We're Off To See The Wizard

[Jazen]

"And that's when I put the ship into a hard throttle up, flipped over the fighter that was tailing me and BAM, a missile right into his fuselage. Suffice to say, he wasn't expecting that after I'd made it seem like I was a rookie. Course, I also spent a day in the medical wing because I had to dial the compensator down low in order to do that move. Still, worth it right?

The small, marten shaped droid flashed his photoreceptors as the human known as Shine story ended. He realized, with a muted form of relief, that he remembered he was on the organic's shoulder. Otherwise, he would be hopping up and down after that exciting tale, which would lead to him either slipping from his perch or injuring Shine. Vistal's outer skin was softer than that of his earlier counterparts, being covered in a rubber synthskin rather than just being a metal body, but he could still hurt him if he was not careful. Especially considering that Shine himself was already injured from his entrance into Vistal's underwater testing area.

The little droid quickly recalled the event, which had frightened the small mustalid FIDES more than the human would know. His father had sent him down to the underground lake near to the Familiar's underground operations to conduct the preliminary testing of his unique abilities. Vistal had been designed for underwater operations, something that made him different from not only his fellow FIDES, but from the older AERs and REAs. The underground lake provided the best opportunity for him to test his efficiency underwater within somewhat controlled conditions. What made the lake even better was the single gap in the roof that allowed sunlight to stream into the cavern, allowing him to recharge at his leisure. He'd just finished recharging his power supply and returned to testing his agility within the lake when something had broken the water's surface. His sensors didn't even need to register where the disturbance had been, since it had landed practically on top of him.

A quick scan of the being told Vistal that it was organic, had a humanoid shape....and its heat reading was starting to fade. This was understandable; Vistal's sensors told him the water was at below freezing, roughly around -14.8 degrees to be exact.(Fahrenheit) Vis calculated that with water that cold, the human's body would have frozen in short notice if something was not done. The humanoid was trying to escape and was doing a fair job of it...but he was not going to make it in time. So Vistal had acted, gripping the human from under the water and acting as a second set of legs, his motors at maximum burn. And thus, Vistal had met the human Shine, who after a brief talk upon the shore about the event, had agreed to take Vistal to see the craft upon which Shine had arrived on in exchange for saving him. The idea had sent surges of joy throughout the little droids systems, having been confined since his creation to this underground home. All they had to do was find Father and request his permission to do so. Simple, right?

Vis clicked his paws together as they came to another fork in the road, his internal systems bringing up a map of the vast underground caverns yet again. When he'd headed to the lake, father had downloaded a detailed map of the caverns, which included all the twists, turns, dead ends, camera locations and even the location of known Mynock nests. Vistal had run into a few on the way down; they were good tests for his shock defense system. On top of the map, Vistal had an active beacon reading of the base's location, which constantly sent him updates from home as well. You never knew when something would come up and Vistal would need to be home....fast. Like now, for example. Twitching his head to either side to overlap the map in his database to his visor sensors, one tiny paw lifted from Shine's shoulder to point at the right fork.

"We are getting close. The right fork brings us within a hundred meters of home. We should be just within the facility's permieter. If we were not before, we should be actively on their radar by now. I should update them of our coming so that they don't.....oh my."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shine had to admit, the little droid was proving to be extremely handy. He'd already saved his life when it came to the lake; now he was doing so again by helping to guide him to what Shine hoped was an escape from these caves. Despite the darkness that clung all around him, held off only by the glowing light of his glow rods, Shine had not run into one single dead end or trap or heaven's forbid, another joyous ride down a tunnel of rock. Vistal, whether by design or by his own....oddly unique nature, was guiding Shine perfectly away from them it seemed, which Shine only could hope meant he was indeed leading him to aid. He didn't have anything to go on but his own gut instinct in regards to trusting him, but Shine had survived by listening to it before. And right now it told him one simple thing; what have you got to lose by following him? Nothing; he was dead if he didn't, plain and simple.

Vistal seemed to be easy to please though; Shine's stories appeared to keep the droid happy and optimistic as they traveled the caverns. Truth be told, they were keeping Shine optimistic as well. Every story was one where he had faced imminent doom......and came out alive. This was just another one of those adventures that would become a story he told to others, a brush with the always lurking death that Shine managed to escape. And having the droid...no, Vistal with him during this event, beat being in total darkness alone. When he met this "father" that Vistal keep speaking of, Shine decided he would have to inquire about keeping Vistal a little longer; he did have a promise to keep to the little guy and he was beginning to enjoy his company. And really, Vistal was the most advanced piece of technology Shine had seen; had Shine not known better, he would have sworn Vistal was anything but a droid. He could use a companion like that; especially if Vistal had any other tricks up his rubbery sleeve.

Vistal's voice suddenly echoed around the caverns, breaking Shine from his thoughts. "We are getting close. The right fork brings us within a hundred meters of home. We should be just within the facility's permieter." Shine followed where Vistal's little paw was aimed, spying the fork he spoke of. The fact that they were getting close was good; Shine was running out of glow rods. He had one more on hand; after that, he'd be in complete darkness for the rest of the trip. Unless Vistal had some way to generate light, other than his blinking eyes. He shook his head at the thought; no point in worrying about that now. Things were looking up and there was no need to kill that mood.
"Oh, that's good. I'd say we're making good time, but I have no clue how long we've been walking for, so it's kind of redundant. But keep it up little buddy; I'm sure your father wants to see you as much as I want to see him. I'm assuming he's a...." Shine was going to say living being, one that breathes air and the like, when Vistal's voice continued on.
"If we were not before, we should be actively on their radar by now. I should update them of our coming so that they don't.....oh my." Shine moved his head to the side to watch the little guy, who seemed to be staring off at some point far into the distance. Shine had suspected that someone had been keeping an eye of their progress, Vistal had told him so earlier, but when Vistal added in that "oh my", Shine felt a small rock settle in his gut. An "oh my" cutting off a sentence is never good. Maybe I just stepped in mynock waste. I hope its just something like that.

"Oh my? I hope that was a slip of the....okay, you don't have a tongue so I'll say voice processor. Tell me it was just a slip up."

"It would appear that our destination has gone into external lockdown. Such an event only occurs when an intruder is detected, which by logical analysis, is probably you. In such a case, the entire base seals itself off from the outside world. I still have an active connection to it and its location but.....I fear we may not be able to reach it. The base has many active blast doors and until the lock is lifted, they will impede our entry into the base."

"Oh....well, that's not exactly ideal is it? Is there a way around that we can take, maybe if we backtrack?" Shine doubted it and Vis shaking his head shortly after silenced that train of thought. Well, silver lining. They know I'm here but from the looks of it, I won't be getting a warm welcome. Reaching down, Shine clicked his holster open. He didn't think he'd have to use his blaster, especially since he wanted to make nice with these people. But he wasn't going to be caught flat-footed either. Besides, who knew what they would send to investigate him if they sent anything at all? Organics? Droids? The former would be better, since you could reason with an organic. The latter relied on whether or not the droids were sentient enough to listen or just hunter killer droids, who shot first and questions were asked later. "You said you had an active up-link to the base. Can you send them a message regarding my non hostile intents?"

Vis clicked his paws together again(something Shine realized he did when he was thinking), then shook his small head up and down.. "I believe I still have the active connection to them. We are not far from the base and they may allow a message through if I leave a code in it that indicates its me. One moment." Shine padded forward cautiously towards that right fork as Vis went silent upon his shoulder, his eyes watching every corner that the light reached. He silently wished he'd brought his scanner with him; the damn thing had night vision and he could have used that right now. Then again, how was he supposed to know he'd end up in an underground cave with a sentient droid heading towards god knows what. Hindsight; bring it with him next time anyway.

=Father, I am currently on route to home with an organic who....stumbled upon our operations. He does not appear to intend harm and though he has mildly attended to it, requires medical aid. I am aware you will not lift the lockdown, so perhaps you could send someone to escort us to the base, where we will deal with the matter there. Please don't send someone that will shoot him though; he said he'd show me his ship later.=" Vis reread the message many times over in his mind, adding things, removing things, editing a sentence here and there. When he believed he was done and the message would suffice, he sent it via his connection. Still, with lockdown in effect, the message may not get through until the database confirmed it had come from him.....and they still needed to get there. "I have sent the message though it may take a while before I get a response. The best choice we have now is to move closer to the base and hope they send someone out to locate the intruder. Father most certainty will send someone, to ensure my well being."

"Well, when Plan A fails, always have a Plan B on hand. Since we the message might not work, going to them does sound like the best idea. Regardless, we still have to find the place to get inside it so...might as well mush on instead of waiting here in the dark. Just.....be ready in case they do send someone. I'd rather not get shot on top of breaking my arm if its alright with you. So...direct me onward Vis."

The droid nodded and for a short while, they traveled in utter silence through the dark passages ahead of them. Shine's ears twitched to every noise that echoed around the hollow tubes, his hand resting firmly on the grip of his blaster. It would be hard to draw quickly with Vis settled on his shoulder, but all he really needed to do was have the blaster clear the holster; he'd fired from the hip before and he could do it well enough now. It would at least deter someone should it come to that.

Shine was just turning a bend into a slightly larger cavern, Vis mumbling that they were close now, when he heard a voice that was not his nor Vis's echo around the cavern. And it was not the only sound he heard; the warm up of a weapon hummed into the air as well and Shine cursed silently to himself. So much for not getting caught flat-footed. Twisting his head to search for the source of the voice, Shine noticed that Vis was looking up at something just above them. Stomaching a gulp at what was waiting there, Shine lifted his head to look as well, removing his hand from the blaster to hold the glow rod high. He almost winced when he saw the reptilian beast that sat atop a rocky outcrop just above his location. Then he almost winced again when he saw the rifle trained on his chest. Calmly, cautiously, he lifted his good arm into the air as high as he could without dropping Vis, chuckling nervously at the new arrival.

"You mean not to shoot me? Sure, I can give a reason for that....let's see...would you believe its because I come in peace?" Shine felt a weight shift from his shoulders as Vis hopped from him to the ground, padding towards the creature holding the rifle. Shine felt his gut turn for a moment, until he heard the little guy speak.

"Hello Pan. A pleasure that Father sent you instead of something or someone else. I hope you got my message....if not, I can always repeat what I said.

Could you please lower the weapon or baring that, at least relax on the trigger? This man does not mean to cause us harm, nor do I think he has any ulterior motives for being in this place. In fact, his arrival here was completely by mistake and as you can see, he requires medical aid.

I have need to see Father regarding him as well, so if its okay, I'd like to have him join us in returning home. Please Pan.....he promised to return the favor for me saving his life."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

For Sean’s knowledge, not that he’d ever be told this, it was more the latter and less the former. Sender was most certainly sick of Sean’s jabs at his ‘lack of personality.’ Those jabs stung like nothing else and several times he’d considered stinging back with a nice jolt or two of electricity…well, he had when he was in reach of the man, anyway. Ayer was lucky he was so loved by his little brother that he wouldn’t do such a thing to Sean unless it was really necessary. Though, that also could have had something to do with his programming as well. Being a bit of a moral stickler had him holding himself to being better than petty revenge…or at least trying to.

Once the confusion died down after the news of 02’s reappearance, Rahja (like her familiar) was all eyes and ears. She’d seen the different logos for the weapons manufacturers and narrowed her eyes slightly as she leaned more heavily against the chair Sender was situated on. Those dark features sharpened further at the final sentence. ”That’s a very serious accusation, intended or not. The Republic uses Sark Industries for a hefty amount of our gear, if they’re selling weapons to the Empire and Mandos as well there’s potential for a big problem.” She didn’t need to even look at Sender to know they were thinking the same thing: if this was found to be true, Sark could end up being on the other end of her scope. The question was, was it her duty to inform the brass of this information or not? Unfortunately, she’d have to save her questions for later. Pan and Phae had gone stone still, followed swiftly by an agitated flick of Sender’s wings. That was all she needed to know. In an instant her rifle was in her hands.

