Private Hiding his desperation

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau
Location: Lehon, Rakata, Rakata Prime
Tag: Liin Terallo
Outfit

Damian drummed his fingers across his desk, unread reports continued to grow but his focus maintained on a memo he had received. Rumors and whispers were all that he could find but much like with a Corporation attempting to hide their embezzlement, Damian felt confident he could find a connection.

It’d be easier if the Alliance governance was still around.

The du Couteau heir made his peace with his former government's fall, as much peace as he could muster at least. Back then he could have met with some old SIA connection and dug through classified reports. Though he had managed to do so, the difference being the expense was being billed directly from his pocket instead of the Alliance’s own coffers.

There wasn’t even a way for him to report these expenses as losses on his tax returns to his planetary’s government. Quite the predicament.

A red light flashed and Damian readied himself for his ship to exit hyper, a moment later he exited his office and headed towards the docking bay. His transport, a Zeta-Class shuttle, already had his pilot inside with the engines warmed. Once Damian and his three guards secured themselves the pilot immediately took off towards Rakata.

It was a rather obvious first step for Damian, in fact he doubted he was the first but how often was he told the journey of a million steps began with one. He preferred it was one hyper jump, one holo-call only, but Damian had learned to temper his expectations a great many times in his life.

His trip was lengthy, but the information of a lab seemed truthful enough but even if it was a false lead at least it meant he could scratch it off his list. Once the shuttle landed his guards fanned out first and Damian followed after, his lone eye scanned the somewhat ruined building. His guards discovered that the doors were still functional and Damian stepped inside, the hallway poorly lit but lit all the same. There was plenty of dust and clearly the laboratory appeared poorly maintained but with power still available Damian figured he could look around for data-slates or computer terminals to link into for information.
​

 

[Liin Terallo]

The apartment was quiet save for the soft clicking sound drifting intermittently across the ceiling. Liin barely looked up from the datapad resting in her lap as the small creature clung upside down above her, delicate wings folded tightly against a body that resembled an uncomfortable compromise between loth-cat and insectoid scavenger. One of Mister Usher's biomass creations. Equal parts endearing and deeply questionable. At the moment, it was attempting to stalk a condensation droplet moving slowly along an exposed water pipe with the seriousness of a predator hunting large game. Liin allowed it the dignity of believing it was succeeding.

The rain beyond the apartment windows had settled into a steady rhythm hours ago, blurring the distant city lights into soft streaks against the glass while scattered research notes remained spread untouched across the low table nearby. Not active work. Merely old habits refusing to die completely.

The alert interrupted the stillness with a faint chime from the far side of the room. Liin’s attention lifted immediately. Not startled. But focused.

The creature above her reacted a half-second later, wings fluttering once before it flattened itself suspiciously against the ceiling.

Another chime followed. Unauthorized access. Her expression stilled almost imperceptibly. That particular alert should not have been possible accidentally.

Setting the datapad aside, Liin rose from the couch and crossed toward the nearby terminal, one hand brushing absently beneath the creature’s chin as she passed beneath it. The little bio-specimen chirped irritably before hopping from the pipe onto her shoulder instead, claws settling carefully into the fabric of her sleeve.

The terminal illuminated at her approach. A few brief commands later, grainy security footage flickered into existence across the display. A man. Well-dressed. Controlled posture. Not a scavenger. Not a random trespasser. And not alone.

Liin watched silently as armed escorts spread carefully through the outer corridors of the abandoned facility while the stranger himself studied the interior with the patience of someone searching for answers rather than valuables. That, more than the intrusion itself; concerned her. Most people who found the false laboratories did not understand what they were looking at. This one appeared to.

Her gaze narrowed slightly as old unease settled quietly back into place. “So,” she murmured softly, more to herself than the creature perched against her shoulder, “someone finally followed the breadcrumbs properly.”

Onscreen, one of the guards approached an inactive terminal. Liin’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly at that. Then, calmly, she reached for the remote access controls; just in case they knew that they were being watched.

