Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Persona: The Chosen Child of Purity ❯ The Gemini Subconscious ( Chapter 2 )

Author's Note: First off, I would like to thank everyone that reviewed my first story, Persona: The Masks I Shed in Tears. I really appreciated the wonderful reviews and some interesting ideas. I apologize if some readers did not like the way I kept the character's identity hidden until the end. I felt it would make the story line a bit interesting, as if it ever was at all. The original title of the Mimi series was supposed to be called Pink Persona. I changed it at the last minute. I just wanted to focus the first story on a very different Mimi Tachikawa. Once the Persona series is finished, I will focus on a new series from Sora's POV. The timeline will take place directly after the end of Persona.

Important Note: As you well know, this series is a total rewrite of one of many characters of Digimon. The Persona series is based on Mimi only. A new series with Sora will follow later. I will be skipping timelines once the characters are established to a certain point. In other words, I am making rewrites for characters in certain situations, but not for every single episode!

The overall story now involves Digimon, some of the Matrix, and a bit of Star Wars. You might be wondering about the Star Wars stuff. Not to worry, hopefully I can get to that. As usual: Really goofy dialogue, poor vocabulary, poor spelling, poor grammar, poor verb tense, and all that. I know absolutely nothing about computer hacking as well, so I will be making all it up. Again, I will be overusing the ellipsis to express thought. If you are used to my kind of goofiness, then you may proceed to read on. Reviews are welcomed. Again, this is a work in progress that requires a LOT of work.

Important: If there is anything in this story that resembles anyone else's work, I apologize. The original story was something I wrote back in May 2000. Now I am trying to continue on as I strive for originality. It is difficult. There are over 8000 fics in the Digimon section! As usual, my work pales in comparison to the other great work done by much better authors.

Another Note: Even though I have given the character of Mimi an interest in computers, her thoughts and dialogue still coincide with the original character in the TV series. Mimi is still the Child of Sincerity (Purity in my fic), not the Child of Knowledge. If you have noticed, her dialogue does not sound like Koushiro's. Hers is just plain and simple. I am still unable to write like Koushiro when he says his dialogue. I can listen and understand a bit of what he is talking about in the show and movie. But when I sit down and try to type and match Koushiro's dialogue, all I get is incomprehensible techno-babble that they use in Star Trek!

I just made Mimi speak without contractions. I don't have a good reason why. I guess it would sound cute and strange if Philece Sampler did Mimi's voice that way. Not to worry, the other characters follow more closely to the original TV series. Well, almost.

This story takes place in Season 01, before the DigiDestined arrive in the Digital World. The first day trip to summer camp. No action, just a lot, I do mean a LOT, of dialogue. It is just a short continuation from Mimi's POV.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, the Matrix, or Star Wars.

Persona: The Gemini Subconscious

by Mimi, Myself, & Iz.

August 1999

A twelve year old girl… Tachikawa, Mimi

A strangers voice… "Reinheit."

I bolt up from my bed. I was breathing heavily. I looked at my alarm clock. It was 6:43 in the morning. I lay there in bed for a few minutes. As with many of my dreams, I have forgotten exactly what my dream was about after I awaken. Only tiny bits and pieces of it. All I remembered from this one was just a lot of dark shadows smothering me. A sense of accusation haunted my soul as more and more shadows piled on my body. I kept hearing the terrifying yelling and screaming. Beyond the screams came a voice that seemed to rise above the chaos. Yet it was a calm and soothing voice. I could not remember enough to distinguish if the voice was male or female. It said something that sounded like… "reinheit."

I shook my head. It would seem my paranoia has created such a nightmare. Paranoia again… Adrenaline... My thoughts drift back to the events not long ago. Last night was the first time I held on to my promise to do a search for anything on my parents and my twin brother. This meant actual computer hacking.

I never really thought of myself much as a hacker. I have a profound interest in computers, but I was not one that would use the technology to pry into personal documents, private files, restricted access, top-secret… I could if wanted to, but that is just not I. Respecting other's privacy was something I hold so dear. But sensing some desperate plea from my soul, I just had to. I had to try. Just a little start at least! What was so wrong to find out more of one's long lost family?

