Private Luxury, Lies, and Other Technical Failures

[Ana Rix]

The resort station drifted above the planet like a jewel suspended in black water and starlight, its polished viewports and gilded promenades meticulously designed to project an air of effortless luxury. Soft music floated through the upper concourse from hidden speakers, blending seamlessly with the low murmur of diplomats, corporate executives, and minor nobles who were all pretending tonight was about galactic unity rather than political leverage.

Ana already hated it, though she was careful not to let it show. Years spent navigating the realities of criminals, brokers, slicers, and people wealthy enough to outsource their own morality had taught her how to wear neutrality like armor. She moved through the crowded atrium with a practiced calm, keeping one hand rested lightly against the slim datapad tucked beneath her arm while the station's internal network scrolled quietly across the lens of her wrist display.

The data painted a chaotic picture, revealing three security outages in the last hour, two encrypted relay spikes, and an unauthorized access attempt buried so deeply beneath routine maintenance traffic that most system administrators would have missed it entirely. Unfortunately for whoever was trying to hide their tracks, Ana noticed patterns for a living.

Her dark, understated formal attire blended neatly into the atmosphere of the gala without truly participating in it, favoring structured lines and minimal ornamentation that remained practical enough to allow quick movement if the situation demanded it. She looked less like a guest attending a diplomatic summit and more like an auditor deciding whether the entire operation deserved to continue functioning, an assessment that was becoming increasingly accurate by the minute.

A server carrying critical diplomatic schedules had gone down twenty minutes ago, a private communications channel belonging to an attending delegation had been briefly mirrored through an external relay before vanishing, and the station's primary surveillance system kept dropping exactly seventeen seconds of footage from Corridor Aurek-Three every forty-one minutes. It was never random, and Ana knew better than to treat it as a coincidence.

Stepping away from the main ballroom entrance toward a quieter observation alcove that overlooked the lower casino decks, she finally allowed herself a slow breath away from the oppressive noise, perfume, and endless political laughter. Below her, luxury speeders drifted gracefully between docking platforms while the storm-wrapped oceans of the planet reflected a faint silver light far beneath the station, presenting a view that was beautiful, entirely artificial, and wildly expensive.

The entire venue was balancing on the brink of a massive systems failure that someone was trying very hard to disguise, prompting her to slide her fingers across her datapad to isolate yet another corrupted packet trail just as the station lights flickered. It happened only once, so subtly that the distracted crowd ignored it entirely, but Ana went completely still as a hidden relay signature surfaced for less than half a second across her display. This was no malfunction, but rather a deliberate handshake, confirming that someone inside the summit was actively communicating with an entity they absolutely should not have been talking to.

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

It was strange being sent on some form of assignments... he wasn't going to say no. IT gave him more things to do and Jack didn't really like just lounging around. Zeltros served in many ways aside from the hedonistic parties... there was their skills with holograms and one of their major exports was some of the finest alcohols simply because if it got a zeltron drunk well then it was perfect for those who wanted something strong and fancy. That the summit was not really anything close to that only served to level his disappointment... others wondering why they hadn't sent a zeltron or asking about rumors of them. He knew how to be polite about snide insults but more he was just looking for someone interesting.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana noticed him before she intended to.

Not because he was loud. The summit was full of loud people already, politicians and executives and social predators wrapped in expensive fabrics pretending their conversations mattered more than everyone else's. No, what caught her attention was the opposite. He looked engaged enough to remain polite while carrying the unmistakable air of someone already bored by the performance around him.

That made him more interesting than most people here.

From the observation alcove overlooking the lower casino decks, Ana watched him indirectly through the reflection in the transparisteel rather than openly staring. A practiced habit. Less noticeable that way.

Zeltros representatives had been a frequent topic tonight despite the disappointing lack of actual Zeltrons attending the summit. Apparently, several guests considered that a personal failure of event planning. Others seemed more interested in repeating rumors than in diplomacy.

Ana personally found all of it exhausting.

Another flicker of corrupted data scrolled across her datapad, briefly pulling her attention away before she noticed movement approaching the alcove itself. Him. Of course.

The station lights above dimmed fractionally again before stabilizing, subtle enough that most people nearby ignored it completely. Ana did not. Her fingers moved once across the datapad screen, isolating another relay spike before it vanished again into the station traffic.

