Spies Like You [PM for Invite]

[thegreatbeyonder]

"Don't you pretend --Ugh.", her face was blue so thus it couldn't go red but it would be if it could.

"Forgive me!", a rather frightened custodian was being yelled at by the Chiss Administrator.

Chen was part of a diplomatic envoy to Balmorra in hopes of encouraging companies to move their operations off-world. Of course, everything was going just fine until one of her staff decided to spill a hot beverage on her pants; useless, absolutely useless. To make matters worse she was under the ever watchful eye of an Agent sent by her benevolent benefactor. The Chiss' eyes wandered to the agent.

"Do you have to follow me everywhere I go?", she complained.

Business is hard enough. Why did she have to have someone breathing down her neck added to the list?

Turning to the custodian, "Yes, yes. Do it again and you're fired... I need to change my pants.", she grumbled.

"Thank you, ma'am!", he said and ran off to go do something else.

Right then and there Chen took off her black pants and replaced it with a similar pair as if she was oblivious to the present company. The agent, her aid, and a servant a droid. The latter of which was probably only a minor concern when people become weary of their personality units. But being the administrator of an entire world was not necessarily a perk. It was time consuming and kept one busy, absolutely busy.

 

[Emery Kerenski]

Emery took a sip of his drink. He wasn't even on a mission, but he felt like he might as well take a short drink while he waits. It wasn't like anything important was going on where he was, just watching over some Diplomat. When did he even sign up for this? The aptly named 'Emergy Drink' was starting to blur all his thoughts to the point where all he could focus on was how much he'd love to go back to his yacht and dance around like an idiot to club music.

""Do you have to follow me everywhere I go?"," she complained, changing out of her pants soon thereafter. A 'Religious Experience' wasn't usually a term to be thrown around lightly, but a woman he barely knew taking off her pants in front of him wasn't really the norm in Emery's life.

"I... yes." he finally answered, "I have to follow you everywhere you go. But if you feel as though that's not enough, I could always stare, unblinking."

He said this jokingly, but he could quite literally cease to have eyelids if he felt like it. He tried to imagine going through life licking his eyes like a lizard. It was thought provoking, but it made him thirsty.

He took another sip of his drink.

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

"Ha-ha. Good one, now finish your drink; time is credits, friend.", she emphasized on 'friend' in her rather sarcastic statement.

The Chiss' red eyes marked everyone around her; painting an invisible target for her arrows of determination. The aid immediately gathered all her things, the droid rotated its head with no regard for any logic except its own, and the agent was still sipping annoyingly out of his cup. Excellent. Not really, it was stupid and annoying. Stop drinking! Her thoughts were quite abusive and it was probably a miracle or divine intervention that she didn't slap them all right then and there.

"Let's get a move on!", she clapped her hands like a fitness trainer motivating an athlete.

"Query: What is my destination?"", the droid asked.. Or uh, queried. The protocol droid was useful for translations and remembering facts. That's it.

"Just follow me."

 

[Emery Kerenski]

Emery felt like this would be the moment when a lot of men would make a joke. Something like: "Haha, women, such bitches, am I right guys? Hahaha, I'm alone." He then remembered that he was a women at least three times a week.

He took a long and purposely loud sip of his drink, just because he knew it pissed her off. He could see the smallest twitch every time he so much as lifted the mug to his lips. It was almost as satisfying as the drink itself, which could be summed up with the words "Taken with a shot of expresso, it could be fatal". He knows because he did that once, and he came damn near close to death.

Nonetheless, she told them to follow her, so Emery did so. He whistled a tune that he heard at a bar a couple weeks ago, even though his whistling sounded more like wheezing than anything else.

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

The entourage walked down the corridors of a rather large building. Well-dressed individuals dotted the corners and open rooms; the hushed babbling of business in countless languages hummed a ambient tune. For Chen, this was the sound of competition--nothing more--and already was considering the possible moves to make. Well, until they reached their destination at least when all auxiliary thought processes were isolated away from the business at hand.

"Alright. I want no interruptions; speak only when asked.", she commanded.

"Query: What is my primary objective?", the droid... queried.

"To kindly shut your iron trap!", she retorted quite irritably.

"Correction: My communication device is comprised of an alusteel-titanium alloy and various other components."

