Chapter 23: 0 and 1—The Underlying Principles of All Data
"What?! You're saying Devimon's subordinates were hiding in the Village of Beginnings?"
Sparks crackled violently through Elecmon's spiky red fur. He let out an incredulous gasp, his small eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as the intelligence Mizuki brought back finally registered.
"Oh, those bastards! How dare they pull a stunt like this!" Elecmon stomped his paws into the dirt, electricity arcing around his tails. "Mizuki, where are those guys you mentioned? Hurry up and take me there!"
"Relax, Elecmon."
Looking at the impatient, bristling Digimon, Mizuki offered a calming smile. He patted Elecmon gently to ground the static charge, then pointed a finger toward a path not too far away.
"Those guys have already been caught by Taichi. He's bringing them over right now."
"Huh? Taichi?"
The children, who had been resting nearby, all turned their heads simultaneously at the mention of the name.
Kari immediately scrambled to her feet and ran straight up to Mizuki, her small face pale with worry. "My brother isn't hurt, is he?"
"No, no. Not at all." Mizuki chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "If anything, Taichi gave those Phantomon a completely one-sided beating."
Saying this, Mizuki raised his arm and waved at the figure marching down the path. "Isn't that right, our great hero?"
"Eh heh heh, I'm not as amazing as you make it sound, Mizuki."
Hearing the praise, Taichi scratched his cheek with a sheepish grin. But a second later, he cleared his throat, slapped on a highly exaggerated, serious expression, and shouted at the bound Phantomon floating miserably behind him.
"Hurry up and move!" Taichi barked, pointing dramatically. "Tell us everything! Leniency for those who confess, strict punishment for those who resist!"
"Wuu wuu wuu..."
Under Taichi's fierce glare, the cluster of Phantomon whimpered pitifully, floating sluggishly in the direction he indicated. Their spectral chains clinked with every movement.
"So bitter, so bitter..."
"So hard, so hard..."
"Why is our fate so bitter?"
"Why is our lives so hard?"
"We are clearly Champion Level Digimon, so why couldn't we even beat a mere Rookie Level Agumon and a human brat..."
"Ying ying ying..."
Listening to the giant, grim-reaper-like ghosts sobbing like toddlers, Taichi raised a single eyebrow. "Are you crying?"
He crossed his arms. "Crying counts as time wasted too, you know! Keep moving!"
The sharp reprimand startled the Phantomon so badly they nearly tripped over their own floating cloaks, hurriedly drifting over to where Elecmon was waiting with crackling fists.
While Elecmon immediately began his aggressive interrogation of the weeping ghosts, Kari hurried over to Taichi. She looked him up and down, her brow furrowed in deep concern. "Brother, how could you do something so dangerous?"
She grabbed his arms, turning him slightly to inspect for injuries. "You didn't get hurt anywhere, did you?"
As Kari thoroughly checked him over, Taichi let out an awkward but fond laugh. "Of course not. Kari, didn't you hear what those Phantomon were just crying about?"
He flexed an arm proudly. "I gave them a good beating!"
"Me too! Me too, you know!"
Agumon happily bounced around Taichi's legs, puffing out his yellow chest to claim his share of the glory.
After confirming that Taichi was indeed completely unharmed, the other children gathered around, their attention shifting entirely to the sheer absurdity of the situation. How had he actually managed to defeat a group of Phantomon?
"First Big Brother Mizuki, and now Big Brother Taichi..." Takeru's envious gaze darted back and forth between the two older boys.
Clearly, a child his age was right at the stage where he yearned to become a superhero. His eyes practically sparkled with admiration.
"Could it be that Big Brother Mizuki secretly gave Big Brother Taichi private martial arts lessons?"
"Nothing of the sort."
Hearing Takeru's wild theory and immediately noticing Kari's scrutinizing gaze shifting toward him, Mizuki quickly waved his hands in denial. "I absolutely did not give Taichi private lessons."
He sighed, offering a dry smile. "Besides, shouldn't you guys ditch that stereotype that all Chinese people secretly know kung fu?"
However, just as Mizuki finished speaking, Taichi walked over and casually draped a heavy arm over Mizuki's shoulder, pulling him into a friendly half-hug.
