Chapter 4: Neglect
"Log One. The date is 3 / 24. I've decided to start writing these logs to help keep up with this new project and to keep tabs on any changes or observations we've made at the lab. So far, it's been three weeks, and we haven't yet discovered any abnormalities with the mawile with an exception of its aggression we assume is, unfortunately, by nature. Just today she has surpassed the weight average for a mature fully-grown mawile, which concludes she is growing. The reason for growth is no doubt an infection of some kind she had contracted through the 'pinkeye' matter, the disease is unknown from all our available sources. We have been observing her actions from the cameras inside of the shelter, and it gives us worrying results, such as talking to herself, swinging as if there were someone else with her, and we sometimes find her staying awake throughout the whole night. The professor says this could be a mental instability she had gained after coming in contact with the 'pinkeye' liquids. But that can't be because she does not act like that when she is taken out for testing. For now, we're going to keep watch to see if anything else will happen over the next couple of weeks that are available to us. I'm planning on trying to extend our time to help this mawile and learn more about this disease, but for now, all we can do is hope."
- Alan James Fallace, March 24th
Those past three weeks were a rough few. Getting used to her new environment and only being allowed to move further than the shelter when Alan was running the next test wasn't exactly the most comfortable, nor fun. Sometimes Eve wouldn't even be paying any attention, lost in space or her imagination, trying to keep herself occupied in such a lonely environment. Alan constantly promises her that they would spend more time together, either the next day or the next week, she was alone in an empty room, listening to the echoes of human voices from the halls.
Some days she'd slump herself against the wall on her bed, lost in her imagination and rubbing her head, thinking about what she could have done differently or do in the future if she has one. In her head there wasn't many things to think of. The only world she knew of was the one around the lake, never beyond nor beneath it. Eventually the medication she was given will take its toll on her and knock her out to sleep, and making her wake up the next day in a place she doesn't remember being, topped with a pounding headache.
After recovering, she'd climb back to her feet and wait by the door for someone to come keep her company. Alan would come every morning before anyone else and take her to his office for him to teach her about the world and what his life was like before she came along. Those usually lasted for a short amount of time before he was forced to put her back into the shelter until they would need to take her out again for her daily tests.
Sometimes no one would come at all. Those days are the only ones where the quiet nights, she could hear a pleasant humming in a distant room…
The humming wasn't in her imagination, she could hear it echoing through the building and bouncing around the walls of the room. Eve opened her eyes sleepily and rubbed them, sitting up. She turned her head to the door that is locked regularly when all the employees returned home, but to her surprise it was wide open. She got up quickly and approached it in shock, and without question, she walked through it cautiously. No human voices could be heard, just the humming, but it was important to be quiet and use caution, she didn't want to waste this opportunity and get thrown back into the shelter for the night yet again. The door to the shelter room was also open a crack, but just enough for her to stick her fingertips into the cracks to pull it open. She stopped and stared down the hall, lit by only the nighttime lights and sounded by the humming, before taking a step into the hall away from the shelter.
She stayed as crouched as she could, straining her legs to do so since they were so short, while peeking into every open doorway she could. The unlit rooms weren't convincing her that everyone was really gone. For all she knows, she couldn't be the only one who hides in the shadows. She continued down the halls, stopping at crossroads to listen to where the humming had been coming from, the sound of it growing louder began to excite her to finally satisfy her curiosity.
The sound of humming grew loud and Eve stopped in front of a closed door. Looking up, she easily identified it as Alan's office after coming to this room a couple times a week. Inside, a mawile was sitting on the desk, facing away from Eve as she pushed the door open silently. Their jaws had a large gash across the pale circle, along with the rest of their body, scarred. They didn't seem notice Eve's entrance as she walked further into the room and stood on Alan's small, green circular carpet in the center of the room, staring at Jasmine and listening to her song.
The song lasted only a little while longer before she hummed the final verse and taking a deep breath. "Did you enjoy my song?" she asked, glancing at Eve from the side with a tired look.
"I… It was very pretty," Eve replied with honesty with no tone. "I didn't know you sang."
Jasmine turned around and let her legs dangle from the desk, placing her hand on her chin. "You're right, I don't. But you never knew me long enough to find out."
"I'm sorry."
