A Meeting of Brains

[Janick Beauchamp]

Even if that estimate of one-in-a-million held, even if I acknowledged that there had to be someone else just as smart as I am out there - excluding Jessica - since it was, well, one in a million, meeting someone else at my intellectual level is like playing lottery, only worsened by the fact that Force-sensitivity is not that common, and this is precisely at the core of mental data transfer, Janick thought, while, once again, playing that proverbial lottery after a number of attempts that ended up with mixed results. But this time around, she feels it's worthwhile to play it. After all, she feels that this mode of learning is, in fact, underestimated by dark-siders, and for far too long. Yet she could feel that whoever she is taking a flyer on, would be someone that has a pretty good handle on how a sentient's memory operated, probably better than most Force-users she may have known, but with a very different vision compared to the others that tried before the target of the day. However, she knew that she mustn't take for granted whatever knowledge level a potential Memory Rub or Drain Knowledge user would possess of neuropsychology. In addition, for all that she knew, there are topics that may be better served by downloading from someone else, outside of the Circle even.

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ATTN: [member="Aren D'shade"]

It has come to my attention that, for far too long, Memory Rub and Drain Knowledge have been underestimated as means to slice into people's minds. With that said, if you don't know either already, I am offering you to teach you how to perform these things.

Otherwise, you may as well notify me of what you wish to download from me, or anyone else at the Circle on the Fourth Moon of Utapau, or what you want the personnel at the Circle to upload into you, so to see whether your request can be accommodated.

Please let me know what works for you.

Janick Beauchamp
Utai Magic Circle

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[Aren D'Shade]

An odd message was picked up by the young slicer. It caught her attention right away though. In the letter there were some tempting offers and there was no way she was going to refuse them. It offered to teach her anything she wanted to know, the bad thing was, Aren knew almost nothing outside of topics dealing with technology and slicing. This offered her a chance to learn how to slice into the brains of people though! And that was certainly something she could learn. She sent a message back to the sender that she would come for a visit and now was arriving at her destination.

Walking up to the building indicated, she was wearing very faded jeans and a shirt that clearly showed off the tattoos she had on her shoulder. At her side was a bag she always carried with her. It was still serviceable and carried all the tools she needed to do her job.

"Hello?"

Waiting outside for the door to open, her eyes travelled around to check out the security measures in place in case she needed to disable any of things turned sour for her.

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

For the industrial meetings, such as the sale of alchemical electronics, Janick would rather meet in the corner office of the newly-built Utapau Magic Factory, but the Utapau Alchemy Castle was there for two purposes: tutoring, which was the present case, or customized alchemy. When the person she presumed was [member="Aren D'Shade"] arrived at the castle's main entrance, her memories of Memory Rub were coming back instantly. Of what Memory Rub entailed, what she needed to know about Aren before the infusion can proceed. She could feel the client of the day was still rather raw, and she had to arrange the data packet a little differently to ensure that the packet will, in fact, stick into the client's memory, and also to be mindful of how good was the client's memory. Plus she needed to be mindful of the possibility of implanting parasitic memories without wanting it. She was also led to wonder just how fast was Aren's mind: she couldn't upload the data packet faster than the slower of Aren's bandwidth or her own. Even though I never personally dealt with the parasitic memories of the infusees, I knew enough about neuropsychology to know how parasitic memories would be formed when an infusion was underway, she thought.

"I'm Janick: before we begin, let me preface this by saying that Memory Rub and Drain Knowledge are really used on different levels, even though they are subject to the same caveats. Drain Knowledge is for stealing knowledge in someone else, Memory Rub is for all other uses of mental slicing: injecting mental data packets, altering or deleting mental data files in someone else. But I have a question for you before the Memory Rub data packet is uploaded into your memory: why do you think there are so few dark-siders who even engage in mental slicing?"

 

[Aren D'Shade]

The young woman walked into the office that was situated in a castle of some kind and listened while standing to what Janick had to say. There were a few difference between the two skills that were listed off and Aren just knew which one she was going to excel at. Memory Rub was going to be right up her alley, but understood she was going to learn both today.

Listening to the question asked, she stuck the tip of her tongue out in though and rested a hand under her chin for a moment.

"I don't believe they think of it as slicing."

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Personally, I feel that dark-siders are, generally speaking, tunnel-visioned in flash over substance: you probably have seen a few Sith in the news that were depicted as anger-prone people that would stop at nothing to kill, using the dark side for various lethal ends, as flashy as is feasible for them"

In Janick's mind, the main bottleneck to widespread adoption of Memory Rub as a teaching aid was the need for the dark side. Over the years she had the chance to have guests such as Ashara and Raith, who were dark-siders with very fast brains, and she liked them for this reason. I hope Aren's brain is fast enough to handle the size of the upload at a reasonable throughput, she thought, while getting a feel for Aren's brain in the Force. Her fluid intellect seems to be pretty fast, but her memory may be a little raw, though. In turn, if [member="Aren D'Shade"] looked at Janick in the Force, the slicer would probably pick up on the witch's excitement. Once the upload begins, both parties will have visions flashing of the content of the data packet being uploaded in their respective minds. And there were the caveats associated with slicing a person's memories: the risks of accidentally causing someone to forget something else, but also to gain false memories, as well as what affects the effectiveness of uploading and theft vs. alterations and deleting mental memory files.

