Base Dormitories

The girl opened her mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. Ok. I guess I will head to the gardens and get some sleep.She had never been given a bunk in the dormitories, but even then. After living most of her life in the pollution filled cesspit that was Nar Shadda, Kent found being outside under clear skies peaceful and relaxing.

*Well, this criminal sounded dangerous, but were those two officers he'd managed to kill Jedi like Mama? Morgan doubted it, so when Mama said she was believed to be the best chance to "arrest him or put him down," Morgan automatically agreed. But the scars... Clearly it hadn't been easy. Still, Mama was here now, and Morgan, recalling her talk with Na'an, looked over her shoulder carefully with a confident, proud look as she asked,* "And you did, didn't you?"

"I'm still here, aren't I?" she asked with a smug smile and an eyebrow raised. Adelle stood and rinsed her hair out, only feeling a slight burn from the water now. "He wasn't the worst I've faced."

A fruity scent filled the air as Adelle squeezed bodywash onto a cloth and lathered up. The worst she'd ever faced off again wouldn't ever get his name breathed again. And thanks to the "gift" of the company, she wasn't sure she could even breathe in her own room. Adelle passed the wash cloth to Morgan, making sure there was still plenty of suds for her.

Adelle's blood ran cold even as her skin reddened from the heat of the water. She paused mid-rinse, carefully planning out her response. She should have seen the question coming; her small boast had opened her up to this. And now she'd pay for it.

"A man named Sy Dir'egon," she said, stepping further back into the spray. "And that is all you need to know."

Adelle finished her rinse then stepped aside to let Morgan rinse off, grinding her teeth together. Even just saying his name set her on edge. Morgan, with all her empathic abilities, would no doubt pick up on the tension—possibly even her increased reluctance to speak. There was no helping that. Adelle turned the water off once Morgan was done. But even though she couldn't quite protect Morgan from everything she felt, she could protect her from the hellish memories. She snatched a towel from the rack hanging nearby and offered it to Morgan, before grabbing the other towel for herself.

Despite the two dark turns the conversation had taken, the shower had done some good. Adelle felt less fatigued, less stressed as she dried herself off. She could probably get a dreamless few hours' sleep before the nightmares hit in full force again. Provided Leigh and Lana were finished with their conversation. She checked the room beyond with her Force sense, noting that Na'an's steely presence had softened somewhat and hung about nearby. The two odd presences of the Life Emulators were also nearby. Na'an had probably called Leigh into the hallway to talk and Lana followed. Good. She'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes into the 'fresher with her and it'd just be awkward walking naked in front of an open door to get them.

She palmed the door open and immediately smelled rain: Na'an. Na'an was in the kriffing room. Adelle flattened herself to one side of the door, her fist punching the door closed again. Her other hand clutched the top of the towel to her collar bone, as if that would hide her state of nakedness. Morgan and her clothes were still in the 'fresher: she could ask Morgan for help. First she had to calm her rapid heartbeat and the adrenaline that had flooded her system.

"Morgan? Would you grab my other change of clothes from the wardrobe when you're dressed?" she asked as calmly as she could. "My room seems to have gathered an audience."

There was the flicker of a door at the edge of Na'an's vision, but she ignored it for the moment. The sudden revelation that there was another Life Emulator in the base--Leigh's sister, and a child to boot--had her leaning forward with an intensity Leigh recognized as becoming more and more frequent in the last week.
"Does she know," she said, eye trained on Lana as if she were trying to see through her skin to the wiring underneath, "that Elly's here?"

Leigh paused for a nanosecond as she ran a subroutine to check her recent memory logs. "I have neglected to mention that particular detail," she concluded, almost defensively.

Na'an raised an eyebrow. "Protecting your sister?"

This time, Leigh's voice was decidedly defensive. "You know better. I merely lacked the time. But that is irrelevant. She is aware that Eliana Shan is in this facility, and has made several allusions to this fact. However, I do not believe Lana has encountered her directly."


