Chapter 1: Commencement of Phase Two
Q: What happened to my old body?
A: In short, you're still in it. After the retroviral gene therapy had progressed far enough to make your body susceptible to plasmification and encapsulation, every plasma-encoded physical attribute of your human form was overwritten with the characteristics of your new Pokémon self. A side effect of this is that any physical afflictions or disabilities you once had are no longer present. Congratulations!
Your Guide to the Harmony Project, Chapter 1: Quick Questions and Answers
"De-deet, de-deet, de-deet, de-deet…"
Again my phone went off. Again I fumbled for the snooze. Again I mashed a thumb into the screen and blanked out.
"De-deet, de-deet, de-deet, de-deet…"
I fumbled around again, swatting at the bed, but the phone wasn't there. It was hovering above me like a housefly, beeping maddeningly. I rolled over and swatted at the air and heard a woosh as someone hopped backwards. I moaned and opened my eyes to blinding lights, shielding myself from them instantly.
"Time to get up, Seb! You know what day it is."
"W-wha?" I mumbled, my mind as thick as cold pea soup. It was Saturday, right? What was going on?
"You're behind schedule," My stepmom went on, her voice growing stern. "Get up and get yourself into the shower, so you can get your breakfast and we can start preparing."
The only response I could manage was a grunt. "U-uhhhh?" It wasn't that day again, was it? It was never supposed to be on Saturday.
Finally, my stepmom clicked off the alarm and cleared her throat. "Sebastian, get yourself into the shower right now, or I'm going to drag you there and wash you myself. I won't ask you again."
I managed a wince, fumbling the covers aside and scrambling for the bathroom, while she smiled faintly. "Good. No more than twenty minutes, or I'm coming in after you to peel you off the floor. Be thankful the lights came back on last night or you'd already be in an ambulance."
Right, the power outage. Why did that make things so urgent? Something was nagging at me, something about –
I closed the door and turned on the lights and my reflection in the mirror resembled a corpse. Well, even more of one than usual. I fought back a curse and turned on the shower tap. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Four days. Four days since I'd last been hooked up to the machines. The power went out on Thursday morning, we spent all day trying to start the old generator so we could run the equipment, we planned to hook me up first thing Friday morning but the generator was completely dead that time around. I could barely even remember that day because my blood was already starting to turn into a sewer by then, and that was a day ago.
I washed, toweled, vomited, dressed, and headed for the dining table. My rest of my adoptive family – my little stepsister Philomena and my stepdad - were already seated as I collapsed into my chair, wincing. Every movement hurt, my body felt like it was made of lead, and my backside hitting the cushion shot up enough pain through my spine to make my ears ring.
Philomena started to raise a little squeal of greeting, but she stopped when she saw my face. She even looked a little bit guilty, for once, as she began to tuck silently into her stack of pancakes. She didn't make a show of it this time around, like she usually would – chewing loudly, talking about how hungry she was and how delicious her food was and how much she was going to eat, just to remind me that she wasn't missing any organs.
For my part, the tastiest food on my plate was the half-slice of toast. I kept it for last while I started on the custard-cup of applesauce, with half of my pills helpfully crushed and blended in already. My stepdad looked up from his smartwatch. "Thought you'd never get out of bed, Sebastian."
I gave him a look. "Thought you'd never get home, father." I tried a sly little wink, but my eyelid refused to open for half a moment.
The corner of Dad's mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smile. "Good to see you for… well, for the last time, from the looks of things, before we put you in the ground." His vision wavered and he looked to the side. "You know, we really should have replaced that generator once it got past warranty, but… well, household matters were never my area of expertise, and with my work always calling on me—"
"Saving the world from the Pokéball menace?" I joked, but it wasn't too far from the truth, with what they'd been saying about my stepdad on the news. Lobbying was indeed one of Dad's many talents, even though the thick glasses and labcoat he always wore for TV appearances suggested otherwise.
