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Author's note: Okay folks, I'm done with the filler chapters! ::and the peasants rejoice:: So from now on, this story will, hopefully, be moving at a faster pace with more stuff happening ^_^ The chapters up till now were mostly little action and a lot of dialogue that was all very important to the plot. However I am still one of those authors who likes to keep people guessing (although I dunno how good I am at it) so I'll be revealing more stuff in this and later chapters-this is because I'm afraid you all will get sick of trying to figure out what I'm implying with some of the weird dialogue.
None of the probably made any sense ^^;; but anyway, I'm hoping this story will be less boring and have just as much action as the required thinking involved. As you can see, I am no big fan of stories without plot twists. If everything is too straight forward, things become predictable, so go ahead. Try and guess how it ends. The chances are incredibly small that you'll be right. (muwahaha)
But that's what makes reading fun-hopefully reading this story will be enjoyable ^_^
Oh and one more thing, the opening scene bears a resemblance to the ending of chapter 3, the way the dialogue is set up. It may seem confusing now, but you'll understand in probably the next chapter-maybe ^_~.
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:: there's something that I... I? There is no "I" ::
"Okaaaaay." Kokuan, Morada. Identifed: Team Rocket Doctor. Security level: 3.
Personal physician to "Boss" and Elite rank. Personnel File: void. "This is kinda neat, not like you'd care anyways, but I hate talking to myself and you're the only one here."
:: "I" am not real, but what is real? :: searching... searching... Definition: real-genuine, authentic, true, existing.
:: "True"? That's not me. There is no "me" either::
"Anywho..." searching... word not found. "Your internal structure is set up almost exactly like a human body. Those civilian doctors that still use things like x-rays instead of the scanners Team Rocket invented could never tell you aren't human. You even have a simulated heart. It pumps red colored plasma that maintains your systems-neat, eh?" Kokuan, Morada.
:: "I" am not "true"... ::
"But you're gonna haveta learnta act more human-follow?" Kokuan, Morada.
Searching... words unknown. Incorrect usage of contractions. "Negative."
"That's what I'm talking about!" Kokuan, Morada. "You can't say things like 'negative; when you should really be saying something simple like 'no'. If you talk like some computer we'll never pass you off as a real human."
:: But "I" am not "real". "I" does not exist. ::
"Well, James," Giovanni started, "this is an unpleasant surprise. What does a deserter like you want-because I refuse to give you your job back."
On the videophone screen, James was glaring at him. His anger helped in putting on a brave front, but he was honestly still terrified of his former Boss. "I need to get a message to someone..." he began carefully. "You said Jessie was assigned to a level five division, and their location is top secret. Well I'm not asking much, sir, not her location or anything. I just wanted to tell her something."
Giovanni scowled at James, but smiled on the inside. "I am the sole owner of an international organization of pokemon theft and experimentation, and you have the audacity to call me and ask to bring myself down to a mere letter carrier?"
James visibly squirmed. "I couldn't think of anyone else who'd know where she is. I didn't have many friends in the higher ranks." He tried to meet Giovanni's glare, but those eyes just knew far much more than he did and he couldn't stand to look. "If there's someone else I can call, an actual letter carrier..."
"I'm curious, James," Giovanni was getting that tone. He was fishing for information. "In five years, you haven't tried to contact her. Why now?"
James's eyes narrowed. He knew. His former boss knew he'd found out about the android. "Just...curious," he tried. "I got myself into an...interesting situation; I thought she might like to know-and I though she might know some things that would help."
"Ordinarily I wouldn't," Giovanni answered. Things were playing out just like he wanted them to. "But Jessie has become one of my most valuable members-it seems you were weighing her down, I was right to separate you-and I talk to her frequently. I might pass on the message if I believe it's really worth it. What is it you wanted to tell her?"
James held up a piece of paper. "I'd prefer to send a letter," he said.
"That would create a paper trail. You'll just have to trust me to tell her, wont you?"
