Chapter Fifty Nine

"It looks like you're ready to leave." The azumarill flicked through her digital Clip Board as she read over Macro's notes. "The doctor has given you a clean bill of health."

"Oh, finally. Some good news." The mawile tried to resist grimacing as he pushed himself up against his pillow. 'Clean bill of health' clearly didn't mean 'no pain whatsoever'. Although it was significantly better than it had been two days ago. "So when do I leave?"

The nurse raised an eyebrow at his eager tone. "You can leave today. But not until I give you the doctor's guidelines."

He sighed and flopped back against the headboard, waving her on with a paw.

"He says you're to take it easy for a few days," she said, returning to the screen. "Rest, don't work. Do very little exercise outside of walking, and don't try to lift anything. Practice your breathing exercises every morning, and take pain killers when you need to. He seems optimistic that you won't really need them in a couple of days."

Macro stifled a scoff at that and rubbed his ribs beneath his duvet.

"You're to pop back in for a checkup in seven days." She looked up to lock eyes with him. Warm but as hard as rock. Like a mother scolding a hatchling. "Jumper will be on your back about that, as will your crew. The doctor has warned me how stubborn you can be."

"Seven days. Check up. Gotcha." He tossed the duvet aside and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "And believe me, ma'am, I won't be lifting anything heavier than a dinner plate."

"All right. Well, I can see you're already confident I'm going to tell you you're good to go."

He paused as he reached for his scarf and goggles to glance the nurse over his shoulder, but she wasn't looking at him. "I am good to go, right?"

"Of course." She snapped the cover over her Clip Board and looked up at him with a forced smile. "See you in seven days."

She left the room before he could, letting the door swing shut behind her. Macro let out a flustered breath and tossed his scarf over his shoulders, followed quickly by his goggles. After not wearing them for a few days, they felt a little alien and he jigged them about a bit until they felt comfortable in front of his horn. As he left the room, DL almost collided with him in the doorway.

"Oh!" She took a step back, her eyes widening momentarily. A warm smile spread across her face and she looked him up and down before meeting his eyes. "I see you're ready to leave."

"I was ready days ago, they just wouldn't let me." He fell into place beside her and turned down the corridor towards the stairs.

"They wouldn't let you because you were critically wounded," she said flatly. "But I can understand. I wouldn't want to be cooped up in here either."

"Well, it's a lesson well learned to not be reckless." He glanced her out of the corner of his eye. "Is everyone else waiting somewhere?"

"Anchor and Switch are practising using those Z-Crystals," she explained. "Not that they're having much joy getting them to work. I told them I'd collect you and we'd meet them for dinner later on. Matrix is having lunch in a gaming cafe, but he said he'll join us later. He also had breakfast there, too. In fact, he's barely left since we got here. He's attracted quite the fan base."

Macro tutted. "Sounds like Matrix. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even know what day it is. Don't expect him to show up at dinner."

"Really?" A look of concern crossed her features. "I told him you were getting out today and he said he'd buzz on over with some breakfast. I'm guessing he's not been?"

"Nope. I had to have porridge again." Macro stretched, flinching as his ribs twinged. "Gah, I can't wait to have Cookie's pancakes."

DL's lips curled up in a smile. "Cookie's really looking forward to making them for you."

Macro glanced the elevator as they passed, briefly considering their smooth journey. He shrugged them off and began descending the stairs, already adjusted to a smaller pokemon's height.

"Have you had lunch?" DL asked him.

"Nope. When I heard I might be getting out, I decided not to order one. I'm tired of hospital food. I wanna hit one of those fast food vendors."

"In that case, let's head to the market square," she suggested. "I spotted a few of them this morning. I think one of them does berry burgers."

"Oh good." He burst through the door into the lobby, taking some of the waiting pokemon by surprise. "Given this city is filled with water types, I'm gonna guess it's fairly safe they don't serve meat."

