[CHAPTER 101]

"...I see a lot of particles out there, but a lot of that stuff is still drifting away from us…"

James Lovell

H.O.R.I.Z.O.N

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One week is a long time when you're living on the divide between two realities. Each morning was the same routine for Richard. He got up at six, ate a rather bland breakfast (involving moist Weetabix), and caught the bus into Saint Helier along with Harry. The older man had made a habit of staring at his softscreen for most the journey rather than making conversation. After hopping off the blue doubledecker, it was a short walk via Mooc Cafe to the GOKIA offices.

Mark was always the first to greet Richard upon descending the elevator to the basement. Yana's office smelled stale like it had done since last Thursday, and had the oppressive silence of a city library. After a brief cup of tea whilst being soundly ignored by the small group of programmers, Richard couldn't wait to get back inside HORIZON.

When Yana finally waved him through into the back room with her VR headset still strapped across her face, Richard was glad nobody paid attention to him skipping across the room. Even squeezing back into the haptic feedback suit wasn't so bad. Mark had taken the liberty to inform him that the tight material helped to stimulate the correct touch response. At this point Richard didn't really care.

Yana came nearly half an hour later to help set up 'Booples'. The system was in fact an offshoot of a supercomputer, one of three which GOKIA had tucked away in the basement. Yana worked with the machines along with a small team of technicians. All of them appeared to be mildly compulsive over keeping the whole floor at a constant temperature of ten degrees - but none quite as intensely as Yana. The Czech lady danced between a number of screens that kept the various components of Booples talking to each other.

Richard waited for a pause in Yana's otherwise incessant humming to voice the same question he always asked.

'Uh Yana. Why don't you just send me in as a human?'

She just shrugged. 'Why not be a Pokémon? Kinda cute right?'

Richard was left hanging both figuratively...not to mention literally within the mass of cables and imaging equipment. The latter worked as motion capture. Apparently being wrapped in skin tight detectors wasn't enough, so the cameras recorded any other body movements the haptic feedback suit failed to recognise. It was only Mark who gave Richard a straight answer. The young Asian helped hook the former welder above the Infinadeck setup with surprising strength. A pulley system moved Richards centre of mass into something the man realised was much more suited to a quadruped.

'Harry said something about getting used to four legs. He's organizing a remote hook up to some robotics which he wants you to try. I guess they're similar…? Who knows.'

'He hasn't told you?' Richard queried, adjusting the VR goggles across his forehead. He'd specifically got a haircut the day before to make the whole operation easier. Working your fingers under five millimeters of electronics and rubber was enough without the weight of a mop of brown hair sticking to the headset.

'Well. We're working on this immersion setup and brainwave recognition.' Mark explained, 'GOKIA is a big company...I think the dutch are on remote operations? Our team is more to do with VR itself rather than the applications. Harry is the main go-between.'

The young Asian man grunted as he clipped the carabiners into place. It left Richard suspended lightly over the three-hundred-and-sixty degree treadmill with almost no weight on the plastic belts under his bare feet. The wire also took the weight of the Neuralink transformer box (which would normally hang like a backpack) leaving the man feeling practically weightless. A bubble of excitement rose in his chest at the prospect of returning back inside the virtual world. Given the awkwardness of the computer nerds, he couldn't wait to return to the relative sanity of the simulated environment.

'Right. We are go for launch!' Yana called from her position on the master laptop. 'Four hours then break. Correct?'

'Yep.' was all Richard could respond. He felt as much as heard Booples firing up. The cooling fans whirled like small turbines. Even the treadmill jerked a little as the automatic rollers switched on. The last thing to wake was the headset. Richard pulled the goggles down over his eyes along with the built their respective built-in earphones. Shutting out one world whilst opening the door to yet another. Before Richard's vision floated the SONY logo as well as the words "Dreamcatcher 2.0 ALPHA". Only then did everything fade to black.

The sudden mental lurch as the immersion process began was always a surprise.

