Two Can Keep a Secret

[Kuzo]

Down in the lower levels, beyond the point where middle class bled into poor, was the Agua District. Stretching between avenues, just teetering on the border, it had been years since the streets of the district could be called safe. Rife with rival gang violence, the destitute and the simply unlucky, it was a rough area for anyone, whether they called it their home or not.

But in the last six months, things had been slowly improving. Ostensibly, it had started with the opening of the doors to the Sou Emergency Medical Center. Current local gossip attributed the rest of it to that- gang violence had dropped off dramatically around the same time. Perhaps they had unofficially decided to consider the med center a sort of neutral ground. Perhaps they drew the line at full out fire fights when they weren't sure if they'd be shooting at doctors and nurses or not. No one knew, and no one really cared. The lowering of the crime rate, coupled with the availability of low cost medical care opened a wide door of possibilities to these people who had fallen through the cracks of Coruscant society. The Agua District was not perfect, they all agreed, but it was better.

And when the surety of a next meal was in question any day of the week, better was good enough.

Of course, not everything was as it seemed. Despite things quieting down, there was the slightest uptick in missing persons reports. Not much. Just a percentage point or two. A number so small it was easy to dismiss by the authorities who were not boots on the ground in the Coruscant Undercity. These things fluctuated all the time, after all.

Didn't they?

It was late afternoon- down in the Agua District, that already meant twilight falling. This deep in the city, the daylight was lost sooner than farther up, but it was normal and the lights of the local shops started to buzz to life, one by one. From the amber glow of the mechanic's shop on the far corner where the light failed first, all the way to the calming blue of the S.E.M.C. where the last of the rays reflected back into the district.

Irajah Ven, known here as Doctor Calais, was busy taking on an understaffed shift in the clinic. Sometimes she did it to seek out and hand pick patients, sometimes merely because she was bored. And others, because sometimes there was a certain nostalgia to it.

Petite, slender and full of a barely constrained energy, Irajah ushered in her next patient, a Selonian with a swollen jaw, when the door to the clinic chimed. Liquid hazel eyes glanced over just long enough to take note of the man entering, meeting azure eyes for just a heartbeat. And then with a swish of white lab coat and dark curls, she was gone again.

The nurse at the front desk would fit him into a queue, she was certain.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_AyjjBAV8c[/media]​

[member="Seamus Valik"]​

 

[Seamus Valik]

He walked calmly from the transit center, gloved hands stuffed in the pockets of his long grey overcoat. He had been making a name for himself in certain circle here on Coruscant. He was known for getting things done, or so he was told. The recent rise in disappearances in the Agua District had been deemed by CorSec as low priority but the Togrutan Captain that he worked with on his last job had slipped him a little extra business. They didn't particularly care from the way they acted but it was worth sending a private party to nose around.

He kept his eyes up as he walked which already made him stand out in stark contrast to the people he saw around the area whose eyes were cast down at the street more often than not. The smells of decaying trash and other thing he hardly wanted to consider were stronger here than a level or two up and he wanted to hand out credits to more people than he had credits to give. He wound his way around the streets but he saw little from first glance that seem any different than any other poorly kept city street. He stopped at a shop, the owner an aging Bothan, met him with more cheer than he would have expected.

"What's good, chief?" The Bothan said fur rippling at his neck for a moment. Wary, then it seemed.

"I'll take a sweet tea." Seamus said pulling out a small credit chip as he watch the shop keep closly, "And if you can tell me who I might talk to about some disappearances in the area you can keep the change."

The Bothan thought for a moment meeting Seamus' bright blue eyes. "Try the med center, Gov." the Bothan replied, "They know just about everyone there."

The old shopkeep slid the plastic container of cold sweet tea across the counter and accepted the credits gladly. Seamus didn't bother worrying that they went into the male's pocket and not the till.

He walked out and turned down the street and handed the drink to a young man walking the other way.

"Say," He began as he handed over the container, "Could you point me to the closest Med center?"

The boy eyed him for a moment then took the drink and pointed down the street.

"Yeah, take this street two blocks and hang a left." The boy said in a thick Coruscanti accent, "It's down about two more blocks can't miss it."

"Thank's, Bruv." Seamus said using local slang and started walking.

It didn't take long for the area to get cleaner, and for the gang signs on the walls to become fewer. What ever people did elsewhere they seemed to be keeping it away from the Medical Clinic. As he approached he pulled out his data pad and checked his messages before pulling up a list of known missing persons in the area. He couldn't help but wonder if this case and the other he had been contacted for were in anyway related.

He walked through the door and noted it was the only visible exit before he took note of the variety of beings that seemed to be trying hard not to sit close to one another in the waiting room. He looked across the reception area and met a pair of liquid hazel eyes set above alabaster cheeks. He took a moment to reflect as the slender woman disappeared behind a door to the back, he had a thing for hazel eyes lately it seemed.

He approached the front desk and flashed his best smile, azure eyes lighting up with the genuine expression.

"Hello, Seamus Valik checking in." He began with as much charm as he dared, "I was hoping I could speak to someone about some local missing persons?"

[member="Irajah Ven"]​

 

[Kuzo]

"Missing?" The duty nurse's eyebrows shot up and she nodded.

"Do you have names and a picture? I can cross reference with our records. We at the S.E.M.C. are always happy to help the local authorities."

