Before the Darkness

[Malok]

Typically speaking, it was the perpetual river between them which notified the Sith of her presence. And, if not for the fact that Darth Metus had recommitted himself to checking over his handiwork in that moment, this would have indeed been the case. However, it was the mechical whir of droid servos which caused the Vicelord to raise his eyes up from the slumbering chassis before them. The sight which greeted the sulfuric depths of his sight was a somber one. The droid which walked beside the alabaster woman, clutching her pinkie finger as they rounded the corner, seemed to be bereft of all emotion. In fact, the Sith could have easily mistaken him for a standard droid if he did not know any better.

Now, Darth Metus was no great builder or master of automatons - despite his station as Vicelord over the Droid Capital of the Galaxy. It was sheer weapons and Mandalorian Armor experience which allowed him to perform the restoration of Bella, in fact. As a result, it truly surprised him to see just how solidly the wind had been yanked from the sails of Leo. The way it walked seemed as though the weight of the world was upon its miniscule shoulders; and for a moment, the Sith pitied the Droid. That is, until he recalled that it was an inanimate object powered by a rather annoying to fix power cell. Nonetheless, he regarded the pair with a warm smile and motioned to the slumbering unit which was recovering.

Greetings Vicelord. Yikes. No death threat? Droids really could suffer from depression. The way that the Sith indicated with his dominant hand Bella's form was a clear sign that this was the fruits of his labor. However, he promptly elaborated. "Hello my dear," he began, "and Leo. I have been working on restoring little Bella here. By my estimation it will only take a few more hours for her to boot back up." There was a hint of pride in the man's voice as he spoke. And frankly, he had earned every shred of hubris in the Galaxy after fixing what was left. Did you know how hard it was to pick fur out of the CPU? Fur? He didn't even know how the kark fur got in there!

Striding forward, the Sith paused momentarily so that he might pluck a small, obsidian band from his workbench. He then lowered himself to a knee and offered the piece to Leo. "Do you know what makes Srina and I special?" he inquired. Regardless of the response, the Sith would elaborate with the correct answer. "You cannot see it, but she and I are bound. She can feel my every thought. Know when I am happy. Know when I am safe. In a way, she is just as close to me as your Bella. In fact, she means just as much." He paused, angling the gift so that he might put it on the droid's wrist. "This will give you that same bond that Srina and I have. Perhaps even better. When your Bella awakes, you will always know where she is. And!"

He tapped the center of the band, causing energy to flare about Bella's slumbering form. Both would recognize this as a deflector shield. "If she is in trouble, you can shield her from harm. Now, I'm going to need your patien-"

As the energy from the deflector shield subsided, motion gripped the slumbering unit. It was as if the processing pace of the restoration had been kicked into overdrive, enabling the completion of the routine in record time. Darth Metus was certain there was a logical reason behind this fact as he watched...but there was just a small corner in his heart that enjoyed seeing Bella awaken only moments after her Leo entered the room. The first sight her photoreceptor would find was Leo. The broken pair would be whole again. There was not a force in the Galaxy that would keep those two apart now - and as joy shrieked from their annunciators, the Sith placed his gaze upon his alabaster apprentice. "Are we ever that excited to see each other?" he asked, stifling a laugh.

[member="Srina Talon"]