Life Imitates Art

[Venussia Sasko]

Location: Metropolitan Museum of Coruscant, Contemporary Biennale Gala

Venussia Sasko hated modern art. As she meandered through the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Coruscant, she assumed that she was supposed to delve into each piece’s deeply unique statement on life, death, galactic strife, consumerism, or politics. Or to engage in a potent dialogue with the artwork by virtue of being its viewer. Despite her best effort, most of the time, when standing in front of some famous work or art or another, Venussia felt that she would rather be engaging in a potent dialogue with a pizza.

However boring the Contemporary Biennale Gala was, attending it was mandatory. Hobnobbing with the grand poobah muckety-mucks on Coruscant was part and parcel of being one of Darell Irani’s CEOs, and he wouldn’t be pleased if she skipped out on the event. Pissing off your boss was the worst. Luckily, there were Holopaparrazi in attendance, and once she saw her chance, Venussia shoved some blonde Coruscanti celebutard out of the way so that she could strike a pose in her silk, white frock. That way, she could skip out early and no one would be the wiser. Eat it, Mr. Irani.

Venussia suddenly remembered that alcohol existed and hunted down a serving droid so that she could snatch up a glass of champagne before it rolled away. She squinted her eyes at a piece on the wall, trying to make sense of it for a few minutes until realizing that it was probably a security terminal, and then moved along to another sculpture that depicted a gold-plated Bith on wearing only a meat bikini and roller skates. Now she was just getting hungry.

Standing before a painting that seemed to be made out of some sort of dense fog, she noticed a silver haired gentleman looking at it quizzically. Noticing her noticing him, he turned towards her. Venussia tried to wink at him, but ended up blinking both eyes by accident, and her attempt to be charming instead became painfully awkward.

Sipping her champagne, Venussia tried to save herself with some light banter in his direction.

“Oh man, am I glad they finally let me back into this place after that incident with the firehose. I thought I was banned for life.”

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Venussia Sasko"]

A solitary visit to the art gallery was a guilty pleasure for Gerion. Sometimes it was nice to think things over by himself, looking over various pieces of modern art with a relaxing glass in hand. Normally he would have asked Lorelei to come along with him, but this was not the sort of art exhibition he would bring another person to. Apparently the terms of entering pieces were a lot less stringent since the Netherworld catastrophe. Hence the Bith statue with the Nerf bacon and primitive wheeled shoes. But some of the more worthwhile paintings were still present, such as the Hieosch triptych he was currently eyeing. It was mostly fog depicted, with various minuscule figures doing various things within it. Such detail was impressive. There was probably an allegory there...

Then he felt eyes settle on his back, so he instinctively turned to see who was staring at him. A young woman, one of many frittering around the place. If he had been Starchaser, he probably would have been trying to coax her into grinding on him already. He was here for far more reputable reasons, naturally. They mistakenly locked eyes, and she blinked awkwardly in response. Gerion's expression remained passive, but she walked up and started talking to him before he could turn away.

He frowned lightly at her speech. "That was you? This gallery was closed for a month."

 

[Venussia Sasko]

Oh no, change the subject, change the subject. Flustered and turning red, Venussia lowered her head, suddenly finding her pinging Datapad very, very interesting.

“Oh look. It's today’s Word of the Day. ‘Ebullient,’ which means cheerful and full of energy. Used in a sentence. ‘Contemporary art always made the young and devastatingly gorgeous CEO feel ebullient.”

She met his gaze again, her face completely deadpan.

“I’m super serious about my vocabulary.”

Draining the rest of her drink in one long gulp, Venussia set her empty champagne flute on an obelisk that might have been part of one of the artworks, and then smiled at the scowling gentleman, who was a kindred spirit it seemed. The long-haired professor-type obviously shared her sentiments about art museums.

“Hi, I’m Venussia Sasko,” she told him, holding out a manicured hand. If the man kept up with the latest galactic business Holomags, he might have recognized the name from a recent ACA Young Guns award that Miss Sasko had won.

“So, what’s your story?”

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Venussia Sasko"]

If Gerion's eyebrow had risen any higher, it might have taken flight and left the art gallery. Come to think of it, if that had happened it would probably have toned down the ludicrousness of this conversation. He scowled when she fumbled around for her pinging datapad. A deliberate cop-out move if he had ever seen one, but the indignation that inspired was replaced with confusion shortly thereafter. Ebullient? Seriousness regarding vocabulary? Sasko? He thought he heard that name somewhere before. Someone had scrawled it on the walls in the bathroom of the Hypori capital building. The sentence connected to it hadn't been all that pleasant, but Gerion hadn't paid much mind to it. He barely even recalled it now.

