-Day 1 after Singularity F-
Cupimon looked around as the friendly orange Takato led him into a room filled with instruments and technology that he didn't understand. It was hours after an unconscious Takato and Bazzet had been taken somewhere, with Guilmon following them, appearing worried. Meanwhile, a lovely female Black Takato took him to a fun room and asked him to pose for her while she painted on a canvas. Now, the kind orange Takato wanted to see how his body worked. "Mister Orange Takato, what do you want me to do?" Cupimon asked.
"Well, my name isn't Orange Takato; it's Romani, so you can start calling me that," Romani said with a chuckle as he gently petted Cupimon. The little cherubic digimon fluttered his wings, blushing and closing his eyes, smiling at the display of affection.
"Let's start with something simple. Takato mentioned that Digimon are beings made from data, and that the data determines the type and appearance of each Digimon. Why don't you step up to this scanner that Aunt Da Vinci made for you?" Romani said, pointing to a scanner that was big enough for Guilmon to stand in.
"Okay, wowie, this will be so fun. I can see what data is responsible for making me Cupimon!!!" Cupimon said as he started to bunch in place, making toy squicking sounds every time he landed on the table. Not waiting for another second, he slowly flew as his wings fluttered fast towards the scanner, which lit up the moment he landed on it. The monitor beside Romani lit up with the data the scanner picked up.
"Let's see, the data size is 620 bytes, or 155 nibbles. Nibbles are made of four bits, if you want to know how many bits make a nybble," Romani began explaining to Cupimon, who started to puff up upon hearing about his data size, thinking it was probably a lot since he could only count to 30 before getting confused and miscounting.
"Oh, it seems like you are based on the stories of the cherubs—angels typically depicted as human-animal hybrids with four heads: one human head and three animal heads, possessing six wings in Judaism. In Christian depictions, they are usually represented as babies with wings. It seems you've mainly taken after how the Christian faith depicts cherubs, along with some data from the legend of Cupid, a Greek god commonly portrayed as the aide of Aphrodite, using his arrows to bring couples together or to break them apart," Romani said as he examined the data in front of him. "I wonder if there's a Digimon based on the Hebrew depiction of cherubs, or one that incorporates other forms of data, or even a Digimon that aligns more closely with the legend of Cupid. Hmmm, so many questions," Romani said as Cupimon had stars in his eyes imagining himself digivolving into a powerful angel that spreads love and peace everywhere he goes with a bow and arrow made of gold.
"Mr. Romani, can this scanner scan humans, too? What data are you made of?" Cupimon asked innocently, his wide eyes full of curiosity. Romani chuckled and handed a lollipop to Cupimon.
"Here, for being a brave little Digimon, you deserve a treat. As for humans, we are technically made of data, but not in the way you might think," Romani explained. "When you look closely enough with specialized equipment, you can see what looks like helix strands. These strands determine everything about a human—your family history, appearance, personality, health—everything. With this strand, you can learn the entire history of a person. We call this DNA."
As Romani spoke, Cupimon attempted to lick the lollipop while it was still wrapped in plastic, his chubby little fingers struggling to remove the wrapper. Romani smiled warmly, took the lollipop to unwrap it, and then handed it back to Cupimon.
When Cupimon placed it in his mouth, he moaned and began to hover in place as his small angel wings fluttered. "CHAMPION, THIS IS MY NEW CHAMPION!" Cupimon screamed with joy, having never tasted anything so sweet in his short life.
-Day 5 -
It was another long night spent searching for Levi and a singularity for Romani. After hours of fruitless effort, Romani felt like he was trying to break through a steel wall with his head. He had no clear starting point for his search and was going in blind, desperately seeking SOMETHING. He traveled from China to Germany, looking for anomalies that didn't fit the time or place.
As he received yet another disappointment in his search, he slammed his fist on the table in frustration, not noticing the door behind him open. Cupimon walked in, clutching his aqua-colored blanket, which he referred to as "blankie." "Mr. Romani," Cupimon said, sucking his thumb, "Auntie Vinci said it's not healthy to skip sleep."
"Not now, Cupimon. Go back to sleep; I still have a lot of work to do," Romani said, not even glancing in Cupimon's direction. Cupimon attempted to float up to the table, but he was too tired and only barely managed to reach the table's height. He struggled as he grasped the edges of the table, trying to climb up.
When his small arms grew tired and he fell, Romani caught him just in time, allowing the little Digimon to land gently in the palm of his hand. Cupimon smiled up at the weary-looking man, then ran up his arms to his face and hugged it tightly in thanks. "Thank you, Mr. Romani!" Cupimon exclaimed. Romani relaxed and offered a tired smile to the young Digimon before gently removing him from his face and placing him on his shoulder, where Cupimon seemed to enjoy sitting.
