Private Reboot

[Shai Maji]

As she lowered her gun, he explained the situation to her while she merely looked on with desperate eyes. Even as he stated and even showed exactly what the issue was, Shai kept trying to figure out what they could do. The mention of Aerith perhaps killing her if the wrong word was said was something that bothered her. It was clear that Aerith was dangerous and even a risk to the Shistavanen, but there was still that naive hope that they could do something.

With teary eyes she looked at the doc then at Aerith. She holstered her gun and moved in beside Aerith, giving her hand a light squeeze as she pondered over their options. Either they just left and she would have to keep an eye on her... or they off her. There was no middle ground. "I don't wanna lose another friend, doc." she muttered as she looked at him.

She thought for several moments then finally looked up at the doc with a determined look. "I'll take my chances with her." she stated as she looked back at Aerith. "Wake her up. I'll take her back to my ship and leave you out of this. What do I owe you?" she spoke with a cold tone as she stepped back from her. She was angry at the doc and perhaps it was irrational, but she wasn't going to let him kill her friend over something that might happen. She would rather take her chances.

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

The man stared at Shai for a long moment, before letting out a sigh. He didn't try to argue the point anymore, there was no reason to. Shai wasn't going to be convinced, and was going to pay the price for it. "Shai, sometimes you need to learn that some people ain't worth holding on to." He finally say, moving to the still comatose Aerith and taking a syringe. He paused as Shai asked about payment, though the look in his eyes could have very well be his answer. "Nothing. I'm not charging for this. Ain't right with me." He muttered, his tone sounding the faintest bit exasperated. "This'll clear the sedation out of her system, but she might be a bit loopy, so be careful. I'm not sure how she'll react." He advised, taking the IV he had her hooked up to and injecting the substance into the line. The man paused as he held the line, waiting until it got flowing, before looking back to Shai. "Shai, I...don't want to give you false hope, but the only way to undo all this...well..." He groaned, before shoving the scanning device located back in the ceiling. "Figure out who programed her like this. There's a control phrase that'll deactivate the suppression devices, that's all I can advise." Clearly disgusted with what he was doing, the doctor said little else, not even looking Shai in the face as he went to tiding up.

As the substance would flow into Aerith, the doctor would begin removing the lines from her, as the cyborg began to stir. The first thing that came to the mind of the cyborg was confusion. She couldn't remember where she was at first, and she felt drunk, like...extremely drunk. Her vision was blurry, and everything was so bright; what the hell had she gotten into? Sitting up, she began to rise, but she felt heavy. She began to fall forward, before feeling an arm catch her. As her vision cleared, she could see the doctor that had helped her out on Nal Hutta not that long ago, and another face she hadn't seen in some time. "Shai?" She mumbled, her hand holding the side of her head, as things started to come into focus now. Able to stand on her own now, Aerith straightened, rolling her shoulders, which she felt were just...off. Did someone screw with her implants, or was it whatever she was on right now? Looking to the doctor who had helped her out, a look of confusion was evident on her face, as she couldn't figure out why she was here. "Did I break something again? I feel really funny. And not in the good way." She muttered, flexing her fingers, and feeling that there was a delay in her hands.

The doctor seemed upset about something, as he stepped away from the two. "You two take care, I...need to take care of something." The man nimbly slipping out of the room, leaving the pair to their own devices now. "Pft, what's his problem?" Aerith slurred, before stepping closer to the woman. She hadn't seen in her in a while, and after ditching her like she had, well...Aerith wasn't really sure what to really say. "It's been a while Shai. I...honestly didn't expect to see you again. I'm really sorr-" Aerith had gone to clasp the woman on the shoulder, but again, the delay confused her. It was like something was screwing with her neural pathways. Her arm froze in midair, as the cyborg looked puzzled at her arm. "Okay, seriously, what the hell happened to me? I feel like slag right now." She muttered, staggering back and sitting on the chair, as everything just felt wrong. What the hell was I doing before this? Aerith thought to herself, feeling a sense of confusion for how she ended up here.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai looked away as she tried to ignore what the doc said to her. She wasn't going to give up on her friend. She never gave up on those she cared about. Even if going on a one-mutt crusade was her only option of finding out who was responsible for Aerith's messed up memory, she would likely do it. She made a mental not of his advice, though. She was going to follow up with that once they were out of here.

