First Reply Lonely is the Night

[Fulcrum]

Another rainy Nar Shaddaa night.

That wasn't surprising, and it certainly wasn't a change from the past week. The entire hemisphere had been inundated in ongoing monsoons, casting every slab of duracrete and every pane of transparisteel to glisten with the oily rain. For most, it was an uncomfortable experience, hot and muggy. Thankfully, Fulcrum's beskar enabled him to withstand the weather better than most.

Perched on the edge of a fire escape, the Mandalorian watched the street below. The denizens of Nar Shaddaa passed to and fro, entirely and blissfully unaware of his presence above. They chattered and bickered amongst themselves in a dozen languages-- basic, Huttese, Sy Bisti, and some that Fulcrum had never even heard of-- as they went. Fulcrum paid close attention to each conversation that he could understand. In the line of detective work, sometimes, it wasn't enough to sit back and wait for the jobs to come to you. Sometimes you had to put an ear to the ground. Get out there. The city-- this city-- was like an animal. If you paid close attention, you could tell what was about to happen before it happened.

For now, he kept his eyes and ears peeled, his bone-white beskar glistening in the slick rain and neon lights.

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Nar Shaddaa
Tags: Fulcrum

Rayne dispised being back on Nar Shaddaa. It brought back memories with each bumped shoulder, shady alleyway, grimmacing face...

The pungent scent of death in the air.

Her childhood here had not been a happy one, but the young woman was back here looking for something she lost. A simple shread of her childhood, something she had lost when she fled the planet back when she was a young girl. The Twi'lek had no idea where to look. It was all so... different now. The planet changed every day. To find a lead from nearly 5 years ago would simply be foolish.

But she had found herself feeling despirate for something to cling onto as of late.

It began raining before long. Rayne hated when it was cold and wet out. It made her feel miserable. Her search was immediately off, and the woman went to take shelter inder the cover of a fire escape. The scrapper's emotions swirled, and this lapse in control caused nearby lights to burn out, her lack of training in her abilities on full display.

Perhaps it was better that way, she reasoned. Nobody would bother her in the dark at the very least...

 

[Fulcrum]

Tagging: Rayne Lo'to

One face seemed to stand out in the crowd. Or, perhaps better said, above it; above the heads of the other crowdgoers, Fulcrum could see the twi'lek's eyes and capped lekku. She looked sad.

Another unsurprising thing on Nar Shaddaa. Everyone and everything was sad here, for one reason or another, except for maybe the Hutts that exerted their influence over this place. The entire moon seemed to carry a general sense of malaise that sunk its claws into everything, himself included. Fulcrum wasn't generally a happy person by any means, but even he had to admit, this place made it worse. He felt for her... whatever she was going through.

Reptilian eyes tracked the twi'lek's approach. He expected her to simply continue walking along the footpath; in a few moments, she would be out of his line of sight, and out of his life. Just another lonely Nar Shaddaan, passing by in the night.

Instead, something happened that did surprise him. She came to a stop underneath the same fire escape, huddled away from the rain. The Mandalorian's helmet tilted curiously. Was she going to try and wait out the storm? She'd be waiting for a while. Once the rain started to fall in this place, it would be a while before it stopped.

And then, something happened that really surprised him. The flickering neon and incandescent lighting around him momentarily brightened with a surge of power-- and just as quickly burnt out, dimming into nothingness with a faint whine and the distant smell of ozone amidst the rain. Fulcrum momentarily lifted his head for a moment before returning his gaze to the one below him. If the twi'lek was bothered by it, she wasn't showing it; she didn't move from her spot in the slightest.

Fulcrum believed in a lot of things. A coincidence wasn't one of them. Sometimes, the galaxy was subtle with its hints. Sometimes, it hit you in the face with a frying pan. This was one of those times.

Carefully, the Kaleesh lifted his hand, reaching out to rap his knuckles against the durasteel frame beneath him. The attempt to get her attention was completely washed out by a nearby flash of lightning and the thunderclap that followed. Fulcrum's ears twitched in annoyance underneath his helmet.

He slammed the back of his armored gauntlet against the metal three times... perhaps a little louder than he intended. Oops.

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Nar Shaddaa
Tags: Fulcrum

He slammed the back of his armored gauntlet against the metal three times... perhaps a little louder than he intended. Oops.

The sudden slam against the metal covering above her made Rayne jump, practically falling over. The tall Twi'lek woman scrambled to her feet, disorientedly identifying where her blaster was holstered before looking up at a Mandalorian helmet.

Or at least she assumed it was. In the dim lighting it was what stood out about the armored figure, a ghostly white helm that resembled a skull more than anything, at least in coloration. They had a humanoid frame, but their legs indicated that they were far more detached than the typical humanoid. Kaleesh maybe? Rayne wasn't too sure. She had only ever seen pictures in children's books she stole from her orphanage.

