Chapter Forty Four

Macro smoothed down his clean fur, feeling a lot better after a good, long shower. He'd worried nothing would have been enough to get that experience off him. The battle was eerie enough, but Surge's attempt at his life and following perverse request had left him feeling rattled and filthy. He shook the memory from his mind then turned to the wash basin. His scarf lay in a pool of bubbles, still soaking to remove the remains of caterpie silk. A quick rinse and drain revealed his attempts - well... third attempt - had been successful in getting rid of it all.

Now he just had to dry it.

With a defeated sigh, he resigned himself to the idea of being scarfless for a little while. He flashed open the washroom door and slipped out into the hallway, turning towards his room. A movement to his left drew his eye and he spotted DL on her way from the kitchen. She paused to look at him and raised a paw to wipe a smear of chocolate from beside her nose. That suggested to him she'd probably eaten more than she'd been making. Where did she put it all?

"You look smaller without that on," she said, nodding to the soggy bundle in his arms.

He shrugged and absently smoothed the sodden article over his arm. Ordinarily such a sugar coated insult would have angered him, but somehow the sheer fact she'd said anything at all was a blessing in and of itself.

"It'll be dry and back on in no time," he said.

She made a little noise that might have been 'oh' and leant against the door frame, turning her head to look back at the cockpit.

The attempts at small talk pained him. He grimaced inwardly and made his way towards his room.

"Supper will be in ten minutes," she called after him.

He paused mid-step, but didn't look back. One nod, then he pressed on towards his room. Whether or not she saw it he didn't know.

Once his scarf was tossed over the foot of his bed frame, he turned to leave and faltered. The black scarf he'd left drying on the frame previously lay in a crumpled heap just beneath the bed amongst the dust. One colour... well. If you discounted the grey clinging to the black fabric. With a heavy sigh, he left it and marched back towards the cockpit.

Anchor's seat was still empty. Loud clanging noises came from outside as the granbull repaired the ship's damage, hidden completely from view. Matrix, however, was situated in his navigator's seat. His tiny paw flew across the keyboard as Macro entered, chatting on some online community, and he fired a quick greeting over his shoulder.

"Don't shirk work," said Macro.

"Well we aren't going anywhere," said Matrix.

Macro fell into his seat and rubbed at his exposed neck. The draft from the open door was unbearable. Wow, he felt naked.

"We'll be going somewhere soon enough." He pulled his computer out of his pocket and brought up the list of disk locations. "As soon as Anchor's done with the repairs, we can bid goodbye to Pulse City."

"You make it sound final," said Matrix.

"It might be."

The ribombee span his seat around and fixed him with a look of utter confusion. His eyes were impossibly wide, making his already tiny face look even tinier.

"We're not coming back?" he asked, calmly. "What did you do?"

Macro sneered and looked back at his computer. "I didn't do anything."

"Did you cheese off Surge?"

"Turns out she isn't an ally," said Macro. "Drop it."

Matrix's seat made a small squeak as he turned it back to the navigation system. Macro thought he heard him load up one of his retro games again.

Macro scanned over the locations. Botnet City and Meta City both left a bad taste in his mouth. As he looked down at The Cache, his heart froze. Had the list always had that sun-shaped emblem behind it? And if so, why have it right at the bottom of the page? The way it was written, The Cache was printed right over it. None of the other locations so much as touched it.

His ears filled with ringing and he dropped his computer onto the dashboard. Twisting in his seat, he caught Matrix's eye. The navigator raised an eyebrow.

"Someone's jumpy." He fluttered from his seat, the dull drone of his wings joining the obnoxious bell. "Woo, supper time!"

Macro sank back into his seat and rubbed at his temples. What had gotten into him? He retrieved his computer, stuffing it into his pouch as he headed towards the kitchen.

Anchor passed him in the hallway, wiping his huge paws with an oily rag.

"Suppose I'd better get freshened up," he said. Then he looked Macro up and down, a small frown creasing his features. "You alright, Cap'n? You look a little spooked."

