he winces, if not at the smattering of conversations that are passed back and forth, but at the open hand slap that made metaphorical contact with senon’s face.

“sheesh.” he says after taking the final bite of his pretzel, wiping his fingers with a supplied napkin soon after.

“so i guess that means you’re free tonight, sen-city? maybe we can whip out a cheese plate with some crackers to celebrate less responsibly?”

he speaks as Sénon Game passes, the man’s only words in parting being, “it's been a pleasure.”

“he’ll get back to me.”

kim insinuates before turning his attention to dahlia.

“that was a bold move, miss dahlia goode , don’t you think? we’re on the cusps of life altering events and tensions are high, and you think it's the right decision to handicap an already failing sector within the league?”

how cowardly of others to simply tuck their tails and show sympathy rather than speak out against something as trivial as what had just happened. and for gabe, a councilman whose job it is to steer the commissioner in the appropriate direction, to be the progenitor of cope was inexcusable.

“now i understand excusing him from the room and giving him a warning, but to outright remove him from his position without going through the proper steps of speaking with your councilmen is a step i believe to be too far.”

hands set onto the table, resting atop each other as his face remained placid, voice calm though firm as his onslaught of words were delivered.

“you’re stressed, theres a lot on your mind, and everything that happens will somehow fall onto your shoulders in the end- if i were in your shoes holding this altogether would be insurmountable- but you have a duty not to make decisions based on impulse. you are the highest power at this table; and if your power is so easily corrupted, what makes you different from the forces that have been at our throat for years?”

he pauses for a moment yet his eyes remain on dahlia, only altering their quarry to make contact with FERNANDO SILPH , GABRIEL BLACK , and Elinor Anderson as he makes mention of them as a whole.

“you are welcome to stand by your decision. but i implore you to properly talk this out with your trusted advisors before you set it in stone.”

he settles back into his seat without another word, awaiting the need to speak his mind once more when needed.

---

ღ lol

AN AQUA ASSEMBLY PT. 3

TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE

“AGREED,” is fernando coming to stand in someone else’s corner once more. however, like his earlier rise with Laurence Anderson, fernando’s recognition leans more toward bad omens than comradery. like the very neurotoxin that some may suspect to be behind the commissioner’s behavior, his agreeance turns sour with an insidious intent.

“we are on the cusps of life alter events,” he repeats for emphasis. “events that will have very real effects on everyone within the region. a consequence that i believe many of us present do not understand.”

he takes a stand, eyes sweeping throughout the room. it’s small but there is a noticeable pause between illeana reyes, MATIAS SILPH, Katherine Fairburne, Eva Morales, and Elinor Anderson.

“a meteor is coming that will wipe out our region. we cannot make mistakes that will jeopardize our operation. we need to succeed.”

given the luke warm reception the operation has had, especially in the face of ‘alternatives’, he’s almost pressured to repeat himself once more for clarity. for brevity’s sake, he does not.

“we know this and have known this for more than a year. so when a head scientist decides to sabotage one of the few machines and primal gems we have—” he slows his speaking so the tone can perpetrate just how much this incident deserves his ire.

“—because. maybe. somehow. perhaps palkia will appear and decide to save us—is nothing short of unacceptable!”

he blinks once but otherwise doesn’t miss a beat.

“when an elite four decides to go against their colleagues back and murders their pokemon, creating tension and lowering the rapport of this region’s strongest trainers, it is unacceptable!”

now is a time to air grievances and one by one the list comes out.

“when several members of his chamber propose, repeatedly, that we should just transport the meteor to a dimension that we do not have access to! i worry about the chances of our success.”

his gaze stops at dahlia and despite his initial reception of her, like kim cole-essam, he has grown to trust her. not because of her personality or compassion but because deep down, he has an understanding that while he relishes scolding others for their missteps, she does not.

“lest we forget, Balder Schwartz, in all his good intentions to save mateo martinez, not only lost SOLGALEO but opened up our world to the ULTRA SPACE invasion. his actions have taught us a valuable lesson. one that costed us many lives. ones that not only cannot be repeated and ones i should not have to suspect to originate from the very people sworn to protect this region!”

his tangent winds down and fernando takes a seat.

