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[attr="class","textbox"]Thinking back on it, Isaac was surprised he'd never spent time in prison before. He was even more surprised his first time was of his own volition.[break][break]

For the most part, his stay in Dewford had been spent recuperating in the hospital. Between the harrowing experience he'd been put through, the strange nature of his injuries, and the stranger nature of his recovery, it was deemed a necessity. It was an annoying one, but it beat the alternative.[break][break]

Unfortunately, rules were rules, and Navy's personal fondness for him had already stretched beyond where it should. Once the HBIC came to stake their claim, there were two ways it could have gone. The first way was a lot of red tape and saber rattling about who had jurisdiction and how handled this matter was. The second way was for Isaac to save Navy the trouble and do things by the book.[break][break]

Far as cells went, it wasn't too terrible.[break][break]

The nice thing about not being an official inmate was that he got to skip the worst of the BS. He didn't have to pick a fight with the big dog of the yard or any shit like that. He did have to choke down some gross prison food, but it turned out it was a lot more tolerable when you could wring the excess water out of it to make it less runny.[break][break]

To the HBIC's credit, their agent was punctual. Even with his pause to seethe over the job he was undertaking, he entered the room the very second their meeting was scheduled for. Impressive.[break][break]

Isaac was never the best at sitting still, even before his body became host to the north wind. Nevertheless, once he saw the HBIC agent lingering outside the doorframe, he snapped out of the push-ups he was doing and quickly popped back into his seat. He'd never suspect a thing! Probably.[break][break]

"I'd say we should start with names. But I'm pretty sure we've already got each other's." No sense wasting his time with crud the agent already knew. "It's good to meet you, Classified."[break][break]

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[attr="class","textbox"]Damn. Neither a smirk or an eye twitch at that bit. This guy was either a real deal professional or had the poker face of the gods. "Shoulda figured. But, hey. Figured I'd spare you the hassle."[break][break]

"Isaac Merlo. You're not gonna find it in the system, but nobody out there's heard of Isaac Sunderland." Ugh. Even saying that made him want to vomit. By this point, the name was a secret between him, El Sunderland, and the Hoenn PC system. "Maybe now that I'm striking it legit, I should make that official."[break][break]

Now for the harder part. Rank. Despite his tendency to punch above his weight class, he'd never really had the ambition to delve deeper into the machine. The only rank he'd been bestowed came from Cillian Quinn, who would probably redact it himself if he could. jayden cross seemed convinced he could have been a Beast. Ashley Shepard had wanted them to reign together, once. Neither of those paths really spoke to him.[break][break]

They just seemed like newer, deadlier cages.[break][break]

"Associate. In other words, a Grunt too stupid to keep his head down." Would he have been happier if he had? Would he have been able to stick to small-time crime while ignoring the machine chugging along in the background? Or would both his rising potential and his growing distrust demand to make themselves known, one way or another?[break][break]

Perhaps this path truly had been inevitable.

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[attr="class","textbox"]"I shouldn't have."

It was a fascinating paradox. Isaac damn well knew, were it not for Rocket, he would have never blossomed into the man he was today. At the same time, he had nothing but resentment towards the fact that it took joining such an organization in the first place. His potential was built on a pillar of ash, and he was unfathomably lucky to have escaped with it intact.[break][break]

"But I didn't. And now we're here." There was a resignation, almost a sorrow, to Isaac's voice. "Lots of us don't catch on until it's too late. Then it's either dead or worse."[break][break]

At times, the dead seemed liked the lucky ones.[break][break]

Gunner asked his next question, and Isaac pondered the room. "Gonna guess you don't give a Raticate's ass about all the sob story parts. Shit family, no prospects, living off whatever I could get my hands on." The guy was more jaded looking than a statue of Rayquaza. "So I'll cut to the chase."[break][break]

"It was two years ago. I was blowing through town when I saw a poacher trying to slip out the way I came. So I did what anyone in my shoes would've done and tried to stop her."[break][break]

"I got destroyed."[break][break]

"I didn't have a lot on me, but I'd gotten my hands on some Revives in case of an emergency. So I tried again. And again. And again. Guess that stubbornness either amused her or impressed her, 'cause she made me an offer. I come to the sub and hear what they had to say, and she'd look the other way instead of making my life a living hell."[break][break]

"I had nothing left to lose, no leverage, and no clue what I was getting myself into. I figured I'd have to be a fool not to at least take a peek." Frustration knit across Isaac's brow. Sorrow shined in his eyes. Guilt set into his smile. "Guess I ended up the fool either way."

