explosivecombat | 02X - Reintro. [Text/Locked Audio to the Rocket Frequency]

02X - Reintro. [Text/Locked Audio to the Rocket Frequency]

[TEXT]

[Well! Those of you on the network today will be greeted by a bit of audio late this morning, from a device ID that's been bouncing back all attempts at contact for the last several weeks.]

...Oh, that's cute.

[...well, if that wasn't the most triumphant return ever, I don't know what is.

At the very least, however, he seems to get over whatever he's almost audibly linefacing at long enough to realize that the device is recording something; he promptly switches the thing over to text - he's never really liked talking at the machine when he's addressing all of Johto.]

My, it seems this place does still have its sense of humor, doesn't it? And here I thought that perhaps I'd only lost three days at worst - it was a bit of a surprise to find out otherwise.

Ah, but that's neither here nor there, is it?

[Kimblee, hon.]

There's not much to report from home, unfortunately; however, it'll be a pleasure getting in contact with all of you again - hopefully you've all been at least reasonably well.

[Oh, well. At least he doesn't seem too off-put by the whole disappearing-for-a-month-and-a-half thing?]

[PRIVATE AUDIO - TEAM ROCKET FREQUENCY]

[...At least, not until the audio message that goes out over the private Rocket network a few minutes later; Kimblee's voice is cold and clipped, and the amiable "tone" from the text earlier is completely absent.

He has no idea if he still holds his rank or not; he suspects he doesn't. Like hell if he won't throw it around anyway. He's a bit displeased at his life basically being a .gif from Community, and he's going to figure out what in the good hell is going on if it kills him.]

This is Team Rocket Beta Solf J Kimblee, reporting back in for duty; to my superiors, I admit that I don't know what happened, but I assure you that it won't happen again.

To the rest of you - check in with me immediately, particularly if you're one of my subordinates. I'm receiving a lot of "ID Not Found" nonsense, and I need to know who's still present; given that and various things that I've had to hear about secondhand, I expect a full report regarding what happened here from someone, I'm not feeling particularly choosy right now.

New members to the organization - welcome to it, and you have my personal apologies for the disarray. For now, you're welcome to introduce yourselves; it'll serve you well to know that I'm good to those who are good to me. Again, prove yourself useful and you'll be rewarded.

None of this is a request. Allow me to make that much clear.

[...oh dear. Well. At least he's not in much position to actually do anything at the moment - this is Team Rocket we're talking about, and if somebody's on the network very vocally overstating their importance and/or competence, that means it's pretty much a day ending in Y.]

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[Barby had, admittedly, no idea who this guy was. Sure, he introduced himself, but for someone of a supposedly high-ranking position, no one had bothered to mention him to her before. Still...if he was truly a beta, that meant he outranked her by a lot and thus it'd probably be for the best to get on his good side and stay there as long as possible.

Better start that off by introducing herself...her swallowing her pride.]

Hello there, Mr. Kimblee. [Have a smile that looks FAR less smug than the icon, Kimblee.] My name's Barby; I'm one of the new recruits in this fine organization. It's a pleasure to meet you.

[So throwing that title around was good for something; he'd have to talk to the Executives about that eventually, but given how much radio silence (no pun intended) this place has supposedly received from that lot...

But she can get a video in return, and he's smiling rather placidly, and trying to bite back the urge to punch someone in the face for whatever the hell has happened here, and things are good for the time being.]

The pleasure is mine, Miss Barby; exactly how new are you? I've been away for some time, unfortunately.

Oh you are far too kind.

[Even though she thinks the pleasure is mostly his. Either way, Barby can tell she'll like Kimblee if things keep up in this direction.]

Anyway, to answer your question I arrived here about a month ago, as you can imagine I'm still pretty new.

[...oh goodness, what has he done. He'll bite back the urge to say that there's a difference between kindness and courteousness; that placid smile remains. He certainly can appreciate the fact that she seems to be well-mannered, or at the very least she knows when to act like she is. With this organization, it's a bit difficult to tell where the former ends and the latter begins.]

I can imagine indeed - have you found the organization to your liking thus far?

[Probably for the best. Keep her happy, and she might just end up useful in the long run.]

Everything's been more or less satisfactory so far! I do think the uniforms could use some work, but they aren't that bad once you get used to it.

