Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Touch my characters, however, and I'll keelhaul ye!
About the break room: This was due to the way the building was first planned and designed, and what it was used for before a group of scientists with "special interests" moved in. She wasn't supposed to make use of the room, but... Mr. Handler is a little lacking in the firmness department. Perhaps it may become clearer in later chapters...
Some needed supplies are stored in the break room, as well.
Pika: I think he was trying to avoid confronting the fact that what the "company" was doing was immoral and just plain out wrong. If he didn't see her as more than an experiment, no different than a lab rat or something like that, it would be easier to carry on working in that place.
Alright, I know I haven't updated in a while, and I know that this is probably not the most interesting chapter ever (of course, feel free to disagree with me on that last point!)...
But, cut me some slack, the latest chapter is out. There's a lot of stuff going on in life for me right now, one could say I'm at a crossroads that could determine too much in my future to take it lightly. So yeah. No flaming or complaining, but I still accept constructive criticism :3
Plus... -whispers- I think I may have found some more direction for the story, at least in what pertains to the chapters after the few that come after this one! If that makes sense, you'll know that I'll write when I can. If I don't update in two months, know that I have a lot going on.
But please keep in mind, this chapter is kinda rough. It is mostly to let you know that I'm still alive, and also to get an idea of what the readers think. Don't flame me for that in your review. If you see a different way I could organize it, please let me know either thru a polite review or a private message. Yes, I do accept those.
Mwahahaha, my A/N is almost as random and unorganized as my story and life are. :3 I had fun writing this up!
This is my favorite part of the chapters (not!), where I get to ask you readers to review. Please and thank you! ;)
Why did we have to leave so suddenly? Couldn't we just have waited a couple of minutes, or even half an hour? The couch was much more comfortable than my miserable metal bed...
I trudged after my handler, unable to suppress multiple yawns. I almost tripped several times, my paws too heavy to lift completely. Fortunately, this time we went down the stairs, instead of up. Otherwise I might have just fallen asleep right there and then.
As soon as we got to my cell, I collapsed on top of my bed, still overcome by my urge to nap. I managed to get myself in the most comfortable position I could, disappointed because it was nowhere as nice as the couch back in the waiting room.
"Alright, I'm out. You wake me up one more time and I swear I'll have to seriously hurt you." With that, I fell asleep once more.
-.-.-
Soon after she'd fallen asleep the second time, the steel door opened and Doctor Valinsky stepped in, wearing a white lab coat. She was an amazingly accomplished doctor for someone still so young, being the driving force behind the project and the one to unlock the genetic code to her alterations.
She was known to sometimes favor a thing over others, and once she took a fancy to something, it was extremely difficult to make her lose interest. There was something different this time, though. It was like she felt a bond with her newest toy, the Arcanine morph. She had sworn to herself that she would undertake to make Seven's stay more pleasurable, while managing to keep her in the facility.
"What was her time?" she now asked, glancing from the sleeping morph to her handler. Whoever had picked her had had a good eye.
"Thirteen minutes and forty-seven seconds, and a couple of stumbles. She managed to avoid the hammer and the darts, though only by fractions of a second."
She approached the sleeping form carefully, remembering their former encounter and her anger. She'd turn that around, though. She caressed the creamy fur on her hands, marveling at its soft feel. She frowned when she found her hair was tangled and dirty, and decided she would get her new clothes. Black ones, to go along with her stripes and her belly fur.
"Have her train well, you know how that Scyther fights. I wouldn't want such a fine specimen to go to waste at the hands of that brute. Oh, before I forget, was there anything remarkable during the trial? Did she use any special moves?" She couldn't help feeling somewhat anxious. Unless Seven finally learned her moves, she was going to have a hard time during her assessment.
"Well, I'm not sure, nothing really worth mentioning, I believe." The handler looked a little nervous, knowing what was at stake.
