nexus_crossings | Ghosts in the Machine

Ghosts in the Machine

There’s a young woman reading through one of the pamphlets in the plaza. She’s dressed head to toe in a rather odd black garment like a padded wetsuit - it looks like it’s all one piece, soft, elastic and form-fitting. Her hair’s a little disheveled and she has a frown of concentration as she reads, but her location doesn’t seem to worry her.

As far as she’s concerned, it’s obvious where she is. The last few weeks have been nothing but tests and interviews and assessment exercises of one form or another. More than a few have taken place using increasingly sophisticated simulation tech. This is just another program, and presumably somewhere above is the AI overseeing her progress.

Still, this is definitely a new one.

“Who comes up with these scenarios?” she wonders aloud in amusement. Then shoots a look at the tiny silver robot floating at a cautious distance. “No offense meant- and that wasn’t my question, sorry.” The Ghost bobs noncommittally, and she looks around, taking in the strange mix of people and aliens, the unrealistic architecture. “So does it matter what I ask?” The answer is murmured quietly, but presumably boils down to ‘no’. She rolls her shoulders and shifts on her feet, making thoughtful sounds for a minute. She really wants to ask something good. Insightful. Practical. Soldierly.

“Is there something around here you really need weapons for?” She had two when she started here - not to mention the ridiculous armor. The assisting ‘Ghost’ AI removed them for her, but that still leaves the question of why this simulation included them...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The older woman shifts her weight somewhat, adjusting her footing and her grip on the cane with a leather gloved hand. She frowns, and furrows her eyebrows in thought for a moment. "You have weapons that you weren't trained in the use of? How strange."

Whatever she could represent, it could be any number of things. If this was a simulation, anyway.

"Really strange," she agrees with heartfelt feeling. "I mean, it wasn't as bad as being locked in a suit of armor, but I've never even held a gun before - not a real one. I can't figure out if it was some kind of mistake or another test." She shrugs, mouth drawn in glum puzzlement. Not that it lasts, since she's determined to, well, look determined. "I suppose I'll find out one way or other."

But whatever the real test is, she has to complete it first. To that end she considers Dia, and asks, "So- mind if I ask who you are?"

"Only if you don't mind me asking the same. I am Dia'ndria Starfall." Oh. The robes are different, but there's so few utterly peaceful and logical Sith, there's no doubt the fact that has to be the truth.

~~This is probably the point where poor little Ghost would probably have a 'what' face. If he had expressions.~~

"And I'm thinking you're not alone in some of the strangeness going on around here lately. Something is happening, but I'm having a difficult time putting my finger on precisely what exactly, at the moment." Mostly because she's been sling-shotted forward into her older self, rather than younger.

Ghost starts visibly behind her, shell spinning before he darts closer to peek at Dia. Not too close, though. He's even more shy than usual. The young woman he's with isn't looking his way, though.

"Huh. That's... a very unusual name. I'm Bryn- Bryn Marshall. Nice to meet you." The introduction didn't explain anything the way she hoped it would, but mention of strange happenings sure sounds like a ~~quest hook~~ hint.

"What kind of strangeness?" How do you determine what's strange in this surreal environment, for that matter? "Have there been, um... problems?"

Indeed, she's older, much more tired looking, the hair's a bit longer, gray-white, and thickly braided under the hood, but she's still very recognizably Dia. The yellowed eyes, the pale skin and full lips. To say nothing of how she's dressed and how, even despite the age, she still cares an air of sharp, cautious attentiveness that years of paranoia and training provide.

And, depending on the sensitivity of Ghost's sensors, he can detect the cybernetics in her hands--although the elder version of the exiled Sith has a completely mechanical left arm and left leg (Explaining the cane), in addition to what she previously had.

But she's still otherwise healthy. Tiredness and apparent age aside. Her age, however, is somewhat difficult to determine, even with thorough scans. Bacta tanks and otherwise amazingly ~~bullshit~~ advanced medical technology, along with sheer utter determination, have apparently kept the woman alive. "Hm. Hard to say. One child claims he should be much older. Others seem to have lost their memories or similar effects running rampant lately. There's an order to this chaos, and I sense it's been disrupted somehow."