Richard blinked a few times as he rode the wave of hypnagogia into HORIZON. For a moment he could feel the weight off the VR goggles pressing against his face until, like the rest of his body, the sensation faded. The experience of immersion was like having a lead blanket drawn up from your feet to your neck. All that Richard had left to focus on was his shallow breathing. For a few long moments, it was as if his mind floated in the abyss inside a multicoloured kaleidoscope - shooting flashes of rainbows and exploding supernova like fireworks. And of course, there was the drop. It was always a shock when reality lurched, turned inside-out, and flung Richard back into his body.

Well...whether it was truly his body was open for debate. Richard liked to think of the alternate simulated version of himself as somehow being real. However, part of his brain reminded him he was inhabiting the a purely fictional body of a Pokémon.

Given the events of the past fortnight, becoming a Pokémon was practically normal. Last month Richard was a smalltown welder from Carmathan living from paycheck to paycheck. And now? Now he was some strange test subject for a crazy scheme sinking people into the virtual world...and just because it was his brother stuck inside? There was something slightly off about the whole situation. Yet Richrard rarely got time to consider it. He flown out to a completely new city, working with people he would most likely have bullied in high school, been flung between two different bodies, and now wound up as Pokémon? It all felt like some crazy dream.

Richard settled into the simulation with practiced ease. It was difficult to twist his brain into considering that he no longer had hands...not to mention a tail sticking out from his butt! The first day Richard had spent inside Horizon was mostly falling over and getting used to the cacophony of new senses.

The Liepard blinked a few times to adjust to sudden bright lights. The combination of the headset, treadmill, and surround-sound earphones 'up top' made the experience almost complete. All the Neuralink needed to do was trick his brain into filling the gaps. Add on the haptic-feedback suit relaying the smallest touch and tickle of a breeze running through his purple fur and it was unbelievable just how real everything felt. If the Liepard didn't think about the fact that he was actually a human suspended from the ceiling, dressed in a makeshift wetsuit inside a nuclear bunker - it was almost like he'd been a Pokémon all his life!

Pushing off the fatigue that came with immersion, the Liepard yawned and looked around his new environment. His body was curled up into a loose ball. It was clear that the Pokémon had just woken from a nap.

It looked like he was in a mix between a youth hostel and a hotel room. The place was clean yet had the distinct aroma of past occupants. But it was the red and white color scheme and Pokéball polka dot pattern wallpaper gave the game away. The branding was recognisable anywhere. They must have stopped by a Pokécenter.

The feline yawned widely, pushing himself up onto his feet. For a moment he studied the yellow fur of his toes, preening the unruly mess of hair on his chest. It had a habit of sticking up in all directions but the one he wanted. Turning to look down his sleek shoulders, the Liepard couldn't help but purr in delight seeing his tail wave back and forth behind him. Yellow rosettes dotted his brilliant royal-purple, almost mauve fur.

Shaking himself off, the metal tag on the Pokémon's collar jingled. He didn't need to read it to know what it said.

'Hey Bagheera!'

James bent down to scratch behind the feline's ears before tickling at his cheeks. The uploader had befriended the dark-type almost immediately, surprised with the Pokémon's rapid recovery from the car accident. Although completely unaware that the Liepard wasn't a mechanic of the virtual gaming environment at all, it was unlikely James would ever work out the truth. Richard wasn't sure if it was part of the Neurlink messing with his brain, or his natural affinity towards being a feline made his behaviour so natural.

One thing stopping any accidental realisations was the obvious language barrier. 'Liepard!' was all the Pokémon could respond with, his eyes brightening upon seeing the warm smile across James' face.

'Awwww' was all his brother could say in response as he patted Bagheera's head lightly, 'Did someone have a nice nap?'

Bagheera would never get used to the warm feeling of comfort he got upon seeing his brother smile. It was a look he hadn't seen in years. Not because James's was overly serious (in truth he loved to laugh) but because of the incident that had happened over four years earlier. If being ostracised from his family wasn't enough, he had to upset his brother too.

The Liepard pushed his head up into Jame's palm, as if to make the petting even more enjoyable. Bagheera didn't want to focus on his dark and broken past, but the warm hopeful future he had here. Deep down he knew that somehow he'd been given a second chance to make up for lost time...and he'd been damned if he didn't make the most of it.

