Dominion Nanotripping | Darkwire Dominion of Parcellus Minor

[Mir Nehrahn]

Location: Parcellus Minor
Objective: 2 "Rampant Chaos" - a.k.a. Try and solve this ... whatever this is
Accompanied by: Kur Brile, Duros male and Stannon, Tynnan male
Tags for others on same objective: Ruby Jaxx | Xandyr Carrick | Malicar | Queen Popara | and a little bit of Cassus Akovin

Nanites were incredibly effective little machines. Nanoscopic pieces of technology were given very specific tasks to carry out. And like a machine, the tasks get carried out with an efficiency only hindered by programmed parameters.

zzzZap!

"Mir? You alright in there?" a nasally voice called out from the other room.

The inherent problem with machines was always the result of an error on the part of the programmer. Because nanites could be programmed to do nearly anything, and because they were too small to interact with physically, the risk involved with using them was incredibly high. Additionally, thanks to their efficiency and their size, if a proper off-switch wasn't given as a limit, the nanites would continue performing whatever task assigned at an infinite scale.

"What in the galaxy!? Mir! What are you doing!?" The same nasally voice shouted from the doorway. A set of feet hit the ground hard and in quick succession, gradually approaching.

The only way to assuredly turn off a machine was to remove its power source.

For a time, Mir wasn't. He wasn't aware how long his state of "not" lasted. While he was "not," he wasn't aware of anything at all. Maybe

"..r... .ir.. Mir!" Eventually, a state of "is" started to filter back in. "Mir. Talk to me, buddy. Say something you crazy bastard." A middle-aged Duros stood in front of him, obvious concern evident on his face.

"I'm alright," Mir croaked out in Basic, his broken ability to speak the foreign language was particularly evident as he recovered from his self-operated procedure.

"What the hell is all this?" Kur, his friend, had not been inflicted by the nanovirus as Mir had. Neither had Stannon. Their immunity had given Mir some ideas, however, performing any kind of study was next to impossible when he was constantly being interrupted by how the symptoms of the virus presented through Mir's physiology.

"I turned the nanites off," Mir croaked again. <Could you free my hands? I can get out of the rest.>

Kur did as asked, releasing the straps that held Mir down to the chair within which he had trapped himself to prevent his body from spasming unexpectedly during the procedure. "And how did you do that?" Kur stepped away, looking over the makeshift supports and restraints that held Mir in place, as well as the massive needle inserted into the back of Mir's skull.

<I discovered that the nanites were powered by the electrical signal that is exerted within the brain. Once removed, they reverted to an inert state and remained inert even when exposed to electrical signals of the same strength. So I momentarily interrupted the electrical signal in the portion of my brain the nanites are programmed to target." Mir touched a button and the needle inserted into his brain retracted. He released the brackets holding his head and neck in place and then woozily stood. Kur reached out to support him but Mir waved the Duros off, waiting to test his hypothesis.

No dancing. Finally.

Kur crossed his arms, piecing through what Mir had told him. "So... you gave yourself a stroke?" Mir just nodded as he continued to wait for more outbreaks or signs that the nanovirus was still active. "Mir... Thousands of people have been infected by this... thing. You can't give thousands of people a stroke! You're lucky to have made it without lasting damage yourself."

<I was very precise. But you are correct. Giving that many people an electrical impulse to their brain would not be practical. We will have to find another way.>

As he was collapsing his medical equipment and Kur was looking at the Ithorian scientist with more concern than usual, a chime came through on Kur's datapad. The Duros took the handheld out of his pocket and read over whatever message was there. [color#4c8099]"Apparently a few things are happening. A Hutt says they have a cure. And those Darkwire guys are saying something about a... Atmospheric Control Unit? Is that helpful?"[/color]

<Of course. It's always the simplest solution.> He looked at his friend. <Come. Get Stannon. There's work to be done.>

 

[Daiya]

Location: Elsewhere on Denon (Virtual Reality)
Objective: Paper Flowers
Allies Nearby: No One Alone
Allies: Chloe Santhe Gray Venasir Rika Ursula Vizla Siala Vash Brie Jaxx Cassus Akovin Toph Graystone

[Post Soundtrack: Dream On by Joseph William Morgan]​

Fractures all around her.

