Author Topic: VE: Alive  (Read 187073 times)

Offline Medivh

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Re: Alive
« Reply #15 on: February 13, 2011, 04:34:30 PM »

Byss: Imperial Capital

"It's very nice to meet you, Mara. I'm Karen Winton. I was one of Valerie's closest friends on Coruscant. My deepest condolences on your loss. We all anguish in her absence but I am honored to be in your company."

"It was not just a loss for me - Valerie's death was a loss for all of Corellia"

Mara examined Karen as she moved to a table, offering refreshments

"Please, make yourself comfortable."

Mara inspected both the table and the food for a moment before taking a seat.

"Thank you"

Karen Winton may have been friends of Valerie, but she was smart enough to know not to trust just anyone. How many people had tried to kill her?  Mara's database on the princess was remarkably lacking in detail, for someone so well known. Most of it was just the public records, available to just about anyone else.  And if Karen didn't trust her, her hospitality was either a test or a trap.  Either way, Mara had to be careful.

"I am told you seek audience with the Emperor. I also have been made aware of your status on Corellia. While I'm not saying the two are mutually exclusive, it does beg certain questions. So I must ask, why have you come?"

Ah, straight to the point.  Mara took a seat, ignoring the food that had been placed out and turned her gaze to Karen.

"My status on Corellia is because I sided with the elected officials of government over military rule.  The new High Commander of the Corellian Defense Forces has declared martial law.  And because I was a political threat to him, he tried to have me killed. The Emperor, when he visited Corellia, foresaw that this would happen.  But Governor Tacofer, for all his goodness, insisted on maintaining the current democratic process.  Valerie died to protect Corellia's freedom, and both he and I would do anything to protect her legacy."

Mara paused, sighing.  It seemed odd - the only way to get freedom from one dictator was to accept it from another.  How often did freedom fighters really win freedom?  The Alliance did alright, but now it was a mess of infighting, and likely to be taken over by the strongest diplomat, strongest general.  Maybe in the end, the Empire was the best way to go - a galaxy under the strong rule of one, who (at least according to him) allowed each world its own ability to function just as long as they paid their taxes and obeyed the rules.  It didn't sound so bad.  Maybe if Dementat took Corellia into the Empire, Corellia would really be free.

Mara turned her thoughts back to the present

"That, however, is not the reason I am here on Byss.  I am here on a more ... personal mission."

If she was going to gain access to anything, she would have to tell Karen something and so after a pause she continued.

"I share a great deal with Valerie.  And it was not until her death that I truly appreciated our connection.  She is ... more like a sister to me really.  We share ... we share the same coding.  The Empire had worked on a project with the Trade Federation to develop ... well, to develop true artificial intelligence.  It turns out, Valerie was the blueprint of that project.  Now, the project is defunct, the trade federation gone, and only the highest levels of the Imperial government have the information on the project."

She had looked away while she was speaking but now again looked up at Karen.

"I am not simply a cousin of Valerie.  I am the offspring of her genetic code.  I am her artificial-intelligent clone."

TBC
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Medivh
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Offline Syren

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Re: Alive
« Reply #16 on: February 13, 2011, 09:12:14 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emperor's Citadel

"My status on Corellia is because I sided with the elected officials of government over military rule.  The new High Commander of the Corellian Defense Forces has declared martial law.  And because I was a political threat to him, he tried to have me killed. The Emperor, when he visited Corellia, foresaw that this would happen.  But Governor Tacofer, for all his goodness, insisted on maintaining the current democratic process.  Valerie died to protect Corellia's freedom, and both he and I would do anything to protect her legacy."

To listen to someone speak so highly of something Valerie had done is almost as startling as the similarity in their appearances. Karen had glanced over the reports on those lonely nights aboard the Quandary. She knew that Valerie had united the Corellian Sector in the fight against Phage and that the interim government post-attack had been seized upon by Saga Judec. Dementat spoke of him as if he were some sort of brute no doubt since Corellia had been unreceptive to an Imperial offer. She knows her beloved wants the Sector. It would be a powerful symbol to the rest of the galaxy in turning them. Still, personal feelings tug at the edges of her possession.

"I am grateful to hear that. Valerie would be very proud."

Mara ponders something then says.

"That, however, is not the reason I am here on Byss.  I am here on a more ... personal mission."

Karen perks up. Now they are getting somewhere. There hasn't been enough gossip around here lately save for that about her relationship with the Emperor. Tawdry, salacious speculation at best. She wonders if Mara could sense a similar digression on Karen's part and would provide new lurid details about her infamous fallen friend.

"Oh?"

"I share a great deal with Valerie.  And it was not until her death that I truly appreciated our connection.  She is ... more like a sister to me really.  We share ... we share the same coding."

Karen holds up a hand, "I'm sorry, we're going to need a judge's ruling on that. Coding?"

Mara turns as if remembering something painful.

"The Empire had worked on a project with the Trade Federation to develop ... well, to develop true artificial intelligence.  It turns out, Valerie was the blueprint of that project.  Now, the project is defunct, the trade federation gone, and only the highest levels of the Imperial government have the information on the project."

Karen's face clouds over, voice dropping.

"Project?"

"I am not simply a cousin of Valerie.  I am the offspring of her genetic code.  I am her artificial-intelligent clone."

That's why she can't feel her.

Flashes hit Karen hard as her mouth drops open. Coruscant Asteroid Field. Phage's Base. Final showdown with Alexia. Sister dearest had taken her time in torturing Karen with mental manipulations of the past. Losing their friends, those pulled helplessly into the carnage, their parents hand in it all, fates revealed. One figure stands out, towering over the lifeless body of Scott St. Claire. Alexia had shown her how Phage killed Valerie and who had killed Phage. The woman told her she was the other half of Valerie. Wasn't she blond? Karen shutters, reaching quickly for her chalice to drink. She then levels her gaze at Mara as the cognitive dusts settle.

"You. I...know you."

Karen rises quickly, eyes momentarily growing darker as the entire room trembles.

" I...saw it. You killed Scott and Lena at the Wheel. Alexia...she...she showed me. Phage rescued her from the fortress on Roon. He brought her to what was once the capital, to the base within it. He...rebuilt her. He sent droids to attack Kimber as leverage against Valerie but we stopped them. We..."

Fabricated an entire series of events around Phage's final assault on Corellia that would result in Valerie's death. Agent Marius Guile, on her father, the Director's, orders, murdered most of her Imperial ground team. Only doctor Kensington survived. Together, they had blamed it on Phage to cover Kimber's escape to the Hapes Cluster with the wanted Imperial Director. Statements were issued, reports filed, and in doing so she lied to her lover. It had been her revenge against Dementat knowing what kind of man her father was all along. She let Guile go. Presumably, he lives. To now hear Imperial authorities had knowledge about this project does not surprise her. She has a particular authority in mind.

Hatred swells.

She should have known.

Propelled forward, anchored to the unseen, an endless sequence of connections written down and withheld.
   
"only the highest levels of the Imperial government"
   
The statement still stings with implications and loose ends.

Karen exhales slowly and focuses on Mara's face. She needs a clearer picture, something to frame the revelation.

"...lost so many during that dark time. I apologize for the outburst. This is all so overwhelming for me, you know? Or do you? I mean, what...are you? Valerie's clone? How is that even possible and what does the Empire have to do with it?"



-TBC
Syren

Offline Medivh

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Re: Alive
« Reply #17 on: February 15, 2011, 03:37:36 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

"You. I...know you."

Mara watches as Karen's appearance changes, quickly, from inquisitive into ... something else. Something Mara couldn't quite define. It wasn't anger. Or maybe it was more than anger

" I...saw it. You killed Scott and Lena at the Wheel.

Mara nodded, observing Karen.  Was it wrong of her to come here?  That look on her face was something Mara had learned to associate with hatred.

" Alexia...she...she showed me. Phage rescued her from the fortress on Roon. He brought her to what was once the capital, to the base within it. He...rebuilt her. He sent droids to attack Kimber as leverage against Valerie but we stopped them. We..."

Mara remembered Alexia - Karen's sister.  And she knew, at least in brief detail, of the attempt on a woman named Kimber Patten, though not a part of her assignment. She had been assigned, no, programmed, to kill five.  Mara realized that the woman before her now was the one who had destroyed Alexia and left such an impression on the platform drifting in the Coruscant asteroid field.  Maybe this was the right place to come after all.  Karen had trialed off, her eyes dilating, as if looking into the past, recalling some memory.  Mara too had recollections - and not any more voluntary.  She still saw flashes.  Killing St. Claire, Lena.  and of course, Phage.  burned with utter brilliance into Mara's cranial processors, but unable to be deleted or sealed away in an archive. They were part of her living day to day, if it could be called living.  Mara's own recollection was, thankfully, stopped as Karen continued speaking.

