That might be the droid I'm looking for.

[Loske Treicolt]

“Neither a debtor nor a lender be.” Loske recited, holding up a palm to face the droid-maker. A slight waggle manifested from her fingers. Payment plans made her uncomfortable, she was supremely forgetful in most day-to-day tasks that she couldn’t bear the idea of having to dispose her income in small sums every month for so long.

Plus it felt way more badass to just transfer the credits all at once. Even if that meant she had to dine in the dark for a month or two.

“I’ll just need the account number to send to, and I can patch it through; sum total. I don’t like payment plans, even with automatic deposits - I’m a bit of a forgetful sonofagun.

Oh! Which reminds me — if somehow my new droid buddy could help with appointment keeping? I mean, not that I have appointments a lot, but sometimes a girl has to go for a check up once in a while.”

She’d pulled out her data pad now, handing it toward [member="Kaili Talith"] to enter her account information - nothing sketchy. Just the number that the dollar signs needed to be assigned to.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“I can respect that.” Kaili agreed in both regards. “Payment plans is a way for people in my business to squeeze just a little extra out of their customers. Not saying I was trying that on you, but you know, it’s easier to have prices round up rather than down.”

Which wasn’t to mention the fact that a lot of the prices she charged were all based on the fact that living on Borleias had it’s ups and downs. The tiny little workshop Kaili had still cost her a smaller fortune. Mainly because in the end Borleias wasn’t exactly a place that people associated with droids and manufacturing as much as tropical beaches and a potential vacation spent amidst the sands. Couples looking for a top-class (or low-class, if they were so inclined) getaway.

“And, of course, I will add a calendar to your droid. Let him handle the small details of day-to-day.”

The kid grabbed the pad and dialed in the price. “Four-nine ninety-nine.”

Because people sometimes had that vague illusion that made them feel good about prices. The zeroes in five hundred didn’t sit as nice with people that saw a four-hundred-ninety-nine. Something with psychology, that one part Kaili had rather promptly discarded. Nonetheless it was a ‘trick’ she too liked to use.

“Well, we have our blueprints, we have our list of features...” Kaili handed the datapad back to her latest customer. “If there’s nothing more to add I think we’re just about done here, Mrs. Matson.”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Math was math, and it was something Loske could give or take at. Equations and numbers were just a necessity, far from a passion. She could understand that payment rollovers would squeeze out a few more credits here and there; and the small stuff is what really tended to add up over time.

“Loske,” The pilot quickly corrected. The title of miss and her last name was so unnecessary it almost made her cringe. A wry grin crept across pouted lips; humour adding a sparkle to blue eyes “Or Lieutenant if you feel really formal. That one I don’t mind.”

She took the data pad back, making a few skips with her fingers between applications. Tiny electronic beeps confirmed her touch as part of the UX, vibrations confirming the transfer.

“Do you have a time estimate? Just wondering how to best bide my time.”

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Right,” Kaili seemed amused at not wanting Kaili to use her customer’s surname. It was one of those things she did, but she could understand people having issues with it. Bad history behind it all, perhaps. Or maybe she was quite simply not a fan of honorifics and what-nots like that. “Loske.”

“I’d say there’s bound to be about two to three weeks until the droid is ready for pickup. With the parts getting cut off-world and shipped to my door...” The kid placed her index finger on her chin as she ran the math. “Yeah, maybe around two and a half week. I’ll send you a message when it’s all ready, in case your forget.”

Fingers drumming away at the counter Kaili looked around the shop. Maybe she should have worked on a cleaning droid on the side. Something to help her keep the place dust-free in order to prevent the blatant displays of unprofessionalism that quite literally lingered in the air and on all surfaces of the workshop. She stopped drumming and instead let a finger drag itself through the dust to doodle a small smiling face and grimaced.

If you could draw smileys on your workbench then you knew you had messed up Hygiene 101.

“I’ll try to get the workshop, and myself, in a more respectable state until then.” She chuckled. “Do you have any plans on how to make the time pass, or... ?”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Loske would assume that you couldn’t rush perfection. And you certainly can’t microwave it either (or so there was a poster above the auto-oven in the Alliance’s mess hall). The same seemingly went for [member="Kaili Talith"]’s building process, when she delivered the time estimate.