You may ask, "Why have I waited this long? Why now when I had to leave so soon tomorrow? Why this sudden obsession? Why such recklessness for one such as I to engage in computer hacking?" I do not know. I felt that I had to. I just knew I had to do it now!

~~~

Seven hours earlier… 11:15PM

'Tonight is the night!' My parents were in bed. I had to remember to stay quiet. My baby brother was asleep just next door to where I was. My excitement was building. My Sony NAVtop PC was set up to go. The Iceberg Rebus program was the only decryption software that my Father allowed on my computer. It should be enough. My Father would be so furious at me if he found out how I customized the program to do what I was about to do. The Siphon Filter would act as a detection device if there would be any detectable stray data big or small leaving or entering my computer. The Virus Shield was active just in case. Finally I had my Tracer program connected to the satellite Internet device and phone line. If I got caught in any way, the Tracer will warn me, scramble all profile and ID data, and allow me enough time to log off and do a full system shutdown.

I was ready. I felt like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix! '…Odaiba is gonna go bye bye…'

Iceberg accessing… The Adoption Agency of Tokyo

Their database consists of all operating adoption centers throughout Japan.

It was not difficult to get pass certain security screens. Rebus accessing… "Four… three… two… and one to go. Got it!" I cried softly, remembering to stay quiet. "This is sooo easy!" I smiled at my accomplishment. I tapped into the main database. I checked the on-line access screen counter. It read, 'zero.' The Siphon Filter was working perfectly! That means, only I was accessing the database, yet it appears that the database is not being accessed at all. I was just a ghost in the machine!

I continued accessing the database. Here should be all current records pertaining to every adopted child in Japan, adoptive name, original birth name, where they live now, who their biological parents were… My hands froze. 'WHAT AM I DOING? I cannot just pry through the lives of every adopted child! This is wrong!' My mind was racing. 'I just cannot do it!' Then I reasoned with myself… 'I will just check my name. My record only. That will satisfy me for now. That was all I wanted to see here.'

I made my choice. I came up with the only quickest way to remedy this problem. I turned on my computer's voice box. The entire computer was designed to accommodate any impaired users. The computer made two chime sounds. I then said to the computer, "Vision, Level 4."

In its strange yet calm artificial voice, it responded, "QUESTION: PRIMARY USER SETTINGS RECONFIGURATION?"

"No. Temporary Settings. Simulation."

"ACKNOWLEDGED." The display screen darkened. The computer will respond to my voice commands from now on until I tell it to stop. It will accept and perform any command I give it as easily as if I had a mouse and keyboard. The computer was simulating that I was a user with impaired vision. My hands left the keyboard.

Subconsciously, my feet were slowly moving off the floor, my legs drawing towards my chest… my arms clenching them. I could have typed out my commands, but I found myself gathering into a fetal position on the task chair. I probably looked pretty pathetic. I felt ashamed. Here I was, in my pajamas, rocking back and forth... 'I have all the information of every adopted child in my hands… this was not right.' All I could do was stay like that for awhile as I reasoned out my actions. 'Just my files. Just my files only.' My eyes were to remain closed for the time being. Even with the monitor at minimum visual mode, I did not want to see any other children's names. No matter what. Just mine. Just my record only once I found it.

I stopped rocking, but remained in a fetal position with my eyes closed. Then, mustering all the dignity and courage I had left, I continued. In a small voice I said to my computer, "Use database search engine. Find 'T' alpha."

"AAT SEARCH ENGINE ACCESSED. PROCESSING. LIST PRESENT. 1,900,908 ENTRIES."

"Key search, 'child last names'"

"PROCESSING. LIST PRESENT. 908 LAST NAMES."

"Search for last name, 'Tachikawa.'"

"PROCESSING. 7 ENTRIES."

"Key, 'Tachikawa.' Search for first name, 'Mimi.'"

"PROCESSING. 1 ENTRY"

"Open."

"PROCESSING. TACHIKAWA, MIMI. 23 FILES."

I finally opened my eyes to a faint lit screen. I made sure it was my record. I saw, very faintly, my name on the window. Satisfied, I said to the computer, "End Simulation. Restore Default Settings."

"ACKNOWLEDGED." The display screen restored back to normal. The sudden brightness hurt me eyes for a few seconds. When my eyes adjusted, I continued on to inspect my record.

