[PRP] willnamesoon

[Gwennythe]

"Hm. It can be that..." Tambrey agreed, again cautiously.
She paused again, when she came to considering the questions asked; the first in particular.
"I don't want to lie so I don't think I can say 'no' to that- they -could- make an... employee do something like that, however I haven't personally come across it yet." As a grunt, she had been restricted to seeing a small amount of everything her actions were for, though she had some ideas after the years spent.
"As for that... Uh. Yes, but, uh, both." Tambrey explained, realised she might be starting to sound confusing, and put her cup down so she could gesticulate with her hands; it would help her work things out a little easier while she spoke.
"We have assignments and work that we are expected to do, and our rank affects what we can do, and what we can't do, but promotion is... probably not as restrictive as most 'companies'." That sounded right. "Either way, even as a low ranking member, I was able to pursue some of my own research... I, uh, didn't make Treestar," Tambrey smiled "But I have used his genetic material in some research... Um. Well, I guess..." The grunt plucked another pokéball from her belt and held it up. "This is earlier work but, well, a... colleague and I made the Ponyta that's inside here. You're familiar with the research of a certain Kanto, and Johto, region scientist? With a few machines, old but, of his basic design, heavily modified, and some... very tiring genetic microscopic work," Tambrey grinned, sheepishly- tiring or not, it had been very nice to work with that particular 'colleague'- "we cloned a Ponyta with, well a few genetic anomalies, but healthy, happy and very sweet-natured. I'm proud to have her on my team so far. Um. I've told you a -lot- as it is, so I suppose I can show you if you would like? We do need to talk about something more seriously if that curiosity is leading where I think it's going though, if that's okay?"

<> Treestar assumed people only really said 'a lot' to good friends; after all, that was what he liked to do. <> He was quick to get that in on the end, still proud of his, no longer so recent, evolution.  

[Tori Honoo]

Again, Riley listened carefully, noting the tentative manner in which the other woman spoke. It made sense, given the nature of her 'career', she supposed, but as far as she could tell, 'Tabitha' hadn't done anything too horrible... maybe the type of work she did was frowned upon, but it didn't seem harmful to anyone... Maybe whatever group she worked for just... had better resources than the university would admit, if the university knew of them?

The confirmation of their boss' ability to force them into other work was accepted readily, with a small nod. That made sense, though she didn't like it, and at least Tabitha hadn't been subjected to it before. How long, she thought, had this woman worked for whoever it was? And what had she been able to do in that time? She sipped at her tea and listened for more information, nodding every so often to show she was soaking it all in. She wouldn't tell.

Assignments and ranks... that sounded organized as well, just as she had expected. Again, she looked toward the Bayleef, then back to the woman as another Pokeball was presented. The research the woman alluded to was, of course, familiar, and she nodded again, smiling a bit at Tabitha's own sheepish smile. She appeared as though she had at least enjoyed her work.

When informed that she could be shown what they had discussed, her eyes glittered with quiet excitement, though when the sudden blanket of seriousness was cast over them, she took a moment's pause, her brow furrowing a bit and her wide eyes drawing a bit more timid. Where it was headed... It was certainly headed toward her asking more about the company, if that's what the other woman was implying... It would be dangerous to ask, but so far, it appeared as though it were a much better predicament than what she currently fought for. It made her nervous, but drawing from her will, she nodded. "...Okay. I'd... I'd like to know more," she admitted, rubbing her arm somewhat skittishly.

Molly nodded, then laid her head down on her paws, still peeking up happily at the other grass type. <> she admitted, smiling as her gaze moved back to her girl. "I think your human helped in retrieving me. A girl Riley used to share a room with didn't like me and somehow got me into her home...I haven't seen my own in a while.>> It had been what felt like a very long time since she had seen this run down little home...but it was more a home than the other place had been, especially with her trainer in her sights. <> she offered, sensing the pride in his voice. It had been a while since she had evolved, though most of her life before coming to her girl had been very unadventurous and lonely.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey offered a sad smile, but nodded, as Riley said she would like to know more about what she was talking about.
"Well. Firstly." She called the occupant out of the ball, revealing a small, strange-looking Ponyta, that happened to be wearing a tuxedo-collar-and-bow-tie accessory. The grunt leaned forward to pet the little fire type. "This is Octavia. She can be quiet, but I don't really think she's shy; she's not much of a battler, but then I suppose I wasn't really aiming for that anyway, and I'm sure she'll get strong enough in time anyway." The Ponyta seemed confused to find herself in the small house (she was used to larger spaces), but didn't seem very alarmed, accepting the petting, and then looking from Riley, to Molly, and then to Treestar; ah, well, she recognised him. She looked between Riley and Molly again.
"Ah. Sorry. I guess that makes it a little... uh... cramped." Tambrey apologised, but didn't recall the fire type yet; she would if Riley asked her to, she supposed, but it had seemed a good idea to showcase the kind of work she'd been allowed to do.
"Anyway... I think this might work best on a question and answer basis; so, um, if you ask then I will answer what I can."

