"What is Echelon boss?" Jessie finaly asked, her tone slightly worried, as
was to be expected given that she had observed his face already.
"The Echelon system, in a nutshell, is the nuclear array of the United Leagues." Though the question had been meant for Ash, Gary was the one who finally replied. His voice, still carrying the shock, bore testimony to the horrors both he, Misty and Ash had just seen unfolding in their mind.
The room went deathly silent at the words, all movement stopping for a second. They too, those who had not known at first, saw the horror before them. The images of a scorched wasteland, the threat of a nuclear winter, the horrible fate of those who had met in the far gone past with the deadly power of those weapons.
The fleeting moment of silence went by, lasting only a second by the watch, though a century to their dreaming minds.
"No way..." The voice was Jame's, though in a tone Ash could not remember hearing in recent days - not since James had joined his side against Team Rocket. It was a weak, pathetic tone, the tone of a defeated man.
"But what does it have to do with the murders of the Gym Leaders?"
"It's relatively simple Butch. The Gym Leaders each have to enter their own access code for the nukes to be fired, along with Lance and the Elite members." Knowing the answer beforehand, of course, did no good for Ash.
"But killing the gym leaders..."
"Open up the possibility of needing far fewer codes. Think about it. They couldn't create a nuke arsenal and then leave it weak to the possibility that a gym leader would die without sucessor and thus make the system impossible to use."
"That makes sense." Of course it did. But making sense or not, the idea opened the door to a dangerous can of worms. One which Ash couldn't help but wish had remained closed.
"Exactly." Gary picked up, earnign himself a grateful look from Ash, who let himself fall back into his chair, frowning deep in thought, considering the situation, the options they had. "So, they have every gym leaders wear a life monitor system in permanence." Showing them his left arm, Gary held very visible the little bracelet there, locked around his wrist. "If the gym leader dies, the central system stop receiving our signal. Therefore, they free the spot on the computer for the future gym leader, and until he is selected we need one less password to activate the Echelon system." He finished his explanation, leaving them all deep in thought.
There had to be a way to find in time who was trying to seize control of Echelon. To find them, kill them, and potentially deactivate Echelon while they were at it. Only, none of them seemed to have the least bit of an ability to find it.
"How much time do we have left? For all we know, Lorelei and Lance are in this together..."
"As much as we need . Misty and I are still alive, after all." Gary replied. How naive, Ash couldn't help but think. How naive, and ultimately foolish.
"How long? As long as the killer's out there, we are at risk. They have shown twice they could take on Team Rocket. The third time may just be the leathal one." Butch voiced out loud the very thoughts running through Ash's mind. They were once more silent for a moment.
"Then we have to draw them out, and defeat them." The voice speaking had a new steel in it, as if, the week stone of the last few weeks finally washed away by the storm, the solid core was finally shining through.
"Misty's right."
A soft thud on the door cut short further discussion. The man who entered wore the black uniform of a Rocket elite agent, though it was not one of those Ash was familiar with. Instinctively, he reached for the pistol in a holster at his belt. Jessie, James and Butch probably had just done the same, though he could not be sure, not without taking his eyes away from the man.
"Sir, you should turn on the television." The man's eyes remained locked on him. His hands, within sight, were empty. "President Stevens and minister Silph are about to make an announcement." Relaxing slightly at the words, Ash nonetheless kept his eyes on the man until he was safely out of the room.
"Gary?" His friend was already moving toward the remote control. A moment later, the screen flashed as the main information network of the United Leagues appeared. A moment later, the logo of the television network vanished, replaced by the main audience room of the presidential palace of Indigo City.
The two women standing on the stage waiting for the beginning of the conference were a study in contrast. To the left, president Agatha Stevens, her frail body hiding an ever-burning inner fire which only her eyes hinted at, wearing her solemn black clothes. To the right, dressed in gray, state minister Lorelei Silph, in gray, her face still unlined, her thirty-four years of age less than half the eighty-two of her companion.
