Private Medical Practice?

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Alvaria
Tags: Commodore Helix
Equipment: Lightsaber​

Zachariah sat at the table.

It was a massive table in the dining hall of Alvaria, a table which Zachariah was almost lost in. He had attended Alvaria at the request of it's ruler, Darth Malum of House Marr and he had stayed on the planet following on from the meeting which he attended for. He figured that he would train with his mentor in his own abode for once, instead of dragging the Sith Lord out to Jutrand for every session of training they had together.

He hadn't ever really sat and had a conversation with the droid. He didn't think he'd ever had a conversation with the droid for that matter, they just hung out in the same circles. As a consequence, he didn't know a lot about the droid. Short of his connections to Helix Solutions and his loyalty to both Darth Strosius and money, there wasn't a lot else known to Zachariah about the droid other than his rank of Commodore.

Did droids have genders? It was a question that had always intrigued the Sith Acolyte and honestly it was a question he couldn't answer. He assumed that it would be dependant on the droid and thusly it was probably safer to refer to them gender neutrally. Droids, in Zachariah's experience, could be fairly hot headed if they were insulted.

They had recently wrapped up Darth Malum of House Marr 's meeting on Alvaria and it made sense for Zachariah to catch the droid before he left. The young Sith had some ideas that he wished to discuss with the droid, things that he would need the droids assistance with. His mind was running wild with projects, and he figured if anyone would be able to help him bring some of those projects to life, it would be the Commodore.

His taste for whiskey was being indulged on Alvaria, and he sipped his glass whilst he waited for Helix to arrive in the room. He had gone from never drinking to having picked it up. He didn't drink to excess, but he liked sipping on a drink whilst in a conversation with someone. He was assuming that he would be the only one drinking in this meeting, he wasn't sure if Helix had the capacity to drink.

 

[Commodore Helix]

Objective: Speak to Zachariah
Tags: Zachariah Conway​

Helix filed out after the affair was over, ruminating over all that had happened. He'd been a busy little machine lately, and now the young one had let on that he wished to have words.

Helix didn't know what he wanted, but he was used to indulging the whims of young noblepersons with money. He doubted this would be any different. Then again, Zachariah had shown some restraint and foresight in the meeting, certainly more so than many of the older members present. Maybe the human would surprise him.

He spotted the young Sith sitting alone at a table. That indicated this was a personal matter, not one for the collective as a whole. Interesting. It seemed this little association was already paying dividends. He strode in, his metal heels clicking on the floor, and took a seat, closing the door behind him beforehand.

"I'm told you wish to speak with me." He said. "I am, of course, at the disposal of House Marr and its allies." The tone was polite, but injected with just the right undercurrent of inquisition. "What can I do for you?" He hoped, for his sake, that the proposal was an intriguing one.

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Alvaria
Tags: Commodore Helix
Equipment: Lightsaber​

"You're also a droid, capable of logic and reasoning and making it's own choices."

He spoke softly, careful not to invalidate the droid. He had a certain fondness for the Commodore, he was happy to let the mechanical being make it's own decisions on being involved with his plans. He took another slow sip of his drink as he reached down to his side and placed his fingers around a thick book that was placed there. He raised the book and placed it on the table.

"I would offer you a drink, but I believe you lack the capacity to consume a good Corellian?" he spoke with a gentle chuckle. "What do you know, my good Commodore, of old Sith texts? Does Lord Strosius share insight with you into the actions of the Sith of old?" he asked of the droid softly as he opened the book, beginning to skim read through it's pages as he spoke.

Books were impressive to the young boy, he found solace in the words written by those who had lived years previous. He could recite the names of the Sith of old having read them so many times. Revan, Bane, Sidious, Vader, Marr. All examples of Sith who had played their part in shaping galactic history, all of whom had created literature to pass down their teachings.

