“Brother Gafna?”
From the other end of a modestly-furnished room, the tall, white-haired figure clad in golden attire turned his attentions from the window towards Megan’s hesitant form which now graced the open doorway. Taking note of his welcoming smile, the woman walked further into the room and gave a little bob of the head.
“What is it?” he asked.
“We have a…unique visitor, brother,” Megan reported. “He wishes to know of his past.”
“Sister Wakanda,” Gafna shook his head sadly. “I long to help others as much as you do, but interfering with the passage of time, even to observe it, is something highly frowned upon. You know that.”
“Yes, yes I understand,” Megan persisted, her voice weakening slightly. “But I feel you may want to make an exception in his case...”
She stepped aside at this point, to reveal the pale bipedal figure with its long violet tail that, up until now, had been standing directly behind her. Gafna’s next breath caught in his throat, his eyes appearing to grow watery as a result of what he saw before him. This reaction was not something Mewtwo had expected. People had shown fear at encountering him before – this was the most common reaction. People had shown revulsion too, but never had a human been drawn almost to tears at merely his presence. Mewtwo found this quite illogical.
Once Gafna finally retrieved his voice, he approached the psychic feline Pokémon, taking off his robe to expose the thinner garments underneath and draping it across Mewtwo’s shoulders. Megan watched this with slightly open mouth – in Agrarian Seer society, this was a mark of deepest respect. Though Mewtwo was greatly puzzled by the act, he did not refuse it. The robe felt quite comfortable, even familiar, and somehow instilled a sense of calm in him that was more intense than that which the Pokémon had felt upon meeting Akiva.
“Come with me, divided one,” Gafna said, his expression unfaltering. “And I shall let you see what you have been searching for.”
Divided one? Mewtwo blinked, though it was an internal thought, unheard by either of the Seers. Regardless of this cryptic speech, the Pokémon followed Gafna out into the corridor once again, while Megan closed the door behind all three of them.
The second passage through the repository seemed to draw more attention to Mewtwo than the previous one. Flanked either side by Gafna and Megan and scrutinized by every Seer student that walked past, the Pokémon felt for all the world like he’d suddenly become an object of exhibition rather than a guest. It wasn’t until the three figures left the main corridors and entered a narrower route, that Mewtwo was able to relax somewhat. He had deliberately refrained from saying anything until leaving public hearing range, lest he make his situation as an object of scrutiny worse.
Gafna pushed open a thick wooden door and ushered Mewtwo into the dimly-lit room beyond where the Pokémon found himself looking upon what appeared to be a giant crystal teardrop. It was suspended from the ceiling with its pointed end facing downwards over a pool of water.
“This is the Chronocite Eye,” Megan explained. “It has the ability to take a memory and…rewind it, so to speak, even to an event in time you may not have existed, just as long as it happened in the exact same location.”
While she spoke, Gafna waved his hand over a pedestal nearby. Mewtwo watched in surprise as the suspended teardrop began to split apart – its pieces bending outward like the opening petals of a flower until they came to rest in a parasol-like formation.
“Stand underneath,” the aged Seer instructed. Using his telekinesis to remove the robe from his shoulders, Mewtwo levitated himself a little way into the air and over the shallow wall that bordered the pool, lowering into the water thereafter. It was a minimal amount, barely reaching halfway up his lengthy feet. Glancing upward, Mewtwo discovered that, to his astonishment, the centre of this crystal ‘flower’ was in fact crudely shaped like an eye. And now it was staring directly down at him.
“Now, bring back your earliest reachable memory,” came the next direction. “And this will do the rest.”
Here goes… Mewtwo closed his eyes and trailed off as his mind let go of the present moment and the surroundings which accompanied it, falling back into the distant, mistier occurrences of his youth. Deeper and deeper he went, prior to his time spent with the clone Pokémon on Mt. Kanar, prior to even his thoughts on creating those very Pokémon. He saw momentary glimpses of the metallic helmet that sickened man ‘Giovanni’ had forced him to wear, and the blazing flames and clamouring people who were so mercilessly vaporized during his reckless destruction of New Island Laboratory.
