Cracks zigged, zagged, ducked and wound throughout the towns and small cities at the northern end of the Backbone Mountain. Hertz watched the Marowak silently as he paced back and forth, muttering things to Mirror who repeated them back as he jotted them down on his computer tablet. Bootstrap was particularly interested in the cracks – where they came from and what exactly they did. Hertz couldn't say he was interested. His feelings on the matter were deeply rooted in fear. Those things contaminated whatever they touched. That much was proven by every pebble, wood or other solid object the marowak tossed at them. They glided through, coming out the other end shrouded by that strange jibberish that rose into the air like steam.

But the gallade's mind was elsewhere. Focused on locating that meowstic. He was beginning to wonder if he was clutching at straws. If hunting him down was no more fruitful than tossing rocks at those anomalies. Regardless, he'd sent Sample and Mono on the hunt. How they travelled towards the rogue drifting continent was up to them. He'd tried all he could think of, even going so far as to ask a mental health patient to help him.

He mentally face-palmed at that one. That poor girl was in no state to help him. Not to mention her pokemon form was about as good at flying as he was swimming, and that was to say not very. Sure, he could swim a little, but then his body would complain and his paws would go numb, and more often than not he'd have to be rescued by a life guard.

Bootstrap's cry of surprise drew him violently out of his thoughts and he brought the marrowak and wobbuffet into focus. The pair of them seemed to be cheering.

They'd found one.

One of the black cracks that makes whatever touches it disappear.

Bootstrap rushed to his van and dragged a heavy piece of machinery back out with him. Hertz knew exactly what it was. It was a computer. The monitor was attached to one end, mounted on a detachable frame and connected to the contraption by a cable. A long, winding camera protruded from the other end on a flexible neck which was controlled by the touch screen computer.

Bootstrap wanted to see what was on the other side of those cracks, and whether or not this would work remained to be seen. They'd already seen what damage these cracks could do to their world. They either shattered things or distorted them.

The marowak removed the tablet and controlled the machine to move towards the anomaly. The camera flexed up and down until it was level with it, then inched forwards carefully. Hertz wound his paws together as he watched it with anxious eyes.

Surely, just like everything else, the machine would suffer.

The long camera reached the crack, and sure enough the neck distorted and twisted. Bootstrap swore under his breath but then his eyes widened and he grabbed the gallade by the wrist.

"Hertz! Mirror! Look at this!"

The two pokemon peered over his shoulder at the monitor. There, on the screen, was the camera's footage. Distorted, and virtually unreadable.

"It's damaged, Bootstrap," said Hertz.

"Maybe so, but it's got footage of... of... is it a world?"

"Is it our world?" Mirror asked. "It could just be what it was sending back before it entered."

Hertz was about to agree, but there was one thing missing.

"There's no cracks," he said. "It can't be our world."

Buildings stretched out as far as he could see on the monitor, and beyond that what looked like a mountain structure. It was hard to see since the whole scenery was marred by that strange code. @ signs and ampersands, exclamation and question marks, amongst other things filled the screen in neat rows, changing before their eyes so fast it was almost headache inducing.

"We can't see anything else," said Bootstrap. "The neck won't work."

"But it's still something," said Mirror. "I mean... is there a chance that could be the human world?"

Hertz's eyes widened at the thought. "You mean there might be a way to send them back?"

It wasn't possible. Was it? That these cracks may actually lead to the human world? His heart was racing. If this was true, then that meant every missing pokemon might be in the human world. All they had to do was let them pass through these cracks. The ones that made things seemingly vanish.

"I don't know," Bootstrap finally said. "If it is their world... then what if it actually looks like this?"

Hertz stared once again at the monitor. At that strange code. Those buildings and mountain shrouded in it.

The image now unsettled him.

"What if that's where the virus has come from?" As the words left his mouth, the marrowak and wobbuffet looked at him.

"I was thinking the same thing." Bootstrap looked up at his machine and let out a hefty sigh. "It looks like the Fracture may have done more damage than we initially thought."

Mirror scratched his head and exchanged glances with the gallade.

"Do you think..." Mirror glanced back down at the computer. "Do you think it destroyed their world?"

Bootstrap let out another flustered sigh. "I think it's a very high possibility, yes. But since the crack may have interfered with our computer, we won't know for certain."

...

Pixel was completely and utterly stunned.

The unown G was still flying around the room, his cries a combination of surprise, fear and joy. Retro was trying to calm him, to get him out of the room to safety, but to no avail. When Switch had tried to herd him out with a large wing, Gyro had just struck him with a flash of light and knocked him back into the wall. In the end, Switch had excused himself to keep the other three unown company in the tunnel.

The poor unown was completely overwhelmed, and would occasionally dart down from the ceiling to examine his friend. The unown K was still deeply asleep, still formed of motionless liquid.

And as far as Retro was concerned, still posed a threat to the unown who hadn't been proven immune.

