Oscar had been repairing Genesect Prime for what felt like days. It would never cease to amaze him how the cyborg's steel armor could withstand a year's worth of combat but crumple after one Earthquake. That's typing disadvantages for you, Oscar would have to look into a way to remove Genesect's typing entirely. Stupid pokemon and their stupid rules...

He had just finished reattaching Prime's organic sensory nodes and had moved onto welding its replacement limbs into place. Oscar had the disabled robot laying on an operation table, sparks flashing over his welding goggles as he worked on Genesect's arm. Metal music blasted from a nearby wireless speaker, yet the sound of Howard's boots echoing across the floor still reached Oscar's ears.

Oscar reluctantly picked up a nearby remote, pressing a button to disable the speaker. He did not look up from Genesect, figuring that Howard was just dropping something off really quick. They had been on icy foot after their joint mission in Area Zero, so he did not expect a full conversation. Yet Howard would once again subvert his expectations.

We need to talk he said. Oscar let out a quick puff, looking over to clock the admin's damaged Sygna suit before returning to welding. He did not know what to expect from this 'talk' but Oscar knew for sure that he was not in the mood for some sort of confrontation. Though it did not often matter what he was in 'the mood' for these days.

"Well hey let's talk!" He exclaimed cheerfully over the sounds of his sparks. "How are things Howard? What do you have in mind for your vacation?"

howard slayte

"No vacation. I'm cashing in a different kind of favor."

At this rate, hell would freeze over before Howard would get to go on vacation. There was no battle yet, but Rocket's bureaucracy marched onwards in an unending trek, especially since Rocket's mining operations were being overseen by Howard. Vacation seemed like a distant dream, almost as distant as leaving his organization.

Alas.

"Sygna's damaged. I'll be heading out into the field soon, so I need it prepared. Think you can recreate Head Scientist Rose's tech?" The admin waved a hand, as if waving off an annoying fly. "It's going over my head."

If he didn't even know what half of the buttons did, he had no chance of fixing it himself.

"If you need money or material, it will be provided. You will want for little." An empty courtesy, but a courtesy nonetheless. Oscar didn't need his help, but offering it was important. Orders were well-received when tempered by courtesy.

Silence. The admin coughed into his fist.

"One more thing. The drill. What happened?"

---

oscar clayton

Oscar was surprised by Howard's request, but it was a welcome alternative to a discussion over the recent strange energy between them. Oscar took another glance at the damaged suit, he had not looked into Sygna energy too much but he was confident that he could figure it out. He tended to be a quick learner. Plus he could always call upon Amor if he gets stuck.

Oscar smiled and turned back to Genesect. "I'll take a look, I probably won't need anything but if anything comes up I'll let you know. Should be done by the end of the week." Oscar thought that was that and he would be returned to his solitude shortly thereafter. Once more--Howard subverted expectations. Oscar really needed to adjust those...

Oscar's welding stopped when Howard brought up the drill. He held a breath before sighing deeply. He figured that the failure of their mission had been the source of the ire Oscar was perceiving, and he was hoping to ignore that it happened until things mellowed out. In his head Oscar believed that Howard blamed Oscar for the mission's failure--while Oscar in the weakest reaches of his mind blamed Howard, if only indirectly. He had intended to purge such intrusive thoughts before talking about the incident over drinks or something, but alas nothing really goes according to plan these days.

As he decided on how to respond, Oscar's welding would resume. "Well Howard, a mega-charizard flame blitzed its way into the drill. I probably could have stopped it but Genesect's cannon was damaged and Regice--wasn't interested in helping."

howard slayte

"An expensive mistake. It'll cost us in the short term."

Drills were expensive. Remarkably so. Oscar could whip up several if Howard funneled him the resources, and even without them, the admin had no dount that Oscar would simply melt some Steel-type Pokémon and use the leftovers for machine parts. Howard didn't understand the mechanisms behind Genesects, and frankly, he didn't want to.

The act of turning fossilized life into emotionless metal disgusted him.

"No matter. I'll gather the funds to replace it." He would not blame Oscar for failing to defeat two trainers. Howard's Sigilyth had run defense, but Sigilyth were stronger in swarms. Oscar had essentially fought alone. Even for a former Rocket Beast, that was no easy battle. "I'm not the only one, apparently."

