[FIN] Zombies Afoot

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

The man in the trainee uniform sighed as he finished up his duties for the day and checked the time. It was about a quarter after six and he recalled that Aulus had mentioned he'd be free at around that time. Having a lot to mull over during his solitary work, he would be glad to finally have a chance to discuss his thoughts with someone. He could rarely keep them contained, even if it was just speaking aloud to himself, but he dared not do even that after the events of the morning.

The uncharacteristic look on Faleen's face was still burned in his mind, though he had been somewhat surprised to note that she had still seemed annoyed by his presence. What did that mean, then? So many were sure that it wasn't her, but...why would anyone else have had to force a smile at him like that?

Okay, so maybe there were a good many other people who would have, but he doubted that he had given this being that claimed to be Faleen a reason to do so. Maybe Faleen herself really was involved in this. He thought back to what Adam had asked about people being possessed and what he'd known of the Mewtwo who had taken over the mind of that Nurse Joy in Kanto. To get inside one's mind would have meant sharing their memories, which meant that if someone had indeed taken over Faleen, they would have known to associate Izaya with the feelings that the ex-agent herself had. It would also have explained the knowledge of her fellow Rockets' names. Perhaps it had used said names to spook them along with the familiarity of the face and voice they knew.

That wasn't the only thing, though. He had tried to keep calm about Faleen because at least for now she was alive and other Rockets were on the case. What he was more immediately shaken by were the increasing number of dead people he was starting to see around base. Come to think of it, wasn't he himself supposed to be among them in a sense? A traitor sentenced to death, yet still walking around alive and well? With a grim chuckle at the thought, Izaya pulled out his dex and texted a message to Agent Aulus.

'Greetings, Agent. I hope you haven't eaten yet, because I thought we could talk over dinner. The cafeteria came to mind, but after the show we put on there last time and the private nature of what I wish to discuss with you, I thought the cafe on Floor B3 would be more appropriate. Any objections? If not, I'll see you there in five.

- Izaya'  

[TawnyAngel]

When Aulus read the text he groaned, rolled over and shoved his face into his pillow at the memory. He had been a complete... well, psycho wasn't really a stretch now was it? He didn't feel bad about the effect it had had on Izaya, just completely stupid that he'd lost his temper like that. Oh well, water under the bridge right? Right.

After replying with; //Alright, see you in a few,// he got up off his bed, shut down his laptop - which he'd set aside to read and then react to Izaya's message - and located his boots.

What was it that Izaya wanted? Aulus mulled this over as he made his way at a leisurely pace towards the cafe. He'd want to talk about Faleen, he was pretty sure of that, but... Well there was a lot of oddness around recently that was for sure. Perhaps they could exchange some information and chew it over, he didn't have to like the little s**t in order to do that.

Aulus arrived at the cafe only a very little after the five minutes suggested; once inside he scanned for the familiar figure of Izaya. Whoever would have thought he'd be voluntarily meeting up with the guy? How times did change.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything of yours," Izaya said, walking up to the agent with a hand raised in vague greeting. "I know you'd said after six, but I didn't have time to message beforehand. Was caught up in...work." Work and thoughts. But who wouldn't be, with all that was happening around there these days?

"Sorry, I won't keep you any longer than necessary. I'm sure you see me enough during lessons," he added with a wan smile. "But I had wondered if you'd noticed or heard anything weird going on around here recently - this morning's events excluded. Especially if you go down to the labs as often as you do for your routine check-ups on that." He nodded to Aulus' metal arm.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Mh," Aulus shrugged along the vague noise, "I was working on a report but it's not going anywhere. You want to get some food before we talk or shall we just stand around here conspicuously?" How much he saw of Izaya and what he thought of it Aulus neglected to comment on, he was already pondering Izaya's question... and how much to share. Izaya was after all in Deep s**t with the organization, did he want to be seen fraternizing? On the other hand if what he shared was speculation with no clearance level, and phrased as such, where was the harm? If he didn't give anything then he was unlikely to get in return and who knew what Izaya had picked up?  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

In spite of everything, Izaya had to laugh. "Is that what's bothering you? You worried that you're going to be seen with me or something?" Still grinning, he walked up to the counter to order some tea and a small sandwich before stepping back to allow Aulus to go next. "I guess I can't blame you, given my current status, but I can't help but wonder if your concerns might be for other reasons. Like if grossly exaggerated gossip gets back to ears such as Hayes' or Claire's."