"...lost so many during that dark time. I apologize for the outburst. This is all so overwhelming for me, you know? Or do you? I mean, what...are you? Valerie's clone? How is that even possible and what does the Empire have to do with it?"

Mara shook her head

"You need not apologize.  But I'm afraid I can only give you so many answers.  I, after all, came here for many of the same answers.

Most of what I am has been hidden from me, in files Phage prevented me from accessing.  I believe it was part of what was called the GURI Project, though I do not know the significance of the word "Guri."  The Viceroy, Medivh, told me what I know. The Trade Federation worked with Imperial Intelligence on creating artificial intelligence.  Not just another droid, but a being that could actually make the infinite number of choices available to all naturally born beings.  The Viceroy had an affinity for creating life where life could not be created.  Even more so, he believed that if he worked hard enough, he could make himself immortal, by creating a droid-clone of himself.  I don't believe he, or the Empire ever got that far.  Phage was just a prototype, and I am just the next generation of that."


Mara paused for a moment, wondering.  Phage might be immortal - even if his body was destroyed, he had a backup program, a way of being reborn.  Could Phage ever die?  And if not, did that make him more alive or less so?

"Anyhow, the programming of such a being was complex - more than any other artificial intelligence ever before created.  And so it needed a basis.  That basis was a young girl named Valerie Gellar.  Her DNA became the blueprint of the programming that created Phage.  Quite literally, using each DNA chromosome of her to form another character trait of Phage's systems.  And then Phage completed that task with me.  Not only does my programming resemble Valerie's DNA.  But those parts of me that are biological - my skin for example - are in fact cloned from cells of Valerie's skin."

Mara glanced down, a hand brushing against her arm before again continuing.

"Originally, I was created with a rather generic appearance - something that could be changed easily to suit my mission.  But after ... after both Valerie and Phage were destroyed, I decided I wanted to emulate the woman whom I was made from. And so, I took on the appearance of Valerie."

Mara watched Karen, watched her reactions, not sure how the woman would respond, or what she would think.  It was several minutes of silence before she spoke again.

"I came here to learn the missing steps.  To learn about the Guri Project, and about my own programming.  Coruscant is destroyed - there is nothing there that I can search for.  And Corellia, if it has anything, is unavailable to me right now.  Only the Empire can help me now"

TBC
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Medivh
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Offline Syren

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Re: Alive
« Reply #18 on: February 19, 2011, 12:27:22 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emperor's Citadel

"You need not apologize. But I'm afraid I can only give you so many answers.  I, after all, came here for many of the same answers."

Karen is still reeling, thrown by the new facts added to an already complicated haze of events.

"I'm certainly not opposed to the trading of information if it is viable and mutually beneficial. You did, after all, stop Phage. The galaxy owes you for that. Had he prevailed at Corellia and set his sights on others, he would have become an everyone problem. So, let us share. Tell me what you know, I'll tell you what I know. We can go from there. Discovery is the best part of the process."

"Most of what I am has been hidden from me, in files Phage prevented me from accessing.  I believe it was part of what was called the GURI Project, though I do not know the significance of the word "Guri."  The Viceroy, Medivh, told me what I know. The Trade Federation worked with Imperial Intelligence on creating artificial intelligence.  Not just another droid, but a being that could actually make the infinite number of choices available to all naturally born beings.  The Viceroy had an affinity for creating life where life could not be created.  Even more so, he believed that if he worked hard enough, he could make himself immortal, by creating a droid-clone of himself.  I don't believe he, or the Empire ever got that far.  Phage was just a prototype, and I am just the next generation of that."

"Imperial Intel?" Karen mutters softly. "St. Claire was employed by that particular branch."

As was her father. She is not certain this is relevant yet so she withholds it. The girl might have ulterior motives but then again, who doesn't? Karen can see many angles from which to address the opportunity but she begins with the personal. She also needs to know certain things. Things that are more important than adding another trophy to her lover's mantle.
 
"The term "GURI" does not ring a bell. Medivh, however, does. His public record and position aside, Valerie had briefly mentioned him."

Mara nods and continues.

"Anyhow, the programming of such a being was complex - more than any other artificial intelligence ever before created.  And so it needed a basis.  That basis was a young girl named Valerie Gellar.  Her DNA became the blueprint of the programming that created Phage.  Quite literally, using each DNA chromosome of her to form another character trait of Phage's systems.  And then Phage completed that task with me.  Not only does my programming resemble Valerie's DNA.  But those parts of me that are biological - my skin for example - are in fact cloned from cells of Valerie's skin."

Yipes!

Phage is of Valerie.
 
Of course he was.

Her genetics had helped create a monster and the monster spawned Mara. Karen fights the urge to actively recoil in disgust. The whole idea creeps her the hell out. The thought of Valerie living forever through various recreations, copies of copies, diluted by mechanics, sends chills up her spine. Still, looking back, ruthless and familiar patterns begin to emerge.

"Well, no wonder Phage was so shady. No offense to you or anything. Val had...a way about her. What perplexes me is, how or why was Valerie chosen? Somehow I don't think that's random. Were you created specifically to resemble her?"

"Originally, I was created with a rather generic appearance - something that could be changed easily to suit my mission.  But after ... after both Valerie and Phage were destroyed, I decided I wanted to emulate the woman whom I was made from. And so, I took on the appearance of Valerie."

"Did you? That's...great."

Karen glances over Mara's face, those features, so defined and realistic. Despite being completely twisted, it's amazing work. It's remarkable how much a cut and color will do for a person.

"She, you, are gorgeous. But it's not enough, is it? Just to look like her?"

"I came here to learn the missing steps. To learn about the Guri Project, and about my own programming.  Coruscant is destroyed - there is nothing there that I can search for.  And Corellia, if it has anything, is unavailable to me right now.  Only the Empire can help me now."

The magic words sound beautiful spoken aloud.

Intrigued but confident this could serve them well, Karen makes a command decision. Seeds must be planted, wheels turning toward the conclusions she wants made. Mara is terrifyingly unique in so many ways. She was designed to decide but could she also feel? If she could, these feelings would be new and startling to her. Alexia said Mara had murdered St. Claire as she was self-actualizing, breaking free of the primary programming that held her captive. If Mara has feelings then she may easily fall victim to them.

Karen straightens and smiles sincerely, resisting the compulsion to reach out and take her hand for maximum effect. Her voice is soft and even with a hint of hopefulness.

"We would be more than happy to help but there is something you should know. As you are part of Valerie Gellar, Valerie Gellar is part of Kimber Patten. They share coding too which means you do have a living relative. Major Kyri Patten's exploits were shocking to say the least. Your existence adds considerable weight to that story. That is, if he knew about it. Our creators, our parents, hid much from us too. I understand why you must know."

She glances over the impressive spread on the decorated table and sighs.

"Clearly you don't need to eat but replenishment, in whatever capacity, can be provided. Please, come with me."

Karen strides toward the door at a pace that would allow Mara to follow. The lifts take them to a private landing platform where her gleaming black hoverlimo awaits. Just like old times. Karen slips on sunglasses and motions to Mara. They are taken to the central Citadel. She turns to Mara who stares through the tinted blaster-proof windows at the jagged durasteel landscape below.

"Normally, I would put you up at the Hotel Verona but I think it might be best to minimize your public presence for the moment. A media frenzy will only hinder our search for answers. Those I love are lost to me much the same way they are to you. If I help you find answers, perhaps you can help me find my friends."

When they arrive, Karen leads her through a maze of lavishly decorated corridors to a guest suite. The interior is spacious and minimally furnished.

"The refresher is through those doors. There is clothing in the closet. Whatever tools you might need to recharge will be brought to you. I'll be back a bit later."

She pauses at the door.

"Think about what I said. We can help each other."

Then she is gone.



-TBC
Syren

Offline Medivh

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Re: Alive
« Reply #19 on: February 21, 2011, 06:31:10 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emperor's Citadel

Mara had laid her cards out on the table.  There seemed little benefit to being coy.  She wanted something from the Empire, and she told Karen so.
Karen immediately seems willing to offer help.  Including a name - Kimber Patten.  A relative?  Karen doesn't go into details, but Mara files the information away, curious to learn more about this sudden new being in her life. Karen Winton. Kimber Patten.  Wasn't there another?  A fourth?  Mara's mind scrolls through old tabloids, seeing pictures of a blond-haired girl, and a brown haired girl glitzed up along with Valerie, Karen.  One of those must have been this Kimber. Who was the other?  Mara refrained from asking - there seemed to be more pressing issues at hand.

Karen was incorrect thought.  Nourishment was necessary for survival, and though she had made necessary repairs that allowed battery power to last significantly longer, food consumption was part of her construction - part of the design to make her seem more human to those she was infiltrating.  But only in small doses, and only after long stretches of time.  No need to reveal that particular vulnerability to this woman whom Mara had just met.  Old programming told her not to trust, whether she wanted to or not.  


