Private The Taurannik Theorem

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel
​

The question caught him off-guard.

"What? No, I'm not... Hrmph."

He focused back on the task at hand, dodging an incoming car as he gained on another two.

"I'm not talking to myself," the man finished his thought. "I'm talking to X3. He is my... protocol droid, I suppose," he explained. "He is giving me feedback right now. Some of it unwarranted, I might add," he jabbed, knowing the droid was listening in.

"Might as well introduce us properly, Master, since we're all going to be working together," the droid noted.

It was a fair point. Temerant tapped a couple buttons on the airspeeder, a holographic image of a droid which seemed both advanced and yet somehow, somewhat scrapped together appearing in the center of the dashboard.

"Hello Miss Sofiel," the droid greeted her. "It is a pleasure to officially meet you. Though not so much that thing on your shoulder. Vorthruz, was it?" he recalled. "I cannot say I much care for your taste in companions. Might I suggest drowning it in a good chemical bath and upgrading to a much more social, sleek, supportive, and if I do say so myself, spectacular droid?"

"You forgot smarmy," Temerant pointed out.

"Yes well, I can't list all my features off the top of my head," the droid countered.

​

 

[Sofiel]

She canted her head to the side once more. Letting her head rest against the Familiar.

"Is that like a voice in your head or..?"

"Hello Miss Sofiel,"

Oh. Sofiel blinked slowly, glancing towards where the sound came from. Ah, one of those.. Speakers. Right. The memories of the host came in, filling her blanks as she processed what the droid was saying. Then she frowned, glanced up towards Vorthruz.

"Vorthruz is a part of of me. You would be wise not to insult them."

Darth Temerant

 

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel
​

"Oh, I would never, Miss Sofiel!" the droid replied, it's inhuman voice somehow lathered in sarcasm. "I am merely suggesting its swift extermination! Though I suppose if it is a part of you that would prove problematic. Even if I am having trouble computing how such a thing could be," he noted.

It was a fair point, Temerant mused as he continued to speed across the city. The more she spoke, the more his prior theory on her was proving shaky. Which was not to say her issues were not in the ball park of mental health. Clearly, there was something else he was missing.

"Be nice, X3," the Sith urged him, albeit without much enthusiasm.

"I am trying, Master. But I will admit, your aide unsettles me a little," the droid replied, unabashed for the fact.

"Hrm. Good," the inquisitor mused. "Congratulations Acolyte. You just became a lot more valuable," he remarked, clearly amused by his droid's discomfort.

***
​

The rest of the ride there was fairly uneventful - or as uneventful as Tem's driving style allowed.

They eventually arrived to the building where the ritual had taken place: it was a small basement that doubled as a night club. A perimeter had been set around the entrance, holographic police lines having been set up, even as two heavily armed troopers guarded the place.

Temerant flashed his badge towards them. "Gentlemen," he greeted them, beelining towards the door.

"Sir," one of them nodded. The other one, however, was not so amenable.

"Who is this?" he jutted his chin towards the woman.

"A consultant," Temerant remarked. "I informed beforehand I would be bringing one," he noted.

"We have orders not to allow anyone who does not have proper clearance," the man noted.

"St'rizzk..." his companion tried to intervene, but Temeran't already hard eyes turned to an even harder glare.

"You have orders?" he inquired. "I am the lead investigator in this case. And I am a Knight Inquisitor," he sentenced, as if that alone had enough weight to disarm any arguments. "I decide who has clearance in this affair."

The man hesitated... then dug his heels. "This is our jurisdiction," he noted. "And our orders are clear. I will need to see some manner of authorization."

Ah. A malcontent. In his experience, Temerant had come across no shortage of individuals who resented the wide authority Sith in general, and particular people like him, enjoyed, controlling almost every aspect of their jobs. Most, however, were clever enough not to challenge it.

"Of course, of course," Temerant seemed to concede, digging inside his jacket... before producing a middle finger. "Here you go."

The man blinked, then frowned deeply. But before he could say anything, he gasped, weapon dropping as his hand went to his crotch. A few uncomfortable seconds passed, before he dropped to the ground, tears streaming down his face.

"Fantastic way to commit career suicide, St'rizzk. But look on the bright side. There's still a healthy chance you get to breed your stupidity into some kids," he suggested with a dark sort of wryness. "I trust you will prove more competent, officer?" he looked to the other man on duty.

