Digital Inference 5

Chapter 5: Surprises
<<<Lisa Wilbourn>>>

“Mm… Taylor, why are you…” Lisa started before freezing. The bed and her bed mate were far too soft and fluffy to be her bed and Taylor.

{Vixi has stripped you. Vixi is cuddling you.}

“Ohgodohgodohgod!” She couldn’t help it but freak out (internally because Vixi looked so cute and sexy when she was sleeping) having been about as close to aromantic as a person could be without it being a fact before she triggered.

And then well… she learned things that just made sex unappealing to her and largely turned her off the prospect entirely. Kinda hard to get in the mood when your power is feeding you information you definitely didn’t need to know if you were planning on cashing in your v-card. Said blitzing, however, wasn’t happening, and she found herself… enjoying the contact.

Quite possibly completely innocent of Vixi, Lisa didn’t think Digimon had the same cultural hangups on clothing and intimacy as humans did. If they even reproduced sexually, considering their nature as digital entities. Though, after she brought herself under control, it let Lisa take time to look at her newly digievolved partner, Renamon she called her form if she recalled correctly?

Honestly, that whole night and most of the day were just a blur of activity. Never mind the whole ‘appearing after an Endbringer battle’ just made her overall exhaustion even worse. And not even physically, but emotional and psychological.

Renamon was… well, not many people could make her jealous, but Vixi managed it with ease. How someone could be so cute and sexy was beyond her. Lisa also realized she had a thing for sleek, clearly athletic, body types. She didn’t know if gender mattered but she certainly didn’t mind having an athletic sleek feminine anthropomorphic fox using her as a body pillow.

But she was awake and… mostly put together, so she couldn’t just lay in bed forever. That she also needed to use the bathroom was, admittedly, an important factor too.

Though getting loose without waking up Vixi was proving to be a challenge, as she was clearly stronger than a squishy human and… very clingy.

Another digimon, another dinosaur looking one, checked through the door. “Ah, you’re awake,” She, and it was at least a feminine voice, said, “If you press on the center of her palm, it should get her to release you without waking her up.”

Lisa blinked, and while her face was solid red, she did and…

“Huh…” She slid free, though seeing Vixi’s face twist faintly did bother her, still she looked to the other digimon, “Uh, thanks. So can you tell me where the bathroom is?” She asked awkwardly.

“Of course, shall I lead you there, mistress?” She asked and offered, shifting to show that… she was wearing a maid outfit, complete with head dress (something Lisa had thought was a fringe).

{Is a fringe. Painted and dressed up. Enjoys their job.}

“Well, more power to her.” Lisa honestly wasn’t going to question it, “Thank you, um is your boss… um,” Her name escaped Lisa, “Seasomethingmon? I’m sorry, last night was hectic.”

“Aegisdramon,” The maid dinosaur said with something that was akin to a smile, “Ah, yes, clothes!” She sounded excited as she wheeled in a small wooden cart, careful to avoid making noise. On it were… clothes that reminded Lisa of an adventure movie, like Indiana Jones.

{Made of data. Only mimics leather.}

“Still looks good.” And honestly she loved the Indiana Jones movies, so why wouldn’t she dress up? Honestly she felt like a kid again, well without the parents trying to exploit her Thinker power and the lingering guilt of her- and with that she cut that train of thought off.

And instead focused on getting dressed.

“Yeah, but is Aegisdramon doing fine?” Lisa asked, “I mean they were impaled on a sword after all.”

“They are healing,” She replied, “In fact, if you hurry with your bathroom adventure then you can catch her during breakfast. And don’t worry about getting cleaned, we carefully ensured such as you slept.”

Lisa frowned, she didn’t feel as though she’d been scrubbed and water would have woken her up…

{Didn’t use water. Used supernatural abilities.}

“... I would kill for magic cleaning powers,” She muttered, shaking her head.

The digimon just giggled at that and led her to the bathroom.

She really wanted to meet this Aegisdramon… and figure out what the hell was up with all that in the first place.

After using the bathroom, with great relief she could admit, she hurried to the dining hall; half jogging as she went. For a moment, she didn’t know where Aegisdramon was; which was worrying since the dragon was the size of a building, but her eyes slowly tracked to the largest seat in the room, practically a small throne to itself, and atop it sat a woman.

She couldn’t say that they looked human, however, not like the disguised drider digimon had. Instead, her flesh was a gleaming gold, her long hair a deep silver, and her clothes a teal dress. Her crown was the oddest part of the ensemble, a red maple leaf surrounded by a dragon biting its own tail.

