We can rebuild her...whether she wants it or not

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
A Sith Lord or psychopath might have taken this moment to gloat and crow, that Enyo had finally realised her true potential or some tripe.

In a way, this was worse. Maelion simply looked from the body to Enyo and nodded.
“Test completed satisfactorily. Unit Enyo, return to your chamber for recharging. You will be prepared for mission in two standard hours.”

Service droids came to take away the lifeless body of Thuella. Recycling was big with Archangel, so at least in death she would be more useful to the Age of Steel than in life.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Naamah Aesham"]
On an intellectual level Amara knew that Akure might be correct. Archangel would not let Enyo escape so easily next time, a fate which awaited Amara if she was caught.
However, she couldn’t accept that her sister was gone forever irrevocably.

“I can still feel her presence. They’ve not taken her away from me yet, not completely. I will find her and free her. If I can’t…well…we’ll see.”

She gathered up her things and walked out of the operating room.

Heading down to the main area she saw Faelar and Soshahry sitting together dejectedly. Seeing her, they came over cautiously.
“Are you alright?” Faelar asked tentatively.
“It hurts, but it’ll heal. I’m going now, taking my cash. If either of you want to come, you can. I’m planning to leave Coruscant soon so I can either drop you off somewhere or take you on as crew. Do either of you know how to pilot or fix?”
“No,” Faelar admitted.
“A little,” Soshahry said.
“Well, you can stay with Ms Neuter over there if you’d prefer,” Amara joked.
A quick glance at Arryn and her grim mercenaries was all they needed. “We’ll come with you.”
“Good. Now, can you please take this bag for me? My back’s killing me…though not literally anymore.”

One of Arryn’s goons took them via speeder to a nearby residential neighbourhood from where Amara could hail a taxi to go to this hotel Akure had suggest. Just what they’d find there when they arrived, only fate and a morbid faux-Chiss knew.

As she drove, Amara reached out with the Force. At that moment she could feel her sister in deep distress, anger and sadness classed…yet muted, like she was seeing actions from behind frosted glass.
“Enyo…hear me…” she projected, though had no idea whether her sister could or wanted to hear her.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


"By your command," Enyo spoke mechanically. Even her gait was that of a machine as she left the cloning chamber. Ironically, she looked human now, but was now more robotic than ever before. Now she was an empty shell, a parody of her former self.


However, as she walked through the corridor, she suddenly stiffened. A very familiar voice was being projected into her mind. No, this was not right. Amara was being foolish. Enyo did not deserve her compassion. "Enyo is dead. Run as far as possible." Then she shored up her mental walls. Amara might have been able to glean surface emotions such as self-loathing, anguish and fear.

 

[Naamah Aesham]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


The morbid faux Chiss shrugged. "Suit yourself, kid. Try not to get yourself killed." She strongly doubted that Amara's crusade would succed, but it wasn't her life or her choice. Harsh realism and cynicism had killed most of her empathy.


It did not take long for her shadow, Arryn, to appear on the spot. "I see the blonde, strange monkeigh did not die on your operating table. That's a first. I take it she's not joining us?" her Eldarai accent was rather pronounced.


"No, she's off on a crusade to right wrongs and save her brainwashed sister from the evil machines. I suppose there'll be a cheesy speech along the lines of 'I know you're still in there, sister'. Good luck to her."


"She's family. Family makes you do crazy things. Hope against hope." Wait, was Arryn showing empathy?


"And sometimes you gotta know when to let go. Or love will kill you." Was Naamah actually speaking about Amara, or was this a reference to her somewhat obsessive love for [member="Mirien Valdier"]?


"It's her life. We should close down this base and move on. It's too exposed. Especially if she falls into their clutches. I would have suggested putting a tracking device on her, but you probably missed that opportunity."


Naamah waved Arryn's words aside as if they were buzzing insects. "I'm not putting chips in people. Unless they're criminals. We leave at dawn. Got any good targets lined up?" she moved on with the discussion.


"Oh, I was going to suggest leaking the location of an Archangel stronghold to Firemane. Let them both fight it out and hopefully get decimated in the process," Arryn spoke in a deadpan tone with a completely straight face.


"Arryn."


"The thought's crossed your mind, don't deny it. And they'd deserve it. But beyond that, I got my eyes on the Maladi. Risky, but it would be a prize."


"Agreed. We'd need info on its movements first. But Gehenna may be doable. Along with disrupting their slavery operations on Nar Shaddaa."


"You had me at slaughtering slavers."