"Very well. See if you can get her to use an attack, especially because of the assessment. Also, her diet needs to be nourishing. More protein, and plenty of it. That is all for now." She turned to leave, her mind taken up in wild fantasies and hopes. Soon, Seven would be the company's pride and top morph. Seven would be the most important item on the agenda for the summit. They'd make a fortune, and she would become the company's image. Yes, it would all fall nicely into place.
-.-.-
The professor sat down in her office. She took out a wad of papers that were constantly kept under lock. She skimmed through them, memories springing back from years past.
They contained the secrets to the experiments, their discoveries and the methods used. They tracked the project's progress, through every failure and every success, every misfortune and every new idea. In short, everything.
She searched through the pile for a particular one. Experiments One and Two. Outcome: Failure. She grimaced at the memory of the dead morphs. They hadn't lasted long at all. Their DNA had become extremely unstable, leading to a premature death.
Experiment Three. Outcome: Success. They had moved away from mutating the Pokemon into using a human as a base. This enhanced the morph's reasoning abilities and made the experiments considerably less messy. Three was doing well to date.
Experiment Four. Outcome: Failure. Some naive lab assistant had messed up the formula, resulting in an unstable DNA code and subsequent death. They had hired Smith after that. He now managed anything that had to do with formula and catalyzing enzymes.
Experiment Five. Outcome: Success. Unfortunately for her, that Scyther morph still lived. She had a faint suspicion that it had cracked a long time ago. It sure behaved like it. She sighed. It was too much trouble for what it was worth.
Experiment Six. Outcome: Success. This morph had behaved perfectly, until one day when it suddenly entered a phase of rebellion. It wouldn't cooperate, so it had been moved to the basement, where it was locked up by itself in a specially-made cell.
And finally, Seven. A complete success, minus the special moves. They might be able to negotiate around that, but she was the best by far. She was the one who could sell the project to investors and customers. And she was hers.
-.-.-
I awoke, refreshed after the nap. I turned away from my bed to find my next meal had come. Boy, those day naps were taking up a lot of my time now. How long had I slept for? Well, it wasn't like I even had any appointments or things to do anyways. It was a healthy way to pass the time.
My nose perked up at the smell wafting over from the plate. There was a piece of steak, looking juicy and delicious, and some more cheese cubes. My mouth started watering, and I couldn't help tearing into the meat like I was starving.
This was a step up from what I had been given before. Why were they suddenly treating me like this? I shrugged and ate the cheese cubes, playing with them a bit before sticking them in my mouth.
After my meal, I decided to try to fix my appearance a little bit. It was a little hard with no brush and no hair products, but I finally managed to untangle my hair a bit. I tore a scrap out of my clothes and used it to hold my hair back. There, I can finally see...
I was bored after a while. Boy, there just really isn't much to do around here other than trials, eating, and sleeping! I yawned and tried to shake off the lately ever-persent drowsiness that hung around me when I suddenly caught a whiff of a disctinctive odor.
Perfume. And not just any perfume. I'd already smelled it before, but I couldn't quite place where. It smelled of... tangerine.
I sat down against the wall and racked my memory for the source of the scent. It was there, just out of reach of my consciousness. I sighed, finally giving up. I hadn't gotten the hang of this whole scent thing. Come to think of it, I had no idea what I could really do. My mind drifted back to a couple of days before, when the professor had told me of my supposed ability. How could I tap into my potential?
With a new sense of purpose and a new goal, I settled down thinking that, for the next couple of hours, I would see just what I could do and use it to my advantage. What I didn't see coming was the sudden urge to sleep, the one that completely overwhelmed my body's ability to stay awake.
A/N: Okay, so it's not a great chapter. Fine, it's not even an interesting chapter... But I had to revise it and insert some important information in there. This is one of the few chapters subject to revision and editing. If it does happen, I'll let you know in the chapter I post up! :3
So... errr... R&R please, otherwise my willpower to write this story might just abandon me...