Chapter 29

Nobark asked Woody to find a cord of rope and duct tape. It didn't take him long, he brought out at least 15 meters of rope and a fresh roll of duct tape. Nobark, Smugleaf, and Woody then walked to the Pokémon jail where Tesla was waiting. The old Pikachu sat in front of the door and watched them approach, he then got up and followed them inside. They passed by the cells containing Ash's Pokémon and the captured Audino. They were silent, no screams or crying, either the walls were too thick for sound or they were silent altogether.

Tesla stopped in front of one particular door, he pulled off the side bar and opened it. Inside was the plastic garbage bag containing OJ Stanton's three Poké balls. Nobark took the Poké balls and enlarged them, he fiddled with them for a moment, then tossed them. All three Poké balls burst open instantaneously. A Minchino, a Pansage, and a Patrat. All three Pokémon stumbled back, theirs eyes wide with shock. Smugleaf uncoiled her vines and whipped them across the shins in one fast swoop, Stanton's Pokémon fell on their faces. Nobark began beating them, kicking their stomachs and kidneys until he was sure they wouldn't resist, then Woody moved in and duct taped their hands and feet. Now they were getting angry. To Nobark it wasn't unusual. He had seen a lot of Pokémon with hot tempers, but not this kind of temper. It sounded like bitter hatred, fueled and festered with years of abuse. Pokémon tend to take up the personality of their trainer. This suggested that these Pokémon were Team Rocket members, as they were conditioned to hate other Pokémon.

When Woody finished wrapping their bonds, the Pansage and Minchino started hissing swear words and tried to bite his ankles. Biting is a sign that these Pokémon didn't know what aggression is. The natural tendency to bite occurs when the Pokémon feels threatened. They will attack anyone or anything being a threat to their safety, which are usually other Pokémon and sometimes people. Nobark decided to gag them with more duct tape, so he ordered Woody to seal their mouths shut.

That made them angrier and resistive. They fought against their bonds, trying to break free. Nobark and Woody simply picked up the Pansage and Patrat while Smugleaf picked up the Minchino with her vines. They kicked and squirmed and grunted. No use, they weren't getting out. Nobark led everyone to the interrogation room in question. It had the original table, still anchored to the floor with heavy lag screws. The walls were made of white rubber tiles, while the floor was a single sheet of stainless steel. At the far wall was a one-way mirror, which contained the observation room on the other side. Nobark, Woody, and Smugleaf simply dumped Stanton's Pokémon at a corner opposite of the one-way mirror. They roared muffled screams, their bodies wiggling violently like decapitated worms.

As Smugleaf and Woody headed to the observation room, Tesla and Nobark stepped out into the hall. "You need anything else, Tesla?" Nobark asked.

"Yeah," said Tesla. "Get me two buckets of water and some sponges, and some metal folding chairs. Also a pair of alligator clips, a car battery, and a CFL light bulb."

Nobark nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Once you get the stuff, leave it outside the door. Right now those Pokémon are too worked up to be interrogated, we'll let them sit and cool for a moment, then we'll get to work."

. . .

They didn't have to wait long. Stanton's Pokémon reduced from bitter rage to grumpy rumbling, then quieted down. Tesla stared at them through the one-way window in the observation room. They weren't talking much. The Patrat, Pansage, and Minchino would occasionally glance at each other, then looked away. No sign of friendship or affection. Team Rocket could do that to Pokémon. Strip them from who they were, deny them love. No chance of a Pokémon recovering one hundred percent from such experience, and some never recovered at all. Tesla knew this because he had seen it. He knew what he was dealing with. He could tell if a Pokémon could be saved or damned. So far he saw no sign of them being saved. Team Rocket done them in. The damage was done. These Pokémon had so far hadn't begged for mercy, nor were they giving each other hope. They could not be saved.

Which would save a lot of effort for Tesla in the interrogation.

He kept the .22 pistol clamped in his hand. Tesla wasn't sure if it would fire. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. If that failed, then he could always use his electricity.

