23 - I Hope You Like Adventure



The scenery below this drifting continent was alien. Miles of countryside, so far out from Meta City that Pixel had only seen pictures of it. The only city she could see now sat on the coast line, small ships docked at the bay as cranes moved back and forth lifting heavy crates and replacing them with new ones. The Backbone Mountain was the only familiar thing to her, crouching on the horizon as it ran its trail towards the centre of System. Directly below them, she could see the ocean washing over sandy shores in a frothy wave and lapping up against cliff faces. Atop those cliffs were houses that she guessed had a spectacular view. Possibly expensive, with their verandas and patios. The terrible thought that they might be vacated – condemned – sent a chill down her spine, and she tore her eyes away to the fields instead. Fields filled with yellow corn and vibrant berry orchards. Tiny villages perched between them, each one unknown to her. The only familiar thing about them was the uniform antennae blinking away in the centre of each one. Familiar only because every city or town or village needed one to stay in the communication grid.

Isolated. That was how she felt. Isolated and embarrassed.

What had brought that outburst on? It was common knowledge the humans wanted to go back home. Whether or not it was plausible was another thing entirely. Twelve years they'd been trapped here, brought in by some unknown means triggered by an explosion. Nothing had been able to replicate it.

Truth be told, no one had wanted to try something on a similar scale for fear of the damage it might cause. And not just building rubble either. There was always the potential risk another portal would create another Fracture, and one was more than enough.

She hadn't noticed the heavy footsteps over the grass. By the time she became aware of them, a large figure plopped down beside her with a heavy sigh. She started slightly, stifling a yell of surprise and looked up at Switch. He gave her a small smile and looked back down at the world below.

"Quite a sight, huh?" he said.

She nodded and followed his gaze. "Although, to be honest, I've no idea where I am."

"See that there?" He pointed at the city on the bay. "That's Wave City. I'm guessing you've heard of it?"

"Yes. That's where all the produce from overseas comes from. I guessed it was that, but I wasn't sure. I've never been this far out before."

Switch chuckled and leant back on his hands. "I went there a lot when I lived up here."

Up here. Ten years ago, Circuit had said. He'd probably seen a lot of System over those years, free to fly wherever. So much had changed in the past few weeks with the virus and the cracks, leaving System almost unrecognisable. They sat in silence, watching the waves wash back and forth as Luma Island drifted further away from Wave City. Where to, she had no idea.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have blown up like that."

He waved a hand and laughed. "Don't worry about it. I understand."

"You do?"

"Of course. You made it pretty clear, Pixel. When they succeed in finding a way to send us back, we'll be in completely different worlds. It's not like I could send you an email or anything, is it? Anyone would have reason to be upset at that."

She looked up at him then, inclining her head on one side. "Even you?"

"Yeh. It's something that's crossed my mind more than once." He edged closer to her and dropped his voice so it wasn't much more than a whisper. "Can I tell you something?" When she nodded, he went on. "I have no intention of going back."

"What?!" Her eyes shot wide open and she raised a paw to her mouth, glancing around before she continued at a quieter volume. "Are you serious? What about your family and friends?"

He shrugged. "Sure, I'd like to see them again. But let's face it. It's been twelve years. When I came here, I was only fifteen. That's almost half my life I've spent in your world. I've made friends here. More friends than I had back home. If there was a way to go back and forth between this world and the human world, I would do it. But I'd be heartbroken to leave all my friends behind to go back to an old life I've almost forgotten about." He waved an arm at the ocean and smiled. "Besides. I've not seen what's out there yet. I've seen most of System, but what's out there? Where do those ships come from, and where do they go?"

"The Analog Islands," she said. "Zener, Wafer, Abrasion, Tubular. To name a few."

He chuckled again and relaxed back on the grass. "Well, I'd love to see them one day."

"Maybe you will, when all this is over."

"Do you see an end to it?"

She shrugged and joined him lying on the grass. "Vector can erase those cracks. That's a small glimmer of hope right there."

When Switch just made a grunt of a reply, she turned her head to look at him. His eyes were closed, arms tucked beneath his head.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Still unconscious, but Circuit says he appears to be merely sleeping. Apparently he talks occasionally, but they can't work out what he's saying. He sounds panicked, but that's all she can say on the matter."

"Did she say if she thinks he's sick?"

"She hasn't a clue. She said his chest sounded strange, like he had asthma or pneumonia. She gave him some belue berry extract in an IV and said things sounded a bit clearer, so it's something respiratory. Hopefully it'll clear up whatever has been causing him trouble."

She looked back up at the sky, feeling a small sense of relief that the meowstic might be on the mend. But something was still bothering her. Switch might not want to go back to his world, sure, but she was convinced many other humans still did.

"Do you still think he might be human?" she asked tentatively.

He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes flickering open as he looked up at the clouds. "Do you think it's possible the virus will work in two completely different ways?"

"It might have mutated," she said. "He was the first to get hit with it, right?"

"Theoretically. We don't know that for certain."

"And if he does have it, wouldn't you have caught it by now?"