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Naamah Aesham"]
A moment, only a moment to glimpse the pain and anguish in her sister’s heart, and it made her heart ache.
“I will find you, Enyo…no matter how long it takes,” she communicated, even if it was to the empty void. She was resolved that she would find her…but that was a long term goal.

For now the taxi let them off at the front of a magnificent building. As Amara and her two companions exited the taxi they found the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten towering over them. It was imposing and far more lavish than Amara had ever seen in person. Briefly she cursed Akure for sending her deliberately to a place like this.

“Uhh, ma’am, shouldn’t we go somewhere else?” Faelar asked nervously.
Amara had been about to say just that, but a perverse part of her wanted to not give up and skulk away.
“No, this is where we’re going,” she said, setting her jaw. She marched forward.
A footman was waiting and began to open the door before glancing at them. Amara was wearing a grubby and torn outfit, was noticeably limping and was accompanied by a pair of women wearing bloodstained combat fatigues too big for them.
“Are you sure this is the correct location for…you?” he asked with a tone of utter disdain.
If Amara had been uncertain before, now she was determined to go through with it, if only for the perverse pleasure of seeing uptight idiots squirm.
“Certain. I’m checking in. Open the door, Buckles,” she said in a reasonable tone.
“I think it’s best you go, it’s best you don’t cause a scene.”
Amara narrowed her eyes. It had been a very long day. She was tired, in pain both physically and spiritually, and she just wanted to sleep and rebuild her life.
“You will stand aside with no objections and open the door. You will not be so judgemental.” Her voice was low but carried a compulsion only the strongest willed could overcome.
“I…have no objections. I will not be so judgemental.”
“Excellent! Come along, girls,” Amara said, walking past the footman.

The lobby was beautifully furnished with rare marble and stones from many planets. The check-in desk was more expensive than some tenements not a half kilometre away.
As they appeared the receptionist gave them a look somewhere between pity and disdain.
“Welcome to the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, may I…help you?”
“I believe you can. I do not have a booking, but I am in need of a room.” Amara smiled slightly. “As you can tell, I need a place to clean up tonight, and your hotel comes highly recommended.” By Chiss sociopaths…but hey, a recommend was still a recommend.
“For…three? I am not sure you understand the…level of this hotel. Our cheapest rooms for one night are…” she began.
Amara produced a stack of credit chips and counted them onto the desk. “Listen, miss, it’s been an exceptionally bad day, as you can tell by my appearance. I’ve been betrayed, shot at, operated on, freed these two from a life of slavery and lost my sister today. I have the credits you need, so you can either continue to judge me by my appearance and miss a guest paying up front in full, or you can give me a room.”
“We…we only have a superior suite. That is seven-hundred credits a night.”
Amara did not hesitate. She counted out seven of the hundred credit chips and put an eighth on the pile. “For room service. Now please have them show me to my room.”
A pause, and then she nodded. “Of course, ma’am, my apologies. The porter will take your luggage…oh…well, he will show you to your room.”
“Thank you, you’ve been so helpful,” Amara said sweetly.
“Oh, ma’am, what is your name?”
Amara took a deep breath. “Chameni.” Then she was gone.

On the 89th floor of the hotel was their superior suites. As they were shown into the room, the porter too was giving them odd looks. When he’s given them the tour and was waiting for his tip Amara turned to him.
“Go and get me a tailor, a cosmetics seller, a physician and a hair stylist. And someone who can get me a holocom. And order me some room service – the nerf steak times three. And if you do all that in an hour there’s fifty credits in it for you.”

When he was gone, Amara sank down on the bed. There was only one, though the couch could fold out.
“You two have the bed. I’m used to sleeping on futons. Keep an eye on the door. I’m going to go have a shower.”
“What will we do tomorrow?” Faelar asked.
“We’ll be broke again, but at least we’ll look nice and that counts for a lot. We’ll deal with that tomorrow.”

As she stripped off her grimy outfit she reached out again to her sister, but met an iron door.
“I will find you, Enyo…and stick a lightsabre through every HRD in the galaxy if I have to.” She probably would have to. A daunting task, but she had an idea which might become the inklings of a plan. That was for the future though.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Amara would receive no response from Enyo. If she tried to contact her, it would be like talking to an iron door. Emptiness swallowed the clone as she stepped into the chamber. What was she, a machine with a human brain? Or a human brain trapped inside a metal cage - forever? In the end, it was of no consequence. She closed her eyes and powered down, entering a dreamless slumber. In the darkness, her mind became tidy and ordered. Enyo had won the victory over herself. Archangel was her purpose.