"Of... Of course, my Lord," he ripped his eyes from his suffering companion to give a firm nod.

"Good. I want his badge number and the name of whoever gave your orders when we come back out," the Sith demanded, before motioning with his head to Sofiel, as if telling her to tag along. "Let's go."

 

[Sofiel]

"Unfortunately, X3, I am here to help the Sith. Your uncomfortableness matters little to me."

The fact the Knight Inquisitor seemed pleased by this only punctuated more to her that the droid mattered little. She kept the calm smile on her face. She wasn't being rude, just to the point. As she always was to the point. She settled into the ride shortly after, her gaze shifting to instead watch the buildings as they passed by. Curious as ever as to what might be within them. What they might be hiding.

People loved their secrets.

***
​

Sofiel followed behind him, hands in the pockets of her suit jacket, letting her gaze travel around the scene curiously. Then to the officers. Oh? Her head canted to the side as she simply observed the display. Vorthruz was gone, having sunk into her shadow for the time being. She'd learned early on that her Familiar upset the more.. Common folk. Better to look normal to keep their fears from bubbling over.

Then again, it seemed to be something unneeded. Her brow raised as the Knight Inquisitor made his point by.. Making his point.

"Let's go."

"Does it make you feel stronger bringing the weak to their knees?"

Her head again canted to the side as she moved into the building after him. Watched him for a second before glancing back to the now more openly panicked guards.

"Seems needless. I am here to help, that's enough reason, no?"

Darth Temerant

 

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel ​

"I don't need to feel stronger. I know my strength. And that of my lesser is not the gauge by which I measure it," the man argued. "And nothing I do is needless, Miss Sofiel," he continued to explain. "Our society is built upon hierarchies and systems of control. Bureaucracy. But at the end of the day power is what truly matters," he elaborated. "Part of our role in this society is to make sure boundaries are clearly delineated. And by setting an example, I ensure further insubordination is thoroughly considered before coming my way," he noted. "Could I have gone about it in a more civil fashion? Certainly. Could I have simply bent him to my will? Absolutely... Do I care for the hassle? Not one bit," he asserted.

As they descended into the basement, they were met with an odd sight. There was a once decently stocked bar, but all the bottles and glasses seemed to have spontaneously combusted, creating an unpleasant general odour behind it, the surfaces sticky in places. The surface of the floor was an almost crystalline black, the ritual circle he'd shown sitting dead in the center. The walls were lined with mirrors, like the holodeck had shown, but it was... strange, as if they'd been broken and rearranged, nonsensical scribblings dotted over some pieces, yet not others. It was almost disconcerting to look at them, a myriad reflections seeming to look back.

Temerant produced a black, mechanical looking orb from his jacket, then clicked a couple of buttons on it. The droid beeped alive, before the Sith let go of it, the device floating in the air. "X3," he addressed his droid. "Give us the positions of the cultists found inside," he commanded.

"As you wish, Master," the droid was quick to come back.

With that, the floating orb began projecting life-sized holograms of all the now interned cultists, sitting in near-catatonic states about the club, some in rather unnatural positions, all wearing those disturbing, distended grins.

The Sith looked to his aide then. "Thoughts?"

 

[Sofiel]

"So you took away his ability to create offspring to.. Ahh. To keep him from creating any more dissenters. Efficient."

That was the takeaway she took. And also where she was fine with leaving the conversation. Her yellow eyes were far more focused on the scenery around them once they entered the basement. Curiously glancing around, taking in the sights, the mirrors. Interesting choice for them to be mirrors. For the briefest moment as she looked at one, though, it wasn't her eyes that were looking back.

A frown settled on her lips. That look of fear was unbecoming of her. A blink of her eyes, and the false image was dispelled.

"They gaze into what they shouldn't have, and it drove them mad."

Darth Temerant

 

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel
​

"I don't know that I did," Temerant grunted to her observation. "There's a healthy chance he'll recover. And bacta is a wondrous thing," he mused, though it seemed more for his benefit than her own.

He nodded to her words faintly, going over the evidence. "Hrm. A fair assesment, I suppose," he remarked. "What we need to figure out is what they saw, and how they went about it," he pointed out. She was, after all, an outsider, untrained such processes. "Here," his hand dipped into his pants' backpocket, digging out a pair of black, plastic gloves. "If you absolutely have to touch something. But try not to disturb the evidence," he told her.

