The fact that Eris had expected nothing from Howard should've been a bigger hurt to his ego. Unfortunately, Howard's dignity had collapsed in on itself long ago. He was just scrambling to defend what little still existed.

Unfortunately, that didn't include defending it from the little lady unpacking her backpack.

"Eheheheheh..." Howard drooled as Eris revealed a large spread of lunchboxes, capable of feeding Howard for days, weeks, and months, and even years!

Likely just days.

"You really do care about me, little lady! You couldn't sit and let me starve, could you?"

His enthusiasm was infectious as he patted Eris on the head, cackling to himself about the food bill he wouldn't have to pay.

---

Eris Halla

It was easy to forget that Cillian Quinn was no fool.

As soon as Howard had been prepared to depart for Dewford, he had gotten an urgent call from Underboss Quinn. It was as if the underboss was watching him, waiting on his every move. If Cillian was watching, he had chosen the perfect opportunity to call in Admin Fox. Howard was thoroughly unprepared for this encounter.

Luckily, he was remarkably good at improv. If he could dig himself out of a travesty of an interrogation regarding Shred's incapacitation, he could deal with Cillian.

Howard Slayte was at his best when his back was to the wall.

"I've been called." Howard nodded respectfully to Cillian's secretary. He was pleasant, but he wasn't particularly pleased. "I'll be seeing myself in."

Fucking Cillian. Howard had been so close to sailing for Dewford. There, he would've been able to put his plan into motion. Instead, he had to spend time playing politics with a man who knew most of his plays.

---

Cillian Quinn

"It can feel, for better or worse. Its emotions are unfathomably limited. Regice was not designed to feel."

Yet occasionally, it did.

The stuttering of Jayden's name didn't go unnoticed. If Howard hadn't been teetering on the edge of execution, he would've questioned the underboss on it, but he suspected that there was no need to. The Ruinous Beasts were a cancer that ate away at the humanity of those who held them.

jayden cross was, for better or worse, human. His wrath, his love, his hate, they were all human elements blackened and cursed by that feline that stalked him.

Admin Cross was cursed, and always would be.

"Yeah, the fish made of fire. It tried to swim through Regice, but it's too cold. It couldn't melt the ice." Howard frowned as he remembered what Penelope had said. It was hard to forget. Every time he closed his eye to sleep, he heard her voice taunting him. "She mocked me for missing the shot."

Howard's face contorted with rage.

"She knew what she was doing. That bitch."

---

Cillian Quinn

The joy of Regice's survival melted away as quickly as a summer snow as Tsubaki's voice dragged Howard back to reality.

Reality, that old bitch. Her kisses were dry and dusty and promised naught but despair and restriction. Yet reality and Howard were old friends, he was used to her beckoned call, as much as he hated to answer. Regice was alive, which defied every known law of Dynamax as a phenomenon. The history books could be rewritten. If he took this knowledge back to Rocket, someone would be able to do something with it!

Yet instead, he had to face Tsubaki. A less lovely motivation, but a necessary one. He couldn't lie to her. He could not lie to Michael Navidson's child.

He turned to face her.

"Not a lie," he told her. "I was a historian and archaeologist first. Those were my first two loves. My first memory was one of old pages and dusty relics, not of blood and battle."

Even his voice betrays cowardice and fear, a resignation to a fate they both know he cannot change. He is not a grunt, some nameless face known by few. He could not disappear and be stricken from the records of history like some historian's error. They both know that the admin would rather die than erase historical records.

It was cowardly, but it was cowardice with a cause.

Howard Slayte was not Isaac Merlo. Howard Slayte was not Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki. He was something worse. A man with convictions, yet too blind to see that there had been an ending that resulted in his freedom. Every bad decision that had led him here was his own. There was nobody else to blame but himself.

Him and his passion.

"I don't know why it's not dead. I genuinely don't." Howard's voice was a whisper over the screaming cold. "But Navy... he's dying, Tsubaki. We need to get him out of here."

He took a step forward.

"I didn't hurt you in that submarine."

