There's a knock on the door. You look up from the suitcase you're packing and frown. How peculiar. You weren't expecting anyone. You doubt anyone even knew you were here.
For a fraction of a second, you wonder if it is some minion of Ghetsis—perhaps that "Shadow Triad" Champion Alder warned you of. But no, why would they knock? Such an obvious move...
To lure you into a false sense of security? Because that is exactly what you would not expect? Well, joke's on them! You are much cleverer than that.
Although, you are badly protected, possessing a weapon but lacking a partner Pokémon. How unfortunate. You slip your hand over the holster of the gun you keep in your pocket, hidden tactfully by your trench coat, and click the safety off as you open the door.
A pair of brown eyes stare back at you, then, slowly drift to your pocket. Touya frowns. "Is that a gun?"
You sigh and click the safety back on, and quickly hide the gun under your trench coat once more. "Young Touya. Pardon. Expecting you, I was not."
"I can see that," the young Champion says dryly. "And may I ask why a member of the IP is staying at a crappy motel in Nimbasa?"
You cross your arms. This boy is not your biggest fan, and you are aware of that. His cooperation in your mission has been invaluable, but you can tell he does not think too highly of you. At first, you were baffled by this attitude... but after some investigative work on your part, you think you have deduced why. "I am most frugal in my glob-trotting pursuits of criminals. Now, is there any assistance I can be of? I do doubt, quite heavily, that this is a casual appointment."
"Well, at least you're a decent detective." Touya brushes past you and makes his way over to the stiff bed you still have a sore back from sleeping in. He sets his bag down and begins pulling out three items—two are blue, one smooth and nacreous while the other is harsh and faceted, and a third that is a dull yellow, glinting waxily in the cheap motel light.
You arch a brow as he turns back to you. "'Bout half an hour ago, the Shadow Triad jump-scared me on Marvelous Bridge and dumped these on me. They said Ghetsis wanted me to have them. Now, I'm pretty sure these aren't bombs or anything, but I figured I'd run them by you first." He sighs and throws his bag over his shoulders. "I'm kinda glad I caught you before you left."
"Indeed. In the nick, you did." You come closer and examine the objects. They are vaguely familiar to you. "I recognize these objects—of icy Sinnoh, they are from. Artifacts, holy and ancient. Remnants of the legends, the gods who shaped the mountains and the stars."
Touya groans. "Why does it always have to be gods and demigods and old legends, huh? Why can't it for once be a good ol' fashioned government conspiracy or something?"
You raise your brows in surprise. "That would not be a thing to wish for, young Touya. In fact, that would be very, very, very not good."
"Whatever." He turns back to the orbs. "So I'm hearing that they won't explode in my bag?"
"Unlikely," you say.
"Great. I'm gonna go now." Touya packs them back up, then makes a move to leave.
"Touya," you say suddenly, stepping to block his path. "Might I have some words with you?"
Touya scowls. "If I say yes, will you talk normal?"
You wince. You are not a native speaker of the common tongue. You acknowledge this—you are working on it, but your speech is still clunky and awkward to a native speaker. "I would like to speak to you on the matter of this N person I am to pursue."
Touya's expression sours further. Ah, you are right on the money, it seems. "What about him?"
"It was to my knowledge that N was the sole proprietor of the Plasma Team." Touya opens his mouth to protest, but you hold your hand up to stop him. "However, after speaking further with Champion Alder, I have deduced that this knowledge was, ah, how you say—incorrect. As a member of the International Police, it is my sworn duty to punish the true culprit, no matter what other sources say. And after some investigating, I have come to conclude that the true culprit, it is Ghetsis! Not N! And so I will, yes, continue to search for N, but rest assured! My main priority is arresting this miscreant Ghestis for his crimes."
"You..." Touya blinks and stares at you for a moment, before, finally, going, "Oh."
