Butter-Fly Effect

You still feel pretty bad about what happened with Mimi yesterday. You aren't sure exactly how things got to be so bad so quickly, but you should probably try to clear things up as soon as possible. Preferably before you end up in a situation where getting along with the others is actually important.

And you're sure such a situation is going to happen one day, if only because, in the Digital World, if a situation is possible, it's bound to happen eventually.

Things might also happen that would be impossible anywhere else, but you try not to dwell on that bit.

"Can I come along, Sora?" Biyomon asks, perching on the back of the sofa. You're glad unaware people don't really come over, otherwise you'd be hard-pressed to explain why so much of the furniture has talon marks in it.

You pause. Should you bring your partner along? Having her follow you around might make Mimi more open to discussion, but on the other hand, everyone's freaking out about the Digimon that are on TV...

...But then, people never seem to really notice Biyomon when she's with you, and you left her at home for a while yesterday. And the apartment simply doesn't have enough food right now- the week's shopping was done with the expectation that the two of you wouldn't be here.

Mostly, though, you just want to pretend that nothing has changed, and you're still just a girl who happens to have a Digivice and a partner without any sort of reason why, aside from possibly being needed to fight a murderous parrot.

---

When Mimi sees you, the first thing she does is turn directly to Biyomon. "So, you finally got tired of hiding?"
(Sora's Diplomacy total: 26. DC: 29. Almost.)
"I never tried hiding anything!" Your partner replies. "...Aside from when I was Yokomon. And I kept almost forgetting that stuffed toys don't talk." Yeah, in hindsight, you're amazed nobody ever figured it out before you met Tokomon. "After I Digivolved, I got a bit big for that, though, but nobody really cares anymore, so it all works out!"

Sometimes, you're still amazed by how much cheerfulness she has.

"Really?" Mimi sounds unconvinced. "No one notices the giant talking pink bird?"

You shrug. "Well, she doesn't really talk when we're around other people... Daigo said it would be a good idea, if people were aware of her, but not really... I can't think of a good word for it." You'd borrow the one he'd used, if you could just remember what it was.

"And you listened to him?"

"Why wouldn't I? It's Daigo. He's always right." Except when he's not, but even then, you have a hard time considering the possibility.

"...You didn't even question it, did you?" For a moment, your friend sounds completely horrified. You're not really sure why. Is it really that strange to trust someone whose words make sense when he talks?

When you think about it, Daigo's words make more sense to you than just about anyone else's. You don't know what you should think about that, and you're not sure there's anyone you could ask.

"I mean, it made sense when he explained it." If you could just remember the full explanation... but it was so long ago, there's really no chance of that. "And... I guess it still does, in a way? Like, things have been going on well enough, so they don't really need to change?"

For a moment, Mimi doesn't respond. And then she says, "Come back when you're ready to actually think for yourself." Before closing the door in your face.

...Well. That could have gone better. But it could also have gone much worse, so you'll take this new, uneasy status quo.

"Sora? What does she mean by that?" Biyomon asks you. You can only shrug.

"I... I don't know." You can't remember the last time one of your friends caught you off guard like this. You almost hadn't thought it was possible.

Still, you're satisfied with the fact that Mimi doesn't seem to hate you now. It's not perfect, but you'll take what you can get. Though, now that's established, you still need to find something to do next.


[ ] Go to Daigo, and ask him for help dealing with the current situation with Mimi.

[ ] Check to see if there's been any sort of progress on the keychain thing, and offer help if it's needed.

[ ] Make sure the not-partnered Digimon haven't broken anything important yet, Haruka's apartment is a wreck as it is...

[ ] Gather up your own supplies for when you return to the Digital World. Every bit counts, right?

[ ] Go to Kazuya, and ask if there's any way for Biyomon to get stronger fast.

DarkKing98 said:

Oh no, clearly there's value in any decision, but we are on a 'time crunch' so to speak with a pretty big problem, so certain priorities, like getting stronger, should be far higher up in imprtance.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure you understand my position right now, so I'm going to make it clear. And I'm only going to say this once, so listen closely.