Which is to say.

There's a disturbance in the Force.

Edited (missed a detail) 2016-06-13 21:35 (UTC)

"It sounds like we should get talking to people and try to join up some dots," Bryn decides, while the little Ghost flits around behind her, daring to run a quick scan over Dia before he darts to the other side. Abruptly he ducks forward again, making Bryn jerk in surprise as he whispers in her ear.

"...Okay, then." She looks back at Dia. Whether the woman's real or not, there's a genuine sense of cool experience about her, and the young recruit's inclined to try and speak politely. "Do you think you've been affected by anything strange yourself... ma'am?"

Indeed, despite everything, the woman's calm, sharp, and extraordinarily attentive and aware of her surroundings. She seems at least a little relaxed, too, if a sort of restrained version of it. Ghost's movements earn a keen eye, watching the little floating droid move and whisper at its master (She assumes Bryn is Ghost's master anyway--more than one of a certain class of droid certainly isn't unusual where she's from).

All that said the question brings her pause. Eyebrows furrowing and a frown forming on her face. "It's... entirely possible. I certainly feel distinctly off, and nothing feels bloody right." Yep. Definitely Dia. Still has the bad habit of saying 'bloody' way too much. She's still got the accent too, but it's thinned with age and having been outside Imperial Space for so long. "It will eventually pass, as most things generally do, here, but we have to keep an eye on things. And find out if there's a root cause to all of this, or if it's the bloody Nexus being the bloody Nexus."

"Well, whatever the problem is, I wouldn't count on it fixing itself." Partly because she's surely meant to fix it. Or try to. Evaluations have funny objectives and there's no point trying to out-think the examiners in her opinion. Instead she focuses on the important part of what Dia tells her. That is, the last part.

"So where do we start? Round up anyone feeling strange?" Hmm. "And- uh, not to be rude or anything, but are your eyes supposed to be glowing?" Fancy military implant or part of the nonspecific weirdness? She needs to know!

"I wouldn't stoop to rounding up everyone just yet so much as taking note of who's effected and keeping a watchful eye to make sure they don't hurt themselves while they're changed due to this place." She gestures vaguely with her right hand, more or less speaking about the whole Nexus at once, "With some having lost their memories, they're unaware of the dangers this bloody place can pose."

Both hands rest on the cane again as she gives a small sigh. "The eyes, I suppose, are a side effect of some more... questionable choice I've made earlier in my life. There are things in some worlds. Powers, that leave their mark on you, even if you learn to be better and avoid using them again for the most part."

Ghost's scanners probably confirm it, her eyes aren't tech. Nonspecific weirdness, ho!

Bryn frowns with surprise - that's definitely not the kind of advice she was expecting. Ghost has Dia's back though, sort of. As soon as the younger woman opens her mouth to object to this plan of (perceived) inaction, it ducks in again to whisper urgently. Something about 'interactions with other people'.

"Oh." Bryn gives the Ghost an odd look, but abruptly she seems less sure of herself and she needs a moment to chew over what to say when she turns back to Dia. "Um. All right. So what kind of 'powers' were you talking about? Do you mean things like... temporal warping? Light-based technology?" All those strange things she's heard about from people studying the time-shifted ruins of Venus or the Traveler's totally-not-magic.

It's also practical advice. Dia doesn't want to cause a panic, given that most everyone has regressed in age rather than advanced like she has. Now that she knows something is wrong with herself, it definitely requires some investigating on her own.

And not, you know, babysitting. When she's already awkward around any child. "In my case, it's less the source, and more the method to use it I was taught is inherently corrupting." She shrugs slightly. "So you've been given the run down on where you are, how this place connects to various realities and worlds?"

"In mine, there is the Force. It flows through all living things, and there are those of us who can manipulate it to various degrees. How I was taught was that it was something to be conquered and controlled--rather than being the humble guide--and as a result, it's left its mark on me in that sense."

She nods at the question, lifting the leaflet in her hand to illustrate. And to give her some credit, when she does decide to listen her attention is fierce, studying Dia curiously as if looking for other signs of this power.

"That's... not a good attitude for anything," she has to agree. "So this Force is like qi or something? What do you do with it?" There are powers that go beyond straightforward technology in her world, but amid the surge of scientific miracles in her day they just look like one more distant miracle.

