MARCH UPDATE

POSTED ON Sept 1, 2024 15:58:20 GMT

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[attr="class","ameena"]

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Sootopolis is a graveyard, a memorial to something half-alive, and the somber mood rests like a veil over the city. [break][break]

Sapphire eyes meet hers. She extends an arm, and the child holds on tight so Ameena can pull her up through the collapsed roof of what must have been a house. Streaks of dirt cover the child except the tracks where tears clearly ran. Ameena hands her over to Lucario, who holds the child in a bridal carry and hops off the roof to deliver her to the medical professionals below. At least one of them is a Leaguer, but they are outnumbered by Rocket and civilian support staffs in each tent setup throughout the city. [break][break]

Hanya the Aegislash glows beneath her, hovering over shattered floors in the house. Hanya indicates that that is the last survivor in the home and rises. The Aegislash has been a beacon around the neighborhood as Ameena went house to house to find what was left of the people who lived just above the initial flood zone. "Good work," Ameena praises, exhaustion sapping her bones. [break][break]

She has more important things to do, more things to research; she cares little for these people, but this is not a post-war moment - it is a defining battle in the propaganda war. [break][break]

She's unaware her scout above, Unown, has conflicting allegiances between itself and the man of shadow.

TAGS – Cillian Quinn [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Hanya | F ILLUMINATE | tackle, fury cutter, shadow sneak, aerial ace, king's shield, sacred sword

levitate | hidden power, mud bomb, shadow sabotage, shadow screen, shadow snare, shadow steal (shadow, z-move)

m inner focus | close combat, extreme speed, dragon pulse, heal pulse, substitute, meteor mash

[attr="class","credit"]

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played by

thorn

the Harbinger

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

I want corruption, I think I'm the devil in disguise.

awards

8,412 posts

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TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Sept 5, 2024 6:25:33 GMT

Tempest Quinn likes this

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[attr="class","twtgm"]

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Where Ameena's stake in the fate of Sootopolis is political, Cillian's runs far deeper. Though he has wanted nothing more than to leave behind the site of such failure, disgusted by the sight of the League operating openly in what had once been a bastion of Rocket's power, he knew that he could not.[break][break]

He had made a promise to the people of Sootopolis. To protect them when the League couldn't, or wouldn't. How might that reflect on him, on Rocket, if he were to leave?[break][break]

So he finds himself among the soggy streets, helping free trapped survivors or handing out provisions to those whose homes had been destroyed. He and Tempest Quinn have taken refuge in a Petalburg hotel while they arrange the reconstruction of the Sootopolis property, but many of the city's citizens were not so lucky. They had neither the money nor the resources of an underboss, and so he must extend his own to them.[break][break]

Melody might be the CHAMPION of Hoenn, but Cillian would be theirs.[break][break]

The sight of a familiar blue shape is enough to interrupt his efforts, however. It takes a moment to locate the woman it serves: when he does, Cillian narrows his eyes.[break][break]

"I've been meaning to have a word with you."[break][break]

There's an edge to his tone that suggests it may not be a good one.

[break][break]

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

[attr="class","pkmn"][break]

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played by

Ghostfinch

she/her

june 8

pansexual

scientist

grunt

5'11 height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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TAG WITH @ameena

POSTED ON Sept 5, 2024 15:09:05 GMT

Tempest Quinn likes this

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[attr="class","ameena"]

[attr="class","body"]

For what it's worth, the fact that her throat isn't currently slit is something she must attribute to Tempest Quinn 's advice to not encounter Cillian alone. There are countless Sootopolis refugees around them, though none are invested in their chat. She's a woman with many flaws, but she knows when it's time to face the music, so she turns to him without hesitation. She must look a little defeated, but she keeps her chin up. It's beneath her to cower, not that it would save her. [break][break]

