Jade White was an average 12-year-old, born into a family of scientists. He and his older brother Zack lived in a rather large complex operated by their parent’s organization, The Reserve. Currently, Jade was having lunch, while Zack was helping someone with some research. After finishing lunch, he would head back to his room to play some video games. He would do so for a couple of hours before getting tired. As he was heading to have dinner, he was stopped by a passing scientist.

“Hey kid, I have a question.” The scientist would ask.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Do you ever get jealous of your brother getting to help us often?”

“Sometimes, though I don’t think much of it. After all, I’m only 12.” He answers.

“Well, I’ve been needing a helper, and your brother doesn’t seem to like me much, always reassigning when he’s paired up with me. If you would follow me, it won’t take very long.”

“I guess I could help quickly. I’ve always wanted to prove to him I could be a helper too! One question, do you have any snacks I could have while helping?” Jade asks.

“I understand that desire to prove yourself. Also yes, I have some snacks.”

“Okay, lead the way.”

The two of them would make their way down a few halls and into a small laboratory. He would look around in wonder, seeing all the machines and devices whirring away, perhaps calculating or analyzing data. Towards the back of the room was a window, with another room behind it. Inside the room was a chair with a few devices attached to it. The scientists in the lab were attending the main console just in front of the window. They all seemed a bit tense, not that Jade could tell. He was given some chips and a club sandwich for the time being. He would eat it while it looked like the scientists were preparing some sort of program, judging by the various computer screens showing different loading bars.

“Are you ready to help me, little one?” the head scientist would ask.
“Of course! I want to be just like my brother.” Jade would reply excitedly.

He would lead him into the room, having him sit down in the chair, attaching a few straps to secure him in place.

“Are the straps necessary?” Jade would ask, starting to get a little nervous.

“Yes, I can’t have you moving while we run the test.” He would reply, quickly leaving the room and locking the door behind him.

At this point, Jade was starting to regret agreeing to help them, his nervousness spiking up quickly. Though none of his pleas for help or asking what they’re doing would reach the scientist on the other side of the glass.

“Begin Sequence one” A voice would say over the loudspeaker.

He would then feel his body go all tingly and num, as images would flash before his eyes, too quickly to tell what they were other than some of the colors being different shades of gray, and blue. He would start getting a headache as the images would continue to flash for another minute. By the end of it all, His head would hurt, his vision blurry and his ears ringing. His skin was covered in sweat, he felt like he’s been sick for a week straight.

“Sequence one successful. Begin sequence two.”

His headache would become twice as painful, as a strong jolt of pain would shoot throughout his body, as he goes limp. His view of the room being replaced with a completely different location. It looked like something out of a video game. The ground, while green, looked like a circuit board, along with just about everything else, the sky looking like a grid. He looked around, not seeing much else around him. Though he felt different somehow, He would look at his hands to see they were anything but. They had changed completely, with them being gray, with some azure patterns on the back. His fingers had been replaced with three large claws, cobalt blue in color. The palm of his hand had what looked like a paw pad, though they looked rather flat, the same color as the patterns on the back of his hand, or whatever it was now. 

He looked down to where his feet were and saw they were also gray, with two claws at the front, and what looked like one at the back. As Jade was trying to figure out why he looks different, he stumbled back accidentally while trying to inspect his feet, giving him a view of his body. He looked down to see his belly was white, with a strange symbol on it. He eventually realized that it was The Reserve’s main logo, colored azure like the rest of the patterns. He also noticed that he has what looks like a tail, with a single ring close to its base, also colored azure. He was able to move it a bit, using it to help him get back up. Standing there, he saw what looked like a small pond not too far from him. 

So, he would walk towards it, only stumbling a little bit. As he looked down at it his confusion would only rise further. Looking back at him was what he recognized as a Digimon, specifically Guilmon, however the colors were vastly different. He put the pieces together and realized this is what he looks like. This would only rase more questions. What were these scientists doing that could possibly involve a character from a TV show. More pieces of the puzzle fell into place as he noticed that the world he was currently in would fit perfectly in the show. He imagined some of the other characters from that show running around and doing stuff. As he was figuring all of this out, outside in the real world his body had begun to change a little.

“Sequence two successful. Begin third and final sequence.”

By now, his brother was looking for him, as no one had seen Jade for hours, he was last spotted entering his room. Zack and a few staff would look around before announcing throughout the complex that Jade had gone missing. Eventually they would find where he was, but the scientists had made sure nobody could get in, having welded the door shut and barricaded themselves in there. The banging on the door would be ignored. 

