Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been three days, and 1337's forced removal had had a marked effect on the technology department. For one thing, it was a lot quieter.

The relative tranquility brought about by the absence of the sector's most obnoxious member was offset by a humming undercurrent of tension. Various rumors were circulating about what had happened to the agent from the plausible to the bizarre, lethal to hilarious and everything in between.

It also meant someone had to pick up his slack.

Most of the assignments 1337 would have been given had he not been slaving away in ******** had been distributed out to other techs, but strangely enough Seth had stepped in and taken over a number, possibly because in his nonstop coding binge (read: sulk) he was running out of things to do. It also meant most of the department was opting to work in other areas of the base, and laptop-wielding techs were popping up in unusual places, like mushrooms after a spring rain.

The mainframe room was mostly deserted, but Hayes was enjoying the silence and the space - a long table he'd normally have to share was completely his, and covered with design documents and notes in a sort of organized chaos, mostly collected on the left where he could reach them with his good arm. As he reached for a page of badly-drawn logic gates, he glanced over at the other occupant of the room.

Hayes winced, not so much at the sight of his superior passed out on top of his work as at the gigantic typo actively filling his screen. The agent had had enough similar experiences, in particular when his dissertation's deadline had been imminent. Keyboards made passable pillows, even if you looked like you'd had a nap on a wordy waffle iron when you woke up.

The blond rolled his chair back and stood with a little 'nrf.' Carefully, but with as much speed as he could manage, he approached the elite - a saying about sleeping dragons seemed appropriate here - and reached behind the computer tower to disconnect his keyboard.

The 'pppppppp' stopped. So far so good.

And that might have been it, but Hayes had another look at the screen.

The agent made a slight face, looked down at Seth and then back to the gibberish. He appeared to weigh his options, and seemingly choosing code over self-preservation, leaned over and started deleting the long string of letters with the mouse, screen by screen.

Hayes didn't flinch but withdrew with relative swiftness when Seth jerked awake, which saved him from adding a cracked jaw to his list of injuries. By the time the elite had fully regained consciousness he'd taken a step back, enough to put a polite amount of distance between himself and his superior without the implication that he feared his wrath and sudden projectiles.

The agent didn't make any mention of Seth's impromptu nap or the 'QWERTY' stamped across his forehead, but when the elite noticed the unplugged keyboard he cleared his throat.

"Quickest fix, sir. I was going to break for food. Was there anything you need?"

"Sir." Hayes saluted much as he'd done during the briefing for the ill-fated raid - two fingers to his temple, respectful but not stiffly formal. Without saying anything more, he returned to his workstation. The Rocket took a moment to save his progress and glanced over his notes before exiting. The door clicked shut behind him.

It was quiet for a while.

After a time the card reader beeped. The lock opened for the standard three seconds, which apparently wasn't enough for the person on the other side, because it locked again.

There was a barely audible 'hrff' from the other side.

After a quarter of a minute the reader beeped again, and this time Hayes got the door open and headed for his desk. A Pikachu waddled in after him, carrying a steaming cup of instant ramen in both paws.

Switch held the foam cup up for Hayes to take. "Pipika."

"Thanks." The Rocket set it on an area of his desk well away from important papers and the computer and pulled out one of the vacant chairs on that side. Before he could sit, Switch used it to reach the tabletop where he sat, watching the ramen like a hawk, nose quivering at the odor of hot broth and MSG.

Hayes ruffled the fur between his ears with an amused smile. For a while he said nothing as he ate. Then with a "'Kay, here y'go," he nudged the half-empty cup toward Switch. This was the signal the Pikachu had been waiting for; he pounced on it and began to devour the rest, practically getting his face stuck in the cup.

His trainer leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs, then looked towards Seth and stood. "Sir?" he asked to get the elite's attention, waiting a beat before he proceeded.

"Do you still have 1337's gloves?"

Having been with Hayes through college and graduate school, Switch was an experienced programmer's Pokemon capable of holding his volts. He had learned through trial, error and a few fried motherboards to find a location free of electronics to discharge excess energy.

In any case he was deep into his ramen, getting the last little bits of noodle out of the bottom.

Hayes returned to the chair surrounded by paper diagrams. His computer screen has shut off while he was gone; the blond shook the mouse and brought up a login screen. "If you don't have a problem with it, I'd like to have a look at them," he spoke, looking over the top of his glasses as he unlocked his session.

"Thanks. They still in your office?" Hayes failed to see the raised brow, being focused on entering a brief note in a text file. His break had given him a few ideas for a more efficient system of classes.

He did catch the note in Seth's voice, though. Once he finished jotting the memo to himself, the blond leaned back in his chair and looked past his monitor at the elite, wearing the mild smile that seemed to be his default expression.

"Doesn't seem like he's used to hierarchies, but he's not so bad if you don't let him push your buttons." The agent shrugged (and briefly winced,) suggesting this hadn't been a problem for him yet, or 1337 had been unable to find any buttons.

"Pi." Switch's long ears stiffened at the elite's tone. Somewhere in the Pikachu's instincts was written how to deal with large, powerful and frequently angry beings, which was what Seth smelled like. The general approach was this: pass beneath their radar if you can, and if you're unlucky enough to attract their attention, go to ground.

The electric mouse was starting to think his trainer desperately needed a course in basic survival skills.

"..I don't think so, sir." Hayes' expression was best described as 'puzzled' - brows slightly raised, posture and tone non-confrontational. Where his superior might have gotten that idea looked completely beyond him. "From what I hear, he has an effect on most people."

Maybe the agent could feel the sudden chill in the air, because he nodded toward Seth's office door. "I'll remove them, if you don't mind."