Tag Archives: SCIFI

Chapter 3, digimon seekers

Digimon Seekers Chapter 3-5: The Early Mindlink

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Thanks again for keeping up with this project. This chapter has been a little harder because it feels a little dragged out. Make sure you always check out the original anyways. My version goes out the Monday after release unless something comes up. If you’ve been enjoying this project, don’t forget to like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends!

Character design/illustration illustrator: malo

Saya and Yulin stand outside the warehouse, taking a break away from the busy factory floor. In a short time, the floor was full of new employees eager to work on the next piece of innovation. Investors lined up eagerly trying to fund the next big thing from Ryusenji Technologies. The two women look tired, but happy as they enjoy the touch of the midday sun.

Saya turns to Yulin and flashes her new ring. She lets out an excited giggle as the diamond glitters in the sun.

Yulin lets out a laugh. “So it’s official. I guess I should say congratulations. I didn’t think that dope Kosuke could be bothered to ask for a ring size.”

Saya pulls the ring back to examine it lovingly. “Congratulations are appropriate, yes.”

“Well congratulations, I mean it. You’re good for him.”

“I know!” Saya says as she flashes the ring once again.

“Surprised you got a wedding in with how busy things have gotten. All the projects, the meetings, its exhausting.”

“Who would have thought Digimon would change things for us so quickly?”

Kosuke bursts out of the building with a VR helmet in hand and an excited look on his face. He is neatly groomed and is wearing clean pressed clothes under his lab coat. “Saya!” he shouts as he rushes to the pair.

“Where’s the fire?”Yulin asks playfully.

“Look at this!” Kosuke says proudly as he offers a VR helmet to Saya.

Saya takes it. She examines it for a moment before asking, “What is this thing?”

“You have to look into it.”

Saya puts on the helmet and begins looking around. “What is this?” Her vision fills with lofi compounded images of a distorted and strange world.

“That’s the first footage ever taken through a Digimon’s eyes! You’re seeing through a Digimon’s eyes right now!

Ryuseniji worked tirelessly towards his goal of experiencing the Digital World with all his senses. The theory stood that if Digimon were AI creatures, their sensory data should be easy enough to capture and interpret. All he had to do was imbed the human consciousness into the Digital World and link it to said data.

“This ought to keep me busy for the rest of my life,” Ryusenji says to himself as he looks over his notes.

Ryusenji Electronics had begun exploring the fundamentals of mindlinking technology in secret. They had to minimize the risks and answer the ethical questions later.

Saya was one of the first to successfully link her consciousness with a Digimon.

“Mindlink test complete,” Yulin’s voice buzzes over the PA system.

Saya lays on what looks like a repurposed dentist chair wearing a VR helmet. Wires and cables come down around her and wrap into her arms and helmet. Around her lay an array of monitors, computers, and stacks of notes.

“Vitals are stable. DS levels are dropping. Subject is regaining consciousness. Severing the mindlink,” Kosuke says calmly as he walks over to his wife.

Yulin walks into the room carrying a bucket. She walks over to the chair. Saya begins convulsing, letting out a soft grown. Her arms and legs flail as she slowly regains consciousness. She becomes still and sits up, carefully removing the helmet.

“Here.” Yulin hands her the bucket.

Saya looks uncomfortable as she fights the nausea. “I think….urp…I think I’m getting used to it.” She gives a weak smile as she holds back the vomit. She remembers the mess she made the first time she mindlinked.

Professor Ryusenji claps softly. “Magnificent! These results are astounding. Sufficient rest is required between sessions, and there are some serious side effects we need to address, but the experiment was a rousing success!”

Saya smiles weakly as she picks up the Digimon Dock with the word Agumon written under it. “Nice job Agu!” An image of a small bipedal dinosaur seems to jump in reaction.

video game reviews

CRYMACHINA is over-stylized waifu bait with very little substance

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I was sent CRYMACHINA as a review code. I am very happy about the opportunity, but this will be my honest review. If you enjoy these reviews, make sure you like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends!

CRYMACHINA is an anime-themed action RPG coming to PC, PlayStation, and Switch on October 24th. Humans have gone extinct, and have been replaced by synthetic beings known as Dei ex Machina. A mysterious prophecy has selected a few of these beings to bring humanity back from extinction, but not all Dei ex Machina share this goal. Fight your way through Dei ex Machina as you attempt to reclaim humanity’s dominance over Eden. Do you have what it takes to claim what destiny offers?

The game is fun for the first few encounters before the novelty wears off. Unfortunately, the blatant waifu bait isn’t enough to distract players from how dull and unimpressive the game becomes. The art style is interesting but tends to be a little too busy and loud for its own good. The story is poorly written, and the gameplay isn’t fun enough to make up for it. This isn’t a bad game, but it is hard to recommend when there are better options in the genre.

