for all her meekness—at least, that was what lulu perceived—there was a mischievousness in the young professor’s eyes that she hadn’t expected to see. it wasn’t the words themselves, but the way they were accompanied by that strange little smile, where there should’ve been a look of concern.[break][break]

an interest sparked in rocket’s head scientist, always on the lookout to snatch up talent for their own gain. could she be so bold?[break][break]

”not much, unfortunately.”[break][break]

although she had suspected illeana of being an assassin herself once. the suspicion still lingered in the smallest narrowing of her eyes, but it dwindled more and more.[break][break]

”just that they’re out to get my kind, and i’d much rather they fuck off to somewhere else.”[break][break]

she paused, remembering.[break][break]

”there was one thing, though. i watched them vanish in what looked like pixels, as though they were holograms, lagging as they left. it’s perplexing, considering they were able to physically interact with our world, which would of course seem to mean that they were really here, at least in some effective capacity.”

[attr="class","ooc"]illeana reyes [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]truthfully, she has little concern for the energy overflowing into hoenn.

she should, realistically, but it feels like a tool to use rather than the unnatural phenomena it should be.

and after spending so much time in FERNANDO SILPH's pocket, it's high time she started acting like it. taking pages from his book is easy but what happens when she runs out? when she burns the book and the library it came from?

"i've always wondered," she muses suddenly, as if struck with an idea. "where exactly these assassins came from."

the pixel comment breeds more questions than answers. it's infuriating, really...

"holograms wouldn't be able to physically interact with our world, though, right?"

hm.

"if they're not holograms but there's a lagging effect when they disappear..."

she has an idea but... is it possible?

"could they be using a handheld device or something to jump between planes of existence? they've only seemed to have come around when we meddle with the space-time continuum."

desolate land. the star soiree. each event included space or time disruptions in some form or another. is that how they find the assassins? or... is it how the assassins find them?

it still doesn't explain a pixelated form but then again, nothing about the world quite makes sense anymore.

Lulu Flint

when the book was burned and there was no library left, perhaps the head professor would find that she was better off writing her own rules, anyways. the vaguely roguish air she was giving off was like blood in the water to the sharpedo across from her, practically salivating.[break][break]

”presumably not, no—but our laws of physics are being broken constantly these days, so who knows what’s possible?”[break][break]

she shrugged.[break][break]

a handheld device was a very intriguing idea. if professor reyes was right, lulu definitely needed to get her hands on one.[break][break]

”if that happens to be case, it could mean that following them is as easy as taking that device.”[break][break]

pondering, she sat back in her seat again. after a moment, a smirk curled onto her pale face.[break][break]

”i’m curious. how did the league get to ‘sea hoenn’?” a pause. ”or is that confidential?”

[attr="class","ooc"]illeana reyes [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she hums.

it's possible the laws of their universe are simply... breaking down at the foundation. cracks become fissures and fissures mean invaders.

does the cycle ever end?

"if one were to trap an assassin and prevent escaping, perhaps it'd be easier to see how they do it?"

unfortunately, it would mean disposing of the evidence afterward but she's certain it's possible at the very least.

the topic shifts slightly to sea hoenn. and with it, her body tenses with a stillness. it's not an unexpected topic but it's sore nevertheless.

her back feels itchy and tingly all at once. she mirrors lulu's smile if only to mask the rising unease.

"confidential, i'm afraid."

Lulu Flint

”i’d imagine so. but if it’s not a matter of simply disarming them, i wonder how one might go about keeping them contained.”[break][break]
predictably, illeana clammed up at her casual attempt to pry. lulu hadn’t truly expected to glean much from it. she was more aware of the extent of the league’s secrecy surrounding their mission than most, having hacked mossdeep space center to learn of sea!hoenn long before its suspiciously brief news coverage.[break][break]
mostly, she’d wanted to see illeana’s face when she brought it up. would there be shame, or that same little smile of hers?[break][break]
interestingly, it was the latter.[break][break]
”i see. fair enough.”[break][break]
with her coffee having finally cooled down to her preferred room temperature, she picked it up and sipped. set it back down.[break][break]
”how exciting it must have been to discover a new world. i must say, i’m impressed, professor—perhaps even more-so that you have the gall to smile about it, considering it and all of its inhabitants will soon be destroyed.”

[attr="class","ooc"]illeana reyes [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]"it's a simple move, perhaps."

she stares, head tilting to one side as if she doesn't quite understand the conundrum.

"fairy lock would be effective enough to prevent escape. once their way of transport is taken from them, you merely... rid yourself of the remaining evidence."

lulu expects her secrecy. somehow, illeana understands as much.

she remembers signing her name in pretty cursive at the bottom of an nda. and sometimes, she wishes she hadn't because god does she want to talk about it. she'd pick lulu's brain on the subject until there's nothing left.

instead, her smile grows a little wider. it's audacious in the face of scrutiny.

"well," she begins. her hands fold neatly in her lap, free of any trembles. she's certain of her stance on the matter. "when its inhabitants have gutted you from behind like an animal at slaughter, it's not hard to lose any empathy to their impending doom."

the scar on her back is reason enough for her and it's petty but... that's all that matters.

"would you feel sorry for someone who has done the same to you?"

