Where better to stroll, than the city?

[Old Man]

Coruscant

He walks upon the streets of the galaxy's jewel in the sky, a sprawling metropolis and the center of civilization. But even the finest gem is cut away from the dirt and grime of the earth, and the miner and artisans that had carved this shiny rock where not very good at their jobs. In the underbelly of this pulsating population, a darker side that invested its foundations.

This is where he felt at home, in the places of society that reflected its truer nature, the one closer to reality than the cells of confinement tucked away high in the sky, keeping its prisoners under the impression of luxury and power. Mankind and his many varied cousins, those of closer appearance, and those of an ugly foreign body are never clean. All of civilization is filth, and violent. If the whole is filth, than why would its heart be any different?

An old man wandered the bustling streets of some forgotten place upon the world, where poverty was ripe, and desperation filled a pedestrians nostrils. He wore his leather, his hands tucked away from the world, his head downcast as he walked to a destination. Where this destination, even he didn't know, and who could blame him? The Bureaucracy of government was deeper than politics, it infected its streets as well, built specifically to confuse someone of where they are. The world was cavernous and built without symmetry, as if each piece of it had been built upon a whim without further thought or planning... much like its government in his opinion, but then again, what did he know of politics?

It wasn't likely anybody of worth would be down here, and it wasn't entirely expected that anything normal would happen to him. Normalcy obviously being the abnormal and violent for him, of course... Perhaps he'd be a tourist today, walk to a higher level, find a taxi, and experience the delusional beauty civilization had convinced itself of.

 

[Dirk Ellerden]

Dirk looked up from where he sat on a battered stool near a doorway, leaning against the wall, trying to not to breathe in the stench. The man didn't look local by any means. Lost tourist perhaps? Down on his luck immigrant? Either way, he was going to end up in trouble if he stayed down here too long. Technically it was Coruscant security's responsibility, but there weren't any around, so he stood and ambled over.
"You lost or something?"
@[member="Old Man"]

 

[Old Man]

The old man looked towards the much younger man in uncaring surprise.

"Republic Security? I would think it would have been me asking you that question. But no, for your information I am most probably not lost, as lost imply's that I've no idea where I'm going. Of course I do not, but I've a destination ahead of me, that which I'm walking towards. Where that may be I could not tell you so, then..." He smirked very slightly, "Perhaps I am a bit lost."

What better way to tour Coruscant on his day off than with supposedly armed security escorting him around? Surely no trouble could come about in such a situation... right? He decided to play more into his elderly side to convince the officer of a sincerely confused man... won't be hard with this mans incomprehensibly deep thoughts and words that no common man would take too seriously.

"I-I believe, I'm looking for a Doctor." He said uncertainly, "I seem... seem to remember that I, ah, I forget. A Doctor. Yes, yes, someone for my head... my head. Where am I?" He looked about. Since he was changing from his normalcy to something more frail, he decided to make the change unpredictably sudden, and without cause or reason. That usually made people worried enough to dismiss duplicity.

 

[Dirk Ellerden]

Dirk gave a slight nod, face impassive, noticing the change in direction, so to speak. Odd, so perhaps he wasn't as lost as he seemed. "Not Republic Security, actually." Sector Ranger. It was close, but there was a difference.Security guarded. Rangers hunted. Or he did anyways. A lot of Rangers guarded. Larger jurisdiction though. Often by a lot.
Granted the sudden change was odd. He'd seen confusion and its switching tracks before. This seemed almost to indicate a purposeful switch. The smirk was especially odd. People don't smirk while lost. He'd roll with it though. "Lost, eh?" He glanced around. "Only Doctors down here are frauds. Prescribe unneeded restricted drugs, usually."

 

[Old Man]

"Curious," His brow rose slightly in puzzlement, "Then you would not take this sorry man away from this solitary confinement of death and decay? Offer a man at the end of his life the salvation for this wretched underbelly? You say unto me already that the wicked doctors malpractice for some obscure reason upon those of the dying and sick, of whom need their help the most? If you would consider no such things then I say you are worse than them sir." Good he was keeping a pattern now. Break outs of confusion interrupted by deeper thought might convince him of some type of schizophrenia.