Back in the digital realm, Jade would find himself wandering around, before stumbling upon what looked like a store. Peering inside revealed it to be full of digivices. He would enter and notice a sign saying to choose one, so after going up and down the aisles, seeing the ones from the first series to ones he didn’t even recognize. There would be one way in the back that would stand out to him. It was a gauntlet version. It had three buttons, colored black, while the main body was colored a grayish blue. It had a ring of symbols, colored a bit lighter than the body, with another ring surrounding the golden display, colored lighter than the previous one. Jade would end up choosing this one, as he went to the counter to get it, he noticed there was nobody there. So, he decided to just strap it on. As he did so, he felt a surge of energy travel throughout his body, he assumed it was the digivice linking up with him.

After putting it on, the world around him would start to disappear, where he would then find himself back in the room he started in, still trapped in the chair. Through the window, he saw some sort of fight going on in the control room, as various machines were unplugged or destroyed. Perhaps it was why the world he was in suddenly faded. He suddenly heard a beep and a small vibration on his wrist, looking down to see he had truly changed, deciding to worry about his body being changed later, he looked at the digivice to see it had downloaded a backup of the world. At least the world had been saved, he would think to himself. He heard the door forced open as a squad of security came in, guns ready. Jade would look at them with fear, before remembering he probably has some powers since he’s been transformed into a guilmon. Before either of them can attack each other, Zack walks in and tells them to stand down. He looks at Zack, he seems familiar, but he can’t figure out why. Throughout the process of transformation, along with the sudden destruction of all the equipment, Jade’s memory had been lost.

“Jade! Are you alright? Speak to me!” Zack would frantically say.

“Jade?” He would simply reply, confused by who he was talking about.

“You don’t remember me, do you Jade?” Zack would shakily say, tears forming in his eyes.

Jade just shook his head, watching as Zack runs out of the room quickly, before seeing the security raise their rifles. However, he doesn’t feel worried, as he manages to break out of the restraints, and while dodging shots, knock them all out. Assuming that everyone there would try and kill him, he manages to escape, hiding in one of the semi’s leaving the complex, eventually hopping out and finding himself alone at night, not sure where he even is anymore. Before he could run anywhere, he would hear the honk of a horn behind him. Turning around, he would see an SUV pulled over, colored red, with its headlights pointed right at him. He thought about running, but as he was about to, someone steps out of the vehicle and approaches him slowly.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you. In fact, I wish to help you… whatever you are. Please, trust me.” 

“How can I be sure I can trust you?” He asks them.

“We’ll talk more in the car, just get in.” They reply.

Knowing that he can always just take them out as well if they try anything, Jade gets in, just barely managing to fit in the back. As the vehicle begins to move, they continue to talk.

“My names Ryan, I’m not quite sure what you are, but I can tell you need somewhere to hide.”

Jade would simply nod, not wishing to reveal too much just yet. The rest of the ride would be quiet, though while he was idly looking at himself, a word came to mind.

“Cobalt…” Jade would say in his head for a minute, assuming that it must be his name.

Now with a new name, he would tell Ryan.

“Hello! My name is Cobalt. Nice to see you.”

“Nice to see you too buddy, I hope you’ll enjoy staying with me as a roommate.”

“Roommate?” Cobalt would ask, confused.

“It is when two people share a room together, and since my house doesn’t have that many rooms, you’ll have to sleep alongside me. I hope that doesn’t bother you, Cobalt.” Ryan would answer.

“Okay!” Cobalt would reply, a bit excited about this new concept.

The two of them would arrive home, pulling into the garage. Cobalt would manage to get out, stretching a bit afterwards as he was a bit cramped in there, before entering the house with Ryan. He looked around, seeing various things, like the kitchen, living room, etc. He would find the couch and flop down onto it, finding it to be rather comfortable for him.

“I bet you’re hungry, would you like anything to eat?” Ryan asks, “I’ve got pizza in the fridge if you’d like.”

“Pizza?” Cobalt asks, confused once again, “What’s a pizza?”

“Well, allow me to show you then.”

Ryan pulls some leftover pizza out of the fridge and reheats a couple of slices on a plate in the microwave. Afterwards he brings the plate over for Cobalt to try. He sniffs it a little before nibbling a piece off. Finding it to be tasty, he quickly devours the rest. Asking if there is more of this pizza, Ryan goes to reheat the rest. Having already eaten, he gives it all to Cobalt who happily eats it. It seems it was enough to keep Cobalt full, for now anyways. He would lay back against the couch, softly sighing, happy that he had found a new food that he likes.

“You must be tired after all that pizza, allow me to show you a more comfortable place to lay down.”

Cobalt would follow Ryan into his bedroom, where the two of them would lay down. Ryan would also introduce Cobalt to a thing called the internet, and various videos and shows along with it. Eventually the two of them would get tired and call it a night.

“Goodnight Cobalt.” Ryan would say, softly petting him, which he seemed to like.

“Goodnight Cobalt.” He would reply, repeating what he said.

“Heh, silly Cobalt. I say that, and you say Goodnight Ryan.”

“Goodnight Ryan” Cobalt would simply say.

The two of them would end up cuddled against each other before falling asleep for the night.
