A Night Noctowl

[bnw_sheepy_npcs]

In the wee hours of the morning, a bit after the matriarch's announcement, a video feed will come through. For the first minute or so, it appears to be a static image of someone's desk, before the soft clattering of little bird feet on parchment. Suddenly, the feed is turned sideways.

"Did you get it, Stravinsky? ...It's on? That's wonderful! You're a genius!"

Diving into the picture--still sideways--is a sandy-haired youth. There are circles under his eyes, as if he hasn't slept in quite some time, but he still appears to be in good spirits. The source of the scuttling earlier, a Torchic, hops upon his head and proceeds to start preening himself. He adjusts his glasses before he speaks.

"Hello, people of Union! And other places now, I should say. Ha ha! My name is Max Akers, and I am head of the Department of Research with the Seekers, Calderan chapter. I imagine some of you met my colleagues earlier. After hearing from them, I knew reaching out to you at a time like this would be our best bet.

"As we are a relatively small group of scholars here in Caldera, and all of us are positively abuzz with curiosity over this Matriarch Frea and her tribe of Citadel, not to mention the large Pokémon she made mention of!"

He certainly sounds excited, as he clasps his head together. Stravinsky, however, is disinterested and has taken to instead preening his human's hair instead.

"I propose we work together to investigate this problem they are having. Scholars don’t make the best warriors, unfortunately, but some intelligence we have in the general area lead us to believe it may be quite powerful, and quite possibly related to a few texts we've managed to restore of older times. It’s really quite exciting! Any information found will be shared, of course; it’s much like Miss Frea says, we help each other! What do you say?”

He smiles at the, still lopsided, camera, as Stravinsky dryly peeps at it. It’s crooked, birdbrain.

Comments

[bnw_wighty_npcs]

"Hey, boss."

Ceilto gives a small wave through the screen despite probably being a few doors down. You know, just in case anyone doesn't remember which incredibly esteemed colleague Max was referring to.

"You want us to scope things out or you good with aggressively reading books about this thing?"

[bnw_sheepy_npcs]

You kids and your new-fangled technology. It's called walking down the hall and knocking, Ceilto. Honestly, Max doesn't like to move around much either, but he's right there!

Also it took him a good half hour to get this warp band thinger worked out, so there's that too. He's still sideways, at that.

"These things take a bit of both, Ceilto! Field work will never completely replace good, old-fashioned research." Plus it wouldn't hurt for you to crack open a book every once in a while. You do remember what those are, right?

[bnw_wighty_npcs]

Get with the times, man, get with the times. You still using a WarpBand4G the new 5s are so much better. Higher memory, man.

"That's why you're the boss and we're the grunts. Just think - with these things, you don't even have to come with us anymore. You can just give us orders while you're reading books under the covers."

[bnw_sheepy_npcs]

Sorry, but he likes face-to-face conversations more than impersonal things over weird old-made-new technology. I mean when was the last time you wrote a letter?

Max ruffles his hair a bit, much to the chagrin of the Torchic currently making it his nest; the bird squawks a bit before getting appeasement pets on the head.

"Being a researcher, even if I am the 'boss', also means being willing to help on the field. You can't have one without the other, no matter how high in the tower you sit." It's hard to say whether or not he sounds pleased about that. There's an eagerness to be sure, but he burns so easily, you see.

[bnw_wighty_npcs]

Letter...? What do you mean? Like the alphabet? What is this 'letter' you speak of?

"So does that mean you're volunteering to go confront this menace while Maeve and I sleep in?"

[bnw_sheepy_npcs]

Wow. Just. Wow.

Max groans a bit at that. "I wouldn't go quite that far. I'm an academic, not a fighter." You kids have fun fighting whatever the terror of the tree is. He'll sit back from a safe distance.

[bnw_wighty_npcs]

A mock sigh of disappointment.

"You shouldn't undersell yourself, you know. You never know when a well-placed paper cut will mean the difference between victory and defeat."

[bnw_sheepy_npcs]

Max gave him a dry look over the feed. A dry look that said if he said the wrong thing, it might result in a drop in pay.

"I'm not entirely sure if you're joking or not."

[bnw_wighty_npcs]

Is this a face you can deduct pay from? Clearly Max has no soul...

"Once I sliced my finger open so badly it was hard to hold a knife afterwards for a few days."

Ceilto nods wisely.

[bnw_sheepy_npcs]

Clearly Ceilto doesn't know him very well, then. Also budget woes, because who wants to pay people to read books in this town?

Max chuckles a bit. "Fair enough, but you know I'm not an Earthkin. I'm just as normal as they come. Be that as it may," He sighs a bit, a fatigued smile on his face, "If you don't mind a bumbling bookwurmple around, I suppose I could try to be of some assistance."

[bnw_wighty_npcs]

A slight grin.

"Like we'd ever say we didn't want you around."

Who else would enthusiastically volunteer to do all the reading??

[bnw_sheepy_npcs]

"But you have thought it."

[bnw_wighty_npcs]

"Max, the moment you stop being around is the moment one of us has to start being in charge. I think I speak for everyone in the organization when I say nobody in the world wants to see that."

[bnw_sheepy_npcs]

Is he suppressing a shudder?

"No, certainly not."

[bnw_wighty_npcs]

A grin.

"Get back to those books now, and we'll bring you out when you think you've found something."