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"What?!"
He tugs at your wrist with uncharacteristic roughness, staring at the timer. You look too. One minute and six seconds. Your eyes go wide as you register how close you were to being tagged.
"Ryan, go!"
You activate the file and jump through the portal. Your various Digimon companions leap inside one after another, with Astamon taking up the rear. You don't even have time to turn around before you're converted into information. The textures around your body are peeled away, revealing a brilliant blue wireframe, and you’re spiraling through cyberspace in mere moments.
Astamon opens and closes his fist, staring at your arm in concern.
<span class="mu-s">"Sorry. Really. It was urgent."</span>
"It's fine.” You say, more concerned with the timer than being manhandled.”Gizamon, you said six minutes!"
<span class="mu-s"><span class="mu-b">"It said that a moment ago!"</span></span>
"It's true, I checked! You guys said like, three sentences, then when I looked again..."
<span class="mu-s">"It was that sleazeball! It's gotta be! He was doing something. I just don’t know what!"</span>
"We don't know that for sure… Argh, who am I kidding?! Damn Espimon!" You yell.
While you glance back at the now distant Hospital, seething with rage at whatever mystery plot you almost fell for, Astamon and Pulsemon chart out your path. You didn't manage to send out a ping to carve a tunnel, so you'll need to wander until you find a platform you can load yourself through. Since you spent your prep time searching in the physical world instead of finding Network Access Points, you're flying blind.
"How long more can you stay in this form?" You ask your partner.
<span class="mu-s">"I'm reaching the end of my endurance. But I'll see it through till we're out of the Network."</span>
"Got it. Ryan, any chance we can go back to the base’s terminal from here?"
"No, Squid hasn't set anything back up. She had to close everything after the incident, to not risk Hi-Commandramon crawling back in. We only have the new teleportation beacon. But we have to travel over land."
"Great..."
As rough a spot as you're in now, you've managed to complete your mission with minimal complications. You have Cutemon, you didn't trip any alarms, and Astamon's fight is being mopped up by a shady Digimon who has his own agenda to prioritize. Even though your escape was frantic, you've fulfilled all key objectives without any losses. It's enough to consider today’s operation a success—even without tacky codenames.
"Pulsemon. How's your boss doing?"
<span class="mu-s"><span class="mu-b">"Not waking up, but stable! He's okay!"</span></span>
That's all the confirmation you need, then. You focus on the long trek ahead.
==
