the fractured paradise (open)

Janus struggled for a moment upon takeoff, but it wasn't long before the toucannon and his human rider were soaring alongside Seraph and Ahi. The pokemon was focused solely on reaching his current destination, but his trainer was able to take the time to look at their surroundings, and soon found herself regretting it.

The sight of the crashing waves below them made her shudder involuntarily, and she quickly forced herself to turn away from the sight of the vast, restless, ocean. Anna didn't mind heights too much - in fact, she found that flying could be a somewhat freeing experience - but deep water was something she tried to avoid at all costs, both literally and metaphorically. As such, the trainer was glad when the great hulking mass of the Aether Paradise came into view, and she had something else to distract herself with.

"Land ahoy!" she called out with a relieved grin, clinging onto her toucannon's back even tighter as they began to make the ascent to the landing area. She spared a glance to one side to make sure that her human companions were still with her, glad that she had had someone to make the journey alongside.

A twin flash of light marked Janus' return to his pokeball, shortly after Anna had landed and gotten both feet back on the ground. She cocked her head at Seraph's question, her expression turning thoughtful as she considered the possibilities. "Hmm, I'm not sure," she replied after a couple of moments, looking around at the buildings. "I suppose over there is as good a place as any to start our investigation-" she pointed towards the nearest building, where the most Aether Employees seemed to be travelling to and from. A couple of scientists were looking at their group with undisguised curiosity, so Anna figured that there would probably be someone over there who could at the very least point them in the right direction.

Truthfully, Anna had never even visited the Aether Paradise before. Aside from a couple of trips to the Aether buildings down on the islands, all she had to go by in terms of knowledge about the organisation were the various stories and rumours that she had overheard during the past couple of months. Even if some of the stories hadn't painted the organisation's leaders in the best of lights, they did all seem to agree on one thing: the facilities at the Paradise were some of the most advanced in the region. Anna hoped - for her brother's sake - that they might be able to use this to their advantage in the search for the missing people and pokemon.

Anna tried her best to follow Seraph's lead and match the other girl's stoic expression. If they wanted to get answers the way Seraph was going, then solidarity was key. They had to look like they meant business. Her eyes narrowed on the group of scientists, who had merely stood and stared while her ally had been speaking, and were now exchanging glances and whispered conversations with one another. Most of them looked curious or confused; evidently, the news of the recent disappearance in Malie City hadn't reached the heights of Aether Paradise yet.

After a couple more moments of similar, hushed exchanges, one of the workers stepped out from the back of the group and positioned himself in front of Seraph. Anna's initial inspection of him didn't reveal much - his green goggles and gloves were the only things that distinguished him from his fellow employees - but she didn't like the way that he stared down at her and her allies.

"Flashing lights, you say?" the man began, leaning towards Seraph, "And more disappearances? That does sound like quite the problem you have there. Fortunately, we may be able to help - for a price, of course." He let the words hang in the air for a moment, before continuing; "I propose an exchange of information, since you and your friends have obviously put in a lot of effort to reach this place. Why don't you come inside, where we can discuss this further?" With that, he turned back towards the building, the gaggle of scientists around him hurrying to enter before Anna and the others. The blond-haired man paused at the doorway, and looked back to where Seraph and the others were standing a short distance away. "Well...?"

Anna blinked, the speed at which the scientist had spoken then moved away again taking her by surprise. She turned to the others and shrugged, unsure of what to make of him.

Anna nodded at Seraph and Ahi's words, before walking alongside them into the building. New people and places caught her eye as she did so, but she didn't get the chance to investigate anything further; the man in green had strode off at a quick pace upon seeing that the trainers were following him, and it was all Anna could do to keep up with him, let alone keep an eye on everything else that was going on around her. The trainer was sure that she was missing several other sites of interest, but there wasn't anything she could do about it at that moment in time.

Eventually, their journey through the pristine building came to an end as they reached a vast, open room, filled with plants and pokemon. The scientist stood waiting for them in one of the more secluded sectors, but Anna took the opportunity to turn to her newfound allies and grin. "The employees might be a bit creepy here," she remarked, "But you gotta admit that this place is pretty awesome!" She'd never been to a conservation area before, so the sight was a new one for her.

Anna listened to the other two as they talked, nodding in agreement with Seraph's last comment. "The Aether Foundation certainly has the biggest connection to the Ultra Beast that I know of," she replied in a half-whisper, lowering her voice so that the scientist nearby wouldn't be able to overhear her. "It's a bit suspicious, though I suppose we'll have to trust them for now. We don't have anyone else to turn to."

The thought of her brother's safety being out of her hands sent a scowl across the trainer's face. She certainly shared Seraph's dislike of the situation, though perhaps for a slightly different reason than the other girl. Regardless of how she felt, however, they still had a long way to go if she wanted to get any of the missing people and pokemon back. Anna turned her attention back to their impromptu Aether guide, who had set up one of the computers nearby while the trainers had been talking. If anyone knew anything, it was him.

As she was looking, the man finished fiddling about with the computer and turned back to the group. Noticing her staring, he cleared his throat and strode back over to where they were all standing. "Now that that's sorted, how about we get started," he began, seemingly oblivious to the mistrustful stares and whispers that had preceded him. Anna shot a wary glance to her companions, still not happy about the situation. "Some introductions might be apt, perhaps. My name is Faba, and I am currently part of Aether's research and conservation team. And you trainers are...?"

OOC: Sorry if this gets a bit info-dumpy at times, it'll get better once this section is out of the way. I also apologise for rambling haha

Faba seemed a bit put out by the bluntness of both trainers, but apparently decided to overlook it and continue regardless. "Well, as you three guessed, the Aether Foundation has been investigating the recent disappearances," he began, turning from the group to face the computer screen once more. "Your appearance and subsequent report might just confirm a few of our theories. Where, exactly, did you say you encountered this... disturbance? And can you describe to me precisely the sequence of events leading up to the disappearance?"

As he spoke, Anna leaned in to inspect the image that had been pulled up on the screen behind Faba. It seemed to be a detailed map of the islands, each with several red dots marked on them. Anna frowned, wondering what it could mean.

Anna stifled a laugh at Ahi's frank response, before nodding an affirmative of her own. She thought back to the events of that morning, trying to remember if anything else had happened before the disappearances. "Before the warping began I heard a strange noise, too," she added once Seraph had finished speaking, her memory of the event itself still slightly blurred by the panic that had overtaken her in the aftermath. "It sounded like humming, or buzzing. It was very strange."

Faba listened to the trainers recount their memories of the disturbance, nodding thoughtfully as he did so. "Yes, I do believe that confirms it," he hummed once they had finished. "These disappearances are almost certainly due to the same kind of dimensional warping that brought the Ultra Beast to this world. Our predictions told us that much, though at the moment we really need more data before we can do anything about it. Though, I wonder..."

The Aether employee trailed off for a couple of moments, considering the trainers before him with a critical eye. "Perhaps," he began again slowly, apparently having made a decision of some kind, "we can help each other out in this regard. You want to find the missing people, do you not? If we could get people to the scene of the next 'incident', we might be able to gather the data we so desperately need to solve this mystery. Unfortunately, the Aether Foundation's official involvement in anything to do with Ultra Beasts has been strictly prohibited thanks to that little fiasco a couple of months ago. You three, however, have no such restrictions. With our resources and your freedom of movement, we could track down the source of this problem once and for all. An alliance between us could benefit us both. What do you think?"