It was deliberate. Written into the administrative set up of the center. While only the center's administrator knew how much of a hand Irajah had in the shaping of their policies, even she didn't know the why of it all.

She kept chatting as the information was shared and she started typing it into the system.

"Agua District is a rough place," she confided, as if she were imparting some sort of secret he couldn't have gleaned from his own simple walk through the streets. "The people are good, if they have a chance though, dontchaknow? A lot of families, lot of hard workers down on their luck. Business owners shackled to a storefront they can't afford to move, but can't afford to keep. A lot of kids that got sucked up into gang violence cause they didn't have no place else that felt like they could move up."

She spoke with the cheerful concern of someone who had never had those experiences herself, but considered herself an expert in them nonetheless, lacking the weight of actual expertise.

"Medical Center here was a force-send. A lotta people getting a second chance that wouldn't have- did you know we even have some local volunteers now?"

Chattery gossip.

"I can't help you with all of these unfortunately," she looked up, apology written in her eyes. "But a couple of them are in our system. Hopefully that'll change the longer we're here and people get more comfortable counting on-"

She paused, laughed and shook her head. "Sorry, I do ramble. Let's see. Doctor Ramor isn't here today, he saw most of them.... Oh, Doctor Calais treated two of the people on your list. She just went in with a patient. If you don't mind waiting, as long as we don't get any emergencies in between now and the time she's done, I'll flag her down to talk to you. Of course, someone comes in here bleeding out from a knife wound, well, you might have to make an appointment. But she'll take the time- sweet, hard working. Keeps to herself, but always has a friendly word and an extra cup of caf for me when she comes in, that one. If you'll take a seat sweetie she'll be out in a minute."

[member="Seamus Valik"]

 

[Seamus Valik]

He smiled and nodded through the onslaught of information. The woman's chatter was about as disarming a thing as one could experience. Her calm easy manner actually reminded him of his mum and the way she would chatter like a bird on a windowsill when he was a child.

"Of course," he said as she spoke of people turning to gangs. It was common. It gave them a sense of purpose, power, control, community and in hard times many youth needed one or more of those things.

He smiled and nodded again as he accepted back his datapad and stuffed it deep in his pocket by his lightsaber. He kept the latter more for symbolic reasons really but he rarely used it outside of meditation and practice these days.

"That would be excellent, thank you very much for your help." He said as he patted the desk and went to take a seat beside a mother and child. They seemed to be fine overall but the child seemed skittish to say the least.

He gave the girl a grin and took a piece of hard candy from his hip pocket.

"Want to see a trick, poppet?" He said and gave a wink at her nod.

He tugged his sleeves back and waved his hands to give the motion an air the mysterious. He closed his eyes as his hands moved in circular motions.

"Abbra cadabra." He said as he reached behind her ear and pulled back to show the hard candy wrapped in a printed clear cellophane.

"Are you a Jedi?" The girl asked wide eyed.

"No, poppet." He said before looking at the mother, "May she?"

"Sure." The young woman said with an affectionate smile for the girl.

Seamus handed over the prize and leaned back and removed his datapad again to check his messages. He gave a small sigh as he noticed he still had none from the lady a few nights ago. He decided to log into the shadowport investigations email and began sending messeges to himself about his current findings. It would make it all easier to compile the data into the case file later.

He nodded satisfied and began goofing off on the Earthwarsrp.net site he had found. Nothing else to do now but wait. However, he couldn't shake those hazel eyes from his thoughts. Something was in motion here, and he hoped it was just that he liked hazel eyes, but he wasn't so sure.


[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

The duty nurse sent Irajah a ping through the center's data system- all doctors and nurses had an in house data pad that was used while they were on duty- it was an easy way to assess patients and share the information, order tests and call for the attention of a particular volunteer when needed without announcing it loudly over speaker system. While the ER was always chaotic, nothing could avoid that, it helped keep the walk in clinic lower key and calmer than these were prone to being, especially in such poor districts.

The effect, of course, was deliberate.

So even before she stepped out of the exam room, ushering out the Selonian, she knew who was waiting for her, and why.

"Head to the front desk and she'll have the antibiotics and something to help with the pain brought down from the pharmacy," Irajah said with a smile. "Stick to soft foods for awhile- if we're lucky we'll be able to get the swelling down. If it doesn't start feeling better in a few days though, please come back in. Don't wait," she added sternly and the Selonian nodded.

"Thanks Doc," it purred, padding toward the duty nurse who would have already received the file and prescriptions necessary.

Irajah's eyes flicked over it before closing it.

Such a shame there was such a long list in the 'next of kin' box. Oh well.

She wasn't the sort to take avoidable risks, after all.

Catching the eye of the nurse, the other woman tipped her head toward the tall, blue eyed man she'd noticed arriving just a bit ago. Engaged with a mother and child, she approached easily, watching him for a moment and waiting until he had finished and had noticed her before stepping up to introduce herself.

Beyond petite, Irajah was down right short. Slender, even with the high necked sweater beneath the white lab coat, there was little physical substance to the woman. Long black hair was coiled at the base of her neck, but over the course of the day strands had come undone, dark curls framing her face. Her hand as she offered it was pale, nails kept short and neat. Fingers were long and lithe- the hands of a surgeon or a pianist.