I wish the game was better because the format is interesting. The gameplay loop is split into two parts: combat and story. Combat is broken up into small manageable levels where players face a few mobs of enemies before facing off against a boss. Boss fights had unique mechanics, but not all of them were fun. Combat started feeling repetitive, and the initial sense of accomplishment felt after beating a boss diminished and became nonexistent. The over-stylized and busy animation of the combat never made up for how bored I got with combat.

The other side of the loop was the story cutscenes that came in the form of tea parties. Blatant waifu bait aside, this is an interesting way to do a story. Players have the opportunity to watch optional cutscenes where characters get a back story or become more rounded, or they can stick with only watching scenes relevant to the story. This is a great format for gamers with limited free time because the game can be tackled in small meaningful chunks, and you can repeat cutscenes when you need a reminder. This would have been a great format for this game if the story was good, and the characters weren’t generic waifu tropes. 

You can pick up CRYMACHINA for PC, PlayStation, and Switch on October 24th, but I’d hold off for a very generous discount. Even then, you’ll have better options. 

Chapter 3, digimon seekers

Digimon Seekers Chapter 3-4: The Birth of the Digimon Dock

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I’m officially caught up! All my translations will go up the Monday after the official release. Make sure you always support the official release. If you enjoy this project, make sure you like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends!

Saya stands in front of the freshly built warehouse that would serve as their factory. Above her, a freshly painted sign reads “Ryusenji Electronics.” She places a small bronze plaque with the company’s name over the mailbox. She takes a step back to examine her work before making her final adjustments. “Perfect!” she exclaims before walking into the warehouse.

Inside, she is greeted with the loud whirring of machinery. She’d gotten used to it by now and found the noise strangely comforting. Saya makes her way to the workshop where she finds the professor humming cheerfully surrounded by his chaotic collection of unfinished gadgets.

“You seem pretty happy these days,” she remarks.

Ryusenji turns to her, revealing an enormous grin. “How could I not be? I am proud business owner!”

“And a huge amount of debt!” Saya adds with a chuckle.

“You gotta spend money to make money,” Yulin adds as she enters the room. She looks exhausted but gives a warm familiar smile as she finds a seat near the pair. “The professor is the only one who knows anything about all this Digital World stuff anyways. The cash flow is in his hands.”

Character design/illustration illustrator: malo

Some time goes by, and the founders find themselves in the workshop. The mess seems a bit more organized. The professor is busy tinkering at his station when he turns suddenly, “It’s done!”

Yuelin and Saya turn to the professor who proudly holds a small palm-sized gadget in his hands.

“What is it?” Yuelin asks as she walks over for a closer look.

“It’s an external storage device designed to house AI lifeforms. A prototype Digital Monster Dock System!” He almost shouts excitedly.

“Digital monsters huh? It looks like a toy,” Yuelin says, reaching for the small device. It was smaller than a deck of cards and housed a monochrome LCD display. There are three buttons down its face that serve as basic controls.

“The professor needs his hobbies,” Kosuke says with a shrug as he walks over from his station.

“That’s exactly it! Think about it for a moment. A device that allows people to feed and raise digital pets. It’s the next innovation in the toy business!” Ryusenji continues enthusiastically. “Until now, we weren’t able to keep these Digital Monsters alive for long. But with this! This changes everything!” His voice fills the room.

Yulin looks over the small device, trying to understand it, when something on the LCD screen catches her eye. “Is that…an egg?”

“Yep! Its a Digital tamago. Digitama for short. We thought it sounded cuter,” Saya adds with a grin.

“A Digitama…Okay…”Yulin says, trying to keep up.

“We found the data for this one while we were exploring the Net!” Saya continues enthusiastically. “And the dock allows us to see a virtual representation of its actual form, not just a series of numbers!”

“This is incredible!” Yulin shouts as the pieces come together. She gasps. “Did it just move?”

Kosuke nods cooly. “It’s about to hatch.”

The Digimon Dock put Ryusenji Technologies on the map. Soon, investors from all over wanted a piece of the device that would let people keep Digimon. It was obvious to anyone who was paying attention that these little AI creatures would shift the balance of power on the net for the decades to come.

Chapter 3, digimon seekers

Digimon Seekers Chapter 3-2: Lost in a Memory

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Thank you for your patience and continued support. I hope to catch up with the official release this week. Make sure you always support the original. If you enjoy this project, make sure you like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends!

Yueling zips through the digital world on the back of her dragon Digimon ​​Hisyaryumon. She is dressed in her formal DigiPolice uniform, clearly pressed and finely decorated. ​​Hisyaryumon’s obsidian scales shine as brightly as the ember-colored gem on its forehead.

​​​​Hisyaryumon suddenly changes direction, diving towards a group of code crackers. Each controlled a cyborg-type Digimon. They scramble as they see the dragon, but Hisyaryumon is too quick. Hisyaryumon knocks them out with very little effort.