Yes, Mewtwo knew he was getting closer now – the unmistakable black wall that separated the Pokémon from his memories loomed, approaching ever faster. Just when he thought he was about to slam full force into it once again, something unexpected happened. One moment there was a sudden intense wash of blue-ish light over his vision, the next, Mewtwo found his senses rapidly detached from him. It was a curious feeling, rather what the creature expected an out of body experience to have felt like. No longer was he confined to the reaches of his own mind – now the Pokémon was gazing upon the pristine surroundings of the very laboratory he’d destroyed not so long ago.
He could see the machines. He could see the scientists huddled at desks and studying various diagrams and printouts. He could see…himself.
It was a humbling experience. There Mewtwo was - suspended in a tall cylindrical tank of orange fluid and clearly in the early stages of development, judging by an appearance that was closer to Mew’s than his current one. A series of wires were attached to various parts of his body, monitoring what appeared to be life signs that flickered up on nearby computer screens.
“It’s just like all the other clones, Doctor…it hasn’t gained consciousness.”
Other…clones? Mewtwo flinched upon hearing the angular tones of a man’s voice from nearby. Rather like a dream, the space in front of the tank containing his younger self that once was empty now accepted the presence of two wide-shouldered figures in lab coats. The taller one, the owner of the curious accent, had a shock of slightly wavy black hair while the hair and thick goatee belonging to the older one was almost grey. Mewtwo recognized the latter all too well – this was Doctor Fuji, the man who had overseen his creation.
“I just don’t understand it; its other vital signs are strong.”
No sooner had these words left Doctor Fuji’s mouth, one of the computer consoles nearby uttered a series of high-pitched beeps. Both scientists left the cylinder and strode over to the console responsible, currently being seen to by a brown-haired woman with her hair in a ponytail. This computer had a wide monitor containing five charts, each one of them a mass of pink, blue and green and fluctuating at different rates. During the past few minutes, those rates had mutually become more agitated.
“What’s that?” the black-haired scientist inquired.
“I’m not sure,” the woman replied, sounding a little anxious. “But Mewtwo and Ambertwo seem to be communicating with the other clones.”
Amber… there was that name again, the name Mewtwo found himself screaming back in that city with little knowledge as to why. If he’d known where his body was at this point in time, Mewtwo knew he would be tensing every muscle in desperation. The knowledge the Pokémon craved so badly was inches away, he just knew it.
“But how?” the female scientist’s associate spluttered, attempting to search the paper records for some evidence of this possibility. Mewtwo struggled to make out the other clones that these human scientists were referring to. After a few moments of deep concentration, he found himself glancing across the other side of the laboratory at three more cylindrical tanks – exactly the same as the one containing his younger self. These tanks played host to a Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. Mewtwo drew a sharp breath at the sight of these vulnerable duplicates – the unusual markings upon their bodies were exactly the same markings that had emerged on the forms of the Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise that he had cloned.
“They could be using telepathy,” the female scientist suggested.
Telepathy? Surely such a thing was not possible – telepathy was a means of communication usable by only psychic types…wasn’t it? Urging his mental view to turn back once more, Mewtwo examined the woman’s computer monitor and its charts. One for each experiment – the Bulbasaur, the Charmander, the Squirtle and himself. But there were five charts, and he had only counted four clones. Where was the fifth?
Doctor Fuji left the woman at the computer and walked purposefully across the lab, prompting Mewtwo to follow him with his eyes. As he wandered past the tank holding Mewtwo’s younger self, the Pokémon’s gaze alighted upon the one next to it. Somehow he had not noticed this container before, despite it looking vastly different from his own. There was no orange fluid or multiple wires, just seemingly empty space. Suspended in the central portion of this space was something most beautiful…and quite unsettling.
A pulsating force of yellow and red, a living flame to a being whose appearance he could not see.
Is that…Amber?
Once again, Mewtwo struggled to recall the identity that this name belonged to, once again he failed. And Doctor Fuji refused to leave the tank containing the pulsing light, reaching up his hand and stroking it against the glass in some vain hopes to caress the essence within.
