soggypastry | 033 [Video/Action for Goldenrod + Anon Text]

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033 [Video/Action for Goldenrod + Anon Text]

[Private Text to: Riku and Xion]
Team Rocket's list of targets changed. You're both on it now, so stay sharp and watch your backs. I don't know when they'll move on any of us.
[/private texts]

[It's been almost three months since he left, with only a letter to say goodbye. To say that Lightning hadn't been thinking about him as the day that would have been thier first anniversary drew nearer would be a lie, and she's taken it with remarkable grace when all things are concerned.

Or maybe she's just used to getting left behind. Who knows. All she knows is there's a house on the beach with too many memories and dreams, and she can barely look at Lucky or Strike without expecting him to be right at her side. She has to put that part of her past to rest if she's going to be able to lead the Corps in the best way she can, and so she's come to the seaside once more. Something a young boy once taught her matters more than she ever thought it would now.

Those passing close to the Radio tower will find her crouched at the railing, a lit sparkler in one hand and a bottle with a letter in the other as her Lucario stands guard nearby, gear in paw. Today would have been special, if he were here. But he isn't and it's just one more anniversary of loss. One more thing that needs to be shaken off.]

Turn it off, Sen.

[The Lucario in question yelps, but it's only in surprise, not fear. Lightning's voice is steady and quiet, and she rises to her feet as the sparkler burns out and leaves ash in the wind. She moves to the railing now, but Sen manages to end the feed just as the bottle that was in her hand drops out of sight and into the ocean.

A few minutes later, however, something else hits the network. The fact that it's an anonymous text may make people wary, but there's nothing untoward about this one. No, this one is the exact opposites of the others that have gone out.]

[Anon Text]
If someone gave you a chance to help protect this world and everyone who lives here from the people who want to harm it, would you do it? Or would you stand by and watch it burn like the Lighthouse?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Understood.

[Quirks up a corner of his lips-- not a smile no, but a diagonal lineface.]

I know exactly who you mean. [Shinn, among others :\] We also seem to have more mavericks replying and while some seem promising, I think some need to learn about boundaries and whatnot.

Do you think a type of system could be integrated, aside from simply organizing people into squads?

[Learn how to interact with each other and when not to step over the line, etc etc]

[Lightning snorts, crossing her arms over her chest. She knows exactly what he's getting at.]

Some people who have been with us since we got started still need to learn about boundaries and protocol. [Shinn. Riku. Xion. A few others who need to learn to pick up their goddamned phones.]

Probably. But I think we'd need some kind of leadership structure in place to make any headway. Half of these people don't listen to me at all.

[hell, nearly all of what she says goes in one of Shinn's ears and out the other. Which..doesn't help.]

[She doesn't mention that she's already suspicious of his motives and just moves her bangs from her eyes. She doesn't trust this guy as far as she can throw him, so wariness stays.]

So long as you're sure about that. There's a lot riding on this. [a glance up at the radio tower.] A lot more than most people realize.

Then I think it's time we introduce something to that extent, right?

I understand that in a military perspective, they're all civilians, even myself [taps his chest for emphasis] but even civilians need boundaries or else they would have problems.

... To say the least.

And it's time the mavericks learn that doing something akin to a solo blitz would do no good. If words don't teach them, then actions may just do the trick.

...Probably not. I failed back home, after all. Still, I have to try.

The problem is introducing that kind of structure without scaring them off. Not a lot of people can handle taking orders like that, even if they know the reason behind them.

[she taps her fingers against her bicep, thinking it over for a minute. Can't deal with it? Face it later. The mavericks she can handle. Mostly.]

But you're right. We need to show them that their actions will have consequences within the Corps even if they don't face them from Team Rocket. We can't afford to have martyrs running around and making a mess of things.

Baby steps first, my first team said. We can give a few simple guidelines for everyone to follow, and when they're comfortable, we may introduce another.