Karen leads Mara, who follows silently, listening as the woman seems to thrill in luxury - hover limo, sun glasses, hotels, expensive decor.  All matched the persona that the tabloids had established.  Mara couldn't tell if it was real or just a facade.  Another thought to save for another time.  Karen had what humans called "fashion sense" and many apparently wished to emulate her style of dress.  "Trend setter." Valerie had been one too, but in a different way.  She had a reputation.  But tabloids marketed on reputations, true or false.  Without a word between them, Mara was left to wonder whether the tabloids had it right at all, or whether, like so many things, there were layers that remained unseen.

"Normally, I would put you up at the Hotel Verona but I think it might be best to minimize your public presence for the moment. A media frenzy will only hinder our search for answers.

Mara nodded

"indeed, it could cause a great number of problems if word got out that I was here.  For me, for us.  Saga Judec would be less than thrilled"

The hoverlimo is slowing as they arrive at their destination. That is when Karen turns to her, staring at Mara through the black shades.  She makes her first pitch.

Those I love are lost to me much the same way they are to you. If I help you find answers, perhaps you can help me find my friends."

Her friends - again, images run through Mara's head of the tabloids.  She speaks.

"There were four of you - yourself, Valerie.  A brown haired girl; a blonde haired girl.  Are these the ones that are missing?"

Karen merely nods, saying no more as she leads Mara into the guest suite.  Mara takes it in, retinal scans searching for bugs or other devices.  Again, part of her programming.

"The refresher is through those doors. There is clothing in the closet. Whatever tools you might need to recharge will be brought to you. I'll be back a bit later."

Mara turns to Karen as she is heading back to the entrance

"Think about what I said. We can help each other."

Karen leaves and Mara stares after her.  Karen has an agenda.  Just like she does.  The question though, is will Mara get what she wants in the end?

Mara cared about very few things:
1) She wanted revenge - revenge on Saga Judec and his forces for killing the only people that Mara felt she could trust, that she had ever been close to.
2) She wanted control of her programming - to learn about her creation, to make choices for how to change that programming. To be free
3) She wanted freedom - not just for herself, but, as an extension of the Valerie Gellar personality, for Corellia.
4) And she wanted to be alive.  To feel completely alive. And everything that entailed.

Karen seemed to want things to - to 'find her friends' though a woman of Karen's stature was unlikely to have trouble reconnecting with friends - unless they didn't wish to be found.  The Empire had a reputation.  Maybe Karen's friends didn't like the Empire.  Maybe they weren't friends of Karen's anymore.

Mara didn't care.  Phage had been her master - with him gone, her programming put herself at the top of the list. The only one she truly cared about, and certainly more than anyone else.  Whatever was going on that this Karen Winton needed help in, Mara had no moral qualms with helping her out - if it helped Mara out.

And maybe, she could learn more about this family member, Kimber Patten.

Mara turned from the doorway to the window, glancing out at the skyline of Byss.  Coming here was the right choice.  She could help Karen Winton, and Karen Winton could help her.

Mara smiled.

For a moment, just for a moment, she feels a strange exhilaration, what could only be described as "light-heartedness" a work she had heard used to describe those who were happy.  Progress made Mara happy. And the possibility of learning more about herself, that too made her happy.

She glanced down at herself.  A mess.  torn up jumpsuit, dirt and bruises.  Winton, no doubt, would remain stylish as ever. Perhaps Mara should take care of herself to not stand so distinctly apart.  Shedding her clothing, she stepped away from the window and headed to the refresher, into the shower.  Faucet on, hot water pouring down.  Skin receptors felt the heat, and biomechanical muscles appreciated it.  Another good feeling, Mara closing her eyes.  Is this what it felt like to be alive?

FLASH.  Phage standing over Valerie, about to make the final kill.
FLASH. No, wait, Phage wasn't standing over Valerie, she was standing over Mara, red eyes seering as he spoke one word.

"TRAITOR"

FLASH.  Phage standing over, next to ... it looked like Karen Winton.  But that couldn't be. Karen had never met Phage. Only Alexia.  Phage and Karen seemed locked in battle before both turn to face her.  It is Phage - or Karen - or both. They speak simultaneously.

"Which one of us is your master?"
"Which one of us is your master?

Mara screams, punching out toward them.

FLASH


Mara's eyes open.  The shower water is pouring down on her, her fist having created a deep hole in the ceramic wall tiles.  No more happy thoughts.  A strange panic.  She had had dreams before -flashbacks.  But some of these things she could not have seen.  Karen and Phage never battled, never spoke.  she certainly had never seen it.  Why could she see things like that?

Maybe ... Mara's super computer of a brain spent several real seconds trying to think of a possibility that could lead to the resulting flashbacks.

OK, maybe ...
1) Her sustained injuries left her with memory feedbacks - explanation for the initial flashbacks
2) When on Phage's platform, she had somehow downloaded video feed images of the battle between Karen and Alexia
3) Her injuries had cross-wired those images - somehow - combining and redistributing them to create the strange series of events she had just witnessed.

Sure.  Mara tried to believe that was true.  Her cerebral processors somehow made several memory images into a single new set of thoughts.  Like real dreams. But more disconcerting.  

Mara stared at the hole she had made, a reflex.  Phage had called her a traitor.  Was she a traitor?  And if so, to whom?

Shower turned off, Mara stepped out, drying herself off.  Her own internal struggle, apparently, was not as clearcut as she thought.  Who was her master.  Phage?  Valerie?  Karen Winton?  herself?  She shook her head as she began to prepare herself, to make herself beautiful as possible.  Infiltrator programming told her how to make her makeup just right to look sexy but not whorish.  the same was true for picking out an outfit - something that would turn heads, but not obscene.  Mara had deflected from the styles that had made her such a useful infiltrator, and instead chose something more conservative to wear, a black dress that fit her nicely but not too tightly.  black shoes with a low, half inch heel.  She didn't want to draw attention, even if Karen Winton was used to drawing attention.  She felt comfortable, and healthier than she had in days.  Despite her worries and the strange encounter with 'memories' in the shower.

Everyone had their haunts. even droids.

Mara was dressed and ready, watching the sky turn dark and the city grow light as she waited for the return of Karen Winton.

The chime at the door told her the counselor was there and she went to greet her.

TBC


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Medivh
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Offline Syren

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Re: Alive
« Reply #20 on: February 24, 2011, 10:02:03 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emperor's Citadel

Karen returns to the guest suite, hopeful she had played into Mara's burgeoning sense of self. She is somewhat surprised at her own excitement and curiosity given this new angle. Only two months had passed since she discovered they all had been playing roles no one can remember auditioning for. There was merely the illusion of choice throughout their formative years. Boyfriends, outfits, cheer, modeling, parties, premiere's. These superficial causes were part of a much larger framework their parents had willingly allowed them to walk right into. Everything had finally unraveled in the weeks leading up to the last battle with Alexia. Choices were made on the information available yet there was no follow-up, no closure. In her own way, she also wants to be free - free of the invisible strings that have pulled them along for so long. As she struck Alexia down, her destiny became clear yet emotional attachments from the past linger and peer through the darkness.

No matter how many she seems to cut away, more strings dangle above the brightly lit stage.

Karen Winton is a girl who knows the versatility and value a carefully constructed reputation can provide. The Four had used this wisely, keeping everyone at arm's length but in complete awe. Speculation serves to distract and that usually played out in their favor. She has chosen to renew the vow with the Imperial press. Her public persona is something she gives them, a familiar source of scandal and style they so desperately crave. She knows her purpose and that is to rule this galaxy at Dementat's side but everyone knows that pretty and personable leaders are more easily accepted and forgiven.

Mara answers the door in a stunning black number.

"I trust you are feeling more relaxed...."

Karen's breath catches in her throat at the sight of her. The resemblance to Valerie is now glaring and uncanny. While her outfit is far more conservative, the effect is exactly the same. Mara exudes a sexual menace that dares those around her to tempt fate.

"...yes, I see that you are. Love the look, by the way."

Mara glances down over herself then back at Karen as if unsure how to take the compliment.

She maintains a cheerful expression.

"Good news, I've been granted authority to personally handle your situation. The Emperor is displeased with how they have treated you on Corellia. Someone who was designed after a hero and so clearly assisted the galaxy with a known threat deserves more respect than you have been shown on your home world. He is certain he can help resolve this issue, if you so desire."

Karen lets that settle over her.

"For now, let's find out what we can about how you came to be."

Karen traverses the complex corridors with Mara walking swiftly behind. Her saber swings with each step. She avoids central gathering areas to minimize exposure and glares at those who dare look upon them. It is not long before they reach a small command station manned by two officers on second shift.

They stand instantly, bowing before her.

"You're Highness."

She nods.

"Leave us."