Probably not a smart comment to make after the guy had come to meet him after what seemed like some reluctance. The ex-Rocket's smile faded and he cleared his throat. "Sorry, old habits die hard. Teasing is too much fun and it's the only way I dare express any jealousy for your relationships. I meant nothing else by it."

Now he felt awkward. Why he felt the need to be so transparently open with Aulus he had no clue, but perhaps it had something to do with still wanting to earn his trust. "Ahem...anyway...I won't beat around the bush. But you might want to sit down for this." He led the way to a table for two and sat, gesturing to the other seat before leaning forward and continuing in a quieter voice.

"I saw Aila the other day. Just outside the Trainee barracks. She looked and sounded exactly the same as before, but with a Trainee uniform. And...when I talked to her, she introduced herself to me as Trainee Gaia."  

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus grunted non-committally to Izaya's question and acquired tea, sandwich, and an orange for himself before joining the trainee at the table. "They know better than to believe any gossip they might here, you needn't worry about ruining my reputation with them," he elaborated. Why though did Izaya feel the need to apologise? Probably just trying to keep on his good side to get the maximum out of him, he couldn't imagine there was really any genuine concern or respect there regardless of what Izaya might say....

When Izaya dropped the bomb of information Aulus frowned, picked up his tea and took a sip. He then set it down again and said; "Well." He'd thought he'd glimpsed her in a crowded corridor but when he'd turned to look there had been no sign. He had assumed he'd just imagined it, how could he not have? Aila was dead, long dead.

Aulus took another sip of tea, he thought about asking if Izaya was sure but he couldn't really see the point in a question like that. Instead he said; "Exactly the same?" Aila was dead, but other people who had been dead - allegedly - were walking around the base. Aila had been dead for years though. Another sip of tea. "I never knew much about Aila personally, any chance she had a twin sister?"  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Izaya sipped his own tea as he waited for Aulus to process the information. He himself had spent a great many hours pondering the impossibility of the phenomenon, so he really had no idea how the agent would take it. Thankfully, he at least didn't seem to think Izaya was making it up to mess with him or some other such mistrustful nonsense (whether or not the informant deserved to be mistrusted). They had no time for that right now; not when everything was hitting the proverbial fan.

"Exactly the same," he repeated, dead serious. "I'm pretty sure the closest Aila had to a twin sister would be either her brother or her niece named after her, but the former is male and in Grande Ile with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. Aila killed the latter herself. Even if she did have some mysterious twin sister, I'd imagine said sister would have aged in the past few years - not looked exactly the same as the teenage agent on the day she died that long ago." He shook his head and drank some more tea, inhaling the vapors to calm himself before exhaling slowly.

"Were you on the mission when they captured Xerneas?"  

[TawnyAngel]

It was, of course, impossible. Dead was dead, yes? Except not. He knew exactly why Izaya was asking about the mission with Xerneas, the reason had just been running through his mind. Dead was dead but... okay maybe if somebody hadn't been dead long you could bring them back with experimental medical science, perhaps aided by the mythical power of Xerneas? If that was really real then- Okay, okay but somebody who'd been dead years wasn't exactly... well she wouldn't have been fresh material to work with put it like that. Unless they'd... preserved her? He couldn't think why they would have though and he had no clue if that would even help. He still kind of had trouble believing it was possible at all but he believed in his partner, she knew what she'd seen.

After another rather lengthy pause Aulus said; "I see." Aila, alive, and the age she had been when she'd died.... If this wasn't some elaborate trick by Izaya but he wasn't sure he could see where Izaya profited from making this up and he had thought he'd glimpsed Aila himself. Aila, or Gaia. If this really was true then did she remember who she had been and was just taking a new persona or had she forgotten? He needed to meet her himself, both to confirm that it was true and to try to work that out. He'd liked Aila, as much as he'd liked anyone outside his inner circle back then anyway; she'd been good to her pokemon.

"And no I wasn't," Aulus shook his head and waggled his metallic fingers. "I was still waiting for this thing to be installed, I wouldn't have been a lot of use. My partner was on the mission though, she briefed me on what happened." Briefed was a very formal word for the conversation they'd had but he wasn't going to go all touchy feely with Izaya around, Gods knew the guy didn't need any more ammunition that he already had for... well, being Izaya pretty much.

lZAYA ORlHARA

Sorry for the delay! <3

 

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Oh, right. Partner...remind me who that is, again? Last I checked it was Hayes, but by referring to them as 'she', I'm assuming you got a new one since he was promoted." He tried to think. Was this another of those things he'd known before and just forgotten during that time in the brig, just like the fact that Aulus had lost an arm? He couldn't recall. Surely not Claire. "I'd love to know what she told you about that mission. Maybe I'll have to ask her myself if I can."

