“Shhh, listen.” Ivan whispered. The slurring of his speech and the half empty bottle beside him suggested he’d been drinking quite a bit. But Felis wasn’t focused on his friend’s sobriety, rather, he listened intently to the sounds that began to drift into the room.
It was the sound of raging fire and rumbling earth. Of screaming winds and boiling water. Felis heard the end of the world. Every detonation of a bomb added to the cataclysmic symphony that he remembered all those years ago.
The rising fire, like an angry god reaching for the sky.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the sounds began to cease. And Ivan was left alone. No…no there was another sound, one that he raised his cup to.
“And now it begins.” The man toasted, “8 billion souls, to save less than 8000.”
Whereas before he could softly hear the destruction of the old world, now it was obvious there was something new happening. The symphony of death had been replaced by a choir of the damned, haunting screams distorted into a melody that rattled Felis’s ears. Even Ivan, who’d laughed at the futility of the end of the world looked fearful, curling in on himself as his eyes darted around the room.
And then the video spazzed out, and Felis was staring at an older Ivan.
“What?” Felis asked aloud, only for the older man to speak.
“It’s done. The date is currently January 29th, 2026. We’ve found our cure.”
“Why does he look so old?” Felis thought, curiosity having him leaning into his seat. He remembered it was deep in the middle of winter when the two brothers had died. If it was 2026 when he’d died to the radiation, then that meant the two of them were both 24.
Ivan sure as hell did not look fucking 24.
Stress lines and wrinkles decorated both eyes and cheekbones. His blonde hair had grey in it, too few to call him a real old head, but still. Grey hairs.
Ivan let out a sigh, “Even now, talking about the “cure” feels ridiculous to say out loud. I don’t know if I should be happy or worried we stumbled on such an idiotic solution, but here we are.”
Ivan reached into his desk, pulling a device that Felis thought looked like a clear epi-pen. Within the device was a shining pink fluid, and with a sigh he plunged it into the side of his neck, before grabbing the camera.
“Still can’t get used to that.” Ivan shuddered, before the scene changed completely.
There was no sudden transition, no effect of change. His friend was simply in one place, and then another. Felis blinked, wondering if it was an editing trick. But no, the transition was clean, too clean for Ivan who’d never edited anything before.
“Ready for the big event?” An unfamiliar voice asked.
“So long as Carmen doesn’t keep trying to scare us like she usually does. Heart attacks every time.”
“Lucky then. They got Robert on it.”
“What? Why?” Ivan asked, concerned, “Carmen’s the expert. Robert’s second-class at best.”
“Heh. Harsh as usual.”
“Claire.” Ivan’s voice was serious, “I’m not fucking around. Where the hell is Carmen?"
The woman named Claire shrugged, “She signed off on the checks before one of the higher ups pulled him off.”
“Rich fucking bastards.” Ivan snarled, “Have you seen my family?”
“They mentioned they’d be coming in a few minutes.”
“Tell them I’ll be a little late.”
“Really? Don’t you think you’re being parano-”
Again the scene was suddenly cut, and Ivan was walking through a hall that was alight with activity. Men and women in lab coats and security gear ran to and fro, blinking in and out of existence, some of them injecting themselves with more of the pink energy.
“Paranoid. Of course I’m fucking paranoid. Everyone’s seen what’s out there, one mistake we’re all dead.”
There was a beeping sound, and Ivan let out a growl.
“Stress. Stress. Okay. How do we handle stress Ivan. Talk, how’ve we been running this?”
Ivan had stuffed the camera into the pocket, but the lens peaked out into a massive window, one Felis could make shapes out from behind. The window displayed the same void they’d seen lighting the halls once more. A black expanse with a million stars that housed monsters. Monsters Felis recognized.
“Everytime I see them it takes my breath away.” Ivan chuckled, continuing his hurried steps as he brought the camera out for a quick view, “Take a look at the two over there, you see that?”
A being of pure shadow, another of pulsing purple energy, bound in chains of red starlight as energy was pulled from their cores.
“They’re fucking Pokémon. Palkia and Giratina, I think is what that guy Takashi said. When we looked for our new Soul we gazed at infinity. Millions upon millions of galaxies and dimensions, and we saw the Universe for what it truly is. Uncaring, monstrous.”
Another teleport. This time in front of a gate which pressed a button.
“In Nominae Mino.” He muttered, sighing as the door opened on its own, “Latin freaks, it’s embarrassing, really. But yes, we saw what was truly out there, and if H.P. Lovecraft was alive, he'd probably laugh at us all for being right.”
