Fight or Flight [Sophie & Lantis]

Sophie rubbed her chin as she listened to K's story of what she was doing. So far it sounded to her like it was a completely random occurrence, which would probably be the most difficult issue to solve if this happened again. However, she still had to make sure that there could be other clues.

"I see, so it happened completely at random in your inn? That must have been a frightening experience" Sophie admitted. "What I'm curious about though, did you notice anything strange or unusual occurring in your inn recently? Sparks glowing in your peripheral vision, hearing noises, experiencing strange effects?"

Lantis then chimed in with a suggestion of his own. "Have you had any unusual guests recently that were acting suspiciously?" he asked. Sophie thought that was a good question, but a bit forward. She cleared her throat to indicate to Lantis to back off a little. He thankfully caught on fast. "Er, well, of course if you have customer confidentiality we won't go down that way" the Leomon finished.

K then asked how often digimon came to Earth. Sophie rubbed her head as she pondered what she knew.

"So far, most digimon enter Earth as eggs, babies, in-trainings or rookies" she said. "And out of these, most of them are partner digimon to a human, who seem to be able to break through to our world using a power that we don't know about yet". Sophie took her digivice from her pocket and showed it to K. "We think whatever power this is, it's related to the digivices that humans and our partners have. However, since you arrived here as a Perfect level, I'm inclined to think that it may be something else".

She rubbed her chin again, looking at K. "Hmm. Pardon me for asking, but, how long have you been in that form for?" she asked. "Are you fully knowledgable about all of your abilities as a Shutmon? Because this might simply be related to an ability you might have and not know about if so. Just raising it as a theory".

Sophie made a "hmm" noise in her throat, acknowledging the answer. She shared an uneasy look with Lantis, the human and partner understanding what that meant. "Then it seems like this might be a totally random occurrence" she stated. Not a very good prospect, especially if it happened again in warping an aggressive and powerful digimon to Earth.

"Or, at the very least, something caused it that we don't yet know about" Lantis added, thinking that there might be more to this... 'displacement' than met their immediate knowledge.

After K took a look at her digivice, Sophie mulled over her theories.

"Well, the first theory that comes to mind is that, well, you might possibly have a human partner here in Japan that drew you here" she said. "However, that seems unlikely, since you reached Perfect level by yourself. And I haven't yet come across a partner digimon able to do that without proximity to their partner".

She looked to Lantis, who then spoke. "I met Sophie as a Rookie level, and that's the furthest I know of with partnerships forming" he clarified.

"And my next theory is, well, there's some kind of... entity out there, probably in the digital world, with contact with earth, that's causing this... buildup of meetings between humans and digimon, forming partnerships, all that. But, so far, we've had no evidence to support this theory, other than spontaneous appearances of digimon and digivices" Sophie continued. "Other than that, no, I'm afraid I don't have any solid theories of how you ended up on Earth so suddenly".

So she had only been evolved to Perfect for a week? Alright, that was something. "And that's my third theory, that you, a Shutmon, have a possible unique ability that allows you to warp between worlds, and somehow you initiated this ability without knowing about it".

K's statement about her abilities was also interesting conversation. "Yes, Perfect level digimon have much control over their physical surroundings" Lantis added. "Even as a Champion level, I shudder to think what I'm capable of when I evolve".

"And many more shudder" Sophie added. She looked at K again, thinking of what to talk about next. "Well, K, I'd like to ask you a question. What would you like to do now? Would you like to return to the digital world? Or would you like to spend more time on Earth? I'd be happy to facilitate either option..." she hesitated, then spoke further. "But I have to say that even though our introduction was a little, well, heated, you've been a polite and fascinating digimon to speak to, and you seem to have a good heart too. If you choose to leave and return to Earth, you'd be welcome to check in here with AEGIS and we'll do what we can to help you".

Sophie considered that answer. "Right... well, if you suspect there might be a risk, Lantis and I could accompany you? Just to observe and assist if we can".

Honestly, K had been very helpful today, and the two of them would be delighted to assist her in return. Obviously ensuring that one's home had no further risk of sudden teleportation across worlds would be an idea of repayment.

K then mused that it'd be unlikely that she'd meet a partner at this stage of her life, and Sophie regarded that as true. It seemed K was a natural independent digimon as far as she knew, but still, it was concerning that she'd randomly end up in the human world at this level. It would be something she would probably discuss with her brother Colin at a later date.

K then answered their question by saying that she would like to spend more time on Earth. Sophie understood and gave a nod. "Okay. Well, can I ask that you stay here for a few hours? If you could do that, I can try and procure a holosuit from the digital world for you. If that's alright, then we can hopefully provide you with a disguise that will prevent further, well, incidents for the time being".

And after that? What next? Sophie probably couldn't provide K accommodation in her apartment. And furthermore, entrusting her with resting here in AEGIS headquarters without supervision was something of a risk too. As nice as K was, Sophie just couldn't trust such a vulnerable position at this stage. But, K already knew about the headquarters, Sophie had invited her in, what else could she do?

"Well, um..." she began, trying to find her words. "If you're in need of accommodation here, K, then you're welcome to rest here" she said. "However, please be aware that the information we store here is sensitive. I would be very grateful if you didn't touch any of the machinery here". Perhaps some incentive would help? "Of course, if we can trust you with this, we would be most grateful and would do our best to reward you as best we can in the times to come".

Perhaps that was all she could offer? Trust went a long way in Sophie's world. And she really wanted to trust K. After all, she trusted Satoshi and his security systems. If K accepted this base as a safehouse and she agreed not to touch any of their equipment without supervision, then Sophie would likely trust her in the times to come.

