Chapter 5
"Mr. Thorpe, you can't do this to us!" yelled the tall, slender woman. Thorpe had removed all of his burnt clothing and replaced them with new ones, a white lab coat and some blue jeans. He was furious, his red face steaming with anger, which showed very brightly against the white lab coat.
As he grabbed a leather jacket and hastily put it on, he said to the lady, "Sorry Jessica, but I fear that you did something unforgivable to me." He walked over to a table on the far side of a large room, where a small ball with a red top and a white bottom sat on a little stand, slightly tilted. He grabbed the ball and slid it into his jacket pocket. Thorpe turned to the woman again; his face less red, but his anger was still there. "I am going to find my little Simon and bring him back. That's all that matters to me right now."
Thorpe zipped up his leather jacket and began to walk outside when all of a sudden the lights began to dim. Jessica, the slender woman, screamed in terror and turned to run, but she realized that she had nowhere to go. Thorpe did not know what was happening, but a sudden fear leaped into him, fear that felt like a river of ice, flowing through his veins.
Suddenly, the knob on the door at the front of the room started shaking violently, as if some creature was trying to open it with a closed fist. A faint but dark mist began seeping in through the spaces in the door. Finally, with a dull thud, the door began to creak open, ever so slowly. A thick smoke began billowing in and reaching into the corners. It was hard to see in the dimmed light, but Thorpe thought he saw someone move into the room.
As soon as the figure entered, a strange voice that was soft yet fierce began to speak, directed to the woman. "Are you having any trouble with the experiment, Ms. Cooper?" She stood up, shaking so bad that Thorpe wondered how she was standing erect.
Her speech to the creature was inaudible through the shuddering, and sounded like her lungs were in a vice, but the shadowy figure seemed to understand her. "You lie!" it said with intensity. "He was too about to escape. You have no control over him yet, and he might warn the enemy of our intentions. What was he leaving for anyway?"
Again the scientist mumbled, and began to sob hysterically. She fell to the floor in tears. The creature began walking over to her, the mist that enveloped it following. Slowly it swarmed around her and gripped her. "His Poochyena?" the ghostly figure replied. "You want me to believe that he really cares about his pokemon?" The woman began to nod through her sobs.
Thorpe sensed the creature looked at him quickly and then back to the woman. He slowly walked over to her side and knelt down beside her on the floor, face to face. Thorpe then heard in a faint voice, barely audible, from the creature. "Is the experiment under complete control?" it said, almost compassionately.
The scientist looked up into the creature's eyes, and for a split second Thorpe saw a thought of realization cross her face. Suddenly she started bawling and screaming "NO! NO! DON'T DO IT I BEG OF YOU!" The scientist tried to cover her face, but the mist held her tightly. Thorpe saw the creature raise a robe-covered arm toward its face, and slowly it began to move.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" the woman screamed at the top of her lungs, sending shivers down Thorpe's spine. It was as if the Gates of Hell had opened up, and a prisoner from within let out a gut-retching howl. The scream was inhuman and felt like the very embodiment of fear. After ten seconds of a straight scream, the scientist fainted backwards, her head slamming against the floor. The mist had released her, and once again shrouded the creature once again. Its arm seemed to readjust something under its mask, and then it stood up and faced Thorpe.
"You!" the creature said, with its voice soft yet piercing voice. "The Director wishes to meet with you personally. You will follow me or meet the same fate which Jessica Cooper experienced, no exceptions. Are we clear?" The fog began to move toward Thorpe like a poisonous mist. Thorpe quickly nodded, completely at a loss for words. The figure nodded, and then began to glide out the door.
Thorpe quickly came to his senses and followed the creature, out of the room and into a long hallway. The lights on the ceiling were dim, so adding to the chilling mood of the circumstance. As they were about halfway down the hall, the cloaked figure stopped at an elevator. "Push the button!" the creature said sharply. Thorpe quickly obeyed, pressing the upwards button with his index finger. A chime announced that the elevator was already at the station, and the doors separated, revealing an empty room. The creature entered first, followed by Thorpe.
Thorpe was too scared to think straight. If this creature was not the leader of this operation, how much more terrible would this Director be? He was thinking this when he heard a small piece of metal chink on the floor. Thorpe looked down and saw a small metal elevator key, used to get to levels that were hidden from the normal path of the elevator.
"Take the key and turn it," said the creature. Slowly, Thorpe bended down and picked up the key, which was very cold, and put it in the appropriate slot on the side of the door. The elevator responded immediately, and began to ascend at a rapid pace.
Even though the journey of the elevator took no more that five seconds, it was completely agonizing to Thorpe. His soul felt like it would evaporate with every second that he spent in the presence of that foul creature. It was almost as if this were Death, scraping and slashing his soul with fierce claws of ice. Thorpe held his breath, doing anything that would keep him from inhaling that atrocious fog. The chime of a bell announced the elevator's arrival, and also brought a welcoming breath to Thorpe as the creature exited the room.