Smugleaf and Woody stood by and watched the Team Rocket Pokémon bicker to each other. Woody showed not much reaction, though Smugleaf appeared to have a lot on her mind. The Grass Snake Pokémon kept shifting her weight on one foot to the other, while keeping her braced arm closed to her chest. Her eyes transfixed to the Pokémon, like she was expecting some major reaction or something. No one said a word, since there was nothing to talk about. Tesla thought about making conversation, but went against it. Smugleaf wasn't in the talking mood. No way was she considering talking to him. It was amazing she was even standing near him at all. Tesla glanced at her, she sensed his attention and shivered. She squeezed her eyes shut, silently whimpering, maybe getting ready to cry. The old Pikachu glanced at Woody, he was stuck in his death stare, his brain tuned out to reality.

Tesla reached up to Smugleaf and sat her hand against her shoulder. He gave her a small jolt of electricity. She took a deep breath and exhaled. Her eyelid grew heavy, her broken arm dropping into its sling, her good arm flopping down to her side.

A smile stretched across her face. Tesla wasn't sure if there was any emotion behind it, maybe it was the familiar feeling she used to felt on a daily business, returning to reestablish itself.

Tesla wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Smugleaf didn't struggle, she was passive and relaxed as can be.

"I'm sorry I was harsh on you, yesterday," he whispered into her ear. Tesla glanced up to see if Woody was watching, he wasn't. "I didn't mean to break your arm, I just didn't want you touching my friends in the wrong places."

Smugleaf said nothing.

"When I'm done with Stanton's Pokémon, they're all yours. Do whatever you want to them. If you have any urges, and I'm sure you do, you could take it upon them as much as you like."

Smugleaf said nothing.

"Remember, I have nothing personally against you. I wish things would be different, but Nobark had pushed me over the edge. I had done similar things to what I done to you to my longtime friends, including Nobark, mainly because I don't want to be pestered with."

Smugleaf took a deep breath and sighed.

"Mark's Emolga told me about your relationship before I broke your arm, so that was why I was a little pissed. You shouldn't have kept it a secret, I wouldn't have done what I did if I knew early on."

Smugleaf held her head up and whispered into Tesla's ear, her tongue barely flaking his ear canal as she asked, "How can I guarantee my personal safety if I tell you what you need to know?"

Now that was a good question. He had beaten up Cabot's Emolga in trying to figure out what happened to Volta. It was unprovoked, unnecessary. Tesla could have taken a more subtle approach. Instead, he blundered straight to the point and used force to beat the answer out of him. Amazing the normal sprite forgave him at all. Tesla pressed Smugleaf's head against his chest, then doubled the voltage.

She couldn't help but moan.

Which caught Woody's attention.

The Muscular Pokémon turned to Tesla and Smugleaf, then looked down. He chuckled for a second, then broke out laughing. Smugleaf looked up, surprised.

Tesla walked up to him and patted his back. "Easy, Woody," he said. "No need to get worked up over it.

"What were you doing to her?" he chuckled.

"Well, she was bored. What do you expect?"

"Damn, Tesla."

Smugleaf sat up and blinked, then looked down. "I'm going to need some paper towels," she said.

"A lot more than paper towels," laughed Woody.

Tesla punched him in the arm with a jolt of electricity. Woody yelped and stumbled into the wall, "Woody," said Tesla. "Don't rub it in, Smugleaf has been through enough."

Woody nursed his bicep and nodded, but said nothing.

The door opened and Nobark stuck his head into the room. "I got the things you need, Tesla."

Tesla glanced back at Smugleaf, she looked away. The old Pikachu then left the room and closed the door behind her. Nobark waved a hand at the things. Three metal chairs, painted olive green, partially flaked and rusted. The buckets were in a much worst shape. They were more rusted than iron, battered and abused with age. Tesla peaked into one of the pales, the water was brown, smelling like it came from a stagnant swamp.

"Where did you get this water?" Tesla asked.

"The trench around the base, near the back."

"That explains it."

Tesla turned to Nobark. "Get into the observation room and don't interfere. When I'm done, let Smugleaf handle them and only Smugleaf. Now before I begin, what do you want from them exactly?"

"They have picked up some bits and bobs from their trainer on what he does. Yes, I know, we should have brought in the trainer. But the Pokémon are easier to handle, they weren't conditioned to not speak about classified intel. You don't have to work hard on them to get what we need."

Tesla stared at him.

"What?"

"You seem confident about this, Nobark. Even though the chance of getting irrelevant information out of them is high."

