Second Wave

[Farah]

Canto Bight

Farah didn’t know what to think of worlds like this.

In that way she was fortunate. The clone hadn’t experienced any sort of hardship, really. She’d been synthesized into existence, given a family name that carried weight (though she tended not to use it while outside the reaches of the Empire) and had access to resources most didn’t. She’d worked hard to become a competent surgeon and scientist, aided by the privilege of not having anything else to worry about but her personal goals (and the occasional existential crisis).

Tucked away in the corner of the bar, Farah sipped on something bubbly as her gaze unfocused over the crowds. Opulence was dirty. It was unnecessary to someone who preferred functionality over aesthetics. Someone who’d rather spend her time within the sterile, clinical walls of an operating room or a laboratory.

She’d come here with a friend and fellow surgeon, Dr. Lukas Krieger. He was a tall man, a bit too skinny with dark facial hair and congenial mannerisms. He was a skilled doctor and well liked among the hospital staff. While talented in her own right, Farah was far more acerbic out of what she deemed necessity. No one would take a young female Zeltron doctor seriously if she acted otherwise, or so was her reasoning. Or maybe that was just her personality.

From her perch at the bar, she watched him mingle with a well-dressed woman in some sort of evening gown. He’d always been good with people. Farah’s social skills were lacking in many departments. But he’d told her that this would be good—not just for her, but for Cornerstone Scientific. So far she hadn’t made any headway in that regard, having briskly brushed off any conversation that came her way. Put simply, this wasn’t her element and she wasn’t comfortable here. Elbow against the counter top of the bar, her face rested against her fist as her eyes fell closed.

Maybe after she woke up this would be over.

[member="Helix Syndicate"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

"Karking doctors..." Tytos rudely stormed away from where his escort had taken up shop with some pencil-thin goatee'd doctor, muttering profanities to himself.

You pay someone to attend a soiree with you, the expectation was that they attended it with you. You had to show up to events like this with some kind of beautiful woman, otherwise people started assuming you weren't actually all that rich and powerful. Even a geezer like Tytos found that applied to him. So he paid a fancy escort to hover behind him or hang on the arm while he went about his actual business, same as anyone else. Just because he was paying for attention didn't mean it was any less insulting when it was stolen.

There was a charm doctors like that had. "You know how many lives these hands have saved?" That kind of thing. Crime Lords lacked that appeal. Except for crazy people and other crime lords, obviously, but even if Tytos had a vested interest in his own romantic life he would avoid them. Arriving at the bar next to [member="Farah"] , Tytos glanced at his own hands as he rested them on the bar top.

You know how many bureaucratic forms these hands have filled out?

That made him scowl again. "You," He said, addressing the bartender. "Hand me that bottle."

The bartender screwed up an eyebrow, but acquiesced. Rich people are weird, but they pay for things. Usually. He followed Tytos' eyes and reached for a bottle of whiskey -

"No, you simpleton. The water."

Nearby was a bottle of unopened water. Still cold. "Oh, actually, that's - that's mine. I'm saving it for..."

The wallet was already out. Tytos slapped an expensive looking credit chip down and slid it forward. Minutes later, the requested bottle was placed before him.

Rich people.

 

[Farah]

The sound of feminine laughter rippling through the air brought Farah back into the realm of the living.

Lifting her head, it took her a few moments to refocus on Lukas and his conversation partner. Oh, now he was laughing. The woman laughed along with him. Unbeknownst to her, Farah’s brow wrinkled and she brought the glass of whatever to her lips once more. She was jealous, of course. Not because she had the hots for Dr. Operate on Orphans for Free but because she secretly wanted to be as likable as him. She snorted audibly and finished her drink. Like that would ever happen.

She’d hardly paid attention to the gentleman sitting next to her until he’d demanded a bottle of water from the bar. Usually that sort of thing was free, at least in those little plastic cups they gave you at McYodas.