Macro waved him off. "I'm fine. How much longer until we fly?"

"We're about done. I just have to check the repairs don't mess with the turrets. I'll fire 'em up after supper and if they spin, we can go."

Macro nodded and tried his best to shrug off the black cloud hovering over him.

"Fantastic. Sure you can't do that now?" he asked.

"I am pretty hungry," Anchor grumbled.

"Okay." Macro really couldn't shake that black cloud. "Let's just have supper."

He tried to mask his anxiety by rubbing at his face with both paws, slowly making his way into the kitchen. Anchor's warm paw fell onto his bare shoulder, freezing him in his tracks. Macro craned his neck around to look up into Anchor's face. The granbull's brow was furrowed so much so his eyebrows almost met.

"You sure you're alright?" he asked.

Macro stared back up at him, open-mouthed. What was he supposed to say? That he felt awful about DL? Betrayed by Surge? Tell him everything that went on, and that they'd be fleeing for their lives?

Surely he should tell them the latter.

He pushed Anchor's paw away and turned into the kitchen, taking his usual seat opposite DL. The pachirisu met his gaze briefly before reaching for a bowl of soup.

Soup?

Macro took a bowl and sniffed it cautiously. Not Cookie's usual sweet supper, that was for sure. Instead it smelled savoury. And... was that nutpea he could smell? His mouth filled with saliva and he grabbed a spoon, almost knocking Matrix off his seat.

"Easy, Captain." Cookie chuckled as he leant over the table, holding a plate of steaming buns. "We have bread to go with it, too."

Macro's nose twitched. There was the sweet stuff he was familiar with. Yet not a single layer of frosting in sight. Regardless, he grabbed one, still warm in his paws.

"I thought we'd try something different," said DL. "Somehow, I already knew this recipe. I guess it came with the recent memory disk."

Macro was going to respond, but his mouth was full of bread. Instead, Anchor lowered his spoon and beat him to it.

"How are you handling that, by the way?" he asked.

"The memories?" DL shrugged. "I think I'm past the shock. I've actually been doing some thinking."

"Cooking's pretty good for that." Cookie fell into his own seat and began pouring sugar into his soup. "I do a lot of thinking in this kitchen."

DL smiled at him warmly, her paws twitching slightly as she watched the slurpuff's soup fill with sugar. Macro feared for a moment she'd start wrestling the dispenser out of Cookie's paws.

"It does help, he's not wrong." She turned to the other space pirates. "But... I've decided I do actually want all my memories back. So retrieving those disks isn't in vain anymore."

"It was never in vain," said Macro. "It's in your right to have them."

She shrugged. "To me it felt like that. But I actually want to know what happened that landed me in that orphanage. Was I always there? Or did something happen to my parents?"

Macro looked down at his soup as he spooned some into his mouth. "Valid questions."

"Do you remember anything else?" Matrix asked. "Anything related to... well, Socket's crazy idea?"

DL snorted, a sound that didn't suit her remotely. The look of disgust on her face lit a fire in Macro's chest and he remembered exactly why they were doing all this. Any child could have ended up in DL's situation. Taken into a warm home and then deceived. Turned into an experiment.

"Like I said, I remember all of it," she said. "And then some. I have access to the Download Database again, and amongst all that is the very reason Socket even adopted me." DL leant her head on one paw and poked at her bread. "She never wanted a child. It was all planned from the start. Adopt the oldest child in the orphanage, lure them into a false sense of security and get everyone familiar with them as her adopted child. Oh, lovely Mayor! Adopts a child in need! Once that was all established, when the child turns eighteen, her plan gets thrown into action. No one suspects a thing."

"So it was an elaborate trap?" Macro scoffed.

Matrix wound his antenna in his paw and leant on the table. "I prefer the term 'ruse'."

"'Trap' sums it up nicely," said DL. "It certainly felt that way towards the end."

