Chapter 19: Genocide
With Arkus gone, an uneasy silence fell between the zoroark and the humans. As Director Sheldon was about to activate the teleporter, a zoroark asked its companions "Do you hear something?" Then a blade jutted out from its chest, soaked with its blood. All six zoroark died before they could react, their blood pooling onto the floor. Then six agents deactivated their cloaking devices and dragged the corpses away.
Director Sheldon stared at the blood stains on the floor, too shocked for words for a minute. Then he bellowed, "What is the meaning of this? I didn't order any of this! This is insubordination! We had an agreement with them and you just ruined it!"
Agent Five felt his hands grow cold. He tucked them under his armpits and tried to look away from the mess, but he couldn't. It happened so quickly he couldn't believe his eyes, and yet a part of him felt as though he was expecting it.
"Correction," someone said from outside of the room, "You don't remember giving the order." Though Agent Five didn't recognize the voice, it felt almost as familiar as his own. The Beta Director walked in, going in a circular route to avoid the puddle of blood.
"Director Lammers! What's the meaning of this? And why aren't you still in the infirmary?"
"You'll remember it all in a bit. Let's get you to a terminal." The director turned towards him and said, "You too, Beta Five."
But my name is Agent Five, he thought, but even as he thought it, that truth he believed felt as hollow as Sinex had been the past week.
He and Director Sheldon were once again seated side by side at the memory terminals. Once they were finished, Director Sheldon leapt from his chair and let out a huge laugh and danced around.
"We got him! Woohoo! It worked! It fucking worked! Yes! I didn't think it would work in a million years, but by God, it worked!"
No one noticed Beta Five shed a tear and quickly wipe it away.
"How about we celebrate a little?" Director Lammers asked. "I'm sure you're dying to boast about the plan, and we shouldn't keep him waiting."
"Him? Oh, Arkus! You didn't capture him yet?" Director Sheldon rubbed his head and said, "Sure. Why not have some fun."
"The communication panel is right here," Director Lammers said, gesturing to a computer. It contained a huge display and one large, red button. The two directors sat down in front of it, and they had Beta Five sit in a third chair. A monitor lit up, revealing the inside of the chamber. Arkus saw the screen and walked towards it.
"Is there a problem?" he asked.
"Nope!" Director Sheldon said with a feral grin on his face. "We've deceived you, Arkus. We made a prison just for you."
Arkus scowled at the camera. "I see. And my escort?"
"All dead! We killed them the moment you stepped inside."
His scowl deepened as he said, "I see. So, what now? You do realize Palsitore won't take this lightly, and I already informed them of where your base is."
Sheldon's grin widened. "Oh, we've taken care of that too. All it took was a bit of your blood."
"What did you do?" Arkus shouted.
"Oh, we haven't done it yet," Director Sheldon answered, "But we will soon. Rest assured that no pokemon will be killed. We learned that lesson from Delta. Hmm… let's say that they'll make the perfect pets in our new civilization."
"And how did you hide this all from me?"
Director Sheldon leaned forward. "That's the fun part! We all had our memories changed so you would never catch on. We also erased all the real records in the facility and had them replaced with fakes. We went through a lot of trouble to make this trap, so I want you to appreciate its finesse."
Arkus turned towards Beta Five and asked, "What about you?"
Beta-Five felt the gaze of the two directors and Arkus weighing on him. He looked away and said, "I have nothing to say to you." A tear dripped out of his eye, and he dabbed it away in the same motion he used to take the tablet out of his pocket.
"Power's out, remember?" the Alpha Director said.
Beta-Five looked down at the tablet's blank screen, said "Oh," and returned it.
Arkus' scowl abated slightly as he said, "I see."
"Good! I'm glad you see. Now, I suppose we should let you watch what we're going to do to Palsitore."
Arkus smiled. "Before you do, I think you're forgetting something."
"Oh?" Sheldon asked. "And what would that be?"
"These walls… weren't they the same ones that Delta used?"
"Indeed. They held up to everything you put them through."
