The Listener

[Kaili Talith]

The girl took a deep breath and shook her hands back and forth from the nerves. Micah had told her she was overthinking it, and by all regards she most likely was. It wasn’t exactly the easiest of topics to discuss, but it had to be discussed nonetheless. A comm message had already been sent to [member="Soliael Devin Talith"] warning him about his daughter’s arrival. Really, it had barely been a few hours since she had been at the house yet she was already back again. This time to talk to her father rather than distracting her mother as Micah stole food from them both. Though there was no doubt he was already aware of this, Kira had made Kaili very aware that she knew what her daughter had been trying to do.

Being home was always a nice change of scenery. Between the workshop and the apartment that connected to it Kaili had seen very little of the actual world or galaxy since isolating herself. In many regards it would be seen as an escape from reality, and in just as many regards it wasn’t a lie. Though it would be hard to do it, she had promised her brother to get better and to stop picking stagnation over progress. The days during which Kaili Talith lived in solitude at home would soon be a distant memory and in it she would rise, like a phoenix. Hopefully.

She made her way past her childhood room, rounded the corner and proceeded to enter the living room.

“Fath-...” She paused and reconsidered her tone. He was a family member, not a client. Acting casual was just fine. “Dad!” She cried out. “I’m here, where are you?”

The kid grabbed a fruit from a nearby bowl and raised it in front of her to take a bite only to realise that she wasn’t all that hungry after all. It was hard to, it wasn’t all that long ago since she had eaten with Micah. She placed it back in the bowl again and wandered into the kitchen. Nope, no father there either.

“Dad?” She called out again.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Soliael was standing in the garage, well, more like he was rummaging.

There was still a lot to do before he and Kira could leave on their trip, and while the good people at Kuat Drive Yards were preparing The Freya for an extra-galactic jump about Soliael was preparing exactly what they would be taking. That meant equipment. Recon droids, Servo's, extra parts for hyperdrives, half a dozen different kind of batteries, and of course certain things that they'd need as the trip dragged on. He let out a curse as something fell off a cluttered shelf.

"Frak." He said quietly to himself as he heard Kaili call out.

The former false god frowned slightly, turning for a moment so that he could try to figure out exactly who'd said his name. Eventually he settled on the fact that it was the youngest of his children and called back to her. "I'm in the garage."

If one could call it that.

Their house was located on a remote island in the central part of Borleias, the garage had never contained a speeder or any other sort of vehicle so in reality the place was more like a giant storage shed for whatever Soliael was working on at the time. In one corner there was half a dozen different woodworking projects, in another were several mechanical pieces, and still in another was an odd assortment of what looked like tiny carved statues.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Frak.” That sounded like it came from the garage...

“I’m in the garage!” Yep, definitely the garage.

Kaili turned on her heel and set off through the living room, taking the fruit with her just in case she felt a craving for it later. Really, it was her own parents’ fault for buying good produce, how was Kaili to blame for falling to temptation? That was hardly fair, if anything they had most likely bought the fruit because they knew they looked good. The girl looked at the muja in her hand and then at her stomach. The pheasant was still there, she was still on the recovery from stuffing herself yet regardless of all that the girl decided to take a bite out of the fruit. The juices flowed, squished and swirled around her jaw like an ocean of flavor.

Oh yes, no doubt about it, they had bought these fruits for a reason.

She entered the garage and wiped the excess juice from the corner of her lips. A deep breath filled her lungs with air and for a moment she was content with just watching her father work around the workshop-slash-dojo-slash-anything-other-than-a-garage. She had spent many days and nights here as she practiced her skills, honed them beyond that of the average Joe. Not that Mechu Deru was a frequent sight around the galaxy to begin with, but she was very much willing to call herself quite adept at it. Actually, she was willing to call herself more than just adept at it but humility had a time and place. More often than not she had found out that when it came to these things ‘pride goes before the fall’ was more than just a saying. Micah had been quite keen on showing her that; repeatedly, just as much as she had been more than willing to show him the taste of sand.