He looked around then, arm outstretched. "The mirror thing is odd," he grunted. "It's like they destroyed them and rearranged them on purpose. I've seen ritual sites before, but never one like these. I suppose they chose such a locale because it could house a fair amount of people, and seeing them all come in would not raise that much of a suspicion from outside surveillance," he noted. "What I don't understand is the purpose of doing such a thing. The writings seem like gibberish, according to the language databases. And if it has some kind of mystical significance, it entirely escapes me," he admitted.

 

[Sofiel]

(dicee)

 

[Sofiel]

She blinked slowly at the glove that was offered before reaching a hand out to take it. Interesting. Disturbing evidence. Mortals were obsessed with the weirdest things. Her gaze shifted around the room, towards the various mirrors. The symbols on them.

"What are the odds they make a full message when you align them all together?"

Darth Temerant

 

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel
​

"Hrm. That's not a bad idea. Though I do loathe to alter a scene," the man clicked his tongue. "X3?"

"On it, Master," the droid came in, the man letting Sofiel in on their talks through a speaker incorporated into the helmet. The floating orb proceeded to scan the entire area, a red light flashing as it shot to the ceiling in a thin line, before opening into a flood that reconvened into yet another line, pointing vertically beneath it. "Computing..."

"Isolate the parts with writing," Temerant ordered.

"Indeed," X3 agreed. A moment passed, and the orb shot another hologram before them. A reconstructed mirror, with lines squiggled all over it. However, the image left something to be desired, almost as if the words blurred in and out. "That's... odd," the droid remarked, puzzled by the fact.

"What is it?" Temerant grunted.

"It's... The system is having trouble relaying the information. I don't know what's wrong. It's like it's struggling to remember what it just filmed," he remarked as the picture began to become clearer. "I... must advice against trusting what you're seeing," the droid concluded, perplexed by the fact.

"You're right. That is strange," Temerant gruffed. "This may be dangerous..." he warned Sofiel. "But we don't have all day."

He did not wait for a response as he lifted a hand and closed it into a fist. One by one, the mirror pieces flew off the wall to rearrange into the right order, the man using the hologram as reference, keeping them afloat.

As he finished, he growled in dissatisfaction. "Gibberish still," he noted. "Or perhaps a dead tongue. But nothing I'm familiar with."

However... for Sofiel it might be a different matter entirely.

Hail to the harbinger of Obliviescense,
Bringer of forgetfulness, dispenser of presence.
With a sneer, thou mocketh the Sith's belief,
Their code and their power, bringeth no relief.

O demon of the Dark, we call to thee,
From the depths of shadow, come forth and be.
Grant us the gift of thy memory loss,
For with it, we'll bear the ultimate cost.

Thou art the bringer of entropy's reign,
A force that shall guide us, through pain and disdain.
With thee, we'll conquer the galaxy's lore,
Forgetting the past, to open a new door.

By the Will of the Dark, we make this call,
Come forth, O demon, and heed our entreaty's fall.
With these words, I invoke you, bringer of blissful loss,
To grant the seeker the wisdom of the void.
May the exchange be made, and the path to entropy revealed,
That the secrets of the universe may finally be unsealed.​

​

 

[Sofiel]

"Dangerous and strange, is it?"

She wasn't mocking. Nor was she as simply curious as she'd been before. No, this time around it was almost like she'd taken offense of all things. Her eyes narrowed in focus as she glanced through the words as Temerant seemed to put them in order. And for a moment, she frowned. An honest frown no less. Recognition, and annoyance. Without hesitating she spoke up, repeating for him what she knew he surely couldn't read.

"Hail to the harbinger of Obliviescense,
Bringer of forgetfulness, dispenser of presence.
With a sneer, thou mocketh the Sith's belief,
Their code and their power, bringeth no relief.

O demon of the Dark, we call to thee,
From the depths of shadow, come forth and be.
Grant us the gift of thy memory loss,
For with it, we'll bear the ultimate cost.

Thou art the bringer of entropy's reign,
A force that shall guide us, through pain and disdain.
With thee, we'll conquer the galaxy's lore,
Forgetting the past, to open a new door.

