Private Whatever Happened to Those Files?

[Jacen Nimdok]

Entertainment District
Eve, The Scintilla
Shortly after the expedition to Odessen...

The door to the darkened holofilm theater slid silently open. Thanks to the construction of the building, it didn’t disturb the theater’s lone occupant, a tall, skinny man with dark hair and pointed ears who sat in one of the middle rows. It was unmistakably Nimdok, reclining lazily in his chair.

About a week had passed since he obtained the mysterious disk containing all the files from the Odessen base's computer, seizing it from the hands of Ravenous ' band of miscreants and malcontents, and he looked considerably less depressed now that he was back with his family and felt like he had accomplished something. On the other hand, he had no means of accessing the stolen files contained on the disk...

As the newcomer, a female Twi’lek with rare red skin, made her way over to him, Nimdok raised his head, then turned around to glance at her. Darting the rest of the way down the aisle, she slid into his row and sat down beside him. Her name was Tremain, and she was supposed to provide the means of accessing the converted files.

“Is it done? Do you have it?” Nimdok whispered.

Tremain held up a tiny datachip, the kind that was small enough to fit into the port of a personal datapad. “Right here, sir. And if you don’t mind me asking, why'd you decide to meet here?”

“This movie’s a flop,” he replied, gesturing to the screen. “I’m pretty sure you and I are the only ones who purchased a ticket. But that means we have the theater to ourselves.”

Still staring up at the screen, she grimaced. “No wonder it bombed.” Shuddering, she looked back at him. “Well, professor, if this is all you needed, I’d rather not stick around.”

“You’re not in the least bit curious about these files that haven’t seen the light of day in over three thousand years?” Nimdok asked with a smirk as he pressed a wad of credits into her free hand.

“Not at all. You’re the historian, I’m just the techie.” She handed him the chip, then stood up. “Call me if you have any problems downloading it. But it should run smoothly. Just might take a little while.” With that, she turned to go.

“Thanks. I’ll be sure to call on you any other time I need a techie, Tremain,” he called out over his shoulder. Then his eyes turned to his datapad, lit by the glow of the screen as he inserted the chip and began the transfer. He could hardly wait to see what it held. Hopefully the information contained within the chip was everything he had hoped for and more…

Telani​

 

[Telani]

Huh, another red Twi’lek. That was an interesting coincidence. So he was holed up in a movie theater huh? Interesting. So she, using some credits from her wages working for Ravenous, purchased a ticket and went in. She was a red twi’lek woman who, true to twi’lek ways, wore very little. She sat a few rows behind him, and watched as his interaction was completed. And she saw her objective change hands.

She’d likely pay this fellow twi’lek a visit. After she found out what she needed from him, she would ‘contact’ the twi’lek then devise a plan to get her hands on those files. Now, how to get close enough to get a good judge of his character and how she could manipulate it to achieve her goals. So she decided to plop herself down right next to him.

“You know, I thought that my dad showed me some bad movies and I used to dread watching them. Now I find entertainment in making fun of them.” She said absentmindedly. Then she glanced at him. “What about you? You find terrible movies entertaining?”

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Telani

At first, Nimdok thought the blur of red he glimpsed in the corner of his eye was Tremain returning for some reason. He turned to ask if she had forgotten something, only for the words to die in his throat. The woman now sitting next to him was a red Twi’lek, yes, but she was definitely not Tremain.

“Uh, sometimes?” he answered awkwardly, quickly turning off the bright screen of his datapad and stuffing it in his pocket. In his mind he had already assumed the woman was either an employee who was annoyed with him for playing with a personal device (technically breaking theater rules, even if no one else was there to be bothered by it), or another bored audience member who was just trying to be friendly. Either way, he didn’t need to stick around.

“This one’s not even so bad it’s funny,” he continued. “In fact, I was just going to ask for a refund.”

With that, he stood up and walked down the aisle in the opposite direction, headed away from the strange woman, then up the aisle towards the exit. He could always complete the download elsewhere—wasn’t like he needed a Wi-Fi connection.

Of course, if the woman were to get up and follow him, there was nothing he could do to stop her.

 

[Telani]

She watched him get up. “Aww, someone shy?”

She hopped to her feet and walked with him. “My name is Telani. What’s yours?”

She walked a little ways behind him. And she kept a smile on her face. And she kept her hands loosely on her head in a relaxed manner.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Nimdok kept moving even as the Twi'lek began to follow him. This was going above and beyond what an annoyed employee or overly friendly stranger would do, but he still wasn't quite suspicious of "Telani" yet.

"Nimdok," he replied rather dryly, his mouth set in a smirk. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw her smiling face and relaxed body language. The pose with her hands on her head pushed certain things forward, accentuating certain assets... was she flirting with him? Was that what all this was about? She picked a rather strange target for her coquetry. On the other hand, it might have all been a front for something else, like pickpocketing. Or worse.

