"If you are truly the one who sealed the Gremlin... sealed ME into the disc, how come you're now a Digi-Gnome?" Holy asked, her voice full of scepticism.
"I knew the disc wouldn't be able to contain you forever," the small creature explained. "I may be a wizard, and a powerful one at that, but I'm still a human being, and humans make mistakes. I'm in no way perfect, and the Gremlin was pretty powerful himself, so there was no way for me to create a prison that would be able to contain him forever. After I foolishly left the CD in my old home after moving to another part of town, I wasn't able to find it again. When the 'RPG Reality' game appeared on the market, I had a sinking feeling that it had to do with the being I imprisoned. I bought as many copies of the game as I could, but I was never able to find the original. Afraid of facing Bio's wrath after he found a way to break out of his prison, I escaped to the Digital World. I magically merged myself with the essence of a Digi-Gnome I encountered. The poor thing was mortally wounded by a feral DarkRizamon, so this conjunction would be a boon to both of us. I hid in the Digital World, until I encountered BanchoLeomon... the uncle of the girl called Jeri. He told me everything about what happened while I've been hiding... including the corruption of a little girl, the transformation of the universe, and what happened to you and your brother."
"BanchoLeomon told me to go along with him," Calumon said. "He said that this computer is the safest place for both him and me."
Now that Holy heard that even Jeri's uncle trusted this guy, she had no reason not to believe his story. While she was able to follow the story unfolding in the human world thanks to the RPG Maker's influence, the Digital World was harder to grasp since it was a parallel dimension. It was also affected by the game, true, but her senses couldn't be everywhere at once, after all.
"So, you've come here because you think this computer is a safe place? Ryo's PC was destroyed by Digimon, why do you think that the same thing couldn't happen to this one?"
"Lucemon is now the biggest threat to the world," the wizard gnome explained. "And while I don't know how much she knows about the RPG Maker, I doubt she's interested in acquiring it. She doesn't even know that it is here. Bio has actively been searching for the program, that's the reason why those Digimon were able to find and destroy it when it was back in Ryo's room."
'Just how much does this guy know about everything that is going on?' Holy wondered. But there was one other, more important question on her mind.
"How could Bio and I separate into two different beings?" she asked. "Bio once said that he has no good side... does that mean I'm not one half of the Gremlin after all, or was he just talking rubbish?"
"That is complicated," the transformed wizard tried to explain. "See, the truth is... NEITHER of you is actually the real Gremlin."
"Wh-wh-WHAT?" Holy gasped.
"Well, not in the sense you imagine, at least. See, the Gremlin was a powerful creature on his own, and he was definitely more than an advanced piece of Artificial Intelligence software... but he still was composed entirely of data. And every computer is able to delete data. Still, his powers had to be contained somehow... that's why I had to create a copy program where I could send his powers after the original data mass that was the Gremlin's body was deleted. That's how I was able to 'trap' him on that CD, I merely copied his powers and memories into a new piece of software. Of course, when Kei created the empty, soulless shell that was BioCalumon, she couldn't know that the copied Gremlin would use that chance to escape from the game. And so your brother 'Bio' was born. But neither Bio nor the original Gremlin could have known that I put a safety program onto the disc, one that not even the Gremlin would be able to find."
"A... safety program?" Holy wondered. "And what was it supposed to do?"
"Can't you imagine? It created yet ANOTHER copy by the time Bio escaped. The power of the Gremlin was split in half, and while Bio kept the old Gremlin's personality, you received a completely new one. While you also had all of his memories, you were designed to be gentle and helpful.
Holy was speechless after that revelation. So, it was true: In a twisted way, the techno wizard WAS her father. He was the one who programmed her internal AI and data structure, all he had to do to give her 'life' was to add fragments of the Gremlin's old data.
"So Bio was right," she quietly murmured, looking down. "While I have copied data fragments inside of me, I am not really a half of the Gremlin..."
"Aren't you happy to hear that?" Calumon wondered, tilting his head. "It has been pretty difficult for me to understand all of this when BanchoLeomon tried to explain it to me, but I can see that you aren't really part of that evil creature."
"I only know that I have no place to live in this worlds..." HolyCalumon murmured. "What shall I do after Lucemon is defeated? Bio is gone, his data completely absorbed by Lucemon. When she is defeated, I will be all that remains of what the Gremlin has left behind. Maybe I should be deleted as soon as this is over... so nobody can misuse my powers again..."
"We still would have the same problem, don't you see?" the wizard gnome said. "It's the same situation. After the Gremlin was deleted, his power had to go somewhere. Can you say for sure that any new program I'm copying this power to won't turn out to be as evil as BioCalumon?"
"Stop talking like this, both of you!" Calumon suddenly cried. "She will never be deleted! She... she's like the sister I never had!"
Holy had to smile at that. "Calumon, you barely know me..."
"I still like you," Calumon proclaimed.
The wizard sighed. "Listen... why don't you just help Kei and her friends for now? We don't really know what will happen. Maybe they have to destroy the Digimon that was once Ai, maybe her twin brother can help them to restore her back to normal somehow, maybe something completely else will happen. We can't tell for sure. So why don't you just focus on the matter at hand and stop thinking about your fate until all of this is over?"
"You have it easy, don't you?" Holy mumbled. "You always ignore the biggest problems at hand... is that the reason why you hid away in the Digital World?"
"As I said, I'm a human..." the wizard sighed. "While I blame myself for not being braver, I am not perfect..."
Holy sighed. "Oh, whatever. Stay here as long as you want, I don't mind..."
The Digi-Gnome smiled. "Thanks! One more thing... could you do me a favor and not tell your Game Masters that Calumon and I are here? The less people know of our presence here, the safer we are."
"Fine, all right," Holy nodded. "You have to tell me one more thing, though."
"What is it?"
Holy looked at the former human who had created her. "Is Bio truly dead? Have we seen the last of him? Was he effectively destroyed when Lucemon absorbed his data?"
"No one can say for sure," the wizard said, shaking his head. "If there's still a fragment of his personality intact, it is severed from his powers, trapping him inside of Lucemon's soul. When she is destroyed, he will be destroyed as well.
"Ah, I see..."
She didn't ask him about Bio anymore, still she wondered: What would happen if the Hybrid Tamers defeat Lucemon without deleting her?
And, even more alarming was the question: If they deleted Lucemon... what would happen to Bio's Gremlin data after they absorbed her?
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(Posted Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:22)
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