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Division 42, Ch. 1: Caretaker

The sun broke through the window, passing through the curtains and hitting my face, telling me to wake up. I groaned, getting up and immediately regretted my decision. I will admit that I'm not a morning person. I hate having to wake up so early that I feel so tired that I wanna go back to sleep, but knowing that I have a job to go to I got up and made breakfast.

For some reason, my apartment looked a little... open. I just recently moved to some unknown location just last night, having to pack up everything that could fit in the car and just drove to some random town in the middle of the night. Now, I have to go to some job that I just got, without me knowing that I applied for whatever position I got, which is odd to say the least.

As I sat, eating a bowl of cereal which is all I have at this moment, I looked at the directions to my place of work. I pulled out my laptop to look at Google maps and typed in the address. After a few seconds, I got... nothing. I expected as such, but it was still weird. I decided to drop the subject and just get ready.

I pulled out some dark brown cargo pants, a black shirt with my favorite DJ, deadmau5, on the front, and a fresh pair of socks and changed. As I pulled off my clothes that I wore immediately entering the apartment with all my stuff finally inside, I noticed my body in the mirror and took a few seconds to admire myself.

I was human male, just short of 6' with dark brown hair, glasses, my clean shaven face, and finally my blue eyes. I also looked at my physique, which was okay with me. Sure I wasn't as athletic as the next guy, but I can hold my own.

Stopping myself, I quickly put on my clothes and shoes while getting my keys, wallet, cellphone, and any other items deemed important by me, and got out to lock my door.

As I turned in the direction closest to my car, I ran into someone and I heard the sound of papers scattered everywhere. I immediately stopped myself, bent down, and picked up the papers and put them in a somewhat neat order. As I got up and handed the papers back, I was so stunned at what I saw that I almost dropped the papers.

Standing before me was a fox. I know what you're probably thinking: "Oh, he means she's hot, right? And she's human, too?" Well, yes and no. Yes, not only is she hot, but drop dead beautiful and gorgeous. And no, she isn't human. Far from it, actually. She's really is a fox, with fur and everything.

She's around my height, red fur all over her arms, legs, face with white fur coating under her chin, down her neck and below her shirt. She also had the facial characteristics of a fox, with the muzzle, the wet nose, and the ears on top of her beautiful flowing blonde hair. And finally her bushy red tail with a white tip, extending out from behind and curled around her. She was wearing a black shirt and jeans, but all of what I took in was nothing compared to her eyes, shining a blue that I faintly remember seeing before.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, taking the papers out of my hands and looking over to see if everything was there. I tried to say something, but nothing came out, just my mouth hanging open.

She looked up and noticed my expression and couldn't help but laugh.

"Hello," she said, waving a fur covered hand in front of my face. "Is anyone there?"

When I registered this, I shook my head, trying to clear my head and spoke, "Yes, he was trying to... to... um..." I was completely at a loss of words. Usually, I would be funny and hope for a laugh, now I panicked, trying to figure out the best way to salvage the situation before it got awkward.

She too was trying to find something to say to me, I realized, that was gawking at her before. She looked me over and found something interesting about me, which I could tell by her eyes. She wanted to stay and chat, but she had other, more pressing matters to attend to.

"Listen," she said, quickly, "thank you for picking up my papers. I would love to stay and chat, but I gotta run. Hopefully we'll meet again, and hopefully you'll have something better to say. My name is Crystal. What's yours?"

After the initial shock of this meeting, I regained some mentality and said, "My name is Chris and Crystal is a lovely name, by the way."

"Aww, aren't you sweet. Listen thanks again and hopefully we'll see each other again because we both live in the same apartment complex, apparently. See ya!"

With that, she walked past me in the opposite direction of where I was going, and I couldn't help but look at her go, her hips swaying as she walked fast down the stairs to the first floor.

I regained myself and walked to my car, opened the door, put the keys in the ignition, and drove down the highway like a bat out of hell.

I memorized the directions, taking about 20 minutes to get there, reaching about 9 AM. When I got there, there was nothing. I got out of my car and looked around, seeing nothing for miles. After 30 seconds of looking, I was about to get into my car when I saw a figure walking towards my vehicle.

When the figure got closer, I began to notice to notice more and more about him. He had on a black suit with a black tie and a white shirt, with sunglasses on. As he got closer, he spoke with a British accent.

"Are you, by any chance, a Mr. Chris Mill?" asked the man in black.

"Yeah," I replied, uncertain as to how he knew me.