"Something doesn't add up though," said Anchor. "You said you were turned in at a lab in Meta City. But we picked you up from some strange distribution centre at the edge of System."

DL's eyes went distant and she scratched her jaw. "That would be The Cache."

Macro dropped his spoon into his bowl, splashing hot soup down himself and eliciting a small squeak of surprise from Matrix.

DL jolted in her seat and fixed him with wide, chocolate eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Macro grabbed a towel from Cookie and dabbed down his creamy fur, now sticky with berry soup. "I've just heard of that place. It's one of the locations for your memory disks."

"Oh." She rubbed her nose and looked away from him. "Well I'm guessing it's not a distribution centre like you believe. I think Yobi must have done something prior to me going there. Because that's listed as the location I was 'made'."

"Maybe he changed your data chip," said Matrix.

"Maybe. Because what I remember of that chip you had removed, the information doesn't match up. It was just lies."

"Yeh," said Macro. "If it were your original one from birth, it would have said 'Loop' and not 'Download Database'."

"Why change it?" Cookie asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to leave it, cover their tracks?"

DL pointed at the slurpuff. "He has a valid point. But... that chip was more for tracking. And given I wasn't 'Loop' anymore, they changed it. It's not uncommon for pokemon to change their names. Is it?" She gave Macro a pointed stare.

He sank slightly in his seat and absently stirred his soup.

"Well, in that case," said Anchor, "if The Cache is that secret government building, I guess our next stop is Botnet City? Save the dangerous zones for last."

The mere name of the city left a bad taste in Macro's mouth. He bit his lip and stared into his soup. It was a logical suggestion. They had a higher chance for success. But sooner or later, they'd have to visit Meta City and The Cache. Did it really matter what order they did it in?

Everyone's voices blended together as Macro mulled over their options and DL's story. It felt like things were both falling into place and becoming more confusing at the same time. He barely tasted his soup, eating it more out of habit than anything else. Once he'd scraped the bowl clean, he pushed it aside and slipped from his seat. It was only then he realised that Matrix and DL had both vanished, and Cookie was already cleaning the dishes.

Anchor leant back in his seat as he tipped his bowl to drain the contents, slurping loudly. With a satisfied sigh, he brought the bowl back down to the table and wiped a paw across his mouth. His eyes flicked towards Macro and he grinned.

"Not wanting seconds?" he asked.

Macro shook his head and pointed towards the cockpit. "I'm gonna go fire up our next location. You wanna check the turrets? Sooner we leave, the better."

The granbull stood up, his chair scraping across the floor like claws on a chalkboard. "May as well."

He followed Macro into the cockpit then flopped into the driver's seat. Macro hesitated beside his own chair. DL was already buckled in, fiddling with the dashboard's controls.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"Learning." She looked up at him briefly. "If I'm going to become a space pirate I need to know how these ships work."

"You've already had weapons training," he said.

She shrugged. "Maybe I want to know how to drive? Or be a captain?"

Macro grit his teeth together, but not out of anger. It was much clearer to him now. She really was considering leaving.

Anchor, however, hadn't picked up on that at all. He roared with laughter, slamming his heavy paw on the dashboard.

"Careful, Cap'n," he said. "Sounds like she's plannin' a mutiny!"

Macro shook his head and fell into the seat beside her. He didn't even bother with the seatbelt. He tugged his computer from his pouch and brought up the locations again.

"Alright, here we go!" said Anchor. "One turret test comin' up!"

"Make sure Pulse City know what you're doing this time," said Matrix.

Anchor muttered something under his breath, then the familiar clunks and clangs of the turrets firing into position echoed throughout the cockpit.

Macro scrolled through the locations with a claw, reading each of them. Three down. Two more disks to go. Three locations remaining. Meta City and Botnet City looked imposing even in text. As he reached The Cache, that yellow sun symbol was still there.

Maybe Anchor was right. Maybe they should just get Botnet out of the way.

