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Post by Kaze on Jan 13, 2011 14:46:22 GMT -5
It was late, she knew she was late. Jeri ran from the train station as fast as her feet would take her. How did she lose track of time? Tapping her watch with a frown, she realized that it's battery had died hours ago. So now she would be in big trouble. The day had ended so quickly.
As soon as she had gotten out of school, the girl had headed directly for the park. She had thought about going to see Guilmon, but she didn't want to wake him up if he was napping. From there she went to the forest, letting Gatomon out of her bag to enjoy the freedom of the outdoors for about 3 hours. So where did the other two hours go? She did pass the cemetery, but only for a brief moment. Or was it longer than that? Jeri wanted to ask Gatomon, but the feline had already fallen asleep within her book bag and would likely be that way in till they arrived home.
Moving swiftly between buildings, she stopped suddenly as she looked around her. Something had caught her eye, but she wasn't sure what it had been. Her D-Arc wasn't beeping, so it couldn't have been a digimon. So what was it? It just continued to tug at her, keeping her from going any further for that moment. Then it stopped.
What was that?
Walking onto the sidewalk, she could the lights of her neighborhood in the distance. It wouldn't be long now. Of course, the welcome wouldn't be too inviting unless her parents were busy. That might be the only way she could avoid trouble for missing her curfew.
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Post by Observer on Jan 14, 2011 11:26:58 GMT -5
Knock knock knock. Who was there? Nobody. It seemed that coming around when everyone else is either at work or busy was not such a great idea. However, Larry did not mind waiting a little bit, there was so many things he still was unsure about and needed to think through... That would keep him busy during his wait alright. The man sat on a bench in front of the entrance to the place and looked at the time. Still, strange no one showed up at all... Someone would come sooner or later though...
Larry was thinking about events that happened yesterday... About his mission... About what he was supposed to do. It was dirty business, and he did not want to be involved in this particular mission, but he had no choice. It was either that or "permission to find a bullet in his head". Should that happen, who would support his family? His sister? There was no way out now. Lying, deceiving, manipulating ... and, in the end, doom one child to save another. He sighed heavily and put the file he had back on his knees. It was labeled: Jeri Katou.
He decided to lay off the cryptic agent shtick, it failed in communicating where you needed not the intimidation. Fiasco with Rika confirmed it - despite he was not being threatening or anything, he still managed to set that particular WH against himself, and was berated for that failure. It better not happen again. This time, he came not as an agent, but as a simple government official, which he was, and figured he could honestly explain the situation, and hope honesty will work for earning some initial trust, as well as a friendly and upbeat attitude. And give him time to implement his "ace up his sleeve". A few pictures, of their ... latest project...
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Post by Kaze on Jan 14, 2011 11:39:03 GMT -5
It was strange. As Jeri drew closer to her home, she could see that none of the lights were on. Did that mean that the bar was closed too? Hopefully nothing had happened ,or that they were out looking for her. It really couldn't be that late could it? The young girl continued to think back to what the time was that she had gotten off the train, not noticing that there appeared to be someone near the place.
Walking past the bench and the stranger upon it, the girl began to ascend the stairs slowly while trying to figure out her parents delayed appearance.
"Maybe something happened and they had to leave suddenly? Or I'm in way more trouble than I thought..."
Sighing as she looked down, she wondered just how much of a grounding she would be in for this time? The last time she had been out late, her father yell at her and she was grounded for two weeks. It would likely be a month before she saw the sun this time around.
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Post by Observer on Jan 14, 2011 12:52:48 GMT -5
Larry almost fell asleep while waiting for someone to show up. Sleepless nights seemed to have taken their toll, as he seemed to be falling asleep genuinely anywhere he could get a grip on. Maybe lack of caffeine had such side effects, he did not know. The guy woke up when he saw something of a silhouette passing him, going for the front door. He rubbed his eyes, to see better, and smiled a bit upon seeing who it was. This was the girl he was looking for...
