Silk/EDY R&D Logs - Project Bond

[Ashin Varanin]

"Define exclusivity, Selka."

Darkness, mild brown, like a brownout but without the inability to think. A voice that came from somewhere in front of her, right in front of her, though nobody was there. The voice was old, strong, male, infinitely familiar. Insofar as she had any sense of her body -- and this could be false, an artifact of a mind under construction -- she felt like she was strapped to an armchair.

"Exclusivity," she said, and stopped. Because she was a gutter rat from Metellos, an AgriCorps washout, a woman of indeterminate means -- but she was also two other things, two other sets of self and memory, and that condition tightened imaginary fingers on the imaginary arms of an imaginary chair. And those two other instances of Selka Ventus, like partitioned operating systems, offered answers beyond what she would have said. It took her an indeterminate amount of time to compile her answer. "Exclusivity is being able to claim that the product you've just bought is only owned by you, or someone just as good as you."

"And what is the virtue of exclusivity," the old man's voice whuffled, "as a marketing strategy of a galactic business?"

Which part of it -- the words, the substance -- came from what she thought of as the real self, and did that definition have any foundation? "I suppose," she said after indefinable time, "the answer is that exclusive labels can stick around -- can persist up until a certain point of market saturation -- up until -- feth, I'm blanking. You can sell more and keep the price high so long as your customers only run into each other every now and again. They'll pay the asking price so long as they keep feeling it's exclusive, because their feeling is more important than the truth."

"Exactly, Selka."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"One of you, Selka, is most closely aware of the natural extension of that proposition, relative to the project in 28-L. What is the purpose of 28-L? Dig deep, amalgamate, tell me."

"The illusion of exclusivity."

"Tell me what kind of illusion."

"Self-delusion. Folk want to -- people choose what they see. An illusionist, a good one, has a knack for finding preferences and amplifying them artificially -- make the -- feth, I'm-"

"Slow down, Selka, be calm. This topic unlocks too many doors. One step at a time; let's move back to 28-L. I do wish there was more of me. This would be...so much more simple. Tell me about 28-L. Pick any one subproject."

"28-L-Red." The words came unbidden. "28-L-Red contains..."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Go on."

"28-L-Red is a production optimization laboratory assigned to drive element economies of scale. Staff includes four supply chain analysts, two materials specialists, two project engineers from the seed drive project, two project leads, three Silk/EDY logistics specialists. Operating budget, two point two million per week. Oh hell -- oh hell, where's this coming from."

"From imitation, Selka. An especially satisfying imitation it is, too, when an elder copies a callow youth."

"The hell does that mean?"

"It means we have a remarkably long way to go. Thankfully, your other self knew what...he was doing."

"That explains a lot."

"Just don't look down."

"Is this the right moment for humor? You do seem to digress."

"And you do seem to switch between modes of diction at the drop of a hat, Selka. Personalities, even. How you consolidate that is -- well, I would say it's up to you, but this situation is not in our control. Tell me more about 28-L-Red, if you can remember."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"28-L-Red attempts to minimize cost-benefit differential incident to -- feth, it's happening again, I-"

"Go with it, child. Orient on my voice. Be whoever you need to be in the moment."

"You've played fast and loose with the internals. I may have washed out of AgriCorps, but I had my lessons, I know the symptoms."

"I did, but I was not the only one. Think what you need to think. Remember, child of mine, that while people and circumstances can influence what you become, the majority of the choice is yours. And if it's not, get it that way."

"Don't talk to me of identity. There are three of me, and I'm not sure which one is talking."

"The one who talks simply, the one who knows about 28-L-Red-through-Violet, and who?"

"Ah."

"Who, Selka? Tell me who."

"No, you were right the first time. Let's get back to 28-L-Red. The main issue is fusial containment -- well, as it relates to economies of scale for materials, and limitations on casting technologies, and drive train licensing of all things. It seems the Powers That Be get nervous when something like this appears.

"Isn't there better?"

"The Empire had better. But they had the wealth of ten thousand worlds, and the Styx facility."

"And you, Selka, have me."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Yeah, I have you. I also have research unit 28-L-Amber."

"Good. Tell me about it, please, while I try to put some things together."

