Chapter 17: Bound to Infrared

    "Ro-to-to-to-to..." Arven's Rotom Phone soared out of his pocket and turned on.

    "Penny, thank goodness," he said at the sight of his friend on the Zoom screen. A draft from the cave's entrance passed through his hair and temporarily blew away the tuft that usually hid his right eye.

    "Are you okay, Arven?" Penny asked, but then she blushed. "I mean... are you and Sada okay?"

    Arven blushed, too, but he quickly threw away the fuzzy feeling in his gut and answered, "Well, I mean, I'm okay, but I'm not sure if she is." He moved to the side and revealed Sada twitching on the ground. "I think she's getting worse. Please tell me you've come up with a diagnosis, Pen." He just realized that Penny was the only person he gave a nickname to.

    "I'm sorry, Arven, but it's a little difficult when y'all are there and we are here," she admitted. "I tried talking to Celebi before those Iron Moths attacked us, but all I heard was, 'Bi, bi, bi.' I think the best thing we can do for Sada now is try to figure out what exactly is damaged. If I could take a wild guess, it's probably her motherboard."

    "Her motherboard?" Horror replaced Arven's warm feeling.

    "All computers have one," Penny explained. Did she seriously have to re-rub that Sada was an AI in Arven's face? "There is no doubt that Infrared's connected to Sada's motherboard and her mastermind."

    Arven kept his cool. "So this means we're back to Square One—trying to figure out who her mastermind is." He groaned. "Terrific."

    "I'm assuming the interrogation didn't go well?" Penny guessed.

    "Please don't rub it in," Arven begged. "I'm embarrassed enough."

    Penny chuckled. "You need to watch more crime shows, Ven." Since when did she start giving Arven nicknames? Luckily, Sada saved him at the last second.

    "What's all the hubbub about?" Behind him, a smile broke across her weary face, and she came within reach of Arven. "We should be celebrating. I stood up to Infrared! Whoo-hoo!" She punched the sky a few times. "Is this what someone means when they say they're happy?"

    Did she finally overcome the earthquake's trauma and learn another emotion besides fear? Arven thought to himself.

    Penny moved closer to the screen. "Oh, wow. Congrats, Arven. I think your mom has finally learned joy. This is good. It means the human contact you're giving her is weakening Infrared."

    "Really?" But Arven didn't do anything. Sada learned joy herself. Penny was right, though. It was a good step.

    "I think she's okay for now," Penny said. "Just keep trying to talk to her. Make her comfortable, and we'll meet back up at her cabin early tomorrow morning. I'll take another look at her there."

    "You seem to be growing quite fond of her, Penny." Arven didn't know if that was a good thing. Did Penny even see Sada as a human, like him, or did she see her as one of her machines? He changed the subject before his doubts overthrew him. "How's Nemona? Her Meowscarada got beat up pretty badly back there."

    "She's shaken up," Penny answered, "but Scarlet and I think Meowscarada will be okay after a good night's rest. Scarlet has some Super and Hyper Potions."

    "Okay." Arven inhaled. It would have been terrible if Nemona had to go through what he did with Mabosstiff. He closed his eyes and opened them again. "We'll see you tomorrow, Penny." With those words, he hung up, and Rotom returned to his pocket.

    Arven checked on Sada.

    She stretched her arms and twirled a few times.

    Arven had to admit, to see an AI experience joy for the first time was interesting. Was it really all thanks to human contact? He cracked a smile, but it faded when he noticed something after Sada stopped dancing. "Mom, what's wrong with your hand?"

    "My hand?" Sada checked her right one. "I don't see anything."

    Arven pointed at her left one. "Other hand."

    Sada finally saw what he was talking about. Three of her fingers—her thumb, index, and middle—had been Terastallized, as well as a portion of her palm.

    Still grinning, she observed, "Oh, that's new."

    Arven reached for his head. "Mom, what is going on with you?" He hurried to her and picked up her hand. Arven flipped it over and touched each of her Terastallized fingers. "Why is it this arm?"

    Sada's smile vanished. She was silent for a bit and then said, "It's just a glitch, Arven."

    "You know something," he said. "I know you do. Does it have to do with your mastermind?"

    "Well, how about this?" Sada pulled Arven off her. "You mind your business, and I'll mind mine?" She seriously had to pull the mom thing on him?

    "I'm your son!" Arven snapped. "You should be able to tell me who's hurting you. I'm just trying to protect you."

    Again, Sada fell quiet. Eventually, she turned away from Arven and faced Miraidon. "Miraidon, I think it's time to set up camp. Poor kid's exhausted."

    "Hey, don't pretend you can't hear me," Arven bickered.

    "Enough, Arven!"

    Whoa, was Sada angry? Arven jumped a little. She was stern during their argument earlier but not angry. However, this sounded like anger to him.

    "You're tired," Sada said after a third moment of silence. "I am, too. For now, we need to get some rest, and we'll go from there."

