Less Than A Person - Chapter 1: Clockwork
Chapter 1: Clockwork Beep. Beep. Beep. "Ughhh" A dry, cracked voice comes from under the sheets. After a few more beeps, a hand reaches out and hits the button. The sheets are then thrown to the side revealing an 16 year old (human) child. He had dark brown hair that reached about the middle of his neck and emerald eyes. He was about 5'10 and weighed about 156. He had an average build, and wasn't fat by any means. "I'm up I'm up." Sitting up, he realized his hair was a mess and he was in his sleeping clothes. After putting on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and putting on his socks, he headed downstairs. entering the kitchen, he was greeted with the smell of blueberry pancakes and the face of his mother. "Good morning, dear, you're right on time" She said before putting a heap of the discs on his favorite plate, infront of his favorite spot. the hungry boy soon began to wolf down his breakfast. "If you don't stop to chew, you're going to choke" His younger brother, Tim said "And if YOU don't stop talking, i won't be the only one choking" He said with a malicious smile "Boys!" "What! He knows i'm only kidding" "Kidding or not, choking is no laughing matter" A gruff voice said from the doorway. There stood his father, Ferris. He was stout man, his job obviously being a local lumberjack. "Ya ya, i know. You don't have to tell me the story of Aunt Melody's near death choking, i've heard it before" "And by the way you're acting, you may hear it again." The man said before sitting down and grabbing the newspaper, all the while sipping his morning orange juice. Ferris and his wife, Pam, had given up coffee a week ago. Ferris wasn't taking it hard, but Pam looked like she was ready to snap. "Will you all lighten up? today's the last day on the Autumn Clock!" The 'Autumn Clock' was the local wonder of the town. Appearantly it had just shown up one day in the middle of town, out of the blue. And it wasn't any ordinary clock either, instead, it was some sort of timer (The name 'Autumn Timer' was proposed, but was quickly shot down). No one knew what was going to happen, not even the town elder. Some said that aliens would invade, other said it was the end of the world, but no one truely knew. "And, more importantly, it's the last day of summer..." Tim said glumly "Is that all you think about?" "No, but i think it's more important than some stupid countdown" "It's more than a- Whatever. I'm... heading out." "And where, may i ask?" His mother asked him "Sunset Peak" "Sunset Peak... sounds a bit dangerous... are you going alone?" "Nah, heading there with Selphie" Selphie was his best friend, they knowing each since they were born. They pretty much did everything together, something the other kids often teased him about. In reality, he had a crush on Selphie, and tonight, at Sunset Peak, he was going to reveal it to her. He could imagine it now; them both sitting on the edge, legs dangling. He would turn to her, and she to him. She would look so beautiful with the sunlight reflecting of her face. Then he would cup her cheek and lean in and-. "I... I'll see ya later" He then ran out the door "Be back by dinner!" He heard his mother yell. There, in front of him, was Autumn Town. Autumn Town was his hometown, he'd been here his entire life - or at least as long as he could remember. The town had a population 30 and was about an arce wide. He'd heard about other towns and appearantly none were like Autumn Town. The town was perpetually in Autumn, never changing, but he heard other towns had these strange things called 'seasons', where cold stuff fell from the sky. Soon he found himself running down to Main Square. Main Square held most of the shops and the Autumn Clock. There was the local library, run by Ms. Mary. He often went there to learn of the outside world, but there weren't then many about it. The hardware store, run by his father, the was the schoolyard with lesson taught by Nancy, and, of course, the Clock Tower. The Clock Tower was one of his favorite things about Autumn Town, it always seemed to be ringing it's strange tune. Finally, there was the Fighting School taught by Blind Arthur, a blind master of the sword. He always liked Blind Arthur, he called him his favorite student. Sitting down on a bench, he waited for Selphie. To pass the time, he watched the clock. There were already a few people around it, waiting for the moment it strikes zero. He looked into it for a second and tried to look away. He really couldn't the thing seemed to draw him in. It was just ticking, ticking, ticking, Drawing him in with it's hypnotic power... "HEY" He heard as he snapped out of his gaze. There he was greeted with Selphie, the energenic brunette. Her hair went down to the small of her back, curling up a bit. She always had very expressive violet eyes, going well with her never-ending energy. Today she wore some sort of orangey-yellow dress with red diamond patterns on them "Huh..." "I've been yelling at you to snap out of it! What the bell's wrong with you?" Selphie yelled with half mock-anger (the other half being actual anger). "Oh, i guess i just... got lost in the clock..." "You really think somethin's gunna happen?" "Ya, why wouldn't i?" She then crossed her arms "Well... it just seems a bit... childish" "You sound like Tim" "You do realize he's younger then