Silas shook her hand. "Yes, Ludmilla right?" he said, having tried to familiarize himself with the Galvani-Morton family.

Roxy smiled a bit, she had a good feeling... at least she hoped that was a good feeling.

Silas set down a soil sample. "This is all I could recover from the attack, it was a gas attack, poison cloud, the sample of the nerve agent is in there."

Take a deep breath, he looked Ludmilla in the eyes. "I've got experience with Gabriel, and I've heard more from a truant from the Phantom Class, what do you need to know?"

The Hamlet, The Weald

The box is eerily identical to the existing one, even to a degree that mere copies in the same product line could not match. They have the same chip in the lid on the left side...

Inside is a hastily-sealed plastic bag of handmade trail mix and a thick-walled glass phial containing a pale green fluid. A half torn off label on the phial reads "Fungic—".

Sunyshort City, Abandoned Salon

I'm really more of an associate than— wait hold up, mahou shojo? Yo wanna have a Magical Girl duel because I do have my own contract and...

-Gale realizes the sound, sighs and begins digging around in her bag-

One moment, did I bring a Dive user? Flammy, if you've got your own solution go for it, this is gonna take a hot minute.

Battle Academy

The Girl No clue, it ain't what's in me and that's about as much as I can tell!

-She smiles with those teeth that were just a little sharper than they ought be and finds a wall to lean against-

The Girl: I prepped a 'mon to bring along, so don't worry about me punching the ants. I mean I might do so anyways, but at least it'll be plausibly deniable.

Levincia City

-It's not only the wind that catches sight of it-

-Honestly, it was just good fortune. This wasn't even a proper 'I'm gonna be in Paldea' thing for Gale Knight, just a brief stopover to get some ingredients and scope out the region for potential guests for the cooking show. But then well, she spotted the same feather she knew this would be the opportunity deprived of her before-

-Moving quick, aided by shivering shadows and the subtle release of Acolyte to keep track of the feather from above, she snared the drifting construct in a shell of Obscura-

Hah. Now then, the tricky part. Not falling.

-She brought the construct in its protective shell into her hand. She walked to a secluded place where she could sit and meditate. She directed all her energy into erecting barriers and compartmentalization in her mindscape, a conscious effort to make her mental defenses impenetrable and prepare to turn whatever connection of command into a reversal of revelation. And then, preparations made, she dispelled the shell and let the feather drift into her palm-

Let's see who's behind this, shall we?

-The problem is that it's not Gale's mind, at least not the conscious part, that ends up in communion with Pavo-

-The image of a full-face mask, blank barring a zero inscribed, flashes across the psionic link. And the image emits what is not words but meaning, simple concepts with the weight of whalesong. Questioning. The Fool stirs. Questioning.-

Hamlet, Weald, Past

"… Chikushou,^note Dammit" Kamui muttered under her breath as she read the label on the vial. "I guess a poison-type would be better for dealing with this." She paused, blinking. "Still gonna burn up them spores though," she chuckled, handing off the box to either Silas or Roxy while she pocketed the vial.

She paused as she recalled something. "This must have been the one who knocked me out the first time."

Phenac City Hospital, Kidney Room

Code Talker: <Gas. Crude. Narrows the variables.>

-Code Talker takes the vial, his eyes glowing.-

Code Talker: <Variant of... Arsine. Concerning. How did they stabilize it and reduce flammability, and what acid did they use as a reactant...?>

-He walks off towards a console while a big Blissey makes her way into the room with a cart full of IV fluids.-

Ludmilla: What kind of Templar was he, if you had to guess? Would you say he leaned more towards the psiblade side of it or was he more focused on mental attacks? Templars are made using templates from what I've seen, so having an idea as to what his thought process was would help determine what he thinks a proper "anti-truancy" weapon would act like.

Doomsday: <Doc, what flavor of vein juice you want her on?>

Code Talker: <Lactated Ringer's with Dextrose, if you please.>

Doomsday: <Got it, one bag of LRD, coming right up.>

"Psi-blade," Silas answered. "I have faced him once before, he made use of a psychic blade... but he seems to more outfit himself with weapons and armed clone forces."

He pulled out his pDroid and showed a holographic image of the Pod Fighter. "He somehow managed to steal Pod designs from my workplace, and weaponized them. He even launched the nerve agent via one of these things."

