Back to School Season

[Alndys]

[member="Olom Grihk"]

Every so often, when the odds against an event were feeling capricious, an individual was fortunate enough to be offered a choice. Not a small choice between blue milk or skim with one's breakfast, or even the self-enforced choices such as choosing to rebel and not go to work or to carry on with one's duty as an employee. No, these were known variables. What Geos pondered while striding down a relatively quiet street in Naboo, were catalyzing moments where one of two choices were available, each with severe ramification, dictating the path one's life would take after that point. Geos had recently been offered one such choice, and although he did not doubt that choosing to become predator over remaining prey was the proper course, it was not beyond the reach of his limited compassion to note that the cost of making that decision had been taking a life with his own two hands.

Olom's failed acolyte was a small loss in the grand scheme of things, her existence an unimportant number small enough that it would not even constitute a margin of error on a census, but killing her had been Geos' ticket towards a higher education in a new field, so killing her was what Geos had done. Even now, days later, he could barely recall the abrasive young woman's features, though he did note with mild interest that overpowering and strangling her - as primitive a method as could be - had been oddly fulfilling. One did what one must to improve his lot in life, after all. And freeing Olom from his failure of a student had freed up the position. So here Geos was.

He'd been directed towards a biological laboratory on Naboo after that, with instructions to present himself ready to work at a specific time and date. Meticulous soul that he was, Geos had memorized the route and practiced it regularly, having narrowed the window of arrival down to as thin a margin as possible out of habit. As an exercise. Fortuitously, he arrived at the laboratory three minutes early, which allowed him to find his way to his new Columi instructor with an allowable five seconds to spare.

It was nice to be in a laboratory again. His time on Yag'Dhul had been largely spent in such places of learning, and he hadn't realized how much he cherished the clarity of purpose provided by places such as laboratories and classrooms until he was out and among the masses of the Galaxy. It was then easy to see why his people chose to stay on their own planet, where like reasonable sentients, they did not act as though one had finished one's education upon reaching adulthood.

Upon reaching his diminutive new teacher, Geos ducked his lanky frame in the loose approximation of a casual bow or nod of respect, while offering a traditional Givin greeting with the expectation that his cerebral contemporary would have little issue returning it - a brief, if somewhat complicated, calculus equation involving implicit differentiation.

 

[Olom Grihk]

[member="Geos Ligebow"]


Grihk was unsurprised by his new students punctuality. Frankly, he was the better fit. Linshara had been ruthless, but thoughtless. He'd given her a fair test, as well. Survive against the newcomer. But, she had failed, long live the new minion, et cetera, et cetera. Who was he to ruin perfectly good natural selection?


And nature had selected an odd one. A Givin, one of the most intellectually precise, is at sometimes unimaginative species. He was, evne by his own race's standards, clever, troublesome, and something of a scientist. Frankly, as much as he may or not be be a brilliant tactician and force-wielder, his work as a lab assistant would more than cover any time invested in the Force, should it not be his best avenue. And, frankly, allow him to develop non-mystical talents. In Olom's eyes, most Sith learned to force to the exclusions of all else, and were worse for it.


He replied softly, resolving the differential equation not with the simplest means, but a rather flourishy bit with exponents. He nodded softly to his student, standing on a small hoverpod and typing at a holoconsole. The small Columi's lips were a strain to read, and his apprentice was apparently deaf, so holo communication was the easiest method. A small display of holographic text flickered.


"Good morning, Geos. I trust you've found a place nearby to call home. While you are under my employ, I feel we should lay down some ground rules. Follow me to the office," he said calmly. The hoverpod turned and floated into the office, settling it self behind a desk. Olom then levitated a few cups over, filling them with caf. He set one the desk near the presumed chair of the given, the other he set int front of him on the desk. He then used a small chem-sniffer on the coffee.


He looked up, gesturing to the tall, gauntly-featured colleague and then to the chair, the implication obvious enough. Holographic text appeared on display again. "Geos, as my apprentice, I have rather high expectations for you. From a cursory review of your work in university, you've got quite the scientific mind, even amongst a species to whom it is often considered a requisite skill set. However, some of the work you'll be training in will be outside your comfort zone, as all learning is."



