Tai was sat along the boardwalk where he and Agumon had parted ways. The warm early summer breeze whisked along the water and washed over him as he gazed longingly into the evening sky. The night chasing the last of the orange and red hues of the sun toward the horizon, he took a deep breath and let his head sink between his legs. In his hands he held the stone digivice, and though he was no longer a digi-destined he held fast to it every day. Rubbing his thumb where the display used to be, he thought back to the happier times when they were all together. The tranquility of his best friends resting place was the only spot he could find relief from his hectic daily life, and so Tai would often bring himself down there to both mourn and reflect on the wonderful memories that he and Agumon had shared. 
It had been two years now since Agumon and Gabumon vanished. Tai had occasional nightmares about the countdown light that appeared on his phone and digivice, and dreaded it every time it came up with the others. It wasn’t until a day later that Sora revealed that Biyomon had vanished hours before the final battle with Eosmon. Being the ever vigilant leader, Tai did his best to keep everyone connected. As such, he learned of the fates of the others that fell afterward. Tentomon and Palmon had vanished just a few months later, fading shortly after a dinner that Izzy and Mimi were having at Izzy’s parent’s home. Gomamon faded away at the hospital alongside Joe while the two were tending to a patient. Only Kari and T.K still retained their digimon out of the original digi-destined. But, how long that would last, seemed tentative at best. Tai reflected on each loss, his eyes shut tight; knowing full well the pain they felt as their digimon vanished before their eyes. Their best friends, lost at the tick of dreaded clock that everyone dreaded to see. While he felt some understanding as to why they went away, how the digimon weren’t really part of their lives as each of them ventured into their own careers, something still troubled him deep inside. As if it just wasn’t right for them to be taken away forever. 
“Agumon.” Tai spoke to himself. “I miss ya buddy.” Taking a good long sigh, Tai picked up his head from between his legs, just in time for his phone to vibrate. He stored the digivice in his pocket and turned back to answer it. It was Izzy calling, and Tai was never one to turn away his calls. “Hey Izzy.” 
“Tai. I’m glad I caught you.” 
“I just finished work, what’s up?” 
“There’s something we need to discuss. Can you make it to my office tonight around 10?” Tai checked the time, realizing it was a good hour and a half away, but also feeling the growl of his stomach. 
“Yeah, I think I can swing that. I just gotta grab a bite first.” 
“Great. Matt’s coming too.” 
“Izzy what’s going on? You know we’re not digi-destined anymore.” Tai hung his head as he spoke. 
“I know, Tai. But I think it’s important you come. Digi-destined or not, I think we can both agree there’s certain problems that only we can confront.” 
“Why not bring Kari and T.K then?” 
“They may not be much help at the moment. Look, make it here by 10, and we’ll discuss it further.” 
“Alright, I’ll be there.” Tai slowly lowered his phone to his side as he hung up. Gazing up to the sky, the sun was finally chased below the horizon as the blue and black shades of night had finally taken over. Tai let a quick stammer escape, wiping a tear from his eye before it could find his cheek. “I miss you, little buddy. I’m sorry I couldn’t get you that shaved ice you asked for.” 
Tai grabbed a burger at a nearby restaurant, cautiously watching for the time. He didn’t want to be late, at least not to anything Izzy had called him for. Heading out, a steady rain had started to develop, and as he entered into the Izumi building, Tai found himself shaking off the water and cold. Heading down the hall, he spotted Matt and rushed over. “Hey Matt!” 
“Tai.” Matt glanced to him briefly before returning his gaze to the doors that opened. “Made it on time for once.” 
“Hey, if it has to do with the team, you know I’m on it.” Tai interjected, leaping into the elevator beside his best friend. The two were silent for a few moments as they ascended the building before Matt broke it. 
“Any idea what’s going on?” 
“Huh?” Tai turned to him for a moment. “Well, no. Not really.” Tai paused a moment, taking the stone digivice out of his pocket.
“You still keep it on you?”
“How can I not?” Tai spoke softly. “It’s all I have left of him, after all.” 
“Hmm.” Matt thought for a moment. “I know how you feel.” 
