The New and the Old [Haru - DNA Hunt]

Honestly, the Mikemon had intended to spend most of the day setting up his new office. As the 'fully employed' member of the Digital Field Club, it always felt like Mikemon was at least one click behind on the direct goings-on of the club. Sure, he always hit meetings on time, but for sudden events - and even the christening of the very building he had helped to organize - the feline was either late or absent. Hopefully, with a more central space to call his own and a portal to travel here whenever he needed to, he'd be able to be more on hand.

Of course, Dr. Mikemon wasn't the only one late on appointments! Hopefully the doc hadn't been rubbing off on her as a roommate, but he was supposed to have seen Tawna upwards of a week ago. But between Tawna's little break in the Digital World and the whole Shakamon incident - and really, Mikemon couldn't blame both of them needing space after that - it seemed like it was about to fall by the wayside. Well, if they were both going to be using the same base, then -

Ah, there it was. His ear twitched as he heard a knock at the door: "Yo, c'mon in!" As it opened, he turned to see Haru, Tawna, and a tray of milkshakes brought over from the human world! He gave a smirk at the last thing, giving a nod to both Tawna and the tamer. "Heh. No worries - it does seem like you've had a good handle on things. And hello to you." Mikemon gave a nod to Tawna.

"Well, if you want, we can just go ahead and get that out of the way? Let's, um..." He took a look over his shoulder, back to the unpacked boxes. "Yeah, let's use the hallway." Just in case, right?

First things first: he drew that crystal ball into his hand, giving his eyes a few moments to adjust to the lens. "Hope you don't mind this - my mind's been running a mile a minute all morning just organizing this whole space. But might as well knock this out so we can settle in later, right?" And with that reasoning, he gave a nod to Tawna:

"I need you to take whatever form you need, and bring Arkadimon's data to the front. I want to check the integration ratio, first."

"Let's be honest, bribing me with sweets to forget the tardiness is a pretty good strategy. Thanks, by the way - I'll go with the vanilla." Chocolate never really sat well with him - and he was more a soda cat, anyway - but he wasn't going to turn his nose at a free drink! Still, that was for a few minutes down the line - right now, Mikemon wanted to wrap up what he viewed as a loose end.

And that was finally setting the lid on this Arkadimon issue. Seeing Tawna's expression tense and that question asked, Mikemon shook his head: "The data you have is no more dangerous than any other Arkadimon, and unlike something 'malignant', its unable to spread from Digimon to Digimon without loading it. But yes, any form will do."

'Any form', as it turned out, was Tawna's bread-and-butter: MeiCrackmon's vicious form. Mikemon seemed fine with it, stepping back enough for the Digimon to have the room to change forms - and soon enough, one of those claws turned into an example of Arkadimon's tentacle. Carefully, the feline observed from a short distance, and gave a nod. "That's it. Hm..." Drawing that orb to his hand, he closed one eye, staring directly at the tendril itself - especially the part where it met the 'rest' of her arm. "Relative efficiency of absorption... seventy-three percent, give or take. You should be able to continue using this technique at your leisure, though note that keeping the tendrils out for minutes at a time will eventually cause your surface data to burn."

Simple enough, right? The feline let out a calm breath: "Well, that's what I would test for any Digimon loading. As for Arkadimon?" He stepped back again - and motioned for Haru to move behind him.

"I need you to build up as much energy as possible," the cat peered through the glass sphere, "As if you were building energy to Digivolve. Go as far as you think you can, without actually going to the next form. Think you can manage?"

Right, the numbers probably meant little to Haru - and Tawna, to be perfectly honest. Hearing Haru's reasonable question and Tawna's follow-up, Mikemon gave a nod. "If the acclimation rate is too low, it means that it mostly ended up fading into the background data of the Digimon - and if its too high, that means that the absorbed data has the potential to take over or harm the host. As a rule of thumb, the 'sweet' range a doctor looks for is between fifty and eighty percent. Even then, its impossible to fully use a foreign source of data."

