A tall person was in the chair behind the counter, their white hair was messy, they're dressed as if they had just gotten out of bed, and there was a pair of slippers on their feet.

"Good morning Manager!"

"Good morning!

A small red and violet creature jumped in the counter, its blue eyes were full of energy and its nine feathered tails waved happily, on its back, a smaller creature could be seen, it was white and violet and had a red triangle on its forehead.

But they stopped on their tracks as they saw the manager.

The red one let out a sigh, the white one giggled.

The manager was asleep.

Again.

The red jumped from the counter to headbut the person's belly as the white one jumped from its back to land on their face, making them grunt awake.

"... Why?" Was all they asked under the white one's fur.

"It's the opening day!" The white creature said to the person who took the it off their face "You can't sleep through the opening day!"

"It's gonna be bad if people leave because you sleep!" The red one said.

"Eli and Evo are right, Manny"

A tall, translucid form was standing behind the person, it looked human, using a red armor with horns, and its hair was long and blond.

The person just groaned.

"Did Aguni say something?" Eli asked.

"... No" The person said.

"Lies!"

The person covered their ears as the creature scolded them.

They were going to start work today…

How troublesome.

"Don't sleep again!"

***

He walked into the store by chance.

Clark was walking with his sister when she saw a small store in an alley and got curious.

[Digiworld] was its name, and he had to admit that he was curious too, so they came in with the sound of a bell.

First thing he noticed was a person lying on the counter.

They had messy white hair and wore a large gray hoodie, their eyes were hidden by their arms.

The store had many strange devices, and a box with packages on the counter, along with a little bell.

"Excuse me?" He called.

There was no answer.

He and his sister enchanted a look before approaching the counter.

"Hello?" He called again.

No answer.

He was confused and frustrated, but then he saw the bell had a note by its side.

[They won't wake up if you call, use this]

He raised a brow at it, but did it.

He rang the bell.

The person visibly flinched and finally raised their head.

Beautiful blue eyes received them, and a pretty face that was impossible to say if it was a man or woman and that would be even prettier without the dark bags under the eyes revealed itself.

"Uhm, hi?" Clark said.

The person gave them a confused look, like they were wondering why they were being spoken to.

"We saw the store and were curious" His sister, Daniela, said "What do you sell?"

The person hesitated for a second, giving them a strange look before pointing to the things around the store.

It was like saying 'can't you see?'.

Clark got frustrated again, and he could see Daniela was too.

He was about to ask more when someone talked.

"Manager?"

The person in front of them visibly flinched as a new person came from a door by the side of the counter.

It was what Clark assumed was a Beast, it had red and violet fur with a white belly, a feathered tail of the same color of the body, walked in for legs and had four claws in each paw.

It was pretty cute, if he had to say.

The violet fur growing on its forehead gave the impression that it had bangs, its big blue eyes were round childish and it appeared to be a bit chunky.

His sister seemed to agree, if the way she looked at him could confirm it.

The Beast was walking when it saw them, eyes laying on them as it stopped on its tracks.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, but then it smiled.

"Customers!"

And talked.

Clark was still a bit stunned as the Beast jumped on the counter.

"Look Manager!" It said "Customers! Our first customers! And on our first day! We have such a great- what the hell did you do?"

The excited energy soon disappeared, being replaced by an acid tone as it crossed its arms(?) while the person who was apparently the manager looked away.

"Manager" It said with a cold tone.

The person opened and closed their mouth, but no words came out, this continued for a few moments before they groaned and started to move their hands in a way Clark recognized.

Sign language.

(I did nothing)

"That I can imagine" Said the beast.

It turned to them, an exasperated look in its eyes.

"They were sleeping" It said "Weren't they?"

Clark nodded.

It sighed, facepalming.

"We will have a talk later Manny" It said to the person.

The manager froze, but nodded.

It then turned to them.

"Sorry about it" He said "They like to sleep a lot, but they are good"

It smiles once again to them.

"I'm Eli" It said "And this is Many, there's also Aguni and Evo, but Aguni doesn't appear much and Evo got too nervous and decided to not come, am I right to assume that they didn't introduce anything?"

They both nodded, the Beast nodded, not at all surprised.

"Then follow me" It said "You too manager"

It jumped from the counter as the manager grumbled something and followed, revealing their big stature, black pants with big pockets and black and white slippers as the beast guided them to the glass door that guarded the devices.

"These are digivices" It said "They a devices that contain a thing called Digi-egg, from Digi-egg a Digimon like me will be born"

"Digimon?" Clack said.

Wasn't it a Beast?

"Digital Monsters" It said "Or Digimons, for short, we are creatures born out of data, I, for example, am an Elecmon, a rookie level digimon"

It made a gesture to the manager, who took a bunch of keys from one of their pockets and unlocked the door, taking two of the digivices and giving them to Clark and his sister.

It was the size of his hand, with a thin fend on both sides, like the machines where you swipe the credit card, it also had a tiny screen

"Digimons can come to the real world when they have a partner" Said the Elecmon "The digivices will link their souls to yours and they will grow stronger with your emotions, but right now, they aren't activated so don't worry"

Clark stared at the 'digimon' for a moment.

It was quite confusing, and he didn't quite understand.

They where real or digital? They'll grow? What did it meant when it said de digivice link their souls to a digimon? How does it work?

He was lost.

But not his sister.

"So" She said "This digivice is like a contract to beast tamers and their beast?"

Oh, now it made more sense.

A beast contract makes a beast obey its master and they'll grow along their master and are linked by their soul.

The 'digimon' hesitated, turning to look at the manager, who gave a more or less sign before saying more.

(It's a bit more complicated than a Beast Tamer contract/ They use human emotions and instincts to evolve and protect them/ Humans provide shelter and food/ The safety and well-being of the human partner is the biggest priority engraved in their code the moment they are born/ They are unable to betrayed their Tamer/ They are dead loyal/ Many Beasts would pray for the end of the contract/ Digimons wouldn't)

An interesting way to put it.

There were really rare cases where beasts would let themselves be captured to form a contract, and many would openly show their displeasure about it.

"So it's basically a exchange" Daniela said "House and food for protection and blind loyalty, not a bad deal"

Clark nodded, quite invested.

He didn't know how strong they might be, but if they can evolve after some time as the digimon said, it wouldn't be bad to have one.

The digimon was a bit stunned and so was the manager.

"Does your kind grow a lot?" Clark asked "How long does it take for you to grow?"

It hesitated a little before talking.

"Depend" It said "Digimon can become anything depending on the Tamer's heart, my own evolution line was a surprise for me too, but can we show you a demonstration?"

It turned to the manager, who nodded a bit unsure.

They put both hands on the hoodie's pocket, taking a blue card and a digivice identical to the gray one they had in hand, but this one had more color and felt different, unlike theirs, that felt empty.

"Digimon normally evolve temporarily when their Tamers are in danger" The digimon said "But this blue card and a few others can trigger the evolution in a more convenient way, even though the blue one is hard to acquire"

The manager swiped the card on the side of the digivice and both the device and digimon shone.

And the digimon's skin started to peel off in front of them.