Not much to say here, but enjoy the next chapter. We cut away from the trio of journeymen bound for the Traveller's Oasis, to get a look at something sinister happening far away...
(Earlier that day, somewhere deep in the Orre Desert...)
"Linus!" he shouted, his deep voice projecting itself from the stone stairs below.
Linus sighed. Mudibu was one who was not fond of waiting. From atop the Outpost Rock, Linus could see expanse of desert for miles in every direction. The monotony of the landscape gave the mind the ability to switch off, and focus only on the intense sun and whirlwinds of sand that accompanied every breeze. The wandering of his mind ceased as the footsteps thundered their way towards him. Mudibu always seemed to stride with an urgency or, more accurately, the desire to overcome any obstacle in the way of Cipher. Linus turned around, and saw him emerge from the dim lighting below the stairs.
He had an impressive physique, and was of average height. His skin was a rusted bronze, cooked alive in the Orre desert. His eyes were a faded green, likely also victim to the heat. His forearms were obscured by vambraces, which Linus had fabricated for the purpose of today's presentation. He was taking a liking to them quickly, though. He had on his sleeveless robe, which was partially obscured by leather padding. He wore heavy duty pants, and shoes made for the sands. His work with Cipher had earned him an Admin cape; a beautiful and long piece of cloth embroidered with maroon and white. Mudibu took his reward, however, and turned it into a hood, which he was wearing now. It could not obscure the urgency in his eyes, however.
"Linus!" he shouted once again, pointing directly at the scientist. "I have brought you a Trainer! Are your scientists ready?"
Mudibu's heavy accent was intimidating as always. Linus adjusted his glasses, whose lenses were grey. Calculations flashed in the lenses, but he quickly dismissed them. He had no reason to doubt that the plan would be completely successful.
He nodded. "We have been ready for quite some time…"
He paused.
"Admin."
Mudibu smiled, a twisted look of malice on his face.
"Wonderful. Then what are we waiting for? There is work to be done! This is a grand day for the organization!"
Linus obliged, taking one last look at the clear sky above before heading into the base.
They passed through dim hallways, the security systems within the walls scanning them every few seconds. Through a series of turns, they arrived at the elevator. Linus removed his glasses, and placed his eye in the correct spot. A scan traced up and down several times, before granting them access. A panel under the other buttons opened, revealing one final floor. The elevator door closed, and the smell of the wastelands that emanated from Mudibu made the scientist shudder. He ran through the calculations again, to distract himself from the Admin's eager anticipation.
The doors opened; Linus let Mudibu leave first, as a courtesy. They were now in a large main room, with doors on the three adjacent walls. Mudibu stood at the center of the room, arms crossed. Linus identified this as an authoritative way of conveying that he had no idea where to go. Masking a smirk, Linus went towards the door on the left, Mudibu now close behind. He pulled out the keycard, and the door slid open.
The room had two capsules at the opposite wall, the room being rather large. In one was a male trainer who couldn't have been older than twelve. It was clear that he had been screaming up until this point, as the vocal emittance indicator was red on his capsule. The room was backlit with a purple light, the walls the same grey that made up the tunnels of the building. Lines streaked through the room, a red light occasionally making its way along the lines. Machinery serving multiple purposes adorned the other walls. A control panel stood in front of the capsules, with another scientist standing next to it. They turned to them when they entered.
"There you are! Way to keep us waiting, buster!" said Lovrina.
Linus twitched at her tone. Lovrina was young, barely older than sixteen. He long pink hair was loose and flying around as she dramatically rambled about how selfish he had been.
"I have no patience for entitled children." Mudibu said. "We have work to do, Lovrina."
Linus turned to the main computing terminal, where Ein was hard at work. He turned when he heard Linus approaching.
"Greetings, Linus!" he said.
"Have the security protocols for this room been updated and calibrated to my specifications?" Linus asked, exchanging looks between Ein and the code on the terminal.
"We're all ready, sir." Ein replied, giving a smile that Linus was sure was meant to be charismatic.
Ein was a handsome man, clearly conscious about how he presented himself. He wore an extravagant white coat with a high collar, and he gazed at him through sharp black glasses. Linus found him to be just as much a joke as Lovrina. Both had failed before, and both still thought that they could lead this operation.
