The Hand of Peace [Plot Case]

The DATS building had been refurbished somewhat over the last few months. When before it had been empty and derelict, it had been fixed up and restored to its former glory, which was pretty much that of an ordinary looking building just like many others in Central Shibuya. Yet there were no signs on it whatsoever - curious indeed for a building in the bright neon city that was Tokyo.

And in front of this building, there was a tall young man asking himself up peacefully to talk this out. Very strange, strange enough so that before long, he would be met by a stern looking young woman with blonde hair and an almost militaristic black uniform, complete with red trimmings.

For a moment, she stared at the young man, frowning a little with confusion. "Who are you and what do you want?" she asked eventually. Then she looked down, and saw a very strange device. It almost looked like a digivice... but a different model. That made her curious. So much that she reached into her own pocket and pulled out a model of digivice that was probably unseen for quite a long time - black and white in color.


"Don't move" the agent ordered, then bent down and picked up the digivice. It was rather heavy, and even up close she couldn't tell what it was. She looked at the young man with a curious expression. "You said you're here to offer yourself up peacefully. Where's your digimon?" she asked.

Agent Maria listened as he spoke, not saying anything until he finished. So this young man was named Toki Akiyama, and he was here to talk with them. Maria was interested, as was her partners. Yes, there was much in the digital world, they had all seen it... a while ago, when they had first met. Much had happened since then, however. And in the end, he just wanted to extend a hand in peace. Agent Maria had to make a small sigh at that, but didn't go into the reasons why just yet.

"Let's take this inside for the moment. As long as you don't try anything suspicious, we won't harm you. In fact, if you're telling the truth here, your property will be returned". Not an easy promise to make, in fact, one her superiors would disapprove, but, Agent Maria thought that acts like this should be treated with honor if their overall mission was to succeed. Those that surrendered freely and gave information should not be harmed, and Toki seemed to be offering just that.

If he accepted, Agent Maria would lead him inside the first floor of the DATS building. It would probably come as a surprise, but the lobby was completely empty. All that remained was an assortment of plastic plants and waiting chairs in front of an unoccupied reception desk, where dust had accumulated and the paint had faded. A clever ruse in her opinion, if anyone stumbled in here, they would only see an abandoned office and little more. There were of course security cameras, two on the outside and two on the inside. But little more than that. She would lock the doors to the street outside, leaving them alone for the moment.

Toki was polite enough to greet her partners, something that took Maria off guard. But the digimon smiled in return, lowering their weapons in response. "Nice to meet you too, Toki. I'm Noir, this is Blanc" the puppet nun digimon replied, once it was clear to her at least that he meant no harm.

"Please, sit down" Maria invited Toki to be seated on some of the chairs in the empty room. She would sit opposite, Blanc and Noir remaining standing. If he did so or not, Maria would look at his digivice, listening to his explanation about spirits.

What he said made her stare in disbelief. "You... turn into a digimon?" she asked, intrigued. "So... your human body... physically transforms into a digimon body? Complete with all its powers and abilities?"

By now Maria's curiosity was too fired up to be quenched. She took a moment to recompose herself, then paused for a moment to consider her decision. Doing so might be a security risk, but she had heard of these "Spirit Wielders" before, yet there was very little information available to them. She wanted to learn more.

"So this... "spirit" you turn into..." she began. "How strong is it precisely? I'm asking because... I'm considering asking you to demonstrate for me, and I'd like to know if it's worth the risk".

As to what she had planned for him, Maria would retain her policy of honor. "As long as you don't deceive us, you'll be free to leave with no repercussions" she said. "Our policy is to keep digimon and humans seperate on their own worlds, but from what I can see, you are a human, so you belong here, at least as far as I interpret things".

Maria listened to these words. She knew that others would immediately call it an abomination of nature, for a human to transform themselves into a digimon, but from her perspective, she was somewhat fascinated. The possibilities ran through her head of what this would involve.

"So you cease to be human... yet you retain full conscious control of your actions" she said, raising the side of her fist to her mouth in thought. "Blanc, Noir, do you know anything of digimon spirits?"

"In the digital world, they're something of legend" Noir said, looking as interested as her partner in this conversation.

"Of course, we haven't encountered any in our time there, as you remember" Blanc added. Maria nodded, this was true. So spirits seemed to be something of a rarity.

The questioning continued. Apparently Toki could reach the power of a Mega level with his spirits. This made Maria gasp and the Sistermons stand rigid for a moment. "Your spirit gives you that much power?" the DATS Agent asked. "And what of the lower levels? I was hoping to ask for a demonstration at something more of a spirit power like that of a rookie level, but... I think that would be better if you didn't attempt to turn Mega". She'd be open if he promised not to exceed a certain level.

