Chapter Text
Isadore covered in soot, grease, and scuffs isn't an odd sight among the depot agents, not at all.
In fact, whenever she's not on shift battling, she would often be found fixing stuff up.
And while it seems like it at times, Isadore is not the only mechanic they have on staff. Most of the depot agents were mechanics with degrees, it's just that Isadore was always the one people went to to fix smaller issues. Mechanical, electrical, or otherwise, she often has the solution.
She was, essentially, what kept Gear Station as a whole, running.
That was also why the main control panel of Gear Station was currently missing several covers, half the wiring exposed, with maintenance tools scattered across the floor.
“Check tunnel A1?” Isadore had asked, having laid down on her back to work with the wiring of the panel.
“Nope, still dead.”
Around them, depot agents hurried about, redirecting trains through the backup systems while maintenance crews monitored the temporary consoles.
Thankfully, Ramses and another maintenance officer had caught the malfunction before the primary network failed completely. This meant that Gear Station was still running, only now with a lot more activity from the staff.
Isadore scooted herself back out from beneath the cabinet with a grunt, wiping sweat from her brow.
By the Regis… These control panels were not designed with mechanics in mind.
Her Raichu immediately appeared beside her with a chilled bottle of water.
“Thanks, buddy.” She quickly took the bottle and emptied the entire thing before sighing happily. She didn't want to get dehydrated now.
“You know,” she muttered, peering back into the exposed circuitry with a frown, “they should really make these things Electric-type proof, several of the resistors are fried and one of the transformers is going to need a change soon.”
Ramses barked out a laugh. “They already are Electric-type proof!”
Isadore let out a sigh as she leaned back for a moment, accepting the face towel Raichu handed her to wipe away the sweat on her face and neck. “Clearly they aren't, there's signs of an electrical overcharge.”
“They say that it's joltik-proof on the tin but this is, like, the 3rd time this month isn't it?” Ramses sighed.
“Yeah,” Isadore just sighed out in agreement. “though you say that as though a determined enough Joltik won't somehow chew through reinforced insulation to get to the electricity.”
“You know what, fair point.” Ramses conceded with thoughtful expression. “They're literal hellions I say!”
“They're adorable little hellions though,” Isadore protested with a raised eyebrow. “Besides, they can be quite handy and you always feed them anyway.”
“...expensive adorable little hellions…” Ramses pouts.
Isadore chuckled softly then sighed. They've been working on this for three hours now and Isadore still couldn't find the faulty wiring.
It was starting to annoy her, just a little bit.
“Think it could've been a capacitor failure?” Ramses tried.
“Nope, first thing I checked.”
“What about that transformer that needs to be changed soon?”
“It's not overheating yet, I'll be placing an order for a new one.”
“What about a loose connection?”
“Checked it.”
Ramses hummed and squinted. “Hmm…”
“Ramses?”
“Hear me out, Isadore,” Ramses started.
Here they go again, Isadore sighed and rolled her eyes, already preemptively looking for the control panel schematics.
Raichu, her beloved boy, bounded over with it in hand and handed it over to Isadore. Her sky dragon blessed partner deserved all the scritches!
“Okay, so, earlier, I heard a really loud sneeze!” Ramses started and leaned in conspiringly.
“...okay?”
“So, maybe…” their voice went into a secretive hush. “Maybe the station is haunted.”
Without hesitation, Isadore reached up and lightly smacked them on the arm with the rolled up panel schematics.
“Owww~ Isadooorrre~” Ramses whined.
“Could you stop slandering Jackie's good name? Everyone already knows the subway is haunted.” Isadore huffed.
Honestly, there wasn't really any heat behind it, it was just how things were between the two of them. Isadore would be working on something while Ramses came up with the wildest of theories. All of them exaggerated though.
“But I didn't even mention Jackie!” Ramses whined again.
“yeah yeah, whatever, just get back to work already.” Isadore fondly shook her head as she headed back into the fold of electrical wires.
“Awwww~ poo~” Ramses pouted, but did as they were told.
Isadore would have to look through each individual wire it seemed.
“I'm serious though,” Ramses started up again.
