[init] Making New Friends

[Luster]

Lupo kept the smile plastered on his face and nodded to the woman sitting across from him. But her silence meant one of two things, "business is done go away now please" or that she didn't know what to do next. Betting on the later he sat back and studied her for a moment then it dawned on him that a few things had been left unsaid that could be open for discussion. "Now if you are the Initiative's bartender, what are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking."

 

[TAC]

The robot server was a rather elementary model. It was obviously a very old model, and obviously one that the owners of the establishment had not dropped a heavy purse on. As the two folks sat discussing the fine delicacies of the Initiative, the droid kept close, serving and attending to the tables surround the one that Naomi and Lupo sat at. The robot was, more specifically, only just capable of rudimentary conversation, and the board that held it's programming was very limited.

As Naomi stole a few sips from her alcohol, however, the droid turned and came back to their table.

"What can I get ya', Operative Whiting?" it asked, in the same monotone voice. The 'What can I get ya'' was part of it's regular dialogue as it attended to the customers. Being able to identify her rank and name would have been, however, quite irregular, and an obscene deviation from it's usual programming.

 

[Nevermore]

As soon as the woman was about to answer, the droid had interrupted her by inquiring about what she wanted. Naomi smiled up at the droid, sliding her glass back over towards the droid.

"The same as usual please, B6-T4," she said, knowing the droid quite well. She couldn't recall a time when it had addressed her by her name before, much less her rank within the Initiatve. What proved to be more suspicious was the fact that it had gotten her rank wrong―she was a specialist, not an operative. She simply deigned to play along, though was now much more on the alert than she was previously. It seemed that if there was another threat within this cantina, it came not from the man she had decked earlier, or even from Lupo, but from the droid.

She had also neglected from specifying what the usual was for her. It looked like B6-T4, it walked, talked and, for the most part, acted just like him. The catch was that droid behavior wasn't difficult to mimic, considering that the majority of them were incredibly monotonous and acted all alike.

 

[Luster]

When the droid identified Naomi Lupo resisted arching an eyebrow and let her take the lead. It was odd that a model like that would identify a customer let alone add in rank or title. Slowly the Miriala spread his feet under the table, tensing his legs in anticipation of quickly pouncing on the droid. His hand never having left his knife he let his fingers grip it again and slide it a little out of it's sheath. He looked at the droid as if he expected it to turn and ask him for his order.

 

[TAC]

Unresponsive, B6-T4 turned on it's wheels and carted back towards the bar, where it exchanged a monotone conversation with the bartender. The stout aliens started cussing and yelling at the droid, indicating back over to the Naomi. He angrily got a drink and put it on the droid's serving tray. The droid wheeled back over quickly, the drink sloshing slightly as it halted.

"Your drink, Enforcer Whiting," it commented in it's monotone voice, indicating the woman to take the glass from the tray.

 

[Nevermore]

Enforcer? If someone wants to kill me, they could at least afford getting a better droid. Naomi thought to herself.

"Thank you," she told the droid. She lifted the beverage to her lips, continuing to play the part of the fool. Before the liquid even came in contact with her skin, the woman quickly jumped to her feet and sent the glass flying through the room. The trajectory matched up with the head of the alien who had just yelled at the droid, and would prove to be excruciatingly painful if it connected. Similar to the fight she had just been in, the heel of her boot flew through the air towards the droid to send it sprawling, if not break it considering its shoddy construction.

Naomi's hand reached down to the long V slit of her shirt near her stomach, and shortly reemerged with a combat dagger. She wasn't sure if Lupo was in on this, but she was about to find out. She had been in tougher situations in the resistance before, so she was certain she wouldn't have any difficulty getting out of this predicament.

 

[Luster]

The second the glass flew Lupo was out of his seat, Chiss Slasher in his left hand. The droid had been her second target, but seeing as she may susspect he had something to do with this Lupo planted one foot firmly on the droid's chassis and pinned it to the floor. He flipped the knife in his hand so he was holding it by the tip, ready to throw it in case Naomi needed the support. Not likely but it paid to be prepared. He hazarded a quick glance around the room. Most everyone's attention was on Naomi but a few were glancing at him, a stern gaze turned most back to the bar.