"Therefore, I have already collected the testimonies of Champion Alder and the bespectacled boy," you explain, placing your chin in your hand. "Though your own, it would quite help justice to be delivered."
Touya looks uncertain. "My... testimony?"
"Indeed! An account of the events as seen by the one who faced both supposed leaders of this Team Plasma," you explain, planting your hands on your hips, "and thus able to judge their true intents. You, young Touya, are the best one of all to tell the story and reveal truth. With your help, the true culprit will face the consequences of their actions—and only the true culprit."
Hope flashes briefly across Touya's expression. "So, you'll let N go?"
"Ah. Actions have consequences, and it would not be professional of me, you see, to let a guilty someone go completely free," you admit apologetically. "But leniency would be awarded, based on your word as well as his. This makes sense, yes?"
"So what you're saying is, if N and I were to testify against Ghetsis—"
You nod emphatically. "The man's scapegoat will make him into a scapegoat himself. Build a case, show a man's guilty face—that is the job of one like myself! Do you accept this duty, Touya of Truth?"
Touya looks at you with something like wonder. "I... okay, yeah."
"Magnifique! Shall we start, then, on the writing of testimony?"
For the first time since you met him, you see Touya smile—it is tentative, and shaky, but it a smile nonetheless. "Sure. Let's get started."
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Riley comes back the next day and tells Touya the search turned up nothing. There's no results of anyone with his prints in Unova.
Which is a boldfaced lie, Looker thinks as he sits on a train that runs through the mountain and will take him to the station in Snowpoint. As a "privileged" member of the IP, Looker is given a luxury cabin for the purpose of privacy. It serves him well as he pours over highly-classified documents—Touya's file is splayed out on his lap, and a smiling photo stares back at him, the memory of Unova still fresh in the agent's mind. A boldfaced lie that the agency has to tell, or they risk him returning to Unova and losing him. Especially given who he is, and how high his profile is.
Looker groans and massages his temples. Touya is one of the unlucky ones, those who went through the Wormhole and ended up on the same end they started from. Looker has only seen it once, in a man from Alola who now cultivates Poké Beans on islands many miles away from the main islands (and nearby an IP base, so as to keep him supervised constantly). He knows how this goes. With Anabel and those few others like her, there had been nothing tying her to this world, so it was a clean break. For those like Touya—it is messy and awkward and the IP will do anything to keep him under their supervision.
Which means as far away from Unova as possible. He very much doubts the higher ups would allow the boy to return home.
It's always worse when you know the person, Looker thinks with a sigh. For example, he know that it's been around six years since he's last seen Touya, so that meant he has to be in his twenties. But Riley's description is that of a seventeen-year-old, which lines up with the theory that time moved differently in Ultra Space, in relation to this dimension.
Touya was sixteen when Looker met him. Which meant to he got stuck in Ultra Space not long after they met.
Looker wonders, briefly, if he is to blame for that. Him and this— this— damned aura—
It's always worse when you knew them.
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Looker's earliest memory is that of hot sand, the sound of waves, and a burning sun. He remembers waking up, his head throbbing, and feeling very, very uneasy. Very wrong. Something is wrong. What is wrong?
He's hot. He's wearing a trench coat. It's sweltering, and he's wearing a trench coat? That doesn't make sense...
There's a girl, there, with brown hair in a shaggy ponytail and a pair of blue eyes. She helps him up and into a cabin she's staying at. Her voice is soothing, placating—he is frazzled, panicking because he realizes that he can't remember anything, not even his name—and she is trying very hard to calm him down, which says a lot because she's maybe thirteen or fourteen and she has to be the adult here. He's nauseous, flushed, not sweating, his heart is pounding, he has a headache, and he can't think straight, so he probably has heatstroke (how he knows that, he doesn't know how—medical training?). The girl brings him water and then calls a doctor, who confirms the diagnosis.
