Chapter 20.
rêve incontournable
Normally, when I wake up, it is a peaceful, gradual process. The shared dream that Aria and I have slowly fades out as little things from the outside world begin creeping into my awareness. Then I realize that I am awake and slowly begin opening my eyes. Then, Aria follows suit, gripes about my sleeping habits, then fully wakes up. On a normal day, we lay there enjoying one anothers presence, feeding one another emotions which seem to fortify us. Dialog plays out as we try to hold onto the last few scraps of the night.
Not this morning though.
See, a normal morning doesn't begin with a scream, someone else screaming, and Amelia clawing furiously at Shiis tent before jumping out of it while incredibly distressed.
That was our morning.
Aria and I were still in one anothers dream when our world was momentarily shattered by Amelia suddenly screaming. We both shot awake, then sat up fast enough to grant both of us vertigo. As we sought to get a handle on the situation, Amelia exploded from Shiis tent, then danced around in confusion. She looked at the tent, then to the Gardevoir inside, while yelling nearly incomprehensible things at the poor Girl.
Shii seemed to respond in kind with an exclamation neither of us seemed to catch before Amelia stomped her foot, then swiveled her head to regain her bearings.
Upon laying eyes on me, looking as transitional as I had the night before, only with warm red sunlight from a rising sun on me, she began to babble incomprehensibly before she finally began making sense.
"R-Rowan the hell happened to you?! Where the hell is this? Why is there a Gardevoir in a tent?! Why was I sleeping there?! What the hell is going on!?"
She looked on the verge of a panic attack as Shii reluctantly emerged from her tent, then regarded Aria and I with a look of worry on her face. She gave the two of us an apolegetic look as she tried to grasp ahold of Amelia. However, Amelia desperately broke free, then seemed to grab onto me, her wild eyes demanding explanation.
Words though, were not quick enough in coming. Aria and I felt mutual shock course through our bodies. This acted to paralyze us. Suffuzing us with the inability to respond, our hearts instead acting together to sort out this confusing situation. It was not quick enough though...
Gentle cries indicated that the young had been disturbed. The Matriarch was awake, but seemed reluctant to move in to quell the situation.
While she was awake, Aria and I could feel her displeasure. Who could blame her? Amelia, the woman who had nearly killed me, was back. Further, it was normally another few hours before they typically awoke.
"Amelia... let's... how about the three of us take a walk?" I finally asked aloud.
This was not a suggestion so much as an order. It came as much from Aria and I as it did from the Matriarch, who seemed intent on having her as far away from our Te Ze as possible. Her thoughts of rage at being awoken and at her presence was palpable even to Shii, who still lacked the complex bond of Te Ze like Aria and I had.
Amelia mutedly nodded as he both extricated ourselves from her manic grasp. Aria and I dedicated a moment to tending to one anothers features. I worked at her haid whilst she pulled me into a gentle hug, then seemed to adjust the gown like Garment I still wore. Within a few minutes though, we were sufficiently presentable.
As we set out, our footsteps took us along the edge of the field. Aria and I held one anothers hands. Our thoughts mingled as they were, on the situation at hand. Amelia felt troubled. Confused, uncertain... worried too.
"So..." she said hesitantly.
"So?" I replied.
So? Came Aria, perhaps a little too condescending... but then, given what Amelia put us through, it might have been perfect.
"What happened?" Amelia asked.
I felt her eyes flick over my form again. Diminishing body, emerging red shard, hair coloration changing, skin coloration changing, eyes changing.
"To put it simply, Aria and I touched upon a place only Gardevoir are meant to go... Since the incident, we have lived in a codependent relationship of sorts. Both of us give each other the emotional support we need, then... during an experiment with freeman... we reciprocated emotions... exponentially... and when the experiment was over... I had begun to change... " I replied with a measure of uncertainty.
Aria and I began to explain it for her. We told her of how we had been back only a few days when the others showed up. How Sycamore and Krafft mediated differences between Freeman and I, how we all agreed to help each other out. How Freeman, Aria, and I all worked on the singularity experiment and unlocked an interesting insight into Gardevoir psychology in the process.
