Chapter 36: Shadow of Doubt
It was a new day in the Orre Region. A day not too much different from any other. Tensions were growing as Cipher so pompously announced they capture Lugia and were going to use it as a shining example of Cipher's true capabilities.
"Sir, what do you propose we do?" One man asked his leader who sat confidently at his desk.
"Nothing. Cipher will likely keep in the headquarters for experimentation and deploy it in case of emergencies." Sinclair was a calculated man; he wasn't fazed by Cipher's haughty display of power. "Only the foolish flaunt the full extent of their arsenal. So it's what Cipher isn't showing us that concerns me."
"We need more reconnaissance sir. Men and women on the inside." One of Sinclair's men suggested.
"Indeed, I was considering deploying some of our new recruits back out into the field. The agents we captured can claim they escaped and go on about their days as OLG double agents." Sinclair had a plan in mind already.
"And what about the rebellion? They gained a slight upper hand when they took Aragite Town." This was troubling news for them, despite the fact that any shots against Cipher ultimately helped the people.
"Let Takumi have his victory. It will be short lived once Cipher decides they want it back. I can almost guarantee at least a handful of those town's people are double agents for Cipher." Sinclair was clearly not worried about Takumi or his fellow rebels.
"How should we proceed then, sir?" He patiently awaited orders.
"For now, we need more recruits. Head to The Under, now that Agnol and the Deep have been exposed as Cipher property they have suspended operation. So the bottom feeders have run to The Under as a temporary safe haven." Sinclair stepped out of his office into a massive complex of piping, refineries, and abandoned factories. Once used to refine steel and other metals. The facility had long since been abandoned. So it was perfect for the Orre Liberation Group.
Other groups didn't take too kindly to Cipher's frivolous display of prowess. "Sir!" A Snagem agent approached Gonzap.
"I already know. To think they wouldn't even tell me." Gonzap was livid that Cipher kept him and the rest of his men out of the loop. Worst of all this made his previous goals far more difficult. He picked up a walkie-talkie. "Haruka, please report in."
Several moments of silence followed, "I'm here." She sounded quite depressed. A notice had been put out across the region informing others of Ryoko's betrayal. Haruka was taking this about as well as Gonzap had expected her too. "What information do you want?"
Gonzap sighed, "I want to know how you are doing. Your well-being is still more important than any information I could gather." He said sincerely.
More silence followed. Finally, a broken voice relied back. "I'm hurting. I'm in so much pain and I don't know why." She sobbed.
Gonzap spoke to himself, "Poor girl's heart probably in ribbons." He pressed the talk button. "I know you're under a lot of stress, but I need you to hang in there."
"No, I'm in actual pain. Cramping, upset stomach, vomiting, dizziness, nausea, and coughing up blood. I keep taking the meditation the doctors prescribe me, but it's not doing anything. I don't know what's going on. They're not telling me anything! I'm frightened and all alone!" Haruka began crying uncontrollable. Her emotions were a completely mess too. She didn't even need to add that to her list of symptoms. This was not psychosomatic no matter what anyone said.
Gonzap was not prepared for this. Still, he kept strong in his resolve. "Stay strong. I'm guessing they took you off the Mewtwo project?"
"Yeah, it's nearly complete. Ein's practically counting the moments. It's growth and development has been astounding, still creeps me out." Haruka calmed down a little.
"I see, good to know. Just take care of yourself, Haruka. Everything will be fine." Gonzap assured her.
"I wish I could believe that." She said weakly as she put the walkie away and curled up in a ball on her bed.
Another agent in the research lab was busy raising hell. "Why won't you let me see her?" Mei complained. Haruka was in dire straits and no one was letting her in.
"Ein's orders ma'am." One agents informed her.
Mei knew she couldn't fight it, but it still annoyed her. She walked off in a huff and headed for the exit. When she rounded the corner however, she quickly ducked down another hallway and made a B-line for Ein's office. She figured if she bugged him enough, then he'd let her see Haruka.
Mei approached Ein's door and started to knock when she overheard Ein yelling. "I don't care what you think, I'm handling this!"
Ein was in a call with Miror B. "Testy, testy. I know you say you've got this situation handled, but we have one naughty agent who has gone rogue. As well as one out of commission. Poor girl, she still doesn't even know does she?" Miror B. shook his head. His condescension was palpable.
"And she never will find out. I'll keep giving her the medication until it passes. I can't believe I even considered trusting you with this information if I knew this was how childish you would be." Ein sneered.
"Oh calm your pretty little head Ein, I'm merely saying Haruka will probably put two-and-two together and then what do you plan on doing?" Miror B. raised a brow.