"And I with you," she says, waving off the attention of her Lucario who no doubt senses the danger she's in. She's going to spill her guts about the experiment in full, all that she knows of it; this late in the game, she's compiled every piece of the study and its faulty initiation - barring the complete data from the dreams themselves. She had preferred to address things with him when she had everything together, but the data was too corrupted to offer up.[break][break]

She's not sure if it's better to spill or to let his questions guide the conversation. There's so much problem to discuss, that she decides to lead with the solution. "I discovered a fix for the symptoms. I can restore what was taken without the need to be unconscious. I presume you have felt an absence, yes?" More abstract than just 'missing time' as one would in a fugue state, the forgotten - suppressed - memory from the dream is a broader negative space. Hard to pin down, hard to construct a timeline. Memory isn't linear. But that inescapable sensation of something missing, something forgotten... it must be like an itch that can't be scratched. [break][break]

Is it appropriate to ask his specific symptoms? They're already well past 'appropriate' - have been since June, since the study - but inquiring feels intimate. She's not earned that. At the end of the day, whether he struggles with hallucinations or nightmares or obsessive qualities, it doesn't change the solution. It only impacts the urgency.

TAGS – Cillian Quinn [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

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played by

thorn

the Harbinger

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

I want corruption, I think I'm the devil in disguise.

awards

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TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Sept 7, 2024 14:08:15 GMT

Tempest Quinn likes this

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[attr="class","twtgm"]

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A fix?[break][break]

The edge to Cillian's tone blooms to full hostility as he growls, "So you are involved in this."[break][break]

It had only been a hunch, at first; she was the only dream researcher he knew besides his sister, and he'd like to think Lulu Flint would ask before messing with his memories.[break][break]

He'd discussed his suspicions with Tempest Quinn, but his husband had said nothing of confronting Abadi himself, likely with the knowledge that Cillian might've strangled the woman without any further explanation if there hadn't been a large enough gap between the experiment and the discovery. No, he's not upset with Temp about this in the least.[break][break]

He's fucking furious with Ameena.[break][break]

Spikes of emotion manifest in the twisting of his appearance, veins glowing purple as his eyes burn. Claws sharpen. He doesn't seem to notice the ANOMALY, or perhaps doesn't care, as several of the refugees scramble away in terror and alarm.[break][break]

"Galar was bad enough," he snaps. "The floods took my last memory of my daughter's face. What have you taken from me?" He's trembling with rage. "How dare you?"[break][break]

PRESSURE begins to build uncomfortably in the air.

[break][break]

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

[attr="class","pkmn"][break]

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played by

Ghostfinch

she/her

june 8

pansexual

scientist

grunt

5'11 height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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TAG WITH @ameena

POSTED ON Sept 7, 2024 14:41:19 GMT

Tempest Quinn likes this

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[attr="class","ameena"]

[attr="class","body"]

Ah, so he hadn't known. She hates herself a little for jumping the gun, but then, there is some chance this is salvageable because she's not immediately dead. Still, she squirms.[break][break]

It might be the smart thing to talk slowly and savor her remaining time on this stupid rock, but she finds herself almost stumbling over how fast she gets the words out. "The sleep study was in beta. The code was never supposed to run. The parameters needed tweaking, but I needed to know if it could execute pooling participants from census data before I bothered re-weighing the criteria. It-" she stops for a breath. The mechanics of the failure aren't going to be of interest, or at least, they're not as interesting as the meat of the matter.[break][break]

"I never acted against you. Any of you." It's earnest, but she imagines he's met his fair share of liars. Maybe he's placed her among them. "The study pulled from a shared memory. It - whatever the event was, you shared it with Tempest Quinn , which I know does nothing to narrow it down, but. The memory is not gone. It is suppressed. I can pull it out." There's so much more to share, that the data is missing, that there were other Rocket admins there, that she's met with Temp already and he took the news better than anyone else possibly could, that he already okay'd the use of Musharna's z-move to reawaken the memory. [break][break]

The pressure makes her breathing labored, like she's in heavy gravity or a cufant's sitting on her chest. She feels squeezed on all sides. Trapped like a prey pokemon.