Another step.

"Or here."

Closer.

"But Navy cannot be allowed to die. He is needed. We need him. You need him." Where would Tsubaki be without her guiding hand. "I trusted Navy with my secret. He could've given me up, but he didn't."

He looked down at her.

"Now, you've inherited his will. Can I trust you?" His eye glittered with frost. "Can you trust me?"

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

"Simple, my fraudulent friend."

Papers shuffled as Howard opened a folder and peered at the contents. After a moment, a suppressed chuckle escaped his throat as he gave Fern a side-eyed glance. "By pretending. I'm just upholding the status quo. Nobody wants a cowardly admin."

Pretend and lie. Lie and deceive. That was the only way to survive in an organization that demanded the world from him. Howard would not be betrayed by Fern, Jayden, or Barnaby. Thus, he would give them what they expected: an admin way in over his head.

"We're equal in name only. You three vastly outstrip me where it matters, and I'm here to prop you three up." They were strong trainers with impeccable powers who had been members of Rocket for a very long time. In exchange, Howard was a very recent promotion. He lacked weight and experience, but inexperience could fade.

Howard looked up at Fern.

"Is that not what we do? Lie? Pretend? What good does it do to not respect the hierarchy? What good does it do to not be afraid?"

---

fern delaney

If Makoto thought he was, then the admin was well and truly fucked, and he needed their help more than ever.

"No! No! It's not like that, I swear!" His voice was a furious hush as he looked from side to side, as if expecting Rocket spies around every corner. Howard's eye flicked over to Makoto, their eye boring into them. He held up a finger. "Shush. Keep it quiet. I'll explain."

As if Makoto's murmurings could somehow get quieter.

"Makoto, Arceus... no. I'm not betraying Rocket. Never." He'd lied as easily as he breathed. If Howard defected from Rocket, the admin would've been killed before he took one step out of Sootopolis. He was a a cog in the machine, and gears could not act against the whims of the mechanism that held them. "I'm trying to save the region."

He was working with Navy, one of Rocket's biggest enemies, to study Eternatus, to make sure it remained silent and dormant. Yet Rocket likely would not care. His loyalty was shaky, and him moving to Dewford had not assuaged the various admins, beasts, and underbosses that he worked alongside.

But still, Eternatus had to be watched and studied.

For the good of mankind. Eternatus could not move an inch.

"I need unfettered access to the Ultra Deep Sea, which means that Dewford needs to be breached. That way, I can prove my loyalty. Makoto..." He looked at them with a pleading expression. "Do you trust me?"

Loyalty. Friendship. Nebula.

---

Makoto Kurumi

Regice stood in front of Howard and Laurence like a guardian deity, standing as if protecting the two from the raging stone construct. From a casual perspective, it looked fairly even, but Howard knew differently.

"Shit." If this Regirock was the original article, it would've been operating at maximum power. It would have a core, a Power Spot backing it up, and more. It would not be the imitation that the Regirock that Howard had fought would be. It'd be far worse.

Meanwhile, ice faired poorly against rock, and Regice lacked a core. It was running on auxiliary power. Laurence and Howard would have to hope that Regirock's hand would be stayed by its fellow automaton. Immediately, the two golems began to flash at one another, sending hundreds of messages in their strange language.

Then, the flashing stopped. Silence.

SMASH. Regirock's heavy stone fist buried itself in Regice's chest.

"REGICE!" Howard screamed as ice shattered and splintered. Regirock dug its heavy fist around in the body of Howard's golem, as if searching for something. After failing to find it, it tossed the golem aside. As Howard screamed, Regirock turned to face him and Laurence.

Its fist cracked Howard's rib cage as the golem punched him past Laurence and into a wall emblazoned with runes. His back snapped like a twig.

Splatter. Howard's blood joined the archaeologists that littered the chamber.

"Ha... ha..." Howard's breath was light as his lunges rattled. His eye found Laurence. The doctor stood alone against the encroaching golem's march. "Laurence... run."

Yet there was nowhere to go.

