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Post by Chester and Shiro on Nov 12, 2018 22:13:00 GMT
"...And as we move onto the arctic exhibit now, we get to more the area when I work. Heh, come on talk to me. How am I doing? Not bad for a substitute tour guide, right?" The truth was that Chester wasn't doing bad at all if he said so himself. He was doing his best to be outgoing, boisterous, personable, and overall enthusiastic about the zoo and everything in it. It helped that it wasn't hard; he had to fake very little of that enthusiasm. "Now, my personal favorite of the animals happens to be around there, but more on that later. That'll be a surprise!" Of course, Chester made sure to repeat all of his banter in English after saying it in Japanese for the sake of the foreign tourists. Those paying close attention may have noticed that Chester's accent when speaking English was very American even though both his family history was indisputably Japanese.
The Tamer-to-be wasn't a tour guide on most days. He was just a keeper who was simultaneously following his passion and squirreling away a little money to continue his education in the field of zoology. However, an unfortunately high number of the guides had called in ill this day, so Chester - a young, bilingual man with a clear passion for the work who knew the zoo in and out - was tapped to fill in a day. After about a year of working there, he had seen enough tours on their way to recite what he knew of the script and improvise what he didn't, even adding a couple of his own flourishes to it. "Pop quiz! Who can tell me how far a polar bear can track a scent?" Chester stopped, turned to face the crowd, and paused for a moment before jokingly scolding one of the group, "Uh-uh, no phones! Play fair, friends." Apparently no one wanted to answer immediately without Google's help, but Chester persevered. "Come on, just shout it out! Best guess!" Boy, this substitute sure was determined, wasn't he? It seemed he was resolute that the tour wouldn't continue unless somebody answered him.
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Nov 12, 2018 22:46:04 GMT
Well, John was now officially a Tamer and lived here in Japan. What was the first thing to do? Well he had gotten back home, made a place in his room for Shepard to stay and now he showed him a bit of the city. He had to be carefully, not only so that people don't notice a digimon, but because his partner was a sentient bomb and carrying around a bomb could go really wrong in public. So Shepard was in his backpack and they followed the visitor group through the zoo, staying a few steps behind the main group, near enough to understand the tour guide, but far enough away so people wouldn't notice John talking to his backpack or Shepard peaking out of it. The tour guide seemed to be quite motivated, trying to make this educational, but at the moment John honestly didn't really care for education, his brain wanted to relay and just stroll through the zoo with his partner Digimon. That the guide repeated everything he said twice, once in Japanese and once in English, didn't catch much more of Johns attention, but a part of his brain followed his words, to compare it with his own language skills. They had paused in front of the Polar bear pen, the motivated guide made a little quiz with the other visitors and John leaned against a neaby post, while Shepard catched a peak of the bears. "They look like some Digimon I know, but much more plain. You think they like it inside there?" John chuckeled about his partners comment on the bears appearence and just shook his head in reply. Judging from how bored and energyless the bears appeared to be at the moment, they didn't seem to enjoy their situation.
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Post by Sakurin on Nov 14, 2018 22:28:05 GMT
Yukiko Armstrong had been in a bit of a career crisis lately. For a lot of her life, she wanted to be a lifeguard, to save people from the sea. But ever since she founded the Digital Field Club and she got to delve deeper into science, and handling animals, she suddenly found herself drawn towards the career of an aquarium worker, someone who takes care of the sea animals. This career, obviously, was quite the opposite to her previous choice. She found herself unsure of which option to choose, and had laid awake at night mulling things over. Her parents, who were surprised by her sudden crisis but tried hard to stay supportive, suggested she go visit the local zoo, and ask if she could try out working at their aquarium to see if it appealed to her after all. A work experience, so to speak. Yukiko agreed that this was a good idea, and went on her way!
...but things weren't off to a good start, as the girl had gotten quite lost in the expansive Zoo area. She stood in front of a map near the polar bear exhibit, scratching her head.
"Where is that aquarium..."