The man smiled at James, and both knew what was happening. They both knew something the other wanted to-and yet they were initiating in small talk. Pointless, but it seemed to be a ritual event. "I guess I will..." James replied slowly. "Just tell her that I met a...strange person she might know. Looks remarkably like Jessie, but she's...different." He left it there, giving the Boss a smug look-well as smug a look as a terrified man could give.
Giovanni smiled, "I'd pass that message on," he said, giving James a smile. "But I think you know more than I do where to find your Jessica. Good luck James, I'll see you soon."
He hung up. James thought about what the man had said. He knew better than the boss did where to find her? Did that mean...the android really was Jessie?
Giovanni turned around in his chair and went to the darkened corner of his office where two guards were waiting, holding a prisoner. He bent down, and lifted the girls chin so she'd have to look him in the eye. "I have a message for you," he said, still with that smile. "Your little friend thinks that you are my android, or did you already hear?" he laughed.
Jessie thrashed her shoulders, trying to break free of the guards' hold, but it was no use. She mouthed obscenities at the Boss, but her voice wouldn't come because of the medicine she'd been given. He laughed again.
"It's a shame you were too tongue tied to speak to James," Giovanni smirked, turning to leave. "He would've loved to hear from his ex-friend."
His secretary was just opening the door for him when he heard a hoarse whisper. "What," hissed Jessie, hardly audible, "Did you tell James?"
"Enough to make sure he doesn't try to rescue you."
Uggh...what a headache. Misty felt dizzy, but that was about all she felt, for as far as she was concerned, there was no sensation in her limbs and she could care less. All she wanted was a Tylenol. She opened her eyes-too bright, forget it, sleeping is better.
"Um..."
Who was that?
"Excuse me...um...are you awake?"
She opened one eye, but had to squint so much she couldn't see a thing. Whoever it was dimmed the lights, and as he eyes adjusted a young man maybe a little older than Ash came into view.
There was an "R" on his shirt.
"AAAHHHH!!!!" Misty screamed, she tired to stand but could not. The only way she was actually sitting up straight was that her captor had pressed her against him, clamping a hand over her mouth.
"Please be quiet," he begged. "I didn't hide you very well so you can't scream or they'll find out you're here." Misty wasn't sure what this guy was up to, but perhaps it was that he'd said "please" that made her nod. "Now if you just let me explain, without running away or anything, I'll give you the antidote to that sedative that in your system." She nodded again.
Five minutes later Misty was feeling much better.
"All right you kidnapping jerk," she started out. "Who are you and what am I doing here-and where's here?" They seemed to be in a supply room of some sort. A large machine of some sort hummed loudly and puffed steam. It concealed them, but not very well for someone could easily sneak up on them if he knew where to look.
"We're in Mahogany Town," the boy stated. "At Team Rocket Headquarters."
"That's the where," Misty glowered, tapping her foot. "Give me the who and why."
"I'm Mondo, I'm a friend of Jessie, James, and Meowth ("Humph!" said Misty) and as for the why...because we need your help."
"Each disappearance happened around the time that a pokemon center would get robbed in the area," Ash was saying to the only one who seemed to care-Pikachu.
"Ash?" Morada popped her head into the room. "Help me out here-turn on the TV and bring me those cables over there...that's it..." Morada entered, guiding the android to the couch in front of the television set. "Now..." she said, opening her laptop. "It's a good thing your advanced programming lets you do so much at once, or we could be here for a while."
"What are you doing?" Ash asked, flipping the channels until he found a pokemon battle.
"She doesn't know how to talk like a person...still mutters in computer jargon," Morada explained, plugging in two of the cables into the laptop. "So I'm making her access a syntax program on the computer, but she also has to learn to understand slang, things said in accents and all that so I think if she watches enough TV she'll get the hang of it eventually."
Ash looked skeptical. "Will that really work?"
