Public Heart of the Universe

[Jacen Nimdok]

Museum of Natural History, Thustra

The “Heart of the Universe” was a Force-imbued gem created by Jedi Master Jaled Dur at some point during the time of the Galactic Republic. While its exact purpose and how it was made is unknown, the gem was thought to contain great power, and so it attracted the attention of those hoping to exploit it. Among these was the Dark Jedi Croym, who was said to have eventually obtained the gem. He kept the Heart in his tower, allegedly located on an asteroid, though little else is known about its whereabouts, and to this day there has been no sign of the gem. Most scholars agree that it must be a myth…

Nimdok sat on a bench against a wall on the second floor, his eyes on his datapad and his fingers flying as he typed. Meanwhile, a group of tourists walked past him, their footsteps echoing in the vast space. The museum guide leading them began to drone on about a fossilized avian creature on display, while the onlookers pointed through the glass and chattered amongst themselves.

The noise seemed much louder in the quiet, annoyingly so. Setting his datapad aside, Nimdok rubbed his face with his hands, sneaking a furtive glance in the opposite direction of the tour group. At the far end of the room there was a particular display stand which was roped off, not allowing visitors to come within six feet of it. A surveillance camera could be seen mounted on the wall behind the display, connected to a state-of-the-art anti-burglary system. If anyone tried to get past the barriers, museum security and the local authorities would be instantly alerted, not to mention the motion-activated stun field which would zap them unconscious. The display was also outfitted with a Void Stone casing, both to dampen the effects of its contents and to keep Force Users from tampering with it.

The label beside the display case identified the iridescent object within as a “mysterious Force crystal”. It had been given to the museum by an anonymous donor, and little was known about the circumstances of its discovery or where it had come from. But Nimdok was convinced (after a great deal of research and prying) that it wasn’t just any old Force crystal. He believed it was the legendary Heart of the Universe.

The archaeologist took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, tearing his eyes away from the display case in the process. Coming here was foolish; he was only torturing himself. The museum had refused his request to examine the gem, despite his reputation and credentials, and as far as he was concerned theft was out of the question. Stealing was justified so long it was done in the name of keeping powerful relics out of the hands of the Sith and others who would use them for evil. But if he stole from the Jedi, he would most definitely be breaking both the law and his own personal principles. He sighed again. If only he could venture outside the SJC’s borders…

But no. Given the trouble he was in, he was lucky he was allowed to travel at all. His benevolent protector probably would’ve preferred to keep him under strict house arrest. After all, trouble always seemed to find Nimdok, whether he went looking for it or not.

Spoiler: OOC Info

This thread is open to anyone who wishes to join, provided you have a good explanation for why your character would be in SJC territory. You are welcome to try and steal the gem, wander around the museum, or whatever else strikes your fancy. That said, keep it realistic and don't blow anything up/massacre civilians. Be groovy or leave, man.

 

[Joseph Torson]

Location || Thustra
Objective || Sit down and watch the Chaos
NPC Backup || Agent 66 | Judgement Troopers
Tags || Jacen Nimdok

For sometime now , the Politorate a secretive private intelligence agency with alot of malicious intents had been keeping tabs on two individuals known as Nimdok and Subject 73 Red especially after a privious encounter with the later and the fact that both of them were supposedly tied to secrets the Politorate somewhat knew about and had information they intended to get their hands on.

When Politorate Agents caught up to Nimdok on Thustra , Colonel Ivan Stadd was sent to the planet to observe Nimdok and see what he was up to. Eventually, Ivan Stadd arrived at the museum disguised as a Security Guard through a Holographic disguised matrix. The Guard he was impersonating had been knocked out by 2 Politorate Agents utilizing Personal Cloaking Devices and was dragged out of the museum by the Agents who placed a PCD on the Guard allowing them to leave the perimeter with the unconscious man unnoticed and allowing Colonel Stadd to take his place.

In the Security Room where the Guard Stadd was impersonating was stationed , the Politorate Colonel kept tabs on Nimdok through the Camaras certain that he was up to something. Nearby there were Agent 66 and his Judgement Troopers waiting in a modified and unarmed Cargo Master Z-12 Speeder Truck in an ally way near the Museum.

With that said , Ivan Stadd and his men were ready for the coming storm as they were hidden in plain sight and to the Colonel there were low chances of being detected. Now all they needed to do was to wait for someone to start the Chaos.

 

[Kole Eckttor]

Kole continued walking with the group of tourists. So far he had identified four fake items displayed in the museum. He knows this becuase he owns the real ones. These people payed money for this tour, only to see fake relics and artifacts. Oh well. Not his loss.

The group stopped in front of a avian creature. They all gazed upon it. He quickly identified it as a Ruping. He also quickly identified it as a fake. These skeleton's wingspan was much too small, even for a juvenile. What other lies was this museum telling? Splitting off from the group he began to twindled a gold coin through his hands. Collecting it off of some dead pirate's ship he liked the way it rolled through his fingers.

Walking up to a roped off section he saw a stand in front of him. A big warning sat on the top of the page. Motion cameras, electric shocks, yada yada yada. The label for the item was "Mysterious Force Crystal." Now that was true, but he couldn't help but noticed something different. First off, it was large than most Kyber, so that was a big thing. He pulled out his datapad and did a quick scan, hiding itso the cameras wouldn't see. Once the datapad finished its scan it read me thing on the screen.

Heart Of The Universe

There was no way this was real. The Heart Of The Universe? It couldn't be. That was said to be lost so long ago. How was it here?

His team wasn't here, so there was no way he was stealing it right now. But he had to think of something. There was no way he was going to leave it sitting in this place.

Jacen Nimdok | Joseph Torson

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Jacen Nimdok Joseph Torson Kole Eckttor

Slip entered the museum, looking around. He wore his normal day clothes, looking almost normal. Of course, his green hair drew plenty of attention to himself. People gave him plenty of weird looks as they passed him, making Slip slightly anxious. Of course, he had a job to do, so he couldn't let his anxiety get to him.

His job was easy, find Jacen Nimdok , check up on him, and make sure he is out of danger. He was given this assignment by Subject 73 Red , who was currently off chasing down some lead. It was Red that had sent Nimdok here, anyway, for the man's own protection, but even Red knew that danger could strike from anywhere. Jeez, that guy was even more paranoid than Slip was, couldn't he ever chill out? To be honest, Slip had never seen Red ever take a sick day, so probably not, no. Red have even sent Slip back up, just in case something went wrong and they got into some serious danger, in the form of QEMD-15 Echo . The massive, weird speaking droid that was apparently a killing machine. The droid made Slip uneasy, especially the way how the droid spoke, speaking in fragments of speech using words and voices of other people. Freaky.

Slip turned to the left, walking down the hall towards him, a shadowy figure shambled through the crowds. Only Slip could see him, whether it be through the Force or his own hallucination, Slip had no idea. Still, it was comforting knowing that he might not be alone right now, despite the possibility that the shadow man could be a figment of his own brain.

"A museum? Strange, I didn't expect you to be that find of person, but I guess looks can be deceiving." The shadow man said in his deep voice.

"What do you want?" Slip asked him.

"Impatient, are we? Fine, I found the guy you were trying to locate, skinny, nervous looking guy; he's near this weird artifact, like Red said he would be. Come on." The shadow man said, and beckoned for him to follow. Slip sighed and followed after him through the crowds.

They eventually reached the room where the Heart of The Universe was stored. Plenty of people were gathered in this area, looking at the artifact. Slip looked around and noticed Nimdok. He was exactly how Red had described him. Slip approached him.

