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 Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:39 am
One of the things that Lucas was most excited to recall was the extent to which he had worked with weapons. Prior to the reemergence of his memories, he only knew how to perform basic maintenance, and even then he had veritably no idea what he was doing - it was as if his hands worked separate of his will. Now he was working with weapon design properly, something he had always wanted to do during his time in Galactic. His mind teemed with ideas, and even his lunch break found him hard at work, though in the cafeteria rather than in the workshop. The afternoon found him seated at a table with schematics and small metal parts sprawled out in front of him, a plate of chicken and rice pushed to a side and largely forgotten in his eagerness to make his current endeavor piece together. An Eevee, pink and brown and smaller in size than the majority of its species, sat watching on the table, toying with the idea of stealing a bite of the untouched lunch. As if entranced by the task, he continued to measure, draw, and label.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:00 am
 For whatever reason - be it stroke of genius, order of the Elites, or some kind of blood clot in her brain - Isadora thought it would be appropriate for her to learn about guns. Where she got this idea, the doctor really did not know, but somehow it made sense to her. After all, she did not train her Pokemon very often, and she herself was in Team Rocket only to help and not to hurt. Learning about gun mechanics and whole "shoot-shoot-bang-bang" thing would just be for self-defense, in case anything happened. Besides, guns looked cool. Isadora enjoyed looking cool. Of course, Isadora had no earthly clue where exactly to start her enlightenment. To her knowledge, she knew no one in the weapons or espionage department, let alone anyone who would have the patience and the generosity to teach her. She had been pacing the halls of the HQ for a good ten minutes before partially giving up and decided that she was hungry. Happy to give herself a distraction for a while, Isadora made her way through the HQ and ended up in the spacious cafeteria. The afternoon was slowly turning to evening, and the cafeteria had a spattering of grunts among its many tables. At one of those tables close to the cafe entrance, Isadora instantly recognized a familiar scarred face. Relieved to have someone to talk to, the doctor made a beeline over to her former patient. "Goo' aftehnoon', Luhcas! How're you doin' t'day?" Isadora smiled kindly at the man, but as she did, her eyes slid down to peer down at the items on the table. She blinked, unsure what she was looking at. "Uh... Whaht're y' doin'?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:17 am
Liselle noticed Isadora's approach before her human did, flicking an ear in the woman's direction and slinking slightly closer to Lucas. Her movement, combined with the sound of a greeting, pulled the man from his work, and he turned towards the psychologist with an acknowledging nod. "Afternoon, Isadora," he said, setting down his pen and rotating his wrist briefly to work out the stiffness that had begun to settle. He saw her gaze drift to his work, and he leaned back slightly and hummed in thought. "Trying to minimize the recoil while maximizing the caliber... I mean, the simple solution is to give it more mass, you know? But if it's too heavy then it becomes inconvenient to use..." He leaned forward again, resting an elbow on the table and tapping his pen against the surface. "Maybe I should just scrap this one and start again with another concept." He frowned at his own suggestion, though. Giving up wasn't any way to get something done.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 12:23 pm
Isadora pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow as Lucas... sort-of explained what he was doing with all of the little mechanical parts that were lying on the table. She was thoroughly confused by what he had just said, having understood none of it. "Uh... Okahy, what? I dohn't get it."Curiously, the doctor picked up a smaller piece that was laying to the side of the rest of the pile and turned it over in her hands. It looked strange to her eyes. Frowning a bit in her confusion, Isadora replaced the piece she had taken and looked at the blueprint that Lucas seemed to be working on. Again, she recognized nothing that she could identify. "Ahre... Ahre y' buildin' sohmething?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 12:42 pm
"Ah-- Sorry. A little too focused, there." He pushed the jargon out of his thoughts and revised his summary to fit a less specialized vocabulary. "Yeah, building a gun. Or trying, at least." He noted the piece in her hand, "That's one of the pieces that regulates the weight you need to pull on the trigger to make it fire." He didn't know how curious she was (or wasn't), but it couldn't hurt to indulge the possibility of interest. "I used to design weapons off and on. This is the first real project I've been assigned, so I want it to be a good one." He pulled one of the parts from the table and compared it against his schematics momentarily, passing a hand over Liselle's head when she nuzzled against his arm.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 1:18 pm
As soon as the word "gun" came into the conversation, Isadora's attention became completely undivided. Her eyes seemed to light up as she broke in. "A guhn? You wohrk on guhns? Realleh? Th-thah's wohnderful!" Isadora clapped her hands together in her delight. "Thehn y' muhst know how t' shoot, thehn! Pleahse, cahn y' teach me?"Pausing for a moment, Isadora realized how erratic she must have sounded, and she chuckled. "Sorreh... I mean, y' dohn't have to... I wahs just thinkin' tha' mayhbe I could leahrn t' shoot for sehlf-defense an' all. Nohthin' too bahd, I prohmise." She smoothed out her dress in her slight embarrassment, then looked back up at Lucas, a hopeful look in her eyes. "So... Whaht do y' sahy?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 1:34 pm
Lucas couldn't help but grin at her obvious excitement, and he set down his pen and began to gather the various parts into a pile. Noting the plate of food - and the fact that he wasn't particularly hungry - he scooted the plate in the Eevee's direction with a quiet "here you go, Lis." The little 'vee brightened immediately and began tearing pieces off of the chicken, large tail waving in glee.
