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Re-Establishing the Language Barrier - Part 1 (Solo)
Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Mar 28, 2016 2:14:01 GMT
The more I think back on it..., the less sense it makes to me....
If we're going on a trip to some foreign place, you would think they'd teach their kid to speak the language well enough to understand all the important stuff before we go...! ...Nope. Just because 'it's only for a few days,' they said. 'You know how to greet people and buy things; that'll be enough,' they said. That essentially means that they don't want me going out on my own. W'then why didn't they just cancel the ticket and let me stay home with Dad if that's how it's gonna be?
Mom knows Japanese from having worked here before. An' I was totally stoked to go with her because I thought they'd teach me everything. Y'know? So I'd be able to read the manga here and watch anime without subtitles. ...I only know enough to buy them...! ---And if I do, Mum would be right there with me. That's embarrassing, so what good is that...?
Now I'm stuck here, sitting on the side of her bed, looking out at the shorter buildings from the window. ...[Sigh]. It's lightly raining outside the 'Excel Hotel Tokyu' that we're staying in. It's the nice-smelling rain; I opened a window a bit to find out. It didn't hurt leaving it cracked open, either. Beats using an air freshener; sometimes I just don't wanna inhale that stuff, y'know what I mean?
Mom's gone to work and won't be home again 'til around 7, tonight, she said. ...It's 1... :16 in the afternoon and I'm all 'played' out on my console game system for now - but I still have it on. Thank God that I remembered to get her to buy one of those universal plug adapters for me. The outlets here don't have that third round prong; I could've been screwed... ---for that and my laptop...! Speaking of which, YouTube's playing an 'OST' from a game I like through the speakers I brought with me. ...You might've heard of it, but it doesn't really matter. Being stuck in here's just sapping any remaining strength I have. The rain's nice, but even that's not gonna save me from this feeling. I feel like I'm losing more energy than I'm gaining. I'm ready to sleep at this rate. So much so, that I flopped back on the bed and heaved a huge, heavy sigh.
"So bored~...!" I laid my left arm across my closed eyes as the other spread over the bottom end of the bed. Just thinking...; just reflecting.... .... Being here's cool 'n' all..., but it isn't much fun if I can't go out on my own, right? It's only the first real day, too; two more days of this.... Great. I mean, I could study with the textbooks I brought, but I don't have the motivation for that right now. I wanna be outside...! I almost don't care that it's raining! I'd do it; I'd go out in a raincoat! Try me! .... ...Try me... sometime when Mum's home... ...as I take a quick nap or something....
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Mar 28, 2016 19:09:28 GMT
".... ...." I opened my eyes in the silence. Just a little groggy after my boredom-induced power nap. Staring at the ceiling... isn't the same as it is back home. Tokyu's ceilings are smooth and nothing much to look at. At home, it's all... stalactite-ish? Whichever means they're pointing downward. That's the one with the 'T,' symbolizing it, right - and stalagmite's 'M' represents the ground ones that poke upward. I've gotta be right on that. That aside, though, they were more interesting to look at. According to Mom, the room was a bit more pricey than she thought it should be for its size. I'm no good with knowing how much something's worth, so it's all the same to me.
I turned my head over to the TV and laptop resting on the long, polished, wooden table-desk thing which almost took the full length of the wall; technically, it was just a bit more than half, though. The TV and game console were still on; laptop had gone to sleep, though. For that to have happened, the music playlist that I was listening to on YouTube must have reached its end, allowing the laptop to activate Sleep Mode, since it won't trigger while music or videos are playing.
At least half an hour had to have passed since I nodded off. I rolled my head back to view the room's digital clock upside-down, then turned myself over to actually read it. "...Two fifty-two...." I slumped back down iiinto the bed. Only an hour and a half passed...." It was more than I initially thought, but still. Five o'clock would've sufficed.
Remembering the rain, I soon turned over again and, laying there, I rolled my eyes down to look out the window. .... I couldn't tell if it was still raining or not against the sky's brightness or lack of contrast, so I worked up the energy to sit up - then stand up. Approaching the window and looking down, it seemed the rain had stopped. That mega-pedestrian street-crossing: "It's still so busy!? .... ...." ".... I really wanna go out.... ...."
I stood there, then I paced back and forth across the room. Ten to fifteen minutes passed of me trying to make a decision. I woke up my laptop to recheck the train services in the area. There was the Ginza Line and the Yamanote Line. I had looked at these before flying over here to Shibuya, Japan. I remembered that I preferred the Yamanote Line; It goes a ways out of the way, but it goes directly to Akihabara Station. It was a forty-something-minute trip, only several minutes longer than Ginza. And, if I'm reading the info page right, there'd be another train arriving every four minutes - which is pretty cool. I guess it's because of the congested sea of humanity that lives here, from what I've seen.
"...3:24pm.... Let's say it's 50 minutes there and 50 back; that's an hour forty..., 5 o'clock, basical--- well, more like 5:30...--- 5:40, since I'm not jetting out this instant. ...So to play it safe, I'd only have 40-50 minutes to do stuff then make it back before Mom gets back."
Because the train departures are at close intervals, this shouldn't be a problem. "The only way I could mess this up is if I wander for too long or get absorbed into something and forget about the time," which would definitely be a possibility. .... "Definitely bringing my watch." It has an alarm function, so "I can set it to beep when time's up." Whenever I'm not wearing it, I stash it in my purple, wheeled suitcase so I don't lose it or leave it behind.
I changed into a long-sleeved yellow shirt and wore blue jeans pants because it seems a bit cool out after the rain. Just in case, I also wore my yellow and pink sleeveless hoodie, one of my favorite pieces of clothing. It makes me feel like a main character from an anime or manga, and it reminds me of the live-action task force shows they have in Japan, too.
