The Rail Is Paved With...

[Jairus Starvald]

​

Erilnar, Centrality​

The Magrail Project​

---​

​

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

​

Sometimes it wasn't enough to have the backing of the government and your fellow Sith brethren.

No, sometimes it was necessary to look outside of your usual spheres for support in a project, especially one that was the size of the one Fa was imagining right now. It was gargantuan, the ambition and the project itself. The underground railways were immense, spanning the entire planet and connecting the underground cities and major settlements with each other. But a terrorist attack, pre-gulag, had broken down the entire infrastructure.

It was like breaking a single cog within an immensely complex watch.

One cog was enough to break down the entire structure. These days the passageways were filthy, filled with scrap and almost impossible to pass through without much effort.

They used to be infested with criminal gangs as well, but Fa had already started operations against them. Soon enough they would be subdued and neutralized. But that left the major point of cleaning up the tunnels themselves, so they could continue on with the project itself.

Organic labor.... was an option. Maybe use those same criminals, make them prison laborers instead of dead meat, but that wasn't really efficient on a large scale. So another option had to be considered. It was for this reason that Fa Holdings made contact with a company called Andromeda Electronics.

A small company all things considered, but the likes of Hegemonic Automation have disappeared into the shadows. Collapsed and sold off piecemeal.

No, that was not an option, yet, Fa heard a great many of positive things about them.

They were scheduled an appointment for today.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili didn’t like her office on Coruscant all that much. There was just something about this planet in particular that didn’t tickle her fancy all that well. Perhaps it was the overshadowing sense of ‘grandeur’ that did it? Or maybe the complete lack of natural beauty. There was tech all around her that would by most means interest her, but no, something about it just didn’t sit right with her.

Needless to say that when she got a request for a meeting with someone new she took it in an instant, and in that regard [member="Tai Fa"] was not all that unique. Perhaps if she had been more involved in the world of business she would be aware of who he was, but Kaili had always treated the monetary gains of her company as a secondary while her own interests in creation would come first. No doubt she was far from being ‘Hegemonic’ in her renown and fortune, but she was getting there.

… A whole ten-percent on the journey, at most.

Droid parts weren’t cheap when you didn’t have those connections to land owners.

Not that their meeting was about that. Tai Fa had a problem and Kaili a potential solution. That was all she needed to know, and with all the chaos in her life it was all she cared to know. She had read something about reconstruction of an old railway and that alone was good enough for her.

As her ship had landed a notably young girl, Kaili, stepped onto the platform to meet with whoever, or whatever welcoming party awaited her. The locks of her hair sifted through the breeze, pants remained as if glued to her shins. The girl had never been a follower of ‘high fashion’ or even ‘fashion’ for that matter. When you kept yourself hands-on in the droid creating process there was rarely ever a time in which design beat practicality.

She reserved that for her creations.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Out on the landing pad [member="Kaili Talith"] would be greeted by an Echani male and behind him Vnut of Garnib, the Chief of Security of Fa Holdings.

They patiently waited for Kaili to walk down the ramp of her ship, before the Echani greeted her.

"Miss Talith, I presume? Welcome to Erilnar." His hand gestured towards the ursine bodyguard behind him. "This is Mr. Vnut and I am Rash Tsona."

"Mr. Vnut handles security for Fa Holdings and Lord Fa has contracted me as an adviser on engineering prospects." If Talith was focusing hard enough, she might have noticed that there was a distinct sense of the Force emanating from the Echani and also from Vnut himself.

Vnut felt like a strong oak, unyielding and rooted at any place he stood. The echani, Rash, there were gears spinning in the background of the Force.

An engineer... like her.

"He will join us a bit later, but wanted us to go over the project first, to see what is and is not feasible. If you'd follow me?"

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Erilnar. That was the name of this planet, and Vnut and Rash Tsona were her envoys. Perhaps Tai wasn’t all that interested in the droids themselves as much as the results, or maybe he was otherwise occupied. Kaili didn’t know, didn’t care.

“It is nice to meet you both.” Kaili feigned a cordial smile. As was tradition for dealing with new people. Oh, so Tai Fa — or rather, Lord Fa — would be meeting them later. Kaili nodded to show her understanding.

