A Titan Grows

[Alric Kuhn]

Rebecca Bailey stood on a small landing platform, behind her stood a tall unassuming man with a beard and glasses. That man was Alric Kuhn.

Of course he wasn't here to speak, he was there to observe. Alric Kuhn was of course her owner. He was also the owner of Astraeus Industrial. Of course, neither of these facts were public knowledge and today he was here in the capacity as head of Kuhn Consolidated, the private hedge-fund that provided money for business transactions and large scale purchases for Republic tax reasons.

In reality, he was here to oversee Rebeccas first business deal.

She didn't mind that of course, she was a droid. She was programmed to be perfectly pleased by whatever Alric wanted done. So far she had been perfect in every task put in front of her. She had begun production on the line of specialty drones, had begun arming the Hapan Military, and had quietly begun to manufacture for the Jedi Order.

All according to his demands.

Now things would change. Now she was going to take the next step, the purchasing of another corporation, the expansion of Astraeus into a new line of business, one that Alric was most eager to see it enter.

 

[Darren Apollo]

Near the center of the Rishi Maze was a fairly modern planet known as Yewo. It had sprawling cities dotting its surface. Within the capital would have been the company headquarters of the Ribiera Corporation. Ribiera had great success in creating cybernetics as well as clones for the galaxy. Its operation in the Rishi Maze allowed it to avoid strenuous regulation from warring states in the main galaxy.

Both [member="Alric Kuhn"] and Rebecca Bailey had been expected guests for that day. They would have been stopped at the lobby by security in order to sign in as visitors.

Apollo would have quickly received word at their arrival. Without any hesitation, he made his way to the lobby to greet them.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Darren Apollo"]

Rebecca and Alric both signed in without issue.

This was the first time that either of them had been to the Rishi maze. The travel had been surprisingly quick in one of Astraeus large vessels, and both of them had been quite comfortable. It had come to no surprise that they were greeted warmly, after all they were both entities of substantial size and power, representing a great deal of money.

They waited calmly for Mr Apollo.

Rebecca wondered in the back of her mind if Alric really trusted her. She understood why he wouldn't if that was the case, after all, she was only a droid.

 

[Darren Apollo]

Once Apollo reached the lobby, he soon saw [member="Alric Kuhn"] and Rebecca.

“Hey, welcome to the office!” he said as he greeted the two.

Apollo was sharply dressed. His attire was clearly not designer brand, yet it was well tailored and fitted him well. He kept his sleeves rolled up.

“It’s nice to finally meet you two,” he continued as he extended his prosthetic to Rebecca in order to shake hers, “Darren Apollo. You must be Rebecca Bailey?”

After he greeted Rebecca, Apollo would turn to Alric to offer a handshake and say, “And Alric Kuhn, right?”

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Darren Apollo"]

Rebecca reached out and grasped the mans hand, a soft smile touching her lips as she looked at him, gaze solid.

She had often been told that humans like eye contact. That they enjoyed looking into a persons soul. That was an odd thing to her, especially considering that she had no soul and she was pretty sure that humanity didn't have them either. Inwardly she would shrug, not really caring about the line of thought at all.

“A pleasure.” She said with the smile upon her face, then letting go of the mans hand so Alric could do the same as she.

“Indeed Mr. Apollo.”

Alric's voice was smooth, though it contained that hint of a rasp that so often came with years of being a smoker. Rebecca found it pleasant, though that was likely because she was programmed to. Funny how that was.

 

[Darren Apollo]

“Hmmm,” sighed Apollo as he shook Rebecca’s hand with a smile. He did not have the same reaction as he firmly shook [member="Alric Kuhn"]’s hand - still with a cheerful smile.

Immediately after his greeting, Apollo lifted his left arm to look at his timepiece - a classic analog model that used mechanical rather than electronic energy to keep time. It was perhaps the only article on his body - besides the cybernetic forearm - worth a luxury premium.

Then, Apollo looked up to his guests and said, “You must have traveled a while to reach here. How about lunch? I’ll drive.”

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Darren Apollo"]

Alric looked at Rebecca for a moment.

The Human Replica Droid shrugged. She was perfectly capable of eating and digesting foods. She was nearly as human as the two of them were. There would be no issue with them getting lunch or anything else really.

Though she didn't really care either way, she wanted to get this deal over with, she wanted to prove to Alric that she could do this, that she could manage on her own without her assistance. Perhaps that meant however that she had to think on her feet as well. “That would be lovely.”

Rebecca said in a smooth tone, keeping her face straight.

Alric simply nodded in confirmation.

 

[Darren Apollo]

"Alright then," said Darren as he whipped out a ring of keys, "Let's roll before the restaurants get crowded."

Apollo would lead the pair through the lobby and into the parking garage of facility. They would be taken to a nice looking speeder - a Montiac brand. Montiac recently went bankrupt and closed down. Still, the company had been known for historically making quality speeders.

After hopping into the driver seat, Apollo waited for his passengers to get in. While the speeder had a stick, it was automatic for simplicity sake. There was a single shotgun seat, yet plenty of room in the second row to accommodate for either [member="Alric Kuhn"] or Rebecca.

When they were ready to take off, Apollo asked them, "So, what are you feeling like today?"

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Darren Apollo"]

Alric nudged her forward.

He wasn't in charge here, taking little more than a backseat. Rebecca knew that, and so she was the one that climbed into the front seat with Apollo, letting Alric sit himself down in the back of the Speeder. The Human Replica Droid checked on her master, ensuring that he was comfortable before latching her seatbelt into place.

“Perhaps...” She pondered for a moment. What kind of food did she like? She had never really thought about it. For a moment she simply stared, then she was reminded of something. In her office she had an aquarium, she liked looking at the aquarium. “Seafood?”

Yes.

Seafood would be excellent.