Ein slammed the table, "She won't find out, all the doctors have explicit orders not to talk about Haruka's pregnancy. The medicine will induce a miscarriage and we'll move on."
Mei covered her mouth and quickly looked around to make sure no one caught her snooping. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Haruka was pregnant and Ein knew? What's worse, he was trying to kill the child before Haruka even knew.
"You know she may defect too though. Our little Mei would gladly follow suit." Miror B. claimed, but Mei would never betray Cipher. At least, she wouldn't have. This news shook her to the core. "We've done well to keep her away from Takahata and his rebellion at the very least." Little did Miror B. know.
"Mei's loyal to a fault. She is nothing like her brother. As for her father, we just need to keep that information to ourselves until we can use it against Takahata." Ein said confidently.
Brother? Father? Mei was sure she heard that right. Ein called Ryoko her brother and Takahata her father. She wasn't sure why the man who called himself Takumi was referred to as Takahata. Mei couldn't hear anymore. She ran away as fast and she could.
She ran through the halls, out of the base, and past the fences. She stopped to catch her breath and contemplate. She had been lied to all these years, but she could understand why Cipher didn't want her to know who her father was. Especially since he spearheaded the rebellion. She suddenly had a whole new set of moral quandaries about that. Mei froze, Takumi said his family was taken from him and that he started the Cipher Initiates Program. He used his own daughter for the program.
No doubt he'd intended Cipher to be peace keepers and when he ultimately left they probably did everything in their power to keep Mei away from him. She still couldn't get over the fact that Ryoko was her brother. Her actual, flesh and blood sibling. She always loved him like one, but this changed everything.
What Ein was doing to Haruka was unforgivable however. She could overlook the secrets and deceit, but deliberately hiding the fact that Haruka was pregnant and trying to cause a miscarriage. Mei rubbed her own stomach thinking about how painful experiencing something like that must be. What was worse is that Ryoko probably had no idea either. He betrayed Cipher and they are trying to do this to his and Haruka's child. Mei had no doubt that Ryoko was obviously the father. No one would think otherwise.
Mei had to save her. She had to save Haruka. What could she do though? Mei was a Cipher elite, but she was just one of many. Even if she got Haruka and ran, where would they go? How far could they get before being stopped? An infinite number of questions and scenarios played in her mind. It was making Mei's head spin.
She finally stopped and cleared her mind. She teleported back to Phenac City and went right for the sim. Aiden was waiting patiently. "Hey Mei, I got everything ready for you. You said you wanted to battle with Mewtwo today? Big news, I got Lugia's data in the sim too."
Mei put on a front. "Awesome, load it up. I want to battle Lugia with Mewtwo." She cracked her knuckles.
"Alright, Lugia and Mewtwo are both super powerful though. I'll warn you now, Mewtwo might not listen to you." Aiden worked the algorithm to best simulate a Pokemon's loyalty. It wasn't a flawless representation, but it gave the AI more lifelike personality.
"Good to know. I'll beat Lugia in one shot." Mei said confidently.
The battle sim started. Mewtwo stood in front of Mei, this time as her ally. Their opponent stood opposite them. Flying stationary and ready to battle. Aiden projected his voice. "Mewtwo's moves are set to Psystrike, Aura Sphere, Calm Mind, and Shadow Ball for the purposes of this battle. Pressure for an ability and a Timid natured. Lugia… well, I'll let you find that out." He laughed.
"I'm not going to lose. Mewtwo use Calm Mind." Mei instructed. Mewtwo looked back at her, disgruntled and charged in with a Shadow Ball. "Listen to me damnit!"
Mewtwo was not and as a result Lugia fired back with an Ice Beam. Mewtwo was fast, but Lugia still clipped Mewtwo's leg with the Ice Beam, freezing it solid and weighing it down. Giving Lugia ample opportunity to dodge out of the way.
"Mewtwo, I said use Calm Mind." It still refused to listen to Mei. Attack with Shadow Ball again, missing again. Mei balled her fist and shouted at Mewtwo. "If you want to beat Lugia then you will listen to me!" Its eyes darted back at Mei angrily. She met Mewtwo's gaze with a powerful glare of her own. "Use. Calm Mind." She very clearly spelled it out for the defiant Pokemon. Mewtwo paused and used Calm Mind. "Good now use Aura Sphere." Mewtwo looked at Mei with open disapproval. "Trust me." Mewtwo trusted Mei, though reluctantly.
