Private What is Gone is not Lost [Kardek Alpha]

[Lance of Dreams]

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Lance of Dreams pondered endlessly about the state of a mind, what made it work, and what made it conscious or unconscious. The iBorg cyberneticist seemed to take his namesake to heart, becoming the bleeding edge in the stuff of dreams and thoughts, the tip of a spear delving deep into the complicated matter deep in the brain, ponderable only when one was deeply asleep or lost in their own thought in the middle of the day. The Iskalloni thought long and heard about his origins as just another slaver of his kind, pulling apart, poking, and prodding what he once considered primitives. What drove his mind to diverge from the culture-mind? What individual characteristics of his mind, made his unique enough to break away from the factors that shaped it? This ever increasing quest to understand himself by understanding others had been both fortuitous to his own scientific understanding, and profitable to his bank accounts. Though, such a frivolously material matter was merely a convenient tool for more research, more discovery, unfettered by guidelines or restrictions. It was why he enjoyed the comforts of Denon as afforded by the Corporate Authorities of Denon. Their oversight was lax enough for his tastes, and overlooked his sometimes socially deplorable methods, allowing such reports that would ordinarily make its way back to iBorg Prosthetic Augments Headquarters to go missing for the "good" doctors sake.

This was not to say, however, that the amoral scientist was completely unsympathetic to the common man. To the contrary, it was to the common man that Lance of Dreams most often wished to cater to, believing that the cybernetic augmentation the company he served provided, to be the absolute moral good of every individual to receive it; ergo, every conscious individual being aught to have the right to his work.

So, without his meaning so, the rumors spread throughout the Seven Corners District on Denon (especially in the Suicide Slums) that a "Mad" Scientist would sometimes take on the medically irrecoverable and produce miracles from time to time. A fatal injury for any other individual in the slums, in the careful hands of Lance of Dreams, could still yet recover from what would have been certain death. Most knew, however, that almost nobody but the elites of CAD could really afford him, but on those occasions where for one reason or another that he took on such extraordinary patients, there were times when the scientist took partial payments, payments in other currencies, items, or services... and on rarer occasion still, nothing at all.

Today was an extraordinary day, or rather, it would be. He did not know it yet, but soon, a very interesting project would arrive to his doorstep... Kardek Alpha

 

[Droken]

Droken slammed the unlucky criminal against the wall with brute force, his hand wrapped around the mans throat, holding his body up in the air.

“Tell me where the doctor is. The one who does miracles.” Droken demanded in a gritty and dark tone through his Mandalorian helmet. He was in immediate need of help, and it was possible that this doctor he had heard rumors of throughout the underground was the only one who could save Kardek Alpha from his fate.

Pure desperation and unyielding determination had finally landed him in the seven corners district as he continued to follow a string of leads that would hopefully lead him to the doctors front door. He would do anything to save Kardek’s life... That small boy whom he had raised into a man... that man whom had become like a brother to him... that brother whom he had failed horribly.

Time was of the utmost importance, and so Droken had no time for formalities.

The criminal squirmed against the pressure he felt on his neck, forcefully trying to breath, his eyes wide with fear. “Oh... uh... that doc... he... he...” he coughed. Droken took his free arm and punched him forcefully in the stomach. The man wheezed as all the oxygen was forced out of his lungs. Droken let go of him, letting his body crumple to the ground. He pulled out his blaster and aimed it at the mans head. “You have five seconds.” He stated.

The man held up his hands over his face desperately as he tried to regain his breath to give an answer. After a second of mouthing words, he finally was able to breath in and respond, “here... here...”. He offered Droken a small holo projector that had the coordinates to the doctors location. Droken grabbed the device and immediately activated his jet pack, shooting upwards and onto the roof of a nearby building.

he landed with a thud. There before him lay Kardek, drifting in and out of consciousness with a laser blast to the head. Right beside him was a damaged IG-88 Assassin droid with a gaping hole through its head as well. Droken grabbed them with brute strength and threw them both over his shoulders. “Just a little farther my friend.” He said under his breath to Kardek, “just hold on.” With that he jetted off the roof into the night sky in the direction of the coordinates.

