In case of deadbeat Sith ghost dads....

[Siriwook]

Siriwook paces her ship anxiously. Curious about why her chest is hurting, she's searched the archives for information and discovered she may have the symptoms of pregnancy. But she doesn't think she's done anything that might lead to pregnancy, or that she's hermaphroditic and reproducing asexually--so she searched for "Pregnancy without a father..."

The news is bad.

It seems that anyone, anywhere, can become pregnant with a Sith alchemy baby. The thought unnerves her so much, she sends out a distress call to a pharmaceutical research facility. The text reads, "Woman in need of anti-pregnancy medication. Please help."

Siriwook waits in her bunk for a response, rocking in pain from the tenderness of her chest.

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

“Miss Perl, we’ve received a message from an interested party.”

Looking up from her case folder, a pink skinned woman in business attire arched a brow at her Twi’lek secretary. “And?”

“And,” The Twi’lek continued, stifling a roll of her eyes at her boss’s sharp tone. “She could be a candidate for ZygoteZero. You did say that that you’d prefer a few more clinical trials before we open it to the public.”

Joza sat back in her chair, motioning for the datapad and propping it up on the desk in front of her. “Please help? This girl is in some sort of trouble?” Eyes raising up from the screen, she gave the secretary a pointed look. “I suppose. Could be in an abusive relationship and afraid of getting pregnant. It happens—“ “More than you’d think, yes, I know. And you know that I can’t walk away from something like that.” With a defeated sigh, Joza pinched the bridge of her nose and pushed the datapad back to the blue skinned alien. “Ask for her demographics. We’ll get something together.”

Nodding in affirmation, the Twi’lek turned on her heel and out of Joza’s office. She’d been visiting the facility on Agamar more often, but there were rumors that the company would relocated given the change in leadership from father to daughter. Back at her desk in the reception area, Eve began typing up a response.

//Incoming message from: VHYSIS LABS

Please provide us with the following: name, age, race, height, weight, current medications, current injuries, and current disorders. We will do our best to provide assistance.

-Eve
Vhysis Labs Asst.

[member="Siriwook"]

 

[Siriwook]

Siriwook, who has been poking at her tender chest, is alerted to the incoming message by a sound. After reading and re-reading, she slowly types back,

//Incoming message from: SIRIWOOK'S SHIP

Name: Siriwook
Age: About 19
Race: Orange? [Siriwook looks around for a dictionary file and figures out what is meant in context. She corrects herself, typing, literally, "strike that"] Wookiee
Height: [she takes a little time to measure herself] 2
Weight: [Siriwook steps on a scale, then returns to typing] 130 kg
Current Medications: Nothing
Current Injuries: Breasts hurting, belly hurting, emotionally vulnerable
Current Disorders: cPTSD, voice that says to do bad things--but I don't do them, I promise.

--Siriwook
Apprentice healer//

Siriwook isn't used to typing, but the spelling and grammar aid on her terminal helps. Nor does she really understand how it works. It takes her a while to get the message out, even longer than typing, because she must find how to send the message. She hopes the message gets to its destination and she wonders how long it will take. She hopes whatever delivers it can fly faster than she can type.

 

[Joza Perl]

Scrolling through Siriwook’s response as forwarded to her by Eve, one particularly hairy detail stands out in Siriwook’s profile. The majority of Joza’s study candidates had been human or otherwise humanoid, but no Wookies. For that alone, this was certainly worth looking into. A red brow arched as she glanced over the patient’s symptoms, which were nonspecific enough to warrant a visit for at least a diagnosis. In the back of her mind, she wondered how familiar her staff was with Wookie physiology.

Of course, there was still concern over the woman behind the message. And so, Joza took the helm away from Eve and responded to Siriwook.

//Incoming message from: VHYSIS LABS

Hello, Siriwook. My name is Joza Perl, head of Vhysis Labs. I’d like to extend an invitation for you to visit our headquarters on Agamar, coordinates enclosed. If you are unable to come to this location, alternate arrangements can be made. We’d like to provide a physical free of charge, and can discuss any current health issues during the visit.

