From: "William Rendfeld" <warendfeld@aol.com> Subject: Re: [PW!] [SST] Reconciliation: Impossible Date: Friday, February 06, 2004 9:30 PM Rob wrote: >#Who are you?# > >Not considering the question to be particularly probing or inappropriate, >the blue-haired woman answers, "Marcia." > >#What is your profession?# > >"I'm a nurse," Marcia answers, not bothered by that question either. > >#Why are you a nurse?# > >Figuring that Alex already knows about her criminal past since she's been >traveling with Dee and Aerie, she answers, "I'm making up for mistakes that >I made in the past. Mistakes that made two of my Pokemon so unhappy that >they both weren't able to evolve until I stopped committing them." > >#What mistakes did you commit?# > >Hesitant to reveal details, Marcia simply states, "I hurt many people and >Pokemon." > >#Why did you hurt them?# > >Staring directly at Alexandria, Marcia says, "I wanted to teach people that >there existed suffering in the world that no one could do anything about. I >wanted to cure their ignorance. I wanted to teach them that endings weren't >always happy, that love didn't conquer all, and that things didn't always >work out for the best." > >#What was your motivation?# > >"Does that really matter?" > >#What was your motivation?# > >"It's none of your business." > >#What was your motivation?# > >"You want to know? You really want to know?" Marcia turns her attention to >the shiny Unown, "I had been hurt many times throughout my life, often >because I trusted in people and believed the fantasies I saw on TV shows >when I was a little girl. Every time I was hurt, I would think: 'If only I >had been told how things REALLY were in the world... If only my hopes had >never been brought so high up, then I wouldn't be so hurt right now'. That >was my motivation." > >#What fantasies did you see?# > >Forgetting her present company, Marcia continues the rant she just started, >"The shows I watched led me to believe that families were supposed to be >loving and understanding, friends were supposed to treat each other with >kindness and respect, and bullies could be dealt with by standing up to >them. In my life, I found none of this to be true. I would tell my family >about my dreams and my worries, only to be met with callous indifference or >unadulterated rage. I would place my trust in peers, thinking that by doing >so we could grow closer, but they would always later betray me and hurt me. >I stood up to gang members who were harassing me one time, hoping they would >leave me alone, but they took the opportunity to beat me up and steal my >first Pokemon. I cried and I cried whenever my family hurt me, whenever my >friends betrayed me, and whenever bullies harassed me. After being hurt >enough times, I decided to leave my family and stop making friends." > >#Did you ever find anyone you could befriend?# > >"..." Marcia hesitates, not sure if she wants to answer the question. She >looks at Aerie, who's taking in everything she hears, then glances at Alex, >the young woman who thinks so highly of Doppler. She finally decides that >she should answer the question, despite the fact that she hasn't talked >about the only human friend she's ever had in almost ten years. "Yes. I did >befriend someone in my life. When I was nineteen, despite my cynicism, I >opened up to a member of Team Rocket. He was the first person to ever treat >me with respect. Actually, he didn't just respect me - he loved me. And I >loved him." > >#Why did you love him?# > >Marcia lets out a quiet sigh before revealing, "He had an amazing >personality - he was passionate, confident, humorous, and very clever. He >always looked out for his fellow Rockets. When he first met me in Celadon, >he thought I was a lost cause since I was so awkward, even after being with >Team Rocket for four years. Despite this, he took it upon himself to teach >me how to be a more intimidating Rocket. 'You're not scaring anyone with >that tired motto, love,' he'd tell me, 'You need to strike fear in the >hearts of the people you meet - make them remember you! Taunt them with >dignity, threaten them with a passion, and laugh at their misfortune. Grab >their Pokeballs and don't let go! Jennys be damned, Marcie, leave an >impression!' He listened to me and made me feel special." > >#Did you spend much time with this person?# > >"I only spent a little over a year with him, but that year was the happiest >year of my life." > >#Where is this person now?# > >"He's dead." Marcia frowns when she replies, "Doppler killed him when he >destroyed Celadon City's Rocket Base." > >#How did that make you feel?# > >"I cried for three days straight, promising myself to never cry again after >that. I never have. I entered a deep depression. I changed my outlook in >life and decided to start killing Pokemon, thinking they were all soul-less >monsters, like the Ditto who killed so many innocent people. The Ditto who >killed the only person I ever truly loved. The Ditto I hated with a passion. >I went so far as to change my name to 'Minax', to make the personality >adjustment complete. 'Marcie' wasn't a good name for a murderer of Pokemon. >Had I kept the name, that would be tantamount to a leader of a terrorist >organization demanding he be called 'Maxie'." > >#Do you still hate the Ditto with a passion?