Lulu Flint

could a fairy lock contain someone who could simply spawn themselves in and out of their world in such a way? she supposed it was likely if there were physically there, but were they, fully, or at all?[break][break]
lulu didn’t challenge her, only entertaining the idea with an echoed ”perhaps.”[break][break]
the bit about getting rid of the evidence was interesting. she stared back, a corner of her mouth twitching upward again.[break][break]
then it got pretty juicy. so, this was the hostility that had been mentioned.[break][break]
”no. if i survived being gutted, i suppose i’d take the issue up with those that did it. as in, not everything on the planet, because that’s insane.” meanwhile, her own blueprints for the fall of society existed in fading, unrealized schemes. never happened.[break][break]
”seems to me the simplest way to not be gutted by them would be to leave them alone. surely not hard, considering you all had to invent a way to get to them in the first place—a way that is either so expensive or so dangerous that you can’t even talk about it.”[break][break]
she sat back, coffee in-hand. ”with the news coverage, i’m just waiting for the next war of the worlds you all will have started.”

[attr="class","ooc"]illeana reyes [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she toes a precarious line.

one wrong word... and the nda she signed is fucked.

and yet, lulu presses on a nerve she didn't quite know she had. the result is a display of teeth.

"there was no way to simply leave them alone."

the concept is almost laughable. somehow, she doesn't indulge in the sensation. part of her wishes she had.

"it's a kill or be killed world. surely you're familiar with that concept?"

her stare is cold.

"the details are confidential, as i said, but do know... they will not stop until they get what they want."

whether that's revenge for their king, the sacrifices they seemed to desperately need, or the lugia rocket possesses... she's uncertain.

the scientist heaves out a sigh and her eyes finally drift away from lulu's. they find solace in the ceiling.

"a war of worlds isn't the worst outcome, i suppose. better than death by a meteor..."

somehow, a smile rises when her eyes fall back to earth, back to lulu.

"at least we'd have a chance, then."

Lulu Flint

there was one way, though.[break][break]
”you could’ve stayed in your own dimension.”[break][break]
she grinned at the ridiculousness of it—not that she intended on staying there, but her own selfish gains were put ahead of the rest of the world, and that was why she was team rocket’s head scientist, and at least to that degree, she was self-aware.[break][break]
the concept of kill or be killed. lulu’s teeth showed more, unable to refrain from the mocking smile that curled into her face at the question. if only reyes had known the amount of blood on the hands of the scientist across from her.[break][break]
her brow furrowed in bewilderment, wondering what it might be that sea!hoenn wanted, but she let it pass for the moment.[break][break]
”i imagine the war may come before the meteor, reyes. that is my whole point. the league’s move to destroy them later means that currently they must be some kind of live threat—unless the purpose of destroying that world is something else, or it is merely the only convenient option, and the truth has been covered up with propaganda.”

[attr="class","ooc"]illeana reyes [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]"perhaps," she offers.

her smile widens.

"much like the megalopolans, however, they've been intertwined with our world before a trip had ever been made."

in one way or another, the meeting had been destined. which side does it fall on, then? human error or necessary fate?

the concept of war is a fickle thing. and with a lightly waved hand, she dispels lulu's timeline from the air.

"it would not make sense for them to bring war before the meteor."

of that, she is certain.

"why strike when someone is building up security measures, safety plans, strength?"

they could but she knows better.

"i suspect they'd strike when the meteor comes, when league forces are solely focused on transport and not looking at what lies in the shadows. of course, they could already be here as well... lying in wait until the right moment comes."

her eyes narrow and for a moment, she simply seeks to analyze the scientist before her.

"unless you know of another place to transport a meteor, it is the only option."

Lulu Flint

lulu raised her brows, because that was certainly a revelation. even scrounging around the information stowed at the mossdeep space center had not turned up the detail that sea!hoenn had engaged first—if that was even what she was implying. what did intertwined mean?[break][break]
illeana’s logic didn’t quite add up to her, and it showed in the pinch between her brows.[break][break]
”so… you’re saying they’d attack right before the meteor. right when we’re most vulnerable, because they’ll have had all this time to come up with a strategy and will know what’s coming. i’m not sure if you’re trying to argue with me, reyes, but it sounds like we agree with each other. the league has put us all at risk.”[break][break]
did lulu know of another place? she scoffed lightly, ”no, but is it honestly not possible to just send it in the other direction, back out into space? and you couldn’t alter its trajectory, why not just warp it to the other side of our planet, past us?”

[attr="class","ooc"]illeana reyes [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she sighs.

is she agreeing? is it as simple as yes or no?

she exists in multiple stages of the same dilemma: distrust.

agreeing or not, the end result will always be the same. it makes her nauseous.

"there's been rumors of their activity in hoenn. i don't know in what form or if it's even true but i can't shake the idea that something will happen during the meteor's arrival."

if only she knew then of her own transgressions, of her own betrayal to the league's plan. perhaps it could have been different.

her hand rises to pinch at the bridge of her nose, as if a headache is a second away from rooting itself into her brain.

"i've been trying to do that."

trying, failing... it's all the same, isn't it?

"i've been searching for something to do exactly what you're suggesting and it's -- i haven't been as successful as i have hoped."

Lulu Flint