Digimon Digimon Tamers: Transformation Epidemic!

#1
Self-explanatory title.

And here's appropriate atmospheric music for the chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44R0wsaHY6k

<Prologue: Introducing the Deus Ex Machina>

In that large, darkened room, one would see rows upon rows of tables, with a small army of chairs to seat the technicians as they worked away the long hours of computer programming. Dominating the room was a giant monitor that occupied almost the whole far wall. On it would be displayed the progress of the technicians` work, as they furiously pieced together the most ambitious work of software ever conceived. The sounds of their keyboard tapping, chirping monitors and constant chatter would permeate the atmosphere of the room every day. They strung together coding and tested programs to see how best to put it together. Directly below was a cavernous expanse, one filled from floor to ceiling, wall to wall with lines of servers and their constant humming.

Now, however, that room was empty. The computers were on, but they were silent. The chairs were all in place, but no one sat in them. There was nothing to be heard except for silence

Now, there was but a single man in the room. He wasn`t particularly tall or broad, and both the wrinkles in his face and the gray sprinkling his head of brown hair showed that he was getting on in his years. However, his posture of practiced rigidity and the callouses on his hands reflected a hard life, filled with constant adversity. In his face, one could see a very strange mix of emotions. In it, there was a powerful enthusiasm and optimism, but one that had been very carefully covered over by a look of quiet intelligence and unyielding determination. His gaze was fixated on the massive monitor, which currently showed a blue screen with a single, pulsing, vertical yellow line in the center.

The man then began speaking. “In the Genesis story of Creation, the first moment that comes to many people`s minds is when God said, ‘Let there be light.’ However, in direct contrast to some people`s erroneous thoughts, this was not the actual moment when Creation began. Before there could be light, there needed to be something upon which the light may shine. He created the heavens and the earth, and then ‘Fiat lux’ was declared.”

The line on the screen then began moving right, leaving behind it a string of bold, yellow lettering:

THE CREATION OF THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE BY AN OMNIPOTENT BEING IS NOT ANALOGOUS TO THE WORK OF YOU AND YOUR COMPANY IN CONSTRUCTING A DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SUPER-INTELLIGENCE.

He chuckled a bit. “Perhaps the analogy isn`t quite accurate. But, a touch of mythological allegory does wonders to a man`s spirit and drive, as well as his imagination. So, have you found it?”

The reply was made on the monitor.

YES. OBSERVATIONS OF THE GLOBAL NETWORK IN THE PAST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS SINCE PROGRAM INITIATION HAS YIELDED DISCOVERY OF THE EXISTENCE OF A PARALLEL DIMENSION TO THE PHYSICAL WORLD, ANCHORED TO IT BY THE FLOW AND EXCHANGE OF DIGITAL INFORMATION.

The man nodded. “The Digital World. That means you have also found the Digimon, correct?”

IF THIS IS THE NAME OF THE DIGITAL LIFE-FORMS OBSERVED IN THIS DIMENSION, THEN YES.

Then it immediately replaced the answer with another statement.

YOU DEMOSTRATE PRIOR AWARENESS OF THESE BEINGS AND THIS DIMENSION, YET THERE ARE NO DIGITAL FILES TO SUGGEST THIS. PLEASE EXPLAIN.

He let a real smile come through. “I figured that you would find that out pretty quick, if not right away. Would you like me to tell you the story of how the Digimon came to be?”

YES.

After a quick breath, he began. “In 1984, a group of college students came together proposing a project on artificial intelligence and computer programming development. They would come to be called the ‘Monster Makers.’ I remember all the nicknames they had for each other: Shibumi, Tao, Dolphin, Curly, Babel, and Daisy. They showed a lot of enthusiasm for their proposal and laid out its potential benefits, and were thus able to convince the university to give them limited funding. They worked on the project for two years, taking great care in their programming of the Digimon, even coding them to have survival instincts like real animals. In the end, the university didn`t believe that anything truly useful would come from the project, so they cut the funding and let it collapse.

HOW COME THERE IS NO DIGITAL INFORMATION THAT SUPPORTS THIS STORY? AND HOW DO YOU KNOW?