Fond memories that.

“Hi, dad.” The kid greeted her father. Her eyebrow perked in curiosity as she watched the man waltz around the room seemingly looking for something. “What are you up to? Building something cool?”

Kaili threw a quick glance around the room. “... Got time to talk?”

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"Always time to talk." Soliael said as he pulled free a small datacron from a stack of what appeared to be a bunch of random metal ores. Why it had been located there or why he needed it Soliael didn't mention, but he brushed the small cube off for a moment and inspected it, looking at the slight twinkling glow that seemed to emanate it. After a moment he gave a self satisfied nod and then regarded his youngest daughter with a slight smile.

"What do you need Kiddo?" He asked as he placed the datacron on the table.

He would tell her eventually that Kira and he were leaving Borleias for a time, but that hardly seemed pressing at the moment. For Soliael distance was never really an issue, even on a galactic scale. If there was a problem he could always come back, even if he was in another galaxy. He imagined that it wouldn't be too different, especially not with the ring that still sat on his finger.

No, Soliael didn't worry.

The former False god continued to work on whatever it was he was actually working on, gathering metal pieces and small items that seemed to be nothing more then trinkets. Yet while he did that it was clear his attention was focused almost entirely on Kaili, not the gathering of materials.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“It’s uh, awkward.” Kaili began as her teeth gritted and stomach knotted. “But uh, I… Might have made a mistake. A really big one.”

The girl took a seat on top of a nearby table. Her hand instinctively reached for a hydrospanner that she proceeded to tilt up and down repeatedly between both her index fingers. Her eyes followed her father around the shop as if probing for a reaction. To say it was a mistake was a bit of an understatement, but at the same time it was hard to determine whether to think of it as a gift or a curse. Obviously there was the moral questions as well as the conscience that ate away at her, yet at the same time she had come to understand things that normally would have taken her years of study to grasp.

“It’s about Rave.” She said as her voice began to crack much like the calm facade she kept. “Rave Merrill.”

“... And the basic understanding of how Technobeasts and their accompanying virus was made.” Kaili was not one to beat around the bush most of the time. Everyone who knew her would know that. Needless to say, this was one of the few times in which she did. “... And how that might be floating around in my brain right now.”

“... And I don’t know what to do.”

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

He paused for a moment, his eyebrow slowly raising. He had heard of Rave Merrill before, vaguely. Some witch that ran around touting the creation of artifacts. He knew that Micah used some products by the woman's company, but aside from that he'd never even considered her. The former False God frowned for a moment, shifting his weight and slowly putting down the datacron that he had been holding. "Ah."

Soliael finally said.

Well, that was certainly an interesting tidbit. Of course, he himself knew quite a bit about technobeasts. It was some three decades ago that he had originally retrieved the method of crafting them. He'd been one of the first in his century to actually rediscover the method and had eventually twisted the Technovirus into something entirely different. That action had created a...unique circumstance in life, one that had eventually been brought to an end by Kaili's mother.

"Well first of all." He said leaning back against the table. "Don't tell your mother."

That was truly the first order of business. If his children went running to their mother every time something mildly Darkside related happened then she wouldn't let any of them leave home again and he would never heard the end of it. "Second, what do you actually know?"

The technovirus was a strange thing.

Soliael himself had used it to change entire species, three actually. Humanity, The Resu, and the guards he had crafted. They had all been different, all had their strengths, and all had been born of the same virus. There was of course also what he had done to himself with the Technovirus, but that...that was something almost different. He doubted that Kaili knew that much, for if she did their conversation would likely be entirely different.

 

[Kaili Talith]

An eyebrow was perked in mirror of her what her father had given her. That was the first time she had ever been told to keep something from her mother. The concept of that particular line of thought felt alien to her almost. She told her mother everything, to not tell her about this particular event would prove hard (if not impossible) considering exactly who her mother was. Earlier that day both Kaili and Micah had tried to keep her occupied to steal food and failed. She knew that. She always knew and with time she would know about what went on through Kaili’s mind as well whether her daughter had wanted her to or not. That was the strength of their family bonds, the reason they stuck together. To ask Kaili to keep a secret from her was odd to say the least.