Their eyes wander past her to Mara. Karen does not introduce them.

Once they are alone, Karen moves to one of the terminals. She accesses the network and begins a broad search for the term: Guri. No results. She tries variations on the word. Still nothing. Anger rising, she types in: Valerie Gellar.

Restricted.

Gasping, she types in several others.

All restricted.

The expression on Mara's face suggests she wonders if Karen had really been authorized to conduct such a search. It is in that moment - overpowered by lingering connections to a fallen friend, an unyielding desire to know the whole story, and the visions haunting her - that she extends the first shreds of trust.

"You were right. There were four of us. Valerie, Kimber, Melanie and I. The Empire, under previous management, kept tabs on us for reasons we could not comprehend. Later we discovered plans had been made without our knowledge. Projects were broken down by individual. I'm beginning to wonder if the Phage project and by extension, you, were what they had in mind for Valerie all along."

Karen stares through the screen, mind whirling away.

"Why her? Why was Valerie chosen?"

She is mildly annoyed that her codes do not grant her access to any relevant information but that could simply be an oversight. She, too, was one of these projects and while she did have access, it is highly likely it was limited to certain areas. After she had confronted Dementat with the fact that she knew Alexander Winton's true identity as Imperial Director, she had demanded his files. He refused on grounds that he did not wish her more harm than her father had already brought on them all.

Perhaps there is more the Empire does not want her to know.

"Care to take a crack at it?"

She stands and steps aside. Mara sits at the terminal and begins working it in a way she has never seen before. Fingers that dance across the keys so rapid it's a blur. Sub-paths and backdoors within the Imperial network lead them to one place.

A message.

The files they are searching for can only be accessed from the core terminal.

A warning?

A series of numbers scroll across the screen.

ESE 111980

It takes Karen a moment to realize what they are.

"It's an address. On Byss."


-TBC
Syren

Offline Medivh

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Re: Alive
« Reply #21 on: February 25, 2011, 01:14:02 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emperor's Citadel

"Good news, I've been granted authority to personally handle your situation. The Emperor is displeased with how they have treated you on Corellia. Someone who was designed after a hero and so clearly assisted the galaxy with a known threat deserves more respect than you have been shown on your home world. He is certain he can help resolve this issue, if you so desire."

Mara hears this and again wonders the definition of freedom.  The only way the Emperor could help 'resolve' the issue on Corellia, would be to take it over, conquering the Corellian Confederation and including it in an expanded and more powerful Empire.  Mara did not want Saga Judec in charge of Corellia - but did she really want the Emperor in charge either?  Was he a 'better' dictator?  Mara places this information in the back of her head as Karen continues.

"For now, let's find out what we can about how you came to be."

Karen turns abruptly, leading Mara out of the suite and through the cooridors.  Mara, especially feeling refreshed, keeps up with no effort (she could probably outrun Karen, but thought it better to let the Counselor lead the way).

They reach the command terminal, and two imperials bow to Karen.  Bow to a counselor?  Mara had in her datafiles some rumors, that Winton had become one (of several) consorts to the emperor, but did that merit being treated as royalty?  Winton had not indicated that she was anything other than a counselor - other than referring to it in past tense.  More to file away.  Focus on the matter at hand.  The imperials are ordered away, and leave silently, though they look at Mara suspiciously as they do.  Karen takes a seat at the terminal and logs in, before typing searches for key words.  No luck at first.  Then less luck.  "Valerie Gellar," restricted?  but why?

Mara glances away from the monitor to look at Karen's reaction as she is blocked out.  Mara had in her databanks an imperial term - "Emperor's Hand" from the days when Palpatine was in charge.  According to her files, the Emperor had many, but none knew about the others.  Each felt they were a special confidant to the Emperor, superior to almost every other imperial servant.  It was all a lie.

Maybe Karen was one of these?  Maybe Karen Winton was an "Emperor's Hand," someone with much power to do the Emperor's will, but was not privy to the things she thought she was.  Which begged the question - what did the Emperor, among the most powerful beings in the galaxy, see in a party girl?

Karen looked frustrated, glanced down and then turned to face Mara.

"You were right. There were four of us. Valerie, Kimber, Melanie and I. The Empire, under previous management, kept tabs on us for reasons we could not comprehend. Later we discovered plans had been made without our knowledge. Projects were broken down by individual. I'm beginning to wonder if the Phage project and by extension, you, were what they had in mind for Valerie all along."

Karen looks back at the screen, while Mara takes this in. Projects broken down by individuals - maybe all four of them were servants of the Emperor?  or HAD been?  Mara's thought processes were combing through a digital network of information from what amounted to years ago.

Valerie was easy enough to trace in her memory banks - at least the public information. Coruscant High School, CorSec Academy, Insurgency, Governor, Hero.
Karen also was easy enough to trace.  After High School, a mix of social positions before rather abruptly becoming a counselor to the Emperor (some holes in that information, it seemed)
Kimber Patten and Melanie Masterson - both of them were harder to trace back.  Kimber Patten had also been an imperial counselor, but had apparently disappeared after acting as liason to the Hapan Consortium.  And Melanie Masterson?  Her public information was the most scant, the last thing on public record was of her disappearing toward the end of high school.

Maybe Melanie and Kimber were being groomed to serve the emperor, just as Karen was? And maybe they defected?  Mara knew that many in the rebel alliance and new republic had defected from the Empire.  Could the same be true now?  Mara's insights were interrupted as Karen spoke, seemingly to herself.  More information to file away, to keep in the recesses of her cranial processors.  For now, answers to other questions

"Why her? Why was Valerie chosen?"

A pause before Karen looked up at Mara

"Care to take a crack at it?"

Mara nods and takes a seat, staring at the monitor for a moment before typing, rapidly.  Log-out sequence (Karen's access wasn't helping anyhow).  Instead, typing in a series of commands, that take away the flashy front and show a text-based screen.  More typing, and numbers, letters and symbols scroll across the screen in rapid succession.  The programming that kept the network working, and distinguished levels of authorized access.

Mara instantly recognizes a pattern - similar coding had been used on Phage's platform, designed to keep her out.  There was a shared programmer between the two locations.  On the platform, she had a program running to break into the system, but luckily, this was a weaker version of the file, not designed to keep a machine out, but to keep a human out - even apparently one with force powers.  It took several minutes before Mara found a sequence that was vulnerable, typing in at blinding speed, before getting into a system backdoor, taking roundabout routes to gain access to the 'Valerie Gellar' file.

And just when she thought she had reached it.

"Error: Files may only be accessed from the Primary Core Terminal"

That may have been why security was weaker here. Because this terminal couldn't provide the information they wanted.  Mara was now frustrated like Karen, but she was persistent.  She types a few things in, hoping to eek out a bit more information and what looks like a code pops up

ESE 111980

Karen speaks up

"It's an address. On Byss."

Mara glances up at her

"That must be where the primary core terminal is.  But - wouldn't the Emperor have access to the information from his palace?"

Karen doesn't answer that, she apparently filled with her own questions.  Mara decides to initiate the next course of action.

'We should go to the address.  If it is not a well known imperial landmark, then in all likelihood it is a low-key location.  Something nobody would notice, and perfect for intelligence.  Agreed?"

Karen nods.

"ESE stands for Emerald Splendor Estates.  It's a very high-class, restricted community, where many well-to-do Byss citizens live.  I've been in the area a few times myself.  But not to this address. Let's go check it out"

Karen again leads the way, this time to a private hovercraft, with a chaufer on standby.  The man had been waiting, patiently, near the drivers side, and when they approached, he stood ready at attention and bowed.

"Your Highness"

Mara again noted that she was treated as royalty.  Karen is all business.

"You will take us to the Emerald Splendor Estates."

"Yes, your highness"

Within minutes, they are in the air, flying to another part of the city, toward the upscale community.  The seats are plush, and Karen is helping herself to a drink.  The divider between the driver and the backseat is closed.  Mara turns from facing the window to face Karen.

"Counselor Winton - if I may ask, I have two questions for you.  First what is your relationship with the Emperor?  It seems that you are close, and you are treated like a member of the royal court.  And yet information is being kept from you?"

My second question is regarding Melanie Masterson and Kimber Patten.  Did they defect from the Empire?"


TBC - Karen
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Offline Syren

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Re: Alive
« Reply #22 on: February 26, 2011, 10:51:16 AM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface

Karen is still stewing about her lack of access but happy that Mara has an adventurous spirit.

Why would Dementat keep things from her? Possibly because she's keeping things from him. Or at least she thinks she is. Oh, the webs they weave. He did say there is always more to the story. With her, extra chapters, omitted from the original publication, seem to pop up left and right. But why restrict her access? Perhaps he figured she would go searching for answers and wanted to protect her?

Touching and sweet? Sure.

Suspicious and sinister? Maybe.

