[FIN] Alleles

[Gwennythe]

The common work area of the labs were not a bad place if you wanted to work with others, or, if you simply had work that didn't require taking up valuable 'classified' higher security areas, or extra-specialist equipment.

Tambrey was standing at a work station, in a lab coat, with a very mundane, but thankfully distracting, and somewhat labour intensive, task: she was carefully tweaking, and recording, the visible, cellular, results of various mutative changes that had, since samples were acquired, been applied to different strands of Onyx cells.
She was always thankful for the tech department when it came to tasks like this; the strange, semi-mineral, nature of the rock types permeated the cells, too.
It was almost like trying to work with mineral crystal lattices as much as it was trying to work with living cells.

The agent was rather focused on the screen in front of her, as her hands worked delicately with tools, at the, irritatingly, 'hard' cellular material under the 'scope.
A pencil and an open notebook sat on the table next to her.  

[caffeinecraving]

Counting glowing yeast cells, Kailee was almost 99% sure was going to damage her eyes. But the fact remained that she had successfully made the yeast glow. And pass it down along about 52 generations. Forcing it into a dominant gene. She removed the test plate with the glowing colonies and looked up rubbing her eyes.

She took in the few other rockets working nearby. It wasnt odd to see them really. But it made her hesitate to stand up. Something was going to break... Something always broke when she was working in the labs. She glanced over everything. The test plates were plastic... so no harm would come to dropping them... The magnification scope was fixed to the work station. She took the four glowing plates and her control and moved to set them back in the cabinet. She looked over the genetic data they had at hand. Hmmmm... What should she make glow? She reached for the onyx data and took it and the serum she had been using to move to a work space. She set up next to the Agent taking notes and she couldnt help but look. Scientific curiosity and all. She smiled. "Oh cool... you are testing onyx... I was just gonna see if i could make them glow." She started preparing cells in a dish so not to contaminate the main control.

 

[Gwennythe]

Oh! A person!
Tambrey blinked and turned her head slightly to see who was setting up beside her; well, that was a good idea- setting up there if they were working on the same material more or less.
The agent smiled and gestured to her notes.
"Well, they're still reasonably new in sample- did you ever try to take a sample from an Onyx? /Literally/ getting blood from a stone..." She joked, with a shrug.
"Glowing? That's a neat idea. I've got some glowing cacti on accelerated growth nearby (present for a friend, really) but I have to admit, I haven't thought about trying to engineer the property in Onyx. That'll be very neat to see."  

[caffeinecraving]

Kailee smiled back and when she spoke she did so kindly with a nod. "I saw that..." That they were new. Its what made her want to work with them. It was an opportunity to shine. To show something the boss hadnt seen. Glowing pikachues, well... onyx was all the more rare right?

She laughed and shook her head. She could only imagine. "How long have you been working with them?" If she needed help she now knew where to look for it. She smiled. "Thats super cool. I have glowing yeast... What did you use as the luminescence? I used the luminescence of a few different types of fungi." She nodded. She was pretty proud of herself for being able to isolate the sequences that effected the glowing of the fungus.

"Well hopefully it will go well. So what are you trying to do with the onyx?" She was always interested in seeing what others were doing. "Oh...where are my manners... Im Kailee... " She turned her attention to her sample and she realized her first problem. The cells were hard... not the blubby self of normal animal cells.

 

[Gwennythe]

"The cacti or the Onyx? Not long in either case, I'm afraid. A few weeks for one, longer, in theory, for the other, but in practice... This is one of my first sessions with the Onyx." The agent explained, then nodded with a growing smile as Kailee explained her glowing yeast.
"Fungi's a good idea- Luciferase? That's what I've been working with, though my source was Plankton-based; a little well trodden but, well... It's for a present, not a scientific breakthrough."
She smiled, still, as Kailee introduced herself and returned the practice.
"Tambrey. Nice to meet you, Kailee; I'm really just playing around. Seeing if I can streamline the pigment engineering for more unusually coloured individuals... Our current system works alright but," she shrugged a little "rock types; it's like dyeing crystals more than genetics sometimes."  