Soon enough Aerith came to again and Shai was right beside her to help her up. "Yeah, it's me. You're alright." she muttered warmly as she smiled brightly. She looked groggy and confused, but Shai wasn't too surprised. "Might just be the sedative messing with your cybernetics." she commented to her question. "Right doc?" she spoke up, glancing at him. But he quickly made his exit before she could even get an answer from him. She smirked at Aerith's comment. With one arm around Aerith's hip she helped her to regain her balance before giving some room.

Her happy smile faded, though, at Aerith's next comment. She looked at her with concern as the woman started to apologize, only to get distracted by her cybernetics. Did she... switch? Shai looked her over as she took hold of her shoulders to keep her facing forward. "You... remember me?" she asked softly as she looked into her eyes. A relieved smile appeared as Shai pulled her in for a tight and affectionate hug. She held her for several seconds before finally letting go to look at her. "First things first, I had to get that out of the way." she admitted with a chuckle. "But Aerith, I got a really serious question that I need you to answer. As best as you can, please." she insisted as she placed both hands on the cyborg's shoulders, giving them a light squeeze.

"After you jumped out of my ship, what happened to you?" she asked her gently, yet with concern in her voice as she looked at her.

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

Aerith looked at Shai as if the woman had grown two heads, what? Yea, of course she remembered her. What kind of stupid question was that. "How could I forget? You saved my rear end on Borosk, or what was left of it." She joked, groaning as she felt a dull pain behind her eyes; was she hang over? Yea, had to be a hangover. Feeling the embrace of Shai, Aerith grunted and patted the woman on the back, not wanting to reject the affection, but not really in the mood to get all touchy feely right now. "Woah, alright, didn't know I was missed that much." She said, grabbing hold of her head as the room got a tad dizzy for a moment. As Shai mentioned having a serious question, Aerith looked the woman in the eyes, trying to figure out what exactly she was about to ask. The sensation of someone setting their hands on her shoulders felt weird to her, something about a display of superiority, and it brought a bit of color to the more fleshy side of the cyborgs face. Then it hit, asking what happened to her once she had left the ship.

If only it was easy to explain.

Aerith's gaze left Shai's looking to the floor for a moment before she could look at the woman again. It was a complicated reason that she had left, but she felt that Shai wasn't asking about that. She wanted to know how she got her probably, and truth be told Aerith wanted to know the same thing. "I...went back to the NIO. I didn't want to get flagged for being AWOL, and I..." She fidgeted, words stumbling over one another, as she tried to find the nicest way to say it. "Just...don't like letting people in, because of my past and all. It's complicated." She trailed off, her hand coming up to rub her brow, as another headache was coming on. "Shai, did you get me drunk or something? My head is really hurting." She muttered, trying to fathom what all she had gone through, and why her memory had such a blank spot in it. "But no, I'm sorry for leaving Shai. I...guess I got nervous that you'd want to actually take me out on that date." She added, letting her hand move aside as she would look the Shistavanen dead on once more.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

She looked at her with concern, but it quickly turned to sadness as Aerith admitted to not liking with when she got too attached to people. She remained quiet, though, as Aerith continued. She gave a soft laugh as the cyborg asked if she had gotten her wasted. "Nah, I wish. I don't even have alcohol on my ship at the moment." she admitted as she gave her a warm smile. Her smile only grew as Aerith mentioned that date they were dodging around the whole time. "Would you run away again if I said I'm still planning on it?" she joked with a wink as she wrapped an arm around her to lead her out. "Come on. I got some pills on the ship that might help with the headache. I'll also explain why you're here." she mentioned as she walked with the woman back to her ship.

Back onboard, she quickly arranged for some pain pills and a glass of water before grabbing a cola for the both of them from the fridge. She sat down next to Aerith and turned to face her as she took a sip from her cola. "Okay. The reason why you're probably feeling drugged up is because of the sedatives the doc gave you. I asked if you could remember anything because I bumped into you on Nar Shaddaa. But... you couldn't remember me. You were looking for Beskar for a mission or something when I bumped into you... and you didn't remember anything. Not me, not Borosk, not the stunt we pulled with the ship... nothing." she explained truthfully, not wanting to keep her friend in the dark. "We came to the doc to try and figure out what was going on with your memory. You... he said..." she stammered a bit as she tried to find the correct wording.

She looked back at Aerith with worry and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Aerith... he said that you got some kind of weird code in you. Like, someone could say a word or phrase and you'll get completely rebooted or something. Completely switch who you are. We think that's why you can't remember me as well as the new look. I think the sedatives switched you back to who you were when you met me." she explained softly and slowly, sliding her arm around her shoulders to give her a comforting hug.