He paused for a second, “Or he'd call us all a racial slur or something. Whatever, we could bring powerful beings into our world, force them into the core, but we wouldn’t be able to control them. What was stopping the new soul from completely remaking the world in its image?”
“We’d devised counters. The “Red Chain”, as you saw. Technology from a ruined type 2 civilization dubbed “Minerva”. They used it to drag the Soul of their world, but they screwed up. Souls are powerful, and old. They learn faster than we do, adapt and change before we can. That was Minerva’s mistake, they underestimated a god. We won’t do the same.”
Two guards approached Ivan, dressed in the same black Kevlar Felis wore, holding the same two weapons Felis had. What was different however, was that along the bracers of their arms was a black vial that seemed to bubble within.
“Doctor Solokov.” One of them said, “We are beginning the next manifestation. Only those authorized are allowed past this point.”
Ivan pulled something from his coat, and heard the angry shouts of the guards. The camera ruffled about the interior of his pocket. The tiny glimpse he could see outside showed Ivan teleporting about the space, before two Bangs! Echoed about the chamber, and he heard them slump.
“So anyways.” Ivan continued, as if he hadn’t just…killed? Knocked out? Dealt with the two guards, “We decided to find ourselves a newborn Soul. Of course, it's not as if a newborn is a common thing. No, the chances of one appearing are that of a fraction of a fraction. A chance that should be impossible, if it weren’t for the size of our Universe, or the 8 billion fucking souls in our little portal. It took a few years, but we've taken our newborn God, wrapped it up in a nice bouquet of red chains. What's the saying again? 'A dog born to the leash won’t ever notice the leash', or something like that. Wonder if it's the same for our god.”
“Now of course, a new god doesn’t know what to do, however. It needs to be shaped. A process that requires...human influence in a method I don't condone, but we don't have other options. Anyways, we needed to influence it into a form that could fulfil two things. One, a form we could actually understand, something that won't drive us to insanity. And two, have the abilities to shape reality and the world, and not some stupid abstract concept like a God of “emotions”.”
Ivan snorted at that like it was a known joke, bringing out his camera again to sweep across the next room. It was a large theatre, one with an open window that showed more of the space. This room however had loads of researchers, people milling about without teleporting. Instead, they were stationed by computers that would’ve made any techie from his era cry out in jealousy.
“One of the higher ups is a Pokémon stakeholder, and in her words, 'a small fan'. Carmen. She’s the one who suggested it, created the process as well as decided on what Pokémon to bring about.”
The camera focused upon the open window, and Felis felt himself rolling his chair backwards. It was a behemoth. As large as any skyscraper, its light was brighter than any sun. Eyes filled with otherworldly intelligence peered at the researchers. A ring of shapes Felis couldn’t recognize hovered around it, and though the creature was bound by red chains, it didn’t appear to care for its imprisonment.
Or perhaps it couldn’t.
“ROBERT!” Ivan shouted, shoving the camera back into his pocket. “ROBERT WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?”
There was a scuffle of activity, and Felis heard the stomping of feet as Ivan was presumably surrounded.
“Ivan, now is not the fucking time.” A tired voice hissed, “You of all people should understand how important this is!”
“That’s exactly why I’m here!” Ivan retorted, “Where the hell is Carmen? Why are you handling the next manifestation?”
Idle chatter and the sounds of work slowly came to a halt as the name ‘Carmen” was mentioned.
“She…they removed her.”
“What? Why?”
“Higher ups wouldn’t say.” Robert sighed, “Believe me I’m not fucking happy about this. But you know what happens when people like us ask questions.”
‘Ask Questions’? There was a clear power structure then, that was obvious. But how did they keep their power? Wouldn’t money be useless in a post-apocalyptic realm? Felis certainly had no use for it in the Before.
“To hell with that!” Ivan roared, “ Are they fucking stupid? Do they not realize she’s the only reason we’ve gotten this far!?”
“Shut it! It doesn’t fucking matter when they’re the ones with all the power.” Robert’s anger simmered down into one of sorrow, “We have no choice. We move on with manifestation or we die. Back to work!”
“Wait!” Ivan said, “Tell me where they condemned her to, at least.”
Robert made no sound, but the camera shifted to the side as Ivan turned.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“No.” He whispered, “they wouldn’t.”