"You're a droid of many talents, Helix" the young boy started again after giving the robot chance to answer his question. "Ship making, weapon making. You did a masterful job on my new gauntlet, for example" he continued, giving the droid his dues were they were deserved. "What do you know of Sith Stalkers, and the armour that they wear?" he asked finally.

Knowledge hidden in books could be reused, of course.

 

[Commodore Helix]

Tags: Zachariah Conway​

"What do you know, my good Commodore, of old Sith texts? Does Lord Strosius share insight with you into the actions of the Sith of old?"

"I suppose that depends on how old you're talking." He responded. "I am approaching my first millennium. Ancient for you is perhaps not long ago for me." He shook his head at the offer of a drink. "No, my creators did not envisage me as able to imbibe. I have no use for it."

"As I am not a Sith, Lord Strosius perhaps does not see the point. Such things are of no value to me beyond as a historical curiosity. I am something of an admirer of Darth Tyrannus, however. The first Separatist. Though the Clone Wars were but a sham to seize power, I believe he was, on some level, genuine in his Separatism. His dissatisfaction with the Republic caused him to leave the Jedi Order, after all. Without him, I would not exist. The echoes of his actions resonate even today."

"You're a droid of many talents, Helix" the young boy started again after giving the robot chance to answer his question. "Ship making, weapon making. You did a masterful job on my new gauntlet, for example"

He paused, nodding his head at the compliment. "I do attempt to excel in all I do. Mediocrity is unacceptable. I am pleased you are satisfied with your commission."

Sith Stalkers. He ticked through his memory banks. He'd heard the term mentioned before, a very long time ago. Cybernetic warriors, monsters of flesh and metal. "Very little." He said. "Beyond the name. Some form of cyborg killers, I believe. There were rumors Sidious' Empire had such things, but I never saw one personally. I believe their existence is plausible. Cybernetic technology can quite easily achieve such a thing, rebuild a body from mere tatters. I should know, I've done it myself. In the modern age, it should be even simpler."

He focused his blank, red-eyed gaze more closely on the human. "Am I to assume this is purely an... academic question?"

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Alvaria
Tags: Commodore Helix
Equipment: Lightsaber​

Weirdly, he'd never questioned how old the good Commodore was.

It caught him slightly off guard that the droid had been constructed at the start of the fabled Clone Wars. Zachariah made a mental note that the droid was likely to have served in said Clone Wars and thus was likely to have numerous stories to tell. A droid of his vintage was likely to have seen so many different eras and was likely to have knowledge from all of them.

A download of his databanks was in order.

"Tyrannus is a name that appears in some of the books I indulge in" he mentioned, gesturing to the book on the table. "Apprenticed to Lord Sidious yes, but some would question how much of a Sith he truly was. Many would class Tyrannus as just a fallen Jedi who was used by the Sith known as Sidious" he spoke softly. "However, don't let that confuse you. I do indeed agree he was likely to have been genuine in his beliefs in the Separatist movement"

Someone to talk history with was certainly appreciated. He and the droid had more in common than he expected, which had also caught him off guard. He was starting to realise just how little he knew of the droid, just how much the droid had pretty much kept to himself despite being such a close confidant of Darth Strosius and House Marr in general.

"Yes, there are rumours Sith Stalkers existed throughout numerous eras. It is highly likely Sidious himself had access to some" he confirmed, nodding. He listened as Helix finished his explanation and he took a sip of his drink again. "You would indeed be correct in your thinking. From my reading and my understanding, they were specially crafted cyborgs, adapted in such a way that their connection to the force was not hampered in any way"

The droid had said the exact words he wanted to hear. "You would however be incorrect in your assumption that this is purely an academic question" he answered, pausing for a moment to sip his drink. "The knowledge pertaining to Sith Stalkers recently became available to me, and in this book is the instructions I believe that the Sith of old would follow to craft their own"

He slid the book over to the droid, allowing him to read through it. Zachariah had already taken the liberty of opening it to the correct page. "You mention that you have conducted procedures like this before, which is why I asked you to meet me here today" he cast his eyes to the droid, waiting for him to finish reading before he continued.

