Part Two: Friendship
Friend: A person whom one knows
well and is fond of. Intimate association; close acquaintance. A person on the
same side in a struggle. One who is not enemy or foe: ally. A supporter or
sympathizer. Trusted by one, faithful. Origin: 'frijon' meaning to love.
Friendship: the state of being friends.
Attachment between friends. A friendly feeling or attitude towards another.
"I recall when I heard that feeble voice the
first time. It was afraid, confused. My first thought was that though I had
Papa, whoever this little Mew Two was, it did not have anyone.
'Where is this…who am I? …Why is it that I'm
here?'
He was awake! My father led Giovanni into the lab.
Perhaps he couldn't see me.. I don't know…
'Is this really the Pokémon created from Mew?"
'Yes. We do not yet know the state of this Mew
Two. We will test its powers once it awakens. Right now, this Mew Two is in a
state like that of a sleeping child, which is exactly what it is.'
'No…I am already awake! But I can't see
anything. I can't say anything… I can't feel anything. Is something wrong with
me? Have I been sick, maybe that is why I am here?"
'Once it awakes we will test the extent of its
powers.'
'I'm looking forward to it.' They walked out,
still talking. How exciting!
'Someone is talking about me...ohh…what are
they saying?'
'Words. Human words.' I said, in my mind.
Picturing my new companion inside my head. In my mind's eye he looked at me
with big kitten eyes, surprised. He hovered closer, examining my face intently,
a picture of curiosity. I think he must have seen the same thing in his mind,
for I felt as though this was real.
'What…are you?' he asked, without moving his mouth. Was he speaking with
his mind? How positively neat!
'Me? I'm Ai, I'm a little girl!' I said happily.
This was the first time I had spoken with anyone in...What was it? Almost four
years?
'Human?'
he asked, uncertain.
'I'm human! But I'm a human born just like you!'
His face showed puzzlement and vexation. Then his
expression cleared.
'Am I human too, then?'
The look in his eyes told me I ought to be careful
with my answer.
'Hmm…' I floated close, peering at his fuzzy
little face. "You talk…so you might be, but...maybe you're my Pokémon!
No...maybe it's me who is the Pokémon…" I stopped. I had succeeded in confusing
myself.
'Before you came here…'
He began, still looking at the details of my face with evident interest.
'I was dreaming, I think. There was someone else there, in blue water. And
it said 'Mew'. I asked who Mew was, but they went away and wouldn't wait for
me. Do you know who Mew is?'
I did, to some extent. But not enough that I
thought it mattered, and I shook my head. As the other child and I exchanged
pleasantries, I became aware of other small voices chattering.
"Squirt? Squirtle?"
"Saur. Bulba…saur…"
'Charmander! Char char!'
My small companion seemed to be thinking of what I
had said about humans and Pokemon.
'Humans. Pokémon. What are those? Which am I?' He asked me, by this point he seemingly believed I knew
everything. His big eyes searched mine for an answer.
'It doesn't matter.' I assured him. 'We're all the
same here, aren't we?'
'All of us?'
he asked, looking about, apparently seeing no one else.
'Listen! Can you not hear their voices?' He
stopped, listening for whatever I had heard. He shook his head.
'No…'
About then, the voices came out clearly.
'Mander! Charmandertwo!'
'Squirtletwo.'
'Bulba, Bulbasaurtwo!'
'All of them? Two? Two? Why is everyone two?' The little cat spun himself in the floating darkness
looking about for the origin of the other voices.
'Two…' I said, thinking as a small child does (for
that I was.) 'I think its because we're all copies, here. So we're not one, but
two.'
'And I'm a two too?'
'So am I, a two too.' I affirmed. His confusion
was visible, but so was his pleasure at being included in something.
'My name is Ai. But I'm Aitwo. But really, in real
life, I'm Ai!'
'In real life?'
'Not the real Ai, but Ai number two. Oh wait…maybe
I'm Aithree.'
I laughed. It didn't seem important anymore. I had someone to talk to! Maybe
more someones too, if I listened for them.
'Aithree?'
'Yes! That's right. One, two, three, four...If
there's a one, there's a two. And if there's a two, next is three! It's not
strange at all. See? One, two, three, four, five.'
