Chapter 1: It Begins Again

Upon the anniversary of the Digital World's rebirth,

A great darkness shall appear from the gulf.

Beneath black wings the phantoms will gather,

And the land erupt into mayhem.

The war of light and darkness within the hearts of the Chosen Children,

Shall make friend into foe and foe into friend,

And the shadows of chaos wash over the world.

You paused, staring out over the lake. In your left hand was a cup of scraps from lunch and in your right was a fishing pole. You were looking for the perfect place to set up for angling.

The sun here was a bit too strong. You moved to the side and into the shade of a wide maple tree. Perfect!

With a flick of your arm you cast the fishing line out into the water and sat back to wait. As far as you were concerned the best part of fishing was the waiting. Your brother had been the same way, though he had never done much fishing.

It was also a good opportunity to reflect on all the weirdness that had been going on lately. You hadn't seen so much of that weirdness since arriving at summer camp but you had seen some very odd things before your mom dropped you off. Things like microwaves running by themselves, printers spitting out paper with incomprehensible symbols on it, and phone calls with modem noises in the speakers. All in all the happenings had reminded you exactly of what happened this same time last year: those strange few days when technology seemed to have lost its collective mind and a whole other world had appeared in the sky. There had been something in the news about whatever it was but it ended before anyone really knew for sure what was going on.

So much of that summer was a blur to you but you could remember an overwhelming feeling that you had missed out on something. Something important.

Now it seemed to be starting up all over again right as you left for summer camp. Technology was wigging out and you were getting that feeling like something big was gonna happen. It kept building and building making you uneasy and snappish. But today seemed like it gave some relief from the feeling so you were relaxing while you had the chance.

The maple leaves rustled in the wind and the spots of sunlight on your violet shirt danced back and forth. It was so peaceful, like - like -

The calm before the storm.

'Well, that's not a very reassuring thought! And where did it come from?' you wondered.

Suddenly you jumped as your fishing reel began to whine and unspool. A fish! You'd hooked a fish!

"Awesome!" The fish put up a great fight but the outcome was inevitable. You reeled it in and held it up to admire it. It was the biggest fish you had ever caught, probably weighing fifty pounds! Or maybe just three pounds.

Then as you were trying to determine what kind of fish it was the sky suddenly went black as night. It instantly got your attention and you peered up at the source. It looked like a circular cloud - but that was impossible.

You dropped your rod and fish to put on your glasses. You were nearsighted so you needed the lenses to determine what it was that was hanging in the sky.

Not that they helped much. Whatever you were seeing was so odd that your brain just couldn't comprehend it. The closest comparison that you could think of was the whirlpool that formed when a full bathtub was draining. Or maybe in "Poltergeist" when the closet formed a pulsing tunnel of grossness. But the thing in the sky wasn't gross - just odd.

Then a bright light appeared in the center of the sky-tunnel and a fireball shot out. Coming directly at you!

You screamed and threw yourself back as the fireball hit the spot where you had been standing. Dirt and water sprayed everywhere and you even felt little rocks pelting your arms which you had thrown up to protect your face. Then, as the roar of the impact died away, you slowly uncovered your eyes to study the smoking crater. It was tiny considering the energy of the impact, essentially just a hole in the ground a few inches across.

"What the heck was that?!" you gasped.

Normally you would already have been running and probably would have made it to another continent by now, you were so startled. But for some reason you weren't moving. Even though it was scary, it was like you had been expecting it.

Your fear had diminished rapidly as you approached the hole again and from the bottom of it you could hear burbling. Then all trace of fear vanished as a glowing orb rose up out of the hole and hovered before you. This was what you had been waiting for.

You confidently reached out to the orb, which melted away at your touch. Something dropped from it and you caught it instinctively. Resting in your palm was a small, pale blue device with three buttons and a screen.

Then the lake exploded from its banks and you were swept away into its depths by a tidal wave.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, eight identical devices sounded and eight children knew they were needed.