"Well, you know," Dad started, checking his watch. "Somebody's got to do something about those terrible things, and since I've had so much success already…"
Finally, Mom joined us. Or maybe she already had and my vision was just too degraded to notice. "I mean, Adam, don't you think it's enough? They're only still legal in a handful of countries –"
Dad raised a hand quickly. "—comprising over two billion people and still-uncounted wild Pokémon, Athena dear. I can't give up on the poor creatures in those areas, just because the humans in charge there are more stubborn. Even with that, it's just a domino effect; nudge one in the right direction and the rest of the bloc will be pressured to follow suit."
The pills at least were helping, and I was through my second handful. "So… what's your plan after this, should Pokéballs be outlawed worldwide? Got more grand plans after this one, superdad?"
Dad laughed at that, glancing at his watch again before leaning back in his chair, his breakfast forgotten. He took a deep breath. "Well… let's see. Ideally, I want a world where humans and Pokémon are treated equally, and that means both enjoying equal rights everywhere on the globe. Whether I could ever accomplish that much is up for debate, and before then, we've got a lot of work to do, given that we've only been aware of these creatures' existence for seven years and that we haven't even catalogued every spe—"
"ATTENTION, CITIZENS."
Every head turned toward the living room doorway. Why was the television and every surround-speaker on full blast? For that matter, why was the home theater even turned on? Never mind that the male voice booming over the speakers was something from a military PSA a century ago.
"PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT BEGINNING IN FIVE MINUTES REGARDING THE HARMONY PROJECT. ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY."
Dad checked his watch one more time and nodded to himself, smirking. "Ah. It's starting. To the living room! Athena baby, please give Sebastian a hand."
Mom gave him a quizzical look, but didn't question his commanding demeanor as she left her chair to hoist me out of mine, one arm under each shoulder. "Y-you want me to start finding a vein and marking a site to—"
"If you wish," Dad responded quickly, and my stepmom gaped at him. "Don't worry, my dear, all will be explained in due time. Come now Philomena, your future awaits!"
He was acting strange, though this wasn't that uncommon: Dad's flair for the dramatic had served him well in public life, and he always got this way when he had one of his genius moments. Still, something was off, enough for me to mutter, "I thought the Harmony Project was called off."
Mom nodded silently too while she settled me into my chair: the comfortable, temperature-controlled one with the TV remote built into the arm. The chair I had grown to hate. Mom started to roll up my sleeve, but a hand came to rest on her upper arm, Dad looming over her. "This will just be a minute. This has been in works for a long time; it's best that you come and sit with me, sweetie."
She looked around at him, but when she saw the assuredness in his eyes she acquiesced, tugging my sleeve back down and leaving me in the chair. She followed Dad to the sofa, where Philomena was waiting, watching the countdown on the TV: A red number on a black screen, now at 00:30 and decrementing with each second. This wasn't normal for the United States government to do – or really anybody else, for that matter.
The timer reached ten seconds, then five, then zero – at which point the numbers turned white and then faded away, leaving a black screen. At the same time as the fadeout, all the lights in the house dimmed to zero, and even the windows seemed to tint, the morning sunlight filtering in only faintly. It didn't make sense, and neither did the fact that my thoughts had suddenly cleared. For the first time since August seven years ago, I actually felt sort of healthy.
"Hello," a female voice chimed, her voice as clear and crisp as a bell. A lab-coated figure faded into view on the flatscreen: a young woman with long black hair, dainty rimless glasses, and a clear, sweet face that shone bright as the sun. I recognized her from TV, from the interviews and speeches that my stepdad appeared on so often.
She bowed cutely to the camera before continuing. "Hello, and welcome, my beloved applicants. My name is Lily Mangrove; you may already know me as Professor Mangrove, Pokémon physician and biochemist. I want to begin by saying thank you, and congratulations. The first phase of the Harmony Project has already reached its completion and shall be unveiled to you within mere minutes. This is a new chapter in the history of all life, and it never would have gotten this far without your hard work and support."