“Please…please let my theories be true,” he murmured.
“I must see my little girl…smile again.”
Now it was all starting to make sense. The human child Mewtwo had spotted in the street – her visage must have triggered some deep-written memory that was mostly beyond his grasp. And this ‘Amber’…maybe all of Doctor Fuji’s efforts had never been to gain Giovanni’s favour or scientific prestige – maybe they had simply been to bring his daughter back. For the first time, Mewtwo felt an element of sympathy for the haggard-faced scientist. Who knew what he had sacrificed in his bid to restore Amber. Who knew what had been responsible for the original Amber’s death in the first place.
Scenery flickered before the Pokémon for a second, like a slightly damaged video recording. Doctor Fuji still stood before the tank containing the life force of his daughter, while the brown-haired woman with the ponytail dutifully monitored the charts on her computer screen. Everything was stable and precise and it showed in the calm, almost triumphant expression upon the doctor’s face. However, as Mewtwo continued to look about the room, he caught sight of a tall, slender figure walking silently behind a bookcase with something in one hand. Artificial light flickered off the edge of the article’s blades, causing Mewtwo’s eyes to widen in horror.
The figure was closer now, giving Mewtwo a clearer look at what was undoubtedly a female human in a lab coat much like those of Fuji and the other scientists. While her face was blotted out by shadow, the orange glow from the cylinders she positioned herself behind showed a distinctive ring of golden hair and made it all the more fiery in the process.
He wanted to reach out and stop her. He wanted to yell, to attract the attentions of the remaining figures in the room. But Mewtwo couldn’t – his limbs and voice were abandoned to him, leaving him utterly helpless. In deepest anguish, the Pokémon was only able to watch as this forbidding woman reached out toward the back of one of the cylindrical tanks with the wire cutters in one hand.
“We’re losing all readings from Charmandertwo,” the scientist at the computer informed in morbidly emotionless tones, as the machine once again began to bleep. This time the bleeps signalled something far more conclusive, sending the multicoloured waves on one of the charts into an agonizing spasm. At the same time, the fire type Pokémon twitched and squirmed inside its tank – eyes tight shut but mouth wide open in a silent distressed cry as its body broke apart into tiny fragments. The waves upon the chart were stilled. The tank was empty, save for the wires that had once been attached to its now-dissolved occupant.
This can’t be happening…
“Bulbasaurtwo and Squirtletwo are fading the same way.”
It was all too clear that what Mewtwo feared the most was indeed happening. He writhed in his mental state of what now seemed like imprisonment – why hadn’t they noticed the saboteur who had deftly severed the wires to each tank? By their sheer ignorance these scientists…no, these meddling humans had allowed poor Pokémon to die! And yet the worst was to come. Glancing up from his internal struggle, Mewtwo saw the once-vibrant glow of Amber’s presence rapidly beginning to fade.
“Doctor…we’re losing her too…”
NO!
At that moment, the wall that had kept Mewtwo from his past memories shattered instantly. He could see Amber now; he could feel the anguish that had clutched at his heart as he watched her youthful face with its expression of sad acceptance fade away into oblivion. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.
I’ll go back! he cried out desperately, feeling his psychic energies surge through him in an unstoppable tide. I’ll go back and somehow I’ll stop that evil woman from destroying you, Amber!
I will!
Mewtwo wasn’t sure what happened next. The scenery flickered again just like before, but this time the shift was much more pronounced and noticeable. Images rushed past his eyes like the view from the window of a moving train - visions of a young man with mint green hair bound to a metallic platform and screaming in agony as long, cruel needles bore into his arms. Energy lanced across Mewtwo’s vision and in the midst of this horrific nightmare, there hung a circle of orange light which began to draw together into an indistinguishable mass.
Gafna wrenched his hand away from the pedestal as Mewtwo let out a terrible throaty screech, collapsing onto his knees in the midst of the shallow pool. Running to the Pokémon’s side, Megan attempted to bring Mewtwo to his senses without causing any further shock – he was shaking violently, tears running down either side of his face.
