Private Memory Without Language | Iren Tel Alam

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

Venyxa was early, as she often was, and she cast a glance around surreptitiously before palming the controls to Cambyses 's lab. In a blink and with a subtle rolling motion, the Keshiri disappeared into the doorway, palming the controls shut behind her. Dark eyes surveyed the lab. It looked somehow out of place there in the cargo bay, but it was isolated, aside from the sounds of autonomous movement elsewhere in the lab, it seemed quiet. Nyx meandered along the perimeter of the room, looking at things she couldn't quite understand. Iren was not a doctor, exactly, as far as she could tell, but he was the nearest thing.

And he had discretion. So far.

In a pen, a monstrous abomination of a creature chittered away. It might have been cute if not for -- well, everything else about it. It looked up at her curiously, wandered to the edge of the pen, sniffed, and then drooled. I can see why Dal didn't want it on his boots, she mused, stepping away. She didn't want it on her boots, either. Nyx wondered whether she should take them off. Sometimes these kinds of men did, she recognized, and sometimes they did not. Some wanted her to know what was expected and others wanted to tell her. The Keshiri decided to wait; if he came in to find her shoeless and undressed then it might be awkward if that wasn't what was required for this particular encounter.

The creature chittered shrilly and flipped a stainless steel bowl, then shrieked at her through the wall of the pen. "Don't look at me," she told it casually. "I don't know where he keeps your kibble." Besides, she added to herself. I'm just an experiment here. Same as you.

Cambyses​

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

"Yes, yes, calm down Ferdinand, I am coming already."

Iren's voice could be overheard as it bounced from wall to wall through the corridor. The creature immediately calmed down to the sound of its creator and seemed satisfied to curl up next to its bowl in a display of patience. Clearly Iren could do some training at the very least. Out the end of the corridor came Iren.

He wore an apron. It was rather bloody. Venyxa's presence wasn't immediately clocked by him however. No, he was too busy filling up the bowl of 'Ferdinand' to immediately notice the diminutive woman.

Until he wasn't anyway.

"Oh-" Blinking twice Iren seemed entirely surprised to see Nyx here. "Sister, I didn't see you there." The Sith looked around to see if Artas was there too or Dal, but it seemed that it was just the purple-skinned girl with stealth proficiencies.

The moment turned a touch awkward as the tall Knight looked at Nyx and then shrugged.

"Well, since you are here anyway, you can come and help me. I really need a second set of arms, but haven't gotten around to figuring out how to graft them to myself in a successful fashion." Turning around and gesturing for her to follow him. It seemed the Arkanian assumed she'd just follow along because he almost immediately disappeared through the corridor once more.

Towards his laboratories.

"I have been rather busy with those Mon Cal we liberated. They are a fascinating species, don't you think?" There were several of them, a few in the bacta tanks still healing up, another set currently strapped up and semi-conscious.

"Oh..." As if Iren only just realized. "Did you need something?"

 

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

Nyx swallowed a grimace and followed Cambyses down the corridor. She didn't like the idea of anything he was working on getting on her, particularly anything to do with the creepy fish people, but she didn't really have much choice, so she obeyed.

"I came for -- you know," said Nyx subtly. She cast a glance over her shoulder the way they had come. "For my appointment. You said I should come back for some tests and an examination. About -- you know -- the thing."

The thing.

The little name she had for the disease that lingered within her, limiting her, sundering her.

Her eyes swept the lab as they entered and the Keshiri's eyes gazed around briefly. "Well I've got two hands you can co-opt for a limited time. A very limited time," Nyx stressed to him.

Cambyses​

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

"Ah... yes, of course. Apologies, I have had a lot on my mind lately."

He paused there. Studying the Mon Calamari for a moment more, before glancing against to Venyxa. "No, that's okay, we can do this another time. I think we should prioritize your... little problem." He murmured as delicately as could be. See, it was a rather embarrassing thing. The way of the Sith was all about power and the breaking of chains.