"I see. Well then." Na'an turned to Lana this time with some thought,pressing her lips together in a thin hard line. Leigh estimated that whatever was going through her friend's head must be difficult for an organic mind to process--the expression only broke when the refresher door opened a second time to reveal Adelle Bastiel.
"Well!" Na'an exclaimed as the woman came into the room, loudly, and pushed herself to her feet with the kind of abrupt grace that, to Leigh, seemed to come to her in spurts. The effect looked almost as if she'd somehow committed a startled jump into full movement, leaving Leigh again to wonder (in a minor algorithm, or course) about just how organic creatures even managed to control their motions at all. 'Well," she repeated again. "I think I've got someone your sister should meet. Miss Lana, would you like to see your mother?"

Now it was Leigh's turn to be startled. She half stood as well, adjusting counterbalances to put her on her feet quickly without tipping from the cannon's weight. "You are taking her there?" she exclaimed with some alarm. "Now? The Masters have not seen her yet, it may not be safe."

"It's ok, Leigh, trust me. There's something I want to see." She was in the door now, no longer leaning against the jamb--rather, she stood squarely in the center, her arms crossed tightly against her chest. "Nothing's going to happen to Lana."

"Na'an, she is a--"

"Don't worry." Na'an smiled broadly, but unlike the smiles she'd worn for Morgan there was no good humor in it--it looked rather more like a grimace. "If I'm right? Come on, I can take her. Doc, Morgan." She beckoned to Lana from the doorway, barely waiting for her to follow before she turned out of the room and down the familiar paths to the medical wards.

Leigh was left with a silent Adelle, and rapidly whirring programs to calculate the possibilities. She and the 02 unit had not spoken much to each other, and none of their interactions could have been said to be positive. All the same, Life Emulators were rare--despite their noted differences, there was no need to put her in danger before they each had other opportunities to understand the other. Placing the 02 unit in their mother's proximity could very well eliminate such opportunities for the foreseeable future.

That being said...Na'an had asked Leigh to trust her. Based on everything this Life Emulator knew of Na'an, there was 0.32% probability that said trust would be ill placed.

Now there was only Adelle to explain things to. However, in response to Na'an's utter lack of response, there was really only one thing to say.
"She is anxious--and angry," she said. "I believe she feels she cannot face you when she is like this."
She knew that to an organic, this may sound ridiculous and weak. However, if a fact was ridiculous or weak, it did not cease being a fact.
" I believe she also did not realize that these were your private quarters."

Adelle raised her eyebrows at the last statement. "Because Morgan walks into all the 'freshers in every dorm."

She really had to stop being sarcastic. Adelle heaved a sigh and rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes. The solid wood wardrobe which had seemed so comfortable before now felt like it had thorns digging into her spine. She was tired: physically, emotionally, mentally. Everything flowed out of it: her sarcasm, her weepiness, and the Force-awful jokes. She really needed to sleep. But there was Morgan and Leigh still.

And her father would need to be updated.

"I've seen her worse," she said, although Leigh would have a perfect memory of those days. "It's more than that. Something's set her off. You too."

Despite the circuitry that comprised Leigh's systems, Adelle felt a small buzz of Force energy from Leigh. It would disappear when she focused on it, but in her peripheral Force sense, it was there. And right now, it was turbulent beneath the icy veneer Leigh usually had.

"Leigh," she said firmly, "what's wrong?"

I have learned to be comfortable enough to sleep just about anywhere. Getting a room assigned would mean extra work for someone, and perhaps moving someone else around. I am not really worth the trouble. Outside is nice, I haven't seen the stars in almost 10 years, the lights and pollution on Nr Shaddar make seeing them impossible.
She wasn't trying to sound pathetic, she was tired and her honest opinion was all that could come out. It had been a very long day. She saw all these people around her that were doing great things and achieving things. All she was, was a girl with perfect recall and brain power and an ability to make things move. Here there were people that were really gifted, she had no right to impose any of them.

Leigh did not respond for a moment, instead whirring quietly in the empty space. Her scanners focused on the humans, both watching her watching the door where Na'an had taken her sister.  Somewhere in the Temple, her mother was waiting for her. 

"We are leaving for Yavin very soon," she continued. "Na'an does not wish to go there. I do not wish to stay." 

The whirring became a little louder. Had she ever felt this...at odds, before? She was built off an imprint of a mind that had felt this way, experienced emotions in muddy forms that were beyond logic or calculation. But those memories were not hers--those feelings were not hers. Perhaps this was the first time.

 "I am," she said simply, "afraid."