Private Going Slightly Mad

[Xan Deesa]

DENON | SLUMS
TAGS: Colette

---

ISOMETRIC AIR​

Despite literally having all the time in the galaxy, Xan was ready to throw herself into a skylane with all the trouble she had to deal with. All of her old contacts were either dead or gone, and the new shops wouldn't deal with her without seeing some money. An understandable concern after seeing chrome in her body worth enough to buy a star destroyer. But with all of her accounts frozen, she needed to somehow get money to pay for the repairs.

She had forgotten the nightmare that outclassed the deadliest of Sith and most nightmarish of beasts in the galaxy.

Call centers.

One needed some form of ID, which was promptly rejected after a girl in her thirties claimed to be halfway through a century in years. The other needed a physical meeting which was out of the question. By the end of the ninth hour of fighting with various banks, she gave up and decided to switch gears. Fixing her body herself wasn't an option, not without spares and the right equipment. No, she needed to call on old names to help bail her out... only, most of them were dead or gone.

The circular irony she found herself in wasn't lost on her.

Drastic measures were eventually taken. Databases were sliced and scrounged in search of names she could trust. Cas, Cartri, Ara, all of them were MIA, though the search did give her a dastardly idea. If she couldn't get to them, she could always bring them to her instead. Getting into the system of the High Republic's Jedi Order wasn't too big of an issue, not when she purposefully wanted to cause as much noise as possible. Files were drawn and downloaded, systems were edited to display her obnoxiously colourful avatar, as much of a fuss as she could make without doing damage while tripping every single alarm their system had to offer.

They would find her, track her all the way to her safehouse in the slums. Likely also kick the door down and storm in with a company of soldiers. "Hurry up and wait, I guess..." She grumbled to herself, slumping back into her netrunner chair as she stared at a dozen screens. At least she didn't need to eat.

 

[Colette]

Hacker tried to steal files off of the server with a dual link interface that mimicked the input of old retired codes. Colette only knew what somewhere around fifty-percent of that meant, but thankfully there was nothing on the outward facing servers that would be quite so easily accessible. Although it had certainly amused some of the younger members of the Order when an unknown signature began to appear across the open terminals on the temple campus.

While the reason for the intrusion was unknown the message had been received loud and clear. Someone wanted to meet. Given the trace that had been left behind it fell upon a small task force to track the source down and confront it. Usually not something that needed the presence of the council, but as luck would have it — depending on who you were — Colette desperately felt a need to stretch her legs.

It was just a shame that it would take her to Denon of all places.

A trio of people would appear on the hacker’s cameras. First one peeled off by the door to the building, the next around the corner from the hideout, and the last one — the one who seemed to be in charge — placed herself by the door to the hideout itself.

There was no kicking in the door, no saber carving the thing down. Just a quiet knock and a patient silence. Perhaps a bit anticlimatic, but given there had been no harm and no foul there was no need for violence yet.

That came later.

Xan Deesa

 

[Xan Deesa]

Xan awaited the glorious charge with patience. One perk of her current predicament was that boredom would never be an option. The flow of data never ceased, the Holonet never slept and neither could she. All she could hope for was a grand entrance the Jedi were known for. She did, however, hope that their arrival would come quickly. Her right arm was twitching and jittering more than usual and her chest was feeling weirdly warm, some kind of short-circuit she didn't want to entertain for long.

The proximity alarms finally blared. Was it hours or days? Regardless, three blips were registered and cameras all around the block followed their every move. The safehouse itself was naturally plain. A door to a maintenance tunnel that led into a neglected municipal complex. Xan watched them for a few moments, though her expectations were never met. Instead of a blast through the Force or a blade slicing through, a simple knock echoed through the tunnels towards her. The door would unlock and open a moment later, service lights gently strobing deeper into the tunnels to guide the Jedi toward the Demon's hideout.

Around every corner, old turrets retracted into the damp roof until her pursuers reached the safehouse.

