Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]

[Bfroger6]

CATHODE

SPACE AETHER HQ

- floor B9: Cadet Command Center -

**NPCs at the scene: Mason**

 

Music: Lounging About

 

Cathode has been brought down into the basement of Space Aether's Headquarters by a pair of armed and deadly personnel. She was sat upon one of the chairs in the room that was supposed to be the department's chairman's, yet the only person standing before her was a tall and imposing, bowl-cut Vice President Mason, with his hands behind his back and his nose raised up high. He observed her from above, walking in between her chair and the desk.

 

It would perhaps come to a person's mind that he might say something or at least give any sort of clue as to why she'd been so forcefully dragged into this situation without a proper explanation, but none of such seemed to be close to happening. Instead, Mason seemed intent on burning a hole in the middle of her forehead with his deathly stare.

 

After a painfully long while though, he sighed and leaned against the desk. He looked Cathode over once again before pulling the Luxury Ball with her Onyx they'd confiscated from her in the process. He held it in his hand. Had it been as he wished, this relic of the past would've been long dealt with, alas, the wretched Haether seemed to have different plans. Why she believed so hard into the prospect of revitalizing human-Pokemon relations that had been long lost was beyond him.

 

"Do you...know why you've been brought here?" He asks gently, placing the ball onto the desk while looking at her with Murkrow eyes and the nose that looked the part as well.

 

 

GINA'S GROUP

SPACE AETHER HQ

- ABRAVATOR -

**NPCs at the scene: Gina, Zeta**

 

Gina led the group inside the building, Zeta thrudging behind Kai's every step, invigorated by the ice cream she'd eaten and way more relaxed than she was when they initially brought her here. Murki and Meggie reciprocated accordingly, and have generally stopped shooting daggers into everyone's backs.

 

Gina's steps were forceful, on the other hand. She seemed to be grabbing more and more with each one, a flaming rage burning in her usually so distant eyes. She, of course, held Kalva's hand firmly.

Another firm concept was their destination. She didn't wanna lose any more time, because frankly, she wanted to report everything regarding Betani, a feeling Taylor knew all too well, though in his case, it was ironically directed at the very woman in question-Gina.

 

She led the group silently towards the main elevator, except, instead of heading inside as per everyone's expectations, she turned swiftly and stood in front of a ornately decorated door. Frederick might've heard the rumor, actually, everyone from the 1st Academy probably has, about a magic door in the Space Aether HQ, which mysteriously evaded one's attention while unobserved. Within it, they say, Psychic powers ran rampart.

 

Except that wasn't really true. Gina placed her A-Comm against the terminal and the door popped open with a click. Behind it, two people wearing simple masks which hid the upper halves of their faces, one male and one female jumped out and bowed to everyone.

 

"Welcome, Patron. How may we be of service?"

 

**NPCs at the scene: Gina, Zeta, ???, ???**

[LucidRain]

Kalva was a little bemused by how the situation was transpiring. Gina definitely angry, perhaps one of the angriest he had seen her in a while. But for what reason? Because of the Steenee and the human? The Steenee did hurt Solosis, but she did look like she didn't want to fight, either... His head was also buzzing with the encounter with, now he realised, Gina's husband. Gina did mention her husband once or twice in passing, but didn't quite describe him in detail. Kalva mentally noted the clinic down and decided he would return and say hello to him some time later.

Quina tugged at his hoodie, returning his attention to the door ahead. Oh - this was the Magic Door. He recalled the time when he visited the 1st Academy for an excursion. The first thing that the 1st Academy student buddies told him was the rumor about the strange recluse door. One was that it was where they 'created' Nexuses and floated it off like a bubble into the Anti-Space. Another was that it was where the Aether Foundation spied on everyone. The most absurd one was that it was where pokemon secretly controlled society like a puppet master or something. In any case, this simple door bred a mixture fascination and terror in the 2nd Academy boys, Kalva included.

He was quite nervous when they approached the door, and felt Quina shifting around in the hoodie behind him. She was nervous too, gripping his hoodie tightly.

I-it's alright, Quina. Gina won't lead us wrong. 

When the two people sprung out, he took half a step backwards in surprise, but quickly returned the bow politely.

Phew...it's okay, it's okay.

Edited June 20, 2017 by PigeonOfAstora

[IntSys]

Emmanuel decided that keeping his mouth shut would be the best at the moment, as anymore words would probably incite Gina's anger out of impatience. The weird door as well as the room were two things that he had never heard of.

 

Though, the man and the woman were just simply silly. He chuckled at them. Whatever this is, you're definitely not taking it seriously.

 

Of course, he quickly hid the smile and tried to maintain some sort of professionalism.