“This is the world we live in now Ivan. We fucked up, let our guard down. So unless you wanna end up like her you best work with me.”
“Fuck!” Ivan hissed, before seemingly following the Robert individual. The next 10 minutes of video was simply hearing the click clack of keys and the muted shouts of readings and preparations.
“It’s ready.” Robert said. “FINAL CHECKS!”
“Energy readings stable!”
“Brain waves continue to show limited activity!’
“Necrozma is still healthy and ready to go!”
“Alright.” Robert spoke, “This is it. This is our final ascension. You ready to be a God, Ivan?”
His best friend let out a rueful chuckle, “Gods of what? We won't be any different than that thing out there.”
“Way to ruin the mood.”
A loud hum enveloped the room, and Felis realized with a start that Necrozma was screaming. Ivan had finally set the camera down onto a nearby desk, letting him see what was going on. The chains around Necrozma squeezed, pulling energy from the great beast. A sudden alarm broke out, as the room flashed the colour red.
“What’s happening!?” Ivan demanded.
“I don’t know!” Robert answered fearfully, “We did everything by the book!”
“Figure it out! Was there anything Carmen left out?”
“No! They’d monitored her every move! There shouldn’t be a problem, SHUT IT DOWN!”
“We can’t!” One of the researchers cried out, “Something's locking out our commands!”
“What?” Robert demanded, “What about our access keys!”
“They aren’t working!”
“Bezos!” Ivan shouted.
“Ivan! Good to see you.” A familiar voice said.
“Run shutdown code -128! Follow up with override access -999!”
“Oh, that’s not happening.” A different voice said.
“Carmen!?”
Her voice didn’t sound right, like it was layered over Bezos, the faint crackle of feedback tainting the previously smooth voice.
“I’m sorry everyone, but this is the end.”
“How!?” Robert demanded, “You should be out in the void!”
The Void? Felis peered closer at the shapes around Necrozma, his eyes widening when he realized what they were. People. People who floated lifelessly, their arms outstretched as if crucified, their hands facing upwards raised in prayer.
“Contingencies, Robert. Did you really think I'd go down without a fight? That I'd just let them have their way with me? I told them they'd regret the day they crossed me, and here I am!"
"You were monitored!"
"But Bezos wasn't!" Carmen laughed, the sound tainted by the barely audible pleas of help underneath her voice, "I ripped out pieces of that asshole's mind and replaced it with mine!”
“Stop this Carmen!” Ivan begged, “You’ll kill us all!”
“Then die!” Carmen hissed, “Look at us! We've ruined everything we touched! What type of world will they build when all this is over! It will be one of tyranny and destruction! We’ve given them the power of gods, and now we cannot touch them! This must end, the survivors will inherit the Earth, and pray that the sins of the past do not repeat themselves. Spend your last minutes with your family. Everything else is futile.”
The end of her speech had Bezos dissolve into particles, and the rest of the researchers reeling.
“Find a way to shut it down!” Robert screamed.
“No!”
“What do you mean no?”
“It’s too late for that.” Ivan said, watching as something began to manifest within the void, “If the Manifestation fails, the resulting meltdown will destroy us all. Keep it going, create the Pokémon.”
“We have no control over the Red Chains!” Robert hissed, “We’ll be summoning a god of time we have no control over!”
“At least this way we have a chance!”
“Shit…SHIT!” Robert shouted slamming a fist down onto the table, “Get it going! Keep the power steady!”
More calls were made, more data was thrown into the air, more energy was pulled from Necrozma. The pulsing white light that existed within the void began to shine, brighter and brighter, the tinted glass stopping the mortal retinas from burning to a crisp right there and then.
Then the lights turned blue.
“Temporal wave readings!” A researcher shouted, “It’s happening!”
“You think it’ll help if we pray?” Robert asked.
“To who?” Ivan asked, his voice terse, “The one in chains?”
The older man let out a sigh, “Fair point.”
There was a roar, the ringing of a thousand bells and the whisper of falling sand claiming the room.
Then the camera went black.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Felis sat back, rubbing his stubble in frustration.
“That was the last.” Aken said.
“But we know there are more.” He pointed out.
They didn’t die. Something else happened, something they weren’t expecting. But they certainly lived, everything that existed within this space would have been impossible if they were only building for three whole years. They didn't die. But what happened? Was he still alive, somewhere? It was fucking frustrating, so many questions, too little questions.
“We need those pink injectors.” Felis decided, standing up from the desk. “That’s fucking teleporter juice, we could get to the end of this whole thing with those.”