A poliwhirl let out a squeak of surprise and almost fell off her seat.

"I've not seen anywhere that might," said DL quietly, giving the tadpole pokemon an apologetic smile. She trotted to keep up with the space pirate and grabbed the door as he held it for her. "Everything looks like it might be made from locally grown produce."

"That's a relief." He took in a breath of fresh air and stretched again, feeling much less sore. "Ahh, freedom. How I've missed thee."

DL took a deep breath as well then let out a sigh. "The air is nice here."

He looked down at her, letting his eyes linger on her for a moment before steering her from the hospital. "So... you said something about a burger vendor?"

She chuckled and took his arm, leading him down the street towards the square. "I believe it's near the end of the market. If it's still there, maybe we could take them to the lake? It was a little busy on my way over."

"I don't mind busy markets. I lived in Pulse City, after all."

The thought of his former home gnawed at him and he shook the thought away, letting the sunlight pouring through the dome clear the threat of a storm cloud from his mind. When he looked up again, he spotted the market bustling with pokemon. The last time he'd been in Cyan City the market had been closed. With so much activity it looked like a different place entirely.

As they strolled through the crowd, various voices and smells struck him at once. Children begging their parents for games or candied fruit, market sellers calling out their wares, the smell of frying fritters and chocolate fountains competing with savoury dishes. Colourful bodies zipped back and forth - hairy, scaly, feathery - brushing against him or skittering out of the way, providing obstacles to duck by. With his tender ribs, it was quite the chore to get through unscathed.

When DL came to a sudden stop, she steered him to the side out of the way of a pair of boisterous children on their way to a crepe van. She gave him a warm smile and nodded behind her at a digital menu. Macro finally realised they'd made it.

A squat van perched beside the menu while a watchog manned a hot plate of sizzling burgers. The vendor promised a selection of delights, but lacked his favourite occa and nutpea burger. Each one had its own name, but one that stood out to him was The Sunscorched Burger. Chople and lansat dressed with moomoo cheese and a tamato relish. It promised to be the spiciest in System Sky. The customer before him moved aside and Macro eyed the menu once more.

Well... you only live once.

DL shuffled up beside him, drawing an affectionate smile from the watchog. "I'll have a Sunscorched Burger please."

The watchog jolted with surprise. "Wow. A sweet girl like you? I guess you like your spices."

Macro reached into his pouch and handed the watchog a ten credit bill. "Make that two. And a large mago juice. Please."

DL twitched her head around to smile at him. A smile that warmed him from the inside. He diverted his gaze to the market place, distracting himself with the hustle and bustle. His eyes fell on a small, round table not too far from the vendor and he nodded towards it.

"Fancy saving us a seat?" he asked.

DL nodded and moved past him to claim the empty table. She immediately picked up the plastic menu stand and read over it, mouthing the contents to herself. A clatter drew Macro's attention back to the vendor, and he spotted the large mago juice beside his arm, dripping condensation onto the counter. Whether the watchog was insinuating something or not, two straws lay at lopsided angles against the rim of the glass. The burgers followed, plonked down onto a glossy black tray. Macro scooped everything up and carefully waddled over to the table. DL looked up immediately, her nose twitching as the steaming burger was placed in front of her.

He flopped down into the chair opposite her and picked up his burger, spilling relish onto the plate. "I think I'm looking forward to this more than any sane 'mon should."

Before DL could answer, he took a bite out of it akin to a half-starved tyranitar and an involuntary groan left his throat. The pachirisu chuckled and tucked into her own meal with much less vigour. Just like it had advertised, it was spicy. A pleasant heat unlike the unbearable curry he'd once encountered in Raster City. That thing could have melted a steelix's hide.

"It's good," she declared with her mouth full.

"Tell me about it. I might come back here for dinner." He glanced up at her, noting the relish smeared over her cheek. "So. Have you been training with Anchor and Switch?"