She glared at him. "If it worked in Splash then it'll work with her!" she snapped. "And turn it onto real TV, not a pokemon battle."
"It's the middle of the day!" Ash whined. "All that's on are soaps."
"SO? Soaps use dialogue unlike pokemon battles--sheesh we can't have her going around saying 'pikachu' now can we?"
Ash reluctantly turned to Days of Our Lives.
It took James awhile to get back from the pokemon center where he'd been using the phone. Aside from the fact that his car was in many, many pieces at the moment, he felt so confused and depressed it made him walk at a Slowpoke's pace.
But he didn't notice it at all, only realizing he'd arrived at the cabin when he slammed his nose into the screen door.
"Jessie" opened the door.
"Morgan, James," she addressed him.
He didn't know what to say to her...did she even care if he answered her at all? Could machines feel? Had everything been just a... "James is fine," he tried.
"Yes sir."
James felt his voice catch. Sir? SIR?! Not in his life had he ever expected that to come from her lips...if they really were her lips anyway. It was just wrong, and frankly uncomfortable. He opened his mouth to tell her no, but instead it came out as "Um, er...did you...uh...remember anything?"
"Please specify."
He hated her-this inhuman intrusion. This wasn't Jessie. This was some...some...it didn't even register in his mind. This person was nothing-how dare she take the form of his best friend!
But then again...
What if this thing standing in front of him was the genuine article? Jessie...his Jessie...was an android? But even then, the Jessie he knew... this was her. He'd decided it was her...wasn't that what the Boss had implied?
'But I think you know more than I do where to find your Jessica.'
So this was Jessie.
James closed his eyes, shutting out the image of her for just a moment. He took a deep breath and opened them again. She still stood in front of him. Completely expressionless-devoid of the vibrant energy that had made Jessie, the Jessie he cared so much for.
And those eyes... a shade lighter, a shallow, inhuman electric blue that made James desperately yearn to see the color of the ocean once more.
So this was Jessie.
"Where are we going?" Misty asked for the fiftieth time.
"To see some associates," Mondo replied once more.
"Are we there yet?" Misty asked for the fifty billionth time.
"No."
And then there was that awkward silence again.
The two were walking through the woods near Mahogany. The trip was mostly uphill, so it was a good thing she was so used to walking. But Mondo was boring company.
"So..." she started. "You said Jessie, James, and Meowth need MY help?" She didn't even know why she was still walking with the guy. She knew she should've tried to escape when she had the chance, but that might bring a Rocket search party on her and at least this Mondo seemed to have a different agenda.
"No," he said distractedly. "I said "we" need your help. "We" as in the Resistance."
Misty was visibly shocked. "You're rebelling against Team Rocket?"
"No," Mondo shook his head. "The Boss. Sure there are those of us who'd prefer an honest life, but most of us don't mind what we do."
"You should be ashamed-"
"But the Boss has to be stopped," Mondo continued, his tone immature and indignant. He stopped walking, turned around, and looked her in the eyes with an angry expression that didn't seem to fit his childish face. "Just because we're criminals doesn't mean we don't care about people. Sure we're nasty to strangers, but we take our friendships seriously."
"So do people who don't steal!"
The kid made a noise and faced his back to her to continue walking. There was silence once more, and Misty was left to her thoughts. It was obvious the kid hated her, but what was not obvious was why. And why ask for her help then?
"So...Mondo..." she said in a sickly-sweet tone. "What's in Viridian City?" she asked. "Cassidy mentioned it...is there something significant about it?"
Mondo looked up. "Viridian? That's where the Team Rocket training center used to be. HQ was moved there after some incident in Saffron... But now..." he trailed off there.
"Now...?" Misty insisted, trying not to loose her patience with this boy.
"Now, Vicious has his headquarters there," Mondo said. For the first time since she'd met him, his tone was serious. "Team Rocket is in the middle of a civil war. The Boss versus Vicious."
Misty didn't understand this, and she felt she didn't want to get involved in it so she changed the subject.
