Arcane Booze

[Janick Beauchamp]

After what she managed to do with the Porg health retreat, where the investment actually worked, where the futures investment into it actually paid off, with the Magic Circle and the Verdict's respective futures portfolios, from which she drew the remaining 21.6 million credits, she decides to invest part of the proceeds in other components of the ever-changing portfolio, with the remainder being used to pay for the Porg health retreat's expenses. While, of course, she preferred to be trading commodity futures, sometimes securities-based futures were just too good to pass up. But sometimes extending an angel investment opportunity, even with a sensible business plan, may sometimes come across as a fraud. Just to make sure that the crew of 109,000 that made up the Verdict's complement would be getting its money's worth, sometimes she feels she had to enter venture capital beyond simply investing futures. But here it was much more appropriate to invoke the newly-formed ORC Navy Investment Management Board, on which she sits, than it was to invoke the Utai Magic Circle. She began to write to one of those unsuspectingly gullible potential investors:

--------------------------------------

ATTN: [member="Zesiro"]

Subject: Angel investment opportunity

Do you need seed money for starting a business venture? Or financing for expanding an existing business? If so, please transmit your business plans and we will get in touch with you after careful consideration of business plans.

Janick Beauchamp
ORC Navy Investment Management Board
Head, Futures and Venture Capital Division

--------------------------------------

 

[Retired2]

The contact came out of the blue and confused Zesiro slightly. She had no plans to start a business of her own or finance anything. So why this person or company had reached out to her was a surprise, but she decided to follow up and see what was going on. Making it clear to the writer of the communication she was not a business person, they agreed to meet anyway.

Items were offered for sale instead and Zesiro was interested in them. She had the desire for a new lightsaber crystals and maybe some other things, but that was paramount in her mind. Since the contact was within the ORC territory, the meeting location was good for both of them.

Walking to where they were going to meet, she wondered what was going to happen. Would she get what she wanted from this woman? She entered the building and was pointed in the direction of where Janick was waiting for her.

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

[member="Zesiro"] would arrive at the Utapau Alchemy Castle, where, after her last sortie against slavers that went awry, she was more than welcome to stay, with the Vertdict patrolling the northern ORC border due to tensions along the way. She couldn't exactly blame Zes for not having a karking clue as to what to invest in, but unlike the last VIP client, she was a little different. She could sense the blonde wanted to use the Force for different things. So they met in the ground floor storefront, located inside the main turret where, as the other two witches in the Circle must have realized by now, is where Janick goes around teaching various Force-lessons to whoever came to town. And, because Janick was the main go-to girl in the Circle, it was natural that more dark stuff would be taught. She had a feeling that she will have a lot of work to do to get the student to learn anything she came here for, and not simply because she could sense that Zes' brain is not glowing in the Force the way hers does. Which means that Zes may need a little mental warm-up before actually getting the lesson to sink in.

"Before I proceed with whatever you wanted to order from us, I have a few Force-lessons for you. However, before I start the lesson, I would like to know what you plan on using the Force for"

 

[Retired2]

Zesiro walked up to the building and was let into the store front. Not knowing of the slaver issue here, she would have fought them if she had. The young woman had been hiding on Kesh since coming to the ORC sphere and only just learned of the area she had been in. In a way, she fit in nicely and felt like she had a home that accepted her for who she was and that is exactly what she needed.

When she entered, Janick mentioned teaching her some Force abilities, but wanted to know what she would use the Force for. It caught her by surprise as much as the original communication had.

"Well, I work mostly as a guard or police. So defense and maybe investigation."

She had very little use for something aggressive if she was able to confront somebody that couldn't use the Force on a day to day basis.

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Unfortunately, I know very little of using the Force as a means of defense. Yes, I can use it for attack, just that you made it clear that's not what you want. What I can teach you, however, is better used for the purposes of investigation and interrogation"

Welp. I know my memory can withstand several uses of Drain Knowledge for the aim of the user learning alchemy without affecting my own ability to perform it, probably a large number of attempts even, but psychometry is another matter entirely. Just because my brain can power through a number of attempts aimed at one bit of knowledge intact, doesn't mean my knowledge of psychometry will survive the same number of attempts unfazed, or even one attempt; I know someone's memory, even mine, will have stronger and weaker areas, she thought, while realizing that the agenda with [member="Zesiro"] is different from all the other times where she taught Drain Knowledge to other people. But before teaching her the technique proper, perhaps Janick would be more capable of keeping the student engaged if she told her where DK fits in investigation; she knew that, sometimes, it was easy for a student to disengage from the material if it's not clear what uses they may have for the material. But one thing is for sure: both minds were warming up, albeit in different ways and for different reasons and purposes.