"Excuse me? Are you Nimdok?" Slip asked him, just to be sure. "I'm Slip, our... mutual friend, sent me."

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Still sitting on the bench, his head down as he flicked idly through Holonet news articles in an attempt to distract himself, Nimdok didn’t notice that someone had approached him until they suddenly spoke.

“Would you mind if I sat here for a bit?”

He looked up to find a woman standing before him. “Oh, sure,” he replied, moving over to give her room.

She sat down beside him. He detected what smelled like a strong perfume clinging to her body, although it was pleasant enough that he didn’t feel the need to turn his nose away from her. She waited a few moments, then asked another question. “Are you waiting for someone?”

“No,” he answered. “Are you?”

“In a way, I suppose.”

Puzzled, he gave her a proper once-over. Dark-haired, olive-skinned, and with eyes the color of honey, he thought she looked to be of Atrisian descent—she certainly didn’t look like a native Sephi. Her outfit seemed too elegant for someone planning to spend the day at the museum—a knee-length dress made of metallic purple satin, a silver chain necklace around her throat, a gold bracelet around her wrist, and high heels. Sensing him staring at her, she smoothed her skirt and added, “Why are you here?”

“I’m an archaeologist.”

Her eyes lit up. “Have you found anything interesting lately?”

“Not much... I’m actually here to study one of the items on display.”

She grinned, exposing beautiful straight white teeth. “Which one?”

He pointed to the heavily-protected magic rock at the end of the hall. She immediately stood up and walked over to the display, straining against the thick velvet rope that surrounded it. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured.

“Yes,” Nimdok agreed, coming up behind her. “But I’m afraid the people who run this museum don’t realize what they have.”

“You mean they made a mistake?”

“At least, I think so.” The iridescent gem refracted the lights that hung overhead like a crystal prism. “I won’t know for sure unless I had a chance to properly examine it. There are a few colleagues of mine who I’d like to show it to as well—they could help to deduce its true history.”

“Will they let you take a look at it?”

“Funny you should mention that…” He smirked to hide his disdain for the museum curators that had refused him. “Technically I shouldn’t even be working right now, but I just can’t help myself. Sitting here and staring at this rock all day isn’t helping matters, yet I find myself drawn to it anyway.”

“It says here that it’s a Force crystal,” she said, pointing to the label beside the display. “That means it’s imbued with space magic, right? Maybe that’s what you’re feeling.”

“Could be.”

She faced him, still smiling. “I could get it for you.”

He blinked in startled surprise, then instinctively looked in the direction of the tour group that was rapidly approaching the display. Wincing, he took her arm, pulled her aside, and whispered, “What do you mean?”

“I could take it.” She averted her gaze, looking embarrassed, but no blush rose to her cheeks. “Okay, I mean I could steal it. But you’ll have what you want, and… well, isn’t that what you’ve been doing?”

“Archaeology is not…” He hesitated. She was giving him a strange look, as if she knew more than she seemed. “...who are you, anyway? You never told me your name.”

She opened her mouth, but hesitated a moment before replying, “Lydia. My name is Lydia.”

“Lydia who?”

Again she paused. “...Lydia Mina. This might sound a little creepy… but I already know who you are.”

He frowned, studying her. She didn’t seem to be lying, but then if she did know who he was, she might bring trouble for him. “All right,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Who am I?”

“Professor Nimdok Deronda,” she answered. If she noticed his slight exhale of relief, she didn’t react to it. “We knew each other years ago on Alderaan.”

“Really? I think I’d remember you.”

“I didn’t used to look like this...” she started to explain, then shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Do you want me to—”

“On the contrary, it matters very much,” he interrupted. Behind him, he heard the faint sound of Kole Eckttor 's scanner powering up, and again he took the woman's arm, moving them even further away from the group of tourists. “I don’t recognize your name either.”

She pursed her lips, her expression sad. “I can’t tell you who I really am. Not yet, at least. But I’m your friend, not your enemy.”

“Typically, not even friends will commit crimes for each other,” he replied stiffly.

“Fine.” She pulled her arm out of his grasp. “If you don’t want it, I won’t touch it. But I do want to work for you, professor.”

“Work for me?” he echoed, thrown off track by the shift in topic. “What do you mean?”

She moved closer to him, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I can do anything you ask me to do. I could protect you, manage your affairs, get you the things you need when you need them...”

His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Again he saw her hesitate, her lips twitching with words left unsaid. “...The experience,” she finally answered.

He was still very suspicious, but forced himself to outwardly relax, as if her words had soothed his worries. “You want to prove yourself to me.”

She nodded. He looked away from her, the wheels of his mind turning as he made his decision.

“Go ahead and try to take it,” he said softly. “But don’t actually steal the Heart—I just want to see if you can pull it off.”

The woman bowed her head. “Thank you for giving me a chance,” she said. “You won’t regret it.” With that, she turned and walked away, heading down a side passage that would take her away from the exhibits. There was nothing down there but a souvenir shop, a set of public restrooms, and a janitor's supply closet.

Nimdok watched her go, then returned to his seat on the bench, pulling out his datapad again. Under different circumstances, he would have followed her around, watching her movements, trying to figure out what she was up to, how she would go about taking the heavily protected gem. But not today, and not so he could observe a suspicious stranger. She might be trying to lure him somewhere private so that she could plunge a knife into his back. Or she could be perfectly sincere in her intentions. Either way, he would only draw attention to them both if he started trailing her... best to stay put.

He was back to staring at his datapad when yet another person walked up to him and spoke.

“Excuse me, are you Nimdok? I’m Slip, our... mutual friend sent me.”

Nimdok looked up at the green-haired boy and smirked. This day just kept getting more and more interesting. "I was wondering when you'd show up. So, how is my saintly watchman doing these days? Miri is fine. She's in school at the moment. Blends right in with all the other pointy-eared Thustran children. As for me, be sure to tell our mutual friend that I've been managing perfectly well, thank you." Nearly every other word he uttered was laced with sarcasm. It occurred to him that he wasn't really being fair to the boy, however, so he sighed and took the flagrant irritation down a notch. "What about you? He mentioned you were a Padawan. My research assistant is also training with the Silvers. He's about your age, in fact. Name's Starlin Rand. You wouldn't happen to know him, would you?"

Joseph Torson Subject 648 Slipknot

 

[Joseph Torson]

Location || Thustra
Objective || Sit down and watch the Chaos
NPC Backup || Agent 66 | Judgement Troopers
Tags || Jacen Nimdok Subject 648 Slipknot Kole Eckttor

Colonel Stadd watched the Security Camaras as two individuals approached Nimdok , the First one being some lady who soon left elsewhere and then another person who also came up to him. There was also another individual who seemed to be checking out the Kyber Crystal Artifact. For now it seemed that everything was fine. Though Colonel Stadd knew things would change rapidly soon enough.

Then Ivan received a transmission from his superior the Director-Admiral and the Head of the Politorate. "Ah Director-Admiral sir I was wondering when you'd contact me" Ivan. "What is your status Colonel Stadd" asked the Director-Admiral almost instantly. "Things are going as we planned. I have an eye on Nimdok through the Security Camaras and my backup team is right outside in a nearby ally way ready to intervene when needed. All I need is for someone to Spring the trap" Ivan replied.

"Good , very good. Colonel. Is there anything else you need to tell me?" Asked the Director-Admiral looking for anything abnormal in Stadd's report. "Yes actually. From what I see Nimdok and some other individual seem to be interested in some Worthless Artifact. Some Kyber Crystal of some sorts." Ivan said.

