Shadows and Faith

[Kuzo]

S.I.R.D.​

Ravelin​

Bastion​

The Sith, Irajah Ven decided, weren't very creative when it came to naming things. S.I.R.D. stood for, unsurprisingly, Sith Imperial Research and Development.

Ensconced in the robes and mask of [member="Dr. Vain Jar'He"], Irajah moved through the other woman's life easily. Through mentalism, she had gleaned the basics of everything she needed to know. She had kept the doctor alive, just in case. But for now, she knew everything Vain had known. It helped that few people really KNEW Vain. She was cranky, cantankerous, down right rude. The later of course, was what had led to her current predicament.

Who would have guessed, when she and [member="Kalak the Raykkan"] had first made their business deal, that he would eventually be the one to deliver her clone to her?

The Force worked in mysterious ways.

This was Vain's public lab and facility. Irajah moved through it with confidence, an amused expression beneath the mask as people positively scuttled out of her way. The clone had not been trained in the Force, more than the bare necessities, so it was sheer cheek and her connection to the Zambranos that had cultivated these reactions. Raj found a certain amount of respect in that, even if it wasn't her own preferred method.

For now, the dark haired woman was avoiding the people who had known Vain best. She wanted to get comfortable in the persona before trying it out on familiar faces. Wanted to be certain she knew the places the clone had, move around them with ease and personal familiarity. Easier to fake then with people. Less likely to notice small slips in persona, though she expected no serious problem with that either. Vain's outward personality was caustic and acidic. Raj could pull that out just fine if she needed to.

She expected to spend a couple of weeks in low key observation mode, make sure she knew everything she needed to and not risk ringing alarm bells before starting into her plans.

Of course, sometimes the Force did indeed work in mysterious ways.

And Irajah was about to have a very unexpected visitor.

[member="Kole Harper"] [member="Lynnori Cruz"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

S.I.R.D.​

RAVELIN​

BASTION​

​

Kole had some form of an appointment. It was strange to say the least, far from the normalities of one's typical visit to the Doctor's. Then again, it wasn't everyone that brought a corpse with them. Lyn died right in the snow, and even still she lay lifeless within this preservation chamber. Kole tried not to look down as he guided it alongside him, through the halls of the S.I.R.D. He couldn't always help it, though. The Droid found it difficult to not occasionally steal some kind of glance at the pink corpse that happened to be somewhat drained of colour, no matter how much pain it seemed to cause.

​His booted feet furthered down the hallways, a pitter-patter of an echo continuing to make itself known as the soft whir of the hovering corpse-containing-chamber glided alongside him. Kole didn't have much of an impression of Dr. Vain Jar'He, nor did he Dr. Jain Var'He. Then again, Kole had limited interactions with this Sith Empire. He was hesitant at first, but after the Sith Ball on Galidraan had he properly begun his tenure with them; even if it were such simple things.

He had an issue, and he heard that this Doctor was able to help him with it. There were those final steps into the area that Ven, posing as Vain, had been within. He appeared rather flustered as those wandering eyes of his struggled to stay on any one.

[member="Dr. Vain Jar'He"] | [member="Lynnori Cruz"]

 

[Kuzo]

There was a soft chime on the wrist comm that Raj had taken from Vain- along with everything else. She glanced down, tip of the beaked mask brushing something she'd been too close to and almost knocking a flask off of a shelf. She'd have to get used to how far the mask stuck out, she thought with a grimace.

An appointment reminder. Had it been one Vain had known was coming, or one made very recently? Shifting through the memories she had plucked from Vain, Irajah guessed it was the later. She could be wrong- it was impossible to catch every single moment in the first sweep or two, especially ones that were minor or without impact. If this was one the good doctor had been aware of, it hadn't been important to her. Either way, the masked and robed figure was waiting when Kole and his.... luggage.

Dark eyebrows crawled up her face beneath the mask.

A body.

Well, that was interesting wasn't it?

Not what she had expected. One didn't usually bring the dead to see a doctor. But then, Vain dealt in a wide swath of things that Irajah had typically eschewed. Once someone was dead, she had no further interest in them. Once death had them they were outside the realm of her expertise. Yes, someone could be cloned, even the spirit brought back. But those were deeply dull.

