Marion Anderson and Strabimon
Underground DSA Headquarters
“All right, and that is about everyone.... Oh, and Zen! You haven't speak up since they entered haven't you?” Hua asked as Aldrius gathered the cellphones. It was directed at the person who had sat himself down next to Hua. As Marion had no knowledge on this “Zen” besides that he had a Terriemon as a partner, he decided to try and remember as much as he could about him.
“Oh uhm…,” Zen responded and lifted Terriemon so that the whole table could see it. Marion wondered whether he was another shy person, but Zen’s next words did not support that idea. “Hello everyone. I'm Yukimura Zen, university student and part time flower delivery~ My partner is Terriermon over here, who is a bit shy... I do hope we will get along!” Marion was a bit disappointed, as he would have appreciated another person who neither glared at everyone possible nor was social; Strabimon flat out did not like Zen and wished that he would refrain from approaching Marion.
“Thank you Zen. So we have Lauren and Lunamon, Heather and Kudamon? There is Jeanne and Sakura with their Kotemon and Lalamon, our lovely ladies... Marion and Strabimon who just arrive, hello!” Hua said. Glad that he was recognized, yet anxious to see if he could correctly remember every name, Marion committed their names to memory. “Alex, do enjoy your tea~ We have Katsuro-kun and Zen-kun already with their partners... And our last boy with the Dorumon, you must be Ali right?” Hua continued. It was apparent that he was trying his best to get lighten the mood, but, after what, Marion did not know. “Now then, that we have made acquaintance with each others, let's being our briefing shall we? Aldrius?” Hua’s accent was quite understandable as English, to Marion’s understanding, was practically the illegitimate child of Latin and Greek with some German thrown in there to confuse.
“Please give me your attention, agents,” the person who Marion assumed was Aldrius said. Compared to the way that he had been glaring at the group prior to Hua’s introduction, his current expression was an improvement. “As you already know from the invitation letter you have received, you are the latest batch of recruitment to the Digital Security Agency. You are here because you and your digimon partners both have the potential to bring out the best out of each others's power, and we are to help you achieve it. In return of our offer to train you both, we want your assistance on the latest investigation case in which we are after.” Contrasting Hua’s rather lighter tone, Aldrius’s was all-business and Marion wasn’t entirely sure that he liked that.
Several images popped up on the screen behind Aldrius; they appeared to be profiles of people, as large portions of text appeared alongside photographs. “You might have recognized them, as they are the victims of a series of strange cases we are after. These people are usually found unconscious, seemingly in comas, or sometimes even death. None of the unconscious victim have shown sign of recovery so far, and some has gotten worse with strange symptoms such as unconsciously moving their muscles... Traces of digital monsters were found in most cases. And what is truly puzzling, is that it only happen at night fall, though no one has ever witness any of these cases first hand...,” Aldrius said, continuing with his presentation.
Marion was, quite frankly, surprised that Digimon would attack humans, for Strabimon was the kindest person that he knew. ’I suppose that is generalizing, and the only Digimon that I know is Strabimon, so perhaps, like humans, they have different goals and personalities.’ He looked around the room, and noticed Strabimon’s worried expression. When it noticed that Marion was observing it, it quickly smiled at him to assuage his worry. ’Though, some of the other Digimon gathered here seem beast-like, so I supposed that if a larger one realized that it could easily kill humans and it wanted to….’ They seemed to be intelligent and capable of caring for themselves, if Marion were to judge from Strabimon alone, so if they considered humans a food source, then he thought that they need to explore the other options. ’Although, if one were to be malicious and bear animosity that was directed especially at humans…I shudder to think of the aftermath. They seem to be almost child-like in dependence, but with Strabimon, isn’t it rather attached to me and I a bit too dependent on it?’
“Because of this, we are in need of your power. We are the first specialized task force to be consisted of both human and digimon, in order to solve this case. By coming here, you have given us confirmation of your participation. I'm giving you this last chance, to pull out if you wish,” Aldrius said, offering them an option, for which Marion was grateful. He looked back at the group for a moment before directing his attention back the presentation. “Because once you have committed to this, we need your absolute devotion for the team. Remember, we are not forcing you into this, but rather it is by your own decision. By agreeing to work with us, you are to follow our guidance and lead, and to contribute as much as you can into solving this case.”
Marion wondered why they needed Digimon to combat Digimon, but he supposed that they knew best what worked and did not. ’As much as I would like to remain unnoticed, people are being harmed. I cannot tolerate that.’ Unsure of how to communicate that desire, he remained silent. Several other people confirmed their cooperation, yet Marion did not speak up.
“Marion,” Strabimon said softly, “would you like to participate?” It was worried, but confident that it could protect its Tamer in the event of an attack. Marion nodded his assent and Strabimon set its teacup back on the table. “Marion and I will assist you in this endeavor,” it said as it offered their assistance. Unlike Marion, it spoke clearly and with total confidence. “Out of curiosity, do you have any knowledge on the Digimon attacks beyond the resulting injuries and deaths? From the evidence, the victims appear to be poisoned or trapped in a dream world.” It was able to ask the questions that Marion could only ask after more than a few moments of deciding on the correct words; he was growing reliant on it, even to the extent of having it speak for him.
’If I could be less of a coward…,’ Marion thought, and then embarked on another of his tangents. ’Well, if I had something, then I would have assuredly messed it up. I probably would have said, “Strabimon and I will insist you in this herbivore,” or some other nonsense. I can almost never enunciate things properly, and when I do, I substitute those words with clearly said words that make no sense in context.’ He spent several more moments thinking of how he would have made a mistake if he were to speak. He had stopped to think over his while gazing into his cup of tea (which he had brought before him), and the tips of his bangs were draping in the tea. Realizing this, he jerked his head backwards and appeared rather confused for a few moments before resuming drinking his tea – this time conscientious of where his hair was. Strabimon sighed, as his motions would only confuse people.