"Well, I miss your discipline. I just don't know what's wrong with me, Tesla. I just can't seem to stand on my own two feet without you holding me up."

Tesla glanced at Nobark's left hand, it was deathly still. The Hoodlum Pokémon was still stable, for now.

"You ever wondered if the others are still around?" Tesla asked.

"It's been years," said Nobark. "I'm not sure if they're even still alive."

"Nobark, they're not that old as us."

"Med's like, what, my age? Maybe older?"

"I think she's in her fifties now."

Nobark raised an eyebrow, "You know when her birthday is?"

"I don't know, I forgot."

Tesla and Nobark stood there for a moment. "I better get started," said Tesla. "I don't want to keep Stanton's Pokémon waiting."

"Do your best, Tesla," said Nobark.

Nobark stepped into the observatory room and closed the door behind him. Tesla turned back to the water buckets and sighed. The last time he had electrocuted a person with the electric chair was fifty years ago. Somehow Irvin filled out an application and did a lot of backroom deals to get Tesla the job. The process was always a same. The death row inmate was placed in a pool of water in a metal chair, strapped in with leather belts. A wet sponge was placed firmly on his head, held down with a metal helmet. The only difference from a normal electrocution was there was no switch to pull. Why would there be if the chair was hooked up to a Pokémon? The first few electrocutions were crude. Too much amperage, too little voltage. The death row inmates would experience excruciating pain, then their heads would catch fire while their insides burst out their face and rectum. One time a guy exploded and the janitors had to pressure spray him off the wall, and that was no fun. The later executions were easier, the amperage and voltage just about right. What was strange was the death row inmates would die with unusual facial expressions. Happy, sad, angry, and every one died with their eyes open. Regardless, all of the electrocuted inmates had closed casket funerals so Tesla didn't have to worry about mucking up their appearances.

Tesla had never electrocuted a Pokémon this way. Sure, he had fried a lot of them in the past, but never like this. He wasn't planning on electrocuting Stanton's Pokémon, but he had thoughts of dangling that possibility in front of their faces. If he were to go on with it, it was going to be difficult. While all humans are the same, all Pokémon are different. Some more vulnerable to electricity than others, some more resistant, some invulnerable entirely. Luckily these Pokémon weren't ground-types. Then again, with water, being a ground-type wouldn't do much good. Electricity conducts easier in water.

He collected the chairs and held them over his head, then stepped into the interrogation room.

Stanton's Pokémon took notice immediately. They broke into bitter rage instantly. They huffed and they puffed and they hissed and spat. Oh boy they were pissed. Ironically they weren't the kind one would expect to find intense hostility, but it wasn't ironic in Tesla's experience.

"Let us go!" the Pansage screamed, tossing and turning in his bonds.

Tesla ignored him, he sat his gun on the table and calmly unfolded the chairs and propped them up against the side wall, then retrieved the buckets. Tesla checked to see if the one-way mirror was in the chairs' direct line of sight. It was. Nobark and his buddies would have no problem seeing the entire show unfold.

The old Pikachu had to take some caution with the hostile Pokémon. All Pokémon bites, so to avoid getting chomped, he had to spin each Pokémon around and bear hug them from the back. They squirmed and kicked as he each plopped them in a chair. The Patrat was slightly bigger than the Pansage and Minchino. Even with the bonds, the Scout Pokémon gave more resistance. When Tesla sat him in the chair, he squirmed and fell off, so Tesla sucker punched him in the solar plexus, twice. The Patrat stopped resisting and gasped for air, Tesla plopped him on the chair and he stayed on.

The Mouse Pokémon grabbed one of the water buckets, then walked up to Stanton's Pokémon. He pulled the bucket back, then tossed the water at them. They were instantly drenched, a puddle formed underneath them. They coughed and spat, blinking feverishly.

"Hey!" Minchino hissed.

Tesla sat the bucket aside and grabbed the other one. He poured a path to two of the table legs, then dumped some water on them. He then sat bucket aside and leaped up on the table, Tesla collected the gun and sat on the edge facing toward Stanton's Pokémon.

The room descended to silence. All three Pokémon glared at him. Tesla merely stared back. He squeezed the .22 pistol's grip, his fingers tight on the trigger. Two minutes passed, no one spoke. Tesla just casually swing his legs over the edge of the table, stretching the silence to a third minute.

