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Us.[break][break]
Perhaps most people would not have noticed the subtle oddity of that pronoun, given that Zev was, at least at first glance, a singular he. But Nomi - who's keen mind latched onto the linguistic anomaly with a laser precision - was not most people. Nomi, too, belonged to a collective now: she and her Unown were bound mind, body, and soul. She could will them to act with a thought, see through their eyes with her own, and visit their dimension whenever she pleased. And when they spoke to her, it was with one voice: and she, too, was a part of it.[break][break]
So it did not strike her as strange for Zev to refer to himself that way. All it did was inform her of just how deeply he and Necrozma seemed to be bonded now.[break][break]
Whether that was terrible or advantageous news remained to be seen.[break][break]
"Yes," she answered promptly, waving at the seat across from her desk, where he was welcome to sit if he desired. "I read your report, and there was one part in particular that stood out to me more than the rest."[break][break]
Kallistatus blinked into existence next to Nomi, hovering by her shoulder. It stared at Zev with its unblinking eye.[break][break]
"I want to know everything, in detail, about her. The woman who confronted you. What do you make of that, in truth?" Nomi's crimson eyes hardened. "The DRK Triad has tried to kill nearly every would-be Avatar that has manifested in this region, including myself. But you, they offered something else entirely: a chance to join them. Why?"
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The last time Zev met with Nomi about the abilities Necrozma had granted him, she had been more interested in his powers as a scientist. Perhaps she did not inquire about them now because she thought she knew everything about them already. After all, he hadn't mentioned any of the new powers he'd acquired in his report.[break][break]

Or, perhaps, she simply believed the DRK Triad was the more important topic of discussion. If that were the case, then Zev agreed.[break][break]

He sat in the indicated chair and rested the ankle of one leg on his other knee. "'Join' is perhaps an inaccurate word. The DRK Triad took advantage of me and allowed me to rampage across the universes to wreak destruction, doing their work for them."[break][break]

As he folded his hands in his lap, fingers lacing together, black crystals emerged in small, scattered clusters across his skin. If he noticed them, he made no indication of it.[break][break]

"Joining them would involve contributing to that work. And naturally, we refused."[break][break]

Not because Zev cared for the other universes. He'd destroyed the origin point in one already. His reasons were far, far more selfish.

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Nomi cocked her head, pink hair sweeping over one shoulder. The black crystals that rippled across his flesh were not lost on her.[break][break]
"My apologies," she murmured sincerely, offering a slight bow of her head - a Johtonian custom from her youth. "It seems that you share a history with us."[break][break]
She flashed Kallistatus a meaningful look, then turned her attention back to her guests.[break][break]
"The DRK Triad have a nasty habit of using powerful Pokemon such as yourself - such as the Unown - to further their own agenda. Too many of the Unown have long been held against their will, forced to hunt, spy, and capture for the DRK Triad. We are trying to remedy that."[break][break]
She and Kallistatus, who, when the choice had been offered to it, had chosen Nomi over Holo.[break][break]
"Your refusal makes perfect sense. You want to be free of their influence. And, I suspect, you'd like to make them pay for what they did to you."[break][break]
Deviations mattered. The DRK Triad had likely expected Zev to ally with them - for power, perhaps. But just like they had misjudged Nomi and her relationship with the Unown, so too had they failed to recognize the sheer scale of compatibility between a man like Zev and his would-be Patron.[break][break]
But it was clear to Nomi. After all, she knew a thing or two about kinship.
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Save for his own wife, the people Zev had encountered since his return from Ultra Space had regarded him with suspicion and even fear. He understood their emotional response. Necrozma had caused considerable damage and loss to cities and people across Hoenn and Galar.[break][break]

But Nomi's reaction indicated an unquestioning comprehension. An acceptance. Her perceptiveness grabbed Zev's attention, and his steely gaze flickered briefly to her blue-tinted Unown-K.[break][break]

When he next spoke, it was not as one human to another.[break][break]

"You're correct. The elimination of the DRK Triad is our goal. Your world itself is of little interest to us, but we will oppose them on whatever battlefield they choose. And they have chosen Hoenn."[break][break]

By the time Zev paused in his speech, more of the crystals had overtaken his body. Most were hidden beneath his clothing, but they were visible on his hands, neck, and head, mottling his skin like spots of void.