"I take it you'd also like a refund?" he remarked as he walked over to the ticket booth. The teenager working behind the glass looked a little irritated, but gave him his money back. After all, the movie had barely started. "So, Telani," he said, turning around to face her as he stuffed his wallet back into his pocket. He wanted to see if her eyes would follow the motion, keeping track of where he kept his money. "What else do you like to do, besides make fun of terrible movies?"

Telani

 

[Telani]

"A pleasure." She answered to him introducing himself.

Her eyes were unconcerned with his wallet, and she said to the teenager at the booth while handing him her ticket. "Keep the credits."

"I'm glad you asked." She said with a smile. She may be on a mission but she was flirting with him legitimately. She flirted with basically everyone either for fun or for real. "What I do for fun is quite simple. I get into trouble for it, but it's still fun. Barely legal, but still legal, racing. Heavyweight boxing. Contact sports and such. What about you? Care to see something a little better than a movie?"

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Telani

No interest in the wallet. She didn't seem to be after money. The flirtatious tone continued, deepening as she proposed they go somewhere else.

As she spoke, Nimdok carefully took note of their surroundings, never taking his eyes off her for more than a second. They were standing outside the ticket booth, on the sidewalk of a busy street. Colorful outfits, hair, skin tones, and wild alien features blurred past him, headed in both directions. The numerous and diverse citizens of Eve minded their own business, paying little heed to the Twi'lek woman and the man with pointed ears.

"My interests tend to be a bit more... intellectual," he said coyly. "Although I suppose I wouldn't mind a little action. Lead the way."

 

[Telani]

She smiled happily, "come on. I know a good place to watch something exciting."

She lead him to a 'traditional martial arts' gym, that was hosting a minor tournament. Inside they would see a number of people sitting in bleachers and in the middle was a square ring in which two people in protective gear faced off with energy based shock weapons.

After she paid for their tickets she sat him down and watched the show. "So what kind of Intellectual interests do you have?"

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Telani

Nimdok followed Telani to what he recognized as a martial arts gym. It was crowded enough that he knew some kind of event must have been going on - a tournament, judging by the signs advertising outside.

The fighters in the ring, a hulking Wookiee and a nimble Rodian, were already going at it when they arrived. Growling, the Wookiee lunged at the Rodian, thrusting down at her with a shock pike. She evaded his strike, then circled around to jab him in the back. He roared in pain, sharp teeth bared, and swung at her furiously.

"I'm a history professor," Nimdok replied. He had to shout to be heard over the noise of the fight and the spectators. "Or I was, back on Alderaan. Now I'm an archaeologist. I travel the galaxy looking for relics of a time gone by."

He turned away from the fight in order to see her reaction, and what he saw in the gym lighting gave him pause. Force, Lethans were gorgeous. Twi'lek women tended to be, but the mutant Lethans, with their exotic Devaronian-red skin, were especially lovely to look at. His eyes briefly traced over the black tattoos on her face and lekku, before settling on her unsettling yellow eyes once more.

"I can't stay for long," he said, now acutely aware of his own foolishness. "I have to be home in time to put my kid to bed."

His datapad seemed slightly heavier in his pocket as he spoke, and Nimdok felt just the slightest twinge of foreboding.

 

[Telani]

“An archeologist?” She said with genuine-sounding interest. “Any interesting finds you can tell me about? Or that confidential information?”

Then he mentioned having to put his kid to bed, and she replied with, “oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were married. Don’t let me keep you.”

She had a smile on her face that portrayed understanding, “how soon do you need to get back?”

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Telani

"Oh no, I'm not married. Not anymore." Nimdok glanced at his chrono. "About an hour, more or less."

He shrugged. "I specialize in Sith artifacts. Jedi too, although Sith seem to be more abundant. They tend to cling to worldly things. It's part of their materialistic philosophy." He spoke with a slightly disdainful tone, but now that she had gotten him started, his inner lecturer was coming out. "Let's see... my biggest find so far has been a holocron. Nasty piece of work. The gatekeeper - that's the entity which guards the knowledge the holocron contains - was some sort of vampiric creature. It had caused the previous owner to go mad and commit suicide, then used his blood to give itself a physical form. Normally a gatekeeper is just a construct, a hologram version of the person who created it. This was a unique living creature capable of wreaking real havoc. To get to the holocron, I had to tear out the creature's heart. The holocron was its heart, more or less."

In telling the story, he conveniently left out the fact that he had deliberately damaged the holocron in order to avoid it falling into the hands of the Sith. He stood by that decision - the information the holocron contained included the means with which to become a Force vampire, a creature almost too terrible to imagine.

