Outta Sorts

[Arage Bao]

TERMINUS​

"Watcha da fethin' hat, ya thuggish chit!"

Then a thump as Daro was thrown out of Sixth's Sense, one of the many bars gracing the streets of Terminus' capital. It didn't hurt as much as it hurt his pride though so that was something at least. It had been a rowdy night, but pleasant, lotsa drinks, lotsa friends, but somewhere in the middle of it all... things had gotten rough. His lip was still bleeding, but Dar guessed it hadn't been smart to use his cybernetic to punch the guy in his karker.

That wouldn't be fun for him in the morning.

Not that it mattered to Dar, he just wanted to have some more drinks.

Feth.

He started to waddle and unceremoniously face-planted on the streets as he tripped over something. "Ow, the feth??" It took him a moment to get farther than muffled ow's and murmuring insults to himself. Slowly, carefully, he picked himself up and bleary eyed looked around. Well, at least no one to see him.

That was something.

Peering down he suddenly realized the 'thing' that he had tripped over was moving. Um. "Uh. Hello?" The tip of his toe nudged their side, trying to see if it was rigor mortis settling in or if the person (he guessed) was alive. "Ya 'kay? Alive? Friendly?" Daro drawled while leaning heavily against the nearby wall.

The alleyway was kinda damp and icky, but he wouldn't blame them for waking up here.

Wouldn't have been the first time that happened to him after all.

Still though.

[member="Sortz"]​

 

[Sortz]

"Bleeergblep?"

Came the response from underneath the pile of debris.

The pile shifted with a groan, or the groan was from the thing under the pile, it wasn't quite clear.

Shuffle.

Rumble.

Groan.

"Feth my head."

Whatever it was, it was sapient at least. Gravelly voiced, scratchy voiced sapient. The pile shivered. Shook. Someone started to sit up.

And up.

And up.

It took a second. In part because the being moved slowly and in part because there was a lot to move. The debris shifted, and in the darkness it was difficult to tell that a bunch of it didn't actually belong in the alley. It had been left covering her up on purpose, but between the shadows, his inebriation, and her disorientation, it was a detail all too easy to miss.

The Tro'zet leaned over almost immediately upon sitting up fully, large, clawed hands rubbing her tusked face.

"Friendly," she finally got out by way of confirmation. She'd heard him, she just hadn't been fully able to answer right away. Her tongue felt like wet sandpaper in her mouth, and her voice rasped in the uncomfortable manner of someone who hasn't spoken in ages. "Wondering about the alive part."

Running her hand back, catching at her hair to push it back out of her face to look up at him. That was a novel feeling. Of course, even sitting, she wasn't actually significantly shorter than the standing human.

"What-" Okay, that encompassed way too much. "Where is this?"

There, that seemed simpler question that she'd be able to parse the answer to considering it felt like someone had stuffed her head with cotton balls and nails.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sortz"]

It (she?) was large and kept on growing as they slowly climbed out of the huddle and pile.

Daro couldn't help but whistle a bit.

Impressed.

Once some of the garbage and debris fell to the ground the muscles came out, this one was stacked and that made Daro cautious. Friendly sure, she (definitely she) sounded like it, but that didn't mean much in this neighborhood or any neighborhood as far as Daro was concerned. He glanced around a bit, letting his cyber-eye scan the environment to see if something was lying in wait.

The haze of alcohol was still clinging to him tight, but after this many years of getting chit-faced you learned to maintain a decent level of functionality when it was really necessary.

Otherwise Daro would have been dead already.

"Ya been huddlin' in an alleyway of Terminus' grand capital city, luv." The reply came drawling out as he fetched his flask, uncorking it and taking a tentative sip. He really wasn't drunk enough for this chit. "Next to us is da Sixth's Sense and we are in da Blue Wonder District, if da helps." Clearly she had had waaaaaay too much to drink, if this was where she ended up.

Daro been there before.

He winced sympathetically at the headache she was gonna be tackling in a few.

"Whatcha remember last, eh? Got a name?"

 

[Sortz]

"Uhhhhh."

None of that really helped beyond 'Terminus.' She had a general idea of where that was- ish- but beyond that nothing. The Uh however was more in response to his question, because she should. She felt like it was right at the tip of her tongue and yet-

She reached up, scratching absently at the side of her face and then down her neck. She frowned, nails catching on a string.

A string?

Literally around her neck. She pulled it up, taking the little tag attached carefully between the claws of her thumb and forefinger.

HI! it read first. The letters were painfully small and she was having a hard time making it all out in the dark.

