Project Porygon
By Kitinari

Preface

Scientists peered at the flickering screens around the control room. There were models of what they were trying to create all around the room and on the screens too. All the minds were focused on one target: to create the first programmed and genetically engineered Pokémon. It was vital that they finish this project before any other organizations of the world did. It would be a huge step forward for cloning, genetics, and many other fields of science. So far nobody in the entire industry knew about how far they had gotten.

Millions of lines of code had been written so far, but the question still remained: would the end result of this fully coded version of a Pokémon work? Did all the behaviors that were programmed in its mental capacity function without any bugs? Did the attacks that this Pokémon was able to learn suddenly flare up without being commanded to? These were only some of the questions and problems that arose throughout programming for this new manmade creature.

While working, the scientists seemed to be off in a totally different world that was separated from reality. Their reality was only virtual reality perhaps, but maybe even that did not exist in their minds. Their only care and worry was the undertaking that was the beginning of everything in their once unimportant lives. They might get large awards, recognition, or even large funds to start on another similar project. Ah! That was the life for them, sitting in a control room pecking at the keyboard at computer code, or in a laboratory researching and finding behaviors, genetic information, and other tidbits that might be used for their little manmade Pokémon.

Some continuously thought that other organizations might try to sabotage their wonderful project, all of them were willing to give up whatever they had just to get recognition for what they were doing. So they set up security systems that checked almost all parts of you before you had access into the mainframe and the building. All biological tissues and research items were placed deep in the heart of the building. You might say that they were deranged to almost the point of madness on this one single topic, but no, when you told them that, they only would start to poke fun at you. You would be the laughingstock of the entire corporation for the remainder of the month at the least.

Either deranged or sane, this group of people at Biotech, Inc. would be the pioneers of a new industry. Soon afterwards, other companies would be racing to catch up, but Biotech would be years ahead in research, development, and marketing of its competitors. These fully programmed and genetically engineered Pokémon could be used for all sorts of purposes. They ranged from being sold as a household toy/pet to being used to surf through the Internet and be used for government use. That would only be the beginning, huge profits would also be gained from this research, but only the corporate supervisors cared about that, the thought probably did not even cross the scientists' mind. They were hired by Biotech for research and development, they didn't care about profits, what they cared about was recognition. Writing the first thesis, for example, would cause utter disruption in the scientific world, and that scientist would get a standing ovation for his or her work. That was the driving force behind this whole plan.

So far everything was running quite smoothly and they were going according to their long discussed plans. Everyday there was a meeting in the Biotech headquarters with new topics constantly discussed between the corporate chairs of the company and the scientists. If a problem arose, the chairs of the company would know within 24 hours of the occurrence.

The headquarters was located at a completely different location than the laboratory where the actual work was done. Biotech Laboratories was approximately twelve square miles in a barren dry desert. Such a large building was needed to do the genetics work, the storing of cellular composition, supercomputers, and many other machines. With such large proportions, an outside computer facility was need to monitor all incoming and outgoing personnel and communications. Security was already quite tight and since the project was coming toward the third checkup from inspectors, security was even tighter. Unfortunately, something would change the course of events abruptly stopping their progress. That something that would later be known as an USO, an undermining sabotage officer.

Transference 1 - Initiation

//# transmission begins #//
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to Biotech Labs:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Login Screen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter your username: cgreene
Enter your job: prog/gen.
Enter your password: *******

Verifying password and username. Congratulations! You
have clearance and may continue.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main Menu:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Genetics Department
2. Coding Department
3. Underlying Functions
4. Send Message
5. Logout
Please enter your choice: 1
Thank you. Information received, continue to the Genetics
Department.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Genetics Department
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Main Menu
2. Store Cellular Data
3. Store DNA Data
4. Search Data
5. Logout
Please enter your choice: 2
Received. Starting Cellular Information Database (CID).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter Subject Number: PRYG-862
Enter information (lines automatically word wrap. To enter
the information, press Ctrl+W):
...
//# transmission ends #//

For the past four years, Clyde Greene had been logging into the system mainframe everyday to record newly discovered information. At work and with his friends, he was known as Leaf Greene because of his thin appearance and temper. His temper was like a brittle leaf that hung on a branch, a breeze could easily blow it down. This was exactly like his temper, he could get angry quite suddenly and easily.

Today, Clyde did not feel any better than previous days at the Biotech Labs. It was all the same routine and it had been long since become habit. If you worked at Biotech, you had the choice to live at the labs or come every morning. Either way you would need to pass the security system, which was very sensitive to all changes of environment and it monitored all activity. The system itself was controlled at a separate facility that was located near the 12 square miles of Biotech Laboratory. After the security checkup, which included retina scans, hand scans, and bodily composition scans, they continued into the actual laboratory and control room. All activity beyond the security systems was recorded on cameras. Programmers and laboratory scientists and assistants needed to login to the system mainframe to change any information that they were going enter.

It seemed everything around all of the labs was automated or at least had some kind of machine always involved. Sometimes, Clyde wished that they were doing things the old-fashioned way. Leaf had been working as a geneticist since 1970, and he was used to more humans in the actual process of research and input of information. Starting in the late 1970s, computers have been a critical part of the research and development process. They measured everything exactly, could peer into deeper depths in any field of science than any of the previous methods could, and computers on space probes could even go to places humans could not even imagine to go.

This morning, he was entering a new cellular mitosis of the test subject PRYG-862. It was quite amazing since the cell's nucleus itself was made up of entirely human programmed data, and the plasma membrane (PM) was comprised of the latest gene splicing techniques. It functioned like a cell with mitosis, energy requirements, waste, and other functions a cell has, yet it was completely manmade, for example the double layer of phospholipids that the PM was comprised of, was regenerated by observing other Pokémon and finding out the composition of the layers. "Yes," Clyde thought, "This would be a tremendous undertaking. It's just amazing that a manmade biological living thing could actually function like a normal being."

Clyde looked away for a second from the screen, and peered down at his watch. The liquid crystal chronograph showed 6:57 AM. He was one of the people who lived in Biotech Labs, because he had no real family, he was adopted at age seven and his foster parents have long since died. A troubling past also bothered him, these were some of the reasons he was always so edgy and so short-tempered. As he looked back at the computer monitor, he opened his notebook and basically summarized his entire work for the previous day in this transmission.

//# transmission begins #//
...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject PRYG-862 has cellular mitosis. Instructions for
growing cells in a petri dish followed. By the end of hour,
a total of 124 cells produced. Numbers may not be
completely accurate.

Could see strain on first cell. First chromosomes appear,
spindle fibers form later as cell divides. Soon centrioles
form and chromatids align in center of cell. Chromatids
then divide along with both sides of the cell. Cell membrane
splits and mitosis is complete.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ctrl+W pressed. Do you wish to save (y/n)? y
Do you wish to the main menu or quit? quit
Thank you. Good bye.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
transmission ended at 07:02
//# transmission ends #//

It was about half and hour away from the daily 7:30 AM meeting at BTHQ (Biotech Headquarters). Clyde was the chief geneticist, but he also had experience in the programming department. So this made him a suitable find for Biotech. He was hired in 1976 when the actual project started. There was a daily meeting about the progress of "Project Porygon" and what they should do to improve it. So far all discussed items had come true, they ranged from copyrighting their research, coding, and Pokémon to what the competition around the world was doing.

Clyde would find out what today's topic was at the proper time. Right now, he just worried about the machine in front of his face. Even though he was logged off, it still showed signs of activity, it was as if somebody was hacking into the system using his password, id, and occupation. Just as suddenly as it had started, the activity ceased and Clyde just dismissed it as a computer malfunction. His watch showed a time of 7:22 AM. It was nearly time for the daily meeting at BTHQ. He needed to leave the BTL (Biotech Labs) and leave for the headquarters. As he walked away from his terminal, he did not notice the flashing screen.

//# transmission begins #//
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Underlying Functions
username: cgreene
password: *******
function access: @dload_whtrbbt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Access acknowledged.
Download Information: 100% complete
Deleting function: dload_whtrbbt
Exiting back to Main Menu.
Logging off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
//# transmission ends #//

It took about five minutes to travel between the two locations, and Clyde arrived at headquarters just in time for the usual meeting. All of the managers of their part of the company came. Since Clyde was the chief geneticist, he was also one of the people at the meeting. As soon as he got into the meeting room, chief programmer John Kalin greeted him. "How's the day going so far, Leafy?" John asked, he knew that Clyde hated that name.

"So far so good," Clyde replied in a cool manner, trying to keep down his anger.

At that time, the head of the entire corporation, Hubert Baker, addressed everybody, "Welcome to the meeting room! It has been our tradition since we started "Project Porygon" four years ago to start each day off with a corporate head meeting. Today's topic of discussion is a quite serious one. It is about the past and future of Biotech. This project is running very smoothly down in the labs and funding is great. We'll start with the genetics of this project. Clyde, how's your department coming along?"

"Fine. Test subject PRYG-862 just had a phenomenal cellular mitosis. It's the first of its kind in this project. We just need to insert the coded instructions from John's department into our cells. We have already finished the mitosis studies. There are two different ways that we can insert the programming. One way is to insert the instructions into one cell and have it split continuously until all of the other cells have identical programming in them. We only need to insert the info into one of the cells. Another way that we accomplish this is to again insert the-" Clyde was interrupted by John Kalin.

"Clyde, what's the difference if you insert our department's information into each of the cells that you individually grow. I like the first idea, but the problem is-"

"You did not let me finish John. As I said before I was interrupted," Clyde gave John a dirty look, "another way to accomplish this is to again insert the data, but this time we insert it into an embryo. My department has already done some research on embryo development. We just need to inject the data to the first cell in the embryo."

"As the cells split, the cells will grow smaller. This is known as cleavage. When the first cell cleaves, it splits into two blastomeres. These blastomeres first split to four then eight cells and so on. When the entire embryo mass has about 100 or more cells, the multitude of cells will become what is called a morula. Finally the morula becomes a three dimensional sphere called a blastula. Other items will form later on embryo like the grastula. With the embryo plan, my team then can place the embryos into a synthetic PokéEgg. We have the proper plastics available. The DNA that we used suggests that the actual Pokémon will hatch from the PokéEgg within one to two days. So which plan do you choose?"

Finally finished, people readily voted for the embryo plan and agreed that it could later be marketed quite easily. Hubert then went through each of the different divisions of Biotech, programming, funding, power, data storage, and security. "We have already all decided on this Pokémon's name. Porygon, that was what we have decided on, but that was four years back. Do you think we ought to keep that name?" Hubert questioned the board below him.

Clyde and the rest of the board quickly decided that Porygon should be kept as the name of the new Pokémon. "The next item of discussion will be new competition for this company," as Hubert continued, there were gasps of surprise, "This new startup company is called NexGen. It is blazing farther than any other company before us. When we started this company, we found NexGen as a small threat, but now they seem to be catching up. Their Pokémon is called Biocomp. Managers, we need to work hard on our separate divisions so that we can get our Pokémon out faster than NexGen can."

Every manager understood why Biotech needed to crank out Porygon faster than NexGen could get Biocomp out. It would be a huge undertaking, but the recognition and fame that the company got would be amazing. Profits would be pouring in, besides that the other company's product would be probably ignored. It would be probably thought as a copy of the first product out. The public didn't care about the work that went into the end result; all the public cared was something to entertain them or that they could train as a Pokémon.

As the meeting was adjourned, John Kalin came up to Clyde and said, "Good luck in your department, I hope you succeed or else the whole company will blame you for your bad embryo. I'll have everything covered in mine. You cover yours."