He convalesces in that cabin, forcing himself to calm down and breathe. Okay. He's an amnesiac recovering from heatstroke somewhere in Hoenn, according to the girl (May Senri, and he will remember her name), in a place called a "Battle Resort". He doesn't understand that—how a place that is a resort could also be a place of battle, because battling does not sound relaxing.
Not the point.
He has no idea who he is or where he's from, save for this vague sense that he has some duty he needs to accomplish. But of course, that is quite ambiguous, isn't it? The only real clue he has is the strange stone in his pocket ("A Mega Stone," May remarks with some surprise) that seems to have something to do with an Audino and his innate knowledge of the Kalosian language.
He's later approached by a member of an organization called the International Police, who offers him assistance. Reluctantly, he accepts. It can't do any harm, after all.
That was fourteen years ago.
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You're worried that Moon is obsessed with that busted Dex she found.
You remember it very clearly—when she and Lillie dove into Ultra Space with Nebby-turned-Lunala, and you stayed back to beat back anything that came out of the portal. The last thing Alola needed was to deal with more Beasts. You weathered the role resolutely, because you knew that your sister should be the one to accompany Lillie. But after the sun set and they still weren't back, you began to worry.
Hapu joined you by sunrise on the second day, claiming she had to do her job as a Kahuna and protect her island. It wasn't until late afternoon that Moon and Lillie finally emerged with a rather reticent Guzma and a cataleptic Lusamine in tow.
Lillie insisted they weren't gone longer than a half hour. What the hell.
Anyway, Moon was cradling a busted Dex she discovered in Ultra Space. It was an older model, the plastic corroded to expose damaged wiring, a busted screen and melted lumps that were probably once buttons. It dripped something pitch black and corrosive, so she'd put it in a plastic bag that could resist even a Salazzle's toxins. You still remember the way the sludgy fluid congealed in one corner of the bag.
"Someone got lost in there," she told you quietly after she'd caught Nebby, as you all headed back to Seafolk Village. Her eyes looked haunted.
You ended up being the one to assist agents Looker and Anabel, to catch the Ultra Beasts—Moon was too busy balancing her new Champion duties with constantly checking up on Kukui to see if had recovered anything from the Dex wreckage, any trace of its owner. Nanu insisted you not tell her about Fallers. You hate to admit it, because she's your twin sister and you guys aren't supposed to have secrets, but you agree. She won't take it well.
"C'mon," you say to her, trying to get her out of Kukui's lab. It's not good for her. Since Lillie left, she's been... despondent at best. "Why don't we explore Poni Island some more? Hey, remember that Battle Tree that Hau mentioned? Maybe we could—"
"No thanks, Sun," she interrupts dully.
You sigh. "Okay, sis, I love you, but you're starting to scare me."
"I just—"
"There's nothing you can do about that Dex, okay?"
She stares at you with a sort of horror, her grey eyes a contrast to your pale blue. Most people don't think you two are twins because she has black hair while yours is golden-blonde, and while you are both pale, you're peachier than her. The two of you really are night and day, at least in terms of appearance.
"Doesn't it bother you?" she snaps.
"Of course it does," you answer quietly, patiently. "But there's still nothing you can do about it."
"I can find the owner," she retorts softly, resolutely.
"Moon—"
Footsteps that make the wooden steps creak. You and your sister turn to see Professor Burnet coming down the stairs. She's taking a break from her research to visit her husband, and she comes bearing a smile and gingersnap cookies. "Hey, how're you two doing down here?"
"Fine," Moon says before you can protest.
Burnet smiles, then peers at the counter, where the busted Dex sits, hooked up to Moon's own Dex. Rotom is hovering above as the machine sorts what data remains on the damaged computer chip. Burnet's brows rise. "What're you two doing with a damaged Unova Dex?"
You blink. "Unova?"
Burnet nods and sets the gingersnaps aside to get a better look. She places her chin her hand. "Yeah. The Professor there—Juniper—she had a prototype that looked like this. I mean, I didn't get a good look, but it definitely looks Unovan."