<> Treestar smiled and then looked shocked. <> He then looked a little embarrassed <> He brightened up immediately as he received congratulations, though. <> At that point, he caught sight of Octavia's appearance, and waved his leaf her way.
<>  

[Tori Honoo]

Riley watched, large eyes growing wider as the ponyta appeared in her small home, a bright smile spreading across her face as she looked it over. It was so different! Immediately a hand went out, slowly and gently, toward it to see if it would allow her to pet it; she had always been good with pokemon, and this one was beautiful and from what Tabitha said, quiet and not a battler. When she spoke, she addressed Tambrey. "Don't worry about it... she's amazing!" The idea that it would do better to ask questions was given a nod before she moved right into her first one. "How did you do this? Breeding with special chemicals involved? Obviously you've messed with her genetics... Her eyes are so big!" Upon seeing the product of the woman's work, her fear had started to dwindle away again. It was clear that whatever equipment they had, it was professional and they handled it well.

Molly lifted her head in interest as the ponyta looked at them, a bit surprised by its appearance, but welcoming all the same. With a nod of greeting to the fire type, she then turned to Treestar again, her eyes blinking at the compliment before she shied a little. Hehee, He thought she was pretty, too... <> A soft laugh. <>
The greeting to the other pokemon drew her attention away again, and she tried the name for herself. <> she greeted, tilting her head the slightest bit.  

[Gwennythe]

"Thank you." Tambrey smiled, sitting back a little and watching as Octavia reached her nose toward Riley's hand, accepting of being petted.
"Well... We had standard growth mixtures for the various stages, and an agent that, uh, hastens cellular mitosis without, when it works anyway, degrading the new cell walls. The machines we used to make Octavia were fairly, um, well, old, but workable; to be honest, newer machines are a lot more automated, so creating Octavia took quite a long time." Tambrey seemed pleased to explain, especially with someone who seemed like they appreciated the process.
"We worked manually for some of the genetic manipulation- just enough to get it started, and it took a few attempts but.. well, clearly it worked eventually. Octavia cannot evolve; I'm fairly certain of that. Various things we changed to make her genetic code, uh, viable, unfortunately removed her metamorphic potential... We /did/ have to use Rapidash DNA to stabilise her, and her, uh, template was a genetic anomaly who also lacks the ability to evolve we /think/... My theory is that we needed the Rapidash DNA to fill in degradation caused by cloning an... anomaly... present in the template, but that Rapidash DNA was repurposed into a function locked outside evolution, thus Octavia currently has no biological way to process an evolutionary function. The, um, eyes, that size, are probably inherited from her template."
Tambrey finished and looked for Riley's reaction.

Treestar straightened up and possibly turned a slightly different shade- blushing- as Molly returned the compliment, calling him 'handsome'. He nodded quickly, a little shyly; he'd be a Meganium next. The Bayleef then found himself needing to explain something, as Octavia simply smiled, and then nodded, in greeting to the two of them.
<>  

[Tori Honoo]

She was quiet for a few minutes, shaking her head in awe as she soaked in what she could. Parts she were familiar with, others not entirely, but it was interesting all the same. "So you basically recreated her DNA by hand? That's... That's amazing..." she said, stroking the ponyta's nose gently and marveling at its very existence. "Evolution just... blows my mind, really. I can imagine it would be harder to find a way to recreate it from scratch, especially with all the other changes in the first place..." A smile, her eyes lifting to Tambrey. "That's why I love eevee, and their evolutions. The unstable DNA is just....is just fun." she explained, her cheeks pinking a little.

