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Two Paths Intertwine [Open 1/2]
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Post by Kenny O'Hara and Skadi on Jan 18, 2019 12:10:18 GMT
A busy day, and a cool afternoon in Shibuya, as usual. Crowds were chattering, moving everywhere. No matter if you were fluent in Japanese or didn't even know a lick of it, the combinations of footsteps, the chatter from the masses, and the music and voices from the commercials on the big screen playing was conglomerated into one big sound of nigh-incomprehensible audio. Not that anybody seemed to mind, anyways. People seemed that they could just talk to each other just fine. Work just fine. Collaborate just fine.
Well, if that was the case, the small, cotton-like, In-Training Digimon didn't seem to see it. Here she was. Her first day in the human world, and so far, she had squat to show for it. Her form was bedraggled, from all the dust and dirt that clogged onto her body, and her eyes wore a downtrodden look, as she lay, hiding behind the back of a giant dog statue.
All she wanted was to find a subtle human partner for herself. Someone she could grow together with. Get stronger with. At least all those humans in the Digital World were helpful and kind. They were willing to teach her and all the other Fresh and In-Training Digimon about how being a Tamer was like. They made it look so easy. All those Digimon seemed to find Tamers just fine. And her? Well, let's just say that in the human world, even in Japan, it would be quite a hard time to comprehend that a small fluffy rabbit could talk. It seemed Shibuya was desensitized to this sort of thing.
"Screw it."
The In-Training Digimon sighed dejectedly at the back of the dog statue. Why didn't she listen to Cherrymon? Why didn't she listen to Swanmon? The human world's not safe for an In-Training. And considering the sheer lack of tamers she failed to find (and by lack of I mean she didn't even find someone with something like a Koromon in tow). Nothing for her to do than to starve to death and die and revert back to an DigiTama, ready to repeat a neverending cycle of misery. All because of her 'brilliant' idea.
For the uninitiated, Shibuya seemed intimidating at first glance. A large bustling city one could easily get lost in if they were not careful. But Kenny didn't seem undaunted by this. Quite the opposite really. He seemed really keen to go around and explore, letting himself loose and guided by only his phone, being careful to keep himself safe.
It was his first (full) day he was in his new home (it was an all day plane ride yesterday, and before you ask, yes, his rump did feel quite numb from sitting all those hours on that plane trip, plus, they did have to set up home in their new apartment. This walk was going to help get the blood pumping normally again), and he approached with cautious excitement. His dad got a new job in this country, and took his son along too. And renting their home in Parramatta would be a decent boon to their finances.
Of course, Shibuya was a million times different to Parramatta. And bar the obvious reasons, Parramatta just felt much more... quiet, compared to the hustle and bustle of Shibuya. Yes, Parramatta had activity. Quite a bit of activity. But not to the levels Shibuya seemed to emanate to it's core. And despite the whole difference in country size (Japan wasn't even the size of the entirety of New South Wales. Yes, he checked), Shibuya seemed to be more lively and active than what was it like back in Parramatta.
Maybe it was for that very reason Dad let him go out on his own to explore (well, that and he had to help set up everything at ADTR's Japanese branch to help get it up and running, and to set up disability payment for Kenny, but I digress), and Kenny was taking every opportunity to milk it for what it's worth.
At this point, it was 3 in the afternoon. The lag didn't seem too bad for Kenny. Japan was at least 2 hours behind Australia. And as I said, he had been wandering around Shibuya to get a feel for his new home. After all, secretly, he wished for a fresh start, and starting a new life in Japan, courtesy of his own dad, was the ticket he felt he needed. The Scramble Crossing was... interesting, to say the least, and he was starting to get a feel for his new home. Of course, he planned to see a film with his dad tonight. Maybe at the local Toho Cinema, at least?
No, he thought, better focus on the now. And focus he did. He was willing to check out one more part of Shibuya before going back to the apartment and resting up, getting ready to see a good flick. And what was it?
Why. The Hachiko Statue, of course. He knew of the story, about the dog who waited around 9 years for an owner who'd never come back. That was sheer determination, right there. How did he eat? How did he sleep? How did he... well, let's not answer that one. But it was sight to see, and he opted to go take a look at it. Maybe take a few pictures, whatever.
And so, Kenny walked up to the statue, quickly switching to his phone's camera mode. Would dad be impressed? He hoped so. After all, Dad would be proud Kenny up and took the initiative to go out and about, and not a problem in the world. Anyways, Kenny took photo after photo, taking it from several angles to ensure a high quality photosets. Maybe share them on Twitter later? Hey, why not.
At this point, Kenny pulled out his Blaziken plushie from his backpack. His avatar online, as it would. He wasn't exactly keen on sharing his real face online, so a Pokemon to act as his persona would have to do. And after a few snaps, he went to upload the image he liked, the one where Blaziken managed to share a good amount of space with the replica of the loyal dog, along with this text:
"My new home #Shibuya"
With a content smile, putting the plushie back into his backpack Kenny started to set directions back to home, but before he could press enter, something caught his eye behind the statue:
A average plush sized piece of white fluff poked out from behind the statue on the floor. Unmoving. Or at least, that's what he thought. But he swore the fluff moved for a second.
Was it the wind?
Yeah, most likely.
Still, this must've been a plush toy a little girl may have left out on the floor. He opted to pick it up and bring it to the nearest lost and found at the Shibuya station. Walking to the back of the statue, he couldn't have been farther from the truth, as he came face-to-face with... something unique.
The fluff wasn't really a small, unmoving plushie. Rather, the fluff resembled, well, a whole large pile of cotton gathered together, a 'giant dust bunny', if you will. 2 large black ears sprung out of it's head, and it had 2 yellow, pupil-less eyes. And an equally large bunny tail flapping about lazily too. And it seemed pretty dirty too. Patches of grey and brown dust dampened the white finish on the giant dust bunny. And it looked up to him, and made a small squeaking noise when it lay it's eyes on him.
"Hello."
That was enough to get Kenny to yelp. Of course, you'd yelp too if a dust bunny the size of a kickball suddenly started talking to you, in perfect English, no less. And it wasn't really helping that the dust bunny was happily nuzzling up to his leg. Was it trying to eat him? Well, it was happily nuzzling his leg, he didn't feel any pain from the dust bunny's affection, so chalk that up to a solid 'no'.
