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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 7, 2018 1:17:46 GMT
Leith couldn't help but snicker as Alan defended his use of testimonials, and neither could Shoutmon. Leith didn't call the young man out on it, but he personally thought, If you're making a point to say other people have praised you, you're still bragging. Leith could tell Shoutmon was going to say what he was thinking out loud, but a stern look from the Tamer managed to keep his digimon quiet. "Shoutmon and I have a little symphonic project with another girl we know, Chiaki. Shoutmon here can play the drums-"
"I can play anything," Shoutmon thought he needed to correct.
"Actually, he's not wrong. I've seen it. He's proficient at every instrument I've seen him touch, something in his programming. We've got drums, too, but it's hard to fill a stage with just three people. We kinda wish we had more" Of course Leith wanted to see what the kid could do before really making an offer, but this was his attempt to drop hints and gauge interest. Still, the young man didn't want to look desperate, so he promptly changed the subject. "Anyway. I guess we have three options now: see what else is around here, send you home... or look for Levi."
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 7, 2018 3:18:07 GMT
He used the words ‘symphonic project.’ Nobody says anything that vague unless they want to be pressed for details. Right? I’m not sure. Should I ask, or...?
Suddenly, Alan thought of a much better question, much more suited to how he operated:
”Did you... want me to ask about your... ‘symphonic project?’ Sorry, I’m terrible at reading people, so I wanted to make sure...”
Before he forgot, he also tried to clear up the other, more obvious question at hand. “Going ‘home’ is out of the question, as a personal preference, and, all spite aside, I think that if Levi wants to come back at any point, he’ll find us. I’m already mostly over it, so I just don’t want to try to reunite or anything unless I’m sure that’s what he wants, too. Otherwise, it’d feel too much like we’re trying to capture him. I want to see what else we can see around here!”
He... still had another thing on his mind, but it would be pretty petty of him to-
“You were laughing, right?”
-to ask.
”Sorry, you can ignore that last part. Not like there isn’t anything here to laugh at, anyway... never mind.”
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 7, 2018 16:53:37 GMT
Suddenly, the metalhead Tamer looked a lot less confident when Alan so bluntly called him out on his ploy. Apparently, that made him not want to talk about it anymore because when Alan asked about the young man's hints. So, instead, he completely ignored the question and instead wanted to talk about what to do next. "I guess I can't really send you home without your little 'friend.' And, no, we weren't laughing at you."
Shoutmon looked to his Tamer, confused. "We weren't?"
"We were not," Leith tried to push his partner. The young man could practically smell the self-loathing by now, and he didn't want to add to it.
Shoutmon didn't get that memo. "I mean, I was. What were you gonna laugh at?"
"Do you know the meaning of the word 'tact?'" Shoutmon shrugged. "Alright, well... here's the issue: I ain't exactly the go-out-and-do-stuff type. My idea of a good time is staying home all day. I really don't know what to really do from here."
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 7, 2018 17:26:21 GMT
Contrary what Leith was likely thinking at the moment, there was a good chance that the musical duo had accidentally handled the situation in the best way possible. The nauseous feeling that had begun to come up on Alan when he suspected he was being made fun of lifted nigh-instantaneously when he noticed that his question had visibly staggered Leith. Alan was not the type to only be made happy by knocking others down a peg; he simply enjoyed finding others' weak points. It reminded him that he wasn't the only one who had them. After that, he knew to leave well enough alone.
Second of all, hearing the two argue over the answer to his last question also put his mind at ease. It meant that they were indeed laughing, but Leith was trying to hold back out of respect for his feelings, as conveyed by his insistence that Shoutmon stop being so blunt. It was a better outcome, in his opinion, than if either both or neither of them had confessed to it.
Lastly, he found Leith's description of how he spends his free time to be completely relatable.
"Oh, I get that. I'm like that, too. But once I'm already out, if I don't feel any rush to get back, I might as well explore. Especially in a big city like this."
