As Lulu approached, Oscar had gotten lost within the device's blueprints. He was so deep in thought that her greeting would end up scaring him silly. "Ahh! Fuck! What? Oh, hey Lulu." Oscar zoomed out of the 3d render, providing a full view of the perpetual motion device. Oscar sighed as he turned his body completely toward Lulu. "Hope you're ready for an ordeal, we have a problem already." 

Oscar walked over to a nearby workbench, pulling out some graphing paper and retrieving a pencil. He began to sketch part of the device, pointing to it as he finished. "The Silph designers did a good job with the concept but couldn't figure out the execution. I've mulled it over and I have a general idea what to do but here's the issue. I'm gonna be able to get the thing running, but how can we keep it running without burning out after a few hours? For the generators, coolant chambers should be easy enough to attack but if we want to use this for more compact devices we're gonna have to figure out something else."

Oscar leaned on the work bench, waiting for Lulu's input.

Lulu Flint

Oscar nodded at Lulu's response. He turned toward the screen and enlarged the model of the device itself. Oscar folded his arms and leaned on the workbench as he addressed Lulu. "Like I said, getting the device going will be easy. Keeping it going will be the challenge. Or at least, it was. Thanks to the laws of thermodynamics, devices like these were originally impossible. Energy cannot be simply created, only redirected until it runs out. A device like this can't work without power being continuously cycled into it by an outside force. Until now that is, with infinity energy this machine should be able to move indefinitely since the energy itself is self-restoring. Overheating however is our biggest obstacle."

Oscar stared off into space for a moment, analyzing every point in the machine's structure. "If we can just figure that out..." Oscar shook his head, "Thank you for appearing today, but yes we should reconvene in three weeks. Hopefully I'll have some work of my own finished by then." Oscar kicked off the workbench and stepped forward. 

Before fully immersing himself within the model again, he turned his head toward Lulu. "And thank you for helping me with this Lulu. We're making history here--again."

Lulu Flint

Oscar tossed Lulu an Ultra ball without hesitation, barely looking away from the monitors. "Use mine. It needs something to do anyway. Just make sure it comes back in one piece." With that, Oscar turned all of his focus toward working on the machine.

3 Months Go By

Oscar had responsibilities both within and outside of Rocket, so he had to rely a lot on his team of engineers work on the prototype. He appeared in the labs about once a week to gauge progress and provide feedback, even tweaking parts of the machine himself when he felt compelled. A lot happened for Oscar during this period, but he always had the machine to fall back on. In an odd way it kept him centered, having a long term goal to work towards dissipated a great deal of periodic stress. 

There was a point, however, in which Oscar became annoyed with the bulkiness of the machine. For the Infinity Generators it probably won't be hard to integrate, but it was far too large to be used with smaller appliances (which is where they were starting). Two months in, Oscar came into the lab and scrapped the work his team had done so far. He presented them with a new design he had worked on, one that could be much more easily fitted into small spaces. He sent the design to Lulu as well, through he personal Rocket email.

In the email he stated: "Made a more compact design using the Silph model as a springing off point. Uses magnets for motion, perpetuating the energy stored in the center capsule. Can be made to be either vertical or horizontal depending on what it's attached to. Has the same problem as the other design though, needs coolant. See you soon?"

As Oscar sent that email, he felt a bit odd. He had worked closely with Lulu for a good chunk of time, not seeing her for so long made him feel a tad melancholy. Hopefully their schedules will align for a meeting in the near future.

Oscar's team got to work on the new prototype, while Oscar waited to hear back from Lulu on her progress.

Lulu Flint

Castform as coolant? An interesting concept, Oscar was unsure what Lulu had in mind but anything and everything was worth trying to reach success. Oscar replied:

Very intriguing, I'm looking forward to what you come up with. Keep me posted, best of luck.

Oscar took a more hands-on role over the next month, causing him to pull away from all other duties. After all, the device needed to be working by the time Lulu was ready. Once Oscar's new design was finished, he would immediately move on to testing.

Test 1: The device spun faster than calculated, and fell apart. Shrapnel went everywhere, one sharp bit of metal nearly slicing Oscar's ear. The machine was in shambles and needed to be rebuilt. It took less time than assumed since the pieces were undamaged but it was still inconvenient.