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If she were not already accustomed to speaking with beings that had been present at the universe's creation, perhaps she would find it more jarring to hold a conversation with one as ancient and all-encompassing as Necrozma. But Nomi did not look away, did not flinch when she met the creature's gaze as it spoke through Zev Harcourt, understanding on an intrinsic, primal level that this was an important moment - because it was a rare opportunity to practice dealing with such immense, world-ending, incomprehensible power.[break][break]
Which was what she would be dealing with - a thousand times more potent - when she eventually faced Arceus.[break][break]
"Then we are aligned," She replied, pleased. "We wish for the very same thing. With one minor caveat, of course."[break][break]
Kallistatus, sensing her emotional landscape - the urgent fervor of one who could see just how close they were to their doom - floated closer, and on the table in front of Nomi, shimmering blue crystals in opposition to Zev's black armor sprung up from the smooth wood, twisting into the shape of the entity the DRK Triad supposedly answered to.[break][break]
"You may kill them all, if you wish. Their lives mean nothing to me. All I ask is that - should the situation allow for it - you let me interrogate them first. You see, I am intent on finding Arceus, and I believe they know where to find it."[break][break]
She doubted Necrozma had such an answer, but a small hope sparked within her regardless: after all, this one had been to realms beyond their own. If it had any inkling of God's whereabouts, she hoped it would say so.
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Zev watched the gleaming blue crystals take the shape of Arceus, as commonly depicted in religious iconography, with cold indifference. He nodded at Nomi, accepting her terms.[break][break]

"Deal," he said with decisive finality. "We have no interest in Arceus, so we won't get in your way as long as you don't get in ours."[break][break]

The glimmer of hope and expectation in the young woman's eye was not lost on Zev, either. He searched the river of emotions and alien thoughts that flowed between himself and Necrozma, but could find no hint of Arceus' whereabouts among them.[break][break]

"What leads do you already have?" he asked instead.

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Their silence on the matter of Arceus's current location did not deter her: it had been the expected response, after all.[break][break]
"The last time I encountered a member of the DRK Triad, it was in the RKS Machine - and I don't mean the simulations themselves: Holo attacked me in the flesh. Whether it is by Unown or some other method, they are able to infiltrate that virtual space, and seem to have some inherent connection to it."[break][break]
Nomi had long suspected that the DRK Triad were backing, if not entirely responsible for, MACRO COSMOS, the mysterious technology company in possession of some truly alarmingly accurate personal details about Hoenn's citizenry. The Rondez-View of Luv game had seemed harmless on the surface, but Nomi had not been fooled. There were oddities about it that reminded her of the eerily accurate simulations conjured by the RKS Machine.[break][break]
"I believe we can use the machine to find them again," she continued. "Now that I have returned from the conflict at the island off Dewford, I can turn my attention back to it. Perhaps we can use it to bait them into appearing once more."[break][break]
She did not mention her plans to search for the DRK Triad via the Unown Dimension with illeana reyes. There were precious few she would trust with the knowledge of that budding alliance, for the time being.[break][break]
"Besides that, they seem to show up whenever a new Avatar is about to be chosen. For that reason, Rocket ought to keep a close eye on Admin howard slayte and Head Scientist Amor Rose, given their recent acquisitions of Regice and Deoxys respectively. Deoxys once blessed former Underboss Decker, as you know."[break][break]
She paused, considering.[break][break]
"Admin Bee, as well. I think the strange dark Moltres that manifested out of the Violet Book in the Cave of Origin...noticed him, before it fled."
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Zev raised an eyebrow at the mention of the RKS Simulation machine—a strangely human expression when compared to the nature of their conversation.[break][break]

"I've gone through the simulations dozens of times, and there are only so many scenarios in comparison. What makes you think it will reveal Arceus' location when it hasn't before?" he asked.[break][break]

He nodded at Nomi's suggestion to keep an eye on other members of Team Rocket with the potential for Avatarship.[break][break]

Though he did not know Amor Rose well, he was familiar with BARNABY FINCH's interest in Moltres. howard slayte's recent acquisition of Regice, too, was common knowledge among the crime syndicate's leadership.

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It was a good question. She had also made her way through the same simulated scenarios dozens of times: and every time she had encountered the one that hinted at an Ascended Hall of Origin, she'd never been able to actually reach it, much to her chagrin.[break][break]
But that was before the Cave of Origin. That was before the book.[break][break]
"We have more information to feed the machine," she explained, matter-of-fact. "New data, new materials. The Violet Book that manifested within the Cave of Origin during Chien-Pao's attack - I believe the mythology within will be able to provide us with more robust simulations."[break][break]
She had already ordered the experiments, they would be well under way by now.[break][break]
"Come with me into the machine," she urged. "Holo's appearance was something of a glitch. Perhaps we can uncover others."[break][break]
Let this be an alliance, not just between Rocket peers, but between beings of the ancient world - Necrozma and the Unown.
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Nomi's mention of the Cave of Origin jogged Zev's memory of the book she and Amor Rose had recovered after Chien-Pao's attack. The Beast nodded again, just once.[break][break]

"Then let us know when you've finished your experiments and are ready to run new simulations. We're curious to see if they will reveal any new information," he said.[break][break]

They must, he assumed. One would be a fool to introduce a new variable into any situation and expect nothing to change.[break][break]

Sensing that the conversation had reached its natural conclusion, Zev rose from his chair. Before leaving her office, he paused in the doorway and cast Nomi a backward glance.[break][break]

"We'll be in touch, Sato."

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