It was more reaction than anything else, really. That odd little quirk only emerged in her familiar when there was a potential threat that he needed to warn her of without making a sound or a transmission. She saw it, she reacted…simple as that. “There has been a security breach. Remain here.” Of course she didn’t want to ‘remain here’ she wanted to assist. It was the protector in her, rising up out of the ashes once again. She didn’t get a chance to offer her assistance, however, because no sooner had she thought to offer than Phae and Pan were vanishing out a door.

Crimson eyes flickered over to Sean as Sender hovered up to her shoulder again. “Security breach? Here? What could possibly be perceptive, powerful, and stupid enough to break into this place?”

”Does it matter? We should be assisting them. Whatever the intruder is, it might not know we’re here, we would have the element of surprise. Not to mention long range scopes and the osmium ospreys.”

“Well then…what are we sitting around for, we ought to go help repel borders.” At least he was on the same page then. That was a bonus. Unfortunately, it seemed his ‘osprey’ was of a different thinking. Sender actually scoffed slightly. While he may have agreed it was wise to obey the two, he believed it best to protect the compound with or without permission. It was always easier to seek forgiveness than to not take action and allow damage to be done. No sooner had Sean finished speaking again than she heard the doors down the hall locking. Damn, too late now…without a key there’s no way to get through any of the doors. Growling to herself once again, she hefted her back and was (unfortunately) reminded of just how sore and injured she still was. Maybe it was for the best that she didn’t get the chance to assist, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still irk her.

Despite the pain she kept pace beside Sean the entire distance up the hall and to the lift, pushing through the pain. There were other priorities, after all. Taking long enough to toss her pack into the lift, she hustled the others into it before her, barely slipping in as the doors slid shut and locked. No one left behind. Good. With that said, however, she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, suppressing a groan as she attempted to ignore the fact that she was feeling every injury again. Sender, now perched on her pack, kept his thoughts to himself as the others all filed out of the cramped little lift and into the shack. They were followed, of course, by Rahja who paused just long enough to grab the pack with one hand and carry it with her, Sender swooping over to settle beside Sean on the back of the loveseat.

Soon enough the pack was on the floor and Rahja (having learned from Sean’s example of what not to do) sat a bit more gently on the cushion beside him. Not much dust lifted and it seemed safe enough to breath, so she continued to do so.

---

Poor 19 certainly hadn’t been expecting the doors to open just then. If she had, the little mink-like droid likely wouldn’t have tumbled forward, then had to roll to the side to avoid Pan. She did have rather large feet, after all. Scrambling to her paws once again, she scampered inside and clambered up to sit on the chair for the desk so she would be as out of the way as possible. Those photoreceptors darted between the three as she listened to them speak, but when her father turned to her, she nodded silently. The pale yellow of her whiskers and the look of concern she wore spoke volumes about what she thought of the answer, but she wasn’t going to disobey right now, despite the fact that she wanted to.

As he smiled at her, she balanced herself on her back legs and tail, so she could reach up and paw gently at the air in the direction of his face (he wasn’t close enough to actually get hold of, or she would have nuzzled him instead). Sitting back again, she held her front paws to her chest in her anxiety. ”I trust your judgment, father. I'm just…worried for him.” Those tiny audio receptors perked at the instructions he gave to her eldest brother (well, cousin really, but she considered them to all be brothers and sisters). So her partner was here?! Oh I knew it! She was just late! This is wonderful! But…what about the testing?! She didn’t have time to do more than think the question before Phae had settled down beside her.

What happened next had 19 cringing, her form coiling and ears pressing against her head. While she may have still been in the facility, the link with the database…her link with home dimmed considerably. Elsewhere in the galaxy, Eressea had lost contact completely…it called for profanity, and she used some. (She didn’t apologize for it.) The cogs within Familiar’s compound were turning even as 19 followed Phae to the lift. One of those cogs materialized beside Arza and Pan and strolled along beside them. “Compound lock down complete, sir. Blast doors to the caves locked, however, minimal danger is perceived. One humanoid signature was detected…believed to be human or near human in stature and characteristics, but details from the video feed are sketchy. I do not detect other possible intrusion points, or security breaches at this moment, however, 15’s link is showing movement in the direction of the compound blast doors with the bio-signature. I am monitoring their progress. Shall I continue to attempt to discover the breach point, sir, or do you have other commands?”

The woman was quiet for a long moment as she analyzed the new data that had come calling at the mainframe's security walls. Decoding the sender it was obviously 15's data signature. "An update, sir. 15 has sent a message requesting medical assistance for the human." Holding up a hand before them, the message appeared, hovering in open air above her hand for him to easily read as they walked. "Orders, sir?"

---

During the lift ride, 19 had been…quiet. Well certainly she was quiet, she always seemed to have a sort of quiet quality about her, but this was different…this sort of quiet denoted thinking. As the small lift reached the top, she finally seemed to come back to the world and sat up on her hind legs, looking around curiously before scampering after Phae onto the countertop.

“Oh. Good thinking.”

“You just came out of the sink.”

That earned a chuckle from at least three of the entities (biological and mechanical) in the room. Especially at Phae’s reply. “So what’s going on?” Yes, Rah would have liked to know the answer to that as well, especially since Sender had seemed highly unsettled for a few moments after they’d all gotten up here. As Ayer settled down next to 19 (maybe she would call herself ‘Diana’ from now on? After all, she liked that name) the FIDES scampered over, leaving a trail of tiny paw prints in the dust behind her, and wrapped her little ‘arms’ around him. ”Oh hello Ayer! Good to see you again! You might not recognize me, I didn’t have the synth skin yet when we met. I'm 19.” Their interaction had been very brief, certainly, but it had been a memorable experience for her and since then she’d done her homework on him.

There was a knock on the door and immediately 19’s attention was pulled in its direction, her head turning as she gave a final squeeze to Ayer before letting go and scampering back across the countertop in the direction of the sound, and waiting expectantly as she attempted to brush the dust that had started clinging to her off again. Sender had watched this whole interaction, rather amused at the fact that it seemed his brother was finally getting some recognition for a change before attempting to scan through the door. Certainly his sensors picked up their sister’s signal, so it only made sense that Ayer should have. Perhaps he just wasn’t looking in the right places…at this point, who knew.

On the other side of the door, Zha was surprised to find that the presumed Arkanian woman was very likely deaf. A mild raise of one eyebrow at the sign language was as about as much surprise as she showed (or even really felt) at the discovery. After all, who was she to judge? It wasn’t as if there weren’t deaf people in the galaxy, she’d run across a couple in her life, and they were still people it was just…far more difficult understanding them, at least for her. Maybe I should study the language…it would certainly be useful in dealing with people in this sort of situation, she mused. When the woman jostled the bag she was carrying and glared at her droid, her ears perked forward just slightly with her curiosity. The introduction from said droid had her even more curious. So she was a senator…but here of all places? And Zha had thought herself foolish for coming alone! At least she was trained in combat! Well, perhaps this senator knew something more than she did...it was difficult to know at this point, but at least she was in good company.

Smiling a bit, Zha nodded to the introduction with a short ‘a pleasure, Senator’ before continuing on to ask her question about taking a look inside. No sooner had her hand reached up to move for the handle than the door was pulled ajar and a man poked his head out at them with a tentative ‘helloooo?’ He looked at them, they looked at him, Zha lifted that eyebrow once more and both ears perked forward. The shadow of a smile hovered around the corners of her mouth as she took in his appearance and wondered just what she’d gotten herself into. Behind Sean, Rah was snickering quietly at the projected thought and shaking her head as she filed that way to tease him with later.

“Welcome to Project Familiar! The name’s Sean, please come in, come in. We were just in the middle of having the meeting interrupted, but we can recap for ya.” Zharra couldn’t help but smile and chuckle a little at his comments as he opened the door for them. Allowing the senator to move in before her, Zha stepped lightly in after her, closing the door in short order as hazel eyes took in the others in the room. This Sean character, another man with a staff ((I think?)), a woman who looked relatively human, a woman who looked anything but human (blue skin and red eyes didn’t scream human to her, anyway) with a sniper rifle, and droids aplenty. Well this certainly is a colorful lot, isn’t it? she thought as Sean sat down in a plume of dust, making the not-so-human woman beside him cough and shoot a glare at him.

”You could sit down without flopping, Sean…or at least warn a person first.”

Zha had to wonder what had happened to the woman since she was…purple…in places, rather than what seemed to be the ‘typical’ blue. “Sorry the place is a bit of a mess, we're in bit of a crisis at the moment and our usual area of discussion has been otherwise compromised. Don't worry, that broom closet over there is actually an elevator descending into a giant secret gazillion credit underground mad science lab. Also, the sink eats people.”

Sean wasn’t the only one laughing…Zha had found it amusing as well, a light chuckle bubbling up once more at the thought of mad scientists and person eating sinks, though at this point she might not discount the possibility of a broom closet being a lift and there being some sort of compound built beneath all of this. Rah, however, simply shook her head at Sean and cuffed him in the shoulder. Sean seemed to stop laughing after that, his expression snapping back to something a bit more serious. “No, really.” There was a moment of silence then, where Zha wasn’t entirely certain what to think or say, her ears twitching around in the attempt to monitor all the sounds in the small shack…most specifically an odd sort of scraping and tapping sound in the direction of the sink and the odd droids over there.

”Well! Introductions?!” Sender…his timing had never been more perfect. ”You’ve just met Sean Mu’haro, obviously…and Senator Icharus was so kindly introduced by our little sister 05…Ofi, is it now? I'm AER-04, Sender, and my partner is the strict looking one seated beside me, CSM Rahja Kel. Over there on the counter is my older brother AER-03, Ayer…he’s partner to our very ‘special’ PFC Mu’haro. Poor Ayer…I'm very sorry for you situation. The sleek looking one is, as my brother so aptly put it, the Progenitor…AER-00 Phae. The shiny one looking at you so intently is FIDES-19, and over here we have Tsubasa, erm…Tsu, was it?...and his new partner REA-10. Be careful, he may spontaneously combust if you get him too excited. Luckily we have Dr. Chezz over here with AER-06, Wexon and…I believe that’s all of us.”

Rah gave a belabored sigh at her familiar and pulled him from the back of the loveseat to settle in her lap where she could, hopefully, keep him under wraps after that…or safe…she wasn’t certain which he might need yet. The Farghul captain had turned her eyes to each in turn, now even less certain what to think about all of this. At least the presence of two other military officers and a senator had her feeling a bit more at ease…not that it showed in her posture much. It was subtle, a slight lowering of her shoulders, and gentle relaxing of her back, her tail sweeping behind her more gently than the previous twitching. It was all still a bit much to take in all at once, but her mind ground it down into something more tolerable as swiftly as possible. ”Republic Naval Captain, Zharra.” Her eyes swept back to the little mink looking droid who was, indeed, looking at her quite intently…it was odd for a droid, but then, so was the introduction, or rather, the way the introduction was preformed.

”If you don’t mind my asking…what in the galaxy is this about? The letter I received was…well, vague would be an understatement of the highest degree…”

[Rugs]

{Hm, I kept thinking I'd already bailed out. Apparently I hadn't. Allow me to do so now}

Apprently there'd been an intrusion of some sort. Wasn't hard to notice, what with everyone suddenly acting all funny. Tsu groaned. I didn't come here for this.

Well, when he came, he hadn't exactly know what he was coming for. A little living flamethrower, apparently.

Still need a name for you... he mulled as he glanced over to the little droid on his shoulder.

"Intruders?" 10 stood more upright on Tsu's shoulder. Smoke puffed from his mouth. Tsu nearly groaned. "Why, I will gladly assist in kicking them back to whe-"

"No, no," the Matukai cut in quickly. "That's very noble of you, 10, but I think they'll be able to handle it just fine without, ah... well, you know.... burning the place down."

"But Tsuba-"

"I'm positive, 10. Trust me."

