Catspaw

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

K I A R A
loc:\\Outer_Rim\Tel-Syrosmas
misc:\\Sick_Beats\Post_Theme.mp3

The boy's face was mirrored by the crystal.

The contours of the gem distorted the young Cathar's felinoid features, the warp reflection captured along crystalline edge and smooth surfaces in which a pair of vibrant amber eyes sparkled.

Technology was something of a challenge on Kiara. Most of the merchant traffic avoided this sector, as it was far afield from any of the major hyperlanes and lay far beyond the sphere of influence of the nearest galactic superpower -- the Galactic Alliance. It occupied a place that was still very much a frontier on the wilds of known space. A place where the spectre of the Gulag Plague cast a long shadow even now.

Even still, the oddly child-like droid found that he liked this world for the very same reason. It was quiet. Simple, really. Parts of the world having reverted back to subsistence farming that closely resembled a time long ago, even before the age of space travel. It wasn't at all like the droid foundry on Mechis III. If anything, it was its extreme opposite in the galaxy.

Plus, Master Scary Lady Kay lived on this world.

Even still, that was no reason for the wi-fi to still be using WPA2 security protocols. What was this? The dark ages?

Honestly, that might just be the case. The datalinks inside of the Witherpoint Temple dated back to at least the Imperial Era. And the signal repeaters might well have been left over equipment from the Rebel Alliance.

He couldn't fix all of their problems. Heck, he couldn't even fix most of their problems, but he could at least get their HoloNet working again. It wasn't exactly high-speed HoloNet, but the Peacekeepers would at least be able to check their HoloMail.

Just, hopefully not also posting video chat to Spacebook.

The cat-like youth walked away from the crystal, passing through the impressive doors that bid entry to the temple now behind him, and exit upon a mountain that overlooked the sacred rivers and valleys of the Kiarans.

His clothing marked him as a local, though nothing could be further from the truth. The outfit had an asymmetrical appearance, obviously pieced together from two or more other articles of clothing. Likely older pieces that had been recycled as material.

He made his way down the mountain pass atop an old bantha, the aged creature shuffling along at a slow pace. The boy, for all his apparent youth, seemed not to mind the speed at which they traveled. Instead, his bright eyes peered out over the valley, as though trying to capture every detail of the pastoral landscape.

"...stunning new reports from Sullust tonight. Reports of a possible droid uprising there continue to trickle in..."

The snippet of data had been pulled from out of his local cache, the recollection of what he'd seen briefly recalled to active memory. He'd picked up the HoloNet news feed briefly when he'd reconnected the datalink inside the temple, and then tested the connection.

The news brought to mind the incident on Mechis III.

Could there be another droid rebellion brewing? And what would make droids want to rebel against their Maker?

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="BB-4001A"]

A hologram popped out of Kaili’s wrist as her mount carried her up the mountain towards Witherpoint Peak for what must have been the billionth time since her coming to Kiara. She was all things considered their goddess, and she was their savior, and she was their… Well, the point was usually made at that point. Kaili had been prophesied to come here and restore order to the planet as well as bring the galaxy to their doorstep. To a degree she had managed that, but it wasn’t really her doing as much as the Boolon Foundation and even the Silver Jedi. The people didn’t care much, at least not as much as Kaili did. Some days she felt like a fraud, others she felt accomplished, but most days she simply lived in quiet understanding that these things would be beyond her control.

Didn’t mean she wouldn’t have a backup plan in place for when the people inevitably turned on her and Allyson. A revolution against their two gods. It was bound to happen some day, right? Obviously the people loved and adored them right now, but… Chances were, right?

Regardless, the advancement of technology — the one cause that would be Kaili’s favorite cause — was not a priority just yet. A lack of security and outdated equipment had more to do with the fact that, well, the planet was as remote as they got. And the fact that the route to Kiara in itself was somewhat hard to find made it all the more secure without really having to do much. The only real threats so far were internal, save for the recent increase of refugees living out of the old Abandoned City on the other side of Lake Klare from the current capital. It wasn’t something Kaili was too worried about just yet, but getting people up-to-date and more secure was certainly something she had plans for.