you, right?" "Ya it's just.. i don't know... do you ever feel like... somethings going to happen to you, and this clock is like... the beginning?" "Geez you are out of it. What lies did Ian feed you today?" "Whatever, you wouldn't understand... where we going now?" "Autumn's Edge" Autumn's Edge was the hangout for all the local kids, and his favorite spot besides Sunset Peak. Autumn's Edge was right at the edge of town, the last place any of the adults would expect to look, so the kids could just be themselves. After saying that, the two ran off to the spot. "Hey guys!" He heard a familiar voice yell. It was Ian, his other best friend. Ian was a nice kid, brown hair and blue eyes. He had a bit of a short temper but was kindhearted. He was standing next to his best friend, Jenna, a yellow (not blond) haired girl Ian's age, and his best friend. "Hey Ian" Selphie said as she sat down on one of the chairs they had moved there a while ago. "So what are you guys going to do?" He asked "We're going to go to Main Square later to see the Autumn Clock count down." "You too? Geez guys, nothings going to happen!" "Think what you want to think. What are you guys doing today?" "We're going to Sunset Peak" He said as the two give a couple of snickers "What?" "Nothing" They continued to chat for the next few hours. Their conversations included the possiblity of aliens, the end of the world and if animals could talk. After saying their goodbyes, he and Selphie headed up to Sunset Peak. The trail to the peak was always something he enjoyed, the sound of rushing water from Autumn Creak, or the scampering of the squirrels across the forest floor, it was just relaxing. Soon the two made their final steps to the peak. It was a lovely view, the grass hill overlooking the sea with the sun saying it's goodbyes to the world for the day. "Would you stop daydreaming for one second! If you don't come over here, you're gunna miss it!" He heard Selphie yell from the edge of the peak. Forgetting his day dreaming, he sat down next to her. He could see she was shuffling towards him. "How much time do you think is left on the clock?" "I don't know... probably like... a minute." "What do you thinks going to happen?" "Who care..." She said, putting her head on his shoulder. He then heard the yelling 10 Oh god, it's going to happen... 9 What's going to happen? 8 Maybe i should just kiss her now.. 7 No, i've got to wait 6 what if nothing happens 5 what if she just wants to be friends 4 what if she hates me 3 just... i've got to try it... 2 okay, do it now! 1 As the one mark was yelled, he turned to her and kissed her passonately. Soon he let go and... passed out. ........ ..."X-14 Mark 2 Completion" He heard a strange robotic voice saying. "Tube 17 Flooding Process beginning"... Where was he? "Process Complete" He heard as he began to open his eyes. What he saw shocked him. He seemed to be in... a lab. The walls and floors were made of a white metal and all around were computers and large machines. Paper were strewn about the floor, the machines had fraying wires. Then, he noticed something... he was in... a tube. The thing was about his size, the thing seemed to be made for him. He was still in his old clothes; jeans and a t-shirt "HELLO?" He yelled, hoping for someone to get him out of here and get back to Autumn Town. "Is anyone here!?" He yelled again. "Opening Chamber." He heard the voice say again. He began to hear a faint hissing as he saw the door to the tube pushing outwards. After a few minutes, the door was out of the way completely. He began to walk fowards, his first step being followed by a faceplant on the floor. "Ahh!" He screamed before getting a face full of floor. After a few attempts, he got to his feet. He began to walk aroumd, his legs feeling like they had metal rods in them He looked at all the papers, some of them reading 'experiment shows tremendous results' or 'Autumn Town 60%' Autumn Town? They knew about Autumn Town? He began to wonder what this place was doing with Autumn Town. After checking around the room, he went through the exit. Pushing through the doors, he found a hall way. At the end of the hallway was another room. He opened it and stepped inside. The room looked like an office for a boss, a large desk and a swervy chair behind it. Stepping around it, he saw a strange, metal box with a button on it. He then pressed it. soon, he began hearing an electronic voice Hello Subject X 14 This is Oscar Viller, President of VillerTech. As you're no doubt wondering 'where am i' or 'why is a strange voice talking to me'. well, you're in VillerTech labs, in the side of Mt. Moon. Now you're wonder 'where is Autumn Town? Where is Selphie or Ian or Jenna' How did this box-man know about Autumn Town? or Selphie? Where was Selphie? Well, i'm sorry to break this to you; Autumn Town... is fake. Your 'parents' 'brother' and 'friends'... their fake too F-fake? No.. their real! he remember when he beat up those kids who were picking on Selphie, there was blood on his hands and bruises on his body. He remembered when his brother was born... how could they be fake? Now you must be think 'this guy must be lying' but trust when i say i am not. While you were being tested on, your mind needed stimulus or you would've gone braindead, so we created a false town that would keep your mind active. But if you still don't believe me, i