The young woman nodded, edging her weight forward into her tippy toes and rising up and down twice to stretch her calves.

“I wouldn’t mind parking on Borealis for a while. Flying in here pretty much took my breath away. I’ve never been to a planet as beach-y as this.” It was true - Loske spent a lot of her time in the stars. The most exotic place she’d been recently was Karfeddion.

Wild.

“I mean, I’m just on call until the klaxons go nuts for the GA.” Her pointer finger wound thick, blonde strands from her ponytail tightly around it as she idly glanced about the shop.
“Any sightseeing recommendations? I mean, other than the beach.” That was obvious. To get lost on the stretching shoreline was a definite to-do for the little pilot.

 

[Kaili Talith]

That was maybe the one point Kaili would feel no small amount of envy about. Space travel. Loske was well-versed with it (or so it would seem) whereas Kaili had grown to both fear and desire it. Space had been the reason for her crash, yet space was a great big unknown. Space was like a big playground where the only hard part was knowing who would destroy your sandcastle and who wouldn’t. Luckily, Loske seemed to fight for those who wouldn’t.

Kaili wouldn’t have worked with her if she didn’t.

“I know that there is a inexpensive hotel a few islands away that should prove affordable if you don’t have any other place to stay.” As much as Kaili was keen on meeting new people, she wasn’t that keen on meeting new people. Except that one person who made the rule. “Other than that? Well, there’s the beaches.” Kaili grinned. “Or the local restaurants. We have some amazing local cuisine.”

“... Just ask them to tone down the pineapple a bit. They’re quite generous like that.”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

A few islands away? Loske nodded slowly, stretching out the logistics in her head. She didn’t expect [member="Kaili Talith"] to offer her room and board in addition to creating her new BFF droid.

“Beaches or restaurants? Sounds like I’ll have time for both.” Loske observed, eyes beginning to drift around the shop. She wanted to linger and chat - she had an innate desire for conversation, for kindling relationships and belonging. She didn’t have the benefit of an overflowing amount of family so she wanted to fill that space with the family she could choose herself.

Eyes locked on something that was probably not for her to touch, but insatiable as her curiosity was, she did.

“Is this the kind of information you typically need before getting started?” Loske asked, poking at a rough design that seemed like a blueprint. For good measure, she held it up with an apologetic expression “Sorry for not being so prep—“ light eyes gaped slightly, comprehending the sketched outline of what it was she was holding.

A custom escort droid! She blinked heavily -- a wry, and confused grin sprawling across her lips.

“Time out. Is this why you don’t do Weapon-bots?”

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili began to finalize her own paperwork. Loske was permitted to roam the shop for a bit and take in the sights. Kaili didn’t really think much of it, most customers tended to linger and waltz around the shop during that ever so brief moment before they had to go away for a week or two. As such, Kaili remained hunched over her counter while thumbing away on her datapad. The question caught her off-guard. Kaili lifted her head up, perking her brows and let her mouth set itself agape in preparation to answer whatever it was Loske had to ask.

Only once Kaili saw what it was Loske held in her hands there was nothing that she could say. Her face started to burn, turn red. A hand moved up to cover her mouth. With each finger curling itself into the palm of her hand Kaili held back the awkward cough forcing its way through her throat and lungs.

This was so not why she didn’t do weapon-bots.

“N-no.” Kaili stammered. “It’s not mine! I mean, it kinda is, but it’s not, but-... Look, there’s this woman who-...”

Eyes strayed to the side. Kaili cleared her throat and gave it another shot.

“It’s not my design! It was given to me by another customer who-...” Kaili scratched the back of her neck. “Well, they have problems with, errr... Certain private things.” Read: In-Bed Marital Issues. “And this... Person, keeps asking me to, uh, erm... You know.”

“... Help them.”

“I swear, it’s not mine. I would never.”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Arms extended as she marveled at the design of the blue prints, duo of blonde above her eyes raised quite angularity with suspicion and humour. She rotated the image to the right and left slightly, peeking over the frame at the flustered architect.

Even if she believed the stammering girl, the pilot would never let on. Her expression was dubious at best, one brow arched severely. Instead of shutting [member="Kaili Talith"]'s claims down, she asked another query:

"Have you built it yet?"