"28-L-Amber is the breeding stock -- in-house slang for derivations of other manufacturers' technologies. It's a reverse-engineering facility, one of dozens we maintain. 28-L-Amber used to be unit K-POL, part of the original project. Thirteen techs, eight engineers, highest security. 28-L-Amber is actually located two light-years outside the Eshan system, in deep space, in a dark node -- a patch of space at least a light-day from any hyperroute on record, and we've got pretty much all of them and then some. It's an accountability issue."

"As in, you'd rather not be held accountable for gutting-"

"Yeah, that's the skinny."

"Tell me of 28-L-Amber, Selka. Is it still relevant to Bond? Hadn't you plumbed the depths of your ill-gotten gains before the original project hit the shelves?"

"For the Fed influence, yeah. For the Imperial influence, I'm told Amber Unit is still making progress."

"Humbling."

"Don't give yourself airs."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Calibration is going well."

"Is technical detail necessary?"

"Applicable, I suppose. I am, as has been noted, the sort of person who appreciates knowledge above all else. I like to pass it on, Selka."

"I can...feel that."

"I'd say that's useful, but the plural of anecdote is not data. Tell me about 28-L-Green, if you've reached that part, if you've found access yet."

"Yeah, I -- I have, yes. Green Unit is responsible for training prognosis."

"Boring."

"Not when trained personnel may qualify as a limiting factor. And by 'may' I mean 'Green Unit has, so far, justified its own existence.' Evaluation of training program effectiveness in operators -- broad selection, too. The original project has seen a good bit of use. We have a good idea of what level of skill and experience is required to use the original effectively. And when that level of skill and experience isn't necessarily available among prospective customers...you follow, I think."

"Like a shadow, Selka," agreed the old man's voice.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Tell me, Selka, what do each of you fear?"

"I'm afraid of never being able to claw my way out of my old life." She paused. "I'm afraid of myself, of stagnation, of reversion to my old self." Another pause. "I'm afraid of boredom."

"Some commonality, then, at least in part. Useful. Granted, guilt is only a factor on -- ahh, I see it now. Indeed I do."

"Stay out of there."

"Do you want to be mended? I heal minds; it's what I do. Focus on 28-L. What comes next?"

"28-L-Blue. Asset reallocation. Yard gradation, supply chain redistribution, targeted vertical integration. Not all of our facilities are run to the same standard. Lowest grade is your standard repair/modification yard -- most of our waystations have something like that. Next up would be common-market, things like the Tachyon, the Washburn, the Laekia, the Tempus Ardet, our utility speeders. Then you'd get things like our Mon Calamari ships and higher-end transports. Top tier would be the Calrissian, the Winter Eagle for its impervium, the Rassilon, and of course the Pathfinder and our limited-production Mon Calamari command ships -- the MC180 Remembrance and MC220 Bel Iblis. All in all, only top tier assets suffice for Project Bond, which means reallocation. We have a good back stock of Winter Eagles and the Pathfinder isn't selling like it used to, so we want to ramp up exclusivity for the Pathfinder. Those two ships' dedicated slips and techs were partially reallocated to Project Bond."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Are those facilities appropriate in scale, Selka?"

"I'll admit that modification was required. Substantial modification. That's the point of 28-L-Blue -- not just selecting the right assets, but altering them to fit the project's demands. For that, we allocated a weekly budget of five hundred thousand, and a full supercomputer/analysis droid/technician droid node, a major node we pulled from Void Station when we evacuated. It was being used for traffic analysis, but 28-L-Blue repurposed the whole thing inside two weeks."

"You assigned an asset to alter an asset to optimize it for figuring out which assets to alter?"

"I think you approve."

"I've always been fond of multiple stages and degrees of separation, you know that, Selka."

"I do."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"And what of 28-L-Violet?"

"There's another, first, and I'm surprised you didn't pick up on that, from me if not from the progression. Indigo Unit."

"Well, you did skip orange."

"Amber's an omnibus. Indigo focuses on improvements to the original process. It works closely with Red Unit, and not just for aesthetic reasons."

The old man gave a heavy laugh. "Noted."

"Indigo is our deconstructionist team. Engineers from other backgrounds, other projects, engineers recruited from other manufacturers -- these are the people who come at the original with fresh eyes and tear it apart. Their budget is ludicrous and they're under significant oversight. New voices need filters. The top people at Indigo were, by and large, top people on the original project, but we selected them mainly for their ability to consider new and competing concepts without compromising the integrity of the original."

"Selected them? Or shaped them?"

"I think you know the answer to that. It was all done subtly."