Isadore only made a small hum of affirmation to indicate that she heard them.
“I really did hear one massive sneeze, and then everything started going off the fritz.”
Isadore paused for a moment and sighed, realisation dawning on her after a moment. Of course that was what did it to the systems. Boss Ingo having a sneezing fit was not healthy for any of the electrical components.
Oh well, some things just can't be changed.
Neither of them really questioned it after that. Neither wanted to think about how a simple sneeze could somehow mess with the control panel.
It's been a standing rule among the Gear Station employees; if weird things involve the twins, don't question it too hard.
“...yeah, that tracks.” Isadore admitted with a sigh before continuing.
It wasn't like it was a big secret. Okay, maybe it was. It was just a poorly kept one. Isadore honestly wondered how and why it happened sometimes.
Why were the gods of Unova disguised as humans? And why, in the name of everything holy, were they so obsessed with trains of all things?
It sometimes made her wonder what other gods were out there galavanting around as humans.
Still, Isadore wouldn't want anything about her life changed. Hell, she's even willing to fight god if she has to to keep those dorks safe.
The back of the control panel was a little harder to see. What a drag.
Isadore clicked her tongue. “Raichu, can you get Lanturn, please? I need some light.”
“Rai!”
With a click, Isadore's Lanturn was released with a small cry. In only a few short moments, Lanturn was nearby, casting a soft illuminating glow.
“Thanks, Lanturn.” With the new light source, Isadore has started going through each wire carefully.
“Aha! There you are, you sneaky little shit.” Isadore saw the issue, nestled in the very back in an awkward corner of the wiring was a small… something.
“You know, Boss Ingo wouldn't appreciate you swearing like that! Think of the children!” Ramses teased
Isadore couldn't really tell what that used to be, all she knows is that it was half melted.
With deft hands, she grabbed it and jiggled it free. And then she took a proper look at it and frowned. Well, how in the Distortion world did the Relay of all components get fried?
“Well, Boss Ingo's just going to have to suck it up this time,” Isadore pushed herself away from the control panel and called over one of the mechanics on standby. “Hey Joel, mind grabbing me one of the spare SSRs in the store room? Red box on shelf 6. Grab me a thermal and power relay too. Oh, and grab me another roll of electrical tape please.”
“Roger!”
“Yeesh, is that the old relay? It's completely melted!” Ramses commented, leaning their weight over the control panel with a wince. “How did you miss that earlier?”
Isadore sighed, “It was hidden behind a section of wiring that was hard to see and reach.”
It took another 5 minutes before Joel returned with the items she requested. And then another 10 to get everything fixed up.
“Alright, Raichu, a little current correction, please?” Isadore asked, letting Raichu gently zap the system.
Raichu nodded, his tail coming to rest at the electrical socket by the base of the control panel. A small, precisely controlled burst of electricity danced across the system and its wiring.
And then, with a click, the new relay released and the lights flickered before the control panel roared back to life.
“Oh!” Ramses gasped, softly then began to take charge. “System's back online! Freddie, Caroline, Jake, begin the process of line relays to the main system please.”
Around the room, many staff and agents began to move around, setting things back into motion as more monitors awakened one after another.
Isadore sighed in relief as she skimmed away from the panel, gently closing the latch so that no stay Joltik could enter and interfere with the wiring.
“Rai!” “Laaaan!”
Raichu and Lanturn held out a bottle of water for their trainer, something Isadore was more than happy to take a sip from before offering the rest to her partners as they settled down off to the side.
“Status report?” Ramses commanded, scanning lines of code as they appeared on the main monitor.
“Tunnel A1 restored!”
“B7 online!”
“Switchyard responding!”
Isadore closed her eyes as she listened to the sounds of successful reports from different agents, a cheer erupting throughout the room.
Off to her left, Isadore heard Ramses stretch dramatically. “Well then, that's another crisis avoided.”
“Until an error pops up.” Isadore huffed.
“What an optimist you are, Isadore” Ramses sassed back, only to sigh when one of the agents reported an error.
“Told you.”
An hour later, delayed trains were finally back on schedule again and the worst of it had passed.