I love a good story. Whether I'm reading it or writing it. If I am reading, the story does not have to be particularly amazing, so long as I can understand just what is going on in the plot.

When I'm writing, however, I have much higher standards. I believe in making a plot where things matter. I believe in characters who are flawed, but capable of learning. I wasn't always as good as I am now, but works of mine throughout the internet, under various pen names, were the only way I got any sort of positive reinforcement for anything throughout high school. And I kept thinking that I could do better.

And then I discovered forum quests. And I found that I liked the idea of them. Every time I wrote something in the usual way, I kept being taunted by possibilities of 'but what if I did it this way' and 'will people really like this'? Because after a childhood of being told that imperfection meant I wasn't worth anything, I was terrified of messing up in some way.

I still am. This is the only forum on the internet where I feel I can speak freely, and even that's only in my own threads. Most of the time, I just lurk, in fear of making a mistake if I were to step out and join the discussion.

But here, in my quest, I don't have to worry about messing up, because people are actually telling me what they would like to see. And I can do it, so long as it makes sense within the lines of the story. I give people options, and they tell me which of them sounds best. Sometimes they even provide something new, and introduce even more realms of possibility.

It is the job of the voters to tell me in which direction they want the story to go. And in return, it is my job to provide possible directions for them, characters to interact with, and the story itself. Every time I write an update, I have to provide something to the story, or to the characters within it, so that people will continue to like the story, and to care about which direction it takes next.

This is not the first time I have felt an insult to my writing skills from you. In my other quest, you have called the characters 'idiots' for working based off of what information they have been given, and their past experiences. You have claimed that the cast of an entirely different game is incompetent for not getting involved in the affairs of a company they do not own, and for not dropping everything and going to Iwatodai, despite the fact that they have lives. You have assumed malice from said characters, despite the fact that getting the good ending of the game they starred in would require them choosing not to do the very thing you accused them of plotting to do to the main character.

And, today, you have called following an option that I presented 'a complete and utter waste of time'. Thus implying that I have failed, in some way, as a QM, by presenting said option in the first place.

If I was the person I was five years ago, or if this forum was even a bit less comfortable, this would have been the final straw driving me from SV. As it is, I am currently reigning in the urge to kill this quest out of spite. But I won't, because I would like to believe that I am better than that.

However, that does not mean this can go ignored. I believe that the only thing that can be a waste of time, in a story, is something that ultimately doesn't matter. Keeping Haruka from being pulled away from her research to, say, stop a fire, matters. Dealing with any sort of friendship problem matters. Things that have a possibility of making numbers on a screen go up aren't the only important things, and don't have to always be the highest priority.

Saying that default options that won't necessarily improve your character's combat abilities are a waste of time implies that my giving the options was wrong, and a mistake, and a waste of my time.

And if you don't like that I have various ideas for how to write a story? That's fine.

You just won't get any more story.

You decide to head over to Haruka's apartment, because you just know that, with all her focus on the keychain project, she'll just ignore all of the Digimon that she's keeping with her. And while they probably wouldn't want to do much to make the place worse, you wouldn't be surprised if something happened entirely on accident.

Besides, you need a distraction from everything that's happened with Mimi recently. You're not quite sure what she meant earlier, and while you could just go and ask Daigo about it, you aren't sure it's necessary.

It's Mimi. It'll all blow over eventually.

You don't really visit Haruka's apartment often. It's a place that's barely livable, most of the time, because the one who lives there simply couldn't care less about her living arrangements so long as she has a place to conduct her experiments. But you've been by often enough to know where it is, mostly because of her tendency to show off every new discovery.

Biyomon hasn't been there as often, but you're not sure that's a bad thing.

"Are we there yet?" Unless, of course, this is happening. But you think she'd be doing this anyway, so maybe it doesn't really matter.

"It's just down the street," You reply, pointing at the building in question. "Third floor, fifth door down. Not exactly hard to remember."

"Oh... I thought it would look different."

