Chapter XXXII

An hour later I was back with a team specialized in one versus one matches. This time I picked Togekiss. A fast Pokémon with a Flying move that resulted in the other party flinching over half the time.

Deep Blue sent out Roserade. It was weak against Flying moves, but was faster than Togekiss. It couldn't flinch if it attacked first. With two Sludge Waves Togekiss was beaten.

I tried status effects, defensive walls, counter strategies, toxic stalling and all-out attacking. But every time Deep Blue had a perfect counter.

When I was leaving the depot once more, Finn was on the comms witnessing the whole venture.

"This is impossible," I said. "There's a trick we need to find. A workaround. The game within the game."

"Wait, what floor are you on?" Finn asked.

I just walked into the elevator. I hadn't paid attention to it. But Finn was right, everything could be a hint.

"It's 0758," I said.

"Salazzle!"

A short while later I returned with a poisonous fire lizard from Alola. It got instantly knocked out by a cute starfish Pokémon from the 12th generation.

Even though the floor number didn't turn out to be a lead, it did get us in the right mindset. We were dissecting the whole task and came to the conclusion it was all about the Pokémon we brought before Deep Blue.

The matches were one on one and so far almost everything got instantly knocked-out. So the only thing we could influence was the Pokémon I would use.

I tried Zekrom and Reshiram, the legendary dragons from Pokémon Black and White. They somehow felt a bit "chess" to me. But it didn't do anything.

Then I thought about that other big scientific breakthrough in 1996. Dolly the cloned sheep. Maybe I had to use a Ditto, the pink blob that is able to transform into its opponent.

Ditto was a famous "revenge killer" in single battles. You could bring it out and with the right ability it instantly copied the foe, including all its stats.

The only difference between the two Pokémon would be their chosen held items. Now, if my Ditto would hold a "Choice Scarf", it would outspeed the enemy and get first strike.

I had one of those in my storage and went back to Satoshi to pick it up. Finn monitored the news and social feeds and brought me up to speed about our competition.

There was wide speculation about Superman's wedding, but it wasn't clear which players were trailing us. I felt that if I didn't figure this task out within the next couple of hours, I would lose my lead.

I quickly returned to the museum with a Ditto. Naturally Deep Blue sent out Pokémon that were better when they would move last. I tried it again and again for an hour. Status effects and critical hits were in his favor, this wasn't the solution.

Going back and forth to the museum, the exhibition about the Unabomber grabbed my interest. The fact that terrorist Ted Kaczynski got arrested in 1996 was a valid reason for a struggling museum to pay attention to him fifty years later.

But what if this was a clue as well?

I started scanning through Industrial Society and Its Future, a 35.000 word essay that was better known as the Unabomber Manifesto. It was all about machines and technology destroying human nature and freedoms.

A year ago I would've dismissed it all. But now, after everything that happened the past months. With Riley, but also Sara. The joy I got from going outside again. The man might've had a few good points.

In chapter "The Future", the Unambomber wrote about "intelligent machines". In short, Kaczynski feared that intelligent machines would become so smart that humanity would become completely dependent on them.

"At that stage the machines will be in effective control. People won't be able to just turn the machines off, because they will be so dependent on them that turning them off would amount to suicide."

He also warned about artificial and genetic engineering. The rich and powerful would strengthen their position by being able to enhance themselves. Have-nots would no longer have a way to use physical and mental talents to rise the ranks of society.

"It would be better to dump the whole stinking system and take the consequences," the terrorist concluded.

The whole manifesto was a bit juvenile. The fact Kaczynski wrote about "we" made me cringe. He was a loner, not part of a movement.

Still, was this the clue I was looking for?

The elevator opened its doors and once again I entered the lair of Deep Blue. He was waiting for me, as he always was. Ready to cheat his way to another victory.

As I approached the undefinable silhouette, I searched my pockets. Not for another Poké Ball, but something else.

I took my place on the opposing trainer position. There I pulled out my latest bet. It was the Rambo knife my dad had used in the fight with Shikara.

Immediately I started charging Deep Blue.

"Die! You fucking machine! Die!" I screamed.

"Wait… Player, what are you doing?"

"Try to cheat your way out of this one!"

"Stop! This is not part of the… Aaaahhh!"

I slashed the AI. I did not know if he screamed out of surprise or if he genuinely felt pain. I hoped he did.

"Why don't you fight back, you evil AI scum!"

"Stop assaulting me! I am a national artifact with great historic value!"

"Bullshit! You're a NPC in a quest designed for this contest! I'm on to you!"

I kept slashing Deep Blue. There wasn't a health bar, but I assumed he would sooner or later break down like destructible environment.

"Help!" the AI started screaming, "help! Mayday, mayday! SOS! Hilfe! ¡Ayuda! Помощь!"

The elevator doors opened. Museum guards and gallery attendants started rushing in. I pulled my BFG 9000 and shot them. A chain of green plasma blasts struck them. But they did not die.

"Stop!" one of them yelled at me. "Stop right now!"

They were actual human players and I couldn't hurt them on this planet.

I stopped slashing Deep Blue.

"You're vandalizing federal property."

"Wait," I muttered. "This is really Deep Blue? The IBM computer?"

"Yes! Oh my god, yes. What is wrong with you?" the AI started yelling at me. "I am done with this. I'm not going to play anymore. Don't want to. You were supposed to fight with a Pokémon nicknamed Kasparov."

That actually made sense. Garry Kasparov lost a game in 1996, but still won the match. It was the rematch in 1997 that Deep Blue won officially.

"Ah, OK… Sorry about that," I said.

"Here, take it. I'm done," he yelled. "Have fun with it. I'm going back to sleep for another fifty years."

Deep Blue gave me another Pokémon trading card.

"Leave now, please, just go away."