First Thing's First [Armor Hunt, WC: 1926]
Sept 8, 2021 7:12:03 GMT
Post by Raijin on Sept 8, 2021 7:12:03 GMT
The Folder Desert of the Western Flatlands is both immensely vast and vastly unforgiving. It is lucky that Digimon dissipates into data upon death, for otherwise masses of skeletons would likely be already visible scattered around the edge of the desert, portraying the painful stances of those that have succumbed to heat and desiccation. Maybe that should be preferable, a warning sign against daring souls that continue to be tempted to traverse the desert
Not that it would make a difference for Raijin though. He had only been casted into this world for a short period of time, but he already knew what he had to do. And what he had to do was, travel to the very heart of this barren, lifeless desert.
And so he had made the journey, pushing his way forward one step at a time. The sun casted its light fully upon his metallic body, turning him into a shimmering, shining beacon. Surely if there were hunters, he would be luring them directly towards him. That is probably the lesser of his worries however. As a Digimon literally designed for combat, he feared no adversary. What was more worrisome is the immense heat that was just constantly soaking into his metallic body, heating it up to hellish temperatures. Raijin’s typical beige and yellow coloration had since turned far darker, almost a shade of red to match his tomoe.
He was a cyborg, relatively immune to pain and a tad bit more resistant to damage, but it would nonetheless not serve him well to continue as is.
Based on his calculations though, he was getting close. He had opted to enter from the exact east point of the desert, and traveling west meant just following the sun - accounting for the slight angle caused by the world’s tilted axis.
It had been many days now, just him walking through this place day and night, his body warming and cooling in accordance with the flux of the cycle - perhaps the only reason that has kept him alive this entire time.
One step at a time he went, heavier and heavier as time went by, as his body continued to weaken and wear down. Yet he simply did not stop - could not stop. He had to just keep moving. Just keep moving. Almost there.
One step, then the next, Raijin continued on his journey. Even when chinks in his body turned into cracks that snaked and branched out in all directions, breaking off small chunks of his body, Raijin pushed on. Even as his vision started to blur as the heat finally damaged his wiring, even as his nanotechnology became sluggish in its repairs and information transfer, he still had to go on.
And on.
And on.
Eventually, it was almost as if Raijin had gone blind, his visual sensor damaged so much that he could barely see ahead. He relied instead on his positioning system to calculate his trajectory, continuing on. He would trip and fall over, but get up and just continue. He would sometimes feel like collapsing, but instead willed himself to keep moving. He had no idea how far he had left to go by this point, he was basically on auto-pilot.
On and on he went, blindly stumbling forward, until suddenly, he could see.
Wait, he could see? This stunned him for just a moment, before Raijin truly regained his senses and analyzed the situation. He could see, but it was due to some sort of alternate relay feeding data directly into his neural network, bypassing his sensory installations. This required an external source of input, as in someone was actively manipulating him.
Quickly, Raijin scanned the surroundings, eventually finding a Digimon standing behind him. It was an Anubismon, standing still even as the desert wind was ruffling it. It had its arms forwards, its hands clasped together as if patiently waiting for something. Or someone - Raijin, he guessed of himself.
Raijin turned himself around, but very slowly. It was only now that Raijin had actually stopped was all that damage he suffered catching up. And catch up it did. Raijin almost fell down again just trying to turn around, but somehow he barely managed.
Who… are you?
It was about then that Raijin realized he was incapable of speaking. It seemed like his voice modulator had been damaged. The Anubismon though, curiously, seemed to understand. Perhaps Raijin accidentally sent a digital message instead?
The Anubismon cocked its head to the side for a moment, before re-orienting it straight and waved a hand in front of itself. Raijin received a signal in response, that something was connecting his signal transduction pathways, even if temporarily. In fact, it seemed like he could speak now.
Raijin opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the Anubismon interjected. "My name is Anubismon." It stated, iterating what Raijin could see, and then addressing that. "Once upon a time, Digimon was unique. Each one of us would be referred to as what we are, for there was only one of us. At least for a time. Or perhaps, it never was, and we just believed otherwise. Who knows."
...
"Care for a seat?"
Raijin followed Anubismon’s left hand as it directed his attention towards a massive log laying against the sand. Where… where did that log come from? Raijin was sure he had not seen it a moment ago.
For some reason though, Raijin felt like he should take the offer. He nodded, and moved towards the log - so did Anubismon. Together, they sat down almost simultaneously - Anubismon on the right, Raijin on the left.