He made a gesture. "Let us begin with a thought exercise. Base on the last few minutes, what is the most likely way to assassinate me?" He raised an eyebrow, letting the skeletal student take time to formulate a proper response. Teaching the man to think like a Sith would take time. Sith life was uncivilized and barbaric. However, he would not repeated the mistakes of his 'master,' leaving him to die on a hellish jungle world with no orders other than to survive. No, he would mold this young Givin into a proper Sith who values both intellectual and physical results. After all, a Sith with unique values that are atypical would produce more conflict, and that was a necessary part of the universe. One could only determine the best piece in evolution through trail and error, after all.

 

[Alndys]

Reading the fairly sedentary Columi's lips was only a challenge insofar that they were moving along with the being they were attached to, but Geos was fairly old hat at reading lips and did just fine. That said, he didn't mind a holographic display of what his instructor was saying, so he did not speak up. To have what was being said just spelled out like that was something of a luxury, and one he intended to enjoy. As [member="Olom Grihk"] led him off to an office, Geos followed behind in long, gliding steps that took him smoothly and quietly at a fairly similar pace. No need to hurry.

Once he was seated, the Givin folded one leg over the other, then laced his fingers together over one knee to indicate that his interest had been captured, or at least was being granted. Without much in the way of facial expressions, one had to do what one must to communicate non-verbally. He was given a problem to solve, and took several moments to ponder it in silence. There were so many variables that could spoil any such hypothetical question that it was near-laughable to use any of them as a working model in a real-life situation, though he expected that the success of his answer hinged less on it being effective and more on it showing that his mind was in the proper state to work with a being who stood among the unapologetic villains of the Galaxy.

"Using only this moment and the resources in this room..." Geos began, his voice even and almost plodding - as though he were robotically stringing together syllables and words as one might list places on a decimal instead of having a conversation. "I must work without a knowledge of your preparation and metaphysical power. I am at a disadvantage, allowing you time to react results in failure." He reached forward and hooked two bony fingers and his thumb around his cup of caff. "I would catapult this beverage towards your face in the middle of a sentence, and use the brief moment of surprise to flip this desk towards you. The chance of failure is high."

Geos instead raised the caff to what passed as his lips - a show of faith - and continued. "I would much prefer to let this opportunity to kill you pass me by, leave alive, and instead cause a passing transport or trans-orbital shuttle to crash through this laboratory at an unconventional time. Perhaps three minutes or so before I am due to arrive, tomorrow."

 

[Olom Grihk]

Olom consider Geos' response thoughtfully. The answer he had expected was the slightly more obvious one. The chem-sniffer he use on the coffee could be sabotaged. However, Geos was far from wrong--the number of variables was substantial, not the least of which was the amount of tampering needed to properly prepare such an advance. "You're correct. Your temperament does not lend itself to hasty attacks or sudden imperatives. In the end, a strategic goal, followed by an equally strategic plan, is what suits your methods best," he said, tinkering yet again with the holographic display, showing a few various displays.


The largest, most central one, was a series of overlayed schematics for a large military base, well-designed and highly fortified. "This," he began, typing plainly, allowing his text to be displayed again, "is a military base on Korriban. Currently, the planet is held by Jedi, but this base has been abandoned beforehand. It's location was kept fairly secret, but the security droids and technology are still quite active." He input a few commands, the image switching to a rather large door. "this door led to a digitized archive of history under the Sith Empire. It is, to my knowledge, still sealed, and still salvageable."


He blinked as another message appeared on screen about incoming chemical shipments. He authorized several of the orders before returning to his point.





"In a few days, we will go to examine the door. The code to seal the archives was an algorithm built by a director in the science sphere. Although it'd be easy enough to blast open the door, that would cause security drones to activate, and while I could destroy robots easily enough, doing it without damaging the archives would be a bit more of a pain." He raised his clawed hands up, sipping the caf quietly before he continued. "So, then, I'd like you to analyze the site, and provide me with your findings this evening. I assure you, if the plan succeeds, the pay-off will be substantially better than arranging a truck to drive through my office," he said with a slight chuckle, his pointy teeth making a rather animal grin on his slim chin.



[member="Geos Ligebow"]

 

[Alndys]

[member="Olom Grihk"]

The password for the archive was an algorithm? Very curious. It must be a somewhat complicated one, if the archive remained untouched. Geos watched the display with a blank stare - not that such an expression wasn't his default one - as though the mysteries of the Sith archive might present themselves through the screen. The real question was how his instructor planned for Geos to study the site and present his findings this evening.

