Plug it in and change the world

[Corey's OOC]

There was a lot to consider here, but Marek felt he was adjusting to the position of Foreman. It came not too long after he brought Haor Chall into the eyes of the Confederacy. And since then? He was doing what he could to make his face known for the Techno Union and the smaller company. He wasn’t exactly the most suave businessman and was depending a lot on others to assist with the business transactions. He was just making sure that everything worked well and was busying himself with being a liason between the companies. That was really what he needed to do.

As for that, he was always making sure his face was out there. Poster boy as it was, and he was always working to test the latest experimental and prototype equipment the collective were producing. Sometimes, all this being in charge meant he was having to go out of his way and take some business trips. Most weren’t bad, and he was used to being on the space lanes.

It’d been a while since he hit Coruscant. But there was a convention for a few companies, and he was looking to see what he could find for a few new droid technology business agreements. Really, if he could find another partner to help with Arakyd, that would go over well too. Walking through the convention after discussing a few odds and ends from someone who recognized who he was, he figured it was time to take a step out into the shop. He figured he could make an appearance here.

He really did like to get to know everything that was going on. Tucking his datapad under his arm, he was making sure to not step in anyone’s way. Dressed up the way he was, he already felt out of place, and being back here? He didn’t have a technology mind the way some people did. But he was a survivor, and that was translating over into business fairly quickly. Observing some of the fighters and airspeeders, he really was hoping to find someone who knew their stuff.

That should be a wanted ad, ‘tech junkie for advisor to Foreman of the Techno Union.'

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

A vacation on Amfar had turned into traveling with her brand-spanking-new friend, which had soon enough (predictably) turned into shopping. It was one thing that she and Token definitely had in common, and to a certain degree even the shops they visited were the same... but the platinum blonde from Cularin had ulterior motives for insisting that they hit Coruscant rather than anywhere else. And it wasn't like Token argued. No matter who held it, Coruscant really had some of the best shopping and there were no two ways about it. That's what you get, being the de facto centre of the universe... err, galaxy.

It was their second day planetside, and the day that Sindy had designated to engage in what to her was the sole true reason for coming here - a technological convention, while Token was off... doing whatever it was she was doing (embarrassing that Sindy was so excited that she forgot!). It was one of her secondary hobbies, keeping on the up-and-up with the latest and greatest, and the sneaky up-and-coming. On more than one occasion she had been right about the potential success of a relatively unknown startup, much to the amazement and later chagrin of her former coworkers at basically (and unintentionally) being shown up by a girl ten, twenty, thirty years their junior, or more. However, she was utterly blind to what they felt. She simply didn't get jealousy, and everything associated with it. At all.

There was another, well, not really a reason for being here, but... it was simply something that couldn't be helped. She spent time perusing the various technologies present, items from the smallest devices, to droids, speeders, and fighters, and... she could feel the 'beating heart' of it all, and see the innermost secrets of each construct before her eyes and sometimes, there would be a way to make it better, that she just... knew. But the freckled young engineer had learned long ago to keep her mouth shut on the matter. Pointing these things out didn't seem to make her any friends, not when the technology was so very new. They always saw her youth, first (for she looked younger than her twenty-one years), and pegged her as an amateur know-it-all, a nosy, cheeky kid. So, she played the part of a normal convention-goer. Asked questions, relevant questions, and displayed vibrant interest, though her eyes and the way she touched things told the real story that these vendors were all too blind to see.

She could pick things apart on her own time. Eventually, she meandered over to the fighters, and singled out a rather sleek, fast-looking one, giving it a walk-around, peeking in the cockpit for several minutes to take stock of the controls, and then looking to the engine compartment... where she found the vendor, or at least an employee of the vendor standing. He smiled, his hands folded behind his back, and she smiled, the blush creeping quite readily up her face as if she had been caught red-handed doing something she shouldn't. It wasn't that, really.

"Can I help you?"

Sindy blinked, a bit at a loss as to what to say, and feeling a little put-on-the spot.

"Um..." Her eyes drifted to the engine compartment, again. Then it came to her. Her eyes snapped back to the man, and she nodded quite fervently. "...yes, yes!"

She folded her hands in front of her and glanced at the engine compartment yet again.

"What can you tell me about how this baby runs?" ... but she really didn't need to ask. She knew already. But he didn't know that she knew, and it was probably best to keep it that way. "What's she got 'under the hood', so to speak?"

