A/N - In case you haven't noticed yet, I've set up a book club just for Pokemon Fanfiction called Pikachu's Reading Corner. If you're interested, you might want to have a little look =D

...

Retro nibbled on a pen – the eraser long since whittled away – while she stared somewhat perplexed at the map of black lines. Something had disturbed them, but she couldn't quite put her claw on it. It was different somehow.

Three more eyes peered over her shoulders at the computer monitor, having abandoned their own scrutiny of the maps on their screens. Each one showed a different section of the Binary Jungle via external cameras, but it appeared only Retro's camera had picked up on this anomaly.

"Pardon my assumption, ma'am," said Amp, "but could it be that one of the lines has vanished?"

"That's what I thought," she replied. "But which one?"

Alarm let out two short screams, putting Retro's fur on end. She glanced back at the unown A and raised an eyebrow, but before she could open her mouth, the unown scooted closer to her screen and pointed with one of her tendrils.

"What's that?!"

Retro and the other two unown leant in closer to the screen, but whatever Alarm had seen was miniscule. Retro clicked her mouse over the area to zoom in and all of them let out simultaneous gasps.

Amp's eye widened so much it almost consumed his body. "Are those-?"

"Eggs?" X nodded. "Eggs-actly."

"Why are there eggs in the middle of the jungle?" Retro scratched her head and frowned at the computer. "It doesn't make sense. They're normally laid indoors."

"Maybe they were laid in a hurry?" said X.

"And left behind?" Retro shook her head. "That doesn't seem right. Parent pokemon would take their eggs with them."

"Not if they were tiny," said X.

"Tiny pokemon lay tiny eggs," said Amp. "Use your common sense, X."

"I can't." X closed his eye. "I left it in my sock drawer this morning."

"You don't even wear socks!"

"I could wear socks. Besides, whether or not I wear socks would not disprove that I'm in the possession of a drawer to store said socks."

Amp seethed silently, causing the very walls to shudder.

"I have to say," X continued, "that your assumption is absol-utely preposterous."

"You're preposterous!"

"Boys!" Retro rounded on them, causing them to freeze and blink at her. "You're frightening Alarm."

The unown A shivered behind Retro's right shoulder.

"I am so terribly sorry," said Amp as quietly as he could to the timid unown, "that my unwarranted outburst caused your immediate discomfort."

Retro smiled and nodded. "Good. Now let's put an end to the arguing while we suss this out. Eggs are in the jungle. It should be added to our list of anomalies." She turned back to the computer and commenced nibbling her pencil again. "The question is – why? Why has a crack vanished and revealed those eggs?"

"I'd like to know why it vanished in the first place," said Amp. "Evidence suggests these things multiply, not vanish!"

"I agree," said X. "It is x-tremely fascinating. And rather quite terrifying."

"Terrifying." Retro leant back in her chair, the tip of the pencil resting on her lip.

Those eggs were still on the silent monitor, surrounded by a web of black cracks. A trail of eggs, leading through the jungle, vanishing out of sight beyond a mass of ferns. Each one seemed to be smoking, or giving off a strange white cloud of mist. She zoomed in again and dropped her pencil on the floor. The discussion that had been going on behind her came to an abrupt end as all eyes snapped back to the computer.

It wasn't mist those eggs were giving off.

It was binary code.

...

The path between the ominous cracks zigged and zagged and twisted sharply left and right so much so it looked at first like there was no path there. Pixel's heart was in her throat most of the time as she desperately tried to avoid touching them. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but the binary trailing off the rocks and plants seemed to tickle her fur.

Violet reflected off Vector's white fur. He kept his paws to his chest, his eyes flitting left and right as they followed the black cracks looming over them. She wasn't the only one who found it daunting. Even Switch seemed on edge, but he didn't voice it. The cracks gave very little room between them, so he'd had to take on his talonflame form to fit comfortably between them.

Vector exclaimed loudly and came to a sharp stop. Pixel had to put on her breaks and she felt Switch's sharp beak strike against her horn. She glanced back to see him rubbing it with a wing feather.

"Sorry," she said.

He shrugged. "Not your fault." Then he added over her shoulder, "What is it?"

Vector grimaced and balled his paws into fists. "We can't get through. They're too close together here."

"You can't..." Switch clicked his beak in thought. "Maybe... erase more of them?"

Vector's yellow eyes frowned at him over his shoulder. "How long have you been wanting to ask me that?"

"Since I was forced to waddle along with my wings clipped to my sides."

The meowstic tentatively brought a paw up to his nose to scratch it, then closed his eyes with a sigh.

"I don't know if I even did that," he said. "I mean... what if it was just a freak coincidence?"

"What if it wasn't?"

Vector said nothing, but narrowed his eyes.

"I agree with Switch." Pixel drew Vector's leer from Switch onto her. "It seems like too much of a coincidence to actually be one."

"So you want me to risk my life?" Vector snorted. "Voluntarily touch one of those things?"

"I don't see how much difference it makes," said Switch. "We'll probably end up doing so just turning around to retrace our steps!"

