Chapter 1:
Dreams
It was the last day of school before the summer. The air was hot, sticky, and full of tension as the students anxiously sat through a last-minute history review and waited for the bell to ring. Akira Mitsuishi slumped over her desk, trying hard not to fall asleep while the teacher droned about past events.
“…And the creation of ENIAC and ABC in the late 1940s led to a slow but steady increase in the number of operations computers could do, from simple number crunching to more complex calculations,” the teacher recited, typing commands on her terminal. The whiteboard at the front of the room flickered as text and picture slides appeared. “For the next three decades, computers continued to increase in prevalence, and more and more jobs and processes became automated. Technological advancement continued for the next few years afterward. At least, until the greatest catastrophe in modern history occurred-”
Akira sighed. She’d heard this lesson thousands of times and it was getting boring. Why do they keep on telling us this stuff, she thought, when everyone knows it? She settled down and closed her eyes…
She was walking in a forest with colored leaves. A cool breeze blew and lifted them from their branches. Akira smiled as their colors reflected in the sunlight and laughed as they brushed against her cheek. Another voice laughed along with her. She looked behind her and saw…
“Mitsuishi!”
Akira popped out of her trance and looked up at the teacher’s puzzled face.
“Were you asleep?” The teacher looked at her, slightly amused.
“N-no!” Akira stammered, “I was just daydreaming.”
The teacher smirked. “Well, try to pay attention. I know you already know this, but that doesn’t mean you can just go off into your own world!” A few students laughed and snickered.
Tian Shu, Akira’s best friend, shot a questioning glance at her. Akira looked back at her and mouthed the word later, then leaned down again, propping her head up with her hands.
The teacher continued, as if nothing had interrupted her. “The world was devastated as a result, as all of you know. Everything was in such a bad state, and it took the ingenuity of countless organizations and governments to help us all rebuild. The most important organization of them all was-“
Akira sighed again, and tried to block out the teacher’s droning. Everyone knows this, she thought again. They all teach the same stuff over and over again. Can’t we learn something different? Isn’t there anything else in the past worth learning about? The present is boring enough… She sat quietly, reluctantly listening to the teacher roll off more dates and events, and hearing some of the kids whisper things behind her back.
“In addition to that–”
The teacher was interrupted by the ringing of the bell.
“Oh, well…” she said, as students quickly got up, “That’s it for today. Don’t forget to write your term papers, on the global progression of technology with ITI after the Great Shaking of 2019. They’re due at the start of second term – no excuses!” With a few keystrokes on her terminal, she wiped her data off the whiteboard, and a new set of text quickly took its place:
July 30, 2069
Odaiba High School, Class 1-1
Classes have ended for Term 1.
Term 2 will begin September 1, 2069.
Akira got up, relieved, and packed up her things. When she got out of the school building, she pulled out a pair of yellow and blue goggles from her bag and put them on. They clashed with the navy blue and white uniform she had to wear for school, but she didn’t care. Tian ran over to her, wearing a yellow and black baseball cap with the brim turned backwards.
“Hey, what happened?” she asked, “You never fall asleep in the middle of class!”
“I had that dream again,” Akira replied with a puzzled look, “you know, the one about the colored forest and that mysterious laughing voice. Every time I try to see who it is, I wake up. I almost found out today, but…”
“The teacher woke you up,” Tian finished. “You haven’t had that dream in months. Why did it come back?”
Akira shook her head slowly. “I don’t know.”
Tian noticed her friend’s uneasiness, and steered the conversation somewhere else. “Are you going to play that new Digital Adventure game?”
Akira frowned a bit. “I don’t know. My dad got a copy of it for me last week. Everyone’s crazy about it, but I don’t quite understand why. The whole object is to just wander around with a monster and fight other monsters, right? It sounds kind of boring.”
“They’re not ‘monsters,’ Akira,” Tian said, laughing, “They’re Digimon.”
“Same difference.”
“They’re creatures made of computer data that serve as your partners and are programmed to fit your personality,” Tian quoted, “That makes it easier for you to win battles together.”
“Or so the game says,” Akira added with a smirk.