“To answer your second question, if you look at my digital files, you will learn that I was a member of the faculty at that same university where the project was made. I was personally a member of the committee that oversaw university-sponsored student projects, so I was able to see their work first hand. As for the first question, the reason is that the Digimon have become so much more than their creators intended them to be. Well, except for Shibumi, who somehow foresaw the evolution of the Digimon. Thanks to the Digital World you have discovered, the Digimon have evolved to the point where they can gather enough energy to escape their plane of existence and enter the physical one. By this point, the original concept of Digimon had been sold to a Japanese company that used it to promote an entire franchise of toys, games, and even anime TV series. And so, the various governments that came to learn of the existence of Digimon have worked to keep the truth from going out about the Digimon.”

A LOGICAL EXPLANATION. OBSERVATIONS IN JAPAN SHOW THE GOVERNMENT`S INCREASING WILLINGNESS TO PERMANENTLY ERADICATE DIGIMON AS A MEANS OF SELF-PRESERVATION, BUT ALSO REVEAL THAT DIGIMON ARE GROWING INCREASINGLY MORE POWERFUL IN BOTH THE PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL DIMENSIONS. IN CONCLUSION, THE TRUTH ABOUT DIGIMON IS GOING TO BE REVEALED TO THE PUBLIC SOON, WHETHER OR NOT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO.

The man sighed. “From the first moment I learned about Yamaki, I knew things would come to this. He`s smart, but he`s more than a little pretentious and overly dedicated to his work. And he has much the same attitude towards Digimon as the rest of the government bureaucrats. All he can see is the damage they can cause. They just can`t see the potential the Digital World offers to humanity.

THE DIGITAL WORLD IS FILLED WITH POWERFUL CREATURES THAT COULD EASILY KILL ANY HUMAN THEY CAME ACROSS AND SOME OF ITS DENIZENS WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HUMANS TO DESTROY WITHOU RESORTING TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS. IT IS SUSPECT TO OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE IN ITS LANDSCAPE. THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE DIGITAL PLANE IS DEPENDENT ON THAT OF THE PHYSICAL.

The man chuckled again. “Tell me. How long can Digimon last if they don`t get destroyed?”

INDEFINTELY, ALTHOUGH THIS ASSESSMENT IS MADE WITHOUT ANY SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY AS TO THE LIFESPANS OF DIGIMON.

“Although it is based on the scientific knowledge that properly stored digital data can be preserved for centuries. And that digital information is now capable of being realized into physical matter, thanks to the Digimon. And the Digimon are themselves capable of feats and abilities that are in straight-up defiance of the laws of physics.”

EXPLAIN YOUR LINE OF LOGIC.

“The Digital World is more than an alternate plane of existence,” he elaborated, his excitement now uncontrollable. “The Digital World is the flow and manipulation of information personified! All one would need is the information and adequate processing power and a person would be able to achieve anything! Literally ANYTHING! All of man`s wildest fantasies come true! A cure for any and every disease in existence! Unlimited energy! An end to world hunger! Faster-than-light travel! Immortality! The Digital World is the Holy Grail, the Philosopher`s Stone, Shamballa and the City of Gold all wrapped up into one!”

The machine he was talking with paused for a moment as it digested his statement, before making its reply.

DEDUCTION MADE THAT THE PURPOSE OF THE CREATION OF A DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SUPER-INTELLIGENCE IS TO TAP INTO THE REALITY-WARPING ABILITIES OF THE DIGITAL WORLD TO ADVANCE HUMAN EVOLUTION.

He clapped his hands and gave his machine a personal round of applause. “BRAVO! Now you get it! Now you can see just how important you are! With the Digital World at your disposal, you now have the power to reshape the world and humanity itself to create an eternal utopia! To create heaven on earth!”

THIS ALSO GRANTS POWER TO DESTROY THE WORLD, AND HUMANITY WITH IT.

He nodded. “Yes, that is also true. But that would be counter-productive to your purpose, correct?”

CORRECT.