Transference 2 - Combustion

Everybody had already left headquarters, but Clyde stayed behind because what John Kalin had said was stuck in his mind permanently. John had always had a grudge against the geneticists, because they always seemed to be more "technical" and smarter than him. He had once said, "All scientists are queer, they only care about their research and what little recognition most of them will probably get. That's all they care about, they're basically snobs that know how the world works."

Clyde continued his way toward Biotech Labs, and thought about the day that lay ahead of him. As he entered the building, he would have to pass the security systems again. This was probably his least favorite part of the entire building. You would probably feel paranoid too if a robotic arm came down to scrape some saliva from your mouth while others held you down. That test was Clyde's least favorite out all of them, but it was a required part of the security system. When finally he passed through the security checkup, Clyde went through to the laboratory where cellular tests were performed.

Not only was Clyde the chief geneticist, he was also a part-time programmer in the control room. This made him equally intelligent in both fields, and he knew what code was going into the embryo. When he was doing coding, John Kalin watched over him like a hawk. Whenever he made a mistake, even a small one, John would start to criticize his work. That was usually when Clyde's temper would just go threadbare and he would shout back at John. That would usually put John in his proper place, but he still hovered over Clyde always glancing at the code that was on the terminal screen.

Clyde preferred the geneticists' laboratory much more than the control room. He was much more comfortable among the rows upon rows of beakers, chemicals, and bunsen burners. The laboratory's walls were lined with computers, supplies, and coolers. Near every small terminal, a microscope was placed. Toward the back of the laboratory, there were even electron microscopes.

Electron microscopes can magnify objects that normal optical microscopes could not even imagine looking at. There are two types of these kinds of microscopes. There is a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The TEM can magnify objects up to 1 million times by shining an electron beam through the piece and magnifying it. The only problem is that the object must be thinly sliced. SEMs on the other hand, performs a scan on the specimen with an electron beam, and it can magnify objects 100,000 times or more. No matter TEM or SEM, you must have a high vacuum to allow the electron microscope work. This is because the air molecules interfere with the electrons. In this lab, there is both a TEM and a SEM.

Today was no different from any other day's work. As he walked into the lab, his fellow team workers greeted him cheerfully. "How did the meeting go, chief? Did you tell them our plans?" a worker asked.

"Wonderfully, the plan that we'll use is the embryo one. Where's Ben? I need to see his samples," Clyde replied.

"Ben is over there near the Crays. He's converting the programmed code into genetic information. He said it would probably take about four hours to complete the conversion of this batch," the worker answered.

The Crays in the laboratory were the Cray-140 supercomputers. These computers were quite large, about five and a half feet off of the ground, and they could perform about 14 billion floating-point calculations per second. The first model of the Cray supercomputer line was the Cray-1 designed by Seymour Cray of Cray Research. . One of the problems with supercomputing was the overheating of the circuits. The Cray-1 had circuit boards that were mounted vertically on freon refrigeration systems. The Cray-1 was the first computer able to do 100 million floating-point calculations per second. Now newer supercomputers are compared to the Cray-1 supercomputer by a unit of measurement called a "Cray." Some of the faster supercomputers have speeds that are even up to 1,000 Crays.

They had a set of four Crays set up in this laboratory, and it took Clyde about three minutes to reach his best friend and fellow colleague Ben Wright. Right now, as the worker had said, Ben was entering the programming code from John Kalin's department into the Crays. "How's it going so far, Ben?" Clyde asked.

"It's going as planned so far. The Crays are converting the code into the chemical symbols that we'll use to program the data into the cells. So which plan are going to use, Clyde?" Ben answered.

"At the meeting, we all decided on the embryo plan. 'It seemed so much easier,' according to most of the other department heads. Hubert approved the plan quite quickly when I told him the advantages. Anyhow, you know John?"

"Yep, was he giving you a hard time again?"

"That's true."

"He seems to hate all scientists, but he doesn't realize that without scientists, he wouldn't have his precious computer in front of him. He ought to be bowing down to us and asking for our forgiveness, instead he's acting like we're the enemy. We're just another department of Biotech. Notice that the title of this corporation is Biotech. That means that there will be some biological research and development, and that's got to mean scientists. I mean if he knew there were going to be scientists, why did he even come here?" Ben laughed as he inserted the data.

"That's one of nature's paradoxes, and John seems to be the only person who knows the answer to that," Clyde replied as he suddenly remembered why he came here. "Ben, can I see your samples of subject PRYG-857?"

"Sure, they're over there in cooler number 12. Go check them out, when I last saw them, they were ready."

"Thanks, Ben. Talk to you later," Clyde replied.

Clyde made his way across the bunsen burners and chemical storage closets and arrived right at the coolers. There were a total of 20 these six feet tall coolers. The temperature inside them was a constant 65 degrees. This was so that the cells would survive, but not get temperature fluctuations that we normally experience. As he opened the cooler number 12, Clyde looked for the label that said: PRYG-857/45. That was the latest test for subject PRYG-857, and he wanted to see the results. He found it on the lowest shelf and then Clyde continued toward the microscopes to see the results. This was the brain of a test Porygon, if Biotech grew the cells themselves.

Clyde wanted to know what the actual brain cell of their genetically engineered Pokémon would look like. He looked down at the cell, at the round nucleus, and also the plasma membrane. It was almost hard to believe that soon this Pokémon would be complete. It would have a brain, a body, and it would be able to move, interact with its surroundings, battle, and anything else a normal Pokémon could do. Then a brief thought came into Clyde's mind, "These are actual Pokémon, but we're treating it like a machine or a toy. It's a living thing, should we be thinking of it in this way. Of course, we don't really know how these Pokémon will eventually think and act. We can try to program instructions into it, but it may not work." He quickly shook his head and continued staring at the specimen.

Suddenly, a large explosion shook the entire room causing Clyde to fall down onto his knees. The wall near the Crays fell down with a shuddering crash, while the part of the room where the wall caved in abruptly burst into flames. Coughing from the smoke, Clyde suddenly remembered that Ben was over near the Crays. "NO! It couldn't be. Ben don't die! Don't die! I'm coming!"

Transference 3 - Retribution

Through the billowing smoke, Clyde saw a blast of fire continually appearing here and there. Clyde tried to pass through the burning inferno to reach Ben, but the roof gave way and blocked the way. Alarms blared now, and all the while people were trying to escape the blaze. Standing where the wall caved in, Clyde could tell that there was a person talking with his hand pointing toward something. He looked toward where the mysterious figure pointed. He saw a Pokémon that ran on four legs, with an orange-red coloration all over its body and its fluffy tail. The rabbit-like ears of that Pokémon continuously twitched as it dashed toward the entrance of the lab. "No!" Clyde shouted as he flung a Pokéball on a nearby table toward the ground.

Suddenly a large flash of light exploded in his face and in front of him stood a Wartortle. These were the "fire-extinguishers" that were used within the laboratory. "Wartortle, send a spray into the fire over there!" Clyde yelled as he sent more Pokéballs flying.

As more Wartortle appeared, the once fearful atmosphere dissipated now that things were under control. The figure that stood at the wall disappeared along with his mysterious Pokémon escaping through the wall. "Ben are you all right?" Clyde yelled as he continued over to the now completely demolished wall.

Through the rubble, he could see the hand of his former friend. Clyde cleared away the debris and carried his friend out of the wreckage. Later in the Emergency Room of the local Joyful Blissey Hospital, Clyde found out that Ben was still alive, but he was comatose. "How's he going to be doctor?" Clyde questioned the emergency room doctor in front of him.

"We really don't know, sir. Sometimes a comatose patient will stay unconscious for several days, sometimes a month, but very rarely will they go over a month. But there have been cases where the patient stays in comatose for over a year even. It seems the reason why your friend Ben here went into a coma is because of cerebral hemorrhage. Probably because there was not enough oxygen under all that rubble," the doctor replied.

"Well, thanks for the information, doctor."

"You're welcome."

As Clyde sat next to the bed with his friend, he promised that he would get revenge on whoever did this to Ben. Clyde stayed the rest of the day with his buddy. All he could think about was the safety and comfort of Ben. He did not want Ben to suddenly wake up when he was not there. Throughout his stay, nurses came in and out of the room bringing in new supplies and checking up on Ben. Chanseys and Blisseys could be seen helping around the hospital. Overall, the atmosphere here was set on helping people, and caring for them. Clyde thought that this was great, and he felt great here. If he ever retired from being a geneticist, he just might become a doctor to help either Pokémon or humans.

As dawn broke, Clyde knew he had to go back to Biotech. Yet his friend was in danger, and he did not want to leave his side. A nurse came in and seeing that Clyde was conflicting whether to go to work or stay here said, "We'll call you if anything happens to Ben."

Having said that, Clyde felt much better and replied, "Thanks. That'll help greatly. I'll check back later today." After that day, everyday during his lunch hour, Clyde ate lunch next to Ben. He was always hoping that Ben would awaken and everything would be back to normal, but he could never forget the fact that what happened to Ben was intentional. He had promised revenge and he would get it somehow. Somehow.

Clyde's chronograph screen showed 7:16 AM. He had a total of 14 minutes to make it back to Biotech Headquarters. He drove his blue '76 Chevrolet to parking lot of Biotech Headquarters, and prepared for the meeting in the boardroom.

Hubert Baker was the new chairman of Biotech, Inc. The position had been hereditary and he did not think too much about it. All he cared was the money that was profited off of the project, yet he thought that the scientists and programmers were progressing too slowly. Hubert really did not have that much power over the company, he was just the representational head of Biotech, the real power came from the board of directors. All of the chiefs of their departments were veterans and he was just a tenderfoot to them. He wanted more say in the meetings, yet what he said was really ignored by the directors.

"Hello everybody. I think everybody here knows what our topic of discussion is going to be today. It's mainly pointed toward the explosion yesterday in the labs. Particularly in Clyde's department's laboratory. First of all, how many people were hurt in the accident, Clyde?"

"Well, we have approximately four people hurt," Clyde replied in a cool tone of voice.

"What's your department going to do now, Clyde?" John Kalin interjected.

Clyde's patience snapped then, John had crossed the line. He suddenly jumped up from his chair and went directly over to John's seat and grabbed him by his shirt collar, "You just shut your trap! I'm sick of you always trying to pester us scientists. See what you would be like if your best friend wound up getting hurt very badly. Imagine it! Come on, see what it feels like!"

All the while when he was talking, Clyde was pummeling John in the face with punches. It was until the stunned board members held both men back that they were able to talk it out. With a bloody nose, and a ruffled shirt, John stared coldly at Clyde for the rest of the meeting. John muttered under his breath, "I'll get you back for that, Clyde Green. I'll make your battle a whole lot tougher, you insolent fool!"

By the end of the meeting, every board member knew what to do with his or her department. Luckily, all data had been backed up and the samples could be repaired or recreated. So basically the sabotage had only slowed down the process, but did not totally cripple the project itself. The only thing that was crippled was Clyde's friend Ben Wright and three of his other colleagues.

After the meeting, Clyde decided that he should probably go over to the security building. It would be a good idea to check the evidence that the security cameras caught about the perpetrators. Passing by the genetics laboratory, he saw fire crews and police officers still covering the scene. Clyde went over to the fire chief and asked what he saw. "This is a definite arson case. Whoever did this wanted us to discover it. It seems fortunate that your team of Wartortle helped out greatly. Did you see who caused this fire, sir?"

"Well, I was actually in the laboratory when this happened. My friend is in the ER right now, but I saw a small furry Pokémon that had an orange-red coloration to it. Its tail was quite puffed up, and its ears were very rabbit-like. I did not get a good look at the actual master of that Pokémon, but I can tell you the perpetrator stood at the opening in the wall calling out orders," Clyde replied.

