Novelux Teardrop Island

[Jackie Cat]

"Geneticist?" Articuno seemed to play with the unfamiliar word in their mind. "An 'originator of life'. Induced speciation? Fascinating."

They cleared their throat.

"I can't reasonably speak to the underlying reasons, if any, for the unusual properties of human souls in Forlas, nor the mechanism by which they may occur. However, it is a self-evident fact that something of that nature is the case, whether our ignorant assumptions accurately describe the reality or not. It is neither practical nor ethical to conduct serious scientific enquiry into the matter – there are inordinately many variables to control for, to put it succinctly – but your theory is a reasonable hypothesis, and quite common among natural philosophers. I myself have long-assumed that humans simply possess a quality which spurs the development and heightens the potential of pokémon auras, both their own and those of their close associates."

Articuno's mild frown, accentuated by a re-folding of their wings, was enough to communicate a stoic stort of apprehension on this topic.

"Many in the Covenant consider this strength something to be regulated, in the same way as one might wish to regulate alcohol and narcotics, firearms and ammunition, dungeon artifacts, substantial financial wealth, or land and property. Their fear, often going unspoken, is that cavalier treatment of one's 'light' – that is, one's 'potential to catalyse strength', or 'aura volatility', or 'nascent Radiance' – could lead to creating more Tamuks. Or more Valeres. It is not a spurious concern, though you may consider it chauvinistic, or paranoid.

"For my part, I worry that it incentivises an excessive insularity in the society. Whereas several founding members were native pokémon, there are now relatively very few to balance out the aggregate identity of the larger, modern Covenant. Concurrently, there have been relatively few humans of any significance on the continent who are not Covenant-aligned to at least some degree, at least until the arrival of the Wayfarers. In having sponsored your mass-admission, I admit I feel great trepidation at having just facilitated a return to that status quo, but I believe it was a necessary step nevertheless."

Articuno was responsible for the Taleska branch of the Covenant, and probably the most influential member west of Landsverd. Was it possible that their reserved approach to recruitment in the region was motivated by their concern about a Covenant 'monopoly' on humanity in Luctemar? Would Matthias have even been sent to abduct Sparkwright if Articuno had pressured the Rotom harder into signing up?

 

[Butterfree]

"Geneticist, from 'genetics'. It's, uh, the science of inheritable traits and how they work. Greenbough's working on an early iteration, but it's a lot more advanced in my world. I figured the Covenant had some geneticists, actually, given the ARK thing. Creating a chimera Pokémon would be genetics, where I'm from. Actually, geneticists in my world created an almost identical chimera some years ago. I've stopped even trying to make any fucking sense of why these different worlds all coincidentally wound up with the same Pokémon species."

Dave glanced up at Articuno. "Do you get a lot of humans from worlds more advanced than this one? Like, the natural philosophy department of the Covenant - is that mostly based on summoned humans bringing over knowledge from back in their own worlds and others trying to pick that apart and apply it, or are they doing much original research? What about Sparkwright, is he a summon?"

He took a breath. "Anyway, I'm generally not a huge fan of the concept of treating people as guilty because they theoretically could hurt someone. I mean, yeah, it's pretty fucked when you've got a class of people who are basically untouchable if they should get it into their heads that they want to pillage and murder. But if they're just born that way, I mean, they're still fucking people. And what about Saints? What if you became a Tamuk? Is the Covenant keeping tabs on Saints in case one day they misuse their power?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Articuno's beak curved into a thin smile.

"Well, yes."

It seemed that Dave hadn't exactly hit upon a contradiction for Articuno to reflect on – one could reasonably assume that a member of the Covenant was essentially being checked in on regularly and often. Articuno themself, at least, would certainly catch the organisation's attention if they went rogue.

"We do sometimes have fallers from technologically advanced worlds, but amnesia makes it difficult to recall what technology they left behind, let alone how to recreate it. And of course, very few fallers were experts in any advanced technological field during their previous lives – they are as like to be cobblers, or carpenters, or children, or drunkards, for instance. Those that were engineers in 'futuristic' worlds lack the industrial base on Forlas to supply them with their needs."

Articuno paused, and made an awkward movement with their beak that remembled biting one's lip.

"There are some worrying exceptions, however. Sparkwright, as you rightly mentioned – he is not a summon, but a faller, and he had the fortune to retain a great deal of technological insight and to manifest in a body exquisitely suitable for electrical engineering. His knowledge is positioned precisely far enough ahead of our own that he can 'invent' countless technologies with immediate commercial application. He has already made himself grotesquely wealthy, and he is a... I believe the term is 'patent dragon'. He hoards them. I have written to him to warn of the dangers arising from centralising innovation around himself in this fashion, but he... holds firm to his own opinions. He is a consummate capitalist, Mr. Ambrose. He insists that his conduct is merely rational self-interest, and that it can only benefit society in general. His mind cannot apprehend that he has built a dam across the river of invention, and if he could, he would only think it splendidly industrious."

This was very unlike Articuno. They were always so careful to remain measured and unbiased when they spoke of almost any subject, but this was a point of deep and lasting frustration for them. They'd already implied earlier that Sparkwright was of 'high concern' to the Covenant and that they'd been pressured to pressure Sparkwright in turn. The Saint was between a rock and hard place, as it seemed they were time and time and time again...