Thorpe wanted to sink into the corner and die slowly, but he remembered the look on the face of Jessica Cooper and realized that whatever she saw must be a fate worse than death. He left the elevator and followed the creature, careful not to touch the black mist that followed behind it.
The hallway was very tall, and lined with portraits. Old men stood looking out with cold, dark faces. Thorpe had never been in this hall before. It seemed alien, as if a well furnished place should not be in a scientific laboratory. At the end of the hallway were two large mahogany doors. In them were carved writings in a language had never seen before. The creature stopped, and turned to Thorpe.
"You will go inside by yourself. You will not speak unless spoken to and you will answer every question perfectly honestly, or The Director will not hesitate to take your life away. And remember," he said, letting his voice trail off, "The Director is not as forgiving as I am." The creature soon became enveloped in fog, and with a swirling motion all the fog disappeared, and the figure was gone.
Thorpe gulped. The creature was gone, but a haunting feeling remained. He turned and faced the doors. They towered over him, seemingly threatening him. Thorpe breathed a deep breath, and then reached out his hand, and pushed the door aside.
He entered into a large room. It was dark, but not as dark as the hallway. The only light was from a series of windows at the very back of the room. A long conference table lined with chairs was in the center. To the right were five large metal containers about ten feet tall sitting on the floor. Each one had various screens and dials attached to it. They looked eerie in the room's darkness. One of the cylinders looked unique, for there were hundreds of odd looking hoses connected to it. There was a lot more electronic equipment adorning this cylinder, but Thorpe had no idea why.
"Mister Thorpe I presume?" a deep voice said from the front of the room. It was not a harsh voice, but rather it sounded sad, yet kind. Thorpe turned to the front of the room to see the owner of the voice, and he saw, silhouetted by the windows, a gigantic man.
The large man was facing away from Thorpe, looking out the window. He had long hair that touched his broad shoulders, so broad Thorpe wondered if this man could fit through a doorway comfortably. There was something about his back, however, that Thorpe thought was abnormal. He couldn't put a finger on it, but that feeling persisted.
Thorpe then remembered that he had been asked a question, and he quickly answered in the affirmative. The large man turned around, still silhouetted by the light behind him, but his majesty was even more evident. "You may sit then, Mister Thorpe." Thorpe quickly obeyed and sat in the nearest chair at the table.
The majestic man cleared his throat, and began speaking in his deep and powerful voice. "Do you know how a virus works, Mister Thorpe?" The Director began walking down the opposite side of the table, towards Thorpe.
"Well," Thorpe explained. "I know that there are two kinds of viruses. One kind, the lytic virus, uses its D.N.A. to change a cell into a virus making machine, and that it dies after its labor is complete. But the other is much more subtle, the lysogenic virus. It feeds its D.N.A. into the genome of the cell it infects. The cell then carries that D.N.A. for its entire life, and as it divides, the D.N.A. of the virus divides with it, soon creating millions and millions of infected yet dormant cells." Thorpe suddenly felt relaxed, because The Director didn't seem that bad of person.
The Director nodded. "Splendid explanation, Mister Thorpe," he said with power. "And did you know that these lysogenic viruses are completely undetectable?" Thorpe nodded. "Yes, I thought you would," returned The Director.
The Director turned, and was completely visible to Thorpe. His hair was golden, and he had a large handlebar mustache. His arms were as thick as oak trees, and were tucked neatly behind his back. His eyes sparkled with a majestic blue color that made Thorpe think of the sea. The man was truly a sight to behold.
The Director bowed his head and began to pace. "About two years ago," he began, "I discovered something truly amazing. I had been a study of virology my entire life, and I had done experiments with viruses, trying to incorporate the genetics of one creature into another." Thorpe started to become uneasy. Something about this story felt very familiar. He felt his hands begin to grow warm and sweaty. Oh no! he though. Not again!
"However," the director continued, blatantly unaware of Thorpe's condition. "There were many problems with doing this. First of all, I could rarely get a virus to accept a different D.N.A. pattern without dying. And even when I did, I never had enough to infect an entire body. You see, the entire body must be infected or else when the cell begins to mutate, the immune system will attack it, causing the body to die.
"Then, as I came to this island around two years ago, I found a remarkable discovery. I found a creature that could control how a virus worked with such precision that it could make the necessary adjustments so I could complete my dream."
Thorpe looked up, sweat pouring down his face. "The ghost man that brought me to you!" he blurted out. He realized what he said too late. The accusation would surely bring the wrath of The Director on him.