"Either this summit has the worst infrastructure oversight I've ever seen," she said aloud without immediately looking up from the display, "or someone is quietly stealing information from half the guests here."

Only then did her gaze lift toward him properly. Measured. Calm. Analytical. Not flirtatious. Not guarded either. Simply taking inventory.

Her attire matched the event just enough to avoid standing out: dark formalwear with clean, practical lines and minimal ornamentation, elegant in the same way secure vault doors occasionally were. Her short dark hair rested naturally against her shoulders, slightly mussed now from repeatedly running her fingers through it while working.

"You don't seem especially impressed with any of this either," she observed after a moment, her attention briefly drifting toward the ballroom beyond them where another wave of polite political laughter echoed through the station. "That immediately makes you more credible than most people in this building."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

He was looking at all of the ones around and he gave a nod when the woman spoke. Acknowledging her voice over turning to her quickly. "That is because summits and gatherings are always happening. You end up seeing the same people or the same goals with a different face." She shrugged though when he turned to look at her and then at her datapad. "Plus, I got over the crowds when I needed to run for chancellor a long time ago. Now they are mostly a means to just get the state of the galaxy for the king and queen while offering advice where needed." He walked though offering a smile on his face. "So what has brought you here? You don't look like an aid or stoggy represenative."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana looked up fully from her datapad, giving him more than a passing assessment. She had noted his smile and practiced charm, registering them the same way she did expensive architecture: intentional, effective, and entirely controlled.

What actually caught her interest was the exhaustion underneath it—the bone-deep cynicism of someone who had seen the same political conversations repeated across a hundred interchangeable worlds. That, at least, felt honest.

"That sounds profoundly disappointing," she replied dryly, glancing toward a cluster of diplomats laughing too loudly in the ballroom. "Traveling the galaxy only to discover every important room contains the same five personalities in different clothing."

Amusement flickered across her expression before she looked back down, isolating a brief network irregularity on her screen.

"I'm here because someone finally realized the station's infrastructure problems weren't random," she added with a quiet exhale. "Which narrowed the list of available specialists considerably. You were close, though—I'm technically an aide tonight. Just not the decorative kind."

Overhead, the station lights flickered once.

Ana's eyes narrowed. She tilted the display, tracking a hidden relay spike threading through the summit network. "Someone inside is moving encrypted traffic through systems that shouldn't touch external channels," she murmured, her focus shifting rapidly to the threat. "They're careful, but not careful enough."

A beat passed before she looked back at him, her gaze measured and newly curious.

"And you," she said thoughtfully, "don't sound like someone who enjoys being trapped in rooms like this unless there is a very good reason for it."

There was no flirtation in the remark. But there was undeniable interest.

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

He gave her a nod. "I don't, I usually do but I don't. Even when I used to direct from the bridge for the Republic I always preferred being able to move around." He said it while he was moving but he looked around. "Though one is less suspicious when they are in a group then alone. Makes others less likely to try and approach for other purposes." He said it while looking at her and offered only the space near when he looked up. "A good way to roam around and not draw as much attention unless you plan on grabbing a bottle and pretending to be drunk enough to pass out in random places you walk to."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana considered that for a moment, her attention drifting from the datapad to the ballroom beyond the transparisteel. The crowd continued its endless cycle of conversations, negotiations, and carefully curated appearances, every group arranged just so, every interaction carrying some purpose beneath the surface.

"It's been a while since I've been drunk," she admitted, the observation sounding less like a confession and more like someone realizing a maintenance interval had been missed. "Long enough that I suspect my tolerance has either become impressive or completely nonexistent. There does not appear to be a middle ground."

The corner of her mouth twitched slightly before she looked back toward him.

"Though after spending the evening surrounded by diplomats, executives, and people who introduce themselves using their titles before their names, I am beginning to understand the appeal."

Her gaze drifted briefly toward the ballroom again, where another burst of laughter rose from a nearby cluster of attendees.

"In fact, I may need to make sure that happens again before the summit is over."

The words carried a trace of dry humor, but not enough to completely disguise that she was only half joking.

For a moment, she studied him, weighing the suggestion he'd made about groups attracting less attention. It was practical advice. Annoyingly practical.

"You know," she said thoughtfully, turning the datapad off for the first time since he'd approached, "you are the first person I've spoken to tonight who hasn't immediately tried to sell me something, recruit me for something, or explain why their political agenda is secretly the salvation of the galaxy."