-Joza Perl
Vhysis Labs CEO

[member="Siriwook"]

 

[Siriwook]

Siriwook smiles. She's been studying how to use her freighter but not had reason yet to take a trip on her own. It takes her a long time to properly set her hyperdrive plot coordinator, but she's sure she can get there. Just to be sure, though, she calls her "sister" (best friend) Kami to have her talk Siriwook through the process. When she knows she can get there, she takes off for Agamar. When she arrives, she notes how different it is from other planets she's lived on. The much smaller number of trees makes her uneasy. But she already got over the lack of trees in space, and it will make landing much easier. Once in orbit, she transmits her coordinates to the researcher and asks about where to land.

 

[Joza Perl]

Siriwook would receive instructions along with accompanying coordinates for a landing pad just outside the company building. It wasn’t incredibly large—though it did house a research facility, so it was a fairly noticeable building a few miles outside the university. A few area signs would still refer to the building as “Chill Pill Industries”, given that the company was recently taken over by the previous owner’s daughter. For the most part, Joza had kept the labs original focus on manufacturing pharmaceuticals, but the Zeltron did have plans for expansion. Give the tensions between Mandalorians and Jedi, she intended to pull out of Agamar and re-establish Vhysis Labs on another world where she’d run into less potential trouble.

As she landed, Siriwook would notice a blue skinned Twi’lek standing not far off from the landing pad. When the demi-Wookie would emerge from her ship, the Twi’lek—Eve—would introduce herself by name with a kind smile and usher the woman inside. The facility was rather clinical in appearance—what else could you expect from a lab?—with sterile white walls. Eve would lead Siriwook down several wide corridors with many doors until Eve stopped, lingering in the opened doorway of an examination room. Still smiling, she gestured for their guest to move inside, where she’d find two pink skinned women awaiting.

[member="Siriwook"]

 

[Siriwook]

Siriwook exits her craft onto a landing pad. Feeling the change in ambient temperature, she wraps her arms around herself absent-mindedly. She wonders about the facility. If not for the dire nature of her distress call, she might not have come, since the last two times she flew somewhere on her own, she'd been abducted. Slavers. Always, slavers. The presence of the Twi'lek does nothing to calm her fears. If anything, they are heightened. Twi'lek were a favorite for slavers, though Siriwook could not say why. Not a hair on them. How rude, SIriwook thought to herself--she shouldn't be so suspicious of others, no matter how much they reminded her of her Trandoshan tormentors. She shouldn't be hairy-ist. After all, her Mistress was a Twi'lek. Hair wasn't what made people good or bad, she reminds herself. It's what's in our hearts. Siriwook encouraged herself to follow each possibility to its logical conclusion before it happened. Trying to anticipate how she'll feel is part of her training, lest she succumb to it and lead herself down a dark path, but it was also related to sensing things in the Force. She'd heard stories of Yoda, peering into the future and divining the path forward. She continues the mental exercise as they enter the building. She is no longer chill from the open air, but her arms remain wrapped around her, protectively. The cause had been removed, but not the symptom.

Inside, the clinic reminds Siriwook of a cage. But she senses no deception. Since learning of her connection to the Force, she's come to realize that the same senses that kept her alive by seeming coincidence for twelve years on Wasskah can be used to probe her environment intentionally. There are no slavers here. At least, not that she can detect. She wonders if they'll have animals locked in various places. She's heard of this--research. Some companies did their first tests on animals. She's not sure how she'll feel if she sees animals locked up inside. Coldly, she recalled how her mistress had described the function of Nerfs in galactic society. She'd been appalled, wondering if Wookiees were also used as meat. She'd decided not to ask, just in case they were, and buried her fear. That night, she'd dreamed of a dark cabin in the Shadowlands of Kashyk and of the monsters dissected in the basement. A clinic, where research is done--yes, this is similar to her dream. She's seen this before. A word comes to her mind. Lab. This is a laboratory.

Inwardly, she tries to practice seeing the future through the Force. There is much of the galaxy she has yet to understand, but having the Force helps. The Force tells her she will be the subject of research, and that this research will help many people. She's made the right choice coming here. She's eager to get started. She sees two people. One of them is looking at her strangely. She's staring at her chest. Does she know? Is Siriwook pregnant? Siriwook unhooks her arms which she'd wrapped protectively around her abdomen, facing the woman with the concerned expression. Realization reaches them both simultaneously.

