Private That Wasn't In The Blueprint...

[Saul Whesai]

Location: Si Tech Headquarters, Design Division

No... The thrusters would be optimized there... Saul was hunched over his workdesk in Si Tech's design department, scribbling out design plans on sheets of blue design paper. By the amount of crumpled-up balls in the waist basket, it wasn't going very well... Most of his co-workers had already headed home, but his designer mind forced him to drink the midnight oil and try to work out the problems in this new design. As he was tasked with aiding a new project to create a mining vessel, the android did his best to keep up with his active responsibilities. This wasn't something the spacer was used to, and his yearning for the stars was distracting him from his work and making his mind drift. Needless to say, lining everything up just right on a spacecraft design wasn't working out like he hoped.

Scooting his workchair back, Saul rubbed over his eyes, trying his best to wake up and force himself to get this full draft done. That at this rate, he would meet his deadline by the Rancor's gained sentience... Getting up, he left his cubicle as the lights automatically dimmed, showing how late it really was. Hoping a shot of caf would be enough to raise his spirits, he dragged his body over to the coffee machine and made a cup for himself. "Ah... the juice of life..." If only this cup of coffee could prepare him for who he was about to meet.

Andrew Lonek

 

[Andrew Lonek]

The cruiser hummed beneath him like a silk-threaded engine of ambition. Outside the tinted windows, the Si Tech building loomed ahead—modular, practical, and tragically unsexy. Not that it mattered. That was the kind of place that birthed the future. Ugly from the outside, brilliant on the inside. Like half the engineers he hired.

Andrew Lonek leaned back in his leather seat, sliding his shades on with a practiced flick. The LTI stretch limo, polished obsidian with neural-routed damping and auto-stabilized suspension, hissed to a perfect stop in front of the headquarters. No need for valet. The cruiser was the valet.

The door lifted open, and a soft night breeze kissed the cologne at his collarbone. He pivoted, half-standing in the doorway, casting a glance back toward the interior.

Three women—model-tier, all charming in their own uniquely brilliant way—were reclined inside, laughter still dripping from the conversation they'd shared. He flashed his signature grin.

"Don't wait up. Unless you plan to reboot me manually."

They giggled. One blew him a kiss. Another rolled her eyes and said, "You're impossible."

"I get that a lot," Andrew replied with a wink, then turned and stepped out.

Boots clicked on the ferrocrete. He adjusted his jacket—tailored, of course—then glanced at his reflection in the building's glass. Still sharp. Still lethal. Time to talk contracts.

He strode through the automated doors with the relaxed confidence of someone who already knew he was going to own half the room—and possibly the room itself. The lobby lighting flickered faintly as the building's after-hours mode kicked in.

Dead quiet. No receptionist. No security drone. No hum of an active company except the flicker of overhead fluorescents and the faint smell of old caf.

Perfect.

His shoes echoed as he walked through the corridors—polished, sleek, very by-the-book corporate. Eventually, a soft sound caught his ear: the hiss of a caf machine, somewhere near the design wing.

He turned the corner and spotted him—one guy, slouched by a caf dispenser like he was surviving the apocalypse with nothing but bean juice and stubborn resolve.

Andrew smirked to himself. Of course. There's always one.

He walked up casually, shades still on despite the lighting.

"Well, would you look at that—Si Tech's finest still in the trenches."

He removed his shades with a smooth motion, letting his eyes adjust to the sterile lighting.

"Andrew Lonek," he said with a half-smile, offering a handshake like it was a gift. "Lonek Tech Industries. Robotics, defense, and some other classified goodies."

He glanced around the empty workspace.

"I'm here to talk about a contract with your R&D. But judging by the ghost town vibe, I'm guessing your co-workers cashed out before the second moon rose."

He tilted his head at the lone designer.

"So what's your deal, midnight mechanic? Janitor, or the genius scribbling flight paths and thrust vectors on napkins?"

He smiled.

"Or both?"

Tag: Saul Whesai

 

[Saul Whesai]

Ah caf... It was the thing that galaxy running. Saul was in the process of taking a sip when he heard the voice from the entrance, making him almost choke on his coffee. I need to get used to people more. Setting the coffee mug with a decal saying "It's not a design flaw, it's an unexpected feature." written over its face down on one of the free tables, and looking at the man who looked like he came out of one of those spy action flicks. Needless to say, Andrew had caught the young man off guard.