"In positions!" Mudibu said, stepping forward. His arms were now behind his back in more official fashion.
Ein and Linus came back over to where the capsules were. Mudibu looked over to Linus, and gave him a nod.
"Alright you two," the scientist said sternly. "Lovrina, show me this trainer's Pokemon. Ein, calibrate Capsule 2 and prepare the chamber for a live subject!"
The two of them did what they were supposed to. The head scientist gestured towards a chair in the room, and Mudibu sat down.
Lovrina led Linus to a desk, which was immaculate in cleanliness. On its solid white surface, three Pokeballs were in a ball tray, attached firmly by the individual pockets of magnetic force on the sheet. Linus looked over to her.
"Do you know which Pokemon these are?" he asked.
"Yessir." she replied. Lovrina was clearly taking things more seriously now.
"The one on the left is a Lombre. Center is a Krabby. Right is a Rhydon, sir." She pointed to each one as she spoke.
Linus smirked, and turned to Mudibu.
"Admin, would you be interested in having a Rhydon of your own?"
The scientist heard banging, and turned to see the trainer pathetically wailing on the impenetrable walls of the capsule. Tears dotted his face. Mudibu sat up, now much more interested.
"How are you going to make this work?" Mudibu asked. "You and I both know that Pokemon are immune to our Shadow transformation now, Linus. Even here, we won't get anywhere by the same means."
He was not incorrect. After the Second Shadow Incident, the researchers at Krane's lab found out the way that Cipher created Shadow Pokemon, due to the haphazard evacuation of the Key Lair years ago. Because of this, they ingeniously manufactured a vaccine which counterracted the chemical altercations required for the maintenance of the Shadow Pokemon transformation.
However, Linus shook his head.
"What Ein managed to accomplish was extraordinary," he began. "However, it was just the first step. A prototype that yielded decent results."
Linus turned to look at Ein. While the former admin was incredibly headstrong, he had the humility to accept that Linus had simply done a better job in the end. They exchanged a nod.
"We were unable to turn very strong Pokemon, though. The exception of course, being the Legendary Dogs, which became incredibly expensive to maintain due to subpar research and inefficient development. Just like Ein's design, the vaccines are a prototype. There are ways to navigate around it."
Linus walked back over to the control panel, the Poke Ball containing Rhydon in hand.
"Come, Admin. You should be front and center to witness this milestone."
Once Mudibu was standing beside him, he turned to Ein.
"Please ready the phasers in Capsule 1, Ein." he told him, inserting the Poke Ball into the side of the console.
"Surely you mean Capsule 2, sir?" he replied, looking at Linus quizzically through his glasses.
Linus shook his head, raising his glasses for a moment so that Ein could clearly see where he stood.
"No, I meant Capsule 1. The one with the trainer."
"Yes, sir." Ein replied, his monotone voice returning.
Linus pressed a button on the control panel, and the Poke Ball was quickly digitized. Moments later, the capsule lacked space, for a Rhydon had filled it. Quickly realizing that it was captured, it began to thrash about, causing the ground beneath our feet to vibrate.
"Lovrina!" Linus shouted. "Stiffen the seismic coils on the ground. Adjust to an Earthquake the equivalent of 4.7!"
The diva scientist rushed over to a console on one of the walls, and the room stood still mere seconds later. Adjusting his glasses, Linus walked to the area between the two capsules.
"Lovrina! Ein! Begin Shadow Protocol Test #14!"
They began to re-calibrate the chambers from terminals near the capsule. Linus turned to face Mudibu.
"You are correct, Admin. The vaccines that have circulated the region have made it impossible to recreate the archetype of Shadow Pokemon that we had utilized for so long. This made it so that the creation of any further Pokemon would require far more work than before. The technological aspect was improved greatly in early testing, but we still could not do it correctly."
The wall between the two capsules became transparent, and the trainer pressed his hands against it immediately, his Rhydon doing the same.