"Right. Ms. Sasko."' He shook her hand. Lightly. Skeptically. Curse him and his sense of etiquette for touching this... Person. He narrowed his eyes. "I am Viceroy Gerion Ardik of Hypori. You're not here to shut the gallery down again, are you?"

 

[Venussia Sasko]

As his eyebrow looked like it was about to crawl off his face in an attempt to escape the drollness of life, Mr. Ardik, or Gerry, as she mentally dubbed him had the handshake of a wet noodle. What was it that the body language expert had said? That a weak handshake was a sign of introversion, guilt and general anxiety? Add misanthropy to that and she liked him already. Venussia knew the name Gerion Ardik from the board rooms and business meetings at Ty’rel, and she also knew that he was one of Hegemonic Automaton's executives. That meant despite the fact that he looked like he wanted to crawl away from her, he was just the kind of person she came to the art museum to hobnob with.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Ardik,” Venussia said with an emotionless expression. When Gerry asked her if she was going to shut down the art museum again, she shrugged.

“Nah, it would really mess up this game of marry, kark, kill that I’ve got going on in my head with all the guests here. And that would suck because I’m winning for once.”

Her mouth quirked up into the tiniest smile. Then it quickly disappeared.

“You look like you hate art about as much as I do. Wanna get out of here?”

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Venussia Sasko"]

Gerion let silence hang in the air for a few moments. He narrowed his eyes at Venussia, taking into account everything she had said up until this point as he tendered his response.

"You are an abysmal judge of character." He said flatly, and with a twinge of what sounded like patronizing disappointment.

That said, Gerion cast a glance over his shoulder to see who else was milling about. By and large it was a wide assortment of people he had no desire to be anywhere near and were not very pleasant to look at either. He also took note of the artwork, most of which had been recycled from previous exhibits and he had already seen prior. And the ones that had not been recycled, like the one featuring bacon as a major material, he had no real desire to analyze.

He turned back to Venussia. "And where is it, exactly, you would suggest we go?"

 

[Venussia Sasko]

Bonding with men had always been much easier for Venussia than bonding with other women. The last time she tried to bond with a female CEO at Ty’rel, she greeted the other woman with a friendly “What’s up whore?” and Miss Garoon wouldn’t have anything to do with her after that. Such a lack of social graces.

"You are an abysmal judge of character." said Gerry.

“I know. Thanks.” Venussia answered blankly. Good ol’ Gerry seemed like a grade A killjoy, which meant that he was a person that she could definitely hang out with for the rest of the night. The young CEO gave the silver-haired businessman a half shrug.

“Well, alcohol is delicious and refreshing,” she helpfully suggested. Sure, they had champagne at the gallery, but let’s face it, anywhere in the galaxy beat staying here. The massive crowd of Coruscanti socialites had begun to make Venussia wonder if she could cut off her hands and get gun implants instead. She turned back to Gerry, a subtle smirk tugging at the corner of her glossy, red lips.

“Wanna go bar-hopping with me, Mr. Ardik?”

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Venussia Sasko"]

Gerion placed his half-depleted glass of wine on the tray of a server as she walked by. Bar hopping with the woman who had shut down an art exhibit and caused thousands of credits in damage using nothing but firefighting equipment? It was just stupid enough to tickle his fancy. But only just. Gerion did not go to bars. Bars were generally for the dregs of society, which were definitely exemplified in this poor woman. Yet somehow it sounded like free entertainment for the evening. Far more than he would get at staring at artwork, presumably.

"I'm not in the habit of 'bar-hopping,'" He used the term as if it was his first time saying it out loud- and in a foreign language. "Much less with total strangers."

It was a rather peculiar sort of person who went to an art gallery, of all places, only to proposition a completely and utterly unknown person to run around to different low-class alcohol serving establishments. "What is it you do for a living that you feel it necessary to suggest these sorts of... Things?"

 

[Venussia Sasko]

"I'm the CEO of Rothana Engineering," Venussia let out a long dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes. "It's awesome," she added dryly. Another bar droid rolled up with a disdainful chirp, and the young woman snatched a glass from its tray. Venussia held the drink close to her chest, it as if it were treasure that would soon be ripped away from her.

"Ok, I get it. You're not into bars. You're more of the weird sex club sort. It's ok, no judgement. We all have our something, you know?"

"Oh, come on Mr. Ardik. Live a little," Venussia insisted, simultaneously punching Gerry lightly in the shoulder and flashing him a coyish smile that usually worked on construction workers and, of course, Mr. Irani.