Roxy let out a cough. "I can feel myself slowly growing numb in places, like my nerve endings aren't working."

The look on Silas's face was one of heavy concern, Roxy shot him a sympathetic look and put on a smile. "Don't worry, I'm in good hands."

Silas nodded and looked back to Ludmilla. "Ever faced the cloned forces? They seem... like they're made of paper mache, they have no aura or mental activity to them, more like machines made out of flesh and bone."

Kidney Room

Ludmilla: Interesting... And no, I haven't dealt with the paper soldiers before. I've had the unfortunate designation of being "too important a target" for them to send chaff after me.

Code Talker: <Numbness in extremities... definitely arsine.>

Ludmilla: Code Talker, if he's a melee Templar, try crossreferencing anything created by a Dark-Type Pokemon as a potential component for that gas.

Code Talker: <... Ah, of course. Yes, let me do that.>

-Rebecca, meanwhile is arching both eyebrows real high at the Pod Fighter design.-

-Doomsday hits a vein on her first try and soon the IV bag is set up.-

Doomsday: <How fast, doc?>

Code Talker: <Full for half a bag, then one drip per three seconds.>

Doomsday: <You got it.>

"According to the Phantom Class, Mercury or as he goes by, Rory. Gabriel is called "The Synaptic". Apparently something about hacking nerve endings through direct eyesight. The Psi-blade is just for when he can't get that pulled off," Silas explained.

At Rebecca's interest. "The design seems to be taken from EVA Pods we at Asimov designed for short term work around ships and stations, it's mostly theoretical as we-"

"Babe, not the time," Roxy interrupted.

"Right, sorry," he said. Looking back to Ludmilla he continued. "Too important for the fleshbot forces huh? How likely are Templars to hold grudges? Because he came after me specifically, he recognized me enough to design a poison and attack us, we were exploring Paldea when in flies the Pod."

Edited by EchoingSilence on Aug 24th 2023 at 11:21:15 AM

Kidney Room

Ludmilla: From my pool of samples? Every one of them holds a grudge. And that's not including the one apparently specifically made to kill me.

-She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose at the mere thought of Tanya.-

Ludmilla: Apparently they're made that way by design, like a bullet that literally has your name on it.

Code Talker: <Found it. You were right - it's derived from the acid of a Muk, Alolan variant. Normally, diagnosing which toxin in an Alolan Muk is the culprit would be a long trial-and-error endeavor, but because the number of compounds in it that can create arsine are so low... We can narrow it down to one. The teeth, which are composed of Obscura-tainted crystalized acid. Ludmilla, is Satele still around?>

Ludmilla: Yes, she on the roof.

Code Talker: <... Alright, I've told her to come here. We need a very particular kind of radiation to force the Obscura-laced compounds out so I can repair the damage done by hand.>

Rebecca: How the heck do you guys even know what he's saying, anyway?

Ludmilla: I'll tell you later.

-Rebecca just shrugs and watches Doomsday as the Blissey starts forming a Softboil in her hand.-

Silas waved his metal hand at Rebecca. "Long story for a lot of us, just know that we can for the time being."

He pulled up some photos he had of Gabriel. "He's an older one that's for certain, look at the wrinkles and laugh lines around his face, that's a Templar that's been active for awhile. Perhaps I'm just the latest one for his grudges ever since my little venture into Orre a few years ago."

At Code Talker's mention of Alolan Muk, Silas thought about it. "Right... right there was work done with Muk toxins back in the 60s. A few classified files about a poison listed as N6. Would probably be similar, the colour of the cloud was similar, sort of a sick yellowish green. I think the idea is to shut off nerve endings and the nervous system to-"

"They've got it Silas, I'm in good hands," Roxy interrupted once more. Silas closed his mouth, mentally kicking himself that he wasn't able to do more.

Roxy put on a smile and let out a sigh. "That's good, good to know that we can get onto this. Put me under and give me the therapies... just so long as I can throttle Gabriel when I get out."

Silas nodded and looked to Ludmilla. "Should I step out then? I'm not a medical person myself and I don't want to get under foot."

Kidney Room

-Doomsday shoots Ludmilla a look as a shiny Gardevoir seems to slide out from behind a nearby curtain.-

Ludmilla: I think we're definitely crowding in here. Let's step out and let them work.

