“The offer of assistance is greatly appreciated, but it will have to wait until the lunch break is over,” Grigori explained. The current hustle and bustle was to escape the sun and rest in peace, rather than to proper fix things. but it was hard to see it any other way. “There is no work to be done right now.”

“As for a timeline…” Grigori glanced back at the worksite. He absently rubbed his chin and carefully assessed the progress. “I’ve only a wildcard guess, but if we’re lucky and things go smoothly, this row might be done within a month, perhaps two. Three if the architects change the blueprints. Again.”

It had caused a great deal of stress the first time. A second time would end in mutiny, and riots. They might tear the whole thing down again.

“For a more accurate assessment, I recommend a proper foreman,” he motioned to the side, where they also sat and watched. However, unlike Ameena, they wore the standard safety helmets and boots.

“How about your efforts, Dr. Ameena?” He turned his attention back to the researcher, hands held behind his back. “After all, these are but physical matters. Cities will be destroyed and rebuilt, but your work will make permanent progress in our understanding of the world.”

He had attempted to read some of her work, but Howard and his own lack of scientific knowledge made the endeavor a hard one.

---

ameena abadi

That… was the first person he attempted to decipher the research of. After several long sessions in a Moped’s coffee lobby and two packs of highlighters, he’d given up. In his defense, it came off the back of the blood moon incident– hard times for the man. “Naturally, of course.”

And that no matter what happened, it’d be abused and manipulated to become a weapon against the League. That’d killed his interest as well.

“The world is progressing fast, but it is a ritual we’ve engaged in for our entire existence,” Grigori offered. “At first, it was about how to grow crops better, how to construct structures for safety, then how to tame Pokémon. We are fools, but we are intelligent, capable fools.”

At the question of his own interest, Grigori crossed his arms and stroked his chin. What a simple yet impossibly difficult question to answer. Not only had he never been a proper member of the scientific community, but he did not even hold a high school diploma under his belt. What did he know about the field?

“If I had the chance, I’d do something with Pokémon– maybe their ecosystems, perhaps? I know not the proper term for the field,” he admitted. “Stay on my feet, active, get to be around the wildlife.”

He looked more like a fool with every second spent on his interests. “But I do not. Such is the way my life has progressed. What of you, then? Surely there must be some defining event that lead you to choose the field of dreams as your sole focus. Enough to block other avenues of interest.”

Yet hopefully her interest did not develop as Lulu Flint ’s had. His own experience with her had been unnerving and recounts from Howard only further exemplified the visage.

---

ameena abadi

Human interaction was a whole can of Orthworms on its own, as well as urban developments. How the wildlife reacted to the actions of humans could lead to an entire world of discovery. One that would not be spearheaded by Grigori, though. Perhaps, in another life. Or in a dream.

Funny how the world worked.

“None to you, I’m afraid,” he sighed and closed his eyes. If he tried hard enough, he could bring himself back to those moments. That untainted second life. One where he could look himself in the mirror. “The entirety of my life’s trajectory changed. I was an entirely different person. I became a researcher, even. A professor.”

Unshackled from my greatest mistake.

“But that’s all it was, for better or worse,” he reopened his eyes, older and more tired. Since when did those worry lines get there? “A dream. There are much younger, higher-spirited minds with even greater potential than this old man. Explore their minds instead.”

She did not need help in that department from him. It sounded like she’d explored plenty of mindscapes as was. Best not add another to the pile of ‘things to make right’.

“Speaking of, and if you’re willing to share… what sort of dreams piques your interest? Surely there are some recurring patterns that you enjoy seeing. Perhaps even your own?”

It was likely Ameena started her work from a personal interest. Even a glimmer of that own dream would be good enough for him. The spark of a flicker of flame.

---

ameena abadi

Grigori did not share her view of the quip. “I was deemed too violent for it.”

Even here, when he pretended to play construction worker, he could not escape his abhorrent life. Not that he deserved any less– but if they could not intermix, then it would just be peachy. Infest his nightmares and restless nights. Not the most sacred hour of his day.

“Yes.”

He answered hot off the tail of her question. “Such a thing, with limitless potential? Dreams are a place of comfort, and wonder? I suspect there are very few people who would answer any different.”

Those who did either were ‘living the dream’ or were lying.

“But… I am unsure if such a thing will ever be possible,” he said. The passion left his voice, and he once more returned to the conversation. “Furthermore, from what I understand, the threads of our universe are tenuous at best. I fear of what may happen if we push upon them even further…”

Doomsdays, blights upon the vastness of Infinity. Arceus was long overdue to right the wrong that was their universe, if the DRK triad was to be believed. Perhaps dreams and fate were better left to the imagination than reality.

“How far would you go to make your research fruitful? What is the price you’d pay?”

Did Ameena run from something likewise?

---

ameena abadi

Ah, how could he have forgotten such a vital, crucial, omnipotent fact?

The higher-ups of Rocket did not gain their seats solely through goodwill. It required a specific mindset even to catch a glimpse of its grandeur, its beauty. Sacrifices upon sacrifices. Things were given up, taken away, or smashed beneath the heel as you went to take your seat. Most of them, their conscious.

Others, their sanity. Which had Ameena stomped beneath her boot as she sat down in her chair at the table?

“I take it that you define your entire worth here as your research? I’m not sure if I would define such a view of oneself as healthy,” Grigori said cautiously. Optimistically. He was not the kind to let the girl hang herself from the rope he dangled. “There is more to an existence than accomplishment.”

“Your friendships, bonds, even perhaps enemies– you’d be little more than a stranger, once people see past the facade,” he eyed her carefully. The second she looked offended or upset, he’d have to backpeddle. Otherwise he’d be crushed next.

“And that’s only if you view it from a personal perspective. The world left behind will not be so quick to forget. Especially the people within.”

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ameena abadi