Their thoughts his cage (Veldar Tor'Vaas)

[Gir Quee]

Longstride Memorial Depot, in orbit via Onderon

The doors whisked open in front of Gir, revealing the interior of the waystation that served as a transportation hub between the fleet and the jungle world below. He took one step off of the Arendal's airlock onto the station and suddenly felt as if he were on a different world. The blonde man warily took several more steps forward. The gravity settings here are a little bit different than the Arendal's...feels lighter...maybe to make moving luggage and cargo easier? The man from Hast quickly dismissed the thoughts about the station from his head and moved to a more pressing matter: the energy being they'd encountered on Terrijo. A voice called out from behind him.

“Sir, if you'd wait just one moment...”

Gir slowly turned around to face Captain Snowat, an Ithorian legal officer, stride towards him from the Arendal's airlock.

“What is it captain?”

“Sir, I respect what you're doing, especially its intent, but I'm worried about your safety.”

“He has the potential to be dangerous,” admitted Gir, continuing his walk through the station as Snowat came up on his right side, “but it's not as if that is the only angle we can allow ourselves to see of him.”

“Sir, I think it should be someone else going in there to talk to him. If it's you, and something happens-”

“There will be another officer lined up to take my position,” said the grand admiral, “I'm sure that they've already selected other candidates in the event that something happens to me. Don't get me wrong Snowat, I know well enough that my own life is of value, but I would be upset if I didn't handle this myself. It was my actions and orders about him that contributed to some of people getting hurt, and possibly creating a rift between him and the rest of the Republic.”

They neared a blast door flanked on either side by a pair of heavily armed and armored Republic marine teams. Gir glanced at the markings on the armor, and quickly recognized them as being attached to the headquarters company on Onderon below. He offered them a brief nod before their leader saluted him, which he promptly returned. But still the ithorian next to him persisted.

“Sir I can appreciate that you want to be part of the solution, but I think it should be me walking into this room. You are the grand admiral, but I know the legal quandaries which often comes with these sorts of things. This is my...turf, as I've heard some of your people say...”

“Come in with me then,” said Gir, “and maybe we can sort this all out before we send an innocent being to high-security detention facility.”

“We hope.”

“I know, we don't know enough yet. But we'll find out out,” said Gir, turning his gaze to one of the armored men, “sergeant, if you'll open that door now, Captain Snowat and I are ready to see him.”

His helmet bobbed up and down before he clicked a button on the side of the wall, prompting the doors to slowly slide open to reveal a hexagonal metal room with a ceramic table and duraplast chairs. The blue energy being was already sitting at the table, under the watchful eyes of two more marines standing behind him. He looks different than in the holos. As the two officers entered, Gir briefly thought about extending a hand for a handshake, but quickly thought better of it. He eyed the being in front of him warily before introducing himself.

“I am Grand Admiral Quee of the Republic Defense Forces, and this is Captain Snowat, one of our legal officers. We're here to sort out what happened on Terrijo. Could you start by telling us your name?”

[member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"]

 

[Surge]

They had him hooked up to a conduit of sorts, a wire that siphoned energy from his body so that he would remain depleted. He supposed that there was some form of humor involved in the act of using a prisoner to "pay" for their imprisonment. However, it was drawing more energy from him than he could produce. He had been like this for a couple of hours and he was now feeling ill from it.

He tried to pull it off, but the way it was attached to him didn't budge. In fact, he felt a sharp tug of pain every time that he pulled. He turned his head and tapped the back of the neck where the wire had been attached earlier. He felt the bio-electric levels in the emotional core of his brain dip below proper levels and he spontaneously leaked tears out of his right eye. He quietly gasped and rasped out, "Please..."

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir frowned at [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"]'s obvious discomfort. It put him in something of conundrum. He had no intention of torturing the being in front of him, yet he could not really allow the creature in front of him to regain the strength he demonstrated on Terrijo. He briefly glanced at Captain Snowat, but the ithorian's body language was unreadable to him. Turning his eyes back to the creature in front of him, he noticed a tear leaking out of his right eye.

It seemed a little too human like for Gir's comfort. Internally, he shuddered. You hear stories about how certain members of the One Sith like to torture those they capture, or experiment on them. We aren't becoming like them, are we? He shook the thoughts from his head and turned his gaze to one of the marines standing behind him.