I looked over at my stepmom briefly; she had a finger on her chin, confused as I was. Dad watched the screen with breath held, but Philomena was confused as the rest of us. My eyes went back to the Professor. "You must be confused right now – I definitely am too if I know myself at all," Professor Mangrove continued with a smile and a little blush that could melt any heart. "After all, I too woke up just a little while ago, and the world around me suddenly became very strange, and I was asked to sit and watch this presentation by myself that I don't remember making." She giggled at that.
I shifted in my chair, but I wasn't sore or even uncomfortable anymore. "You may have noticed that your memories of the past few months – the days that began when you received your written notice that the Harmony Project had permanently shut down – seem a little bit odd," the Professor continued, and there was no paying attention to anything but her. "That was a step we decided to take, so our esteemed applicants would not be burdened with any memories of the transmutation process. Everything you think you experienced for the past one hundred and fourteen days, well, you might already be noticing that should you try to focus on any one specific event, it will elude you as surely as the memories of a dream. During those one hundred and fourteen days past you came to the Hawai Region, where you prepared your new homes and underwent the necessary gene therapy to transmute your bodies into their new forms. The process was… a little bit arduous, even traumatic at times, and I think that if any of you knew what we all experienced together, we would all agree that it would be better to forget. So the Harmony Project's leadership, including myself, ensured that all of us would do just that."
Lily suddenly grinned playfully and pointed at the camera. "Well, perhaps not all of us, Adam." Dad blushed deeply and a hand darted to his face, and even Mom chuckled through the shock of what we had just been told. Over a hundred days of my life were made up? My memories had been overwritten? All those months of – those months of – that seventeenth birthday where I got to – I got to – no. I couldn't remember any of it. Professor Mangrove was telling the truth. What was even happening? Where was I?
"There is no use dragging this presentation out," the Professor returned to her script. "All will be revealed to you in time, and you'll experience more new things on your first day of Phase Two then I could ever hope to put into words. Besides what you will learn on your own, everything you could ever care to know about the Harmony Project – and a lot more that you probably do not care to know – can be read about at your village library. But I get ahead of myself even with that. For now, let me re-introduce you to the leaders of the Harmony Project."
The screen faded to black again, only to be replaced by a photograph of a thinly-built blond man flashing a victory sign. "Professor Quincy Beech," Mangrove's voice went on, "our lead technician, perfected the plasma-editing process for transmuting encapsulated humans into Pokémon forms, and he authored most of the computer code that determined and assigned your species. He also led the documentation of every known Pokémon's unique traits, abilities, and needs, ensuring that everyone will know everything they need to live to their new, expanded potential." Next to the photograph appeared a 3-dimensional rendering of a Pokémon that I recognized: A towering, snowy-white hybrid of dragon and bird, with wings that could be mistaken for arms with grasping hands. "In the new world, you will know Professor Beech as the Pokémon Lugia."
The screen went black, and this time, a photograph appeared of a larger, darker man with dense curly hair and a walrus mustache, in addition to a labcoat worn underneath a work apron. "Professor Cassius Cedar, our head civil and environmental engineer, became the architect of the Hawai Region after it was raised from the depths and life-seeded by our wild Pokémon friends. Cedar designed all of your villages and public works as well as every crafted object you will encounter in your daily life." Next to Professor Cedar appeared another rendering, this time of an armored quadrupedal Pokémon with a flowing, smoke-like mane and a face both hidden and framed by a two-part metal mask – part of which resembled the human Cedar's mustache. "In the new world, Professor Cedar is the Pokémon Entei. Everything you will use, by the way, is completely Pokémon-powered or otherwise simple and renewable so as to ensure you will never be bound by the needs of modern technology, and that's all thanks to Cedar."
