Magna City Shining Congress – Commission for Directed Evolution

[Butterfree]

Herman shook Dave's paw, and nodded to Andre. "Herman. Aura engineering. Vaguely recall the name Greenbough, might've run into her at one of the yearly congress meetups. The one cultivating uncanny berries out west, right?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Brilliant work. My world's got way more advanced genetics than anything I'd expect to be possible with Forlasan technology, but she'd deduced several important principles singlehanded. Though I gather the Covenant's got something like genetic engineering research going on, too?"

Despite his tired, overworked visage, Herman couldn't help showing a trace of a smile. He was obviously proud of it. "Basically, we found that if you run a specific charge over certain types of Wonder Orb, it can nullify them without destroying them outright. Nullified orbs could then be exposed to Radiance in the wild—generally requires finding a rare wild alpha who's managed to manifest it—and the orbs hold onto the Radiant aura signature for a brief period. Not long, but it lets us do some exposure testing at least. This here"—he gestured to the machine—"is a way to measure Radiant output frequency. We use it to gather data on how it compares specifically to other elemental energies."

Dave had asked about the in-house efforts... Herman took a long drag with a tired, distant expression. "We tried creating a system that could replicate Radiance here in the Commission. No dice on that one, almost ended in a total meltdown. 'Went nuclear' as the project head would say. He's first gen, says shit like that."

Herman tapped his cigarette on an ashtray, his expression growing a bit more serious. "It's volatile stuff. Before we take any measurements, I'll want to know more about your group's experience with it. How unpredictable is it? What would you say is the degree of control you have over it?"

Dave listened with interest as Herman described the machine and their previous experiments. "First-gen, as in, a summoned human himself? Who's the project head?" Someone who came from a world with nuclear weapons, apparently. Cross fingers he hadn't brought that expertise to Forlas.

"I'd say we're pretty good with Radiance by now. We've been using it for fights for a while, loosens some inhibitions but nobody's gone full batshit crazy. Become another tool in the toolbox, more or less. But obviously you've got to treat it like what it is. Keep it at manageable levels, keep an eye on the others, sometimes you have to snap somebody out of it. You get a sense of it. It's worked for us so far."

 

[canisaries]

Despite his tired, overworked visage, Herman couldn't help showing a trace of a smile. He was obviously proud of it. "Basically, we found that if you run a specific charge over certain types of Wonder Orb, it can nullify them without destroying them outright. Nullified orbs could then be exposed to Radiance in the wild—generally requires finding a rare wild alpha who's managed to manifest it—and the orbs hold onto the Radiant aura signature for a brief period. Not long, but it lets us do some exposure testing at least. This here"—he gestured to the machine—"is a way to measure Radiant output frequency. We use it to gather data on how it compares specifically to other elemental energies."

"Oh! Interesting."

Dave had asked about the in-house efforts... Herman took a long drag with a tired, distant expression. "We tried creating a system that could replicate Radiance here in the Commission. No dice on that one, almost ended in a total meltdown. 'Went nuclear' as the project head would say. He's first gen, says shit like that."

Hmm. This was Sage, wasn't it? Herman talking about them like they were a system instead of a person was pretty nasty - in a way, it reminded him of the assholes back home that refused to consider pokémon citizens anything other than animals. Andre didn't let it show, though.

Herman tapped his cigarette on an ashtray, his expression growing a bit more serious. "It's volatile stuff. Before we take any measurements, I'll want to know more about your group's experience with it. How unpredictable is it? What would you say is the degree of control you have over it?"

"I'd say we're pretty good with Radiance by now. We've been using it for fights for a while, loosens some inhibitions but nobody's gone full batshit crazy. Become another tool in the toolbox, more or less. But obviously you've got to treat it like what it is. Keep it at manageable levels, keep an eye on the others, sometimes you have to snap somebody out of it. You get a sense of it. It's worked for us so far."

If deerling could sweat, Andre would have. Well, sure, he hadn't burned up inside when he'd had his whole episode, but maybe he should have. No, he needed to stay alive. He was, believe it or not, worth more to the Wayfarers alive than dead.

"Yep! What Dave said."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"First-gen, as in, a summoned human himself? Who's the project head?"

"That would be me," interrupted a new arrival, stepping into the room. An Umbreon – one Andre would recognise. His eyes looked tired, his mouth was set in a dour line. "I'm Parallax. I run the Radiance research program here – including the ARK Project. Though most of my time gets used up making sure the CDE even runs properly."