"Uh... hello?"

Notably, the young woman didn't speak. A vocoder clipped to her waist did, filling the air with the gentle voice of a female protocol droid. It's tone did not reflect whatsoever how scared she was, which was rather apparent in her face.

She wasn't exactly fond of encounters with strangers in the dark. The fact that this was some kind of hunter didn't help.

"How... dead am I?"

It seemed a valid enough question. She didn't figure she stood a chance if she was here to kill her.

 

[Fulcrum]

Tagging: Rayne Lo'to

Hell. Not exactly his smoothest introduction. The Kaleesh's shoulders hunched slightly, unable to entirely suppress the instinct to wince as the Twi'lek nearly ate it on the slick duracrete. The fear on her face as she looked up on him was understandable. Fulcrum probably would have pulled his blaster out at this point; his beskar would have absorbed a light blaster bolt, but still, he appreciated her restraint, all circumstances considered.

"Uh... Hello? How... dead am I?"

Curious. He tilted his head. The vocoder was yet another surprise, but he had certainly encountered stranger prosthetics in the galaxy.

"Uh... You're not." Smooth, Fulcrum, very smooth. But it was the truth; if he'd had any intention of hurting her, he wouldn't have announced his presence.

But somehow, he had a feeling that explanation wouldn't make her feel better, so he kept it to himself.

"Not trying to hurt you, just... wanted to talk," he continued. His voice was tired and raspy, further obscured by the clipped audio enhancer in his helmet. At least she'd be able to hear him above the pounding Nar Shaddaa rain.

Right. A friendly little chat, on the fire escape, in the dark. What the hell was he thinking?

Slowly, so as not to alarm her, the Mandalorian rose to his feet. He moved to the opposite end of the fire escape, giving the Twi'lek some much needed space for what he was about to do. In one smooth motion, he vaulted over the guardrail, clawed feet flexing and spine twisting; he landed on the wet ground with barely a sound, digitigrade legs bending and absorbing most of the weight of the impact.

Rising to his full height, the Kaleesh lifted his arm. A holographic emitter on his forearm bracer flickered into life, projecting a slowly rotating symbol-- identical to the red lines on his helmet-- bordered by aurebesh text. Fulcrum. Detective services. Search and rescue. Followed by his HoloNet number. It also gave them a little light to talk by. Hopefully it would make him less intimidating, not more.

"... You looked troubled. Thought maybe I could help?"

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Nar Shaddaa
Tags: Fulcrum

"... You looked troubled. Thought maybe I could help?"

He was an investigator, or at least his weird holo-identification indicated that he was. Rayne gave a skeptical frown, tilting her head as she brushed one of her lekku over her shoulder.

"I'm not sure if I believe that," Rayne noted through her vocoder, reafferming the skeptical expression. "We're on Nar Shaddaa. People don't help here."

The young woman sighed, crossing her arms and turning away. She surely didn't need an armored warrior to help her out here, given that she didn't even know where to look herself. It wasn't like her leads were recent. The mention of her seeming sad was... odd. People didn't typically care about emotion here, unless it was anger, hatred, lust, or some other thing.

"I don't have money anyways," she added.

He probably wanted money. Most people out here did.

 

[Fulcrum]

Tagging: Rayne Lo'to

"I'm not sure if I believe that. We're on Nar Shaddaa. People don't help here."

It was almost funny, really. Being on the receiving end of paranoia and distrust for once, instead of the giving end... Fulcrum wasn't the type to laugh out loud, but his helmet's vocalizer did crackle as an amused huff slipped from his lips.

"Can't blame you. Probably wouldn't trust me, either..." he acknowledged, nodding slowly. Out here, it was a smart move. Fulcrum paused for a moment, trying to collect his words. "... But I'm not from here. I'm from Hoth." He nodded to the sigil on his shoulder, the stylized head of a snarling wampa. "And Kalee before that. So I don't play by Nar Shaddaa rules."

It was the truth, as plainly as he could deliver it. Whether she would believe it was another story...

"I don't have money anyways,"

Fulcrum shook his head, lifting his other hand to wave it in dismissal. That wasn't the reason he had approached her. There were plenty of ways to make a quick buck on Nar Shaddaa; chatting up random passerbys wasn't one of them.

"Money's not important," he told her. It wouldn't be the first time that he had taken on a job for free, and it definitely wouldn't be the last. How many times had this scenario played out? He saw a hard luck case, a fallen face, and he felt a... pull. A drive to make it right, to fix it. Sometimes, a mystery was like an itch; you either scratched it, or it drove you crazy.

