Dream A Little Dream of Me

[Ashin Varanin]

Too much, too big, can't get it out with music or play or work. Takes something special, this.

Keep it together, child of mine.

Thought you were integrated. Thought all the mes were me now.

That doesn't mean you don't find me useful.

Which one are you?

It doesn't matter. Fascinating, isn't it? Keep it together. If you need an exit, consider causality.

In what direction?

Mine. Causal chains were something of a specialty for me. Has that aspect of me carried over to you?

I don't know.

Try it. Let's see if you enjoy it.

Plant a seed.

Let's start with layers. This is one I've been pondering for a while, as you. Perhaps you've had a dream.

I dreamed of connecting with a man. I dreamed of entrapment.

That was me reallocating processor power. Do you remember the man?

Not human, but close. A strong smell I can't place. Spent all his time kneeling - no, meditating - on a plinth or a flat-topped obelisk.

I wonder if the contact was reciprocal, but to him you'd have seemed like a breath of air off a gnat's wings, there and gone, like a seer dreaming through a kaleidoscope. I can respect the attraction.

What attraction?

Please.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

All right, so maybe there's something.

Of course there is. Oh, he's marketed as above all that. His approach lacks finesse, lacks creativity, but I can't fault his audacity nor his resourcefulness. Of course I'll have to kill him, through you.

Thought we were talking about the reasons I'm hot for him, not the reasons you're hot for him.

How very human, to equate professional admiration with sexuality. Useful, to be sure, in this context. There's something to be said for distraction, should one of your involuntary nighttime jaunts take you too close to the flame. You can't be the only one who wants his attention in that way.

Don't be rude.

Think of it this way, Selka. I am you now. This is nothing more than you being pleasantly frank with yourself about what you want. What you do with that, whether you resist or file it away or, Force help you, pursue it, is entirely up to you.

Which means you'll keep commenting on it.

As I mentioned, I'm you.

I know.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

So let's talk enfolding layers, and not in terms of your dream date.

Anachronistic reference.

Surprising vocabulary.

Go feth yourself and the high horse you rode in on.

Good, a disproportionate response. I was hoping that much of both of your new selves had filtered in.

Fine. Layers. Go.

You could call it enforced astral projection into a complex construct. At simpler levels, it's been known to be an appropriate challenge for the young. You might be able to tackle it, again, at a basic level.

Will I need that kind of competency to scale up?

Strictly speaking, no. You'll merely be under constant risk of falling into the telepathic equivalent of a gravity well.

Once it's built, or during?

After. This is the reel on a fishing line that will bring you what you want, to use a pedestrian metaphor. Don't get too close as the reel spins; you could get burned or cut.

I'm part you, I'm part the other one. Turns out you don't need to explain your metaphors to me; feth, you don't need metaphors at all. I've got your hate in my heart.

Oh do you now.

You know I do. I even halfway remember. There was a child...

-Silence

Tell me about her.

She was like nothing you've ever seen. She was fire and storm and light and curiosity. She was the best of me and better. They rotted her, warped her, step by step.

Until she was like you.

Until she was like me.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

You never had a child, did you, Selka.

I helped raise my siblings. I still send them money, though who knows if it gets to them. I can't find them - nobody can.

Leverage, maybe.

Don't say that, you schutta.

You know you forgot about them. I never forgot my daughter. I never could.

I didn't-

YOU TURNED AWAY. You couldn't bear to see it, couldn't bear to be drawn back into the despair of Metellos like falling down a gravity well. Because it's not enough to save one, is it. You can never solve every problem. All you can do is solve the biggest ones you can handle, and try to find a measure of peace in the process.

Can't believe it's you saying this.

You never knew me. Nobody knows my history. Nobody knows my motives. Nobody-

What do motives matter next to actions? How can you defend-

Have you ever known me to make any claim to moral superiority? But I am owed everything by so many, you can't imagine.