"We have been expecting you. Please, come with me."

"Wait," I said. He turned and looked at me, or he seemed to. "What about my car?" Well, I wasn't going to leave my brand new Camaro out in the desert, with the heat and sand.

"What car?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

I turned and saw that my car was gone.

Looking around, searching desperately for my car, the man in black said, "Will you please come on? It's rude to keep important people waiting."

I turned slowly to look at him, confusion sprawled on my face. But he paid no mind, turning back to the way he came. I ran up to catch him and followed, wondering what the hell is going on.

We walked for a couple of seconds until he stopped and so did I. He stomped on the ground three times and waited. Me, well I was just wondering why he did that when the ground shook and dropped underneath me.

I panicked, looking at the man but he looked calm. As I looked down, it was the same ground as it was topside then I looked up and saw a gaping hole about the same size as the platform on which we were both on.

As soon as it started, it stopped. The man got off and walked down an endless hallway lit with fluorescent lights. I stood there, still wondering what's going on when the man looked back, his expression saying 'Come on'.

I got off and as soon as I did, I looked to see the platform rising and sealing the hole in the ceiling. I looked back and continued my weird journey with the man in black.

We soon reached a doorway: a big, heavy vault-looking doorway that had an access panel to the right. The man went up and first placed a hand on the scanner, then entered a four digit code into the keypad, and finally had a retinal scan on his eye. When all that was done, I heard a feminine voice from somewhere saying, "Ah, Mr. Simon, welcome back. I wasn't expecting you for some time. I thought that the human would give you some sort of trouble."

"Well," said Simon, with a hint of a smile in his voice, even though he never showed it, "you thought wrong. He's here, meaning that he has accepted the job and all it entitles."

He looked back at me, expecting me to say something. So I did.

"Um... Hello, strange computer. My name is -" I tried to say, but was interrupted by the computer.

"Chris Mill. Yes, I know who you are. I was the one who wanted you to come in the first place, after reading all of your records: birth, medical, and others that I don't have the time to explain. Please, come in. And do make yourself at home."

With that the door opened slowly, revealing a wide circular room with four similar doors all along the wall. In the center was something that faintly reminded me from something in a video game I played not too long ago. I had to assume that this huge computer would not do anything drastic. As I looked all around me, I noticed some color in the otherwise bright room. As I came closer to the color, it moved, scaring me a little, until I notice something else. The color had a shape that was vaguely humanoid and was red. Then I noticed the ears at the top of its head, and the tail it had.

"Wait... red, has a tail and ears," I said to myself, until it hit me.

"... Crystal?" I asked, louder, hoping that I was right.

The shape turned around and I immediately realized it was her. It was the person I saw at the apartment complex not too long ago. I ran to her, hoping for an explanation to this craziness that was going on.

She recognized me too, and gasped, saying, "Oh, you're here, too?"

" Yeah, and I was wondering if someone could tell me what the hell is going on before I go crazy, please?!!" I said, actually meaning the words I said.

"Okay, okay, just calm down," Crystal said, "Just sit over by the couch and I'll explain everything." So, hoping for answers, I walked to a couch that just appeared out of nowhere and sat down.

Crystal walked over to the man and began a whispered argument with the strange man that I met in the desert. After a couple of minutes of arguing and some silence, she walked back over to me, dragging the man with her and sat down next to me.

"Listen, Chris, what I'm about to say will probably be a little confusing, so in order to explain fully, I'll have Simon bring out someone that should be very familiar to you. Simon, if you would..."

Simon, the man in black, walked to one of the doors and disappeared behind it. I was still confused and asked for more answers. Crystal was still not giving me answers, so I had to wait, which I hated. After a few minutes of waiting, the doors open.

What I saw next, I couldn't believe my eyes. Simon came through the doors first, then he gestured his hands to the door. After that, I think my heart stopped, my breath got caught in my throat, and all other things that my body and mind was reacting to the sight before me. I think after a few moments, I fainted.

Time seemed to slow down as I was falling, but when I finally hit the ground I was turned over and the last thing I saw was what looked like yellow fur.

When I woke up, I was in my bed, in my apartment. I thought that what happened in the room, with Crystal and Simon, hoping it was all a dream. That was before my eyes adjusted to what was before me and my heart was beating fast again.

Before me was Crystal, Simon and finally someone that I only read about in fanfics on the net and what I saw on TV back in my youth. Someone that I knew for certain wasn't real and never would be. Someone like... I steeled myself to finally recognize what was before me... Renamon.

