Chapter Forty-One
This meeting with Giovanni had no tender slices of ham, no pungent cheeses, no aromatic, heady wine. Bitter anger and disinfectant hung in the air. Ferns loomed over Seven like judges in a tribunal. Fisher, Colson, and Celeste stood near the door while she sat in front of Giovanni. Dread crushed her like a coat of lead, each fiber of it seeping into her skin. Chills racked her chest, and a dry ache tickled the back of her throat.
"Let me see if I understand this correctly," Givoanni said as he pressed another dollop of isopropanol onto his hands and crushed it between his palms. "An EMP was detonated directly above our isolated detention facility, and in the confusion, an unknown entity teleported in, took the Lucario, and vanished."
Seven nodded. Sweat trickled down her neck, soaking the back of her shirt. She shifted in her seat, and her hair got ruffled beneath her clothes, making them bulge out in awkward lumps.
"In addition, all the electronic equipment at that facility, a Porygon, and thirty pokéballs were broken beyond repair, and we lost twenty-eight of those Pokémon. Six personnel with implants had to be treated, and one died when his pacemaker malfunctioned."
Seven bowed her head. Her stomach curdled, and the acrid taste of bile burned the back of her throat. "I ask your forgiveness. It was an oversight on my part that allowed this to happen." She closed her eyes and clenched her hands while she waited for Giovanni's answer.
The Rocket Boss leaned back and said, "There was nothing to be done. The police would never have the stones to set off an EMP, even in an isolated area, and very few psychics have the power to teleport as much and as far as the intruder." He stroked his chin. His fingernails rasped against the faint shadow of a beard on his face. "It had to be the Knights, and for them to have the open support of powerful psychics is a sobering thought." He looked at Celeste and said, "Have all the other isolated areas abandoned, and move everything into the main blocks within six hours. If it isn't there by then, leave it, and seal the exits." To Colson, he said, "Reroute the power going into the auxiliary facilities into the core EMF, see if you can double the output."
"What about B- the Lucario?" Seven asked.
Giovanni shook his head. "We got what we needed, and it's long gone besides. Let them keep their hollow prize, and let us learn what we can from this defeat." He studied Seven and asked, "You are immune to psychic interference, correct?"
Seven nodded, and Giovanni smiled.
"Perfect. Then I won't need to change plans." He handed Seven a manila folder. "The details about your new identity are in there. Make sure you're the only one that sees them." He set a cardboard box on the desk and sliced the tape with a penknife. "You have three objectives while infiltrating the Knights. First, poison their most powerful psychics." He held up a cologne bottle filled with a clear, bubbly liquid. "One drop of this in their food or drink will kill a psychic, but it won't harm anything else. Just make sure it's in something strong, it has a bitter taste."
He held up a thin black rod. "I also intend to have Admin Colson 'captured' as part of this mission. Once he is imprisoned, find a way to give him this. It's waterproof, shockproof, and heat resistant, so hiding it in food is possible."
The third item was a small black cube. "Save this for last, when you are about to leave. This is an EMP powerful enough to take out a couple city blocks." His grin widened. "One might say it's a taste of their own medicine. It has a thirty minute timer on it, enough for you to get Colson out and return to base. Above all else, make sure he is not caught in the blast radius. Is that understood?"
Seven nodded. Giovanni gingerly reached for the final item, a pokéball, and set it on the desk. "Your Haunter survived its pokéball's destruction, but recovering the rest from cloud storage will take time. This is Subject Three. It has been taught moves designed to impede or kill numerous targets and cause severe structural damage. Be careful not to get caught in single combat with this one, as many Pokémon can outclass it in speed and firepower."
The pokéball weighed no more than a few ounces, but in Seven's hand, it felt heavy enough to crush her fingers. She tucked it in her belt next to Set's new pokéball and took extra caution not to press its release button.
"Also, I had your Porygon reassembled using its backup files. It won't have any memory of the past week, but it should have all of its software patches. It'll be on your computer."
"Will I be receiving any more Pokémon?" Seven asked.
Giovanni rubbed more disinfectant into his hands. "Since we're dealing with activists, it's best that you pretend not to have any. It will be harder to hide having a full team, but one more could be useful. Take whichever of the Harmonia Subjects you think will be most useful." He looked up at Fisher and said, "Help Seven pick out a proper tool for the job, and offer whatever advice you can. If she fails, you'll be the next one to try."
Fisher nodded and walked out the door. After Giovanni dismissed her, Seven rushed after the Admin. While they walked, Fisher told her to keep as few secrets as possible, obey all their commands without hesitation, get a janitorial duty that grants her access and excuses to be in rooms, and never ask for a promotion or more sensitive duties. Seven typed notes into her tablet.
