Star in the Storm, Chapter 15
Lody- "Me and Me"
Not too long ago, I looked into the Eevee eyes of Kayley Mindstar, twin pools of glittering force and unfathomable darkness. At the time, this sight alone had inexplicably struck something deep within me. A lifetime of trial had been reflected in Kayley's eyes, years of hardship and sacrifice melded into the shaky existence of a single person. But there had been something more there as well, glimmering the dark depths of Kayley Mindstar's gaze.
Someone else had been looking out through Kayley's eyes.
Now, as the crowd of TRC members parted before Shane and me, I was shocked to find the eyes of Kayley Mindstar staring steadily back at me again. Truth was, I should have been more astonished by their owner.
Silver Star was no human child. Pale lavender skin shone on her slender limbs, including the dainty paws that protruded from the ends of her voluminous sleeves, and not to mention the willowy tail draped over the side of the bed. Closely-cropped hair the color of fading ocean fog curled around the creature's smooth face, shimmering a silvery sky-blue in the light of the fluorescent lamp. To top it off, broad, glossy-furred ears jutted out from the sides of Silver Star's head, letting long tufts of fur hang above her thin shoulders.
Like Kayley Mindstar, Silver Star's most noticeable features were the large dark eyes that dominated her small face. As I stood there, barely aware of how blatantly I was gaping, these eyes stared directly back into my paling face.
Once again, I was struck by the strange feeling of facing two people in those eyes simultaneously, as if looking through a warped piece of glass. If I could only reach the other side, I'd find two individuals standing there and laughing together at my bafflement.
When Silver Star spoke at last, I had the equally uncanny impression that there were two different voices talking, woven together to create one.
"You came!" Silver Star cried, eyes sparkling with pure delight. "Me and me have been waiting and waiting for you to come! The others didn't believe me, of course, but we knew you would come eventually. And here you are!"
One strand of Silver Star's voice sounded remarkably like that of an innocent young girl's. But her body was much taller and more nimble than that of a mere child's. Another element, something quick and powerful, had strengthened Silver Star. And simply by looking at the girl, I had a pretty clear idea of what.
Silver Star was half human girl and half Espeon. Her premonitions of me, I reasoned, could be attributed to her Espeon's Psychic Element.
"What are you talking about, Silvie?" Dissembler laughed, slapping Silver Star on the back. "Lody just joined us! You never said a word about her before in your entire life, don't you lie to me!"
Silver Star giggled, the long ears atop her head wiggling back and forth in her mirth. "I saw you, Lody!" she informed me happily. "Well, the other me saw you first, and then me and me saw you together. We've been wanting to meet you forever and ever and…" A coughing spasm shattered her animated words and racked Silver Star's little body.
"Oh my! You poor dear!" In a flash, Nurse Hope was at Silver Star's side. "Take it easy, Silvie, take it easy," she murmured over and over again, soothing the Espeon girl. "Just stay put for a moment while Nurse Hopie goes and gets you something hot to drink."
"Me and me would like that," Silver Star murmured back, settling into bed once more.
"I've got something for you, Silvie," Dissembler said, pulling out her pack and opening the flap. Quickly, she emptied the bag of its contents: bottles and bottles of fresh Goldenrod MooMoo Milk. "When you get better, Silvie," Dissembler said as the other TRC members helped her to store the bottles away, "we'll make lots of MooMoo milkshakes!"
"And ice cream!" Chip added with a giggle.
"MooMoo desserts galore," Reb finished with a wry face, causing everyone to break out into laughter.
With a clearing of the throat, and a dramatic flourish, Dissembler proceeded to recite the newest version of the TRC motto to a rapt Silver Star, while the other TRC members hid their heads under their arms. Chip's new Eevee chose that moment to make its presence known by jumping into Silver Star's lap.
"And who are you?" the Espeon girl said in a curious voice, listening attentively as the Eevee chattered away in breakneck Eonic. I had to strain to understand even half of what it was saying, but Silver Star had no such trouble.
"His name's Pup and he says you're his best friend, Chip," Silver Star pronounced with a smile as Pup bounced off her lap and into Chip's open arms.
Returning Silver Star's exuberant grin, Chip cuddled Pup close to his face and announced breathlessly, "We'll be like you someday, Silvie! Me and Pup!" Raising his new Pokémon high into the air, Chip's face seemed to glow with pride. In a high tremolo voice, the little boy began to sing to himself. "Pokémon! It's you and me! I know it's my destiny! Pokémon!"
Dissembler, Silver Star, and even some of the older TRC members joined Chip. "Oh, you're my best friend! In a world we must defend!"