The clock over his desk ticked, the arrow turning to point at the massive twelve sitting on top of it. In the far-away room, there was silence as the newsreporters waited for the speech to begin.
"Ladies and gentlemen." Finally, it started. President Stevens was the one talking, while minister Silph simply waited by her side, a folder in her arms.
"In recent days, the United Leagues have been the target of an unprecedented number of attacks, by unknown forces." Neither weakness nor frailness appeared in her voice. The strength there, just like the fire in her eyes, belied the apparent weakness of her aged body.
"While we are determined to seek out and prosecute those who dared to attack us in such a way, this is not the point I wish to talk about. I am here to reassure the populations of Johto and Kanto that we are not going to fail in our duty. We have already launched the process of the selection of the new gym leaders, and the first few should be announced later tonight, as soon as our field representative complete their mission."
She smiled. "Thus, the cities of Cinnabar, Vermilion, Fuchsia, Azalea and Cianwood should have a new gym leader tonight. Tomorrow, we should be able to announce new gym leaders for Saffron,..."
The speech went on, as the camera panned across the room, showing a handful of other news reporters.
"Ash! Can you do an image freeze with those?" Gary's sudden question was more than enough to surprise him.
"Sure." Picking up the remote his friend had discarded, he did just that.
"Good."
"What's wrong?" The question, which could have come from any of them, was finally asked by Misty.
"That guy there." One of Gary's finger reached out to point at the screen.
The man in question looked for all the world like a normal cameral holder for the news crew of the various channels present there. Only, there was something wrong with him...
"That's no camera." Butch pointed out. "It's one of those camera-like stun rifle they were experimenting with. Absolutely silent, and extremely efficient for sniper job."
"You're kidding." Again, Misty was the one who talked. "The security forces wouldn't let him in..." Her protest, however, felt on deaf ears.
"Gary?"
"Butch's probably right. I met that guy a few time before. He's a sniper for Force Zero, the army's crack commando strike team."
"Butch..." An horrible thought crossing his mind, Ash turned toward his lieutenant, praying he was wrong. "Correct me, but...aren'T those stun gun delivered with the direct notice 'do not use against individuals suffering from heart weakness'?"
"They are." The bleakness of the answering voice made the words all the more terrible to hear.
"Damn!" We need to do something!"
It was too late for whatever they could have done, if indeed there was such a thing, which despite Jessie's words Ash felt sure there was not.
The moment Gary let go the screen freeze, switching from the recording being generated in their massive computers back to the real-time feed, there was no longer doubt it was too late. President Stevens, in the middle of a word, suddenly collapsed, clutching at her chest in pain.
"Get a doctor someone!" With the cry, Lorelei went down to her knees, not weeping, but rather, trying to take care of the fallen woman.
But she couldn't do a thing, and just like them, was not given the time. Before any doctor could move in to take care of the sudden hearth failure of the leagues president, the armed shape of soldiers appeared from all doors, securing the room. They blocked the door, even though she screamed for them to get medical help.
And on the other side of the television screen, there was nothing any of them could do but watch in horror.
The sound of the news crew was still fully functional, allowing them to hear her desperate pleas for help, and their denial, on the ground that there was nothing anyone could do but make sure the murderer did not escape. Try though she might, even showing them the president was fainted but not dead, Lorelei could not convince anyone.
And what she could try to do was so much more than what Ash could, feeling powerless, helpless, sitting on his chair unable to do a thing as the world turned to hell around him.
"Minister Silph, please follow us. We'll take you to safety." A higher- ranking member of the military strike force moved in. Though he had not threatened, his weapon was still aimed not at the room in which the murderer had been, but at Lorelei herself.
"No. I have to say a few things to the people." She seemed suddenly far calmer. "We need to show them that we will not be weak, even if they are trying to kill us." Calmer, and stronger too, her voice now filled with steel.
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to take such a risk, when it is needless. Vice-president Gray is on his way to address the situation, therefore there is no need for you to risk your life."