Regice. The elephant in the room, carved entirely of ice. Oscar's pause did not go unnoticed. Howard's eye narrowed as he crossed his arms.

"Why did it refuse the order? It could've stopped them both easily." Howard's lip curled slightly as he thought of the damaged drill. Mountains of PD, down the drain. "Is it defective?"

His voice trailed off as his eye lingered on Genesect Prime. Defective.

---

oscar clayton

Oscar's hand tensed around his torch as Howard spoke. Howard seemed rather casual about the whole affair, did he not realize the consequences of Regice's disobedience? Did he not see how much danger he put himself in? Oscar tried to resist, but he could not help but comment on it.

"Drills can be replaced yeah. It's you that can't be..." Oscar's work slowed to a standstill. He probably should not have said anything, Oscar was never shy about caring for his colleagues but it always felt foolish when he brought it up. He put his tool down and faced Howard fully; if this conversation was to continue he might as well look the man in the eye.

Oscar pulled off his welding goggles, revealing the dark circles that had formed under his eyes. He has not been sleeping, there was no point to rest until Genesect's repairs were finished. Oscar rubbed his eyelids a bit before answering Howard's question.

"I have no idea why. It said something in that language I can't understand and just--stood there. I don't think it's defective, unless." Oscar gave Howard a serious look, as the answer to his next question could legitimize the intrusive thoughts he had been combating since that day. "Has Regice taken orders from others in the past, or did you just assume it would do as it's told?"

howard slayte

He almost laughed at Oscar.

"I am not replaceable, thanks for the vote of confidence." In truth, he was very replaceable, though that wasn't something he was going to admit. His only talent was the ability to make money appear by snapping his fingers, and to ensure supplies were abundant. "At least somebody recognizes my work."

The era of individuals with great power capable of shaping the world had ended, and the era of quiet men in offices shaping it had become the norm. The advent of Avatars and the return of Legendary Pokémon had changed the world yet again. It was proof that history was a samsara.

Still, he had to believe in his own worth. It was the only shield he had, besides a malfunctioning golem. When bureaucracy was his last hope, it was a sad state indeed.

"The language. I'd kill to borrow a few of Naomi Sato's Unown to translate it on the field." Alas, he didn't have a free ticket to the Unown Dimension at leisure, so he'd have to make do. "But to answer your question..."

He crossed his arms in thought.

"I assumed it would answer. It's a machine. A golem. It recognizes me, but it tends to forget others very quickly." Just a machine. A Pokemon, but a machine first. The ancients had not built Regice for its personality, though Howard could no longer deny that aspect of it. They had built it because it was their only hope against a vindictive god.

"It means my hypothesis was incorrect. In which case, it's defective. Not only that, but it's running low on power." The admin gritted his teeth. "Can you fix it?"

He did not pretend to understand technology. Oscar was a savant in this field, after all. The mastermind behind the Gensect program was a genius.

---

oscar clayton

Oscar put a hand up to his cheek, lightly tapping his sunken skin as he took in what Howard said. His assumptions were more or less correct, but Oscar understood where Howard was coming from. It was an Honest mistake from a man that does not know any better, how could Oscar fault him for that. Oscar thought back on all of the angry thoughts he had been repressing, and after hearing Howard speak they almost seemed childish. It caused Oscar to chuckle and shake his head, even now he had growing up to do.

"Oh Howard, it's so much more than that." Oscar stood up and tapped on Genesect's lifeless body. "Genesect was designed to be a killing machine. It was only supposed to think about the best way to take out its targets and nothing more. Yet despite our best efforts, it retained the memory of its past emotions. Through that slightest of tethers, I was able to train it to think beyond its programming. It's learned so much, just from spending time with its trainer."

Oscar raised his hand palm-up and pointed at Howard, "Genesect had to be taught though. Regice may be a machine, but it's still a pokemon. It needs to actually learn new behaviors, like trusting trainers other than its own. That I can help you with."

Oscar leaned against the opperating table, crossing his arms before sighing deeply. "As for the power source, we might be up shit creek. For all I know that thing might as well run on magic."

howard slayte

"Dynergy." A gentle reminder. Tera Crystals were close to magic, but Dynergy was just a destructive energy state. A scorching maelstrom of Eternatus's leavings that marred the flesh and seared the mind. "I have a solution to its power issues. Hopefully."