[caffeinecraving]

Kailee laughed. "Either... Both?" She listened nodding with excitement. And then she again beamed and nodded. "Yep exactly... Luciferase... while Fungi isnt nearly as bright as other things... it is capable of remaining glowing 24-7. So you get the reliability that way... at least from what i can figure..." It was so nice to talk to someone that knew what she was talking about. Her parents had always looked at her cross eyed and pat her head telling her she was lucky she was pretty.

"And i was looking into Plankton... since there are some species that actually stay lit all the time too... " She nodded. "But i thought that it would be more... beneficial, to start from a different source." Hers would be a gift too... but she had to make sure it was all her work. She didnt want to share the credit. Not when she was trying to better herself. That said she didn't mind working with others and sharing credit that way... but she had to start out with that goal.

She nodded. "You too!" the first friendly face she had seen around here. She looked interested and then her light blue eyes glittered. "Well... we could always just paint the onyx... " It was a joke and she glanced back to her specimens on the slide. She frowned as she tried the first time to implement some of the luminescent serum. Tambrey wasn't kidding... it was a pain. So talking out loud she said. "Does soaking the cells for any given amount of time help to soften them?" Sure they were rock like... but everything was soluble at some temperature and in the right solution... so a solution not strong enough to kill the cell should help right?

Looking away she had a thought. It came from the idea of putting onyx cells into boiling water. "Do you think if we put some in a pressure cooker we could make a diamond onyx?"

 

[Gwennythe]

"Soft glow's still a glow," Tambrey agreed "and reliability's good. I'm just going the quick and easy route because the sooner I get these done, the happier my partner'll be; he seemed pretty happy with the idea of a glowing cactus or two, and, well, we certainly have beyond the facilities needed; also trying some growth acceleration with these; nothing too unstable- cactus soup, glowing or not, isn't what anyone wants..."
Tam' grinned again.
"Beneficial and a lot of fun; it's neat putting together something in a different way. Did that with a Ponyta when I was a grunt; wouldn't recommend the process I used, really, now, but it was a good learning curve. All old equipment and spare time..."

The joke about painting the Onyxes got a snort of a laugh.
"Would really make it a lot easier... Hm." She considered the 'soaking' idea. "I wouldn't doubt that's been tried, though soaking for time eats in production schedules when it's not an experimental... Still, that's a pretty good idea if we could speed it up; maybe a rapid saturation rather than a soaking, as long as it doesn't result in total cell death?"
Tambrey blinked, then, trying to work out if it was a joke... Apparently it wasn't.
"Uh... I... Hm. Theoretically? We'd need a pretty, um, beefy pressure cooker though... and a lot of time." She even had a feeling that was a bit of an understatement. "These are still cells though... And there are 'diamond-like' pokémon out there; you could try talking to tech if you wanted to try the pressure cooker, and seeing if they'll build you an... appropriate unit, but perhaps with just the right tweaking, genetically, might get you the same kind of result... Hm," the agent chewed her lip for a moment thoughtfully "Might even be worth submitting the project to higher up if you did want to try it- see if you can get a bit of time to pursue both and see what, if anything, works? Might have to set aside quite a bit of your free time though, I'd think."  

[caffeinecraving]

"True." She smiled. "And that's perfectly ok... Who is your partner?" She asked out of curiosity as she tried again. She laughed softly. "I bet...with the right seasonings cactus soup could be quite tasty!"

She smiled. The new facilities would inevitably help with her experiments. "So did it go well though? The ponyta glow in the end?" She laughed when the other lab rocket did. "Wouldn't it though?" She sighed and nodded. "Yeah i guess thats true." She thought about it. What would be a good catalyst for that. She then stopped. She was supposed to make them glow... not soft... She glanced over. "Yeah... Cell death... thats the problem..."

She smiled and shook her head. She had meant it as a joke. "Yeah... may just be better to stick with genetics." She nodded. "Yeah well thats not so bad... I try to get down here as much as i can already. However i wonder if we couldnt get a diamond onyx... It would be worth... millions. The boss would be really happy with that dont you think?" She smirked. "My parents would buy something like that... just to be the talk of the town..." She smirked and shook her head. "So did you just keep working the cell till you got through or did you come up with a clever way?" She opened the top drawer near her to pull out a pipette set. She had to be careful she had already broken a few of these.

