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[attr="class","textbox"]"You don't gotta be some saint to deserve a fighting chance."[break][break]

Parker wasn't a great person. Neither was @howard. Aurelie Lefevre made it clear that she wasn't one, either, despite being nothing short of amazing to Isaac. Even Naomi Sato had skeletons in her closest, Maldacena's premonitions burning in the dark corners of his mind that he refused to acknowledge.[break][break]

It didn't mean any of them deserved to be fed into the machine.[break][break]

Rocket didn't need bad people. Rocket needed obedient little monsters, cowed by the fear of those above them and the lust for the power they held. They needed shadow Pokemon. They'd use and abuse people like Parker until they went from bad to worse, then thrown them out like the garbage they'd become the second they outlived their usefulness.[break][break]

At the mention of Cillian Quinn, Isaac could practically feel his hackles raise. "Believe me. I know what the guy's capable of," Isaac said. "When he caught wind of my doubts, he made me take a life with nothing but an old, worn down knife. Thought it'd make me commit. Instead, it just made me sure what my next steps were gonna be."[break][break]

"He killed five of my best Pokemon for it. And 'til Suicune found me? He had me dead, too. Trust me, Parker. I know the price."[break][break]

Yet Parker was right. The price would be just as bad for her if they caught wind. "They wouldn't do that to Nomes," he insisted, part because he knew and part because he refused to believe it. "They need her more than she needs them. And they wouldn't risk pissing off the Unown. But . . . you're right. I don't want to risk it." Even if Nomi herself was untouchable, Parker was a frustratingly good scapegoat. Brash enough to blame, stubborn enough to take it, important enough to make Nomi bend without breaking her.[break][break]

What else could he say? He knew there was coming back from treason. He was one example. giada morgan, Ashley Shepard, two others close to his heart. But he knew Parker didn't want to hear it. Not yet, at least. Maybe not ever. Instead, he simply flashed her a sad smile. "Good luck out there, Parker."[break][break]

If push came to shove, he knew he'd disobey her. But why would he be so stupid as to admit it?