"Hello Mister Valik," she said, her voice soft but friendly as she held out her hand to shake. "Welcome to S.E.M.C. I'm Doctor Calais, one of the volunteers here. Would you prefer to speak here or in private?"

The lie was easy. The persona wasn't a lie, after all, simply the name.

[member="Seamus Valik"]

 

[Seamus Valik]

Seamus looked up at the small woman. Her slight form and birght hazel eyes the way her black hair coiled at the base of her slender neck. Her eyes held a kind of virbant intelligence that was easy to appreciate and for a moment a breif moment he wished he wasn't working. Obviously, he needed to meditate more. He had been too free with his unprofessional thoughts of late.

He stood casually but had forgotten the datapad on his lap and it fell to the waiting room floor. He used the chance. He stooped down quickly to pick it up and noted her shoes and slender legs. Small details could be important but the action would likely seem like he had other reasons for looking.

He stood calmly dusting off his datapad and stuffing it into his jacket to lightly collide with his lightsaber hilt.

"How clumsy of me." He said as he looked down at the woman and offered a hand. He noted her small slender hands as his larger gloved hand enveloped hers with a gentleman's grasp. "A pleasure, Doctor. I'm sorry to trouble you but I think speaking in private would be best."

He gave a quick glance to the child and her mother as he thought that it would be best not to upset any of the patients.

He released her hand and looked down with his bright azure eyes and gave a friendly smile.

"If it's no trouble that is?" He said his intentionally pleasant smile still in place. Yes, if only he wasn't working. He liked a good intelligent conversation. Shame.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

A flicker of amusement crossed her face at the 'clumsy' scene- but otherwise she didn't comment on it. Her shoes? Business sensible, comfortable slip ons with just the minimum lift to be considered maybe a heel. Shoes for when sneakers weren't appropriate but comfort when standing all day was necessary. Because she was wearing a knee length skirt, she did in truth assume he was checking out her calves, but if it bothered her, she gave no sign.

"No trouble at all," she said with a small tip of her head. "Dana? We'll be up in my office, if anything comes up please-"

"I'll buzz you right away, Doc," the nurse confirmed with a smile. "Put a fresh pot of caf on not that long ago if you want to swing through the lounge on your way."

The relief on Irajah's face was clear, the smile genuine. "Thank you Dana, much appreciated. Mister Valik? If you'll follow me?"

Threading to the back of the building, they headed up a staircase, just past the emergency exit there.

"Could have taken the lift," she explained apologetically. "But it's just one floor so I tend to default to the stairs. It's best to leave that for patients and the older staff to use I figure."

The doctor's lounge was empty but smelled of good caf, higher quality than might be expected for a clinic in this part of town. Irajah poured a pair of mugs, offering him one and pointing out the creamer and sugar (the later of which she stirred generously into her own mug, dark and sweet).

She didn't press him for why he was here until they reached her office. Small, just enough room for a desk, two chairs, and a slightly ratty couch that looked like it had seen better days.

"Alright," she said, indicating that he should sit where ever was most comfortable. Settling behind the desk herself, she blew gently on the steaming caf before fixing him with curiosity filled hazel gaze.

"The message from Dana wasn't very detailed. Missing persons. I'll do whatever I can to help of course, but I'm not sure how much help it will be unfortunately. So many of our patients never come back, some of them I suspect don't even live in the district. But please, what can I do for you, to help?"

[member="Seamus Valik"]

 

[Seamus Valik]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Seamus walked calmly behind the petite doctor, shoulders back, hands deep in his pockets. Nothing seemed out of sorts so far and he had a sinking feeling he was going to be wasting the good doctor's time.

"Of course." He said as he fell into step.

The building was remarkably clean for this area of Coruscant and the smells of cleaning solutions lingered in the air. He took a gloved hand from his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck to calm the prickles, likely caused by an actual working air conditionering system.

"The stairs are perfectly fine, Doctor." He said with a slight smile. Her innate care for others to the point of accepting even a minor inconvenience was refreshing. He was begining to think he was the only one.

He followed closly and gave a glance around the lounge as they walked to the Caff maker. He accepted a cup gladly and watched as she added some sweetener and stirred. He calmly added some creamer and a small amount of sweetener then began stirring lightly.

He took a brief sip to test his caff before he followed her out quietly. Her office wasn't far and he assumed she wanted to broach the subject in private like he suggested so he kept quiet. He had never had trouble keeping quiet but since Serenity's Redoubt he often had to have some noise just to remind himself the netherworld was behind him.

He followed her into her office and calmly took the seat offered with an exaggerated sigh of relief. He smiled at the good doctor and sat his caff on her desk as he pulled out his datapad. A few quick swipes and a click or two and he had a list that was narrowed down to just the people that had been seen here.

"Yes, well," he said turning his datapad and sliding it across her desk, "I don't expect much Doctor Calais. I'm just trying to establish a timeline at the moment to help narrow down exactly when and where they were last seen. Anything you can remember will be helpful. Even the smallest detail could be useful."

He settled back and took his caff. He blew on it lightly as he watched the woman's hazel eyes. Almost like Dante's eyes. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

 

[Kuzo]

She accepted the data pad, gaze on the screen there as her other hand pulled up a holoscreen from her own desk, tapping the controls there without looking as she scanned the information he'd offered her.

