Chapter 20

"The room's in the back." The entire group: Riker, Tess, Neil, Breccia and Morice, (and Nibs), made it to the lab soon there after.

Fortunately, the intruders seemed determined to go straight for the Organization Building, so the lab was left unfazed.

Typing the code into the panel, Riker was the first into the cramped, closet space. "Did you notice any activity on the docks?" He asked. "From what I heard, the intruders fled to a boat. How did they manage to dock without being noticed?"

Tess answered."Aside from some anchoring rope, there was nothing we could see."

Rewinding the footage to earlier in the day, Riker and Breccia were the only two able to squeeze into the cramped space with Tess and Neil having to watch from behind.

The camera on the side of the building had an express view of the lab's entrance along with the south docks.

"Wait..." Breccia pointed to the far left screen. "Go back." After her request was obliged, she said: "Right there...they came in from the south, just like I figured."

"Where are the guards?" Riker said. "There should've been two stationed."

"Unless they were dismissed." Tess glanced at Neil. "Technically Lars had the authority to do so."

"Or so he liked to think." Neil mumbled under his breath. "Is it possible, when the attack happened, they would've left their posts?"

Riker, despite the evidence mounting, was still confused and held the bridge of his nose in contemplation. "I suppose if Lars fled the island before, that would explain why he wasn't here during, but who dismissed the guards?"

Breccia continued to watch the screen. "Riker."

"What?"

From the corner of the middle screen a familiar figure emerged from the side door leading into the lab. He greeted the intruders and helped them tie their boat onto the dock. It wasn't until that figure turned and faced them that Breccia's worse fear was confirmed.

There was a crack of silence, disturbed by a sudden rupture of tension.

"That son of a bitch!" Riker stormed from the room, pushing the others out of the way with his fists clenched and his exhales quick and fiery.

Breccia had seen her boss temperamental before, but everyone else in the lab backed away and gave him a wide girth.

While Riker attempted, in vain, to calm his raging ire, Breccia took it upon herself to scatter the group.

"Morice..."

"I'll get some men and start guard sentry." Morice volunteered. "I'll make sure all docks are covered, in case of another attack."

Tess spoke up before Breccia had the chance to address her. "Neil and I will start pitching in with the clean up effort."

None of them needed a second bidding and fled the moment they had a reason to.

Even Arlia, who was such a common sight that Breccia failed to notice her, took a couple steps back from her trainer.

To Riker, the discovery of Lars' treachery produced more anxieties and questions.

How did Lars get into contact with their enemy?

How long had he been planning his betrayal?

"I should've known." He said, his temper dropping to a low simmer. "From the last conversation he and I had before the acquisition...perhaps I pushed him over the edge."

Breccia was in the process of occupying a fidgety Nibs. (Who was biting her fingertips when her head pets weren't sufficient).

"I told him-" Riker continued. "that if you performed well during the mission, I wanted you trained to eventually take over operations within the Lab."

"The Lab?" The question fell from Breccia's lips, her surprise making the reaction involuntary. "...in charge...Riker, I've barely been here a mo-"

Riker held up a finger, commanding silence without objection. "Don't question my decisions." Considering his sudden explosion minutes prior, his underling was smart to give a nod and nothing more. "When I told Lars of my intentions, he reacted violently. He demanded to know why I refused to give him the position." Riker shook his head. "I'm not an idiot. I know he wanted the promotion more than anyone here. While he's done good work for us, I couldn't give it to him. He's too unfocused, too quick to throw progress out the window for his own ego. That isn't something we need, and no matter how I tried to explain it to him, he refused to see reason."

Breccia pursed her lips. "How is that your fault?"

"It's my job to keep things as collegial as possible-"

"And some jealous dick screwing things up is out of your control." She took his shoulder in a light grip, moving in closer to him in the process. "D'you think you can do your best when you're this worked up?"

Riker smirked, taking her impromptu pep talk with a grain of salt. "You're a great motivational speaker."

Breccia shrugged. "That's what the old man told me...and taught me, but that's beside the point."

"Is there anything he wasn't good at?"

"Monogamy." She couldn't help but laugh at her boss' confused expression. "Did you think I was the product of some loving marriage. Dad fancied himself a lady's man."

"Fancied?"

"He wasn't very good at it." She couldn't help but chuckle at the memories of her father's failures in love. He tried often to chat with women, only to receive a slap to the face or a cold shoulder. He wasn't disrespectful, he just couldn't flirt to save his ass. "Well, except for my mom. They met at a convention in Goldenrod and nine months later, I popped out. My Dad's wife wasn't too happy.. She was always nice to me when she dropped my brother off for visitation though." Breccia recalled her father later saying he felt bad about how things ended between he and Susan. (Shale's mother). Though, he refused to regret his tryst with Breccia's mom, because that would mean regretting his daughter. "So, you feeling better? Or do you need to hear more of my life story?"

"Save me your autobiography." Riker said, his mind clear. "Your new position starts tomorrow. The best you and the technicians can do is work on the clean up."

"And figure out how to combat Lars' new 'Super Pokemon'?"

Riker's brows furrowed. "What?"

"Ms. Morre mentioned the intruder's Beedrill took multiple men to take down. They can be strong if raised properly, but not to that extent. The experiment, in Verandi..."

"Of course he'd perfect it for them." Feeling an edge to his anger surfacing, Riker did his best to clench his fists and breath. "The two of you had a hard enough time taking down those three in the capital."

"Imagine if that Gyarados was chipped."

"Soon enough, we won't have to imagine."

Breccia turned her attention to the entrance when Morice came in, two grunts following. "Sir we need-" He saw, upon coming in, Breccia standing an arms width from Riker. "Am...am I interrupting something?"

"Just talking." Riker answered, speaking to Breccia. "We'll finish this later." He moved to his men. "I'm guessing we'll need more grunts called from the main land?"

"It'd be appreciated..." Morice let him pass, waiting until Breccia went past before speaking. "Did I break up your little cuddle party?"

"We were talking business." Breccia corrected. "As Head Lab Coordinator, I have the right to ask my superior about my next course of action."

Morice swatted at Nibs when he made an attempt to bridge between Breccia's shoulder to his. "Back off, you annoying little peanut." He paused. "Wait, what?"

"Head Lab Coordinator."

"Legit?"

"You think I'd lie about that?" Doing as she did to Riker, she took a hold of his arms, embracing him in a quick hug. "There, you get a special hug. You can stop being jealous now."

"I wasn't jealous." Morice snapped.

"Sure, and I'm a Mankey's uncle."

"What?" Morice was defensive to a fault. "I wasn't."