Nevertheless, Kenny froze in place. He didn't want to make a move that could easily startle the creature. It certainly didn't seem to be no Rabbit of Caerbannog, after all, thank God. But he had to play it safe, just in case.
He just hoped the creature wasn't going to spontaneously do something like pull a blue ringed octopus and secrete him with a fast acting poison that would kill him right there on the spot. He just stood there, waiting for it's next move.
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Post by Akari Kinuko on Jan 18, 2019 18:26:41 GMT
"Akki, why is it so cold outside?" the tiny Yuramon squeaked from Akari's jacket pocket, peeking her face from the pocket briefly.
The weather outside Shibuya today had a bit of a nip to it. No surprise since it was January after all... Akari just didn't know how to explain weather to what amounted to a little baby. She was horrible with kids; they always were so loud and obnoxious, so it was rather surprising to find that her newly-hatched partner was very well-mannered. No outbursts, just quiet and curious of their surroundings.
It sure beat human babies at least. God she hated those.
"Its Winter. Its a time of year where everything gets cold, and often will snow." the teen somewhat softly muttered, trying to keep her voice down as she walked along amidst the sidewalks of Hachiko Square with a bluetooth in her ear. She was mostly just trying to keep attention from being drawn to herself and the petite Fresh level, but fortunately Helvetica was very easy to hide and could be more easily mistaken as a toy of some kind than an actual living being.
"Ohhh... Snow sounds nice. Will we get to see snow one day Akki?" the tiny Yuramon squeaked curiously as they peeked at their surroundings from the safety of Akari's jacket. There were tons of humans, all much bigger than she was... It was a little intimidating for the tiny seed Digimon, but at the same time Helvetica felt safe here. One human though looked rather funny-looking... Why did he flinch all of a sudden? It was only when they noticed another baby Digimon did the Yuramon's core practically skip a beat in excitement. "Akki! Akki! That human by that statue has a Digimon!" Helvetica excitedly squeaked, garnering their partner's attention.
It took a moment for Akari to catch just who exactly Helvetica was talking about... He looked like a foreigner honestly; definitely was not around from here. What was that by him anyway? She was assuming it was a Digimon and not like some weird hamster trying to piddle on his legs. Tiny too, like Helvetica.
God. When she was expecting more Digimon, she thought it was perhaps gonna be like some freakish monster like the one Mao turned into. Then again, she was thankful there wasn't some abomination just trudging around in public. Figuring that the Yuramon wouldn't let her just walk away from this, Akari sighed as she drew closer. "... Are you having trouble with something?" she somewhat dully spoke, eyeing the little Digimon by the young man's leg while Helvetica peeked out of her jacket pocket.
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Post by Kenny O'Hara and Skadi on Jan 19, 2019 8:22:07 GMT
So this dust bunny seemed harmless... so far, his studies prior to moving this country never said anything about giant dust bunnies running around and or having a weird attraction to people. Nevertheless, he decided to play it safe. He slowly inched his foot back from the dust bunny, slowly and carefully, trying his hardest not to startle it. Unfortunately, it really didn't seem it wanted to take 'no' for an answer, as for ever single inch Kenny took, the creature would slowly shuffle along with him, sticking to his foot like a house fly to flypaper, but willingly. It really seemed that this creature wanted to be his friend. Of course, there were better ways to do that that didn't involve cuddling his foot, but I digress.
Of course, throughout this commotion, what Kenny didn't notice was a blond haired older teenage woman (who didn't seem to be from here, although not to the extent of the dust bunny's level) approaching him. The while fixating her look onto the dust bunny, calmly asking him if he was having trouble with anything in particular... in a tone that wouldn't be out of place as if she was asking about the weather, or what time it was right now. Like if this sort of thing was perfectly normal and like if this sort of thing happened all the time in Shibuya. He looked up to the woman, who, of course, was (seemingly) paying more attention to whatever the dust bunny was doing right now, for reasons only God knew what. Of course, he wasn't exactly making the best first impression. He was sure the only reason she came over was because of his yelp.
If it was any consolation to him, however, at lease she wasn't laughing her ass off at the image of him panicking over a (presumably) harmless dust bunny, no matter how ridiculous he looked right now. Still, she seemed perfectly calm and collected about this. Maybe she could help deal with the dust bunny without any trouble. Compromising himself, he calmly spoke to the teen, hoping she would explain what to do with the dust bunny.
"Well, yes," Kenny started, trying to explain what in the everloving hell was going on, "there was this weird plush toy just laying behind the statue, so I decided to check it out and bring it to the lost and found, but it's not a plush toy, it's a live dust bunny, and it talks, and now it's refusing to get off my leg and-" Before he could explain further, something snug in the woman's jacket pocket caught his eye.
Like the dust bunny, it's body was also covered in a white, wool-like(?) substance. Unlike the dust bunny, however, it's face seemed more clearly visible, also lacking a proper (visible, at least) mouth, but it's face, and subsequently, the weird wavy ears(?) on it's forehead, as opposed to the bunny's more straight, symmetrical ears, were in a shade of purplish-blue. It's body was also more well rounded in shape, as opposed to the fluffiness of the dust bunny. And on it's face were 2 black, beady eyes peering out from the pocket, seemingly also taking an interest in the dust bunny. Or at the very least, what the dust bunny was actually doing.
Were they related? Was that thing the dust bunny's long lost brother/sister/cousin/etc. or something? Certainly, if it was, the dust bunny itself didn't care, still snuggling against Kenny's leg, not even bothering to look up to the other... baby alien thing.
Speaking of Kenny, the fact that the fuzzy baby alien(?), whenever intentional or not, did manage to grab his attention, at least. He had to inquire about it, making sure to not make as much movement as to startle the dust bunny.
"Wait, hold on," he said, pointing to the fuzzy creature in the blond teen's pocket, "what is that?" His tone was coated in a quizzical expression. This day was just getting weirder.