Oh, she recognized several of the faces in question. Only two of them she had seen in her official capacity here at the S.E.M.C.. In general, she was careful, very careful. Only rarely did she take subjects she had interacted with personally- when she did it was because there was something exceptional.... or exceptionally interesting.... about them. Four of his missing persons had gone into her labs on the upper floors. One of them, as it happened, was still up there.

Sort of.

The others had been sent to Maena when she was done, sent on to [member="Kalak the Raykkan"]. No bodies to dispose of locally. It kept things tidier that way, and once she was done with them, what use did they have to her? She was not interested in the dead, after all.

Her experiments required the living.

Nothing she told him was a lie. Simply specific truths. Omissions as necessary but difficult to pinpoint without knowing what was missing already.

"Well, as Dana I'm sure mentioned, I treated Corin Glas and Delbert Chase in the clinic," she started, long slender fingers pulling up the two files from their own database. Her personal files? Unattached to the clinic's. "I remember them both well."

She was careful. But it had only been a matter of time until someone noticed they were gone of course.

"Miss Glas came in for a pre-natal check," she continued. "But the fetus lacked a heart beat. It was sad for her, but these things happen unfortunately, especially in the slums. She left the day I saw her, but was supposed to return to have the pregnancy terminated. The records show she never returned for that appointment."

In truth the unborn child had been very much alive. A Firrerreon hybrid that probably would have died outside of the womb but was indeed very, very much alive at the time. A healing factor off the charts. Irajah hadn't been certain in truth if it would have died after childbirth or not. The father, Firrerreon (deceased, speeder accident), mother human, and thus she was just as interested in the mother's genetics that would have reinforced the father's in such a way.

It was a shame it had ended up being an anomaly, rather than anything replicable.

"I remember Mister Chase because he was sweet," she said, looking up at him with a wistful smile. "Elderly, widower.... shameless flirt but kept his hands to himself." She chuckled, shaking her head. "He came in for, well, to be honest, the usual effects of old age. He couldn't keep warm, his hands shook, he was sleeping less and less. He wanted to make sure it was nothing serious, and as far as I could find it wasn't. I suggested he start coming in for regular appointments however, because I had concerns about his heart. He'd developed a murmur that he hadn't noticed and I wanted to monitor it. He came in twice after that, no worsening of his cardiac condition, but he was slowly deteriorating. As I said, elderly.... lonely I assume, the way he would chatter whether I gave him an opening or not.... his next appointment is supposed to be next week."

She frowned slightly. That had been a disappointment. He had been a survivor of the strange Netherworld event that had ripped through the galaxy- the man had been very forthcoming about that. She had hoped to find that his symptoms were linked to that and not simply to aging. Unfortunately that did not seem to be the case. Mister Chase was, simply put, just growing old. His body had given out long before she could test any potential residual link between him and the Nether, and he had been of little use to Kalak and his needs.

Fortunately the technobeasts were less picky.

"Both of them listed no one as next of kin, both seemed lonely," she said with a sigh, looking up at him. "Do you have any leads?"

[member="Seamus Valik"]

 

[Seamus Valik]

He listened patiently as she discussed what she knew of the two missing persons. His blue eyes watched over the rim of his cup as she brought up her own records and began detailing what she could of the persons. Both poor, both with no listed next of kin. He had hoped that something would jump out at him to connect these disappearances with the others he had been investigating, but there seemed to be none yet. The others halfway across the planet had been all force sensitive or were related to force sensitives. These thus far had nothing in common other than being poor and alone.

“No, no leads yet.” He said with a reserved calm, “Other than being poor, with no next of kin they seem to be unconnected. Did either of them mention owing some one money or maybe being worried about their safety in anyway?”

The fact that they both listed no next of kin had already begun to concern him. Random attackers wouldn’t be able to know who did or didn’t have family close by. It would have to either be coincidence or intentional, and Seamus had a few reasons to not be a full believer in the existence of coincidence. He looked at the woman again and pulled off his gloves and stuffed them in his pocket before he picked his cup back up and let the heat get into his fingers.

He had to wonder how long someone would have to follow a person to decide they had no next of kin, and why. It could be local gangs, and who would know the people in the area better than other locals? Someone, could have access to their personal records, but that would mean the person or persons causing the disappearances was either very good, or very lucky. He considered more possibilities with another, sip of his caff.

“Would it be possible for anyone else in the area to have access to these person’s personal information?” He asked wondering how many institutions in the area could be available to gain information from. People in this sector were rarely active enough on the holonet to have a horde of records or activity. “The fact that they have no next of kin and were of little means, makes me wonder if they were in anyway connected. Even the lower levels families tend to stay close together, perhaps more so. What are the chances that two missing persons in the exact same area both go missing within weeks of each other and neither one has any family that would notice them missing? The only one to report these two was the owners of their housing complexes.”

He sat for a moment and scratched the short stubble on his chin before he realized he had said entirely too much again. He took another sip of his caff and looked at his datapad on her desk. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to their disappearance than just random chance. And something in his gut told him there was more to it than just poor, no family, and here. On a whim, and do to his other case as much as personal curiosity, he asked one more question.

