[FIN] Dead Issue

[BlackFireKitsune]

Beep!

Sync's gaze flicked to the distracting 'new message' icon that flashed across his rocket 'dex's screen. It beeped a second time to alert him once more to said new message, so with a mildly puzzled frown he tapped on it once to pull up his inbox. The new message expanded across the screen and made itself the active window, minimizing the information about Zorua he'd been looking at previously in the process. Now what was this... Ah, an assignment. It didn't look that difficult: Accompany one Agent Tambrey to the Jinko outpost to pick up a fossil containing as yet unknown pokemon DNA and bring it back to headquarters; casual clothing only since they'd be out in public and uniforms would attract too much unwanted attention. A simple fetching mission, in other words. Simple enough.

Sync spent the rest of his free time reading up on Zorua and Zoroark before he finally grabbed his pokeballs and clipped them to his belt - it was useful, even if he didn't care for it or the pokemon inside said pokeballs - tucked his 'dex into his pocket, and headed down to the garage. A good ten or so minutes before the appointed time he walked into the vehicle bay, and a nearby grunt with a clipboard - he looked perfectly bored - glanced up at him. Said uniformed grunt checked him off on a list before handing him a key and gesturing vaguely to a nondescript vehicle in one corner. Sync cast his gaze around for a moment or two to see if he could spot this 'Agent Tambrey' but when he didn't, he walked over to their assigned vehicle and leaned against one of its doors to wait.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey was... well, very excited.
Whether a fossil had DNA viable for cloning or not, the chance to study an unidentified genetic profile, and hopefully turn it into an identified genetic profile was very exciting.

She was trying quite hard to stay 'professional' about it as, of course, she was being entrusted to go and get the sample, and she was going to be accompanied by a grunt she hadn't met. That wasn't unusual- there were lots of grunts she hadn't met, but she hadn't taken one she didn't know with her on something like this before.

She'd immediately gone to change- having been writing a report about an experiment in increasing the carbon levels in the formula of the medium in certain growth tanks; the results had seemed, so far, to have been a more stable, yet slightly slower, growth in Carbink, at least.

The scientist appeared in sandals, jeans, a thin white cardigan, and a blue T-shirt printed with a simplified image of a Marill wearing sunglasses. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a blue ribbon scrunchie, and she wore her glasses. She also wore a belt with six pokéballs clipped to it.

"Grunt, uh, Sync?" She inquired, drawing closer to the vehicle with a friendly smile, and a bit of a bounce in her step. She was trying not to let that bounce show too much- professionalism and all- but... they were going to go and get a fossil! To study! One that hadn't been identified! It was /very/ exciting...  

[BlackFireKitsune]

A black t-shirt with an abstract green design printed on the back, a pair of old, worn jeans, white and dark green sneakers, and a thin black hoodie slung over one shoulder made up Sync's casual attire. His belt, only holding three pokeballs, was hidden beneath his shirt. As Tambrey approached he pushed himself away from the vehicle to actually stand instead of casually leaning against its side, and he looked her over with a touch of skepticism. She didn't particularly look like an agent, but then again she wasn't in uniform, so he supposed she wouldn't really look the part without it.

"Yep," he affirmed when she asked, not bothering to salute or anything, though at the very least his posture was straight. "You must be Agent Tambrey. They already gave me the key," here he held up the single key as if to prove this fact, "so I'll drive, unless you have any objections?" He finished with a ghost of a smirk, almost half expecting her to order him to give her the keys, or asserting her higher rank some other way. So far he hadn't met too many Rockets like that, but he was curious how many there were just the same.  

[Gwennythe]

She appeared to be entirely unconcerned by the lack of salute- it might have been that, in casual clothing, she was happier to ignore rank designation like that even before leaving the base... Or it might have been just that she really didn't actually mind. Had she been asked, though, she'd probably have said she hadn't even thought about it.

His casual attire seemed fairly sensible, and somewhat plain, which, she decided, was good. Not that she imagined they'd be attracting much suspicion on a run like this.

