Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kowagaru was, to be honest, surprised when the boy seemed to snap back into reality- And was even more surprised that it seemed to be due to eye contact with him! Perhaps it was just the influence of an older person that he needed to pull the kid together.



For a moment, the older man wasn't sure of what to say- And for him, that was pretty rare. But before he had managed to formulate a reply, the boy spoke again: "Er...if you don't mind me asking...where did you come from?"

That, Kowagaru would answer. It didn't matter now, either way, because hope seemed to fade with every minute that he was imprisoned. Even if he was, in fact, psychotic...What did it matter? It would be hard to turn his past against him. Besides, it could help everyone find answers.

"I came from, in fact, a lab. I had been working on a project assigned to my team by my employees when suddenly I was knocked out. When I woke up..I was here." He shifted his weight to his other foot, ill-at-ease. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't told anyone about where he had come from before he was imprisoned. Then, the next day had mattered- It might have been different from the previous day. Now it was the same thing, day in and day out...Until today.



"In such a place as this, that might not be a very good trait for her survival. She'll have friends, but eventually she's run into someone she wished she hadn't."

He peered at the other girl, not the 'Sam' one, from his seat that he had taken after the conversation with the now-sane boy. Would she come, or not? The more knowledge they could accumulate, the closer they would get to the answer to their question.

(Awesome picture! :Heart smile

Greatly relieved that Shawn seemed alright now, Samantha allowed herself a small sigh and offered up a quick prayer of gratitude to the heavens. 'Thank you...'

Perhaps it had only been the combination of little sleep and worry about her. Stress could do strange things to a person on its own, let alone how it might affect one in combination with other factors. She felt horrible to think that she had done so much to the poor boy with her actions. The thought was like an icy blade, seeking out her heart...but this wasn't the time for that, as much as it hurt. She'd have to make things up to him later. He was, afterall, probably the only individual in this entire cursed place that she could consider a friend.

Or at least, had been. Who knew how he'd react to what she was about to tell them all. For now, however, she'd take what she could get while it lasted. She needed some support afterall...

"Thanks, Shawn. I'll keep that in mind," she muttered back quietly with a brief smile, reaching up to squeeze his shoulder gently while the others were pre-occupied with taking their seats. "We'll talk more later, okay? After this is over," she finished quietly.

'...if you still even want to be anywhere near me, that is...'

Stupid logical brain.

Putting on a serious face once more, she turned her attention back to the others. Apparently, she was in charge of this little meeting for the moment, though the feeling was an odd, unfamiliar one. Her eyes passed from face to face, taking in the emotions or lack thereof behind each. Curiosity, hostility, anger, confusion...so many feelings and yet all so familiar. Samantha couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated, even by this small group. Time to face the music.

"Alright, let's start with the basics. My name is Samantha Hakan for those who don't know me already," she started, glancing to the older man and the 'kleptomaniac.' Her voice was steady and didn't betray any of the hesitation and turmoil she felt deep inside...though she was nervously fidgeting one leg beneath the table; an old habit she had no control over. Hands clasped on the table, she continued, "I suppose we'll start with how I got here. First of all, I desire no pity, nor do I expect it from any of you. Long story short, I was very ill. Due to complications, all hope was basically given up on me. Then, I was offered a final chance; a radical procedure that might mean my survival. Well, I hope no one can blame me when I say that I leapt at the opportunity. I'd tried everything else and I wasn't quite ready to check out just yet. Perhaps I should have asked more questions about this 'procedure' than I did, however. I'm starting to wonder if I made the right choice..."

She made no mention of exactly who had offered her this opportunity. She wasn't ready to acknowledge that...'beast'...as having anything to do with her right now. Plus, it might distract the others from the important aspects of her story. Tara already knew anyway, and Samantha was sure that if the others couldn't already figure it out on their own from her last name, that the other girl wouldn't hesitate to fill them in later.