- Excuse me miss, are you Jeri Katou by any chance? - he called the girl from afar, instead of sneaking on her like he usually did. He figured that would only lead to confusion, misunderstanding, or accusations of being a pedo. He needed neither, so figured acting like a bit lost person would be better, than creepiness, all-knowingness, and being cryptic did not help either. He approached with the file in his hands, to her the answer he knew already.
- I came around about half an hour ago, but nobody seemed to be home...
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Post by Kaze on Jan 14, 2011 13:05:45 GMT -5
Turning around, Jeri stared towards the person with a blank expression as she stopped short from standing at her front door. She didn't recall meeting someone of his description, so how could he know her name? Was he someone that knew her dad? Or maybe he was looking for a drink? It hard to tell just what this person's motive was.
"Yes...But who are you?"
Jeri made no attempt to go down to meet this stranger, she wasn't that foolish. It was late at night, her parents weren't home and she was being confronted by a someone who knew her name. While she was sure that Gatomon would attack if she heard her scream, she didn't want to have that happen. In fact, if she could be smart and avoid danger alone, that would be nice.
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Post by Observer on Jan 14, 2011 14:00:09 GMT -5
Well, the question was expected, after all, people had to introduce themselves first to show they are being friendly. But here also lied a problem. How to say he's a hypnos agent in a way their suspicion meter won't hype to eleven? It had to be tricky, but Larry had to try. For the sake of his mission, he had to succeed. Well, this would sure look very, very awkward. Plus the time of hour wasn't exactly perfect to look "not suspicious".
- My name is Laurence Smith, I'm an official send by Hypnos to discuss matters about digimon... - he said and stopped. Well this sure came out wrong. He was used to being cryptic and intimidating, to instill fear and make sure the person he is talking to will never mention Hypnos. Now he tried to sound as friendly as possible, but instead sounded ... confused.
- Look, I know it sounds suspicious as hell and nobody trusts us government jocks, but did not come here to cause trouble. We just want to talk. - he sighed out, and after digging in his pockets, found the document that confirms his identity. A formal ID, with a big white eye symbol on the background. After showing it, Larry wiped the sweat from his forehead. This would not going to work out too well, would it?
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Post by Kaze on Jan 14, 2011 14:24:09 GMT -5
The girl eye's widened as soon as Hypnos escaped from his lips. From what Ryo had told her, they had become quite the dangerous group. Jeri had about half a mind to run inside her house and lock the door, in fact, her hand had already grasped the door knob. But she stopped, looking at he badge and then Mr.Smith with a nervous expression. Almost as if she wasn't sure what to do.
Hypnos had helped in trying to save her, in trying to save everyone from the D-Reaper. Even if things may have been somewhat different now, could she really not help at all? The girl was indebted to them in a sense, yet she felt a sudden fear from the fact that they had appeared at her house. Did that mean that they knew about Gatomon too?
Releasing the door knob slowly, Jeri placed her hands in front of her as she looked to the side with a narrowed gaze. She then spoke in a soft tone of voice, almost as if she were whispering a secret.
"What about digimon?"
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Post by Observer on Jan 14, 2011 14:43:39 GMT -5
Whew, that was close. For a second Larry thought that the girl would simply run into her home and close the door behind. Then he would have to get through a whole bunch of routine phone calls, waitings, visits to school and whatever. Well, she did not run away, and this was a victory on its own. That's why he liked dealing with adults more - they saw no problem in talking to a stranger. But with kids ... he had to be extra careful not to scare them off.
- Digimon are appearing again all over the place and cause mayhem, that's what happens. But you know this, don't you? You have one yourself at the moment... - Larry started talking and then stopped. No, this was not working good, he was going for cryptic talk again. That could jeopardize his all efforts. Besides, talking about secret stuff on the street. This was just ... not very professional.
