lulu had never been a fan of the breakroom. now, there were grunts that questioned her loyalty, only having known stories about her disappearance and fall from power. some side-eyed as they walked past, greeting ameena more pleasantly, and her not at all.[break][break]

she ignored it, as she’d been doing for months when necessary. however, she was not a common sight outside of the labs.[break][break]

as she sat and watched ameena pour their tea, her face betrayed none of the discomfort she felt. not even the wave of loathing for her traitorous brother rowan at the sentiment about perceived security.[break][break]

information had a knack for getting out of that submarine. the league's amnesty program knew all about it.[break][break]

”sure. nothing wrong with the breakroom.” she could make a list, and it would not be short. ”thank you for suggesting tea.”[break][break]

she smiled and settled into her seat more, inhaling the sweet scent of florals and citrus. at least there was that.[break][break]

”how’ve things been? you seem to be fitting in well.”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]ameena abadi

just as she was not a fan of the breakroom, she was not a huge fan of tea, either. it did smell nice wafting beneath her nose, covering up the zesty smell of sweat, cheap verbena deodorant and microwaved ramen noodles ¬– but the best tea still couldn’t beat the worst cup of coffee.[break][break]

not wanting to be rude, she sipped as her company did regardless, and it reminded her a distant home.[break][break]

ameena had learned in the military what lulu had learned as head scientist, and what she predicted Amor Rose had been learning lately too. plenty of brilliance grew amongst them quietly, waiting for the right push to openly flourish. her own protégé, Naomi Sato , had gone so incredibly far with the resources she’d been given.[break][break]

at ameena’s wish for a double, she smiled knowingly as she recalled shoving her own alternate self into a broom closet in prison in another universe.[break][break]

”i know what you mean.”[break][break]

her bright eyes held a twinkle of amusement amidst curiosity as ameena then quieted about eternatus. ”an interesting topic, to be sure. don’t worry though – it’s no secret.” she predicted some passing through the breakroom had already begun mining within the alien’s body. she would soon go to do the same with Cillian Quinn , in what would be a rather harrowing expedition.[break][break]

”no fires on my end – but i have significantly less to look after these days. no business ventures, no grunts to wrangle...” and she had come to appreciate it more, as she began to struggle with a sense of direction. ”i can’t complain.”[break][break]

”so, you wanted to know more about megalopolans? or is there something else that has your interest?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]ameena abadi

”hardly bored.” there was far too much to do, and she worked all hours. ”just not my fires to put out anymore.” that responsibility fell on the new head scientists, and even on the heroes of hoenn.[break][break]

about eternatus and megalopolans, she shook her head. ”i’m not entirely sure, to be honest with you. i know that there are megalopolan ship remains inside of eternatus: the quaestor lucis it was called. i’ve guessed that perhaps they were eaten on their voyage to us – or somewhere else entirely. they were on a search for a power source.”[break][break]

she shrugged. ultimately, it was speculation.[break][break]

”as for what to do about it, i’m not sure about that either, unfortunately. we don’t know where exactly it is, or if it’s even in this universe. but for now, we’ve been mining it.”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]ameena abadi

there was surprise in the tilt of her head.[break][break]

”unacceptable? no, ameena, on the contrary. our research is very important, at this moment in time especially. it’s why i reached out to you – though i am glad to hear about your other interests. there’s a lot to get sucked into here, that's for sure.” her own plate stayed full, in any role. no fires, but no breaks either.[break][break]

while the leaking of the interdream zone was exciting for many, considering all the power that poured from it, there were reasons to be cautious. reasons to keep studying, even as other threats loomed. reasons she wondered if ameena was aware of yet.[break][break]

”has rose told you any more about the drk triad? maybe their scientist nisa holo, in particular?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]ameena abadi

”she’s one a few scientists with the drk triad that seem to be studying our world. her research is on interdream zone. she’s been around since it first started to leak during the star soiree at mossdeep space center, and she’s been a nuisance to us since.”[break][break]

”when we went first mine the tera crystal on meteno 99943, she tried to stop us. she didn’t want the crystal in our world. after we briefly managed to apprehend her for interrogation, she said we’d ‘doomed’ ourselves to a ‘worse fate’.”[break][break]

it was a warning that was easy enough for her to believe after all that had happened since the crystal’s arrival.[break][break]

“i’m sure you must be familiar with macro cosmos’s rondez-view of luv app?” surely it was on abcon’s radar. developers seemed to have collected virtually unknowable information on many of hoenn’s top figures. an anomaly in the digital space, that even featured a couple of the drk triad too. ”holo’s route seemed to warn us about the influx of endless ideas and paradoxes to our world, and said that it would be one of several threats that would result in the end of all universes.”[break][break]

and she believed it, though it was none of rocket’s concern, was it? not until they were all dead, at least.[break][break]

she sat back and brought her own tea to her lips, reiterating before taking a sip, ”our work is very important.”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]ameena abadi

the tera crystals were a threat to all universes, perhaps, but saying so outright had done little for her in rocket. they were interested in what they could get out of it, as with any resource or pokemon.[break][break]

”they’re very powerful, but that’s obvious, isn’t it? i suppose we don’t know enough to make a judgment.” though she’d done so already. still, she admitted, ”part of me feels we ought to be more careful. the other part of me just loaded two of them into my latest project.” she shrugged. ”guess we’ll see.”[break][break]

the approaching war was something she tried not to think about much. with any luck, she’d be able to get by with little combat. she had packed up most of her home lab in anticipation of a move, and if they lost sootopolis, that was her brother’s problem.[break][break]

”i just… don’t really think about it, i guess,” she admitted with a shake of her head, before realizing how strange it probably sounded. ”i mean, there’s so much else to give my attention to. war doesn’t end in this region. there will always be a coming battle.”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]ameena abadi

an explosion was hardly the worst of lulu’s concerns. as ameena familiarized herself with the crystal’s power, as all rocket had been doing, as they would always do with weapons, she would know soon enough.[break][break]

”of course. you’re always welcome to my notes. i’ll reach out with my findings. perhaps we can conduct some studies together.”[break][break]

though ameena’s work was an interest, she was still not sure of the woman’s motivation behind it. how valuable might the power of the tera crystal be to her? what else could this new colleague glean from it?[break][break]

”doubts will crop up. mine do. this region is a mess. we are what the drk triad has deemed the ‘origin point’ for the end of all existence, all due to all the anomalies that occur here. plenty to sink our teeth into, though, in terms of research. all you can really do is stay sharp and be ready for the next catastrophe.”[break][break]

it was not for the faint of heart, but ameena was veteran. she had witnessed her capability under pressure. she had faith she would make it.[break][break]

”have you tried the spectra simulations yet?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]ameena abadi