This wasn't going to be fun. Why the droid? It was required by the administration's board by protocol. Bylaws, the most useful useless annoyance in all of logical organization. Of course she made some of them and approved this one when she became the Administrator. It didn't make it more livable. At least she could use a proper droid, perhaps one that only spoke when spoken to.

 

[Emery Kerenski]

Emery grinned, showing off pearly white teeth. That was all he could really think to do. With anyone else, he would have responded with something witty, something snappy. But this woman was a diplomat, she was of a higher standard. Hell, if he pissed her off too much he could be in genuine trouble.

Honestly, she seemed like she could probably kick his ass in a minute.

Instead, he spoke with the intention of a nice conversation, "So... Um... We've been having nice weather, right?" his hand went up to scratch his head. "Space weather. That is..." he added, remembering that they were in fact, not currently outside. "The indoor space weather. Pretty nice."

Come on, you can still save this. He thought to himself.

"You know what's also nice? This droid" he stated, patting the droid with the communication device comprised of an alusteel-titanium alloy and various other components, hoping to the gods that the thing wouldn't explode on contact.

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

If the Chiss eyes weren't pure red she would roll them. Well, she actually was, but it wasn't noticeable; instead it was a rather cold stare and one could suppose that equally demonstrated her reaction to his attitude.

"Just ... Don't say a word.", she said with little hope for actual results.

The droid responded to this touch but slightly moving its head in either direction. To one close enough it would sound like a very subtle electric buzz as the internal complex architecture caused the head the move along the base of its chassis. By her own pace, Chen walked through the sliding doors into a rather large and luxurious private office. Sitting in a comfortable and clearly expensive chair was a wealthy Quarren. This one in particular was a magistrate of sort who was requested to support the endeavor.

"Ah, Magistrate Low.", she said bowing her head respectfully as she entered the room. "My aid, security officer, and protocol droid.", she introduced the three whilst swaying her hand to designate which was which.

"You know I don't like speaking Basic, let's make this quick.", he said with a gargle in each word. Although it wasn't a fact she knew of; of course it was a common one with his species.

"Understandable.", she smiled before giving a subtle glance to the three to behave as she walked over to take a seat in one of the two chairs facing the Quarren. She cleared her throat and straigthened her posture as respectfully as possible. "As you understand our intention is to find businesses looking to move offworld. As Balmorra is generally home to a quantity of corporations it was our thought that this would be a prime opportunity. I was told that you would be able to provide such information at a cost...", she explained.

The Quarren's black beady eyes scanned the trio before fixating on the Chiss in front of him. "Twenty million credits.", he demanded.

Quite the rude answer, she thought. That's saying something too -- coming from her. How could he demand that many credits for a list!?

"Surely the price is negotiable? I assure you future business will be arranged; perhaps we can work out a contract that benefits us equally.", her offer was disguising her distaste for his rather straightforward greed.

"I'll make a contract but... I need collateral. How about that human male?", one scaly hand moved out from under his long robe and a suction like finger pointed towards the shape-shifter.

 

[Emery Kerenski]

Emery visibly paled. He wasn't even entirely sure how bad the situation was, but when people pointed at him and referred to him in third person, it usually meant that he was in some kind of trouble. At least, that's how it had been for a while now.

Chen had told him several times not to speak, but he couldn't help himself. "Er... Pardon me?" he practically croaked out, keeping a charming smile plastered to his face. He wondered to himself if it actually looked like a smile, or a grimace.

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

She told him not to speak and what he did he do? He spoke. Not only that it was a stupid and very much redundant statement. He better thank her later but to be honest she would accept if it wasn't for two things: Principals and the necessity of not pissing off her benefactors.

"That is not an arrangement I can accept. My deepest apologies.", she responded. Although she wasn't facing him, somehow she was able to send some kind of demeaning glare back to Emery in her words; as if there were eyes on the back of her head. Of course Chiss don't have eyes on the back of their heads, it was merely a metaphor.

"Twenty million. Final offer.", his gargle-filled tone became deeper and audibly impatient.

Chen simply gave a returning smile and stood up from her chair, walking in the direction of her three stooges and stopped, not suddenly, her feet slowed until they no longer walked. Her head turned and her body followed; angling back with full figure in form and amplified by the soft light that found itself through the glass.

"It's a shame we couldn't make an arrangement, Low. I'd hate to go to your brother on Corellia; well... Although I suppose there's a 'chance' with him.", she countered with a rather flirtatious yet somehow not flirtatious attitude. Was she trying to get to him that way or was she speaking of something else? It was honestly difficult to tell. She did her research, she knew he had a rivalry with his brother. One such as herself rarely did such business without knowing what strings to play with.