 

[Gwennythe]

"Agent Aulus; we share a bathroom, so we're neighbors too, and he seemed pretty pleased with the idea of a glowing cactus to light his room up a bit. It's weird not having windows." She could, at least, understand where he had been coming from there, though she was a little less uncomfortable with it, given the amount of time she spent in windowless labs.
The agent smirked, adding on: "Perhaps. Cactus and Rosemary maybe? Or Paprika if we're feeling really adventurous."

The question about the Ponyta glowing got a blink, and then Tambrey realised how she'd phrased it before, and quickly shook her head.
"Oh, no, I wasn't trying to get her to glow, I was just... Seeing what I could do with some of our more limited stuff- cloning 'from scratch' though my sources were rather 'unique' in themselves... Uh... One moment." grabbing a stick, which she didn't seem to use too much to lean on despite using it, the agent made her way over to a little storage area and removed a pokéball.
A click later and Octavia stood in the lab.
"This is Octavia; she doesn't glow but I'm kind of proud of her."

The Ponyta gave a soft snort, then paced quietly over to the work station.
The agent made no comment on her Ponyta's attire.

Meanwhile, Tambrey was considering the 'diamond Onyx' problem still, even as Octavia decided to see if Kailee wanted to give her plenty of attention, or perhaps just trying to see what the grunt was doing.

"Well, so far I've tried using water type cells to see if the... traditional types have an affect there. It's not been as useful as you'd think so I tried other types, but I did hit upon the idea of using a mechanism that rather mimics 'Leech Seed' to 'embed' a 'virus' payload into the rock cells... It's kind of 'hit and miss' but I think it could be refined?"
It was nice to talk seriously about ideas with a new face; to collaborate right away so well could sometimes be rather rare.
"I think he probably would," Tambrey agreed, having thought it through "the diamond Onyx, I mean... But I'm not entirely sure just how possible it is; still, a cosmetic facade of diamond might be more plausible... I'm pretty certain that would be possible... Maybe get even closer if utilised with one of Onyx's abilities?"  

[caffeinecraving]

Oh she tried not to react. Really she did, but she almost fell off her stool at that new bit of information. The person she was talking to was warm and open and what she remembered of Agent Aulus... it was almost terrifying. But the fact that he wanted a glowing cactus... That made kailee smile slightly. She had been sure that the man wasn't as terrifying as he tried, and succeeded in coming across as. "Thats very thoughtful of you."

And then Kailee laughed. "Oh yes... I think maybe... some chili pepper... and a dash of Tabasco? After all... i think hot when i think Cactus... " Kailee failed at cooking. but she knew hot spices.

Kailee laughed "Ohhhhh! I was worried there a moment... thought i was just re doing your project." She smiled and then moved to stand up. "I can-" get it for you.... She had come to realize that the people of rocket were proud people and liked doing for themselves. She sat back figuring it safe so that she wouldnt accidentally mess anything up. Today was going wonderful. Perhaps it was because she wasnt working with glass. "I can see why!" That was Kailees response to seeing the pokemon. This was why she loved genetics. Kailee smiled at the pokemon but didn't reach out knowing that some ponyta were temperamental and would burn the person.

The Agent may not have... but the grunt sure did. "I love her fashion choices!" It was said up beat with a smile, but Kailee wasnt being sarcastic. She was all about fashion and all her pokemon... minus Sissy because she royally objected... were forced to endure hours of dress up. Not that she brought them into public that way.... but she loved seeing how cute and doll like they could be. Honestly if Kailee didnt' have to be in uniform she would be dressed to impress. Cute little summer dresses in the most recent fashion. As the pokemon came closer looking for attention Kailee reached out to pet her completely happy to oblige the pokemon.

