager sense of touch.” He downed the water. “Hah...No, this really doesn't do anything for me.”

“Speaking of acting human.” There was an obvious weight to his next words. “There is something that we...” He looked to Rollermon, who was trying to figure out what to do with his cup. “I would like to confirm.”

“Go ahead.”

“Your...behavior yesterday. I wish to know whether it was you or your evolution.” Sopranomon had stopped sipping his glass and was rapping his fingers along the side of it.

“Why do you want to know that?”

He rapped his glass for a while longer. “It would seem safe to assume that master Kurohi plans to share his creation with my mistress and master Moretti so we may all be on equal footing when taking on the enemy, so I just wanted to know...”

“You're dancing around the question, Sopranomon.” Linkmon downed his water again, which had apparently been refilled while he wasn't looking.

“Yesterday you were acting rather...beastly.” His eyes, thou simple in design, showed much worry in them. “I do not wish to become like that, master Linkmon...That is why I want to know.”

Linkmon leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, becoming astutely aware of how irritating this felt on his tail. “That was...me.” His voice had a little sadness in it. “Kurohi and I had tested the program previously, but...actually fighting with that power, feeling the full extent of what I could now accomplish with such strength imbued in me...It went to my head, and I'm sorry if that troubled you.”

“I accept your apology.” Sopranomon sipped through his straw again.

“I don't think you'll have that problem, thou. When I fight, my emotions have a tendency to rise to the surface. Even thou we've only fought together for a short time, you hold yourself together better than I do on the battlefield. I believe, given power, you will be able to keep a cool head.”

“Thank you, master Linkmon.”

Rollermon, who had opted out of the conversation, being unable to take part in it, was now trying to balance his drink on his head.

Linkmon watched his child-like behavior. “How old are you, Sopranomon?”

Sopranomon thought for a second. “About four years. Why the sudden interest?”

“Ah, just...watching him. I have memories, memories of my past selves where I would do things like that. This body may only be a few months old, but I have over fifteen years of memories and experiences, even if I've only retained about half of that.” Linkmon went silent for a moment. “That's more than any other Digimon in existence.”

Sopranomon stirred his drink. “Digimon are meant to grow intelligent over time; meant to grow with their partners, to be able to be there for them throughout their lives. As such, age can be used to gauge a Digimon's intelligence. To be fifteen years old, the rest of us must seem rather slow to you.”

“It used to feel like that; alienating. But recently, I've met some acquaintances who've managed to stump this old knight more than once.” He took a sip from his miraculously refilling glass. “Some...friends.”

==========

“Well, thanks for the company.” Erika was sliding her shoes back on. “Make sure you clean this place up, thou. Most pretty girls would storm out if they walked in on this mess.” She gave Kurohi a little wink. “Talk to you soon.”

“I'm having second thoughts!” He might as well say it. It had been on his mind all of yesterday, and most of his waking hours today. He hoped that she could give him that push he needed to get back in the fight.

Erika did not turn around to look at him. “What's there to have second thoughts about?” Her normal cheeriness came out feeling very forced. “Go in, beat the bad guy, save the day. It's pretty simple, isn't it?”

“But we're not fighting bad guys. What we're doing is essentially killing animals. That last one...yea it had to have killed at least two Digimon to get that form, but it was just defending itself. And it kept screaming, like it was in pain.”

“Kurohi, I'm going to tell you what I'm supposed to tell you.” She turned around. “Digimon is a franchise. It's purpose is to make a profit. And that's why the higher ups want them gone.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “But me and you and your friends are different. We're closer to this than them. Digimon don't run wild like they do in the shows or in the spin-off games. Every Digimon belongs to somebody, and each time one of those things attacks a Digimon, it's hurting someone out there. You know that pain of loss.” She turned to leave. “Do your best so no one else has to feel like that. I'll talk to you later.”

Kurohi watched the door close behind her, feeling depressed by her words. She was right, but she didn't have to bring up Duke and Zwart. Those memories still stung him. But at the same time, that pain was a reminder of what he had to protect.

==========

It had been a few days since Kurohi's talk with Erika, and he could quite honestly say he was feeling better. He was sitting at his computer, typing out an assignment, that he was oddly thankful had no one's happiness riding on it (except maybe his own).

Ping

E-Mail.

Even if he was thankful for the context of his work, he was still going to avoid it 'til high noon given the chance.

ceo@bwe.com

Kurohi didn't recognize the address, and all it contained were the words “Watch this” and a link. Normally, he wouldn't think of clicking the link in a strange e-mail...buuut he recognized the link as a video site he'd been to a few times, he was dead bored, and Link could take card of any viruses it might cause.

His expression seemed to change like a mask from curious, to confused, to surprised, and finally to jaw-on-the-floor.

He quickly responded to the e-mail.

You're joking!

No, I'm not.

But, you're, like, 10!

I'm 13. Thank you for asking.
Would you like to video chat?


Shortly there after, Kurohi was face-to-face with his color-dubbed adversary of the previous night.

“Charles.”

“Kurohi.”

“...Okay, this has seriously got to be a prank.” Kurohi reopened the tab with the video about the new CEO of B&W Electrics. “You cannot seriously be the CEO of a major company.”

“I can. And I am.”

“Wow. Get promoted, and the first thing you do is brag about it to the last person who one-upped you. Kind of a dick move.”

“I have been the acting CEO for some time now, spotlight or not, and that is not the only reason why I called you up this evening.” He leaned in close to the camera. “Tell me about them. These 'other' digital lifeforms."
Here's episode 13~

I don't know when the next chapter will come out, since I'm moving on the 20th of next month, but it'll still come out in August, so look forward to it.

Also, this chapter is coming out on the same day as a long time supporter and friend of this series, so I'd like to wish :iconquietpower: a happy birthday. I guess this is your present. Sorry there's no Pop in it, but we do see more of Sopranomon than I think we have in any other chapter.
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