Private In a Pickle

[Arken Dobson]

I can… see… for the first time!​

In Arken’s mind, it was a duplicitous statement with multiple meanings. For starters, this new body had been growing in a vat for years now, and its eyes had never been opened before. Not that Arken had never seen anything before in his century of life, obviously, but it was clearly a new experience for these fresh eyes. It was more vibrant of an experience than he had been expecting. They were sharp, sensitive, yet strong. Relative to his old, feeble eyes in his previously aged decrepit body, these new eyes seemed to be of a supernatural quality by comparison.

The other meaning, of course, referred to his brand new sixth sense: The Force.

He could… see, every mind that was near him within a certain radius. It was not subtle, either. The sensation was distorted and jumbled, and difficult to discern. But the stimulus was there. It was new. It was an extreme contrast from what he had experienced in his old body before, and the juxtaposition made the sensation obvious to him now. The chaos of everything his new Force senses was experiencing was beyond his ability to decipher, and he could tell that it would need serious practice to master it. But for now, it was bewildering, and amazing. And he now had time…

He sat up. The movement felt stiff, and unfamiliar, as the body had likely not ever moved on its own since it had begun growing in a cloning cat years ago. But it was already orders of magnitude easier to move than his expired old body in the bed next to him. He tested his limbs out with a casual stretching of his arms over his head, and then twisting his waist to stretch his core. Even stretching felt good in this young body… something that he hadn’t enjoyed properly for thirty years.

He then peered over at his old body, now lifeless. Besides the obvious knowledge that it had expired during the procedure, and the visible lack of chest movement, he could also… feel that that there was no life in it. With what little he could discern with his budding Force senses, he could somehow at least determine that. Perhaps his connection to the corpse after living in it for a century gave him a clearer read on it through the Force? He would have to consult an expert later.

He tried one last extra hard stretch of his core, putting extra effort into it when he noticed Liin Terallo out of the corner of his eye, sitting behind him. Of course she was still there. She had overseen the operation.

Pressing his hands against the mattress, he half-hopped his body to turn around to greet her, “I think we can say that the… ‘pickling therapy’ procedure is a success, Ms. Terallo.”

 

[Liin Terallo]

I am not entirely pleased with what I had done. And although the operation was a success; the whole thing gave me an uneasy feeling. My serum was not yet ready, yet the old man had insisted upon it's use; despite the risks. But I needed the credits. I needed to be able to create more decoy laboratories so that it could buy my more time to continue my research unhindered.

Whereas the Imperials wanted my research to make an army, Mister Dobson only wanted it for himself. So for me that was the easier choice. And if he was to die during the procedure? It was all a part of the risks that he had signed up for.

But now it appears to have worked, giving me a feeling of dread that I did my best to hide. I watched him while he tested the movements of his new body, making my own observations and notes with pen on paper. I hardly used datapads anymore for my notes, lest they be hacked and my data is stolen once again.

Mister Dobson turned to face me, and although his face and voice were different; the look in his eyes remained the same. They carried with them a certain level of cutthroat obsession enhanced by a calculating mind. Those two put together made him a very dangerous individual.

But I needed the credits.

"Yes, Mister Dobson. It appears to have done well. Now there is a series of tests that must be conducted before you can be discharged. Some of them are directed towards the physical while others are more focused on you enhancements." I took a small breath in, but let out the exhale slowly. My eyes redirected themselves from him to the series of questions that I had listed on my pad of paper. "Now tell me, Mister Dobson; how do you feel?"

Tag: Arken Dobson

 

[Arken Dobson]

He finished turning towards her before answering the question. Then, he looked at her, boring his eyes into her face with intense concentration. With his mind, he attempted to cast his new senses towards her experimentally. His body stiffened with the effort, and he almost shivered visibly from the sensation. With his level of mastery, he could not distinguish actual thoughts or feelings from Liin Terallo but little images seemed to flicker in and out of her mind faster than he could comprehend them. He could tell that this was going to take some practice to properly master.

After a moment of trying, he gave up and turned his attention to his limbs and torso. One-by-one, he flexed everything, forcing Liin to patiently wait for him to answer while he completed his inspection. Finally, he nodded his approval, "I feel fantastic! Mind you, this body is in the fortunate position of being compared to my old one. But there are some key differences that stand out. There does appear to be a bit of a burning sensation throughout the whole circulatory system. I'm assuming this is from the long term biomolecule/isotope-5 "soaking therapy" that was performed while the body was growing? How long did it soak for, exactly?"

