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"Who am I? Where am I? What am I?" These were the first questions many clones had when they first gained consciousness. It was a time span in which the clones would try and figure that out though their interactions were often limited. They could not hear much of anything outside of the tube in which they were grown. The only thing they could hear most of the time was the machine keeping them alive by feeding them and providing air. Sight was limited as well with the lab often being dark when it was unoccupied and the green coloring of the fluid around them along with the glass made it difficult even when there was light.

In any other lab a clone's questions may have gone unanswered for days, months or even years. But here things were different with the one growing his own personal clones probing their minds constantly. "You are a new version of me, you are my child in a way but also just an experiment and lastly you are in my lab, slash your home." A strange monotone voice replied in his head and something about it felt cold.

"How can I be you? How do I understand you? An experiment for what?" He knew he was helpless and felt like he had knowledge of many things but his newly awakened mind couldn't make sense of it.

"Well not me completely, in terms of your body you reflect myself before I evolved but your mind is your own. So in a way someone could mistake you for me but you'll actually never be me. Try not to think about it too hard, I simply accelerated your mind's development by shall we say implementing the basics. Mostly a general understanding of language and hopefully movement but it'll be a few years before we can test that theory. For your last question dear child, I find it fun but it is also a spoiler and I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

Whoever the voice was they didn't seem to be lying. Wait how could he be sure, this was his first conversation, could he even know such a thing? This was starting to make his head hurt.

"Try not to hurt yourself thinking about it. It would be a shame for you to break before the real experiment started. Before you try and think about it too hard, I can read your mind. I have access to every thought you have, even the ones you can't put to words yet. Tell you what I'll show you what you look like or will after you're fully developed." The image of what he understood to be an eevee appeared in his head. He wondered how he knew that but tried to not think about it. "For now, rest my child, you'll have a long week ahead of you now that you're conscious."

Suddenly he felt himself passing out and as much as he tried to fight it, he was losing. This terrified him, he had just come into this world and now he was vanishing from it. Once he was out he found himself in a dream. Wait, was this a dream? He honestly didn't know, he didn't really have a grasp on reality so maybe this was real and the first one was a dream. He looked down at himself and his body seemed similar to that eevee he was shown.

Water. He could hear water in the distance. There was a chance that he'd be able to see himself in a reflection. How did he know this or what grass, trees, buildings and all these other things he found himself surrounded with were? It was hard not to think of such things as he ran over to the water but rather than looking in the water a mirror appeared, floating in the air.

How was it floating? No, he had to focus on one thing at a time. He'd be here all day if he kept trying to figure this all out. Wait, how did he know what a day was... Stop! Panic started to set in, this was too much too fast. Focus just focus on one thing at a time like the mirror, don't think about anything else involving the mirror. His breathing was heavy, he tried to calm himself to regain his focus. He stared down at his paws, they were shaking uncontrollably as he reached for the mirror's handle.

There was a moment of hesitation as he went to look into the mirror, though he wasn't entirely sure why. The face in the mirror was similar to that of the eevee he was shown but younger. How old was he and how long has he been in that cloning tube? His head continued to hurt as he tried to think of the why and how of all of this which only resulted in more questions and more thinking. More than anything he wanted to scream, it was just too much all at once.

His surroundings suddenly vanished and he found himself alone in a black void. While he had wanted it all to go away, he suddenly found this lonely void to be worse in a way as if the darkness was going to swallow him. Something, someone, anything, he just needed something to keep him company.

"What was I created for? Am I even a real person or am I just a fragment of someone else? Never truly to be my own individual." The eevee curled up alone in the darkness, feeling something wet going down his face. He understood it to be tears but was he actually sad? Is this really what this emotion was? If so, he hated it.

Suddenly he was awake once more, the darkness was gone and replaced with the green fluid surrounding him. Unlike before there was light now and while difficult to make out he could see a bit more of the lab. The thing that caught his attention the most though was a zorua looking up at him and he appeared to be surprised. He waved at him and while the clone tried to wave back, he found himself unable to move like he could in the dream. While he failed to do so at least as he intended it would seem the intention may have gotten across as the zorua smiled in return.