DL paused mid bite and licked her lips slowly, reaching for the mago juice. She looked thoughtful, diverting her gaze to the market place as she took a long sip through the straw. Finally she glanced at him and shook her head.

"Really?" Macro sat back in his seat and a huge glob of tamato fell from the bun and splattered onto his scarf. "Drat." He swiped it aside and licked the remains off his paw, the heat from the spices making his skin tingle. "Why not? You've got a new move to practice too, right?"

"Yeh." She lowered her burger back to her plate but didn't relinquish it. "I erm... I don't know how to use any attacks."

"Oh!" Macro almost dropped his burger, but managed to get it back onto his plate rather than down his front. "I hadn't... considered you wouldn't know any."

"I think I know them," she explained. "I just don't know how to use them. I guess they're on another memory disk."

He made a thoughtful noise and trailed a claw over his scar, staring at the skyscrapers behind her. "That's interesting. I assumed they'd just be instinct. You know... like biting and scratching."

"I guess they're learned behaviour." She took another bite of her burger.

"Then if you can't use them, I suppose we either have to get the other two disks or find a way to teach you how."

"It might be faster to get the disks." She shook her head and sighed. "After what happened last time... I wasn't sure I wanted the rest of those memories."

"You're speaking as though you've decided you want them."

"I feel I have no choice. I'm useless to you if I can't fight."

Macro's muzzle creased in a frown. "You're not useless. You've got a gun, right?"

"Yes but..." She dropped her burger and glanced around before lowering her voice. "But Solgaleo said we're to use the Z-Moves to fight BackDoor, right? He gave me one of those Z Crystals. That means I'm expected to use one."

He leant his head on his paw and sighed, absently rubbing under his eye. What were they to do then? He was expected to remain in Cyan City for another week. Retrieving DL's memory disks would only delay their duties, and he highly doubted the Ultra Beasts or BackDoor would wait for them. He flinched as his eye began to burn and he snatched his paw away.

"Okay..." he whimpered. His eye began to stream, leaving a cool trail over his cheek. "Don't touch the relish and then your eye."

He snatched up a napkin and held it to his face, looking back at DL with his free eye. The pachirisu chuckled and nudged the glass towards him. He picked it up and took a swig, but it only served to make his mouth burn more than it already had been. He let out a laugh of his own and picked his meal up again, keeping the napkin pressed to his face.

"Okay, it's hot," he said. "I'll give them props for that."

DL licked what was left of her vanished burger from her paws. "Shall I get us some ice cream? It might help cool you down."

"What?" He frowned again and removed the napkin. "Didn't you find it spicy?"

She shrugged and pushed the chair back as she stood up. "It was okay."

"You're kidding, right?" He turned his head to follow her as she made her way to the crepe van. "Do you have no taste buds? A bionic tongue?!"

She laughed and stuck her tongue out at him as she reached the small queue. Well it certainly didn't look bionic. He turned back to his burger and challenged himself to finish it. There was no sense in wasting good food, even if it did threaten to burn his mouth away. He caught the watchog's eye from the van, and the normal type laughed and shook his head before returning to his task of wiping down the counter. Macro thought he heard him say 'rookie'.

To distract himself, Macro pulled out his computer and loaded up the locations of DL's remaining memory disks. He'd somewhat committed them to memory, but he felt the need to prove himself wrong. As expected, the last two were in the two locations he never wished to step paw in. Botnet City and Meta City. He couldn't even decide which one was the easiest for him to face. One thing was for certain, he didn't want to go there before he felt ready to take on Socket's loyal army.

Once his burger was suitably demolished, he reached for his straw and supped up half of the mago juice. It didn't do much to soothe away the spices. DL appeared beside him and held a cheri and cream crepe before his nose. He took it from her and gave it a hearty lick. There. Spices neutralised.

He chuckled and stood up, scooping up the tray with his free paw. "Shall we head to the lake?"

"Definitely."

