A Thing of the Past

[Relic]

Expansion Region​

Off the Perlemian hyperlane​

In between several territories floated a derelict corvette, lost to time. It rested in neutral space, barely catching the orbit of some system as though unsure of its place. It was an older ship, battered, hull plating hanging by frayed strands and faded print announcing its sinister heritage.

What forgotten treasures did it hold? What bloody stories could its walls recite? Though still pressurised it was completely dark, both transponder signal and life signs negative. Besides the damage, it seemed untouched. Ripe for the picking even.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Space always looked the same, no matter how long Sebastian stared out of the view port. The repetition and lack of noise brought him comfort. Jumping off a public shuttle and onto the hangar bay of the loan ship, his head tilted curiously as he welcomed solitude. Nobody was with him. Just a floating shipwreck to tinker with and all the intriguing pieces of machinery which lay inside.

The shuttle left behind him, leaving Sebastian alone in the hangar bay of the abandoned ship. No signs of life seemed to disturb the wreck, while the oxygen was still functional. Wearing a plain T-shirt beneath britches with bracers and boots, Sebastian carried a tool kit, complete with a notebook.

I wonder if any of the equipment still works, he thought as he leaned in closely to the exposed wires in the walls. Pulling a screwdriver out of his pocket, he shifted through the wires and inspected every crevice. Leaving the wires be, he slid the screwdriver back into his pocket and traveled further into the ship.

A lone beep diverted his attention to a corridor. He looked around and saw a series of red lights blinking in the darkness, alerting Sebastian to something aboard the ship, something moving. Straining to see in the darkness, he followed the lights and leaned against the door frame, slowly moving his feet forward as he approached the structure.

"Hello...?" A soft voice called into the shadows, bearing a refined Imperial accent. Sebastian set down his toolbox and felt around for a torch, which switched on and moved around, allowing him to see every corner of the room.

When he hovered the light over the bundle displaying the blinking lights, he saw the frame of a deactivated battle droid folded in a heap. Sebastian gasped in delight. Awe was written in his wide eyes as he picked up his tool box and eagerly knelt down beside the droid.

Sebastian opened the toolbox with his torch on the ground and immediately set about reactivating the discarded droid. Selecting cords and a spanner, he plugged the droid into his slicing kit and began to sift through the programming, while reaching into his chest compartment with the spanner to try and tighten any loose bolts.

[member="Relic"]

 

[Relic]

The air was stuffy and stale, but fit to breathe. It was logical for life support to be the last thing to go. Anyone's guess what happened here; likely there was a boarding, and then perhaps a hurried departure as reinforcements arrived. There were signs of struggle in the corridors, dying equipment strewn about haphazardly, a desiccated body here and there; one might say a skeleton crew. But their hollow gaze aside, there was true solitude in the phantom ship. All in all, it was a scavver's fantasy.

In fact, the lack of class twos knocking about was a little odd. They could be stored away somewhere. It was quiet as a mouse droid... right until that dull tone resounded down the vacant hallway. It was Binary, but nothing coherent. A ghost in the machine so to speak.

The young analyst discovered the sound's apparent source, an inert class four. It looked like something from the Clone Wars, yet was evidently nowhere near that old. Judging by the ship itself, a derivative Sith model. With any other droid it would be quite safe to switch on and root around, however this one was a little less predictable. The slicing kit readout displayed the usual statistics, though one line in particular stood out. It used the string 'self destruct', and was quickly followed by a boot process.

"Ugh," the vexed synthetic voice grunted through a speaker. He stirred, but otherwise remained slumped in a miserable mound. "What year is it?"

[member="Sebastian Thel"]

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Piece by piece, Sebastian re-wired the components of the droid. He flipped open the screen on the slicing kit and began to type away, filtering through scores of code as he corrected the programming. As the numbers rolled down the screen and displayed the statistics of the model, a window appeared and alerted Sebastian to a self-destruct process, which he worked quickly to counteract.

Pulling his hand out of the chest compartment, he focused his attention on the screen and tapped away fiercely as he deactivated the self-destruct process. He scanned the programming for any viruses or loose programming and corrected any discrepancies, gradually bringing the droid back to his old self. With a scan running on his slicing kit, he picked up his tools again and continued to repair the internal wiring of the frame.

As Sebastian worked, he was alerted to a mechanical groan and looked up to see the droid's eyes blinking red. The programming began to come to life as the droid slowly surged back into motion. Sebastian jolted backwards in shock as the droid spoke in an aggravated voice, asking him for the current year in the galaxy as though he had been deactivated for a very long time.

