In Service to Darkness 2 (Patreon)

“Anything new?” I asked one day as I got up from my cot with a yawn.

“You got an email from a woman named Kuremi Kyoko,” Bakemon answered, DemiDevimon’s snores from inside his cat tower telling me he was still sleeping. “She wanted to know if you’d be able to meet for a potential job.”

I made my way over to my coffee machine, putting my regular mug in place and getting it started before I made my way to the computer. Booting it up, I waited the requisite time for it to finish starting and checked my email. Sure enough, there was an email from one Detective Kuremi Kyoko. After checking it for viruses or malware, I opened it and began reading. Through my implants, I began a web search on the woman. One of the two members of the Kuremi Detective Agency, the other being her apprentice Aiba Ami.

I almost immediately deleted the email she sent upon reading that. I wanted nothing to do with the Chiba Digidestined. Getting involved with them, especially considering the digimon I hung out with, was a good way to get a visit from older brothers with access to digimon that threw suns around. I liked myself unburnt, thank you very much.

However, there was a key factor that kept me from doing so. It wasn’t the amount that she was offering for the job, which for what she was describing was way more than what she was asking for, nor was it the job itself, I hadn’t even realized that Make a Wish was a thing in Japan. It was the fact that she knew about both DemiDevimon and Bakemon.

I could understand a detective that specialized in odd cases knowing about DemiDevimon. It was concerning but that sort of shit was literally part of her job. But Bakemon almost never left the office building. For fuck’s sake, the last time he did was when I couldn’t find his preferred brand of coffee and he rode along with me to make sure I got the right stuff!

The only explanation that made sense: someone in the building was on her take. Turning to Bakemon, I told him, “Someone in the building’s leaking info to nosy detectives. Think you can find them?”

“What’s in it for me? More coffee?” he asked, only half rhetorically.

“The detective knows about you and has one of the DigiDestined as an assistant,” I drawled, making the ghost-digimon turn to look at me in horror. “Specifically the one who frequents EDEN, the one with a natural gift for hacking her way to places she shouldn’t. Like, say, servers where certain digimon like to nap with Sailor Moon pillo-”

“Say no more! I’ll find that traitorous rat before lunchtime!” Bakemon declared before darting off into the ventilation ducts.

Chuckling in amusement, I turned back to continue reading the email. Two million lien for what amounted to about two hours work, travel time not included. Pick up a bundle of digimon toys from her office, deliver them to a series of hospitals for some terminally ill kids, then return to her office with some data drives that would be handed off at each hospital. It was the kind of thing I was typically hired for, even if the price tag was a bit more than my usual rate.

All in all, it seemed like the sort of thing I’d be contacted for. But it didn’t change the uneasy feeling I was getting about the job. I pulled up a map of Chiba City, plotting out the best route between the hospitals she had listed. Seven hospitals, no major gang areas to be concerned with, seemed pretty straightforward. Too straightforward.

My mental game of back and forth came to a stop as Bakemon returned, looking paler than usual. I held up his mug of coffee, which he immediately took and started chugging down, before asking, “Everything okay?”

When he finished the mug, he set it down and turned to face me, his features grim, “Ogura-san’s dead, or good as dead. His body’s being puppeted by a Chuumon, what happened to him or how long it’s been going on, I have no idea. I don’t think he was sending data specifically to the detective you mentioned, but he’s certainly sending a lot of data to somebody.”

I took a moment to think about who Bakemon was talking about. Ogura Ichimaru, a middle manager in the building, not high ranked, per se, but certainly not low ranking either. Certainly someone who’d have access to a lot of corporate data and could do a lot of damage if he sent it out willy nilly. Dealing with Chuumon would be easy, they weren’t particularly powerful even among Rookie Digimon. It was getting him out of Ogura’s body that’d be tricky.

A second readthrough of reviews on Kuremi Detective Agency provided a possible solution: the office was also home to a Wanyamon named Pete. He probably wouldn’t be much help if the Chuumon decided to fight, but it would help in flushing the rat-like digimon out of Ogura’s body. It’d be easiest and safest to do so in EDEN, but I’d still need to get Pete’s help first. Which meant I’d have to meet with Detective Kuremi. Which meant I’d be taking the job. Fuck.

I groaned in annoyance before I told Bakemon, “Keep an eye on the body snatching Chuumon. I’ll hopefully have a solution for it later today.”