'One, two, three, four, five?' He echoed.
'Yes! Now ichi, ni, san, shi, go! Numbers,
digits.'
'Ichi, ni, san, shi, go?'
'Isn't it great?' I exclaimed. This was the
happiest moment in my memory. Talking with a friend, laughing. Not worrying
about my poor Papa, just being a little girl.
'Great?'
He asked me. He didn't understand why I was so happy.
'Right!' I declared. 'I don't care whether I'm
Aitwo or Aithree or even Aifour. I mean, we're all here and it's great!'
'…One, two, three, four, five, six, seven?'
'That's right!' he was looking for my approval.
'And-'
We counted together, me and my new friend.
'Eight, nine, ten!' Not knowing why, I started to
laugh, as did he, his little face breaking into a joyous smile.
Around us, the owners of the other voices faded
into view. I vaguely remember a reference to telepathy once. I believe that was
how we were communicating with each other.
Outside of our containment, my father spoke
suddenly. I wasn't really paying attention at the time. I was more focused on
the strange new child I had befriended.
'Doctor Fuji, please look at the brainwave
patterns here. These are your daughter and Mew Two.'
' T-this is… Ai and Mewtwo are communicating
through telepathy! How is this possible?'
Listening, I decided I didn't care. Besides,
Mewtwo was tugging on my sleeve to get my attention.
'Ai, I.. I want to know more…could you tell me
more?'
He was so shy, it was funny. I nodded
enthusiastically.
'Sure! I'll teach you everything I know!' I
promised.
Looking back, these are the happiest times I
remember. No more lonely nights with only the moon for company. Though he
didn't always speak, it was a comfort to know that only a few feet away was my
little friend, sound asleep. When he was awake, he would ask me about
everything he saw, give me his thoughts on things, share the shards of his
dreams he could recall. He was the best friend anyone could wish for. I think
he thought of me more like an older sister, or a parent than a friend, though.
He looked up to me, and I relied on having him to talk to. Our most fascinating
discovery came when we found we could share our thoughts in pictures. My
memories of my home, all the people and things I'd known before the glass and
the water all around. I could show my friends all of this! The other
copies…Squirtletwo, Charmandertwo and Bulbasaurtwo were not all that talkative.
They didn't speak to me, or really think like Mewtwo and I did. They were nice
as pets more than as friends, I think.
My hometown, with houses and trees and roads. I
could show them where I had been born, where I grew up. No people…maybe you
can't imagine people like you can a town…you can't imagine a person's soul, can
you? That's how I know I never imagined Mewtwo, like the little friends so many
children my age dream up. The problem with an imaginary friend is that they can
only tell you what you already know. I learned a great deal from Mewtwo. He was
a deep thinker, even as a child.
We spent hours at a time, exploring my old haunts.
Eventually each time, I would tire and we would both fade back to our
respective selves hanging in stasis to sleep. The first time this happened, I
was afraid I'd lost the link and wouldn't be able to talk to them anymore. I
later found out that it was because Mewtwo had fallen asleep in the middle of
one of my explanations.
I showed them everything I could remember. My
house. The street I used to play on with the twins next door. My favorite
games.
But one thing I never showed them was the street at the edge of town. I was
afraid if we looked there, I might find an overturned truck, and a little car.
Even though this place was created by my mind, my mind could play nasty tricks
on me sometimes. Without Squirtle and the others, I may have had the nerve to
venture there with just Mewtwo, but they stuck close like glue. It seemed all
four of my friends thought of me as a sort of leader. I enjoyed teaching them
my games. Hide-and-seek. Leapfrog. Mewtwo was the one who suggested tag,
though. He was very good at it. He said he felt like he'd played it a lot
before, but could never remember where. He was happiest when he was talking
with me, or playing tag, I think. He said he thought maybe the first Ai had
lived here, and maybe the first one of him had been the one who liked tag. I
had laughed and we thought no more of it.
Maybe I should have, though."
Part Three: Love
Love (platonic): A deep and tender feeling of affection for or attachment or
devotion to a person or persons. A feeling of brotherhood and goodwill. Strong
feelings of friendship and ties with another person.