“Good to see you’re doing better,” Lisa said, absentmindedly wondering if the digimon was from a digital version of Canada.

“Better, but not as well as I could be,” She replied, standing to welcome her, “Please, if you would indulge me by sitting at my side?” Aegisdramon offered, gesturing to a nearby seat, “We could discuss things in a… less formal context than our later talks, something to help you adjust?”

“Sure,” Lisa said as she walked over to take a seat, “So what did you want to talk about?”

The… Queen, she supposed, hummed and spread cream cheese over an oversized bagel, “Well, first I was wondering what you preferred in terms of juices. I always like orange for breakfast, but some like apple or grape too.”

“Normally, I have coffee… but that was when I was forced to work under a Bond villain, so grape is fine,” Lisa chuckled, “He can’t really work me like a horse when I’m not on Earth now can he?”

“Indeed not,” She replied with a smile, “Dear Vixi told me your name was Lisa, yes? I will warn you that the more powerful digimon can detect when you lie about such. I’m not one of those, but those connected to God like the Royal Knights or, unfortunately, Seven Demon Lords are.”

“That’s me, or Tattletale but well… I’m giving this ‘not a villain’ thing a try.” She said, “And well… I changed my name because I didn’t want to be found.” Though she did file the information away.

A part of her that was bitter about the whole shitshow that was her life, along with Bet in general, wondered what it’d be like if Earth had a God that actually gave a shit. Though she quickly shoved that thought away into a box to contemplate never.

“Fair enough. Though, who was your employer, if you don’t mind me asking?” She asked curiously, though she did raise her brow at her ‘villain’ comment.

{Believes in heroism above all. Wants to help.}

“Huh, go figure…” Lisa thought, “Well less employment and more ‘work for me or get a hole in the head’ so… yeah. But yeah, the bastard’s name is Coil. Operates in Brockton Bay,” She said, though she wasn’t sure why she commented on the Bay though.

It was too soon to be homesick, and honestly she hated the shithole in the first place…

“Well, when we’re done dealing with the crisis that’s begun in the digital world, perhaps your partner will help with that as well?” Aegisdramon offered as grape juice, eggs, and bacon were offered to Lisa. “Please, eat your fill, and I hope our sourcing is to your tastes. I’d hate to discover we pulled from the wrong server.”

Lisa blinked as the smell hit her, and she could have sworn she recognized it from somewhere.

{Is from Junior’s Breakfasts in Brockton Bay. You’ve eaten there.}

“... My powers are bullshit, but yours is frankly ridiculous," Lisa said, “This is from Junior’s Breakfasts in Brockton Bay. That’s cool, spooky but cool.”

“Is that where it’s from?” Aegisdramon asked, “We simply pulled food from servers nearby the dimensional coordinates you arrived from. Most of our subjects have quite enjoyed it, though I must admit it drained our coffers more than we’d like to admit. Not so much so that we will struggle, but we certainly can’t do this every day.”

The chain had been a little expensive when she’d eaten there.

“That’s fair, I’ve only been there once since I arrived in the shithole of a city,” Lisa admitted, “Normally my breakfasts aren’t as tasty and accompanied by too much caffeine and painkillers.” Thinker headaches were her fucking bane… well at least until she arrived her.

Why hadn’t she had a Thinker headache yet anyway?

{Your body is now primarily consisting of data. Improving the bandwidth and processing. Allowing you to deal with information better than before}

“Well, I’m glad to hear we chose well then,” Aegisdramon said with a smile, “Your partner seems quite taken with you, which is quite good, do you remember what sparked their digivolution?”

“I think so,” Lisa admitted, “Yesterday was… a very long day. It didn’t help that I was dumped into a new world after fighting a monster bent on genociding my race one city at a time.”

“Irritating,” That seemed to make the dragon-dinosaur very angry, but she schooled her features soon after, “But please, explain what occurred. It may be important.”

“I was worried for Vixi, and wanted to help her,” Lisa said, “And I just… well, I’m not entirely sure what happened. This thing started glowing and well…” She just pulled her digivice out with a shrug.

“Well, there are these things called Crests,” The queen started, “They are… metaphysical manifestations of a key positive aspect of your personality. It is likely you tapped into such to digivolve her.”

“What are the aspects?” Lisa asked curiously.

“Courage, Love, Friendship, Reliability, Knowledge, Sincerity, Light, Hope, Kindness, Miracles, and Destiny,” She listed off, “Not all of them are active all of the time, the last two are quite rare to appear, but they are all quite important.”