Code Talker: <Satele, would you mind creating a Misty Terrain in this room?>

Satele: <Ah, that's why you wanted me and not Selene. Alright then.>

-As Ludmilla and Rebecca step out, a soft pink mist begins to rise from the floor as Roxy's body begins to glow with a similar soft pink light. The toxins stop... but are not gone. However, Code Talker still gives a smile.-

Code Talker: <Excellent. The spread of the toxin has arrested, and the Obscuric covering on it has been stripped by the Fairy-Type interference, as I had hoped it would. Nurse?>

-Doomsday opens up Roxy's mouth and drops in the Softboil. As opposed to the distressing numbness of the toxins, Roxy's body becomes comfortably numb as the anisthetics kick in and the nerves, while still active, fail to actually communicate signals of discomfort.-

Doomsday: <Anesthetics applied, doc.>

Code Talker: <Then we can begin.>

-Code Talker's eyes glow as he goes into a trance.-

"Good to see you awake again," Gabriel said. "We're currently looking into repairing the damage you caused to yourself."

Gabriel locked eyes with Whitt. "Care to explain what happened? What you last recall?"

Silas steps outside, shooting one last look to Roxy before he leaves.

With the anesthetic taking effect, Roxy relaxes a bit, ready for treatment at last. Closing her eyes, she's left drifting off.

Silas leans against the wall, his body feeling numb and exhausted. "Adrenaline," he mutters. "As soon as its gone you feel like you're about to collapse."

Looking to Ludmilla he took a deep inhale. "I don't know much about the school, just that they're a band of eugenicists that literally make people. If I my ask... do you know anything about their end goal? Do they even have one? Or is it just suffering and world conquest?"

Edited by EchoingSilence on Aug 24th 2023 at 1:07:30 PM

Paldea - Gabriel's Fortress- Infirmary

Whitt groans. "The last thing I remember is using the Ferocaine you gave me when I was fighting against Nitrogen. I came so close to killing her, but then it was like my body started melting." He gestures to his odd wounds. "Then I passed out. Not sure if that was because of me or her."

He looks at Gabriel. "Long story short, your super drug fucked me over."

Gabriel let out a soft laugh. "Fucked you over? Whitt it was an experimental concoction that we haven't had much chance to test... plus I did warn you about wasting time did I not?"

He pulled out a injector of the material. "Did you already forget my explanation? It works by unlocking the subconscious limitations your brain imposes on your body. The longer it takes the more likely you are to injure yourself, your body is not meant for such long sustained contact with the uncontrolled energies your powers produce."

Tossing it idly in hand he continued. "When you are reaching your limit, you shut your powers down and give yourself time to flush the energies out, how am I to blame for your lack of foresight?"

Phenac City Hospital, Hallway

Ludmilla: They want to make a more perfect humanity, and want to brute force human development through concerted trial and error. The domination is a natural side effect of that, from what I can tell.

-She goes over to a vending machine and gives it a kick in one particular spot. Two sodas of random variety pop out.-

Ludmilla: Oh huh, Diet Commander Cola. Didn't know that was still in circulation.

-She tosses one to Silas.-

Ludmilla: I will say that I have it on good authority that they've been messing with things since right before the fall of the [Roman Empire].

Paldea - Gabriel's Fortress- Infirmary

Whitt scoffs. "Yeah, well, didn't even last long enough for me to finish the job."

He tries to sit up and realises that isn't happening just yet. "So, when are you coming out with version two? You know, the one that doesn't make me literally melt."

Kris's secret base, past

Kris arrives home from another long shift.

Kris: Don't recognize her, though. Must be a new one. Pat! I'm home! How are you?

...

Kris: Pat? Potassium? Soul, where is she?

Soul: <She's not here. That templar from earlier probably got her, you shouldn't worry about it.>

Kris: Can't you just shut up and help for once?!

Soul: <You're only saying that because you know I'm right.>

Kris goes to sit on the sofa. They find an awkwardly scrawled note.

Kris: Soul, read it.

Veilstone hospital ward, slightly less past

Pat is half asleep half watching TV with Burghley. Violet and Robin are playing cards while Jess provides moral support. Robin drops their hand as Kris bursts through the door. Pat looks over.

Pat: ...Kris?

Kris: I'm sorry I took so long to notice.