The Familiar's wings shifted irritably for a moment and the red dipped to orange before changing back. But he acquiesced. "Very well then."

"Good." Tsu had to bite back his sigh of relief as he started to follow Sean. "Now let's go."

------

A little while later, and the two of them were outside again, walking once more through the field of grass outside the shack toward the Vagabond. Tsu'd seen the chance to take his leave, and so with a few parting words to the others, he'd done just that.

He wasn't quite sure how he felt about it all, but things would be different, now that he had his robotic companion. At least he'd thought of a name for him. It was the last thing he'd told them before he left.

He'd paused in the doorway, and with a wry grin, said "I think I'll call him Ifrit."

{ta-da

/bail}

[A®heim]

Pan's eye flashed in the twilight, the HUD laid into the contact lens over it was taking in every detail of what she was looking at. In an instance, Shine's condensed record flashed next to his left ear and her trained eye flicked through the information. A trouble-maker it seemed, but a harmless one. The facility was full of gold-hearted renegade kooks like this. All the same, said kooks could be unpredictable and in this case armed--she didn't lower the weapon. A similar data window appeared above 15, but she didn't read a word of it, she didn't have to. She knew everything it said by heart.

"You mean not to shoot me? Sure, I can give a reason for that....let's see...would you believe its because I come in peace?"

"Vell, zat is von reason." She kept the sights leveled on him watching with an unblinking intensity, even as the newly named Vistal jumped down and approached her. As he spoke, the weapon sank lower and lower, finally coming to a rest across her chest, the humming subsided. Even as he finished, she continued to stare at him for several seconds as if mulling over the options in her head. Suddenly her head snapped back to Shine, still bearing an untrusting glare but lacking the usual air of imminant 1st-degree murder.

"If zis is true, hyo are no true threat to us--hyo are merely an unfortunate fool." Pan stalked closer to him, tail swaying side to side, until she stood mere feet before him. Her nostrils flared and her maw cracked slightly revealing rows of maliciously-glinting fangs. "An injured fool. Hyor arm vill need healing." She spun back around, giving little regard to whether Shine's bad arm was clobbered or not. "Come vith me. I have ze override code for ze lockdown." She gave Vistal a passing glance and muttered under her breath, "zere is going to be a lot off paper work..."

She led the ragtag pair of man and droid through several more cave passages--she hadn't come far before running into them and by the time they were making towards the facility there could be little doubt that Vistal had been showing him the way. Foolish droid, he should know better than to trust any blaster-toting conman that falls out of the sky. There would be a lecture in this later once everything had calmed down. Times were getting dangerous and resources were becoming stretched too thin.

Cameras within rocky outcrops deep in the galleries' shadows spun silently to follow them through to a vast wall of white steel rising from a ground worn smooth. A formidable rotary lock was laid over the barrier and the only light came from a small interface panel. There was another pair of cameras on either side of the door, though these were different--each sported a venomous pair of neurostun cannons that whirred to center on Shine as they approached. Pan tapped wordlessly on her bracer and the turrets subsided.

"Zis is it. I vill contact ze Vizard und haff him disengage ze lockdown."

_________________________________________________________________________

Arza had remained silent, giving Pan a short nod as the doors sealed behind her. It was then that he at last addressed the ethereal AI with a passifying hand. If this is the case then my worries have been lessened considerably. Keep all scanners on high alert and continue monitoring the feeds, but first make sure our medical bay is prepped for our unexpected guest.

He turned on his heel and straightening his jacket. Do try your best to find the entry point--it will do much to assess this visitor's intentions. He dismissed the GAI and started back towards his office. Pan could cover a surprising amount of ground in very little time for someone who spent her entire life confined in a laboratory. She wouldn't be long. Absently, he removed a pair of spectacles and a cloth from his suit pocket and began to polish them. He never needed glasses but always carried a pair around for just this purpose. Anything to occupy the hands so that the mind can carry on unburdened.

__________________________________________________________________________

Phae bowed his greeting to Ayer who returned it curtly and was immediately caught off guard by a sudden hug from a star-flecked ferret. He stared at her for a minute, accessing his long-term memory banks and factoring out variable inconsistencies. It came to him. You're the prototype I spoke with in the repair ward after I died! I must say, you chose a rather unique synthskin. Certainly mystifying.

Ayer tilted his head at the sudden cacophony of odd arrivals. Besides Phae and the weasel, there was now an Arkanian and a Farghul. One thing about Familiar, we certainly have our diversity quota... he spoke softly to himself. And this was largely true; PFHQ was home to more than a couple unusual species and even one or two the galaxy at large hadn't even heard of. Fun times.

Sean was equally caught off guard by the Arkanian's sign language--he not being versed in such--and frowned for a moment before he was able to put one and two together. She was deaf. Then how did she understand him? Did she? Lip reading maybe? His eyes glanced to the datapad she had read from and then to the AER he had noticed with her. Ahhh, I see how it works. Clever. Don't worry, you're only a little late but you really only missed the previews, the feature presentation is just about to start. He only grinned at Rahja's irritation after he flopped back onto the loveseat. At least the kitty cat seemed to be taking the whole government conspiracy secret science lab thing pretty well. That, or she didn't believe him for a minute. He couldn't wait till the lockdown was lifted.

What happened next garnered a raised eyebrow and an expression of surprise as Sender piped up for more than six words that weren't a lesson in morality (opening with "?!" no less!). Sean smiled as he prepared for the inevitable. Wait for it... waaait for it...

Burn.

Sean grinned at the biting quip from Rahja's Familiar, shaking his head and said nothing. Phae gave a low, formal bow to the new arrivals upon his naming. Welcome to Project Familiar Headquarters newcomers, and welcome back 05. He paused, allowing the skeptical glances around the run-down shack to disapate. Or at least the foyer. We're experiencing some difficulties in our security system which should be resolved shortly.

i.e. murdered. The nothing didn't last long. Phae gave him an exhasperating look.

Tsu took this moment to take his leave, which was and good enough--he had gotten what he came for and there could be little doubt that 'Ifrit' would fill him in on the details. Or cause his ship to burn up before it even got off the ground. Dr. Chezz, likely irritated with the presence of conscious people, tagged along after him though she spoke not a word, going her seperate ways once outside. Sean just waved. Good luck! The door shut. Have fun... He added with a tinge of sarcasm.

”If you don’t mind my asking…what in the galaxy is this about? The letter I received was…well, vague would be an understatement of the highest degree…”

It was a fair question for anyone to ask, not to mention a Naval Officer. Phae obliged. I apologize for the cryptic method of contacting you, but security is something we cannot afford to compromise. He jumped and glided to a small table in the center of the room, preparing for his tirade. Project Familiar is a Top Secret sub-military organization with the simple goal of seeking out individuals of great potential influence and ensuring their continued survival and development. Additionally, we serve as the driving force behind many technological innovations and hypothetical cybernetic studies. What we create is centuries beyond any publicly revealed design, unofficially tested, and not always legal.

Ayer took this time to edge a bit closer to Irrina and addressed Ofi quietly. Still the collected silent one, I see. It's been a very long time, sister. AER-05, one of the first of us to be assigned a partner. After that it seemed like you vanished from the galaxy. He attempted his pseudo-grin. Has anything happened?

What we offer to you is a relationship of equal gains. Accept, and you earn an unseen guardian angel--we earn another oppurtunity to make a difference in the universe. The empty wooden bowl that also occupied his table flipped over, revealing a small holoprojector. Wireframes of the facility, the security grids, the dropship, each flickered above it as he spoke. Our immensely comprehensive database, extensive resources, and emergency protocols will be yours to use for whatever you deem has worth. Decline, and you will never hear from us or about us again.

He let the gravity of the decision sink in for a minute. It was a difficult decision for anyone to make, being bound by honor and contract to the military made it even more so. He knew there was no way he could completely earn anyone's trust--not within a few minutes of being hurled pell-mell into such a situation. But this is the way it had to be. At this point, there was still the option of going back--the blue pill--and thus little could afford to be said. The policy was flawed, yes, the risks were at times incredible, but this made it all the more important that each and every member could be trusted to the fullest extent just as each must trust eachother with the same. Most importantly, you will be a assigned a Familiar like myself. Should you accept, you will be partnered with 19, the latest unit in the FIDES line. He gestured to the minkish droid by the man-eating sink. As all of us have seen, she would be very disappointed if you were to decline--she has been looking forward to this day since her consciousness was first brought online.

Sean looped one of his arms tenderly around Rahja's shoulder and spoke softly as not to interrupt Phae's famous speech. This whole thing sounds more and more like a fairy tale every time I hear it. Funny, isn't it? With veterancy comes greater disbelief.

[Jazen]

Shine was experiencing that phenomenon again. Lots of people knew the feeling, the one where because of something you liked or something dangerous that time decided to play games with you. In this case, it was the very angry lizard lady that was staring through the barrel of a very nasty looking weapon that was bringing about the event, which wasn't exactly Shine's favorite to have to deal with. Seconds felt likes minutes, then hours, as he kept the one good arm he had held up to keep the lizard lady from making Shine cheese out of him.

It didn't show on his face that he was nervous, years of facing similar events had at least given him the skill to keep the allure of calm in the face of mortal danger. He was holding his breath though as Vis, who'd leapt down to the floor below, attempted to reason with the lizard lady(correction, her name was Pan) on his behalf. The only thing Shine could do in those tense moments following Vis's words was smile politely and nod, making sure to keep that hand nice and obviously away from the holster on his belt.

That breath slowly slipped free as the weapon Pan was holding slowly lowered bit by bit, a larger bit slipping free when the hum in the weapon died away. He still held a bit though, as that sharp glare remained on him for several moments more until they eyed Vis with the same..wrong, a kinder stare for a few moments as well. As those eyes trained on him, Vistal shuffled nervously, his whiskers shading a low blue as those receptors stared up at her. She'd know that the color blue for him signified sadness, that he was pleading for her to trust him.

When Pan snapped her eyes back to him, Shine almost jumped out of his boots. He wanted to, every so badly, put his hand on his blaster just in case...but he wouldn't be able to draw it with his off hand before Pan fried him. And he didn't need to either. At Pan's words, Shine let out the last vestiges of his held breath, huffing a chuckle at her choice of words. Vis was barely able to contain his joy either, his blue whiskers shading to a forest colored green as he bounced up and down; he was quite happy with Pan at the moment.

"Oh, thank you Pan, thank you. I will file a much clearer report about the incident later so you can see all the details, but I believe he is quite that; no threat. Though I'm not sure about the fool bit...he did fall from the sky however, so this is under debate."

[color=A40000}"Not of my choice thank you. But I share Vis's sentiments, thanks for not making me target practice. And hah....good choice of words. Unfortunate fool seems to fit the things I keep finding myself in quite well; maybe I need to take lessons from someone who's a fortunate fool."[/color]

Shine lowered himself down as Pan ushered to them to follow, letting Vistal bound his way back up to his shoulder before striding after the woman..lizard....her, being mindful to keep an eye on his surroundings just in case this was a trick. Again, he wanted to reach for his blaster...but he'd just gotten a pass to keep on living. He wasn't going to tempt having it revoked after being granted it for little to nothing. And frell.....she'd said they were going to help heal his arm. If getting to live, getting healed and possibly being shown a way back to the surface and his ship before someone tried to loot it were a package deal, then Shine was more then happy to simply follow and do as he was told.

Their journey to the facility Vis spoke of didn't take long, the little droid letting out little "oh, this is familiar" and "yes, this is the way I was trying to take us" among the oddly rhythmic humming he was doing all the way there. Shine's eyes spotted a camera or two as they made their way through a series of twisting cave passages, something that Shine figured was part of the defensive system of the base they were marching onwards too. Cameras, a well armed guard, a maze of tunnels.....I'm guessing if they didn't want this place to be found or broken into, they have quite the setup to achieve both.