[DemICE]

When Cathode had woken up and looked at the time, she knew she had messed up. And pretty horribly at that. Her years in the academy had taught her that her new world she was getting into, was an environment dependent on  rules vs punishment to thrive.

 

She had never intentionally tried to break any of those rules of course.  Though there were quite some unintentional cases, mainly involving the side effects of (most of the time) failed tinkering on stuff or (actually not so unusual either) successful ones too.  And of course some others courtesy of Suzie, who due to her size,  was initially causing various accidents when roaming out of her ball due to her clumsiness,  and the blame was always directed to the one responsible for her... At least the latter was for the most part taken care of, by spending time with her exercising in doing activities that required precision and/or observation to the point of her being once again allowed to stay out of her ball in a less limited amount of areas than initially.  She still was one of the 'mons that spent the biggest amount of time in their ball,  which made her quite thankful of Mr. Heather for allowing her to modify and keep the luxury ball instead of moving Suzie to those new models.

 

Yet again though, she had managed to be in the receiving end of a possible punishment, and this time,  she was sure it was a good candidate for her #1 screwup!  There was only once in a cadet's live where he is to attend his graduation ceremony.  A pretty easy task even!  Yet she did manage to get herself in her current position! The shame she felt felt boundless.  Her father,  Ms. Heather,  both people who believed in her, she had let them down big time. They might as well disqualify her from graduating this year even after her successful written exams,  and force her to academic courses for yet another year. 

 

Yet all of that shame, all of that fear of the consequences,  were completely thrown out of the window the moment she entered the elevator and joined the two most scariest creatures seen in her life so far. She had always been jumpy towards other humans' way of associating with her, quite the opposite of how she dealt with situations with pokemon, even hostile ones. Yet never before was she overcome with such a primal fear, as if she was being crushed by the mere presence of those men. Shades were doing little to hide the deathly straight-ahead stare that completed their emotionless masks for a face. They were carrying weapons, that they no doubt had used to harm others before. Their posture was intimidating at least, and they didn't even need to spare a glance at her. They didn't even say a word during their descent to the abyss depths of the facility. Usually people were pressuring her by asking her questions or even barraging her with irrelevant talking subjects, but this silent treatment was sooo much worse!

 

By the time the lift stopped and she got brought out, she was trembling and sweating. She didn't have much time to sigh in relief though, because in the room she was guided to, she was placed on the opposite chair of a man so terrifying, that her previous escorts felt like pyukumuku compared to a gyarados! The fact that unlike them, this man was actually death-staring right into her eyes, to the point of feeling her very soul withering away, was multiplying her previous sensation tenfold. Of course she knew Vice-President Mason, though this was her first actual interaction with him, and it was a complete transformation of the usually stoic man accompanying her hyper-active partner. Even worse, he also gave her this torturous silent treatment. It was so unbearable she felt that this whole situation as a punishment alone would suffice for her. She wished she would have been scolded at least instead!

 

Then he sighed, easing out a bit (a teeensy bit) and pulled out Suzie's ball and held it in his machoke-sized palms. Cathode's gaze immediately got magnetized by the ever familiar luxury ball. Suzie, normally big and sturdy, when being in that contrapion she seemed so small and defenseless.  What were Mason's plans? He was eyeing the ball with an obvious disdain. Would her punishment be to have Suzie confiscated for her? For how long? Maybe even forever? The way this man was right now, she wouldn't be surprised if he crushed Suzie in her ball with his very hands. During her stay in the academy made her witness many ways that people treated pokemon with. As friends, as pets, or even as expendable tools that they would feel nothing by discarding them. No! Anything but that! Do whatever you want with me but do not harm Suzie please!

 

It was at that timely moment that the man finally put the ball down on his desk (Phew!) and spoke for the first time, in a surprisingly gentle tone, which, though, did nothing to alleviate the deathly stare issue:
 

17 hours ago, Bfroger6 said:

"Do you...know why you've been brought here?"

 

Cathode was never so thankful that someone actually asked her a question (not a technological one)! So much that she would never again react to people asking her questions the same way she did till now!  But with the question, which reminded her the subject at hand, all of her previous shame resurfaced yet again, her face became redder than a tomato, and if she had a tail, it would  curl below the chair, and keep curling all the way to the front side, till it hit her nose, had it been long enough. Yet the previous suffocating silence made her want no more! She took her trademark defensive stance, by lowering her posture, and grasping her left arm with her right hand, while at the same time pressing against her still undeveloped chest, and let her apologizing cascade flow out:

 

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I know, I screwed up big time! I managed to modify an empty repel bottle [momentarily the excitement of talking about her tinkering kicks in] to be able to work both ways, like to not only release substance, but also have a function to absorb, so I used it to absorb some sleep powder that Ms. Pinkles was so kind to provide, but when I successfully sprayed some out of the window in order to test if a substance different than repel is expelled properly by the mechanism, a wind current happened to blow inwards and I took it all in the face, and [sudden realization of her current situation. /excitement_mode off] ... I ended up falling asleep and failed to uphold my responsibility of attending such an important event of which I was an important part! I feel so ashamed! I let down Ms. Heather, who went out of her way and let me keep  Suzie in a ball not authorized by the rules! I have no excuse for my misstep and I'm willing to accept any punishment but pleasepleaseplease anything but separating me from Suzie or at least don't do anything to her! It's all on me!"

