Ask Everybody Talks

[System Defense Force]

Within the ISC Army's base on the surface of Manaan, several rooms had been allocated for detention and interrogation. Despite what some political opponents of the ISC would have believed, they were not torture rooms and the jailors were not cruel for cruelty's sake. Instead, the detention rooms were stark white but clean and orderly with all the provisions one might need for a stay in detention of up to a few months. Anything longer than that was unheard of as the courts would have ruled on the case by that time.

Those captured by Lt. Renka of the ISC Army didn't really get to spend much time in cells - instead they were taken directly to the interrogation rooms. Or, as the PR department liked them to be referred to as, the interview rooms.

A rather basic room of duracrete walls with durasteel plating underneath, a solid door of that same durasteel and a false mirror for officers to observe as the suspects and witnesses were questioned.

As the suspect was led into the room by ISC specialists, they would remain unbound at the current time even though they had been thoroughly searched before being brought into the interrogation room - where their interrogator was waiting.

Spoiler: Interviewer

"This is already a waste of my time and my talents - do you mind if we get on with this?"

The last part was directed to the suspect, the woman who presented herself as Selene Aegnor, rather than the guards. When the specialists didn't so much a blink at the frosty reception, she would be able to tell that this was just the kind of person this interrogator was. Blunt, to the point and cold enough about it that every word was aimed to sting. Pulling up his chair, the interrogator's eyes flicked to the specialists as they retreated through the door to secure the room.

"Don't go too far, this one won't take too long." He assured them, his core-accent mocking as he turned his full attention to the suspect in front of him rather than merely speaking to the room in general, "Selene Aegnor... you can call me Detective S. How is Naboo this time of year, Miss Aegnor?"

The IDs that had been found had been given to him before the conversation began so he had some ideas - and he wanted to take it slow. It had been far too longer since he'd caused someone to break under the pressure of his questioning and this one? Oh he was looking forward to it.

@Malon

 

[The Storyteller]

Spoiler: Transcript of the Interrogation of Val Varthra

Val despised the position she found herself in and cursed the Sith that she was in it at all. She had their incompetence to thank for this side-show she now found herself in. And though she trusted herself to make it out — she was trained for these types of situations, after all — the Sith were a wildcard she could not anticipate. If either one of them cracked, if either one of them failed, all three of them were doomed. No matter what she did.

That's not your concern now, she told herself. You're responsible for you.

It was with that mentality that she confronted the man in front of her now. How much did he already know? That was the hardest part about these interrogations. A good detective would imply he had more information than he truly did. She would have to play this game carefully if she wanted to outwit him and survive.

"Naboo is lovely this time of year," she said, making her voice sound shaky. "It's lovely every time of year." She didn't linger on the subject long. She had a role to play. "My wife. Where has she been taken? Is she alright?"

The matter of Celeste was of import to her, but Val didn't dare broach the question just yet. One of the Sith had attacked her — and she was sure it was Celeste. Which made her wonder if the detective had already gotten more out of her. Or if the Jedi had. They had to know she was a Sith by now. But how much had she said?

The guessing game was unbearable.

"How lovely."

The drawl in his voice spoke about how it was anything but lovely but he continued regardless. Rapping his fingers against the table, Detective S continued to act as though this whole thing was both beneath him and, yet, also something that seemed to annoy him beyond just that. Letting out a sigh that exposed just how little the detective seemed to care for the woman's distress, he eyed her while she spoke.

"Have you been recently? To visit your wife's friend Miss Morr?" he asked before smiling, a smile full of too many sharp edges and condescension to be anything close to comforting, "Your wife is fine, I'm sure. She got the better end of the deal I'm afraid - a much nicer detective than I am, don't worry. Though of course Miss Morr got the old man, I imagine he's treating her with kid gloves because she's so delicate. But I'm much more interested in you, Mrs Aegnor."

He stopped drumming his fingers against the table abruptly and turned to look at her with more intent than before. Detective S made another show of examining her critically before running his finger across the surface of the table in a straight line.

"There was an... altercation in the bathroom. Tell me what you remember of the events from the moment you stepped inside to the moment the police arrived. And please..."

The same, sharp, smile flashed into place again.

"... spare no details."

Val nodded, feigning relief at hearing Vahl was okay. In reality, she didn't trust a thing the man said. Though it was already clear he thought much of his detective abilities. Overconfidence was certainly something she could use against him... unless he was as good as he believed himself to be. In which case, this was going to be much harder than she anticipated.

As to the incident in the bathroom, this required little acting chops. She was still reeling from having been slammed into the wall by an invisible force and some of her memory was understandably fuzzy. "Well, I went in twice that I remember," she recounted, furrowing her brow as if trying to recall the details. "The first was to freshen up before the tour began. We had just been told there was no jewelry allowed on the private underwater tour later, so we used the opportunity to remove our jewelry and pool them together. My wife put them in a bag, see. We were also hoping the Jedi wouldn't follow us in, to be honest. They had spotted us at the spaceport and had been relentlessly following us — talking up the good of their religion and all that."

