Chapter 6
"Questions"

Drak was roughly shoved into a chair. Judging that it would not be wise to anger the two men who had put him there, Drak sat without complaint.
The Scientist who had escorted him in went to what looked like a speaker in the wall and spoke softly into it for a moment. Then she nodded to the men and walked out of the room. They nodded back. Drak looked around. He didn't like the look of this whole place...it was too cold and distant. It was almost as if this place did not want to think about feelings, but only of results.
Drak didn't have much time to think as a door slid open in the opposite wall and another scientist walked out, this one male. He wore very large glasses from behind which shone two large, intelligent brown eyes and a smudged labcoat. His pockets were over- flowing with notes and other various equipment and he carried a clipboard and a batch of notecards. He had long, unkempt black hair, kept back in a tight ponytail that went all the way down his back. He seemed slightly nervous, yet fascinated with Drak. He placed his possessions on the table and walked over to him.
Drak felt himself longing to speak to Mewtwo, ask him to make this Scientist go away...asking for his assistance. He remembered that Mewtwo was gone from his mind, and the inexorable depression settled on him again. The depression was deep and almost tangible...a feeling that he had lost a part of him. Thinking of Mewtwo never ceased to cause him this depression. However, he didn't want to give in to his urge and scream for Mewtwo...that would be just what all these people wanted. To watch his eyes glow blue and study him. Where was he?...Who was he?
"Fascinating! Absolutely Fascinating!" the Scientist had been saying for quite some time. Drak snapped to attention, finding the Scientist poking his arm experimentally. Drak recoiled from his touch and this seemed to make the Scientist very happy for some reason. Seemingly unable to find a piece of paper (although Drak could see the scraps hanging out of his pockets...apparently the Scientist had even forgotten that he HAD those notes with him), the man whipped out a small pencil and began writing busily on the sleeve of his lab-coat. Drak stared, wondering what on earth he was doing. Satisfied, the man walked back to his seat across the small table that Drak was sitting at and stared at Drak. Drak stared back, not sure of what else to do. This continued for some time until the Scientist finally broke off the connection. Drak was relieved.
"So! This is so amazing..." the Scientist mumbled. He looked at Drak and tried to smile disarmingly, but Drak could sense something sinister about his purpose. "I'm here to ask you the questions that we need."
"Who's we? What do you need it for?" Drak said abruptly. The Scientist, instead of being offended, took this as a good sign and scribbled some more on his sleeve. Drak noticed the guard near him rolling his eyes.
"I'm the one asking the questions." The Scientist said after he had finished his notes.
"You could at least tell me who you are." Drak said, not trusting the man. It almost seemed as if the Scientist had to struggle to remember his name.
"I'm Dr. Dowasure." the man said, smiling as if just remembering. "I'm going to be the scientist you'll probably see more often...Dr. Kagakusha does not like this field of research much."
"What research? What are you planning-"
"Ah ah ah!" Dr. Dowasure lifted a hand, signaling silence. Drak, noticing a warning shake of the chair from the man to his left, reluctantly conceded.
"Let's see...he wrote all the questions down for me on these notecards..." Dr. Dowasure said, looking around. The Note-Cards fell to the floor while he looked through his clipboard. "Where could they be?..."
Drak, deciding he might as well help the forgetful man, leaned down to pick up the cards.
Instantly, the two men had grabbed his shoulders and jerked him back. Dr. Dowasure looked ecstatic.
"Oh! This is magnificent! And so early in the session, too! Oh, this will be so promising!"
"What are you talking about?" Drak said, crossing his arms. Dr. Dowasure, noticing where Drak had reached, bent down and picked up the spilt cards. He tried to arrange them, but found them out of order. Dr. Dowasure ignored Drak's question and focused on getting the cards in the right order. There was nothing Drak could do but sit and wait. Finally, the Doctor was ready. Drak was bored out of his mind.
"Okay, I think I've got this straight...wait...did he tell me to read the cards or write on the clipboard, or was it the other way around?..." Dr. Dowasure looked around, confused. One of the men thought to speak.
"Sir, I do believe the notepad is for writing, sir. The NoteCards already have writing, sir." The man said smartly. The Doctor smiled again.
"Ah! Of course. Silly of me. Hmmm...first question..." Dr. Dowasure looked down at the card carefully, looked at Drak, and looked down again. "Are they sure this is the right card? This doesn't seem like the correct question to ask-"
"Ask the question, sir." the same guard said again, the impatience in his voice evident. The Doctor seemed oblivous to his annoyance, but took the hint about the question.
"Okay, question one. What is your name?"
Drak, who had been expecting something a little more probing, did a double-take.
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely! Please, answer." the Doctor said, obviously scribbling Drak's reaction on his sleeve instead of the notepad.
"My name's Drak." Drak said, feeling incredibly stupid.
"Drak what?" Dr. Dowasure said distractedly as his pencil kept moving. Drak felt awkward.
"...I don't know...I've never had any family except the Mewtwo...I never had a last-"
But at the mention of the Mewtwo Dr. Dowasure almost fell out of the chair. He scrambled back to his previous position, writing furiously.
