Sweet Sixteen Hundred

[Fromikeable]

As the lyrebird fluttered onto his shoulder, Vance's motion slowed to a crawl, his eyes glued to the creature. After a full minute of just trying to get within arm's reach, he was suddenly halfway to getting the thing sedated. Naturally, however, he'd pocketed the thing's sedative, a small porous block of vegetable mush, sugar, a mild sedative, and a cocktail designed to lessen the effects of carbon sickness.

Glancing at the holoprojection he'd set up next to the chamber, Vance motioned at Lidah's digital face to be quiet. Slowly moving his birdless arm toward his pocket, he managed to grab the sedative block. Moving it up with careful slowness, he waved it gently before the bird, who took immediate interest.

"That's right... nice and ea-" In a flurry of wings, the lyrebird launched from his shoulder, smacking his forehead with a wing. Swooping at the sedative, it retreated to one of the vault's high shelves, eating voraciously through colorful coos. As crumbs fell from above, Vance's face contorted as he tried to hold in a curse. Rubbing his forehead, he looked up with a contained hiss, shaking his head.

The effect was immediate, at least. The bird was already settling in atop its shelf, its eyes drooping, the sedative only half-eaten. Waiting for its eyes to completely close, Vance very carefully raised a hand, ushering the half-sleeping bird down to his hands with the Force. Minus a few resistant twitches, the bird remained basically unconscious, allowing Vance much more ease as he placed it in the center of the carbonation chamber.

Shuffling back over to the controls, Vance exhaled as he fired up the machinery. The last peep out of the lyrebird was drowned out by the rush of gas, followed by the motion of a small crane. Up came the carbonite block in its frame, the bird in its center looking minor disgruntled at worst.

With a final sigh, Vance picked up the block and slid it into a rack with all the others. "That's all the birds done. What's left?" Looking back to Lidah, he wiped his hands on his shirt, his outfit a mess. Every creature he'd had to handle today was visible in some way, from long hairs to cuts in the fabric to a newly-added lyrebird feather caught in his hair.

[Neology]

Lidah Faine stood in the Soothesayer’s communications room, a visor of cool blue light over her eyes and a simple joystick in each hand. One commanded the droid on the other end to move, the other controlled its sensor array. The droid itself projected a hologram that mimicked her gestures and expressions quite faithfully, though it could be customized to display any programmed image loaded into its databanks. The Exchange had been using such devices longer than anyone could remember, though as the present Compeer, Lidah preferred to conduct meetings face to face when she could. This was, overall, an unsatisfactory way in which to interact with the world. She felt denied half or more of her senses, holding onto her business by clumsy tongs, peering through a crack in the door. Following Vance around all day as he put each of her dear creatures into carbonite hibernation was a singularly frustrating event. Even more so for him, surely, but she could have accomplished it so much faster if only she was there and not here. Lidah watched the lyrebird disappear, face blank. The projection made her uncomfortably hyper aware of her own expressions, captured and playing back in one corner of her vision. ”Large carnivores.” There was little else left, at least in this facility. A few of the displays in the Eye itself remained, diminutive and fragile creatures that she wasn’t sure would survive the freeze. Vance would have to continue seeing to them. But she could hardly keep on the menagerie's staff of a flat dozen attendances and caretakers. Rumors of impending disaster were spreading like wildfire and her failure to appear personally before her people complicated the situation further. If she could not stay, she could not ask anyone else to stay. The Exchange’s free captains were scattered across the galaxy by her orders, grossly simplified: find other paying work, keep your eyes and ears open. Others, families especially, were being sent to Circumtore. Rumor had it they were screening out victims of the epidemic on arrival there, though Lidah knew not to what level of success. It was worth a shot, the only crumb of hope she could presently offer. ”Might as well do the howlrunner first. We need to take a tissue sample for the genebank, too.”

[Fromikeable]

"Howlrunner." Repeating a confirmation, Vance paused to wipe his face on the inside of his sleeve before nodding. With a breath, he strode out of the room for a moment, passing its giant vault door and the growing collection of carbonite slabs, he came out of the vault into a large room in the basement. Having moved many of the animals cages down there this morning, few of them remained occupied, a mess left in their wake. The few that did were large beasts, the howlrunner medium among them.

