Chapter Nine

Macro leant on the back of Matrix's chair, holding his computer so both the ribombee and Anchor could see it. His claw slid over the flat screen, scrolling through the tidy list of text.

"This is every location where they're storing Download Database's memories," he told them. "In detail, down to what floor the disks are on. We can expect each one to be heavily guarded."

"Five locations?" Anchor took the tiny computer in his large pink paw. "So there's five disks?"

"Yup." Macro straightened and folded his arms. "If we're gonna restore her, then we need to hunt them down."

"One of them is in Central Meta City," said Matrix. "Which one do you want to go to first?"

"The closest."

A soft shuffle behind them drew his attention over his shoulder. Whatever Anchor had said didn't register in his mind. Download Database appeared in the room, pausing beside her wooden crate, giving the three space pirates a quick glance. No curiosity. No pausing to ask what they were doing. She just… existed.

"Cap'n?"

He looked up into the granbull's confused face. "Huh?"

"I said the nearest is Scanner City," said Anchor. "Not even a six hour flight from here."

"But it will still get us there in the dead of night," said Matrix. "Around one or two AM."

"That's perfect," said Macro. "There'll be less pokemon on the streets."

"I wouldn't bank on it," said Anchor. "Scanner City is fighting pokemon territory. Those 'mon are party animals."

Matrix's tiny face split into a grin and he stifled a chuckle as he turned back to his navigation desk. His paws swiftly keyed in the co-ordinates.

"I guess it doesn't really matter then." Macro leant back against the ribombee's chair and frowned at the pachirisu. "First thing's first, we're gonna have to give you a name."

"My name is Download Database," she said.

"Not for long." He brought up the commands on his phone and scanned over them. "Let's see. Rename Download Database Zero Zero One."

"Understood," she said. "Awaiting new name."

Macro looked back up at her, meeting those lifeless, chocolate eyes. It felt no different than giving a name to a stuffed animal. What on earth was he going to call her? Download Database was too much of a mouthful and he was growing tired of it. He scratched at his scar and fixed his attention on the wall to his right.

"Let's see," he muttered. "How about… DL?"

An acronym, of sorts. At least it was shorter.

"Rename Download Database as DL?" she asked.

"Yes." He closed the file on his computer and stuffed it back into his pouch. "DL."

"Understood. Download Database Zero Zero One is now known as DL." Her huge eyes closed in a rather long blink and she stared at him for a moment. "You appear calmer. That is good."

He waved her off and climbed into his seat beside Anchor, kicking his feet up onto the dashboard.

"Why DL?" Anchor asked.

"Because I wanted to pick two letters from her codename," Macro answered. "And I didn't like DD."

"Fair enough," Anchor grumbled.

"Prepare us for takeoff, Matrix," said Macro.

"We're leaving?" DL shuffled over to him. "Do you want me to go into standby for the journey?"

"Nah, you're good."

"Then can I at least be of service? I have good navigation abilities."

"We already have a navigation officer," said Macro. "Maybe you could help Cookie in the kitchen? Besides, you might like this trip. We're going to get your memories."

"My memories? But… they're useless junk data. They'll only serve to clutter my databases."

"Yeh, well-"

A beep came from his pouch and he lazily brought up the details on his optical display, stifling a yawn. A message from Surge… another push of the button on his ear piece opened it and he let out a low groan.

'If you're going to repay me with that date, then we'd better go now. I have to leave before sunset, and I've no idea how long I'll be.'

"Delay take off." He leapt from his seat and trotted out of the cockpit.

"Where are you goin'?" Anchor called after him.

"It's business. I'll be back soon, don't worry. DL, I'm leaving Anchor in charge." He grinned at the other pirate and gave him a mock salute over his shoulder.

"I'm afraid helping Cookie is not an option," DL told the granbull. "He threatened to cook me last time."

Anchor sighed and his seat creaked as he leant his weight back into it.

Macro leapt from the exit hatch and almost landed on the zigzagoon. She took a step back and grinned at him, but something was missing. A sparkle? She didn't look right, anyway.

He straightened his back and leant against the blue hull of his ship.

"You wanna go back to Moonlight Lounge?" he asked.

"I was thinking more an outdoor session this time." She linked her arm in his and steered him off the docks. "Crispy Crepes is a nice spot at this time, I hear."

"That sounds like more ice cream," he said. "I think I'm still recovering from my ice cream coma."

"Then what do you suggest?" She fixed him with a small smile.

"Cornn dogs," he said. "Dockside does some good ones. You should try their shuca and babiri berry sauce."

"Well… you're buying."

He grit his teeth together and steered her along the docks towards a stand with a red neon sign that said 'Dockside Dogs'. The plusle and minun brothers moved back and forth behind the counter, serving up cornn dogs into pre-cut rolls and slapping berry dressings on top of them to satisfy their hungry customers.