She did however not make a huge deal of probing the people that met her to look for their force sensitivity. She noticed it was there, and while one of the connections seemed to fuel a familiar drive as hers she thought very little of it before following along the men who would take her to wherever it was that they needed to be.

“So, just to get myself ready, do you have any kind of idea of what work I am expected to put in here?”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Erilnar was part of the larger region of space called the Centrality.

It was a region that was known for disavowing centralized authorities like the Galactic Republic, instead opting towards supporting their own local and inter-local governments. The level of technology had always lagged behind the Galactic Core standard, until the last decade or so when several corporations had made their home here.

"As you know we have, in cooperation with the local government, been planning on restoring the planetary-wide mag-rail infrastructure on Erilnar." The Echani replied over his shoulder as they made their way into the local complex of Fa Holdings. Many corridors and doorways, that would eventually lead them into a conference room of sorts.

With blueprints and other necessary equipment.

"What you, hopefully, will be working on is a droid model that can clean-out the expansive tunnel systems the railway passes through, recycling the trash, clearing up blockades, things like that."

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Kaili had a degree in ship design.

For some reason that was something that came to mind as her thoughts started buzzing with ideas on how to solve this problem. She didn’t even know the size of these tunnels, but the idea of a unit scouring the tunnels for trash and debris via smaller sub-units didn’t strike her as all that bad of an idea.

She stored it for later. She didn’t even know if the contract was hers yet. Best to secure that first before anything.

“I got an idea, it’d be a lot like reversing the Silkworm I constructed to help with the reconstruction of Coruscant.” Kaili placed her hand across her hand for a moment in contemplation. “Though that particular unit is property of Silk Holdings.”

She still held the original blueprints for it though. That was her only demand for working with them. No doubt Fa Holdings would be met with a similar deal, though to what degree was still very much up for discussion.

To her, the blueprints were more of trophies anyway. Ways to stroke her own ego.

“Well, either case, I will hold off on ideas until given the green light.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"I have seen one in action, quite ingenious- downsizing the tractor beam to such a degree must have been quite the ordeal." Rash once again responded in his patient voice.

And there they were.

The conference room wasn't anything to speak of. Middle-sized with a large table in the middle. In the middle of the table was a hologram projector that would be able to project anything they'd need. From possible blueprints of the underground road system to other details they'd need during the meeting.

"We were considering molecular furnaces for this particular project. Many corporations have used the tech for good, instead of its original destructive purposes." He explained further, while sitting down in a chair and gesturing for Kaili to take a seat as well. "Lord Fa is quite concerned about an eco-friendly solution to our problems."

"Recycling the trash into something more useful, instead of simply destroying it."

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

“Well, him and me both.” Kaili nodded. “Growing up in with family I am from I have a very deep appreciation for nature, even if some would argue that droids in and of themselves is a form of direct opposition to it.” Kaili waved her hand before her and shook her hand. “I always strive to ensure Andromeda and myself recycle as much as we can.”

Bolts would always be bolts and metal was always metal. Faulty droids were deactivated and reused for other projects while other food and other necessities from around the offices and stores were all sorted according to compost and their respective ‘genre’ of trash.

“Not to any kind of extremes, mind you, but we do care about the longevity of planets. Even with the obvious overabundance of them.” She shrugged. “Borleias is just a planet, but it’s my planet, right? Best to make it last as long as we can than to take it for granted.”

“But, we didn’t come here to hear me preach about ideals.” Kaili nodded and took the indicated seat. “We are here to talk about droids and how we can make the process of cleaning up these tunnels as quick and painless as possible, yes?”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"That's quite alright, miss Talith." Rash had a smile on his face now, didn't make the scars look any less ugly, though, but it was clear from the get-go that the Echani was a man of science first and foremost. An engineer, someone who cared about figuring out the workings of the things he worked on.

No inherent violence in his glance.

"I, too, am quite passionate about eco-responsible design." He waved his hand and the holoprojector started up. "These are the passageways we are talking about, study them at your leisure."

They were large.