"Don't mention it, little buddy. Just be more careful, alright?" Romani said as he returned to his monitor, and the sounds of fingers pressing on keys in the keyboard resumed once again.
"Wowie, the human world is really big! What's that blob in the corner?" Cupimon asked, pointing to a spot on the map. It was the first time he had ever seen a map of the Earth.
"This is Australia; it's a continent and a nation full of laws and people," Romani simply said.
"What is its history?" Cupimon childishly asked as he returned to sucking on his thumb while hugging his small blanket close to him.
"Well, the story of the nation began in the 17th century as a penal colony," Romani explained, as Cupimon rested his head on Romani's right cheek. Romani looked less stressed than he had moments before, and he continued to teach and answer the small toddler digimon, who seemed to have question after question. This marked the beginning of a small tradition between Cupimon and Romani: every night, if Cupimon found Romani still awake when he wasn't supposed to be, he would climb onto Romani's shoulder and ask him about the world, eager to learn about it and humanity.
-Day 10-
"Now, Cupimon, what did I say about trying to eat too many sweets?" Romani asked as the small Digimon clutched his stomach, crying because it felt funny, and not in a good way. Romani had already heard from the kitchen staff that one of the batches of chocolate chip cookies had mysteriously disappeared, so he knew the reason behind Cupimon's discomfort.
"Sweats are good in moderation, and to grow big and strong, I need to eat balanced meals," the small Digimon said, looking down. He felt upset because of his tummy ache and didn't like the feeling of disappointing someone he had begun to consider one of the wisest and coolest people he had ever met.
"That's right. I know you like sweets, but everything good has its limits. Taking things without permission is wrong and is called stealing," Romani said as Cupimon let out a small sniffle in response. "Now, I want you to drink some water and rest here for a little while. When you feel the need to go, please take care of it; you'll feel much better afterward. After that, I want you to apologize to the cooks and help them clean up the kitchen after dinner. Am I clear, Cupimon?"
"Yes, Mr. Romani," Cupimon said sadly, lowering his head.
Seeing Cupimon in such a sad state made Romani bite his lower lip, trying to resist the urge to give in to the little Digimon's charm. He knew that Cupimon genuinely felt sorry, but yielding to his natural cuteness would set a bad precedent for the future. After all, children need to learn about limits.
Romani let out a sigh as he settled into his chair and took a sip of water from a glass on the table. Cupimon was snuggled on one of the infirmary's pillows, covered with his favorite blanket. He glanced around and noticed Ritsuka sleeping in a chair next to Takato's bed, looking exhausted with worry. Meanwhile, Guilmon lay curled up at Takato's feet, keeping a watchful eye on his unconscious tamer.
"Mr. Romani, when will Takato wake up? I miss him," Cupimon said, his voice filled with concern for his friend and idol.
"Honestly, Cupimon, I don't know. He seems to be in a coma right now, and I have no way to wake him up," Romain said with a frown as he watched Takato's chest rise and fall in his bed. "We can only wait and see, hoping for the best. Don't worry; Takato is a strong boy. I'm sure he will wake up soon," Romain reassured as Cupimon nodded and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
-Day 14-
Romani tapped his pen against the clipboard, glancing over the top of it at the small figure zipping in gleeful loops around the room. "Test #73," he muttered, marking the next section. "Cupimon hovering endurance. Begin."
Cupimon, hovering in midair, saluted. "Roger!" he chirped, then puffed up his cheeks and flapped his tiny wings with all his might.
He started to wobble at the fifteen-second mark, but Romani offered a soft You've got this!" that made the cherubic Digimon beam and redouble his efforts.
He managed a solid thirty seconds before landing in a puff of feathers and giggles. "Whew! That was hard!" Cupidmon said with a squeaky laugh.
"Not bad," Romani said, smiling warmly as he observed the results. "The hovering duration has improved by three point six seconds since last week. It seems that what Takato mentioned about training tracks: both Digimon and human bodies respond similarly during training, as the body strengthens and develops. Next test: target practice."
A row of plush dummies resembling very grumpy cartoon villains with an evil gotee and a mustache stood in formation, each marked with a bullseye on its belly. "Cupidmon," Romani said, adjusting his glasses, "Angel Ring test. Ready?"