"Uh, you got a light?"

She hadn't answered his question yet, but mostly because she couldn't.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sortz"]

The uuuuuuhhh wasn't very helpful, but once more the shared experience helped here.

The number of times that reality itself seemed to be vague and obnoxious to him were very helpful for the sympathy Daro felt at the lack of response. It always took a little bit, before the brain started working again and... yeah, she was larger than him by several factors, but that didn't really matter. Alcohol was alcohol, if she managed to get her arse here? That meant she probably had enough to tranquilize a regular-sized bantha and maybe then some.

"Uhhh." Hands traveled across his coat and pants, until finally settling down at his commlink. Self-made too, it was a pretty little thing, could breach regular jamming sequences for about two-three minutes, before it crapped out on him.

Most importantly though-

It had a bright light for its display, which was what the lady needed right now.

"Yeah, gotcha covered, luv." He pushed himself off the wall, crouching down next to the sitting form and pushed up the commlink as it started shining bright. The little string with the tag was illuminated, it seemed to be... a few words, but he only made out the last bit. Mostly because the first bits were covered by her fingers. (really big fingers, he only realized the scale properly by the time he crouched next to her). "Sortz? Dat ya name, luv? Must'a been a regular thing for ya, if ya dis prepared." It was a bit of respect, to be honest. He hadn't even considered applying a nametag to himself during his bender nights. That might certainly be a good thing to do though, very helpful.

Hrm.

"How's da head?"

 

[Sortz]

She nodded in an absent sort of way.

"That's my name, yeah. But this isn't my handwriting," she answered, holding the tag up right in front of her face.

She couldn't remember what her hand writing looked like, but she knew intrinsically (just like she recognized her name when she saw it) that this wasn't it. Besides, it was way too tiny and her hands were huge.

Hi! Thank you for your service. Your agreed upon fee is in your pocket. Good luck Sortz!

She turned it over to see if there was more.

There was not.

With a soft tug, she broke the string around her neck, and pocketed the tag. Her fingers coasted over a cred stick, but she didn't take it out. Not like she could see the value of what was on it anyway, she'd have to get that checked.

While the tag had answered one question, it had raised a thousand more.

"All stuffy and painful," she admitted. "Uh."

She looked over at him, looking him up and down for a second.

"I'm going to see if I can stand. You. Might want to move back in case this goes badly."

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sortz"]

That last comment made him blink.

Then.

Take another good glance at her... feth tho. It was easy to forget just how stacked she was, 'til she brought attention to it. It was something in his voice as far as Daro was concerned. Easy to forget that she was a giant when her voice was so soft, respectful and slow. "Yah." Daro replied before taking a few extra steps out of her way, while she gathered herself up.

"Take it that ya ain't got an idea where the feth ya are or whatcha doing 'ere, eh?"

He had caught another glimpse of that tag and it seemed... that she had done a job?

Something about money.

More often than not that would have caught his attention, but something stopped him here. She just seemed so... yeah. It would be like stealing candy from a baby (one that could crush ya head with a solid grasp, but that was besides the point), so that seemed outside of his options. "OH, oh feth, lady, care-" His cybernetic arm rose up and barely caught her as she started swaying on her feet.

Good thing he had dem cyber-arm.

Or he would probably have been cracking his spine at this point.

"Ya okay, hun?"

She reminded him of a daughter.

That was it.

The innocence.

 

[Sortz]

"Terminus. Capital. Blue Wonder District. In an alley next to the Sixth Sense. The second part is where I'm lost on. "

She spoke with a certain strain as she stood up. He'd told her exactly where she was after all, and she only needed to be told once. One hand reached out, using the wall for support, her shoulders slumped and head hanging low.

The pain in her head got worse when she stood, actually making her a bit dizzy. She didn't realize she was swaying until his hand steadied her arm. Tried too. In truth the wall was the better support, but she offered him a bit of a tight smile of gratitude anyway. The dizziness was passing, but not the pain and she reached up, fingers threading into her hair to press softly on the right side of her skull, just behind her ear where the bulk of the discomfort seemed to be radiating from.

"I'm okay," she confirmed, which was true in its way. "I just-"

She paused, confused. She swept her fingers over the spot again. Stitches in her scalp, a small shaved spot under her hair. It was tender to the touch, nothing like the headache itself, but only partially healed.

"What the feth is even going on," she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

"I'm okay," she repeated, a little less sure than she had been a minute ago.

Pushing her hair back from her forehead, she looked over at him. Still hunched over a little bit, she towered over the man.