Riding up the hill in a ceremonial robe provided by the local population Kaili kept her eyes on the hologram on her wrist. The recent tales of robots rising up against their masters had popped up all over the galaxy and the reports had caused her to be taken back for just a short moment before she jumped into action. Her factory on Mechis had seized production, all of her employees had been sent on vacation and her stores had all been closed. She’d already lost countless amounts of money, but as a deliverer of droids she had no desire to be part of what was going on and risk bringing more and more soldiers into the hands of the enemy.

All that remained was her factory on Kiara at this point, but even so Kaili couldn’t help but wonder if closing it was necessary. Perhaps that was why she decided to speak to the Peacekeepers. They were masters of farseeing after all. Kaili raised her eyes from her screen and towards the temple. They probably had something to say-

Was that…

IT WAS!

“BEE-BEE!” Kaili shrieked rather excitedly. “IT’S YOU!”

“IT’S REALLY YOU!” Her voice already cracked, her boots finding the ground beneath her mount as she rushed ahead towards the Cathar Cub’s own mount. “I haven’t seen you in ages! How are you? Is all good with you? The galaxy treat you well? Have you been here for long? Still being the cutest droid I’ve ever seen! Wow, I’ve kinda missed you. You’re great. Wow.”

Kaili was once again struggling to contain herself. Classic Kaili.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

It was beautiful countryside.

Mountain views of pastoral valleys, filled with wide open spaces that were like the Maker's own canvas. Painted in tones of warm greens, tranquil blues, and soft browns. Even still, the droid's optical scanners did not seem to be caching any of the visual medium before him. Instead, his processors were preoccupied by the news report. In addition to the recent report of trouble on Sullust, there were reports of some kind of radical droid's right movement growing around Denon and Corellia.

Ordinarily, BeeBee wouldn't concern himself with galactic affairs. He was only a droid, and not really knowledgeable about such things. However, having been through one droid uprising already, his human-cyborg interoperability protocols were cognizant of the effect such events -- or rumors of events -- had on organic lifeforms.

“BEE-BEE!”

The wing-like tufts on either side of the boy's head perked upward. The call pulling the droid from out of his L2-cache reverie and diverting his processor toward active memory instead.

"Mrrow?" the small felinoid vocalized, as his bright eyes blinked at the realization that there was a humanoid standing beside him.

It was a long zero-point-six-eight seconds before the biometric data from the visual scan was cross-referenced against archival memory. Further evidence of the boy's droid brain having been distracted.

It was Master Scary Lady Kay!

The child-droid's tail whipped from side to side. The Cathar programming making the gestures of the tail the woman's forewarning, before the small felinoid bounded from off the bantha in a flying pounce hug.

And Master Kaili was worried about containing herself...

Tail twitching back and forth, the boy looked up at the Scary Lady Master person. "I'm operating at nominal performance levels... I think," the cub-bot opined, in response to her first question. "I've been working on restoring HoloNet access for the Peacekeepers. There's lots of work for a maintenance droid here," he added, which may have been somewhat expected.

And then may have been somewhat surprising when he exclaimed, "Plus, it's really pretty here!"

Visual aesthetics were not normally a droid consideration.

Tail swishing and ears twitching, the boy was clearly not unhappy with this coincidental meeting. As his processors anticipated human speech norms, his primary droid brain began to assemble interrogatory expressions designed to further organic pattern data exchange.

He was thinking of conversation, in other words.

"How about you? How are you? Are you on Kiara for very long?"

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="BB-4001A"]

Kaili’s back hit the ground with a small thud and gasp as she caught the weight of the pouncing tiger that had jumped at her. A hug ensued in which her hand proceeded to stroke against the flaps on his head, or rather his ears, as she sat up and listened to what he had to say. A big smile began to spread on her lips as he told of good health and that he had been helping the local force cult out with HoloNet access. They were good people all things considered, even if still a bit aloof as to what the galaxy was like out there. She had brought some of them out to see, but their general opinion didn’t change much. There was too much for them to do on Kiara to really get out there just yet.

