Every instinct, every synapse in her brain, every last fiber of her very being was screaming at her that something was wrong. Something had gone awry in their master plan. Yet for some reason, Delta wasn't too concerned with what was going on. She was definitely worried about it, for sure. But somehow, she felt that Gemini must have some sort of answer to this problem. He just had to.

Still, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't suppress her emotions. While she forced herself to maintain her mask on the outside, her stress levels were going through the roof. She knew that she couldn't keep holding herself in like this. Gemini noticed that something seemed to be wrong with her. Delta knew it would only be a matter of time before he figured out exactly what she was worried about, so she decided to just come out with it.

"…So…" she began, "…What are we going to do next? What's our next plan of attack?"

"Us?" Gemini answered, "Oh, we're not going to do anything."

Delta felt like she just had a small stroke, but she tried to internalize it.

"…Nothing?" she asked, trying to keep her voice level, "You're joking, right?"

"I'm afraid not," he sighed, "Without Hugh here, there isn't much we can do until he gets back. All we can do now is wait."

That was when Delta finally snapped. "You expect us to WAIT?!" she demanded, "How could you let this happen? Was this all because of your oh-so-brilliant master plan? I knew I shouldn't have gone along with this convoluted scheme!"

"Delta, relax," Gemini told her, "This was an event that was just out of our control. Fortunately, I had foreseen even this possibility. Trust me, I have everything planned out. It will all work out in the end."

"…Really?" Delta asked, calming down a little.

"Of course," he said as he put his arms gently around her, "You just leave everything up to me. I promise I will set things straight."

Hearing the comfort in his voice, Delta was finally able to relax. She rested her head against his chest as he stroked her hair gently.

"…But I-" she started.

"Shhh," Gemini shushed, "It's all right. I'll handle everything. You just trust me to take care of it."

Trust? How could she trust him when she couldn't even trust herself? As she stood there embraced in his arms, she lost all sense of what was going on around her. She had lost all touch with her senses and instincts. This was a potentially fatal error for someone in her line of work, but was even more frightening for her. It was terrifying for her because the sensation she felt coming from the rose on her breast that had kept her in check for so long was no longer there.

Delta wasn't the only one worried about what was happening. Hana was lost deep in thought trying to figure out how things were going to play out. Her Liepard was curled up, asleep in her lap.

"Qwerty," she said at last, "Has there been any progress in the situation at Hearthome International?"

"Unfortunately," the AI answered, "While the threat was confirmed to be false, flights out of Hearthome International – including flight 452 – are still heavily delayed. Furthermore, upon reviewing the security tapes in their computer's system, I have seen that Hugh had left the airport a while ago. Without knowing where his next destination would be, there's no telling when he could be back."

"Well great," Hana grumbled, "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"If I may," Qwerty began, "It's not too late to abort this plan. We can still give the command for Delta to interfere with this date so that we can start over with a clean slate."

"There is nothing wrong with the plan," she growled, "We are seeing this plan all the way through."

"I'm sorry Miss Hana," it insisted, "But the sequence of events that has already played out before us is following the exact pattern that I had foreseen as the absolute worst-case scenario. I can only assume that critical failure is imminent at this point. If we act now-"

"Okay, I've had enough out of you!" Hana interrupted.

Liepard jumped out of its mistress' lap and ran for cover at her sudden outburst. Hana was now standing on top of her chair, glaring at her computer with murder in her eyes.

"The plan is fine!" she yelled, "We've just run into a snag; all great plans have them! Everything up until this point has been nothing but great! Now shut up about wanting to go back on this, or I'll be forced to use Code NM!"

If computer programs could sweat, then Qwerty would be sweating bullets right now.

"Miss Hana," the AI began, "You don't mean…?"

Of course she didn't. Code NM stood for "New Mauville"; it meant total computer shutdown. If Hana were to use that action, then all data and programs connected to her base of operations – including Qwerty – would be irreversibly lost. She couldn't do that to her closest friend and partner. Still, she had reached her breaking point. She had to at least make her threat sound valid.

"If you continue to push me," she answered, "Then I won't hesitate to do so."

Several tense moments passed as Hana prayed that Qwerty would believe her. She didn't want to have to follow through with her threat, but she also wanted it to have the desired effect on the AI. Finally, Qwerty just sighed.

"As you wish, Miss Hana," it told her.

Hana breathed a sigh of relief. She sank back into her chair.

"Well then," she began, "Back to the matter at hand. So you're absolutely certain that Brother had left Hearthome International?"

"That is correct," Qwerty explained, "However, without either a known destination or a way to contact him, being able to track his movements would be impossible."

"I suppose that's true," Hana conceded, "But I think that we can take a guess at where he might have gone. Brother's never been one to let something like this go. Qwerty, what other international airports are there in the Sinnoh region besides Hearthome?"