It was then the zorua turned his head and spoke to another but their voice was too muffled by the fluid and glass to make out their words. An espeon then came in his line of sight wearing a lab coat with an emotionless face. He wasn't sure how but he knew immediately that this was the one who spoke to him last night. The espeon then glanced over directly at him before shooing the zorua out of the room. "Ah, you're awake." The cold monotone voice said in his head. "Sleep well?"

"No." He said while thinking about why he was even asking since they could read his mind anyways. "Who was that zorua?"

"That would be Loki, my biological child though it's a pity about how breeding works since no matter what he was destined to take after his mother." The espeon then held the tip of his muzzle with a hand as if thinking for a moment. "I plan to fix that eventually after I work out the defects with you and your brother."

"Brother? Also do I have a name?"

"Yes the other clone that woke soon after you, his mind is a lot calmer than yours which is nice. Do you need a name? I suppose it would be easier to say than your experiment ID. For now though you are just ev 134-132." His eyes and gem then started to glow as the lab's lights shut off and turned to look at him. "Sleep." And with that he was asleep once more, doing his best to avoid the darkness.

Over the next few years he'd interact with Loki what little he could as the zorua was the only thing that brought any joy to his existence. The zorua would often make silly faces and on the rare occasion the espeon wasn't around he'd create an illusion of him as them. He was never completely sure what he was saying or doing but imagined he was mocking the way father acted. Always seeming to laugh at his own jokes and it was then he decided that he wanted to be like Loki.

One day however he watched as Loki was dragged off by father and then he didn't see them again. Eventually he'd work up the courage to ask about Loki and was told the zorua was undergoing a transformation. Part of him wanted to believe that he was just evolving into a zoroark but deep down he knew it was bad. A year would go by without seeing Loki and he'd find himself wishing to sleep more. At least then he had Loki in his dreams and wasn't alone like all the hours he remained awake in his tube.

A new face would appear in the lab, a luxray though he was equally as cold as father. Together the espeon and luxray would start to develop something but he wasn't sure what. Each day all he could do was watch from his tube as they continued to work and he thought about if Loki was okay or not. They were injecting him with something but what that something was, he wasn't sure.

After the injection, he'd feel his body start to feel softer and as if he was losing his structure. He kept the image of the eevee he was shown in his head, doing his best to keep that image of himself. Over the next few days he didn't sleep much at all as he felt like he'd lose himself if he were to relax too much.

At the end of a very long year, he suddenly felt as if he was whole and not at risk of falling apart. Part of him was relieved and this time when he went to stretch out his arms towards the glass, he saw his paw move up and touch the glass. The glass felt like how his mind was telling him it would but still it fascinated him to feel something other than the liquid around him with his pads and claws.

"Good, you're finally starting to move." Father's voice then appeared in his head once more. He walked over with Loki and an eevee at his sides. Loki was no longer cheerful and he covered his forehead trying to hide something. The zorua also had a string around the tip of his tail for some reason. His attention then turned to the eevee who looked a lot like himself but had a fierce expression on his face and seemed far too serious. "Your brother has been moving for a while now, he's ev 135-448. Guess I should figure out names eventually."

"What's wrong with Loki?" A bit of panic filled his internal voice as he stated at the zorua.

"Wrong?" Father tilted his head ever so slightly. "Loki is better than ever." He then nudged Loki closer to the glass and pulled the zorua's hand away, revealing the gem in his forehead which matched father's own. "See, now he's more like me than he ever would have been and it should manifest fully once he evolves."

Loki was crying and fought father's grip on his paw before covering himself once more. He felt an anger building up inside of him at the sight of Loki being so upset and what had happened to him. "He was fine before and now he isn't smiling."

"Hmm certainly seems like an improvement to me and he'll get over it. Now calm yourself and sleep." He tried to resist but his mind was no match for the older psychic pokemon.

