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"Hm? Ah, something like that." A polite laugh met her observation. "I'm looking for a new face for RotomTV. Someone who can take the media by storm."[break][break]

Blue eyes lingered over the woman in front of him, admiring her the distant way one might a work of art. Flattering, but not lecherous. Simply appreciative of its aesthetic and monetary value.[break][break]

"Individuals like that can be rare gems to find, as you well know."[break][break]

His smile widened and he leaned forward, as if sharing a conspiratorial joke between them.[break][break]

"Particularly the kind that are... how did you put it? 'Good for ratings.'"

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"Then this will be a successful arrangement, I think. How gratifying."[break][break]

He reclined with a cat-like leisure, appearing pleased at the answer given. For what precise reason, he didn't vocalize aloud. His ice-blue eyes, however, reflected that satisfaction well enough for him.[break][break]

Discussing business was a tedious matter, but appointments like this one were necessary evils. A building of an alliance, so to speak, brick by brick.[break][break]

Anyone could say the right thing, however. How reliable Frank Caffey would be in the building of that foundation remained to be seen.

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He didn't know what had captured Katherine Fairburne's attention, but he knew that ALEXANDER STONE's expression betrayed some concern regarding it. When she stepped forward, he felt a tension seize him suddenly, eyes widening as the phenomena between them unfolded.[break][break]

"Katherine--" he started, but soon Alexander's voice had drowned out his own.[break][break]

The woman ascended before them in search of the thing that had grabbed her attention, and Malcolm could only watch, uncertain as to what exactly he had stumbled into.[break][break]

Until he too was lifted against his will.[break][break]

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"How cruel of me. And yet something tells me you're the sort of woman that has no shortage of entertainment," Malcolm said, unbothered by the woman's display as a lazy smile touched his lips.[break][break]

Her little act elicited an amused chuckle from him instead, and he leaned back in his seat, enjoying the view of both the woman in front of him and the venue she'd chosen. One informed the other: classy, sophisticated, wealthy.[break][break]

Would a woman like this have asked him to dinner in such a manner in Sinnoh? Not with the surname Carver, surely.[break][break]

"Next time, I'll be certain that it's your assistant penciling me into your busy schedule, not the other way around."

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"Thank you, Mr. Caffey," he replied with a neutral, pleasant demeanor. "I find change can be unsettling to many. It's gratifying to see it excites you, instead."[break][break]

Another sip of water kept his words flowing, easy and nonchalant.[break][break]

"I'm curious. Is there anything in particular about the company that draws your attention?"[break][break]

An eyebrow lifted.[break][break]

"On a personal level, I mean."

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"I did, yes. She's my sister."[break][break]

Half-sister, but that's a quibbling detail.[break][break]

He followed the Head Scientist without protest, at ease as he slowed his pace to match her own. Eyes darted about, looking for the woman's place of residence as they moved forward.[break][break]

"As for the focus, I believe that's entirely up to you. You're the specialist when it comes to your work, after all, not me."[break][break]

The attempt at humility was as much an attempt to draw out her own interests as anything else.

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He smirked at her question, settling onto the couch. A hand lazily draped over its backside, the other reaching for a cigarette.[break][break]

"What, a beautiful women trying to reinvent herself? That's the backbone of the entire entertainment industry, isn't it?"[break][break]

A brief nod indicated free use of the ashtray, should she wish to use it in kind. He watched her as she did so, curious.[break][break]

"You didn't answer my question, you know. About Rocket." He closed his eyes, leaning back. "Crime is a bit desperate even for a girl with your sad story, Serena."

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"No?"[break][break]

A sneer crept across his handsome features, visibly entertained by the dark-haired man's show of defiance.[break][break]

How transparent this false bravado was.[break][break]

"Going to stop me, then, Gallagher?" he taunted, stepping forward. "This must be new for you. Giving orders, rather than taking them."[break][break]

In that way Felix's father was always present here, even when the man was absent.

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It was equally unsettling and relieving to find his companions knew as little as he did of the ZYGARDE CELL. A brusque nod acknowledged agreement as he followed them deeper into the labyrinth of clockwork machinery.[break][break]

"Do you think it senses us?" he mused aloud, indicating the cell. "Assuming it's alive."[break][break]

Could anything here be called alive, however? Everything seemed artificial, hollow, and lifeless.[break][break]

"Or perhaps it's leading us somewhere, purposefully."

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Was Katherine taunting him? Malcolm's eyes narrowed briefly before an easy smile dismissed the notion; if she was, he decided her bait would go untaken.[break][break]

It would be a lie to say his posture didn't tense slightly, however. Being observed had that effect on a performer.[break][break]

"Indeed," he agreed with a chuckle of his own, following the two Hoennians into the next room. "Your region seems a magnet for unusual phenomena like this. Has that always been the case?"[break][break]

His Metagross's heavy footsteps shuddered behind him, while his Rotom buzzed over his shoulder.[break][break]

An endless mandala of coruscating gears clicked and whirred all around them, forming a bizarre architecture that defied human design. It had the look and feel of a machine designed by a machine, following an unintuitive logic that created an uncanny patchwork of beautiful oddities.[break][break]

It was then that a curious-looking thing landed in front of them, appearing frozen in place before fleeing into the darkness.[break][break]

Malcolm wouldn't recognize it as the Zygarde cell that it was, but perhaps his companions would.

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Not all parts of an adventure were thrilling. Setting up with Katherine Fairburne and ALEXANDER STONE was a quiet affair, focused and dutiful as all three parties did their part in preparing the clocktower to serve as a base of operations. Was it ironic, that he and his brother seemed to work together so well?[break][break]

The silence helped there, Malcolm supposed.[break][break]

Outside, his Metagross stood guard in case their peace would be disturbed, while his Rotom hovered nearby to watch the shifting of the clock's gears with fascination and interest. "What?" Malcolm asked the plasma Pokemon with equal parts amusement and irritation. "Hoping to possess the clocktower? That seems beyond you."[break][break]

He frowned then as he leaned forward, examining where the Pokémon's attention had been drawn.

"Huh. Seems the tower's missing parts," he announced, the question of 'why' left unspoken. Had someone stolen them? Maybe enough time had elapsed that they had collapsed and broken?[break][break]

Nothing living seemed to be here, at least, other than them. That fact made itself all the more known as his Metagross stomped the ground in warning.[break][break]

"We're not alone," Malcolm warned, turning just in time to see the approach of soulless Volcanion guards. An EARTHQUAKE shuddered through the earth as his Metagross began the offensive, seeking to drive them back.

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So this was his father's chosen heir. A man so favored by Fate that he was even granted a second chance at life.[break][break]

"Malcolm," the unwanted half-brother introduced himself with a smile that flashed the barest hint of teeth. "A privilege to work alongside you both."[break][break]

Though that was more true for one of them than the other.[break][break]

His ice-blue eyes slid to Elite Four Katherine Fairburne appreciatively, noting the Elite Four's presence with an incline of his head. If he was going to explore one of the most dangerous known realms outside of Hoenn, there was no better companion than the woman that Giratina had deemed worthy of being the Malevolent.[break][break]

"What do you think of that location?" he continued, indicating a distant clocktower. "Gives us some shelter to work with as a foundation. Not a far walk, really."[break][break]

His Metagross walked behind him with ease, seeming comfortable in this mechanical world of whirring gears and iron tunnels. Malcolm preferred it, too. For all that he surrounded himself with people, there was a comfort in the rote and repetitive nature of machinery.[break][break]

People followed patterns, however. You just had to learn them.[break][break]

And here, on this outing, Malcolm was intent on learning the machinery that made up the mind of ALEXANDER STONE.

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