“Doctor, did either of them show any signs of potential force sensitivity?” He asked as he sat his cup down and drew on the force for clarity of mind. However it didn’t seem to work. In fact the only thing he could think of was his time lost in the Netherworld and the fact that just like these missing persons he had been alone, with nothing, and wouldn’t have been missed by a single being. He caught himself staring at her or rather off into the distance in her direction and gave an awkward smile.




[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

She shook her head. "No mention of fears, of owing anyone money. To live here it's impossible to not accrue some level of debt, but nothing struck me as specific concerns related to these two."

She could have lied there, made something up. But she had an uncanny feeling that if she said anything that did not ring true, this man would pick up on it. So she stuck to the truth- which she was more comfortable with anyway- because it protected her far better than a lie would.

There was no link besides the ones he had found. Irajah was very careful- meticulous in fact- to keep that so. There were subjects she had rejected, despite the desire to work on them, because there had been similarities between them and past patients. Of course, if someone had been able to look at the entire sample, instead of just these two, the lack of any other coincidental links would have been a red flag itself. But two? Not so strange to have no other connections.

"It's possible," she said with a frown. "The center is here to administer to this sector, but it's funding is spent on that rather than for things like cyber security for instance. We are lucky to have such generous donors, but there's always more to do that simply takes precedence over things like that. Do you really think someone could be utilizing our files for such a thing?"

Innocently asked, but she needed to know just what he suspected, how far he'd gone in his mental search. It was clear that wherever his mind was moving to, he wasn't there yet. But he was already too close for comfort. If he dug too deep he would find irregularities. He'd have to get a warrant to access those company files yes, but there were certain tracks Irajah could not cover. These weren't obvious, she had been careful. But it was possible, and she would be a fool to think otherwise.

At his next question however, she blinked.

"We don't test midichlorian levels when patients come into the clinic, Mister Valik," she said evenly. Truth, again. That didn't mean she wasn't aware of the fact that, indeed, both of these patients had been sensitives. Untrained, weak, unknowing, but sensitives nonetheless. "We rely heavily on self reporting for details such as that, more social history than related to medicine."

Also because if it was in the files, it could be tracked.

A hunch, but she had learned not to ignore those, understanding that was often the Force rather than simple gut response.

"Do you have other cases? Related to missing Force Sensitives, Mister Valik? And.... I apologize if I am being nosy, but.... you said that the way someone might who was one themself..... I'm sorry that's... that's terribly rude of me, forget I asked."

The way he had said it. There was..... something. She resisted the urge to chew on her bottom lip. Even if he didn't answer, she hoped his reaction would tell her everything she needed.

[member="Seamus Valik"]

 

[Seamus Valik]

He looked at her now, and quietly focused on her face, those beautiful bright eyes, the perfect features of her cream skinned face, and he couldn’t help a sense of unease about this case. He didn’t sense danger, and he could tell she hadn’t lied to him since he had arrived. But the slightest tensing of her mouth when he had asked the question about the patients being force sensitive told him there was something about the topic that she wasn’t quiet saying. And the way the tension immediately disappeared told him she was very could at keeping the surface calm regardless of whatever she was thinking. He didn’t need the force for that. In fact his second Master had forbade using the force to read people until he had learned to do it with his other “mundane” senses. She was calm as still waters, but then still waters ran deep, and he was suddenly not sure just how much he should say about the other case.

“There is another rash of disappearances,” He began as he focused his eyes on hers now, “I don’t think they are related but all the others were force sensitive according to local birth records. They apparently kept up the practice of testing infants even after the Jedi left.”

He knew he hadn’t answered her last question. He wanted to gauge the reactions to is answers separately. She seemed extremely intelligent and that always made people harder to read. He couldn’t afford to make a mistake with a stranger, not again.

“And don’t feel bad about asking.” He began flashing an understanding smile, “Curiosity is the mother of learning after all and as a Doctor I’m sure you agree.”

He paused to take a sip of his caff, which turned into a longer drink as he focused his mind on the force and asked it for wisdom but didn’t draw on it. The force would do what it wanted with him when it was ready, another lesson learned the hard way.

“But to answer your question, yes.” He said watching her face closely, “I was a Jedi once, right here on Coruscant but that was before the Nether world crisis. I’m just a detective now. The other disappearances are far more blatant, as well. Multiple people taken within days of each other, some in front of their families, but it appears to be related to known slave rings. Your patients may just be a coincidence or the result of a rough district.”

He didn’t believe that though. There was something more to this, serial killer maybe? A left over Sith taking disciples or a loose monster from the One Sith’s pens that was trained to hunt force sensitives maybe? He didn’t have an answer yet, but it wasn’t random. He could feel it.





[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

She listened with polite interest. In truth she didn't really care about his other cases, but it was the avenue to the information she did want. That query had allowed her to segue naturally into the question she really wanted to know.

Her eyes met his as he focused on her face and it was there that she made the decision. Something in the quality of his gaze on her face had shifted- almost imperceptible if she hadn't been watching for it. It wasn't suspicion, nothing that obvious. But the gears were turning and she knew without having to push that if she let him walk out of her office today, he would be back.... and someone would know where he was and why he was there.....

And that a certain Doctor Calais was just who he was going to see.