Vector trailed his eyes over the web of cracks, muttering incoherently to himself. He shifted uneasily then looked down at his paws. Pixel and Switch stood awkwardly, rooted to the spot, desperate to not so much as twitch and come into contact with those strange cracks. She couldn't work out what Vector was saying to himself, but she wondered if it was a bit of a pep talk. Her heart leapt into her throat when he reached out his left paw to touch the glowing, jagged wall beside him.

The sound of a snapping twig, amplified so much it caused her ears to ring.

A flash.

Another gap had opened up around them, leaving Vector standing amongst it with his jaw hanging open, staring at his paw as though it was the first time he'd even seen it.

"Vector?" She took a small step towards him.

"What..." He shook his head, still staring at his paw. "What has happened to me?"

"I don't know," she said. "But those things can't hurt you. Can they?" Her question was shrouded with doubt as she looked over the remaining cracks.

Vector shuddered from ear to toe. "Why me? Why can I do this?"

"Listen, man." Switch strutted over to him, stretching his wings out gratefully in the newly opened space. "You've got a gift that can probably save this world! If you can get rid of these cracks... wow! I want to see what would happen if you touched someone with the virus!"

Vector narrowed his eyes on him, letting his paws drop down at his sides. His lips turned up into a sneer, revealing his sharp canines.

"Wouldn't that be willingly offering myself a death sentence?!"

Switch raised his wings in a shrug. "Not if it has the same effect as it does on these cracks."

Vector deflated and waved a paw at him. "Anyway. What does it matter? Haven't I already had the virus?" He paused and looked down at his paws again. "Maybe that's why..." His eyes drifted up to the web of black and violet. They were barely visible against the quickly darkening sky.

"You think the virus destroys these cracks?" Switch asked.

Vector shook his head. "I don't know. If it does... then it doesn't make sense."

"They don't make sense in the first place! They just came out of nowhere, along with that virus."

"No. They came out of the Fracture," said Vector. "I saw them. It looked like the world was breaking."

Pixel blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? You saw them?"

"Yes." Vector met her eyes. "They swallowed up anything that fell into them."

"Like the vulpix..." Her voice trailed off and she looked away from him. Swallowing up the world... stretching out like a spider's web, destroying everything they touched. He'd seen it. Hax hadn't lied when he said that vulpix didn't come out of the cracks. Had the other missing children wandered in out of curiosity? Stumbled and fallen inside? Maybe been forced in as one of the cracks appeared right through them?

She cringed at the last thought and gave her head a sharp shake to clear it away. It didn't bare thinking about. It was too awful.

"Are you okay?" Switch placed a wing on her shoulder and she came back to reality.

She gave him a small smile and nodded. "I'm fine. Let's find somewhere to rest."

Vector's eyes lingered on her for a moment. The expression of concern in his eyes was enough to make her wonder if he'd asked the question and not Switch. He tore himself away and cleared his throat.

"Yeh. I'll be surprised if we don't at least find a cave we can hide in."

...

It wasn't a cave, but it was certainly shelter. Pixel trailed her eyes up and down the wooden structure – a little hut up in the mountains, most likely used as a quiet retreat by someone at sometime in its existence, although she couldn't quite fathom why. It didn't look out at a spectacular view. It perched on a flat, sturdy outcrop facing a shallow, rocky drop down towards a scattering of stray trees and a river which was peppered with fallen boulders. The hut itself had seen better days. Right now, in the dark of the early morning, it had a sad and lonely feeling about it. A derelict little hut that at some point suffered a blow from an avalanche which had taken out a chunk of its roof. Its state of disrepair spoke loud and clear about its current abandonment.

The inside was no better. The door creaked open on loose hinges to reveal a mildew-ridden sofa standing beneath the roof's hole which was severe enough to not keep out the rain. At the other end, by a blocked up fireplace, stood a wobbly table beneath a thick layer of dust. In the middle of the table was a vase, the only thing that actually remained in good condition. It crossed Pixel's mind to move it somewhere safer, but part of her didn't have the heart to disturb anything. Before they even entered, her senses were assaulted with the sharp scent of mould and dust.

Vector flopped onto the floor with his back against the wall and let out a long groan. He sat with his eyes closed and his head resting against the blackening wood, not so much as twitching when Switch collapsed down next to him with a hefty sigh.

Pixel gave the sofa a sorry glance before joining Vector's other side, but despite how tired she was she wouldn't close her eyes. She kept them fixed on the world outside, which fluttered in and out of her vision as the door creaked back and forth in the wind. She didn't know why she felt so nervous. Maybe it was because she was sitting in an abandoned hut, which she'd never done before in her life. However, they weren't exactly in any danger. No one was in the mountains, especially not at this hour.

She forced herself to close her eyes and huddled down against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. When she opened them again, light was pouring in through the door tinting everything it touched in a pale orange.

"Sunrise," she muttered, rubbing a paw over her eyes. She hadn't expected to actually sleep. She didn't even recall her dream.