"Sometimes, we talked alone, Mewtwo and I. Without
the aid of my dream world. Mostly at night. It was these times we really
learned what the other was thinking. I think somehow, Mewtwo knew that we
couldn't hide in my dream world forever. He knew we'd have to see reality and
grow up someday. Our childhood revelations were discussed at length on the long
nights we spent in the laboratory.
'Ai?' His
voice broke the silence of the evening; long after my father had gone home for
the night.
'Yes?'
'Ai, I…I can see outside…this isn't one of your
dream places, is it?'
'No. What do you see?'
'I don't know. They're very pretty. Bright.'
'Oh…' I opened my eyes, against the fluid around
me. 'That's...the moon. And the stars. They're here to tell us the night's not
dark and scary. They always shine at night.'
'Shining...hmm..' he murmured drowsily. Then something else caught his
attention. One of the lab technicians on late shift.
'Ai, there. What is that he's eating?'
I stirred to look. The technician was eating
something, Mewtwo was right. Something I hadn't seen in a long time. It struck
me as silly.
'That? Hehe, that's cake and milk that researcher
is eating.'
'Cake? Milk?'
I always forgot he didn't know about such things.
'Cake is soft and sweet. Its funny, see, because
it's not usually adults who like it. Children love it!'
'Then you must like it too, Ai.' He said, sounding a little more awake now.
I sighed regretfully.
'I've never had it before. I mean, I can't eat here. In the water.'
'Hmmm...how about milk, then?'
'It's something that newborn babies, not adults,
want the most. But... hehehe! I've never had that either. I've cried before
because I wanted it though.'
Had I really? I suppose I must have…I, Aitwo, not
Ai, had been here my entire short life. I must have wept for want of milk as an
infant, I supposed. I wondered why Mewtwo had never seemed to be at that infant
stage. I guessed he had been moved from another part of the lab to here as he
matured. He was younger than I was, yes, on both levels. Where I was four years
old, he had been born only a month ago. He seemed to be at a mental stage only
a year or so less than I though. He was growing up faster than I had. My Daddy
had programmed him to, I think. It was supposed to slow down to normal
eventually.
'Why were we born?' He asked, out of the
blue. I supposed his nimble mind had left from my comment about newborn babies
to our own strange existence
' Umm..because there's a Papa and a Mama.' I said,
giving him the same answer my father had given me when I'd asked something
similar while I was still Ai.
His voice sounded small and sad as he asked me
another question.
'Do I have a papa and a mama too?'
Oh poor little Mewtwo, I wish I'd been able to give you a more comforting
answer. I wish I could have said yes. I tried my best for you, though…
'In our case…um…um…God, I guess.'
'God?' He
said. He didn't push the matter though.
It seemed tonight his mind was full of doubt and
questions. Not the kind of questions he used to ask, like 'What's that?' and
'Where did you live?' but things about the laboratory, how we happened to be
born here. Why we had to stay in the glass. I told him what I could, but I
think it scared him how little we both knew.
'Ai, what are we?'
I giggled.
'You…you're a strange and a very wonderful
Pokemon.'
'Pokemon? So you're a Pokemon too, Ai?'
I was reminded of the words we had exchanged at
our first meeting, about humans.
'No. I'm a human. But I'm a copy, like you. So-'
Suddenly, something hurt. I stopped talking. What was this…? Where were
Squirtletwo, Charmandertwo and Bulbasaurtwo? Weren't they here…? This morning,
they were still in those tubes…they're all empty now…?
'Ai, are you alright?' My friend's concerned voice asked. 'Ai, what's wrong?
What's wrong Ai?' Here he was, though he could do nothing for me, begging
to know what was wrong, as if he could help me.
I felt like I was coming apart. Like parts of me were
weakening and fading away. Beside me Mewtwo was stirring, for real this time.
He was moving.
'Ai, answer me, what happened?'
I smiled at him, trying to comfort him. He looked
at the real me for the first time, his eyes open now deep with concern I had
never seen on his physical face.
'I think...Mewtwo, I think it almost time for us
to say goodbye… Look…I need you to promise me something.'
