Cultural Achievements (Enyo)

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

Amara Zarides deeply loved her sister. Oh, Enyo wasn’t always easy to get along with. Well, rarely ever. Despite that, their experiences had shaped them and there was no one in the galaxy Amara cared for more than her sister. In her own strange way it seemed Enyo felt the same in return.

That didn’t stop Amara from being a bit of a troll though. There was something about getting her sister into embarrassing situations which she could have a laugh about.

On this day they’d decided to visit an art gallery. Amara’s previous art visit hadn’t gone so well, what with attacking art thieves, but this time she was determined to show her sister the cultural achievements of the galaxy.

She also wanted one of your younger clones to come along. She’d considered Valerian, but the fussy man would actually enjoy it, so instead she decided she’d ask Thalia. That clone’s reaction at least would be priceless…even if she said no.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Before:

Enyo's office was Spartan, to say the least. For one she had no chair behind her working desk. There was a single chair in front of it...but you were not supposed to sit down on it. It was a secret test of character. In Enyo's estimation, if you sat down, it showed you were weak.


She was finishing up her briefing with her minions. "Wes, send this order to Emil. Impress upon him the importance of supplying in a timely manner. Have our engineers overhaul the Contingency ship we salvaged. I want it done by the next weekend," she said flatly. Everyone knew that she had a thing about deadlines.


"Vorag the Hutt's goons have been distributing his new spice in our territory. Dispatch a team to their warehouse and make them understand they pay the the tax, or their heads end up on pikes and we mail their fingers to their boss. Two of the new blood caused a ruckus at the Blooming Rose after excessive consumption of alcohol. See to it that they learn their lesson. I don't tolerate stupidity like that."


"Yes, ma'am," Neda said laconically. "I'll make an example of them."


"Make it public. The damage they caused will be subtracted from their pay. The same applies to their commanding officer. You have your orders. We shall reconvene at the scheduled time. I expect success reports."


"Where are you off to, Boss?"


"The commander is going to grace a congregation of artists with her presence," Wes said very dryly.


"Art? Didn't think you were the type, Boss."


"I'm not. Now don't just stand around there. Get to work."


"Yes, ma'am. I'd suggest keeping an eye out for expensive artwork. Lyrical abstractionism is 'in' this season. Strictly speaking, we could perform a heist."


"I might."


Once they had left the office, passed the Geist standing guard outside and she was certain that Enyo was out of earshot, Neda whispered to the droid. "I wadger twenty credits that she punches someone at the gallery. You in?"


Now,

Enyo was hard to get along with. She was chilly, very bossy and believed murder was the best solution to most problems. She also did not allow Amara to date and had a habit of scaring away any man who so much as looked at her wrong, let alone complimented her. Still, she sort of cared about her sister.


And today she was being dragged to an art gallery. She did not quite see the point of it. "I see you're still insistent on this," she spoke when she approached the speeder. "You're aware that art is irrational? A photo from a holocam captures likenesses far more accurately. And artists are lazy degenerates who fool people into buying their scrawls so that they don't have to do actual work."


She looked around. "Thalia is late." The way she phrased it made it sound like a heinous sin. Being an obsessive neat freak, Enyo hated tardiness. Given her earlier rant, it was probably a tad comical. Regarding attire, the cyborg wore dark jeans, a black turtleneck, a leather jacket and practical combat boots.


She'd resolutely refused to wear sunglasses, despite Amara telling her it was a totally Terminatrixy look. This had caused Enyo to give her a lecture about using proper grammar because Terminatrixy was not a word, whereupon Amara had said something about neologisms. Likewise she wore no lipstick or similar girly nonsense.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

Amara glanced over at her sister. “I am insistent,” she said levelly. If she was honest with herself it was because she wanted to troll her sister a little bit, but also because they were trying to socialise the clones.
“I wouldn’t call it irrational, sis, not for the most part. You could probably say unnecessary and be closer to the truth. We do not need artistic depictions of real or imaginary items, let alone the surreal and impressionistic art we have available. However, I would argue that art is necessary because it provides a creative outlet. If we see the galaxy only in lines and curves, only in what is necessary and required we’d either still be living in caves…or we might as well Archangel’s Age of Steel happen. Art is individuality, and without individuality we are nothing but clones. Well…figuratively.”
Because they literally were, after all.

Regardless Thalia did now emerge. She was certainly trying to be an individual. From the short and swept hair, the midriff showing shirt and the torn jeans and combat boots, she looked honestly like she was trying too hard.
They had managed to prevent her dying her hair pink and getting tattoos though.

