From: Bandraptor <bandraptor@aol.com> Subject: [PW!][NC] Into the Woods Date: Monday, August 02, 1999 5:18 AM Porygon were wonderful creatures. They had originally been designed as a sort of computer antivirus, and could physically enter the mainframe, to flush out any bugs. Since reaching the public, their designs had been altered slightly. Many of the companies that distributed Porygon chose to disable that first ability, fearful of what Team Rocket's hackers might do with them. Of course, Team Rocket was the largest distributor of Porygon, so this was hardly a fail-safe... As the president of Silph co. liked to say, Porygon would someday revolutionize Poké Fighting. They could battle, like any other Pokémon; but they were far easier to care for, and teaching them new moves was as easy as loading a 3.5 floppy. More to the point, their unique programing allowed them to change size and shape, though this ability was rather limited. For example, a Porygon could expand its body to the size of a small car. It could alter its hex code, allowing itself to fly, whatever its weight; and thanks to a move called Agility, it was capable of moving quite swiftly. For these reasons, some trainers had taken to traveling by Porygon. Nori was no exception. Nemesis was a fussy creature, but it was fairly obedient; and unlike a Pidgeot or a Fearow, it could survive in the hydrogen atmosphere of Tie'nek. More importantly, since it was composed of computer coding, the Porygon possessed more technical know-how, than most humans could ever hope to have. At least, that's what she'd heard. Nori prayed that it was true... She couldn't see much, from her spot on the Porygon's back. She was sitting, as it was... she wished she could "surf" on her Porygon, as some other trainers did; but simply put, she didn't trust her balance. (She didn't trust it under normal circumstances, and she certainly didn't trust it, when she was wearing heels; and swerving through a dense forest.) Her line of sight was blocked by the Porygon's head, and further hindered by the helmet she was wearing, as it gave her tunnel vision. Nemesis let out a soft "gwak", telling her that it had found a good landing spot. Nori took it at its word, because she couldn't see, herself. They settled down in a small clearing. It was surrounded by trees on all sides, and Nori couldn't see more than five feet past those trees, before the woods plunged into darkness. This concerned her, greatly. "Are you sure this is a good place?" "[...]" "Is that a 'yes', or a 'no'?" "[...]" "Thanks..." Nori sighed. At least they were far from the battle... She pulled off her backpack, and laid it down, against a log. After a moment's consideration, she placed her Pokéballs in the backpack. If anything happened to her, she didn't want her Pokémon to... On second thought, she removed Rubix's ball, and pocketed it. If she had to die, he was going with her. Nemesis found its own pokéball among the bunch, and nudged it with its beak, signaling that it wanted to be let in. "Sorry, Nemesis." Nori replied, zipping the bag. "I need you for something else." "[...]" it sulked. "Well, I'll tell you why. We came here, through something called a Chronoshift. I'm betting that we can leave, through another one." "[...]" Nori had no idea what Nemesis was saying, ninety percent of the time. Its occasional interjections were comforting, however, as they reminded her that she wasn't alone in the woods. "I don't know how the Chronoshift works." She mused. "Car'tos said something about 'time and elements'... do you have any ideas?" "[...]" "And I don't know how the Chronoshift decides where to send us." she paused, thinking. "It probably doesn't like people messing with time and space, so maybe it tries to send them back to where they originally came from." "[...]" "Well, what're the chances that it would send us to Car'tos' home planet, huh? And at the right time, and everything? The Chronoshift must've known that this is where Car'tos belonged, so this is where it brought him. Next time a Chronoshift comes up, I'll be sure t' go through first... that way it'll send me back to where *I* belong." "[...]" Nemesis held its head. It was very logically minded, and couldn't understand why Nori was bestowing human characteristics upon an inanimate object. "Chronoshifts", or whatever she called the space-time disturbances, were not, and never would be capable of rational thought. "Why did it bring us to the future in the first place?" Nori replied, not understanding Nemesis' comment at all, "I have no idea. Maybe that Chronoshift was intended for someone else... I wonder if somebody arrived from the future, before we left?" she added, jokingly. "Anyway," she continued, "Nemesis, I'm counting on you, to create a Chronoshift." Think you're up to it?" "[...]" it protested, eyes widening. "Great! I'm going to go take a nap, or something. Have at it!" Nemesis sighed once again, silently calculating the odds, against its mission succeeding. TBC... -Beth "Ii kanji!" http://members.aol.com/bandraptor