As he said this, Beta-Five remembered video footage from the Delta Incident, and how the Darkrai tore through the metal. Then he remembered the armlet around Arkus' arm. As Arkus lifted his arm towards the door, Beta-Five lunged for the button. Director Lammers, however, was a second faster, and pressed the button before Beta-Five could reach it. The Alpha Ball sprang to life and sucked up Arkus in a beam of red light before he could react.
"Phew, that was close," Director Lammers said, leaning back in his chair. "That's the last time I'm ever gloating."
"You said it," Director Sheldon said. "That had me scared stiff for a moment."
"I suppose we shouldn't wait on the final act, then."
"You're right, we shouldn't. Let's go."
Beta-Five stood and turned towards the door. "I… I think I'll return to my room, with your permission, of course."
"What are you talking about?" Director Sheldon asked. "It's all thanks to you we're able to do this. You should at least watch."
For a fraction of a second, Beta-Five thought he said "It's your fault we're going to do this, you should watch," but he shook the thought from his mind and followed them. The other half of the Alpha Project resided deep within the Alpha Laboratories, sealed off from the world with a two inch fortress of Delta alloy. As they walked inside, a hole opened up in the ceiling, and an enormous metal tower rose to the surface, with cables unfurling around it like a monolithic carnival swing. Lights flickered up its length, and its surface thrummed with a mechanical heart-beat. At the base, embedded in an enormous diamond, was the vial of blood.
"Everything is ready, Directors," one research agent called as he typed code into one of the machine's four terminals.
"Excellent!" Director Sheldon said, clapping his hands. "Beta-Five, in recognition of your contribution to humanity, on behalf of all of Sinex, I would like to give you the honor of reclaiming the world for mankind."
Beta-Five's heart froze. "Wait, me? B-but it's your project, Director…"
"It was our project. You were the one with the most dangerous and important job, and you performed flawlessly."
"But you're the Director. You should be the one."
Director Lammers stepped forward and said, "How about the two of you, then? Together."
"You mean the three of us." Director Sheldon said. "It was your plan, after all."
The Beta Director gave a small smile. "I suppose you're right. Let's do it then."
Director Sheldon was first to place his hand on the button. Beta-Five hesitated, and sweat dripped down his neck as he stared at the vial.
"Are you going, Beta-Five?" Director Lammers asked.
"Sorry. I was… lost in thought for a moment."
Beta-Five placed his hand on top of Sheldon's. His hand felt hot to the touch.
"Wow, your hand's cold," he said.
"Sorry sir."
Director Lammers placed his hand on top, a firm pressure that made Beta-Five feel trapped between the two directors. Sweat formed on his palm, and he had to strangle the urge to yank his hand out from between them.
"On the count of three, then," Director Lammers said.
As the countdown began, Beta-Five's mind went blank. His overwhelming desire to run was stalled by an equally overpowering fear of the directors. When the count hit three, the slight increase in pressure from the Beta Director's hand startled him made him press down hard.
"Hey, no need to get too excited!" the Alpha Director shouted over the hum of the tower.
Beta-Five shouted back "Sorry sir!", but the tower drowned him out in a mighty thrum that rocked the room. A dark mist rose along the length of the tower and balled up at its apex, then a surge of power rose up the cables, making them dance and crack in the air from the magnetic force rippling through them. The nebulous dark sphere gathered at the top broke apart into an infinite number of tiny threads and were blasted across the world.
Trapped between the two directors, Beta-Five could only watch from afar as a whole race was stripped of its humanity.
Chapter Twenty: The Wish
For a whole week, he could hardly sleep, and each time he drifted off, his eyes snapped open, and he searched the room for Arkus. A cold, pervasive darkness surrounded him in his bed, and he kept his tablet on through the night to chase it to the corners of the room. But the darkness was always there, always creeping towards him, the darkness of the tower he had unleashed upon the world and sought him out for revenge. His paranoia had him cowering under the sheets, staring into the empty LED light of his tablet.
During that week, all Sinex members scrambled to restore the data backed in Director Lammers' cerebral hard drive and repair all the machinery damaged by the EMP they created. Beta-Five oversaw the restoration of the Quantum Scanning Microscopes. Though the integrated circuits had to be replaced, his team managed to salvage most of the larger circuit boards and all of the smaller components. He threw himself into the work, casting aside the shadows in his mind to fixate upon transistors and capacitors. Within the week, the Sinex Phoenix had risen from the gutted, damaged wreck of its labs.