"Aiya, Mizuki, why are you being so modest?" Taichi grinned broadly. "You clearly are amazing, aren't you?"
He patted Mizuki's shoulder. "Although you didn't teach me kung fu or anything like that, the reason I'm so powerful right now is entirely thanks to you."
"Eh!?"
Hearing this, the children all gasped in collective surprise, their eyes widening.
Just as Mizuki opened his mouth to explain what Taichi actually meant, he noticed Kari. The young girl was standing perfectly still, her large eyes fixed silently on him.
'...''Big Brother Mizuki and my brother only just met, right? Why did they suddenly become so close?' Kari thought to herself.
For some reason, Kari felt a strange, stifling sensation tighten in her chest. It wasn't anger, but rather a sudden feeling of being left out, watching her beloved older brother act so chummy with someone else.
Although this feeling was uncomfortable, the well-behaved girl didn't voice her complaints. She only stepped forward and leaned silently against Taichi's side.
It was as if only this physical proximity could alleviate the strange emotion bubbling in her heart.
Interestingly, Taichi's instincts flared. He vaguely sensed the shift in the atmosphere.
Although he didn't know exactly what Kari was thinking, he realized immediately that his little sister wasn't happy. Without missing a beat, he reached down and quietly squeezed her small hand.
There were no unnecessary words, only action.
And just like that, Kari's mood instantly improved. The stifling feeling vanished, chased away by Taichi's seemingly unintentional, yet perfectly timed gesture of reassurance.
The deep tacit understanding and unbreakable bond between the siblings were fully displayed in this silent, fleeting exchange.
Just as Taichi and Kari were having their quiet sibling interaction, Mizuki finally managed to steer the conversation back on track, bringing his explanation to a close.
", that's how it happened." Mizuki gestured toward Taichi. "His willpower triggered a reaction."
"Just fighting Leomon and the others made him like this?" Sora asked, blinking in confusion.
"That doesn't make any sense, does it?" Matt added, crossing his arms.
The children exchanged skeptical glances, entirely unsure of what to say. It sounded too much like a fantasy novel.
However, Takeru was getting restless. He bounced on his heels, his fists clenched in excitement. If Matt hadn't been keeping a firm grip on the back of his collar, the little boy probably would have run off to pick a fight with Leomon right then and there to test the theory.
"Actually, it can't be said that it makes absolutely no sense."
Suddenly, Izzy, who had been silent for a long time while staring at the dirt, spoke up. His voice immediately drew everyone's attention.
"Izzy, did you figure something out?" Mizuki asked, his eyes lighting up.
Regarding the boy he internally dubbed as Taichi's external brain, Mizuki highly valued Izzy's sheer intelligence.
Izzy did not disappoint him. After organizing his thoughts for a brief moment, he looked up and began to explain. "Classmate Mizuki, didn't you say earlier that this world is a world composed entirely of data?"
Mizuki nodded.
"I was thinking," Izzy continued, tapping his chin. "Since Digimon can grow stronger by absorbing the data of other Digimon, can we humans do the same?"
"But we humans are different from Digimon." Mimi tilted her head, voicing her immediate confusion. "They are made of data, but we aren't. We're flesh and blood."
"Regarding that..."
Izzy glanced at Mimi, then shifted his gaze deliberately toward Mizuki's right leg.
"Actually, my hypothesis is somewhat related to Classmate Mizuki." Izzy pointed. "Do you all remember Classmate Mizuki's leg? It was completely healed by Angewomon."
The children listened to Izzy's words, looked down at Mizuki's perfectly fine leg, and then looked up at LadyDevimon, who was standing silently by his side as always.
"Since a Digimon's technique can repair our human bodies, doesn't that suggest that after we arrived in this world, our bodies underwent a certain degree of digitalization?" Izzy reasoned, his eyes gleaming with intellectual curiosity. "After all, this could be considered one of the fundamental operating laws of this world. We are data right now."
"Indeed, thinking about it from this perspective, it does seem reasonable." Sora thought for a moment, nodding slowly as she agreed with Izzy's speculation.
"But how did Taichi obtain that data?" Matt asked.
"It was Phantomon."
Just as Sora finished speaking, Kari took over the conversation, her voice soft but certain. "It was Phantomon."