A few days later, the fluid in his tube was drained and he felt the cold metal base against his pads and fur. Air felt weird around his wet fur and things felt heavier now that he had to support his own body instead of just floating. Gasping for air as the feeding and breathing tube was pulled free from his throat and the mask coming off of his muzzle. His throat felt sore but also funny as it worked on moving freely for the first time.

The glass panel in front of him pushed outward then lifted up, allowing him to take his first steps outside of the tube. A towel was then thrown at him as he heard father's actual voice for the first time with his own ears. "Dry yourself off then put those on." His voice was slightly different from the one in his head but not by much.

"Whe..." Forming words with his mouth was difficult and felt alien to him. While he knew how to speak and how things sounded, actually doing so for the first time was difficult.

"Why are you so concerned about Loki? You don't know him aside from the brief time you saw each other through the glass. He's sparring against your brother if you must know, he needs to learn how to fight eventually and not just how to run away to hide. Now do as I say, I have some tests to run." The usual monotone voice had shifted into a more demanding tone near the end.

The eevee's head hung low as he did as he was told, drying off his fur with the towel as best he could before putting on the clothes on the table next to his pod. He then felt himself getting lifted into the air with a purple aura surrounding his body, the same as father's eye glow. Unable to move at all as he was quickly moved through the lab before ending up in front of the luxray. "Who... who are you?"

"Ah you must be ev 134-132 and you can call me Doc." The feline's eyes seemed to pierce right through him. "Interesting, you still have a full bone structure and all the organs you'd expect to see in an eevee. Transform into me 134."

"I don't understand."

"You're not fully an eevee, from the moment you were created and at various points through your development you were injected with a virus that'd rewrite some of your DNA to that of a dittos. So you should have the ability to transform into others like they can. We should have locked down the right sequence but like your brother it seems we made a miscalculation. At least Loki's was successful even if the only way to get him to activate it is through anger." Doc then zapped him just a little. "Still nothing? Hmm, unfortunate."

"Can I go?" His ears folded back as he looked towards the door while rubbing his arm where he was zapped.

"You're certainly more free spirited than 135 but no you may not. I have you for at least an hour to see if we can trigger the transformation at all."

He'd try to ask about Loki but the Doc just didn't care and continued his experiments over the next hour. Poking and prodding at him in various ways physically and mentally just to see if he could transform. He grew to hate the number 134 by the time it was done as he was more than just a number and had more to his existence than just being a lab rat.

Once he was free from the tests, the eevee would be able to roam the halls and he started his search. The lab was far larger than he had expected it to be and there was nothing but silence. Eventually he'd hear something and make his way over to the noise only to come face to face with the one they call 135. "Where's Loki? Also hi, I guess you can call me 134." He hated saying that but what else would he call himself.

The other eevee looked as serious as the first time he saw him if not a bit annoyed. "If you must know he's down the hall and to the left." 135 then rubbed his head with both paws. "Your aura bothers me." He then walked off without so much as saying hi or introducing himself.

"Thanks." It was only then that he froze up at the thought of meeting Loki and what he might think of him. After a couple of minutes he'd finally worked up the courage to round the corner and came face to face with him.

Loki's face immediately turned into a frown as he spoke, "I'm done sparring for the day, you can go fight someone else and act like you're better than everyone else to them."

He'd stop Loki before he could walk away. "Wait, I'm not here to fight. Honestly, I'm not even sure how to fight."

The zorua looked over his face again then looked like he had a revelation. "Oh so you're the other one then. Sorry for jumping to conclusions but you two look exactly alike. Well not completely, 135 has a very serious face that bores me." Loki then took a step back to look over 134 some more. "You however don't have any seriousness in your body. Come with me to my room."

134 could feel himself smiling when Loki said that. "Okay." He then followed Loki throughout the lab until they finally came to a stop outside of the zorua's room. "So how did you get your name?" Upon asking, 134 realized he shouldn't have done that as Loki's ears folded back. "Sorry, I didn't realize it was a bad thing to ask."