The Umbreon looked round, frowning, as if he was expecting to see one or two more Wayfarers than were present. He sniffed, and massaged one wrist with his other paw.

If Andre tried to examine Parallax, he'd develop a pulsing pain somewhere in his body, perhaps in synergy with the Umbreon. That aura... Strong, so strong that even Andre's here-undeveloped senses could practically perceive it. The same heavy feeling again. An angry, despairing, lonely Dark-type aura, just like the previous times...

"Parallax," acknowledged Herman, stiffly.

"Herman."

The Umbreon's voice sounded a good deal younger than his – perhaps there was some tension about seniority, here?

Laura cleared her throat. "Uh, hello, Parallax. Pleasure to meet you. Are you just stopping by, or...?"

The Umbreon nodded to Herman's devices.

"Actually, I've been waiting for you – although today isn't the best time. I don't have long, so let's see your power over Radiance. I won't take no for an answer."

The Umbreon forced a tight smile, as if he were issuing a challenge. There was a kind of hostile resignation in his tone, as if he already expected failure, or pushback, or for something else to go wrong...

 

[Cresselia92]

Eavedropping, Silver would catch a few snippets about checking on someone, and preventing any surprises. Interesting...

[…]

Bisharp was stoically silent, but it sure seemed like he was the one headed to the 'lockup' Silver was after. Following him, the Sneasel would have a much easier time staying undetected while on his tail, and would soon enough find himself watching as the guard 'mon let himself into a security door in the cave wall at the far end of the Commission basement...

Okay, losing sight of that Weavile and not hearing the rest of the conversation wasn’t ideal, but Silver couldn’t deny that he had made some progress. All those skills he had learned keeping a low profile and evading the police for years had definitely paid off! …Not like he should be proud of them or anything, of course.

With muffled steps worthy of a night predator, Silver trailed the (luckily much slower and much bigger) Bisharp, before stopping by the security door. He pressed his ear to the door, waiting for the coast to be clear, then stepped back. Who knew what lied behind that point. Could there be some security system? A trap? That Bisharp?

Silver took a deep breath and held out a claw in front of his face. Darkness pooled into the tip and from it emerged a glowing, tiny Ho-Oh, gazing calmly around it. Then, the firebird combusted into shadow-fire, burning with feral fury, spite, fear, its beak and feathers growing sharper and darker than tar. Just like a Murkrow… his mother’s—

“Patrol the area,” ordered Silver. While he knew that the soul-whatever-bird couldn’t get far from him and he doubted it had a mind of its own, it could still follow very simple commands. Worse things worse, it would buy Silver extra seconds to improvise a plan or something.

The tiny bird responded with a soundless shriek and dive-bombed into the floor. Its silhouette flew circles around Silver’s shadow, projecting an invisible barrier. With that settled, the Sneasel dug his claw into the keyhole, and once he made sure the door was unlocked and ajar, he ventured into the other side…

 

[canisaries]

"That would be me," interrupted a new arrival, stepping into the room. An Umbreon – one Andre would recognise. His eyes looked tired, his mouth was set in a dour line. "I'm Parallax. I run the Radiance research program here – including the ARK Project. Though most of my time gets used up making sure the CDE even runs properly."

The Umbreon looked round, frowning, as if he was expecting to see one or two more Wayfarers than were present. He sniffed, and massaged one wrist with his other paw.

Andre kept his face neutral-positive. So he was the one responsible for creating Sage and and then throwing them away to Cipher like broken electronics.

"Nice to meet you," Andre said, "though we already have."

He fished for his aura just like before...

If Andre tried to examine Parallax, he'd develop a pulsing pain somewhere in his body, perhaps in synergy with the Umbreon. That aura... Strong, so strong that even Andre's here-undeveloped senses could practically perceive it. The same heavy feeling again. An angry, despairing, lonely Dark-type aura, just like the previous times...

Ow. Okay.

Andre spoke over Betel's network again. Okay, this is another one of those perceptile-aura-mon ("auramon"? That sounded like it would make for a good name for a game.) that I've met before. Heavy feeling again, but also anger, despair and loneliness. There's some kind of pulsing pain alongside it.

"Actually, I've been waiting for you – although today isn't the best time. I don't have long, so let's see your power over Radiance. I won't take no for an answer."

The Umbreon forced a tight smile, as if he were issuing a challenge. There was a kind of hostile resignation in his tone, as if he already expected failure, or pushback, or for something else to go wrong...