Bagheera sniffed around the Pokéhostel room that his new trainer had booked. He remembered something about overnight accommodation on their way to pallet town, but perhaps that plan had changed? James had been on the way to collect his starter Pokémon. Had he changed his mind? Then again, instead of a measly Bulbasaur or a fiery Charmander James now had a fully-evolved Liepard! Maybe Bagheera would be the first member of his team? It caused a warm fuzzy feeling for the Liepard just thinking about it.

Although a little shy at first, James was surprised at just how affectionate the large feline had become. For a dark type known in the Pokédex as a 'cruel' Pokémon, this little Liepard seemed the very opposite of it's namesake.

After wandering the margins of the room, Bagheera returned for more pets from his trainer. James was reading a newspaper on the bed, spreading out the grey pages with one hand. His attempts to scan the headlines were thwarted when Bagheera jumped up to join him, padding across the crinkled paper. The Liepard had overcome any prior embarrassment about his situation and now enjoyed bothering his trainer for attention. It had the same feeling of pestering his younger brother back when they were kids. James laughed openly as the whiskers on Bagheera's pink-masked face tickled his chin.

'Should we go and annoy Rikola instead?' James suggested, 'I think she wanted to explore Viridian city. Beats being hauled up here all morning.'

'Leeeiie!' Bagheera meowed in response, pulling his ears forward as he nodded lightly. 'Lieparrrd.'

'Great! And maybe we could check out the gym too! We might be able to get some tips before heading over to Pewter City! I think it's time we started training you up…' James trailed off, 'You'd like that Bagheera? Training?'

The Liepard nodded in response, feeling excitement run down his spine. He'd been cooped up recovering for days and wanted to throw himself into his new life. Besides, Pokémon battles looked like an amazing mix of skill and strength. He couldn't wait to give it a try! Just thinking about it made his tail twitch.

James chuckled upon seeing the fervent excitement in the feline.

'Great! I'll grab my stuff.'

It wasn't long and they headed downstairs into the ground floor of the Pokécentre. Walking by James side, Bagheera barely reached past the trainers knees as he weaved in between the other foot traffic in the busy centre. Although the Game Freak environment within HORIZON was usually a busy place, Pokecentres were a major stop-off point for trainers.

Unlike players, which had the ability to pull-up everyone's complete statroll, Bagheera was limited to names and roles. It was impossible to tell who were NPCs and who were players hooked-up via headsets to the gaming platform. It wasn't like they acted any differently. In fact, players often behaved more robotically - freezing randomly if their connection became laggy.

Rikola was waiting by the door. She was dressed in her usual attire of a brown leather jacket and was so focused on her softscreen that she didn't see the trainer and his large feline approach. Bagheera took this as an opportunity to scare the girl, jumping up her leg with his tail lashing victoriously.

Rikola however, didn't even flinch.

'Hey there Baggy? Or was it Ra? Heera? He?' The latter was said to poke fun at James rather than myself. The young adult chuckled, sticking her screen back in her pocket. 'Since when do we give Pokémon weird archaic names?' It was almost like Rikola was ignoring me completely.

James crossed his arms over the top of his plain black hoodie, 'It's not archaic...it's…'

'I'm teasing you.' Rikola waved off the stuttering teenager, 'You fancy a gander?'

There was a slight tang to her words that made the teenager's accent hard to place. Rikola always had a dry sense of humour and a habit of emphasizing the consonants in words. To Bagheera, it sounded like the americanised english was in fact her second language.

'You mind if I join?'

Bagheera's ears pricked up at the unexpected speaker. His head snapped to the side, his eyes narrowing as he spotted Baba squeezing through the crowd. The artificial intelligence was dressed like in her signature a maroon cardigan. It barely stood out amongst the myriad of colours and clothing styles worn by many virtual players. A thin smile graced Baba's ageless face and small freckles dotter her cheeks. It gave her a rather mothering look.