She eyes you both suspiciously as you and Moon exchange a glance. "Where did you get this?"
"Um," you mumble, because that's always a good way to start an explanation.
"It's... a long story," Moon says, which is really not much better.
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Touya wakes up drenched in sweat, gasping. His heart bangs against his ribcage so hard it sends reverberations all throughout his body. His hands are shaking.
In his mind's eye, he sees it—that weird, sci-fi aquarium world, an ethereal jellyfish with a tinkling, chirpy trill and feels something cold and sticky running down his back, something long and glassy wrapping around his neck. He remembers something enveloping him, greedy whispers of mine, mine, mine in his ears, and then a sudden urge, hot and all-consuming, to scream and break and destroy—
In the present, he sits up and blinks, gasping. He touches his neck, but there's no lingering, noose-like sensation. No nothing. Gradually, the memory slides back into the depths of his subconscious, and he can't for the life of him recall it.
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100KR is given a new identity and a new codename that he wields proudly. He's been given the status of agent, though he has only two years of training and knows that it usually takes much longer. In his naivete, he thinks this is because he did something to impress the top brass, and not because they have some sort of secret motivation for keeping someone like him in their pocket.
It's maybe a month after his promotion, while 100KR is moving into his new office, that he overhears—
"I can't believe they promoted him to full agent."
—and pauses, his arms filled with a box of his belongings. He shouldn't be eavesdropping, but he's about ninety percent sure that, whoever it is, they're talking about him.
"It's really not our decision," responds a smooth voice, one that 100KR recognizes. 100KR pictures Agent 000, silver-haired and red-eyed and notoriously cynical. So much so that the only one who tolerates him is his partner. That means the other speaker is...
Agent 414. Yes, she was the agent who 100KR first met in Hoenn, two years ago. Who recruited him. A stark contrast from 000, 414 is pretty, professional, and dark-haired, with mocha skin and blue eyes. He hasn't spoken to her in that time, but he's heard enough rumors to get an idea of the sort of she-beast she is in the field.
There's a loud sigh from behind the door. "The man can't even speak fluid Common..."
"He's learning, though," 000 responds flatly. "And he really is a good guy, once you get to know him—"
"'Good guy' has nothing to do with it. He's severely undertrained!"
100KR frowns.
A sigh from 000. "What do you want me to say?"
"Oh, don't give me that 'you're overreacting' look. I'm not overreacting here. He's gonna get himself killed!"
"Nadia—"
"Nanu!"
"What are you gonna do, Nadia?!" 000 suddenly bursts out, and 100KR takes a step away from the door. "Huh? Go to the top brass, say that to their faces? You think that, what, because you were the one who recruited him, that this is a reflection on you? Well it's not! This has nothing to do with us! And the sooner you accept that, the better!"
There's a long pause. 100KR is just about to turn and leave when—
"It's not fair," 414 whispers softly.
Just as softly, 000 responds, "Life isn't fair."
100KR leaves after that, convinced the conversation had been about envy over his recent promotion. He never stops to ask who life isn't fair for—them, or him.
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You watch from the other side of the glass, your arms folded tightly, as N tries to coax Reshiram into eating. You haven't heard from Touya in years, and then suddenly Iris gets a call from the Hoenn Champion about his truth-dragon showing up in a cave somewhere? Unaccompanied? The hell is that about?
Rosa is standing next to you, also watching. The Hoenn Champion and her scientist friend give you a wide berth after you explain that you were his sister, Reshiram's Trainer's. Cheren and Bianca should be here, too, but they're both grown up with responsibilities of their own—Cheren has a Gym to run that's tough as hell and attracts challengers like bees to flowers, and he can't just up and abandon that, as much as you could see he wanted to. Bianca is the same. She was about to take exam for her science license or whatever, so you made the executive decision to call and tell her after she had taken the test, and by then you were already in Hoenn. You've promised to update them on any new developments, and have promised your mom the same thing.