Bakemon nodded, floating back up into the ducts, as DemiDevimon finally woke up. The little guy stretched, before seeing me heading over to grab my jacket and helmet. That woke him right up and he flapped over to me, landing on my shoulder as I zipped up my riding jacket.

“What’s up?” he asked as I made my way up the stairs, slipping the polarized helmet on just before opening the door leading to the lobby.

“Got a job, discovered we have a body snatcher in the building, probably going to end up being shot at,” I summarized.

DemiDevimon stared at me for a moment, before asking, “What was that about being shot at? I like my data where it is, thank you very much.”

“I don’t have anything concrete, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this job,” I told him as I reached my motorcycle. “The job is from a detective wanting me to deliver some stuffed toys to hospitals and bring back some data from them. She’s offering way too much for a job this simple or straightforward, plus she knows about both you and Bakemon.”

“Wait! We got a rat in the building?!” he asked/demanded as I threw my leg over the seat.

“A Chuumon, to be specific,” I answered, making DemiDevimon blink at the seeming non sequitur. “Don’t know how, but he’s piloting the body of one of the workers. I’m going to see if we can borrow the detective’s Wanyamon to flush it out.”

DemiDevimon gave a brief shudder, before climbing down into the side bag. With my little buddy secured, I started her up and took off. The route was fed from my digivice into my cranial implants, and I arrived sooner than I’d have liked. But I couldn’t put it off forever, so I unhitched the side bag from my bike, gently slung it over my shoulder, and made my way inside Nakano Broadway.

I came to a stop in front of the door to the Kuremi Detective Agency, right next to some fortune teller’s shop. I really didn’t want to meet with Kuremi, but I didn’t see much of a choice. Taking a deep breath, I approached the door and knocked.

“Come in,” a smooth, feminine voice almost cooed from inside. Swallowing again, I opened the door and entered. Behind the desk was the (in)famous detective, and I admit, despite having seen images of her, it was still a shock seeing her in person.

[spoiler=Kuremi Kyoko]

[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/751630975338807396/1089337886110920744/anBn.png[/img]

[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/751630975338807396/1089337885871853669/Zml4PWl0.png[/img]

[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/751630975338807396/1089337886425481297/kuremi_kyoko__color_sketch_by_july_monmon_dbjh4zx-fullview.png[/img]

[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/751630975338807396/1089337886756843570/digimon_cyber_sleuth___kyoko_kuremi_by_bunnynyan-dawhp0q.png[/img][/spoiler]

How did she get away with leaving so much of her shirt unbuttoned? DOn’t get me wrong, it was a lovely view, but all the same it- no! Focus! Tearing my eyes away from the massive amounts of exposed skin, I met her amused gaze and asked, “Anything about the job not in the email?”

“Nothing major,” she said, standing up from her chair. I was pleased that I kept my eyes locked on her face instead of trying to catch a glimpse of her breasts. Seriously woman, have you never heard of a ‘bra’?

“So what are the minor things?” I asked, keeping my voice firm.

“You can bring your partner out,” she said instead of answering. “I assure you, I haven’t told Aiba-chan or her teammates about this meeting. It would cause more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Curious, that you’d keep secrets from your assistant,” I said instead of doing anything. “You haven’t answered my question.”

“Operational security, it isn’t something that she needs to know about,” she deflected, before walking over to a duffle bag. She picked it up and tossed it to me. “Each stuffed digimon has a tag on it saying the hospital it’s going to, you should be finished in time for lunch. If you’d like, once you finish I can provide you with some of my special brew, I’m given to understand you’re quite the coffee drinker.”

“I’ll pass,” I told her as I unzipped the duffle bag and began inspecting the contents. Omnimon, Dynasmon, Gallantmon, Gankoomon, Jesmon, Magnamon, UlforceVeedramon, Crusadermon, and Lilithmon. But there was something I noticed. “There’s seven hospitals, and two of these don’t have tags saying where they’re going.”

“Crusadermon and Lilithmon are for you, it seemed appropriate. The money will be wired to your account once you make the final delivery. Is there anything else?”

I zipped the duffle bag and slung it over my other shoulder, “Got a rat problem in my office building. I was wondering if Pete’d be willing to help flush them out after the job’s done.”

“And I am assuming you would rather handle it with more… grace than Aiba-chan’s compatriots would, yes?” she asked, as the blue-furred form of the Agency’s local Wanyamon materialized on one of the couches.

“Exactly,” I said with a nod. “It may be in the basement, but I’m rather fond of my office. I’d rather not have the building blown up while they try to catch the rat.”