TAGS – Cillian Quinn [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

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played by

thorn

the Harbinger

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

I want corruption, I think I'm the devil in disguise.

awards

8,412 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Sept 7, 2024 15:32:46 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","twtgm"]

[attr="class","main"]

"I don't want excuses," Cillian spits. His anger is a quiet thing, his voice soft, but there is no mistaking the venom that drenches it. "It did run."[break][break]

Her words make his skin crawl. They make him feel like an experiment, call back to a time when Walsh had ordered him to submit to the studies of Marie Jules no matter the cost. He did not appreciate feeling like a bug under a microscope.[break][break]

Drawn by his fury, a leviathan surfaces in the bay, her RUBY eyes glaring. She does not approach them, nor does she speak, but her presence is so overwhelming that even Cillian can feel the PRESSURE in his ears. He ignores it easily, focused hard on the blood roaring in them instead.[break][break]

"You had better hope you can."[break][break]

He'd have killed her already if he wasn't so scared of losing whatever memory it was forever. She'd taken a part of him, a part of his husband from them both.[break][break]

"We should never have been your targets."

[break][break]

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

[attr="class","pkmn"][break]

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played by

Ghostfinch

she/her

june 8

pansexual

scientist

grunt

5'11 height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

awards

798 posts

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part of

TAG WITH @ameena

POSTED ON Sept 9, 2024 15:37:16 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","ameena"]

[attr="class","body"]

She's not sure where this additional anxiety comes from in her chest, separate from the animal instinct of survival. As he speaks, she tries to untangle it, tries to decipher it, but the truth is... she feels, ironically, a betrayal. That her good work and character thus far have been completely ignored in the face of this one mistake - and a drastic one, it is, she knows - and it becomes so obvious that the benefit of Rocket is counterbalanced with one significant flaw. [break][break]

She came to Rocket for the lack of ethical red tape surrounding research, but as much as she benefitted from the absence of morality of her colleagues, it meant she was in that same boat, that anyone could accuse her of such lowly acts because she, too, had a fucked sense of ethics. [break][break]

Her voice is shaky and raw. "I would never act against you." She has no evidence. For all their successes together, couldn't it all be an act of convenience? He has no reason to believe her. "And I can fix it." She doesn't bother promising. [break][break]

Her word is useless. Action and outcomes are all that matter, now. "Tempest already agreed to do it." She didn't throw his name around lightly. She hoped Tempest's judgement would persuade him to go along with it, to let her fix this. "It only requires Musharna and her mist. A specific variety that comes from z-crystals. It - you can stay awake for it. It creates a half-waking, half-sleeping state for everyone in the vicinity." Does he care about the details? She hates the way he looks at her. Such a stark contrast to the mad glee of a successful experiment on her Unown, one of hurt that she caused.

TAGS – Cillian Quinn [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

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played by

thorn

the Harbinger

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

I want corruption, I think I'm the devil in disguise.

awards

8,412 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Sept 9, 2024 15:55:01 GMT

Tempest Quinn likes this

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It feels as if ants are crawling beneath his skin.[break][break]

"How can I be sure of that?" Beneath the anger is a subtle tremor in his voice that betrays the heart of his concerns. Cillian is afraid. "Have you seen what it was?"[break][break]

Was it sensitive information, or a light-hearted memory of some stupid MEME Tempest Quinn had sent him? Was it a memory of love, or heartbreak? Anger? Sorrow? Was it one of their happiest, or one of their worst?[break][break]

His head aches at the thought of the possibilities, and panic climbs as he struggles to remember every little moment of his life with Temp. But no one remembered everything, and how could he know what he'd forgotten if he'd forgotten it? It feels like he's been tossed into the ocean without an anchor. Drowning. Claws of anxiety tear at his chest. His heart pounds hard enough to hurt. His hands have started to shake.[break][break]

