Under Neon Lights

[Morgan Redeaux]

“I have no idea actually,” Morgan admitted. Bartho Redeaux had created the HRD to be his companion, not his assistant or even involved in his affairs.

“When I realized the Coruscant compound was under attack, I got scared and fled. Funny, about that fight or flight response that you humans have. I’m pretty sure I experienced it for the first time.”

She smiled in light of the obvious mistreatment that had happened during her time with Mr. Redeaux. And when Surnin explained his upbringing, Morgan listened intently, her synthetic irises clear, eyes wide for the late hour. But when he had finished, she patted his hand softly, rose from the table and said, “You look tired, Mr. Strenger. I’ll let you get some rest.” Despite having combat sequences that could snap an organic’s neck, at the HRD’s core was a dutiful protocol droid, constantly alert and aware of its companion’s needs.

When the Ladytron finally reached M4-78 they were allowed to land on the droid-only planet, but only after the ship was searched by security droids and Morgan was scanned. In order to remain on the planet at least one of the “tourists” as they called them, needed to be an actual robot. Since their independence from the Sith, the electronic denizens of the planet were very cautious and today would be no exception.

“I think we have someone in mind who can help you, Ms. Redeaux, but you’ll have to be escorted at all times. Especially with your organic.” The tall KX-series droid barely acknowledged Surnin’s presence and spoke only to Morgan. And the way he said organic was as though he was referring to a pet and not a human.

[member="Surnin Strenger"]

 

[Surnin Strenger]

"Odd for something programmed to kill wouldn't you think?"

He inquired with an arched brow. An inherently curious prospect of a droid with combat programming built in manages to flee from those threatening its master. After their talk to laid across the sofa for a moment, letting off a breath of air from his nose he would laze, staring up at the fluorescent lights above him which drove his gaze into a harsh squint before he moved his arm over his eyes, his sleeved arm blocking the light before he'd drift into a short, sleepless rest.

As soon as they breached the atmosphere of the mechanical world, Surnin awoke and stood up, smoothing the cloak over his shoulders and sliding the maroon-crimson visage over his head. Entering concealed here as he had Coruscant seemed just as ideal. It wasn't as if they weren't full aware of who he was but it did enough to dampen his sore thumb appearance in the Synthetic's world. His maroon cloak draped over his form, concealing from the security droids that his right hand constantly rested over the grip of his blaster. He knew better to show any aggression or disdain to the droids on their own world but he knew he wasn't safe at least.

Strenger seemed to catch on quick, keeping close to his HRD companion as soon as they set foot on the world, and staying silent electing to avoid any hostile interaction that would be the result of any clever quip or comment about the world or its denizens.

[member="Morgan Redeaux"]

 

[Morgan Redeaux]

The KX-series droid with his underling robots in tow, brought the human and the HRD into a large building that seemed much like a type of holding area at firsts, until they noticed it was actually a Tour Booth where gawing tourists could be shuffled around various interest points on M4-78 for a few credits. After a series of binary squawks, beeps and whistles between all of the droids, even the blonde replica, she turned to Surnin and said: “There are sanctioned areas of the planet just for visitors, but I’ve convinced Bolen to let us see an HRD specialist.” She could tell her companion was wary, so she patted him gently upon the arm. “Nothing to worry about.”

A deluxe and expensive-looking limousine speeder pulled up outside, and Bolen opened the door for Morgan and Mr. Strenger. As they rode to the engineer’s work or residence, the HRD seemed very alert and almost gleeful at the prospect of the upgrades, or in this case, downgrades she needed.

“So back there you indicated I was programmed to kill. That hasn’t always been the case and that feature was added more recently by Hegemonic Automaton. While I’ll keep the combat routines intact, I cannot wait to rid myself of the fail-safe command that Mr. Ardik had installed to someday bring me back to him. I'll never be free without this..."

She trailed off as it struck her that, why couldn’t she be free now? Especially if no one knew she was a droid.