“Code Crackers Contained,” Yueling announces through her radio.

“You’re sharp as ever captain,” Satsuki replies.

“Spare me the flattery and call in processing.”

“On it!”

Satsuki’s Numemon waddles onto the scene. It kicks one of the unconscious Digimon as it begins to secure the criminals.

Character design/illustration illustrator: malo

“What’d we catch, Hisyaryumon?”

“The usual. A bunch of Cyborg-types used for data collection.”

“So it seems,” Yueling replies as she scans Hisyaryumon’s report.

“Looks like they were after state secrets. Judging by their tools, I would guess they were hired by someone overseas. It appears that a few are still in operation. We could send them back with a little souvenir,” Hisyaryumon continues maliciously.

“If your hunch is right, this is above our pay grade.” Yueling continues to read the report. “Why not? I’m feeling playful today. Send them something nasty.”

“As you wish,” Hisyaryumon says cheerily as he gets to work on the restrained Digimon.

Yueling watches from inside the Digicore. Easy days like this made her think of the old days. With nothing to distract her, she gets lost in a memory.

I wonder what Kosuke is up to?

Yueling walks into Ryusenji Laboratories. The air conditioner hums, blowing cool air into the room. The desks are cluttered with papers and books. Large server racks are pushed against one of the walls. The professor sits at his computer, absorbed in the letters moving across his monitor

“Good Morning Professor,” she says cheerily. The clock on the wall reads 6 p.m.

“Good morning,” he says without looking up.

“Got some mail for you,” she says, setting the pile of letters on his desk.

“Mhm,” Ryusenji grunts.

“I delivered your mail! Can you acknowledge me with your words and eyes please? I don’t want you calling me later asking for your mail!”

“There!” Ryuseji announces suddenly, pointing at the screen. “There’s the bug. Who wrote this aweful code?!”

“You probably.”

“No…It couldn’t have…Could it?” The professor becomes distressed by his question looking over the code again.

“Has my proposal for a proper server room been approved? It’s freezing in here.” Yueling puts on a jacket she keeps hanging over a chair.

“Theyre going to move the entire campus over the next few years. They aren’t approving any new projects until everything is settled.”

Yueling shrugs. “I’m just trying to help.”

“I keep telling them how important our work is. I hear investing in our field is quietly exploding around the world. Our advantage could disappear overnight,” Ryusenji grumbles without lifting his eyes.

“Maybe we should pack up and go overseas then.”

“You can’t seriously be suggesting that,” answers a gravelly voice. Kosuke pops his head from his makeshift cot from between the server racks. He wipes the sleep from his eyes as he makes his way over.

“Slept in the office again?” Yueling asks.

Kosuke nods as he runs his hands through his unkempt hair and lets out a big yawn. The scruff on his beard had grown thick, and it was clear he’d been wearing the same clothes for several days.

“At least wash your face and brush your teeth. Did you at least bring a change of clothes?

“About that…”

The door busts open. A petit woman barges through carrying several takeout bags.

“Feeding time!” She begins organizing the spread on the large table they use for meetings.

“Good! I’m starving.” Kosuke answers.

“Here’s your change of clothes,” the woman says, tossing Kosuke a paper bag.

“Saya…Did you go all the way to Kosuke’s house to get him a change of clothes?”

“Yep! I also brought you a pork bowl. I hope you’re hungry,” Saya beams as she hands Yueling her bowl.

Yueling reaches into her pocket “Thanks. Here, how much do I owe..”

“None of that. It’s dad’s…I mean the professor’s treat.”

The four sit and eat their lunch. The room fills with chatter and laughter over the hum of the air conditioning.

Chapter 3, digimon seekers

Digimon Seekers Chapter 3-1: The Rise of Tartarus

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Make sure you always support the original! If you’ve been enjoying my version, don’t forget to like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. Thank you so much for reading!

Character design/illustration illustrator: malo

The Digital World is vast and full of mystery. Its biggest mystery lies hidden behind its impenetrable firewall. Early Code Crackers swarmed to the Digital World in search of answers to this mystery. Many put their lives on the line in the name of discovery. Somewhere along the wall was the gateway to the other side, and one brave code cracker was destined to find it. After years of exploration, it is widely believed that the Vortices that appeared indiscriminately along the wall were gateways to the other side.

While most Vortives appear randomly over the wall, one takes its permanent residence at the center of the wall slums. Tartarus and his small team find themselves at the edge of this vortex, with the intention of seeing what’s on the other side.

The expedition starts smoothly. The code crackers and their Digimon work in perfect unison as they make their careful descent toward the void. Suddenly, a swarm of Digimon appear above them.

Megadramon rears back and raises his arms, taking careful aim at the oncoming swarm.

ERADICATION ATTACK!