And when he explained, she listened with rapt attention. If anything, it was always interesting to listen to the explanations of other people, and compare them with her own understanding.

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

There were so many companies out pushing their wares. As much as Marek was all for having droids do the fighting, he still knew the importance of pilot flown vessels, and could not turn away a sleep looking ship. He loved his own ship, the Mon Cal were very solid at working through their vessels, and he was starting to have some ideas of his own on upgrading that into the ultimate galactic hot rod. He had shown up here with a few trusted Xi Char. They were going to be doing scouting around to get ideas for up-and-coming ships for the Confederacy.

As much as the fighters were attractive, including the one he was looking at, his company was very solid at making their mid-level ships, shuttles, and blastboats. The latter was a decision Marek was making on his own for the company to start breaking into. As much as the MC-15 he was flying now was a wonderful craft, what kind of CEO would he be if he couldn’t fly one the ships his own company put out? And really, they were going to need to do something about their insectoid theme for him to pick one.

He could hear the conversation going on. Sure, he wasn’t going to eaves drop secretly, and he wasn’t really looking for a fighter on this trip, but still, a woman asking about ships? He was Corellian after all, and the feel that he had may be closer to love than he cared to admit. After a little longer of listening, he was starting to understand that the blonde new more than the engineer. And he was just talking to keep the girl around.

One thing he learned from his folks was how to size someone up. Stepping over to the blonde when the other man stepped away, Marek couldn’t help but grin. “So, how much of what he said was complete garbage?” He was trying to keep his body language and tone to show he wasn't meaning to be a threat in any way. This one might be helpful.

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

She could swear, that it wasn't more than a minute or two after she had thanked the man, and he had wandered off to another interested party that there was another voice speaking, pointed in her direction, and it took a great deal of willpower not to jump out of her skin entirely, or to fall flat on her ass when faced with yet another masculine face. The blush that had crept up her face some ten minutes prior was back with a vengeance. He was grinning at her. What did that mean, coming from him? How did he...?

Sindy swallowed, screwing her hands together in a jumble of fingers in front of her thighs... then adjusting the strap of the bag slung across her chest, glancing at the fighter again, then dragging her silvery-blue eyes back to the man in question.

"I..." She cursed inwardly. Where did those words go? She lifted a hand and brushed a wayward strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind an ear. "...I don't think he knew the cockpit from the landing gear, really."

The platinum-blonde engineer coughed and cleared her throat.

"Um... I mean..." Her brow furrowed, as she sought out the words she meant to say. "...he's just a salesman..."

A small smile admitted itself onto her face, only to be followed up by a slight little snigger. Her voice lowered.

"...and not a very good one." She slipped a hand away from her bag strap to stifle the mortification at the words that came from her mouth, looking at this guy again, when it subsided enough. Eye contact, yes... you can do it. Come on, Sindy! "Sorry. That wasn't very nice."

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Did he mean to put her on the spot? Maybe a little bit. It was good to see how people reacted. It was one of those little things that just made the world such a better place, knowing he could get certain reactions out of certain people. Still, it proved one thing, this one knew what she was doing. The ones that were the fast talkers hardly knew their stuff. Until you found the subject they were careful around. That was what they wanted to get right.

He met her first statement with a ready smile and nodded. Really, this one might know her stuff. And there was something about her. The Force? Maybe . Could be that whole destiny big coming to play here. Not that he was looking for someone to teach, but one thing he was learning in the Templar was to never turn certain things away.

“So, you’re tellin’ me you can tell me more about this ship than he can?” There was almost a challenging tone to his voice. Pointing to the ship he knew nothing about he nodded. “Tell me about this one?” He knew there was one of the Techno Union subsidiaries represented here, and that would be the real test. One piece of technology he did know about. But that would come after.

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

A slight bit of worry entered her features at his first question, and she opened her mouth to answer, but then he asked a second. Okay, put things in sequence of asking, come up with the answers, and... talk. He didn't seem to be in a rush, and did seem to be interested in what she had to say, but... why?

"Well, sort of," she started, absentmindedly fiddling with her hands, glancing at him, then at nothing, then back at him again, her hands moving along to her words. "I kind of just... know, I can see in a way the complexities of how things are wired, how it's all fit together, how it all works, if it's efficient, and so on and so forth. If that makes sense?"

