Chapter Sixty Three: Parental Consideration Advised
I wish my days stopped ending up like this, Alaska thought bitterly as she plummeted seventy floors towards her doom.
It was freezing inside the elevator shaft, made no better by what rapidly falling from an extreme height did your body; Alaska was battered by cold air that was forced into her eyes and ears, a wind-like noise deafening her in the silent lift shaft. She was forced to shut her eyes against the generated breeze, but it was so dark that there was little to see anyway. She could, however, feel the closeness of the walls she was falling between, her outstretched fingers brushing against cool stone and icy metal. Alaska could barely control her body though, the shock stunning her, the speed stopping her from acting, leaving her falling like a puppet cut from its strings, tumbling and twirling through the air, unable to prepare for what comes once you start falling…
However, for once, Alaska had a tiny glimmer of hope; the mysterious Looker knew who she was and wanted her to trust her, so she had a feeling he had a reason for shoving her into an empty lift shaft and, as a result, was not going to let her die. So instead of focussing on the shock or the landing, Alaska shut her eyes and disappeared inside her head; things seemed to slow down, her mind drifting away from the tingling sensation of falling, and Alaska thought back on all that had happened in the past twenty four hours. She had nearly been killed by a wave around this time yesterday: Alaska knew a normal person would be concerned by this, but she could not help but see the funny side, surviving a certain hell one day only to find herself in another the next...
Thanks to the unsettling information she had learned today, Alaska could see several pieces of her bizarre puzzle falling into place. She know knew the faces of her enemies, namely Gideon, a madman scientist she was connected to only by chance, and Buzz, the man seemingly behind the robots who was purposefully targeting her, though the specifics for why were lost on her. One of her prior encounters with the show must have done more damage on the meticulously planned ratings event than she realised, but Alaska could not place her finger on what.
Nor could she quite work out what role Indigo Dreams itself had in things, though she knew must be some level of awareness there. It occurred to her now that they had been captured yesterday after setting up camp in close proximity to the reality show, the first time they had done so, and that Amanda had been very frustrated by their appearance. Sandy had mentioned an unease about the thin lipped, tight arsed woman, but Alaska did not want to leap to any presumptions about anyone else on the show yet, not when she had no way of knowing how much the really stars knew about their boss…
Alaska remembered what she had told Sandy twenty minutes ago, and she hoped that it was true, but knew these doubts about the stars would linger, burrowing their way into the back of her head until they got the chance to prove them either true or false. She could not be certain, not after weeks of unsettling surprises at every turn, but Alaska hoped the stars (even Chloe) would prove to be innocent. She had spent much of yesterday afternoon talking to Damian; it had been nothing of importance, merely discussing their journeys and their Pokemon, however it was not the type of conversation Alaska wanted to be marred by a revelation of his betrayal…
Alaska opened her eyes, unable to bear dwelling on it any longer, and was stunned that she could just make out the bottom of the shaft, a solider mass of darkness than the shadows she had fallen through. She tensed up, wondering now whether she would face blinding, deadly pain, or a miraculous survival, but then what would the rest of her day spell? Briefly, as the concrete prepared to greet her, the many mysteries that still dogged her rushed through her mind; the attack on Vermilion, Suicune and Zapdos, Gideon and the fossils, what purpose the robots served, the prophecy; somehow, all these things and many others were connected, and Alaska hoped she survived, merely to see what this puzzle looked like once it was completed. Yet the ground was coming ever closer, tripling in size every second, and there seemed to be nothing waiting to stop her…
Suddenly, almost as quickly as it begun, Alaska stopped.
She blinked rapidly, and was horrified to find her nose a centimetre above concrete. Alaska looked around frantically, wondering what was holding her up and if there was still a chance of falling; but instead of going forwards, she rose up, tilting backwards until she was upright, and then was placed softly on her feet.