# > >"At times. He's been kind to me in recent years, but I can never forgive him >for what he did to me in the past. I honestly believe I would have never >started killing Pokemon had he not destroyed Celadon City, and killing >Pokemon is what I regret the most in my life. I regret all but one kill. >There are times when I've felt that he and I could, in theory, be friends >despite what he did to me since he seems so different now, but I still >suspect that he could easily revert to his old ways at any moment. He IS a >Ditto, after all. I still snap at him sometimes for what he did to me in the >past, even though he doesn't tend to hold the negative things I've done to >him in the past against me. But I can't help it." > >#Why can't you help it?# > >"What kind of a question is that?!" Marcia asks, glaring at the inquisitive >shiny Unown at her feet, "Is his killing the only love of my life not a good >enough reason for you?! Is his prompting me to start murdering Pokemon not >enough? Fine. I'll list some more reasons. He spent months stalking me, >trying to force himself and his ideas upon me. He made clones of me. He used >my DNA to create a child for me in a laboratory. More recently, he wanted me >to lie to the daughter he created for me. The list goes on and on, but I >don't feel like telling you more." > >#Fair enough.# > >Marcia blinks, then she asks, "You make statements too?" > >#Why do people keep asking me that?# > >After Cue issues that final thought, Alex recalls the shiny Unown into its >Pokeball. > >Nurse Marcia looks at Alex, crossing her arms with a frown on her face, "Now >do you see why it's not that simple for me to start treating Doppler with >kindness and respect? If you were in my position, you would probably feel >the same way I do." > Alex thought for a second; Dee hadn't said that Marcia was a former agent of Team Rocket, or any of the major details concerning Aerie's 'birth' beyond the fact that she was created in a lab. It definitely explained a lot with Nori, however. As she sorted through this new information in her mind, Alex closed her eyes and said aloud, "Understanding is a three-edged sword." Marcia blinked and asked, "Excuse me?" "Something *I* picked up from watching television," Alex said, opening her eyes. "Simply put, it means that there are three sides to every story. In this case, there's your side, Dee's side, and the truth." She turned to the shorter girl to her side and said, "Aerie, I'll apologize right now if I say something to offend you." Noticing that Aerie didn't seem to be listening, she tried a different form of communication. #Aerie?# #I turned my ears off, Alex,# Aerie explained, her eyes closed shut in an attempt to hold back tears. #Go ahead, I can still pick it up.# Alex held the younger girl closer in an attempt to give her strength, then returned her attention to Marcia and said, "Your side; Dee, or Doppler, either name you want to use, shoved his way into your life. He murdered the man you loved, he stalked you, violated you, and left you with a child that you didn't want. You are quite understandably pissed off about that, and I don't blame you." A breath separating her separate trains of thought, she continued, "Dee's side; he loves you. I know for a fact that he does genuinely care about you, and Aerie. He's shown me himself. I could go on with tons of defenses for him, but I'm betting that wouldn't improve things in your eyes." "You'd win that bet," Marcia replied. Alex sighed; here was the tough part. "And finally, the truth. Whether you like it or not, you have a daughter, and she needs at least one parent. But frankly, she'd be better off with both. And in case the thought hasn't occurred to you, unless you actively serve as a mother, you may end up condemning her to your earlier fate, if not worse." Marcia took a hard look at the young teen and said, "Who are you to comment on my parental methods?" "Someone who didn't need Minax to remind her of the inherent unfairness of life," Alex countered. "Someone whose father was taken from them by the Grim Reaper on a Christmas Eve three years ago. Someone whose mother may well end up joining him, assuming the medical sciences aren't capable of dealing with breast cancer. I know pain, Marcia, I've felt it several times already." Her expression changing slightly, Alex then said, "I'm also someone who has a relative, one who lived through the carnage in Celadon a decade ago." Marcia looked at her in surprise as Alex continued, "I realize that really doesn't link us together, but consider for a minute. The Doppler that attacked Celadon City ten years ago isn't the Doppler who came to me at the Silver Conference and asked for my help. Yes, my help; a total stranger whose chest he found himself staring into the first time we crossed paths. A Pokémon trainer who, for all he knew, was the exact same kind of person he wouldn't have wasted a second shot on back in the day. A girl who had seen pain and sorrow, and was much more than meets the eye." Alex took another breath, then said, "The real question at this point is this; have you forgotten who you were, before you were Minax? Have you forgotten that pain you felt from your parents, your 'friends', those who did you harm without reason? If you haven't, then you have a damn good chance of making sure that Aerie doesn't experience it." Alex fixed Marcia with a serious look, then said, "Be the mother that yours couldn't. That's all I ask." TBC? [NS: Whew. Talk about pathos.] William Rendfeld Creator of Echowarrior, the Pokémon Resistance, and Alex Masters 178,000 Excellent Author Points 1 'I knew odd pokefacts that confused a bread crumb' point. 20 Y2Tech Points