He drank some more tea. "Thing is...I talked to the 'hero' of that mission himself, capturer of Xerneas, Grunt KO. He..." Izaya lowered his volume, his gaze dropping to his drink. "Well, he didn't seem to know exactly what had happened to him, either. Said he went unconcious on the way back to the Kalos base and that everyone assumed he was dead until he turned up at HQ a month later." The man shook his head.

"Agent...he seemed really spooked about it, too. Maybe I have the tendency to unnerve or provoke people into losing their cool, but Kirk is most certainly not one of those people. And yet, when I prodded him for more information, he snapped at me. Said he'd told me everything they'd told him. That sounded pretty close to how little they'd told me about what they'd done to me, but unlike me, he's not a traitor; he's a doctor. I can't imagine why they'd have reason to keep anything about his own health from him."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Hu? Tambery's my partner," Aulus responded with a small frown. "I'm sure we've had this conversation... she was my partner on that mission to Paladin Island, remember?" That was a couple of things recently Izaya seemed to have forgotten, had they done something to his brain? Was Izaya hallucinating Aila? If he was though what did that say about him thinking he'd seen her himself? Noooot something he wanted to think too much about right now and the other stuff remained, with KO and all.

"Anyway," Aulus took a sip of his drink and frowned, "Tambery certainly believed he was dead, as you point out...." So where did they go from here? Somebody who'd been thought dead, who ought to have been dead, was not and was spooked by whatever had happened to him and had some medical knowledge to base that spooked feeling in fact. Additionally there seemed to be somebody walking around base who was definitely dead, or had been dead.

Aulus took another sip of tea. "Right. So, wild ideas time, we have people coming back from the dead. KO, perhaps we're mistaken, but if you really have seen Aila...." The scarred agent frowned deeper. "It's not something the higher ups can expect people to miss, but nothing's been said." Were they supposed to just carry on and pretend nothing weird was happening? La-la-la nothing to see here? Surely not? Perhaps the case was that it was... experimental? And even if they had it down now why make an announcement? Could be that it was fine for people to know but not advertised any more than any other medical procedure that could be performed.

"What're your thoughts then?" Aulus asked after a few moments of pensive silent, raising his gaze from the surface of his tea to fix Izaya with thoughtful red eyes; the informant was a little s**t who he strongly disliked and didn't trust an inch but that didn't mean it wasn't worth hearing him out.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Ah...Tam-chii...right," he murmured, his mind going a million miles an hour trying to recall a conversation where he had been told that Tambrey was Aulus' partner. Those months of solitude in the brig must have dulled his memory and wits worse than he'd thought. At least he hoped it was just his time in the brig.

He still didn't know what they'd done to him during that surgery except for something about that robotic eye and everyone knew that eyes were connected directly to one's brain. Maybe they had tampered with something, whether intentionally or not. He finished off his tea to divert his thoughts from imagining others literally poking around in his head, but he couldn't suppress a small shudder. Zombies and brains and human experimentation...such lovely concepts to dwell upon.

Peering up at Aulus over the rim of his cup as he drank, he felt a little better thinking that maybe he wasn't the only one feeling a little unsettled about these ideas and implications. He set down his beverage container once it was completely drained and thought again about how grateful he was to have someone that seemed to be hearing him out normally. Listening not with suspicion or distrust or loathing, but actual, unbiased seriousness. Weird how solitary confinement could make one so grateful for the most basic of human interactions.

Damn, there his mind went again, wandering off on some random tangent. Now that he actually had things to focus on besides the walls of his cell, he needed to stop doing that. It had already been a while since he'd gotten out, but now with all these crazy things going on, Izaya wondered if he was actually starting to miss the simplicity of having virtually nothing to worry about. The man shook his head to get it back on the subject of discussion.

"I wonder if Tam-chii knows anything about what happened to KO...though if she hasn't mentioned it already, perhaps she won't or can't tell. I feel like she must have already seen him around base." He frowned when Aulus laid out the notion that he himself had been too skeptical to voice aloud - that people were coming back from the dead. "Yes...normally I wouldn't entertain such possibilities. But with the timing of KO's and Aila's reappearances being so close and with what I've heard about the particular legendary pokemon we've obtained lately, I can't dismiss them, either."