"The Mewtwo? Is that what you call it? Wonderful! Absolutely fascinating! It raised you, did you say?" the Doctors eyes were shining with curiousity. Drak was beginning to become a little frightened of the scientists over-enthusiasm.
"I didn't SAY that, but it did raise me. The only family I ever had was Mewtwo..." Drak noticed the Doctor twitching at the word "Mewtwo". "It raised me underground in a cave...so I've been up here for only a few months."
"This is great! This is MORE then great! This is more then I could want!" Dr. Dowasure seemed so happy Drak began to become very curious as to exactly why. "A few Months! Perfect!" the Doctor said with a hint of a laugh in his voice.
"Are you going to ask me the next question?"
Dr. Dowasure kept writing. By now, his right sleeve was covered with writing and he was pondering how to write on his left sleeve with his left hand. The Guard rolled his eyes again.
"The Notepad, Doctor. You're supposed to use the Notepad."
"Oh! Oh yes! Thank you." Dr. Dowasure said, smiling brightly. "I keep forgetting. What were we doing?"
"Ask me another question." Drak demanded, his patience wearing thin. The Doctor seemed oblivious to the annoyed presence around him and flipped up a new card.
"Hmmm...interesting phrase...I can see why they chose this..."
"ASK ME THE STUPID QUESTION!" Drak abruptly shouted. The Guards made a half-hearted attempt to restrain him, but Drak could tell they wanted to say it themselves. Dr. Dowasure looked surprised for a moment, then broke into a wide smile.
"This is amazing! I must write this down!" he said. Remembering there was no longer room on his sleeve, he was forced to actually begin writing on the notepad.
"Ask me it." Drak said, lowering his voice.
"Let's see...." the Doctor said, his pencil to his lips and looking thoughtful. "How could I best describe that reaction?"
"Amazing?" Drak said sarcastically. Dr. Dowasure nodded happily and kept writing. Drak reached across the table and grabbed the cards. He handed them to the guard who had spoken before. "Here, YOU ask them."

~~~
By the time they had finally finished the questions, Drak had felt like he had spent a week in the cramped room. During the experience, Dr. Dowasure kept writing frantically as the guard tried to rattle off questions rapidly. Drak answered back just as eagerly, wanting desperatly to escape the little room. After repeated requests that the guard slow down, Dr. Dowasure tried to grab the cards. The guards superior height kept the cards out of the scientist's reach and he sat back down sulkily and kept writing, trying to keep up with everything Drak did.
Finally, the guard threw the last card to the floor and sat down hard. His partner had already dozed off a long time ago. Dr. Dowasure was writing faster then Drak could imagine.
"And thus...the subject...shows increasing..." Dr. Dowasure muttered. Drak managed to catch a few fragments, but nothing revealing.
"What is this all about? Why are you doing this to me?" Drak asked. For once, Dr. Dowasure listened to him.
"Why, my dear boy?" Dr. Dowasure smiled happily. "For science!"
With that, the door slid open and two other guards walked in. Noticing their companions on the floor they immediatly started towards Drak, then noticed Dr. Dowasure sitting and scribbling. They relaxed, rolled their eyes, and dragged their comrades out of the room. Another pair of guards came and grabbed Drak roughly around the arms, lifting him off the chair and likewise off the ground. Dr.Dowasure looked up from his notes, looking concerned.
"Oh! Be careful! Be careful! This is more serious and important then a test tube! We can only get ONE of him!"
Drak stared at him strangely before he was swiftly borne out of the room down the blank and featureless hallways. Dr. Dowasure waved cheerily at him. Drak wanted to give Dr. Dowasure his own gesture...and not one of friendship.
Reaching his "room" took a surprisingly short time compared to the questioning. The Guards, obviously ignoring Dr. Dowasure's request, roughly threw Drak into the room. He slammed into Teishi, who was fixing his bed.
"Oh! Sir!" Teishi said. Drak stood up, brushing himself off. "Sir, I fixed your bed-"
"Why didn't you tell me the questions would be like that?" Drak said angrily, turning on Teishi. Expecting some kind of angry reply, Drak was surprised to find Teishi just stand there, staring directly into his eyes with his own, large green ones. "That experience was one of the longest, most frustrating-"
"Dr. Dowasure." Teishi said simply, his eyes boring into Draks. "Am I correct, sir?"
"Yes!" Drak said, annoyed at Teishi's accurate guess. "And stop calling me Sir! Call me Drak, okay? I'm sick of being treated like a thing!"
With that, Drak threw himself on his newly made bed, feeling angry and sick with himself at the same time. Teishi just stood quietly. Drak began too feel uncomfortable with his back to Teishi...he could feel his eyes staring at him. Drak turned over.
"Well, aren't you going to say something? Did I hurt your feelings?"
"No." Teishi said.
"Well, I ruined your stupid bed! That must make you angry."
"Oh no...I'm not angry at all. I'm quite used to it."
"Used to it?" Drak looked at Teishi, who was beginning to get the look on his face he had before.