Macro narrowly avoided an aggron's large feet and pushed Surge ahead of him into the queue. When he was a hatchling, his mother had always told him a gentlemon puts ladies first, but he'd never really had time for that nonsense to put it into practice. At least he'd not forgotten it.

He leant back against the crowd control rail and cast Surge a sideways glance. Rather than eyeing up the menu she stared out at the vast deep blue outside the dome, her eyes distant as she watched a golden magikarp ship trundle into the docks.

"Something on your mind?" he asked.

"Hmm?" She looked round at him then forced a smile as she stared back out at the sky. "Oh. Not really. I just have a new mission to get to, that's all."

His muzzle crinkled into a frown but he occupied himself with moving forward in the queue. After the slightly overweight gabite, they were next.

"That's why you're in such a rush then?" he asked. "Must be pretty important."

"It's completely confidential, that much I can tell you." She joined his side and nodded up at the menu. "Chople and salac for me, please."

Macro reached into his pouch for his credits and snorted. "That's a weird-ass combination."

"And shuca and babiri isn't?"

"Nope. Babiri makes it super spicy and takes an edge off the bitterness. One of the perks of living with a chef."

He placed their orders and watched as the two small rodents busied themselves in preparing the freshly fried cornn dogs. He found himself wondering what remarks Download Database would come up with if she witnessed the spectacle. She'd probably bristle at the sight of all the grease and the plusle and minun's grimy uniforms.

The minun handed them their orders and wiped his paws on his apron before calling for the next customer.

Macro strolled away towards the dock rail and leant forward on it as he tucked into his cornn dog. They'd gone a little heavy on the babiri and it made his tongue tingle. It tasted like spite. Yet another space pirate who was envious of his hefty price tag.

Surge let out a satisfied sigh and licked sauce from her lips. "You weren't wrong."

Macro grunted. "I can't believe you've never been there. How long have you lived here?"

"I don't live here," she said quietly. "I'm a mercenary. But if you must know…" She shifted so she was facing him. "About a month."

"Let me guess. You lurk about until you spot your target and try to catch them when they leave?"

"Exactly."

He took another bite of his meal, trying to ignore the burning heat that filled his mouth. There was something nagging at him about this zigzagoon. Why be so open with him about being a mercenary? Especially one who targeted space pirates. He stared at his cornn dog, watching as the sauce trickled over the bun and onto his paws. A mercenary who chose a target and tried to catch them when they left Pulse City…

"It was you." He launched the remains of his meal into the nearest trash can, startling a nearby weedle. "It was you who followed us!"

She sighed and leant forwards on the rail.

"You're plannin' on turnin' me in." Despite his blistering rage, he kept his voice low. He folded his arms and sneered. "Is that what all this is? Some kind of trick?"

She shook her head. "It's no trick."

"Then what is it, Surge?"

"I don't know. One minute I'm trying to catch you, the next I'm taking out one of those government ships."

His jaw fell open. Words wanted to form but they died before they could even string sentences in his mind. That torpedo… she'd fired it?

"I… really need to get to this job. At this rate they might not pay me." She pushed herself back from the rail and ran a paw over her ears. "Listen… thanks for the dinner and… date."

Macro stared after her, his mouth agape. Her ragged tail hung limply behind her, trailing over the ground. She'd fired the torpedo. Why on earth would a mercenary hired to round up pirates fire at a government fleet? He ran a paw over his face and trudged back to Wildcard Gamma. Things were just getting more and more confusing and it was giving him a headache.

...

Tracer strolled through the toxic streets of Server City, his paws shoved into his trench coat pockets. Every breath he took was amplified in his own ears by his mask's noisy filters. The breeze caught in his open grey coat and it billowed out behind him, almost catching his small eevee companion. Widget didn't flinch, however. His attention was fixed on their surroundings, keeping an eye open for trouble makers. Server City, like the rest of Meta City's outskirts, was home to the majority of System's poison pokemon. Dark types also called it home, but they preferred to lurk around Spool City after a feud with Proxy's muk and grimer gangs.

The delphox checked his pocket computer once more, making sure he'd got the address right. This was where Socket wanted him to be, he was certain. He looked up at the squat, grimy buildings and unkempt abandoned office towers and frowned.

"Something wrong?" Widget's voice was muffled by his mask.

"I'm just making sure I've got the address right," Tracer answered.

"Croagunk right?"

"Yes. But they like damp places." Tracer placed his computer back into his pocket and stared up at the high rise building perched between a convenience store and a boarded up unidentifiable shop. "Why would he live in an apartment block?"

Widget shrugged his shoulders which gave a small, mechanical whine. "Lack of options?"

"Well." Tracer reached into his thick tail and pulled out his wooden stick. A small flame ignited at the end as it touched the air. "Let's just hope he's not got backup."

"Oh, I'm prepared for backup."

Widget laughed heartily and took a step back as Tracer powered a psychic blast through his flaming stick. The door flew inward off its hinges and he strolled inside with Widget close behind him.