By the Will of the Dark, we make this call,
Come forth, O demon, and heed our entreaty's fall.
With these words, I invoke you, bringer of blissful loss,
To grant the seeker the wisdom of the void.
May the exchange be made, and the path to entropy revealed,
That the secrets of the universe may finally be unsealed."​

"Your cultists are messing with power they shouldn't have, Knight Inquisitor." A heavy sigh escaped her as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't like it."

Darth Temerant

 

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel
​

The Inquisitor narrowed his eyes, looking at the gibberish.

"Well, that isn't ominous," he growled, the sarcasm thick in his voice. "X3. Search our databases for anything regarding an entity known as 'Obliviescense,'" he instructed.

"Right away, Master," the droid complied.

He regarded his newly acquired protegé with suspicion then. "That is remarkable, that you can understand all that," he noted. "Is this some secret sorcerer language I am unaware of?" he hypothezised. Still, the woman had exhibited some very strange behaviour. Regardless of his relative success in recruiting her, he somehow didn't feel accomplished, or at ease. "You seem to have a good handle on what is going on, Acolyte. So please. Do enlighten me," he urged her. However, despite the formality, one thing was very much clear: he wasn't asking.

 

[Sofiel]

"As I said prior, I am not a sorcerer. This is just the language of my people."

Her gaze settled on him for a brief moment. Watched him, the body language. Ah. He wanted more information than just the bare minimum she was used to giving. Her focus shifted as she reached up to hold her chin. How best was it to explain it?

"I suppose you'd call us devils. We can't leave the Nether without a contract with one of you mortals, though not all care to leave. I'm not sure what this ones goal is, though. I am very curious why they're toying with you mortals this way."

Darth Temerant

 

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel
​

There was a pause as the Acolyte revealed her true nature, Temerant canting his head.

"Okay. Forget my earlier complaints. As far as unsettling goes, this takes the cake," X3 mused.

The reconfigured mirror broke apart back into all of its pieces, every sharp and jagged edge suddenly pointing at her with a flex of his wris, a few aimed towards her familiar.

"I strongly reccomend you remain calm. I am aiming at every major artery and vital," he informed her dryly. "Let's see if I have this right," the man growled. "You're telling me that you are a foreign entity in control of one of our numbers, and that you understand all of this because one of your own kind is responsible for whatever the feth is going on here," he summarized. "Me, an Inquisitor, tasked with preserving the sanctity and integrity of the Sith's creed from external influences and malicious interference, amongst other things," he continued. It did explain a whole lot about her unusual behaviour. "You are either very confident in your ability to subdue me or entirely ignorant of the danger you just put yourself in. Either way, it's a bad look," he let her know, blunt as a truncheon to the head. "I suggest you use the next few seconds to convince me as to why I shouldn't slaughter you here and now, if you've any care for your host's physical integrity."

 

[Sofiel]

"You may hurt my vessel, but you won't hurt me."

She didn't move, regardless. Vessels were hard fought to get, let alone keep. Her yellow eyes stayed on his, scanning him. Studying him. Even the smile didn't fade, just a calm as ever expression.

"You speak a lot, and very brazenly. You're supposed to find all the information first, right, Knight Inquisitor?" She tilted her head to the side, just a little.

"I am not a threat. My deal is to help the Sith, much as you are now. And a deal is something we can never break."

Darth Temerant

 

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel
​

"I am going to go off on a limb and assume that terminating your vessel would effectively rip you from this plane," he wagered. He was no Sorcerer, but neither was he illiterate when it came to the darker and more esoteric paths of the galaxy, having been trained to oppose them wherever necessary. "And you'll have to excuse me if your word is not quite enough to go off. Nor is commenting on my verbose tendencies endearing you to me," he noted, letting a shard shoot off with eery speed and precision, shearing a couple loose strands of hair.

"Indeed Master. It is one of your most endearing qualities, if you ask me," X3 noted, still on speakers.

"Quiet," he growled.

The droid complied, and the devil... she had a point. Killing someone when there were answers to be had was not his style. And she had revealed this willingly, having no reason to have ever suspected he'd recruit her. If she... it... whatever this was, had an angle in all this, he was struggling to find it.

He approached her, glass shards following him around like a deadly cloud-cloak, angles turning inward as they adjusted towards their targets.