“the choice to fire Sénon Game is my own. i have advocated for his removal since before GABRIEL BLACK's appointment. dahlia goode was the one to put faith into him where i could not. unfortunately, we do not have the time or privileges of faith.”

his promise to cait alfric is fulfilled. it may not be within the confines of her expectation, but this is the means in which he can look out for him without further incident. likewise, the conversation with boruta maher months ago results in FERNANDO SILPH making the choice that the ranger captain could not.

“i have discussed this matter with dahlia goode at length,” he reveals. “this is not a decision made on impulse or emotion but on practicality and borrowed patience.”

note(s):
- me eat i fill in later ^_^

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
AQUA ASSEMBLY

amber eyes look to Katherine Fairburne , starting at her for a no less than three seconds before he rolls them to the back of his head, turning his attention to fernando as he begins to speak.

he chooses not to further spur though he is in every right to do so. he chooses mot to speak on how dahlia's action was the incorrect thing to do in the current setting. he chooses not to comment on how leaving people out of the know for dramatic effect or whatever the intention was was also incorrect. he chooses instead to silently nod, for it is no longer his job to meander over blurred lines.

“understandable.”

he states plainly.

---

ღ sheeeeeesh

AN AQUA ASSEMBLY PT. 3

Are you ready to be a BIG SHOT?

For the past several minutes, Doug had struggled to process Sénon Game's dismissal, his mouth opening and closing before any words could be uttered as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.

His temper rose, and fell, and rose again and fell again, as he ever so slowly put the pieces together as best he could understand them.

It was difficult; to try and look at things objectively; he would rather call out The double standard to which the commissioner was held as compared to them- but FERNANDO SILPH claimed Sénon Game's dismissal was the result of years of lobbying from the man himself.

Which just made Doug wonder why they chose to fire him now, in front of everyone.

"... If I may." The youth finally said in the most polite way he could manage at kim cole-essam's words- er, word, his gaze swiveling over to the commissioner. "I believe a last minute restructurin' to the Rangers's leadership will do us more harm than good in the short-term; We ain't gonna see the benefits of these changes before that meteor reaches Hoenn. But we're almost sure to see the repercussions of removing Game without any warning to him or his immediate staff on the field, in the form of both low morale and insubordination. Just my thoughts."

Felt like if they had waited a year to fire him, they could wait an extra month, but whatever.

Low morale and high rates of insubordination were common in the military when a squad, company, battalion, you name it, suddenly had an abrupt change in leadership- of that, he knew personally, as a formerly unfortunate new, unwanted leader himself.

And say what you will about the Ranger's competence or budget; they were certainly a tightly-knit group; Senon was quite popular. He couldn't imagine the people under him taking this too well once they found out the circumstances that led to the man's dismissal.

But then, he imagined nobody cared about any of that. 'They'll do their job or we'll find someone else that will' or something along those lines, he expected.

He slumped back onto his seat and stared at the paper in front of him, rolling his pen pensively before turning his gaze to Laurence Anderson.

"More of a head's up for ya than anythin', Mr. Anderson." Not a whole lot that could be done with the information other than prepare for it, seeing how the choice had already been made.

AN AQUA ASSEMBLY PT. 3

Are you ready to be a BIG SHOT?

"... Understood, Commissioner." The young man leaned his head back onto his seat and let his eyes slip closed, trying to tune out Kazimir Wynter essentially ejecting himself from the Elite 4.

The problem as Doug saw it wasn't a lack of talent, but of time. He didn't doubt some of these folk might be able to eventually fill in Sénon Game's shoes, but whether they would be able to do so in time was another matter.

Sénon Game's popularity amongst the rangers and the loyalty of his former men was being either underestimated or simply disregarded. Either way, Doug expected low morale and insubordination and the only thing that would convince him otherwise was actually seeing otherwise. So he really hoped he was wrong on this one.

Regardless, none of that mattered. He had known from the start that it was already too late to change what happened, regardless of what he said. Even if he had somehow managed to turn dahlia goode around to his point of view, there was no way in hell Senon would willingly return to work for the league after everything that had been said.

He didn't know why he bothered with saying anything. Perhaps he just wanted to at least feel like he had done something to try and stand up for his friend.

'Dumb.'