Once I was dressed and looked good enough to walk around in public, I grabbed my watch, my wallet, and my cell phone, closed my laptop so it's not sleeping, sitting upright, and turned off the console and TV. I decided to take my backpack with me, in case I wanted to carry things that way. Plus, my compact umbrella is there. I took out most of the notebooks and textbooks. I left some in just in case. I have a habit of foreseeing events that aren't likely to happen. ...Well, it's not really foresight, then, is it...; I just have creative imagination. I could see a scenario where I just barely make it back in time before Mum gets here and I have to fake myself studying in the huge lounge area to attempt covering my tracks. Books and pencil on the table, stuff I bought in the backpack.
"It's not likely to happen, but I wanna be prepared. ...Maybe I should check to see if there's a library in the area - just in case Mum does get back before me. H'then I can say I couldn't study in this stuffy room and went to the library. .... ---, a bigger... stuffy... place--- Bah! Whatever! I should be okay! She wouldn't check if there was one, anyway, so I'm ready to g---" "Oh! Synchronize time!" I looked at the digital clock: 3:49pm. My watch was behind by 4 minutes; I set it ahead by 3 minutes to be on the safe side. My watch now says 3:53 as it became 3:50 in no time.
I pulled out my rain jacket just in case, then put my sneakers on. (I remember to bring a rain jacket on my travels, but not any boots....)
I looked back at the Tokyu room, making sure I wasn't forgetting anything important. After 2 minutes of the final psyche-up process, I grabbed the room key and opened the door to my first ever solo adventure in a foreign land!
...And with only 21 bucks worth of spending cash, I'm probably only gonna get a manga or a poster to commemorate it....
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Mar 28, 2016 22:42:01 GMT
Reporting on my journey to Akihabara.
It was a 42-minute trip by train to get there, and it was totally worth it. I couldn't help looking at all the tall buildings and billboards and trying to listen to all the different music playing from the various speakers. There was a grin trying to spread as wide as my face, but I didn't wanna look like that kind of tourist in front of hundreds of people, so a contented smile was all I'd allow.
It was so~ cool! There was this building that was huge! There were, like, dozens of floors and every few of them carried something specific! Like, say, 3 or 4 floors of electronics - that kinda thing! I've never seen so many of one type of thing in one place in my life! There were electronics all around, too, not just in that building - it was insane!
Guess what? I found an ATM~! And my card works! I only had, like, 60 bucks worth of yen in there, anyway, but hey!
I found this place called Aso Bit City, I think...? ABC was also extremely browse-worthy, but then again, what isn't around here. The problem was that I didn't have enough time to finish going through it as my watch beeped, telling me I had to go. ...Glad I set the time ahead. It gave me three minutes of extra time to get out of there and start heading back to the station.
---I did buy a few things, though, of course. I found a manga that seemed interesting - though I couldn't read it (yet!): 1,500 yen. I got a cheap figurine of BattleCannon Rika from 'Galactic G:' 1,100 yen. I also got this digital watch with a cute sheep motif around the strap and the face: 2,200 yen. It was in a display case and seemed to be more of a homemade motif sort of thing than by a company - same with Rika. Still, I liked them. Something drew me to 'em. Probably 'cause sheep are cute - just like how grenade and rocket launchers are cool!
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Mar 29, 2016 2:31:09 GMT
It's 6:36pm. Do you know where your children are?
Well if you're like my mom, you probably think they're comfortably goofing around at home - or in the hotel. And you'd be right, in my case~!! Yes!!
It seems I managed to make it back before her. I feel so good right now! Just that feeling of accomplishment does wonders for one's mental health.
Everything I had taken out of my backpack was put right back in. First, I had to take out one of the things I bought: the manga. The figure was in the front, small upper compartment, so it was fine. After putting the books back in, then the manga was put back in so it didn't get needlessly bent out of shape. My new watch, however, was in my hand as I proceeded to the bathroom with it. Because of the facts that the motif didn't seem company-made and that it wasn't in one of those watch cases, it led me to the thought that it could've been worn previously. I wasn't going to take on other people's germs so willingly. I cleaned most of it. Water 'n' soap, scrubbing up the straps, then the back of the face, too. The watch says it's waterproof, so I'm holding that to it. I dried it off and stuck it in the lower front section of the bag. I don't think Mum keeps an eye on my watch, so if I switch out the one I'm wearing, I doubt she'll be suspicious.
Anyway, I needed a shower. Taking care of that and getting comfortable in red shorts and a white tee, I went back to the laptop to check on some sites. But then I remembered something: I didn't set the new watch. It'd be plenty suspicious if I had to set it from its 12:00 fixed time. I had to set it fast before Mom gets in. I hopped up from my seat and reached down to my bag, pulled out the watch and read the digital clock. "...7:18pm." The sheepwatch's buttons were almost the same as my watch: 'Sheepy' had 3 buttons and my other had 4. It seemed Sheepy didn't have a light feature; I didn't notice; so lame. Oh well.
I set the hour to 7; I was about to set the minutes to nineteen when I heard a sound at the door - like a paper bag or something pressed against it and slid down. Reflexively, I freaked out, grabbing both watches and diving into my chair by the laptop which rested atop the long wooden table-desk. With time to spare, I hid the new watch under my left hand atop the table, leaving the normal watch in plain view nearby. My other hand atop the wired mouse as I feigned inattention to the door being opened and Mom walking in with a clothing store bag, her purse, and a still-wet rain jacket over her arm. In a gray business suit including matching pants, my mother started off by saying, "Hello, honey. ---It's cold in here...!" somehow noticing the difference in temperature from how she left it this morning.
I angled the chair back so Mum could see me poke my head into the corridor's view. "Hey-yo'z." Then I went back to the laptop. "And yeah, I opened the window, earlier."
"? Why? Aren't you cold?" taking off her heels.
"Not much. I mean, I can close it now. I only left it open 'cause the rain smelled nice."
"...Then, if you don't mind...,"
Fair enough. It's not like I want mom to catch a cold or anything. I bounced up out of my seat - new watch hidden in my hand from view - and walked over to the opposite end from the door; where the window was. I closed it up, "Clooosed...!" and returned to my seat.
