Chương 24: Chapter 21

I feel a bit like a balloon, being carried along behind Weaver everywhere she's gone over the last hour. I… also appreciate how it's making me feel just a bit safer. I also don't like the thought that I'm feeling safer, but my pride isn't important right now and I'll take it over continuing to freak out. I grasp the first human with psychic force, giving the power a small flick to send him flying out of my house.

We're in the ranger's kitchen again, Weaver reading aloud from her book while Onaga and the other ranger are writing a lot of things down, with Espeon currently glued to Onaga's leg. I think Weaver is trying to distract me, with maybe some success.

"-The Noble, now healed from the madness, gave the gallant hero a small fragment of their duty. The brave soldier, now with proof of their task, turned his-" Weaver continues, doing an admirable job of narrating. I'm not all that sure what's going on in the story, to be honest. It seems to jump around a lot. Or… that might be me. I'm easily maintaining three zones of control. One as a shield around myself, and the other two in waiting as I watch the two humans get back to their feet.

I understand why she wants to keep me from thinking about attacking those two that the rangers carted off, or about the fact that my house collapsed, but I'd like to think I won't break down now. … Even if I'm definitely still a bit upset. One of the men looks- tastes frightened, staring wide-eyed at me." -King of the dragons, descended from the-" … I think it's me. Why can't I focus?! Trying to get into that place where I can think and stay fully aware of my surroundings simply isn't happening.

Especially since I'm not calm enough for however my new psychic thing works to use it. I just- I can't stop thinking about everything. I decide to expand my personal control-zone, and the pokeball stops dead when it reaches the edge. I increase the- I need to stop thinking about this. Do something else. I sigh, then notice both humans in the room flinch, which just makes me want to sigh again. Yeah, I get it, you all think I sound weird, thanks for the reminder.

Okay, I need to actually cool off and clear my head somehow.

"Weaver?"

"Mmm?" She queries, looking up from her book.

"What?" Espeon remains silent, but I'm trying to pay attention right now and I see his ears swivel to face me.

"I- I think I either need it to be a lot louder, or a lot quieter or… just something," I tell her, still trying to set my thoughts in order. I could really use a good drink right now. The wall of my house collapses under the constant pressure, and I realize I've kept the sound up too long. Weaver looks down at her book, expression shifting a few times before she opens her mouth to respond, only to say nothing, jaw clicking shut.

"It's quiet outside…" Espeon timidly says after a moment, catching both my and Weaver's attention. He shrinks a little when we both look at him, but continues, "If y- you need quiet, a b- bubble isn't hard to make. I can sh- show you?" I'm not sure if he meant that to be a question. Marshal appears, moving on all fours, head whipping around to take everything in.

"Sure, that sounds great," I agree, which seems to take the cat off-guard. He glances at Onaga and then into space, visibly mulling something over before he stands.

"O- Okay, um… Follow m- me," He says, slowly walking to the kitchen's entrance before taking a deep breath and moving faster.

"Smokey?" Weaver asks, standing and giving me a bit of slack to rise." You're gonna be in a bad way soon, huh?" Marshal asks, inspecting me. I turn my eyes on her, wanting her to be wrong.

"And you know it, don't you?"

"I need- And thank you for trying to distract me, Weaver. Genuinely, I mean it. But I need something else," I tell her, not wanting to hurt her feelings. The two humans are watching us closely, Onaga's gaze flicking to the doorway a few times.

"Okay," Weaver agrees simply, pulling me along as she follows Espeon.

"Why?"" We heard all the noise. What happened?" Weaver asks, not a hint of levity in her tone." Because- Because I can't stop thinking about it all," I tell her, moving to put a hand to my forehead but needing to settle on the side of one arm.

"So I either need something a lot better to distract myself until I stop thinking about what I did, or I need to actually work my way through it." Even if I'd really rather not. Weaver looks at me, still holding her book in one hand and one of my arms in the other, then looks down, "Do you want to know how I met Ryuko?" She asks." I think I made a mis -" No, I did what I should have. Focus. What Weaver is saying right now seems important to her, "If you want to tell me."

"It was somewhat like tonight," Weaver starts as we leave the building, Espeon waiting for us.

"Let me start over, I think you might need to hear this too," She says to the pinkish-purple cat.

"Right, so uh…" Weaver trails off, blinking.

"I knew where to start this a moment ago. So, I was a sneasel, obviously, and… Neither of you know a lot about us, do you?" Weaver asks, frowning.