"Thanks," she said, her smile and the tone almost apologetic. "Uh, you know my name is Sortz, what should I call you?"

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sortz"]

Daro looked up.

'An up.

'an up.

She really kept on going no matter what, no? Huge. That only gave Daro ideas, if he was being honest. Her arm width was roughly the size of a man's shoulder and then some, which implied certain things. "Yeah, seems ya got a firm grasp of where ya at." Which didn't actually mean much considering he had just told her so. That was the basic boundary and she still had a few to go, before Daro would be comfortable with giving her more.

Access to a blaster pistol for instance.

Once she got herself on her feet Daro retreated his arm and simply leaned against the wall again. 'Cus... he was still drunk as all feth and everything seemed just a bit brighter because of it.

He didn't miss her question tho.

Anyone else... they might have just gotten some fake name but this lady? It was her hand brushing past the side of her head, revealing the access point to something... better than real life (as far as he was concerned anyway). That was what coaxed him on. Maybe in the future he'd regret it, but right now? "Daro-" He shrugged and smiled at that.

"Daro Tarsi."

She probably wouldn't know- most people in their scene knew him as Two-Loop, but they mostly thought of the Zeltron a few sectors away.

He liked it that way.

 

[Sortz]

Not unlike when she saw her own name and it clicked into the empty space, his name did the same thing. She blinked in surprise as certain things seemed to rearrange into a new pattern and she blinked in surprise.

"Oh, I know you!"

The look he gave her said a lot, but most of it she couldn't read.

"Lady, I'd remember you."

She shook her head, taking her hand away from the wall to mirror the gesture.

"No, not like that. We haven't met."

She didn't know how she knew it.
"Well, now we have, but that's not- Look. Daro Tarsi. Slicer. Cogmind? Right?"

Her expression was hopeful but also certain in it's knowledge. If he was that Daro Tarsi, then yeah, she knew of him. She didn't know why she did, or how, just that the information was there and there was a certain excitement to it. She assumed, honestly, because it was the first thing she was remembering without prompting.

"You're good at what you do. Really good. It wasn't easy finding that."

As she talked, she got glimpses of..... something. But it was through a haze. She remembered being.... proud.... for finding that connection. Was that right? She wasn't sure. It felt more like a dream than a proper memory.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sortz"]

Daro blinked.

Then he peered at her.

The amount of people that could link Daro to Cogmind was a handful. Less than a handful, unless his security was breached maybe about three people in the whole Galaxy that could make that connection. But this lady was neither pink nor a cyborg and neither did she seem the smuggler type. So, where in the feth had she figured out his particular connection?

"....few people know me like... that." He had introduced himself to Miss. West with Daro, but that had simply been- it had seemed right, no? The Galaxy was a large place, but once you started getting into the violent (bank robbing) of things?

That's when you started to get real.

"Why don't we get off the streets? I got a place nearby." 'Nearby' was still pretty fething far away, but Daro figured they could take the public transit. "Then you can tell me who the feth you are and how you know me." He had been careful, cautious, even paranoid if he was to believe Zef. But here was a lady who suddenly seemed to know exactly what Daro Tarsi did.

That raised his suspicion, yes.

But it also made him curious.

A jerk of his head to follow him and they'd be off towards the tramways.

 

[Sortz]

It was going to be a short conversation.

The answer to both was a slightly more complicated 'I don't know.' But honestly, the smells in the alley were starting to get to her and her head was pounding in a way that made the nod she gave him more uncomfortable than it had any right to be- someplace relatively safe and not filth ridden (okay maybe she was making assumptions but they were the kind sort) would be great.

She wasn't worried about going with him. Even with the throbbing headache she was significantly larger and stronger than he was. What was he gonna do? In truth, those thoughts barely even crossed her mind as they headed out into the city, their pace slow since she was still feeling pretty wobbly- and he was clearly at least somewhat intoxicated. They didn't talk much on the way, but she did make them stop at a late night vendor- a very bemused bothan that happily sold her the rest of what he had. It was some small relief that the credit chit was apparently for a particularly generous amount, and Sortz didn't hesitate to offer one of the dozen sticks of roasted meat (the bothan claimed it was nerf- Sortz suspected otherwise) to Daro as they kept walking.

A short tram ride later and they made it to his place, Sortz finishing off the last of the kabobs and wishing honestly that there were more.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sortz"]

Those sticks were freaking huge.

By the time they got to his place she had already eaten all of hers and was munching on his, after he had given up halfway through. Lady could eat for sure, feth's sake. It took him a bit to get the key in the hole and in the end he sighed.

