Subject: [PW] Murasaki joins Team Rocket Date: 8 Jul 1999 15:02:34 GMT From: Shimarisu2 <rachel.r@scotland.com> Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Murasaki walked the streets of Celadon on her own. Her companions had expressed the desire to stay out of the heat, and that was what they were doing, as they slept in their Pokeballs. Murasaki was not confining them. She wasn't thinking about confining them. And she had no hang ups about the issue either. Oh no. The sun blazed away in the sky like a golden coin, perfectly round, perfectly bright, too perfect to look at or obtain. It was midday. You could tell that from the position of that golden orb in the heavens. But it mattered not that sun went on shining, and the fire made the day hot; the heat meant nothing to Murasaki. And the time would have meant nothing either, only it was dinnertime and she hadn't eaten for days. Murasaki was hungry, and because she was hungry she was angry with herself. This made the experience all the more painful for her. She was becoming more angry with herself due to the pain. Hunger was a weakness. Anger was a weakness. Pain and frustration were weaknesses. Murasaki fell victim to all these faults, and as a result they multiplied. It was a vicious circle, a repeated cycle that went round and around. That was a bad feeling. Her face showed no emotion. She walked on. It had been a hard day. She'd had to talk to people. That was a necessary evil. She had got herself a job as a result. Well, not a job as such, Murasaki didn't like definitions. It was just one way of getting money. Money was one way of getting food. It was one of the only ways, you could either earn it or steal it, if you stole it you could end up in prison, if you ended up in prison you would have to talk to people, and you couldn't roam free. If you got yourself the kind of work Murasaki had found, and you stole food, these people would get you out of prison. That was a good system. Not a system, Murasaki didn't like conventions. It was a convenient chain of events, a good way of getting around. That circle was no longer broken, it had been made whole. This was a good feeling. * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heads turned as the young woman made her way along the street. She looked like she hadn't had a wash in days. Her skin was thick with grime, and her long purple hair, while not being of the type of style that could lie flat, still appeared lank and out of condition. This was not such an odd sight in this world, where children and teenagers were expected to fend for themselves on a daily basis. You couldn't gauge the woman's age easily, but it was obvious that she was young and on her own. No, none of this was strange. The strange thing was the newly washed, newly ironed and perfectly fitting Team Rocket uniform that was part of this ensemble. The other odd factor in the woman's appearance was the lack of any obvious concern for the heat of the day, despite the fact that she was dressed all in black. She wasn't even sweating! And yet, every few steps she stumbled a little, as if she was ill and didn't care to admit it. The poor girl was obviously starving. What sort of parents would allow such a thing to happen? Heads turned, but looks were silenced with a glance from Murasaki. No, you couldn't feel sorry for this woman. Somehow she would solve her own problems, that was certain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Murasaki stopped in the shade, resting under the sign that indicated the purpose of the premises that she had found herself in the vicinity of. It appeared to be a department store that sold all manner of equipment used for the purpose of keeping and maintaining pokemon. There were even Pokeballs that the shop would personalise with your name, or the name of your pokemon. Murasaki considered the people entering and leaving the store. She would pity them, but they had sunk too low. Besides, she didn't know if she was capable of pity. Murasaki was about to free her companions from their confinement, so that she could buy them some food with the last change she had. And then she remembered the envelope. It was one of the new things that she had found herself in possession of. There was this brown envelope that she held in her hand, and the new clothes that she was now wearing. The clothes had been a godsend, Murasaki had been looking forward to doing something about her appearance for weeks now. She had been told not to wear the new clothes they'd given her in public, but had swiftly decided against that option. So she had changed, and thrown her own clothes away. She would have washed, but there were people everywhere. People made her feel vunerable. She was not about to bathe in public, so she had changed her clothes in the cubicle of a toilet where nobody could see her. And she had thrown her old clothes away. Now she was regretting it, as she didn't know where to put her pokeballs. These new clothes had no pockets, which was a problem - she didn't like people seeing that she had pokeballs, because either they'd think that she was lowlife just like them, or they'd come over and cheerfully offer to beat up her companions using pokemon that they thought they actually owned... Murasaki shook off the neurosis before the rage could take over her again. She considered the envelope. It was pretty pointless to do so, but she opened it. Inside was an official looking document, which she assumed