Vector sat staring at the unown K with a look of bewilderment on his face. His breath was coming in quick bursts and his entire body was trembling.

Pixel couldn't blame him. Knowing he had this ability the whole time must have come as quite a shock. It had certainly surprised her.

"Gyro! Please!" Retro implored. "You need to leave this room before you-"

"No!" The unown paused beside the K and placed a tendril on their watery body, fixing his lone eye on Vector. "Not until you cure her, too!"
Retro's paws were clasped tightly over her mouth, but as they watched Gyro, waiting anxiously for the virus to take hold once more, nothing happened.

Retro lowered her paws, her blue eyes impossibly wide. "You... you're immune now?"

Gyro looked up at Retro, then at his tendril, seemingly unaware he'd been touching his contaminated friend. He snatched it back then stared at it in bewilderment.

Retro turned her attention onto Vector, who was now staring at his paws with a look that matched the unown's perfectly.

"I don't understand," Retro muttered. "Maybe you just can't have this virus twice? Getting over it leaves you with the ability to fight it off?"
Pixel wound the hem of her scarf around her paws, not taking her eyes off the two unown. "I don't..."

As her voice trailed off, Retro looked down at her. "How did you find out you were immune, Pixel?"

"I was grabbed," she said. "By what I thought was a virus victim. They were slimy and grabbed my ankle with a tentacle."

The mew's eyes went from Pixel to Vector, but her question was still aimed at the mawile. "And nothing happened to you?"

"No... I was fine."

Retro made a thoughtful noise and scratched her ear. "I wonder if this has anything to do with you? Vector?"

The meowstic snapped back to reality at the sound of his name. It took a moment for recognition to register in his eyes as he processed the mew's question.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow. "You think I made her immune?"

Retro shrugged and looked down at herself. "Well, I really don't know. I found I was immune myself, so it's not impossible that Pixel is too. So I didn't think much of it. But seeing Gyro touch someone with the virus and come back clean, after only having it himself a few minutes ago, makes me wonder if you're carrying some kind of antibody."

Vector stared at his paws again. The look on his face was clear he wasn't disagreeing with Retro, but it was certainly hard to believe.

A soft tap at the door drew their attention and the small form of Amp bobbed before the glass.

"I have an idea!" he said, loud enough to be heard clearly.

Retro floated towards the door. "What is it?"

"Vector can remove the virus, right?" Amp began. "So if he were to touch me, then I touched K and came back clean, we'd know if he acts as a sort of vaccine. If I catch it, he can wipe it away."

Retro shook her head slowly, then more dramatically and screwed her eyes shut. "No! What if you become a type you're weak to? Like bug or dark? I can't allow that!"

"Calm down, m'lady!" Amp exclaimed. "There's eighteen pokemon types! I could become one of fourteen more if I don't stay the type I am now! The odds are hardly against me."

Retro was silent, hugging her arms across her chest as she stared at the door, no longer looking at the exclamation. Pixel didn't know what to say. Part of what Amp had said made sense, but at the same time it was a huge risk, and they'd lost a close friend already.

"I agree with him," said Vector. "It's a risk, but it's worth it."

Retro craned her neck to look over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "What?"

Vector didn't look up at her. Instead he was still staring at his paw. "I don't know why I'm like this. I don't understand this ability. Why I can remove cracks and wipe the virus. But if I can save lives by acting as a vaccine then we need to know that. Don't we?"

Retro didn't say anything, but the look of anger had left her face.

"We've already lost a good friend today," he went on. "If there's a way to prevent losing more lives then I'm willing to try it."

The room fell into silence again. Retro looked like she wanted to say something while she warred with conflicting emotions of anger and relief that there might be a solution. The silence was only broken when X joined Amp at the window.

"I would also like to be a part of this x-periment!"

Retro looked back at the door then sighed. "Okay. But... be careful. If anything seems wrong, then back out."

Before she'd finished her sentence, the door opened and the two unown flew into the room, followed by Switch and a very nervous Alarm. The little A bobbed beside Retro's shoulder, her body trembling as she watched her two friends take on a massive risk.

Amp went first, letting Vector touch what one would assume was his head, then X. They stood beside K together then looked at each other.

"Ready?" Amp asked. "We'll do it on three!"

"That makes things x-tremely tense. I think it should be random."

Amp let out a flustered sigh and rolled his eye. "Fine. Be as random as you like."

"No... wait!" Switch stretched out a wing to stop the unown, but he was too late.

X struck the K with a tendril. Every breath in the room froze, throwing it into complete silence. Amp's eye widened with surprise as his own tendril froze in mid-air, but the X's body stayed as oily black as ever.

"Oh wow," said X. "I'm okay. I honestly did not see that one coming."

Amp let his breath out and closed his eye, letting his 'hand' touch the K's side.

Nothing happened.

"I don't believe it." Retro slumped to the floor as every muscle in her body relaxed. "They're okay."