What Toki said next made Maria's eyes widen. "Your father was a tamer?" she repeated with disbelief. Was there something about humans with digimon that was hereditary? She wouldn't delve further with these thoughts, but, it hit something of a chord with her. She would remember that.

Of course, since the conversation with Toki so far was intriguing, she patiently noted what he said. Yes, he made very valid points. Digimon were sentient beings too, in a perfect world, digimon could easily coexist with humans. But the world was not perfect. Maria was resigned to this fact, but the more Toki spoke, the more substance for her to reconsider.

Those thoughts momentarily were washed away by the sight of the scar. And the story that followed, Maria felt the reason why she had become a DATS agent become more firm in her mind.


She took a breath to recompose herself, then spoke softly.

"You have a good heart though, and you raise good points. Ideally, yes, coexistence between humans and digimon can be possible, but... the fact of the matter is, most humans don't want coexistence with another species. We serve at the behest of the Japanese government, who was elected by the Japanese people. And neither of them want to have our country be home to mon- I mean, beings from another world. Unfortunately, that means we must seek to make all digimon return to their own world, since this world will not accept them. Even now we have to speak in secret, because public knowledge of digimon would make humanity tremble".

That was the position of DATS and also Maria's justification of its mission. She was sad that she couldn't agree with Toki, in fact, deep down, she approved of his words and motives. But this problem was too complicated to resolve just now.

She would wait for his reaction to that before asking for a demonstration of spirit evolution.

Maria mulled on that. 'On the rise lately... I see, that would explain why we saw none when we were there' she thought. That also made her frown. Was there something in the digital world that was causing such an increase? Her curiosity was growing. There was much she could learn from this young man... well, she initially thought that, but a closer look made her think that he was close to her own age.

Toki confirmed that his father had adventures in the digital world and mentioned it was beautiful. By now, Maria was at ease enough to reveal a little information about herself. "I know. I've been there too" she said. "A while ago, but not long enough to have made a big reputation for myself".

She realized what she had said and shifted uncomfortably in her chair a little, realizing she may have said too much.

Then the philosophical conversation continued. Maria would listen, then counter. "For humans that want to harm other humans? Well, the solution is to make it as difficult as possible for them to obtain the means of doing so" she stated. "That's how it is in Japan, and it works. A human can kill another with broken glass or a knife or even with their own hands, true, it is difficult to prevent that, but we have become efficient at bringing those that do so to justice. A human with a gun can easily kill multiple humans, so they have been restricted here. A human with a loyal digimon partner equipped with more firepower than a modern main battle tank? How can we tolerate such things in this society?"

"If I may?" Noir interjected. Maria paused and turned to her, awaiting her input with a little apprehension. "We digimon aren't weapons alone, Maria. Don't forget that we too are sentient."

In that moment she realized she had caused offense to her partners. "You're right, I'm sorry for making that analogy" she said. She took a few breaths to gather her thoughts. Just what was the right thing to do here? Her government and her superiors stated that the right thing was to remove digimon from Earth altogether, but... was that truly right?

The next question was easier to answer. "Yes, when all digimon have been closed off from Earth, Noir and Blanc will return to the digital world as well" Maria answered. "That way, digimon will eventually be forgotten, and the world will be better for it". She said this in something of an automatic way, as though her heart really wasn't into it. It was almost as though she was reciting it.

She would not reveal more than that however, merely remaining silent in response to Toki's questions about their further plans. She was not at liberty to answer.

Next would be the demonstration. Maria, Noir and Blanc watched with amazement as the human in front of them transformed into a Turuiemon. This was more than just a simple illusion such as that from a holosuit, this was something like she had never seen before.

"You remain in full control too?" the DATS Agent asked with wonder. So, Toki was speaking the truth the whole time. She frowned as she struggled to think of what to do next. He had told the truth to her this whole time, and he had been courteous, polite, even willing to risk everything in good faith. It would be dishonorable to suddenly take him in for further questioning. Besides, Toki seemed like someone that Maria would prefer to be on good terms with.

"Be that as it may, Toki, I'm afraid it isn't up to me" was all she could say to that. Noir and Blanc glanced at their tamer curiously, was this doubt present? "I'll... think on what you've said, however, and let my superiors know of your information and... opinions".

It seemed that the outcome of this conversation had been determined. Agent Maria would stand up at this point. "You may keep your things for now, Toki, as long as you promise you won't interfere with DATS operations" she said. "I... admit I would like to speak to you again in future. This conversation has been fascinating, but I'm afraid this is not the time or place to work out this impasse. I must ask you to leave for the time being."

Maria would linger for a little while longer to politely see Toki leave the building and for him to react to what was said. "Oh, and, best make sure you return to your human form before you actually leave" she added.