“Desk is empty, shall we search the rest of the lab?”
“Come back to me if you find anything.”
Aken nodded, disappearing into a wall. Felis stared at the desk, snatching a photo of Ivan and his family before leaving. He’d come back later, take all the memories he could. Right now though, now was the time for action.
“REMI!” He hollered, “REMI WHERE YOU AT?”
“Stop shouting, I’m here!” Remi called out from one of the side rooms. Felis went to investigate, ending up in one of their server rooms once more. Remi had managed to disconnect a number of the boxes, having them neatly stacked off to one side as he was working another.
“For the base?” Felis asked.
“For the base.”
“Hey, you see any pink shiny liquid around?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Wait, really?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Felis blinked. Huh. He figured he’d have to go through another wild ass chase just to find those syringes. Lucky.
“What do you need it for?” Remi asked.
“I just learned what they do.” Felis grinned, sweeping his arms wide. “We’ve got motherfuckin’ teleporters!”
“Oh, great. It’ll make things convenient.”
...
“That’s it? That’s your reaction to teleporters?” Felis asked.
“I mean. Yeah? What else could I say?”
“What else could you–Remi did you hit your fuckin’ head? Do I have to spell it out? T-E-L-E–”
“Stop, stop.” Remi protested, “Why are you so hung up about Teleporters? Galactic has them already!”
“Fuck no they don’t!” Felis shuddered, remembering the dreaded sensation of dizziness, “Those hell machines don’t count, dude.”
“Uh-huh. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s a shitty invention. And even then, Pokémon teleport, Felis. This isn’t exactly new.”
“You ungrateful motherfuckers.” Felis said in disbelief, shaking his head. Sure, Pokémon teleported, but this was literally teleporter juice. How the hell wouldn’t they be excited about this?
“-retty sure Cynthia just drags Lucian around for his Teleportation.” Remi said, bringing Felis out of his thoughts, “Is that why he’s gone with her to Kalos? Hm, maybe I need to change my bet.”
“Just take to me to the fucking teleport juice.” Felis sighed, “We’re skipping out on all of this.”
The two re-entered the room of vats that Felis had previously skipped out on, walking past row after row of strange creatures that Felis now realized resembled Pokémon.
“That one looks like an early Metapod.” He mused, glancing at the undulating cocoon, “That one’s almost a Pikachu…and is that an early Skarmory?”
Some of the more incomplete ones he could barely manage a guess or two, their shapes so incomprehensible that his head began to throb if he looked at them for too long.
“This is it.” Remi announced, gesturing towards a shelf. About half of it was empty, but there were still about a dozen or so vials remaining.
“Nice.” Felis whispered, grabbing a handful and handing off a few to Remi as he stared at the liquid, “Do we have a bag for the rest?”
“We lost it at the split.” Remi said, before adding, “Along with our food.”
The mention of food made Felis realize just how hungry he was. Shit, they hadn’t eaten in a while, had they?
“Let’s get this Teleporter thing going. Maybe we can find some supplies around here.” Felis said, cracking one out and holding it by his shoulder.
“Hold on!” Remi protested, “You know how this works?”
“Yep, inject, then teleport. Now hurry up.”
“...You first.”
“Pussy.”
He plunged the syringe into his arm, groaning slightly as cool liquid was pushed into his blood. The uncomfortable sensation was immediately forgotten however, as his eyes went wide with wonder.
Information. More information than any human should have been able to take on at a time flooded his brain. The laws of teleportation, the physics, the math required to figure out spatial jumps. Equations to spatial disruption and the knowledge of how to not accidentally fuse into another person. But that wasn’t all, every nook and cranny of the facility, every hallway, room, vent, altar, it all became known to him.
“Woah…” Felis breathed, staring at the world in newfound wonder. There was an instinctive knowledge at the back of his head that told him this knowledge was temporary. When the juice lost its power he would lose the knowledge, but for now? Right now he was a physics expert.
“How is it?” Remi asked.
“Pretty good.” Felis grinned teleporting behind Remi.
“Woah!” His companion let out a laugh of amazement. “Instant?”
“Try it out.”
Remi did, and his eyes went wide at the sudden influx of knowledge.
“Woah.”
“Right? And you weren't even impressed.”
“We should give this to Cyrus ASAP!” He said excitedly.
“Woah hold on.” Felis argued, “I don’t know if we should do that right now.”
