I Eat And I Know Things (Cassandra Paige)

[Velok the Younger]

ETTI IV

The Corporate Sector had its charms. Unveiled greed, convenience to Velok's normal haunts on Toola and Svolten - and shopping. Oh, the shopping. Laden with packages in a tasteful tote, Velok introduced himself to the receptionist at GenPals' corporate HQ-

"An'raqq of Toola. I have an appointment."

-and settled down to wait for [member="Cassandra Paige"]. The atrium chair, a tasteful bit of plastic and chrome, creaked sadly under his weight. The chair was fortunate it had no arms. Even so, the place was quite nice, for human architecture. Gravely, Velok took up a small trifold pamphlet in his three-clawed hands. He pulled half-moon spectacles from inside his robes and began reading about the charms of GenPals. The Smollacc, of course, was familiar to him - he fed it mutant crickets religiously, as well as certain reagents - but he hadn't looked at the miniature banthas or tauntauns.

"Tauntauns are reptiles? Reptomammals? Hmm. Learn something new every day, apparently."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Her assistant, [member="Lila Sanders"], poked her head into her office.

"Um, Miss Paige?"

"Yes Lily, what is it?"

"Your two o'clock is here, shall I-"

Cass rolled her eyes.

"Then send him in. Come now this isn't difficult."

Shaking her head as Lila disappeared again, Cass stood up, brushing off her suit. GenPals had hit the market, hard and fast. This was her first meeting with someone hoping to place a custom order, and her staff had already vetted this An'raqq, and his ability to afford such a request. Cass hated having her time wasted.

Settling a smile on her face, she came out from behind the desk as the double doors opened again, letting the..... creature.... into her office. She had known she was meeting a whipid, so she was able to keep that smile from faltering as she stepped up, offering her hand to shake.

"Welcome to GenPals, Mister An'raqq. I trust you weren't waiting long?"

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"Not at all, Miz Paige." Her office ceiling accommodated his height; her door, less so. He straightened up and accepted the handshake. Her hand disappeared into a fist the size of a Life Day ham - but only for an instant. "Thank you very much for seeing me."

He took a seat, as carefully as his bulk permitted. Bizarre little things, humans. Hairless, fragile, uninsulated, tons of extra digits - and all the tiny furniture...

His duffel unzipped, and he removed three items, which he placed on a nearby coffee table: a holoprojector, a stasis tube the size of a human arm, and a chunk of an amber-like substance.

"There's a planet called Corbos not too far from here. It's home to a semi-sentient creature called a leviathan. The tube holds a larval specimen in stasis. An adult is the size of a capital corvette, somewhere between a rancor and a gorog. The leviathan has a couple of unique traits. When people die near the leviathan, echoes - ghosts, if you like - become trapped in odd oblong crystal bubbles on the creature's back. The leviathan is semi-sentient; it absorbs memories and knowledge from its victims.

"I would very much like a tiny leviathan."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Cass didn't wipe her hand off on her skirt or anything. Her mother would have appreciated her restraint. That thought of course was almost enough for Cass to start with the wiping.

Almost.

Despite the desire to spite her mother, the desire to not spite herself was greater so she simply listened with polite attention. Cass was difficult to impress- and truth be told, she hated the little beasts her company created. She saw the market potential, the unexploited niche and jumped on it, but the actual details were deeply uninteresting to her. Cute fluffy little things making goo goo eyes and pooping on everything. It made her want to run a disinfectant wipe over her desk just thinking about it.

Of course, this wasn't that. And it sparked a certain genuine interest in the woman as she came around to study the items he'd laid out.

"I'm not familiar with this animal," she admitted without concern. "I would have to consult with my scientists, you understand, before knowing for certain if we would deliver such a thing but...." she trailed off, tilting her head one way, then the other, studying the thing in the tube.

"You certainly have my attention. How much to you know about it? How it functions, biologically?"

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"Well, it's a product of genetic engineering itself, in a way, around eight millennia ago. It has reptilian and amphibian traits. This-" He tapped the tube with one claw. "-is a juvenile, a tadpole you might say. This is the adult form."

The holoprojector snapped to life. A variety of three-dimensional recordings began to play.

"As you can see, bipedal, several pincer arms, bubble traps on the back, very large teeth. Bulbous body, skin thick enough that the Leviathans of Corbos can swim in lava..."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

[member="Velok the Younger"]

Cass watched with interest.

She wasn't a scientist. But she paid attention when they talked. And at least some of this could be duplicated, though she wasn't sure on all of it. Moving around behind her desk, she pulled up a holoprojection and starting tapping things into it.

"One of the challenges we face in shrinking and altering the original creatures, is a sacrifice to life span and durability," she said crisply, entering things into various fields. An order form, but in a short hand only decipherable in house.