N finally comes back into the room. His expression is grim.
"Reshiram can't recall how they got separated," he announces.
You bite your thumb. That's not good.
"It was six years ago," Rosa points out.
"No," N says, "Reshiram claims it was recently. In fact, they were quite surprised to learn that six years had passed since they last battled with Zekrom."
You nearly bite your thumb off like a carrot. Rosa opens her mouth, hesitates, and then closes it again, clearly stumped.
"So what the hell does that mean?" you ask. "How can they get separated six years ago and not realize it's been six years?"
N shakes his head. It's his way of saying he doesn't know.
Shit.
"Champion May said that Reshiram came through a ring," Rosa pipes up suddenly. "And Champion Serena is here looking for a Pokémon she thinks is responsible. Maybe—when she finds it—you can ask that Pokémon?"
N's expression remains melancholy. "Maybe..."
Rosa offers him a consoling look. Geez, you know he and Touya had some weird soul-bond going on. Touya went out to look for him, and that's how this all started. Guy probably feels guilty.
You feel guilty too. You should've tried harder to stop him. Should've convinced him to take more than just Reshiram, take his whole fucking team.
Now he's gone.
You bite your thumb again.
Where the fucking hell are you, bro?
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Touya starts to get sick of the yawning emptiness inside his own head. He keeps reaching for things that aren't there, gets frustrated, reaches harder, gets even more frustrated—it's a vicious cycle.
Riley can't distract him forever. When he's alone, Touya repeats his own name to himself—"Touya, Touya, Touya"—as though saying it will somehow make it his. But saying a word isn't enough to feel it, to feel the lifetime behind and all the things that give the word the meaning.
After a while, his own name sounds like nonsense to his ears, the way words do when you say them too much. And in the end, his name is just another word, one that he simply doesn't recognize.
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100KR is given the task of training a young recruit named Riley, with whom he seems to connect to better than any of the other agents. 414 seems to take this as a personal offense and makes an effort to avoid them both. 000 has the decency to act civilly towards them both, and Riley has decided that he mildly tolerates the other agent.
"Don't let Nadia getcha down," 000 says one day. He's treating 100KR and Riley to lunch. 000 is sipping something lukewarm and pitch-black, while Riley is sneaking bits of sandwich to his Riolu and 100KR's new Pokémon partner, a sleek young Croagunk. "She's a real hardass when it comes to protocol. Give her a little time—she'll come 'round."
"I can verify the 'hardass' part," Riley remarks, but doesn't look up from his task. 100KR chooses not to comment on that.
"I have no quarrel with her," 100KR says, and winces. Unlike the other agents, his accent bleeds into every word. He's trying very hard to shake it, but some subconscious part of him clings to it as the only reminder of his past.
That, and his unusual medical knowledge, which, coupled with the Mega Stone he had on him that was apparently affiliated with Audino (according to May), a healing species, he's come to the conclusion that he was most likely a med student or something of that variety in his past life. Not that it matters now—it's just something 100KR likes to consider every now and again.
"And she's got no quarrel with you," 000 replies. If he's phased by 100KR's thick accent, he doesn't say anything. "She's actually worried about you, rookie."
"I'm no rookie, Chief 000."
000 snickers like 100KR's said something funny. "Just be careful out in the field, KR. Try not get yourself killed."
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Sun and Moon explain everything to you and Kukui. Because you are Unovan or because you feel slightly responsible for this because of your field of study, you take it upon yourself to be the deliverer of bad news. Moon tries to insist on doing it herself—she's a Champion, she says, it's her job—but she's a kid, and you're not going to let her do that. Besides, you know the region better. You've met Juniper once (though you are admittedly closer with her friend Fennel). You should be the one to do it.