"I am, and, oh! Well, if you don't mind driving than that's fine." She waved a hand airily and moved toward the passenger side. "Means I've got control of our soundtrack." She grinned, getting into the car; she'd noted the slight smirk and wasn't sure what it was about, but it felt like he'd been trying to... tease or push some reaction out of her.
Well, she could subtly do that back then; it didn't seem unfriendly, at least.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When she didn't argue, Sync opened the driver's side door and got in. A quick twist of the key brought the engine to life, and after fastening his seat belt he guided the car towards the tunnel entrance and began their gradual ascent up the tunnel proper. It had been a few months since he'd last driven and it felt good to be back behind the wheel once more. Something about feeling at least a bit of freedom to go where he wanted, albeit today their destination was predetermined.

Soundtrack, eh? He snorted lightly as he halted the car near the end of the tunnel and awaited the door opening and light turning green before he headed out. "Whatever, as long as it isn't country." He was curious what sort of music she would pick, though.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey'd clicked her seatbelt on and then plugged something- a somewhat old looking MP3 player- into the stereo.

"Aw, no country?" Well, that was a decidedly different taste to the last grunt she'd shared a car with. "Well, I can't promise there's no country on here, but I know most of it's not. You don't like, uh, like country then?"
She was feeling quite buoyant about the trip, and felt comfortable enough to chat with Sync. She was also rather curious, tilting her head as though analyzing for his response. It wasn't that she wasn't aware that people didn't like country- indeed it seemed like a whole accepted thing that most people 'didn't like it' but she'd actually met few who /really/ didn't like it.

A moment later 'A Cruel Angel's Thesis' came from the speakers, shuffle apparently deciding to start with the theme to Neon Genesis Evangelion.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Nope, none," the grunt said with feeling as he drove out of the carefully concealed tunnel exit and guided the car around the trees of the forest. It was like some sort of obstacle course or something. While it wasn't not enjoyable - he did like the challenge - he much preferred an open road over a confining forest.

So most of her music wasn't country, but some of it was.. That wasn't terrible, he supposed. "Nope," he affirmed with just as much feeling as before, "I don't. It's probably one of the stupidest genres of music."

And then there was that song; he didn't recognize it, but it sounded Japanese. He didn't have anything against foreign music, of course, but he wasn't sure he really cared for this particular one.  

[Gwennythe]

"Oh? What, uh, makes you say that?" Well, he was talking, and she was learning something about him, even if he didn't... 'feel' like the 'talkative' type of person really.
"What kind of music do you enjoy?"

Tambrey actually smiled a little more as they left the tunnel and entered the forest; she kept an eye toward the tree tops she could glimpse, in case the local wildlife was visible.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Because it is," Sync responded in the tone of one who felt that was all they needed to say on the matter. It was stupid and that was that. He could elaborate on his thoughts and feelings, of course, but he didn't particularly feel the need or desire to. A similar line of thought first gave him the idea to respond to her question with 'that's irrelevant' but given they were on the topic of what music they did or didn't enjoy, that argument wouldn't work. Similarly, responding with 'that's unimportant' might incite more questions from her, and speaking of his own preferences and likes or dislikes was hardly a topic he cared to talk about. Instead, he answered with a shrug and evasive restatement of his previous comment, "Whatever, just as long as it's not country music."

Dappled sunlight danced across the ground and the hood of their vehicle as they drove along, and Tambrey's efforts would grant her glimpses of various pokemon flitting through the treetops or crawling along branches. Skittish pokemon hid behind leaves or ascended further up trees, while others paused to watch the car as it passed.  

[Gwennythe]

"Well. That leaves a very, uh, broad selection." Tambrey mused. "All country music or just, um, some of it?"