"I'm used to making beds." Teishi said quickly, but Drak could tell he wanted to say something else. Drak continued staring at him.
"Why don't you get some better clothes..." Drak said, turning away from Teishi and pulling a blanket over himself. "That shirt's all ripped up...no sleeves..."
"It's meant to be, sir." Teishi said. Drak knew for certain now that Teishi was disturbed...he was using the word Sir again. "It's not cold around here, sir."
"It's cold everywhere!" Drak said, anger in his voice.
"Are you angry, sir?" Teishi said. Drak felt annoyed. He turned to face Teishi again.
"Of course I am! What do you think? I've been forced to sit with a Scientist who probably misplaced his brain at birth and listen to him ask me a bunch of questions that don't mean anything!" Drak felt deeply angry at Dr. Dowasure for asking him those questions. Although they were simple, he could feel them pulling at his heart. What WAS his name? Where was he? Who was he?
"Sir, I..." Teishi was about to speak, then stopped. "Sir, are you feeling so frustrated you would like to hurt something, sir?"
"Yes! I would like to punch that Dr. Dowasure right in the nose! Break those stupid glasses..."
"Sir, I....I not only take care of you physically, I'm supposed to mentally as well, sir." Teishi's voice took on the strange tone it had before when he had asked him to fetch something. "You've no doubt, sir, seen this band on my arm. Sir, if you would just look near the foot of your bed..."
Drak, having no other alternative, sat up and looked. There was a tiny, black button.
"If...if you ever feel frustrated, sir, and want to release tension, you can press that button. It gives me a shock, sir."
"Why would I want to do that?" Drak said, half surprised and half appalled. Teishi continued his same, emotionless tone.
"It's like a...what is it called, sir? A stress reliever, sir. Many others I serve find that watching someone suffer under their control after they have suffered under others, sir, is somewhat comforting, sir."
"Sick people. That's who would like something like that." Drak said, staring at the button with growing distaste.
"The people I work for, sir." Teishi said, his voice neither angry nor registering any emotion. Just acceptance...and the increasing use of Sir. "I'm supposed to cater to your needs, and if you, sir,want to hurt something, sir, then you may hurt me, sir..."
"Don't you even CARE?!" Drak shouted at Teishi. To his frustration, the boy remained impassive under his anger, not responding in any way. "If it hurts you, why do you let them do it?"
"Sir...sir, if you want to press the button, sir, please do it now. I...I have to go somewhere, sir, I don't have much time...most people like to watch, sir..."
"Don't change the subject!" Drak said, but Teishi averted his eyes to the ground. Realizing that that was a sign that Teishi was about to leave, Drak grabbed his wrists. He noticed the involuntary flinch that Teishi had through his arm as someone touched his previous wounds.
"Sir...sir, please...I have to go, sir...they get angry if I'm late, sir..." Teishi said, keeping his eyes on the floor. Drak refused to let go.
"You're not leaving until I get some answers!" Drak said angrily.
"Please sir...please...I have to go..." Teishi said, his voice having the beginnings of desperation.
Then Drak saw exactly what Teishi meant before. The band on Teishi's thin arm blinked, and then something happened to him. It was as if someone had sent a full-on Pikachu Thunderbolt directly into Teishi, who jerked slightly, but mainly stood stoically, waiting for it to pass. The jerks of electricity made Teishi loose control of the muscles in his body, all of which began firing at random. Drak could see the pain on his face and let go in horror. Teishi sank to the floor, his hands trembling with contained effort of not screaming or showing any pain. Drak could see a good deal of hairs on Teishi's head, ones that weren't bound in the ponytail, stand straight on end from the electricity.
"Teishi!" Drak said. Teishi sat on the floor, panting, as the device beeped off. He sat there, absorbing the pain, and stood unsteadily. He fell into Drak, who pulled him up.
"I told you, sir...I told you I should go...I'll...I'll see you later, sir..." Teishi stumbled out of the room, holding the top of his arm as if it would come off, covering the band completely with his thin hands. Within a moment Teishi was gone and the door had closed.
Drak was stunned by what he had just seen. What kind of monster would do that to someone...someone who was as old as HE was! What kind of place WAS this?!
Drak sank slowly into his bed, unsure of what to think. He stared at the black button, hating himself for having it and hating Teishi for not protesting him having it. Why didn't Teishi fight back? Drak couldn't understand. If it were him or Colt, they would have ripped off the band. But why did Teishi keep it on, never arguing with his situation? And what situation was it, anyway?
Drak leaned his head against the metal wall, letting it cool him. What did they want him for?...What was the purpose of the questions, the interest? Why did they want him?
Drak was struck suddenly by a thought. Perhaps they wanted to change him...change him like Teishi...make him weak and powerless.
Drak knew that that answer was too simplistic to believe, but at least it helped give Dr. Dowasure a motive. It helped dispel the mystery...even if it was just a placebo. He covered himself with da wool blanket he had requested and sighed. If Mewtwo were here, at least they could go through this together. But now he was alone...and he didn't even know who he was anymore. Why did this happen to him?...

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