"With Drain Knowledge you can interrogate people that will resist conventional interrogation methods"

 

[Retired2]

"Aggression with the Force isn't always needed in my line of work which is pretty much law enforcement. Dealing with mostly non Force users, I don't need to attack them. What you suggest though sounds like I should know it. Would certainly come in handy to know how to get information from people that won't speak of it."

Of course, Zesiro didn't even think of psychometry and how that might be useful as well and only heard the words that were spoken out loud. It was not so much that she was stupid, but rather she lacked common sense. She took words at face value and did not read beyond them. This also applied to the application of using the Force. Common sense would say moving a large object would be more difficult than something smaller.

However, Zesiro did not view it that way and had issues moving smaller items. Assuming they needed finer skill and detail, she couldn't use the Force to move small items. Large ones were not an issue though.

"How do I learn Drain Knowledge?"

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"So I may be wondering how familiar you are with slicing"

[member="Zesiro"] sounded like someone that lacked Force-finesse, which she knew was more often associated with dark-sided practitioners. Lacking common sense is all too common among the servants of the dark, and that was just one reason why Janick resented the breed of Sith the Sith Empire fielded. Perhaps it would be time to imprint a little logic inside her, and perhaps leave a lasting memory of me into her, much as I had Er'in, albeit a different but somewhat related one, she thought, while her brain was buzzing with all the memories that she could conjure about Drain Knowledge. She really have to go through the process step-by-step with the student so that she can get all the learning done right. But once Zesiro gets a feel for Jane's brain, she will probably realize just how Jane is different from Zesiro. Perhaps it was weird to think that the user could also get lasting memories of the target from using it, which were somewhat variable in nature, but in her mind it's usually a side effect that may well depend on what memories are being extracted from the target when in use. How sentients' memories worked was not something she knew in a whole lot of detail, however.

"Drain Knowledge is like slicing into somebody's mind using the Force. I should warn you: you're not simply downloading knowledge from somebody, you're also making a duplicate in your mind while stealing it from someone else. There's also the risk you may accidentally remove somebody's memory, but it's less likely to happen if the person has a better memory. Sometimes you may want to use despair when using Drain Knowledge. That said, start with getting a feel for my brain, for my memory, in the Force"

 

[Retired2]

Janick asked what Zesiro knew of slicing and two things came into her mind. One was the physical act of slicing food for eating and she was quite familiar with that. The other dealt with technology and there she had no clue at all.

"Depends on the type of slicing you're asking about. If you want me to make food, then I can slice up food. However, if it deals with computers or technology, then I know nothing about that at all."

She listened to what was​ explained about the use of Drain Knowledge and what it was like. It wasn't going to be like slicing up food, but more on the technological side. With the warning she may accidently remove it totally from another person's mind, she kind of shrugged.

"If the person has a poor memory, how would they even remember it for me to take from them?"

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Your concern may be true for pathological values of poor memory but you seem to understand that the quality of one's memory is relative: what's poor to someone may be good to someone else. Someone with the sort of bad memory you describe will likely be mentally scarred for a while if you tried getting stuff from their memory, while you may as well get very little or even nothing. If the person has a better memory, you will likely get more out of that person. If it works, you will see a vision flashing in your mind of what exactly you are draining from the person"

Then again, there is such a thing as too good. Provided psychometry isn't a weak spot of my memory, I should be good, Janick thought, a little nervous because of not knowing how strong her memory was for every bit of knowledge that may be of interest for a Drain Knowledge practitioner. It would seem that [member="Zesiro"] was not a person that was interested in finesse, but there was a time where her own lack of finesse, while momentary, may have cost a few more lives than she thought it would cost. Then again, perhaps she caused the attempt at mutiny to have poodoo hitting the fan. Yet her mind braced for the potential impact of Zesiro attempting to learn psychometry by draining her knowledge. Meanwhile, she was just setting aside a shot of mead for future use: it will be a while until the crystal will be finally completed. And she will probably need the relaxing effects of mead to carry her through the entire process of crafting the yellow lightsaber crystal. Or perhaps she might have another use for the mead; for the time being, however, she will simply have one of those items involved in the slave mutiny at the ready for if and once Zes actually makes it.

"As an exercise in using Drain Knowledge, perhaps you could attempt learning psychometry by downloading the stuff from my brain; psychometry is about reading into an item's past - very helpful in solving crimes"

 

[Retired2]

Listening to the words and advice of Janick, she nodded. Both skill mentioned would be great use to her. Zesiro could practice Drain Knowledge by also learning Psychometry. On the topic of memory and it being relative, Zesiro looked slightly confused.

"What do you mean by that? I thought all minds or brains worked the same way."