It was only now that Raijin started to really feel relaxed, his nanobots going to work to finally start repairing himself.
Raijin turned to his side to look at the Anubismon, but it was still facing forward, not reciprocating Raijin’s attempt at eye contact.
"This place, is relentless. It will squash you if you are not careful." Anubismon spoke, still facing away.
For some reason, Raijin understood that Anubismon meant the entire Digital World as a whole, rather than specifically the Folder Desert.
"Many have given their lives for a cause, believing that their sacrifice was worth it. Some did, others were just futile, meaningless efforts."
Finally, Anubismon turned towards Raijin. "Don’t you agree, my friend?"
Raijin pondered for a moment, before responding. "Yes. But if they were happy to commit their lives to their beliefs, is that necessarily a bad thing?"
Anubismon smiled almost immediately in response. It then turned away again. "Raijin, do you believe in destiny?"
That caused him to flinch. Well, internally. Raijin was too damaged externally to visibly react. How did Anubismon know his name?
"Digimon seek for all manners of things. Courage. Heart. Destiny. What are you seeking?" Anubismon asked.
Raijin paused for a moment, weighing everything, before responding. "I only knew to come… here. Here, this very spot."
"Ah, so destiny it is then." The Anubismon automatically concluded. A pause. Then. "Destiny is a fickle thing. Who determines one’s destiny? And, if a Velgemon is destined to be a villain, yet it tries and fails to be a force for good… what is its destiny then? To be a villain, or to resist what it is meant to be?
That was a good question. Raijin turned away from Anubismon and looked down, deep in thought. Well, if one’s destiny is about where it would arrive at the end of its life journey, then it’s a matter of -
"Knowing the end." Anubismon interjected his thought process. "But… who truly knows where we would all end up?"
Anubismon stood up and walked a few steps forwards, its eyes laid against the horizon, hands clutched behinds its back. Raijin’s eyes trailed along, following Anubismon’s movements, curious what it would say next.
"Tell me then, if no one can tell for certain what will happen in the future - sure, there are plenty of seers and foretellers, plenty of those with insight, and even time travelers, but if no one can actually tell for certain what will happen in the future…" Anubismon turned around to face Raijin.
"What’s my destiny then?" Raijin completed the sentence. This was not exactly a difficult conversation they were having, but it was certainly… descriptive.
Silence from the Anubismon. "If no one can tell me what my destiny is, then would my destiny not be what I am programmed to do, to be?" Raijin asked, only to be met by a smile from Anubismon, who had turned its head around in response.
A moment. Then. "Long ago, a pair of thieves stole this world’s data, and then revived an ancient evil. Were their destiny to steal the data, or to revive the ancient evil?"
It was a similar question to the one about the Velgemon. Close, but not quite. These were very simple stories, simply anecdotes for Raijin to follow. But Raijin was starting to understand the bigger picture, truly the deeper, hidden message that Anubismon wanted to convey. Destiny was the presuppositional culmination of consequences for antiquitous junctures, that would eventualize only on the basis of transitional temporal passage. In short, destiny is what will happen, and what will happen will happen.
Well, was that not a satisfactory answer. Or was it?
Anubismon smiled and took two steps towards Raijin, now standing towering over him. It held out its left hand, palm facing up, and data started to materialize above, shining and glimmering as it did so. The shape was initially relatively amorphous, but soon started to curve and fall into itself, finally forming what seemed like an egg. A Digi-Egg.
Gently, Anubismon reached forward to move the Digi-Egg closer towards Raijin, which he took quite willingly into his hands. Immediately, he noticed that there was a piece missing from the egg, a small patch that was devoid of data.
He looked up at the Anubismon, and asked the obvious question.
In response, the Anubismon once again smiled, before asking "Yes, one piece is missing. But my friend, do you not have any last questions for me?"
Hm… for some reason, Raijin knew exactly what was happening now.
"Will I… fulfill my destiny?" Raijin asked.
Anubismon shook its head. "Wrong question."
Raijin smiled. He knew. "Then… will any of my kin fulfill their destiny?"
Anubismon’s response was immediate. "Some won’t. Many will, however."
Raijin paused, soaking it all in. Then he finally nodded at Anubismon. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Anubismon responded - and that was that.
Slowly, its body started to dissipate, turning into data that flowed away in all directions. But soon enough, they started to all converge, all towards the Digi-Egg that Raijin was holding. He watched as the data flew and wrapped themselves around the Digi-Egg, finally finding the crack and filling it up, until eventually the last piece of data merged with the Digi-Egg, making it whole.