The Director-Admiral thought for a bit. He had files on Nimdok and the Politorate had agents who worked with him in person. Clearly something was going on if the archeologist was interested in some "Worthless" Artifact as Nimdok claimed. "Hum continue the Operation , Colonel" the DirectorAdmiral replied. " But do keep an eye on those two individuals and that Artifact. Something tells me isn't worth more then you think" The Director-Admiral said before ending the transmission.

This was a suprise to Ivan himself. But With the last words of the Director-Admiral he knew that Nimdok was indeed up to something now all he needed was to findout what exactly was he doing here. Though from Colonel Stadd's point of view the man was surley waiting for something and Ivan knew exactly what to do.

The Politorate Colonel contacted the Politorate Intelligence Vessel that had dropped Ivan and his back up team to Thustra and contacted Agent Sorath Kuolor who was commandering the vessel. "Agent Kuolor I need you to contact one of our contacts , Codename DA2-4155. Tell him I have an assignment for him , one that involves stealing a valuable Artifact at the Thustra Museum of Natural History." Colonel Stadd said as he looked into the screen in front of him displaying the live footage of the Security Camara angled towards Nimdok and smiled. Now he knew exactly what to do.

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Jacen Nimdok Joseph Torson Kole Eckttor

Slip was slightly surprised at Nimdok's brazen irritation at Slip, as if he had done something wrong. Had Slip done something wrong without him knowing it? No.. but, could he have? He started to get a little bit nervous, but then Nimdok took his attitude down. He was just annoyed, okay, though Slip had no idea why he was mad.

So, how is my saintly watchman doing these days?

He actually hadn't heard from Red since a couple of weeks back, when he said that he was going to hunt down some leads, and sent Slip to check on Nimdok and Miri. "I... honestly have no idea where Red is. He just contacted me to ask me to check on you and Miri. I don't have a clue as to where he is. I haven't heard from him for a few weeks, now." Slip told him.

Miri is fine. She's in school at the moment.

Slip nodded, but was slightly disappointed. He had been excited to meet Miri, but he was also excited to meet Nimdok. Red had told him quite a bit about Nimdok and Miri, but Slip had the feeling he had left some things out, Slip was an experiment, after all, though not as well trained as Red, he could still tell when something was up.

"What about you? He mentioned you were a Padawan. My research assistant is also training with the Silvers. He's about your age, in fact. Name's Starlin Rand. You wouldn't happen to know him, would you?"

Slip blinked. "Y-Yes, I'm a Padawan. He's obviously told you I'm like him, an experimental supersoldier. At least, that's what they made me to be, never said I was particularly good at it. Starlin Rand... The name sounds familiar. I think I might have met him before, I don't remember. Sorry, I met a lot of people." Slip explained.

The shadow man snickered, and Slip shot him a look of discontempt . It would appear to Nimdok as if Slip was staring aggressively at a patch of thin air, which, of course, would appear odd to him. Slip turned back to Nimdok.

"Who was that woman you were just talking to? It looked like she knew you." Slip pointed out.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Nimdok raised an eyebrow as the green-haired boy stammered out his responses. Red wasn’t kidding when he described him as anxiety-stricken. The kid was probably scared of his own shadow.

"I... honestly have no idea where Red is. He just contacted me to ask me to check on you and Miri. I don't have a clue as to where he is. I haven't heard from him for a few weeks, now."

“Well, that doesn’t sound good,” Nimdok said, folding his hands. “Where was he the last time you contacted him?”

As the boy suddenly turned to glare at the shadow only he could see, Nimdok followed his line of sight… and found nothing there. Looked like Slip was a little weirdo on top of the nervousness.

"Who was that woman you were just talking to? It looked like she knew you."

“Mmmhmm...” Nimdok paused as out of the corner of his eye he saw a woman walk out of the same hallway where Lydia Mina had gone. A striking figure, she stood out due to her bald head and the short hem of her white robe. Nice legs. Familiar swaying walk, too. “...She is a colleague of mine. Came by to ask about working with me. Very interesting. I could’ve sworn we’d met before, though I can’t quite place her—”

Before he finished speaking, the electricity went out. All the lights, digital displays, and various other electronics abruptly shut down, plunging the museum into near-complete darkness. A faint glow from the windows at the entrance of the building shone through an archway, but it was quite dim.

A scattering of gasps and cries from the tourists echoed through the chamber, along with the desperate exclamations of the tour guide as he attempted to calm them. Nimdok smiled in the gloom. “Probably just a power outage,” he remarked for Slip’s benefit. “I’m sure it’s all right. Either the backup generators will kick in, or they’ll simply shut down the museum for the day.”

Using his datapad’s screen like a flashlight, Nimdok stood up and turned instinctively toward where the Heart of the Universe was on display. The gem glinted even in the faint glow from all the way across the room. It had not been stolen... yet.

He turned back to Slip, making it seem like he was simply having a look around. “Perhaps we should wait outside?”

Subject 648 Slipknot

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Jacen Nimdok

When Slip turned back to Nimdok from staring down the shadow man, he saw that Nimdok was looking at him weird, probably confused by Slip's aggresive look at a blank patch of air. "Sorry. I have, um... Well, I was diagnosed, back in the genetic labs, with Schizophrenia, so I often have... hallucinations, delusions, and rips from reality, as the doctors so delicately put it. Then again, I could be seeing something through the Force, I don't know. What I do know is that THEY won't leave me alone!" Slip yelled aggressively at the shadow man, casting another look full of hatred at him. The shadow man merely laughed quietly, as Slip's loud outburst had drawn some odd looks from the crowd at him. Slip's entire attitude just went from nervous to seething with hate in a split second, which anyone in the area with a connection to the Force, including Nimdok, would be able to feel his hatred and anger. Then, as soon as it started, it stopped, and Slip was back to his usual, nervous self, not even a hint of anger was left in him.

“Where was he the last time you contacted him?”

Slip thought hard on this. Had Red said where he was? Think Slip, think! This could be important! "I... I think he said he was on some old Galactic Empire world, looking through maps of the Galactic Empire... What was its name? I think it was... Fondor, yes, he said that he was on Fondor." Slip told him. Quite sure of his answer.

Then, the lights went out, and Slip yelped. He got surprised by it. He knew that even the other experiments weren't this jumpy, but as the scientists had so delicately said, he was, "mentally unbalanced." Nimdok explained to him what it probably just was, and he calmed down. Nimdok looked around the room. If Slip had been nearly as skilled in observation as Red, he would have noticed that NImdok was indeed looking at the artifact, but Slip was not as skilled as Red, so he was fooled.

"Yes, let's. You lead the way, I forgot the way I came in." He admitted sheepishly.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Prompted by the mention of Fondor, Nimdok began droning on about history to the unlucky Slip as the pair headed out of the museum.

“Fondor is a planet of shipyards. Appropriate enough choice, I suppose, given its importance to the Galactic Empire. It was a massive manufacturing hub, producing much of the Empire’s fleet. The Executor, Darth Vader’s Star Dreadnought, was built there. After the Empire fell, its production rate fell with it, though they never went completely under, unlike some industrial worlds. But later on during the Second Galactic Civil War, Fondor sided with Corellia against the original Galactic Alliance, and thus became the site of a major battle. Darth Caedus led the assault, as he wanted to make an example out of the planet and quell any future rebellions. Caedus is a personal obsession of mine—though depending on which source you consult, he was either Jacen Solo, the eldest son of Han and Leia Solo, or he never existed at all. But if he did in fact exist, we know that he fell to the Dark Side, becoming Darth Caedus after a grueling youth spent fighting in the Yuuzhan Vong War, where he was captured, enslaved, and made to endure countless horrors and tragedies. His brother Anakin’s death in battle was especially hard for him… well, anyway, Gilad Pellaeon, the Imperial Remnant Head of State, was assassinated over Fondor because he refused to back Caedus’ faction...”

