Dialogue Two: Cody's Conspiracy Theory

"—subtle as a brick wall," was all that Cody heard Joe say before he opened the computer room door.

Joe sat in Izzy's usual spot at the gate computer, with a heavy textbook open in front of him and Upamon rifling through his bag for snacks. TK was in the middle of standing and beating a hasty retreat.

He did pause to offer an explanation.

"Tentomon's been hearing rumors about packs of Dolphmon who were separated by the Digimon Emperor," he said. "Ikkakumon's trying to make contact with them, see if they want help mounting a search party."

"Something you and I are uniquely qualified for," Joe said mildly. In Cody's opinion, his gaze at the pages was unfocused and distracted, which didn't seem right. Really, nor did Joe focusing on the book and not on the people he was talking to.

Cody shifted his kendo gear to the other shoulder, considering. He nodded to Joe, which he seemed to take as a prompt to sheepishly close the book. "I'm sorry if that's inconvenient for you…"

"Very," Joe answered, smiling. "But like I said—uniquely qualified."

TK was almost to the door and Patamon flapping along behind. There wasn't, to Cody's knowledge, anything preventing TK from coming along, and flight was surely almost as useful as aquatics here. TK and Pegasusmon couldn't cover the depth that Cody and Submarimon could, but they could cover a lot more distance. More than that, Joe couldn't dive with Ikkakumon, nor could he fit in Submarimon's hatch, so riding with Pegasusmon was probably safest and most convenient…

The idea of bringing his bokken down in front of TK to stop his progress danced across Cody's imagination, but he dismissed it as needlessly aggressive. Joe surely would have thought of that, and Cody took his cue from there, even if his curiosity was piqued by what he was missing.

Cody let TK make his escape, and he and Joe finally made proper eye contact.

"I thought we'd go to File Island and wait for a while," said Joe, a little cautiously, a little too calculated. "Ikkakumon's area is colder than Dolphmon's usual habitat, so he hasn't made much headway. The plan is for him to come south, pick us up, and go from there."

Cody nodded, and permitted Joe to dig himself deeper.

"The island isn't too far southwest," he added, even though he'd explained himself sufficiently and really didn't need to keep going. But Cody wanted more information, and Joe didn't wear deception well, hanging himself out to dry without even a clothesline. "He's as close as he can safely get, just waiting for Tentomon's signal that someone is on their way to take over for him. A few hours to give them time to travel won't hurt much."

File Island was already keyed into the Gate, too, Cody noticed, as he got his D3 out of his pocket. Joe and TK hadn't progressed quite to manipulating him, which he was grateful for. And there was merit to the mission; the palm gripping his bokken got a little sweatier thinking about Ken Ichijouji and his insistence on ruining others' lives. Neither Joe nor TK would lie about something like that, even if they did use it to their advantage.

When Joe didn't offer anything further, he just stashed his kendo gear under the table and said "Digi-Port, Open!"

"Sure you're not too hot or anything?" Joe asked. "We can find some place a little more shady."

"I'm fine," Cody answered. He was still a little sweaty from his kendo lesson, but a quick splash in the ocean fixed that nicely.

"I'm starting to think you might have to go on without Ikkakumon," Joe said, scrolling through his e-mail. "Tentomon doesn't do so well in cold weather, and Izzy says they're having trouble finding someone who can switch with him."

Cody glanced up at him. "What about the opposite? Armadillomon and I wouldn't mind watching his area for a while."

"I'd mind," Joe said wryly. "If you want to freeze for a bit, we can do that right here on File Island. In the meantime, I have some snacks, and I vaguely remember a shady clearing being nearby that only feels sub-tropical."

Joe shouldered his bag and led Cody, shouldering Armadillomon, into the forest. Cody didn't mind carrying him for a bit; digivolving to the Champion level was still very new to him, and tired him out. And they were doing it more or less constantly with all the Control Spires that needed to be destroyed, which meant Armadillomon was eating and sleeping more than ever.