Dressed in a loose-fitting hoodie with the YT-1300's design over it that covered his wiry body, purple hair, and ripped jeans that were showing their wear, Saul wasn't looking anywhere near as flashy as Andrew was. Then again, he probably couldn't pull off Andrew's look even if he tried. That suit that he wore might fall right off his scrawny figure, and his bright jacket would contrast with Saul's pale, almost ghostlike face too much. Still, it would be best to put his face forward. The last thing he needed was to take the fall for the company losing a contract.

His blue neon eyes flickering with uncertainty as he took the brash executive's hand, he gave it a loose shake. "Something like that... I don't know if I'm anything special, just another cog in the machine, Mr Lonek. I'm new to corporate life... Management's trying me out in the Design department and seeing how I do." Saul pulled away his hand and hesitated for a moment, thinking if anyone from management was here in the building who could help this executive with what he needed. "Some of the bean counters in accounting stay late some nights, maybe they can help you with what you need." It was clear that the Android wasn't used to talking to people of Andrew's station and was trying his best to talk on the fly. But the way the Executive was looking him over, it didn't seem like he was leaving anytime soon.

Andrew Lonek

 

[Andrew Lonek]

Andrew caught the stumble—the almost-spit-take—with a smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth. He watched as the kid recovered, setting down a mug that proudly declared "It's not a design flaw, it's an unexpected feature." That earned a silent chuckle from him.

Then he got the full visual. Hoodie. Frayed jeans. Purple hair. Pale skin practically glowing under the flickering lights. And those neon-blue eyes… artificial, but expressive—raw. Most suits would've written Saul off immediately as underdressed, underfed, and underqualified.

Andrew Lonek wasn't most suits.

He shook Saul's hand, noting the light grip and the hesitation—not fear, but the kind of social glitch you get from someone more comfortable with data streams than small talk. The handshake was functional, uncertain.

"Just a cog, huh?" Andrew tilted his head, letting the comment hang there with an amused hum. "Well, Saul-the-cog, I hate to break it to you, but you're leaking creativity all over the floor."

His eyes drifted briefly to the design plans on the side table—the ones that hadn't made it to the trash bin yet. His fingers hovered over one of them for a second.

"Mining vessel? That your handiwork?"

He didn't wait for an answer before giving a small nod of appreciation.

"You're close. Your thruster placement's fighting the mass ratio on the back end, but the hull taper? Efficient. Smart. You're designing like someone who's flown before, not just someone who's read about it in a manual."

Then Andrew's gaze narrowed slightly, more curious now. Not judgmental—interested. His tone shifted just a bit, low and knowing.

"And those eyes… That gait... You're enhanced. Android-class, but not off the assembly line. Custom?"

He leaned in slightly, almost like he was admiring a rare piece of tech in a museum. Then he gave a half-shrug, chuckling to himself.

"I built one myself, you know. C.E.R.A. Synthetic intelligence frame. Started as a Recon Assistant, ended up rewriting half her own protocols before I could stop her. Little too good at learning."

He paused, smiling in memory—or was that a flicker of concern? Then he turned the full intensity of his attention back to Saul.

"But you… You're different. Not just built. You've lived."
"What's your designation?" he asked, not mockingly—genuinely curious. "Or do you go by Saul and leave the serial number in the dark like the rest of us?"

There was something magnetic about Andrew's presence—like a black hole wrapped in charm and high-thread-count linen. And now that he was interested, it was clear:

He wasn't going anywhere just yet.

 

[Saul Whesai]

Saul didn't know what to make of Andrew yet, as the playboy brushed past him to see what the cyborg had drawn up. The President was certainly flashy, Saul could say for certain. Trying his best to look horrified as the President looked and judged over his work, he could only hope it was up to snuff. None of his managers had seen his new designs yet, and so he was going into this as blind as a bat. He could only hope. "leaking creativity" was another way to say "You're alright, Kid."

As Andrew checked over his work, Saul tried to take mental notes as he explained what he was trying to achieve. "I want a mining ship like the Y-8 that's able to haul containers of ore like a container transport back to its home station for distribution. Either in a puller configuration or..." He pointed to a picture over his workstation of a customized YT lookalike hauling containers from the front. "I add tractor mandibles and make it a pusher.

Looking sheepish as he shrugged off the President's compliments, Saul was surprised that his work was halfway decent. Maybe all that work fixing ships meant he was halfway qualified to build one. Still, he was proud of his work and prouder yet that someone besides his boss said that he belonged in this community. As you can see, it's early days yet. Some of the more experienced designers will probably be assigned to this project once I'm finished with the first draft to finish it off. I appreciate you looking it over, though."