"Don't tell me you actually want to hang out with these people?"

Finally, she gave him the most innocent look that a woman who made her employees arm wrestle her for a raise could possibly muster.

"Please?"

Don't make me put the "kick me" Post-it on you.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Venussia Sasko"]

Rothana Engineering? That sounded like something Ovmar had thrust himself into recently. And if this was the CEO, then Ovmar had likely thrust himself into her as well. Internally, Gerion groaned, and he wondered if he would have to start background checking everyone he met just to make sure they had not been shagged by that dastardly economic imperialist. Gerion was probably about to say something sardonic, but then she punched him in the shoulder. Not particularly hard, mostly in a joking manner. There was a list of people who could get away with such gestures. She wasn't one of them.

He scowled, then brushed off his shoulder. Like something filthy had just touched it and now he was doing his best to sterilize the thing; otherwise it would become infected and have to be amputated. Gerion's scowl may or may not have suggested that this entire outfit would need to be burned and the ashes disposed of as hazardous. But only after his chemical bath.

"I am not the 'weird sex club' sort, as you so eloquently put it."

Gerion only frequented the perfectly normal sex clubs. To suggest otherwise was just rude.

Surely there must have been some reason Irani had made this woman his CEO. Something beyond just to look at her, obviously. Irani could never be so gauche... Then again, he was full of surprises, as he probably liked to tell people. Sounded like something he would say. Right before the thrusting.

"But you're right," he eventually said. "I have little desire to be around these individuals. Go ahead, lead the way, I'm curious as to what activities the CEO of Rothana engages in within the confines of the bar scene."

 

[Venussia Sasko]

Yes! Begging worked every time. Ven was totally convinced it was a magic power that broke down men's defenses. She gave Gerry a side-eyed glance and a half-smile.

“Yeah, let’s go,” she said “I think I’m slowly dying from too much excitement.”

Grabbing Mr. Ardik’s hand, Ven suddenly took off at a pace somewhere between a slow jog and a fast walk, her high heels clicking on the duracrete. The bars and cantinas in the neighborhood surrounding the Metropolitan Museum of Coruscant were filled with tourists and business types and Ven decided that she would rather slit her wrists, and not in the cry-for-help-way, than set foot in one. The young CEO craved danger, excitement, and garbage. Ven soon found a turbolift that would take her and Mr. Ardik to the lower levels of Coruscant.

What Mr. Ardik did not know was that Ven was totally lying about being the CEO of Rothana Heavy Engineering. She was a CEO in fact, but she worked for Eridium Industrial in the Roche System. It was for Eridium's own protection of course. That way, if the night turned out to be an embarrassing disaster, which was almost a certainty at this point, then Eridium Industrial’s name would stay out of the pages of the gossip sections of the galactic business Holo mags. Let's face it though: what Gerry didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Well, unless he was into that. In which case, she knew a place on the way.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Venussia Sasko"]

Not even ten seconds in and Gerion already regretted this, being seized by the hand and escorted quickly from the art gallery. He almost made a fuss about it, but decided starting a scene wasn't the way to go here. Later on, he certainly wished he had. What would people think once they found out that the Viceroy of Hypori was last seen being pulled out of an art gallery by the floozy that had shut it down months ago? Probably the same things they thought about Irani, come to think of it. And the tabloids loved him. Gerion assumed they did, anyway. He had absolutely no time to be reading such low-brow material.

Once they actually exited the gallery, Gerion decided that it was enough hand-holding for one night and silently released himself. Now he was following her mostly out of a sense of morbid curiosity, and he loathed himself for it more and more with each passing moment. This sense of self-hatred for his petty indulgences reached its peak when they arrived at a turbolift. Not one of the lighter ones that Gerion frequently used during his commutes to and from various offices, but the real heavy ones. The ones that went all the way down to the lowest, sleaziest levels.

He had an inkling where this was going. Gerion's other identity only went down that far rarely, and even then it wasn't without a complement of droids or stormtroopers to accompany him. To go down into that lawless realm with only Sasko? He had something to live for, this man. This wasn't going to happen- not willingly.

"You can't be serious. I sincerely hope you don't intend to ride this thing down into the lower levels." Gerion's voice was stern. Probably to cover up his discomfort. "We'd both be killed."

 

[Venussia Sasko]

“Killed schmilled,” Ven said with a shrug. “We’re all gonna die anyway, Mr. Ardik. We might as well live a little while we’re here.”

Ven ignored Mr. Ardik’s hemming and hawing as the turbolift continued its descent. When the doors hissed open, sure enough there they both were, right where the Uscru Entertainment District intersected with the seedy underbelly of Coruscant, the meanest streets this side of the Core Worlds. Venussia gave Gerion a tight-lipped smile and, then shoved him out of the turbolift before he could argue.