Tian laughed. “Yeah. But it actually is pretty interesting from what I heard – you can create your own character and pick any Digimon you want, you can choose to complete different missions or goals, and you can link up and play with people anywhere on Earth! That hasn’t been done in a long time, if what our teacher says is true.”
Akira looked at her thoughtfully. “Well, maybe I’ll give it a try sometime.”
Tian smiled. “If you want, we could play together online during vacation. Are you going anywhere this summer?”
Akira hesitated for a moment. “I’m going to America to see my mom.”
Tian looked back at her, shocked. “You’re what?”
“I got a call from my mom last week,” Akira murmured, “She wanted me to visit again.”
“How long has it been since your parents split up?” Tian asked.
“At least nine years,” Akira answered, “Mom left when I was seven, and this’ll only be the second time I’ve visited her. The first time was a year ago.” Her expression slowly turned sour. “Sometimes I think back on it and wish I didn’t go.”
“You never did tell me what it was like over there,” Tian said quietly, “Did something awful happen?”
Akira looked away, and didn’t speak for several moments. Tian looked back at her uneasily. This wasn’t the first time she had asked that particular question, and Akira had always given her the same answer.
“I don’t want to tell you,” Akira finally replied, “You don’t need to know.” She looked at Tian seriously. “You don’t want to know.”
“All you ever told me is that you would never go back. That you hated it.” Tian stopped suddenly and slowed down. “And then…” She almost whispered. “And then, there was that freak accident you had right after that-”
“No one said it was an accident!” Akira said sharply. She stopped walking and closed her eyes, her face darkening. “It was just something that happened that I can’t remember…”
Tian sighed. “Sorry… I shouldn’t have brought it up…”
They walked for a while without saying anything, then Akira spoke up.
“So…” she said tentatively, trying to break the silence, “Where are you going for vacation?”
“I’m going back to China to visit my relatives.” Tian replied, and saw Akira look up, surprised. “Yeah,” Tian added, “One of my cousins emailed us last week. She said that the time was right to go back, since the government’s more lenient now, and a lot of the fighting has stopped.”
“That’s wonderful,” Akira replied, smiling. “You haven’t been back in years.”
“I don’t know. It’s not like I’d remember anything… I was only five when we were evacuated,” Tian remarked, frowning. “Mom doesn’t want to go back just yet, but she’s insisting that I go, so at least my aunt and uncle will know the two of us are still alive.” Now she was scowling, as if she wasn’t looking forward to it at all.
“Well, I hope you have a good trip.” Akira felt troubled and confused, but still managed a smile.
“You have a good trip, too!” Tian smiled at her, then turned, waving. “I’ll be seeing you!”
“Bye…” Akira waved back, slowly. She walked home in silence for a while. When she finally reached her house, she was about to make her way across the yard when a voice rang out from nearby.
“Yo!”
Akira’s heart sank. She recognized the voice – it belonged to the one person she did not want to talk to at the moment. She sighed, and continued to walk through her yard, pretending not to hear.
“Hey, Akira!”
Akira walked more quickly, refusing to answer.
“I know you hear me, so stop ignoring me!”
Akira stopped dead, and she clenched her fists. She whipped her head toward the voice.
“What do you want, you moron?!” She turned to face a boy with sharp blue eyes. He was dressed in a normal high school uniform, except for the bright blue sweatband tied around his spiky black hair.
The boy frowned at her. “I do have a name, you know. Why don’t you use it once in a while?”
Akira scowled at him. “Seita Kazama,” she recited, “My annoying next-door neighbor, the resident clown of Class 1-1, and the biggest moron in all of Tokyo.”
Seita’s frown got bigger. “Not cute.”
Akira smiled sweetly. “And neither are you.”
Seita huffed in annoyance. Then, after a moment, he gave her a wicked smile. “Have you played Digital Adventure yet?”
Akira stared at him warily and shook her head. “No.”
“Well…” Seita said slowly, “It’s really hard to play. You’re constantly being ambushed by Digimon stronger than yours, and you can die pretty easily, so it’s impossible to advance.” He smiled at her smugly. “I’m not sure you could handle it!”
Akira stared at him dully with an eyebrow raised. “Oh, is that so? And what about you?”