"What is this "Boss" doing that has to be stopped so badly?" she asked, trying to force sympathy into her voice.
"I told you," Mondo said, "we take our friendships seriously."
"But what-"
"The Boss," Mondo looked so angry right then, "is hurting our friends. We won't allow it-we won't forgive it." Misty remembered Mondo informing her of his friendship with Jessie, James, and Meowth. 'hurting our friends' he'd said. Did that mean the Team Rocket she'd known was in trouble.
Misty didn't know why she cared. Perhaps it was because they'd stopped coming so suddenly five years ago...maybe it was because Mondo seemed so upset...it may even have been because of Cassidy's insistence to get a message to Butch.
But then again...possibly she cared because she'd do anything for her friends as well. "I" she said, feeling her anger flaring up. "I won't forgive him either."
Mondo nodded, then stopped short. "We're here."
Tracey walked into Brock's Breeding Center just as Brock himself was running out, causing them to collide in a tangle within the revolving doors.
"Oh my!" came the voice of Mrs. Ketchum from behind them. "Are you two all right?"
"I'm fine," Tracey said, standing up and checking his sketchbook just incase something had happened to it. "Are you okay, Brock?"
Brock shot up quickly. "Tracey! Mrs. Ketchum! We have to hurry-Misty's in trouble, which probably means Ash is two. She sounded real scared on the phone-and-and-"
"Slow down, Brock," said Professor Oak, who had, of course, followed Mrs. Ketchum. "Now, tell us what's wrong."
Brock told them about the phone call from Misty, and they all seemed worried-except for Mrs. Ketchum who really didn't seem to get it.
"But I just got a letter from Ash and he said everything was going well," she said.
"Mrs. Ketchum, did you check the postage date? Who knows how old that letter was," Tracey informed her.
She started to fumble through her purse. "Well let's see, I have it here somewhere..." she held up a tattered envelope with no writing on the front. "Is this it? No, this is from some girl looking for Ash... now I know it's in here somewhere..."
"Somebody's looking for Ash?" asked Tracey.
"Some GIRL is looking for Ash?" asked Brock, starting to get insulted-he still had no girlfriend.
Professor Oak took the letter from Mrs. Ketchum. "There's no address on this," he stated, looking at the blank envelope. "It was delivered personally-maybe whoever it was found Ash-and what if it was somebody bad? Maybe that's why Misty called..."
"What does it say?" asked Brock, leaning over to look at the paper.
Mrs. Ketchum grabbed it back and opened the envelope, extracting a tattered piece of paper. "It says:
Ketchum, let your brat know that if he sees anyone like me, make sure she bleeds before you trust her.
I hate to have to ask for his help, but I didn't know of any other self-righteous hero-types that could pull it off-besides, he's bound to get involved sooner or later, always did before.
Tell him to watch out for the people who go missing, and if he ends up vanishing then you're the one who ought to be careful."
"I'm not sure how much sense that makes," muttered Brock. "This person obviously doesn't like Ash much, but it sounds like whoever-it-is is really counting on him."
"Who sent that letter, Mrs. Ketchum?" inquired Tracey.
She looked down at the note once more. "It's signed 'Jessie'-wasn't she that woman from Team Rocket?"
"What?!" Brock and Tracey shouted, jumping up. They both reached for the paper, but Brock, being taller, got it first.
"Well there are plenty of people names Jessie but only the one from Team Rocket would talk about Ash like this," Brock said, still looking suspicious.
"What about this first line?" asked Tracey from behind Brock. "'Make sure she bleeds before you trust her'? That makes no sense at all. Everyone bleeds...there isn't a living person who doesn't."
"So...um...what did you do today?" James tried asking the android. He still couldn't think of her as Jessie, not yet.
"Miss Morada Kokuan instructed me to watch television to improve my diction," she said matter-o-factly.
James liked that idea. He might be a little less uncomfortable around her if she stopped talking like the machine she was. "Did you learn anything?"