You take a ferry to Nuvema that lasts three days, and during that time you memorize every groove and loose wire in the wrecked Dex. Part of you wonders if this is connected to Aether's experiments (the organization funded your own research, so that thought makes you wince guiltily) or if it's completely unrelated. Ultra Wormholes show up mostly in Alola, though there are reports of similar events occurring in other regions over the course of recorded history. It was apparently how the Draconid tribe gained knowledge of a parallel world that lacked Mega Evolution. But they were incredibly rare in Alola alone, much less the rest of the world.
Still, though, some small, relentless part of you wonders, is this my fault?
You arrive at Juniper's laboratory and are greeted by a blonde, bespectacled woman who claims to be her personal assistant. She smiles at you, introducing herself as Bian— But she stops when she sees the Dex in your hands, and the smile drops from her face. In a hushed voice, she invites you in, her face solemn, and then goes to get Juniper.
You run your thumb over the edge of the machine. All the lingering Nihilego venom has been cleaned off, but you have to wonder what happened to the owner, if they encountered that thing in its native environment. You take a deep breath and choose not to think.
Juniper comes in, at first friendly and cordial. She remarks that she almost didn't recognize you, with the way your skin has darkened under the Alolan sun. Any more pleasantries she has planned evaporate when you present her with the busted Dex, because you just want it to be over and done with.
"Where did you get this?" Juniper demands. There's a sudden protective gleam in her eyes.
"A pair of siblings found it," you explain apologetically. You don't know what else to say.
Juniper's eyes narrow. "Where?"
You bite your inner cheek and say nothing.
Juniper calls Bianca and tells her to get someone named Melaina. Bianca exchanges a nervous glance between you and Juniper, then bolts out the door like a startled Deerling.
"This was Touya's Dex," Juniper says quietly. "He's been missing for six years. I need to know where you got this, Burnet."
You feel like you'll draw blood, the way you're biting the inside of your cheek. In Ultra Space, you can't say. In a place full of monsters that'll tear people apart at a moment's notice. He's probably dead, if he's been gone as long as you say he has.
"...it's really better for your peace of mind if I don't," you say instead.
Bianca returns with a woman with blue eyes and threads of grey in her brunette hair, who is dressed in a simple white blouse and a denim skirt. She has a toughness about her that reminds you of a Trainer, but there's worry etched so deeply in her face that it's almost indistinguishable. You realize this must be Melaina—and from the way she stares at the Dex with a heartbroken horror, you realize she must be the mother.
You don't know where you find the strength to do it, but you stand there and listen as she sobs.
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About a year after his promotion, 100KR is assigned to a Task Force in Alola alongside 000 and 414. 000 takes the role of leader, and he briefs 100KR about their mission—it is then that 100KR first hears the words "Ultra Beast".
It's like something out of science fiction. Aliens from another dimension that attack anything and everything that gets in their way, thrust into a world so bafflingly different from their own that they lash out in fury and confusion. It's sort of tragic, in a sense, but 000 reinforces that these beings are dangerous and should be destroyed, so 100KR forces himself to compartmentalize whatever emotion the story evokes in him.
Their mission takes them all across the archipelago, and then leave extraterrestrial corpses in their wake. After they dispatch another beast, they spend a silent dinner at a local restaurant. The food is delicious, but there's a sort of melancholy in the air that 100KR can't shake and turns the food tasteless in his mouth, because each night he has nonsensical nightmares about a place he can never remember upon waking up and he keeps seeing the faces of the dispatched beasts in his mind's eye. A sort of guilt gnaws at his belly. He can't explain it, but he feels sorry for them. Dangerous as they are, these creatures didn't ask to end up here.
He wonders if 414 and 000 feel the same way, or if it's just him.
"So, rookie," 414 says in their motel on an island called Ula'ula. They're in the last stage of their mission. Only one more UB remains: Codename Glutton. She eyes him lazily. It's been a long day. "What do you think of your first mission? Was it everything you were expecting?"
"...it is not as I expected, no," 100KR admits.