Mewtwo flew into the air with its psychic powers and fired an Aura Sphere at Lugia. There was virtually no damage as its energy washed over Lugia, harmlessly. Mei knew it wouldn't do much damage, but it did less than she expected. "So it has Multiscale. Shadow Ball now that it won't be weakened by Lugia's ability!" Mei had heard a rumor that Lugia's ability was very unique among Pokemon. While the dust settled and Lugia recovered, Mewtwo flew up and blasted Lugia with a Shadow Ball. The miasma of energy formed a ball that hit Lugia right in the stomach. Sending it hurtling back.
Lugia corrected itself with its wings and shot an Aeroblast at Mewtwo in response. "Another Calm Mind!" Mewtwo crossed its arms to absorb some of the impact and boosted his offenses more. "Now Psystrike!"
Lugia followed up with an Ancient Power. Mewtwo flew through the air with fists full of energy. Once in range Mewtwo fired the bizarre beam of psychic energy at the Ancient Power and obliterated the rocks. "Shadow Ball!" The added boost of power and type advantage were crucial. Mewtwo knew this was the best option without a doubt. Lugia wasn't taking it lying down. Firing another Ice Beam at Mewtwo.
The attack blasted right through Shadow Ball and hit Mewtwo direct. Now its torso and leg were both incased in ice. Lugia roared as electricity sparked off of it. "Mewtwo used Aura Sphere on yourself." Mewtwo's eyes widened. Not from shock, but amazement. Mewtwo followed Mei's orders and blasted itself with the attack before lunging out of the way. Mewtwo thankfully was really fast otherwise Lugia's Thunder would have done serious damage. "Shadow Ball!" Mei gave one last desperate order while another Thunder was building up. Mewtwo flew through air like a blur and appeared in front of Lugia with a devastating Shadow Ball to the head.
Lugia reeled back and fired Thunder blindly. Completely missing the target before spiraling and collapsing to the ground. Lugia was done. Mewtwo wouldn't have won if it weren't for their teamwork and quick wits. It was Mei's strategy making coupled with Mewtwo's incredible agility that won that battle.
"Well damn, if I hadn't seen it for myself I wouldn't have believed it." Aiden clapped. "Miror B. will be bouncing off the walls when he hears about this."
Mei stepped out of the sim, "Go ahead and tell him, I want to practice more. I can definitely do better. Your A.I. is pretty smart, if felt like the real deal." Mei had to give Aiden proper praise. He was always good to her. He was a good man.
"Alright, you know what you're doing. I'm gonna get some lunch while I'm at it. Don't work too hard now." Aiden stepped out, giving Mei full control of his system.
"Now's my chance." She rapidly typed away. She wasn't nearly as skilled as Haruka, but after a bit of trial and error she found what she was looking for. "Mei, there I am. Now what do they have on me?"
She read her file. Agent Mei, age: twenty-one. Standard stuff, but there was so much more. Mission logs, daily rituals, and dietary plans. As well as a thorough health index. What she wanted to see was her history. "This is it. Family. Father: Takahata." She clicked on a link to his file. It pulled up a current picture of Takumi confirming what she heard. "Status: rogue agent. Capture is top priority."
She read on and saw his relationships. His daughter, Mei. His son, Ryoko. Mei saw one more link and reluctantly clicked on it. "Megumi. Deceased. Complications during delivery of Ryoko. Overdosed, deemed liable to future projects with Ryoko and Mei. They killed her!" Mei was mortified. Her own mother was killed by Cipher.
Mei dug deeper. She had to uncover everything dark and heinous Cipher never told her. She learned all about the Houndoom and Darkrai. The endless amounts of blood spilled in Cipher's name. "The reeducation camps." She paused and read the reports. "Death camps." Her face turned pale. She never paid any mind to the countless people taken into reeducation. She never saw any familiar faces of once convicts. There was her answer, everyone sent to the so-called 'reeducation camps' was executed on the spot.
Mei felt a chill run down her spine. Suddenly, everything had a lot more clarity. Cipher's ideals for the futures were beyond corrupt. She never believed herself to be noble, but what she had her hands in were nothing short of inhuman. She couldn't be a part of this anymore. She carefully closed all the windows and booted back up the sim.
"I swear will make Cipher pay. I may never be forgiven, but I will make them answer for every one of their crimes." Mei declared and prepared to put her plan into motion. She would need to save Haruka too.
Thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoyed. Please don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter, the series, and the Pokemon Sagas Universe as a whole. The story has uncovered some of Cipher's darkest secrets. Things will all be coming to a head next chapter. On a brighter note, today marks the ten year anniversary of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl! As well as the anniversary of the Physical/Special Split. A mechanic I'm surprised we went so long without.