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Post by Akari Kinuko on Jan 20, 2019 1:16:08 GMT
Well, at least he wasn't freaking out right now... Then again, that tiny fuzz ball was WAY lesser intimidating than Mao was back like a few nights ago. Just imagine what he would have thought seeing the abominations she had to see then?
In regards to just what kind of Digimon this guy had... Honestly, Akari couldn't tell. She had only seen three so far, and two of them were nothing short of monstrous... unlike this tiny one that was her partner. Seemed like he didn't even know what it was though... She honestly herself was just assuming it was a Digimon since it was small and tiny like Helvetica.
Oh good... He noticed Helvetica already. Sure the Yuramon was smaller than... whatever that fuzz ball was, but they were at least as equally weird-looking and unnatural as this talking seed. Regardless, she didn't want anyone spotting them like this. "Pick it up and lower you voice, okay? You don't want to draw attention to yourself." She advised him, taking great care to watch her surroundings in-case anyone was looking at them weird. Turning around, Akari motioned the young man to one of the benches that surrounded the circular area around the famous dog statue... The brush that was behind said seat would least kinda help cut down at least on anyone who might notice that these small living creatures weren't actually toys.
As Akari sat down, she held out her palm... Helvetica crawling into it surprisingly quickly for something without limbs before staring at the man. "Hi mister human! Are you like Akki?" the Fresh level squeaked, letting out a friendly trill while staring at her fellow baby Digimon.
The young woman merely sighed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. "This little thing is Helvetica. She... follows me."
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Post by Kenny O'Hara and Skadi on Jan 20, 2019 12:35:45 GMT
At this point, it was fairly safe to say that this day was certainly not going how Kenny expected it to go. First the dust bunny seemed to have some sort of weird attraction to him, then the teenage woman who came to help him also had a similarly weird creature just happily chilling out in her pocket. If anything, this woman did seem keen to help him (or at the very least, knew how to deal with weird situations like this), and must have known about how to handle creatures like this, so it was better to play it safe and err on the side of caution.
'Pick it up and lower your voice'? Well, it may not have answered the question about the pocket alien, but she had a point there, and he couldn't argue with that. After all, that yelp did manage to hook full attention from the woman in the first place (and surprisingly just her, he was sure that at this point he may or may not have gotten some odd glances from the general public), and this dust bunny did seem legitimately friendly. It probably wouldn't hurt to try.
"Okay. I'll try." Kenny did indeed lower his voice, loud enough so the blond woman, the dust bunny (and presumably, the alien) could still hear him, but not loud enough that everyone else in the general vicinity could hear him. Slowly and carefully, he leaned down, grabbing the dust bunny and slowly lifting it off his foot. Certainly, it felt light to hold (as in, comparable in weight to a bag of fluffy dove feathers), and the cotton felt soft and fluffy. He lifted it up to his chest, it's beady yellow eyes looking at Kenny's, and he gave a small smile at the creature, as part of the bid to reassure it.
And, much to his surprise, the creature did not fight back from his grasp. It didn't flail, or bite him, or even try to whip him with his ears. Rather, it's yellow eyes looked up happily at him, as he smiled at the creature, still trying his hardest not to startle it or scare it suddenly.
"There, there. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt to you, little fella." he reassured the dust bunny as he started to stroke the creature's... head? Top of it's whole body? He didn't know what to call it. Nevertheless, it seemed to have worked. If the creature ever had any intention to fight back or react in any other unsavoury way, then it all dissipated in the span of a few microseconds. Certainly, that woman must have been familiar with this sort of thing to make it work.
"Thank you." The dust bunny replied, nuzzling into Kenny's chest like a baby penguin clinging to it's dad's pouch. It's voice was light and friendly, almost like a young girl's. He blushed a little bit from that. But the smile did not dissipate. He managed to calm the creature down, and it did generally did seem to like him. It seemed the woman knew her craft about this sort of stuff.
Speaking of the woman, he turned over to her to thank her, how he owed her a solid for this whole thing, but was, again, cut short by what he saw. At least this time, it was just her gesturing the two to the benches, particularly the one with the brush. Maybe she could tell him what was going on, and he could get a chance to thank her for what she did. Walking over with her, he still carried the dust bunny in his arms, who now lay content and happy. As he sat down next to the blond woman, he put the dust bunny on his lap, still wrapping it around with his arms, while it looked upon the teen and the alien, it's eyes beaming.
And before Kenny could say anything (again. For those keeping score at home, he was 0-3 at this point), the teenager held out her palm, somehow, the alien sped at a pretty surprising speed to her palm. And to his surprise, it spoke. Granted, this thing speaking lacked quite a bit of the 'oomph' factor that the dust bunny already beat the alien to the punch when it first spoke to him as well, but it was still a surprise to him to see it speaking without a mouth.
And to be honest, it actually looked pretty cute. Like with the dust bunny, he reached out his hand to stroke the creature to help reassure it, while it looked upon the dust bunny (who, for the record, the latter was beaming at it back).. "Well, hello there, little guy," he said, "I guess I never managed to introduce myself properly to you two. I'm Kenny O'Hara, and I just moved here from Australia." Looking at the blonde woman, 'Akki', as the alien called her, he added, "Thanks for helping me to handle this situation. If you hadn't come, I'd probably been stuck there in quite the stalemate with the creature, not knowing what to do with it.
As for the 'like Akki' question: "About the whole Akki thing, well, I'm not a girl... or blonde... or never handled anything like this before, but I guess you knew that already..." He rubbed his hand on the back of his head awkwardly with a smile, "But, she was very helpful today, and I do owe her a favour for that. Besides, I'm actually a pretty nice guy when you get to know me, so, well, yeah, I must be like 'Akki'. Thank you."
But it was to his very surprise when 'Akki' mentioned 2 very important details about the alien. First, it, or rather, she, if the name was anything to go by, was called 'Helvetica' (certainly not the most common name in the world, but he did hear a fair few females with that name), and it... followed 'Akki'?
"Follow you?" Kenny inquired. "What do you mean by 'follow you'?" Certainly, Helvetica's mere existence was raising more questions than it answered.
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Post by Akari Kinuko on Jan 24, 2019 18:31:06 GMT
Well, at least he was willing to touch that fuzzball. That was a good first step she supposed... Especially for someone who probably didn't even know what the hell he was getting into. She herself barely had much idea of what she herself was going to be put through in the future, but she felt she wasn't being crazy for thinking it was going to be somewhat of a maelstrom.