Venyxa? Well, her problem was at the root of this philosophy.

Instead he gently guided her to a side-room and closed the door behind them.

"I have not spoken of your issue with anyone else, of course." Iren assured her quietly as he moved to wash his hands and dropped the apron into a designated bin. This sort of work needed sterility as much as possible.

"Please, sit. Now... let's go over the basics again. What are your symptoms currently?" And the Sith slash medic slash genetic doctor freak sat down across from her with a small ledger in hand. Pen at ready. They already briefly discussed it, but never in big depth or focus. Too much chit that needed to get done.

Really this was the first time they had time to sit down and discuss it properly.

 

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

Venyxa did the next best thing to blushing that a Keshiri could, with dark indigo patches appearing on her cheeks. She was acutely aware of the risk it was to take another Sith into her confidence. The only greater risk was to ignore any potential possibility that she could be liberated from her -- little problem. She swallowed audibly and followed him to his side room, waiting while he removed his bloody apron and washed up. Nyx took a seat at his direction and folded around herself, drawing a knee up to hug to her chest as she watched.

"It's -- well, it's fatigue. Fatigue that is not improved when touching the Force. In fact it is made worse from touching the Force, significantly worse if I try to do anything of even middling power." Venyxa had now admitted that she was essentially useless as a Sith; her dark eyes flickered up to Cambyses 's face, looking to gauge his reaction to what she was telling him.

"It can result in fever if I go to far," Nyx went on. "And occasionally blood -- bleeding from my nose and mouth if I really push it." The Keshiri looked across at Iren blankly. "There were rumors when I was growing up that there was a curse -- a blood curse -- on my ancestors. It was mostly dismissed as cruel rumors, but I've been starting to think..."

Her voice trailed off and she sighed.

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

A slow nod there as he wrote down some notes.

"That does explain something about your... past performance." The tone was gentle, but really, how could you make 'oh so that's why you are a weak little shit' sound nice in any context? Iren didn't seem to notice however and kept on scribbling. "Yes, well, the Sith do enjoy their little curses. But one that propagates through genetics? Inheriting from parent to child for generations?"

Now that was something of interest to him.

She could see that.

The excitement as his eyes burned a bit brighter with enthusiasm. The way his sketching on the notepad grew fiercer. "Nobody else knows about this, I take it?" Finally putting down the notepad and standing up. Glancing her up and down for a moment. "Pull up your sleeve. I will have to take a few blood samples and see what I can find out through it."

He wasn't particularly hopeful however.

An inheritance curse? It was doubtful it would show up in any simple blood test.

But it would be irresponsible not to check at least the basics first. Once her sleeve was up he picked up a needle, swapping the point out for a new and sterile one and then approaching. His touch was gentle as he took her by the back of her elbow.

"This shouldn't hurt too much." Iren murmured softly. "But I foresee we will have to see one another more often, if we are to crack this little mystery curse of yours. We will need a cover, if you want to keep this a secret."

 

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

"Nobody else," Nyx confirmed quietly as she reached up to her throat. She tugged the zipper down and shrugged out of the top half of the jumpsuit coveralls she wore. She wore a formfitting black tank top beneath which left her arm free for being poked and prodded for blood. The Keshiri swallowed audibly as he manipulated her arm, moving it into a position so that he could prick her with the needle.

Watching as the vial filled up with her blood, she considered what he said. "It's true," she mused thoughtfully. Even if her brethren, the other Tel Alam tomb knights, did not seek to establish an advantage, they might do something almost as bad if they knew she was afflicted: jeopardize themselves or otherwise make the wrong move trying to protect her.

"We could tell them you are running illicit experiments on me, to see if you can make me stop being purple," said Nyx casually. "That's probably slightly easier for people to believe than that I've suddenly taken an interest in your weird dog-crab monstrosities."

Cambyses​

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

And that was one thing Venyxa could be sure of when it came to Iren.