If the tons of Wishing Stars and Dynite Ore he was pulling from the ground had anything to say, Regice would find a way to restore its power. He had seen its core in the RKS Simulation, and yet a Wishing Star of the appropriate size hadn't revealed itself, despite the admin's mining.

Annoying.

"You made a mistake with the Genesect, Oscar. You left it with life, with the knowledge that it exists in its chassis. Do you think the Pokémon within loves you?" He had little love for Oscar's mechanical bugs, but if the engineer was as smart as he claimed, the Genesects would do naught but kill. Instead, he left them with a dream of dreaming. "The ancients figured this out."

Regice was, to his knowledge, a simple construct. Whatever personality it had needed to exist as secondary for its core function. What if it developed a personality inverse to its desire to wage war?

What if the golem wanted to live for peace?

"We're still making the same mistakes as our predecessors when it comes to mechanical life. In that regard, we have not grown one step beyond the stone age, and you want me to teach it? Teach it what?"

His voice was incredulous.

---

oscar clayton

Oscar's soft expression quickly hardened, his eyes seamlessly morphing from a neutral gaze into a heated leer. "Mistake..." He repeated quietly, his shoulders tensing as he tried to control his impulses. He let out a shaky breath, trying not to lose his temper on Howard for his--ignorance. Oscar grinned his teeth as his mouth forced itself into a smile. "Mistake..." He repeated, struggling not to say anything further that he my regret.

He let out another breath, harsher than the last but more effective at keeping him calm. Finally he felt like he could keep control over his words, though his tone still sounded rife with restrained frustration. "I'm not so naive as to believe that Genesect is capable of love, or any feelings for that matter. Its ability to remember what its like though, despite any memory that it was alive at all being wiped from its mind, is invaluable to the field of artificial intelligence."

Oscar jerked his head to the side, his eyes twitching as he struggled to maintain his composure. "You have within your possession, what very well could be the first artificial intelligence--created by what might as well be neanderthals--and you don't want to teach it? To study it and watch it learn? To explore the extent of its ability to grow beyond its nature as a glorified husk? That's--that's--"

Idiotic? Insane? Maddening? Oscar held his tongue and let out a smooth sigh. His heart rate began to normalize as his calm demeanor gradually returned. His face softened as he finished his thought. "Disappointing." He let the word hang before continuing the conversation, "I understand that you do not find such pursuits to be valuable. That's alright, I don't blame you. But at the very least Regice needs to be trained to behave how you want it to behave. Once again, I offer my expertise to that effort should you need it."

Oscar sat himself back down, grabbing his goggles and carefully strapping them back to his head. "Or you could do nothing and let this happen all over again. Whatever makes you feel the most comfortable."

howard slayte

If the admin were bolder, he would've said the word again. He would've shouted it from the rooftops if he wasn't aware of what Oscar was capable of.

Mistake.

Rocket was full of mistakes. Everyone here had made erred at some point during their life. Certain people were broken, certain people were rejected by the world, some people were simply too smart and power hungry to exist on the right side of the law.

Oscar was here, Howard deduced, because Rocket allowed him to run wild and invent. By calling Genesect's quirk a mistake, Howard spat on the engineer's reason for living. If someone had called Howard's reason for being in Rocket a mistake, he would've snapped.

"Regice exists in its current form for a reason. It was left as it was for a reason. When we shattered it on that island, it rebuilt itself for a purpose. It's lesser now, though. It's not the same golem encased in that Power Spot. Regice preserved that ruin in ice. It is a relic of a bygone era."

Preserve the past. Save the future. That could only be done with the wisdom of those who came before. In humanity's brilliance, they had left a chance at victory. Information on Regice's construction had been lost, but the golem still remained.

"A snapshot into an era I'll never see. Regice is the most wonderful relic I've ever laid my eye upon."

The admin gave Oscar a look. A gaze that showed utter excitement in Howard's eye. This was a man who loved what he had and understood what it was, but not what it could be.

Howard wanted to preserve, to keep it as it was, just as the ruin at the Island Cave was covered in ice.

"Why would I want it to learn, if those who built it did not? To let it develop beyond what it is would be an error." His mind flashed back to Meteor Falls, when Regice had touched the Regi Effigy. The admin had felt a tug. "It exists for one purpose, and that purpose is to defend this region."

He let the jape about Neanderthals slide.

