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Post by Chester and Shiro on Dec 8, 2018 17:38:56 GMT
Yukiko's superior size combined with the way she seemed to shrivel like an underwatered plant under pressure was a rather odd sight, but in Chester's case it just served to make him even more suspicious. Of course, the zookeeper had more important things to worry about in a moment... like frostbite. "What are you talking about? What is this thing? Who wanted me to have this... portal device? Who 'chose' me?'" The urgency in Chester's voice was beginning to rise, nothing like his earlier cool and easygoing demeanor when guiding the tour. "Is it safe to put your hand in-?"
No, it was not. No one could have known, though, until it happened: from out of sight, something attempted to bite Yukiko's hand. The only warning was the sound of padding through the snow almost inaudible over the sounds of wind. When in range, the beast pounced an went for it. Whether the 'animal' actually got his jaws around her or not, he'd switch targets soon as he caught sight of Chester. That made him jump through the portal and face Chester head-on, growling low and baring teeth. This was when the creature became plainly visible.
The creature walked on all fours and was about as verbal as the average bear... though about the size of a young adolescent. Nevertheless, it was still dangerous if those claws and teeth meant anything. And yet, despite that, Chester, kept nice an calm as he slowly backed away. At first this looked like courage, but then Chester explained himself in a voice low both in pitch and volume. "Bears don't usually eat people, which means their aggression is almost always fear-based. Give him space; don't let him think you're a threat." Despite the red face-paint, Chester seemed to be treating the digimon like a usual bear, though in his defense it sure was acting like one the way it crept forward as he backed up.
Naturally, this caused the rest of the humans who could see the animal to flee.
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Dec 9, 2018 20:46:27 GMT
"Shit, shit, shit, shit." John mumbled to himself, as Shepard finally managed to wriggle himself out of the backpack. The little digimon spotted the "polar-bear" Bearmon and without a second thought, he jumped forward, while he a ray of light from Johns digivice engulfed him. A moment later, Shepard had digivolved to Commandramon and now put himself between the other Digimon and Chester. "Alright buddy, keep this cool, nobody needs to get hurt, calm down and everything will be peachy." Shepard said in a cool voice, with the tiniest bit of threat in it. Maybe this Digimon was supposed to be Chesters partner, maybe it was also just a random and scared Digimon, but Shepard couldn't take any chances with this. After getting over the shock, John now wished to have Commandramons gun, cause suicide seemed more fun than fixing this mess. Shepard himself hadn't raised his rifle yet, not to show any aggresion towards the newcomer, but he was ready to aim and fire at the stranger within a blink. He didn't want to fight, but would if the bear was aggresive, because no matter what Chester thought, this was no normal bear.
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Post by Sakurin on Dec 10, 2018 11:47:02 GMT
Yukiko was ready to step in and protect Chester if she had to, but his words, and calm tone, quickly convinced her that he knew what he was doing. She had read up on animal behaviour prior to her coming here to apply for that work experience, after all.
Her attention was quickly drawn to the sudden appearance of Commandramon. It seems that this guy was a Tamer, too. Now Yukiko was kind of glad that Mizu wasn't here. Commandramon tended to make her unreasonably angry.
Without fear, Yukiko stepped closer to Commandramon, and stood in front of him.
"I believe this man knows what he is doing. If this truly is his partner, then agitating the bear is the worst thing we could do. Please, lower the gun, and let him work it out. If his life is in danger, then you can attack."
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Post by Chester and Shiro on Dec 11, 2018 21:49:05 GMT
Yukiko had the good sense to heed the self-proclaimed bear expert's advice, but, unfortunately, the Englishman did not. He did, however, apparently have a very good method of defense that didn't involve backing away and looking passive, but the appearance of another hostile just seemed to rile the bear up even further by his barks and body language.
An announcement over zoo-wide loudspeakers played: "Attention all zoo patrons: due to an escaped animal, we'd like to ask all guests to evacuate the premises in a calm an orderly fashion. There is no immediate danger, but as a safety precaution we've locked down the area between arctic exhibit and the aquarium. Please remain calm and proceed to the nearest exit."
"OK, this is good. We just need to stay safe long enough for trained security to come and sedate the animal." Finally, with the barrier between himself and the bear, Chester was able to step back without being followed further. "The only question is-" Suddenly, Chester grabbed by the collar with one hand and pulled him in close while the other hand pointed at Shepherd best he could while the digivice was still in it. "What the heck is that?" Finally, he had lost his cool.
