"Can anyone hear me?"
Ruki looked around the scene before her. It was a wasteland, desolate and empty. There was a fog, a ghostly grey mist that let through patches of impossibly bright white at intervals. The same mist and the white glow made black shadows, shapes like cars, or just random piles of rocks. And there was somehow a wind. Ruki knew that fog and wind did not mix..
[papa zero one]
There was no sign of life, no noise but the howling wind and a crackle. Fire? Was this smoke instead of fog? That would explain the wind.
There. An orange glow.
"Is there anyone out there?"
She went towards it, and found not a fire, but a radio. An old design, with a glowing orange panel behind the dial. The dial was skipping back and forth, and the speakers were letting out a crackling static noise alongside other noises. A periodic buzzing that rose and dropped in pitch, then restarted.
zzZZzzt zzZZzzt
A voice speaking in english listing off numbers and words.
[indigo echo delta zero two]
Someone singing? A song?
'hope you're happy too'
And then someone else...
"Someone? Anyone? Please, respond!"
The radio had a microphone.
[mike six zero zero]
She reached out to pick it up
[oscar november six three]
Her hand began shaking. She felt cold... A strange feeling like...
zzZZzzt zzZZzzt
Like something watching her. Something that was not friendly.
zzZZzzt zzZZzzt
Ruki looked at the radio again. The dial had stopped moving. The light had stopped glowing. The voice had stopped, the crackling halted, but the buzzing...
BZZT BZZT BZZT BZZT
"WAKE UP."
***
"Gha! What?!" Ruki yelped.
"Your alarm's been going off for the last three minutes, Ruki." Renamon reported, drawing back from where she had shook her tamer awake.
Ruki blinked.
"I did it again?"
"Yes, Ruki. But if you hadn't told me to wake you up this time you would have slept in entirely. I was shaking you awake for two minutes."
Ruki sighed.
"Great. Three days now I've slept in. I don't get it. I'm sleeping, but it's like I barely sleep at all."
Renamon nodded.
"You have seemed pretty tired the last couple of days. Maybe you should try coffee like your grandmother suggested?"
Ruki shuddered.
"Not in this house. Either it's mom's decaff and that kind of defeats the point or I drink my grandmother's stuff and I'll not sleep for a year..."
Renamon shrugged, and went towards the window.
"Well, that's about all I can suggest..."
"I'll try and buy some on my way to school I guess. Maybe that won't be as bad..."
***
'Nope. That was a waste. Three hundred yen down the drain.' Ruki thought, trying to keep her eyes open.
Currently, she was sitting on the bench. Her class had gym first, and it was just luck she wasn't out running around to fall flat on her face at the moment. She knew this was going to cause her trouble when it was her turn to play...
"Wait... What is it we're playing anyway?" She asked.
"Er... I don't know. Miss Tanizaki tried to invent a new sport..." Another girl replied.
"Not again..."
Ruki sighed, closing her eyes in dismay at this. Even when she was awake there was barely any point in playing these bizzare... sports...
***
The fog was gone now. Well, not gone. Thinner.
zzZZzzt zzZZzzt
The glow was easier to see now, a bright white. The black shapes remained dark and unclear, but Ruki could see they were flickering. Almost like they were televisions with poor signals, but as she neared one, it vanished entirely.
'...happy too'
The radio. She had been about to use the radio. Where was it?
"Hello? Was someone there? Hello?"
There! The glow! She ran over. The dial was erratic and the device was glowing, and the same noises were there. The numbers and English words were gone though. Just the crackle, the buzzing, the strange song...
'...to ashes'
zzZZzzt zzZZzzt
She reached for the microphone. The dial stopped, and so did the glow, and the noise. The cold feeling was back, and she wanted to just back off but...
"Hello?! I couldn't hear you there! It's faint."
What could she do? She saw no way to make the radio any stronger here. Maybe she could just key the microphone and try anyway. She touched it, and the feeling grew. She was close to just dropping it and heading away. But she pressed down, and the radio gave a low monotone, unbroken buzz tone instead of the undulating pitch from before.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
"Hello? Can you hear this? Who are you?"
"Is there someone there? You're faint! Try to... the... make the..."
"Hello? Hello?"
Helloooooooo?
***
For the second time in the day, Ruki was shaken awake with a yelp.
"Ruki, you fell asleep there. Are you feeling okay?" Miss Tanizaki asked. Like most teachers she wasn't pleased her student was dozing off, but at the same time she knew something wasn't right.
"Yeah... I don't know why but I've been tired recently..."
The teacher frowned.
"You're sleeping right?"
"Yeah, I sleep at least eight hours a night..." Ruki replied.
The teacher pondered this.