"Not really, no," I say, shrugging helplessly as Espeon shakes his head.

"Okay, so sneasel are meant to make their own way until they're old and strong enough to evolve, then a pack will take them in. That's what I've gathered, anyway." Weaver shakes her head, "I was a bit young for that when this happened, but I was always feeling lonely and it might have been driving me a bit crazy."

"I'd been having trouble catching anything to eat for… I think two weeks. And I just wanted to talk to somebody, but I was a sneasel and very obviously hungry so nobody trusted me not to attack them. Except this human who showed up one day, she was nice, but she didn't have any food for me so I just followed her for a few hours before going hunting again."

"I'd caught a scent, too. Followed it halfway across the valley before I saw where it was coming from, and I was too hungry to question why a human would just leave food out like that. Especially since they were right there, in the snow next to it. So I decided to say hello and ask for some food."

"I got caught before I even knew what was happening. And I didn't actually know what was going on, everything was so muted and I couldn't move…" Weaver shudders, "It's not a great feeling when you're that confused. Anyway, this human picked me up, buried himself in the snow again, and repeated that a few times. Then he took us all back to a camp on the far end of the drifts, and some of the other humans there started releasing us into cages and poking us before putting us back in the balls."

"They sorted us into groups, and someone decided I wasn't worth selling, so I got to be a living target instead." Weaver looks at Espeon and me, "Imagine being hungry, weak, and having humans laugh at you while the pokemon they have with them get to enjoy using you to train." I do, and it's not something I ever want to see, let alone experience.

"That was my life for two days, never allowed to eat, never given the chance to get out, just scrambling to not be hurt too badly or sitting on a shelf. Then every human started acting odd, on edge. One of them hadn't come back by the time night fell, and the rest started packing their supplies and the captured pokemon up."

"Then something walked into the main tent, it's a bit hard to see things from inside a pokeball. It's hard to describe, you need to experience it to understand. Sorry, as I was saying, one of the humans tried to do something to it and went flying into one of the tables they had, and then the rest sent all the remaining pokemon out, including me." When did we all sit down? I'm even resting on the ground…

"Have either of you seen a ranger fight another human?" Weaver asks us, leaning back against the wall we've settled by. When both Espeon and I shake our heads, Weaver continues, "They're stronger than you'd think. But Ryu… when we were all told to attack her, I froze, and she noticed me. Out of the eight pokemon there, me."

"Those things the rangers have, you haven't had one used near you yet, right Charlie?" I shake my head, not wanting to interrupt her. I'm pretty sure I haven't, at least.

"She wasn't as good with hers, then, but she didn't need to be. Every other pokemon there froze, and I didn't know why at the time. All I was feeling was safe."

"She beat all the humans there into unconsciousness. And every time one of the other pokemon would make a move, I'd feel safe again, and they'd all freeze. Once she was done, she said something into a radio and stumbled out of the tent. I don't know what everyone else in that tent was thinking, but I'm pretty sure they were afraid of her, by the end."" I followed her out, no one stopped me, and I nearly ran for it. But then I saw her face down in the snow and… I realized I wouldn't, I couldn't leave her there.

When I dragged her back out of the snow, the pokemon still in the tent ran. I passed out shortly after that, still holding on to her, and when I woke up we were in a ranger base. Ryu was being yelled at, but he stopped when I started screaming back," Weaver laughs at that, trailing into chuckles, " That was how we met." I taste a wave of… compassion and understanding? Those are flavors? Not that I'm not feeling the same but- Hold on, reciprocation and confusion?

I look to who must be the source, the cat blinking back at me. Now it's surprise and greetings. How the fuck are these all things I can taste? It's so hard to compare the way emotions taste to anything else because there isn't anything to compare it to, not even tastes that aren't emotions. But those new ones were… more complicated, but still something I can both taste and that I have a name for. It's not like when there are so many tastes that I can't parse them, these were complete.

So now I get to maybe-live with knowing what the feeling of greetings tastes like, great.

"Uh, you two okay?" Weaver asks.

"Yeah… Or, I think so, at least," I tell her, still staring at Espeon. There's curiosity as Espeon takes a step back from me, shakes his head, and steps forward again. …And now I'm tasting fascination.

"Um, anyway," I say, turning to Weaver.