She took the tray from him and placed it on the top of the trash can. The watchog thanked them with a friendly wave which DL returned gladly. Macro gave him a more cautious one and followed the pachirisu out of the square.

It wasn't far to the lake. He spotted the berry bushes surrounding it and a couple of azurill running around them. A few feet away from the playing children was a small row of benches, each spaced enough apart to give their occupants a little privacy. He pulled himself up into an empty one and looked over at the two hatchlings. It left a hollow feeling in his gut as his mind went back to Lossy. Part of him hoped deep down Cyan City would get to the bottom of her missing children.

One of the azurill dived into the lake with a soft splash, all but their tail vanishing beneath the surface. The other one laughed and raced along the side of it as they tried to beat them to the other end.

"It's so peaceful here," said DL.

"Aye." Macro nibbled at his dessert. "Even more so to me now, after my first visit here. Be glad you didn't see that."

"I am." She paused as she licked melted cheri ice cream from her paw. "But some good came of it."

"What good? It was a war."

"Well... they got to see who you really are, for one thing." She glanced him out of the corner of her eye. "Rather than the reputation the media gives you."

"Some of that is self earned," he scoffed. "Not that I'm happy about it."

She took a bite of her crepe, leaving a streak of cheri on her nose. "You've changed a lot since I first met you. That's definitely a good thing."

"So you didn't like me when we first met?"

"I'm not saying that." She leant back in her seat and fixed her chocolate eyes on him. "Bad pokemon don't offer to help others. Saying you were keeping me just to get back at Socket... I don't think that was your main motive."

"To be honest, it was up until I realised you were a real flesh and blood pokemon."

"Exactly."

Macro stared down at his crepe and ran his free paw over his head. He let out a small sigh and looked over at the lake. "To be honest, DL... you've changed me a lot."

"Me?"

"Yeh." He paused, watching the ice cream melt down the side of his crepe. "You gave me someone to care about other than myself."

There was a small silence before she asked, "What about your crew?"

He shrugged. "To be honest, I'd never realised I actually care about them either. For years, I was just their captain. You know... Captain of a sky ship with a crew who's always got each other's backs, like any space pirate. The hunted Hunter, wanted all over System. I'd never seen my crew as a family or anything. I guess you've changed that, too."

He could feel her watching him, but he couldn't look round at her. Ice cream dripped over his paws and peppered the floor with small, sticky pink puddles.

"I want to help you, DL," he said. "And if that means stepping paw in Botnet City to get your next memory disk, I'll do it. And if that won't help you use your electric attacks, then I'll march into Socket's mansion and get the other one." He paused and looked over at her, meeting her chocolate gaze. "But only if you want them."

"What I want?" Her crepe found itself folded back into its wrapping and placed beside her on the bench. "What I want is for everything to be normal... and to just stay here in this city. With you... and the rest of our friends."

He gave a bitter laugh and took a bite out of his rapidly melting ice cream. "I'm afraid life ain't that easy, sweetheart."

"Then I guess we just need to enjoy it while it lasts, don't we?"

Another splash came from the lake and he looked up at the azurill. Still playing, alternating with diving as far as they could beneath the water. Their life-guard tails preventing them from completely vanishing out of sight. Peaceful. Not a care in the world.

"Well, I do have seven days until I'm 'fit for work'," he said, forcing a smile. "I guess we could just... pretend aliens aren't taking over System?"

DL chuckled and leant back into the bench. "That's a rather dark way of putting it."

"I suppose we don't have to go as far as forgetting everything," he said. "The media won't let us anyway. But we could enjoy the peace and quiet for a while."

His ice cream had turned what was left of his crepe into a soggy mess. He considered giving it one last, desperate lick then shrugged it off, tossing it into the trash can beside them. It had left his paws feeling sticky, so he gave them a wipe on his scarf. It needed a wash anyway, still stained with tamato relish.