That was when a bright light emitted from the Digi-Egg, as it changed form again. It became golden as an S, sideways, appeared on the front. On top, what seemed like an angel wing emerged.
The Digi-Egg of Destiny, here in Raijin’s hands...
Not that it would make a difference for Raijin though. He had only been casted into this world for a short period of time, but he already knew what he had to do. And what he had to do was, travel to the very heart of this barren, lifeless desert.
And so he had made the journey, pushing his way forward one step at a time. The sun casted its light fully upon his metallic body, turning him into a shimmering, shining beacon. Surely if there were hunters, he would be luring them directly towards him. That is probably the lesser of his worries however. As a Digimon literally designed for combat, he feared no adversary. What was more worrisome is the immense heat that was just constantly soaking into his metallic body, heating it up to hellish temperatures. Raijin’s typical beige and yellow coloration had since turned far darker, almost a shade of red to match his tomoe.
He was a cyborg, relatively immune to pain and a tad bit more resistant to damage, but it would nonetheless not serve him well to continue as is.
Based on his calculations though, he was getting close. He had opted to enter from the exact east point of the desert, and traveling west meant just following the sun - accounting for the slight angle caused by the world’s tilted axis.
It had been many days now, just him walking through this place day and night, his body warming and cooling in accordance with the flux of the cycle - perhaps the only reason that has kept him alive this entire time.
One step at a time he went, heavier and heavier as time went by, as his body continued to weaken and wear down. Yet he simply did not stop - could not stop. He had to just keep moving. Just keep moving. Almost there.
One step, then the next, Raijin continued on his journey. Even when chinks in his body turned into cracks that snaked and branched out in all directions, breaking off small chunks of his body, Raijin pushed on. Even as his vision started to blur as the heat finally damaged his wiring, even as his nanotechnology became sluggish in its repairs and information transfer, he still had to go on.
And on.
And on.
Eventually, it was almost as if Raijin had gone blind, his visual sensor damaged so much that he could barely see ahead. He relied instead on his positioning system to calculate his trajectory, continuing on. He would trip and fall over, but get up and just continue. He would sometimes feel like collapsing, but instead willed himself to keep moving. He had no idea how far he had left to go by this point, he was basically on auto-pilot.
On and on he went, blindly stumbling forward, until suddenly, he could see.
Wait, he could see? This stunned him for just a moment, before Raijin truly regained his senses and analyzed the situation. He could see, but it was due to some sort of alternate relay feeding data directly into his neural network, bypassing his sensory installations. This required an external source of input, as in someone was actively manipulating him.
Quickly, Raijin scanned the surroundings, eventually finding a Digimon standing behind him. It was an Anubismon, standing still even as the desert wind was ruffling it. It had its arms forwards, its hands clasped together as if patiently waiting for something. Or someone - Raijin, he guessed of himself.
Raijin turned himself around, but very slowly. It was only now that Raijin had actually stopped was all that damage he suffered catching up. And catch up it did. Raijin almost fell down again just trying to turn around, but somehow he barely managed.
Who… are you?
It was about then that Raijin realized he was incapable of speaking. It seemed like his voice modulator had been damaged. The Anubismon though, curiously, seemed to understand. Perhaps Raijin accidentally sent a digital message instead?
The Anubismon cocked its head to the side for a moment, before re-orienting it straight and waved a hand in front of itself. Raijin received a signal in response, that something was connecting his signal transduction pathways, even if temporarily. In fact, it seemed like he could speak now.
Raijin opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the Anubismon interjected. "My name is Anubismon." It stated, iterating what Raijin could see, and then addressing that. "Once upon a time, Digimon was unique. Each one of us would be referred to as what we are, for there was only one of us. At least for a time. Or perhaps, it never was, and we just believed otherwise. Who knows."
...
"Care for a seat?"
Raijin followed Anubismon’s left hand as it directed his attention towards a massive log laying against the sand. Where… where did that log come from? Raijin was sure he had not seen it a moment ago.
For some reason though, Raijin felt like he should take the offer. He nodded, and moved towards the log - so did Anubismon. Together, they sat down almost simultaneously - Anubismon on the right, Raijin on the left.
It was only now that Raijin started to really feel relaxed, his nanobots going to work to finally start repairing himself.
Raijin turned to his side to look at the Anubismon, but it was still facing forward, not reciprocating Raijin’s attempt at eye contact.
"This place, is relentless. It will squash you if you are not careful." Anubismon spoke, still facing away.
