Good Intentions

[Atom Smasher]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AJtGO6FbXs​

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The Naboo sun cascaded beyond painted domes and warm steeples, falling before Aurelius' hat and over the winding passageway deep within the working lower district of Theed. Stringed instruments rolled over the cries of street children and sewage pipes flowing nonchalantly into the main body of town water. In the alchemist's hand swayed a large doctor's case and hanging from his beige waistcoat was a glistening pocket watch. Jazz music rolled from restaurants by the alley where street children kicked a tattered old ball.

Aurelius stopped to catch his breath beside signs baring warnings of cholera and typhoid. The entrance to an orphanage stood on top of the hill and a dark skinned woman waved to him from a window. Gazing towards the pristine blue sky, he caught the sight of her hand and tipped his hat, motioning onward up the steep pathway to arrive at the door. Children laughed inside and waved from open windows and the dark skinned woman picked up her long skirt and moved towards Aurelius, opening her arms with a gesture of greeting.

"Hello, are you the alchemist?" She called in a thick accent. Breasts heaved in her white blouse and cheap earrings jingled near her neck as she moved forward jovially. The children waved and their caretaker smiled widely, all appreciating the presence of the man they did not suspect any better was Sith. Aurelius liked that. He raised a hand and waved back and she ushered him inside.

"Yes, Ma'am." Aurelius mentioned as she opened the door, following into the main hall of the orphanage and greeting the faces of a few dozen filthy and malnourished children. The jazz music traveled from the restaurant and the children crowded around the knees of Aurelius who tousled their hair and smiled. He turned to face the gaunt features of a little girl splayed haplessly on a bed. Her skin was blue as ice. Aurelius knelt down next to the bedside and felt a pang of remorse escape through his chest. Setting down his case, he flipped open the lock while reaching down to stroke her hair.

Next to the young girl, a boy her age peered around in bed, the surface of his skin marred with black legions. Aurelius diverted his attention to his case and selected an array of vials and equipment. He selected a sac of fluid and an intravenous drip, which he hung to the curtain rail while whistling a tune. The little girl cringed and looked away while he inserted the needle, too weak to make any prominent noise. The alchemist cooed while he strapped the drip down and reached for the next vial of medicine.

[member="Sol Damerin"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

Naboo was one of the nicer and richer planets in the outer rim and it even managed what so few planets, even ones in the core, could do. It had a good balance of technology and old-fashioned ways. All the modern amenities were on the planet but you could also sit in a cafe overlooking nature and sip coffee, without the view being ruined by some distant durasteel mess. Sol found he actually liked Naboo which was a rare thing for him, most planets had something that bothered him but thus far Naboo was just pleasant. In fact, it wasn't until he'd found an orphanage with signs outside condemning the sick that he'd felt anything close to annoyance.

Admittedly out here in the outer rim medicine was a bit harder to come by but denying it to sick kids? That made Sol bristle. Sure he knew why it happened, these were orphans and no one would pay for their treatment and the government couldn't take an interest in every hard luck case. However, that still left Sol angry so he'd offered his services to the Orphanages caretaker. Mostly he'd been helping keep the pantry stocked while he tried to find a doctor to help the kids. The mistress of the orphanage kept insisting that someone was coming to help but Sol hadn't believed it.

When he came back from a grocery run, he was doing his best to make these kids not malnourished but they had a lot of neglect to recover from due to tight funds, he frowns as the kids chatter excitedly. It takes him a few minutes to learn that an "Alchemist" had arrived finally answering Mistress Adweina's call and he was going to cure Alice and Benjim. Sol was naturally sceptical. So after dropping off his load of food in the pantry, he headed up to the room where the two sick children were quarantined and pushed his way inside. He found a plump little man with a case working on the kids, Sol's hand twitches.

[member="Aurelius Morday"]