Resting back on her chair, Xan's technicolour eyes darted between screens and cyberspace as she waited for them. Her hideout was basic and dark. Her pistol and rifle rested neatly on a rack against the wall, but the more impressive aspect would be the giant servers, screens and wires connecting it all to the chair in the middle of the small room. The woman facing them was literally caked with decades of dust. The occasional jitter and twitch would rattle her body while technicolour eyes regarded her pursuers.

"Took you gonks long enough." She spoke up, her voice coarse and static. She desperately needed a service. "So... Any other crimes I need to commit before you take me into custody? Or is trespassing and data theft enough?" She asked with a sing-song voice and a daring grin. Her hands were held up in surrender and she tried her best not to make any unnerving moves. She had to imagine that the whole setup looked like something out of a thriller film for the Jedi.

"I need your help." She finally stated, blunt and plain as her hands lowered.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Xan Deesa

Interesting place. Turrets, decay, and other similarly horrendous 'city planet' things. Colette kept from grimacing, and more than that kept from frowning when the person on the other end was clearly in need of help.

The lack of pain in the force confused her for a moment, but a quick glance around the room and the rather distinct lack of food, drink, and other amenities a human would need told enough of a tale for her to get the picture.

Not to mention the piles of dust.

"We're more here to ensure that the data doesn't continue to leak." Colette admitted and crossed her arms. "Although I suppose I'm confused why a droid would seek us out."

Colette sent a quick buzz over her comms to have the backup jedi stand down for now.

"You have our attention. What do you need?"

 

[Xan Deesa]

A frown settled along Xan's features at the Jedi's assumption. "I'm not a droid." She immediately countered with a cold determination. "My name is Xan Deesa. If you can access the Alliance database, you'll find my chain code." She continued with a more approachable tone.

The fact that she needed to make that distinction did raise another existential concern within her, but she wasn't about to bombard a stranger with that information.

A ragged sigh passed her lips, barely a second later a stream of files would fill the plethora of screens beside the two. It continued to scroll with seemingly no end. "Gesture of good will." Xan muttered. Her eyes flickered for a brief second and all the files were permanently erased. "Encrypted download, no open streams. All erased. Your data's safe again." A smirk managed to creep up. "I know how you Jedi feel about your dirty little secrets." She teased, a stuttering leg crossing over the other as she made herself comfortable.

Every movement she made felt stiff and unnatural. Some were even audible where servos were faulty. She finally understood why droids loved oil baths so much...

"As for what I need... two things." She began. "Firstly, I need help fixing this body. My accounts have been frozen for the past thirty years, I can't access them remotely. I know how you and your chooms love helping wretched souls, so I'm hoping you can do me a solid here." She brandished a smile, though even she needed to admit that this wasn't the time for insults. Xan sat forward, hoping to convey her sincerity on the matter. "Second, I'm looking for people. Old friends of mine. Cas Tynen, Cartri Keswoll... and Jasper Kai'el." She continued. Jasper was a long shot, but she knew his girl. It was an avenue worth trying her luck on.

"I don't expect you to know them personally. But I know you Jedi have your own channels to find people. That's why I was in your system, I'm trying to find out if my friends are still alive." She admitted, shakily adjusting the rotting jacket over her shoulders.

Her eyes flickered blue for a moment, scanning the Jedi in front of her. "Noble." She observed. "I knew your mother. You can ask her if you don't believe me, she'll verify what I'm sayin'." She played her last card in hopes of winning the Jedi over.

As much as it annoyed her, she had almost no other choice other than to play ball with her. "So, Master Jedi, care to help a choom out?" She held her wrists out to the Jedi as if she expected to be taken into custody.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Xan Deesa

Not a droid, yet it certainly seemed she was one to some extent. Colette lifted her brow but figured it wasn't worth arguing and quickly lowered it again. The goodwill between them made for a very meager foundation given the reason Colette was even here to begin with. In truth she had come to destroy the hardware that the 'slicer' had used to attack the Order's digital perimeter which by Denon law, she figured, was as illegal as inhaling intoxicants and herbs.