"Oh, I'm sure." She placed her hands at her sides. "Anyone would be in these conditions, I kind of feel bad for you."
"Feel bad for me? I thought you hated me…" Eve took a step back when Jasmine hopped down from the desk and began walking towards her.
"Hate and anger are not the same. Seeing you with that man is proving something to me, that maybe you aren't a complete monster," she explained, folding her hands nervously. "But as I speak, I'm hoping once more that I'm not wrong about you. I doubt anyone has forgotten what you've done."
Eve tilted her head. "What are you saying?"
Jasmine sighed and placed her hand on Eve's shoulder, making her jump. "I feel like there is still a chance for you. Just don't let go, don't let go of anything, the moment you do is the moment it all falls down."
"What? Jasm-" "Enough already. It's almost morning time again…" Jasmine let go of her shoulder and took a step back. "Listen to me." As she said that, her body faded away into a white smoke. Eve reached her hand out to grab her before she left, and felt someone grab her wrist. In a panic, she struggled trying to get it off, not even knowing what was on her. Until she woke up…
Echoes of shouts to stop struggling echoed. Her eyes still closed, she pulled her arm away and crawled away from her pursuer until her back hit a wall. She shook her head spastically, the figure stood up and stepped back, staring. Eve panted and gasped, blinking until she could see clearly again. She was in her shelter, just waking up from suddenly being thrusted back from and to reality. The man in front of her whistled softly, and she looked up at Alan. "You're lucky no one's here yet, or you'd be causing quite a ruckus," he teased, crouching down to her height once more, her staring as he came closer. "Another nightmare?" Eve lowered her head and nodded. "Aw, that's too bad. I wish there was more I could do, I brought you some more of those PokeBeans you like." He grabbed a pouch from his belt and placed in front of her. She stared at it, knowing what was in it, and simply pushed it back. Alan thought she didn't know what was in it and pulled the string off, revealing three yellow, lemon-flavored PokeBeans.
She stared at them with slight interest, and pushed them away. No luck, he picked the pouch back off the floor and wrapped it back up with a sigh. They both stood up at the same time, Eve being almost up to his waist in height, and Alan escorted her to the open door for the shelter, patiently waiting at the door for Eve to catch up since she is still drowsy from awakening so suddenly.
Once through, he slowly and quietly shut the door, before kneeling down next to Eve. "Follow me, I've got something I need to show ya," he said in a quiet voice. She blinked and simply tilted her head. Without any further words, he got up and turned the next corner, Eve following close behind with her head down. Although she wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, the path they took gave her a sense of deja vu, coursing through her and giving her a spine chill. The walls looked clean as the dream, the same doors were left open with their lights switched off, but the trek was not as lengthy and they were at the door before she knew it.
She lifted up her head listening to the jingling of Alan's keys as he plucked his own out of the many on the jumpring to get the door open. The door slowly swung open, revealing the same room of the one in her dream, and the same room that she had gone in many times before. Without protest, she followed him inside and he pushed the door closed, but left it open just a crack. She took her place on the familiar green carpet, fueling the deja vu, and watched Alan with curiosity while he opened a cabinet behind his desk. "Hold on just a sec bud, don't go anywhere," he exhorted, before taking out a ball-shaped object wrapped in a white cloth.
"Huh? Is that…" Eve said suddenly, but cut herself off, knowing all too well what the shape was. He approached and crouched next to her, she took two steps back and turned herself away from him, crossing her arms.
Ignoring her protest, he removed the cloth, revealing a green and white ball for younger pokemon. "Mawile, this is a Nest Ball. Do you know what these do?" he asked first. After a short pause, she turned again towards him and nodded. He smiled. "Smart girl. Now, I have a statement for you, and a question. You seem smart, so I've got a feeling you already know where this is going."
"What?" she asked in disbelief, although he was reluctant to hear her, so he just kept going.
"Look." He reached over and laid his hand on her shoulder, which she shook it off nervously. Again, he simply continued. "I really like you. I know things are hard right now, but let me tell you, things will get better. That's a promise." She glanced back at him as he went on. "We're trying our very hardest to figure this all out, and it takes time, and I want you to know we're putting as much time as we can into you, even if we are bending the rules a little bit." He paused, taking a long breath, thinking. "Now, enough about now, I have been thinking about the future a bit. And I was going to ask you something… very important to me."