“Huh?” Tai glanced to him. Matt produced from his pocket a stone digivice, just like Tai’s. He gasped at the sight and spoke. “You too.” 
“Of course, he was my best friend.” Matt stammered. Tai reached over and gave Matt a pat on the shoulder. 
“Not your only one.” 
“I know.” Matt turned away for a moment. “I’m glad.” 
“Hmm?” Tai perked up. 
“We all still talk. Not just me and you of course but, all of us. It’s comforting.” 
“We’ll always be friends, Matt. Don’t worry about that. I’ll keep us together if I gotta use crazy glue to do it.” Tai chuckled. Matt let a smile escape as the elevator dinged they had arrived at the top floor. 
Matt lead the way into Izzy’s office, his desk seemed a bit more cluttered than usual, with a few bottles of oolong tea left out. 
“Hey, glad you could make it!” Izzy greeted. 
“Course.” Matt shrugged off. 
“You called us over, so what’s going on, Izzy?” Tai spoke up from behind him.
“Recently, I’ve lost touch with a few digi-destined in my database.” He began. Tai slapped his forehead and moaned. 
“Don’t tell me it’s Eosmon again.” 
“No. Nothing like that.” Izzy refuted, returning his attention to his monitor. “I was in contact with them quite frequently up till recently. They’d become rather distressed after experiencing the same thing we had.” 
“Oh, so they lost their digimon?” 
“You were keeping in touch with them? That’s really thoughtful of you Izzy.” Matt complimented.
“It’s fair to say after losing Tentomon, I could relate to some of the struggles they were dealing with. But here’s the issue I’ve encountered.” Izzy explained bringing up a news article. Tai leaned over Izzy’s shoulder and read. 
“Maria Cooper, known digi-destined in Ohio found dead in her home!?” Tai exclaimed. 
“Izzy you can’t mean!” Matt tried to interject, however as he began to explain, Izzy hung his head.  
“No. There was no foul play involved. These digi-destined, have been taking their own lives.” Matt and Tai were taken back by the news. After a moment, Izzy carried on with his explanation. “Maria talked with me, about how Floramon had been calling to her, in the night.” Matt gasped, and recalled back to a conversation he had with Sora just a few weeks ago. 

“I can hear her, Matt.” Sora spoke softly, clutching her legs in her bed. 
“What do you mean?” He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. 
“At night. When I’m all alone. Trying to sleep. She’s calling out to me. I know she is. Matt, what if.” Sora stammered, turning away for a moment before he took hold of her shoulder. “What if I let her die!?” Sora cried out. 
“Don’t ever say that!” Matt leaned in closer. “There was nothing any of us could do. Gennai himself said it, that light was our last link.” 
“It wasn’t enough.” Sora carried on, letting the tears flow. Matt scooped her up and brought her into his lap, holding her head beneath his own he did his best to comfort her as she cried. “I should have done more. I could have saved her, I know it. Now she’s haunting me. She’s mad at me for not fighting, for not being there with all of you.” 
“Sora, you know Biyomon wasn’t like that! She loved you just as much as you loved her.” He tried his best to encourage her, holding her just a little tighter. “I know how you feel. Gabumon vanished before I could even say goodbye. I know he knew how I felt but. I was too stupid to say it when it really mattered.” 
“Matt.” Sora glanced up. 

Returning back to the office, Matt turned to the window and placed his hand up against the glass. 
“Sora, was saying the same thing.” 
“What!?” Both Tai and Izzy exclaimed. 
“I visited her not too long ago.” He turned around to meet his friends gaze. “She said the same thing. Biyomon was haunting her; she said she could hear her calling to her in the night.” 
“This can’t be coincidence!” Izzy breathed, spinning back to his monitor. 
“What do you mean, Izzy!?” Tai questioned. 
“All of the digi-destined I’ve lost contact with said the exact same thing. Their digimon were haunting them.” Izzy stated, showing the text messages on the screen. 
“Izzy.” Tai breathed. “How many, have we. You know.” 
“124 out of 1340 have lost their digimon thus far. If my research is correct, just over 55 of them, have taken their own lives.” Both Matt and Tai gasped. 