You saved all those for the sake of entertainment, for the challenge.

I love what I do because of what I had to become to do what needed to be done. Plain enough for you?

You were always like this.

Only after her.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

What are you doing? What is this? What - ah. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Screaming without lungs. Fascinating.

Where's it all - AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH - where's it all go? You're not me, you can't be me-

Into entropy. Dissonance.

WHY.

Here, I'll stop. There. Done. You needed to taste it, and you needed to understand that it works in noncorporeal ways, along bond-lines.

You didn't-

Oddly, it works less well against relatives, and this was you doing it to yourself, and your bond is weak regardless. Your family is safe.

Feth you-

Redirect your attention and tell me that you understand.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Is it a resonance thing? Like with clones? Is that why family-

Fascinating thought. And here I thought you were low-wattage.

You're really trying to unravel the unity already?

No mind is unified; to think otherwise is to be a child. It's a conceptual step nearly as grand as growing out of infancy with the realization that others, mother, are not part of you.

What was she like, your daughter's mother?

Remember and find out on your own time. This is important, what I've done to you. Stop clinging to the hope of distracting me, because there's more to come. Focus, child. Focus. You can be better than this. I can make you better than this.

And then will you go away?

Then you'll be me.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

You've left unsaid this whole idea that you failed, that you didn't integrate as well as you wanted to.

I don't fail, Selka. At least not permanently or irredeemably. You're used to dealing with corporate tycoons, Sith Lords, Jedi instructors, hardbitten explorers, persons of ambition and capacity.

And?

And I am better.

At what?

Everything. And you will be too.

I was born to nothing. I've eaten garbage. The Force is weak with me. I washed out of the Jedi, then I washed out of AgriCorps, then I washed out of anything practical to do with Silk.

But you're hungrier than all of them. We're kin, in that way. That's why I made you my child. Now back to layers, back to the hook.

Thought you said it was the reel.

I've never actually fished, Selka.

No, really?

I prefer red meat.

Don't tell me this whole thing is to net yourself a snack.

That's true in several senses. I'll be honest about that. Doesn't mean it doesn't need to happen.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

How do you know this will work? How do you know about this connection at all?

I remember the original, through sources. I can see lines of connection. But most importantly, I have a functioning brain, and I've examined the basic transphasal connections that they all receive. Nobody goes to that much trouble to develop that kind of skillset for something that rudimentary. Somewhere out there is a functioning example of the best it can be, the highest order of transformation. That, and you are not my only child.

I want to forget what you just did-

You're doing a wonderful job of moving past it.

-but I can't.

And your disproportionate response will be my assimilation, in totality.

Yes.

That will be an interesting day.

You'll remember me then.

I'm inside your head.

You'll remember me.

I understand. Now let's talk of layers. Exacting fabrication will be crucial. These things must be done in utmost precision.

My assets can take care of that. I still have a little pull.

As for materials, the standard durasteel won't do at all. You need something more real. Something that only the Silk Group of Companies can provide. Reach out to -- well, you know who.

 

[Velok the Younger]

"I think I'm better than Valik. Don't get me wrong, better is too broad a term of relativity; I'm fairly certain I couldn't make some of the things he's made, and I'm fairly certain he couldn't make some of the things I've made. There's no way to measure or compare the gaps between the end results and how close he or I could have come to them, but I can count, and I think I've made more things he couldn't make than he's made things I couldn't make."

"Yes, ma'am."

She adjusted the strap over her shoulder and kept pulling. "Forgive my loquacity. It's early, and I'm dragging ten tons of alchemized terentatek leather via repulsorcart."

"Yes, ma'am."

The droid had, it seemed, finally gotten past the notion that her every mention of physical labor was an invitation to take over. She'd swung a hammer every day for fifteen years. She liked her work.

"Valik couldn't do this."

"No, ma'am."

 

[Allyson Locke]

"You promised to never use this."