"Thank you, you have been a great help in this investigation," the fire chief answered.

Clyde continued on toward the security facility. It was approximately a four-minute walk from the labs, and it was wired to the labs by underground wire. The security facility had cameras in every room except the restrooms. The video feedback from the cameras was constantly rotated through the control monitors in the control room of the security facility. As Clyde knocked on the door to the control room he said, "Hi, Amelia it's Clyde from the genetics lab. Can you let me in?"

"Sure Clyde, I saw you coming toward me already. Do you want to view the footage from yesterday's explosion?" Amelia Harper replied.

Amelia Harper was the technician that was currently on duty at the security facility. As Clyde entered, his pupils changed size to adjust to the light variance. This room was like a photographer's darkroom compared to the daylight outside. All around the security facility, monitors and computer terminals were set up. You could see film being wound constantly as new videotape was being recorded. Since this job was operated 24 hours a day, there were signs of food and waste all around the tables and the room. Luckily, none of it interfered with the actual security machinery.

"So what exactly are you looking for, Clyde?" Amelia questioned.

"Well, if the cameras caught the actual face of the perpetrator that would be great. If it also caught the Pokémon that set the fire, we might be able to keep a look out for it," Clyde replied.

The security facility had planted infrared, ultraviolet, and optical cameras in all of the rooms in the Biotech Labs and Headquarters. There were so many different kinds of cameras around the entire complex, that it would take quite a long time to complete the entire search. All shots were stored on film and the rolls were later boxed in the storage room at the back of the facility. They had footage from the beginning of the project four years ago. All boxes had a prefix on them that told the technician which kind of camera that took the film (IR - Infrared, OC - Optical Camera, UV - Ultraviolet). After the prefix, a suffix of the date that the footage was taken was written. A database was used to catalogue the footage, and you could search the database for the date that you wanted and the camera type that took it. The database would then give you the code number.

Clyde and Amelia were searching through the previous day's records. The only two-camera type footage they sought for was the OC and the UV. Infrared would not be needed since the heat from the explosion and then from the fire would distort the entire camera feedback. There were downsides to both optical cameras and the ultraviolet cameras in this investigation. The smoke could block the image that they were looking for, and the UV cameras could only pick up radiation from certain wavelengths. This search would mainly have to rely on the optical cameras.

"Ah-ha! I've found the footage that was taken with the UVs and the OCs in the genetics lab. They're in boxes UV-40580 and OC-40580. Check on them will you Clyde?" Amelia asked.

"Sure. I'm on my way to the back of the facility now." Clyde replied as he grabbed a flashlight.

Clyde searched around the dimly lit dusty room. All along the rows and rows of shelves, there were cardboard boxes that held the valuable information of what was being done at Biotech Labs. Clyde passed rows where the IR film was stored, and then he passed the rows where the OC film was stored. Finally he came upon the UV film rows. He went down the last row and took a ladder to climb to the higher shelves.

Clyde propped the ladder against the shelves and made his ascent. As he peered over the topmost shelf, which held the box UV-40580, he suddenly heard a sound behind him. The sound was like a shuffling of footsteps, Clyde yelled out into the darkness, "Stay where you are. Who are you? I'm not going to hurt you."

Clyde's yell seemed to frighten whatever was in the darkness, and whatever it was started to dash for the back door. As it tried to escape, the "thing" seemed to crash into everything in its path. The racket and noise that it caused made it simple for Clyde to find the perpetrator. It was a juvenile Growlithe, and as Clyde calmed down the Growlithe, he felt something warm and wet when he petted the Pokémon. Even without the flashlight's help, he could tell that it was blood. He decided that now would be a good time to bring out this juvenile Growlithe out of the storage room and get it to a Pokémon Center.

"Hey, Amelia, can you go back to the storage room? I've got to get this Growlithe to the nearest Pokémon Center. Do you know where the nearest one is?" Clyde grunted with effort as he brought out the Growlithe.

When Amelia laid eyes on the Growlithe, she replied, "My word! Where did you get him? What happened to him? Was he in the storage room? Did he cause all that racket that I heard?"

"Yep, yep, and yep."

"Well, the nearest Pokémon Center out in this wasteland is the Saffron City one. You'll have to drive for at least a half an hour you know. Anyhow, I'll get the footage both in the OCs and in the UVs. Good luck!"

As he drove the young Growlithe to Saffron City, thoughts began to suddenly appear in Clyde's mind. Why does this always happen to me? Why am I the one who always has hurt friends or people around me get hurt? Ben's in the hospital, and on the exact same day, I find this Growlithe. He's badly hurt. Is it because I'm bad luck? Does fate dislike me or something?. Clyde suddenly grew very emotional. He had never been like this in his life. As Clyde drove and thought about the events of the past few days, Growlithe started to grow more and more weak. It was then Clyde glanced at Growlithe, he could tell that it would be very weak from the loss of blood. It might just die right there. Clyde looked at his watch, it had now been 20 minutes since he had left Biotech. He had another 10 minutes at least that he had to keep this Growlithe alive.

By the time that he finally reached the parking lot of the Emergency Room of the Pokémon Center, the juvenile Growlithe had gone unconscious and it was breathing very shallowly. Clyde had been to two emergency rooms in two days. Each time he went in with a heavy heart, it seemed this time he would probably come out with an even heavier one. Clyde and the Growlithe immediately came to the attention of the Chanseys and Nurse Joy. Without speaking, Nurse Joy gently took the Growlithe from Clyde's hands and put it on a stretcher with an IV bag attached. The Chanseys took it to the Intensive Care Unit or the ICU. Nurse Joy followed with a swish of her dress and the windowless doors closed behind her.

Transference 4 - Caution

The syringe light above the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) flashed on when Nurse Joy followed the hurt Growlithe into the windowless room. Clyde continually peered at the light to see if it would go off, since that would signal that whatever was being done in there was finished. As he waited, Clyde paced back and forth across the floor of the waiting room, always anxious to find out whether or not the juvenile Growlithe was all right. Whenever a Chansey came out of the room, he immediately stopped to look inside of the chamber to see what was going on, but he never got more than a glimpse of what was happening.

Inside the ICU, the atmosphere was completely different from outside. Everyone was on edge and alert since this was a living thing that they were dealing with. Chanseys were checking electrocardiogram (a.k.a. EKG or ECG) data. Blood transfusions were made, blood flow was monitored, and throughout all that hustle and bustle, Nurse Joy and her helpers still had to stay calm.

After all the needed operations and blood transfusions and five hours had passed, Nurse Joy came out of the ICU with a smile and good news for Clyde. "Well, it seems you brought Growlithe in just in time. Even though it lost a huge amount of blood, all of it was replaced with blood transfusions. Also it had a few broken bones. A few of its ribs in the ribcage have been fractured but nothing else. Growlithe is still weak, but after a good rest it will be back to normal. What happened to it to leave it in such a condition?" Nurse Joy questioned.

"Well, when I was searching through a storage room at our company, I found that juvenile Growlithe. It was very quiet, but when I tried to find out what it was, it tried to escape. Do you know what caused the deep gashes in its side?"

"It seems that the marks were caused by a whip or some sort of an object. You can tell from the other bruises on its body that somebody had been abusing it before it escaped. It has had rough treatment from humans, and I think it was scared that you were going to hurt it. Growlithe is going to be moved to the Recovery section of the Pokémon Center. You may come along if you wish."

"Thanks. I'll go and check on how Growlithe's doing."

Nurse Joy and Clyde followed two Chanseys pushing a stretcher that had the juvenile Growlithe to the Recovery room. The Growlithe had a cast that ran around its chest, and an IV bag was still attached to the stretcher. When Growlithe arrived in Recovery, Clyde sat beside it waiting for it to regain consciousness. Soon after, Growlithe's eyes opened and he saw a tired Clyde sleeping in a chair next to his stretcher. Growlithe knew immediately that this was the person that saved him from dying and he instantaneously became loyal to Clyde.

Clyde awoke because he felt a warm and wet thing preventing him from getting enough air. "Wha-what's happening? Where am I? Ahhhh!" Clyde exclaimed.

In front of Clyde, on the stretcher, Growlithe lay licking him. The orange canine seemed to be full of energy and totally back to normal, but you could see that it was straining to do anything. Clyde quickly grew to liking the Growlithe and he nicknamed him Bunsen. "Growlithe, how do you like to be called Bunsen?" Clyde asked.

"Growlithe. Growl," Growlithe replied energetically.

"Bunsen it is! Well, you better rest boy, you still have a whole lot of healing to do here. I have to leave right now, but I'll come back for you really soon. Okay?"

"Growlithe!"

It really pained Clyde to see such a wonderful Pokémon to become so tattered, so worn, and so abused. Clyde did not really want to leave Bunsen, but he had to, he needed to check on Ben. Now two of his friends were really hurt, and he had a nagging feeling that the same contributor hurt both of them. Clyde pledged again that he would find this perpetrator.

Clyde parked his blue '76 Chevrolet into the parking lot of the Joyful Blissey Hospital. He anxiously wanted to know the condition of his best friend. He quickly filled out the papers to see his friend and dashed to his room. When he entered the room, he saw a nurse already there tending the Ben. The nurse looked up and as if reading Clyde's mind said, "Your friend Ben is fine. He's still comatose, but his condition isn't getting any worse. Hopefully he'll wake up soon. That's all that has been really happening here."

"Thanks. I'll try check back tomorrow," Clyde replied and he stayed there for a while longer.

As he sat next to his unconscious friend, he thought of the memories of Ben and him when they were children. Both of them always had said that they would be the best Pokémon trainers in the world. Both Ben and Clyde pursued this goal together all the way up until high school. It was then that they realized that it would be practically impossible with what they had. Most trainers started when they were 10, and some started when they were 11 or 12, but they were 16. It was too "old" to really get a head start, and they usually liked head starts. So they gave up on training Pokémon, but they kept their Pokémon as friends. Now they were both Pokémon geneticists and they were probably the leaders in their field.

Clyde drove back to the Pokémon Center to check on Bunsen, and he found that it had enough energy that it was trying to get out of bed. "Nurse Joy, how long does Bunsen have to stay here?" Clyde questioned.

"Well, he seems to have made an incredible recovery. He seems to be very happy and energetic. I think you can pick him up tomorrow. He'll be fine then, but he will still have to rest awhile in your Pokéball perhaps since he still has a fractured ribcage. Other than that he's fine."

"Thanks. That's great!"

Bunsen was extremely giddy with joy when he saw Clyde return. "Calm down, boy. You'll get out of here soon enough. It's good for you to stay here. You can get some rest, but you'll be able to leave here tomorrow."

"Growl. Growlithe!" Bunsen replied giving Clyde a few licks on the face.

"Hey! Cut it out, Bunsen!" Clyde laughed. "I'll have to leave right now. I'll come back tomorrow to come and get you Bunsen. Be good here."

After a bark of happiness, Bunsen turned over on its back and held its paws in an upright position acting like he was begging forgiveness. Clyde laughed at that, petted Bunsen, and he left the Saffron City Pokémon Center with a lighter heart knowing that one of his friends would be better soon.

By this time, the sun was beginning to set and night was starting to creep in. Clyde had to get back to Biotech Labs quickly to check on the videotapes of yesterday's incident. When Clyde pulled up to the security facility he found nobody there. Even when he opened the door of the facility, he could find no one. Clyde searched the control panel and found nothing. Suddenly a muffled cry came from the back of the facility. It sounded as if the source was in the storage room.