"Take a deep breath, the uploading of the Memory Rub data packet will begin soon, and will proceed about as fast as your mind can handle it. If pain is an issue to you when you're using both Memory Rub and Drain Knowledge later, I must warn you, try not to slice faster than the target's bandwidth. Of course, if the target's bandwidth is higher than yours, you can then do it at your full mental speed"

 

[Aren D'Shade]

With all the holonet at her fingertips, Aren had certainly kept up with what was going on in the galaxy. She might not have many years under her belt, but the young woman knew what the general opinion was. She had yet to make her own decision on things. Her current position lead her to be in the company of a person that was not one to resort to flash or even being lethal in a showing manner.

With everything Aren did, she was in touch with technical things and not with the Force much yet. She was not an empathic person and did not pick up on the excitement Janick had for the lesson about to be taught.

Listening to what she was told, she took that breath as requested.

"How will I know when this happens? I don't feel anything."

Which was probably a good thing.

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"If you either upload or steal knowledge from someone else, you will have visions flashing in your head of what you're uploading or stealing respectively, and if the other person feels pain, you're doing it too fast"

True, [member="Aren D'Shade"] didn't feel anything yet, and it was probably because the infusion hasn't started. Now that the infusion began as fast as Aren's mind could handle it, as per the Fundamental Inequality of mental [slicing], visions would begin to flash in both people's minds: how to access another person's memories, starting with uploads, what to watch out for when uploading memories into people, such as the quality of one's memory, and also how altering or deleting memories differed from uploading or stealing them. Sure, uploading was typically made easier into people whose memories are better, but the reverse was true of altering or deleting memories. Of course, the latter two operations, along with knowledge theft, were also subjcted to one's mental defenses: generally speaking, attempting to breach one's mental defenses ate up one's mental processing power, as well as willpower, and therefore slowed would-be mental slicers down, often considerably. And also cause headaches to the users, rather than in the targets as is the case when one worked too fast. Also contained in the data packet was all the hazards that could befall someone subjected to mental slicing: accidental forgetting, which also had an inverse relationship with the quality of someone's memory. Usually bad memories presented more weaknesses that a mental slicer could exploit to their advantage, if the aim was to alter or delete memories in someone. Now that the attempt at uploading the data packet into Aren was finished, Janick could feel her brain wanted to infuse some additional stuff into the girl of the day, but she held back because information overload was, well, a mechanism that caused pain. Hmmm... that girl's brain is very powerful, she seems to absorb data like a sponge, she thought.

 

[Aren D'Shade]

It seemed like only a short amount of time passed before Aren just knew how to accomplish the skills she was here to learn. This took no effort from her to learn and she was surprised how easy this was to do. Strengths and weaknesses were known to her and the kind of blocks she might encounter. Certain races had mental blocks where she wouldn't be able to get into their minds in any manner. Other details also became clear and her mind was greatly expanded from this lesson.

A few things were explained to her verbally and she nodded. She did indeed take in all the information given to her, she also remembered all of it. In a way, there might even be a hunger for more, but she did not press the issue or attempt to take more than what was offered.

"Is there anything else?"

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Personally, do you feel that Memory Rub and Drain Knowledge have high intellectual barriers to their use?"

It was clear by now that [member="Aren D'Shade"] seemed to have an existing predisposition for Memory Rub, since she could feel that the girl in front of her knew about the common counterindications to it. Perhaps Aren had such easy learning because of the datapacket being presented in a way that was easy for a slicer to understand, perhaps Janick knew that she needed to be supportive before the infusion proper could take place, but Janick knew that infusion teaching was sometimes unsettling for people who didn't experience it previously. And yet she knew a few sought infusion out because they were lazy, or because they exhausted conventional options and, especially for the latter, they were willing to accept the consequences of the process for what they are. But most customers' satisfaction with knowledge infusion depended on whether the infusion succeeded or not. Here she could feel Aren's satisfaction as well. Of course, when faced with a potential new Memory Rub practitioner, I feel the need to present it as a means to use the dark side for something other than aggression, and show it used as such on them, because I know that it can otherwise be difficult to convince them that the dark side can, in fact, be used for something other than aggression, she thought, while reflecting on what she did with would-be practitioners.

