Chapter 23

"So...you want me to use up time and resources that we currently don't have..."

As Breccia expected, Riker was hesitant when she tossed her idea to him. With everything that occurred since they got back from the acquisition, it'd take a lot of finesse on her part to convince him of her idea.

"You saw what he's capable of." She held up Nibs. "When Morice and I were in the cave, we came across his nest. There are more like him down there."

"And you've managed to control his outbursts?" Riker was given an unsure glance.

"Um...not...really..." Breccia exhaled "This sounded a lot better in my head." Her thoughts weren't any kinder.

First day on the new job and you embarrass yourself.

"What is your progress with the Lars' project?" Riker seemed willing to overlook her slip up.

"We found a dated blueprint. It won't do much good, but Morice is scavenging the rubble to try and find the chip attached to that Beedrill. Our best bet is to either try and recreate Lars' success or find a way to shut it down." She reattached Nibs to her collar. "When I'm not focusing on fruitless ideas..."

Riker was in the process of downing his third cup of coffee, putting it down midsip.

With clean up efforts underway, he had been figuring the numbers and realized they may not be able to repair everything.

No amount of coffee helped the stress. He'd need a direct IV into his bloodstream before he could feel anything. "If I thought the idea was fruitless, I would've said. It would be foolish for us to take on such a task without good preparations. If you figure out how to control your little demon spawn, I'll have no issue giving your idea the green light." At the moment, they were all sitting on borrowed time. If those intruders were to attack again, they'd need double the man power to stand a chance and that wasn't something they had. These people were issue enough without Lars loading up their Pokemon.

Hopefully, once all the Executives met and talked, they'd be able to take their issues to the Boss and figure out what to do next.

Aside from the attacks and the squadrons of men vanishing, their adversaries had fallen silent. If their theories proved right and Lars had jumped sides, more was bound to happen soon.

"Stop fidgeting." Breccia ordered to her Zubat when he crawled from her collar to the top of her head. "There are some days I can't cope with this cute little shit."

"They tend to be rambunctious when they're small." Riker motioned to Arlia. (Who had taken it upon herself to finish the coffee he left behind). "Even she was once."

"I find that hard to believe." Arlia's eyes narrowed when Breccia stepped closer. It was obvious she still wasn't fond of her. "I also find her distrust off putting..."

"That's just how she is. I've had her since she was hatched. We grew up together."

Breccia placed Nibs on the desk when he started chewing on the umber strands of her hair. "You managed to get a Torchic egg?"

Riker leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Technically...It's more like 'stole' it. I wasn't sure what it was, I just wanted a Pokemon. Apparently the Professor I took her from had a similar incident years prior. You'd think he'd learn to lock his windows." He picked at the dirt under his nails. "According to Donna, it runs in the family. It did my Granddad proud, I know that much."

Nibs crawled about his desk for a while longer, hissing when Arlia got curious and reached for him. "Also, if he blows a hole through one of my windows, I'm tossing him out."

"No worries." Breccia retrieved her Pokemon and received a bite for her troubles. "I'm gonna take this terror and head back to the lab. I'll keep you informed if we make any breakthroughs."

"Please do." Riker's chord phone began to ring, he waited until he was alone before answering. "Yeah?"