I opened the first file. It was a scanned file of a court document indicating that I was now the custody of Mr. and Mrs. Tachikawa. It was the same copy that my parents showed me just last year. I clicked on my mouse to save the entire document. I downloaded copy of the file to my removable disk drive. I waited with my fingers cross… The icon flashed that the download was complete. "Yes! Download successful!" I said, almost too loudly. The Siphon Filter program held up well. However, if I attempted to copy all 23 files at once, the Siphon Filter will overload and crash and I might get caught. It must be done one at a time. Painfully time consuming, but it was for security reasons. The end result would be worth it.

I continued on. Police record… unidentified male and female… cause of death… found one child… presumed second child… It was so painful to read this, but I continued… It still told me nothing... nothing new. I made up my mind and downloaded a copy to my drive. The next two files were my medical records. blood type… Medical babble… Nothing useful at all. Without hesitation I downloaded a copy. I came across the next file. It was my birth certificate. It was made during the time of my adoption. It had the Tachikawa name on it. There was no new information about it. My parents showed me a copy of this as well. I downloaded a copy anyway. I might be able to do a multi-layer scan with PhotoEditor later.

Then it hit me. The PhotoEditor… the picture of my parents… my Father's name… GENMA! I could use the database to search for my Father's first name. Then by process of elimination, I would be able to narrow it down so that I can at least see if his name would be connected to my record! The Adoption Agency database shares a link with the Nippon Census Bureau, which has a file on every citizen in Japan! Perfect! I knew it would be a long shot, but it would not hurt to try. I just needed to access the database search engine again.

As I was about to click on the search icon, I heard the computer make a bell sound! I panicked! "Uh, oh! What was that?" I checked all the protection programs, Tracer, Siphon Filter, Virus Shield... Everything looked okay. 'Why did it make a bell warning?' I checked the Tracer again. Nothing. I checked the Siphon Filter again. Nothing… 'Wait! The Siphon Filter! Something just happened!' As I looked closely, the on-line access screen counter just flashed 'minus zero' for a second, then back to 'zero' again! I would have missed it if it did not happen again. The flashing was not consistent. The only thing my logical mind came up with was that… someone just logged in, and is browsing through the Adoption Agency database as I am!

"Oh no." I breathed. This did not seem right. Who would be browsing at this hour? Then it hit me, the Siphon Filter! It was flashing 'minus zero!' Actually, it was 'negative zero!' That means that this new user was operating under the same Siphon Filter program or something similar! He or she too was covering his or her tracks! He or she must be another hacker! Another ghost in the machine! The main reason it was flashing 'negative zero' was because this new hacker too was now downloading files! 'I wonder if this guy noticed me?' I thought.

I clicked on the Siphon Filter for more details. It showed me which area of the database the hacker was accessing. The 'I' alpha. The Siphon Filter could not tell exactly which item or name he or she was accessing. The user's actions remained consistent… on one record only. 'Good! The hacker did not notice me. This guy is unaware that there is a twin hacker close by. Ha! I was on-line first!' Still, the bad part for me was that I could no longer download, do a new search, or leave the currently open record without disturbing the equilibrium of both of our Siphon Filters running at the same time! We were in a still body of water. No tides, no waves, no splash, no ripples… It was like submarine warfare! Submarines must remain in complete silence and stillness to avoid detection. They must become just 'a hole in the water.' That was what I was doing. I must not disturb the silence. I must not make a single ripple in the water.

I was not too sure of what to make of this new hacker. Should I just ignore the hacker or should I worry? Maybe this guy was toying with me from the start. 'Oh well, we were right now doing something illegal. Maybe this person was just like me. Why should we let something disrupt our… curiosity?' I decided just to let the hacker finish. This guy was in the 'I' alpha. I remained in the 'T' alpha. That was the only safety margin in which both of us can operate without disturbing each other or setting off the security. Hopefully this guy would just stay in that alpha. If we both were accessing the same alpha, record, or file at the same time the Siphon Filter would definitely overload. Then the game is up.

