The Digital Age

Kyrie found the egg on the outskirts of the town, sitting in a basket with only a single blanket across it. When they investigated, they found a folded-up note tucked in the folds: "Bring us into the Digital Age." No one appeared to care for it, so after Kyrie waited for two full hours, they decided to take the egg themself.

Though the egg was when they found it, pokémon eggs were known to be resilient, so Kyrie got an egg carrier and kept it close to their chest. Soom, the egg was warm and emitting a low humming noise.

Loop sniffed it, his tail bushed up. Kyrie pat his head, hoping to reassure him. "Don't worry," they said. "That means it's gonna hatch soon. I mean, it's definitely doing something."

The eevee growled and backed away. Kyrie rolled their eyes. "Complain all you want," they said, "but when this egg hatches, you're gonna have to help take care of it."

The egg proceeded to not hatch for over a week.

Kyrie woke up with a headache. Groaning, they reached for their glasses and put them on. The egg sat in its incubator, humming gently. The eevees were sleeping in various positions across the room from it. Kyrie spotted Loop de Loop already awake, gently pawing at the still-sleeping Sweet Potato.

"Hey, Loop," Kyrie said. "Let the others sleep for a bit, alright?"

Loop shook his head and bit Sweet Potato's ear. The shiny eevee cracked their eyes open and growled at him.

"Alright," said Kyrie. "Suit yourself. Just go easy on them, alright? You're like, fifteen levels higher."

They stood up and stretched, taking their time before ambling to the kitchen. Loop followed at their heels, jumping up on the table with his ears perked and his nose sniffing furiously. Sweet Potato walked in while Kyrie poured Loop's pokémon food. "So he got you up, huh?" Kyrie said with a smile. "I'll get you some, too."

Potato finished their food quickly and was attempting to steal Loop's when Kyrie went back to the egg. The humming hadn't change in pitch or volume. If they put their hand on the egg, they could hear it vibrating. They pursed their lips, thinking about how long it had been since they found it, and how long it had been unhatched. Nothing they could do about it.

Kyrie picked up the egg and it slipped out of their hands.

The crash woke up all four sleeping eevees; they lifted their heads up, blinking slowly. Kyrie stared in horror at the pieces of the shell strewn across the floor. "Oh my God," they said slowly. That wasn't enough; they repeated it louder. "Oh my God!"

That was it, they thought. The egg was dead, along with whatever was in it. Feeling sick to their stomach, Kyrie crouched down to see what remained of the hatchling.

They didn't comprehend what they saw at first.

The eevee was entirely made of metal, with bolts and powered-down lights and thin, delicate gold wings, that had managed to stay intact during the fall. Their eyes were closed, but the humming continued. Kyrie put their hand on the body and realized it was still vibrating.

The humming grew louder. Kyrie gasped.

The eevee opened their eyes. One by one, their lights turned on, little golden dots in their mane, front paws, and one at the tip of their tail. Their wings glowed, too, shining brighter and brighter as they got their mechanical legs underneath them and flexed their paws. Their mouth… it wasn't quite a mouth, as clearly this eevee didn't need to eat; instead, they had a round speaker that emitted faint beeps as the eevee looked around.

They looked up and stared at Kyrie.

"Oh," Kyrie said. "Hi. Guess you're alright, huh?"

The robotic eevee took a step forward and pressed a metal food into Kyrie's leg. Kyrie smiled and picked them up, feeling how warm the metal was. The eevee let out a few more beeps and tilted their head.

"That must be what the note meant," Kyrie said out loud. "Are you the Digital Age, kiddo?"

The eevee beeped.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Kyrie turned to the other eevees, including Loop and Potato, who had come in from the kitchen to see what the noise was.

"Alright, everyone," they said, "meet the Digital Age."