'Why are you doing that?' Silver asked in between mouthfuls of rice. Petrel took another drag on his cigarette, exhaling in the direction of the open kitchen window.

'Don't start, bad for you.'

'Why are you mad at me?'

'I'm not.'

'You're being a jerk today.'

'Shut up and eat your dinner.'

Silver scowled but did as he was told; everyone had been barking orders at him all day, as if he were a common Grunt. He had been ready to complain to Ariana that morning about Archer, but even she had dismissed him with a sharp 'go to your room'. Petrel had been following him around the apartment for hours, only leaving him alone long enough to go to the bathroom. Silver watched as he held the cigarette between thumb and pointer finger, exhaling small clouds of smoke. He hadn't made rings for days.

###

Archer could see the kitchen from his place on the couch. Petrel's expression gave away his anxieties, his posture even more so. He hadn't sat up so straight, so alert, since the old days. Beside him, Ariana was inspecting her nails for flaws. His attention shifted back to her.

'It might not be bad.'

'He's been gone almost a week. It's going to be bad.'

'What if it is?'

'I don't know. You don't know. You know we won't know until he shows up,' Ariana said. 'He gets the same story Silver did.'

'Kanto?' He asked. She nodded. 'How long do we keep him here for?'

'Depends what his reports say. I want him to have a new project by Sunday.'

'We're trying to do too much as it is. We could use him here.'

'No. For now, he's in the field. He covers his own tracks. We keep him here and he's more likely to get bored.'

'Who's bored?'

The two Executives stopped their conversation abruptly when Silver spoke. He was hanging over the back of the couch, looking rather bored himself.

'No one.'

'Why has everyone been so mean today?'

'We haven't meant it, baby, we've just been working hard lately.'

'You're talking about Proton, aren't you?'

'No, baby, just go finish your dinner,' Ariana said, reaching up to straighten out the boy's hair. 'Go on.'

'Did he kill a person?'

'What do you mean?'

'He kills Pokémon all the time, he told me. Did he kill someone?' Silver was still hanging over the couch as he asked the question. Ariana noticed, for the first time, how tired he looked. Archer had said the boy hadn't been sleeping well since they'd talked to him a few days earlier.

'What do you mean he told you? When?'

'I dunno,' Silver shrugged. 'He always told me.'

'What do you mean?'

'He just told me about how he did things to them. Like this one time he caught an Oddish and he kept it in the bath and pulled off its leaves and some other stuff.'

'Like what, baby?'

'Just stuff.'

'I need to know a bit more than that.'

'I can't tell.'

'Why?'

'Because he'll do the same thing to me. He said.'

'He won't, baby, just tell me,' Ariana said. Archer stood up from the couch and started walking in the direction of the kitchen. He paused long enough to lift the boy up and over the back of the couch; Silver didn't protest.

'No,'

'Why not?'

'Because, he'll…'

'Is it asleep?' Silver asked, his eyes wide. He sat on the closed toilet with his knees drawn up close to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around them. He knew better than to ask questions, even at five years old. Proton dumped the unconscious Mankey into the bath and stepped in beside it.

'Something like that.'

'Is it dead then?'

Proton didn't reply. Silver watched his face, only his face, trying to work out what his expression was. He wasn't happy. He was kind of smiling though, like his father did when something went right. He wasn't anything, really. Silver didn't have a lot to compare the expression with but it looked like his own when Petrel tried to teach him things.

The boy put his chin down on his knees and blinked, his eyes not leaving the Admin, not even when he finally selected one of his knives. It wasn't even a knife, Silver realised. It looked more like something he'd seen people use for cutting down trees. It wasn't the first time Proton had locked him in the bathroom while he did this, but it was the first time it had been a Mankey. He watched, trying not to look or feel as sick as he did. His eyes never strayed because if they did, it would be something else next time. It was a Mankey because he'd been sick the time Proton had snapped back a Raticate's ribs. Silver still dreamt about the mess that had made. He swallowed.

His stomach churned when he heard the Mankey screech, but even that faded as the minutes passed. He watched the Rocket Admin, he watched the whole thing. Proton eventually motioned to him to step forward, like he always did. Silver swallowed again, but stood up, and took the garbage bag with him. As bad as the Raticate had been, the Mankey was worse. All Silver saw was red. The tub, Proton's hands, his feet, the Mankey's fur, everything. He held the bag open, like he was told, for Proton to fill with the Mankey, chunk by chunk.

'He'll what, baby?' Ariana asked, running a hand over Silver's forehead; he'd gone pale.

'Shout a lot, I dunno. He's not even mean like Archer. He's mean differently.'

'How?'

'He just is,' Silver shrugged again. Proton had taught him one of the only lessons he'd ever listened to diligently – some secrets were never meant to see the light of day.

'Okay, go get ready for bed and I'll come in and see you in ten minutes.'

'Can I have Houndoom tonight?'

'Sure baby,' Ariana said as Silver ran off, back through the kitchen to his bedroom. She heard footsteps then, heavier than a child's. Archer returned to his place on the other end of the couch while Petrel took up residence on the arm behind him.

'Did he spill?'

'Nothing specific,' she sighed. 'I need time to think.'

'We don't have time,' Archer said. 'It's after eight. He'll be back by ten.'

'I need time to fucking think, Archer!' Ariana snapped. 'Send Houndoom with Silver. That'll do until later.' Archer complied; Houndroom, released from his Pokéball, scampered off to his post. Petrel tapped his cigarette so the loose ashes fell to the carpet. She stared at him, eyes burning, and although he could see holes in the wall behind her from Proton's knives, he stood up to find an ash tray.

'We go to bed early and deal with him in the morning.'

'No,' Archer dismissed Petrel's suggestion. 'You two sleep. I'll deal with him.'

'Why you?'

'It's my job,' he said. Ariana gave a small nod, but Petrel shook his head slowly as he took a long drag on the cigarette.

'If I may?' He waited for Archer's approval before continuing. 'Ariana, with Silver. Archer, working in here. I'll be working in the kitchen. If you're fine, you're fine. If you're not, I've got a clear line of sight.'

'Fine. You might as well get some work done while you're doing that. Finish your report on Goldenrod.'

'Deadline?'

'Friday.'

Petrel nodded and moved from his place against the wall. He took the ash tray with him into the kitchen and the others waited for the noise of his chair scraping along the floor before continuing their conversation.

'You're sure?'

'Yeah, go. We'll be fine.'

Ariana stood up and ran a hand along Archer's shoulders as she passed, a small gesture to convey her thanks. She nodded to Petrel as she walked through the kitchen and back to Silver's bedroom. Houndoom, curled up with his head on Silver's lap, gave a low warning growl when the door clicked open.

'Oh shush,' she said, closing the door behind her. 'What's wrong, baby?'

'You're all acting weird,' Silver replied. Ariana watched him scratch Houndoom's ears; the Pokémon was as large as he was, and weighed more. 'Why are you scared of Proton?'

'We're not, don't be silly.'

'You are. Even Archer, and I've never seen Archer scared before.'

'We're just being careful, Proton's not the nicest guy when he's mad.'

'I know.'

'Baby, look at me,' Ariana said. She was sitting down on the second bed by then; the room was so small that it left only just enough room for her legs between them. 'What do you know that you're not telling me?'

'Nothing.'

'You need to tell me or else I can't fix it.'

'Nothing's broken,' Silver said. He shifted so that he was lying down, wedged between the wall and Houndoom. She sighed then, and lay back on her own bed. She closed her eyes, just for a minute, just to get a few minutes of rest before their world came crashing down again.