She was what everyone described and what I remember from TV. She looked about my height, from what I could tell when she was sitting on my right side, with yellow fur all over, except for the white fur on the top of her ears, the tip of her tail, her feet, and her paws, which were covered in her dark purple gauntlets with the ying-yang signs over her paws. She had something similar to the ying-yang symbol on both of her legs, but I didn't know what to call it. She also had six yellow tuffs, three along each shoulder. As I looked her over, I finally found her eyes. They were piercing blue in a sea of black and under her eyes were purple zigzag markings. As I stared, I couldn't help but say my thoughts aloud, hoping that they wouldn't offend her as soon as I said it.

"You're not real..."

She looked at me for a few minutes, looking confused. Then she leaned in close to my face and said something that solidify her existence in this world.

"Of course I'm real. If I wasn't real, then I wouldn't do this...."

She leaned forward suddenly and kissed me passionately. Her lips met mine I couldn't care less if this was a dream. For years, I have wished that something like this would happen to me, and of course this happened in the most unexpected moment in my entire existence. She opened her mouth and her tongue was at my entrance, hoping to gain access inside, which I let her. I wrapped an arm around her head to hold her close as our tongues danced to an unknown beat. When I released her for air, hoping to catch my breath and go for seconds, she stopped my advances, which lead me to confusion. Why was this amazing creature, who advanced onto me, stopping this amazing experience?

"We'll do this later, when we don't have an audience," she said, giggling at my embarrassment when I realized that Simon and Crystal were staring at me.

After that, Crystal first began talking. "Alright, to begin: welcome to Division 42, where we hold every idea and thought into our facility. Our computer takes what the original idea or thought was and makes a duplicate, categorizing the idea or thought into one of our five wings. Our job is first, to take care of that idea or thought and make sure that it will never be forgotten and second, if the original idea fades, then we replace it with another one, and so on. As to why you're here, well we kind of need a new Caretaker because our other one died not too long ago."

"Okay," I said, still confused as to why they needed me to be a... Caretaker, was it? "Why, exactly, do you need me? You could have chosen any other muck off the streets. Why me?"

"Because," Simon said, with every ounce of seriousness in his voice, "every other guy doesn't believe in anything other than the cold, hard facts of life. You, on the other hand, try to see the world though a child's eyes. You have the heart of a child while everyone else has grown up and moved on. We believe in something that doesn't exist because we believe. There's no rhyme or reason as to why we believe, we just do. And so do you. You have the most pure child's spirit that I have seen in a long time. That's why I personally came and found you."

"Okay," I said, "suppose I believe all of this, what exactly does a Caretaker do around here?"

At this point, Renamon was listening to all of this with rapt attention. When I asked the question, she took my hand and said, "I can show you." She looked at Simon and Crystal and asked, "Can I? Please?"

They both relented and said yes. She pulled me out of the bed and to the door, opening it to the same room I was in before I fainted. She then took me to the door she came out of and waited.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked.

"For the door to open! Come on, Zeta, I don't have all day! I wanna show our new Caretaker his job," she yelled to the room.

"Who are you yelling at?" I asked.

"She's yelling at me," said the disembodied voice I heard before. "My name is Zeta, and I'm the computer that Crystal was explaining about. Just wait," she said, addressing Renamon, "my scanners are showing someone else is coming through."

Simon, who was behind us, stood alert and pulled out a pistol. He motioned us to stay back and be ready to run when he said so. He motioned for Zeta to open the door and on the other side was someone blue and black with a chest full of yellowish fur.

I just couldn't believe my luck. Not only did I see one person from my childhood that I wanted to see for some time, I now saw another one in front of me and it was someone I saw recently.

It was a Lucario, with his jackal-like physique and his black and blue fur, with the yellowish fur on his chest. He also had the three spikes on his chest and on the back of his paws. I walked up to him and knelt down to his height.

He looked at me, confused as to why I was here. He looked and saw Crystal, Simon, and Renamon, which, by the look in his eyes, he knew, then he looked at me and asked, "Who are you?"

I replied, trying to hold back the excitement that this moment brought up, "My name is Chris Mill, and I'm the new Caretaker."

He looked at me for a few minutes, apparently having some sort of internal debate with himself before doing something totally unexpected. He hugged me.

Okay, I'll admit, I was stunned. Not only has one creature from this place tried to show affection towards me, but Lucario, who I met but a couple of seconds ago, is actually hugging me, arms wrapped securely around me. So, the only logical answer that came in my mind was to hug back. So, I wrapped my arms around him in the same fashion as he did to me, ignoring the slight pain of his chest spike.