She made no attempt to hide her disgust of the Jedi. Imperial or no, there were few in the galaxy who truly liked them, and it was consistent with her performance up to now.

"After we came out," she continued, "my wife went to hand over the bag of jewelry to the Selkath attendant. That's when I noticed one of the diamonds on my necklace was missing." She frowned, because here her memory was genuinely fuzzy. So much happened between the missing diamond ploy and the second bathroom trip, all punctuated by a sharp blow to her head. Just the memory made her forehead throb, and she rubbed the spot where it hurt for emphasis. "I remember us going back into look for it. I think some of the Jedi followed us. And then, next thing I remember, I was being slammed into a wall and my wife was yelling at Haleth. I'm still not entirely sure what happened."

He smirked ever so slightly as she spoke, letting him know more about what she remembered while also giving him her own thoughts and feelings on the Jedi. Out of all the things she had said so far, the distaste for the Jedi was the part he believed the most. There were certain parts that didn't quite marry up but the distaste?

That was real.

"Yes, they do like to talk to about how they can 'save you' by embracing the 'light' don't they?" he mused as he rapped his fingertips against the tabletop, "Never known them to be... intimidating, but I suppose you may be more easily frightened."

Hmm.

The confusion she was showing seemed genuine - this was good, though somewhat annoying at the same time. It meant that he had some good base lines for true emotions she was showing but it was aggravating that one of the good baselines he had was genuine confusion and the other was distaste.

"Reports indicate you were seemingly thrown with the Force - though the Jedi were all clearly engaged with your wife's friend at the time." he noted, raising a delicate eyebrow, "And Haleth was engaged with them when you were thrown."

His tapping stopped.

"Someone threw you with the Force and I'm inclined to believe you didn't do it to yourself so that leaves three suspects. And the footage from the scout droid show the Jedi were more surprised than you. So." he linked his fingers together in a bridge in front of his face, "Why did your wife immediately assume it was somehow the secretary's fault? She's not registered as a Force Sensitive with Naboo."

Here Val found herself in a rather interesting conundrum. Whether the detective was lying to her or not, she couldn't deny that she herself did not know who had used the Force. In her daze after being attacked, Vahl's attacks on Haleth had been her only lead to go on. But it was equally possible that Vahl herself had attacked.

Another Sith had used her for a plot that ultimate wound them up here.


"I'm not certain," she said truthfully. "After the attack everything was fuzzy. I was seeing spots from being slammed into the wall. And Aerin was so adamant that it was Haleth, what was I supposed to think?" She rubbed the sore spot on her head again, trying to think of what to say next. "It's hard to believe Haleth capable of this. She's a good girl, a bit air-headed as an assistant, but she's never shown any sorts of power. And I have no idea what could have motivated her to attack me."

Except she had plenty of reason to attack her. Val had been a downright bitch in her disguise to Celeste. But Selene Aegnor was overly narcissistic and a bad judge of character. Val couldn't break that character, even if her own confusion aligned with her facade's for once.

"Your question would be a better one for my wife," she continued. "She saw what happened. Perhaps she got a better angle than your droid?" She sighed, this time an act, as was the agitation that entered her voice next. "Though, I don't know how any angle could help understand the Force. Demonic magic, I call it. This is why the President kept us out of Jedi affairs for so long. Jedi — Sith — the whole lot of them are trouble and should be thrown out of the Consortium!"

Another dramatic sigh, after which she would seem to regain her composure. "Sorry, detective. That was unbecoming of me."

A derisive snort...

"I'd recommend thinking for yourself."

... Detective S turned to a tried and true method; he began talking down to the suspect. He started actively questioning her intelligence in a deliberately insulting manner because if she was anything more than what she appeared, if she was pretending to be this character, then it would annoy her. And already the anger and distaste were what he could tell were real.

Detective S sighed in exasperation, acting as though he was beginning to feel as though this was rapidly becoming something of a waste of time once again. Rapping his fingertips against the table once again, he regarded the woman in front of him once again.

Really looked again and watched for her reactions.

"So the assistant has shown no history of powers but a history of being good to you and your wife. To your mind there is no motive and to our evidence of the crime scene there is a serious question as to the method." he scoffed audibly, "Despite what the uneducated believe, almost every Force user needs to actively be focusing on their target. That's how they can be beaten, tricked or killed."

Her anger and frustration at the Sith and the Jedi... it was real and it was the only thing muddying the waters as far as he was concerned at this point. So he pushed one the subject of the wife, the one area she should be absolutely certain of and not associate with either group whatsoever. When he leaned forward, the door to the cell opened and he snapped his attention to the Specialist who had interrupted them.

"I'm in the middle of an interview." he snapped, "It can wait."

The specialist saluted before speaking even faster.

"News from one of the other Detectives - new information has come to light."

Actually interested now, Detective S stood from his chair and set his shoulders and straightened his collar before striding briskly out of the room.