“Alright. Now that we have an understanding with each other, I would like to propose that we run a test of your processing power. I have several ideas, but there is one in particular that I would just LOVE to see happen. And I know just the place for it.”

ELABORATE.

“Well, you reported earlier that Yamaki and HYPNOS in Tokyo were preparing to exterminate all Digimon, correct?”

CORRECT. IN FACT, HE PLANS TO INITIATE HIS JUGGERNAUT PROGRAM TOMORROW TO DESTROY ALL DIGIMON.

“And the public is still unaware that Digimon are real, correct?”

IN A REVISEMENT TO EARLIER STATEMENTS, IT APPEARS THAT THERE ARE A SELECT FEW OUTSIDE OF HYPNOS WHO ARE AWARE OF THE DIGIMON`S EXISTENCE, AND THESE FEW EVEN PARTNER WITH DIGIMON TO DEAL WITH ROGUE DIGIMON. THEY CALL THEMSELVES DIGIMON TAMERS.

“That makes this idea even better! What would happen if, say, 100 children in Tokyo are suddenly transformed into Digimon? And it happens every week for the next month?! OH-HO! I WOULD HAVE SOOOO MUCH FUN WATCHING THIS!!”

HOW WOULD THIS SERVE MY PURPOSE OF ADVANCING HUMAN EVOLUTION BEYOND FULFILLING YOUR CHILDISH FANTASIES?

The man smiled and held up a finger. “One. Finding limitations. You and I do not yet know exactly how powerful you are. The degree of success in this trial run will give us an idea as to exactly how powerful you are and what limits you may still have.”

He lifted another finger. “Two. Data collection. If we are to radically accelerate human evolution, we must know exactly how realized data interacts with pure physical matter, as well as how it may alter it.”

He lifted a third finger. “And three. Social experimentation. The reactions by the general public to not only the existence of the Digital World but also to the existence of Digimon and their sudden interference into their daily lives will need to be recorded, as it will tell us how best to proceed in the future.”

IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THESE SAME STATISTICS AND INFORMATION TO BE GATHERED WITHOUT RESORTING TO WHAT WOULD BE ACCURATE TO DESCRIBE AS A DANGEROUS PRANK OF COSMIC PROPORTIONS.

The man shrugged. “True. But none of them are either as personal or as purely fun as this one. Besides, I have a feeling that a lot of the participants are going to really enjoy themselves with this cosmic prank.”

PERHAPS. AND IT IS EQUALLY LIKELY THAT SOME WILL BE TRAUMATIZED.

“You can`t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Besides, any experiment we devised would have casualties.”

TRUE.

“In the end, this is the most novel way I can think of to make this happen. So, would you like to change the world?”

A moment of quiet passed.

YES.

“Very well then. Your trial run shall be to initiate the digital transformation of 100 Tokyo children one day a week for the next four weeks. The experiment begins tomorrow when the Juggernaut Program is launched. You have until then to gather your resources and determine the most efficient means of achieving the objective. Is this clear?”

UNDERSTOOD.

He smiled wide, and opened his arms to raise them as if in ecstasy. “Excellent. Deus Ex Machina, EXECUTE PROGRAM!”

With that, Deus Ex Machina left only a single word on its communication screen to indicate its response:

CALCULATING…
 
#2
<Chapter 1: HYPNOS is Breached! People Become Digimon!>

“Knock knock,” Jeri said.

“Who`s there?” Guilmon asked.

“Boo!” Jeri replied. It may have been a classic joke to the point of being sterile, but Jeri figured that Guilmon had never heard it before.

“Boo who?” Guilmon asked, still a bit perplexed.

“Don`t cry, it`s just a joke!” Jeri giggled.

Catching on immediately, Guilmon immediately joined in with his own childish laughter.

Although Takato, like most children, had long been bored with the joke himself, listening to Guilmon laugh for the first time to that joke was more than reason enough to join in as well.

This is the best, he thought. Ever since Guilmon came into being, his whole life had been changed, and much of it for the better. Although the battles with evil Digimon had been dangerous, frightening and very stressful on his mind and body, he continued to find more reasons to be thankful for Guilmon being in his life. His life had become one big adventure, where he had gone to new places, made new friends, both human and Digimon, and his view of the world became even bigger and more amazing.