'Anything.' He
said, I think moving must have pained him, for his little body just wasn't
ready for it, but he did so just the same out of fear for me.
'Live, alright? I'm sure life is wonderful. My
Papa told me so.'
'Ai.' His
voice broke in a confused sob. 'Ai, I...I'm in the glass, in the
water…but…there's water in my eyes…what is this?'
'That's probably tears.' I said, it was getting
harder to move. I found I couldn't feel my hands or feet. I think my hair was
falling out.
'Tears?'
he whispered, moving his arm to his face, tugging one of the implants of his
upper arm.
'My Papa said living things don't shed tears
unless their bodies hurt. He said only humans could shed tears 'cause they're
sad… Mewtwo…'
'Huh?'
'You're better than any human. Thank you for your
tears. But Mewtwo, don't cry. You're going to live…and I'm sure life is
wonderful.'
I knew I was dying now. I stared quietly, waiting
for the end. Mewtwo was sobbing, he had shifted from the fetal position he had
kept as long as I'd known him, and now his paws dangled uselessly, and his face
was buried in his arms. It was useless for me to move, or try to stop the rapid
deterioration of my body, and my best friend was crying his heart out as I
slowly began to lose consciousness.
'No Ai, please please don't go!'
' I have to.'
'Ai, it won't stop...The tears...what should I
do? Ai, answer me... '
'You're going to live, Mewtwo. And I'm sure
life...is wonderful.'
I felt the last essence of myself drift away then.
'Please answer me Ai...' He dissolved completely into brokenhearted sobbing.
So where am I now? I'm still here…I'm still
somehow here. I feel as if I'm watching from a distance, and being drawn
further and further away every second, you know…I must see this…I must…
Papa! My papa is here, how could I have missed
him? I'm leaving, Papa. Please don't be too sad. Please take care of Mewtwo. He
needs a papa too, you know. Now you won't be lonely. I'm going away, but Mewtwo
will stay with you...he's a good friend… he needs someone to talk to, and to be
his friend… its getting harder to stay here, I feel like I'm being pulled away.
My body is all gone…my spirit is still here…
'Ai has dissolved inside her glass tube. It was a
life where she didn't step outside of it,' sighs my Papa. I can see him crying.
The tears make his face look funny. I have never seen my papa cry before. Not
even when he said Mama left him.
'Four years is the maximum a human clone can survive, so far...'
I can hear Mewtwo, too. He is weeping. Can't my
papa see that? Why doesn't he comfort him?
'I don't mind. As long as we have the analysis of
Ai, we can make as many copies as I want. I won't give up.' I'm shocked. Papa!
How can you say this about me?! I'm not a lab experiment! I'm Ai! I'm Ai! I'm
the REAL AI!
'Make them? As many as you want? That is not
right. There is only one Ai.'
Mewtwo. Mewtwo understands, why is my Papa acting
like this? Why is he being so cold? He's crazy!
'I can make many copies as long as I have a base.'
He says, turning to his computer. The lady in the lab coat puts her hand on his
shoulder. She says she is sorry.
'There was one Ai who talked to me!!!'
Mewtwo whispers. A pulse emits around him. He's mad. He doesn't like them
treating me so. He wants me to come back and comfort him. But these scientists,
this man I thought was my father, they can offer him no comfort. They don't
even try to stop his weeping.
I can barely see anymore. I feel a pulling in my
soul. I have to go… My father says it's bad that Mewtwo is agitated. He says
they should sedate him, for he cannot be recreated like I can. There is only a
tiny base for him, whereas I am easy to copy. But not easy to keep alive… I'm
so upset, why did I have to die? It isn't fair…
I don't hurt anymore. I'm not angry with Papa.
Just upset. I don't hate my daddy. He's so sad...I'm here, wherever here is,
telling my story. I'm done now...because this as far as I have come... I felt
so calm when I started to speak, now I feel as though I have lived through it
all again. I feel like I'm going somewhere… my only regret...I wasn't able to
be there for Mewtwo...this light, all around me… goodbye Papa, Mewtwo...I love
you both… I suppose now…I'll see…what heaven looks like… I'll see...whatever is
beyond… Goodbye…"
Ai itsu made mo.
