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LITTLE CRISES HELP YOU RELISH THE CALM

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The slightest disruption to routine, Driscoll marvels, is enough to cause panic. Years of seeing it himself, of perpetually bearing witness to pointless displays of agitation over the slightest inconvenience have done precious little to actually acclimate him to it. He exits the stairwell into the main lobby of the building at a brisk walk, a pristinely white lab coat flaring out as he shoulders past a cluster of babbling civilians.[break][break]

Sighing, he pinches the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Nothing is ever easy," he mutters, exiting the facility's main entrance and glancing upward to the densely-clustered Porygon2 that dart around erratically, threatening to spill further from the city the longer they remain uncontained. "Simmons, I don't know why they keep you around. Absolutely incompetent. You should have seen me entering the release codes long before I managed to finish."[break][break]

He withdraws a pokeball and gives it a lazy toss, where it smacks against the concrete underfoot before releasing a Klang, gears spinning fitfully. All Driscoll has to do is lift his chin meaningfully to the escaping creatures above, and the Klang is off, surging upward amid bursts of electricity. The scientist turns his attention back to ground level, smiling sardonically to himself at the rush of people in the throes of panic. Upon sighting the girl and her Umbreon, practically fuming, he pauses, his smirk faltering.[break][break]

"Miss, you'd best get clear. This is liable to become dangerous, and the company's incident response team appears to be...delayed." He moves toward her with calm purpose, lifting an arm in a warm, if slightly condescending gesture, urging her to move away from the plaza.

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Tagged: Amber Lenoir
Notes: DATA LEAK

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LITTLE CRISES HELP YOU RELISH THE CALM

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Well, now. Not necessarily according to plan, but Driscoll is nothing if not adaptive; he's made a career of it. He regards Amber placidly through her outburst, at length responding with a rueful smile and a cant of his head.

[break][break]

"Yes," he offers, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture, "I can only imagine the person responsible will have much to answer for. More unfortunate that I know the poor fellow, but he's young. He'll no doubt rebound." He shrugs lightly, regarding the girl with minor amusement. "I'm afraid I am completely uninvolved - visiting a colleague, you see. If you'd care to find someone to blame, I encourage you to look for the third-floor research level inside. Now, if you prefer."

[break][break]

His smile drops slightly as a burst of electricity from above sets his hair briefly on end. Glancing upward, he identifies his Klang beset by a circling throng of Porygon2, Zap Cannon after Zap Cannon crackling through the air and setting it thick with the smell of ozone. Though the escaped pokemon are dropping to the ground as they are struck, it seems that two more replace each downed opponent.

[break][break]

Well, certainly if he can't have them all, a small subset will have to suffice. His hands slide into his pockets, and he calls up, "Reynard, would you care to speed things up? This is remarkably inefficient. Autotomize."

[break][break]

The Klang looses a horrible screech of metal on metal in response, shedding several pieces of its own frame that clatter to the ground below. Its movements become drastically swifter as it ducks and weaves through the crowd of Porygon2, slamming into one after another with grinding gears that crack and bruise the pink-and-blue assailants, and they begin to drop more regularly, unconscious, to the pavement below.

[break][break]

"Help if you like," Driscoll offers to Amber with a jovial chuckle, "Or leave if you'd prefer. I would absolutely hate to see a lovely young woman hurt in such a dreadful accident." His glasses seem to gleam solid white for the briefest of moments as he glances over to the woman before returning his gaze to the melee above.

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Tagged: Amber Lenoir
Notes: DATA LEAK

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LITTLE CRISES HELP YOU RELISH THE CALM

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Driscoll would almost let the indignity of this slip of a thing snidely clipping orders at him rankle, if she were not rather fortuitously making penance for the very act whether she knew it or not. As it stands, he taps a salute with two jaunty fingers against the edge of his brow and flashes her a grin that's all teeth. "Of course. Retrieval, I can handle, but striking? Well, goodness, I suppose I'd best get serious for that."

[break][break]

He watches the Umbreon work, and as the dark pokemon looses a Confuse Ray, the scientist clicks his fingers and gestures to his Klang. Reynard, to its credit, reorients almost immediately on the wobbling assemblage of Porygon2, charging energy that ruddies its silver framework before unleashing a Hyper Beam that sweeps across the gaggle of dazed escapees and sends them scattering with a sound that humorously resembles bowling pins clattering in a lane following a strike.

[break][break]

A quick flick of his wrist causes a Toxtricity to manifest beside the scientist in a flare of light. "Eckart, collect the downed Porygon2 and escort them to retrieval point twenty-six. I'll alert the containment team." The Toxtricity nods and leaps into action, sweeping a pair of unconscious Porygon from the ground in his long, amphibian arms before dashing out of sight.

