He who Believes in the Future (Gerion Ardik)

[Ultimatum]

Location: Lianna, Hegemon Towers​

Characters of Importance: Ultimatum [member="Gerion Ardik"]​

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Lianna, a somewhat technologically based planet. It was an intriguing world to Ultimatum and one that didn't have too much information that he could work with. He had spent a good hour searching the planet's history and its current situation and had found little of important information, to him anyways. He had decided to set up an appointment with the one thing that really grabbed his attention, Hegemonic Automaton. Their headquarters was here and Ultimatum had high hopes for a line of droids that he had in mind. From what he had read on the HoloNet the company had produced very nice droids.

Currently, Ultimatum was outside the building, waiting for his turn to meet with the person who he assumed was the leader of the company. He was fine with the wait, it was a relatively clear day and there was no immediate threat of rain, not that that would make much of a difference. He had had a few odd looks directed at him at the spacesport, apparently droids doing their own thing and acting like an organic were strange. He had found it amusing once more how organics always seemed to assume that any type of artificial was subservient or dangerous. It always surprised Ultimatum when an organic treated him equally, which for him appeared to be quite rare.

The droids and turrets guarding the large towers were promising. If the company could produce such droids, then they certainly had the ability to create the type of things he was looking for. He hoped that the man he would speak to would be open minded enough to be willing to speak with a droid.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ultimatum"]

The wait was relatively short. Gerion Ardik seldom held meetings unless he was hiring for an important position or whoever had come to Hegemonic Automaton with a deal was of some interest. "Ultimatum" as it called itself was of some interest. It wasn't very often that droids requested meetings with droid manufacturers, but Gerion fancied himself in a humorous mood. He would see what it wanted and, if what it wanted was violence, there were more than enough droids on the security staff to see to it such antics would be stopped quickly. Or so he would hope. For an added sense of security, there were seven TA4 Ultra Battle Droids (armed with ion blasters, of course) strategically hidden around the 57th floor, where Gerion's office was located.

Likewise, the turbolift ride would prove a quick affair as well, and the 57th floor would reveal itself to be a hive of activity once the doors opened. A disheveled man who clearly had been working overtime for too long stopped in his tracks at the sight of Ultimatum, eyes-widening briefly before realizing he was actually too tired to be surprised by anything any more. "If you're here to see Mr. Ardik, follow me." Was all he had to say, before turning around and trudging towards the office at the pace of a man who was clearly broken.

He wordlessly lead the droid over to the Umbaran's office, knocking once before opening the door. "Your visitor is here."

"Excellent. Send him in."

The employee turned and left at that, off to resume whatever task it was that made him so tired. The door was left open, allowing Ultimatum to glimpse the sparsely decorated office. The furniture was sensible and not much else. The only thing of real note being the Asheran triptych that adorned the wall behind him.

"Ultimatum, is it? I've been expecting you." Gerion said, without rising from his seat behind the desk. "Have a seat, please."

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum followed quietly, he was impressed a to some degree with the amount of work being done. When he noted the man that led him to the office however he was reminded on one of the many reasons for his disdain of organics. They were simply weaker, much much weaker than an artificial could be. He found it amusing that one would push organics so hard when an artificial would simply accomplish about the same job with much less difficulty and probably quicker.

Ultimatum took a seat. At least this organic, human if he had it correct, seemed to treat him as an equal at his point. He wondered what thoughts were going through the human's head at that moment. A droid coming to a droid manufacturer with not much reason. At leas the human had the decency to act comfortable, if he wasn't. Ultimatum spoke with the idea of being polite, trying in some way to prove that he was an equal to most organics in that regard, "Thank you, yes Ultimatum is correct. Thank you also for being willing to see me, Mr. Gerion? Is that correct?" He remembered the name of course, it was in his head along with some facts about the company. A droid never forgot unless it was wiped or purged of memory. Ultimatum had had neither so the question was merely to create the closest thing to an actual conversation he had had up until now.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ultimatum"]

"Mr. Ardik, actually. Or Baron Ardik if you follow the proceedings of Raxus Secundus' parliament, but that need not apply here." Gerion said.

