Keepers of the Worlds

Chapter Six: Kabuterimon

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Anything you recognize was taken from SSN 1 ep. 5 "Kabuterimon's Electroshocker".

Author's Note: Many thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted or faved and special thanks to all those who have stuck with me through this two year dry spell and are still following this story.

There was a flash of green light behind his eyes and Harry woke with a gasp, his fingers curling in the dirt below him as his stomach tied itself in knots. He was panting and sweating as if he'd been running and there were little tremors wracking his slight frame. Harry gulped in a deep breath, and then another, over and over until he calmed enough to notice his surroundings. It took him a long moment of wracking his brain to remember where he was and why.

Behind him Izzy shifted in his sleep murmuring something unintelligible and Harry felt the arm around his waist tighten reflexively. It was ridiculously reassuring.

"Harry?"

Senamon's eyes blinked open and the digimon nudged his partner under the chin with his nose.

"Gah!" Harry complained, adjusting his glasses, "That's cold!"

"What's wrong, Harry? You're distressed."

"I'm fine," Harry soothed, stroking a hand over Senamon's suede-soft skin, "It was just a bad dream."

"I don't like it when you're distressed Harry, it feels bad in my chest. What can I do to make it better?"

"You're already doing the best thing," Harry said cuddling close to his digimon, "Being here with me is the best help you could give me. I feel better already."

"I'm glad," said Senamon brushing his cheek against Harry's, "But what did you dream that was so scary?"

Harry considered the question as his digimon blinked at him expectantly.

"I don't exactly know, not for sure, what the dream is about. All I know is that there's a lot of green light. I think it's a dream about the car crash where my parents died, but if it is I don't know where all the green light comes from," Harry shook his head to clear it, "I only really have it every once in a while but I've been having it ever since I can remember."

"That's really no good," said Senamon, his teeth grit tightly and his tail lashing back and forth, "It's not fair!"

"Er—what isn't?" asked Harry.

He didn't really understand why his digimon partner was suddenly so angry.

"That a dream like that can sneak up on you and make you so afraid, it's not fair because to not be scared anymore we have to face our fears right? How can you face something when you don't know what it is or when it's going to strike at you? Then you can't face it and stop fearing it. It's like cheating!"

Harry chuckled a bit, surprised at Senamon's vehemence on his behalf, although thinking back to the behaviour of both his own digimon and the others' over the past few days perhaps he shouldn't have been.

"Sometimes life isn't fair. That's just reality I guess," said Harry shrugging a bit.

"Well I don't like it, reality."

Harry laughed ruffling the fluffy tuft of purple mane between Senamon's horns, "No one ever does."

They lay like that for a while, Harry stroking Senamon and listening to Izzy mumble sleepy nonsense into his shoulder, until it started to get light on the horizon and what passed for a dawn chorus in the digiworld got going.

"I'm not really sleepy anymore, Harry," Senamon commented slithering out of their little pile and stretching, clawing at the hard packed dirt and tufts of grass with his talons.

"Yeah, me neither, and I kinda smell from sweating all day yesterday," said Harry carefully extricating himself from Izzy's vice-like grip and sitting up, "The lake will be chilly but how about a quick bath before everyone gets up?"

"Sounds like fun!"

So the digimon and his human partner made their way down the hill to the edge of the lake. Senamon snaked into the water in a deft motion that didn't so much as ripple the lake's glassy surface. Harry was careful to make sure that they were in a sheltered area, not wanting the others to see him, before skinning out of his clothes and rushing into the lake.

"Gah! It's cold! It's a good thing it's not windy," Harry said, shivering a bit and splashing around to warm up.

"Come out a little further, if you start swimming properly you'll warm up quickly," suggested Senamon, swimming circles around Harry.

"I don't actually know how to swim," Harry confessed, "We never did get to swimming lessons and water activities at camp."

"I'll teach you, it's easy!"

Harry didn't know how easy it actually was but Senamon was a natural in the water, as were most of the digimon he'd met so far so he figured it couldn't hurt to let him try. Besides, he knew his partner would rescue him if anything went wrong.

"Alright then, what do I do first?"

Harry allowed Senamon to tow him further out into the lake and show him how to paddle and tread water using his hands and feet. There were a few false starts owing to the fundamental differences in anatomy between them, but by the time the sun was fully risen Harry was laughing and being chased around the shallows of the lake by Senamon and a few of the braver Pyocomon.

"Harry!" called Izzy from the bank, waving at them, "Hurry up and get dressed! We found a small cook pot in Mimi's bag so Joe's going to make seed porridge for us for breakfast."

"Okay, wait some food for me please," Harry called back in heavily accented Japanese.

Izzy flashed him a thumbs up in response and turned to make his way back up the hill, much to Harry's relief.

"Want me to tow you to shore?" asked Senamon.

"Just wait until Izzy gets out of sight, okay."