"She's dead."

The voice was mangled, insectoid and buzzing. Blunt. Irajah wasn't accustomed to Vain's ways but 'rude' and 'abrupt' covered at least 80% of it.

"I assume you aren't here for confirmation of that fact."

[member="Kole Harper"] [member="Lynnori Cruz"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

Kole enabled a dejected sigh. He wasn't even capable of looking at 'Vain' in the immediate moment after that had been said; it made him angry, and for no good reason. He knew that, though, even accepted as his eyes briefly took a wander to the ceiling. "Yeah." Kole hastily breathed outwards, allowing a moment of silence to dwell before speaking in a whispery tone. "She's dead." It was as if Kole had reminded himself of it in that moment. This might of all been a mistake. Still, Kole didn't seem to care.

He had never been an entirely educated individual, but he wasn't stupid either. This, however, had merely been something so far from his depths that may be lost in the deep unknown. It was with a degree of hesitance that he spoke with next, certainly unsure or so it would seem. "I need transfer." His eyes shifted downward, staring through closed eyelids of a corpse. "The brain," Kole mentioned, shifting back to 'Vain', "I was told it could be placed into a Human Replica Droid." He might have been trying a little too hard to retain his outward stoicism.

The Droid only ever wanted her back.

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Lynnori Cruz"]

 

[Kuzo]

It took her a moment to place the face in front of her.

Oh not the dead woman, she knew in a moment she had never seen her before.

But this was a face she knew from what [member="Jairus Starvald"] had reported about one of their agents. Dante had tried to keep it private but that was silly. Of course she and Jairus knew about Morgan Vance. He was probably the only real wild card when it came to that particular game. With access to Vain's memories and the Imperial databases, she also knew now that he was an HRD himself, though she was fairly certain from both things that he was unaware of that fact.

So what was he doing here with a different dead woman's body in a box? And asking for the same to be done to her?

"It can," came the buzzing reply. "If she hasn't been dead for too long. When?"

How long since the soul had fled? Enough time for it to go on to where ever it was going but not enough time for the brain to start to rot, that was ideal.

"Her name? And yours."

Perhaps she was mistaken. She couldn't do any serious work in the Force without risking blowing her cover. She was keeping her presence strongly masked, and would have to let go of that to probe at him. No one else was here, in this moment, but it was not a habit she could risk.

Already she was moving however, pulling up information on the console in front of her.

[member="Kole Harper"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

If only he knew.

Things may have been easier for Kole, made things simpler if his truthful origin had been something he was aware of. Things, unfortunately, were never that easy- that fair. Although, it had been entirely possible that such a discovery was capable of making everything worse. It was quite the reveal, after all. Kole couldn't quite comprehend how it might feel to learn your existence is a lie and that everything you thought was wrong, but he was going to find out. Eventually. It was only a matter of when.

He seemed to simply stand there idly with no real importance to any action he took. "A week, roughly." Kole confirmed with a few confirming nods of his head. His eyes further wandered, watching each movement 'Vain' made with a distracted concentration. His artificial mind had been here and elsewhere at the same time. "Uh." He stuttered, "Kole Harper." The Droid replied, squashing any theory that he might be Morgan Vance. Then again, he was, wasn't he? His gaze then shifted to Lyn's seemingly frozen corpse. "Lynnori Cruz." He stated, shifting those synthetic eyes back to the Doctor.

​Had it been here he was originally constructed? Maybe.

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Lynnori Cruz"]

 

[Kuzo]

A week. Not too long. But long enough.

The woman's name meant nothing to her but the man's.... ugh, some small tidbit from the back of Vain's memories. Irajah hadn't been able to completely absorb, in full, the entire extent of Vain's knowledge of the Empire and the work she did here. That was one of the reasons she had kept the woman alive. It wasn't possible to port an entire person's brain into ones own without massive risk, and so Irajah had taken the parts to start that she thought she needed most. Somewhere, if she could trigger the right memory cascade, perhaps his name would come up. Or she could just go digging into Vain's mind the next time she was back there. Home? No, Irajah was not keeping Vain anywhere near her home.