can prove it with a simple question; What is your name? What did he mean 'what is his name?' His name was... His name was... Then he realized for the first time in however long he'd been in there that no one - not even his best friend - had said his name. He was nameless... You were an experiment- The box started making noises as he backed away, fearing what would happen. The box then exploded. Shards of metal went everywhere, five pieces barely missing him. Experiment? What did they mean he was an experiment? Now, he was lost. His hope of knowing who he was and why he was here was lost. He made his way back to the desk and started to seach through the draws for another metal-box, maybe he could still get his answers. Unfortunantly, all he found was a roll of duct-tape and a ballpoint pen, but nothing to do about what he was... After obtaining the stuff, he slumped against the wall, his emotions in a frenzy. Who was he? WHAT was he? He was a nameless experiment; X-14. That was his number, but it wasn't a name. He wasn't... human. His life was fake - all a dream. His family, his best friend, his hometown... was a dream. Fake. A strange noise began emitting for the ground. "What the..." He felt the ground shaking as the metal began cracking. Then, in an instant, found himself tumbling... down a mountain. Yes, the lab was on a mountain and he found himself tumbling down it. His body began to gain bruises and cuts. The fall lasted a few minutes, a few minutes of agonizing pain. Suddenly, he found himself to be lying face first in a road. Great, now he was going to die alone and confused... and sad. He laid there for a few minutes, very slowly bleeding out... ........ Bump. "For Arceus' sake, what's with all the freakin' speed bumps!" he said as she just looked out the window of the truck and gave a sigh. "You okay? You've been a little... distant, lately" he told her as she just came up with a normal response "I'm fine, i just... uh... PMS! ya that's it" She didn't like lying to her brother, but she didn't really want to talk to him right now. Bump. Another bump. They were all over the road, all put there soon after the change. BUMP. This speed was much larger then the last, shaking the car. "Woah, that one was huge!" She didn't say anything, just looked back. There, she saw something... odd. It looked like a bloodied mess "STOP!!" She yelled as she grabbed the wheel. "WHAT!" He yelled back at her. "I saw something back there" She then opened the door of the truck and ran over to the bloodied mess. She looked at it.... it was... no... it was... a human! "Brother, get over here!" She yelled, not taking her eyes off him. "What?" He said, moving over to him "What, it's just another dead one" He snorted "No, Look! he's breathing!" After a few minutes of convincing, but she finally got her brother to get the medical supplies. As she cleaned and bandaged his wounds, he began to stir. "I think... he's waking up!" She yelled with... joy? She hadn't really been feeling all that good lately, been a bit short on hope lately. "Uhhhh..." He moaned as he sat up. The last thing he remembered was sitting down, in an office... and then falling through that, and then... falling down the mountain. His vision was very limited, he could barely see infront of him. He then felt himself being hugged "Hey, get off that thing! It could be diseased!" he heard a strong male voice yell. At that moment, his vision started to become less blurry and he looked at the female figure hugging him. She looked to be about 5'3, about 16, and had cream colored... fur. Fur? I guess i hit my head harder then i thought... She had a human-like body, but had very long ears covered in a light red fur on her arms and fingers. Her tail was shaped, oddly enough, like a 'plus' sign, also covered by the red fur. She had animal like, pupiless eyes and under those, red circles under her eyes, in those were cream colored, each with a plus which were next to her dot nose. Finally, she wore rugged jeans and a t-shirt with a smiley face on it. Looking to his left, he saw an obvious male version, most likely her brother, but he had blue instead of red fur and his plus tail and circles were minus', and he also had jeans and a t-shirt. "W-Where... am... i..." It was obvious he had trouble breathing, his words spaced out and slow. "Take deep breathes now... Help me get him into the truck" She signaled her brother to come over. She took his feet and her brother his head. They eventually got him in the middle seat of the truck, She on his left and her on his right, him being the driver. He was still pretty bloody, but the fluid was starting to dry. Once they back on the road, she began to question him. "Uh... What's your name?" It seemed like a simple question, she really didn't want to scare him. "I... Uh i don't know" He said awkwardly "What do you mean you don't know?" She asked him "Let me explain" He then cleared his throat "First off, i grew up in the place called 'Autumn Town', the town was... homey. It was always perpetually in Autumn, it was my hometown and i loved it... Anyway, i was in love with this girl named 'Selphie' and yesterday, i was going to confess my love for her, right at the time that this thing called the 'Autumn Clock, this weird clock that was on countday for as long as i can remember... Anyway, right at the moment i kissed her... IT happened." "What was it" "Well - this is a bit harder to explain - I.. woke up in this strange lab. The place was... some sort of testing place for.... me. I found this metal box... and it told me that... 