Like cracks in the pavement, spidering out to reach everything.

There had been little things. A strange name, someone dressed wrong, her brother acting oddly. Simple to rationalize. Easy to ignore.

But then there were the impossibilities. A street that didn't belong, knowing a person she'd never met, and coming face to face with a wrong version of her boyfriend!

She fell to her knees, despair swallowing her strength. A sharp pain began behind her eyes, spreading across her head. She put a hand to her forehead, as if that alone would buoy her against the coming storm.

The world was crumbling all around her and she was helpless to stop it. Helpless to save it. Helpless to even help herself.

-

--

---

FLASH

-

An unassuming building, square and squat in the middle of a fledgling industrial zone. Smoke billowed from its neighbors, yet it alone sat quiet, as if waiting for someone. A facade over the pulsing malevolence radiating from its essence, much like the modest branding on its exterior. ATMOSPHERE CONTROL UNIT #1.

-

--

Helpless to stop it.

--

---

FLASH

-

A dark figure glowered, a pale visage hidden in shadow, a pair dark glasses where eyes should be. The glow of lights ebbed and flowed around him, offering him the information he so desired. An expression of pleasured dissatisfaction etched over his face, bathed in the crimson hue of insatiable greed. He laughed.

-

--

Helpless to save it.

--

---

FLASH

-

A giant Wookiee towered over her, his hostile fur bristling, his meaty paws raised over her prone form. Figures darted too and fro, never daring to challenge him, never willing to risk his wrath. He roared, heedless of everything else. A violent, lornful roar, directed down at her defenseless form.

-

--

Helpless to even help herself.

--

---

The visions washed across her, coming in like the tides. Uncompromising against her pain, uninterested in her fear. They only revealed, that was their goal. The pain and fear was hers alone. Hers to contend with. Hers to suffer.

No, she was Eiko's lieutenant. She ran this area. This was her town, her people, her mess, whatever it was. She could do this. She wasn't alone, she wasn't weak, she wasn't scared!

She stumbled to her feet, the world unsteady beneath her. It seemed to shift with each foot she planted, a labyrinth in which she was the marble. She barely noticed, focused only on one thought. One goal. One door.

With the last ounce of her strength, Daiya burst through the door, falling to a heap upon its threshold. Her chest labored to breathe, air coming in sharp gasps at first. As if her whole life had been lived underwater, and she was surfacing for the first time. The teen took a few moments to steady herself, finding the will to sit up at last.

Surveying the room, the girl's eyes alighted at the figures dotting the dingy bar as recognition flooded her brain. It lit a fire she had forgotten was there, burning out the shadows of what had seeped in to take its place. Her breathing came easier now, and she could feel some strength returning. Enough for her to stand, and at last, enough for her to speak.

"Stars!" Daiya exclaimed, glancing over each of them. There was one or two people she didn't know, but that didn't matter now. Now she had the certainty and relief that came with her restored identity. She grinned at them, "You have no idea how good it is to see you all again."

At the moment, even Cassus qualified.

Her expression turned dark as she spotted a familiar figure seated next to her bounty hunter frenemy. Daiya narrowed her eyes, pointing his way as she announced, "Especially given all the trouble he has caused today."

 

[Siala Vash]

Objective: Paper Flowers ( Rika | Cassus Akovin | Daiya | Toph Graystone | Chloe Santhe | Gray Venasir | Brie Jaxx )
Location: ??? (Bar on Nar Shaddaa)
With: All the barflies

To her relief, Jorj was real—and he was there to offer a helping hand. Siala took hold of his palm and got up. She swayed for a moment before the ground beneath her feet felt solid again. She followed Jorj's gaze towards a pair seated at the bar. They hadn't been there before, had they?

She rubbed her eyes and smeared her charcoal eye-liner. Raccoon eyes weren't all that attractive, but she made it work. Leaning on the bar top, she glared at the old man.

“Helping,” she muttered, unconvinced.