He was about to point out the shield and hull specs, crew safety features, and escape pod placements when he noticed Andrew looking him over with a look that sent a shiver down his spine. It was one that he knew too well. Next came the questions that he had been expecting: what had he been built for, his designation number... Atleast there wasn't a look of contempt in the man's eyes as he said it; that was a plus. Pushing out a sigh and rubbing his electronic peepers, Saul started trying to answer slowly so his own head wouldn't explode. "I... Let's just say I'm more of a cyborg whose creation probably would break a GA law or two... or a dozen... If you want to know more about me, I don't mind telling you, but... let's just say it brings back bad memories... Hell, I don't even know what I am, not fully anyway." It was clear there was more to the story than that, but that was all Saul was going to give up to a complete stranger for now, even if the line of questioning wasn't hostile in nature. He had tried to be looked at like a normal human, even though he was bad at it, he should at least try to get the respect of one. It was also clear that the miniature disco ball that Andrew was wasn;t going to stop till he heard something believable. "Best case, I was created by one of the corpo executives on Denon to be a testbed for making a new model of combat replica droid to be among the population as a spy and break down anti-corpo movements before they started. Worst case is the executives wanted all that, and they wanted me as an obedient joy toy on the side. You take your best guess on what they wanted." Saul clearly didn't want to even try to think about the topic, his pale face getting even paler. After a long pause, He tried to change the direction to something more... amicable... "What's your contract for by the way?"


Andrew Lonek

 

[Andrew Lonek]

Andrew's usual smirk softened as he listened to Saul wrestle with his past. He leaned back against the edge of the drafting table, folding his arms in a more relaxed stance.

"Hey, look," he said quietly, voice dropping from its teasing lilt, "I've seen worse origins than corporate black ops and pleasure prototypes. Makes you more interesting than the standard issue—might even give you an edge."

He studied Saul's neon eyes for a moment, then nodded toward the scattered schematics.

"Before we both get haunted by ghosts of Denon boardrooms, I've got a question for you: have you ever heard whispers of rogue programs from rival outfits? I'm talking back‑door AIs, self‑modifying subroutines—anything built to go off‑script. I've got a contract that needs defending against exactly that."

Andrew snapped his fingers, and a small holo‑projector blinked to life beside the table, casting a translucent schematic of a mining freighter hull.

"I'm here on behalf of Lonek Tech Industries to propose integrating our adaptive defense matrix and AI‑guided drone swarms into your mining vessel design. Think of it as a way to keep your ship—and your crew—safe from piracy, corporate espionage, even sabotage by those bottom‑feeder programmers. If any rogue code's running loose, we want to know before it takes a bite out of ROI… or, worse, you."

He offered Saul a genuine half‑smile.

"So, what've you heard on the wire? Anything creepy crawling through the codebases of Corellian or Czerka research labs lately?"

 

[Saul Whesai]

Saul flashed a half smile as he glanced back at the ROI's president, glad his looks didn't deter the man from talking to him. It was nice having someone take an interest in him, even if this talk was for their own benefit. "I don't know about having an edge, but thanks, I needed that." He did cock an eyebrow, though, at Andrew's asking if he had heard about any rogue programs mucking about. How does he know I'm a slicer? I never even mentioned it... Maybe Andrew had more on him than it first appeared... The thought of someone sending his goons to monitor him as a target gave the android the shivers, but for now, it was all just what-ifs. And he couldn't operate on what-ifs.

Trying to calm his beating heart, Saul tried his best to answer the well-dressed man's questions as best he could. "As far as I know, what's left of Czerka is more interested in selling guns to Imperials than making viruses. The same goes for the Corellians with their shipbuilding. But I've been away from the scene for awhile so I wouldn't know much. It's the independent operators that have too much time on their hands and enjoy cracking people's systems too much and things no one expects to come alive in the code that you have to look out for." Someone like himself was included in that last line. Giving a snaggle tooth smile as he looked at the holo of his ship before reached out with a robotic hand for a handshake, he continued on to say. "But planning for the unexpected is always a good thing.

I look forward to working with you. If we get the chance, that is." Gesturing around the room, it would become apart there were more empty desks than lived in ones. "The rumor is the higher-ups are scared of the Sith Fleets that roam in the darkness will hit the planet. They are slowly starting to cashier those who they can and have started to move the important projects off Coruasant towards friendlier space. If I had to guess, probably the New Territories but who knows." It was an open fact that the GA's hold on what they had was becoming unstable, and there was more pressure on it than ever before from other new powers in the galaxy. While still having a lot of power and influence, the Government had become a dying duck in the ever changing galaxy. "Still, if not through Si Tech, I'm sure we could come up with a private deal that works for both of us." All Saul hoped is that if they did, he wouldn't get burned.

Andrew Lonek