The cannons at the ends of his arm open up with a swarm of missiles, each exploding its target. The attack leaves a hole in the swarm, but the hole quickly fills with more Digimon.

“There’s too many of them, I can’t hold ’em off for long!” Marvin says from within Megadramon.

The guardian Digimon attack like a swarm of Locust. Megadramon continues to fire, holding back the swarm for the time being.

Dorumon stops his trek and floats in place as he watches the swarm. The small-wing fox waves his tail eagerly.

“Time to get to work Dorumon” Tarturus says from within its core. “Initiate phase 3!”

“Right!” Dorumon shines brightly as it Digivolves into a large strange dragon. Large silver leathery wings beat in the air, holding it up.

​​DoruGreymon, Ultimate, Beast Dragon, Data

Metal Meteor

A massive metal orb begins to form over DoruGreymon’s head, drawing the swarm’s attention. The crystal on DorGreymon’s forehead begins to glow. Strange runes of light appear on the face of the orb. It slowly starts to drop into the vortex. The swarm of Digimon moves to push away the projectile, but the orb continues its descent unmolested. 

“Let them try,” Tartarus smirks as he watches the swarm’s vain attempt to stop their attack.

The orb continues to drop, crushing the piles of Digimon until it finally makes contact with the gateway. The orb looks like a tiny pebble against the vast mouth of the vortex. The impact lets out a high-pitched screech. 

“Begin decoding! This can still work,” Tartarus commands. 

Inside the Digicore, Tartarus starts typing away furiously at his console. A small meter begins to fill across his screen. 20%…25%….

Cracks begin to form on the gateway letting light slip in from the other side. It groans under the growing strain. 

“The gateway is breaking!” Tartarus says to himself. 

The remaining guardians swarm DoruGreymon in a desperate attempt to stop the attack. 

Seeing this, Marvin shouts, “We have to buy them more time, Let’s go!” The group launches a final desperate defense. 

The grinding sound goes silent as the orb stops moving. The decoding progress bar stops at 30%. 

“What’s happening?” Tartarus barks. 

“Process terminated. This is as far as we can get with a single prototype Digimon,” DoruGreymon says cooly. 

Tartarus slams his fists on the console. “Dammit. Just like we predicted.” He lets out a heavy sigh. 

“The gate requires a tripartite key. We need all three attributes in order to crack it. We need Virus and Vaccine prototype Digimon for this to work.”

“Yueling’s Ryudamon is a Vaccine type, all we need is a virus type…” Tartarus gets lost in thought, staring at the gateway. “Whatever lies beyond the gateway is going to change the world. I don’t know how, but we’re going to change it!”

The metal orb begins to crack, letting the sounds of grinding and bending metal. The symbols on its face fade as the ball breaks into pieces and fades to dust. 

“They’re here! The Royal Knights!” DoruGreymon shouts. 

“Everyone fall back!” Tartarus shouts. Tartarus and his team flee without hesitation. 

“The Royal Knights….” Tartarus mutters to himself as he takes one final glimpse at the gate behind him. 

Chapter 2, digimon seekers

Digimon Seekers Chapter 2-13: Aftermath

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I know these are a bit sporadic at the moment, so I’ve started announcing release dates on my Mastodon if that’s helpful. Once I catch up to the official releases, I’ll go back to a normal schedule. Make sure you always support the official release. If you’ve been enjoying this project, make sure you like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends. Thank you all who have stuck with me this far. It means a lot!

The street lights come on as an ambulance zips through the campus streets. Its sirens echo as the. Flashing red lights bounce off large windows. The few cars out move over as the ambulance flies past. Leon lays unresponsive on the metal gurney. The sensors hooked to his arm indicate a steady heartbeat. His vitals are low but within normal levels. He lays unresponsive as the EMT flashes lights in his eyes. Around him, wires and tubes clank on hollow metal as the ambulance jerks through the city streets. The sirens sound muffled over the hum of the engine and the crackling of the radio.

Professor Ryusenji arrives at the hospital shortly after Leon does. He sits in the waiting room while the doctors run their tests. A couple of hours pass when a doctor finally calls him.

“It’s an odd one. Vitals are normal, there are no signs of trauma or drug use. This isn’t a reaction to any of his medication. We can’t determine the cause of his coma at this time, but we’re running more tests.”

“That’s unfortunate…” Ryusenji says sadly.

“I am sorry.” The doctor says warmly. “You can go see him now if you want. Talk to him. He’ll appreciate that.”

Ryusenji shakes the doctor’s hand and walks into Leon’s room. Leon lays peacefully in bed. Sensors monitor his vitals, and a drip slowly keeps him hydrated. The professor watches over his student for a moment before taking the seat closest to his bed.