On the eighth morning, the directors arranged for a meeting between all the research agents, to discuss the Order's future. Beta-Five received the message along with the low-battery alert of his tablet as he rolled out of bed. Out of habit, Beta-Five started pinning in a request for a pizza pocket, and froze when he saw its image on the screen. His fingers clumsily cancelled the request and brought out a granola bar instead. He took a bite and found, to his sadness, it was raisin.
The cafeteria had been rearranged so it could seat the dozens of research agents. The buffet tables were set against the wall to make room for a large metal podium, with the four directors standing behind it.
Sheldon cleared his throat and brought the microphone closer to his lips. "Our thanks go to you, research agents! Thanks to your tireless efforts, we are now ready to begin the next phase of our reclamation of the world!"
At those words, the room erupted in applause. Shocked into following along, Beta-Five lethargically slapped his hands together. Once the applause died down, Sheldon cleared his throat and continued his speech.
"We have many years of work ahead of us before we can reclaim what is ours. However, the worst is behind us! Arkus is captured, and all the other pokemon can no longer resist us. All that remains is to tame them and rebuild our lost cities. As such, I am proud to announce my plan, to mass-produce the Alpha Ball and use them as storage devices for all the pokemon of this world. This way, we no longer need to fear them! This way, we can use them to our advantage! Their strength will become our strength, and their strength will rebuild this world!"
Sheldon backed away and allowed the thunderous tide of applause to wash over the room. Swept in the current, Beta-Five clapped progressively louder until he was the only one left clapping. He bowed his head and waited for the Alpha Director to speak.
"Now, in recognition of our achievement, I hereby proclaim that on this day, we shall take real names, as we once had in the society we lost. As a mutual decision among us directors, we have decided that Beta-Five, for his bravery and resourcefulness during the joint project, shall claim the first name. Beta-Five, please come up here."
His body refused to move, but Alpha Fourteen heaved him onto his feet and shoved him forward. Out of reflex, his body walked up to the podium and turned to face the audience.
"I understand this is sudden," Director Lammers said, "but if you have a name you desire, I think it appropriate to give it the pomp and circumstance it deserves. You can, of course, choose to decide later."
Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his thoughts flooded with anxiety and dread as he saw all the faces staring at him. Behind each Agent he saw the shadow, waiting to swallow him up. Even without turning, he felt the shadow behind him, leaning from the podium, grazing him on the shoulder and running its fingernails along the back of his neck. Out of the hurricane of anxiety came a single idea, the eye of the storm, which forced its way onto his tongue and bade him to give it utterance.
"Ashi Taka," he named himself. His voice, amplified by the microphone placed before him, made the name echo across the hall. The name carried with it a force that made the shadows around him cower in fear.
"Ashi Taka, is it?" Director Sheldon asked. "Very well then. Let us all applaud Doctor Taka for bringing us into the restoration of humanity!"
This time, the applause rushed over him without touching him. Instead, he turned inward, struggling to understand what made him utter that name. And yet, no matter how many reasons he gave himself it would only give him grief, he couldn't make himself regret it.
"Furthermore," the Zeta Director continued, making the applause end with his voice, "We have decided to grant you the request of your choice. Name it, and should it be within our power, it will be yours. Even Director-ship over your own branch."
The proposition left the room stunned, but no research agent within the room was nearly as shocked as Doctor Taka. The cafeteria hall faded to a dull, flat gray without any dimension, an empty space where only thought existed. And within this existential bubble, one question loomed over him.
What is my wish?
I could be a director. I could research whatever I wanted. I would have equal standing with all the other directors and enact whatever policy I see fit. I could help the pokemon with this power.
No, stop. What is my wish?
I could have µ 2.0 freed and —
Stop it! What is my wish?
I could announce a proposal to marry Alpha-Fourteen. Yes, marriage is acceptable now. What would that be like? Do I want to have a relationship with her? She is nice, but how would I feel about it? Do I feel anything for her? Love is a chemical reaction, right? Just something the body goes through like any other biological function. Is that happening to me?