"Maybe it's not contagious from human to human... which makes it even more baffling, and kind of blows a hole in my theory." He rubbed a hand across his face and sighed. "To be honest, Pixel, I think part of me hopes he's human. Simply because I don't want another puzzle to solve."

...

The wheels of the little bullet car had barely touched the ground when N00b leapt out over the door and skittered through the long grass. It came to a halt against a tree and he grimaced at the unhealthy crunch that came from the thick wood. The car was fine, but one of the lower branches lay torn free on the ground, wrenched from its place by the rounded nose of his beloved car.

He muttered an apology to the tree and ducked his head, making a beeline for the island's ruin. The door needed a card key to open it, so his only way inside was via the intercom staring at him from the stone wall. He placed his paws on the door and let out a small whine at the delay in his mission, before finally nudging the buzzer with his nose. It crackled into life with a few mechanical rings before a voice marred by static asked for his identity.

"Come on, Leaf!" he yapped. "It's me, N00b!"

"N00b?" the voice asked. "What are you doing back up here? I thought you left to go back to-"

"I know, I know I did! I came back because there's trouble. Big trouble!"

There was a small pause before Leaf replied, "I don't see any trouble. Just your car and a wounded tree. Nybble and Byte aren't amused, by the way. They liked to have their lunch on that branch."

"Then I'll fasten it back up there with some wire. Please, let me in! I need to speak to you. It's urgent!"

If Leaf sighed, it came out as a long, windy crackle that made N00b think he'd lost connection, or the ivysaur had hung up. But the static fuzz was followed by a quick, "Come in!" and the door buzzed loudly as it slid open.

N00b scurried inside and bounded down the spiral stairs, flinching under the flickering light. Maybe he'd change the bulb while he was here, or it was a loose wire that needed tightening. There was no time to worry about that now though.

The control room door hissed open as he reached it, and he was warmly welcomed by three disgruntled faces. He skidded to a halt and looked at each one in turn, and his ears and tail drooped.

"Look, I'm sorry about the tree, okay?" he said.

"Forget the tree." Leaf turned in his swivel chair to look back at his computer. "What is it that brings you back, N00b? This 'urgent' news?"

"It's the doctors." said N00b. "The ones that had Vector. A gallade showed up in my garage with that exploud and wartortle and threatened me. He wanted my car."

"And that concerns us why?"

"Because he knows it can fly! Why else would they need a car that flies?"

Leaf looked back at him, but his disgruntled expression was replaced by one of surprise and concern. The two emolga looked from him to N00b with matching expressions of anxiety.

"They've been up here already, Leaf," said N00b. "If they think Vector's still up here-"

"We destroyed his tracker chip," said Leaf.

"Exactly! They can't track him, so they'll come looking for any pokemon that can track him down. Your island has gone rogue. I know I did it so you could get away, but if they want to get here then they'll try! I think you need to resort to your original plan. Get off, take to the ground and leave this place unmanned. Lock everything, hide all your private data and run."

"We've backed everything up already, not to mention all data is password protected," said Leaf. "It's a bit of a pain. I thought we'd be safe now we're away from Meta City."

Well right now it's either leave or face that gallade and his goons, and up here you're not exactly in any fit state to defend yourself. You saw what happened last time! Thing is, it'll be an even match now, and they don't look weak, Leaf! They'll be prepared for any spore attacks off you now they know what to expect, too!"

Leaf snorted through his nose and looked over his shoulder at his computer screen. For the first time, N00b noticed he was watching a map. It was hardly a surprise since they were floating over unfamiliar territory, but he couldn't help wondering if they had a destination in mind.

"Are we leaving the island?" Nybble asked as she clasped her paws beneath her chin.

"If what N00b says is true, then we might have to."

"Oh come on," said Byte. "I can take that wartortle, and so can Nybble."

"They're of a higher status than us," said Leaf. "We've taken a risk fighting them once already. I don't plan to spend my better years behind the walls of Meta Prison." He looked back at N00b and lowered his headphones around his neck. "I don't suppose you've any idea why I can't get hold of Pixel have you?"

N00b shook his head. "Nope. None at all."

Leaf sighed and fiddled with his headphone wire. "Then if she's still with Switch, can you get hold of him and let them know we're leaving the island?"

"Would love it if I could, but he hasn't been answering me for days now."

Leaf grimaced and tutted loudly. "Fantastic! Well... we don't have much choice, do we?"

He reached over and pulled the plug on his computer, plunging the entire room into darkness. A dim light flickered into the room, making the movements of the other three pokemon strobe as they moved towards the door. N00b followed after them, streaming up the stairs towards the door. The light from outside was almost blinding.

"How are we all going to fit in your car?" Leaf asked.

"Nybble and Byte will have to squeeze together." N00b hopped into the driver's seat and pulled his flight goggles down over his eyes. "I'm warning you though, I have no idea where I'm going. Meta City is out of bounds for us right now. We're gonna be as rogue as your island. I hope you packed a map."

"I didn't have time to pack a map!" Leaf snapped.

"Then we're relying on my GPS. Not a massive problem, just that it's still in beta." N00b gave him a boyish grin and turned on the engine. "I hope you like adventure."

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