Glad that she could help in some way, Sophie then sent a communication message to a friend currently in the digital world. In time, they would arrive here at the terminal with a decent holosuit for K to use. In a bit over an hour, a young man called Tadao Asahina would arrive in Terminus to give K the holosuit.

K then accepted the offer to stay here. Sophie smiled. "It's fine. Once you get the holosuit, more options would be open for you. You could live and reside in the city as an ordinary human, provided you have a source of income first".

But all of that would change once the central AEGIS headquarters was completed. Then K would be able to stay there in a more comfortable private residence.

"While we're waiting, would you like a basic introduction about living in Tokyo?" Sophie then asked the Shutmon. "We can show you a beginner's guide on the computer if you like. It'll tell you the basics of the customs and laws that you'd be expected to abide by".

If that was fine, Sophie and Lantis would show K a website that would tell her the basics of what she needed to do to live as a human. Basically - don't steal, don't hurt, mind your manners, and don't tread where it is forbidden.

After that was settled, there would be a knock at the door eventually. Lantis went to open it, and standing there was a blond bespectacled young man with a little purple and white digimon wearing a coat and hat.

"Hi, Tadao!" Sophie called, waving at him. Tadao tried to take his eyes away from the tall lion man in front of him.

"Uh... hi" Tadao said awkwardly. "So... this is AEGIS, huh?"

"Yeah, that it is" Sophie confirmed. Tadao nodded, then held up what appeared to be a small hard disk drive.

"I got you the holosuit like you requested" Tadao said. He then noticed K, blinking a bit with astonishment. Two large digimon in the same room, wow, this definitely was an odd setting.

"Thanks so much, Tadao, it means a lot" Sophie said, smiling. "Here's something for your troubles" she gave him a good amount of yen and bits to cover the costs and inconvenience.

"Ah, right, thanks" Tadao answered, deciding to accept the payment. "I, uh, won't stay long, just... have somewhere to be". It was obvious that he was incredibly nervous. Sophie noted this and supposed it would be nice to at least introduce him.

"Aw, no time for a drink?" Sophie asked. "Tadao, I'd like to introduce you to K, she's a friendly digimon we met today". She gently brought him over. While Tadao was nervous, his Offmon partner Logan seemed to be eager to see this Shutmon up close. After all, that would be his Perfect form one day, so he hoped.

"K, this is my friend Tadao Asahina. He's not a part of AEGIS, but he said he'd like to help out how he can" she said. "And this is his partner, Logan".

"Ah... hi" Tadao said, awkwardly waving a little.

"Ah, of course" Lantis remarked when K mentioned that her Inn still needed to be looked after. Still though, a holosuit gave a digimon many possibilities of life on Earth.

K then accepted the introduction about living in Tokyo. Indeed, for Sophie it was all rather neat and organized, sometimes disturbingly so. Then again, she grew up in the suburbs of Omaha, so moving to one of the biggest cities in the world from there was quite the culture shock. But now, she was starting to get used to it 3 years later.

Tadao was indeed a newcomer to digimon. He had only recently met his partner and wasn't quite used to being in a world of digimon. Still though, given that his partner was in fact the son of two other digimon he had to meet them sooner or later. And in fact, this Shutmon reminded him a little of Logan's father - Owen. Only this one seemed a little more lithe and spoke with a higher pitched voice, plus Sophie introduced her as a female. So there did seem to be some little differences between male and female digimon it seemed.

Tadao accepted her handshake, a little alarmed at her claws, but settled down at her politeness. Sophie meanwhile was delighted that they had got that out of the way so easily.

"Thanks" Tadao said. "So, K... I've got you your holosuit if you'd like to try it on". He offered her something about the size and weight of an external hard disc drive. From its use, when activated, it would completely change K's appearance to that of a human - even if in reality she was still a digimon.

Sophie watched, hoping that it wasn't something that K was too uncomfortable with.

The four others in the headquarters watched as K activated the holosuit. It showed a basic female human form. Sophie was glad that Tadao had been savvy enough to select such a form, but of course, the best result would be for K to go to the digital world and try one for herself.

"That's alright, K" Tadao responded, seeming to relax a little as the tall wolfish digimon assumed a more human appearance. Logan meanwhile was amazed at what he had just seen.

"Whoa... holosuits work that well?!" he asked, astonished. "Hey, Tadao, can I get one too?" he asked his partner.

"It would be for the best" Sophie advised the less experienced tamer. "If you keep Logan in this world, it would be better if he was normally seen as a human".

"I guess that's true" Tadao admitted. "Alright, I think I might go back to the digital world and get one then" he concluded. He turned to look at K again.

"Well, it's been nice to meet you, K. I hope we meet again down the track" he said. "I'm... a little new to all this digimon business, but so far I've had a lot of fun with the other people and digimon I've met in the last few weeks. So, maybe one day we can help each other out?" he offered. Sophie was delighted to see this kind of liaison.

"Thanks, Tadao, it's awesome of you to do this" Sophie said to him, then, after the farewell customs, Tadao and Logan departed. Then, Sophie turned to K.

"So, hopefully that's all you need to know" she said. "By the way, our main office is opening soon. If you're around in this area in a few weeks, you'd be invited to attend the opening ceremony". Sophie gave a kind of professional smile. "It'd be great for relations if a digimon attends the opening of the agency that would protect Earth from bad digimon" she reasoned.