Tag: Damian du Couteau

 

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau
Location: Lehon, Rakata, Rakata Prime
Tag: Liin Terallo
Outfit

Damian pushed through past a rather stubborn door that failed to slide open completely, his lone eye narrowed with annoyance. There wasn’t too much to be impressed by, outside of the gathered dust and worn look of the place, Damian hadn’t expected much but all the same it was irksome. His stare shifted towards a terminal that had a data-slate connected to it, slightly curious if there was any information left behind to be forgotten.

He placed his down data-pad on the counter and ran a quick scan but only found corrupted files, possibly either a half finished erasure protocol. Damian made a clicking sound from his mouth, another moment of annoyance added to his memory of this place. Even as he reminded himself once again of the practical expectations of these investigations. Such small steps taken would eventually measure a great distance so he intended to take solace in that fact.

Another room explored and it held less than the previous but Damian took a moment to look around. There had to be a reason for this place to maintain power, though he also considered that maybe the backup power supply was just rather massive. Many of the terminals refused to turn on and his guards reported failed attempts to jack into the computer systems.

“Find whatever is powering this place, from there we can see if we can direct power to other systems.” Damian ordered via his Commlink and quickly pushed himself to search this lab.

Surely there was a computer or a terminal at the power supply that he could gain access to and redirect power into any of the offline server rooms. While he half expected them to be wiped clean there was a possibility of picking data fragments or even logs of deletions with possible names.

Any name, a title, Lab ID or hell a date when everything was deleted.

Damian despised this sort of desperation, but he had allowed sand to slip through his fingers before, so he needed to hold onto any grains this time. He'd witnessed before how the most determined could start a snowball with even the smallest amount of gathered snow.
​

 

[Liin Terallo]

Damian's search brought him eventually to one of the few terminals still displaying intermittent power. The screen flickered. Once. Twice. Then the corrupted diagnostic display vanished entirely. For a moment, only static filled the monitor. Then a simple line of text appeared. ACCESS OVERRIDE ACCEPTED Damian had not entered any command.

Several of the overhead lights brightened simultaneously throughout the room before settling into a steady glow. Elsewhere in the facility, he would hear the distant hum of systems awakening one by one. Not enough to restore full functionality. But just enough to remind everyone present that the laboratory was not quite as dead as it had first appeared.

Far away, rain tapped softly against an apartment window while Liin watched the security feeds in silence. The small winged creature perched upon her shoulder tilted its head at the changing displays. "You found the right building," she murmured.

Then she activated the facility's internal audio system. The old speakers crackled with age before her voice emerged calmly into the corridor. "You have armed personnel, technical specialists, and enough patience to sift through corrupted archives that were never intended to be recovered." Her eyes remained fixed upon Damian's image on the monitor. "That suggests this is not a salvage operation." A brief pause followed as the creature on her shoulder chirped once. Liin ignored it. "Who are you?" The question was simple and direct. "And why are you trespassing in my laboratory?"

Only after asking did she add the question that actually mattered. The one beneath all the others. "And more importantly....who do you work for?"

Tag: Damian du Couteau

 

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau
Location: Lehon, Rakata, Rakata Prime
Tag: Liin Terallo
Outfit

The sound of a terminal coming to life perked Damian’s ears, his head swiveled then the low sound of electrical hum moving across the facility. He narrowed his lone eye and wondered if one of his guards activated something but that proved negative when asked.Something or someone noticed them or perhaps even worse they had triggered some alarm system of sorts. While they hadn’t been rummaging like some enraged wampa, it was impossible to avoid every possible alarm trigger.

“Prepare to lea-” But Damian’s voice was cut off by the sound of speakers sputtering to life.

Damian stood frozen, his ears listening to the voice, first describing them and then asking for their purpose. His eye glanced around and motioned himself towards where he had last come through, his mind calculating the time it would take for him to exit this laboratory.

