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"Hm... I don't know." He only knew that Yveltal had a remarkable interest in them—and shared some qualities. It wasn't like Kyogre and Groudon, who were diametrically opposed. Yveltal was protective of them, but to what benefit he couldn't say. But he'd never seen two from the same universe together—as far as he knew.[break][break]

Almost like it was made impossible by their very nature. Yveltal had said the words to him once...[break][break]

A PERFECT CIRCLE

[break]

He wouldn't be able to give it much more thought, however. Soon the scenery around them shifts, and they are flanked on all sides by strange soldiers—trainers and pokemon adorned in armor, straight out of Kalosian history. Adrian is quick to rely on Furor to see him through the tumultuous events, its massive tail repelling the bulk of whatever bothered to approach him. Keeping his eyes keen, Adrian would eventually single out the silhouette of Yveltal, looming overhead from the high-rising bluffs surrounding them. Bitterly he sucks his teeth.[break][break]

You bastard, this was always your angle...[break][break]

"I see why you attributed this to Yveltal now," he confesses in the moment, though admittedly curious to how the other simulations went. While Furor could handle the fighting all around them, there were only sparse moments between them that could actually be heard over the uproar.[break][break]

"Is that all he does? Watches as they die?"[break][break]

Ironically, it was as true to life as he'd ever known.

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"No, not really," though Adrian does try to scrounge for ideas. The Unown were alienated from the waking world, only bleeding through to theirs due to dimensional instability brought on by... any number of incidents. Namely the Triad comes to mind. The part of refusing the world, at least, made sense to him in that way. It also explained their elusive nature.[break][break]

The part about walking with them seemed like gibberish though. They were meant to be apart... Perhaps this was something of a language barrier, due to a rudimentary grasp of human language. He would be curious how this is meant—though impossible for him to know—other than that is was clearly figurative language. Adrian would weigh on this heavily from time to time.[break][break]

Ahead and around them, Adrian's darkened vision turns to one of overwhelming light, as the area becomes that of a forest. At its epicenter, a sizeable, bleach white tree rests, surrounded by supplicants—drained of their life. Pale figures offering service to the greater entity he has come to associate with XERNEAS. His brow furls just then, clearly annoyed.[break][break]

"It's strange—for something that is Yveltal's antithesis, they operate so... similarly." Absorbing their life as tribute... the only distinction seems to be whether they draw in this life force by the creature's own volition, or against it. He thinks back to the cocoon that had erupted from Mt. Pyre, rising from the earth—Adrian turns toward Gavin.[break][break]

"Do you happen to know what became of our Xerneas?" Adrian only knew that at some point, it had gone missing, and that perhaps a set of bones were alleged to belong to it. He'd never buried his nose in it enough to know of anything more than surface level trivia circulating the news. He was... curious now, though perhaps wrong as ever.[break][break]

As he gets closer, Adrian feels the pull—like the tide reeling you out to sea. The not-so-subtle suggestion to offer the tree nourishment, though he does not wish to. Not if his speculation rivals the truth of things. But that aside, what reason does he have not to spite the creature that had scorned him, by desecrating the thing it had held in such high esteem? "...We're not humoring it, at any rate."[break][break]

Adrian doesn't take long to rummage for the right pokeball, releasing his Heatran, his mind made up.

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"Brace for-?" No sooner does he say the words as they traipse through that seamless dark, than does he feel himself falling forward, his face pressing against the stone. His nose and cheekbone take the brunt of it, and where he touches the wall, he can see the Unown have begun to stir. Lifeless engravings become animate, physical vessels of... whatever it was the Unown represented. Some underlying fundament they were never meant to see or hear.[break][break]

Adrian listens to the message, though it is something strange, cryptic in meaning—though the part about refusal may have been more literal—as now he felt the urge to abandon the search and seek refuge from their time-lost chambers.[break][break]

Managing to unplaster his face from the wall, they're able to make their departure, the simulation around them changing as the sequence finishes its course.[break][break]

"I've never heard them speak so clearly."[break][break]

When gathered en masse, he and Mars had heard a similar cacophany arise, he believed... but the result then was entirely different. He could only wonder with discontent, unable to seek out anything definitive about these elusive creatures.

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Nothing new to discover, then. How boring. Adrian couldn't argue with someone who'd frequented the machine likely well before the rest of Rocket could access the RKS machine, though he would confess to being disappointed—though curious still. He wishes there were some way to produce varied outcomes, but perhaps these instances were purely meant to be observed as they had happened, and nothing more.[break][break]

Adrian withdraws his phone, swiping over to the Unown Report installed therein, though it yielded no change or sudden update. Ah well. It would seem they were on some straight rails after all. "Guess I'll want to hear it for myself then."[break][break]

It certainly beat the prospect of a simulated cave in.

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Adrian finds himself adjacent to Cillian Quinn, manifesting in what might've been any set of ruins dotting Hoenn's landscape. Or perhaps not. Though he is wholly unfamiliar with historical sites, these walls are decorated with engravings of strange symbols—though easily recognized as Unown. Any trainer with a curiosity about the Unown would've seen these images online, documented by previous spelunkers of the Ruins of Alph in Johto. At the very least, he and Mars had considered the benefits of visiting this place, although only the former had ever been given the chance. If only he could see this...[break][break]

Adrian decides to hold for a moment. Yet as he looks on into that vast, unknown expanse, he cannot help but feel a sense of foreboding and the allure of exploring it... But the discordant melody erupting from his pocket as his phone detects errant radio waves is unsettling. Like a song from a horror track.[break][break]

It draws on that sense of suspense, as they teeter on the edge of that corridor, making their careful considerations. "Is this your first dive here?"[break][break]

Adrian seemingly wanted to test the limits of the system's variability, wanting to know more of all possible outcomes—for curiosity's sake.

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His is an almost haughty, incredulous smile. "And what trouble haven't I already put myself in?" [break][break]

As always as ever, Rowan speaks to the truth of matters. Yet Adrian is remarkably moved by notions of family, and believes Gavin too will be dissuaded from taking direct action... Though he may have to maintain appearances. Ultimately, he chooses to believe in the modicum of good even someone like that must possess. So few people are capable of such unmitigated malice, though there are many who wish to be viewed and feared as much, he knows.[break][break]

A tender hand clasps against the back of theirs, and he quietly allows them the moment before lowering it, keeping their fingers intertwined all the while. "I can't imagine they'll have time to spare for us." With all the developing hussle-and-bussle, what value was there in seeking retribution against two misfit defectors? Adrian couldn't speak to Rowan's contributions, but his own were few and far between...
They mightn't even notice the difference.[break][break]

Still, he knew he made too light of the situation.

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"Was I supposed to bring anything?" After brushing off his shoes, Adrian rummages through the bag and tosses a popular Hoenn commodity in the form of a favored snack bag towards her, allowing himself to step inside her home. It smelled to have been cleaned routinely, and treated with air freshener. He should be taking notes down on this sort of thing, really.[break][break]

The contrast between them aside, it was good to feel welcome. He looks for somewhere to set aside his sneakers before he manages to track anything in. After taking a moment to appreciate the furnishings, Adrian gestures away from the foyer, hoping to get off his feet—and to hash some things out.[break][break]

He's not entirely sure what he and Serena will be discussing, but Rowan has been direct enough with him about certain reservations, and Adrian believes Serena may share some of her own. But only time—and an open dialogue—will give him hard answers.