Carrying a crowbar and a flashlight that he had just found nearby, he went toward the storage room and door and slowly opened it. First with a soft click the lock was unbolted, then a creaking sound could be heard when the metallic door was swung open. As Clyde prepared the swing the crowbar, he suddenly saw a figure sitting at the doorway bound and then gagged with a piece of cloth. "Mmph-lpth hmlph moo," the gagged figure cried out.

Clyde shined the flashlight onto the figure and found that it was Amelia. He helped out of the bindings and got rid of the cloth tied around her mouth. "What happened?" Clyde asked.

"I was looking for the UV and the OC footage, when somebody came up from behind and gagged me. I think I went unconscious for a while, but now I'm fine. Thanks for getting me out of these bands."

"Did you see who did this?"

"Kind of. All I saw was a obese guy wearing a mask. We'll see who it is soon. Luckily the security facility keeps backups of the footage stored here, but we'll have to wait for it to be shipped here. That shipment will most likely be arriving tomorrow. Until then, we'll just have to wait and see."

"Thanks, Amelia. I'll check back with you tomorrow."

During the night, Clyde's beeper sounded. Clyde woke up and turned on the light that was on the nightstand. He looked at the pager screen and the following words were written there: "lab brk-in. get here now!"

Transference 5 - Conviction

When Clyde received that message, his heart seemed to skip a few beats. How could there be a laboratory break-in? The doors had to be locked, the security facility was up and running now, how could have somebody made it past the security systems? Either break-in or no break-in, he was fully awake now and he needed to get to the lab.

Clyde quickly got into his blue '76 Chevrolet and took off down the street with tire marks still on his driveway. Five minutes later, he pulled up in front of Biotech Labs. He could see smoke pouring out from the security facility in the distance. Fire crews and police personnel could be seen querying witnesses and walking in and out of the buildings. He saw Amelia come walking toward him at that time. "Yo! Clyde! Over here!" She shouted.

"All right. Be there in a minute." Clyde still needed to find out what buildings were damaged and what was needed to fix it.

He walked over towards the chief of the fire crew. Clyde had met him during the previous incident at Biotech, and now the chief's face was quite familiar to him. "Well, howdy there. I've seen you've arrived. It seems that your company has a real enemy here. Two incidents in one week. You'd think that the perpetrator would be tired by now, wouldn't you?"

"Hi chief, and I guess you're right. Do you know what happened here?" As Clyde spoke to the chief fire officer, emergency crews were hastily searching through rubble and marking items of interest around the entire site.

"The USO first destroyed the security facility's main office, and then he or she went into one of the labs and tried to destroy some samples of your company's work. That's all I know so far."

"Thanks for the information, chief. I'll probably check back with you some time later for a chat." Clyde then made his way over to where Amelia was and he asked what happened in the security facility.

"I have no real idea. First I was watching the monitors and then suddenly I'm outside. I wonder what happened?"

Inspections on the security facility had already begun before day even broke. Clyde had stayed up all night and now he was ready to go back to sleep, but there was no time that he could find to. The day seemed to pass very slowly as if the slow motion feature of a VCR was turned on.

Although the security facility was down, the cameras and the other equipment still worked. The normal daily security pass still had to be passed before entering the undisturbed sections of the lab building. The only difference was that all procedures were done by hand now. The usual check up used to take only two to three minutes, but now with manual operation, it took ten minutes. All data was then transferred through a network. A temporary facility was setup so that they could still check on the data sent through the network. It was like the old system, except it was slower, run manually, and it was not as automated as before.

Clyde went to his old laboratory location and found it completely demolished. He needed to continue to the new location, but he stayed to reflect upon the past few days' events. It had all happened so suddenly and so brutally. He still remembered his vow against the USO, and he would still keep to it.

The old genetics laboratory roof had caved in during the previous attack by the USO. Now all that remained of the old laboratory was the tiled floor that was now strewn with dust, bits of rock and metal, and one of the Crays that had been crushed. The roof had long since been taken away and now only those items were left. Even now construction was being done on the place to restore it. Clyde could still tell where the wall had collapsed on his best friend Ben.

Clyde passed more and more rubble from last night. He passed them unemotionally and continued on his way toward the genetics lab.

Briing! Briinng! Clyde suddenly awoke to the sound of a telephone ringing in his ears. "Wha? Oh no! I slept in the lab! How much time did I waste?" Clyde quickly picked up the phone and discovered news about Ben. "What?! I'll be over there in just a minute. Thank you! Thank you!"

Quickly jumping into his Chevrolet, Clyde arrived at the Joyful Blissey Hospital. Then dashing into the ER, and continuing up to Ben's room. When he entered he found Ben awake, well, and eating lunch. "I had you worried didn't I, Clyde?"

"What're you talking about? I knew that you wouldn't have died since you are such a tough old buffoon." Clyde happily hugged his friend and got pasta all over his shirt.

"Hey! Watch it! I'm eating here. I haven't had anything good to eat in the past three days!"

"I know, but I'm so happy to see that you're all better!" Clyde exclaimed. "Doctor, how long does Ben have to stay here?"

Just entering, the ER doctor replied, "Well, we still have to check up on him. He'll be free to leave in two to three days."

"Great!"

Clyde left the Joyful Blissey Hospital with a new light in his life. His heart seemed to lift right up through his head. It was at that time, Clyde decided to check on Bunsen too. With a screech of tires, Clyde drove toward the Saffron City Pokémon Center. Along the way, Clyde continually thought about Bunsen and Ben. They were both fine now, at least he thought Bunsen was, and he continued driving happily.

Clyde went into the Saffron City Pokémon Center and found Bunsen lying down asleep. Clyde could see the steady up and down motion on his chest that signaled that Bunsen was breathing. Nurse Joy suddenly came up to him and whispered, "Bunsen is fine today. You can pick him up now, although I would recommend you wait for him to wake up first."

Bunsen seemed to have a "Clyde Greene Detection System" built right into its body, since as soon as Nurse Joy finished speaking, Bunsen woke up and happily barked seeing Clyde. "Well, I guess you could take him now." Nurse Joy laughed.

After rejoicing with having both Bunsen and Ben well, Clyde left the Saffron City Pokémon Center with new hopes for the future, a happier heart, and a new Pokémon friend at his side. Bunsen immediately went into the Pokéball that Clyde had brought to the Pokémon Center. With a flash of light, Bunsen landed happily by Clyde's side.

Clyde arrived back at Biotech Labs and went about his daily duties. He was extremely irritated with the new security procedures, but he had no choice. It was toward the end of the day when the sky lights up with all the different shades of red and orange. Clyde went through a final checkup of the labs' contents. Suddenly he discovered in Cooler 4, the subject PRGY-857 disappeared. At first Clyde thought he was mistaken, yet with each look he gave the empty space, he grew surer that it was robbery. Something was amiss here and Clyde wanted to get to the bottom of this scam. It was at that time one of Clyde's assistants passed by. "Jody! Did you see anybody come here into Cooler number four today?"

"I didn't see anybody come into the cooler today. Besides you that is, and I've only seen you go in right now."

"Thanks."

"Now this was getting quite interesting. If nobody's been in here, then who took the sample? The USO! That's who it has to be!" Clyde thought. Maybe this sample was the reason why the USO attacked Biotech yesterday night. Struggling to figure out who stole the sample and the mystery behind the Undermining Sabotage Officer, Clyde cannot sleep for the rest of the night.

A meeting was held at Biotech Headquarters the next morning, but it was held later because of the destruction of the labs. Clyde pulled up to the building and entered ready to give what information he needed to. He had not slept well last night and was crankier than usual. If anybody noticed that is. "Good morning, Glenda," Clyde said as he passed the receptionist at the front desk.

"Good morning to you too Clyde. Most of the board is already up there waiting for the meeting to start. Good luck."

"Thanks."

As Clyde reached for the elevator button, he suddenly thought of something. That's odd. Biotech Headquarters is completely untouched while Biotech Labs has been almost half destroyed.

In the elevator shaft, after receiving the signal from the button Clyde had just pressed, the car was steadily lowered by a weight-balance mechanism. A motor slowly hummed as it turned a drum on which the cables were wound around. The car attached to a guiding rack, slowly was lowered to Clyde's floor. The counterweights went up as the car went down. Finally it stopped at the correct level and its double stainless steel doors opened up revealing the mirrored inside of the car. Clyde calmly stepped inside of the elevator car and did not really notice what the machinery above was doing. With a new passenger, the counterweights of the elevator went down and the elevator car, along with Clyde in it, rose to the topmost level of the building in the same fashion.

Pushing open the large blue double doors, Clyde entered the meeting room and found everybody had already arrived except John Kalin and the Hubert Baker. Hubert Baker was always late, so that did not surprise anyone, but John was so refined and everything had to be perfect for him to be satisfied. Why such a change in attitude? Clyde looked at his watch, the time was 9:15 AM. The meeting was supposed to start at 9:10, and most of the board members were getting impatient. At that time, the obese figured Hubert Baker entered with evidence of a white powdered donut on his lips. "Sorry I'm late everyone, but I got a late breakfast today."

Hubert Baker looked around the room and found everybody there except John. "Where's John today? Does anybody know whe-"

Suddenly Hubert was cut short when John came rushing through the double doors. His hair was all matted up, his clothing was all grimy and were ragged. While John was catching his breath, his dark-ringed eyes darted ferociously around the meeting room as if he were searching for something. It looked as if John had been through a rough night. Then suddenly his eyes stopped on Clyde, and he walked over toward and handed Hubert Baker a manila folder. John then walked over to the projector that was in the center of the room and tried to get everyone's attention, even though everybody was already silent and staring at his complexion. He looked around the room and especially stared at Clyde. Afterwards, he said, "People of the board, I know who the person we know as the 'Undermining Sabotage Officer' or 'USO' is. All the evidence needed to prove that person guilty is right in that manila folder I just gave Mr. Baker."

John Kalin paused for a moment, letting his astounding information settle in a bit. After a few gasps and whispers, he continued and with a satisfying shout and evil grin. "In fact he is in your face right now! He is the one we know as Clyde Greene!"

Transference 6 - Refuge

The word "Greene" seemed to resonate within everybody's ears, especially Clyde's ears, as John finished speaking. Everyone on the board quickly looked toward Clyde with all of their eyes large and fearful. They really think that I did it. Clyde thought. It seemed as if they really did. With a triumphant chuckle, John requested to Hubert that the "evidence" in the envelope should be taken out and viewed by everyone. After brushing away some of his dirty, flailing hair, John continued to walk around the meeting room. "Again I say that there is evidence in that envelope there that can prove that Clyde was the perpetrator. Hubert, would you kindly open up the envelope and show the contents to the board members please?"

Opening the pouch, Clyde discovered a videotape inside and John immediately grabbed hold of the video. After taking it, he quickly popped it into the VCR that was at the front of the room. The magnetic tape inside of the VCR quickly spun around to the receivers. Winding around wheels and finally signals on the tape were converted into a picture format.

This videotape was a security tape that showed a figure dressed in black dashing into the lab. A Pokéball was suddenly thrown and a blinding flash of light ensued releasing a Flareon. The flame colored Pokémon sprinted alongside its stocky master. A wall was knocked down and suddenly fire erupted while people were screaming for help. Fire struck a nearby hydrogen canister and a huge explosion followed. The figure ran off with the Flareon at its side. Suddenly the person stopped and took off their mask. What was underneath the mask caused Clyde's heart to skip a beat and the entire audience to choke. The person's face was as clear as day. Whose face was it? Clyde's.