Let's see here. What did I do when I wanted to go out but didn't know where I could find any places that I knew would interest me?
The first time he made this decision, it worked out pretty well for him, all things considered. He'd still be moping about on his own, otherwise.
Alan finished his thoughts, this time in his own head, rather than out loud, and suggested, "Does this place have a mall, by any chance?"
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 7, 2018 21:28:28 GMT
Before answering Alan's question, the young man shrugged and teased him in front of him to Shoutmon. "You know, I love how this guy just wants to do all the normal stuff. Floating cities? Underwater civilizations? Freakin- freakin' ancient ruins full of treasures? Nah, this guy just wants to go to the mall."
"What did you wanna do when you came here for the first time again?"
"Leave as fast as possible," Leith apparently could admit with no shame. "But, yeah. Terminus has a mall. Pretty sure it puts Shibuya 104 to shame, too." Leith began to head outside, but before climbing on Raidramon's back, he advised the blue digimon, "Did we say something to make you think you couldn't come in? Because you could."
"There's nothing for me in there," Raidramon responded, fairly successfully hiding his glum about being asked. Apparently neither Leith nor Shoutmon noticed because they then proceeded to mount Raidramon like before, Leith ready to assist the initiate Tamer in boarding once again.
"We're off to the mall next if you're willing. There's gotta be something there for you, right?"
"Now that sounds more like it."
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 8, 2018 0:00:16 GMT
Alan couldn't help but laugh at himself. For a thrill-seeker, he was incredibly easy to entertain. "But Leiiiiiith," cried Alan, in a fake whine, "if we don't do the mall before the treasure hunting, we'll have to do the mall after the treasure hunting!"
Which, now that I say it out loud, makes sense in its own way. We should probably do both before and after.
"Also, I don't know how long it's been since I've eaten. I'm pretty hungry, now that my stomach's unflattened itself."
He walked outside with the others to get back onto Raidramon. Was it just him, or was "there's nothing for me in there" not the words someone would normally use to express disinterest?
Woah, woah, hold on. I can't be the only one who noticed. Maybe... leaving myself out is just a really familiar feeling for me.
Before he could stand there any longer than seemed natural, he allowed Leith to help him onto Raidramon once more.
I know when I get like that, I usually just want someone to notice... yet I'll never tell anyone that I need attention. I'll just expect it, and predictably, not get it. Or maybe someone will ask me if something's wrong, and I'll just deflect it by saying "no." If it ever comes up again, I might say something.
Alan looked back up, hoping nobody had been trying to say anything to him as they rode.
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 8, 2018 19:32:02 GMT
Alright, this time Alan managed to make Leith and Shoutmon laugh for a different reason entirely, laughing with the young initiate instead of at him. "I'm sure there's a food court there, but I can't promise you'll recognize every food you see. I also can't promise some of the more exotic cuisines won't make you want to throw up by just the sight. Still, Terminus knows it's the first point of contact between Shibuya and the rest of this dimension, so there's bound to be something for you and me." Leith suggested that after once more dismounting the black armored digimon and getting Shoutmon to store his gloves in his case. "Speaking of which, there's actually a few specialized selections just for people like us. People with digimon, I mean. They've found ways to modify and upgrade the digivice, add-ons, plugins, and even programs that digimon themselves can load."
"I doubt the kid can afford all that," Shoutmon corrected his Tamer, "He hasn't been here that long."
"I mean, probably not, but there's some useful stuff you he can still get. Jesus, though, there really should be some kind of yen/bits exchange system, shouldn't there?"
"Wouldn't help if ya ain't got any yen!" Shoutmon had to tease his human.
"...shut up."
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 9, 2018 0:00:34 GMT
Alan considered what Leith was saying. "I won't know what kind of stuff we're talking about until we get there, but there is a small chance that you might be surprised at what I'll be willing to try. That is, provided you can assure me something is both A: edible to humans, and B... not super spicy. Food stops being fun when it starts hurting."