On the fourth, he spoke, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Which will it be?"

Stanton's Pokémon said nothing.

The room went silent for another minute, Tesla said, "What will it be, guys? We have all day."

"F*ck you!" hissed the Pansage.

Tesla smiled, "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

The Pansage said nothing.

"Oh, so that's how it is. If I guess correctly, you three used to have families before you got caught by your trainer. Or was it Team Rocket who thrown you in a cage? Which is it, guys?"

No response.

"Neither?"

Still no response.

"You must be on good terms with them then, I suppose you three lived like kings while helpless Pokémon are tortured around you."

"That ain't true!" barked the Patrat.

"Then what is? Tell me guys, why was your trainer here in Unova? Surely he told you something."

The Minchino shook his head. "He didn't, why should he tell us?"

Finally we got something, Tesla thought. Then he said, "Cause you are his minions. You were trained to obey, not to ask questions. I guess feedback wasn't a major player in your relationship with OJ."

Stanton's Pokémon said nothing. They didn't flinch or blink. They just gave him a death stare, as if they were waiting to be released. Tesla simply got off the table and stepped out of the room, then knocked on the observation room door. Nobark answered, "You still have Stanton's passport and communicator?" Tesla asked.

Nobark reached into his pouch and pulled out both the communicator and passport. He handed them to Tesla and shut the door. The old Pikachu walked back into the interrogation room, got up on the table, and held up the passport and communicator for Stanton's Pokémon to see. "These were on your trainer when we found you guys."

Again, nothing.

"Had you seen OJ speak into this communicator?"

The Minccino nodded, the Pansage and Patrat simply stared.

"What does he usually say into it?"

The Minccino shrugged, "Just updates back to his HQ, wherever that is."

Tesla turned to the Chinchilla Pokémon. "So you never been to Team Rocket HQ?"

"No, we never even left the region."

"Shut up, Minccino," hissed the Patrat. "Don't tell him that!"

Tesla asked, "Your friends are ever nice to you?"

The Minccino turned away, saying nothing.

So he got something out of the Minccino and his friends weren't too happy about it. That told Tesla a lot. Not only were they hostile to him, they were hostile to each other. Whatever temper the Minccino had had cooled off. He could exploit that weakness, but the Minccino didn't look like he was going to say more. Tesla wasn't surprised. The Minccino was just a lap dog, not an alpha male. The old Pikachu simply stood up and walked back and forth around the table. The Pansage and Patrat kept their eyes glued to him, they watched him go back and forth as he processed what happened so far. These Pokémon didn't understand the situation they were in. Maybe they were in denial, but so far Tesla could tell they were well down to earth. He wasn't sure how long Stanton had them, but he could see some Pokémon training elements in their eyes. Maybe they were expecting some dramatic Pokémon battle in the next few hours or days. Probably they were thinking to themselves that they could break through whatever bonds thrown against them. Despite the hostility to the Minccino, all three planned to break out together in some dramatic prison escape. Even though they didn't like each other, didn't mean they weren't buddies.

So if that was the case, Tesla would need to break that notion.

He turned to Stanton's Pokémon and asked for a final time, "So we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way. Tell me what I need to know, and I will let you guys walk out of here together. You heard your trainer spoke into his communicator, right? Did he mention any plans that Team Rocket had in store in the area?"

Again, no response.

"Last chance guys."

Nothing. The Minccino kept his head turned away, the Pansage and Patrat kept giving him the death stare.

Tesla simply turned away and walked toward the door.

Then without warning he spun around, raised the .22 pistol, and squeezed the trigger.

The silenced pistol spat out a .22 round, nothing more than a loud click in the room. It struck the Patrat in the knee, he broke into a bloodcurdling scream. The Pansage's eyes shot open, the Minccino screamed. Tesla stamped his foot on the metal table and charged it. Electricity traveled down the legs, through the water, and ran a circuit through all three Pokémon. They lit up in a purple neon lightshow, they struggled to scream but the supercharged electricity seized up their nervous systems.

Tesla pulled his foot up, stopping the current.

Stanton's Pokémon craned their necks, gasping for air. They twist and turn in their bonds, struggling to break free. After a minute, they gave up and glared at Tesla. The old Pikachu barked in human speech. "Do you think I am fooling around here!?"