Finally, something new came into view. A wall. A very big wall. A wall that had a small point of light, a panel of sorts, like the ones found outside a door anywhere that used technology in their buildings. And to either side....two very deadly looking turrets, both of which turned and clicked their barrels in Shine's direction. He froze almost instantly at the sight, that desire to grab his blaster and make for the nearest rock for cover almost boiling over now.....until Pan clicked something on her wrist that made them power down.

"Glad to know. I'd love to meet the guy who came up with all this, which I assume is the father guy Vistal keeps referring to. I mean, if that's something that can't be done, I'm more then glad to get patched up and get out of here. Just something I'd take an interest in then."

"Correct; the Wizard she refers to is the "father" I've been referring to. As for meeting him...that's to him and Pan to decide. I would still like to request of father if I could go with you.....you were serious about that promise correct?"

"Of course I was. Add that to my list; get fixed, see if I can take you along as I promised I would, get going." As they passed through the door, the two sides hissing as they closed just behind him, Shine glanced about the interior for a moment before letting out a low and long whistle. "Got to hand it to who's in charge, he knows how to make a home. This place must have cost a fortune....."

"Father does like to build....

"It would seem so.....anyway, you said something about getting this arm treated. Well...lead on Ms Pan. I'm in your debt and your hands."

[Mara]

(((Please forgive me for any mistakes in this... it's late and some things were still confusing me. Let me know and I can edit if needed.)))



Everything was overwhelming Ina at the current moment. Nervously she twisted a couple fingers through the blue fabric of her gown, not realizing what she was doing. She wasn't sure if it was due to her current situation and not having any control over it, not knowing the reason that she was here, the odd state of her friend Ofi's state, or a combination of all three plus any other host of reasons to put her ill at ease. There was still the small thought in the back of her mind that this was perhaps a setup to eliminate her, causing Ofi to remain relatively quiet, her red eyes staring ahead. But for the most part Ina felt that Ofi was not threat-assessing and so did try to relax, pushing back her dress and folding her hands together, forcing them to remain still. Whatever it was, though, hopefully Ofi would pull herself together or otherwise conversation with these beings would be difficult.

She glanced around the room then once more, her blue eyes trying to focus better on the other occupants in the small space. Ina wanted to get a clearer idea of who else was there besides the Farghul she had met outside and the man who had let them in. So much had happened so fast that she hadn't had a chance to really study the others, so simultaneously focused she was on any conversation coming to her dialogue and finding an empty spot to seat herself. It was definitely a mixed group, to be sure. In addition to those she had already been somewhat acquainted to were what looked to be a human woman, a male who was quite human-looking but was a bit off, just like Ina was her, and, well, a very blue female humanoid, the like of which the senator had never come across in her studies.

And then there were droids, quite a few of them, actually, scattered throughout the room, some seemingly attached to the beings seated around her. Most of them looked like clones of her friend Ofi, but there were a couple who were quite different, though Ina could tell they were poured from similar molds. One that looked fairly lizard-like with wings, reminding her of fairy tales from her childhood, another that was quite similar but appeared more mammalian. It was then that it hit her where the mention earlier of a "Project Familiar" had been so, well, familiar to her. Ina remembered that that had been on the box and along with the letter of information regarding Ofi when she had received her over a decade ago. The senator glanced at her droid, still sitting unmoving on the arm of her chair. Might this be the place where her friend had come from and been.... created?

Unfortunately she didn't have any time to think on that theory because one of the droids, one of the avian ones like Ofi, began to speak, noticing that everyone had finally entered the little shack and were expecting something. Ina noticed curiously that the one speaking was one of those who seemed to have a "partner," the blue-skinned being of whose species she didn't recognize. Obviously Ina hadn't heard the little droid actually speak, but she was well-versed in body language and had noticed everyone else in the room turn their heads that way, as if to listen. She picked up her datapad where, thankfully, its words were scrolling across. Though appearing on the outward as if she were stone, apparently Ofi was still fulfilling her duties to her friend.

As she read the more official introductions of everyone in the room from the droid--Sender as he later introduced himself--Ina looked up to them in turn, trying to commit the image and name matches to memory for later. When she saw her name come up on her screen as the droid mentioned her, she made sure to smile, as she knew they would be looking at her, trying not to feel too self-conscious in her formal gown. She was a bit surprised to find out that there were more members of the military here. In fact, it made the couple that weren't, as well as herself, stand out a bit in the crowd, as she felt the droids around her increasingly military-life in their sterile metal casings.

The blue-skinned female--Rahja if she remembered, double-checking her datapad's history--scooped up her droid, as it was apparently done speaking for the moment. Though it was nice to know everyone's names, Ina still felt like she was at square one, no more closer to knowing the reason she was called here, secretly. But with the presence of so many AERs and other droids, a few tiny pieces were clicking into place. She thought of speaking up but decided against it; at the moment Ina didn't really feel she knew enough to ask anything. Others might think the absence of knowledge was perfect opportunity for questions, but the senator liked to have at least a little background information before starting any interrogations.

Obviously, though, this Zharra didn't have such inhibitions, as Ina noticed her datapad humming with a new message. The other had almost completely taken the words right out of the senator's mind. Though she may have had her own qualms about blurting out her misgivings about the current situation they all found themselves in, she was entirely curious about who would answer the question, and how. Her blue eyes flickered around the room, just then noticing that two of the beings had left: the vaguely human male and the female human, trying to pick out who might answer. The droid Sender who had spoken introductions, the man, Sean, who had answered the door... or someone else?

It turned out to be the last option, as Ina began reading words from the AER who had been introduced as Phae. The farther the words scrolled through, the more her eyes widened. Military? Secret? Well, that explained some of what she had come into contact with, the strange message, the presence of military beings here. She almost laughed, though, at the next part. Ina hardly felt she had influence, not even thinking about the very real fact that she had gotten Ofi when she was 16, hardly a powerful position in the galaxy. But the research part made sense; it gave her a theory as to why she was chosen. Her father did similar work in the medical fields.

During the part of the speech from Phae where he was inheriting giving everyone in the room an ultimatum, Ofi was joined by one of the other AERs, unnoticed by Ina. She was too busy reading and rereading Phae's words. Wondering if she still had to accept, though she already had her droid. And trying to figure out what all of this meant. Part of Ina knew that Ofi would always be more than a translator and her friend, but the rest of it had always kind of been left behind, not worth remembering or thinking about it. Ina stared at her screen. Accepting could give her resources to really help people, more than she could in the Senate. And make her feel beholden to Project Familiar. Declining would make all of this a distant dream, and her life would return to normal. Ina bit her lip, making the redness of it stand against her pale white skin. What to do?

Ofi turned her red eyes to Ayer, hearing his words but not answering. She kept the gaze for a couple minutes, then turned away, not bothering to speak. It wasn't that she didn't want to interrupt Phae's speech or disturb her friend Ina. Ofi just didn't think Ayer deserved the dignity of a response from her. She hadn't been around her "siblings" for more than ten years. She had put this life behind her for a newer, better one. That wouldn't change now, and it never would. Ofi hoped Ina would decline the offer, but she would support her friend in whichever she chose.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

The time that Arza spent in waiting to reply to her had Havanli’s brow gently furrowed, especially as the information continued to pour in. Two new entities and a familiar had been permitted into the shack above, Pan was face to face with the intruder, familiars across the galaxy were testing their connections…pinging against the thick barriers around the central mainframe, constant security scans and camera feeds were humming through her awareness…the constant stream of information had her mildly annoyed by the slow response time of the head of Familiar. Not a word was spoken for those milliseconds of elapsed time, until his hand came up to keep her settled.

“Keep all scanners on high alert and continue monitoring the feeds, but first make sure our medical bay is prepped for our unexpected guest.”

Brightly glowing golden eyes, so at odds with her Echani form, watched him as he turned and straightened his coat to a nod from her.

“Do try your best to find the entry point—it will do much to assess this visitor’s intentions.”

”Of course, Sir. I’ll inform you immediately when I have more information to report.” With his dismissal, she vanished in a flurry of glimmering silver-blue pixels to see to her duties. No doubt the command to open the outer blast doors would be coming through any moment and she had to get the other things done first.

---

Though she felt better about there being other military around, and while there was the added benefit of a senator, and even as the doctor and…epicanthix, perhaps?...left with their own droids, Zharra wasn’t interested in sitting. She had a frigate to launch and this was going to take up time she could have been overseeing the final days of preparation. As she listened, ears perked and mildly astounded, to yet another bird-droid (an AER, were they?) speaking, blue-green eyes studied it intently.

Zha had seen a lot in her sixty-some years of life, giving her a calm and even temperament when things that were out of the norm came across her path…at least on the outside. It was one thing that made her a good commander, the ability to remain focused and level headed when it mattered, and right now it mattered. As the holoprojector manifested itself on the table that Phae had moved to, those eyes flicked lightning-fast back and forth over the images and information as synapses fired rapidly. Ears and tail twisted and flicked as she processed the information presented, her mind made up even before the sleek looking droid had finished speaking. It was, perhaps, for reasons different than those in Familiar would have liked or agreed with, but they were her reasons none-the-less.

“…Decline, and you will never hear from us, or about us, again.”

Off to the side, 19 was sitting and trying very hard to keep still. Black photoreceptors dilated and contracted as she took in every motion of the uniformed woman to the best of her abilities, trying to begin piecing her would-be partner together with the information she’d been given. She just hoped…really hoped…that Zharra would acce—

“Most importantly, you will be assigned a Familiar like myself.”

Perking up, 19 sat back onto her haunches, ‘ears’ perked forward and whiskers tinted a bright, hopeful, sky blue as she tried not to look too excited. The Farghul captain’s attention swept in her direction and she practically froze, trying to keep herself from bounding around in a circle on the counter top as she all but vibrated with anticipation. Oh please let her like me…I really want to go with her! Please, please let her accept! For a long moment both Familiar and Farghul studied each other silently, Zharra noting the rather…outlandish…look of the synthskin coating the ‘FIDES.’ Her study of the droid was broken as one ear swept around in the direction of Sean and the blue woman (Rahja, was it?), followed by a sidelong glance.

Well, those two were looking cozy.

Smirking to herself, she’d turn her eyes back toward 19 as the shimmer of light and scraping of claws brought her attention back. Half sliding down the side of the counter’s side, the little droid was forced to drop (and nearly tumble) unceremoniously to the dusty floor before scampering her way over to climb her way up onto the table beside Phae and sit up near Zha. Something about the scene that had unfolded had the woman smiling quietly and shaking her head a little. The little droid brushed herself down a bit and smiled about as big as her programmed musculature allowed.

”Stars help me…”

”Hello, Zharra! I’m FIDES 19…but I think I’d like to be called Diana, if you don’t mind. Brother was right that I’ve been very anxious to work with you…” There was half a pause, where she seemed to hesitate in her words before, ”Please accept! I promise you that you won’t regret it! Not for a moment!”

If there was ever a look of surprise from Zharra it was then. Both brows raised, lightly ruffling the fur along her forehead, her ears perked fully forward, that tail stopped stalk-still, and a corner of her mouth twitched up for the briefest of moments as 19…Diana…spoke, just as ‘alive’ as you please. That last comment was enough to earn a good laugh from the captain as her features returned to something more ‘normal’ for her. ”There wasn’t a question that I was going to accept, though if there had been I don’t think I could have refused after that…” Shaking her head a bit, she glanced from the FIDES to the others in the room and finally back to Phae. ”Though it leaves me wondering what’s next?”

---

Quietly Rahja had watched and listened to the whole interaction. The nervous twisting of the senator’s fingers in her dress…the mild show of mixed emotions from the Farghul captain…the growing anxiety to leave by both that Tsubasa character and the doctor (followed by actual leaving)…Ayer’s subtle approach to Ofi and her notable lack of reply…another agitated movement from Sender (coming in the form of a slight fanning of his tail), though what he was irritated over was anyone’s guess…not much was missed by the chiss. Then again, she wasn’t anxious to do much either. What she wanted to do was take a pain killer and get some sleep, not be hanging around in the dusty shack outside of the main HQ. With a heavy sigh, she settled back and let Phae be the mouthpiece for the operation. It was about that time that something (Sean’s arm, if she had to take a guess) snaked its way around her shoulders gently.