"But..."
"I'm sorry." The second I'm sorry might not have been a command, but by the reaction of the troops nearby, it certainly seemed like a pre-set code. They formed up in a tight group around Lorelei, escorting her off stage, through a tightly guarded door which led further in the presidential palace.
It took barely a few more minutes for Lance Gray, vice-president of the United Leagues, to arrive on the scene of the drama. He knelt respectfully before the body of the president, which had been moved to a quickly arranged table of sort, then turned toward the assembled and shocked news reporters, none of which had even commented so far on the events. It took quite a long moment for Ash to notice, a few steps behind Lance, a man in a military uniform of dark gray, and a moment more to identify him as General Will Arkonen, chief of staff to the Indigo military and second only to the now-dead defense minister in control of the armies - to the defense minister, and, of course, the president.
"My fellow citizens." He began his speech. "It is with a heavy heart that I now stand before you. WE have taken today a grievous loss, which makes the pain of the last few days ever harder to bear. But let me assure you, my fellow citizens. This loss, and those of the last few days, will not go unavenged. I promise to you."
The words were stirring, Ash had to admit. Had he not deeply hated the man for his views on power and how it should be used, he would have been drawn in, had agreed to whatever Gray had ordered toward the apprehending of the murderers.
"To that end, however, we must seize the murderers who even now hide in the civilian population. We must root them out, and I am afraid that this will require sacrifices from us all. In a situation of crisis as we now face, personal liberties must be given freely so that the safety of all can be ensured." It was a brilliant speech, there was no question about it, but the point toward which it lead, far from brilliant, was entirely too distressing.
"Therefore, in orders to pull the cover from the faces of those who now threaten us, I must now declare martial law throughout the states of Johto and Kanto. The army will now be in charge of ensuring order. And since we have every reason to believe they were deeply involved in the murders, the group known as Team Rocket will be their primary target."
The speech went on, detailing the new laws, but Ash did not listen, simply staring at the screen numbly, trying to adjust to the new situation.
And to try to think of an alternative to the only way out of the current situation he saw.
"The Echelon system, in a nutshell, is the nuclear array of the United Leagues." Though the question had been meant for Ash, Gary was the one who finally replied. His voice, still carrying the shock, bore testimony to the horrors both he, Misty and Ash had just seen unfolding in their mind.
The room went deathly silent at the words, all movement stopping for a second. They too, those who had not known at first, saw the horror before them. The images of a scorched wasteland, the threat of a nuclear winter, the horrible fate of those who had met in the far gone past with the deadly power of those weapons.
The fleeting moment of silence went by, lasting only a second by the watch, though a century to their dreaming minds.
"No way..." The voice was Jame's, though in a tone Ash could not remember hearing in recent days - not since James had joined his side against Team Rocket. It was a weak, pathetic tone, the tone of a defeated man.
"But what does it have to do with the murders of the Gym Leaders?"
"It's relatively simple Butch. The Gym Leaders each have to enter their own access code for the nukes to be fired, along with Lance and the Elite members." Knowing the answer beforehand, of course, did no good for Ash.
"But killing the gym leaders..."
"Open up the possibility of needing far fewer codes. Think about it. They couldn't create a nuke arsenal and then leave it weak to the possibility that a gym leader would die without sucessor and thus make the system impossible to use."
"That makes sense." Of course it did. But making sense or not, the idea opened the door to a dangerous can of worms. One which Ash couldn't help but wish had remained closed.
"Exactly." Gary picked up, earnign himself a grateful look from Ash, who let himself fall back into his chair, frowning deep in thought, considering the situation, the options they had. "So, they have every gym leaders wear a life monitor system in permanence." Showing them his left arm, Gary held very visible the little bracelet there, locked around his wrist. "If the gym leader dies, the central system stop receiving our signal. Therefore, they free the spot on the computer for the future gym leader, and until he is selected we need one less password to activate the Echelon system." He finished his explanation, leaving them all deep in thought.
