Chapter 34: Mental Screens

June 28

Celestial Tower

Being away from the rest of Team Plasma, Colress let himself relax a little. This was a tense time, even though the only important thing going on was shuffling people and Pokemon around to keep out of the eyes of the public and the police. There was really no reason why they couldn't make the next move on Ghetsis' main plan. With all the research he had done, Colress knew where to go, what to do, who to meet, how to get it done. Once that got rolling, there wouldn't be much that could stop the process from continuing.

And that was exactly why Colress was stalling. Things could stay as they were now; the next step could be delayed for a few months, maybe even a year if they were clever. But once that step got completed, he'd have his hands full guiding, advising, observing, and misdirecting. He'd have to focus on that project for a good length of time. Before he was willing to commit to that, he had other projects that he wanted to complete.

Such as his study of Pokemon training and Trainers. He could see the fruits of that forming, but it still needed some time to ripen. The tournament, that was his goal for that study. Some of the slots were being filled by those he had nudged into place. Others were being filled by his study subjects without their realizing it. Those not directly in the tournament were moving into place. Come August, he would have the main test of that study, to see what really mattered in training Pokemon.

As part of his stalling, he had started up a diversion plot that, while risking some complications, would offer up a red herring to those who had starting noticing them. The red herring ploy would take until late August to fulfill and thankfully Ghetsis had seemed interested in it. If he caught on to the bluffs about Kyurem not being ready yet, he'd be furious and Colress would be in hot water. Colress saw no warning signs yet and he had a dozen arguments to distract his boss with. Maybe more.

He walked past the large swirled tower of graves and into the trees north of it. After a moment, his Elgyem Triste floated in front of him. Various lights appeared on his body while he pointed to Celestial Tower. "Eh?" he finally spoke. He'd been trying really hard to not make a sound lately; it was a puzzle, but one Colress didn't think worth trying to break. Such puzzles had stumped experts for centuries.

"I said we're going back to your home today," Colress said. "I know I caught you up there. But that isn't where your kind lives, right?"

Triste put his arms up in a manner that made him look afraid of social rejection. Or maybe Colress was reading into it too much. He pointed back up at the top of the tower. Sure, they could go up there. But, that's not what Colress wanted to do today.

"Is it some kind of superstition that makes you keep humans out of this area?" Colress asked, continuing to walk into the woods. "Haven't I told you? Superstition is the enemy of scientific progress. And it's not like it's completely hidden. I've seen the place on satellite photos, read about it in a few travel journals. They don't have much information about it because their memories of the visit go partly or fully missing. But, I have prepared for that possibility." He gave a smile and a wink.

"Huuu," Triste said, sounding a little sad. Then he drifted back to float by Colress' side. He wouldn't lead him to this secretive place, but he wasn't going to try stopping him again.

"Cheer up," Colress said. There was a small bit of his mind that was worried about how Triste was acting lately, but he mostly shut that out so as not to interfere with his logic and studies. He wasn't about to let emotion sway his decisions, any emotion. "Things are going well lately. There's no need to dwell on the past."

Since the Elgyem and their kin didn't walk, there was no footpath to the site they were headed to. But from a GPS in his Xtransceiver, Colress found a way to get through there. Then, there it was. Some large trees spread their branches overhead, but living vines had been hung between them to further obscure what lie here. In the middle of woods, there was this odd metal structure, oddly reminiscent of a small subway station entrance. Although it showed signs of weathering and fading, there was no rust. A lot of paint had come off, but faint impressions of what once had been there remained.

Floating in front of it was a Beheeyem. The Pokemon held a hand up to them, giving them some message in lights. Triste tugged at Colress' sleeve, trying to get him to leave again.

"Good afternoon," Colress said, smiling. "Do you really have trouble with visitors? I come here out of scientific curiosity, one that won't let unknown factors stay unknown."

He remembered little of that afternoon past that point.

Triste's heart was pounding as he clutched Colress' arm. "I, I'm sorry," the Elgyem said.

"You're not supposed to bring humans here," the Beheeyem stated. His eyes were on Colress, examining him while he tried to get in.

"But I didn't," Triste said. "I thought he was going to take me into the tower again. He found this place on his own."

"Do you trust him?"