---

Laurence Whateley

"Do you really think a god can be held back by something as trivial as a rift?"

Eternatus? One of the four born from Arceus's egg, presumably on the level of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina? All three could wander between the boundaries of the world like they were nonexistent. They were the strongest entities in existence, and nothing could compare.

In moments like this, Howard's faith threatened to shake. How was mankind supposed to stop something like this? How could they manage to wage war against a god that could rip the world apart? Hoenn and Galar had subdued Eternatus with their own weapons, but Eternatus had lived, and it seemed to be a bigger threat than ever before.

"A dream can be just as real as you or me. Dreams guide us all. They're the foundation of what makes us... us. Both unconscious dreams and the dreams that guide us." Aurelie seemed so out of water with this. She was a humble smith who forged. She followed her dream and passion, and she had been entrusted with a shade and an order that could determine the fate of the world.

Poor girl. It didn't seem fair. It was best if he tried to raise her spirits. Seeing her mood dour made the admin feel guilty.

"Yes. There are records, but they're not particularly helpful. What we know is that it is the source of Dynamax and the Wishing Stars that dot Hoenn and Galar, but as for tools, I'm glad you asked..." Howard smiled as he played with his fork. Aurelie's reflection glimmered in shining silver. "We have one. Regice."

The admin's eye widened as he tried the bread.

"Delish~" After realizing how embarrassing that reaction was, Howard desperately tried not to choke. He chewed the bread and swallowed. "Ignore that."

Every second, he could feel his credit as a Rocket Admin going down the drain.

"Hoenn's Legendary Giants fought Eternatus to a standstill. I have one. The other four have been located over the past few years. As for their current locations..." Howard shrugged. "I do not know."

---

Aurelie Lefevre

"The schematics?" The admin's eye flicked up at the smith. "I've had practice."

If, by practice, he meant spending dozens upon dozens of hours analyzing the Island Cave and the Regice that had once existed within. To understand history, it was best to understand how people had thought back then. How did people create? How did they build? How did they wage war?

That meant studying. A lot of studying. That much studying had left him lacking on the battlefield, but that was a price he paid when Rocket had placed a pen in his hand instead of a sword. Rocket had plenty of swords, it needed someone to sheathe them every once in a while.

"I'm not an engineer. I didn't study or anything. It's just that..." He sucked air in through his teeth. "When you work with artifacts, you should know what they're made of. How they work. What they do. That way, you can avoid damaging them. Ruins are the same. I can't tell you how many times I've dodged a boulder trap by knowing how the trap was triggered."

It was best to not tell Aurelie how many times he had triggered the trap to figure that out. The number was embarrassing.

Nonetheless, he appreciated the smith's praise. She was a true savant in her field. The Gigaton Ball wasn't likely unique, but he and Yuina Higashi hadn't found any since the distortion manifested. It was more likely that they'd have to produce more.

An enticing prospect.

When she asked for his help in holding and fitting the gears, the admin allowed himself a smile. If Aurelie ever looked back at the admin, he let the smile drop sheepishly. Together, they worked on fitting the gears into the Gigaton Ball. Each time a gear was slotted into place, the excitement in the air grew.

What is this?

"I got this, hold on..." Howard's brow furrowed as they tried to fit the tiniest gear into place. Despite the difficulty, Aurelie didn't seem bothered. This project was simply so enticing that it distracted them both.

What's going on?

Slowly but surely, the Gigaton Ball turned from a mess of disassembled gears and springs to something that resembled the original article. Without the caked on mud, rust, and dirt, it was starting to look like the masterpiece that he and Aurelie both envisioned. As they slotted the final gear, Howard's lip twitched.

"It works!" Then the admin let out a laugh of exhilaration. He rubbed his temples as he gave Aurelie a look. "Nice work!"

I'm enjoying this.

He gave the Gigaton Ball a long look, before checking his phone. As much as he wanted to stay, there was work to be done. Being pulled away from joy to work in an office was one of life's greatest struggles. Alas, there was nothing Howard could do but obey the chain of command.