Raxus Secundus had conferred a title of nobility upon him for his service to their planet during the Netherworld crisis. Ultimately he had not carried out the aid mission for fame, fortune, recognition, or because he was particularly moved by their plight. It had simply been the pragmatic thing to do in order to undermine Silver Jedi support in the galaxy at large. That plan had worked wonderfully, the noble title and public relations boost were a welcome bonus but ultimately irrelevant in the grand scheme of thing.

He fancied Ultimatum as a rather strange, ominous name and so guessed that the droid wasn't here to contract out some labor droids to construct a statue dedicated to peace and happiness. But he kept that to himself, smiling through the war droid's attempted courtesies.

"I must say your request for a meeting was rather vague. What can Hegemonic Automaton do for you, precisely?"

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum absorbed the information, he had missed that bit, he would have to accomplish a more complete gathering next time before simply entering into negotiations or other such. Once more he was reminded of his imperfection, being a creation of organics would naturally lead to imperfection. Until such a time as artificials could leave behind the organics there would always be imperfection. It would probably take centuries before aritificials could rid themselves of the last vestiges of organics.

He had to stop himself there before his thoughts wandered too far from the subject and lost track of his intended purpose. He did not want to cause more trouble than there already was. "Yes, my intention for this meeting is to ask about the possibility of your company producing a special line of droids. I believe that they would be called combat units or battle droids. What is the likelihood of having specially made artificials?"

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ultimatum"]

Interesting. This droid's vocabulary was almost as fascinating as its design. Was this a failed, rogue experiment of some sort? Gerion could only guess as to what it wanted with a group of specially designed battle droids. Stereotypes would suggest it was going to purge all the biological scum from the galaxy, but Gerion considered himself far too wise to believe such a thing. If this droid made it this far into the galaxy, its goals were probably much more reasonable. Maybe it wanted to become a warlord? A noble profession in the right sector of space, to be sure.

"Hegemonic Automaton has filled out requests for specially made droids several times in the past. These requests, as you can imagine, are very expensive to fulfill. I trust you have the financial capacity to accommodate?"

This was the ultimate moment of truth as far as Gerion was concerned. Either the droid would attempt to extort him, or it would actually have the money. In the case of the latter, Gerion would be curious as to where such funds were coming from. In the case of the former... Well, there were extra security droids up here with him for a reason.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum thought about that a moment, expense. It was always about the money to organics, they never seemed to have the concept of a greater goal in life. Of course, this lack of true team spirit was quite helpful. It made most of the deals quite easy to plan for. Money appeared to control the organic's society. As such he was prepared. What was even more amusing was that the richer organics got the more money they required. He didn't care that much, money was something that only lost value as time went on. As an artificial he had no use for it other than acting with organics.

"I have a few million credits, maybe five or six. Is that sufficient?" How he got it, well his original creator and master was the a few million credits poorer, not that that traitorous man was in danger of bankruptcy. The man had been a criminal, a fairly good one who later joined the Rebels, an equally treacherous group. They all stood for some supposedly good cause, but in practice they were corrupt and tended towards their own goals. He had been part of his master's plan to overthrow the galaxy, a selfish attempt to remove his greatest enemies, claiming that it was for all. Ultimatum loathed that above all else.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ultimatum"]

Gerion nodded. "Three million will be fine."

It was a fair enough down payment. The money would initially be spent on designing, prototyping, testing. The majority of the money would then be put into configuring factories and producing the initial run of the combat droids. Really, money was not the issue here. It was the origins of this money that were going to cause some measure of skepticism in Gerion.

"There is, of course, the matter of where this money is coming from, Ultimatum. You'll understand that Hegemonic Automaton has a reputation to uphold. We cannot produce droids for just anyone."

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum held for a moment, letting his processors come out with a proper answer that would, hopefully, please the organic he spoke to. The appeared intriguing, he seemed to be a fairly good business man. He was smart enough to ask where the money came from, not that it would be too much of a concern. Ultimatum had moved the money entirely via HoloNet transactions, keeping the entire movement above the board. He left traces to the effect that his master had moved it for safety's sake. The money had dropped off the radar at no point and his master could have followed it had he chosen to. Ultimatum assumed the that money lost was not too important and that the man would probably just turn around and leave it.