Then, we described what was happening. How, on a genetic level, my chromosomes were being rewritten by an unknown vector state that seemed to have come from Aria, yet was psychichally controlled by the both of us. How it had been modifying my genetic code and how that was initially jumpstarted by our psychic union. With every step, we described. With every word, we helped Amelia to understand.
The problem though, is that Amelia wasn't as interested in seeing it from our perspective...
"So what? You're just going to become a pokemon or something?" Amelia lashed out angrilly.
Is there something wrong with that? Aria asked in a tone of voice which communicated the offense she felt at such a statement being made.
Amelia flinched back slightly but did not have time to speak up for herself in defense as Aria then laid into her.
If you serve as any example of humanity, it is probably for the best that Beh Sze is resembling Gardevoir more by the day. You...arrogant, egotistical, self centered delusional little girl! If you had half of Beh Szes empathy, you'd realize that everything you've done to date has only made things worse.
Aria... almost hated Amelia. Almost... In reality, she pitied the girl. Amelia was unable to really look at herself. She all but refused to. She was blind to her own flaws. Even now, she didn't realize that the only reason Aria was angry at her was because Amelia belittled Aria.
"More to the point... Yes, I am... I don't know how far along this will go... but wherever it leads, I accept... You coming here has done little to redeem you-" I began.
However, I didn't get to finish my words as Amelia suddenly cut me off. Her expression seemed to grow ever more desperate. Her eyes, panicked, looked me over as she spoke, as if also processing how I looked to her.
"It's that Tennyson! He worked with Team Flare and doctored his research to allow for testing on Gardevoir and other Psychic pokemon!" Amelia blurted out.
Aria and I looked at each other. Worry crossed my mind, then flooded to Aria. Curiosity was answered by trepidation. Tennyson being associated with such people meant that his research was suspect. Especially if it was influential in assisting team Flares activity.
This was news.
However, there was a problem. While this was a major issue... there wasn't much Aria or I could do. We weren't in any kind of a position to rectify this problem. I looked to Aria, then felt her words enter my mind.
Would you leave to take care of this Beh Sze?
I didn't have to answer. The reply was obvious as I clenched her hand with mine. Our interlocked fingers squeezed against one another as my resolve was communicated.
"Amelia... you should probably have taken that to someone else... like Sycamore..." I replied after a moments thought.
"Why Sycamore?" Amelia asked.
Aria cut in.
He is in a better position to help us. His reputation remains untarnished by the silly concept of objectivity that seems to be so important to those scientisty types... She replied idealistically.
"He helped us. He also has more leverage and influence than a junior researcher who has violated rules." I added.
Amelia looked down in contemplation. It was a hard thing to process to be certain, being rebuked despite your best efforts. Empathy...was quickly becoming a regular feature in my life. I could understand what was going on. She wanted to help. But she couldn't be expected to know all of these things. She was entirely absent as Aria and I changed so much. She had no way of knowing of these things.
"Look, there was no way you could know... but the fact is that I cannot really do anything with this information. Sure, it's damning and it shows just what his motivations are... but coming from me, this would seem more like a character attack than it would look like an effort to defend and rationalize my actions. " I said.
Amelia nodded slightly. However, she did not say anything for a moment. The action was well intended, but ultimately, it was worthless.
"However you want to use the information you found for me is up to you... but I don't know if I can actually use it..." I said...
Well... no. It explained a lot. Tennyson had a lot riding on his research. His credibility was at risk because of me. My admittedly unorthodox methodology has so far revealed insights into Gardevoir that would never have come to light otherwise. It gave me an idea though, about how I could use this critical insight to further help my own cause though.
"If... he can be caught in the critical flaw in his intentions, that would be more beneficial than me simply making allegations. Simply exposing the flaw, then allowing Sycamore or Freeman to exploit the exposed flaw would do more to show that if nothing else my research should go to publication as it is not methodologically flawed, but simply a different approach based upon limitations." I mused aloud.
Shii looked over to me with a look of humor on her face.
"It's times like this I remember that you are a doctor and not some perverted Gardevoir or pokephile" she said.
Aria gave a slight frown, but was unable to reply as I quickly spoke up.