The sudden mention of her last name, and that word 'mother' did precious little to continue the expansion of their shaky foundation, but at least the plea seemed genuine.

Only one problem,

"What the hell is a choom?" Colette let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, I know one of those names but I am not sure I can find'em." Her brows rose. "I can however help you find the ones who can help you find them."

"And, look, I have no idea how to fix your body and the Order doesn't have the resources these days to just give them out to those who ask kindly." Her eyes set on Xan with a somewhat disapproving stare. "Or those who don't."

"What would it take to repair your body? If I gave you a name and place, would you be able to handle finding Jasper on your own?"

 

[Xan Deesa]

Xan blinked at the Jedi's question. How the hell was she supposed to answer what a 'choom' was? She let the question hang as Colette went on to explain a problem with the Demon's requests. Her brow furrowed and her face scrounged, a hand pinched the bridge of her nose as she shook her head. Not the answer she wanted to hear from the Jedi.

"Ya think I'd be talking to you if I could move under my own power?" She answered with a bit more snark than intended. She threw her hands up in defeat and laid back in her chair. "My ship's gone. My apartment's gone. I can't access my money..." She shook her head again. The humiliation of it all. Not so long ago she was an unstoppable force, now she had to resort to begging and pleading like some cyber-junkie on the side of the road.

She wanted to scream, tear the safehouse apart in frustration. But it wouldn't accomplish anything.

Looking over her body, she instead focused on Colette's other questions. "Uh... I need a doctor or technician. Someone who's clued up on Human Replica Droids and cybernetics. The guys I worked with either died or went out of business twenty years ago." A scoff slipped past. "That's corpos for ya..." She stared off at nothing in particular, simultaneously keeping her cool while scrambling for other options.

"Listen... you help me, I'll cut you a deal. I'll pay you back the second I can access my stuff again... in the meantime I'll offer you my services." She sighed. "This body's in serious need of repairs and you've se-" Her voice cut out without warning. The neon lights flickered out and the body limply fell back into the seat.

A sigh of irritation suddenly echoed around Colette. "For kark's sake..." Came the voice over the speakers.

A hologram flickered to life beside the body, showing a different person entirely. It bore more resemblance to the avatar that littered the Order's terminals than to the droid. "Before that happens!" Xan called out, flailing her holographic arms at the dead droid. "It shorted out. Listen, you help me and I'll help you with anything tech-related. You wanna spy on someone, block a commlink, whatever. Just help me however you can, please?" Xan's hologram leaned back against the servers with frustration.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Xan Deesa

Despite what it might have seemed like, there was still a small ember of sympathy for the droid within Colette. If robots felt such a thing as pain, then this must have been it. A long sigh parted her teeth. Her head slumped, and for a moment she knew that she had been suckered into something she knew was a bad idea.

"Sorry, uh, Xan…" Colette frowned. "I'm not really someone who needs anyone sp—"

No, wait, that wasn't true anymore. Colette stopped herself. Her eyes darted around the room for a moment to find some kind of tool or anything nearby to help un-short this damned robot. If that was even possible. She had only just become a smooth operator with datapads, and now she was expected to perform surgery on a goddamned droid?

Sheesh.

"I help you, fix all of this," She grabbed a nearby spanner and pointed it at the droid. "And you help me keep track of someone that I need found."

She leaned the metallic carcass over and slowly looked at its ghost.

"Uh, how do I…?"

 

[Xan Deesa]

The hologram's brow raised as Xan watched the Jedi suddenly have a change of heart. With folded arms she fought to keep a laugh back as Colette grabbed a hydrospanner and stood ready to fix the body on the chair. "Well, first you're gonna want to get rid of the shirt. Then you're gonna need something to pierce the subdermal armour under the skin." Xan began, calm and collected with golden eyes following the Jedi's actions.