As an addition, Andre continued, I am prepared to show my Radiance as that is the ostensible reason we're here, but, uh... it's made me a bit loopy before. Someone else mind taking this?

 

[Butterfree]

A bit fucking loopy, yeah, that was one way of putting it. Not that Dave trusted this arm of the Covenant to not approve of serially murdering people they disapproved of.

"All right, sure."

Dave stepped forward and took a breath. He thought of Jade and Silver sneaking off and Parallax's brief suspicious frown. Of Sage. He had a creeping unpleasant feeling about the Umbreon's intentions with this and what they might not be telling him. But if this would just fucking wow them into turning their attention fully on him and not on what the other Wayfarers were up to or whatever shady shit they'd been planning to do with this time, then fuck it.

Dave used RADIANT Focus!

A blaze of Radiance bloomed in his chest, spreading through his body with a tingling buzz. "You want me to direct this anywhere?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

She reached the closest visible door to the central room and slipped the key into the lock.

The interior turned out to be some kind of control room, its walls covered in flickering cathode-ray screens and ticking mechanical counters. A handful of exhausted-looking 'mon staffed retrofuturistic computer banks covered in as many dials, knobs, buttons and switches as a commerical airliner from Jade's own Kanto. On one central console, most likely the 'command' console, some kind of faintly-glowing box with frosted-glass windows was affixed prominently to the hardware. In the centre of the room, a containment area of some kind was separated off from the rest of the room by a cylindrical glass wall. The lantern symbology was subtly marked everywhere.

The staff didn't even notice Jade enter, or think anything was amiss. Most of them had their heads buried in binders full of checklists and procedures, and most of them had headsets on to communicate over radio with operatives in the field...

"Field, I say again, when will you have relay comms established?"

"They're not going to establish relay comms. They're getting wrecked out there. Stations are damaged."

"Saints— What? Are you serious—?"

"Cut the chatter, you two. Have some comms discipline for once."

 

[Jackie Cat]

The tiny bird responded with a soundless shriek and dive-bombed into the floor. Its silhouette flew circles around Silver’s shadow, projecting an invisible barrier. With that settled, the Sneasel dug his claw into the keyhole, and once he made sure the door was unlocked and ajar, he ventured into the other side…

Silver's Shadow-imbued Hotheaded Soul would do as he'd instructed, but the Sneasel remained undisturbed as he worked. Soon enough, he was through the door and creeping down the corridor inside after the Bisharp guard. The light was dim, lit by flickering flourescent bulbs overhead. The walls were unfinished cave-rock for the most part; even the flooring was cold to the touch. Some distance inside, Bisharp stopped, turned to a particular door, and yanked a viewport to one side with a metallic thunk.

"Victuals, sir," said Bisharp, flatly.

After a pause, there came a hoarse reply.

"...Yer timin's a li'l off. So. What's the occasion, tinhead?"

"I couldn't say, sir. But it seems to be excellent news in the making. Shall I leave your victuals with you?"

The 'mon in the cell coughed, wetly. "Sure. Whatever. Where's yer boss?"

"He won't be visiting you for the moment, sir. He did instruct me to leave a message, though."

"...Okay. What fuckin' message?"

"He said... to wish you good luck, sir."

As the 'mon in the cell broke into phlegmy, hacking laughter, Silver might feel a chill down his spine...

 

[Jackie Cat]

Okay, this is another one of those perceptile-aura-mon ("auramon"? That sounded like it would make for a good name for a game.) that I've met before. Heavy feeling again, but also anger, despair and loneliness. There's some kind of pulsing pain alongside it.

'Auramon' would make an excellent name for a game, I agree!

That sounds concerning! Allow me to take a closer look...

...I can now discern the aura in question, Andre. Your intuition does not deceive you—there is indeed a soul matching your description in the substructure of the Congress. How peculiar. It is not entirely unlike that of a pokémon carrying traces of Shadow, in fact...

 

[Chibi Pika]

A blaze of Radiance bloomed in his chest, spreading through his body with a tingling buzz. "You want me to direct this anywhere?"

In spite of his tired countenance, Herman couldn't help letting his eyes widen at the sight of the golden glow, the Light which he'd spent so much time studying, suddenly right here in front of him. In spite of himself, he grabbed a notepad from his coat pocket, hastily scribbling a few notes.

"You can direct it at the conduit there," he said, pointing to a copper dish oriented perpendicular to the coils that held the wonder orbs.