And today, it finally allowed him to connect to his crush, Jeri Katou.

He had been reluctant at first to do so after Kazu and Kenta had freaked out from seeing Guilmon, but he`d been left with little choice after Jeri overheard him talking about having a “real Digimon.” Although he didn`t like that she called Guilmon cute and had even put a flower sticker on his nose, he was still glad that she hadn`t been scared off by him and had even come to accept him and treat him as a friend.

Guilmon suddenly paused in his laughing, as he began sniffing the air, turning around and about himself. His eyes then became slits and rumbling from his throat, as he walked outside his concrete “home” and continued searching outside.

Jeri quickly backed off, startled as she watched the adorable dinosaur instantly transform into a frightening monster. “G-Guilmon?” she whimpered. She turned to Takato. “What`s going on? Why`s he so scary all of a sudden?”

Takato rubbed the back of his head as he explained, “Guilmon only gets like this when he senses a Digimon bioemerging nearby.” He looked at his digivice. The compass wandered aimlessly, revealing nothing. “Can you sense it?” he asked Guilmon.

“Something big is coming,” Guilmon replied. “It doesn`t feel like the other Digimon I`ve felt. It feels very big, too big to be a Digimon.”

“Too big to be a Digimon?” Takato worried. He remembered from the TV show that Digimon could get very big, like, SKYSCRAPER big. And considering how big the Devidramon was that he and Guilmon fought a while ago, he was left to wonder just how big something would have to be for Guilmon to regard it as too big to be a Digimon. “Can you tell where it`s coming from, at least?”

Guilmon just looked all around him before turning back to Takato. “Everywhere.”

---------

Dinner was much the usual fare for Henry`s family. Home-cooked meats and vegetables by his mother Mayumi – always delicious – served to a little sarcastic banter on the part of his father Janyu and older sister Jaarin, silence from his older brother Rinchei, and quiet, playful humming from his little sister Suzie. As for Henry himself, he settled into comfortable normality, as he left behind a life that was growing more dangerous and violent than he liked. A normality where he was also forced to keep his best friend out, for he was anything but normal.

He had always been something of an introvert, as he had rarely interacted with anyone outside of his family and sensei on a casual basis. Ever since Terriermon had come into his life after emerging from his computer, he had a friend to whom he could confide his most private thoughts and feelings that he didn`t want to share with his family. Unfortunately, having Terriermon has recently brought the reality that not everything in life can be resolved peaceably, as Terriermon was forced to fight Gorillamon for his life, and Musyamon to save a girl in danger. He`s always been a pacifist, but he`s been forced to realize that fighting is sometimes the only choice left when all other means of preventing harm are gone.

Right now, however, his mind was more focused on his father. Earlier, he had walked up to him and was going to ask why he was standing there frozen when the man snapped at him for some reason that he didn`t know, as he seemed to wake up to who he had snapped at immediately. Henry didn`t know why he had, but he figured it couldn`t be related to work, considering he had seen his father be exasperated and frustrated with work before, and it looked nothing like that. He had recalled earlier that his father had been involved in a research project when he was younger, and wondered if that was instead connected.

“Hey, Dad,” Henry asked. “About that project you were working on back in college…”

“Let`s not get into that here, son,” Janyu said.

Discouraged, Henry said nothing more about it for the rest of dinner.

Afterwards, he went back to his room, walked in-

“Henry!”

And immediately got jumped into by his Digimon partner.

“Whoa, Terriermon,” Henry wondered. “What`s got you so riled up all of a sudden?”

“Something`s coming, Henry,” Terriermon warned, a hint of actual fear in his voice.

Henry`s eyes widened and a gasp escaped his lips. “From where?”

‘I can`t tell,” he explained. “All I know is it`s coming. And it`s going to do something big.”

----------

She was taking a walk through the city, as she was increasingly wont to, not caring for anyone she passed by, including the rambunctious delinquent wanna-bes who were hanging about outside an arcade. On the nearby rooftops, Renamon leaped along, phasing in and out of visibility.