Not.... Not a wookiee?

Siriwook looks over to [member="Joza Perl"] and then back to the woman staring at her with widened eyes. She knows. Siriwook knows she knows. Siriwook decides to put this to the back of her mind--there's something more important they've come for. They're here... for birth control.

 

[Joza Perl]

Eve appeared in the doorway, followed by what appeared to be a female Wookie at least a head or two taller than Joza. While not exactly familiar with the race, she’d done some research on the Holonet beforehand into Wookie physiology. An electronic translator had been placed on the counter in anticipation of their guest’s arrival. While Siriwook seemed to have a good grasp of Galactic Basic given that she was able to communicate well over text, neither Joza nor any of her associates on hand spoke Shyriiwook. Basic, as far as she had learned, was a language that Wookies were physically incapable of speaking.

As the ginger-furred alien made her way through the threshold, Joza stood and smiled, extending a hand. “You must be Siriwook. I’m Joza Perl, and welcome to the Vhysis Labs research facility. I’m so glad you could make it.” Gesturing to the other Zeltron clad in a pair of dark purple scrubs, Joza introduced her companion. “This is Kebi. She’s a nurse here and in charge of our clinical trials. She'll be giving you your physical examination today." Kebi said nothing, but offered Siriwook a nervous smile—it was obvious she’d never see one of her race in person!

“That will be all Eve, thank you.” Joza waved once to the Twi’lek in the doorway who nodded and left, shutting the door softly behind her. Smoothing out the skirt of her business attire beneath her open lab coat, Joza turned towards the Demi-Wookie, noting the twinges of nervousness in her aura. “If you’ll sit down, dear, we can begin the exam. Don’t worry, nothing here will harm you—though if you feel uncomfortable, don’t hesitate to speak up.” There was a cushioned examination table in the middle of the room, lined with a sort of sterile thin paper that would be changed between patients.

Kebi donned a pair of rubber gloves, and Joza grabbed a clipboard. “How are you feeling, Siriwook?”

[member="Siriwook"]

 

[Siriwook]

Siriwook feels embarrassment as she sits down on the paper. There's not need to disrobe, obviously, because, aside from her fur and her headdress, she's not wearing anything. But that's not what's bothering her. She can speak through the Force, or she can try to speak Basic like she's been practicing, but they've gotten a translator, so she might as well speak Shyriiwook.

"Augh wa raa [I'm fine, thank you]" as she spoke, the machine translated for her. "Ru. Augh ruwa ra wa. Augh wa raru. [No. I'm not fine, actually. I'm decidedly not fine.]"

Siriwook decides it's time to say something. "Augh ruwa ra woo ghee! [I'm not really a wookiee!]"

"Waree wa augh [I'm sorry]," she adds, "Augh rawara awa [I just figured this out]" she cradles her head in her hands, making her two, not six, breasts even more obvious.

"Ro augh warara aughraughrua wa ruwoowoo [And I might become pregnant at any time by the Dark Side]!"

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

At the mention of her not being fine, Joza’s head raises from the clipboard and she fixes Siriwook with a curious, albeit polite stare as if urging her to continue. At the mention of not being a Wookie, Kebi and Joza exchange confused looks, but then pregnancy and the Dark Side are brought up, and Kebi freezes in place, unsure of what exactly is going on.

Tapping her pen against the clipboard in thought, Joza tilts her head towards Kebi and gives the other woman a tight smile. “I’ll take it from here, Kebi.” The nurse nodded vaguely, removing her gloves and tossing them into the biohazard bin before leaving the room, shutting the door softly behind her. Once alone, Joza inhales deeply while looking at Siriwook and gathering her thoughts on the situation. So she wasn’t a Wookie—and now that the Zeltron looked closer, she could see that some of the telltale signs of anatomy were off. From her memory banks, she can vaguely recall one of the main differences being a number in mammary glands, but that concern is in the back of her mind. The young not-Wookie was clearly distressed, and her nurturing instincts kicked in.