"Well to be fair I could justify away my love for Aria by saying I am simply being methodical"
Which earned me a tiny elbow to the ribs.
Amelia looked between the three of us, then couldn't help but to smile. She looked away from us for a moment, then back to the Te Ze.
With fondness in her voice, she finally spoke up.
"I'm...actually jealous of you three..."
The three of us all looked to Amelia, then reacted... in our own ways.
Shii giggled slightly. Waves of mirth radiating from her infectuously. Aria had a somewhat smug look on her face. Understandable in its own right... though I might want to have words with her... I thought to myself.
As for me, I simply smiled slightly. I knew what she intended in a way. We had a form of happiness that was removed from the troubles that circled us. Despite what was going on, we had one another, so the major issues of my position being stripped, of Shii being an incomplete Gardevoir, and Aria having to settle with the fact that the man she loves is changing before her eyes and she is powerless to stop it if she wanted to, all fade away. When the bonds we form are strong enough, they serve as a means by which we overcome the challenges that life throws at us.
"We just have good synergy" I answered.
Except for this one right here... Aria chimed in with a gentle nudge to Shii.
Shii looked upset for a moment before it dawned on her that Aria actually meant that as a joke. She gave a mock frown, then nudged her back before we turned to look at Amelia.
"Well, the real question is, do the files reveal anything that I could actually use to make an argument against his research that would actually be useful to me.." I mused.
Amelia looked crestfallenly at me as I flipped through the paperwork.
Aria drifted closer then casually leaned against my shoulder as I stopped on a section outlining anatomy.
I would say he is wrong on our brains and mic tems... She lazily said.
Indeed, upon closer inspection, the Mic Tem lacked the major nerve support that Aria described. Further, the Insular cortex seemed to be 30% smaller than what their brains actually seemed to reflect.
As I picked up on this minor lead, I began to notice a number of other tiny, yet still noteworthy flaws in his methodology. The interview questions seemed a bit too misleading. Conclusions, while reasonable to a certain degree, inaccurately reflected the precise scope of the question and answer sessions. Further, the telepathy was entirely inaccurate.
Aria picked up readily on my confusion.
Beh sze? She asked.
Well if I didn't know better. I broadcasted rather than directed, I'd say we found a bit of a flaw in his works that we can use on top of the discoveries and progress we have made so far. I said.
"Wait, so there are flaws in his work? Why?" Shii Naively asked.
Beh Sze, aria hummed Didn't you say he used to work for some bad men?
I smiled upon Aria bringing this up. Aria caught my thankful expression, then seemed to broadcast the feeling of joy back to me. For a brief moment, we sat in a sort of bliss of joy before I resumed speaking upon feeling a sense of discomfort from Amelia at the somewhat extended silence that had fallen.
"So, a while back, Team Flare, an idealist organization, wanted to create a utopian society in which their ideals would force egaltarianism upon all people. However, their version of egaltarianism was not the same as what we all saw it as. Eventually, this led their leader to making a decision to try and kill all of humanity. In the end, his actions killed himself."
Shii took that in with an uncharacteristic silence. Aria and I picked up on the disquiet she felt. The revelation that humans were very eager to kill one another was a big one for her. While we had a tendency to chastise her for not being very Gardevoir like, the bigger problem was that she wasn't as aware of the ways of the world like we were. She lived a sheltered life. While pokemon battles might have been a common occurrance for her, she had always seen them as friendly competition. Not really fighting to exhaustion.
Rather, in the world of the league challenge, the fight went on until the first one was knocked out for more than half a minute. This ensured that there were no major injuries, and that the fight only tested ability. Which was also why certain challengers were "badge ranked" in that you could not challenge someone with 8 badges if you had less than 8. This ensured as level a playing field as was to be expected.
So, to us, it was no real surprise that she took it so harshly. Especially aware of this, oddly enough, was Amelia, who detected our concern towards shii in how we glanced at each other, then to her. It was a bigger surprise, though, when she walked over to shii, then gave her a comforting hug.
Aria and I were confused for a moment. This reflected itself in our sudden collapse, awareness wise, into a shared emotional state.