“I don’t like those odds.” Tai nervously shuddered. Turning slowly turned Matt he could see the look of concern growing on his face. 
“Sora.” Matt gasped. Taking out his phone he tried calling right away, but the call went straight to voicemail. Growling, he jammed the phone back in his pocket. “No, I already lost Gabumon I am not losing Sora!” Matt shouted. Tai took hold of his shoulder. 
“Matt wait!” Matt swung around and threw off Tai’s hand.
“Don’t try to stop me, Tai!” 
“I wouldn’t, not a chance, but I wanna go with you.” Matt paused a moment, glancing down at the floor before returning back to Tai. 
“Fine, just don’t get in my way.” 
“Matt!” Izzy called out. “I’m going to try to get a hold of Mimi and Joe. Once you’ve found Sora, do me a favor. Check in on T.K, and Tai you check in with Kari. I’m worried their counters may have already started.” 
“What!?” Tai exclaimed. 
“No way!” Matt refuted. 
“They’ve sent us some rather upsetting texts earlier, but have been silent since then. They haven’t responded to me, but I figure you’d have more luck since you’re brothers.” He explained. 
“Right, got it, thanks Izzy!” Tai agreed. “Let’s go Matt!” 
“Right!” 

Matt ran down to the garage with Tai right behind him, aimed right for his motorbike and grabbed his helmet. 
“You couldn’t invest in a car? What’s with you and the bikes?” Tai interjected. 
“Will you knock it off already? Get on!” Matt replied while taking a shorter pink helmet out from his pack. Tai slumped forward at the sight of the bright pink helmet, but wasn’t exactly in a position to protest. Taking it from Matt he fastened it on and got on the back. 
“Great, we need to get to Sora’s and I gotta ride bi—aaaah!!!” Tai cried out as Matt ripped through the parkade and out onto the street. Pulling up alongside her apartment building, Matt hit the kick stand and let Tai off. “Ugh, that’s it, next time I’ll spring for a ride.” 
“Tai, stop messing around!” Matt scolded, ripping off his helmet he rushed for the door, just catching it as an older lady passed through.
“Excuse me!” She scoffed, as Tai turned around and bowed. 
“Sorry ma’am, it’s an emergency.” He swiftly explained before following Matt up the stairs to Sora’s apartment. Matt eagerly knocked on the door with Tai beside him huffing and puffing. 
“Sora, It’s me! Open up!” Matt called out. They heard a chain and saw the handle turn as a rather wet haired Sora greeted them. 
“Matt, Tai? What are you guys doing here?” She asked in a rather calm tone. 
“We were worried; you didn’t answer your phone.” Tai explained. 
“Oh.” She giggled briefly. “I was in the shower.” Gesturing for them to come in she lead the way into her small living room and sat down on the couch. “Someone over-watered one of the pots at the shop and when I went to move it, some of it spilt on me and I had to get the smell out.” 
“How much longer you working there?” Matt questioned. “I thought you were working on your new fashion line.” 
“Mimi’s helping me out on it, trying to get me in contact with someone who’ll see what I can do. I’ve already made a few samples, and she’s agreed to model them for me of course.” Sora chuckled. “Till then, I gotta make rent somehow.” 
“We wanted to talk to you about Biyomon.” Tai blurted out. 
“Tai, don’t be such an insensitive jerk!” 
“What did we rush down here for if not to talk to her about it!?” Tai fired right back. 
“You could be use a little more tact instead of just blurting it out like that, think of Sora’s feelings for once.” 
“And you two talk about how the digimon never change.” Sora was quick to throw in. Matt and Tai huffed and turned away from each other. “So, I guess you guys think I’m going crazy, huh?” 
“No, that’s just it.” Tai began to explain. “Izzy said other digi-destined have been reporting the same thing. Their digimon partners that have vanished, have started calling to them.” 
“What? You mean it’s real?” Sora gasped. 
“We don’t know for sure yet.” Matt shook his head. “But it’s something Izzy is investigating.”
“If Izzy’s on it, I guess it must be pretty serious.” 
“You could say that.” Tai spoke softly. “So far, 55 digi-destined across the world, have taken their own lives.” Sora gasped and covered her mouth at the news.