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Post by Chester and Shiro on Nov 15, 2018 1:08:42 GMT
"A mile?" One of the tour group asked. "No, but that's closer than most guesses. Come on, keep it coming."
"Half a mile?"
"Twenty miles!" Chester announced heartily. "Which means that big lug down there knew you were coming before you even got off the highway!" Of course the impromptu tour guide knew it was more complicated than that, but at least the temporarily shocked looks on a few faces seemed to make it all worth it. At that point the young man called out to the bear, "Hey! Lila-girl!" Actually, that worked. The previously bored and lethargic polar bear perked up at the sound of Chester's voice, and she looked up toward him. "Meetcha in the tank, OK?" Almost like the bear understood, she rose up, stretched her limbs, and began to walk toward a man-made diving pool into which she jumped and let herself sink. Of course, Chester knew she didn't really understand him; she just liked him as a keeper and had learned the tour routine, meaning she was already expecting him to pop up down there. Still, he thought it was pretty impressive timing.
"Alright, friends, let's go see Lila up close. After that we'll speed on past the penguins because, unfortunately, they're in quarantine, and head straight for the aquarium!" It sounded like Yukiko, if she chose to follow the tour group, would wind up in the aquarium eventually. Before he started walking again, though, he called out toward a young man with a backpack who seemed to be keeping his distance, "Stay together, guy! I know this tour is wildly overpriced, so you don't wanna get lost, do ya?" Chester had apparently noticed how far this person was keeping away and called him on it.
From this point, Chester led the group down a set of stairs just outside the bear habitat that took them many, many feet down underground. On the group's left side there wasn't much to see but stonework, but on their right stood a wall of glass so tall that it extended all the way up to the surface of Lila's diving pool. There Lila was, swimming very close to the edge of the glass where her superior size to the humans gawking at her became very apparent very quickly. Despite this, Chester seemed to think it was no big deal.
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Nov 15, 2018 11:51:25 GMT
"Yes John, don't fall behind, I want to listen to the tour guide." Shepard teased John, after the guide had told him to keep up and the young Brit bit his lips and followed the group, while his partner snickered inside off the backpack. He slightly knocked his partner on the head, so he stopped laughing and they could follow the group. One of the polar bears now did a little show for the visitors and John could guess that she was used to doing this, still, esspecially the children in the visitor group were super happy about it. They now went underground and left the bears behind, although Bommon still managed to sneak a peak at them, giggling inside about the fact that the bears had returned to apathy the moment the visitors were out of sight. Well except for that one bear that was swimming above them and who they could see through the glass. Had he been ten years younger, John would have also thought that this was the best thing ever, like some of the children. Bommon now actually caught some attention from the other visitors, cause he couldn't stop shaking in the backpack, so John acted like it just was his phone on vibrate (yes very innovative) and gained a few feet of distance with the group while holding his phone to his ear, speaking to nobody. Once he was at a safe distance again, he bonked Bommon on the head again, with time a little bit harder than before, to remind him to stay hidden. Bringing him here had not been one of his great moments, he thought to himself, as he returned to the group.
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Post by Sakurin on Nov 20, 2018 12:48:55 GMT
Yukiko overheard Chester mentioning the Aquarium. Ah, a tour to the Aquarium...? Maybe if she meanders after the group she can finally find it...!
As she followed the group at a distance, her eye caught the movement inside a young man's backpack. Normally, this would just be weird to her...but she, too, once walked around with such a wobbling backpack. A Tamer, perhaps? Maybe she should ask him about it when they have a spare minute...
And lo and behold, here it was, the Aquarium! Now came the hard part: Finding the person in charge to ask them about some test work...a prospect that made Yukiko sweat and panic by just imagining it! She unconsciously put it off by following the group some more, getting to meet the big polar bear, too. She was not too keep on bears, but she had to admit, this girl was quite big!
"Whoa..."