In our minds, we had more or less synchronized into a state of surprise. The effect of us experieincing the exact same thing resulted in a net intensification. Our hands found one anothers as we watched the momentary embrace of comfort that Amelia offered. Then, it was over.
Amelia and Shii broke their embrace as Shii looked at her gratefully.
"I guess... things aren't always so cheery huh?" she asked Amelia.
Amelias eyes were slightly misty as she nodded her head in response, "We try to be though... "
After a few more moments, Aria and I picked back into the conversation.
"What... this all means is that Tennyson altered his results to enact legislation that prevents special protections being given to Gardevoir due to their ability to tap into fairy type abilities. After the initial discovery of the fairy type, much attention was given to their potential, when Gardevoir in this region were found to have the same genetic anomaly, all efforts to have them recognized as human rights required beings. " I continued.
At least, this is Beh Szes best explanation... Aria added quickly.
With a nod, I elaborated slightly, "See, the only real reason he did this seems to be so that others of us could be mistreated for a greater purpose. If Gardevoir were seen as having the same rights as say Amelia, then an entire complex of changes would have to be made. Gardevoir couldn't be captured, we wouldn't be experimented on, and most importantly, the right to consent would be guaranteed. Since that changes the entire dynamic of human Gardevoir interaction, much ethical changes would have to take place. "
Amelia looked at the papers once more as she took them from my hand.
"So, you can only use some of this but not all of it?" she simply asked.
After a moments thought, I simply nodded.
"After you're done here, you should head over to Lumiose city and visit Professor Sycamore in his labs. He would be able to really use that information about his associations considering how Sycamore used to be involved, and ultimately helped, bring down team flare."
Amelia finally seemed to understand what I was getting at. The League Government officially Cleared Sycamore of wrongdoing by revealing the fact that when the Leader of team flare and he had reached a state of differing opinions about what should be done, Sycamore had come to them, seeking assistance in the matter. Thus, Sycamore was seen as something of an expert witness when it came to punishing former members of team flare who still chose to engage in criminal activities.
With a sigh, she finally nodded, then looked me over one more time.
"Rowan," she said.
"Yeah?" I asked with a curious, yet worried tone.
"Will it really be ok?" She asked.
With a smile, I nodded once in reassurance.
"No matter what happens, there are things which I have that can never be replaced. Even if I loose my tenure, even if I am cast out, even if I end up with nothing to my name. I have... a family. This is something that I gained through the sheer serendipity that led to this moment. " I responded.
Indeed, had it not been for what had happened, would I have come to be here of all places?
Aria sensed the emotions, the feeling of gratitude and peace I had begun to feel. She responded by ever so gently taking my hand in hers, then gently danced her tiny fingers against my more sensative palm.
I responded in kind, our emotions synchronizing for a moment. A dialouge playing out between us that needed no words. Of gratitude and shared desires.
Amelia regarded us for a moment, then allowed a small smile to play across her face. Beneath that smile was a sense of acceptance. Seeing us in this state of utter peace seemed to reassure her. However, the faintest twinge of jealousy was not masked. A jealousy that spoke more of her envy of the bond we seemed to share.
Without another word though, Amelia suddenly turned, then began to walk away from us.
Shii wandered closer to us, then regarded us with a curious expression.
Aria caught this, then offered a faint hum of reassurance. This gentle cry spoke to the confusion that Shii unknowingly broadcast. Without a word between the three of us, I took Shiis hand, then held it as well. My action was meant to affirm the family bond the three of us had begun to share.
In her quest to become more Gardevoir like, Shii had become more reliant on us, but not in the way a disciple would of its masters. Rather, her entire countenance seemed to suggest an adoration of sorts. The teenaged Gardevoir had come to see us as ad-hoc parental figures of a sort. Not so far removed from her in that we were all immature in our own ways. We were all young adults, feeling our way along a path none of us had set out upon, yet found ourselves in the midst of.
Perhaps that was part of it. We were so very alike that when we sought some measure of solace, we found it in each other. This fond emotion was what led to us finding a common emotional bond. That we grounded one another seemed to only reaffirm that. From the near mental collapse I had faced in the initial month, to Shii's emotional maturity, to Arias growth to become less selfish and the heir apparent of the Te Ze's matriarch duties.