They are alone, right now. Just the two of them. 000 is off scouting the location, and "doing leader things", as he says. 100KR is almost as surprised by 000 shift in attitude (suddenly proactive and very serious, but not in a cynical sort of way) as he is by the fact that 000 knows the native language, and can speak it with startling efficiency.
414 is silent for a long time. Her Sylveon, Gizmo, dozes lazily on the pillow of her bed, ribbons curling lazily around his body. She insists nicknames strengthen bonds, though 100KR doesn't find his bond with Croagunk is diminished by the lack of a nickname. Light glitters off Gizmo's oddly blue fur.
"Have you—" she starts, stops, then starts again. "Have you noticed... how those things go after you, KR?"
100KR blinks. He has, admittedly, noticed that the UBs do tend to target him more so than either 000 or 414, and does find it odd. He frowns. "What is the significance?"
She looks like she's going to say something, but then 000 comes back and says he's found the UB on the shore—it's asleep, but it's eaten half the vegetation around the coast. Probably digesting. They need to strike now.
As they get up, 414 brushes past. "Stay close to me, okay?"
"I am not in need of a sitter, Agent," 100KR retorts. "I would not be deemed field-ready if I were."
414's eyes darken. "Just stay close to me."
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The phone rings. Looker picks up. He's almost at Snowpoint, and he didn't think the reception here would be so good. "Hello?" he says into the receiver.
"Ah, Mr. Looker. I'm glad I caught you." Anabel's Hoennian twang is unmistakable. Like him, she never shook her accent, and the IP never forced her to.
Looker taps the side of his seat. She sounds nervous. That's not a good thing. "...you have news on the sample Riley sent you, yes?"
He has no idea how Riley managed to do it, but the freelancer was able to discreetly extract a small sample of Touya's blood and send it to HQ for analysis. Probably had help from his fellow freelancers (Marley, Cheryl, Mira, Buck, any one of them would have not hesitated to do Riley a favor). Riley had no idea why, of course. He knows about Fallers and Ultra Beasts, but not what they were capable of, and when Looker heard about black stains on Touya's clothes, alarm bells were sent off. Looker hates to ask his superior to run a simple tox-screen, but Anabel is one of the few agents in the know of the UBs and has the power to have something like this done discreetly.
Anabel sighs. "Yeah. Um. The ME found traces of Nihilego's venom in his blood."
An icy hand closed around Looker's throat. He'd heard from Wicke what that substance could do to people, what it had done to Aether's old President. "...I see."
"I know what you're thinking," Anabel says suddenly. "Mr. Looker, they were just traces. There's no evidence of long-term exposure. In fact, it's more than likely that he came into contact with one, but he got away before it could properly merge with him."
"Maybe..."
It's not implausible, actually. The same thing had happened to Skull's former boss, according to that boy Looker met in Alola—Sun. His sister Moon and her friend Lillie had witnessed it. In addition, those two girls were two of the only Fallers the IP weren't aware of, and Looker's report had not specified that Guzma or Lusamine had been exposed to Symbiont while in Ultra Space. It was likely the IP would assume they'd just been unlucky enough to get caught by the UBs that spilled out of the numerous Wormholes that had opened up when Aether decided to mess with dimensional walls. It had happened before. Ah, civilians getting hurt by UBs, not dimensional walls crumbling.
There was a pause on the other end that made Looker worry. "Chief? Are you still there?"
"Yeah... I was just..." Another pause. "I was thinking that maybe... the severance might've been the cause of the amnesia, y'know? I mean, this neurotoxin has already been proven to alter brain chemistry and suppress certain emotions, so, maybe it can suppress memories, too?"
The scientists back at HQ actually had a theory that there's something in Ultra Space, some psychic wavelength or something, that messes with brainwaves and slowly erased memory. The more time you spend there, the more you lose, and would account for the total amnesia most Fallers suffer from, if they were in there long enough. After observing the output radiation from the Wormholes that opened all over Alola, the data looks promising in supporting that hypothesis.