I was tired of waiting, but I was still patient enough to wait. I was sure then that this guy would be finished soon and get off-line. Then I could continue on with the new search for my Father's name. 'We are just two passing ships. Much too screwed being submarines! I will just wait awhile.'

Wait…

Wait…

Wait…

Wait…

After twenty-two minutes, I was getting impatient! I was tapping my left foot. My hands were on the side of my waist. 'When the heck will this… this… ass… er… this… HOLE going to finish? Why is this jerk taking so long?' Frustrated, I checked the number of downloads the hacker was doing. The Siphon Filter indicates nineteen downloads so far. I blinked. 'Hmmm, this guy must be accessing an adopted child's record if it contained that amount of files. The hacker was still on the same child's record. A child either with a first or last name initial of the letter 'I'. The hacker was on that record for awhile. Just like I am stuck with mine.' I was intrigued. It was like we were going after the same thing… 'Well, aside from being rudely interrupted, at least I can still browse my record some more! …stupid inconsiderate jerk...'

I checked the remaining files I had not opened yet. There were only three more files to browse through, so I continued on to the next file, File 21. It took a while for it to open… 'Strange.' When it finally opened, what I saw puzzled me. It looked like a birth certificate file, but the background was all dark green. It was difficult to read anything on it. However, in the center of the birth certificate were the words in large red font:

FILE UNDER REPAIR

BY ORDER:

TANE-002-101-MOTI-002-102

SECTION: GEN-999-002-LAD-999-003

I stared at the screen. It was just so strange. I was so confused. I was loss for words… Well maybe… "What the f-"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I was interrupted from my reverie by a loud beeping sound. "What happened now?" I almost yelled. I finally realized that it was the Tracer window flashing red. It gave me a warning that the security system of the Adoption Agency's database was just activated! The Tracer program gave me an approximate time before the agency's security program traces my connection to the database. 'Twenty-five seconds!' I was in a panic! No, I was in a FREAKING FRENZY! All I could do was command my computer to do an automatic system shutdown. The NAVI was already ahead of me and started to go through the process…

"Damn it!" I was pacing back and forth in front of the desk, every once in awhile glancing at the NAVI screen as it went through the shutdown. The NAVI scrambled my profile data several times, then finally closed File 21... I continued pacing with my hands covering my face. "What could have set it off? The Siphon Filter was working perfectly!" Then I realized what happened. 'Oh no…' I quickly stopped pacing and looked at the Siphon Filter window. I checked the on-line access screen counter. It read 'two.' 'THAT IDIOT! HE WAS ACCESSING MY FILE! THAT CRAZY FILE 21!" I started pacing again.

'How did he find out I was on-line? How did he know I was in the 'T' alpha? How did he know I was accessing that particular file? Was there a link? Was it luck? Was it coincidence? What the heck was up with File 21?' All of these questions were scrambling in my brain and I was so stressed out to even stop and answer any of them. My head was spinning. Time seemed to move slowly, but my computer reminded me the normal pace of time. The voice was from the Tracer program and it was louder than the usual computer voice.

"ATTENTION," it boomed.

"Shhhh… Quiet, you," I hissed as I turned the speaker volume down.

"Tracer Shield Successful. Ten seconds remaining before intruder security breaches system. Ten seconds remaining for system shutdown."

"Oh no…"

"10"

"9"

"Come on… come on… come on…"

"8"

"7"

"6"

"Oh please hurry!" I was practically running in place with small steps and my hands were pressed to the top of my head…

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

The screen went blank. All the switch lights were off. Not a sound from the NAVI. The NAVI has finally reached total shutdown… It had beaten the security program… It was over as my adrenaline levels decreased… It was over… I took the disk out of the drive and placed it in one of the file cabinets. It was over… It was over… …paranoia…

I turned off the lights and walked out the computer room to my bedroom. I slowly closed the door. …paranoia…

I realized I was walking like a zombie. The adrenaline… lowering… down... I stood at the foot of my bed with my back to it. I jumped a little as I fell backwards and plopped myself on the bed. My hair fell around my head like a brown halo. As the bouncing stopped, I tried to go to sleep. …paranoia…

…paranoia…

The nightmare…

"Reinheit…"