was her briefing from Team Rocket. The symbols printed on it meant absolutely nothing to her. She had neglected to tell them that she couldn't read. It struck Murasaki as odd that nobody at Team Rocket had noticed, let alone questioned this. It also seemed more than slightly bizarre that she had undergone no tests to gauge her proficiency at the job, that no questions had been asked regarding her past, and that no subsequent training had been given. Was that the word? "Subsequent"? Subsequent to what? There had been nothing to precede this, anyway. Nothing at all. Nobody had told her to do anything. Murasaki felt as if her spirits had been lifted. Well, she was feeling better. Maybe this was a good feeling. No, this was a very good feeling. She had been given independence, a chance to show those humans that she was worthwhile, and that it was they who were all wrong. And then she remembered the letter again. No, she was wrong this time, they were still trying to control her. Obviously the document contained some kind of instructions, otherwise it would have been meaningless for that worthless grunt at the HQ to have shoved it in her hand shortly before slamming the gates in her face. She shook the letter pointlessly, as if expecting some magic solution to the problem to fall out in front of her. No, she was going to have to do something about this. She was going to have to find somebody to read it to her. It was always the way... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The policewoman on duty outside the town's Pokemon centre was somewhat astonished when she saw the gaunt figure for the first time. It wasn't something you saw every day - somebody out in broad daylight dressed in the colours of a Team Rocket agent who was obviously at the bottom rung in the hierarchy. That was not the astonishing fact however, she was more intrigued with the way in which this figure was now approaching her with obvious intent. But the Jennys never usually bothered with Team Rocket, not unless they caught them actually doing something wrong. Just being a member of Team Rocket was a bit of a grey area where the law was concerned. However, it was a rare occurance for such an apparition to materialise in broad daylight, and approach an officer of the law in a manner that suggested that she was about to turn herself in. Jenny steeled herself. Maybe this day would mark her very first arrest. She'd probably be taken off guard duty for this achievement, maybe she'd get to patrol the streets on a turbo charged motorcycle. This was most fortuitous... "Excuse me." The voice broke her train of thought. The Team Rocket lowlife was actually taking to her. The vision in black calmly held out a piece of paper. "Can you read this?" were the words that next issued forth from the apparition. Jenny started as a new realisation dawned. This was it! This must be an order to leave the area! Maybe they had guns trained on her - they were planning to rob the Poke Centre! Her hands shook as she took the proffered document. She scanned the first line, but was quickly losing her ability to think straight... "No," cautioned the apparition, as if addressing a small child. "Read it to me. Tell me what it says." "Why?" The situation was getting more difficult to gauge at every turn... "I can't see very well" was the reply. The woman's bright emerald eyes were disconcertingly piercing, as if they could stare into your soul. These were the kind of eyes that went with the ability to shoot through the centre of a target at the furthest range possible... "Ahem." Jenny tried again to shake her mind from its frequent wanderings. There was no option here but to read the paper, if she had gauged the situation correctly. So she did. And this is what it said. _____________________________________________ Agent number: 55726 ID: Murasaki Dear new member. Thank you for joining our cause, and becoming a valued asset to our team. You have been assessed as code blue*, i.e. you have entered at our lowest level. Because of this, we have assigned you to a partner, who is also code blue. Maybe your combined efforts will prove more fruitful to our operation than those of two individual losers working on their own. This complies with our usual practices. For security reasons, we require that you meet up with your new partner in a neutral zone, in your own clothes. Do not show up to meet your partner in the uniform that we have provided you with. You will recognise your partner from the metal 'R' pin that we have provided for him to attach to his sleeve. This will be very discreet. Do not make it obvious to people that you are looking for it. Your meeting place will be the vestibule of this town's Poke Centre, at 0800 hours tomorrow. Most importantly, do not show this to anybody. Regards - Agent No. 45709 (not telling!) Central Bureau. ___________________________________________ Murasaki left the bewildered police officer outside the centre, as she stormed off in a fit of rage. They were making her work with another human? This was an outrage! Maybe she should just get rid of this uniform now, and go AWOL. But that would be weak. No, there were no more options left for her, she had to earn money. She had to feed her companions, or they would die. So this was it then, she would just have to meet up this person and maybe persuade him that this mode of operation just wasn't suited for her. She hoped to all heaven that this wouldn't prove too difficult...