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

Aerith snickered at the question of going on a date once again, knowing she already had an answer for that. "Well, given how you hunted me down to ask, how can I possibly say no?" She responded, taking the woman's arm as she was helped off the chair. Hopefully those pills Shai had mentioned would help with the head pains, but then again she wasn't exactly sure what was in said pills. Throwing Shai a glance, Aerith grinned as she inquired. "Better not be anything in those pills, or I'm going to be mighty grumpy with you." She knew the woman wouldn't do such a thing, her care for the cyborg was evident, though Aerith didn't quite understand why. It seemed Shai knew something Aerith didn't, and if the woman could tell her some reason for why she was here, then she would greatly like to hear the explanation.

The walk back was a bit of an annoyance, with being disoriented and all. It felt like she wasn't in her own body anymore. Needless to say, once they reached Shai's ship, she practically laid down in the booth, holding her aching head as she did; though she jumped to pop the pain pills as they were given to her. Listening to what Shai had to say, the things that the woman was saying was something she was all too familiar with. A deep seated frown crossed her features, as her deeply guarded secret was now know by Shai. What she hadn't expected, was what Shai said at the end. It was then that she realized that her hair wasn't the color she remembered it being. She had always been black haired, who in the hell had made her a blonde? Taking hold of a lock of hair, Aerith gazed at it, her eyes welling with tears as she began to realize what was happening. "I've...had that in me for a long time, even since I was a little girl." She stuttered, moving to sit up as to hide the tears that were about to seep out of her eyes; Shai was nice and all, but crying was...not something she was okay with anyone seeing.

Wincing as the sensation of being lightheaded struck again, Aerith kept her back to Shai, hiding the level of distress that was playing across her face now. "I was a slave on Drommand Kaas, but I was considered 'worthy' by my owner when I turned sixteen." She started, ignoring the voice in her head that demanded she shut up. If Shai knew about the codes in her head, there was little reason to hide it. The woman probably knew more than she let on. "My master turned me into a cyborg, put implants in my head, made me his personal assassin. The codes were to ensure I couldn't turn against him." She swiped at her eyes, feeling the pain in her head lessen, but the sensation of being out of her body didn't fade. "I got lucky with the NIO. I was supposed to kill insurgents when it first started, but my shuttle crashed. They pulled me out and...remade me for their own purposes, but I just wanted to kill the bastards who did this to me." It was then that threads of memory began to come back, mostly as strong emotions of hate, pain, fear, before solid images began to take shape. She had been on Bastion, she was in the fight, battling someone much stronger and faster than herself. She was losing, her form and strength faltering as she was torn apart piece by piece. It was then the horror of her situation began to seep in. She never got off Bastion, not with the NIO. "Oh god no...." Her voice cracked, her legs giving out as Aerith toppled to the floor, gripping the sides of her head as she sobbed.

They had gotten her back. Despite all her fighting, all her attempts to break free, they had pulled her back, and they wouldn't be letting go.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai was surprised that Aerith didn't seem nearly as bothered as she expected her to be. Though she did notice when tears started to form in the girl's eyes, making her worry just a little bit more. Aerith got up and turned her back on the Shistavanen to hide her tears while she completely opened up to her. She kept quiet throughout the whole thing, sipping at her soda while she kept her eyes locked onto her.

As she finished her explanation, Shai started to put the pieces together. They needed to go to either the NIO or the Sith. It was going to be a hard job but she was willing to help her friend as best she could. She was quickly pulled back to reality when Aerith crashed into a sobbing mess on the ground. "Hey!" she called out as she jumped up abd knelt down beside her in a flash. Her arms wrapped around her as she hoisted her up and back into the booth. Thank goodness she wasn't a twig anymore, otherwise that would have been an impossible undertaking.

Even after setting her down, Shai held onto her. She sat against Aerith's back, holding the sobbing girl tightly with her head on her shoulder. "It's okay. You're okay, you hear me?" she muttered gently. She thought for a few moments over the whole situation, then let go of Aerith as she walked around to face her fully. With her hands on the cyborg's shoulders, she looked her dead in the eye with determination. "Here's the plan. Me and you, we're gonna go on that date we keep talking about. Then after that, we start planning. We're gonna figure out who to go to and then we're gonna do whatever we can to get you fixed. You hear me? I'm gonna help you get your life back in your own hands." she ordered her with a look suggesting that negotiation wasn't an option. She sat down and hugged her once more, not stopping to try and cheer her friend up. "You want some hot chocolate?" she asked her with a smile forming on her lips.

