Does Anybody Have A Map?

[Sundara Nyveit]

For such a covert job, this place is oddly residential... The creases upon Sundara's brow grew all the more prominent the further she got into this mission, if 'mission' even applied anymore. Somewhere along the line, beyond what the Devaronian could distinguish while undercover, there was some sort of mishap in the venture. Mayhap she misheard specific details about the mission - briefings did tend to drone on. Maybe it was a technical error. Still, maybe it was a slight mistake along the way. Something that could be easily remedied. Regardless of the reason, here Sundara was, early evening, 'enemy' territory, and a scenery a bit too homey to play host to her query.

There was a reason why she'd never bothered with covert missions.

The stakes were particularly high, giving it was the perfect time for any old person to walk past and blow her cover. After all, it was just after or around dinner time. Should she somehow get the information she'd been sent for, she could scarcely imagine just how she'd get back undetected. And yet, for now, the coast was clear. It was a gift Sundara was more than happy to take advantage of; running through the halls in short dashes of speed. It was working, surprisingly. All until -

Oof​

[member="Arken Lussk"]​

 

[Arken Lussk]

Dinnertime, dinnertime.

Arken's stomach grumbled rudely, interrupting his train of thought. His eyes were bloodshot, heavy with dark rings beneath them. They'd been glued to the four-monitor setup in his room for almost the entire day. On weekends like these, he enjoyed spending his days as he did when he was a young teenager. Perusing the holonet for games, videos, social media drama and of course, malware. Baggy pants, comfy socks, and a tank top clothed his lean frame as he wasted his day sitting in a chair for god knows how long.

But it was a good life. It was nice to relax every now and then.

It was nice to remember you had to eat too. Praise the biological clock that was his stomach.

As the young man begrudgingly lifted himself out of the chair, he took a moment to stretch and crack every joint he possibly could. Neck, back, fingers and toes. Feeling fresh and renewed, even ready for a tussle, he set off towards the kitchen in pursuit of something to fill his gullet. Even as a multi-millionaire, he still enjoyed the cheap noodles and junk food from back home.

He could practically smell the steam wafted from it until he hit something. "Hmmph!" He grunted, staggering back in surprise.

The woman he saw looked even more strange than he did. Robes, seemingly steeled grit, and looked nothing like a woman he would've brought back home from the club.

"U-Uh," he stammered, "Who are you and why are you in my home?"

[member="Sundara Nyveit"]

 

[Sundara Nyveit]

This wasn't in the briefing. There was absolutely no mention of this.

For someone almost pushed into the position of seer, there was no way Sundara could've seen this coming. There had been nothing in the briefing about encountering opposition, at least not of the civilian sort. That explained the residential decor, certainly, only furthering the sinking feeling that the Jedi was hopelessly lost.

Eyes widened like an animal caught in the headlights of a speeder, she stared up at who she assumed to be the owner of the establishment. He seemed young, a student? No, surely no student would be able to afford such living arrangements. So what was he? The son of a VIP? Regardless, Sundara had the sinking feeling this was a person too important for any drastic measures to be taken.

A nervous laugh interrupted the awkward silence that followed his question. "Sorry about this. Just a routine inspection of, uh, security systems. Yeah, that's what it is. Why don't you just relax?" The Force backed her words, laced with the suggestion of sleep. With it, a gentle push. In this sort of home, there wasn't much of a chance of him hurting himself should he fall over.

[member="Arken Lussk"]​

 

[Arken Lussk]

Arken was probably more shocked, and frightened, than she was. Strange people in his home only happened on weekends when he invited the other depraved creatures of his age to guzzle down fire-water and spend the night in each other's company. However, today was not one of those days when he awakened feeling like utter death and doom. Rather, this was a woman wearing robes who happened to be as startled to see another person as he was. Quite strange indeed, but the thought of a threat didn't even register with Arken.

Routine inspection? Really? His eyes narrowed, regaining composure rather quickly.

"But I installed my own systems here," he began, venom lacing his words, "Even got a-"

And then it hit him. Something pulling him towards unconsciousness, eyes growing half-lidded as he voice slowly drifted away. As Arken felt himself slowly drifting away to another world, he took one last step forward in a spite of the feeling as his last stand. Then he fell forward. Hard.

[member="Sundara Nyveit"]

 

[Sundara Nyveit]

A moment of relief washed over the Devaronian when the resident stopped speaking, followed by a wave of panic. She had instinctually reached for her lightsaber, keeping it ready to go in case this man had taken poorly to her little explanation and the Force hadn't done its part in subduing him. Now, it clattered to the floor, her focussing shifting from defense to ensuring this fellow didn't get hurt. Hands grasping the man's shoulders, she managed to still his falling but was then faced with another problem.

Now what?

She very much hoped this man lived alone - this was hardly an ideal position to be walked in on. Maneuvering with the man in tow was difficult, him having a bit of both height and weight against her. Not enough to make things impossible, just all the more awkward as she tried lowering him, as gently as she could muster, to the floor. From there, she wasn't sure what to do next. Find the guy a pillow? Make sure he was just unconscious? Geez, this mission was going just dandy. Leaving the man where he was, she carried on in her little adventure through the home. This time, looking for something, a blanket, pillow, anything, just to make said man maybe a bit more comfortable as he rested on the floor.

[member="Arken Lussk"]​

 

[Arken Lussk]

He was well-off enough to live on his own, for the most part. Maintenance and cleaning bots often scurried underfoot during the daytime hours to clean up whatever outrageous messes their master had caused but remained snugly fit within their charging ports for the night. At least, all of them save for one. The was hardly suited for either of the previous categories and typically did whatever he wanted during the day, not that Arken particularly cared for his personal interests. As long as he returned in one piece with only a few software bugs, he didn't mind whatsoever. What did droids do for fun anyways?

Seeing as someone had made it within his home, however, was rather fishy indeed. Where was that old bot?

A curious question indeed. As for the young man who had managed to stay alive thus far, he was swept away into dreamland. Large metropolises filled with smiling faces and cheering, amusement parks and candy, and an ever-shining sun hanging above wispy clouds. It was a happy, cheerful escape from reality. As the avatar of his consciousness exclaimed and reached out to retrieve a bouquet of cotton candy, his physical form moved too: by shifting his weight and giggling in his sleep.

[member="Sundara Nyveit"]

 

[Sundara Nyveit]

Moving on further into the home, careful not to make any more noise than completely necessary, Sundara had a near-constant stream of chastising keeping her preoccupied. It was a combination of what she'd imagine she'd be hearing after this mission was over as well as her own take on the situation. How had she made such a ridiculous mistake? One could argue that passing that droid at some point on the way in had lead her to believe she was on the right track but still, it didn't make up for this utter failure.

Hastily grabbing the first pillow and blanket she saw, the Devaronian made her way back to where she'd left the resident, eyes widening in concern when she heard the giggle. Up already? She breathed a sigh of relief when that proved not to be the case. Opting to use the force to lift his head rather than risk waking the man up, she slid the pillow where said head would rest again before moving to drape the blanket over his form. Poor guy. She hadn't meant to knock him out like this. Well, she hadn't meant to encounter him in general but that was beside the point. Standing, getting ready to move on and attempt to recover whatever time she'd lost dealing with...whatever this could be considered, a feeling of dread washed over the Jedi.

Where had she left her lightsaber?

[member="Arken Lussk"]​