"Please!" He suddenly screamed, eyes wide and wild as he grappled upon the garments that lay upon his torso, falling to his knees (that truthfully hurt) to stoop below the shorter mans level. "Please!" He screeched again, appearing as if though on the verge of sobbing. He made no efforts to explain what he pleaded from him, but it was a rare ability to blatantly ignore a crying old man. Surely no one other than himself could be that disconnected from humanity.

"...please?" He said softly, lamely, while slightly releasing his iron grip upon the officers clothing. He was making quite the scene, as was the intention. These people were not often good ones, thus he couldn't hope to find compassion in them, and they couldn't look upon a Republic Officer any less than usual. However, the perceived threat of public humiliation might over turn official to his "demands" if pity didn't. Apathy didn't disconnect you from being capable of acting empathetic, a lesson well learned by the manipulative Old Man.

 

[Dirk Ellerden]

Dirk pursed his lips thoughtfully at the display. Very odd indeed. He dropped down next to the man, scrutinizing his face. Too much more and his cover would be blown. Had to get him out of here. The suspect would be passing through any time now. He glanced up and down the street. He let out a long breath, leaning back on his heels. He pointed to a lift not far off. "That will take you up to a taxi station where you can get a cab to wherever you need to go. Just tell whoever to put on tab 3-5-0-1."

 

[Old Man]

Immediately he was up on his feet.

"I'd say thank you, but thieves generally never do. You weren't much of one to be impressed with however, I was expecting some company. Of course I never thought you'd leave your post anyway. You've too large a stick up your butt to cross your beloved job for a person in need." He began to walk away towards the taxi. He turned his head to raise his voice over his shoulder.

"I smelt it the moment you picked me out of the crowd. Reminds me of home." Quickly he would once again melt through the swarming populous. A short meeting, but effective enough as always. Perhaps he'd find more 'company' near the Senate District or the Jedi Temple. They positively reeked of his kind of stench.

 

[Dirk Ellerden]

Dirk shrugged. There were worse things than being insulted by some odd stranger. He'd been called worse. Besides, words weren't lethal. A medium ranking member of a slaving cartel and his escort were however. Thankfully the man should be away from the area before the firefight started. Nothing was worse than getting an innocent killed while trying to apprehend a suspect, no matter how belligerent and insulting the person might be. He could hear it now. The hum of speeder engines. He swallowed, and adjusted his coat, reaching in to hold his holster. Hopefully the rest of his team had managed to get into position. Otherwise this would be a very, very tough spot. He might even have to follow the old man up the lift. If all else failed, there was a CSF special weapons team ready to assist in the capture. He really didn't want to do that though. Too much paperwork involved.

 

[Old Man]

As he climbed into the taxi and used whatever that number was to pay for the fare, he settled on what to sight see first.

"Bring me as close you can to the Jedi Temple as law permits. I've always wanted to see it in person." He, with the fascination of a child, looked out his window as the speeder took off. He thought he noticed something but he was entirely sure, and didn't entirely care. He pretended as he pretended around the Republic officer, the giddy excitement and anticipation of a youth. A role always needed to be sold to the target audience, even when the target audience is just an extra. Sometimes the role was no role at all, but yet in a paradox the situation of possessing no role to sell a particular individual is in itself a role of theatrical neglect.

The world was just one big stage, one big audience, one and the same. He was the actor, and the casual observer, sometimes the extra or the third wheel of a slew of other actors, or most rarely he was center stage, the star, the protagonist and antagonist one and the same to all who observed him. Sometimes in these moments, he'd boast omniscience, for though the actor he may be, he is also the audience that observe with careful observation of just how the tragedy the know will happy shall play out. Sometimes he ponders if there is a fourth wall to reality of which we have never experienced or witnessed. Perhaps like many things in life he has observed, the already see it but don't bother to recognize it. To him, he liked to think it was just out of reach of his periphery vision.

But no such things mattered much in these filler spaces where texts of thought could be written from the single moment he had thought of it. Perhaps he'd write about himself one day, of this trip, of his thinking thoughts of thoughts that are thought in this short instance of time between point A to point B. Which in reality is probably the 10,000th reincarnation of A and the 10,001st reincarnation of B in the life a man who has never halted but is slow enough to last.

He stepped out of the cab as close to the Jedi Temple as it would.