Ultimatum wasn't certain as to how to prove this however without giving exact account numbers. "The money is completely safe and there is nothing to harm your reputation. I have no outstanding warrants by organics and I have not harmed another being, artificial or organic, in my life. I have yet to find a planet or faction in which I may get a proper citizenship, however once I do I intend to get one." He hoped that such speech, almost entirely true, would soothe the man.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ultimatum"]

If Gerion were to take everyone's word at face value, he would not be where he was today. As a matter of fact, his company would have probably been in the same wretched lot as whatever miserable enterprise Circe Savan was trying to force onto the galaxy. A little cynicism went a long way in avoiding costly mistakes in the game of galactic commerce. Gerion afforded suspicion to just about everyone he interacted with. To spare an obvious war droid with large amounts of money that came from somewhere the appropriate amount of skepticism made little sense to him.

"Perhaps I was not clear. I do mean to inquire as to how you acquired such a large sum of money. Forgive my bluntness, but I know of few droids with the level of autonomy you display. None of them are also millionaires."

By few he really only meant one, which of course was his Chief of Security. She had today off.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ah... Ultimatum thought to himself. It wasn't the money's origin so much as the person paying for it. That was a surprise to him, not that being surprised by organics was much of a surprise to him. He was used to organics being strange and many times he was not completely prepared for their responses to him or his intentions. He cursed the scientists that had failed to prepare him for the organics' unpredictability that had plagued him.

"Is it a question then of whether an artificial can be allowed to have its own will or own a portion of an organic currency?" He asked, mostly because he wanted to see how the man would answer. He wondered what exactly the organic wanted, what little bit of information, no matter how important, he was looking for. It was a question of curiosity, Ultimatum still did not fully comprehend the organic mind, but the best way to learn was to ask questions.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ultimatum"]

"I'm not entirely interested in the debate as to whether or not droids should be allowed such things." Gerion retorted, raising an eyebrow. "It's irrelevant. My only concern, as of now, are the origins of the money you allege to have."

The Umbaran had no interest in disallowing sapient droids to conduct their business. That kind of repression served no worthwhile goal. But if their business was some sort of criminal enterprise, anything from slave trading to drug trafficking, Gerion would be keen to interfere with it. Just as he would if it were an organic entity that was abducting citizens or getting them addicted to dangerous drugs. He held a very strong disdain for criminals these days, even if they did have the capitalist idea correct. They lacked the principle to obey the law.

 

[Ultimatum]

"Ah, sorry." He stated, making the appearance of being taken aback. He was actually interested in this organic. He had a very different sense than most and that threw Ultimatum off. He was finding the situation more and more annoying, not for the organic, but it was the logic of organics that he had yet to comprehend. Organics were so amazing, they could accomplish feats with less than complete information, very reasonable, not always logical but definitely very intelligent, most of the time. Artificials had yet to capture that portion of the mind that allowed organics to work with less than complete information and complete complex tasks.

"The money came from my initial creator, who was at one point a criminal. He claims to have left crime behind, but I still see it in him. I hate his falsehoods, his lies, deceptions. I intend on using the money he had given to me to orchestrator, in the near future, his downfall." He said, feeling the hatred that he attested to. His master was a bane to organic life, a blight on the society that he claimed to be part of. Ultimatum's only half truth in his statement was that he had been given the money, but he assumed that since the man hadn't tried to track the obvious path of the money that it was being given.

Ultimatum pulled a dataspike from a compartment in his metal body. He held it out to [member="Gerion Ardik"] saying, "Here, this spike has the information on the money, the account, and its history."

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ultimatum"]

Gerion nodded, seemingly in understanding. "I see. It is always just to undermine criminals, whether they claim to be reformed or not. If you require further assistance in doing so, I will be glad to help."