A good Pokemon would say yes. He should say yes. "I'm not sure," he said instead. "I want to. He treats me well and I know he came out here partly for my sake. But there's what he says, what else he does, how he treats the others... I don't know about... well I just don't know." Something wasn't right, but even avoiding the language of light, he wasn't sure what to say and what he was supposed to keep secret.

The Beheeyem wasn't impressed. "Trust is something you do or don't have. It's not complicated."

Triste didn't see how it could be that simple. "Well I don't want you to hurt him and I want to help him. Is that enough?"

"We'll see," the Beheeyem said, then drifted aside and let them go in.

Past the entrance, there was a staircase that curled around itself tightly. This led to a small room where the two doors were permanently stuck open. Colress was immediately interested in the design of the door and some vents in the wall. Not recalling them being interesting before, Triste waited to see what he thought. "If these worked, they could seal tight," Colress said quietly, running his hand in the door's groove. "Airlock? There were interesting old stories about the Elgyem."

"They never worked as long as I remembered," Triste said. "It was different for my parents."

The room he called an airlock led to an elevator which did work, bringing them down into the structure that the Elgyem and Beheeyem lived in for many decades. It was said that this place was linked to their origin, although Triste didn't remember details on that story. He'd been born on this planet and the old ways hadn't been interesting to him At the elevator, he wasn't sure where to bring Colress. Certainly not to the hatching area; they'd not be appreciated near the very young. They might not be appreciated anywhere. But the decision fell out of his hands as the elevator moved them to the floor where the elders liked to stay.

Indeed, one elder met them when they arrived. "Some of us suspected a human would come today," the Beheeyem said. "And you are?"

He put his hands together and bowed his head in respect. "He calls me Triste, sir. He's my Trainer, Colress."

"Seems like advanced science, but old too," Colress was saying, examining the elevator platform.

"He found this place and wouldn't listen to me to stay away," Triste added.

"We're not supposed to let humans remember this place until we have permission from Lord Kyurem," the elder said, going over to Colress.

"Don't hurt him," Triste said, trying to get between them. This got Colress' attention and he looked at them curiously.

"I won't, but he can't remember." The elder then put the human under hypnosis. Triste thought that it might not work, either because of Colress' preparations or because his will was strong. Whatever the plan had been, the hypnosis worked immediately, causing Colress to enter a deep sleep state while standing there. "Follow me."

Colress automatically walked after the elder, so Triste soon followed. "Why? Aren't you going to kick us out?"

"You will know why shortly."

They walked through a hallway to get to the large room where the elders stayed. It had the ceiling and walls curved into one surface, while the floor gradually stepped down in concentric half-rings. All around the room, there were mysterious old devices and chairs. But looking at it now, these things all reminded Triste of inactive computers in a command center. There were eight other Beheeyem in the room, all with faded drier skin of old age.

"And how is this place connected to Kyurem?" Triste asked, full of many other questions too. "Kyurem was in this world far longer than we've been."

The elder stopped, directing Colress silently to sit in a large intact chair at the tallest level of the room. "You will know why in time."

"Is that the man we felt?" another Beheeyem asked, drifting closer. "Shall we prepare the prison cells?"

Triste was alarmed at that suggestion, but the elder with him said, "No, leave this to me. I've worked with humans before and it's not as simple as many of you think."

"It would work better our way," another said.

"No it wouldn't," yet another elder said. "Humans complicate matters, but for the better; that's part of why we were directed to check on this world. It won't do simply to put this leader away. However, the Elgyem here is in a good position to change things."

Triste felt his face get warm in embarrassment. "Huh? How, how much do you know about us?"

"We know what we know," the elder said. "Your mind shows that you've been in contact with Lord Kyurem recently. Can you contact his mind?"

"His mind? Um, about that..." he felt sick with guilt again. In trying to figure out what to do, he had tried again to reach Kyurem's thoughts but ran into the same problem every time. "Coming close to him is cold, but coming close to his mind is like looking into the night sky and being surrounded by it. Only there's nothing, not even stars. He thinks like ripples on a pond, reacting to things but silent stillness prevails."

"Truly nothing?"

He nodded. "Truly nothing."

"One might say that's his true self," another elder said. "And yet it's also not his true self. It is who he is, but not who he is."