A small pause followed.

"So if appearances matter as much as you claim they do, would you be willing to stick around for a while and make me look less suspicious?"

Her expression remained composed, but there was a quiet sincerity beneath it now.

"Apparently, standing alone in an observation alcove while monitoring encrypted traffic is not considered normal summit behavior."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

He looked at her. "I have a booth for sale on hologram fun world where one with your skills would be great and it would aid in spreading the zeltros way to the galaxy and bringing them all into the fold as it were ensuring galactic peace." That was there and all three things she said with a small grin on his face for a moment. Mostly to play into it but he chuckled for an extra moment. "The alcoves serve an important purpose, usually they would be used to allow privacy as the bodyguards would enclose it so a senator or diplomat could have a little time with a mistress." He shrugged. "It is a thing and the political elite are much like that just being a little extra."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana stared at him for a moment after the sales pitch, trying to determine whether he was genuinely attempting to recruit her or simply entertaining himself at her expense. The distinction remained frustratingly unclear. Between the promise of economic opportunity, cultural outreach, and somehow achieving galactic peace through holographic entertainment, she suspected he had either spent a great deal of time around politicians or entirely too little.

"I appreciate that your recruitment strategy appears to involve combining business, diplomacy, and improbable promises into a single package," she said dryly. "It's very efficient."

His explanation of the alcoves earned a longer look. Ana's eyes drifted toward the ballroom again as she reconsidered the architecture surrounding them, mentally revising several assumptions she had made about the purpose of the space.

"That is somehow less dignified than the information theft," she admitted. "I arrived expecting espionage, political maneuvering, blackmail, and at least a few questionable financial arrangements. Secret mistress alcoves were not on the list."

The realization only became more absurd the longer she considered it. Hundreds of influential people had traveled across the galaxy to attend an event dedicated to diplomacy, trade, and governance, and apparently, someone had looked at the floor plans and concluded that discreet romantic indiscretions required dedicated infrastructure.

"Though I suppose if you're already gathering wealthy, influential, and emotionally questionable people into a luxury resort, someone was eventually going to optimize the architecture for their habits."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

"I studied the material." He chuckled a little but her reaction and what she had been expecting. "Oh you have all of that... but that is expected, that is normal. There is at least three people in here cheating upon their spouses with a person from their office." He said it and moved to point. "Two of them are at least supporting groups that undermine another in here and one of them is more then likely purely embezzling their governments funds into a private bank account in the banking clans. Information theft is the norm... what you are tracking is what is larger then normal. Whcih means they will smile but talk you in circles."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana followed the direction of his gesture, her gaze drifting across the crowd with renewed suspicion. The problem was that she couldn't immediately tell whether he was joking, exaggerating, or simply reporting observable facts.

The longer she looked, the less certain she became.

"That is either an impressive display of political insight," she said thoughtfully, "or an indictment of how predictable powerful people are." Her attention settled briefly on one cluster of diplomats laughing around a table before moving on again. "Possibly both."

The datapad now remained cradled loosely in one hand, forgotten for the moment as she considered his explanation. In a strange way, it made sense. She spent most of her life around criminals, slicers, smugglers, and people operating in various shades of legality. They stole information because information had value.

Apparently, politicians did much the same thing; they simply wore more expensive clothing while doing it.

"I suppose that explains why nobody is reacting," she admitted. "If everyone assumes a certain level of espionage is normal, then unusual activity has a much easier time hiding inside it."

Her eyes narrowed slightly as the thought connected with the anomalies she'd been tracking. That was actually clever. Annoyingly clever.

"Hide something significant inside a constant background of minor misconduct, and nobody notices the difference."

The idea lingered for a moment before she looked back toward him.

"You know, most people would be at least slightly alarmed by discovering a possible intelligence operation running through a diplomatic summit."

There was the faintest trace of amusement in her expression now. "You seem more concerned that whoever is responsible might be boring."

Her gaze drifted toward the ballroom once more, where conversations continued uninterrupted and polished smiles concealed whatever motives lurked beneath them.