"Well… alright then," Alaska muttered, rather taken aback by her sudden survival. She glanced about the lift shaft, trying to find what had saved her, but a sudden screaming distracted her; Alaska looked up and could see a familiar head of blonde hair falling through the darkness; Sandy was not quite as relaxed about the whole experience as Alaska had been, and her screams were loud enough to rouse everyone in Saffron. Alaska stepped cautiously backwards, not wanting to get crushed once again by a falling Sandy, and tensed up, waiting for the saviour to make itself known…
About a second before Sandy hit concrete, a pair of pink eyes flashed in the shadows, and she stopped instantly. Her screams carried on though as Sandy wiggled frantically about, eyes shut and hands clasped tightly around a rather unimpressed Eevee.
"Shut up Sandy, you're not going to die just yet," Alaska snapped, grabbing her friend by the collar and hauling her upwards. Sandy fell quickly silent and looked around, shaken and dazed by the experience, but Alaska left her behind and stepped over wires and metal poles, heading towards the source of the pink eyes a few metres away.
"I know there is a Pokemon here, so you might as well show yourself," she called, trying to sound friendly. There was a moment's pause, and suddenly dazzling white light illuminated the shaft; a tall, humanoid Pokemon stood proudly before her, long, sword like green arms held respectfully at its side as it gazed down at her. Red triangles came through its front and back, and Alaska got the impression that this was a creature born for fighting, not for hiding in lift shafts.
She opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly the creature's eyes flashed pink again, and Alaska turned as Looker and Mr Melton landed gracefully on the concrete, the latter looking rather shaken up, unsteadily collapsing against the wall. Alaska could now see they stood on a square of concrete, surrounded by three solid walls, a number of wiring and piping and metal frames separating them from the other lift shafts.
"I see you have discovered my Gallade," Looker said calmly, as if falling down lift shafts was nothing of concern. "He is very useful in situations like these – excellent Psychic precision, you usually find Gallade are better fighters than thinkers, but mine is both."
"That's wonderful," Alaska said icily, quickly forgetting her awe at Gallade and wheeling around to face the stranger. "Now, would you mind explaining who the fuck you are and why you threw me down here?" Looker's face sank and turned sour, and he reached into a pocket and retrieved a golden badge, which he held up for all to see.
"I am a Senior Investigator working for the International Police, codename Looker," he explained. "I arrived here to investigate reports into connections between the television department and recent events in Kanto. My brief was to hack into the network and look for any information to prove these connections, which can only be done from within the building, but I was interrupted when Zapdos attacked and the system began to shut down. I was about to leave and investigate why Zapdos was here but I had just gained access to the security cameras on Level 87 and discovered you were here." Looker paused, and a slight smile spread across his face. "I have heard a lot about you, Alaska Acevedo, and I must say it is truly a pleasure to finally encounter you."
"International Police – so you must know Trevor and Daisy?" Alaska asked.
"Indeed, and I was told that if I ever encountered you to say both are well and hope to meet you again soon," Looker replied. Alaska nodded, but was silently elated at the fact both were safe; she was now sure how they would have survived either circumstance, but it was a relief to know neither had died trying to save her.
"Once I learnt you were in the building and possibly in danger," Looker continued, "I realised I would need to rescue you before leaving the building. I was held up accessing floor plans and the remaining security cameras before the system crashed, otherwise I could have gotten to you before you reached the precautionary trap it seems Mr Bolton set for you." At this, Alaska could not help but glance at Mr Melton; her old neighbour still looked flustered by his freefall experience, but at the mention of the chaos that had consumed his workplace, his face seemed to darken slightly, a mixture of what Alaska perceived to be both anger and shame.
"Well yes, thank you for saving us, but how exactly is being in a lift shaft going to help us escape?" Sandy asked incredulously. "And Buzz still has our Pokemon and our bags locked away somewhere in the building!" Looker turned to her, his face falling into a frown, and Alaska had to say that the man seemed quite moody.
"Ever since the old building was destroyed and this one was built," he continued, turning slowly away from Sandy, "there have been many rumours about Mr Silph having a number of safety rooms built in case Silph Co. was ever attacked again. It seems that these rumours are true, as the floor plans reveal an expansive basement area, and the security cameras show a variety of used and disused spaces down here. I believe at least some of these safety rooms have been utilized by Mr Bolton for whatever his plans may be, and if we go there now, we should be able to find your Pokemon, and perhaps learn more about what is being planned.
