An Ounce of Perception [Closed]

[Ugoto Chivaro]

ETTI IV
NEURO-SAAV HEADQUARTERS

[member='Jared Ovmar']

The headquarters of Neuro-Saav was certainly a lavish place. Much larger than that of Cestus Cybernetics, but that was to be expected. This company was a legendary producer of programming and targeting systems. So renown, in fact, that one of their programs was employed in the recently released, top of the line, TA1 Battle Droid. Now that the company was making a more visible come back and intended to re-release newer, more advanced programs and products, it seemed prudent that Zothustro iron out a contract of sorts. As opposed to buying each individual unit, which could be more expensive.

Zothustro approached the entrance to the building, the doors sliding open for him. He made his way to the front desk, walking as purposefully as he could. Being an elderly X'Ting who needed a cane to walk did not exactly do much for one's swagger. Zothustro spoke to the secretary manning the front desk thusly.

"<< Hello. I am Zothustro Quill. I believe I have an appointment. >>"

 

[Arage Bao]

Said secretary looked up from her display and re-settled her glasses onto her nose to properly see who it was speaking to her. She gave him a short nod and then said with a businesslike tone. 'Of course, mister Quill. Have a seat, I will call you up once they are ready for you. Would you like something to drink or eat while you wait?'

Neuro-Saav Corporation had always been a prominent supporter of the CSA and the Corporate Sector, so it wasn't entirely strange that their headquarters was located on Etti IV. Neither was it strange that their tower was so lush and lavish, some people liked to look down at the trade Neuro-Saav specialized in. But there was business sense in focusing on the little parts, without those... the big, big ships of KDY and Sienar wouldn't fly through the Galaxy as they do now.

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Zothustro shook his head upon being offered refreshment.

"<< I am fine, thank you. >>"

He then nodded respectfully to the secretary before turning around, meandering slowly towards a chair on the other side of the room. When he eventually got there, and it was indeed a long journey for an old X'Ting, he lowered himself into the chair at a similar speed. Upon landing, Zothustro gave a long exhale and settled comfortably into the chair.

The waiting begun now.

 

[Arage Bao]

It wasn't much of a wait, maybe five minutes passed when the elevator arrived on the ground floor and a group of businessmen walked out of it. Some of them gave the Xi'Ting a respectful nod, and a smile to the secretary before leaving the premises of the building. Immediately after they left Dorothy, walked over to the old CEO and said to him. 'You are up next, mister Quill. Mister Raven is waiting upstairs in his office.'

With that done she returned to her table and resumed the work she was doing.

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Zothustro nodded to the secretary. "<< Thank you. >>"

With the same amount of pep in his step, Zothustro then rose from his chair. He slowly but surely made his way over to the elevator, cane clacking against the smooth tile floor as he did so. Using his psychic powers, he was able to guess which floor Neuro-Saav's CEO was waiting on. He pressed the corresponding button and was subsequently whisked to the upper floors of the building.

When the elevator arrived at its destination, sliding open into a posh hallway, Zothustro crept out of the elevator and towards the office of the CEO. He knocked gently at the door, waiting to be admitted into the meeting.

 

[Arage Bao]

The door opened itself and Quill would have a wide view into the office, white, stainless walls decorated the room and gave it a clinical look. A single bookcase rested against the left wall and for the rest there was just a heavy oaken table in front of a transparisteel wall; allowing visitors a splendid view of Etti IV’s skyline.

A man sat behind the table, he wasn’t an impressive sight by any stretch of the imagination, one would sooner associate him with having grandchildren and spending his time in some garden, working at his tomatoes.

Yet he was here and as his eyes swept over Mister Quill there was just the tinsy, tiniest suggestion of durasteel, wrapped around the icy, blue eyes of the Grandfather.

‘Mister Quill, a pleasure meeting you. I would stand up and give you a hand to shake, but… I find myself with no leg to stand on.’

Archibald Augustine Raven flashed him a warm smile and indicated with his hand towards his legs, which seemed to be curiously missing. Another sweep of his hand told Quill he could sit down in one of the cushy seats that was in front of the table.

‘Tell me, mister Quill. How can I help you this fine day?’

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Archibald had no legs. That was curious. Most humans tended to have at least one leg, but this one was missing both of them. Did he have a hovering chair? He must have. How else would he have gotten up here? The joke regarding legs to stand on was lost on Zothustro, who could scarcely understand mammalian- particularly human -nuances. Zothustro was just an old X'Ting in an old coat with a splotchy light green exoskeleton, per the result of a genetic mutation.

But no one even realized he was a mutant, because they hadn't even seen any other X'Ting to make the comparison. Funny how that worked, right?

Zothustro chittered something positive, but the translator failed to pick it up as he moved to take a seat in front of Neuro-Saav's CEO. The elderly X'Ting eased himself slowly into the chair at a mindbogglingly slow speed. Once he arrived at his destination, he started talking business.

"<< Thank you for seeing me. Neuro-Saav has a good reputation for droid programming, targeting systems, and the like. >>" Zothustro said, "<< I was hoping to work out a more tangible relationship between our two companies, so we may implement your products on a larger scale into Cestian droid models. >>"

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

Blue eyes studied the alien with just a hint of curiosity as he began to speak of the proposal. It was an ironic meeting, though neither of them were probably aware of it, ironic in the sense that both of them were controlled by Sith Lords and both weren’t even aware of it. Ironic in the regards that the whole reason of this meeting had been a conversation between Ovmar and Ardik, to strengthen the bonds between the Tion Hegemony Companies.

Such irony.

‘ That seems interesting, do you have anything specific in mind or? ‘

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

"<< It is particularly targeting systems Cestus is looking for. >>" Zothustro said. "<< Though if you do develop other programs that make tasks for other droids easier, we would like to purchase those as well. >>"

Zothustro did not like making these arrangements. He did not like combat droids at all, to be frank. At heart, Zothustro was a gentle soul who was beginning to have some moral qualms about making it easier for people to kill each other... Especially by selling combat droids en masse to just about whoever wanted them. His partner did not feel the same way, evidently. Zothustro was able to quell his moral conflict by focusing on other things, though. Like his paycheck.

The X'Ting was also just as in the dark to his being puppeted as Archibald. Zothustro was convinced Darth Janus was a partner, not his boss. It made this whole dupe that much easier for Darth Janus, truly.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

Archibald simply listened to Quill and his proposal, it seemed to be highly profitable and agreeable to a big degree, little did he know that the two beings in this room were simply acting out the scenario Ardik and Ovmar had already agreed on behind the scenes.

So it was almost predestined for the old, fat, legless man to nod in a simple fashion and reply to him thusly:

‘ That seems quite agreeable, mister Quill. Cestus Cybernetics has a stainless reputation, I am sure we can work something out that is profitable for both of our companies.’

Which was followed by a couple of hours (or maybe less) of intense discussion and negotiations, of course with a pre-determined outcome, such was the way of living under the thumb of the Lords of Lawful Evilness.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

And so the businessmen did talk. They talked of many things. They talked of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax, and of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot, and whether nerfs had wings. Except they didn't talk about any of that and focused more on the terms of their business arrangement. The terms were all very specific and not all that interesting, so I won't exactly bore you with the details. We wouldn't want to have a boring contract thread now, would we?

Suffice to say, once the two were done speaking, everything was ironed out nicely. The proper forms and paperwork would be sent to the two businessmen at a later date, and then things could pick up officially. For all intents and purposes, Cestus now had the right to use NeuroSaav programs in their droids.

Hopefully they did actually get around to making programs.

With nothing further to discuss, Zothustro bid Archibald farewell and exited the office.