Quoted By:
"Hello!"
The machine stops in its tracks. It tilts upwards to face you, but you quickly duck behind the lip of the roof before it or its pilot can spot you. A crackly voice squeezes itself out of the speakers.
<span class="mu-b"><span class="mu-s">"Oi! You can't be in here! Show yourself, I'll escort you to the fence."</span></span>
It's not the robotic Digimon speaking. Inside is a pilot, who must be small enough to fit in the cockpit. You remember what Kaus Gammamon briefed you on the other day. This is a Rookie Digimon, who's somehow important enough to be given a Champion-level vehicle all on its own. The voice doesn't have the wheedling quality of an Espimon, and surprisingly, it's not leaping to apprehend you.
"I'm just looking to find out what happened here."
<span class="mu-s"><span class="mu-b">"Yeah, yeah! And so is everyone else! How'd you even sneak in? Come on, this is important business. You can't be snooping around."</span></span>
So it's an investigator after all. You're glad you didn't jump it immediately, because from the way it's speaking, you get the feeling it's not the culprit.
Mekanorimon shifts, displacing several chunks of ripped-up road voxels. When it rests its massive arm on the floor, you feel the thud from your elevated position. You find yourself very quickly stumped. The pilot is surely loyal to the city. You don't want to give it too much information. But if you just keep asking it plainly, it obviously won't spill the beans to you.
<span class="mu-s"><span class="mu-b">"Hello? You there? Hey, I'm serious, you need to show yourself."</span></span>
You take a deep breath. If you're already committed to talking to it, you have to take a risk and share just a little about yourself, and then hope it doesn't decide to take you in for questioning.
"I knew someone who lived around here. And he's been uncontactable since... whatever happened. Please, just give me the rundown on the basics. I'm not asking for anything confidential, it's just obvious that <span class="mu-i">something</span> went wrong."
The metal monstrosity is silent for a while. You half expect it to clamber up and attack you. But to your surprise, a sigh comes through the speaker, and the occupant begins talking.