While compared to Akari's rather mellow, reserved attitude; Helvetica trilled affectionately at the young man's touch, "Yuraaaa ~ ! Nice to meet you mister Kenny! Like Akki said, I'm Helvetica. I'm Akki's Digimon partner!" the Fresh level squeaked before curiously turning "Hey, whats oss-trail-ya Akki?"
A land of savages, wildfires, and wildlife evolved to murder you. That was what Akari WOULD have said, but she figured that was in poor taste to talk about someone's home country like that. "It is another land near where we are Helvetica... Relatively speaking. The human world is a big place." Akari somewhat gently explained to the tiny Fresh level, much like how a mother would talk to a child before gazing back at Kenny, courtsey-ing slightly in her seat. "Akari Kinuko. I am a native despite my looks. Pleased to meet you mister O'Hara."
Greetings aside, that wasn't what Akari was hoping to speak about. There was a very important topic that had to be discussed here, and pleasantries could only carry a conversation so far. "Mister O'Hara, I do ask you keep this conversation to ourselves or those like us... purely just because this is something I feel most would not understand. What we are going to be talking about is... complicated to say the least, and I can't be expected to be able to answer all your questions myself because even I don't know them all." Akari explained as she cleared her throat... "These creatures are Digimon. Digital Monsters you could say... and they are from some other world."
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Post by Kenny O'Hara and Skadi on Jan 27, 2019 3:02:35 GMT
Okay, maybe touching the alien furball that was Helvetica, let alone stroking it seemed quite premature, especially since Kenny was pretty much not aware of what it was capable of. But the general demeanour of it, or rather, she, was actually pretty friendly, as he saw from the creature looking at the dust bunny back when it rubbed on his leg, and the friendly tone she greeted him with they properly met up for the first time. He just hoped it wasn't just a ruse, and she'd take this opportunity to attack him for this, most likely by poisoning him, either by biting him by some hidden fangs tucked away or having any hidden appendages that secreted powerful toxins that could kill even an elephant in a matter of minutes.
Thankfully it wasn't.
The wool-like hair felt very soft to the touch. And kind of like silk too. And judging from that happy squeal of 'Yura'(?) from the furball, she seemed to enjoy it too. She happily greeted herself to Kenny, introducing herself as 'Akki's' Digimon partner wait what?
A look of surprise came upon his face. What was this thing honestly on about? Digimon? Was that were they going on about? He took a quick glance at the dust bunny, who didn't seem to be taken aback on that manner. In fact, it's ears perked up and it's eyes beamed brighter than before upon hearing the words 'I'm Akki's Digimon partner'. Was that why it seemed so happy about this? In fact, was the thing he was carrying in his lap a live Digimon? While 'Akki' explained to the alien about about Australia (surprisingly, not bringing anything up about the dangerous fauna that called it home), he felt things were starting to piece together in his head:
Okay, so earlier, Akki mentioned that this alien, Helvetica, apparently follows her around, he thought to himself, observing the alien, and she calls herself 'Akki's Digimon partner'. He took another glance at the dust bunny, Was that why the dust bunny acting so affectionately towards me? Was it looking for a partner, and I just happened to come across her? She seemed happy when I picked her up and reassured her. But, what's a Digimon? It sounds similar to 'Pokemon', what with it's monsters and...
Wait.
Monster? Are these things living breathing monsters?
His train of thought was broken, however, as he saw Akki... or rather, Akari Kinuko, politely introduced herself to him in a formal manner, which he could only smile and respond with "You too, miss Akari." He couldn't ignore, however, all those questions still building up in his head. It probably wasn't intentional of Helvetica to do that, but the more she did, the more questions she put into Kenny's head.
In his head, he prayed to God, Buddha and Arceus that Akari knew what was going on here.
He, and the dust bunny, listened to what Akari had to say on the manner. Like, for example, when she mentioned that they would have to keep this conversation private (to an extent, he figured 'those like us' meant 'anyone who had one of those weird creatures willingly following them'), he simply nodded. However, it was a surprise that she mentioned she probably wouldn't be able to answer all of Kenny's questions about the matter. After all, she was the one who came over to help him by telling him to just pick up the dust bunny carefully and lower his voice near it instead of picking it up herself and moving it away, which did help mitigate the problem, she must have known what she was doing. However, he nodded again in understanding, as if not to upset her. But then she said this:
'These creatures are Digimon. Digital Monsters you could say... and they are from some other world.'
He... honestly didn't know what to say about that. While Helvetica already beat Akari to the punch on letting that proverbial cat out of the bag, he still had a bit of a look of surprise on his face, not as much as when Helvetica mentioned about being 'Akki's Digimon partner', but still one of surprise.
If there was any small consolation, at least he got the 'alien' part right.
"Wait," he started, "so that means..." He looked at the dust bunny in his lap, just listening and nothing else, like if Akari was simply talking about the weather, or her day, "Does that mean you're a Digimon too?" To his surprise, it started to speak more than a few words, in around the same tone everybody else in the conversation used at this point. It, or (again) rather, she, spoke with a friendly young girl voice.
"Yep! That's right!" It replied happily, "I... don't have a proper name like Helvetica, actually. But I'm a Mallimon, an In-Training level. And Helvetica right there is a Yuramon, a Fresh level. And I just came in from the Digital World today, from the Shibuya Train Stat-"
"Wait, time out." He interrupted the dust bun- Mallimon, mid-explanation. "I'm confused. What's this about 'levels', and 'the Digital World', and the train station, and the like!?"
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Post by Akari Kinuko on Feb 1, 2019 21:46:34 GMT
Was he... hesitating touching Helvetica? You know, she couldn't blame him... She had no idea quite what all the fluffy ball was capable of, but that was something she supposed she'd learn in due-time. There was a LOT of things she was still trying to adjust to from what she learned from Mao and Xen, like how there was even a bloody world filled with these monsters.