 

[TAC]

Everything happened quickly.

The bartender, who was actually relatively new to the bar, took a glass to the head. It shattered, several pieces planting themselves into his forehead as he screamed and reeled backwards hitting the floor. The entire bar looked over, mouths agape or.. the equivalent... as things progressed. The droid was smashed by the uppercut foot, and landed on it's back, immobile. If that wasn't enough, Lupo was there in a flash to immobilize it further.

 

[Nevermore]

Naomi's eyes flitted around the bar, looking for anything else that stood out of the ordinary or seemed suspicious. The woman turned to Lupo, having noticed that he was quick to assist her. It seemed that he was on her side, or could still be simply playing along. She remained ever vigilant, although it was possible that her actions, and that of Lupo's, could have simply been an overreaction.

"Let's get going," Naomi told Lupo, motioning for him to follow her. "Two attempts at me is enough for one day. Let's go." Naomi kept her combat knife ready in her hands, and began making for the door. She wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but it wouldn't matter in the long run. Whether it had been an attempt on her life or a simple overreaction to paranoia, it was likely that she wouldn't be coming back here anytime soon. She was perfectly happy staying on the Ethereal Reach, where she knew that she was safe.

Back where Jon was.

 

[Luster]

No one made a move for a few seconds. Then when Namoi turned to him he let go of the knife's tip and let it drop past his hand and caught it by the grip. When she mentioned leaving he arched his eyebrow but still said nothing. As she began to move so did he, making sure to keep pressure on the droid until the last second. And though they moved together he still kept his distance from her knowing that she was still on edge, looking for any perceived threat.

After a few steps Lupo had a though and went back to the droid, picking it up and dragging it along with them. Somehow it had been able to identify her, and while he couldn't slice into it's memory, someone would be able to.

 

[Nevermore]

Naomi looked back to make sure Lupo was following her, and he was―with the droid in tow! She halted in her tracks, turning around to face the Initiative candidate.

"Why are you bringing that thing?" she asked in a somewhat flustered tone of voice. "You know those things can be reactivated remotely? Get rid of that thing, and let's go." Naomi made sure to keep a fair distance away from the droid. She had seen them used in the rebellion; suicide soldiers that were remotely detonated once they were taken to a camp. Sometimes they were reactivated and did everything they could to eliminate any opposition. There were limitless things, dangerous things, that could be done with droids. Naomi trusted very few of them.

 

[TAC]

As soon as she finished speaking the robot slowly melted together. The hard robot metal melted and changed colors, and what we left was one of the suicide droids from her days in the rebellion. The eyepiece of the robot turned to Naomi, and lit into life. It would have been quite alarming for the both, as the robot obviously wasn't much of a robot.

 

[Luster]

Lupo knew the risk in towing the droid along with him, but hadn't planned on taking it farther than the door so he and Naomi could discuss in private what to do with it. "This thing has info we could use." Regardless of what he said for the briefest second he didn't know what to do. The droid offered a chance to find out what had really happened in the cantina, but was it worth the risk? Ultimately it was the droid that decided, shifting it's exterior and transforming in his hand. Out of reflex he let go of the droid's chassis and swung the knife at the it's shifting eye.

 

[Nevermore]

"Don't count on it," Naomi said.

How she wished she had come armed with something more than a combat knife now. She hadn't encountered a droid like this since her days in the rebellion, but she knew it wasn't impossible to come across them. She knew how to deactivate them, or at least render them useless once they were activated, but she needed a blaster that she didn't have. She cursed her misfortune and took a few steps back.

"Get away from it!" she yelled at Lupo, readying her knife for a throw. She knew the chances of hitting it where it was vital was slim, but it was the only chance she had at saving Lupo's life right now. If he didn't finish off the droid, there was a chance it would explode while he was still holding onto it. If it did, it was likely that he wouldn't survive the explosion. If one were to be able to find a silver lining to this scenario, it would be that Lupo had a chance to prove himself to Naomi just why the Initiative should accept him into their ranks.