 

[Kaili Talith]

“W-what?! No!” Kaili blushed. Her voice lowered into a whisper. “... Not all of it.”

A hand went up to sweep away loose strands of hair behind the girl’s ear. She hadn’t exactly had a need for building it, the couple had already swung by the workshop with the escort droid under the cover of a blanket. Or well, several, but the details hardly mattered. After all, the point was that owning an escort droid was about as prestigious as any other fetish. Yes, you could have it, but in the end it was probably best to keep quiet about it.

Very, very quiet about it.

Nonetheless, Kaili sighed in defeat and waved for Loske to follow her. They passed along a wide array of robots until eventually they came to a stop by a gold-plated droid. The design was smoother than usual, something to make it slide better, no doubt.

Kaili shuddered at the thought as she turned on the lights above it.

“They wanted me to fix it, the uhh...” Kaili circled her finger in a motion towards the pelvis. “It’s broken, they almost had a bloody accident with it.”

“Makes me wonder if it is a good idea or not, you know? Don't want them to get hurt... Yet, it's really gross too.”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Her single blonde brow never lost its accusatory arch all the while [member="Kaili Talith"] continued to explain. "Not all of it?" Loske repeated "Only the good parts?" She giggled slightly, unable to restrain herself from the ridiculousness of the situation. She was indeed quite proud of her discovery -- especially since it's not like she had to really snoop to find it. She happily obliged when Kailie physically acquiesced, the girl's insatiable curiosity elevating its original peak. All the while, her gaze was wide-eyed and digesting the information she passed. The place was a little creepy, if you stopped to think about it. All these half-alive creations waiting for a single activation cue and who knows what would happen then.

Her imagination was getting the better of her - and Loske suppressed a shudder.

Oh look.

The embarrassment had its own light show.

"Oh wow," Loske murmured, finger tapping her lower lip at the dilemma the youngest Talith faced. "That's a sticky situation indeed." Pun really not intended. She shrugged "Gross.

Whelp. I'd assume its like any of your products - and how much responsibility you retain for their performance once you leave the shop.

Though...I feel like the quality assurance on this is...uh. Non-existent."

 

[Kaili Talith]

It was warm in the workshop all of a sudden. Kaili let a finger tug at the collar of her top to let the air in. Maybe it could make the embarrassment fade away as well? It was doubtful, but it didn’t mean she would refrain from doing it just once, but twice. It was a sticky dilemma to be sure, and one Kaili wasn’t quite sure she’d want to consider the effect of. If she helped the one couple, who wasn’t to say several others would follow suit? That alone was a thing to consider. Did Kaili really want to become known as that type of fixer? Something told her she didn’t.

“Oh yes it is.” Kaili perked her brows before she realised the potential implications. Her hands waved in front of her, eyes opened as wide as ever. “Th-the quality assurance I mean! Non-existent!”

The kid cleared her throat. “I am not touching that myself, but at the same time... You know.”

“... It’s just a lot of trouble for little reward.” She dragged a hand through her hair again. Cleared her throat and rubbed at her neck. “I might just, uh, say no. It’s not worth it, they just kind of... Shoved it at me.”

“N-not like that! They just... Forced it into my shop and told me to fix it and that the money would be good.” Kaili looked at Loske. “But heck, no money is worth... This. Is it?”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

"I dunno, doesn't look like a little reward." Loske shrugged, her loopy grin never leaving her pouted lips. This [member="Kaili Talith"] seemed to have one heck of a conscience.

"Niche news travel fast -- and to interested ears. You fix this, and suddenly that's all you'll be fixing." Of course, the blonde had no idea if that was true or not, but it seemed plausible enough. She could hardly contain a snicker of delight. The pair were like two school girls who had discovered something saucy and were on the verge of poking it with a stick, giggling back and forth and being wholly abashed by the whole scenario.

"When in doubt, there is no doubt." The girl nodded sagely, adding to her hullabaloo sentence from before. Although - that sentence was one that she had picked up during her piloting training, so it wasn't completely out of an inexperienced field.

"If you really need the money - What you could do is fix it, eyes closed if you must, and when they ask how you did it, explain you called in a favour from a friend. One time thing - you honestly don't know how it happened."