"Things were suspicious from the start," she admitted, shaking her head sadly. "But of course, by then, it was too late. I'd gone into surgery as soon as I landed on the island and once I was awake again...it was too late to change my mind. Recovery seemed swift...suspiciously so. And though I'd been told something about an organ transplant, I'd been given no more information than that, not even post-operation. Within only a week or so, I was out of bed and on my feet again. Even the scar from the operation is still healing. Now, I'm no doctor, but even I know that that is NOT normal," she sneered darkly. "I'm no idiot either, but with all the armed guards and their evasive damn answers, I couldn't get any more information about what was going on, or why I couldn't leave." Her fists were clenched tightly on the tabletop and she closed her eyes for a bit as she continued, reigning in her temper.

"Finally, I'd had enough. Last week, I decided that one way or another, I was going to get some answers." She hesitated here, glancing sidelong at Shawn in shame. "I...decided I'd go alone to get those answers. No point in endangering anyone else." She was quiet and took a moment before she resumed speaking, this time with a grim smile as she thought of a certain guard named Dameon. "I ran into some...'difficulties' along the way...but nothing I couldn't handle, plus it scored me a security access card. Took some wandering from there, but I finally found the lab and the one I needed to talk to in order to get some answers. Finally."

She paused here, realizing her hands were shaking. This was it; time to put everything out on the table...no matter what it might mean to her in the eyes of the others. Not that she particularly cared what most of these people thought, but Shawn...

The poor kid was the closest thing she had to a friend. But taking his personal fears into mind...how would he react to what she was about to say? For a moment, she wished that he hadn't been here for this revelation at all...but that wasn't fair. She'd lied enough already...what sort of trust could be built on a foundation of lies?

Worst case scenario in mind, she took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "I still don't know what you're all doing here, but I know that whatever IS going on here can't possibly be legal OR ethical. Something seriously twisted is going on around here. Yeah...I came here for an organ transplant alright...too bad they never told me that the organs didn't come from a human donor."

Her previous strength was failing, her voice cracking with emotion she couldn't hold back much longer. "I don't know exactly where they came from, even now. I'm assuming some poor Pokemon that didn't deserve this kind of fate. I don't even know what organs they replaced...or how...or..." She was breaking down now, unable to control her trembling. This was far from the normal fiery young woman named Samantha Hakan that most people knew. This was a scared little girl, confused and frightened with no idea who to turn to.

For now, she had only one person here that she felt any connection to at all and she wouldn't allow herself to consider what he might be thinking right now. "I don't know what I am anymore..." she muttered, dropping her gaze into her lap. Her eyes were burning again and she wasn't sure she could stop it this time. In fact, she was sure she couldn't. Tears leaking from her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, she turned without a thought to the poor boy next to her, her only friend in this entire complex, possibly her only friend period, and wrapped her arms around Shawn, sobbing on his shoulder and trying to hide her face. "Am I...even human anymore...?"

A figure emerged from the darkened kitchen area, slipping a small silver key discreetly into a pocket. Typically the cafeteria was almost abandoned at this time of night, so she was surprised to hear the murmur of voices floating out of the main room. Not that she showed it.

Eliana quietly popped the top off her beer bottle, thankful once more for her 'special privileges' as she tipped the bottle back, letting the alcohol flow coolly down her throat. Ahh...much better. Now, to find out exactly what was going on out here.

She slipped out into the cafeteria, sharp eyes scanning the room until they settled on the table of subjects. Fortunately, they didn't seem to have noticed her yet, and she'd like to keep it that way for now...at least until she figured out what they were doing. She sank into the shadows of the unlit portion of the cafeteria, leaning against the side of a vending machine just close enough that she could pick up most of their conversation if she concentrated, but wouldn't be seen.

Hmm...so the fools were starting to figure it out, hmm? Took the idiots long enough. She smirked to herself, absentmindedly running her fingers through the condensation collecting on the outside of her beer bottle, then watching it drip to the floor. Well, fun as it had all been thus far, there was so much greater potential for chaos and amusement in this place developing. But first, she'd wait and see just how much they already knew before she made any moves...