"Why? Aren't you hungry?"

"I just don't want any of the others to see me naked," said Harry, "It's embarrassing."

"I don't get it, is that why you all wear so many clothes and shoes and things?"

"Yeah, partly, also partly to keep warm or cool in different kinds of weather," Harry explained.

"Gabumon are like that too, they really don't like it when other digimon catch them with their fur off."

"Really? Is that why Gabumon was so sensitive about Tai's teasing the other day?"

"Must be," said Senamon with a flick of his tail, "Izzy's probably far enough away now, can we go get breakfast for you now?"

Harry scanned the shore, but apart from the Pyocos and Senamon there wasn't anyone to see him get out from the cover of the water so he grabbed hold of Senamon's horns and let himself be pulled swiftly to shore.

He shook off as much of the water as he could and then used his t-shirt to towel off for lack of anything better, hoping it would dry quickly in the sun, as he pulled it on and buttoned his jeans, choosing to forgo shoes and socks for the moment.

"I wish I had a change of clothes or something so that I could wash this set," Harry muttered picking at the front of his shirt with a frown, "Maybe next time I'll just swim in my clothes."

"Good morning," said Sora, grinning up from a bowl of makeshift seed-porridge.

"Morning," chorused the rest of the group.

"You should really try this Harry," said Tentomon buzzing over excitedly, "The cooking process completely transforms this traditional digi-dish!"

"It's really yummy," agreed TK.

"We can see that your face certainly thinks so," snorted Matt, swiping at a collection of stray grains, "Slow down TK it's not going anywhere and you're getting more of it on you than in you."

"That goes double for you Tai," added Sora, shooting her friend a disapproving look and he shovelled yet another mouthful into his mouth.

"I can't help it Sora I'm starving, it feels like we haven't had a proper meal in days and this is practically the same as my mom's organic rice. It's comfort food."

"I saved you a big bowl Harry, don't worry," added Izzy reaching over to hand Harry his breakfast, "You too Senamon."

"I'm still not sure we should be eating this in such high volume all at once," said Joe picking delicately at his bowl with makeshift chopsticks, "The last thing we need is indigestion out in the middle of nowhere, and lets not even talk about food poisoning."

"Lighten up Joe, we ate a ton last night and didn't die in our sleep. It's fine."

"Fine but I reserve the right to say I told you so."

"Just eat your breakfast Joe and quit your carping," said Gomamon, nudging his partner.

Harry tucked into his breakfast with gusto. Tentomon was right, cooking the seeds gave them a rich nutty flavour and sticky rice-esque texture. It was almost like eating breakfast at camp and it was good and filling. He for one was all for it when Sora accepted more seeds from the Pyocos and started filling up their bags.

"So," said Tai once everyone was pleasantly full, "What's the plan of attack for today?"

"Well I don't think we should go back the way we came," said Mimi, "My nose itches from all that sun exposure and I don't want to get all red and start to peel."

"I agree, it doesn't make sense to go back into the desert," said Sora.

"So do we want to head back towards the forest?" asked Joe.

"We didn't find anything back that way before," Matt pointed out, "I say we go that way along the lake shore and see what we find."

"It's as feasible a plan as any, although the vegetation does seem less prevalent we've completely stocked up on food and water so I'm not too worried."

"Alright then, it's settled!" said Tai, jumping to his feet, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

The group packed up, dragged themselves to their feet and said their goodbyes and thank yous to the excitable village of Pyocomon before heading out for another long day of walking.

"That's enough, I'm done. I can't go on," moaned Mimi, dropping to her knees.

"So tired," TK groaned, dropping down next to her, "I can't feel my feet."

"Looks like it's time for a break," said Matt.

"We have been walking all day," Sora pointed out.

"Alright," agreed Tai, "Here's as good a place as any to take a quick rest, we'll just move into the shade there."

Mimi and TK cheered but didn't move from their collapsed positions. TK even went as far as to sprawl onto his back in the dirt, while Mimi had to be propped up by Palmon.

"What're you doing Izzy?" asked Senamon when Harry settled next to the redhead against the trunk of one of the only trees for miles around.

Izzy had his laptop out and in his lap and was fiddling with it, tapping in key sequences here and checking panels and fans there.

"I'm trying to see if I can't coax my laptop into working. It doesn't seem to be damaged so there should be a way to get it to work. I just haven't found it yet."

"What will you do if you do get it working?" asked Harry.

"Well my satellite uplink equipment should make it possible to send an e-mail with our GPS coordinates to our parents, and I can pinpoint our location and maybe even get a map of where we are in the meantime."

"That would be fabulous," said Joe, "The first step to rescue."

"We just need to get that computer working and you can do all that?" asked Tai.

"Well yes in theory, if everything is still working correctly and I can get network access."

"Here, give it to me!" said Tai, grabbing the small device with an exuberant and deceptively helpful grin, "A few good whacks should get it going again!"