The apartment block was dingy and stunk of amonia and mildew. Maybe it was damp enough for a croagunk after all?

The low lighting made it difficult to see, and Tracer's flame cast flickering shadows along the heavily graffitied walls. As they climbed the stairs, one of the lights flickered on and off erratically, creating a grating noise as the bulb struggled to stay lit.

"What floor is it?" Widget asked.

"Third." Tracer replied while dodging a suspicious puddle.

As they climbed the stairs to the third floor, something moved on his peripheral vision. He glanced back over his shoulder at a small, green bug pokemon slowly dropping on an invisible thread. A spinarak, likely fallen out of his web while he slept. He kept a cautious eye on the spider pokemon, watching it rotate slowly in the air.

Two of the third floor corridor lights were broken, leaving only the central point lit up. The worn and battered doors, each one coated in spray painted slogans and artwork, made the rooms behind them look abandoned. All except the third one along on his left. Light leaked out from underneath it and he could hear someone moving around inside.

Tracer paused by the door and rapped a paw on it.

"Who's there?!" a voice growled out at him.

"Santa Paws!" shouted Widget.

Tracer raised an eyebrow at the eevee who returned it with what he could assume was a grin since it made his eyes sparkle. The door was thrown open and a croagunk pointed a laser straight at the detective's face.

"Dontcha think I'm too old to be belivin' in Santa Paws?" The amphibian narrowed his eyes and cocked his weapon.

Tracer sighed and readied another psychic blast from his stick, but before he could fire it, Widget launched himself at the croagunk into a full-body take-down. The two pokemon rolled across the floor of his apartment, crushing wrappers and other trash until they hit the far wall.

The delphox kept his stick raised as he followed them into the room. Widget stood above the fallen croagunk, his eyes alight with glee. As usual, the eevee hadn't taken so much as a scratch from the collision. His skeletal modifications had absorbed the shock perfectly.

"Well," said Tracer. "I can count on you to get a job done, can't I?"

He reached into his pocket for his cuffs.

"What's goin' on in 'ere?"

The two detectives looked up at the door, meeting the frown of a scrafty. His red mowhawk-like fin had a green tinge to it and his face was covered with a cheap surgical mask. Its efficiency showed in his labored, rattly breathing. His large eyes went to the croagunk and then flashed with rage. Within two strides he was almost on top of the two detectives.

Tracer flicked his stick round and pulled its hidden trigger. A flash of sparkling pink light fired out of the end of it, lighting up the dingy apartment. The scrafty flew back from him and landed in a crumpled heap in a pile of poffin wrappers.

"Dang it, Tracer," Widget sighed. "Couldn't leave him to me, could you? Had to use your flippin' gun."

The eevee gave his stick a begrudging glance then moved over to the fallen pokemon. His loose trouser-like skin had fallen down around his knees and revealed part of his tail.

"We taking them both in?" Widget asked.

"Socket only wants the croagunk." Tracer snapped his cuffs onto the amphibian's wrists and hoisted him over his shoulder. "Cover me in case any more thugs show up."

"Sure thing!"

Widget trotted from the room and glanced up and down the corridor before making for the stairs. He froze at the bend and frowned.

"Drat."

Tracer paused behind him and stared down at the ocean of spinarak. If that little green bug had been sleeping, it definitely wasn't any more. And its entire family stared up at them from a sea of tiny, black eyes. Towering over the small spiders and flexing its mandibles was an ariados.

Tracer raised his stick and the flame flared. "Get ready to run."

"It's party time!" Widget laughed and threw himself into the air. "Just don't burn my tail, okay?"

The tiny eevee crashed down onto the bug pokemon, the vibrations shaking the stairs. He pounced from bug to bug until he reached the next flight of stairs. Before Tracer could reach him, the ariados lunged at him, her jaws pulled back in a hiss.

"Terribly sorry, ma'am." The delphox unleashed a flamethrower, blowing the arachnid back down the corridor. "But you're interfering with police work."

Tiny feet rapped across the wooden floor as the remaining spinarak gave chase. Threads shot from their mouths and struck the walls where they clung like glue, narrowly missing Tracer's bushy tail. Some of the spinarak used the threads to propel themselves past him and two landed just before him before launching more threads right at his face. He ducked, but one of the string shots caught his wrist and yanked his paw free from the croagunk, sending the unconscious amphibian to the ground.

The spinarak chuckled and threw itself towards him, poison dripping from its jaws. Widget's brown blur struck the bug mid-air and crashed it into the wall, sending chips of plaster raining down onto the floor.

Tracer beat white dust from his coat then scooped up the croagunk.

"That was a narrow escape," he told Widget.

"Sacrifice speed for strength." Widget strolled past him and gave him a quick glance over his shoulder. "It's served me well so far."

Tracer shook his head and followed the eevee from the apartment block. He gave the croagunk a pat on the shoulder then sheathed his stick.

"I'm afraid, young chap, that your hacking days are over."

...

Please R&R! =D