[First image of a dark nose sniffing excitedly. What sounds like a young girl's voice by human standards speaks quietly.]

This should work....

[Then the screen shakes a little and refocuses on a Gaomon, a dog-like Digimon. She's smiling brightly.]

My Master finally fell asleep, he had a rough day, just arrived--!

[But she sounds excited.]

So, I wanted to make him tea, but I don't know what I should give him with the tea. Does anyone here know what would go well with tea, any recipes--?

[This Gaomon is interrupted by the quick click of heels.]

Gaia--no, Gaomon--

[New speaker with a particular growl in his voice is still off-screen.]

[The dog Digimon looks up, away from the screen.]

You can call me Gaia if you want--OH, I thought you were napping, Master--!

I've told you not to call me that! Just 'Starscream' is fine. And what are you doing?

Um....

[The screen moves slightly as it seems to slide to the side, with only about half of this Gaomon or Gaia visible.]

Nothing!

Uh huh.

[Starscream sounds unconvinced.]

[ Wally is currently in Roaming Park with Neku and Cam where things are considerably less on fire than in the kitchen. He's still not sure how they managed to burn eggs. He's trying to stand away from them at the moment, though, because he doesn't want to ruin the surprise. ]

Alright, I know most of the ladies here aren't really old enough for this occasion, but, just in case there are any mothers here, I wanted to give a shout out to all of you and all the moms back home (even though they won't see this...). Thanks for putting up with us, we couldn't have made it this far without you.

That being said... I wanna dedicate this post to Commander Shepard.

Well, me, Neku, and Cam, and I guess anyone else who looks up to her, too. We all really appreciate all you've done for us here. And even though, you know, things have been kinda patchy between me and you, the fact that you haven't totally written me off or given up on me means a lot.

Sooo...

[ He turns the camera to reveal Neku and Cam sitting on a blanket with little sandwiches and other snacky food. Thankfully Wally had intercepted their attempt at baking. ]

Ta-da! We made you a picnic. It's a thing I do with my mom and my aunt back home every year, so I figured it'd be nice to do one here for you, too. Also Neku and Cam nearly destroyed the kitchen with their cooking, so... this was safer. Plus fresh air!

Anyway, we're in Roaming Park. I guess if anyone else wants to come, they can too? We just don't have that many sandwiches...

[ He looks a little unsure, shrugs, then cuts the feed. ]

[The feed turns on, showing Alexandria slumped over in bed with her arm still heavily bandaged, fussing with her D-Terminal.]

No, god damn it, I wanted audio, not video.

Come on, it's not that hard.

If you haven't noticed, I'm down one arm and you don't have hands. Fuck it, this will work.

[She sighs and leans back, and actually starts addressing the terminal.]

So, my partner here and I have been talking. It turns out when she's not busy throwing a tantrum, she's actually pretty smart herself, and I've been getting information about how Digimon work from her. Their life cycle is actually pretty fascinating.

According to her, there are seven main stages of their life. Egg, Baby, Baby II, Child, Adult, Perfect, Ultimate. She also mentioned some sort of "legendary Super-Ultimate" that she'll turn into one day. I'm pretty sure this is about as valid as the little boys on the playground who say they know kung-fu-

Shut the hell up, I'll definitely make it!

-But I thought it was worth mentioning, just in case. The process that makes them advance a stage is called "evolution" (even though it's just a fucking metamorphosis, I'd like to get my hands on whoever fucking named this shit) and seems to require vast amounts of energy. As far as I can tell, these Digimon naturally store the energy as they live, and reach the next stage after having lived and battled. After reaching a stage, they stay there without regressing; We've got, for example, that Lilymon lady, who's supposed to be a Perfect level.

Which brings me to the important point: It looks like, so far, all of these so-called "chosen" Digimon are of the Child level, spontaneous pointless changes aside-

I told you that wasn't my fault!You humans are the ones responsible for our evolution, you must have screwed up!

-Ahem. My partner pointed out that it seems no "chosen" Digimon is of a higher level than the Child level, causing me to think that the temporary evolutions we allow them drain them of the energy they store to progress naturally. In other words, our "help" is actually hindering and actively stunting the growth and maturity of our Digimon. Temporary strength in exchange for prolonged weakness. It's possible our presence is actually harmful to our partners.

Or, that's just the current theory, I don't have enough information to confirm one way or the other. But I think it's something worth considering and investigating. If anyone else has anything relevant to add, I'd like to hear it.

This is how you work it--

[ The feed starts rolling to show a large pair of crimson eyes. The scene shifts with a small "h-hey!" as the D-Terminal is shoved into the hands of a man with light blond hair. He looks from his partner to the device and sighs. ]

I'm crazy.

[ He's gone insane. That's the only rational explanation for all of this. Conrad Verner has finally, truly gone insane. ]

You're not crazy! Now, come on, introduce yourself!

[ While he really, really doesn't want to, the man takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. ]

Right. Okay. [ He looks at the D-Terminal with a solemn expression. He wanted his omni-tool back. ] Uhm. Hello. Everyone? My name is Conrad Verner. I, uh... I'm from the Citadel and I'm very, very confused right now.

See? Was that so hard? Now give me that! [ There's another protest from Conrad but now Veemon is center stage and smiling into the camera. ]

And I'm Veemon! You can call me Veemon! It's nice to meet you all!

Whistle while you work~ Whistle while you wooooork~!

[The feed opens to show a D'Arcmon singing happily to herself while she strolls casually through some of the debris from the Beemon attack. Every so often she twirls her sword in one hand and uses it to skewer a wooden plank or some other piece of trash, which she promptly deposits into a trash bag. Looks like someone here is hard at work]

[After a few moments of this, the Digimon twirls on her foot and waves at the D-Terminal]

Kyoukooooo~! I think I'm almost done over here!

[The voice that speaks next is much more even and calm, clearly Kirigiri's]

Your form may have changed, but your personality certainly stayed the same. . .

Well, duh! [D'Arcmon puffs out her chest proudly] Underneath these awesome wings and armor is the same old lovable Labramon that you adore, right?

I'm not certain 'adore' is the right word. [Kirigiri replies wryly] And it's good to know that form has more uses than just fighting.

Obviously! [Unfazed by Kirigiri's dry response (which the Digimon had gotten used to over the past month) she turns on her heel and starts picking up trash with her sword again] Whistle while you work. . . ~

[The camera feed swims for a moment before it settles on Kirigiri again. She. . . looks like she's spent the majority of the day outside, cleaning up debris without a shower. There's dust smudged all over her cheeks and some of her hair is sticking up in odd places, but she doesn't seem interested in commenting on her slightly unkempt appearance. No. . . instead, she launches into other business first]

I still have many questions to ask in my pursuit of information concerning this world and its inhabitants, but I'll start with one that I should have asked immediately upon arrival: has anyone noticed a pattern in people who are drawn here? Are there any similarities shared between us? I have yet to notice a pattern myself, especially with how diverse this group is. And I doubt my observational skills have failed me here.

[She lifts a gloved hand and brushes a few strands of hair behind her ear]

I assume there isn't one; Chosen Children are brought here based on a completely random selection process. It pays to be careful, however, and I'd like to hear a little bit about you as individuals to make comparisons. Maybe there's something we're missin--

[But Kirigiri is cut off by a wad of paper trash suddenly colliding with her head. For a moment, that even expression flickers to surprise, and the camera tilts to show D'Arcmon laughing in the background]

Gotcha!