Nimdok kept talking well past that, the soothing tones of his baritone voice acting like a sedative to the disinterested listener or a narcotic to the history enthusiast. Without changing the topic of the one-sided conversation, he successfully guided Slip outside the building, down the large steps of the front entrance, turning right once they reached the sidewalk at the bottom, and past two other buildings that were all part of a complex of museums. By the time he finally shut up about Fondor, they had reached the Museum of Thustran Art three doors down, and the crafty archaeologist was satisfied that he had kept the boy from noticing anything amiss about the power outage.

“I hope I’m not overloading you with information,” Nimdok remarked, glancing down at Slip. “What I just said was at least a semester’s worth of college-level history. Unless it was an accelerated course.” He shuddered at the thought. “I hated teaching those. There was never enough time for my students to properly absorb the material, let alone write papers on it. Even the good writers among them found it daunting, and their work suffered for it.”

Stopping, he turned to face Slip. “Ah, listen to me ramble. Where would you like to go, Slip? Provided we don’t go too far, that is—I’m supposed to stay within this general area until my colleague returns.”

Meanwhile, inside the Museum of Natural History, the tourists were quickly ushered out of the building. Security had recognized a breach—someone or something had tampered with the power generator. Minutes later, a security guard heard a strange wet slapping noise, turned and saw what could best be described as a puddle of goo had landed on top of the display case containing the Heart of the Universe. The blob continued to move, slopping down the sides of the transparisteel container. Producing a set of tools clutched in coils of gray putty-like slime, it began to pick the case’s digital lock.

It was an absolutely wild thing to witness, leaving the guard frozen in shock. He slowly started to raise his comlink to his mouth, but hesitated, not sure how the thing would react to hearing his voice echoing through the cavernous room. He’d heard stories about weird blobs that could consume living beings, and if this was one of those things, he would really, really rather not be its next victim. When made to choose between his job and his life, as far as he was concerned the answer was obvious. Nope, nope, and nope.

So the guard simply stood by and watched as the… thing opened the container. The Heart glinted within, looking even more dazzling to the naked eye without the dulling effect of transparisteel. But rather than seizing the artifact, the putty creature closed it up again, crept back up the wall and over the ledge of the second floor, then disappeared from view.

The guard turned on his comlink. “Looks like you’re gonna have company on the second floor,” he whispered. “Some kind of gray slime monster thing. It just opened the Force crystal display case. Didn’t steal anything, though.”

“Did you just say it ‘didn’t steal anything’?” came a muffled reply.

“Affirmative. It picked the lock and opened the door, then closed it and left.”

“...Why?”

“How should I know?” The guard shook his head. “Look, it’s somewhere up on the second floor. Are you gonna send some people after it or what?...”

Subject 648 Slipknot

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Jacen Nimdok

Whenever Arimanes started going on a long history lecture about Fondor, Slip gave a small, strangled noise. Red said that he was... enthusiastic, and a history nut, apparently that was a job requirement or something to be an archaeologist, but Red didn't say that he was this bad. The shadow man chuckled slightly. Slip followed him and, as he had nothing better to do, listened to his long and extensive history lesson.

Slip could feel Arimanes' voice washing over him. How was he doing that? It felt... weird as his voice seemingly filtered into his brain and... relaxed him? How the hell did he manage to do that?

Near the end, Slip was barely hanging onto the lecture. The shadow man was clutching his head, shuddering. "Make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop. Just shut him up! I can't take anymore of this!" He yelled. Slip felt the same way, but he was keeping his cool a lot better. If Slip had been more like Red, he would have noticed that Arimanes was distracting him, but he didn't.

When Arimanes stopped, both Slip and the shadow man gave a sigh of relief. When Arimanes said that he just told Slip an entire college-level history course, Slip was daunted. "Shh, shh shh shh shh. Don't speak. If you speak anymore, I'll strangle you. I can see what Red meant when he said that just being around you gives someone a strong urge to throttle you." Slip groaned, rubbing his temples.

Slip gave a shaky breath. "Okay, I'm good now. Just... no more spontaneous history lectures. Maybe a warning next time." He told him.

Arimanes then asked him where Slip would like to go, as long as it wasn't too far. "Hmm... Where are you guys staying at? It must be close by." Slip said.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Subject 648 Slipknot

"Shh, shh shh shh shh. Don't speak. If you speak anymore, I'll strangle you. I can see what Red meant when he said that just being around you gives someone a strong urge to throttle you."

“I get that a lot,” Nimdok replied without missing a beat.

Having hoped his lecture might reveal some hidden interest in history that Slip was secretly harboring, Nimdok wasn’t exactly excited at the prospect of showing him where he was staying. Had Slip asked to see one of the nearby history museums, he would have carried the boy there on his shoulders. But Nimdok fancied himself something of a noble soul, and nobility obliges, so he nodded in agreement despite his deflated spirits.

“Not far at all, in fact…” He trailed off as he heard the clicking of high heels rapidly approaching. Turning around, he saw the bald white-robed woman from earlier running toward them. Her face was stretched into a broad grin, and she held a bundle of dark cloth under one arm and was waving her other hand as if in greeting.

“Professor Nimdok!” she called, slowing down as she reached him. “It’s me, Lydia Mina!”

Nimdok’s brow furrowed. Only then did he realize that she was clutching a small metal object in her waving hand. She thrust it forward for him to see. Lying at the center of her palm was a hinge pin from the Heart’s display case door.

“I did it! The Heart is still safe and sound. Oh, but we better not stand here on the sidewalk—the police are coming.” After giving him the pin, she gestured for them to follow her. “Who’s your friend?”

“Uh, this is Slip,” Nimdok replied, still a little bewildered. He was surprised she had come back so fast. “Slip, this is Lydia Mina, my, er, colleague. How… how exactly did you do it, Miss Mina?”

“Well, first I had to reconfigure myself…” Shifting her grasp on the bundle, she held in front of her with both arms. The dark cloth was in fact mauve satin. It was Lydia Mina’s dress, and presumably her shoes and jewelry were wrapped up in it too. “To do that, I found a janitor’s closet to hide in while I transformed. It takes about three minutes, but once I’m in this form, I can turn myself into liquid and flow through small spaces.”

Seeing her make a gesture as if to give a demonstration of her abilities, Nimdok quickly stepped in to stop her. “Ah, maybe not right here. We’re heading back to my place, you can show us there, okay?”

“Oh, of course. Silly me.” She seemed genuinely embarrassed, though no color rose to her cheeks. “I’m just so excited, I nearly forgot myself.”

“It’s all right. But as you were saying…?”

“As I was saying, I can flow through small spaces, so it was easy to get through the vents. I made my way to the generator room, put one of those timed EMPs on the machinery, then went back into the vents. It took no time at all—in fact, I walked right past you a few moments before the power went out. You probably didn’t recognize me.”

“I thought your stride looked familiar,” he replied. “How did you get to the display?”

“By turning into liquid again. Only this time, I went up the wall and across the ceiling, then dropped down on top of it.” She winced. “I think that’s when someone saw me and sounded the alarm. Luckily, I was just a pile of goo, so I shouldn’t be recognized on the street.”

“What about surveillance footage?”

She winked. “The power outage took care of that.”