He was still in his office when received Eiji’s frantic phone call. Eiji’s erratic explanation left him with many unanswered questions, but there wasn’t time for answers. It was Ryusenji who called the ambulance and let the paramedics into Leon’s apartments. It was Ryusenji who now sat as Leon’s only visitor.

The room was quiet except for the rhythmic chiming of the EKG. The chart at the end of Leon’s bed indicated an unknown cause for Leon’s coma, but Ryusenji knew better. Leon had pushed himself too far in his mindlink. He went over the L line, and now he is DMIA. Nothing was bringing Leon back to consciousness. His mind was lost. Scattered across the Digital world like pieces of junk data.

“Did you ever meet Yueling, Leon?” the professor finally makes out. His voice shakes a bit. He leans back in the chair, watching Leon’s peaceful expression. He would have to tell the police everything, and Leon being American complicated things.

Rysuenji sighs, “This is quite a mess…”He picks up the Digimon Linker that sits on the bedside table and puts it back on Leon’s wrist. “I’m afraid you knew too many lies,” he says softly to Leon.

Ryusenji watches the mounds of Leon’s vitals move across the monitor, and listens to the beeps in silence.

Eiji sits alone in his dark tiny apartment curled up in his bed. He stares blankly into space as a mix of dread and shame creeps into his consciousness. 

“He’s not coming back…” Eiji says flatly. He can still see Kazuchimon disappearing into the vortex. No one has ever returned from the void. No one has recovered from DMIA. Eiji left Leon to die.

“It’s all my fault..” Tears well up in his eyes. An ugly truth gets stuck in his throat. “I…I killed Leon…” The truth hits him like a punch in the gut. The room starts to spin. He stumbles off his bed and rushes to the bathroom. His empty stomach aches as he vomits only bile and stomach acid into a dirty toilet. He sits against the wall with a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Your readings are a mess Eiji,” Loogamon chimes in from his perch on the bed. Loogamon’s wounds have healed. It was as if the fight had never happened. 

“I can’t do this anymore,” Eiji says weakly. He takes the Digimon Linker off his wrist and looks over it pensively. 

“Hey careful with that!” Loogamon barks. 

“Code crackers, hackers, mindlinks…digivolutions…none of this matters.” Eiji pauses to stare at the ceiling. “It’s all my fault…I pushed you too hard. I put you in danger, and now Leon is gone!” Eiji lets the Digimon Linker fall into the floor. “This isn’t what I wanted…” his voice trails off. 

The linker beeps as its face comes to life with a notification. It’s a text from Tartarus. It reads:

Excellent work. You’re a hero!”

Eiji scoffs. He doesn’t feel like a hero. Guilt begins to choke at Eiji. “It should have been me….” The room starts to spin again. Eiji lurches over to vomit. 

“Are you sick or something? What’s causing you to vomit?” Loogamon jumps down from the bed and makes its way to the doorway. 

Eiji wipes vomit from the corners of his mouth. “Guilt,” he answers flatly, sitting back against the wall. 

“Why?”

“He was my friend Logamon…My best friend and now…Now he’s gone and it’s all my fault.” Tears start falling down his cheeks. 

The two sit in silence for a while. Eiji’s quiet sobs echo off the tile. 

“Hey Eiji,” Loogamon finally says. “I just remembered something.”

“What?” Eiji asks hoarsely. 

“That box Pulsemon gave me, the one we thought was a virus. It was just a present.”

“Really?” Eiji looks up at the wolf. 

Loogamon’s expression saddens for a moment. It nods slowly. “He left a note. It said ‘Lets hang out again sometime mutt.’ Stupid fairy…”

Another somber silence washes over them. 

“I think I know why I went beserk when I digivoled into Hallogarmon.”

“Why’s that?”

“I wanted to fight Pulsemon so badly. I wanted to be better than them. I didn’t want them to look down on me anymore. So when I digivolved and went feral, it was because you didn’t feel the same way.”

Eiji sits in silence and stares at the wolf. Leon’s voice rings in his head. The memory of his guilt sends his head into the toilet. Eiji sits back. This time he can’t hold his tears back. He cries hard into his arm. 

“Do you want to save your friend Eiji?”

“Of course I do! It’s my fault!” Eiji yells, looking up. 

“I want to save Pulsemon too,” Loogamon says solemnly. “We’ll save them Eiji. Even if it means facing down an army Royal Knights!”

Chapter 2, digimon seekers

Digimon Seekers Chapter 2-12: The Holy Knight Appears

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I know I am a little behind on releases. Work has been hectic, and I haven’t had much time to work on these. Thank you for your patience and continued support. I’ll do my best to catch up! I think I’ll start posting updates on Mastodon if that’s an easier way to stay updated, but let me know if there are better options. Make sure you always support the official release, and don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share these with your friends!

