He rolled his eyes before answering “Running on about an hour or so of sleep over here.” At this point he had to let Pandora out. Ether had to help reign her in and keep her focused on just keeping the two of them cool in this oppressive heat with a nice Misting.

“I mean, that has to be it. I don’t know of anything they actually accomplished. If it wasn’t a diversion, then it was a test of the response to the attack and resilience of the system.”


He started to go off on a stream-of-thought monologue at this point. “If it was a diversion, what were they covering up? I didn’t hear of reports of any findings during the clean up. So, if they needed a diversion as big as that, then how is there no trace of what they did? Did they really need to attack the power system to do something that might be that easy to cover up?

“That’s why I think it was a test of something. The system itself? The response time? What resources the powers-that-be were willing to drop on something so vitally important? Where might they attack next? Are we going to be ready or willing to respond to whatever is going to come next?

“And how the fuck was it so easy to capture Jonton? It’s almost like he allowed himself to get captured… no offense. But, why did he engage? Did he know it was you that was coming for him? Did he really think he could defeat you? And with Jonton just being a pawn, and seeing the power of that Gorebyss… is this really just this Pisces character leading this thing? 

“Is he leading this group himself? What if he’s part of some cadre that is organizing things? Are they all as powerful as he is?” His tone was starting to become noticeably more anxious and tense. Pandora grabbed his hand at Ether’s request to take him out of his own mind for a moment so he could compose himself.

“And that’s why we’re here. It’s far more important to infiltrate, get in, and collect as much intelligence and documentation and information as we possibly can. We’re so in the dark, we can’t possibly know what to do next. I just worry about the other teams investigating the other safehouses.”

And now he went off into another tangent. “And if Jonton, a mere pawn - well, maybe a rook or knight if we’re being generous - had this many safehouses that were this hard to find and get what little intel we could on them, how many more are out there that have actual answers?” He seemed desperate and hopeless as he continued to think out loud.

Pandora squeezed his hand again and gave him a burst of cold, making him shiver all over. While Forrest was physically expressing his anxiety and fear, it was clear that Tristan had been internalizing and speculating about it all resulting in much the same mindset.

There was so much more that he couldn’t verbalize. How did some undercover Agent know when and where Jonton was going to be before Lady Fairfax? Did Marilda really lose that much control over her own Wharf that she didn’t know what was going on there? Did Jonton push his family out? What did it take to do that, if so?

How did the Rangers mobilize so quickly to apprehend and take control over the Wharf? Was Jonton the only mid-level operative there? What was he doing there?

What contracts were Asuna and Samantha doing for him? Was Ms. Shade working for Jonton? How was she involved in all of this otherwise? Was she also working for this Pisces and Mrs. Fairfax at the same time? Did Ms. Shade have even stronger Pokemon than Samantha? Why was Asuna there by herself? What was Samantha doing in the meantime, to come back and get her once she was essentially safe? Why did Samantha attack him so abruptly?

For a third time Pandora had to pull him out of his own mind so he could focus on walking behind Forrest and not tripping.