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

She hadn't expected Shai to come to her so quickly, but as much as she hated physical contact, she appreciated it now. Being pulled into a hug and pressed against the woman, Aerith hugged the form before her back, grieving onto the shoulder of the Shistavanen. She was devastated, probably at the lowest she had felt in years. Despite Shai's claims that Aerith was okay, the cyborg knew all to well that she was not 'okay'. It would just take one command word to set her back, one phrase and she could easily turn on the woman sitting right in front of her; just one syllable could rob her of her free will if someone knew the right command. As Shai began to hold her, Aerith eventually got a grip on herself, able to make out what Shai was saying through the tears obscuring her vision. Sniffling slightly, she could only nod, feeling a sense of loss she hadn't known in a very, very long time. As Shai asked if she wanted hot chocolate, Aerith was going to agree, but felt a strange pressure push down on her brain. Her mouth was half open, the words about to come off her tongue, when she felt something was going horribly wrong.

Her vision was starting to clear, as the pain began to recede. But that wasn't the only thing that was receding. The memories that had sparked in Aerith's mind began to go as well, crumbling away as she began to find it harder and harder to recall things. "Shai, Shai somethings wrong I-" She felt a white hot pain lance through her frontal lobe, like someone driving a hydrospanner right through her skull. Aerith lurched up, her cybernetics rocketing her out of the booth, onto the floor as she writhed in the new sensations of pain that were inflicted upon her. She felt her mind tighten, becoming pressed and stretched out until it was almost wire thin, and little by little it would start coming unraveled. The sensation mixed with the pain sent Aerith into hysterics, as she knew what was coming. The implants were coming back online, and she would be submerged once again. "SHAI, I CAN'T, IT'S TAKING OVER!" She screamed out, gripping at her head, as numbers, words, and symbols burned into her retinas. Aerith's eye began to pulse, flashing red and bright blue, as the two sides of her brain battled for control. But Aerith knew where this was going. She had been here before, oh so many times. "SHAI, PLEASE, DON'T LET ME GO! DON'T LET THEM TAKE M-" Her begging ceased as the pain cut her off, squeezing another scream from her lungs. Angry tears streaking down her face, as she twisted in agony on the floor. Seeing her friend from the cracks in her fingers, the last thing she would see was Shai's concerned expression as she was slowly pulled back and drowned by her replacement personality. Aerith's eyes flashed once again, glowing bright blue, then to bright red, before her quivering ceased all together.

Aerith would be still for a moment, before she began to come to, groaning as she opened her eyes. She felt rather confused, awakening on a ship and seeing the strange woman before her. She felt moisture on her face, had she been crying? What the feth was up with that? Her face distorted into one of an absolutely clueless woman. She wiped the moisture off her face and began to sit up. "Where the hell am I? And who the hell are you?" She asked, tilting her head towards Shai, as she crossed her arms. She seemed familiar somehow, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe seen her on the holonet?

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Smiling brightly at her, Shai waited for her confirmation to go make sone hot chocolate for the two of them. All this teasing of a date, the hot chocolate, Aerith not objecting to any of it... she was starting to think that they might have something between them. A rather comforting thought for the Shistavanen.

However the confirmation never came. She watched as Aerith's expression contorted before jumping out of the way as the cyborg collapsed on the ground in a writhing mess. Shai was speechless as she stared at her with wide eyes. She wanted to knock the woman out or something, but a normal blaster wouldn't do. "Baby, go get a droid popper!" she ordered her astromech over her commlink as she knelt beside Aerith to try and help her. "Hold on, Aerith! I'm right here, sweetie!" she tried to comfort her, but it wasn't working. It was gut-wrenching to watch as her friend was having a breakdown and she couldn't do anything to help. Baby soon arrived with her grenade and she sent him back to the cockpit to clear the blast radius. She was about to detonate it when Aeruth stopped writhing.

Shai stepped back with a confused look as the cyborg got up, apparently not remembering her all over again. Unlike last time, however, Shai wasn't nearly as worried. She knew what the issue was now. She just needed to figure out how to snap her back to the personalities that knew her. Hiding the grenade behind her, Shai looked her over. "Okay... short and sweet. My name's Shai, your name's Aerith. I'm a gun runner, you're a cyborg. We're solid friends, perhaps a bit more than that but I'm not entirely sure about that. You keep rebooting and forgetting me and I'm sorry about this." she quickly explained, flipping the switch on the grenade. The droid popper whined and in a second almost her entire ship was shorted out along with Aerith. Baby barely managed to clear the radius in the cockpit, though he took full note of the systems shorting out and started to try and fix it.