"That said, now that you know how to download knowledge from someone else, is there anything you want to download from me? Alternatively, if you want your very own Utai Mental Modem, which allows you to connect your mind up to the HoloNet, please let me know and I'll have a blood sample taken from you: in fact, your blood sample is used in the alchemical process as a means to identify the owner should it be lost or stolen"

 

[Aren D'Shade]

"I am honestly not sure. I think a person needs to have the intelligence to understand what is needed to accomplish the skills. Other than that, no. If they don't understand what they need to do then they won't be able to get what they want."

Aren didn't expect to need to these skills for aggression, but one never knew what would happen in life. Keeping this to herself since Janick hadn't asked her why she wanted to know these skills. She saw them as a way to advance her learning but not exactly an easy route. There was still a lot of work in front of her in terms of learning.

Shaking her head when asked if she wanted to take from Janick, she didn't know what all the other woman knew or didn't. The offer of the modem interested her though and she agreed to that one.

"Not having to carry around a device to help me connect would do just fine. I'll take the modem."

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Just a bit of patience. I know that mental slicing is harder than it usually seems to be, even with your knowledge of electronics"

There were several reasons why Janick made sure that hygiene standards were to be complied to when taking a blood sample from [member="Aren D'Shade"]: not only it was about avoiding to make her sick, it was also about leaving a genetic imprint of the owner that wasn't cross-contaminated. Which she knew was an issue with genetic identification. At the same time, the witch couldn't help but feel for those who were lured to her by promises of "get-smart-quick" but realized implementing the resulting Ponzi pyramid still required some effort on their part. In fact, Drain Knowledge-powered learning was only as fast as the user's mind - and that's the best-case scenario. Plus it can take a while to get used to, especially when one is not familiar with how a sentient's memory works. It was clear by now that, for Memory Rub and Drain Knowledge, a user's raw power in the dark side was not the end of the story. I'd rather not force her to download anything from me, Janick thought, while getting back to the room where Aren was. But now that the vacutainer was in position for the blood sampling...

"Please take a deep breath, relax one of your arms, the blood sample will be taken momentarily" Janick told Aren, while the needle would be softly inserted through a sterile gauze.

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren knew enough about technology to know why Janick wanted to keep things hygenic. She would just have to go back into the systems here and delete the record of her visit. This way her presence wouldn't be traced and nobody would have that blood sample on record. Being somewhat a known name to a few criminals, Aren didn't want to put this person in any danger.

Putting her arm out to allow that blood to be drawn once that was done, she covered the wound with a strip herself to stop the bleeding. Rubbing it just slightly, the sting quickly went away.

"Is there anything else you need from me?"

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"No, but you'll receive the bill for it once it's over"

Sure, she can remove records of her visit here, but I'll remember it. However, I'd probably be the only one left among the Circle's personnel that may have any recollection of that client going forward, the witch thought, after realizing that the client may have been sought after by some underworld figure. Or an enemy of the ORC, or both. In fact, although Janick was a known figure to some, she very much flies under the Sith's radar. And once she went in the basement, she ran tests to ensure that there were no contaminants in the blood sample taken by venipuncture from [member="Aren D'Shade"]. Once that was done, she would lay out a sterile apron on a table, then the work on the modem would begin by and then spraying the blood on the modem, and then dispose of the vacutainer in a specifically designated waste basket for biological waste. In that aspect, it was much like running an opoerating room, especially once the infusion of those ichor that were all too familiar to her began. The application of ichor had the effect of freezing the DNA contained in the blood in place, and also to prevent any further contamination of that blood being applied; it also conferred the alchemical properties the client so desired.

 

[Aren D'Shade]

She had not given voice to her thoughts of erasing her visit here. It was all done mentally and maybe Janick picked up on it, but Aren did not project them at all. Nodding when she was informed there wasn't anything else that was needed, the bill would be paid when it was issued and that would complete the business she had here.

"Thank you."

Waiting for the return of Janick with the modem, Aren started her job of eradicating proof that she had been here.

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

So today's client thinks her enemies are crime rings without access to Force-users? If that is the case, unless the Ta'jar Blood Gang is on her list of enemies, then we have no common enemies, because the Ta'jars are my only enemies in the underworld, and my main enemies are much more FU-intensive, Janick thought, modem in hand, while pondering exactly what enemies [member="Aren D'Shade"] may have, as well as the implications of deleting any computer records of her visit. Even then, the only trace left would be made upon receipt of the payment, but that would raise questions about what was the payment for. The resulting journal entry, Dr. Cash X, Cr. Accounts receivable X, would be the primary thing that remains, along with the entry being made now, Dr. Accounts receivable X, Dr. COGS Y, Cr. Sales revenue X, Cr. Finished Goods Inventory Y. She had a lightsaber-resistant hardcopy invoice attached to the modem, with Aren holding one copy and Janick, the other. A somewhat archaic method, but a necessary evil to Janick. As she handed the finished alchemical modem...

"May this modem serve you well"