“Another Tatooine Sunset.” She requested. Lukas promised to pay her tab for tonight if she attended. Revenge would be exacted by way of running up a bill and possibly throwing up in his speeder on the way back. Maybe—it took quite a lot to get through two livers. She fished his credit stick from the pocket of her blazer and placed it on the counter.

Then she eyed the man and his water to her side and tisked. “You the designated driver, old man?”

Ah, networking.

[member="Tytos Ardik"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

If Tytos had indignantly craned his head around to glare at [member="Farah"] any faster, he might have broken his neck. Who was this eerily familiar visage badgering him? Well, maybe she wasn't actually familiar. All Zeltrons looked the same, or so it was said, but most people who said that were inebriated out of their right mind on a planet full of them. Still, the audacity! Like she didn't know who he was. He realized she probably didn't. But she should have been able to tell he was too important to mock... Or maybe she couldn't because that hussy who was supposed to be accompanying him... Oh, but now this is getting repetitive.

Tytos glared at the Zeltron even as he cracked the cap on the bottle and took what could only be described as an angry swig. If it was then possible for someone to furiously screw the cap of a water bottle back on, then he was doing just that. "Some of us have day jobs, you know," Tytos sneered, placing the bottle back on the bartop. Hydration would have to wait until he was done scorning random party-goers. "Important day jobs."

Was there anything more pitiable than an old crime lord justifying his beverage habits to a random Zeltron? Probably. Could it be found elsewhere in this setting? Less probable.

"Showing up to work hungover tends to get in the way of business, but I don't suspect you'd understand anything about that."

 

[Farah]

Farah’s upper lip curled into the beginnings of a sneer. Nevermind the fact that she’d been the one to bite first. She usually was. And if she wasn’t, she bit back harder. There was a lot for her to be defensive over, at least from her point of view.

The drink arrived and she busied herself with sucking down a good quarter of it rather than make a snarky response. Then, she made a snarky response.

“Ooh, I’m sorry.” Her tone was thick with a sickly sweet apology, the sort that could only be considered mocking. “At your age, a drink or two would definitely unbalance you during a game of Sabaac. I hear those retirees at the nursing home are absolute sharks.”

She rolled her eyes before sliding them to the side, glancing over to Lukas. He was…getting flirty? Lidded eyes, moving in close, the whole deal.

Disgusting.

That little image reinforced the fact that she did not want to be here in the first place. Leaning on the bar, another quarter of her drink disappeared and she leaned in to get the bartender’s attention. “Grandpa’s getting feisty, huh?”

[member="Tytos Ardik"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

In lieu of a direct retort, Tytos' face turned a virulent shade of red. He glared immediately at the bartender and snarled, "Don't you dare answer that!"

If Tytos could not control the rage-inducing utterances of this pink harlot, he would have to brow-beat her audience into ignoring these wretched proceedings. To his credit, it worked. The bartender suddenly recalled something else he might be doing, but because of his limited area of movement he could only turn his back and pretend to focus on polishing an empty glass. Satisfied, Tytos returned his attention to [member="Farah"] . Strange, if he had gotten any more red he might have turned into a Pureblood right then and there.

It'd definitely explain his attitude.

"Just who do you think you are, talking to me like this!?" He hissed these words, equal parts outrage and surprise, but still not quite willing to yell. Even an angry man could decide against causing a scene... If only barely. You had to think about appearances, and arguing with some liquored-up hussy was definitely not a good look for a man his age.

Tytos had come to expect this kind of lackadaisical disrespect from the savages of Point Nadir, but never in his life while at a gala at the Canto Casino!

 

[Farah]

Farah wasn’t good at this sort of thing. She didn’t mingle well which wasn’t a good look when you were trying to entice potential investors. All she could think about was how much she could be getting done right now in the lab or an operating theater.

But noooo. She had to come here and do…this. So she lashed out because it was the only thing worth doing, the only thing that could stir up a bit of short lived entertainment before her ride was ready to leave.

Bringing the glass to her lips, she started to smile against the rim. Another sip, this one prolonged and she pulled away after clearing her throat.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t introduce myself first.” She extended a hand, apologizing for not telling him her name before she started slinging sassy remarks. “Dr. Farah Navarro. And you?”

