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As expected, arguments came to a roar. From every side of the aisle, opinion became the currency of the wealthy, spent and earned with quick spats and calculated points. So she listened. Waited. Her finger occupied with the splayed tablet in front of her, clicking through menus, compiling information and striking information all at once.
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Only once she finished did her voice join the chorus.
response.
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"If a man kills, then he will be jailed. This is no different. We have laws for a reason. Because, while you, Morningstar, might cling to the notion I'm speaking of the few petty thieves among Rocket, I'm not. I'm talking about the people who are razing Petalburg, and just blew up their hospital. I'm talking about the people who arrived at Mossdeep and set the city into chaos, sending hordes of genesects into the streets, leaving hundreds injured, some dead. "
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She could still see the flooded street, hear the harrowing screams echoing around her. Life, in those moments, became a luxury hardly affordable to the masses. Did ollie morales see it too? Did he remember the injured? The displaced families, piling into tiny wooden boats, watching as their homes fell into ashes.
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"Now more than ever, the people of Hoenn need us, not only to lead, but to make the hard decisions that will ultimately win us this war. We've already closed the vacant elite four position and any challenges, halted council applications, slowed the gym circuit; we've done it all. Reductions and realignments is far from new. So why do we draw the line here?"
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She looked at Greyson Connors, Melody Miro, MATIAS SILPH, Navy. Had they forgotten the notice? The shift in tone since Kyogre's ramming through Sootopolis' walls.
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"Eva Morales," Her voice cools as golden eyes glanced between the blonde and her brother, Penelope's heart teetering between them. Petty was a light conviction for a woman vibrating with kempt frustrations. Envy, betrayal, envy, anger, more envy. Her heart was a jammed carousal, sentenced to spin without an end. "ollie morales, you speak of the fragile state of the Hoenn People, of their grievances, and I agree. They're angry and they're right to be. Despite our best attention to make peace, we've failed them, and brought the conflict to their doorstep."[break][break]

Petalburg's fall came with bitter acceptance. For two nights, she could hardly sleep. Nightfall became a self-inflicted war, with battles sewn into every second her eyes laid close. Rest too long and the dead become living again.
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"And now you're suggesting we prioritize the safety of criminals over them? You can think I'm being hyperbolic - and a month ago, I might've agreed. But a month ago I also wouldn't have guessed Monroe would be arriving onto Petalburg shores. Burning our city into the ground. "
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From there, conversation flourished again, this time with recounts more personal and harder to deflect. As her attention settled onto Isaac Merlo, she couldn't help but frown. More than anyone else at the table, he had the potential do more than evoke change - he, himself, could've been the change they needed. The agent to turn the tide of perspective toward their advantage.
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Maybe, in time, he still could be.
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" As much as I want to agree with you, Isaac Merlo, you and Remiel Calcifet are the exception, not the rule. "
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Turning to the rest of the group, Penelope continued, her eyes bouncing from head to head, returning back to Greyson Connors and MATIAS SILPH with consistency. Even without words, her gaze urged them to speak.
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"Look, I'm not suggesting we yank the carpet from under their feet. But as illeana reyes mentioned, we're spread thin. Even with more budget, even with more hands, there are higher priorities to attend. Like counterintelligence. Like intel on rocket's next move. Like locating the underground network they've dug underneath our feet. Like discovering the extent of Kanto's aid, and whether it'll be continuous effort to account for." She looked to Eva Morales, "Like locating and working to neutralize Monroe, or any other high-rank that now sit next door to us."
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Her points took physical form. Without sparing a glance, she pushed her tablet across the table, back toward John Sullivan. On the screen were the estimates he requested, as well as a compiled summary of the three warfronts.
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Any attempt to further dig into what wasn't already there would be denied by the locked screen.
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A pause was taken before, with narrowed eyes, her gaze cut to Navy.
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"Because, unlike you, Navidson, I fail to see us incapable of responding to Hoenn's threats. Unowns or otherwise."
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Finally, she redirects her attention once more, focusing not just on the group, but dahlia goode as well.
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"I understand there's hesitations, but let me clarify: my suggestion is not to wiretap our civilians as a whole. Its to be given the flexibility, within reason, to investigate. As ollie morales mentioned, there's the safety of our own that's come to question. There's the recorded history of league members contacting rocket members to consider, " her eyes flickered to Freya, momentarily brought back to their conversation within the tera caverns, "and again, rocket is no longer a small group, sitting on a remote island. They're here and they've grown. If there is any reason to believe businesses are supporting their growth, either through supplies or storage, we need to be able to act. if there is any reason to believe there are civilians spreading their message, promoting misinformation, we need to be able to act."
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"Ultimately, Remiel Calcifet is right. This is war. We've lost Petalburg, we've lost good men," her words gestured to the hologram previously flashing between all of them, "we've lost our champion - how much more do we have to lose before enough is enough? "

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PENELOPE LIVY [break]