If her stunt worked, Shai would drop the grnade and carry the unconscious cyborg towards the crew compartment where she dumped her onto the bed. She quickly went to go look for binders in her room, unfortunately finding only a pair of pink fluffy binders. With a nervous chuckle she returned to Aerith and bound one arm and leg to the bunk frame, sitting back to light a smoke. "I hope this personality doesn't develop a grudge against me." she muttered, taking a drag of her cigarette.

This was going to be a hell of a ride...

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

Staring at the stranger before her, Aerith was greatly confused as to what in the hell was going on. "I know who I am, who the hell are you?" She questioned, her left arm folding up as it revealed a loaded SR-17. She could see the stranger had something in hand, and it was pretty evident that whoever this Shai woman was, she didn't have her best intentions. "Listen, I don't know what is going on, but I'm not buying what yo-" Before she could finish her line of thought, her audio sensors picked up a 'click', and for a split second Aerith had realized what was coming. She had just started to move when the ion grenade struck. She had been hit within ion weapons before, had them be used on her several times, but whatever this grenade was, she hadn't encountered it before. She felt as if she was electrocuted, though the sensation cut off at the junction point of her cybernetics; though the feeling in her eye was excruciating.

One moment she had a loaded weapon pointed at a stranger, the next she found herself shackled to a bedpost. Her limbs were still short circuited, and she couldn't see out of her right eye. Angry wasn't an apt term to describe how Aerith felt as she looked upon her attacker, though there was little she could do at current. "HEY, WHAT THE FETH! UNTIE ME RIGHT NOW!" She swore, lunging what little of her body she had control over for the time being, her mind unable to make sense of what was happening. She had no idea what this woman was planning on doing to her, and she wasn't liking the prospects. After several moments of thrashing about, Aerith took several breaths, trying to figure out how she was going to get out of this situation. "You are going to regret this, you have no idea who you are screwing with right now lady. I don't know what sort of sick thing you have in mind, but you can forget about it!" If she could just delay until her implants kicked back in, Aerith could get herself out of this situation.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai was done with her cigarette and back with a few things to try and help Aerith remember. Unfortunately, the droid popper didn't manage to slap her back into one of the other personalities that knew her. "Aerith, calm down!" she ordered her as she stood beside the woman. She kept thrashing until she finally managed to relax, though the threats still came at the poor Shistavanen. Shai sighed as she rested her hands on her hips, trying to figure out what to do. "Okay, listen up. Let's start from the beginning. My name is Shai. We met after I rescued you on Borosk, but something tells me you won't remember it. We met again on Nar Shaddaa but you couldn't remember me at all. We came to Nal Hutta to try and fix your memory issues which resulted into you rebooting again... now here we are." she explained.

She brought out the pistol that she left her back on their first trip, emptying the weapon and making sure it was safe to put the cyborg's mind at ease. "See this? This was your gun. You left it for me almost a year ago. Does it look familiar at all?" she asked her, holding the pistol in front of her to study it. But she doubted that it would work. So instead she sat back, holstered the weapon, and brought up another droid popper. "I can afford to be a queen right now, 'cause you'll probably just reboot again just as we make progress." she explained, her annoyed voice faltering badly towards the end. She couldn't be a queen towards her, even if she tried to be. She primed the droid popper and held it up for her to see. "My finger goes limp, you're going limp too. So before you just come charging at me, try and scramble through your memory banks." she threatened her weakly, looking into her one good eye.

"Try and focus on my face. You know me, Aerith. I was a lot skinnier last time we met, but the rest is the same. You have to have those memories somewhere in that dome of yours." she spoke gently, sitting beside Aerith on the bed. She sighed and used the clicking droid popper to scratch the back of her head before looking back to her. "Who do you work for? Are you working for the NIO? For the Sith?" she asked with a tired voice, trying to see which faction this personality was tied to.

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

This woman was crazy. She had to be fething crazy. Showing her a gun and thinking it would just make them friends? Rebooted? Her gun? None of this made any sense. At least, not at first. As she tried to calm herself, knowing once her implants were up and running she'd be able to get out of this, this Shai woman kept talking, and as she did more and more things started to click in the mind of the cyborg. Her expression showed she was skeptical about this whole affair, as truth be told she wasn't sure about what this woman was going on about. Yea, Aerith had implants, but rebooted? What was that nonsense about?