Human speech, the most authorative language on the planet. All three Pokémon snapped into attention, their eyes bulging with terror. The bullet wound in the Patrat's leg bled, dripping blood to the floor. It mixed with the pool of water, diffusing in a cloud of crimson red.

"This is not a game anymore, you little sh*ts! This is the PRA! There's not going to be any Pokémon battle, just war and carnage! No one is going to help you, period! Your trainer doesn't know where you are! He's not going to come in to save the day, he'll be shot dead before he set a foot into this base," Tesla raised the pistol. "Come on, test me! See how my patience would run! If you don't tell me whatever information you picked up from your trainer, I'll blow your kneecaps off like I did to your buddy here!"

Stanton's Pokémon said nothing.

Tesla aimed at the Patrat's other knee and fired another round. A click, followed by a puff of red mist, led to another bloodcurdling scream. Tesla held up his index finger, bright purple light flashed as electricity arched through the air and grounded into the Patrat. The Scout Pokémon choked and went silent.

"Four more knees to go," Tesla warned. "This time I'll randomize."

That broke the spell. The Minccino pleaded, "No no, please! I beg you!"

"We don't know much from OJ," the Pansage broke. "Uh, he barely took us out of our Poké balls. We've been only captured for about a month, we don't know much about him!"

"Then why the asshole attitude?" Tesla asked. "How could you grew so much hatred to yourselves and to your trainer that fast?"

The Grass Monkey Pokémon said nothing.

Tesla pulled the .22 pistol's hammer back, the Pansage's pupils shrunk.

The Patrat held up its head and blurted, "He talked about a crate, or a shipment or something. That's what he had said several nights ago! Guns, or lasers, or something!"

Tesla centered the pistol at the Patrat. "Go on."

"At night, he gives a daily report into that communicator about something. I don't know what it is, all I know it has to do about a special crate or something."

"A crate?" Tesla asked.

"Yeah."

"Any clue where?"

"Somewhere near north of Springfield, not too far from a river!"

Tesla stared at him, the Patrat simply shook his head and begged, "Please, let us go! We didn't do anything wrong! This is about OJ, not us! We don't know sh*t!"

"But you just said about a crate, and that is something. Is there something you're not telling me?"

The Patrat glanced at him a final time, then broke down crying. Tesla got down from the table grabbed the Patrat by the fur of his collarbone, and pulled him off the chair. The Scout Pokémon tumbled and curled to the fetal position. Tesla then grabbed him by the ear and pressed the gun to the back of his head. "I'm not the one you should be pleading your life to, I didn't made the decision to bring you here."

The Scout Pokémon sobbed, "Please, don't kill me!"

"I'd been in your position before, I had bullet holes in me and I was begging for mercy. The last time I begged for mercy, I got sucker punched so hard that I coughed out blood. Do you even know what you're dealing with here?"

"No."

"There are a lot of factions out there who wanted things we all want. Money, Pokémon, a lavish lifestyle. Most of them are humans, both good and evil, all wanting a slice of the pie. You ever dreamed of a better life?"

"Not really," said the Patrat. "I never gave it much thought."

Tesla pulled the gun away and stepped back. "Karma's a b*tch," he said. "You better hope you know what side you're on, as Nobark will decide your fate."

The old Pikachu started walking to the door, then the Pansage asked, "Wait, what's going to happen to us!?"

"How do I know?" said Tesla. "I don't run the Pokémon Resistance Army."

Tesla stepped out of the interrogation room and opened the door to the observation room. Nobark, Woody, and Smugleaf just stood there, staring at him. Tesla turned to Nobark and said, "They talked about a crate of weapons or something, between Springfield and a nearby river. That's all I could get out of them."

Nobark nodded. "Okay, that would do for now. Good work."

Tesla turned to Smugleaf, "They're all yours, Smugleaf. Do whatever you want with them, just be sure to clean up when you're done."

"Thanks, Tesla," said Smugleaf.

