idle chatter, the ruffling of papers, the pencil pushing and red tape that comes along with it ends awkwardly and they linger, waiting for the topic to turn. freya eyes the councilwoman curiously, half out of her own seat. 

she sits and is glad she did so before the information is spoken. the sudden stillness of her features bespeaks her rage, white hot and irascible.

fernando's question matters little to her. she could care little for what matias does or doesn't know regarding his own treason. 

"in what capacity?" she says, words spoken through thin lips, a tense jaw. 

PENELOPE LIVY FERNANDO SILPH

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at first utterance of MATIAS SILPH's name, the commissioner is quick to mentally demand the brakes for the sentence. what has he done this time? who has he offended, wronged, or outright harmed? like a parent dreading a phone call during academy hours, she awaits the conclusion.[break][break]

but she realizes she has already known. already briefed by the HBIC, by PENELOPE LIVY.[break][break]

she had wondered if there had been more.[break][break]

"by way of your announcement, i assume more conclusive evidence has been found?"

Line by line, she addressed her audience, voice a piece of whetted steel.
[break][break]


Starting with FERNANDO SILPH , "No. Our intentions are to keep this investigation as discreet as possible." Exposure would only crumble the shaky foundation they stood on. Combine that with MATIAS SILPH ' volatility, and well, there would no mistaking the legitimacy of his namesake.
[break][break]


Now to freya morningstar - the woman her eye kept catching, as if an invisible string tied them together. Both wronged, both hurt, their anger was a shared river to drown in. "While doing recon in the underwater passages, he ran into a member of the organization. From there, he relayed our plans, causing the city to fall without fail."
[break][break]


Because Sootpolis deserved it, and Hoenn needed it.
[break][break]


Lastly, the executioner turned from the jury to the judge. dahlia goode .
[break][break]


"Embarrasingly, these questions came when an RVL route hinted at MATIAS SILPH' treason. It wasn't anything conclusive. But, as you all might be aware, many of MACRO COSMOS' games were reported to be sprouted by elicited information of the included characters."

[break][break]

"It wasn't until Matias broke house arrest to meet with a now known Rocket Underboss and avatar, Elisabeth Fiorelli , that suspicions felt justified."
[break][break]


Stoicism locked her features in blocked of ice, swallowing the fervent passion that once acted as her emblem of heroism. In its place, pain festered, pulsing harder than her heart. Envy had burnt her memories, but it hadn't destroyed the remnants of love that still clung to her chest like ghosts.
[break][break]


But it was her duty to press on in spite of that. In spite of it and war waged against her.
[break][break]


"We're still in the process of gathering something more tangible. Its just, given the irrevocable damage that would be done if we were prematurely discovered, progress has been slow."
[break][break]


She swallowed, hard.
[break][break]


"But I wouldn't come to this conclusion without reason. when I initially learned of his hand in sootopolis, I felt betrayed, and so I went to him. And he confirmed everything himself."
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH dahlia goode freya morningstar[break]


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she is silent for most of it. rigid. her gaze is hard, intense and unblinking, when penelope locks eyes with her. it's a brittle foundation for treason, but still the idea of it makes her jaw tighten. 

a muscle in her cheek flicks. 

he confirmed everything himself.

red blinds her. she is up and out of her seat, fist on the table, ears ringing, lips twisting and spitting, "traitor," when she comes back to a split second later. heat rises to her cheeks and she swallows past the rough ache in her throat, the anger bursting at her seams.

molten gold settles on fernando and it takes every fiber of her being not to ask, did you know too?

instead, she forces herself to sit back down. she cannot, will not, apologize for the outburst. 

home burned, nests broken, family snuffed, life stolen.

her dragons' misery and madness, wrapping her in a cocoon for months at the beckoning of nature's madness. every ancient sorrow riddled into her bones. imprints lingering still, bruising her marrow. 

"what...are our next steps?"