There was a pause as all went silent then Loki's ears went back up and when he turned to face 134, he wore an obviously fake smile. "It's only natural, you don't have a name after all. I believe my mom gave it to me while I was still an egg."

"Oh I see. Do you think he'll give me a name?"

Loki didn't hesitate at all with his answer. "No." 134's ears then folded back as he looked down. "Hey, you wouldn't want a name from him anyways since it would be just as heartless as your number. Who knows maybe you can find something that fits you in time, I'll even help."

The eevee then perked up upon hearing that. "You will?" Loki nodded in confirmation. "Thank you." Silence filled the air for a few seconds before he spoke up again. "So, what are some good names?"

Judging by Loki's face, he was completely unprepared to be asked such a thing. "I don't know off the top of my head. It will take some time though to find something that fits and that you're happy with."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Loki's arm then wrapped around 134 and pulled him close before messing up his head fur with their other hand. "Don't worry about anything, your big bro will always be here for you and someday we'll leave this place."

This place they called home was cold but he felt like Loki's warm presence would give him the strength to keep going in the world outside of his birth tube.

---

Many years later things had not improved for either of them but he felt as if Loki had the worst of it. The zorua had been pushed the most by father to use his full power but continued to defy him. Loki had tried to get the two of them to run away from this place a couple of times and start over away from father's control. However both times they tried, Loki was easily able to run but 134 didn't have the luxury of being immune to father's abilities. He had become a burden to his brother and was now the sole reason he couldn't be free.

One day when the rain was coming down hard, 134 found Loki sitting outside in it and looking up at the sky. "Brother, do you like the rain?" Loki asked the eevee.

He'd sit down next to the zorua and think about it for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose I do." There was something about it he enjoyed but he couldn't really say why for sure. "How about you?"

"Oh I love it. Before my mom disappeared we'd watch it rain and count the seconds after a lightning strike until the thunder came to see how far away it was. So in a way it makes me sad too but I feel at peace in the rain so the happiness outweighs it." Loki wasn't maintaining his illusions seeing as the espeon's jewel was clearly visible on his head while the rain soaked and pushed aside the fur. He knew how much Loki hated it too, so there was no denying how he felt out in the rain.

"I wish I could meet her. She sounds great and it is hard to believe she ended up with him. That being said, I am glad she did or I never would have met you."

A small chuckle escaped Loki. "Yeah, she would have liked you, I'm sure of it."

"Rain would be a nice name, don't you think?"

Loki then turned his head and gave him a confused look. "Why rain?"

"It's something that makes you happy, kind of like how being around you does so for me. So maybe in time, I can be a rain that you can rely upon on a bad day." The eevee looked away and scratched at his ear a little.

"Well I guess if it makes you happy then that would be a fine name." He was then pulled in against the zorua and had his head fur ruffled. "Rain it is then! Just no turning into a vaporeon on me, we still need you to turn into an umbreon so you can escape."

It felt good to have a real name finally, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "I'll do my best not to."

A flash of light then appeared with an immediate crash of thunder, making them both jump. "Fuck that one was close." Rain then giggled a little at his brother's response. "Hey, you jumped too."

"Yeah but..."

"134, come inside now," 135 interrupted them. Upon turning around they saw that 135 was no longer an eevee but a jolteon. "It's your turn."

"Rain, run." Loki stood up and faced the jolteon. "Try and figure out how to change before they force a stone on you."

"Rain?" 135 was a bit confused by that. "Give it up Loki, you've never won a fight against me and I'm even more powerful now." The jolteon was even faster than he was in their previous fights, instantly closing the gap and punching Loki in the gut with an added electrical charge. Loki fell to one knee and grasped his belly before standing up and throwing a ball of dark energy at 135. They shrugged off the blow just as easily as they had in their recent fights. "To think you're the one he sees the most potential in when you're so weak."

"Yeah, you're welcome to be his pride and joy. I never really wanted to be his experiment." Rain could tell Loki was having a hard time but knew he'd only get I'm the way if he tried to help. "Rain, I said run!"