Even larger than one would have assumed from the words 'planetary-spanning network', because those were just words. But in here, you could see just how big a planet was and what it took for infrastructure to be big enough to span the entire planet. To connect all the cities and major settlements to each other -- which were marked with big red pulsating nodes.

"It's quite something, isn't it?"

 

[Kaili Talith]

The thought to outright hijack the hologram came across Kaili’s mind. An easier way to get an image of this map was to simply get it ingrained into your mind for closer and more personal study, but this was not her home and the map did not belong to her. It’d be uncourteous of her and for that reason alone she held back. Instead she moved her chair closer to the display before her to check out the layout of the tracks.

“This is certainly impressive.” She agreed with a nod. “So from what I am seeing what you are looking at is rubble, here, here and here.” Kaili said as she rose from her feet and pointed at three separate points of the tracks. Which would make little sense considering the dots indicating as such were not even there yet.

It wasn’t until she realized what she had done that the somewhat smug smile on her lips faded to one of surprise. Mainly at herself and her subconscious mind seemingly going behind her back and reading the data anyway. She wrote it off as the stress and lowered impulse control as a direct result thereof.

“Uh, I mean…” The map changed to show that the locations she had pointed at were indeed a few of the spots with rubble. “Amongst… Other rubble piles.”

The girl cleared her throat and with a deep breath and exhale she continued. “There is a need for clean up as well as to control the rubble. What I would propose is two sets of droids that work in synergy with each other.”

She turned to the Eshan man. “One larger unit to work as a collector or heavy lifter and another set of smaller droids that can continue work on the rails once the big guy’s job is done.”

“Think Big and Little Brother. The big guy is around for the reconstruction, as is the small guys, but the small guys can keep on cleaning the tunnels once they are reopened.”

“Or we can just create one big mother that rides along the tracks and sweeps away everything in its way. That works too.”

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Now there was amusement in his gaze.

"A fellow technomancer, I see." Rash mumbled, before eyeing the hologram himself. "We are a rare bunch, this is true, but it's nothing to be ashamed about. Very useful set of skills."

He waved his hand and another filter was added to the mix.

This time the map zoomed out even more, showing more of the underground tunnels and the rubble laying in junctions, intersections, partially collapsed hallways. Name it and it went to crap over the centuries. The places that didn't go into disuse were cobbled up by the gangs, but those were being worked on.

With the aid of the government and... other forces, of course.

"While I think the... Big Mother would be more cost-effective, I feel that Lord Fa would agree with me that what we need more than anything is efficiency." The Echani finally added. "The Big and Little Brother seem to fill this bill, but are you certain that your company will be able to produce them in the numbers we will need them?"

It would certainly be possible to outsource some of the manufacturing to other players otherwise.

 

[Kaili Talith]

She nodded and scratched at the back of her head. Fellow technomancer. Perhaps she shouldn’t really have been surprised, there had been a familiar feeling in the air when she had first met him and all. But perhaps it was because of the simple fact that they were so few that she managed to still find herself surprised.

“While I lack the means to build this en masse, I figured that the deal would be similar to that of my arrangement with Silk Holdings on Coruscant.” Kaili took her seat again and looked at the men with her. “I design it, and what you buy is the rights to the droid itself.”

“Which is also why the cost for my involvement isn’t as… Outrageously expensive as it could be.” Kaili leaned back in her chair and crunched the numbers. “What we are looking at is for me to create one small droid and a big one, two separate machines with a common purpose…”

She shrugged at it. Prices weren’t her thing. “I am really just a glorified hobbyist,” She turned to Rash. “And a technomancer, who have a great affinity for doing what I do.”

“Provided I get to keep a copy of the blueprints — mainly as trophies you know? — I can get you and your people exactly what you need within a week.”

The girl gave him a quite serious look. Kaili was intensive in her work and once she got truly started there was no stopping her until it was done. That was how she had performed work on just about all of her previous droids.

“I am quite efficient in my work.”

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

A week? That was a surprise.

But, then, they had not been counting on a technomancer, had they?

"If you manage to finish the designs within a week, I am sure Lord Fa will throw in a bonus, miss Talith." Rash responded carefully, before sharing a look with Vnut. Who merely nodded in the affirmative. Time was of the essence, the faster the project was rolling around, the more momentum there was behind it?