Joe's suggestion of a nice, peaceful nature walk and picnic was very sudden, but welcome. Cody still suspected an ulterior motive, because Joe struck him as a methodical type—and TK behaved too much like a guilty accomplice.

But still welcome. Ulterior motives did not have to be negative. Which was not to say that it didn't chafe a bit, but it was like Yolei coloring the straws. Cody had faith that Joe had the best of intentions.

And promptly said so. Joe had the good grace to look chagrined.

"Let me spread the blanket out," Joe suggested. "We can sit, have some lemonade, and I'll let you ask me as many questions as you want. Once you have, I'll tell you a story—of which I am sure you will instantly see the parallel."

Cody smiled slightly. "I appreciate you leveling with me," he said politely, kneeling. Armadillomon hopped off his shoulders and curled up next to him, resting his head in Cody's lap.

"I always hated being talked down to," Joe replied, using his bag to anchor the blanket against the breeze. "Happens to me a lot."

Cody took a sip of the proffered lemonade. Joe must have kept it with some kind of ice pack; it was refreshingly chilled. "I'd like to know if you're conspiring with TK."

"I prefer not to think of it as 'conspiring,' please," Joe said. "TK asked for my help because he thinks I can help you."

"All right." Cody didn't feel argumentative, but he did sort of resent TK's… meddling. Out of respect for Joe, he'd now refrain from calling it a conspiracy; that had negative connotations, and he knew that both Joe and TK struggled to act righteously. "Meddling" softened it up some, but still conveyed his annoyance. "I don't have any other questions, really. I'm sure your story would answer them."

"Thanks. Well." Put on the spot, Joe was uneasy and wet his throat before launching into a story about a Digimon who'd worked for Devimon, the first enemy the original group of seven partners fought in 1999.

"He hid himself in a crate and attacked Gomamon and me at sea," Joe said, managing to look offended and hold a cup level for Armadillomon to drink from simultaneously. "I nearly drowned. I would have drowned, if Sora hadn't caught me with a fishing line."

It was an intriguing story, but Cody couldn't see how it applied to him.

"What happened to Ogremon after Devimon was defeated?"

"I didn't care enough at the time to remember," Joe admitted. "We'd just done what we were supposedly brought here to do, but it didn't feel like a victory because… well, that's another story, but we were still trapped on the island, and were trying to decide if we wanted to go risk our lives again. We were preoccupied, so I just forgot, if I ever knew in the first place."

"So he ran with his tail between his legs and you never heard from him again," Armadillomon drawled. "You don't have any of that two-bean salad, do you?"

"Usually, it's three-bean salad," Joe answered, fishing the container out. The Ai-Mart sticker was peeling a little.

"I never did much like that third bean…"

"I'm not seeing the parallel," Cody said, while Armadillomon made faces at his lunch.

Joe cringed. "Well… later on… back in those days, a minute in the real world equaled a whole day in the Digital World. So the three days we spent looking for Kari and fighting Myotismon in Tokyo, something like…" There was a glassy look in his eyes as he figured the math in his head. "Four thousand years passed. Give or take. And the Dark Masters conquered the entire world and reformatted it into Spiral Mountain."

Cody's eyes narrowed. Joe was going into a little too much detail. Giving a little too much context, trying to guide Cody's conclusion.

"So a lot changed by the time you got back," he prompted, again ready to let Joe hang himself.

"Mimi didn't want to fight anymore," said Joe. "Truthfully, neither did I, but she put her foot down and said she needed a break. Too many of our allies had died for us already, and she wasn't going to stand for it. But I didn't think it was safe for her and Palmon to be on their own, especially if she'd refuse to fight. So Gomamon and I stayed with them."

Interestingly enough, Cody couldn't remember if he'd known that before. He remembered a couple references to the group splitting up when they'd been told the story of the summer of 1999… there was temptation to wonder what Mimi was thinking, but not a lot of room in Cody's own conduct to not give her the benefit of any doubt.