The biggest problem? The Calais persona was good. It was put together well, built from the ground up with the proper identification, records at the Coruscant School of Internal Medicine, a history of rented apartments.... but none of it was real. This was not a man content to look at names on a file. He would dig. While she and [member="Jairus Starvald"] had dropped implanted memories into a certain professor and a landlord here or there, it would not be enough to hide the fact that Doctor Calais did not exist- not to someone like this. As soon as he got the first indication of that... he wouldn't let go.

She could try to dig herself, see who knew he was here..... but in truth, that was immaterial in this moment.

All of that would have been enough. But the information that he was a Jedi..... or had been. And there was the Netherworld Crisis again. And again, something about the way he said it.

Hazel gaze met blue. But, she'd already decided.

Irajah nodded thoughtfully, then, as if remembering something, starting rifling through the drawers in her desk as she spoke.

"There used to be reports of gangs selling people off to slavers in this district," she murmured. It was mostly irrelevant, but she wanted him to have to focus on that. She frowned, as if what she was looking for were in another drawer. Bending lower, half her face behind the desk now, she opened up the next one. "But that was months before we opened our doors. Agua district isn't safe of course, but it's safer than it used to be. Some people think it's because of the medical center- we'll patch up gang related violence as surely as handle pre-natal care, so it's in the gangs best interests to give this area a wide berth. A sort of neutral zone in the local turf wars. I'm not so sure. I think that, perhaps, something else is going on."

She frowned again, opening the third drawer down.

"Could have sworn it was here," she muttered.

It was, of course. She had palmed the syringe at the second drawer.

"Anyway, I have some files here somewhere," she looked up at him, tone slightly exasperated at her apparent inability to lay hands on them. "I think they might help you."

She stood up, attention on the shelves and binders behind him. She murmured a soft excuse me as she came around the desk, brushing past his arm as she went to rifle through them.

"Something that happened here..... right before I started working at the clinic," she continued to talk, her tone that even keel it had been before as well. "Struck me as odd, so I held onto the report the doctor before me had made...."

Standing right there, just behind his shoulder, Irajah casually turned, sliding the needle of the syringe neatly into his neck. The cocktail was one she had been introduced to while working for the Zambranos, but she had refined it, adding a sedative in addition to the Force Suppressing capacities. Of course, it would take a few, vital heartbeats to flush his system, and already her hand was on his other shoulder, grip stronger than such a small woman had any right to be.

Force user.

Of course she was.

"Shh," she murmured softly. "Shhhhh."

[member="Seamus Valik"]

 

[Seamus Valik]

He sat calmly and watched the woman as she ruffled through her desk drawers. He listened foe the force to give him a hint of what to do but was met with only tension, like the surface of a gelatinous treat. The sweet spot was there but the surface didn't want to break so you could dig in quickly.

His mind went back to the netherworld that alien landsacpe where the force seemed like it was coated with oils, thick and difficult to siphon or shape. He recalled the leap of faith he had been forced to take to escape, that dark endless void that had rushed up to greet him after years of wandering lost and alone.

Why that? Why now? He could see the dots in his mind's eye but he couldn't seem to find just how they connected. He looked up finally focusing as she stood and moved behind him. Why in the world would a not for profit clinic like this have flimsiplast files on something like local gang activity?

His blue eyes opened wide a second before he felt the force flare behind him and the strong grip on his shoulder. The small prick like a bee sting on his neck came just as his hand went for the saber in his pocket.

"You..." was all he managed to say as an encroaching dark spread over his vision. He slumped back, kept from falling forward by the small hand clamped on his shoulder. The rest of what he wanted to say swollowed by unconsciousness.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

"Yes, me," she murmured softly, but she knew he was too far gone to hear her. She held onto him tightly so he didn't tumble out of the chair, then lowered him gently to the floor.

For a moment she considered, then nodded to herself and got to work.

*****

No one keeps a secret.

Except, perhaps, the man currently behind her, his chin on her shoulder, fingers splayed across her hips. [member="Jairus Starvald"] watched as she added something to the IV line, her attention on her patient as she brought him slowly back to consciousness.

While the clinic below them had been clean enough, it had not been anything resembling the gleaming, state of the art laboratory he found himself in. The difference was great enough that it would have been easy to assume he'd been brought somewhere else entirely- especially since she was still pumping force suppressing chemicals through his IV. Seamus was strapped to a table, ankles, thighs, wrists, chest, even his head secured firmly. It wasn't painful of course, but it was *thorough*.

"Wakey wakey," she chimed softly. "Oh good, you're awake."

Irajah smiled at him, the corners of those hazel eyes crinkling slightly at the genuine expression of pleasure as he started to come to. She waited until he was clear eyed enough to understand her, but before he had his own facilities returned enough to speak.

"Now, I'm going to be keeping your force potential subdued," she explained, her tone clipped and professional, as if they were in a normal doctor/patient relationship and that she hadn't drugged him and strapped him to a metal bed. "You'll still be able to feel things through it, it's not entirely suppressed because it's important to my research, you understand. But if you get any ideas, start throwing things around, I'll be forced to move you to the Yslamiri chamber and I want you to understand."

Her face was very serious as she looked down at him.

"I dislike working in there, and it changes just what I can study. So I would greatly prefer to not transfer you. It would make me cranky and it's been particularly difficult lately to pretend that I am not.... annoying on it's own but not relevant to your case of course. So, ultimately the choice is up to you, Mister Valik. I have two avenues of research."