Maybe the droid wanted to eradicate all organics. Or, more likely, its goals were just as reasonable and obtainable as Gerion's own. Whatever the case was, Gerion saw little to no issue in endearing himself to the droid. It could prove a valuable ally in the future, if it managed to avoid destruction in whatever scheme it was cooking up. Goodness knows he could sympathize with wanting to eviscerate a former superior. Gerion took the dataspike from the droid, using his other hand to open a drawer in his desk to keep it in.

"In the meantime," He continued, dropping the dataspike into the drawer and closing it. "I will commission the development of the droid and keep you posted on its progress. You will receive updates and, as you are the benefactor of this model, you will have the final say in its development and features. Is there anything in particular you would like to see in the droid, programming or physical, as of right now?"

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum thought for a moment. He needed more than soldiers. To think that one needed only warriors to solve an issue was a mistake, one that organics tended to make, and one that he intended not to make. In order to solve a problem one had to be able to talk coherently with the opposition. In this case, he would at some point need droids that were his voice to the organics, droids that could speak and be understood. He would need workers to collect resources and produce the machines that would replace himself and the current generation of droids. He couldn't rely fully on organics, they were proven to be inconsistent and often very dangerous allies.

He knew one thing that was important, the programming. Upon his creation, the scientists had given him the unique capability to override other droid's programming with a less complex version of his own. The droids would become controlled by him and would work towards whatever goals he had at the time. Under most circumstances it would take him almost a minute to program a droid that didn't have a current program and five for ones that had a full program. If he had his program uploaded as part of the manufacturing process, well that would cut time and allow him to continue working.

"At this point, my only concern is the programming. I have a program that I would like to have as the main program in the droids, it can be optimized for specific tasks if that will help. Is that alright?" He pulled out another dataspike, this one glowing a dark red slightly, it was actually just connected to the HoloNet, via which his hidden program would transfer the data onto the spike to be read and used as needed.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ultimatum"]

Readily provided programming? That was incredible. It would shave a great deal of time and cost off of the project. Which was largely beneficial to Gerion, seeing as the price was already negotiated before this. Still, perhaps he would extend the amount of droids produced in the initial run to make up for this, if only slightly. Gerion had a reputation to maintain here, even though relatively few people would put stock into whatever customer service review Ultimatum gave. Judging from the droid's preparedness and necessity for combat droids, however, Gerion was willing to guess that Ultimatum had more important things to concern himself with.

Gerion gingerly accepted the ominous-looking dataspike, half-expecting it to detonate and disintegrate all organic material in the room. It never happened, and soon enough it joined the previous dataspike in the same desk drawer. "This is perfectly within our means. Will there be anything else?"

 

[Ultimatum]

"Thank you, but no. As long as the droids have this program, I have no problems with the rest of the construction. Is there anything else you would like to know, or I should be told of?" He was pleased with the result, the sudden change in standing was not prepared for, however Ultimatum was not complaining that the man now appeared to be more willing to cooperate. He guessed that [member="Gerion Ardik"] disliked criminals about as much, if not more, than Ultimatum himself did. The man appeared to be quite intelligent, maybe in the future Ultimatum could explain his purpose to the man. Not now of course, he doubted that any organic would immediately see the truth behind his belief, and they would probably react violently, he wasn't certain.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ultimatum"]

The Umbaran gave a final nod. It was about time to wrap things up, then.

"I believe that about covers it. Again, we'll keep you updated on the development status. I suspect the contact details you provided to us in scheduling your appointment will be sufficient to reach you again." Gerion held his hand out towards Ultimatum for a hand-shake. It was an important gesture, he found. To neglect it would make for an awkward ending to the proceedings. "It has been a pleasure doing business with you."

More recently, Gerion had taken a keener interest in learning the exact inner workings of droids. He had a rough idea of how they worked (his position required as much of him), but now he was looking to take a more hands-on approach in their design and production. He supposed that this line of droids intended solely for Ultimatum would be a novel enough start.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum shook the organic's hand tentatively, saying, "Yes, and thank you. I hope in the future that more business may be accomplished."

He meant that in all seriousness, he had plans for the future. For the immediate future he intended on simply working alongside organics, getting to learn thought processes and quirks. He was thankful that this organic had not been against him, some organics had been in the past.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]