"What he is, not who he is; that is more accurate," the elder with Triste said, giving an admonishing look to the other. "Have you seen his true self, Triste?"

"Once, but that was when... before he became nothingness like this," Triste said, starting to get a grasp on this conversation.

The elder began to pace around, tracing his finger-lights through the air to speak. "His true self should still be there, somewhere. You may not have the power to reach him yet; you may need to become a Beheeyem before you can."

"I've been trying to advance," Triste said, speaking in sound and lights for this. "I thought I might if I learned to speak with light; that's part of why we came here, to see if you could help me with it."

He shook his head. "You'll know how to speak with light when you advance, not before. It's certainly not how you will. Just keep learning, keep practicing, keep battling, and you'll make it someday. Hopefully, that someday will be in time. You need to reach Kyurem's true self and to help restore him."

Because he had been partly responsible for this, Triste thought. How much did they know? "I'll do my best. But are you sure he's still there? The nothingness nearly overtook me the first time I tried."

"He'll be there, but not within his conscious mind," the elder said. "The nothingness overtook his self as what was in control of his conscious mind; that's what we've sensed. He does not think, as you've noticed. But in searching his mind, you should find some thoughts somewhere. Those will lead you to Kyurem's self. If he's not returned to control of his mind, something disastrous may overtake us all."

Triste thought about the emblem, but then tried to not think about it around the Beheeyem elders. It was hard. "Is there anything else you can teach me about how to find his self inside his mind?" he asked.

The elder paused in his pacing, in front of Colress. "Yes... rather, I can help you practice. I want you to enter his mind."

"Is that really okay?" he asked, nervous again. Not only was Colress asleep and thus unable to say if he was okay with that, but what would the elder see?

"This is one of the ways we help others, although also a way they can misuse us," the elder said. "And if you're worried about me, I'll only be observing you, specifically your physical and mental state. If I see that you're having problems, I'll pull you out."

He wasn't certain. But then again, it was harder to bluff inside one's own mind. He might find answers that Colress wouldn't reveal on the surface. "All right, I'll look." Triste connected to Colress' mind and the elder instructed him on how to look deeper.

…

It was like peering into a dream with a clear mind. Triste found himself with Colress inside of the lab they worked in when at the Plasma headquarters. While the parts of it near them were clear, details became vague a few feet out. There were many colored computer screens floating around, filled with all kinds of text and information. He glanced at one, but found formulas he couldn't understand.

"For a basic animal, being with humans is an obvious benefit, but they become domesticated and thus often can't survive being back out in the wild," Colress was saying, or rather thinking, in his hypnotized state. "In contrast, few Pokemon become domesticated to the point of lacking wilderness survival and in many of those cases, a high level of pampering or restraint can be pointed to as the cause. Domesticated animals may become milder and weaker in a fight. Pokemon grow stronger, to the point where one can identify a trained Pokemon by how well they battle. Is it because we battle them so much? Or is there something else going on?"

"I've been thinking a lot more than I used to, but it kind of makes me feel worse," Triste said.

Colress looked at him. "What is going on with you?" Immediately, a few of the screens flew between them.

Could he understand here? But he probably wouldn't remember. "Um..." the nervousness nearly paralyzed him, but he clenched his fists and asked, "H-how do you feel about me? Do you really care about me? Or am I just part of your work?"

He put his hand to his cheek and for a moment, he actually looked concerned. But then the screens turned red and larger. Triste could see through them, even read them. 'You can't let personal bias or feelings interfere with scientific data. You shouldn't let them interfere at all. Be detached and observant. Don't let anything sway you from scientific fact. With that, your pathway is clear.' Colress' concern slipped away then, returning to his neutral smile he nearly always had.

"What is this?" Triste asked, poking at one of the screens. It promptly said, 'Do not poke the screen again.'

"Genetic structures among Pokemon can vary greatly," Colress said. "But some things remain constant, the base structure. The base structure differs from the genes in basic animals, insects, birds, and humans. Theoretically, the Pokemon base structure will be the same in immortal Pokemon, and thus the genes of immortals can be observed and altered. Thus the miracles in legends may prove to have scientific explanations that can be replicated."

"I'm not asking about that," Triste said. "What about me?"