"Hello there, friend." Falling onto his backside, the mathematician crawled away as the droid came to life. He spoke to him in a reassuring voice, while giving him room to become accustomed to his surroundings. "The year is 852 ABY." Sebastian said as he pulled himself to his feet.

"I'm almost finished, a little while longer and you'll be good as new." Brushing down the oil and shards from his front, he leaned in closer and continued to reactivate the droid. The slicing kit scanned his programming and erased any viruses while Sebastian carefully re-wired his joints.

"Do you have a name?" Sebastian asked while he strengthened a loose bolt with his spanner. "I'm Sebastian Thel." Procuring his glasses from his pocket, he set them over his ears to allow him to see the wires more clearly.

[member="Relic"]

 

[Relic]

10, 9, 8...

The issues in the code seemed more and more redundant and superficial. It was a complex yet functional mess. Not ergonomic in the slightest, nor something the average manufacturer would put together. In fact, as a whole it appeared to be some kind of attempt at neural emulation.

... 7, 6, 5...

The self destruct refused to go quietly, looping and recursing with mounting frequency. Every counter met with increasingly convoluted and visually distracting problems, as if engineered to cause panic. There was even a countdown in the comments.

... 4, 3, 2...

Functions stopped working properly, the power switch was unresponsive. There wasn't enough time. Whatever was going to happen was happening now.

... 1, 0. Bang.

Nothing. The droid lifted his head, emitting a harsh, scratchy chuckle. "My chronometer agrees with you - then, it's not on the fritz." He felt around himself in a rather lifelike manner, finding the slicing wire connected to him.

"Oh no, I don't need some... script monkey like you messing with my head, thank you very much." Nodding to himself as if confirming something, he jumped to his feet and violently ripped the cable out. "Though you could've nuked me and sold me off, so... thanks?"

Lifting up a metal claw, he glanced aside for a moment. "Hold that thought, Thel, if you can. I understand organics have a short memory." The look became a thousand parsec stare, until after a pause the droid's reactions returned. "Wait, were we talking? Who are you again?"

[member="Sebastian Thel"]

 

[Sebastian Thel]

The compartment beeped as Sebastian continued to scan the programming of the droid. Indiscernible data rolled down the screen, displaying an intricate mess which he struggled to decipher. Cupping his chin in his hand, Sebastian poured over the code and organized the figures in his mind, correcting discrepancies as he typed and calculating the necessary solution to complete the process.

The beep continued and the self-distrust warning continued to flash. Sebastian's fingers moved rapidly as he worked to shut down the automated procedure. With loops and static disrupting the encryption, he delved into the programming and rooted out the code behind the impending action. Numbers counted down on the screen, just as he deciphered the encryption and halted the process. Then, reverse and delete and the self-destruct window vanished.

"That was a close one!" Sebastian exclaimed as he wiped a layer of sweat from his brow with a rag stained in oil. The countdown ended and the droid surged into motion, chuckling in response to the mathematician who continued to refine the programming. Then, the droid ripped the wire from his chest compartment and knocked the slicing kit away.

"Well if it wasn't for me you would still be stuck there." Sebastian retorted. He stood at his full height with one hand on his hip, glaring the droid as he halfheartedly expressed his gratitude. Pushing the slicing kit away, Sebastian unplugged the other leads and allowed him some space to gather his senses.

"You're most welcome." Sebastian said with a nod. Before he could comment on his memory, the droid appeared to forget once more, alerting Sebastian to the fact that his programming still needed work.

"I think your memory has been wiped." He cupped his chin in thought, then motioned over to the droid. "Let me check." Splaying his hands against the air in a calming gesture, he tried to reassure the droid to stay still while he plugged the cable back into his compartment.

[member="Relic"]

 

[Relic]

"And you're the arbiter of what's best for me? I shut myself down. That was voluntary," he growled pointedly. The meatbag was getting on his circuits. Backup, backup, backup...

Following his forgetful episode, the droid slapped the cable away. He had very strong opinions about memory wipes. "Look... whoever you are. I haven't had my mind scrubbed once since I was built. You will check nothing. I will check my event log." He took another pause, holding up that claw again. "Online, a minute ago... restore state, a few seconds... details: 'script monkey'." He pinched the faceplate between his two photoreceptors, an approximation of exasperation.

"Okay," his hand slid down. "I take it you figured out my little decoy, good job. Now you think you're some kind of hotshot. You want a payoff." He approached Sebastian until he loomed over him, pressing a digit to his chest. "But you don't know me. You don't own me. So, kindly never go messing around in my brain again."