She chuckled, “Understandable, they do specialize in the more flashy parts of the job. As for Pete, that’s up to hi-”

“Can I go?” the little digimon asked, bouncing on the sofa in excitement. “Can I? Can I?”

“Well, we’ll see after he gets back,” Detective Kuremi said with a fond, teasing smile.

I personally couldn’t help but chuckle at the digimon’s enthusiasm, before heading out to make my deliveries. Something about the energy the younger and lower level digimon had made me fond of them. Kind of like puppies. Returning to my bike, I set the side back back in place, hopped on, and drove off to the first destination. As I pulled away from the building, I dialed my digivice on my headset, DemiDevimon immediately answering.

“You pick up anything?” I asked him.

“Felt some weird tech in the walls around the door, but couldn’t place what it was. It felt old though, the Wanyamon felt really old too. No clue why,” he answered. “But what was it she said about Crusadermon and Lilithmon?”

“Two of the stuffed digimon,” I explained. “The rest were more popular and ‘photogenic’ megas.”

I managed to pick up DemiDevimon grumbling under his breath as he hung up, and I returned my focus to the road. The first hospital took fifteen minutes for me to reach, and upon entering the lobby and explaining why I was there (that Detective Kuremi had sent me with a Make A Wish toy), I handed off the requisite toy and received the datastick. The datastick went into DemiDevimon’s side bag and then I was off to the next one.

Halfway there, I had a call on my headset from my digivice. Answering the call, I asked, “Crack the encryption?”

“And then some,” DemiDevimon said, his voice unusually somber. “I have a very strong suspicion what’s going to be on the other datasticks. Kuremi’s protege’s dying.”

“What?” I asked in shock, nearly missing my turn. “From what?”

“You know the Sweepers, Cleaners, Eaters, whatever you want to call them,” he began, and I had a very, very bad feeling about where he was going with this. “She got partially grabbed by one a few months back. What we’ve been seeing is the result of her EDEV Avatar somehow managing to materialize in the real world while her original body’s suffering from EDEN Syndrome. But if I’m reading this right, it’s not stable.”

“I would imagine not,” I muttered, before speaking louder. “Start looking through anything out of the ordinary about Ami since the incident, and rack your brain to see if you can think of anything that the docs didn’t think of.”

“Yeah, will do,” DemiDevimon said before hanging up.

I put a bit more speed on the bike, even as my mind raced. Don’t get me wrong, I did my best to avoid the Digidestined (though my best didn’t always cut it), but I didn’t want them to get hurt or wind up dead. We had an unspoken agreement between us, and no one wanted to escalate matters. I pulled my punches, didn’t go after them or their personal lives, and did my absolute best to limit collateral damage on my end, and they afforded me the same. Plus if I saw them anywhere near my favorite donair place, the one next to Big V’s BBQ, they damn well better only be there for the food.

I pushed that aside as I parked at the second hospital, going through the same procedure as the first. Handing DemiDevimon the second datastick, I asked, “Anything pop up on your search?”

“A few poorly protected internal reports from a few days ago, noting that Aiba’s been spacing out a bit,” he answered. “As for the data, it looks like the person Kuremi went to at this hospital has no idea how to fix her ghost problem either. To be honest, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”

I let out a sigh. All I could do at this point was get to the other hospitals.

[hr][/hr]

The donair did nothing to deserve the furious bite that was taken out of it, but dammit I needed to vent and it was available. Not one out of the hospitals had any idea how to keep Ami from continuing to deteriorate. From what DemiDevimon had put together, before I sent him off with the side bag to finish the delivery, the degradation of her pseudo-Avatar was made worse whenever she went into EDEN. Seeing as she was the most comfortable of the local Digidestined with cyberspace, combined with her job as a “cyber sleuth”, she was hopping in and out of EDEN at least three times a day!

It pissed me off, but there wasn’t anything I could do. I’m an office rat and a poor man’s edgerunner, not a doctor or a computer technician. Of course, that’s when life decided my day hadn’t had enough excitement already.

“Buddy! Help me!” Bakemon shouted as he flew into the donair restaurant.

I stared at him, gritting my teeth and growling, “Chuumon had better have started a murder spree for you to come find me.”

“Worse! Some guys with digimon of their own stormed into the office and wrecked the place. There was a Stingmon, some blue skinned fire one I didn’t recognize, and an Angemon! An ANGEMON! Then when I left the building to come find you, I saw a Greymon and a Garurumon outside the building! Who the hell did you piss off?!”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Fuck my life.