He shook his head, brows knitted as he stared at the table top. "I never know what the higher-ups are thinking anymore. Or if they even are. Maybe they don't care if anyone notices because they can just tell people to shut up and mind their own business or else. Kunai had made it clear to me a while back that the majority of us were nothing but pawns to the organization, so I believe that's why the compartmentalize regarding important information. Keep things on a need-to-know basis between members, but not go out of their way or take extra pains to prevent others from noticing things that are too troublesome to hide.

"Obviously they don't tell us everything; I doubt even the elite agents or executives are aware of much outside their own departments. In fact, may be one reason they put them in charge of certain departments in the first place - so they don't get too nosy about what others are doing because they're too busy with their own responsibilities. It's a good strategy, especially with the pretense of simply assigning departments to be more organized." Izaya rubbed his temples and closed his eyes with a sigh. "It would also explain why no one seemed to know what the hell happened to Faleen since so few were working with her on her personal project. Kuso...and these idiots keep saying we're supposed to be all about teamwork..."

Opening his eyes again, Izaya met Aulus'. "I don't know if he mentioned it to you. But from our past conversations, despite his high rank, your ex-partner didn't seem to have a very high opinion of Team Rocket either, much less any sort of love or devotion toward it. At least not like Aila or Faleen seemed to...but look where that got them." He sighed again. "I just...I don't know what to do or think or believe in anymore. I wanted...I wanted to try to start over and do what I could for the people here as I feel Aila might have done had she still been alive. But now...now she really may be alive again, but I can't even know for sure. And my own ex-partner seems beyond patching things up with because it now appears she's gone off the deep end. It'll be tricky just to argue keeping her alive even if we ever do find a way to get her back. And from my situation, anything I say is essentially worthless."

The skinny man's brows peaked in a look of distress and his tone picked up a hint of pleading. "Agent Aulus...I know I'm probably the last person you would ever want to help and I certainly have done nothing to deserve it. Likely even the opposite. But...for now, you're the only one I feel like I can turn to. I'd rather not involve Tam-chii if at all possible since I'm sure she's got her own problems to deal with at the moment, but you know what it means to care for your teammates and partners. You know what it's like to worry about them, too. Neither of those are feelings I have experience with and it's twice as awful coupled with the fact that my current circumstances make me helpless."

"You're an agent, though," he went on. "You have access to more Rocket information than I ever did even before they declared me a traitor. Maybe you could find out something about these possible zombies that I can't." The informant set his mouth in a thin line. "You also have more authority and value. If..." Izaya paused and frowned again like he was having trouble getting out the words.

"It's taking a lot for me to say this...but if you could...if there's any way you can help me - for the sake of Faleen and Aila and others more than myself - I would truly be indebted to you." He swallowed a hard lump that had formed in his throat. It felt like he was swallowing his pride with the difficulty that he had doing so. "If you could some how keep an ear out for any information about Gaia and KO...or if...if by some chance they catch Faleen and you have a chance to speak on her behalf..."

In the way that was characteristic of his culture, Izaya shut his eyes tight and actually clasped his hands together, bowing his head so low that his forehead touched the table. "Please...I know you don't like her and I know she has her flaws, but I beg of you - please remind them what a devoted Rocket she's been up until now.

"You care about your partners, current and ex, right? You must know that feeling of loyalty; that desire to be there for them in any way you can. I've been such a terrible partner to her...and now I can't do anything to make it up." His breathing hitched and he took a breath to calm himself and steady his voice. "If you could just promise me you'll put in a good word for her in my place, I'll do anything you want. I swear."  

[Agent Aulus]

Well.... s**t.

After a lengthy pause Aulus rubbed his brow and muttered; "s**t, Izaya." For perhaps the first time ever Aulus used the trainee's name without implied insult, he just sounded tired and perhaps a bit sad.

Silence reigned once more; Aulus picked up his cup but put it down again without taking a drink. "Do you think my word will count for anything after what she's done?" he asked softly. "Either this is a really weird and elaborate plan that we're not in the know about or...." It was still hard to conceptualise, Faleen of all people turning traitor. He wanted there to be some other explanation but everything he could think of seemed too complicated or fanciful. Occam's razor, and all that jazz.

Was Izaya just trying to pull his strings? The man really seemed upset but he had no doubt he could deceive him if he wanted to, but what motivation could he have for that other than wanting what he said he wanted?