So the little fluff ball Kenny had was a Mallimon... In-Training level sounded like it was kind of weak like Helvetica's current form was, albeit a touch more advanced it seemed. Not that the size difference between the two baby Digimon really seemed to matter it seemed, as they both looked frankly like harmless dolls than anything. She would have been willing to bet her neighbor's chihuahua could tear into either of them with ease; a sickening thought that did cause the girl to wince slightly.
Well, least Kenny wouldn't be alone here in being confused too as Akari squinted somewhat skeptically at the mention of Mallimon arriving from the train station. "Not to sound rude, but I am pretty sure the train conductors don't just allow living pocket lint on the trains like that... nor that the trains travel interdimensionally." the girl mused at Mallimon, though frankly at this point she wasn't going to think too hard about it. Sure. Fine. You can travel to the Digital World by train. Good to know. "A-Anyway... I think the way it goes is that Digimon species are divided by tiers with how developed they are. Just think of it like Pokemon." she ended up briefly explaining, having not forgotten the little Blaziken plush he had.
Personally she was more a Swampert kind of girl...
"Us Digimon grow stronger as we eat data, and eventually we Digivolve! Mallimon is a level above me, but I can Digivolve to Rookie which is a little more than that!" Helvetica chimed in, though the seed Digimon's eyes glistened curiously as they did what could be best described as "tilting her head" considering her anatomy. "Do humans not Digivolve? No wait... You aren't digital. Do you hu-volve?"
"Bloody hell... Do I need to buy you educational videos or something?" Akari sighed, not even willing to answer such a stupid question. The Yuramon seemed to dejectedly deflate as they mumbled softly in her palm.
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Post by Kenny O'Hara and Skadi on Feb 7, 2019 1:08:50 GMT
It wasn’t hard for Kenny to share Akari’s disbelief on… well, a lot on what the Mallimon just said, and that skeptical look on her face must have indicated that she must have been just as lost as he was (if not as much, he assumed, if everything that happened with Helvetica so far had happened to go by). It hadn’t helped that the dust bunny Digimon casually brought this up, like if Kenny simply asked about the weather. Unfortunately, despite Akari’s disbelief on the train thing, it seemed the Mallimon wasn’t going to merely lie down and take ‘no’ for an answer.
“But it’s true! It’s true! I just came here today!” The so-called ‘In-Training’ Digimon squeaked loudly (relatively speaking, considering she also was following Akemi’s request to keep quiet earlier, it was still enough for all 3 others listening), before having Kenny pat her to calm her down, “Sorry…” Recompromising herself from that little outburst, she added, a bit more calmly this time, “I mean, I asked a tamer to take me to the human world. It took me a while, but I found someone who would take me here from the Digital World. They didn’t have a Digi-Port, though, so they had to take a Trailmon to get us here.” She clarified, “I… honestly didn’t think Shibuya would be this big, though, so I got a little lost and ended up at this statue.” At that point, she sounded a little sheepish in tone having to tell everybody here this.
Kenny however, try as he might to try and keep up with the Digimon’s elaboration, still felt his head spinning. Like, yes, Helvetica was probably able to keep up with all that, being a Digimon and all, but if Akari (probably) felt lost before by the whole ‘interdimensional train’ thing, well… this certainly wasn’t going to make things easier. He only rubbed the top left side of his head in confusion during the Digimon’s explanation.
“Yeah… about that… I think that just raised a lot more questions than it answered.” He pointed out. “But I assume that those so-called ‘Trailmon’ must be one of your kind, right?” The Mallimon nodded (well, for a lack of a better term, her body lacking a proper head, for one). At least the little Digimon was at least trying to help everybody here understand what was going on, even if, seemingly, she and Helvetica were the only ones who knew the dust bunny was trying to convey. Kenny simply nodded back, if only to keep her happy.
Kenny then proceeded to listen to Akari and Helvetica’s little explanation about how Digimon had ‘tiers’, in a sense, Akari quickly explaining how Digimon were divided by tiers, also adding it was similar to how Pokemon would be depending on how developed they were, and Helvetica adding how Digimon grew stronger by ‘eating data’ (how one could do that with no visible mouth, let alone speak fluidly and not like if they had sticky tape covering their mouth was something Kenny forced himself to go along with), and in turn, allowed them to ‘Digivolve’.
‘Digivolve’? Upon hearing that term, Kenny immediately smelt a rat: the ‘-volve’ part. Evolution. The last time he heard someone use a special term for evolution, it was for Eevee and the Eeveelutions. Then something hit him.
That’s right. He thought to himself, It does sound a bit like Pokemon, now that I think about it. When a Pokemon gains experience in battles, it eventually evolves into a stronger, more powerful form than before. That ‘data’ must be their experience then, if it’s their way of reaching bigger, much more powerful forms. Akemi mentioned these creatures were ‘Digital Monsters’. Maybe that’s why they call it ‘Digivolve’. Like Pokemon, it seems Digimon can also grow stronger to protect their masters.
Something jostled back to memory for him. I remember. When I was a kid, I was wishing Pokemon were real. I always wished they were real because I thought that would be so cool. I imagined that if my Torchic was real, I could bring it to school, and I could use it to help keep the bullies away from me by burning their bums, and they would never bully me ever again. As I grew up, I realized having real life Pokemon would be dangerous because of what they could do if they were real.
But these monsters… Digimon… they’re real… I need to find someone who knows more than either me or Akemi to know what’s going on...
Helvetica continued, adding that the next level she could reach/’Digivolve’ to was Rookie. ‘Rookie’. Another term Kenny heard before. Something like a ‘newbie’, or similar. ‘A little more than that?’ He looked down at Mallimon again, then back at Helvetica. Thankfully, from all that happened so far, neither Digimon was (probably) looking for a fight, but if they were…
He imagined it to be comparable to 2 babies slapping each other until one of them fell.
To his surprise, Helvetica asked if humans could ‘hu-volve’, only for Akemi to call the Yuramon out on such a dumb question, leading to the tiny furry alien to deflate and mumble… something? He couldn’t understand what Helvetica said. Maybe it was some weird language Digimon only spoke? But whatever it was, Helvetica didn’t sound happy.
Nonetheless, he still had to say something, just to clear the air, and hopefully put the wind back into the Yuramon’s sails.