“Feeling haunted and having no one believe you except us might do that.” Matt agreed. 
“That’s awful.” Sora moaned, slowly lowering her head. However she swiftly raised up her brow and took a more firm stance. “And you two lunk-heads thought I’d do that!?” Matt and Tai were taken aback, suddenly finding themselves clamoring for an explanation. 
“We were just worried, that’s all!” Tai quickly spat out. 
“As if!” Sora huffed. “You guys wouldn’t last a week without me taking care of you. After all, you don’t mess with the mother hen.” 
“Mother hen, you took that as a compliment?” Tai inquired, to which Matt met him with a quick jab to the gut. “Ow! Just a question!” 
“Knucklehead.” Matt quipped. 
“Ugh, my point exactly.” Sora shrugged, shaking her head at the two of them. “Look, I’m glad you guys are worried about me. But I think there’s someone else you both should be talking to right now.” 
“Who?” Tai asked. 
“T.K, and Kari. They’ve both been sending some troubling messages lately.” 
“Izzy mentioned that, he did say we should call them.” Matt agreed. Sora got up and sashayed her way over to Matt, leaning down to meet him face to face.
“I’ll be ok. Haunted or not, I’ve got plenty to live for and way too much work to do taking care of you two.” She giggled, flicking Matt’s nose. 
“Cut it out.” He smiled. 
“So you two are still an item I see.” Tai smirked. 
“Mind your own business.” Matt cut in. 
“It’s ok Matt.” Sora stroked his cheek and gave him a quick peck. “Don’t worry Tai. We’re all still friends. While I may be with Matt, I’ll always cherish you and the others.” 
“A true mother hen.”
“Ha, and don’t you forget it.” Sora winked. 

Walking down the stairs with Sora behind them, Matt and Tai tried to call their respective siblings. Neither T.K nor Kari were answering, and Matt lead on a ahead a little so they could each leave a voicemail. 
“Hey, Kari. It’s me. I’m worried about you. Izzy and Sora said you might need me. I got a hunch I know why.” Tai paused a moment. “I know, it’s hard but. If the ring has started. Don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll be there for you.” 
“T.K, I need you to call me back. If what I think’s happening is happening, I can help you out. Don’t worry, there’s no trouble, and we don’t need you to digivolve, I promise. Call me back as soon as you get this.”
“No luck?” Tai asked. 
“No, nothing. He’s not answering his texts either.” 
“I’m gonna head over to mom and dad’s. Kari always goes back home when she needs a little comfort.” Tai explained. 
“Right. I’ll head over to T.K’s. Sora, you wanna ride?” Matt offered. 
“No, I should really eat and get some sleep. I have to open the shop tomorrow early. I’m meeting Mimi tomorrow afternoon for coffee.” 
“Ok.” Sora leaned in and gave him another kiss. 
“Drive safe.” She giggled. 
“Don’t I always?” 
“I think you mean, do you ever.” Sora corrected.
“Catch ya later you two love birds.” Tai waved off, rushing down the street as the rain started to pick up again. 

Kari sighed, putting the phone down beside her on the bed. She was holding Gatomon in her lap and rested her chin on her head. They were in T.K’s bedroom, and the whole of the room was dark, save for the light sneaking in from the kitchen. T.K walked in with a steaming cup of tea and Patamon perched on his head. He took a spot beside Kari and set down his own tea next to hers on a small folding table nearby. 
“You got one too, huh?” He whispered. Kari nodded, but didn’t speak. She just kept her arms wrapped tight around Gatomon. 
“Kari? Are you sure you don’t wanna talk to Izzy? Maybe he’s learned something new by now.” Gatomon asked. 
“Izzy said he’d call if anything came up.” T.K interjected. Patamon jumped off his head and into T.K’s lap. “Something tells me though; if he found anything he would have done so before. Used it to save Tentomon.” 
“Mmhmm.” Kari moaned. She stayed there quiet for a while set beside T.K. The two just watching the steam rise from the tea cups as they held fast to their digimon. T.K took the digivice from his pocket. The ring of light bright enough to cause him to wince away. The counter had gone about a third of the way, and with a heavy sigh T.K stashed away the unwelcome light into his pocket. 