Moving over to its cage, he reached in to give a few reassuring pats. The creature, for its part, grunted unhappily, clearly not very pleased about this break from its new lifestyle. Attaching a leash and collar, Vance undid its door and led it toward the vault.

Getting the idea, the howlrunner relished its freedom and broke into a sprint, tugging Vance by the arm back into the vault.

Bringing it to heel, Vance plopped down in a small steel chair beside an accompanying steel table, its surface littered with medications and treats. The howlrunner paced, sniffing about the lab, but with a small click of his tongue and an outheld biscuit, the beast came to sit before him, eyes glued to the treat.

Feeding it with one hand, Vance prepared its sedative with his other, slipping the massive pills into a small cut of meat. "I've found out he's a sucker for ribs. I think he likes cracking the bones." As the howlrunner finished the dog treat, Vance held the meat aloft. The beast's ferocious bite narrowly missed his fingers, making his hand recoil as it nearly /gulped it down whole, bones and all. Biting back a muffled curse, Vance sat back in his chair, waiting for the drugs to kick in. The howlrunner paced the room, sniffing inquisitively at every surface and carbonite block its nostrils could reach.

"We've almost got the last of the evacuees off-world. People on Circumtore have been asking me for extra security personnel, so I'm having a lottery drawn for who goes. Too many volunteers." Rubbing a hand through his hair, Vance tried not to think about how many people he'd had to deny that request. If he'd let every volunteer go, half of the Exchange businesses on Nar Shaddaa would've been completely empty. The looks he'd gotten for saying so could've killed.

Thus a lottery. As fair as a criminal syndicate could get.

"The Hutts have cooled off a lot since the invasion started, though. Between that and the Black Suns disappearing from this side of the galaxy... well, it's been quiet." He huffed, a tiny smile trying its best to hold on his lips. Nar Shaddaa was almost never this uneventful. Coupling that with the paltry collection of castrated Hutt ships limping back in a paltry trickle the Y'Toub system, it was obvious that the Hutts didn't have anything left. A few of the more ambitious Exchange bosses on the planet had demanded that they seize the opportunity to go make incursions into Hutt territory on the moon, but Vance had denied them far more easily than their subordinates.

This was the calm before a very big storm. They needed to be building defenses and stockpiling supplies, not looting corner stores in the Hutt racket.

The howlrunner finally laid down in the middle of the floor, its breathing slowing as its eyes drooped closed. Getting up and kneeling beside it, Vance held a duo of fingers to its neck, counting its heart rate. "I think that's all I've got going on down here." Flicking his eyes up at Lidah's hologram, he couldn't help but study her face before returning his gaze to his almost-sleeping patient.

"How're you feeling?"

[Neology]

”I’m sure he does.” Lidah directed her droid around the howlrunner, once and again. It paid no attention to her projected image, though the baleful blue pinpricks of its eyes did track the droid itself. Ribs of any sort were expensive meat for mere animal feed – though of course bone and other less commonly digestible bits would be part of the big canine’s natural diet. Vat cloned protein was cheaper and more widely available on Nar Shaddaa. Regrettably, apart from rare collections like this, the only livestock kept on world tended to be sapient. Those populations would suffer terribly, when the blow finally hit. Though not, perhaps, at first. The disease would spread unchecked through the desperately poor, in all their billions. Medical facilities were few and far between and prohibitively expensive, entirely unprepared for a pandemic. Those with means would scatter to the stars in all directions … Circumtore’s saving grace was an old woman – Lidah knew her to be a Jedi washout – who claimed she could sense the alien plague. That, and the fact it had enough weapons to discourage any unauthorized landings. This screening process took time though, and meant all refugees were offloaded in the same overcrowded ringworld segment. Prioritizing her people was not an insignificant expense. Operations had to continue, at least in part. ”Make it known that, for those who will stay – and sign a contract to that effect, we’ll get their families to Circumtore.” It was far from a perfect solution by far and, to her, sounded like maximizing grief all around. Yet strangely self-sacrifice came naturally to some people, even within the ranks of the Exchange. She was still learning, largely by Locke’s example. ”It wont be quiet for long. We’ll prepare and make plans both.” They knew the Hutts were hurting, though not yet to what extent. Too much initiative, too much caution … Both could be bad, even lethal, in the struggle between Hutt clans and the independent syndicates. Sense of timing was a leader’s great gift. Lidah wouldn’t rule out a good smash-and-grab, but not for more of the same. They had too much overlap with Hutt business in the sector, more spice or more clients would overburden a network already under strain. Reaching out slowly, her holographic fingers passed through the drowsy howlrunner’s shoulder, clipping at the second joint. She felt nothing, of course. ”No symptoms yet.” Though Lidah had a preview of everything to come in Qiki. Perhaps she had not even been infected, on Prazhi, though by now she surely was after over a week and a half of cohabitation. Now that was a tempting what if to be sure, though the slicer would never have forgiven her – and rightly – for such a betrayal.

