From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@soca.com> Subject: Re: [PW!] Questionable Behavior Date: Monday, May 31, 1999 6:26 PM Roberto Perez-Vila wrote: > "Why have you brought me here?" > > A low rumble emits from Minax's stomach, "I'm hungry and I want a hearty > breakfast." Minax stays quiet while she searches for the right restaurant. This > silence irritates Doppler, who stays nestled in the Pokeball on her belt. After ten > minutes, Minax speaks up again, "Hmm, the Celadon Mansion. I believe there's a > restaurant in here." Doppler hears a sliding door swish Minax into the Mansion, and > after some wandering, she sits down at a table in a restaurant. "If you want food, I could direct you to it. No poison, I promise. It's the same stuff those who follow me eat...and surely you know I would be an idiot the kill off all of my help. "And you're wrong about loyalty. I was loyal to Aeren...until she failed me. I would expect no more from you, or from any sane human being. Failure occurs, but one can only tolerate so much of it, especially if nothing is done to fix it. "And if you know so much about Aeren, surely you know she never really existed." Minax only has to consider the statement for a moment before its seeming absurdity melts away. "So what was her real name?" "Quethiril." A lesser person might have choked, blinked, or done any of the other spasms known as a 'wild take' in reaction to that revelation. But not Minax. "The researcher who built a translator?" "The same. That information made her valuable, but it also made her dangerous. When I travelled with her, I could tell she had the basics of translation down...but the output of her device held none of the pain, none of the hatred I heard in pokemons' natural voices. She was suffering from the same delusion that many trainers have: that pokemon do not value their freedom; that they do not object to and rail against the mind control of pokeballs. I tried to correct her, but she would have none of it. Letting her live would have allowed her to fuel the misconception, so..." Minax smiles. "So you failed." A slight pause. "Yes. I failed to direct her, but at least I fixed the situation before it could go bad." "Oooh, what a cute Voltorb!" Doppler does not need to see, to know that some perky young waitress mistook the fact that Minax's pokeball was speaking to mean it was a small Voltorb. He can, in fact, imagine her smiling, cheerful, utterly clueless face examining the ball from all sides, trying to find its eyes. "How much of our conversation did you overhear?" "Oh, none. I just heard two voices, and there's only you and your Voltorb, so...oh, I'm sorry! You've probably been waiting here for a while. What would you like to order? The special of the day is roast Tauras flank steak, marinated in imported Gloom wine (you also get a glass of it to drink), served with Blastoise soup in its own shell." The waitress glances around, worried, then leans towards Minax and whispers, "I'm not supposed to say this, but I'd pass on the soup if I were you. The shells look more like Squirtle shells to me, and there's rumors the pokemon were stolen from innocent kids. I could've sworn I saw Team Rocket's logo on the deliverypeoples' uniforms." Minax grins. "I think I'll have the special. *All* of it." The waitress's eyes bulge, and she only barely covers her mouth in time to silence a gasp as he takes a hesistant step away from Minax. "Really?!? I...I mean, sure, ok, one special. Anything for your Voltorb?" "Nothing. He's already been fed." "Ok." She takes Minax's menu and nearly runs back to the kitchen. Only once Doppler hears the waitress's steps fade away does he speak again. "That is what attracted me to you, you know: your willingness to deal with cold reality, and make others face it, in a world where so many prefer the addictive opiate of their own lies. Even Quethiril never fully realized the truth, despite my advice." Before Minax could respond... Dreadite wrote: > Dreadite glared at the man, and he burst into flames. "The Voice is not > here for your petty talk, human." > > The man rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames as Dreadite > picked up the Pokéball in front of him. "Mewtwo wants you dead, little > one. Before you can become a threat to him." > > The burst of fire engulfed the top floor of the building, and when it > passed, the man and the Eevee were nothing but ash. Dreadite walked > away, and floated off the building. "Now it begins..." "There's something else you should know. Dreadite has been posessed by Mewtwo. Ask your bosses if you want to confirm it. I bring this up now because I just felt his power directly above us. I doubt this will concern us immediately, but just so you know why there will soon be firefighters outside." TBC?