 

Every split second passing after she finished her barrage of words felt like an eternity...

Edited June 20, 2017 by DemICE

[InnocentSerenity]

“Hahooha.” Kai hummed as she skipped through the passages, not paying much attention to Gina's rather rough mood. She looked at the back of the woman’s head with a quiet smile. "I wonder what's up with her." She didn't ask why, they'd probably figure it out later, anyway. She could probably ask Kalva later, anyway.

 

“Ooo, that’s a pretty door.” The girl jumped to the side of the door opposite of the terminal. She had wondered about it for the longest time, hearing rumors from all of her classmates. Mother told her never to listen to those baseless theories, though. Blake said they'd mess with her head. Kai poked the beautiful door with her right pointer finger, interested in the decorations. She didn’t have much time, as Gina had opened the door before she could get a better look at it. Nearly hurt her finger when the door opened without warning.

 

She backed away from the doorframe when she saw two figures jumping out, bowing in the direction of the group’s direction. “Hiya!” Kai waved her hand in greeting. “‘Kai’’s fine, I dunno what a patron is, anyway.” That might have been a lie. The girl kept her feet planted to the ground, swaying her body around as she spoke. “Maybe you can take your masks off and tell us your name? That'd be a nice start.”

[Daniel Blackworth]

Frederick paid attention to the ornately decorated door which Gina opened. He immediately realized that this was the door his professor father had mentioned to him quite a few times years before. This was a unique door, one which seemed to divert attention away from itself, mostly due to leading to a room supposedly restricted to students and lower ranked employees. Aside from being told by his father to keep away from it if he ever noticed it in his school life, he didn't know anything else regarding the insides of the room nor what purpose it served.

After staring for a bit at the door, he turned to the two mysterious people who greeted them when Gina opened the strange door. He was quite fascinated at their get-up and was quite curious as to their roles in the Academy. They seemed to be important people of sorts. Although he was curious, Frederick decided to hold his tongue. It probably wasn't best to speak up yet.

[Bfroger6]

CATHODE

SPACE AETHER HQ

- floor B9: Cadet Command Center -

**NPCs at the scene: Mason**

 

"..." It was clear from Mr. Mason's twitching brow that he wasn't prepared for listening about this little girl's excitement over her hobbies nor did he know or care who Mr. Pinkles was. Regarding the little attempt at explaining herself, he couldn't care less about that either.

 

"Yes well, accidents happen, do they not?" He continued in the same tone as earlier. Perhaps Cathode would find this treatment to be easing, what with him not attacking her actions directly, but then again, there was a sinister undertone in his words. As if...as if they beckoned for something horrible to happen. Mason pulled a new object from the desk's drawers, this one being Cathode's very own Sleep Powder Repel. He placed it on the desk next to Suzie's ball and looked at the girl again. "I see you're a very creative inventor, young lady. Not many would think to alter a Repel bottle in that manner, and even less would they think to...I don't know, repair a forgotten and meaningless relic of the past found at the local dump yard."

Slowly but surely, his speech began to take on a different tone, well above the sinister undertone alone. He wasn't hiding it anymore. "You speak of punishment, but no no no. It would be quite a shame if you couldn't graduate after all the hard work you've been through, would it not? Or say, demoted to janitorial status. The Space Aether Foundation would be losing a valuable possible addition to its meaningful staff." He stood back up and, hands behind his back, started circling the room wordlessly, awaiting a response.

 

 

GINA'S GROUP

SPACE AETHER HQ

- ABRAVATOR -

**NPCs at the scene: Gina, Zeta**

 

The male of the two turned to Kalva. "Young Master Kalva, please do not be alarmed." He pat his head with a swift but soft motion of hand. Afterwards, he immediately ruffled the boy's hair and fixed his jacket's collar up. "You just keep watching over Master Kalva, young Ralts." He smiled at Quina.

 

The woman, on the other hand, took over the initial interaction with everyone else. "We do try, dear Master Emmanuel." She smiled at him. It wasn't an empty smile or one with malice. No, it was a genuine smile. Now, Emmanuel could wonder how she knew what he was thinking, maybe even worry over it, who knows~? "A Patron is a valued customer, dear Master Karla. But I think you already know that." Unlike the man, she kept her hands to herself, joined at her chest in a caring clasp. She smiled at the rest just as heartily. "I'm afraid I cannot take my mask off for reasons better left untold. But I will gladly introduce us. Something tells me dear Master Frederick has been expecting this as well. My name is Abra..."