"There is a reason why I choose to tell you all this at the bottom of this rank lift shaft. You see, the lifts are designed to reach these secret floors – specifically, the lift that normally travels up and down this shaft, but is currently stuck on Level 93. All you do is type in the code or swipe your key card, and the wall right behind you opens and the elevators slide through." Alaska, Sandy and Mr Melton all turned to look at the wall behind them, but it simply looked as dull and dirty as the rest.
"Do you have the code?" Alaska asked.
"No, but I am a master hacker and I brought something with us with the necessary tools– Mr Melton, your swipe pass please." Alistair looked startled by this request, but before he could move a thin piece of white plastic flew out from a pocket, glowing pink, and Alaska watched as Gallade directed it towards his trainer. "All I have to do now is make the system accept Mr Melton's key card as being one of those that has the code, and then we are through!" Looker concluded, pulling a sleek tablet device from one pocket. He quickly typed in the details from Mr Melton's card and then loudly tapped away for another minute. Silence fell, and Alaska briefly glanced upwards, wondering if any gunmen had survived the Pokemon attack, and what they were doing now…
"And there we go," Looker said after several minutes, dramatically tapping the last button, and everyone looked at the wall; there was a groan of gears, pins and locks being removed from their safe little homes. Alaska watched in amazement as a section of stone slid backwards about three feet before disappearing into the wall to their left.
A long tunnel was revealed, one that reminded Alaska of an old fashioned mine shaft from her dads old movies; the walls were of the same concrete blocks at the lift shaft, but the only lighting were narrow fluorescent tubes set every few metres, and the stone floor was covered in a thick film of dust separated only by metal tracks, presumably for the elevator.
"Oh joy," Alaska murmured sarcastically. "A dark, gloomy, dust filled tunnel – there must be fun times waiting for us at the end of this!" She glanced at Looker and raised an eyebrow, but the spy did not seem to share her humour.
"Now you listen to me; I want to go in there even less than you do," he snapped. "I have had more than my fair share of dealings with criminals over the years, and I was hoping that Trevor and Daisy could handle this investigation on their own. However, their involvement with you has compromised their abilities to be incognito and forced me to return to the field! Now, if you want to get out of this building alive then you will stop the jokes, listen to my orders and go down the damn tunnel without complaint!" His voice echoed so it seemed like dozens of angry people were shouting at Alaska. She stared defiantly back at the spy, but she knew after a few moments he was not going to be worn down, at least not as easily as the others; instead, Alaska nodded to show she understood, and at the same time wondered what exactly had made this man so bitter.
"Good; now follow me," Looker snapped before stepping inside the tunnel. Sandy with Eevee quickly followed behind, seemingly frightened into action by her telling off; Alaska gestured at Mr Melton, and her former neighbour reluctantly climbed in after, leaving her and Gallade to bring up the rear.
"Looks like you're going to be my guard of honour!" She said, turning to Gallade and smiling, but the Pokemon did not seer to hear and walked past her, and Alaska rolled her eyes as she stepped into the tunnel. "Does no one have a sense of humour these days? You'd think we were all about to be killed!"
The walk through the tunnel was dull and silent, no one talking as they marched across the carpet of dust. There was no sound, only their softened footsteps and their breathing, amplified by the tightness of the walls. Gallade continued to glow, but the light only extended as far as Mr Melton; he and Alaska were bathed in the pearly shine that turned the walls white, while Sandy and Looker were barely visible in the darkness ahead. Alaska realised she had never been alone with her neighbour before, but currently a tension lay between them, one he may not notice, but Alaska could not ignore what she had learnt back in his lab.
"I bet you didn't think your day would turn out like this," she whispered, unable to bear the silence anymore. "You wake up, you go to work, do your job, go home; wash, rinse and repeat. Something like this must have never happened before."
"No… no it hasn't," Alistair said quietly back, his voice hushed and shaking. There was a pause, and then: "and you, Alaska? Did you think your day would turn out this way?"