She smiled as she caught sight of the pokémon she could see; one might have thought it was to see them happily thriving- and in part, it rather was- but to her mind, it was a sign that the various species they had 'control' over when needed were not, in fact, causing any issue among the local populations... It was, she reflected, like an old saying she'd heard once; if you did a job right, in some cases, it might look as though you'd done nothing at all... But, even so, she enjoyed simply seeing the pokémon, even outside of the range the security project had covered.
It was nice to be out... and the task they'd been sent out on was exciting in the way that put her in a good mood, despite Sync's... almost moody-seeming attitude.
'Tank' from 'Cowboy Bebop' began to play then, and Tambrey reached forward to turn it up a little.
"My tastes vary too, though country can, um, be among them. I don't think I have very much rap though..." She admitted; pondering if even the 'rap' she -might- have among her collection would even count as 'rap'. "I supposes I'm, um, not really fond of that."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sync smirked a little; broad selection indeed. "All of it," he clarified. There wasn't any country music he enjoyed at all. As the next song started playing, Sync couldn't help but feel like it was a rather appropriate 'driving to a mission destination' song. More or less instrumental, too. Rap? The comment made him snort a little. That genre he could take or leave; it wasn't terrible but it usually wasn't good either, not that he felt like sharing as much.

As their car passed the trees on the outer edges of the forest and headed out into the plains, Sync squinted a little bit through the midday sun. "Jinko's just to the west, right?" He asked to clarify; he could sort of see what looked like it might be a town way ahead of them, but with the distance and the rolling plains stretched out again of them, it was difficult to tell.  

[Gwennythe]

"Huh." She caught the snort and tilted her head, looking back at him to regard the grunt; honestly she wasn't really sure what to make of the reaction. Was it amusement?
She dropped the thread of the conversation, and then drummed the fingers of her right hand against her knee a little as they started to leave the forest... Jinko was, after all, where she'd been born; she always felt a little bit of... something... when she ended up going there. She wasn't sure exactly what the feeling was though.
Still, the excitement was a far more prevalent feeling than the strange nostalgia/longing/anxiety/whatever else is was she was feeling... Fossil!

"Hm? Uh, yep, pretty much." She considered the question, then decided it was justified cause to ask. "So, um, you're not from Kodo originally?" He could have been, she thought- some people never left their home towns after all- but so far she'd met people who mostly knew where was where on the island if they were native.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Her response earned a nod from the grunt and little else; he debated asking where it was exactly, but felt such a question superfluous. Once they got close enough he'd be able to see it, he was sure. A dirt road curved around close to them and stretched ahead to the west, so Sync shrugged internally and steered the car over to drive on it. Where else would it lead but to Jinko? As far as he'd heard, Kodo was a small enough island.

Not from Kodo originally? He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye while a full, amused smirk spread across his face. He didn't particularly like sharing personal information, but as she'd pretty much already guessed... "Is it that obvious?"  

[Gwennythe]

"No. It's just, um, most Kodoans don't really need to ask where Jinko is. Um. Not all, sure, but most. There's usually some reason to travel." She explained, then continued- she wasn't too cagey with personal information of the sort she was about to share; Team Rocket already /knew/ anything worth knowing about her, and a grunt was part of Team Rocket; he wasn't exactly a terrifying threat to anything, just by knowing some rather bland knowledge about her.

"I, um, was born in Jinko. I had to leave to pursue education though. Went to, um, Sandalwood. And there's Camphoreon as, uh, a bit of a shopping destination... Most of us, I think, at least learn where the places are." She smiled; now there was lead in to a nice specific question.
"So, um, what region are you from?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

That made sense, and wasn't something he could really argue. He made a noise of acknowledgement as he increased their speed a little; no one else was on the road, so far as he could tell, and so why not go faster?

...why was she talking so much? Oh well, whatever, as long as she didn't-- Aaand there it was. Despite his brief confusion over her word choice, it was his amused smirk that returned to his face. "What 'region'?" Surely she didn't mean 'what region of Kodo' since they'd already established he wasn't from there. "I only came to Kodo a few months ago, right before I joined Team Rocket."