 

[Butterfree]

Dave frowned. "You think that's why Matthias tried to kidnap Sparkwright? The Covenant thinks he's bad for society, and you're not pushing him hard enough, so his faction goes let's disappear him? Or do you think they just wanted his invention?"

Honestly he liked the Rotom. He'd been nothing but helpful back at the Duel Dome, keeping Dunsmuir's ramblings on point, taking an interest in finding Brisa, and distrustful of the Covenant and its obsession with ancestry. Hoarding patents on 'innovation' that'd come cheap with his offworld origin did sound pretty slimy, but then again he was also plainly inventing genuine new tech, unless he'd been a human in a world that'd also had dungeons.

"If you're keeping tabs on Saints, at any rate, you missed Zapdos and Moltres cheerfully vandalizing things out west. They got better, or at least Moltres did, but we had to kick their teeth in and play therapist first."

Actually, hadn't Articuno been in one of the visions of Moltres's past? His eyes narrowed. "Wait, was it you who told Moltres something about how she shouldn't 'lower herself' by mingling with common people, or was that a previous Articuno?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Perhaps it was part of how they justified it to themselves, but I expect the invention was the true target. They may even have succeeded – I have received reports by way of Weezing Dunsmuir that design notes and prototypes are since missing from Sparkwright's workshop. He did not even discover their absence until recently."

In that case, the Wayfarers may only have delayed Matthias' faction with their efforts. Either way, the purpose of the rift-mender in their hands might not even relate to Whisperwind Comb specifically, or at all...

"If you're keeping tabs on Saints, at any rate, you missed Zapdos and Moltres cheerfully vandalizing things out west. They got better, or at least Moltres did, but we had to kick their teeth in and play therapist first."

His eyes narrowed. "Wait, was it you who told Moltres something about how she shouldn't 'lower herself' by mingling with common people, or was that a previous Articuno?"

Articuno raised a brow, then sighed mildly. "I do recall meeting a Dark Moltres many years ago, yes. She was, and I suppose is, an emotionally intense person... and I am confident my measured and rational perspective was relayed to you filtered through decades of rumination and psychological ill-health. I expect the advice I gave her was more along the lines of cautioning her about overlapping professional – that is, 'divine' – and personal relationships. There is nothing wrong with a legendary pokémon maintaining affectionate or familiar relationships with mortals, but a Saint could easily abuse that enormous power imbalance, even unknowingly..."

They shook their head and closed their eyes. "There are many considerations for a legendary pokémon to make in their relationships with mortals. It is not a simple or straightforward topic. In any case, I did hear reports of her making a public appearance in Blaguarro, Prosper – and that a squad of Wayfarers had successfully fought her the same night. Is that correct?"

Articuno was based near Novelux, and they represented the furthest part of serious Covenant influence west of the Commonwealth heartland. Without information-age technology, and with Covenant influence so limited west of Novelux, they wouldn't have been aware of Moltres until after she was dealt with.

"As for Zapdos... I am aware of his behaviour, yes. I can hardly approve of his habit of goading pokémon into challenging him, nor of his fatalism... but while I personally find the way he chooses to conduct himself of late to be distasteful, unbecoming of any Saint, he does not meet the requisite threshold of justification for intervention, last I was aware. Provoking battles and engaging in hooliganism are unfortunate, but they don't represent a serious threat to civil society. If he were to cause unwarranted deaths, or were to demolish several residences, for instance, then I would certainly parley with him... but it is not our business to use force to avenge damage done to private property."

In other words: they'd step in if Zapdos became a real problem.

As with Rotom Sparkwright, it seemed like it took Articuno a great deal of restraint to remain impartial and speak neutrally about their counterparts. It clearly didn't sit easy with them that they had neither the justification nor the means to address every issue and every concern in all of Forlas – like any 'mon, they had to prioritise.

 

[Butterfree]

Well, wasn't that just fucking great. All that effort fighting Matthias and then they just stole the thing anyway.

He exhaled through his nose. "Any idea what they might want with it? Clearly not Brisa, since she's not holed up in a dungeon anymore. Anything going on at the Sable Office that's to do with dungeons?"

Articuno's explanation of whatever they'd said to Moltres didn't sit great with Dave. "I mean, Moltres had been vandalizing people's homes for a while before she made a 'public appearance', but I guess nobody technically knew a fucking Saint was behind it until we got there. But apparently her deal was long ago she was manipulated into giving the Blazing Dawn's relic to some shithead nobles, and then they refused to evacuate a town when she warned them, so they sat there and told her to simply stop a volcanic eruption and then got killed and buried along with the relic and anyone who'd listened to their bullshit when she couldn't. That doesn't sound like affectionate relationships with mortals getting out of hand, it sounds like her getting duped by a bunch of shitheads who then chose to get themselves killed. Which, I mean, not great decisions getting duped in the first place, apparently she was young and had no idea what she was doing because the shitheads in question had also murdered the previous fucking Moltres who was supposed to mentor her, but if you ask me, the failure in all this sounds like the fact she was left to figure shit out on her own with nobody but these chucklefucks to check her off."