[FIN] Crack the glass [ Lex & Tambrey]

[Shaddaling]

"Did you want to join us, Tam?" Lex asked, glancing back as he fed the Milotic more slices of apple. "Or grab a slice and see if Percy will take it from you?"

Perceptor crunched his way through the first apple before answering Ella. <> He found them good, not as juicy as mango but crisp.  

[Gwennythe]

"Oh, uh. No swimsuit..." Well, not on her... She thought about the trip all the way to the room to get one, but dismissed the idea...
But, she could do with sitting down, she supposed, and agent uniforms weren't really too bad when encountering dampness...

"But, the water does look nice and it's worth seeing his, um, interactions to other people. He's seemed placid so far. If I'd, uh, thought about it, I'd have brought a suit to try proper pool interaction. This will have to do, I suppose..."

She shed her boots, socks and rolled her pant-legs up and over her knees, before moving to dangle her bare feet in the water, sitting beside the fruit bag, and in front of Ella.
On the other side of her, she had her tablet, and carefully placed it back from the water's edge; it was supposed to be robust and waterproof, as were most of Rocket's useful devices, but still, she thought it to be better safe than sorry.

"Okay. I'll, uh, try an apple slice..." She was soon offering one out toward the aquatic pokémon.

<< Mmhm. That is apple. The humans say they are to ward off doctors. I find this to be an amusing expression. I do not suppose you yet know what a doctor is?>>

<< Chocolate is better!>>  

[Shaddaling]

<> Percy replied, watching and listening closely at the chaos going about him. He leaned in close, eyes focused on Tambrey, not looking at the apple as he puzzled her out.


Lex shifted, taking the moment to slice up some more mango and to just watch the interaction. "Well," he said, looking at the standstill and gave a slight but gentle nudge to the smooth coils. "Are you going to take it or just stare at her?"

<> Perceptor shifted, looking down at Lex and with a deep throaty noise lifted his tail, letting the water sluice down, soaking the person below him. He glanced back at Tambrey and delicately leaned down, taking the slice and pushed back and away from them to enjoy his treat.  

[Gwennythe]

<< A doctor is a human who fixes other humans.>> Ella rumbled in explanation.

Tambrey watched Percy closely, but grinned at him after seeing his reaction, glancing back at her boots. "I suppose clothing is a rather odd thing to see and get used to when you're new... Um. All humans tend to wear it though." She watched the Milotic take the apple, after the brief hesitation.
"Looks like he's responding well to you. I think, um, some hesitation is probably normal. Franklin, can you translate his answer?"

<>

"Why did you pause before taking the apple from me?"  

[Shaddaling]

Lex ran his hands through his hair, combing out water and spat a bit out. "Think I might end up with my hands full." He was pleased though, Perceptor was starting to show bits and pieces of a personality.

Percy shifted, eyes half lidded as he listened. <> He mused. He couldn't place why he had just that he had and it was an odd itch as if he had a reason. He gave a disdain snort, tail flicking to send another wave of water at Lex.

Lex snorted and stuck out his tongue at the Milotic, relaxed at the wave. "More mango?" He asked, switching topics as he held a piece of juicy fruit up.

<> He questioned Ella, eyes focused on the slice of mango, interested but evasive.  

[Gwennythe]

<< He says: 'Does it matter?'!>> Translated Franklin, with a bit of a spin in the air.

Tambrey smirked at Lex.
"I think you're right... Uh. No," She changed to look back at Perceptor "I suppose it doesn't really, but it would be interesting to know. Science is all about curiosity and attempting to sate it, you see..."

Ella considered being asked to elaborate.
<< Hrm. I am assuming you have come to realize what you are and can sense some of the... moves, this is what the humans name them, that you can use for offense and defense? When we use these upon each other, we may harm each other though we are mostly easy to... repair and heal. Either ourselves or with human aid. Humans are much more complicated and slower to repair and heal when they are armed. A doctor aids them to do so, though it is still a long time compared to us.>> Ella finished by looking at Tambrey with concern; she'd seen her human injured- broken- time and time again; she did not like how long those times lasted.  

[Shaddaling]

<> Perceptor question, confused as he sorted the info piece by piece. He shifted, taking the slice of mango with a pleased noise and munched it.

<> He said, very pleased with figuring out what Ella had spoken about. Percy shifted, looking back at Tambrey, head cocked... He gave a drawled out sound and pushed slightly forward, pressing his head into her lap.

"Hadn't expected that." And it was adorable. Lex smirked back at Tambrey. "How much weight is in your lap?"  

[Gwennythe]

Ella looked amused.
<< If you wish me to elaborate on all the things they say 'hands' about- which is what they call these,>> She lifted one of her clawed hands <> She confirmed, apparently pleased that the water type seemed pleased.

<< Humans are weird!>> Agreed Franklin.

Tambrey looked startled, but reached to offer a pet to Percy's head.
"Uh... A fair bit." Tambrey realized, but didn't seem too unhappy- she'd had Ella for a while, and even as an Aron, the Steel type hadn't exactly been 'light' when she wanted a cuddle.  

[Shaddaling]

<> Percy shifted, head tipping to let the hand slide a few times over his skin before leaving to pick and choose pieces of fruit from the growing pile of sliced things.

Lex pulled himself up so he was sitting next to Tambey, running a hand through his hair to wring the rest of the water out of it. "Do you talk to them? When they are in the tanks?" He questioned, giving a fond smile as the Milotic helped himself to the fruits.  

[Gwennythe]

<< Mm. But I enjoy them. They are friends.>> Ella answered with a slightly 'clanking' shrug.