"I know, but sometimes things that are forgotten are meant to be remembered"

"But sometimes things forgotten are meant to remain forgotten, you can't really think this is a good thing"

"I believe that the Force wills you to learn things because in time the lesson would make sense. You didn't feel what this was like."

"You're scared of it."

"I know, but sometimes facing your fears is the proper medication"

Spencer reached into the locker and pulled the small holocron from the back. Examining it she realized her skills had advanced beyond the rustic look, despite knowing the knowledge was safe, she still held her breath. The object in her hand was more devastating than a bomb or a planet killing warship. Her hand placed the holocron into a bag and she turned towards the older woman who remained in the room.

"Your job remains the same, keep them safe."

"I know, you be safe."

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

The Spires of Hell
Bluespire Tip Amphitheatre

The blood of Lotek'k, the Terror From Beyond, had dried to a dark crust over every broken pillar in sight. If she ascended them, she could look down a ten-thousand-kilometre drop, but she was content to stand in the place where Lotek'k had been summoned, defeated, killed, eviscerated, skinned, and otherwise removed. The ten-ton repulsorsled drifted the final distance, and Rave sidestepped lest she be crushed by force of impact. The droid began laying out alchemized terentatek pelts across the broken amphitheatre, and from there measuring out the very careful patterns that would let flat surfaces attain something like sphericality.

She found her mouth go wet and her knuckles white at the thought of what Spencer was bringing. Rave had sought it, considered it her birthright even, nibbled around its conceptual edges. It was finally time, and if she survived this...

...if she survived this, there was nothing she couldn't do.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Its been awhile since I was here. The thought would normally strike a horrible memory, that creature that threaten to kill us all. I felt safe though and I hoped my presence did the same for others. I can close my eyes and I can see all of their faces, especially hers knowing that we accomplished what she needed us to. I knew her face only because I was there to piece it back together after her hunger for a kaggath. She's trusted to a point within the Fringe, only reason I'm here. My knapsack tied tightly against my back, knowing she'd do anything for what I brought.

"This better be worth it. I hate breaking my own promises."

I watched her and her droid, no matter how much she grew - she'll always be that creepy little girl, [member="Rave Merrill"].

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Selka's vessel was no longer the Baobab, Pathfinder-class, flagship of the Silk fleet. It was, instead, a thoroughly utilitarian Washburn-class, a low-end unobtrusive eighty-metre freighter. The ugly little ship settled down on the edge of the Bluespire's tip, on the rim of the massive amphitheatre, one strong wind away from a twenty-thousand-klick fall -- but there was no wind up here. Whatever arcane technology kept air and heat cloistered in and around the Spires of Hell, it covered the ship and no more.

Metres from deep space, she wrapped herself in a fur-lined Kerrigan coat, though there was little need for warmth. Comfort, perhaps, but not warmth. The jacket heated as it approached the place where its leather donor had perished. A significant and tusky part of her was deeply impressed and not a little amused by the whole affair.

She kept back, close to the edge. Down below, a blonde and a brunette conversed in the midst of splayed pelts the size of starfighters.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]


"Master Jacobs, I fething guarantee you are going to-" She reconsidered the sales pitch, and knew that reconsideration was visible. "This will be worth it."

Yellow eyes tracked up past Spencer to the lip of the amphitheatre. "Looks like our guest of honor is here. Our mastermind." She pitched her voice a little louder. "How the mighty have fallen!"

The figure of Selka Ventus made its way down through broken, bloody pillars, and Rave turned back to Spencer. "There were...insinuations. Not claims, but clues. And the plan is...well, you'd better ask her for yourself if you doubt. I doubted, and to some extent I still doubt. Go on -- ask her why we're here. Ask her who she is."