Kailee looked back up as Tambrey moved back to talking about onyx. She contemplated all that Tambrey was saying. "That's rather ingenious." She didn't sound surprised... just that she was still contemplating it now trying to think about how it could be refine. She smiled though. "Well... We could always just bedazzle it..." She laughed softly. "Ill have to think on it more..." As a food for thought though she looked up. "Did you know... It rains diamonds on the Jovian Planets... Has to do with Methane and how much pressure the gas puts on itself..."She shrugged and looked back to her glowing onyx. Maybe she should try something squishy first... But that was almost giving up now. But the leech seed idea... now that was definitely something to contemplate.

 

[Gwennythe]

"He's a good friend; taught me a lot- especially about how to fight, so it honestly feels like the least I might do." Tambrey explained, happily, with another smile for the seasoning joke, though she didn't comment, but did lick her lips slightly- apparently also a fan of spices.

"Oh, no, definitely not. I don't know how many people have tried to make pokémon 'glow'... I'm reasonably sure I've not seen an Onyx with it before though. And certainly not from this lab before now. Or our old lab. I guess maybe at some other facility, but still, that's not here, and your work is your own work." She hoped that was reassuring, and rejoined the grunt at the workstation, smiling as she watched Octavia and Kailee interact, rather pleased at the comment.
"Thanks... I'm rather glad she likes it too; makes her look, um, kind of like a contest pokémon? Sort of, anyway; I'm a little bit of a fan of those."

Octavia snorted, blowing a blast of warm air downward, contentedly.

"Bedazzling could work." Tambrey smirked in agreement, then raised her eyebrows slightly at the sudden shift into astronomy.
"I think I read a news report about that last year? Turning the methane into carbon with storms, right?" She wondered if the random fact was just that, or if the grunt was pursuing a thought; it would be interesting, she reflected, if so, as random 'thoughts' like that were how a lot of her projects started out- it was rather nice to witness.  

[caffeinecraving]

She flushed slightly at not having said something sooner. "Ah... i knew he could be a good friend... i met him... and he reduced me... almost... to a puddle... but a person who treats their pokemon the way he does cant be all bad..." She smiled. "Thats cool though... my dad wanted boys... he got me... so he taught me how to fight as a small child... And we would wrestle all the time... But then i kinda got into fashion and less into boyish stuff and so... yeah anyway..." She waved her family history off. Kailee took note of the spicy food and then turned her attention back to the ponyta.

"Oh thats so good to know...When i looked for any files on it i couldn't find any so its good to have that confirmed." Kailee nodded. "YOu like contests too?" She was so excited to hear that. She didnt think anyone else would have followed all that. "We should put together a contest sometime! We can invite other rockets to join! It would be epic... Ill make little ribbons! And we can give them out to the winners!" She seemed to keep getting more excited.

She looked to Octavia. "You will be a star for sure!"

She laughed with Tambrey. "Yes... " Maybe that was her next project. And the topic switch had to do with... perhaps if they could find a way to change the pressure they were under... perhaps they could make diamonds too. She smirked. "A diamond Onyx would be stunning in our contests!"

 

[Gwennythe]

"He's real good with pokémon," Tambrey agreed, and then pushed her glasses up slightly as she thought about how to word what she said next "and, well, yes he's pretty tough, but I kind of feel like that's because he cares, if that makes sense? That sounds nice, by the way; having a relationship like that- I just had my mother really- my dad wasn't all that interested in being around, so to be honest I don't even remember what he looked like." She shrugged "Are you still in contact with your family?" She hoped so; Kailee seemed nice, and it sounded like her family would be a good link to a world outside rocket, perhaps, occasionally; the agent remembered how important those little escapes had been to her, as a grunt.

"I do like contests, quite a lot!" Tambrey grinned "I've kept up as best I can with a few circuits, since joining Rocket, though I'm probably pretty out of the loop by now; used to be a fan of a Phanpy- Elly; she's a Donphan now, but still pretty cute, from what I've seen... A contest here could be fun; we do have parties and things sometimes, I'm sure we'd get a few people interested in a contest," she certainly seemed to share some of the enthusiasm "my boyfriend," wow, that sounded weird despite how long "used to be a contest participant, so he might be interested, and there are a few ex-contestants I've met around base."

Octavia seemed pleased with the compliment, or vote of confidence, and tried to push her nose at the grunt for more attention.

