[FIN] Dead Issue

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Huh," the grunt said before filing the tidbit of information away. That was quite the coincidence. He didn't particularly care one way or the other at the moment, but for all he knew it could become relevant at some point in the future. One brow rose at her comment before his expression morphed into a mild smirk. It had only been a suggestion off the top of his head, but now that he'd thought about it - and one of those responsible for creating clones in the lab had heard it and considered it possible - Sync was quite sure he knew where he'd be getting a Zorua. While getting one from storage would obviously be the cheaper option, that necessitated having any of them actually in storage and plus he quite liked the idea of getting one with a greater affinity for its illusions, or whatever idea the scientist had had.

After a brief moment of deliberating, the grunt shrugged and opened his door to get out. "I might as well go too, then." If nothing else, it would be a learning experience in Team Rocket's varied and apparently well-hidden outposts. He wasn't nearly as interested in the area or the plants as Tambrey was - not even remotely - but he was interested in the outpost's facade and what it looked like on the inside, so he closed his door, locked the vehicle and made to follow the agent.

Each window around the house had their curtains wide open, giving glimpses here or there of average-looking furniture and decorations, with the occasional movement of a person within indicating that someone was indeed home.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey actually paused to admire the plants; she didn't think that would be a suspicious behaviour, and it was easy enough for her because she really, really was interested in them.
It meant it took her a few more seconds than necessary to get to the door and give a knock (or ring the doorbell if there was one) but then, she didn't think they were really on a strict time limit right at that moment, and the garden was just too interesting to totally resist.

She, eventually, though, was standing at the door with a polite smile.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sync followed Tambrey up to the front of the house, passing the garden by without so much as a glance - it wasn't difficult for him to play a teen wholly and unquestionably disinterested in flowers - and crossed his arms over his chest to wait.

A few moments passed before the quiet sound of shuffling feet preceded the metallic clink of locks unlocking, and the doorknob wiggled a moment before the door swung slowly inward and an older-looking woman, somewhat stooped and using an ornate cane to keep herself upright, peered up at them rather owlishly through her glasses, then smiled and opened the door further. "Hello dears. You must be here for the quilt! Come in, come in," she said in a gentle voice that quivered only a little bit, and slowly moved out of the way to give them room to enter. "Oliver?" When she didn't hear a response, she raised her voice a little. "Oliver! Come out here, will you? Our guests are here!"

A muffled "coming" floated out from somewhere else in the house while a black Meowth practically blended in with the shadows cast by the quaint and comfortable-looking furniture, its bright green eyes watching the newcomers with mild amusement. The interior of the house was well-lit by large windows and was nicely and tastefully furnished, and while framed pictures and the variety of pokemon-themed porcelain or glass figures decorating various shelves or cabinets were plentiful, they weren't so numerous as to look cluttered or distasteful. Luckily for Tambrey, the flowers didn't end at the garden outside: various potted flowering plants had been placed in strategic places around the house's interior and appeared quite healthy, while a couple glass vases filled with cut flowers sat atop the fireplace and a cabinet along one wall. While only the living room was visible at the moment, bits of the hall, dining room and kitchen could be seen from the door, all sharing the same style of decor.  

[Gwennythe]

The quilt? Oh, frak, she hoped they were in the right place. This lady looked adorable and old and had just mentioned a quilt...
But that would be a good cover.
"Hello! That's us!" Tambrey smiled quite genuinely. "You have a lovely garden by the way!"

She came in as the woman bid, with a pleased smile toward Sync; this was exciting no? They nearly had the fossil!

... And there were more flowers and a Meowth inside. Tambrey decided she /really/ liked this outpost.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The woman beamed. "Thank you! I can't do a lot of it myself anymore, you know, and Oliver is such a dear, he helps me with it whenever I ask. Speak of the devil," she said as a door in the hallway clicked and a young man appeared, looking no older than his mid-twenties and dressed in a light-colored shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows and the end of it tucked carefully into his jeans, his long, light lavender hair set into a braid over one shoulder. As he walked over and slipped an arm around the older woman's shoulders, he gave the newcomers an interested smile. "This is my son, Oliver," the woman said with a pleased smile as she gestured to the young man who looked absolutely nothing like her. Where she was fair-skinned with white hair and green eyes, his skin was brown and his purple eyes quite a few shades darker than his hair. His well-defined facial structure differed from her softer, somewhat rounder features, and he stood a good seven or eight inches higher than she. "Oliver," she added after a moment, "they're here for the quilt."