Yep…Sean’s arm.

Typically, and with just about anyone else, the pro-isolationism chiss would have distanced herself immediately (and likely rudely, with threats of violence and bodily harm) from someone who dared get so touchy-feely with her. Sean, however, was a special case. As much as she hated to admit the fact that she was…becoming attached…to the insufferable sniper, she knew herself well enough to know she was. Just about as much as she saw the ugly potential to become attached to that damned mando. Even so, she was trying to convince herself that she wasn’t reacting with her typical vehemence because she was just too sore and tired to do so. Not that she was fooling anyone by the way she settled just slightly closer into him.

“This whole thing sounds more and more like a fairy tale every time I hear it. Funny, isn’t it? With veterancy comes greater disbelief.”

A small, smug, smile crept into her expression as she gazed at him from the corners of her eyes. For a moment she was still, silent, as she felt the attention of the Farghul on them before it moved back to the familiar in question. Only then would she turn her head and lean just slightly closer to whisper sweet nothings into his ear…starting with his name. ”Sean,” pressing herself lightly into his side, one hand coming to press against his chest and an impish look sharpening and defining the features of her face as she continued seductively. ”Veterancy’…isn’t a word.” Chuckling softly, she’d shift to return her attention to the group with a wicked little grin across her face that showed brilliantly white teeth.

Once her amusement had simmered down again, she glanced down at the dumbstruck figure of her poor, confused, little familiar. Sender’s beak was hanging wide open as he looked back and forth between the two of them, then got up and promptly moved from Rah’s lap to a new chair. Chuckling again, she smirked for a moment before considering his words honestly, then speaking just as softly to him. ”I don’t believe it sounds any more outlandish to me now than it did back when you gave me Sender, though.”

[A®heim]

((I know I move a bit quick in this post, but threads with so many people can drag horrendously (Exhibit A: This one—mostly my fault). Sorry for any liberties implied on your characters, mainly Shine. If you find any objectionable, let me know and I can change/remove them accordingly. Feel free to NPC any unnamed PF staff if you need to move things along yourself, or heck, you all have shares in this corporation—make up anything you like. Could always use more named staff and GAIs. ))

A grinding creak echoed through the caves as the massive dial on the wall rotated, the many locking pins (if nine centimeter thick rods of duranium could be called pins) sliding out of the formidable mechanism that barred the second largest entrance to the facility. All other entrances, including the largest—the surface bay doors of the subterranean hangar—were secured mainly in the sense that they were disguised as rather innocuous things. Like a hill. Or a shack.

Pan nodded to a voice only she seemed able to hear and strode back over to her guest/prisoner, exchanging cautious glances between Shine and the slowly opening door. “Hyo haff gotten clearance to enter ze facility safely. Don’t try anything zat vill get zat revoked.” The door came to a stop with a deafening clang. Inside, the sourceless florescent lights and bleached white walls of the laboratory halls glared in contrast to the dim cave lighting. Pan squinted slightly, her slit pupils narrowing. She motioned for the man and the droid to enter with herself bringing up the rear. The doors clamored shut behind them.

Two uniformed security guards stood waiting for them, each armed with a small but nasty-looking blaster carbine. These weapons, however, they kept lowered, betraying not the slightest hint of tension with the situation. They knew their orders and were quite accustomed to with the more…spontaneous of threats. They nodded to Pan in unison and took positions on either side of Shine. “Just a security measure, sir, just cooperate and there won’t be any trouble.” One of them murmured to him.

“Escort zis man to ze medical ward und see to it zat he receives treatment. If he pulls anything, shoot him.” She glanced down to the FIDES at his side and winced, amending her last statement as if it physically pained her to do so, “Ehhh, stun him. Vhatever hyo feel iz best.” The guards nodded again and started off down the slightly curved hallway. Here and there, a few beings of various race and apparel (mainly lab coats or maintenance jumpsuits) peered up questioningly from whatever they were working as they passed.

Pan waited until they had rounded the bend. “Havanli!” She barked, knowing the locally omnipotent Ghost AI could hear her, “Do a full backgrund check on zat man. I don’t care if hyo haff done von already, dig deeper. I vant to know everything.”


The medical ward was a seemingly humble and disused portion of the facility, at least at first glance. The truth of the matter was that despite the highest priorities of safety, some of the research done in this building was dangerous. At times, extremely dangerous. However, despite the proverbial flood of patients the ward sometimes had to attend to, the incredible level of medical technology available to it made even the most grievous of injuries a simple task to patch up. As such there were only two other people in the room when Shine and the security arrived—a patient nursing a nasty radiation burn, and the doctor wrapping it in gauze while cheerfully explaining that the injection he just gave him should have the tissue repaired and clear up all symptoms of radiation poisoning within a day or two. Such was the miracle of science. With a murmur of thanks and a shake with his good hand, the patient shuffled out of the ward, giving a short nod to the guards and a quick, distrustful glance at Shine.

When the door closed behind his last patient, the epicanthix doctor turned his smile to Shine and addressed him directly. “Ah yes! I’ve been expecting you. Bang your arm a bit there, then?” He strode confidently up to Shine in that way only the best doctors can causing the guards to close in just a little bit on their ward. The doctor fixed them both with a pacifying gaze. “Please. I need to have a look at my patient.” They exchanged a short look and backed to the doorway. The doctor’s grin returned, “Afterall, we’re here to fix you up not bash you around some more. Now if you could just remove your shirt and have a seat over there.” He motioned to the simple hospital bench his last patient had just been seated on.

It was then that Pan reentered, sans weapon at the very least, though bearing no less calamitous an air as ever. She muttered something to the guards who nodded and left the room, their own air of authority shattered immediately as they holstered their weapons, laughing and shaking their heads like old friends. They likely were. Pan just rolled her eyes. “Unprofessional…”

The doctor stopped examining Shine a moment to shoot her an informal salute. “Dr. Lenarski! Those cold sores aren’t flaring up again, are they?” Pan stared daggers. “Ouch, if looks could kill. That’s a no then?”

Pan recovered with long breath from her nose. In her mind she made her hourly plea to the powers above as to why so many geniuses had to be such buffoons. “I haff a message for our…guest.” She said the last word distastefully as many other more colorful ones had been in mind. “For reasons I do not care to try to comprehend, he iz to join ze meeting in progress via holoscreen.” A single claw tapped the blank wall of the ward and with a flick of her wrist, a holographic interface screen leaped from it to hover in front of Shine’s bench. “As for hyo, 15,” she gave the Familiar a sidelong glance as she set up the connection, “Ze Vizard vants to see hyo in his office.”

____________________________________________

Phae watched in silent bemusement as the newly christened “Diana” introduced herself in what he could only describe as a giddy fervor. There was a tiny bit of doubt and discomfort borne of her readiness in accepting such a contract, the conditions of which he had expected to the most conflicting with a person in her occupation and position—Zharra was a respected but crafty officer, the latter being a trait that could go either way for PF. However, these feelings all but evaporated as his practiced photoreceptors caught her genuine smile and amusement at her new partner’s antics. Appeal to the better nature, draw out its potential, learn and preserve, were those not the base maxims of all Familiars to one extent or another? More processing power could be spent on the philosophical later, for now there was still much business to discuss.

Odd terms…Diana, but then I can respect your attachment to a name. Ah yes, there is one more thing I should mention to you, Zharra. I say mention not to imply that it is of little consequence, to the contrary there are so many crucial details that I don’t believe they can all be covered in the short time of this meeting. The holoprojector on the table flickered off and flipped back over again. However, instead of a bare tabletop, a small, silver metal case about twenty-four by thirty-six centimeters sat atop it. With a short hop, Phae tapped a short combination with his beak and undid the latch. The case swung open revealing a gossamer headset with a lattice of white cased strands ending in round diodes. A pair of thing, transparent lenses could just be made out folded along the side. (Image Link)

This is a brand-new system we’ve developed with admittedly minimal testing. It is a bio-interface module that has been synched with a unique receiver in Diana’s body. When activated, those pads can be adhered to points on the body nearest to several areas of the brain and three places along the spine with electron bonding. While attached, they create a conduit between your own nervous system and Diana’s mechanical interface. Your brain will be able to send simple messages such as ‘move arm’ that are digitized and translated into a signal to her own reciprocating chemical muscles telling them to move. The same can occur in reverse with sensory feedback from the Familiar being retranslated as electrical nerve impulses, though dulled considerably for your safety. In this state, Diana’s processors remain completely online and continue to monitor and regulate subsystems for you as well as serving as a buffer in case of emergency. As for you, we’ve found that this can instill nausea in the user or even put them into a comatose-like state while integrated, as such it is strong recommended that you be securely seated when or if you use it. The unit can be deactivated with the same nerve impulse used to wake up from sleep, by Diana remotely, or by a physical switch on the module. The pads will then detach harmlessly.

Phae stopped to look around the room apologetically. There was just so much to explain and so few ways to do it. Ayer looked back at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. Sean just stared blankly, mouth slightly agape. My apologies, I know it is a lot to take in at once, and I certainly won’t blame you if you’re hesitant about this system. Normally we test such innovations much more thoroughly, but we couldn’t be certain if the integration might interfere with the bonding protocol in the Familiar coding. Essentially, the only one who could safely test it is the one who would be using it. In this case, that’s you, though of the organic beings in this room, you are perhaps the most ideal of a subject—you have the most similar physiology to what the feedback from Diana’s sensors will be translating. Do you know how long it takes an adult human to learn how to manipulate a prehensile tail effectively? Seventeen months—we’ve tested it.

He stopped again, having wandered off on an uncalculated tangent. Sean took the opportunity to break the few seconds of silence. Well the parts of that I understood sounded pretty damn amazing. Bravo Familiar! Unless of course you put Zharra into a vegetative coma in which case BOOO! Bad Familiar! He cracked a wide grin and settled back into the couch, unsure of whether he was more immensely enjoying Rahja’s uncharacteristic ‘friendliness’, or her Familiar’s dumbfounded reaction to it. He eventually decided that he would humbly accept both. His grin settled into a content smile and he turned his head suddenly towards Rahja. Is to.

Ayer had waited several minutes, even after Phae had finished yet another tirade, before he concluded that Ofi was either ignoring him or she too had somehow gone deaf and Ina was understanding everyone with black magic*. AER-05 had always been a sort of an enigma to the other Familiars. Despite being a member of the honorary “stable three”, the Familiars whose abilities simply entailed a dramatic extension of an inherent program, her own quirks were present in her behavior towards Project Familiar. More accurately, her lack thereof; While most Familiars routinely reported in, uploading information to the central database, conveying their status, or even just to say hi, 05 simply…didn’t. She had dropped off the radar not in the literal sense of 01 or 07, but in the sense that she had chosen to sever ties and live her own quasi-life with Irrina. It was a decision that Ayer certainly understood and couldn’t fully object to, though the cold-shoulder was still a bit harsh for a family member all the same. [color=#616D7E[/color]Perhaps later, then…[/color]

Further musings by Ayer, progress by Phae, and happytime by Sean, were interrupted by the tabletop flipping over again—Phae narrowly pulling the case to the side before it and the multi-million credit innovation inside were thrown across the room. A holoscreen flashed into view, also exhibiting that face-everyone-head-on-at once-trick, to reveal an all-too familiar (gratuitous ‘no pun intended’ here) face to some, and a completely new one to others.

“Ladies und gentlemen, I giff you ze intruder!” Pan stepped aside allowing the occupants of the shack a clear view of Shine’s bench and its now half-naked occupant.

Oh, I’ve seen this! Sean piped up. This is where they make their demands or they’ll begin torturing the guy. It’s a whole new fad with the terrorist groups these days.

