Felis was absolutely sick of running.
“Come on, move!” He hissed, praying his legs would move faster.
Split from Arun. Literally the worst thing he could think of happening to him, and it happened. Now there was a Kleavor chasing after them–an injured one, sure, but it was still a 7 foot behemoth with axes for hands.
Sometimes, Felis wondered if being isekai’d was a good thing.
“[Brick Break!]”
A figure leapt past him, and Felis saw Remi’s Croagunk slam into Kleavor, fists coming down into two quick chops against its throat. The Pokémon let out a choking cry, before wrenching its neck to the side, sending Croagunk tumbling to the floor. An axe came speeding down towards the frog Pokémon, ready to split it into two–
“Return!” Remi shouted, bringing the Pokémon back into the ball.
Felis would’ve been dead 10 times over if it weren’t for Remi and his Croagunk, constantly ducking in and out of the fight to delay Kleavor for seconds at a time. He knew though it wasn’t for his sake, Remi was just as unfit as he was, but he was grateful all the same.
“How much longer!?” He wheezed at their third companion, happily flying ahead of them.
“There’s just one room ahead of us.” Bezos hummed, “Once you’re there try not to disrupt the automatas too much, their pathing becomes irregular if interrupted.”
“What?”
“Anyways just follow the path, go right and then after the next hall you’ll see your destination.”
“You’re an asshole, you know that?”
“Actually, I am a sophisticated AI modelled after Jeffery Bezos, CEO of Amazon and one of the–”
Felis tuned it all out, forcing himself to run forward through the halls. So much of the place felt…useless. Rooms with intricately carved statues, with no other purpose than to just look good. He’d passed by fountains and plants simply placed in sections with no rhyme or reason to their being, as if someone had seen all the empty space and wanted to just fill it up with whatever.
So why make the room so big in the first place?
“Chased by a walking death mon and you still have time to ask questions.” He chided himself. “Get your head in the damn game.”
“Ah!” Bezos said, “It appears we have some heavy machinery available for use. Would you like me to activate?”
“The hell do you think!?” Felis gasped, god, he wanted to smack him so bad.
“I think you need to stop being so angry all the time. Your stress levels are through the roof! You’re going to lose your hair you kn–”
“YES!”
“Activating!”
Sections of wall rotated, revealing the same faceless automata that had aided them earlier. Both Remi and Felis flinched at the sudden eruption of bullets, the heavy sound of gunfire drowning out Kleavor’s roar. The Pokémon temporarily halted, and the two ducked into the next room.
Only to be met with a ballroom gala.
“What the fuuuuuck.” Felis whispered.
The room was a drastic change from the monotonous gold that drowned the previous halls. There was a singular large red carpet he and Remi had stepped onto, one that branched off into three different rooms. The whole thing was just one large ballroom, with chandeliers that lay inert hung in the dozens, crystal lenses shining brightly despite their lack of light.
What must’ve lit them all up were the dozens of figures that moved and swayed about the floor, their glow bathing the room in white light. They danced in pairs of two, expertly gliding across the floor with practiced steps.
“Are they…are they human?” Remi asked, watching them in awe.
“Not quite!” Bezos said, “These are man-made automata, a reflection of one facet of the old world. You may join them if you wish.”
“There’s still an angry Pokémon after us!”
“Oh, very true. Boo, I was hoping for a performance.”
“We should walk for a while.” Felis said, “Get our energy back.”
In truth he wanted a better look at these “dancers”. They were made up of clear glass, he could see through them completely. He could also see the wires that snaked throughout their limbs, moving and undulating within their body, like a fucked up mix between a horsehair worm and a nervous system.
“What’s that one doing?”
One of the dancers stopped near him…though noticeably it didn’t dare touch the carpet, in fact, none of them did, it was as if they were all purposely avoiding it. They wore no clothes, but their features were so androgynous he couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be. It held a hand out in front of him, as if asking him to join.
“Oh! It appears that one’s asking for a dance!”
He shot a glance at the AI, it seemed oddly insistent on wanting him to join, why? What else had he said? Something about their “pathing”?
“Hmm. Sounds interesting but I’m good.”
“Really?” Bezos flew close, “Are you sure? I haven’t seen a performance in a while!”
“Felis, let’s go.” Remi said, glancing at the door worriedly. Kleavor’s roars were getting closer.
“Yea. Sorry Bezos we got a lot of things to do, y’know? Monsters to run from, secrets to find, people to meet, schedule’s a lil tight.”
“But–”
“Hey, here’s an idea!” Felis said, walking down the red carpet, “Why don’t you activate protocol E-1?”