Then we socialized a little. She was telling me about news stories she was working on today, but wouldn't go into more detail than what would be airing. All well and good, but I don't really care - I pretended to care a little - an expected amount for the sake of conversation while I continued to hope that she doesn't see the watch in my hand.
After all that, she went to shower before we decided to head downstairs to eat dinner. By this point, I figured it'll be okay if I casually leave it on the table - the sheepwatch. Everything worked out juuust fine; she never suspected a thing! ...Phew.
It's interesting; I was worried about Mum finding out I left on my own, but had I known what I was about to get into in the near future because of my trip..., ---had I realized that something weird was happening with my sheepwatch and my laptop..., maybe..., I'd have never left Tokyu at all....
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 1, 2016 1:37:12 GMT
A little while after Katrina and her mother left, the laptop switched over to its screen saver mode. When this occurred, the sheepwatch began to pulsate an illuminating white light all over the face of the watch. Mere seconds later, what looked like a continuous barrage of dust... seemed to be sucked from the monitor and attracted to the watch like a vacuum, disappearing upon contact. In actuality, they were pixels. Pixels of data flew from the laptop's screen and began to fill the watch. The digital watch's screen slowly began to fill with black pixels; the time was no longer displayed on it. The filling of black pixels was at a much slower rate than the pixels of data being absorbed. It was likely that the black pixels, which filled column after column from the bottom up, were a type of uploading or download progress bar. Once the watch's screen had become completely black, the influx of data ceased, and soon after, the while glow dissipated.
Amongst the screen saver's '3D pipes' designs, at the center of it all, a 4-pixel flash of white appeared every two seconds. It would overlap/supersede(?) the pipes whenever they intersect. It continued to flash or flicker slowly, with no end in sight. Outside of that, everything seemed to be as it was. Eventually, the laptop went into Sleep Mode.
Later on that night, Katrina and her mom returned. After some together time plus the television, the two went about the rest of their day separately - Katrina hopped off the bed and proceeded towards the laptop; her mom, Amy, got herself to the bathroom to get ready for bed, as she had another early day ahead of her, tomorrow.
As Katrina sat down, she was thinking of sneaking out tomorrow just as she did today. This time she intended to venture out far earlier in the day.
The orange-haired teenager powered back on her computing device and reached for her right-side ponytail. What held it together was an elastic hair band with two eyeballs orbs attached, resting atop the hair. She removed the hair band, letting her poofy 80's-style side ponytail hair fall to her back, about an inch or two past her shoulders. All the hair on her head from the right side of her head and curving down around and beyond the neckline was very frizzy. She had no intention of bothering with it. Her redheaded mother was likely also removing her hair band in the bathroom, along with brushing her teeth and washing her face.
Katrina heaved a relaxing sigh and swung her head to loosen up her hair a bit before inputting her password. She then twisted the eyeball hair band around her left wrist. After doing such, "---! Oh right!" reminded by the sight of her left wrist, she glanced over to the sheepwatch and took hold of it. "Gotta finish setting the time." The face of the digtal watch was as she left it: at the time setting screen with flashing minute digits. Katrina eyed the laptop's displayed time, then referenced the Tokyu digital clock by her bed; her laptop's was a minute behind - which was fine, in itself. Her rule - which came from her mother - was to 'always follow the time that is furthest ahead; this minimizes the chances of you being late or behind schedule. For increased success, bump your personal clock(s) up a few minutes and forget about it.'
Once she set the time, she pushed the button that switches what mode the watch is in. There's Clock Mode, which shows the time (no date); Date Mode, which shows the month and day numbers - which Katrina didn't touch with yet; Timer Mode, which is the stopwatch; and Clock Set Mode, which sets the time. Each push of the button cycles through these modes in order.
The time was set; now for the date. Cycling to Date Mode, she did what needed to be done. She put on the watch. After all this time, she still hadn't checked to make certain it fit, despite it having notches. Luckily for her, it would've fit her wrist anyway. Three notches in and the sheepwatch was secured around her wrist. She pushed the cycling button to cycle back to Clock Mode from Date Mode. After the first button push, she arrived at the stopwatch, though nothing was on the screen, which halted her from pushing the button again. Curiosity surfaced. The screen lit up every two seconds or so, too. "What? Wait.... There wasn't supposed to be a light, right?" She looked all across the face of the watch; she couldn't see any word or symbol in Japanese for 'light' - which she unwittingly assumed would be the same as those used in anime and manga - even though the meaning is a bit different. After the tenth flash of light, a window came up on the screen.
"!" It caught Katrina's peripheral vision. "...?" It was filled with black. ".... .... ...---!" Suddenly, words and alphanumeric combinations filled the screen as it scrolled automatically to keep up.
"---!!! Wh--- whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa~...!!!" This wasn't normal! "Am I being hacked!? Oh man, no~...!" She quickly took the mouse and tried to close the window, but that wasn't going to work; the 'X' button was grayed out and not selectable! She tried hitting the 'Esc'(Escape) button to no avail! Katrina's mouth was agape in shock. Her eyes scattered about in a frantic rush to find a solution. She was definitely freaking out on the inside! Then it dawned on her...! She reached for the ethernet cable and removed it from the laptop! "THERE!" Her heart was figuratively in her throat, but now there was no longer an internet connection to her laptop!
But what she hadn't noticed in that time was that a window message had appeared when her attention shifted to the cable.
"...Wh---...?"
'Complete. . . . Good Luck.|'
"...---Wha'duz'at mean...!?" Her breathing had gotten a little heavier.
At that time, her mom came out of the washroom, ready for bed. "Rina? Make she you remember to brush your teeth before you go to bed, alright?"
Amy yawned as she passed by and made her way to the bed. She continued to speak, though. All this while Katrina was frozen in fear: with what was in front of her..., and the possibilities of would happen from behind if her mother found out. Her breathing halted when her mother passed by - restarting as carefully and as quietly as possible afterward. Amy bought this laptop with her hard-earned money and was very clear to Rina on what to be careful of and how to treat it.
