Invasive Species, Subject: 0 [Mikemon]

Honestly...

Sheesh... Mikemon had opened his own practice to avoid being at the beck and call of the research board. But both despite of and because of his position, he found himself often requested to make this sort of trip, and more often than note they turned into demands if the cat left them ignored for long enough.

So this time, he decided to bite the bullet. Approaching the research center, and briefly checked at the door, the doctor would be granted access, and given a short briefing on what to expect. A Wraithmon - a rare evolution of a Shademon, known to feed on the undying despair of those trapped in the Dark Area. To see one in the Cipher Jungle was almost unheard of, so why was it here?

Hopefully, the cat would be able to answer that. The far door of the containment area would open, the cat slowly making his way inside, eyes briefly flicking towards those laughing machines. The cat grit his teeth. Agitate him further why don't you?

Ugh. He just let it slide, turning to address whoever amounted to be the head researcher in this room.

"Give me a run-down, what have we learned so far?"

They had learned quite a bit.

As the HiAndromon spoke, Mikemon calmly listened to the information provided to him. The abilities only earned a small mental note, as did its intellect. Hearing about its 'varied data signal', however, the doctor gave a specter a small glance. "If its a predatory Digimon, all you need to do is allow the most recent month's data to settle in before determining its origin." He gave a sigh, shaking his head at the HiAndromon's report, but he let him continue.

The personal belongings spoke well to its intellect, meaning the Wraithmon was able to assign personal value to objects. Most interesting was the bit about 'salted meat'... well, that, and the damage that the Shademon was causing to the ecosystem. Tentomon? "Makes sense. Their general habitat involves shaded areas near a water source, so its not hard to catch them by surprise, even consistently. Hm..."

He didn't need to follow-up with the other fighters. No, what was most troubling was the last thing. It wasn't a problem that he had medicine or a bandage, but... someone moved him? "The fuck?" The cat swore under his breath. "Inexcusable. Start an analysis to determine how long ago the bandage would have been applied, and reference that against groups who were out in wild areas at the same time."

The cat was already annoyed from the start, and that wasn't doing much to help him. As for everything else... the cat took a breath, calming the edge out of his anger, and slowly stepped towards the enclosed shadow Digimon, his eyes starting to peer into his data structure.

Its very clearly Dark Area... were they really thrown off by this?

"A single predator can definitely cause that much damage."

Mikemon's reply was firm, as he knew full well what just one Digimon could do. Entire villages can be burned to the ground, or a town could have all of its residents mysteriously and silently disappear. Rare as this creature was - and barring any report of sightings after its capture - the doctor had no reason to believe that this was anything more than an isolated incident.

He carefully listened as the HiAdnromon listed the 'suspects'. Interesting... "You know where to go from there - call them in for questioning regarding their last task. And, of course, don't give them any information that would suggest that they need to alter their answers." Bar that, the cat would make his approach.

This was... a somewhat-intelligent Dark Area Digimon, and even a glance at its surface data gave the cat a lot more information. His prey definitely tended to struggle - the wounds in such a way that they were caught unaware. At the very least, it didn't seem that there was going to be any sort of epidemic.

... But as Shade started to scrawl on the glass, he gave a blink. Writing? And in such an old language? Mikemon gave a blink, his tone shifting as he spoke in a much older language.

"The cat is a cat. Who are you?"

With a sigh, he'd speak to the HiAndromon.

"He's a solitary hunter from the Dark Area. If I had to guess, the D-Reaper mess forced him to migrate, as it did for several other Digimon. The strain on the nearby areas is already well-documented - but he probably went further on to avoid the new civilized areas."

His eyes flicked back to the Shademon.

"It probably felt like a poor hunting ground to him."

'Shade'.

So he had a name. Mikemon nodded in recognition. Despite the doctor's previous anger, he held no animosity to this wild creature that probably did what it had to in order to survive. The evidence of surface damage to his data structure indicated that this was exactly the case.