"I'm… I guess thankful you felt like sharing that, but what did it have to do with tonight? Why tell us that? N- No, sorry, that doesn't sound right…" Weaver sighs, but puts on a smile, "Because, Charlie, you and she did nearly the same things, and Ryu was beating herself up over what she did for months. Like I get the feeling you are about to start doing. So, don't." She levels a claw, pointing it at me, "It happened, yeah, but it's over now. Don't obsess over it, alright?"

"It's not that-""I know it's not that easy, but it doesn't have to be that hard, either," She cuts me off, curling the backs of her claws on her hips.

"Are you thinking about it right now?"

"…No," I admit, making her smile." Exactly!" She beams, pointing her claws at me in a decent attempt at finger guns.

"Okay, you might have a point," I concede.

"I'll do my best, but," I say, getting an eye roll, "There are still things I need to do now. Like finding somewhere to stay, for starters." Weaver's expression turns thoughtful, then it lights up for a fraction of a second before becoming innocent.

"What?" I ask her.

"Well…" She flicks her eyes between Espeon and me, then between myself and the building. And she keeps doing that, back and forth, me and the building, for almost fifteen seconds.

"Oh, come on!" She pleads.

"Don't make me say it!" I continue giving her a blank look, "You might need to, I can be very stupid at times," I tell her. She snorts, "Yeah, I've noticed."

"Hey!" I put an arm to where my chest would be in mock offense.

"You said it first, not me," She smirks, then sighs, "Here, at the base. You, with us." …Is that an option?

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" Weaver asks. Oh, I said that out loud, didn't I?

"I don't know, I just- I was still settling in, and then everything tonight, and now you're talking about-" I stop, realizing something.

"About having a place to live, something to do all day, and easy access to anything I might need," I say, blinking at Weaver's large grin.

"See, you can be smart, too. …If someone helps you out the whole way."" Hey!" ▲▲▲ ▼▼▼" He has your temperament," Luxray says with a bob of his head.

"We've tried keeping him in my territory, but he keeps slipping out." I sigh as I look back down at the tiny bundle of sunshine and joy, now sleeping against his father. I can't exactly deny he acts like me at times, and we both know doing anything more to stop him will just push Shinx away from us.

"Did you handle the humans? You still haven't said," Luxray asks, grooming himself.

"No," I sigh.

"The kid, Charlie, handled them before I even got there, and the rangers showed up shortly after. Didn't even know Shinx was there until Ryu finished letting everyone out." Luxray nods in understanding, "And even though they wouldn't stop you, it's trouble. Not that waking the whole forest up wasn't trouble," He muses. There's a long silence as Luxray watches me. I meet his gaze with one of my own, he wants me to talk about Charlie, and he probably has some of the same questions they had.

"Still not going to say anything about them?" He asks after he accepts that I'm not budging.

"No explanation? I've even heard you were teaching them." I want to say they had the eyes, but I'm not sure if I saw that right.

"No, Luxray. The kid opened up to me, and even if I've figured out more about them they clearly don't want to talk about it. So I won't be talking about it with you," I explain to my part-time paramour.

"It might be a moot point in any case since they may be better off among humans." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. I spend a moment teasing Shinx's belly, the sleeping kit reflexively shocking me with a paw. I sigh, "And you should understand, it's what they did that matters." Luxray reluctantly nods at that. Because he does understand, one of the few of us who's still around.

"I suppose protecting anyone, let alone one of our children, from humans grants them a measure of trust," He admits.

"No more tolerance towards the humans, for now?"

"None," I agree.

"Need to make it clear somehow." ▲▲▲ ▼▼▼ Weaver walks out, pulling Misdreavus along behind her. Not that the ghost is resisting at all.

"So… three now, hmm?" Emil says, breaking the silence after so long writing our reports. I sigh, "I didn't exactly plan for it. Not that any of us 'planned' our partners," I say, giving a pointed look at Emil.

"Where is Piplup, anyway? He wasn't out with you." It's Emil's turn to sigh now, "You know how kids start to act when they become teenagers?" He asks. At my raised eyebrow he lowers his head into his hands, "I think it's like that. Honestly, I think it's the opposite of what you and Weaver went through recently, he's listening less, doing things because his pride demands it."

"…So where is he?" I ask after a long moment.

"In town, somewhere?" Emil says, nervously tapping the table.

"I know I need to do something about him, but I might need someone to hold him down for the conversation."

"That bad, now?"

