"Is that so? Then keep turning, Isaac. Turn until your back faces me."

He did not deserve salvation. The cog in the machine did not deserved to be free. He acknowledged Isaac's ideal and he allowed himself to bask in its glow before releasing himself from the spectacle that it was. It was the same mantra uttered across centuries and centuries, since the world was young. He would acknowledge it and he would respect it.

But it would never come to pass. History was a cycle. Yet if he could help Isaac's desire become reality, he would. If there was ever a day where he could walk free from his prison, he would take it.

"I will not. I won't lay a finger on her." The subject of Eris Halla was a loaded gun between them. Always present, easy to reach, lethal when used. The admin's face became clammy as he felt the weight of Pressure on his back. Remarkably, he did not break his gaze.

For all his talk of cowardice and fear, there was still a spine of steel holding up Howard's back.

"Nor will I harm you." At least, under Quinn held the gun to his head. Then his position would be put into question. That can could be kicked down the road. He could not protect Eris, not from herself. "Eris is more defended than Goode is at this point. Between you, Navy, she's got an all-star team."

He drank his hot chocolate and put the glass down with a clink. He stood up and put his hand on his hip.

"Go into that chasm and see for yourself, then. There's one demon left between the cracks. One bigger than most. I... He..." Howard gestured vaguely, then gave up. Words failed him. All that was left was fear and trauma and grief. The expression that hung on his face was such a hopeless picture.

He was sending Isaac Merlo to die. It wasn't fair. He deserved to live.

But if there was even a ghost of a chance that Isaac could win against that monster, then he had to try. It was his obligation to this region, and to Eris. She couldn't live in a universe that shared him. Coexistence was impossible.

"You'll honor your promise? You won't tell a word of the tale of Howard Slayte, Admin Fox, and his golem?"

He needed to hear it again.

---

Isaac Merlo

"Children are the future's potential. It's the duty of the old to give wisdom and protection to the young."

Eris Halla was self-destructive. There would come a day where she would destroy herself, most likely. When that occurred, she'd have to come to the realization that all of those actions were of her own free will. Whether it was the will of the universe or the will of a young girl, one day she would destroy herself.

It was up to this generation to ensure that such a thing couldn't happen.

"There is nothing you can do to rectify someone's nature. You can't make Cillian Quinn normal. You can't fix Walsh, or anyone. All we can do is keep going. I'm going to support my friends, and you will do the same."

He'd end up afraid by the time his resolve was tested. His spine was weak and fragile, and his nerves were like wet paper. Howard Slayte could not be trusted. A craven had little to offer a genuine hero, no matter how much the fearful longed to reach that lofty goal.

Still, he was someone that Isaac had.

"Of course. If you die, I'll write it for you. You will not become a forgotten figure in some ill-gotten tale. Your name will ring for centuries to come. I won't allow it." A complete history of the world was his goal. The truthful tale of Hoenn and its war. It would be written, chronicled, and archived for generations centuries later.

That was Howard's one great ambition. He was a simple man with one goal, fueled by love.

Then, he realized something.

"Someone needs to tell the stories of my colleagues, since the League won't. Since you're not officially one of us, that's left to me." Elisabeth Fiorelli, jayden cross, Amor Rose. Who would tell their stories when this war was over and the executed were put on the block?

The League would erase it all. History was written by the victors.

Unacceptable.

"They don't deserve to be forgotten, either." Howard clenched his fist. "You know that more than anyone. I should get going, but..."

He contemplated Isaac for several seconds. The eye of a predator gleamed in the socket of a meek and demure man, incapable of raising a sword to defend himself. That was not required. He did not need a blade to fulfill his purpose in this world. Howard saw something in the Avatar's eyes that he approved of. With a nod, he reached out to shake the Liberator's hand.

"Thank you, Isaac Merlo."

---

Isaac Merlo

They were monsters, and they would get the sword when this war was over.

But it was fine to pretend that it'd be okay for a moment. This was a precise moment in time where it was okay to remember that everything was fine, and that life wasn't a cruel jape that ended with Howard's head on a spike. He allowed himself to mull on Isaac's words, to get drunk on the dream of freedom.

Rocket members were people. Yes, that made sense. They were people. Vile and abhorrent, disgusting and rotten, cruel and rejected. Yet every single member of Rocket was a person. They could not be swept away by the League once this is over. They needed someone to guide them. Someone who saw beyond this ceaseless war.

Someone who cared.

"The world will forget. It's in our nature to do so. You're wasting your time. In a generation, our war will continue and we'll forget it all again." Howard muttered into his shoulder as his eye watered. No, eyes. Tears welled in his missing eye's socket around the Key Stone. He accepted and melded into the hug. "But I won't."

Howard would remember. He watched, he saw, he chronicled, he recalled. The culmination of history was his to unfurl, and the present was his to observe and preserve.

He made a vow to never look forward, because he found it meaningless. There was no need to predict the future when everything would run in repeat. Wars would be waged, people would die, people would vow to never repeat such an atrocity, people would repeat it.

This was to be mankind's samsara.

"If only I had met you earlier, Isaac Merlo. Just think of the worlds I might've seen, of the dreams I might've witnessed."

Looking forward had been meaningless, but was it not a historian's duty to prepare others for what was to come? Isaac Merlo was one of those people. He would fight for the future with the knowledge Howard armed him with.

Ideal. Paradise.

Howard stopped dreaming, and returned to reality.

"Perhaps you're right, Merlo." He didn't say a word about his true feelings. He wouldn't mar the moment, but his thoughts didn't change. Someone's nature did not change. It merely revealed itself. Every person had a true nature. Isaac had finally found his, and Cillian's revealed itself in that eternal dream. "Perhaps you're right.

He exited the hug and turned to Eris.

"Little lady." Howard took a knee and looked at the Teddiursa bag with a faint smile. He thought of Doug, snoozing away in a Pokeball. He looked at the cookie tin and rattled it, hearing the baked goods within. "Thank you."

He hugged her tight. In that moment, there was no doubt that he'd raise a hand to harm Eris.

"Thank you."

---

Isaac Merlo Eris Halla

"Suicune almost drowned me once, but we're best of buds. I'm gonna ask him about Ecruteak's tax code one of these days."

The admin rose to his feet and walked towards the door. When he reached the handle, he stopped. The handle felt cold. His hand twitched. There was no ice covering his body, no faint whiff of Dynergy to poison his mind and soul. He felt their weight, all the same. The weight of the world was such a heavy burden.

"I'm tired, Isaac. I'm tired, but I'm not broken." His voice was heavy. Idealism mixed with pessimism was a potent combination, capable of triumphing over the darkest nights. "We are friends, despite being on opposite sides of this war."

His hand tightened on the door with fervor. When this war ended, information would be lost. This battle would've been for nothing. The League would win this great war. Howard was certain of it now, but the

"But know that I would move continents to ensure a better future for our children. For her."

His eye lingered on Suicune. He wondered how it felt about having its homeland ravaged by Rocket. Was it angry? Sad? Apathetic? Did it hate Howard on principle? Had it seen so many deaths that it could no longer care? Howard's eye was just as ancient as Suicune's. He had seen histories and epochs stretched out before him, an eternal tapestry that stretched forward and backwards.

History was a samsara. Howard knew how this would end. With Rocket trampled and their stories forgotten, the various grunts and beasts and admins burned from the history book.

Unacceptable. The members of Team Rocket did not deserve to simply fade away.

"Become a hero, Isaac. Make it count." The door creaked open. "I love you both. Have a good night."

The door shut, leaving the Liberator alone with his little sister.

---

Isaac Merlo Eris Halla