- Look kid, I'm not gonna bullsh*t you. I came around because Hypnos needs something from you. Here's what we're gonna do. You look at these, and after that tell me whether you're interested enough to continue, inside the house, like civilized people, or that you're not interested and I'll just will have to find a different person to help us out ... somehow. Here you go... - Larry extracted an envelope from his inner pocket and tossed it to the girl. It flied through the air and landed at her feet. Inside ... there was only one picture... of someone she knew long ago...
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Post by Kaze on Jan 14, 2011 14:58:47 GMT -5
Jeri fumbled with the envelope, dropping it by mistake after failing to get a firm grip upon it. Looking towards the Hypnos agent once more, she then slowly opened the thin package and pulled out the content within. It was a single picture, but its impact was enough to cause her body to shake. It couldn't be? It just wasn't possible was it?
Jeri slowly shook her head from side to side, causing Gatomon to poke her head out from the bag to look over her shoulder. Yawning upon having just woken up, she blinked as she noticed Laurence and then looked down at what Jeri seemed to be shivering about. It looked like a Leomon, only his eyes were closed. But what did that have to do with anything? It could mean just about anything really. There were tons of Leomon in the world, what made this one so special?
"Whats with the pic of the dead Leomon?"
Jeri then returned her attention back towards Laurence, her eyes narrowed as she wanted to shout. She didn't even know why she was upset? It couldn't be her Leomon, he was dead. But then, why was she angry? The girl could feel her teeth clenching as her free hand was balled into a fist. What did they do? What did a Leomon have to do with her?
With one fluid motion, Jeri opened the door and waited for Laurence to come inside. She wasn't sure what she was doing, or if she was making a deadly mistake. But something inside her told her that this Leomon was hers. What they had done, she wasn't sure, but she wanted to know. She just had to be sure that she wasn't crazy in feeling this way.
"Um Jeri...Letting strange men inside the house isn't smart...I mean...he looks like one of those guys you see in those horror flicks your dad watches. Just saying..."
Gatomon continued to look at her tamer with a serious expression, but she wasn't sure if the girl was listening or not.
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Post by Observer on Jan 14, 2011 15:42:05 GMT -5
Well, this all-or-nothing maneuver worked perfectly - Larry managed to get her interested enough to calmly ... well, not calmly, but let him inside and discuss things. Now he could start brainwash... explaining things.This is why he brought the file with him, inside were ... several documents he was allowed to take to make a stornger impression. Hypnos troops fighting digimon, particularly scary ones, torn bodies, what is left from a car and its occupants when a gorillamon blasted it with cannon, and a casualty list. And more pictures of their own leomon - for greater impact. He placed all these on the table - harsh truth was better than any propaganda.
- I'll make long story short. Several month ago, as you know now, digimon stated appearing again. Only in greater numbers, and with increased hatred towards our race. Those who ended in less-populated areas were of little trouble. But some ended up in crowded areas, and started shooting. People died ... many of them. In light of such events, Hypnos was called back for duty, but this time they gave us teeth to bite back... Soldiers to defend our homes... - Larry started explaining, and showed a pic, where there were ranks upon ranks of black-clad troops in a square like legion formation. o show they meant business.
- Because tamers remained largely inactive to aid us, we had to take the brunt by ourselves. We did, but each day we're losing men to these monsters. They can take a team firing and survive... As much as it is painful to admit ... we're losing. The enemy pushes us back, and there is no end to their onslaught. When our forces will be stretched too thin ... they will get the normal military handle it... And then ... people will find out the truth again ... Imagine the panic... - Larry made a dramatic pause, allowing the words to sink in. He knew not all he told was the truth, his tale showed Hypnos as heroic, as humanity's last line of defense... The first part was obviously a lie, Hypnos and their methods were hardly heroic... But the last...
- It is a known fact digimon are the best weapon against other digimon... But ... there are hardly any who are ready to fight their own kin to defend this land... Those are few and far between... Some are dead, some ... are missing. In our desperate attempt to tip the favor in our side, we ... attempted to revive some of those who fought on our side before... Jeri ... your previous partner was a leomon, correct?
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