"No, wait! Ten million.. Uh, Final offer.", he countered anxiously. Raising a single one of his suction-cupped fingers in the air like bidding for a starship.

Chen turned and walked briskly back to his desk, turning the chair out of her way and slamming both blue palms down and made a noise. Her red fiery eyes revealed a new attitude and stared straight into his pathetic beady black dots. "Three million and all expenses paid for whilst I'm a guest. Take it or leave it.", she demanded, a blue finger reached up to brush a black lock of hair back around her left ear. With that she turned around and began walking back, again.

"Deal!", he said but it was clear he was protested in his own tiny mind.

The Chiss smiled for real this time, if one was good at picking up on signals it was the smile one gave when things went their way; went as expected. Chen turned back and gave another bow, one around the same style as when she entered. "Most gracious of you, Magister Low.", she returned quite respectfully as she initially was. Her eyes then found their way to Emery, no words were spoken but it did suggest something. I just saved your ass.

 

[Emery Kerenski]

Emery wasn't sure whether he should be thankful or a little bit turned on. He supposed it was both. He met her gaze with an expression that read, "From this point on, I will hand-feed you foreign chocolates if you asked".

It wasn't like this was the first time this sort of thing had happened. Last year his boyfriend had tried to bet him in a game of Poker, or something of the like. He hadn't lost, but suffice to say, the relationship didn't last long after that. He felt like he should definitely say something to Chen, but then decided against it. If he wanted to say something, he'd do it when Magister Suction over there wasn't present.

Suction cup fingers... Emery shuddered. That seemed like something with a long history that didn't need to be unearthed.

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

Leaving the room behind, the entourage found their way back down the halls when her datapad was pinged. Although she wasn't holding it, her aid--a young human woman--held it.

"Ma'am, I received the list and transferred the payment.", the aid said to her boss.

Chen nodded and only nodded all the while maintaining her energetic pace down a large open hall that exited into a courtyard. It was filled with all sorts of accommodations from cantinas to cafes, hotels to casinos, and the offices in between. This was a place where only high members of society and businessfolk went to discuss various arrangements both legal and illicit. For her she may have been crossing a grey area but it wasn't one that was particularly found against the law. She had a team of lawyers research everything about the government and how hostile she could be when conducting her business there.

Her eyes glanced over to the bodyguard, Emery, who hadn't said a word back there. "How do you like your job?", she inquired. It was more of a quip, really, as she assumed he'd request another assignment. If that was even possible, she didn't know much about how these agents worked but he seemed odd... The ones she dealt with were far more aggressive, this one had an attitude of their own.

 

[Emery Kerenski]

Emery had been walking down the halls, trying to seem like he was completely calm. He wanted a drink, yet his hands had begun to shake again. He took in the courtyard. He'd like nothing more than to go back to the yacht and sleep for a year, however, that probably wasn't going to happen.

"How do you like your job?" Chen had asked him. He knew he should have maybe just grunted and shrugged his shoulders, but instead, he flashed another trademark grin and responded, "It's not so bad. A little threatening here and there, but at least my coworkers are hot"

It then occurred to him that flirting, even when he wasn't being serious, maybe just wasn't allowed. He patted the Droid again, "Ah yes, the Droid. This droid here probably gets all the... other... droids."

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

The flirtatious remark was not met fondly but luckily for him the droid interjected.

"Statement: Droids are inhibited from organic reproductive interactions.", he , the male-personality droid, responded to his comment with a statement on the matter.

Chen shook off the thought. It was odd to say the least but she did not share the same humor as her 'bodyguard' did. And even that was a strongly worded title to give him; if anything she protected him more right now than he did her. How annoying. "Let's stop here, shall we?", they entered a small building. inside was an exclusive Cantina club. In some corners there were exotic dancers displaying themselves on a stage, and the rest of the room was filled with occupied and unoccupied tables. At the center was an oval bar with two serving droids.

The Chiss approached one of these droids, "a glass of Corellian -- three glasses of Corellian Reserve, on Magister Low.", she ordered the most rare and expensive drink served on his tab. Not just for her, for Emery and her aid as well.

At one of the tables an individual stood out. An armoured man who was still wearing their helmet, not typical for someone who was in a place filled with alcohol. Can't exactly drink that way.

