3-14 PUSH

You reach out in panic, feeling Force ripple around you, concentrating into a wave front of potential before your outstretched hands; and with that, comes something unexpected.

Shreds of Warp spiral through the Immaterium veil — not tearing it, yet still going right through. They coalesce in a miniature storm of iridescent colors, harnessed by your very will. However, you cannot keep it under your full control. The droid is so close and you need to push back now! And so, you let it go.

It’s too early. You’ve let go at the fraction of a second before completion. The storm falls apart, sparks of warpstuff blowing into the winds and fading back into the Warp.

But the Force doesn’t fail you. The droid is flung backwards through the air, its inimical eyes glaring at you as it goes.

The snap-hiss of a saber igniting and the hum of it as it passes through the air, echoes through your ears just before the droid crashes into the back wall. Master Lasah moves before you, putting herself between you and the droid as it lies still on the ground in two pieces.

It’s dead.

You stare at it, still in shock. Why did it attack you?

You turn to the side. Doctor Neen too is in complete shock, his emotions sluggishly reorienting themselves.

“Stay here,” Master Lasah commands. She cautiously moves forward, vigilant for further surprises, but there is none. The droid is inert and the danger is gone. All there is now is to pick up the pieces and figure out what has happened.

You slide your saber out of your tunic, feeling the comforting heft of it in your hand. “Master Lasah?” you call out.

“It is safe. I - I do not know how I missed its attack. There was no anger. No sense of aggression.” She turns to you, contrite in bearing. “I am sorry, Xena. You should not have been exposed to such danger, as young as you are.”

“I’m fine, Master. But, what happened? Why did it attack me? Us?”

Master Lasah turns to the third occupant of the room. “Doctor Neen?”

He’s shaking, still in shock. Blood and violence, he may be used to. However, seeing his droid attack two Jedi in his clinic is something he’s never expected. He looks up from his shaking hands, seeing the two of you — masked figures standing stock still, one with a burning sword of light, the other with a baleful golden eye — he makes his decision.

He sits. He speaks.

≡][≡ ⬦⬦⬦ ≡][≡

“This doesn’t answer why it attacked us, though,” you say.

The droid was indeed given to Sarko Neen by the cartel. Neen needed an extra pair of hands, one that knows the trade. One that he doesn’t have to pay.

Neen has been struggling for funds for years, his general clientele unable to pay well for his service. Surprisingly, however, he does seem to embody the compliments Master Lasah gave him earlier. He is dedicated. He is caring. He just never had the capability to do more. Not until he got this chance.

And the catch? The payment to the cartel?

The droid would give “samples” when requested of it. A batch of the cartel’s product would be stored in Neen’s medical refrigerators and provided to clients who knew the correct code phrase. With this, Neen would have a tentative relationship with the cartel. He was required to allow rather shady individuals into his clinic to get high. However, he could at least make this a safe space. He could do his best to reform those that came in.

And the droid! Top of the line care. A secretary and receptionist when needed. An extra pair of hands.

Well, one hand. At the end of the other limb is a micro-needle injector. A system for painless injections. You hold it up before you, looking closely at the tiny needles embedded in that flat plate. They’re so small as to be almost imperceptible to the naked eye. Fortunately for you, have Force-Sight. You can see much closer.

But, how did you miss this the first time? You’d simplified it in your mind. You’d seen a block, operated by some sort of hydraulic system, and left it at that. However, why would such a droid use hydraulics?

The fluid loop you’d seen, with the vestibule at the back of the injector block, was liquid narcotics. Or, anesthesia when needed.

Still, this doesn’t explain why it attacked you.

“We were speaking of the bank just before the attack,” Master Lasah says. “It seems to be another location for storing the drugs. It may even be one of their processing facilities. Doctor Neen, do you have any pertinent information?”

He frantically shakes his head. “No! I kept to myself. Deliveries show up, but I don’t ask where they’re from. I thought they all just came through the docks! I thought they were just being smuggled through there.”

“Well, this seems to be the most logical answer. If the droid heard us speaking of it, then it may have been trying to silence us. It is rather strange they would split their operations so wide, though. We know they are moving their product from the bank back to here and to that one warehouse, but we do not yet know how the raw material is getting to the bank if it is a processing facility. Perhaps we should look into this.”

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You nod in agreement with Master Lasah’s conclusion. It does make the most sense. You’re not really sure how the oranges tie into this yet, but hopefully what you next find will tell you more.

Master Lasah leans down, rummaging through the bisected head of the droid, then sighs. She pulls two pieces of machinery out and tucks them into her robe. “We will have to take the data cache back to CorSec to have it analyzed. I was rather… overzealous.”

She stands up, shaking her head. “This is rather messy. Doctor Neen, I will have you moved to a safer location. Your two patients will be moved to another capable hospital, whether it be civilian or the Temple’s Halls of Healing is up to circumstance. Pack your things and prepare your patients. Xena, come with me.”

