Sky's the Limit

[Dante Sotari]

"Do you have any issues with hurting people? Killing?"

There was a pause at that. Not because she didn't know the answer, but a certain vacancy in the dark blue gaze. A bottomless distance, just for a heartbeat, two, and then she spoke.

"I do not."

Maybe, once upon a time.

Please, don't make me, an echo of a smaller, younger voice begged. But it was just one moment in a thousand. And enough insults and abuses had been piled upon her mind and body since that day that it was easy to dismiss it. It took no effort to do so, and the little voice died again.

His next question made a bigger impact. Instead of a pebble tossed lightly into placid waters, it was a stone flung with force. She blinked, immediately reaching out to check for mental traps because surely he did not mean that question. The sincerity, the intent floated easily on the surface of his mind, not even requiring her to dip into that pool. If it was a trick, a trap, it was something far deeper than merely the joy of an 'aha gotcha!' moment.

Every line of her body was still, tense. It was a subtle change, one easy to over look because she had schooled herself into keeping the barest of reactions, even in the face of fears far greater than this. But the unknown intentions loomed, and there was fear there- she knew what the risks of her life were, knew how to avoid them as best as possible and when they must simply be endured. And she knew how to endure.

​A no would be a lie. A yes would be a risk- not because she truly believed this was a trap, to catch her somehow and punish her for thinking above her station- not a trap like that anyway. A no would mean nothing changed. And there was a certain safety in that, perhaps not of body but of psyche.

A yes?

Risked everything.

If he meant it. Oh, he thought he meant it. But how many men could say such a thing and then simply continue to use her as a different set-piece, because of course their use was different. The illusion that there was a difference in flavors of use, well....

There was every chance that he still intended to use her as he saw fit. Just that the illusion of it looked brighter from within his own mind. She couldn't find that without digging much deeper, and the chances of him feeling that, noticing, were too great. He was a sharp man at every angle, and she did not think she could go swimming through his mind without him noticing her presence.

Two things, she had kept back when he had asked her of her skills. The psychometry.... and the telepathy. Because those two would keep her safe if he was just another man that lied to himself in order to feel as thought he were in the right.

She gambled. Gambled that a yes meant learning new things- things that would expand her ability to keep herself safe because that was, ultimately, the only goal she could afford to keep in her mind. Not because she was small minded. But because experience devoured any other thing.

"Yes."

[member="Xian Valart"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Echoes"]

"Good." The snap of the ammo being loaded in the blaster punctuated the word, before he rose from the seat and holstered it back against his belt. "We start now with your training now."

From his pocket he got a datapad and pushed it over to her side of the table.

"Read it."

The datapad recounted the affairs of a certain crime lord. Well, crime lord was a bit much, but these days it was hard on Klatooine to have any extensive criminal dealings. At least before being grabbed by the neck by the Silvers. But Dashar - a middle-aged Rodian - had been doing fairly well for himself.

It was his contacts within the spaceport that allowed him to get through illegal goods through custom.

They were talking slaves (only the quality kind like Echoes), talking drugs and guns. The Si'Klaata Cluster was filled with all those goods through his customs connections.

Until now?

Nobody was capable of bringing him down - rumor had it it was his brother... or maybe it was a cousin, who ran customs down that spaceport.

Couldn't just kill him.

"Do you see what I want?"

 

[Dante Sotari]

She picked up the data pad slowly, hesitating for only a moment with her fingers just shy of the device, as though she were afraid it would bite, and then she plucked it off the table.

It was second nature to sink to her knees instead of sitting in a chair, and with her attention on the words, second nature was all there was room for. She'd been taught to read, when she had been a companion for an owner's blind son, but it was not a skill she often had the chance to practice, and it took more concentration- furrowed brow and the slight movement of her lips as she silently sounded out an occasional word made that clear.

It would be easy, to judge someone's intelligence based on the simple fact of their ability to read. But while it took longer than he probably would have wanted for her to get to the end, and she had to go over difficult parts more than once, when dark eyes looked up, there was calculation in them.

There was a certain comfort in the clarity that, despite his words, he did intend to use her. It settled things in her mind in regards to him, taking him from an utter unknown to simply something slightly uncomfortable. New shoes, rather than an entire new planet. Even if he had no intention of using her as past masters had, this was just a different way that someone wished to use her body.

And that was, at least, familiar.

"You want me to take his place."

But beyond the calculation, there was a certain worry as well, lurking.

'I cannot do that' was not something one told their owner. He was blunt, and had made it clear that he would not accept pretty words instead of facts, but this was slightly different.

"Assuming someone's identity is very different from assuming a generic form," she finally said. "I have no experience, but I will try."

[member="Xian Valart"]

 

[Arage Bao]

In Xian's mind he was offering her the opportunity of freedom.

To learn what he had to show her, before she would become strong enough to take it herself.

In his opinion that was the only way to truly become free. Nobody could give it to you, you could only take it when you were ready. Right now Echo would get herself killed. This was something Valart wanted to prevent - not out of attachment or emotional reasons, but because there was potential within her that could assist him.

