How distrusting. What had Howard done to deserve being treated like such a scoundrel?

"Fine, fine. Bottom shelf stuff. If Rocket's not footing the bill, then why even bother? Nobody respects the hierarchy anymore." Howard sighed theatrically, shaking his head with great theatrical intention. He barely had any money on hand, and hell would freeze over before he left a record of card transactions leading here. "You're a cruel mistress, barkeep."

It's all a mockery. Everything is a joke, and the deeper the layers go, the more amusing it gets. The stranger is prey. That is undeniable. The type of person that a snake feasts upon, swallows, and spits out when the bones are cleaned of each morsel of flesh.

Even if it's all for laughs, the man is still prey. How the mouse squeaks in fear as the snake constricts it.

"Let's start building a repertoire of trust, then. That is the bedrock of business." He nodded at the coin, eye twinkling as he did so. The stool beneath him creaks as Howard adjusts his weight. He's hardly heavy, but it squeaks regardless. "That coin is an opportunity."

The admin grinned. Yet the grin is tinged with weariness. This is not the first song and dance he's tapped along to, but the tune still grates on his ears.

"An opportunity to grow richer than you've ever been. Wealth." A deft hand slides into a pocket and pulls out a box and lighter. "Mind if I smoke?"

---

Absinthe Blackwood

A small lighter clicked. A flame danced in the admin's palm, and the intoxicating scent of cigarette smoke was born into the world.

"Your world, your rules." He agreed as the glass slid across the counter towards him. Amber liquid sloshed within, beautiful yet cheap. The admin could have paid for some exquisite top shelf vintage, but the admin was remarkably frugal in his lack of cash. "I'll drink to that."

Thus he did. The glass clinked against the table as the admin lowered it, empty.

"Do I look boring to you? Few could deny Howard's eccentric nature. Even those that hated him rarely found him dull, more so 'unfathomably annoying', even if he occasionally got serious. Here, though? That nature was not required.

Even if this woman unnerved him. Her gaze threatened to pierce him.

"I heard about this bar from a dog. A Black Dog with a sword, actually. Massive pain in my ass." That wasn't necessarily true. He liked Hitoshi Inoue , but it was a convenient lie for the mask being worn. "Says you need materials. Chemicals and other things that've become scarce from the League's tariffs. I can provide them. I sell materials. I buy product."

He spread his hands.

"And the gold flows like water." He raised his glass to Absinthe. "Or whiskey."

---

Absinthe Blackwood

Dealers can be replaced. They are a dime a dozen, change on the dollar. Absinthe cannot. She is a commodity.

The archaeologist was a collector of rare artifacts, fossils, and other odds and ends. Another member of Team Rocket, capable of bolstering the organization's wealth, would allow that collection to expand. Normally, he loathed this form of induction, but as he met the barkeep's gaze, he came to a conclusion.

This one would flourish in Team Rocket. Another fine snake for the den of vipers, knotting and twisting.

"Your margin depends on production. I'll see what you produce, compare it with Rocket's other providers, and balance the books accordingly." It was an old banking process. He'd use the good credit and reliability of larger manufacturers to offset the risk of newer, less productive hires. "But it will be generous, as long as you produce."

He made a silent note to work with Hitoshi more often. The man knew more people than Howard expected.

"Your lab." The glass shines in the dull light. "May I take a peek?"

---

Absinthe Blackwood

"I'd appreciate one, yes."

The admin was squeamish, but he wasn't going to let that get in the way of business. It hadn't stopped him before, and it wouldn't stop him now.

If anything, he could always send the dog here instead to check in on the chemist. He did love messy jobs, and he also enjoyed a fat paycheck. Hitoshi was at his most useful when he was actively on the board, going where Howard could not. Normally he would send Grigori Sokolov .

That posed other problems, unfortunately.

As they entered the lab, Howard's eye took note of the materials. He could get these, easily. There were enough poachers in Hoenn that Howard could buy from.

"Poor rats. This is the cost of progress." The cigarette is killed, preventing smoke from ruining the pristine white canvas that Absinthe meticulously designed. The mask made smoking impossible, anyway. "Do your worst."

Though he suspected that her 'worst' would extend far beyond the frivolous testing of Rattata.

---

Absinthe Blackwood

To exist is to willing place one's self into a cage. Such is the nature of existence.

Yet to run around in that cage, shrieking and baying, knowing that scant little time exists to rebel against the powers that had created the situation to begin with was quickly slipping away... it was a humbling experience to watch.

In that regards, Rattata were no different than people, and Absinthe was no different than a god.

Humanity had no need for gods, but that was a matter for another day, when their war against the divine had finally ended and Hoenn did not threaten to fall into total disarray. When Eternatus was dead, the Tera Crystal phenomenon excised, and the war was over, humanity would not escape the confines that plagued the Rattata scurrying about in this chemist's cage.

"You're a cruel woman." It's the only phrase that the admin can bestow unto the chemist. "A bullet accomplishes the same thing. It's faster. It's cheaper."

Yet this was her passion. Was that not what drove Howard to Team Rocket to begin with?

"But it can be improved, I suspect. With proper funding and resources, I have no doubt that you'll fix the hiccups." Howard coughed into his fist and sighed. "How much can you produce at once? Drugs and toxins, both."

His eye locked with Absinthe's. Her nerve agent was her magnum opus. Her expression as it worked, her gaze as the Rattata's life ended...

A viper.

---

Absinthe Blackwood

"Guns turned the everyman into a killer, where spears and swords once required training and practice. Now all you have to do is fire first."

History's progress was dictated by humanity's capacity to inflict misery on one another. Yet they were also capable of great advancements in understanding the world as a whole. When sharpened rocks no longer sufficed, humanity created spears. When spears were insufficient, swords were forged. Swords became firearms, firearm became... whatever came after.

Pokeballs. Pokémon. Chemical weapons. Oh, how the spiral twisted further into infinity.

How proud the chemist was to indulge in humanity's prowess.

"It does." Absinthe's work was impeccable, the admin admitted. Fifty percent for me, fifty percent for you. You can focus on your research and I'll handle the logistics. You'll receive Rocket's protection, and in exchange..."

The widow was threatened with chains once again.

"You are Rocket, now and forever." Howard's eye turned flat and dull. "With all the perks that entails."

---

Absinthe Blackwood