There had to be a way to find in time who was trying to seize control of Echelon. To find them, kill them, and potentially deactivate Echelon while they were at it. Only, none of them seemed to have the least bit of an ability to find it.
"How much time do we have left? For all we know, Lorelei and Lance are in this together..."
"As much as we need . Misty and I are still alive, after all." Gary replied. How naive, Ash couldn't help but think. How naive, and ultimately foolish.
"How long? As long as the killer's out there, we are at risk. They have shown twice they could take on Team Rocket. The third time may just be the leathal one." Butch voiced out loud the very thoughts running through Ash's mind. They were once more silent for a moment.
"Then we have to draw them out, and defeat them." The voice speaking had a new steel in it, as if, the week stone of the last few weeks finally washed away by the storm, the solid core was finally shining through.
"Misty's right."
A soft thud on the door cut short further discussion. The man who entered wore the black uniform of a Rocket elite agent, though it was not one of those Ash was familiar with. Instinctively, he reached for the pistol in a holster at his belt. Jessie, James and Butch probably had just done the same, though he could not be sure, not without taking his eyes away from the man.
"Sir, you should turn on the television." The man's eyes remained locked on him. His hands, within sight, were empty. "President Stevens and minister Silph are about to make an announcement." Relaxing slightly at the words, Ash nonetheless kept his eyes on the man until he was safely out of the room.
"Gary?" His friend was already moving toward the remote control. A moment later, the screen flashed as the main information network of the United Leagues appeared. A moment later, the logo of the television network vanished, replaced by the main audience room of the presidential palace of Indigo City.
The two women standing on the stage waiting for the beginning of the conference were a study in contrast. To the left, president Agatha Stevens, her frail body hiding an ever-burning inner fire which only her eyes hinted at, wearing her solemn black clothes. To the right, dressed in gray, state minister Lorelei Silph, in gray, her face still unlined, her thirty-four years of age less than half the eighty-two of her companion.
The clock over his desk ticked, the arrow turning to point at the massive twelve sitting on top of it. In the far-away room, there was silence as the newsreporters waited for the speech to begin.
"Ladies and gentlemen." Finally, it started. President Stevens was the one talking, while minister Silph simply waited by her side, a folder in her arms.
"In recent days, the United Leagues have been the target of an unprecedented number of attacks, by unknown forces." Neither weakness nor frailness appeared in her voice. The strength there, just like the fire in her eyes, belied the apparent weakness of her aged body.
"While we are determined to seek out and prosecute those who dared to attack us in such a way, this is not the point I wish to talk about. I am here to reassure the populations of Johto and Kanto that we are not going to fail in our duty. We have already launched the process of the selection of the new gym leaders, and the first few should be announced later tonight, as soon as our field representative complete their mission."
She smiled. "Thus, the cities of Cinnabar, Vermilion, Fuchsia, Azalea and Cianwood should have a new gym leader tonight. Tomorrow, we should be able to announce new gym leaders for Saffron,..."
The speech went on, as the camera panned across the room, showing a handful of other news reporters.
"Ash! Can you do an image freeze with those?" Gary's sudden question was more than enough to surprise him.
"Sure." Picking up the remote his friend had discarded, he did just that.
"Good."
"What's wrong?" The question, which could have come from any of them, was finally asked by Misty.
"That guy there." One of Gary's finger reached out to point at the screen.
The man in question looked for all the world like a normal cameral holder for the news crew of the various channels present there. Only, there was something wrong with him...
"That's no camera." Butch pointed out. "It's one of those camera-like stun rifle they were experimenting with. Absolutely silent, and extremely efficient for sniper job."
"You're kidding." Again, Misty was the one who talked. "The security forces wouldn't let him in..." Her protest, however, felt on deaf ears.
"Gary?"
"Butch's probably right. I met that guy a few time before. He's a sniper for Force Zero, the army's crack commando strike team."