"Hey!" cried Izzy, snatching his computer back, "Don't do that! Stop! This is a delicate piece of equipment not a temperamental vending machine!"

"I was just trying to help," said Tai, pouting slightly.

"We know Tai," sighed Sora, "But let's face it technology isn't exactly your strong suit and Izzy doesn't want your grubby hands mucking with his computer."

"Hey—"

"Since you still have so much energy Tai, why don't you go on and scout ahead a bit with your telescope," suggested Joe.

The taller boy was getting quite adept at diffusing tense situations among the group, Harry noticed.

"That's a great idea Joe! I'll be back in a second, I think I see something, I'm gonna go check it out," said Tai, already running off, Agumon hot on his heels.

"Wait for me Tai!"

"You have to admire Tai's energy," Tentomon said, watching as a frowning Izzy settled his computer carefully back into his lap, "I for one am worn out after all this high-paced, cross-country travel."

"Me too," agreed Izzy, "But Tai is the athletic type, so he's probably got way more stamina than the rest of us."

Harry yawned, and nodded in agreement. He tucked Senamon under his one arm, feeling his partner's long tail lash against his leg, and leaned heavily against Tentomon, the three of them avidly watching Izzy clack away on his keyboard. He was feeling his early morning and energetic swimming lessons now, it felt like they'd been plodding along forever and his legs and arms were leaden and exhausted. He didn't know how Tai, Matt and Sora did it.

There was suddenly a soft beep and Izzy blinked at his computer a rare grin touching his features briefly.

"It's working!"

"I knew you could do it!" cheered Tentomon.

"Wait a second, it's working."

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Harry, leaning over Tentomon to get a better look at the screen.

"It is, but the question I have now is how is it working even though according to this there's no charge left in the battery?"

"Hey! Everyone get over here, I think I found something!" called Tai, waving from the ridge.

Matt, Sora and their partners rushed over at a run while the rest of the group levered themselves to their feet and followed at a more leisurely pace.

"So much for our break," sighed Joe.

"Maybe Tai's found a hotel we can stay in for the night," suggested Mimi, but even she didn't have much conviction.

"Just when I was finally on to something too," grumbled Izzy, tucking his computer back into its case.

"At least now you'll be able to figure out whether or not this is a localized phenomenon," Tentomon pointed out.

"You're right Tentomon, maybe whatever it is that Tai's found is the reason for my computer's strange behaviour."

Thus energized, Izzy jogged the rest of the way up to the top of the ridge.

"Is that smoke?" asked Harry, shading his eyes.

"It looks like it," said Mimi.

"Well I think we should avoid smoking objects, you know what they say, wherever there's smoke there's a fire!" said Joe.

"It's a factory," said Matt, incredulous.

"I think it might be more than one," commented Sora, peering down into the little valley.

It looked rather a lot like someone had taken a scoop out of the surrounding savannah and dropped a tightly packed series of factories into the empty space. Smoke was rising from several of the spires, and everything seemed to be interconnected by catwalks and scaffolding.

"Are we going down there?" asked TK, "If it's a factory there are probably people working there right?"

"That's the idea anyway," agreed Tai, ruffling TK's hair.

"This is pretty steep, how are we going to get down? The last thing we need is for someone to break a bone." Joe pointed out.

"It's not so bad, we can probably just slide down like we did with the lake," said Matt, sidling over the edge.

"Be careful Matt," said Sora.

"Wait for me," said Tai, throwing himself over with more recklessness.

Matt and Tai both made it down safely, so the rest of the group slide down the side of the pit kicking up dust and generally making a ruckus.

The floor of the pit was paved with sheet metal and steel mesh and it was practically a dream to walk on after the dips and hollows of the terrain above.

"Hello?" called Joe, "Is there anyone here?"

"It looks pretty empty," Harry observed.

"It's kind of creepy," agreed Mimi.

"A factory or series of factories like this one wouldn't need more than a skeleton staff of supervisors and maintenance workers to operate," Izzy pointed out, "Listen, whatever they're building you can hear that the operation itself is fully automated."

Sure enough as they approached the buildings the rhythmic hiss of pneumatics and clank of metal on metal was more apparent under the background slow-grind of gears and chuffs of steam.

"Okay, so there have to be people here somewhere right?"

"That would be the logical conclusion, yes," agreed Izzy.

"This is a pretty big place though, so why don't we split up and try to cover more ground?"

"I don't think splitting up is a good plan, haven't you guys seen scary movies?" Joe protested.

"Relax Joe, we've got enough people and digimon that if we split into two groups we should be okay even if we do get into some sort of trouble," Sora pointed out.

"TK stays with me," Matt said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"I'd rather like to explore the mechanical workings of this factory, so if there's a group exploring inside I'd prefer to be in it," said Izzy.

"Alright, Matt, why don't you take Izzy, TK, Harry and Mimi to explore the inside of the factory, and me Sora and Joe will explore the outside," suggested Tai.