And it was actually rather pretty here! Kaili had taken up residence here out of necessity at first, but the area kind of grew on her. After all, one of the benefits of being a god was that everyone was more than willing to give you whatever it was that you asked for. But then again, as far as gods went there were a plethora of downsides that bothered Kaili to no end. The attention was one of them. Their unwillingness to listen when she told them that she was no god was most certainly another.

“I’ve been here for a few days.” Kaili laughed it up. “Had some business to attend to, but I got them squared away. For now, anyway.”

Long exhale. It was great to see Bee-Bee again. “I might leave in a few days, I don’t really know. With all this talk of droid rebellion, and them launching attacks on jedi and sith alike I’ve been going from store to store, factory to factory to personally deliver the order to suspend all production and to deactivate all of our demo models. Even sent messages to certain customers to do the same with their droids or equipment just in case…”

“It’s a mess.” Kaili then sighed and rubbed her nose bridge. “But surely you aren’t interested in that?”

She tried to smile again. “How long have you been here? Done anything special or just taken in the sights?”

“... Do droids actually take in sights? Or at the very least enjoy doing that? I never really considered it…”

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The Cathar cub-bot purred furiously at the head scratching.

Rather than helping Master Scary Lady Kay up, the small droid settled on her lap. The trilling radiating from his being both audible and tactile as the purring only increased in intensity with the close contact.

"I've been here since we left Mechis III," the boy supplied to her question. "I've seen farms and factories and even lumber mills!" the droid exclaimed. Lumber mills were quite fascinating. With the rise of duracrete and other synthetic building compounds, the use of deforestation for the creation of arbor-based construction materials eemed inefficient -- though BeeBee had never been to a world that had such thriving forests before.

Thriving forests and a humanoid population.

"Depending on the droid and optical scanner configuration, visual data may not be recorded; however, droids are aware of the precise geometry around them," the cub-bot added, completely mistaking what Kaili had meant by the use of the word sights.

With that, the cub felt as though he'd answered her interrogatory.

After a moment, he asked a question of his own. "The droid rebellion," he began, seemingly hesitant to bring it up. "Do... do you think it's anything like Mechis III?"

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="BB-4001A"]

It was almost like a child’s innocence mixed with the intelligence of a middle aged individual. Bee-Bee could be both the cutest thing in one moment and then drop it to the most factual speech Kaili had ever heard. In this case, yes, she understood that perhaps she should have been more specific in the way she spoke to him. Sights would be seen more as a question about eyesight instead of locations or vistas. It didn’t stop a smirk from spreading on her lips as she shook her head in amusement.

It faded in a second though.

The Mechis Rebellion…

“It will be very similar, but on a greater scale. I think.” Kaili sighed. “There are too many variables in play, too many unknowns for me to be sure. There seems to be a pattern one day, but then it’s broken the next. It’s frightening to be honest, and the idea of droids rebelling… It will ruin the years of progress I have made trying to get people to see them as little more than workers and slaves.”

Kaili shook her head and rose from the ground again. Her hands swept at her legs to brush the dust off.

“It will be more than just one planet this time though, of that I have no doubt. Whether or not it will spread, now that’s the real question.”

“I’ve been doing what I can to ensure my own assets are ready to face that problems, should it ever get to it.”

A snicker burst through her nose as a small smile began to creep up on her again. “Look at me, hardly into my twenties and already trying to sound like an old woman.” Her head shook again. “Maybe I should try to lighten up a bit, huh?”

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

When she moved to get up, the small droid immediately shifted so that he would not be in her way.

Still, it was somewhat disappointing. There was not nearly enough ear scratching going on right now.

