Suit Up (Irani)

[Ashin Varanin]

[SIZE=14.6667px][member="Darell Irani"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Some projects just shouldn’t see the light of day. Nobody wanted to know how the sausage was made -- not when it came to politics, nor in the field of medical research. Billions of lives saved by breakthroughs whose germination stemmed from means they would find unconscionable. Repulsive. Selka was no stranger to those methods; not her, and not the two disparate personalities that dwelt within her, the identities that she had incorporated.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]It wasn’t even the first time she’d wreaked such atrocities on a willing subject.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“All right,” she said, clearing her holographic desk and pulling up the ongoing scans. “Let’s accept the nanotechnology issue as a firm line, for the moment. But only for the moment. The concept had potential, and it’s a far cry from the sort of gene-eating weaponry nonsense you sometimes see.” And a far cry from Lor’kora’s suit, the one that ate the slain, but those weren’t memories that Selka Anthirri Ventus of iBorg should possess. “And of course there are more common, straightforward ways to get basic strength enhancement; frankly, I hear some Twi’lek is now selling suits that’ll enhance your strength ten or twenty times, en masse. Now [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]that’s [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]technology we should be playing with. Then again, reverse-engineer people’s work and rip it off, and you wind up like Aurora Industries is going to wind up.”[/SIZE]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

Mr. Bereguson was one of the more prominent scientists of the R&D department of the Saiba Group. Most of his days he spent on little projects here and there, experimenting here, experimenting there -- it was a dream job in every sense of the word. All the funds a man could ask for, laboratories scattered across Primeval space (which meant that the issue of ethics never even came into play) and brilliant minds collaborating on making things happen.

It was Bereguson who had worked on the Everlast and it was also Bereguson who had co-opted the project that spawned Cherek-01 and her cybernetics for the Techno Union.

"Saiba Group inherited the Cardio-Muscular Package. Rybcoarse is an old solution, but a viable one. If nanotechnology is off the table then we should look into bio-engineering instead. It won't be as efficient, healing any wounds will take much more time, but it will certainly be more cost-effective."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darell Irani"]

The case of [member="Arto Kool"] was a unique one, though frankly Selka didn't care much about the specifics. She'd brought business and marketing talent, and a wealth of connections, and a wealth of wealth, to iBorg. She'd been an angel investor. The technical acumen, however, boiled down to her excellent Selkath business partners. Inventors, biotechnicians, engineers, surgeons. The teams that would translate these decisions into practicalities.

"And there's that one suit floating around -- the one that that Black Sun enforcer started using after the Dark Harvest crisis -- didn't footage analysis peg that at ten or twenty times strength enhancement? Not to mention those suits the Protectorate was churning out for a while. Or the droids that Aurora keeps flopping around with, or the Vanir stuff. Those people had disposable income, I suppose. Connections. Fortunately, Mr. Kool has connections also. I'm glad to see you representing those connections so well, Mr. Bereguson. So yes, let's talk about rybcoarse. What are your feelings on strength-to-flexibility ratios, and rybcoarse versus servomotors? Is it worth it to you, do you think?"

She was not an expert; she knew she was not an expert; and she had no desire to present herself as an expert.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

"The realization that we should make is that a warrior that cannot move is a worthless warrior in modern combat scenarios. As it stands it will be more worthwhile for the subject to be agile, quick on his feet and fast, then to be a behemoth hulk that can smash anything in his way... but can't actually reach his target before being ridden with bullets. I remember looking over partial schematics of that particular power armor - my employer has an understanding with the Vigo of the Black Suns, but that's exactly the thing. That piece of armor was a tank in itself. It could withstand whatever was thrown at it and keep going, mister Kool does not have this luxury."

Bereguson raised his hand that had a Holodiver attached to it. With a few button presses and a wave a holographic representation of a single string of muscle fiber got projected in front of them. Quite the scene. His free hand moved it around a bit, adjusted the magnifying level and then froze the image.

"Servomotors will mean additional maintenance to account for natural wear and tear -- or a fresh bucket of Everlast every so often, but that can be a hassle in the middle of a long-duration operation. Rybcoarse on the other hand mooches off on the body's chemical processes to heal itself... the subject will need to eat more to compensate, but that's directly proportionate to the amount of energy expenditure."

The doctor manipulated the holographic settings some more and a graph appeared beside the fiber. It provided a sweet spot between the optimal strength levels and the attached maneuverability.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Nothing beat on-the-job training. And frankly, if she intended to play the long game with iBorg, Iron Crown, and the Foundation Trust -- all bound up with projects like these -- she needed this kind of technical education. Time permitting. Time was always the limiting factor. She'd had those troubles in her struggle to balance Silk with the road to Sith Mastery, and she'd only really achieved the latter at the expense of the former. Or maybe that was post hoc ergo propter hoc. Maybe her reduced duties at Silk -- a very long story involving a Jedi illusionist and the highest levels of the Tion Hegemony -- had been what cleared the path for her. She had some skepticism for anyone who managed to run a galactic corporation or government while attempting to become legitimately powerful in the Force. That hinted of serious preparation or, possibly, incompetence.

Present-in-spirit company excepted.