Yet nonetheless…

“Okay.” Kaili slowly nodded as her eyebrow remained quizzical amid the bangs of her hair. “Uh, right, that’s the thing…”

Kaili’s nod slowly turned into that familiar shake of her head that tilted between each of her shoulders in uncertainty. “... I kind of don’t know what I know.”

“I just know that Rave Merrill transferred some kind of knowledge that was contained within the Holocron of Belia Darzu.”

“Half of it, according to Mara. Though I am pretty sure that was a joke.” Kaili swallowed air. “Also most likely none of the actual, uh, Sith Magic stuff, but I am terrified to poke around at it regardless.”

“The technobeats are a terror from what I’ve read on them, dad.” Kaili frowned. “I don’t want to create something like them, I just want to make my droids and maybe an HRD or two. Nothing big like that.”

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

He frowned for a moment. Not because what she told him disturbed him, but because he felt disappointment.

Soliael had always prided himself on knowledge, he had once claimed to be a God of it, so it came as no surprise that he held the aspect of knowledge in extremely high regard. To him, it did not matter if the knowledge was Dark or Light, whether it was good or bad, to him it was all sacred. For Soliael there was no such thing as dark knowledge. Of course there were things like Sith Magic's, sinister techniques that created naught but destruction, yet even they weren't necessarily evil.

Nothing was.

In order to create darkness, to truly create an utilize it one had to have intent.

That was something he'd always tried to teach his children. Perhaps it was somewhat selfish to do so, perhaps the Jedi were right in thinking that certain knowledge was just Evil, but if that was right, then Soliael was equal to the devil himself. Within his mind he contained hundreds upon hundreds of techniques, each born of Sith Magic, each capable of doing terrible things. That knowledge, holding it, did not make him evil, or so he liked to think so. "Then do so."

Soliael said simply.

"Knowledge is knowledge. It can't force you to do anything." It could tempt, but never force. "Nohei, you're my daughter. You have incredible strength in the force. Since you were a child you've had enough strength to rip someones heart out with a flick of your wrist."

A harsh example, but a true one. Nohei wasn't a child anymore, and sometimes a father needed to point out harsh truths. "Have you ever done that? No, because you know it's wrong. Knowledge of the Technovirus is the same thing. Sure you could use it, sure you could turn an entire world into Technobeasts, but you won't. Knowledge itself isn't good or evil, it's the intent behind it that matters."

That wasn't to say that the Darkside of the force didn't corrupt, it did, and quite badly too, but Soliael was slowly getting to that. He moved over towards one of the stools and sat down upon it.

"The TechnoVirus is complicated." He went on. "It's an application of Sith Alchemy, a version of it. At it's very base the TechnoVirus exists to take something and twist it into something else. That is power, a kind of power that tempts, sways, and destroys. The Darkside is temptation, it is a path to power, strength, an easier way of life. It's an addiction because it gives you something that you feel you cannot otherwise get, but it's a lie. The TechnoVirus is a good example of this. Through it you can twist and change life, you can push it and make something new out of it. It grants you the power of a God, the ability to shape and change life. It is a power that corrupts, that changes how you think, that tempts you to do more then you are able."

"That is what the darkside is." Soliael said simply. "What the TechnoVirus is, what Sith Sorcery and Alchemy are. They are Temptation. They offer you a path to what you think is more. More Power, more ability, more of everything you could ever want. Whether that's true or not...that's debatable, but if you understand this, If you realize that the TechnoVirus is simple temptation, then it can't ever hurt you unless you give in."