How much more hurt could she be after her sister went on a psychotic rampage across North Coruscant and their father faked his own death and screwed everybody over?

That's some serious shit right there.

Karen loves Dementat, more so than she ever thought possible. She's going to marry him. Shouldn't that merit some kind of honesty between them? They are planning to rule the universe, after all. Sharing would probably be best unless he goes ballistic about the whole Director-Consortium thing. She did kind of have a hand in turning over a valuable Imperial official. But valuable to whom? Palpatine's Empire is so over. Why would Dementat even care? Her father had done so much damage. His meddling had cost them time together. Unless, Alexander Winton was in some way valuable to Dementat too.

Not where her mind wants to go right now.

Karen absently makes herself a drink on the ride over to the Emerald Splendor. It's a lovely area with sprawling hills and overgrown private estates. She had been toured through the area after her arrival. Dementat had asked her to find something she found comfortable, something just for them. The Citadel is spectacular but sometimes she wants to be somewhere a little less spiky.

Mara turns from the window and engages her.

"Counselor Winton - if I may ask, I have two questions for you."

"Of course but for the record, I'm not really a Counselor. Well, I was. At one time. Part of my project, I suppose. It's complicated."

"First what is your relationship with the Emperor?  It seems that you are close, and you are treated like a member of the royal court.  And yet information is being kept from you?"

Karen only likes the first part of that question. The second, she feels, is a veiled attempt at rousing a reaction.

"I was royalty before I got here. My mother's side. While I wasn't much for the title itself, I certainly didn't mind the perks. The Emperor and I, however, are meant to be."

She holds up a finger. The ring glints in the light.

"The withheld information is most likely a holdover from the previous regime. Imperial officials kept a tight lid on what we could access. Like I said, projects for everyone. My fiancé worries I'll work myself into a state should I stumble onto unsettling things from the past that would cause me more pain. But now, with you here, searching for answers, other parts of yourself, I can't help but want to know. Even if it does hurt me."

Karen clutches the glass tightly, wondering if she's making excuses for something that should not be excused. Still, she must appear open and sincere to Mara in order to gain her sympathy and compliance as well as satisfy this curiosity that now burns between them.

"You aren't the only one with gaps in your story. These gaps span years back, long before I knew Dementat. My creator's were not big on being forthcoming either."

Mara seems to take this in stride.

"My second question is regarding Melanie Masterson and Kimber Patten. Did they defect from the Empire?"

There's a tricky one.

"No one defected," she says evenly.
 
Not officially, anyway.

"Melanie left shortly after we graduated. Things had...happened our senior year. Things she couldn't stomach. I don't blame her for leaving. She, like the rest of us, lost a lot that year. No one has seen her since."

Karen pauses, reflecting.

So much blood spilled to secure a legacy.

More must flow. 

"Kimber attended fall semester with Valerie at the CorSec Academy. They had positive, life-affirming goals and I respected that. Unfortunately, there were larger plans at work. Kimber was briefly employed by the Empire as the Counselor who replaced me but after Phage tried to use her as leverage against Valerie, she had no choice but to run. Valerie made it clear we were to keep her away from Corellia. Phage killed their father. She did not want Kimber having any part of that fight. It makes sense now, if you are all connected in some way."

Well, from a certain point of view.

Karen clears her throat and looks away as they enter the exclusive neighborhoods.

"And that's the story of how I lost my friends."

Mara is watching her closely.

Arrive at 111980.

It is a massive estate within a wall of thick shrubbery and a coiled, durasteel gate running throughout. They approach the archway. The gate is locked. Karen taps the controls and waits. Anyone home? Nothing. She presses the button again, harder this time. No response from the speaker.

Patience is not a fashionable virtue.

Karen unclips and ignites her saber, bringing it down through the locking mechanism with one swift stroke. She kicks out with a wedge-heeled boot to send the gate door swinging inward.

"After you."

Mara moves through the archway.

The courtyard garden has fallen into disrepair. It looks as though it had not been tended to in a while. Vines snake around an empty fountain. Tall grass is dead in patches. The exquisitely carved door to the manor house is solid and bares a cursive W in Basic. The same W that once graced her own residence at 500 Republica and still graces the door of the penthouse at Bolerathon Tower.

A sinking feeling washes over her.

Karen's eyes grow dark as she reaches out. The door buckles, making a terrible noise. She flicks her wrist, pulling it entirely out of its frame to let it crash in the garden.

She turns back to the house, holding the saber out in front of her as she steps inside the darkened house.


-TBC
Syren

Offline Medivh

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Re: Alive
« Reply #23 on: February 27, 2011, 06:22:05 PM »

Byss: Imperial Capital
Surface

Mara hears Karen's explanation, sees the ring on her finger.  Big diamond. Clearly confirms the story - she is not just a consort, but is to be wedded to the Emperor.  Empress of the Imperial Remnants.  Two powerful force users.  She wondered if the Republic knew of their union, and how they might respond.  The second half of that question - 'past regime' seems a bit strained of an answer.  Karen Winton seemed to be trying to convince herself as much as anyone of the truth.  That all of the cards that were used against her and her friends had nothing to do with her future husband.  Mara said nothing in response, asking her second question.  It seemed all tied together.

"No one defected. Melanie left shortly after we graduated. Things had...happened our senior year. Things she couldn't stomach. I don't blame her for leaving. She, like the rest of us, lost a lot that year. No one has seen her since.

Kimber attended fall semester with Valerie at the CorSec Academy. They had positive, life-affirming goals and I respected that. Unfortunately, there were larger plans at work. Kimber was briefly employed by the Empire as the Counselor who replaced me but after Phage tried to use her as leverage against Valerie, she had no choice but to run. Valerie made it clear we were to keep her away from Corellia. Phage killed their father. She did not want Kimber having any part of that fight. It makes sense now, if you are all connected in some way."


Kimber's father =  Valerie's father = ... her father?  Karen had said they were half sisters, so the connection made sense.  But Karen's story had gaps. It didn't make sense. If Karen was protecting them, then why would Karen have trouble finding them?  Maybe they HAD defected - maybe they couldn't stomach the Empire's stern way of dealing with disagreement.  Any number of possible reasons to leave.  Mara had no doubt, Karen had alterior motives.  But then again, who didn't?

"And that's the story of how I lost my friends."

Mara watches her, analyzing her story in her head.  Fact checking with things she already knew, extrapolating the things she didn't.  And then they arrive.  It is a beautiful estate, a durasteel gate barring their entry. Karen tries the intercomm to no avail.

And then Mara watched as the beauty queen transformed into a fighter.  Saber came out and made quick work of the lock before she kicked it in., the two of them entering cautiously.  Mara eyes Karen with a new respect. She was indeed a fighter.  And something about her actions reminded her of ...

FLASH - an image of Alexia Winton on the platform, being brought back to life with machinery to help aid Phage in his conquest.

When Alexia had been brought to Phage's base, Phage had installed some new software into Mara's programming.  Already, she, like Phage himself, bore components of a metal known as cortosis, which was known to short out a lightsaber upon contact.  Such was from the original design that Phage was adapted from,the IG-100 magnaguards of the clone wars were meant to be jedi killers.  But Mara had been installed with some greater abilities to respond to those with the Force, lest Alexia ever become too difficult to manage.  Her blood cells had been altered, to incorporate a dormant gene from some creature on Myrkr, a dormant gene that Mara could (if her systems worked right) activate to limit the ability of the Force around her.  It had, of course, never been tested, but Phage was a genius in his own right.  She was also installed with some type of detector, able to analyze when something or someone used the Force.  again untested, though when Karen brought out that saber, some signal inside Mara activated.  It seemed to trigger that brief yet intense flashback.  Was there some connection between the Force and those haywire dreams?

No.  the Force did not run through machines.  Not like humans.

Back to the present - it seemed Mara's mind (if mind it could be called) often disappeared into long trains of thoughts, though the speed of her thoughts made it mere milliseconds in real time.  She led the way through the damaged gate, keeping a wary eye on the building - and on Karen' whose saber seemed ever ready.  Mara was not sure if Karen could be trusted.  Maybe this all was some type of ruse, some way of eliminating the last vestige of a line of imperial threats.  Or maybe, Karen was worthy of trust.  No way to truly find out..

At the door, Karen again uses her abilities, this time, a simple hand gesture and the door comes crashing apart.

FLASH - an image of Phage, standing over Valerie, casting the final, death blow.

Mara catches her breathe. Too vivid.

Karen steps into the house first, concentrating on the place and probably not noticing Mara's reaction.

Mara followed inside.

The home was clean, but had an air of disuse, dust was starting to collect on the ground, though not as much as there could be.  Perhaps more telling, footprints in the dust indicated that someone had been here only a few days ago, maybe two weeks at the most.

Someone was alive who knew about this house, and the secrets it held.

