TEST 8.

[azumods]

FLOW. The feeling of pressure in here is immense. It's stronger than it was with Darkrai, something you can feel down to your core, something that you couldn't shake off even if you tried; there's nothing to do but power through it. Saturn, for his part, either isn't feeling it at all or is incapable of reacting in any sort of appropriate way even if he could; he simply continues to regard you from across the room, his words hanging heavy in the room. It's a far cry from his behavior during the first month you were here; he was civil then, willing to do you favors in exchange for the chance to talk to you. It's plain that he will be doing no such thing today; it may be difficult to know where to start, really. Especially when your Pokémon don't seem to be doing well - whatever's happening here, they seem reluctant, even unwilling, to fight anything in this room. Perhaps it's not surprising; the energy in the room is likely familiar to them, and it's the sort associated with someone deciding to take their spirit away last time it was angered. Whatever the reason, you're on your own for now; whatever happens is your choice, and yours alone.

Comments

[greydients]

[.....]

...there's an order back in my home world, called the Jedi. I'm...in training to become one, I suppose you could say. The Jedi believe in a universal energy called the Force, that has a light side, and a dark side. Life, death, happiness, sadness...it's all balanced. That's the ideal way for the galaxy to be - balanced. You can't have the light without the darkness.

[She is trying to make a point here, don't worry.]

What I'm trying to say, is...I don't think Cyrus' world is sustainable. You said it yourself, the last time we met; you keep having to re-do it, because the world - the original world - pushes back on you, desperately trying to regain that balance that Cyrus has shifted. Look at what is happening with Dialga, right now, across the region. You've barely got it under control.

I don't...

[You're really messing with her emotions today, give her a moment-]

...I don't think you're a bad person, Saturn, and I don't think Cyrus is, either. I've seen the way he reacts when you ask him what happened to him, to make him think this equates to eternal peace. You both...want to help, so badly, I can see it, but you're going about it the wrong way. You need to maintain the balance, not throw it off. You shouldn't...need to sacrifice everything that brings some semblance of joy to your life.

Even if it's just Toxicroak that does so, because...well. I understand better than most that she would be more than enough.

[azumods]

That's the problem, though, isn't it. She wasn't enough for me.

[He...still doesn't sound troubled by it. Just kind of cold.]

I know that Master Cyrus isn't a bad person. He's doing this for the benefit of the world. It's just a matter of perfecting the process.

[greydients]

[...]

You have a lot of respect for Cyrus. I can understand why. I found a journal that belongs to him. It had a lot of technical drawings in it - ideas for machines and inventions and the like.

[Have another, incredibly tired, sigh.]

They were brilliant. My world has technology far more advanced than this one, and some of his ideas reminded me of home. That's how good they were.

[azumods]

We would talk about things like that often. Machines, I mean. They're something I'm fairly talented with, but he's on a completely different level. He trusts me to assist him in the creation of some of them sometimes, though.

[greydients]

...I like machines, too. The two of you would enjoy my world, I think. We can travel throughout the galaxy, at hyper-speed, and our droid technology is like nothing you've ever seen.

[...okay, let's just. stop geeking out about machines, this isn't the time.]

...you said 'would', though. Does Cyrus not talk about his inventions any more?

[azumods]

He isn't often with us in person anymore.

[greydients]

...oh.

[Well, that...does make sense, she supposes. Since he's busy...being God and everything.

...]

Do you miss him?

[azumods]

[...]

Yes, of course.

[greydients]

[...ah. God, she's such an idiot. Toxicroak had admittedly been an excellent guess, but...

...]

...you'd do anything he asked of you, wouldn't you.

[azumods]

I've been telling you that from the beginning. Just not in so many words, maybe.

[greydients]

Because you found a sense of purpose with him, correct? Someone who understood you, who...you believed could make you into the person you wanted to be.

[Will these parallels to her experiences back home end at some point? For her sanity?]

I think you'd follow him regardless of what he was doing, whether it was reshaping the world or just building some of the advanced machines I found in his journal.

...am I right?

[azumods]

[......]

It hardly matters anymore.

[greydients]

Of course it matters. You don't...

[....]

...you haven't been 'reprogrammed' at all, have you? Since the last time we saw you, at the resort, you...you feel the same, don't you? You hate what you're doing but you're doing it because you want to please him so badly....

[This is just. this is a Lot.]

[azumods]

I've received some assistance, to put it lightly... But I can assure you that those feelings no longer exist.

[greydients]

[That actually makes her shake her head.]

You're lying. But it's alright.

I don't believe in lost causes either.