Soliael frowned for a moment then shrugged.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Fear. That was the word Kaili felt herself using to describe herself. It was the thing her brother had told her to snap out of, the emotion that seemed to taint everything she did. She remembered the lessons that her father had taught every single one of his children and his comparison to their abilities was no different now than it was back then. As long as you didn’t count the part about ripping someone’s heart out, obviously. Just like then her father’s words carried weight and meaning. The knowledge itself wasn’t dangerous, that much was certain, and the girl wasn’t dumb enough to actually try her hand at creating something so devastating without seeking assistance from others that could stop her.

Still, that fear of knowing that she could know was there no matter how small it was. Nohei would bow her head and give her father a look through the bangs of her hair. It stung that she somehow felt that she deserved this lecture again when her siblings did not. She was the weak one, the one that forgot. Of course, not weak in the ‘I need to be more strong to kill my masters’ weak as much as ‘the girl who was more likely to use introspection as a tool to tear herself apart the way that she already had.’

“I know.” She sighed. “I know, dad.”

“Temptation comes from within and I should know better than that, I know.” She lifted her head to achieve that eye contact. It was hard. “But what if I can’t resist that? I’ve spent the last few months locked up in my shop trying to pretend that the world didn’t exist. That in itself is a form of darkness that I fell for, isn’t it? Stagnation and such.”

“I know that what I have been doing is wrong but despite that I haven’t really done anything to get myself out of that pit either.” That was depression for you. “I’ve watched as literally everyone around me told me to get better, and not until Micah literally shook me out of it did I really listen.”

“What if I don’t have someone like Micah around to shake me up when or if I start feeling that temptation gnaw at my mind?”

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Soliael sighed, leaning back for a second and closing his eyes. There was another truth, one that he hadn't told her, one that was obvious but that likely none of his children had ever thought of. It wasn't really a truth that any of them had a reason to consider before, but now...now it seemed like it was the obvious thing to say.

"Kiddo." He leaned forward and gently grasped Kaile's shoulder. "You're young."

That much was obvious to pretty much anyone. "And I don't mean that in the sense of 'you're the baby of the family'. I mean that in the terms of your entire lifespan."

It was true. While Soliael's blood had been watered down some by the Gene's of his father and Kaili's had been done so by Kira, it was a simple fact that his children would still live for hundreds of years. What he had done to himself with the TechnoVirus before even Aela had been born had seen to that. His children would inherit his longevity, Soliael didn't need to see the future to know that. He frowned for a moment as he looked at Nohei, a faint smile on his lips.

"You're going to mess up." There was really no bandying words about it. "You all will. Aela, Micah, Maleah, you. There's no avoiding it. You're going to live long enough that it's inevitable. Look at me." Soliael gestured to himself. "People used to know me as one of the most powerful Sith Sorcerer's in the galaxy. I could create horrors, break people in half with a thought, rend entire castles with a snap of my fingers. I could do all that, I could still do all that."

That probably didn't make Kaili feel any better, but this was more about facing the truth. "Yet I don't. I gave into temptation, more then once, for an entire lifetime maybe, but here I am, married with four beautiful children, and no one considers me a Dark God anymore."

He shrugged.

"You can't spend your life in fear. You can't always fight everything." He smiled at her. "You just have to live your life. Do the best you can when you can, and move on."

Soliael leaned back, letting go of her. "You're going to mess up. Maybe you'll even do something bad when you, but no one is beyond redemption, and you my dear will live long enough that you can make up for anything."

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili smirked. It was all she could think of doing. From the moment her father’s hand touched her shoulder to the second he let go all she could do was show him a half-hearted smirk and a nod of her head to show that she understood what he was trying to say. She was young and he was right in that Kaili never really considered that. She was going to mess up, most likely horrendously so, but no matter how bad it was she would have a very long time to make up for it. Her father shared his story and he too had years to make up for the things he had done. The girl could smile proper at that. That after all these years her dad was still dad. Albeit a dad who had once done some terrible things and a dad who was making up for that by being an excellent father figure.

“Yeah.” The child said as a chuckle burst through her nose. “Years of making up for it.”

She let her gaze circle around the workshop again to try and recompile the things that her father had told her. It all made sense, as things usually did with fathers.