Aside from the eyes and paled skin (which could just as well be natural, for all Bryn knows), there's no real obvious signs of her power. Ghost's observations will also note the lack of the visual presence of Dia's lightsaber as well.

But coupled with the fact that she's a former Assassin, not being able to see something doesn't mean it isn't there. It's highly likely she still has it, just less obviously so.

"It isn't, no. Unfortunately, there are many in my reality that follow that dogma to the logical extreme, applying it beyond the Force, and there are those who suffer for it, and wasted energy and life for it." She makes a face, and then gives a small sigh. "And I'm not sure what qi is from my frame of reference, but..."

She taps her chin with a leather gloved finger for a moment in thought, trying to figure out how to phrase. "The Force's most common use usually involves what most people here seem to refer to as telekinetics. Moving objects with the mind and sheer force of will. But there's also enhancing one's own capabilities with the force. Speed, agility, strength to a degree. And so on."

"I'm sorry. It sounds like a terrible place to live- at least sometimes." Oops, was that rude? She's not sure, but it is true.

Maybe she'll let Dia steer the conversation on, because waving the idea of telekinetics under her nose is a great way to snap Bryn out of an awkward moment. "Really? You can do all of that?" She tilts her head, hinting, "As in... right now?"

Look she can buy that miracles happen but she still wants them to do so where she can see them. Wouldn't you?

"It's one of the many reasons I left the Empire I used to be a part of." She shrugs, then quirks an eyebrow at Bryn's request.

She then takes her right hand off of the cane, standing up a little straighter. Dia takes a moment to take in her surroundings before deciding on a nearby stone bench. She nods towards it, "Well. I suppose it couldn't hurt."

A quiet, deep breath escapes her as she gestures with her right hand, first two fingers and her thumb raised as she does. Bryn isn't, however, sensitive to what she's doing, although the effect after a moment is obvious. The heavy stone bench is pulled from its place in the dirt, rising upwards as Dia raises her hand higher, so does the bench.

That said, she can't resist showing off a little. There's a little flicking wrist gesture with her hand, and the stone bench twists in the air rapidly one way, Dia does it again to make it twist the other before she gently sets it back down where she found it.

Dia takes another slow breath as she lowers her arm, resting her hand back on the cane. "I suppose that helps prove my words?"

Bryn keeps quiet and watches closely when Dia points out the bench. She's not entirely sure what to expect... but she's definitely not disappointed. There's a big grin on her face as she watches the weighty stone be uprooted by invisible hands. She turns to dart little glances between the demonstration and Dia herself, following the connection between motion and manipulation with delight. So effortless!

"Are you kidding? That was amazing!" Admittedly, her enthusiasm fades a bit when she remembers that this may just be a computer testing her reaction to such phenomena. too bad. "So are you a sort of... monk then? Do you need implants to help- to enhance your abilities?" Talk like a professional, Bryn, the computer is watching.

Indeed. Even older, Dia's connection to the force is still quite strong. Made stronger by the fact that she's learned to let it flow through her, rather than (heh) force it to do what she wants.

"Hm. I suppose that'd be a pretty apt description." Dia muses aloud, "I don't really fit in with either of the two orders any longer. The cybernetics I possess do nothing to enhance my abilities, however. The medical technology in my reality is... wildly varying depending on where in the Galaxy you happen to be. Frankly, mechanical limbs are just cheaper, as well."

"You mean you've had whole limbs replaced?" Bryn gives her a startled look, which turns quite thoughtful. "I'm... guessing your work is a lot more exciting than monks back on Earth. At least I'm pretty sure meditation and gardening aren't that dangerous."

The older woman shifts her weight, subtly standing with a bit more weight on her right leg than her left, so she can stick the can under the crook of her right arm while raising her left and rolling the loose sleeve down so it hangs at her elbow.

Admittedly, it's excellent work, but her left arm is entirely mechanical, the black leather glove she's wearing hides her hand, but anyone can plainly see it's artificial, with some kind of dark black plastic-like protective shell. And the way her elbow looks, the replacement likely goes all the way up to at least her bicep, if not further.