She didn’t expect him to recognize her name or anything—after all she was still a very young face in the medical field and not one of those galactically renown surgeons. Using the Zambrano name was always a gamble so she opted for the alias she worked under while on Coruscant.

[member="Tytos Ardik"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

Great. She was a doctor. What a wonderful coincidence! It just so happened that the first person who contributed to the absolute ruination of Tytos Ardik's grand night out also had a PhD. Tytos' red face receded, and the temptation to yell and stomp and gesticulate violently in fury went with it. Mostly. It was likely he was just surprised she had asked his name instead of insulting him again. He had already been drafting another counter-response when she dropped the "I'm a doctor" bombshell on him.

"Tytos Ardik," said the Umbaran of the same name, tone wary - as if the mere utterance of his name was going to prompt a new salvo of impudence. It wasn't as if he had reason to believe [member="Farah"] was capable of speaking anything else. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, attempting to place her. "Didn't I see you come in with that oaf, Krieger? Has he gotten bored of you already?"

Well, given her downright sunny disposition, he could hardly imagine why. Tytos snatched his bottle back off the counter and began to open it again, as if it would offer him any consolation.

 

[Farah]

Farah snorted. Not the most ladylike reaction.

“We’re just friends.” She didn’t try to deny knowing him, but her response seemed like the sort a teenage girl would give after being rejected by her crush. Briefly, she did wonder if she could entice someone like him into bed. Not that she had the particular desire to, but still.

She wouldn’t, though. Farah was good at separating work from pleasure and she already had a strike or two against her for race alone. Didn’t need to have rumors circulating that she’d only gotten the job because she was sleeping with her superiors.

“I don’t like talking to people as much as he does.” With her free hand she gestured over to the young man as he laughed at something, the woman at his side covering her mouth and giggling. Farah looked over to Tytos, noting the vicious uncapping of the bottle. “I’m guessing you don’t, either.”

[member="Tytos Ardik"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

Tytos scoffed lightly, "I'll bet."

The Umbaran took another drink from his bottle as he listened to [member="Farah"] speak, wiping away stray moisture with the back of his hand. He instinctively followed her gesture with his eyes, and of course was treated to the sight of his consort fraternizing with someone he clearly had not paid her to fraternize with. Fortunately Tytos now had less unpleasant conversation to focus on, stowing off any vein-pulsing, seething rage that might have bubbled up in his demeanor otherwise.

"Some more than others," he said dryly. "Giggles over there with him was to be my charge for the evening."

He was referring, of course, to the young lady hanging on Doctor Krieger. There was an audible crinkling as Tytos' grip on the appropriated water bottle tightened.

"As you can see, that has not panned out in a desirable manner."

 

[Farah]

Giggles. She stared at the woman for a few moments. “Oh.” She was young, pretty. Feminine face with perfectly coiffed dark brown hair and doe eyes.

She seemed to be hanging on Krieger’s ever wordy and for that she couldn’t help him. The man was an eloquent speaker, modest about his accomplishments and genuinely kind. He was an actual good person. Everyone liked him.

“Is she your daughter, then?”

Her head cocked to the side, idly swirling the drink in one hand by the stem of the glass. Eyes were fixed on the flirtatious couple, and it took her a few moments but she figured out what story Lukas was telling her from the hand gestures alone. The one about the impossible to remove tumor wrapped around a spine that he, of course, had managed to remove. She took a sip from her glass and hummed thoughtfully.

“I wonder if he’ll sleep with her.”

[member="Tytos Ardik"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

"No," Tytos said, tone flat and abrupt.

The idea of progeny disgusted Tytos. Having children born into wealth was almost always a sure way of ruining them. They become entitled and lax, decadent and (perhaps worst of all) stupid. It's all evolutionary. If an animal has no need for speed, strength, intelligence, or good behavior, it just won't develop those things. It will roost in its own filth and let servants take care of it, whittling away its allowance or inheritance on frivolities. Grooming a remotely acceptable heir was a time consuming process that Tytos, quite frankly, had no time for.