Molly laughed softly, a small, quiet sound at Treestar's expression. She hadn't meant to make him so flustered, but the reaction was kind of cute, she thought, turning a little pink herself. The explanation to the young mare's quiet greeting was accepted with a smile. <>  

[Gwennythe]

"We-ell... Not /technically/." Tambrey admitted, with a sheepish smile. "My colleague's pokémon happened to be the template, so we had a basis to clone -from-, but for some reason, and without an intuitive recognition software in the machines we had to use at the time, our first attempts kept experiencing cell death and," She frowned a little, remembering a rather fire-y result "some rather unusual, uh, flaws. So we had to tweak what we could and we had a few hunches between us about what could be the most likely things to tweak for success... A couple of them turned out to be the solution; actually, interestingly enough, her pigment was one of those things; her template is bright pink." Tambrey found herself grinning as Riley described her own passions; Eevee evolution really was a fascinating topic, and she suspected, if she hadn't been so interested in other biological processes, and the evolution in other species, she might have pursued research in a similar line. As it was, despite her work with DNA, the Eevee family itself was just a little bit unfamiliar to her... and thus she was quick to sum up an advantage here, in Riley's passion, that would work to her justification for this recruitment attempt.
"It really is. I haven't worked with Eevee specifically as much as other species, but that DNA really is fascinating... and I think you just gave me an idea that's really going to annoy me I didn't have earlier in hindsight." Tambrey admitted, surprised, herself, at the fact.

<> The horse complimented, quietly, though it didn't seem like she was referring to the house, and then turned her head a little to receive some more petting.

Treestar beamed as Octavia offered the compliment to Molly, and then leaned down to whisper.
<>  

[Tori Honoo]

Riley nodded to show she understood at least a good portion of what the woman was explaining. "So you changed her color and it made her more stable? That's..." She smiled and shook her head, as if she couldn't believe what they had been able to achieve, even though it was standing right in front of her.

The added affirmation of her adoration of the eevee species made her smile brighten, and she offered a slightly embarrassed laugh as Tabitha admitted to her idea. "Oh? I'm sure working with eevee genetics--or any of the evolutions-- would be interesting... I've only studied them, myself, and not in any great detail," she said, her eyes flicking to a tumbling stack of scrambled, handmade journals, each with additional loose papers tucked throughout their pages.

<> Molly smiled politely, watching as her trainer continued to pet the ponyta, then looked to Treestar again, curious once more. <> she whispered back. <>  

[Gwennythe]

"More or less, yes. There were some... embarrassing moments before we worked it out." The grunt admitted.
Tambrey's eyes followed the slight gesture, and she leaned forward, slightly, gesturing with her teacup toward the journals and papers.
"Would it be okay if I took a quick look?"

<> Treestar grinned happily as he answered.
Octavia could probably hear that but she didn't look bothered by it and still seemed happy, standing there, being petted.  

[Tori Honoo]

Riley allowed a soft laugh. "Oh, well... memories, I guess," she offered, stopping her petting of the ponyta's nose to step around to look at her more carefully, curious about the mark on her flank. When Tambrey asked to see her work, she nodded, delighted to have met someone interested. "Sure. I apologize if some of them are unreadable... they're not very organized," she explained. However, when Tambrey opened the book, she would find each page written in small, very neat handwriting, each page labeled and dated, each category in its proper place and grouped accordingly. The woman's criminal status had, for now, slipped her mind, or at least appeared to have.

Molly smiled a little brighter, then sipped again at the water. <>  

[Gwennythe]

If Riley looked closely, she'd see the marking seemed to be a 'natural' part of the Ponyta. By some method, the musical symbol- which probably related to the Ponyta's designation, and name, of Octavia- was a biological part of her flank.

Tambrey smiled gratefully and reached to open the first one she could reach, blinking in surprise at the neatness and organisation; it was fairly professional... It certainly didn't mesh with being told they were 'unreadable'; compared to her own 'spider scrawl', this was very well done.
"It's... Organised enough." Tambrey complimented, a little humoured by the contrast between description and reality that she'd been given.
"This is actually a very good study. What did you plan to do after university?"

Treestar beamed; he liked being called 'nice', it was... nice.
<> He looked proud.

Octavia didn't contradict him, and had turned her head, to watch Riley, it seemed.  

[Tori Honoo]

The mark did indeed fascinate her, and--tentatively-- she reached out to gently brush her fingers across the ponyta's flank, hoping that the pokemon wouldn't mind. It had been gentle as she had petted it's nose, after all.

