"Keep Out"

This sign had been resting on a rusty fence for the last few years, partly hidden behind overgrown plants of all kinds, and keeping the folks safe from the decaying ruins of the burnt down Pokemon Mansion. Apparently, this was the place where Mewtwo was born. Although details of the experiments that went on in there are still unclear and often contradictory, they say that Mewtwo suddently went berserk and fled, savagely destroying the building in the process. This sudden change of mind from the pokemon is said to have caught most of the researchers by surprise, as, according to the logs that were salvaged from the ruins after the incident, Mewtwo had always been of a kind and cooperative nature.
In fact, many things apparently went wrong in there, but none of the scientists involved will talk about it. Mind you, I tried asking them.

I'm a pokemaniac, currently studying to become a Pokemon Scientist. If all goes well, I should finally graduate from the Pokemon Academy in Pokemon Science by next summer. To complete my degree, I am asked to do a research thesis on the subject of my choice. The subject I chose to research on is, as some of you might have guessed already, the man-made pokemon Mewtwo. The ammount of mystery this pokemon and his history are shrouded in makes it the ideal subject in my opinion.
I had been tracking down every man and woman involved in the original Mewtwo Project for weeks, but infortunately for me, none of them accepted to talk about the experiment, and would proceed to ignore me no matter how insisting I've been. I had no choice, if I wanted to get some information, I'd have to go get it myself. Besides, time was starting to run short to hand over my essay. I did not give up, more determined than ever to discover the truth about the infamous Mewtwo project.

...and I did succeed.

The first thing I did was get my hand on the original papers that were recovered from the ruins. But as expected, most pages were missing, and out of the remaining ones, some parts were severely damaged and burnt. Worse yet, anything that was still readable held no secrets. The authorities had been pretty transparent about the information made public; the cloning of Mew, the genetic alterations, the physiological profile of Mewtwo from foetus to adulthood,... all the information we already knew, nothing more, nothing less, though it did contain much more details than what had been said in the media.

I eventually took the dumbest, yet most informative decision of my life. No, I do not regret doing what I did, but I would never want to live and see something like that ever again.

I thought about everything when I packed my backpack: snacks, a flashlight, replacement batteries, my cellphone, a jacket, a protective helmet, a hammer, a pocket knife, a rope, pen and paper, etc. I looked around the building 3 times before carefully climbing the rusty fence, violating the purpose of the "Keep Out" sign. The building's ruins were big, much bigger than they looked from 100 feet away. The door was dislocated and refusing to open, but luck had made it so a nearby crumbled wall could easily be used as an entrance. I was expecting to see graffitis everywhere and empty beer bottles on the floor, as youngsters are known for squatting abandoned places of all kinds, but to my surprise, the place had been left as is from the day it burnt down. I was the very first soul to enter its wall in years, staining the purity of the decay nature had held upon it. I tried not to touch or move anything I didn't need to, for I do hold deep respect for these kinds of human-free sceneries.

All levels above ground floor were collapsed and thus, unaccessible. However, an undamaged staircase led to 2 basement floors. Taking out my flashlight, I headed down to the first basement. No interesting finds there though; the floor consisted mainly of corridors leading to countless classrooms and meeting rooms. That was probably the floor they used when they needed to give some training to the staff or hold meetings. I headed back to the huge steel staircase and went down to the last floor. The door on this one was secured by a keycard reader, but it had been left open after the scientists had fled the area. This floor had much more of the laboratory-feel I had been searching for. I soon arrived to a large room filled with medical machinery, both empty and still full bottles of chemical solutions, and other strange gear thrown all around the place. I made my way to a small office room secluded in thick glass windows in the back. The room contained a large desk, monitoring equipment, 2 office armchairs, an old dusty computer, and a huge locked steel file cabinet. I looked around the small office for the key, to no avail. I grabbed the hammer I had in my backpack, grabbed a pair of metal scisors lying on the desk, hammered the scisors' blade in the opening space near the lock of the cabinet, and it eventually gave in. The cabined was filled with folders and documents. I grabbed the first folder and read it's title.