“Zis goes both vays, Mu’haro, hyo’re ze von I vill be torturing von day.” The bitter reply came from somewhere off-screen.

I love you too, Pan. Sean chirped, at the same time shaking his head and mouthing a long ‘nooo’ to Rahja.

Phae watched patiently, waiting for Pan to fill them in as to why his treatment (being administered by the doctor politely remaining oblivious to the screen) was being broadcasted to the agent meeting. When no explanation came, he looked quickly to either side, adjusting his wings and making a noise like a throat being cleared. I assume Agent Mu’Haro is incorrect in his assumption.

That’s usually a safe bet.

“Ze Vizard said he vas to…attend. I shudder to think vhat zat implies.” Pan’s voice, tinged with irritation came from off screen again. Sean waved at the shirtless guy he’d never seen in his life.

Very well, fine. Phae sighed, knowing better than to try to comprehend the grand architecture of his creator’s often impulsive decision, mainly because there was rarely any architecture at all, at least until everything miraculously comes together in the end. Welcome to Project Familiar, I suppose. How did you…? Never mind. Where was I?

Kitty comas.

We would never knowingly subject any of our number to such a risk. He reassured Zharra, though it sounded suspiciously rehearsed. Of course that could just be because he was a droid.

Ohh, knowingly. No worries then. Sean turned his head and nodded matter-of-factly to Rahja. Project Familiar knows everything.

Phae ignored Sean’s outbursts and locked his visor onto Irrina. There had been a degree of circumstance to her inclusion to the project, circumstances that all at once necessitated him to more directly observe the two, and prevented him from doing so. His head moved just slightly as his receptors locked on 05. There had been no small amount of concern for her development—a learning AI program with lethal capacity. There had been the feared potential that she could grow cold in the wrong environment—become not only a machine of murder, but a lethally efficient one. This had been one of the factors that led her being assigned to the being reading beside her. Sort of. Ah yes, I remember now. Irrina and 05. As one or both of you may or may not be aware, there were a number of unique conditions to your assignment with one another. 05 was put into the care of your father—a great man if I may say so myself—with the instructions that she would one day serve her purpose in your acquaintanceship. Your entire family has such potential… He trailed off, old logs of his first contact with Ina’s father resurfacing and defragmenting. …he had several revisions to this oath, a few conditions of his own—mostly for your safety.

Ayer snapped out of yet another mull of musings at this. He had never heard this detail of his sister’s assignment. This could explain some of her behavior, though he wasn’t quite yet sure how.

That said, I feel you have the advantage of the grandfather clause in this situation. You are still young, yet the resolution of your potentially has exceeded many expectations. I do not expect you to see the value in obligating yourself to a cause that, until now, you may not have understood the full consequences of. However, I am also not about to separate you and 05. For greatest stability and the sake of both your continued developments, we will not impede you further. His gaze locked on each of them in turn, lingering on 05 to signify that this was not a decision for Irrina alone.

Refuse, and you need never contact us again. Consider what we’ve done thus far a gift of goodwill for the sake of the galaxy, and then consider no more. For better or for worse, we will not intervene with your lives. That is my offer.





*making her ♫a Black Magic Woman♫

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

---

They’d been summoned…and that was a big deal around these parts.

Jazz had made it clear enough when she’d first met him that security detail around Project Familiar was more of a ‘Murphy’s Law’ precaution than a true necessity…most days. It’s why they liked security officers that pulled double duty. Jazz, like herself, doubled as a pilot…Matthias doubled as a mechanic…etcetera. It was one person per level with two extra that were either on break, sleeping or off duty, nothing complicated. All the gear was provided, meals and accommodations taken care of…truthfully it was a nice job, if a bit boring. No offense to the zany conglomeration of scientists who made life anything but dull, but for a borderline adrenaline junky who enjoyed being in the sky (forget just seeing the sky), duty around the compound had the potential to be as tedious as no-flight weeks back with the Sevens…or worse, the time she’d spent with Aunna back on Center-point Station!

Still, it hadn’t gotten that far yet…hells, she’d only been here a week and already she and Jazz had been called down to back Pan up at the lower blast doors. The thought of the intimidating reptilian needing back-up was laughable in itself, to both of them, but they didn’t say a thing about it when Havanli had sent them hustling down three floors to do just that, for a singular person at that!

“How much are you betting the guy’s Mando? Certified one-man army,”

”Nerf-turds, Red, he’s gonna be some punk kid who was dared to dig a fifty foot hole and jump inside, actually managed it, and fell belly first into the lake.”

“Bah, no way. Okay, how about this…it’s a she, and she’s a cross-country runner who was training and fell into the cave when part of it collapsed.”

”I’ll bite on the last part, but I’m telling you, it’s a guy. Okay, how about this: country bumpkin from an agri-world that was looking for a good place to set up shop. Saw the shack and fell into said cave-in on his way to check it out.”

Jazz snorted a little laugh and shifted his weight as they waited. As the gears in the heavy blast doors clamored away as they unlocked the two fell silent, watching the door open and allow FIDES, man, and…Pan…through before closing again. Nodding, the red-hued man and his companion looked from Pan to Shine from behind the HUD visors of their helmets. One of them, however, had to try hard not to seem utterly surprised by what she saw.

“Just a security measure, sir, just cooperate and there won’t be any trouble.”

Holy Goddess Via…it’s Shine. No. Frelling. Way.

“Escort zis ma to ze medical ward und see to it zat he receives treatment. If he pulls anything, shoot him.”

They glanced at each other, knowing to translate that as—

“Ehhh, stun him. Vhatever hyo feel iz best.”

She smirked a bit as they both nodded and led Shine down the hallway toward the medical ward. No sooner were they around the corner and out of easy ear-shot than the woman finally spoke up. ”Cripes! Can’t I escape you men?! Shine Albartoss, what in Via’s name are you doing here?!” she said, careful to keep her voice quiet enough to not attract the attention of any nosey scientists…or Pan. She lurked…everywhere.

“Wait, what? You know this guy, Sam?”

”Yeah…cripes. Okay, well, anyway Pan didn’t eat you and she didn’t blast you to pieces…that’s a good sign. Let’s just…get you to the medical bay and get you patched up. The boss is a good guy, he’ll make sure things get straightened out.”

It didn’t take them long to get to the medical ward…

------
On the other end of the spectrum, Havanli was being as diligent as ever, her disembodied voice following pan down the hallway as she stormed through the halls. Why no hologram? Honestly, she was busy…and she didn’t like being snapped at. Queens were silly that way. ”Shine Albartoss, smuggler and former Corellian Naval fighter pilot. As you can see by the records I’ve uploaded to your system, he is typically quite picky about his employers and his jobs. One hutt dealing, but we do have a pirate working for us…He doesn’t have the best record with the Corellian navy after a mishap during a skirmish, but that’s the only real blemish on his records that I’ve found. Also, interestingly, according to recent audio logs, he and Miss Zaftig know each other, so if you’re looking for a character witness before you have further thoughts of homicide, perhaps you should ask her. Oh, and next time, don’t bark. I can hear you just fine…a please wouldn’t hurt either.”

There was a hint of amusement in the meticulously digitized voice with those last statements…just before it cut out completely.

That conversation was over.

Sometimes it was nice to be a GAI…

Especially when sassing Pan.
------

As the doctor started having a look at Shine, Pan appeared…all white scales and death glares. She dismissed the two guards who had been trying hard not to chat. Knowing the man and Sam knew each other, Jazz had been convinced this was all a big misunderstanding…besides, this Shine character didn’t have a hint of malicious intention around him, just a healthy dose of caution, confusion and curiosity. Zeltron appeased. Still, they had a job to do and when Pan showed up he and Sam were glad they hadn’t been caught gabbing. As she dismissed them, they nodded and started off down the hall, snickering and laughing at some inside joke…likely Pan related, as so many of them were.

What? She scared the daylights out of them most of the time, how better to combat it than joke about it…but never to her face…that was Sean’s realm (as Jazz had informed her). A little way down the hall, Sam paused and pulled off her helmet, glancing back toward the medical ward. The zeltron couldn’t help but chuckle a little and snatch her helmet from her then give her a good push back in the direction of the only open door in the hall. “Go on, may as well keep him company and keep Pan from tearing him apart. We can live without you for a while. Considering your lunch break.”

Sam gave him a pathetic whine at that and huffed a bit, making him laugh before she grinned and chuckled herself. ”Right, thanks Jazz…but this is not my lunch break.” With that she took off back toward the medical bay.

---

While she was, indeed, accepting of the little droid Zharra wasn’t trusting of the situation. Certainly the military personnel helped, as did the senator, but there was so much she didn’t know yet. Keen eyes surveyed the hyper little droid with a studious curiosity until the bird, Phae, spoke again. A brow lifted slightly at his words, her ears twisting backward for half a moment before she consciously perked them forward again, her tail sweeping behind her before curling itself around her legs, the end twitching ever so slightly as she listened. The appearance of the case on the table…and further, the item in the box…

The curious object had a design that had that brow lifting further, and her ears perking forward of their own accord. As she listened, however, those ears slowly twisted back once more, unaccepting of her mental demands that they remain ‘at attention.’ The flick of the tip of that long tail became more of an agitated twitch and her gloved hands, held at the small of her back, curled in on themselves just slightly. Still, she didn’t make a sound or twitch a muscle otherwise. Inside the synapses were firing at an almost alarming pace as she took in the information, despite having already come to a swift conclusion about the use of this item. Still, the concept was intriguing enough to have her full attention.

As Phae apologized to the room at large, Diana sat upright at the corner of the table nearest Zharra wringing her little paws around one another. She didn’t understand the woman very well at all aside from what she could gather from all the data floating through the holonet and republic military databanks…but, the features of the woman were close enough to her siblings that she was swiftly picking up tells. The turn of the ears, the feline motion of the tail…whatever the woman was thinking or feeling about what she heard wasn’t good. The long, fiber-optic, ‘whiskers’ colored an anxious and barely visible yellow as her own tiny audio receptors turned back minimally.

“…most ideal of a subject – you have the most similar physiology to what the feedback from Diana’s sensors will be translating. Do you know how long it takes an adult human to learn how to manipulate a prehensile tail effectively? Seventeen months – we’ve tested it.”

The pupils of Zharra’s eyes thinned just slightly before regulating themselves to the ambient light once more.

“Well the parts of that I understood sounded pretty damn amazing. Bravo Familiar! Unless of course you put Zharra into a vegetative coma in which case BOOO! Bad Familiar!”

An ear flicked slightly and blue-green eyes turned to Sean at his comment as her tail unwrapped itself before wrapping around her legs the other direction. No, that wasn’t comfortable for her either, so it unwrapped itself one last time to hang behind her, the end curled upward slightly to keep from dragging on the floor. Turning her eyes back to Phae she was quite, thoughtfully so, for a long moment. Rahja shook her head slightly and rolled her eyes a bit at Sean’s comment, but was hardly surprised when he turned his head suddenly toward her. If he thought it would work at getting her to back away, or call her bluff, or startle her…he was very wrong…however, she did see Diana scampering swiftly past Phae, leaping from the and…yes, right onto Sean’s lap, climbing half way up his torso until she was nose to nose with him when he turned his head back toward her.

”I think you’re in trouble now, Sean,” she muttered with no small amount of amusement.

”Don’t say such things, Sean! Father wouldn’t allow something that could hurt the Captain like that out of Familiar! Isn’t that right brother?!” she stated, not allowing Phae the time to reply before continuing on. ”Pan and the others did a lot of good work in developing this so you don’t need to say such things. Shame on you,” she ended, pressing her tiny ‘nose’ against his before turning and scampering back down him with a “shame, shame” and hopped over to the table. Stopping in front of Zharra, who had watched the miniature altercation with immense curiosity (shown mainly in the eyes and ears), the FIDES balanced herself on her hind legs and tail, looking up at the Farghul woman. ”He wouldn’t, really. Father’s so very nice and he and Pan take a lot of precautions with these things. Sean is just…well, you see, he’s…um…he likes to be funny and sometimes it comes off wrong is all.”

