For a moment, Howard thought that the woman who opened the door was the elusive parker jones that he had heard much about. That was quickly rectified by the glimmering Unown by her side. Appearances could change and names revised, but bonds and memories did not so easily disappear.

If this woman had Kallistatus, then she was indeed Naomi Sato.

"Sorry, I get formal as a defensive measure. Courtesy can be an ironclad shield, I feel." Rocket consisted of individuals far stronger than Howard, and he used a slew of placations, formalities, and acts of subservience to maintain positive relationships with them all. "Evening, Nomi."

He was helpful, therefore he was liked. It was as simple as that.

When the door creaked wider, he slipped inside the house. It was small and cute, but the pessimism of the admin made him suspect that the house was overpriced and expensive. Hoenn's housing market was not one to be trifled with, and the price of a flat in Rustboro made Howard occasionally think that joining Rocket was the right call.

"You look terrible." There was no need to dance around a truth they both knew. "Being outed doesn't agree with you. I like the hair, though."

He looked around for a few moments, having given his pleasantries. He gestured at the newspaper, then at the Head Scientist. As the pages ruffled, a flash of Nomi and her original look appeared on a page poking out between paper folds.

"Can we sit? I have questions, you have answers." He gave her a small smile. "Your position demands you to, at least."

---

Naomi Sato

He followed her, the accents of cherry wood that gilded the kitchen reminding him of Johto.

"Do not take offense to this, you know I don't mean to insult you." He started, his voice tentative and oddly formal still. Starting with those words wasn't particularly wise, but there was nothing to do but soldier on. "But I don't even know where to begin."

He flattened out the newspaper while Nomi fussed over the tea. As always, his eye focused on Kallistatus. Unown were fascinating creatures, and the admin had a particular love for them even now. Birds of a feather flocked together, he supposed. Howard and Unown shared one thing in common, at least:

An eye.

The newspaper held an article by the HBIC, reporting the identity of a dangerous person. Naomi Sato's face stared back at him, flat and lifeless, before the admin turned to the real deal.

"How did this happen?" Howard rubbed his temples as he spoke, as if the conversation was already giving him a headache. To an extent, it was. A member of Rocket's upper leadership had been blown, even if Nomi herself had done an excellent job at damage control. "How'd the HBIC catch up with you?"

To narrow. Both Howard and Nomi were academics. A broader question would be a better start.

"Can you start at the beginning?"

---

Naomi Sato

It all came back to the multiverse. Hoenns within Hoenns within Hoenns. An eternal spiral of worlds with no discernable beginning. Except there was a beginning, back when the multiverse was new. There was, in fact, an origin point.

"On a historical level? I know Hoenn well. I could tell you about the first pioneers who landed here, about the Draconids that charted the stars, about the native people who worked the land, about the geological eras that act as the foundation of this world."

Yet he suspected that wasn't what Nomi was talking about. When dealing with someone who could transcend dimensions, the physical history of Hoenn seemed increasingly small in comparison. The Visionary saw the grand scheme of things, but what about the small and minute?

"Though that term," Howard tapped Kallistatus in a manner that could be considered petting, "is unknown to me. You said origin point, yes?"

He tucked his head to his chest, deep in thought. Why would such a term interest Nomi? There was only one group that she pursued to fervently.

"Is it connected to the DRK Triad?"

---

Naomi Sato

There was a reason? Howard had never really given it thought.

"I never thought there was a purpose to our region's otherworldly suffering. It's a hard concept to grasp. Hell, I figured it was just another law of the universe, like gravity or time or space. It'd be hard to argue against that, Nomi." The admin crossed his arms in thought as he gave Kallistatus a smirk. "Now you're telling me that it's intentional? Particular?"

As if challenging his parent, Howard took the cup and sipped on the scalding hot tea. His eye twitched for a moment, but he didn't start screaming or shouting. Instead, he grimaced and put the tea down.

"Damn, that's hot." He was a lot more like Regice than he let on. Extreme temperatures hardly bothered him anymore. Whether that was nerve death or mere resistance remained to be seen. "Arceus above."

The tea was delicious, but it was best to focus on Nomi. It'd be rude if a guest didn't respect the effort of the host.

"So this world is going to end?" Howard's lip twitched down into a downcast expression. "Huh."

It was the voice of a man who did not understand the dire circumstances of the situation. Who could? The end of the universe was too vast for the average person. Howard studied humans and their history, not the end times.

"That doesn't matter. The DRK Triad is wrong." He gave Nomi a look. "They misunderstand the human condition, and how every timeline works."

---

Naomi Sato

"You're correct, but you misunderstand."

He could not match the adamancy or drive of Naomi Sato in this field. She saw things on a level that few would ever comprehend. Howard had one functioning eye, but Nomi had dozens and more. If the Visionary did not see the route forward, then what was the point of her title?

Her gaze was too wide. Too broad. Too omniscient. They needed to tone the conversation back slightly, lest the admin's brain explode.

"They are wrong because humanity cannot be crushed into dust. We will persist, and even better, we will flourish in spite of the struggle because it is the human condition to do so." As Kallistatus left Howard for Nomi, the admin resisted the urge to point out its treason against him. Howard thought that he and the Unown were tight. "We will survive because we always have. The other universes must face that fact as well. History is a loop, and time is a flat circle."

He did not wait. The teacup was lifted to his lips. A functioning eye gave Nomi a look, while the other was concealed under an eyepatch. A glimpse of scar tissue poked out from behind the cloth.

"Our victory is assured because we as a species have always won." His faith in humanity was unshakeable. While Howard didn't study what would happen tomorrow, he knew from what happened yesterday that mankind's resume was broad and expansive.

"Arceus? Shit." His ears reddened. "I mean shoot. Where does Arceus factor in? That staircase in the RKS Simulation?"

---

Naomi Sato

"That so?"

It wasn't a question pointed towards anything that Nomi said. It was more of a general acknowledgement of everything she had said. It was a lot to take in. The death of all things, the life of all things, the end of everything, and so on. It didn't help that there were apparently multiple Arceus, and that didn't even seem to be the important part.

It didn't help that Nomi had just unraveled several religions with Arceus at the center with a single sentence.

"A thousand arms, a thousand Arceus, I suppose that makes sense. It's a lot to take in, though. Let's focus in on that last part."

He rustled the newspaper. Every crossword puzzle on the back page was meticulously done, meaning that Howard had both the time to read it and to flex his linguistic skills.

"Who?" Howard burned the roof of his mouth again on the tea as he flipped through the pages, coming to the HBIC article. "Who snitched on you? Why?"

---

Naomi Sato