It was at this point that the bear seemed to notice the ice-blue D-3 in Chester's hand, at least from the way his eyes momentarily made contact with it. It was just a short glance, though, after which he began to zero in on Shepherd again. The polar bear took off running in a half-circle around the armed dragon but came to a stop when the bear got between the humans and Shepherd. However, he faced Shepherd, not the humans.
Nonetheless this was still a very poor position to be in, so Chester tried to side step and get out of the way. The problem was that as he moved, the Bearmon noticed and followed him, like it was trying to insert itself in between the unwitting Tamer and the reptilian digimon. "Look, you... lizard. You talk? Can you understand me? D-don't shoot!" True, Chester didn't believe in killing animals for being animals, but the bigger reason he didn't want Shepherd to shoot was because the bear seemed determined to stay in front of Chester and, therefore, keep him in the line of fire.
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Dec 11, 2018 22:13:25 GMT
Shepard didn't move from the spot, his eyes still focused on the growling Bearmon. He didn't notice the talk about approaching security, he was laser focused on the fellow Digimon, like he always was in stressed or tense situation. John however wanted to pack his Digimon into his backpack and just run off, before any security found him and his partner. The Bearmon now moved, slowly, putting itself between Chester and Shepard, after the Digimon had spotted the Digivice. For a few moments, the gears were clocking in Shepards head and he seemed to realize what was going on. A small grin formed on the Dragon soldiers face, he presented his weapon, the barrel facing up in the air, as he showed how he secured the weapons lock and then removed the magazine from the Assault rifle. There was still round left in the weapons chamber, but Bearmon probably didn't knew that, so "officially" Shepard had just unarmed himself. "Don't worry buddy, I don't want to hurt either you..." he made a short pause and took a deep breath, before going on " or your partner there.".
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Post by Sakurin on Dec 11, 2018 22:17:30 GMT
Yukiko stood her ground, even if it turned out wholly unnecessary. Chester had full control over the situation, and Shepard seemed to stand down after the bear Digimon had noticed the Digivice. Security might be arriving, but at least the situation was defused.
...that was when it dawned on Yukiko that the bear had tried to bite her. She had almost nonchalantly avoided the attack. Even at a Rookie level, a Digimon could serverely harm a human. This made her giggle nervously.
"Hahahahaha, guys, I feel like we should maybe talk this out somewhere else. I can explain evcerything to the guide here but I doubt the security folk would believe me too."
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Post by Chester and Shiro on Dec 12, 2018 0:31:12 GMT
The dragon unloading his rifle was something of a relief to Chester, but that action alone had no effect on the IceBearmon. Why? Because, frankly, he'd never seen a weapon like that before and had no idea how it worked. He was, however, intuitive enough to understand that the lizard was standing down. So, rather than pouncing, he backed up toward Chester, who was just too stunned at this point to really move anymore.
The bear never broke eye contact with Shepherd, but he did hold his nose uncomfortably close by Chester's legs and started sniffing him. OK... This is good. Right? He's curious. He's acting more scared than hostile, but those are both about equally dangerous in the end. Wouldn't sniff something he wanted to fight or eat, though. The keeper stood frozen in place as the bear's snout inspected Chester all over, even rearing up on two legs to get under his chin. By this point it was clear this was, whatever else it could have been, not an adolescent bear. Chester tried slowly bringing his new toy closer to the creature's muzzle, and the bear sniffed that, too. As he did, the screen lit bright white for a moment before going blank again. What the...?
IceBearmon made nothing of that display, though. He seemed to take that as the conclusion of his inspection, at which point he dropped back to all fours and just passively stared up at Chester. The young man wasn't as calm as the IceBearmon was, though. "OK, OK. Look... follow me." The keeper thought that it was going to be a pain trying to get the creature to follow him, but it turned out that it was able to take that simple verbal command. Either that, or it understood the context of the situation. Either way, that's not something a wild animal should be able to do... Chester ended up leading the quintet into a storage shed, though it was rather claustrophobic given how much space was taken up by bags of food.
While the bear began sniff-inspecting the rest of the people around him, followed by the food bags, Chester demanded, "Don't wait for me to ask the right questions. Explain it. Everything."
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Dec 12, 2018 12:05:45 GMT
"Thank you baby-Jesus." John mumbled to himself, the situation seemed to relax a little, after Shepard had actually disarmed himself the Bearmon had relaxed and now Chester guided it away, after it had sniffed him and the digivice. They were now stuffed into a rather small shed and finally, Chester asked him what was actually going on. "Ok, first, this bear is not a normal bear, it's a Digimon, just like my partner Shepard here. You have a digivice in your hand, considering how it reacted, it is probably yours. It opened a portal to the Digital World, the home of the Digimon. Digimon are actually intelligent, some more, some less." John paused for moment, looking at Shepard, who had now returned to his normal dorkness and just emulated the Icebearmons sniffing of the bags. " I am not one hundred percent sure, but this Icebearmon, yes I know very innovative name, seems to like you and well judging from the Digivice, is probably your partner." Shepard now joined in the explanation and pocked Icebearmon. "Yes, I can talk, most Digimon can. Not sure if this fella is playing dumb or just can't talk." he continued to pocke the other Rookie, hoping to get a reaction out of the fluffy white ball of fur.
