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“Prob'bly gonna tackle the museum angle next.” [break][break]

Eddie leaned against the trunk of a weeping willow, absentmindedly tying a viney branch into knots as he turned his gaze from the lake back to the Ranger Captain, [break][break]

“'Cause I can't get that lady ta show back up no matter how many times I run the stupid simulation. Even tried runnin' a few new scenarios just ta shake things up a bit.” [break][break]

He sighed with some frustration, [break][break]

“But I've got nothin'; nada, zip, zilch, absolute squat. You have any better luck?” [break][break]

Before he could properly register Shalin's answer, a new voice rang out softly through the Romping Grounds. [break][break]

Good afternoon. [break][break]

Eddie, startled as he was, loosed a decidedly unmanly yelp, [break][break]

“Arceus, Palkia, and Dialga, lady, where the hell did you come from?!” [break][break]

Wait, a woman appearing out of nowhere, accompanied by Unown and referencing the DRK Triad? Eddie suddenly straightened himself, eyes darting from their new guest to Shalin and back again. After all of his searching, had the Curator finally found him again? [break][break]

No, that couldn't be right. The Curator had different costumes she donned, sure, but none of them bore any similarity to the bluette that had abruptly joined them. There was something different in the way she carried herself, too; the Curator had this sort of flippant smugness to her, from what little Eddie recalled, but something about this young woman seemed a little more pleasant. Strangely earnest, from what his gut told him. [break][break]

Eddie cleared his throat and composed himself as best as he could from his moment of panic, [break][break]

“Maybe,” he admitted, because Eddie knew himself well enough to know he was a God-awful liar, “But who's askin'?”

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Naomi Sato | Shalin Nariya [break]

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Wait, the Visionary? Eddie's eyes narrowed to a glower; this woman was near the top of the HBIC's most wanted list. She was apparently armed and dangerous, a terrorist and a murderer. Just what the hell did she want with them? [break][break]

“Is that right?” [break][break]

Eddie didn't get the worst vibes from this mystery woman, but he'd be damned if he was going to let some Rocket punk pull the wool over his eyes, [break][break]

“How do we know you're not lyin' to us?” [break][break]

His eyes darted from the Unown (the blue one was kinda cute, and the little open part of the K kinda made it look like a Ducklett mid-quack - stop, Eddie, focus) to the woman and over to Shalin. He looked to the Ranger Captain for some guidance; maybe she had some insight that Eddie sorely lacked.

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Naomi Sato | Shalin Nariya [break]

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The League, untrustworthy? That was sort of an absurd notion, at least when Eddie considered the alternative of Rocket. But Eddie trusted the Ranger Captain intrinsically; if she said to hear the Visionary out, then Eddie would hear the Visionary out. [break][break]

And, oh boy, did the strange lady have an equally strange tale to tell. Eddie's head snapped to the direction of the dancing Unown and their shimmering portal and watched, awestruck, as it began to play a movie in miniature of the Visionary's ascension, [break][break]

“Huh, little guy's really got an eye for detail, don't he?” [break][break]

But hell, Eddie didn't think he would ever forget his own encounter with the DRK Triad. It was no wonder that the Unown, having parted from the company of avatar-killers, would recall so much detail from such a pivotal moment. [break][break]

When the focus shifted to a while-haired woman and the screen froze on her face like a single still from a film reel, Eddie scrutinized her features and frowned, [break][break]

“Nope,” he replied, scratching his chin and studying the white-haired woman on the screen, “Our gal was different. She was blonde, 'til she wasn't.” [break][break]

He glanced back to the Visionary, and then glanced back again in a quick double-take. Hey, wait, wasn't her hair supposed to be pink, like in the wanted ads? [break][break]

“But that might have somethin' to do with the fact that she claimed to be ex-Triad. It was the weirdest thing; she kept pullin' all'a these costume changes, but it was less like she was changin' her clothes and more like she kept flickerin' in an' out. Like a TV with a bad signal, or somethin'.” [break][break]

Maybe that wasn't the best way of explaining it, but Shalin would probably have better luck articulating the specifics than he had.

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Naomi Sato + Shalin Nariya [break]

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Eddie frowned, now more preoccupied than ever with dredging up every bit of detail from that day, [break][break]

“Kinda? We've started callin' her the Curator, 'cause she had this real fucked up collection. She had a bunch'a Pokemon frozen in these glass displays, like they were bein' put up in some kinda museum.” [break][break]

The soldier shuddered as he recalled their frozen expressions of anger and terror, frozen into eternity. Those faces were probably going to haunt his nightmares for a little while. He shook his head and continued, [break][break]

“And yeah, she had two'a your little buddies hangin' out with her, at least at first. One'a them looked like a question mark, and the other one like an exclamation mark.” [break][break]

But then a sudden realization dawned on him; Eddie snapped his fingers and suddenly looked at the Visionary with an expression somewhere between surprise and realization, [break][break]

“But her Pokemon changed when she changed, too! She ditched the Unown and got herself a Meloetta, then she ditched the Meloetta and changed inta a Sygna Suit.” [break][break]

It felt like they were really getting to the bottom of something, now, but what?

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Naomi Sato + Shalin Nariya [break]

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“Arceus, I wish.” [break][break]

Eddie laughed mirthlessly and rubbed the back of his neck. The whole Sygna Suit thing had sort of gone over his head, but this was at least something he could speak for, [break][break]

“I've been tryin' all kinds'a stuff ta try an' get her ta show back up. Runnin' the same scenarios, runnin' different ones, runnin' stuff with other sorts'a people.” [break][break]

He shook his head and sighed, [break][break]

“I think if there's a way ta get her ta show up, it ain't gonna be in the RKS. At least, not with how the system currently runs. I've got a couple'a other ideas, but – I dunno, maybe the tech ain't there yet?” [break][break]

Because one thing was for certain, at least in Eddie's mind – whoever the Curator was, they had a mastery over the simulation that both the League and Rocket could only dream of achieving. Maybe they'd have a shot of tracking her down if they could catch up to the wild stuff she could pull, but there was no telling when that would be.

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Naomi Sato + Shalin Nariya [break]