precious little • ulixes

Platinum sat in the office she shared with Ulixes in the company tower, her mind racing with the decisions they had to make today. It was a large office, with dark blue walls, one wall that faced out all glass, and glass desks, tables, with soft chairs. The girl's fingers were flitting across the keyboard, writing up possible speeches for the unveiling of the company gijinka project, and what that meant for the public. Studying the dna of both the hans and pokemon was tedious work. Finding a way to merge them was a lot harder, and had taken months. Finally, something had become a final product, and it was quite the genetic marvel. Merging human and pokemon to become part-pokemon! It was unheard of in the world.

Platinum wondered how the people would react. She thought about how happy they might be, how excited. But also about how scared they might be. She hoped it wasn't the latter. That made her ask herself if it was the right thing to share this to the world and merge people with what pokemon they wanted. Platinum wondered about what her parents would think. She doubted they'd hear about it for a while though. Glancing over at Ulixes at his part of the office, she asked "Are you sure we're doing the right thing revealing this breakthrough?" in a bit of a concerned tone.

Some people were loyal to their countries. Some people would die for their countries. Not Ulixes. Ulixes was loyal to PH Genetics. He’d die for it, though he doubted it would come to that. Right then, he was content on scrolling through pages and pages of mumbo-jumbo for PH Genetics. He wanted everything to be perfect for the grand unveiling and he’d only slept for two hours last night to make sure it was. He hadn’t left the office; just fallen asleep in his computer chair and gotten back to work when his alarm went off. Reading the computer for hours on end made his eyes tired and the lines start to blur but he refused to be stopped and solved this by drinking more coffee. He hated coffee. Who in their right mind would want to drink something so bitter? It was disgusting and burned his tongue, making him all the more angry. So he wasn’t in the best mood when Platinum broke his concentration.

"Are you sure we're doing to right thing revealing this breakthrough?" a quaver in her quiet voice betrayed her worry. Ulixes' shoulders hunched. As if he needed his business partner doubting all they’d worked for right then.

"Stupid question. Of course we are," he snapped, but he knew that wasn't enough of an explanation. He rolled over to her computer.

"What was the point of PH Genetics if we’re not going to show it to the world? What good would it do?” He twirled a pen in his hand as he spoke. “Will people hate the idea at first? Probably. Who cares? We’re tougher than their idiocy and I hate them all. As long as we’ve got PH Genetics, they can all jump off a cliff if they want to.”

"But what if they're not ready? What if the public uses this in a bad way? Do you think we should just continue like nothing happened? Whoever comes and we transform will be able to turn into a pokemon! Do you really think that it's not going to be used in a bad way?!" Platinum cried, her voice worried and stammering. She was just too worked up about this.

"I'm just so, so, so worried about this. Tell me you understand" she said, her voice quieter. Platinum thought he would understand. She knew it, and continued. "My parents also called me and said the funding will run out next month if we don't start making any. It's just gotten me so worked up I don't even know what to do anymore" Platinum said in a scared tone, very unlike her.

“I’m just so, so, so worried about this. Tell me you understand.” Ulixes closed his eyes, the pen in his hand pausing for a moment. He understood completely. He cared so much about this working that it would’ve been absurd for him not to worry, and there was so much to worry about. Computers broke down, side effects were agonized over, budgets were stretched, deadlines loomed, all while worrying whether his sister would approve. He’d been gripped with an aching worry worse than fear for months. He hadn’t had a steady hand in he didn’t know how long, nor a peaceful night. Yes. He understood her worry.

“My parents also called me and said the funding will run out next month if we don’t start making any. It’s just gotten me so worked up I don’t even know what to do anymore.”


“Then it’s decided. We have to go through with it to keep this going. I’m not going to let this fail now when we’re so close.” As far as the genetics being used a bad way, Ulixes had to believe that good would come from it. He had to believe the power to merge with pokemon would be used for protection instead of violence. This was the thought that had kept him sane when all the other worries threatened to swallow him.

He had a vision for the company. And he wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way, least of all Platinum’s worry.

Platinum breathed a sigh of relief. Ulixes always knew how to make her relax. She pushed a few more keys on her keyboard. "I've finished my speech. They have the outdoor stage set up it looks like out front. Are you sure you don't want to be a part of the unveiling?" she said, printing out her speech into the printer next to her computer.

"Well anyways, I'm heading down to give the speech. You can come or not and just watch from lobby I guess. It starts in five minutes, and there's already a sizable crowd out there. The region news station decided to get in on it. Mira called them" Platinum said with a relaxed air, and stood up. She pulled her shirt down until it was straight, pulled off her hat and put it on her desk, and walked to the door.

“Absolutely not,” Ulixes said. It wasn’t he was scared of speaking in front of a large crowd, though he did have an aversion to public speaking. It was an uneasy feeling that the world hated him, and through him the company by association if he hopped up on that stage.

As Platinum walked to the door, Ulixes grabbed the speech from the printer and handed it to her.

“They’ll like you.” Ulixes didn’t say it encouragingly. It was a matter of fact that he was voicing to inform her.

Once she’d left, he strode down to the lobby and disappeared into the crowd, finger some coins in his pocket. Lights flashed in the cameras, their dark faces focused on the stage: a raised platform brought in for the occasion. The crowd was packed tightly, but Ulixes was tall and he craned his head over the others. He hated being shoulder to shoulder with people like this, packed together like colors in a crayon box. But he was too curious at what Platinum would say to miss this, and too anxious to see the crowd’s reaction.

As Platinum reached the stage and got to the podium, the belltower struck noon, and the speech she held in her hand was laid down on the podium. Clearing her voice she began to speak. "Welcome, everyone. I'm sure you've all come to hear what I've got to say. All I've to tell you is the story of a dream. PH Genetics was started on the dream of merging humans and pokemon, two years ago today. During the last two years, I've worked weeks almost sleepless in the lab, subsisting on coffee and salad, working nonstop to find what I could about merging us with our lifelong friends. Well, I found something out.

Together with the help of the other scientists, we found a way to merge dna of pokemon with our own to make ourselves stronger. Immune to most diseases. Understanding the lives of our lifelong friends. Being able to transform into them. This technology, when used, creates a person we like to call a gijinka. Half human, half pokemon, they can transform into the pokemon their dna was merged with and always have some of the parts of that pokemon. Also capable of performing moves and evolving, gijinkas are the key to the future. A bright future where we can live closer to the pokemon we love. This wouldn't have been possible without the support of everyone else working in PH Genetics. I thank you so much for working and making this dream a reality." The crowd roared and cheered.