Resonance

Summary: In the Orre Region, Cipher wasn't only attempting to create Shadow Pokemon that couldn't be purified. They had even more secret projects that would raise the affected Pokemon's abilities. Finally, after years of searching, they found something they never had before…

Chapter 1
XR101

Screams rang through the room, rebounding from the walls and coming back to assault the ears of every scientist around at the many machines or in the observatory deck. A few were in the room on her level, taking notes.

The teenage girl's mouth was wide open, releasing screams, yells, and howls begging for them to stop hurting her. Her pleas fell on deaf ears, as the dour, stolid faces were turned to her in the name of damned science. Next to her was a struggling, growling Absol. A sturdy strap was over its chest just below its front legs, another over its stomach just above its haunches. Its back was pinned to a lab table and it flailed around, needing to rid itself of the pain that it, too felt. Attached to it was an assortment of wires that were attached to its skin and fur, one completely on its razor horn and another covering the black oval on its head.

Also in an assortment of wires was the girl. She couldn't escape, as her hands clenched and released with pain, not sure what was the proper muscle location for the pain to be less. There was no way that the pain could be beaten! The Absol next to her was unable to find a comfortable spot as well. Her hands and feet were bound at the wrists and ankles with the same thick bands that pinned the Absol. Her middle was bound as well, her neck pinned and making it harder to breathe.

The pain escalated, and the scientists around her held disappointed expressions as her pleas reached a shrieking level. Finally, the machine overloaded and the two were ominously silent. The overload had caused the machine to smoke and create a barrier over the sight of the two specimens. Finally, the scientists found themselves approaching the tables that the girl and Absol had been strapped to. They murmured amongst themselves as they found the girl unconscious but breathing. The Absol wasn't breathing. It had no pulse. It was dead. The girl, however, had made some developments. Hair that was once pure black was silvery white, matching the Absol's fur. A razor had formed on the side of her head, sleek black like the Absol's. The oval on the middle of the head on the Absol's head had made its way to hers, and a tail like Absol's had formed. Her nails had turned black and pointed, another similarity between the Absol and the girl. They checked her eyes, opening them and holding a penlight to them. Red irises as opposed to the green they had once been, and the pupil had turned white. They turned to the Absol. It had undergone no change, even though it had been fused with the girl. The body would have to undergo experimentation to see why it died instead of the girl, but for now, they reveled in their new success.

"Someone talk to Ein. We've got a successful specimen," one of the scientists at the ground level of the lab instructed. They were already fitting a collar around the neck. The collar read the experiment's name. XR101.

xxx

It was much later that XR101 awoke. Her headache was pounding, and she pushed herself up forcefully. Her gaze fell on the doors to the cage. As she looked around, she found that it was much too small! Why wasn't she touching any of the walls? She found herself standing oddly, needing her hands for balance. Her feet were on the ground, but her knees were hardly bent, yet her face wasn't directed at the floor. Actually, her entire body felt off and oddly balanced. She turned her head and thought she saw a flash of black. Finally, she looked down at her hands.

But they weren't hands.

She went stiff as she saw white fur along her arms and black talons. Further observation that her entire body was covered with white fur, and she now had the shape of a quadruped. She paced a bit, getting used to the odd ache in muscles that she was still discovering. She finally lay in a tight ball in the corner. There was a heavy weight around her neck, and it was draining her energy somewhat. This reduced her desire to panic, thankfully.

Somewhere close by, XR101 heard a faint buzz, then a humming drone with the scrape of glass against metal. She got to her feet and pressed as far into the corner as she could. A few scientists started walking in. She knew they had to be scientists—their lab coats swirled around their shins, flapping as they walked. She could see their feet, about up to the middle of the thigh. It was a good sized cage, probably because this new body was an Absol, which was a medium or large Pokemon. It always depended on the Absol itself.

The ones in black slacks and lab coats stopped, turning to face someone else who was walking along after them slowly. He had a less professional coat that was uneven on him—well, not so much uneven as it came down into several 'points' in the front and on the sides, obscuring purple pants a bit more than the lab coat would. XR101 recognized the clothing, but prayed it wasn't who she thought it was. The cage was opened and two hands grabbed her through the collar. No matter how much she clawed the cage, she wasn't slowed or stopped. They pulled her out, and she shrank down, peeking up at the man slowly. A long lock of raven black hair hung in front of his face, but more off to the side and the rest of his long hair was tucked into the high collar that rose to the middle of the back of his head. The lapels of his white coat jutted out and blue trim—around the sleeves above the wrists, along the zipper until it looped to the back to go up, a semicircle also at his side and around, traveling up the back. Yes, she knew who this was.

Ein.

"This is the only living subject? Pathetic…However, bring her along. I need to assess her power." He started to walk down a hall, and three scientists carried XR101 to keep her—for the most part—still. She couldn't attack anyone with her restricted movements, that was for sure. She stayed still, a deeper part of her waiting for them to stop, waiting for their guard to fall.

It never did.

xxx

Experimentation was a rather risky business. She knew they couldn't kill her. She had heard Ein's complaints over this. She was weak, unable to figure out the gift of the Pokemon powers given to her through her fusion with that Absol. She had also seen the body of the Absol, in many different pieces by now in attempt to study what had gone right at the same time as what had gone wrong. The fact of the matter was, she disappointed them. She felt fortunate, as she had seen—in the rare times that she was left to watch in the lab—that no others had survived. Perhaps it wasn't so much lucky as selfish, but she couldn't get over the slight fear that she would be killed in an experiment if there was a success. She couldn't bring herself to explore the use of her powers, though.

She had been poked, prodded, provoked, sliced open, injected, and just about anything else that could be thought of to have her encouraged to use her powers, but nothing was quite so encouraging as a vulnerable Ein, which didn't exist. He was cautious, perhaps from previous experience. She continued to wait.

And her waiting paid off.

Finally, one day, perhaps months after the experiment, they started something new—Shadow Pokemon. This took the focus off of her exhausted body for the time being. She was recruited in as a member of Cipher itself, but was still confined to the cage. They were right to do that, it was more than likely that she would run if given the opportunity. However, one day, the lab was broken into and all Pokemon were released. She wasn't sure who had done it, or what purpose it served them, but in the midst of a group of Pokemon, a collared Absol given the title of XR101 blended in, finding her way into the desert and out of the stuffy walls of the Cipher's base.

She was free.

xxx

Author's Note: I am well aware that the chapter was short, but that was all I could do with the chapter. Unfortunately, I have been very distracted because I am losing hearing in one ear and I can only hear certain (annoying) sounds. I'm trying my hardest and I will do my best to update consistently. Until the next chapter, enjoy your peace!

~ Bara-Chama ~