"Simply holding him in here would be negligent of us on a different standpoint." Mikemon gave a sigh, considering his words. "The language he's using is a bit archaic, but he definitely shows signs of reason. More than anything, he's afraid of pretty much every Digimon in this room." His eyes still peered deep into that data. "Almost a primal sense, really. Attack what's weaker than you, avoid what's stronger, and only lash out when attacked."

It was simple. As the beast moved, Mikemon raised a hand for the two machines to simply stand down. 'East', 'Forest'... was he brought in from the Eastern Timberlands? Regardless, he continued to speak in that old tongue. "Alone? Scared?"

And he'd turn to face the HiAndromon. "So, what would you suggest? Dragon Valley?"

'Alone'. 'Friend'. 'Scared'.

Slowly but surely, Mikemon was starting to piece together the picture for this poor creature, the cat's eyes carefully looking to the workers in the background. Of course, they were just doing their job, but it was clear that Shade could not survive like this. In fact, if the containment were to break, he'd be far more likely to lash out at everyone in the room if they couldn't handle this amicably.

"Stay calm. You will be okay." Mikemon's words were careful, giving a slow nod to the Wraithmon. "The world is different. You need not hunt. There are other ways to live."

That was important - with the scientists even having managed to destabilize Dragon Valley over the years, this definitely put the scientists in a bind. But there was one word the HiAndromon said that was important: 'Cultural Rehabilitation'. He carefully listened to the android and the rest of his news, the cat's ear flicking as he heard that Syre was involved in this. "... You know I can't take back what I said. She's newer - if she's at fault the council will at least be lenient enough with her." He sighed, shaking his head at Terminus' and Luminas' suggestions.

"Sheesh. I'll be submitting the order properly this afternoon, but for now, I'll be giving my order as a higher authority on this. He is to be considered an accepted applicant of the cultural rehabilitation program as of right now, and any and all planned experimentation is to be cancelled and immediately halted. He is to only be held in containment until a proper teacher can be assigned to him."

With that, he turned towards one of the armed robots: "Get him his blanket, alright?"

"Whoever it is, make sure they're able to handle someone of Shade's type. Though he is sentient, he's very tight to his instincts..."

Case-in-point, how he treated his possessions. As the machine type came back into the room, the Shademon immediately rushed for that part of the glass, both aggressively staring at the worker and reaching for what was rightfully 'his'. To that, Mikemon gave a sigh.

"Unfortunately, we're going to have to work through a lot of this - but you can obviously tell that his intent isn't malicious. He simply knows what is his, and wants to protect it."

For the moment, Mikemon would give the Shademon his space. In those five minutes, he would meet with the HiAndromon, and discuss some logistics - narrowing down the candidates to teach him, and perhaps a preliminary schedule or two. As the Wraithmon would speak up again, the cat's ear would perk up.

He'd sigh - and signal for the machine to briefly open the containment door, to allow the doctor to step in, with a nod.

"I am an ally. A friend, if you would like to think that." The cat gave a slow nod, extending a hand out to him. "This place will not try to hurt you. Not anymore. But things will be different. You will be given someone to follow - who may or may not be your friend - but they will help you. Listen - they will be a teacher."

"That's fine." In regards to Shade's possessions, the cat returned a simple, approving nod. "The blanket is to simply keep him comfortable for now. Being able to use it will make it seem more than a token gesture."

Aside from that, there would be a small amount of talk as to who would be the best caretaker. "Do as you will, I only know Claire from two minutes at the last conference. You'd know better than me."

As he took a careful step into the containment unit, Mikemon gave a blink as he was examined. Slowly, he'd retreat that offered hand, nodding slightly to his words. "... Like her? Probably... because we come from the same place?" Mikemon seemed uncertain - did he mean that he smelled like one of his attackers? Someone from the office?

Thankfully, it didn't take much for the Shademon to accept his offer. Yes, it was easy: "Listen, and learn. There will be much you like, and much you don't understand at the start, but you will be able to learn from them, with enough time."