Kowagaru sighed softly. "I never worked for Cronus. A different company, I'm afraid." Now he could feel the angry, steely glares from people all around him- Suddenly what hope he had of learning more information had shot off to hell. Because of his career choice.

Perhaps they were more corrupt than he had thought...

He said nothing about the cover of Cronus. That didn't interest him at all. It's what is the real Cronus that they needed to learn about. Not that it mattered now, anyway- The man felt as though he had been sentenced to eternal exile in the land of Ignorance, because he tried to usurp the government of Younglings.

"If I knew what was happening here, would I be asking you for answers?" Kowagaru quickly mimicked the boy's sudden edgyness, his dark gray eyes narrowed. He then shook his head, refusing to comment on Anya. Her fate was...Up to people who would eventually be separated from her. Eventually she would be alone at some point, and that point would be when Cronus would do with her whatever they pleased.

Finally the other gave up, leaving them in silence for a moment. It was at this point that Kowagaru thought he heard something...A bottle opening? He peered around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. A few nocturnal prisoners wandering around...But nothing strange. His head turned back towards the table. He really was becoming paranoid, if he was worried about someone opening a bottle...

The 'thief' took a seat next to him, and as they waited for someone to speak, the boy spoke to him. Kowagaru replied in normal, even slightly down-cast tone, "Kowagaru Kisei. Please don't. I can't even comprehend why she would call me that in the first place, much less anyone else." Azriel...That was an odd name, the older man decided. An name that seemed strangely familiar...Had he heard it on the news some time ago?

Finally Sam began to speak again.

It was only a few minutes into Samantha's story that Kowagaru began to feel apprehension. A mysterious surgery, with no complications whatsoever and the fact that even the scar was beginning to disappear in such a short time? Perhaps this was an organ farm. It would explain why they were taken care of so well...

But the former Scientist didn't interrupt the story. Maybe something later on would contradict his hypothesis.

Then, she finally spilled it. This was definitely an organ farm...but for Pokemon. Humans, Homo Sapiens...Pokemon...Not. Two different species. How could a Pokemon's organs survive in a human's body? Even with anti-rejection drugs, most Pokemon's organs were drastically different from the same organ's counterpart in humans.

It, unfortunately, did not surprise him that a human would do such a thing to a Pokemon. He had seen how corrupt humans were...And he often knew that he seemed to be the only one to see humans for what they were: Animals with a sense of self-importance. That's all they were, in the end, unless someone showed them the error of their ways..

Yet still he did not speak, even as the girl seemed to break down in front of him. The man could not comfort her, without flat out lying. Nothing was going to be alright, and nothing was as it should be. Even if he would consider comforting her.

Kowagaru's eyes held nothing but apathy towards her. She was too young to reason with herself, or to cope with what she thought was her fault. But she had been ignorant, and desperate for a cure...As he was, for a cure for death. She had not known what those doctors that day would do. Therefore, how could it have been her fault?

But then he remembered that this was a teenager, and that telling her the truth would simply result in her likely exploding on him. So still his silence held. He watched the display of emotion, but still, nothing. Not a tear, nor a frown, nor even a look of concern.

She was living in the past, in what she could not change. She needed to look to the future to prevent it from happening again, instead of breaking down as she was now.

It was only the others speaking that managed to pull Kowagaru from his silence. "You had no idea what those doctors were going to do that day. It's not as though you told them to kill another being for your sake. There is nothing you can do about it now, except try to prevent it from happening to another."

Her father, or uncle? Who was that? Did he have something to do with this place?

But then something distracted him from that thought: Shawn. His eyes. That was definitely not natural, the older man decided. He felt a sudden urge to find out what his story was, to see how this had happened to him. His silence rivaled Kowagaru's. He had been so eager to care for Samantha...until that moment. Something was definitely wrong.