He would not do something stupid to protect her in the heat of battle.

Clinical and ruthless, these were the traits necessary of an alchemist. He didn't always apply this curriculum, but often enough that his other siblings knew what to expect from him. In this case it was Ven's ability to confide in him without it becoming 'awkward', so to speak. "Mm, that sounds rather convincing. Especially since your purple skin is quite detrimental to your specific purpose."

A lull in the conversation as he tapped the syringe and then unloaded the blood sample.

"...to be an infiltrator. You know..." Thoughtful there as he considered it. "I could splice your DNA with a Clawdite. How would you like being able to change your skin color at will?"

Look at that Iren... already running ahead of himself, when he hadn't even solved her first problem yet.

"Either way, that sounds acceptable. In return... you can become my assistant. As I mentioned, I need an extra set of arms. I will work to fix you... and you will help me in my research. How does that sound to you?"

Already extending his hand to her though.

What was her other option? Ask Artas to punch the disease to death?

 

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

Venyxa regarded her craven brother with a mixture of distaste and irritation. Of course, he was a Sith, it was all transactional. But it could have been worse, she supposed; he and the others could have left her to her fate in the satellite realm, where she would not have had the luxury of even transacting. She would be dead and long forgotten. She didn't know what she'd expected, anyway.

"Well," she said dryly as she watched him puzzle over her blood. "As long as you don't expect miracles. Anyway, that's probably a better cover. I'll be your ... assistant. And sometimes I'll assist you and sometimes you'll try to solve my little problem. And if I can be cured, then you'll have a more powerful friend than you have already."

Well, friend was pushing things, given that he was extorting her for free labor in exchange for researching her illness.

She placed a slender purple hand in his white one and shook daintily.

"Do you have any experience in this area of -- medicine, I guess?" The young Keshiri glanced through her dark hair at him. "Do you have any preliminary thoughts?"

Cambyses

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

He smirked at her distaste and irritation.

Wasn't like she was trying to hide it very much.

In that moment they were more truthful to one another than Sith often were. He didn't comment on it. Why should Iren? if Venyxa wanted to complain, she was entirely capable and if she didn't? Well, that was her choice all the same. "I believe you are fully capable of holding things, passing me things and perhaps even get your finely-manicured fingers dirty, Nyx. I have faith."

Squeezing her hand slightly in the shake Iren nodded.

"I would be shocked if I can't crack this code." Then a little shrug. "I have been splicing DNA since I was a child, sister." Letting go there as he refocused his attention on the sample.

"If there is an issue with your genetic profile, I can find it... and hopefully fix it, or at least improve on it." No, that part didn't concern him at all. But if it was something else? Well, that might be problematic. "Not so much experience with a force-born curse in the blood, however. I have been experimenting with Sith Alchemy for a while, but... it's different."

Not exact science.

Once she asked for his thoughts he chuckled.

"Won't find your problem within the first hour. But- I am gonna run a test on your midichlorians first. It's a relatively easy test. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes and then we will see. Anyway, how's your training progressing? I heard Dal's been kicking you from one corner of the room to the next." Ribbing her just slightly. "You must be looking forward to kicking his ass back."

 

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

Venyxa gazed across the short distance at Iren, her eyes dark and unfathomable. Her fingers tightened slightly against the arms of the chair in which she was sitting. The young Keshiri had caught the Arkanian's sly remark about her performance. She wanted to kick him as hard as she could in the shins, perhaps in the knees. She wondered if their physiology was similar enough that if she kicked at the right angle and with the right force, whether his knee would dislocate the same way a Keshiri's would, or a human's, or a Twi'lek's, or a Rodian's.

Nyx had had the privilege, if not the pleasure, of dislocating the knee of at least one of each of the four, and crushing the knee of the first two and the last. Perhaps it would do her good to add an Arkanian to the mix. Or a Chiss. Or... both.

She put that to one side of her mind and turned her attention back to Iren.