The turrets whirred, the racket drowning out the voices in the small cockpit and Cookie's jovial singing. Macro continued to stare at the list of names, a rising dread filling his chest and making his pulse race.

His eyes unfocused, then something flashed. He didn't know what it was, but his first thought was that another pirate had fired at them. But there was no impact. No angry shouts, no retaliation from Anchor.

Macro's computer slipped from his paws, landing with a clatter on the floor. His paw went to his head and he groaned, clenching his teeth together. He couldn't see a thing. Everything was just noise. Turrets, voices, singing. More voices. He became increasingly aware that someone was shaking him.

He shook his head, trying to clear his vision. It didn't hurt, not remotely. If anything, his head felt like a cloud. The ship came back into focus, save for some random dazzle spots. Every time he turned his head, they followed, like he was looking at a map of the stars. And there was one. Much bigger than the other, shaped like a sun.

He turned to look down at DL, her eyes wide and fearful. Her paws were wrapped around his arm tightly and her shoulders rose and fell as she tried to calm herself. Over her shoulder he spotted Anchor and Matrix, both of them staring at him in bewilderment. Anchor's jaw was slightly open and he cleared his throat before speaking.

"You alright, Cap'n?" he asked.

"Yeh." Macro rubbed his eyes, trying to clear the dazzle spots. "Yeh, I'm fine."

"You sure? 'Cos you look like you need a lie down."

"I said I'm fine."

Macro bent in his seat to retrieve his computer. It had landed just underneath the dashboard. As he looked over it for any damage, he realised the page was still open. His eyes fell on The Cache, still emblazoned on its sun symbol.

And beneath it were its co-ordinates. Had they always been there? As he looked over the other locations they were blank. No co-ordinates, just The Cache. Something felt odd about it. Why write them down? Why give this place special treatment?

"Put these co-ordinates in, Matrix," he said. "Two, four, six, three, five, seven."

Matrix twisted in his seat and raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't even make any sense."

"What are you talking about?" Macro turned to face him. "They're right here."

He held out his computer to the ribombee. Macro knew nothing about co-ordinates, but his suspicions were rising about The Cache. And with his suspicions came curiosity. He was adamant more than ever to find that place, even if it meant searching the far corners of System to track it down again.

Matrix frowned at his computer, flicking his antenna around in his paw. "There's nothing there."

"Yes there is!" Macro snapped. He leapt from his seat and pointed over Matrix's shoulder right at the string of numbers. "It's right there!"

Matrix shook his head. "I don't see anything."

"Right there! Written beneath 'The Cache' in black numbers! Right here, in this sun shaped symbol thing!" He traced a claw around the symbol.

"Sun?" Matrix narrowed his eyes and looked up at Macro. "Are you having an episode?"

Macro's jaw went slack and he stared at Matrix, dumbfounded. He couldn't see it? Macro looked back down at the screen. There it was, as clear as day. A yellow sun behind The Cache. The co-ordinates, or what he thought were co-ordinates.

Anchor and DL stood behind him on either side, both staring at the computer.

"There's nothing there, Cap'n," Anchor said softly.

Macro shook his head slowly. "But I see it." He turned to DL. "Do you?"

The pachirisu shook her head and looked back down at the computer. Silent. Pawing at her left ear anxiously.

Was he going crazy?

Macro swallowed dryly. No. He wasn't going crazy. He could see it. He knew he could see it.

"Put in those numbers anyway," he told Matrix.

"But they won't work," said Matrix.

"Just do it!"

Matrix muttered under his breath and turned to his keyboard, punching in those numbers. Macro watched with bated breath. It had to work. He had to know he wasn't going crazy.

The navigation screen zoomed out, showing Wildcard Gamma as a blinking green dot. Another dot flickered on the screen, up in the far north-east corner.

Matrix let out a stunned 'uh' then looked at Macro over his shoulder. "It found it."

"They work?" DL gasped.

Macro felt his head spin and he staggered backwards into Anchor. A chuckle left his throat as it sank in. He wasn't going crazy. Or if he was, he looked a little saner for a while.