#companiondroidproblems

The notion of droids rebelling as frightening was true to say the least. "Droids follow their programming," the cub-bot noted aloud. "If the droids are acting out, someone has to have programmed them that way."

Certainly, a droid's logic circuits could become corrupted, enabling it to re-define how it saw its dictates or program. But, on any kind of large scale, a logic circuit fault was not probable that that many droidbrains would simultaneously arrive at the same false reasoning.

The more likely scenario was the situation at Mechis III.

Which meant someone or something was likely introducing a code or virus that was re-writing the programming to some degree.

And that was an even more frightening thought. Because, if it was true, then it meant that someone had the ability to take away a droid's sense of self. Their sense of purpose.

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="BB-4001A"]

“Yes, exactly,” Kaili nodded her head. “And that is what’s worrying me.”

“If someone is telling droids to end lives, either through programming or a virus, then they need to be stopped. I am not saying I would be the one to do it, but I would certainly be one of those who tried to stop it.” Kaili shook her head and continued along the path towards the Peacekeepers’ temple. The place Bee-Bee had just left. Hopefully the kiddo didn’t mind going back? Kaili sure hoped they didn’t.

The path itself was as natural as they got. Well-worn, but natural. It was obvious that the locals had spent time carefully designating where to walk and where not to walk as if to create art out of even their dirt roads. There weren’t much in the way of vegetation this far up the mountain, but that didn’t mean it lacked for beauty in the slightest.

If anything that just made the apparent beauty all the more evident.

“The peacekeepers are my most trusted advisors.” Kaili spoke to Bee-Bee as they walked, followed by their mounts. Hers being perhaps a bit more… Regal. Carriages detailed with the most luxurious items the planet had to offer, and yet she preferred walking for herself. A smile spread on Kaili’s lips as she looked down at the small Cathar cub. “But I figure you know that.”

“Did you say they were having network issues again? I thought I had fixed their signal months ago.”

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The strange hybrid of a maintenance and protocol droid did not mind that they were backtracking.

The temple was a visually pleasing location to visit. And the peacekeepers were acceptable company. Though the droid particularly fond of the opportunity to be able to accompany Kaili. His companion programming kicked in as he walked alongside the Scary Lady Kay master person, his small hand reaching up to hold onto hers as they walked. Behind him, the boy's tail swished back and forth in time with his gait.

"Their router is seriously, majorly old," the cub-bot opined, the juvenile personality perhaps startling as it emerged through the vocalization and approximation of a child's innocent demeanor. "There was a power outage and I think the router defaulted to some TC/IP configuration used by the Alliance to Restore the Republic."

Which perhaps explained the strange accent that the router had. What even was an Alliance to Restore a Republic? "Whatever that was." He was a companion and maintenance droid, not a historical index. He could access the electronic libraries of the HoloNet to determine the nature of the historical events surrounding the Rebel Alliance, and might do so if Scary Master Lady Kay determined it to be of value.

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="BB-4001A"]

“The… Rebel Alliance?” Kaili blinked. “Know what I think, Bee-Bee?” Kaili snickered. “I think old Master Keer did that on purpose to find a system he is more…” Kaili tried to find the polite way to phrase it. “Compatible with.”

Still, it was security issue and Kaili would have to speak firm words at the Grandmaster of the Peacekeepers for the risks he had brought upon them all with his stubbornness. Unless of course the cause was indeed a power outage. In that case she simply had to set up yet another Andromeda-brand router on their grounds again. It was easy to forget that technology was something that wasn’t all that familiar to them. The Underground had helped a lot with courses on how to use the stuff, but… Well, it was all on them from here on out. At least the youth were showing great promise, but they weren’t in the workforce yet. Not for another five-to-ten years.

The temple grounds began to crawl up around the edge of the hill. Kaili sighed a drawnout sigh at its approach.

“I really don’t want to do all this.” She frowned. “Shutting down droids, minimalizing technological dependencies wherever I can…”

“At least I know they can handle that, right?” She shrugged with a lopsided frown and looked down at Bee-Bee again. “Do you think I am doing the right thing here or just acting on paranoia?”