Mara let her visual abilities recede as she began a more in depth scan of the location.  the walls were made of paneling, but beneath them, solid durasteel, with heavy wiring coming back and forth.  They walked along the hallway, not the slightest sound, the floor clearly sturdy and strong  Karen had instincts, a sense of where to go, but Mara's scanners were following the wiring.  up and around.  The wiring was active - an electric pulse running through the systems every few seconds.

Mara glanced back at the door, or rather, what was left of the door frame.  There was a broken circuit, where the door was to connect with the frame, and the pulse was coming from there.

"Karen - we tripped an alarm when we came in"

Karen glances at her, eyes showing some expression that Mara could not place.  Going back now would be no good - whoever came here would know they had been here, and would probably look for a a new location, ending their search.  They just had to be careful.  And hurry up.

Mara scanned the other way now, following that pulse of electricity.  They were walking past a study, beautiful dark wooden furniture and a richly colored yet practically short carpet.  The pulse ignored the computer sitting at the desk, and instead extended onward, past a bookcase filled with what looked like old tomes and into the next room.  Except, there was no next room.  There was no door that led into the next room, and structurally, Mara determined that the amount of space beyond the bookcase and the wall was no larger than a closet.

Mara stepped forward, passing Karen, who was surveying the room, and made a b-line for that one spot.  her scanners saw the pulse dip downward.

"There is something on the other side"

More subtle than Karen, Mara stared at the bookcase, scanning on multiple frequencies before a smile came to her lips, almost instinctively.  She reached out, pulled out a book titled "A Simof", and found what she was looking for, a small keypad.  Quick work of it, analyzing before typing in a sequence.  The bookcase rumbled for a moment, books shaking as it pulled back about a foot and then slid sideways, behind another bookcase, revealing a small booth shaped room with a staircase leading downward.

Perhaps more importantly, the legal entry had stopped the pulse from flowing from the main entrance.  That might help them in the long run.  Or the shortrun.  Mara, growing confidence, took the lead, taking slow steps down the stairs.  She may look unarmed, but she was prepared for anything.

And though it was dark, the dim glow of the lightsaber from behind her lit the way.  Besides, Mara could see in the dark.

Sometimes, it was useful being a machine.

TBC
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Offline Syren

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Re: Alive
« Reply #24 on: March 03, 2011, 08:11:40 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emerald Splendor Estates

The air seems to change as they enter the house. Something is different, disturbing. Karen turns, watching Mara step into the darkened foyer with her. Where there was nothing before, Mara can now be felt through the Force. She can feel her almost like can another human but that's ridiculous. Mara isn't human. Yet she isn't really all droid either. How this is possible she doesn't know.

More importantly, if she can feel her, so can others.

Dementat, perhaps? Shit. More questions she'd just as soon avoid. There are so many already and he wouldn't understand. Though the complexity of their situation seems to involve or affect everyone they meet and know, this is personal to her. She has a chance to figure out more of the angles before they threaten to rise up and destroy her.

Nothing will stop her from that.

The house is finely kept if not a bit dusty. The air smells stale. The footprints are instantly noticeable, traveling both in and out of the house. Recent but not that recent. She glances over the walls, backlit by her saber. As she wanders away from Mara, the light crosses several pictures.

She reaches out with her other hand to brush the layer of dust from the glass.

Her father stares back out at her. Photage from his glory days. Above it, a picture of her mother just as young. She swallows her rage for the moment as realization washes over her.

This house belongs to her family.

Typical.

Anything remotely secretive and ominous somehow has the Winton name written all over it. She's never been here. In fact, she had only been on Byss when she was a small child. Pictures had been taken, pictures that were in what was once her fabulous residence in 500 Republica. No chance of finding those amongst the asteroid rubble. The place doesn't even feel familiar until her eyes travel around the room. There is a certain way her father liked a room arranged. Open and uncluttered but intimate. No small feat for any designer. Their residences had always been borderline cavernous yet one could find a comfortable spot to entertain or talk.

Why would her parents keep a secret residence? She runs through all their known property holdings, holdings that had transferred to her after their "death." 500 Republica on Coruscant. Bolerathon Tower on Hesperidium. Villa on Naboo. Apartment on Bakura. No mention of a spectacular estate in the heart of darkness. True, she had been bereft when the lawyer spouted off the Winton will in a monotone she found insanely irritating. She was only seventeen at the time but had paid very close attention to the details as it significantly increased her net worth.

Her mind wanders back to the footprints. How long had it been since Kimber and Rydan carted away Alexander Winton? A few months? Those footprints look more recent than that. Couldn't have been her father. Her mother? Possible. Alexander had lied about them being killed. A tragic accident, they called it. Whatever. Her mother could still be alive, somewhere, out there-

"Karen - we set off an alarm."

This jars her back to the present.

"That's....not good?"

What's the worst that could happen? Stormtroopers rush the scene to find her standing there totally pissed? A hundred credits says they would be apologizing profusely before scampering away. No one wants to anger someone who had once tossed ships out of orbit.

Then again, who knows? This may not be a place she is supposed to be.

Kind of like the things she's not supposed to know.

For a moment it seems like she's in a Valerie Gellar adventure. Karen has to tell herself this isn't Valerie. It's Mara. Mara isn't Valerie. It might be nice if she was though. There is a serious lack of gal-pals in this new Empire. The good doctor Kensington has been keeping her distance since Hesperidium and they were never really that close to begin with. Not like she was with the others. In a way, she misses the companionship but knows it was never meant to be. Mara could be playing on her emotions too, pulling at heart strings and exploiting the dramatic and completely necessary death of a friend. Trust is not something easily extended in their circle, not after all that's happened. Especially when it comes to Valerie Gellar.

Mara seems to be searching for something as she is lost in thought, focusing on a set of large bookcases. Karen glances around the room, wondering about all the things that had happened here. Mara steps past her, hands brushing along frame.

"There is something on the other side."

Oh, but isn't there always?

Mara stares at the bookcases for almost a full minute in silence. Karen doesn't know what she's doing but doesn't question it, strangely enough. Mara locates and pulls out a particular title to reveal a carefully hidden key pad. Before she can ask, Mara is tapping away. The case rumbles and slides open.

Blackness waits just beyond.

Karen steps forward, saber outstretched, lighting the way. The stairs are made of stone and the walls look like they had been expertly carved and resurfaced. They descend in a spiral to a smaller ante room that leads into a much larger chamber. The whole place looks ancient, part of some kind of ruins. Symbols blacken the walls as they pass through an archway. The larger room is filled with objects. Artifacts, weapons, a sarcophagus leaning precariously against the far wall, and a source of light. A stone pedestal rises out of the center of the space upon which sits an empty case.

Karen is strangely drawn to it and approaches the case as if it has meaning. She runs her fingers over the tempered durasteel and down across the base. Her fingers find grooves. Markings. She steps back, angling the saber down. A single word is carved into the pedestal.

Persephonea.

Karen breathes in sharply.

Mara turns, "What is it?"

Karen stares past her at a wall of computer equipment. A super terminal. Key pads, multiple consoles, seven screens in a perfect row.

Only one of them is on. ? ? 

"Better question - what's that?"

Together, they cross the room and come upon the lit monitor. The screen displays a sequence initializing.

Uploading...

A series of coding she doesn't understand follows.

Then, blinking at the bottom.

Connection terminated.

Karen finds this strangely comforting but profoundly confusing.

"Do you know what it means?"



-TBC
« Last Edit: March 04, 2011, 09:38:36 AM by Syren »
Syren

Offline Medivh

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Re: Alive
« Reply #25 on: March 04, 2011, 12:16:27 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emerald Splendor Estates

In the dim glow cast by Karen's lightsaber, Mara could see the rather intricate design of the stairwell, the ante chamber, and the larger room beyond.  It seemed there was an entire underground complex here.  Mara's scanners immediate look around, over the runes and symbols of what looked like an ancient chamber.  Then beyond.  The room was not originally like this - Mara's scanners could sense behind the ruins thick layer of durasteel making up the foundations.  But the stones were not plaster or duracrete- they were genuine, and the symbols and designs were created by more ancient tools.  Either then someone with a lot of time on their hands had painstakingly created all these symbols by hand, or the ruins around them had been imported from some other location.  Mara continued studying the stone ruins, artifacts, ancient weapons, sarcophogus, trying to detect elements on them that would reveal their original location.

Karen though is focused on a pedestal that stands in the middle of the room, with a case standing on top of it.  As Karen reaches it, Mara turns her attention, watching as the soon-to-be-Empress studies the case and the pedestal it stands on.  Karen's saber shines on something Mara cannot see, but Karen's expression tells her that something is - wrong? shocking?

Mara turns, "What is it?"

Karen appears drawn from her thoughts - glancing up at Mara.  She doesn't answer the question.  Something on that pedestal meant something to Karen, and apparently, it wasn't something she was ready to share.  But Karen's eyes, after flickering over Mara's, look past her

"Better question - what's that?"

