Cyrus stared at the blinking light of his monitor for a lot longer than he needed to, only coming to his senses when someone knocked on his door.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a few moments. They stung badly. How long had it been since he'd gotten any sleep? Two days? Four? There was no time to do so, not when his plans required every free minute he could muster.

If the word like still had any meaning to him, he would've applied it to sleep deprivation. It was the only time he could pretend to feel something, the only time his mind even came close to functioning as it was meant to. He couldn't pass through any of the other doors, after all. Sleep had been nothing but a void ever since the incident. Forgetting was impossible. Madness was unattainable.

He would've considered the fourth door if it weren't for the only thing still left in him, his ambition. Were it not for that, death might've been an option.

It was unfortunate, especially for his enemies. He had a job to do.

He rose to his feet lazily, and urged the people outside let themselves in. The first to enter was Saturn, hands behind his back and expression unreadable. He took two steps and bowed down to him, posture was firm and perfect. Jupiter was next, slamming her shoulder against Saturn's as she walked past him. Dry drops of alcohol stained parts of her uniform, which was poorly kept. Charon followed soon after, adjusting his glasses and holding a heavy looking folder under his right arm.

His commanders. The three people closest to him.

Part of him wished he could feel anything at the sight of them.

"I will make this brief."

Everyone shifted uncomfortably on their feet. Cyrus' voice snuck up on them like an unexpected, freezing gust of wind. None of them could stand to look at his eyes for more than a few moments.

"Mars has failed in her mission," he stated, as calmly as if he were broadcasting the weather. "She's been captured by the Association, and so have many of our grunts."

Their reactions were predictable. Charon muttered something under his breath and shook his head. Saturn's eyes went wide in shock, and he let out a forced gasp. Jupiter seemed surprised for a moment, and then laughed.

"I knew I should've gone with her!" Saturn frowned, clenching his fists. "Sir, I am so sorry! I was the one who let her take care of the mission!"

"Eh, who cares?" Jupiter shrugged. "That psycho got what was coming to her, if you ask me. Good fucking riddance."

"How can you say that!? She is one of us, you heartless…!"

"Enough."

Silence fell on the room as soon as Cyrus spoke.

He turned to Saturn. "You know it's protocol to notify me whenever a mission changes hands. Handing this particular one to Mars was the worst decision you could have made."

Saturn lowered his head, face turned into a mask of shame. He couldn't speak, couldn't even apologize, not while being looked at with those eyes.

"You will be processed next time you make a mistake of this magnitude," he said, plainly. "And as for you, Jupiter."

The woman stood as straight as her alcohol filled body allowed her, too scared of her boss to say anything.

"You know very well what Mars holds. Whatever happens to her, we cannot let that Ditto fall onto the enemy's hands."

She bowed slightly. "Y-yes sir. I apologize for my insolence."

"The Association doesn't want us to know where they're taking them to," he continued, crossing his arms. "Charon, I assume the locator installed in Mars' body is still active?"

He nodded, a constant frown on his face. "Unless they use some kind of localized EMP, it should still work."

"Our first step is to locate her. Once we've done that the rest of our plan will unfold smoothly."

"W-what about the others, sir?"

Saturn raised his hand hesitantly, irises shrunken. His voice carried an unmistakable hopeful tone, which Cyrus didn't fail to pick up on. He had to choose his words carefully; Saturn was too important of a right hand to upset. As much as he didn't like the idea, he needed to maintain the young man's idealistic nature if he was to use him for his plans.

"It is unfortunate, but I already used the fail-safe on them," he said. "We can't have them divulge everything they know about us. Do you understand?"

"But…" Saturn's lips quivered, and his eyes seemed to water. "They're part of our family, they would never…."

"It has happened before," he cut him off, "and we don't know what kind of interrogating techniques the Association has. It was the only choice."

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Saturn looked like he wanted to protest further, but after a few moments he lowered his head in defeat and nodded. Next to him Jupiter rolled her eyes as obviously as she could.

Good enough.

"Jupiter," Cyrus adressed her. "Follow Charon to the lab, learn Mars' coordinates and start gathering a team to retrieve Ditto."

Jupiter thought about it for a moment, then asked: "What if Mars resists?"

Cyrus stood silent for a moment. He'd considered the possibility, of course. In fact it had been the one that crossed his mind as soon as he'd learned the news of his commander's fate. There was a non insignificant chance that she might have learned of his truce with Shadi. No negotiation would be possible, if that was the case.

"If she resists, deal with her in any way you see fit," he said. "We only need Ditto unharmed."

She smiled as if receiving a present, then bowed properly to him.

"What about… the girl?" Saturn asked, regaining his composure. "Inyssa. What do we do with her?"

"I will deal with her personally."

Everyone's eyes fell on him for the first time. The startled looks on his commanders' faces would've been amusing to him in the past.

"She and her friend have grown too bothersome to ignore," he continued, "and they will continue to do so. Their potential as trainers is dangerous, and they need to be taken care of as soon as possible." He turned towards the old man. "Charon, how is the Unovan project coming along?"

He seemed shook for a moment, before clearing his throat and adjusting his tie.

