A Lost Factor

Chapter 17-Association By Relation

Jasmine spent a few minutes looking for more articles on the Japanese digidestined, trying to find any more information. Were the two groups fighting? None of the articles that were in English understood anything, and the computer couldn't read Japanese. She suddenly remembered the emails, and rushed to read them.

--To: D-3@Dterm.digi.com
--From: dnsteele@aplezu.com
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--Number one, did you realize you forgot your laptop? Stupid. And now that you're gone and things are nuts here, your friends at the DigiReal Station want me to work there now after school. Wonderful. Not that I know anything, they're just buried in work and boring stuff. And all the random attacks, it's dangerous. Good luck surviving if you're at the center of the insanity.
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--Donald Nick "Not Donick" Steele

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--To: D-3@Dterm.digi.com
--From: llsteele@aplezu.com
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--Jasmine, how are you? You're being safe, right? I've yet to find a proper news channel on TV, but I've been checking the news online. It appears that Acamina isn't that dangerous as we are here. Those digimon/human pairs have been attacking, causing more trouble for everyone here. While your friends from the DigiReal Station haven't been the one causing trouble, they haven't been successful in stopping it.
--How are things physically there? Do you have everything you need? How are your friends, or have you been able to find them? If possible, please reply soon, or call, or anything. Although returning here is a bad idea right now. Due to all the attacks, they'd prefer for people to evacuate instead of come. But stay safe, be careful, and communicate.
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--Love, Mom.

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--To: D-3@Dterm.digi.com
--From: hwasiku@Digireal.com
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--Jasmine,
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--At the moment, we are unaware of what is happening in Acamina, and most likely vice versa. However, we do need to establish communication, this is something we had not planned very well. There have been new, different tamers randomly attacking different areas of Tokyo, but for the most part, Takato and the others have been able to prevent most serious problems. This isn't anything you should worry about too much, but still something you should be aware of, correct?
--When possible, you should try to provide us with some sort or physical mailing address, so we can try to contact you, or if needed, mail things to you.
--One final note-You seem to understand what has been going on with the dimensions better than we thought we did. Not everyone is accepting the theories that we've been investigating, especially ones that are primarily based on the children's testimonies and evidence from 3 years ago. When you have a chance, would it be possible to send any information you have on this dimensional fusion? Even if you don't have a degree in this, your actual employment here might be enough credibility, besides your own testimony which is mostly unavailable at this current time. This would be greatly appreciated.
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--Dr. Hirosu Wasiku

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Attached to Dr. Wasiku's email was a list of questions and where to email replies to. She printed out the emails, and logged out of the computer. She went over to the bookstore, which was just around the corner from Lavender Hall. There, she got several envelopes, stamps, a note book, and a couple pens. Since she wasn't sure how much computer access she might have over the time she'd be in Acamina, physical communication was best. It's not like she had anything to hide.

Just as Jasmine paid for those goods, spending the last of her money, she noticed someone she thought she knew staring at her. Looking at the person, an Asian girl, she didn't really know who she was, so Jasmine quickly left the book store and headed to the bus area to leave.

In the bus area, she found that she had just missed the bus, and leaving her here for about half an hour. As she sat down and started to write a letter to her mom, the girl walked up to her. "Hey, aren't you Brandy's friend?" she asked.

Jasmine kept repetitively yelling at herself for not knowing who this was, despite remembering her somehow. At least she was certain that she wasn't a digidestined. "Do I know you?" she replied, nodding.

"Maybe. Jenni and Brandy knew me really. I just know you're one of their friends," the girl replied. Jasmine kept remembering the Gotsumon's accusations due to association. "I'm Mai Lee, one of their old high school and college friends."

Jasmine almost smiled in relief; this wasn't an enemy, just a normal college person. "I'm Jasmine, their friend from...random associations. The cousin of the best friend of one of their DnD friends," she said, using her typical explanation to normal, non-dimensional people. It was weird trying to think how normal people would talk; she'd been involved in dimensions too long.