 

[Kaili Talith]

Yeah, consciences, not many people seemed to have them these days. Every other person you came across was in one way or another dedicated to the many star wars across the galaxy, hellbent on getting themselves killed or worse. If Kaili could be one of the unspoken heroes, the ones that made the galaxy go round and function properly without getting into the wars, then she would do so with a smile on her lips. A woman of peace, that was what she liked to think of herself of.

A woman of peace and doubtful marital issues resolver.

“Close my eyes, really?” Kaili grinned back at Loske. “I might just give them the address to someone else and pray to the force that they go there. But until then…” She set her attention on the droid. Something seemed to spark in her eyes. “So this is going to sound crazy, but…”

“We’re totally turning it on.” She said as she practically pounced the ‘On’ button. This was a horrible idea, but Kaili had to know, part of her demanded it. The switch was flicked and...

[ Greetings. I am Dic- ] The droid’s voice turned to static. [ I am designed to plea- ] More static. [ Warning. System malfunc- ] Yet even more static. The droid started to shake violently. Plates started falling off and it was obvious that something was indeed very wrong with it.

“Okay, that’s enough.” Kaili reached over to turn it off, only the switch didn’t work. She flicked it back and forth with little-to-no success. “Oh that’s bad.”

The shaking turned into a full-blown spazm. The droid jumped all over to the place and Kaili couldn’t help but grow more and more afraid of what could happen next. Would it explode? She hoped not.

No. It would just… Go limp. Collapse in full as if the off-switch had finally gone through. Legs dangled from the top of the counter it had been seated upon. Kaili lowered her hands to stop covering her face. Eyes strayed back and forth between Loske and the droid.

“Do you think it’s-” Kaili began, only to find herself interrupted by a loud bang. Something loosened from the droid’s pelvis and thwacked her at the corner of her eye. “Fark!” The girl exclaimed in surprise, also pain, as her hand moved up to rub at the center of impact. “What was that?!”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

"We are?" Loske barely had time to question before [member="Kaili Talith"] brandished the activating finger and gave the sensitive 'On' a push. It whirred to life and she had to bite her bottom lip as her eyes widened in excitement. The ends of her lips curled upward into a devilish point while the droid stammered to speak.

"Dic.....k?" She continued to question, coaxing the creation to finish. When the droid indicated it would not be cooperating anytime soon, seizing and flicking around uncontrollably, the skinny pilot squealed with delighted trepidation, an uncontrollable giggle pushing forward and bubbling out of her lips as she leaned against the nearest table to support herself from tumbling over in her laughter. Heck, even a palm slapped her thigh! Truly outrageous, this was. Unconceivable.

"Oh man." Loske wheezed between snickers, both hands flying up to tent over her mouth in surprise when a metallic retribution flung at the other light-haired girl's face. "Oh my stars," she gasped, tucking her lips together to keep from laughing at the amused way the injury manifested. To distract herself, she dropped to a crouch to reach for the stray piece of metal, but instantly retracted her hand as she reached.

That belly laughter threatened to rumble, but instead manifested as clenches in her abdomen and tight giggles. She stood, poking the stray pelvic accessory with her toe and nudging it toward the youngest Talith.

Eyebrows wiggling like disco-fevered caterpillars, Loske leveraged the metallic piece beneath her toe, leaning her hand against the lip of the desk and stretching her leg toward Kaili, keeping the appendage balanced on the top of her foot delicately.

"I think there's a term for what just happened to your face."

 

[Kaili Talith]

A terrified stare set over Kaili as a queasy grimace tried to force her lips apart. She kept her hand against the wall to stop herself from falling over and let off a hollow stare at the ground. She saw it. She saw the object before Loske’s feet and in an instant it all became far too real. Far too obvious. Kaili had just been slapped across the face by an artificial ‘watering hose’ and with it all pretensions of fix this thing had gone out the window. This was the closest the young girl had ever gotten to one of those things, no matter what certain others would like to believe. She felt violated, mortified. A limit had been reached.

“I am not touching that.” Kaili said as she extended her hand towards the cyber-snake to let the force carry it over to its ‘owner.’ “This is humiliating.”