“It seems your psychic abilities caused some kind of flux in the Chronocite Eye,” Megan observed anxiously. “What happened?”
I saw it… he shuddered, after a few minutes had passed. I saw…everything. There was a man…they were extracting things from him…things they used to create me.
“I thought you might have seen that,” Gafna heaved a sigh, watching the psychic feline stagger to his feet. He glanced up at the aged Seer, almost accusingly.
This was why you called me a ‘divided one’, wasn’t it? he exclaimed. Because I’m not just a Pokémon. I’m partly human too, and you knew about this the whole time!
“Not of all matters, Mewtwo,” Gafna insisted. “Only of the circumstances which brought poor Brother Yung to his death so that you were to live.”
So that’s what Doctor Fuji had meant when he spoke of human ingenuity… Mewtwo concluded internally, with utmost disgust. It wasn’t theirs which had improved me, it was the human ingenuity I possess that another was forced to give up.
“Andh was an incredible man,” Megan spoke softly, her voice beginning to wobble. “His psychic Cho’moken and the control he had over it were beyond comparison. That is why…they took him.”
It was then that Mewtwo felt quite selfish. As he watched Megan force herself to retain her composure despite rising sorrow, he thought back on just how much time he had spent in bitterness and anger over his own circumstances. Megan had obviously felt very close to Andh, the one whom Team Rocket hadn’t hesitated to separate from his life. Something within Mewtwo felt drawn to Megan for reasons unknown. Was that feeling and the clothes he had disguised the kidnapped nurse in simply a reflection of Andh engraved into his own consciousness? Was it possible to transfer the desires and memories of another through their DNA? It would have certainly explained the visions of the mountain that led Mewtwo to the Tree of Begininning and the contented feeling he had experienced while standing within it, and associating with the Seers at the repository.
I…I am sorry to hear of Brother Yung’s loss, he murmured at last.
“Do not feel you are responsible for such things, Mewtwo,” Megan forced a smile, watching the Pokémon’s troubled expression. “The circumstances of your birth are hardly something you can control.”
Yes. The circumstances are irrelevant, the humanoid creature reminded himself, though rather unconvincingly. His head was still reeling from everything that he had just seen and he needed some time alone to untangle the muddled thoughts from the equally knotted memories. Is there somewhere quiet I can go to think these matters through?
“Of course,” Gafna nodded, closing the Chronocite Eye and walking back towards the door. “I shall show you there myself.”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
Akiva found Mewtwo sitting inside the repository’s penthouse, staring out through the glass panels at the night sky beyond. At first, the Pokémon’s pose and lack of acknowledgement for Akiva’s arrival gave the man the impression that he was intruding. Standing his ground, Akiva took a breath.
“Megan told me what happened,” he began cautiously. “Have all your questions been answered?”
No, not all, Mewtwo replied, following a long pause. The memories that were lost to me were indeed returned, thanks to Gafna. But I am starting to understand that not everything in this world is within my comprehension. Some things simply have to be accepted for what they are.
“And so do some beings,” Akiva tagged on. “The world needs to accept you.”
The world is not ready for one such as me, Mewtwo insisted. But here…here, it is different. Here in this repository, I feel like I belong.
“You do?” Akiva blinked. Mewtwo stood up and turned around to face the Seer, reaching out a hand and placing it gently upon the man’s shoulders. With their wisdom, insight, reasoning and unique abilities, both elemental and otherwise, these humans were more similar to him than any Pokémon. And unlike many of the humans he had met elsewhere, Mewtwo felt that he could trust them.
I now know my purpose, he told his companion firmly. To redeem myself from the past that created me and to uphold everything Andh held dear. Akiva…
…I wish to call you ‘brother’.
Silence fell. Man and Pokémon stared eye to eye as if trying to peer into each other’s very essence. Then at last, the corners of Akiva’s dark eyes creased and his mouth enlarged into a warm, welcoming smile. The Seer reached forward, throwing his arms across Mewtwo’s back in a hearty embrace.
“It would be my greatest honour,” he said.