"Lower the energy input protocols from the restraining device by at least two-fifths," ordered Gir, "you have my authority to adjust it as needed for the situation at hand, corporal, but I need him to talk."

"Yes sir."

Gir turned his gaze on the energy being one more time, "I wish we understood how you worked a little bit better so that it didn't come to this. But our brief experience with you shows that you can be dangerous, and we don't quite well enough trust you to just let you off the hook, so let's try this one more time: who are you?"

 

[Surge]

It was an instant relief to not have one's energy being drained like a chocolate addict sipping a Jawa Chip drink from Spacebucks. He tried to swallow so he could moisten his dry throat. He stared at [member="Gir Quee"] with pupil-less eyes and said, "A name?...24601...I think..Your name...sounds important...it is a long one, though. Longer...than a normal name?"

He pondered the reasoning behind a parent's decision to name their own child, "Grand Admiral Quee of the Republic Defense Forces". But what did he know? Nothing, except what lay in front of him.

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir briefly hesitated in his response. 24601...doesn't exactly sound like a natural name... In 24601's defense, Gir's introduction didn't exactly sound like a natural name either...But even as part of Gir focused on the inherent dignity of the being in front of him, the tactician in him was analyzing the creature in the back of his mind. Lack of naming convention knowledge suggests that he has little exposure exposed to the outside world, and the name suggests that he was a test subject of some sort. Gir shrugged.

"It is. 24601 is probably a more efficient name than mine," offered Gir, "but most of the time, I just go by Gir when I'm with my friends and family. What about you, Captain Snowat?"

The ithorian briefly glanced at the blonde man before turning his hammerheaded face towards [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"], "My family calls me Flen. It's a type of animal found on my homeworld. I mean, my culture's homeworld, Ithor, that is."

"My homeworld, the place where I was born, is a world almost completely covered in water," said Gir, "they call it Hast. Where do you come from, 24601? Are you from Terrijo, the jungle world we found you at?"

 

[Surge]

His face remained emotionless, but a ghost of a smile touched his lips."Heh...Water world...That doesn't sound like my kind of planet." He stared blankly at the wall behind them as he listened to them. When it was time for him to reveal what he knew...he didn't know what to say. He sat there silently for an uncomfortable amount of time. Then he said, "I...I don't know...You found me on Terrijo...so I came from there?..."

His eyes turned black and his voice became deeper. "He will serve as a battery...Imagine all of them together, powering the Conduit..."

And as though he hadn't missed a beat, his eyes returned to normal and he kept talking on. "I can only remember the box...the room?...No, it was a box. It told me that I needed to do...things...things that I needed to do...."

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Well that is interesting. Gir briefly furrowed his brow. But what would the Karka Syndicate need with a living power generator? What is this conduit they're speaking of? Have they made any more of them? Gir found himself with more questions than he had entered the room. But that was a good thing; they had a better base of understanding to work from, as little as it was. He spared a glance at Snowat, but the Ithorian didn't notice him. Instead, he was hastily scribbling down notes on his datapad. Of course, being forced to fight for a cause will probably end up in his release, assuming we can verify that with facts we gathered on the ground, like the slave collar like device...Gir turned his gaze through the pupil-less eyes of [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"].

"It's hard to say if you came from Terrijo," said Gir, "but it's a possibility. It's not an unpleasant world in the galaxy. There are many out there that covered in smoldering lava or are little more than barren, frozen rocks. Tell me, is there anything else you remember? Do you think there are any others like you?"

 

[Surge]

His eyes darkened once more and he said, "Rows and rows of bodies. Squirming. Shifting. Pain. Men in blue coats. They will be beautiful, said one. The game's on in half an hour; Time to punch out, said the other one."

His eyes normalized and he said, "More like me?...No...No, I hope not...."

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir nodded as [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"]. Must be lonely to be the only one of your kind. Blue coats...that might be a clue to whoever created him for the Syndicate, but alone, I suppose that doesn't tell us much...but more importantly...

"What would you do with yourself if we were to let you go free to do whatever you wanted. What would that be? Is there anything you like to do?"