He jumped off of Raidramon along with Leith and Shoutmon. "Well, even if I can't afford anything, it'll be nice to know what they've got for sale. I'll keep it in mind when all that treasure-hunting happens." As he was saying this, he took out his wallet and looked inside. "Two forms of currency, and neither of them any useful..."
Making this observation reminded him of a rather big question he had hanging over him. Why did all of the Digimon seem to speak English? Isn't this place connected to Shibuya? Alan wanted to ask Leith to see if he knew the answer, but there were only two possible outcomes: either the answer was very simple, or nobody knew the answer, causing it to bother them for the rest of the day, which seemed pointless to him, given that it wasn't very important right know. Putting these thoughts aside, Alan continued to walk with the others into Terminus Mall.
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 9, 2018 2:55:50 GMT
"Watch it!"
"S-sorry! My bad." The Apemon that Leith had accidentally plowed into seemed satisfied by this sincere show of remorse and submission, so he ended up walking off in a huff instead of making bigger trouble. It was hard not to bump into other digimon given how densely packed the mall was, but it also didn't help that Leith was focused on where he was going instead of where he was. After shaking that off, the young Tamer lead Alan, Shoutmon, and Flamedramon (who had changed form upon dismount) inside a little shop that didn't seem to have a lot of space but also didn't really need it. While a Lunamon was attending to some Gatomon in one corner, Flamon behind the desk heartily greeted those approaching.
"Welcome, guys! What can we do for ya?"
"I think we're just looking this second, actually. Although..." The young man's attention seemed drawn toward a teeny, tiny chip in a glass display case that the Flamon stood behind. "What do you guys think? I still have nightmares about that time Knightmon almost killed me, and frankly I'd rather reduce the chances of that repeating as much as possible."
"Agreed," Flamedramon seemed not only to assent but also try and push Leith into pulling that trigger. Clearly, what ever happened, it brought back some very bad memories very quickly. Leith swallowed and frowned, Flamedramon looked at the ground, and even Shoutmon slumped his shoulders.
"Let me load that analog jammer, I think."
"Sure! That's just 2,000 bits."
"Yeesh! Do ya offer a necessity discount or something?"
Flamon frowned. "I really want to, but I can't really afford to. I'm really sorry."
"Well... lucky you, I can't afford not to buy it." Leith held his digivice toward the Flamon, then, and the same display of bit transfer that happened in the music store happened then. In exchange, Flamon took the digivice, extracted the chip from the case, slipped the chip into the digivice for a few moments, and returned both objects to where he had gotten them.
"All done."
"Thanks. So, Alan, see anything tempting?"
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 9, 2018 6:19:48 GMT
"Hmm..." said Alan as he shifted his gaze to all of the products on display. Luckily, they all came with descriptions. He wouldn't have had the slightest clue what any of these were otherwise. Of course, it didn't matter since he was bro-
"Wooooaaaaah." Alan got a chill down his spine as he could feel, somehow, that in some sort of abstract way, his digivice was trying to get his attention. It didn't vibrate or anything. He took it out of his pocket to find that the display, which had previously outright refused to display anything, now had a symbol and a number on a simple background.
"Look who decided to actually do something. Hold on-" Alan noticed, upon closer inspection, that the symbol matched the one shown on the price tags. He briefly held his digivice towards Leith for him to see. "Seven thousand, six hundred and forty... bits?"
Alright. Now he was browsing with purpose.
He began to move from display to display, reading the product descriptions closely, instinctively humming the Ocarina of Time shop theme, as sort of a subconscious tell for how he seemed to be viewing the situation. Assuming he'd be treated to lunch, or dinner, or whatever meal was appropriate for this time of day, he began putting together a mental list of things that seemed useful, though he wished he had a notepad to keep prices in mind.