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[attr="class","textbox"]Hoo, boy. Now this was a hell of a question.[break][break]

"I want to say it was never anything too bad. But we both know that's not how this works." In a vacuum, Isaac's first instincts were right. But when had any of this been in a vacuum? "Theft? Just brought them more resources. Fraud? Just helped them hide easier. Chasing smaller-time crooks out of their turf? Just extended their reach. I could try and justify it 'til the Miltank come home. The blood might not've been on my hands, but I helped spread it either way."[break][break]

Chu-e Choi had told him not to be overly hard on himself. They told him there was nothing to be gained from handwringing over atrocities that he hadn't committed. Isaac wanted to believe them. However, Rocket was a well-oiled machine, and every cog played its part. He couldn't call himself a murderer, but it would be equally irresponsible to ignore the role he had served.[break][break]

Well, he could call himself a murderer. Maybe.[break][break]

"I've only taken a single life. I was never a model Rocket, and the Underboss was finally sick of my shit. He put a knife in my hand and told me it was my life or his prisoner's." Isaac briefly bowed his head, as if in mourning. "I knew the guy was dead either way. It was just a question of whether I'd be joining him or not. That didn't stop it from being the hardest thing I'd ever have to do."[break][break]

Never again. That was the promise he'd made to himself that day. Yet he knew Gunner didn't care about that, either.[break][break]

"The worst thing I'd ever done was join the attack on Mt. Pyre. The whole plan sat wrong with me, but orders were orders. I just closed my eyes. Told myself the League's plan was genocide, so how bad could we be? Thanked my lucky stars I wasn't sent to Littleroot, because I knew I couldn't handle it." He'd be dead at Zev Harcourt's hand before the sun even set on that little podunk town.[break][break]

"It was the biggest mistake of my life. I should've left then and there. Took me a year to stop being such a fucking coward."

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[attr="class","textbox"]"You're right."[break][break]

Of all the things Gunner could have expected to hear after his scathing takedown, would he have seen this coming? Surely, most defectors at least put more effort into trying to defend themselves. They certainly didn't agree with words born from hatred and vengeance, not just for their organization but from them on a personal level.[break][break]

"I could be a saint, and it wouldn't make a bit of difference. I spent over a year helping the biggest threat to our region. And I tried to justify it because I was too big of a coward to walk away." He'd had reservations since Meteno. He'd known he wanted to leave since the Ultra Deep Sea. Yet, time and time again, he lingered, feasted upon by naivete, self-doubt, and pure fear.[break][break]

"But there's one thing different even you'd agree with." Isaac turned around, giving his cuffed hands a little wiggle. "They're still over there. And I'm right here. Not because I had to be, but because I want to be."[break][break]

"That file tells you how I got here, yeah?"

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[attr="class","textbox"]"We were ordered to risk the end of the world for moon rocks. The hell wouldn't be looking for the door after that?"[break][break]

The answer: a surprising number of people, including himself. The fact that Rocket hadn't collapsed the second Walsh made his demand was testament to the organization's reach and power. Forget an organized crime ring. Forget a terrorist cell. Rocket had become a death cult, willing to take any risk and shoulder any loss to make their boss and their organization that slightest bit stronger.[break][break]

"I stuck around because of the people that depended on me." Isaac shivered, his new eye wincing in a phantom pain. He knew all too well what would have happened to Ashley Shepard if he walked away. "Told myself I could stop things from being that bad for them."[break][break]

"I was an idiot."[break][break]

"All I got for my troubles was a front row seat of them getting worse. I wasn't doing shit to stop them from becoming killers in debt to Rocket. If anything, I was just making them feel more secure. And I knew if I didn't find a way out, I'd just be following them down that road. But how do you just tear yourself away from people you care about?"[break][break]

With a heavy sigh, Isaac closed his eyes. Soft pain gave way to sharp focus when they reopened. "Then Rocket went after someone like family to me. I know it's selfish. But it was that last push I needed. The second I heard they had Caleb Harcourt, I knew I was getting him out. And I knew, one way or another, there was no going back."

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[attr="class","textbox"]"angelo vestri would know better than me." Isaac didn't expect the HBIC to keep track of every single member of the Rangers, but it still ruffled him a tiny bit. Caleb Harcourt went through a lot. They should know he's okay! "After the handoff I . . . had my hands full."[break][break]

Full with fighting an Underboss and mending a city. Were it not for the storms over Sootopolis and the reinvigoration of Petalbutg Woods, it would seem unbelievable.[break][break]

Alas, there was no time to spin those fairy tales. The prison was under attack, and at Gunner's incredulous look Isaac simply shrugged. "They've been at this all month. The gym. The freaking hospital." It would've heen unbelievable, had it not been on official record. "I really pissed 'em off, I guess."[break][break]

He knew too much to be written off. He lacked the protections to be out of Rocket's reach. He was a perfect storm, the exact type of traitor to be hung from a bloody banner and turned into an example for others.[break][break]

"You know what I'm gonna ask, and I know what you're gonna say." Just in case, Isaac gave his cuffs a little rattle. With how they'd been applied, he'd be of no help here. "So would you rather give me your permission, or have me ask for forgiveness later?"[break][break]

Mists began to dance around the tips of his fingers.