“Um… what Akki meant was that we humans do grow and change over time, but we don’t ‘hu-volve’, as you put it.” He clarified, emphasizing the word ‘hu-volve’ in air quotes. “We just gradually change over time, constantly learning new things, learn new skills through our own experiences, and sometimes, even adapt to new environments. Like with me.”
There was no telling if it worked with Helvetica, but the Mallimon seemed interested still, what by tilting her ‘head’ (or rather, her eyes) up to look at Kenny.
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Post by Akari Kinuko on Feb 17, 2019 0:03:52 GMT
Traveling dimensions via train was somewhat far-fetched, but if it were for Xenica she'd have absolutely just believe that was a bunch of hooey. Nonetheless, wasn't this little thing like a baby? Then again, human babies weren't as verbally-experienced as Digimon babies considering when Helvetica hatched she could speak fluent Japanese. Nonetheless, the girl somewhat smirked at Mallimon's bafflement of how large of a place Shibuya was. "If it makes you feel better, thats how most tend to react when they first come here." she spoke, not even needing to really dwell on how that effect is probably magnified with they being so short.
"Nonetheless, yeah. Just assume anything that ends with mon at the end is a Digimon. Personally, my understanding is that its like a file type... you know, since they're living programs." Akari ended up mentioning in response to Kenny's minor question about the Trailmon, offering a small bit of her own thoughts in regards to how eccentric their naming scheme was.
Most of the conversation was frankly flying over Helvetica's head... She didn't really know exactly what a file type was, nor how much humans really know about data... but she did trust Akari to help fill in the dots for her when she needed. Still, she did express mild disappointment at Kenny's explanation on how humans grew... It just sounded super dull and unflashy all things considered. "Ohhh... So no like turning into like blood and completely rearranging yourself? Humans are kinda made of blood, aren't they?"
Akari merely paused the urge to want to vomit at such a morbid statement, shaking her head in disapproval. Guess it would make sense for a Digimon to not know what humans were like. What was normal to them was completely alien to people like her and Kenny... Pretty much only people she knew personally that probably could understand completely were Xen and Mao... partly since they were able to kinda just give logic a middle finger and become Digimon themselves. "If you were expecting something fancier, than you are sorely mistaken Hel."
That all aside, there was still an important thing that Kenny was going to need... As far as she knew, everybody who wants to take this Digimon thing seriously needed a Digivice... Else you were pretty much just some rando who might have been friends with a talking cotton ball. "Listen, before we continue 20 Questions, did you recently get or find some weird machine...? It uhh... May look something like this... Maybe. " she ended up asking Kenny as she pulled out her own Digivice... a white-purple D-Arc model with a reddish-tint to it. "Its called a Digivice... you want it because its what connects you to your partner. Or something like that. Helps them Digivolve and use their power fully... Theres some different kinds of Digivices, but thats normally how they go."
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Post by Kenny O'Hara and Skadi on Feb 21, 2019 9:10:15 GMT
It was kind of hard for the Mallimon to read Akari's smirk to tell whenever she was teasing her or whenever she was telling the truth about how most would feel upon arrival to Shibuya. However, she did tell the two earlier that she was a native to this country, maybe she moved here herself and had some sort of similar reaction. Maybe, it was hard to tell. All she said on that topic was basically 'I'm a native to this country', so...
Nevertheless, again, the Mallimon squeaked lightly (and happily) in response. "Yeah. It does. Thank you!"
Upon Akari answering Kenny's pondering about the so-called 'Trailmon', he thought to himself quickly, Living programs, huh? That could explain most of what Akari's told us so far about these Digimon.
"Oh, OK. I think I know where you're coming from with this." He nodded, "I've been studying programming back in Australia, and I know what we can make programs do with the commands we make, even AI. I've just... never experienced live, fully sentient AI before." At this point, he was in a clearer state of mind, and not as confused, if just going along with it at this point. At least Akari, Helvetica and Mallimon had been a huge boon on clearing up this whole 'Digimon' hubabaloo for him.
But as for his little explanation to help clear up the whole 'hu-volve' thing for Helvetica? Well, suffice to say, if he was hoping that she'd be intrigued by what he had told her, he had been sorely mistaken, as indicated by her mildly disappointed tone about... 'transforming into blood and completely rearranging oneself'? Yeah... while he did look a little taken aback on that surprisingly creepy remark, he had to agree with Akari's headshake and quip there.
"Well, even I have to admit that did sound a little disturbing there." He pointed out. Understatement of the effing millennium. The Mallimon didn't looked disturbed by this though, just merely confused.
But still, another thought came to Kenny's head at the Mallimon's expression. Wait. Of course! These Digimon must be confused about us as we seem to be about them. If science fiction taught me anything, it's that aliens find us humans as weird as we do them. Maybe that's why Helvetica's been questioning me about humans quite a bit. Maybe when I get home, I should try and teach Mallimon about humans...
Unbeknown to her, Akari would soon break Kenny's train of thought by asking about a 'weird machine', bringing out a weird device. It had the shape of an upside down pear with jagged edges. and 2 oval buttons with a small rectangle screen in a black circle in the front. Both the buttons and the outer circle were coloured a dark purple, and on the top was equally purple strap with a keychain hook on the end. It looked like some sort of obscure gaming or lifestyle device that he never heard of. And this was the thing, Akari pointed out, that allowed one to 'connect him to his partner'.
Hey wait, another thought hit him as she brought out the device, I think I saw one or two of these things during my little trip around Shibuya, but I must have seemed to write them off as specialised pedometers or something like that.
"Well, no." He answered about the device, just looking upon it, "I've never even heard of these things until you showed them to me." Mallimon, however, was eyes wide, looking upon the 'Digivice' like a dog upon a juicy steak, seemingly interested in it. Even live bacteria could make the (metaphorical) connection that somehow, Helvetica was associated with that Digivice, so no point asking that stupid question everybody knew the answer to. "Just how do you get one of these so-called 'Digivices', anyway?" |
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Post by Akari Kinuko on Feb 25, 2019 17:48:37 GMT
Programs… file types… All lingo that somewhat flew over Helvetica’s head. Humans had an odd form of dialect to the Yuramon, she ending lightly hopping in place on Akari’s palm. ”Hey, Akki? What is an AI?”