“... Thankfully Scarcasism isn’t one,” Lisa commented dryly as she gave it some thought, she… didn’t know if she really counted for most of those. 

Definitely not Courage, she hated going into danger and would rather avoid it, and Kindness… well even without her power she had a sharp tongue and wasn’t afraid to use it.

“I suspect, with your description, your crest would be Reliability, Love, or Friendship,” She replied with a smirk, “Perhaps Miracles as well, but it’s unlikely.”

“God, I hope not. Miracles sounds exhausting,” Lisa snarked lightly, mostly to hide how awkward she felt about her comment.

She didn’t think she fit Love or Friendship; would a friend take advantage of a newly triggered, hopelessly naive, and idealistic cape? Granted, she did it for good reasons! If she didn’t, the girl would’ve just thrown herself into fights until she finally ran out of luck.

The Queen pat her on the shoulder. “We know it isn’t Sincerity, at least,” She teased.

“Oh shut up, Queenie,” Lisa mumbled with a blush, “Whatever happened to that sword anyway?”

“I destroyed it,” She replied simply, “It was a thing of evil and corruption, and so I shattered it under foot. Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering,” Lisa said honestly, “Funny though, looking back on it symbolically though? That might’ve been the Dragon-Slaying sword Ascalon.” 

“Likely,” She replied, “It’s been digging into me for as long as I can remember, though digivolution made it more… tolerable. But now that I am free of it, I can use my full might without worry.” Wings spread from her back, gold rimmed and iridescent energy as webbing, for a moment before retracting back inside her. “Unfortunately, I am still far too weak to do what needs to be done. I can manage and control the land I have been given by King Drasil’s avatar, but I can do no more than that.”

“Well, I hope you a swift recovery,” Lisa said, “Actually maybe you could help me just…  understand the world I’m in? I’m flying blind and the lack of information isn’t helping me.”

“Happily,” She replied before grinning, “Of course… I’d rather save that for when our next Guest arrives.”

“Whatever you want Queenie,” Lisa quipped as she resumed eating.

“Speaking of next guest…” She continued, grinning wide, “I can… influence what Crest Holder, Digidestined, appears next. I can’t tell their name, but I know the Crest. All of them will arrive regardless, but do you perhaps have a choice for which arrives here and now?”

“Uh huh… I don’t, honestly,” She said with a shrug.

“Very well, Courage then,” The queen started, raising her hand as a portal formed, showing a city on the other side.

{Brockton Bay.}

Then she frowned, glaring at the portal as someone came through. “Or Love instead?” She said, sounding confused, “It is as though Courage has already arrived, but I don’t know where they could possibly be…”

Brian appeared, standing and disoriented.

“Holy shit, Brian!?” Lisa exclaimed as she got up and ran over to him.

“Ugh…” He groaned, stumbling into her, “Lisa? Where…”

“Welcome to the Digital World,” She said as she helped him to a seat, “... What are the chances that all the Digidestined are the Undersiders?” She muttered under her breath.

“They typically know one another well,” The queen noted, standing up again, “Welcome to the Dramon Kingdom, File Island.”

“Well, looks like I’ll be seeing Taylor sooner or later…” She thought.

“Ugh…” Brian just took off his helmet and rubbed his eyes, “The hell? Kingdom? File Island? Last I remember we were working Search and Rescue…”

“I am sorry to have taken you from such an important duty,” The queen started as digimon filed out of the room, “But one of your group was going to arrive regardless. Lisa here arrived first, and I was trying to guide it into Courage next instead; those make quite good leaders, but you arrived; holder of the Crest of Love.”

“Yo, oh fearless leader,” She snarked, “At least you got a better introduction than me.” She added, patting his shoulder, “Love huh? Yeah, I guess that fits.”

Brian glared, “And where is Taylor, exactly? She went missing not long after you did. Just fucking vanished, and she didn’t even have the excuse of Leviathan attacking her.” He directed his question to the queen.

Lisa blinked, “Really? Huh, I… guess that means she could already be here?” She muttered, “Wish I had her in that fucking forest…” She muttered before trailing off, muttering about killy bugs.

The queen, however, looked concerned. “Oh, that is likely not good…” She whispered, “She arrived too early, which means she was pulled here. And I know not who did it.”

“... And she’s an idealistic and naive girl… so what’re the chances of her being manipulated despite her black and white view on morality?” Lisa muttered.