"It's the way piplup begin maturing," Emil helplessly shrugs.

"I'm hoping it will only take one or two big mistakes for him to calm down. What about you? two new partners at once is going to be rough." I almost want to correct him that it's only Espeon at the moment, but I'd be shocked if Weaver wasn't trying to convince Misdreavus to join, especially since they're friends.

"I don't know," I say, letting my tiredness at the long day out in a groan, "I got maybe four hours of sleep, and I've been up for almost twenty hours at this point, so I'm just going to deal with it tomorrow."

"What? Not going to try and follow Holt's example?" Emil chuckles, then laughs as I can't help the smile on my face.

"I don't know how that woman ever sleeps," I join Emil in laughing, finally bleeding some of the tension off.

"No, no I'm not that high-strung yet." Leaning back a bit I let myself relax before realizing I never confirmed something, "Did you take those two to the hospital or the station?"

"Hospital," Emil nods.

"You'll never guess who was already waiting there."

"I'd bet I can, but I'm going to hit the showers now, try not to fall off my routine. You?" The man sighs and picks his pen back up, "I still need to finish this. You sleep well, mò amé." I nod to him, standing and stretching as I make my way out of the room. After showering, I decide there's something I should do before heading to bed. It doesn't take long to find them, the three pokemon just outside the main doors. Weaver and Espeon notice me, one giving me a wave and the other opening his connection slightly.

Misdreavus, however, appears to be concentrating on something, a sphere of psychic energy shimmering around them. Espeon, though tired, is actually feeling okay for once, and since it's likely because of the ghost it makes me feel significantly better about Weaver's obvious… How is Rowan going to react when he finds out 'I' recruited his 'research subject'? It doesn't matter, does it? He won't be able to observe them in their natural environment, but they'll be easier to study overall.

Shaking my head, I focus back on the group, "I'm heading to bed, try not to make too much noise, okay?" I tell them, getting a thumbs-up from Weaver. Affirmation, –Espeon sends, nodding as well. And Misdreavus… still doesn't seem to know I'm here. Interesting. I'll ask about the whole situation tomorrow if they're still around. Giving one last look at the three of them, I march off to bed.

Opening the door, I see my oma, young and dressed like a trainer, instead of how she normally looks like a regular, if aged, housewife. I don't see Opa anywhere. We're at a dinner table, Oma just brought out a dish of something delicious-smelling. Opa seems happy, but… there's something wrong with his face. What is it? My partner flinches, bracing herself… Partner? Shouldn't she have a name? Opa backs into a corner, waving Oma and me to stay away. His face, his skin melts away to reveal- Something pokes my cheek.

"Weave," My alarm says, poking me again. I crack one eye open to see my usual wake-up call, familiar golden eyes looking back.

"Weaver," I greet, as per standard.

"Weavile," She returns, soundlessly hopping to the floor. Standing, I look around for Espeon as I stretch, but don't see him anywhere. I can't tell if that's good or bad yet. Following a well-worn routine, I check on Katie as I head for the kitchen. She looks a bit less haggard, but more jumpy today.

"Breakfast?" I ask her. After learning what she wants today, I now need to find Espeon. There's an easy way to do it, however, "Hey Weaver, could you go tell Espeon it's time to eat?" With a thumbs-up and a 'Weave,' she's off, leaving me to get Katie her bowl of puffs. Walking back into the kitchen after delivering the food, I find out that, yes, Weaver convinced the ghost to stick around.

The pokemon floating by the counter, seemingly fiddling with the coffee maker, while Espeon and Weaver have already snagged themselves some pokeblocs. Both happily chewing on the compressed meat-and-berry cubes. I hear the coffee maker turn on. Okay, we can add smart and observant to the list of known things about Misdreavus, given I'm fairly sure they weren't paying that much attention yesterday morning.

"Right then, I assume Weaver offered you a place here?" I ask Misdreavus, spotting Weaver's grin from the corner of my eye. The ghost nods distractedly, staring at the slowly dripping coffee… No, it's too blue and doesn't smell like coffee. Chesto tea, then.

"Misser?" They ask, now looking at me a bit wide-eyed.

"Are you surprised I knew what she was doing? Or that I'm going along with it?" I ask, reaching up to grab the box of granola. The ghost glances at Weaver, then slowly holds up two arms, "… Mis dreav?" I'm pretty sure they're saying it's the second one. And… Affirmation. There it is. Well, it's nice to have confirmation, but…. ` We're going to have that talk soon, then. ` I pan my gaze over to Espeon as he shrinks a bit, opening the bond enough to let me feel his shame.