I heard Dad suck in breath; when I looked through the dim light he was leaned forward, hands gripping his knees. Then a photograph of Dad appeared on screen, with the same cream-colored hair as always, a hand on his glasses and a smirk on his face. "Professor Adam Cypress, our top Pokémon geneticist and biologist, was instrumental in documenting every known species of Pokémon, designing and launching the Harmony Project alongside myself, and seeking out and screening all applicants including yourself." The video suddenly swam and was replaced by a test pattern and an atonal signal, while Dad abruptly leaned back and folded his arms indignantly, rolling his eyes. Mom rolled her eyes too, muttering, "I guess it's just that much of a secret."
Twenty seconds later, the signal cut in, with a photograph of Lily Mangrove. "And lastly, I shouldn't reintroduce myself; that's just not polite to you nor to the other professors. I'm so happy to have helped Professor Cypress see this project through as far as I have, and I have you to thank for it, once again." Next to her photo appeared a rendering of a tiny, pink, bottom-heavy Pokémon with huge, bright eyes and a long, bulbous tail. "In the new world, you will know me as the Pokémon Mew."
The video cut back to footage of Professor Mangrove, continuing to speak. "I should note that should everything go according to plan, you will rarely if ever see us. I and the other Professors plan to watch and observe; we intend not to interfere with your daily lives in any way except in case of urgent necessity – which I of course hope never comes to pass. This presentation is just about to end, and when that happens, the illusions you are currently sitting in will end and your new world, home, and forms will all be revealed to each and every one of you. This will also be the last time any of you experience modern human electronics, so I hope you don't miss that smartwatch, Adam," Lily giggled. Dad sighed again.
"So, a few last words of advice. Make sure you read all the books in each of your bedrooms, cover to cover. And remember, the cupboards and closets in your homes are deep and fully stocked, but even Professor Cedar couldn't make them replenish themselves, so there'll be a bit of extra work to keep you busy day to day, as you already knew when you applied. Thankfully, your new bodies should make that work easier than ever, and the libraries are brimming with information on how to accomplish any daily life task you might encounter. That does include healthcare and emergency management, but thankfully, your new bodies are quick to heal – and are also theorized to be insusceptible to all existing pathogens."
One more time, Professor Mangrove bowed to the camera, this time with her hands folded in front of her. "Just one more time: Thank you for applying to the Harmony Project. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you the very best in this new life you are about to enter."
She looked at the screen, smiled brightly, and closed her eyes. "Phase Two begins now."
With those words, the video went black and we were left in pitch darkness. It felt like more than pitch darkness, in fact; for a moment it felt like a coma. I tried to look over to my parents and my sister, I tried to move at all, but I couldn't feel anything, not even whether I was sitting or standing. I was still breathing, but that was all I knew.
A voice sounded overhead. It was clearer than it had been even through the home theater system, and it was Professor Mangrove again. Her voice this time was more formal, even wooden:
"Attention, applicant or applicants. Please listen carefully. You have been assigned to…" Her voice cut out, then in again, as if it had been recorded at different times. "New Molokai Outskirts."
In front of me, at my feet – well, what would have been if I could see them – appeared a three-dimensional topographical map sculpted out of blue light. The map was of an island, one I knew to be a vast, virgin expanse of tropical land dotted with volcanic mountains tall enough that some bore snow at the caps. The Hawai Region was shaped like a crab's claw, almost shut except for a narrow strait at the east-southeast, the landmasses ringing a deep, placid saltwater bay. My eyes – if I had eyes – were drawn to the center of the northern end of the island, where a tiny red dot flashed almost at the island's shore. The dot continued to blink for ten seconds, before the holographics faded away and I was left in pitch dark again. Professor Mangrove's voice returned, as flat as before:
"Warning. Applicants have not opted for family-level species assignment. Please pay the utmost attention as your forms are revealed." Granted, there wasn't really anything else to pay attention to. "Starting with the eldest family member, your forms will be revealed in three… two… one…"
The recording cut off. It was replaced by another, this time of my stepmom's voice. It was plain, formal, emotionless – and I recognized the words from when we were doing voice recordings into the application software for the Harmony Project.
"Athena Cypress."
Professor Mangrove's voice cut back in.