In the end, Cody held back his commentary for the sake of politeness. He had a feeling he knew what Joe was driving towards.

Probably Joe knew it, too. He drained his cup, then, and cut to the chase.

"We found Ogremon one day, and he'd had a number done on him. Deep cuts on his forehead and his arm was broken. I wanted to keep going, but Mimi wanted to help. What Mimi wants, Mimi tends to get, for good or ill."

"And if Ken Ichijouji was injured to the point of near-death, I'd help him," Cody interrupted, at this point a little unable to help himself and disappointed at being right. "But he isn't."

"Not literally, maybe," said Joe. "But I was telling TK before, people don't do the kinds of things he did without cause, and there probably is something to be said for him not realizing it was real."

Cody didn't really think a boy genius' inability to think critically was an excuse. "Is Ikkakumon actually coming here at all?"

"If Tentomon ever finds someone to guard his area," Joe answered easily. "Frigimon and Meramon are busy rebuilding the Koromon village back on Server, Andromon says his city is being raided by a gang of Tankmon, Elecmon won't leave Primary Village for anything, and all our other partner Digimon are busy with their own rebuilding projects."

"I think focusing on that would be more productive," said Cody, "rather than trying to excuse Ken Ichijouji's various…" He bit back the word 'crimes.' And 'faults' was too nebulous, too vague and not… physical enough, not real enough.

"Obviously I think Ken should help undo what he did," he said, leaving whatever word he needed in limbo. "But I shouldn't have to… socialize with him. And I'm surprised you want to."

"I actually kind of don't," Joe admitted. "Neither does Matt. Believe it or not, he and I are usually on the same side when it comes to group disagreements like this."

"Then why do you and TK insist on changing my mind?" Cody asked, not really concealing his impatience.

"If I'm trying to change your mind, I'm doing an awfully bad job of it, don't you think?"

"Point to Joe," said Armadillomon. "That puts him in the lead."

Cody poured himself more lemonade.

"There's no winners and losers here," Joe said. "I told you, I don't like being talked down to. I'm not going to tell you that you're wrong, Cody. In some ways, I don't think you are."

Cody frowned. The "some" got to him, just a little. He didn't want to act unrighteously, but the way Davis seemed completely incapable of acknowledging the things Ken did, and the way the others' protests had just sort of… ceased to exist… There was no rhyme or reason to it. A switch had been flipped, one hundred-eighty degrees, some kind of inexplicable revolution that no one seemed to question.

Ken couldn't just take back the things he'd done. Some, like Agumon's capture, had been reversed with just some sweat and tears, but others… there were the missing Dolphmon, the displaced Gotsumon, the injured Gizamon… many of them had been terrorized, many of them were having trouble rebuilding and readjusting. Some of the Emperor's slaves had been under his control for months. All that time lost…

"Only some?"

"Don't take it personally," said Joe, smiling. "You're doing a good job of balancing how you feel with the… necessity of the situation. I mean, you did let him save you guys the other day, right?

"Mimi didn't give us much choice."

Joe outright laughed. "I told you, what Mimi wants, Mimi has an alarming tendency to get."

"Take, more like," Cody muttered. He was trying not to let the irritation of her taking away control in that situation show on his face.

"Uh-huh." And a sympathetic Joe apparently saw it anyway. "If it makes you feel any better, she's been doing that to me for years. I used to think it was just me, that I spoiled her because she's a cute little girl and it was nice to be the indulgent big brother for a change. But no, it's entirely her. When she feels strongly about something, she won't take no for an answer. I don't factor into the equation. Few things do."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Cody. "You can't solve an equation without the factors. That's the whole point."

"I wholeheartedly agree with you," said Joe. "Don't get me wrong. But I also admire – and, I'll be honest, envy — that conviction. Wouldn't it be nice, if you could act with the certainty that you were doing the right thing?"

"Being certain doesn't actually make you correct," Cody said firmly. He left Joe room to point out his own certainty in that conviction, but Joe didn't. Cody managed a smile at that, at Joe accepting his acknowledgment of the other side there.