"If the body has been kept cold, then yes. This can be done."

The beaked mask looked up at him, weighing.

"What are you willing to do, Kole Harper, for this? How much is this woman's life worth to you?"

[member="Kole Harper"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

​What wasn't Kole Harper willing to do? That might have been a great question, one that could've withheld less answers. He had only felt guilt since her passing, and rightfully so. Kole had been directly responsible, after all. It were those from a life he 'casually' divulged in, attempted to leave behind but never truthfully could that caused such pain. Those vibrant colours they splattered against the snow had been in an attempt to harm Kole. It'd been successful, and despite his frivolous attempt at revenge, it never filled the void she left behind. Maybe this would. That was the hope.

Kole shifted his gaze, lazily, from the 'Doctor' to the corpse that remained within an isolated container. It dawned on him, in that moment, that very question 'Vain' asked should've been something he thought of himself. He returned his attention back to Sith in disguise, a neutral expression that concealed his pain, displaying his stoicism. "Anything it takes, ma'am." His response came through, evidently filled with a passion through the words chosen alone.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

Good answer.

Useful answer.

She had to be careful however.

"I shall place you on retainer for me. For the Empire then. Oh, you will be paid for the jobs you do, but consider our dibs first when we come calling, yes?"

It wasn't a question or a request. That was the price.

"And specifically when I come calling."

The beaked masked studied him for a moment before focusing on the console again.

"She'll be different." It wasn't a warning so much as a statement of fact. "Not significantly, but the potential is there. I assume you do not wish for changes. If there are any you would like to make, now is the time to tell me."

She did not expect he did, but was curious just what sort of man this was. It would tell her how best to use him moving forward.

[member="Kole Harper"] [member="Lynnori Cruz"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

It was one helluva price. Kole knew that within the instant it was uttered, but it was never anything he truly took into consideration. There might have been many that ceased any and all attempts at technological resurrection when faced with servitude to an Empire so often perceived as cruel and unforgiving. But, alas, Kole had become drunk off the memories and their perfection. They had always been far from that, yes, yet he never seemed to care. It had been, after all, the only sliver of such a thing that he knew. It was more than enough for the artificial individual. Least they could pair in some twisted way, too.

His synthetic eyes had shifted elsewhere within the moment. They hadn't fallen upon anything specific, merely an unoccupied area that could viewed within a moment of quiet contemplation that had only ever served to explore the expectations of what it might entail. Kole blinked once, he blinked twice, maybe a third, it happened too fast. His head swivelled back upwards, but only slightly. There had been something within his throat he had to swallow, and beyond it came sharp and slight nods of the head accompanied by a meagre, "Understood." For it was that, in which, he did.

This had been difficult.

Kole responded rather sharply, firm in his response, as if it were something he had been adamant on before ever arriving to begin this strange, strange meeting- appointment, actually. "No. No changes."

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

Interesting.

Good.

There was more she could do with a man who would answer 'none' in this instance. There was also respect there for it. How that would play out was yet to be seen, but for now, by that single answer alone, Irajah had a measure of the man before her.

And his connection to the still, cold form of the woman beneath the glass.

"Done."

She tapped, sending a command through the system. Articulated arms shifting from their anchors in the ceiling, grabbing and shifting the pod with the body in it. Irajah was, by and large, uninterested in the science of what they were doing now. This was not her curiosity lifted and engaged. This was work, pure and simple. There would be no snatching this woman back from the brink- that point had long passed. This was.... boring. But sometimes, ground work was simply necessary, rather than engaging.

"It will take approximately two weeks from start to finish," came the buzzing voice as the arms positioned the pod and hooked up a serious of scanners. "She will need care, after. It is a disruptive experience."

A pause. The beaked face didn't look at him directly, but it turned toward him slightly, ducked down.

"You should be here when she awakens. I presume that can be arranged."

[member="Kole Harper"] [member="Lynnori Cruz"]