Just aim and pull the trigger... (Anima)

[Observer]

Grayness. Complete grayness everywhere. Those dingy concrete walls could have boxed in on just about anyone, making only those with nerves of steel not feel claustrophobic. The place was built like a shelter, not like a living room, and technically, that what it was - a training facility for Hypnos operatives to hone their skills in.

Shooting stands were more common sight here - long rooms with targets put on the other side, and a few guns with boxes of ammo lying on the tables. Oh, and don't forget earmuffs - those bangs tended to pounder on the ears. A good place to practice aiming skills, or to be left alone. Or both.

*BANG!* the sound echoed throughout the room, and a familiar crack in the wooden target followed. The shot went straight in the fore head. *BANG!* another one went through the "eye". A few more nailed the place where the mouth and remaining eye were supposed to be. Larry may had been a poor shot at the beginning, but by this time, going through dangers where he had to use the weapon to defend himself, he grew up to be a decent marksman.

This helped emptying the head from any thoughts too. When you are focused on the process, you don't have time to think about ... recent events that took place. An incredible burden ... that was. Faking documents on Renee's "lost in service" record, and constant fear Hypnos knows about what he had done... Nobody knew about what really happened. Nobody, save for him. And that knowledge came with losing a handful of gray hairs from his head every day. A strain thought about what happened went through his head for a second, and ...

*bang! bang! bang! bang! bang!* - a quick succession of shots came, blasting the head of the target into tiny bits. Larry kept pressing the trigger until hearing the familiar *click!* which noted that the clip was empty.

- Oh goddammit! - he cursed, reloading the weapon...

[Khrystalline Stone]

Ever since Larry returned, bringing such horrid news, Khrys' blood felt like ice. SilverRenamon... Dead? She was so strong, so fast. How could she be gone? She wasn't even her own partner, but Khrys treated all her co-workers and their partners as her own. Plus, if Renamon could... What about Strikedramon? The thought of losing her partner was too much. Khrys quivered in her seat, barely paying attention to Strikedramon's training exercise, or the distant sound of gunfire in the other room, which was muffled by so-called soundproof walls.

"W-what do we do Strikedramon?" Khrys pouted, staring down at her feet miserably. "We need to keep fighting... but I don't want you to--"

Khrys' whining was interrupted by a sudden load smack noise, as Strikedramon kicked the punching bag so hard it toppled over and hit the ground. He was beginning to get an urge to smack some sense into Khrys. Yes, he did feel sorry for the loss, but to think so hard that he himself might fall to the same fate? Okay, there was every possibility that he might end up walking into a battle he couldn't win or escape from, but it was very hard to keep his morale up when his tamer was being so freaking negative.

In response to her question he spun around and roared at her, and throwing kicks and punches into the air, his tail lashing fiercely. A clear display of ferocity. He despised his situation, but he needed to keep it up, and he needed Khrys to see that she needed to do her job. Especially since now they seemed to be the only active pair out of the four of them. Larry was out for who knew how long until he got a replacement for Renamon. He hadn't even seen Alice or Akira for ages. What happened to them?

Khrys blinked at the Strikedramon's fighting display. "You want to keep fighting." Khrys muttered, with a sigh. A small smile went across her face. What happened to her? She was supposed to be the optimistic one here. "Sorry for being such a sadsack. They just made a mistake. We won't make the same one." She said, getting up and hugging Strikedramon, to which her partner simply froze for. Such affectionate actions were quite lost on him.

Suddenly, the shooting stopped, and Larry yelled out. Fearing the worst, Khrys rushed to the shooting range, poking in her head in the door. "Are you okay?" She asked, a note of panic in her tone.

[Observer]

Larry turned his head, bewildered, when he heard a worried voice coming from the doorway. He did not quite like to be disturbed during his training, and was about to say a few unkind words to whoever it was, but stopped, as he caught a visual on the person and recognized the voice pattern. He knew who it was alright, and the face expression changed to a more or less decent one. I think I had enough shooting for one day, I almost barked at somebody because they merely showed concern. - Larry berated himself mentally.