Character design/illustration illustrator: malo

Onminomon floats over the two Digimon. Its armor glows from the energy gathering at the tip of the cannon. Omnimon aims it at Helloogarmon, who continues to wriggle in pain. The metallic wolf at the end of the cannon glistens preciously as arcs of energy spill out of its mouth. Omnimon releases the beam. It comes crashing down, engulfing Helloogarmon in a blinding white spotlight of frozen energy before vanishing in the same instant.

Hellogarmon lays motionless, its body and flames left frozen by the blast. Inside the Digicore, Eiji writhes in agony. He vaguely remembers the ice beam washing over them as he slowly loses consciousness. His body burns with unbearable pain. He feels his life slowly fading as he desperately tries to hold onto consciousness. 

Eiji’s vision blurs and darkens, but he can still make out the outline of the holy knight as it moves towards them. He struggles to concentrate, but he can make out the menacing blade thirsting for their lives. In his struggle with consciousness, Eiji can make out his own name written in the strange runes that decorate the face of the blade. 

“Delete all!” Omnimon’s words fall onto Eiji with a soothing calm. As Omnimon readies for his final blow, Eiji becomes at peace with death. Eiji welcomes the darkness.

CRACK

Omnimon stumbles from a blow to its back.

“Loogamon!” an unseen voice shouts.

Pulsemon?…the familiar voice pulls Eiji back from the darkness. His vision clears as he watches Kazuchimon crash into Omnimon, sending both Digimon flying. 

The force of the vortex picks up the flying Digimon and pulls it towards its center. Omnimon struggles to pry Kazuchimon off, but Kazuchimon holds on tightly. Omnimon brings down heavy blows that leave Kazuchimon bruised and bloodied, but Kazuchimon remains unfazed. The vortex continues to pull them closer and closer to its pit.

“Eiji” Leon’s voice crackles from the distance. His voice is barely audible.

“Let go Leon…You have to let go. The vortex is sucking you up!” Eiji shouts back helplessly.

“This…Knight…the last…” Leon’s message comes in gargled with static.

Eiji tries to move but finds himself frozen in the darkness. His body still aches from the bast. His eyes swell with tears, “LEON!!” Eiji watches as his friend is pulled farther and farther away.

“I’m sorry Eiji. I don’t know if you can still hear me. This whole thing is fucked. I tried to save you…I just didn’t know what else to…” his message cuts off. Eiji sits in the silent darkness of the Digicore.

With one sharp elbow, Omnimon frees itself from Kazhuchimon’s grip and turns its attention to Eiji.

Shido Ittetsu!

Before Omnimon can make its escape, an electromagnetic barrier forms around the two Digimon.

“You aren’t getting away!” Leon shouts. Around him, alarms blare loudly as Leon uses the last of his mindlink energy to seal Omnimon. Kazuchimon grapples Omnimon. Omnimon struggles as its limbs become locked in the hold. It turns its head to glare at Kazuchimon. Leon stares back at the angry eyes. “For as long as I’ve got left, you’re not going anywhere.”

Eiji continues to watch as Kazuchimon and Omnimon inch closer to the core.

“They’re nearly through…” Eiji says to himself.

Suddenly, the Digicore around him springs to life. Monitors start to fill with data and status updates. Eiji’s commands begin to register. He fights through the pain and begins typing furiously.

Helloogarmon rises slowly. It shakes off the last bits of frost. Its few lingering flames go out, leaving a charged werewolf skeleton. Hellogarmon splashes through black dirty puddles as it stumbles to its feet. It begins to glow and shrink as it turns back into Loogamon. It takes another step before falling back to the ground.

“Loogamon!” Eiji shouts excitedly, as he appears suddenly next to his fallen friend. He kneels beside Loogamon, “Hang in there buddy.”

“…Eiji…What’s…going on?” Loogamon makes out weakly.

“I’ll tell you later.” Eiji lets out a sigh of relief, forgetting for a moment about the danger around him. But reality hits him suddenly. Eiji looks toward his disappearing friend and shouts, “Leon! Get out of there! You win Leon, I’ll quit! Just get out of there!” The whirl of the vortex drowns out his words.

Eiji watches as Kazuchimon and Omnimon disappear into the Vortex. A moment later, it disappears. The sky fills with an eerie peacefulness. Around him, the world goes silent. Eiji begins tending Loogamon’s wounds. Tears fall down his cheek as the realization hits him. There was nothing more he could do.

Chapter 2, digimon seekers

Digimon Seekers Chapter 2-11: The Uncontrollable Wolf

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I know my posts are still irregular, but I am getting close to catching up to the book. Once I catch up, I will be back to a set posting schedule. Make sure you support the official release. Thanks again for supporting my translation! If you’ve been enjoying them, don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share this with your friends.

When the soft glow of Digivolution fades, Eiji finds himself in a silent and dark Digicore. Something isn’t right. 

“What’s going on?” Eiji’s voice echoes. There is no response. 