That was how she viewed things. In a very simple and linear manner. Common sense, very little education and no solid or strong personal relationships of any kind in her life had lead Zesiro down many wrong and poor paths. The past three years though, she had taken an active choice in her life. Learning from her past to change her future, she had decided to stop making poor decisions and make smarter ones.

"Alright, I can try. What do I need to do?"

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"There are people, and species, whose memories are better than others, which may alter one's definition of what constitutes a good memory or not, and in different species, their brains may be wired differently. Also, within the same species, some people tend to have a better memory in certain areas vs. others"

Now, Janick was not an expert on memory by any stretch, but still, she knew that virtually every aspect of memory, and intelligence in general, was, in fact, multifaceted and the only objective standards are when memories become pathological, poor or good. She could sense that, to [member="Zesiro"]'s eyes, her memory was perhaps good, but still. Provided that Zes actually succeeds, the visions that she will have flashing in her mind will be, of course, visions of how touching an object will tell her about the significant events in the item's lifespan as well as the circumstances and people surrounding said events, with the Force-history of the item being accessed by touch. It was the first time that she was to even teach psychometry, so she set aside a few blasters recovered from stormies on Dagobah, but also some of the more exotic instruments she uses for the purposes of alchemy, especially for crystallography. She couldn't tell anymore what would make her more nervous: Zes trashing her ability to do psychometry or Zes traching the equipment that she currently used for psychometry training.

"Now, make your intrusion in my mind; once you see visions of being able to sense an object's history upon touching it, you may try to do it on one of those alchemical instruments, or, if you prefer, one of those blasters recovered from Dagobah. Be careful though: they are delicate stuff, you wouldn't want to accidentally fire a blaster"

 

[Retired2]

What Janick said gave her something to think about. Zesiro actually had only a little contact with people outside of her job. In actually viewing them with what was told to her, she did notice a difference in some of them. People like herself were considered more the grunts and out on the streets doing the foot work. Then there were the more officers that mostly stayed at the base and handled the paperwork.

She could not read Janick's mind on her concerns for the items brought for the test, but she shouldn't have worried about them. Zesiro wasn't a brute and would treat them gently and with respect. Mainly because they weren't hers and did not want to break or damage them.

Listening to the advice and instructions given on how to perform Drain Knowledge, she reached out through the Force to start poking around in the mind of Janick. The thoughts of Psychometry were on the surface or her mind and the vision of picking up items and feeling them came to her. It seemed simple enough and did no lasting harm to Janick or at least she hoped it didn't.

Withdrawing from her mind, Zesiro rubbed her forehead slightly and looked across at the other woman.

"That seems easy enough."

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

And now that the visions of learning about objects' histories are in both [member="Zesiro"] and her to look at in their respective minds, she knew Zesiro somehow found a way to make it work. Yet, since the student had a limited amount of power to call upon, there were limited risks to her; in her experience, most of the problems happened with people with more power. Even then, better be safe than sorry, and make sure that Zes actually did learn psychometry. While I was lucky that previous students using Drain Knowledge to kill multiple birds with that stone were able to get the stuff right from me, no matter how good my memory really is, I knew that beginners in Drain Knowledge may not always actually get what they bargained for, but that was mostly a beginner's thing, Janick thought, while realizing that it was now time for actually ensuring that Zes actually learned psychometry with her use of Drain Knowledge. So she presents Zesiro with one of the blasters retrieved from Dagobah, near the location of the crashed AT-ATs. Perhaps Zes would get to know more about the combatants on Dagobah by using psychometry, and, understandably, about the horrors of the swamp battlefield.

"Before I actually ask you about what you want out of your equipment, there's one more thing to make sure that you actually learned what you were supposed to. You may perhaps try to touch one of those blasters from Dagobah, and try to determine what happened to their wielders"

 

[Retired2]

After a few moments, Zesiro felt she would be able to focus better on the next task. That being a test to see if she had actually learned Psychometry properly. Listening to what Janick requested, she nodded and took the offered blaster.

Making sure to keep the barrel pointed away from both them, she was quickly able to tell it was empty of charge and there was no danger of it accidently going off. So early on in her knowing this new skill, the only bit of information she picked up was an explosion.

"Fire, an explosion I think."

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

An explosion? That was certainly logical, given the circumstances, but exactly what did explode? An AT-AT? The shipyard's main station in orbit? The Incandescent Truth? One of the Imp ships we shot down? One more try ought to provide additional answers, she thought, while [member="Zesiro"], as a beginner in the power, found out that the wielder ran out of ammunition before the explosion came, so it was more likely that it was the shipyard's main station or an AT-AT because these were the places on Dagobah she knew there were combatants with blasters shooting at each other in a firefight. The Incandescent Truth or the destroyed Imp ships had virtually no firefights taking place on board, not even accounting for Thrael's ships having some stormies vented out when their respective hulls were penetrated. Just that the strength of emotions displayed can be a lot for somebody using psychometry for the first time, especially for stuff typical of murder investigations, and solving murders can often make somebody use it on corpses. Which provides even stronger emotions than doing it on a murder weapon.

