Chapter Five

The small tympole ship drifted slowly down into Spool City. Filthy, yellow grime coated the windows that from the outside served as the tadpole pokemon's eyes but from the inside were a crucial means to see where one was going. With barely enough time to kick the ship's hover panels into place, the underbelly struck the tarmac then shot back into the air as they kicked in, allowing it to finally come to a smooth stop.

Surge swore under her breath as she snatched her mask from the glove compartment and strapped it over her face, leaving her bandana in place. She climbed into the air lock and waited for it to close behind her before opening the exit hatch. Air blasted out into the city as it hissed open, almost knocking her off her feet. She staggered out into the grime-filled streets, catching a glare from a nearby trash can. The garbordor inhabiting it ducked back under the lid, letting it clatter back into place.

The zigzagoon locked her ship and cast her eyes left and right. She'd landed right in one of the main roads with not a single vehicle in sight. Not even a hover-board to speak of. With the vast number of poison types that decided to live in the outskirts of Meta City, she found it odd to not see a single means of transport. Her tympole ship stood out like a sore paw pad at the best of times in System Ground and she briefly considered moving it closer to her destination.

Nah. No one would be able to get inside anyway.

The dingy road wound round into an alleyway and she stepped over spilled bin bags, deeply wishing the mask would filter out the putrid smells of rotting fruit and meat along with other waste that assaulted her senses. The narrow alley opened up into another main road - the one she'd hoped to actually land in. Between a boarded up shop filled with torn posters and a club sporting a neon pink animated billboard stood a ragged little office with no sign to mark it. A sign would only cause the place more abuse than it already took.

She stuck her key in the lock and ducked into the room, trying not to choke on the smoke. A tall delphox looked up at her from a high-backed office chair and he removed his cigar from his mouth to puff out a stream of smoke before finally addressing her.

"You took your time."

Okay, so addressing her wasn't the best term to use. The zigzagoon marched past him and leant against a beaten filing cabinet.

"I'm sorry, Tracer." said Surge. "I got sidetracked."

"Clearly."

The other two occupants in the room glanced at her from their stations beside their computers. Defrag the lopunny flicked her ear back as she returned to her work while the eevee, Widget, was too occupied with whatever message board he was currently browsing.

"Where did your little endeavor take you?" Tracer asked.

"I was following Wildcard Gamma, like you asked," she said. "They don't live in Pulse City, you know. It took them a few days to actually show up."

"Did you manage to apprehend their captain?"

"You mean the sexy mawile?" A smirk tugged at her lips and Tracer's glare bounced off her harmlessly.

"Don't speak about Hunter like that," he said flatly. "I hired you for your chameleon abilities, not your flirtatious nature. You were meant to catch him off guard and bring him in, just like you have done with several other space pirates."

"Well, I'm afraid I lost him."

Tracer rolled his eyes and flicked the ash from his cigar into an overflowing ashtray.

"Wildcard Gamma has some kind of cloaking mechanism," she said. "I was able to track them most of the way but they must have noticed and hit hyper drive. I lost them somewhere on the outskirts of System Sky."

"Outskirts..." Tracer scratched behind his ear. "There's nothing there."

Surge snorted. There was no way she was telling the detective she'd lost the ship at some kind of secret government base. Or that she'd fired at their fleet and took one of them out. She had no idea what had come over her at the time and the sheer memory of it turned her pads clammy. She absently wiped one down the fur of her chest and glanced over at the blackened window.

"You really need to get your air filter fixed," she said. "You'll make yourselves sick in all this smoke."

Tracer merely grunted but Widget fired her a cheeky smile.

"Some of us are enhanced to not get sick," he said.

Surge glared at the eevee then sighed. "Well, I think I'm going to get some rest. It'll be nice to sleep somewhere quiet for a change."

She opened the door to a cleaner, much less smoky area of the tiny building.

"Don't get too comfortable." She glanced over her shoulder at the delphox. "I'm sending you right back out in the morning."

"Back to Pulse City?" She wasn't sure why she asked. She knew the answer.

He nodded. "I can't pay you if I don't make any money, Surge. Socket won't pay me if she doesn't see any success, and pretty soon my account is going to run dry."

