Chapter 12: Resistance
John was at his school. He had been having a hard time getting through this day in particular; he was distracted every few seconds by a new, unfamiliar smell, which he would have never noticed had Monozu not been riding passenger in his mind through the day.
Typhlosion was right; you kiddies do have a funny smell… Hang on, that one there doesn't; he smells like a mixture of human and something else. Pass the kid with the glasses a note.
You're sure?
Positive.
John quietly passed a note to the somewhat short boy as he passed in the hallway. He looked a little alarmed at first, but out of the corner of his eye, John saw him gingerly open the slip of paper, and look around suspiciously before carefully placing it in his pocket. John smiled a little and continued on his way. He had essentially no friends at his school, so he was hardly noticed by anyone as he went through his school that day. By the end of the day a total of fifteen Touched had been passed notes.
Jeez, there's more than I expected.
Not really, it's been like four and a half months since this all started.
Maybe…
John continued this practice over the course of the week. Each slip contained instructions on when and where to meet, how to get there without raising suspicion, and criteria for what kinds of parallels should be safe to bring with them, including a note specifying that if they didn't feel secure bringing them, they didn't have to, so as to alleviate the teens' nerves.
Friday came and John left classes. John had to almost forcibly restrain Monozu from following him; he was too conspicuous to make it to the meeting place without being seen.
Relax, you can come along for the ride in thought, okay? Just do what you've been doing this past week.
Screw you, John.
John was the first to make it to the woods behind the elementary school, having nearly run there in excitement, and sat down against a tree. Nervous and paranoid looking people slowly appeared, some followed by bizarre animals which emerged from various bushes and trees in the area, many looking quickly around in all directions, none making a sound.
When it became clear that no more were coming, John rose to his feet. His augmented sense of smell told John that all those present were in fact Touched, and he relaxed, comfortable to speak to them.
"Alright, so it's pretty clear what we all have in common here, and it's obvious that the military has been mistreating the kids they kidnap. Since you all haven't been captured yet, you all obviously have the sense to know how to keep your parallels a secret."
The boy with the glasses from before, sitting beside a pokemon which looked made of colorful jagged shapes, like a wind-up toy of some sort, spoke up, "Our what now?"
John explained for what he hoped would be one of the last times what was actually going on. Many of the teens around John clearly couldn't believe what they were hearing, but listened anyway.
"So anyway, it doesn't look like anything's being done about the captured kids, so it looks like it might be up to us to do something about it. The only problem is, what can we do about it? I honestly don't see how we can get all those people out of there quietly. Does anyone have any suggestions?"
Commando raid?
What is with you and your obsession with commando raids, Monozu?
You fell asleep watching a Rambo movie that one time.
Oh, yeah…
A nasty looking teen dressed in black said, "Eh, just let 'em rot, it's not worth risking our own freedom over."
There was a hushed uproar among those gathered.
A girl with watery eyes snapped, "My little brother's been captured!" A small, bluish pokemon with a somewhat shark-like head and a stout body beside her growled at the boy who had spoken.
Another teen said, "What's the matter with you!"
Many of the others gathered made similar comments. John slowly managed to restore order before the dim attracted notice. "Nobody's forcing you to participate in anything we try, but I guarantee most people here don't have the same attitude as you. So back to the matter at hand…"
He stopped abruptly. He looked to his side at a boy he hadn't seen arrive with the others. He looked calm for a moment, then slightly uncomfortable as John stared at him. John sniffed. He didn't smell like a Touched. In fact, he didn't smell human at all. John quickly reached down and grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt and lifted him into a standing position. "I don't know who or what you are, but that disguise didn't cover up your scent. What are you really? Talk!"
The boy said nothing but looked mildly impressed at John, before grinning a little, revealing a mouth full of pointed teeth. John stared into his crimson eyes, unflinchingly.
The boy's image shimmered and John found himself clutching dark fur and staring at an upright fox-like creature, about the size of a man, with a huge trail of dark, reddish hair running down its back.
Several of the teens present yelped and suppressed screams. Many dashed behind trees or rocks, especially those closest to the creature.
The black fox monster shoved John away with surprising force, and dashed into the trees, smiling in a self-satisfied way the entire time. John stumbled backward and nearly fell back, but kept his balance and watched the creature disappear within seconds. Nobody spoke, but watched the bushes for several minutes. They suddenly heard rummaging through the bushes nearby and a boy identical to the imposter's guise emerged, panting a little. He looked around at the tense faces staring at him, before saying, "Uh… sorry I'm late, I got tied up after class. Should I just… go?" He asked, taking a step backward.
At John's instruction, the boy nervously stepped forward and found a seat. John looked at him uncomfortably until a light breeze blew and he relaxed. "So, ah… are there any questions?"
Nearly everyone present raised a hand.
"How could you tell that thing wasn't really a person?"
"What was that thing anyway? What did it want?"
"Why can I only hear my own parallel's thoughts?"
"What's your parallel like?"
"How did you find all of us?"
"How are our parallels so smart?"
"Are the bigger ones that came through the portal things friendly after you get bit?"
"Where have the bigger ones been going all this time?"
"We need to start watching the base to keep an eye on what's going on!"
"Are we going to meet again?"
"My little sister got bitten, too, can I bring her with me?"
John sighed and got to work answering the barrage of questions as best he could.