Sindy stared at him for a second or two, then shook her head, waving it off with her hands and putting her fingers to her temples for a moment.

"No, no, of course it doesn't. Sorry, um..." She dropped her hands to her sides and glanced at the aforementioned small vessel, then back at him and up to his face... eyes... no! Forehead! She reached a hand over and touched the small ship. "...you wanted to know about this one?"

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Well, he didn’t want to put her on the spot, exactly. But he still wanted to see how she would react. It wasn’t that Marek was demanding, but he did like to push everyone’s buttons. And for some, it was easier than others. It wasn’t every day that he found someone who was easy to talk to about all this sort of thing.

At least she was somewhat confident. Had she brushed him off and didn’t actually open up, there was a big chance he’d have continued on his way without discussing with her further. But, this one, she might actually be some sort of Force user? That would be interesting, a tech Forcer. Imagine that in the Techno Union. He grinned, nodding at her. “More than you’ll know.”

“Yeah! What can ya tell me on ‘er?”

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

Keeping her hand on the little vessel, she could intuit all the inner workings of this vessel, from the engines to the controls, the computer, how all the wires ran... the list, it went on and on.

"She should be fast, but there's nothing terribly spectacular about her energy regulation systems - could be better prioritized," she began, her brow knit as if she was concentrating hard. She wasn't... but it was more for focus. She shook her head. "But with how many things could draw on her power - what is that even doing on a ship of this size? It feels like some sort of poor attempt or fakeout of a 'miniature' gravity well generator, maybe? I don't know who they think they're going to fool with that! - Oh... excuse me, sidetracking! It happens! Well, there is the potential for critical burnout. I think, maybe, that they're trying to please too many people at once with this model, and will probably end up angering or disappointing them all."

She shook her head and tsked again, removing her hand from its surface, sighing. "At least it looks nice."

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

He was almost being instinctive with the Force at this point. He knew he was learning a lot, and he was on his way up the ranks among the Templar. But for now, he was making an observation and feeling the way this woman worked.

While watching her, he took his datapad out and loaded up the files he had on these ships. Pulling up the fighter she was talking about, and the notes his Xi Char escorts provided to him, he was pleasantly pleased. Sure, she might’ve spoken to someone about the ship, but that didn’t make this any less of a feat. “Some builders do that, sadly.” He said, about her comment to make everyone happy. At least he didn’t need to worry that way.

Shaking his head, and letting a grin cross his face, he let out a dry laugh. “They’ll sell to someone, I’m sure.” He nodded off to the side. “I’ve got another one I want you to look at.” The Techno Union was starting to work on their collaborations, and one of them was a Haor Chall and Arakyd joint program. A droid scout ship. It was still experimental, but it would move from droid controlled to organically flown. It was something tricky, and really not a pretty ship. Haor Chall wasn’t a fan of making things that looked nice. Perhaps Arakyd should’ve built her frame.

“How about her.” He nodded forward at the ship.

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

Yes, some builders did that, and quite frankly, she could never understand why. It was practically like sabotaging yourself. Most people would agree that it was some misguided notion for the sake of greed, but greed was another thing she couldn't possibly internalise.

"They always do." She said of his comment about selling, following his direction with a slight tentativeness towards another vessel. It occurred to her now that he was interested in her opinion, and possibly what she could do that formed that opinion. The fact that this was more on the side of professional curiosity put her a little more at ease, and when he pointed out the next small ship he wanted her to look at with a short nod of his head, she moved towards it, slightly unsettled by the lack of aesthetic draw this one had, glancing over her shoulder at the man, then back at the machine. Well, she could get over it. After all, the outer shell was purely to draw the eye, but the guts were what mattered in the end. She took another step, then another towards it, reached out a hand, and gingerly laid that hand on the chosen vessel, as if it were delicate.

And on touch, the details that by pure proximity she could feel, became clearer.

"Dual... flight control systems. Interesting. Organic and... and mechanical?" Sindy glanced over her shoulder at the man, but he just smiled, and she looked back to the admittedly ugly thing, sorting through more of the detail. "That's a bit tricky, but certainly a wider application, definitely useful, the side-by-side, them working together, seems like it'd work fine... though I can see there might be a maybe-small issue with the switch-off between them when they work independently. Some sort of... feedback, potentially, the way it's put together? No, feedback isn't the right word, but... anyway... It's still fairly cleanly wired, though and not heavy on the armaments, but... the sensor package is a dead giveaway for a scout vessel. But there's some capabilities on that I haven't seen bundled together before, or are rare or... well, new-looking. Engines are none-too-impressive, just your... get in and get out kind of deal."

