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 Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:58 pm
The sixteen-year-old stared. Even a street kid like Shawn knew it was rude to stare, but he couldn't help himself. As a native of the Johto region, despite his lack of knowledge in pokemon, Shawn was well aware of Lance's reputation and the fame it had earned him. Here he was, the Pokemon League Dragon Champion himself, right in front of him up close and in person. Well, as much in person as one could get with Champion Lance's current condition. Even more shocking than being in the man's presence was his apparent state. He didn't look too far off from some sci-fi movie's depiction of a hypnotized victim or a brain-washed prisoner of war.
That's exactly what Lance seemed to be, come to think of it. Instead of brain-washing, however, Shawn had been informed that there was a device in the dragon master's head that simply made him more willing to obey what he was told. It had supposedly been constructed, programmed, implanted all by Team Rocket personnel all right here at the base. He wasn't given the details, but what he had heard was enough to make his hair stand on end. What he saw with his own two eyes was another matter entirely. For the first few minutes upon meeting Lance, Shawn thought he might have been sick.
Eventually the teen managed to suppress the urge and move on. So long as he didn't look directly into Lance's soul-less, yellow eyes, the gut-wrenching feeling he fought hard to ignore wasn't as intense. Just how far is this guy gone..? the boy wondered, watching the red-haired man. This wasn't what he had signed onto Team Rocket for. Cleaning duties, sure. Scouting, okay. Stealing...kinda pushing it, but if that was what was necessary to survive, so be it. This, though - this was beyond anything Shawn had ever dreamed the Rockets would have attempted. This was essentially taking away a fellow human being's free will. Were pokemon not enough for them that they had to enslave people too? The kid strongly felt that this was crossing the line. He hadn't believed it at first, but just watching Lance - every direction, every controlled action that he took - there was no mistake. It disgusted Shawn beyond words.
 Thankfully, words were not required of the young grunt as he had been instructed to merely be a part of Lance's escort and guard while Lance himself followed his orders to clean up a mess he had made. The events that had caused the mess in the first place had only been briefly explained, but it got Shawn to wondering. They might even have been dangerous, treacherous thoughts for a Rocket to think, but he couldn't help himself. What if, somehow, he could free Lance? It was clear from the disaster that had happened in the labs that the real Lance was still in that seemingly hollow shell, somewhere. If he could only just get him away from the Rockets and figure out just how that command system worked...
Would it be possible to ask Lance to stop following orders and revert to himself? It seemed unlikely, but he had to keep the thought in mind. If only he could help Lance escape and make it look like an accident, then no one would get hurt and Shawn could stay with Team Rocket without them thinking he was a traitor. He really owed the organization his new life, after all, and wouldn't have left if he could have. But for Lance...he couldn't let this particular act of the Rockets go without at least trying to do something about it.
It was such a shame that Shawn was so young a Rocket, because as was characteristic of teenagers his age, the headstrong kid failed to consider the imminent danger he was putting both himself and Lance into. He could only think of success and how badly he wanted to achieve it based on his ideals. His determination, unfortunately, blinded him from the truth of reality and the fact that he was not, in fact, as invulnerable to danger as teenagers thought themselves to be. Thus, this was how Shawn came to stand there quietly, watching what remained of the dragon champion while trying to think up a plan to help Lance escape the team the boy had grown so fond of.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 5:16 pm
Despite the fact that staring was rude, Lance didn't really know any different. He simply stared back wordlessly at the young grunt, not having sense enough himself to realize it was indeed rude. His eyes were half lidded in an unreadable, vacant expression.
The chip had been speedily repaired in order to regain control of the dragon master and suppress his feelings once more. Trapped in his own body, he had no choice but to do as he was told. Feelings and emotions were completely absent and he lived an almost motorized existence in this state. Only the sense to complete basic functions and orders was allowed to him. The capacity to think for himself being completely gone.
At the boss's command, he had been ordered to clean up the mess he'd made in the laboratory during his rampage. One of the other grunts had given him the instructions and now Lance was moving slowly about the room with a broom, sweeping up the glass and other broken bits of materials that were scattered across the floor. Once that was done, he righted an overturned table, and then went to a large piece of equipment that had toppled over.