"Trust me, it's a lot messier on the inside." As expected of Haruka. You don't know why her parents decided she could be trusted to live on her own. Probably can't ask, because you have no clue who they even are.

Or maybe they're just as bad at keeping tidy as she is, but that thought is just terrifying. You're just going to push that idea as far out of mind as you possibly can.

When you get there, it's Wizardmon that opens the door. "Miss Yamaguchi can't come to the door right now," He apologizes. "She's busy with something."

You wonder, for a moment, if Haruka actually asked Wizardmon to handle the door for her, or if she's just that engrossed in her reasearch. You never know with her.

"That's okay. I'm not really here for Haruka right now. Or, well, not to talk with her, at least... I wanted to make sure you were all doing okay." And that they didn't somehow wreck her apartment even worse, but that doesn't seem like it'd be a very nice thing to say to the visiting Digimon.

Wizardmon visibly flinches. "Ah, yes, that..." Well. That's never a good sign. "Would you like to come in?"

"I'm sort of scared to, but I don't think I really have a choice."

"You could just leave."

You could. But you won't, because you walked this far for a reason, and are genuinely concerned that, if you leave now, you'll come back and everything will be on fire.

Sure, none of the visitors are fire Digimon, but that doesn't necessarily make your worries irrelevant, you have no idea what Haruka keeps in there. Or what a lot of those Digimon are even like. It could happen.

Even if everything being on fire might actually be an improvement, in this case.

"No, we're staying here!" Biyomon declares, before you can second-guess yourself. "So, how is everyone?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" He opens the door.

It's... surprisingly not completely destroyed yet, though that doesn't mean it's any better than the last time you visited. Amongst other things, the television set is now being supported by a giant pumpkin.

"That was Pumpkinmon's doing," Wizardmon notes, seeing you turn to stare at it. "Neither he or Gotsumon have much sense of restraint."

You don't think that restraint is a concept that too many Digimon are that familiar with, so the second part of that statement hadn't actually needed to be said. But then, maybe you're just used to ferrying around a large group of Rookies that have never really needed to worry about things like collateral damage until recently.

"That'll be fixed soon enough," A small Digimon grumbles. Wizardmon sighs.

"Nanimon, I do not believe that will be necessary."

"I'd worry more about the Numemon, really," The bat Digimon from before states from his perch on the kitchen counter. "I mean, I'm not sure they could make this dump worse, but-"

"DemiDevimon. Manners."

"Why? It's not like Yamaguchi cares at all."

"She... really doesn't," Biyomon agrees. "But you should be trying to make it better!"

"Is that even possible? She managed to get coffee stains on the television!"

"At least she finally replaced the curtains?" You suggest. It says a lot that your standards for this place being more clean than usual involve nothing showing signs of having ever been on fire, but that's just Haruka for you.

"What was wrong with the curtains?" You probably shouldn't answer this, but at the same time...

"Rikuto set them on fire a while back, I think. I never really got the full story to that..." You notice a couple of Numemon messing with something out of the corner of your eye. "What are you doing?"

"We found these odd containers, and wanted to see what's inside!" That's... Haruka's chemistry set. You knew she was doing unsafe experiments in the kitchen!

"...Maybe don't mess with it? Unless you want to set the whole building on fire..." Chemistry sets do that kind of thing, right? "And some of that might be toxic, but I don't know if you really have to worry about that." Do talking piles of sludge have to worry about poisoning? "It's probably better to be safe."

The Numemon look visibly disappointed when you confiscate what they found, but it's for their own good, really. You don't need something deciding to explode right now.

"But there's nothing to do here!" The two of them both complain, loudly. You're not sure why they're complaining about this, given how little there seemed to be in that castle they were all stuck in, but they are, so... You should probably provide a distraction before they break something.


[ ] Suggest actually turning on the television.

[ ] Given how this is the default location for gatherings due to lack of adult supervision, you know there are puzzles or board games somewhere...

[ ] Just keep talking. Try to get to know everybody.

[ ] Organize a cleanup of the apartment. They did say that they wanted something to do, right?