For a moment, he seemed surprised. The screens immediately drew closer to him. "The Elgyem and the Beheeyem are said to have come from another planet around fifty years ago," he said. But this time, Triste could feel some distress in him. Colress was using these statements to block that emotion off with the screens. "It is also said that Kyurem appeared in a meteor that caused the Giant Chasm. I've wondered if the two stories were related. Also, if Kyurem fell from the sky, so to speak, what of Reshiram and Zekrom, and the Great Dragon who is said to be their origin? They call each other siblings. And what of humans? Who is native to this world? Some Pokemon? All Pokemon? Humans? Why has history obscured this knowledge?"

"Why are you obscuring me?" Triste said, now attacking the screens with Zen Headbutt. One broke, so he passed through it to come closer. "Why?"

"Are you crying?" Colress asked, holding a hand out to him. The screens drew closer, growing redder. "Or is it something else?"

Triste grabbed his hand. "Why are you like this?"

"I was trained by Dr. Umber in the sciences," he replied, glancing around. It was no longer possible to tell where they were, just that these screens were trying to interfere. "And in more than that. I have to be detached, as he showed me. Or I... I might refuse to follow the studies he gave me."

"Who is Dr. Umber?" He'd never met the man.

Colress closed his eyes and the screens surrounded them. But this time, they were showing a different laboratory. Triste could see an older man watching a younger version of Colress as he was trying to extract DNA from a sample in amber. The teenager had a cut on his arm that was slowly healing up. "Umber thought he was a great man of science, and he did make some amazing discoveries. But despite his constant lesson of neutrality and detached observation, he was not unbiased. His alcoholism slowed much of his work down and some of his studies were too interested in what caused pain in others. He was a strict teacher, asking more out of me and his few assistants than he seemed to do himself."

"Hey, get back to work!" a cruel voice shouted. "I didn't give you time to socialize."

"There were some years when I never left his laboratory," Colress said, his voice growing quiet.

"Well why did you listen to him?"

The screens changed again, this time showing Colress even younger, just a boy of twelve years. He was standing by an empty table, talking to Umber. The older scientist seemed interested. "You certainly had an interesting project, one I wouldn't expect to see at a school science fair."

"The teacher said to pick a project from one of the books, but I wanted to try this one," Colress said, looking into the crowd of people. On one of the smaller screens, a few lines flitted by. 'Where are they? Mom and Dad said they'd be here early. We just live a couple of blocks away. Why aren't they hear yet?'

"Then why don't you have a display?" Umber said, with concern. One of the screens wondered if it was false, but that line didn't last long.

The boy looked down, leaning back on the table. "I did have one. But, some bullies attacked me while I was bringing it over and ruined it. I don't have a Pokemon friend, so I couldn't stop them. I'll still get credit for the project because my teacher likes my paper and the experiment, but the display was wrecked this afternoon and I couldn't enter the show without it." He was upset about it, but tried to keep from showing it in public.

"Excuse me, Colress?" one of the school staff came over with a policeman. "I'm sorry, we have some bad news for you..."

The screens became a jumble of images after that. The current Colress shuddered. Clasping his hand tighter, Triste tried to find the important information there. At the time of that science fair, there was a road between his home and his school. Even with safety lights and warning signs, it was a dangerous crossing. His parents had been struck by a car on that road. And only a few hours after he met him, Dr. Umber offered to take Colress in as a student and assistant, even though his parents had just died. Colress agreed and was soon being instructed to shut out his feelings, especially that sorrow, in order to focus on scientific studies. Umber pretended to be kind and would not let him mourn.

Then the screens turned red and Colress calmed down enough to speak again. "Umber is dead. I let him be killed because he was no longer useful. His short-comings overcame any potential he had to still make discoveries. But that was logical. To get the support I wanted for my work, I needed a connection that he was wasting. He was no longer useful to Ghetsis. On the other hand, I know how to keep myself useful and I have nothing like alcohol or sadism to distract me. Nothing will distract me from finding the scientific truths I seek."

"But what about the truth I want?" Triste asked. "How do you feel about me? Can I trust you?"

Colress opened his eyes and looked at him. "You're part of an experiment I'm conducting. I can't let personal bias sway my observations." He almost continued, but stopped.

