Private The Roadside Stand Is Open For Business

[Saul Whesai]

The simple roadside stand was just a tarp held up by some metal poles, but the sounds of repair work would tell any passersby that it was home to someone. Saul's metal hands were working over various projects for the families around the lower level of the Collective Commerce District. His location was low enough that the local police force didn't come down to bagger him about permits and high enough that the thugs in the Underground didn't come up to demand protection money. The first gang that tried figured out real quick that the blue-eyed android wasn't to be messed with.

Saul was finishing up his last repair jobs before he went home for the day. Despite working full-time with his new job as a tester at SI, Saul still had more time on his hands than he would like, so he decided to do what he always did when he needed to fill time. That was working his hands till the artificial skin on his hands ripped on anything mechanical he could find. So on his free days, he was here, providing a service that was desperately needed. If a passerby glanced at his makeshift shop, they would see a savaged and put-together front counter with a hand-drawn posterboard saying, "You break it, We fix it" over its front with a comm number to call if the stall wasn't manned. Inside, they would see boxes full of parts of all sorts for any project the Android was working on. On a workbench in the middle of the stall, half-disassembled kitchen appliances were mixed in with blaster parts. It was clear this was a one-stop shop for anyone needing something fixed. It was only a matter of time before someone came calling for his services on the planet that never slept.

Kinley Pryse

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

You want mercy? Try praying. I take payments, not apologies

​

The sky was a perpetual burn of gold and steel, smog weaving between the towers like a second atmosphere. Kinley Prysce hated it. Coruscant was too clean where it shouldn't be and too dirty where it mattered. And it stank—of power, desperation, and too many lies in one place. She stepped down the ramp of her battered freighter, her boots clanging onto durasteel plating that hadn't been polished in a decade. The legal cargo she'd just dropped off—a crate of industrial lubricants bound for some mid-tier factory district—was already being unloaded by droids who didn't ask questions. Fine by her.

She squinted up through the artificial haze and muttered, "Couldn't pay me enough to live on this rock."

The real problem, though, was still sitting in her hand: the comm unit from her ship, fried six ways to Mustafar. No outgoing signals. No incoming chatter. She'd tried every backdoor and override she knew, but it was cooked. Whatever was wrong, it wasn't a job she could fix with a hydrospanner and some cursing. Stuffing the boxy module into her satchel, Kinley took a last glance at her ship—already attracting the eyes of two dockhands who looked like they'd steal the landing gear if she blinked too long. She locked down the security protocols and started toward the crowded lower-level bazaar.

The stall she found seemed perfect so she approached the counter and waited to see if the boy behind it would greet her.

Saul Whesai​

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Saul Whesai]

Saul was putting back together a torn-apart DH-17 whose focusing crystal had shattered when Kinley walked up to his stand. His cybernetic fingers slipped into the box of blaster parts. Quickly replacing the crystal and old parts with practiced ease, the used weapon looked like a new one. It was only when he had finished making sure the sights were correct and put the weapon down that he noticed the woman walk up to his stall, her dark brown hair blowing in the wind. She seemed... mysterious, but then again most random strangers that he met were at first. Either way, she looked like bad news, but if the Android turned away everyone who looked like that, he wouldn't have a business.

Walking up to the front counter, he tried to put on his best customer service smile as he greeted his new customer, nodding to the full satchel she carried over her shoulder. "I'm guessing you have something for me in there Miss...?" Waiting for the woman's response, he couldn't help but wish his neon eyes had X-Ray vision to see what project she had in that bag for him and how much of a hassle it was going to be.

Kinley Pryse

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

I may not be the hero, but I always survive the story​

Kinley waited patiently, a skill many criminals did not have, but one which was practiced ease in her life. When the boy noticed her she smiled and sat the satchel on the counter. She opened it to reveal the busted communication unit.

“Comm unit went out a few hours ago. Is it something you can fix?”

She waited to hear the answer, her eyes roving over him. He seemed like the type who got lost in his work and judging by the repair she witnessed he did have a skill for it.

Saul Whesai

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Saul Whesai]

Saul took the comm unit into his hands and looked it over for any outward-facing problems. If there were any problems on the surface of the unit to find, he would be able to find them. "Sure, I'll just need to take it apart and see what needs replacing. It might not be the comm unit, but your ship console's wiring. One hard landing or impact could have shaken a plug loose." Reaching for his work gloves, he started to take apart the unit and used lift tweezers to lift every part to his electronic eyes, trying to find the fault.

Taking a chance to glance at the pilot who had brought the comm unit in, he tried to find something to fill the silence with, wondering what they had in common. She probably thinks I'm just a kid. Guess this unchanging skin and body does have some drawbacks... The Android decided to start with something simple. "So, I'm guessing you're a freighter captain? What ship do you fly?" There, that was a good enough start that wouldn't have her walking away with her credits still in her pocket.

Kinley Pryse

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

Never Tell Me the Odds​

"........One hard landing or impact could have shaken a plug loose."

Kinley thought back to her last flight with an inward chuckle. The ride was definitely a little bumpy so that fit. But hey she'd survived and that was the name of the game these days. She leaned against one of the streetlights that were near the small stall, watching the kid work.

"So, I'm guessing you're a freighter captain? What ship do you fly?"

Her velvety brown eyes narrowed for just a split second before she grinned. Where Kinley was from questions were dangerous and sure he might look like an innocent kid but Kinley had learned long ago to trust nobody and suspect everything.

"Oh I work for a captain. The Wayward Bantha. Just a simple outfit really." Lies, all lies but she told them with a practiced tongue.

Saul Whesai

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Saul Whesai]

"The Wayward Bantha... Right..." Saul only gave a raised eyebrow as the woman gave him a non-answer with that false smile as she waited ominously under the streetlight, not even saying the ship model she flew across the stars in. Yeah, something was dodgy about this character that she wasn't going to tell a random stranger. All he could do with finish this comm unit and let her be on her way.

Replacing every chip and wire, his fingers nimbly put the pieces of the comm unit back together and pulled away from the table to let her inspect the final product. "That should do it. If it doesn't work, I can always look at your cockpit to see if the issue is with the electrical system. Hopefully, it should be just plug in and play. If only for the fact that being watched over like a hawk by this woman as he did the repair would be more than he was prepared to deal with. The Android could only wonder what dirty underwear she was trying to hide away to make her act like this. It was almost like she was trying to patch over a hole in a wall she made. Maybe it was better if she kept it to herself for both of their sakes.

Kinley Pryse