Chapter XI
Voice

Long ago, Phonos had stopped being restricted to her room. She was quite open to wander the halls as long as she didn't bother anybody or interfere with anybody else's research. She had simply never taken the initiative, for the pure and simple reason of that she couldn't see why. Her job was simply to sit on a shelf until somebody needed her, and then she was to be used and replaced on the shelf. It was a lonely duty, but it was one she held proudly.

This would explain why, as she walked down the hall, unsupervised and without explicit orders to do so, her hands were shaking, her steps were faltering and her stomach was churning viciously. All the same, she knew that there was a need for her solitary walk down the ever-quiet hallways. Most of the scientists and workers were restricted to their rooms for the most part, perhaps for the same reason as Phonos – they couldn't see any reason to step out of their lairs - or perhaps because there was too much work to be doing to be wandering from place to place. Any routes walked by the institute workers would be swift and direct, with no dilly-dallying between doors. Phonos aimed for her pace to match that sharp, controlled efficiency.

She came to an abrupt at the tall, imposing mahogany door of her father's office. She swallowed so hard it hurt her throat and lifted a shaking, bony hand, reaching towards the handle with obvious hesitation and cowardice. The thought of just abandoning her plans for being foolhardy and ridiculous, which they were, and taking the hasty route back to her room entered her mind but she pushed it aside with all her strength – she had to do this. If what Craig said was right…then maybe she was late already, but she just had to try and save him. She didn't know if he would go through it, she just didn't know any more, but her world had been shaken up by her death and she wanted more than anything to just go back to the way it had been before – simple, straight-forward and without complication.

She knocked on the door and a low voice growled for her to enter. Pushing through the doorway tentatively, she saw her father sitting behind his desk, reading through stacks and stacks of papers as if nothing had ever changed since yesterday.

Despite herself, she couldn't help but think that she would have seen something more dramatic than this. She knew, from Craig's words at least, that it was eating him up inside really, but even after Annie's death, the world had kept turning. For some reason, she wished it wouldn't. It seemed so…disrespectful for everything to keep going – she felt as thought everything should just stop. Stop like a machine with a cog taken out of it, never to move again.

"Sir," Phonos begin, disgusted to hear the tremble in her voice, Craig would have been laughing by then. Giving herself a hard mental kick, she cleared her throat, "I…uh…"

Dad wasn't even looking up from the papers, simply signing, stamping, scribbling and sorting without a glance at the bony teenaged girl standing by his desk stammering so pathetically. She inhaled deeply, trying to suck in any courage that she had for one burst of vocal effort.

"Sir, this may seem a tad…spontaneous," Phonos said. Stupid, Pho, the word is stupid, she thought angrily to herself, furious at herself for even taking this plan into the physical world. She just had to stick her nose into it, didn't she?

"Sir, I just wanted to ask if it would be alright…I mean, I wanted to suggest to you, sir, that I…oh sorry, sir…I mean…" she blabbered, well aware that by this point Craig's laughter would have turned from restrained sniggering to all-out hysterics – the boy would have been shaking his head in disapproval and scorning her persistent usage of the word 'sir'. She forcefully pushed the boy out of her mind and stopped her stammering to utter what she had been meaning to say all along, "I would like to work on the Mewtwo project with you and the other scientists, sir, if that's alright."

Dad looked up at her in surprise and Phonos had to stop herself from gulping, keeping her posture perfect and under control. It was only with the power of her mind did she keep her feet glued to the ground and her gaze steady and unwavering.

"Interesting proposal," Dad said, after what felt like far too long a pause. His eyes had never seemed so intimidating, but Phonos couldn't deny the curious expression in them - the look of curiosity that may carry her to where she wanted to be.

"You are designed to be able to learn things quickly, process and remember information," he said, thoughtfully, as if more talking to himself than anything else, "And your own genetic make-up, even for its flaws, could be useful."

Phonos was struggling to stop the triumphant smile twitching the corners of her mouth from spreading across her face.

"I will permit this then," he said, "After all, I can't be sending you on field-work all the time, and you may wind up attracting attention to us if you are seen frequently. However, don't think that this gets you out of your usual work, but I think you do need to start doing work between missions, rather than wasting our time and money."

"Thank you, sir!" Phonos squeaked and, realising how loud her soft voice had suddenly became, cleared her throat and added a subdued, "Thank you, sir. You will not regret this."