Project "Mewtwo".

I suddently got the widest satisfaction smile you could ever think of! I had found everything! All the papers documenting the experiment were there! I sat down and started reading them.

"Day 1
DNA has been extracted from the pokemon known as "Mew". Attempting cloning while following gene splicing procedures discovered in previous reasearch project.

Day 4
Cloning successful. The embryo is growing steadily."

The first moments of life of Mewtwo, documented to the slightest details right before my very eyes!

"Day 29
The baby pokemon shows its first signs of sentience. It is looking around at its surroundings a lot. It seems to have a curious nature. Its physical appearance is very close to Mew's.

Day 34
The young pokemon shows remarkable understanding of its surroundings, probably due to its curious nature. Its color is gradually fading to a light purple-gray tone."

As I read, I could only imagine what the young mewtwo had been like through the eyes of the scientists.

"Day 75
"Mewtwo" has grown to be of a distinct shape and color from all other known pokemons, though it still bears ressemblances to its counterpart Mew. It is showing a very high level of intelligence, above that of an average human being. It is showing complete understanding of its surroundings and our work here and is apparently cooperating on its own free will. It has a very patient, and kind nature."

The more I read, the more I wanted to know.

"Day 119
This pokemon is a marvel. It is a real jewel of modern science. Gene splicing has proved to be successful, it is showing strong psychic abilities, and effectively communicates with all of us through telepathy. It also shows a high level of empathy as it seems to feel our emotions and respond accordingly. It is also quickly learning to read.

Day 124
The pokemon has demonstrated its powers, which have proven to be far beyond that of any other known pokemon. It is very sensitive to external stimuli and has shown to sometimes have extreme emotional reactions to various stimuli. This pokemon is to be taken good care of, angering it runs the risks of very negative consequences. He must be kept away from the 3rd basement and any trace of the "Mewone" project."

I stopped and read again. "Mewone"? Third basement? Had there been one before him? I needed to know. I also needed to find out how to access the hidden basement. I packed the files in my backpack and exited the laboratory. I checked every staircase I could find. Most of them were collapsed, but none showed the existance of a third basement.
I noticed an elevator shaft with a partly open metal door twisted by the incendiary heat in a very far corner of a corridor. I peered in. The elevator had dropped one floor below, its cables still hanging motionless far above my head. It looked like the kind of elevator one uses to transport furniture and stuff of the likes. I tested the resistance of the metal doors with all my strength and they did not move in the slightest. I tied one end of a rope to them and started climbing down the shaft.

This floor seemed like it had been abandoned long before the building burned down in a fire. Dusty strange footsteps covered the floor, surrounded by an even thicker layer of dust. The footsteps had a very unusual Y shape, eerily ressembling those of mewtwo, according to my pokedex. I kept going, following the strange dusty steps and found myself in a second laboratory, nearly identical to the one above. Again, I made my way to the office room at the back of it. This one had a huge desk but with a single broken plastic chair, like those used in school classrooms, rather than office armchairs, and nothing else; no computer, no trashcan, no file cabinet. I noticed a large notebook lying open upside-down on the floor and grabbed it. I blew the dust off its cover.

Project "Mewone".

I had never heard of that, yet I was insanely curious. I sat down on the dusty floor and opened the book.

"Day 1
Rare pokemon "Mew" discovered and brought to the research facility. Although small, this pokemon has incredible potential. DNA has been extracted from it in hopes to create the perfect pokemon from its genes. Beginning splicing tests.

Day 3
Splicing tests successful. Attempting to clone from Mew's DNA with the spliced genes."

I should've thought about it. There was a reason why they had included the number 2 in Mewtwo's name. He was the second cloning attempt.

"Day 5
Cloning successful. The embryo is growing steadily.

Day 8
Complications with the foetus' growth. A tumor is developping on the side of its head. We still need to wait some more days before we can perform surgery to remove it.