As more people popped into existence inside the bar, she wasn't quite sure what to think. And a young blonde girl strode over, she seemed to know the other man seated down the bar. The scene before her blurred and shifted, and her head started to hurt. Reaching up to touch her temple, she blinked, and the pain was gone.

The strange fog that filled her mind before was fading, too.

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

Objective 2: Rampant Chaos

Allies: Mir Nehrahn | Xandyr Carrick | Malicar | Queen Popara | Cassus Akovin

Ruby exited the bedroom, where Cassus Akovin still lay covered in a handmade quilt. She looked to the woman, his temporary care-taker and shrugged. “Uh, thanks for looking after him,” she said, just to be polite. There weren't many strangers in the galaxy with that big of a heart. Hell, she didn't have one like that... she'd probably have left him on the sidewalk with the others. “We'll... make sure he gets picked up... or something.”

With that, she turned and went down the hallway towards the front door. Dash was on her heels, though she hadn't said anything about taking him with her. Pulling out her datapad again, she gave it a quick look. “ACU,” she muttered, looking at a map. How convenient, she wasn't all that far.

“This way,” she said, nodding – and took off running.

Down the maze of alleys, skidding around corners, they made it to the atmosphere control unit. There were some maintenance personnel nearby, passed out on the ground. Well, she was here... now what? Too bad that guy hadn't let some more instructions slip before he went back to sleep or whatever. Careful steps brought Ruby up to one panel, and she removed the cover to expose its inner-workings.

“Do you know what you're doing?” Dash asked.

“Nope.”

And it was the truth. Ruby was just looking for clues, really. But maybe, if she pressed some random buttons on the control panel over there, that'd do something helpful...

 

[Cassus Akovin]

OBJECTIVE 1: PAPER FLOWERS
LOCATION: THE MIND (NAR-SHADDAA BAR)
THE AFFLICTED: Daiya , Toph Graystone , Chloe Santhe , Gray Venasir , Rika , Ursula Vizla , Siala Vash
THE ABLE-BODIED: Malicar , Mir Nehrahn , Ruby Jaxx , anyone else I missed

​

Cassus looked over to see the couple, Rika and Siala Vash, and began to despair. These were two he didn't know, how was he supposed to bring their memory to the fore? Furthermore, the boy had no idea why this man wanted them to remember. After all, wasn't he the one responsible for all this?

"Why?" Was all Cassus could get out before the world tremored at the arrival of Daiya . For a moment his heart palpitated, as he knew that she was one he could certainly bring to memory, but by the time she opened her mouth, he knew she had already begun to remember as he had. That's when he realized the shaded bald man was already across the room, lending a hand to the woman who had fallen.

Then, he chuckled in response to Daiya, and a touch of dread filled Cassus.

"Now now, flattery isn't going to get you anywhere young Daiya T'aemin," The man smiled in a grandfatherly way, "Believe it or not, I've yanked you all from your dreams for a way out." The fruity drink he had in his hand before wasn't there when he was helping up Siala, but by the time he finished his sentence, he was bringing it up again to his lips.

"You brought us here, why take us out now?" Cassus interjected.

"Oh no, I'm not going to take you out. Not unless you agree to my terms and conditions," The well-dressed man smiled as if amused by a joke he just told that no one else got. "If you haven't noticed, the people coming here are prominent members of your Darkwire network, and through this little 'escapade', I have single handily collected all the pertinent information I could ever want on all of you criminals. The Direx Board will be pleased when I present it to them... unless you're willing to cooperate." Suddenly, the man's appearance and his association began to fit together in Cassus's mind. He hadn't noticed it before, not having seen any images of the man until now, but once he knew he couldn't help but say the name.

"Larz Blackheart?"

"In the flesh!" Larz turned and pointed at the boy with an ever arrogant smile, then his hand sort of waved away as he said, "In a manner of speaking. Bartender?" Blackheart called for the only person in here who wasn't real, and his body seemed to already be sitting at one of the bench stools.

"Pour my associates here a few glasses, the special brew, my favorite." The bartender must have replied with something, but no sooner had its mouth opened before a fully poured glass was waiting for them all beside Larz Blackheart.