There were a lot of products that seemed rather useful, but judging by his current funds, he had settled on four he thought he'd prefer to have for the moment. He decided to run the list by Leith to see if he had any suggestions before acting on it:
"That'd be the... Hardlight Baton, the Digiport Alpha, the Infinistore, and the... EV Suit, leaving me with... one hundred and forty bits! Oh, wait, no, the number just went up by a hundred! Two hundred and forty bits! Anything I should change?"
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 9, 2018 11:58:11 GMT
"It's cool, right?" Leith remarked as he looked at his own screen, now seeing the jammer plugin on its menu. He didn't even look up because he was too busy admiring it. "Money's a bit different here. You literally pay with data, and you generate excess data just by, well, existing. In the digital world, anyway; that's not gonna fly in our capitalist society, heh. But if you-"
"Leith, he's gone." Leith looked up from his screen to discover that, yes, Alan had taking to browsing the shop after he had learned he actually had money.
"...whoops." Leith gulped down his embarrassment. "I'm gonna pretend that didn't happen, and I'm gonna hope you guys do the same."
"God, he's like a kid in the candy store. Hey! Pick something already!"
At least Alan did, eventually, come up with a sort of starter kit for his Tamer career. Leith, however, viewed it with obvious skepticism as the items were listed. "I mean... I guess they're your bits, but I know I never use most of that stuff. I don't see the point in buying a digi-port if we can take the Trailmon for free. I can't understand why you need a Hardlight unless you're about to go mug some rookies."
"Levi," Shoutmon hissed.
"...You know what? Good point. Ignore that one. But, dude, seriously. Really?" The young man crossed his arms and regarded Alan with disapproval. "Why do you need an environment suit? I mean, it makes sense if you've got some medical condition, but otherwise you might as well tough out the heat waves and snow like the rest of us mortals."
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 9, 2018 14:47:35 GMT
"Okay, okay," admitted Alan, "I see your point about the EV Suit; it was just a nice thought. But, dude. You can't tell me that the Digiport isn't useful. Yeah, I missed the ride on the Trailmon, and I'll probably take it as often as possible, but there are still uses! What if I'm trapped? There's no rule saying I 'can't use the Digiport in dungeons,' right? Or what if I'm literally anywhere in the human world but Shibuya? If I'm not misreading this description, I can use this to go to Terminus from anywhere, take the Trailmon to Shibuya, do what I want there, go back to Terminus, and port home from there!" Alan looked around the room again. "Plus, I get the impression that this world is dangerous enough that, I dunno, they consider it necessary to sell prosthetic limbs over-the-counter at surprisingly low prices, so a five-minute get away could save my life more than once."
"Can I assume you've no qualms with my baton or infinistore purchases? That leaves me with one thousand, eight hundred and forty... so tell me: this seems like it might be a sensitive topic for you, but that's exactly why it's extremely important that I ask: do you recommend this 'analog jammer?' If so, do you suppose we should chat until I can afford that one, too? This number seems to go up every time I finish a thought, after all."
*blip*
"Oh, there it goes again! We just need one more tick."
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 9, 2018 22:11:25 GMT
Leith and Shoutmon both had to snort in amusement at Alan's reaction to earning money and just how easy it was. "I think you'll find the bits don't add up as fast as you'd like them to. But the world isn't really that dangerous."
"Except when an Elecmon stole the power from Shibuya 104."
"Except that."
"What about that Niko chick?"
"Also that."
"Can we talk about the woods when those knights almost-"
"Absolutely not. Look, the point is, they're your bits. You do you. But we know how we want to spend ours, and you asked for my opinion. Then you got it. But I'm with you on the hardlight; I can definitely think of one time when I would have wanted it." Leith glanced at Shoutmon. "...Two times."
"Hey!"
"And we use an Infiniti-store to carry around all our music gear. On the analog jammer..." The humor in the atmosphere seemed to disappear again. Leith crossed his arms and broke eye contact. "That guy Adrian," he mumbled, "We were there to help him out, but that ass didn't mention what kind of danger was around until after he'd roped us in. Three ultimate level digimon ambushed us-"
"-That's two steps below our highest level," Veemon added.