He somewhat doubted that he could get from Naboo to some esoteric corner of Korriban in time. So there must be data on the site contained here. Though... He really aught to reply to the Columi. Geos pulled himself from his pondering and smoothly stood up, and behind his back, and nodded in deference. "It will be done." He assured his superior in his usual monotone, scooping up his caff with a bony finger. Whatever algorithms the rest of the Galaxy had to offer, they could not likely be much challenge for the rampant, dilettante intelligence of a Columi or the methodical mathematical genius of a Givin scholar, Science Sphere or no.

It felt good to be given a challenge, however. After the mindless, short-sighed criminal hovels he'd been subjected to, Geos had almost begin to despair that he'd never be offered an intellectual puzzle not made of his own devising. Should he begin by searching for records if the door itself, or analyzing the profile of the person who put it there? Perhaps they had some grand theory or equation that had been left unfinished - such a clue could quite possibly lead to the key itself. Or, possibly, the answer was some dogmatic axiom to the greatness of the Dark Side, but they'd be a disappointing solution to say the least. If all else failed, he could hit it with a truck. That thought tickled whatever passed for Geos' sense of humor.

"Am I dismissed?" The skeletal scholar asked his instructor, lifting his cup of caff to his lips.

 

[Olom Grihk]

[member="Geos Ligebow"]


Olom nodded. Although he couldn't read the Givin's facial expressions--stone-facedness and subtle emoting were inherent to their species on a certain level--he could perceive the emotions well enough. Curiosity and energy were the two strongest ones. Good. There was likely a number of solutions running through the skeletal man's brain as the Columi observed him. He wondered if he had the same emotional energy when solving a problem--did he grow as distant as quickly? Also, amidst the vigor of a challenge and the curiosity of a student, there was also a hint of mirth. He'd found a student who enjoyed a challenge. That was the best thing possible, given his habits of pushing people to inscrutable ends.


He nodded softly, gesturing towards a data cylinder on the desk. "Preliminary notes," he said dryly. "It will give you something to extrapolate from, seeing as we can't arrive in person this evening. At least, not in any ship I've got handy," he said with a slight chuckle, remembering the time he stole an experimental scouting vessel from Santhe Corporation. It moved well, but didn't take well to atmospheric entry. A shame, really. "I have confidence in you, Geos. Proving me right is likely a wise decision for both of us."


The old Columi began tapping some other arcane formulae on his holo-terminal. This one seemed related to some other project, although they were related tangentially to the archives. The simplest truth is that Olom had a specific prize he wanted to find on Korriban--and with Geos' help, he might be able to actually find it.

 

[Alndys]

[member="Olom Grihk"]

After picking up the data cylinder, Geos waited a moment more to recieve additional instruction. When there was none to be had, he nodded and was off, carrying hot caff in one hand in invaluable knowledge in the other. Working under a time limit wasn't his FAVORITE thing, working under such pressures was simply a fact of life. And if Olom asked it of him, then of course he could perform in these conditions; what sort of scholar would he be if he simply crumpled under the first conditional objective that had been offered to him? What sort of Givin would fold like that? Besides - there was always the outside chance that someone who COULD decipher the door's mystery would come in through the door, and try to strangle him like he had Olom's last apprentice.

Nobody wanted that to happen.

Once he'd established a workable work station, Geos set to work, working hard. He had a few theories to form the base of his investigation - in an ideal world, he'd find a record of the algorithm itself and work directly upon cracking it by developing a formulaic answer to serve as a key to the vault. Most likely, he'd have to suffer through vague clues and allusions to the vault itself, in which case, the bulk of his energy might be best saved for when they arrived on Korriban. If nothing else, though, he might be able to narrow down the type or kind of algorithm he could expect, which would make breaking into the archive that much easier once he was actually inside. One could only hope.

Until it was time to leave, however, Geos could be found toiling over the data cylinder in an up-to-this-point unused office, hunched over a screen comparing his scrawled, indecipherable notes to his findings. Once he had a task, it was all he could do to toil away endlessly at it until achieving success.

 

[Olom Grihk]

(OOC: Sorry, kinda had to switch gears to figure out what was on the cylinder of doom. Pick your thread to chase, develop 'em further. Today's lesson is learning to sort through information to find what matters)


The cylinder was less a compilation of technical data, and more actual personnel files. It contained, in particular, the designer of the security system, one Krovarri Fanso, a Nimban who had specialized in encryption and security designs, as well as some comm-mails clearly stolen. It included small amounts of specifications, but mostly is was just a discussion of his prior work.