The blank stare didn’t let up. Kaili was still in a state of shock.

“I just got hit-” She started with a distinct tremble to her voice. “-by a robot reproductive organ.”

The kid let her entire body shiver in the hopes of shaking it off but it didn’t work. She still felt somewhat dirty. Dumb even.

“I am NOT fixing that thing. Nuh uh. No way. They are on their own.” Kaili finally broke her staring competition against the floor and let her eyes set on Loske. “That’s just fair, right?”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Loske watched curiously as an invisible hand reached out to levitate the extension. She'd only witnessed The Force once, on Karfeddion, and it had not been pleasant. She had passed out from something the Sith Lord Centurion had done to her, and it was just a horrifying experience altogether. A shudder raced down her spine at the inkling of reflection. In fact, she may have just flinched in reality when [member="Kaili Talith"] finally set the object down.

Far, far away from them.

When the youth asked Loske to be her confirming moral compass, she had to shrug. "As long as they know ahead of time, and don't show up expecting their help-a-hump to be all tickity boo and ready to go. That'd be disappointing -- even if you tell them about.." her index finger circled about pointing between the droid and the trajectory it had taken to Kaili's forehead. "This story.


Is the couple local?" If so, Loske could happily hitch it to something and deliver it back - or do any errand running. Afterall, she had two to three weeks to kill on Borealis! Or...anywhere before Frank was in her clutches.

 

[Kaili Talith]

In a sense the trade secret was out, but Kaili had never really made any efforts at hiding them in the first place. The force was one hundred percent of the reason she had a business still and it was another fifty percent of the things that defined who she was. The other fifty was an even split between what she had learned at the Levantine Astronautical Academy and her brother. The force, medicine and harsh fights on the beach to vent out any and all frustrations that Kaili felt. That was her thing, her hot-tempered nature, not something that a ‘real’ jedi would have. Which perhaps was also why she didn’t really refer to herself as such either. She didn’t use any label, Kaili Talith was enough of a label for her.

“Yeah, they live a few islands across.” She nodded at Loske’s question. “They have their own island, sorta. They’re close friends of my psychologist.” Half-truth. Relatives to Psychologist. “Why? You want to visit them?”

Kaili grinned at Loske, the very same grin that her brother used to put on every now and then.

“In any case, yeah, I think I am going to turn them down. I am not comfortable in the slightest with this.”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Loske was woefully familiar to that curl of the lips that echoed the humour of words. Her own mouth tightened in a bemused line for response. But wait, psychologist? Didn't Jedi consult holocrons or something if they had issues? The Talith had said that so casually, it was as if it were a common nugget of knowledge - when in reality, Loske had never heard anyone say anything about a psychologist before.

Immediately squashing any implications, the girl shook her ponytail at [member="Kaili Talith"].

"I've got a few weeks to kill while you make my new friend - I could drop it off for you. Unless you want to see them again -- and have that own conversation." She shrugged "Figure they can't shoot the messenger. Hey, are you going to have to explain that lump to your psychologist? Because I want to hear your version of that story."

 

[Kaili Talith]

Well, that much was true, Loske had a few weeks to kill on Borleias. Kaili walked over to the counter and opened one of the nearby drawers to withdraw a small book. A finger swept through the pages until eventually she came to a halt. A firm hand grabbed the top of the small page before she violently tore it out of the collection. Shaky hand extended itself towards Loske.

“It’s their address, I would much rather not talk to them as of now.” Being dashed by a robotic phallus had a tendency to do that with people. “Tell them that I am sorry.”

Hands brushed against her arms as she shuddered from the memories.

“I’ll tell Mrs. Bebo that I fell and hit the side of my head on a counter again.” It had already happened before, except under more ‘exciting’ circumstances. Most likely that was what she would assume to be the cause again. A lazy hand waved in front of Kaili. “It’s a long story.” Involving the woman that Kaili had fallen for, go figure the rest. “Trust me, for the sake of not seeming like too much of a clutz, I’ll just keep that one to myself.”

The Talith grin spread on Kaili’s features for a few seconds before she wiped it off in exchange for as smile that was just a little less mischievous.

“Thanks for the help, though. For real. You’re doing me a real solid.”

[member="Loske Matson"]