They were coming up to the bus stop. Nimdok gnawed on his lip. “Miss Mina, I believe it’s time you came clean with me,” he began. “I have many questions. First of all, what exactly—”

“I can’t give you any direct answers,” she interrupted sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“Why not?” When she didn’t respond, he put his fists on his hips and sighed, giving Slip an exasperated look. “The guessing game it is, then. Are you a Shi’ido?”

She blinked at him, the corners of her mouth curling upwards. “No. But if we’re going to make a game of it, you have to give me a turn after each of yours.”

Nimdok was struck by how familiar her expression seemed, though her face remained that of a stranger to him. “You mean I have to let you ask me a question?”

The bus pulled up as she nodded her head. Hesitating momentarily, he said, “Fine. What is it?”

"How is Miri? Is she doing well? Have you found someone to train her yet?”

He stared at her, his eyes narrowing. “That's three questions, and I'm not answering any of them. I barely know you. What business do you have asking about my daughter?”

“If you won't answer me, then I don’t have to answer any more of your questions.” With that, she turned and got on the bus.

Grabbing Slip by the collar, Nimdok followed her.

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Jacen Nimdok

Nimdok wasn’t exactly excited at the prospect of showing him where he was staying.

Slip saw the look on Nimdok's face when he mentioned going to where he was. "Sorry. It's just, well, Red gave me a list of what he wanted me to do. One of them is, and I kid you not, is to shake down your place for bugs." Slip told him, then sighed, "I mean, you know how Red is, he's... Well, Red is Red, that's the best way to describe it. There's plenty of stuff on the list I'm not even going to try and do, like collect a urine sample from you. I think Red's worried about you getting poisoned, but I don't even want to try that." Slip said, then stopped. A really, really insensitive question just popped into his head. He blurted it out before even thinking about what he was saying.

"Wait a second, how do you... you know? Since you're a Sh... Shi-.... Shu... Sha- Sha? Oh forget you know what I mean. You're a shapeshifter." Slip asked him, messing up on pronouncing the word Shi'ido. In his defense, it was a hard word. If he ever met Inanna, he wouldn't even try to say her name, he would just call her Ms. Hoole.

Then, the bald woman approached them from behind them. They heard her footsteps before they saw her. Slip turned around, and saw that bald woman from earlier.

“Who’s your friend?”

Nimdok introduced Slip, and Slip gave a small wave. Slip had a strange feeling about her, and not a good one. Then, the two adults started talking back and forth. Slip looked from one speaker to the next, quickly, trying to keep up with what was going on. Then, they started talking about Lydia apparently breaking into somewhere. What the hell was going? Slip could see what Red meant when he said that Nimdok always seemed to be in some form of trouble. Judging by the way Nimdok called her his colleague, Slip seriously doubted that Nimdok had even known about her before today.

She seemed genuinely embarrassed, though no color rose to her cheeks.

Out of all the things he missed today, he somehow caught this one. Strange...

When she didn’t respond, he put his fists on his hips and sighed, giving Slip an exasperated look.

Slip just shrugged, he had no idea what this woman's problem was. Then again, he didn't understand females in general, they were too unpredictable and complex for Slip.

“No. But if we’re going to make a game of it, you have to give me a turn after each of yours.”

"Hold up, when did this turn into a game? Also, when is it my turn? I have many questions." Slip said.

But then, Mina got onto the bus, and Nimdok yanked Slip along with them. "Hyak!" Slip choked out in surprise as he was dragged along with them. The shadow man walking close after them.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Subject 648 Slipknot

Nimdok managed to get him and Slip a double seat across the aisle from Lydia. She deliberately turned away from them (though occasionally Nimdok caught her staring at him, only to look away whenever he tried to make eye contact) and refused to speak for the duration of the ride to the apartment.

“Sorry about that,” Nimdok said to Slip. “I didn’t mean to choke you. I was just afraid of losing sight of her.” How the hell she would get away when they were currently all crammed together on a bus was a perfectly valid and reasonable question, but not one the flummoxed professor had stopped to consider when he grabbed hold of the boy’s collar.

At any rate, he decided he might as well give a delayed answer to Slip’s insensitive question from earlier. “If you’re asking whether or not I have the same equipment as you, kid, the answer is yes—for now, anyway.” He rolled his eyes slightly. “Do me a favor next time and don’t announce to the whole wide world that I’m… you know.”

He did his best to explain to Slip what he knew so far about Lydia. “She came up to me in the museum and we talked for a little while. You remember? She had hair then, and looked very different compared to now. Anyway, she said she wanted to work for me, and offered to prove herself by stealing the H—the Force crystal from one of the museum’s displays. I said sure, but don’t actually steal the gem, because that would be wrong.” He held up the pin she had given him. “So she went ahead and, ah, proved herself. But you have to realize, I didn’t think she was actually going to do it. I figured she was some nutcase who would screw up and get caught by the police, or if not, it would all turn out to be a harmless prank and nobody would get hurt.”

Nimdok spared a glance her way, but she was looking down at her bundle. “I feel like I know her, Slip,” he said, turning back to the boy. “She has a stranger’s face, body, and voice, but the way she emotes and moves and talks…” He shook his head. “What I’m thinking is too crazy to be true. At least, I hope it isn’t true…”

A little while later, Nimdok would unlock the door to his apartment and wait for his two guests to enter before letting it close behind him. The place was a little messy, mostly due to the clutter of old books and boxes of data tapes on nearly every piece of furniture. Nimdok himself nearly tripped over one of the containers and kicked it away in annoyance.

“Right, we’re here. Home sweet home.” He looked at the clock. Miri would not be finishing school for another two hours. “Slip, you, er, do your thing. Miss Mina…”

She had already gone into the bathroom and shut the door. Nimdok sighed, cleared an armchair of boxes, and sat down to wait for the two of them to finish what they were doing.

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Jacen Nimdok

Slip sat down in the seat next to Nimdok, right across from the woman, Lydia. The shadow man just stood in the aisle. A man passed through the shadow man, and shivered as he passed through, as though a chill went down his spine, but Slip didn't notice this. That woman gave Slip a bad feeling, like something bad was going to happen. Sure, it might just be his Schizophrenia acting up again, but still, this felt... different. He couldn't even sense the woman through the Force, which gave him an even worse feeling.

“Sorry about that,” Nimdok said to Slip. “I didn’t mean to choke you. I was just afraid of losing sight of her.”

"Don't mention it." Slip said, rubbing his neck.

Then, Nimdok gave him an answer from his question from earlier. Slip reddened. "I didn't mean- er, well, I was just... I didn't mean it like that!" Slip stammered. Then Nimdok told him to not announce that he was a shape shifter. Slip reddened even further. "Gah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to- I-It just slipped out! I'm sorry!" He said, flustered.

Then, Nimdok started to explain to Slip about the woman, and Slip calmed down, and listened intently. It was all so interesting! So the woman had changed her shape, huh? Was she like Nimdok? But it didn't seem like it, there was something... different about her.

“I feel like I know her, Slip,” he said, turning back to the boy. “She has a stranger’s face, body, and voice, but the way she emotes and moves and talks…” He shook his head. “What I’m thinking is too crazy to be true. At least, I hope it isn’t true…”

Slip thought about this, then, he quietly said, "Maybe it isn't you who knows her. Maybe it's... your other self." He said vaguely, but Nimdok would know what he was talking about: the other person inhabiting his body. Red had told Slip about that, but in person, as skilled slicers could get into even the most secure channels.