It was only a moment later that the center of the table flipped once again, Phae and Diana both rushing to move the case aside before it was tossed, or crushed, or fell into whatever dark abyss was below the table, and a view screen appeared. Now, Zharra tended to consider herself quite well versed in the beings of the galaxy, considering her 60 years had given her ample time to run across a good number of them. She also considered herself difficult to surprise, and quite steadfast…but the being on the other side of the screen had the fur along her back, neck, arms and tail bristling a decent amount as her ears pinned themselves backward. She didn’t flinch, per se…certainly not in the way a human or near-human might, but she certainly showed how startled she was for those who knew what to look for.

As the…person…spoke Zha made a conscious effort to settle herself again, allowing her fur to settle flat once more. The man that was revealed was being attended to by someone who seemed quite intent to stay off the screen as much as possible, and Sean (as she was learning swiftly) made yet another smart remark that (had he not made his earlier faux pas) might have had her out the door faster than just about anything else…and had the whole place raided within a twenty minute time span. Again she had to remind herself two of the others were soldiers.

“Zis goes both vays, Mu’haro, hyo’re ze von I vill be torturing von day.”

“I love you too, Pan.”

Rahja just couldn’t resist the opportunity…

”I could deliver you to him for a fee, Pan. I have a friend who’s good with…drugs…just get me a bottle of good wine and I’ll have him bound, gagged and with a bow on him for you by sunrise. He might even enjoy it in the process.”

”Okay, who are you and what have you done with my partner?” came Sender’s almost disbelieving voice from his chair. ”No…wait…we’re talking about drugging someone, tying them up, and delivering them for ‘interrogation’…never mind, crisis averted, this is the real Rahja. Continue on.”

”Don’t worry, it’s normally like this from what I’ve seen…” came another female voice from off screen, obviously attempting to be quiet and addressing the shirtless man rather than anyone on their end. ”…Just go with it.”

“Very well, fine. Welcome to Project Familiar, I suppose. How did you…? Never mind. Where was I?”

“Kitty comas.”

Zharra narrowed her eyes a fraction.

“We would never knowingly subject any of our number to such a risk.”

”See? I did say so.”

“Ooh, knowingly. No worries then. Project Familiar knows everything.”

Rahja rolled her eyes and sighed tolerantly. Zharra, on the other hand turned her eyes from the little FIDES on the table to the (now closed) case. What to do? What were the benefits, the drawbacks were numerous and obvious, but the benefits…what good would this little droid and her…case…do a naval captain? Certainly there had been what Phae had mentioned upon their entry, but just what did all of it mean? How comprehensive was that database? How extensive were the resources? What resources, at that. What ‘emergency protocols’ from a stationary compound could possibly be of use to a space-faring captain? Ignoring much of the talk (it wasn’t directed at her anyway), the captain pulled a small chrono from her pocket and was startled by the time. The first hour was nearly up already and if she had a guess about her new first officer, he would start getting wary if she didn’t report back in after the first hour and a half. Shaking her head slightly she would pocket the chrono again.

[Jazen]

Shine's eyes turned from his current host to the massive door that rested within the cavern wall before him. So far, the only sound around had been the drip, drop of water from the cavern roof and the cracking and thudding of their footsteps on rock. Now a new sound had echoed throughout the silence; the grinding of metal on metal and the hissing as powerful hydraulics kicked in. Nine clanks followed that sound and with a grinding hiss, the doorway before them began to part slowly.

Shine whistled quietly to himself, not that anybody would have likely heard him if he opted for loud instead. The grinding of metal on metal in that cavern bounced off the walls and made what might have been a simple sound deafening within those rocky halls. Luckily, when Pan returned to facing him, Shine had the force of mind to concentrate his hearing on her. Her warning made him grin despite the fact that, it was in fact, a serious threat from her, raising a hand openly into the air to signify he meant no harm.

"Scout's honor ma'am." That hand's purpose quickly switched as the door finally clanged open and the party outside was bathed in white, burning light. After being in a dark cavern for so long, his eyesight adapted to the darkness in order to help him find his way, that white light might as well have been the sun to him. Shine's hand swung over to shield his eyes, wincing and squinting as the light forced his eyes to re purpose themselves.

Shine waited a moment longer before moving towards that white hallway, allowing for his eyes to adjust to the point that the light wasn't burning holes in his eyes sockets. Then, at Pan's insistence, Shine made his way forward into the doorway and the white lit hallway beyond it. Two guards were waiting for him there, and upon his approach, took flanking positions to either side of him. Their rifles were aimed low, at ease in their position; Shine had no doubt that wasn't because they didn't think he was a threat, but rather that they were trained well enough to respond if he did try something. Also, having a giant lizard behind the man likely made them less afraid that man would dare anything.

Nodding to the guard who addressed him, Shine fell into step with them as the guards led on through the facility. Vistal, perched easily on his shoulder, hummed to himself gently as they walked on, happy that Pan had taken his request to avoid harming Shine if possible. One of the guards suddenly turned to look at them both, making Vistal turn his head to see what the guard was doing. Said guard was a woman underneath and after a moment, she suddenly spoke to Shine. And to Vistal and Shine's surprise both, Shine knew who it was.

"I think that's a question I could easily redirect back at you. By the force, Sam, what the heck are you doing here?" Shine was careful not to shout out his surprise, although in the corner of his mind, he figured it would have been appropriate considering the circumstance. The other guard took that moment to question Sam in turn and Shine barely managed to not laugh like an idiot to echo off the halls.

"Seems we all got questions we need answered. I think we'll have plenty of time to chat about it while the doctor plays fancy with my arm."

For the most part, their journey to the medical ward was quiet and uneventful. A few people in white coats came across their path, but aside from sparring them a a moment's glance in a few cases, those men and women continued about their business. Shine had to personally take care in several of those cases to avoid being run over by those people, their heads buried in some report or lost in their own thoughts. Considering the magnitude of the place, Shine guessed that most its staff where in other parts of the facility or within the rooms they were passing.

Finally, their little party arrived at what Shine guessed was their destination. Shine was first in and after a quite survey of his environment, his eyes fell on who could only be the doctor. Shine's arrival seemed to be perfectly aligned with that of the current patient in the room being finished up on; the final spins of a gauze to cover a nasty burn mark on the man's head were just being applied. The man nodded to the doctor, gave what was obviously a word of thanks, then passed them by, giving Shine a very unpleasant look on the way out. Shaking his head, Shine made his way into the room, nodding when the doctor turned to address him.

"Considering the fall I had, I'm surprised I still have a head on my shoulders." Chuckling, Shine glanced back to Sam for a moment, then returned his gaze to the doctor when the man told him what he needed to do. Shrugging, Shine shrugged his shoulder so that Vistal could move himself to one of the paitent beds while Shine himself worked on getting his shirt off. It wasn't easy, what with his arm feeling like someone had used it for batting practice, but the shirt was soon resting next to Vistal and Shine was cradling his arm to keep it from dangling.

His host graciously returned at that point, striding into the med bay with that same look of concern and malice. She was lacking the weapon she had carried earlier, but Shine knew without a doubt she didn't need an inorganic device to throttle the life out of him if she wanted. It took a great deal of effort not to laugh at the interaction between Pan and the doctor, but the threat of death did wonders for keeping a chuckle in check. What he wasn't able to keep in check was the confusion on his face at what she had returned to tell them.

His confusion was quickly subdued by Pan's actions, however, as the giant lizard suddenly opened up a holo screen on the nearby wall. Glancing at it, Shine noticed several others were on the other side, all crammed together and now looking to the screen which had obviously been opened on their end. Shine spotted a blue skinned, red eyes woman, a pale colored woman in fine dress, a feline woman dressed in what Shine recognized as a military uniform and a decently dressed humanoid man. That wasn't what caught Shine's eye though; each of these people seemed to have a mechanical partner with them. With the exception of what appeared to be the feline's comrade, which seemed to look like Vistal did, all of the droids looked like birds. Raising an eyebrow, Shine was about to say something when Pan beat him too it. Then someone on the other end did. And then Sam returned.

Choosing to start with his fellows on the big screen, Shine have a one handed, two finger salute with his good arm. "Well now...not how I'm usually introduced to people, but interesting either way. A pleasure to...well, see you all. Introductions can come later, I think." Smiling, Shine absently waved back to the man's wave before turning his attention back to Sam. Giving her a bigger grin at seeing a face he knew well, Shine watched the people on the other end of screen continue amongst themselves while he was being attended too.

"Well, nice to know that that's normal and I didn't drop into a looney bin. Speaking of which, you did ask how I ended up here earlier; figure I can answer that easily enough. I fell down a hole. A very, very deep hole. That decided opening up about thirty or forty feet in the air would be more fun then just sliding to the ground. Thankfully, waters a softer landing...barely.

I'm just gonna take a stab here but...don't tell me, you work for these guys? I could be wrong; you know how bad I am at first impressions."

Meanwhile, Vistal had, on Pan's words, exited the room just after the comm call had been put in place. Shine had given him a nod when Pan told him the Wizard wished to see him and, after briefly noticing his fellows on the screen, Vistal had headed off down the hallways to where "father" resided.

It didn't take long for Vistal to find and locate "Father", his small paws making little clacks as he made his way across the floor towards him. Coming to a stop shortly before him, Vistal rose to his hind legs and rubbed his front paws together nervously. "You...wished to see me Father?"

[Mara]

(((Sorry for the wait… and for how fracking long it got.
Also, I hope my chronology isn’t too screwed up. It’s kind of hard to follow, lol.)))


Ina was still looking down at the device in her lap, pretty much ignoring what was going on around her, but she was no longer registering the words on the datapad. She was thinking about the standing offer that had come from Project Familar, through the droid Phae. Making herself an official part of this organization could be a great asset for her in her work, senatorial and otherwise. With these powerful beings behind her, injustices wouldn’t stand a chance. But then again, did she really want to go down that road and not achieve her goals based on her own merit? Did she want to be like the senators who used corporate finances for personal gain and expected favors in return? It was a tricky situation.

Plus, her friend Ofi was just that, her friend, not her pet or assistant or whatever role these other droids played, and she had been away from P.F. for years and years. It had been so out of her mind that Ina had forgotten its existence until reminded of it now. There had been no further mention of it since the droid had come into her life, and they had lived as friends, not as master and AER. And in a way, she felt as if she had already declined long ago, by living away from the immediate influence of the secret corporation. The decision was one she didn’t feel she could make alone, because she felt she and Ofi were equals in their relationship. She finally tore her eyes away and moved them to her droid, a questioning look on her face.

At the same time that the Offshoot senator was lost in her thoughts about what to do, Ofi was keeping her attention on the entire situation in front of her. Not that she really cared about what was going on, because she didn’t and was hoping that she and Ina would leave soon and get back to their own business. But it was only for the benefit of her friend, so that she could transmit anything important back to Ina’s datapad. At first, she had been sending everything, but so many different beings were talking—chitchatting nonsense to each other—that Ofi had began sifting through the words for just the ones that were directly related to the senator or any of the truly important information.

And so the next words on Ina’s datapad were the ones from Zharra, accepting the offer presented by Phae and then asking a fairly reasonable question. The whispered conversation of Rahja and Sean and the jabber of ‘Diana’ never made it through. Ofi hoped that the Farghul captain’s decision wouldn’t have any influence over what the Offshoot decided to do. But Ina had been awfully quiet for quite a while, and worried, the bird-like droid turned her head to rest her red photoreceptors on her friend. She was looking at Ofi, her eyes slightly raised, and she realized that Ina probably hadn’t seen the newest message yet. Instead, she seemed to be asking Ofi what she wanted her to do. Without hesitating, the droid shook her head in the best way her body allowed her to.