Not that I'm going to get angry or frustrated with him, so long as he makes an effort. After all, it's natural for him to do this, he just needs to be more polite about it and learn to take 'no' for an answer. Espeon nods and I roll my eyes. The sound of the coffee maker sputtering diverts me, as I glance back at Misdreavus. They made a full pot, so that's nice. The effects can be a bit much for me, and I don't need it to wake up, but Karlos and Barry will be appreciative.

▲▲▲ ▼▼▼ Onaga keeps giving me odd looks and I'm not sure why. But Weaver doesn't seem worried, so eh. Rather than trying to maneuver the coffeepot with my arms, as they're closer to tentacles than anything else—and thus they lack a certain level of fine control, I float it with my mind, pouring a small amount out for myself and Weaver. I think I can officially say that psychic powers won't get old. Physically picking the small mug up, I take a swig.

"See, it's better, right?" Weaver asks after I take my first gulp.

"It's certainly different," I admit, appreciating the drink. It tastes… a bit like coffee, though much less bitter and with a hint of vanilla and nuts. And I immediately feel what Weaver said I would, less tired, just a bit more alert. Hmm, "You're right, it's good," I tell her.

"But uh, I can't feel anything from the neck down, now." Weaver stiffens, "That's not good…" Then she narrows her eyes, standing stock-still for a long moment. I do my best to keep my face blank, but it's becoming hard not to start chuckling. Thankfully, Weaver breaks first, "That was awful!" She laughs, taking my cup and sipping from it, then shuddering, "Eugh, way too hot," She complains, and more steam starts rising from the liquid." Sorry.

But yeah, I know that was bad," I join her in laughing, enjoying the moment. I'm feeling… better. I have at least some kind of real plan for the future, and that's a huge weight off me that I hadn't realized was there until it vanished. Onaga swipes the second mug, the one I made for Weaver, and starts sipping at it slowly. She sighs after a quiet moment, "Okay, today's plan," She announces, Weaver and Espeon perking up.

"Barring anything big happening, I'm maintaining the base for the day again. Espeon, you still have a while before you can physically keep up, sorry. And Misdreavus," Still weird hearing that, "Just to be sure, but you do want to join as a partner, right?" I glance at Weaver, who shrugs at me, and then I nod at Onaga, "It seems like my best option right now.""

Okay then, just so you know, we'll need to take you and Espeon through some basic training, and you'll need to become literate, but I know Weaver was already taking you through the videos," The woman explains, pouring some oat-clusters into a cup.

"It's not going to be like… You probably wouldn't know what a trainer is. Regardless, it won't be like that, even if I get the feeling you can protect yourself just fine." I feel the urge to correct her, twice, but she wouldn't understand what I'm saying anyway.

"It's mostly about what we can, can't, should, and shouldn't do," Weaver pipes up, taking a sip from the now frosty cup.

"Human laws, that kind of thing. I assume you've heard of them?"" It rings a bell, yeah," I say, considering if I want more of the nutty brew before deciding I don't. I'd rather find out if it's going to make me shaky or hyper without chugging a whole mug first, thank you." Sh- She keeps putting it off…" Espeon says, speaking for the first time today.

Onaga pans her gaze over to the cat, chewing slowly on her granola as Weaver and I share a look, "I think it's because she knows you're not doing all that well, Patches." The cat flinches at Weaver's comment, but the weasel continues, "Trust me, she's going to put you above meeting guidelines, even if it means you won't get to join us out there for a while." Espeon nods, and I taste understanding and acceptance before he winces, "… Yeah, I kn- know."

Weaver raises an eyebrow, but I think I know what just happened, "He tried to tell you, psychically. I'm assuming?" I both clarify and ask. Verity, I discover as Espeon nods, is a taste. And that's a little concerning since I don't think I knew that word a second ago. … High school English, Mr. Hobbes, huh. Amazing, the things I can remember.

"Oh," Weaver chuckles, "You might have some issues there."

"Mmm," Onaga interrupts us, swigging her drink down in one go, "Ah, okay, plan time," She says once she can talk.

"Espeon, you can't join Weaver and me on our run. Sorry, but you need to build up more stamina, and more importantly fat, before you can. Misdreavus…" She trails off, inspecting me.