"Why am I in the smaller group?" moaned Joe.

"Cause you're older and supposed to be more capable," Sora pointed out, poking him a bit in the side.

"Besides, you're a good climber and not afraid of heights so we can check out the upper levels of this place on the catwalks," added Tai with a grin.

"That sounds like a perfectly acceptable division of labour to me," said Tentomon.

"Alright," agreed Matt, "We'll meet back here in an hour if nobody finds anything?"

"Sounds good."

And with that the two groups split off, with Harry and Senamon following Matt and Gabumon into the interior of factory one.

"Well," sighed Mimi, "At least the lights are on in here, and there's air conditioning."

The factory floor was no more welcoming, done up in the same sheet metal as the exterior of the buildings but at least the sound of machines whiring and soddering and the conveyer belt's steady drone made the place seem less creepy.

"What do you think they're building?"

"I don't know. It's an assembly line though so I guess we'll find out at the end," shrugged Matt.

"Izzy do you know what these whirligigs and doohickies do?" asked Mimi, examining one as it went past her on the conveyor belt.

"Honestly I'm not sure, I haven't seen parts like this in any of the mechanical devices I've assembled but I must admit that it's not my area of expertise."

"There aren't any other human beings in here Mimi," said Palmon, swinging down from the upper deck by her viney fingers, "It's a big room but me and Patamon looked everywhere."

"How irresponsible," huffed Izzy.

"Maybe they're in the offices," suggested Harry.

He didn't know too much about factories but it seemed like whenever his Uncle Vernon visited the factories that made his drills he didn't spend any time actually watching people build things.

"There's a door over here and it looks like—yep, come on guys, there's a hallway back here," said Matt ushering them all along.

"These people really need to work on their décor," said Mimi with a sigh, "We haven't even been walking and I'm already lost. Everything looks the same, all drab and metal."

"It wouldn't hurt to post some directional signage," agreed Izzy.

"I still wanna know what they're making here," said TK, "It's gotta be pretty awesome if it's being built secretly out in the middle of nowhere like this."

"Or this is another dead end," said Matt.

"Look everyone, another door," said Gabumon trotting a few paces ahead.

"Power Supply Room," Harry and Mimi read.

"So this is where the factory gets its energy from, then, right?" asked Mimi.

"English labelling," said Izzy sounding impressed, as Matt eased the door open, "I wonder if this is a foreign outpost of some kind."

"Well at least we have some English speakers with us if that ends up happening," said Matt.

The power room was dark and just as loud as the factory floor, and it was mostly occupied by a huge looking battery and a complex series of gears and cranks.

"Would you look at that," said Izzy, awed, "I've never seen a dry battery so big and it seems to be running the motor system that's powering the factory, or at least this section of it."

"You want to stay and check it out," Matt said with a sigh, watching as Izzy started inching around the base of the battery, examining the symbols painted along it's outside and running his hands over it cautiously.

"If it's alright," said Izzy shooting them an apologetic glance, "This could take a bit, but I'm not going anywhere, so if you want to continue on without me."

"I don't know, Izzy," said Matt reluctantly, "I mean we've already split up what if something happens?"

"I'll stay with Izzy," offered Harry.

"Alright then, it's settled," said Mimi, "Leave them to poke around this boring old room and we can pick them up on our way back to the meeting place."

"If you're sure," shrugged Matt.

"We'll be fine, Matt, it's just a power room and if we encounter any unfriendly digimon Tentomon and Senamon are here to protect us," said Izzy impatiently.

"That's right," agreed Senamon, affecting a fierce pose.

"Okay, we'll be back in a little while, so stay here where we can find you, and leave the door open," ordered Matt in his best big-brother tone of voice.

"Come on Matt," said TK tugging on the hem of his shirt, "I want to see what the machines are building."

"It's probably something amazingly cool," said Mimi, "Like a time machine, or a machine that can change your age, or maybe even a fully mobile shopping robot!"

"Alright, alright, we're going. Keep your pants on."

"Be careful," Harry called after them, receiving a wave of acknowledgement from Gabumon before turning back to Izzy and his extreme focus on the giant battery.

"There's a door here," said Izzy, muttering mostly to himself and tracing the seam with his fingers, "Why would a battery even need a door? An access panel for maintenance maybe? It's stuck shut too. They must not need to get in here very often. Harry, help me with this please."

Obligingly Harry went over and helped Izzy pop open the thin metal door that was set into the shell of the giant battery, only to find that the inside was hollow and glowing softly.

"Is it supposed to look like this?" asked Harry.

"No," Izzy said faintly, wandering into the room, "No, this is not what the inside of a battery looks like."

"There's writing all over the walls," observed Senamon, sniffing at it slightly.

"And it's glowing," Harry pointed out.

"What is it, do you think?" asked Tentomon.