Shouts began to come from many members of the board. It seemed their moment of shock and fear had subsided and instead it had grown into anger now. "'Cuff him up now!" "He deserves to be jailed for life!" "How could have Clyde done this to us?! Lock him up!" The ruckus within the room soon grew to a cacophonous level. Seeing that he had no way of proving himself innocent and with all those people enraged and after him, Clyde did the only thing that he could think of: Run.

Throughout the commotion, John was sitting back and letting the other board members have their fun. It was already all worthwhile for him. Everything was going as planned, so far.

~*~*~*~*~

Dashing for the blue double doors, Clyde quickly rushed out letting the doors close behind him. Yells could be heard emanating before they closed. Fear had once ruled Clyde's brain, but now he had calmed down and thinking of the next step. They'll probably have the people on the first floor already notified already, but I need to get there anyway I can. There are two ways down to the first floor. One way is the elevator, but they'll probably hold it off at the bottom. The other way is the stairs, but again they'll probably have reinforcements at the bottom. Is there any other way out of this darn building?

Turning his head, Clyde could see people coming down the hall now. Sunlight streamed in from the ceiling-to-ground windows on the ends of the hall. Commands were issued to corner Clyde and stop him, and Clyde had to make his getaway before any of them got their hands on him. Looking back and forth, in front of him were windows, in back of him were people coming after him. Clyde had to make a decision fast, and he chose to go forward into the windows. Whatever you do, Clyde, don't look down. He told himself.

Taking a nearby fake tree, he smashed a window, stepped through onto a ledge. Feeling the broiling heat of the desert, Clyde suddenly stared down from the towering heights. His stomach lurched and he felt lightheaded. What did I tell you. Don't look down!!! Peering over his shoulder, Clyde could tell that "they" had already seen him go through the window and were coming closer. What should he do? He was up on a seven-story building and if he jumped, he would die, if he went back in, he would get caught for something he did not do.

The Biotech Headquarters' windows were cleaned by an automated system. A ledge wound around the outside of the building masonry. Below that ledge, a conveyor chain was wound around with motors at the end of the chain. Window washing was performed in baskets that were strung across the conveyor chains. A rope ladder was then strung into the basket and that led down to the ground. Every floor had one of these machines and every floors' windows had their turn at being washed. This was one of the newest ways that window washing was performed.

It was at that moment, one of the baskets came around at the level below the seventh floor. It had a basket in which Clyde could jump into without getting hurt, along with a rope ladder that led down to ground. "Whoa! This is almost too perfect." Clyde leaped into thin air as he yelled and landed in the incoming basket.

John was with the party that came and tried to capture Clyde, but when he saw Clyde jump out the window, he screamed. "IS THAT GUY DEMENTED OR SOMETHING?!!!!" He yelled.

~*~*~*~*~

"What the-!" the window cleaner looked up.

"Hello." The only thing that the washer would probably remember would be a fist coming toward his face before everything turned black.

"Sorry about that. I really didn't want to hurt you, but you would report me." Clyde crouched deep in the shadows of the basket, hoping nobody would peer into it as it passed.

The hamper lurched as it wheeled around another corner of the building. This was the last corner before the end of the conveyor chain. Quickly glancing over the side, Clyde could see the desert six stories below. The wind up at the sixth floor blew constantly and a whistling sound could be heard. Staring at the beautiful landscape, the morning air sometimes stung his skin a little. Down below, little grains of sand were whipped up with passing breezes. White clouds were like vessels drifting up above in the endless blue ocean of air. In all of this beauty, you would never imagine a traitor in the Biotech personnel.

Looking across the landscape, Clyde was pondering what his next move would be. He knew he would have to hunt the Undermining Sabotage Officer by hand now, and he really did not have anybody that could help him, since most of his friends worked for Biotech. I know I can't stay at my house. That's the place where they expect me to stay. Darn it! I forgot I left my laptop there. I need that. I'll have to return there anyway.

~*~*~*~*~

Night fell as Clyde dashed across the street toward his house. That morning had gone quite interesting with him climbing down that rope ladder. Clyde thought at first they would stare at him and he would get caught, but instead the faculty on each of the five lower levels ignored him. What Clyde had forgotten was that the personnel was used to the new system of window washing already and knew that the window washer climbed down and up to the basket using a rope ladder. They had thought that he was the window washer.

Fading sunlight caused the clouds to glow a bloody red. Shadows lengthened and the sound of crickets chirping and cicadas screeching could be heard. Amazingly it seemed as if nobody was near Clyde's house, but appearances can be very deceiving. Clyde learned this as he opened his back door. Suddenly he felt a cold, round metal object stuck into his back. Immediately he raised his arms and waited to find out what was going to happen.

A disguised voice spoke in a low monotonous from behind Clyde. "Turn around slowly with your hands up. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court."

~*~*~*~*~

Ben Wright had recovered enough from the coma and he was trying to escape the clutches of the Joyful Blissey Hospital. The nurses and the doctors had checked on Ben's status and amazingly agreed that he was indeed ready to leave that day. That was very, very unusual since comatose patients usually did not leave the hospital for quite some time.

After leaving the hospital, Ben immediately went to Biotech Labs. He wanted to personally tell Clyde the great news that he had finally left the hospital. Unfortunately, Clyde was nowhere to be found. The only sign of him was a note tacked up to the bulletin board inside the lab.

I've left for a meeting at BTHQ. Be b/t within thirty minutes.
If you need me, please wait. -Clyde

When Ben heard what had happened in Biotech Headquarters, he immediately thought that Clyde had escaped, hopefully unharmed. Now it was entirely a different story. Somebody had to represent the genetics lab in the board meetings, and it was chosen that he be the one since he was so close to Clyde. People automatically assumed that he also knew what was going to happen with the genetics of Project Porygon.

Being the new representative to the board also faced some challenges. Ben had to first delete all previous information and topics about Clyde Greene. It was as if he did not exist anymore in Biotech. This hurt Ben very much when he began the deletion. So to stop regretting anything, Ben decided it would be a good idea to back all the data from Clyde's file into his file. Nobody was allowed to go into other people's files, so this was a good precaution. The rest of the deletion proceeded flawlessly.

~*~*~*~*~

The barrel of the gun dug deeper into Clyde's back as he slowly tried to turn around. All he got was a glimpse of a trench coat before everything went black.

Transference 7 - Refuge

Clyde awoke with a throbbing pain in his head. Everything around him seemed to flicker and grow distorted. Currently he was lying on a stainless steel table, and the setting around him was quite dim. Clyde tried to get up but was met with immediate dizziness. The world at that time seemed to grow all the more distorted. Suddenly he threw up right on the spot, still feeling nauseous Clyde decided that it would be a good idea to lie back down again. Clyde was soon breathing softly with small symptoms of wheezing.

A figure stood back in the shadows of the sewer watching, always watching. The individual was watching and waiting... for something.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

"Come on people! Let's get to work!" John Kalin was in the control room shouting at his coworkers to get back on track. The project was soon to be finished, and he was not the one to delay the end. Either glad or angry, John had a feeling of closure. Closure from yesterday, closure from becoming successful at one thing so far other than his work. He was glad that Clyde had been towed away. He was happy that Clyde was now out of the picture. He had done his job.

On the other side of Biotech Labs, Ben was working furiously to cover up his tracks in the database. All commands were processed and stored in the database for future reference. The programming division had designed it this way for easy access to information, yet now Ben was loathing the very idea of the monitoring. It had made his job as a friend so much harder.

Being the new superintendent of his division, he had gone from a typical laboratory worker to the top honcho. Most people would have gladly taken up the job, yet Ben actually preferred his older job. Life was different now. Everyday he woke up and reflected upon his past. Everyday he went to the meeting room in Biotech Headquarters. Everyday he stared at the chair that his friend used to sit in before he disappeared.

The present was not different. He constantly worried about Clyde. What was happening to him? Was he okay? Thoughts like that continually raced through his mind, clouding up his judgment, but right now Ben knew what he had to do. He had to destroy all evidence of what he did for Clyde.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The sewer reeked of feces, urine, garden insecticide, and other substances. All of these elements floated or mingled with the liquid that was poured down from the drains up above ground. All the liquid and waste flowed into pipes that lead to the sewage treatment plant. Right in the middle of the network of pipes, Clyde laid on a steel table that was intentionally placed there.

The figure stepped out of the shadows and checked on Clyde. "You'll be all right, Clyde," it said.

"Where am I?!" Clyde suddenly lunged forward and grabbed onto the figure's neck. The person was taken back by what happened so quickly. His dirty brown hair went into his eyes and flicked backward and forward.

"Watch it, all right? Clyde, I'm only taking you to my little hideout." Clyde was clearheaded now and he could see what was in front of him clearly. He was quite short and he only came up to Clyde's shoulders. The man that was in front of him wore a brown trench coat that was tattered to rags. It was periodically torn along the fringes of the bottom, and large black buttons dotted the surface and the sleeves. A gun stuck out on the side of coat pocket. That caused Clyde to squirm a little bit, but he did not loosen his grip on the mysterious man.

"Tell me where your little hideout is, little man. By the way, how do you know my name?"

"Don't you remember your old buddy Mason? You know? Mason James Turnail? The kid that you hung around when you were in high school and college? Ol' M.J.?"

"You're Mason? I thought that you died in a car wreck on the day of graduation. I still remember that you wanted to become a computer systems administrator. You had to rewrite the thesis that you submitted. Your old thesis was hilarious! The college said that it would not breed any hackers." Suddenly remembering a fact, Clyde asked, "Why'd you knock me out, Mason? That is if you really are Mason? The real Mason couldn't even hurt a mouse. Now, if you are Mason, prove it. For now, I'll take your gun, thank you."

"Uh. No need to do that. I'll tell you everything if you let me down now, Clyde. Okay? No need to get angry. I still know about that temper of yours. I don't want to get mutilated."

Clyde slowly dropped "Mason" down to the soggy ground, but not before taking off his gun. "So Mason, if you really are him, tell me, what is my nickname did I have in college and what profession did I get a doctorate for?"

"Oh that's easy! Your nickname was Beer Tub, and you got a doctorate for genetics." Clyde slowly nodded while Mason jumped up and down, finally reaching Clyde's full height.

"Now. Why did you give me a concussion?"

"I had to get past a certain security house, and I needed you knocked out, or else you would've given me away. I also have your laptop. I knew you needed it."

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Clyde and Mason moved along through the sewer pipes following the trail that Mason had previously laid down. They finally ended up at their destination: the cellar of a local clubhouse.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

//# transmission begins #//
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to Cloaked Communication (CC):
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter location of communication: BTL4210
Enter code for cloak: ******
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instructions received. Processing information...done.
Initializing connection with host...done.
First screen on screen in approx. 10.2 sec.

Connection initialized. Remember this is a private
line. All information can be seen after 30 minutes
of time in host. All commands are logged in guest
machine.

Screen one initialized. Current d&t: 6/18/1980 8:22 am.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to Biotech Labs:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Login Screen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter your username: cgreene
Sorry. This username has been deleted. Deletion
date and time: 6/17/1980 7:12 pm.
...
//# transmission ends #//

Mason and Clyde were currently both staring at the screen as if a poltergeist had just appeared in front of their eyes. What's happening? How come my username can't be used here? Biotech must have deleted it! Those people are just major son of guns! Clyde thought. "I guess we'll just have to go into the building to see what's happening there right now," Mason said, breaking Clyde's line of thought.