It was a question she asked herself a lot.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The question made the boy look up at the moment for a moment.

The interrogatory required an examination of the situation surrounding the factual framework in which it was posed. If a droid rebellion or insurgency was taking place, then the lives of the Makers was of paramount concern. Previous research in the subject, that is, the experience of being on Mechis III, had taught the small, mechanical doll that droids could be terrible when misused.

Their purpose was to aid in human society, becoming productive members by relieving their masters of burdens for which droids were better able or equipped to handle. BB, for example, could process three million forms of communication -- humanoid, non-humanoid, signal, and droidspeak. His ability to act as an interpreter exceeded the capabilities of a single humanoid.

Granted, in any specific language encounter, a native speaker would likely be more adept at the underlaying non-verbal cues. Culture. Body language.

"Droids don't mind being shut down," the boy offered. He was not certain that the statement addressed the master's actual question, but it seemed a point of perspective that she may not have considered. "It is part of our daily existence, the power regeneration cycle."

Did humans perhaps equate an inactive droid with death?

Did humans fear death?

"I think most droids would rather shut down than harm a lifeform," the cub-bot remarked finally.

Then he paused.

"...well, maybe not the Class Four droids. But most droids."

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="BB-4001A"]

Boy did they ever fear death. Kaili’s lips thinned, her question having been somewhat misunderstood again but given an answer nonetheless. The power regeneration cycle she had always attributed to the same as organics and their need to sleep, but not much beyond that.

“I mean, yes.” Kaili exhaled and bobbed her head from side to side trying find the words to rephrase what she had just said. “Droids need to sleep just as much as I do, to a degree. But I mean the act of actively making people shut my droids down for the time being. It feels like I might be making a big fuss about nothing.”

Deep breath and slow exhale. The temple came closer and Kaili gave the Holopad on her wrist a look. The signal was faint. Weird, it was usually in range at this point. Her head began to shake as her fingers swiped away at the holographic surface seeking to find the Signals and Requests center. Something was definitely wrong with the setup, but what it was eluded-

“Oh.” Kaili groaned. “Yeah, they are on the old hardware again.” The girl’s entire face tensed up. “They must ha-”

And just like that, in a very quick instance, the signal was back up again. The new hardware being mysteriously active almost as if it was turned on as soon as the masters had been made aware of her arrival. Her thumb and index finger found the nose bridge and began to gently stroke itself along the ridge.

“Master Keer…” She sighed. “You stubborn old man.”

She turned to face Bee-Bee again. “We need to talk to him about this. It’s not good, it’s dangerous.”

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The small Cathar doll walked alongside Scary Master Lady Kay.

When Kaili had produced a holo-datapad, poking and swiping at the device, the cub-bot's ears flattened out slightly in a bit of jealousy for the fact that Master Kay was paying attention to that device rather than to him. The boy's lips pursed slightly, as the droid pouted a moment.

At least until his fickle attention was directed somewhere else.

As the pair returned to the temple, the large crystal that occupied the courtyard came into view. Scampering over toward that, the droids ocular sensors resumed their scanning of the crystalline formations geometric lines. It did not appear to have been cut, yet the probability of such a geode forming naturally was statistically quite low.

What was it doing in the courtyard?

Did it serve a function for the temple?

These were the kinds of things droids wondered about. Humans were very strange in selecting form over function. It might very well have simply been that the crystal 'looked pretty' there. But such a monolith seemed like it ought to serve some kind of reason.

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="BB-4001A"]

Oh, the crystal. Kaili perked her brow and followed the Cathar cub to the hovering spectacle. She had often wondered if there was a story behind it, and more specifically why the figure of a woman seemed suspended within its crystaline shape. Kaili helped her little friend stand in the right spot and let the light from the sun help make out the ever so subtle shape of a woman inside of its precious embrace.