"This is bad...!" the sweats began.
"And like last night, try to keep the noise down, okay? And don't stay up too late."
"Y-yeah...." Now, the laptop's screen became pitch black, then a sudden burst of pure white. "!! ~...!?!" It was as if her open programs were closed, her wallpapered shortcuts and the taskbar vanished, and the wallpaper itself was replaced with a blank, white sheet. Was everything deleted...!? Didn't removing the ethernet stop the hacker? Was it already too late?? Was this a delayed response!? The white of the screen was so intense it appeared to glow.
The sweats intensified. "This is so bad~...!" In her head, she let out groaning cry, knowing that she was about to be in trouble with her mother.
"~~~! ...--- M-Mom~...?" A worried tone in her voice as it cracked.
Her mother had already climbed into bed and was getting comfortable, facing the draped windows. She simply replied, "Mmmgh. Yeah, sweetie? What is it...?"
.... .... .... ....
"...Yes~...? ...."
.... .... ....
"...." She nostril-y exhaled in mild annoyance. "Rina..., what is it...?" Amy turned over to face Katrina's direction at the table-desk, only to see she wasn't there; she wasn't in her seat. Amy was confused. She could have sworn the voice came from there. She instinctively looked at the foot end of the bed; Rina wasn't there. Was she in the bathroom? ...Thinking on it, Rina's voice did crack a bit. Was she suddenly feeling ill? Food poisoning? Maybe she went to the bathroom to vomit...!
"...Katrina?" Amy forced herself out of bed to check on her daughter. Why wasn't Rina answering, though...? It was too quiet.... "Are you all right...?" Rina wasn't trying to scare her now, was she? This most definitely wasn't the time for that...!
When Amy got to the bathroom, she could see the washroom door half open, just as she left it.... The toilet was visible and Rina wasn't with it. The bathroom wasn't that big; with the door open as it was, there was nowhere for Rina to hide..., right? ...The curtain to the shower was pulled back, exposing the shower and bath tub.
Rina wasn't in there....
.... So where is she...? Haphazardly, Amy checked the closet: nobody. The beds were too low for Rina to fit under one, so that wasn't the case....
Thinking to herself as she looked about the room once more, "She couldn't have left; I would have heard her leaving.... ...Why would she call me without answering back...? Despite the reasoning against it, it was the only explanation left. Rina was clearly not in this room, and nothing seemed suspicious, including the laptop she left on with YouTube on-screen.
She got to the room door and opened it. The brunette looked out; saw no one. Partially angry, partially worried; at this point, she didn't care if she was disturbing the other guests in their rooms.
"RINA...?" she called out into the halls. ".... KATRINA!"
Meanwhile, the laptop returned to its screen saver of 3D pipes, several seconds before the sound of a door closing and a muffled voice from the other side.
"...KATRINA~...!"
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 2, 2016 21:31:24 GMT
Meanwhile, in what seemed like a void, filled by darkness, green flickers of light, zigzagging lines, and flying green text gave the area a sense of being. Amidst all that, an egg was rotating. More accurately, it was falling - from where... was unknown. The egg was glowing white and was imprinted with illegible markings all over it. The glowing white egg tumbled slowly, suddenly shifting right and left as if hitting an imaginary angled wall of falling down an invisible, twisting, turning pipe.
Soon enough, the sudden shifting ended and became a simple free-fall, though momentum had slowed considerably. Moments later, the egg's glow faded and it began to dissipate into digital pixels from its pointiest end to the other, revealing a terrified - yet awestruck - orange-haired girl, slowly tumbling downward. She tried to look all around herself, wanting to make sense of what she was seeing. Making sense of it all, however, wasn't something she could manage right now.
Her initial reaction was fear of the unknown. Granted, in anime and manga, they showcase some pretty unique scenarios, but it's a whole other story if and when it happens to you. Katrina was terrified that she was either dead, trapped in a bottomless pit and would die, or would encounter something hidden in the darkness that would kill her. She tried to see everything around her - as much as she could while slowly flipping around. The fear remained, even when she 'landed,' knees first, onto a solid, invisible, surface.
Ending up on all fours, the surface felt something like glass to Katrina: smooth and cool to the touch. There was enough friction that she wouldn't be sliding around on it too much in her socks. Right, she wasn't wearing shoes.
She cautiously rose to her feet, arms outward a bit for balance and steadiness, somewhat worried that the 'ground' would buckle and collapse from under her. Once she felt sturdy, she gazed upward into the 'sky,' seeing more of the same darkness and green-ery that traveled about this space.
"~...." Her mouth was agape in wonder as she finally began to really take in her surroundings. "...So~... where the heck am I...??" She spent two minutes looking about and checking her blind spots for dangers. There were even moments when the 'greens' passed through her, startling the teen as minute static-like shocks occurred whenever it happened.
It was an amazing, trippy experience..., but it wasn't fun.... "How do I get out of here...? .... .... Can I even get out of here...?" Rina began to take careful footsteps in a chosen direction. She double-tapped her foot against the 'ground' to make sure that it was there before firmly planting the foot in that spot. Going through the motions, she fought the urge to dance sprightly.
I played a video game in the past where..., in one of the levels, the wooden floor had hidden trap holes and falling into one would kill you. Granted, there were little, almost-unnoticeable details about the floor that'd let you know where the traps were, if you paid attention to that sort of thing. I didn't at first, but after dying 4 times, I finally noticed it. ...Here, I don't have 'extra lives' or 'continues,' so~....
After assumably a 50-yard distance, Katrina grew far too annoyed with this sort of travel and stopped. She sat down and sighed, contemplating something. She then laid down on her stomach and rested her head over her arms. Her orange hair sprawled over her back and shoulders. Gazing at the void below, her concerns... slowly grew.
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 4, 2016 17:56:59 GMT
.... .... ....
What felt like an hour had passed and Katrina, now on her back, was thinking with a single arm over her eyes and forehead. Was there a logical reason behind all this? Is there a way out of here? ...Is this just a really long, uneventful dream...?