"It's a computer program," Izzy answered vaguely, only half-way paying attention to their questions as he keen eyes flicked up and down the column of the so-called battery, taking in the strange combination of letters and characters.

"What does it do?" asked Harry.

"I don't know—"

Izzy reached out a hand to the nearest wall and frowned at the symbol there reaching out to touch it, and accidentally erasing a tiny corner of the character from the wall.

The effect was instantaneous, the lights went off and there was a sudden flurry of whining noises as machines powered down, and then silence.

"Oops," said Izzy, wincing away from the wall a bit.

"What happened?" asked Harry, Senamon translating for him, not that his slightly panicked tone needed any translation, "What did you do?"

"Ah, that's— it seems as though this computer program is actually the energy source that is powering this factory and when I interrupted the code it became non-functional and the factory lost power."

"Can you fix it?" asked Senamon, "After all the others are still in the factory and that could be dangerous with the lights off."

"I don't know, I don't even know how this is possible," Izzy admitted, "I'll have to run some analyses on my computer to see if I can figure out what this code does and then—"

"In the meantime why don't you try drawing the missing part of the character back in?" suggested Tentomon, "If erasing it turned off the lights, than logically speaking fixing it should turn them back on, right?"

"Good idea Tentomon," said Izzy smiling at his digimon partner fondly, and digging around in his carrying case until his found a permanent marker he used for labelling discs, "This should work nicely."

Carefully Izzy drew in the small missing section of the character and as if by magic, the factory once again whirred to life, the lights flickering on and the machines continuing from where they'd left off.

"Hah! You did it!" cheered Harry.

"Don't get too excited," said Izzy, blushing a bit as he settled in the centre of the room with his laptop, "I still ended up being the one that broke the factory in the first place. Well the good news about that is that if there are human or alien supervisors here that power outage should bring them to us."

"Enough already with the aliens."

"This whole thing is alien to me, if you'll pardon the pun."

"What's so strange about it?" asked Tentomon.

"Batteries fundamentally produce electricity when the liquid and the metal inside them undergo a chemical reaction, that's why eventually they die, because there's no longer enough of one element or the other to drive the reaction. This is way different. It's almost like—the program on the wall is, in and of itself producing electricity, and that's just not possible according to all the laws of physics and chemistry that I've learned."

"That doesn't mean that aliens did it," Harry pointed out.

"Well aliens are a more plausible theory than, for instance, magic," said Izzy, tapping away on his laptop where the screen was a sudden mess of images and windows filled with more traditional computer code, "And I'm beginning to think that there's something that we're all missing about this place."

"You're smart Izzy," said Tentomon, "And I've never met a more inquisitive mind, if anyone can find out what's going on here it's you."

"Thanks Tentomon," said Izzy, "But I'm feeling rather out of my depth, and I can't even connect to the internet. There's no network access here, not even through the old satellite uplinks, let alone free wifi."

"What's wifi?" asked Senamon.

"Beats me," said Harry shrugging.

Careful not to touch the actual program part of the wall, Harry set his hand on it, trying to figure out where the glowing light was coming from. All of a sudden a hissing pop sounded, like the sound of a lightbulb burning out complete with the sudden stench of ozone, and a huge spark arced from Harry's hand all the way up the wall making the lights flicker with a sudden surge of brightness. Harry stumbled back, his hand and arm tingling faintly and his fingers fairly buzzing from the shock.

"What did you do?" demanded Izzy.

"I don't know! Nothing I don't think, I mean—I just touched the wall part!"

"Well, whatever you did it produced an electromagnetic pulse powerful enough to affect my computer."

"Is it okay?" asked Harry.

"What do you mean?"

"Your computer, it's still working right?"

"Oh, yes it's fine, it just surged and I lost my display there for a second, but the point I'm trying to make is that until we know what we're dealing with we should probably try to keep away from the walls."

"Sounds like a plan," Harry agreed, shaking his hand slightly trying to regain some of the feeling in it.

"Are you okay Harry?" asked Tentomon pointedly.

"Yeah, I think I'm fine, my hand and arm just tingles and feels kind of numb."

"You were lucky it wasn't worse," Senamon scolded, dragging Harry down to sit on the floor of the room and climbing all over him as though inspecting him for damage.

"What are you trying to do now?" asked Tentomon.

"I'm trying to break down this programing language into its component parts, if I can decipher them I can potentially write my own programs in this format and maybe garner the same kind of effects. Hopefully my skills can finally be of some use to us."

"Well, I didn't understand any of that but it sounds difficult."

"Not difficult just time-consuming," said Izzy.

"Izzy looks happy," Tentomon commented settling next to Harry and Senamon.

Harry arched his neck to get a proper look and found himself smiling for no particular reason at the fervent excited look in the redhead's eyes.

"He does, doesn't he?"

"Izzy, what's so fun about all of this?" asked Senamon padding over to peer over Izzy's shoulder at the computer screen.

