---

It's another day in the digital world. People and digimon roam the streets, playing mobile games, buying things at stores, talking with friends, and of course, falling victim to the occasional scam artist.

Yet not too far away from the main streets lies the local Tamer Union. An alliance of problem solvers made of many people and digimon. Lately, they've been overloaded with requests from people about an influx of bots posing as people, stealing and selling people's personal information, credit card numbers, selling shady programs, or spreading malware through shady links and websites. It's even gotten to the point where these bots are reporting fake problems, flooding the Tamer Union's inboxes and request forums. The Union's Tamers are running thin, and manpower is running low, as most have just been assigned to just clearing out the Union's inboxes of spam, or handling one of the many monotonous requests made by the victims of these bots. Fortunately for our local Union, a brand new pair of hires are here to lend a hand.

In a small room just by the main entrance, a lone, brown haired woman sat behind a desk, tending to a mountain of paperwork, likely false requests, and many pieces of mail. A tall Taomon stood nearby, organizing several documents into various filing cabinets, and pulling out files as requested. Both seemed mentally exhausted from their labors.

Just then, a bell rang as the door at the front of the building opened, and a brown-haired boy stepped through, accompanied by a short but animated Lunamon, who always seemed to be playing with something, or otherwise grooming herself. The young man approached the front desk, the woman on the computer behind it clacking away at the keys at a surprising pace. "Uh, Hello? My name is Joshua, I'm here to see Julia. I'm one of the new hires." The woman behind the desk let out a long sigh, though Joshua couldn't tell if it was from annoyance, exhaustion, or relief. She pointed to a set of chairs by the a door on the other side of the room. "I'll let her know you're here. Go sit down and she'll come get you soon. Probably." Joshua turned towards the chairs, noticing the room was empty of others except for himself, his Lunamon, and the front desk lady.

Nevertheless he made his way over to the chairs, His Lunamon, Rio, walking shortly behind. They both took their seats, Rio, swinging her short legs as they dangled off the ground, and Joshua leaning forward staring at the white tile floor as he began waiting for the door next to him to open.

Kuro sniffed at the air in the building. He was uneasy in places like this. He was at home in the forests and jungles, not in buildings like the Tamers Union. He was nervous, and that made Yuri nervous. X-Antibody Digimon were notoriously quick to fight, especially when they relied more on instinct than their standard counterparts. Yuri rested a hand on Kuro's head. She could feel the energy beneath his warm, leathery skin.

"Easy... easy..." she murmured. "You're fine. Nobody's a threat here."

Kuro snorted. "Sure?" The Digimon's speech was simple and almost childlike.

"You trust me, don't you?" Yuri scratched beneath the Digimon's chin.

"Kuro always trusts Yurimon." The Digimon let out a purr.

"Stay close to me. No attacking unless I say so."

"Okay, Yurimon." Yuri opened up the message that had been sent to her. One of the perks of being in the Digital World like this was little hacks and mods that could be implemented, like being able to set a waypoint on a world map. This particular waypoint was for a specific office. Yuri made her way to the office before knocking on the door.

---

Joshua looked up as he heard the sound of a door being knocked on. He turned his head to the door next to him, instinctively to greet Julia. Only, that wasn't the door being knocked on. It was the front entrance. A mailman perhaps? No, wait, why would they have mailmen? This was the digital world. Everything was digital. Maybe it was a worker arriving late? Rio seemed excited at the prospect of someone new arriving, but Joshua held an arm out to remind her to stay seated.

The woman at the desk let out a deep sigh as her head drooped, and the clacking of keys came to an abrupt halt. She stood up, the chair she was sitting on rolling behind her as the wheels glided across the floor. It was only a few quick steps for her as she approached the door.

She pulled the door open, before looking down at the duo of a young looking white-haired girl, and a Black Augumom with red markings across it. She looked down disdainfully at the two. "Can I help you young lady? If you have a request, come on inside and..." she looked back at the desk she was working at with a dour expression. "...I'll help you get set up." she gestured towards the desk.

Yuri's expression dipped into a frown. At the very least, the woman hadn't assumed he was a boy like the Monitamon at the front desk. "My name is Tsuda Yuri. I'm here about the open position at this Tamer Union." She rested a hand on Kuro's head. No doubt the Digimon could sense her irritation. It was helpful that they were on the same wavelength. And yet...

She moved inside, glancing around the office. It was small, but a bit cluttered. A Taomon was helping with the work. In a pair of chairs sat a young man and his partner Digimon. What was that one again? A Lunamon? It looked so sweet and unassuming, but looks could be deceiving with Digimon, just as with people; the sweetest little Cutemon could be plotting something nasty, while the scariest Cerberumon could be nothing more than a big puppy.

Yuri took a seat in a spare chair, making sure to keep a little space between herself and the young man. Kuro sat on the floor beside her, his big green eyes following the woman intently, measuring her up. Was she friend? Foe? Snack? Kuro had to know.

---

The desk lady closed the door as she walked back to the desk, her shoes clacking on the bright and shiny tiled floor. "So you're the other new hire, huh? Alright I'll let her know you're here. She should come and get you and the boy here shortly. Probably." She sat back down as she began typing away at her keyboard once more.

Over at the other end of the room, Joshua and Rio looked over at the two new arrivals. There was some sort of black Agumon, but something seemed... different about it. The other was a young... girl? Joshua couldn't quite tell. She seemed awfully young, too. Was she really old enough to be working here? Rio, on the other hand, energetic as ever, was the first to take initiative, hopping off of her seat and making her way over to the nearby duo.

"Hello!" She gave a wave and her best smile. "My name is Rio! And that's my friend Joshua." she pointed over to the shaggy haired boy leaning forward in a nearby seat. He gave a quick, yet somewhat embarrassed wave towards them. "What are your names? Are you guys here for the Union job too? Are we going to work together? Are you guys--" Rio's voice would get cut off as Joshua's voice spoke over her. "Now, now, Rio, it's impolite to go bombarding people with questions like that. Why don't we give them a chance to answer, hmm?" He gestured towards the two.