Okay, that was a difficult question for Akari. How do you define an artificial intelligence to someone who barely understood how humans worked? There really was going to be a lot of required reading for Hel as soon as they get back home… Was a Digimon even an artificial intelligence? The babies after all were pretty goddamn smart despite their youth. Still, the girl opted to try and explain it as best as she could. ”AI is short for artificial intelligence, Helvetica. It is when someone makes something that can think through artificial methods… but I don’t know if that really qualifies for you Digimon.”
Helvetica listened intently, surprisingly quickly coming to their own conclusion. “Well, I was made. I guess that makes me an artificial intelligence… It sounds smart!” the Fresh level giggled.
In retrospect, Akari had to give her credit… Hel was not wrong. Her Digivice had called her Subject: Helvetica; someone before her had already gave them a name, but why a font? Actually, speaking of mysteries… Digivices in general were something she had only an inkling of understanding herself, so this was going to be tough to explain how to even get one. “Shit... Well, I was given mine by a friend; that however I believe is an exception as supposedly they just kinda normally appear when the time is right… At least that is what I understand. They’re not manufactured by anything or anyone.”
While she could tell Kenny was perhaps a bit excited learning about all this stuff, Akari felt uncomfortable just leaving him out like this… Look, she didn’t want to hear about some guy disappearing without a trace and no one know what happened to them. That was unwanted blood on her hands if she didn’t at least try to give him a proper heads up. “Listen, I am not trying to be overly pushy; but you got to know that these guys aren’t pets… They may be small right now, but they become way more dangerous as they grow and evolve. I have only seen up to the fourth stage, which they call Champion level… and I’m just gonna say outright that they can be deadly. I nearly died twice the night I learned about Digimon.” Maybe it was petty to try scaring him, but she had to make a goddamn point.
“But you shouldn’t be afraid of us… Us partner Digimon are meant to protect our partners! I’m going to make sure no one ever hurts Akki or her friends!” the seed Digimon cheerfully chimed in, making Akari pause briefly.
Yeah… if that one Arukenimon wasn’t an example that even someone like Helvetica could be dangerous, she would have doubted the Yuramon’s words.
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Post by Kenny O'Hara and Skadi on Mar 1, 2019 11:07:50 GMT
Kenny's little mention of what AI were had led into a quick discussion between Akari and Helvetica about how AI worked (well, at least as comprehensible as one could be to baby aliens), leading to the Yuramon revealing that she was made. It didn't sound so surprising to Kenny, considering that, yes, they were basically live intelligent data which could think for themselves, but the Mallimon's ears perked up, and she squinted in confusion.
"Wait a minute, did you say 'made'?" She inquired directly to Helvetica, "As in, someone, or something created you from scratch? I thought you would've hatched from a DigiTama or something like that."
"A Digi-whatta?" Kenny asked. Yes, he knew what was the Japanese word for egg, tamago, but the mere thought of non-avian and reptilian creatures hatching out of eggs sounded utterly preposterous, even for digital beings. And here she was, stating that like yes, it was completely normal for these creatures to hatch out of eggs.
"Yep, a DigiTama." The Mallimon cheerfully replied, "It's what we Digimon are born from. And reborn from too!"
Okay, it was weird enough that she mentioned something like her and Helvetica hatching out of eggs, but now she was just casually throwing reincarnation into the mix? And now she was just bringing it up, like if she and Helvetica were talking about the weather? Kenny just scrached his head in confusion during the Mallimon's short but not-quite-simple explanation, but he just smiled and nodded in a bid to keep her happy.
"Okay, yeah, sure. I understand." He lied.
Akari would then go on to explain that 'a friend' just up and gave her her Digivice, which was merely an exception to the rule, and they weren't merely manufactured at all. But she did say earlier that he would need one to at least help his new friend 'digivolve' or whatever they called it.
"'When the time is right', huh?" Kenny mused to the woman, "Heh. Hopefully it'll be soon enough. After all, Mallimon seems really keen to be my Digimon partner. Isn't that right?" The Mallimon bounced happily in his lap, squeaking in joy. "I'll take that as a 'yes', then." He chuckled in response.
However, it was at this point Akari brought up a very important, and very apt point: according to her, Digimon were dangerous creatures, especially as they grew. She had quickly recounted about the first time she discovered Digimon, the potential 4th stage (the 'Champion' level, as 'they', whoever they were called it), were potentially dangerous, ... and how she nearly died twice that night. His heart started to skip a beat upon hearing that, and his blood started to slightly run cold. Even Helvetica's brave, confident demeanour and remark about the Digimon protecting his partner didn't seem to temper it well. But what did she mean by that?
'Champion'. Again, Kenny heard that term before. That term was usually reserved for something like mighty warriors, or mythological legends, like Hercules. But Akari said she had 'only' seen up to the 4th stage. 'Only'? That didn't seem good. And the fact Akari nearly died facing one, twice, was enough to freak him out. He didn't want to wish ill on this nice, if brutally honest, lady, but only God, Buddha, and Arceus knew what horrors she managed to survive that night. He just didn't know what to say.
After a bit, he let out a sigh."I'm sorry to hear that Akari. I just hope you're OK." He finally managed to tell her. He wasn't going to try and pursue the question of which threat attacked her, lest she tread on her toes a little too much. Nervously, he looked down at the Mallimon, "Hey, Mallimon, uh... are you sure you're going to actually protect me and my friends, and not turn into some kind of... batshit crazy man-eating werebeast and devour us whole?"
The Mallimon seemed utterly unfazed at a question like this. With a confident glower, she replied "Of course not, silly! Like Helvetica said, we're here to protect our partner from danger, no matter what!" She puffed out her chest (well, whatever constituted for a proper chest) and stated, "And no matter what dangers we'll face, I'll be able to protect you, no matter what!"
Kenny just let out a more content sigh and a small smile to mask his true thoughts. So Mallimon was proposing she would protect him from whatever danger out there. He ruffled the Mallimon's head, as she depuffed her chest into a more relaxed position, like if he squashed her down softly, like if she was made of putty. "Heh. Thanks man. I really appreciate it."