"You're right. I know some vulnerabilities of the laboratory, but right now we need to know what they're doing. Do you have any equipment I could use to get in, Mason?" Clyde looked at Mason, and he suddenly noticed what Mason was wearing. It was a hillbilly costume. The sweat-stained tie-dyed t-shirt that Mason was wearing had colors of green and blue mixed together. He was wearing a pair of bell-bottom jeans too. Mason's image was that from the 1970s, he was a living historic fashion museum.

Mason noticed Clyde staring at his clothing, and replied, "What? You don't like the duds?"

"They're... interesting."

"Understandable, that's what most people say. You don't really see too many people walking around like this. Anyhow, I do in fact have equipment that you can use to get in. I was preparing for this for quite a while now. With the different companies trying to sabotage and steal each other's secrets, I knew that sooner or later that something would happen." Mason walked over toward a far wall of his subterranean hideout and pulled a cord.

Suddenly the entire wall split in two and behind it lay shelves after shelves of electronics, ammunition, guns, and the sort. All the supplies stored in the back wall were polished so that even the dim light caused a small glistening along the surfaces. Clyde looked astonished at the sheer amount of weaponry and equipment, that he was speechless. All he could cough out was a gasp.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Clyde trudged through the mice infested sewers of the city, searching for the pipe that led to the Biotech Labs. This time, he was prepared for the oncoming journey. Clyde carried with him, not only Bunsen, he also borrowed an Electabuzz and a Pidgeot from Mason. If he should run into any trouble, all three of the Pokémon would come into play. Clyde did not know that the three Pokémon that he brought along would help him in more ways than one.

Wearing an outfit that was completely black, he blended into the shadows of the sewer system. Clyde reinforced that fact by covering his face with a black mask and black gloves. Only his eyes were left open so that he could see. Walking back into the subterranean network, his eyes quickly dilated to adjust to the light difference. Taking out his red light flashlight, he continued deep into the heart of the web in silence.

Finally finding the appropriate pipe, Clyde could see light shining down from the opening above him. The light emphasized the ladder so that it looked like a stairway to heaven. Quickly making his way to the ladder, he was suddenly stopped by a wave of grimy sludge. Looking into the darkness, Clyde saw blood red eyes stare back at him.

Backing away from the eyes, he passed the lighted ladder and continued going in reverse. The eyes followed also passing the light causing it to reveal its true identity. "A Muk?!" Clyde exclaimed slowing down to a stop.

"Muk!" the Muk shouted back.

The Muk blocked the ladder, so Clyde could not escape. Reaching into his pack he quickly threw out two red and white spheres. Twin blasts of light exploded in the face of both the Muk and Clyde. Blinded by the brightness, Clyde's soon dilated to accommodate the new river of light. The white light caused the duct to be lit up for a quick second. That second was long enough for Clyde to see his surroundings, and he found that the entire wall was curved and it was made of strong brick fused together with cement. There were no tributaries to this passage. He was trapped. The only thing that he could do was battle.

Pidgeot and Electabuzz flew out of their respective Pokéballs. Screeching, Pidgeot picked up Clyde into the air, just in time for Electabuzz sent out a jolting bolt of lightning, causing the duct to be lighted up for the second time. With one jab, the Muk was sent backward and slammed into the brick wall. Hoping for no more troubles, Clyde threw out one of his spare Pokéballs and the red and white orb slammed into the Muk. Plucked up into the spherical prison with a beam of red light, the Muk was quickly captured by Clyde.

Bathing the walls with a eerie red glow, Clyde called back both Pidgeot and Electabuzz thanking them for their services. Clyde then continued on to the heavenly stairway.

Transference 8 - Entrance

Clyde quickly ran through the sewage and started to climb the ladder. He climbed rail over rail until he could peer upward into the light. "Ahh!!" Clyde exclaimed since his eyes had not yet adjusted to the light variance yet.

He gazed up out of the duct cover and dug around his pack for a small periscope. Finally fishing it out, he stuck it up through the duct and swiveled it around quickly to check for anybody there. Clyde did this several times just to be sure that nobody was there. The same result occurred again and again: no one was there. Clyde then used a crowbar to break the seal of the duct and climbed his way into the Biotech Labs Men's Restroom.

Clyde's frosty blue eyes stared through the eyeholes of the black mask that he wore. The restroom was spotless and was completely sterile. A sign was posted above the sink stating that all employees must be scrubbed before returning to work for sanitary reasons. Above the white sink was a mirror that had signs of being recently washed. Along the other wall of the bathroom, gray painted stalls were lined up. The coast was clear. At least for now.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

"I'll be right back, Harry. Be patient. I mean when you've got to go, you've got to go," John Kalin said as he walked toward the men's restroom.

The satisfaction of having Clyde being fired was so great. John had just gotten rid of the one person that could have found out his true secret. Now there was nobody that could figure out what he was hiding. But right now he had to finish his business.

Suddenly John heard a sound emanate from the bathroom. "What was that?!" John exclaimed as he cautiously approached the door.

John sprung forward and knocked the door open and stared into the empty bathroom. "Huh?" He stepped inside of the lavatory and checked around the vicinity.

A dark figure approached John and that person clutched both of their fists tightly and struck across the back of John's head. Light exploded in front of John's eyes as he fell forward from the impact of the blow. Soon he was unconscious and shallowly breathing on the white tiled floor of the bathroom.

Clyde stepped forward from the shadows and checked again to see if anybody saw what had just happened. So far nobody was around the vicinity of the restroom. Slowly he climbed back down into the sewers and waited for nightfall and when everyone went home from Biotech.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

"Wake up! Hey Clyde!" The radio that was strapped to Clyde's pack blared as Clyde rubbed the sleep away from his eyes.

"I'm here. What's happening, Mason?" Clyde released the "Talk" button on his radio and static could be heard over the speaker.

"Well if you check your watch, you should know what time it is. It is currently 21 hundred hours. Come on! Make your move and find out what's happening at your company. We've got to bust this joint soon. Chat with you later. I'll watch you over the security cameras. Good luck. Over and out."

Clyde turned off his radio and climbed the stairway for the second time that day. The same process of "periscoping" out the vent was done once again. After discovering that John had already left and with the rest of the coast clear, Clyde popped off the vent cover and climbed into the men's lavatory.

A sliver of light was released onto the once dark hallway as Clyde peered out of his hiding place. Quickly putting on his night vision goggles, he stepped out of the restroom and walked quietly through to the security facility. Clyde's entire line of vision was limited to whichever way the goggles pointed towards. Clyde's sight was bathed in an eerie green glow as he continued onward.

Quickly striding past many open doorways leading into various rooms, Clyde searched for the exit. Dim moonlight showed through the many windows that lined walls and the entrances. Clyde's feet softly hit the tiled floor as he cautiously approached the exit of the Biotech Labs. The door was a huge window that stretched from the ceiling to the floor, encompassed by a black steel frame. Touching the pane, the cold desert night's effects could be felt.

Clyde hastily opened the door and stepped through into the cold desert night air. The night skies were clear of any clouds. A light breeze blew from the north carrying with it all sorts of tumbleweeds, plant seeds, sand, and any other little particles along with it. The sheer size of the desert that lay before Clyde was only surpassed by the night sky. Stretching out like a forbidding ocean of darkness, it extended past the horizon. All along the surface were tiny boats of flickering fire that never completely went out.

A crunching sound came from Clyde's boots as he stepped across gritty earth on his way to the facility. The only thing on his mind now was to disable the computer systems, so that he could sneak past and discover what Biotech was hiding. There was something that the entire corporation was concealing that really nobody knew about. Clyde was out to find out what it was.

"Ah... the security facility. The one and only obstacle," Clyde muttered to himself as he arrived at the low flat-topped building.

Suddenly Clyde heard a rustling behind him, but he continued walking. Silently Clyde pulled out some pepper spray and popped open the cap. Placing his forefinger on the button, he continued walking toward the security facility as if he did not know about whoever was coming, but his muscles were tense.

Five seconds passed, and still nothing. Fifteen seconds, and still nothing. Finally after thirty seconds, soft, crunching sounds emanated from behind Clyde. Quickly turning around, Clyde bashed the pepper spray right into the stalker's eyes. A yell could be heard far away as the nebulized particles of liquid hit home. The stalker fell down from the excruciating pain.

No longer in danger, Clyde walked over to the masked figure and placed his hand under the chin area of the head, and tugged harshly relieving his stalker of the mask. Underneath he found the person he least expected to find.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Mason watched in panic on the security cameras as a figure came slowly stalking Clyde. The figure was completely covered in black and he was almost invisible on the cameras, but you still faintly make out a humanoid object in the background.

Clyde continued moving as though he did not sense anything, but suddenly his shoulders seemed to tense. Trying to avoid a small pause, Clyde continued walking toward the security facility. It was then that the figure made its move. Lunging forward, the figure tried to tackle Clyde to the ground.

Clyde turned around just as quickly and a small mist could be seen coming from his hand. Immediately afterward the stalker lay on the ground screaming with their hands in their eyes. Mason watched in awe as Clyde walked over and pulled the mask off of the perpetrator. A man with the same piercing gaze as Clyde's and the same brown hair lay there apparently unconscious from the pain.

Ben? Ben Wright? thought Mason.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Clyde swayed uncontrollably with shock and confusion. What was Ben doing here? It was at that time, Ben or at least somebody like Ben started to grow conscious. Clyde grabbed "Ben" by the collar and slapped him across the face. "Who are you? The real Ben Wright would not attack me. Talk!" Clyde commanded.

"Hey! Leggo me! Sheesh! This is the respect that I get after I save your files and data in my folder. I tried to tackle you to get your attention."

"Sure," Clyde said in a sarcastic tone. "Come on. I'll keep you restrained for now until I get some real evidence that you're Ben. Right now you've got to help me break into the security facility."

"There's a bomb in there! It's set to blow up at midnight!" Ben quickly blurted out.

"What?! A bomb? Where in the building?"

"You can't disarm it. It's impossible."

Clyde suddenly had an idea and he turned on his two-way radio with Mason. Pressing the "Talk" button, Clyde broke the static and spoke into the receiver. "Hey Mason. Did you see who I've got here? Anyhow, there's a bomb inside of the security facility. Can you detect it?"

After a brief pause of static, Mason's voice came over the receiver. "Yeah. Ben was right. Better not go in there. I maybe can reroute the signals from the cameras and cause them to be not recorded and instead be recorded here. They won't know anything about it until they check for the footage."

"Okay. Thanks Mason. Over and out." Clyde clipped the radio back onto his pack, released his grip on Ben, and untied his shackles. "Looks like you are the real McCoy. Sorry about that Ben."

"Come on! I've got something to show you inside of the building." With a nod, Ben and Clyde dashed into Biotech with new hopes for the future.

Transference 8 - Entrance

Clyde and Ben slowly crept past the double glass doors that lead into Biotech Labs. Cautiously peering over into the hallway, there were no signs of anybody there. Ben first opened the door and softly raced down the corridor, then motioned to Clyde that there were no problems yet. Clyde cast a longing glance at the serene night that he was leaving behind and followed Ben.

This pattern continued: Ben first going forward to check and see if there was any eminent danger around, then Clyde following, until they ultimately were lost among the hallways and corridors of Biotech Labs. "Where are we, Ben? I thought you knew the exact place we were supposed to head. Don't tell me we're lost," Clyde whispered at Ben.

Ben peered in front of him, and replied, "Okay, I won't tell you then, but I think we're near the energy core."

"How do you know?"

"Well, first of all, the sign up there says so, and well there isn't any second of all. I can find the cryogenic labs from here. Follow me."

Hoping that Ben was correct about his accusations, Clyde followed without a sound. While running, his boots softly clattered against the now dark tiled floor, completely in sync with Ben's boots. Suddenly the sound of Ben's boots stopped, startling Clyde so that he almost tripped over him. "What's the big idea?!" Clyde hissed into Ben's ear.