.... .... ....
It was another twenty minutes before the redhead ruled out the dream possibility and rose to her feet again. In those twenty minutes, two notable thoughts came to mind: 1) are there hidden walls and doors leading to an exit? 2) what if falling through the 'floor' progresses you to the next 'floor' and advances you through the level?
She stretched herself out then took a deep breath to prepare; she was about to do something incredibly reckless. There was likely no other real choice for her, however; that's how she saw it.
Rina turned to her left and started jogged in that direction, holding out her arms and hands forward so as not to have her head collide with anything unseen.
The jogging persisted for 40 seconds. "I haven't run into anything yet...!" She turned left, around 45 degrees, and continued for another 25 seconds before going into a full sprint fueled by frustration. Her war cry drove her forward until she was out of breath.
Panting, hunched over with sweat dripping down, Rina had her eyes closed as she tried to composed herself. Once she had the energy again, she jogged and jogged and jogged about. Still, no invisible walls or pitfalls were found.
....
Many hours passed....
...There was a look of lifelessness in Rina's eyes. Dried tears could faintly be seen along her cheeks as she sat there, knees bent and feet firmly on the 'floor.' Katrina was huddled up with her arms around her legs. There wasn't much thinking going on right now.... She had almost completely given up hope. The only hope she had left was on the possibility that an exit would appear at a specific time. But what if it was also only on a specific day? Without food or water, she could die here before the exit could ever reveal itself. On top of that, what if the exit only appears where she first landed? Rina had done so much running, and there was no real sense of distance nor were there any defining marks to tell where and how far she ran.
She felt that she screwed up and should have just stayed where she started. It was these thoughts that led to her current vacant expression. Every now and again, the teardrop trail would freshen up as thoughts surfaced in her mind....
.... 25 hours, in total, have passed....
Rina was walking around in a circle. She was wobbling around, looking like she was either going insane, or simply ready to collapse at any moment. The truth was a little bit of both: Rina did not want to miss the arrival of an exit, so she made sure not to fall asleep. ...Naturally, that didn't stop her from feeling sleepy. To keep the sleep away, she had gotten up and began to pace back and forth. She did this for hours on end until her legs grew tired. Refusing to sit down comfortably, she stood still for a time; went on all fours for a time; she even log-rolled for a time - but quickly dropped that idea, as any time she stopped, she felt like she was a second away from dropping to sleep. Standing again, she paced, but this time, in a circle. Hours passed, and even while it kept the sleep at bay, the sleep was pounding against the dam, trying to break it down. Rina was "Suh shiipii~....", and so exhausted. Keeping her eyes open became a challenge, and soon, she needed to close them for 3 seconds at times just to keep going. Soon, she just kept them closed for minutes on end while she paced. It was that feeling of being ready to pass out. Her mind was shutting down, too, bringing us to the current Rina who can barely keep herself up.
Though zombie-like, she refused to give up. Her eyes were already rolling to the back of her head. Tears from constant yawning drenched her skin. She drooled several times, each time snapping her more awake for less than a minute.
Her solid blue eyes showed that she was no longer in control of this repetitive regimen that had been going on for hours. It soon began time..., for Rina's body to finally give out on her.
She tripped, stumbled, and collapsed to the invisible floor. ".... D---... D'm't...." She didn't have the energy to move any longer. ...And there... she stayed...; there..., she slept... without the realization of doing so....
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 4, 2016 22:29:47 GMT
From the time Katrina entered this space, ...well more than a day had passed. There was no door in sight. ---And if there was one, she had fallen asleep through it arrival and departure.
".... ...." The redhead was beating herself up over it, and had even less hope than she did, prior.
After getting plenty of sleep, I wandered aimlessly through this dark, digital space. But the whole time, I never once changed directions. It was a straight line I walked for hours on end. I looked at the time: 5:36am according to the sheepwatch.
.... This was all so supernatural - and to think that it's all because of some hacker...! How is that even possible?? What did they do to get me here? Am I just an avatar for my mind? ...It's not like I was wearing a VR headset and was connected to the net at all.... I don't even know how this could be explained...! Like, I even tried using the watch to figure things out. When it was flashing before all this happened, it was on the Timer Mode, so I had tried going back to that to see if its flashing was connected to what happened, or if it was a coincidental glitch or something. It was a blank screen instead of showing the stopwatch function - just like before - but it wouldn't light up or flash, so I dunno....
8:07am I took a break. I laid on my back. Gazing too long at the void 'sky' dilated my pupils a lot, and in time, worried that I'd go cross-eyed, I learned to stop doing that for my amusement.
12:34pm. I continued my journey. The same ol' everything in view.... .... I didn't want to die.... But... as long as it isn't a painful death..., if it has to be this way..., maybe it's not a totally bad way to go.... ...Naturally, I intended to put it off for as long as possible. After all, who knows: maybe the way'll open up at the last possible second ---and a message saying 'Do you wish to live?' will show up.... ...Heheheh.... .... .... .... ....
2:51pm, I learned it takes more energy to log-roll along the 'ground' than to walk.... I'm losing it, aren't I...?
3:15pm The static shocks, that have been happening occasionally, from the green things colliding with me are really starting to bug me...! As if it wasn't annoying enough being zapped while I was sleeping...!
4:01pm... I had been fighting off the hunger for almost a day, until now. Sleeping had helped, but I don't know if sleeping with do enough to hold it back. I wasn't ready to go insane from it, and thankfully, I wouldn't have to. As I laid on the ground, trying to sleep, a click sound caught my ear.
"---? !!" Finally, something different! I shot up onto my knees and looked about frantically! Nothing yet, but in a few seconds, I noticed my watch flash. It was flashing again! Then, as if in response, a shining white circular portal-looking thing appeared 10 yards ahead of me. I gasped and rushed to my feet and towards the portal. The way out was finally in front of me! It might lead me to someplace worse than this, but as far as my mind and body knew at the time, anywhere was better than here. Anywhere else would have food, right!? So without hesitation, I ran right on through to the other side. Anticlimax, be damned!