After giving it some thought, Tytos had already decided he would simply not die. That way if his legacy ever became tarnished, he would still be able to do something about it.

“I wonder if he’ll sleep with her.”

Tytos scoffed audibly at that, shaking his head in disgust. "I don't."

 

[Farah]

“Don’t be so sour, grandpa.” She snorted. “It’s a party. Have some fun.”

She waved the bartender over for another drink. This one would be something more fruity with a handful of vividly colored liquors mixed together. Farah didn’t go out often. She’d much rather spend time pursuing her passions, which meant that she’d spend another night in the lab or at the hospital. More early morning pizza, more trauma hours logged into the ER. She was good at what she did and expected the same level of drive and passion from those around her.

Still, even she enjoyed a drink or four every now and again.

“You’re a terrible conversationalist.” She added. Farah probably wouldn’t be this chatty if she hadn’t been imbibing all night. “What do you do when you’re not grumping about?”

[member="Tytos Ardik"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

Grandpa. Ugh. If he were lucky, no one would have an actual blood-related reason to ever call him that. Even hearing it now caused him to glower in disgust. "I don't go to parties for fun."

There was a business aspect to everything Tytos did. Everything was either work related, or he was locked in the sanctity of his home - asleep and unbothered. Maybe, if he were feeling particularly indulgent, he would read. Or eat a solitary meal at an absurdly fancy restaurant. This would perhaps sound almost too hermetic and miserable for someone to consider true, but one need only regard Tytos - in speech and in appearance - to find that it could only be accurate.

You could really feel the sunshine and happy thoughts just radiating off of him.

His scowl, predictably, did not leave his face at the remark of him being a terrible conversationalist. But he had nothing better to do now and he wasn't looking forward to leaving by himself, so Tytos merely didn't address it. Not like [member="Farah"] was far off the mark either.

"I am the acting CEO of the Helix Syndicate. It's in the Pentastar Alignment. Perhaps you've heard of it," he said. It didn't sound much like a boast or something otherwise meant to impress her. Canto Bight was a long way off from the Alignment. It was a regional power, so of course most people outside of it had no idea what it was or what it did. "Let me guess, you're a surgeon as well? Dr. Kreiger's star assistant, I presume."

 

[Farah]

Her drink arrived in a martini glass and she delicately removed the toothpick, olive speared on the end, before taking a sip.

“Can’t say that I have.” She murmured in response after a few moments of genuine thought. Maybe if she hadn’t been alive for such a short time, she would have. A Syndicate though, that was interesting. Maybe she would have asked him to elaborate the next words out of his mouth didn’t have her spitting her drink out.

The bartender looked displeased initially but she ignored him for the time being.

“Oh please, like Kreiger could ever be compared to me.” Scowl was out in full force now as she made no effort to hide her displeasure. “I’ll admit he’s good but I’m lightyears ahead of him.”

She bit the olive with a snap of her teeth, perhaps for dramatic effect.

“Besides, he’s a neurosurgeon. They’re all hotshots who do it for the holo specials. I, on the other hand, am a cardio-thoracic surgeon. I’m hardcore.”

[member="Tytos Ardik"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

Tytos found himself leaning away, eyebrows arched in apparent skepticism. Partially because he wanted to avoid the spillage and partially because he was moderately surprised this indignant outburst. He had expected to strike a nerve, but not a drink-spilling, jaw-snapping one. "Really. I had no idea."

Tone flat, he did not sound as shocked or impressed as he maybe should have. Tytos merely watched as [member="Farah"] took a bite out of the olive that arrived with her drink, apparently with the same impunity she could metaphorically devour Kreiger if it ever came to a contest of skill. It all sounded terribly gory to him, anyway. Tytos himself had little stomach for witnessing butchery, regardless of whether it was the helpful kind. These things were better left to the thugs on his payroll... Or particularly acerbic cardio-thoracic surgeons, as it presently stood.