What is my wish?
Maybe I ask the wrong question. Why do I feel the way I do? Why do I have so much guilt? Why can't I sleep? Why did I pick this name?
Out of the gray void, Arkus' face emerges and stares into his heart. He repeats the story, of a warrior fighting against his own kind to protect the world he loves. He drinks a bottle of root beer and eats a hot pocket. Then, with a flash of red light, he vanishes, leaving only crumbs and an empty bottle behind.
What is my wish?
Have Arkus freed? No! They would never agree. I would be seen as a lunatic and lose my position.
Become a director? Then I could get direct access to the Alpha Ball. But eyes would be on me. They would be watching me.
Then what? What is my wish? What am I going to do? Why do I feel all this guilt?
It's because I care. I can't help it, no matter how hard I try. Resist it, and I'll never be able to sleep. I have to do something, but what?
What is my wish?
I need to study the Alpha Ball. I need to find a weakness. I need to free him and atone for my – no, our mistake.
What is my wish?
Become a part of the Alpha Project? They will want to perfect the Alpha Ball's design and use it on the other pokemon. Then I can study it without being watched, without having the other duties a director would have.
What is my wish?
Can I really do this? If I was caught, I would be killed. No one would help me. I would be alone, alone for the rest of my life.
But I would be alone anyways.
The gray void disappeared, and the cafeteria returned to Doctor Taka's vision. He turned towards the directors and said, "I would like to be transferred to the Alpha Project."
The Alpha Director coughed into his elbow and then said, "I'm flattered, truly, but may I ask why?"
"Your research is going to be highly relevant in the years to come, and I want to be a part of that."
Director Sheldon rubbed his head and said, "Well, this isn't exactly bio-engineering, Beta – I mean, Doctor Taka."
Director Lammers adjusted his microphone and said, "He'll be fine. He's the best I have at handling technical instruments, and he also knows quite a bit of quantum theory."
"But – but Director Lammers! You're going to give up your best agent just like that?"
Director Lammers shrugged and looked at Ashi. "If that's what he wants, then I won't stop him. But he'll be welcomed back anytime he wishes to return."
"Are you really sure about this?"
"A fresh perspective will do your work wonders, I imagine." Director Lammers waved his long, black hair out of his eyes and said, "Although, I would appreciate a new technical assistant in return."
Director Sheldon furrowed his brow and buried his face into his tablet. Then he said, "It's a deal. Beta- er, I mean Doctor Taka, please see me in the conference room later."
By the end of the meeting, all the research agents received their names. Ashi Taka had expected a rebirth; however, as he listened to each of them declare their new names to the new world, he felt disgusted. Each name had all the solidity of fog. They served only to obscure the truth. Nothing changed. Each one was still a research agent, bound to Sinex with invisible chains harder than the Delta alloy. Each one, beneath the glamour of Michael and Brandon and Sashimoto, was still a Greek letter and a number.
As Ashi brooded over the names, he realized exactly how alone he was. And yet, despite his isolation, the shadows remained out of sight. He walked in the light towards the conference room, he sat in the light as he received a new tablet, key-card, and lab coat, and he basked in the light as he stared at the ceiling and took slow, deep breaths, savoring each taste of air that didn't reek of his own adrenaline.
His adrenaline, however, was far from finished with his nerves. As he stared at the ceiling, he caught sight of the security camera in the corner and realized one enormous oversight he had made.
Before he could think it over, he had sprinted to the Beta Laboratories. However, his feet froze in front of the door long enough for him to plan his trip to the security room. He walked in, claiming to give the lab one last farewell before leaving it forever, meandered through the testing rooms, exchanged small-talk with the researchers, and ducked into the security room the moment he was alone. He kept the lights off as he sat at the computer terminal and opened up all the security footage. However, everything from the last few months had vanished.
"All the security footage was lost in the EMP," a voice said behind him. Ashi turned around and saw the Beta Director standing in the shadows, his glasses reflecting the light coming in from underneath the door.