***

    The second Arven's head hit the cave's chilly floor, he was out. His mouth hung open, and he snored slightly. A few drops of drool dripped onto the ground.

    Sada paced for a minute, rubbing her hands together. She removed her lab coat and tossed it over Arven's back. The crystals on her fingers acted like a flashlight, so she could see him relatively easily. "I'm sorry, Arven," she said, backing away. "I wish I could tell you." He could try all he wanted, but he was not going to extract her mastermind's identity from her.

    Sada relied on the crystals to find her way to the cave's entrance, where Miraidon was.

    He sat back and carefully studied the outside world beyond the cave.

    Sada kneeled to him. "Look, I know you're mad—I'm sorry—but that experiment was the only way I could find Arven. And hey, at least we managed to see your kind a little."

    Miraidon stuck his nose up and batted his tail a few times.

    Sada hung her head. "Okay, I understand. You don't wanna talk. But I hope you will at least try to make friends with Arven. He may need you later on." She walked by Miraidon, but he called after her.

    "Gias!"

    "I'm going for a walk," Sada said. She clutched her arm and carried on.

    Behind, Miraidon jumped like a cat when he heard Celebi. "Bi!" It gestured for him to follow Sada. "Bi, bi."

    "But I don't wanna," Miraidon complained.

    "Miraidon." Celebi's voice was stern. "Don't be a baby. She needs you."

    "Ugh." Miraidon tossed his head a few times. He kicked a stone away with his claw and exited the cave, tiptoeing after Sada.

    She journeyed to the other side of the crater. Sada stepped over rocks and kicked up dust. Rocks on the cliff's face shook when she heard Miraidon sneeze behind her. She turned around and saw him rubbing dirt out of his nose. He would have to do better than that to keep himself unnoticeable.

    Sada stared at Miraidon, and he returned her cold look.

    She headed for a large hole at the bottom of the crater. Once she reached it, she sank to her knees and clutched its edge. She carefully studied the inside of the crater.

    Miraidon soon appeared next to her, and he also examined the hole. He sniffed Sada's Terastallized hand and nudged it.

    Sada started to lift her hand, but the rocks under her right one broke, and she tumbled forward, yelling, "Whoa!"

    Miraidon launched his tail like a cannonball and wrapped it around her ankle. He pulled with all his might and got Sada back up to the high ground. "Wow, you need me more than I thought you did," he said in his language.

    "Thank you," were the only words that left Sada's lips. She and Miraidon smiled at one another, but Miraidon quickly shook his head and left her. He stopped next to another cliff face and sat down.

    Sada searched Professor Sada's memories for a few minutes. She found an interesting one.

    Koraidon can be ruthless, but when he's calm, he's a giant teddy bear. Give him a rock, and he will be good to go.

    AI Sada did just that. She dug around in the dirt until she found a pokéball-sized rock. It looked like one that someone would skip. Sada tossed it past Miraidon.

    He saw it out of the corner of his eye, and at once, his tail wagged. Hurrying after the rock, he scooped it up in his jaw. Miraidon dropped it and batted it around like a toy.

    Sada couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing.

    With the rock in his mouth, Miraidon pranced to her. He dropped the rock into Sada's palm and gave her a playful look.

    She prepared to throw it, but a familiar voice sliced the atmosphere like a knife through a cake. "What are you doing?"

    Arven stepped out of the shadows into the full moon's white rays.

    Celebi followed him, but it was out of breath. Arven must've been quick on those two little legs.

    "Ar-Arven?" Sada inquired, bewildered. "I thought you were asleep."

    "He was," Celebi told her telepathically, "but he woke up and noticed you were gone."

    "Get away from her!" Arven shouted at Miraidon. He dove in front of the Pokémon and held his arms out to his sides. "You're not going to kill her, too!"

    "Arven, stop. It wasn't like that," Sada tried to say.

    "I'm sorry," Celebi said. "I tried to stop him."

    "Get away from her!" Arven shoved Miraidon's shoulder. "Shoo! Do you want me to use Mabosstiff on you? Believe me, I will. She's my mother—not yours!"

    "We were just playing," Miraidon whined. He backed away from Arven, who threatened him with Mabosstiff's pokéball.

    "Stop!" Sada dropped Miraidon's rock and grabbed Arven's arm, pulling him down. She took his place in front of her Pokémon. "Miraidon, you don't understand. He's grieving. He doesn't mean what he's saying."

    Even with her words, Miraidon took off in the opposite direction of the cave.

    "And stay away!" Arven yelled. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Murderer! Murderer!"

    A hot feeling replaced the newfound joy Sada experienced. She clenched her Terastallized hand into a fist and jerked her head to the left. The anger built up inside her, making the crystals on her hand turn bright scarlet. Sada's eyes glowed cyan again.

    She faced Arven and shouted, "For the love of Pete, Arven! How long is it going to take you to realize that I'm not your mom? I'm an AI, and I've had enough of you men controlling me! You're too much like your dad, and I despise it."