"Though I suspect you're right about one thing," she said after a moment. "Anyone willing to attempt something this large is unlikely to answer direct questions. People rarely build elaborate schemes because they're interested in straightforward conversations."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

"I've fought in wars, senate debates and eight votes of no confidence as supreme chancellor. That was while being the representative of Zeltros and married to a jedi master who had people trying to exile her for violating their interpretation of the jedi code. This is quaint." He said it all and was there though with a look when she seemed to be getting a better footing for it. "Though the more people change the more their motives remain the same. I might not know all of the names here but I doubt any of them are doing something different then what I have seen before. Still investigating a data leak is important so if you havea a suspect.?

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana found herself staring at him for a second longer than she intended. It wasn't because of the words themselves, though a resume featuring wars, senate debates, and a term as Supreme Chancellor was impressive enough, but because he delivered them like a weather report. It was matter-of-fact and unforced, which somehow made the claims entirely believable. It was also annoyingly easy to understand why people listened to him; there was a warmth and an ease to his manner that made even extraordinary things sound approachable. For someone accustomed to evaluating the galaxy through patterns and hidden motives, Ana found herself paying attention to the man himself before remembering she was supposed to be focusing on the problem. That realization alone was mildly irritating.

"Remind me never to complain about difficult coworkers around you," she said dryly, her gaze dropping back to the safety of her datapad before she could become distracted again. "My professional hardships are suddenly feeling somewhat less dramatic."

Focusing on data was easier. Data behaved, mostly. The display lit beneath her fingers as she pulled up the network anomalies, her attention narrowing on the relay patterns. "I don't have a suspect yet," she admitted, turning the screen slightly so he could see portions of the map. "What I have is behavior. Someone is routing encrypted traffic through legitimate systems in short bursts. They aren't stealing everything; they're being selective, which means they're looking for something specific or reporting to someone specific."

Her brow furrowed slightly as another connection formed in her mind, her eyes studying the data a moment longer before looking back up at him. "The interesting part is that they're being careful enough to hide inside normal summit activity, but not careful enough to eliminate every trace. That usually means confidence. Or experience."

The corner of her mouth twitched faintly. "Apparently I'm surrounded by people who assume they can get away with things because they've been doing them successfully for years."

This time, there was a touch more genuine curiosity in her look as her gaze drifted briefly toward the ballroom beyond the alcove, where hundreds of conversations continued behind polished smiles and diplomatic courtesy. "You mentioned motives stay the same. If you were looking for something worth stealing from a summit like this, what would you look for?"

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

Something worth stealing? He thought about it while he was moving a little but spoke. "From here, with them all the best things to steal wouldn't be the normal data. It is future data, reports and projections of where they will be a month from now, six months or a year. If you know what your rival needs, if you know what the richest person here needs you can tailor your approach to them. Carefully though, too eager to deal and you risk alerting them to potentially the information being out there and too subtle they might not go with you but someone else." He said it whi8le looking at a few morre of them though. "The king and queen also know that if they were here or had sent any of the others from Zeltros the people would be on guard and expecting pheromones. Easier to surprise when the people are not trying to resist as much."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana found herself nodding before she realized she was doing it. His explanation fit the anomalies far better than simple theft. Most people looked for immediate secrets: accounts, deployments, data leaks. But future intentions? Predictive intelligence? That was worth far more.

Her gaze dropped back to the datapad as she mentally restructured her assumptions.

"That would explain the selectivity," she said thoughtfully. "If they're looking for projections instead of secrets, they only need enough data to model where a target is heading. You wouldn't even need to blackmail anyone. You could just position yourself ahead of every decision they make and let them believe it's a coincidence."

A faint frown appeared as she scrolled through the timestamps, reluctantly abandoning her narrow theory.

"I was looking for someone extracting data from specific targets. If you're right, they're targeting categories—financial forecasts, diplomatic and strategic assessments. Anything that reveals intent."

For a moment, the bustling summit faded into background noise as the puzzle pieces locked into place. When she looked back up at him, the analytical coldness in her eyes gave way to a trace of genuine amusement, caught off guard by his easy charisma.

"You know, for someone claiming this is quaint, you're being alarmingly helpful," she murmured, her eyes drifting briefly toward the ballroom before returning to hold his gaze. "But the suspect pool just became much smaller. Most thieves steal what something is. The people you're describing steal what something will become."

That, she suspected, made them a far more dangerous kind of person.