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Post by Sakurin on Dec 12, 2018 19:44:33 GMT
Once they were in the safety of the storage shed, Yukiko relaxed a bit. John was giving a basic explanation while she gathered her bearings. She nodded at it.
"Y-yes, thank you, John, that was a good start."
Then she took a deep breath.
"Well, let me start by introducing myself as Yukiko Armstrong, leader of the Digital Field Club, the foremost research facility of the Digital World. As John said, Digimon are living, thinking beings, which reside in a dimension adjacent to ours, the so-called Digital World. This world is built from the Data of our world, which has taken on a life of its own, akin to how bacteria grow on things we humans leave behind. A Digimon is a living, breathing organism, whose DNA is made up of data. They have mass, shape and a heart, and their intelligence ranges from that of a wild animal to that of a supergenius. Their central physical unit is a Digicore, every Digimon has one. And in this Digicore is their soul. This soul can bond to a human's."
She moved her finger to the bridge of her nose, pushing up an imaginary pair of glasses. She had picked up the habit from Ayumi.
"Some Digimon are born with a soul that is bound to a human's, a process which I do not fully understand yet. But fact is, this Digimon appears to have "chosen" the human, as a partner. A bond is built, akin to the bond between twins. You have heard of the mythical bond that twins share, right? Well, at any rate, this Digimon has chosen -you- as their Partner, as the human they are destined to meet and aid. Such a Digimon is a Partner. This thing you hold, the Digivice, is proof of that bond. When a Digimon has chosen you as their partner, you will obtain such a Digivice. When exactly that happens, not even I know. But it seems yours has come to you."
She looked at Chester.
"I am aware it sounds like I am speaking a lot of nonsense, but the fact that you are holding a Digivice and the fact that this bear is here and has calmed down when he saw it proves that it's reality."
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Post by Chester and Shiro on Dec 14, 2018 0:46:30 GMT
This was... a lot to deal with at once. But Chester already had a neurological strategy for absorbing large amounts of information. He was a recent college graduate, after all. His strategy was to absorb things one by one in order of priority sub-sorted by sequence. Priority one: "Look, I don't want to criticize you, talking lizard with a machine gun, but that seems like a bad ide-" For better or for worse, Shepard got a reaction just like he wanted. The IceBearmon was getting poked while scavenging for a snack and didn't appreciate that, so Shepard's punishment was a warning snap. His jaws didn't close around the soldier's hand, but it came threateningly close threateningly quickly.
Priority two: "OK, look, I actually understand all the words you're saying, all the sentences they make, and all the ideas behind those sentences. I thought that would be the problem, but actually that's not the problem. The problem is those words, sentences, and ideas are completely insane! I mean... AI, that's one thing, but you're talking about digital data taking a physical form. I want to say that's impossible but..." He couldn't. The results of that process were right there. "...I'm relieved there's someone scientifically literate to explain it to me, but wow. So you make it sound like you not only get it, but there's really already some science about it? I just... I'm speechless. How does a reptile speak plain human languages if reptiles shouldn't have the right oral motor muscles or vocal cords? What are the physics that allow for such controlled interdimensional travel? How on Earth can data translate into physical form? Science is my major, zoology, but this is just indescribable."
That left priority three. Chester needed a breath. "Alright. Digimon partner with humans. OK, again, nonsensical, but the evidence is indisputable. Fine. Let's take the assumption that this magical partnership bonds me and that thing. The question, then, is-" Chester greatly exaggerated his gesture toward the bear that was staring down Shepard. "What the heck do I do with an alien bear?"
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Dec 17, 2018 19:43:10 GMT
"Well, yeah it is very hard to believe, I probably would have taken far longer, had it not been for my partner dragging me into the Digital World the moment we met." John looked at his oblivious partner for a moment, how was now stealing some of the animal food, unless it was literal poo, Shepard would probably eat anything. "If you want to go to the Digital World, Shibuya Train Terminal is the best way to. With your digivice, you should be able to get through and then get to Terminus City. To be honest, I got no idea what the science behind all of this is and yes, most Digimon, not matter their form, can talk in some way." Shepard now joined the conversation again and opened his maw wide, showing the inside of his mouth and his numerous sharp teeth.