“T.K?” Patamon spoke up, snaring the attention of all three of them. “Remember what I said, when you took me away while I was infected?” 
“Patamon, please.” T.K shuddered, trying to look away from him. 
“It’ll be ok, T.K. No matter what, it was all worth it just to meet you.” He smiled. 
“Patamon’s right.” Gatomon agreed. “Even after all the horrible things I did under Myotismon. I’d do it all over again so long as I got to be with you.” 
“Gatomon.” Kari sniffled. 
“I love you, Kari. Even if I vanish, I’ll never really go away.” Gatomon stammered. “I’ll always be in your heart, and you’ll always be in mine.” 
“That’s right.” Patamon joined in. “We have all these wonderful memories together. Of you and me, of Matt and Tai, and all our digimon friends. I’m so happy I got to be with you while you grew up.” T.K could feel his own tears well up as he scooped up Patamon, pressing his cheek against his. “Don’t cry T.K, I’ll stay with you as long as I can.” Patamon cried, trying to wipe away T.K’s tears but submitted as soon as he put an arm around him and the other around Kari. Kari squeezed Gatomon tight, cradling her head in her neck as the four of them let the tears wash over them.
As the tea cooled, a knock came from the front door. T.K wiped at his sore eyes and set Patamon down beside Gatomon and Kari. Opening the door he was surprised to find it was Matt, holding his helmet at his side. 
“Matt, what’s up?” T.K tried to greet in his usual upbeat tone. 
“Just thought I’d come by for a visit.”
“11:30’s a little late for a visit, isn’t it?” T.K tried to explain, as Matt noticed a second pair of shoes at the door. “Everything’s ok here. How come you’re not home right now? Slacking off from grad school?” He said with a coy little smile. 
“Yeah, sure.” Matt smiled back. “Let’s call it that.” Without warning, he threw T.K up against the wall and dove his hand into his pockets. 
“Hey!” T.K protested. But Matt withdrew the digivice, revealing the ring of light. 
“Thought you could pull a fast one on me, huh?” Matt quipped, but followed it up by wrapping his arms around his brother, holding him tight. T.K let his arms relax and set his head down on his brother’s shoulder. “It’s alright. I know how you feel.” 
“I know. I just, I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Don’t be stupid. You might have a smart mouth, but you’re never a bother.” Matt was quick to correct in a hushed tone.
“Thanks Matt.” As Matt released his little brother, they both became aware of Kari standing in the hallway with Gatomon in her arms and Patamon on her head. 
“You too?” 
“Mmm.” Kari hummed, turning away. 
“Tai went to look for you at your parent’s house.” Matt explained. 
“Course he did. At least he’ll get to visit with them.” 
“Along with a stomach ache from your mom’s cooking.” T.K noted. 
“Funny.” Matt threw up his brow, but then turned his attention to Patamon who leapt from Kari’s head to his arms. 
“Hi Matt.” 
“Hey Patamon. How you holding up?” Matt asked, gently stroking Patamon’s back.
“There’s been lots of crying, but at least T.K’s bought us a lot of treats! We’ve had ice cream and pizza and chocolate bars.” Patamon listed off while Matt surveyed the damage to the apartment. Empty pizza boxes, discarded wrappers and dirty dishes were pretty much everywhere. 
“So spoiled.” T.K shook his head. 
“Can’t spoil my appetite! Hahaha!” Patamon carried on. 
“Matt, anything from Izzy?” Gatomon inquired. 
“Oh, hi Gatomon. No, nothing on the ring of light right now.” 
“Oh.” Gatomon moaned. 
“Don’t worry about that so much, Gatomon. Let’s just spend as much time together as we can.” Kari said, gently patting her head. 
“You guys really should do just that.” Matt agreed. “If you want, I can hang out with you for a while. Unless of course this is a bit of a date.” Matt snuck in with a quick smile. 
“Needless to say, T.K the flirtmon is out of commission today.” T.K hung his head with a smile. 
“That right? Well look at it this way.” Matt said, snatching his little brother in a headlock. “T.K the flirtmon is digivolving into Adultmon and needs a few pointers from his big brother on his special attacks.” 