[Hahaha, no they're totally awful. She really does hope the higher ups get better uniforms. Might spark some REAL initiative.]

Out of curiosity, and I hope you don't mind me asking, is there any advice you have for a new recruit like me?

Edited 2013-05-11 18:12 (UTC)

[Well, she'll have to work on keeping herself happy, first and foremost, but that doesn't mean he won't contribute. Happy employees are useful employees, as long as he doesn't have to babysit them.]

Ah, the uniforms...unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about those, or believe me, something would have been done quite some time ago.

[Hideously tacky things, aren't they?]

That said, however, my advice would depend on your area of expertise - what talents am I looking at, as far as you go?

[Kimblee won't have to worry about that, as she's more than capable of taking care of herself.]

I'm sure you have good taste. I'd say better taste than whoever designed these uniforms, but that's not much of a compliment.

[A monkey with a sewing machine could have done a better job.]

As for my skills, I'm on the flexible side. My "claim to fame" is leadership, but that won't do me much good where I am.

Leadership of what, exactly, if I may? We have a fair amount of those around here, it seems.

[Switching to private just in case things get a bit detailed.]

You may! I certainly don't mind. Back home, I controlled the entire student body. And I do mean controlled.

[Brain control, though she did it without such a thing easily enough.]

[Totally respecting and returning that lock; that tends to mean things are going to get interesting rather quickly, after all.]

The entire student body...unfortunately, I'm not terribly familiar with how most other worlds' education systems are laid out; my apologies in advance. I'm assuming either secondary school or a university of some sort?

And more to the point, I would like to hear more about this control of yours. Do go on.

Secondary school?

[She looks...confused. Give her a minute.

Dot. Dot. Dot. CLICK!]

Oh, you must mean a high school! You would be right, in that case.

[No one calls it that, so she was a bit lost. Easy enough to figure out, but it had her there for a few seconds.]

Anyway, the school itself is rather large, as it's the only high school in a rather large city. I was able to have my fellow classmates hailing me as a queen with little, if any difficulty at all. Although my "reign" ended abruptly...at first.

Are you familiar with ghosts, Mr. Kimblee?

[Well, it's hardly mandated in Amestris and he was homeschooled besides, and...oh, ugh. Why is it always ghosts...

His expression flickers a little at that, but it's back to the usual placidity before it slips too far.]

Ah...I suppose that depends on how we're defining "ghosts," Miss Barby. I'm familiar with this world's version, and I'm more than familiar with the souls of the dead in my world, but those were two very different experiences.

[Luckily she doesn't notice it, so she can't be bothered to ask.]

The souls of then dead, in this case. I died back home [Don't ask how.] and became one...although ghosts where I'm from are very different than most...I think.

[Who knows with all these weird worlds and whatnot.]

Becoming one, I was able to maintain my position in the school just the same as how I did alive, except I had a certain...edge over the more unruly students. I believe you could call it...pheromones?

Edited 2013-05-12 04:29 (UTC)

[...Barby, either you are going to have to hedge like the wind or I seriously hope you are prepared to explain this to a man that is damn near 40 because he is from backwards 1915 and what is this.]

...ah, unfortunately, I can't say I'm familiar with the term, no...some sort of mind control, I'm assuming?

[...she knew she should have paid more attention in her science classes. No seriously, this is going to suck-

Wait. She's got it.]

...are you at all familiar with the Vespiquen line?

[...Barby, seriously, you are proving to be a clusterfuck of everything he hates about Johto. Everything.]

Far more than I would like to be.

It's probably for the best if I end this discussion here, then.

[Look, when it comes to his battling partner, the good Colonel is a jerk and he's very fond of massive bees and -

...oh wait just a minute.]

That's how you kept control of your school.

[It's not...exactly a question, but at the same time, it is incredulous as hell, dear lord.]

Basically, yes. That's the best example I can give.

Well, it's certainly an interesting example, and I can't say that I've heard anything regarding the souls of the dead having properties like that - perhaps a unique trait to your world indeed.

Well, every ghost gains a different set of abilities after it dies as a human. I guess I was just lucky.

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02X - Reintro. [Text/Locked Audio to the Rocket Frequency]

[Video ; Rocket Filter]

[likewise forever]

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This is going south quickly

It's kind of doing the polar opposite of properly escalating, yes

She climbed so high only to fall so hard...it's pretty impressive, actually

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