"And you don't do it for the holo specials and money? How amusing," Tytos presumed to lecture, "Between your staggering humility and general demeanor, I had you figured for the charitable sort."

 

[Farah]

Farah snorted with what was perhaps the most unladylike noise ever. Not that she was worried about appearing feminine and soft—her scowl and general demeanor took care of that enough. All she cared about was her ability as a medical professional and scientist. Her reputation spoke of capability and competency but her attitude made things difficult sometimes.

At least she was never mistaken as a ditzy girl for too long.

“Some of us aren’t in it for the fame or to help others.” She snorted again. Perhaps that wasn’t something she should have said publicly, but oh well. “Third option. I’m here for the science. Medical and technological advancement and all that.” She polished off the martini in record time. “I’ve even gone beyond the scope of my own job and procured a small medical supply startup.”

Procured being the key word. ‘Hostile takeover by a gangster I slept with’ was too wordy.

She sounded proud.

[member="Tytos Ardik"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

Someone in it for the science? Now there was a novel thought. Most of these STEM-sorts of people Tytos dealt with on a regular basis had never been particularly enthused with their field, or particularly caring about making advancements in it. They were there for the money. Maybe they had started off caring, but money trumped most things. She would sell out eventually, he reckoned. Then again, none of them had gone so far as to start their own business.

...Or what was that word [member="Farah"] used? Procure? How strange. She probably made a lot of money in her field, but that didn't necessarily translate to enough money to go around buying businesses. Otherwise, every doctor would have been a tycoon in his own right. A nauseating thought, especially with Krieger still hanging around. "Oh? My commendations, then, to your high-minded motivations. I'm sure your colleagues find you all the more charming for it."

Tytos certainly did.

"Does this startup have a name?"

 

[Farah]

“Yes.” She agreed with no small amount of wry sarcasm to her tone. “We all get along beautifully.”

Surgeons were known for the cuddly demeanors, and not for being cutthroat procedure hounds who would gladly push their peers in front of a bus if it meant that they got to scrub in on a craniotomy. Unlike most of them, Farah didn’t care about helping people. All she cared about was being the best at what she did—and if that involved saving some lives? They were nothing more than experience points for her next level up.

In those terms, she was grinding her way up to attending.

“Cornerstone Scientific.” She supplied, tint of pride finding its way back into her tone. Accordingly, because Tytos had totally asked, the Zeltron whipped out her datapad and projected the company’s small holonet page in front of them. There weren’t many offerings yet, among them were different sorts of medical scanners, droids, and pharmaceuticals. Really, the whole thing was a mix of a side project and a cover for Farah’s more sinister, spooky projects.

“See anything that interests you?”

At least right now, she seemed more animated and less miserable.

[member="Tytos Ardik"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

He had to ask, didn't he? Tytos grimaced again when [member="Farah"] brought the datapad out. He already didn't like talking to people, but he liked talking to people who whipped out an electronic device to "show him something" in the middle of a conversation even less. Granted, these were usually things that absolutely no sane person would care about. "Check out the hilarious photograph on socialmedianamehere," or "Take a look at these pictures from my vacation on Dubrillion."

Or worst of all, "please feast your eyes upon this image of my ugly children."

Fortunately Tytos was not bombarded with images of so-called "memes", generic beach-side photography, or some third-tier employee's malformed offspring. It was just medical equipment. Which was nice. Most of the grunt work being done by the Syndicate was dangerous stuff. The Syndicate could have use for in-house medical equipment or personnel for the more basic injuries encountered on the job. "Can't say I've heard of it," Tytos said, deliberately not answering the question.

Medical equipment was not, in fact, especially interesting - and he had little time to digest each piece of information as it flew in front of him. Tytos was a very old man and fast-moving text had a tendency to give him nausea. Besides, this could have been a scam. Like those Gamorrean princes who kept showing up in his inbox, asking for handouts.

"I'm sure you have a marvelous track record, then. Any meaningful contracts? Relevant customers?"