"Is that what he's been saying?" Venyxa said, her lilting voice gently spiced with pique and amusement. Valintyn certainly had an... original point of view. Then again, she supposed she rather did, too. "Don't uppose there's anything you can give me to prepare me for my next spar with him. I can't be the only one itching to see that smirking blue boy on his back."

A beat. Patches of indigo rose beneath her eyes. "I -- didn't mean it like that," she amended carefully.

Cambyses

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

A slow blink at that.

Then he tipped his head back and laughed heartily. "Ooooh, I am sure you didn't." Grinning to her with wicked joy. "Ah, I wouldn't blame you if you had however. He's a pretty little boy." Iren murmured warmly as he tapped the vial slightly, watching it bubble up as the machine did its work sampling her DNA structure.

"But while I love him, I find his attachment to stims a sad distraction."

How much more powerful could Dal be?

If he didn't use glitterstim as a crutch?

If he just taught himself to unlock his potential through sheer willpower?

Ah...

"As for preparing you to... put him... on his back, as you say..." Grinning again. Oh, yes, she wouldn't get rid of this joke anytime soon. That much was very clear. "I could prepare you a stim that enhances your reaction times and perhaps a cocktail that boosts the durability of your joints. That way you can react far quicker and apply more pressure?"

Already moving to a different cabinet as he mused on what else he could do.

It was a bit of cheating, but... it amused Iren. That was enough to encourage him.

 

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

A delicately groomed eyebrow raised at Iren's comment about how pretty Valintyn was. She had never had the inkling that her brother-in-arms had those kinds of thoughts and feelings. It was none of her business, really, but for some reason she found it interesting. The more she found out about her brethren, the more interesting she found them.

Mostly.

Iren offered her a simulant solution, and her interest as piqued, she had to admit. "I shouldn't," said Venyxa carefully. Her fingers twisted together casually and she studied Cambyses with interest. "Perhaps it's better to leave something for another time." She had been hoping for something to put in Dal's drink or food, but -- well, that was something to consider later.

"I need the Force for that," she went on irritably. But it was there, frustratingly out of her reach, tauntingly. "Damn it all."

The Keshiri examined Iren carefully. "Do you spar?" she asked. "With Dal, or -- the others?"

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

A little shrug.

"You know where I am, Ven. If you change your mind... well, feel free. I wouldn't suggest drugging Dal however." As if the older brother could read Venyxa's thoughts or perhaps it was simple deduction from the pang of disappointment.

"Drugging an addict usually doesn't get the result you expect."

It would most likely require the dose that would put down a vornskr just to slow him down.

"Oh, heavens no." Iren chuckled gently as he made sure the next step of the DNA processing was busy, before sitting down across from her again. "My fighting style isn't well-equipped for sparing. I aim to disable or kill my opponent as quickly as possible as efficiently as possible. I wouldn't want to permanently hurt our siblings."

There was no ego in this.

But if his fighting style included injecting poison into his opponent? Well, that wasn't fun to try on people he cared about.

"Do you enjoy your sparring sessions with Dal?"

 

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

"Who, me?" Venyxa asked innocently, adopting the tone and mannerism of a woman feeling very affronted by the suggestion that she, Venyxa Tel Alam, would ever consider mishandling her brethren in such a manner. Of course, she would consider it, and might even do it if she could think of a way to do it without causing him serious injury. Sometimes Dal needed to be kept in check. She suspected Iren, too, may need to be kept in check, but that she thought drugging him was a good plan.

Iren's combat style was understandable. Some people liked to play with their food.

For her part, the Keshiri preferred to disable or kill her prey indirectly. If she was being challenged, she was being seen, and that was Problematic:™ with a capital P.

"Not especially," she answered Iren honestly. "It's -- useful, more than enjoyable." The Keshiri suddenly seemed irritable. She was tired and she couldn't even say why. Whatever was creepy-crawling through her blood was really starting to annoy her. "He seems to enjoy himself, probably because he can flatten me without much effort," she said bitterly.