 

[Chibi Pika]

The interior turned out to be some kind of control room, its walls covered in flickering cathode-ray screens and ticking mechanical counters. A handful of exhausted-looking 'mon staffed retrofuturistic computer banks covered in as many dials, knobs, buttons and switches as a commerical airliner from Jade's own Kanto. On one central console, most likely the 'command' console, some kind of faintly-glowing box with frosted-glass windows was affixed prominently to the hardware. In the centre of the room, a containment area of some kind was separated off from the rest of the room by a cylindrical glass wall. The lantern symbology was subtly marked everywhere.

Jade steadied her nerves as she slowly shut the door behind her, holding the handle so it didn't audibly click shut. She immediately dropped down onto all fours and crept under the closest unoccupied desk, ears flicking around to catch bits of conversation.

'It... sounds like Matthias's squad is running into trouble at Sunward,' she told the others through their link. 'Probably had to deal with the rest of us out there?' She had half a mind to check with the Wayfarer group that had gone to Sunward, but she didn't want to distract them if they were in the middle of a critical battle. Maybe in an emergency...

Her eyes locked onto the glass box attached to the console. What was that...?

 

[Jackie Cat]

Her eyes locked onto the glass box attached to the console. What was that...?

It didn't look so different that some of the synthetic 'mon components from that workshop, in a way. There was a kind of synthetic sheen to it, like injection-moulded plastic polymer – Jade may or may not recognise it as bakelite. It was hard to tell without sneaking up close, but it looked a little like it might be meant to connect or interface whatever was inside with the command console...

The frosted glass shimmered with a faint and ethereal light.

 

[Cresselia92]

The light was dim, lit by flickering flourescent bulbs overhead. The walls were unfinished cave-rock for the most part; even the flooring was cold to the touch. Some distance inside, Bisharp stopped, turned to a particular door, and yanked a viewport to one side with a metallic thunk.

When the Bisharp stopped, Silver froze, his heart leaping to his throat and adrenaline spiking instantly. Without thinking, he bolted into a nearby empty cell and pressed hard against the wall, cold sweat running down his pelt. The shadowy Ho-Oh cried a silent plea of encouragement before fading away, unable to sustain its form any longer, and retreated back into the depths of his soul.

Crap, crap, crap…!

His eyes wandered erratically, hyperfixating on every single detail of that cell. He always did all he could to avoid prisons, and now… Despite his fur regaining some of its thickness, he felt so cold. Alone. Trapped.

Get out!

No. Silver took a deep breath to steady his nerves, and his unfocused gaze morphed into a determined frown. I’m not leaving before finding and rescuing the others!

Silver perked up when he heard a response from someone, which the Sneasel deduced was the prisoner. He was talking to the Bisharp with a very thick western accent, very Frontier-like. Silver’s eyes narrowed in thought. Could he be…?

As the 'mon in the cell broke into phlegmy, hacking laughter, Silver might feel a chill down his spine...

Silver suppressed a gasp, his eyes widening in alarm. That prisoner sounded… weak, if not sick. Were those bastards starving him, and maybe other prisoners, or something? What the hell?!

Rage ignited Silver’s spirit and he clenched his fists. The spiteful side of him wanted to barge into the corridor and tear into that guard, but the more rational side knew that was a terrible idea. Surely the Bisharp would have sounded an alarm, or worse, imprisoned him and the others.

No, right then Silver needed to be smart, not strong.

The Sneasel’s eyes roamed the cell again, his mental gears spinning, then his ears flicked and a smirk made its way to his face. Slowly, Silver hid behind the door and filled his claws with numbing venom, just in case. He only needed to wait, keep listening, and act accordingly…

 

[Butterfree]

A blaze of Radiance bloomed in his chest, spreading through his body with a tingling buzz. "You want me to direct this anywhere?"

In spite of his tired countenance, Herman couldn't help letting his eyes widen at the sight of the golden glow, the Light which he'd spent so much time studying, suddenly right here in front of him. In spite of himself, he grabbed a notepad from his coat pocket, hastily scribbling a few notes.

"You can direct it at the conduit there," he said, pointing to a copper dish oriented perpendicular to the coils that held the wonder orbs.

Oh yeah, Herman was definitely impressed. Poor desperate fucks, studying Radiance all these years and then getting outdone by a bunch of upstarts who just got it from a wandering legendary, no big deal. He'd be fucking livid.

Dave couldn't help a small smirk as he placed a paw on the conduit dish. Was Parallax watching? He'd better be.