 

[Gray Venasir]

Objective: Paper Flowers
Location: ??? (Denon, bar on Nar Shaddaa)
Tags: Brie Jaxx | Rika | Daiya | Cassus Akovin | Siala Vash | Toph Graystone | Chloe Santhe | Ursula Vizla

"No, sorry, you must have just reminded me of someone I know" Honestly, Gray had no idea why he thought he knew this young girl. It was just a thought that popped into his head, then suddenly disappeared.

"Denon, you say. Yes, it looks like Denon." Gray had only been on Denon a few times, all of them recently. "Wait, I've never been on Denon before," he said scepticaly. He was sure he hadn't been there, yet he remembered the place. A distant memory.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Brie. I know we don't know each other, at least I think, but we need to get out of here." Gray turned around, and suddenly, his head erupted in dizzyness and pain. His eyes shot close, as he bent over and put his hands on his head. And just as suddenly as it had come, it dissapeared again.

And as if on cue, when he opened his eyes, he was no longer on Denon. Instead, Gray found himself in a bar. He looked around, seeing the faces of many people. Some of them seemed to be talking with a bold man. This place had the same strange feeling like Denon, and Balmorra had had. Yet, somehow, it was different.

Then the lights were turned on in Gray's head, and he knew what was so strange about this place. He could think clearly again. His head had felt either floaty or in chaos earlier, but here it was more clear. And his memories were beginning to come back.

"Daiya, is that you?" he asked as he recognized the young girl's face. "Cassus?" The person speaking directly to the bold man resembled the man he had met when they were planing a heist. None of the others there seemed familiar, though. Perhaps Gray did know them, perhaps not. Only his most recent memories had returned. That included those he had of earlier this day, on Balmorra with his family, and Nar Shaddaa where he had met...

"Wait, where's Brie?"

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Location: Streets, Middle City, Denon. The Mind, bar on Nar-Shaddaa (Virtual Reality)
Objective: Paper Flowers
Tags: Daiya Cassus Akovin Siala Vash Ruby Jaxx Gray Venasir Queen Popara Chloe Santhe

''Out of... where?''

It was a just question. Where were... where? More and more it started to feel like it wasn't a dream, but rather something more elusive and cruel.

The man was not allowed to answer her, as he suddenly was struck by what looked like an immense headache. Brie tried to approach him carefully but as suddenly he was struck by the pain, he was gone in a mysterious flash. She had to blink both once and twice to believe her eyes. When she looked around, the street and people was the same but literally no one moved a muscle in response to the human being suddenly vanishing in thin air. It was like they haven't seen it! Was she the only one that had seen him, talked to him and seen him disappear?

Then, right above and between her eyes, she was struck by the pain. It was sharp and nagging like nothing she had ever felt before. Not when she had forgot to check the couplings to the oxygen tube of her suit on toxic planets. Never.

The cigarra smoke laid like a mist in the small and dingy bar. She were sitting in a worn out booth with deep red leather upholstery. Her rucksack was gone and when she looked down, her attire was... rather different. A pair of black denim trousers with rips across the knees, a dirt spot here and there looking like they had been used before. She had the same navy/white horizontally striped top, though, but with a heavy black swoop biker leather jacket on top of it. It was a size or two too big, also.

With a swift move, she grabbed the glass that sat in front of her on the table, and took a quick drink out of it. It was so strong! The distaste was imminent with her and she made a grimace, but before setting it down she saw her face in the glass. Her eyes was painted with black eyeshadow. She had the same blonde hair but it looked more ragged than usual. Was she even herself, still?

Setting the glass down on the table, she spotted another item beside it. Something that got her to exclaim in chock and jump out of the booth and over the lap of a male zabrak boy. It was a karking death stick!

She landed on the floor below the zabrak who just looked surprised upon her.

''What the kark is wrong with you, Brie!?'' he hissed, before grabbing the death stick and put it inside his jacket.

''I... Uh... Uh... Nothing!'' she said, and stumbled to her feet, watching herself to not bump into a patron that passed by their booth. ''I... I-I just got to go to the toilet... I'll be right back.'' she continued, looking all lost from the sudden change of setting.

With that, she left the zabrak and took herself to the bar, to ask for directions where the toilet was.