However, The Director only laughed. "Who, Michael? No, Michael is only my Messenger. He is only one of my many experiments. No, the creature I speak of is more powerful even than I." Slowly The Director walked up to the large container with the odd metal hoses sticking out of it. He pushed some buttons on a side panel and the entire machine started beeping like mad. A large whooshing sound came from it, and the casing of metal began to slide upward. Underneath was a clear tube of glass, viewing into a chamber filled with green liquid. Yet, as eerie as this was, it was not as horrifying as the creature within.
This creature was not like anything Thorpe had ever seen. It hung suspended in the fluid, connected to the hundreds of hoses and wires. Its colors were distorted through the green liquid, so as it looked black, yet its shape was clear. Four long arms fell loosely, two on each side of its body. They twisted around each other, like strands of D.N.A. Its legs were cylinder shaped, and dragged against the bottom of the container. Its face was scary as well; a large circle divided by a mere line. Two holes were in its head, with pale eyes looking out. The creature stared towards Thorpe from his prison, as if begging to be freed. Yet its eyes showed that it was dead. Not physically dead, but emotionally destroyed.
"This is the creature that I found, the master of viruses. We do not know what it is or where it came from, but because of its ability to master all genetics, I have named it Deoxys." The Director took in a breath of pride, and then continued. "With it I have been able to incorporate the D.N.A. of a pokemon that controls its identity into the D.N.A. of a human being. Of course, Deoxys wasn't so eager to help me in my endeavor at first, but after a little 'persuasion' I was able to convince him to…"
The Director was cut off by a scream. He turned to see Thorpe jump to his feet. Thorpe was looking at his arm in fear. The Director focused on it as well. Suddenly, as if by some magical force, flame erupted from it. The fire rapidly spread over Thorpe's entire body as a thick anger spread through his soul. Thorpe screamed once more before his head was engulfed. After his body had been taken over, he quit struggling and looked at The Director. With an inhuman roar, Thorpe charged at him.
The Director didn't even blink. As Thorpe came closer he removed his hands from behind his back and reached toward Thorpe. Thorpe saw as he ran that The Director didn't have hands at all, but rather large, scaly claws. Yet, Thorpe was running too fast to stop. With one move The Director grabbed Thorpe by the arm and using the force of Thorpe's running, slammed him against the door.
Thorpe swung his other hand around and launched a fireball from his wrist, straight into the Director's face. The Director turned his face and caught the blast on the side of the face. As the flame cleared The Director turned back, and showed that his face was hardly singed. "Nice try Mister Thorpe," he joked, and he swung Thorpe over his body and onto the ground.
Pain coursed through Thorpe's body. He doubled up under the pain. The Director released his grip and began to walk away. "Yes, I too have used Deoxys to make me strong." He turned again to Thorpe, who was trying to stand up. "I gave myself the essence of the Dragons, and your puny fires can but barely harm me in the slightest."
Thorpe stood up and faced The Director again. The Director opened his mouth as if to yell, but instead blew a large cloud of dust from his mouth. It engulfed Thorpe and he felt stinging all over. His body locked up in pain, and he stood motionless. The Director then ran at Thorpe and slammed him in the face with one of his clawed hands, knocking Thorpe to the ground. As he hit, the flame on him died, and Thorpe took a deep breath.
The Director reached down and grabbed Thorpe by the hair. Blood was flowing down his nose, obviously broken. The Director looked him in the eyes. "They said that about a week ago you lost someone very dear to you." Thorpe lowered his eyes. Even in the pain that he was in, he could not forgive himself for the loss he had suffered. The clothes on his body hung off him like rags, yet he was not ashamed of his nakedness as much as of his sin.
"A small Poochyena, is that right?" The Director asked. Thorpe turned away, and didn't answer. "Don't worry," the Director coaxed. "I will bring him back to you." He dropped Thorpe on the ground and pushed some buttons on two different cylinders. They opened at the same time, revealing their prisoners.
They were both human, or had been once in their lives. One of them was hunched over and slim. It was female from what Thorpe could tell, with dark long hair and a feminine shape. She had two long, sharp fangs jutting out from her upper jaw, each which was dripping a green liquid. She had a tight leotard over her frame, and her skin was slightly green. She opened her black eyes and smiled. The slim creature pointed her fingernails at Thorpe, which were needle sharp and covered with green ooze.
The other figure was tall and thick. Its skin was hardly skin at all, but rather a metal coating. The face of this creature was masculine. He had glowing red eyes that pierced Thorpe's soul as he gazed at him. With two audible clunks, the steel beast exited its container quickly, the metal not slowing him at all.
The poison and metal creatures turned to The Director and bowed. The Director pointed towards Thorpe. "This young man has lost his Poochyena. I would like you to bring him back. Dead or alive!" The poison creature jumped with glee and clapped her hands. The steel creature nodded affirmative. They both ran out of the room an inhuman speed, leaving The Director and Thorpe alone.
"You murderer," Thorpe croaked as he lay on the floor. The Director walked up to him and kicked him in the ribs.
"No," he said. "I am merely the future."