A panic attack. He's on the verge of a panic attack.[break][break]

"Everyone?" His voice is tight. "So even if you haven't seen it, you will? What- whatever it is?"[break][break]

Arceus, what if it compromised him in some way? Or worse, Rocket? Colour drains from his face as he imagines having to explain this to Walsh.[break][break]

[break][break]

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

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played by

Ghostfinch

she/her

june 8

pansexual

scientist

grunt

5'11 height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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798 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @ameena

POSTED ON Sept 9, 2024 16:07:47 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","ameena"]

[attr="class","body"]

It - this isn't the part she was eager to explain, of all of it. The futility of the experiment because of its flawed initiation. "I am unaware of the memory beyond the fact it took place in your home," she said earnestly, trying not to think about how little he trusted her. "The transcript of the dream - of everyone's - was corrupted. The intervention was.. divine. Tapu Lele." At the very least, maybe there was solace to take in being a god that fucked up the data. [break][break]

Before he can ask if the data is in someone else's hands, she clarifies. "It did not take the data but it did disrupt the data transfer with its presence." His worry is centered around knowing about it. She picks up on the vulnerability of it, the intimacy of having your mind split open for someone's voyeurism. It's not something she's been subjected to, only subjected others to, but normally it's been so clinical and personally-removed that it's never been a problem. [break][break]

Now? Her guilt might compromise the terrain anyways, despite her training in compartmentalizing during Musharna's z-move to prevent her mind's own interference. [break][break]

But that's not what he needs to hear, and it's only a possibility, so she doesn't voice it. "You still love your husband, right? You are still loyal to Rocket? You are still bonded to your patron?" She can't soothe him on the basis of her skill or her character, as both are compromised. "Nothing fundamental about you has changed. You are you. The memory must be small. But it will be returned. I have used the terrain to revisit the dreams of others before and help them unpack it."[break][break]

Is it wise to share that she's already done it for someone in the study? It would verify efficacy, but would he ask who it was? She would be in hot water if she said Matias, wouldn't she? Or would it be an asset to have gotten into a Leaguer's head. There's no playbook for this conversation. She feels his judgement and the looming presence of Lugia, an omnipresent threat.

TAGS – Cillian Quinn [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

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played by

thorn

the Harbinger

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

I want corruption, I think I'm the devil in disguise.

awards

8,412 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Sept 9, 2024 16:47:39 GMT

Tempest Quinn and ameena abadi like this

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Cillian's eyes burn a deep, furious purple at mention of Tapu Lele.[break][break]

He twitches in an attempt to control the rising tide of his fury. His fingers sharpen to claws, darkness swallowing him like some rapidly spreading parasite. Then her clarification registers.[break][break]

It hadn't taken the data. That was- better.[break][break]

Though the shadows do not recede, they do not sharpen further. Cillian's voice is deeper and more unsettling as he demands, "And why were Rocket officials included alongside the likes of League scum?" The question echoes threateningly in the air around them. "Why were we included at all?"[break][break]

He'd given her no right to poke around in his head! His memories! His fucking home! What would have happened if Lele hadn't corrupted things? Would she have sifted through his private spaces without his knowledge? The thought makes him sick.[break][break]

"Of course I'm still loyal." There's a defensiveness to the way he zeroes in on that particular question. Because, unbeknownst to Ameena, even Cillian has expressed quiet doubts when alone with his husband. It was only natural. He has never, would never act on such things, but- but what if Rocket saw it differently? What if they branded him traitor for even thinking to disagree? Fear holds the shadow in check more than anything else could.[break][break]

"Who else?" he demands at once.