"It's like a big puzzle. The same kind of fun as figuring out a code or figuring out the meaning of an ancient alphabet."

"The fun of puzzling things out?" said Tentomon, "But what's fun about that?"

"Well, once you've decoded something, or taken something apart to its most basic components you can gain a better understanding of how things work in this world, or who you are."

"Well, I don't need to know where I am or who I am," said Tentomon, "What about you Izzy? Do you want to know who you are?"

"I—I don't…"

Izzy trailed off into silence, staring at his hands on the keyboard. After a long moment his computer began to make a soft noise and Harry turned to look at him more fully.

"Izzy?" asked Harry, a bit worried by the look in his friend's eyes, then a little louder when that got no response, "Izzy!"

"Izzy look here, what's that? What's it doing?" asked Senamon carefully gesturing to the screen with one foot.

"It's—the lines of code are rearranging themselves," Izzy sputtered, gaping at his computer screen, "I've never seen anything like this. The program is automatically completing itself and running without a command prompt from me!"

"Izzy look, your remote digital gadget!" said Tentomon.

Izzy's eyes dropped to stare at the strap of his case where the gadget was flashing and blinking with green like, just as the others had when Gabumon, Piyomon and Agumon were preparing to digivolve.

"Harry, your digivice!"

Harry yanked up the hem of his shirt and sure enough the little electronic clipped to his belt was flashing, glowing and whistling away.

"I feel strange," Senamon said skittering away from Izzy with a full body shiver.

"It's hot!" cried Tentomon, suddenly glowing blue-white along the seams of his chitinous armor, "It's hot! It's hot! It's too hot! It hurts so bad, Izzy!"

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I don't know but it hurts! Please do something!"

Harry rushed over to Senamon who had pressed himself into the floor and was trembling there like a leaf in a high breeze.

"Senamon? Senamon talk to me!"

The lithe foxlike digimon just snapped his jaws and snarled at him, his eyes, fangs and talons were glowing, the same blue-white light coming from them as from Tentomon's body.

"Izzy do something! Anything!"

"Uh—I don't know what I can do!"

"I can't bear it, it's too much!"

"I've got it! It's the program! It's automatically effecting the digivices which in turn are affecting the digimon, so if I just—"

Izzy hit a button on his computer, and the screen went dark, and the light faded from the digimon. Harry, as soon as he was sure his partner wasn't about to take a swipe at him scooped the exhausted Senamon up into his arms and cradled him to his chest, his heart clenching at the soft whine Senamon blew into his neck.

"Tentomon?" asked Izzy, reaching out a tentative hand and laying it on the top of his partner's shell, "Are you alright?"

"I think so, but I'm not in a hurry to repeat the experience."

"That makes two of us," Harry asserted, standing with Senamon still in his arms, "I think we should stop messing around with this program and find the others."

"I agree," said Izzy, once Tentomon had translated, "After that I definitely think I've figured out why this whole island seems to be so strange and just what is going on with these digimon."

"Right, let's find Matt first and then head back to the meeting place!"

Izzy was quick to pack up his gear and honestly Harry was glad to leave the strange room full of strange programing codes. They found Matt, TK and Mimi easily enough, they'd moved from the upper deck of the last manufacturing room onto the roof where they had a good view of the entire complex.

"Harry, Izzy, there you are!" called TK.

"We were just about to come find you," said Matt, "You won't believe it. This whole factory manufactures nothing. One set of machines assembles a bunch of parts and then as soon as the item is fully assembled another set of machines promptly starts disassembling it in precisely the reverse order."

"That seems incredibly pointless," commented Tentomon.

"I discovered something as well," Izzy said in a rush, "This whole factory's energy is generated by form of computer program. A program that activates, runs and maintains itself unless damaged. A program where one of the base components activates our remote digital devices, sending a surge of energy that subsequently affects the physical forms of our digimon!"

"I don't get it," said Mimi.

"Me neither," added TK.

"Try and use smaller words for us non-geniuses Izumi," sighed Matt, "What exactly does it mean? A computer program that runs itself?"

"It means that insubstantial things like data, programs, even emotions substantiate on this island! That is—they take physical form and become real!"

"What? How is that even possible?"

"I don't know but I have plenty of evidence to support my claims! Tentomon and Senamon—"

"Hey!" cried Tai suddenly, pelting up the staircase towards them, Sora, Joe and their digimon hot on his heels.

"Hey, Tai, did you find anything?" asked Matt.

"Run! Get out of there! It's Andromon!"

"Andromon?" parroted Matt, "What's—"

The question hadn't even fully formed in Matt's mouth when a humanoid digimon at least seven feet tall and covered in white patchwork-looking armor burst through the floor between them, his eyes glowing icy-blue and menacing.

"Intruders located," the digimon rumbled, "Gatling Missile!"