He pushed the ball closer to her, her body tensed and she took a step away, widening her eyes and locking her vision onto the ball. A human holding a PokeBall before her has never happened to Eve before. She doesn't know what it's like to be in one, much less break out if she gets touched, which she knows could very well be her ruin.
"When this is all over, do you think you'd want to-" Cutting him off, she spun around and knocked the ball out of his hand with her jaws, unopened and still sealed shut, making him whoop in surprise. She clenched her fists and held her stance with her sealed jaws in front of his face. Although not a threat, it is still very intimidating. He sighed and nodded.
Suddenly Eve's ears twitched, hearing voices echo while Alan reached over to retrieve the ball obliviously. A sound of a door opening was heard and she darted her eyes towards the sound, Alan jumped up and tucked the ball into the cloth quickly. "Someone is coming…" Eve said to herself unconsciously, looking up at Alan, waiting for his call, or the right call at least.
He stood back up and tossed the ball back into the cabinet and shutting it quickly. "Quick!" he said, rushing to the door crouched, holding out his arms to her. "We have to go, they're coming!" Rather than heeding his warning, she listened closer as the voices approached. One was laughing and feminine, the other was a serious, deep-voiced man, and the two were getting closer by the second. She first took a step away from Alan, and then darted behind his desk and hid beneath the chair, holding her jaws at her side. "Mawile! What are you doing?"
"Alan, what the hell are you doing?" Valerian took a place behind him, accompanied by a young woman with a friendly smile, her hands were folded in front of her excitedly. She had a similar look to Valerian, having lush brown hair, but almost Alan's height.
"Um." He quickly stood up and brushed off his coat. "Nothing. Just acting weird as usual. Heh heh."
"Oh sure, why am I surprised?" The woman giggled behind him.
Alan looked over Valerian's shoulder at her. "Hello, who is this?" he asked with interest, her smile grew at the question.
She stepped forward and bowed. "You must be the Alan I've been hearing so much about," she said with a calming voice that came naturally. He nodded, Valerian rolled his eyes. "I'm Viviana, I just transferred from Alola to here."
"Is that so? Well, we're in the middle of something I'd say is pretty…" Eve poked her head out slightly. "...pretty crazy," he explained.
"I've heard. As soon as I found out I came right away," she said excitedly.
"Oh. Who told you?"
"Madam Wicke. She said there was a mawile here in Ciris that you all needed some assistance with," she explained, and glanced over his shoulder. "Is that them right there?" she asked, pointing to Eve, who quickly withdrew behind the desk on sight.
"What? Sh-She couldn't be in here, she'd be uh… in-in the shelter room!" he stuttered as she walked right past him into his office. Valerian sighed behind him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Alan, you need to work on that, because that was honestly painful to hear," Valerian teased, holding a serious tone. Hearing Viviana approach, Eve ducked under the desk once more and backed as far in as she could, but her jaws made it difficult. The desk chair was pulled away slowly and she crouched down in front of Eve.
"Hi!" she greeted, extending her arms towards Eve to pick her up. Eve slapped them away and dashed into her, she screamed and got knocked back. She got off and rushed towards the door despite the two men standing guard.
"Whoa there!" Alan yelled and scooped up Eve into his arms. An alarm went off in her head and she punched and kicked, surprising Alan and lost his grip, dropping her back onto the floor. Her vision went red and she found herself backing into a corner with her hands in front, her eyes darting left and right at the two. Alan was catching his breath and Viviana was laughing, still on the floor. Valerian was watching from the doorway, staring at Eve, he sighed.
Alan opened a shelter door and held it open so Viviana could walk through, followed by Eve, staring down at the floor in embarrassment. She stopped in the middle of the room and looked around, Alan closed the door behind them and joined Viviana at the table and sat down. "From what I have heard, this mawile is infected with some sort of disease," Viviana began. "A disease that increases growth, is that right?"
"That is right," he replied, keeping eye contact with her.
"And it is not PokeRus?"
"Not PokeRus."
She nodded and got up out of her chair, before approaching Eve and kneeling down next to her. Eve stepped back untrusting and squinted at her. "It's okay buddy, I won't hurt you," Viv said. She glanced back at Alan. "Can you reassure them that they're safe, I don't want them to freak out again."