"Ah," he said, gazing between both Tambrey and Sync with quiet interest. "We've stored it in a rather large box in my dark room downstairs," he explained, slipping his arm off the woman's shoulders to roughly demonstrate with his hands the size of the box.

"My, yes, it was so large," the woman put in, tilting her head down and looking at them with slightly widened eyes and raised eyebrows, "probably the largest I've made so far!"

"Mhm, and given the box's dimensions, it's easier to carry with two people. So," Oliver paused and clapped his hands together once, looking between the two Rockets, "who'd like to help me carry it up? It isn't a heavy box, just rather unwieldy given its size."

"It was the only box I could find," the woman added somewhat apologetically.

On silent paws the Meowth slipped out from behind a basket filled with balls of yarn and knitting needles, forgoing batting at them to instead hop up atop the couch to better watch the newcomers, its expression still one of mild amusement.

Sync, on the other hand, did not return Tambrey's look of excitement. He didn't really care what exactly the fossil was, just that they retrieve it and bring it back to base successfully and without incident. This, however, sounded less like a fossil and more like a blanket. This was the right place, wasn't it...? Yes, it was; he'd double- and even triple-checked the address before he'd even gotten out of the vehicle, after all. Still...  

[Gwennythe]

"Oh! Well thats, um, really lovely! Your work has paid off for sure! It's nice to meet you Oliver! Oh, uh, I'm Tansy and this is, uh, Sedgewick!" Sedgewick? Sorry Sync, Tambrey thought you herself with a mental wince; where in the name of Arceus did she pull that name from?

"Ooh!" Tambrey found herself almost immediately forgetting the silly names as talk of 'the quilt' and the box it was in.
'Largest quilt she'd made so far'... Well then! If this was the right place, and it /had to be/ then 'largest quilt' would mean a 'large fossil'...
She hoped so anyway.

As Sync didn't seem to be volunteering, and Tambrey was extremely excited by the prospect of a fossil still (and hey, if they stole a blanket, they stole a blanket? it wouldn't be the most illegal thing Team Rocket had ever done after all) she raised her hand and waggled her fingers. "Oh! Um, I don't mind helping!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Another beaming smile lit up the woman's face at Tambrey's compliment. Sync, on the other hand, couldn't hide the look of complete and utter bewilderment at her name choice. Sedgewick? Really? That was the best she could come up with?

"Wonderful!" Oliver said with another smile, then gestured the way he'd come. "If you'll follow me, please." So saying, he turned and walked back into the hallway, expecting Tambrey to follow. They passed by a couple doors before he paused outside of one to open it, revealing what could only be described as a large closet. The tiny room had no windows, no lights, no furnishings or decorations or objects of any kind save a second door. Once they were both inside, he closed the door behind them and opened the second door. This one opened into a proper dark room with appropriate supplies and setups along the wall, all visible in the special dim lighting meant to protect undeveloped film. He continued walking, passing a few boxes of varying sizes as he did so, and paused as he turned to lean against the far wall. "Now," he began, "to make sure you're really the ones we're supposed to give this very special thing to, I'm going to have to ask to see some identification."  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey flashed Sync an apologetic smile.
'Sedgewick', in fact, had rather taken her aback too despite it coming out of her mouth. It had just slipped out... She was sure she'd meant to say 'Simon' but the name was out now...

She smiled and left Sync with the woman as she followed Oliver further into the house and then... into a closet. Well, okay. She noted the other door and was relieved internally when it opened to reveal what was, more or less, expected.

"Mhm, understandable." Tambrey agreed but followed up with "And likewise, I'd, um, like to see some hint that we're picking up the right thing. That this is the right place. Your, uh, set up here is /very/ good..." To the point of making them unsure they were in the right place, she recalled...
She felt for her rocket dex but didn't produce it immediately.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Mild surprise passed over his features for a brief moment before a smooth smile slowly spread across his face to replace it. "Our set up here has to be good, and that's also understandable," he said with a nod as he reached for his back pocket, and his smile morphed into a smirk. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."  

[Gwennythe]

"Mhm." Tambrey nodded in agreement; of course it did- and perhaps it was some reflection on a little lax or obvious some outposts could be in comparison, but she just couldn't help but think that out of every Rocket place she'd set foot in or knew of, this little suburban place was the one that seemed /least/ likely to be a Rocket outpost that she could think of; without directions to it, without the order to retrieve the fossil, the place just would not have ever registered as likely, or notable, if she ever happened to pass by, unlike a fair few places in Camphoreon or Ambergris...