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 5, 2016 8:04:20 GMT
The portal opened up on the other side.
Katrina ran through that other end, and it landed her in some grassy landscape. ...She paused and looked around.... "~~~<3" It worked...! The portal got her back! The orange-haired teen was happy to be back in the world again. She was happy to see the sky, the grass, and the distance forest a long ways away...! .... .... But..., after the rush of freedom finally settled.... ".... ...---...?" a look of confusion set in.
"...?" With focused eyes - removing the lenses of gratefulness - she observed the land before her once again. "...Wait.... ...But..., where am I now, though...." A land she didn't recognize. "Where is this...? ...It's still Shibuya..., right? ...---This is still Japan, right...?? Why am I in the middle of nowhere??" Out of the frying and into the fire.
She took a few steps back, wondering "How did I end up here??" She whiny-sighed. "This is nuts~! I just wanna go home!" Avoiding the forest in the distance, she turned around, hoping for a city to be in that direction. "---[gasp!!]WH---?!"
But what greeted her as she shook her head in disbelief... "...Y-you've gotta be...---...."
...was an undeniably enormous crater, mere feet from where she stood...! "What the heck happened here!?" Out of the fire and straight into Hell?
"That's, like, ...city-destroyer level! ...Did I travel to the future or something?? What could have left such a gigantic hole!? When did it happen? And why!? Did another war start??"
Soon, her eyes caught site of... what seemed to be a massive barricade of stone in supposedly a circular formation. "Beyond that stone wall...: that's either a city or an army base," and not knowing where - and when - she was, Rina would not be going in that direction. "...Nope." Not happening. ...At the very least, not on an empty stomach - which sounded weird, but caution creates these kinds scenarios. Most times for the better; other times....
She turned back around. The distant forest wasn't as distant as the stone wall barricade, and if worse comes to worst, she can eat bugs to survive 'r somethin'....
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 7, 2016 17:11:24 GMT
Cringing cringingcringingcringingcringingYUCK!
Rina imagined the thought of holding an insect between her thumb and finger, its legs trying to create bodily motion as they brush against her thumb; its body trying to squirm away. The thought made her violently shudder. She flung her arm as if she was really holding that bug - her imagination getting the better of her.
"Ughk. So gross."
At least it got her mind off of actually being hungry... for a time. She entered the forest and traveled through it. Early on, during the venture, it dawned on Katrina...: "...? Is it just me...? .... I haven't seen a single bug since I got in here...." Not a single fly, mosquito, ladybug, ---anything. To her, a forest would always have huge gatherings of a number of those. This was weird; it was a kind of weird that she couldn't logically explain. There was no way that whatever caused the huge crater caused bugs to be extinct. ...---Right?
In the meantime, the sounds of her stomach constantly growling over and over again really got to her. Famished, she stopped and decided to sit down against a tree stump. Her bluish eyes gazed upward to the sun that shined through the leaves above. Then they rolled downward, along with her head. Rina eyed the grass around her. "...." The thought was there... and right now, "It's better than bugs, anyway." she broke off a blade of grass, stared at it for, like, forever, and then stuck it in her mouth, not really sure what she was doing.
"...." Naturally, flavor wasn't an expectation. The lone thought of eating likely dirty grass made her shudder, however. Still, so hungry, she just chewed and chewed until she was able to swallow. She cringed as a precaution to any weird feelings that would follow. .... .... None occurred. ...It wasn't as bad as she thoughts it would be - still, no taste, though - but at least it was edible and not gross-tasting.
After quite a number of hand-picked blades of grass, Katrina quickly realized that she wouldn't be filling herself up on grass - unless she wanted to stay out here all night. She understood that she needed to keep moving and would do so after a few massive handfuls of grass were devoured.
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 7, 2016 20:17:30 GMT
As she wandered through the forest, she began to hear short sounds of rustling leaves above and behind her. The redhead was totally weirded out. "There was nothing around earlier...! Now something's following me??" She continued to walk normally, as if unaware. However, she made sure her feet made as little noise as possible with each step; this was to aid Katrina towards hearing the treebourne being's motions. It had to be some animal; the problem was whether the animal was simply curious, or if it was preying on her. She was afraid to turn around and potentially have it pounce on her. As things were, she was only slightly less afraid because she couldn't see what it was. But as time went on, and the pouncing didn't seem to be happening, she grew restless. If she was being preyed upon, wouldn't they have done it by now?
Rina came to a full stop. ".... ...."
She turned around and called out. "Show yourself, already! I know you're there!" ...There was a momentary silence before more rustling occurred. As it did, something fell out of the tree in front of her. She jumped back in surprise, "!! ...Huh?" then curiously examined the tiny object. "...What is that...? A pine co---! ...?" It looked like a pine cone, at least. But the green bug on top of it was... distracting, to say the least. "What kind of bug is that...?!?" Its pinkish vertical jaws were creeping Rina out, despite its overall cute appearance. Seeing it, she wasn't as scared as she thought she'd be; this little critter with the long ears and vine-y thing on its head could still be out for a nibble, so she made sure to keep some distance between themselves.
"...---!!!" Then true reality set in, pulling her out of her anime-manga mindset. "Wait a minute. This isn't normal...!" And not long after that, more rustling could be heard as two more of those creatures fell extremely close behind her. The whoosh made Rina jump in shock; seeing what stood at her heels made the redhead retreat a number of yards to the side. "Way too close...!" Possibly in more ways than one. But then what shocked her most... was that the half-cute green bugs were using their pine cones and hovering towards her, oho-ing and aaah-ing as they eerily drew near.
Rina just ran!
"We've been invaded!!" Panting, she thought back to the giant crater; "Their spaceship: that must've caused it...!!" She couldn't believe this was actually happening. "I was only gone for two days, wasn't I?? .... ...---!!! What if I was gone longer than that!? What if the flow of time was different in that dark place?! Maybe this is 200 years in the future! Maybe the invasion wiped out Japan and now the aliens have been inhabiting this place for a long time!"