“I see now that you’re not…exactly what I’d expected. Don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re not a Wookie, then what are you?” Her voice was as gentle as possible as she broached a subject that could be sensitive. “And…what’s this about becoming pregnant by the Dark Side?” She inched closer on her stool, trying to catch Siriwook’s gaze and speaking in low tones. “Is someone hurting you, Siriwook?” Abuse was rife where the Dark Side was concerned.

[member="Siriwook"]

 

[Siriwook]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Spoiler

She's a demi-wookiee but doesn't know it. And no one knows what that is except Harry, her estranged brother who doesn't even remember her, and Hy'peria, her estranged mother and the evil voice that sometimes speaks to her through the Force.

Most hilariously, she's not pregnant, and her fear of being pregnant by a Sith ghost monster is totally-unjustified, though not without precedent. She's inexperienced, so she's not likely pregnant in any of the normally-expected ways, either.

What she is, is a woman going through puberty, late because of trauma, and developing tissue in her chest region, which she did the equivalent of searching the symptoms online and found reference to pregnancy, then to pregnancy without a father, then to an article about Anakin, hence the fear.

I'm thinking we can test her genetics first and "discover" she has half-wookiee and half-human DNA, with signs that the splicing was done by means of Sith alchemy rather than science. Her red fur is a symptom of this alchemy interacting with her own connection to the Force in utero, which explains why her brother, who was created the same way but isn't Force-sensitive, doesn't have red fur.

Siriwook sees Joza checking her out and re-crosses her arms. "Augh rurawa ruwaru augh wa, aughru woo ghee wa ru. Woo ghee wa aughra wara, rururu huu raaagh wa ra? Augh raaugh ruaghra aughwa warawawoo. [I don't know what I am, just that I'm not a wookiee. I assume I'm part wookiee, but I think I might be a hybrid--do you think so? I'm willing to undergo testing to find out.]"

She feels a pain in her chest again. Letting go of her arm-crossing for a moment, she touches the source of the pain, then winces from the tenderness. She adds, "Augh rura warara waru! Augh ru aurawaru roorawoo waru. [I don't want to be pregnant! I haven't even 'been with' [idiomatic euphemism] a lover!]"

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza scribbled a few things down on her clipboard, keeping her eyes focused on Siriwook when she could. “I’m afraid that I don’t know much about Wookie biology aside from the last few hours of slapdash research.” A self-defacing smile twitched her lips, openly admitting that she’d spent a few hours learning what she could about Wookies in preparation for this visit. “But having mixed genetics is not outside the realm of possibility. Even I’m half human.” Despite taking after her Zeltron mother where physical appearance was concerned, Joza had taken after her human father in certain ways. “If you’re amenable to it, I think that testing would be a good idea. I’ll need to take a few hair follicles and a vial of blood. We’ll have to remove a small patch of hair for the blood draw, along your inner arm.” Holding out her own arm, Joza used two fingers to press on the vein at the inner crook of her elbow. “Are you alright with that, Siriwook?”

Rising, Joza washed and gloved her hands in preparation, retrieving a few tools from the drawers around her after. “Breast tenderness typically happens with a rise in a hormone called progesterone. While chest pain is a symptom in early pregnancy, it can also happen right before your menstrual cycle when levels of this hormone peak. That reminds me, when was the date of your last menstrual cycle?” Placing a pair of tweezers on a sterile cloth in a sterile tray, she turns towards Siriwook. “If you haven’t had any sexual interaction, then I highly doubt that you’re pregnant. To put your mind at ease, we can do a quick test to determine that.”

Sitting back down on her chair, she offered the young hybrid a smile meant to be comforting. “I want you to know that this a safe space, Siriwook. If anyone has been touching you or otherwise hurting you, you can tell me. I won’t get angry or do anything to hurt you. I’m here to help.”

[member="Siriwook"]

 

[Siriwook]

Siriwook smiles, visibly relaxing. "Augh rawa warara gha? [I'm not pregnant?]" Still, they had to be sure. And, while she is there, she might as well get tested to find out what she is. Plus, she was 19 now, almost 20, so.... She might just get that birth control anyway. Just to be safe from Sith ghosts.

"Aughrerawo. [Let's do it]" Siriwook holds her arm out to [member="Joza Perl"]