To Nimdok's surprise, he thought he saw his own enthusiasm reflected in Telani's gaze. Hesitating only a moment longer, he reached into his pocket and took out his datapad. The chip was still inserted in the device, and the download had already completed.

"My most recent discovery is this. Files taken from an ancient Jedi base on Odessen. I haven't had a chance to look at them yet, but I'm sure it will prove fascinating."

 

[Telani]

"I'm sorry to hear that. And I'm really sorry that you have to raise a child without their mother." She said genuinely. The thing that had driven her away from the sith had been her refusal to kill a mother and her child, and she had a soft spot for children.

She nodded in acknowledgement, an hour. That would work.

When he mentioned sith study he had her full attention. He explained that he had found a holocron. Truly precious things those, sometimes too dangerous to allow them to exist, but most should be preserved. She remembered rumors of an old Sith Library where they kept holocrons. Then he told her of his adventure. It was truly fascinating.

She looked at the datapad. "I've long been interested in sith and jedi history, but I never had the opportunity to study it. Perhaps you would be willing to share some of your findings?"

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Telani

"I mean, it's not so bad," Nimdok replied lamely. This was barely a month after he had been forced to flee Coruscant with his daughter to escape the Sith, so it actually was pretty bad. But he had plans for their future. Plans that included leaving the Scintilla and going into hiding somewhere safe...

"I've long been interested in Sith and Jedi history, but I never had the opportunity to study it. Perhaps you would be willing to share some of your findings?"

"Certainly," he replied. "I'm all for freely sharing information and knowledge. And since this data is thousands of years old, I can't imagine it would affect anyone's privacy." No one good, anyway.

He pulled up the files on his datapad. "As I said, I haven't had a chance to look at them yet, so I can't exactly give you a summary of what it contains. I had to go through hell and high water to obtain the original disk. A group of pirates were camped out at the base. Their leader was a Force User of some kind, probably a Sith, though I didn't stick around to ask him about his personal philosophy. The first time we tried to mount an expedition, he succeeded in stopping us. The second time, we barely managed to get in and out with the data." He'd had to steal it from the pirates while they were on their way out, disguising himself as a crew member. Someone else from his team, another Lethan named Zlova Rue , had dueled with Ravenous to keep him busy. It had been quite the experience. "I suppose I could send you a copy of the files, if you like."

 

[Telani]

Telani

"I mean, it's not so bad," Nimdok replied lamely. This was barely a month after he had been forced to flee Coruscant with his daughter to escape the Sith, so it actually was pretty bad. But he had plans for their future. Plans that included leaving the Scintilla and going into hiding somewhere safe...



"Certainly," he replied. "I'm all for freely sharing information and knowledge. And since this data is thousands of years old, I can't imagine it would affect anyone's privacy." No one good, anyway.

He pulled up the files on his datapad. "As I said, I haven't had a chance to look at them yet, so I can't exactly give you a summary of what it contains. I had to go through hell and high water to obtain the original disk. A group of pirates were camped out at the base. Their leader was a Force User of some kind, probably a Sith, though I didn't stick around to ask him about his personal philosophy. The first time we tried to mount an expedition, he succeeded in stopping us. The second time, we barely managed to get in and out with the data." He'd had to steal it from the pirates while they were on their way out, disguising himself as a crew member. Someone else from his team, another Lethan named Zlova Rue , had dueled with Ravenous to keep him busy. It had been quite the experience. "I suppose I could send you a copy of the files, if you like."

He'd send her a copy of the files? "You'd send me a copy?" She asked hardly believing it. "Forgive my astonishment I just didn't think that you'd do anything like that. I had imagined a few lectures and summaries."

This could change everything. Ravenous had said that he needed the files, not that she had to get them away from him. So if she had a copy of all the files that were taken, she might not have to steal them at all. She'd have to contact Ravenous and check in, but if things went well, this mission could be a lot easier than she anticipated.

"Please, don't think I'm not grateful for your willingness to do that, I just didn't expect it."

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Telani

Nimdok looked at Telani as she awkwardly apologized, his expression mild and benign. Then he laughed.

"A few lectures and summaries? Oh, no. I'm not a professor anymore. Besides, this information probably isn't suitable for a lecture hall." He flicked through the files, then shook his head, still smirking. "No, I don't think there's enough to make a college course out of this, but then who knows? They make college courses about all manner of obscure subjects nowadays. I'm sure there's some hotshot teacher out there who would certainly try."

At the press of a button, he sent her a copy of the files. "I'm afraid it's nothing special. Most of it is schematics for the layout of the base, instructions in repair and protocol, military codes that haven't been in use in several millennia, and the occasional odd message file. It's only interesting to the truly nerdy types among us historians. But you enjoy yourself."