They got off the bus, and entered Nimdok's apartment. Slip and the shadow man entered, and was appalled at the condition of it. Old books and boxes and data tapes and other trash or items were strewn everywhere, leaving the place looking messy. Slip was horrified; this was where they had been living? In this filthy dump? Slip's mental disorders rose in a roar, horrified and appalled at the condition of the place.

"This is where you've been living?! This place is a dump!" Slip asked him, walking through the clutter. "Have you ever cleaned? Like... Once?"

From what Red had told him, was that Nimdok and Miri always had someone to look out for them, to take care of them. First it was some sort of droid, then it was Inanna, then it was Inanna's family. But now, with no one to take care of them, the place was a dump. "I can see what Red meant when he said that you need someone to look out after you..." Slip said, sighing.

Slip then crouched down, and started picking things up and cleaning the place. He couldn't do anything in these conditions, his schizophrenia inciting OCD into him. He moved around, putting things up and trying to make the place look at least livable. He moved things with both his hands and with the Force, often simultaneously, and sometimes without him even knowing he was doing it. The shadow man helped, too. He moved things by himself, and dusted things down. Slip was so caught up in his work that he didn't even notice this, but Nimdok would. Nimdok would occasionally see something far away from Slip move on its own, without Slip moving it with the Force. Nimdok would also see things randomly getting dusted, and, even stranger, see glimpses of a shadow, belonging to no one that Nimdok could see, appearing randomly and then disappearing.

While they were working, Slip would start noticing strange sights. He wasn't sure if they were hallucinations, or visions, but he decided to see what they wanted to show him. First of Inanna, at least, he thought it was Inanna, she looked like how Red had described her. She was attacked by some sort of strange woman/monster that changed into something else. Then, of Red, battling a pale woman with short, black hair, and then watching her exit the room, and then return back in as someone completely different. Then, of the museum, as the guard watched in wonder as a weird blob unlocked the case, and then left. He remembered how Nimdok told him how the woman had once looked completely different, and now was changed. Slip recalled how the woman explained how she had done it, turning into a different form entirely, and then changing into a liquid/blob creature. Slip decided that he would talk to Nimdok about it when he was finished.

Slip and the shadow man worked quick, finishing in two and a half minutes. When they were done, all of the junk cluttered everywhere was neatly put up in a systematic organization, and everything was wiped down and looked clean. There, that was better. Slip turned to Nimdok. "There, that's better. Now, it actually looks habitable." He told him. "Now, there's something I need to talk to you about. While I was working, I had these strange visions. I can't make sense of them, and I was hoping you might be able to help..." Slip told him.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Subject 648 Slipknot

Nimdok watched with mild annoyance as Slip scampered around the apartment, cleaning up the mess. The archaeologist didn’t think it was that bad—he’d lived and worked in worse clutter before—and Slip’s bustling about was somewhat irritating.

He noticed the odd shadow on the wall as he was lifting his legs to avoid Slip, who was crawling on the floor to get something underneath the chair. From there he saw that whatever invisible creature was casting the shadow was also helping with the cleanup!

Still staring, he didn’t notice the boy stand up, wipe his hands on his pants, then start talking.

“There, that's better. Now, it actually looks habitable. Now, there's something I need to talk to you about. While I was working, I had these strange visions. I can't make sense of them, and I was hoping you might be able to help…”

“First of all Slip, what in blazes—” he started to ask, his finger poised to point to the shadow.

But before Nimdok could finish, Lydia returned. But now she looked... like Bithia. With dark curly hair, a svelte, tanned figure, and soft brown eyes, she was a dead ringer for Nimdok's wife. A woman who was supposed to be missing.

Lydia had put on the mauve dress and the odd bracelet around her right wrist which she had been wearing back at the museum. Looking around the apartment, when her eyes landed on the wide-eyed Nimdok, she smiled. “Back to my old self.”

“Is this another one of your ‘configurations’?” Nimdok whispered, his attention diverted from Slip. When Lydia didn’t reply, he quickly recovered his composure, folded his hands in his lap and gave her a stern glare. “I see. Well, Miss Mina, shall I tell you what I think you really are?”

She stood very still in the hallway, her face drawn in what looked like worry. Nimdok couldn’t help smirking at her silence, which he took as an admission of guilt. She wasn't what she said she was.

“Since you’re not a Shi’ido and you refer to your alternate forms as ‘configurations’, I’m assuming you’re some kind of droid. A very advanced one, no doubt, but definitely a machine. You also have virtually no presence in the Force—Slip clued me into that one.” The lie rolled smoothly off his tongue; the real Nimdok wasn’t Force sensitive, and if his deductions proved incorrect, he didn’t want her to know that he actually did have the Force. “Since you’re a droid, you must have been programmed to find me. Now, I’m going out on a limb here, but if I had to guess, your master is probably a certain Sith Lord named Messala. While I doubt he told you to kill me—on the contrary, he seems quite dead-set on capturing me—he must have ordered you to gain my and my daughter’s trust. He also seems to have given you traits associated with someone who used to be close to me, presumably to make it easier for you to insinuate yourself into our lives and eventually deliver us to Messala. Am I right?”

A pause. Still no response. “As for who you were programmed to act like,” Nimdok continued, his voice taut with icy anger. “You remind me of my late wife, Bithia. Miri’s mother. Certainly an ideal choice, given your goal, but it seems Messala doesn't understand the concept of the 'uncanny valley'. I expected better from him.”

She finally blinked, her brow furrowing and her lips parting. It was an expression that one would expect to see in a person on the verge of crying, but no tears fell from her eyes. “On Caamas, when you... came back…” she began. Every word seemed hard-won as she struggled to speak, her voice strained. “...you went immediately to her. You picked her up and held her in your arms. But I won’t ever have that… even if I were to hold her, I couldn’t feel her… even sight and sound are different for me...”

Nimdok's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about? You're a droid. What do you know about touch that you could envy it?"

Reaching out, she placed her hands against the walls of the hallway, as if to support herself. She looked at him and smiled. "I miss it. But it isn't so bad—I can do so much more in this body than I ever could when I was alive."

Realization slowly dawned on Nimdok. “...Bithia?” he said, his expression contorting in wide-eyed astonishment even as he uttered her name. “Is it really you?”

“I wanted to tell you before, but I didn’t think you’d believe me. I want to tell you everything…”

Nimdok leaped up from his chair, pushed Slip out of the way, and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Bithia, listen to me. Whatever is keeping you from telling me the truth, I need you to fight it. Fight it. Do whatever it takes.”

“I haven't been fighting," she replied. "Though we certainly can do that. Oh—the other two biots, I mean. There's three of us in total."

"Three... biots?" he echoed. Nimdok tugged her out of the hall and into the room proper. “Look, sit here,” he said, guiding her into the chair where he had been sitting. “Just rest for a little while.”

“It's not necessary,” she replied, though she did sit down. “I don’t get tired anymore.”

“Can I get you anything? Water or food?”

“I don’t need that anymore, either. This body feeds on thoughts and memories."

Nimdok blinked. “Like an energy vampire?”

“Yes, like an energy vampire,” she said, indignation seeping into her tone. “I know all about Elise, darling. Well, at least I know you wouldn't have a problem with me biting you!”

“Oh, um,” Nimdok muttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Not too long ago, he had met a nice energy vampiress named Elise Ike, and... well, one thing led to another. It was mostly Arimanes' fault—the bastard had the hots for her well before Nimdok came along, although the situation was really much more complicated than that. “'Till death do us part’, you know... I was lonely...”