"There are two such airports," the computer reported, "One in Jubilife, and on in Veilstone."

"We'll start there," she commanded, "Search the records of both airports starting from the time that Brother left Hearthome International to see if he had purchased a ticket at either one."

"Very well," Qwerty replied, "But it could take some time. Please wait here while I go check."

"Do it," Hana told it.

Qwerty then attached itself to an e-mail and sent it off to the first of the airports, allowing it to hack into their system. Hana relaxed in her chair as she waited for Qwerty to return with the results. Liepard walked up to its mistress tentatively, afraid that she might snap again. Hana reached over and pet the Cruel Pokémon.

"It's going to work," she told her Pokémon, "It just has to work."

Out of everyone, Rosa seemed to be the one who was the most stressed of all. She had officially gone into panic mode. She paced the floor of her hotel room hurriedly, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Duchess was watching its mistress pacing back and forth with keen interest.

"What am I going to do?" she asked, "What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do? I don't know what to do. What should I do? What am I supposed to do?"

Duchess opened its mouth to speak, but Rosa kept talking.

"I always thought that Curtis liked me," she began, "But I had no idea he liked me like that! I always thought we were just friends. But now that I think about it, we have been getting a lot closer than we were before. Ever since I found out his secret, we've been able to do so much more together. Like with the movie… Oh my Arceus, the movie! Why didn't I notice it before? We were always together during the whole film. I didn't see it then, but looking back, we were acting a little differently than we did before. Didn't you notice it too?"

The Sun Pokémon tried again to say something, but Rosa continued before it could speak.

"Who am I kidding?" she asked, "Anyone could have seen what was coming. Anyone but me, of course. How could I have been so blind? But I… I guess it's not really a bad thing. I mean we do kind of work well together. And he is kind of good-looking… Okay, a lot good-looking. I'm sure that there's about a million girls who would kill to be in my place. I know that he really likes me, and I… I think I like him back. What do you think?"

Again the Espeon tried to answer her, and again it was interrupted.

"Oh, what am I saying?" Rosa exclaimed, "I can't do that to Hugh; he's been with me since the beginning! I've had a feeling that something has changed between us lately ever since that last time we were both back home. But even before then, he's always been there for me, looking out for me, sharing my joy when I was happy, and consoling me when I was sad. I think my relationship with him is a lot deeper than just a simple crush, right?"

Duchess tried once more to help soothe its mistress' worries, but Rosa continued on once more.

"No, no," she told herself, "I can't let myself forget that we're still not officially a couple or anything. That last night with him was magical, but I still don't know if it's had any sort of impact on our existing relationship. Maybe that's why I was so anxious to see when he was coming back; I wanted to see where we would go next. But I can't be certain of anything until he gets back. But I don't even know when that will be! Why did it have to be a bomb threat? But until he gets back and says otherwise, we're still not exclusive with each other, right?"

The Sun Pokémon tried one more time to answer the question, but was interrupted yet again.

"Aargh!" Rosa moaned, "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do! Do I go with the new crush who I know wants to go steady? Or should I stay loyal to my best friend who may or may not have feelings for me? I don't know what to do! What do you think?"

This time, Duchess remained quiet; it was anticipating Rosa to continue talking.

"SAY SOMETHING!"

The Espeon gave a frightened cry and hid behind the bed. Rosa let out a shaky sigh before collapsing onto the bed. She was so stressed about making her decision that she was almost in tears.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "It's just that all this stress is getting to me, and I just took it out on you. I shouldn't have done that. I'm just terrified of making the wrong decision. I wish I knew what I should do."

Hearing its mistress lamenting about her predicament, Duchess jumped back onto the bed, walked over to her, and began rubbing her cheek with its own. Rosa looked over at the Sun Pokémon. Unlike last time, she felt no solace from the Pokémon.

"Thanks for worrying about me," she told it, "But I think I need to figure things out on my own."

Rosa recalled her Espeon back into its Poké Ball. She then stared up at the ceiling, as if looking for some answer hidden in the drywall. No matter how she looked at it, an easy decision could not be made. Logic, fairness, desire; all ways of basing her choice failed to reveal the best judgment for her. And to make matters worse, she was now out of time. She had to make her decision now. She reached into her bag to pull out her Xtranceiver. Not wanting Curtis to see that she had been stressing about this for so long, she set the call to "voice only" and waited. He picked up almost immediately.

"Hey Rosa," he answered, "I'm glad to hear from you again."

"Me too," Rosa agreed, "Um, I just wanted to call to let you know that I've made my decision."

"Oh, you have?" Curtis asked, "That's good. Well… what was your answer?"

Rosa did one last coin-flip in her head before answering.

"I've decided," she began, "Yes, I will go out with you tonight."