[ORP] Clean Slate (Rockets only)

[TawnyAngel]

"Right," Aulus nodded, taking the cue to let out Tortie too; she wasn't fond of pokeballs and the crowds should probably have cleared out of the halls by now so she wouldn't be in the way if she followed along. After a moment more of pondering he let Killer out too, the Sylveon still needed to get a bit more accustomed to him.

Both pokemon stretched out as they appeared and took in their surroundings with interest; Tortie gave a dismissive snort while Killer peered under the bed just in case there was anything he could murder. There was not and letting out a sigh he settled for coiling a feeler companionably around Aulus' wrist.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey was back to her room for a moment before she reappeared, backing out of the doorway, with one less pokéball, and addressing the Pidgeotto now making herself comfortable.

"I know it's new, but it's a lot nicer than we've had... No, I know you won't mess it up, no need for that look, but just remember you have a beak and sharp claws and that's a new bed, okay? I'll be back later..."
She turned, shutting the door, and reappearing to see Killer and Tortie; the latter got a smile and a little bit of a wave, but Killer got a look of real interest and the scientist instantly crouched to 'get a better look' at the fairy type that seemed to be 'holding' Aulus' hand.
"Oh! Hello, you must be 'Killer'... Wow," She addressed Aulus "even despite seeing them before, it always surprises me how 'big' they are compared to some of their counterparts... And those feelers are amazing..."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yeah," Aulus laughed, "I quickly learned that he can open doors, turn keys, open bottles and packets, and pinch people's arses with those things."

Killer looked smug and waved one of his free feelers at Tam in greeting, gathering that this was not somebody he was supposed to murder.

"There seems to be something with me and pink pokemon lately," Aulus continued with a shake of his head as he made for the door. "I told you about the Lugia, right? He insists it's salmon though, and I'm not about to argue with him in his presence, but he's damn well pink I'm telling you." Once outside the door Aulus glanced left and right for a moment before determining which direction to take to get back to the stairwell they'd used to come down this far. "One floor more down, right?" he asked more or less rhetorically.  

[Gwennythe]

"Very neat." Tambrey appraised, grinning, and returned Killer's wave. "Amazing dexterity in such a... ribbon-like appendage. On par, perhaps surpassing, Drifloon... A lot more aesthetically pleasing. Oh?" She raised her eyebrows as she stood up and followed. "Salmon... Should have named him King Candy."

With Killer, apparently, prone to trying to kill things, and Tortie, she remembered, being somewhat territorial, Tambrey decided to keep her team inside their balls until they reached the training facilities, at least.

"Yep. One floor down. If we go two, we end up in the grunt quarters, I think."  

[TawnyAngel]

The corridor felt less oppressive than his room had; was that because it was less box-like or because he was moving? Maybe both.

"Heh, I thought about that afterwards, once Ihis sodding great beak wasn't staring me in the face anymore," Aulus grinned, "but given he can speak back to me it seemed a bit rude to choose his name for him. He finally decided on one, Asgard. Have to say I quite like it but it would have been funny to call him King Candy or Turbo or something."

He had to wonder what his other pokemon thought of their names. Tortie and Phaeth presumably didn't mind too much as they'd had their names from birth but what about the others? Had they had different names before they came to him? Did they like their old names better? It was probably silly to worry about that but he couldn't help it. At least he was pretty sure Paul liked his, liked it better than what he'd almost called the little bug anyway. Gimpy really would have been a cruel name to stick him with.  

[Gwennythe]

"Oh, yes... They can talk back, I'd more or less forgotten..." Tambrey admitted, but, again, looked fascinated. "I really need to study more about legendaries like that; the DNA, I mean. It's a little.. less available outside of processing most of the time, but one day, when I have the time and clearance, I'll have a really good look at the genetic profiles of species like Jirachi and Mewtwo and Lugia... Telepathy like that must be in the genetics and I'm sure there are reports to make sense of it that I've not seen yet... Mewtwo's especially interesting to me. I have to wonder what we 'switched on' in creating that to grant that ability. That profile is quite a mess though; easily reconstructed but... messy to study. Just so much data to poke at. Anyway, Asgard," She smirked "That is a very good name. How did he chose?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Startled me as well," Aulus shrugged as he headed into the stairwell. Tam really was into all this... science, not that he wasn't interested - and so long as it was only manipulating and or looking at genes from some kind of a sample he was okay with it from an ethical standpoint - but... yeah, she was like Alex in that respect. If it didn't have fire or explosions or cool reactions or something like that there was only so long he could pay attention to it. Sometimes he wondered if that made him inferior somehow, preferring working with his pokemon or spending time out and about to studying things under a microscope.