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Post by Chester and Shiro on Nov 21, 2018 21:21:38 GMT
This was the second time that guy with the bag had wandered off, but it was only the first time he had caused such a disruption that he was even distracting the other patrons from a close-up view of an exotic, giant, and (more recently) classified as a species under 'vulnerable' creature. The nerve! Well, Chester could take the disrespect on himself, but he also felt the patrons and animal-lovers who were supporting conservation and enriching young minds deserved better. For that reason, he let the bunch admire the sight of Lila swimming in her pond up close while the your guide himself set off to try and talk some sense into that guy, respectfully as he could, at least. Chester didn't quite make it to John, however, before he tripped over something on the ground he hadn't seen. The thing almost looked like a cellphone, but the screen didn't support touch, nor were there any numbers anywhere on it. A walkie radio? More plausible, but it sure was an expensive-looking one judging by outward appearance alone. Whatever it was, Chester knew it wasn't his (or, at least, he hadn't had it on him previously). This made the zookeeper think that asking John to keep the disruptions down could wait.
The young man, after getting back on his feet, picked up the little machine and checked for a name or identifying marks. There were none. It looked like there was only one way to figure out who it belonged to. Once John had rejoined the group, Chester held the gadget nice and high for everyone to see and called out, "Before we move on, does this belong to anybody? I don't know what it is, but it looks expensive, and I'd hate for you to miss it!"
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Nov 23, 2018 20:12:21 GMT
Johns face turned as white as the Polar Bears fur, once realized what kind of device the guide had stumbled over and was now holding into the air. It was a digivice, this could mean only one thing, and it caused Johns stomach to turn into a knot. Either this guide, Chester was his name, was also a Tamer or a Tamer had lost his or her digivice and was now frantically searching for it. Out of instinct he searched his pockets, before he found the familair shape of his own Digivice and he could breath a little lighter again.
Even Shepard was now silent in the backpack, having realized what was going on. Should they help or stay out of it? They were still completely green Tamers, with no real idea what to do in such a situation. No, they couldn't do much, worst case people would notice Shepard and then everything would go to hell. So John forced himself to calm down and he returned to the group like nothing had happened, not even reacting to the guides questions about the digivices owner. For now they would stay in the back row and watch how the situation would play out. But maybe this was also a chance to meet new Tamer? If somebody actually came forward for the digivice they at least had to make sure that it was a Tamer, but who ? |
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Post by Sakurin on Nov 26, 2018 13:57:48 GMT
Yukiko had not really paid attention to the guide, rather letting her eyes wander towards other tanks in the distance, but the second he raised the device and asked if someone dropped it, she too was in for quite a shock. That was, indeed, a bonafide Digivice. Who could have dropped it? Was it his? This was a precarious situation. And, as with herself so often, she acted before realizing what she did.
"Y-y-yes, it's mine. S-sorry for dropping it."
She figured she kept it to herself, to prevent any potential incident...and then to pull Chester aside as soon as the tour was over. And that other guy, too, just in case.
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Post by Chester and Shiro on Nov 26, 2018 22:40:32 GMT
Chester seemed suspicious of Yukiko's claim to the machine for a moment. She was stuttering, for starters, and didn't say anything as immediately as someone who recognized it really should have. However, no one else laid claim to it in the group either. Given that, Chester supposed he had no choice but to hand the digivice over to the girl who said it was hers. "Alright, there you go, then." He placed it in Yukiko's hand, but as soon as he did the screen turned white, and it buzzed unpleasantly. It was as if the device itself were rebelling against being given up. Oh, well. "Now, did you know we have over 500 total separate species living in our aquarium? Heh, don't worry, we won't go over them all. You might have heard the lion fish is becoming an invasive species out toward the west..."
The tour went on from there with no further digital incident. There was, however, the matter after the fact of Yukiko trying to get a private talk with the keeper afterwards. She did, indeed, manage to get Chester alone. Luckily there was time for final questions allotted after each group, and theirs was apparently not very interested. "Is everything OK?"
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Nov 27, 2018 16:01:51 GMT
Alright, a young woman had claimed the digivice and John let out a relieved sigh, once the group moved on and he got a bit of room. Now, however, came an even more difficult part, he had to get into contact with her, afterall she seemed to be a fellow Tamer. So John and a now suprisingly silent and calm Shepard followed the tour and did their best to not get any more attention. Thankfully, the rest of the tour went on without any more incidents, although John got more nervous and nervous, cause he didn't manage to get into contact with the young woman until they were finished.