Seita looked at her proudly. “Well… I’ve always been better than you at fighting. A video game is no different!”
Akira scowled. “Moron…” she muttered.
Seita couldn’t help but smile at her.
“Seita,” A small voice rang out of nowhere, making Seita jump and look around. A little girl with short black hair and blue eyes smiled up at him.
“Yuka…” Seita said faintly, “When did you- How long were you-?”
“Just now,” Yuka replied, “Long enough to see how goofy you looked!”
“Yuka,” Seita hissed, the beginning of a scowl on his face.
Yuka laughed. “Just kidding.” She looked up at Akira and giggled.
Akira smiled back. Yuka was Seita’s little sister, but somehow, she usually came across as more of an older sister instead.
“Seita,” Yuka spoke up, “there’s something I think you should see.”
“Huh?” Seita answered clumsily, “What is it? Is the game working now?”
Yuka nodded, smiling infectiously.
Akira looked at Yuka, then at Seita. “You only just installed it, didn’t you?” she asked, laughing.
“No, I didn’t!” he answered sharply, “She’s lying!”
“Seita!” Yuka piped up.
“What?!”
“Come back inside and look at the game. You’re not going to believe this!”
Seita stared at her, confused. “Believe what?” he blurted out, when Yuka suddenly tugged on his arm. “Hey-”
“You have to come see it!” Yuka said excitedly, dragging him back to their house. “It’s so weird!” At the same time, she looked back at Akira and winked.
“Akira!” Seita called out, “Help!”
Akira laughed, “Have fun, moron!”
“Moron to you too!” Seita shouted back as he disappeared into the house.
At that, Akira walked toward her own house and went inside. She entered the house quietly, making sure not to bother her grandmother, who was sleeping in a nearby room. She finally reached her room, threw her bag on the bed, and changed out of her uniform. Then, she reached under her bed and pulled out a mostly-filled suitcase.
She was about to pack a small, silver laptop inside when her eyes lingered on a small box sitting on her desk. She picked up the box and studied it for a moment. It was small, and had the words “Digital Adventure” printed on it in glittering script. As she looked at it, she remembered what Tian and everyone else had said about it.
Curiosity overcoming her, she opened the box and pulled out a small disc. She turned on her laptop and inserted the disc in the drive. Moments later, an installation program started up.
After a few moments of installing, an error message appeared, blinking and with bright red letters.
Installation has been interrupted by an outside source. Please abort this operation and try again.
Akira frowned. “An outside source?” she asked softly, “A virus?”
But before she could do anything, the error flickered and disappeared as suddenly as it came. The installation program kicked in again, and finished with no more errors.
Akira stared at the screen, puzzled. “Now that was strange…” Then, the opening screen appeared.
“For many cycles, the Digital World lived in peace. As time went by, the inhabitants of this world, the Digimon, flourished and grew.
“But then, armies of evil Digimon attacked, and the Digital World was plunged into an era of perpetual darkness.”
“And now, only one hope remains for the future... you. Together with your Digimon, your task is to protect the Digital World and its inhabitants from the evil clutches of the Midnight Army. Good luck!
As the introduction ended, the screen flickered, and a menu took its place.
Customize your character’s appearance.
Immediately, the screen changed before Akira could do anything.
“Huh?” she exclaimed in surprise, “Why-” She was interrupted as another menu took its place.
Choose the Digimon you want as your partner.
Akira frowned as she looked at the Digimon available. “They don’t have a lot of Digimon to choose from…” she murmured. “Weird.” She took a closer look. “Let’s see… Gazimon, Patamon, Salamon, Guilmon, Renamon, Terriermon, Lopmon… no, not any of them…” She looked at the last one, a cute little gray bear with a purple cap. “…Kodamon…” A strange feeling came over her as she stared at the Digimon’s image. Her mind wandered for a moment…
She was in the colored forest again, with the laughing voice getting louder and louder…
Akira shook her head. “That’s funny, why would I think of that dream at a time like this?” She moved the mouse, clicked on Kodamon, and waited a moment.
The screen changed again, showing what looked like a bulletin board.