That said, Tawna's explanation was quite adequate as to give why a higher number would be risky. "It's a tricky subject. I've dealt with a lot of first-time cases where the results went wrong. Anyway..." Onto the next - and far more interesting - part of the diagnosis.

Just how long could Tawna build up energy before she flipped over to her mega form? The MeiCrackmon understood the direction, and as soon as Mikemon felt that energy start to well, the cat peered through the orb, keeping a metal timer in his head. Naturally, Tawna's process drew energy from Haru as well, even the light of her Digivice starting to glow from the process. It took Tawna a moment to realize just how tricky this was, but for at least a little while, she managed to maintain -

Whoops, strike that! Taking a step back to brace himself - and possibly even hearing Haru fall backwards behind him - the Mikemon blinked, now looking towards Tawna's mega form. Perhaps this was the first time that Tawna seemed so disappointed to be in it, the poor mega crossing her arms as she tried to relax in the hall.

"Twelve seconds? Honestly," the cat started, "that's a better sign than I was expecting." And now for the part Tawna probably didn't know: "Arkadimon are 'Digimon of fluid form' - they maintain the same name and species traits from Fresh to Mega, and its a benefit that only that species can properly take advantage of. Loading that trait into another Digimon weakens the 'barrier threshold' a Digimon has when they change forms. It doesn't mean you need less energy to transform, but it means that it takes less 'intent' to take on your higher and lower forms. That said, hang there for a second."

The cat spun the crystal ball in his hand, peering into it as he circled around to Tawna's side. It had been a while since he'd taken a look into the data of anything in the Meicoomon family, but he was really just taking a quick glance. He gave a blink, seeing 'something', before giving a shrug. "Hm. You'll be fine, though. The damage isn't bad enough that you'll randomly change forms. Actually, just caught a glimpse of something else."

What was it - an altercation in her data? A glitch she hadn't seen? Vast amounts of consumed data?

"Your data type in mega's remarkably similar to my own."

... Wait, what, that was it? The cat chuckled: "Wouldn't guess it just be looking, but it just is. Virus, Beast, and BB+ subtype. Alright, you can power down now if ya want."

The results might have been frustrating, but at the very least, Tawna wasn't completely in the rough with Arkadimon's added data. As both Haru and the Raguelmon mused over the consequences, Dr. Mikemon returned a nod. "My only concern here was to see if Tawna needed any sort of treatment to hold the data back. As it stands, she'll be fine as is." The prior concern had left the doctor's voice - and at Tawna's comment at technical jargon, he just gave a laugh.

"Hah, no concerns there: it's my job to know the jargon!" He couldn't expect the others in the club to know nearly as much about data and digital medicine as he did! Fortunately, there was little issue with Tawna returning to her natural state as a Meicoomon - and with a tilt of his head, he invited the two back into his office. No point letting those shakes go to waste, right? Plucking one out of the drink container - and giving a quick glance at the lid to confirm it was, indeed, vanilla, he took a sip. His ear twitched at Haru's follow-up.

What did those letters mean? The cat actually gave an embarrassed blush! "Er... right, technical jargon!" He chuckled, giving a nod to the tamer's guess. "It's sort of like blood type, though there's generally no harm in cross-contaminating data on our side. Its why loading Digimon works, after all." Let's see... how would he explain it? "The first letter largely relates to family. Mizu would be an 'A' for 'Aquatic'; Tawna and I are 'B' for 'Beast'; Dio would be an 'I' for Demon. 'D' stands for 'Dragon', 'P' for 'Plant', and 'M' for 'Machine'." It was a bit technical, but that much would be easy enough to follow.

"The second is a little tricky, and its something one can only see with code, but its essentially one of those same letters picked at random. It can sometimes give a hint at secondary Digivolution lines, but its not a hundred percent. The third mark, 'plus' or 'minus', is actually just the direction our Digital Cores spin. In this case, Tawna's BB+, and I'm BB-."