"Naturally."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"So we come to 28-L-Violet. What challenges does it hold?"

"Violet is prototype testing, for components, processes, new materials-"

"New? I was under the impression that the original was being-"

"The original, piece by piece, was the result of mathematical modeling and materials optimization. But nothing really compares to the field, so we've taken it upon ourselves -- by 'we' I mean Red, Amber, and Indigo, primarily -- to take a serious look at how the original did its job. If component number 9385 would be better as plasteel than as duraplast, for abrasion or tensile strength or any of a host of other concerns, we reexamine that."

"I'm told Violet Unit also includes some...employees of special purpose?"

"Minor Force-sensitives, yes. Akure Executive Leatherworks is part of the Silk Family of Companies, and they have quite a few alchemists. Nothing in the original nor the new product is alchemized, but there's nothing better than an alchemist for verifying materials compatibility and weeding out flaws. We've also prioritized Kiffar."

"Fascinating."

"We like to think so."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"And then of course there's 28-LX."

"X-ray?"

"Yeah. Good guess. I assume you're still guessing, and not..."

"My work has to do with other elements. Your thoughts are something close to sacrosanct, Selka. But go on -- tell me of X-ray Unit."

"28-LX handles...well, believe it or not, the legal issues. Not all of our target markets allow something like this to be sold. We've established that with the original. There's nothing on the market quite like this, and the configuration issues alone cause mountains of licensing and liability headaches. 28-LX has a staff of ten lawyers, forty paralegals, and eight reference droids. Every justification, loophole, sideslip -- feth, 28-LX even handles legislative influence, making good markets rather than finding or exploiting them."

"What nations have 28-LX's current focus?"

"The Republic, the Omega Protectorate, the worlds of the Levantine Sanctum, possibly even the Mandalorians -- they're apparently making tentative steps toward some kind of administrative cohesion. Our traditional trading partners."

"Not the Fringe?"

"The Fringe has been spending furiously for years. It can't afford Bond."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"The same goes for the Crusade, or close enough. They're not a priority customer for Bond, not yet anyway. Black Sun can't afford it in any substantive way, not enough to justify opening up that market. The One Sith have all the financial stability of a conquering horde, like an early Fringe. Their capital is bound up in other projects. The New Order has, of course, imploded."

"You considered selling to the Sith, Selka?"

"I make money. I have no love for the Sith or for the Jedi. It's just a matter of who can afford Bond, and who will be most irritated by sales -- that's a strategic concern, as RRDI found out to its detriment. The Republic has no love for those who sell to its enemies."

"What about this...Silver order?"

"Low-priority market, but getting higher the closer they get to the heart of the Tion Cluster. They'll never be able to really afford Bond, but they're close enough to our operations that letting them pick up the scraps isn't out of the question. They're right beside two major trade routes, and pretty much directly between here and the Sanctum, near the place where our core-line traffic branches off down the Mara. Do I relish the thought of the Silver Jedi with Bond on their side? Not especially, but regional security is a factor in our decision-making."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Selka?"

"Yes? Yeah?"

"What is the virtue of decoration?"

"Like, personal decoration? Or for a house? If you do it right, it'll make folk re -- it will garner respect."

"I thought we had straightened out those wrinkles. Excuse me a moment. Keep talking."

"Respect is currency. Appearance is a primary factor in others' willingness to do business and trust your word. Decoration is a tactical choice, or set of choices. Just like any tactical situation, some choices are more appropriate or more disastrous than others. The face you wear changes everything."

"Indeed it does. But more broadly, in the realm of merchandise, for example..."

"A contract with me is merchandise. But I'm not sure I can answer your question without both of us getting degrees in advertising. I...know, or think I know, how to run a corporation. Advertising? I have people for that."

"That's not quite it either. Forgive me my imprecision; I'm distracted. The original looks better than the competition. Why?"

"There is no competition."

"You know what I mean, Selka. Stop being obtuse. I'm busy."

"The original looks better than the competition because the competition was shaped to fit its target market. Shaped poorly, too. A little ingenuity..."

"Say what you will about them, their products saved my life on a few occasions."

"A lot of good it did you."

"Ahh, but Selka, some things are everlasting."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"You weren't."

"Don't make or let yourself believe you're speaking to someone else, Selka. I am to what I seem like as Bond is to the original, in at least a couple of senses."