“Climb aboard, Thalia! Time for you to experience culture!”
“I can’t wait, mum,” Thalia said with the withering cynicism of a teenager.
Clones, you never knew what you were going to get.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Enyo was about to come up with a retort of some sort, but then Thalia appeared on the spot. An expression of disapproval crossed Enyo's features when she saw how the young clone was dressed. "You're late," she said sternly.


Thalia shrugged. "So? Lost track of the time and I needed to find the right thing to wear."


"Immaterial. I expect punctuality. Tardineeds breeds sloppiness. And your attire is inappropriate. If it gets chilly, you will be cold. And you're showing too much skin. You must wear something more covering."


Thalia huffed. "Geez, I thought you were a mob boss, not a square. You kill people for a living and you get on my case about showing my stomach off?"


"Yes. It is inappropriate, and invites interest from degenerates."


"Then I guess you'll get people to punch. I'm gonna wear what the hell I want," she glanced towards Amara. "Is she always like this? Is it true she castrated a guy who hit on you?"


"He was being a leecherous and disrespectful pervert."

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara winced. “Well, sure, he made a crude comment. Didn’t deserve what he got.” His wailing scream still haunted her.
“Enyo has promised me not to maim people without checking with me first,” she said, looking at her sister pointedly.

They began their drive. Amara wanted to have a word with the clone, but wasn’t sure what to say…or even if it’d make any difference. Being different from one’s template wasn’t a bad thing – she took herself as the best example of this – but it should be an improvement. Being petulant and rebellious for the sake of it was not a virtue.

“So…Thalia…how are you settling in? We will start your training soon, but wanted to give you a bit of chance to get yourselves righted first.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"He's been far more respectful to you since I taught him a lesson," Enyo could not resist retorting. Any time he saw Amara now, he refused to look her in the eye and always stumbled over his words any time they spoke.


She kept her eyes on the road since she was driving. "But I will take your opinion into account when it comes to inflicting punishment," she added. It did not sound very convincing. "Unless their sins are truly heinous."


Thalia huffed. "Yeah, whatever," she gazed at Amara. "Oh, it's fine. Like, totally." She could feel the glare coming from Enyo. "But I'm real bored. There's no one to talk to except you two and the other clones and they're so boring! Valerian's a total nerd and Chiyoko is plain weird. I wanna go out and do stuff."


"I took you to Malachor to give you practical experience," Enyo said blandly.


"Yeah, that was fun, even though you were a total hardarse. Like, you do ever have fun?"

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara knew it wasn’t wise to troll her sister, but she couldn’t resist it.
“Oh, Enyo thinks fun is an illogical construct born from organics’ inability to focus. Having said that, I think she classes her time with Jozie as fun.”
“Who’s Jozie?” Thalia asked, leaning forward eagerly.
“She’s a Zeltron and I know that Enyo has occasionally called upon her expertise for…mentalism.”
“I bet mechanical tongue always gets the ladies going, huh, Mummy Enyo?”

Amara figured it was time to shift discussion. It wasn’t wise to troll the Terminatrix for long.
“Park down there, it’s only a short way away,” she said, pointing to a small parking bay.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"Do not call me that. And I am not having this conversation," Enyo snapped icily.
"Oh, c'mon, Mum. Is Jozie your girlfriend? Did you seduce her with the mechanical tongue?"
"[member="Joza Perl"] is not my girlfriend. She is a business partner. And this conversation is over. Unless you want to be stuck somewhere far away, with only droids for company."
"Alright, alright. Geez," Thalia backed off at last.


It was wise that Amara chose to shift discussion. Enyo would not hurt her siblings, but it was still a bad idea to troll her too long. So Enyo steered the speeder towards the parking space, a bit away from the art gallery. Judging by the commotion outside, it seemed to be getting a lot of attention.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

Amara laughed at the exchange. Trolling her sister never got old. Still, there was a limit, and she’d have to carefully induct the new clones into the mysteries and wisdom of the troll.

As they settled down and began walking they found that a block away from the art museum a small crowd had gathered.
There, a short man with an absurdly curled moustache was loudly proclaiming his views.
“The time of the Galactic Alliance is ending! Their experiment in subverting the true purpose of the galaxy has only brought ruin and destruction! It is time for new leaders to rise and claim the manifest destiny of the galaxy! Force users, aliens, droids, these are what we have allowed to rule us for too long! I prophesised all of this!”
He held up his book, called ‘My Vision’.

Amara frowned. “I’ve heard of this guy; Heydrich Kemmler. Failed art school, now part-time revolutionary.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"We must break the shackles the alien lovers and Jedi have forced upon us. Then our people will be set free. Let these chains be burst asunder!" Kemmler declared, gesticulating dramatically. "If our people do their duty, the day will come which restores our freedom to us. It is time for humanity to rise up and seize its destiny!"