"Well, I don't know what's going on," said Anchor. "But I was about to send you to bed due to overwork." He steadied the mawile back on his feet and looked him over. "Although I'm still considering it."

Macro waved a paw, still chuckling. "Let's get a move on."

"You can certainly get a move on," said Anchor, turning him towards the door. "Right to bed. I don't think you've slept since DL passed out."

The pachirisu looked up at Macro with a start. He cleared his throat, wanting to bite back at the granbull. But he found himself being steered down the corridor towards his room.

"Fine, I'll sleep," he said. "But you promise me you won't let Matrix change those co-ordinates."

"I wouldn't worry about that," said Anchor. "I reckon he's as intrigued as you are that they've worked. But I'll bop him one if he tries, okay?"

Macro strutted towards his room with Anchor's paw on his back. The granbull didn't relinquish his grip until they reached the mawile's door. There, he turned him to face him and his large muzzle was set in a concerned frown.

"Did you really see all that?" he asked. "Or were you pullin' our legs?"

Macro scratched his scar and looked away from him. That sun... it looked every bit like those dazzle spots. He hadn't realised it straight away. And that dazzle was still on his vision, although not as bright.

"Where'd that flash come from?" he asked Anchor. "The one that blinded me in the cockpit?"

"What flash?" Anchor asked.

Macro felt his heart sink. So no one had seen the flash or the numbers and symbol? "It went off right when you were testing the turrets."

Anchor shook his head then sighed. "I really think you need some rest."

"This has been happening a lot lately, Anchor." Macro spread his paws. "I fall asleep then something blinds me and I see this sun symbol. Now I'm seeing flashes while I'm awake and stuff no one else can see?"

Anchor's eyes widened. "How long has this been going on?"

"I don't know, a few days?"

"I think you might need to see a doctor."

"I ain't seeing a doctor. Not yet, anyway. Since those co-ordinates worked..."

Anchor scratched his mohawk and looked away from him. "Gonna be honest, Cap'n. That might've been a glitch."

"I don't know," said Macro. "But if they actually work, I might get some answers."

Anchor fixed him out of the corner of his eye. "You really think they might work?"

Macro shrugged. "No idea. Let's find out. Staple Matrix's arms to his sides if he tries to change them."

Anchor chuckled and gave a salute. "You got it, Cap'n. Now get some sleep."

...

The outskirts of System Sky were completely devoid of life. If it weren't for the porygon-z fleet drifting back and forth, BackDoor would have found it peaceful. He floated in the air with his arms tucked behind his head, reclining backwards as he watched the fleet work.

A small group of them stood aside, rotating their heads back and forth as they eyed the dimensional pocket to the 'unknown world'. Getting close to them would be nigh impossible. They'd already thrown a tantrum upon his arrival, worse than he was familiar with. Something about them seemed very amiss.

Their movements were more erratic. What passed off as 'limbs' rocked back and forth dramatically, the gravitational pull almost throwing them completely backwards when they came to a stop. Then throwing them forwards again when they started moving. The strange, dramatic rocking reminded him of one of those bobbing bird toys that tipped into a glass as though it were drinking. But unlike those birds, their heads span. Sometimes doing a complete three-sixty.

BackDoor tutted. He needed to get closer to that dimensional pocket and tear it open, then he could get as far away from the fleet as possible. The only issue was that it might come at the expense of his own limbs.

He sat up and gave TimeSkip a nudge. "You wanna go over there and lure them away?"

The celebi looked around silently, not absorbing a word he said.

BackDoor sighed and drifted higher into the air. "Fine. I'll do it. But if they try to blow me up, I'm using you as a meat shield."

As he floated towards Zero Day, TimeSkip followed close behind him. BackDoor rolled his eyes but kept his attention on the fleet. One wrong movement (from their perspective at least) would see him reduced to scraps.

"All right, back up, Zero Day," he said. "Let me open that gate."