"I wish I could, but work calls..." Howard's eye went from his phone to Aurelie. "But seriously, Aurelie..."

He smiled at her.

"Thank you. I enjoyed this."

---

Aurelie Lefevre

He gave them a flat stare.

"I run the biggest smuggling network in the region. I rake in just as much money every day as Amor Rose does, and I wasn't blessed with the fortune of starting out with a Fortune 500 company. I transport, buy, and sell more illegal substances than anyone else in the region. I also paid for that sandwich Tempest Quinn was eating three weeks ago."

The expensive one from the Paldean sandwich shop in Slateport that cost an arm and a leg. When buying and selling artifacts on the black market had stopped being enough to finance many of Rocket's operations, the admin had spread out and outsourced his network. Wishing Stars, Dynite Ore, and other expensive goods flowed into Sootopolis now.

With Nautica leaving the region and Kyogre's Avatar vanishing, there were few that could actually bring down Rocket's smuggling ships. Cargo flowed freely, barring Mossdeep thanks to its new Gym Leader.

"So why don't I start by paying for those fries?" He smiled nervously. "It's nice to pay for people's stuff."

Especially since he wasn't spending an arm and a leg on rent anymore. Dewford's sheriff was footing that bill, as far as Howard was concerned.

"Rocket is following me. I can take a guess who sent people after me, but they don't like that I'm here in Dewford." Howard rubbed his temples. "They think I'm committing..."

He lowered his voice as he gave Makoto a nervous glance.

"...treason."

---

Makoto Kurumi

Honestly, if Howard was rich and his personal chef ruined his miso soup, that might've been enough for him to start killing people.

It was a slippery slope, he supposed. What was the point of having money if you couldn't eat delicious food and have servants at your beckoned call? Hell, why even pay their salaries if they were going to fuck up their sole purpose for existence? Admittedly, it had been phoned in by their host, but what sort of chef made a perfect quantity of miso soup?

Applinbees made a massive pot of soup and constantly refilled Howard's bowl if he got the lunch special. The fact that the Yukimuras were losing to fucking Applinbees was proof that Hoenn was doomed.

Alas.

"A pleasure to meet you as well." Howard waved a cheerful hand at the person sitting next to him. "Love your dress. Nice colors!"

Elaine Highland 's dress was certainly better than the pastel nightmare that was Josh Devlin . The Master of Faster stuck out like a sore thumb, though Howard made no attempt to communicate with him yet. There were better times to talk about baseball or congratulate the new Champion.

If Howard had made it to the rank of Champion and got congratulated over the most mediocre cup of miso soup in existence, there was a serious chance that he'd start killing people. Again. It was best to start doing damage control now. He put on his best Elisabeth Fiorelli impression. She'd lie through her teeth for the sake of being the most elite person at the party.

"Not to worry, it happens. This is a stressful event. When I did part-time server work, I threw up all over my first customer!"

An awful moment, as the customer had docked his tip, having only tipped 14% instead of the Rustboro-mandated 15%. Alas.

When the custom dishes were sent out, Howard's dish was placed in front of him. Medium-rare Tropius flank grilled with Silver Pinap Berries, a special Tropius berry chutney, and topped with caviar laced with edible gold. Compared to everyone else's dishes, this one likely triumphed them all in terms of price.

Hey, if the Yukimuras were going to foot the bill, he was going to milk them dry. Shred Zeppelin would be proud.

"Oh boy this is gonna be so..." Howard prepped to take his first bit, before letting out a girlish shriek as the lights went out. "EEPOHMYGO-"

The lights were flicked back on shortly after. As Howard's eye adjusted to the light, he gave Elaine a glance.

"M-murder? That's ridiculous! That only happens in mystery novels and unsolved historical mysteries! It happened one time in 1693 in Kalos, sure, but that was a one time thing!"

---

Spending an unnerving amount of time on this miso soup
Eating food that will probably force the Yukimuras to mortgage the manor
Howard yapping to Elaine
Not leaving his chair
drip is in the signup thread