“Hahaha! Knock it off Matt!” The two carried on laughing for a bit before Matt released him. 
“You need me, you got me. Something tells me I should start by cleaning all this up.” Matt stated, shrugging off his biker jacket and hanging it up, he started out by grabbing a few dishes. 
“You’re just like Tai.” Kari spoke out, snaring everyone’s attention. 
“Obnoxious?” T.K asked. Kari chuckled and shook her head. 
“You can walk in to any bad situation, and make it better just by being there.” 
“It’s a gift. Probably from my days as a performer.” Matt shrugged off with a smile and flick of his hair. 
“It is a gift.” Kari smiled, giving Gatomon another quick squeeze. “Thanks Matt.” 

“Tai, what are you doing here so late?” His mother asked. Dressed in her sleeping attire, she had answered the door to their home in Odaiba to see her son panting and soaked by the rain. Tai shook off the cold and rain before composing himself. 
“Is Kari here?” 
“Tai, you could at least say hello after all this time.” She scolded. Tai found himself a little flustered and scratched his head. 
“I just didn’t think you’d want a hug from a rain drenched son.” Scoffing she shook her head and took him in for a good long hug. 
“Name a day that you didn’t come in covered in rain, mud or god knows what.” She chuckled. 
“That one time, honey from our field trip to the aviary in the country.” He threw in. 
“Yeah, you went through five bottles of soap that day.” She leered, pulling him back.
“I was aiming for six. You always bought them in bulk after all.” He laughed.
“Why are you looking for Kari?” She asked. 
“Oh, well. I was just checking in on her.” 
“What’s to worry about?” 
“Nothing to worry about.” Tai tried to play off as his mother ushered him to the table. 
“Uh huh. You’re lousy at covering up Tai so don’t try.” 
“Everything alright?” Tai’s father asked, scratching the back of his head as he exited the bedroom. “Some of us have work tomorrow you know?” 
“Tai’s looking for Kari.” 
“Oh, so what is it this time? Evil digimon, the world ending or you out of money again?” He said, cracking a half smile. 
“Huagh...” Tai moaned. “Is she here or not?” 
“No, she popped by for a visit two days ago, but hasn’t been back since.” His mother finally confessed. Tai pulled his phone out and started to text Matt.
“Wonder if Matt’s had any luck with T.K.” 
“Tai, what is this all about?” His mother asked with a growing look of concern. 
“You don’t usually visit unless it’s urgent.” His father joined in, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder. 
“We think, her countdown started.” Tai’s mother stammered, while his father spoke.
“Countdown!?”
“The same one that took Agumon away from me.” Tai explained. 
“Oh no.” His mother gasped, covering up her mouth. “Oh poor Kari, she must be devastated.” His father reaffirmed his grip before asking.
“How do you know?” 
“I don’t yet. But Kari and T.K have been sending some rather cryptic texts to Izzy and Sora. They’re not very good liars.” Tai sent off the text and set the phone down. 
“I’ll try calling her too.” Tai’s mother rushed for the phone. 
“I wouldn’t bother. She hasn’t been answering anything from me all day.” 
“Hi mom.” Kari answered on speaker phone right away. Tai slammed his head on the table. 
“Of course she answers you!” He shouted. 
“Hi Tai.” She sighed. Tai’s father came over and ruffled his son’s hair, brandishing his son’s trademarked grin.  
“Maybe this stuff has gotten so thick; it’s blocking your cell phone reception.” 
“You’re hilarious.” 
“Kari, is everything ok? Tai told us, that you might have something going on with your digivice, and a certain light?” Their mother pressed. 
“Mmm. I just wanted to be alone. Well, sort of. I was going to, but then T.K told me it was happening to him to, right around the same time. I’m over at his place.” She explained. 
“You’re over at T.K’s alone? Kari!” She almost scolded. 
“Mom I’m 21.” Tai jumped in to offer some quick advice on that.
“Doesn’t work as an excuse, Kari I tried that one ages ago.” 
“Are you gonna be ok, honey? Is it really just you and T.K there?” She continued to interrogate. 
