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>Talk to Wind and Squid first. The situation with the book is rather important, since they have copies of their own. Search for them so they don't end up retiring to bed before you can inform them about the anomaly.
“Actually, could you tell Ryan that I have to handle something important first?”
“Sure. Will do.”
“Thanks. Are Wind and Squid still awake?”
“Should be. He wanted to know when you got here. So he won’t be in bed just yet.”
You nod gratefully, then head towards the lab. This is a private topic between the three of you and your Digimon partners, so you don’t want to use the meeting room. You see ToyAgumon waddling towards the partition ahead of you, so you hurry up and catch up to him.
==
After the two lead members of the Dogs of War have entered the workshop, Wind swipes a token across the door and locks it tight, making sure that no guests arrive to interrupt your conversation. He tests the buzzer to make sure they can still report in, then settles into a seat. He seems to have gotten sick of dealing with the horrid heat in here, and has clipped a personal cooling device to his collar. His hair is constantly tossed about by the frigid breeze.
Politely, he hands you one, and you gladly accept. When you turn to Squid questioningly, half-offering the stick in your hand, she shakes her head and tugs her lab coat open, revealing the numerous devices keeping her cool from within.
"Hey." Wind starts. "Sorry I sent that text."
"Huh? Oh. It's okay. You did go look for a volunteer in the end, didn't you?"
There was a short delay after his message about you being on your own. You didn't want to beg him or anything, so you started making alternate plans. You were considering visiting Doc before he updated you with a rendezvous point. With so much on your mind at the time, a bit of rudeness was the least of your worries.
"Yeah. It's just- You know. Everything with Liza. I can't ever forget that."
Squid quickly changes the topic.
"So, what was it you wanted us to know about, Marnie? You said it was important?"
"Something to do with your solo trip." Wind guesses.
<span class="mu-s"><span class="mu-b">"We theorized earlier that it had something to do with the SkullGreymon on the news."</span></span> Kaus Gammamon adds, standing behind Wind with his hands folded behind his back. He doesn't seem bothered by the temperature in here.
"Yeah. And also to do with this."
You remove your book from your inventory and stare at its pages. It's completely fine now. The pages have been rearranged back into their original order, and try as you might, you can't identify the sigil again when you flip through them. You offer it to Squid straight away.
"Could you do a scan while I explain? I wanna see if anything has changed since the last time."
She obliges, leaving the confused Wind to follow along with the both of you as the book is placed into the Virtual Machine again. You start recounting your tale.
==