"I hoped it wouldn't, but I am not surprised it had. Usually though I get to wake up and do something first before the shit catches up to me. This is not the first time something like this has happened to me Mr Melton, and, trusting I survive today, it won't be the last – not until I stop everyone behind this massive mess. And, unfortunately, you currently count in that equation," Alaska finished with a touch of coldness. Alistair Melton stopped abruptly in his tracks, his feet kicking up a small cloud of dust. He turned and faced Alaska, and in Gallade's glow his face was thrown into great detail; it was older and more lined than Alaska remembered; his hair was greyer than before, and his eyes looked red and tired, the purple sheen of his lids shining grimly in the unfortunate spotlight.
"I hope you do not hold me accountable for those robots," he whispered, staring deeply and pointedly at Alaska. "I was never told what they were to be used for. My department performs experiments on Pokemon for the purposes of serving the company, testing various products and equipment to determine what will go on sale. We have done some robotics work in the past, creating realistic test dummies to replicate rare Pokemon, and a year ago Buzz Bolton asked us to build a variety for his new show. We were contractually obliged to, as we were to hire Samuel as an assistant and liaison to the department. I… none of us did… we never thought there was anything suspicious with them…"
"Even though they were rigged with explosives?" Alaska asked pointedly, and Alistair's dull face changed into an expression of complete shock.
"Explosives? What? I have never handled explosives before in my life!" He said, mouth hanging open in horror. "We simply examined the Pokemon they requested and created designs before delivering our plans to Level 87. The Mechanics Department actually constructed the machines. I never made any plans for any explosives or weaponry, we were just told they needed robotic Pokemon – they must have altered our plans later on." The two had not moved for a couple of minutes now, and Alaska could no longer see any sign of Sandy or Looker, and the muffled sounds of their footsteps had disappeared. However, she felt as though any movement would disturb, any disruption to the stillness and silence they had shrouded themselves in, a cloak of doubt and blame that lingered between the two. It felt strange to Alaska to be confronting her old neighbour like this; or indeed that a man she had lived next door to could be so intrinsically linked to her, to have played such a mighty hand, whether he was aware of it or not, in her life these past few months. What a strange thing to discover, after having dealt with men and women that were famous throughout Kanto and around the world, to have encountered murderers and spies and aristocrats and assassins all involved in this interlinked, interwoven conspiracy, and yet Alistair Melton was too involved…
"I… I have to ask…" Mr Melton suddenly spluttered, and Alaska snapped out of her thoughts and looked back at him. "Mitchell… you said you've encountered him a few times… when you have been attacked by… by my robots… has he ever been with you?"
"Yes," Alaska replied curtly, seeing no point in lying. Mr Melton nodded stiffly, and Alaska could see his had tensed up; she could only imagine the images her answer had conjured up, the terrible pain that must come with unknowingly putting your own child in such danger. "Now I have to ask – earlier, when I brought him up, you seemed very reluctant to talk about Mitchell. Why is that? Is there something going on at your home?" Alistair did not say anything, and for several moments Alaska wondered if he had actually heard her, his face showing no sign of recognition, his eyes nearly lifeless as the scientist disappeared beneath his own fears.
"It is a difficult thing to do, to let your child leave home on a journey," Alistair said after several moments, though his voice was so low Alaska strained to hear him. "You are letting your child choose a very limited and particular life path for themselves, and after everything that has happened, with Team Rocket and Galactic and all those people, Wendy and I were uncertain about letting him go. But… but we thought it would be safe… there had been no incidents, no attacks or anything, we thought it was a harmless time… Mitchell so wanted to go, and who we were to deny him of this choice, especially when you were going, the only other person he had really been close to." Alaska was taken aback; she was sure Mr Melton did not intend them this way, but it seemed a lot like she was being blamed for Mitchell's journey, as if she had forced him into it; had Mitchell really looked up to her that much?
"Once a child leaves, it is difficult to stay in contact, even with all those devices they have these days," Alistair continued. "And… and… and when things go wrong… when you hear that they have been explosions and terror attacks… when you can't find out whether your child was involved or not…" He paused here, his voice having become high and hysterical but still quiet, and Alaska saw a new side to him she had never seen before – one she had never seen in any adult. Mr Melton was shaking, his body jittering so violently she felt concerned, and tears poured down his cheeks as his face contorted into something of pure anguish; mouth ajar, throat contorted, only a pained gurgling making it through. Alaska thought it would be inappropriate to interrupt, and instead she stood silently, watching and waiting, thinking…
It was a minute before Mr Melton regained himself; he reached up with his hand inside his coat and dabbed his eyes. When it came down, his face was blank again, and his eyes refocused as if he had just woken up. He looked down at Alaska for the first time in several minutes, and she could see concern and sadness behind his glasses, the last of his tears still hanging around his eyelids.