Of course, trying to explain that would make him sound like a wackjob. Which he was, but still. The Kaleesh simply shrugged, crossing his arms over his chestplate.

"... Just call it pro bono."

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Nar Shaddaa
Tags: Fulcrum

"... Just call it pro bono."

"You're weird," Rayne noted, frowning a little. "Why waste your time?"

It didn't much matter, but she couldn't help but be confused about it all. That was how people died down here, playing hero. They'd wind up in a ditch somewhere. They always did. There was a reason that the Twi'lek had left this place behind. Still, perhaps there was some value to be gained here. If he was going to play hero, Rayne could at the very least take advantage of it.

It would be rude not to.

"I'm looking for something I lost... A long time ago." Her vocoder had no tone, but her face was ever-so-slightly whistful. "There's an orphanage around here, or there was at one point. I... I want to see if it's still there."

She just couldn't remember where the blasted place was.

 

[Fulcrum]

Tagging: Rayne Lo'to

"You're weird. Why waste your time?"

If he had a goddamn credit for every time he heard those two sentences...

He was weird. She was right about that, of course, and he wasn't about to try and refute it. In his experience, nobody got into the line of detective work because they were a completely well-adjusted and socially acceptable individual. That just wasn't how things were. This job attracted broken people like eopies to the sarlacc. The Kaleesh shook his head in response to her question, simply replying, "I'm not."

One thing was certain: Nar Shaddaa had beaten this woman down so lowly to the point that she didn't even see herself as worthy of the time. Goddamn shame.

"I'm looking for something I lost... A long time ago. There's an orphanage around here, or there was at one point. I... I want to see if it's still there."

An orphan.

Fulcrum frowned under the mask, the dour expression tugging at the mottled edges of his burn and causing him a dull ache. They weren't all that far apart, it seemed. The difference was that the Kaleesh had been adopted rather quickly. He had a feeling that wasn't the case for the woman who stood before him.

"I can work with that," Fulcrum said. He took a half-step closer-- which, for his long legs, was more akin to a full step on a human scale. The Mandalorian stood at the Twi'lek's side, his forearm still held out as he swiped his holographic calling card aside. Instead, he brought up a map of the city district surrounding them. A blinking dot signified his position.

"So... Orphanage. Let's see. Not seeing any functioning ones in the immediate area," he murmured thoughtfully. That wasn't shocking. Nar Shaddaans didn't seem to care much for the general welfare of children. It was kind of surprising to learn that they'd had one here to begin with. He had a sinking feeling that a Nar Shaddaa orphanage wasn't the best place for a child...

"... But we can check the old civic records," Fulcrum continued, switching gears. The map was replaced by a listing of now-defunct buildings in the immediate area. Surprisingly, a couple of orphanages actually popped up. Both of them had been out of business for many years. He tilted his helmet, angling his arm for her to get a better look at the list.

"What do you think? Either of these names ring a bell?"

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Nar Shaddaa
Tags: Fulcrum

"What do you think? Either of these names ring a bell?"

"Not really," Rayne sighed. "It's been a while. Although..."

It hadn't really been an orphanage, had it? It had been a front, a backend doorway to a factory where the orphans of Nar Shaddaa had been worked to the bone in a sweat shop. What had they produced there? It had been so long that Rayne had forgotten, but it was somewhere in the back of her mind...

Droids. They had made droids.

"Try looking for droid factories in the area," she suggested. "That probably sounds weird, but I'd say that makes us even on being confusing."

It was worth a shot.

 

[Fulcrum]

Tagging: Rayne Lo'to

"Try looking for droid factories in the area. That probably sounds weird, but I'd say that makes us even on being confusing."

A droid factory.

The Kaleesh's face fell under his helmet. That made more sense. Few people on Nar Shaddaa were going to take orphaned children under their wing out of the goodness of their heart... but an unpaid and unregulated source of labor? That tracked, sadly. He thought about trying to say something about it, but the words died on his lips. Comfort from a stranger was anything but. He knew that all too well.

"Right. Droid factories, coming up..." The Kaleesh murmured. His four-fingered hand moved quickly, typing the search query into the holographic display. It flickered as it loaded, a nearby result finally coming into view.

"Well. There we go. Might be..." Fulcrum began, only to trail off as his gaze finally centered on the address. He took a moment to read it again, making sure he saw it right. His shoulders slumped, a low sigh making his vocalizer crackle.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath. After a moment's pause, his helmet swiveled so he could look the Twi'lek in the eyes.

"Look. I'll go with you, but if this is it, you should know... if you don't already." One clawed finger pointed at the address. "Really bad neighborhood, even by Nar Shaddaa standards. New gang just took it over a week ago, and they're making sure everyone knows it. So new I don't even know the name. Might get hairy down there."