Cambyses

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

A snort.

"That's Dal for you..." He murmured absently as he pulled his datapad in and checked some specifics. "If you want, I am fine with sparring with you a bit. I can show you some tricks that none of our siblings have seen before. It might give you a little edge." This was offered rather freely without much consideration.

Seemingly anyway.

But perhaps Iren wanted to fight her to see just how she'd operate hand-to-hand.

It was one thing to see Ven from the side. It was another one to feel her right against you, hear the Force swirl around as the woman tried to use it to keep up.

Perhaps it would show some further insight.

"Don't worry, I won't try too hard to see you on your back." A smirk there as he called back to their earlier conversation.

 

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

She raised an eyebrow and smiled at the Sith Alchemist, a slight challenge behind the gleam in her eyes. "Oh yes, I think I would enjoy that very much," said Venyxa, her voice lightly accented. The young Keshiri knew that there would be strings attached; perhaps he was expecting her to actually become his assistant, outside of this little charade they would concoct to explain why she was spending more time than was strictly necessary in the Alchemist's lab and quarters.

"Anything to get the edge over Dal," she went on, her gaze lingering on Iren for a few brief moments before she looked away, her eyes tracing over the gadgets and gizmos that made up his workspace.

Her fingers drummed lightly on her thigh.

"You won't -- tell anyone," she serif quietly. Not quite a question. Not quite a statement. "To Artas or -- or the others?" She wondered whether Artas might view her affliction as some kind of a weakness or failure that made her surplus to requirements on this side of the galactic veil. "I have -- other skills -- beyond the Force," she said defensively.

Cambyses

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

"Gladly then. And we can just say you owe me, hm?"

Which.

Well, was a dangerous prospect, truly. Owing a Sith was never a great idea, but then again... they were all family here, weren't they? What was the worst thing that could happen. Not like he didn't have her over the barrel anyway, since he knew her secret. What more could he do? So really, there was very little additional risk involved.

She already signed over the keys to her well-being to him.

"Of course not." He waved the question away as he rose up again and stretched slowly with a satisfied yawn. "I believe this fits under the umbrella of 'doctor-patient'-confidentiality, no?"

Iren was in no shape or form an accredited doctor.

"Anyway. You want to do a little spar match now? Warm up and see how you do?"

A challenging grin was sent her way as he extended his hand to her.

 

[Venyxa Tel Alam]

The violet-skinned Sith followed her would-be benefactor this way and that, and when he suggested a sparring match, she almost refused, entirely instinctually. Hadn't he just told her that his fighting style was of the more vicious variety. She was already a little stiff and sore, and she wasn't thrilled with the prospect of hurling herself into a situation where she was likely to be hurt.

Still, you only live once, as the kids said.

"I'm not dressed for it," said Venyxa idly, her dark eyes narrowing before she shrugged and went on: "But all right."

She shrugged out of the other sleeve of the coveralls and rolled it down to her waist, then wrapped the sleeves around her trim waist and, after cinching them tightly, she turned back to Cambyses and said: "Right." She placed her purple hand in his outstretched white one. "Take it easy, eh? I don't know how much blood I have left after you took those samples."

 

[Cambyses]

Venyxa Tel Alam

"Oh come now, you make everything you wear look perfect and fitting." Murmured sweetly over his shoulder as he led the way towards a more open area in the laboratories. None of this compared to the place they had back home. Beautifully golden halls, dungeons stretching into the earth and enough specialists to learn from.

All of that was lost to them however.

It certainly stung Iren even now.

"Ah... easy?" He took off his jacket and neatly folded it up, before putting it aside on one of the tables. Only then returning to the center of the room with Venyxa.

"I suppose. The things I need you for... well, they require you to be in one piece."

A gentle squeeze of her hand before Iren withdrew and gestured towards her.

"First step is yours, let me see what you have for me."