"Right, well," he said, stretching. "Maybe we should go and find Anchor and Switch?"

Before he could rise, DL's paw fastened around his wrist. "Erm..."

He looked down at her, but she avoided his gaze, pawing at her ear.

"I kind of claimed you for the day," she said.

His stomach did a flip and he found himself letting out a strangled, "Really?"

Her eyes snapped back to his, dragging him into their chocolatey depths. He sank back into his seat and adjusted his paw so he could take hold of hers. The way the sun reflected off her fur with highlights of silver and gold was mesmerising. Part of him wondered what she meant by 'claimed for the day' but he didn't want to ruin the suspense by asking. A smile tugged at his lips and he lifted a claw to wipe the cheri streak off her nose. Her tiny nose twitched at his touch, causing him to chuckle.

"I guess I don't have much choice then, do I?" he said, feigning resignation.

"No."

She scooted over to him and brushed her lips against his. He jolted slightly, his heart leaping in his chest and causing him to drop her paw. She snatched herself back, a soft blush dusting her cheeks beneath her white fur. Her eyes flitted away from him and she wound her paws together.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I thought that-"

He regathered himself and placed his paw on her cheek, gently moving her face back to his. Her eyes widened slightly but all anxiety melted away as he brushed the back of his claws over her jaw. He leant forward and placed a small kiss on her nose, then placed another one on her lips. He pulled back and gazed into her eyes again before letting out a soft sigh as he moved in to catch her in another kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, melting into him, and he let himself forget about everything else. Relishing in the fact that for the first time in years he wasn't afraid to let himself care about someone else.

...

Wet footsteps dragged Surge's attention from the news report she'd been reading. She blinked away mental images of sparking aliens to focus on the pokemon walking towards her. Midi stopped beside her, dripping water onto the floor where it pooled around the legs of her little, round table. He dropped her camera onto it, encased in a waterproof ziplock bag. It splashed droplets of water around her coffee mug and the remains of a nanab berry cake.

"I got them," the lombre told her. "Took enough photos you could make them into an album."

Surge picked up the bag and removed the camera, oddly surprised it was still completely bone dry. She loaded up the photos and her stomach tightened into knots. Her muzzle stiffened and she forced a nonchalant attitude as she scrolled through what looked like the contents of some sappy romcom.

"Good enough for you?" Midi asked. She didn't look up at him, but she could almost hear the smile in his voice.

"Good enough for Socket," she said. "This should prove a thing or two to her."

"And secure you in her good books?" He folded his arms and frowned down at her. "'Cos I don't work for free, chica. I expect my side of the bargain whether you get your reward or not."

She pulled her computer from her pocket and began to wirelessly link it up to her camera. "Oh, you'll get your side of the bargain. I'll be surprised if Socket isn't happy to receive this new little bit of information. What else did you find out? Any idea where they're going?"

"He said something about getting her memories from Botnet City." Midi paused and inclined his head on one side. "Rather dubious. What's so special about that pachirisu, anyway?"

"That's classified." Surge didn't look up at him. Her claw slid over the photos, selecting as many as she could to attach to her email.

"Spill," Midi snorted. "I wanna know what I'm gettin' into."

"Should have thought of that before you agreed to help." She shot him a brief leer. "I've been told not to breathe a word to anyone, and that includes you."

"Fine. So... how do you think the Mayor's gonna react to these photos? He clearly ain't hurtin' her. Aren't you worried it'll backfire?"

"Not at all. Socket has the right to know her daughter is currently being wooed by some sleezy space pirate." Surge glanced up at him. "If you were her, how would you react to this information?"

"I don't need to be Socket to know how I'd react," he spat. "If some space pirate got his paws on my little girl I'd have him hung, drawn and quartered!"

Surge let out a bitter laugh and fixed him with a sly smile. "Then you understand."

Her claw hit the 'send' button, and she heard the familiar whoosh as her computer sent the email and its contents to Socket. It also took her confidence with it, but she hid that under a sip of her tepid coffee.