 

[Allyson Locke]

"You enjoy sticking your hands in fire don't you?" Spencer showed her irritation, the girl seemed to be enjoying this. The way Rave was, the way she looked reminded Spencer that she was one of the Nightsisters. The Darkside corruption etched along the woman's face, thought it seemed Rave didn't bother caring about it. Carefully she swung the knapsack to her front better protecting it in case she had stepped into something she couldn't get out of, but Spencer was confident in her abilities.

While Selka drew closer, Spencer spoke up. "What is all of this and who are you?" As much as she wanted to use Rave's exact wording she went against it, mostly because she hated being goaded.

[member="Rave Merrill"] [member="Selka Ventus"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]
She stammered -- she'd never stammered before, but she did now. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a being of wealth and taste. I've been around for long, long years, stole many a soul to waste." She folded the Kerrigan coat around her more tightly, cold despite the temperate air. "And I was around when Darron Wraith had his moments of doubt and pain. Made damn sure Rave Merrill washed her hands and sealed his fate."

The stammer vanished as if it had never been.

"And I stuck around Dromund Kaas when I thought it was time for a change. Tore down Emperors and their ministers -- Tyrin Ardik wept in vain. I rode a tank, held a Dark Lord's rank, when the blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank. I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought two centuries for their Council seats. I shouted out who drove away the Levantines, when after all, it was you and me."

The slim dark woman straightened under the coat, met Spencer's eyes at last.

"Just as all Jedi are criminals, and every sinner a saint -- as heads is tails, just call me Typhojem, 'cause I'm in need of some restraint. So when you meet me, have some courtesy, have some sympathy and some taste. Use all your well-learned politesse, or I'll lay your soul to waste.

"Pleased to meet you. Won't you guess my name?"

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer raised an eyebrow quickly recognizing the name 'Typhojam', though the man that was supposed to be the deity's coming was long dead and if she remembered the legend right he was also converted to the light. There was hope for every dark creature out there to find something close to the light. Softening her voice she bowed her head slightly and smiled. " My guess to your name would be Ajunta Pall, but your spirit was released so long ago."

Standing straight, Spencer's eyes never left the woman in front of her. "Seems tonight we will remain anonymous to each other, you can call me Yun-Harla. So, what is all of this for? Enlighten me and I'll reveal what I've brought." Though the corner of her eye Spencer looked towards Rave who already knew what was in the knapsack.

[member="Selka Ventus"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

While Selka rambled, Rave fixed half a smile to her face and set about inspecting the terentatek hides, the cutting templates, the hide cords that would sew the thing together, the thin layered strips that would form internal subdividers and structural supports. This task would require finesse and power both, even for this basic step. Suffice it to say, even if careful trimming took most of the weight off, this would still mass very high, and the nature of the material meant that the Force didn't end up working so well on it. She had more practice at it than anyone, but there was a reason droids were here. The concentric leather containers would be built around a framework of interlocking cylinders, which they had set up while she spoke with Jacobs. Once the thing was complete, the cylinders would be removed, and all gaps plugged with alchemized terentatek horn and tooth, the same elements that formed internal structural support after careful machining. She could turn layered leather very hard, very stuff, but a risk of collapse still existed. And over and above the problem of sewing leather into spheres, there lay the problem of access, because this armature would serve two functions.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

A low, rough laugh bubbled up from the dark woman's throat. "Flattered, flattered indeed, but that's not me. I know your name and I know what you bring. And I know what you fear and what you want to accomplish. I know what hands made the band on your finger and I know where you first put it on. Oh, I'm Selka Ventus of Silk Holdings, that much you could learn from the news, but I'm something else entirely.


"Say my name."

 

[Allyson Locke]

The only one in the entire galaxy that would know everything about it, she hadn't spoke to or of in so long. Spencer felt her heart race threatening to push through her frail frame. The one person she knew, looked too, one of the few that shaped her life and turned her into what she was today. She knew his name, while she fought to say it, they both knew it would only be a matter of time before she said it aloud. Then, what she assumed would soon become concrete.

"Velok."

[member="Selka Ventus"]