Chapter 20

Day turned to night in the tent, and the mood improved a little. Pleakly released them long enough for them to eat. Trilby was starving and ate heartily, but Sparky refused the food. A battle raged in his head, Trilby could feel it.

"Sparky, you need to eat." He shook his head. " You are going to have to talk at some point." He turned to look at Trilby. In his eyes, there was trust, but also doubt. Since Trilby told him how he had left Lilo and Stitch. Sparky knew that they would be caged on Hamsterviel's ship had Trilby not been as cunning as he was. But he was a deceptive experiment. He was hard to read, and he honestly couldn't tell what his motives really were. He was always calm, even in the most trying of situations, he was plotting, planning. Then there was the things that Jumba had said. Were they true? Could he be another cog in his plan. Were they truly brothers? He seemed to care about him sure. But was it just another part of his plan. Something about how quickly he had abandoned Lilo and Stitch. Then Nosey's face as he noticed Sparky in the cage. Conflicted. He was part of two different families. He knew he would have to choose. Which family he would be part of, and the lighthouse grew bigger and bigger in his mind. Testament to his broken will.

Nosey tapped into Jumba's computer outside his tent. When it came to unearthing secrets he was the best. It was a simple matter of breaking into Jumba's tent while he was asleep. He had done much harder. He flicked through the options.' Trilby was created from a tiny fraction of DNA from every experiment. He could turn into another experiment- given it transferred the power. He delved deeper into the system. He played back the last phone call. He seemed to be working with Lilo, Stitch and Sparky at that time- a day and a half ago. So why was Sparky and him here, and Lilo and Stitch not. He needed to talk to them. He replaced the computer in the exact spot it had been in before. But then he noticed a roll of blueprints. Experiment 629 was its label. Experiment 629? He thought. The ovals, it must refer to Trilby. He snatched the computer again. He scanned the page, he then printed out an exact copy. Rolling it up he, turned the computer off once again. Jumba wouldn't notice any difference when he wakes. He snuck back to their tent. Pleakly was in there letting them eat- he would have to wait then.

The next morning brought drizzle, but it was still humid. They hadn't slept much that night. Pleakly, ever the optimist, gave Sparky some encouragement. Assuring him everything would be fine. But he had given Trilby a sidelong glance of disapproval. Trilby recognized the look. He had been getting it the whole time so far. They loved Sparky. But they saw him as confused, misunderstood. Trilby, they saw to be dangerous, manipulative- the problem. This was a recurring theme. Pleakly ran a sort of 'experiment support group' in his tent. Experiments came in gave Sparky the worried look, and Trilby the look of disapproval and left. Sparky felt the looks drill into him- he lay staring at the ceiling of the tent- wondering. On the other hand, Trilby didn't care for the looks. They couldn't hurt him, experiments couldn't hurt him. Instead he felt his strength return, and his motivation. He needed to get them out. During one of Pleakly's groups, five experiments sat and talked, Jumba had burst in. His size shaking the tent- sending clothes to the floor- knocking a porcupine like experiment, onto his back, in one arm he held his computer, open, and in the other he held a small orange experiment.

"Now, is time for questions."

"Jumba! Be careful, and we were in the middle of something here." Pleakly said indignantly helping Spike back onto his feet.

"Can wait Pleakly, now…" He sat crossing his arms staring at the pair. The experiments in the group, he had disturbed, looked at him in bewilderment. Their gaze travelled between Jumba, Trilby and Sparky.

"Experiment 629, you cannot lie, Fibber here is lie detector."

"I have nothing to lie about," The orange experiment buzzed.

"Oh… Really?" He leant in close. Trilby stared defiantly back. Sparky, still lying, did nothing.

"629, Do you work for Hamsterviel?"

"No," Fibber was silent his eyes locked on him. Without a doubt he felt the same about Trilby as everyone else.

"Hmm," Jumba hadn't expected this, neither did Pleakly or any of the experiments. "Then why did you steal computer." His voice was a lot less threatening. Trilby explained how he wanted to know what exactly the 'experiments were' since his memory was scrambled at the time. "So you really did lose your memory?"

"Yes I did," Then Trilby explained how he had been caught by Gantu taken up to the mountain, his battle with Sparky, the rebuilding of the craft, the infiltration of the ship. He skipped over the battle with Slushy and the establishment of him and Sparky's brotherhood. Fibber remained silent the whole time. Jumba sat absorbing the information, as did Pleakly and the experiments.

"So you see, I did all the things I did because I had lost my memory."

"Really 629? It seems I have been misunderstanding. But if everything you say is true where is little girl and 626?"

"Back on the ship. The sound knocked Sparky and Stitch out. I grabbed Sparky and took off in the shuttle, before I too was knocked out."

"Little girl and 626 captured!" The news upset the group they all started acting up. "This is very bad," Jumba tapped his computer furiously. The experiments looked at each other panic in their eyes they feared capture. Pleakly was panicking openly and loudly.

"629 you never meant to abandon them, right?"

"No, I didn't…" A loud buzz pierced the panic. A painful silence landed on the tent then. All eyes settled on Trilby. For a small moment he had been accepted.

"So you did mean to leave them for Hamsterviel…"

"Yes… I did." The silence that followed this statement was painful. The experiments now looked him with outright hostility. Even Sparky sat up to look at his brother with a mixture of anger and confusion. Trilby's resolve broke then. His calm features shattered to reveal his shame. His true nature. His carefree nature, was just a mask. To hide his motives and plans. "When I got caught by Gantu. My memory returned. I was created by Hamsterviel, and I was made for a purpose."He looked down." Every experiment has to have a purpose. The experiment must be used for its purpose as well, if you resist it for too long it shall take over. For all of your experiments the purpose is destruction. That's why when they are destructive by nature. Only… My purpose isn't destruction. Hamsterviel built me too defeat you, but not by force you see…" He turned to look Sparky in the eye. His face filled with anguish and shame. "My purpose… Is to break families." And Fibber was silent.