Tesla stepped out of the observation room and walked down the corridor. The iron doors of the Pokémon cells towered over him, containing Ash's Pokémon and his friend's Pokémon. It was silent, either they were quiet or the walls muffled their cries, assuming they were indeed crying. Tesla sighed, none of Nobark's actions made sense. Tesla had agreed he would do work for Nobark when he first got here, yet he kidnapped Ash and his friends to make sure he was complying. Next he had Tesla capture some Team Rocket Pokémon for information, but not the trainer himself. Clearly Stanton's Pokémon knew something, but obviously they didn't know much more. Smugleaf might find out, she uses seduction rather than intimidation.

The old Pikachu stepped out of the Pokémon jail and looked up at the sky. It was gray, much darker than before. A green tint was forming and the clouds were puffy. A storm was rolling in from the sea, a big one, probably covering half of Unova. Tesla had seen storms like this before. It was rooted in his family's culture. They would dance and sing their hearts out, sometimes feeding the storm with electricity. The lightshows were spectacular, even though they would cause seizures. Tesla glanced at the barracks. Pokémon were getting up from breakfast and running back to the barracks. The PRA weren't stupid. All Pokémon had built-in barometers to tell the weather, which were compressed from last night's high humidity, where it gave them enough warning for the approaching storm.

Thunder grumbled in the distance, not a good sign. The wind and rain would come soon, it would be like the entire power of a tropical storm concentrated to the size of a small city. It would be chaos and confusion everywhere.

Then a light bulb went off in Tesla's head.

The Swoobats would be caught in the crosshairs of heavy wind and rain. Their wings weren't designed to be aerodynamic, they were going to get thrashed around by the winds. Had they experienced a storm before, he wasn't sure, but it is safe to assume they had. The Swoobats had been here for fifteen years, no doubt plenty of storms had rolled in with a similar power. Just where would they take shelter was anyone's guess.

Tesla ran on all fours to the barracks, he found Scout laying on a cot, daydreaming. The rest of the PRA chattered among themselves, worried about the impending storm. Either they had a fear of storms, or they hadn't experienced one with a high magnitude before. Tesla rushed up to Scout and shook his arm, the Patrat stirred and turned to him. "What's wrong, Tesla?"

"I need you to find any stray Pokémon in and around Fort Wernher," said Tesla. "There's a storm coming and it's going to be big, we can't let anyone get caught out in the open."

Scout nodded. "Okay."

"If the wind starts blowing or the rain starts falling, you get back to the barracks and keep everyone calm. And keep that door closed, no matter what."

"Yes, sir."

Tesla ran back outside toward the Pokémon jail. He saw Nobark casually walking out of the jail, along with Woody. He rushed up to them and said, "There's a storm coming, Nobark. A big one."

Nobark blinked and looked up at the sky. "Tornado season already?"

"Looks like it," said Woody.

Tesla said, "Nobark, get Smugleaf and take her to the command bunker. Woody, make sure everything is tied down or put away. Can you shut off the power to individual buildings?"

"Yes," said Woody. "Every building has their own circuit breaker as well."

"Go into all the buildings not being used and shut off their main switch. We can't have an electrical hazard if the fort gets flooded." Then Tesla said in Pokémon speech, "Move, you guys. We don't have much time!"

Nobark and Woody nodded, then ran off to do their tasks. Tesla then ran to the command bunker, he wanted to make sure Mark's Pokémon were safe.

. . .

Wotter lay on his bed, panting hard. Bubbles softly whimpered beside him. Her fur was covered in sweat. Either it was hers or his, Wotter wasn't sure. He never spent so much energy in one sitting before. The Discipline Pokémon had bit, licked, squeezed, and penetrated whatever place he could find on Bubbles's body. She was disoriented, deep within a mixture of fear and forbidden pleasure. Wotter wanted to keep going, but he would have to wait for a while for another moment.

But there wasn't going to be another moment.

So Wotter sat up and scooped up Bubbles. She didn't swat or fight back, she was too stoned to react. He held her up to eye level, slowly Bubbles managed to opened her eyes. They were just about dried out, not much tears left to shed. "You did good," he told her. "For a sh*tdick."

Bubbles said nothing, she just stared at him in silence.

Wotter wrapped his mouth around hers and kissed her hard. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around her neck, like she was hugging him. Wotter released and sat her beside him, then pulled over them. "A lot better than Smugleaf, I presume?"

Bubbles said nothing.

"Yes? No?"

No response.

"I guess it's a maybe?"

Nothing.

"Fine, suit yourself."

TO BE CONTINUED…