For a moment, the man stood there, seemingly trying to figure out what to do about this particular object. Eventually he stooped down and tried the pull the machine back upright. However, it was proving to be too heavy for him as he grunted under the strain, only managing to get it a foot or two off the ground before losing his grip. With a loud bang, the piece of equipment fell again. Without so much as a thought, he simply tried again.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 5:40 pm
Shawn cringed as he watched Lance struggle with the heavy piece of machinery. After a fleeting glance toward the other grunts, he went over to help their technical prisoner. How could they be so heartless as to let him work so hard on his own? Maybe he could see the sense if it was a normal Rocket being made to correct his actions, but it wasn't as if there was a lesson for Lance to learn in correcting what he had up-heaved.
At this rate, the kid was pretty sure the red-head would have strained with the equipment until his arms fell off. Surely no one wanted their precious slave to injure himself, and if Lance had been 'freed' from his impulse to flee from potential danger, it was very likely he could have killed himself if the machine fell on him the next time. Shawn didn't see any reason why anyone would stop him from helping, so he lent what strength he could, little as it was.
With a grunt and a groan, the youngest Rocket present pushed with a sudden burst of power and determination, thinking of how he wouldn't allow the others to continue using such a revered master as Lance like this. It was unthinkable. He wondered somewhere if the current boss of Team Rocket was making Lance do such lowly work just for the irony and laughs.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 6:10 pm
Another guard simply watched as Shawn went to help the struggling champion right the piece of equipment. "Hey, what are you doing? Let the b*****d do it himself. He deserves it after all the trouble he's given us." The grunt huffed but just stood there, not bothering to stop him either. What did that kid thing he was doing?
With the added help from Shawn, they managed to get the machine back into place. Without a word though, Lance simply turned away from Shawn and continued with his job. He was now picking up smaller pieces of things on the floor that had been too big to sweep up. One of them being the chair he had sat in when the whole incident took place.
As best as his memory could serve, Lance tried to put the room back into the same state it had been before he tore through it. It was starting to look like it had, but there was little he could do about some of the things. Like wires and cords that had been ripped from other pieces of machinery, and other broken objects.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 6:28 pm
"Hey, why don't you shut the hell up," Shawn exhaled defiantly with the breath he was using to pump oxygen to his neglected arm muscles. He might have not been so forward with a higher-up, but as the guard was merely his level, he felt no reason to hold back. The difference in age didn't seem to intimidate him in the slightest, as he had been used to holding his own against much larger and older thugs back on the streets of Goldenrod. "What - unh - whatever trouble he's given us, that's nothing compared to - urgh - what we've...done to him." At least the guard had the good sense not to make a much more of a situation out of it, since Shawn would have been more than ready to fight him, foolish or not. If they got into trouble, well, he could have explained his reasoning concerning the arms-falling-off thing.
At last the machine finally returned to its original position. When Lance walked off, Shawn crouched forward with his hands on his knees to catch his breath a little before continuing to snap at the other guard grunt. "Idiot. Are you really going to hold a grudge against a guy who doesn't even have a say over what he thinks or does? Even if you think this is payback, it's not like he's going to think of it that way. How immature can you get?" That must have hurt coming from a weakling runt like him. At least, Shawn hoped it did. The guy deserved it.
"Whatever. The sooner he gets this stuff done, the sooner we can do something more useful, so I'm gonna help out. Since you're not much of a help just standing around, you might as well go attend some other grunt duties. It's not like I can't handle a brain-dead prisoner." He bent to pick up some of the things that were scattered about haphazardly, again vaguely wondering at what sort of scene might have taken place to cause such a disaster. The ripped-up wires and cords earned raised brows from the boy. Out the corner of his vision, though, he kept a careful watch on the other guards. If only he could convince them to leave... "Hey, how many low-life grunts does it take to watch one mind-controlled man, huh? The higher-ups must be trying to insult us with this."
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 6:55 pm
The other grunt glared indignantly as Shawn snapped back. "Just who the hell's side are you on anyway? You do realize that b*****d helped cause the downfall of Team Rocket and was trying to do it again?" This kid was such a stupid idiot that didn't know anything. "I don't give a Rattata's a** about what's done to him. He'll think twice before screwing with Team Rocket again. If he ever does get to think again." The last bit added with a smirk.
A couple other grunts looked towards Shawn at his last comment, looking rather disgruntled. "If you didn't know, he caused this mess himself, so he can clean it up himself. That thing in his head broke and made him go nuts, almost killed an agent." This said by a rather large and burly grunt. "Yeah, we're here just in case it happens again. Do whatever you want, just shut the hell up. We can report you ya know."