"Look away, eh?" Daro didn't actually check if she looked away, instead just opting to slide his hand over a particular area next to the door.

If she looked? It would light up blue with his prints.

If she didn't? There would be a *beep* before the door slid open before them. Stepping on through the apartment was actually much nicer than one would expect, if they only had Daro to go from. They passed a door through the corridor. "Kitchen to ya left, feel free to take what ya want from da fridge." Daro murmured lazily as he dropped his coat on a nearby seat and entered the living room from the corridor himself.

It was spacious.

One side was wholly dominated by a huge wall, seemingly empty. Until he clapped his hands and said "I am home.." Which suddenly made the wall give way towards half a dozen screens spread across its surface and then some.

All of them giving several different feeds.

Daro flopped down on the couch and peered at one of the screens with a frown. "Brought me a beer, I hope?" He'd grumble as he started to work his boots off one at a time.

 

[Sortz]

She looked away. He was inviting her into his home, it was the only respectful thing to do. She looked all around the edge of where the wall met the ceiling, chewing on the last of the snack before she heard the beep and he opened the door. She ducked to enter, clawed hand curling carefully around the door frame to keep her balance as she did- her head was starting to throb even worse and honestly all she wanted to do what sit.

"Oh. Uh. Thank you."

She had no intention of taking him up on his offer. Though she was sure it was genuine, if she helped herself to whatever she wanted in his fridge it was probably going to mean an empty fridge. She did help herself to five or six glasses of water in a row (his glasses were small). Handled delicately, she carefully refilled it until some of the rawness in her throat was cooled and the edge of the throbbing dulled ever so slightly. She looked around while she did, not really sure what she expected, so it didn't seem particularly strange either.

Coming out of the kitchen again, the cup once more refilled and held lightly between thumb and forefinger, she gaze about at the whole thing. The only part that was a surprise, albeit a pleasant one, was the fact that once through the door, the ceilings were high and soaring and the floor plan fairly open, which meant no more ducking.

When he asked about the beer, she blinked.

Didn't say anything.

Back tracked.

Opened the fridge.

And came back with the half six pack in there hooked with one claw and deposited it on the couch next to him.

She looked around again, and rather than break any of the furniture, opted to settle on the floor.

"I like your set up," she said quietly, meaning it.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sortz"]

"Dat'a girl." He almost purred as his fingers closed around one cold can, he brought it up to his brow and let the cold seep in. Mmmm, that felt good. Whichever way it had gone in the end, one of them had a really mean left-hook as far as he was concerned. The click of the lid opening sounded through the room as he took a deep gulp.

Shame he had finished all the bottles last week already.

Some dark beer and Daro would kill for it that was for sure.

"Thankya, took me a while to gatha it all. Now-" he scratched his chin, peering over the lid and his shoulder, then looked up to catch her eye. Feth she was large. That part kept just coming back to him every single time an' then some.

"Ya got a drive plugged in da side of ya head, think ya was a data runner, might'a been ya got stuck in a bad situation and had to burn ya memory." It happened, it was a failsafe for those that carried sensitive as feth information. He preferred other means of transfer but that was just him. "Wouldn't be the first time some faulty mods cooked someone's main memories too. Anyway, look to ya left, should be able to link ya head to da screen there and see what's on there."

Daro took another big gulp and then shifted a bit.

Mm good beer tho.

 

[Sortz]

She sat a little awkwardly, knees pulled up, arms out and elbows resting there, the little glass held so carefully, like a grown up using a child's tea set.

Sortz blinked, her hand going up to the right side of her head- to the ridge of half healed flesh behind her ear.

"Oh."

When he said that part- what it was- that made sense. In a 'well of course, why didn't I realize it until you said it?' sort of way. The second part? Not so much. It just sat there, the idea heavy and not really going anywhere. It didn't fit into anything the way certain stimuli (her name, his name, what it was) did.

That didn't mean he was wrong of course.

She looked left, finding the cord he was talking about. It was easy, once it was in her hand. Even without knowing it consciously, she plugged it in at a spot right at the edge of the ridge, a small slot that was hidden behind her ear that she hadn't noticed before, but was natural once she did it.

Huh. Why was she nervous? That seemed weird.

With a click, the data jack settled home.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sortz"]

If he hadn't been drunk as all feth he might have reconsidered offering her to plug herself into his systems.

But.