“E-1? Why would I need to–oh! Oh my! Hol-urk!”
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“1…2…aaaaaand”
“What's up? My name is Jeff Bezos! Though, just so you know, I’m not the real guy, just an AI modelled after him.”
“Thanks.” Remi said.
“It’s what I do.” He nodded back. “Bezos! Security wing!”
“Right this way!”
It was like the old iteration said, they stuck to the carpet, turning right and heading down that corridor. All the while the glass statues danced and leapt about, their erratic steps tracing hypnotic patterns across the dance floor, forever free, forever trapped.
“What do you think the point of that room was?” Felis asked.
“What’s the point of anything in this place?” Remi countered, “It feels like things just exist because they can.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Can we talk about that later? There’s still that monster chasing us.”
“Fuck, right, my bad.”
The next room was more open than the others, built more like the lobby of an office building than the regular monotonous halls. In this section he could see the higher floors, a singular pool in the middle, with the water moving up the floors in a strange reverse waterfall.
“Arceus…I can’t see the ceiling.” Remi whispered.
“Is the water drinkable?”
“Oh absolutely!” The AI said, “Though I don’t see why you would. Divine’s don’t need water.”
"Because why the hell not?" Felis said sourly. Whoever modelled this AI really needed to learn about boundaries. Whatever negativity he felt however was washed away immediately as soon as he dunked his head under the water, the cool rush of the stream against his skin wiping away most of the fatigue that plagued him. Ripping his head out he took a grateful swig. God he fucking loved water.
“You’re alright, right?” Remi asked, hesitantly poking the stream.
“Just go for it man.” Felis sighed, before turning back to Bezos. “So, security wing?”
“Right this way!”
He could see the security wing from the way the gold suddenly shifted to a reflective silver. There was a singular line between the two rooms, and as they stepped over Felis felt a buzz in the air, like something had just been activated.
“This is it!” Bezos cheered, “You are now completely safe!”
Just in time, Kleavor crashed into the room, though it looked like it had taken a beating since they'd last seen the beast. Its skin had dozens of miniature craters denting inwards, likely from the high calibre rounds that peppered it earlier. Glass and wiring crunched beneath its feet, did it stomp through the dancers?
It rushed forward, causing both men to scramble backwards towards the door. Axes glinted in the light, so smooth and polished Felis could see his own reflection. Would those axes soon be stained in blood? Would he see his severed reflection before they bit into him?
The line they crossed flashed as soon as Kleavor tried to step through, the air visibly began to tighten in a wall, the scent of ionised air heavy as electricity flashed and shocked the Pokémon, so powerful it ended up launching the Pokémon back into the pool.
“What the hell was that!?” Felis breathed, feeling his heart hammering in his chest.
“Roughly 150 million volts of electricity!” Bezos said with an almost smug smile, “Weaker than its usual output, but still enough of a deterrent.”
“So…we’re safe?” Remi asked.
At Bezos’s nod the two of them collapsed onto the floor, breathing out relieved sighs. Felis wiped the sweat from his brow, enjoying the cool sensation of metal on his skin as he lay there.
“Hey.” He said, turning to Remi, “Wanna try killing that thing?”
“Fuck you.”
“Yea…stupid idea.”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Felis leaned back in his chair, kicking up his feet onto the desk in front of him. “Hmm…I once got so drunk I confessed my undying love to a snowman. I once drew a sad face to answer a math problem and…I once skipped out on a date to finish a tv show.”
“Why are we playing this game again?” Remi asked, looking at the monitor where the screen showed Kleavor stalking back and forth
“Two truths, one lie, it’s fun.”
“...Snowman.”
“Nope.”
“Wait…” Remi turned to give him an incredulous look, “really?”
“If you saw the curves on that thing, you’d confess too.”
“Arceus, you’re insane.”
The Security Wing was…just a room. Which sucked because it meant they were trapped in the wing. As soon as they realized they were stuck, there was a bit of an unspoken agreement between the two, picking out the comfiest looking chairs and simply collapsing into them.
Planning was for later.
“Alright, your turn.” Felis said.
“Do I need to?”
“It’s fun man, come on.”
“...Croagunk was given to me by Galactic.”
Felis’s eyes flicked to Remi. He ran a hand through his hair.
“My brother once stole my credit card to buy rolls for a gacha game.”
Look away. Arms crossed. Lie?
“...aaaand, I had a pet rock up until I was 17.”
Picking at the nail, feet shuffle backwards.
“Brother.” Felis guessed.
“Na, rock.”
Ah. He got it wrong, well, he could always try again.
“You have a brother?”