Then he began to speak...Or was it he? Or rather an it? Suddenly the boy had changed from even the hysterical state he had been in at first to something much more horrifying, his eyes turning a solid white. Kowagaru felt his thin hands grip his chair nervously, and the man slid back a few inches, ready to sprint away at any moment.

But apparently Azriel didn't notice. It was then that the thief, who as it turns out, was a legitimate name for him. Stole Pokemon from their trainers...From everyone..But there was something else that bothered him: Dr. Hakan. The same last name as Samantha. Coincidence? Surely not. That must have been the male relation that was referred to earlier.

Samantha had lived in ignorance of what would happen to her during surgery, but Azriel had knowingly stole happy Pokemon away from their homes. Kowagaru felt his blood run cold at the thought of what this man had done.

But he had paid for it in the end, hadn't he? Now Azriel is stuck here, possibly to be recycled for organs. It all went to show that Corruption, in the end, was not worth it and would only shorten your life-span. Greatly, depending on your situation.

The clues obtained from the information wasn't as cryptic as they thought. Kowagaru could immediately decern a possible meaning from it: A fire type Pokemon had tried to escape this place. But the #000-D part and what Dr. Hakan had to do with the entire thing still mystified him. Had Dr. Hakan been injured in this Pokemon's escape attempt?

Immediately after that thought entered his head, before anyone could interrupt and possibly cause him to forget what he had been thinking of, Kowagaru spoke up. "Has anyone seen this Dr. Hakan recently? The first two words could hint that a fire type Pokemon had tried to escape from this place. Perhaps Dr. Hakan was injured or killed in that attempt."

This entire time that he had been speaking and thinking, his eyes seemed to be glued to that suspicious boy, as though expecting him to scream and suddenly turn into the Legendary, possible nonexistant Pokemon Darkrai itself right there.

Then the boy seemed to return to normal, speaking with his usual love for Samantha. Kowagaru's eyes remained wide and unblinking, still apparently afraid of that sudden, unexplained change. So, Dr. Hakan was her uncle, and he seemed to be the leader of this place.

Now that was suspicious. Perhaps Samantha wasn't at fault, but that didn't mean that she did not have to do with what was going on here. Who knows what other humans think, other than that person himself?

The tension between those two seemed to be ready to tear that table apart, threatening their group with hatred between two of its members. No, they weren't going to get anywhere. It had all just been an illusion of unity.

There really was no hope. Kowagaru decided he had been a fool for even thinking that there had been in the first place, as the boy left. And it should figure that he was the one they needed to learn about. The older man stood as the insane boy began to leave the room, but in the end, he sat back down, eyes narrow. For a moment, he had considered chasing the boy...But what good would it do? Besides, he was obviously insane.

Kowagaru was silent afterhe sat down, waiting for someone else to speak. Had they heard his story, or would he have to repeat what he had said? Either way, the man didn't want to speak unless absolutely necessary. It was just a waste of breath and energy that he would need for other processes.


(...I suck. So badly. He's not supposed to make mistakes speaking, like leaving room for people to assume he worked for Cronus, but I'm simply not a good enough speaker to imitate that.

Also...Kowagaru hasn't met Carl Hakan yet, nor has he heard him mentioned except by Anya as Mr. Lion.

Drama = heart ! )

Oh, for Ho-Oh's sake...enough of this sap...

"Alright, you two...get a room," Eliana shot at Samantha and the wannabe street punk, stepping into sight from behind the vending machines. She swirled the beer bottle idlly in her hand, striding into the center of attention confidently, smirking all the while.

She scanned over the ragtag bunch, bright blue, slitted eyes passing from one face to another. It was almost enough to make her laugh. Almost. It really was quite pathetic though...