 

[Emery Kerenski]

Emery took in everything. He enjoyed going to bars and regular clubs, but going to a bar or club of high standards was a rarity for him. Exotic dancers, little droids taking the orders of the customers within, exotic dancers, some man with heavy armour and a helmet, the exotic dancers.

His eye twitched as Chen ordered alcohol for the rest of them. He didn't know how well the Aid fared with liquor, but he had never been good at it. The one time he'd done shots had resulted in a threesome that he didn't remember and about seven photos he'd never forget. He was supposed to be a bodyguard, not a drinking partner.

"Er, ma'am," he spoke up, "You don't need to buy me a drink. Anything that keeps me from thinking clearly is... well, probably not a good thing for me" he smiled with a nervous edge to it. His eyes occasionally darted towards the man in the armour, wondering who in the hell suits up to go drinking.

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

"I actually hoped it would help you loosen up. Drink.", the last word was almost said forcefully.

Chen hadn't noticed the armoured man, she was too busy admiring her accomplishment today and took a sip of the gold-coloured brandy. Her aid did the same, the two regularly drank together. Not as some kind of social getup, however, she merely rewarded them. If you want people to do as you say you need to give them something from time-to-time. Being strict all the time only gets you so far. That was the story of her career.

The droid did what it always did. It sat their, its head looked every which way now and again but that was about it.

 

[Emery Kerenski]

This was a bad idea. This was such a bad idea.

He thought that maybe if he drank then some hilarious escapades would ensue. Like in those old films. He'd get up and start singing and dancing and kiss someone for no reason, then start a fistfight. That all sounded like good fun, but he had a job to do. He needed to communicate to her in some way that there was no possible way he was going to be able to handle even a goddamn glass of this stuff, but admitting that he was a lightweight was... well, embarrassing as all hell.

Instead, he sighed and took a sip.

That's it, right? He dared to hope, She wouldn't push me to drink any more, would she?

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

Chen sipped some more, looking around and then back to his glass.

"This is a short stop only. So make you finish that; it's the most expensive drink you'll ever see.", she remarked.

Her aid had already finished hers - a symptom of an alcoholic but that probably came with the job. Chen's job was bad enough, being her aid? Well let's leave that to imagination. The droid continued to do what it does but one noticeable change was the armoured man in the corner a second ago was gone. No sign of his departure, either. As if he hadn't been there this whole time. Of course it wasn't a ghost story. Who knows, maybe they had to use the bathroom or actually undress for a change.

The Chiss hummed some tune to a song no one ever heard of as she inhaled the vapor of the drink.

 

[Emery Kerenski]

Emery gulped, wondering how he could get himself out of this. He could go to the bathroom and just dump it into the sink and pretend like he drank it on the way... hmm, yes, that seemed like a good idea.

Except upon further inspection, he noticed that the armoured man was gone. Damn, what if he was an assassin? What if while he was in the bathroom disposing of 'the most expensive drink [he'll] ever see', the armoured man just outright attacked?

Yet... that seemed unlikely. You don't kill people in public places like this, that would be a great way to get you hauled off to jail. He kept trying to convince himself that there was no way anything terrible like that could happen in the time it took to dump a drink down the sink, but he couldn't shake his paranoia.

So instead, he downed the drink in a swift gulp that absolutely burned his throat. He pretended that there wasn't a couple drops still left as he set the glass down, and smiled with a hint of pride.

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

"Alright, time to go.", Chen turned and headed out the door.

The first to follow was her aid; the robot took a bit longer to process that it was being ordered as well. Oddly enough the automation looked towards Emery; its singular expression seemed to glare like a watchdog before turning back to the path ahead. She placed the now emptied glass on a tray as a servant droid scuffled past them; the aid doing just the same. It seemed that she had done her offworld customs research quite well.

Now it was time for Emery to tag along.

 

[Emery Kerenski]

Emery quickly got to his feet and placed his mostly empty glass on the tray as Chen and the aid, and quickly followed after them. He raised an eyebrow at the brief glare the Droid had given him, how odd...

The world around him was slightly shaky, swirling a bit as he walked. Drinking had been a bad idea, he should have just dumped it down the sink. Emery felt a mixture of humiliation for being affected by one damn glass, and anger at being forced to drink in the first place. If they were attacked and someone died, it would be Chen's fault, not his.

He placed his hand against his hip, where his pistol sat in it's holster, just in case.