In addition, there was notes on the actual purpose and commission of the archive, performed by a man know as Darth Veratus. A Sith lord affiliated with the science sphere, his writings and works--fragmented, but still published--come off as both paranoid and clever. He was working on multiple methods of Hyperspace technology and weaponization, as well as some forth of Sith rituals related to either astrogation of clairvoyance...constant ranting about "give us eyes" and "seeing the grand light."



The third notable source of documentation was the work of the facility construction supervisor, a Imperial Military Engineer and Moff by the name of Anaro Helios. He seemed rough, ruthless, and highly efficient. His work was written primarily in military reports with scarce details, including tactical analysis, likely points of entry, and estimates of security breaches. He seemed to mistrust everyone he wrote about. However, he seemed to be in frequent contact with a goods smuggler, via some means.




[member="Geos Ligebow"]

 

[Alndys]

[member="Olom Grihk"]

There were a few ways to go about this, although it did not take Geos very long to decide on where he was going to commit his efforts. Anaro Helios might have been a good lead were he not so paranoid - or if Geos wasn't absolutely sure that he'd fail trying to get information from a paranoid Moff. It might have been possible to dig deeper into the archives and find the name of his mysterious smuggler contact, but again, Geos knew what his strengths were. Interpersonal relationships were not among those strengths, and the likelihood that he'd be able to glean any meaningful information from the sparse records of their interactions? They did not inspire faith. Geos filed the name away for future reference, and swiftly moved on.

Darth Veratus's notes were a bit more fruitful, but puzzling through them looking for solid facts among all the dogma and ranting would be frustrating and chancy. If Geos had a bit more of an education in Sith ritualism or esoterica, he didn't doubt that Darth Veratus's ramblings would be the way to go, but his knowledge of such things was, at best, a passing familiarity. Without an Insane Sith To Common translator, he wouldn't be able to find much confidence in any of his findings, and certainly not enough confidence to present to Olom. Faith served an important purpose in a Sith's education, of that Geos had little doubt. However, he wasn't going to present Olom with his findings and risk travelling across the Galaxy to fail to unlock a door on nothing more than faith that he'd managed to decipher madness successfully.

The Nimbanese data, though sparse and limited, was a much more direct and reliable path of research as far as Geos was concerned with. Although Krovarri Fanso had left him less raw data to work though, he had been the one to design the security system and was noted for his work encryption-based security systems. Without the actual algorithm securing the archive in front of him, Geos then decided that his best chance at cracking the problem was to understand the man who'd designed it. How he thought, how he made use of his encryptions. What formulas he preferred, what ciphers and code he worked through, what designs he favored or found little value in. That Krovarri made a career of things like this was a boon - once Geos had worked though and analyzed everything he could find on Krovarri's specifications, he followed the conversation of the man's former works to the Holonet to see what he could find. Like a student taking a mock test before the real event, Geos worked through and digested any samples he could find of Krovarri's work with a microfilament comb, confident that the preparation would allow him to tackle the archive on Korriban once he was there.

As he worked, Geos kept meticulous notes of Krovarri's tendencies and patterns - both for his own reference, and to have something to present Olom with. True to form, Geos' progress was meticulous and left little room for error or opinion. He did not leave room for speculation where he did not absolutely had to, and his own 'opinions' read more as a statistical probability that one event was more likely than another. He made note of Krovarri's life as he understood it, in case the Nimbanel had used some personally relevant or resounding event as a reoccurring cypher in his work, a signature of sorts or even (if they were profoundly lucky) a backdoor into the systems he'd designed as a sort of insurance that he'd be able to turn the tables on someone who intended him harm.

As Olom had requested that Geos report back to him 'that evening', forgoing a concrete time to reconvene, Geos continued working until summoned or until he'd exhausted the data available with him. His 'report' came as a holomail of his compiled notes and findings at some point shortly before 'tonight' rolled over into the next day. There was no need to verbally explain his thought process to a Columi Sith Lord, Geos reasoned - his instructor would likely be able to browse his provided data quicker and glean more meaning from it than if Geos were asked to try and find the juicy bits and read them aloud. This way, he could continue his work.