...

The entire mansion shuddered, sending Socket to her bottom. She fixed her eyes on the holoscreen and shrieked at Yobi's face.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded.

"Don't worry, it's normal," he said.

"Normal? We've never flown this thing before!"

"These engines are pretty old, you know," he explained. "It's to be expected. Lifting the entire mansion out of Meta City is gonna take some doing."

Socket cast a nervous glance to the window. Those electrical creatures were still sprawled over anything that still gave off electricity. The smog hung in the sky, thick and heavy and dark. Above them, it threatened to rain. Rain would bring down the smog, filling the very streets with toxins so potent her feet itched at the sheer thought of stepping in it. She was convinced there were even more of those creatures, scrambling around broken and splintered electric trees, and clinging to what remained of the buildings' lights and air filters.

Her own air filter was humming away safely behind her glass dome. The dome had become both a prison and a sanctuary. The creatures had tried to climb it, but their scraggly legs couldn't grip the smooth surface.

Now the entire thing trembled, attracting dozens of the aliens to her mansion. Their lanky bodies tried once again to climb it, with more persistence than they'd previously shown. Tweak filled the office with jingling laughter as he watched them flailing in a desperate bid to access the precious electricity it promised.

She snatched her head around to Yobi. "Fine! Get it up. Then get in here and explain things to me. I'm done with talking to a holoscreen."

Deep down she hoped Yobi hadn't translated her desperate need for company. She gave another fearful glance to the creatures. Deep rivets had appeared in the ground outside the dome as the mansion shook itself free. Concrete sprayed up into the air as the entire building jerked to the side. Socket slid away from her desk, but it moved towards her with an alarming speed. She rolled to the side and watched as it crashed into the far wall, shattering the holoscreen emitter before Yobi could give her an answer.

"Drat!"

She pulled herself to her feet and rounded on Tweak. The chingling lay upside down against the wall, waving his tiny feet and giggling like a maniac.

"Tweak!" she spat. "Pull yourself together! This isn't a joke!"

His laughter stopped abruptly and he fixed his upside-down eyes on hers. "Oh, but it's just so funny. Like... the mansion is gonna fly. Just like them islands you claim never existed! And what's funnier? You're using their salvaged engines to do it!"

Socket balled her right paw into a fist. "I suggest you silence that mouth of yours before I do it for you!"

He stared up at her and opened his mouth in a wide smile, letting his tongue hang free. She growled and turned to her shattered holoscreen. Unsalvageable. Now she'd no idea what Yobi was up to. Whether or not the mansion could actually get them safely out of Meta City.

She looked back out of the window. One end of the mansion's faux garden had lifted cleanly out of the ground. The entire building still shuddered, although not as violently. The floor levelled out, sending her sprawling face first across the tiled floor. A scream of frustration left her throat and she kicked and punched the ground.

"I want things back to normal!" she shrieked.

The door flew open and a warm paw fastened over hers. It dragged her back to her feet and she turned to see Yobi's concerned face. She took a deep, steadying breath and folded her arms.

"So tell me," she began. "Is this little experiment of yours going to fail or not?"

"It's working fine." He nodded to the window and she turned to look through it.

The grounds were level, but she could see nothing of the streets. The aliens slid down the glass and clutched the edge of the grounds feebly before plummeting out of sight.

"As you can see, we're in the air," said Yobi.

Socket ventured to the window. The garden crumbled away to drop into the city miles below, leaving a hefty gap between the dome and the mansion. But there was no way the aliens could reach it now. The air filter hummed in overtime, but soon they would be above the smog.

Yobi joined her side and chuckled. "For being thousands of years old, those engines are working a treat."

"I still don't understand why we hadn't just installed new, trustworthy engines," she said. "Whatever my great, great grandfather was thinking, I'll never know."