"I didn't want to discuss Mitchell before because it can be too painful at times," Alistair said, his voice louder but still sombre, still pained. "We receive occasional letters and the odd phone call, but asides from that we try not to think on him. That may sound cruel, but it is the only thing for a parent to do when their child disappears off into the wilderness – the only thing you can do when cities are being bombed and entire islands are being annihilated. Otherwise I would never be able to do those things you said before; I couldn't go to work, I would never be able to sleep, I would be up all night sick with worry, imagining Mitchell lying dead in the middle of some unknown field on the other side of Kanto. You have to detach yourselves from your children; you have to make yourself believe they are somewhere happy, calm and safe where they cannot possibly be hurt, and you get along with your daily life telling yourself that is the case and not letting anything tell you differently. And now I must contend with the guilt of knowing my son could have been harmed by something I was forced to create, and it is time I go and find out why that nearly happened."
Alistair turned away the second he had finished speaking, perhaps unable to look at Alaska any longer, not with the revelations of his involvement in Buzz's plans standing between them. He quickly marched away into the darkness, moving with such determination that his feet disappeared beneath a haze of dust. Alaska was left alone with Gallade, and she was interested to see the Psychic Fighter had paused, his wide, intense eyes following after her old neighbour; was it trying to read his mind, to make sense of the discussion between the humans in front of him? Alaska had wondered at times throughout her journey what her Pokemon made of all of this; did Paige, Frances and Nadia understand the mystery and danger their trainer was embroiled in, or were they simply her soldiers, fighting her war for her?
At that thought, Gallade turned and looked intensely at her. She was taken aback by the glare, and she stood frozen as Gallade looked at her up and down, his glowing body entirely focussed on her. Then, as quickly as it had begun, the Blade Pokemon turned and walked away. Alaska waited for a few seconds, wondering what that had been, and realised suddenly her heart was beating rapidly. She paused, waiting for it to calm down, and then followed after a few seconds later. Everyone else seemed much further ahead now, but Alaska walked slowly, putting aside Gallade and thinking about Mr Melton, suddenly feeling as if she was carrying a large burden with her.
Was this the same thought process her parents were going through? Were William and Robin Acevedo sitting at home right now, watching television or preparing a meal, telling themselves Alaska was fine, telling themselves that she could not possibly be involved with any of the chaos that was currently plaguing Kanto? Alaska wondered when she had last spoken to her parents or tried to make contact – in Celadon, hadn't she called from the Pokemon Center? It had only been a short time ago, but in the whirlwind nightmare she was trapped in everything was a blur. Had Alaska ever talked to her parents about the things she had seen, the people she had met, the horrors she had faced? Did they know she had nearly been killed by a number of robots, or that she blown up a generator purely to make a point? Had she even told them about her badges – that was why she had left home, after all; to prove that she and Paige could conquer the league alone. Here she was, four steps into that master plan; was that what her parents thought, that she was merely training and battling, fighting for glory instead of fighting for her life?
The real question was though; how would they feel if they knew the truth? Did they deserve the right to know what she had been through? They would surely demand it of her if they had suspicions, but how would they react, how would they cope? Alaska thought of Mr Melton's reaction a few minutes ago, she thought of Sandy's father, alone in their house with no idea where his daughter was; did he even care, was he looking at the news and worrying for his missing daughter?
There was a grunt, and Alaska stopped, startled; her feet had carried her towards the others without her realising, and she now found Looker, Sandy and Mr Melton standing before her, a solid wall bringing them all to a halt. She felt her face may give away her troubled thoughts, and quickly settled it into an expression of impatience and tiredness that she felt they may expect. She looked between her fellows; Sandy looked weary and nervous, clutching Eevee tightly to her chest; Looker's face was serious but gave away his tiredness, perhaps his lack of desire to be here and his unwillingness to carry on; Alistair almost looked expressionless, but he could not hide the fear that shone through in his eyes, his mind clearly still dwelling on the possible fate of his son.