The two boys were still sound asleep. A weak smile spread across her lips and she pushed herself up, her body aching from all the scrambling they'd done up the mountain. Her stomach growled and she glanced back to make sure she'd not woken her friends. Neither of them stirred. With a sigh of relief, she moved out onto the outcrop and had a look around. The dull grey of the mountain was dyed in an inky orange from the rising sun which reflected off the river as it gurgled around the rocks below her. The trees around it were heavy with berries. She did a quick calculation to see if her aching muscles would allow her a gentle climb and decided against it. Her stomach rumbled in protest and she gave it a sympathetic pat as she looked around. A small gasp escaped her when she spotted the tree growing beside the hut. All of them had been too tired to notice it the night before, their minds focused on getting some sleep, but there stood a cheri tree with enough low branches bearing its bright red fruit. She quickly gathered them up and stuffed them into her bag until it was fit to burst. What wouldn't fit she scooped into her arms and scurried back into the hut.

"Breakfast, boys! I found cheri berries!"

She fell to her knees and dropped the berries onto Switch's lap. He rubbed a hand across his eyes and yawned.

"How long have we been asleep?" he asked.

"I've no idea." She tugged her scarf from around her neck to use as a makeshift picnic mat. "I was too hungry to think about it."

Switch deposited the berries onto her scarf and helped himself to one. He took a bite out of it and nodded to Vector. "Should we wake him?"

Pixel stared at the meowstic as she considered this. His ears twitched a couple of times but her excited outburst hadn't woken him. She shrugged.

"Yeh, I think we should give him a little longer," said Switch over a mouthful of berry. "I don't want to get bitten."

She chuckled and tucked into the berries. They ate in silence for a while, watching the sunrise through the door. The light spread throughout the hut, cut off periodically as the door swung lazily on its weak hinges. It smacked against the wooden frame as a gust whipped in through a crack in the window, cutting off the sunlight and stirring up the dust on the floor. Switch cleared his throat and stood up.

"I don't know how much longer we're going to be here, but it's pretty musty. I'd rather prop the door open."

"You could use one of the chairs?" Pixel suggested.

Four dining chairs were positioned around the wobbly table. He grabbed one and lifted it, but there was a creak and a snap as it fell from his hand and clattered onto the floor. A heavy feeling of guilt spread through Pixel's chest as she stared open-mouthed at the chair's remains.

Switch wiped the splinters onto the leg of his jeans and grunted. "Wood rot."

"Urgh, would you cut it out with the noise?" Vector stretched and wiped a paw across his nose. He snorted and coughed as he strained to push himself up.

"Oops. We poked the sleeping beartic," said Switch.

Vector narrowed his eyes at him then beat the dust from his fur.

"Sleep well?" Switch asked flatly.

"Yeh. But my lungs feel like someone's attacked them with a cheese grater." He staggered across the room and wrenched the door open, and when he stepped outside, he stood on the edge of the outcrop and took in deep breaths.

Pixel followed after him and handed him a berry. "I picked breakfast."

He took it from her gratefully and sat down with his feet hanging over the edge.

"Are you still recovering from yesterday's attack?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I think I'm more sore from the climb."

"I meant your chest."

Before he could answer, Switch appeared beside her and draped her scarf over her head. "I think it's just allergies."

Pixel lifted her scarf from her face to look up at Vector. He paused to lick the berry juice from his paw then let it fall into his lap.

"Your friend's right," he said. "My mother had to keep the house immaculate. I never could tolerate dust or damp." He sighed and shook his head, his eyes locked on the trees below. "I wouldn't mind getting down to that river for a drink."

"We passed a spring yesterday," said Switch. "We could backtrack a bit. It's not far."

Vector gave him a dismissive grunt and pushed himself up. "I don't want to retrace my footsteps. I'm going to follow that river, see where it takes me." He pointed to the sky and Pixel followed his paw. A speck flowed smoothly up by the clouds. Too smoothly to be a flying pokemon. "You two could get back to your island. You'd be safer there than with me."

"That's Cyan Island?" Pixel gasped.

"Huh. So it is." Switch smiled. "Well, I guess it does move faster than we do."

"Are you sure it's not one of the other two?"

"Well, it's not pointy enough to be Magenta. And there's no water trailing off it, so it's not Luma. It has to be yours."

"I've never seen Magenta or Luma, so I wouldn't know." She watched the floating speck, warring with the desire to go back where it was safe. Where she could repair her head set, tell Leaf about Gear Village's hostility, about Vector's ability to erase the black cracks. She clenched her paws and braced herself to ask Switch to take her back, but Vector's vanishing form over the rocky mountainside abolished any such desires and she found herself trailing after him.

"We're staying on the ground then?" Switch asked as he followed after her.

Vector's ears flicked backwards, silently acknowledging their presence. He didn't slow for them to catch up, clearly reverting to his initial intention to go his separate way. After what they'd all been through, Pixel wasn't going to allow that.

If she left him, she'd have no idea if he was okay. No idea if the scientists at Central Meta Hospital had tracked him down and abducted him. No idea if any other towns, cities or villages had the same policy Gear Village had and the worst had happened.

Getting in touch with Leaf would have to wait.