All at once the digimon's chest plate lowered revealing two of the strangest looking self-propelled projectiles any of the group had ever seen. The older kids and their digimon were quick to dive out of the way but TK froze wide-eyed in place without even Patamon to stand between him and the missiles.

"TK move!" shouted Tai.

"Help me!"

"Takeru!" screamed Matt, his digivice glowing bright.

"Leave it to me!" called Gabumon, already engulfed in the white light of digivolution.

The missiles hit something and there was an explosion, and when the smoke and light cleared it was Garurumon standing over him, snarling at Andromon.

"TK are you alright?" called Sora.

"I'm fine, Garurumon saved me!"

"Heads up everyone, it's coming back this way!" called Tai.

Looking like some sort of demonic airborne fish, the missile made a hairpin turn and actually opened its mouth to reveal a small Gatling gun, which it then used to chase down Tai, Sora and Joe, peppering the roof with pits from small explosive impacts as the kids and their digimon danced out of the way.

"Look, Agumon's going to digivolve too!" Izzy predicted, pointing at Tai who was wearing a determined expression and whose digivice was glowing like a star.

"Good, it looks like we're going to need all the help we can get just to hold Andromon off," said Patamon, rushing over to meet TK as he dodged out from under Garurumon and the line of fire.

Greymon emerged from the light of digivolution and a dismissive swat of his tail took care of the missile, but even when both he and Garurumon attacked in tandem Andromon was easily able to dodge around them and toss their comparably large clumsy bodies off the edge of the roof.

"Greymon!" called Tai.

"Garurumon!"

"Hit him with your best shots!"

Greymon was quick, but Andromon cut through his Nova Blast like it was nothing and the searing ball of flame dissipated before it could do any damage to the exposed parts of his body. Garurumon's Howling Blaster wasn't much more effective, Andromon simply kicked through it with his armored leg.

"That armor is too well designed," cried Gomamon as the group leaned over the broken section of the roof to watch the fight below, "They have to aim for the exposed sections of his body."

"Easier said than done," Matt said through gritted teeth, "He really is advanced."

"His power and speed are on a completely different level," said Sora grimly, "I don't think Greymon and Garurumon can do this alone. Piyomon, can you digivolve into Birdramon and help too?"

"I can't Sora," wailed Piyomon, fluttering her wings in agitation, "I've been trying but whatever I do I can't gather enough strength. I guess it's too soon after my first digivolution."

"This could be very, very bad," commented Joe, wringing his hands.

"We've got to find some way to compete with Andromon," Matt snarled, looking every bit as fierce as his wolf-shaped partner.

"But what can we do?" demanded Tai.

Below Greymon abandoned his flames and went for the more direct approach of trying to snap Andromon in half with his massive, crushing jaws and teeth. Andromon wasn't even fazed, easily catching Greymon and holding his mouth open as he wind-milled the large dinosaur digimon over his head and threw him into Garurumon who was at the apex of a pouncing attack.

"Izzy," said Tentomon suddenly, "That program from before, use it on me!"

"Are you sure?" asked Izzy, "We don't know if it will work, we haven't tested it and I don't want to hurt you."

"None of that matters right now, our friends need out help, we can't sit back and do nothing."

"Alright then."

Izzy was quick to boot up his laptop and set the program running, careful this time to stand back from the other digimon in case the program decided to mess with the others' digivices. There was no telling what it could do to Tai and Matt's devices when they were already activated after all and he wanted to make their prospects better, not worse.

"Here we go!"

Izzy didn't know whether it was Tentomon's fearless determination or his own sudden surety, but as he activated the program and his digivice began to whistle and glow he wasn't worried. Tentomon began to glow again and soon was engulfed in the same white light that preceded digivolution.

"Tentomon digivolve to—Kabuterimon!"

"Alright Izzy," cheered Harry.

Kabuterimon was easily as fearsome a digimon as Kuwagamon, combining a lanky humanoid body with the helmet of a beetle, a set of fangs as long as Harry's forearm in place of pincers, four reaching arms and a set of iridescent insectoid wings.

He made a straight charge at Andromon distracting him from Greymon and Garurumon enough for the other digimon to recover themselves and flying back out of the android digimon's reach, preparing for his next pass. He gained height and then dropped suddenly, dive-bombing the smaller digimon, armored snout first.

Andromon managed to catch him even still and Kabuterimon's claws made a horrific screech as they dug rents into the steel roof of the factory, and he launched himself away from Andromon's grasp, once more gaining altitude.

Below, Andromon launched another set of Gatling Missiles, apparently unbothered by this sudden turn of events.

"Doesn't this guy have any weak points?" Joe demanded.

"Weak points—I've got it! There!" exclaimed Izzy, as the missiles exploded into smoke against Kabuterimon's armored body, "Kabuterimon! Aim for the right leg, just below the knee, it's the only part of him that's bare of armor."