[break][break]

The purple-and-yellow body of the lanky pokemon may be seen throughout the melee, darting in and out as he begins cleaning up the detritus, and Driscoll, satisfied, withdraws his phone, tapping a quick message before pocketing the device. A sharp report draws his attention, and the Klang goes spinning end-over-end as it takes the brunt of a wayward Tri-Attack.

[break][break]

"We're making progress," he shouts, jogging over to stand beneath the Klang as it rights itself, shaking off the attack somewhat wearily, "Eckart can take care of any stragglers that are trying to get further into the city, but we've got enough to deal with here, and I can only use that particular trick so often. Have you got anything bigger up your sleeve? He directs to Amber, running a hand through his hair in a nervous habit.

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Tagged: Amber Lenoir
Notes: DATA LEAK

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LITTLE CRISES HELP YOU RELISH THE CALM

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The sudden addition of two more pokemon to the fray allows the melee to distract Amber from Driscoll's frankly bemused expression. He had not, it seems, expected her to attempt to rise to the occasion. The extraction might not be as clean as he'd have preferred, but with precious few onlookers having stayed to brave the swarm of pokemon and Eckart already on the move, he supposes it's as close as he might manage, given the circumstances.
[break][break]
He fancies himself too mature to rise to obvious bait, but 'geek' - really? The scientist glances up to his Klang with a half-smirk, shouting, "The young lady's giving you a barrel, Reynard - Shift Gear and shoot the blasted fish!" In response, the rotation of the Klang's gears increases dramatically, and if it was nimble before, it practically zips from point to point through the air now. Orienting on the densely-packing masses of Porygon2 being herded by Dante and Lucifer, the Klang wastes no time, unleashing blazing arcs of electricity with its Zap Cannon in a stunning display of precision, if not wholesale power.
[break][break]
The Porygon2 struck by the attacks begin to drop to earth, where they are whisked away by a tumbling Eckart almost as soon as they touch the ground. As though spotting this, a cluster of the Porygon2, indignant at the treatment of their fellows, swarms Eckart as he attempts to retreat across the plaza to the designated retrieval point. The violet pokemon is briefly lost in a swirling mass of cotton-candy pinks and blues, until a teeth-rattling Boomburst is unleashed from within, sending the would-be rescuers sprawling across the pavement.
[break][break]
Eckart, very reasonably, takes the opportunity to snag another one or two within his grip before loping out of sight, no doubt to return for the next lap.
[break][break]
Henry plugs his ears in consternation, the shockwave from the Boomburst having disoriented some of the Porygon2 still hovering over the plaza. Reynard, orienting for another Zap Cannon, grinds in protest as the electricity fails to manifest. "Out of PP already?" the scientist grouses. Though the Klang swiftly rejoins the fray using Gear Grind and bowling through the Porygon2, it is clearly a less effective way of clearing the air.
[break][break]
From his periphery, Henry catches Eckart down the alleyway once more, though this time the Toxtricity offers him a curt nod before loping off. Time to formulate an exit strategy, then. "We're thinning the herd, but Reynard can't keep this up much longer! I suggest you finish this - go all out!" He bellows, his gaze flicking to Amber as though in agitation.

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Tagged: Amber Lenoir
Notes: DATA LEAK

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LITTLE CRISES HELP YOU RELISH THE CALM

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While that hadn't quite been the finale Henry had in mind, he had to concede that the younger woman appeared quite capable of holding her own. As Reynard managed a few half-hearted Gear Grinds to take out the straggling Porygon2, the spectacle of Dante's evolution enabled Eckart to swiftly convey the remaining downed pokemon from the scene.
[break][break]
The scientist returns Reynard to its pokeball and accepts Amber's card with a warm smile, though it doesn't quite manage to reach his eyes. "Thank you very much indeed," he offers, "Though looking good is hardly what I'm after. Merely ensuring that those poor pokemon stop causing havoc and make it to where...well, where they ought to be, I suppose."
[break][break]
A shame that the surveillance equipment was shorted by the rampage of Porygon2 during the hubbub, and even more a shame that Amber is as recognizable as she is. The vast majority of the downed Porygon2 were ferried by Eckart to a secure location where numerous Rocket retrieval vehicles carted them away to their own labs. Macro Cosmos would likely be missing them, but any witnesses to the alleged theft would certainly remember a pretty young influencer before a nondescript scientist.
[break][break]
Henry adjusts his glasses, bids the girl farewell with a lazy wave, and turns not to the building, but to follow Eckart down an alleyway humming softly to himself. "Retrieval in place?" he inquires, to which the Toxtricity gives an affirmative growl. "Excellent," Henry murmurs to himself. "A job well done, I should think."
[break][break]
If it meant a feather in his cap for Team Rocket, well, all the better.

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Tagged: Amber Lenoir
Notes: DATA LEAK