Robin eyes the new arrival threateningly. Kris looks back in their direction.

Kris: What are you staring for? I'm just here to visit my sister.

Robin continues to stare.

Robin: ~Yeah, sure.~

Kris: Look, I don't know what to tell you. I didn't have anything to do with what happened there. I just work at the department store. As I said, I'm just here for my sister.

Violet: Robin... I think they might be telling the truth.

Soul gives Jess a distainful look.

Soul: <So, you're the one they were coming after earlier. Yet another person who gets to miraculously survive when I didn't.>

Jess: What?

Soul: <So weak and scrawny... They should have died. I don't know why your friend would bother saving such an expired product. It's a shame you've gone so soft, Kris. You could easily finish them off.>

Violet stands up and grabs a poke ball. Robin appears ready to charge.

Violet: No way.

Robin: ~Give me one reason I shouldn't teleport us outside and Night Slash you into oblivion.~

Pat: What's going on?

Soul: <As I said, my trainer's grown too weak to do that. I'm sure they'll realise soon enough that you're still alive and come to finish the job, though. They might even deal with you and pot->

Kris withdraws Soul. His poke ball shakes, but is blocked shut by a psychic barrier.

Kris: Shut up. Please ignore my Zorua. We do not share the same sentiment.

Violet: Why do you even keep something like that with you?

Pat: What was he saying???

Paldea, School Safehouse

-The Templars watch as safehouse markers across the region go dark.-

-The door is barricaded, and everyone is on alert.-

-It doesn't stop the door exploding inward from surprising them.-

Radford the Enticing: How did no one sense him coming?!

-Shard gauntlets deactivate and heads begin to hurt.-

George the Gargantuan: He's got some kind of suppression field...!

-Despite their expectations, no Pokemon walk into the room through the cloud of splinters and debris, but a man, dressed in a red and gold robe with a white suit under it.-

Codename: "Battler": "Suppress"? Why would I suppress what wasn't real to begin with?

Codename: "Battler": Your little parlor tricks won't work against me, Templars. Director Cid made sure of that.

-George rushes up to try and flatten the smaller man, only for a golden blade of energy to spring from the strange man's hand, cleaving through George's armor. After the Templar falls, the energy retreats back into the bracelet on his wrist.-

Codename: "Battler": You may hypnotize and distort the perceptions of others, but against my Steel Soul, you will give way to the truth!

-The other Templars lunge at him.-

Codename: "Battler": Yes sir. Paldea, as far as we can tell, is secure for the time being.

Cid: [Excellent. Pull back to the extraction points and let the intelligence crew move in.]

Codename: "Battler": Out of curiosity, sir...

Cid': [Yes?]

Codename: "Battler": Why spend so much time planning and resources enacting an operation like this?

Cid: [Doctor Previa is many things, a good number of them flaws. However, what isn't a flaw is his thoroughness. Removing the School from the region was going to become an object anyway. Having them gone with an alpha strike like this, while they are already embroiled in operations in the other regions, will not only keep them away from Area Zero, but from our operations relating to it as well.]

Codename: "Battler": Understood, sir. On my way to extraction.

Cid: [Excellent. Join me for debriefing when you get back, I'll make sure the commissary is stocked for a celebration.]

Silas took the box and looked at Kamui. "So, Pent slash Gale is out, we've got monsters in my family home, again... and this is involved with some form of fungal growth or something?"

Roxy whistled. "Always something, least we get time to relax in between the adventures we go on."

Gabriel started laughing, laughing hard enough it echoed across the infirmary, his laugh sounded... unnatural. He ceased in an instant and shoved a gloved finger into Whitt's chest. "The issue isn't with the drug, it's with you. You wanted full untapped power, that is what you had, the drug merely unlocks that power, your body is the thing holding you back from "melting" as you say. Unless you can somehow render your body physically immune to tearing itself apart, then even later versions which may only increase the upper limit would still carry that risk."

Gabriel backed off and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose... a Menial walked up and started whispering to him. Gabriel smiled again and looked back to Whitt. "But we here are always innovating and developing, I've had unfortunate reports that some of our bases are under attack... so I do what I do best. I innovate."

The door opened and in walked one of Gabriel's many cloned soldiers, the outfit it wore was... unusual, it approached Whitt and suddenly black strips on its uniform lit up with an icy blue colour.