He concentrated, drawing energy into his paw, out through his paw pads and into the metal, lighting it up with a Radiant glow. The pleasant buzz of it sent a warm tingling through his body with a familiar temptation to slip under. All right, all right, not too much, keep it steady, keep it steady--

 

[Inkedust]

'Cherry' watched the demonstrations with great awe, deciding to let the other Wayfarers talk for her while Bellatrix herself looked around the area for anything of note. She may have gotten herself too invested as she found herself remaining silent for a much longer time than she would have liked. In any other circumstance, it would've been a much-needed break but for Bellatrix, determined to remain in character to arouse the least suspicion possible...

It may have gotten her sweating a little. Did this body even sweat?

"Amazing isn't it?" 'Cherry' exclaimed at Dave's demonstration, suddenly appearing behind Herman to wrap her arms around him. "What a find these little anomalies are." She glanced at Dave with a widening grin. Forgive me for what I am about to say. "I would just love to slice just a little bit off you while you channel that Radiance to see if it lingers. Oh, the thought of that just tingles me to the core."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Herman recoiled, his expression morphing into one of disdain. "God, what—Dhillon," he snapped, dropping his cigarette. He hastily smoothed out his lab coat, glowering at the 'Medicham'. "How many times do I have to tell you to keep things work-appropriate?"

He concentrated, drawing energy into his paw, out through his paw pads and into the metal, lighting it up with a Radiant glow. The pleasant buzz of it sent a warm tingling through his body with a familiar temptation to slip under. All right, all right, not too much, keep it steady, keep it steady--

The conduit glowed as well, receiving the light with a low hum. As the demonstration continued, one of the Wonder Orbs hooked up to the machine, slowly shifted to a bright, shining gold.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Parallax shot Bellatrix a disgusted glare.

"Can you be fucking normal for five minutes, please?" he said. "I swear to god, Cherry, if you don't knock it off with the horny bullshit, I'll slash your budget for next year."

He sniffed and turned away, muttering under his breath. "Put up with enough creepy shit like that over Sunday dinners back home."

...What did that mean?

 

[Jackie Cat]

No, right then Silver needed to be smart, not strong.

The Sneasel’s eyes roamed the cell again, his mental gears spinning, then his ears flicked and a smirk made its way to his face. Slowly, Silver hid behind the door and filled his claws with numbing venom, just in case. He only needed to wait, keep listening, and act accordingly…

Soon enough, Bisharp pushed the tray of food and drink through a hatch in the door, and made his way back up the corridor, metal feet clunking on cold rock.

Silver was free to approach...

 

[Butterfree]

A horrid chill ran through Dave's spine, his hackles rising. Jesus fuck, Bellatrix. Was this Cherry woman really so fucking horny on main that Bellatrix felt she might blow her cover if she didn't do this? He struggled to pull his focus back to the Radiance and the flickering glow of the copper dish, a growl rising in his throat. No goddamn distractions. Just keep their fucking attention.

A shining edge of pure willpower pushed everything else out of his brain, focused his Radiance into a point. Instead of a strike, he just kept it pressed to the center of the conduit.

Dave used Relentless Soul!

As he did it watched the Umbreon out of the corner of his eye.

He sniffed and turned away, muttering under his breath. "Put up with enough creepy shit like that over Sunday dinners back home."

Jesus.

"Oh yeah?" he asked with a grunt of exertion, not looking at him directly. Radiance, Radiance. "I meant to ask what kind of world you came from, if it's anything like mine. Putting up with shitty family on Sundays sounds familiar." Not a fucking excuse, though.

 

[Chibi Pika]

It didn't look so different that some of the synthetic 'mon components from that workshop, in a way. There was a kind of synthetic sheen to it, like injection-moulded plastic polymer – Jade would not recognise it as bakelite. It was hard to tell without sneaking up close, but it looked a little like it might be meant to connect or interface whatever was inside with the command console...

Jade's tail swished. Was that something glowing in there? She wanted to see inside so badly, but it was on the other side of the control center. Granted, it wasn't like anyone was stationed at the console right now. It was all a bunch of mon wearing bulky headsets while messing with old-fashioned radio units, all wood paneling and covered in dials and switches. With as fixated as they were on manning the comms, they probably wouldn't notice anyone sitting at the opposite console, but the motion of getting there risked catching someone's eye.

She clenched her paws, feeling the familiar tingle of Assist as she reached for her teammates, grasping at their energy as if it were her own. Bellatrix, the wispy nothingness of the ghost-type, shadows slipping unseen underfoot...

Jade used Shadow Sneak