Red-faced and exuberant, the TRC proceeded to chat and laugh in a way I had never seen them do before. Even the normally tense Ruki seemed temporarily at ease. Was it Silver Star's presence that somehow enabled such an outpouring of cheer?
This, I mused to myself, is the dark secret Shane tried to hide from me, and the one Team Rocket has hidden from the world?
"Silver Star is very special," Shane's voice came from the side, as if sensing my puzzlement. "When Star, a orphaned girl, and Silver, her Espeon, were Merged together two years ago, Team Rocket was still in the experimental phase of the Merging process. They didn't expect Star and Silver to survive."
"They shouldn't have done it," Reb said flatly. "Not if it meant putting a human life at risk."
Silver Star giggled at Reb's remark. "But me and me both like the way we are," she informed him lightly. "Even now, there is no one else like us."
Shane nodded. "Silver Star has been the only success of Project Star in the Storm," he said in an even voice, face portraying about as much emotion as his smooth, even tone. "All the other Mergers, as we call them, have died within days of their creation. No one has been able to figure out why."
I shook my head slowly, only beginning to understand what Shane had been explaining to me. Looking concerned at my bafflement, Silver Star stood up and walked slowly over to my side. The long, shapeless robe she wore, not unlike that of a hospital gown, trailed on the ground behind her.
"Trainer and Pokémon are powerful," she said simply. "But together, they are even stronger. Mergers like me, we will fight for our friends, Team Rocket, to come back again."
It came to me now in a flash of understanding. Mergers like Silver Star were nothing more than highly-developed weapons to the reemerging Team Rocket.
Looking about at the assorted TRC members, I searched for guilt, for pity, even for sinister smiles. All I saw was joy reflected on every face of the TRC. Silver Star's dark eyes, aglow with pride, seemed to shine the most brilliantly of all.
I had just begun to forgive the TRC for what they had done at Charicific Valley, as well as their infamous history.
But I had never expected this. Mind a mess of anger and confusion, I stumbled back to the door from which I had come. "I have to go somewhere else for a moment," I muttered to the others before stepping out and walking calmly down the hallway. As soon as I turned a corner, I made a wild break down the corridor.
"Hey, where do you think you're going!" a uniformed man cried out, grabbing my arm as I sped by. The man was tall enough to tower high above me; all I could see of him was the blood-red 'R' emblazoned upon his black jacket.
Sharp words built up on the edge of my tongue, and it took every ounce of restraint in my body to keep them from exploding forward. Instead, I swallowed and recited the names of the first ten Pokémon silently to myself before answering. "I was…just looking for the…um, restroom," I replied weakly. "I got lost."
The man's face softened. "Down this hall and to your right," he informed me, releasing my arm and pointing. "You must be new here. I'm sorry if I scared you, kid."
Managing a weak smile in reply, I strode down the hall at a much slower pace than before. I had to find somewhere private and quiet in which to think.
As I neared the end of the corridor, a figure in a dark-green jacket moved out to block my path. Beside him, an Umbreon strained at the end of its leash, eyeing me apprehensively.
"Shane," I said in a low voice. "Please get out of my way."
Gauntal braced its paws, planting itself in the middle of the hall. A growl was forming in the back of its throat.
"Not until you tell me why you took off like that, Lody," the boy replied evenly. "You can't upset Silver Star again, not considering how bad that cough of hers has been getting."
"Silver Star's sick? How long?"
Shane sighed heavily. "Silver Star was always rather weak to begin with," he explained frankly. "And for the last few months, her health has been rapidly deteriorating."
Gauntal let out a sharp bark.
"But Silver Star's a fighter. She'll make herself stay alive as long as she sees the need to live," Shane said determinedly. "But in the meantime, we have to try to make her life as comfortable as possible."
"If you really cared about Silver Star's wellbeing," I said coldly, "you would have never made her in the first place. Do any of you actually want Silver Star to live in order to serve some purpose other than Team Rocket's secret weapon!" I resisted the urge to laugh hysterically, and witness the look on Shane's face when I did. "But instead of the ultimate weapon, you created a frail little creature with the mind of a child. Sick little Silver Star is Team Rocket's darkest secret and their only hope for glory!"
To my utter anger, I felt hot tears sting the backs of my eyes. "Who are you, to do this to a child and her Pokémon?" I demanded, swiping at my face. "You, all of you, seemed almost normal at times. Just regular, good-hearted people with no more evil in them than my friends and family back home. What if Silver Star dies, Shane? What if the Merging had killed her long ago? Does any of that matter to you? Does it?!"
A light weight fell upon my shoulder and looking up, I was stunned to see Silver Star herself standing above me, surrounded in the shimmering remnants of a teleportation aura.