From what I could tell by his bodily reaction, he wasn't expecting the kindness to return. He probably never had this kind of treatment before. So, we broke apart and we all went behind Door Number One.

Behind the door was a vast expansion of land divided into different regions, such as a lake, grasslands, forests, mountains, deserts, and even an ice cap. What I saw was to be expected, but still shocked me. It was all sorts of different Pokémon, from all the regions that were shown in the games and TV shows and movies. No doubt that this tour will send shivers down my spine for days to come until I'm used to this.

We left the Pokémon room to a different room, which was built like a city. Just think of something like New York City, and double, no triple, the size and have the residents covered in fur from head to toe and that's what was in front of me. As we looked around, everyone stopped what they were doing and waved at me. I waved back, politely and smiled, not used to the attention.

After that room, we went into the third room, the Hall of Items. Everything in that hall was filled with not just everyday objects, like TVs and couches, but also had the fantastical items that could only exist in video games and comic books. I saw the Green Lantern ring that Hal Jordan uses in a display case, the Portal gun Chell uses in Portal, and finally something that took my breath away. It was Spartan armor, tailor-made to fit me, with my own arsenal behind the armor, everything from the assault rifle to the DMR and even the Covenant weapons like the Needler and the Energy Sword.

"Wow, I'm impressed," I said, "but if I'm the only one to watch over this stuff, then where's the other stuff?"

"What do you mean?" asked Crystal, confused.

"What I mean is that how come there is not nearly as much stuff as I expected. I thought that everything thought up by us would have been stored here."

Crystal looked at Simon and soon both laughed loudly, startling me. Why were they laughing? Did they know something that I don't?

Crystal composed herself after some time and said, "Wait, you seriously thought that you would look after everything man has ever created? Chris, no one could look after all of man's creations both old and new by themselves. That's why there are others to look after the other things that pop up every day. This facility was chosen for you and all of the contents inside. There are 360 total Divisions around the world, all having a Caretaker to keep things in check. In fact, Division 1 is looked after by the President of the United States in Washington."

That stunned me. The President is the Caretaker of the first Division. Wow, that's heavy.

"Well, now that that's settled. Let's turn in for the night. Listen, Chris, we took the liberty of moving all of your possessions from your apartment and your parent's home to your new home here so you won't have to worry about going back and forth from the apartment to here. Also, we took the liberty of having your car put into the car garage, next to Bumblebee, who, by the way, seriously wants to meet you. Now, get to bed." And with that, Crystal and Simon left the room. I was wondering where they were going to go when I heard another door open and close and Zeta chimed in, saying, "Don't worry, Chris. They are leaving the compound and going back to their homes. Now, get to bed and your official duties as Caretaker will start."

So, I went to the door where my living quarters were and was stunned, yet again, at how everything was. I walked into the living room of my dreams, with a projector on one side of the wall and a large screen at the other. There were couches placed in various points around the room with all sorts of features embedded in them. I went to the kitchen to get something to eat, when I heard shuffling behind me. I looked and saw that both Renamon and Lucario followed me to my new home.

I smiled and went over to them and said, "You guys hungry?"

They smiled and I saw the tiniest amount of drool come out of their agape mouths. I took that as a yes and invited them into the kitchen and started to prepare a feast fit for a king. It took about 45 to 50 minutes for everything to be cooked and served. Let me tell you, as soon as the food hit the table, those two started gulping down the food like there was no tomorrow. I laughed and told them to slow down and there is plenty left. I started to eat until I noticed them looking at me.

I stopped and asked, "What?"

Renamon looked at me and, in a serious tone, said, "Do you think you could name us? After all, we are going to be working and living with you."

"Wait, you both going to be working and living with me? Why the sudden interest in me?"

Lucario answered, having not spoken a word since I first saw him, "Because we were both thought up by you, creator."

I was drinking a glass of water when Lucario spoke and as soon as I heard him say that, all the water that was about to go down to my stomach soon launched out of my mouth and all over my food. Did I hear him right, creator?

"Wait, you mean to say that I created you from my ideas as to how both a Renamon and a Lucario would act around me?"

"Yes," Renamon said, "we were personally created by Zeta. Using all of her knowledge that she had on you, she created us to help and be your friends in this place. So far, things have worked perfectly and now we are the best of friends, right?"

She was using what looked like puppy dog eyes on me, which was not what I was expecting a Renamon to do.