[Fromikeable]

”No symptoms yet.” Vance did his best to hide his sigh, the relief coming out as a great exhale through his nose. A lack of symptoms was a relief, according to the news. The "plague", as most people had taken to calling it, had very clear, very severe effects on people from the get-go. Vance's adventure with Ylva had proven that all too well, especially in regards to her behavior. Ylva had never been a calm person, but after a few lungfuls of those spores?

He hadn't seen her in a while, actually. That was... troubling.

Shaking his head as the howlrunner finally began to snore, Vance let out a quick "Good" before counting its heartbeat again. Finding it at a steady, low rate, he stepped back, stretching out his arms. The howlrunner levitated just a few inches off the ground, moving along with Vance as he walked slowly toward the carbonation chamber. Taking extreme care to maneuver it into the machine, Vance kept one hand outstretched as he dialed in the controls to the maximum setting. His efforts only ceased when the creature disappeared into the chamber entirely, proving to be a tight fight.

With a final hiss, however, it rose, encased in a mammoth carbonite slab. The indicators on the side acknowledging its health with an initializing ping.

Another wave of his hand stacked the slab next to the others, growing the collection. Judging by the lack of free spaces, they were nearly done. "Contracts are a good idea. I'll get one drawn up later today, send it out to everybody still on world." Wiping his face on a sleeve, he finished his thought in a mumble, head shaking. "Mutiny would be bad news right now."

Plucking up his holopad, Vance scrolled through the list it contained, marking off the howlrunner and searching for the next creature. "Speaking of preparations, we're almost done installing that first round of air filters. All of them should be able to hold out for at least a few weeks once they're done. At least, according to the bioweapons guy I called about it." Preparing for the spores had proven to be one unknown after the other. How dense were the spores in air? How big were they, exactly? How quickly could they clog a filter? Did they reduce the oxygen supply? They affect other parts of the atmosphere? Nar Shaddaa being the disgusting mess it already was probably wouldn't help things. Then again, maybe it would. Regular people had a hard enough time breathing; why not a bunch of plant spores?

"The rest weren't airtight to begin with, so they're going to take... longer." Vance tried not to let his tone betray his concern for that group. Ylesia had been taken days ago. By his count, the Chorus didn't have to go very far to come knocking at Y'Toub.

Finally scrolling to the bottom of the list, Vance sucked his tongue. Among a few large worms, a particularly feroicious bird-billed mammal, and a few other small creatures, the only pet of note waiting to be frozen was the mighty King of the Soccoran Beasts himself.

"Hedrax?" Looking up and around, Vance squinted. The little dragon had been with him at the start of the process, but had disappeared once he'd split his attention between the task and talking to Lidah. It didn't take more than a cursory feel of the Force to sense the tiny, shivering ball of nerves perched up on one of the carbonite slab racks, tail hanging out exposed.

Frowning, Vance reached over to the table, having come prepared. Shaking a small plastic container, he unscrewed the lid, a light brown paste within letting off a sweet, savory aroma. "Come down for some peanut butter?"

All he got in response was a tiny roar of defiance, more frightened than rebellious. The little dragon wasn't quite smart enough to know what was going on, but smart enough to smell the many creatures of the Eye less and less as each was deposited in that thing in the center of the room.

Sighing heavily, Vance chewed his tongue. "Any ideas?" It would break his heart to have to wrestle his little friend into a fitful carbonite slumber.