Alan got out of his chair and kneeled down next to her. "Come on mawile, I'm here, and I won't let anything happen to you," he said, holding out his hand to her. Her eyes darted from Viv to Alan and she shook her head. She tilted her head and reached up to tug at the restrainment keeping her jaws closed, irritated by its presence. The two looked at each other, thinking the same thing. "I can take it off, just promise me that you won't be swinging them around." He reached further with his hand out. "Will you?" She took a reluctant step forward, not completely trusting the deal, but before she could take it back, his hand took hers and she was pulled towards him. "Hold still." He flipped her around and she lowered her head, allowing Alan to access the belt on her jaws. He unbuttoned locks keeping it closed and suddenly a rush of freedom soared through the upper half of her body, she let out a sigh of relief. She opened and closed her jaws to make sure they still worked after so much time idling closed shut for so long.
"They seem happy," Viv pointed out, leaning over Eve. "I'm Viviana, I'm going to help take care of you for a while," continuing with a friendly smile. Eve just stared back at her and let their eyes meet, they both blinked at the same time. She held out her hands. "I really want to learn more about you. Would you mind if I picked you up?"
"Getting friendly so soon?" Alan said sarcastically. Viviana ignored him and waited patiently for a response. With no other choice, Eve sighed and stepped forward, allowing Viv to wrap her hands around her and lift her into her arms. Alan smiled at the two. "How cute. You're stealing her from me?"
"Oh. Is that a competition, because I'll spoil her to make her like me!" Eve made a confused face as Viviana took a seat at the table with Eve placed on her lap, trying to not bite. "So, may I see what you've recovered so far from her? Besides the fact that it's a she."
He nodded. "I'm on it, I might as well get you updated on what has been going on recently with her," he complied. "And it's good to hear that you're observant." He quickly snatched up a notepad he had left on the table and tossed it in front of her. "Boom. It's nothing too complicated, just some simply changes to natural statistics and comparisons I needed to write down." She pulled the pad close and carefully read through, making sure she didn't miss a single detail. Eve lifted her head to try and catch a glimpse of it, although the writing was undecipherable by her due to her inability to read the human language. She stared at it anyway, trying to memorize the symbols and letters and numbers, maybe to learn something with all of this spare time.
"I see. She's overall considerably larger than average mawiles. Is there anything else?"
"From what we've found at the lake, she has… some sort of enhanced strength maybe? There is no way she would've survived all on her own in a place like that."
"What do you mean?" Eve frowned as it all came back to her, it sent a chill down her spine. Viv felt her tense in her arms, she laid a hand on Eve's head and pet her slowly.
Alan clenched his teeth and sighed. "She killed a lot of pokemon down there. Not fainted. Killed," he said. She lifted an eyebrow and looked down at Eve.
"Wow. So that's why she's so isolated from everyone?"
"If we sent her to headquarters, we could put countless pokemon lives in danger." He looked at Eve. "No offense." She rolled her eyes.
"Hmm… That's a real shame…" Viviana continued to rub Eve's head softly and slowly, giving her a little more of a feeling of security, but she felt as if she just could not give out anymore trust to people like her. Something just wasn't right between her and Eve, and she refused to give her any more trust than she had already given to Alan, which is something she a had sworn to herself to never do.
Suddenly Viviana was rubbing a spot on her head between the stem of her jaws and head. It created a discomfort the way she rubbed, as if feeling it. "Um. Alan?" she said worriedly.
"What's wrong?"
"Was there always this bump on her head? I have never seen this on a mawile before."
He got up and went over to her side. Eve felt uncomfortable with all the attention. "Let me see this 'bump'," he demanded.
She let go of her head and pointed her finger to a small lump right along the edge of the stem connecting her jaws to her head. "It's right here, do you see it?"
Alan rubbed his eyes and blinked hard. "I do, I do. My goodness, something is actually happening!"
Eve shook her head in disbelief and looked up at Alan in horror. "Wh-What?" she asked. Neither of them understood her nor paid attention to her protest as Viv got up out of her seat with Eve locked in her grasp.
"Oh ho ho! First day and we're getting started already! I'm so excited!" she cheered happily.
"Dear lord," Eve protested.