 

[Liin Terallo]

The look on his face, the focus and facial tremors seemed all too familiar. He was trying to force something with his mind. It was as though he thought that such an ability would magically appear and be summoned by his will alone. But he was wrong.

I did not say anything after he gave up the effort. Instead I merely documented it on paper. I kept my facial expressions neutral; however I knew deep down that I did not want him to have mastery of the Synthetic Force at all. But I needed the credits.

The sound of his voice shifted my thoughts and I returned my focus to him. "A burning sensation? How interesting. Does it burn like a cold fire? Or a hot one? Is it tingly in feeling or something else?" I did not respond to his question about how long the soak was for. And I did so on purpose. The less he knew, the better. The less he knew, the harder it would be for him to replicate the serum. It was far too soon for any such thing to be reproduced. For all we know, the effects could be fleeting. Yet I had hope that the isotope-5 would help to slow down that process.

"Other than that, do you feel any different? What about your senses? Sight, hearing, smell?"

Tag: Arken Dobson

 

[Arken Dobson]

"A burning sensation? How interesting. Does it burn like a cold fire? Or a hot one? Is it tingly in feeling or something else?"

Arken focused his mind on his body, “Like… a drug, or an upper, but without the high. As though too much caffeine is igniting my cells, but not painful”

"Other than that, do you feel any different? What about your senses? Sight, hearing, smell?"

“They’re fine.” He lightly snapped at her, impatient. She didn’t answer his question, and it irritated him. And to boot, she seemed to be distracting him with a follow up topic.

He did, however, let it go. There were more important things to discuss anyways, “Does anyone know about the midi-chlorians I gave you years ago? And is he… still alive?”

 

[Liin Terallo]

I copied down his responses to my questions, and then followed them with notes of my own. I then checked his heart rate on the monitor; which indeed seemed slightly elevated.

And then he snapped at me. It was not an enraged snap, but there was surely some bite to it. And it seemed to carry with it more than just a sense of impatience.

Just as I was about to ask him more questions; he instead chose to ask some of his own. And their subject matter were not what I was expecting either. I disreguarded the first, for I did not need him to try to connect any dots with it. As for the latter; I spoke my response quietly under my breath; "I am unsure. It has been some time since our last communication. But I hope so. Why do you ask?"

Tag: Arken Dobson

 

[Arken Dobson]

“What do you mean, you are unsure?” Arken interrogated. He was starting to wonder about this woman. He had invested some serious money and resources into her little project, and she seemed to struggle keeping her affairs in order. “The Grand Shepherd. The man that you’ve been tasked with keeping alive. Are you telling me you’ve lost tabs on that little situation?”

Arken injected a bit of venom into his tone, as a force of habit, but he wasn’t actually mad. Not yet. Years of running corporate schemes and operations of his specialty required a bit of hard-edged word-craft from time-to-time. While she wasn’t an employee of his, he was still her client for the time being. Her research still had his uses to him, and he needed her on her toes if his plans were going to work.

“And please tell me you still have my midi-chlorians. They were not cheap…”

The last thing he wanted was for his prospects to be in the hands of a complacent woman…

Liin Terallo

 

[Liin Terallo]

My jaw tightened with increased tension brought on by his anger. Yet I did my best to bottle everything up while I continued to monitor his readings. Despite the new body; his demeanor was the same - which clarified the fact that his transition to the new body was complete.

"Good. Your outbursts only seem to have physical reactions that are not out of the ordinary. Do you feel anything else?"

I ignored his interrogation for the most part; and instead kept to my role as a researcher studying an experiment in progress. However I did appease his curiosity somewhat with; "They have been put to good use. You might even be able to feel some of their effects."

Mister Dobson was my first test subject. I do not like the man enough to worry about if the experiment killed him or tore him apart. A serum had been developed mixing biomolecules, midi-chlorians and other components within my laboratory. I am unsure of how long it will last or whether or not it will alter the clone's DNA at all. Only time will answer those questions.

Tag: Arken Dobson

 

[Arken Dobson]

"Good. Your outbursts only seem to have physical reactions that are not out of the ordinary. Do you feel anything else?"

“I feel anger, Ms. Terallo.” He was starting to get angry for real now. He had asked the question twice, and she had blown him off both times. Grand Shepherd Burtch represented a significant investment of his in the potential future. Liin Terallo had been tasked with developing some kind of treatment for him a few years back, and so far, many attempts had fallen short of successful. The force sensitive metal had not yet succeeded, but the old Chiss was still in her care until some kind of breakthrough was found.

He stood, moved towards where she was sitting and towered over her for a moment, then spoke, “Answer my question. What is the status of Grand Shepherd Burtch ?”