Seven also read through her résumé. She memorized her new name, Allison Caldwell, the outline of her cover letter citing martial arts lessons taken as a teenager and an abandoned major in computer sciences. Another folder held a thick booklet of persona-building details, from place of birth, through three moves, and into attending a local university. There were photographs of the fake person and fabricated family members, along with a short list of personal details for each. In addition, the file contained a wallet with loose bills, a generic credit card, an expired library pass, and a photo of her "mom."
"Just remember," Fisher said as they approached the labyrinth of Pokémon cages, "If you see a Rocket while you're undercover, they will not know who you are. They'll try to kill you, and you better not hold back."
The rows of plasma cages and their dead-eyed Pokémon inhabitants sent a shiver up Seven's back. She nodded and lowered her head. The metal floor vaguely reflected the bright hues of the Pokémon, but the details were smudged out.
"See anything you like?" Fisher asked. "I'd know what I'd pick in your boat, but let's see what you come up with."
Seven went towards Subject One, a Delphox. The vulpine Pokémon stared at her with glazed orange eyes and tapped its claw against its pronged wand.
"A psychic type would be helpful if I'm up against other psychics," Seven said.
Fisher shook his head. "A psychic like that Alakazam would sense it a mile away."
Seven went down the rows of cages. The Dratini was gone, and the Tyranitar sat on her belt, but all the others remained. She rejected the Reuniclus and Solrock as psychics, and the rest were either bulky fighters or house pets. An Infernape caught her eye as potential back-up for Odin, but the fourteenth cell made the decision for her.
"This one," she told Fisher, pointing at the Ditto. She lowered the plasma barrier and approached it.
He frowned at the pink blob on the floor. "You're joking, right?"
She snapped her fingers, and Fourteen fixed its beady eyes on her. "Mirror."
The Ditto expanded and changed color until its front was a perfect replica of Seven's illusory body. She turned, and the Ditto turned with her. Its beady eyes remained in place as the head turned, making it appear as if its eyes slid onto the back of its head. Its back matched hers, and once Seven completed the rotation, the ditto's beady black eyes sank into the pupils of Steven Sun's.
Seven raised her right hand and wiggled her fingers. While the ditto's movements weren't exact, it mimicked the gesture well enough to pass for human.
"Form-shift, watch." The Ditto shrank into itself and turned into a Velcro-strapped sports watch. Seven wrapped it around her wrist and pressed the Velcro into place. She held it up for Fisher's inspection.
Fisher poked the watch. "That's impressive. I would've gone for the Infernape, but that little guy has more subtle purposes."
With her new watch and more advice from Fisher, Seven went back to her room and cracked open a bag of beef jerky. A bottle of water washed it all down. Her computer flashed, and she noticed a beeping icon on her screen. She had turned it off before the meeting, but the Porygon sitting in her computer had powered it up.
The box read, "Begin Plasma Transcription?" She clicked on the green checkmark, and the screen crackled with static. Scraps of binary leapt across the screen, and each pixel lit up with headache-inducing arrays of color. Inch by inch, light pressed out of the screen in polygonal lumps, until the new Thoth forced its way into reality.
"Greetings, Steven," read a line of white script glowing on the Porygon's flat chest. "My name is Thoth, and I am a Porygon of model 3, patch 1.087, with additional unsigned software additions downloaded to my systems." It blinked at her and said, "These additions are not authorized by Silph Co. Would you like me to delete them?"
"No, keep them," Seven told it. "Do you remember me?"
"Remember you?" It blinked. "Ah yes. I have finished integrating the memory banks with the main program. May I ask what had happened to me?"
"You were destroyed by an EMP."
The Porygon's plasma shivered. "An awful way to go. Is there any danger of such an accident happening to me again?"
Seven debated telling it about the EMP stuck in her hair. "Not if everything goes well." Then she asked, "Do you know anything about the mission?"
"Mission?" Its eyes were unfocused as it scanned its data files. "I do have instructions in the boot-up files regarding the infiltration of the White Knights. Is this the mission you refer to?"
"Yes."
The Porygon leapt into the computer screen, and the computer froze for a moment. The fan whirred wildly, and the hard drive crackled. Then the Porygon came back out. "I tried finding an optimal strategy, but there are too many unknown variables. I estimate a high probability of failure, at least sixty percent, and completing all three objectives will require a miracle." Its eyes narrowed, and it added, "You said there wouldn't be an EMP."
Seven took a pokéball out of her desk drawer, a replacement for the one broken by the EMP, and called out Set. The Haunter grinned at her and waved at Thoth.
"We have another mission," Seven told Set. "Like the prison, but more dangerous. I'll be counting on you again."
The Haunter sternly saluted her. A grin cracked its face, the hand went to its ethereal chest, and it wheezed with laughter. Misty black tears fell from its eyes and vanished before they hit the floor.
Thoth looked at the ghost and said, "Make that seventy percent."
Changelog
10/24/18 – I totally forgot that I destroyed all of Seven's former Pokémon, and for no real reason on top of it. With a wave of the magical author's wand, they're all back alive. Other minor edits.