Shai issued a threat, waving the same device that had incapacitated her before. It wasn't a big deal, Aerith just had to move quick and she could still get out of this, but for some reason this Shai woman was insistent on helping her. Staring at the face before her, Aerith couldn't think of a time she had met this woman. Not a single hint of memory was coming out no matter how hard she looked at this woman. If her eye was functional, she would have done a scan to make sure, but obviously that wasn't in the cards. Unfortunately, the way this all was going down made her think this was some sort of interrogation. Given Shai was talking about getting memories out of her head, and now demanding to know who she worked for, Aerith's demeanor dropped back to a defensive tone. "What the feth is this? An interrogation? I'm not telling you who I work for." She wasn't about to talk, she wasn't weak. Torture was something she lived every day. Her sith masters had seen to that. "If you're looking to beat info out of me, you got the wrong person sister. I'll never talk." Whoever this Shistavanen was, they were messing with the wrong cyborg.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

She could see that Aerith was trying hard to remember her, or at least her face, but naturally there was no success. She quickly went on the defensive again, stating that Shai wouldn't get any information out of her. Shai's eyes filled with concern as she gazed at her friend. "I'm not going to hurt you, Aerith. I'm trying to help you." she spoke gently. She disengaged the droid popper and dropped it back into her satchel before shifting to face her fully. "This isn't an interrogation, or me trying to get some sort of information out of you. I just want you get your memories back." she explained with sincerity before reaching over to unlock the binders holding her to the bed.

She stepped back to give her some room and sat down on an opposite bunk. "I just want my friend back." she continued as she looked at Aerith, trying to figure out how to convince Aerith that she was telling the truth. But this wasn't going to work. This personality had already branded her as a threat. She could only hope that one of the others would break through again and stay online long enough for them to figure something out. That was her only option. Clearly this one wasn't going to cooperate so trying to work with this one was out of the question.

She sighed heavily and looked at the ground, accepting defeat in this round. "This isn't going to work. Not with this personality you got going." she admitted, gesturing to the doorway. "There's the door, you can go as soon as your cybernetics boot up again. If you need a smuggler, feel free to hit me up." she spoke softly, trying to keep her emotional side in check. This was hard for her. To see one of the few people she considered a real friend going through this hell and not being able to fix it. "I'm sorry for all this. The droid popper and stuff... it was a scumbag move from me." she apologized as she reached for a cigarette, lighting it and taking a long drag from it.

"I was just trying to help you." she muttered, unable to look at her. She couldn't look at her friend's face and know that she wouldn't recognize her at all. Perhaps the doc was right.

Perhaps she should have tried to save her personality or something and just ended this suffering... but the mere thought of that was sickening. She shifted back and sat against the wall with her legs tucked in against her chest, her lower lip quivering as her mind poured over everything going on. She never gave up on her friends and this was not going to be different, but at this rate she really didn't know what else to do.

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

Aerith's anger faltered, as she witnessed the sudden change that took over Shai after her refusal to answer the woman's questions. She relaxed seeing the woman put the grenade away, eliminating the danger from the equation. Of course, Aerith tensed up as Shai reached towards her, but soon found the woman was just looking to undo the cuffs that had immobilized her. The stranger looked devastated, the tone of voice she spoke in and the way her body sloughed, it all read to Aerith that of someone grieving. She...just wanted her friend back? Was she really her friend at some point? Even if the woman was crazy, it was awfully strange to put on this level of theatrics to screw with someone, and if this was indeed an interrogation it was a rather lousy one at that.

As the cuffs were removed and Shai sunk down onto the bunk, Aerith could feel her limbs and eye beginning to come back online. The loaded weapon in her hand was still primed to fire, she could easily aim it towards Shai and eliminate her, a bit of pay back for nearly frying her with that stupid grenade. And yet, there was something inside of her that felt...off the more she looked at the Shistavanen. She...did seem somewhat familiar, but in that dream sense. Sitting up, Aerith's first thought was to bolt off this ship and pull all this behind her, but at the same time she couldn't help but wonder if this Shai woman was onto something. Her right eye flipped onto it's scanning mode, giving the woman a once over, and found a match for an encounter earlier in the day. Aerith tried to pull up the info from the encounter, but strangely the data had been scrubbed, with only a time log for when it had happened. Her brow furrowed, as she crossed her arms to contemplate the indecisiveness she was feeling right now.