 

[Telani]

“Really?” She asked, genuinely surprised by this information. If the files weren’t all that consequential, Why was Ravenous so intent on getting them back? Maybe there was some kind of hidden code within the files, maybe something that needs to be put together with another thing to explain something else. No matter, she had been sent to fetch, so she would fetch. That was her job.

He was even kind enough to send her a copy. He had to be provided with a connection to her own datapad in order to send that info, but she and him got it to happen. She looked the files over. “Cool. Would you at all mind if you and I could maybe, sit at a cafe or something and talk about what we’ve found? I’m not too much of a nerd but I definitely love to learn.”

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Nimdok glanced at his chrono again. “I’d love to, but not right now. Maybe another time?” he suggested. “I am free tomorrow. Simply name the time and the place, and I can meet you there.”

It was perhaps a little soon, given how many files there were to sort through, but he didn’t intend to stay on the Scintilla for very much longer. His goals would take him and Miri across the galaxy, hunting for more relics. If he was going to meet with Telani again, it would have to be within the next couple of days.

Telani

 

[Telani]

“Great! Say, 3:00 at that cafe by the theatre? I’ll buy us some coffee, or tea if you’d prefer, anything really. And I’d love to talk with you then.” She said with a smile.

She would contact Ravenous once they had parted ways, and see if having a copy of the information was good enough. She’d need to confirm with him, because despite being mostly dark side, she still had a soft spot for children and parents, and she found herself really not wanting to rob him of the data he had labored for. She’d do it if she had to, and she’d definitely need to pay that other twi’lek a visit, but she wasn’t going to kill needlessly.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

“Three o’clock works for me. I’ll see you then.” Waving goodbye, Nimdok began walking away from Telani, his hands in his pockets.

His intuition told him that all this was too good to be true. Random Twi’lek women didn’t suddenly approach men like him in movie theaters, and be committed enough that they would follow him out… or maybe they really were like that. He didn’t have much experience with women outside of his late wife and one ex-girlfriend, so he wouldn’t know. But it was the sort of behavior he would expect from a streetwalker driven to desperation, or maybe a thief hoping to gain his trust and eventually score. Neither description seemed to fit the bill, however.

It all seemed to center around the data specifically, and her unusual interest in it. Did she know something about the data he didn't?

He arrived home to find the rented apartment already dark. Inanna, a friend whom he was staying with, was in her bedroom with the door closed. Nimdok crept into the room where his daughter Miri slept, silently easing the door open and making his way to her bedside. She was still awake—he could see the faint glint of the hallway light reflected in her dark eyes.

“Miss Inanna put me to bed,” she whispered as he drew near, her tone vaguely offended. “But I stayed up until you came to tuck me in.”

Nimdok felt a twinge of guilt. He had been away for two weeks during the Odessen expedition, leaving Miri in Inanna’s care. She had clearly missed him, and he had missed her, yet he hadn’t had much time to spend with her since his return.

“Sorry sweetheart, I got caught up in something,” he whispered back. Rubbing his palms together, he proceeded to tuck in her blankets with playfully exaggerated delicacy. When he finished, he held up his hands like a doctor who had just completed open heart surgery and couldn’t touch anything until he removed his gloves and washed his hands. “I did it. You happy now?”

“Thank you,” Miri whispered. He could hear the smile in her voice. “What did you get caught up in? A traffic jam? A bank robbery? A really loooooong movie?”

“A lady wanted something from me,” he replied. “Something that might be important.”

“Was she a pretty lady?”

He rolled his eyes. “Go to sleep.”

“I don’t wanna.”

“But you gotta.”

“No.”

“Good night,” he whispered, ignoring her protests and heading for the door.

“I love you,” she called out, no longer whispering.

He couldn’t bring himself to shush her. “I love you too.”

“Good night.”

He closed the door.

Telani

 

[Telani]

(Hey, sorry for the wait, life got crazy.)

“See ya then.” She said to him, waving him goodbye.

She stayed behind to watch the rest of the tournament, while she thought about how to proceed. Once it was over she made contact with Ravenous, who confirmed that he wanted the files in his possession destroyed or recovered. But it wasn’t an ironclad requirement. So with confirmation of that she needed to make a plan. She’d try to recover the files from him first, then she’d visit the other Twi’lek and get rid of any copies she had, then leave.

She didn’t want to hurt this man, knowing that he was a father. And she didn’t want to hurt any of his friends either. The reason she didn’t seem like a Sith was because she wasn’t one, not any longer. She had left them behind because of a similar mission, and the only reason she was doing this one was because she wasn’t required to kill anyone.

So she confirmed her objectives and sent the copies to Ravenous, then went to the bunkhouse where she was staying and slept until morning.