"Sith Stalkers are a valuable tool, especially if they can be controlled. I believe the right amount of Sith magic, alchemy and medical experise and we may be able to craft a truly terrifying solider" he continued. "I believe I have an understanding of the first two points, however cybernetics and medical matters are not my forte" he cast his eyes towards the droid.

"Which is where you come in"

Zachariah wasn't done, he had another offer for the droid. But he wanted to see how the droid reacted to this offer first. He wanted to see if the droid would be willing to support his actions, which came close to bordering on fairly horrific by most standards. He wanted to see if the droid would be willing to get involved, like the young Sith suspected.

 

[Commodore Helix]

Tags: Zachariah Conway​

"Separatism isn't perfect. I was originally programmed with their ideals, of course, but over the years I have identified flaws in the reasoning. Chief among them that it simply does not go far enough. I have contemplated penning a book on the subject, but that's a matter for another time."

He looked down as the book slid across the table. Much of it was occult gibberish to him, but the parts dealing with simple mundane cybernetics were clear enough. He'd suspected that he hadn't been called here just to discuss science, and as ever, he was right.

"Seems fairly straightforward." He said after looking at the descriptions for a few minutes. He didn't show any signs of balking at their... unpleasant candor in matters of vivisection and reconstruction. He'd seen it all, and done it all. "Of course, the challenge would be to find suitable subjects, and containing them. It is my experience that your kind, begging your pardon, rarely submit to such drastic procedures willingly. Solve that difficulty, and I am reasonably certain that at least the surgical and cybernetic aspects won't prove a challenge."

He looked up, and slid the book back over. "Unless you have some already on hand, in which case, we may as well begin soon. It would prove an interesting and informative experience, I think. So far, my experiments with Force-sensitives have been fairly crude and limited. Am I correct in assuming this to be a personal matter, and not the business of House Marr?"

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Alvaria
Tags: Commodore Helix
Equipment: Lightsaber​

Of course the Commodore was down.

Zachariah had been on Dagaobah and had seen the slightly torching that had occured at the hands of the droid. Helix didn't seem too concerned with the slightly questionable actions that Sith could carry out and thus Zachariah had expected him to agree to help out with the experiments. He was still expecting the robot to name his price however.

"Do not worry yourself. I can take care of arranging a person, for I have a plan for locating a suitable subject" he spoke quietly. His plan was simple enough, not one that he needed to share with the droid. "And yes, you would be correct Helix. This is indeed a personal matter, not one to concern Lord Marr or Lord Strosius with. If required, I can buy your silence." he replied. He didn't want Malum and Strosius to find out and he definitely did not want Revna to find out. He wasn't sure how she would take to his plans.

The plan's didn't involve slavery. He hated slavery. He wasn't going to kidnap people and force them to engage in the experiments against their will. He wasn't going to force them to be mutilated against their will, he was going to ensure that they consented to it. It was just going to be very questionable as to how he went about getting that consent.

"I would have one last favour to ask you, Commodore" he spoke again. "You shall be compensated accordigly, of course. As this is a personal matter, I will be unable to carry out these experiments on any planet associated with Lord Marr or Lord Strosius" he continued. "I also believe it safer to conduct these experiments off world, thus I would like to comission a ship from yourself to house these experiments"

He cast his eyes towards the droid. "Name your price, Commodore"

 

[Commodore Helix]

Tags: Zachariah Conway​

"Do not worry yourself. I can take care of arranging a person, for I have a plan for locating a suitable subject"

"Excellent." He said upon hearing confirmation that a first subject had already been chosen. "I applaud your thoroughness." He was pleased the boy had already laid out the groundwork; while it would have been amusing to test out Project Somnium early, it also saved him some work.