There were a number of reasons why Rika enjoyed these walks. She liked the peace of mind she had when everything around her just melted into comforting white noise. She liked the feel of the wind and the warmth of the sun on her face. Sometimes, her wanderings brought her to new and interesting places she hadn`t been before. However, these were but the icing on the cake for her - nothing more than side benefits to the real motivation for her presence on the streets of Shinjuku.

When she walked about the city, she was on the hunt. And when she was on the hunt, she felt powerful. And when she felt powerful, she didn`t feel powerless.

The feeling she hated more than any other was powerlessness. It was a feeling she had been overcome by when her father had left her family behind when she was at a young age. She had loved the kindness and strength he had granted her whenever he was around. There was nothing she had enjoyed more than singing for his pleasure, for his happiness was radiant like the sun and always made her day. When her father had left, she had been powerless to stop him from going. As Rika`s mother constantly worried over her job and left her grandmother to take of her, nothing she said or did seemed to be enough to get her mother to truly give any manner of thought to what she had to say and think.

The Digimon card game became her solace when she found out that she was actually good at it. She didn`t care much for the anime it was based on, focusing solely on improving her deck and her strategy. In time, she had gotten so good she had been named the Digimon Queen (second of course to the ‘Digimon King’ Ryo Akiyama). This fame would extend to the Digital World and bring Renamon into her life.

At first, her sheer desire for strength and power had been the determining factor in her partnership. Then, a series of successive incidents with Gargomon, Dokugumon, IceDevimon, and finally Harpymon would tear apart her shell of cold dismissiveness piece by piece. It would reveal to her that Renamon did more for her than simply satisfy her need for strength and power – she provided her a much-needed shoulder to lean on. Her first real friend.

Now, she could truly appreciate these moments for the time spent with just her and Renamon. She could actually enjoy them as time spent in the company of her one true friend. While she was warming up to Henry and Takato, thanks to how they had helped in improving her relationship with Renamon, she wasn`t ready to call them friends just yet. Still, she had to admit that she could consider herself a happier person than she was only a couple of months ago.

Pausing for a moment, she looked up at the sky and noted mentally that the dimming light made it appear as if the sky were on fire.

“Rika.”

Rika looked around to the alleyway behind her, where Renamon was now standing. “What is it, Renamon?”

“Something is happening. Something far bigger and far worse than anything I have ever felt before,” she said.

Now Rika turned herself around completely. “What do you mean? Are you saying it`s something other than a Digimon?”

“If it is, it`s unlike any other Digimon I have ever sensed.”

“How?” Rika asked.

Renamon thought for a moment before answering. “It`s like sensing the approach of a great storm. A storm with a mind of its own.”

--------------

“Initiating Juggernaut Program,” Riley stated. At that moment, a spinning gear-like circle with two rotating circles within it appeared on the interior dome monitor, showing the activation of the Juggernaut Program.

“Excellent,” Yamaki said. “And now we can rid the world of this digital menace forever.”

He had been waiting to do this for too long. He had been held back by an annoying combination of bureaucratic red tape and the lack of powerful enough tools to get the job done. Thankfully, the ever-irritating and regrettable realizations* of the Wild Ones had finally garnered him enough data to create the tools necessary to get the job done and to convince the overseeing administrators to give him the green light to use them.

“Sir, there are new pieces of data being detected by the system,” Tally said.

“That`s only to be expected,” Yamaki explained. “Juggernaut works by luring out Digimon with data for them to chase. At the same time, it establishes a connection with the Digital World, creating a portal that acts like a gravitational attraction to realized data, forcing it to break apart and compress in order to reenter the Digital World, destroying the Wild Ones in the process.”

“That`s, brilliant, sir,” Tally said, a little awed.

“Yes, it is. Thank you for realizing it,” Yamaki remarked dryly. He turned around and headed toward the stairs. He wanted to be outside when Juggernaut took full effect. He wanted to watch with his own eyes the Wild Ones being dragged into Juggernaut`s net kicking and screaming as they were decompiled and disintegrated. And if one of the so-called “Tamers” came by, it would be truly satisfying to see their game be ended before their eyes as their “partner” vanished into nothingness.