That would likely satisfy Haru's curiosity, but did that mean much, in the end? Actually, it did: taking another sip of his milkshake, the Mikemon flicked at the straw. "Curious to say, but that specific set of data makes us potential DNA partners." The cat's tone was matter-of-fact at this point, simply stating that as an interesting fact!

What Tawna said was true - Meicoomon, in addition to the D-Reaper and Arkadimon himself - were on Mikemon's short list for 'dangerous and unstable data'. The fact that Tawna was a Meicoomon likely mitigated the worst of the damage that the abhorrent data could have caused. In fact, she was quick to point out that incident in the Dark Area - the Meicoomon who made use of the D-Reaper itself.

Unsurprisingly, this brought a bit of discomfort to the conversation, though Mikemon was quick to add his own take: "Honestly, I'll need to see if Carlos managed to get any data on that with the scanner. If there's something there that'll help D-Reaper victims, I want to make use of it." Still, it was definitely a sore subject, and as Haru countered, the doctor skirted himself away from the topic. After all, Tawna was becoming more and more aware of the elephant in the room.

That her species consisted of dangerous monsters. That they were threats the world had to deal with.

Tawna's own tone was near neutral, but it pushed the room to a small bit of silence, Mikemon quietly taking another sip from his milkshake. The cat wanted to say something right then, but honestly, he couldn't come up with anything - and as Haru changed the topic, Mikemon gave a nod, latching onto the change. "Of course - the first letter has the most flexibility, but every bit can change between forms." That much was obvious - and as for the bit about a DNA form between Tawna and Mikemon?

Well, 'yes and no'. Tawna was quick to bring up her point, and the Mikemon gave a shrug: "Sorry to say, but its close to the same case for me. You've seen how I become 'mega', of course: I barely change shape and my data structure stays mostly the same. I'm honestly unsure if I'm even capable of fusing with this form at all." Past that, he wasn't about to press Tawna to try something she didn't want to do - so once more, the cat changed the topic.

"Medical stuff aside - I hardly believe we managed to snap up this place. Sure, real estate's cheap out in the Network Plains, but a... a..." the cat set down his drink, taking a moment to sneeze into his glove. "... A mobile base?" He sniffed, shaking his head. "Between this and the scanner, Ayumi's got quite the head on her. Where did you end up parking yourselves in here?"

Yes, the D-Reaper Meicoomon was a debacle all its own, wasn't it? Haru's concern was well warranted, the doctor mulling the thought a bit in his head. "It's definitely a bit concerning that someone would risk taking that data. As for who, well, thankfully Xros Generals are few and far between - though I really only know his name. 'Denryu'."

One could only speculate, at this point, what the general's intentions were, but at the very least, his partner seemed willing to leave Carlos and the rest alone. Tawna's discomfort to the whole situation could be felt brimming in the room (and who could blame her?), but it was little more than a curiosity at this point. Would this end up biting them in the butt? Maybe!

But for now, and with the topic of the two cats being potential DNA partners behind them, the conversation moved onto a more casual tone! "Well, I helped out a bit for it - but I would have never thought of this design." Hopping up onto the windowsill, he took a look off to the distance, smiling as he looked off to the distance. His ear twitched as Haru started to speak about her own quarters - what she had brought over, the Black Lunamon that would be stopping by, and Tawna's slight discomfort with the mercenary all slipped into his listening ear...

... And slipped, right back out the other. To be honest, Mikemon hadn't comprehended a single word she had just said, an uncharacteristic silence filling the air around him. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, the doctor seemed 'spaced out' for a moment... that, or he was really focused on that tree off on the distance.

"Uh, yeah..." Passing off that as an answer to the comment, the doctor shook his head, and turned to face the tamer. "Sorry, I just remembered something - guess all this stuff with the base has thrown off my schedule for a bit. Going to have to catch a train back to Terminus - I'll be back around here in say, three hours?" His tone rolled well enough, as the cat bounced off the windowsill - past the milkshake on the desk - and out towards the door of his office.

"I'll catch ya both later, alright?" He gave a pause, before muttering a word that Haru might note that the doctor had never said before:

"Goodbye."