"I wonder if they gave Mewtwo something from one of the psychic legendaries that can speak.... I guess they must have something in common that gives them the ability? Would be cool to isolate it, see if it could be given to other pokemon?

"Oh, right, and his name," Aulus nodded. "Well I was just telling him about some of our mythology, because he asked. Norse came up and he decided he liked the sound of the word Asgard so Asgard he became. Glad he didn't pick something hard to pronounce to be frank, I wouldn't have put it past him to pick a tongue twister just to piss me off. It's alright for him, he just has to think it."  

[Gwennythe]

"Oh yes! Wouldn't that be awesome though? You could have a... more or less verbal, true, conversation with, say... well, Tortie or Killer... I'm not entirely sure on the compatibility of such, but it would still be a very, very interesting study." Tambrey mused, imagining being able to talk -with- Palu, getting a verbal response, not just interpreting her responses, though she had confidence in her abilities there.
"Heh. Yes. That's a good name though. He had good taste. I, um, look forward to meeting him, too. I wonder, though, what the limits of his interpretation could be? To /think/ the word... Well, it's phonetic isn't it? I do wonder if we might teach such pokémon to read and interpret on a more complex level..."  

[TawnyAngel]

Now that would be cool. Being able to actually speak to his other pokemon? He prided himself on understanding them well but it was always kind of educated-guesswork and he couldn't hold conversations with them. How might being able to talk to one another change their relationship? Would it be for better, or maybe for worse? He'd give a hell of a lot to be able to find out, if it was safe of course.

"Seriously," Aulus agreed with a grin, "I could finally work out what 'scowl number seventeen' means beyond 'Tortie is not happy about something to do with dinner for some reason'.... Yeah though, I don't know. Why the hell does he speak English for that matter? If I spoke, like, French would he speak French too?... I know he was in the labs for a little while under observation for the stability of the slight mutations they gave him, maybe he learned English then?... Well maybe when you meet him you can find some of that stuff out, he seems keen to learn stuff so he'd probably be happy to help you." So long as electrodes and so on were not involved.  

[Gwennythe]

"You'd also hear when they yelled at you for whatever reason, when they're grumpy, but I guess being able to understand that would make such an issue easier to solve... And... That is a -very- good question." Tambrey tapped the bridge of her glasses with two fingers, as she thought.
"Perhaps... You hear English because that is what you understand, but the basic... meaning could be translated to any language who might be able to hear him at the time? Or perhaps he simply... learned English, because, as you said, he was in the labs for a while... It would be very intriguing to ask him, and see if he knows. Regardless of the answer, it's a really amazing cognitive ability."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Seriously," Aulus gestured vaguely at his head, "how the hell it works I have no idea. It's like... hearing but not hearing. Experiencing words. Really weird." Presumably somebody would figure it out sooner or later, quite possibly even a Rocket. Not bothering with ethics did speed things up, he guessed. "Should get him to speak to somebody whose first language isn't English," Aulus added after a brief pause as he reached the next floor down. "I mean, if it can translate then might they not hear it in their first language?"  

[Gwennythe]

"That would be so interesting. I'm sure we even have some people who English isn't the first language for, right? And some of them likely have legendaries... I would love to ask them to describe how they hear it... I wonder if there's some way to utilise that for other things... Code, for example... I guess that's more of a cryptography concern though... I can handle the genetics, and I'd love to see the science behind the ability, but who knows what someone else could do with it..."  

[Natsuko-neko]

TawnyAngel

Xander nodded with a small smile. "If we can get it to work then yes, very useful." He pushed some bangs out of his eyes then looked over at Frost. "Oh yeah, I got something for you." He said, remembering his little side trip the night before.  

[TawnyAngel]

Gwennythe

"Well, one day," Aulus shrug-nodded as they stepped out of the stairwell, preceded by Tortie who shoved the door open for them. "Wonder if they found that Joltik yet?" Aulus mused aloud, glancing around the bare corridor and shrugging. "Probably hundreds of places the little b*****d could be hiding."

Natsuko-neko

"Something?" Frost repeated with a slight tilt of his head to the side. "And what would that something be?" Xander was usually good with surprises, didn't pass him slime moulds or anything, but he was naturally wary of surprises nevertheless; they tended to be surprising and Frost was a man who liked to know what to expect from any given moment.  

[Natsuko-neko]

TawnyAngel

Xander's smile grew a bit. "I went walking around some shops last night and found a little glass Glaceon and it made me think of you and Skiron so I bought it for you." It was currently wrapped up carefully with his things so it wouldn't get broke thanks to all the moving.