 

"...I am Kadabra..." The man added.

 

"And this is Alakazam!"

 

At that moment, a small yellow creature suddenly bumped from behind into Kalva as he was standing next to Gina, who was at the center of the group, and proceeded to float to the man and the woman. It was an Abra, yet they called it Alakazam. The room behind them lit up all of a sudden, the light source being a single lamp at the center of a moderately-sized round table in the middle of a small square room whose walls contrasted the whiteness and cleanliness of Space Aether HQ's by being covered in wallpapers of various designs, from simple polka-dots to detailed drawings of fabulous mystical beings, possibly Pokemon, you cannot recognize.

 

"Welcome to the Abravator Society."

[DemICE]

Unless Mason's brow had natural twitching tendencies,  this was not good at all. Of course just apologizing wouldn't simply delete the facts from the past. But did she mess up and made it worse? And... just how angry did this guy be? Did he take it on a personal level because he was Vice Prez? Cadets not respecting the system he (partially at least) represented to be responsible towards it and whatnot? 

 

3 hours ago, Bfroger6 said:

"Yes well, accidents happen, do they not?"

 

... What was with that undertone?  It didn't match at all the purpose those words would normally have.  No matter how this man would present himself ever since she stepped inside this room, he would never get rid of the "scary" stain poured all over him!  He then opened his drawer and took out...  the "weapon of the criminal",  her successfully modified repel bottle. Seriously this was starting to feel like a police interrogation or a trial. 

 

He placed it next to Suzie's ball and, after once again fixing his death disintegrating ray stare that had temporarily sidetracked, back to its original target (her very soul), he went on

3 hours ago, Bfroger6 said:

"I see you're a very creative inventor, young lady. Not many would think to alter a Repel bottle in that manner, and even less would they think to...I don't know, repair a forgotten and meaningless relic of the past found at the local dump yard."

"You speak of punishment, but no no no. It would be quite a shame if you couldn't graduate after all the hard work you've been through, would it not? Or say, demoted to janitorial status. The Space Aether Foundation would be losing a valuable possible addition to its meaningful staff."

 

When you are merely 12 years old, and can already be able to catch the implications behind a presumably experienced diplomat's speech,  while being scared shitless no less, it would mean two things:  one, you are very intelligent and mature for your age, or  two, the speaker does not even try to hide  his intentions,  to the point of them be mentally screaming at you. 

 

In this case Cathode could be pretty sure it was the latter.  Both she and Mason knew she would be dancing along his song in this here room.  He was never planning on preventing her progress as a Cadet. In fact he wanted her to advance, so that he could use her, since for some reason he finds it so damn special to do something so simple as make a spray bottle work both ways!  

The realization that due to this man's greediness she was not in an immediate danger of any long-lasting punishment, and the fact that the initial shock from all those intimidating postures was slowly wearing off, had made her revert to her more calculating self.  It was funny, she was freaking out when interacting with other kids in the academy, but right here, when she should have been in her most freaked out state ever, she was here, analyzing the situation she was in, trying to choose the best way to respond.

 

He was not letting this slide out of the kindness of his heart. He wanted to use her,  and every implication screaming at her made it clear that it was not for the sake of the Cadet's goal, which was the re-establishment of the relationships between the two species as individual towards individual,  but rather for quite possibly selfish reasons.  He saw her as nothing but a possible tool he could invest on,  pretty much how all those jerks she met at the academy were seeing their pokemon partners. What did those assholes chose to be Cadets for ?

She would never think of Suzie like that...  she was a gentle soul that had been the only individual on her side apart from her father. She saved her from the loneliness that an antisocial (as she overheard some people calling her) girl like her would normally have, she was her moral support when she was feeling down and her father was not there, and needed no human words to achieve that. And yet at the same time she would be overprotective to a fault, not letting any other lifeform, human or not  approach her unless proven one hundred percent not harmful... after all that's how they first met, her protecting all of them even in a near-collapsed state.   

 

And here was this man, in such a high position, who would have that same mentality. People or 'mons, he would use them all the same.  For Cadets, men like him were those that should be fought. They were the reason progress in the cause was so slow.  No... she could not afford to lose her Cadetship when such a man was in the loose and no one knew about it!  

 

In this situation, it was good that despite her internal thinking, that only took mere moments,  her external appearance was still one of a shocked girl. If only he knew what was she really shocked about.. 