"-and the last one standing... he fought dirty. Dirtier, I mean." Eye contact was restored again, but it was a tough struggle for the young man to maintain it. He was starting to breathe more heavily and through his mouth, too, to get more oxygen to his heart, which was speeding up. "I... I think he knew he was almost beaten. That was the first and only time Veemon and Shoutmon digivolved that far. It might have been the most danger I was ever in at any time in my life. When he knew he was almost beaten, he..." Apparently, Leith had to compose himself again, but that didn't stop his voice from breaking when he spoke again. His steady, easygoing facade was falling away. "He threw his s-sword right at m-m-me. It was g-gonna split my skull like a-!" While such similes normally seemed to roll off the tongue for the young man, he choked up this time. At this point the only thing stopping him from breaking down and crying on the shop floor was the social aspect.
Apparently, there was a similar effect on Flamedramon. The blue digimon who seemed to be mostly smiles couldn't really look at anyone either, except his Tamer out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe you should go to the bathroom," he softly suggested.
"No! I'm good,"
Veemon frowned. "We're going to the bathroom." That was both information to Alan and a command to Leith. This time, the young man reluctantly obeyed, though in truth he was secretly grateful for the interference.
As they walked away, Shoutmon glumly illuminated, "Leith was less than a second away from losing the only life humans have, and we couldn't do a thing about it. They're both pretty shaken up about it. Me? I guess I'm just happy with the end result."
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 9, 2018 23:57:54 GMT
Alan couldn't really do anything but watch and listen as this scene unfolded. It was a no-brainer that it had been a colossally-traumatizing experience for everyone involved, and Alan was the one who made him bring it up again. Regardless, even someone as quick to blame himself as Alan could tell that no one here was mad at him. It was a necessary thing to ask. Seeing how Leith had reacted to the question was, all emotions aside, informative.
Analog Jammer it is. Add that one to the list.
Alan stared straight ahead, maintaining a solemn expression to signal that he understood and respected the implications of what had just happened. I still need sixty more bits before I can afford the analog jammer on top of everything else. If I try to pass the time, it should happen sooner or later. He turned to Shoutmon.
"Hey... would you be able to help me make my first purchase with bits once I get another hundred? I'm not entirely sure how it's done, and... I think it's for the best I get this over with sooner than later, before Leith comes back."
With that, he checked the number on his digivice. It remained below eight thousand. He'd have to try to pass the time for just a little longer. He needed something to say.
Actually, Alan did have a question about the last thing Shoutmon had said to him. It wasn't exactly what he'd call "small talk," but the topic had piqued his interest more than he would let on:
"'The only life humans have...'" he said, marking the specific phrase to which he was reacting. "Out of curiosity, how many do you get?"
He had already noticed that he now had his desired number of bits. This came first.
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Oct 10, 2018 23:38:39 GMT
"Hm? Oh, you... no one told you that part?" Uh-oh. Awkward. It probably showed in Shoutmon's nonverbal language just how embarrassed he was right about then. Lucky him, he wasn't the one who had to talk about digital life and death with Leith, but apparently he wasn't getting out of that conversation forever. He swallowed a lump in his throat. His lips pursed. His body stiffened a little. "So, the beginning is still kinda similar, I guess. Mommy-digi and Daddy-digi love each other very much and all that crap. After that it's different, though. Humans only get one chance, Leith said. That's... that's, like really, really sad. I can't even joke about it, man. But we don't stay... gone." Shoutmon's old loudmouth, hotheaded demeanor seemed gone now. Between Leith's state and the subject (he was clearly having trouble dealing with the idea of permanent death), Shoutmon lost his cool. "Our data doesn't get deleted. It gets reconfigured back into a digiegg. Then we hatch as new fresh digimon, usually without any memory, and... well, start over."
A subject change sounded good right about then. "Payin' ain't hard... believe me. I done a little too much of it a couple times! You just kinda want to transfer bits, and then it just happens. At least if the other person wants 'em."
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