- Yes, Khrys, I am alright. What di you expect? - he said calmly and put the gun on the table, before going through the door and exiting the shooting stand, coming to the training room where her digimon was going through his laps. Larry focused on the strikedramon's movements for a little, observing them. Renee liked that class, though beating up real opponents she enjoyed more. Pity she'd never again visit this place... She couldn't, her life depended on it. But the others didn't know that. Nobody did. Aside from him.

- I had a talk with the scientific division yesterday... - Larry made a pause. He really did, this was not one of his simulations, since he had to report to them what had happened. After that call his distrust towards the egg-heads grew into a genuine resentment. Those people proved not to have a lick of conscience, or any other emotion. Larry felt like he was speaking with a freezer, or any other lifeless piece of equipment, not a human.

- They said it will take them quite a while to create another digimon. Hnh, they didn't sound at least a little bit surprised at the casualty we have suffered. They even had the nerve to say they were surprised Renee managed to keep herself alive through all these combat situations, being the first and the most faulty "prototype"... - Larry sighed out angrily. "Faulty prototype", is she? If he could, he would have smashed the guy's nose in with the butt of his gun. Alas, that was impossible, but it showed complete disregard for the life they had created. He wondered what would they have said if one of the humans were killed. Larry kinda knew the answer though.

- With Alice and Akira send to another part of the country, it leaves you the only combat-ready digioperative in Tokio... Which is not nearly enough to cover all the territory we once used to oversee... And Hypnos's forces are loosing men every day, dwindling... - Larry sounded grim. Renee's refuge aside, he still had the duty to deal with the spawns, and he feared Hypnos was losing this battle. Resentment that grew towards them aside, Larry still had to protect the city. And he might have had a plan to deal with it... His own plan...

[Khrystalline Stone]

Alarm shot through Khrys' expression when Larry turned, looking like he was about to chew her face out. Fortunately though, he seemed to gain control over himself and softened up a bit. "You yelled out, and I thought you hurt yourself or something." She admitted, though looking at him, he seemed to show no signs of injury. Good, I've lost enough friends this week She thought, relieved, stepping back as Larry approached and went through the door.

"And?" She asked, knowing full well it wasn't going to be good. She didn't have much contact with the white coats, but what little contact she had, plus whatever she heard from Larry... It was never good. Those scientists... They were cold, merciless... Most Digimon she had ever met had more humanity than those creeps. "They are... so cold. So inhumane..." She muttered somberly. "And we're working for them..." A chill ran down her spine. The realization was disturbing, to say the least.

As Strikedramon kept his work out up, he kept his ears open on Larry's and Khrys' conversation. When Larry mentioned that the scientists had referred to Renee as the most faulty clone, he drove his claw into the punching bag, and roared, covering up the laugh that was bound to escape. Most faulty prototype? They have no idea. He thought as he wrenched his arm free of the bag, knocking the thing onto it's side so no more sand poured out of it. He then moved onto the next free punching bag and continued.

Khrys shook herself out of the thoughts. She knew it was necessary to deal with the digimon situation, and she had no second thoughts about bringing down the ones that threatened their world. "I know. Strikedramon and I are doing the best we can to bring down as many wild ones as we can. Others are also being taken out by the tamers." She said, biting her finger thoughtfully. "It has to be done... I just can't shake the feeling we're doing something wrong."

[Observer]

- We are doing something wrong, and I think I just might know what... - Larry said, walking around slowly, his hands crossed behind his back. At one point he stopped completely, watching the onslaught the strikedramon launched on the punching bag. he clearly was pissed with the attitude the scientific division had towards them, and it showed. Larry did not blame him though - he had every right to act this way.