Day 15
The tumor has grown 2 times the size of the foetus, it needs to be removed now or the life of the embryo will be threatened.

Day 16
Surgery successful, the embryo is recovering, however, the tumor has left it disfigured."

I winced. The poor thing...

"Day 21
Another tumor has been discovered on its back. A second surgery would be fatal.

Day 32
Cautious removal of second growth by surgery. Surgery successful, but the baby pokemon is very week. Oxygen tubes inserted in its mouth to help it breathe."

I paused and quickly flicked through the pages, then resumed my reading.

"Day 42
The baby pokemon has fully recovered from surgery and has shown signs of sentience. Scanning of its body has shown no other tumors. Oxygen tubes are removed."

I smiled.

"Day 52
The pokemon is slowly growing up, not much changes since the last entry. Its skin started changing for a light purple-gray color.

Day 66
Immunity splicing gone wrong. The pokemon's immune system is weakening.

Day 67
Routine scanning has shown a new tumor. Beginning surgery.

Day 71
Removal of tumor successful, but a cancer has setteled in due to the pokemon's poor immune system. Beginning chemo treatments.

Day 75
Chemo treatments have proven to be too strong. The baby pokemon is showing signs of radiation sickness: bruised and blistered skin, vomiting, bleeding gums and ears. It also seems very sad."

I was angry, how could they have done such a serious medical mistake with a small living being? The poor thing was already suffering enough, he didn't need that. A part of me wanted to know if things got better for it in the end so I kept reading.

"Day 79
Strength splicing gone wrong, noted muscular atrophy for no apparent reason. Its teeth have now fallen out due to the previous radiation exposure.

Day 85
Not much improvement in the last few days. Its muscles are so weak it can't stand up and move around anymore.

Day 91
Repeated surgeries for tumors have made the pokemon very weak. Oxygen tubes have been inserted.

Day 93
Regeneration splicing gone wrong. Its wounds are not healing themselves anymore. The young pokemon is crying from pain constantly."

At this point I was shaking. I did not tolerate the harming of any life forms, and this was just horrible.

"Day 97
Growth splicing gone wrong. It seems like the body of the pokemon is aging at a fast rate. It's skin is beginning to look withered.

Day 103
The pokemon still cannot breathe without the oxygen tubes. It is sleeping most of the time under the effects of pain killing drugs administered daily.

Day 108
The pokemon's skin is as withered as that of an old man in his 90's. Its heart has also gone weak, and many of its bones have fused together. It is fully paralyzed.

Day 113
Part of its skin is affected with necrosis, especially its limbs. Need to amputate left leg.

Day 115
Drugs aren't efficient enough anymore to supress the pain. The pokemon has gone completely silent; it is not crying anymore. Its stare is empty and its breathing is heavy.

Day 119
The young pokemon died after being unconscious for 2 days. We will be keeping its body for science."

I dropped the notebook, that last sentence resonating in my head.

We will be keeping its body for science.
Keeping its body for science.
For science.
Science.

I found out tears were falling down my cheeks. I turned off my flashlight and sat there in the dark for several minutes, trying to digest the horrors I had read. Some moments later I turned on my flashlight and stood up. I didn't feel like bringing this notebook with me. It angered me. It saddened me.
I walked out of the office room, and tripped onto something. I looked down, it was a broken glass bottle. I sent the light of my flashlight on the big shelf next to me. Dozens of dusty glass pots were resting there, every one of them labelled. I grabbed one, and dusted off the label.

"Brain"

I wiped the dust off the rest of the bottle. There, in the jar I was holding, was a tiny pokemon brain, of assymetrical shape and about 1 and a half inch across.
I wiped the dust off other bottles nearby.

"skull", "face skin", "heart", "eyes", "spine", "left leg with necrosis", "right leg", "digestive system",... every last piece of its body was there, classified and kept on display like objects in a museum... even the tumors...

As I threw up, I suddently felt deep compassion for Mewtwo.