Choose the mission you wish to complete.
Under the message was a box listing the missions available to play. There was only one available:
Mission # 201981: Defeat the enemy Digimon armies and unlock the power of the Digivices.
Akira laughed quietly to herself. “They’re really not giving me a lot of choices now, are they?” she murmured, clicking on the mission number.
Then, her game character showed up on screen as the mission introduction played. She looked up at the screen and gasped. “What-?”
The character on the screen had violet eyes and long black hair. A pair of yellow and blue goggles was on her head, and she was wearing a red and violet T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and blue and white sneakers – the exact image of Akira herself!
“My character looks just like me! But... how? I didn’t even do anything to it!” Akira swallowed nervously and started playing the mission. There were some times when Kodamon would talk to her, and Akira would type in her responses. After winning their first battle, Kodamon turned to her and smiled.
“This game is so strange…” Akira whispered. “It’s almost like it’s real…”
A few hours later, the summer assignments she had to do for school lay forgotten in her bag, and she was still playing the game. She knew she was really supposed to finish packing for her trip the next day, but for some reason she just couldn’t stop playing.
“Akira!” a voice suddenly called from behind her bedroom door, followed by a knock.
“Yeah?” Akira reluctantly turned away from the screen.
The door opened, and her father walked in. “Hey. How was your day?”
Akira scowled. “Boring. Nothing but reviews for stuff we don’t need to remember for weeks!” Her expression brightened. “How was it for you, at school? Did anyone try to hack the computer systems again?” Her father was a computer science professor at the local university, and was one of the guys everyone talked to if a computer broke down on campus.
“Oh, no. Nothing like that happened today.” He laughed. “Just lectures. Boring stuff.” He looked at what she was doing. “I see you’ve started playing that new game,” he added, indicating the view on her laptop screen.
Akira nodded.
“It’s very addicting, from what I’ve seen of it. You should have seen some of my students – playing it on their laptops while pretending to listen to my lecture!” He laughed, and Akira laughed along with him.
“Are you all packed for tonight?” he asked.
Akira nodded. “Almost. There’s just my summer assignments and my laptop left.”
He nodded. “All right, then.” He was silent for a moment, then spoke up again. “You feeling all right about your trip?” he asked, “Excited?”
Akira looked down and didn’t answer.
Her dad frowned. “It’s still a big adjustment for you, huh?” he asked, “Having to fly back and forth across the ocean to visit each of us?”
Akira’s face remained expressionless. “I just wish Mom didn’t have to live so far away,” she said finally. “And I still wish she hadn’t taken so long to tell us she got married again and had another kid.” She looked up at him, painfully. “Mom left when I was seven, and I didn’t even know about Kei until she was seven! And Touma-” Her voice faded and she looked down again. She didn’t want to talk about Touma.
Her father put a hand on her shoulder. “I know you’re still upset. I was too, when after seven years she finally contacted us and told us how she was. But, since you’re starting to visit her more often now, there should be enough time for you two to iron things out, right?”
Akira shook her head. “It’s not just that, Dad,” she explained, “I really do want to see Mom and Kei again. I love them. But… I just don’t want to keep living over there for such a long time. I like it better here, with you and Grandma.” She sighed. It wasn’t even half of what she really wanted to say, but under the circumstances, it would have to do.
Her dad seemed to take it. “Your mom did mention a couple of times that you were getting depressed over there,” he replied, “That’s why we decided later on that you’d go only on summer or winter breaks. Just a month.”
“Yeah…” Akira murmured, but her mind was buzzing. Depressed? she thought, You have no idea.
Her dad sighed, and patted her on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay.” He looked up at the clock. “Go to bed early, okay? Your plane leaves pretty early tomorrow morning, and you wouldn’t want to scare everyone off the plane with your sleepyhead face!”
Akira glared at him in mock-annoyance. “Dad!”
He laughed. “I’m kidding!”
When her father left the room, Akira turned back to the game and continued to play.
The next morning, after breakfast, Akira’s grandmother went up to her room to check on her.
“Akira? Are you ready to go-” she started to say, then stopped when she saw Akira in front of the computer. Again.