"However, I made a breakthrough recently. I honestly should have reached this sooner, but such fallacies are inevitable when hypothesizing under key assumptions. Why try to artificially introduce the feelings of anger and sadness when they could be generated naturally? You see, to close the door to a Pokemon's heart, its emotions need to reach a "fever pitch" of sorts."
Linus gave a nod, and Ein pressed a button on the control panel. The vocal dampener was not enough. The child's screams could be heard throughout the room as electricity surged through him, the room lighting up in a strobe of bluish light. So, too, could the angry cries of Rhydon, who wailed against the glass to no avail. The scientist's fists clenched. He put them in his coat pocket, and then turned to Lovrina.
"Dampen vocal emissions in Capsule 1, but maintain vocal transparency between the two."
"Sorry boss, but we're at max right now." Lovrina replied. "Kids gettin' tazed really give me the chills too."
Linus shook his head, and returned his attention to Mudibu.
"Fever pitch is the pinnacle of negative emotion, Admin. Once a Pokemon has reached it, we are able to complete the transformation and block out its previous attachments. The vaccines made fever pitch near to impossible, but only the kind that was chemically induced in their brains. What force can stop true anguish?"
Linus snapped his fingers, and on cue Ein raised the voltage. The trainer's screams somehow became louder. Rhydon could only hit harder, and tears began to appear in its eyes. It could do nothing.
"As you can see here, no medical breakthroughs can stop this procedure. We may not have capsules everywhere, but all that we have to do from here is get the Pokemon into this state. Once that happens, the beautiful simplicity of this next part can take hold, and the struggle is over. So much for factories dedicated to production. Our operation can happen in the field now."
Rhydon's cries now dominated the room. Mudibu had a huge grin on his face.
"The powers of Shadow belong to us once again, Admin." Linus said, taking his hands out of his coat pockets to raise them passionately.
Linus walked from the desk to where Lovrina was, and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Now is the time. Activate it."
Lovrina smiled, and pressed another button near the capsules. A needle shot out from the back of Rhydon's capsule, making direct contact with its back. Within seconds, Rhydon slumped over, still. The voltage in the trainer's capsule turned off, and he too collapsed, unconscious. Linus walked over to Mudibu, satisfaction with the successful test putting a small pep in his step.
"This is where you redeem your prize," he said, pointing towards Mudibu's gauntlets. "I've given you the tutorial, Admin. Now please awaken it."
"Gladly," Mudibu replied.
He pressed the large blue button on the right gauntlet, and the eyes of Rhydon immediately shot open. They were no longer a pale white, but a bloodshot red.
The drill Pokemon started rampaging, pounding harder against the glass then before. The capsule was beginning to display alerts, as the sheer power of Rhydon was overwhelming the impressive technology. Lovrina panicked a tad, and Ein stepped away from the panel. Linus, however, calmly walked forwards, directly in front of the rampaging Pokemon.
"See, Admin?" he said. "This power is yours now."
With that, Linus flicked a switch on the side, and Rhydon vanished into the ceiling. On cue, the Poke Ball was released from its previous spot. The head scientist fetched it, and put it into Mudibu's hands. Nodding, he placed it at his belt, where two other Pokemon already were.
"Lovrina, get to work fixing the capsule. Ein, update the log. Success #10." Linus then turned to Mudibu.
"This is a little primal right now, as I'm sure you're aware, Admin. However, I have discovered that, by tapping into the brains of Pokemon, we could use some kind of implant to create the scenario that causes such pain. That would mean that we wouldn't need to electrocute minors."
Linus felt a shudder run through him. Almost frustrated with himself, he shook his head, and looked up.
Mudibu's gaze was fixed on him.
"What is it?" he asked, worried that his shiver had been seen.
"I am indebted to you, Linus." Mudibu replied. "You have made Cipher's future bright again! How can I possibly repay you?"
Linus smiled. Events were transpiring too perfectly. On the other hand, his calculations were near to infallible, so he had no reason to believe that this could have gone any other way.
"Well," he began. "All that I want to see is the security and stabilization of the world. I will have any debt repaid once you and the rest of the Admins see to that."
Linus removed his glasses, and stroked his chin for a moment.
"There is one thing, though." he said
Mudibu was inspecting the controls on his gauntlet, and then turned to face Linus again.