PENELOPE LIVY  dahlia goode FERNANDO SILPH

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"our next steps are indeed to gather something more tangible. if matias' treason is to be believed, then we can not act until enough evidence is gathered." [break][break]

there is a thinness to dahlia's voice. a fragile surface; though this is no meteoroid, the commissioner fears the earth shattering beneath her feet. [break][break]

"rushing into this can spoil our chances for a just punishment."[break][break]

she frowns.[break][break]

"but this situation is complicated by groudon's agency." dahlia looks to fernando before gliding her solemn gaze across the table. "whomever is chosen may not be chosen by groudon... and groudon may not take kindly to the decisions mandated by our government."

"I know what bait looks like," is what she wanted to say.
[break][break]
But like dried leaves, the words only rattled at the back of her throat, muted by the realities awaiting their birth. If she allowed them freedom, havoc would surely follow. Emotions were like that; let one slip through the cracks, and the rest would come rushing through, snuffing out the flames of all else that stood in its way. This conversation wouldn't just revolve around Matias, but everything he's done. Everything they're failing to prevent.
[break][break]
"Past conversations," she eyed her colleague suspiciously, "anything worth sharing?"
[break][break]
"but this situation is complicated by groudon's agency."
[break][break]
Groudon. Since the beginning, she knew trouble would brew from its existence. Only, she had predicted Eva Morales would play a heavier hand in the chaos. [break][break]

"While we consider Groudon's piece in all of this, I suggest placing heavy surveillance onto MATIAS SILPH. It might be impossible to maintain 24 hour knowledge on his whereabouts, but if he's continuing contact with rocket officials, in time something should show of it."
[break][break]
She took to a pause, fiddling with a thought before letting it loose.
[break][break]
"And, if evidence does come through," Her gaze shifted toward dahlia goode. The commander and chief of their entire operation. "I'd like to ask for The Truth Seeker's assistance."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH dahlia goode freya morningstar[break]


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

if matias' idea of a practical joke is to admit the handing over of a league-operated city to a terrorist organization, the state of his mental health ought to be analyzed. but she holds her tongue, knowing that her thoughts are spun from old grudges and tasteless threats. 

she folds her hands on the table and clears her throat. 

"i feel i must reiterate my call for revisiting the aqua contract. one of the highest-ranking officials in the league could very well be working with our enemy and we have to skulk under his radar because of his patron."

she casts an apologetic glance at penelope and then runs her tongue along her teeth.

"we need counter-measures to neutralize rogue individuals in the case any of our avatars or their patrons act against the interest of the league and hoenn's people."

PENELOPE LIVY FERNANDO SILPH dahlia goode

☉

she sucks on her teeth and her lips curl at fernando's questioning. 

"no, i don't believe it is, councilman," she remarks primly. 

"section iv, titled 'penalties imposed for violations and breaches of this contract' state consequences such as the expulsion from the aqua initiative, the removal of benefits, imprisonment, and any other penalty the league deems fitting."

she does not reference a paper in hand, but each word presses briskly past her teeth. "what protocols do we genuinely have at the ready to carry out containment if things get out of hand? what faculties have we on hand to dispatch and neutralize threats of such proportions?

"if the worst happens and MATIAS SILPH turns on us, it will be explosive. it could be cataclysmic. and we have nothing ready to combat that." her gaze flickers back to fernando. "i seek your valuable input, councilman silph, as a man who values his contingencies."

FERNANDO SILPH PENELOPE LIVY dahlia goode

☉

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"heavy surveillance will be conducted then, but we would have to inform matias of the formal arrangement. we do not need to tell him of Razz Kingsman's role."[break][break]

the commissioner pinches her brow, heavy head nested against the bow of her fingers. her thoughts flurry into cold gusts. each action must be assessed for risk, how they blast into immeasurable paths seeking possibilities in aeolian caves. she scours for paths that do not terminate.[break][break]

"the aqua initiative was also developed as a system to keep other avatars in check." the commissioner removes her fingers, eyes glancing back and forth between her cabinet. "would eva and rayquaza be our best bet for tempering them?"