[break][break]

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

[attr="class","pkmn"][break]

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played by

Ghostfinch

she/her

june 8

pansexual

scientist

grunt

5'11 height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

awards

798 posts

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part of

TAG WITH @ameena

POSTED ON Sept 9, 2024 16:57:06 GMT

MATIAS SILPH, Tempest Quinn, and 3 more like this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","ameena"]

[attr="class","body"]

She huffs. His shadows grow, and her time is short, and as much as she thinks he won't kill her in front of these Sootpolis civilians - who need faith in Rocket more than ever before, who need to not see any in-fighting - she thinks the forces holding him back are only so strong against the hatred that twists inside him. [break][break]

"There were supposed to be zero Rockets. Full stop. Porygon pulled census data from broad parameters just to see if it could filter data correctly at all. It - the actual study was never supposed to run, just the pool of participants, and it was only to see if it could filter properly. It was never meant to execute the study. Flawed code." She pointedly doesn't mention that the launch of the study in its entirety was the result of one line of code - as howard slayte had taken that news poorly. [break][break]

She gestures to the ruin around them. "I would never sacrifice anyone in this organization for a fucking study. And you of all people? I have no death wish." Hell, if she did, there were millions of preferable ends. "You were never intended to be in it. Ever." For one thing, she didn't want to be in his head, but she didn't think he'd find that comforting or flattering, so she kept her mouth shut. [break][break]

He asks the damning question. She really doesn't want to express how many higher ups were involved. But she's already in hot water, and she's not a talented liar. "Josh Devlin , Eris Halla , Lucia Aldrete , John Sullivan , MATIAS SILPH and june sleigh were the Leaguers in the study." A mix of known names and lesser known. The actual study would've been filtered to use lesser known, to exclude people mentioned in newspapers or holding official positions in the League government. Would've been.

TAGS – Cillian Quinn [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

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played by

thorn

the Harbinger

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

I want corruption, I think I'm the devil in disguise.

awards

8,412 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Sept 9, 2024 17:13:53 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","twtgm"]

[attr="class","main"]

"A little too fucking broad."

[break][break]
It is only the presence of Sootopolis citizens who view him as savior that sees him hold back. If he was their guardian angel, it was very much in a biblical BE NOT AFRAID sense, but that view still might be challenged if he cut someone down in front of them.

[break][break]
Forced to share both victory and defeat with the League, logic tells him it's in his best interest to keep them on his side. And that logic very narrowly saves Ameena from harm.

[break][break]
"Flawed code," he repeats in a low growl. "Flawed. Code. My sister has been conducting dream research for years, and not once has she accidentally dragged me into it and deleted my memories!"

[break][break]
He takes a deliberate step away from her, claws flexing in want of a throat to tear out.

[break][break]
He's still shaking.

[break][break]
Not once has he yelled, in all of his fury. Shouting was his father's domain. He'd inherited the ice of his grandfather's anger, the creeping frost.

[break][break]
"Have there been any complications with your restoration?"

[break][break]

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

[attr="class","pkmn"][break]

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played by

Ghostfinch

she/her

june 8

pansexual

scientist

grunt

5'11 height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

awards

798 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @ameena

POSTED ON Sept 9, 2024 17:26:23 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","ameena"]

[attr="class","body"]

She's pouring her heart out and moving in the wrong direction at the same time. It's not enough, and that should be easier to accept, but it isn't. Her life is on a tightrope, and her only safety net is the civilians that surround them. "Her research involves more plurality," she answers as coolly as she can. Lulu is the pinnacle of research. Ameena aims to be like her, but it's not easy. The other scientist seems to balance research and Rocket politics better than Ameena can dream of, as ironic as that is. [break][break]

She doesn't bother getting into the minutiae of it. Her research is firmly centered on Musharna and other pokemon-led methods of dream induction. "Sleep studies are necessary for what I do. I was not expecting memory erasure as an outcome." The truth. But dream research is a fickle, fragile thing. [break][break]