Tambrey kicked her feet a little after Percy had moved on, and gone after the sliced fruit; lifting her left, to watch the water run off her toes and drip down off her heel, before putting it back in the water, swinging her legs lazily again.

"Sometimes." She admitted, giving some serious thought to it, and imagining her own behaviour in the labs.
"I mean, um, in the tanks they're usually not conscious," her thoughts moved to Millicent, remembering the results she'd seen while the dinosaur grew; /usually/ they weren't conscious "but, um, I think talking is a nice thing to do, even so. I think some of them sense it."  

[Shaddaling]

"Did you talk to Percy? Because some of his behavior might be that he subconsciously remembered your voice and can't place it." Lex kicked his feet, just enjoying the sensation of being able to do so.

"I wonder if there is a way to monitor for that... " Lex mused, and then shook his head. "Talking probably helps even if they can't understand it, it is a reminder that someone is there and you are not alone."


<< Hmm.>> Perceptor finished his slices, using the tip of his tail to nudge one near Ella in an offering. <>  

[Gwennythe]

"To monitor... if they can hear us? Um. There is in a way, but, uh, continuous MRI style scanning would be fairly awkward given our set up..." Not to mention a power-drain, Tambrey thought to herself, wincing at the extra juice might go into keeping equipment like that running... The setup already took rather a lot of power, of course, but Rocket had gotten very efficient over time. She suspected, as well, the higher ups wouldn't find such a suggestion 'necessary', as interesting as it would be...
"But, um, we can and do monitor their vital signs and those give us some indicators. I know, for instance, that one of mine was," How could she put this? At least something like this certainly wasn't classified; it was part of her own project, really "awake. Um. Well. Sort of. For some of her time in the tank. Anyway," She moved on, searching her memory and nodded slowly "I think I did talk to him, and certainly around him... There may be some basis in that, though, uh, usually the fluid and casing prevents a lot of sound from getting through, I think... Admittedly there's a lot about pokémon, and what they might be able to do that we just don't know yet..."

<< I would like to think so. You see to be pleasant company, and you are certainly a colleague. Friendship among colleagues is always good. Thank you.>> Ella mused, then thanked the water type, reaching down to spear one of the slices with a claw and, luckily, managing to avoid turning it into mush by crushing it. She popped it into her mouth and chewed happily.

<< I would like some!>> Called Franklin, upon seeing Ella get a slice.  

[Shaddaling]

"Not with something like Perceptor, Milotic is rather large, but maybe with something like a Joltik or that one smaller fairy type. I'm guessing the container size reflects what is being grown and probably not continuous but periodical, perhaps a scan once a day to see if their is any reaction to stimuli.." Lex trailed off giving a slight nod.

"Is it unusual for them to wake up?" Lex watched Percy with a smile as he watched the interactions. "I would think they would drift in an out of the phases of sleep depending on species."

"Do Milotics sleep?"

<> Percy echoed, tasting the words but was pleased at his offer being accepted. He shifted, looking at Franklin and tried to maneuver the slices with his tail. <> He questioned, slowly pushing a piece in Franklin direction.  

[Gwennythe]

"Hm. It might be difficult to persuade the, uh, bosses that such a thing might be necessary, but I suppose I could see some form of it being done... Still, it might be rather awkward to do..." Tambrey frowned, imagining the scenario; it would take time and could only be done after a certain point of growth had been passed... Then you'd have to analyze the data, which she supposed might be entrusted to a machine, or perhaps a Porygon working with a Metagross... Still, the effort seemed a little much for data that probably wouldn't be deemed immediately useful, even if it /did/ seem interesting.
"Maybe as a personal project one day, but, uh, you'd have to find the time to carry out such an experiment." She grinned a little. "I was afraid you were, um, going to bring up that bizarre Unovan research from a few years ago; those results are beyond us... And, um, rather suspect they could only reproduce them over there, I always thought."
She kicked her feet gently again.
"Anyway, uh. We sort of keep them in a kind of stasis when we can. We've, uh, had some past breakouts; stasis is a very good way of fixing that." She was sure Lex had likely heard horror stories of Charizards and Mewtwos...
"So. Um. It's a bit unusual. They practically begin life in a sort of a fainted state, almost. It's not technically sleep. But, uh, yes, it's a little unusual. I mean, imagine 'waking up' in a tank full of... well... goo? And then, uh, waking up later... in life. Like becoming self-aware in the womb..." Tambrey mused, with a bit of a wince; it was something she wasn't /certain/ of, but she suspect Millicent 'remembered' some her tank time.
"Um. I believe so." She looked toward Percy, curiously. "I mean. I believe they do naturally, as most species have a form of it, but there's an easy test if you wanted to know for sure."

Franklin did a celebratory loop and 'pounced' upon the fruit, spinning up into the air to eat it.
<< Thank you!>> She called, echoing the words of the other two pokémon without realizing, of course, that she was doing so.  

[Shaddaling]

"More interesting then a true necessity, " Lex admitted and hummed slightly. "Unovan experiment?" Lex asked curiously. "I never been there... Johto, Kanto, and Hoenn areas. Here of course... well Kalos if you count the last raid."

Ouch, and he hadn't got to explore that cave as well as he would have wanted to.

"That can't be fun..." he could imagine what some of those pokemon were capable of doing if in a temper. "I guess it would depend on if they remembered or not. Memories take a while to form." He gave a tiny laugh at Franklin.

"She's cute." Lex glanced back and nodded. "I've raised aquatic ones before but usually size restraints made me keep them in their pokeballs instead of observing their sleep schedules."

Percy leaned forward, watching the Jirachi spin in the air. <>