Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

13) Space Between

The following weekend, Koushiro found himself standing outside a small building far from the prying eyes of most people in Odaiba. It was an area scarcely visited, and he glanced around out of curiosity. He didn't see anyone watching him, though he supposed that he should have expected this. 

The meeting had been Hiraku's idea. Koushiro had received an email from the man a few days prior, and the two agreed to meet at this particular location because they had to go over a few matters involving the recent cases of the Digimon attacks. Hiraku seemed to want to show something to Koushiro, and while he had no idea what the man could have been planning, Koushiro ultimately decided to play along in the end anyways. 

Of course, Koushiro had arrived early just to make sure that he didn't cause any issues by lagging behind. He stood outside of the building as he looked down at his watch. He didn't expect to be this nervous over a simple meeting, and yet, there he was. Hiraku would likely be giving him the program then that would help him to track the Digimon that were crossing over the barrier to Earth. Koushiro was excited to have access to that, but he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it. After all, this was a strange place for Hiraku to arrange as a meeting location. Why not just have Koushiro come to his office within the large building that they had met at earlier in the week?

Koushiro wasn't able to think more about this before Hiraku came into view, a smile on his face. "Good morning, Koushiro," Hiraku greeted. His bright eyes made it seem as if he was a child in a candy store rather than an adult about to meet about an extremely important. "Thank you for agreeing to come and see me here. We have much to discuss, but first, I believe we should go inside." Hiraku gestured to the nearby building before opening the door, allowing Koushiro to enter first. Koushiro thanked him quietly before Hiraku trailed after him. 

"What is this place?" Koushiro questioned as he glanced around. There weren't any people within the space, but the overhead lights were on. The entryway of the building was open and elaborate, something that Koushiro hadn't expected given how isolated it was from the rest of the area. Nobody seemed to dare to draw near to the building, and yet, it was fully functional on the inside. 

"This is the building that was meant to be the original base for the data bureau," Hiraku explained soon afterwards. "It wound up going unused because of how small it is compared to the space that wound up being needed in the end, but it's remained under the influence of the bureau in case we ever happen to need it. I decided that I wanted to ask for special permission to put it into effect once again, and that's why we're here."

Hiraku began to walk deeper into the building, and Koushiro found himself marveling at the space around him. It was incredible to see how complex the space was on the inside, and he smiled to himself. He wondered just what it was that Hiraku wanted from this building and him specifically, but he assumed that he would hear the answer soon enough. 

When Hiraku finally stopped, it was in front of a grand pair of doors. "This is going to be your new space," he replied. He pushed the doors open, and on the other side, a large office could be found. A trio of screens sat atop a desk at the far end of the room, and Koushiro's jaw dropped. There was a large screen mounted to the wall similar to what Hiraku had in his office, though the space lacked the bookshelves of Hiraku's area at the actual bureau building. 

"What?" Koushiro questioned as he looked up at Hiraku. His mind was already racing, and while he was sure that he had heard Hiraku correctly, he wanted to make sure before he jumped to any extra conclusions. 

"You see, there isn't any extra space at the actual data bureau building for your team, so I decided that I would see about lending you this space throughout the duration of your current mission," Hiraku explained. "You're a curious young man, Koushiro. I believe that this would do you all a great favor, and this space has much more power than your laptop. It's a nice and efficient base as well."