"Howdy," another voice said, and Jasmine turned to see another person walking up to her. This girl she did know as one of her old college classmates, a dark skinned girl named Kiera Shening. "Where've you been?"

"I had to return home. Probably won't be able to attend class for a while though." Jasmine replied, hoping she wouldn't have to explain. Kiera was one of Jenni's good college friends; Mai one of Brandy's. Was telling them what was really going on a good idea?

Kiera sat down on the bench, smirking. "Ahh, working on your dimensional stories?" Mai looked at her confused, as Jasmine closed the notebook.

"Not stories, my theories, which seem to be proving themselves true." Jasmine replied, looking around. The whole time she'd been at the college, there hadn't been a single digimon anywhere. "I highly disapprove of how it's happening though. The world's aren't meant to be this way."

"Wait, what?" Mai asked, now very confused. "Do you mean you know about the monsters?"

"Yeah, the digimon," Jasmine said, about to open her notebook to try to draw one of her dimensional maps, but decided against it, knowing not everyone understood her maps; she didn't always understand them. "The technological worlds, like this one, have a sort of other world, created due to the digital information, internet, and similar stuff. The digimon live there. But the two worlds have been fused together, and this isn't right. Dimensions aren't meant to be together." She paused, thinking of how inverted that was of what Jenni often said, that friends are meant to be together.

"O-kay..." Kiera said, not sounding at all convinced. "Anyway, how's your sister?"

Both Jasmine and Mai stared at Kiera. Mai turned to Jasmine. "You never said you had a sister. Does she go here?"

Jasmine shook her head. "I don't..."

"Sister, twin, dimensional copy, whatever you two call yourselves. Jenni Harris." Kiera explained.

Jasmine sighed. She'd forgotten that she told Kiera the whole parallel theory when Kiera had started saying that because Jenni and Jasmine looked too similar to not be twins, despite different backgrounds, names, and personalities. She glanced over to Mai, now looking at Jasmine in a questioning tone. "We aren't related, we're parallel. The dimension's aren't perfectly parallel though, otherwise we would be identical, which would get confusing....especially now, with our two dimensions fused..."

"I'm lost...." Mai said, and her pocket started beeping. She pulled out her cellphone, and pushed a button. "Great, my alarm. I gotta go, I have an appointment to go to. Advising for next semester's classes. Anyway, can you tell Brandy to call me, I haven't gotten ahold of her in a while, and haven't seen her in class either."

Jasmine shook her head. "Um, I probably won't be able to get ahold of her any better, plus the fact that...since we have different views on the dimensional and digital issues, she probably won't want to talk to me much anyway. But it was nice seeing you."

Mai shook her head, not understanding or believing Jasmine's excuse. "Uh huh. Bye." She quickly headed back towards Maple Hall, where the academic advising offices were.

"You really need to get back in reality," Kiera told her, as Jasmine started writing the letter again. "How many people even believe your stories?"

"Digidestined. People who've dealt with digimon. Others involved in dimensional theories. Most people in Japan. Anyone working at the DigiReal Station." Jasmine mindlessly listed, getting stuck on the letter. The people she'd just explained were in a more dangerous digital situation than she was now, but she was needed here to stop the cause of the problem.

"Kay...so what's that mean? How do you fix this dimensional problem you think exists?" Kiera asked.

Jasmine looked up from the letter. "I can't completely prove the parallel dimensions being fused without proper evidence, although I'll try to find it. The digital worlds being here is easily seen, with all the digimon around. I suppose if looking for real world places in places they shouldn't be, that could prove it. But I don't know how to fix it, but I will. I've promised too many people I would."

Kiera shook her head. "Okay...good luck with that." She stood up. "Anyway, my bus is here, so, gotta go. You have my number, right? Call me some time, although can't help ya with the dimensional stuff."

"It's more of a digidestined, or friends of digidestined, problem. But it was nice seeing you again."

"Uh huh, same here, bye." Kiera said, going to the newly arrived bus. That bus left a couple minutes later, as Jasmine went back to writing the letter. Her own bus came soon, right on time. She got on, and fell asleep.