 

[Mir Nehrahn]

Location: Parcellus Minor
Objective: 2 "Rampant Chaos" - a.k.a. The simplest solutions can solve the most complex problems
Accompanied by: Kur Brile, Duros male and Stannon, Tynnan male
Tags for others on same objective: Ruby Jaxx | Xandyr Carrick | Malicar | Queen Popara | and a little bit of Cassus Akovin

wwwwWWWWHRRSHhhhhhh!

A speeder pulled up to an obvious maintenance building with headache-inducing deceleration. Mir's cranium was already experiencing increased swelling and inflammation due to his self-conducted surgery. Kur had abruptly accelerated and decelerated around turns and buildings and sprawled pedestrians in various states of distress and paralysis in order to get them to their destination as fast as possible. Under normal circumstances, such a method would have been optimal. However, considering the Ithorian's condition, perhaps Mir should have told the Duros to fly a little more casual.

The trio of nonhumans exited the speeder, and Mir found himself bracing the vehicle for a moment as he got to his feet and gained his proper vertical orientation. Bile rose in his throat but he shoved the potential uptake back down with a heavy swallow.

"You ok, Mir?" Stannon asked. The diminutive Tynnan was looking at the Ithorian with a look of concern and sympathy. The technician had better bedside manner than the scientist. But then that was why Mir had become a researcher and not a practicing physician. The two shared an aversion for people though, and Mir could tell the Tynnan was not thrilled at having to work on the atmosphere control unit. Mir imagined that some of Stannon's worry came from the hope that Mir would be able to accompany them as a shield for any other beings they might encounter.

"Fine," Mir grated out. He pushed himself off the speeder and the three made their way inside.

There was already a woman at the console when they reached the control unit. Mir was having trouble focusing but she seemed to be pushing buttons with little regard. Despite that, she seemed like she was trying to be helpful and the unknowing technicians around her.

Stannon hesitated and his small snout twitched, nerves rising from the unknown people around him. Kur put a comforting hand on the shorter being's shoulder. "Come on, buddy. You know what to do."

The Tynnan nodded, building a little confidence from the reinforcement of his friend. Then he started chittering to himself out loud, remembering what Mir had told them on the flight over. "Right. Yes. Of course. I know what to do. Yes. It's all about electricity. I know electricity. I work on electronics all the time! Excuse me," he said to the lady operating the controls. And then, opening up a panel beneath. "Electricity is the thing that makes machines work. Machines are in people's heads. Need to negate the power of the machines. First we bypass this limiter here. Then," he climbed up from the panel and looked up to the console. He rose to his tip-toes to operate the human-sized console.

"Wow, You must be a natural, lady!" Stannon said to the woman. His genuine enthusiasm and his task-based thinking helped to override his anxiety. "You got almost all of the settings already in place." He flipped a few more switches and then

For a moment nothing. And then the air seemed to hum. "Flood the air with ionized particles. Normally used for controlling electrical storms, either dissipating or attracting depending on general need, the ionized particles will attract themselves to people naturally. Feels a little humid. With enough volume, they should disrupt the nanites in people's heads enough for them to switch off."

"Will that, well, fix people?" Kur asked, still trying to follow along. Both Stannon and Kur looked to Mir.

Mir nodded slowly to prevent any potential vertigo. <The ionization will break down the nanite bonds. That should render them inert.> Mir sung-spoke in Ithorian.

"Should render them inert?"

Mir shrugged. <We still don't know how they acted in such a way in the first place. Or what their intent is. Hopefully they won't need anything more than an off switch.>

 

[Rika]

Location: A dream inside a bar inside a virtual reality inside his head
Objective: Paper Flowers
In the Vicinity: Siala Vash | Cassus Akovin | Daiya | Toph Graystone | Chloe Santhe | Gray Venasir | Brie Jaxx | Ursula Vizla

Jorj listened to the man in dark-glasses go on and on with the helmeted being at the bar. Things Jorj didn't understand. Darkwire? The Direx Board? He could piece together names as they referred to each other directly, but the big picture was lost on the Leporine man. He knew who he was. Or what he thought he was. His memories were starting to come back, his confusion was starting to fade and the dream was starting to gain context.