"Count of three?" She suggested with a smile. At some point, of course, it just had to be a risk, but she was reasonably confident by 'Oliver's' demeanour that they /were/ in the right place now.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Count of three," he agreed with a nod, his tones vaguely amused. "One, two, three--"

He watched carefully as he said 'three', waiting until he saw Tambrey move to show hers before moving to show his, aiming to present his own rocket 'dex at the same time she presented hers. "Very good," he said with a smile as he pocketed his 'dex again, pressed a finger to his lips to signal 'quiet', then turned to swing open a small panel on the wall to reveal a glowing screen that he pressed his hand to. A soft, almost inaudible beep prefaced the wall sinking back an inch and smoothly, silently sliding to one side; even in the dim lighting it would be easy to see just how thick the walls were. Oliver closed the security panel before he stepped inside the new, similarly dark room and gestured for Tambrey to follow. Once she did, he pressed a button on the identical panel on the interior of the room, the door slid quietly and securely shut behind them, and bright lights flickered on overhead to reveal a stairwell reminiscent of those on base.

"Welcome to the Jinko outpost," Oliver said with an amused smirk as he gestured, then began to descend the stairs to the lower level. "I apologize for the act, but we have to do our absolute best to keep our cover. You wouldn't believe how nosy people can be in suburban neighborhoods," he said with a look of clear displeasure.  

[Gwennythe]

A breath she didn't know she was holding softly escaped when a rocket dex was matched for a rocket dex.
She gave a nod and stayed quiet at his gesture, but watched the process with some obvious fascination, grinning at the sight of the panel and then the secret room with the stairwell.

"Heh!" She uttered appreciatively once they were safely inside and the new room.
"It's a very, uh, well done cover, and, oh, um, I have some idea. I was born in Jinko. My mother still lives here. Nosiness was never her thing but she, uh, does tend to share in gossip with her neighbours."

So close to the fossil! Her eyes were lingering on the stairs.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, really? Well, that's two things our neighbors have plenty of: Nosiness and gossip. Especially the older ones, I guess they're too bored with their own lives and want to stick their noses into everyone else's," Oliver said airily with a dismissive wave of his hand as he reached the bottom of the stairs, the stairwell opening up into a wide, brightly-lit T-shaped room, with an elevator nearby and an assortment of doors along the hallways. Oliver began walking towards one door in particular. "They had to build this place very carefully; the walls and ceilings are very thick and ghost-proof, while the house above is not, so it looks and functions like a normal house. Which means nosy ghosts belonging to nosy neighbors can get in," he explained with a sigh, "or even persistent nosy neighbors. It's really quite frustrating at times, but apart from that, it's a very comfortable place to live." As he spoke, he halted in front of the door, opened it and stepped into what looked like a storage room, and gestured to a box on one shelf that looked to be roughly the same size as he'd earlier attempted to gesticulate. "Tada! There's your fossil. Unfortunately it does need two people to carry, due mostly to its size and dimensions but also a bit because of the weight. If you'd be so kind?" So saying, he moved to grab one end.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey gave a little nod as she followed Oliver down the stairs into the T-shaped room.
"I, um, think it may have to do with ego, too. Some of, uh, the gossipy ones I know tend to, well, um, they can't imagine that someone might not want to listen to them, or can do anything better than they can with their, ah, years of experience..." She found herself looking around.
"Ghost proofing... Very neat! The labs at, uh, main have some similar safeguards. They didn't have to be nearly so subtle in building them, though, I think... To have all this built and secretly is impressive..."

Oh! But there it was!

"Ooh! Uh, what kind is it, do you know? Have you, um, opened it? I suppose there's no way we could peak at it before, uh, we take it then?" Tambrey asked, almost rhetorically, as she found herself moving to help at the other end. She was somewhat clearly excited by it now.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He snorted and shook his head. "Yes, that does seem to play some part in it. They always try to 'impart their worldly knowledge and experience' on me, probably because I'm a great deal younger than they are. Margaret does a good job keeping their attention on her, talking about gossip and acting like she actually gives a crap about their problems or their relations," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice, then shook his head a moment later as he picked up his end and began walking back out through the door and towards the stairs again. "It's been carefully wrapped before being fully sealed in the box to protect it both in storage and for the trip back to base, so unfortunately you'll have to wait until you get back to open it up and see. It looks pretty interesting, even if I've no idea what it is."