THUMP

Droken landed with quite an amount of weight on the doorstep of the coordinates. He immediately took a step forward and knocked on the door loudly. He knew the chances were very slim, but he knew he had to try.

Lance of Dreams

 

[Lance of Dreams]

Droken arrived to a facility that from the outside did not appear to be much different from the rest of the surrounding architecture except perhaps being a bit larger, more on par with the warehouses of Volgho Hollows than an apartment complex in the Suicide Slums. Nonetheless when the Bounty Hunter arrived and knocked on his door, Lance of Dreams was immediately aware. A mechanical eye poked out of the door and observed the figure, before sending the visual telemetry to its master, who quickly followed up with an admittance signal. The eye droid did not say anything, and retreated back into its hidey hole above the door before it opened.

Inside, it felt as if stepping into a building completely different from the one depicted by the exterior, almost as if it was somehow larger on the inside, and sleek as a Starship. Everything was clean and spotless, reflective in some places or opaque in others. The essence of machinery seemed to surround the entire complex and rose to the ceiling, moving and shuttling objects of uncountable variety to unknown and unseen destinations. Despite the somewhat daunting sight, it appeared distinctly dark, lacking sufficient lighting except for the glow of machines or droids, and the occasional fixture only just barely holding the darkness around it at bay.

From above, a silent circular silver platform descended towards then, and standing upon (though the figures feet could not be seen) was an unsettling visage of a humanoid with a cold face and an almost lifeless gaze. Cybernetics seemed to encompass his entire face, and the rest of his body completely concealed. Even with the smoothed features of his face, one would be forgive for thinking that Lance of Dreams might be a droid. Behind the red glow of the lenses that protected his artificial eyes, several models of iBorg Prosthetic eyes rotated to accommodate certain fields of vision he found helpful. In but seconds, Lance of Dreams contained total biographical information, and energy field composition of both Droken and his injured companion Kardek Alpha, though he was not privy to their names. Fairly quickly, the pad seemed to deliver Lance of Dreams before them, and it appeared to sink into the floor seamlessly, as if it had always been there.

"I am Lance of Dreams, there isn't much time. Follow me." The cyborg said with cryptic knowing, and turned to be followed. Machines floated and buzzed around the scientist, and seemed to heed wordless instructions.

 

[Droken]

As Droken stepped inside, it was like he was stepping into another world. He looked around the room, noting the technology and the obvious quality of the facility. "I think we're in the right place." Droken commented to Kardek as his eyes lifted to see the platform descending towards them, with the odd humanoid who looked like nothing he had ever seen before. His helmet followed the humanoid until his descent was complete.

"I am Lance of Dreams, there isn't much time. Follow me." The cyborg said with cryptic knowing, and turned to be followed. Machines floated and buzzed around the scientist, and seemed to heed wordless instructions.

Droken nodded and immediately followed the doctor with Kardek Alpha and the droid still slumped across his shoulders. "I can give you everything I have as payment." He stated, gleaning just from the facility alone that his services probably came with a substantial price tag...

"... Thank you, Lance of Dreams ." he found himself saying softly as he followed the doctor, as it seemed the doctor had already made up his mind that he would help him. It was a rare moment of vulnerability for him... a man who is familiar being the one in control and in power, finding himself in a place of utter dependance on a stranger. He completely forgot to introduce himself, his mind focused solely on Kardek's condition.

The uniqueness of the facility and the doctor would normally be cause for curiosity, but nothing else mattered in this moment to Droken. Everything else was noise. He was tunnel visioned on one thing and one thing only... Kardek's fatal injury and the hope in this doctors ability to save his life.

 

[Lance of Dreams]

Lance of Dreams didn't really respond at first. Machines came near to Kardek Alpha and collected his body, or a corpse to anyone but the best of the best. Eventually the trio would be lead to a sterile looking room, sparse of any decorum beyond hooks for tools and openings for droids to pour in. There was a faint light seemingly Droken's benefit alone, produced by a droid that had wandered in.