 

[Surge]

He looked at his hand and extended two of his fingers. A short arc of electricity jolted between the two fingertips and then quickly stopped. After morosely and quietly thinking up an answer for a short time, he replied "What is freedom when the point of your existence is to be a tool...I guess that...I think that...I want to find who did this to me...and stop them from doing it again...if anything, I'd do that for curiosity's sake."

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir intently listened to [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"] as he spoke probably the most important words in their conversation so far. He has a desire, which is good to know, and it even aligns with our own. He could work with us on this problem, but still, he's untested and unpredictable...perhaps its worth to see play a thought experiment...

"Let's say that we work together and stop the people from making more of you," said Gir, "what would you do with yourself after that? I believe that you're more than just a tool. If you were just a tool, you wouldn't be able to think for yourself or even ponder why you exist. But you've demonstrated to me both of those exact same traits; you have an existence of your own to consider now. So what happens after them?"

 

[Surge]

These questions gave him the longest pause thus far. He tried to think about the answer, but the only knowledge to draw on was what the room taught him and the small amount of time that he had spent in the real world. The didn't have enough real world experience and the room only showed him that a tool, once used up and done for, was to be discarded or recycled.

"I..." he started to speak hesitantly. "...I would...I would need to find another way to be of use?...This...This is all quite sudden...." He then stared intently at [member="Gir Quee"] and asked with fervent curiosity, "What's lava? And, and frozen rocks? What are those?"

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir found [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"]'s ignorance of the outside world curious, even if it put the grand admiral in a moral quandary. He wanted subject 24601 to know more about the galaxy, but only parts of it. The being standing in front of him did not know the ravages that certain monsters had wrought on the galaxy, nor did he know of all the multitude of sins and vices that pervaded its cultures. He did not want to be responsible for giving 24601 that information, not without a better understanding of his psyche. But he could at least explain parts of the galaxy to him for now; those that he deemed wouldn't likely negatively impact him.

Gir took out a datapad linked with the station's network. Originally, he had brought it to jot down any information that the being would reveal to him. He found it ironic that it was turning out to go the other way. He activated its micro holo-projector to pull up images of several exotic worlds.

"The galaxy is a huge place with many wonders," started Gir, "but here is a picture of lava. It's like melted hot rock that can flow like a drop of water, but on a much larger space. And this Rotip, an icy moon in this system. It may look like its surface is just covered in normal rocks, but they're cold enough that if I were to touch it with my bare body, I would be severely hurt.

It's okay if you don't know what your other purpose would be. Many people have spent lifetimes searching for their own, and not all of them find it. Some are even unsure of it, despite falling into the roles that they have chosen for themselves or that society has placed upon them. But in the end, most peoples that I have met want to be more than just tools or instruments. They want to become something more.

But that is something that you will have to discover for yourself, eventually.

I think that for now, that we can guide you into knowing this galaxy a little bit more than what you know right now, as we search for those who made you. Isn't that right Snowat?"

"Yes sir, I think," said the ithorian, looking up from his datapad, "there is some precedent set in the regulations from the enslavement and release of species found in the galactic core but originally found in the Unknown Regions..."

That might bring up more questions for 24601 than I would have liked...But Snowat continued to talk.

"...I am having a tutoring droid sent up right now to act as your assistant, 24601, until you feel it is unnecessary..."

He could really use an actual name...but the droid will have the resources and patience to better explain the galaxy to him...I wonder if he has ever encountered a droid before...this could be interesting...The blast doors behind them swished open to reveal a roughly humanoid-shaped droid covered in a dull gray carapace of duraplast. It ambled towards them methodically.

"I am VTC-303, robotic tutor and learning assistant," said the droid, "which one of you is 24601?"

 

[Surge]

During the course of this conversation, as energy had been drained from him, he was slowly losing the glow that made him radiant. The rate of loss had been cut down when they had turned down the rate of drain, but it was still happening. His left arm, for instance, was completely void of any glow. When the droid walked in, he was only slightly befuddled. He could see that it was humanoid, but it was made of metal...and electricity....

"A machine...But...But, it looks like a person...Is he like m---?"

Before he could finish his sentence, his left, dark blue arm snapped up and reached out to the droid as though it had a will of its own. The droid started to spark and twitch as he used his right arm to try and subdue the left arm. He slammed the left arm against the table, but then a long arc of electricity shot out of the face plate, which had burst open, of the droid.