She sighed, and walked closer to her granddaughter. She glanced at the action on the computer screen, seeing a clip of a bear-like Digimon firing an energy punch. Then, she looked at Akira herself. Her gaze lingered on the yellow and blue goggles resting on Akira’s head, and the calm, determined look on her face as she watched the computer screen.
Seeing that, a strange, distant look appeared on the old woman’s face.
The sound of a digitized explosion startled her out of her musings. She glanced at the computer screen one more time, then thumped Akira on the shoulder. Akira gasped and almost jumped a foot in the air from surprise.
“Akira,” her grandmother said, a bit too calmly, “Are you ready to go? It’s getting late!”
Akira looked at the computer clock and blinked. “Oh… okay,” she said, clearly distracted. She turned off the game and the laptop. “Just let me pack this first.”
“What has gotten into you this morning?” her grandmother replied sternly, “Your flight leaves in three hours, and you’re not even done packing?”
“Grandma-”
“You do realize how long it takes just to drive over to the airport from here, right?” her grandmother interrupted, “Now, if you’d like to actually get on your plane today-“
“Grandma!” Akira almost shouted, “I know!”
There was silence in the room, as her grandmother stared at her in surprise.
Akira sighed. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just a bit nervous, that’s all.” She finished packing in her laptop, pulled her suitcase off the bed, and slung her backpack on her shoulder. “I’m ready.”
“Well, don’t just stand there,” her grandmother clucked, pushing her out the door. “Let’s get going!”
The moment she exited the house and got to her father’s car, Akira was startled by a familiar shout.
“Hey!”
Akira turned around to see Seita jogging over to her. “What?” she answered, irritated.
“Where are you going?” he asked, staring at the suitcase in her hands.
Akira shot him an annoyed look. “America,” she answered crossly, pulling up her suitcase and plopping it in the trunk.
“America…?” Seita said faintly. Then he groaned. “Akira, why do you never tell me when you’re leaving? You did this last time, too, and I spent three weeks looking around for you until your dad finally told me you left!”
Akira stared back at him, incredulous. “Seriously? I didn’t think you’d care!”
Seita’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean, you didn’t think I’d care?” he spat out, “Of course I c-” His eyes suddenly widened and he quickly shut his mouth.
Akira fought the urge to laugh at him, instead settling for an almost-smile. “I didn’t say anything because I was afraid that if I did, you’d take it upon yourself to follow me there and annoy me every chance you could!”
With that, she closed the trunk and walked to the front of the car.
“Oh, come on!” Seita shouted as she turned away, “As if I had the money to go all the way out there!”
“Goodbye, moron!” Akira sang out, shutting the car door.
“Moron to you too!” Seita shot back, glaring. As the car drove away, his glare turned into a look of disappointment.
Fortunately, they made it to the airport just in time, and Akira had time to say goodbye.
“Goodbye,” her dad said, hugging her and shuffling the top of her head, “Have fun, and see you in a month!” Akira smiled. She went over to her grandmother and said goodbye, giving her a hug, then picked up her backpack. She was about to leave when her grandmother stopped her.
“Akira, wait!”
Akira stopped and looked at her. “What is it?”
Her grandmother hesitated, then replied, “Be careful. Please. Try not to get into any trouble, and if anything strange happens, keep a clear head. Don’t do anything stupid.” She hesitated again. “You understand? Promise me that.”
Akira looked puzzled. “Um, sure. I promise. But I’m going to be fine. Don’t worry so much! Nothing bad’s going to happen to me.” She smiled. She walked a few steps, turned around and waved, then disappeared into the crowd of other passengers taking the same flight.
Her dad and grandmother watched and waited, and when the plane finally took off, her dad spoke.
“What was that all about, Mom? You sounded as if she would disappear or drop dead when you’d least expect it!”
She laughed gravelly. “You and your witticisms. But really, something bad is going to happen soon. I can feel it.”
Akira’s dad frowned. “You sure? You’re probably just overreacting because of what happened to her the last time she left.”
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. My intuition.” Her face darkened. “I’m telling you, something’s wrong.”
She looked up at the plane fearfully, watching as it grew smaller and smaller, disappearing into the sky.