Zeke quirked a brow. “Are you sure you want to go to the top of the mountain without any equipment?” He pointed to the bright, flashing, neon sign of Rillaboom Rentals down by their cabin. “You should be able to get anything you need there.”
“Don’t tell me you mean Elbert Caine. Please tell me you have any Elbert other than the President of this Arcean Universe written into this insane fantasy of yours.” He looked about ready to beg on his knees.
With the lift on, the front door sign shined with “open” in neon almost to bright to see. It took a moment for the blinding light to let anyone see the, well lit but darker than the sun interior. Once eyes adjusted, it was very clear why this rillaboom’s name was Rally.
Abigail shrugged. "I am, for reasons I cannot explain and only partially understand myself, supposed to summit this mountain. I have been told to get equipment before doing that. What do I need?"
Zeke now knew for certain he was speaking with extra terrestrial life. “It is a ski lift that takes you to the top of a ski mountain with ski slopes. I theorize this mountain exists so that we may ski or board down it. Do you have an alternative hypothesis?”
Rally’s posture deflated into despair before reaching out a paw, desperate for salvation. “Your sights are shorted, doll. That mountain’s got just one top, but every way to go down.” He looked up with a judging glare of desperation. “You really gonna stop at the moon on your way to the sun?”
"It's certainly possible," Palkia mused. "I'd had my suspicions after the Rotom opted to end the day early rather than attempt to defend themselves. I'm also still rather interested to hear what sort of gift Tabitha's got, as he's one of the few that hasn't come clean."
“Nah, doll, nah,” sighed Rally. He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “You don’t gotta live life like that. Your worth’s right in front of you, waiting for you to slip them slopes.”
It took Abigail a moment to parse those sentences. "If I am translating correctly, you're wanting me to ski down from the summit? Sure. Why not. I've been skiing once before, what's the worst that could happen..."
"Funny." Abigail was unamused. "I also was curious about that, but I think it suggests the exact opposite. The possibility of my scan of Lee going wrong was chance to turn things back into their favour... And yet, instead of taking a shot at it, their side decided to shut everything down, even if it killed one of their own. Why? If Rotom was the last one left, that play would have been nothing short of wilfully throwing a chance to come back to the wind. Someone on their side was also able to kill, so unless Rotom had both powers at once, there must've been someone else."
Zeke slammed his face into his paw. “I just told you how easy it would be for me to hear him. Do you seriously not—“