[This is why companies have HR departments and managers, he thinks. Especially the Academy, when it grew so huge to actually run a whole city.

He's never been good at this. There's a reason why he spent all his time in R&D when he woke up in Academia, with machine guts up to his elbows and holographic interfaces flashing everywhere, and only surfacing when something that needed the Director came up.]

We can even ask the current members what they think-- a little more chaos, but a poll can help with the decision-making.

Well, I've got Sora, Kairi, Ven, and Terra with me. If nothing else, I could take one of them along for the ride.

Plus, I think Xion's still in Celadon. Been keeping my strongest Pokémon in my party since the attack, too. If the Rockets do make their move, I want to be prepared for the worst.

You don't understand! You haven't seen the beauty of life and death! Just imagine that on a worldwide scale! It would be amazing!

The way Aerith spoke of it, their world is little more than a town. Then again, she never mentioned if that town was by the water.

[Trust isn't something you can build without effort. He's fully prepared that his name might be given to cops because of trust issues... yet he's still taking the risk.]

Sometimes you only realize how important something is when it's too late.

[There's a slight delay as Cobra panics.]

You know about that list?

I really wish they wouldn't be.

[Then again, her home world needs idiots like Amu ...kind of, as much as it annoys Utau to admit it inside her head. But hey, talking about different kind of idiots he-- Ouch, damn you for that last sentence. Good thing this is just anon texts. Not that her poker face fails too much.

Ummm, but no. She's not going to open up about her life to a stranger.]

Indeed, because I work alone, so I can always make my own decisions.

[No she can't because she's been dragged in evil organizations because her parents are idiots -- and because Johto's random system seems to make fun of it too by making her a Rocket. But that's just details! Besides, it's not like she doesn't still try to make things her own way ...Sometimes.]

[Maybe start handing out leaflets. Much more handy than explaining everything individually!]

that's what I asked!

you talk bout some group I've never heard of and people you say I know in there so you could at least explain yourself!

[He's confused now, okay.]

It probably wasn't. I don't think he'd have had so much trouble with swimming if he'd lived near water.

[and oh, the trouble he'd had with the water.]

There was an incident the first time I arrived in a city that had a gym. Needless to say, I have no illusions about this place.

It could be a lot worse, though. You can at least stop most idiots by force if you have to.

You can. But working alone also means getting out of trouble on your own. Having someone to watch your back isn't a bad thing.

[learned that the hard way. and bloody. it wasn't pretty, to say the least.]

[he can't see it, but she's smirking. Did he really think someone wouldn't talk?]

Did you think I wouldn't know about it? You're not that subtle.

Or we could just introduce the entire thing and deal with the fallout later. We're going to lose people no matter what we do, with the way this place sends them back.

[Hell, at any second she could disappear and then where would they be? She needs to leave some kind of instructions. Something to work on, and soon. But for now she shrugs; deal with the things at hand first, Farron.]

We'd need to get everyone in the same place for that. [sigh.] Probably going to take months at the rate we're going. If they don't answer the phone why would they go out of their way for a meeting in a group they obviously don't care about?

Let me know how that goes. [a short pause, then she shakes her head.] Though I guess I'll hear about it anyway. They're not that quiet, either.

[He's confused, and she's trying to play this to her advantage. Who's going to get what they want first?]

I've already told you all I can for now. If I say anything more over this channel, I'll be putting a lot of people at risk, including someone who calls you a friend. Is that what you want?

No. It wouldn't be. It would be cold, dark, and a waste of what we have. How about you die first before saying it's beautiful? Because I have, and I can tell you that there's nothing beautiful about it.

That's probably the best you can do right now. I get the feeling Sora's going to stick pretty close by for a while.

They won't know what hit them, will they?

[rhetorical question; she hasn't seen his entire team, but if they've gotten any stronger since that time she lectured him on Olivine's beach, he's got very good odds.]

Yeah. Most likely that's what will happen, but we'll see.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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