Age is a Numbers Game

[Armand Temi]

I'm here so much on Antecedent, I should buy a small studio apartment here, thought Armand Temi, Benefactor of the Rebel Alliance and Ambassador of Praesitlyn. The Wild Space planet wasn't quite the ecumenopolis that Coruscant or Nar Shaddaa was but Ground Zero did have good restaurants, shopping and nightlife, despite its carefully contained crime. And for one weekend it would definitely beat the dusty plains of Praesitlyn with its ghost-town villages and aggravating dust-storms.

But aside from the real estate opportunities Doctor Temi was here on business with the Red Ravens, criminals who owned a stake in just about everything on Antecedent. And the newest allies of The Rebel Alliance. And even the word "allies" was a stretch. They were more like frenemies.

For the most part the Hapan doctor avoided criminal enterprise like the Gulag plague but he did have something he thought the Ravens may be interested in selling. Despite the Admiral's protests, he had reviewed the credit reserves of the Alliance and they seemed alarmingly low to him. If he could sell this specific service despite its somewhat criminal origins, he could funnel more credits to the Alliance's coffers and assuage his guilt that it was he who committed the crime in this specific circumstance. Armand had skeletons in his closet like many of the Ravens and it was time to dress them up in a nice business suit and bring them out to, what he hoped would be, the welcoming arms of [member="Patricia Susan Garter"].

At the front desk of the Dragon Palace Casino he signed in as Battle Dragon, then took a seat and waited to be called by Ms. Garter.

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Armand Temi"]

A secretary sat in front of a small desk and was toying a few reports Into the system from Patricia's most recent deployment in the galaxy. She was in charge of running the black market and securing assets in the galaxy, and normally this was her time to get come home relax and get some downtime before she and her family went out for another deployment. But it just so happened whoever this battle dragon was had caught her between shifts and while no a quick meeting wouldn't be all that taxing it was still slightly annoying.

The mad had of coursed been stripped of weapons upon entering and the woman behind the desk smiled at the cute man and took a sip from a mug of coffee.

"The Red Dress will see you now." The woman said then pressed a button to unlock a door behind her.

When the man decided to enter it would be to Patricia in her tight red dress sitting at her desk sipping at a alcoholic beverage. It was five o'clock somewhere after all.

 

[Armand Temi]

When the Red Dress looked up from her desk she would see that Battle Dragon was Armand Temi from the Rebel Alliance who had just visited roughly seven days ago for the cease-fire negotiations.

"Hello, Mr. Garter. It's good to see you again," he said trying to keep his eyes on her face. "I trust you are well since our last meeting. And thank you again for meeting me on such short notice." He was properly attired in an expensive suit, since he had come for business after all. He sat down across from her and crossed his long legs. His first instinct was to make small talk since manners were not just a formality, they were a way of life on his home-planet of Hapes, but he knew that in his prior dealings with this particular female Raven leader, she was direct and decisive. He skipped the "weather talk" for now.

"I want to show you something that I built," he said, pulling out a holopad and turning it on. A small 3-D model of a white, tank-like chamber was displayed in front of the Red Dress. "I think the Ravens may be interested in offering this service to your customers. It's called the Age-Renewal Chamber. I won't go over all of the science mumbo-jumbo behind it which you can read up on yourself at your leisure. In a nutshell, this machine can reverse the aging process by three standard years."

He examined Patricia Susan Garter's blemish-free face and excellent skin. She must have very good genes. He quickly added, "I didn't come here to suggest the treatment for you. Your looks are... well perfect the way they are." He stole a glance at her figure and then his eyes were back up to land on hers. Then he sighed and said, "But I can't use it in my clinic. Not for the general public at least." He paused and waited for her response or any questions she may have.

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Armand Temi"]

Patricia smiled and gave a little blush at the man's kind words and even though that was probably all he needed to say for Patricia to jump him and straddle him right there on the desk like an animal, now of days she was more tame. The whole marriage thing, but the man certainly was attractive, probably not as much of an animal in bed as her husband was, literally. But she was confident he knew what he was doing at the bare minimum.

"Well this does seem like something we can market. I'll take it. How much do you want?" Patricia was very straight forward with these sorts of things.

She honestly just wanted to buy or rent this technology and live longer and spend more time with her family and life. After all this was her only life and she wanted to live it as long as she could with her family. So Patricia began to look for a checkbook in her desk and quickly took it out along with a pen. It was best if they did it this way rather than electronically that could be traced to him. So a check made out to cash was always best. Besides it wasn't like she didn't know who this guy was and if he tried to cheat her he was a quick hyperspace jump and bullet away from payback.

"So how many zeros do you want on this?" She said with a little chuckle

 

[Armand Temi]

"Oh I'm glad you like it," said Armand momentarily flattered at how favorably Ms. Garter responded to the treatment chamber. I mean who didn't want to shave years of their lives and potentially be immortal? You know the little things.

But he needed to warn her of its dangers and state his terms for its use. "Because I am a doctor of the highest reputation, I cannot just sell the machine to you. It's very dangerous if not used correctly and the clinical trials have barely started on the long-term effects of the technology. But I do have live case studies which support its efficacy."

He shifted in his seat, catching a bit of attraction back in the blonde human's gaze. "I suggest renting out the services and we'll split the revenue from it. Only myself and my team at the clinic will perform the treatments... under a pseudonym named Dr. Young." He sighed and ran a hand through his shoulder length hair. "I'll admit Ms. Garter I'm not good with business deals so I'll leave it up to you to figure out how much to charge. All I ask is that for my time and use of the machine I receive 70% of the profits and your organization will receive 30%." He spread his hands and shrugged. "You just have to bring me clients."

On some level the Hapan doctor knew what he was doing was wrong. Patricia didn't have to know that he created the chamber from blueprints stolen from a Coruscant bio-tech lab and frankly he didn't think she would care. It's why he was sitting in her office in Antecedent making this deal. But on some level, despite the criminal history of the treatment chamber, Armand felt a strange pride the device and had an altruistic vision for it akin to Patricia's - that every being should be able to live longer if they wanted and Fate could go kark itself.

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]