We had all grown so.
Our shared emotional experience came to an end as we felt our moods subtly shift as our thoughts began to move towards the future. Shii gently detached herself, closing the triple emotional pathway we had all basked in for a moment, then pranced a few steps away. She then brightly smiled before she swept her dominant arm towards her abdomen, then gently bowed her head whilst her knees bent, offering a formal bow.
"Ses Kah Go and Beh Kah Feh..." she simply said, addessing us as if we were her parents.
Rather, the intent was that she was giving a respectful title to the two of us, as if we were her parents.
Ses shii mic vo Aria replied kindly.
Aria had, in short, accepted the title, then responded in kind. In the Kanto region, this could mean either daughter of younger peer. When using words to convey an emotional response, a lot of the meaning became muddled. Thus, it was best to feel the emotions associated with the term. Ses Shii Mic Vo, our protege, a gardevoir we regarded with the same affection that we would bestow our own child.
"Ses Shii mic Vo" I responded in kind.
My expression was a warm smile as well. The unspoken words were easily discernable, and Aria responded to my words by leaning her body into mine.
That night, the three of us were gathered around a campfire over near where Freeman and Krafft had camped. We wanted to have the celebration of Shii's formal graduation into Gardevoir maturity in private. We had decided that it was best to Bond Shii into the family group that Aria and I were to begin. The shock of loosing the others when it came time for them to depart would have been too much for her to stand.
As such, we celebrated with mango, Shii having a large fruit, while the two of us contented ourselves with a more lean meal of the standard berries and Banannas. The joy that radiated from Shii as she indulged in the fruit was easily felt across the field, her happiness was so strong.
The entire time though, Aria and I held our hands together. We had seemed to have slipped into a slightly deeper state of emotional attachment. A close second, perhaps, to the bond that would form when our child was hatched. Whatever it was, it had linked us emotionally in a way that seemed different than the depths we had gone when we joined as one during the experiments. This was more an emotional reliance, as if we shared a single heart. A single brain in a way, if one was ripped from that bond, the other would die too.
I found myself musing on that notion. In human cultures, the notion of giving up after the death of a loved one served as a cautionary tale about never allowing yourself to live in the past. Yet, here, before all of us, stood the simple fact that in Gardevoir culture, what served as allegory and cautionary tales, existed as a very real, very tangible sensation.
As the warm, orange, flames tinted our bodies, I shared with Aria this realization I had come upon.
From beside me, her eyes reflecting the gentle fire, she simply nodded, then leaned into me before saying:
I am glad... that it is you.
And so was I.
End Act 2.
Alright, so first things first:
1. Sorry this is a relatively short chapter. I wanted the focus to be primarily about their discussion and set things up for the next chapter.
2. I wanted this to be the definite end of the act, and, also bookend a story within a story. If you wanted, you could lift the entire section from when he first wakes up, to now, into its own story. It would work on its own, in a way. More directly, this accomplished a set of events I wanted to examine for a while, but wasn't sure how to go about it. As you've noticed, I've been referencing a lot of real world behavioral works, and that is intentional. First hand accounts of experiences always fascinate me in a way. From stories of survival on the high seas, to my favorite Astronaut as he survived the unthinkable in space (Jim Lovell) to the more sci-fi survival stories. The experiences and realizations, of what's important, to live in the present, and so on are very important themes I feel never get written about as much as they should. So I wanted to frame my story in much the same way. Hence the constant use of first person and describing the seemingly minor.
Now, onto why it took 2 months to put out a new chapter:
Over the winter break, I was given an opportunity to make a trip out to the Marshall Islands where I assisted a number of people I am associates with install a new water system to extract freshwater. So, I want to give a formal shout out to Engineers without borders. I would link them, however, I don't want to possibly violate some sneak term and condition, so I will simply say, if you have the time, do consider offering them a donation. Much like Doctors without Borders, Engineers without borders is a non-profit aimed at providing resources and tools for people in developing, or isolated regions, to lift themselves and their communities into a better standard of living. Any donation you give will go a long way to helping children drink cleaner water, have cheap electricity, and be able to connect with others in ways not previously available.
Dani