'Oh! Hi Baba.' James greeted the AI, 'How's it going?'

'Same old,' The angelic woman shrugged her narrow shoulders, 'Connectivity issues with the Spyro environment was actually due to feedback from the Activision guys trying to update three systems at once. Took me ages to track that down.'

'Wait.' Rikola butted in, 'You actually...you know, do stuff? I thought…'

'You think a complex platform like Horizon can run over three thousand separate open-world gaming environments without maintenance?' James cut through sharply, taking the role as backup for the AI. As if to support his point, I fluffed up my fur and hissed for good measure.

'Yeah. What the Kid said.' Baba genuinely sighed, 'Boy has it been a long few hours. You mind if I tag along with you guys?'

'Go for it.' Rikola and James spoke the worlds concurrently, leaving James in a bout of giggles. HIs blue-haired friend gave him a light punch on the arm.

'That was just creepy.' Baba confirmed, 'Anyhow. Where to first?'

Although Bagheera heard the question, it was as if the environment had fractured slightly. Baba appeared in two places at once. The AI left a ghost of herself behind, rolling her shoulders with a sigh before turning to the Liepard. Like looking through a smokescreen, Bagheera didn't feel like he was in the same environment he was in a second ago. Somehow the AI was twisting the simulated world to have a private conversation with the Pokémon. Meanwhile his double vision also saw Baba discussion something with James and Rikola.

The feline shook his head, hoping it wasn't an issue with the immersion technology.

'How's it going Richard?' The AI asked in complete juxtaposition to what was going on elsewhere. 'I see you've settled in to this form?'

Bagheera tried to make sense of the situation and failed. 'Uh. Yeah.' was all he could stutter.

The Liepard had to remind himself that he actually speak to the artificial intelligence. To his ears, all he seemed to be making the same noises that a Liepard would make, intertwined with small purs. However, overlaid over top of this was recognisable English. The dual meaning made his pointed purple ears itch.

'So you like being in HORIZON? And being a Pokémon?'

Bagheera nodded once more, trotted alongside the tall woman. It was a while before he plucked up the courage to ask something which had been bothering him all week. Admittedly, it was in an embarrassingly small voice.

'Baba? Why am I a Pokémon?'

'Ahh...' The AI slowed slightly, 'I was partly my idea. How should I phrase this…?'

She looked forward towards Rikola and James. The two trainers were talking to their own semi-transparent version of Baba who appeared to be laughing merrily. Neither realised that the Liepard and the real Baba had fallen behind. Then again, in a simulation who could argue that both weren't real?

The AI took a couple of minutes to come up with a response.

'It wouldn't have been the right thing for James.' She said delicately. 'I guess you heard that it took three years for the uploading to happen?'

'Uh...Yes.' I spluttered, not used to responding to genuine conversation,

'The uploading was in fact instantaneous. It took that long for his mind to accept the simulation. I didn't take into account the trauma you go through...uh...dying. Not to mention his home life! I had to fix some of his memories and wow Kiddo, don't you have some making up to do! You practically ruined his chances in life!'

If a Liepard could have blushed, Bagheera would have gone bright red. He did feel heat around the pink fur of his cheeks though, his tail drooping automatically. The unexpected reminder pained Bagheera in the gut. This time, he knew it wasn't a response from the haptic feedback suit.

'I know. I...I wasn't the best brother.'

'Yeah no shit.' Baba laughed openly, making light of the situation. Given the regret Bagheera had plastering the inside of his stomach, her light giggling actually cut more deeply than he cared to admit.

'So two reason why you're a Pokémon.' Baba held a delicate hand up and counted off a finger. 'First, you're here to make it up to James. Even after uploading, he's barely had time to do stuff he enjoys. The kid's trying to live the dream of becoming the world's best trainer...and you can make that happen for him.'

Bagheera's ears perked up at the request. That wasn't so hard was it? It sure was easier than helping James be a geographer, geologist, or whatever he used to be into. Even if Pokémon was a little nerdy, it was a million times better than looking at (and sometimes licking) rocks. Not to mention, Bagheera actually got to do the fun bit. He'd be the one actually fighting in the badass fictional battles.