"Do you even have muscles?" That's a very good question. To which I do, in fact, know the answer, "No," I say, shaking my head. I've literally put myself back together, after all.

"Right," The ranger slowly says, blinking.

"Then I don't think anything should stop you from joining us, but I don't know if there would be any benefit either. So it might be better if you stayed here and watched the learning tapes."

"It wouldn't help them," Weaver says, getting a look from the woman. The weavile sighs, holding up three fingers, every digit on one hand splayed.

"three…" Onaga raises an eyebrow, "The third tape?" She asks, glancing at me. I give her a wave. Surprise remains an interesting taste, it's not like fear or terror. It's lighter, not so much tasty but instead more of a compliment to whatever is going on." You're going to be trouble, aren't you?" The only human in the room asks, running a hand down her face. Weaver starts cackling and the woman sighs, "Friends with Weaver.

Alright, you can mostly do what you want, but no matter what you need to be here once we get back. And I'm only saying this because someone else has a habit of disappearing," She gives Weaver a look. The bipedal cat gives her a sweet, innocent look in return.

"Don't follow her lead, is what I'm saying," The ranger intones.

"It's the benefit of knowing her so long," Weaver conspiratorially whispers to Espeon and me, waggling her eyebrows. ***" This is insane," I think aloud, watching the 'human'—because that is not something a human should be able to do and still look like that—squat three hundred kilograms. And of course they use metric here. Also, how does fucking metric exist here? I thought the weights looked off, and then spent a moment translating the numbers on them, then realized it obviously wasn't in pounds.

She's not all that strained. I mean, it's clear she's feeling it, but she's not struggling.

"It's a strength day," Weaver explains, and I start staring at her instead." Humans can't do that. No, let me say something first," I interrupt the frosty pokemon as she opens her mouth.

"I was…" my gaze drifts to Espeon, the cat watching the first reading video. Fuck it, he's going to learn about this eventually, "I was a pretty big guy, my job meant I needed to be decently strong. That," I say, pointing at Onaga, "Is not something Humans can do. Three hundred kilos is…" Two-point-two pounds per kilo, thanks memory.

"Six-hundred-sixty pounds- …Right, why would you know that if kilos are standard here. Anyway, the safe amount to squat is a little over one-hundred-twenty kilos less…" I did that math fast, didn't I? And when did I learn weight limits like that? Six years ago, fitness crisis, I was putting on more weight as I hit my thirties. I blink. Oh, I think I know what's going on. Bringing an arm up to inspect, it's not shaking.

"Weaver, am I acting hyper right now?" I ask my friend.

"A bit," She reveals, squeezing the first finger and thumb of her left hand together.

"And you're talking a little fast." There's a thudding clang as Onaga seats the barbell on its rack, stretching as she stands.

"She's not even looking all that stressed about it!" Weaver opens her mouth to speak, then pauses thoughtfully.

"…I think," She says after a long moment in which Onaga starts benching a similarly ridiculous weight, "You may be right."

"Oh. Um, okay?" I don't know where she's going with this.

"The rangers are tougher than other humans, too," Weaver adds, now looking curious.

"I don't know why, but now that I think about it, yeah, I don't think most humans could do that." We watch Onaga lift… Brace-shaped symbol and the one that's just a zero with legs, on eight weights. So, five-twenty-eight pounds. The woman doing so with relative ease." Weaver, what did you drag me into?" She answers with a cackle. ▲▲▲ ▼▼▼" Vice principal Kincaid?" The scrawny kid looks up from the thing he's been messing with all night.

"I think it's working."

"Truly?" The man I'm starting to hate asks, yawning as he stands from his desk." Yeah, the inductor is pulling power from the stone," The kid says, pointing.

"I think I could make it more efficient if I had raw materials instead of just the training devices."

"Wonderful!" Kincaid beams.

"Now, why don't you start packing, hmm? I'm certain you have a bright career ahead of you, with this as proof."

"O- Oh, Yes, Mr. Kincaid. I…" The kid blinks up at the wall clock, "I may need a nap first."

"Of course, of course," The man waves it off.

"I'll have my assistants, well, assist with moving the prototype. I'm certain the rangers will have a good use for such a powerful, if stationary, beacon." After the kid leaves, Kincaid's smile drops, "Right, you two, help me move this." Tim and I both sigh, trudging over to where the weird cone-on-stilts thing is sitting.