Djall the Houndoom remained in Lulu’s office when she was on the sub, guarding it and permitting entrance to only a select few—Priam being one of them. He watched curiously from the scientist’s chair (a bit too large for it) as the man went about setting up his presentation.

Lulu had been not been in the best of moods, but she seldom was. When she walked in, she had not been expecting glitter and stickers and test tubes and her dog staring at her from her desk, having clearly been supervising. “What th—Djall, get down.” ???

Typically, she would have chastised someone for pulling a stunt like this. She didn’t do surprises. She did emails. Nonetheless, a chair was pulled up. She sat down, hands clasped as she gave him her attention and a sigh. “Alright. Go ahead, Priam.”

He was positively radiant, and his presentation was nothing short of captivating.

Wild mega pokemon?

Through glitter and chibi stickers, she saw her future. Priam did not disappoint. She hung on the edge of her seat, eyes falling on the pair of pokeballs on the table. Was he leaving them for the lab? That was cool of him.

It was the mention of primal energy which sent a surprisingly pleasant smile into a look of slight disbelief. It shortly gave way to greed. The universe was shining on them, or whatever. She thought of her discussion with THEO BECKETT . Of plans to weaponize the energy.

He ended his presentation, but didn’t. His conclusion flashed the meat of what she wanted; question-inducing details which didn’t tie up anything. ‘Avatars, or something like that.’

“Priam, first off: damn good job. Second: I need you to elaborate on that last bit, yeah? Last couple bits. Start with avatars.”

She crossed a leg and smoothed laced hands down a knee, waiting with a smile to hear how the league might come for their asses. Let them try. She would build the bigger gun.

She found herself somewhat dumbfounded by the deduction skills. “Sounds like it.”

That did make sense. So… Primal energy on avatars. Was there a machine? What were the effects?

“I hope intel is keeping their noses to the ground on this as well. I want to know how they’re doing it. Have you brought this to the attention of Merlino or Choi?” ( Cillian Quinn , Chu-e Choi )

As an avatar especially, she needed to know more about AQUA. Having had her nose far in her work lately, she’d not been keeping up.

She smiled at Priam. “This could be dangerous.” Then, her eyes shifted back to the pokeballs and she nodded towards them. “Are you leaving these here for us to study?”

She’d intended supportiveness, but it was taken with visible nerves. Her eyes softened, noticing her reputation.

“Sure. Best to all stay on the same page, right?” Cillian Quinn should hear about it. They spoke little. He was always busy. She wondered if he would experience the same amount of glitter and pizzazz which Priam had gifted her with. “Can’t lie: I’m sort of glad you brought it to me first.” There was the smallest, impish smile under tired eyes. Hah.

At the pokeballs she nodded. “Certainly. Something genetic, or… lingering energy...” She shrugged. Lulu knew little about biology, but she was trying. The gesture of bringing powerful, unique test subjects along with such a presentation, albeit juvenile, was still noted with a gold star. Priam was a critical thinker, and that pleasantly surprised her.

Such moments felt few and far between, these days.

Amber beheld him; Priam, an unlikely threat. How could they harness this for GMH? And, “What will you do now?”

Either way, Lulu appreciated it.

Her lips curled, teeth in a grin at him. “We should be good for the afternoon around here, thanks, although that’s good to know.” Not getting yelled at was a feat around the laboratories. There was a lot of money involved, and a sore lack of sleep which seemed to be pandemic. “I meant in the future. What are your plans, now, with all of your primal energy business?”

She nodded. That was a fine answer. In her experience, that’s how science worked.

‘I don’t know, to be honest.’

It was modesty that kept the ball rolling. Priam had curiosity glistening in a smile she deeply envied. As far as she knew, there was nothing that could teach healthy motivation.

This place drained her as much as Darkrai. She pushed on.

“Of course.”

There was no hesitation.

Far be it from her to keep a man from his infinity tree.

Lulu maintained a smile for once. She was excited. The energy would propel not only Rocket’s endeavors, but also her own.

She waved it off when he stopped himself to mention the mess. Typically, she might’ve been offended. Today, she wasn’t. “No, that's alright. I’ll have someone in to clean up and we'll figure out what to do with these. Good work, Priam; and good luck.”

The door would shut behind him and lock.