- The whole digiops project started off because of the crushing casualties regular troops suffered against the spawns during the first days of their ... let's call it assault. Human weapons are not exactly efficient against them. You saw the tape where Renee's friend was killed. The fangmon had a team firing at him, took at least a hundred bullet hits, and still was able to tear one of our guys apart before dying... - he sighed out. Larry felt sorry for the average Joe who had to go against monsters with a rifle and a couple of grenades. The image of the helicopter angemon shot down still didn't leave him, and added to a vast array of nightmares that pursued him at nights.

- So they figured the best weapon against a digimon is ... another digimon. And it worked out quite well. At our zenith, when Alice and Akira were here too, we took out roughly 25-30% of all spawns, 25 taken by tamers, but the rest, which is about 50%, still was on the army's shoulders... The question is, why tamers, both old and new, take such a small toll? There are dozens of them throughout the city, yet they do nothing... - Larry said as he kept moving across the room. He had a plan how to change that, but he couldn't have entrusted it to higher authorities anymore - he did not trust them. And was not able to do it himself. Not without assistance.

- Khrys... - he felt a bit reluctant about involving the girl into this, but he didn't really have anyone else left to entrust this with. - I think I know how we can change that. But I am going to need your help...

[Khrystalline Stone]

Khrys blinked as Larry explained what was 'wrong'. By wrong, she wasn't quite talking about the efficiency aspect of the job. She had more doubts on the morality side of things. Still, Larry made a point. Despite all the work they did, most of the work still lay on the shoulders of soldiers who stood very little chance against digimon who had a heavy resistance to conventional weaponry. They did a lot, but there was way more wild ones than they could handle and more and more soldiers were dying every day.

Then the other tamers. Some were helpings, others weren't doing squat. What help they were giving was fine, they had their lives in their own hands, but she didn't blame those that didn't do anything though. This was a war, and these were just children, a few didn't look any older than 10. While there were some that understood the threat digimon posed to them, but they were a minority. Children were children. To most of them, this was just a game, their digimon no more than friends or pets.

As for where Larry was heading for in this conversation, Khrys hadn't a real clue. She was his friend though, and life was full of uncertainties. She had to jump into things head first right? Heck, she wouldn't have even gotten here if she didn't dive into new opportunities like she did. "I've always got your back Larry! So what's the plan?"

[Observer]

Larry sighed. He really did not like what he was about to propose, it was ... cruelly practical, from a certain point of view. But it was war. They needed to win it. And to do so they needed every last one who can make a difference, at their side. Even if it meant putting their lives in danger. He was going to hit himself in the morning for this, but somebody needed to put a stop to the menace which was approaching. At any cost.

- The reason behind the fact the newbie tamers, despite their increasing number, are not making much of a difference, is because they are disorganized, their efforts are mostly spontaneous. The WH group, which fought during the first digimon incursion, is doing something, but they are not enough... - Larry kept making circles around the room, it helped relieving stress. Moving meditation, of sorts.

- The newbie tamers do not seek out spawns and destroy them, they only fight when said spawn attacks them, and this is why their contribution to the war effort is meager. We need to find a way to make them fight on purpose. And this is why I need you... - he had approached the hardest part - to explain what part Khrys had in the plot that he had come up with.

- I tried to get this idea through to Hypnos high-ups, but they declined it, declaring newbies "not a thread, but not trustworthy", wishing to deal only with the WH tamers, who proved their worth before. I tried to deal with WH and get their support, but, unfortunately, was not very successful. You see Khrys, I am a classic G-man, nobody in right mind would even think of trusting me, I lack skill in making people believe in my benevolent intentions. - Larry sighed out, remembering that day. Hypnos, in the state it was now, did not lend any reason to trust them either. And the disclosure of the fact they were cloning digimon didn't help much.

- I tried negotiating cooperation between the WH group and Digiops. Dealt with WH number 3, Nonaka. She seemed to be the brightest of the bunch. And if I'd get a quarter for every degree of distrust towards me, I'd make a fortune. But you are different. Different than me, different than Alice, different than Akira. Considering that we are, technically, fake tamers, you're the closest to the real thing as we can get... - Larry suddenly turned around, facing Khrys, and making a solid eye-contact. This meant he was completely serious.