She did, however, peek over at the woman as she looked through the hand-bound journals, her cheeks flushing red at the amused compliment. "Oh, um... I'm not sure, really... I just had what I thought was an okay lead on the unstable genetics, but... really I was just trying to figure it out because it's interesting. I'm not really sure what I would have done after university."

Molly tipped her head, slightly more confused when Octavia didn't seem bothered by it at all. <> A bright smile of slight amusement. <>  

[Gwennythe]

Octavia watched Riley's hand, and then snorted her permission as Riley moved to touch the mark on her flank.
She didn't mind; it was literally, biologically, a part of her, rather than a brand or a scar- it would feel like any other part of her body.

"Hm. Would you have liked to pursue it more? Actually continue to work on it? Be able to... test thoughts and, uh, stuff?" Tambrey wasn't sure she liked what she found herself doing- Team Rocket was a curse as much as a benefit... depending on the point of view...
But her own prospects had been improved- her life had improved- by joining the team... and she suspected Riley might take similar from it. Maybe.
There'd be training and trainee rank and missions to get through... Team mates to bond with...
No, even that... She'd been glad of things in the end.
"You can say no and I can disappear- we never met, and all that... But, uh, well; what I'm saying is that I can... if you want... introduce you into a job, like mine. It's hard but you do get to be part of.. well, some amazing things. It is, also, very dangerous though... I don't want to mislead you but," The grunt gestured to Riley's work "you remind me of someone who hadn't lost quite so much, even, when they made a choice like the one I'm offering you."

There. It was out now.
A little... sudden. A little crazy, but still- it had been sitting, settling, unspoken in Tambrey's mind for a long few moments before being liberated.
She waited, somewhat tense.
She hoped (and also didn't at the same time) very much that Riley would question her. Root out anything she'd left out deliberately or without thinking... After that, she knew any decision would be Riley's entirely, but she couldn't give her all the information without the justification of questioning. Inwardly, she sighed a little; it was so... awkward. Either way this went, she knew, would be a relief now.

Treestar's face nearly split in two with the huge grin he got at such a compliment. His posture was very straight and proud. He liked being thought of as 'a wonderful big brother'; it was even nicer than being called nice!
<>  

[Tori Honoo]

Riley looked up over the ponyta at the offer, then let her eyes fall to the flaming mane once more.

She still did want to pursue it more, but at what cost...? She had very little left to give...but was that in itself even more of an incentive? Fighting to go back to university wouldn't do her any good, not for a long, long time, and even if she did make it back into the scholastic world, there was very little chance that they would actually allow her to pursue her studies as she wished until she had graduated... and then what? How on earth, if she struggled so much to put herself through school, would she pay for the funding for her own research? The experiments would be costly enough, especially if done right...

Someone who hadn't lost quite so much... It appeared her predicament was rather obvious. it would be dangerous... well, of course...

Raising her head, she looked to Tambrey again. "Is it possible to do without hurting anyone...too terribly? I... I can't see myself attacking anyone out of just... the blue." She fidgeted a little. This woman had actually helped her... and if she could be in a lab for the majority of her time... that would be no worse than being here, doing so very little aside from fighting to get by. "I'd... I'd like to work with pokemon, study... maybe do a few experiments..."

Molly laughed happily at the stance.  

[Gwennythe]

"There are some conditions but," Tambrey smiled apologetically "I've never had to... kill anyone. I have fought, but I had to learn to. I've broken bones, in service, but in doing so, I think I've become stronger for it, and more capable in... a lot of areas. My experiences have been somewhat extreme; they haven't been the, um, worst that can be experienced," the grunt admitted, reflecting on the losses and affects that had come from various missions "but they have certainly not been especially typical, I would say." The woman smiled more genuinely, but with a little bit of a wince. Not everyone was captured, tortured... Some never broke a bone. Some barely ever even went on missions. Tambrey felt like she could offer the words truthfully.
"I do spend most of my time in a lab, though first there is the rank of trainee to get through. That is basic training and much is expected, but it lasts for, roughly, two months only... Grunt, as I am, is next. Most climb through it quicker than I have, and things improve quickly with each rank. What I'm saying is... If you join, some things may be dangerous, you will have to follow orders, work to aid the higher ranks' experiments, but you will get time and resources, once a Grunt, for your own- as I have," She gestured toward Octavia, with a more kindly smile "and more time is spent in the lab, or doing mundane duties, than carrying out missions, I can promise you that."

<> Treestar looked proud that he could understand such knowledge enough to share it.