"Next, you're gonna need a lot more tech than a spanner to do anything to that body. Imagine if your whole anatomy was made up of circuits and mechanical organs worth more than a starship and protected by a skin that can stop a blaster." She finally couldn't hold it back. A giggle erupted at the absurd situation both she and the Jedi found themselves in. She didn't know what suddenly came over Colette, but she appreciated the sudden care she was receiving. "For real, though... nothing in this room is capable of servicing that droid. I can talk you through every step and bring up schematics, but I simply don't have the tools or parts in here." She explained with sincerity, stepping closer to loom over the HRD.

The hologram's golden gaze finally shifted back to Colette. "Why the sudden care? You weren't that thrilled to help me a minute ago. Who are you looking for?" She asked with folded arms and squinted eyes.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Xan Deesa

Right, the shirt. Colette grabbed at the hems and began to ease it off before coming to an abrupt stop at about rib-height once the ghost started to laugh at her. A brow rose to question the hologram but she chose not to say anything.

Colette pushed herself from the ground and crossed her arms once Xan's fit was over.

"Acier Moonbound. Recently escaped Republic prison with the help of a former councilor." Colette unfolded her arms and began to look around the room again. "Kid was willing to serve his time until his mentor sliced his cell open and urged him to come along."

"Which struck me as odd. When I spoke to him he mentioned that he was spiraling with regret over what he had done and that he belonged in his cell. And now, I can only imagine what horrors partaking in a crusade would add on top of that, and I guess…" She exhaled and rolled her eyes. "I guess I want to make sure he always has an out. He seemed like a good kid."

"And no, none of that save his soul or bring him back to prison chit. I just think he needs a presence who tells him that it is okay to say 'fark no' and let it all go."

As for why she wanted to do it, well, she couldn't really say. She'd like to think she'd do the same for anyone who reached out for her help if that was what they needed to hear.

 

[Xan Deesa]

The Jedi's request came as an odd one to say the least. She could've requested anything to her heart's content, but her final decision was an oddly simple one. Not some grand conspiracy or a matter of intergalactic importance... she wanted to check up on a friend. Xan's head tilted slightly as she listened to Colette's reasoning for asking such a simple favour.

"So... you just want me to keep tabs on a friend?" Xan asked, making sure that she understood the request. "I mean... it's simple enough, I can definitely do it. Just need to track him down first then it's smooth sailing from there." She thought aloud, golden eyes staring at the ground as she began her background search on the Jedi's friend. "Okay, Master Noble, help me out here and I'll keep tabs on your little scandal." She agreed with a snicker, her hand outstretched to shake Colette's before remembering there was no hand to shake with.

Xan instead resigned herself to idly standing by the body while waiting for Colette to do all the hard work. She forgot how much fun it was to have a Jedi at her beck and call. She was, however, curious about another detail. "You say this 'Acier' friend of yours is on some kind of crusade? It'll make tracking him down a lot easier if you can point me somewhere." She asked with genuine care, fully intending to complete her end of the deal for Colette.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Xan Deesa

Master Noble. Colette grimaced, that was still Valery to her.

"Just Colette, please." She begged and unfolded her arms. "And I would point you somewhere if I could. That's part of the problem. He was broken out of prison, will most likely be going by another name, and keeps his movements hidden as best he can."

"On top of that he might have a splinter group of Jedi mask his movements, and well, quite frankly I have no idea where they are operating from since, well…" Her shoulders rose with a helpless shrug. "I'm a part of the Council they splintered from."

"You help me find Acier, specifically, and not where the Crusaders are housed, and I will owe you a favor — within reason."

 

[Xan Deesa]

The hologram's neon masked curled into a toothy grin at Colette's protest over her title. Curiosity was building up, but she wasn't going to press it. The loth-cat could be killed later, she needed to do some buttering first.

But that was a scheme for another day. The Jedi kept dancing around the subject, though she did admit to not having any information on her friends. This was going to be a proper manhunt with very little clues or info. All she had was the facts. Splinter group, hidden enclave. Perhaps she could lure them to her, somehow? This was going to take some planning.