“No, Matt showed up a little bit ago. Finally got T.K to help him clean the apartment.” She snickered. 
“Hi Mrs. Kamiya!” Gatomon shouted. 
“Hi Gatomon! It’s so good to hear you! I love you little lady, you stay close to my daughter!” 
“Way ahead of ya!” Gatomon reaffirmed. Tai jumped in on the conversation and asked. 
“Kari, I can be over there right away if you want.” 
“It’s ok, Tai.” 
“But, I know what you’re going through. I could help you.” He insisted. 
“There is one thing.” Kari trailed off, before pausing for a while. “I, nevermind.” 
“No, tell me.” Kari took her time before speaking. 
“Can you save her?” Tai gasped and stepped a bit away from the phone. “I know, it’s stupid. If you couldn’t save Agumon, why should I ask you to save Gatomon. It’s silly.” 
“It’s not.” Tai spoke softly. “No, it’s not stupid at all. I’ll talk with Izzy first thing tomorrow.” 
“What about your job hunt?” Kari inquired. 
“Oh that reminds me!” Their mother spoke up, grabbing a package from a mesh mail bin on the counter. “Here, this came for you two days ago.” 
“Wait, why didn’t this come to my box at the apartment?” Folding her arms she huffed and replied.
“Do I look like a mail man?”
“Ok valid point.” He conceded. “Look Kari, the job hunt can wait a few days. Not the end of the world. Maybe Izzy and I can put our heads together and figure something out.” Kari giggled, and clasped the phone close to her chest for a moment. 
“It’s so sweet of you to try.” 
“Hey, name one thing me and the Iz-master can’t do when we put our heads together!” Tai proudly touted, but Matt caught wind of the question and spoke up. 
“Form a cohesive thought?” 
“Who asked you, Matt!?” Kari just giggled helplessly before putting the phone back to her ear. 
“Tai, even if it doesn’t work. It means a lot that you’re trying.” Tai closed his eyes and gave a quick laugh. 
“No one picks on my little sister, or her digimon.” She offered up another quick giggle before closing out the conversation. 
“Love you big brother. Love you mom, love you dad.”
“Love you too, Kari.” Kari eased the phone down after ending the call, while T.K passed by with a handful of empty pizza boxes. 
“Least he didn’t ask you for money this time.”

Tai was up at the crack of dawn, rolling out of his bed and into the only pair of clean pants he could find. He went through his typical morning routine of shaving, brushing his teeth and hitting the shower. Opening the drawer under the T.V was his stone digivice and both pairs of goggles. He took out the digivice and stashed it in his pocket before unplugging his phone. He checked his work schedule for the casino, his next shift was three days away. Business had really slowed down, and it was showing with almost everyone on the schedule having their hours cut. 
“Jeez, I’ve only got 23 this week. I hope mom and dad don’t mind if I borrow a little more money.” Tai put the phone in his other pocket, when the brown package he took home caught his attention on the coffee table beside his laptop. Opening it up was a multipage document with a heading from the government of Japan. “Oh great, don’t tell me I’ve been drafted or something.” He moaned. Reading into the next page, he realized it was actually for a job offer. “Digital world relations department. Emissary positions available. They want me to be an Emissary?” Tai continued reading the document a bit further along. “What?! Interviews tomorrow, at 9am!? Well, guess it’s worth checking out but, why would they consider me!?” 

“I think it’s pretty obvious if you ask me.” Izzy stated with Tai in his office. Izzy took a good long swig of his Oolong Tea and set it down with a sigh. “You’re the perfect one for the job.” 
“I am?” Tai questioned. 
“Don’t sell yourself so short. You were the leader of our team for over a decade, you’re a strong critical thinker, you know how to manage and apply people’s strengths to their positions. Frankly Tai I’m surprised you never stepped up here and applied yourself in the real world the way you did in the digital world.” Izzy went on explaining.
“Wow thanks Izzy.” 
“Plus I pulled a few favors with some of my more recent government contracts to get you in for an interview. The governments been itching at the idea of establishing relationships with the digital world on a more formal basis.” 
“Great, so it wasn’t so much my actual skills as you pulling some strings. You sure you aren’t Puppetmon in disguise.” Tai quipped. 