One of the passing porygon-z span its head around and its pupils retracted into pin pricks.

'Thr34T d3T3cT3d! Thr34T d3T3cT3d!'

Their already distorted voices seemed to have exaggerated as much as their movements.

"Calm down!" BackDoor snapped.

The rest of the porygon-z followed suit, their heads spinning freely above their bodies as their distorted voices joined in.

The hoopa sighed and faltered slightly just outside the fleet. Then he threw himself through the air and warped beyond them. Twenty eyes snapped onto him, pupils like dots.

'R3m0vInG Thr34T. C0mm3Nsssss3 CL34NuP.'

Before BackDoor could retaliate, beams of tri-coloured light shot at him. He threw himself backwards into a warp and sent himself back to TimeSkip's side. The hoopa's face twisted with rage and he removed the ring from his right horn. With one swift flick of a paw, the ring expanded above Zero Day, warping them away several feet. They span on the spot before looking back at him and moving slowly away across System Sky.

"Morons!" BackDoor spat.

The sheer limit of his abilities ground in his gut. If he'd been given Hoopa's alleged full capabilities, he could have sent them outside System's galaxy. He let out a low growl and span towards TimeSkip, his lips curling into a snarl.

He waved a paw, distorting time and space. Small, black voids appeared and vanished quickly around the android's body, dragging its limbs through them and twisting them into knots. A flash of light exploded from cracks along its metal body, reducing it to scraps that rained down into the ocean below.

"There." BackDoor beat his paws together and looked back at the spot the fleet had previously occupied. "That feels much better."

He drifted over to the dimensional pocket and eyed it curiously. Another world. 'World - Unknown'. Curiosity gnawed at him and he removed one of his golden rings. He just had to see what was inside. Not just because he'd been made merely to find a new System, but because of that creature. What if there were more?

He span in a circle, tracing a perfect ring in the air. It glowed with a yellow light and spread out, filling the inside with an ultraviolet mist. A grin spread across his face and he waited, keeping himself a safe distance from the portal. Through the ultraviolet mist he could see it perfectly. A world filled with strange flora. Glowing mushrooms, rocks that leaked out eerie light. A permanently dark sky lit up by a vibrant moon. And something moving. No... not something. Things.

They were growing closer. All tentacles and billowing heads. More of those beasts! And they were coming right at him.

He clapped his paws together and laughed, performing a backwards somersault. Tinkling voices reached his ears and one by one the beasts were launched through the gate. The first one paused, spreading out its tentacles as it took in its new world. Its companions joined behind it, looking equally as dazed. Then the first one launched itself towards BackDoor.

The hoopa span out of the way and raised his paws.

"Oi! Don't attack me, I'm your new master!"

The beasts tinkled at him, turning what he guessed were their heads to seek him out. How? They had no eyes to speak of. Wow, these things were intriguing.

More came through the gate, some big, some small. But one of them looked vastly different. It landed amid the others with much less grace. It seemed bouncy, and colourful. The same shaped head, but filled with what he could only describe as candy sprinkles.

Its body was lanky and lacked tentacles. Instead it appeared to have limbs. More colourful splodges adorned its body. It was as though the ultra beasts had absorbed a Mr Mime, turning it into one of their own.

BackDoor laughed hysterically. So the tentacled beasts weren't the only anomalies the gates could reveal?

The creatures gathered themselves and headed down towards System Ground, their tinkling voices reaching out to each other. Guiding each other as they worked their way through the world. The odd bouncy ultra beast didn't follow after them. It turned to look at BackDoor, then took off like a dart over his head.

"That's right!" BackDoor laughed. "Enjoy this world! Do as you please! We won't be staying here long anyway!"

He clapped his paws and turned back to the gate. Leave it open? Or close it? The atmosphere inside was completely useless to Socket. An eternal night would drive pokemon to the brink of insanity.

He inclined his head on one side and stroked his chin thoughtfully. Then, with a drawn out 'naah', he zipped it shut.