She isn't sure what to make of his step back. She almost mirrors the motion, but aborts the movement as quickly as the prey instinct kicks in. "No complications. It is a little uncomfortable because your conscious mind is perceiving the unconscious simultaneously, but it stimulates the mind in all the right places to revisit the dream correctly. A lot of people struggle with the ability to keep their mind clear as the dream mist fills, but my presence in the mist helps guide it." She had mastered the art of compartmentalization from all of her visits to Musharna's dreamy terrain. [break][break]

"It works. It might not be fun to revisit what you forgot, but it works. It would go even faster with you and Tempest together, and he has already approved it. But, it would work separate, too, if you want to go it alone." Alone being relative, with her presence there. But she can see how he feels about being laid bare without knowing it, and she doesn't want to invite further vulnerability. Would he rather share that vulnerability with Tempest or cope with only Ameena's eyes on it?

TAGS – Cillian Quinn [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","credit"]

close tab

played by

thorn

the Harbinger

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

demisexual

the harbinger

underboss

6'3" height

I want corruption, I think I'm the devil in disguise.

awards

8,412 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gavin

POSTED ON Sept 9, 2024 19:32:34 GMT

Tempest Quinn likes this

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He breathes through his nose like a raging bull.[break][break]

His sister was brilliant, more so than any League PROFESSOR in his eyes. More so even than many of Rocket's scientists. But her exceptionalism was no excuse for Ameena's sloppiness.[break][break]

"They're necessary for what she does, too."[break][break]

He's not volunteered himself to her work since the incident with Darkrai, but it was not for lack of faith. Instead, it was to save Lulu Flint from the bleak hall of his memories.[break][break]

He could rage for hours about how Ameena should've ensured that preliminary studies involved no one from Rocket, but he'd be wasting his breath. The most important thing was to get this fixed. He keeps his eyes on that prize, tethering himself to logic so that anger will not spin out of control.[break][break]

PRESSURE steadily abates as Lugia grows bored of the back-and-forth and vanishes into the surf. It's like a vise being released from his mind.[break][break]

"I can clear my mind without issue." Rocket had taught him that particular skill. There's a hint of bitterness in the admission. "And of course I want Temp there."[break][break]

Do you think I don't trust my husband?

[break][break]

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

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played by

Ghostfinch

she/her

june 8

pansexual

scientist

grunt

5'11 height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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798 posts

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part of

TAG WITH @ameena

POSTED ON Sept 9, 2024 20:13:33 GMT

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It was pointless to argue comparisons of her work and Lulu's, so she managed her breathing instead of engaging him on that front. In any case, it was a losing battle to fight given her exceptional work and Ameena's new blip with her own research. [break][break]

She hates to stand down from any fight, but there's no point arguing her case any further. He's inclined to believe she had done too little for protecting Rockets from the study, and while she had finalized a functional filter to avoid them (with some human double-checking), it hadn't been the command executed by Porygon, so ultimately, he was right that she hadn't done enough. [break][break]

"Okay." Something between a white flag and a ceasefire. "Pick a time and a place. My office and my lab are open, but Musharna can perform in any environment." She wouldn't be surprised if he didn't want to be anywhere near her lab again.[break][break]

She'd broken something unfixable. She wasn't one to cry over spilled milk, but this one had too many ramifications for it to not gut her. He was a skilled scientist and colleague, and now she was persona non grata. She wasn't sure if it was a part of the issue, if it was any comfort at all, but she felt compelled to soothe however she could, so she added: "No one knows. About you and Temp in the study, except for him. No one has seen the dream. I have only the set dressing, the absolute beginning of the transcription."[break][break]

She could put it back, the dream and its missing memory, but she couldn't turn things back to the way they were. "I can restore the memory. What else can I do?" Philosophical, but mostly a helpless sound. She couldn't see a path to forgiveness. Temp hadn't held it against her, and had been largely interested in the scientific implications of it all, but no one else she'd approached had given such grace. She hadn't earned it.

TAGS – Cillian Quinn [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

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