With a hopefully realistic tone fitting her shocked and still reasonably scared facade:

 

"R-really? You will allow me to graduate? Thank you! Thank you very much! I worked so hard this year to finally succeed and I failed once too! My father would be so broken if he learned that just like him, I failed to achieve my dream too!" Which was true, no matter how some would say that she was just trying to live her father's dream, but in reality, her bond with Suzie, and all the pokemon abuse she saw around her, made her want to add her own effort in the combined one to make things right. It was first and foremost, her dream. And if her affinity towards creating makeshift inventions assisted her towards that goal, all the better! 

"If there is anything i can do to show my appreciation for your kindness and understanding i am fully willing!" I bet that's what you want too, right Mr. Smoothtalker? Using people can work both ways, just like my repel bottle. Thinking of which, "I-I see you found my Sleepyspray interesting! Ehehe... it was hard to make (just a little) but I'm so happy it works! it may sound funny seeing as you have confiscated it anyway, but please keep it!" Now that she had made it once, she could reproduce an even better Sleepyspray overnight anyway. "It may come of use! But more importantly, I promise to honor your lenience by working hard and contributing a lot towards the Cadets' goal!" Something that you clearly have no interest in. I will have to work double shift to cover your part too.

 

Hoping to have played her part at least decently, she lowered her glance, took her standard defensive pose yet again, and finished with "F-forgive me sir, I got a bit over-enthusiastic..." 

 

She wondered in the awkward silence that followed how will he respond to all this.

 

Edited June 22, 2017 by DemICE

[Yours Truly]

Radovan wasn't really bothered by the whole thing, as a lifelong #07 resident you get used to seeing adults do weird shit with each other, but to be honest he was a bit surprised that Gina would lead them here, she didn't really seem like the type of person who would join something like this you know?.
Radovan continued to quietly munch on a waffle he hadn't quite finished earlier for a while, and he had a rather bored look on his face as he tried to figure out what the odd creatures drawn on the wallpaper is supposed to be.
After a while he pointed at the nearest drawing before asking "What is that supposed to be? And why are we here anyway?"

[InnocentSerenity]

Kai giggled to herself as the woman saw through her ruse, scratching at her right ear lobe in false embarrassment. "Nothin' gets past you science-y folk." The girl quickly moved her focus to the yellow creature that appeared behind them, her eyes glittering with excitement.

 

“Whoa!” Kai jumped towards the Abra, looking around at the Pokémon she had never seen in person before. “It’s nice to meetcha.” Kai quickly hovered around the creature, looking it from every angle possible. “You’re one of those Psychic type Pokémon, too.” She moved her pointer and middle fingers of both of her hands to her temples, a somewhat mocking gesture but made in jest. “Does that mean you can read my mind? I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 10, what is it?” It was a lie, she was actually thinking of negative 5.

[Daniel Blackworth]

I have to note that this room outright looks... different... in more ways than one. Frederick thought as he glanced at the bizarre room which they entered in. It was quite unlike the Aether Academy's rooms, halls, and areas which had the mark of purity and innocence. This room sent him vibes of being sort of funky and mysterious at the same time. He decided to point out something he found a bit odd from the beginning, "How is it that you know our names? I am quite sure neither of this group has not given you any of your names? Perhaps you have been informed beforehand of our group and we have a purpose of being here?" Frederick inquired the strange individuals who met the group earlier.

[LucidRain]

Quina smiled back. She couldn't feel any malice from them, and for now, Kalva was right. Gina will not lead them wrong, much less try to lead them to harm. She waved at 'Alakazam', glad to see there was another Psychic type here. Though, she wondered, how did the humans obtain psychic abilities? Was "Alakazam' powering their abilities? If so, could Quina do the same for Kalva? She mentally noted this for reference later.

 

Psychics?

Kalva looked at the two people in awe, admiration and to be honest, a little bit of envy. They could read minds! That meant, they were reading his mind right now!

Uhh, hello, sir, ma'am! M-my name is Kalva, and this is my partner Quina!

He tried thinking his message out extra hard to try and see if he could 'speak' that way.

[IntSys]

"O-Oh, you could read my mind?" Emmanuel exclaimed, "well, I do appreciate your effort here, but it would help us a lot more if you could explain to us what you do here."

 

His eyes slowly drifted toward the colorful wall arts. He instinctively took out his A-Comm and quickly took pictures of them. All the intricate artworks on the walls were like a whole new world to little Emmanuel... a world that he could never live in.

 

The excitement slowly turned into a mild taste of sadness.

 

Edited June 26, 2017 by IntSys

[Yours Truly]

Radovan did exactly what any properly paranoid person should do upon hearing the words 'psychic' and 'mind reader' be uttered by people who don't seem to be sarcastic and put on the greatest mental barrier in existence, an endless stream of commentary free 1+1 mathematical operations.

 

He was thinking of 1+1 when he said "Your costumes are nice by the way".