Surge gave a dry laugh. "Well, I'll keep trying to apprehend Hunter then, shall I? It'll be fun to play around with him a bit more."

"Don't take your time."

The door closed behind her and she stared at its dusty window. Tracer's ears were clearly defined beyond it, probably listening for her. Always listening.

Socket wouldn't pay him if she didn't see any success... she wouldn't pay him at all if she knew the mercenary he'd hired had attacked her fleet and blown up one of her ships. Surge tugged at her waistcoat and made her way towards the stairs. She needed to keep that wrapped up in a neat little bow.

...

Wildcard Gamma trundled along at a steady pace, making its way through the space pirate district a few miles outside of Pulse City. Colourful neon lights flickered from the smaller floating towns that surrounded it, their antennas rhythmically blinking red and green against the dark, star-filled sky.

Anchor strained against the crowbar as he prised open the wooden crate. Despite the crack in the side, it was impossibly difficult to open. Macro had considered using his horn to chew through it but he feared he'd damage whatever was inside.

"Come on, Anchor!" He clenched his paws together and bounced on his toes. "Put your back into it!"

The granbull flashed his sharp teeth as he threw himself against the metal rod. Wood splintered and groaned until the wooden panel began to peel free, revealing a row of sharp, silver nails.

"Whoever made this," he grunted, "really didn't want it to be opened by anyone but the one receiving it."

Matrix wound his antennae around in his paw and leant back into his seat. "If that were the case, why not put it in a code-controlled metal crate than some flimsy wooden box?"

Anchor snarled at him over his shoulder. "Flimsy?! You wanna try and prise this open?!"

The ribombee shrugged and diverted his gaze back to the crate.

Anchor roared and rammed his shoulder into the rod. It flew free from the box and Macro yelped and ducked as the crowbar soared over his head and clattered onto the dashboard. The mawile's eyes widened as he looked from the metal rod to Anchor.

"You nearly shattered my window!" he squeaked.

The granbull merely grunted as he used his paws to tug the rest of the panel free. It fell to the floor, the row of nails running around it reminiscent of some kind of deadly trap.

Macro moved around it to look inside the box. A gasp left his throat completely of its own accord and he raised a paw to scratch at the long fur around his ear.

A small pachirisu sat with her back against the crate, her head lolling against her chest. A small, silver antenna stuck out from behind her right ear topped with what he guessed was an LED bulb. A jack lead with a USB adapter lay curled up neatly beside her. Deep buzzing cut through the silence as Matrix hovered between them to get a closer look.

"What is she?" Anchor asked. "An android?"

"I've no idea," Macro reached into the box and ran his paw over the back of her head. "I'm guessing she has a switch or something."

All he felt was fur until his claws touched cold metal at the base of her skull. His first instinct was to yank his paw back. It felt unnatural. Some pokemon had modifications that were alien to their own bodies, but to have something embedded into one's skull was a ghastly idea. What made it worse was it felt like some kind of socket. He mentally reminded himself she was merely a robot and kept pawing around for a switch.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to switch it on?" Matrix asked.

"I dunno, but I'm curious," Macro explained. "I wanna see what it does. Besides, if it does work, we could make a fortune selling it! Androids are pretty rare."

"Rare?" Anchor scoffed. "I ain't even seen one before, or heard of anyone selling one. Robots, sure, but androids are too advanced. I mean, look at her. I could swear she's breathing."

"Probably just some kind of standby feature." Macro poked his tongue out between his lips as he felt around the socket again. "Ahah!"

His claws flicked over a tiny button that clicked away from him. The antenna behind the pachirisu's ear lit up with a soft blue light. She shifted and he sat back and watched as her eyes fluttered open. Her long black lashes contrasted with her white fur, and as they lifted revealed a pair of chocolate brown eyes. She raised a paw to rub at them then ran it through the long, blue fur between her blue ears.

"I'm still in this box?" She stretched and yawned widely. "Due to the damage, it is clear you didn't use the release feature."

"Release feature?" Macro looked up at the box.

It was a different view from the inside. Still wooden, still a crate, but attached to the ceiling was a metal catch. He grunted and pushed himself to his feet. He'd have needed a special scanner for that. Something to trigger it to fall open. The entire crate would have spread neatly on the floor, no force needed.