"Perhaps the peculiarities of my kind escape you, but you're going to need to earn a modicum of trust if you wish for me to believe anything you say, or indeed, spare you," he let her know plainly. "You may begin with what this 'deal' of yours entails."

 

[Sofiel]

"Temporarily, yes. I'd have to find another vessel first."

Which would be a pain, but.. Time wasn't something that mattered to her. She kept the calm smile, uncaring of the glass threatening the current vessel she held. A delay was all it would be. If she had to wait for Temerant himself to die, she would. And perhaps the nature of her deal in the next would be less.. Grating.

"I am given control of this body. In exchange, I will further the Sith and ensure their survival and growth. It was very simple and direct."

Darth Temerant

 

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel
​

Temerant knew when a threat was not proving effective. And against this being, he did not wish to open himself up to any kind of psychic warfare. He did not know what he was up against, nor how an alien entity he did not understand would react to attempts at using the Force on its mind.

But Temerant did know threats, and if there something he was good at, it was adapting them. And hence, the shards shifted once more.

"You don't seem terribly concerned for your 'vessel's' physical integrity," he observed. "But you cannot break your deal, which means whilst you are possessing it... you have to obey that directive?" he theorized. "In that case, I could always incapacitate you, and put you away for the natural life of your host. Or better yet, put you in some manner of conscious stasis. Mayhaps even prolong her natural lifespan by several measures. You'd be surprised what one can do when they have the resources. And I've no shortage of them."

One could practically hear X3 squirming, trying not to make a joke.

​

"But let's get back to the matter at hand," he remarked, having made his point. "That sounds awfully selfless of your host, whoever she really is," the man growled, clearly suspicious of the fact. "In fact, I would very much like to know that. And why would she make such a deal? What does she gain from giving the Sith your benefaction when she loses her agency? And what do you get out of being in control of her body?"

 

[Sofiel]

"I do not appreciate continued threats, Knight Inquisitor. If you're expecting me to grovel in fear or something similar, you'll find I'm only running out of patience. My deal is to ensure their survival and growth. Threats to that will be dealt with accordingly."

The calm smile remained, but the cold in her eyes only grew colder as they narrowed.

"She, like many within the Maw, is a blind devote of their gods. Hers, the Sith. When the Maw fell, she and hers reached out in their desire to try and save their gods. And I answered. The Maw destroyed Csilla. And through that, birthed me. It's only natural for something to be curious on their creator, no?"

Darth Temerant

 

[Darth Temerant]

TAGS: Sofiel
​

Where Sofiel stated things in a matter-of-fact fashion, Temerant was quickly gathering the sense that the matter was more complex than she let on and that perhaps she was not wholly aware of this fact. Maybe she had misinterpreted her deal. Maybe her host had motives beyond those that she was revealing. Maybe this all -was- a part of their deal. One way or another, he would figure it out.

"You might be surprised to learn how little I care about what you do or do not appreciate, devil, or about the extent of your patience, for that matter. I am a Knight Inquisitor. It is my job here to decide whether or not you are a threat to the Sith. We have some things in common, however. I am largely unconcerned about this 'vessel' and will deal with threats to the Sith accordingly," he replied in turn, his helm offering no insight as to what his own eyes might portray. "I am curious, however. If I were to convince you that you are, in fact, a threat to the Sith's continued well-being, what would you do?" he asked. "Because knowledge of your nature would cause rampant panic amongst the general public. My people, well... They would probably put you down like a rabid barghest. What you represent is likely not to the interest of the clergy, either. In most likelihood, however, you would be apprehended and experimented upon. Others would seek to learn from you: what makes you tick. How far you can be pushed before your host gives out. What secrets you hold. And others would yet try to control you entirely... and discard you the moment you proved dangerous or more useful gone," he concluded. "What happens when you learn the Sith Order does not want your help, but your absolute and total surrender, hrm? And that is in the best of cases. If you think I'm a threat to your goals, then you are hilariously ignorant of just how much danger your very being puts you in."

He allowed his argument to linger in the air for a moment.

"If what you say is true, you are young," he observed. "Younger than me, by my standards. And as far as I can tell, you're very much in over your head, Sofiel," he crunched her name between his teeth. "You may be curious as to your creators. I am savvy about not just them, but the world you have stepped into. So it would be to your enormous benefit to take heed of my words," he assured her. "Now, your host. I would like to speak to her."