[Strider]

Of course we have a purpose in being here! Thought Shelly as Frederick spoke. Why else would they have been brought here!? And it made sense for names to be known to others in the Aether Foundation. . .

In any case, Shelly had her own questions for the trio. "So, your given names aren't Abra and Kadabra, right? So, what do you need the codenames for, or is this just for show? And...why is the Abra named Alakazam? Also, Frederick, if they can read minds, that's a decent explanation for why they know our names."

[Bfroger6]

CATHODE

SPACE AETHER HQ

- floor B9: Cadet Command Center -

**NPCs at the scene: Mason**

 

Mason nearly gagged on the girl's reaction to his words. It was as if she'd misinterpreted the sarcasm in his voice as he told her he'd let her graduate. Additionally, the girl trailed on and on about meaningless things again, going so far as to offer him the Repel bottle he'd already confiscated from her. The cheek of these children sometimes... He coffed into a fist and gestured with an open palm to halt the girl's chattering.

 

"Indeed you got just a bit overenthusiastic." He repeated after her. "And I never said I'd allow you to graduate. In fact, I, as well as the board, have decided not to allow you to graduate just yet." Mason said before smirking. Looking down upon her like that, he could just feel how her heart would surely crush underneath these words.

For now, he waited for a reply, somewhat giddy under his iron facade.

 

 

GINA'S GROUP

SPACE AETHER HQ

- ABRAVATOR -

**NPCs at the scene: Gina, Zeta, Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam**

 

As Radovan approaches the image, Abra turns to him.

 

Music: Legends Long Forgotten

 

"Dear Master Radovan, this image depicts the tale of Life and Death, a natural cycle of balance, broken by the greed of the Lone One. Without the Reconcilator, One Who Brings Balance, the order of a world was lost, giving birth to the coocon of chaos."

 

Zeta approached as well and her eyes lit up as she saw the image. "O-oh! This is the Tree of Life, isn't it! The God of Life and the God of Death...you said...you said the balance was broken? Father never told me anything of the like..."

 

"Ye-" The woman opens her mouth to speak but words don't come out. She stares at Zeta in confusion for a moment, hand over her lips. "You...you are empty..." She says as if in some trance before shaking her head. Zeta backs away and runs to Kai, while Abra lowers her head, breathing heavily. "Excuse me, Dear Patron. That...was unprofessional of me." She clears her throat but remains silent. Kadabra, seeing this, smiles warmly and places a hand over her shoulders.

 

"It is all right, Abra. Alakazam and I can take it from here." She nods at him and walks inside of the room. All the images except Legend #08 (currently viewed by Radovan) fade to blackness before anyone can take a picture of them, leaving the room devoid of life. Abra disappears beyond a hidden door in the back. "The truth shall open its path for you to walk once you are ready. The legend of Life and Death is but the beginning of an extraordinary epoch, one heralded by the Lone One's own cycle. You must forgive Abra, though, she must've caught a fever." He adds with a smile as warm as ever.

 

He turns to Kalva afterwards. "Yes, we know who you are, Young Master Kalva." He nods, turning to Frederick, Emmanuel and Shelly. "We cannot read your mind. Don't be silly, Young Master Emmanuel." The man chuckles. "Although I must applaud Young Master Frederick's attentious eye for capturing the intricacy of our little room over here. As for Young Master Shelly's inquiry, these really are our names. Alakazam in particular is the reincarnation of the Alakazam that observed the secrets of The Depths. Start of the cycle of Alpha, set in motion. No wonder it shattered its mind."

 

Alakazam hovered in front of Kai. Suddenly, a sensation of wrongfulness would surface in the girl's mind. Alakazam's stare would only intensify with the sensation, bringing forth suspicion that she was being punished for cheating. Maybe she could try again? This time, however...without a ruse.

 

Gina intervenes in the scene. "As for why we are here...please cut the mystery bull-crap. I want direct access to the Society's files regarding Cadet Betani Tri. As well as an escort for these children down to B9. Is that clear?" She walks up to Kadabra, who smiles.

 

"Y-yes, of course...Young Master Gina. Follow Alakazam while I'll escort the children." He turns to Alakazam, but Alakazam is still observing Kai, waiting for her to correct her riddle.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Bfroger6

[InnocentSerenity]

 

 

Kai scratched the back of her head, an odd itchy feeling in the back of it as she tried to stay calm. “Y- you know what?” Kai waved her right hand in front of her, slowly backing away from Alakazam. “I believe you, we can stop the game.” The girl gave out a nervous giggle, still grinding the right side of her teeth together. Just as a precaution she began to think of the number four.