When Ofi answered her, Ina was not surprised, and she smiled briefly. She had been thinking of the same response. They had lived comfortably these past ten years-plus without the help of P.F. Declining would just enable them to continue doing so, and the senator didn’t feel any reservations about the decision. At first she had worried about what would happen if she had purposely left everything behind, about having regrets. Now, though, she didn’t think any other choice made sense. Ina was satisfied with the current threads of her life, with little to no contact with the mystery organization, and was willing to accept keeping it that way.

She was preparing to answer Phae, lifting up her hands, when something caught her eye. The table in the middle had shifted, removing the holoprojector and replacing it with some kind of metallic box, in which some kind of device was inside. Curious, and politely not wanting to interrupt, her hands dropped to her lap and returned to her datapad to find out what was going on. Her decision could wait for the moment. With only the briefly hesitation, Phae’s words started scrolling across her personal screen, and Ina tried to make sense of the wall of text. It was certainly interesting, but it seemed to be only related to the droid Diana whom had attached herself to the Farghul woman Zharra. Ina didn’t spend too much brainpower trying to figure it all out. Even if she had wanted to accept the offer to remain close to P.F., this whole thing didn’t appear to be something for her to worry about.

A glance around the room told her that the other beings were having similar moments of confusion and wonderment about this new interface system. Ina was unfamiliar with the Farghul as a species but thought that Zharra looked worried about the prospect. Though the man Sean seemed excited and even cracked a joke about one of the serious side effects that Phae had just discussed. Which prompted a reaction from the droid Diana in a confrontation of Sean that Ofi didn’t bother sending over to Ina’s datapad. Just seeing the body language would be enough for the senator to get an idea. It was only a side conversation that didn’t directly involve Ina herself.

Thinking she might have a chance to finally speak up, Ina brought up her hands again, but then the tabletop flipped once again, this time revealing a large holoscreen. It showed a strange woman, who then moved out of the way, showing a man on some kind of medical bed. Feeling a little exacerbated now, she folded her fingers back into her dress to keep from fidgeting. She just hoped this wouldn’t be more nonsense that didn’t have anything to do with her and her relationship with Ofi. Now that she had decided that it would be best for the two of them to just politely decline and go their continued separate way from P.F., the length and drollness of this meeting was beginning to get to her. Something that Ofi had probably been feeling since before they had even landed on Kuat.

With a silent sigh, she turned her focus back to her datapad, thinking she might as well occupy herself with what was going on, instead of staring blankly into space without understanding anything. The senator quickly began scrolling through the silly chatter of Sean and the female on the other side of the holoscreen, looking for something important or for a reason why they were being shown this scene. But then she stopped when she realized they were speaking of torture, and she glanced up at the man on the large ‘screen again, the rest of Sean’s conversation, now with Phae, falling on her datapad without her seeing it.

Suddenly all her annoyance disappeared and was replaced with mild outrage. She was actually worried that P.F. might actually be holding the man captive and willing to fight information out of him. What was going on here? This was just the kind of thing she was working against in her work. Injustices, inequality, slavery. The man didn’t appear to be in any kind of distress, but in her experience, that wasn’t an indicator of truth. Untold things could be going on offscreen in preparation for some kind of public torture session that they were all going to be witness to. Ina felt that the sooner she got out of here, the better. Why she had ever considered accepting the offer from earlier was beyond her.

Wanting to speak her mind, she had already turned to face Phae, who seemed to be the one in charge on this end of things, in order to get some answers. But the droid apparently had had similar inclinations and begin speaking directly to her. Thinking that perhaps he had noticed her own reaction to seeing the captive man on the screen and wanted to assure her of what was actually going on, she immediately looked back to her datapad. Instead, the droid completely changed the subject, unconcerned with the scene going on behind him or with the others in the room. First Zharra had gotten the speech about the interface device; now it was apparently Ina’s turn to gain some as of yet unknown information.

Though the situation on the holoscreen was still in the back of her mind, her attention was on Phae’s words. She found herself nodding at the droid’s mention of her father and felt a brief pang of homesickness. But Ina was confused at the mention of ‘her entire family.’ The Offshoot had no knowledge of who or where her biological family was. Dr. Rand Icharus, a true Arkanian, had adopted her when a baby, and she still had little knowledge of the circumstances surrounding how she had come into her father’s life. He had shared few details; at the time, Ina thought it was because he didn’t know himself. But maybe there was more to it now…

This was a new revelation for her, and she wanted to speak to Phae more about it, wanted to ask what he and P.F. knew about her real family. She had always assumed she was born among the slaves, like most of the Offshoots in Adascapolis. Rescued from scientific experimentation by her father, as he had told her. But he had continued on, reverting back to the offer he had placed on everyone’s minds. Despite everything that had just happened, the silent decision between her and Ofi, the man on the screen and hints of torture, Phae’s words about her father and her family, Ina felt conflicted. Finding her mother, her real father, had never been important to her. Her life had been fulfilling in its own way, despite all the adversity she had come through. Now, though, she couldn’t help but think of the possibilities of what knowledge P.F. held that she didn’t.

Next to Ina, Ofi ruffled her metal feathers and would have put on a smirk if her metallic facial makeup would have allowed her. She knew they had just mutually agreed to go their separate ways from Project Familiar, and she couldn’t wait to see and hear the reactions from the rest of the room when Ina said so. All her so-called siblings would probably be annoying sad and horrified about the news. But Ofi didn’t care. In a way, she had put P.F. behind her already, hadn’t even wanted see any being or droid related to the organization ever again after she had been attached to Ina. Her friend just had to make things completely official now, and it would be all over, finally.

But when she turned her red eyes up to Ina, preparing to speak a translation of Ina’s signing, the quiet resolve of their decision was no longer on her face. Through experience only gained from many years of living with the Offshoot woman, Ofi could tell that Ina was deep in thought about something. And this confused her, when they had just made up their minds. How Phae’s asking them about the offer a second time, though more personally, would suddenly give her friend conflicts was incomputable to the droid. When she saw Ina finally pick up her hands to sign, she dreaded the words, words that she just stared at for a while before eventually translating, her female droid voice even more emotionless than usual.

“I have to admit… Phae, was it? That earlier I had the full intention of politely declining. As was said, Ofi and I have been living beyond the influence of Project Familiar for years. And then after seeing the man over there and the mentions of torture…” Here, Ofi had to pause in her word-for-word speech of Ina’s signing as the woman glanced back over at the holoscreen with a shudder before looking back at Phae, her fingers moving again. “But I’m honestly a bit unsure about my decision. And more importantly… What do you know about my father? My real parents? If there’s anything you can tell me, I’d like to know. Before I give you my final answer.”

[A®heim]

Let’s see, you can’t fly, you can’t see a cricket from 12 miles away, no shield, no lasers, no poison darts. Sean had thought to himself when the star-spangled FIDES pressed its nose up against his and admonished him. His response had been to remain in bemused silence, eyebrows raised until she had finished. When she had darted back onto to the table to appeal again to Zharra, he could only chuckle and shake his head. But that. Is utterly adorable.

Now he had been watching her partner-to-be as Phae laid down the basic function of the nifty little device she was designed to work with. Okay, so that was pretty cool, but aside from the accessorizing capability, the whole model seemed to rely pretty heavily on the cute factor. Hey, it works for babies, so why not?

His musings were interrupted by Rah’s offer to hand deliver him to the gnashing teeth of the R&D head, followed by Sender’s appropriate shock at her wording. He chuckled when the Familiar corrected himself quite eloquently. His sense of humor was coming along nicely. That’s cold, Rahja. I like it. Hear that, Pan? Your fairy chissmother has granted your wish at long last!

Behind the screen, Pan narrowed her eyes and said nothing. Sean was lucky the Wizard had taught her a sense of propriety—limb ripping was a social taboo covered during lesson one. For now, she reoccupied her mind keeping watch on Shine. That Samantha girl had come back in, sans helmet, and was making small talk. They seemed to know one another, very suspicious she thought—there would be much background checking of her own, especially with how impetuous Havanli had become towards her. It never occurred to her that this was simply because the GAI was one of the few entities capable of calling her out on her manners without express fear of suffering the consequences. She initiated the passive audio recording system and eavesdropped in silence.

Meanwhile back at the meeting all eyes had turned to Ina, then to Ofi waiting for her to translate the signing. The subtle difference in her tone when she did finally speak was probably lost on most in attendance, but Ayer noticed it immediately. His lengthy experience both in social interaction and the workings of a mind similar to his own spotted the emotionless despair—that she did not agree with what she being forced to translate in the slightest. That explained her earlier distantness at the very least, but all the same it evoked a new kind of emotion within the droid, one he had to analyze for several minutes before he could really tack down what it was. Sadness? Indignation? Betrayal? No, that was too strong a word. You can’t be betrayed by someone who was never really on your side.

Torture? Phae exclaimed, mortified. Oh no no no, that man stumbled into one of our caves by mistake and broke his arm. We have him on the holoscreen while the doctor tends to him. Sean was merely being, how did you put it, Diana? Ah yes…funny.

I can really bring down the house. Sean glanced around the shabby interior of the shack. Not that that’s saying much.

Anyway, Phae continued, turning back towards Ina with a questioning look. Your adopted father was one of our earliest benefactors and a great scientific mind. We do however have records of your biological family as well, albeit somewhat incomplete ones. What little we know about them speaks very well, though. Did you not ask 05? She has full access to our central database.

Several eyes went back to Ofi and Phae realized what he had just implied. He immediately began fidgeting and mentally pulled up the list of the meeting proceedings—everything was green but the dismissal, which would hardly be appropriate. He was about to ad lib something along the lines of otters and space wizards when PFHQ came to rescue in the form of a notification in the lower right of his visor informing him that the lockdown had just been lifted. Ah! Good news, everyone, I’ve just been informed that the lockdown has just been lifted. Those of you who wish to may proceed to the main lift in the broom closet over there, our guest quarters are always available and you are free to stay as long as you would like to. If you have other pressing matters, the launch of your new ship for instance, Captain, you are dismissed. Your Familiars may answer any questions you might have and provide any further information about the Project. Those of you staying are free to ask me anything as well, or I’m certain our extensive and friendly staff would be happy to do so as well.

Sean made a ‘heh’ sound. Phae gave him yet another exasperated, sidelong glance; a new record for the day.

Thank you all very much for attending and I wish all of you the very best of luck in your travels, wherever they may take you.

__________________________________________________


Arzaheim looked up from the reports he was reviewing and smiled at the FIDES peeking through the door. Ah, yes, come in, come in. He switched off the holoscreen with a casual flick of his ring finger and patted the top of his desk. Come on up here.

He waited for the little droid to clamber his way up before steepling his fingers and continuing. I wish I could say that I orchestrated this entire series of events—I’m sure there will be those who believe I did anyway—but it would seem that it is merely fate smiling upon the both of us. I was reviewing our records on this man just before you came in. Shine Albartos was briefly tracked several years ago and listed as a potential agent to be recruited. However, in lieu of a series of more questionable jobs he undertook, he was backlisted in favor of lower-risk individuals.

He paused to gauge the Familiar’s reaction and continued again. Yet after observing the feed of your interactions with the man in the cave network, I feel I have been humbled by the very lesson I had hoped to teach through this project—that there is more to everyone than can be described in any words and quite frankly to deny him the opportunity to fulfill his promises to you, well…

The dim, orange lighting of the room flickered and a device atop his desk gave two short beeps. Arza picked it up and briefly read the display. Ah! Lockdown’s lifted. Thank you, Havanli. Please send the word to our guests topside that they may come in out of the rain if they would like. He set the object back down and stood with a content sigh. Why don’t you head on down to the medbay, Vistal. He said, turning his back to the FIDES to put away some ancient file folders into a wooden cabinet. I have a bit of work to do making sure the system resets properly and I think your new partner could use some more company. Also say hello to Ms. Zaftig for me, and inform her that this will be logged as “investigative research” and not her lunch break.