“I apologize for the lack of respect offered, it hadn’t occurred to me that the previous owner still had claim to this lab.” Damian lied, he swiveled himself around as his hand gestured in mock apology.

“If you so wish I would enjoy a chance to personally and sincerely extend my humblest apologies for this transgression.” He added, his foot took a single step back to the direction of the exit.

“But before I get too ahead of myself, as to your questions, I am or was a former Senator of the Alliance. Senator du Couteau of Teta.” Damian answered as he wondered if this was the person he was looking for all this time. His anxiety grew but the man gulped down the feeling to remain as steady in his voice as possible.

“A Senator works for his constituents obviously, but alas I’m now simply working for myself, in hopes to one day serve my people.” He explained a muddled truth but Damian believed in his words enough to merit said truth.

“I am after the ability to create an army, you see, soldiers of strength and ability far beyond years of training alone could accomplish. . . and if you know of anyone who can accomplish this task, I will pay handsomely for the effort. . . and more!” Damian added.

He licked his lips, unable to escape the nervous tick at the moment, his lips broke into a smile despite himself. Damian rolled the dice at this attempt and hoped for once his gamble paid off. If not, well, Damian figured he could at least be free of his weight he was carrying and embrace the comfortable darkness beyond the void.
​

 

[Liin Terallo]

Liin did not respond to him immediately. The silence that followed Damian’s explanation stretched through the corridor speakers with uncomfortable ease, broken only by the low mechanical breath of the reactivated systems somewhere deeper within the facility. On her screen, she watched him carefully. Not his face alone, but the small shifts around him. The way his guards adjusted their spacing. The angle of retreat he was already calculating. The hesitation wrapped in politeness. Fear, carefully dressed as diplomacy. He was preparing to leave. That, more than anything, told her he believed there was something here worth surviving.

A faint movement stirred on her shoulder as the small winged creature tilted its head again. Liin absently steadied it with two fingers without looking away from the feed. “A Senator,” she repeated at last. It was not spoken in disbelief. Nor acceptance either. Just placement. Sorting him into a category that did not yet explain enough. Then, softly she added: “Former Senator.”

Her gaze narrowed slightly as he continued speaking. The phrasing mattered more than the title. Working for himself. An army. Soldiers beyond training. She had heard variations of that idea before. Governments. Syndicates. Sith. Private collectors who became too ambitious for their own good. All of them eventually discovered the same truth in different ways.

Liin leaned back slightly in her chair, eyes still fixed on the feed. “You are either very honest,” she said quietly, “or very practiced.” Neither was comforting. The request for abilities; those of enhancement, replication, augmentation, settled into place with familiar weight. Not new. Not surprising. Just repeated history wearing a different face.

Finally, she spoke again. “You did not come here looking for a cloning facility,” Liin said. It was not a question. Her fingers moved across the holopad, pulling up secondary internal readings; power distribution, sealed sections, sub-basement integrity. “Most people who want what you are describing assume biology is the answer,” she continued. “Replication. Manufacture. An acceleration of what already exists.” She paused for a moment. Then, more quietly she added: “You are not asking for bodies.” Her eyes lifted slightly. “You are asking for control over what those bodies can become.”

The small creature chirped softly again, sensing the shift in her attention. Liin ignored it.

On the monitor, Damian could almost leave if he chose. The route was still open. The system had not locked him in. Yet.

Her voice softened, becoming more precise rather than less. “If I am correct,” she said, “then you will find no army here. Not in the way you are imagining. And if I am incorrect....” her gaze sharpened slightly, “then you have walked into something far more expensive than credits.”

Tag: Damian du Couteau

 

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau
Location: Lehon, Rakata, Rakata Prime
Tag: Liin Terallo
Outfit

“Cloning has, well, a particular ethical quandary that would make appearances difficult to explain.” Damian confirmed,he wasn’t interested in a clone army of any sorts. Even if the Alliance was no more, the Anti-Cloning laws were quite well known in the Core worlds and despite it all Damian felt some sort of way of keeping past formal appearances up.