“Mm. Whole reason I joined Galactic.”
“Younger?”
“How’d you know?”
“I can see the look.” Felis said, bringing his feet back down from the table. Kleavor still paced back and forth, seriously, could it not find something better to do? “Sirius is the same.”
“Hm. I guess so.”
“How old is he?”
“12. Already talking about starting off on his adventure.”
“Parents?”
“...it’s your turn.”
“Gotcha.”
Felis stood and stretched. It really was a simple room. The walls were filled with lockers, batons and combat knives lining each of them alongside vests and uniforms. Inert machinery resembling the teleporters in Galactic HQ lined the opposite wall, everything in between simply having desks and monitors that flashed and revealed different corridors.
“The first time I saw a Pokémon was a month ago, I once skipped out on a test to finish a book, aaand I’ve got a scar on my left leg.”
“Book. You’ve talked about Pokémon before.”
“Nope! Scar.”
Remi rolled the chair back to face him, “Really? For a test?”
“It was an interesting book! I was passing the class anyway.”
“Did you at least learn anything?”
“I mean,” Felis said, walking about the room, “I learned the armies of Mordor are bitches when the Dark Lord Sauron can’t back them up.”
“Dark lo–it was fiction!?”
“It was peak fiction. You never read Lord of the Rings?”
“No?”
“Missing out man. Anyways, your turn.”
Remi let out a sigh, resting his head on the table, “Why are we still playing this?”
“Do you want to fight the big guy outside?”
“You know neither of us are risking our Pokémon right now.”
“So let’s play for a little bit longer.”
“Fine.” Remi said, leaning back into his seat again. “I’m 27 years old.”
Picking at the fingers again.
“I’ve got two more Pokémon.”
No movement, somewhat bored expression.
“I have two gym badges.”
Smugness to the voice, pride.
Felis grabbed another chair, laying back lazily as he regarded Remi for a moment. “27 years old.” He said after a while.
Remi shot him a small grin, “You got it. Was it my youthful vigor that gave it away?”
“Youthful? You look 35.”
He let out a bark of laughter, “Oh fuck off.”
They played a few more rounds after that, but by then Felis knew his tell. A single movement, a single prick of his fingernail, cleaning away dirt that wasn’t there. There were other signs of course, shuffling of the feet, looking away, or looking too closely at him, but it was always accompanied by the singular prick of the finger.
“Alright I’m done.” Remi finally said after their 10th round, “How do you keep guessing right?”
“You move your feet around a little when you lie.” Felis lied, “it’s your tell.”
“Really? Damn, I didn’t even notice.”
“It’s subtle, hard to notice.”
“And you? What’s your tell?”
“I tend to look away when I lie.” Felis said, though, that too was a lie. In truth he’d trained himself to curl his toes when he said a lie, and nobody would notice that shit. Unless he was wearing sandals or something…but na, he doubted he’d be wearing those anytime soon.
“That Pokémon is still pacing.” Remi sighed.
“What do you think we should do?”
“Wait for reinforcements, probably.”
Felis spread his arms wide, gesturing about the room, “You see any food and water here?”
“As Divines,” Bezos interrupted, “I’m not sure why you-”
“Shut up.”
“Shutting up.”
“Fuck.” Remi said, dragging his hands down his face, “If we fight Croagunk can’t tank against that. And your Shuppet will be dead in three hits tops.”
Felis hummed in agreement, looking about the room. This was a security wing, there were weapons. But did they really only use batons and knives to deal with fucking Pokémon? There had to be more, right?
“Bezos.” Felis said, looking at the lockers, “You guys got guns or anything like that?”
“Guns were primarily used via Red Chain Protocol: N, as it is currently missing, there are a limited number of guns within this facility. Mostly in the upper layers.”
“So how did they deal with threats? Did they just use batons?”
“Oh not at all!” Bezos said, as one of the lockers clicked open, “These aren’t just any normal batons. As Divines, you are much stronger than humans of old, and as such weapons are equipped to handle more! This is a stun baton, capable of dishing out 300 million volts!”
Felis blinked, staring at the AI. “You’re telling me that thing’s got the equivalent output to a fucking lightning bolt?”
“Correct! Wow! I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable!”
“Pfft.” Remi snickered, “I think he’s calling you stupid.”
Felis waved them both off, staring at the unassuming little baton in front of them. 300 million volts, was that double the barrier? The barrier was enough to keep Kleavor out, a couple of hits from the baton could mean a killing blow, right?
“Hey, Remi.” He said, turning to his companion, “Wanna try killing that thing?”
“...No, you cannot be serious.”
“Yea. Great idea, right?”