Her eyes coasted up and down his body, but it was with a clinical bent.

"You have a connection with the Nether that I am very interested in. But I can only study that here. If we move into the Yslamiri chamber then I'll have to resort to my secondary line of research," she sighed. "Which, while interesting, is much easier to find subjects for. Not many people with a connection to the Nether walk through the clinic doors. Poor Dana, I've inserted so many memories of people leaving again who simply didn't, it's a wonder she's not more addle minded than she is. No matter. My other line of research-"

She paused, that hazel gaze coming back up to his face.

"-Are the transformative powers of pain. It's interesting, but rather more mundane. So!"

She clapped her hands, tilting her head slightly.

"Ultimately the choice is yours. I'd rather look into that Nether connection I felt while I was poking around while you were unconscious- don't worry I left everything in there alone. But if you can't behave, well." She shrugged.

"Do you have any questions for me? I don't mind telling you anything, I have no intention of letting you keep the memories after all."

Of course he did. She smiled. Irajah was, if nothing else, a largely honest person.

[member="Seamus Valik"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"] [member="Seamus Valik"]

It would be a strange contrast for Seamus to wake up to.

From the smol, but fierce Shrike to the mountain looming over her shoulder and looking down on his strapped-down self with corrupted amber eyes. If there was any doubt left what Irajah was, then this new presence would presumably clear that up rather quickly.

Sith.

Jairus stayed quiet in the meantime. Softly humming to himself, his chin pressed softly on her shoulder, head tilted slightly in curiosity while large hands rested comfortably on her hips. It all spoke of ease and relaxation. It implied that this was not the first time the duo had found themselves in this position. In fact, they had been doing this for a while now. He couldn't always be here, of course. Jai had his own business, his own job, his own things to occupy. But whenever it was possible he would join his love while she plied her trade.

Learning quietly and sometimes assisting where she could.

"Mmm, I would listen to your Doctor, friend." Once an answer wasn't as swiftly forthcoming as Jairus would have liked it to be. To some degree the Sith Lord understood, it wasn't every day that your world turned upside down.

From investigator and hunter Seamus had shifted towards a different kind of role. One of passivity and one where accepting one's fate was the only way to truly come out alive. Because fighting fate? That could be a deadly course of action, especially when in this situation fate was merely a catalyst for the duo he had encountered through his curiosity.

"You do not want to make her cross with you.... it would force her to become strict." A lazy smile tugged up as he kissed her neck softly, before detaching herself and allowing her freedom of movement. "Trust me?"

His tone was pleasant, all smiles and ease.

 

[Seamus Valik]

His head swam as it rolled back and forth against the cold metal table. His blue eyes opened slowly as the smells of cleaning solutions and sterilizing agrents assaulted his senses. The cold against his skin helped to bolster his slowly clearing thoughts as he tried to reach for his aching head. His arm stopped after a fraction of a centimetre and the memory of the shot to his neck became clear.

He reached for the force instinctively and found her words instantly confirmed. He had walked into his own death shroud, or that was at least how it felt. He met her eyes as he fought silently for calm and listened through the mental fog to her words. She was confident, intelligent, and obviously in need of constant mental care. For a moment, a very breif moment, he wondered just how someone like her could be twisted into this. However, the full knowledge that he was the object of her attentions was enough to focus his thoughts on more pressing matters, like survival.

His eyes remianed on hers and he let his disappointment read plainly in those sad eyes, his fear kept at bay by simply holding on to the fact that it was only him that was on the table. Better to suffer himself than watch the suffering of others. His gaze only left her to the other being in the room when he began to speak.

He knew that voice and when he looked he knew the eyes as well.

"Carach...figures." he said as he laid his head back and closed his eyes. The rising anger was something he was honestly not accustomed to. He wasn't the sort to be plagued by emotional extremes even amorous feelings had happened only twice in his whole life and both times had been terrible ideas. He focused on his training, not the code he had abandoned, but the experiences that had since shaped him into the man he was. Fear, anger, hate...they would gain him absolutely nothing but an extended stay and a painfully long demise. He had to focus, think logically, and find a way out. The netherworld...or pain. Not much of a choice really for an intelligent person. He took a breath.

"I feel sorry for you, doctor." He said keeping his eyes closed, "All this for so little gain. I would have volunteered for a legitimate study on the netherworld and how it effects me. You should have asked.

"But with your choice of company I can't say life choices are your strong suit."

He looked at them in turn and looked at the ceiling. Then he waited for the pain, it was always easier when you accepted it.




[member="Irajah Ven"] [member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Kuzo]

"Oh please love, this one isn't going to fall for that particular game," she said with a chuckle, turning her head slightly to lay a kiss on his cheek, that spot right beside the corner of his mouth.

"To be honest, I'm surprised I got the drop on him at all," she murmured, looking down at Seamus with a calculating gaze. "And you are correct, I could have asked. However, since there was no way to study it without giving up certain other secrets, things I would prefer the folks at the clinic no know, well." She shrugged.

It was a lifetime ago, wasn't it? That she had said words so similar to that.

If only you had asked.

She understood better now why sometimes that was simply not possible.

