Battle CD 51: Operation X
Authors Notes: Well, here's the first chapter of my five chapter short story. I plan on posting one chapter a day over the following week, maybe two chapters on day four, so look forward to a fast paced fanfic! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness would have gotten a sequel on the Wii.
Chapter 1: Artificial Intelligence
The Silph Co. worker stared at the computer screen in anticipation, a smile on his face. Their Battle CD system had become very popular, even going so far as to be shipped to the far off Orre Region. Fifty CDs for Trainers to enjoy, the most popular of which being Battle CD 46: Operation Zero, where the opponent used only a single Pokémon, the legendary Mew. Still, the fans were not satisfied, demanding stronger, more intelligent opponents. The Battle CDs each contained a simple program; nothing more, nothing less, and the Sim Trainers followed a set of predictable, pre-calculated actions. Once figured out, it was child's play to exploit. No, today's Trainers wanted something more, much more.
Thus, the solution was simple: new, better Battle CDs must be created. The Silph Co. worker watched as the computer finished booting up, then pulled out the latest Battle CD prototype, CD 51: Operation X. After all, if Operation Zero was so popular, why not take it one step farther? Sliding the disk into the slot, he turned to the computer monitor, where his colleagues battle with the Sim Trainer was about to begin. He watched as the woman appeared in a burst of light on the screen, followed by the digitized opponent, a teenage male dressed all in red, with pale purple hair. Yes, they'd use the Cooltrainer model for this one; their artificial intelligence was superior to that of other Trainer programs. The area around the two pixilated as the location program was uploaded.
"Hey, funny coincidence huh?" the lavender haired boy laughed. "Us both having a Mew, I mean."
The Silph Co. worker frowned. He hadn't programmed it to say that. The woman was equally puzzled but shook it off and tossed the Pokeball that appeared in her hand, releasing the pink cat-like Pokémon.
The boy shrugged. "Not much of a talker, huh? Ok, it's cool, we can talk after the battle! I can't wait to see how this one'll turn out!" Tossing the Pokeball that magically materialized in his hand, a second Mew was sent out and began moving in perfect unison with its opponent, following the pre-set movement pattern programmed for it, then continuing it in an endless loop.
The woman eyed the Sim Trainer, who didn't even have a name yet, suspiciously. He couldn't possibly be making conversation. Shaking off the uneasiness that was currently welling up in her stomach, she quickly instructed her Mew to use Shadowball.
The artificial Pokémon, of course, obeyed, and the attack hit the opponent head on, taking a large portion of health from its HP bar. The Cooltrainer watched the Mew shrug off the attack with what appeared to be concern, just like the Sim Trainers were supposed to do, then promptly turned his attention to the Pokémon's HP bar.
Wait a minute, she realized, a lump forming in her throat, they aren't supposed to notice the HP bars! Technically, they weren't supposed to notice anything. They were just computer programs, only capable of following a set series of actions, no matter how good the AI was.
"What's going on Reece?" the Silph Co. worker asked the woman through their communication link. "Why isn't he attacking you?"
"I-I don't know," she sputtered, eyes on the Sim Trainer who was now carefully approaching the Mew. They aren't supposed to move. He eyed the Pokémon with what looked like bewilderment, then slowly reached out and touched it. The Mew continued its movement pattern, unhindered by his touch, and his eyes widened.
"I-it's not real…" he whispered, voice shaky. "W-what's going on? Where am I?" He then collapsed onto his knees, a look of terror and confusion on his face, and the battle froze. The two Mews stopped in their tracks, and the battle theme faded away. But the Sim Trainer remained unaffected, staring at Reece with eyes full of human emotion. "What's going on? Why won't you tell me?"
He sat there looking like no more than a frightened child, awaiting Reece's answer. Against her better judgment as a scientist, she went to him and put her arms comfortingly around him, like a mother soothing her children. As he looked up at her, she saw something that shouldn't have been there, couldn't possibly be there, and yet was all the same: tears. Real, human tears were now flowing down his cheeks as he let out what sounded like a sob. Without realizing it, Reece reached up and wiped his tears away, and he returned her sympathy with a half-hearted smile.
"You're in a battle simulation," she explained softly, slowly loosening her hold on him. "It allows Trainers to battle virtual representations of Pokémon in a controlled scenario."
"Virtual? So none of the Pokémon are real?"
She nodded. "Simulations consist of Sim Pokémon commanded by…" she hesitated, dreading what she was about to say, "…by a Sim Trainer."
He looked crushed, but nevertheless looked up at Reece as if for comfort. "So…I'm not…real."
In that instant, a thousand things to tell him flashed through her mind, but in the end, she told him the only thing she could: the truth. "No, you're not."
The arena faded away and the Battle Simulation ended, causing Reece to reappear in the real world. Her colleague ejected the Battle CD and stared at it for a long while, eyes wide with shock. Finally a smile broke out on his face. They had created true artificial intelligence. True artificial human intelligence.
Over the next couple days, work began in order to extract the Cooltrainer program from Battle CD 51, and to store it on a more specialized, glitch-proof, disk. The process was eventually successful, and a group of excited scientists gathered to view the first test run of Disk X, named for the original CD prototype. As the disk was inserted into the computer's hard drive all were silent, until what appeared to be a teenage boy appeared on the screen, looking confused. Immediately the questions began.
"Who are you?"
"Where did you come from?"
"Do you know what you are?"
"Do you know where you are now?"
"How old are you?"
"Do you consider yourself human?"
"What is your name?"
"I don't know!" he moaned, backing up and apparently hitting some sort of invisible wall. Looking out at the crowd of scientists who stared at him like he was some sort of circus freak, he finally managed a response. "I've been told that my name is X."