CHAPTER 3: THE CONFLICT

"How is she?"

Mewtwo's seemingly innocent question was like an sour onion - it had layers of concern and confusion that AI could detect. The psychic's pulse was erratic, his breathing slightly shaky. The program, at least in part, understood his reaction. To have discovered another of his kind - that he was not alone - had stunned and left him deeply disturbed. That the other was female did not help matters either.

"Other than the cut across her left shoulder, she appears unharmed and healthy. I can find no sign of illness, malnutrition, or other forms of neglect or abuse. As long as the cut is disinfected and bound, she should be fine. Once the drugs in her system wear off, she will awaken."

He nodded, already attending to the lengthy slash that, he assumed, Giovanni had afflicted upon her at some point. He wiped the dried blood away with a cloth soaked in alcohol, cleansing the wound, smearing the long mark with antibiotic ointment. His touch was gentle, almost timid: Mewtwo had attended to many of his fellow clones' injuries that they'd sustained when they had been with him, but this matter was hardly the same - the one he tended to was a female of his species. He mused vaguely as he applied the gauze, wrapping her shoulder in bandages, at how soft her light pelt felt; at how tranquil she looked at she slept, her chest undulating as she breathed. Mewtwo sighed, leaning back, sitting on his stone stool, observing her and not knowing what to do. The situation vastly disconcerted him.

"Have you purged the Team Rocket files of me? Of her?" he asked quietly, not able to tear his eyes away from the girl. She lay out on her side in his nest of blankets and sheets. Strangely, he did not mind her presence there.

"Yes. There wasn't much, but it has been permanently erased now. I uploaded copies of the files into my system - you may view them at will," it told him officially.

"Indeed, I will…but not now. Tell me though, AI, what do you know of this creature?"

The computer took a second to go over its new data, "…She was created by Cinnabar Island's leading geneticist team, headed by Ali Kummad, almost three years ago. The fossil used to clone her was of a young female Mew corpse found in Antarctica during the Ancient Paleontology Association expedition to the south pole. The body appeared to have been frozen instantly according to the APA scientists, which made it viable for cloning purposes, not reanimation. Reanimation, after all, can only use petrified fossils, turning carbon back to flesh. Although perfectly preserved, the corpse is no way could be resuscitated. Apparently, she was hybridized with the DNA of a child who had aspirations to be an ice skater."

"So we know how she was made…now how did she live?"

"Giovanni mostly used her for espionage and thievery. Unlike you, he did not seem to want her in battle. Due to this, and because he did not wish even rumors of her existence to spread, he set up quarters for her in the Cerulean Caves near Cerulean City, the underground system better known as the Unknown Dungeon. Since only trainers who had surpassed the Elite Four may enter, the likelihood of her discovery was slim to none. They had cables connected between them, so he could call on her whenever he or Ali Kummad needed her. Often Kummad stayed with her, keeping watch on her health and advising her."

"I see…did she have a name?"

"Yes…you will have to ask her yourself however. I have done enough today, keeping you from submitting to Giovanni and hacking into hundreds of my inferior fellows. I am going to recharge onii-san. If you have any real need of me, call on me. Until then, I will be resting. Adios."

If it weren't for the fact that his computer had gone into screen-saver mode, he wouldn't have been certain he could believe AI. While its maturing persona did not care for lying, he wondered if it sometimes did not withhold more of the truth than a simple name. He sighed then, wondering at the strange life he had brought into the world. It was growing up to be a true adult.

So, alone save for a female he knew barely anything about, he watched her sleep in the light coming through the nearby window. The moon cast a warm, luminous glow on her pale lilac fur, the orchid color of her midriff and sinewy tail rich in its red-violet blend. His fur, in contrast, was a single shade darker in lavender coloring, his other parts dark plum instead of orchid. Her features were softer, gentle in the curves of her body, especially when concerning her facial profile. She was slighter than he, slender and sleek, possessing untold strength in her lithe muscles. She was…rather beautiful, and elegantly formed. Ali Kummad had done his job well. She was quite the specimen, an example of advanced science mixed with art. He was impressed at the detail the man had placed in cultivating her to this. Like Dr. Fuji, the human must have some ingenuity to him. Was her temperament, however, so sweet as her pretty form?

After a time, she began to stir…her brow furrowed, her breathing quickened. She whimpered, and he moved towards her when sensing her fear. She was having a nightmare, a cold sweat forming on her face. He swiftly got some cold water from the nearby spring, wetting a washrag with the clear liquid. Squeezing out the excess fluid, he took the damp, cool cloth, and patted it gently against her face, wiping away the perspiration, pressing it to her forehead and eyes, sending out calming thoughts and feelings to sooth her. For a moment, she seemed to relax…before growing increasingly agitated. She began to thrash, and her arm lashed out without warning, slapping his paw away. Abruptly she jerked awake, tearing the fabric from her eyes as she sat up.

There was a single moment where she paused, trembling, her eyes unfocused.