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

He gave a shrug. "I was raised to be helpful." He said it with a small smirk on his face though as she was going over the information and the idea in her mind. She was fast to work out things and it helped in a lot of cases he wasn't going to detract from that. FOr this though he was walking. "It might narrow who could do it but if there is one, they are working for someone in here and finding them will be the importaant part. So where do you want to start your investigation and search?" He said it while looking at herr and adjusted his cuffs for the moment. "I think it could be rather fun and take away some fo the boredom. I don't really enjoy hearing or trying to remember which pet of the noble from Hosnian Prime wona competition."

 

[Ana Rix]

"I believe you," Ana said, and the admission surprised her slightly.

Most people claimed they were raised to be helpful. Usually, that statement was followed by a favor, a sales pitch, or an explanation of why their problems should now become someone else's. With him, she had yet to discover the catch.

That was becoming increasingly suspicious.

"Actually, where were you raised?" she asked, studying him for a moment. "Because you've said a few things tonight that make it sound like you spent half your life around politicians and the other half learning how to survive them."

Her gaze drifted briefly toward the ballroom where another wave of laughter rose from a nearby cluster of dignitaries.

"You talk about all of this as though you've seen it before. Not the summit itself, but the people. The motives."

She tapped the datapad lightly against her arm.

"Most of what I know comes from systems. Patterns. Data. I can tell when something doesn't belong, but I usually need a reason before I understand why."

Looking back at him, she found herself wondering if that was why the conversation had become easier than expected. He seemed to start with the why and work backward from there.

"Future projections, strategic forecasts, long-term planning..." she mused. "That actually fits better than simple espionage. If somebody wanted an advantage over everyone in this room, knowing what they intend to do six months from now is worth far more than knowing what they did yesterday."

Her eyes narrowed slightly as another possibility occurred to her.

"Which means whoever is behind this may not even care about the summit itself."

The thought settled heavily.

"The summit might just be the collection point."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

"Coruscant." He said it with a small grin on his face. "My family is rich, we did this since before I could even remember and I was first a prop and then a minor player and then I was a soldier learning how t navigate functions and parties and then a senator and chancellor. It has been a major thing in many cases at least." He said it while looking out at the ones there. "AAnd I know just the types less the people. I prefer the ones who wear their motives on their sleeves as it were... or in the case of most zeltrons no sleeves or pants... clothing optional is really a big thing in most cases but they are happy to tell you their intentions from the beginning."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana raised an eyebrow at that. Not at Coruscant, the wealthy family, or even his steady progression from soldier to senator to Chancellor, though that certainly explained why he moved through rooms like this as if he'd been studying them his entire life. No, it was the complete lack of hesitation with which he had just described an entire culture's relationship with clothing that caught her off guard. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment as she tried to determine whether he was exaggerating, but the troubling part was that he sounded entirely serious.

"Clothing optional?" she repeated, her tone carrying the careful precision of someone verifying a technical specification she strongly suspected had been entered incorrectly.

She looked back toward the ballroom where nobles, diplomats, executives, and dignitaries mingled beneath chandeliers and expensive artwork, and then turned her attention back to him.

"You know, I've spent the last several years around smugglers, slicers, criminals, mercenaries, and people who thought safety regulations were merely suggestions," she said, a faint smile finally threatening at the corner of her mouth. "And somehow, that is still not the answer I expected."

Her gaze drifted thoughtfully toward the viewport overlooking the planet below. "I may have to visit Zeltros at some point."

The words slipped out before she had entirely thought them through, prompting her to look back at him a second later to add, with considerably more professionalism than the statement deserved: "Strictly for cultural research, obviously."

With her datapad temporarily forgotten under one arm, her eyes swept the ballroom again, taking in the carefully curated smiles and rehearsed conversations.

"Though I admit there is something refreshing about the idea of people simply announcing what they want instead of disguising it behind six layers of political maneuvering," she mused. "It would certainly simplify my investigations."

Jack Sheltrak

 

[Jack Sheltrak]

Ana Rix

"Of course." He offered a nod to her wanting to come visit and talking about it making things simple. "It would and it will complicaate. The benefit of aa society that is skilled at telling people the truth and what they want is that they will do it a lot of the time. Talking with a number of people and the first initial thought is how they want to get you naked, how they are going to convince you monogamy is a weird thing in the galaxy can be a little testing in a different way." He said it but there was a humor to it as they did a lot more but he was just overselling one aspect... it was nice to not have as she said the layers of double speak.