- To put it plainly, I need you to help organize the newbies into something of a fighting force. You're going to be our face, and I will give you instructions. If these tamers, instead of playing with their magical pets, will start doing something, it will save lives. I cannot do it myself alone, nor can I entrust this to higher ups anyhow, they're going to screw up the idea, as usual. So ... Khrys, can you help me with this?

[Khrystalline Stone]

Khrys knew she wasn't going to like where it was going. The kids? Really? She bit her lip. Well, it was one way to increase their fighting force, and get tamers working effectively. She didn't particularly care that the higher-ups weren't in on this. She was getting more and more disturbed by them every day. For all she cared, Larry was her boss. He might be a bit disturbing at times, himself, but other Hypnos workers made her skin crawl. Eek!

"I can do it, but... Some of the newbies are very young. You don't mean all of them do you?" She asked, frowning.

[Observer]

Larry smiled sincerely when he heard the words "I'll do it." There were times he seriously doubted if anything he was doing were to bring any results at all, and all of this was putting him in a constant strain, but he was glad to know at least someone still trusted in his command. For that he was grateful, to know somebody felt enough confidence to follow his lead, to execute plan.

- Of course not, we're not unreasonable. Although many of the WH were around 12-13 years old when the whole thing started, the whole thing was an extreme strike of luck that they pulled out anything. We'd rather not give our future to whims of fate like that. Hypnos collected nice data files on all tamers we encountered, we'd choose those who actually can do something on the battlefield... - Larry sighed out, hoping that would calm her worries. And at least the tabs he was keeping on everyone finally paid off.

- One thing though - Hypnos must NEVER be mentioned. You're not to build an organization of any kind, that would kill off any kind of trust towards us. Nobody trusts government anymore. You just ... approach them, make friends with them, and try influencing them that defending their home from bad digimon is a way to go. I will provide support with data and any kind of knowledge Hypnos possesses, discretely. Then your friends will tell their friends, and so on and so on, the network will grow. After it is too big, we'll think of organizing it on higher level. For now, create a cell, of sorts. I have faith you can do it. You're a nice, open, easy-going person. Such people make friends easily. If you'd be able to get other tamers cooperate even on level the WH group had at the beginning, it will be a major victory. - he ultimately explained his vision of it. Khrys may have acted goofy at times, but she knew that what they did had to be done, for the greater good of it all, and was willing to help. One couldn't have asked for more.

- Mayhaps we'd discuss the issue up close later on. I'd get a more precise course of action for you to follow, as well as a list of possible candidates. For now, how 'bout we go somewhere for a nice cup of coffee? Or anything else of your choice, really. It will do both of us some good to get our mind off the Hypnos for second. I'm buying. - he offered, as he was about to leave the training room. He really appreciated the support, he could at least say thanks in such a way...

[Khrystalline Stone]

"Oh good! That makes a lot of sense." Khrys grinned, bouncing on her heels in response to Larry's assurance that only go after candidates who would work well. Truth be told, at one point she thought she was losing Larry to the white coats. He seemed to be getting more and more cold as time went on, but he seemed to be pulling out that lately, which was great.

"They were pretty lucky. Darn strong though too. Some of them had even merged with their digimon." She said, pondering the idea. "Would we ever end up biomerging our digimon?" She asked, looking over to Strikedramon. Ryo and Cyberdramon had became... Justimon? Well, it was more of a masculine digimon, and turning into him did come across as a bit odd in her mind. Well, whatever happened happened she guessed.

"Understood! You can count on me Larr!" She assured him after he'd explained the details. She was now thrilled to be a part of this plan. She'd get it done, and rally up all these tamers and get them working for the better cause. Plus she'd be making a lot of friends in the process! It was a total win-win! Of course, they weren't in a good position to sort out the plan there and then, but Khrys definitely liked the idea of going out. "How about the Krispy Kreme Donut shop? They make the best donuts!"