"It's amazing!" Anchor gasped. "So lifelike!"

The pachirisu rubbed at her eyes again and looked up at each of them in turn until they landed on Macro.

"I'm guessing you are Socket?" she asked.

The three space pirates stared back down at her with identical expressions of surprise.

Anchor leant in towards Macro and whispered, "Why does she think you're Socket?"

Macro felt a smirk tug at his lips that swiftly became a grin and he doubled over with laughter.

"We took a parcel that was supposed to go to the freakin' mayor?! Oh, this is too perfect!"

The pachirisu blinked. "You're taking me to Socket?"

"What?" Macro swiftly regained his composure and wiped a tear from his cheek. "Sure. We're taking you to Socket."

The pachirisu nodded and stared at the wooden wall before her. His heavy sarcasm had rolled straight off her.

"Then if you please," she said, "could you reboot my system then shut me back off? The first pokemon I should see should be Socket."

"Well, that ain't gonna work, is it?" Macro raised a paw and shrugged. "First pokemon you saw was me."

"My inbuilt FAQ tells me that a reboot is sufficient to perform a short-term memory wipe."

Anchor shifted uncomfortably. "Cap'n, this is freaking me out."

Matrix nodded slowly and landed back in his seat, his cream face oddly pale.

An android meant to be delivered to System's mayor. That explained the government fleet around that strange, squat building. Whatever it was, it clearly manufactured these androids. Or distributed them. Maybe even both. Macro watched the pachirisu as her large eyes remained fixed on the inside of the crate. What was Socket wanting with an android? Didn't she have enough pokemon working for her? Obtaining an android right after issuing yet another weapon ban while the pokemon were engaged in a low-key civil war... Unless she had a love of gadgets, then something wasn't right about this.

"I don't wanna switch you off," he said.

The pachirisu's eyes snapped up to meet his while Anchor let out a groan.

"Please switch it off," the granbull whined. "We know it works now, so let's board it back up and-"

Macro swatted the wooden panel back out of his large paws. "No. We're leaving her switched on."

The pachirisu blinked a few times. "But-"

"But nothing," said Macro. "How much time can a reboot wipe from your memory?"

"Searching." She stared blankly at the crate's interior again. "Thirty two minutes and twelve seconds."

"Wow." Anchor nodded slowly. "That's rather precise."

"Then how about this," said Macro. "You remain on for another... twenty five minutes. Have a walk around, spend some time with us, then we'll shut you back off again and deliver you to Socket."

Anchor's brow knitted together and he fixed Macro with a sideways look, but he didn't say anything despite his mouth opening and closing slightly as he looked back down at the pachirisu.

She stared down at her paws, her nose twitching as her eyes unfocused.

"Come on," Macro whined. "It must be cramped in there, right? So why not stretch..." He waved his paw up and down at her. "Whatever it is you have."

"Whatever I have?" She looked back up at him and inclined her head on one side. "What a funny thing to say."

"Wires then, or whatever it is you things use as muscles."

He stooped and grabbed her by the wrist, causing her to let out a little yelp. As he tugged her to her feet, any words he'd been planning on saying died on his tongue. Something wasn't right at all. She was warm. One could liken that to the mechanics whirring away, but what was really odd was the quick pulsing against his paw. He stared down at it, dumbfounded.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

He licked his lips slowly and spoke, but he didn't look away from her tiny wrist. "You're alive?"

"Of course I'm alive. I'm a living computer."

His eyes narrowed and snapped back up to her, making Anchor and Matrix jump but the pachirisu didn't so much as flinch.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"My name is Download Database."

"And what were you made for?"

"That is confidential. I can only divulge that information with a password."

He released her wrist, letting it fall to her side and took a step back. Her eyes sparkled with life, but there was nothing else behind them. No identity. No curiosity. The look she gave her surroundings was nothing more than a way of taking in information.

This was a living creature, and there was nothing there. That explained the socket in the back of her skull. It was a means to download and upload information. Whoever had made her had taken everything, including her very identity, and replaced it with a computer.

If Socket had asked for this, then she was sick.