“You were dead too!” she snapped. Once again she looked on the verge of tears, but she was no longer capable of crying. “Why did you leave me alone in that other place? There was no one there to protect me. You of all people should know how thin the barrier between life and death has become! Any random sorcerer could have summoned me and used me for their own ends! I consider myself lucky this was all that happened to me!” She gestured to her body—which jerked violently without warning. The effect caused her skin to ripple grotesquely. She uttered a cry and covered her face with her hands, as though afraid to be seen like this.

“It’s all right,” Nimdok tried to reassure her, though he was alarmed by the sight. “Worse has happened to me since I came back from the dead.”

"No, I—" She hesitated, peeking out at him from between her fingers. "It's some kind of side effect. This body is... well, it's a copy of an original, and it was modified by someone who didn't necessarily know how everything worked. Sometimes I get these weird tics and shivers." She lowered her hands. "Does Miri know what you are? Will she be scared of me?"

"our lack of a presence in the Force may alarm her at first. But I'm sure she'll get used to you, once she knows she can trust you."

"I can't wait to meet her. Force, has it really been six years since I last saw her?..."

"She'll be here soon." Nimdok glanced at Slip. "I'll go ahead and send Slip home. Just give me a minute to talk to him..."

Pulling the boy into the hallway outside the apartment, Nimdok waited until the door shut behind them before speaking in a hushed tone. “Looks like we have a problem," he said. "I think Bithia really is in there somewhere, but I think she's under the influence of some kind of programming. I don’t suppose you’re any good at hacking droids? Although I’m not sure if you even could meddle with her. She’s certainly not like any droid I’ve ever seen." He held out his arms in a shrug. "I don't know what to do."

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Jacen Nimdok

Nimdok pointed at a wall, asking what in the galaxy was the thing that he was seeing. Slip turned to look at where he was pointing, but then Lydia returned, and Slip was distracted. Then, Nimdok went on yet another long winded speech to Lydia, and Slip listened intently. Sure, he thought that Nimdok could use a lesson in summarizing, but it was still interesting as he said who he thought that Lydia was. He talked about how he guessed that she was sent by a Sith Lord named Arrius Messala to capture Nimdok. Slip recognized that name... It was the name that Red had told Slip was the Sith Lord behind the entire ordeal with Nimdok.

Nimdok then went on to say that Lydia looked like his late wife, Bithia. Whether this was from Arimanes' stand point or from Nimdok's perspective, Slip had no clue. Then, Lydia then seemed to be having some sort of emotional breakdown, but she only had a pained expression on her face, nothing else. She spoke about Nimdok coming back and going to someone who Slip had no idea who she was talking about. Nimdok asked her a question, quite harshly. Lydia then said that she missed being with him. Realization seemingly dawned on Nimdok, and Slip picked up on it.

Holy kark, she came back to life! Well, not exactly back to life, but she could still be in the world of the living through this medium! First it was the spirit of Nimdok that returned, attached to Arimanes' body. Now, it was Bithia, her spirit attached to this droid. This... this was some next level chit. How was all of this even possible?

"Though we certainly can do that. Oh—the other two biots, I mean. There's three of us in total."

Wait... there were three of her? Slip thought back to his visions while cleaning Nimdok's place. There was a woman attacking Inanna, another woman that attacked Red, and now Bithia, being here. Slip needed to know. "Are one of your forms a pale lady with black hair and can beat Red?" He asked her sharply. Then, he realized how rude he came off blurting in on such an emotional moment. "Ah! I'm sorry! I just... I've had visions of a- of a woman attacking Inanna Hoole, a lot like you. Then there was this vision of a pale lady with black hair attacking Red, and then changing into a different woman. So, I just- Never mind! Shutting up now!" He said in a panic, going back to being quiet and listening to what was going on.

They continued talking, Slip's head moving back and forth between them, watching the scene go on. Why did he have to check on Nimdok today? Today was way too freaky, and Slip didn't exactly understand everything that was going on. Why did Nimdok's life have to be so bloody confusing?!

Then Bithia snapped at Nimdok. She looked like she was about to cry, but she couldn't, since she was now a droid. She was really mad at him for leaving her behind. The subject then changed to Miri. Nimdok assured her that Miri would be fine with her.

Nimdok told her that he would go ahead and send Slip home, but not before talking to him first. Nimdok grabbed Slip and pulled him into the hallway outside of the apartment. "You really need to stop doing that. If you want to talk, just tell me to follow you. Do you normally do this to everyone?" He told him.

Then, Nimdok spoke to him in a hushed tone, Slip hanging onto every word.

“Looks like we have a problem, I think Bithia really is in there somewhere, but I think she's under the influence of some kind of programming. I don’t suppose you’re any good at hacking droids? Although I’m not sure if you even could meddle with her. She’s certainly not like any droid I’ve ever seen. I don't know what to do."

"Yeah... Yeah I think so too. I don't know how, but somehow someone managed to connect her spirit to a machine. I don't know how. Even the idea of it is impossible, not to mention finding a way to bind the spirit to the droid, no less connect the programming to the spirit. And don't even get me started on controlling it..." He said, trailing off. "Am I good at hacking droids? Am I! You're talking to the guy who hacked through a Triple-encoded, 16-digit rotating chain firewall in under 28.9 seconds." He said, then, realizing that Nimdok might not understand that. "In layman's terms. Yes, I'm good at hacking droids." Slip told him. "Whatever the case, I'm not leaving you with the potentially dangerous murder bot that was once your wife." Slip said. "If you got killed, Red would have my head."

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Subject 648 Slipknot

“Visions of a woman… attacking Inanna?” Nimdok echoed, his brow furrowing. “And Red too? Wait a minute—didn’t you say you hadn’t heard from Red in weeks? What about Inanna? Is she all right?”

At Slip’s look of bewilderment, Nimdok realized that he was pelting the boy with questions he probably didn’t have answers to. He took a deep breath and forced himself to remain at least somewhat calm and in control.

"Whatever the case, I'm not leaving you with the potentially dangerous murder bot that was once your wife. If you got killed, Red would have my head."

“All right, look,” Nimdok began, the teacher in him unwilling to let Slip go on not understanding a concept. “She said she was a biot. They’re considered a type of droid, but only technically, you see—they’re almost entirely organic beings constructed through biotechnology, like what the Yuuzhan Vong use. Now, I don’t know how much Red has told you about me, but I’m assuming Bithia’s spirit being put in a biot is not much different from my situation. If biots are mostly organic, then in theory they should be able to harbor the soul of a living being.”

He splayed his hands. “Ever heard of the Netherworld Crisis? It happened around fifteen years ago, when you were just a baby. A whole bunch of people across the galaxy suddenly disappeared in an instant, sucked into the Netherworld. Ever since then, the barrier between our reality and the Nether has been weakened. You’ve got Sith Lords summoning spirits of the deceased and capturing them for their own nefarious purposes, living people going on exploratory expeditions into the realm of the dead… it’s gotten really crazy.” There was a hint of guilt in his voice as he spoke, almost as if he felt partially responsible for the chaos. “Arimanes was on one of those expeditions when he encountered Nimdok’s spirit and agreed to let it possess him. That’s how I exist—both Arimanes and Nimdok, together in the same body. Bithia is no doubt similar, although she’s probably sharing that biot body with whatever programming Messala installed in her. Or maybe brainwashing is a better word for it than programming—I don’t know, I’m not an expert.”

His tone grew somber. “I’m going to try and convince her to let you take a look at her, kid. If it doesn’t work or she tries to attack us… don’t hold back. I won’t fault you for defending yourself, even if it means she gets destroyed.” He sighed. “Not much of a plan, I know. Have you got a better idea? And if not, will you help me with this?”