"Find Acier, got it. The moment I get something on him, I'll contact you." She stated. Colette piqued Xan's interest about the Crusaders but clearly that wasn't important to her. A simple job that was shaping up to be a lot of fun. "Okay, deal. Now tick-tock, saber-jock, ya got a body to resurrect." Xan teased, her hologram teleporting from the corner of the room to doing a handstand over the body as she got close to the Jedi's face. "Did some digging, there's a ripperdoc a couple blocks from here. He does work on industrial workers and... friendly evening entertainment... so he isn't all that expensive. Looks solid." She teleported again, this time looming over the body while pretending to stroke its cheek.

Her golden eyes shifted to Colette. "This body isn't gonna move itself, choom." She teased further. Tracking down a convict in exchange for getting her life back? That was a small price to pay.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Xan Deesa

There it was again: choom. Colette kept from rolling her eyes. She wrapped an arm under the robot and lifted it over her shoulder. It was heavier than she expected. The weight took some getting used to but eventually she gave the hologram a nod before heading for the door.

The Jedi she had arrived with gave her a curious glance and she shook her head.

"Just… Stay and keep an eye out." She sighed and shuffled the robot carcass one more time before heading out into the horrid Denon cityscape towards the address that she had been provided by the AI-robot-droid-thing that owed her a debt.

Walking through the doors of the establishment proved her running hypothesis on 'entertainment' to be true. While she would never judge a person for selling their body, she could blame the system that made it necessary. She eased the droid carcass onto a nearby seat and patiently began to wait for the doctor to arrive.

There were a few more ahead of her. Hopefully the ghost was patient.

 

[Xan Deesa]

They were finally on the move... at least the Jedi was. Xan tracked and led her with various surveillance cameras around town while directions were provided over her commlink. In no time at all they reached the ripperdoc's "office". An old apartment complex still inhabited by dregs and patrons. Neon signs proclaimed the doctor's establishment and led them to one of the more sizeable apartments on the ground floor. A closed door with a hastily sprayed "Office. Staff only." sign awaited them past the open-plan living room. Accompanying the Jedi and the corpse in the improvised waiting room were two ladies of the night and an industrial worker.

They all were in some state of disrepair. One of the joytoys had a part of her faceplate missing, the other clutched at an arm randomly jumping and throwing sparks. The poor industrial worker had both his forearms entirely missing as he sat with an internally deceased stare. All of them eyed the Jedi and her new friend.

"Yo, uh... I think your friend's dead, sis." One of the girls spoke up. The other began to laugh. "Looks like ya left her on the shelf too long!" She teased. It seemed to set the first one off as well. "I've done some weird shit but a corpse? That's karkin' weird!" She teased. The other lightly slapped her good arm as she buckled over in laughter.

"How karkin' big is your nuke-box?"

"You put 'er in for three minutes or five?"

"Ya think she plays dress-up with 'er like one of those Pinky Dolls?"

"That's some serial killer shit, sis!"

Their teasing continued for a bit, even eliciting a hollow chuckle from the industrial worker. After a few moments, however, a distress of some sort suddenly overcame the two girls. The one with the broken faceplate clutched at her eyes, unable to see. The other jumped from her seat, frantically looking around with horror. "The kark is this?!" She shouted, nearly falling over the coffee table. "I can't see! The kark is happening?!" The other cried out.

One finally looked at Colette with a mixture of fear and horror. "Get away from us, you freak!" She screamed, grabbing her friend and making a run for the door. The disgruntled industrial worker quickly followed suit, leaving Colette alone in the waiting room. "... Didn't expect that. They probably think you're a cultist or something." Xan's voice would perk up over the commlink. A camera in the corner of the room shifted and zoomed in on Colette, its lens flicking as if the camera winked at her.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Xan Deesa

Shame required the person that was supposed to feel it to care. Colette didn't quite care at all what people she would never meet again thought of her. All things considered they were speaking a language Colette could barely understand before they freaked the hell out. Colette's eyes set on the winking camera with a disapproving glare.

"I am a cultist in a way." Colette groaned and took a seat. "That wasn't necessary."