Anchor shifted slightly behind her. "Are you alright, Cap'n?"

Macro grit his teeth together and marched past her towards his room, slamming his door behind him so it shook the entire ship.

...

Socket stared out of the wide window at the bustling streets of Meta City. Mechanical trees wavered in the growing breeze while windmills turned above the tall buildings, their blades picking up speed as they turned every gust into valuable electricity. The repetitive jingling that filled her office would have grated on anyone else, but she'd tuned it out. It meant work was being done.

The gothitelle folded her arms as her attention turned to the sky. Where was it? What was taking so long?

"Madam Mayor?"

She looked over her shoulder at the door. A sparksurfer raichu stepped inside, his eyes flitting from left to right. He wasn't exactly an unfamiliar face in the capital, but he twitched like a hatchling who'd been separated from his mother.

"What is it, Yobi?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," he said. "It's about Download Database. I'm afraid-" He gulped as her eyes narrowed into slits. "I'm afraid it's been stolen."

The jingling came to a halt and the tiny head of a chingling looked up from the desk at the far end of the office. His tiny eyes practically sparkled with glee as he looked from the raichu to her and back.

"Stolen?" she asked. "How is that possible?"

"It was Wildcard Gamma," said Yobi. "They followed our fleet to the laboratory."

"Followed?"

He ducked back towards the doorway and waved his paws in a desperate attempt to quell her rising anger.

"There was only three of us!" His words raced out almost as one. "We couldn't have fought them! Our radar told us we were being followed, but the ship was cloaked! We weren't even sure who it was. The best plan was to let them follow us and regroup at the lab. Fight back, all ships and pokemon! We didn't know it was Hunter, Madam Mayor. He took the crate and-"

The raichu rose into the air in a bubble of purple light and his breath rushed out of his lungs as his back struck the wall.

"You lost Download Database?!" she roared.

The orange rodent pokemon stuttered as he struggled to release himself from her psychic attack.

"Is it connected to the network?!" she demanded.

He nodded stiffly.

"So you're telling me," she began slowly, "that my top secret project is in that mawile's sticky paws?!"

The purple bubble vanished and the raichu crumpled to the floor. He rubbed at his neck and diverted his eyes to the wall, falling briefly on the fascinated chingling.

Socket's lips pursed together as her mind ran over every worst case scenario. Whatever pokemon ended up with the living computer in their paws would realise soon enough that it lacked every essence that made it an individual being.

"What of the pachirisu's memories?" she asked.

"We removed them," he croaked. "Everything. Saved to a disk, just like you asked."

"Destroy it."

Yobi's eyes widened and he stared at her, aghast. "But... that's murder."

Socket clicked her tongue and glanced away. "Of course it is."

"Why do you want it destroyed?"

"In case it's retrieved! I want that computer in complete working order as designed, at least until we can find a more... convenient tool." She paused. "Which I am now all the more anxious to do after this little setback."

"All right." Yobi rubbed at his neck again and cleared his throat. "We could break it up? Hide it all. That way, her personality survives and-"

"If you think that will work, then do that."

"Sure thing."

"I also want you to limit what information she has access to," she said. "I don't want that mawile selling on confidential information."

Yobi scratched his ears and coughed. "I don't... that might not-"

"Don't let me down, Yobi." Her voice was laced with ice that chilled him so much his fur stood on end. "Now retrieve that computer. And make it quick. I've already lost valuable time."

The raichu rose to his feet and bolted out of the room, his large paws sliding over the loose rug as he scrambled into the corridor.

Socket turned to face the chingling and he returned her look with a wide smile.

"Cut that out, Tweak," she said.

The little bell-like pokemon laughed, an odd tinkle that filled her office and made her fur bristle.

"I want new posters printing, and an update on the wanted list," she said. "Increase Hunter's bounty up to forty thousand credits and have the reward apply in System Sky. That mawile will be behind bars before weekend."

She tucked her paws behind her back and moved over to the window. Tweak's hyper jingling resounded off the walls, but once again she tuned it out, keeping her eyes on the sky.

Wildcard Gamma... that ship would be stripped down for parts. Slowly. And she was going to enjoy every second of it.