"Well, let's face it." Yobi turned to her and folded his arms. "Look at System Sky. Those cities float, sure, but can they be steered? Do they move?"

Socket stared at him blankly. He was making a solid point, but doubt still gnawed at her.

"At least we know these engines were designed to move huge islands," he explained. "Islands bigger than this mansion. Sure, the controls are clunky. But given it was installed as a huge 'eject button', I doubt it was ever expected to actually be used. Given time I might have been able to modify it, but... there are no modern engines designed to actually fly an island."

Socket pursed her lips together and stared out of the window. Not an alien in sight. "So I guess we're just going to have to trust 'mythical' technology to get us through a promising gateway."

"Yes. I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter. At least we're safe."

A beep came from her desk and she moved over to it. Her small computer tablet lay against the wall, a narrow crack adorning its screen. She tutted and attempted to wipe it off to no avail before frowning at the name strewn across it.

"Surge," she growled. "What does she want?"

"Beggin' for her life, probably," said Tweak. At some point he'd hopped onto her desk.

She turned and leant against it as she brought up the email. The words 'I thought you might want to see this' were scrawled above a series of photos. Socket's eyes widened with each one. Macro and DL, wandering around a lush city. Eating together. And...

Her lips curled into a smile and she let out a dry laugh, before bursting into fits of laughter.

"Is something the matter, Madam Mayor?" Yobi's voice wavered with nerves and he took a wary step towards her.

"Oh no. It's perfect."

Tweak hopped up onto her shoulder and let out a long whistle. "Smooth isn't he?"

She picked the chingling up by his hairs and dropped him back onto her desk. Then she continued scrolling through the photos until she reached another two lines of text. The space pirate's next destination, along with a request from Surge that she was still available to help. Pathetic.

Yobi peered over her shoulder and his eyes widened like saucers. "So... little Loop got herself a pirate boyfriend?"

Socket resisted the urge to slap the raichu in the face with her computer. One crack was enough. "That and Surge begging for forgiveness. She seems to think this will sweeten me up. Hunter's next destination is Botnet City, looking for the next memory disk. Apparently they'll be heading there in a week. It looks like our little pirate has been injured." She let out another chuckle. "Botnet City... that's bold of him. Those electric types will skin him alive. By any chance do you know which disk that is?"

Yobi pulled out his own computer and pawed through its contents. "Its memories date back to her very young childhood."

"More recent ones?"

"No. They're here in your office."

"And where is Botnet's disk?" she asked.

"Botnet Town Hall, just like you asked."

"Arrange to have that disk exchanged with the one here," she said. "And change its location to Strobe Street Apartment, number forty eight. Tweak?"

The chingling looked up from his sprawled position among her pens. "Yes?"

"You're to exchange them. Today. Make sure it's not guarded, and evacuate that entire block until Hunter has the disk."

"Roger!" Tweak whisked the drawer open and rummaged through it for the disk.

"Today?!" Yobi gasped. "They'll be out of their homes for over a week!"

"Not necessarily," she said. "Knowing that little sneak, he could arrive there as early as tomorrow. Injured or not."

"Then where are you evacuating them to?" Yobi stuttered.

"Don't care. Just get them out of the way," said Socket. "No one is to touch a hair on that mawile."

A sinister smile crossed her face and Yobi looked up with a start. "M-Madam Mayor, what are you saying? You actually want her to have her memories? I might alert you to the consequences-"

Socket waved a paw at him. "Oh, she's beyond repair already." She flicked her computer off and held it to her chest. "Besides... these memories might prove to be quite useful."

"Useful?"

Socket chuckled, her eye darting to Tweak as he zipped out of her room in a beam of light.

"What about Hunter? He'd be a sitting ducklett! You don't want to take this opportunity-"

"No." A wicked grin split her face and she let out another chuckle, oblivious to Yobi taking two steps back towards her window. "There's more than one way to hurt him. And once he's wounded, he'll be easy prey."