'Autumn Town' was a dream, everyone in it but me... was fake" "So your whole life... was fake?" She asked as he gave a nod and began sobbing into his hands "What's wrong?" Her brother asked. He was never one for emotional moments, she only had seen him cry twice, and even so made he swear not to tell anybody. It didn't mean he wasn't kind to her, he always gave her hugs and was generally the only one he was kind to, besides her and her mother "Have... you ever wondered, what it's like... not to be... a person?" He asked as the two nodded "That's what i am. I don't exist... my friends, my family... they don't exist, they never have. I'm... Less than a person-Ouch!" He continued to mope until the furry-human girl pinched him "What'd you do that for?" he yelled at her "To show that you that you're real. Dream people would wake up by now." She said with a grin. "I guess i can't really argue with that logic" "Good" After a few minutes of silence, he (memory loss) asked them a few questions. "Not to be rude but... What exactly... are you?" "No offence taken. We are... pokemon." "What's a pokemon?" In her mind, that was the number one dumbest questions he could've asked "In your little world, there wasn't any pokemon?" She asked as he shook his head "Sigh uh okay... So imagine this animals that were really smart - some more smart than humans. Anyway, imagine an economy built off battling said creatures, kids going out into the world when their ten and capturing feral creatures-" He then stopped her "That sounds a bit stupid..." She continued "Nevertheless, These creatures all have special... abilities. Some can create water-blasts out of thin air, some have psychic powers... and some" She stopped and when he looked at her, he saw that she had her hand up, small bolts of electricity coming out of her fingertips "Woah!" He yelled. He noticed the truck slowing a bit "For gods sake, i told you not to do that in the truck!" he heard the male yell. "So you're... pokemon?" "Yes and no. We're something called Pokemorphs" "Pokemorphs?" "Let me explain. So, long ago, people and pokemon lived happily... at least for the people anyway. But once - about 30 years ago - a virus was discovered, Pokerus. Anyway, the virus spread rather quickly with... interesting results. Some people had a sort of immunity to it, but instead of just going away, it made their appearances like pokemon, it making some special pokemon have human like bodies" "So they became animals?" "In a physical sense at least. While their bodies took on pokemon form, their minds barely changing, except for acting to a few normal natural... urges, and the pokemon transformed grew more intelligent." "Is that what happened to you?" "No, oh Arceus no. Our mother used to be a trainer and our father was her pokemon. When the change occured, they fell in love; blah, blah, had children, you know the story..." "So what happened to those who didn't change?" "Those people... died. Their bodies didn't fight it and they just passed away." "Are there any humans left?" "Well, from the other civilizations we've talked to... no... you're... the last of your kind." "Oh." "Oh?" "Well... i've had worse shocks today... so ya, oh." "So what happened to the world?" "Well, most formed societies, some in the towns and some in the cities, others living alone and some... just ran into the woods, giving into their animal instincts..." "You still haven't answered my question; where are we?" "Right now, we're on Route 4, Kanto, heading to Cerulean City, our base." "Do you live alone- or with each other?" "No, we have a community of about 10, present company included." They kept talking for the rest of the ride, He didn't have much to say about himself, but she explained quite a few things. She was a pokemon called a Plusle and her brother was a Minun (They both laughed, whilst the Minun gave an annoyed grunt). Her mother was also a Plusle and her father, an Arcanine. Her and He were twins and their parent's only children. They were out to go get some gas, food and possibly things to sell to other communities. Her brother had a girlfriend or 'mate', taking the more animalist side of their bodies, a female Jolteon named Elle and the Plusle did not. Soon they were at the town, him being a bit surprised it WASN'T bordered up, asking "What if a neighboring community attacks you?" to which she told him the neighbors were very kind, both helping each other. She was dancing around like a three year old, happy to gain a new member to their town. It had been years since she'd seen a new face around here, and she'd bet the others would be thrilled too. She then went bouncing off to tell them, her brother waiting for him. "Wait, i don't even know your name! ...or my name for that matter!" As she stopped, yelled back "Page!" and continued "Energenic girl, huh?" He said as the Minun simply 'Hmm'd' "Will these people... like me?" "Ya, i'm sure they will, We haven't had a new member in a while... By the way, i'm Booker" He said before heading off on his own, before turning back in the same fashion his sister did "Oh, and welcome to the family" Then went back to walking The family... A new family, i guess END OF CHAPTER 1