This is, we should note, different due to the fact that Dia's been catapulted forward into a possible future version of herself. Normally, it's her hands and about half of both of her forearms.

She takes the cane again and resumes leaning on it once more. "To say I've lead an exciting life is putting it mildly, to be utterly honest."

Her eyes widen at the extent of those prosthetics - sure, they have the technology, but young Brynn has rarely encountered anyone who needed it before.

"It sure looks like it. Is it all right if I ask- I don't want to be rude if it's a delicate subject or anything, but... what happened? A crash?" Either way, it looks like she's more than a little impressed at how tough Dia must be, and the respect in her voice matches it.

It's not every day you meet a badass veteran telekinetic space nun. Not even in the Golden Age.

There's a frown and thoughtful expression as she debates how exactly to explain it. Sure, this is the Nexus, but Bryn seems relatively new, even if her droid seems distinctly familiar (Dia still suspects it's just another of the same model, on that note).

"I used to be an assassin." She explains after a moment. "Trained by my Master in the ways of the Sith, and how to apply them to raiding ancient Sith temples, and assassinating rivals discreetly. I was... replaced. And my rather determined," implied 'psychotic' goes here, "Replacement declared herself my rival, and deemed me unworthy to live because I had failed, even if I survived."

"Killing her came at a cost." As with most things. "I was lucky to survive it, the Force was with me, that day. Even if there are still times I don't understand why."

It's unfortunate she won't remember most of this when she reverts to her normal self, but them's the breaks.

It's something out of an old-school story: deadly super-powered assassins dueling in the name of personal betrayal and dark ideologies. Bryn's riveted, even if she winces at the ending. At least, the death of the rival. It's one thing to cheer at the villain's downfall when it's just a story: knowing it was a real person puts a dampener on things.

"I guess she didn't give you much choice, huh?" Yes, Dia just said she was an assassin - a former one, and Bryn wants to think well of her right now. Besides, it's not an unreasonable assumption. "But... what was it all for? The raids and assassinations, I mean. It sounds like you spent most of your time fighting other, uh, Sith. Was that supposed to be the point?"

"Not really, no. In simpler terms, she was more a bodyguard than an assassin like I was. Strong, gifted with a saber and the Force. Her only real failing was the fact that she tended not to think actions through, and she let her emotions rule her, rather than guide her." The difference is distinct, especially with the way Dia phrases it. She's been trained and learned how to compartmentalize her passions and rage. Use them and unleash them when needed and necessary.

Unlike, say, how some Sith are more like emotional explosives waiting for an excuse to go off. "She was headstrong, and determined to prove a twisted sort of honor in killing her Master's former, yet determined to survive apprentice." Dia's also leaving out the fact that she threatened to kill said Master in an ugly and painful fashion, but her older self has mellowed some as the years have supposedly gone by.

"As for what it was all for. The raids were because he was interested in the History of the Sith. Looking for new ways to adapt old ideas, and for the same goal as the assassinations: Good old fashioned bloody power games." Oh, that's a disgusted face she makes, and she spits out the words 'power games' like they're a pair of swear words like the one that usually starts with 'F' in its amazingly infinite variations. "Without the Emperor to keep them in line, the bloody Sith council turned into a political starship wreck. Everyone trying to out maneuver everyone else without making it obvious who's doing what." She gestures emphatically with her right hand to add to her point and sighs. "Which more or less turns it into a bloody mess with no real sense of progress."

Beat.

"Bunch of bloody idiots. The lot of them."

Bryn nods more sagely than she probably has a right to. She's self-aware enough to consider that some of what Dia says of the former rival might apply to her, and yet the idea of being so bent on murder is too foreign, makes the comparison a brief and hazy one.

"I suppose that's what happens when you spend all your time looking at the past," she muses instead. "You just end up recycling the same bad ideas over and over. If it's any consolation, our people used to do a lot of that, too. They probably thought they were doing the right thing, but when you look back it all just seems like a waste. You need something worthwhile to reach for."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ghosts in the Machine

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

'Veteran Telekinetic Space Nun'. I'll have to remember that one.

Didn't quite manage to slip a 'bionic' in there

no subject

no subject