Rina looked back as she ran; the pine-cone bugs weren't very quick at all; they'd take a while to catch up. Not wanting that to become a possibility, she kept running. At one point, she nearly tripped over a green log that yelped as she leapt over it! Looking back at it, it turned out to be a large demonic worm with big eyes! "MORE ALIENS!?" Utterly creeped out, she continued, running into more big-eyed worms, yellow and green ones without eyes, a confused green monkey with a dumb expression on its face, and a little floral creature carrying a thick... textbook...?
Rina had slowed down by that point, tired, with no other monsters nearby and growing hungry by the minute. Looking back and watching the plant being, the girl was so very confused and brimming with curiosity. The floral creature noticed the gaze. It smiled and waved, dropping its book in the process. ...Rina couldn't help cautiously, and guiltily waving back as she walked on.
She whipped her head back to facing ahead; a look of absurd confusion and restraint present upon her. "That was too cute...! What is going on?!?" Now she was less afraid of the sights and more curious as to what she'd see next.
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 7, 2016 22:21:55 GMT
Much later, Katrina came across a large hut-like building within a clearing, an area free of trees and bushes. There was a large board across the top with writing that was illegible to Rina's human eyes. ...It's apparently a public place, she thought to herself. There was no door, but two curtains acted as such. Approaching it, she wondered if they had any food or drink. But curiosity about the building somehow took precedence. Inspecting the exterior, it seemed its dimensions equated to roughly the size of a one-and-a-half-storeys house - around 15 feet or so, give or take.
"It's huge...." She had never seen a hut in person - much less one so big, before. "I wonder who built it...." People who're really good at construction, obviously. But out here in the forest...?? Seemed a little odd. Circling around and back to the front, she poked her head inside. Immediately, she was met with a sword that blocked further entry!
The girl, surprised and scared, yelped, jumped back, stumbled, and fell backward onto the ground with a thud. "A sword!? ---!" Beads of sweat began to form as the sword poked through the curtains. It had a fanciful design and was embedded with orbs. Soon enough, an extremely tall man clad in thin, fancy steel armor and orbs abound pulled up one side of the curtains revealing himself to the redhead. He looked like his black eye makeup was running.
"Sorry, human. This is a place of digimon learning. I ask that you please leave this place in peace."
"...? Huh? 'Digimon'...?" Rina became confused..., but this was the first person she had run into since all of this started, so she couldn't afford to let this opportunity slip by. "A--- wait! Please!" Getting off her butt, she went forward onto her knees and pressed her palms against the ground. "Do you have anything to eat or drink - just a little that you can spare?" She bowed her head, her hair falling in front of her. "I have no idea where I am! I don't even understand how I got here! I've been without anything for maybe two days now. There are monsters in the forest and they looked like they wanted to eat me ---well, except for one. But I can't keep running and[...]"
She continued to ramble away. The knightly person understood the gist of it and soon sighed. The girl did look a little worn after all.
"Alright, alright. .... Come inside and get something to eat.... You can leave after that." He turned around and went back inside.
Katrina lifted her head in time to see the man return into the building. "!! Thank you so much! I really really appreciate it!"
"IN, already...!"
She quickly got to her feet and hurried inside.
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 8, 2016 1:06:19 GMT
Katrina passed through the curtains and entered the place of supposed learning.
She then stopped. "---...."
To her left was a room with desks and a wide chalkboard. It really was a place of learning. ...But what had also caught Rina's eye was the sight of more monsters sitting at - or on - said desks. Said creatures were looking back at her as well, curious as to what's going on.
".... ...."
"...? Is something wrong...?" The swordsman asked.
Rina looked at him and pointed at the creatures. "There are monsters... sitting at the desks..." said with a cringed face of confusion.
"Yes. ...."
"...? ...---But why...?"
"[sigh]. I've already told you: this is a place of learning for other digimon - not for humans.... Now come. The kitchen area is this way." He continued to the kitchen; his sword suddenly vanished as well. Rina took an initially slower pace as she gawked at the monsters once more before catching up down the corridor.
"'Digimon' you said, right? Is that what they call themselves?" This was the second time he used the term; it was definitely a thing.
"...? ...." Turning in to the kitchen, the fancy knight responded, "Yes.... ...Also, if you don't mind...: after you get something to eat here, I'd like to ask you a few questions."
"...? Y-Yeah, sure. ---I mean, I have things I wanna ask, too, if you don't mind...."
He simply nodded. In front of him, another creature with an onion-like head stood behind a wall and a glass. Between those and the creature was a lineup of various things to eat. There were also dry foods and other things behind him as well. The creature understood that the knight was speaking with the girl, so he smiled eagerly and kept himself quiet until they were done.
"Burgamon."
"Hey there, Mistymon! Guess we're a human day care now, eh?" The onion-head digimon joked.
"H'hardly," the knight grinned, stifling a short chuckle. "This one's been without food for days; can you allow her to eat her fill? I'd very much appreciate it."
"Hey, anything you say, teach'!"
The orb-knight returned his sights to Katrina. "Just make sure not to take more than you can stomach. We don't appreciate wasting food here."
"U-understood," was her stiff response. This knight guy seemed very much in charge, here.
"Good. ...When you're done, wait for me here. I'll return once I finish the lesson I'm currently teaching."
"Mm." Rina nodded. "Alright." She then bowed her head again. "And again: thanks a lot. I'm very grateful."
He smiled, understanding thus far that the girl didn't seem to be a threat of any kind. "You're very welcome. Now eat. I'll see you soon." He waved her off and returned to his class--- which, in its near entirety, was watching the interaction from the doorway. "[sigh]. Alright, everyone, we're getting back to the lesson. To your seats, now." He led the group back to the class room. Rina brushed her hair aside and smiled, glad that she ran into such a caring indiv---...?