A pair of droids began to carry something into the room, a container of some kind. Other droids began to inject wires and tubes into place. Monitors began to retrieve information that seemed more or less stagnant. This victim was extremely close to the cusp of recoverability and unrecoverable. It was certainly challenge, and the perfect scenario for Lance of Dreams. A few minutes in either direction, and he may not have been as charitable as he was being. The Bounty Hunter was very very lucky.

As the capsule being modified was lifted over his head, the rest of the body was being prepped for revival. Fluids cycled in and out, electricity discharged into the chest, strange injections were poured into into little incisions, then sealed. After a moment, when the capsule sealed around his head (suspending the wounded from further decay), the cloaked cyborg turned towards Droken.

"I will require the exact site of the incident, an approximate time, and/or a place of residence and approximate time they were last there. If this information is unknown, I will be able to revive the body, but the mind may suffer significantly." He said bringing his hands together.

 

[Droken]

Droken, seemingly lost in thought as he observed the foreign process that was occurring before him, suddenly came back to attention at Lance of Dreams 's words. His head turned towards the good doctor, processing what he has stated. The exact site of the incident. That would be... challenging.

"I can take you there now. It's not far. However, I might need to... clear the location." He said, tilting his head slightly. By now the politicians estate was likely swarming with police and under full lock down as a crime scene. He had never planned on returning to that place... that place which had caused such a devastating blow to himself and to Kardek... If he had, he would have simply killed the woman so that she could not alert the authorities. But nothing would stop him or stand in his way... He would make a way. In his current state of mind, it would take an army to stop him from getting Kardek whatever it is that he needs to survive.

"Do you have a ship? Mine is not close."

 

[Lance of Dreams]

Lance of Dreams waved an arm, and the door behind them re-opened.

"I have the means." The scientist seemed to float out of the room, expecting to be followed. Eventually the pair would come to a rather small personal ship, clearly intended for personal transportation only. "Shall this suffice?" The door opened as he raised a hand.

Droken

 

[Droken]

The ship exited the building and glided quickly through the night sky, lit by the lights below. Droken looked over at Lance of Dreams for a moment. The Doctor was such an enigma to the Mandalorian. Droken had not allowed for himself to give much thought to it, mostly just concluding that he was grateful that everything had seemed to work out in Kardek's favor. The fact alone that the doctor resided on the same planet that Kardek had gotten shot on was... well, it felt almost like fate.

Finally, they began their approach on a penthouse estate. As he looked out across the estate, it seemed like nothing had changed since he had fled earlier... which struck the Mando as very odd. There were no security forces, no investigators... He could still see the dead security guards, their handiwork from earlier, scattered across the outer sections of the premises... their bodies apparently undiscovered.

He landed the craft on top of the penthouse with a soft thud, turning off the engines. Droken had originally planned on encountering a swarm of security forces since he had left the target alive. However, the home was dead quiet. It was almost eery.

He looked over at Lance, "Follow me." He said.

As they exited Lances' personal craft, Droken pulled out his blaster and led them down into the multi-story home. As they walked the halls, they encountered some dead security forces, but not much damage seemed to be present beyond that.

Finally, they approached the bedroom. Droken held up his hand, signaling Lance to wait. He felt a strange sense of dread creep over him as he slowly walked towards the entrance of the room. Something was off. None of this made sense.

Finally he looked into the room...

Their lay Galdo, a deceased member of his shattered bounty hunter team, lying face up, clinging to a blaster wound in his chest, his gaze staring up at the ceiling with a look of confused fear still etched permanently across his face. As the room came more fully into view, Droken felt a deep sinking feeling as he realized why the security forces had never been alerted. Their sat their target, a woman who looked to have been in her 30's, clinging to her dead daughter with one hand and to a blaster with the other, which now found its resting place against her leg, lightly held by her dead hand. Her body was crumpled forward slighly, resting against her daughter, with tear streaks still visible running down her cold cheeks.

Droken let out a deep sigh of regret. The last thing he wanted to do was let anyone see what he had done...

But... for the sake of Kardek...

He looked back at Lance, stepping aside to allow for the doctor to enter the room and see for himself.

"This is where it happened." He said solemnly.