Prologue
The air was cold and still. Light wisps of fog clung to the ground as a cool wind blew through the trees.
The quiet, deathly stillness was then broken by the sound of cracking glass, followed by an unearthly, inhuman scream.
There was a crackling noise, almost like static, as the trees began to flicker in and out of existence.
The server’s defenses were failing.
Suddenly, a girl emerged from the trees and ran. The wind whipped through her long black hair, held in place with a pair of bright yellow goggles.
As the girl ran, she looked around at the landscape. The sky was an eerie shade of lime green, with dark clouds rolling in from what looked like a giant crack suspended in midair.
The girl narrowed her eyes. If she looked a little closer at the dark clouds, she could almost see individual hordes of dark Digimon pouring in from the crack. Bright flashes lit the sky, as the few Data and Vaccine Digimon left in the server engaged them in combat.
The girl quickly looked away, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. There was no time to wish them luck, no time to hope for their safety. With the server’s defenses down, it was only a matter of time before they would all be destroyed.
Unless she could do something about it.
The girl finally reached her destination – a plain gray building nestled within a grove of weeping willow trees. As she slipped inside, she passed a sign written in large, gold letters.
Fujiyama Server Master Control
She sprinted down a long hallway, and skidded right into an open elevator door. She slammed a palm onto the button for the basement floor and caught her breath as the elevator slid closed. As the elevator came to a stop, she ran out and into a wide, open room with a single computer terminal in the center.
“Computer!” the girl yelled, stumbling over to the terminal and pushing several buttons. “Activate AI profile!”
“Unable to comply. AI profile damaged,” the computer replied in a neutral voice, “Estimated repair time: 25 cycles.”
The girl slammed a fist on the terminal’s surface. “Damn!” She looked around frantically, then started typing out long strings of commands. Without the AI, she would have to do everything herself. And she was running out of time.
A large map of the Digital World appeared on the computer screen. Large swaths of land glowed a menacing red color, while only a few areas glowed a cooler blue.
The girl stared back at the computer in horror. Just a few cycles ago, there had been over 208 networked servers in existence. All of them clean. Now, only two of them had escaped infection: Marianas and Fujiyama.
And Fujiyama was dying.
She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to calm down, and tried to think of all her options.
After a long moment, the girl opened her eyes. Making her decision, she turned toward the computer terminal.
“Computer!” she said in a clear voice. A sad, defeated look appeared on her face. “Begin evacuation procedures.”
“Evacuation protocols loaded.”
“Start up the profile backup system.”
“Administrator-level access code required.”
“Code 198181.”
“Access code accepted. State your name and designation.”
The girl took a deep breath, and gave her name and designation. Outside, the sounds of explosions echoed through the control room walls.
“Program identification verified,” the computer replied, “Stand by for full identity scan.”
The girl closed her eyes and relaxed as a bright, pale-blue beam washed over her. After a moment, the beam disappeared.
“Identity scan complete. Compiling backup data-”
There was a crackle, and the voice suddenly stopped. The girl looked at the screen in surprise, seeing a blinking message.
Voice synthesis off-line.
Converting to text-based commands.
The girl swore under her breath. She typed in a long string of commands, and another message showed up:
Compiling backup data. Please wait.
“Hurry up…” the girl murmured in desperation, squeezing her eyes shut.
The racket outside the control room grew even louder. Explosions occurred more often, and the room began to shake with them.
A loud beep issued from the computer, startling the girl. She looked up to see another notification blinking on the screen:
Data backup complete.
Beginning data upload.
Fujiyama Server >>> Marianas Server
Under the message was an upload bar, increasing at an agonizingly slow rate.
The door suddenly burst open, as scores of virus Digimon clawed their way inside the control room, screaming and howling. They circled the girl and the computer terminal, watching and wondering who would make the first move.
The girl stared back at them calmly, throwing a sideways glance at the computer screen as the upload bar steadily increased.
98%. 99%. 100%.
Upload Complete.
The girl acknowledged the message with a slight nod, then focused her attention back to the Digimon surrounding her.
“You want to take over?” the girl shouted in a cold, steely voice, “Go right ahead!” She took a couple of steps toward the dark horde, palms shining with a strange, white light. “But I won’t let you have this world without a fight!”