"The other me couldn't help but overhear," she said in that same double voice. "If it's any consolation to you, Lody, me and me like the way me and me are just fine. And me and me like helping our friends at Team Rocket, too. They don't force us, you know."
I stared at the Espeon girl, with her baggy robe trailing on the floor and perfect innocence upon her pale, pale face. Silver Star didn't understand Team Rocket was using her. Why, if she knew, she'd most likely be crushed. Wavering indecisively, I was surprised when Silver Star spoke again.
"Team Rocket isn't using me, Trilody," she said, the hint of a lilting laugh embedded in her voice. "They're my friends. And though me and me are sorry about the fate of the other would-be Mergers, we are still glad they made us the way we are."
Spreading her paws far apart, Silver Star raised her button black nose skyward and let loose a smile. A smile that flowed over her face like the sun breaking over the hills. "When me and me are one, we can experience a sense of harmony inaccessible to even the closest of trainers and Pokémon," she explained happily. "Surely that is no evil. For me and me, it is the ultimate good."
Remembering the happiness and pride on the faces of the TRC, I knew now that it had not been feigned. The TRC and Silver Star saw through a different facet of the crystal than the one I had always scrutinized so carefully. I had doubted they ever had a code of ethics; but did they instead possess one as highly-developed as it was vastly different from the one I had been raised to believe in?
Did Team Rocket feel no moral qualms about Merging Star and Silver not because they did not have any morals, but because their own were so different?
My anger dissolved, leaving only sadness and uncertainty in its place. I could no longer hate Team Rocket for what they were. I could only long to understand them and myself, before I would ever have a chance of understanding right and wrong.
The other TRC members found Shane, Silver Star, and me standing silently in the hall a little while later. Sensing our unease, Dissembler was quick to react.
"All this stuffy air is making my head ache!" she announced loudly to everyone around her. "Why don't we go outside for a while?"
"You can go into town for us, Dissembler," Shane suggested in a quiet voice, shortening Gauntal's leash. "We need some new toothpaste."
Hands akimbo, Dissembler made a face at Shane. "Hey, I didn't mean just me!" she cried. "I meant all of us! You know, go out and have a good time instead of cramping ourselves in this boring old place! What do you say, guys?"
Eyes sparkling impishly, Silver Star stepped forward to join Dissembler. "I wouldn't mind going to town," she said sweetly, tail swishing back and forth in a puppy's wag.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Shane said. "If somebody sees Silver Star…"
"So we'll just have to make sure nobody sees her," Dissembler concluded with relish. "We'll get you a disguise, Silvie! Ooh, this is going to be so fun!"
"It has been a while since Silver Star's been outside, and she's been getting so pale lately," Nurse Hope added as she came up behind us. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. Shane, I do think it would be good to take Silver Star if she really wants to go. Do you, Silvie?"
The Espeon girl nodded enthusiastically. "I've never been to town before!" she said excitedly. "I've never been anywhere 'cept here and the field outside!"
Taking her by the arm, Dissembler led Silver Star down the hall, chattering away all the while. "This is going to be so cool!" she squealed, golden curls bouncing up and down. "I just can't wait!"
"Looks like I've been outnumbered once again," Shane grinned. But despite his protest, Shane did not seem significantly perturbed by Silver Star's decision. For risky as it was, a small action like this would be like giving Silver Star the entire world.
Reb, too, was cool enough about going with the flow. Only Ruki, with her furrowed brow and flashing steel eyes, seemed worried. As I was soon to discover, Ruki was gifted with foresight far beyond our capacity.
We set off on the trip early the next morning. Special preparations had to be made for Silver Star before we left. Dissembler had decided to inform any spectators who goggled at the sight of Silvie's cloth-swathed body and long cloak that her friend was the victim of a highly-contagious disease that had left ugly scars all over her skin.
As we trod through the thick forest groves at the end of the field, Silver Star kept jerking her head about, pointing and exclaiming at every single bird or branch or leaf that passed our way. She nearly shimmied up a pine tree after spotting a shy Heracross that had taken refuge amidst the tree's topmost needles. Shane finally told her, in the gentle voice only Shane can manage, to tone it down a bit. Silver Star tried her best to obey, but more often than not, was heard giggling in delight at some curious new wonder she had chanced upon.
Mahogany Town. Home of the… read the sign at the edge of town. The last word had been rubbed out, with various colorful phrases written above, below, and squeezed in beside it.
Looking upon the town, Silver Star breathed a sigh of rapt enchantment. Running forward, she nearly tripped over the edge of her cloak and had to be steadied by Ruki's firm hand.
"Be careful, Silv," I heard the older girl whisper to Silver Star. "Don't attract too much attention to yourself, okay?"