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Post by Akari Kinuko on Mar 8, 2019 12:35:47 GMT
“Well, I WAS an Digitama… but my Digitama was made by someone. Least that is what Akky says. Yura ~” Helvetica ended up responding to Mallimon’s question, chirping cheerfully. Frankly, she wasn’t sure about her origin… but that was what Akari seemed to know. Maybe she’ll have to ask aunt Xenica sometime?
Akari merely let out a glum shrug, somewhat doubting Kenny knew the whole picture of what was going on. Can you blame him? Here he was, being thrusted into a new world of possibilities… It had to have been somewhat overwhelming, though at least he didn’t have to fend for his life. “I don’t know who or how, but someone loaded her egg on my Digivice before I was given it. I just don’t know for what purpose…” she added on to Helvetica’s statement, shaking her head when Kenny at least addressed concern for her. ”No apologies needed. I have to be tough, especially with the people I am involved with.”
You know… would this guy be a good fit for Hakainushi? For a moment Akari dwelled on that fact… Xenica WAS being a bit more strict now on who they pick up off the street for this team (not needing another incel-chan and Widow incident), but she wasn’t sure. Maybe once he and Mallimon got a bit more experience… “You probably should care for her anyway. Shibuya isn’t a place for something so small to go wandering around. Besides, they look to have taken a shine to you.” Mallimon did appear quite content around Kenny… maybe when they Digivolved some of his worries about the dangers of Digimin will be qualmed.
Bat-shit crazy man-eating werebeast, huh? An amusing thought, but honestly it was an understatement if how scary Digimon were potentially… being almost eaten alive by spiders tends to do that to ya. ”Heh. Well hey, if she DOES evolve into a man-eating werebeast or something, maybe she’ll limit it to eating people you don’t like.” she joked, though realistically it wasn’t too unlikely… after all, Mao literally ate a guy the night she learned about all this (given he was also a freakish demon plant man, but eh point aside). Figuring it was least a good thing to teach, Akari soon collected her thoughts before tossing out a nugget of wisdom. ”In all seriousness, little tip. Once Mallimon hits least Rookie, if you two ever get into a fight with a Digimon; if you delete it and have her load their data, she’ll get stronger. It also prevents the foe from being reborn, which is important considering Digimon can eventually come back to life. Think of it like grinding for Experience Points in a videogame.”
Helvetica seemed to become a bit more somber at the mention of such a practice. It was an instinctive behavior all Digimon could partake in… but that didn’t mean they needed to do it, right? ”I don’t like it… but maybe if its a really bad person it would be okay?”
Akari smiled lightly, stroking the Yuramon’s soft pine-y fur… Helvetica was a good person, probably better than her. At the same time, she didn’t want this world’s cruelty to eat the poor thing alive. Unfortunately, it was sometimes kill-or-be-killed out there. ”It is a dog-eat-dog world. Sometimes gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelette, Helvetica; that and also avoid being cracked yourself. One day, I hope to change that… but for now, patience little fairy.”
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Post by Kenny O'Hara and Skadi on Mar 14, 2019 8:52:54 GMT
The Yuramon's claim that, yes, technically she did come from a Digitama, albeit an artificial one earned Helvetica quite the curious expression from the Mallimon. Granted, she wasn't assuming Helvetica was lying, if her assurance was anything to go by. Akari adding that someone loaded the Digitama into the Digivice made Kenny speak up in response, "Yeah, honestly, I don't doubt that. I mean, these things do look... otherworldly, if I do say so myself. No offence, Mallimon and Helvetica." The Mallimon didn't seem to be too offended by that remark, if her happy-looking eyes had anything to say about it.
As Akari told Kenny that he should care for Mallimon like one of his own, admitting that she (the fuzzball) had took a bit of a shine to him, a thought immediately crossed his mind: what will dad think of this?
Frankly, him suddenly bringing a new friend home without warning was certainly a troubling prospect. He and his dad already had enough on their hands as it was, and having the whole idea of living with monsters, especially one who could potentially grow into what could potentially turn out to be a werebeast would be... polarising to say the least.
But Mallimon did seem honest to God, Buddha and Arceus that she would protect him, and with the fact that Digimon could be wandering around Shibuya, potentially willing to hurt and kill innocent humans, it was at least helpful to know that he had some line of defence to his name, one that, all things considered, actually. If he could convince his dad to keep the weird creature, then
hey, no harm done.
Smiling at Akari, he said, "You're right. After all, she's still a little young to be going out on her own. Besides, she did seem a little lost when I found her, and she did seem to be looking for a friend." In response, the dust bunny nodded happily.
Kenny did have a slight chuckle at Akari's little joke, all things considered, even if the Mallimon didn't seem as amused. Was it a little dark and twisted? Yes. Was it also a funny? Admittably, yeah. Was Kenny going to hell for chuckling at that joke?
Probably.
But Akari brought up a very valid point: as soon as Mallimon reached her Rookie form (potentially a 'fun' sized-werebeast, he assumed) and got into a fight with an enemy Digimon, he would have to make sure she could 'load' them, making her stronger, but preventing said adversary from being reborn. Then something panged inside Kenny:
if loading a Digimon killed them permanently, then... well, he didn't need to be smart to know that this could potentially happen to Mallimon as well.
While Akari and Helvetica quickly talked about the whole implications of all this, another thought entered Kenny's mind; if Digimon could kill other Digimon and prevent them from being reborn, then what about Helvetica? What about Mallimon? A foe could potentially load their own data, rendering them dead and buried for good themselves. Was this even morally correct? A necessary evil?
He had to get this off his chest as soon as humanly possible.
"Hey, Akari, um..." He piped up, trying his hardest as humanly possible to gently skirt around that subject, "are you honestly worried about something like that happening to Helvetica herself?" He glanced at the Yuramon worryingly, "I mean, you've become a little close with one another. Aren't you worried about losing her or something?" Granted, he himself had that heavy feeling in his own stomach about losing his own new friend and having her own blood in her hands.
The Mallimon tried to look defiant, "We'll be fine. After all, we're your partners, we'll do anything to keep you and Akari safe!" she proclaimed, yet any eagle-eyed witnesses would be able to spot her shaking a little bit.
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