“I still have no idea who that is and the Peacekeepers are major uptight about it.” Kaili shook her head and ushered the kid along with her through the temple grounds. It was a beautiful place and had it not been for Kaili’s restlessness she would have most likely loved to spend time meditating here. Instead she opted to take runs around the mountaintops that she called her home. Had she turned around she could have seen it from here on the other side from Lake Klare, standing watch over the people of Tre’eyviin and their day-to-day life.

“Kay.” An older man, graying yet surprisingly well-kept approached the two visitors and their carriages with arms spread wide in a greeting. “How can I-”

“MASTER. ADRIAN. KEER!” Kaili yelled. Heads turned in her direction and the grandmaster of the order remained where he was, blinking. “STOP. GOING BACK. TO. OLD. ANCIENT. HARDWARE.”

“Oh.” The man dropped into an unamused stare knowing the visit wasn’t a social call. Not anymore at least. “Was that all?”

Kaili took a deep breath and exhaled it to let go of the frustrations before her shoulders lift in a shrug. “Yeah.”

“Good. So beyond lectures on how to treat our electronic hardware, why are you here?”

“Advice, actually.” Kaili frowned. “Related to Kiara and, well, electronics ironically enough.”

Master Keer had already set his eyes on the Cathar cub with a small smile of his own. He had quite liked having the kid around. It reminded him of the time he himself would have wanted children, but his time had long since passed. Of course, this child might have been an odd one, but much like Kaili he had found something endearing about the droid. Perhaps that was why he had let it help around the temple.

Kaili followed the man’s stare to her friend.

“I take it you have met Bee-Bee.” Kaili smiled for a second.

“He’s a good kid.” Keer would smile and kneel down to the cub’s height. “A marvel of engineering. Truly tremendous. Helped us with our equipment a few hours ago, didn’t expect him back so soon.”

“Yeah, well, here we are.” Kaili laughed at the old man’s excitement as he reached out to stroke his hand against Bee-Bee’s head and ears.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

His visual scanners kept looking for the woman in the gem.

Master Kaili seemed insistent that there was one in there. He had overheard peacekeepers make similar claims; however, even when Master Kay had re-positioned the small droid for best lady-in-the-gem viewing the droid found his scanners detected no such entity.

Bio-scan readings did not indicate the presence of any organic tissue within the crystalline structure. Infrared and spectral imaging failed to distinguish any electromagnetic signature variation that suggested a physical or material structure other than the surrounding geode.

BeeBee recalled that organic visual organs were subject to non-measurable data injects. Perhaps what Scary Master Kay and the other organics were perceiving was some kind of illusion designed to fool organic visual sensory organs?

The droid's tail swished back and forth as the peacekeeper dropped down to his height. The cub-bot immediately shifting his attention back to the two organics that were standing there. "Of course I'm a marvel of engineering," the boy proclaimed. "I'm an Archangel product!"

That went without saying. Two out of two people surveyed agreed Archangel droids were superior to Cybot Galactica. Granted, those two people were [member="Maelion Liates"] and [member="Moira Skaldi"], but still. It was a survey. People listened to what surveys said.

Also, good kid did not necessary mean humble kid.

The droid trilled happily as his head and ears were scratched, tail swinging back and forth.

"Maybe you can help Master Kay with her questions," the boy opined aloud. After all, they were all about helping each other right? "She's wondering about the droids and stuff happening now."

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="BB-4001A"] (Sorry for the huge delay!)

The man snickered at the robot’s perceived superiority, his head gently turning to face Kaili as the droid explained why they were there. The master looked most confused and if not amused on the matter. Usually it was they who turned to her for matters relating to technology and its kind. Droids, routers going haywire and the occasional memory hiccups in their databases, she had saved them plenty of times and for the sake of returning the favor he would humor her with this one request.

“Well?” Master Keer asked and continued to scratch at the mechanical boy’s ear. “Something the matter?”

“Uh, yeah, you could say that.” Kaili would notice his amusement and laugh a small awkward laugh of her own. “Have you heard about the droid incursions around the galaxy?”