"Yes, you two are my friends and I hope to be a good friend to you, too. Now, onto the naming business." I looked to Renamon, knowing the perfect name, even though it has been used many times by countless authors but I always wanted to have a Renamon named... "... Rena, that will be your new name."

She squealed, still totally sinking all of my expectations of a Renamon down the drain, and ran to me and tackled me in a bear hug. I was knocked down and still in my chair when she replied, "My name is Rena. Rena, Rena, Rena. It does have a nice sound to it and I know it has been used by many other humans to their Renamon, but I'm your Renamon and I like it. Thank you!!" She still was wrapped around me, nuzzling my neck so much I thought that it may leave a rather nasty burn. I pulled her off, put my chair up, and sat down, looking at Lucario. This was a challenge. Not knowing him long, I couldn't think of a name right off the bat. As I studied him, he seemed shy and was looking around, trying not to look at my eyes.

"Listen, don't take offense, Lucario, but I don't have a name for you right now. Maybe after a good night's sleep, it'll come to me."

He looked at me, a little hurt that his friend, who has been with him since he was created, has a name and he doesn't. But, the logic was sound. He hadn't made a good impression to Chris since he finally met his creator. "I understand. I hope you do have something for me in the morning."

I smiled, "Count on it," and held my hand to him. He took it and we shook, solidifying the friendship that took place earlier today, despite the Lucario not having a name.

Soon, we cleaned our dishes and went to my bedroom. It was the same layout as my apartment's bedroom, which was why I mistook it for it actually being old room. But, there was a kicking sound system all around the room with a nice looking plugin for my iPod. I stuck it in, put on a song and listen. The bass was excellent and soon, I turned up the volume, letting the music soothe over my overthinking mind.

I looked and saw both of my friends listening intently to the song, obviously not hearing a song since they were created. As soon as the chorus of the song started, they were, at first, surprised then smiled and approved. I noticed that the Lucario was nodding his head with the beat, finally giving me the perfect name for him. I stopped the music, which put both Rena and the Lucario out of their trance and spoke.

"Okay, Lucario, I finally figured out the perfect name for you."

He was stunned, not expecting it to be that fast for a name to be formed. Then he ran to me and looked at me, pleading, "Tell me, what is it? I'm dying to know!! PLEASE!!!"

"Okay, okay," I laughed, first kneeling down to his height, then pulling him up from his kneeling position and put both hands on his shoulders. "When I saw you nodding your head to the beat, as I have used to do when something musical I like came on, I knew for certain what your name is. From now on, you will be... DJ."

He looked at me, with wide eyes and on the verge of tears, not what a Lucario would do. Apparently, Zeta didn't look at my thoughts too much. He spoke softly, "Do you mean it?"

"Of course, DJ," trying out his name, seeing that I meant what I said, "that name suits you and I'm not changing my mind."

DJ smiled and hugged me, nuzzling my chest and saying muffled thank yous. I smiled and patted his back, waiting for him to finish. When he did, he let go and started to converse with Rena on the name that he now has.

I smiled at this and went to grab some PJs and went to the bathroom. When I changed and put my dirty clothes in a hamper, I stared at the mirror over the sink, thinking how lucky can a guy like me get? I mean, I thought that I was going to some dead-end job with minimum pay and a poor social life. Instead, I have two friends that I wanted since childhood with me in a place built specifically for me to take care of. Knowing that the President is in the same situation as me made me feel so special to be included in this big, huge global secret. With that, I couldn't stop smiling when I left the bathroom and went to my bed, pulling the covers over me. When I was about to go to sleep, I felt two, warm bodies wrap around me, knowing that Rena and DJ was both in bed, offering me warmth and security to this strange, new environment. Knowing that tomorrow was going to be better than today, I went to sleep and entered my dreams, smiling all the way.

***

Whew! Took long enough and that was the first chapter. Ugh, what did I get myself into.

Anyways, please rate/comment/fave or some other fourth thing. This is my first story of a new series that I'm planning on doing for some time until its run its course. Don't judge me too harshly, me being new and all.

All characters are copyrighted to their individual peoples. Chris Mill, Crystal, Simon, the characters of both Rena and DJ are all owned by me as of... NOW!!!

Anyways, hit me up for a chat if you feel like it. Thanks for the read.

PS: the next chapter will include a fight scene, I promise you.

Now to get started on this next chapter. Also, if you wanna be included in this story, just PM me and, hopefully, I'll get back to you soon.