Switch's beak was hanging open. "Amazing... I..." He rubbed his head with his wing and slumped to the floor.

Pixel's heart was pounding. She turned her attention to Vector who was staring at the unown and shaking his head.

All this time the doctors had been right. Somehow, in some way, Vector had an antidote.

The trembling little unown A bobbed towards him, sliding her body under his arm. He glanced down at her just as she darted away from him to quickly touch her contaminated friend. Her scream pierced the room, making everyone leap to their feet and Retro to let out a distressed yell.

Nothing.

A stood beside the K, her body shaking entirely as she stared at her right tendril.

"Good grief, Alarm!" Amp exclaimed. "You almost gave me a premature heart attack!"

"Yes, that was x-tremely unnecessary," said X. "Look what you've done to Retro. She's gone as pale as a froslass."

Retro sobbed into her paws then took in a long, trembling breath as she looked back up at her friends.

"I don't believe it," she said again. "There's an answer."

"I'm not so sure," said Switch. "Something doesn't add up. The unown might just be immune."

"They can't be!" said Retro. "There are too many cases of pokemon catching this virus. For three to be immune out of five makes no sense."

"But thinking back, Leaf touched him." Switch nodded to Vector. "I so wanted this to work, but I've thinking back to see if we'd missed anything. We had. He carried him."

Pixel felt her heart sink. "He's right. When we first got Vector onto Cyan Island, he was unconscious and Leaf tried to carry him."

"And you didn't remember this before?!" Retro took a calming breath then shook her head and looked at the unown. "I don't know... the evidence is right there..."

"It might just be a coincidence," said Switch. "Unless it only works while he's awake?"

Switch didn't sound like he believed his last statement, but something deep inside Pixel's mind believed it. Or maybe she just wanted to. It was rather farfetched, but so was the idea that one pokemon alone could erase the virus and delete the cracks.

"Well..." Retro floated back into the air and made for the door. "At least... we know... none of us can catch it."

The rest of the unown darted after her, muttering words of concern. But Gyro stayed behind, looking from the door to his frozen friend and back.

"Wait!" he shouted. "What about K?!"

Pixel moved towards Switch as he held the door open, but the both of them paused to look back at Vector, still sitting on the floor and eyeing the contaminated unown. She placed a paw on her chest as she felt something flutter inside her and tried to suppress it. Now wasn't the time.

"Vector?" she said.

His ear flicked back to them but he didn't look up.

"Are you coming?" Switch asked.

"Just give me a minute," Vector said.

Switch nodded and stood aside to let Pixel past. Once in the tunnel, Switch looked down at her and sighed.

"I really want to believe he's got some kind of vaccine," he said. "But it doesn't make sense that Leaf caught it."

"No." Pixel wound her scarf around her paw then followed after the talonflame. "I don't understand it either."

...

When the door clicked shut, Vector didn't so much as flinch.

It didn't make sense. Was the world becoming immune to the virus on its own? There was no evidence to support that. The world was crumbling under those cracks. New pokemon got the virus every day. Towns and cities had been vacated. Sectioned off as contaminated areas. Even if exposure to a virus victim made one immune it didn't make sense. He'd heard of doctors catching it simply for not being thorough enough in avoiding it. Tears in hazmat suits. Problems with decontamination showers. Touching a contaminated suit. Or just walking home and... catching it from the very ground.

It didn't make sense.

He needed to find out somehow. In some way. But he couldn't do it himself if he was unconscious... could he?

The unown G was still waiting. Watching him silently, his eye flitting from him to his friend and back.

Finally, Vector let out a long breath as he pushed himself up. He still felt weak. His chest was still rattling.

"If I collapse," he told the unown, "go and find the talonflame and tell him to throw me at the cracks."

The G's eye flew wide open. "What?"

"Just the talonflame. Don't tell anyone else."

Gyro made a gesture that Vector took as a shake of the head. "No. No, if you're going to faint then leave her! She's fine. She'll be fine..."

"I want answers." Vector wheezed slightly and leant against the wall. "Is there another way out without being seen? One he could fit through?"

The unown looked to the window and Vector followed his gaze. A mucky window not much bigger than him. Switch would have problems squeezing through that even in his pokemon form.

But he might be able to get through it before he passed out. If he was quick. If he could even make it.

"Open it," he said.

The unown hesitated, then nodded. When he turned his back, Vector stooped to place a paw on the K.

Crack!

"What?!" The K's eye blinked open and she flew into the air. "Krikey! I'm k-k-kold!"

What she said didn't even register in Vector's head. He could barely see where he was going. He was aware of the K flying around him. Aware of the tone of her voice that dropped from excitement to worry. Aware of Gyro by the window asking him over and over if he was okay.

Of course he wasn't okay. He'd barely reached the window when the ground started to give way. He tumbled over the windowsill and landed in a crumpled heap in a bed of ferns.

The last think he noticed was the web of cracks above him, their ultraviolet light almost blinding as his world went black.