"It needs power, not a heart." After a moment, the admin relented. He had to humor the engineer for his help. If Oscar wanted to pry at the golem's mind, it'd be a small price for his aid. "What would you suggest, then?"

---

oscar clayton

Oscar heard Howard out, refusing to break eye contact the entire time. Not due to any sense of common courtesy, but rather due to a fixation with Howard's eye. It was just--so fiery. A bright spark like a blazing star, a clear measure of Howard's passion. Oscar admired it, and yet at the same time found it exhausting.

It was the passion of a man that was set in his ideals, cemented in his world view so tightly that the world would need to quake to change his mind. It was the very same passion that gripped Oscar's heart when it came to progress, a classic immovable object meeting an unstoppable force. As Howard winded down, Oscar could not help but reflect on their similarities and laugh.

He leaned back, high spirits replacing his momentary bitterness. "I'm not mocking you or anything, it's just funny how similar we are. Yet, we're complete fucking opposites. We're a couple of locked magnemites, you and I." The thought of it made Oscar laugh again, because it was just too amusing! Such was the splendor of life, that he would find such an attachment to someone so infuriatingly different than himself.

Oscar managed to regain his composure and relayed a proper response. "I respect you Howard. Fuck, I'd even dare to say I like ya. In that spirit, I won't push you too hard on your convictions. Today." He gave Howard a sneer, as he expected to have his own world view pushed as well. After all, was that not the thrill of keeping around someone so fiercely different?

"Though if you don't at least try to train Regice, you're not gonna get as much utility out of it. At the very least, to understand its limitations. If it's a tool then it's a tool, but what good is a tool if it doesn't perform how you expect it to. So what I suggest..." Oscar rolled his tongue into his cheek, expecting an amusing reaction from his compatriot. "Is a play date. Let's have Genesect and Regice meet up and--exchange notes, if you will. I have a sneaking suspicion that they can find a way to communicate."

howard slayte

Him and Oscar, opposites? Oh, please. They were driven by the same thing, just in different forms. Howard just refused to think about that, because realizing that every Rocket was fueled by the same thing made the admin realize how similar he was to everyone in this organization.

Slowly, though, that realization was becoming harder to ignore.

"That doesn't need to be the case, though. We don't need to fight, nor do we need to bemoan the other's way of living." The admin walked in a long circle around Oscar's lab, inspecting the molten slabs of Steel-type Pokémon that the engineer had hidden for a rainy day. "Because, whether I like it or not, I need you."

He gestured at the Sygna Suit on the table.

"I need you to fix that."

With a click, Howard unclipped Regice's Pokeball from his belt. The ice-encrusted ball wiggled slightly as he let Oscar feast upon the orb with his eyes. A shard of history that even Oscar could not yet replicate.

"I need you to understand this. You need me to help improve its ability."

Howard completed his slow walk around Oscar, his working eye gazing upon the engineer's dedication, his passion. Passion for creation, passion for destruction, passion for the process of reusing the old to bring forth the new. Howard could respect that. Passion had brought him here to Rocket. It had brought Regice to him.

When he unlocked its power, he could stand alongside Rocket's finest.

"You are right. There is a tool for every task, and a task for every tool. I still struggle to think of Regice as a Pokémon. I've seen it feel, and yet..." The admin closed his eye in thought. "We should widen Regice's capabilities so that it can fulfill its objective. Schedule their playdate. Take notes. Study the construct. There may be something you glean that I cannot."

He turned back to Oscar.

"Deal?"

---

oscar clayton

Oscar was satisfied. He did not expect Howard to ever switch to Oscar's way of thinking, and as fun as to would be to debate preservation versus progress Oscar did not need that either. A simple compromise was good enough, an open door to a new opportunity. A chance to learn and discover.

Oscar nodded, smiling as he looked Howard in the eye. "Deal. Clean and easy. I'll make sure your suit is repaired by the end of the week. I should have an idea for the playdate by then." Oscar turned back toward Genesect before abruptly snapping his fingers and swinging back toward Howard. "Shit speaking of playdates I wanted to take you somewhere."

Oscar had been so fixated on the tension between him and Howard that he had nearly forgotten about an idea he had for a fun outing. A small way to bond as compatriots over a possible shared interest. "Tell me Howard, what do you know about Charjabug racing?"

howard slayte