“So, you’re saying I should poke at it, but be careful about it,” She perked her brow. “Right?”

“Not to be afraid of knowing it, but rather know when to stop.”

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"Exactly." He said with a smile. "It's always better to know."

Most of the time anyway.

For a moment Soliael frowned, then shifted his weight. "Nohei."

There was something that he had to address with his daughter before she began to poke around the darker aspects of the Force. It was something that he had mentioned to all the children before, even Nohei, but it was something that demanded a reminder. He shifted again and moved back on the stool, his eyes becoming a little more serious, though the smile remained on his face.

"If you go down the rabbit hole. If you dig deeper and try to find out more." Which was what he would have done. "You have to remember your grandfather."

Moridin. A dark stain in the past. "He wasn't like me, or you. He never dabbled in Technomancy or anything of the sort, but he was one of the few to originally craft Artifacts in this century. If you study more about the technovirus, about how it's made, holocrons, all of that, you'll eventually run across something made by him. My father was unfortunately...prolific, when it came to these things. If you find something, you're sure was his, or if someone tells you so, don't go near it."

He frowned for a moment. "Use your tattoo, call me. No one else."

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili still remembered that curious look that she had gotten when she said she wanted a tattoo that was as small as possible. Obviously she would have preferred not to get one at all, but a caring father’s request was still just that. By her lower waist there was a small inconspicuous dot that adorned her skin. The smallest of ink spots that held the greatest of connections; the connection to her father. She knew to call on it when she was in need and that her father would come rushing to help. Mind, she did not exactly know how fast that would be, but she knew that he would be there and that was all that mattered.

She too shuffled around in her seat to keep her butt from falling asleep. Her feet and toes waggled before her. Her head bobbed up and down in a quick nod, much like it had done when she was an even younger child.

“Okay, I will call only you.” She said and stopped nodding. “If I hear the name Moridin you will be the first one to know.”

“Actually, I think if I ever come across anything cool you will be the first one to know regardless. There is literally nobody else that I can share these things with, you know.” It was the truth, Kaili actually had nobody else that she could share this with who would actually understand what it was that she was talking about. For that she smiled at her father. “I mean, I won’t exactly go looking just because, but I will… Poke at it. Sorta.”

“Just not too much.”

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"There's always your Uncle." Soliael pointed out. "He probably knows more than me."

About certain things.

"Dissero is the one that taught me a lot about artifacts." Not everything, but quite a bit. Soliael was hardly an expert on the idea of Sith Artifacts, much less on other things of that nature. Sure he was one of the foremost masters of technomancy and Sith Sorcery, but Alchemy? It was an entirely different game.

The same tree, but different branch.

He frowned for a moment.

"Don't worry so much Kiddo." Soliael finally said, leaning back and letting his elbows rest of the table. "You're too young to worry."

 

[Kaili Talith]

About that, father was correct, there was always Uncle Di. Kaili had gone to visit him not too long ago but the idea of sharing what was going on inside of her mind wasn’t one of those things that she had really considered all that much. Back then all she had really thought to ask of her uncle was how his family-to-be was doing and to catch up in general, not so much spill her thoughts about life and the meaning of such things. All things considered it was a nice reunion.

“Yeah, too young to worry.” Kaili took a deep breath. “Take every day as it comes, deep breaths and self-appreciation. I know, I know.” She chuckled. “No matter what the therapists told you, I did listen to what they had to say, you know.”

Yeah, no, Kaili had not been a wonderful patient.

“So, from here on out I’ll try to just… Nurture my inner curiosity and good spirit.” She took yet another deep breath. “I think I can do that.”

“No worries, just happy thoughts.”

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

He smiled slightly. "Everyone has their dark times."

That was certainly true.

"I was in prison for seventy years." That hadn't been pleasant in the least. "It's really all about how you look at things. You have to realize that eventually you'll do something you won't be proud of, you'll live through something traumatic, something will happen that just won't sit right. The important thing to remember is that you have the strength to overcome it."