"A diamond Onyx in a contest would probably wipe out most of the beauty competition... -and- the cool competition..." Tambrey mused, half-seriously.  

[caffeinecraving]

She nodded along and then she laughed. "I guess... He seemed very concerned they let me pass Training... You know the broken glass bin in here... how its usually full... thats mostly my fault... And he got to see me at close to my worst... I set my pokemon Sissy on fire... Well... She set herself on fire... but i guess it was my fault." She shook her head. "Anyway... caring isnt what i got from him... but he did tell me i should look him up to show him how much better we are getting!" However she kinda half smiled. "It was very nice... Im sorry that not everyone gets that." She nodded. "Actually yeah... they buy a lot of unique pokemon from off sources but impretty sure they came from Team Rocket... And because i love genetics and pokemon... i kinda always wanted to work for a place like this... So now i am... sorta... They think im working in an up and up lab... researching the genetics of pokemon... But i see them every now and then."

She was so happy that someone else liked them. "I have so many magazines! You can order cute clothes and it gives you tips on the best food to feed to get perfect coats! You should come to my room sometime and look at them... Oh! She just took the master class at the Wallace Cup! I have the article! " She nodded. It had been a dream once to show in the Wallace Cup. Though she was pretty sure her pokemon could have made it she had chosen this instead.

"Then we should do it! We can start planning it!" She made a note to do that in her other spare time. Aside from making onyx glow... or made from diamonds. She glanced up. "Ooooooh who is your boyfriend?" She was nosy. And she thought couples were cute. Also it was a good thing to know who was all off limits.

She pet the ponyta more. "Would you like to meet my good friend?" Sissy liked being out anyway. She pulled Sissy's ball from off her belt and let her out. The very normal looking wigglytuff looked around and saw the ponyta. She waved. "Sissy... these are Tambrey and her friend Octavia. And this is Sissy." Sissy looked around, this being the first time that she was in the lab, outside of a pokeball. She was a stolen pokemon so it was all new and interesting. She glanced back to the glowing onyx stuff and found she wanted to look into a contest more than work with the glowing. "I think we could do different classes based on previous experience... so even those who have never had any can participate... Oh! I can let them use the wardrobe i have for my pokemon to dress up their own! Wont they all be so cute?!" She glanced to Sissy already picturing the outfit she wanted to dress her in.

 

[Gwennythe]

The agent raised her eyebrows a little at that; clumsy, then, but at least Kailee seemed to know what she was talking about, and she certainly seemed to have enthusiasm for a few different things.
"On... fire?" Tambrey eyed Octavia dubiously- she'd never set anything on fire before and was, technically, always on fire herself.
Oh, well... She was sure it would be fine.
"Mmhm; it's not something you get to see on purpose." Tambrey agreed- and, to be honest, it was probably something Aulus didn't like showing until he knew somebody well enough.
"That's," actually, that was /kind of/ worrying; what did she mean 'traced'? Well... Tambrey chewed her top lip a little. There were the rather incredible 'modifications as a bit of a give-away maybe "good. Genetics, pokémon, etc; I came here from the university in Sandalwood. Less restrictive here."

The agent was very pleased to hear news of contests, and especially of one her favourite contestants, after not properly keeping up for a while.
"Well, as long as your room mate doesn't mind; I remember grunt dorms very well... That would be nice, and, uh, actually... Funnily enough, you might recognise him, if you're into the contest scene." Tambrey admitted with a blush "His name's Rory, but he and his Ponyta, her 'sister' actually," She gestured to Octavia "used to compete in some circuits. So he might be interested in helping out with this stuff, actually; I'm sure he misses it sometimes."

Octavia took a step back as Kailee asked if she wanted to meet Sissy, as though she was 'making room' to agree, that 'yes, she would like to'.
The Ponyta approached the Wigglytuff and snorted a greeting, in what she thought was 'politeness', at Sissy's ears.

"Hello Sissy, nice to meet you!" Tambrey greeted the pink pokémon, with a smile; she considered the ideas that Kailee put forward with a growing grin- it was sounding rather fun.
"That sounds does sound really cute. It's a good idea."