"Your pause is unnecessary, Linus. Tell me what you need."
Linus nodded.
"I believe that we have the opportunity to 'hit two birds with one stone', so to speak. While initial results are promising, we do not have a good idea of how they will behave in the field. We need to be sure that changing external circumstances do not somehow weaken the hold we have on these Pokemon."
"You understand the risks of that, Linus." Mudibu replied, puting his hands at his hips. "We have only had this time to strengthen ourselves because we kept our heads down. What if word of this gets out around the world? How much longer would we last?"
"Orre is a backwater dump of a region, Admin." Linus replied swiftly. "The neighboring regions have done little to assist Orre in any of its other myriad of issues. If we start small, we can avoid being descended upon. By the time the world realizes our strength, it will be too late."
"I will discuss this with the Grand Admiral." Mudibu replied, removing his crimson hood. "I assume this place of attack has something to do with the blackout in the desert?"
"Indeed." Linus replied, stepping aside to let Ein rush over to another console. "Despite the strength of the new Shadow Pokemon, they can still be purified at Relic Stones, or through the use of the digitized Purification Chamber. These primary methods of Purification are extremely well guarded. Agate Village is near to impenetrable now. Krane Labs, too, has fantastic security. These shall fall in time, but another Relic Stone exists that is far less fortified."
The head scientist then pulled out a device, and sent coordinates to Mudibu's gauntlets. He smiled as he saw the holographic interface pop open with the location marked red.
"I'm sending you coordinates to the Traveller's Oasis." Linus said. "This is the most optimal place for attack, Admin."
"I know where this is." Mudibu replied.
Linus nodded. "If we take this Relic Stone out, Admin, any opposition to our mobilization efforts will be forced on the defensive, to protect their remaining assets. Cipher's success would be almost assured, and it would allow us to increase our possibilities for places to test out our converted Pokemon."
Mudibu raised an eyebrow. "I do not have time to break a rock. You and I must prepare a statement to give to the Oligarchy."
The fearsome Admin turned to Lovrina.
"Assemble a squadron, and go destroy it. Prove yourself."
"You betchya!" she replied, practically jumping out of her seat and towards the door.
Mudibu stomped loudly, causing Lovrina to stop in her tracks.
"I was not finished, girl." the Admin said sternly.
Lovrina was quiet for the first time in that entire interaction, locking eyes with Mudibu while frozen in place.
"This is a crucial operation." Mudibu continued. "See to it that you and your Peons are on exactly the same page. Do not put the communications cover we have invested in to waste. My patience for you is thin."
"Gotchya Admin!" Lovrina replied, saluting the Admin before disappearing behind the automatic doors.
Mudibu turned to Linus.
"Streamline the process however you can, and inform me of any updates. I have to check up on a couple of things first, but I expect you in my office in an hour for a briefing."
At saying this, the Admin exited the room as well. Sighing, Linus walked over to Ein, who was inspecting the damage on the capsule.
"This will take some time to fix…" he muttered to himself.
As Linus passed by the child, naive morality got the better of him. Having made up his mind, the head scientist made his way to Ein.
"Ein." Linus said flatly.
He turned from what he was doing.
"I'd like you to ensure that the subj…that the child is dropped off exactly where you acquired him, with his other Pokemon."
Ein stiffened. "Sir, that's ridiculous. That could be the Pyrite town square for all we know!"
Linus smacked his fist against the capsule, causing Ein to grimace.
"You are not working with Cipher to voice your objections to superiors. Or do we need to elaborate once again on your numerous ego-induced failures of the past?"
This response stunned Ein into silence once more.
"Where he was will not be an issue." Linus replied. "Return him home! I do not want another word from you. Find his last location now! And leave me to the subject!"
Clearly rattled, he exited the room with haste, the doors sliding behind them. Now alone, Linus gazed through the capsule. The trainer had flat brown hair and freckled skin. His expression of panic had revealed his green eyes. He looked to him, and sighed.
The betterment of mankind should not be reached off of the backs of its own people, he thought to himself. I will strive to ensure that the security of our world comes through the creatures that inhabit our world, and them alone.