This was it. I was running like hell towards this Furret whom I had no idea of. I just couldn't control myself. Why? She has a similar collar to mine.
We had just emerged from the Viridian Forest (where I saw live Zubats for the first time) when I spotted the Furret lying beside this young boy. She had the same collar as mine, except that her collar only had blue and green lights. I was curious, as I had never seen any Pokemon with the collar outside the lab.
When I fluttered down from Jim's lap to say hi, she ignored me. Cocking an eyebrow, I reminded her that she was being rude.
"Look, I'm not here for fun and games. This Rayquaza-guy that ran off in the night-I'm looking for him," she snapped when I glared at her. My mind reeled. 'Rayquaza-guy that ran off in the night'? That was me. They had started their hunt, and this Furret was bait.
"Why?" The question popped out of my mouth. She shot me a lethal glare. If looks could kill (like Scary Face), I would have convulsed there and then. Thankfully, she answered my question without suspecting my identity.
"This guy…He killed 1 of the scientists in the lab using Hyper Beam. And he managed to dig a small hole and get out. Everyone else is wondering how he breached security," she explained calmly.
I gasped. It was as if my hands were stained with blood. Out of curiosity and greed, I had murdered someone. I had butterflies in my stomach as I thought of Daren's limp body strewn across the lab floor.
At this time, Jim noticed his friend and Furret. He went up and began to chat. I felt uneasy being with Jim, now that I knew about Daren's death. I could almost imagine myself slaying Jim (which I accidentally did later. I regretted that for my whole life.)
"Hey Austin, why don't we trade?" started Jim, holding out a Pokeball. "I caught Winston in the forest. We could trade, if you give me that Furret." Austin seemed to frown when Jim said that.
"That's Felicia. She popped out of nowhere and came to me. I can't make her fight for me-she's just too strong. If you really want her, you can have her! I can't take it anymore!" he snapped, exchanging the Pokeballs. I chuckled at his exasperation.
Felicia, noticing that her owner was gone, rushed after the tracks. I put a restraining talon on her collar.
"No use. That Austin guy just traded you off for a Weedle. Now you're with us," I smiled knowingly, as poor Felicia stared at the empty tracks listlessly.
At night, I climbed up a nearby tree and morphed back. "My, it's a little chilly out here," I chattered, tightening the scarf around my neck. Felicia was looking up at me all this while. When I turned, I saw her with tears in her eyes.
"You're RAZOR-1. Why did you kill him? And why are you running away? You should face up to the truth!" she shouted up the tree. I clambered down the tree and removed my scarf. The collar, now battered and wires visible from all the battles I had in the forest, reappeared.
"Look," I snapped, jabbing a claw in her face, "You don't understand. This collar, and those wires they put in us. Those things that they do to us are forms of torture. They rip us of freedom, the world we want to be in. Instead we are enclosed in a small space, oblivious to the dangers of the world. I want to know all about it. I've had enough of this torturous life."
Felicia looked at me, transfixed for a moment. It was as if the world had stopped for us. In the split second, I felt guilty of baring my heart to her, because I thought she would understand what I feel. Finally, she replied.
"I'm sorry. I just believed that you should face up to your mistakes and not run away. I didn't know that…"Her voice was cut off when I rebutted her.
"Sorry? You think 1 sorry is enough? The world is going to face a catastrophic disaster because of me and you think that a 'sorry' can heal anything? Think again!" I scrambled up the tree again and tried hard to drift off to sleep, ignoring Felicia's yells from below.
My mind was clouded with strange thoughts. Facing the music? It was impossible-the scientists there had never treated me as a human. They just thought I was their ordinary Pokemorph-next-door which they could manipulate. My life would just get worse if I fessed up. Way worse.