Ramses sat beside Isadore atop a toolbox, sipping on a canned coffee. “Augh, Dragons, let's never do that again…”
“Mhm,” was all Isadore could muster up, having exhausted herself and enjoying the break.
Ramses sipped their coffee quietly for a moment, “...hey, can I ask you something?”
“And when have you ever waited for permission?”
“...you know, fair,” Ramses smirked. “Anyway, what do you think of the bosses?”
Isadore smiled without meaning to, a chuckle leaving her as she shook her head. “They’re… nice guys.”
“Ugh, everyone knows that, Isadore! I mean…” Ramses leaned back with a small pout. “you've known them longer than anyone here.”
Isadore hummed in thought. That was true. She had known the bosses for five whole years, since the very first day they stepped foot into Gear Station as depot agents- back when they had all been fresh recruits.
Isadore still remembered their first day. Being a nervous depot agent standing in front of a now retired veteran who was assigned to train them.
It had been her, Ingo, and Emmet.
They had been a well oiled machine, working in sync with each other and integrating anyone else around them with ease. Despite Emmet never speaking once. Despite Ingo’s stoic and unapproachable expression.
And yet they had both been extremely polite. Polite but strangely weird. Isadore couldn't tell what about them threw her off, but there definitely was something off…
She couldn't tell if it were their eyes or their mannerisms, but they were strange. Strange but never rude.
At least that's what she thought until their lunch break.
Isadore had sat with them for lunch, figuring that it would be best for the three of them to at least be good acquaintances if not friends in this new field.
Then she asked a question. “so, why did you two join the subway?”
Ingo had been the first to speak up, as expected. He had looked up from his sandwich, his eyes resting on her.
“Hm? Oh, we like the subway and wanted it to flourish. We had an idea that we wanted to integrate into the subway, a battle facility of sorts. But in order to do that, we first need to become subway bosses.”
From next to Ingo, Emmet nodded, biting into his own sandwich.
“Though, even if we can't integrate the idea, we have found several aspects of the subway in need of maintenance. So the end terminal is still the same.” Ingo had added on. “What about you, Ms. Guinta?”
Isadore flinched back a bit at the use of her surname. She didn't like that at all.
“...please, Isadore is fine.”
“Ah, my apologies, Ms. Isadore. My question still stands, though.”
Isadore sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know…”
“Hm, you don't?” He tilted his head.
“Not really,” she bit into her own sandwich. “Wasn't like it needed much of a reason. The job was just there so I took it.”
Isadore didn't quite want to explain her reasoning, not to strangers anyway. To her, it sounded selfish anyway. She gave what would have been enough of a reason for now.
Isadore had remembered the brief stretch of silence afterwards and then.
“I am Emmet, That is a lie. A verrry bad lie. You are weak.”
Isadore had never heard a peep out of the second twin, so it had been a surprise when he spoke.
Then his words registered and she remembered the rage that had suddenly fueled her.
“Huh?!”
“You are weak. That is truth.”
Isadore had stood immediately, rage and anger bubbling beneath her skin. “What did you just say?”
“I am Emmet, you are not deaf. I said you are weak.”
“Oh, that's it,” she hissed out and pointed towards Emmet. “We'll have a battle and see who's the weak one!”
Emmet’s smile hadn't wavered one bit. He simply nodded and stood up.
Isadore remembered the battle had been Raichu versus Eelektross with Ingo serving as their referee.
And Isadore remembered that the battle had lasted barely two minutes. She and Raichu never stood a chance.
She had frozen in place before rushing to her dear Raichu's side. She remembered the feeling of devastation she had felt at the one sided massacre, the anger simmering down to a sickening self loathing.
Then Emmet had walked over, his ever present smile plastered onto his face. “You are weak,” he had repeated.
Isadore bit the inside of her lip to stop herself from causing a scene, her eyes were already stinging with tears by that point. “Oh, rub salt in the wound, why don't you.” She had snarked.
She had expected him to walk away then. Except he didn’t. And when she had turned to give him a glare, all she saw was genuine confusion in his eyes.
“You misunderstand,” he had said. “I did not mean weak in strength.”