"At least tell me whoever the doctor is seeing is safe. No… Hack-or-whatever to make them see things mid-procedure or something."

 

[Xan Deesa]

A quiet snicker would echo from Colette's commlink at her concerns. The camera idly watched over her and the rest of the room. "I wouldn't go bragging to strangers that you're a cultist, that's strange." She teased, deciding to ignore the moral dilemma of what she just did. Not that she would take the blame, only one of them was her fault.

She didn't need to explain herself to the Jedi.

"Nah, don't worry about the patient. He's as dead as last week's sales." She continued. A moment later the office door slid open and the patient came walking out. A new cybernetic leg glimmered and a grateful smile adorned his lips as he turned back to thank the doctor once more. The doctor in question had a distinct contradiction in his appearance. What could have once been a well respected and successful surgeon was now covered in gang tattoos and adorned with clothes that made him look more like a bouncer than a doctor.

Crimson eyes scanned the waiting room with curiosity, naturally searching for the patients he saw only a short while ago. Finally he settled on the Jedi and her corpse of a friend. "I... don't think I can do much for your friend, miss..." He answered with a hint of sympathy.

"Tell him the Force works in mysterious ways..." Xan's disembodied voice whispered to Colette. The resulting tilt of the doctor's head indicated that he thought this was some kind of prank.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Xan Deesa
Why was she doing this again? To help some digital ghost get its life back and potentially ruin the lives of others? A deeply unamused look glared at the camera for a moment at the request to say the force works in mysterious ways. The droid wanted their life back, sure, but holy crap — relax.

“Your system is currently compromised by the owner of this HRD shell.” Colette frowned and shuffled the ‘carcass’ on her shoulder. Her attention slowly turned towards the doctor before she shook her head. “Her name is Xan, and she’s an impatient ghost.”

“Some wires have crossed in her chassis and I need you to look at it, if you can.” Colette continued with a long sigh. “Given the dust and grime I found her in, odds are she’s been out cold for a while.”

 

[Xan Deesa]

The doctor strained to understand what the Jedi was telling him, meanwhile an upset "Hey!" echoed from Colette's commlink. The camera darted between both of them before finally resuming its usual scan pattern when Xan relinquished control. The doctor continued to stare at Colette as if she was crazy.

"You're telling me the ghost of a terrorist that died decades ago is currently in my system... and supposed to control that droid?" He asked, pointing to the malfunctioning HRD. He shook his head with a sigh, the whole situation was beginning to feel like an elaborate prank. In the realm of cyberspace, however, Xan was fuming at the rude comments. "Did Jawas steal your battery this morning or something?" She complained with a huff.

But the doctor relented. He gestured for Colette to follow and helped to set the droid down on his operating table.

The room was far from a sterile environment, but evidently he had a respectable collection of tools and machinery. As far as backyard medics went, the man was trying his best. He got to work on scanning the droid and peeling away the synthskin before he began to separate the subdermal armour. The camera in the room shifted once more to spy on what was happening.

For all of her mannerisms, Xan was genuinely grateful for Colette's help. Her only problem was voicing that gratitude

The doctor finally managed to make some workable space and began to fiddle with the artificial innards and ludicrous amount of cybernetics inside the body. The camera shifted to Colette and zoomed in on her. "... You wished you looked that good after thirty years." She remarked over the commlink.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Xan Deesa

Colette raised her brows in sympathy for what the man was saying. Yeah, she was basically asking for a terrorist to be revived. But then, terrorist was almost as loose of a title as criminal was around here. Denon wasn't exactly known for its thriving people's rights movements and lack of corruption. No doubt the man himself was already aware of that.

And although the ghost tried to get under Colette's skin she'd find little purchase. Vanity and looks had never been something she cared much for. Aging was just part of the cycle of life. You live, struggle for meaning, and then you die.

"Thanks for doing this." Colette said and took a seat by the table. "I imagine she's thankful too even if she won't say it."

"Wouldn't reach out if she wasn't desperate enough to take a blind chance like this."