His jab didn't even ruffle her feathers. He knew nothing about her, how she had reached the place she was at. How few regrets she had about just how that had come to pass. He reminded her a little of herself, what felt like a eon ago. It was amazing how different things had become on the other side of the veil. The other side of the Nether.

She said none of this. Irajah was a practical sort. She wasn't promise to monologuing- she had nothing to prove to the man on the table before her.

His opinion would have either needed to matter so much more than it did, or she would have to have doubt within her for those words to feed on. Instead they found the stone foundation of someone who had been through hell and come back, strong than they had been before.

She did look up at Jai, arching an eyebrow.

"Friend of yours?"

But then she stopped, cocking her head at the man on the table.

"I can see the way the muscle tighten in your jaw," she said softly. "I'm all too familiar with preparing to endure pain, Mister Valik. While I am sure you do not believe me, I've given you no reason to, I meant it when I said if you cooperated I would not hurt you," she paused, lips pursing thoughtfully. "Well, perhaps I only implied it, but never mind. I'm not saying that this will be necessarily pleasant, you understand, but it's going to be.... well, more like drifting off into sleep. That place where your mind starts to wander, but you are still aware of your body. That place between awake and dreaming.... only in this case, I'll be bringing you to the point between dreaming.... and dying. That's the spot where the veil between here and the Nether is the thinnest. And the only place I can study what I seek."

She pulled with the Force, a tray on a servo arm drawing close. She chose a previously prepared syringe, double checked it, and inserted it into his IV line.

"This will feel cold," she informed him. "I've been conservative with the dose because I'm not sure just how you'll react to it, though if the amount of sedative I needed to keep you out is any indication, I suspect we'll need about twice this amount."

She looked at him, almost with a certain sympathy. "It's never pleasant, to almost die. But I've engineered this to be as painless as possible."

[member="Seamus Valik"] [member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Seamus Valik"] | [member="Irajah Ven"]

Jairus chuckled softly and briefly leaned into her kiss.

"Mm, well, I do so enjoy playing it." He did not seem disturbed at the mention of his name. Did he know this person? As Irajah spoke his mind went back, perusing old memories. When he was still the Voice of the Dark Lord and the things he had done. The people he had met. No. Not one of them had this face, but that didn't have to mean much. Carach had been a force, the cold rationality of the Dark Lord, speaking out against numerous pointless atrocities. But that did not prevent his support of useful ones. His hand had guided the fall of Ahto City, its second sinking causing the retreat of the Republic and for Manaan to join that chaotic Empire they had been building within the Core Worlds.

At Kashyyyk he had wielded the power of the Dark Lord himself.

It had almost ended him. Jairus did not speak again, but his voice softly brushed against her consciousness. This is your experiment, love, but I would like to find out how he knows me. Head tilted a fraction as the Sith Lord silently studied Valik.

Can I extract it? I will be gentle.

They were partners. Equals. It meant that their presence in each other's operations and spheres were somewhat bond by unspoken words. Consent was important, as was respect for each other's works. Anyone else would have been pushed aside. Jairus would simply have claimed the subject and taken what he needed. His priority higher than the priority of others. But this was Raj and this was her domain. He would respect it, even if his curiosity and hunger for knowledge was slowly rising as a tide inside of him.

She would feel that too.

Something told Jai that he could simply ask- after all, the Jedi had already claimed that he would have willingly submitted to these experiments, if they had asked. But memories were an odd thing and viewing them himself would tell him so much more.

 

[Seamus Valik]

"Emotion, yet peace. What do you think that means Seamus?" He asked.
"That you have emotion but you are at peace with them." Seamus replied.
"So, anger, hate, fear. What of those emotions?" He replied.
"Are they not natural? Can they not be controlled? There is peace in nature and those are natural feelings." Seamus said calmly.
"Natural yes. Yet, how does nature control these things?" He had asked.
"It's balanced by Love, joy, hope." Seamus replied.
"Balance." He had replied with a nod.

Seamus closed his eyes and took a breath as she spoke. The idea that there was no emotion was wrong. His master had taught him that. To have no emotion was to deny yourself the nature of life, the truth of a true Jedi was to make peace with the emotions. To find balance.

He opened his eyes and looked at the woman. Her small form was lovely, her eyes strong and determined. Her manner was that of of a simple scientist performing a simple task for the sake of knowledge. He could not hate her for that, fear her methods, hate what she had done, but not her. She was a being that had somehow been guided into taking people that may have volunteered for a price or a promise of a place to be useful. She was simply, wrong in her methods, not in her desire to understand. It was sad.

"Well then, I volunteer, Doctor." He said as he let his body relax. What did he have to fear in death? Death was as natural as birth, was it not?

He waited quietly as he let the force trickle in enough to remind him that there was something greater than himself that tied everything together. Even, the three of them in the sterile room were tied together by the same Force. Two, were just...out of balance.

"It would probably help if you told me what I can do to help other than lay still." He said his tone light for the situation, "Relax and die, seem a rather poor help to be honest."

He waited for the needle and the promised cold. He would try and remember what he felt maybe she would stop using the unwilling if he could enlighten her to the benefit of a willing subject maybe she would murder fewer people. It seemed a silly thought and likely far beyond the depths of her unbalance, but he could hold onto hope. There was always hope.


[member="Irajah Ven"] [member="Jairus Starvald"]