"Go see the nurse."
"But..."
"No buts. I'd rather waste her time that risk it being something that's a real problem. She'll know what to ask about and she can figure out if something is really wrong."
"Okay..." Ruki gave in.
"And if you're just dozing off in class because you're playing games all night or something you will have a real problem, because she'll send you right back and I'll have you run a few little laps of the track to get you alert..."
Ruki sighed.
***
The visit to the school Nurse did not identify any problem, but the Nurse was concerned too.
"There's no reason at all from what you've said that could cause this. No stress from any coursework, you've been scoring high. No symptoms of any other illness... There are no problems outside of school, are there? Or no one bullying you?"
Ruki shook her head.
"Nothing like that. I just don't seem to be sleeping properly the last few days."
"Hmmm... Did you fall asleep in class at all yesterday? Or the day before?"
"No. I just felt really tired today for some reason... But I did have a weird dream."
The Nurse raised an eyebrow.
"Nightmares?"
"Not quite. I don't think so at least. I don't remember that much about them at all."
The Nurse sighed now.
"Well, I'm afraid you seem fine. Looks like you're doing the laps. Just try to stay awake and don't fall over or something... And try to get a good rest over the weekend."
***
Amazingly, she hadn't managed to fall over, and had felt a little awake for a while. But she was crashing again, and her eyes were heavy.
'Vending machine... Maybe some chocolate or something...'
She tried to avoid snacks between meals as a rule, but she didn't want other teachers trying to wake her up through the day. Some of them would just resort to detention and she was hoping to just head home, go to sleep, and maybe in the morning she'd be okay and not be asleep over the weekend...
***
The crackle was gone now. Just the song and the buzzing. The fog was almost gone too, but now the light made it difficult to see very far. There were still black shapes, but they were almost transparent now. The radio sat there, dial moving like mad and still glowing. And that cold sensation.
"Thought I was losing the signal there. Can you hear this?"
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
"Yes. Can you hear me?"
She released the button, seeing the glow was still there but the dial had slowed down.
zzZZzzt zzZZzzt
"It's faint, but yes. I can help you boost the signal. Can you see the dial? The glowing panel?"
"Yes. The dial is moving slowly... The glow seems to be getting faint."
She leaned down, seeing the dial hop between 92 and 94 FM, 630 and 690 AM. It moved back and forth in a rhythmic pattern.
zzZZzzt zzZZzzt
"What do I do?"
"Where is it moving between?"
"Nintety-two and nintey-four."
"FM?"
She nodded, then remembered it was a radio, and spoke.
"Yes, FM. The dial is moving in a pattern."
The cold feeling seemed to be gradually fading. She felt peaceful now...
"Good. Keep watching it. Is anything else unusual happening?"
The radio seemed normal... but the glow seemed to dim at 92 and 94, but get a little stronger at 93... or at about 660, 670 if using the AM band.
zzZZzzt zzZZzzt
The buzzing... The buzzing rose in pitch with the glow.
"The glowing and the buzzing are..."
The light began to dim, not on the radio, but around her. The cold feeling, having been fading away, came back as blackness took everything but the glow... And then the light came back and she saw nothing...
"Ruki? How are you feeling?"
***
She blinked. A white ceiling... not her bedroom.
"Ruki?"
She turned her head, and saw the school Nurse standing there. A concerned teacher was behind her.
'Why am I back here? I was checking the dial on... the... the vending machine?'
"...What happened?" She asked.
"I found you slumped over at the vending machine. You must have fainted." The teacher said.
"What?"
"Ruki, I'm having you sent home. Your grandmother will be here shortly, just rest up." The Nurse said.
She could only groan in dismay. Protests that she felt fine, just tired, were ignored.
***
Renamon was now very concerned. Ruki had been brought back by Seiko, and the elder human had sent her straight to bed. Her tamer was now asleep, and it was only three in the afternoon.
Ruki stirred below the covers, but did not wake as Seiko checked up on her again.
"Hmm... No fever, and from what the Nurse said in school there's nothing wrong apart from weird dreams. Have you noticed anything odd, Renamon?"
The Digimon shook her head.
"Nothing we don't already know about. She's just been sleeping in late, through the alarm..."
"Is it maybe Digimon-related?" Seiko guessed.
"I don't think so. Did the nurse mention the weird dreams at all?"
Seiko shook her head now.
"No. Ruki doesn't remember anything about the dreams. Keep an eye on her, please." Seiko said, leaving her granddaughter to rest.
Renamon hadn't been planning on doing anything else, so the request was somewhat pointless.
"Of course." She replied anyway.