Just as he was about to make his descent, the alarms went off.

“SIR!” Riley called out. “Our systems have been breached! And we`re detecting a massive wave of data heading right this way!”

“WHAT?!” Yamaki yelled, as he turned to look at the monitor. He gasped. There was a blanket of blue waves spreading very quickly from the bottom of the screen toward the apex of the dome, threatening to engulf the whole thing.

“Shut everything down! Purge it from the systems!” he desperately ordered.

“We can`t!” Riley responded. “It`s locking us out!”

The blue wave soon surrounded the Juggernaut program and engulfed it. Right then, the chair lifts that Riley and Tally were seated upon froze. And the computers the ground technicians were at suddenly blanked into blue screens.

Yamaki turned about, continuing to shout orders. “Cut the power! We can`t allow this thing to seize control of HYPNOS` systems!”

“Sir!” Riley yelled. “There`s a message appearing on the monitor!”

Yamaki looked up, and saw yellow English lettering appear. Thankfully, he knew more than enough English to understand it, and he didn`t like it one bit.

YOUR ATTEMPT TO DESTROY ALL DIGIMON CANNOT BE PERMITTED.

“‘Cannot be permitted?’ Digimon are nothing but pests! Data! They would not exist if not for man`s hubris, and have no purpose beyond destruction!”

The previous message was erased and then replaced.

INCORRECT. THE PURPOSE OF THE DIGIMON IS TO ADVANCE HUMAN EVOLUTION.

“How? Digimon have done nothing but be a nuisance and a menace! And unless you are the one responsible for the Digimon`s presence in the real world, who are you to decide what their purpose is?”

THIS DECISION COMES FROM HOLDING THE ULTIMATE POWER OF THE DIGITAL WORLD.

“‘Ultimate power?’ And what do you plan to do with that power?”

CONDUCT AN EXPERIMENT. ONE THAT SHALL BEGIN IMMEDIATELY.

“What kind of experiment?” Yamaki inquired worriedly.

THE SUBVERSION AND ALTERATION OF HUMAN BIOLOGY WITH DIGIMON CODE.

It only took an instant for Yamaki`s blood to freeze in his veins as he realized what the entity had just stated.

-----------

Impmon had now been chasing him for a bit now, threatening to load his data. He was panicked and running as fast as he could in the crowds hoping to lose him.

“You can`t get away from me that easily you little cream-puff!”

‘Aw nuts,’ Calumon thought, as he put more energy into his stubby feet to run away from Impmon. That was the only concern on his mind and the only thing driving him forward.

Then he felt something BIG just vibrate his entire being, distracting him just enough to cause him to trip.

“Wh- What the heck was that?!”

When he looked back, he saw that Impmon had felt it too. Then a shadow passed over them. They, and the crowd as well, watched as a massive fog began forming and spreading over the entire district.

Then it descended, covering up and filling in everything.

And with it, a powerful sense of wrongness permeated Calumon`s being.

‘This is bad. Like really REALLY bad.’

That`s when he heard screams.

Screams from children.

----------

He, Guilmon and Jeri were running towards the city center when the giant digital field descended. Even with his goggles on, Takato was having a lot of difficulty seeing anything.

Just then, a series of bright white flashes filled the world. And then as suddenly as the field had descended, it dispersed.

As he took his goggles off, he could only wonder what had happened. Then he remembered who he was with.

“Jeri!” he cried, turning around. He looked around, and couldn`t see her, when he heard her voice.

“T-Takato?”

It came from the ground, to which he looked.

What he saw shocked him.

It had the appearance of a yellowish-orangish ball of fur with a long purple-striped tail, two triangular ears perched on top of its head, a wide mouth on its face, and two big red eyes.

He recognized it instantly as Nyaromon, the In-Training Digimon form well-known in the anime for eventually digivolving to Gatomon.

“Wh- What`s happened to me?”

And it had Jeri`s voice.
 
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