“Very funny, but let’s talk about the real reason you’re here. I have a meeting in a couple hours; I hope it won’t take long.” Izzy switched gears and turned away from the computer, clasping the tea with both hands now. 
“I wanted to know if you ever found out anything new about the digivice countdowns.” He asked, slowly lowering his head. 
“I thought you might ask that.” 
“Well?” 
“Not much I’m afraid. Gennai met with me when Tentomon’s started because I was investigating that very thing.” Izzy explained, glancing over to an ornament on his desk. It was a small 3D sculpture in the shape of Tentomon that his own staff had made for him as a gift. “Sadly, nothing I wasn’t expecting. Though I did learn a little bit more.” 
“Like?” 
“The digivice countdown is part of a program called the potential protocol. It was set in place in case a digi-destined became lazy or dangerous, but it was also set in place for another reason. As we get older, and have to focus more on our careers and ourselves, we can find ourselves very easily in a position where we just don’t have time to respond to things digi-world related. Our potential does regress with age, but never really goes out, so when it reaches a certain threshold the protocol activates so that being a digi-destined doesn’t interfere with our own lives in a significant way.” 
“So taking away Agumon is supposed to be a blessing for me or something? What a load.” Tai scoffed. 
“That’s just it, I agree with you.” Izzy spoke up, leaning back in his chair. 
“Huh?” 
“Tentomon and the other digimon weren’t any more a burden than a house pet or child, yet people pursue careers when they have those nonetheless. While being digi-destined does present challenges to that, it’s a far cry from being any kind of significant burden.” 
“Yeah, that’s for sure.” Tai agreed. 
“I’d also argue that taking them away posed exactly the risk we’re facing now. Menoa Belluci was a prime example of one extreme, and the recent losses I’ve investigated are another.” 
“So there’s no way to stop the countdown, huh? Menoa and Gennai were right?” 
“Mostly yes. There’s always unaccounted for potential to which the digivices can respond to. But people who have that may be extreme outliers.”
“Great.” Tai huffed. 
“I take it both T.K and Kari’s timers have started.” Izzy inquired. 
“Yeah, both of them. Kari didn’t even want me to come by but, she did ask if I could look in to stopping the timers.” 
“Kari hasn’t been the same since the incident with Ordinemon.” Izzy noted. 
“Yeah, I’ve been getting that.” Tai and Izzy let a few moments pass before he spoke up again.
“She doesn’t hate you, you know that right?”
“No, but she said she wouldn’t forgive me either.” Tai restated, getting up from the chair. “Guess that’s just another burden I gotta bare.” 
“You do carry a lot on your shoulders.” Izzy smiled. “I’ll look into it again. There could be some factors I overlooked and potentially a way to slow it down. For the time being, the best thing Kari and T.K can do, is stay out of danger and let Davis and the others handle the few digimon problems we do get.” 
“How are they doing?” Tai asked, feeling a little confidence return to his voice. 
“Surprisingly well. So far, they’ve only had to use Imperialdramon once, and often times just one of them responding with a champion is enough to bring the few stray digimon back through the gates.” 
“That’s good, but there’s still some breaking through?” Tai wondered. 
“I think that’s going to be a static problem going forward. Occasional breaches seem to be happening around the world, but only a few of them are hostile champion digimon. Most of the time we see rookies breaking through for food, and we even get lucky sometimes with champion level digimon being more lost and compliant than hostile.” Izzy explained. 
“That’s a relief. Well, I got a day off today. I won’t keep you.” Tai smiled. 
*Tai!*
“Wha?!” Tai gasped, looking around the room. A rush of tingles ran down his spine, as there was no mistaking the voice he heard. But it seemed to sound so distant and weak; he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Izzy looked on at him confused.  
“Tai, is something wrong?”  
“Was that? I just-“ Tai looked around again, but didn’t see any sign of what spoke to him. 
“Tai, what is it?” 
“It’s nothing. Maybe I just didn’t get enough sleep. Catch ya later Izzy.” Tai hastily walked out the door, much to Izzy’s dismay. 
“That must have been the first time, he heard him call out.” Izzy spoke to himself.