A strange black creature stands where Loogarmon did. A werewolf of pitch black bone and eyes full of blinding rage. Besides it falls two long arms ending in long sharp claws. Large spikes run down its back in rows of two. A long skeletal tail slams into the earth behind it.

It stands on its hind legs and lets out a roar. Its body bursts into flames as it comes down on all fours. It thrashes and wriggles violently as its claws dig furiously into the earth, propelling it towards Kazuchimon. It closes the distance before Kazuchimon has a chance to react. The creature lunges at Kazuchimon, claws and fangs digging deep into the flesh. Kazuchimon drops its blades as he tries to grab onto the creature and push it away. Pain shoots through its body fangs dig deeper into its neck. 

What’s going on? Eiji watches the attack from within the Digicore, but he can’t sense his partner. He tries to connect like he’s done many times before, but there is no response. “Loogamon?” Eiji asks desperately as he types furiously at the control console. But Eiji is locked out. He has no control. 

The beast lets out a blood-curdling roar. He bangs his fists at the monitor. The creature’s stats read, “Ulitame. Deamon Beast. Virus…)” But there is no name.

Eiji stares at the stats. “We did it…Loogamon made it to Ultimate…” His words felt empty. The words on the screen are meaningless. This creature isn’t Loogamon. Nothing about this felt right.

Eiji’s hands fall to his side as he becomes overcome with hopelessness. He watches as the beast tears into Kazuchimon. He listens to the creature’s hungry rage.

“Your Digivolution failed! It’s out of control!” Leon shouts.

The familiar voice snaps Eiji from his trance. “Out of control?…. Failed?….”

“Eiji can you hear me? You’ve lost control….Dammit!” Leon’s voice barely carries over the beast’s commotion. “You weren’t ready. Look at what you did!” Leon’s voice is angry.

Eiji watches helplessly from within the Digicore.

Character design/illustration illustrator: malo

Helloogarmon. Eiji reads the name as it appears on his monitor. This is my fault…

Eiji wanted to win. He wanted to be strong. He wanted to prove to everyone he was strong, but not like this. Helloogarmon continues to tear into Kazuchimon.

“LOOGAMON!” Eiji yells “I know you’re in there. Come back buddy. Please come back.”

Leon reads over the data.

“Helloogarmon?” There is nothing controlling thebeast but its rage. It would spread and destroy everything in its path like a virus. “I don’t understand how an Ultimate level Digimon can be this strong…” An alarm goes off. “Dammit. Time’s up…” Leon looks down at the flashing monitor. The levels were getting dangerously close to the C Line. He couldn’t stay mindlinked any longer.

“You’re probably running out of time too, huh?” Eiji’s voice comes over the come. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to keep Kazuchimon up for long. The plan was to make you waste all your energy before…Loogarmon went beserk…”

“Eiji..”

“This is all my fault. I’m sorry.”

“You have to focus! This thing is still your partner. You have to focus to stop it from rampaging.”

“I’m trying, but it’s not…” The sounds of error messages cut him off. “I can’t hear Loogamon’s voice…”

Kazuchimon struggles to keep Heelogarmon back. Its strength was beginning to give and the pain was becoming too much to bear.

“You have to get out of here Leon. You can’t stay here. You’re running out of time!” It was clear from Eiji’s tone that he had given up. 

“I’m not leaving until you swear to quick code cracking! I’m going to save you. Whatever it takes!”

“Leon…” Why is he so determined? Why is he still here? 

The two had grown apart, there was no reason for Leon to still be here.

“Why can’t you let it go?”

Leon goes quiet for a moment before finally answering, “Flight 626…”

“What?”

A high speech squeal cuts them off. Kazuchimon is finally able to get a hold of Hellogarmon before flipping it into the electric barrier. A pulse of energy courses through Hellogarmon as it makes contact with the wall. Helloogarmon falls to the ground. Its flames extinguish leaving a blackened wolf flinging and writhing in pain.

Eiji almost blacks out from the pain of the impact. His fingers fire away furiously at the console. “Come on Loogamon. I know you’re in here…”

Helloogarmon continues to writhe in pain. Kazuchimon stands over it, tending to its own wounds. Blood pours from the bites and scratches that run over its body.

“Flight 626 fell because of a Machinedramon.”

“I know..”

 “I didn’t pay attention to the passenger manifest…Eiji, I’m sorry..”

“You’re not making any sense Leon.”

Leon takes a deep breath. “There was a huge fight on the network while the flight was in the air. The U.S. Army’s counterterrorism unit was working on stopping the attack but…I couldn’t do it Eiji I wasn’t strong enough…I’m sorry…” Leon’s voice breaks as he grows silent. “I couldn’t save those people…I couldn’t save your parents.”

“But why…Why are you apologizing?”

“Because…You’re my best friend.”