Reaching out, Aerith's hand would set on Shai's head, as she gently rubbed the top of the woman's head. She was surprised how soft it felt, and...nice. A smile involuntarily crawled across her face, as the faintest hint of memory tugged at the back of her mind. It was probably a stupid move to be staying here right now, but it was just her nature. Aerith couldn't leave someone hanging, especially if they might have been her friend at some point. "Your...coat is really nice." She muttered awkwardly, crouching down so she could look to Shai face to face. Looking the woman dead in the eyes, Aerith would lock eyes with her, making absolutely sure she wasn't getting messed with here and now. "You look familiar to me, and...doing this feels..." She paused it the rubbing, a bit of color coming to her face as she did so. "This just feels...familiar, and I don't know why."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Still smoking her cigarette half-heartedly, Shai ignored her as she stood up from the bunk. She figured the cyborg would either walk out or try to kill her, she would prefer if it were the former. She didn't want to fight Aerith. She hated the thought of hurting her. She was so caught up in her own little space that she only registered Aerith when she felt a hand on her head, ruffling through her mane. A quiet sniffle escaped her but otherwise she didn't make any other sounds or movements.

She only looked up at Aerith after the cyborg knelt down in front of her, her eyes glimmering with faint tears threatening to roll. "I like keeping my pelt clean." she admitted softly with a faint smile trying to break through.

Aerith admitted to her seeming familiar. She nipped her cigarette and put it aside to instead take hold of Aerith's hand. She gave it a gentle squeeze as a sad smile formed. "You know me, Aerith. I saved your life on Borosk. I helped to fix up your cybernetics after you were left for dead by the imps. We pulled a stunt here on Nal Hutta after they impounded my ship to get it back. We haven't known each other for very long but in this short time we came to know each other well. We're friends, Aerith. Good friends. Perhaps even more." she explained gently and softly, still holding onto her hand.

"I want to help you, Aerith. To get rid of these codes and programs causing you to lose your memory. To get you out of the Sith and NIO's hands. It hurts to see you and wonder whether I have to do this whole speech over and over again." she admitted.

She dropped her legs and pulled Aerith in to give her a warm and gentle hug. "I'm not your enemy, Aerith. I'm probably one of the few people you know that really cares about you." she muttered into her ear as she held her.

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

Having her hand taken wasn't something Aerith had planned on, and indeed it caught her off guard. She wasn't used to physical contact; or had she mentioned that already? It was a strange experience, listening to someone talk about how great of friends they were, how much they cared, things that had gone all; all without the knowledge or feeling that they ever happened. The exploits that Shai claimed the cyborg had undertaken seemed...well hard to believe for one, but Aerith couldn't see this woman before her lying; she met crazy before after all, and crazy was never this sincere.

The one thing that did click with Aerith, was the mention of codes. She knew about her coding, about what happened to her on Drommand Kaas, and if Shai was aware then...that could only mean one thing. She was back in play again. With Shai's following explanation sealing the deal on the situation as she knew, Aerith was left with this horrible sinking feeling in her gut, one that was only partly mitigated when Shai embraced her in a hug. Taking the embrace, she squeezed the stranger tightly, unsure as to what exactly had been done to her, but not liking the prospects if what Shai was saying was true. Had this woman done that much for her in so little time? And if so why? Aerith really couldn't say, nor could she think of anything of note to respond with. In truth, she couldn't remember the last time someone actually cared about her. Maybe her parents? But even those memories were fuzzy, and thinking on them provoked no real emotion; just an empty hollowness that added to the confusion she was feeling. "So, we are friends?" She asked, her tone indicating that she was effectively asking for permission to be Shai's friend, rather than for clarification. At least if she had one friend, she wouldn't have to wrestle with this all alone.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

As Aerith was still getting comfortable with the hug, Shai took a moment to sneakily pull out her datapad and open the camera to start recording the exchange. She left it to sit against the wall of the bunk, allowing a proper view of them. She smiled at her question and pulled back to plant a peck on her cheek.

With a joyful glimmer in her eyes she pulled her back into the hug. "Yes, Aerith. We're friends. The best of friends." she declared softly, holding onto her with no end to the hug in sight. She wanted to ask if Aerith still needed the Beskar, but she still wasn't sure who this personality worked for. So instead she thought of something else to give her. "Would you wanna tag along with me? I have some other jobs I need to do and I don't want to send you packing just yet. Or are you on a mission?" she asked her as she pulled back, but still kept her arms wrapped around the girl's sides in a rather intimate embrace.