"Well, I'm sold," she said. "Frankly, I'm fascinated. I'll get the brothers on it." Her Selkath partners, the brains of the operation. "I'm sure they've considered this in more detail than I have. Up until now, too, I've urged them to stick to what we do best: servomotors and neural implants. But this...I don't see them having any problem with this."

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

This was exactly what he loved about his job. Spending the whole day trying to figure out problems, discussing solutions and coming up with new theories was the best way to spent a day -- the fact that Selka wasn't a technical genius was not of consequence, at least she had the correct frame of mind in business. Being that she didn't try to act like she knew what she was doing and as a result hamper progress by trying to force her own desires on a project. So many executives without proper scientific background trying to talk the talk, but stumbling at the basic principles.

Very saddening, mostly.

The doctor gave a fraction of an inclination, acknowledgement of offered praise, before looking back to the holograph. "Hmm, though we should figure out a way to regulate the way the rybcoarse acts once it is attached to the primary muscle fibers. The preferred option would be to have a linear downturn in-"

He smiled apologetically.

"Forgive me, I am rambling. Is there anything else I can help with?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Prototyping season was generally about this haphazard. And thus, she didn't mind the slapdash nature of the project, the meeting, the budgeting. Not when it meant improved connections with Saiba Group and the other partners of the Foundation Trust. iBorg might not be a do-everything company like Saiba or, to a lesser extent, the capships-and-camping-gear specialization of Iron Crown. But in this particular aspect, she was pretty sure once she let her Selkath partners off the leash, iBorg could punch above its weight.

"That's everything at my end," she said. "Since time's of the essence, I'll have my engineers come in and you can talk this through with them. I'm afraid I've been keeping them constrained a little for budget purposes, but I suspect that was me filling the mistaken modern mold. It takes a different skillset to lead than it does to create, and I am no creator." She stood. "I'm afraid I have another appointment. Stocks and bonds-" And gene banks and galactic archives. "-wait for none. Thank you for your time, Mr. Bereguson and, as ever, my compliments to your employer."

Her Shasan Adept aide, Dificul, came in to escort Bereguson to the engineers.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

"I am sure he will be sending you more roses soon, miss Ventus. You have my sympathies. Good luck." the scientist replied without so much as a smirk or a grin. Irani paid him quite well, but the level of unprofessionalism he displayed every once in a while was just staggering. It was only the sheer freedom of operation and Mr. Irani's ability to realize he did not know everything there was to know, that prevented him from looking for a different employer. Perhaps that [member="Gerion Ardik"] character that the Saiba CEO consorted with on an almost daily basis.

He seemed... efficient and respectable. Before those thoughts could go any further for cultivation the aide got his attention. Bereguson stood up from his chair and followed the selkath dutifully. In the meanwhile pondering about the ramifications of clearly amphibian creatures and their widespread nature from the aquatic environment.

Rumor had it that the Selkath had great cities hidden in the oceans. That Ahto City was simply the placeholder where they could make contact with the rest of the Galaxy without much threat to their domestical numbers. He wondered if the Saiba Group would be willing to commision an amphibious vehicle for better exploration.

But then again. Rumor also had it that the force sensitive population of the Selkath were quite formidable in the natural habitat of their species.

[member="Selka Ventus"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Rumor had it correctly. At least as far as the Selkath went. Ahto City was a point of contact, no more; the great Selkath settlements were underwater, and the two massive Firaxa sharks that had replaced the dead Progenitor. And the Order of Shasa, moving in secret, living in plain sight among the rest of the Selkath -- Shasa was strong too. Many of Selka's closest confidantes were Shasan Adepts in their private lives. Some might say she'd blackmailed the Shasans; others might say the leverage went in the other direction. Both assessments would be accurate: she and the Shasans had more than enough information to sink each other. Such was the nature of family.

Family, in the end, was the guiding principle of iBorg. It had started as a family business, bringing connectedness and reasons for fellowship to its customers. Some implants, like the Attanni, gave direct connectivity. Others just made people feel whole, feel welcome, feel appreciated...

...or, in the case of Arto Kool's new body, feel respected. A person again, and not just human but transhuman. Something to aspire to be. Though Selka's aspirations were mostly in the past, a smile still crossed her face at the thought of helping someone achieve theirs. She knew the smile would be misinterpreted. "Your employer can give flowers to whoever he likes. Without reciprocation."

 

[Hira Mitsae]

"I will pass that along too. Though knowing him it won't be much of a deterrent. Goodbye, miss Ventus."

Bereguson wasn't exactly a people's person. Hence that he missed her smile entirely, quite too busy analyzing the data on his Holodiver and trying to figure out new ways to make the rybcoarse more efficient and viable as a candidate. But even if he had seen it, he probably wouldn't have been interested enough to do anything with the visual stimuli. People were slightly boring, unless they brought something scientific to the table.

With that the aide and him left the room. She had her appointments to keep and he had a date with the two foremost scientists of iBorg, perhaps together they could solve the issue of the receptors not properly conveying the ATP packets from the biological tissue. Solving that the issue of energy would be... well, it wouldn't be completely solved.

But it would definitely be more efficient.

[member="Selka Ventus"]