As Neen hurries away, Master Lasah pulls you to the reception area again. She leans down, speaking quietly so only you can hear. “This really is getting complicated. Ryker’s cause of death is still a mystery, and now we are looking into something CorSec should be handling. I will be filling them in. In the meantime, I want you to go back and see if you can get anything out of Tlin before we leave. Understood?”

“Yes, Master,” you say.

She gives you a nod then pulls out her comlink. As she begins making her calls, you push through the curtains and head back to Ioaniis Tlin’s bed.

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Tlin is somehow still asleep, his breathing steady and regular despite the chaos that unfolded in the next room over. Further back, you see Neen organizing medicines and tools, shoving them into numerous bags. He glances at the refrigerator next to him, then sighs and looks away.

“Doctor Neen?” He startles as you push the curtain aside, walking into the room.

“Er, yes?”

You point toward the fridge. “I’m taking one of those as evidence.”

He looks at you, then at the fridge, then back to you.

“Just as evidence, right?”

“I’m not stupid.”

“Good, good.” He looks to the side, so very weary from the unfortunately exciting day. In a quiet voice, he mutters something.

“Did you say something?” you ask.

“I’m sorry, alright? I’m sorry.”

You lift your mask just enough for him to see your mouth as you smile. “It’s alright, Doctor. I’m unhurt, and I know you’re just doing your best. Things will be fine.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes.”

He sighs another time, covering his face with his hands — unable to bear your solemn smile. After a moment, he slides them downward, breathing out heavily, then looks back up and curls his lips into a forced grin. “Thank you. I’m sure it will.”

Now with a couple of vials tucked into your belt, you walk back into Tlin’s room. He’s still asleep. Time to try again.

He’s in a peaceful state, despite his mood. He’s terribly unhappy with the way his week has panned out. As you bore into his true-self, you keep an eye out for any of his dealings with that cartel — any memories he’s kept. Anything that stands out.

There’s certainly one thing, but you’ve already seen it. You don’t have to revisit it again. You do, however, try to take a peek underneath it. Perhaps the memory of Ryker is still there?

No. It may be within his conscious memory, but it’s definitely not here in his psyche.

Now then, further back. Deeper in. Anything about that cartel?

Layers and layers of true-self float by. He’s… very focused on his work. He’s a dock worker at times. Other times, he’s a mechanic in the industrial sector, working to fix some of the heavy droids. He’s built so much of his true-self around his work.

At one point, you see him delighted by the simple sight of a droid doing its task, smoothly lifting massive containers high above his head. The droid was once headed for the scrap heap, but with his care it is now back at work.

At another, you see him saddened — almost angry. He’d dropped his favorite torque driver and it’d been crushed by another droid. He’d watched in horror as that droid was unbalanced, falling and spilling its load of thousands and thousands of fasteners everywhere. That was truly an awful day, for he’d had to spend hours helping pick up and sort out the fasteners afterward, then bear the price of having to purchase another driver. A most horrible day indeed.

There. Another memory. The first time he’d tried the new dream. Arnot had told him about the droid at Neen’s clinic and convinced him to come along. He was just going to give it a try. One. Little. Try.

Sarko had given a token attempt to dissuade them, but he’d already been defeated by the dozens of other customers who’d been visiting him at all hours of the day, begging for their high. Ioaniis had had some misgivings at that moment, but Arnot just kept urging him on, saying it would all be worth it.

The droid had accepted the code without complaint, and not long after that, Ioaniis was gone. The world was gone. The pains, the boredom — everything — was gone.

And he just wanted more.

He went once a week, wary of overdoing it and getting caught. It wasn’t CorSec he was worried about though. It was his employers. He loves his jobs, and he can’t afford to lose either, even to the bliss. And soon, it became repetitive.

You back out, leaving Tlin still asleep. You’re surprised at his restraint. You pull a vial out of your belt, and peek at it with your warp-eye. It’s a clear liquid, almost like water. Nefarious.

Not as addictive as some other substances, according to Tlin’s other thoughts. Not as high a high as those substances too. However, it’s still just enough to keep him coming back with no hope of dropping it easily.

His regular visits to the clinic became normal, but also shrouded by the following high. No wonder why you couldn’t find more memories about it.

“Xena? Are you done?”

You slip through the curtain and walk over to Master Lasah. Taking the vials out, you hand them over to her. “I’m done. Mister Tlin was working at the docks and the industrial area. He came here a few times to, uh, partake. He was introduced to this place by someone named Arnot.”

“Hmm. Good work.” Master Lasah lifts the vials up, inspecting them in the Force. “We will hold onto these two. CorSec will gather the rest as evidence. Did you find out what it is called?”

“The drug?”

She nods.

“No. He just called it the ‘new dream.’ We could ask Doctor Neen.”

“Yes. We will ask him once he is ready. For now, let us once again decide where to go next. I believe we should either go to the docks or to the industrial quadrant. Neen did say he believed the narcotics were being smuggled through there, and it is also the location where our item was supposed to be shipped. I would also like to investigate that warehouse. Who knows what could be there? As always, I would like to hear your input. And, if you have any questions or theories, I would like to hear those too.”