Test 2: The device maintained top speed without falling apart, but as predicted it quickly became far too hot. When the test was stopped and the device was examined, Oscar would find that many of the parts within had melted. It took weeks to replace them and get the device back in decent condition.

Test 3: Oscar quickly realized that top speed tests were doomed without coolant, so he decided to try something else. He sought to find the lowest possible speed that will still generate power. With some trial and error, he managed to find that exact point. He increased the speed bit by bit, noting when it began to heat up. Eventually he found an equilibrium, a speed that could generate a small amount of energy and not cause the device to overheat as quickly as before. However, it was far from optimal. The power generated at this speed could only power a device for a few hours, nowhere close to the infinite uptime Oscar was striving for. Perhaps it still had a use though...

Oscar went to retrieve Genesect, who was currently being studied by priam conrad. Priam claimed that he would be working with Raphael Pryde, but as Oscar picked Genesect up he quickly realized that Priam had fibbed. Instead he had taken the liberty of painting flames onto Genesect, which it didn't seem opposed to. Though to be honest it probably couldn't tell what was going on around it half the time. Oscar swallowed his initial rage, because it really did look bad ass and he knew it would grow on him eventually.

Oscar brought Genesect back to the lab and shut it down. He opened up its top, revealing its outdated power source fused with grey organic matter. The power source itself would need replacing eventually, but for now it would have to do. Oscar spent several hours installing the perpetual motion machine to Genesect's power source, ensuring that the machine could help generate some extra power for the war machine. He then tested it, keeping Genesect on for training to see how long its battery would last. To his surprise, its battery life was extended to several hours. Even using the usually energy intensive Techno Blast did not seem to inhibit its energy. However, Genesect still ended up shutting down once its power was exhausted, making this a temporary solution at best.

More developments would need to be done, but for now Genesect was ready for its first real mission: joining Oscar to infiltrate the Tree of Life.

Lulu Flint

Oscar looked up as Lulu spoke his name, returning her smile before turning back to Genesect. "Hello there Lulu, you're just in time to watch Genesect's checkup." Oscar grabbed a pair of tweezers from the table he was using to examine Genesect, and used it to remove some intrusive organic matter blocking vital electronics. 

Oscar continued working as he answered Lulu's question. "The perpetual motion machine was originally just for the generators, but Genesect is what inspired me to make a compact version for smaller appliances. His battery is archaic, and far too restrictive for its potential." Oscar put down the tweezers, having finished Genesect's maintenance. However he kept Genesect open so that Lulu could take a closer peek inside. 

As he removed the vinyl gloves from his pale hands, Oscar would provide his own question. "How goes your coolant journey? Any progress?"

Lulu Flint

Oscar nodded as he listened to Lulu, glad that she was making progress. He had no doubts of course, Lulu had to be the smartest person he knew. If anyone could find a solution, she could. "I really owe you one Lulu. I think for Genesect I'm gonna try to use Never-melt Ice. Ever heard of it? It's a rare kind of ice that--well y'know never melts. There isn't enough Never-melt in the world to cool the generators though so your research will be important."

Oscar closed up Genesect, who came to life instantly. It uncoiled its body fully, hanging its legs off the side of the operating table. It looked to Lulu quizzically, turning its head as it examined her. She held a strange darkness, but it wasn't the corruption Genesect was programmed to destroy. For now she would be spared. Oscar patted Genesect on the dome, "Thanks for stopping by Lulu, but Genesect and I have a wax appointment. Feel free to visit any time." With that, Oscar and Genesect would take their leave.

More time will pass, and events would take place that forever altered Oscar Clayton. First came the Ever Grande incident, in which Oscar's claydol turned into an eldritch monstrosity and he would end up breathing in its toxic vapors. His lungs would never quite feel the same after that. Then came the fateful Tree of Life journey, in which Oscar would briefly have his DNA scrambled to obtain the powers of a Gyrados before having it scrambled again to turn back. Ever since that day he would develop a chronic cough that no amount of cold medicine would be able to repress. The worst of it came during his experimental M.A.G.M.A. treatment, which failed to give him avatar powers but did a great job of completely assaulting his body. By the end of it all, Oscar would be a shell of the man he once was.

When their next meeting date arrived, Oscar would request for Lulu to come to his power plant office instead. Oscar found it rather difficult to travel long distances these days. 

Lulu Flint