 

Kai sidled over to Kadabra, trying to get her mind off of the game. She took a look at the artworks everyone else was taking a look at, unable to appreciate the coherent combination of black and white framed for people to see. She turned her head back to the man, uninterested in the painting. “So, we’re going on a trip? What’s at B9?”

[DemICE]

As expected, he momentarily showed he was caught off guard by this, which was good. 

What was not expected was his reply that followed, which completely did an 180 of what he had said before!  The fear she had  partially pushed back in order to think more clearly was slowly prodding the back of her mind again, though it was for now blocked by the stronger feeling of frustration that was starting to boil inside her. She had guessed his intentions wrong, and was now costing her. On top of that it felt humiliating!

What was this man's deal? Was he playing games with her in a situation that was so serious for her? Was he laughing behind that death stare? Whatever the truth behind his words was, she just couldn't like that sadistic man!

 

"....but you said just before..."  she unconsciously mumbled.

 

He was implying that he wouldn't want to punish her, neither make her repeat the year or drop her out, which should be true to an extent, because if he just wanted to do any of those he could have just announced it already. After all it was the decision of the board as well, so why was he dragging this out? Besides an explanation and apology there shouldn't be much one would expect to fish out of a 12 year old girl. She couldn't discard her previous hypothesis that he indeed wanted something from her.  But more importantly, the danger of not graduating was not gone at all, yet.  

 

That last thought opened a path for the fear to resurface again for good, and made her panic. She had worked hard that year,  she didn't want it to go to waste over a last moment fumble! Anxiety also made its unwelcome visit and she started to shake a little.

 

"P-please, I worked so hard for this, she continued, if  I didn't, i would just accept this,  but I did! Not graduating-" 

("just yet" ) what does this even mean... are they (1) planning to make me repeat the year or are they (2) expecting something from me before they let me pass?  

She also couldn't disregard her previous conclusion that his man still wanted to gain something out of this. Case (1) was hopeless anyway so she just went by (2) and hoped it's not the first.

"-would be so cruel! Please! Is there really nothing I can do to prove I deserve at least some reconsideration for my efforts before this incident?" 

 

 

Oh, how she hated this man already for making her be begging him like this after what felt like a humiliation!

 

[LucidRain]

Kalva's eyes positively twinkled when it was confirmed that indeed, they could 'hear' what he was saying.

Wow! That's amazing! How can you hear me? Can you do it the other way around? Is it because of Alakazam?

He 'spoke' a barrage of questions in excitement, and perhaps at the prospect of being able to 'speak', though in a convoluted way. He wanted to ask more questions, but since Gina looked like there was some very serious matters going on, he didn't push any further. 

[Bfroger6]

CATHODE

SPACE AETHER HQ

- floor B9: Cadet Command Center -

**NPCs at the scene: Mason**

 

Mason let out a deep chuckle that just said how much he enjoyed having Cathode gripped like this.

"Thankfully, as I stand above the Academical Board, my word carries more weight. I've decided to let you graduate under several conditions, for I will make clear we've dropped possible candidatesin the past for less than what you've done." His smile disappeared with this last part of the sentence, once again replaced with his iconic death stare.

 

"Hand me your A-Comm." His voice was commanding as he extended his hand over to Cathode, waiting for her to give him her Communicator.

 

 

GINA'S GROUP

SPACE AETHER HQ

- F134990 -

**NPCs at the scene: Gina, Zeta, Kadabra, Alakazam**

 

[Gina has exited the scene]

 

**NPCs at the scene: Zeta, Kadabra, Alakazam**

 

Alakazam nodded to Kai and the sensation she was having ceased. It then turned away and floated to Kadabra, who gestured with his hand for the children to follow him.

"While Young Master Gina inspects...and quite possibly meddles...with Young Master Betani's personal files, we'll go to B9, the floor where you will be working as Cadets, Young Master Karla."

 

"I can't hear you, Young Master Kalva." Kadabra smiled. "You must just be imagining things. Alakazam has no particularly strange powers either, save for the memories she retained from her former life." He led them to the main elevator, which was like a triangular pole in the middle of the floor they were currently in. On each side of the pole, there were 3 separate elevators. They entered the one on the right. "Please do come in." He stood next to the door with a slight bow as they opened and some personnel rushed out, probably to assist in the recovery of rescued people from #08. The elevator was spacious enough, reminiscent of the design of the Nexus Drill's interior. If one wished to sit, they could do it on a platform to the side. It could easily contain the 11 of them, as well as Kadabra, Meggie, Murki and Alakazam.

[DemICE]

The sadistic man didn't bother to be discreet when he chuckled on the situation, much to Cathode's dismay.

 

His reply was somewhat pacifying concerning the graduation issue, though at the same time she had this unpleasant sensation of metaphorical strings getting attached to her. There was no going back now. Her only option was to successfully deal with whatever Mason had in store for her. 