That made Jorj hurt. In a different way. He tried hard to remember the face of the man in his mind; the man who could have been his father. But the only thing left was a blur, and even that was beginning to dissolve into nothingness. Everything had been so real, so visceral. And worse, he had wanted those things to be his, he had wanted that life. But knowing that everything was just some strange ploy left Jorj with a sour aftertaste. He wanted nothing to do with this nonsense.

"You can get us out of here?" Jorj asked. He didn't care about the consequences. He didn't care about Darkwire or the Direx Board or whatever game was being played. He just wanted out. He just wanted a drink.

"That depends on what you're willing to do for me." The man held out a half-full glass.

Jorj grabbed the glass and poured the liquid down his throat. And then... nothing happened. He looked up at the man in dark glasses and the man grinned, not out of mirth but as if he had just played some big joke at Jorj's expense.

Moments passed and nothing changed. He was still stuck there in the bar he wasn't even really in. Panic started to set in. He didn't want to go back to a fake life. He didn't want to go back to his own life. He didn't want any...!

His eyes opened. And there he was. Lying down in a puddle of his own drool in a bar on Parcellus Minor. In his usual spot. A small empty bottle of the "next greatest drug trip" in his hand.

And he felt very empty.

 

[Daiya]

Location: A bar on Nar Shaddaa (Virtual Reality)
Objective: Paper Flowers
Allies Nearby: Chloe Santhe Gray Venasir Rika Ursula Vizla Siala Vash Brie Jaxx Cassus Akovin Toph Graystone

[Post Soundtrack: Goodbye by Apparat]​

The voice of Larz Blackheart made her skin crawl when he spoke. That the name came courtesy of Cassus didn't bother her so much, something that surprised the girl. Daiya was just happy to be back on equal footing, with her wits intact again. She hadn't noticed until now just how cold that fantasy had felt, just how lonely. It was apparent to her now in this room, even with the friendly faces, they felt like ghosts to her.

Since when had she started to feel others anyway?

Blackheart's taunting finally came to a close with his triumphant introduction of the drink that materialized before her. She looked at it plaintively, before glaring back at the goading slicer behind the gesture. He was enjoying this theatre far too much for the teen's liking. "Good job, you know my name," she said, ignoring the glass in front of her. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"I think it means more to you, Ms. T'aemin, than you're interested in admitting." Daiya rolled her eyes at the man. He kept using her name, as if it was some to unlock her. She wasn't that easily manipulated! "Did you lose it, like you did your brother Gemyn again? Or are you just trying desperately to hide something from everyone?"

"So you think you know a lot about me, huh? Just because you know about my past?" the girl spat at Larz. So that was all this was, just another adult acting as if they owned her just because they had intel. That was her game to play, she wasn't about to get played by it. "And that's supposed to make me do what you want? Is that what I just went through, some fething recruitment pitch to show off your database of intel?" She glanced at the rest of the patrons in the bar, watching in horror as some of them were mindlessly chugging down the contents of the glasses. "Oh come on people, you're not all seriously buying this drivel!"

"Mmm, looks like their answer is 'yes.'" Larz was right, she knew. He was right, but he didn't have to be so snarky about it. Daiya hadn't liked him before, but now she liked him even less. "So what's it going to be, my little seer? In here, I'm in control, I write the rules. Out there, you have free will...in as much as I allow you from now on." He pushed the drink towards the girl, now frozen in shock at the words dripping from his mouth. "Are you perceptive enough to outwit me at my own game?"

Daiya shuddered as feeling returned to her body. She bit the inside of her lip, trying desperately not to let it show on her face just how much his slimy arrogance pissed her off. This cocky nerf herder didn't deserve to know that much about her. He couldn't know that much, no one could besides her. How could he know about her visions?!

No one but Tawrro and Jairdain. Or maybe Lori and Shenn, too. None of them would have spread her secret, even if they found out. But then, what about her mother? Eiko? Phelaan?! They had nothing to lose by giving up her secrets.

At least out there, she could find the truth.

The girl grimaced, looking at the glass in front of her. The amber-colored liquid looked back at her, reflecting a distorted view of her own visage suspended in the glass. The grotesque image didn't quell the disgust at what she was about to do.