He looked at her for a moment, then continued to speak. "You always will. You're my daughter."

Kaili had the benefit of a grand education, access to knowledge some could only dream of, and a system of support that would be the envy of half the galaxy. Any problem could be overcome, she just had to take steps to do so. Of course, this bout of knowledge that she now had was an interesting dilemma, but it was hardly the end of the Galaxy. Soliael had every confidence that she would either get over it, overcome it, or create something entirely new out of it.

She was his daughter after all.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Seventy years in prison. It was funny how unlikely that seemed whenever Kaili looked at her father. Of course, to agree that also went for the fact that he once had been revered as a god in the Outer Rim. To Kaili he had always been — and always would be — just dad. The same as any other dad, at least by her standards. A caring softie who made his children feel good about themselves no matter what. A hero and an idol. A role model, even when you were made aware of the darker times in his life. If anything those were what made him speak with the authority that he brought about him. The fact that he knew these things and had experienced them for himself. He understood. Just like Micah had said he would.

“Yeah.” She added to her father’s statement. “I’ll overcome it.”

The girl felt a small smile creep on the edges of her lips as they twitched and contorted into a grin. Not a very big grin, but something that very well could become one. Her mouth opened as if words would jump into her mouth. She contemplated what to say as a chuckle burst through her teeth.

“And uh, don’t worry,” She grinned proper. “I don’t plan on getting arrested any time soon.”

Her shoulders rolled in a shrug. “... I’ll leave that to Micah.”

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Soliael shrugged. "Go ahead, get arrested."

He smirked slightly.

"Not like you can do worse then I've done." Getting arrested once or twice wouldn't be the worst thing in the galaxy. His children had more then enough power, intelligence, and wit to break themselves out of pretty much any prison in the galaxy, and if not? Well Soliael could always come pull them out after they'd had a little downtime. Then again, none of his children were really likely to do anything that would lead to their arrest, at least a just and lawful one. "Plus it might teach you something."

The former False God offered his youngest daughter a grin. "Necessity is the mother of invention."

It was Prison where Soliael had first used his potential in the force. He'd always been strong, stronger than his own parents in fact, but the potential had been welled up and get at bay for centuries. It had been his eventual seven decade sting in prison that had seen Soliael break free of his personal restraint. Prison hadn't been too bad for him, but eventually his escape had been necessary, and that escape had been facilitated by pure raw power in the force.

Helpful that.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Her father shrugged, Kaili blinked. “Dad, come on. You are not telling your daughter to get herself arrested.”

“I quite like being free and not behind some sort of metal bars. Kind of a lot.” She chuckled. “I mean, sure, yeah, I might not be able to do worse than you-” On account for the fact that Kaili was, obviously, a pure angel. A very short-tempered but pure angel. “-but come on, you almost make it sound like a challenge.”

Not that it was. Kaili grinned regardless. “First we have a talk about the technovirus, and now we’re talking about going to jail…”

“Are you trying to give me ideas, dad?” She chuckled, again. “What’s the punishment for accidentally laying waste to a beach paradise and infecting it with horrid beasts?”

“... Think I could plead insanity to get out of it?”

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"The key, dear." Soliael said with a straight face. "Is not to get caught."

That was the easy part.

"That's the benefit of being so old and having so much money in such a big galaxy. You can practically be anyone or become anyone you want to be." He shrugged again, a small smile quirking his lips. He probably shouldn't have said any of this to Kaili, but it wasn't like Kira was here to listen and in truth...he expected all of his children to go a bit wild at one point or another.

They would be living another three centuries, in all that time...well, he would be very surprised if at age one hundred Aela was still running around with the New Jedi Order doing good and saving others. It wasn't that he thought his children were inherently bad, it's just that sticking with one kind of personality for centuries upon centuries got very...boring. That was something that Soliael had learned from experience, and although he'd eventually settled...well, his kids didn't need to settle yet.

They were too young.