Oblivious to what was going on, Lance continued milling about the room in silence, picking up things and putting them away.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:09 pm
The street kid hesitated at that before replying with a retort. He knew very well whose side he was on, and he wasn't about to have his loyalty to Team Rocket questioned. "Oh, come on! He's the Pokemon League Champion. Naturally he's going to try to do stuff like that. It's his duty. Don't you think he's suffered enough for what he's done? This is worse than torture, damn it!" Sure, maybe he didn't know the details of what Lance had done and how he had been caught since they seemed to have captured him before Shawn had even been recruited. Still, he felt confident in his sense of morals, regardless of his loyalty to Team Rocket. Against the world, life was tough and Team Rocket was just trying to survive like anyone else. Against one man, though, this was cruelty.
Shawn's eyes widened as he heard that the thing in Lance's head broke. It was frightening to think the guy had almost killed an agent. Still, that meant the device was maybe more delicate than he had originally thought. No doubt they had fixed it since then, but the mind was a powerful thing. What if he could get him to overcome it again? There was a risk Lance could attack Shawn, but maybe, just maybe that risk was worth taking. Shawn was pretty much a nobody, after all. He didn't think anyone would care if anything happened to him, and Lance didn't deserve this. No one did.
"Yeah, yeah, like you could have handled it. If he almost took down an agent, what do you think he'd do to us?" Deciding to heed the advice of the larger grunt and shut his mouth for now, however, Shawn walked over to Lance, moving closer as he helped to put things back.
"...Lance. That's still your name, right?" he whispered quietly, trying not to worry about the other grunts overhearing. He would deal with whatever consequences were dealt to him when the time arrived. "Lance...my name is Shawn. Can you...will you stop working for a second? Please?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:20 pm
The other grunts just huffed and grumbled amongst themselves when Shawn finally decided to shut up. "Stupid punk a** kid," the first grunt muttered. The rest of them were just there to do their jobs, and that was just to make sure Lance didn't wreak anything again. If the idiot wanted to help clean up, it wasn't worth arguing about. Still, Shawn hadn't exactly made any friends among them with his words.
Lance paused and looked up towards Shawn in mid stoop as he said his name. When asked to stop working, he did as he was told and dropped what he had picked up and stood up straight. Blank stare was turned on the grunt as he waited for whatever it was he wanted him to do.
The other grunts in the room were now muttering between themselves, glancing in Lance and Shawn's direction occasionally just to keep an eye on them.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:35 pm
Though Shawn heard the insult, he brushed it off. It wasn't any different than the hundreds of other things he'd been called while living a homeless life on the streets. While he normally would have made a big deal out of it just to show he wasn't a push-over, now was not the time. This might be his only chance to help Lance, and he couldn't let it pass him by.
At the obeying of the command, Shawn's jaw dropped. He would have thought the guy would have been programmed to only follow a certain Rocket's or a certain rank's orders, but evidently this was not the case. Even better, he seemed to be less brain-dead than he'd thought, because he hadn't taken his wording too literally in stopping 'for a sec'. Either that, or maybe his slang was just too vague. Whatever the case, this was good. This was very good. Thank you, thank you God - Arceus - whatever or whoever is out there. THANK YOU.
If he wanted to keep the suspicion of the other grunts to a minimum, though, he would have to think fast. Couldn't have them noticing Lance was taking new orders all of a sudden. "Awesome. Thanks. Now, could you...can you possibly..." His heart caught in his chest. "Would you please go back to following your previous orders, but allow your mind to think like it did before you had the device?" He paused. "If you can, keep your eyes on me, but continue working." Again, Shawn knew it was a long shot, but it had to be worth a try. He didn't know the technicalities like if Lance's mind could even acknowledge it had a device prohibiting certain parts of it, but if so, then escape was very likely.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:43 pm
At the command to go back to what he was doing, he did just that. But his brow furrowed slightly at the next part. "I don't understand," he said matter-of-factly, but lifted his eyes to look towards Shawn as he continued picking up the objects he had just dropped. Unfortunately his second request didn't seem to compute. That chip in his head didn't allow for a simple override request like that. It didn't quite work that way.
Instead, it just left the emotionless man confused, and he obeyed the only two orders that he did understand. However, his eyes did move away from Shawn for a moment to glance towards the other grunts in the room, then back to him.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:52 pm
Figured. Oh well. "It's okay," Shawn replied, despite that he didn't know if his response mattered to Lance or not. He hadn't expected it to be that easy, but at least it was progress. "Lance can you...meet me later tonight in the cafeteria?" he asked, before wondering who would be guarding the man later on that evening. "Can you do it without being seen, heard, or otherwise noticed?"