She promptly threw a glass of water in his face.
"Oh, sorry James!" Morada cried, running upstairs. "I had her watching soap operas all day..." she handed him a towel. "It coulda been worse. She coulda bitch slapped you."
"I told you we should have turned on the pokemon tournament!" Ash called, running downstairs into the main room. ("Pikachu!" agreed Pikachu, desperate for a line.)
"Oh that would've been WAY better," Morada shouted back sarcastically. "She mighta vine whipped him or somethin'."
Just then a phone rang. Morada looked up "Not mine-my phone has that annoying bird thing that yells at you, this sounds like a normal ringer."
"SHIT!" James hissed, hand in his Jacket pocket. "My cell phone-I forgot all about it." He picked up the small, black phone-after 15 rings it still did not stop. "Should I answer?" James asked, the others looked unsure and remained quiet.
28 rings.
"Who would try to contact you?" asked Ash, tapping his foot.
34 rings.
"My mystery employer-his men sent the phone to make sure everything went well with the delivery." James's eyes narrowed. "Which probably means it's tapped."
42 rings.
"I'll answer it," Morada said, plucking the phone from his hand. "I can pretend I'm some bounty hunter who kidnapped you or something-its better they not get suspicious."
51 rings.
Moraga pressed the button to accept the call, but before she could say hello there was a yell from the other end. "JAMES! WHAT TOOK SO LONG?! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!" Morada winced and held the phone at arms length. The shout had been loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, and James quickly took the phone back.
"Meowth?" he was shocked. He hadn't heard from the cat in years. "Meowth is that you?"
"Darn right it is, Jimmy," the cat snapped back. James smiled-somebody real, somebody familiar... he missed the old team so much.
"I took the tap off, but the firewall ain't gonna hold for long so Meowth's gotta hurry," the pokemon continued. "It ain't the tap youz gotta worry 'bout though. You got the android?"
"How did you kn-"
"Forget it for now, just take it an' run!" Meowth said sternly. "Dis phone you have's got more den a tap, it's gotta tracker!"
James held the phone in front of his face. "A-a WHAT?"
"DEY KNOW WHERE YOUZ ARE!" Meowth shouted back. "And dey're COMIN'!"
Ash and Morada had come on either side of him to listen. "Who's they?" Morada asked.
"Da firewall's comin' down," Meowth snapped. "Just run Jim!" the line went dead.
"We gotta get out of here!" Ash cried, moving for his backpack. Morada nodded and went downstairs to fetch some equipment.
"I wonder where Meowth is..." James asked. It had been a rhetorical question, but he promptly received a answer from close behind him.
"Call traced to Viridian City."
He turned around to face the android. "You tracked it?"
"Affirmative." So she could do more than just stand there... what special abilities did she have that made everyone want her so much?
"Hey James!" Morada yelled. Something hit him in the head. Car keys. "Warm up my car and take your giga pet with you. It's in the garage a halfa mile east of here, you can't miss it. Wait for us there."
James felt both shock and relief. "You're coming with us?"
She ran upstairs to fetch her clothes. "I'm involved, aren't I? Ash! Grab a suitcase from the hall closet and bring it up here, will ya?"
"Coming!" Ash called back.
James picked up the keys and put them in his pocket. "Come on," he said, awkwardly taking hold of the androids wrist. "We have to leave."
She stood still.
"Come ON!" he pulled on her arm, but she didn't budge.
She stood rigid; her eyes were glazed and James was almost positive he could see a blinking light behind the pupils. "Warning," she said in monotone. "Intruder alert."
Tbc
Okay, it's me again, the author. Sorry I keep popping up, this is the first author's note I've done so I have a lot to say.
But for now I just wanted to thank Joy-girl, Ara Moon, Ember Blaze, Eevee, and RocketBratt for reviewing my story. I wish everyone was as nice as you all are, since it's no fun writing a story if you don't get feedback ^_^