033 [Video/Action for Goldenrod + Anon Text]

[soggypastry]

[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?

Comments

[soggypastry]

I'm surprised you can sleep at all, with all the complaining you're doing. If my methods bother you so much, maybe you should do something about it instead of whining.

[worktodo]

Gee. What if I already am? Too bad you didn't ask that question instead of some loaded and reactionary false dichotomy, but I guess it's more important to fire up the masses than actually be productive, huh?

[soggypastry]

And who said firing up the masses isn't productive? Give them something to think about and they'll act on it. How they decide to that is their choice.

[worktodo]

Right, because that's just what we all need. A mass outbreak of vigilantes who aren't accountable to anyone running around fighting crime and saving the day on their own terms. What's your screening process to make sure they stay on the straight and narrow themselves? Making them promise to believe in truth, justice, and the American Way?

[soggypastry]

Watching them closely, actually. Anyone who starts acting out faces the consequences, whether or not they're working with us. It just depends on what they do and what needs to be dealt with first.

[worktodo]

In other words, stir them up to see what they'll do, skim off all the good pickings, and then throw out all the ones who didn't make the cut for joining the country club.

With a plan like that, who wouldn't want to be your friend.

[soggypastry]

I don't know where you got the idea I'm in this to make friends, but if you've got a better idea, spit it out. In the meantime, I'm doing what I know works. For the time being, this is our home. If you want to let it go to hell, that's fine, keep complaining and see if that does any good.

[worktodo]

How about working on catching the bastards who torched the Lighthouse in the first place? That might be productive.

[soggypastry]

We're working on that. The bastards who torched the lighthouse have a team with unknown numbers, which is why I asked the question I did in the first place. You don't take on an unknown enemy without backup.

[worktodo]

So sometimes it's "I" and sometimes it's "we". Why don't you quit playing cute and just say what you're actually after with all this? It'd save the both of us a lot of time and maybe we'd actually get something accomplished here for a change.

[soggypastry]

What we're after, as a group that's already formed to take on Team Rocket, is troops. This is a recruitment effort. I'm just the spokesperson who deals with the people involved.

[worktodo]

Troops, huh? Then count me out, Uncle Sam.

[soggypastry]

That's fine. We need people willing to fight back, anyway. People who just run their mouths are useless in this mess.