"You can look at my vocal cords, if you want to." Shepard offered, with his mouth still opened, so he spitted around. John only sighed, but well maybe Shepards goofiness could be a good way to actually introduce people to digimon. But hell, Shepard needed to brush his teeth more often, his breath was almost undbearable.
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Post by Sakurin on Dec 18, 2018 19:06:38 GMT
Yukiko nodded at John's further explanation.
"Yes, the connecting tunnel is beneath Shibuya, we could take you there if you want to."
She pushed imaginary glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"There are still a lot of questions open. The How is a big one. We could prove they are alive, but how Data managed to spawn lifeforms is still being explored. As for what to do with your partner..."
She looked over to IceBearmon.
"That is up to you, really. You should try and bond with him, form a friendship, and he will protect you. He can accompany you when you explore, and maybe even help you discover new things about yourself."
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Post by Chester and Shiro on Dec 19, 2018 0:29:27 GMT
"Are you seriously expecting me to believe that one can accomplish interdimensional travel to a plane comprised entirely of data through a train ride?" The incredulity of that claim was not eased by Shepard's classless behavior. He would have liked to just clamp that muzzle back shut with his own two hands, but it was still a giant sharp-toothed lizard with a gun. "...please close your mouth and stop stealing zoo property. You don't want to know how much some of that food costs." Unfortunately, the IceBearmon seized on the bucket of chum that Shepard had just abandoned. "Hey, come on!" But the IceBearmon growled, warning him not to get between the polar digimon and a meal. Chester sighed and groaned, "I'm so fired."
At least one of these four strangers seemed to have her head on straight, though constantly fiddling with imaginary glasses didn't make her look much more sane than the rest. Still, "Look, what is this? A 'bond, he'll protect me.' You're talking like this is something out of the Inheritance books or..." Apparently he didn't know how to finish that statement. On the other hand, he was a little morbidly curious about the animal. After all, if it actually disliked him, why was it so defensive earlier? Why wasn't it doing anyone harm now? Polar bears are not social animals, after all. So, driven by that curiosity, Chester slowly, but loudly - he wanted the animal to know what he was up to and avoid surprise - approached it anyway.
The bear didn't react until Chester tried to kneel down beside it. It growled at him another warning not to interrupt his meal. "Easy boy," the young man tried to coax. He started to hold his arm out, ever ready to pull it back, but slowly advancing until his hand was resting on the creature's shoulder. It didn't give any indication it enjoyed this contact, but the IceBearmon also didn't protest. "...well I guess that's a start on the bond thing." With his free hand he held his phone out toward the others. "OK here's what's gonna happen: both of you please put your numbers in here. I'm gonna tell my boss I'm too sick to work the rest of the day and... I dunno, try to sneak this thing out of here. Then you can make a little more sense." After reconsidering it, though, he moved his hand more toward Yukiko. "On second thought, just you. The lizard freaks me out."
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john
Rookie
Posts: 64
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Post by john on Dec 19, 2018 12:05:38 GMT
Shepard was shocked, even if he wanted to, he couldn't close his maw out of shock. Why didn't Chester like him, what had he done to be called a strange lizard, yes he was oblivious to this kinda stuff. Finally, he lowered his head and let his arms hang at his sides, strenghtless like sticks in the wind. Depressed he now stood behind his partner in his tiny shed and leaned his head against the wooden wall, sulking about not beeing liked, while sadly munching some more stolen food. "No matter what you do, you're probably not gonna get rid of this fella anytime soon. Believe me," John spoke the last sentence with pure sarcasm dripping from his voice, "I tryed, several times, desperately.". This comment seemed to break Shepards last bit off composure, as he started to cry into the wall, but still munching the stolen food. John now took of his partners helmet, showing his bold and scally skalp and started petting the depressed lizard. "Thats ok, Yukiko here is probably more experienced and better suited in helping you with this entire mess."
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Post by Sakurin on Dec 19, 2018 12:37:10 GMT
Seeing the Commandramon break down in tears upset Yukiko quite a bit. She too walked over to pet his scaly head.
"Oh, d-d-don't worry, I am sure Mr. Chester didn't mean it that way, he's just confused and upset about the sudden thrust into Digital Affairs!"
That was probably not true, but if it helped the little guy feel better...
Then, she turned back to Chester, and nodded.
"P-perhaps it would be best for you to see things with your own eyes."
She then entered her number into his phone.
"Seeing is believing, they say, heheh!"
She quickly blushed at her own bad joke.
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