"In other words," Joe said, right as Cody felt lulled into what he realized was a false sense of security, "People should consider and reconsider, change their conduct accordingly, and… maybe join the group they were fighting against before, to try to set things right?"

Cody glared. The temptation to tell Joe he hated him was strong, but he didn't want to give Joe the wrong idea, or else look too immature. The glare was already pushing it.

"It's okay," Joe said gently. "You're allowed to be certain in your convictions, even if you'd normally keep questioning. Sometimes Mimi questions herself and sometimes I'm absolutely certain. But you have to give Ken credit for approaching things in a way we both agree is smart… even if it took him this long to consider all those other factors, about how he was hurting others."

Cody understood what he was supposed to take away. That as much as he derided Mimi's and Davis' certainty that they needed Ken, his own certainty of the opposite was detrimental. That as much as he was annoyed by the others' fluidity, their judgment was no less valid than his. That as much as he'd despised Ken's arrogance and insistence on his own superiority as the Digimon Emperor, if Ken was going the opposite route and questioning everything before he made a decision, Cody had to let it be.

"I don't tell you this because you're wrong, Cody, I promise."

Cody fidgeted. Armadillomon rested his head on Cody's knee to disguise it.

"Honestly, I'm not keen on being friends with him, either. I'm on board with him being part of the group because you guys need someone like him, who can drop everything and open the gate to bail you out if you need it. I'm on board with him because he needs help, and maybe you guys can be a good influence on him."

"What am I supposed to do, then?"

"Keep doing what you've been doing," he answered. "Coexist as best you can. Just let your mind do what it would do naturally."

Something clicked in Cody's head.

Joe hadn't been trying to influence his conclusions. And he was correct—if he had been, he'd done a poor job. Really, Joe barely talked about him at all and Cody's attitude toward Ken remained largely the same. He didn't want him around. When this Spire mess was cleaned up, he hoped Ken would fade back into the ether, or Tamachi, or whatever, never to darken a Digi-Port again.

Joe was only letting Cody do what he liked best. He offered information that he had not to sway him, but just to have. Just to absorb. He was trying to give Cody all the tools he needed to make up his own mind.

"The fact remains that Ken isn't your friend Ogremon," said Cody. "And that TK put you up to this."

Joe winced.

But the intent… honestly, Cody wasn't sure what the intent was. If TK had an opinion on Ken, he'd never shared it. He'd had quite few on the Emperor, and it was still disconcerting, just how violently he'd expressed some of them. This kind of behind-the-back dealing didn't mesh with the TK Cody saw every day, just like that violence didn't.

"I don't understand why he wouldn't just talk to me himself," Cody said.

Joe permitted the subject change, probably sensing that anything else regarding Ken would just be going in a circle.

"Take a number," he answered. "I suspect, if you asked, he'd say I have the personal experience, and you respect my opinion."

"It's a good answer," Cody said. "It's entirely correct, but… you know, if you help him against me, you should really help me against him, too."

Joe raised an eyebrow, looking at him over his glasses.

"It's only fair," Cody stated plainly. "Besides, if you can't help me get on with Ken, help me understand TK."

"I will do you one better," Joe laughed. "Skip the middle man. If you really need to understand TK, my advice is just to ask Matt."

"I don't know him at all, really," Cody protested. "And he's busy."

"But never too busy to speculate about TK's wellbeing," Joe countered. "Trust me on this. They know each other a little too well. I don't know half as much about my brothers as they do about each other. I don't know if that's because I take mine for granted, or if it's because the age gap is wider and we don't have the same friends, but it's a fact."

More information than required, again, but Cody stored it in the back of his head. He could let TK get away with his inexplicable behavior this time, but this was strike two. If ever there was a strike three…

Joe's D-Terminal beeped, sparing either of them the need to find a transition to a less loaded conversation.

"Tentomon says they found someone," said Joe, skimming quickly. "Ogremon, in fact."

Well. I had to tri., as it were…