"I understand about half of that and find it mildly disturbing, and I'm not quite sure why. Anyways -- in this case, appearance is necessary for exclusivity, same thing you asked me about in the first place, and for the same reasons. I firmly believe that'll hold true even when we change our target markets to accommodate Bond."

"I'm less certain, Selka."

"That's comforting. I like to think I'll have balance in the future. Self-examination, in a sense. But go on -- why are you less certain?"

"Because at that level of saturation, appearance will matter less and making the right technical choices will matter more, to a buyer's eye. Insecurity might result. Delays in purchase orders. Returns."

"Don't tell me you're becoming the voice of hesitation."

"I believe in the truth. Sometimes the truth is, an asset has become a liability. But this isn't my business."

"No."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"If this works, if I'm consolidated, what happens to you?"

"The same as the other one. You'll have stood in a canyon listening to echoes of greatness, and when echoes die you'll remember what you learned."

"Is that all you are, an echo?"

"I was meant to be more. An echo that swells rather than fades, perhaps. Those who shaped us had their means and ends in mind."

"How can an echo fix me?"

"That depends upon how you're broken. Or...fractured, fractured might be a better word. If I'm integral to the fracture, if I'm part of your wound-"

"The echo dies."

"Perhaps the echo is ready to be silent. But not, I think, today. Hold still, Selka. This may hurt somewhat."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Power's going to break me, friend."

"Power breaks everyone, Selka. It's most obvious in the pure-hearted."

"Good thing I'm not pure-hearted."

"I never said that the corrupt changed less..."

"But there's value in decoration."

"At the expense of substance?"

"Professionally? Never. Personally? I don't grant anyone the right to judge whether I'm of substance or not. And no, I didn't get that from you, or from the other."

"Multiple layers of defense, but not defensiveness. I may be nothing but an echo, Selka, but in my limited judgment, you're ideal."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Your judgment -- is it limited?"

"Selka, I'm a program designed to run on a supercomputer. You're a high-end desktop with serious upgrade potential, but on your hardware, I can't run to my full capabilities. No offense."

"What does that mean for whether you know what you're doing in my head?"

"I know what I'm doing. This is fascinating -- but yes, this is going fine. Your brain is healing itself, or being led to it, I'm no neurosurgeon-"

"But you know what you're doing."

"Yes, Selka, I know what I'm doing. If all goes well I should vanish in three, two, one-"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

-Can you move your legs?

-I'mtryingohgodsI'mtrying

-Don't try. Do, or do -- ahh, there we go.

-Don't quote Yoda to me.

-I wasn't. I was quoting every fifth-rate hackneyed instructor who ever told you the Force was weak with you. Your anger is what got you this clarity, and the use of your legs.

-I thought you didn't like the Dark Side, and I thought the Dark Side couldn't heal.

-You're better than Padawan dichotomies and pablum ethical projection. Snap out of that too, and we'll be in business. You weren't healed; you just woke up. Anger will tend to do that.

-Where did the other one go?

-Exactly where he wanted to. Are you ready to focus again?

-The research facility? 28-L?

-It's as good a focal point as any.

-Which one are you again?

-I'm the one that still exists.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

-What is this place?

-Medical bay. As far as any of them know, you've had a seizure.

-Where's Danger?

-[member="Danger Arceneau"] isn't far -- you think she'd leave you? Her mind is eighteen kinds of brooding hen. You're locked in as One Of Her Girls, and that's the best possible situation for you right now. Smile for the medical droid; he's about to scan you. Good. Now you'll be here for a while, and it's important that we get this out of the way before you get back to your life. Tell me about 28-L while I make sure that my esteemed predecessor, that tinkering amateur, didn't corrupt your brain stem by mistake.

-Where do I start? How much did you hear?

-An echo doesn't need to hear. All that matters is whether you need to shout.

-You have no idea.

-28-L, please.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

-28-L is a research facility designed to propagate a top-quality product at unprecedented levels. It's a feasibility lab charged with tackling the problem of making the exclusive accessible without sacrificing quality. It's a money sink, but that money's coming back when the cork pops and the lineup sings. It's a matter of taking what we do better than anyone and making it work for us -- aggressively.

-And do you like aggression?

-That's...an odd question.

-Not when you consider who I'm asking.

-Aggression can keep you alive. Beyond that...

-Notice what you feel, how you feel. Does it match your words?

-Should it?

-No need for shields with me; I'm inside your mind.

-For how long?

-Like my esteemed predecessor, the I is more temporary than the location.