 

[TAC]

Whiting's warnings came too late, just being verbalized as Lupo swung his knife. With a quick melding as the knife came around, the Mirialan was in for quite the surprise when his wrist was caught, the knife hanging uselessly in it. Staring back at him was an exact replica of himself, it's foot stuck within his grip and his hand wrapped Lupo's wrist.

"That's quite enough," it said, it's voice perfectly matching his. The Lupo replica's eyes flickered to Naomi. "And that goes for you, as well." The thing's eyes were trained on the knife in her hand.

 

[Luster]

The.... thing holding Lupo's wrist wasn't a droid, it was warm and felt like flesh, and flesh yielded. But the fact that it was his threw him for a loop, causing him to stare at it in disbelief. Then again it had been taking on the form of another droid before, so if given the chance it could turn into anyone or anything. He had a few choices laid out in front of him, drop the knife into his right hand and go for its- his- gut, but that could lead to a confusing tangle of movement and it's quite possible Naomi could mix up who was who like in holos. He could try to break the hold or do nothing, neither of which would yield great results.

But whatever it was gave him an opportunity when it glanced at Naomi, dividing it's attention, so he took a chance. With a quick twist of his wrist and a good yank he managed to free himself from the thing's grasp and backed up a few paces. "Quit toying with us." The words were level and packed menace, lupo's whole demeanor having changed.

 

[Nevermore]

Naomi had never seen a droid like this before―if it was even a droid to begin with. They way it was able to change form was irregular, and indicated that it wasn't a droid at all. If anything, it was some sort of homunculus. She stared it down, keeping the dagger in her hands regardless of what the droid had instructed her to do.

"What do you want me for?" she asked sternly. She really wished that Jon was here now. Right now was the opportune time for her to fall into the warm embrace of safety, knowing that he was around to protect her. He wasn't, though, and she was on her own aside from Lupo. It was difficult to formulate tactics against something of this caliber, an enemy able to adapt to any situation and implement heinous acts of confusion and sabotage. She snorted indignantly, prepared to fight to the morbid, bitter end.

"Whatever it is you want, you're at least not taking me alive."

 

[TAC]

Although his strength would have perfectly matched Lupo's, the creature allowed the Mirialan to break free, as it slowly gained it's feet and dusted itself off. The bartender demanded the question of the creature, but he felt her thoughts shift. Grinning from ear to ear, an odd look on his face, the creature again began to morph. Seemingly disgruntled, Naomi announced she wouldn't go down without a fight.

Immersing after the transformation as none other than the Jonathan Nash, Director of the Initiate, the creature smiled.

"I know this man, Jon Vega. I, like you, am a member of the initiative. I am returning from a mission and knew you from the initiative records, and sought you out so you could take me back to the The Ethereal Reach." The creature looked and sounded exactly like Jon, but it was no fool that he wasn't the man. Operatives of the initiative didn't know where their base of operations, their capitol ship, was while they were out on missions. It was a compromise to security that the small group could not afford, and those in risk of being captured and tortured couldn't know any information that could hurt the ship. They were allowed there, of course, but they had to seek a fellow Initiate member to find out where it was.

 

[Luster]

Lupo didn't recognize the person the thing had transformed into, and there was no way to know if what it was saying was true. So he kept quiet and let Naomi do the talking, she would know better than him if this was an Initiative member. As it focused on her waiting for a reply he slowly began to move in a circle as to get both Naomi and the thing in his field of view while working his fingers over the knife so he was holding the tip again with the grip touching his wrist, in perfect position for an underhand throw. It was Naomi's move.

 

[Nevermore]

The woman's eyes narrowed, carefully examining the thing in front of him. He apparently knew who Jon was, and he also seemed familiar with the Ethereal Reach. How could it even know what Jon looked like, or what the director looked like? They were never allowed on board, and it was highly improbable that he knew what either of them looked like, their names, anything.

"I think you're lying," Naomi said, her tense frame not easing up for a second. "Even if you were part of the Initiative, you'd know that operatives aren't allowed on The Ethereal Reach―under any circumstances," she finished. She needed to contact Ariadne and quickly. Naomi's free hand moved to the pocket embroidered into her belt, prepared to bring Ariadna into the situation herself to clear things up.