Enyo looked unimpressed. "Idiocy," she said tersely. She noted that the would-be prophet with the absurd moustache was surrounded by a couple goons dressed in brownshirts. They looked like thugs and carried dated blasters. She wondered whether Amara would mind if she arranged an accident for the idiot.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara pursed her lips as the man read out his speech. She noted with disdain a copy of ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Voss’ in his collection. It was a noted book of untruths about Force user and alien conspiracies.

“Come on, let’s go,” she said. As tempting as it was to give him a migraine it wasn’t worth causing a fuss.
“You there, golden maned lady! That is a proper example of humanity!” Kemmler called.
Amara turned slowly. The crowd were looking at her. Before she could speak, Thalia spoke up.
“Yeah, and you’re a proper example of a rat. Oh sorry, you’re human? I couldn’t tell!”
“Mock me if you wish, woman, but know that the day is coming whether you will have to choose to be on the side of your people or with the xenos and species traitors.”
Amara narrowed her eyes. She was quite prepared for creepy comments about herself, but no-one dissed her clone sisters and brothers without getting a reply.
She held up her hand. “Mr Kemmler. You should never judge a person just by looking at them. They might have hidden gifts which come out at the most unusual times!”
The copy of ‘Protocols’ flew into the air and smacked him in the back of the head, tipping him forward with a cry of surprised rage.
“She’s a witch! See what I mean, there are enemies everywhere!”
His crowd were laughing though, not with, but at him. Kemmler and his goons grabbed their things, pausing only to glare back at Amara.
“You will regret that, witch,” he said and vanished into the crowds.
“Let him go,” Amara counselled. She didn’t want Enyo to break the man in public.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"I would not castrate him now. Too public. Besides, I doubt there's much to cut off. Probably only has one ball, too," Enyo replied blandly. No, she'd bide her time, arrange a couple accidents and kill him and all his followers. It would be community service. Once again she found her belief that democracy was stupid confirmed since it even gave freedom of speech to complete vermin.


Then she laughed. Yes, you heard that right. "I'm pleased with you two. Come on." The art gallery awaited. She was not looking forward to spending a day in the company of 'lazy degenerates', but the scene with the brownshirted thugs had lightened her mood a bit.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Thalia looked puzzled. “Uhh…Ami, is robo-mum laughing? I thought that’s what the noise meant, but it didn’t compute!”
Amara, who was pleased that her sister had not decided to mutilate someone in public, merely shrugged.
“Enyo is not easily amused. But beneath her stern exterior is a surprisingly loving soul. She just tends to not love many people at all.”

They came to the museum. The sweeping collonades grandly showed this was a building designed on classical lines.
There were also some weird sculptures outside which weren’t of anything in particular, but probably cost a lot of money.
“What is this even supposed to be?” Thalia asked, pointing.
“It’s a pseudo-elementalist revision of the key surrealist trends of the 7th century based along core-alterationist flows of symmetry,” Amara declared with absolute authority.
“You’re shitting me,” Thalia said flat out.
“Wallow in your ignorance, dear sister,” Amara said with false archness. “May experience broaden your mind.”
“She’s trolling us, right?” Thalia asked Enyo.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"Amara enjoys stringing random words and phrases together. She considers it being witty. I find it tiresome. Come on," Enyo grunted and walked. The sculptures looked bizarre, meaningless and silly to her. She could not fathom why someone would pay money for this nonsense. "Pointless decadence," she muttered. However, judging by the commotion, the gallery was attracting a lot of guests. Among other things, a school class had congregated in the museum.

There were also a bunch of 'VIPs'. These were easily recognised because they were wore fancy robes, suits or dresses and were surrounded by hangers-on whose sole purpose was to fawn over them. They also performed idiotic poses in front of the cameras. Their ostentatious jewellry would be a profitable sale on the black market.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara grinned. “It wasn’t just jargon, that was a legitimate description. Excessively wordy, but hey!”

They entered, and where Enyo saw pointless opulence, her two sisters saw different things.
“It’s alright, I guess,” Thalia said with a shrug.
“It’s lovely. A great use of space and light,” Amara commented.
Three very different points of view.