“No.” Keer was prompt.

“Right.” Kaili sucked air through her teeth and then beckoned for him to follow her inside where it was warmer than the outside. “Well, there has been droid incursions lately. They have hit Sullust and a few other planets in surprise attacks.”

“I see.” Master Keer would nod his head as he listened.

“As a result I’ve started traveling the galaxy to try and shut down my production lines, thinking they could be used to create more soldiers for them to use in case they ever got to them.”

“Seems about drastic.” The master shrugged and Kaili stopped her rant in an instant.

“Yeah, okay, uh, that was what I was going to ask you about.” She rubbed at the back of her neck. “So it’s crazy then? To travel around and just shut down units over this?”

“How many planets have they hit?” The elder asked the younger woman.

“Not many.” She replied.

“Then there is clearly no need for it.” He offered with a tilt of his head and a perk of his brow.

“Yes, but, that brings me to Kiara.” Kaili frowned.

“Oh really?” The man kept his brow perked.

“Yes.” Kaili cleared her throat. “How capable would the local populace be if a droid army was to attack us right now?”

“Not very.” He seemed very certain of that.

“At all?” Kaili seemed very surprised to hear it.

“Not ready at all.” He affirmed.

“So we’re fethed if they come.” The worry in her eyes evident.

“Well, our scrying has not seen anything in the future that would indicate that the planet is in any immediate danger, and we have kept an eye on the past, present and future rather meticulously.” The master finally broke from his stoneface with a grin. “You of all people know that.”

“Yeah, but-” Kaili tried.

“It’s fine, Kaili. You worry too much.” Adrian interrupted again.

The girl sighed. “Yes, but what about running drills on the populace just in case?”

“What would that achieve?” He shook his head and looked at Bee-Bee again. “The girl thinks we’re in danger. What do you think Bee-Bee?”

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

“The girl thinks we’re in danger. What do you think Bee-Bee?”

A droid's mind was a difference engine. It processed variables, not thought. It functioned off calculus, not feeling. As such, the droid's approach to the question was to immediately consider the probability of a single world being targeted. "There are precisely nine hundred thirty-eight terrestrial objects capable of supporting sentient life according to the most recent census data from the university library on Garos IV," the Cathar simulacrum supplied, providing the basis for analysis before arriving at its ultimate stated conclusion.

"There are many hundreds of more astrological objects, yet space is mostly empty," the boy-boy opined, looking between Kay and the man. "I calculate chances of any particular danger impacting this world as improbable, but not impossible."

The last bit was particularly important. He would not wish to appear to disagree with Scary Lady Master Kay.

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="BB-4001A"]

“... Oh.” It was all Kay could really say. Keer gave the droid one last pat on the head before he stood up again to look at her. There was a slight smile there on his lips. A sort of better-knowing smile that made it all the more obvious that he too wasn’t all that concerned about all of this.

“Our scrying hasn’t mentioned any robots laying waste to Kiara just yet, if anything it’s quite the opposite.” He bobbed his head up and down to make his point and truly make them aware of how sure he was of their own safety. “We’ll be fine.”

“So, we’re safe.” Kay reiterated. “I guess, worst case, we’ll just close the lanes in again and let Kiara fade away to weather it out.”

“Not that we’re going to have to.” Said Keer.

“Of course not, but just in case.” Kaili looked down at Bee-Bee before kneeling down to give him a hug. “Thank you,” She let him go. “Your quick brain probably saved both me and the Kiarans a lot of trouble.”

“Was that all?” Keer looked down at the two.

“Yeah, actually.” Kay smiled up at him. “That was all.”

“Then I should get back to my duties.” He bowed his head in goodbye. “Kaili.”

“Keer.” She bowed back as he turned around to leave. Her head slowly turned back to Bee-Bee again. “Now, how about you and I go find something else to do. I could use the distraction.”

She wasn’t lying. The worry would most likely rest on her shoulders much like it always did.

She was neurotic like that.