"We have advanced enough that our Clone Forces can be automated enough to make semi-intelligent decisions for themselves... go on, try to channel your powers near this one."

Silas caught the can in a smooth motion, gripping the tab and pulling, only to get it to snap off. He sighed and rolled the can around, mentally turning off the sensors in his left hand he pressed his silvery thumb into the can, letting it crack open with a hiss.

"They've been around for awhile... and perfect human being. Seems natural at this point for eugenicist cults to do that. If they make it and it starts singing P.E.R.F.E.C.T I'm breaking some rules."

He let out a sigh and took a drink, looking back to the room, then to Ludmilla. "If they've been around that long, what changed? They've been pretty active and I don't think it's our inherit attraction to oddities and adventure pulling them to us alone. They've been around for possibly sixteen hundred years, if not longer. Why become so active now?"

Phenac City Hospital

-Ludmilla's quiet for a while. She looks down at her drink and swirls it around for a bit.-

Ludmilla: I think it might have been me.

-She slides down the side of the wall into a sitting position.-

Ludmilla: When Dad found me in that old lab, my class was still active. And they all came looking for me. And when they failed to bring me back...

-Flashbacks to Tanya executing her own classmates in front of her run through her head.-

Ludmilla: It's like something broke. Like the Masquerade was done and the masks were coming off. I don't know why me in particular, heck, you'd've thought the Phantom Class would have gotten the same response, but... I don't know. I don't.

-The hallway begins to feel a little bit heavier as Ludmilla's mood seems to drag gravity itself down.-

Silas could feel the pull, he looked to Ludmilla. "It's not you," he said simply. "If it was, would you really be here now? They've been operating in the shadows for over a millenia, changes like that need more than a few escapees."

He took a deep breath and set his can aside. "It's something else, something we have to keep our eyes out for. There are two possibilities I can think of and both are concerning. Option A is that they're approaching their endgame and they are closer than ever to achieving their goal. Option B is that something else far worse is threatening them and secrecy is no longer the protection it was."

Silas took a faint swig from his drink. "Keep your head high, it's not you at all, you're not responsible for the mad bastards out there trying to ruin our lives. You're certainly not responsible for that balding fuck that decided to launch N6 poison at me and my family."

Gabriel's Fortress

Whitt struggles to his feet. "Okay, so you want me to just... try and freeze something? And that will help somehow?"

He holds out his hand towards the soldier, and releases as much cold energy as he can - which admittedly is not a lot right now.

Route 214

After Atrin and Desmond have gotten far enough away from Veilstone, Desmond rests against a tree, panting heavily.

Desmond: Alright... where do we go next...?

he pants, taking out his Rotom Phone, which beeps out the nearest cities. Morgan hovers over Desmond's shoulder, peering intently.

Morgan: <Pastoria City's pretty close. We could rest up there. We just gotta get through some routes.>

she shrugs, but pats Desmond on the back.

Morgan: <You good with continuing, Atrin?>

Route 214

Atrin: Yeah, I'm good. Caught my breath and I'm good.

Atrin checks his own Rotom Phone.

Atrin: Yeah, seems we're not too far from Pastoria. Interesting city, from what I've heard.

Route 214

Desmond: Seems like it's near a marsh. The Great Marsh. Seems like it's a nature reserve where you can catch rare Pokemon!

Desmond's eyes widen as he reads, and he grabs Morgan.

Desmond: Morgan, this is perfect! We can get some new partners there!

he cheers, while Morgan chuckles.

Morgan: <Fine, I suppose we could use the manpower. The Pokepower...?>

she muses.

Desmond: There's a gym leader there too. Crasher Wake. Seems like a wrestler kinda guy?

Morgan: <Flashy and loud. I like it. We can go there for the Pokemon, then get another badge.>

Morgan nods resolutely. Desmond turns to Atrin, smiling.

Desmond: How 'bout it, Atrin? Ready for a fifth badge?

he chuckles, eyes sparkling at the thought of another adventure.

Route 214

Atrin laughs, Mimir following closely behind him.

Atrin: Yeah, I'm ready for that.

Atrin pauses.

Atrin: Sinnoh feels so peaceful at times. Maybe it's just the Big City I'm from, but Unova always feels like such a busy place.

Atrin shakes his head. Mimir floats a bit behind him.