The more serious the government of the Centrality would take it.

Which in turn would mean there would be more beneficial deals to be cut, more subsidies released and other things of the sort.

"As for the blueprint, I understand as a fellow engineer, but Lord Fa will need certain assurances, you understand."

Having a blueprint outside of his control increased the potential for sabotage. Not that he mistrust her -- which he did -- but it meant that security wasn't completely under his control, which meant it could be stolen from Talith.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

She lit up at the mention of a bonus. A bonus meant she got to pocket some of that herself, if she got to pocket some of that herself it meant that she was allowed to spend more money on her personal projects. They did mention that the Lord Fa would need assurances of her ‘loyalty’ — or rather, that was her take on it — if she kept the originals for herself in the end. She also understood the Lord’s reservations. It took an idiot, or a particularly naive client, to accept the demands simply because Kaili had made the droid.

Nothing about Lord Fa’s reception so far had given her cause to think he was either.

“The rights to the droid would by all means belong to Fa Holdings and the-” Then it hit her. “We’re talking security.”

She leaned back into her share with an unvoiced ‘oh’ forming on her lips. “Right, that is understandable.”

“Well, I do own a vault. Kind of.” She shook her head back and forth between her shoulders. “I own a spot in a vault rather. It’s got security designed by me with a lock that only responds to me,” She then eyed Rash again. “And perhaps you too.”

“Not that the blueprint is a must-have on my behalf,” Considering she could keep one in secret anyway or even redraft the robot from memory. “If Lord Fa has objections I can respect his wishes to keep it all in-house. So to speak.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Rash cocked his head, before snorting.

"You and I both know that if you wish to retain a copy, that will be of little difficulty with one of your skills." The Echani replied finally. "If you do not mind, I would like to visit this vault and check it's security myself. This is not an insult, but I have to be very thorough in my dealings."

Now there was a wry smile.

"I, too, have a bonus to earn."

No, Rash was fully aware that as a technomancer most of her work would be done in her head, before it was translated to script. Lord Fa was not aware of this yet, but he would be once he was notified. In the face of that, they could either kill Kaili once she was done -- which was a, frankly, extreme measure that had no place in the repertoire of a self-respecting businessman -- or simply acknowledge that some risks would be made.

If the vault was as secure as Kaili claimed it to be, he did not see an issue with her keeping a copy for artisan's pride sake.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

“Ah-haaa…” Kaili rubbed her neck. “That’s not going to be possible. At the risk of sounding like an insolent child, the location is a secret between me and the people who own the land that this vault is located on.”

Well, it wasn’t a lie. Kiara was a deep secret kept between Kaili and the select few that she had deemed trustworthy in the Underground. Individuals that she had come in contact with through Mara and individuals that Kaili knew and trusted. Which was not to mention the droids that Kaili had embedded within their ranks.

… And the listening devices within those droids that would notify her of any leaks.

Which wasn’t to mention the fact that Kiara in itself was a planet that hadn’t seen ships for almost half a decade before the girl set foot on it, before which it had been ships of the same caliber as now. She had the landing codes on her mind, imprinted for the sake of not spilling these details to anyone other than the potential mentalists in her presence.

It would seem that with the role of protector came an unhealthy dose of paranoia and fear for others well-being?

“If this bothers Lord Fa I’ll just say no to the blueprints.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

To the credit of the Echani he did not even blink.

It took him a second to ponder on if Talith was merely snubbing him and trying to make his life difficult, or if there was genuine difficulty in the request. He was not a very good judge of character, which was why he was an engineer and artisan first and foremost. But after a moment -- and a mental nod from Vnut -- that Rash continued on in good fate, instead of the bad.

"No matter. As fellow technopaths, you are capable of sharing ideas in ways that most individuals are not capable of, yes?" The Eshan finally said, then. "If you are willing, I can take a look at the vault right from here."

This was mostly a test.

Because if Kaili even denied that request, there was clearly something very wrong here and that would put him on guard. On guard for future indiscretions and possible falsities. It was a small company, though, he did not think it likely this was a case of corporate sabotage. Vnut himself had just acknowledged that this was probably not the case.