“...then what?”
“You are weak in resolve. In ideals.”
Isadore had blinked in confusion now.
“I am Emmet. You are Ms. Isadore. You possess great potential. Your truths are strong but you lack Ideals.”
“...I do?”
Emmet had smiled then. “Yup!” he had crouched beside her, his smile growing fond. “Someone who remains weak without ideals simply has had their train delayed. That does not mean that the delay is permanent. A train without a destination can not truly move. A station known as Ideals will be built sooner or later. That is truth.”
“I am Emmet. Me and Ingo, our Ideal is to become Subway Bosses. No one shall stop us. That is our truth. But, we also would like to see you achieve an ideal. We will help. That is also truth. Yup!”
“Our goal is one worth pursuing for us, made us stronger because of it. But we are still climbing and did not reach our current terminal alone. There remains much for the both of us to learn still. And when you discover your own ideals, we would be delighted to help conduct you towards your truth.” Ingo had added.
Isadore didn’t quite understand it at the time. But the twins had a very good point then. So when Emmet had offered her his hand, she took it without hesitation.
Since then, they had pulled her out of the depths of her own mind when some days were worse than others. When she needed an out when the world felt like it was drowning her, the twins would always be there to help her out.
No, Isadore never wants to revisit the horrors of her life. But she would never deny that those memories were cushioned by the life and love and family she had now. And she knows they have their own secrets, much like she does. But she would help them no matter what, like how they had helped her.
She would give her life for them even if they never ask, as they had given hers back without ever being asked.
—
“...so~?” Ramses had asked.
Isadore snorted in amusement. “They’re nice guys.” she paused. “Weird, ridiculously weird, but nice.”
Ramses groaned and waved a hand dismissively. “Again, everyone knows that, Isadore! I want some gossip here!”
Isadore snorted and shoved Ramses gently. “Tough luck, you know I’m not one for gossip.”
“I knoooww~!” Ramses sighed dramatically, slumping slightly with a pout. Then a gleam sparkled in their eyes. “So, what do you think they’re hiding?”
“Oh, dragons have mercy, the conspiracy theorist is at it again…”
Ramses laughed and gently shoved her shoulder. “Oh come on, Deerling! Humor me!”
“Get back to work!” Isadore couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Oh, please, I still think there's merit to the Darkrai pair theory.”
Isadore laughed hard and wiped away at her eyes. “Dear distortion, you are hopeless.”
“Oh, I’ve been called worse, Deerling, try harder.” That earned Ramses a stronger shove from Isadore.
Isadore stood up and began walking to the offices so they could clock off for the day. Despite everything, Isadore enjoyed Ramses’ company. They just had much in common and balanced each other out.
“Seriously though, what do you think about that theory?”
“The Darkrai one?”
“Yeahuh!”
“I mean, I’m pretty sure Darkrai don't have scales or feathers.”
“True…”
“...”
“...”
“Arceus, we can’t keep dancing around this issue for very long can we?” Isadore sighed after a moment, their footsteps being the only sound in the hallways except for their breathing.
“No, but they really suck at hiding the truth from us. Still though, I don’t think anyone in Gear Station really minds them. If anything were to happen, STOMPPS reserves the rights to fistfight god.” Ramses shrugged.
Isadore couldn’t help the startled cackle. “Good lord, is that seriously what Elesa chose to name us?”
“Hey, I never said Ellie was any good at names.” Ramses chuckled.
“Legends, you two are hopeless.”
Just as they opened the door to the offices, a loud sneeze from inside jolted them out of their laughter. From inside the offices, they saw Boss Ingo half hunched over paperwork, recovering from a sneeze.
For a second, out of habit, Isadore looked up at the flickering lights before they promptly died. At least they had switched out for LED lights early on so no glass shattered around them.
“Oh, my apologies Ms. Isadore, I know your shift is about to end but the lights went out.” Ingo had pointed out from the darkness of the office, the only visible thing about him were his glowing silver eyes.
Next to her, Ramses started cackling. Isadore only groaned half-heatedly and shook her head with the beginnings of a laugh.
“I’m charging for overtime, boss.”
“Of course!”