Subject: [PW!] Home and Away Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2002 21:44:39 +0000 (UTC) From: "Steffan Alun" <thriceduck@hotmail.com> Organization: BT Openworld Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon "We at ComComCom ensure that, in the name of our employees' safety, any dangerous materials are kept locked up in a suitable containment area. With many people using powerful Pokémon for their own protection, we make sure that all PokéBalls are kept in a heavily-guarded electronic safe which is virtually impossible to open without the correct fifteen-digit code. "If anything particularly dangerous, such as a terrorist attack or a gas leak, occurs at any of our buildings, all employees will immediately be evacuated. The police will be instantly alerted. No other people will be let in or out of the building." -- from "ComComCom - A Bright Future For Bright People", published December 2001 Pokewars!: Ralph Harrison "Home and Away" Steffan Alun "Is the president of the company still in the building?" asked Officer Jenny. Her partner was looking through some files. "He is not," replied Sharon, ComComCom's Goldenrod branch secretary. "Mr Compeyson hired a limosine and left an hour or so after the helicopter was taken." "I take it that everyone else evacuted the building, then. Did you..." "We didn't evacuate," said Sharon. "We didn't see the point. We would have had to check the manual and everything. Our last drill was three years ago." "Wasn't the company set up...?" "Three years ago." "I see." Officer Jenny wrote something on her notebook. "What are those cables doing on the floor?" "Mr Harrison brought them in," Sharon said slowly. She didn't like being questioned; she wasn't used to being forced to remember things. "He had too many rolls of cable to take them all upstairs." "Isn't it dangerous to leave them lying around the front doors like that?" "We don't often use the front doors anyway." "Why not?" "Half the time it won't open. The other half, it gives you a mild electric shock." "Alright, then. Did you..." Officer Jenny stopped mid-sentence. A car had pulled up next to the doors. "Who's that?" she wondered aloud. "That's Mike Smith's car," said Sharon. "He's Mr Harrison's assistant." ----------------------------- Mr Harrison could see the ComComCom building ahead. He smiled. This building was HIS. He had the power to tell anyone else in the building what to do. Alright, the building was tacky and in need of repairs. Yes, the productivity levels were below those of every single branch of ComComCom elsewhere. No, people probably wouldn't listen to him even if he bothered telling them to do something. Still, though, Mr Harrison felt deep pride at seeing the building. The car he was driving now had been borrowed from his assistant. He would not have got it had he not been the manager of ComComCom's Goldenrod branch. He was so happy that he risked driving around a roundabout. It was not a good idea. With no control over his actions, he took the wrong exit and had to drive onto a pavement and between two blocks of flats to get back to the road on which he needed to be. Unable to reach the back of ComComCom, his usual entrance, he drove to the front doors. Parking right next to the doors was not a brilliant idea, but it was quicker than driving to the front car park, which was barely large enough to hold three cars. Mr Harrison entered the building, receiving a small electric shock from the front door. He was greeted by a blue-haired police officer. "Good morning, Mr Smith," she said. "Hello," replied Mr Harrison, feeling somewhat reproachful. "I'm glad you arrived back," said the police officer. "I'm Officer Jenny. We tried to phone you at home, but could only get your answering machine. We have some questions regarding..." "I need to take care of a few jobs first," said Mr Harrison. "Urgent busines. These cables and a few additional items need to be taken to Blackthorn straight away. I'll be away for a few days." "It's quite important that..." started Officer Jenny. "All I know about the hi-jacking is what I read in the newspaper," said Mr Harrison calmly. "I was not in the building when it happens, as I was picking my daughter up from school. You can check that with Sharon while I get something from my office if you like." Mr Harrison walked away from the reception area and headed for the lifts. He didn't like the ComComCom lifts, as they felt as though they were originally designed as suicide booths, but he didn't want to risk being seen on his way up the stairs. In the lift, Mr Harrison realised what he'd done. He'd pretended to be Mike. Why had he done that? He had intended to lie about stealing the helicopter, of course, but he'd had no intention of lying about anything else. Sharon knew he wasn't Mike, for a start. Why had he taken such a risk? He exited the lift on the third floor; a floor dedicated to Pokémon storage. It looked like a locker room at first, but on closer inspection one realised that the "lockers" were small, transparent, square boxes containing PokéBalls. Each one had a numerical pad. A fifteen-digit code was required to open one; a different code for each locker. Fortunately, the number 8 was a skeleton key of sorts, and caused any box to open. Mr Harrison opened his Koffing's box and took out the PokéBall. He considered for a bit. He might need another Pokémon. He wanted to borrow another Pokémon to protect him until he could return. Something large, strong and fast. He took a Magcargo and left. ----------------------------- "We've checked up your presense, Mr Smith," said Officer Jenny. "Although there are no reports of you leaving, all other sources claim that you were not here. You are free to go for now, but we may need to contact you later on." "You have my mobile number if you need it," said Mr Harrison. He tried to open the front doors, failed, picked up the cables and walked around to the back. "It's fortunate we found Mike so quickly," said Officer Jenny. "I don't understand why you didn't contact the police straight away. Still, with Mr Harrison stuck in hospital, it doesn't really matter that we weren't told sooner. We'll find out everything we need to know from him." Sharon wondered whether she should mention that Mr Harrison had actually just left the building and was now climbing into his assistant's car. She decided against it. TBC? I know I promised no more set-up. However, I assumed it didn't really matter to anyone actually reading it. -- Steffan A large collection of plagarism: http://iceduck.pkmn.co.uk