"Okay," the Espeon girl replied happily, sprinting off to join the other TRC members. Still frowning to herself, Ruki followed more deliberately, scowling when she realized I was looking at her.
"Mind your own business!" she snapped before storming off. As Ruki flexed her fingers, I saw she was now wearing the new "wildcat" gloves Dissembler had given her the day before. The silver of the claws glinted in the morning sunlight, making Ruki look all the more menacing. I made a point of avoiding the older girl as the TRC entered the local PokéMart.
With Shane, Chip, and Ruki off looking at toothpaste, Reb leafing through a magazine, and Dissembler making a dash for the clothes aisle, Silver Star wasted no time in sniffing, touching, and reveling in amazement at each new object she encountered. So much for Ruki's concerns about keeping a low profile; in no time at all, half the people in the PokéMart were staring open-mouthed at Silver Star's antics.
Tearing my gaze from the cavorting Espeon girl, I spotted a pay phone hidden away in the shadows. Making sure that all the TRC members were thoroughly occupied, I inched my way towards the phone, hiding it behind my body.
This was the chance I had been waiting for ever since my capture. With one easy phone call, I could find my father, tell him where I was, and where Team Rocket was hiding.
The gaping hole in this plan was that I didn't have any money.
But there was a bigger problem. It had been so easy for me to join Team Rocket with the intent of turning the evil organization over to the proper authorities. But back then, I had known nothing about the TRC. If I betrayed them now, what would happen to Dissembler, Chip, Reb, Ruki, Shane, and most importantly of all, Silver Star? Would she be taken far away into some government laboratory, subjected to dozens and dozens of unwarranted experiments, forever regarded as a freak?
Could I betray Silver Star? Could I betray her friends?
A piercing shriek shattered the muted drone of the PokéMart fan and surrounding customers. Whipping my head around, I caught a glimpse of a mischievous young boy tugging at Silver Star's head scarf. Apparently, Dissembler's story had been accepted, but not with the desired effect. Curious to see Silver Star's supposed scars, the boy had pulled the concealing scarf from the Espeon girl's head. With a cry, Silver Star threw up her paws to cover her face, but not quickly enough.
There was a collected gasp from the people around us as Silver Star's purple skin and Espeon ears were revealed. Shying away in visible terror, Silver Star backed up, knocking a shelf of Pokémon Potions to the floor with a loud crash.
Shane stepped in quickly, Gauntal baring its teeth to keep the crowd back. "It's just my sister's new Espeon costume," Shane invented rapidly. "For a friend's costume party. She just didn't want anyone to see it before the party. She did a great job, didn't she?"
All the other TRC members were quick to agree. Forming a human shield around Silver Star, they quickly escorted her to the front door.
"That's no costume!" the boy who had pulled off Silver Star's scarf cried. "Those ears…they don't come off! I'm telling you, they're real!"
A whimper in her throat, Silver Star made a break for the door, tripping over Chip's anxious Eevee before she reached it. As the crowd drew inward, I lost sight of the other TRC members.
"Get away!" I heard Ruki scream angrily. There was a sudden swish of air, and the glass of the door fell to the floor with a clink, cleaved into neat pieces. Pushing forward, I saw Ruki staring at her hands in mute amazement. The cut glass, and the claws on her gloves, glittered threateningly in the middle of the crowded store.
Pandemonium ensued immediately afterwards.
I was nearly trampled and flattened against the wall by a surging mass of people. Shoving forward and scrambling through the broken door, unable to avoid cutting my palms on several of the glass shards, I found the rest of the TRC members forming a protective circle around Silver Star outside.
"Lody!" Dissembler cried, beckoning me forward. "C'mon!"
Without hesitation, I shoved my way through the crowd. As I reached the other TRC members, we started to run.
"We can lose them in the woods!" Reb yelled. "Ouch! Careful where you're driving that thing!" he yelled to Ruki, who had nearly steered the wheelchair into a fire hydrant.
Nearing the border of the woods, I was surprised to hear the shouts of the townspeople die away. Moments later, I was stumbling over a rock and falling blindly onto my stomach. As I pulled myself back to my feet, awed shouts and shushed whispers rose from the crowd of villagers who had been pursuing us moments before.
High above, a large Charizard was circling the skies, wings beating against the wind. As it spiraled down for a closer view, several people gasped at the sight of the majestic dragon-like Pokémon.
Frozen in place by wonder and fear, I was jolted urgently to my feet by Shane. "Come on, Lody!" he called, tugging me up and pulling me forward.
Not stopping to think, I ran after Shane and Gauntal as fast as my dangerously wobbly legs would carry me.
Notes:
The Pokémon theme song, which Chip spontaneously bursts into singing, is not mine. I am aware it is copyrighted and am not attempting to plagiarize.