"And yes, you would be correct Helix. This is indeed a personal matter, not one to concern Lord Marr or Lord Strosius with. If required, I can buy your silence."

"No need. Discretion is already part of my fee. I'm not interesting in disclosing your affairs." He responded. It wasn't surprising. This was something of a controversial ask for one of the Marr associates, who typically disdained such things. He, however, had no such hangups other than the ones demanded of him. A personal matter, independent of Marr interests, would represent no conflict as far as he could see.

"I also believe it safer to conduct these experiments off world, thus I would like to comission a ship from yourself to house these experiments"

He pondered the second request. "Easy enough." He said. "I have many ships, one can be arranged for you. Unless you mean you wish me to design and construct one for your personal use. That will take longer, of course. It depends on how eager you are to begin your work. If you indeed wish a personalized vessel, it will, as I've said, take time, and details on the features you desire."

"As for my price, that all depends on how demanding your specifications for a ship are. Ships are not quick, nor inexpensive to make, particularly custom ones. For these I charge a great deal of money, however for a friend of the family I can of course be more reasonable. Especially as this arrangement may be of mutual benefit. I could see my way to heavily discounting it, were I to be able to keep a copy of the data from these experiments for my own personal use, in the future."

 

[Zachariah Conway]

Location: Alvaria
Tags: Commodore Helix
Equipment: Lightsaber​

Zachariah nodded.

The droid's demands were reasonable, which was appreciated by the young Sith. The droid may have been up for enaging in some unethical surgery that was borderline criminal but certainly the droid wasn't a con artist. Helix looked after those who looked after him, cared for it's allies in the same way they cared. Helix was clearly more than just the hired droid, the droid was clearly a trusted confidant of some powerful Sith Lords.

Smiling, the young Sith noted just how insane it was that the droid gotten his way in there and earned the trust of two powerful Sith Lords, and Zachariah was sure that those crying out across the galaxy to put more regulations on droids and strip droid rights would use Helix as the perfect case study as to why droids needed to be regulated and not be able to have any basic rights.

"It would sound like both of us are going to gain something from this agreement" Zachariah stated softly. "In terms of the ship, I am not looking for anything fancy Helix. Something sterile and medical looking so that the participant isn't suspicious. For a droid of your excellent caliber, I doubt this will be a problem" the young boy spoke.

"I'll take my leave and aquire our participant for our studies" the young boy spoke. "I shall leave everything else to you. Once everything is ready, we can prepare some rudimentary cybernetics. Remember, this is just test one. We don't have to create the perfect stalker yet" he spoke, almost as if he was reminding himself of the fact that this was just test one to test the possibility of this actually working.

"Any questions?"

 

[Commodore Helix]

Tags: Zachariah Conway​

Zachariah nodded.

"Very good." Helix said. Part of him was a little surprised the data wasn't kept closer to the chest. It was his experience that the Sith were somewhat protective of their knowledge, but he'd asked anyway. The information gained from these tests did have the potential to be useful... if they went the way he expected. Project Somnium had been a promising first stage, but he still had to field-test the designs, and this would perhaps help further his understanding of cybernetics.

"In terms of the ship, I am not looking for anything fancy Helix. Something sterile and medical looking so that the participant isn't suspicious. For a droid of your excellent caliber, I doubt this will be a problem"

"As for your ship, I'll have my people bother your people about the cost, though given your somewhat straightforward needs, I doubt it will be anything excessive."

"Any questions?"

He shook his head. "None. I'd say what needs to be done is quite clear." Indeed it was. This entire situation had come as a bit of a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. Usually he could expect nothing quite so ambitious from the young and the wealthy, let alone something that might actually be useful to him.

Such a ship would be simple to make, though the desire for a non-threatening design would be a new one. He primarily made warships. It need be nothing large, by the sound of it, but fast and able to avoid attracting attention. "I have a feeling I know just the vessel. I'll see what I can do, but it will take some time to be ready."