Mara turns to see the computer equipment, nudged in between two stone pillars.  It isn't a small machine, and sensors indicated that a huge processing unit extended beyond the wall.  Mara circled around the pillars so she could see the device more clearly.  Not just a processing device - it was also clearly meant for an operator to have multiple activities at once.  Seven screens were lined up, with keys in front of each, all wired together neatly, and wires disappearing behind.

Eccentricities - someone had designed this entire room, taking painstaking efforts to turn it into some relic of the past. And someone had worked painstakingly to create this terminal, brimming with electrical signals, and make it fit perfectly tidy inside the room.

Karen and Mara both move closer to one of the monitors, the only one lit up.  The screen indicates that something had been downloading into this terminal and uploading to a network somewhere, a complex series of program codes

Then, blinking at the bottom.
Connection terminated.

"Do you know what it means?"

Mara looked at the "connection terminated" for several seconds, then moved closer and began typing into the monitor, scrolling up to see more of the code that had downloaded earlier.

If a droid can turn pale Mara would have.  She had never seen this coding before.  Despite her best attempts, this is a chip of the information that had been denied access to her.  And yet, despite never seeing it before, she knew instantly what it was.

"It's Phage - well, it's most of Phage.  Extremely dense coding, but far more advanced than most droids.  protocol droids are the most advanced common droid.  They would have maybe a quarter of this type of sequence.  This is an artificial life program and look,"

Mara typed in a series of digits and a number of 4-letter codes were highlighted in each line of coding, extending hundred upon hundreds of lines

"If you ever had a chance to see Valerie's blood work, you would recognize this.  That's her DNA sequence, the core of Phage's programming."

Mara was actually just guessing at that moment.  She was excited at this piece of the puzzle and frightened of the implications.  This had to be Valerie's DNA sequence.  Plus, it matched records she herself had seen on Corellia.  And knowing Valerie's genetic makeup had been a part of HER programming, not just the internal dynamics of it, but because she was assigned to kill someone with Valerie's genetic code.  Phage had it because it was a part of him, but it also meant Phage KNEW his own origins.  And wanted to destroy those origins.  Phage wanted to be the first in his line, and by eliminating Valerie as his 'mother' and Medivh as his 'father' - and a host of others associated with his creation, Phage could create the illusion of how he wished to have been created, with no one before him that could tell him what to do.  Asserting independence in the most bloody way possible.

Mara typed in more
"this is almost a completed code sequence.  Phage was being downloaded to this location. And he was stopped"

Karen looks confused still, and so Mara continues.

"Before coming to Byss, I had attempted to go to Phage's Platform in the Coruscant Asteroid Field to seek some answers.  Phage's backup systems were activated, and the computer system there began transmitting Phage's signal elsewhere.  I managed to destroy the transmitter before that transmission was complete."

Karen nods

"But that's good, right?  The connection was terminated. It never finished reaching this computer.  So no worries, right?"

Mara shook her head

"the computer says there was an upload in progress.  If this was the end destination of the signal, it would say it was downloading the program.  Uploading means its going from here to somewhere else.  Even if not the entire Phage program made it here, most of the signal was then relayed to some other location.  Apparently, this home was not adequately designed to bring back to life a droid of Phage's complexity.  But Byss is close enough to Coruscant that a small relay can make it here, and here ..."

Mara trailed off as she let her optical scanners look back at the computer system.  Beyond the wall, massive processors, going deeper and deeper into the ground before finding - a series of transmitters, lined up neatly in a small room, about twenty meters away, just barely visible in Mara's scanners

"This processing unit is a transmission location.  It apparently serves as a relay for Phage's regeneration program.  If the Phage sequence made it off of this world, it could have reached anywhere, a facility anywhere in the galaxy that might be able to finish Phage's missing code sequence and bring him back"

Now Karen looked scared.  Or maybe it was just Mara reflecting her thoughts on the image she perceived of Karen's face.  Mara turned back to the other monitors.

"But this also looks like it was more than just a relay for Phage.  Six other monitors.  And someone clearly worked down here.  I think we should turn the rest on, and see what we uncover."

Mara stepped forward, and one by one, activated the other six monitors, glancing back nervously at the one that held her only real fear.  If Phage returned, she would be his number one target.

Five of the monitors seemed to have a generic setup, requiring a password before accessing whatever information lay beyond.  The sixth monitor though, seemed almost identical to the Phage monitor - a long string of complicated, dense programming.

Mara was looking at it curiously as it swam across the screen.

"That's odd.  This looks similar to Phage's programming - actually, it looks more similar to what I know of my own programming.  But the DNA sequence is different.  This isn't Valerie's. It's someone else's"

TBC
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Medivh
SWSF: Legacy of the Force
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Offline Syren

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Re: Alive
« Reply #26 on: March 09, 2011, 08:56:49 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emerald Splendor Estates

Phage.

Not the direction she saw the afternoon taking but not exactly surprising either. The name itself is like being stabbed. As if she needs more drama! If this is here in her father's secret house below ground in some kind of imported ruins then the Empire really did create the monster. One of so many, it seems. It does explains why no one seemed to care when she and Kimber warned them about Phage. Dementat did not deter from his campaign but was that part of his passionate drive or because he knew what would happen? How many lines can be blurred, how many polices remain from the previous administration? Suspicion is further cast upon her future husband but motives can be tricky and highly subjective. Perhaps Phage was meant to kill Major Patten and Valerie. Perhaps he would have killed Kimber too, leaving only Melanie to deal with.

Then along came Mara.

The same Mara who had recently been to the Coruscant Asteroid Field.

Flashes of Phage's base hit her hard; sounds of sabers crashing, metal quaking, the sweet screams of a caving will.

She wonders how the place held up, if Alexia is still there...

Meeemmmorrrieeeessss! In the corners of your mind.

Mara had stopped Phage once, she can do it again. No need to get her hands dirty, not when there is a wedding to plan. And if by some chance Phage took Mara then perhaps his former alliance with Alexia would make him receptive to hunting down Kimber, Melanie and all those lending a helping hand?

A girl has to consider her options.

Still, that's not a risk she wants to take. Phage would be unpredictable-

What if Phage's plans are what Mara is really after? She could be trying to recreate her "father" and emulate her "mother." Creeptastic! And absolutely unacceptable. No, she said she had been denied information. Something Karen and Mara have in common. There are things Phage didn't want Mara to know. His resurrection would mean badness for her. Karen wonders what would happen to her if she made connections from one Empire to another.

Mara is attempting to explain concepts that she simply cannot grasp but tries anyway. If this place is merely a relay station, where does the information go from here? Running through the possibilities of other locales in the Winton holdings would mean she would have to level with Mara. She struggles with this confession, biting her lower lip.

Someone had worked down here.

Her father.

The sick bastard.

Her eyes drift around the room, passing over the blackened symbols on the walls. Mara switches on the other monitors. The area brightens considerably. The symbols become more clear. Familiarity filters through the confusion. She knows where she has seen them before.

Korriban.

Karen had been taken there to train, to consummate her destiny, to construct her saber. It is on Korriban she discovered that others also wanted to control or eliminate the immense power she possessed.

The Dark Queen of Hapes and Lord Kaine.

The Sith Hounds hungry for her blood.

Dementat by her side the whole time.

It was a battle that had ripped the very fabric of their realities.

The symbols had been present in the cave as Alexia whispered softly in the darkness.

"It's all you have."

Alchemical symbols.

Basic elements.

Four of them.

"It's all you know."

Mara's voice breaks her trance.

"That's odd."

Karen reverts her gaze to the screens, "What is?"

"This looks similar to Phage's programming - actually, it looks more similar to what I know of my own programming.  But the DNA sequence is different.  This isn't Valerie's. It's someone else's."

Not Valerie's coding.

Perhaps someone else felt the need to live on forever? Not liking the sound of that. Who else might they have used? Karen is no scientist, that's for sure but she has looked at blood work under a microscope before in class. A passing assignment, a fleeting thought. There is no way she'd be able to tell if this was someone she knew. Matching it against the Imperial network database may yield tailored results but then again, it could also point the finger at her families involvement.

What does Karen really want? Answers or everything?

She's the kind of girl who fancies she can have both.

Mara's answers may overlap Karen's questions.

It may also motivate her to seek out and find missing pieces before Karen and Dementat aid her against breaking Judec's hold on Corellia exacting her revenge on those who shunned her and scoring a major victory for the Empire.

Mutual goals could be achieved here.

"Mara-"

She turns from the screens.

"Yes?"

Let's see if they gave her Valerie's reactions.

Karen stares into her flawlessly crafted face, swallowing hard.

"The W on the door I so viciously tore apart stands for Winton. This place belongs to my family and I can almost bet that sequence belongs to someone I know."