"It may take several tries to create a viable subject with the appropriate.... temperament. Though if that is not important to you it will be easier to accomplish. Do you require it to be affectionate, friendly, capable of bonding with you? It is the public face of GenPals, you understand, but for special orders, especially one so.... unique.... if that is not a concern of yours we can waive it as a feature. Of these other traits, which are the most important? Which could you live without if choices had to be made?"

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"Only one ability interests me: the ability to consume and assimilate memory. Intelligence is the relevant trait that your operation will be most likely to understand. On the other hand, I'm sure you could find a way to test whether the end result can absorb memories. I can provide your people with specialized tests and reagents." He reached into his bag again and produced a case of foam-packed vials, plus an instruction manual.

"As for the rest - lifespan, combat traits, durability - all irrelevant." He deactivated the projector and stowed it in his bag, along with the chunk of bubble resin. The larva was all GenPals would need, apart from the alchemical reagents.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

He hadn't addressed temperament, so Cass assumed it fell under the 'as for the rest, irrelevant' category. The most difficult trait to potentially duplicate was of course the one he wanted. But she had a trio of particularly brilliant scientists that she suspected would salivate over the challenge.

Grey eyes coasted over the case full of vials, but it meant little and less to her. The science team would test and decide just what would be useful to them and what would not be. That was the sort of work she paid them to do, after all, so she dismissed it as a concern.

"You understand of course that until I consult with the science team, I cannot give you an estimate," she said slowly. "And of course that cost may vary depending on the needs of the project. I assume this will not be an issue?"

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"The cost won't be an issue. Liberating words, aren't they." Velok smiled tuskily but without humor. "I'm happy to set up an escrow account based on your company's estimate. In the meantime, for initial costs-"

The bag produced another timely and relevant item: a single aurodium wupiupi, market value somewhere in the six figures. Velok deposited it on the coffee table.

"I've always despised business associates who ask and ask without thanks or quid-pro-quo. Therefore, have some quid up front."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

"It's like you read my mind," she said with a smile.

The words were true. Only the smile was fake. But she was more than happy to fake a smile for the price of this transaction.

"And we are happy to supply the 'pro quo,' Mister An'raqq," she finished for him. It only took a glance to confirm the nature of his down payment. It was certainly enough to get started, and an escrow account would more than handle any further risk to GenPals beyond that.

Not to mention the sample itself.

Oh, she would deliver. But it added something very, very interesting to the GenPal database.

Something certain scientists of hers would be particularly pleased to fiddle with.

"Would you like regular status updates?" She inquired politely. "Or are you only interested in the final product?"

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"Telepathy in business affairs, crucial moments excepted, would be gauche. As for reporting, all I ask is my purchase and complete confidentiality."

Velok stood as far as the human-scale ceiling would allow, and straightened his robes. His middle digit, his index finger, waved once.

"You will, I assume, keep any and all details restricted to essential personnel."

She didn't strike him as weak-minded, but she also struck him as the kind of person who defaulted to secrecy. That polished mask of a smile said as much. Mind-tricking someone tended to be easier when it was something they would, to some extent, already have done.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

That told her much.

"Oh I thoroughly agree," she said smoothly.

Her comment on telepathy had not been serious. His, however, had. Cass had very little interest in the goings on of the various force sects, who was who amoung them. As it would turn out, over the next months, a shockingly large portion of her meetings of this nature would be with Sith, but she only deigned to notice when they gave her no choice in the matter.

"And of course, your privacy is paramount. The project itself will be restricted to essential personnel, and your identifying details only known to me. I have logged it with an order number only to ensure that."

The wording reflected his influence, but otherwise it was not far enough off of her own inclinations to do anything but nestle right into her thoughts as if it belonged. Given the right impetus, might she have at some point in the future sold his information to someone come seeking, for the right price? Very possible. But it wasn't the intention in that moment, so when the time might come to tickle that temptation, there would be no doubt that she would decline. It would already have been the expected for so long, after all.

If he had attempted something outside of her inclinations, it would have gone differently. But this aligned closely enough that all it did was cement the future, rather than truly influence the present in a significant way.

Enough, however, to make it worth it.

"Well, unless there are any other details to discuss, I think I have everything I need," she said with a smile.

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"That's ideal. Absolutely." He inclined his head fractionally and gave her a tusky smile. After some time in the jungles of Felucia, he knew a snake when he saw one. No harm in letting it know another predator was in town, just minding its business. "Until next time, Miz Paige."

After her office door closed, he mind-tricked the receptionist to blur the details of the meeting. Some kind of large hairy alien, an An'raqq of Toola so probably Whiphid. Not worth noting.