And the bear was a far better people-person than he was. Ironically.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

The schematics for the vault. It wasn’t as much of a fear of hers. After all, the man was a technopath himself and the images she’d show would be the exact same images as he himself would see from inspecting the locking mechanism himself.

“Now that, is something I do not mind.” Kaili agreed. “A compromise.”

She nodded towards the hologram and closed her eyes to focus. Technomancy was her bread and butter, but let it never be known that it was the simplest thing around. Shifting the data of an old holographic device would always be easier than that of a new and modern one. Not only because of the simplicity of old technology but because of the overall lack of components. There was simply too many parts to manipulate with more modern products.

At least if you didn’t want to outright destroy them, which in this case Kaili would very much not.

The display that had previously shown the tunnel system flickered for a bit as Kaili concentrated her own mind onto the lens. Before them was a layout of her vault and the systems within. The first thing someone would not was the total lack of any kind of visible locking mechanism, but perhaps Rash would recognize that there very much still was one embedded within the door.

“It doesn’t have any external means to open.” Kaili’s speech seemed impeded by her focus. “I wanted to make sure only I could enter.”

“You need to know where the lock is, unfold the combination and pull the switches before these bars here,” The door separated, opened on the hologram and exposed several jagged bars. “Allow you physical entry.”

She let the hologram linger for a bit before she let go. The tunnel network started to flicker back onto the display again and remained there.

“At its base, only a technomancer who knows where I have hidden this door will know how to find these blueprints.” Kaili sighed and shivered to regain some of her energy. “At its base, not a lot of security, but considering you are the second ever technomancer I have come across it feels unwarranted to go much further.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Icy eyes studied the schematics intently.

Every once in a while Rash would flick his fingers to turn around, zoom in or out of the details, or otherwise manipulate the holographic representation of the vault. This was his bonus on the line and he'd make sure that he had followed every little detail and doubt he had, before flagging this as an acceptable offer. The truth was that this was a very good vault system - oh, it wouldn't stand scrutiny against a fellow technopath like them, but it didn't need to.

Because the planet itself was also hidden. This meant that there were exactly two security measures that basically minimized the risk involved.

Technopaths were increasingly rare these days, so to safeguard against them would indeed be folly. Besides, a technopath didn't need these schematics to make problems for them. If one such as those wished to cause issues, they could just manipulate the droids directly without much issue... which gave him an idea.

"Hmm, would it be possible to use high-grade nullification resin for the droids? To minimize the tampering at large?" Rash suddenly said, breaking concentration from the vault as the idea came to him.

He blinked and then looked up from the vault at her, wary smile running.

"My apologies, sometimes I get an idea and it just forces it's way through. The vault looks excellent and I will recommend to Lord Fa that it won't be a security risk, thank you."

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

There was a soft chuckle that parted Kaili’s lips.

“No worries, I think it comes with being an engineer.” She smiled. “While a nullification resin is a possible failsafe it is not something I would be able to provide in any demo units sent to your people. It’s simply too expensive for me to feel comfortable with installing it in a prototype.”

“That said, I am not opposed to it. If we are thinking long-term investments there really is no telling what the off-chance of a technopath such as you and I getting in the way of things, right?” Right. There really wasn’t. “So in the end, once again, it’d be a question of whether you’d consider it a waste or not. It is an expensive failsafe against a threat that is minimal at most.”

“We could in the same vein install one or several kill switches disguised as core elements. Could keep both technomancers and prying eyes at bay and doubles their error margin. Enough for security forces to be alerted before they got too far with it.” She put her hand to her chin and thought out loud. “If the units then also had a system to communicate with one another and deliver a constant flow of reports, other units could easily mark another as gone or rogue. That way we could have the… Hmmm, no, a single virus and you can feth-...” Her eyes went wide open. That was not proper. That was not how you talked in this sort of company. She cleared her throat. “Uh, right, what I meant to say was that… No, connecting them all together into a single unit of AIs have worked against me in the past.”

“We’d be best of NOT doing that.”

“Trust me. It was… Bad.”

People had almost died. It was her first recalled product.