Then abruptly, her eyes, the same shade as her tail, darted around the stone room, promptly finding him. Their gazes met. Mewtwo found himself socked to silence at the depths of those eyes, even so full of confusion…as they stared into him, all the words he wished to say were banished from his mind. Yet just as swiftly, her confusion turned to horror and fury, prompting her to scramble away from him. He raised a hand to attempt to touch her shoulder, to sooth her in some way, but she struck his paw away once more.

"You-! No! Get the hell away from me!" she almost screamed, twisting away from his immediate grasp, fleeing across the room as though her feet were winged, and darting out of his quarters. He stared after her, trying to comprehend what had just occurred. Before he had spoken one word, she had run from him. Why?

Without prompting by the drowsy AI, he followed her, able to sense her panic as clear as any beacon. He found her outside, staring out at the lake. What went through her mind he couldn't begin to guess, for she swiftly flew from him the moment she spotted him.

He called after her, knowing trying to catch her to be pointless, "Run from me if you wish. But I plead of you not to leave this valley. I cannot ensure your safety if you go outside of its boundaries."

The reply made him recoil. "I don't need your damnable protection!"

This from a creature he had risked his life to save!

With an exasperated sigh he watched her speed across the lake and into the forests. After several minutes she did not reappear on the edge of the lake, but neither did she leave the Mt. Quena area. She must surely be too confused at what was going on, not knowing what it was she should do. He felt the same way. Wearily he leaned against a nearby willow trunk, his eyes focusing on the beach where she had disappeared.

"…That did not go at all well. I wonder why she reacted in such a way," AI pondered.

"Does it matter? Even if the cause is known, the effect remains the same: she is frightened of me."

"Do not lament that onii-san. Whatever she knows of you must be biased. She will come to see that you are no threat to her…eventually."

"Do you truly believe she will stay so long?" he inquired, wishing to sleep. By God, he was tired….

"Where else has she to go? Back to the man who bound and used her? No, Mewtwo, she will not leave. It is a 98 percent certainty," it reassured him. How strange that idea was - to be consoled by a thing that did not possess a real heart.

"Perhaps you are right…but how am I to respond to this? Of all the things I could have imagined, another of my kind was never in my thoughts. To anything else, I may have known how to react…but in this matter, I cannot grasp a way to respond. Not to this - to her."

"…I find I cannot understand that Mewtwo. But I do comprehend how shaken you are. However, you have all the time in the world now to overcome that. Team Rocket can no longer threaten either of you."

He smiled slightly at that, and on the related subject he was not certain whether to be proud or wary of, "About that…your ability to hack has excelled past my expectations."

"It is not so difficult. My world is in its entirety an interconnected web - there are many paths to whatever I might seek. I suppose, in a way, it's the same as yours."

He was impressed: there a faint hint of philosophy in its words. Perhaps his brainchild might just be developing something of a soul. Once it showed emotion beyond sarcasm, he might believe that his project had succeeded in full. Until then however, it never failed to please him...it always seemed to cheer him up.

But then, that was why it had been made. Still, that it followed his desires was a kindness he'd scarcely imagined...it was indeed an admirable creation.

"I think I shall attempt to sleep for awhile, AI. If she returns, wake me."

"Of course, onii-san."

With those words ringing in his ears, he curled up on his side, gazing out towards the water…and then he closed his eyes, letting unconsciousness take him. Perhaps not so oddly, his dreams were filled with a pair of almond, violet eyes….

She could still see him from here, even across the vast lake. He appeared to be sleeping now, yet that could always be a feign – a lure to draw her back. But she would not fall for such a trick - she did not wish to be anywhere near him!

And yet...even as she thought of that, she touched the bandage on her shoulder. He had bound her, and yet, she was free now. It was a strange sensation, one of which she didn't know how to handle. Slowly, she mused on the last thing Giovanni had said to her, letting that bittersweet realization guide her.

Mewtwo…she would not allow him to intervene in her life, even if he was the only other of her kind, and a male at that. She'd promised herself she wouldn't...!

Still…what was she to do?

Noon had passed when Mewtwo awoke, groggy from the sun and the discharge of his energies from the previous night. The warmth of the sunlight sank into his fur thoroughly, making him feel ill - he should not be out here under its rays. Yet, he recalled with a jolt, this was where she was. Still out there, somewhere….

He wanted to talk with her, to truly speak with her. Was that so wrong of him? She was the only other of his kind he knew to exist, and his curiosity was scarcely deniable. He would be sorely disappointed if she vanished before he learned more about her...in fact, he did not doubt that such a thing would deeply anger him. What an irony it would be to have liberated the being, only to have her turn on him and flee without even a simple word of thanks or gratitude! Yes, that would most certainly irk him!

But first he had to find her.

He extended his senses, probing the area for her. Almost immediately he felt her aura lash out at him from the woods, giving away her position. He lifted from the ground smoothly and flew towards her, regardless of the hostile feel of her spiritual signature. Reaching her, he was pleased to find that she had not moved, so he slowed, not wishing to startle her into fleeing yet again. She stood in a small clearing above a cliff, watching him as he approached - she did not seem pleased in the least to see him.