She looked up at the group. "My brother and Agumon defeated many Phantomon when they fought together just now."
While saying this, Kari's gaze never left Taichi's face. "My brother's strength must have increased when they won."
"Exactly." Izzy nodded in agreement. "Even if the data provided by each individual Phantomon isn't much, it's not surprising that a qualitative change occurred once they gathered enough quantity."
Izzy adjusted his stance, slipping fully into his lecture mode. "After all, all network data, no matter how complex it appears on the surface, is ultimately composed of binary arrangements of 0 and 1."
Hearing Izzy's words, Mizuki subconsciously widened his eyes. His breath hitched.
Although he knew the basic concept of 0 and 1, he had always subconsciously overlooked it because it was such mundane, everyday common knowledge in the human world.
But here? In a world literally built from the ground up by that very code?
Now that Izzy had brought it up, the implication hit Mizuki like a physical blow. He slowly turned his head, his eyes locking onto LadyDevimon.
"LadyDevimon... 0 and 1..." Mizuki muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Mizu, what's wrong?" LadyDevimon tilted her head, her crimson eyes blinking in confusion at his sudden intensity.
"0 and 1..."
Under LadyDevimon's puzzled gaze, Mizuki nodded, his mind racing at a million miles an hour. "That's right. All data is composed of the fundamental 0 and 1."
He took a step closer to her. "Whether it is Light or Darkness, neither can escape this absolute law."
"LadyDevimon."
Thinking of this, Mizuki couldn't help himself. He reached out and firmly grasped LadyDevimon's clawed hand.
"I'm thinking, maybe we got our approach completely wrong from the start."
He looked up into her eyes, his expression burning with newfound clarity. "Simply increasing the data volume to balance the opposing powers of Light and Darkness inside you is just a roundabout, brute-force way of solving the problem."
He squeezed her hand. "Ultimately, whether it's the holy power of Light or the corrupting power of Darkness, this data is just composed of the binary arrangement of 0 and 1."
Mizuki's voice grew steady, filled with absolute conviction. "This means we can completely master everything further by analyzing the arrangements of these two types of data. We don't need to balance the scales by adding more weight."
"When that happens, whether it's Darkness or Light, we can achieve perfect conversion simply by changing the data arrangement itself. We can rewrite the code."
A massive smile broke across Mizuki's face. "At that time, you won't need to worry about the balance of power inside you being broken and causing data corruption issues ever again. We can stabilize your digivolution permanently."
Listening to Mizuki's rapid-fire explanation, LadyDevimon was honestly a little confused by the technical jargon. But looking at the sheer joy and determination in his eyes, she instinctively felt she had grasped the core of what he meant. He had found a way to save her.
She nodded, looking like she half-understood the science but fully understood the sentiment, and offered Mizuki a look of pure, unadulterated admiration.
"As expected of Mizu! You figured it out!"
"No... it's actually embarrassing to say." Mizuki awkwardly waved his free hand, his cheeks flushing slightly at LadyDevimon's intense praise. "I completely suffered from the old saying. I guess it really is darkest right under the candlestick."
He let go of her hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "If Izzy hadn't mentioned that specific sentence just now, I don't know how long it would have taken me to realize all of this. It was right in front of me."
Saying this, Mizuki turned and nodded deeply toward the red-haired boy.
"Thanks, Izzy. Seriously."
"No, I didn't do anything special..."
Hearing Mizuki's earnest thanks, Izzy scratched his head shyly, his cheeks turning pink. "Classmate Mizuki, you already knew this concept perfectly well. I just served as a minor reminder."
"Yet, often, that minor reminder is precisely the one piece of the puzzle that's missing, isn't it?" Mizuki smiled warmly.
'...'
Watching Izzy and Mizuki converse with such mutual respect and high-level vocabulary, the other children present couldn't help but exchange utterly confused, blank stares.
Is this really something children should be talking about?
Why couldn't they understand a single word of that exchange?
Did the humans in their group secretly undergo their own digivolution without bringing the rest of them along?
In the end, completely unable to figure out the complex data theory being discussed right in front of them, Taichi, Matt, and the others could only let out a collective, defeated sigh.
Geniuses truly are unreasonable.
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