JULY - AUGUST TEST DRIVE MEME

[indigo_events]

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Comments

[fingersandteeth]

[Okay, yes, this is... weird. Very weird. If he's a newly arrived otherworlder, when would he have time to established ties with Giovanni... or whoever else 'Boss' was?

And then, suddenly, it all falls into place. The kid isn't an otherworlder. Not at all. He's a Rocket from another faraway base--a plant in their little gang, to keep an eye on them and report back what they're doing, because they'd got ambitious and cocky and had provoked the reformation of the PGC and that was enough for the admins to risk sending someone in to pose as another otherworlder so they'd take him in.

And Steven... Steven would have fell for it if he hadn't heard the kid talking to 'Boss' on his gear.

He doesn't let any of this revelation show up on his face. Instead he smiles gently at the kid and says,]

Yeah. All of this... it's a lot to take in, isn't it? Especially when you're from another world entirely. But I'm sorry to say that you've been taken from your world and immediately press-ganged into the Rockets. It's-- not always the easiest position to be in. The rest of the otherworlders, they show up at Fake Mom's house and she chivies them out the door onto their pokemon adventures and that's that. Here they expect us to work for them--but honestly, it's not at all taxing once you're done with Mandatory Training Hell and we're more than fairly compensated, I think.

[Even if he's a plant by the admins, that doesn't mean Steven shouldn't treat him like any other otherworld transfer. Much better for the admins to think that they'd fooled them--if they exposed this kid, they might not recognize his replacement. It had only been chance, after all, that Steven had overheard him.]

[epitaffio]

[It sure is a lot. He's not sure if this guy's speech is supposed to help, because if it is, it's not having the intended effect. Fake Mom's house??]

Right... Uh, what's a Pokemon again? [He turns his eyes back to the letter. That word sure is on it, but even the Boss didn't seem to know what THAT was about.] Wait, are you an "Admin"? What kind of team is this?

[fingersandteeth]

[Jesus, this guy's ignorant act was air-tight. If Steven didn't know he was a plant, he'd definitely be suckered in.]

A pokemon... well. They're creatures that live on this world. The local version of animals.

As for the rest... God no, I'm not an Admin. I'm just a Beta. Which still means I outrank you, but look--

[He produces a pen and then a small notebook from various pockets and then flips to a clean page. On it he writes:

Grunt -> Private -> Beta -> Alpha -> Admin -> Boss]

That's the Team Rocket hierarchy. Everyone comes in as a Grunt. Boss Giovanni's on top. World natives can rise as high as Admin, but otherworlders like you and me can only go as high as Alpha.

As for what kind of team this is... well. An organized criminal one, more or less.

[epitaffio]

[Doppio nods, taking in the hierarchy. He hopes he'll be able to remember it - in truth, he has little to worry about, as someone else takes a look with a brief flash of green - but he supposes there's no harm in asking...]

Do you mind if I keep that page? I, uh... d-don't want to disrespect anyone on accident.

[Funny. For all the acts Doppio may or may not put on, the truth is that he's not all that good at lying.

Organized crime, though... The Boss's hunch was right, naturally.]

So they're just kidnapping people for lower-rank fodder?

[fingersandteeth]

[Steven shrugs.] Sure. Why not? [He rips the page out of the little notebook (with the rings at the top and not at the sides) and hands it out to Doppio.]

And yeah, more or less. Though like I said, we can rise in rank. Just not to the highest levels. But then again, you rarely see more than one admin per city--even here in Goldenrod there's only two--so it's fairly unlikely even for locals to rise higher than we can.

[epitaffio]

Thanks. [Now he can be sure he'll report this correctly to the Boss! How nice.]

Huh... So maybe it's just that none of the people they've kidnapped have managed to climb that high YET? But I guess it's more likely that they just don't want outsiders taking the higher spots...

[Not that such a thing would stop the Don of Passione.]

[fingersandteeth]

I mean, if Handsome Jack--he's our Alpha and very good at what he does--still hasn't made Admin after five years, it's pretty likely that they're purposely keeping us outsiders from the higher spots.

[He shrugs.]

It's worth it to rank up, though. While most of us live outside the base as soon as we can afford it, the free accommodations for those who don't want to do that does scale with rank. Grunts like you get old-fashioned dormitory rooms that sleep six, Privates only have to share with two others, Betas get our own rooms, and Alphas have their own little suites. Plus your stipend goes as well. And Betas and Alphas can take the good positions on the job board like security and recruit training and managing our gambling establishments.

[epitaffio]

[Oh, this is still a lot. He should probably be taking notes, but it's a bit late to ask for a pen, so he's just doing his best to absorb everything now.

He'll probably remember the gambling, at least. Pretty lucrative business, if this place is anything like Naples.

... Funny that this guy would lump that in with training.]

Is recruit training a high-paying job? It must be a pretty big deal, then.

[fingersandteeth]

I'd assume? It's not what I do. I'm with the Radio Tower--local radio is one of our front businesses--and I'll be putting in for on-air host the next time a position opens up.

But I suspect that it is, yes. They're the ones that put us through criminal boot camp our first week.

[epitaffio]

[Radio, huh? Interesting choice.]

Right... Uh... What does that training consist of, again?

[Doppio Knows crime, even if some of the messier, nastier aspects of it took some getting used to. He's not sure how freely he should let other people know that yet - did the Boss just not have time to bring it up? Is he supposed to decide on his own?? - but, well, he's experienced. He just... might as well make sure nothing's going to catch him off-guard.]