For some reason, Raijin understood that Anubismon meant the entire Digital World as a whole, rather than specifically the Folder Desert.
"Many have given their lives for a cause, believing that their sacrifice was worth it. Some did, others were just futile, meaningless efforts."
Finally, Anubismon turned towards Raijin. "Don’t you agree, my friend?"
Raijin pondered for a moment, before responding. "Yes. But if they were happy to commit their lives to their beliefs, is that necessarily a bad thing?"
Anubismon smiled almost immediately in response. It then turned away again. "Raijin, do you believe in destiny?"
That caused him to flinch. Well, internally. Raijin was too damaged externally to visibly react. How did Anubismon know his name?
"Digimon seek for all manners of things. Courage. Heart. Destiny. What are you seeking?" Anubismon asked.
Raijin paused for a moment, weighing everything, before responding. "I only knew to come… here. Here, this very spot."
"Ah, so destiny it is then." The Anubismon automatically concluded. A pause. Then. "Destiny is a fickle thing. Who determines one’s destiny? And, if a Velgemon is destined to be a villain, yet it tries and fails to be a force for good… what is its destiny then? To be a villain, or to resist what it is meant to be?
That was a good question. Raijin turned away from Anubismon and looked down, deep in thought. Well, if one’s destiny is about where it would arrive at the end of its life journey, then it’s a matter of -
"Knowing the end." Anubismon interjected his thought process. "But… who truly knows where we would all end up?"
Anubismon stood up and walked a few steps forwards, its eyes laid against the horizon, hands clutched behinds its back. Raijin’s eyes trailed along, following Anubismon’s movements, curious what it would say next.
"Tell me then, if no one can tell for certain what will happen in the future - sure, there are plenty of seers and foretellers, plenty of those with insight, and even time travelers, but if no one can actually tell for certain what will happen in the future…" Anubismon turned around to face Raijin.
"What’s my destiny then?" Raijin completed the sentence. This was not exactly a difficult conversation they were having, but it was certainly… descriptive.
Silence from the Anubismon. "If no one can tell me what my destiny is, then would my destiny not be what I am programmed to do, to be?" Raijin asked, only to be met by a smile from Anubismon, who had turned its head around in response.
A moment. Then. "Long ago, a pair of thieves stole this world’s data, and then revived an ancient evil. Were their destiny to steal the data, or to revive the ancient evil?"
It was a similar question to the one about the Velgemon. Close, but not quite. These were very simple stories, simply anecdotes for Raijin to follow. But Raijin was starting to understand the bigger picture, truly the deeper, hidden message that Anubismon wanted to convey. Destiny was the presuppositional culmination of consequences for antiquitous junctures, that would eventualize only on the basis of transitional temporal passage. In short, destiny is what will happen, and what will happen will happen.
Well, was that not a satisfactory answer. Or was it?
Anubismon smiled and took two steps towards Raijin, now standing towering over him. It held out its left hand, palm facing up, and data started to materialize above, shining and glimmering as it did so. The shape was initially relatively amorphous, but soon started to curve and fall into itself, finally forming what seemed like an egg. A Digi-Egg.
Gently, Anubismon reached forward to move the Digi-Egg closer towards Raijin, which he took quite willingly into his hands. Immediately, he noticed that there was a piece missing from the egg, a small patch that was devoid of data.
He looked up at the Anubismon, and asked the obvious question.
In response, the Anubismon once again smiled, before asking "Yes, one piece is missing. But my friend, do you not have any last questions for me?"
Hm… for some reason, Raijin knew exactly what was happening now.
"Will I… fulfill my destiny?" Raijin asked.
Anubismon shook its head. "Wrong question."
Raijin smiled. He knew. "Then… will any of my kin fulfill their destiny?"
Anubismon’s response was immediate. "Some won’t. Many will, however."
Raijin paused, soaking it all in. Then he finally nodded at Anubismon. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Anubismon responded - and that was that.
Slowly, its body started to dissipate, turning into data that flowed away in all directions. But soon enough, they started to all converge, all towards the Digi-Egg that Raijin was holding. He watched as the data flew and wrapped themselves around the Digi-Egg, finally finding the crack and filling it up, until eventually the last piece of data merged with the Digi-Egg, making it whole.
That was when a bright light emitted from the Digi-Egg, as it changed form again. It became golden as an S, sideways, appeared on the front. On top, what seemed like an angel wing emerged.
The Digi-Egg of Destiny, here in Raijin’s hands...