"Ready!" Cupidmon puffed up again, aiming his tiny hands forward. His golden halo glowed faintly as he fired a small, ring-shaped beam. It zinged through the air and struck the center of one dummy. With a honk, the dummy bounced backwards, and returned standing upwards a second later.
Each shot produced a new honking sound, and with every honk, Cupidmon giggled harder. Romani could hardly contain his own laughter. "The effectiveness of the attack remains non-lethal," he noted into his recorder. "However, the projectile speed has increased by approximately ten percent, along with a two-point-four percent rise in firing rate. It seems that the more Cupidmon uses his attack, the more euphoric he becomes. Could his own attack be affecting him? Do Digimon not have an inherent immunity to their own abilities? I need more data to determine if the answer to my question is 'yes'—is it the nature of the attack, or a sign that more training is needed due to age? Lastly, let's conduct the punching test."
A bright red inflatable clown dummy with a big nose and a permanent grin bobbed slightly as Romani set it in place. "Now, show me your best punch," he said.
Cupidmon nodded eagerly. "Hiya!!"
Boing! Squeak!
He socked it right on the nose. The dummy leaned back and popped forward again, only to be met with another squeaky punch. "Boing!" Cupidmon chanted in rhythm with each impact. "Boing! Boing!"
Romani scribbled, smiling to himself. "Strength is negligible in offensive terms but steadily improving. And… Cupimon, like always, is adorable."
After all the tests were finished, Cupidmon flopped dramatically onto Romani's head like a warm hat. "Can we have food now? I'm hungryyy~"
Romani chuckled, placing his clipboard on the table. "You read my mind. I'm feeling a little peckish myself."
They strolled to the Chaldea kitchen—well, Romani strolled. Cupidmon bounced like a balloon behind him. In the kitchen, Romani took a bowl of vegetable soup and a slice of bread, while the kitchen staff prepared a tray for Cupidmon: mashed carrots, a juice box, and a single chocolate chip cookie.
They sat at a small table, the gentle hum of Chaldea's background systems providing a quiet ambiance. As Romani picked up the bread, he instinctively paused, closed his eyes, and said, "בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ."
Cupidmon blinked, pausing mid-munch. His tiny mouth full of mashed carrots, he swallowed and tilted his head. "What was that, Mr.Romani? It sounded good! I liked it!"
Romani smiled warmly, tearing off a piece of bread. "That's called Hamotzi. It's a blessing—a prayer, really. It's something we say before eating bread. It thanks God for bringing bread from the earth."
Cupidmon's wings fluttered excitedly. "Oooh! So are you a Virus Busters too? Like me?! I saw many of my older brothers and sisters pray in the Kernel, never like this, but they too like to pray. Ofanimon says that it helps us feel closer to daddy."
Romani laughed. "Not quite. I'm not a Digimon, Cupidmon. I don't have a type or species. I'm just a man. But I like to believe that praying makes me closer to my god."
Cupidmon nodded earnestly and took a sip from his juice box. "I wanna learn that prayer! Will you teach me? I wanna say it too, before I eat my cookie! It feels like... I can be closer to my Daddy more if I say it!"
Something in Romani's chest tightened. "Of course," he said softly, and guided Cupidmon through the ancient Hebrew. The little angelic Digimon repeated the syllables slowly, mispronouncing half of them, but smiling the whole way. When they finished the prayer, Cupidmon took his cookie in hand and bit into it, humming happily.
A warm light filled the room. It shimmered in the air like a dancing flame and condensed into a sphere, floating directly in front of Romani. The doctor blinked. "What in the world…" The sphere pulsed once—golden, holy light—and then settled in his open palm. It solidified.
A D-Arc.
But unlike Takato's white and gold item, this one shimmered in gold with a silver ring. Instead of Digicode or glyphs around the ring, a single word glowed in ancient, unmistakable Hebrew: "אמת" — Emet — Truth.
Romani's breath hitched. He stared, stunned, he didn't think that it was possible for him to be partnered to a digimon. The device buzzed gently in his hand, alive with meaning.
"MR.ROMANI!" Cupidmon squealed, launching from his seat and hugging his face with his tiny arms. "YOU'RE MY TAAAAAMER!!! We're partners now!! Yay yay yay yay yay yay!!" Romani laughed, a deep, startled, joyful laugh, as the little Digimon twirled in midair like a hamster on espresso. The D-Arc pulsed again in Romani's hand, syncing to his bio-signature.
.
.
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Here is Interlude number 2. Yes, Cupimon is Romani's partner. I'm surprised none of you guessed that when I introduced the little guy. I hope you enjoy the Interlude! The next chapter will be the last one, and after that, we will finally begin the Orleans Singularity.