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Jacen Nimdok

“Visions of a woman… attacking Inanna? And Red too? Wait a minute—didn’t you say you hadn’t heard from Red in weeks? What about Inanna? Is she all right?”

Nimdok's panic made Slip panic. "I don't know! I'm sorry, that's all I saw! I don't know anything else!" Slip said, panicking.

Then, Nimdok calmed down, allowing Slip to get himself back together. Nimdok began another long-winded history lesson. But this one was different, it was actually... interesting. A biot? That sounded weird, but was so cool!

Now, I don’t know how much Red has told you about me,

"Quite a lot." He said, and motioned for Nimdok to continue.

Then, Nimdok started talking about the Netherworld crisis. He explained it, and continued on. Wait... 15 years ago? That was about the time that the shadow man started showing up. Slip turned to the shadow man. It looked like the shadow man was thinking along the same lines. The shadow man looked back at him, the same look of recognition on his face. It was possible... Slip was about to ask Nimdok about it, but then he kept on talking. Slip turned back to Nimdok, listening.

That’s how I exist—both Arimanes and Nimdok, together in the same body.

So Nimdok was like Slip. He knew what it was like to not be alone in his own mind, to be unsure of when your thoughts are your own thoughts. He knew vaguely what it was like to be Slip.

Then, Nimdok got really somber. He said that if it didn't work or if Bithia attacked them, for Slip not to hold back against her, even if it means that she gets destroyed. Wow, that sounded like Nimdok wasn't taking any chances here, even if it was his wife. That's hardcore.

“Not much of a plan, I know. Have you got a better idea? And if not, will you help me with this?”

Slip looked him in the eyes. "It might not be much of a plan, but it's the best we got, and it's the best we're going to get." Slip told him. Then, he put his hand onto Nimdok's shoulder. "Of course I'll help you, Nimdok. Anything for a fellow sufferer." Slip told him, showing surprising confidence now.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Subject 648 Slipknot

“A fellow s—a fellow sufferer?” Nimdok blinked, then rolled his eyes. “All right, Slip. Let’s roll.”

He pressed the button to open the door and stepped back into the apartment, assuming that Slip would follow. Bithia turned to face him, but her smile wavered when she saw the grimly determined expression on Nimdok’s face. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, not at all,” he replied. “It’s just that, well… this is all rather sudden, you know.” He picked up a chair from the table and carried it over so that he could sit beside her. “You see, things have changed quite a bit… presently, I find myself in a certain situation. I’m not allowed to travel outside the borders of SJC space, and even then I’m not presently employed, at least not in any permanent fashion.” He cleared his throat. “What I’m trying to say is, you’ve caught me at a bad time.”

“I figured that,” she replied, one corner of her mouth quirked upward. “But it isn’t as if I require any upkeep from you. I can look after myself. I could work for money, if that’s what you need.”

Nimdok frowned. She kept coming back to this idea of working for him like a servant… like a droid. “Bithia, do you remember what life was like when we were married?”

“Of course.” She side-eyed him. “I didn’t think you’d want to go back to that, what with Elise being in the picture now.”

“It looks like I’ll have to reconsider my relationship with Elise since you've come back.”

"I don't mind it," she said, shrugging indifferently. "You can keep seeing her. Or both of us, if that's what you want."

That definitely didn't sound like the Bithia he knew. Suddenly incredibly uncomfortable, Nimdok waved his hand to dismiss the subject. “But when we were married, which of us was employed?”

“We both were.” Tilting her head to the side, she elaborated. “You taught history at the college, while I worked from home so I would always be there for Miri and any other children we might have had. I wanted more, you know. A girl and a boy, at least.”

Nimdok’s chest tightened. "I remember." Forcing himself to stay on track, and unwilling to become emotional in front of Slip the way he had with Red, he continued. “If I had lost my job back then, what would you have done?”

“I would’ve had to keep working.”

“Yes, but it wouldn’t be enough—”

“Are you saying that I’m not enough?” she interrupted. “Then you’re underestimating me. I can do things you’ve never even dreamed of.”

“I’m not doubting your capabilities. What I’m trying to figure out is why you would let me sit around doing nothing while you did all the work to take care of Miri and I, like a common drudge.”

She gaped at him. “‘A common drudge’? What is this, the six hundreds? You think I’m going to wait on you hand and foot? You’re the father of my child. I want to help you, both of you!”

“How was attempting to steal from a museum going to help us?”

“I did that because you asked me to!”

“You did it because I told you to do it,” he snapped. “Because you’ve been programmed to follow my orders like an obedient slave.” He pointed to the kitchen counter. “Pick up that glass.”

Her mouth closing and her jaw clenched, she glared at him… then eventually stood up and went to pick up the glass he’d indicated.

“Now fill it with water from the tap.” She did. “Now drink it.”

“I can’t,” she replied. “It will damage my insides.”

“Then dump it in the sink.”

Water splashed in the basin. “This is idiotic,” Bithia muttered. But she sounded uncertain. Maybe even a little scared.

“Put the glass down.” He stood up as she did. “Now pick it up again.” He caught sight of her cringing as she obeyed. “Now crush it in your hand.”

She put up a valiant effort to fight the command, but the glass shattered in her fist, which didn’t even tremble from the effort. Nimdok approached her cautiously, opening her fingers to examine the jagged remnants embedded in her palm. Glowing red blood trickled from the nastier cuts; her flesh wriggled and writhed as he pulled the shards out of her skin, reconstructing itself. Bithia stared straight ahead and wouldn’t look at him as he let the chunks of bloodied glass fall to the floor at her feet.

“Now do you understand?” he asked. “If I told you to jump out the window, you would do it in a heartbeat. In fact, the only things I think you can’t do is deliberately injure yourself, Miri, or me… or leave us alone. No matter what I tell you, you’ll always come back. You have no choice.”

“Why?” she whispered.

“Probably because Messala thinks he can control me through you,” Nimdok replied with a shrug. “There’s a chance to break the chains, though, if you’ll let us try.”

Bithia jolted, her eyes wide. “Oh no. You can’t do that. I told you already, Messala barely even knew what he was doing when he made me and the other two biots. How are you going to do any better?”

“I’m not going to do anything,” he reassured her. “My friend Slip here is going to take a look at you. He’s some kind of genetically engineered super-genius whiz kid. If it’s too complicated for him, I won’t let him so much as jam you with a hydrospanner. Or whatever it is you geeks use.” Guiding Bithia away from the broken glass, he flicked a switch to turn on the automatic vacuum, which immediately raced toward the mess. Then he gestured for Slip to come over as he sat Bithia back down in the armchair.

“How do we connect to your brain?” he asked.

“A programming needle in the back of my neck,” she replied. “It works sort of like a—” She was abruptly cut off as her flesh shuddered and warped. After the tremor subsided, she looked bewildered. “Wha… What were we talking about?”

“Slip, do you have a programming needle?” Nimdok asked, his tone urgent. If she kept fading in and out like this, they were never going to be able to get anything done—

Bithia suddenly leaped out of her chair. "No!" she exclaimed. "I won't let you! Don't you understand? You could cause permanent damage!"

"Bithia, sit down," Nimdok pleaded. "You're barely functioning as it is. Slip may be able to help you."

"Stay away from me," she warned. "Don't come any closer!"

She backed away from them, holding her fists at the ready like a boxer. Raising an eyebrow, Nimdok glanced down at Slip. "Those visions of yours didn't reveal any of the biot's weaknesses, did they?"