the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

Kurogane was not a happy man.

Typically speaking, this wasn't the case. Left to his own devices he was typically quite optimistic, generally always of the belief that something had a silver lining and could be made to work. It wasn't a matter of blind faith, either, but of pragmatism. People who simply gave up and assumed defeat never really made it far in life - even the smallest of stumbling blocks could send them back to nothing or halt their progress forward entirely, while those who saw opportunities for what they were often found success where they least expected it. It was a lesson that Kurogane had taken to heart from a very early age, and it had served him quite well since.

And, more than anything, that seemed to be the core of Silas Blackwell's nature, his reason for being. On paper, exactly the kind of man that Kurogane would have wanted to work for - someone he could respect, and the kind of person he had practically been raised to be himself.

So why did he feel so uneasy, especially after the success in taking Slateport?

Maybe it was the pyrrhic nature of the win as Slateport wasn't the prize they'd assumed it would be, shipyards practically destroyed and the city itself still without power... but Kurogane doubted it. If it were that easily explained he could've simply waved the thought away. More to the point he would've been quite happy with the job he'd been given here in Lilycove, work far closer to his preferred style of subtlety over force, precision and finesse over dumb muscle. It had always been the type of work that Kurogane had found himself quite good at, and the kind that had allowed him to rather easily show his face in public. White collar crime wasn't the sort where the people chasing you knew you until you were already caught and your involvement could be proven, and it was for that reason he'd been able to waltz right into the museum without a care in the world.

Too bad for them. The place had impressive security, but... as with most things modern, they tended to value technology over practicality, believing that sophistication made it harder to beat. Machines were easy to break and fool, and their interconnected nature would be their downfall tonight - Kurogane wasn't entirely certain what his other allies in this endeavor were doing as he'd yet to actually meet them face to face, but if everything went as planned it was a job that could conceivably be carried out with a single person. Additional hands would just make it that much easier.

"With any luck. Supposedly he's our 'muscle' but I don't think it'll come to that." Kurogane said, approaching the meeting point as another individual already there spoke - judging from the words spoken, likely the art expert who was picking what they'd be taking. Which meant that the other guy was pretty much as his title implied, a grunt. Unlike the other two individuals present Kurogane wore nothing to cover his face, simply dressed in the sleek black suit he normally wore that blended in quite well with the darkness around them - the longcoat worn over that only further serving to blur his overall frame.

"Left a little something during a visit earlier today, cameras shouldn't be a concern. That just leaves the guards and we shouldn't have to fight them at all unless we encounter a group."

@arthurwright, johnnyboy

the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

He would be the first to admit, this kind of preparation and subtlety was not what Kurogane had been expecting. If he were to be completely honest the knuckleheads who had not only conceived of and then botched the take over of Slateport had not left a good impression on the man. Simply the decision to try and take the League head on was a bad one - Kanto had fallen because of a heavy element of surprise and the inability to deal with a previously covert group now being led with the same kind of leadership they themselves had. Problem was that would probably only work once. The League hadn't stayed in power for so long by being unable to adapt, and this was a very risky game for a group largely made up of untrained thugs and blue collar criminals.

Remaining in the shadows were no one could see much less touch you was by far the safer long term play, and Kurogane was rather pleased to see that the other two men present were of much the same mind. Really, even the most inexperienced one seemed to have come prepared, something that immediately elevated the shorter one's standing as far as Kurogane was concerned. "Dumb" muscle may've been the role he had been given but that didn't mean the black haired man was unable to appreciate a sense of pragmatism and cleverness when he saw it.

"See, if more people thought like that..." Kurogane started, an approving expression crossing over his face at the mention of the kid's Zorua before the other one pulled a device out and turned it on, souring his mood almost as quickly.

And already a complication. If there was ever a chance that someone might get caught or left behind, simpler was better. Esoteric if you absolutely had to go for high tech. Both made it far harder to trace an object's origins, and too many thieves had found themselves caught thanks to their tools being either purchased or stolen from a different site that allowed police to construct a pattern. Something high tech like that projector? That kind of kit was bound to have a serial number etched in somewhere on it, and the fact that the guy had brought that much instead of an old fashioned map implied that there were other such belongings on his person. The guy clearly wasn't an amateur as he knew what he was talking about and had done his research, even marking potential targets for theft... but the mindset that you were too good to fail or that your toys were better than what security had was a dangerous one.

Machines were easy to break, which was exactly what had allowed Kurogane to hijack and neutralize the museum's security earlier that day. People? Not so much, which was why the guards were still a concern.

"Yeah, yeah. How about we just simplify this a bit? We've both got Abra. Mine's gotten rather good at using Teleport within buildings, and I can keep track of both you and the guards. Just pick a spot to gather everything, once that's done your Abra can get all of it and us out at the same time. No need to risk running into guards unless there's one right next to our destination." Kurogane said after a moment, pressing his index finger to an eye to rub it in mild irritation. What he wasn't saying was the reason why, though. While it did make a good deal of sense to streamline the whole process, fact was that the Map Guy made him nervous. If the police caught onto the fact that Rocket was responsible for the heist it'd likely never be possible again, especially if there were hints of superior technology being used to beat their systems. That'd bring about upgrades of the sort that made what they were doing now impossible - while Porygon could get into a network it only had access to the devices in that network, and partitioning systems was usually among the first things done in such a revamp of security.

The long and short of it? The less Map Guy was running around, the fewer chances he had of leaving something behind - be it tools or a more unique method of theft seen as a signature style - or worse, caught.

@arthurwright , jacob berwick