A mournful silence falls over the two friends. Eiji continues to type furiously. “You didn’t kill those people Leon, that dictator did.”

‘But it was my responsibility. I was supposed to stop them…If I don’t stop you from being a code cracker, you cou…”

“Stop lumping all of us together. I’d never do that!”

“You’ve already helped the Sons of Chaos attack Nation X, and look what you did to Loogamon. As a hacker…I have to stop you, even if you are my friend.” Kazuchimon razes its lightning blades over its head. “I’ve got enough time for one more attack. I’m taking you back Eiji…”

A loud boom breaks Kazuchimon’s concentration. The barrier around them shatters and fades. “Dammit, did already reach the limit?”

A loud metallic howling noise fills the junkyard. A large hole rips at the top of the barrier revealing a massive black hole in the sky. Wind blows chunks of debris and junk data toward the hole. From the center, a figure appears.

Mega. Holly Knight. Vaccine. Omnimon

A large shining knight steps out of the vortex and turns its attention down at them. Its armor glistens, even in the dim light. A cap flows neatly behind it. Its right arm is a powerful-looking cannon, a sword falls from its left. Strange runes light up the face of the sword. Its voice carries over the chaos, “Delete all!”

gaming news

Voting for the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards has started, and the winners should be: Viewfinder and Planet of Lana

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Voting for the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards has started, and two games I’ve covered this year have been nominated, Viewfinder and Planet of Lana. I loved these games so much that I felt they were worth revisiting, at least for your consideration. Make sure you check out the original reviews, but please vote for whatever feels right.

Voting closes on October 20, and winners will be announced on November 10 during the ceremony. Make sure you head over to the official site to vote and show your favorite games some love.

If you enjoy these updates, make sure you like, comment, subscribe, and share this with your friends.

Viewfinder

Viewfinder is up for two awards this year, Best Visual Design and Best Indie Game. These nominations are spot on. This game was one of the most visually striking and innovative puzzle games I’ve ever played. Everything about this game is so much fun. The visuals are beautiful, the music is fantastic, and the puzzles are so much fun. If you haven’t played this game yet, you need to! Make sure you check out my full review and go play Viewfinder on Playstation or Steam! The game is currently $24.99 on both platforms and worth every penny.

Planet of Lana

Planet of Lana is up for Xbox Game of the Year, and I can’t think of a game more deserving. This is easily one of my favorite games of the year. it had a beautiful art style with a fantastic world, a wonderful story, and great mechanics. It also has one of the best sound tracks you will ever get to sit through. If you are looking for a fun and relaxing puzzle adventure game, you need Planet of Lana. Make sure you check out my full review. You can pick up Planet of Lana on Steam or Xbox for $19.99, or free if you have Game Pass.

gaming news

The Second Wave beta means we have more lore and playable heroes on the way!

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Beta Coming October 6th!

The Second Wave beta is just a week away, and I can’t wait to jump back in. I first tried Second Wave at GDC and got to play in the Alpha earlier this year. I loved this game so much that I am still following it closely, counting the days till I can log back into Armantia!

Second Wave is a free-to-play shooter coming to Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, IOS and Android Devices, and PC via Steam and STOVE. A release date hasn’t been announced, but I will keep you posted. The game will be cross-platform between consoles and PC, but mobile devices will have to play with each other to keep things fair. The game allows gamers to play as unique heroes as they fight in epic team battles over Armantia. I love the art and character design, but it might be a little heavy on the anime side for some folks. Art style shouldn’t matter when the game is this fun. Finally, Second Wave promises not to be pay-to-win. All monetization will exist within a cosmetic-only cash shop or battle pass. It’s not clear how they will handle hero unlocks, but I hope it’s not as predatory as Overwatch 2. 

The beta will run from October 6th to the 6th for Steam, Stove, and Xbox insider members only. This will be an open Beta. All you need to do is download the game during the beta period and play till your heart’s content. No announcements have been made about signing up through Xbox Insider yet. I recommend you join the official discord to stay up to date on all the updates.

As we gear up for the open beta, we got a few new characters teased as well as some lore for Ess’el. We have more lore on the way, but I just couldn’t wait another day for this update. If you’ve been enjoying these updates, make sure you like, comment, subscribe, and share this with your friends. 

Ess’el’s Backstory

Ess’el was the first hero I played as, and was the reason I fell in love with the game. Funnily enough, it was also the first choice for the two girls I played against. I don’t think I’ll main here because I love the support role too much, but she will always have a special place in my heart. Her back story just dropped, and it is as edgy and cool as you would have expected! She is a fun melee character that I am sure will see a lot of play.

Aegis

Here is a character we’ve seen briefly before. I love the dark and light motif. This is on the list of characters I am going to try to main. She will be playable in the open beta. The rest of the reveals will follow without much description because we only got the name drop so far.

Jemma

Spade Four

Jack