She slipped her hand off of it, and half-turned towards the man, a modest smile on her face as she rubbed her hand on her trousers.

"It's ugly, but interesting. A little bold, but, it feels... unfinished, somehow. And I don't mean the looks. But even if I had meant the looks, it's not market-ready, regardless. Promising, though. Experimental prototype?"

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

See, now this girl he could start to appreciate. She had a good sense of humor about herself and everything just seemed to click right now. Some people had the tendency to get on Marek’s nerves pretty quickly. Maybe he was getting stagnant being less of a vagrant and having a place to call home, or there was something else going on. He wouldn’t really know. Still, it was nice to know that she wasn’t going to bother him. Watching her, he was nodding.

She seemed to have some sort of psychometry skill, or mechu-deru? Wow, he was really reading and absorbing a lot of information from those holocrons. The new ship was definitely going to be seen as a heretic idea, and he really wasn’t sure it would go to production. Really, the Vong allowing this was probably a bad idea. They probably weren’t even going to run this, and it was actually hidden back and away. He would need to see what could happen. Perhaps the ship would be able to be modified to support a complete automated crew as well as sentient beings. He was going to need to figure that out.

Still, she was nailing it all. “What's your name, anyhow?”

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

She turned the rest of the way around, and slipped her hands into her pockets. The next question he asked made her feel like they'd just done everything backwards. A light pinkness filled in her cheeks, and she curled her fingers in her pockets. Sindy blinked, them a smile crept up on her lips, and she answered the question. This one appeared to be all business. That she could deal with.

"Siyndacha Aerin... but Sindy will suffice," she said. She never gave her full name. Never so blatantly linked herself out loud with her father's side of the family. It tended to change how people thought of her, and she learned not to do it a long time ago. "Who's asking?"

The way he dressed kind-of made her think of her eldest cousin, though she could see the distinct difference in the design. She knew a surprising bit about clothes for one who lived in grease jumpers most of the time. At any rate, nice, tidy-looking people were always easier to look at.

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Well, maybe it was Marek who was doing things backwards. He was still really impressed by this girl, but asking a name before if he knew she’d be useful? That was something pretty tricky. And he didn’t want to take that much of a person, until he knew that they were useful. Names were power, or at least that was what he was lead to believe. Nodding at her, he smiled.

“Name’s Starchaer. Marek, part of the Confederacy and a member of the Techno Union.” By member, he really meant leader, but who was splitting hairs here? Not him. But he’d get to that later. “Just enjoying the expo here, really.” Looking at her, he smiled. Girl was cute, but there was a lot ore to her, after all.

Enjoying and avoiding the right people. “So, Miss Aerin, what is it that you do?” This was going to be the big question.

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

So, Marek Starchaser. It sounded like a good name, if she didn't get too literal about it, and it was a good sight better than calling him 'hey, you.' As for the Confederacy, she had no opinion... but the Techno Union? Not quite 'hook, line, and sinker', but it grabbed her interest enough to sharpen her focus on the conversation she was now having with the no-longer-nameless man.

"I always enjoy these tech expos. I like to keep up with things," she admitted, in full honesty. It was the basic jist of her point in coming, but it was less simple than she let on. She had a very good feeling that he was on to that, however. "Be on the 'up-and-up', as the saying goes."

It was always so much easier to talk about what she knew best. This wasn't small talk, per se, so it was all good. When he asked what it was she did, she very nearly answered in the next beat, but caught her tongue. No, she'd quit that job. It was the very reason why she'd been on Amfar, why she had met Token, and in turn ended up here.

"I'm an engineer, Mister Starchaser," Sindy said, quite plainly. "And much as no-one around here would dare believe it, an educated one."

Not just some glorified mechanic, no. No siree. Faintly, some of what she felt from leaving the firm, why she left it, carried through in the undertone of her voice when she spoke the last half of that sentence. She didn't even harbour any ill-will towards her father for his treatment of her, but the failure of others to see past her age? Yes, she may have been slightly resentful, because of it, and the frustration it brought.

