Pokémar Episode V, A Clone's Destiny

Existential Crisis

"Jackson's back." I say as the car pulls into the driveway. Josh, who has been playing with Shadow, quickly springs up and rushes to the door just as his father steps out of the vehicle. Jackson opens the door and quickly reaches down to hug his son. I step back, not wanting to intrude on a personal moment. Shadow, however, has no such restraint. She jumps from the couch to my head and springboards off it to wedge her small body in between the two of them.

"You're home dad!" She exclaims while Jackson tries to get ahold of her. "We've missed you!"

"You really need to learn some patience there, Shadow." Jackson says as he finally gets her in his arms.

"Sorry. I just get so excited when you get back. I lose control."

"I know. I would appreciate you trying at least."

"I suppose it's worth a shot."

"So Dad," Josh interjects. "How was work?"

"Slow. I'm glad to be back. Let me finish some things up with Alex and we can figure out something to do today."

"Alright! I'll be in my room if you need me." Josh rushes off down the hall, Shadow trailing close behind. That leaves Thunder and I alone with him.

"Did you get it?" Thunder asks.

Jackson responds by taking out a small USB device from his pocket and hands it to me. It's about the size of a smartphone, circuitry encased in a shiny white plastic shell with a few LED lights on the side to indicate its power status. Let's hope all this effort was worth something. "I also think I saw someone from Team Rocket while I was there."

A chill runs down my spine. Rocket being within the same building as him is way too close for comfort. "Did you catch who?"

"I think her name was Siana." The name registers quickly. That's the same woman who was interrogating me when I first arrived. This doesn't bode well. "I overheard some things while I was there. But I think Mewtwo should hear them too."

"Right, then let's get to it." Jackson nods and heads into his office to grab a laptop. I head the way downstairs where Mewtwo is keeping himself occupied with a game of solitaire, something I taught him to help pass the time. The moment the door opens he looks to us with intent.

"You are back. Great!" A hopeful smile creeps over his face. "Did you get it?"

"We did. Jackson's getting it all set up right now. He'll be down in a second." As if on cue Jackson walks through the door, laptop and sensor in hand.

"Alright." He says. "Let's crack this thing open." He sets the laptop down and the table and gets to work. The rest of us gather behind to watch.

"Remind me again what that sensor thing has that we want?" Thunder asks.

"It should have a copy of Mewtwo's DNA. With an adaptor and a computer we should be able to take a peak at the genome and see what secrets lie within. What each gene does and such."

"I've never heard the word 'genome' in my entire life."

"It'll let us read the 'biological instructions' of Mewtwo." I say. "With that we can get a better look of what makes them tick and what they're capable of, as well as possibly hints about how they came to be."

"I... think I get it? Never mind. Let's just do what we're going to do."

After a short installation and configuring procedure, the program starts up. After a short jaunt through the menus we reach what we are looking for, the tracking sensor's reference sample. The sample of Mewtwo's DNA within the device. After a period of trial and error, we finally get to a screen that gives us a decoded look at the genetic code. Finally. We have progress.