"Butch..." An horrible thought crossing his mind, Ash turned toward his lieutenant, praying he was wrong. "Correct me, but...aren'T those stun gun delivered with the direct notice 'do not use against individuals suffering from heart weakness'?"
"They are." The bleakness of the answering voice made the words all the more terrible to hear.
"Damn!" We need to do something!"
It was too late for whatever they could have done, if indeed there was such a thing, which despite Jessie's words Ash felt sure there was not.
The moment Gary let go the screen freeze, switching from the recording being generated in their massive computers back to the real-time feed, there was no longer doubt it was too late. President Stevens, in the middle of a word, suddenly collapsed, clutching at her chest in pain.
"Get a doctor someone!" With the cry, Lorelei went down to her knees, not weeping, but rather, trying to take care of the fallen woman.
But she couldn't do a thing, and just like them, was not given the time. Before any doctor could move in to take care of the sudden hearth failure of the leagues president, the armed shape of soldiers appeared from all doors, securing the room. They blocked the door, even though she screamed for them to get medical help.
And on the other side of the television screen, there was nothing any of them could do but watch in horror.
The sound of the news crew was still fully functional, allowing them to hear her desperate pleas for help, and their denial, on the ground that there was nothing anyone could do but make sure the murderer did not escape. Try though she might, even showing them the president was fainted but not dead, Lorelei could not convince anyone.
And what she could try to do was so much more than what Ash could, feeling powerless, helpless, sitting on his chair unable to do a thing as the world turned to hell around him.
"Minister Silph, please follow us. We'll take you to safety." A higher- ranking member of the military strike force moved in. Though he had not threatened, his weapon was still aimed not at the room in which the murderer had been, but at Lorelei herself.
"No. I have to say a few things to the people." She seemed suddenly far calmer. "We need to show them that we will not be weak, even if they are trying to kill us." Calmer, and stronger too, her voice now filled with steel.
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to take such a risk, when it is needless. Vice-president Gray is on his way to address the situation, therefore there is no need for you to risk your life."
"But..."
"I'm sorry." The second I'm sorry might not have been a command, but by the reaction of the troops nearby, it certainly seemed like a pre-set code. They formed up in a tight group around Lorelei, escorting her off stage, through a tightly guarded door which led further in the presidential palace.
It took barely a few more minutes for Lance Gray, vice-president of the United Leagues, to arrive on the scene of the drama. He knelt respectfully before the body of the president, which had been moved to a quickly arranged table of sort, then turned toward the assembled and shocked news reporters, none of which had even commented so far on the events. It took quite a long moment for Ash to notice, a few steps behind Lance, a man in a military uniform of dark gray, and a moment more to identify him as General Will Arkonen, chief of staff to the Indigo military and second only to the now-dead defense minister in control of the armies - to the defense minister, and, of course, the president.
"My fellow citizens." He began his speech. "It is with a heavy heart that I now stand before you. WE have taken today a grievous loss, which makes the pain of the last few days ever harder to bear. But let me assure you, my fellow citizens. This loss, and those of the last few days, will not go unavenged. I promise to you."
The words were stirring, Ash had to admit. Had he not deeply hated the man for his views on power and how it should be used, he would have been drawn in, had agreed to whatever Gray had ordered toward the apprehending of the murderers.
"To that end, however, we must seize the murderers who even now hide in the civilian population. We must root them out, and I am afraid that this will require sacrifices from us all. In a situation of crisis as we now face, personal liberties must be given freely so that the safety of all can be ensured." It was a brilliant speech, there was no question about it, but the point toward which it lead, far from brilliant, was entirely too distressing.
"Therefore, in orders to pull the cover from the faces of those who now threaten us, I must now declare martial law throughout the states of Johto and Kanto. The army will now be in charge of ensuring order. And since we have every reason to believe they were deeply involved in the murders, the group known as Team Rocket will be their primary target."
The speech went on, detailing the new laws, but Ash did not listen, simply staring at the screen numbly, trying to adjust to the new situation.
And to try to think of an alternative to the only way out of the current situation he saw.