"Bloody hell," muttered Harry, "He's been protecting his right side this whole time! Well spotted Izzy."

"It's injured, his right leg!" agreed Piyomon, "We found him with his leg caught in the gears of the factory, they'd already managed to shatter and grind the armor away."

"Kabuterimon!"

"Electroshocker!" bellowed Kabuterimon in a deep voice that in no way resembled Tentomon's usual brisk, clipped tones.

The insectoid digimon folded his arms inwards, gathering a huge ball of white-hot crackling electricity and releasing it with pinpoint accuracy at Andromon's weak leg.

"There!" cried Mimi.

"A black gear, it's a black gear!" exclaimed Sora.

"Look it's dissolving, and look at Andromon!" called Tai, leaning recklessly over the edge of the roof.

Andromon had fallen to his knees, his eyes no longer glowing, no longer pressing the attack with the advantage he now had. He looked lost and confused.

"I'll bet that black gear was hurting him and turning him nuts just like with Meramon," said Matt, making for the emergency fire-escape stairs even as Garurumon, Greymon and Kabuterimon were all engulfed in the light of devolution and returned to their smaller, more familiar forms.

The rest of the group followed him down arraying themselves in a semi-circle around the disoriented Andromon as the android digimon pulled himself to his feet and took stock of his surroundings.

"You…" he said ponderously, turning to Tai and Agumon, "You helped…there was a dangerous black gear…it was stuck in the machine. When I tried to get it out I slipped and became injured. You helped me—and I attacked you and your comrades. I apologise. The black gear entered my body and I couldn't understand what I was doing or even attempt to control myself."

"It was an accident," Matt insisted.

"It's alright," said Tai with a sheepish grin, "No hard feelings."

"This isn't the first time we've encountered a black gear or a digimon being controlled by it. We're just glad that everything worked out in the end," added Sora.

"As am I," droned Andromon, "I can tell you have questions, but I have no answers to give. You are connected to this world, and yet not of it. You shouldn't be here and yet you feel like a crucial part of the system. I am as puzzled by these phenomena as much as anyone."

"So you really can't help us at all can you," sighed Joe.

"I did not say that. I can direct you to the fastest route to the next settlement. Perhaps the digimon there will know more."

"Thanks," said Tai, "That's really great of you."

"Follow the storm drain from the access tunnel over here. The tunnels underground are sheltered and the main one leads into the heart of the settlement."

"Alright guys," cheered Tai, "Looks like we have a next step already! Thanks Andromon."

"I wish you well on your journey, and hope you find the answers to your questions. I would escort you on your way, but I have been lax in my duties as the guardian of this place and it needs maintenance and repair."

"That's fine, we can totally handle it from here!" said Tai, making for the tunnel, "Come on guys let's get going and maybe we can get over to the next town before sundown!"

Rolling their eyes, but unsurprised by Tai's natural state of reckless exuberance the group followed him into the darkness of the tunnel without hesitation, although Mimi did threaten to turn back at the slightest squeak of a sewer rat.

"Alright, everyone here? Great let's get going."

"It's so damp down here," sighed Gabumon, "I don't like it."

"Me either," agreed Mimi.

"At least it's light in here."

"Phosphorescent lichen of some kind is all but completely lining the tunnel walls. I'll bet it enjoys the damp and humidity. I'd love to get some samples if I thought I had any place to put them," sighed Izzy.

"Hey Izzy," said TK, "You made Tentomon digivolve using your computer, right?"

"That's essentially correct," agreed Izzy.

"So could you do the same thing with Patamon?"

"Well, there's no reason why it shouldn't work, but I suspect that unless the circumstances are dire forcing our digimon to digivolve is bad for them. Senamon still hasn't quite recovered from the discovery of the phenomenon."

"Oh," said TK glancing back at Senamon who was half-way draped around his partner's neck and half-way being carried in Harry's arms, "I guess we'll just wait and do it like everyone else then."

"That seems like a better option."

"Well I for one am hoping to avoid situations that will threaten our lives and force our digimon to digivolve," Joe put in.

"A sound plan but easier said than done," commented Gomamon.

"So I've seen," sighed Joe.

"Come on guys hurry up!"

AN: Hey guys, check me out! I live!

I'm posting this chappie without editing because I was so excited to finally get it up here and it's ridiculously late where I am right now and I figure I've made you guys wait two years too long. Please bear with any errors for the moment and I promise I'll get them sorted out shortly.

Additionally because of all the comments in reviews about Senamon and the confusion over his appearance I've created a tumblr blog specifically for this story and have started filling it with inspiring images, including some pics that generally show what he looks like in my brain (although not the color scheme). Think a small cutsied up version of dragon!Haku from Spirited Away.

Anyway the address is keepersoftheworlds . tumblr . com if you're interested.

Thank you for all your encouraging comments and support in this dark time without updates! Please feel free to leave more on your way out as I never get tired of hearing from you guys.