Alison wasn't sure how long she was blacked out for. All she was that one moment she unconscious, and the next...

"Alison! Wake up!"

Alison's eyes opened and her head snapped upwards, just in time to see the bus she was in whizzing straight for a building. She grabbed for the wheel and swerved the bus to the side, narrowing missing a crash. She then slammed her foot on the breaks and the bus came to a grinding halt.

"Phew..." Phascomon, the one who had awoken Alison, gave out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." She was still perched on Alison's shoulder, nails unsheathed and clawing into Alison's jacket.

"What the heck...?" Alison slumped back in the driver's seat, panting heavily for a few minutes before she felt that her heart would not end up ripping itself out of her chest. When she finally recovered, she glanced out the bus window, taking in scenery. "Where are we...?" She could see buildings, not too dissimilar from the ones in London but... they were warped. Some were ruins, like someone had ran a bulldozer right through them, others stretched and distort, some were greyed out unnaturally. And the sky...

The sky was black, yet it was still bright enough to see as if it were the day-time, and it was dotted with large green flecks of light which cast this warped cityscape in an eerie light.

Alison quickly got out of the driver's seat and ran out onto the street, checking her surroundings again.

"This really must be a dream," she muttered.

"I told you before, it's not a dream."

Alison swung round to find herself faced with a strange robotic creature about her size. Shape-wise, it resembled pictures of the Digimon Vademon, but it's organic form had been replaced with electronic. "Gah...!" she exclaimed, taking several steps back. She put her fists out in front of her. "Who... who are you!?" she demanded.

"Please don't do that," the robotic Digimon said with a sigh. It's voice was robotic, yet still possessed the emotional cues you'd expect from organic being. "Even if I were hostile, you would break you fist trying to punch me." 

"Who are you?" Alison said again. "What do you want?"

The robotic creature nodded its head slightly. "Good questions," he said. "Very good. But this is not the right place to ask them." He glanced around him all directions curiously. "Please. My other guests are waiting inside, hopefully regaining consciousness as we speak. I unfortunately couldn't teleport you here without teleporting the bus so I had to bring you out here. I apologize."

"Other guests?" Alison lowered fists. "I'm... not the only one here?"

"No," the robotic Digimon said. "Inside my lab..." He gestured to one of the few normal looking buildings near him. It looked like a hospital of some sorts. "There are other humans with Digimon partners."

"Others?" Alison said. Other humans who hadn't had their Digimon taken away. They existed? She had thought she was the only one, that Phascomon was the only Digimon left on Earth.

"Please, follow me," the Digimon said, and without another word, he made his way towards the building. 

Alison glanced at her surrounding, trying to see if there were any other possibilities.

"I suggest you hurry up," the Digimon spoke again without looking back. "Or the Kuramon and Tsumemon will find you."

Alison quickly followed after him. "Kuramon? Tsu... tsumemon?" she said.

"Yes," the Digimon said, pushing open the doors. Alison quickly followed him in. "They are weak Digimon by themselves, but in swarms they can be quite dangerous. Though, I'm less worried about them and more about their master."

Alison glanced around. It looked like a hospital on the inside too, very clean, a very large whole with several waiting area, counters and doors leading to other wards. There was even one of those soap dispensers near the entrance. The only thing that made it seem alien was that, besides the two of them, it was completely empty. "Am I... in the Digital World?" she asked, remembering the Digivice she had received, which she had put in her pocket before she had blacked out. It reminded her a lot of those stories she used to hear long before about a group of kids being sent to the Digital World. Had such a thing happened to her?

"Yes," the robotic Digimon said. "And no."

"... excuse me?"

The Digimon sighed heavily. "This place is the Digi-Quartz."

"Never head of it," Alison said.

"You wouldn't have," the Digimon said. "The Olympos XIII wanted to keep it a secret from you humans until we learned more about it. Think of it as sort of... purgatory, as it were, between your world and the Digital World."

"I... see," Alison said, though she really didn't. "And... you are?"

"My name is EBEmon," the Digimon, EBEmon, said. "I am a servant of Lady Minervamon, the Guardian of Wisdom, and she placed me here to gather information on this area. Very little is known about it."

"Ebe... mon," Alison said. "EBE... as in E-B-E?"

"That's right." He glanced at her. "I imagine you're putting the pieces together now."

"You were the one who sent those emails?" Alison said.

"I am."

"Why?"

EBEmon sighed. "Questions. Questions. Questions. You humans are full of them. I'd rather not repeat myself, so I'll wait until we have found the others," he said. "They should be in the Children's Ward. I thought it would be the most comfortable place for them to materialise." He started leading her towards one of the elevators. "It's upstairs." 

"How many of them are there?" Alison asked as she got into the elevator next to him.

"Eight humans besides you, each with a partner. Sixteen in total," EBEmon said. The elevator doors closed and he jabbed one of the buttons with a finger.

"Right," Alison said. The elevator started to move. Phascomon, who had been perched quietly on her shoulder this whole time, gave a loud yawn.

"Sleepy..." she muttered.

The elevator doors opened less than a minute later. 

"Follow me," EBEmon said and he exited the elevator. "I'll take you to them. The sooner you all get acquainted, the better."

"Alright," Alison said, the nervousness inside her growing. She followed EBEmon out the elevator, and the two made their way towards the Children's Ward.