 

When asked for her A-Comm  there wasn't much space for choice anyway, though she still flinched from the return of the death stare. 

 

As she was never one for many needless words, and seeing as she had outdone her talkativeness already so far,  she wordlessly handed him the A-Comm.

[IntSys]

Emmanuel was rather suspicious about the man and the woman's behavior. Not just that, but they together just felt esoteric, as if they had many stories to tell. What's more, they said that they weren't reading his mind. It could either be a lie or something else. Future Sight?

 

The picture showed great contrasts to him. Was it the white that stood out, or the black that stood out? His answer leaned toward the former, but he couldn't help but think that there was more to the bizarrely-placed darkness behind what appeared to be a glowing tree. He followed Kadabra, and spent the next minutes and on thinking about the picture.

[Yours Truly]

Radovan did his best to try and get some clarification by asking as politely as possible "Are the two of you also reincarnations of someone? I'm not trying to be rude or anything, I'm just curious because I have never heard of something like that happening before....and what do you mean by the cycle of Alpha? and while we are at it...is anyone else here a reincarnation of someone?".

[Daniel Blackworth]

"You certainly are rather interesting, mysterious beings as far as I observed." Frederick cares to note, his left hand perched on his chin. He was rather curious on where they would be brought and what they would be doing next, but he decided not to ask that of them as he wanted to surprise himself. Instead, he asked about something which he perked his attention. "I have noticed that you have been quite polite to everyone you have interacted with since earlier. Is it in your nature to do so? And if I may add, why do you call the women of the group Young Master as well, instead of Young Miss?"

[Bfroger6]

CATHODE

SPACE AETHER HQ

- floor B9: Cadet Command Center -

**NPCs at the scene: Mason**

 

Music: Wrong

 

The tone of the whole conversation shifted into a downwards spiral with Mason's last request. He took Cathode's A-Comm without a smile or a grin, merely a look of contempt. He gently held it for a moment, running his fingers across its sides before flipping it open. He pulled a contraption similar to an A-Comm docking site, except in a portable form, and placed it onto the table, after which he attached Cathode's A-Comm to it. Its screen flashed blue and numbers and letters started running across it-its coding. Some static appeared as the A-Comm buzzed. Meanwhile, Mason stood with his back to the girl, observing the process intently. It was over with quite quickly, to be honest, and he returned the Comm back to its owner after a mere couple moments, shut down, presumably to let whatever changes were made integrate properly.

 

Were Cathode to turn it on, she'd find it functioned just as well as it always has. Mason gave her another look before speaking up.

"You will not speak of this with anyone, nor attempt to remodify your device. If I learn you've done any such, and trust me...I will know, I'll have your father fired and your Cadetship relinquished, and we wouldn't want that, would we? Additionally, you will work extra hours helping out at the mechanic's, considering your well-versed inventive expertise. Is that clear, Cadet Granazia?"

There was something in the way he pronounced this 'Cadet' that made it sound as if he were mocking her, having full control over the situation right now. Like it wasn't a set deal yet, which it clearly wasn't. Also, whatever he'd done to her A-Comm remained a mystery.

 

 

KADABRA'S GROUP

SPACE AETHER HQ

- F134990 elevator #3 -

**NPCs at the scene: Zeta, Kadabra, Alakazam**

 

"The cycle of Alpha, ah yes. You might mistake it for the season of Alpha, yet it is not the same. The cycle of Alpha is the cycle of beginning. It itself began years ago, as a Wish awoke the Tide. We are nearing the end of that cycle, after which it'll be the time for the cycle of Beta, that of tranformation, abundance and growth, to begin. I hope that answers your question, Young Master Radovan." Kadabra nods, having led everyone into the elevator safely. "I am afraid Abra and I aren't as blessed as Alakazam, for we've only lived our current existence. And Young Master Frederick, it is merely common courtesy to conduct proper etiquette with one's esteemed Patrons. Young Master or Young Miss matters not, for everyone is the same in the eyes of the world. If you wish to be referred to as either, please do tell. The Abravator will be glad to oblige." He claps his hands together as he smiles softly. Bringing a hand (no A-Comm) and running it over the interface causes a set of options to appear on the holographic screen for choosing a floor. Kadabra once again waves his palm and more is revealed-the basement levels. He sets their course to B9 and the elevator door closes. Zeta and her Pokemon are taken aback as the elevator starts to move, but she'd gotten accustomed to such surprised for the day.

 

"We'll be arriving shortly. Vice President should be waiting for you down there."

You all know who Kadabra speaks of, as the Vice Pres Mason is a way more prominent figure in the Space Aether hierarchy than even President Haether. He's basically the one conducting all relations between the higher-ups, including Haether, and the public.

 

[NOTE: next post will be joining the group with Cathode]