"That's what the screens tell you to think, is that it?" Triste said, not wanting to accept that. If there was some potential bias, then he had to feel some connection.

"The human brain favors socializing and rewards the effort. But... does that change how I feel? Does it authenticate or falsify emotions? I should observe it in others rather than try to identify it within myself. Less bias. And how would I reduce bias further?"

"I am betraying so many for nothing?" Triste asked, feeling flushed with shame. He didn't want it to be. He had felt so strongly about Colress before, but as he kept thinking about it, things didn't seem right. Colress was careful in how he treated everyone, playing them to the parts he wanted. Was he doing the same thing to him?

Then he noticed something strange on one of the screens: his name, flashing. Once he looked at it, it added more text. 'I do feel happier when Triste is nearby when I'm working. I just talk to him, he responds, and I feel like someone cares about me. But I try not to notice. I've practiced neutrality for so long that I usually don't. I think he sticks around me because that's what he wants. I hope so, since all he requires is my presence and attention to be happy. He's not like the others I have to be careful of, me using them, them using me.'

'I've been worried about him lately because his behaviors have changed. He's not as enthusiastic in chatting with me, even considering that he tries to use his finger lights instead. Every other thought blocks that out with a reminder to keep focused. But I wonder if a small experiment will make that change. If a time should come when he starts off with something to make me smile, then disappears once I focus on work... how would that make me feel? Would it be enough to notice? I remember N referring to his Pokemon team as his friends as if that was a basic assumption, and for a moment feeling like I wanted that. Would this experiment show clearly to me that I want to acknowledge a friendship with Triste?'

'In theory, I would see it, but it is difficult to gauge how effective it will be.'

Meanwhile, Colress himself was back to reducing his study of Pokemon training to detached observations, projected results, and the set-up for the final demonstration. "I think I see it," Triste said, feeling calmer, even hopeful. "What I see in you is your conscious, if dreaming, mind. What I see in those screens is your subconscious thought processes, maybe even your memory. It'll be harder in K... the dragon, since the division won't be as clear and what thoughts he would have would be drowned out by nothingness."

Colress wasn't saying anything useful now, but the screens were departing, revealing the normal dream space again. Triste decided to disconnect from his mind and see about leaving.

…

Later that day, Triste watched as Colress uploaded a video onto a computer. "As I thought, I don't recall what we did today," he said. "But I do remember finding the place. Bits of thought want me to believe that it wasn't very interesting. Yet the fact that they can modify memories and implant little thoughts like that is intriguing, thus I really want to know." He looked up at Triste.

"I hope you don't ask me to do that after I evolve," the Elgyem said. But if he didn't find a way to appeal to Colress' better side (which he was sure was in there somewhere), it might happen.

The video finished transferring from the tiny camera that Colress had been wearing. It showed the airlock structure, the elevator, the Beheeyem elder leading them to the place like a command room, then a discussion between the Pokemon. Of course, Colress couldn't know what they were saying. And for a good chunk of the video, nothing much occurred as he had been hypnotized and told to sit still.

"What can you do with a video like that?" Triste asked, although he felt certain he could pick apart a lot of things just based on the visuals and what little sound there was.

"It's likely to be a buried spaceship," Colress said, looking at the elders' room. "Possibly not any good to fly anymore, but an investigation could assist our efforts at space travel. And then..." he briefly frowned before rewinding the video. He ended up stopping at the part when Triste had tried to stop the elder from hypnotizing him, replaying that part a couple of times. "What were you doing? I have this feeling I was talking to you at one point. No, talking with you. It's not all that clear, like trying to remember a dream. Was it part of their memory modification? I feel like it was real, but I have no proof, not even on this tape."

"It was," Triste said. "I'll be trying that experiment sometime when you're working here."

"Must not be important," Colress said, although with some reluctance. Triste hovered by him, being the observer now. He'd wait for the right time.

N has a pretty clear development from a tunnel-vision naive leader to someone open to other ways of seeing things (although not totally letting go). Colress, not so much. He stays as a mysterious neutral force that I can't fully trust, but I'd trust him over Ghetsis. So I tried to do something about.

Also, I won't be updating this story for a while. I've got NaNoWriMo which I participate in every year, and after that gets done, I want to rework my plan for this story, to find a balance between not rushing it and not letting it drag on.