-TBC
Syren

Offline Medivh

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Re: Alive
« Reply #27 on: March 10, 2011, 08:46:55 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emerald Splendor Estates

"Mara-"

Mara turned from the screens she had been studying with some intensity as Karen spoke

"Yes?"

Kare stares at her, swallowing hard as she spoke, as if revealing some crucial, dark secret.

"The W on the door I so viciously tore apart stands for Winton. This place belongs to my family and I can almost bet that sequence belongs to someone I know."

This house was a Winton residence.  Mara let that data course through her systems, trying to process how that piece of the puzzle fit into everything else she had learned.  But information that would make the connection was part of the puzzle that was forbidden to her.

What made it more interesting was that Karen had - apparently - not realized that this home was a family property until they had arrived.  So another family member?

More flashes through the headlines. What did Mara know about the media princess?  Her mother was royalty, that much Karen had told her.  Royalty, wealthy, lots of property.  But media headlines, clippings, gossip columns, biographies, listed several properties under Winton's name.  A place on Coruscant, a place on Hesperidium, a place on Naboo, stock holdings in companies across the galaxy.  Nothing about a place on Byss.

Alexia?  Mara ran through her database on what she knew of Alexia.  Other than being a psychopathic Force user, there wasn't much to say. Alexia though had a dark streak - she wasn't much for the neat and tidy house, though maybe something about these odd symbols made Alexia feel at home.  Could Alexia be the one that was working with Phage?  Her personality didn't seem to fit. She hadn't been much of a visionary.  That's why Karen was apparently able to beat her.

No other siblings were on record for Karen. So that left her parents as the next possible owners of the home.  Both had died, according to records, under mysterious circumstances.  Records on the mother were scarce, and on the father even scarcer.  What didn't make sense though, if this was a secret home, why broadcast the "W" on the front, letting people know?  Maybe it was an old home from before Karen and Alexia, before the mystery began to circle the family.  And then having this possession would not arouse suspicion or notice if it was refurnished years later for alternate purposes.

Mara's brain was fast - the fastest a portable computer that Phage could create in fact - , and it only took a fraction of a second before she returned her attention to Karen, tilting her head and offering an odd smirk.

"Only one way to find out.  I hope you don't mind"

Mara, all machine for a moment, closed the gap between her and Karen.  Karen would feel a sharp pinch on her arm, before Mara would again step away, leaving what looked like a paper cut on Karen's arm.  Mara's index fingernail had the dull glisten of fresh blood, and she was no longer paying attention to Karen, staring at her finger and speaking out loud.

"Beginning analysis and DNA comparison ..."

It was actually a full minute before Mara spoke again, turning to face Karen.

"Your DNA is an exact 50% match with this DNA sequence here.  Analysis would indicate that one of your two parents have input their DNA sequence into an HRD program, similar to my own.  This process is similar to the process by which full flesh clones were manufactured during the Galactic Clone Wars. However, the nature of this programming is more complex, and an HRD model is much stronger than, well, a human.  My guess is that one or both of your parents owned this home."

The rest was also coming together, and now Mara was looking at Karen with greater intensity.

"And it would seem that at least one of your parents were also involved in the GURI Project.  Working on the creation of Phage."

Mara's facial expression was ice cold, and her tone dangerously low as she looked at Karen

"Did you know about this?"

TBC
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Medivh
SWSF: Legacy of the Force
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Offline Syren

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Re: Alive
« Reply #28 on: March 13, 2011, 08:44:42 PM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emerald Splendor Estates

The robot processing bit is seriously unsettling but surprisingly efficient. She barely felt a thing and has never seen something move that quickly. She is more stunned by the analysis, shaken and horrified that her own flesh and blood may have attempted to live on through the wonders of science and mechanics.

"And it would seem that at least one of your parents were also involved in the GURI Project.  Working on the creation of Phage."

Karen's lips part in a mixture of confusion and horror.

Mara's face changes, grows darker and more serious.

"Did you know about this?"

Karen takes a step back, mildly insulted. She deactivates the saber.

"What? No. Of course not."

Mara's expression remains fixed and menacing like she knows Karen has this rep for being a scheming socialite.

She downshifts accordingly.

"Look, this just got way heavy. I didn't know this place even existed. The moniker on the door is what tipped me off. We have one on all our properties. It's like, a thing."

That and the Persephonea pedestal, apparently.

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"I had to know what was inside first. We don't have to guess which half of my parental units were involved. It was my father."

"How do you know?"

Her temper flares, fueling a monologue.

"I spent the first part of my teenage years barely seeing him, the second half believing he was dead and then, two months ago, out of seemingly nowhere, he kidnaps Kimber to lure me away so that his flunky could murder my team. For those of us just joining the program, Alexander Winton was quite the duplicitous asshole. By day, he was absentee parent and RepulsorCorp executive. By night, Imperial Director of the previous administration. He set us all up and manipulated my sister into terrorizing everyone I know. She murdered five of our closest friends and countless others on his directives. We barely made it off Coruscant alive. So no, I didn't know anything about this or him until recently but I can't say I'm surprised given the elaborate and twisted nature in which these events have played out. Alexia showed me visions of him plotting with all our parents. They seemed well aware of the risks...and consequences."

Karen gasps for air. The release of this admission feels good.

Mara gazes at her curiously, "What happened to him?"

She considers phrasing. 

"The Hapan Consortium got their claws in him after what his employees did to their Admiral on Contruum. He was the price for her suicide."

Not a lie but not the whole truth either. Dragging Kimber and Rydan into this right now would only complicate things. Throwing blame on them may make her appear out for revenge. She may be less inclined to help if she knew Karen needs them all dead.

"The point is, he was bad in a big way. His involvement with this GURI, the Phage project, Valerie's role, and by extension your creation is all new information to me. I want to know how deep it goes."

And then, the ringer.

"And the Emperor? Did he know?"

It's like Valerie is here with them right now.

Suspicion paraded around like accusations.

Karen frowns sharply, "Dementat was manipulated by him too, at first. We all were."

"How?"

"How what?"

"How were you all manipulated by him?"

Karen swallows hard.

"That is an entirely different story but before we continue the share-fest, there is something I must know."

Mara shrugs, daring her to bring it.

"Did you really come here looking for answers or to bring Phage back?"



-TBC
Syren

Offline Medivh

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Re: Alive
« Reply #29 on: March 18, 2011, 10:01:23 AM »
Byss: Imperial Capital

Surface: Emerald Splendor Estates

"Did you really come here looking for answers or to bring Phage back?"

Mara is unphased by the question.  Karen may not trust her, but nor does she entirely trust Karen.  This odd relationship between them is about mutual distrust and a mutual seeking of answers.

"If I wanted Phage back, I wouldn't have terminated him"

She said it matter of factly, because it was true - but for Mara, terminating Phage wasn't as easy as that had sounded.  In fact, she could not even do it until Valerie was dead, triggering an end to her primary programming and setting her free.  Well, supposedly - but the question did bring up a horrid thought in Mara.  What if she wasn't really free?  What if Phage had instilled inside her the very programming that caused her to seek out the answers - which did, in fact, trigger the Phage reboot when she was on the platform in Coruscant's Asteroid field.  Had she been fooling herself this whole time into thinking she was free, when really, she was following Phage's plan the whole time?

FLASH - again those images, again that question haunting her from earlier, when she was in the shower
Phage and Karen both staring at her and in unison asking 'who is your master?'


Mara's face remained untelling and a moment later she was again focused on Karen.  The woman had an odd amount of trust in Emperor Dementat, a man who, by his very nature, could scheme with the best of them.  Not just anyone can maneuver into becoming an emperor, afterall.  Mara asked the question inquisitively, not meaning to cause trouble.

"You keep saying the old administration ... that the imperial intelligence director - your father - was doing his work as a remnant of the old administration.  But Dementat has now been in power for some time, and it seems that your father has had fairly free reign, until his supposed, and clearly temporary, demise.  Even under Dementat.  If he was doing something Emperor Dementat didn't want, the Emperor had the authority and access to stop him.  And from what I know of the Emperor, he is not easily manipulated by the behavior of his inferiors.  What makes you think that all of this plotting by your father was not with Dementat's consent, if not at his express bidding?"

It was only after it left her mouth that Mara realized that the question was tantamount to asking 'do you trust your fiancee.'  Not a question Karen would likely appreciate.  But what was said was said, and Mara was not so sentimental that she would simply take it back.

"My point is we cannot assume your father is dead, nor can we assume that he is without support in the current imperial administration.  All we know is that your father's fate and Phage's fate are intertwined.  We may find that the answers I seek and the answers you seek are in the same place.

And while staring at these machines can be informative, I think staying here much longer could be unwise.  Someone will know we've been here, and will start taking steps to hide their trail.  We need to figure out what our next step is.  And it needs to be soon."



-TBC
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Medivh
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