***
Now the song was gone, and the fog too. No black shapes, and just a white light everywhere. The radio too, dial still moving, orange light with the pulsing glow...
zzZZzzt zzZZzzt
The buzzing was all that remained. Still in time with the dial, still in time with the glow. And there was still...
"Hello? Hello? Are you still with me?"
...Still the cold feeling, except it felt very strong now. Even with the chill up her spine she picked up the microphone
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
"Still here. What do I do now?"
"Keep watching. Do you see where the dial is glowing most?"
She leaned in, eyes tracking the moving needle... It looked almost like a sword...
"It seems to be right over ninety-three FM when the buzz is loudest, and the glow brightest."
"Good. Keep watching it, try and get the pattern down right. And try to relax. You'll concentrate better."
The cold feeling faded away slightly, and she tracked the needle, leaning in closer. The panel glowed... the needle moved...
"How do you feel?"
Nice...
"I feel nice..." She replied.
"Good. Nice is good. Just keep relaxing. Keep watching the needle. Keep listening to me and my voice..."
She nodded, keeping watch.
"That's good... Good.."
"Yes... Good..." She echoed.
"You want to help me, don't you?"
"I want to help you."
"That's good. Good..."
"Good..."
"Very good. You can be helping me soon, but this will take a while. I'm far away from you, so keep listening to my voice. Stay relaxed and stay listening. "
Her eyes felt heavy, but she was content, blissful. She blinked once.
"Stay listening..."
Twice.
"Stay relaxed..."
Three times.
"Stay good..."
Four times.
"Are you still there?"
Five times/
"I'm... still... here..." She yawned.
Six times.
"Good. You'll be starting to help soon. When you wake up, I want you to fetch something. You'll know what it is."
Seven times.
" And when you have it, you'll know what to do."
Eight times.
"But even when you do it, keep listening to me. Keep listening to the sound of my voice and my voice alone."
Nine times.
"I'll listen to the other voices for you. I'll help you while you help me. And when you help me properly I'll thank you personally."
Ten times.
She opened her eyes.
***
"Ruki? How are you feeling?" Renamon asked, as her tamer sat up. Her eyes were still closed though...
"Ruki?"
Renamon's hairs stood on end. Her tamer was... sleepwalking? Her eyes twitched... Then opened after eight or nine twitches.
"Re...na...mon?" Ruki asked, confused, then blinked again.
"Yes, it's me. How are you?"
Ruki paused for a second.
'You're fine'
"I'm fine. I just need to fetch something..."
Renamon nodded.
"What is it? I can get it for you if you want."
'No thank you.'
"No thank you."
Ruki threw the covers aside, and unsteadily looked in a drawer. Renamon kept an eye on her as opened it and produced...
...a handkerchief? Did she need to blow her nose?
No. Ruki simply placed it over her face and leaned her head back. Her tamer moaned slightly, then pulled the handkerchief away slowly.
Ruki then smiled.
Renamon felt an odd coldness.
"...Ruki? Are you okay?"
The girl turned and looked at the Digimon.
"Oh, I'm okay. I'll be a lot better soon though. Can you help me with something?" Ruki said, dangling the handkerchief from her hand.
Renamon nodded.
"Sure."
Ruki flicked her wrist, and tossed the handkerchief.
***
A few hours later, Takato was surprised to be greeted by Ruki as he came home.
"Ruki? What's wrong?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing, nothing. I was just wondering if you might be able to help me with something?"
The goggle-boy nodded.
"Okay, sure. I'll ask my parents first though, they were wanting me to give them a hand with something later on..."
Ruki shook her head.
"I asked them already. They're helping me with it too."
Takato was surprised.
"You needed my parent's help? Why?"
"It'll sound odd but someone's in trouble, and I need as many people as possible to help them. Renamon, my mother, my grandmother, your parents... I hope you and Guilmon can help me, then Juri, Jenrya... Everyone, really. This needs a lot of help."
"It sounds serious..." Takato frowned.
"It is. I can explain a little more later...Oh, can I get Juri's number from you? I don't have it on my phone." Ruki said, producing her cell.
"Sure. Here it is."
Takato pulled his own out, and brought Juri's number up on the screen.
"By the way, nice keyfob." He complimented her on the little figurine of Renamon dangling from her phone.
"Yeah, it's nice, isn't it? It's custom made."
She paused, after entering the number into the phone and saving it?"
"Do you want me to make you one? For helping me?"
Takato nodded.
"Yeah, please. That'd be great."
Ruki grinned.
"Okay. It won't take very long at all. We can get it done now if I can borrow your computer."
"Sure. I'll go switch it on." He said, heading inside. Ruki followed.
And Piedmon readied the handkerchief in her hands. The other four keyfobs remained in her pocket...