This engineer’s residence appeared in the distance, just as lavish as the speeder. But like most things that appeared to be too shiny and perfect on the outside, both guests would feel a tingle of anticipation, or in Surnin’s case, a cautiousness that not everything on M4-78 was what it seemed.

[member="Surnin Strenger"]

 

[Surnin Strenger]

"Lets just get in and out." He'd say simply after braving through the beeps and whistles of her exchange with the other droids. Like it would any organic, this world put Surnin ill at ease. He was far out of his element while Morgan seemed to be finely embedded in her, all he could help do was follow her lead, do as she did. When she gave him a pat on the arm it drove his brow to arch, a peculiar gesture for any droid to do all of a sudden. It made him contemplate what the depth of her programming was but he supposed that was to be found out soon enough.

He leaned his head up and back against the backrest of his seat in the limousine speeder before coaxed to attention by her speech.

"Glad to hear...so will you have free will, act like a human after all this?" He inquires, as clueless as he was it genuinely intrigued him, the prospect of the HRD.

[member="Morgan Redeaux"]

 

[Morgan Redeaux]

“Yes. In and out,” Morgan said in a faraway voice. Mr. Strenger had a bad case of the heebie-jeebies being around all of those mechanicals, but the HRD contemplated remaining on M4-78 if only for a brief moment, though in her synthetic heart she felt that if a droid could have a destiny, hers was not to remain on this planet.

"Glad to hear...so will you have free will, act like a human after all this?"

Morgan gently laughed at the statement because in her electronic brain it felt as though she was close to human as she would get.

“I don’t know if there’s ever free will for a droid,” she said in a tone that almost made it sound like she was programmed to make that statement whenever the subject arose.

“You are going to see one of our master engineers, Ms. Redeaux, a man named Ido Klev,” Bolen said. He took the pair into the sprawling estate where Engineer Klev sat in his lavish study, tinkering with some kind of mechanical instrument.

“Hello there. Bolen has explained your situation Ms. Redeaux and… Ms. Redeaux’s bodyguard,” the human-looking male said with a slight sneer towards Surnin. “Please sit. This shouldn’t take long.”

He approached Morgan who looked over warily at Mr. Strenger as though asking his permission.

“May I?” asked Klev, also addressing the mercenary, pulling out some kind of small spanner that would presumably open up one of the HRD’s ports for inspection.

[member="Surnin Strenger"]

 

[Surnin Strenger]

"I suppose we're about to find out." He'd ask, arching a brow under the crimson visage he wore, cracking a smirk at the innately machine-like quality her voice had to it in that answer. He followed carrying himself similarly as he had when he'd just set foot unto the alien machine world. Ill at ease and high at alert, though as she seemed to continue to proceed confidently, it eventually reflected on the Balmorran, walking in her shadow to meet with the engineer.

The interaction with the engineer was an odd one, one pacing over foreign protocol with them. He stood aside as he conducted his work over the HRD, making no comment or quip to either of them, simply allowing the procedure to proceed, offering a single nod as the engineer looked his way, but still even under the thick cloak he wore, his hand rested over the grip of his blaster, ready to sear a bolt through the engineer's brainpan should things turn sour for whatever reason.

[member="Morgan Redeaux"]

 

[Morgan Redeaux]

The droid engineer with the odd countenance worked diligently and efficiently while Morgan went offline for a few moments so he could reprogram her. His moustache twitched as he pursed his lips and began erasing the module that Hegemonic had installed.

“How did you end up with a model like this? The construction is flawless.” He tapped on a datapad. “No spaghetti code here. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

With his fingers he tweaked Morgan’s chin, almost as a lover would, though her open green eyes did not blink as she was essentially unconscious. “She’s beautiful to look at as well,” he remarked with a wistful sigh.

“I wonder if I should give her a memory wipe. Do you know if she’s sentient?” he asked and while Morgan never gave any indication that her AI had advanced to the point of actual humanness, it wasn’t an impossible assumption. "And do you want me to wipe her memory?" Apparently Klev thought Surnin was her owner, but whether the mercenary had paid for or adopted her, he did not know.

[member="Surnin Strenger"]