'And two…' Baba paused as if contemplating whether to announce her second reason. 'I needed some extra eyes on the ground. HORIZON is getting a lot of bad press. All it takes in a couple of accidents in the wrong places to lose credibility. You're the only non-human player at the moment. That has some benefits.'

'I..think I can do that.' Bagheera replied, not fully contemplating the nature of Baba's request. The implied danger lingering under her words went straight over top of the large feline's furry head.

'Thanks. But seriously Kiddo, doing this for you brother would make him a hundred times happier than being here as a human. He hasn't really forgiven you for what you did.'

'Neither have I.' Bagheera mumbled under my breath. However, Baba must have cut off the personal conversation. Once again, all the feline heard was a cat-like wimper. Having fallen behind his trainer, the Liepard fell into a graceful jog to catch up.

The four of them made the most of wandering through Viridian city. It was a green place with lots of parks and pretty flower beds dotted shop corners. There was even bunting on the road towards the main high street. Bagheera marveled at a number of stalls set up down the central boulevard. Many were selling rare items at extortionate prices, with both players or NPCs bustling to get a look. At the far end of the market, a bald man was waving his hands at a vandalised cart. A sign offering tutorials on how to catch Pokémon had graffiti sprayed across it with the bleak word Missingno.

Baba made eye contact and nodded in the man's direction. Already police had come to the scene. Maybe this was what she meant by accidents.

'You ok down there buddy?' James asked the Liepard upon noticing him slow, 'Not getting tired are we?'

'James. It's a Pokémon. They don't get tired.' Rikola explained in a way that felt a little patronising. Bagheera had shook his head anyways, though James hadn't seen the small motion.

'Well he looks tired!' The teenager was firm, 'Although you might be small for your species, you're still too big to carry. We could have a break?'

James spoke directly to Bagheera, involving him in the conversation. The leopard-like Pokémon blinked slowly, waving his tail in response. He wasn't actually very tired at all, just a little sad now he'd been reminded of his true past. HORIZON had been a place to escape from himself, but he'd realised that this reality was another side to the same coin. Cause and effect didn't break down in the simulated world.

'How about a Pokéball?' Baba suggested warmly, 'Although he's registered, you haven't technically caught him yet. It'll make healing easier.'

'He wasn't very happy when I tried last time.'

'Well maybe this time will be different.' Baba replied, emphasising the words while giving Bagheera a cheeky grin.

'Liepard!' The Pokémon quickly agreed, reminded of the AI's true intentions.

'Wow. Ok then.' James shrugged his backpack across his shoulders, 'I guess first stop is the Pokemart then.'

'And then the training field. Braixen will enjoy a new challenge.' Rikola added quickly, grinning wolfishly under her mop of blue hair.

'You're on! Bagheera will beat you any day!'

Rikola sniggered, 'A level fourteen Liepard against a level twenty-five fire type? You're gotta be kidding.'

By the way that James stuck his chin out, Rikola quickly realised he wasn't. There was bright and fierce intelligence shining behind the teenager's eyes. He'd spent the past two days looking at movesets and training techniques, challenger profiles and game strategy. This was his time to shine. Bagheera took the moment to rub up against his trainer's leg affectionately.

'We'll show em right?' James asked his first Pokémon.

'Liee!' Bagheera nodded fiercely. 'Lieepaaard!'

There was no running away from this battle.

END

One of my main aims in EorRRor is the focus on juxtaposition, with the contrast between Richard and "Bagheera" being the most obvious example. This time the name "Baheera" was nicked from Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" (1894) in hopes of mimicking Kipling's ability to express human archetypes as animalistic forms, in a similar way to Yann Martel's Life of Pi. The only other piece of random trivia this time is the reference to first generation Missingno glitch.

Also, this fiction somehow become most popular story apparently overnight. It's already over one thousand views! So a huge thankyou to everyone! I hope you like the madness to come. As before, updates will appear on Sunday mornings (GMT) either weekly or fortnightly. Enjoy!