"Sure thing," he agreed, reaching for the portfolio in which he contained his various blueprints. "I used to teach gun handling all the time, so I've got no trouble giving you a hand." Not to mention he was a huge proponent of learning proper self-defense, especially in a criminal organization where it was practically guaranteed that one would face dangerous situations and individuals.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 1:47 pm
Hardly able to contain such excitement and curiosity, Isadora placed her hands on her hips triumphantly and took a small step backwards, a broad grin on her face. "Ehxcellent! When cahn we starht? Cahn we starht now?" She looked about the large cafeteria. More and more grunts and agents began to trickle into the eating area for their own share of food for the evening. Isadora's smile creased into a small frown for a moment, and she turned back to her former patient. "D'you thihnk tha' maybe we could go wherhe there ahre lehss, y'know... peohple abouht? I wouhldn't lihke to get anyone huhrt." She grimaced slightly at the increasing number of others in the cafeteria.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 1:53 pm
"Sure," Lucas said with a laugh. "I'm not really doing anything. Well, besides this," he gestured to the schematic that he was packing away, "but I'm not making any real progress. I could use a break." He gave Liselle a pat as she finished eating what she wanted, licking her ruff to ensure it was neat and clean. "Yeah, best to do this sort of thing in a controlled environment," he agreed. Even in an organization like Team Rocket, he doubted any of the other grunts or agents wanted to eat their meals under the threat of a gun barrel. "How about we head to the firing range? I think they've got standard issue guns there that you can borrow." Lucas had a number of guns in his room that he certainly wouldn't mind lending, but they were all specialized in one way or another - not at all the kind of weapons on which to teach a beginner.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:17 pm
"Ahll right! Leht's go, thehn!" Isadora half walked-half skipped out of the cafeteria into the halls. It was not completely clear - even to her - why she was so excited about the aspect of guns and the shooting of them. Perhaps it was the rush of being able to learn something new to better herself, or perhaps it was the fact that, with the skill that she was to learn, she herself could play God. Whatever it was, it was slightly disconcerting. Isadora, of course, took no notice. Once she got out into the halls, though, the doctor stopped and looked down both hallways. She glanced behind her at Lucas. "...So, whehre's th' firin' rahnge, then?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:28 pm
Still grinning at her enthusiasm, Lucas closed the portfolio and rose to follow, Liselle bounding along at his heels until she caught up, at which point she jumped onto the thin top of the schematics case and sprang onto her human's shoulder. He didn't mind the fluffy thing's presence - it was small, soft, and warm - and so he continued into the hall, moving towards the elevator and pressing the button to summon it. "Firing range is third floor down," he said, recalling it from all the times he had passed it when heading to the recreational or exercise facilities. A quiet ding signaled the elevator's arrival, and he stood aside and gestured for Isadora to proceed ahead of him. After she had done so, he would enter after her and press the button for the designated floor, at which point the doors would slide shut. "So what's brought this on?" he asked. The psychologist didn't quite strike him as the shoot-y type.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:36 pm
Isadora smiled gratefully as Lucas opened the elevator for her. She stepped lightly into the large metal box and steadied herself by placing her arm on the handrail as the elevator lurched into life and descended. At Lucas's query, the doctor merely shrugged. "Honehstleh, I don't realleh know. I wahs thinkin' about it lahst night in m' ohffice, an' I thought, 'Why noht? It mihght be good f'r me.' Leahrnin' new things an' whahtnot. Of couhrse, it could ahlso be simpleh considered prahctical in our lihne o' business." At this thought, Isadora creased her brow and made a slight grimace, only to have it replaced with a smile when the elevator arrived at their desired floor. "Ah, weh're here!"
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:47 pm
"Can't say I'd call it a bad idea," Lucas agreed with an approving nod. "If the people we're up against are using guns, we have to be at least as well-equipped as them. Ideally better-equipped." And that's why the tech department existed: to ensure that Rocket could face off against anyone and still have the upper hand. Knowing Galactic, though - specifically Deimos - that would prove an increasingly high expectation.
He exited the elevator and glanced towards either end of the hall. Where was that room again... He remembered passing it when-- Ah! "Over this way," he said with a slight beckoning wave of his arm. He pushed open one of the doors, revealing the firing range beyond. A storage shelf for protective headphones and glasses stood near the entrance, and Lucas nicked one of each to hand to Isadora before moving towards a display of firearms. "What do you think? Standard handgun?" He pulled said handgun out, turning it briefly in his hands before presenting it to his company for her inspection.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 5:27 pm
Isadora dutifully accepted the protective items and put them on accordingly. Once she got them well-fitted on and made sure that they were secure, she took the handgun from Lucas and held it gingerly, unsure what she was to do with it. Carefully turning it over in her hands as she did with the gun parts she saw earlier, she threaded her right pointer finger through the trigger hold and grasped the gun firmly. "So, I hohld it lihke this, rihght?" Isadora doubted her form was necessarily correct, but that was what she had a teacher for, yes? Yes. Suddenly, a thought came to Isadora, and she looked to Lucas in fear. "Waiht: this guhn isn't loahded, is it?!"
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 5:42 pm
He selected a similar model from the shelf to use as an example, his hand naturally forming to the weapon. It was eerie, sometimes, how very used to the sensation he was. Lucas watched as Isadora curled her fingers around the firearm, and he nodded when she asked his evaluation. "Generally when you're firing you'll hold it with two hands to minimize the kick, but yeah, that's about the gist of it." He gave a chuckle at her concern, assuring her, "No, no, I wouldn't just push you into the pool like that. The guns here are for recreation, so they don't keep them loaded on the shelves. We'll add bullets once you're comfortable with it." In demonstration, he opened the magazine to show that it was unloaded.
Clipping it back in its proper position, he adjusted his grasp, extending his arm, shoulder raised and head inclined, moved his other hand to clasp the bottom of the grip, and stood with his feet set slightly apart. "This is ideal form," he explained. "That is, the safest pose you can shoot from. Doing what we do, it won't be plausible to shoot from a stance like this very often, but it's good for learning."
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