"Oh, um, Director, there was something I wanted to check before I left, and—"
"Spare me, Doctor Taka. I am well aware of what you are planning. I knew you would come here eventually, so I used the tracking chip in your keycard to find out when you would arrive."
Ashi couldn't speak. His throat had seized up, and cold sweat trickled down his back. His arms would have shaken had he not been gripping the computer table so tightly. His finger joints made tiny popping sounds under the pressure.
"I always knew this would happen, Doctor Taka." Director Lammers took off his glasses and cleaned them on his lab coat. "Ever since the µ Project started, I knew you had feelings of guilt. And then you spared µ 2.0 when I ordered its execution, exactly as I expected. What, you thought I wouldn't notice? Although, I have to admit it was clever of you how you hid it from your own memory. That was a nice touch."
Doctor Taka forced his mouth open and asked, "What now?"
The Director gave him a gentle smile. "Nothing. I won't do anything."
"Wait, what? But…"
"I also struggled with guilt. Still do." Director Lammers walked over to the console and brought up a file labeled Project λ.
"So there was a Project Lambda. What happened to the files?"
"I had them buried. I couldn't stomach the research that went into it."
Doctor Taka opened the files. His blood froze as he read through the first subject's records. The abstract went into vivid detail about the physiological transformations brought about by inserting pokemon DNA into a living human.
"Holy shit. You didn't."
"The previous director was convinced that to defeat monsters, we had to become monsters. That's his reasoning for this sick experiment. And I was the one caring for them."
The director swiped through the files and brought out Subject λ-20, a zoroark-human hybrid.
"This is the one that broke me. Unlike the others, this one was a child when the gene therapy started. He was a bright kid, too. The director thought a younger mind and body would cope better with the treatments. And he was right. λ-20 lived for another ten years. I was ordered not to get attached. Numerous times. But after spending ten years caring for this child, watching him grow up, holding his head in my lap when the headaches became too much for him to bear, how could I not get attached?"
Doctor Taka read through λ-20's file, but the results section was entirely blank. "What happened?" he asked.
"All hell broke loose." The director closed up the files and turned the monitor off. "What I'm about to tell you never leaves this room, understood? Ever."
Ashi nodded, and the director cleared his throat.
"What happened that day, twenty years ago, was a massacre I've carefully buried. Director Hester, myself, and five of Beta's best agents were running a brain-scan on λ-20 when he went insane and killed everyone else in the room. And it wasn't pretty… spines ripped out of their backs, heads blown apart from the inside… and… and… he was grinning…"
Director Lammers sat down and placed a hand against his head. "Sorry. It's difficult, even now. Anyways, when he walked over to me, I thought he was going to kill me, but… I think he recognized me. He had this look of terror on his face, and then he… he killed himself. His whole body exploded and I… I was soaked in his blood. Everything was."
The Director stood up and walked up to Doctor Taka. "Again, none of this leaves the room. Understood?"
"Yes."
"Alright then." Director Lammers took a deep breath and said, "Afterwards, I took Director Hester's tablet. I was fortunate that it was still on and logged in, and so, right there, I made up my mind. I tampered with the Director's files, changing the line of succession so I would become the new Director. Once I was sworn in, I erased all evidence of what I did in that room. And from that day forward, I made sure that the Beta Laboratories never did another human experiment of that nature."
"And what about pokemon? What about Project µ?"
"I only cared about people. That's why. But you care about them too, I can tell. That's why you're going to Section Alpha, tomake sure they treat the captured pokemon humanely, isn't it?"
For a moment, Doctor Taka wondered why the director was willing to help him release Arkus. Then he realized that the director didn't know his plans. He felt himself chill over as he prepared himself to lie to his Director.
"Yes, exactly," he said, "If I'm on the development team for the Alpha Project, then I can create a better, more pokemon-friendly design, so they don't suffer."
As the director walked towards the door, he handed Doctor Taka a key-card. "I left µ2.0 alive, by the way. This card can log you into the system under my account, if you ever need it. Take care, Ashi Taka, and make sure you accomplish your goal. It's the only way to keep the nightmares away."
Doctor Taka tucked the card into his pocket and said, "I won't stop until I succeed."