"...Copycats?" was the only answer Makoto could offer to his fellow tourist who suddenly seemed very irritated with him all of a sudden. Why he was so suddenly frustrated was anyone's guess. Did Makoto have actual copycats on the internet? If he did, he never saw them, but maybe they only cropped up after the accident? He did leave the internet rather suddenly and had been gone for about two years now, so it was highly likely he missed something during that time. Yes, that had to be it, surely. Not that the guy actually gave Makoto any time to respond or defend himself. Instead he turned away with a huff and an instant later was on his phone.

As for Kuroda, who suddenly found himself under fire by questions from Haruka, he offered a smile and a semi-shrug of sorts, "It wouldn't have been much of a contest if everyone won the prize, now would it?" hadn't the letters specifically explained to his guests that they were randomly selected winners of a promotional contest? He was certain he included that information in the invitation, "And yes, my letters specifically promised you early access to this material, did it not? What kind of a businessman would I be if I made promises only to break them?" but then he shook his head and waved his hand in a dismissal gesture.

"But enough about marketing. I think it's about time we get down to the real reason you are all here." at this he picked up a stack of the unreleased cards and started shuffling through it, "Samantha-kun, if I could have some visual aids here?" the woman had been there all along but was so quiet that one would be forgiven for thinking she left the tour group at some point. She pushed a button on a remote and that seemed to lower a projection screen, the projector for which she then switched on so that she could cycle through images as they were needed. The first thing to appear was, of all things, the news about the Cyber Beast incident?

"I'm sure you've all heard of this incident in the news. The Cyber Beast, they call it. And I'm sure you all viewed the press release statement I made a mere two days after the fact, denying my company's involvement but promising to work toward solving the mystery." A security team then entered the room and handed the President a metallic briefcase that looked like it was locked tight. Meanwhile, Ms. Chase updated the projection to depict [i]other[/i] locations that appeared to have suffered attacks, "I'm afraid that the attack we all heard about may not have been first, and nor was it the last. Not if these images are anything to go by. Rather, it was the first attack that made it into the public conscious, while I presume the others were kept tightly under wraps in order to prevent a panic. This brings me to here, and now."

Ms. Chase clicked the image forward to the next one. It showed... an image of the Digimon Anime? Well, one of them anyway, featuring a group of the fictional kids standing alongside their Digimon partners. Without Kuroda giving any explanation, she clicked forward again, this time depicting an image of five D-Scanners, the phrase "Project Destiny" shown above them in large print, almost like a fanfare of some kind, "I give you... Project Destiny!" Kuroda gestured to the projected image before opening the locked briefcase and unveiling its contents: a set of five D-Scanners. However, they didn't really look any different from the normal ones, "For the first time in our world, humans and Digimon will be able to fight side by side. And who better to pioneer this trail than the select group of players who have the shown the most exemplary skill in the very game this technology was created from?"

Ms. Chase suddenly cleared her throat and decided to cut into the explanation, "What Mr. Kuroda means to say, is that these D-Scanners are no ordinary ones. They contain the data of "real" Digimon." this probably confused a number of the kids so she spoke further to clarify, "We believe the Cyber Beasts to be physical manifestations of data, possibly from old or rejected Digimon designs infected by some unknown outside virus to give them "life". These D-Scanners were designed to project a physical manifestation of the Digimon within them. We're confident they should have the necessary power to fight the Cyber Beasts and eradicate them before they become any more of a threat. And like any D-Scanner, these are fully functional with the cards, so these Digimon will require human partners to provide the necessary strategy and power ups to deal with the Beasts. Tamers, if you will."

"Exactly!" said Kuroda, cutting back in, "You five have a unique opportunity here. To become like real Digidestined who along with their treasured partner can fight to defend our world from these Cyber Beast monstrosities." he almost anticipated a skeptical response, especially from Haruka. With this foresight in mind he took one of the D-Scanners from the briefcase and pointed away from himself and activated it. It seemed to spill forth pixels of some kind that melted together in the form of a Digimon: Commandramon, the machine dragon Digimon who almost looked to be standing at attention like a soldier of sorts before the D-Scanner sucked him back in. With a confident smirk, Kuroda then held the D-Scanner toward Makoto in an offering gesture.

[i]This? Was this what he meant by "one last great game"? Could something this serious really be just a game to him?[/i] Makoto considered turning around and walking away. This seemed like a job for someone in the military or something, not a fledgling medical student. But then he couldn't stop imagining [i]his[/i] face. Dr. Hongo. The man who saved Makoto's life and inspired him to study medicine. Would [i]he[/i] walk away from this? Makoto wanted to become a doctor so he could save lives as a way of thanking Hongo, but couldn't he do that with this as well? Only here he would be able to use his old gaming skills to do it. Suddenly without warning, Makoto reached forth and snatched the D-Scanner from Kuroda.