They chose to come here, because some part of them heard the call of the gods of this world and responded to them? A subconscious desire or seeking some kind of fulfilment. That description was aggravatingly vague and yet… it felt right. Pulsemon was still looking up at her, now having turned around in his chair entirely to stand in the seat and lean his arms on the backrest. He was smiling. “Hey, that’s right! I was sure I’d never met a human before but you were still familiar somehow. It’s because we met in a dream!”

Did they? Akeno had felt it too, that strange sense of familiarity at seeing Pulsemon for the first time, but she couldn’t recall even now. The only thing she could think of was that dream a week or two ago when she fell asleep in the car; she couldn’t remember anything about it, but the feeling of it had stuck with her nonetheless. It had felt like… loneliness. Desperation. Not her own, but someone else’s. 

Akeno looked into Pulsemon’s eyes, but couldn’t see anything like that loneliness now; if anything the Digimon looked happy. And yet…

Letting out a sigh, Akeno reached out and placed a hand on top of Pulsemon’s head, resting it there and feeling the short fur against the palm of her hand. The Digimon looked surprised, unsure of what was going on, but didn’t move away or stop her from doing so. Green eyes. A beach. The ocean.

She wasn’t sure about any gods, but she felt confident about the fact that she’d responded to [i]someone's[/i] call. She was certain of it.

Even so she pulled her hand back.

“This… it’s a lot. You’re asking for a lot.” People were disappearing, coming back catatonic and they had no idea what was going on. Yet they wanted them, random teenagers and young adults who weren’t even sure why they had been picked to help them, because humans were supposedly immune to whatever was affecting them? A few of the others around the fire surprised her by agreeing almost immediately; even the girl who had been most aggressive at first quickly came around, jumping over the back of the couch in front of her to show that she was set on staying. Akeno couldn’t bring herself to do the same, not when she was still adjusting to this crazy situation, not without knowing what they were really being asked to involve themselves in, what they were up against. She knew how to fight, how to defend herself, but Akeno didn’t think of herself as being all that strong; if anything knowing how to fight just let her understand her limits better than most people and she knew she wasn’t a hero.

“What is it you’re asking us to do exactly? Find out who or what is doing this? Then what?”