~~~

Present time…

"Reinheit…"

'What did it mean? Sounded German…'

I wonder what time I actually got to sleep. I am not sure if I got enough sleep. I did not feel tired though. Just the anxiety of being paranoid. However, I was not caught. I should not be worried. If that security program did catch me, some strange people would have been at my door within the hour that night… They would drag my Mother and Father away… My baby brother and I would be separated from them… I probably would not even wake up in my own bedroom… Maybe not wake up at all! I shook my head again. I have been watching too much of that American made television series, the X-Files.

'Wait! Maybe I was caught!' They are just studying me now… Playing with me… Those Men in Black… 'Stop it!' I say to myself. I had full confidence in my Sony NAVtop PC. It performed admirably. I already took all the precautions. I let out a sigh of relief.

It was now impossible to hack the database again because of the alerted security program. It probably limited the database access to the agency's top personnel only. Any outside access, even from other government agencies, will be stopped for authentic clearance verification. It might take months for the security to be lifted. Even if it were, they would have established new security measures that even my Icebreaker would be too obsolete to get pass it. 'Too bad. I was so close!' I covered my face with my right hand in disgust. 'It was all that idiot's fault! That stupid inconsiderate jerk!'

'I wondered who he or she was?' I thought to myself. 'I got to admit. The hacker was still a pro! The Siphon Filter indicated that he or she logged-off before I did. I am sure he or she had a fast Tracer program." Another scary thought came to mind. 'Oh no! That guy knew my file! He must know my name!' I covered my face with both my hands. Wait. Something was wrong. In order to get to my file, he or she had to access the 'T' alpha first. The Siphon Filter would have given me a warning if that happened. However, it looked like the other hacker went straight to my file. How was that possible? Maybe his file was linked to mine. He had a File 21 also? That was a possibility... Maybe File 21 was a file that all adopted children had in their records. The file was blank from the looks of it. It did not really have my name on it. There was no identification at all. The database might have gotten confused when both of us finally reached File 21 at the same time. That was highly probable…

I think I felt better now…

I stared at the pink painted ceiling a little longer and let it calm my thoughts down. My pink painted bedroom, one the gifts from my parents on my ninth birthday. The other gift was behind that door to the second room. I came to the conclusion that I would never computer hack again. It was just not healthy for me. It just was not me. As for my lost family, I may still have a chance… some other way. I gave out a slight yawn. I smiled to myself. I felt better now. I was not paranoid anymore. I felt so relaxed. I felt myself drifting in a relaxing state… finally a restful sleep…

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

I nearly shrieked as I fell out of bed. 'Men in Black… Men in Black… Men in Black…' was the only thing my still sleepy mind could conclude. I scrambled to my feet only to fall down again. My cloudy mind began to focus on my surroundings more clearly. Somehow as my mind became more alert, that once perceived loud banging noise was actually a soft tap at my bedroom door.

Tap…tap...tap...tap...tap...tap...

"Ummm… Mimi… Are you up?" I heard my Mother call. "Honey?"

"I'm up, Mother." I replay, trying to sound cheerful.

"Okay, dear. Please join us for breakfast. Quick, before your Father leaves without having a chance to say goodbye to you."

"I will, Mother. I will be down in a few minutes," I say as I finally got up and fixed my bed.

"All right, dear. Hurry. Plus you have a big day ahead of you." With that, I heard her walk down the hallway.

I looked at my clock. It was 7:25 in the morning. In approximately 2.3 hours, I have to be at the bus terminal downtown. My Mother will drive me there along with my luggage. When we get there, other children and myself will board buses that would take us to the mountainsides overlooking Odaiba. This was where the summer camp was located.

Fun

Fun

Fun

That was all I truly needed right now… No more computers for once…

I finished fixing up my bed. It was quick to finish, due to the fact that I did not even sleep under the covers. I stretched and gave a yawn. I went to the dresser and looked at myself at the mirror. My vision finally cleared. Somehow, I wished that it was not…

"OH NOOOO!!! MY HAIR!!!!"

"You say something, dear?" I heard my Mother from the hallway.

I was too upset to answer her right away. I looked back at my reflection with absolute disgust.

"What a way to start the morning," I groaned.

To be continued...