"No! NO!!" he yelled.

It went directly into his own arm and it continued to drain the droid no matter how much he tried to control it. After a few seconds, the electricity stopped flowing and the droid fell over, stiff and empty. He was trembling and a tear sprang to his eye.

"Did I kill him? I didn't m---" His eyes rolled back, his back arched slightly backwards, and he stiffened in his chair as he felt the wire start draining more than he had when it originally started.

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

This might be harder than I thought...but then again, how will he feel about droids when he hears how that they're created and used as tools...their "life" is not unlike his own, from a certain point of view. The republic officer shook his head, as if that would get rid of his thoughts.

Gir shook his head at [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"]'s comment.

"You didn't kill him. We'll just need to get him more power. Once he has that, he will come back to life.

It looks like your body desires more power of its own. Guard, you can lower the amount of power being drawn from him a little bit.

I've got to ask, how exactly do you control your ability to manipulate power?"

 

[Surge]

The drain lowered a little bit and they were right back where they had started, along with his original level of debilitation. His words came slower because of it. "I feel it....and it does what I want....I hurt people who cause pain....I...."

His head snapped to the side and his eyes turned dark as he started to run out of energy to sustain himself. He was losing his glow and his life.

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

He felt a twinge of guilt as [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"] seemed to fade away. He turned his gaze to the one of the guards, who once more lowered the intake rate of the power that they were drawing from the energy being. This warrants more study by some power engineering professionals...but for now, we might need to consider even giving him power if he doesn't snap out of this...He pulled out his comlink and tapped a button on its side.

"Longstride Station Control, this is Admiral Quee speaking. I need a power droid at cabin T9 to power up a droid."

"Roger sir, we'll get one to your shortly."

Snowat glanced at him, "Is it for the droid, or for him too?"

"We'll find out," said Gir, "it might not be a bad idea to have one on standby with him, to help with any energy supply issues he might have."

A little over a minute passed before an old, clunky EG-6 waddled into the room. Almost immediately, one of the guards started plugging a power cable between the two droids in the room. Gir turned his attention to the energy being. Would he too need a startup, or had they allowed enough power to accumulate in him that they could avoid that?

 

[Surge]

He was okay right now, but it was going to take him a while to be get back to normal. His body was exhausted and his body and mood was getting slightly frustrated with the situation he was stuck in. The only thing that he let show, though, was the physical and emotional drain. He slumped down over the table and leaned his chin on both of his stacked hands as he stared at [member="Gir Quee"]'s chest.

He thought for a while. He watched as the metal human was connected to another metal human by a metal rope and...He shook his head to clear it of all the confusing thoughts. He tried to think about other things, like what he wanted to do...

Finally, he curiously asked, "What did you think of my skill during that pirate matter?"

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir briefly bit his lip as he considered [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"]'s question.

He had seen the recordings from the trooper's helmet cams of Test Subject 24601's actions on Terrijjo. While some of the shots had been blurry, there was no doubt that his performance had been impressive. It was clear that whoever had made him had known what they were doing and seen potential. The energy being in front of him could easily be ranked among the elites of the galaxy, and Gir guessed that he could likely take on even some Jedi or Sith in combat as an equal, though that would likely depend somewhat on the exact individual. But while Gir was usually keen to promote people and their abilities, this one was somewhat different. After all, he had harmed Republic personnel, although Gir knew those actions to be against 24601's will, it did not seem quite right to praise it in the presence of a marine or one of his friends who had fought him on Terrijo. Moreover, Gir did not want to encourage any violent tendencies that the being might have been indoctrinated with during his creation or training in the room. He would have to be careful.

"It was impressive," said Gir, "I cannot say that I've ever seen anything like it, even after seeing some pretty fantastic technologies and warriors during my travels. Is it something that's just inherent in you, or something you were trained to do in the room?"

 

[Surge]

It was not the thrill of battle that drove him, but the idea that he could be useful to the right kind of people. There were many things that he didn't know, but right and wrong was two of them...at least, he thought so...

"I was told how to do...simple attacks...It usually just told me what was expected of me up until the moment the doors opened...The pirates must have been desperate...There's a lot that I, myself, don't understand about this...form....Perhaps...we can help each other?"

[member="Gir Quee"]