“Mmmm, smell the night air,” she said, inhaling the scents of trash mingling with filthy bodies and sewer sludge.

“Oh look, a stabbing,” she added with the nonchalance of one admiring a national landmark.

Then, the young CEO stopped in her tracks, and turned to Mr. Ardik with an expression that said she was about to say something deeply profound.

“Kark alcohol, let’s go get some spice.”

It was profound to her anyway.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Venussia Sasko"]

The doors opened, and Gerion swiftly found himself realizing that they were both woefully overdressed for this part of town. The sort of district where even the police droids would have their self-preservation routines kick in if they attempted to patrol here. If they started marching around like this, they would be dead within the hour. Gerion reached for the button to close the door, but she already shoved him out of the turbolift and followed close behind him. Vile witch! If he hadn't had the sensibilities of a gentleman, he would have slapped some sense into her right then and there. Also it would have drawn a good amount of attention from the seedy looking aliens milling about at this time of night.

Gerion cleared his throat and straightened himself out. Composure was important. If he lost that, they would die sooner. No- he was just being dramatic. They wouldn't die down here. There was no way there were really far down. The most dangerous levels didn't have entertainment districts. There were no districts in the actual lawless parts of Coruscant. Just slums and empty buildings with squatters. As long as they didn't do anything overtly stupid.

“Kark alcohol, let’s go get some spice.”

"Are you out of your infernal mind, woman?" Gerion hissed, though it sounded more like an angry whisper.

Composure compromised.

 

[Venussia Sasko]

"Or am I a genius?" Venussia replied, poking a finger at the Umbaran's chest. She made sure to walk two steps ahead of Gerry, just out of reach of a firm hand that might forcibly yank her back to the turbolift, kicking and screaming. Frankly, Ven's instinct was to be mean to him, but she also secretly thought that he might be a robot, and robots didn't have feelings. It wasn't worth it if you couldn't make them cry.

"Wait. Don't answer that."

The neon lit portions of the district on Vos Getal, with its clubs and casinos looked way too vanilla. Instead, Venussia made a beeline for the darker parts of the sector, where gangs of Rodian youth stood on the street corners, sizing them up, and glitbiters lay in the gutters, transfixed by their inner worlds. The squelch of some sewer creature, perhaps a cthon, could be heard underneath the duracrete pavement.

Finally, Ven stopped to peek inside the window a dark hovel of a club, horribly named "Gands and Dolls." On the building's facade there were Holo-projections of nimble females of all types of species, twirling their limbs around poles. It was fairly obvious what kinds of things you'd find going on inside.

"Whoever named this place should be shot," she announced. Then she whirled around to face Mr. Ardik. "I want to go in."

With that, Ven flashed her companion an evil grin, and ducked inside.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Venussia Sasko"]

"I'm answering that anyway." Gerion hissed, dress shoes clicking noisily along the ill-maintained ground as he struggled to keep pace. "You are certainly not."

Despite his efforts, it was becoming increasingly clear to Gerion that absolutely no statementhe could form would keep Venussia from going... Well, for lack of a better idea of where they were going, straight to hell. Gerion was mightily tempted to simple vanish under the facade of a Force Cloak and allow Venussia to do her thing. Yet he knew abandoning her would probably not be in his best interests. For instance, if she ended up dead (via mugging, drug overdose, or liver failure) and Darell found out that Gerion had been in a position to stop such a thing, things would get messy.

So it was either try to explain to Darell why his employee was found dead or continue down the path to be found as dead alongside Darell's employee.

Curse his sudden chivalry. He blamed Redeaux.

Besides, he couldn't use the Force in public like that. Not without a concealing mask of some sort. Powerless by virtue of his own self-imposed rules and Sasko's psychopathy, Gerion followed her up to a decrepit, ominous looking establishment. "Gands and Dolls." There was no feasible way this place had passed a safety or health inspection in the last half-century, at least. The disgusting building was enhanced with advertisements featuring nimble females of all species dancing whimsically. Oh, no, this wasn't some sort of strip club was it?

"I want to go in."

"Why is it that what you want and what is a reasonable idea are always two radically divergent thi- get back here!"

Too late. She was already gone. Gerion cursed under his breath and followed her inside. Immediately he was buffeted with the stench of drugs, terrible food, and various aliens that had not engaged in any sort of hygiene their entire lives. So far it was too dark to see any women, but judging from the state of this place and the horrible smell... A poor precedent had been set.