Like a Diamond in an Ice Storm

[Hannibal Oryen]

CESTUS SYSTEM, ORD CESTUS
CESTUS CYBERNETICS HEADQUARTERS

Meeting with Zothustro was never exactly a riveting affair. Far from it, between the rather dull nature of business figures and that sort of talk, the fact that his translation device couldn't muster up emotion worth a damn was almost enough to put Hannibal to sleep. Almost, but not quite, which made it even more torturous. There was nothing more annoying than fighting off sleep constantly when you're supposed to be listening to something important. This was his business- Cestus Cybernetics -they were talking about here. Hannibal should have been all ears. Instead he had to pinch his own hand to keep his eyes from shutting for the next few hours.

"<< Now that we've gotten that settled, I think it's time we hired on another engineer. >>"

And just like that, Hannibal was awake again.

"Pardon?"

"<< Studies show designs tend to improve when there's more than one person involved in leading the project. >>"

Hannibal scoffed. He'd have to take a look at those studies for himself. "What are you talking about? We've got those X'Ting dudes from the university helping out too."

"<< I said leading. >>" Zothustro continued, retrieving several folders and sliding them across the desk to Hannibal. "<< We received a few applications from that droid expo. These were the better resumes we got. I also picked a few photos of them from the holonet. >>"

The Fondorian picked up the first one and began to thumb through it. Zothustro continued speaking, giving a brief overview of the contents from memory. He assumed Hannibal would only skim it for the most part. The Force knew the man hardly had patience for anything that didn't involve droid design.

"<< That one is Siyndacha Aerin. Dual-discipline Engineer, Ph.D. Very privileged upbringing. Picture should be in the back, past the- >>"

Hannibal closed the folder, having evidently found the photo himself. "She's hired."

Zothustro blinked. "<< What? >>"

"Call her in, tell her she's got an interview. I'll handle that whole process, by the way."

"<< What about the other applicants? >>"

"Back up plans."

"<< You cannot be serious. Look, this one is Arrgon Filch. He's a Gran, got his Ph.D from the University of Pixelito on- >>"

Hannibal was already rising from his seat, satisfied that business had been handled for the day and that he had applied the correct reasoning to who he wanted to hire. Besides, he desperately wanted to get back to bounty hunting or soldiering. He hadn't bagged anyone since that Mandalorian dude he dropped off with the sadist. A much more run of the mill hunt was in order.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure he's just the tits McGee." Hannibal explained to a furious Zothustro. "Call the dame, please."

The door closed behind him.

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

Delete this post, please!

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

[member="Hannibal Oryen"]

It was not long after her visit to the droid expo - wherein several people in her life were in the same place at once, where she had a considerable opportunity to make connections with one of the more interesting droid manufacturers to come into her field of vision - that her master had left the Confederacy with his fleet, and she had followed without question. Quitting the Techno Union, quitting a job for the second time in only so many months had a strange effect. It was hard to do, but it was oddly easier than the first time, and at the very least, she found the varied jobs given to her aboard the Brynjar were enough to keep her occupied, but not enough to fill her schedule.

Yet, they did nothing to scratch a particular itch she had, an ever-present itch. An itch that wore on her every day that droids were absent from her life; she had always been this way. If she thought back, she may have even been looking for an excuse to quit her first job, and that had been a reason she hadn't considered, underneath the harassment et al. But it was in the past, all was said and done, and she was certain she'd be going nowhere but wherever Manu went for a while.

Life, it seemed, liked to prove her wrong, sometimes. Which was why she found herself with her legs twisted around each other as many times as they could be, while she sat in the Cestus Cybernetics Headquarters on Ord Cestus, feeling not only a bit nervous about the upcoming interview (nerves that had set in after she spent several minutes expressing significant excitement to Token), but also about the fact that Ord Cestus was nearly in the very centre of Mandalorian space, given how much she knew about how Mandalorians felt about Jedi... or simply, most Force-users in general. Her pale silver-blue eyes skittered over to the front desk, where she had already checked in, then shot back over to the doors that lead outside of the building. She took in a long, deep breath and held it, then let it out slowly, allowing the thoughts that ran through her mind to go out of her with it. And she continued to wait, it having been entirely her fault that she had arrived so early.

Just a little longer... I hope, she thought, her eyes creeping up the wall to the chrono that hung there.

 

[Hannibal Oryen]

[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

Hannibal liked to get places early. Not too early, though. Maybe about twenty or thirty minutes. It gave him time to prepare whatever it was he needed to do, but not too long. Otherwise he would start over thinking it. That was how mistakes happened, believe it or not. He had a pretty simple plan for today. Head to his office, situate himself and make sure it looked all... Office-like, get this interview over with, and then take off to go track a bounty he had his eye on. It was nice having two jobs like that. Truth be told, Hannibal had only rarely been in his office since his stint as a "businessperson" began. He got more stuff done in the workshop of the factory they had out in the desert. Usually he would just send his Z1 to bring anything that got dropped off in there to his ship, whereupon he would handle it in-between hyperspace jumps.

Come to think of it, he would probably have to dust the place, too.

He'd get to it, so long as he had a few minutes. Though as soon as he walked in, he immediately noticed that one of the usually empty chairs that hung around the lobby was occupied by the applicant. Hannibal stopped short in the doorway, checking his own chronometer while the doors shut behind him. Was his an hour slow or something? No, he'd gotten here as early as he endeavored. She had shown up a pretty special kind of early. That was a good sign. It made him feel like a schmuck, though.

Well, anyone who didn't make him feel like an ass from time to time probably wasn't worth keeping around. He was just glad they were getting it out of the way now.

"Huh. You're early." He remarked. "How long were you waiting there?"

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

[member="Hannibal Oryen"]

Her eyes snapped away from the wall chrono to land right on the man addressing her, a thing that caused her nerves some grief and made her anxiety nearly go through the roof. She swallowed, inhaled sharply, and exhaled, and started to come down from it the moment she remembered that she had seen this one before, way back at that droid expo. This was their designer, and she had been wanting to meet him with more than the cursory greeting. Where anyone and droids intersected, Sindy lit up. She fidgeted with her hands, and answered the question.

"Ah..." she flicked a glance at the wall chrono again, "...about an hour..."

Then her eyes tracked back to him, pulling away from the timekeeping device once again. "...and a half."

She blinked, then kept going.

"I had nothing better to do, so... well, that's not too weird, is it?" She queried, her voice dropping to an almost conspiratorial whisper, "If you must know, I know how people in this sector of space feel about..."

The platinum blonde made air quotes as she peered up at him.

"...'space wizards'. If you get my meaning. I figured it would be better to not wander the streets aimlessly like a moron."