But Anabel doesn't know that. And she doesn't need to spend her nights worrying about something like that.
"Chief, unlike Touya, you had no traces of Symbiont's toxin in your system," Looker points out. Neither did I, he doesn't say. "I doubt Symbiont is solely responsible."
"...you're probably right. I'm overthinking this."
"It is natural of you to worry."
A chuckle from the other end. "I guess so. Hey, tell Riley I said hi, okay?"
"Of course, Chief."
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414 sacrificed herself to save him.
It's still jarring, the fact that's dead. Because she can't be gone. She was just here. She was just—
In front of him, while he hesitated, wracked by guilt and strange sort of fear. Leaping in front of him, saving his life, being snapped up by one of Glutton's many maws.
The UB is dead, now, and 414 with it. Gizmo lets out a mournful howl that chills 100KR's blood. 000 and his Liepard are circling the corpse to make sure it really is dead. 000 isn't looking at him.
It will be quite some time before 100KR understands what happened and why—why Glutton went after him in particular. Why 000 will look at him with something like blame even though he's trying to internally convince himself that it's not entirely 100KR's fault. Why 414 did what she did and why she was so afraid for him.
But right now, there's only grief.
.
.
.
Touya has nightmares almost every night and never remembers them when he wakes. He hasn't had a decent night's sleep in a week and a half, and every time he wakes up, he's overwhelmed by this overpowering sensation of absence, a total and complete lack of self, and it nearly swallows him whole each time. He's ashamed to say it, but he sobs to himself—who am i, who am i, who am i—until the sun rises and he's forced to pretend it never happened.
He begins visiting the library because reading books both calm his nerves and the action is distracting. He'd rather focus on other stories than the fact that his own has been lost somewhere.
Riley finds him the first time in the fiction section, and then joked about Touya being a bookworm. From there, it devolved into an hour-long debate on why being a nerd is not a bad thing. After that, Riley would meet up with him there, and they'd talk about everything and nothing, and Touya would almost find his lack of identity to be irrelevant.
"He actually said that?" Touya asks, alarmed. Riley often talks of a man named Looker, who was a sort of mentor-figure to the man growing up. Though from the stories Touya's hearing, the older man sounds like quite a character.
"Looker—he's not so good with tact." Riley smiles mischievously—a genuine smile. Touya has admittedly become partial to him. He's really a nice guy, once you get to know him. "Especially since he was still learning Common at the time."
Touya flashes an appreciative smile, but listens to that little voice that says not to take things at face value. He pauses, considering how Riley has been acting recently, and then, slowly, "Is this the guy that's coming?"
Riley hesitates, then nods. "Yeah. He's a good guy, Touya. I think you'll like him."
Huh. So that's why Riley's been talking about this "Looker" person so much. Touya really should have figured.
.
.
.
Not long after they've called in a clean-up team to cremate of the carcass—and 414's remains—they find a girl laying on the shore, further down from where they were. She's unconscious when they find her, and 100KR determines that she has sunstroke and needs immediate medical attention. As they carry her to a hospital, she regains consciousness briefly. She tells them her name is Anabel, and she has no memory except for a few things, like her name and that she defended a tower somewhere in Hoenn.
100KR finds the similarities to be very chilling.
"She is in need of assistance," 100KR argues once they reach the hospital and have Anabel admitted. They've just gotten word from their superiors to bring her back to HQ.
"Not the kinda help we can give her," 000 retorts. He's bitter, and tired, now that his partner's gone. Now that he's shouldering the burden alone.
"Chief 000, I hesitate to argue with my superior, but we cannot leave her simply here."
000 does not retort.
Author's Notes:
Nadia's name means "hope", btw. I thought it was fitting.
Writing some of Looker's dialogue in the flashbacks was admittedly difficult. I hope I did a enough good job.
Hope you enjoyed!
Luna