At least for the moment.

The voice that controlled the facility had yet to lock any doors or even power on any automated defenses that Damian guessed were probably ready to end his little excursion. It was difficult to determine what the Voice intended, Damian had always leaned on his ability to please people in person. Effective way to get others to believe in him, gauge preferences and even more so arrive at some sort of understanding.

Here he was out on a limb.

“No, armies I can find out there in the galaxy, elsewhere.” Damian agreed, his eyes settling on one speaker above him. The closet he was going to get to eye-contact as it was, and it steadied him rather than having to flick his attention between other speakers.

“Control over abilities, powers. . . the process of which they are given even, is something I am after.” Damian tightened his hands into fists, he couldn’t let the last of his chances slip away from him.

“If what I am seeking requires something beyond credits, name your price and I will pay it.” Damian responded. He stopped glancing back at the way to the exit and remained resolute in his answer. He didn’t need an army of super soldiers, he only needed one body with abilities, his own.

He had lost one eye, forever closed, due to his past negligence. Now with his other eye, he only looked forward to the future.

“If you are still unconvinced of possible dealing with a business partner, then treat me like a test subject if you so wish.” Damian let slip his true intention.
​

 

[Liin Terallo]

Liin was silent for several long moments.

On the monitor, Damian stood his ground. He no longer glanced toward the exit. His guards remained alert, but he himself had committed to the conversation. That alone separated him from many who had come searching for her work.

The little creature upon her shoulder shifted it's wings uneasily, sensing the stillness settling over the room. Liin reached up absently, allowing one finger to scratch beneath its chin before her attention returned fully to the screen. "You remind me," she said quietly, "of someone that I used to be. I once believed that every problem could be solved if I understood it well enough. That sufficient knowledge would eventually overcome every consequence." A faint smile appeared. "It was a comforting illusion."

Her eyes settled upon Damian again. "You say that you would volunteer." She allowed the statement to hang between them. "And I believe you. But belief is not the same as permission." Her fingers rested lightly against the console beside her. "My serum did exactly what I intended it to do. It granted abilities where there had been none. It strengthened those that already existed. For a brief time..." she exhaled softly, "...it was extraordinary."

Her expression grew more distant. "Then reality began demanding payment." The words emerged almost as though she were remembering them rather than explaining them. "The side effects were never limited to the subject." Her gaze drifted toward the rain striking her apartment window before returning to the security feed. "The Force is not merely energy to be measured or manipulated. Whatever it truly is, forcing it to behave unnaturally places strain upon everything surrounding it." She watched his face carefully. "People imagined the danger ended with biological degradation. They were wrong. The serum began bending the world around those exposed to it." Her voice remained remarkably calm. Rooms no longer occupied the space they should have. Distances became inconsistent. Time refused to progress normally. Individuals witnessed conversations before they occurred, or found themselves repeating moments they had already lived. Entire sections of reality became....uncertain."

A quiet silence followed. "The greater the amplification...the greater the distortion." She lowered her eyes briefly. "The abilities themselves became deceptive." Her fingers tightened almost imperceptibly against the edge of the console. "Power feels intoxicating. Every successful use convinces you that you are mastering it." She looked back toward Damian. "In truth, it is mastering you. It encourages another experiment. Another enhancement, another attempt to push just a little further, and each success convinces you that the next one will finally be safe." Her expression remained composed, though something undeniably weary lingered beneath it. "I know this because I had believed it."

A long silence settled between them. Finally she asked, almost gently, "So let me ask you a question, Senator. You say you are willing to become my test subject. If I told you that the price was not merely your health...but your certainty that tomorrow would resemble today...that the walls around you might cease behaving as walls...that time itself might occasionally refuse to obey cause and effect...would you still call that a bargain?" She regarded him steadily through the camera. "Because credits cannot purchase those things back once they are gone."

Tag: Damian du Couteau