"Be quiet. We're here."

With a nervous glance behind him, Clyde followed Ben and walked slowly into the room. Clyde immediately recognized the chamber as the cryogenic labs, holding place for all of the embryos. The room was cast in a faint blue glow from the embryo storage compartments. Rows upon rows of cylinders stood with curved glass tops, all of them vaporous from the frozen water molecules. All around him were beakers, petri dishes, microscopes, and other machinery. Three Cray Supercomputers stood close to each other, blending into the background with the blue glow.

Clyde looked around the laboratory, eyeing every piece of equipment with care. He had been in this room plenty of times already, but it looked like a whole other world when the rooms and corridors of Biotech were shrouded in darkness. There was only a deathly silence aside from the faint humming of the machinery. Clyde suddenly spoke up, breaking the pattern, "So, Ben, why are we here?"

All this time, Ben had been looking around the cryogenic containers, as if he were searching for something. "Clyde, they've succeeded in creating the first complete embryo."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

From his subterranean hideout, Mason watched over the entire Biotech Labs complex. He had already successfully rerouted the signals from the security system to his monitors and recording equipment. Every time that Ben and Clyde made a move, he could tell where they were going.

Their voices were quite garbled, but in the end, he could still make out their speech. Speaking softly to himself, Mason suddenly overheard the conversation that Ben and Clyde just had. Ben's voice came out of his speakers, a little obscure, but still understandable. "...lyde, they've...cceeded in creat... first complete... bryo."

That was enough to cause Mason to almost jump out of his seat. If Ben were correct, that would mean that it would be all the tougher to find the USO since its job would soon be complete. Mason tried desperately to contact Clyde over his radio link, but to no avail since Clyde had shut it off completely. "Be careful, Ben and Clyde."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Clyde thought he had heard incorrectly and said, "Did you just say that they've succeeded in creating the first complete embryo?"

Ben reassured Clyde's previous judgment with a nod. "Yeah, they've created one embryo though. Afterwards, they inserted it into the synthetic plastic that we ordered a while back. The Porygon's cells are chock full of programming data, the first manmade Pokémon is in a PokéEgg."

A worried expression crept onto Clyde's face as it was continually bathed in a blue light. Ben pointed toward one of the walls motioning for Clyde to follow him. He swiftly marched up to it, passing rows of cylinders and laboratory equipment. All along the wall, stacked together, were electron microscopes, countertops filled with needles with points smaller than a cell, beakers and containers with fluids in them, and various other equipment and machinery. Finally Clyde saw what they were coming to see, the egg.

This egg was different from all natural PokéEggs, since it was synthetic and it was there to only provide a place for the embryo to complete its metamorphosis to a Porygon. Walking beside Ben, Clyde stared down at the egg with curiosity for this was what the four years of work had become. All of their hard work was in this little package of biological material and data. All of their work was within this opaque, semi-transparent ball of water.

What set this egg even further away from the organic eggs was that it had no designs inlaid into the eggshell. The surface was only the plastic that was manmade. Wondering what the egg felt like, Clyde took the lid off of the egg incubator, and placed his hand over the egg. A cool, dry, and rubbery sensation came back to Clyde's brain as he let go of the egg.

It did not seem as if this rubbery ball had any intelligence to create it at all, but it was packed with the work of four years time. If you thought about that much, you would discover that it indeed certainly deserved intellectual praise and prowess to create it.

Reality flooded back at Clyde when he closed the lid of the incubator. "Ben, we've got to go. I'll see you soon, I hope."

Ben understood completely what Clyde was saying. They would have to part for now. With a nod of comprehending the situation, Ben and Clyde each went their separate ways. Without a backward glance, Clyde switched on his radio as he dashed toward the men's restroom. At first there was only static, but suddenly a voice broke into the static and could easily be heard. "Clyde, this is Mason. I'll tell you that it was quite disturbing to see that Biotech has succeeded in creating Porygon already. I have more to tell you when you get back. Over and out."

Static ensued the transmission, then again breaking the static, Clyde spoke into the receiver, "Mason, gotcha. I'll meet you there. Over and out, terminate transmission."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Mason leaned back in his seat at his terminal and sighed in relief that this mission was almost over. The television monitors around him continually flickered as new footage replaced the older ones. All of the images on the screens were then captured onto videotape. This assignment had already been quite dangerous since the run-in with Ben. If it was not Ben, it could have been anybody. Now all Clyde would have to do would get into the sewers and escape back here.

Suddenly on one of the monitors, Mason spotted some movement other than Clyde and Ben's. Almost falling over from the shock, Mason almost immediately recovered his posture and stared at the screen as if his favorite television show were on. A dark silhouette moved slowly into the cryogenic labs where Ben and Clyde were only a few moments before.

The blue glow of the machinery caused the silhouette to appear quite large, obscuring any details about the person that you could immediately identify. Suddenly the figure walked toward the PokéEgg wall and with one swift movement reached out and threw a Pokéball toward the Porygon egg. In a flash of light that illuminated the cryogenic lab, the Porygon egg disappeared into the red and white sphere.

Transference 9 - Evidence

Clyde and Ben slowly crept past the double glass doors that lead into Biotech Labs. Cautiously peering over into the hallway, there were no signs of anybody there. Ben first opened the door and softly raced down the corridor, then motioned to Clyde that there were no problems yet. Clyde cast a longing glance at the serene night that he was leaving behind and followed Ben.

This pattern continued: Ben first going forward to check and see if there was any eminent danger around, then Clyde following, until they ultimately were lost among the hallways and corridors of Biotech Labs. "Where are we, Ben? I thought you knew the exact place we were supposed to head. Don't tell me we're lost," Clyde whispered at Ben.

Ben peered in front of him, and replied, "Okay, I won't tell you then, but I think we're near the energy core."

"How do you know?"

"Well, first of all, the sign up there says so, and well there isn't any second of all. I can find the cryogenic labs from here. Follow me."

Hoping that Ben was correct about his accusations, Clyde followed without a sound. While running, his boots softly clattered against the now dark tiled floor, completely in sync with Ben's boots. Suddenly the sound of Ben's boots stopped, startling Clyde so that he almost tripped over him. "What's the big idea?!" Clyde hissed into Ben's ear.

"Be quiet. We're here."

With a nervous glance behind him, Clyde followed Ben and walked slowly into the room. Clyde immediately recognized the chamber as the cryogenic labs, holding place for all of the embryos. The room was cast in a faint blue glow from the embryo storage compartments. Rows upon rows of cylinders stood with curved glass tops, all of them vaporous from the frozen water molecules. All around him were beakers, petri dishes, microscopes, and other machinery. Three Cray Supercomputers stood close to each other, blending into the background with the blue glow.

Clyde looked around the laboratory, eyeing every piece of equipment with care. He had been in this room plenty of times already, but it looked like a whole other world when the rooms and corridors of Biotech were shrouded in darkness. There was only a deathly silence aside from the faint humming of the machinery. Clyde suddenly spoke up, breaking the pattern, "So, Ben, why are we here?"

All this time, Ben had been looking around the cryogenic containers, as if he were searching for something. "Clyde, they've succeeded in creating the first complete embryo."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

From his subterranean hideout, Mason watched over the entire Biotech Labs complex. He had already successfully rerouted the signals from the security system to his monitors and recording equipment. Every time that Ben and Clyde made a move, he could tell where they were going.

Their voices were quite garbled, but in the end, he could still make out their speech. Speaking softly to himself, Mason suddenly overheard the conversation that Ben and Clyde just had. Ben's voice came out of his speakers, a little obscure, but still understandable. "...lyde, they've...cceeded in creat... first complete... bryo."

That was enough to cause Mason to almost jump out of his seat. If Ben were correct, that would mean that it would be all the tougher to find the USO since its job would soon be complete. Mason tried desperately to contact Clyde over his radio link, but to no avail since Clyde had shut it off completely. "Be careful, Ben and Clyde."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Clyde thought he had heard incorrectly and said, "Did you just say that they've succeeded in creating the first complete embryo?"

Ben reassured Clyde's previous judgment with a nod. "Yeah, they've created one embryo though. Afterwards, they inserted it into the synthetic plastic that we ordered a while back. The Porygon's cells are chock full of programming data, the first manmade Pokémon is in a PokéEgg."

A worried expression crept onto Clyde's face as it was continually bathed in a blue light. Ben pointed toward one of the walls motioning for Clyde to follow him. He swiftly marched up to it, passing rows of cylinders and laboratory equipment. All along the wall, stacked together, were electron microscopes, countertops filled with needles with points smaller than a cell, beakers and containers with fluids in them, and various other equipment and machinery. Finally Clyde saw what they were coming to see, the egg.

This egg was different from all natural PokéEggs, since it was synthetic and it was there to only provide a place for the embryo to complete its metamorphosis to a Porygon. Walking beside Ben, Clyde stared down at the egg with curiosity for this was what the four years of work had become. All of their hard work was in this little package of biological material and data. All of their work was within this opaque, semi-transparent ball of water.

What set this egg even further away from the organic eggs was that it had no designs inlaid into the eggshell. The surface was only the plastic that was manmade. Wondering what the egg felt like, Clyde took the lid off of the egg incubator, and placed his hand over the egg. A cool, dry, and rubbery sensation came back to Clyde's brain as he let go of the egg.

It did not seem as if this rubbery ball had any intelligence to create it at all, but it was packed with the work of four years time. If you thought about that much, you would discover that it indeed certainly deserved intellectual praise and prowess to create it.

Reality flooded back at Clyde when he closed the lid of the incubator. "Ben, we've got to go. I'll see you soon, I hope."

Ben understood completely what Clyde was saying. They would have to part for now. With a nod of comprehending the situation, Ben and Clyde each went their separate ways. Without a backward glance, Clyde switched on his radio as he dashed toward the men's restroom. At first there was only static, but suddenly a voice broke into the static and could easily be heard. "Clyde, this is Mason. I'll tell you that it was quite disturbing to see that Biotech has succeeded in creating Porygon already. I have more to tell you when you get back. Over and out."

Static ensued the transmission, then again breaking the static, Clyde spoke into the receiver, "Mason, gotcha. I'll meet you there. Over and out, terminate transmission."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Mason leaned back in his seat at his terminal and sighed in relief that this mission was almost over. The television monitors around him continually flickered as new footage replaced the older ones. All of the images on the screens were then captured onto videotape. This assignment had already been quite dangerous since the run-in with Ben. If it was not Ben, it could have been anybody. Now all Clyde would have to do would get into the sewers and escape back here.

Suddenly on one of the monitors, Mason spotted some movement other than Clyde and Ben's. Almost falling over from the shock, Mason almost immediately recovered his posture and stared at the screen as if his favorite television show were on. A dark silhouette moved slowly into the cryogenic labs where Ben and Clyde were only a few moments before.

The blue glow of the machinery caused the silhouette to appear quite large, obscuring any details about the person that you could immediately identify. Suddenly the figure walked toward the PokéEgg wall and with one swift movement reached out and threw a Pokéball toward the Porygon egg. In a flash of light that illuminated the cryogenic lab, the Porygon egg disappeared into the red and white sphere.

Transference 10 - Confrontation

Instead of being notified by Mason, Clyde discovered the incident from a more conspicuous way. Alarms blared as a computerized voice spoke calmly over the intercom. "Drop all of your weapons. You are completely surrounded."

At first Clyde thought that he himself had been caught, but suddenly over the radio link Mason shouted at Clyde. "Hurry Clyde! Get over to the cryogenics lab! Some guy just stole the Porygon specimen."