Finally, he backed off, throwing a dismissive wave over his shoulder. "I need to look around the ship. If you have questions, I will answer."

[member="Sebastian Thel"]

 

[Sebastian Thel]

The cabal was smacked away again as Sebastian tried to connect the droid to his slicing kit. With a sigh, he pulled out the remaining leads allowed him space. The droid retorted and revealed that he had shut down his system himself. There had been no memory wipe, his deactivation had been a self-administered procedure. Sebastian backed away and stood at his full height, holding each hand on his hips as he looked the mechanical being down with a contemplative glare.

"Look, I understand that you're disoriented, but there's no need to be defensive." Placing his hands against the air in a calming gesture, Sebastian spoke sternly and tried his best to reassure the droid. "I didn't know any better that you had shut yourself down!" He exclaimed with a shrug. For all Sebastian knew, the droid had meet an ill-fate and his heart had been in the right place when he had reactivated him.

"Well actually I'm not interested in money." Shrugging, Sebastian leaned down to pack away his tools. When the droid accused him of looking for a payoff, he shook his head and denied the statement. "I'm more interested in you." He shoved the leads into the slicing kit, which he slid into his satchel along with his spanner.

"What's your name?" Sebastian asked in a calm voice, his tone clearly softer than before. "How did you wind up here?" He continued to pack away his things, shoving the remaining tools into his satchel. His voice dropped to a cheeky hint and took one glance at the droid.

"Alright, no more messing with your brain." Closing the satchel and slinging the strap around his chest, Sebastian stood and offered the cantankerous droid a smile. They walked through the corridors of the ship and passed shadows escaping into crevices, disrupted by flashing lights.

[member="Relic"]

 

[Relic]

This meatbag had some nerve. After running through a few quick projections of what it would be like to wring his stupid little neck, the image of the resulting crack and spasms helped the droid calm down. He sneered with cold metallic fury, "I'll have you know I'm fully oriented," adding "and I assure you, you'd feel the same if the first thing you woke to was a stranger picking over your f-friend's grave." Encountering a vocal glitch, he looked away in a sulk. It was... still difficult to process subjectively.

Unrelenting, his talons sliced through the air dramatically. "It doesn't excuse - uh, whatever you were doing to me. Doubt you'd go poking around in an organic's brain."

He scoffed at the perceived bromide. Tinged with cynicism, he listed off on one claw: "Money, labour, satisfaction; doesn't matter. It's all the same to me." Looking back on his time in the empire, though it only felt like it had ended an hour ago - he had learned that people either served a common cause or their own interests. The man's impudent concession did little to endear him.

A guarded silence lingered between the burnt and bloodied bulkheads for a while, broken only by the heavy clanking underfoot. Finally heaving a superfluous sigh, he answered. "Relic. That's what they called me. It was my job to protect the lord on this ship." He told it as a matter of fact. It was easier to recount under an empirical lens.

The arrows along the dark halls indicated they were approaching the bridge. Relic stopped at the blast door, hesitating. When he tried the switch it didn't budge, seeming to have lost power. With a frustrated grunt, he started trying to wrench it open, casually carrying on the talk. "Well, who are you?" Besides his ticket out of here, he was loathe to admit.

[member="Sebastian Thel"]

 

[Sebastian Thel]

When the droid railed off an another spiel, Sebastian remained unmoved. He looked him up and down with a discerning glare with his hands placed firmly on his hips. He could have been stuck there for a few more hundred years if it weren't for Sebastian, who would not apologize when he had only been trying to help.

"Well you're reactivated now and if you don't like it, you can shut yourself back down." With an affirming nod, Sebastian spoke sternly. He knew that the droid was sulking and would need a while before he calmed down. Until then, his attitude would not sway Sebastian. There was a pause between them as they walked through the shipwreck, before the droid revealed his name to be Relic.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Relic." Sebastian responded in manner more friendly than before, while Relic's metal feet clanked through the hallway. "My name is Sebastian Thel." He introduced himself as they approached the bridge of the star ship. As Relic tried to wrench open a blast door, Sebastian kept his distance while looking over the droid's metal shoulder.

"So who was this Lord of the ship you had to guard?" Genuinely curious, he tilted his head to one side and watched Relic try to move the door.

"Let me help with that." Sebastian placed his toolbox on the ground and rummaged around, finding a spanner and screwdriver, along with a plasma torch, before setting the box aside and kneeling beneath Relic. As he unscrewed some of the bolts in the door, the hinges gradually came loose.

[member="Relic"]