"Colress' instructions have proved useful in containing it," he said. "The merge of its DNA with the Berserk Gene makes it incredibly unstable, but we should be able to have it fully under our control as soon as we finish developing the containment armor. Should take a couple weeks or so."

"Good. I'd rather not have relied on one of the Institute's Stigmas for help, but it was a necessary evil," he whispered to himself. "We've been gifted with a gratuitous opportunity, it seems."

"Wh-what do you mean?" asked Saturn.

"Both these missions, it would be beneficial to make them occur around the same time." He tapped his chin, eyes narrowed. "The Festival of Spirit in Celestic Town will be held soon as well. A powerful allure for any trainer worth their salt. Judging from Inyssa and her friend's idiotic trainer spirit, it would not be a stretch to believe that they will most likely attend the event. That will be our opportunity to seize her."

Everyone in the room stared at him in confusion, but his mind was too busy for him to notice. He looked to the side, at the gigantic map of Sinnoh pasted on his wall.

"Both missions will act as a smokescreen for the other," he said. "Jupiter will be in charge of the jailbreak, and I will make use of the Unovan project to take care of her."

He didn't fail to notice Saturn's look of horror, even if he didn't protest. Indeed, the Unovan project might be more than overkill to deal with amateur trainers, but at least it would guarantee his success. Besides, he planned to use it for something much greater that day.

With some luck, he might even be able to get rid of the Champion herself.

"Go off then," he told Jupiter and Charon. "There is something I must discuss with Saturn."

After some bows and empty words of appreciation he was left alone with his right hand. Saturn waited patiently for his own orders, standing as still as a statue. So young, and yet so loyal. He'd been lucky to attract someone like him to his cause.

"Your mission will involve something different," Cyrus stated, voice full of exhaustion. "It is time we deal with the Ursa situation."

He saw the young man's expression turn into one of anger and sadness so fast he wished he could be jealous.

"Again, I apologize for not catching her last time," he said.

"No need," Cyrus said. "In any case, we know her last location was Solaceon, where she stole the research Willow was performing for for us."

He started walking around the room, hands behind his back. "Jupiter has been working on recreating it, but her progress is not fast enough. Getting those papers back is our top priority at the moment, closely followed by retrieving Azelf itself." Everything around him seemed to become colder the more he spoke. "Fortunately, the research is too complicated for someone like Ursa to understand. This means that her most likely next course of action will be to find someone who can interpret the papers for her."

Saturn spoke up. "Do you think she'll go to the Association? Wait, no…" He shook his head. "There's no way she'll ever trust them."

"Exactly. And there aren't many people she could ask for help that aren't associated with them. This leaves two options for her."

He raised his hand and formed a two with his fingers. "First, she might try to kidnap one of their scientists and force them to interpret the papers. After that, she'll kill them so the information doesn't fall on the Association's hands."

"She won't do that," Saturn assured him, brow furrowed. "Ursa is… a traitor, and she's horrible, but she wouldn't kill someone innocent that has nothing to do with us."

Cyrus knew this, of course. That girl was the epitome of everything Team Galactic fought against. Too idealistic, too emotional, too bent on everyone around her.

"Her second option is to kidnap either Jupiter or Charon. However that would mean breaking into our base, and she knows there is no chance of such a plan succeeding in her current state." He took a deep breath, considering the possibility. "To do such a thing she would need to fully recharge Azelf's power."

Saturn's eyes went wide as realization hit him.

"Lake Valor!" he yelled. "Do you think that's where she's heading?"

"It's my best guess at the moment," he said. "You are the one in charge of that area, are you not?"

"I… yes, of course." Saturn gulped. "Are you thinking of…"

"Setting a trap. As soon as she sets foot in the lake's cave we will capture them."

Hesitation flashed across Saturn's face for a moment, and Cyrus was reminded that affection wasn't something that evaporated so quickly. The boy still had fond memories of her, it seemed.

"Y-yes sir, that is a genius plan." Saturn smiled nervously. "In that case, I will do my best to lay the preparations. I will not fail you again, I swear!"

"Very well." Cyrus nodded dispassionately. "That is all. You can go now."

The young man bowed firmly to him, and then turned around towards the door. Cyrus let out a tired sigh, his eyelids almost falling close by themselves. As much as it pained him, maybe it was time he got some sleep.

"Wait, sir!"

He blinked fast, shaking the exhaustion off. Saturn was talking to him again, a nervous look on his face.

"I almost forgot to mention," he said. "A few days ago, while I was scouting around the lake, I came across this boy…"

Cyrus had to endure the tale for almost two minutes, still struggling not to fall asleep on the spot. Even if his commander had a point and there was potential for a useful new recruit in the horizon, he couldn't bring himself to care.

"…and I really think he embodies our ideals, sir!" Saturn finished, grinning from ear to ear. "If I may, can I try to recruit him? Nothing would make me happier than having him as part of our family."

Family. The word resonated strangely inside Cyrus, bouncing off as if it had no place to land. It simply flew around for a few moments before dissipating, leaving him with an odd feeling of emptiness.

"Yes, of course." He nodded absentmindedly. "You have permission to do so."