He tried to talk to her then, but she just immediately went to the guide and talked with him in private. The rest of the group now scattered into the zoo, so John tried his best to get into hearing range of the conversation, without getting attention from them or anybody else.
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Post by Sakurin on Dec 1, 2018 14:00:16 GMT
Yukiko took a deep breath. Well, she got what she wanted. The guide was now talking to her in private. Now she just had to find the right words... "Ah, w-w-well, you see, I...I kinda lied. This thing...it isn't mine...because...I have my own..."She reached into her pocket, and pulled out her own Digivice. Same model, but vastly different colours:  "This...this is a very special device...I don't know how to explain it properly, but...but I think...it might be -yours-..."She fidgeted, acutely aware of the ridicolousness of what she was saying. Regardless, she carried on. "If...if this had belonged to anyone else, they would have spoken up sooner, this is not exactly something you'd lose and then forget about..." |
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Post by Chester and Shiro on Dec 2, 2018 20:18:48 GMT
Soon as Yukiko admitted the little machine couldn't be hers, Chester reached out and, gently as he could afford to without giving it up, removed the little machine from her hands. His, though? That just seemed absurd. "I know it's not mine. I've never seen it before today, and I don't even know what it does. If it's not yours, though, then I'll leave it in the lost and found." As Chester's hands closed around the machine gain, though, it beeped. Just a small, little beep. The man ignored this.
What he couldn't ignore was the look on Yukiko's face as this whole interaction took place. "You look nervous. What's going on here?" he asked suspiciously. "Whatever game this is, I-" Chester was interrupted when the device beeped again and, seemingly out of its own accord... opened a portal. "What the-!" Right in front of Chester he couldn't see a part of the zoo but, instead... an arctic wasteland in the middle of a blizzard. The place was definitely far in the north and not near any civilization by the look of it. Chester would have liked to call it an illusion except for the fact that he could feel colder by standing near it, and a couple stray snowflakes even landed in his clothes. "Wh-what's going on?"
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Dec 3, 2018 10:44:56 GMT
Well, this was not going very well, understandable to be honest. John had first met Shepard and then found his Digivice, which had made the whole situation a bit easier to understand, well and falling into a river and ending up in the Digital World, that had "helped", too. Speaking about the Digital World, the moment Chester took the Digivice back into his, an actual portal opend, showing some sort of arctic landscape and John could feel how Shepard wiggled inside the backpack, trying to get out, but right now he had other things to worrs about, for example if a dangerous, aggresive or confused digimon would come through the portal right now, in the middle of the zoo, they'd be fucked. Well, or if Chester freaked out or if somebody else walked in on them right now. John turned his head around for moment, but nobody was thankfully nearby, so he focused on the others again, observing them from his hiding spot, while Shepard finally wriggled himself out enough to peak out of the backpack and observe the situation behind John. "Please don't let this go anymore crazy, please." John mumbled to himself, this was for sure the last time he took Shepard to the zoo.
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Post by Sakurin on Dec 7, 2018 15:04:37 GMT
Ah, no good deed goes unpunished, it seems. Yukiko was being scolded by the tour guide over just taking it. At least, to her it sounded like scolding. She looked down as he spoke to her. And then, he mentioned her nervousness. Was she suspicious? She hoped not!
"Ah! N-n-n-no sir, there is no game, honest! I really thought it was yours! Please don't be mad at me!"
The girl was taller than he was, yet she still shrunk away in shame...
...and then, the thing beeped. And opened a portal to an Arctic place. Vindication. Yukiko heaved a sigh of relief. Weird Digi-stuff, she can handle. Social awkwardness? Now that would've killed her!
"Ah, it would appear, I was right. If it was not yours, it would not have done this. The place you see before you...it must be connected to the one who wanted you to have it...the one who chose you."
She tried to reach into the portal.
"Believe me, this will all make sense soon."
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