She quickly caught onto her position, though, pulling back her hands as a faint red hue appeared around her muzzle. "Oh jeez. That's a bit forward, even for me. Sorry." she admitted with a chuckle as she let go of Aerith. She regarded the cyborg for a few moments longer before a snicker escaped her. "I told you before and I'll tell you again. You got an adorable blush." she quipped before getting up, stopping the recording and slipping her datapad back into her pocket.

She turned to face the exit but looked back to Aerith. "Let's go get something to eat. I got a few killer recipes that I think you'll like." she suggested as she held out a hand to drag her along. It wasn't the same Aerith, but it felt good having some semblance of her friend back.

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

The answer wasn't one she expected, but one she appreciated none the less. Best of friends, huh? That sounded nice. Feeling that the hug wasn't ending, and for once in her life not wishing for it to, Aerith held on, listening to what her new friend was saying to her. Shai pulled back, though her arms were still locked around Aerith's sides. It...was an unusual hold for certain, but she didn't mind. In fact, she might have liked it even. Shai asked what her plans were, and truth be told Aerith didn't know. She...felt like she had come here for a reason, but truth be told she was drawing a blank on what that mission might be. "I...could stick around with you. I had something I needed to do, but I can't think of what it might be." She admitted, though not knowing who or why she had an assignment before unnerved her a bit.

Her heat sensor detected a flair up around Shai's face, as it seemed she was a bit flustered from something she had said; though what that might have been, Aerith felt that she missed it. Whatever Shai was apologizing for, Aerith didn't mind one bit. "It's no big deal, just...thanks for all this." She mumbled, her arm moving to rub the back of her head as Shai fully moved away. Her relaxed pose only lasted for a few moments though, as the words of the Shistavanen woman drew a reaction from the cyborg. Namely, her face turned beet red, and her hand clutched over her face, trying to hide what Shai was more than likely taking in; or at least the one side of her face that could turn red. "First time I've heard of it." She grumbled, taking a moment to compose herself before Shai began to ask another series of questions. They were apparently going to get something to eat, which was an idea the cyborg could certainly get behind. Smiling, though a tad uneasily, Aerith would respond. "Right, well, sounds good to me." Falling in line behind Shai, she wasn't exactly sure where she'd be going, but...just maybe she'd work her way out of this fiasco yet.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Aerith agreed to stick around which brought a bright smike from Shai. With a happy noise she got ready to move to the kitchen, however she couldn't help but laugh at Aerith's reaction to her words. "That's kriffing adorable" she quipped as she wrapped her arm around Aerith's side to pull her closer. "Don't worry, I'm a solid cook. My mom hated making food but hot damn she did a good job." she commented as she walked with Aerith to the kitchen.

Once there, she gestured to the booth and got to work on looking for food. "Alright, so! What are you in the mood for? I got steak, stir fry, some really nice bantha burger patties... though I don't know if I got buns for that." she explained as she dug through the fridge. After a few moments she stood up with concern on her face. "Okay, we got no buns." she muttered as she looked around before glancing at Aerith.

Her bright smile returned as she slid in beside Aerith, pressing against her with her arm coming around to hug her close. "Okay, so burgers are off the menu, sadly. Anything else you're in the mood for?" she asked calmly.

This was what she wanted in her life. With Zemi, with Talo, with everyone. She just wanted this. But now that she had it, there was the fear that this would all disappear again with one wrong word. That Aerith will forget her all over again. She could only hope that it won't happen again...

Aerith Castiella

 

[Aerith Krayt]

Aerith wasn't sure what to think about all the touchy feely stuff that Shai was doing, but at the same time it felt...okay for her. It felt familiar for a reason that she couldn't define. Taking a seat in the booth, Aerith wasn't quite sure what to go for as far as food was involved. "I don't know I don't really experiment with food that much. I just sorta eat whatever rations they give me." She confessed, rubbing the back of her neck at thinking on that. It was odd, most of her life she had just military rations, little else. She really should try and change that. She was lost in thought, so much so that when Shai wrapped her up in another hug she nearly jumped out of her skin, before returning it. "Steak will be good." She replied half minded, her thoughts still stewing on what was going on in her life.

Forcing a smile, she looked back to Shai, squeezing just a tad bit tighter. "So, you need help or you got it?" She inquired, only half listening to the woman's response, but willing to help her regardless.

She wasn't sure what awaited her in the future. She only hoped to have more days like this.

/end thread
Shai Maji