"Perhaps you could attempt to get into more detail as to what exploded around the blaster's wielder, or who wielded it; once that is done, then you may talk about what item you want out of me. If you want to use psychometry for policing, you may want to be able to ascertain some details about the crime circumstances beyond simply an explosion or some equivalently vague description"

 

[Retired2]

After Janick suggested she feel for further detail, she closed her eyes again and probed deeper into the blaster.

"Yes, I understand what you mean. The more practice I guess the better I will get."

Such was the case with ​Zesiro. It took her time and practice to learn a skill once she picked up how it worked. Focusing on that same blaster, a little more detail became clear.

"The owner was a clone, one of a number. No sense of real personality, but I lived with the Empire. Each clone had their own. Maybe he was a new one? I can't tell. Hopefully this didn't belong to one of the ones I knew."

In her delving, she had ​learned the carrier had been male, imperial and a clone.

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Probably killed close to an AT-AT; I know the Imps would never deploy clone stormtroopers in battle, swamp-trooper or not, with unloaded blasters. Speaking of which, did you even know any swamp-trooper personally?"

Did Zesiro even know a swamp-trooper? she thought, while remembering that, if what she knew about how the GE went around training clone troopers was correct, some of them were given specialty training, on Kamino if it was feasible, or on other planets otherwise, prior to initial deployment, but the run-of-the-mill stormies were often given basic training and no specialty training, and that not all of the stormies were clones, and even less the elite units like the Death Troopers. So she feels that [member="Zesiro"] has made some good psychometrical progress, to the extent that was possible in two tries, and also some good progress in using Drain Knowledge. Yet, regardless of any satisfaction Janick could derive from the student learning both Drain Knowledge and psychometry in such a short span of time, she was immediately reminded of conducting the main business of the Magic Circle: teaching Drain Knowledge and psychometry was all fine and good, but alchemy was still at the core of what UMC did. Maybe I can now get her stuff alchemized by now, she thought, while pondering what the possibilities were for each of those items.

"Before you leave, perhaps you would like an item alchemized? A lightsaber crystal perhaps? A suit of armor?"

 

[Retired2]

Shaking her head, Zesiro looked sad for just a moment. Her time within the Empire had been the best years she had since she killed her first master. No able to return though made her sad.

"No, I knew just regular troopers and clones."

When asked if she wanted anything alchemized, Zesiro didn't have anything with her that could be.

"I don't have anything I brought that could be."

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Here's a rain check for a future alchemical item" she told Zesiro while handing her a coupon for a discount on a future custom alchemical job.

So Zesiro didn't know the wielder of those items... she thought, while realizing that the Empire suffered heavy swamp-trooper losses on Dagobah, while also deploying vehicles so heavy that they could be mobility-killed easily across the soggy terrain of Dagobah, and also being a little sad that [member="Zesiro"] didn't bring anything that could be alchemized. On the one hand, she couldn't help but have visions of those very swamp-troopers being killed a painful but quick death when their AT-AT came crashing down on them, after the detonation of the ion bombs, and, in an AT-AT, a mobility kill was tantamount to a mission kill, with her flying cover for the droid bombers that dropped those ion bombs. Her vision ended with Wololo scoring the last TIE kill in atmosphere, with the TIE wreck killing more swamp-troopers, and the resulting spilling of blood.. What's happening? Why is that battle sequence flashing in my mind all of a sudden? Is it my memory playing more tricks on me as it gets better? Is my memory really as perfect as Er'in claimed it was? she thought, puzzled that, these days, visions of that nature kept resurfacing, at a higher rate than before. On the other hand, the amount of mead earmarked for a lightsaber crystal just wasn't enough for her to drink to her satisfaction. She then felt the need to gulp down more alcohol, but couldn't do it in front of Zes.

"Now is there any other matter you wish to discuss?"

 

[Retired2]

"As soon as I find a new crystal for my lightsaber, I will be return. Unless the one I currently have could be used. I just don't want it to be red. Has way too many implications and well, that color doesn't apply to me any longer."

It may not make any sense to Janick, but Zesiro was no longer a sith and wanted to separate herself from that part of her life. When she asked if there was anything else she wanted to talk about, she shook her head.

"No, there is nothing else I can think of really."

More or less because she did not know what to ask. The young woman wanted to know many things, but not where to begin.

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]