Suspicion. That was the first thing he identified in Remi’s eyes. “What do you mean, ‘not now’?”
“Because I don’t know how badly It’ll change the timeline if we give this to him.” Felis thought, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. If Cyrus had the teleporters he could go anywhere. There was technology here that could prove disastrous in the wrong hands, and the Galactic boss definitely fit the category. In short, he couldn’t have it.
So how did he convince the guy that giving it to Cyrus was a bad idea? What did Remi want? Recognition, reward. Something monetary. Why? His brother, probably. He was going to start his journey, he needed resources, right? Something Remi would want to provide. What could he do, no, what could he say that would give him what he wanted?
“Think about it.” Felis said slowly, “We give him this, Galactic’s going to find everything they need, you’ll get a pat on the back and be sent on your way. Is that really what you want?”
Remi's eyebrows furrowed, but he nodded at him to continue.
“I know for a fact that’s not what I want. Maybe I’m being selfish here. But I’m broke, I’ve got nothing except Galactic keeping me off the streets. I want them to like me, and I’m thinking you do too, right?”
He was rambling, stretching out the conversation so he could formulate his argument. Remi was looking interested though, suspicion now battling curiosity.
“So let’s find something worth taking back.” Felis emphasized, gesturing with his arms, “Let’s find something so useful they’ll have to credit us.”
“I already have the data stores.”
“Impressive, but not enough to make an impression.” He argued, “Let’s get to the end of this maze. We have the means to do it. We’ll hit the other labs, the dream wings, the observatories. Everything. We get the best pieces, then we come back and get our reward.”
It was working, he was thinking about it. Duty and greed warred within Remi, he just needed a little more convincing, one more push.
“It’s not as if we’re stealing from Galactic.” Felis pointed out, stepping closer to him, “They would’ve found it anyways, we’re just saving them time and resources. Resources that could be sent our way, enough for us to tour Sinnoh a hundred times. Enough for repels, potions, everything needed to keep a new trainer safe.”
With that last idea the last resistance of Remi’s duty was crushed, the mentioning of a journey for his little brother had his eyes shining.
“I have conditions.” Remi said seriously, staring into him.
Yes! “Name them.”
“When they ask who found them, credit goes to me, with you being my support.”
“You split the reward 50/50 with me and I’ll tell them you did everything.”
“60/40.”
Oh this motherfucker.
“50/50.” Felis stressed, a low growl escaping him, “Say some bullshit again and I’m going off on my own.”
“60/40, or I’m going to Cyrus.”
“Do it. Go, right now, give up the reward. Tell your brother he won’t be safe out in the wild.” Felis’s face was calm, but inside was a storm of internal panic. This was a gamble, a gamble he was sure he’d win, but a gamble all the same.
“...Fine.” Remi finally said, and Felis breathed out a sigh of relief, “50/50.”
“55/45 for pulling some bullshit.”
“Fair. Last condition, the others don’t know what we’re doing.”
“Oh come on–”
“No.” Remi said, jamming a finger into Felis’s chest, “The more people that know, the more teleporters we have to use, the more we have to split the reward. I’m not doing that.”
“Let me at least check if my brother’s alive.”
“And risk them spotting us? No.”
“What about the people working under you?” Felis asked, “You’re not curious if your Coworkers are dead? Hazel? Emily?”
“They can take care of themselves. And from what I’ve seen, so can your brother. They’re not dead.”
Felis made to argue, but stopped himself. This was Arun he was talking about. He was right, Arun wouldn’t just die, he was a survivor, someone who got through the worst of everything without a complaint in the world. He’d be fine, he wouldn’t have fought recklessly.
But what if he was wrong?
“This is a good deal.” The logical part of his mind argued, “You have Remi where you want him. This is the best you could do, work with it like you usually do, both of you could use the rewards.”
“Arun wouldn’t leave you behind.” The emotional part countered, “Just make sure he’s safe, do it while Remi’s not looking.”
“And risk the alliance? This is your chance, Felis. Do it. Get yourself out of the bottom barrel.”
“Find Arun, Pranav. He deserves to know, you deserve to know.”
“...Deal.” Felis finally said, whispering a silent apology to his brother. He’d have to explain later. “But let me send Aken, at least.”
“No can do. Croagunk’s still too injured. I need Aken in case this place tries to kill us again.”
Remi raised his hand, offering it to Felis, “So we have a deal?”
Felis nodded slowly, grasping the hand in a firm shake, “For Galactic.”
“For Galactic.”