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

He was used to people not remembering his name. Becoming a ‘hey you’ was the least of his worries. Marek knew how to handle the world outside of the confines of most civilized areas. He truthfully didn’t mind what was spoken behind his back, or to his face. Grinning at some change in her mind at the mention of the Techno Union, he let her continue. It would be rude to interrupt, after all.​

Smiling at her, he nodded. Tech expos were a fun way to see what the competition was doing, and to see where the trends were focusing. Having the funding and skills of the Union companies behind him allowed Marek to almost sneak past what others were doing, and assemble something quicker, and stronger.

“I wasn’t doubting your education, miss. Though, you do have a knack for this type of thing.” He nodded to her. “So, are you working currently?” That would decide the invite. If he could nab someone who had a knack like this for the Techno Union, that would go a long way.

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

To hear that he didn't doubt all the work she had put into getting where she was in life was relief. That he was talking about her ability without explicitly stating it in terms of what it was made this all the more interesting, of course. Could it be that he was...? The thought was intriguing, moreso than the thought of merely showing up on the doorstep of the Jedi. Sure, that was something she wanted for herself, but she also didn't want everything else to go to waste. She loved her Papa, and even he understood that the Jedi were not always the best answer. Wise thoughts from a man who had been one, himself.

"Working?" She repeated, blinking, and coming out of her most recent stint of thought. Sindy glanced at the man. Well, out with it, already! "No. I am very recently unemployed."

Both she and Token knew how much that really mattered when you took it down to the nuts and bolts. But it was more than that.

"My own doing." She admitted. "The situation was not sustainable."

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek knew what it was like to be hiding. It was part of what his father taught him, and part of what he learned from the Zeison Sha, those of the discblade. The best defense was secrecy, and that was why Marek would never dress as a traditional Force user unless he was in combat, even then, he wanted to make his own style of armor, but most likely he wouldn’t. If they could start some of the droid programs, that would be a good way to start it out. He wanted to make sure he could do everything in his power to protect life. Some dark sider, huh?

He assumed she knew what she was, he didn’t need to speak it. Following up her response with a nod, he grinned. “Is this something you want to fix?” Because, hell, he could give a technomancer a job.

He didn’t want to touch the reason she left, that was her own and probably personal. Looking around the room. “So, have you ever made it out to Confederate space?”

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

Was it something she wanted to fix? In a way - the fact of the matter was that as nice as freedom was supposed to be, it did not hold to any routine, and it was stagnant to the flow of the rest of her life. So...

"Yes," she replied. "It is."

That is to say, the unpredictability of not having an at least somewhat dependable schedule latched onto her nerves in a way that was getting intolerable, fast, no matter how much she had come to depend on Token's companionship as a sort-of anchor for her sanity. His next question was something she needed to think about. Confederate space?

"Druckenwell - once. The trip was congruent to my interests," she said. "I'm from Cularin, if you're aware of it. A border world nearby to the Confederacy in Republic space... but my father's family is from Brentaal IV, so I spent a lot of time out that way, growing up."

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek could understand freedom. Being a Templar and the Foreman, he wanted to do what he could to assist the Confederacy, but he still longed for the times when he could pack up his shuttle and just go. Until the end of the map, and the end of that map did too. He’d be able to do that when everything calmed down and he got into his swing, and he was working on learning more.

Until then, he was going to work.

Just like Ms. Aerin here, who wanted to change her life up. Some people liked having a job, liked having people around. Marek, though, he could take or leave that life style. For him, freedom and travel were one in the same, and he didn’t normally put roots down, just took the world where it brought him.

“Druckenwell, they’ve got one of our shipyards. If you feel the need to make a trip to the Confederacy space, and end up on Roon or Kothlis, I think I could find a job for you. If you wanted…” He let his last statement trail off. From there he hoped to peak her interest a little more.

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

A job? She wasn't looking for one, per se, but at the same time, she wasn't not looking for one. She was interested in where such a decision might take her, and what it would mean, but she wasn't sat with thinking only about herself anymore. She would have to think about it, and talk to Token. Even if Token seemed pretty laissez-faire about most things, it wouldn't be fair or right for Sindy to assume. Not to mention that in doing so she could be making an ass of herself.

"I..." She began. She really did want to just say 'yes'. "...I'll need to think about it. And talk it over with..."

What should she call Token in this instance? Friend? Well, that was true, but it didn't quite line up, here. Part of her wished Token was here right now. It would be easier.

"...with my associate. If that's alright."

@[member="Marek Starchaser"]