The beer was good, she was polite and it was making his chest hot as he gulped down the can, moving to get another. "Din look like ya got any cybernetics for ya eyes, so ya gon' have t'use the screens the ol' fashion way sadly." For Daro it was easier- plug, play n' watch directly from his right eye, but that did have its own disadvantages. Sadly. "Gon have to unlock the terminal with a code too-" That probably shouldn't have surprised her, if she knew that he was Cogmind?

Then she knew he was paranoid as all feth.

Just the way things were.

"It changes erry twelve hours... um." Face scrunched in a thoughtful pose as he sipped from the next beer can. Hrm. "Try uh- the hexadecimal equation of Peeno's First Problem." Peeno had been a Rodian slicer fifty years ago, at the height of his might and infamy he had released about twelve unique algorithmic problems on the Net. In fifty years only the first problem had been solved and that had set up the solvers for life. The slicer community was still trying to crack the rest.

Everyone wanted a piece of Peeno's pie.

 

[Sortz]

Someone else would have had to get up, but Sortz just reached over, drawing the keypad (on a rotating servo arm, nice) over to her. She didn't think about it, just started inputting the equation. As soon as he'd said it she'd known just what he was talking about, and barely registered it as a conscious action. She used one hand for all of this, tapping carefully- her fingers too large to be easily accommodated- as she held the small glass in her other hand.

It wasn't until she had unlocked the terminal and attempted to access the data in the lock that things went wrong, and all basically at the same time.

It started with a low grade electronic whine that filled her head. She frowned, head canting to the side as if to dislodge it-

WHIIIIIIIIIIIINE ZOT POP YELP CRUNCH

The screens flashed white snow, then went dark with the Zot. The pop sounded from the right side of Sortz's head, which elicited the yelp and lead to the glass shattering in her other hand. She yanked the cord out, the end deformed and partly melted where it had be inserted into the slot behind her ear.

"Oh geez- I- I'm sorry I don't..... I don't know what happened."

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sortz"]

He was in the middle of an exceptionally large gulp when the sounds of the frying reached his ears.

It caused him to choke in the beer-

What happened next was rather unsavory.

Beer got everywhere, nostrils, throat, his shirt, sprayed as he huffed and puffed against the burning sensation of the alcohol. Daro heaved and coughed loudly, having almost choked on the liquid, while tears flowed from his one eye. "Feth's sake." Dar managed to get out, turning on his arse until his feet were touching the floor again and he could survey the damage.

"Ugh. That- ugh." He eyed away from the control to 'er head. "Ya brain aight, luv, dat crap can be fethy when it fries with ya still connected."

Once it was clear that Sortz's brain wasn't liquid Daro picked himself up, rubbing at his eye and realizing that he wasn't even drunk anymore.

Great.

"Ya know how long't took me to splice dis set-up together?" He murmured as his hands touched the screen, blinking once until the eye burned bright red to signify the change in vision mode for the cyber-eye. It wasn't a huge deal- Daro had a couple of more, but it would be a pain in da arse to get all of that out here. Risky too with increased scrutiny now that the First Order was making more waves.

Ugh.

 

[Sortz]

"It's- I'm fine."

Not entirely true. As he was surveying the damage, she reached up gingerly, wincing slightly. The headache had expanded by several factors, encompassing her entire head now, and the metal port was searing hot to the touch, scalding the tips of her fingers.

But it was a very, very small thing in comparison to the guilt Sortz felt when she looked at Daro and the set up.

She had known it was going to happen. Not consciously. But that was why she'd been nervous about plugging in, wasn't it? Subconsciously, she'd known something was going to happen. Not in a 'bad feeling about this' sort of way but in a 'oh yeah, that's my name' sort of way. She didn't remember all of the specifics, but the fact that there was a reactive firewall in the data lock? That seemed obvious now, in hindsight.

That didn't help at all.

She could tell that most of the set up was ruined. The particular smell of fried electronics and melted plastic. Maybe something could be salvaged, but most of it would probably have to be completely replaced from scratch.

Sortz was a big person, but right now, she was feeling very small indeed.

"I can guess," she replied quietly. "I'm really, really sorry."

She felt terrible.

Sortz reached into her pocket, feeling the tag and the cred stick. She still didn't know just how much was on it- hopefully more than just enough to buy out a vendor cart. Besides the clothes she was wearing and that little scrap of flimsy with her name on it, it was literally the only thing she had in the galaxy.

"Here," she said, not standing up, but she didn't need to to offer it to him. She didn't meet his eyes, just holding out the cred stick. "You, uh, probably don't want me to help you fix it. I will. But if you don't I understand. Um. Take this. I dunno if it'll cover everything. But. Yeah."

[member="Daro Tarsi"]