"...Hm?" Not everyone followed the knight-teacher back. Remaining at the doorway were 3 monsters: a man-rock, the floral creature whom she waved at along the way here, and a dark-orange fluffy creature wearing a hooded cloak; ...a man-sheep, perhaps...? The man-rock laughed giddily; the floral one waved cheerfully; the man-sheep stared, stoically...? Rina couldn't tell what expression it was really making. Its face was mostly hidden under that hood.
"...? ...." Not wanting to ignore the other two, who seemed nice enough, she waved and faux-laughed back at the three of them. Floral and Rock smiled and waved as they, too, went back to class. Rina's smile faded slightly, knowing that the hooded sheep continued to seemingly stare at her. ...Was something on the redhead's face...; in her hair...?
"...H-Hi...---." Katrina raised her hand to wave again, but as soon as she did, the man-sheep flinched, then remained still, with its lips curled in discomfort. A few seconds later, it left to rejoin the class.
"...H-Hhhuh...," putting her hand down. "Weird.... ...."
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 8, 2016 3:26:01 GMT
Dog food was apparently one of the food options, here.... Thankfully they had normal 'human' food, too.
Katrina had ordered up a bowl of rice with salmon and pasta, dressing it all with chicken curry, passing up the red kidney bean curry on this occasion. Seeing the sizes of the bowls, with the Extra Large size being equivalent to 4 times the size of a typical Japanese rice bowl, Rina opted for the 'Medium' size - twice the size of a rice bowl. The drink of choice among the selections was orange juice.
She sat at one of the tables in the corner of the kitchen-cafeteria; solitude.
"I must be in Japan...." She thought, as she ate - with chopsticks, oddly enough - and mixed around everything in the bowl until it all essentially became one - just the way she likes it.
During her meal time, she reflected on what has happened so far.
Somehow, this whole time, despite seeing them with my own eyes, I completely forgot that those 'digimon' invaded Earth. "Well, apparently, the digimon don't really seem to be evil - some are even cute - or actually, maybe they just invaded and adapted to the ways of our world. No way aliens can be naturally be that cute. ...And the fact that they're letting people teach them things must mean they're all here to learn from us, right?" She then realized that she was speaking English with someone who also spoke it. She was very thankful for that - that had to be a 'lucky rarity' to run into a situation like that in Japan. Were things looking up??
Rina was getting so amped up.
"This is so cool!"
Then another thought occurred.
"Oh! Y'know what! Those pine-cone bugs were probably just curious about me, too." relating them to the most recent moment with the student trio. Her mouth was filled with food, but an exaggerated smile was being held back so as not to cause her mouth to open. "They're more cute when I think about 'em that way! ~~~<3 'Digimon' huh? I'd sure like to be friends with some digimon.... I wonder if Mom wou---...---! Ah!! Right! I gotta get back to Mom, somehow! ---! Ah! Is this even the same year...?? I forgot about that.... ...I... I gotta make sure I remember to ask him about that...."
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Katrina
Rookie
Posts: 10
OOC Name: scapegoatkatrina
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Post by Katrina on Apr 10, 2016 4:06:32 GMT
Time had passed. Rina was done with her meal, having seconds just in case she'd be without food for a long time, again. Mistymon's lesson was over and his 'students' were all coming into the large kitchen-cafeteria area to eat before leaving for the day. Soon enough, the knight-teacher, Mistymon, himself, entered. He found Rina watching the other digimon and was sure to call out to her to get her attention. He found a way to sit down at her table, not concerned about the digimon listening in. To him, this was a chance to learn more about humans up close. "I suppose first thing's first: a proper introduction." He nodded. "My name is Mistymon. I teach the digimon here how to channel their hidden or suppressed magical elements. A pleasure to meet you.""Mm," Rina nodded. She was thinking about his ability to teach magic, which at first didn't seem believable. Then again, magic portals and a variety of monsters had her thinking differently. But she wondered if it was really a good thing to be teaching monsters magic in the first place.... "I'm Katrina. ...Uuuh... I just kinda... ended up here. ...---! Thank you for your hospitality," recalling how the Japanese go that extra step to be respectful. Without wasting much time, Mistymon got straight to his questions. "So where, exactly, did you come from?" This was more of a fronting question to see how much the girl remembers. "Well..., I came from Shibuya... ---depending on what you mean....""What I mean?" He thought it was a pretty straight-forward question. "Yeah. If you were asking where home is, I'm from Utah in the U.S.; I was on a trip in Shibuya before coming here.""...I see...." Mistymon had no idea what exactly 'Utah' was, but he understood going on a trip or a journey. 'Shibuya' was seemingly a common place among the humans he had heard about, so had assumed that was the name of the human world; apparently not. Did that mean 'Shibuya' was a sub-directory continent or city of the human world? "So you came here from Shibuya. ...How did that occur? Do you remember anything about it?" Mistymon asked her. "...Yeah. It was weird. I was at my hotel on my laptop. ...I think... someone hacked my computer using this, somehow." She raised her arm to show Mistymon the watch on her wrist. "After that, I ended up in some, like, ...digital... void-place for a few days. Then the watch made a portal and let me out in that grass place back there with the giant hole in the ground. ...I just kind lucked into running in to this place after that." Then Rina had to interrupt with a question of her own. "By the way...: what's with that hole? What happened?""...? [Sigh]." Mistymon would rather not talk at length about it with the other digimon around. "It was a defiant act from a time long past. Nothing more.""A time long past...?" Perfect segue. "'Long past....' So... wait. What's the date today?"Open-minded, Mistymon didn't think it odd to ask such a question, based of what she had been through. He gave her the date; she then asked for the year, and he replied. "...? ...But then that means... I've only been gone for a few days.... So then... where am I?""You're around the border of the network plains and Server Woods right now.""? ...'Kay...."The look on Katrina's face told the story; she had no idea what he was talking about. "Katrina, you've fallen into a world that isn't your own.""....? What are you---""This is not the world which contains your 'Shibuya,' or 'Utah,' I'm afraid.... This is the Digital World, a world separate from your own.""A---...?? ...?""A digital world...?? ...This place??"
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