"Species: Spinarak."
A pool of warm, gray light appeared amid the darkness, with the silhouette of a diminutive figure standing atop it, barely two feet tall. It was green on green, six-legged, with red mandibles. Wait, only six legs? I counted again and made sure.
The pool of light and the figure atop it glided to one side, and another appeared on the floor. Again, a recorded voice read his name, though it lacked the flaky audio quality of my stepmom's. It hadn't been recorded on a smartphone.
"Adam Cypress."
"Species: Murkrow," Professor Mangrove's voice added.
Atop the circle appeared another silhouette, this time of an equally short bird somewhat resembling a crow, black with a tail that resembled a broom. Its crest resembled a hat, and it had a large, hooked beak that resembled the nose of a fairy-tale witch. A Murkrow seemed out of place compared to the other professors, but before I had time to dwell on that I realized my turn was coming up next. Well, I was yanked to that realization by the sound of my crackly, weak voice.
"Sebastian Savage Cypress."
"Species: Machoke."
There was definitely a marker beneath my feet now, but I couldn't see myself. I tried to look around but all around me was blackness, except that I was suddenly viewing my adoptive parents from a few feet above. Lastly came my sister's voice, cute but seemingly disinterested.
"Philomena Cypress."
"Species: Phione."
She was tiny, even shorter than her parents, but she hovered above the marker rather than standing in it, even bobbing visibly in the air. She was azure-blue, and her body was mostly a jelly-like head, with two bright eyes and a huge, adorable smile, a ponytail-like tassel trailing off the knob atop her scalp. A Phione? Why did that seem—
"All of your species have been software-assigned according to the specifications of Professor Beech, based on innumerable factors," Professor Mangrove's voice cut in again. "Again, I ask with my utmost that you read all available literature on your species, which is compiled into a book you will find in each of your private bedrooms. You will find it quite durable, and replacements available at your village library should the worst happen. Congratulations, and welcome to Phase Two of the Harmony Project. From the bottom of my heart, my beloved applicants, I wish you the best and I bid you farewell."
The recording ended, and our surroundings faded into view. We were standing in a living room, facing each other – but it was nothing like the living room we had sat in before. The floor was thick rough-cut wood plank, the ceiling was bare wood supported by wooden joists and vertical timbers, the only light was from bright sun flowing in through the curtain-framed windows, and none of our former decorations nor possessions were anywhere to be seen – even the TV where Professor Mangrove had given her presentation was gone. There was furniture to sit on, but it was equally primitive, and only some of it – including a wood-frame dining chair with cloth strips for a seat – was even built for a body such as mine.
None of this was what I had expected when I struggled out of bed an hour before. I looked to the little blue fairy-gel that Philomena had become, then to the green arachnid who used to be – well, still was – my aunt, then to my stepdad. He was a Murkrow now, a fairly common Pokémon unlike all his peers, who had been transmuted into some of the rarest and most powerful Pokémon known to ever exist.
Everyone was staring at me. Right at me, from the floor, a few feet below me. I didn't even notice as I extended an arm, pointing a blue finger at my dad. "How… how are you a—"
Then I looked down at my hand, at the thick, muscled forearm attached to it, the skin gashed lengthwise by bulging translucent stretch marks as if it had almost split open, thin windows revealing crimson, pulsing muscle underneath. I looked up at my upper arm and bicep, massive with the same lines of bulged, stretched skin as my forearms. At my nearly-bare torso free of any old, branching scars from hideous septic injuries and a desperate emergency surgery. At my hands, able to support ten healthy fingernails thanks to a metabolism that wasn't half-destroyed. A lot of people might have wanted to show off and flex when given such a ripped, chiseled body out of nowhere, but I was just happy to not be a dead kid walking anymore.
Well, maybe I was in fact getting the temptation to flex. It was getting pretty strong when Philomena's voice broke the silence.
"Mommy? Why are you a spider?"
At that, Dad winced. Aunt Athena hated, hated, hated spiders.