They approached the ticket counter. Above it was, among other things, a ‘suggested donation’ of 40 credits for entry.
“Welcome to the Coruscant Museum of Galactic Art!” the plump woman behind the counter said. “For three adults, that is 120 credits.”
“Wait, isn’t it a suggested donation?” Thalia asked.
“It is suggested you donate this amount to preserve this venerable and cultured establishment, yes,” the woman replied sternly.
“But we don’t have to pay,” Thalia pressed. “Like, we can go in for free.”
The woman gave her a look of mixed horror and disdain. “You can if you like, madam, but without sufficient resources the art world will devolve into barbarism and ignorance,” she said with a sniff.
“I don’t think you’re short of a credit or two, so I’ll go in without, if it’s all the same.”
Amara sighed and pulled out her wallet. “I will pay for all three of us,” she said firmly.
“Thank you, my lady. It is nice to see that some people still appreciate art in this galaxy of chaos and depredation.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


It did not escape Enyo's attention that the names of donors had been carved into metal plates, along with how many credits they'd donated. The plump woman at the counter seemed to notice this. "Those are the names of our donors for this year. Anyone who goes beyond the standard donation is honoured as having made a vital contribution to the preservation of civilisation and culture. The minimum is a donation of three hundred credits."

"Absurd," Enyo spoke caustically.

"I am sorry you cannot give this venerable establishment in the way it deserves. It is no surprise that the galaxy is in such a deplorable condition. Fortunately, over twenty honourable citizens have donated over twenty million credits to support our efforts."

"They must love wasting money. Your 'artists' should cease their scrawls and get a job. Come on," she ordered Amara and Thalia and stalked off, ignoring the disdainful looks from the woman at the counter. One of the grand art exhibitions that caught her eye was called 'Images of the Incursion'.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Despite her joking, Amara’s tastes in art were fairly conventional. She could appreciate some surrealism now and then, and some more innovative mediums were also fine. However, what she liked best was delicate portrayals of scenes where the paint or whatever else showed an insight into the artist’s mind.

It was to her grave disappointment therefore that when she took a map of the venue she saw almost all the landscapes, portraits and still-lifes were ‘unavailable’.
She asked an attendant.
“Oh, there’s a strike on currently, and we only have enough staff for the more popular galleries.”
Amara let out a sigh. “Fine. Let’s go look at the abstract stuff,” she said.

Images of the Incursion – A Gallery of Memories
That was the sign, and it already irritated Amara. As she progressed through she saw much of it was holographic representations of the key battles of the Incursion crisis. Strangely there were no dark control rooms with buttons or lethargic droids portrayed. Everything was in a super heroic style.
There was also some abstract art, including a random droid head upside down in a bowl of water. It was titled “Water Bot”.
Amara hadn’t been part of the Incursion much, but she knew her sister would have strong views as they pushed on.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"Absurd," Enyo muttered as she made her way across the exhibition. She felt terribly irritated. The holographic displays of the various battles that had taken place were absurdly dramatised, depicting colossal war machines and huge battleships that resembled cuttleflish, battling heroic, plucky rebels and Jedi.


The intrepid heroes were showing fighting against overwhelming odds. The depiction of Onyx was absurdly stylised, for the mad Shard was even bigger than he'd been in reality. "The 'final battle' was absurdly boring. The band of misfits spent almost their entire time standing in a room and pressing buttons. Before the doors finally opened for no apparent reason. Then we blew up some goons and thrashed Onyx," she muttered to herself. "What the hell is this?" she exclaimed when she locked eyes with the ridiculously named Water Bot. One thing was certain, abstract art was not her thing.


"You mean you didn't fight a legion of Titans, Mum Enyo?" Thalia asked innocently, pointing at one of the displays.

"No, just a stupid Shard, a few MagnaGuards, some crappy mooks and a crappily designed tank with exposed power cells. After spending thirty minutes watch organics fumble around in a room and press buttons."

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara was partly amused by her sister’s irritation, but also annoyed at the over dramatic display. She had not been at Tartarus, but she had heard and seen much about it.
“I bet Garnet would love this,” she commented.
“So people are dumb, big surprise,” Thalia said with a sigh.

A rather naïve piece praised the work of Jedi Convocation XIX in creating a coalition capable of fighting the menace. Of course, it discounted that the Sith and First Order had shown up without the prompting of any Jedi.

Some more abstract art followed. One was a series of blobs and shapes on white. It was ambitiously titled “Onyx’s Descent”.
“I…don’t get it. It’s just shapes,” Thalia complained.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"Idiocy. I must congratulate the degenerate who scrawled it on making lots of money with random shapes," Enyo spoke. "And there wasn't a single Jedi in the party that took down Onyx." She had this thing about accuracy. Inaccuracy offended her.


Suddenly, without warning, all the holograms in the room flickered, then shorted out. It must have been an unfortunate, but mundane malfunction. There was no way the cyborg would have misused her powers in such a petty, childish display. However, it caused quite an uproar from a number of the guests, who'd been enjoying the authentic recreation of the grand Incursion. Enyo headed out of the room. The next section had an ambitious name - 'Force Art'.