"Well, I'll give you some credit. It might have taken you a while, but you eventually started figuring it all out. Took long enough...but you still beat my expectations." She laughed cruelly, eyes darting to pick her next target. Looking Kowagaru up and down for a moment, she sneered in his direction. "What's your problem, old man? Not enough prunes today?" She raised an eyebrow, then rolled her eyes before moving on.

She paused to lean on the edge of the table where the group had been meeting, tipping the bottle back for a long drink. As she swallowed, she swung one boot into the air, crossing her legs and leaning back on one hand. She'd noticed immediately upon entering, but pretended that she'd just seen the handcuffs on Azriel's wrists. Smiling in a seductive fashion, she leaned over the table to speak softly to the thief. "That's not exactly how those are supposed to be used, you know. Though, it helps if you know how to get out of them...it's not hard. Come by my place sometime and I'll show you how to handle a pair of handcuffs."

With a wink and a devious chuckle, Eliana pushed away and was back on her feet in seconds. She wound her way through the subjects standing around, heading slowly for Samantha and Shawn. "So...here we find the Doc's precious niece...enjoying your stay, dear? I'm sure everyone's been taking good care of you, catering to your every stupid whim and whatnot." A note of bitterness and hostility had crept into her voice and her eyes narrowed dangerously as she looked Samantha up and down.

She couldn't help the irrational jealousy she held for the other woman. She'd been given all that she had, even this most recent gift, without even asking or working for it. Eliana had had to fight to get here under her own power, but she'd wanted this badly enough to do so. She could only assume that the guards and lackeys around this place were scurrying to do Ms. Hakan's bidding at every turn. Figures...

"'Course, they're not too free with information around here, are they?" she continued with a sadistic smirk. How much could she make the woman squirm, she wondered...? "For example, you still don't know what's going on here, do you? Why they're keeping everyone here? Why no one ever leaves? I suppose you haven't even considered the most important question for you personally..."

A dangerous sparkle in her eye should have clued anyone in to the fact that she was up to no good. "...if you had an organ transplant, even an unusual one....why didn't they put you on anti-rejection drugs to keep your body from attacking the foreign organs? Ask yourself that, sweet cheeks..."

It was dark out when anya left her room she would have stayed there in her nice warm bed longer but her stumic decided that her trying to go with out food was not a good idea especially since she did not remember when she had gone to bed or what had happened. She had tried to think aout it but nothing came to her mind except for a headace. Anya wore some red PJ's and brown slippers she held the plushie to her body as she walked. she soon herd some voices in the cafe she had also thought sh had herd her name.

"May be the Flying monkies are plothing agenst me?" She said as she snuck in to the cafe It was dark in there but she could make out some of the people two of whom were argueing with each other. She thought she could make them out one was a woman she thought she had seen befor she was bad there was also

"Glinda," anya said softly seeing that she was in a heated conversation with the wicked woman

Anya was paying attention to the two girls agument silently wishing that Sam won. She squeeked in pain as she was tapped on the head with the broom handle. She Cryed out now her head hurt again some thing she had tried to forget. "Owie why did you hit me on the head sir." She looked on Phil with a pained face. Though it did remind her why she was in the cafe in the first place.

Looking around she saw the bags of food and grabed one and started to try to figuue out how to open it up.

Koorie crossed her arms, walking in after Kira. They'd met up in the hallway, the two of them heading towards the cafeteria. Koorie, after hearing to Kira's blabbering and begging, finally gave in to accompanying the girl to the cafeteria, wanting nothing more than to shut the girl up. The argument that had taken place outside the doors of the cafeteria had been Koorie standing by her choice to not be Kira's friend, and Kira being a pain in the butt and trying to convince her otherwise.

Now the woman stood silently, leaned up against the wall by the door. She wore a dark blue silk robe over her pajamas, which were a pair of extremely short shorts and a tank top. She had her long blue hair draped over her shoulder in a braid, and her red eyes were fixed on the group before her. She took each individual, frowning. She didn't have to know what was going on to know the tension was thick enough to cut through with a knife.