It was then he saw Loki's gem glow as a powerful psychic blast knocked 135 against the wall and threw him as well into the forest. Loki was actually using it, he always refused to do so in the past but now he was in an attempt to save him. If Loki was going to give it his all then he had better make sure to not let his brother down.

Rain would run through the dark forest, the occasional flash of lightning illuminating the night. He wasn't sure how he'd change though, Loki had never been able to find out how eevees changed into the non-stone forms. Clearly it was possible but the information wasn't available at home and was likely something father wanted to keep secret. While he had read accounts on what it was like to go through the change for others, it wasn't helping him. Not that he could even think clearly with him knowing Loki was fighting 135.

The hopelessness of his situation would then come crashing down as he felt an invisible force grab hold of his body. While he'd try to fight against father's psychic, Rain was nowhere near strong enough to do so and felt his paws leave the ground. He was getting pulled back towards home and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "I'm sorry Loki."

Maybe there was still a chance that he could evolve before he reached home. Closing his eyes, Rain focused solely on changing into another form and hopefully it would be the right one. They always said it comes naturally for others, but a zorua always turns into a zoroark when the time is ready. How was he supposed to force such a change when he knew only of stones that could do that?

"You don't." Father's voice invaded his mind. "Now give up and do as you're told, 134."

"My name is Rain!" He'd yell out at the top of his lungs while he fought against the grip on him even more and even felt his limbs move a little.

"What a pointless name, all you are is a part of me and you always will be. But fine I will amuse you Rain." The grip on him suddenly got tighter and he almost felt like he'd be crushed. "Loki has already lost, surrender yourself or you'll never see him again."

Father wasn't lying as far as he could tell and while he was certain that Loki wouldn't be harmed, Rain knew he might still not see his brother again. Regrettably Rain relaxed his body and gave up, allowing the psychic grip on him to freely pull him all the way back home. There he'd be thrown to the ground, next to Loki who was knocked out from the beating he took from 135. "I'm sorry."

"Sleep," he heard father say just like all the times before. While he had built up some resistance to the attack it wouldn't be long until his eyes would close. Before they did however, Rain would reach out for Loki in hopes that it was an illusion.

In his dreams the events before he passed out would play in his head over and over. Until it shifted to the change and he swore he could feel it actually happening to him. His shaggy, brown fur was getting shorter and much denser before changing to a light blue. No it couldn't be, he was running into a vaporeon. He didn't want this, it was supposed to be umbreon so that he could be immune to father like Loki was able to. Maybe it was just a bad dream, the change might not have happened and there was still a chance. It felt too real though with all the changes happening over his body especially his ears and tail as the fins appeared.

Upon waking up, Rain would see Loki sitting next to him with his head in his hands. Before Loki could notice he was awake, Rain quickly looked at his own hands and was sad to see the blue fur. He failed and now Loki was trapped here because of his failures. "I'm sorry Loki, it's all my..."

Loki immediately stopped him from talking. "No, it's my fault. I'm too scared to fight with everything I have and I haven't even gone through my own change yet. We'll find a way out eventually, I promise." The zorua turned to Rain and smiled at him.

Rain knew why Loki was scared to go through his own change. The zorua had been told for years that once he evolved the changes father made to him would be fully activated. Nothing would be worse for Loki than becoming more like father. He could only imagine how devastated Loki would be if he somehow turned into an espeon because of it. "You'll still be you."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you go through with it, you'll still be Loki. Regardless of what happens you aren't our father."

Loki would laugh and ruffle Rain's head fur once more. "Yeah, I know." He'd sigh and look down at his hands. "Sorry you couldn't decide what you became though."

"Who knows, maybe it is for the better. Plus I was only going to be an umbreon for our escape, I'm not sure what I would have done if we weren't in this situation."

"Well if nothing else, look on the bright side, now you can make it rain for me." The two shared a smile, it would be nice to experience the rain more often for sure.