Aulus sighed and rubbed his forehead again. "I'll keep an ear out for anything unusual to do with these 'zombies' if we're calling them that, and if I hear anything that I can share without risk of an unpleasant fate I will. And if Faleen gets brought in alive for whatever it's worth I'll say my piece, she was always a good Rocket. I don't understand why she of all people would run off and do something so ******** stupid." It was only a matter of time no matter how clever she was, regardless of the threats she'd made. He couldn't say they'd ever been friends or even that he'd liked her but he had respected her.

Aulus scowled to himself, slid out the claw of his right forefinger and started to peel the orange with it.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Izaya raised his head slightly upon hearing Aulus' question. "I think it would be worth more than anything I could say. Certainly more than nothing said at all." Frowning, he slowly sat back up. "I...I don't think that was Faleen we were talking to. I have yet to prove it, but I haven't studied humans as long as I have not to know when I'm not talking to one.

"For example, that thing, whatever it was, talked about hair like it wasn't used to having it. Just because it knows things Faleen does and that it looks like her doesn't mean it can't be some pokemon trick. With all the things we know pokemon can do, including psychics and ones with skills of illusion or mimicry, I'm almost certain she was somehow being possessed."

He continued to stare at the table top. "My guess is someone with a mind as strong as hers would have had to be pretty emotionally impaired or weary to allow whatever it was to possess her, though. Especially to get inside her mind, know all that she knows, and speak on her behalf. It might have managed to gain her trust through sympathy for her situation.

"Anyway, my point is I think there's still a chance we can prove she didn't betray Team Rocket of her own free will. I won't give up on her. Not while I still owe her so much. I may have been unable to properly express my gratitude to her before, but I'm tired of doing and saying things or not doing and saying them just to keep up appearances." He bowed his head. "Thank you very much. Even just your hearing me out means a great deal. If I can ever repay the favor, just let me know and I'll do it, no questions asked."  

[Agent Aulus]

"Possession?" Aulus frowned; he was a born sceptic, unlikely to believe anything too weird until he saw or read reputable evidence confirming it. ...And he'd just been talking about people coming back to life. Perhaps it was possible? It would be nice wouldn't it, for Faleen not to have actually gone off the deep end? Of course Izaya wanted to believe it... but then again given other seeming impossibilities he'd already thought about maybe he shouldn't dismiss it.

"Alright," the scarred man said slowly, deliberately, turning over every word with extreme care before uttering it. "Let's add 'possible possession' to the list of weird s**t happening lately. I'm not saying I'm entirely sold on the idea but I suppose it can't be dismissed." Izaya did read people well he'd give him that, though it was possible that he was just seeing what he wanted to see. "But let's say it's true for now, how the hell do we go about proving it? Can you even detect something like that?" Aulus set the neat coil of orange peel down on the table and started to carve the fruit into sections, still frowning as he wrestled with the outlandish problem. "Hu." He shrugged, having found exactly no answers himself. "Well... perhaps if it was put forward as a theory they'd keep her alive trying to figure it out. I mean if we could control power like that can you imagine?"

...Wait had Izaya just said he owed him a favour? The world just kept on getting weirder by the second didn't it? After a momentary pause Aulus said; "If I think of something I'll be sure to tell you." It wasn't his best response to anything ever but oh well, his mind was kind of elsewhere.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"I know it sounds weird, but that's why I was doing research on that too," Izaya said quickly. "I know ghost pokemon aren't really known to do it - at least not in the way we might consider possession - but I've heard some psychic pokemon would technically be capable of controlling a person's actions and behaviors as well as their mind if they're strong enough. Maybe if we can get a Psychic pokemon to check out her head, we can see if anyone else is in there with her."

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before finally taking a few bites of his sandwich. He didn't want to get his hopes up too high because he didn't want to be let down too drastically. Still, it was important to cling to some kind of hope to keep afloat. It was all a matter of balance. "We can worry about it when the time comes. I, uh...I'm planning to spend my day off tomorrow to try to find her in Camphoreon. I need to talk to her; need to know if it's her who's using that mouth to speak or not."

Smiling wryly at Aulus' comment on them controlling that power, he spread both hands. "Maybe it's just because I've been around Faleen for so long, but after seeing what she did to Lance, possessing and controlling people using pokemon doesn't seem that much different to doing it with technology to me."

Nodding in confirmation of the agent's final response, Izaya became serious again, looking him straight in the eye. "I did swear to do whatever you want. And I may be many things, but I'm also a man who keeps my word. So long as you keep yours, of course, but I have no doubt of that."