"Be a dear and don't go anywhere, this won't take long. I just need to see which of them has decided to tell the truth before we continue."

The door would slam behind him and Val would be left to stew - knowing that one of the other Detectives had found out some important information but not knowing what or even who the Detective had been interrogating.

The disappearance of the detective to collected "news" was... interesting, Val thought as she sat alone in her cell.

There were only two angles to this conundrum she found herself in. Either they had gotten something out of Vahl or Celeste, or this was simply a tactic born out of frustration for her lack of answers. It was times like these when Val wished she were Force-sensitive. Their ability to sense the thoughts of others would be useful right about now.

But lacking the Force — and not knowing what information they had or didn't have, Val really only had one option. Stick to her role. Even if presented with the truth, her role was her only shield. She could make the Sith pay when she got out. But for now, not giving this detective what he wanted, no matter how much he pushed was her only chance for survival.

So, she sucked in a breath and readied herself for whatever it was he had 'learned.'

The door opened and Detective S stepped back into the room with quick, precise, strides before taking the seat again. Unlike last time, there was a small smile on his face that seemed to be entirely genuine.

"Terribly sorry about keeping you waiting - my colleague got some very useful information. And I thought I'd give you the chance to corroborate or attempt to deny some of it as it pertains to yourself."

Threading his fingers together, he leaned forward with his clasped hands in front of him.

"So, Agent Varthra, would you like to discuss your reason for being here?" he asked her, dropping the name like an anvil onto the desk between them, "Or will you let the Sith you brought with you sell you further down the river?"

Right, so, this was definitely not a blunder. Someone had revealed her name to the authorities, and she was more than willing to bet that person was Celeste. Vahl didn't seem the type to crack or slip, and if Celeste was the one to attack her, as Vahl suspected, she would be eager to bring them down with her.

The question was what to do about it. A confession would almost certainly get her arrested or worse. There was still a small chance — though, increasingly smaller — that continued obstinance could win her freedom. That just depended on how much they knew.

What proof did they have besides a Sith's word? Sith were known to lie, after all, but she wasn't sure how much that fact would shield her now.

Fortunately, Val's first reaction to hearing her actual name was inline with her disguise. A confused, rather disgusted gape that quickly turned into annoyance. And from annoyance, there came rage. "Who the fuck is Agent Vartha?" she fumed. "I'm Selene. Selene Aengor."

Leaning back in her seat, she leaned into the Karen she had chosen for her disguise. There was always a risk her behavior would blow back in her face, but it was either that, or expose herself further — something she could not risk. "Police these days," she huffed. "Can't find any concrete evidence of wrong-doing, so they throw wild accusations until something sticks." She slapped her hands down on her knees and cocked her head in agitation at the agent questioning her. "Do you have any actual evidence to hold me on, detective? Or is hearsay what counts for evidence in the ISC these days?"

Detective S raised an eyebrow.

"Refuge in audacity is it? Very well." he nodded once, mostly to himself as if he expected something similar, "Simply put, Agent Vartha, we already have some of our officers doing the leg work and trawling through the offices of several notable Induparan officials. I'm fairly certain that between being charged with espionage or corruption, they'll choose to plead corruption."

It was the sentence that didn't carry the death penalty as an option after all.

He leaned forward almost like a conspirator, in a way.

"Between you and me; the ISC has had Lady Kahtal under the microscope for a long time now. Ever since some intelligence pointed that her daughter may have run off to become a Sith." he leaned back and tapped the desk again, "The chance to burn her family by linking her influence to her daughter's Sith activities has the locals positively salivating."

Pulling back from where he had leaned forward, he seemed to sink slightly as his shoulders relaxed in an expression akin to weariness. The Detective stared the woman in the eyes across the table between them and gestured to her. His expression had lost all of his former smugness as he eyed her with a quiet and almost solemn air.

"This game we play, Val, as spy and spy-catcher... it never ends clean. You knew that before you ever had your first mission, knew that to be captured meant death. There are people, horrible people, within the ISC who allow the citizens to sleep safely in their beds at night because they stand ready to do terrible things to other sentient beings in the name of their state."

Reaching into his pocket, Detective S let out a breath before withdrawing a single tablet and setting it down on the desk for a second.

"I am not one of those people - but the ones who visit you next in your cell? They will be. They will torture you for information and you won't break, because you're trained not to break. They won't torture you for confirmation, because we have confirmation from both of the Sith and the evidence trail will bear out. You know it will."

He pushed the tablet so that she would be able to take it as heavy footsteps sounded beyond the door, growing closer.

"I'm not a detective, I'm an agent of the ISC; agent Cer Loch. From one player of the Great Game to another, I wanted to give you the option to end the play on your terms. Goodbye Agent Varthra."

Standing from the table, the revealed ISC agent took two steps back it as the door opened and a quartet of large men in black armor stepped in. Their faces entirely obscured, there was little to indicate that these were men, women or droid as they moved to detain Val and take her to a new cell, one far further down and far more soundproofed.