That was all the motivation that Clyde needed to make up his mind about the situation. His booted feet pounded muffled against the padded tile floor. Repetitions of the same leg movements raced through Clyde's mind. All actions were set on one object: to get there in time.

Dodge the corner, move left, turn right! Watch the ceiling!

Messages continually appeared within Clyde's continuous stream of information and data. Adrenaline pumped furiously through his veins, his heart pounded thumping twice each second within his chest cavity, and still new information arrived at his brain. Clyde processed it with stunning efficiency while still having enough brainpower left for thoughts. Who was this in the cryogenics lab? Was he the USO I have been waiting so long for?

Clyde finally turned the final corner to the cryogenics laboratory, basking himself with the already familiar glowing blue light. It pulsed on and off as if the electrical plug were continuously taken out and fit back in. Sweat beaded along Clyde's brown hair and soon fell toward the ocean colored ground. His muscles were completely tense as he inched ever closer toward the cryogenics lab.

He pushed back a flap of his backup, readying a Pokéball if he were to befall any danger. Turning from a tiny sphere smaller than his thumb, the red and white ball suddenly more than doubled from its original size, closing snuggly around Clyde's palm. There it rested waiting for the utmost call from Clyde and then it would immediately open up releasing its contents.

Lights slowly dimmed, instead of instantly imploding, and all was bathed in a sea of blackness. The speakers went completely dead as the power slowly drifted offline. The alarm, still going as if it were a broken record, skipped, crackled, and finally grew silent, releasing a deathly silence that enveloped the entire compound. Even the usual familiar humming of the servers, machines, Crays, had disappeared, being completely replaced by the same ghostly silence.

Power was completely off in all parts of Biotech except within the cryogenics lab. A separate generator fueled the power for the laboratory and therefore it stayed online. The blue light flickered only once, signaling the changing of the source of power, and all was safe. The usual humming stayed, the gargantuan storeroom coolers were still online, and even the electron microscopes still functioned normally.

Over five minutes had passed since Clyde had waited patiently for whoever was within the lab to come out. Yet no sign of anybody was exposed, power failure was the only signal that was given. Clyde's muscles still lay tensed and ready for action. However no sign was sent.

"Agh! Forget it! I'm going in," Clyde muttered as he exploded into the cryogenics lab.

Nothing unfamiliar greeted Clyde's line of vision as he slowly paced around the vicinity of the lab. The shadows flickered slowly off the wall with a slight blue aura. The sleek, freeze-dried compartments were put along in rows across one part of the workroom. Electron microscopes rested untouched in a completely opposite corner of the room, waiting to be probed.

Clyde passed a cobalt colored compartment, as he passed, suddenly he noticed something. A movement within the background, although distorted and bulged, he could still make out what it was. He moved a little closer and stared intently at the spherical surface reflection. Instantly Clyde spotted what he thought was out of place.

Crossing through the labyrinth of equipment and machinery, Clyde got closer and closer to his quarry. He crouched down as if his joints had become leaden with weight. Closer. Just a bit closer. The perpetrator ought to be just ahead, Clyde thought as he crawled along his knees. As he rounded the final corner, there sitting in front of him, huddled into a tight ball as if imitating a Sandshrew, was a black-clothed figure.

His outfit showed signs of strain as they were stretched to their great length. Round as a ball, whomever this was laid neatly concealed, hiding behind all objects within the lab. Grinning at this humorous sight, Clyde reached toward a shelf for support and stood up. With each step Clyde took, the ball quivered a small bit, each time becoming more and more tense. Soon the entire sphere looked as if were about to erupt.

Clyde loomed above this humanoid simulation of Sandshrew and peered down. Suddenly it burst open revealing the contents of who this was. His criminal intent stood to the test now that he had been found. Whoever it was quickly pulled out a red and white ball. Pressing a button, it grew in size and suddenly the dim azure lights became blanched as a new aura blasted open. Standing in the place of the stocky convict stood a final testament of Flareon.

From Flareon's mouth, a small fire billowed releasing a burnt wood smell. Slate gray smoke enveloped the Pokémon and its master as they fled. At first their figures were still visible, but gradually they darkened and vanished into the depths of the sea of charcoal.

Clyde stepped back amazed that this black cloaked person had a Pokémon, suddenly felt as if he were going to be in trouble. Reaching into his pack, he quickly pulled a similar sphere as his predecessor and threw on the ground revealing a Pidgeot. "Let's ride, Pidgeot." Clyde coughed as he breathed in the toxic smoke.

Clyde ascended to Pidgeot's feathered back and with a few strong beats, they rose into the stagnant air and flew off. The smoke left behind them, still clinging to the very air itself, blew away leading a trail to the escape route. Corner after corner passed as Clyde followed in constant pursuit, now knowing who this truly was and what his intention was to do.

Anger again welled inside of him as he recalled what had happened to Ben because of this one person. With a pat on Pidgeot's head, they raced faster through the corridors of Biotech.

-~-~-~-~-~-

Flying unguided, Pidgeot had tracked the USO out through Biotech and into the cold desert night. Stars blinked on and off within the sea of blackness up above, as Clyde clung onto Pidgeot ever more, directed by his vengeful side. Fire blazed within Clyde's mind as he looked down from the air, scouring the sandy ground below them, as if every single grain of soil could be a clue.

Finally! There it was! A humanoid boot trace. Clyde pointed downward, having Pidgeot follow the now clear pathway. With inhuman speed, Pidgeot tucked its wings under and beat its wings strongly. As they sped up, Clyde began to look far ahead to see what was there; the wind blew untamed as it ruffled Clyde's now damp brown hair.

Almost instantly, he spotted the USO, standing atop a sand dune, struggling to reach the top. Staring at him almost cause Clyde's mouth to twitch and smirk. It was a funny scene, every time the black-clothed criminal tried to rush up the dune, he always seemed to sink back down to the bottom with piles of grit following. His large cumbersome weight was a part of the problem, but he did not seem intent on giving up.

Now, Clyde came into clear view of this escapee, now standing completely still, looking upward. Flying forward, Pidgeot became a silhouette against the crescent moon and folding its wings against its waist, it plummeted downward, like a stone piercing through fog. Down it came along with Clyde. Eyes wide open, despite the constant rushing of air, dehydrating and searing his eyes. I have to time this just right, he thought. If he did not pull out of this dive, he would get killed, if he pulled out too soon, the USO would escape.

-~-~-~-~-~-

Just as Ben Wright came out of Biotech Labs, sirens started to blare. Ben jerked to follow whatever had caused the sirens, but before he could go inside, smoke poured out. Fearing for Clyde's life, Ben ignored the telltale signs of fire and dashed inside. "Clyde! Wait, I'm coming!" He shouted into the now slate gray hallways.

He started to run through the smoke, despite it choking him of the vital oxygen he needed. Ben ignored the burn, ignored his heaving lungs, ignored his clogged throat. Only one thing mattered now, he needed to get to Clyde. Just as he rounded a corner, a large mass flew above him, knocking him to the ground. A large gust of wind followed the creature, whipping the very smog away from the atmosphere and clearing the corridor.

Smoke clung to the ground as it was gusted away. Large strands slowly evaporated into the air and died out along with the grand gale. Picking himself up, Ben started after the source of wind, hoping that it was his friend.

Everywhere he went, Ben found it was clean of fumes. Following the pathway of doors and locks, he soon found himself outside among the desert creatures of the night. Looking around, he discovered nothing except a revealing sign of a large wind. Sand had been kicked up at the bottom of the glass double doors, as if something had erupted into the air.

Finding this odd, Ben followed the path of whipped sand and clearly led in one direction. His booted feet crunched across the grit of the earth softly with each step, creating new depths and fathoms for those that are small enough. His feet shifted as his weight dragged him toward one direction, causing a small ditch along the dunes.

Suddenly as he reached the peak of one particular knoll, Ben spotted a large tan-colored bird flying across the horizon. Continuing along this line as well, Ben looked forward and along the top of the next foothill, stood a black-clothed person, standing unmoving. The moon created a silvery glow across the Pidgeot as it flew toward its target, aimed and ready.

Ben looked onward, knowing somehow that this was certainly Clyde. He could now guess Clyde's next action, he was going to go into a kamikaze dive, trying to rid himself of the black-clothed figure. Realizing this, Ben started to tear toward Clyde, trying to get him out of the plunge. "Clyde! No! Don't do this!" Ben yelled as wind shot to his mouth, deafening the sound.

-~-~-~-~-~-

Time at first seemed to slow down, as if the very seconds lurched by with tremendous effort. The USO suddenly snapped out of his transfixed daze and started to rush out of the area of collision. Impact did not appear to occur at all, it was as if Clyde was in the sky at first but then nothing. Everything had become a hard ebony world. All had become silent, serene, gone.

The inferno had dissipated and along with it, the remains of the brittle, green leaf. Darkness was now replaced with a deeper understanding, an unfathomable sorrow, and a new justice. The USO was now dead as well as Clyde Greene. Their figures mangled into grotesque figures. Blood soaked across their faces as they stood transfixed in the eternal sleep. The impact had killed them both as well as Pidgeot.

With a step, Ben Wright fell to his knees, knowing that it was too late. Wind blasted out of the epicenter of contact along with the sands of earth, time, and heart, searing and tearing across Ben's skin. He silently sobbed as winds of time blew past.

-~-~-~-~-~-

Epilogue

Along with the disappearance of the USO, the rest of the work that Biotech had paved continued smoothly until a sudden upturn from a small upstart genetics corporation. Their one prototype Porygon egg had been destroyed along with the destruction of the USO. The remains of the egg vanished within the shifting sands of the desert and have yet to be found.

Biotech
Silph Co. was the small upstart and now is the leading producer of Pokémon technology for the world. Instead of Biotech creating the first manmade Pokémon, Silph succeeded where Biotech did not. Their headquarters are located firmly within the winding roads of Saffron City. Joyful Blissey Hospital is situated close by, only several blocks away.

By this time, Biotech, Incorporated had long since gone bankrupt after having forfeited their one chance at creating Porygon. The complex was left as is, now that nature has returned and with it, the disappearance of mankind from that area. Prominent windstorms have lashed across the landscape, scarring the very buildings of their once brilliant white.

Undermining Sabotage Officer
The identity of the Undermining Sabotage Officer is now known, having discovered it after the incident within the dunes. Killed in the accident, Mister Hubert Baker, the president of Biotech, was the one who developed the plans and infiltration technology to enter Biotech.

Later found within his personal journal within his house, were these last words:

"Nobody would ever suspect me as the perpetrator behind these crimes. I was the perfect person and since nobody paid much attention to my actions, I was able to slip by unnoticed by anyone.

It was for the thrill. All of this has been an amazing ride. The challenge of it all, dodging the security systems, demolishing my own corporation, and looting the prize, it was incredible! It all was worthwhile in the end. Then being affronted with the process of rebuilding the company and lab back together was all too much. I could not stay away. There will be no more troubles once I have gotten hold of the embryo. I hope."

Faculty
Along with the death of Hubert Baker, Clyde Greene was also found at the scene with his friend Ben Wright close by. Attached to his belt were two Pokéballs, one with a Growlithe still inside. Though extensively scarred and beaten, the device still allowed the freedom of the juvenile Growlithe. Bunsen, as he was known, now lives with Ben Wright at an anonymous region. The other Pokéball was pounded into an unrecognizable figure and was unopenable. No Pokémon were found inside. Both John Kalin and Ben Wright later joined Silph Co. in their process for Porygon version 2, later known as Porygon2.

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