"Now that we are all here," Looker said coldly, his eyes flickering between Alaska and Alistair before turning back to the wall, "I believe this is designed to part only when it senses a lift coming," he explained in hushed tones, examining what appeared to be solid stone. "However, I believe Gallade should be able to open this."
"Gal," Gallade said shortly, and he silently stepped between them, casting the quartet directly in light before raising his arms against the door; suddenly, the light disappeared, and Alaska felt as though she had been swallowed, darkness instantly surrounding her. The tunnels bulbs did little, and Alaska suddenly felt alone, lost, trapped, the fact she was inside a confined space heading to confront potential murders dawning on her for perhaps the first time. She raised her arms, feeling around in the darkness, and felt immense relief as her left hand grabbed onto another person, and they held her hand in response; she was not sure if it was Sandy or Alistair, but it was reassuring to know she was not alone.
"The second the door opens, we need to make a break for it," Looker whispered. "I cannot promise what is waiting for us there, but the way I left things in the lab, hopefully they will not suspect we are coming. Gallade and I will attack, you three stay behind and we will find your bags before doing anything else. Are we all clear?"
"Yes," the other three replied, though Alaska noted she was not the only one who sounded unenthusiastic, who sounded concerned about what was about to happen.
"Gallade, are you ready?" Looker said from somewhere in front, and Gallade must have nodded as there was no response from him, merely the loud groaning of metal pistons and gears being twisted against their will. "Alright, let's do this… on the count of three… one… two… THREE!"
The door slid open with a thud, and light poured inside the tunnel; Looker leapt out first, a handgun raised, and Alaska followed, dragging Sandy with her, their hands still entwined. Then went Mr Melton, and finally Gallade stepped out with his arms raised like a shield. Alaska's head was still spinning from her conversation, making it hard to take in any details of the room they'd stepped into; the ceiling was high, a large amount of empty space above them, while the walls and floors were still stone. For a moment, Alaska thought it was empty, only able to hear her own, constant thoughts…
Then there was a groaning, the sound of something heavy being lifted; their eyes all turned towards the wall to their right, which was suddenly and slowly rising upwards. Looker cried out and turned, but the door behind them had already shut. Men burst out from hidden doors, heavy black machine guns clasped in their hands; the group froze, hands raised, but Alaska's attention remained was on the rising wall, which was now halfway open, and what stood behind.
Shock silenced her. Alaska stared straight through the gathering gunmen, her attention fixated on what awaited them on the other side of the wall. The only thing she registered was Sandy's grip on her hand intensifying, and Alaska could feel that her friend was as terrified by the sight as she was.
Laughter, great booming laughter echoed inside the stone square. A voice in the back of her head told Alaska it was Buzz, but she did not know until he began to speak, yet even his words could not pull her attention away.
"To think after all the trouble I went to you almost got away again!" He hissed from afar. "But you are not getting away this time; I have caught you, and I am finally going to see you dead! However, I thought you deserved one last little treat before you suffer the worst pain you will ever feel. This will be the last image you ever see; it is time you saw what you are really up against, Miss Acevedo, so you can die knowing you will not have to suffer the horror I am about to unleash on Kanto."
And a horror it was. Alaska felt like surrendering there and then; there was no way of beating him now. She had scarcely escaped the Beedrill, the Golem had been too close a call, and the Electrode had nearly claimed her life, and none of them she had managed to defeat herself. But standing on the other side of the wall, rows and rows of robots were waiting, possibly hundreds of glistening, metallic monstrosities, insults to nearly every species of Pokemon, but unstoppable, murderous machines, an entire army under Buzz's command.
An army Alaska knew she could not beat; this truly was defeat.
The end may jar with Alaska and Alistair's chat, but I felt it would have been a poor way to start the next chapter to have a big reveal right at the start, so it had to close this way. Hope you enjoyed it though and the next chapter will be BIG!