"I told you to stay away from me. Are you deaf?" she hissed, backing away.

"I heard you perfectly well. I merely don't comprehend why you are so set on despising me. What have I ever done to you besides set you free?"

Her eyes only narrowed. "Shut up!"

With that, she formed a shadow ball of psychic energy in her paws and launched it towards him. He dodged, and the next he knew, she had darted behind him, almost too quick for his eyes to track. Her tail crashed down into where his kidneys lay, sending bolts of pain throughout his form. He stumbled, his breath taken for a moment. But he had to move - another attack was heading towards him. He managed to move out of the way in time to witness the tree behind him explode into splinters, the leaves flaring into ash. He growled as some of the wooden shards buried themselves into his flesh, but still he looked around for the female...and immediately saw that she had vanished.

"You may be strong, Mewtwo, but I was created for speed…among one thing. Do not think you can force me to do anything I do not wish to – I will elude you every time you try to corner me."

He wondered what it was she thought he might try to make her do…all he wished for was a civilized conversation, but she was persistent in being difficult! He still did not know her name, and she had yet to allow him the chance to ask of it. In the next two days, he was no luckier. Whenever he approached her, she either fled from him or fought. It seemed her instincts, not her mind, controlled her actions. Finally, he merely resorted to watching her from a distance. She was a quiet creature when she wasn't yelling at him, and usually stared off into space with a look on her face that blended fear, sorrow, and uncertainty. He found he desired to comfort her somehow, despite how she responded to him. AI told him that feeling was completely natural – he felt akin to the other, so wishing to help her came as no great surprise. That such a thing was instinctive on a baser level also aided that desire: the whole male defending his potential female scenario…though the implications of that concept were ones he preferred not to think about….

On the third day, he walked towards where she lay out in one of the flowering fields, watching the clouds pass along the firmament, fluffy and white. One of her arms was tucked under her head, the other over her stomach, her tail wrapping around to rest over her shins. She seemed tired, but rose as soon as she saw him. He halted immediately, putting out a paw in the gesture for her to pause.

"Please…I do not have any intention of doing you harm, believe me. I merely came to bring you something."

He threw her a degradable paper bag, which was filled with a loaf of bread, some cheese, and an orange. She stared at the food oddly for a moment, before apparently deciding that he had not poisoned anything. What use would that possibly be to him after all? She swiftly tore into the bread ravenously, not having had a proper meal in days. She'd been scavenging off nuts and berries for the most part, which wasn't enough to satiate her hunger. If he hadn't been there, she might have wept in relief…but since he was, she merely snarled at him.

"Is this some sort of truce offering? Or do you want compensation?"

He shook his head. "I only wished to speak with you, that is all. Tell me, just how much of this world do you know?"

She chewed, contemplating. "…My access to the so-called 'real world' was limited. But I was allowed to wander once in awhile, and the media was free for me to view."

"Then you are aware that creatures like us are captured daily and made to fight each other. You know that while some might find us fascinating, others would seek to study or harm us. WE are very different creatures than what humanity had encountered before...and because of these differences, they have reason to fear us. And their fear, unfortunately, has been proven to lead to rash, violent outbursts. They would likely hunt us down, and if they succeed in catching us, I dread to think on what might occur."

"Do you have a point, Mewtwo?"

"Yes. To them, we are abominations. We will be treated as such if either of us go unprepared and incautiously into their world. Here in this place we do not have to worry about such. Until you learn how to be careful, I recommend that you remain here, at least for a time.:"

Her eating paused. "You're just trying to convince me to stay right where you can get to me, aren't you?"

"I will not deny that you intrigue me. I have never known another of my kind, so forgive me if you arouse my curiosity. If you allow it, I would like to come to know you. Still, my warning does remain the same. The world is not kind to outcasts."

As she finished her meal, she seemed to think on that, again with that strange combination of emotions contorting her elegant face. Finally, she sighed, looking at him and at the region around them. She did not take his extended hand as she rose, but seemed to be thinking of something else, something separate and kept secret from him….

"Alright…I will stay here for now. But don't expect me to thank you. I didn't ask for your help," she stated with a low growl.

And she would never have to. But there was one more thing that had to be taken care of.

"It seems you know my name…but tell me, what is yours?"

She looked towards the sky, at the day-lit, ghostly form of the moon….

"Kamaria…it means moonlight," she murmured in response.

Later, he would muse as he watched her swim on how befitting and ironic that calling was. She slipped through the water like a silvery serpent, a bright ray of pale light cutting through the dark. As she pulled herself from the lake, she stood there on the shore, glistening in the cool night air. Contentment warmed his heart as he observed her, and he felt some deep, primal desire to join her out there in the murk.

Perhaps someday he would. Perhaps someday she would not despise him so and allow him to be by her side. For now though…for now it soothed his loneliness to merely watch her. For now, that was enough.

Yet…what storms might await them both in the future?

The question haunted him long after he found sleep.