"This doesn't mean you've won," Daiya remarked, taking hold of the glass. She tipped it back against her lips, feeling the warm liquid hit her throat. It spread quickly through her body, the warmth accompanied by a tingling that lingered in her extremities, and burned in her head. The teen tried to grab hold of herself, but there was nothing left to grab.

The last thing she heard in the perverted dream was the slimy voice of Larz Blackheart, taunting her once more. "Actually, my dear, it does."

 

[Cassus Akovin]

OBJECTIVE 1: PAPER FLOWERS
LOCATION: THE MIND (NAR-SHADDAA BAR)

​

Cassus listened to the old man speak, enticing a few of the others to drink. It was clear that Daiya remembered, but it wasn't clear if any of the others did yet. He had said it was his job to wake up the rest, and as he elaborated on their pitiful position, Cassus was stuck in a moment of paralysis on what to do. If he abided by his command, it was clear he expected something in return. If he faltered...

... there wasn't an alternative. He had no choice, he had to do as he said. His mother depended upon him to come back, and to take care of her. There was only one thing he could do to make certain that his dream would come true.

"Yeah, it's me Gray." Cassus replied to his Gray Venasir , " Brie Jaxx probably hasn't remembered yet. This feels like a trap that we have to fall for. If you can remember me, I think it's time you had a drink and get out of here." Cassus then looked over to the one who had been nearest to Rika , though he wasn't sure who she was Siala Vash. It was difficult to meet everyone in a secretive organization.

"Hey you, I uh, I don't recognize you but I'm Cassus. Are you with Darkwire?"

"Good boy Cassus, taking to your task well, I see. Much more cooperative than your girlfriend," Larz Blackheart sneered towards him.

Cassus' face crumpled in - he wasn't sure what to call this emotion, but it was somewhere within the realm of anger, disgust, and embarrassment - as he approached the other woman. Though his face betrayed his true feelings, his body language only exuded the need to be helpful to his fellow victim.

He would find a way to correct this mistake, but for now, there was nothing he could do except to comply...

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Location: The Mind, bar on Nar-Shaddaa (Virtual Reality)
Objective: Paper Flowers
Tags: Daiya Cassus Akovin Siala Vash Ruby Jaxx Gray Venasir Queen Popara Chloe Santhe

More confused as ever in this wild incoherent dream, a mixed bag of hallucinations, Brie bumped into one patron and then another on her way quickly stumbling to find the bar. Someone that could give her directions. Someone who cold tell her where she was. The patrons she passed was either aliens or looked like none you would think of to ask for directions, more like folks that would see a profitable opportunity in a lost boy or girl.

What had happened to her bag, her clothes...?

Would she be able to? Able to find the way home to mom and sis?

Finally, her hands grabbed hold of a bar counter, like a ship that reached its safe haven somewhere in the Outer Rim. Brie pulled a large blonde tuft of hair from her face and rested her arms flatly on top of the counter. The arms of the black leather jacket reached far down to her knuckles, indicating its too large size on her.

She saw a barman further down the right, all busy with pouring up a drink for a patron. She was about to shout at him, something that would probably attract the attention of others and maybe be considered as rude to bother him serving another customer. The initial exhale, the start of an ''Hey!'', left her lungs but was abruptly stopped when her darting gaze spotted someone else, and her eyes grew bigger - the man from the street earlier ( Gray Venasir )!

A spark of hope and relief appeared in her eyes as she left the counter almost as quickly as she had arrived. Her steps was more stable this time, determined to reach someone she knew - or, the closest thing to knew someone at this place. She pushed through the crowd of patrons and popped up from behind a couple of them. He might or might not have seen her coming, either way she hoped he would recognise her despite the all different attire. Of course, she wasn't aware of the eyeshadow yet. She noticed the small group close to him, but right now her focus was on someone familiar.

''G... Gray...? How'd you- Where- Please, tell me you know what's going on!''

Her voice was mixed with the relief of seeing him and still in slight shock from the sudden change, from walking down the streets towards the school, to wake up with a death stick practically in her face.