"Indeed I do." Valart replied with the inclination of the head. A frown appeared when she mentioned it wouldn't be easy for her - but she did not receive a reprimand or anything of the sort in reply.

After all, he told her to be honest and blunt.

To punish her now would be silly, when she was simply following the orders he had given her in the first place. "You will need to be aware of his mannerisms, some of his knowledge..."

Some of it could be gained.

Simply by asking him, hurting him if it was necessary, but the mannerisms and the sort would be a different story. "I have been tracking his movements for a while now. I can get you video footage to assist you." If only Xian knew that she had telepathic properties, that would have surely made all of this easier. But that did force his mind to push into different directions, the video footage for one, but he wondered if it would be beneficial to kidnap a few of his associates.

They could have more information they needed.

"What else do you need?"

 

[Dante Sotari]

"To interact with him."

She put the data pad down slowly, drawing her hands back into her lap.

"I have never tried to impersonate someone before," she explained. "But if you have ever watched a recording of yourself, you know that the way you perceive your actions are different than what shows up on the image. Or that meeting someone for the first time after only seeing videos, there is a disconnect- expectations that do not materialize in person. I do not think I would make a convincing copy.... by only studying holos."

Of course, the telepathy was also a major factor. But what she said was still sensible.

"Forgive me, but I also think I should try it with someone else. First. To see if it is even possible to fully mimic them in a situation that will not.... prohibit you from making other plans, should I fail. An untested asset is no asset at all."

The last, a quote from a previous master.

The needs of her owner came before her own. Not because she cared. But because that order meant hers were more likely to be cared for.

[member="Xian Valart"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Echoes"]

He had hoped to do this quick, fast and without making too much noise.

But what she said made sense. Xian guessed, at least. "Then we will leave, train you and when we are ready we will make our move." Even if the Twi'lek didn't like it, there wasn't much else to do here. What she said made sense and you couldn't change facts, no matter how hard you tried. That was an exercise in defeat and Xian didn't abide by defeats.

"Go shower. The trip will be long and the ship we will be using does not have an elaborate refresher." They would have to rough it for a few days.

Maybe upwards to a week depending on travel conditions, anamolies and the hyperdrive.

It was a crappy ship, but really? It was one that could easily pass unnoticed because nobody in their right mind would want to notice it in the first place. Once Echo went to do as told, Xian settled back down again and relaxed for now.

He doubted there would be much sleep for him, not with only one other passenger on-board who had no idea how to pilot a ship, as far as he knew.

By the time Echo was done with her shower Xian would already be standing in the hallway.

Couple of bags by his feet and waiting moderately impatiently.

 

[Dante Sotari]

The direct order was more in her comfort zone- not that she desired it, or didn't know what to do without it, just that it meant she knew what he actually wanted without any ambiguity. This was the space she was accustomed to occupying. Standing up in one smooth motion, she bowed, a murmured 'yes master' more white noise before she headed in the direction indicated.

The shower didn't take long- efficiency combined with the ability to change her shape and features over shadowed any desire to linger. Lingering, after all, was a sign of enjoyment. And long experience had quashed that, as 'enjoyment' was something that could all too easily be used against her. If there wasn't anything she wanted, then there wasn't anything that could be taken away.

A clean dress, simple but of good quality, waited for her, and she changed into it without any particular notice. It was supplied and therefore that was what he wished her to wear.

Despite how quickly she moved, she still felt the tips of his impatience from the other room. Impatience was never good. Sure, it could be not bad, but it was never good, and rarely neutral if she were being honest.

When she reappeared, she didn't say that she was ready to go. That was simply assumed. It wasn't as though she had anything to gather here, anything that was hers. There was no habit of packing, because that would involve the necessary base of knowing that the things you set your hands on belonged to you. And Echo had no experience with that. She moved to take the bags at his feet.

[member="Xian Valart"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Valart watched with amusement as she moved to take the bags.

"Leave them." The slaver said, before taking them in his hands himself. "A man who cannot carry his own burdens is no man."

They were large bags, lots of weight from the articles inside of them, but Xian made it seem easy. As if the Twi'lek was simply carrying around a little purse instead of the two heavy sacks. But that had always been part of himself - he had changed hands more often than he could remember, but in his later life (once the Twi'lek had grown strong, arms like tree trunks and shoulders like the mountainsides of Ryloth) his service had shifted from one physical service to a different one.

Part of how Valart managed to secure his own freedom.

Once it became clear that Echo was ready, they left the safe-house behind. There was nothing to suggest that it was a way-house for slavers and their slaves; not from the district, which was respectable and clean, neither from the apartment complex within the district, which was orderly.

Perfect, really.

"Do you know how to pilot a ship?" Xian asked once they were halfway through the trip. It had become clear early on that the Twi'lek enjoyed his silences and spoke only when it was strictly necessary.

He had spoken more in the last two days than he usually did, but that was the burden of ploys and intrigue. You couldn't solve it all through a swift application of the sword nor the blaster. A mess of a different variety, if you asked Xian. When you needed to scheme your way into power.... instead of just taking it?

Seemed unnatural.

But there wasn't a different option here right now.