...Wait, what was that? He looked at the other grunts. I'm sure of it, Shawn thought. No, no, you idiot, don't get excited over that. It's probably just a basic motor function. That doesn't say anything about what he's thinking. The boy went back to helping Lance with his work. He was beginning to panic. What would happen when they were all done cleaning? There wasn't much time if the grunts would be ordered to do something else. If he asked to remain to continue his current duty, he would definitely attract unwanted notice. "Work slower," he whispered pleadingly.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:04 pm
"That is unacceptable," Lance droned stoically. "I am under constant surveillance, and only allowed to move with an escort." Which was certainly true. Lance's holding area was constantly monitored, if not by a person, then by video surveillance. He couldn't go anywhere without a guard. He had obviously been told this at some point and was rattling it off from memory. Despite being a mindless puppet of Team Rocket, he was still very much restricted.
At the request to work slower, Lance complied and purposefully slowed his movements. Standing up fully, he carefully walked to the other end of the room from the other grunts to place some objects on a wall mounted shelf.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:38 pm
Well, that answered that question. It was a relief to know that Lance could warn him ahead of time if things were possible or not. Otherwise, Shawn knew he would have been caught in a lot of trouble for nothing.
"Oookay, guess that means we only have now, then," he breathed, wiping the sweat forming on his brow with the back of his hand. He almost laughed as he was about to ask Lance if he had any ideas. Smart, real smart.
Okay, deep breaths. Really deep breaths. He wanted to make sure he remembered how to breathe for the upcoming crazy plan he had in mind. His hand went to his pokeball. He would have to rely on his crazy pokemon for the crazy plan, because her crazy loyalty was one thing he knew he could count on.
"Lance...how many of these guys do you think you can take down, if any?" He glanced at them. At worse, Lance would have been ordered not to attack a Rocket. If he himself jumped on one and Lindsay hit a couple with her attacks...maybe she could paralyze a few with Thunder Wave. Maybe he could hit someone with that chair. Maybe, maybe...it wasn't very reassuring that their future rode on so many maybe's, but it was better than nothing.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:03 pm
Lance paused in the middle of putting the things away to stare at Shawn for a moment, before continuing, still keeping his gaze on the kid. His next question drew a few moments of silence before he finally replied, "I don't know. What is the purpose?"
The dragon master's movements seemed to slow down even more as he tried to take in what Shawn was saying to him. He seemed to be struggling to comprehend it with his limited mental capacity. Shawn's apprehension were completely lost on the man, not at all picking up on the severity currently at hand. He was just there to work and do as he was told.
Moving away from Shawn, he continued to pick up the scattered objects, but still kept him in his line of vision. Again he glanced away from Shawn to look towards the other grunts, before moving back to the kid. Reaching out, he handed Shawn two pens he had picked up from the floor, then turned to place the other things he'd picked up on the shelf.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:32 pm
Curiosity? That wasn't something I was expecting. Or was he just wired to ask that if something questionable to Team Rocket's loyalty was brought up? Shawn pondered. To Lance, though, he said, "The purpose is to train those grunts for a surprise attack. If we can get past them and out of this base - just the two of us and whatever pokemon we have - then they fail. It's...uh...it's part of their training to be promoted."
He was losing him. He knew he should have taken smaller steps with Lance and he wish he had the time to, but he didn't. Neither of them did. Time to get serious and drop the niceties and politeness - at least until they were in a situation that called for less urgency.
With his pokeball still in his hand, Shawn reached down to pick up another object, glancing away to follow Lance's gaze to the other guards just in case he had spotted something Shawn hadn't noticed. When he looked back toward the object he had been reaching for, however, two pens took up the majority of his vision and he started in surprise. Sparing a curious look at the dragon master, Shawn took the pens before standing upright once more. What the heck...? That was random. Had these been another agent's before? Maybe he just didn't know what to do with them. Absently, he put them in his long coat pocket, trying to quell his rising hopes. He couldn't afford to raise them just yet.
"If you understand the training procedure," Shawn said, going back to the red-head's side to whisper to him slowly, "Then nod. As soon as I release my pokemon, we go after them. The goal is not to harm them, but to knock them out so we can rendezvous outside the base."
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